by Gillian Taber

Created on: July 11, 2009

When the Romans arrived in Britain, they discovered a variety of rudimentary roads and paths. These mainly connected villages, although there were two well-known trade routes, Icknield Way in Norfolk and over the North Downs in Kent. There was no particular structure to the roads of Britain. The Romans had some work to do, and some of their roads still exist today.

Why did the Romans need roads?

One of the most important reasons for having good roads was troop movement. Getting soldiers to trouble spots, or simply moving them to garrison the new towns the Romans were creating, was vital. Trying to move an army quickly across the narrow tracks and paths that existed at the time would prove close to impossible. The Romans also needed good roads to move goods and to use for safe trade routes.

How was a Roman road built?

The one thing we all know about Roman roads is that they were incredibly straight. As a conquering army, the Romans did not need to take into account ownership of the land. They had conquered and the land belonged to them, thus they could go where they pleased.

However, the Roman surveyors, known as agrimensores, were smart men. They knew roads couldn't always go in a straight line. Sometimes detours had to be made, around hills, woodland or marshy ground. Rivers did not pose a problem. If there was no ford or crossing point, the Romans built a bridge and kept moving.

The roads were mainly built by the legions, the soldiers of the Roman army being capable of more than simple fighting. Roman soldiers built most of the structures necessary for themselves. Surveyors, engineers and equipment were carried with the legions.

It was actually the responsibility of the generals, travelling with the legions, to fund these projects. Because these generals had total authority, this usually meant that materials, money and labor were drawn from the local populace.

Roman roads stuck to a tried and tested construction plan, which could be adjusted to suit local conditions. This came in the form of an 'agger', an embankment, which was built higher than the surrounding land and had drainage ditches on either side.

The workers would start by digging a pair of parallel trenches. The stones and earth from these trenches was thrown into the center of the planned road to build it to the required height. Some roads were six feet above the surrounding land and they could be as much as fifty feet wide, but there was one constant. The road had to able to allow a

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