There is so much grandeur, dignity, solemnity in this word. But this great city really deserves all these words.
We begin to hear about Rome from school. We study its origins and the kings who ruled thousands of years ago. Each person makes his own opinion about this city, but those sights that have survived to this day really deserve attention and must be visited.
I dreamed about Italy since childhood. After all, in Italy they cook my favorite dish - pasta.
And so I am flying to Rome. Rome greeted me with warmth, which was very important for me, because I am allergic to the cold.
At the end of April, the air temperature was about 27 degrees.
We started our trip to Rome from Fiumicino airport. There was a long queue at passport control, but our daughter helped us as always. We were allowed to skip the line. The whole process of passing the control, getting luggage and the road to the bus stop took no more than 40 minutes.
The bus fare from the airport to Termini station is 7 euros per adult. Children under 4 years old are free, but no one checked the documents, how old the child is. Only 10 seats were occupied in the bus. We took comfortable seats, farther from people and began to look at the outskirts of Rome.
Like many cities, the outskirts are unremarkable. The only thing that caught my eye was the filled to the top with garbage bins and around the mini dump bins.
The bus was going pretty fast, we got to the center in 20 minutes and another 20 minutes drove along the main streets. On my left hand flashed the Colosseum, which I liked from the first second.
Termini station is no different from other stations in some way. There are a lot of people on it, since this station carries more than 150 million people. There are various shops, McDonald's and several other eateries near it. Several large boards hang, where the number of the train is clearly shown, from where and to where the train is going, where it stops, the number of the track, and the time of delay if this happens. Usually, information about an arriving train is served in 10 minutes. The way we used to arrive at the station in 30-40 minutes is not accepted by Italians. Also, the station is not clean, there are many homeless and dirty people walking around it.
We lived three blocks from the train station. The street was in the shade, there were few people on it. The house is quite old, with an old elevator, where the door had to be opened and closed by hand. For my daughter, it was an attraction every time.
After checking in, having drunk coffee and taking a shower after the flight, we went for a walk along the streets of Rome. The nearest attraction was the Colosseum.
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It impresses right away. This is not just a tourist attraction, it can be called a slightly smaller wonder of the world than the pyramids in Egypt. It amazes with the fact that it was built almost 2,000 years ago. And the construction did not last long at all for 8 years. Start of construction 72 years, completion 80 years. This place is a must-see. But many do not go inside, but for me it was obligatory. And now for me Rome = Colosseum.
Colosseum opening hours:
- From 08.30 to 17.30: from 16 to the last Saturday of March
The cost of the Colosseum for adults is 12 euros. Admission is free up to 18 years old. And also there is a preferential rate of 7 euros for teachers and citizens of the European Union. You can pre-buy tickets on the official website www.coopculture.it, but you still have to pay 2 euros for that.
But you shouldn't buy tickets in advance, and it's best to arrive after 18:00. Even if there was no queue for the May holidays, I am sure that on other days there will be no queue. It will be hot during the day, except for probably the winter period and cloudy days, and in the evening it can be seen in the sunset rays of the sun, when the Colosseum takes on a golden hue.
The Colosseum offers a very beautiful view of the triumphal Arch of Constantine
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which was built in 315 after the victory of Constantine over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. The arch stands out because there are no other tall buildings nearby.
And in general, next to the Colosseum is very beautiful.
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Lots of greenery, beautiful buildings. The place to which we returned several times. And our evening walks also began with the Colosseum.
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and on the other the Forum of Augustus and Trajan. This street is my favorite place in Rome.
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The square got its name from the Venice Palace, which was built in the 15th century. On the square there is a huge monument to the first king of the United Italy, Vittorio Emmanuele.
In half a day we saw the most beautiful places. But the next day was more eventful.
We wanted to start our day with the Plaza de España. It was not very far from our hotel to the square, only 2.5 km. But we decided to save our strength and from the Termini metro station, drive 3 stops to the Spagna station.
