How Did the Ancient Romans Manage to Build Perfectly Straight, Ultra Durable Roads?

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The ancient Romans were a people famed for their architectural prowess, something no better demonstrated than by their ability to build almost perfectly straight and incredibly durable roads spanning expansive distances. For example, in Britain alone, the Romans built well over 50,000 miles of roads with the longest ruler-straight stretch spanning over 50 miles. They did all of this in an era without modern surveying tools, construction equipment, or even very accurate maps of precisely where their destination was for many of the areas. So how did they do it?

Want the text version?: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2019/09/how-did-the-ancient-romans-manage-to-build-perfectly-straight-ultra-durable-roads/

Sources:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/526811
http://www.historyrevealed.com/article/international-history/why-did-romans-build-straight-roads

Why Did Ancient Romans Build So Many Straight Roads?


https://www.thevintagenews.com/2015/10/05/do-you-know-why-the-romans-built-straight-roads-now-you-will/
http://www.romanobritain.org/12_innovations/inv_roads.htm
http://www.romanobritain.org/12_innovations/inv_roads.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_roads
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Tables
https://www.romae-vitam.com/roman-roads.html

Why Were Roman Roads So Important and Who Built Them?


https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-beautiful-network-of-ancient-roman-roads
https://www.ancient.eu/article/758/roman-roads/
https://books.google.com/books?id=7Nq25uJOP1oC&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=Cocceius+tunnel++width+and+height&source=bl&ots=WQ1axPxDk2&sig=ACfU3U1n3OMIL9rJHLllKJrpZah2sBwLxQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJg7CHtqzkAhV3JzQIHaD2CHIQ6AEwA3oECBgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Cocceius%20tunnel%20%20width%20and%20height&f=false

Nero Didn’t Fiddle While Rome Burned


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_roads#Milestones_and_markers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milliarium_Aureum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odometer#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism
https://books.google.com/books?id=6iS8BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=tiberius+traveled+from+rome+to+nero+distance+of+in+24+hours&source=bl&ots=Ei9YkjFyOl&sig=ACfU3U0OZBKl8fhcCbye9FqRUIOph0GM4w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjPsInkjbHkAhVxHDQIHc2jBRAQ6AEwCnoECDMQAQ#v=onepage&q=tiberius%20traveled%20from%20rome%20to%20nero%20distance%20of%20in%2024%20hours&f=false
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PompeiiStreet.jpg

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