ROA

366

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thickness, 3 feet; the paving being laid upon a foundationof rough stones cemented with mortar, and that again upona bed of gravel. This road is still entire ; it was called theVia Appia in honour of the consul, as was the second,the Via Aurelia, and the third the Via Flaminia . In thetime of Julius Caesar , the number of roads had greatlyincreased, so that all the principal cities of Italy were con-nected with Rome by paved roads, and from that periodsuch means of communication began to be extended into theprovinces, their principal object being to provide a readymode of access into distant provinces, for the passage oftroops and similar purposes.

Augustus , when emperor, paid more attention to the greatroads than he had done during his consulate. He conductedroads into the Alps; his plan was to continue them to theeastern and western extremities of Europe . He gave ordersfor making an infinite number in Spain ; he enlarged andextended the Via Medina to Glades. At the same time, andthrough the same mountains, there were opened two roads toLyons, one of them traversed the Tarentaise, and the otherwas made to the Alphenin.

Agrippa seconded Augustus ably in this part of his govern-ment. It was at Lyons he began the extension of roadsthroughout all Gaul. There are four of them particularly.remarkable for their length, and the difficulty of the countrythrough which they passed. One traversed the mountainsof Auvergne , and penetrated to the bottom of Aquetaine.Another was extended to the Rhine at the mouth of theMeuse , and followed the course of the river to the GermanOcean ; the third crossed Burgundy, Champagne , andPicardy, and ended at Boulogne-sur-mer ; the fourth extendedalong the Rhone, entered the bottom of Languedoc, andterminated at Marseilles . From these principal roads, therewere an infinite number of branch roads, namely, to Treves,Strasburg, Belgrade , &c. There were also great roads fromthe eastern provinces of Europe to Constantinople , and intoCroatia, Hungary, Macedonia , and to the north of theDanube at Torres.

The seas were able to cut across the roads undertaken bythe Romans, but not to stop them. Witness Sicily, Corsica,Sardinia , England, Asia, and Africa, the roads of whichcountries communicated with the roads of Europe by thenearest ports. What labours ! when we embrace in one pointof view, the extent and the difficulties which opposed them-selves—the forests opened, the mountains cut through, thehills lowered, the valleys filled up, the marshes drained, andthe bridges that were built.

“ The Roman roads,” says Mr. Tredgold, “ ran nearly indirect lines ; natural obstructions were removed or overcomeby the effort of labour or art, whether they consisted ofmarshes, lakes, rivers, or mountains. In flat districts, themiddle part of the road was raised into a terrace.

“ In mountainous districts, the roads were alternately cutthrough mountains, and raised above the valleys, so as topreserve either a level line or a uniform inclination. Theyfounded the road on piles, where the ground was not solid;and raised it by strong side-walls, or by arches and piers,where it was necessary to gain elevation. The paved partof the great military road was sixteen Roman feet wide, withtwo sideways, each eight feet wide, separated from the middleway by two raised paths of two feet each.”

Even to such a remote province as Britain were suchmeans of communication opened, good evidence of whichstill exists in the present day. In this country, a grandtrunk, as it may be called, passed from the south to thenorth, and another to the west, with branches in almostevery direction that general convenience and expedition

--- . ,j fro 1 ®

could require. What is called the Watling street, ®Richborough, in Kent, the ancient Ruterpi®, n ° j fro®through London to Chester. The Ermine street London to Lincoln, thence to Carlisle and into ® c0 ! la fln dThe fossway is supposed to have led from Bath gtr eet-western regions north-east, till it joined the E rfflin u ppos e “The last celebrated road was Ikeneld or Ikneld, 8 juW

to have extended from near Norwich south"' 3Dorsetshire . fAt 1 ® 8 '”

If we carefully trace the distance from the wall o . ]11; ituus in (Britain) to Rome , and from thence to J er ®. n fyo®will be found, that the great chain of communica 1 vV j9the north-west to the south-east part of thedrawn out to a length of 4,080 Roman miles, or 3,"4 .j gg to» e3miles ; the public roads were accurately divided by ® ^ v®' 1and ran in a direct line from one city to another, ' v j V atelittle respect for the obstacles either of nature ° r •j ir o"’ nproperty ; mountains were passed, and bold arches g partover the broadest and most rapid streams. The ®i , j tl®of the road was raised into a terrace, which com® 1 ^ sa ° j!adjacent country, and consisted of several strata ^b®,gravel, and cement, and was paved with large ston j t ’j s es®in some places near the capital were of granite. j 4 ,O 0 °mated that the Romans constructed, in all, not les 811miles of paved roadway. aS ged °*

Since the Romans, no country seems to have 8 ®|P f the 1 ®even equalled them in the hardness and dura® 1 ^ ran ch 0roads; in England we may presume that this ^ 0 f lateengineering has been carried on with greater sue ^ ga y oyears than in any other country of modern times , .

late years, for it was not until the latter half of the^ °g- e cte® ’century, that any considerable improvement "’ a t® ■the roads previous to that period having been ® pi® 9and unsatisfactory description. The greatest shai ^for improvement in the construction of roads?

nrS ci

reduced t> ie P , e n

: tice

improvement

Mi. lelford, the eminent engineer, who ..._

into a system conformable to the laws and r e< l®of science. n Jed

Practice of road-making .—The first object to be 8to in the formation of a road, is the preparing of a g , eB d«foundation ; for on this, more than on anything elsfi ein isSthe durability and convenience of the road. '*■ 1,9 ggerti 011has been denied by some persons, and the contrary , beco® eput forward by Mr. McAdam, a name which h‘ lS cjrcU iH'intimately associated with road-making, fro®, t ie rr D M vd

1 . jnf O ^ r

into

d is

stance of that gentleman having introduce ® j s k 8 ?*that system which has been named after hi®» >v , e . flunder the title, “Macadamized.” This gentle®' ^ #n el®

facft

o»

road was equally 1^!^° tnaint:iln the opinion, tn**- -and not only J as 0,1(1 with a firm unyielding .

this subject, he say“L eVen Parable. In a publication

eessary and fuiuro! >m 0r doming of large stones is al,ne, “ That the S" 8 °“ a, y ^nd of subsod. , . - isi tefor any road is w? streu gth, or depth of metal, teg

“ That the duratim ‘? ches - . . e a ro» l! >

depends upon ti 1#1 ,. on ^ an d not the condition of ,

, . “ T bat frLZiT n* of ®» teria ^v

kind of stone. ' Vi ^ make as good a road as a /hard.” ' ** 18 n ° 01at( er whether the substratum be

contradiction to such • '

° such assertions as

these,

and

universal experience of practical men, g ?jof both practical and scientific men, sii® 1Lardner.

To comprehend thoroughly the great

imp® -1

tai® e

of® 8

king