The fare in Rome, a single trip will cost 1.5 euros. Children under 10 years old travel for free. Some stations have ticket offices, I don’t know if they sell tickets, but the information can be found out for sure. We only used machines. The machines have English everywhere and you can buy tickets without any problems. You can also buy a ticket for all types of transport for 24 hours - it costs 7 euros and 48 hours 12.5 euros, but we found out about this later, when late in the evening we could not get on the bus because we could buy a ticket on the bus itself you can't, or you can't just pay for the fare. You will be told to go and buy a ticket at special places (kiosks), but do you think such kiosks will work after 21:00? - No, of course, it's Italy. Italians are very afraid to overwork.
So having bought a metro ticket, we, of course, with a stroller went down to the platform we needed. Rather, we never got to the platform. We went down from the escalator and stopped at a small fork between the two platforms. Since there were a lot of people, the platform in the direction we needed was all packed. While we were standing, so that the first train, which runs at intervals of 5-7 minutes, would arrive and take some of the people, so that we could move on, more and more people arrived. At one point, people just stood on the escalator and could not go down at all. This is a train station, 70% of people with suitcases and travel bags. When the first train arrived, people simply could not get out of the car. It was getting very stuffy, there was a real crush at the station. Realizing that now I would begin to lose consciousness, since there is no air at all, I suggested to my husband that I move to another station and drive one stop back, since this was the only way to get out of this pandemonium. At that moment, we regretted that we had decided to save time and did not walk on a warm, sunny spring day along the Roman streets.
Having reached the Spain metro station, we walked along a narrow street to the well-known Spanish Steps. This is one of those places where there are a lot of people.
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The beauty of the staircase, decorated with flowers, is hidden by people and it is impossible to see and enjoy this staircase. Of course it was worth going up to one of the beautiful lookouts, which is located above. But after the crush on the subway, I just wanted to walk along the shady streets. This is probably one of the places that I regret not getting up and looking. But climbing the steps with a stroller is not easy, even if the child is walking nearby.
So slowly we reached Piazza del Popolo - Popolo square or Narodnaya square. The square is very elegant, on it in the center there is one of the Egyptian obelisks 24 meters high.
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Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Santa Maria dei Miracoli, built in 1678) and Santa Maria in Montesanto (Santa Maria in Montesanto, built a little earlier in 1675). No matter how I tried, but I did not succeed in placing two in the frame at once.
After our route lay across the Tiber River to the Supreme Court of Italy.
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A very beautiful building, there is a lot of greenery, grass, palm trees around.
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But the Vatican was scheduled for the next day. We passed by, only horrified by the number of people who were there.
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On this day we have passed yet
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near the Castle of the Holy Angel, which is located on the banks of the Tiber River, the Eliev Bridge, built in 134-139, goes to it. Emperor Hadrian. In 1450, the bridge collapsed from a large number of pilgrims who came to St. Peter's Basilica. And after the restoration of the bridge, statues of the apostles Petri and Paul were installed on it, as well as 10 other statues of angels. We did not visit this place, because it is impossible to see Rome and visit all the cathedrals and castles in 2.5 days. And here is the useful information, we learned in advance.
Roman roads (Romea Via) were originally built for military purposes and were therefore called viae militares. As the Romans explored the outskirts of their empire, the roads played an increasingly significant economic role - they made it possible to assimilate large territories and contributed to the creation of the Roman world (Pax Romana).
The first mention of Roman roads can be found in such a source as the Laws of the Twelve Tables (Leges duodecim tabularum), compiled in 451-450 BC. - this document established and regulated the size and legal status of the roads. It was determined that the width of the road on straight sections should be 8 feet (2.45 m), on bends - 16 feet (4.9 m). The owners of roadside plots were obliged to fence off the road if it was not paved with stones (otherwise, travelers could move wherever they wanted).
