this irregular style was named Attic because of its establish-
ment in various demes (small political divisions) of Attica,
though it is found in other cities, too.
Th e main road in the city of Athens was the road of the
Panathenaia, named aft er a festival for all Athenian citizens.
Th is road originated from the central place of Agorá (“mar-
ketplace”) or Kerameikós (the area where potters, called kera-
meis in Greek, lived). Th is road not only ran through Athens;
it also connected Athens with all the demes of Attica and the
rest of Greece.
Hippodamus from Miletus (fi ft h century b.c.e.) is oft en
falsely considered the inventor of a street planning that bears
his name. Hippodamus did not come up with the specifi c way
of town planning, but he adapted elements of the Greek city
to fi t roughly the following ideal: rectangular divisions of
town areas, with roads that were 6.2 yards wide and blocks
of 94.26 by 39.04 yards, divided in 10 square building sites of
18.81 yards—that is, fi ve properties on each side divided by
a narrow street 1.31 yards wide. Excavations at the town of
Olynthus, built in 432 b.c.e. according to this Hippodameian
plan, brought to light a part of it that fi ts this description.
Even since the Bronze Age bridges have been constructed
out of wood for passage over streams and rivers. Stone bridges
were common in the fi ft h century b.c.e. Th e style is usually
the same: Pillars with lintels, or horizontal beams, on top
support the bridge. Th e space between the pillars serves as
water passage, in order to lessen the impact of water on the
bridge and ease the construction process. A wooden passage
with planks was constructed on top of the stones. We have
examples of arched water passages on solid bridges, too, from
the Classical Period, although it is uncertain whether any
bridges with true arches date from before the Roman Period.
A famous bridge of the Classical Period was that over
the river Cephissus at Athens. On the way to Eleusis people
would stand on the bridge, singing rude or befooling lim-
ericks to passersby, thus giving a new meaning to the verb
gefyrizein (from the Greek word gefyra, meaning “bridge”),
which meant to mock someone from a bridge.
In war, too, bridge making was essential for the carriage
of troops over water. During his invasion of Greece in 480
b.c.e., the Persian king Xerxes I (r. 486–465 b.c.e.) is said to
have crossed the Hellespont by a bridge of boats tied side by
side for nearly a mile in length. According to the tragedian
Aeschylus (525–456 b.c.e.), this event was an act of hybris (a n
act that went beyond established moral codes), partly respon-
sible for Xerxes’ defeat by the Greeks. Alexander the Great
had specialized mechanics in his army, one of their tasks be-
ing the construction of bridges. During the Hellenistic Period
many bridges were built, some of them over 325 yards long.
ROME
BY KATIE PARLA
Th e maxim “all roads lead to Rome” describes Rome as the
nucleus from which major routes for conquest, trade, and
communication originated. Th e adage, while accurate, does
not adequately describe the complexity and organization
of the Roman road system, which stretched far beyond the
capital city and the Italian peninsula for a total of more than
50,000 miles of paved roadways across Europe, Asia, and
Africa.
During the earliest periods of Rome’s urban develop-
ment, in the seventh and eighth centuries b.c.e., the necessity
for road construction was minimal, as Rome had limited con-
tact with its neighboring regions. Many routes were unpaved
paths in the countryside created by foot and wagon traffi c
over short distances linking minor settlements.
During the early to middle Roman Republic, of the sixth
through fourth centuries b.c.e., preexisting roads from the
Bronze and Iron ages, as well as conquest and trade routes
established by Etruscan and Sabine tribes, were adapted
and extended. Th e Via Latina began as a series of dirt trails
that the Etruscans transformed into fi xed routes for their
conquest of Campania in Italy. Later the Romans paved
and extended the Via Latina. Th e Via Salaria was another
pre-Roman road that was later transformed by the Romans.
Th e Sabines established this unpaved road to reach the salt
marshes along the Tiber River. Th ese and other pre-Roman
roads typically followed the natural topography of the land,
winding around mountains and avoiding valleys and other
natural obstacles.
During the middle to late Roman Republic, in the
fourth through fi rst centuries b.c.e., the Romans began
building major paved highways known as consular roads.
Th ese courses were built by censors, elected offi cials of the
Roman government who were responsible for building and
maintaining roads and aqueducts, and they began in Rome
and radiated outward to other parts of the Italian peninsula.
Rather than avoiding natural obstacles like their archaic
predecessors, the Roman roads oft en took the most direct
routes, which required the manipulation of topographical
elements by cutting through mountains, leveling out eleva-
tion irregularities, and building bridges over valleys, rivers,
and swamps.
Th e fi rst major consular highway was begun in 312 b.c.e.
by the censors Appius Claudius and Caius Plautius and was
called the Via Appia aft er Appius Claudius. Th e fi rst-century
poet Statius (ca. 45–96 c.e.) praised the Via Appia as the Re-
gina viarum, queen of all roads, for the vital role it played in
Rome’s conquest, communication, trade, and travel. Th e road
was built in stages over the course of more than a century,
and the fi rst segment reached Capua, 132 miles southeast of
Rome. It was later extended as Rome conquered more terri-
tory approaching the Adriatic Sea, and it eventually reached
the Italian cities of Benevento, Taranto, and ultimately the
port city of Brindisi, for a total length of 364 miles.
Most of Rome’s roads were originally built for purpose
of conquests. Roads were built to move troops and conquer
territories as well as to transport slaves and war booty back
to Rome from these areas. Th e roads later took on other890 roads and bridges: Rome