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A new digital atlas published Thursday revealed that the ancient Roman road network extended a surprising 50 percent more than previously thought, challenging long-held assumptions.
Updating the atlas compiled 25 years ago, this new publication takes advantage of technological advances and newly accessible sources to improve the location of ancient routes.
Over five years, archaeologists carefully examined historical records, ancient journals, and landmark sites. They then used satellite imagery and aerial photography, including recently digitized World War II photographs, to search for clues.
While ancient accounts hint at lost roads, scientists have analyzed the terrain from above for microscopic traces. These included slight differences in vegetation, soil variations, or changes in altitude, as well as Roman engineering cues such as raised mounds or eroded hills, which eventually revealed forgotten streets.
“It’s become a big game of connecting the dots on a continental scale,” said archaeologist Tom Brugmans, co-author of the study published in Scientific Data.
The data and an interactive digital map are available online for scholars, history teachers or anyone interested in ancient Roman history.
Brughman said earlier research had focused on “highways of the Roman Empire” – the larger routes often mentioned in familiar historical accounts.
The updated map fills in more obscure details about “secondary roads, such as country lanes, that connect villas and farms” and other locations, Brughman said, which is based on Aarhus University in Denmark.
Researchers previously estimated the extent of Roman roads to be approximately 117,163 miles (188,555 kilometers). The new work shows about 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) of roads across the region. roman empireTravel permission from Spain to Syria.
This study greatly increased archaeologists’ knowledge of ancient roads in North Africa, the plains of France, and the Peloponnese Peninsula of Greece.
“This will be a very foundational work for many other researches,” said archaeologist Benjamin Ducke of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin, who was not involved in the project.
But one caveat, he said, is that it’s still not clear whether all roads were open and active at the same time.
Brughman said being able to visualize the ancient routes taken by Roman farmers, soldiers, diplomats and other travelers would provide a better understanding of the major historical trends that underpinned the movement of people during the Roman period, including the rise of Christianity across the region and the spread of ancient outbreaks.
“The Romans left a huge impact with this road network,” said study co-author Adam Pazout, an archaeologist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, who laid out many of the roads still in use today.
The ability of Roman engineering to build and maintain roads – including arched stone bridges and tunnels between hills – still shapes the geography and economy of the Mediterranean region and beyond, he said.