Roman Roads

Rome was famous for was their system of roads. Romans built over 53,000 miles (85,000 kilometers) of roads to connect every part of their empire. The roads were mostly built by the army and were all done by hand. The system of roads connected together every province in the empire. The Romans had a saying "All roads lead to Rome." One could start traveling on a Roman road in northwest Africa, travel around the entire Mediterranean sea, end up in Rome and never have left a Roman road.

The roads were first surveyed to keep them straight. Roadbeds were dug three feet down and twenty three feet across. It was then filled with large gravel and sand for the foundation. A layer of smaller gravel was placed down and leveled. The sides were lined with blocks and hand-carved stones. Stones were often pentagonal in shape (five sided) and fitted together to make the top layer of the road. The roads were sloped from the center so rainwater would drain off into ditches at the sides of the roads.
Stone mile markers would be placed along the roads to let travels know how far to the next city or inn.