Thursday, June 07, 2018

an 1800-year-old Roman road in Timgad, which was a Roman colonial town in the Aurès Mountains of modern-day Algeria.


The Romans created a continuous coastal highway across the north coast of Africa, from West to East

At the peak of Rome’s development, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the Capital, and the late Empire’s 113 Provinciae were interconnected by 372 great roads. The whole comprised more than 248,548 mi of roads, of which over 50,000 mi were stone-paved.


In 42 AD Emperor Claudius annexed the kingdom of Mauretania, then restored and widened a Carthaginian trail and extended it west and east. This way the Romans created a continuous coastal highway stretching for 2,100 miles from the Atlantic to the Nile.

A Via connected 2 cities, so Viae were generally centrally placed in the countryside. The construction and care of the Roman public roads anywhere was, at all periods of Roman history, considered to be a function of the greatest weight and importance.

About 1000 cities were created or transformed by the Romans. These new cities were built on a rigid grid. The city center of even the most modest showcased the civic buildings that Rome prized: temples, the forum, theater, library, baths and other waterworks, sometimes an amphitheater, basilicas, and the market.

Note what the Romans did not build: schools, hospitals, or public housing.



In 137 Hadrian built the Via Hadriana in the eastern desert of Egypt. It ran from Antinoopolis to Berenice.


Claudius' road that began west of Carthage followed the coastline connecting the coastal towns. From Hippo Regius, on the coast, it continued westwards to Icosium (Algiers), Caesarea (Cherchell), as far as Rusaddir (Melilla) and Tingis (Tangier). It then continued along the Atlantic coast through Iulia Constantia Zilil (Asilah) and Lixus (Larache) to Sala Colonia (near Rabat). East of Carthage the road went through the region of the Carthaginian trading stations Sabratha, Oea-Tripolis, Leptis Magna and Cyrenaica before coming to Alexandria and the lower Nile region.



http://www.romeacrosseurope.com/?p=5226#sthash.FikpyJ5C.N4Q7qRuF.dpbs
http://twistedsifter.com/2016/03/1800-year-old-roman-road-in-timgad-algiers-africa/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_roads_in_Morocco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limes_Tripolitanus
http://travelswithnancy.com/EarlyRome/roman-technology.htm

7 comments:

  1. Jesse! I like it a lot when you mix high and low, old and new stuff in a fantastic cocktail. Pour me another and keep em coming! Look in your tip jar.

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    1. Thanks! I normally have a wild variety,and I like it better that way myself, but occassionally, like the past two weeks, there isn't much going on and coincidentally I've found http://viralthings.tumblr.com and am looking through it from one end to the other, and finding amazing photos, and some are good for this blog, and some are good for https://contentandcomposition.tumblr.com/ and others are just perfect for my facebook or http://isonlyskindeep.tumblr.com/

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  2. Where is your tip jar btw?

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    1. Oh, thanks! But I only have it up for about a month in January/February

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  3. Fabulous explanation of the Roman roads.

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  4. Got to agree with the guys here Jesse, you find the most unique stuff to post. Thanks again.

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