New research on the Roman road network
A new scientific study by the authors of the most detailed map of Roman roads reveals that Rome was not as central in the Roman road system as is often assumed.
The Roman road system was the ancient world's first continental-scale transport network. It united vast regions of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, structuring the flow of trade, armies, and people. Crucially, these routes also facilitated the continental spread of technological innovations, religious beliefs like Christianity, and ancient pandemics.
This new study reveals the structure of this network for the first time, offering a data-driven perspective on infrastructure persistence that remains highly relevant today. It found that the Romans left a permanent imprint on the modern world: a correlation between the density of ancient Roman roads and major modern roads, that persisted until major historical shifts driven by the industrial revolution. This persistence was shaped by highly local conditions, including topography, river corridors, the survival of cities, and varied institutional development.
The study challenges the long-held assumption that Roman roads were uniformly straight. While Roman engineers did favor straight roads when the terrain permitted, their routes were overall less straight than modern major roads and they had to negotiate local topography. However, the Romans were not sharply constrained by the terrain; they skillfully engineered roads in less favorable landscapes using terracing, rock cutting, and retaining walls. Because of this, the absolute majority of Roman roads maintained a slope of less than 16%, ensuring they remained suitable for animal-driven carts and wagons. Interestingly, modern roads are slightly more sensitive to harsh topography, showing a stronger negative correlation with high elevation than ancient roads.
The rigorous network analysis debunks the famous proverb that "all roads lead to Rome". Rome was spatially an appendix on the empire's terrestrial transport map. Instead, the study reveals that the late antique capital Byzantium was more central to empire-wide land mobility. Furthermore, the analysis proved that provincial capitals consistently served as key crossroads mediating regional overland communications. The consistent, high centrality of provincial capitals and main roads implies that the Romans were capable of highly sophisticated, system-level decision-making. This development of infrastructure to organize, administer, and control newly conquered territories opens fascinating new questions about exactly how the Romans planned, mapped, and executed these decisions on a continental scale for the first time in human history.
Contact:
Tom Brughmans (Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark)
Email: t.b@cas.au.dk
Adam Pažout (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain)
Email: Adam.Pazout@uab.cat
Pau de Soto (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain)
Email: paude.soto@uab.cat
About the research result
Studietype:
Åben dataindsamling og kortlægning inden for klassisk arkæologi og oldtidshistorie
Funding:
Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond (DFF) – Sapere Aude forskningslederstipendium til projektet MINERVA; Carlsbergfondets Young Researcher Fellowship til The Past Social Networks Project; Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF) Centre of Excellence for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet) samt Viator-e-projektet, som er finansieret af MCIN og af FEDER.
Link to the publication:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75453-3
See more:
https://youtu.be/OTSe7MsJXbo
Kreditering: © Itiner-e, Artas Media
Link to online Atlas: https://itiner-e.org/