Today, as yesterday, communication and mobility are essential in the configuration of landscapes, understood as cultural creations. The dense networks of roads that nowadays crisscross Europe have a historical depth whose roots lie in its ancient roads. Under the might of Rome, a network of roads was designed for the first time that was capable of linking points very far apart and of organizing the lands they traversed.
They represent some of the Empire’s landscapes and are testimony to the ways in which highly diverse regions were integrated under one single power:
‐ Roads of conquest. The initial course of the roads was often marked by the Rome army in its advance. Their role as an instrument of control over conquered lands was a constant, with soldiers, orders, magistrates, embassies and emperors all moving along them. Alesia is undoubtedly one of the most emblematic landscapes of the war waged by Rome’s legions against the peoples that inhabited Europe. Its material remains and the famous account by Caesar, the Gallic Wars, have meant that Alesia has been recognized for two centuries now as a symbol of the expansion of Rome and the resistance of local communities.
With the creation of the MuséoParc Alésia, the department of Côte‐d’Or (France) aims to present the history and context of what happened in Alesia more than 2,000 years ago via an interpretation centre, the reconstruction of the Roman fortification lines built by Julius Caesar during the siege of Alesia, and the Roman‐Gallic vestiges that the oppidum of Alesia (Alise‐Sainte‐Reine) still preserve. Architecture, landscape and sets are the keys to present both information and the context of the battle of Julius Caesar against the Gallic peoples, where the roads of conquest played a leading role. In this context, the MuséoParc Alésia offers an educational discourse that revolves around the permanent exhibition, enriched each year by temporary exhibitions and various cultural programmes on the theme of the museum.
‐ The rural world. If the major roads were the arteries of the Empire, the minor roads were its capillaries, allowing the integration of the rural world: its settlements, lands, livestock and mines. Beyond the major roads, a multitude of smaller roads made it possible for peasant communities to form part of the Empire. Thanks to these, some products were able to spread far and wide: pottery, glass, wine, produce of the sea... However, these roads were also essential to guarantee the subsistence of the Empire: coin, orders and tax collecting reached its remotest corners along them. The Vía de la Plata Route and Arlon are two excellent examples of the capacity of the secondary road network to link cities and villages, from the heart of the Empire right out to its borders.
The small town of Arlon (Belgium), located to the northwest of the Empire close to the line of frontier fortifications known as the Limes Germanicus, is a clear example of the importance of these secondary roads in integrating the rural world into the Roman Empire. This rural settlement raised at the crossing of roads that went to Reims, Trier (Treves) and Cologne was an important vicus (Orolaunum) which concentrated the administrative power of Rome in this area of the Empire. The archaeological remains from Roman times that are still preserved in the entrance of the town such as its walls, towers, public baths, etc., in addition to the remains preserved in its Archaeological Museum, constitute a clear example of the integration of this vicus in the Roman world thanks to its excellent position on the road network.
‐ Integration of the limits. From the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, the ends of the roads also marked those of the known world (the oecumene). Braga (Bracara Augusta) (Portugal) and the Vía de la Plata Route are two key pieces to understand the integration of the western limits of the Empire. Located on the Oceanus, the unknown sea, Braga (Bracara Augusta) was a crossroad that connected the Atlantic land’s ends or finis terrae with the rest of the Empire. Founded during the reign of Augustus, the civitas of Bracara Augusta arose within the context of the political‐administrative reorganization of Hispania. It played an important political and administrative role throughout the Empire due to its strategic position as a hub of communications. The routes XIV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX, described in the “Antonine Itinerary”, passed through its territory. Route XIX, dating from the Augustan period, linked the cities of Bracara Augusta (Braga), Iria Flavia, Lucus Augusti (Lugo) and Asturica Augusta (Astorga), where it joined the Vía de la Plata Route. It was inaugurated in 11 AD and was the longest in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Today, sections of this route can still be traversed, especially in the Portuguese area and in the province of Orense (Galicia, Spain).
Testimonies to this important past of Bracara Augusta are its important archaeological remains, such as the public baths in Alto da Cividade known as the Roman Thermae of Maximinus, the city walls, the amphitheatre, the Fountain of the Idol, the Domus da Escola Velha da Sé, its epigraphy, numismatics, and the like.
