Map reveals previously unknown roads of the Roman Empire

An international research team has, for the first time, created a digital map of almost the entire road network of the Roman Empire – expanding the previously known routes by more than 100,000 kilometres. The new study covers not only the major roads but also the secondary routes, which until now had largely escaped scholarly attention.

As the saying goes, “all roads lead to Rome”, and in the case of the Roman Empire, this was hardly an exaggeration. The vast empire’s cities and provinces were connected by an astonishingly extensive road system that played a crucial role economically, militarily, and culturally. It has now emerged that Roman roads were far more widespread than previously believed, according to Live Science.

Previously unknown roads of the Roman Empire were discovered

The research was led by Tom Brughmans, an archaeologist at Aarhus University in Denmark, who, together with his colleagues, created a new digital atlas called Itiner-e. The aim of the project was to reconstruct the Roman world as it existed around AD 150, at the height of the empire’s expansion. The researchers combined historical sources, archaeological data, topographical maps, and modern remote-sensing technologies to build a large-scale, open-access database.

The Itiner-e map includes roughly 300,000 kilometres of Roman roads – more than double earlier estimates. According to Brughmans, this discovery fundamentally changes our understanding of Roman transport and social networks.

Connectivity brought both advantages and disadvantages

Roman roads did not only facilitate the movement of the army but also ensured the political and economic cohesion of the empire. Merchants, soldiers, officials, and pilgrims all travelled the same routes, many of which can still be traced in parts of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa today.

The researchers argue that the size and interconnectedness of the network illustrate how the Roman Empire was able to function so efficiently for hundreds of years.

At the same time, this unity made the empire vulnerable: Brughmans points to the Antonine Plague, which spread across the empire from AD 165 onwards and decimated the population.

More roads may yet be discovered

Jeffrey Becker, an archaeologist at Binghamton University in New York who was not involved in the study, believes that Itiner-e represents a major step forward in understanding the world of the Roman Empire. However, he notes that there are still gaps in the map – partly due to inaccessible data and partly because identifying road remnants remains challenging.

Brughmans and his team acknowledge that the current version is only the beginning. The total length of secondary roads they have identified is nearly 200,000 kilometres, but this figure may increase significantly in the future.

The Itiner-e platform is freely accessible to researchers and the general public alike, offering extensive data on every known road of the Roman Empire, from the major military routes to smaller rural paths. The project also aims to inspire other researchers to map the missing segments.

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