Section of the Appian Way.
italy4.me
The first stone-paved road known to us was built by the censor Appius Claudius Tsek in 312 BC, it passed from Rome to the city of Capua, was 195 km long and was built for military purposes. After the suppression of the uprising of Spartacus in 71 BC. along the Appian Way, six thousand captured slaves were crucified. Diodorus Siculus wrote that initially, more than half of its length, the road was paved with massive stones, and that almost the entire state treasury was spent on this.
Classification
Since many areas of the life of the Roman Empire were of an orderly nature, on the basis of sources, an accurate classification of its roads can be given. The basis will be the works of the land surveyor Sicul Flaccus and the lawyer Domitius Ulpian. According to their classification, there were three types of roads in the empire:
- viae publicae (consulares, praetoriae or militares);
- viae privatae (rusticae, glareae or agrariae);
- viae vicinales.
Viae publicae - public, praetorian, military and consular roads. They were the main roads of the empire, belonged to the state and were built at the expense of taxes. They were managed by a road keeper (curator viarum), the width was from 6 to 12 m.
A section of the Postumian Road, built by Consul Spurius Postuminus in 148 BC.
clipartxtras.com
Viae privatae were private roads. Often they were built by the owners of the estates for their own convenience and economic use. The width ranged from 2.5 to 4 m - everything depended on the wishes of the owner and his financial capabilities.
Viae vicinales is the most common type of Roman road. In fact, it was about country roads connecting towns and villages in one area.
Section of a Roman road, Spain.
baavar.mn
Construction technology
The process of laying the road began with the Roman surveyors (mensor) making the markings. The names and drawings of some of the tools that they used in their measurements have come down to us. Thunder - an analogue of a goniometer, which made it possible to draw perpendicular straight lines; khorobat - a device for determining the slope; the diopter was used to set the direction to the object. In general, the Romans tried to make the roads as straight as possible, and at bends they increased their width so that oncoming carriages could disperse.
Contrary to popular belief that the construction of roads and other infrastructure facilities in ancient Rome was done by slaves, this work was often done by legionnaires. This is confirmed by numerous written testimonies and images on the triumphal arches. Taking into account the peculiarities of the relief, Roman roads were not built according to a single plan. Even on the same road, there were usually sections with different quality of coverage.
Legionnaires paving the way, modern drawing.
fb.ru
Road construction methods were quite progressive even from the point of view of our day. First, a depression was dug on the ground, and drainage was carried out, and then the laying of layers began. Materials obtained from local sources were usually used. As a rule, large stone blocks (statumen - backwater, abutment) were laid in the base, then a layer of gravel (rudus - fragments of stones, crushed stone) and a final layer (summum dorsum upper surface) were poured. The last layer consisted of sand, earth and fine stone, which was well compacted. Paved paths made up a relatively small part of the total length of the road system. A common feature of Roman roads was a curved surface, which allowed rainwater to flow into drainage ditches without lingering on the surface.
Sectional Roman road.
fb.ru
During the construction of the roads, much attention was paid to the construction of river crossings. Numerous stone bridges from that era are well preserved - often they are true works of engineering art, surpassed only in the 20th century.
Road construction depicted on Trajan's Column.
eh-resources.org
To simplify the determination of distances and orientation, miliariums were installed along the roads. They were not located at a certain distance from each other, as they do now. Usually, such stones simply indicated the distance to the nearest settlement. The stones themselves were usually quite massive - their weight could reach several tons, and their sizes varied from 1.5 to 4 m in height. In addition to indicating distances, the name of the emperor, in whose reign he was installed, was carved on the stone.
Milestone.
litbook.ru
In 20 BC. Emperor Octavian Augustus installed in Rome the so-called "Golden Milestone" (Milliarium Aureum), which was a column of gilded bronze. It marked the names of the largest cities in the empire and the distances to them. In fact, Emperor Augustus gave birth to the tradition of counting distances from the "zero kilometer".
