sliaped stones driven into interstices at the sides of the road. The building of the road involved e.\- tensive labour of various kinds. Hills had to be stripped of their trees, stones and Iwams had to be planed, pools had to be drained, the courses of streams to be diverted, bridgcis to be constructed, etc. Our own country provides many examples of Roman roads, some in excellent preservation. Sometimes one may have the chance of seeing a Roman road in section, for instance that between Alcester and Dorchester (Oxon.) in a quarry on Shotover Hill. The upper surface of the best roads consisted commonly of sijuare blocks of basalt {saxum silex) placed angularly, with the corners pointing towards the sides and the direction of the road. Such blocks may be seen in position on the Ajjpian Way near Terracina, at Tusculuni as one ascends the hill, and also at Ostia, where the recent excavations have produced marvellous results.
(2) Upkeep. — The upkeep of the roads was natur- ally a matter of the greatest importance. Tlie thoroughness of the initial construction was such that the ordinary upkeep was not so serious a matter as it would otherwise have been. Land- slides and other accidents must have been compara- tively rare, but everyone knows that even a good road, like a good house, requires careful watching, if it is to be kept in perfect condition. During the Empire such duties were entrusted to definite officials. Augustus in 27 B.C. took in hand the repair of the roads of Italy. In 20 B.C. he appointed curatores uiarum, who appear to have had a general oversight of the roads of Italy. In Claudius' time we hear of curatores of particular roads, men who had already held the prajtorship. Curatores of equestrian rank are seldom found, and had charge only of the second-class roads. The prajtorian curatores had under them subcuratores. The Italian roads seem for the most part to have been supported out of the public treasury, though the local authorities and the Imperial treasury had a share in the cost of the upkeep. We hear of tabularii, Imperial officials concerned with dis- bursements for this purpose (cf. Hirschfeld in the Literature). The streets of Rome itself were under the charge of another department.
(3) Purpose. — The original purpose with which the Roman roads were made was military, not commercial. It was not so much the army that followed in the wake of trade, as trade that followed the army. As soon as a particular district had been garrisoned by the Romans, it was a necessary part of the scheme of defence and sub- jection that the garrison should be connected with Rome by a road or series of roads, along which, in the event of a rising (tuinultus) of the enemy, an army could be brought as rapidly as possible. But though military in their origin, such was the ett'ectiveness of the pax Bomana that for the most part these roads were used for political and com- mercial purposes, or for those of general travel.
Perhaps the most important use to which the roads were put in Imperial times was the service of the Imperial post. This was established by Augustus, perhaps on some Eastern model, for the eli'ective dispatch of business. By the arrangement entered into between Augustus and the Senate, half the provinces were under the control of the Emperor, and he had his financial agents (pro- curatores) in the other half. Centralization of government was a feature of the Roman Empire from the first, and in the exaggerated form which it attained in the 4th cent. A.D. was one of the causes, probably the chief cause, of its disintegra- tion. The Roman Emperors were as a class hard- working men who took administration seriously. Pliny the Younger tells that his uncle, the Elder
EOADS AND TRAVEL
KOAJJS AisD TKAVEL
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I'linv, used to help the E.upe.or \ ^?I''}^^"^» V' ,U eonesiKnulenoe before .la. n ( A/., lu- ^K >^,r^; the Uo>u'.. p..u-ti.e to gain time I'Y ff ,'r ,^j' early rather thai, hy silting up late. It '- »' """^^j
ll:i-;ir;;^&l;:;fuu^i^^^^ !i--ro?S.,^nS-
T e Im e ial post was strictly reserved for tnipenal mirnoses Even governors of provinces were un-
vassus they measured about 6 ft. higl on a average and were cylindrical in shane, often with Tsqi^i^ b^se belonging to the -me ^ock as soin.- tinies also in modern England). The stone was Scribed with the name, titles, and year (of ofhce) ^f the rei-ning Emperor. Thousands of these stonelliave been discovered, and every y>^^ ^^ to the number. In tlie provinces systems of mile- stones counted from various important centres have
^7") "-Inns provided accommodation for trivellei" From all accounts these seem to have been not only very humble in character, but also trotliels at tlfe saiL time. This >^, "o ;^-'^^ V^^l the reason why C cero and other travellers in lie publi'n timeJspent the nights o a Pu™eyj«'^ - in their own country-houses or m those ot uieu rie,;:^ as far as possible. Certainly it .^gauis
jioii: lit .'love of ^r^^^ja^-^^ni'^
tdl sa.es is intended the entertainment, not of Mlow cttizens, but of strangers from a distance. T^^rnns were'no fit places for Pf-°-, "^--Jj;;r were dedicated to chastity and all holy livin<,. From the scanty references to >1-". m hte^- -- one can see that they were avoided by all resj ect able persons, as were the cook-shops of the cities riigi'^itoso homini popinam ingredi "otabile es nseudo -Augustine, Qucestwyies Vctcns etlSom EL» "rcxxr//. no. 102, § 5. ed. Souter, Vienna