CHAPTER XLIV.

ROMAN ROADS.--PROVINCES.


The Romans were famous for their excellent public roads, from thirteen
to fifteen feet wide. The roadbed was formed of four distinct layers,
placed above the foundation. The upper layer was made of large
polygonal blocks of the hardest stone, fitted and joined together so
as to make an even surface. On each side of the road were footpaths
strewn with gravel. Stone blocks for the use of equestrians were at
regular distances, and also milestones telling the distance from Rome.

There were four main public roads:--

1. VIA APPIA, from Rome to Capua, Beneventum, Tarentum, and
Brundisium.

2. VIA LATÍNA, from Rome to Aquínum and Teánum, joining the Via Appia
at Beneventum.

3. VIA FLAMINIA, the great northern road. In Umbria, near Ocriculum
and Narnia, a branch went east through Spoletium, joining the main
line at Fulsinia. It then continued through Fanum, Flaminii, and
Nuceria, where it again divided, one branch going to Fanum Fortúnae on
the Adriatic, the other to Ancóna, and from there along the coast to
Fanum Fortúnae, where the two branches, again uniting, passed on to
Ariminum through Pisaurum. From here it was extended, under the name