The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-01

the excavation down to hardpan was
three feet deep. This trench was filled up
first with layer OF SAND ana cement an
inch thick; then came foot layer OF fiat
fish stones and cement; then a foot layer
of small Travelled stones and cement
These last two layers were so hard and
break off fragments only with great diff
Guilty. The next layer consisted of a foot
OF cement and sand, covered with top
dressing of gravel. In another road in
France the foot layer of cement and sand
exchanged places with the layer or ce-
ment and travelled stones. A third road
in France was examined at pcsnt where
il had been raised twenty feet above the
level Of the surrounding country, and
vertical section revealed a structure OF
five layers. First came the great NIL OF
1872 feet; on top of this fill they placed first
a foot layer of flattish stones without
mortar of any kind, then a half-foot layer
of firmly packed dirt, then a half-foot
layer of small gravel in hard cement, and
lastly a half-foot layer of cement and
large gravel.
Paved roads were exceptional An ex-
ample of paved roads is the Via Appia,
whose pavement consists of hard kind
of stone such as is used for mill-stones.
The stones of this pavement are carefully
hewn and fitted together so precisely that
the road often appears to be solid rock,
and has proved to be so indestructible that
after 1900 years of continuous use It is
still magnificent road. Ordinarily, how
ever, the top-dreSsing of the road con-
sisted of gravel and hard cement: and
when, in the countless inscriptions such
and such a governor is said to have re-
stored a given road, reference is to this
width of the military road was usually
60 feet: the raised center being 20 feet
wide with side tracks each of the width
of 20 feet. In some roads the raised CEN
ter was paved, while the side tracks were
dressed with gravel and cement.
The viae privatae and the feeders of the
military roads were usually dirt roads.
They were much narrower than the mill
tary roads; sometimes they had a width
of only 10 feet, and indeed the feeders of
the Via Appia were only two feet wide
but paved The width of Roman roads
all told. varied therefore from two to 120
feet
Milestones were erected along the entire
length of the military roads. They were
usually columnar in shape, though the
cippus milestone is found frequently.
From personal observation 1 know only
the milestones of Asia Minor and Syria.
These are round monolithic columns about
seven to nine feet high, with a diameter
at the base of 21z to four feet, but ia
pering off to a foot and a half at the
bluntly rounded top. They are roughly
hewn, and inscribed with the name and
full titles of the emperor during whose
reign the road was built in Asia Minor
usually a proprietor, during whose term
of office the actual building or repairing
was done Beneath this inscription the
distance was engraved, oftenest with no
statement as to the place from which the
distance was measured, though sometimes
both the starting point and the objective
The Roman milestones are of great
value, not merely in order to locate in a
general way the line of lapSed and for
gotten roads, and for fixing the various
starting points of the Roman system in
such countries as Asia Minor and Syria,
but they are also of Importance for the
reconstruction of provincial or local his
tory, geography and chronology.
In the course of time the roads top
dressing of gravel and cement wore away
and costly repairs had to be made by
the provincial governor, who, eager to
claim all honor due himself, caused the
fact of his restitution (viaS ct ponies res
tittuit is one of the stock phrases) to be
engraved on the milestones. Accordingly,
it often happened that this new inscrip-
ton was engraved directly over or else
overlapped the original inscription. Some
times as many as three inscriptions oc-
cupy the same space on the stone.
"All roads lead to Romer' Therefore the
military roads centered in Rome, and
spread out in a vast network that embrac-
ed all the provinces of Europe, Asia, At
RIGA and the islands, such as Britannia
Sicily, SARDINIA, etc. Distances along the
roads of Italy were of course measured
the miliarium aureum, erected by Angus
tus in the forum. 1t has been recognized
by some in certain remains near the arch
of Septimus Severus But the govern
mental centers of the provinces were also
centers of the provincial road systems,
and miliaria aurea were erected in all
Cisalpina), Lyons (for Gala Celtica)
Rheims flor Gallia Belgica), Tavium {tor
Cappadocia), Melitene (for Armenia), Pal
myra (for Palmyrene).
In conclusion it must be remarked that
all streams crossed by military roads were
spanned by bridges, of which there were
three lxinds-those made entirely of wool
thosa made of stone and wood, and those
made of stone throughout. Many of the all
stone bridges are still in use. Several of
them span the Tiber to this day, both in
and outside of Rome. Not only this but
Roman bridges are still used by seni-bar-
barous peoples who, perhaps, have never
even so much as heard the name of
Rome. silent, but eloquent, reminder
of Rome's solicitude even for her most
bridge at Kiakhta, in Kommagene. Every
stone of the defiant old bridge is vocal,
telling in pathetic wise of the Inevitable