The Golden Milestone, Rome.
peaxy.net
During construction, other infrastructure associated with the roads was usually created. Numerous post stations, inns and warehouses were erected along the way. The Romans tried to place a post station (mutatio) for every 10-15 km of the way, where they could change horses. At several small stations (30-50 km from each other) there was one large (mansio), where it was possible not only to change horses, but also to stay for the night, usually a tavern and a smithy were located here. An interesting feature that has survived to this day in a number of countries was that the roofs of buildings at large stations were painted red. The roads also served as an important help for the courier service (Cursus publicus) - thanks to the established road system, messengers could overcome up to 80 km of track per day.
Roman bridge in Merida.
tiptotrip.ru
Along the roads in the Roman Empire, various places of worship were located, often on the outskirts of the city, over time, large areas of burials were formed.
Cartography
As the ancient Roman road network developed, it became necessary to create maps. Usually maps were drawn on scrolls, the terrain was depicted in an extremely distorted form, the laws of perspective and scaling were not applied. Most of the information could be obtained from the descriptions-itinerarium (itinerarium), which indicated the length of the road sections, the distance between cities, the location of inns, and various obstacles on the way. In 44 BC. Julius Caesar and Mark Antony commissioned the geographers Zenodox, Theodotus and Polyclitus to compile the itinerarium. Their work lasted more than 25 years and did not interrupt even when the flames of civil war were blazing in the Roman Republic.
Peitinger's Tablet, a fragment with Italy and Rome.
confinelive.it
The result of the work was engraved on a stone slab and displayed near the Pantheon in Rome. In addition, modern historians know the Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, compiled during the reign of Emperor Caracalla (211-217 AD). The most famous map of the empire is the Tabula Peutingeriana, a parchment copy of an ancient Roman map made in the 13th century and consisting of eleven sheets. The map is 6.75 m long and 0.34 m wide; Roman roads, cities, and geographic features of the area are marked on it. Based on the Peitinger Tablet, the theoretical length of the roads was over 200,000 km. The original map was created between the 1st and 5th centuries A.D. (presumably for the Emperor Octavian Augustus), over the centuries, it has been revised and supplemented.
Roman roads in Britain.
commons.wikimedia.org
Roads were the skeleton of the ancient Roman state, linking together parts of the empire, allowing you to quickly transfer troops to the desired point and contributing to the economic expansion of the Romans in the conquered provinces. Roman legions often paved roads even in enemy territories.
Literature:
- Laurence, Ray. The roads of Roman Italy: mobility and cultural change. - Routedge, 1999
- Le Boeck J. Roman army of the early empire / Per. with fr. M., 2001
- Livy Titus. History of Rome from the founding of the city / Per. from lat. ed. M. L. Gasparova and G. S. Knabe, vol. I-III. M., 2002
- Tacitus Cornelius. Annals. Small pieces. History / Edition prepared by A.S.Bobovich, Ya.M. Borovskiy, G. S. Knabe et al. M., 2003
- Diodorus of Siculus. Historical library. Translators - V.V. Latyshev, M.E.Sergeenko, V.M. Strogesky, O. P. Tsybenko, A. G. Aleksanyan, I. A. Alekseev, G. A. Taronyan, O. A. Vasilieva, M. Oginsky, V.V. Vertogradova, D.V. Meshchansky, Agnostik. - Samizdat, 2012
Idiom " all roads lead to Rome"now it is understood only figuratively and means that for different solutions of a certain problem, the result will be the same. If you try to dig deeper in attempts to find out where this phraseological unit came from, you will find out an interesting fact.
The excellent commanders of ancient Rome who made conquest campaigns in the third century BC made this republic a mighty empire. After the end of all the Macedonian and Punic wars, after the expansion and successful military victories in the west and east, the question of how to control the new provinces was very acute. of all to receive taxes and how to make the army of Rome more mobile. Historians say that at that time Rome became the main political and commercial center of the ancient world. A huge number of merchant ships sailed to this great city from all over Ecumene. Diplomats and politicians arrived in this city of cities to conclude important treaties with the Roman Empire.
