Transporation

Transportation By Brian R.

In the greatest empire the world ever saw, Romans needed a way to transport goods. They had great ways to do it. They had most resources already grown or produced in theirown empire. All Romans needed was a way to get around.

The Romans had different ways of travel. Most just walked around everywhere. A lot of Romans also had chariots, which were two-wheeled carts that you would stand up in and hold the reins of your horse(s) or ox(en). Wealthy citizens, called patricians, would ride in little seats covered up by curtains, with four wooden sticks sticking down so it could be carried by their slaves. Goods being delivered would be on a cart, with horses or oxen pulling it, and a man guiding it.

Romans were smart. They had roads so their chariots wouldn't have to go through mud, sand, or swamp. Roman roads were originnally made out of wood cut from oak and adler trees. Eventually, the roads were made from stone blocks, packed sand, and packed earth. They were fastened with wooden stakes and were elevated on swamp land, making roads very durable. They had sidewalks and drainage ditches at the side to drain water. Many durable roads' remains can be found today in Europe.

The first major Roman road was the Via Appia. It ran from Rome 162 miles to Tarentum and was later expanded to Brundisium on the Adriatic Coast. Another famous road called the Via Popilia ran from Calabria to the Straits of Messina. By 200 B.C., four more great roads led out of Rome. They had many feeder roads leading to the statement "All roads lead to Rome".

The Romans built road systems through their whole empire including the North African coast, Britain, Gaul, and throughout Italy. The roads had clever features like roadhouses which were places Romans could buy food, sleep, and rest their horses. The Roman government used a system called the Cursus Publicus to deliver mail throughout the empire. When Romans were on the road, they used itineraria to show them the way. Itineraria alerted the location of attractions and things like roadhouses, bridges, rivers, roads, and more. The Peutinger Table was the master source for Itineraria. It showed roads, their distances, and the most convenient routes between towns. The Peutinger Table was most likely based on a map of the world drawn by Marcus Aggrippo.

Even in Ancient Rome, there were traffic jams. It got so out of hand, that the Roman senate elected traffic laws which made stop-signs, one-way streets, and parking places available to the public. Julius Caesar, a Roman emperor, made a law called Lex Iulius Municipalis, banning certain vehicles from the roads during the day.

Despite having road systems spanning across the empire, Rome also controlled the Mediterranean Sea for centuries. Romans built many warships to keep it that way. Some ships had catapults for stones and boulders. Some even had moveable bridges so soldiers could board enemy ships. Famous Roman warships were called Dromons. They had sails, banks of rowers, and high-tech armor made out of leather and cloth. The armor was soaked with liquids like vinegar to prevent it from catching on fire when being hit by hot stones or flaming arrows. If you fell overboard on any ship, they would most likely throw you a swimming belt, which was a leather tube filled with cork. The first record of its usage dates back to 390 B.C.

Besides having warships, Rome also had ships that resembled barges for taking goods across the Mediterranean Sea. An important port just outside of Rome was called Cosa. Cosa made, packaged, and shipped wine and dried, salted fish, important foods in the Roman diet. Cosa also had a huge natural lagoon with 2.5 acres of fish tanks for fish farming. It could have yielded 3.3 million pounds of fish every year! Cosa also produced garum, which was salted fish guts fermented in the sun. It was used like ketchup or mustard and was the most expensive condiment in ancient Rome. Cosa's facitilites were well designed. There was a breakwater wall of limestone. Rocks also protected vessels from incoming waves and prevented silt from filling the harbor. Two piers were built on top of the breakwater and three were on the concrete piles. Evidence shows that Cosa had a lighthouse over 90 feet high.

For the time around Christ's birth, this is some pretty amazing stuff! I wonder how garum would taste???...........

Works Cited  Roman Road System. //Encyclopedia Brittanica.// 2008. Rossi, Renzo. //A History of Sailing Ships.// Farmington Mills, MI: Blackbirch Press, 2006. Woods, Michael., and Woods, Mary B. //Ancient Transportation.// Minneapolis, MN: Runestone Press, 2000.