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Purposes and Kinds of Roman roads
Why did the Romans build roads? The Romans
considered a well-organized and efficient transportation
system a basic element of proper administration; i.e. an
indispensable element in creating and maintaining the Roman
state. The earliest highways or main roads were constructed
for the use of the military, and their economic benefit for
civilians was a later byproduct and not the main reason for
their creation. The military nature of the roads continued to
be essential as Roman expanded into territory outside Italy.
In the province of Arabia Petraea (which included what is now
Jordan), the movement of troops and ease of communication for
the army and Roman administration were the primarily reasons
for construction of the Via Nova, one of the many viae
militares or military roads built in conquered provinces.
However, smaller, shorter, and less well-constructed local
roads (actus) or tracks (callis) also increased in territory
after it was brought under Roman control. Nevertheless, the
main public highways (viae publicae) normally began as
military roads and only gradually evolved into civilian
conduits. [Map  - 53 K] |
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