Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-11
Why They Are Still in Well-Pre-
served Condition.
BUILT TO SUBSERVE THE MILITARY
Comfortand Necessities Of the Army
Called for Good Construction
ELABORATE POSTAL SYSTEM

esfs. For. in order to facilitate the shift
ing and concentration Of their armies at
strategic points. they needed better and
more. comfortable means Of rapid transit
than was furnished by the primitive bride
path. The primary object which the Ro-
man international roads were intended 10
subserve was military in character, ana
therefore they were known as Woe mill
rarss. though in the provinces We find Woe
conSuIares and Woe proetOrioe, because
they were built by proconsuls or propTae-
tors, respectively.
The width of the Roman road varied
much according to its Importance, often
Il was IN feet wide, though in the prov
inreS il was generally sixty, sometimes
forty feet wide In order to understand
the reason for this great width and Tor the
substantial construction that was rLsluiS
adhered to. We should bear in mind the
makeup of the Roman army, whose com
fort and necessities were continually coli-
suited In the first place, the Roman SOL
der was burdened by his heavy arln"f anu
other impedimenta i'll such manner as 10
render him wholly unfit Gmpedltus) To
repeI sudden attack successfully. as we
read on nearly every page of Caesar COM
meutdrleS-
Heavy Baggage Trains.
The baggage train was far larger anu
more uuwieldy than anything we know OF
TO-DAY for the reason thai this train mad 10
transport not merely the tents, artillery
arms. munitions Of war, army chest ana
a host Of other things necessary III the
warfare Of that day; not merely the effects
and plumber Of the legi1narleS, put also
those. of Two secondary drmits-an army Oh
women. wives Of the lcgiundIIeS ana camp
following prostitutes. and anothcr army OF
body servants, for each ieSIondTy hau one
or more servants, so that the c1ipnes Out
numbered the legtonares themselves men
ON the march. this unWirldy army main
tanned the Ine-Of-battle order, theoretically
at least. in order 10 be ready 10 Tepci sud-
der. ana unexpected attacks.
Good roads. therefore, We're necessary IN
Orocr To- enable the immense train with
which the army was handicapped to keep
Iace with the DICTIONARIES, ana wide roads
We're essential in order. IN case of sudden
attack. 20 allow the individual IrglouaTies
To- make effective use of IN -ir arms without
interfering with their nei@hhJrs.
The Roman roads We're built with more
care than is expended upon the beds Of our
railways. even. They We're made as
straight as possible. and natural obstacles
Were ~kiHfUlly overcome by the use OF
cuts nils bridges. culEertS, entertainments,
AMI even tunnels. StiT grades were
avoided. and level. once reached. was
d1g@-diy maintained, even at the expense
of making cuts. nils. etc.
The work preliminary to the building Of
auy Roman road consisted In eXcaVaJng
all h. dirt down To hdrdpan. and the eX
SaErftHE thus made vas NllrG IN regardless
81 expense with layers of sand. stone and
cement until the requisite level however
high it might be, had been reached. Finally
tn surface was dressed with layer of
metal and cement. The road was praCtl-
Cally iHdestrucube and required only &C
sirHHl repairs.
That continuous or even merely yearly
repairs Mere not necessary seems clear from
the fact that when repairs were made the
proprietor Of the province thought it so
IMPORTANT an event that he celebrated il
by describing the fact along with his name
on the milestones.
Many years ago BERGER made an exam
nation Of certain Roman roads still in use
IN France. one road was examined at
point where IT 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 fl. of
sixteen and oue-half feet. on the top of this
I'LL came. first, foot layer of flattish stones
mixed with cement, then a foot layer of
hrmiy-packed dirt. then half-foot layer
Of small metal in hard cement. and lastly
a halt-toot layer of large metal and ce-
m-ut.
Paved Roads Rare.
Other roads Investigated by Bergier. while
differing in treatment. were just as sub
stant!al roads, Paved roads were rare. but
the Via Appia offers a remarka BILE instance
Of a paved road. The stone used in its
pavement is Of the kind of which mill
stones ara made. and they are so care
fully dressed and adjusted that the road
often seems to be solid rock and has proved
so understandable that after 300 years of
continuous Use. it is still a superb road
In The countless Inscriptions which state
mat Such and such a governor under such
ana such an emperor repaired the roads
ara bridges IN his province reference. is
made 10 lhe t"p-dressing Of metal and Gem
rIt- NJ military road of the provinces
was usually sixty feet wide. and was di-
I4.f TO-. bro. rI-.4..
i"' side tracks, each track being twenty
f... wide
II tho old Roman roads in Italy. France
and p where are stiIl existent and in use
l---fr Il an especial reason therefor, quite
apart from The fact that these roads were
originally built for eternity. In the DAYS of
Rome : aSc"ndeuCy ali roads led 10 Home
AMI IN Europe this has never ceased to he
more or less fact. No city Of Europe ever
'''tdlHed such trausCeudcut Importance as
10 make necessary d complete. change in
The general direction Of the road system
:" tnat IL spite Of the decline OF Rome and
the rise OF other ceuters the roads az ru-
rul- stitI lead 10 Rome.
III ASIA Minor the case was different Be
l"r' written history opens the great en-
I'L'"iH oi Asia Minor was Pteria, the cap
i,'' IllF OF IN" great AsiatiC peninsula The
pi"ii>l"Fl" system Of roads led 70 Ptyrfa F..
one great artery was the road from Pr.ria
'"i td'"F "n. IavtuTD TO EpheSuS on the
S"ab"aIt. a second was the road from
! ''' TT J 'iA l''til through the tIliClau gates
1" TIE southern sraboard, etc
Later on, when The P,lSians gained con-
tr"l over Asia Minor pteria had ceased 10
exist but lis neighbprius Tavfun rose in
Importance and became the emporium Of
al central Asia Minor. Roads led To Tavf-
Un- The FIRST artificial trade roads Qeavf3g
OUT ot consideration the mythical roads Of
: "nlrainisJ Were, therefore. built by the
professors Of tn PerSians in Asia Nt:-nr
Az AISI rnSf Mentioned in written his
vas fhc Royal road which led from Ephe-
sIs Z" Susa. Now. this Royal road was
lu'Hlu- III The world but the old Iittite
Tr1I '1~ roads, along whose immense zig
zaS he Per~ians We're content 10 jog for
centuries, never dreaming. apparently Of a
short cut II the Persians had built the
road themselves they would never have
h'"'i guilty 81 the inCumprrhenSihie folly of
making Tho great detOur from the CIIiCian
hatas Wa Tavium To Ephesus instead of
following the direct and natural trade route
f="m the 'iician gates via Icon!uln An
" Ghia. taiaenae and the Lycus valley 10
n" Irac< kings and their successors. the
I-'!"ai-S- adopted this natural short cut,
49, IT," ItoS al road lapsed into desuetude,
: non al roads led TO Ephas,ls. because
EPI4',tS Was The gateway to Rome Later
On I ri.~t a1ilNppi- arose and CIisnrrad tho
QUO u>hp with Rome. Her rise denapdod
'H"i"HghS"iuS change i'm the general al
Fc,tI"u Of all roads in Asia Miner PnaJs
q longer led TO Rgua-that d