Such a seething life led to the construction of more and more roads. If you decide to look at the map of old Rome, then you will immediately notice the transport interchanges, which resemble the sun in their appearance. .And in the very center of this center, there was Palantine Hill, on which a huge forum was built. This square was the main center of political and social life of all of Rome. A market was built on the square in which meetings of the Senate and popular assemblies were held. On this forum there was also a special column, which bore the name " Milliarium aureum".
Historians suggest that this column was erected at the time when the emperor Augustus ruled Rome. He gave the order to inscribe on this column the distance from the provinces, including the most distant ones to Rome. Today, such a column would be called " zero kilometer"Be that as it may, but the emergence of such a saying is due to the presence of all these factors. There is a consonant expression" The language will bring to Kiev ", which is much more common in our country.
"All roads lead to Rome"(Tutte to vie conducano a Roma), that's what they say in Italy.
This proverb was mentioned in his work "The Arbitrator" by the famous French writer Jean Lefontaine. The popular poet and writer Dal-Ongaro quoted in his poems the proverb of the ancient Romans
In Russia, this idiom was first used by the writer L.N. Tolstoy in his Cyclopean work "War and Peace". In fact, this phraseological unit is used in their everyday speech by citizens of many countries without thinking where it originated from.
Read more.
All roads lead to Rome
All roads lead to Rome
A proverb from the early Middle Ages.
This expression became widespread thanks to the French fabulist Jean La Fontaine (62 -1695), after the appearance of his fable "The arbitrator, brother of mercy and the hermit."
But it arose much earlier, back in ancient Rome, when the Romans were actively increasing their territories through conquests. And to keep their new acquisitions, they were forced to build new, good roads, thanks to which taxes could be delivered to the capital on time, and the courier service would work properly, and military units could quickly be transferred to the barbarian provinces in the event of a riot. Thus, this expression at that time had a literal meaning - all the roads built by the Romans, naturally, led only to Rome. In other words, it was just a statement of an obvious fact. In any empire, a strictly centralized state, roads cannot but lead to the capital. It is no coincidence that in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, the ambassador of Emperor Alexander Balashov, when asked by Napoleon which road leads to Moscow, answers: "As every road, according to the proverb, leads to Rome, so all roads lead to Moscow." ...
Earlier the phrase "all roads lead to Rome" was attributed to the Italian writer Dal-Ongaro (1808-1873), in whose collection of poems "Political riturneli" it is contained. Therefore, it was sometimes quoted in Italian: Tutte to vie conducano a Roma.
Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M .: "Lokid-Press"... Vadim Serov. 2003.
All roads lead to Rome
A medieval proverb that has entered our literary speech, probably from the fable of La Fontaine (1621-1695) "Arbitrator, brother of mercy and hermit".
Dictionary of winged words... Plutex. 2004.
See what "All roads lead to Rome" mean in other dictionaries:
All roads lead to Rome- wings. sl. A medieval proverb that has entered our literary speech, probably from La Fontaine's fable (1621-1695) "Arbitrator, brother of mercy and hermit" ... Universal Additional Practical Explanatory Dictionary of I. Mostitsky
- (footnote) by different (ways) means achieve the goal Cf. You just admired me ... if not the whole idea, then the beginning of it ... But your plan is higher than mine. All roads lead to Rome ... why give up your personality? Boborykin. Vasily Terkin. 3, 22. Wed ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary
All the paths lead to Rome (inosc.) By different (ways) means to reach the goal. Wed You just admired me ... if not the whole idea, then the beginning of it ... But your plan is higher than mine. "All the roads to Rome lead ... why should you give up your personality?" ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)
Capital of Italy. The city is located on the river. Tiber, the most ancient name of which Rumo or Rumon served as the basis for the formation of the name Rome (Italian. Roma). It is assumed that the name of the river is associated with the name of one of the ancient Etruscan tribes ... ... Geographical encyclopedia
The capital of Italy, the administrative center of the Lazio region and the Roman province, the seat of the highest pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also known as the eternal city, to which all roads lead. Rome is almost as ancient as the western itself ... ... Collier's Encyclopedia
Contents: I. R. Modern; II. History of the city of R .; III. Roman history before the fall of the Western R. Empire; IV. Roman law. I. Rome (Roma) the capital of the Italian kingdom, on the Tiber river, in the so-called Roman Campania, at 41 ° 53 54 north ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
For the Roman road see Via Romea Via Appia Antica ... Wikipedia
Appian Way (Via Appia Antica) Contents 1 History 1.1 The first strategic roads ... Wikipedia
View of the Appian Way Appian Way (lat. Via Appia) is the most significant of the ancient public ... Wikipedia
Books
- Rome. Everything you want to know about, Clay Lamprell. This is not just a guide. This is an illustrated encyclopedia about one of the most ancient cities in the world - about Rome. Plunge into the world of amazing facts and mesmerizing stories about famous ...
