Roman road

The Romans (see Roman Empire), as a military and political expedient, became adept at constructing long straight roads. These were essential for the growth of their empire in terms of being able to speedily move armies and material, and certainly these lengthy highways were very important in maintaining both the stability and enhancing the rate of expansion of their empire.

The Roman roads often used deep roadbeds of crushed stone? as a underlaying layer to insure that they kept dry, as the water would flow out from the crushed stone, instead of becoming mud in clay soils. The legions made good time on these roads and some are still used millennia later.

Some Roman roads:

• The [Appian Way]? in Italy
• [Watling Street]? in England
• A1? United Kingdom