The First Superhighways

Here in America, we take great pride in our interstate system. I-81 runs close to my home  As much as we pride ourselves on our highways, there are always bad stretches where potholes abound. I question whether our modern, machine-built roadways will survive for 200 years, much less 2000!

Everybody knows that the ancient Romans were phenomenal builders. But did you know that they built the world's first super-highway system? The Via Appia, of which a pristine portion remains outside of Rome today, was built over 2000 years ago between 312-264 BC. Now considering that it stretches all the way from Rome to Brindisi (ancient Brundisium), that means it only took the Romans less than 50 years to construct it. And it was all done by hand by slaves and Roman legionaries--soldiers in the service of Rome. The stones of which the Via Appia are comprised are large, unwieldy things that took serious sweat and muscle to haul and place. The road is a marvel.

But the ancient Roman superhighways were MORE than just the Via Appia. In Italy alone, the Roman chain of roads was like a vascular system literally all over the peninsula. When I visited Greece, I saw the incredible achievement in Roman road-building with my very eyes. I took photos of myself on the Via Egnatia, the road that bisects Greece, straight through the middle. In one picture, I'm standing on the Via Egnatia in the ruins of ancient Nikopolis in western Greece. In another, I'm on the same road, but hundreds of miles away in Philippi! Setting foot on the same road in two places so far removed from each other really emphasized to me what the Romans accomplished in their engineering.

Recently, someone asked me in jest "what did the Romans ever really DO for us?" Well, here's at least one answer. They handed down the technology of their highway system and gave future generations the insight to build roadways that helped generate economies, make travel easier, and link cities. 

(above) A portion of the original Via Appia just outside of Rome.
(left) A map of the Roman highway system throughout Italy. The Via Appia is in red.