The origin and meaning of the expression "Rome - the eternal city"
The expression is of ancient Roman origin in Latin "Aeterna urbs". For the first time, the ancient Roman poet Albius Tibullus, who lived in the 1st century BC, called Rome “the eternal city”. Such a characteristic of the city was set forth by him in the second book of "Elegy" in a kind of hymn dedicated to the patron saint of Rome, the sun god Apollo, who, according to the plot, predicts the city an extraordinary flourishing of its power and greatness.
"Romulus has not yet laid down those walls eternal city,
Where his brother Rem could not settle with him. "
Such a majestic image did not arise by chance. The fact is that the life of Tibullus proceeded during the reign of the emperor Octavian Augustus (63 - 14 BC), during which the Roman Empire, and Rome itself, made an extraordinary rise in almost all directions and developed at a tremendous pace. Along with successful wars, roads were built throughout the Empire, and trade developed.
In Rome, old and destroyed buildings were reconstructed and rebuilt, new residential buildings, public buildings and cultural institutions were built. At that time, Rome was greatly and quickly transformed and for seven centuries from the moment of its foundation (753 BC) it absorbed all the ups and downs that fell to its lot. This is reflected in his truly majestic appearance. As the ancient Roman writer and historian Guy Suetonius Tranquill (70-122) testifies in Divine Augustus, Augustus really had something to be proud of, so he often used an expression that later became winged:
"I found Rome brick, and I leave it marble."
So it is not surprising that such transformations of the city inspired Tibullus with the idea of the eternity of Rome. Subsequently, this theme was often used by other ancient Roman poets, writers, philosophers and orators.
For example, the Roman poet Claudius Claudian states with complete confidence that Rome "There will be no end"... Or the poet of Rome Claudius Rutilius Namatian, leaving the city, throws the phrase: "There is no limit to your future life"... The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus says about the capital of the Roman Empire: "Rome will live as long as humanity exists".
Of course, under all these statements about the eternity of the city, the writers and thinkers of antiquity meant the political power, military superiority and economic power of Rome.
Despite the decline and collapse of the Roman Empire, the majestic epithet "eternal city" outside the city survived, acquired a new meaning and began to be perceived as the center of human civilization, an integral and noticeable part of its progress and development. And as one of the most ancient cities that experienced a stunning rise and deafening fall, but managed to preserve the richest cultural complex, which absorbed a huge historical and religious heritage of different eras, Rome fits the phrase "eternal city" perfectly.
To this day, speaking of Rome, we use the expression "eternal city", paying tribute to this majestic city with its rich history.
The meaning and origin of the expression "all roads lead to Rome"
The expression "all roads lead to Rome" does not convey any specific information, but rather looks like a common statement of fact, the obviousness of which is beyond doubt. This is what they say when the end result is predictable and is an obvious fact regardless of the chosen path for solving a given problem.