The Vía de la Plata Route was the authentic backbone of western Hispania, traversing its three provinces (Hispania Baetica, Hispania Lusitania and Hispania Tarraconensis). It was the basis of the current road links. This road running S‐N was built as such and was designed all along its layout, starting during the reign of Augustus (late 1st century BC ‐ change of era) to link up Emerita Augusta (Mérida), capital of the new province of Lusitania, with the northern territories newly incorporated into the Empire. Numerous milestones indicate this Augustan enterprise. There are also milestones from other, later emperors that mark the repair of the road, demonstrating its importance over the centuries. The construction of the main bridges along this route is attributed to Trajan or Hadrian (2nd century AD), the most conspicuous example of which is the bridge in Salamanca over the River Tormes. Currently, the route runs through 4 regions and 7 Spanish provinces along an 800‐km‐long south‐north axis, with strong links with Portugal.
Due to the importance of this arterial road, the Cooperation Network of Towns on the Ruta de la Plata was created in 1997. This voluntary association is constituted by towns and cities on this route and its hinterland to carry out joint actions to defend and promote its tourist, historical, cultural and economic resources. The Network currently has 28 associated locations.
Aquileia (Italy) and Emona (Ljubljana) can only be understood for their role as crossroads between the east and west, between the north and south of the Empire. It is not uncommon for some of Europe’s most famous arterial roads, such as the Amber Route, to owe a great deal to the major roads that linked the four cardinal points of the Empire.
Founded in 181 BC, the Roman colony of Aquileia was an important port as well as an important hub connecting not only Rome with the northeast of the Empire, but also with its neighbouring provinces. Through this enclave passed the Via Annia, the Via Postumia, the Via Julia Augusta and the Via Gemina. What’s more, there was another route to the east which linked up with Iulia Emona (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and occasionally continued on to Pannonia. In addition to the presence of these roads, Aquileia was characterized by the abundance of maritime routes that completed this communication network. The numbers of archaeological remains that can be visited today in this city endorse the importance that this city had in Roman times as a centre of both terrestrial and maritime communication.
For its part, the Colonia Iulia Aemona (Ljubljana, Slovenia), located in Cisalpine Gaul, played a fundamental role in the incorporation of these territories to Rome. From that time, the city of Ljubljana conserves an archaeological park in its old quarter where vestiges ranging from the time of the foundation of the colony through to the 6th century AD can be seen. Noteworthy among these are the remains of a private house with mosaics and hypocausts, the city walls, sewers, remains of a road, a baptistery and an important collection of objects from Roman times on show in Ljubljana Museum and local galleries.
‐ Water and land: ports and trade. The Empire expanded from the shores of the Mediterranean and if anything made it possible to maintain the stability of the Empire from the Mare Nostrum, it was its sea, river and road links. Inland and coastal ports, such as Aquileia, became dynamic hubs, veritable drivers of trade and meeting points.
‐ Integration of the mountains. The roads did not stop before Europe’s major mountain barriers. Minor roads crossed them, passes were opened that have lasted until today and forest, livestock and mining resources were exploited. Aquileia and Emona were essential for the incorporation of the Eastern Alps as an active part of the Empire. The northernmost section of the Ruta de la Plata secured the connection of the lands of the Astures, north of the imposing Cantabrian Mountains.
Today, Roman roads show that it is possible to link diversity and integrate the complementary heritage of the major sites/archaeological sites and museums, contributing to explain the historical processes of the construction of landscapes of power or of production, but also landscapes that are perceived, imagined or represented, all an essential part of Europe tangible and intangible heritage.
![[Item from Alésia, France]This knife was found in 1911 in a well in the Gallo-Roman city of Alesia. The anaerobic enviro...](https://img3.travelagents10.com/950/621/857397449506218.jpg)
![[Object of the season 🏺]Do you know about Terra Sigillata? Our seasonal object is dedicated to Terra Sigillata, this Rom...](https://img4.travelagents10.com/367/448/849048133674483.jpg)
![[Did you know the city of León?] The city of León (Ruta Vía de la Plata [Página oficial], Spain) was founded as a settle...](https://img5.travelagents10.com/849/004/834225808490049.jpg)
![[🏺 The archaeological site Gradina in Stari Slankamen]🔍 The archaeological site Gradina in Stari Slankamen (presumed Acu...](https://img5.travelagents10.com/563/192/829473765631920.jpg)
