Roman Roads Essay

The ability to transport goods, people, and information across an empire or a country has always been a great benefit to building and sustaining an empire. This has been true of ancient civilizations that existed thousands of years ago, such as the Royal Road of the Persian Empire, and of modern countries today, such as the Interstate Highway System of the United States. The presence of efficient roads enables a county to better defend its borders, have better access to trade, and also enables communication to flow freely. One empire in history best exemplified the effects that an efficient system of roads could have; this was the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire consisted of many roads that were built throughout its long history; some of which date back to the time of the Roman Republic. But one Roman road best exemplified the effects that an efficient road can have, this road was the Via Aurelia. What was the Via Aurelia? What is the condition of this road today?
The Via Aurelia was one of the main roads of the Roman’s system of roads that connected the far reaches of the empire. Joshua Hammer, a writer for the Smithsonian Magazine, notes that the Via Aurelia was the “Interstate 95 of its time”. (Hammer) This road gave the Roman Empire a more accessible route to the southern portion of the province of Gaul. This further enabled the empire to continue the process of Romanization on Gaul and other provinces under its control. The Via Aurelia aided this process by facilitating the transport of culture and commerce to the various provinces of the