Pretty cool.<p>My parents grew up in small villages that are adjacent to one of these ancient roads (via Tiburtina: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Tiburtina" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Tiburtina</a>) and the road basically still exists as a modern road.<p>I remember driving near Pescara with my parents in the 1990s--they had not been back to Italy in 35+ years and they were trying to find their way back to their home towns.<p>We stopped the car on the side of a main road and asked a woman who was walking, "Dov'e' la Tiburtina?" (where is the Tiburtina?).<p>The woman responded... "QUEST'E' la Tiburtina!" (This <i>is</i> the Tiburtina).
Funny thing is they <i>did</i> have something like this already:<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_Peutingeriana" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_Peutingeriana</a><p>(Check out one of the full size scans in the links)
I've been always fascinated by subway maps. The best ones are usually made manually and require update from contractors on every infrastructure extension. Were there any efforts to make autogenerated styled subway maps? Not like stylization of OSM data, but real schemes that show the whole system without sensory overload?
Much better resolution:<p><a href="https://video-images.vice.com/articles/593594e8c270a8484d1d12e3/lede/1496779524673-Rome_III-01-1-1.png" rel="nofollow">https://video-images.vice.com/articles/593594e8c270a8484d1d1...</a>
The Roman Empire was very advanced for the time, and it left such a huge imprint on the civilization even centuries, and thousands of years after it.<p>The organization was a different scale.<p>Fun fact: Some of the most famous battles in England in the middle ages, such as battle of Hasting, were basically 5k - 9k soldiers in each side. That's just one and a half Roman legion.<p>Rome, could field 12 legions at a time, and the scale was insane. I can see why the Roman Empire remained such a symbol of civilization for a thousand of years after its fall.
Pictures like this make me think of all the different types of empire that have existed over the millennia. For example, you couldn't make a map like this of the Golden Horde because nomadic societies aren't nearly as road-obsessed as sedentary ones (see: ours).<p>People are too obsessed with comparing every other empire to Rome. I remember going to a museum with my friend who is an archaeologist and there was a fantastic exhibit on the Incan Empire. I was really enjoying it, but he was frustrated by how much of it was devoted to arguing that the Incan Empire was as cool as the Roman Empire on the latter's terms. "I don't want to hear about how the Inca were similar to the Romans. I want to hear about how they were different." That really stuck with me.
The original creator's page is: <a href="https://sashamaps.net/docs/maps/roman-roads-original/" rel="nofollow">https://sashamaps.net/docs/maps/roman-roads-original/</a><p>The summary here links right to the original content. I just wanted to highlight the original for the sake of other readers clicking through quickly. There's also a much more detailed (and more interesting) writeup on the creator's page.
All hail Harry Beck, who invented these maps<p><a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/culture-and-heritage/art-and-design/harry-becks-tube-map" rel="nofollow">https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/culture-and-heritage/...</a>
If you want to cause controversy and stir up some trouble in the ancient history community there's nothing like the topic of Roman roads. I didn't realize it until reading up on the subject. There seems to be two camps the "ancient aliens" type who argue Roman roads were built and lasted 2,000 years vs the roads were continually repaired over 2,000 years just like any other road.
We have a very good expert in Spain<p>He have this old web : <a href="https://viasromanas.net/" rel="nofollow">https://viasromanas.net/</a> with very good maps and this one <a href="https://www.traianvs.net/" rel="nofollow">https://www.traianvs.net/</a><p>[Traslate to english from wikipedia]
Isaac Moreno Gallo (1958- )1 is a Spanish engineer, historian and communicator.<p>Isaac Moreno is a Public Works technical engineer and graduate in Geography and History. He works in the Spanish Ministry of Development. He has carried out various projects to identify and study Roman infrastructure, especially Roman roads and hydraulic infrastructure. He has worked for various public administrations as a specialist in Roman engineering and carried out research on ancient technique, ancient topographical instruments and other facets related to this engineering.2<p>He has written several specialized books and participated, as a presenter, in television programs on Roman engineering. He maintains a YouTube channel where he publishes informative videos of his research.<p><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Moreno_Gallo" rel="nofollow">https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Moreno_Gallo</a><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@IsaacMorenoGallo" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/@IsaacMorenoGallo</a><p>If you want to see more he have this documentary serie in full english. Called "Roman enginering"<p><a href="https://youtu.be/MNU40dq5B0U?si=wbpfZa5MVG5O0oMQ" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/MNU40dq5B0U?si=wbpfZa5MVG5O0oMQ</a><p>For me he is one of the greatest experts in Roman engineering in the world.