"V. A. Serov did not rebel against Picasso and Matisse; he, like a professional, saw that all roads lead to Rome, that a big deal is being forged in France, he was indignant at our monkey's perceptiveness, who took only the superficial style of French modernists, only exchanged other people's shirts for a dirty body. "
K.S. Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939), "Euclid's Space", 1932
“The Roman legions of Caesar, having climbed (again, without any geographical maps) far to the north, to the Gallic Sea, decided to return to Rome by another route in order to still try their luck, and arrived safely in Rome. Probably, it was from that time that the saying went that all roads lead to Rome... In the same way, all roads lead to Ceske Budejovice. "
J. Hasek (1883-1923), "The Adventures of the Gallant Soldier Schweik", 1923
Perhaps, for the first time, the expression “all roads lead to Rome” was used by the famous French fabulist Jean La Fontaine in his fable “The Arbitrator, Brother of Mercy and Hermit”.
“Wanting to find the salvation of the door,
Three people, all saints in equal measure
And the spirit is filled with one,
They chose three different roads for this.
And since all paths lead to Rome,
Then everyone to the goal, without anxiety,
I set off along my path ”.
La Fontaine (1621-1695), "Arbitrator, brother of mercy and hermit."
However, the expression arose a long time ago during the heyday of the Roman Empire and had a direct meaning, because all roads did lead to Rome.
In connection with the successful and victorious military campaigns in the 3rd-1st centuries BC, the borders of the territories controlled by Rome began to expand rapidly. Thus began the formation of the Roman Empire, which has the most powerful force in the entire Mediterranean. But to protect its borders from the raids of barbarians and to suppress the sudden uprisings in the provinces of the empire, Rome had to quickly respond to threats from both external and internal enemies by quickly transferring troops to the center of armed conflict. Otherwise it would be difficult to keep everything under control.
To speed up the process of transferring troops to the desired destination, the Romans began to lay and build roads, which significantly saved time. At first, the roads connected only the major cities of the Roman Empire and the main cities of the provinces under the influence of Rome.
Initially, the construction of roads was conceived only for a military purpose, the main purpose of which was the mobility of the Roman army, but soon the roads began to play a significant role in the economic development of the empire, because trade caravans followed them, and a courier connection was established. Realizing the huge benefits in the development of road infrastructure, the Roman Empire was actively engaged in the construction of roads and by the 2nd century, according to various sources, they reached a length of 100 to 300 thousand kilometers, most of them with hard surface. Thus, not only large cities, but also practically all more or less significant in terms of trade settlements were connected with each other.
A striking example of the development of land communications can serve as the reign of the founder of the Roman Empire Octavian Augustus (63-14 BC), when the construction of roads reached its maximum level. It was during his reign that Rome, which had already been called the "eternal city", became like a center of world importance, or at least the Mediterranean region, most of Europe and Western Asia.
It was here that traders were in a hurry, hoping to sell the goods with the greatest profit and conclude successful deals. Important meetings were also held there, political decisions were made and agreements were signed.
If you look at the map of the Roman Empire of that time, then the junction would resemble the sun, where Rome was in the center, and the main and important roads converged to it in the form of direct rays, because then the roads were built as straight as possible along the shortest path. That is why, involuntarily, the expression arose that "all roads lead to Rome."
This is confirmed by the fact that in the center of the Palatine Hill, by the way, located in the very center of Rome, where the main forum of the capital was located, where popular meetings and sessions of the Senate were held, there was a column "Milliarium Aureum", erected by order of Augustus. On this column, which serves as a kind of "zero kilometer", the distances from Rome to all significant cities of the Roman Empire were marked. This proves once again that, as they say in Italy "tutte to vie conducano a Roma", "all roads lead to Rome."
Actually, in any state, all roads lead to its capital, as mentioned by the great Russian writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) in his immortal creation "War and Peace" (1863-1869), where Napoleon's question about the road leading to Moscow, the ambassador of the Emperor of Russia Alexander I Alexander Dmitrievich Balashov replied:
"As every road, according to the proverb, leads to Rome, so all roads lead to Moscow."
