Rome built 85,000km of paved roads across 3 continents. The engineering was so good that many roads are STILL in use 2,000 years later — the A1 autostrada follows the Via Cassia. The Via Emilia gave Emilia-Romagna its name. The Via Appia Antica outside Rome has original basalt paving stones with chariot ruts still visible. You can walk, cycle, or drive on roads designed by engineers who solved drainage, gradient, and foundation problems that modern contractors still study.
1. Via Appia (312 BC): Rome → Brindisi (540km). "Regina viarum" (queen of roads). Best preserved section: Rome to Benevento — walk the 16km stretch outside Rome (original paving, monumental tombs, catacombs, aqueducts). 2. Via Flaminia (220 BC): Rome → Rimini (315km). Crosses the Apennines through Umbria. Surviving: The Arco di Augusto in Rimini (27 BC, the road's terminus) and the Ponte d'Augusto at Narni (bridge over the Nera river, half-surviving, atmospheric). 3. Via Emilia (187 BC): Rimini → Piacenza (260km). The straightest Roman road in Italy — it gave the region its name (Emilia-Romagna). The modern SS9 follows it exactly. Every city on the road (Bologna, Modena, Parma, Piacenza) was founded as a Roman colony along the Via Emilia.
4. Via Cassia (170 BC): Rome → Florence → Lucca (380km). Through Tuscany via Siena, San Gimignano. Large sections survive as modern roads (SS2 Cassia). The Via Francigena (medieval pilgrimage route Canterbury → Rome) follows much of the Cassia — today a walking/cycling path (via.francigena.org). 5. Via Aurelia (241 BC): Rome → France along the Tyrrhenian coast. Modern SS1 Aurelia + A12 autostrada. The coastal drive from Rome to Cinque Terre follows the ancient route.
Why they lasted 2,000 years: 4-layer construction — statumen (foundation stones), rudus (gravel + morite), nucleus (concrete-like aggregate), summa crusta (surface paving — large polygonal basalt blocks, fitted without mortar). Drainage: Roads were crowned (higher in the center) so water ran to ditches on both sides. Width: Standard 4.2m (2 chariots passing). Major roads: 6-8m. Gradient: Maximum 10% (modern highways allow 8%). Milestones: Every Roman mile (1,478m) — some survive in situ along the Appia. How to walk Roman roads today: The Via Appia Antica park (Rome, free, bike rental €5/h). The Via Francigena (multiday walk Canterbury→Rome, Italian section: Gran San Bernardo Pass → Rome, 1,000km). The Via degli Dei (Bologna → Florence, 130km hiking trail following the Roman Via Flaminia Minor through the Apennines, 5-6 days).