Further information

Mapping the path of roads

Lighting fires on top of nearby hills or other easily seen points, along with some quite sophisticated equipment, helped map out roads during Roman times. After this the Romans needed to arrange the transport of tools, materials to build the road, workers, and to provide them with food and shelter.

Building a road

The first stage in building a road was to clear away trees and turf. A trench was then dug and filled with layers of large stones. On top of this would be laid smaller stones such as flint and gravel. This process was called 'metalling'.

The surface layer was built in a slight curve called a camber so that puddles would drain away into specially dug ditches at the side. Sometimes earth would be piled into a mound and have large flat stones laid on the top in order to make a road. This kind was called an agger. In Norfolk, Roman roads were often just layers of gravel.

The same process was used to build the streets in towns like Caistor.

Why did the Romans build straight roads?

The building of roads like these meant that soldiers could move about quickly through the empire. Merchants could also bring their goods to the most far away provinces like Britain. They brought silver, glass, lamps, marble, linen, and emeralds to sell to the Romans and Britons.

When the walls were constructed at Venta Icenorum, the size of the town was reduced by 14 hectares (about half the original size).

The illustration of the street layout at Caistor Roman Town opposite shows how the defences have destroyed some of the streets.

Related pages on this website

• Life under the Romans