Ancient Roman Travel

With the extensive network of roads linking every part of the empire, especially the paved viae munita, it might be tempting to imagine that they did for Roman civilization what the system of canals and train tracks did for Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution, or the interstate highway system did for the United States during the latter half of the twentieth century.



That is, it encouraged social mobility and the cosmopolitanization of the empire as people of different nations, cultures, and races freely mixed. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The primary purpose of the road system, especially the viae munita, was the rapid movement and deployment of the legions. In fact, building the roads was a military responsibility, and it even had a military name: viam munire. In other words, the Roman state treated the roads as they did fortifications.

This is not to say that ordinary citizens were forbidden to use the roads; the legions didn't patrol the roads and crucify any non-military person they caught. It does, however, mean that they couldn't use them for free. Unless they were a legion on the march or government officials on state business, the roads were toll roads. Travelers usually paid the toll when they arrived at a town or city, but there were extra tolls for crossing bridges, and local patrician landowners might charge tolls for the stretch of road they were responsible for maintaining. Tolls also varied, depending upon whether a traveler was on foot, had a horse or cart, or was hauling freight. Merchants also had to pay import and export taxes as they moved goods through towns and provinces. And these were just the fees for using the roads; services along the way were extra.

Naturally enough, payment was moot if citizens didn't travel, and most didn't. The reasons varied; before Rome, travel was arduous and even dangerous, while during Rome it became safer, but costly. For the most part, however, there was no need to travel. For most people, everything they needed was in their village or town, or could be obtained locally. The reason was because industry was strictly local (I will have more to say on this in a future post). At best, a patrician landowner might journey from his country villa to his home in town and back again, and local free farmers and craftsmen would take occasional trips to sell their crops or goods at the nearest town market. Aside from the legions, the only exceptions were peddlers and local merchants (again, I will have more to say about this in a future post). Though some plebeians did relocate to other parts of the empire, generally only those who joined a legion got to see more than their native countryside, and even then a legionnaire might simply be stationed to some far-flung outpost for the 25 years of his term of service.

Nonetheless, if a citizen was inclined to travel and could afford it, there were a number of advantages that made it easier than in the time before the road system had been established. A seemingly minor item were the milestones set up at intervals along the roadsides. Called miliaria (singular, miliarium), they were circular columns set up on rectangular bases, some 20 inches in diameter and standing 5 feet tall, weighing as much as 2 tons. On them were inscribed the mile number for that road as well as the distance to the Forum in Rome. They were placed at 1000-pace intervals (4,841 feet), which defined the Roman mile (milia passuum). I say seemingly minor, because the accurate measurement of travel distances made trip planning practical, especially for the legions. A traveler now knew the exact distance between two locations, and thus could estimate his travel time with good precision. An even better aid was the itinerarium, an itinerary similar to that used by buses or trains, listing all the cities and towns along a specific route and the distances between them. The more expensive ones also possessed maps.

Unless a traveler planned a very short trip, many destinations, even intermediate ones, were too far away to reach in a single day's travel. The legions built their own camps each night, whereas officials on state business could stay at establishments called mansiones (singular, mansio). These were functioning villas that catered to their needs. They often had a permanent military camp nearby, both for protection and for the convenience of marching legions, and towns often became established in the same area as the more important mansiones. They were set about 20 miles apart, which was the distance an ox-drawn cart could cover in a day.

However, anyone wishing to use the facilities of a mansio had to present a passport to identify himself as legitimate official. As such, they were off limits to ordinary citizens. Instead, they stayed at private inns called cauponae (singular, caupona), which were often established near the mansiones. Though they provided the same services, they generally acquired a seedy reputation, because they were frequented by thieves and prostitutes. More genteel travelers could stay at private homes, but hostels called tabernae were also available. These were different from the tabernae within cities and towns, in that they were not tavern shops, though they did provide food and drink along with sleeping accommodations. Some of the more luxurious ones became more like modern hotels, with the really swanky establishments being complexes with shops, baths, and a theatre. These last often served as the nuclei for new towns and cities. Finally, people traveling with vehicles and animals could take advantage of changing stations called mutationes (singular, mutatio). There they could have their vehicles repaired and their animals looked after by veterinarians, even as they ate, drank, and slept.

Most plebeian travelers walked. A pedestrian could make up to 15 miles in a day. The roads, especially the viae munita, had sidewalks constructed on either side of the main roadbed, but there was no regulation prohibiting walking in the road itself. Wealthier travelers could ride a horse; many viae munita had bridle paths built on either side between the roadbed and the sidewalks. Patricians could use horse-drawn chariots, while plebeians could use ox-drawn cart, though these were used to carry freight more often than not. Intermediate between these two was the horse-drawn coach or carriage, which carried multiple people. Horses could cover 30 miles in a day, though a horse and rider could go farther than a horse-drawn vehicle.

As I said at the beginning of this post, most people didn't travel, but it's worth pointing out that, at the height of the Empire, a traveler could walk from the northern side of the Strait of Gibraltar in Spain clear around the Mediterranean to the southern side in Morocco without getting his feet wet. Why he would do so is another matter, but the point is anyone who needed, or wanted, to could go anywhere in the empire overland in reasonable safety and comfort.

In passing, as an interesting addendum, the road system did make mail delivery more efficient. Official mail was carried by the Cursus publicus in chariot-like carriages, locked in iron strongboxes, or by horse and rider. In relays, a letter could travel 50 miles a day. Private mail could be carried by the tabellarii, an organization of slaves for hire. So, even if you didn't want to travel to Rome from your villa in Spain, you could be sure a letter would get there in a timely fashion.