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"All roads lead to Rome...and Constantinople" - Study reveals the wonders of the Roman Empire's road network

2026-09-18 23:16:39Histori SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
"All roads lead to Rome...and Constantinople" - Study reveals the
A street in Ostia, the ancient seaport of Rome (Italy), at the mouth of the Tiber River, photographed on September 14, 2026

The expression "all roads lead to Rome" has survived for centuries, but a new study shows that behind it lies an engineering reality even more impressive than previously thought.

Researchers have reconstructed the road network of the Roman Empire and concluded that it stretched for about 300,000 kilometers across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The results, published in Nature Communications, show how the Romans created what researchers consider the first continental-scale land transport system.

Roads connected cities, ports, administrative centers, and military garrisons from Britain to North Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula to the Middle East.

"All roads lead to Rome...and Constantinople" - Study reveals the
The so-called Arch of Drusus, near the beginning of the ancient Via Appia, in Rome, Italy.

Rome was of course one of the most important hubs.

In 20 BC, Emperor Augustus erected in the Roman Forum the "Milliarium Aureum", or Golden Milestone, a monument that symbolically marked the point from which distances were measured to the provinces of the empire.

But the study brings a surprise.

When researchers analyzed the entire network, Constantinople, today's Istanbul, emerged in later periods as even more central for land travel across the empire.

This was related to its strategic position between Europe and Asia and the gradual shift of the political center of the Roman world towards the east.

Roman roads were much more than a way to get from one city to another.

They were one of the main instruments of the empire's power.

Legions could move more quickly to provinces where there were rebellions or threats. Goods traveled from ports to inland cities. News, administrative orders, and people circulated over an enormous territory.

Various materials were used for construction depending on the area, including crushed stone, lime-based binding materials, and stone slabs.

The Romans are known for their straight roads, but the study shows that the reality was more complex.

When the terrain permitted, roads could follow relatively straight lines. In mountainous areas or with natural obstacles, engineers adapted the route to the geography.

The Po River Valley in Italy and parts of northern France were among the areas where the terrain favored more linear routes.

Important provincial centers such as London, Ankara, and Corinth appear to have been particularly connected to the rest of the network.

But perhaps the most interesting part is that many of the roads did not disappear with the Western Roman Empire in 476.

They continued to be used for centuries.

Their traces can still be seen today in modern infrastructure.

Reuters cites as an example the N-340 road in Spain, which follows part of the route of the Roman Via Augusta.

"All roads lead to Rome...and Constantinople" - Study reveals the
New map reveals the immense scale of the Roman road network

So, when we travel on some of Europe's roads today, we may be following itineraries laid out by engineers who lived about two thousand years ago.

Rome built roads to control an empire.

But without knowing it, it also created a transportation framework that in some places continues to influence the way we move today.

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