Me myself maybe the only one here who used Roman Roads for effective travel. I bicycled from Finland to Yugoslavia in 1971. Roads were often just mud for tanks and lorries. But sometimes I found small roads with flat stones. Especially I remember the road between Ljubjana and Udine. There was quite wide road sections in the middle of nowhere completely paved with stones. This was the Main Roman Highway between EMONA and AQUILEIA says the map (<a href="https://imperium.ahlfeldt.se/index.php?id=10717" rel="nofollow">https://imperium.ahlfeldt.se/index.php?id=10717</a>). I truly wondered who the hell has built this road, because I did not know shit about any Romans.
That's really well done! I have no comment on the accuracy but it really highlights just how the Romans integrated new areas into the central empire through transportation (goods, ideas, and armies).<p>I will also call out the road in Africa called "Caeserea lol"
This is really neat! Thanks for sharing. I wonder if there's an analogue for these routes and the roadway system there? I imagine so. I thought it was interesting how short Via Appia was. Learning Latin growing up, I imagined that to be much longer.
How can it take 2 months on foot, yet only 1 month per horse, when a horse can only travel between 25-35 miles a day, which is not twice as far as a human can travel in a day, but about equal?
There's a series on Amazon Prime where a Brit actually travels the main Roman Roads in England, revisiting the history while he goes.<p>They actually demonstrate how they got the roads so straight.
Very schematic from region I live around - Geneva and Aosta are not that far on the map and seem close neighbours, but highest part of alps lies in between, passes can be brutal and far apart (>=2500m high, ie St Bernard pass from where famous dogs come from, can end up snowed anytime all year round and especially 2000 years ago, at least 6 months/year unpassable for carriages and dangerous for anything else).
I checked and I think they are missing King’s Highway:<p><a href="https://www.audleytravel.com/jordan/country-guides/the-kings-highway-in-jordan" rel="nofollow">https://www.audleytravel.com/jordan/country-guides/the-kings...</a><p>Was it not Roman enough, ie not built by Romans so not on the map? Or did it not exist during Roman times?
Cool visualization.<p>From the title I thought it would be this project (called "roads to Rome"):
<a href="https://benedikt-gross.de/projects/roads-to-rome/" rel="nofollow">https://benedikt-gross.de/projects/roads-to-rome/</a>
I don't know if "Genava" is the same as modern day Geneva CH, but if it is, then how is can it be correct to show Vienna to the west of it? I get that a subway map abstracts the physical layout, but surely this is a mistake in the topology??
Naissus represent! I love this. Testament to Harry Beck's circuit board mapping approach - so easy to read. With Roman roads being far more 'straight' than London tube lines, it's even more suitable.
Many of the roads in Europe between cities are former roman roads. Sometimes you can even see ancient small bridges along the bigger highways.
The romans cut out entire mountains to guide roads through. Amazing work.
It seems you're missing Via Gallica <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Gallica" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Gallica</a>
There's a missing road in Sardinia that I'm aware of, connecting Karalis (today's Cagliari) with Turris Libisonis (today's Porto Torres, near Sassari).
Sometimes I wonder if we've regressed in terms of attention to quality. Here in the US, I see lots of potholes on the streets and sidewalks. Meanwhile, the ancient cobblestone roads are still functional to this day.