Roman Roads

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

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Summary

Do all roads lead to Rome? We find out in today's episode all about one of the Roman Empire's greatest legacies - it's web-like network of roads and route-ways. From the famous Via Appia, the longest road in mainland Italy, to Watling Street, the road on which Boudica was defeated, Rome's roads left an indelible mark on the territories their centurions conquered.

But what do we actually know about these ancient streets and pathways? What was road travel like back in Roman times? And most importantly, what was their equivalent of a service station?

To explain all this and much more Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Catherine Fletcher, author of a new book called The Roads to Rome.

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The famous five are away on a splendid weekend adventure.
0:03.5	Do we have to go home today?
0:05.5	sighed Anne.
0:06.5	I agree said Dick.
0:08.0	Even Timmy looks sad.
0:09.5	Cheer up everyone.
0:11.5	Beams Julian, I booked long weekend tickets we can return anytime on Monday
0:17.0	Oh you are clever Julian said Anne save over 50% with the long weekend a ticket from Great Western Railway.
0:24.4	Adventures start here. Selected routes apply.
0:27.6	Saving in comparison to ancients on history hit.
0:45.0	I'm Tristan Hughes your host.
0:48.0	And in today's episode where we are covering one of the great legacies of the Roman Empire, the road system that crisscrossed it,
0:57.1	which you can still see the remains of today.
1:00.4	From the famous Via Appia, the most prestigious Roman road of them all,
1:04.8	that connected Rome, the Eternal City, and Brindizi that Port Town at the heel of Italy,
1:10.8	to the roads that were built all across Roman Britain.
1:15.0	Go almost anywhere in what was the Roman Empire,
1:18.0	and you'll be able to find traces of its road network.
1:22.0	So we've all heard that Rome was famous for its road building,
1:25.4	but what do we actually know about these ancient routeways?
1:28.9	Did all roads really lead to Rome?
1:31.5	And what was road travel like back in Roman times? What was their equivalent
	...

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