Back to the Nearly All Romans calendar
By now most of the 8,000 miles of Roman
roads in Britain were completed. The Romans were famous for their road system and it not only allowed their armies to move quickly around the country to stop
rebellions but it also made it far easier for merchants and traders to move about.
Roman roads were built straight because that is the quickest way to get from A to B. The roads would be slightly raised in the centre to let water
drain off into the ditches that were built along either side.
The road would have a base of soil and then flint, bits of stone and gravel would be placed on top of the soil. On top of this would be a mixture
of cement and broken tiles and finally paving slabs were neatly placed on top. These paving slabs would be cut so that they fitted together tightly. In some
cases specially shaped stones would be placed along either side with a channel to help water run away. So you see our modern roads are not that different.
Most of people who built the first roads were part of the Roman army. The skill required to choose the place where the road should be built was very
special. Later on Britons, who helped to do some of the manual work, were taught these special skills too.
The map shows the major roads built by the Romans. Some still form the route of our roads today. Watling Street, which ran from London to Chester, is
still in use today and was also where Boudicca was defeated.
Forward to 122AD
