Well… not all roads. For example, Chapel St. leads to the Yale Bowl. But certainly there was a time when the extensive Roman road net linked the far reaches of the Empire, and it is accurate to say that each via did in fact lead to Rome, and specifically to the Temple of Saturn.
You see… in 20 BCE Augustus established that the bronze monument dedicated to Saturn was the beginning point of all roads. The thousands of milestones that dotted the Roman world, always noted the distance from that point to Rome, and Saturn’s Temple.
Ed Koch did the same thing a few years later declaring Times Square the center of the world with all roads leading to Temple Emmanuel. But I digress.
The purpose of roads back then was to facilitate the military in deploying its Legions. Civilian uses of the road were limited to government officials, free citizens and thieves to rob them.
Continued existence of Roman Roads to this day is the stuff of legend. Peddars Way and Watling Street in London are Roman vias. But Legion Ave. in New Haven is not. So be careful about assuming too much… it’s not about the name.
I started thinking about all this stuff when I was mired in traffic on I-95. A section in Bridgeport was being repaved for the umpteenth time, and the Connecticut Turnpike is what? All of 50 years old!
More than the inconvenience of losing two lanes to construction equipment and the delay it caused (by the by, why are they never working on it when I pass?), it just bothered me at how ineffective our repairs are. Where are the Roman engineers now that we really need them?
First, consider the preparation of their road beds. They would dig a trench the width of the road 15 feet down. Then they would place alternating layers of crushed rock, coarse concrete, rubble, sand, gravel and probably a crushed Legionary or two. The final layer would have been flat paving stones with concrete filling in the gaps. The end result was a smooth surface, remarkably resistant to rain, freezing and flooding… and they needed little repair.
Second, consider the nature of the traffic. Lotsa folks wearing sandals, carts and oxen… That’s about it, and very occasionally elephants. But certainly no sports cars, SUVs, tandem trailered trucks or the like.
Aye, there is the rub. Can you imagine how long those Roman Roads would have lasted if Hannibal kept on trooping herds of elephants back and forth across them?
This is where we can really learn from the Romans. Let’s begin with eliminating all forms of automotive and trucking vehicles. In their place we will go back to more environmentally sound forms of travel. Walking. And sandals, we don’t want klunky shoes or spiked heels ripping up the road surface.
Next. Bring back the ox. The environmentally friendly ox. And just think… after the ox has finished its usefulness we get to eat it! Try and eat a Lexus!
And another thing… no elephants!
Just think of the new industires that will blossom as a result of the simpler way of life. Sandal making will be bigger… but I’ve had my fill of the fashion world. If you could house break an ox, that line of ranching might be fun. But I think yoke making will be the real cutting edge industry… that and ox flop shovels. That’s the ticket — yokes and flop shovels.
Yes, things are beginning to come into focus. Kelly, I’ll have one more Wild Turkey. Traffic construction be damned! Here’s to Roman Roads…
We’ll consider orgies on a different evening.