Welcome to this weeks musings. This week we take a look at 5 Roman Myths about Roads. From their construction to a horses rear! Plus a little in between.
Big thanks to: https://garethdennis.co.uk/ – https://www.youtube.com/@GarethDennisTV
and The Roman Road research Association: https://www.romanroads.org/
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Credits (Public domain if not stated):
Filter: Snowman Digital and Beachfront B-Roll
Credits here unless stated.
Roman Road with Ruts: Ad Meskins
Roman Road: Carole Raddato
Harrow Way: Adam37
Black and White Maps: Neddyseagoon
Tribe Map: Myself
Groma 1: ThreeCharlie
Groma 2: MattiasKabel
Gromaman with alignment: DTOnline
Chariot with male and Female: Biga
Roman Wagon: TriggerHappy
Roman Wagon 2: Marcus Cryron
Maps: Google Maps
Maps: National Library of Scotland
Maps: OS Maps. Media License.
Stock Footage: Storyblocks
Music: Storyblocks
Music: Epidemicsound
chapters:
00:00 – Intro
01:20 – The Groma
03:51 – The Construction
07:04 – Ancient Trackways
09:50 – A Horse’s rear!
11:32 – Maps
32 Comments
Click Bait the accurate title Roman Roads varied a great deal from the one max build shown which was done in places. And don't even try starting in Britain doing your example. Those ones near Rome are stone just like described. And as this complex building system still used in places like Paris under the top layer one reason your not finding the roman is it was redone same style later. I have seen the article but yes only seen them in Europe primarily Italy.
Facinating. We have the same problem in Physics. People parroting what they were taught, with no real understanding about what was meant. As humans, most of our understandings are built on others imaginations. We are but repetition machines. A lot of that spouting off is actually not correct but no one is willing to spend the time to understand why.
You keep saying "perpetrated" when you mean "perpetuated".
Jokes on you, I never knew anything about roman roads.
Not even the slightest effort to pronounce the title of a life’s work correctly. 👎
How about a video on roman roads in Africa?
Sure. The academic consensus on Roman road buildingbis "wrong." Okay, pal.
Either click bait or bull shit.
I have just watched and … I'm a bit confused. For ten minutes or so, I saw a man walk some earth path, having a stroll, I guess, trying to debunk what has been posted on the internet this past decade, using the same information and images. Who, on earth, would try to debunk the fact that a cat cannot have five legs by showing a picture of a five leg cat and say that it is not true? That Paul wants to be taken for granted because he does not have a clue of what he is saying having no proof to present? I have seen videos of people saying that earth was not a globe but was flat, using exactly the same technique. Some real digging, literally, would have brought more credits to this topic. Well, or maybe would have proved Paul wrong on some points.
Think of the logistics, the sheer amount of rubble, hard core, good quality paving, kerbstones, etc. needed to do the entire road network to the traditional textbook standard. Perhaps in regions where such materials are not locally available (e.g. eastern England).
What was number 5? What was the myth or misconception? I don't understand.
British persons adamantly refuse to pronounce Latin or French words correctly. That, combined with the paper tigers basis of this video makes it unwatchable.
Eye-ter 😬
I drove by car over the Via Appia Antiqua, so I know some about their roads. Have you ?
I find it strange that these roads are not preserved and exposed to the public to use, at least for walking.
What is in the frame on 10:37 right down side on the field, some signed ?
Early tramways, at least in the coal-mining areas of northern England, used plate rails: i.e. flat plates to accept the wheels of ordinary, road-going wagons, with flanges on the track to stop the wheels going off the plates into mud. If there was a local tradition for the wheel spacing, they'd naturally lay the plates to suit that, so that existing wagons could run on the platyeway. Later, when edge rails came into use, there was no chance to bring road vehicles onto the tramway and no need to keep the same gauge. However tramways that started with "Stevenson gauge" tended to stay that way from inertia; probably they fitted new wheels to existing wagons. I see no reason why the plateway gauge couldn't be derived from the width of two horses, and also no reason why it had to derive from a Roman standard. Roman and 17th Century wainwrights could solve the same problem the same way, independently, and get the same answer.
The title makes me sound like an idiot. Do I look like an idiot to you? Here is everything I know about Roman roads – the Romans built roads. Is that wrong?
I always find it weird that they build stone pathways as I learned that moving carriages on stones instead of dirt was cumbersome and very unpleasant since until like the 18th century there was no suspension
Does the author have any archeological evidence, or photos poving, that Roman roads were not built the way most people assume?
Very annoying for him to point to some bushes and say "you can see the road over here in the hedges", (4:25) and nothing is visible of the road, and the camera does not even pan over in that direction for a second. Why even refer to it if you are not going to even show it?
ITER is pronounced "EETER": stop using English pronounciation to read other languages, you're not French, are you?
All this guy did was walk around and talk about how he disagreed with “The Myth” but offered no actual proof to support his stance. He did not, with permission, get down and dig under any of the existing ancient roads. He did not go in person to the four corners of the Roman Empire and survey the locations of the roads. No doubt there would be sections built like a back country road and there would be other sections built to withstand heavy traffic such as the way a freeway is constructed.
If EVERYTHING we know about Roman roads is wrong, then we are thankfully free to come up with some amazing nonsense. They were designed by aliens and were purely for decoration, as well as they were only used by ninja turtles that slowly but surely pulled freight across the empire. It´s fun to be wrong. Good video though.
In all seriousness, it makes sense that the "ideal" Roman road would not be the case everywhere in the empire. Surely, some were better than others, and people cut corners and get lazy, just like today.
Music background. WHY??
My immediate thinking was, is he going to compare backward, frontierland roads to the center of their civilization roads?! All for a clickbait title?
Cheap.
You walking a remote road that not even being used today, pointing at the ground and suggesting it was at one time a Roman Road. This is laughable, I suggest you back your theory up with facts.
@1:00 – I really, really wanted to watch this video, but the noise of the camera mount is very off-putting to someone with audio hypersensitivity. Pity really.
How can everything I know about roman roads be wrong when I know basically nothing about Roman roads?
What a stupid click-bait ttile to a video. Including the capital letters.
EVERYNTHING?! So I could not walk on them and they didn't allow for horse riders or any cart on it. They were not used for any form of travel or transportation. And they were not build by the Romans. They were not even within the Roman Empire. Because EVERYTHING I know about them is WRONG!
https://youtu.be/QMtw1I_ro84?si=4oKbmo8VvtZ678bF
Watch the video from Professor Isaac Moreno Gallo
You can see a real Roman road explained.
He built a corobate and compared it with a total station… 😮
"EVERYTHING you know about Roman Roads is WRONG"
Everything I know about roman roads now is from this video. It is all wrong you say? 😉
If the Romans didn't build roads in this manner… What way did they build them? You offer no alternative, only "this is all rubbish".
Furthermore, different terrain types, building materials, and weather conditions would dictate that they alter the way the roads for a given area. Roads that are on the coast are not built in exactly the same manner as they are in the plains. The Romans, with all their faults, certainly would have known to modify their methods to suit the needs/ability of the land they were building on/in. Shallow roads do not make sense in areas where ground frost can cause heaving…