New map reveals Roman road network doubled in size

New project creates digital maps of more than 300,000 km of Roman roads, helping to better understand previously little-explored ancient routes.

A new digital mapping project of the Roman Empire by an international team of researchers has expanded the ancient road network by more than 100,000 km. Photo: Itiner-e.

Although many major cities of the Roman Empire were connected to the capital via main roads, the secondary routes within this network have not been studied in depth. Photo: Itiner-e.

Tom Brughmans, an archaeologist at Aarhus University in Denmark and co-author of the study, said that 200 years of research on Roman roads has focused mainly on Roman “highways.” The new mapping project provides more information about “unknown” or “country roads” that are less well known. Photo: nature.

Archaeologist Brughmans and colleagues created a new digital atlas of Roman roads in Europe, the Near East and North Africa called Itiner-e to better understand the connections between the Roman Empire's transport routes around its peak in 150 AD. Photo: nature.

The Itiner-e map is open access, including high-resolution spatial data of Roman roads with historical and archaeological information, topographic maps and remote sensing data. Photo: nature.

The result was a road map covering nearly 300,000 km, twice the size of previous maps. This vast road network reflects the power of the Roman Empire. Photo: Jon Lovette / Getty Images.

“The massive road network changed the course of history. It meant that for the first time, a disease, an economic boom, or a new religion could spread across the continent and reshape the world,” says archaeologist Brughmans. Photo: Mentnafunangann/WikiCommons CC BY-SA 3.0.

Brughmans said the Itiner-e map still has some gaps, as experts still have difficulty identifying the small roads of the Roman Empire due to the lack of archaeological records. Photo: DEA PICTURE LIBRARY/De Agostini/Getty Images.

Readers are invited to watch the video : Revealing lost civilizations through archaeological remains.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/ban-do-moi-tiet-lo-mang-luoi-duong-bo-la-ma-lon-gap-doi-post2149067721.html