Listeners to this podcast are certainly aware of the saying that “all roads lead to Rome”; and, given this audience, you might even be aware that this probably derived from the observation “mīlle viae dūcunt hominēs per saecula Rōmam”, made by the 12th century theologian and poet Alain de Lille. But what is the history of the Roman roads, or rather, what is the history of how people imagined and related to the Roman Roads? And how has that imaginary influenced the ways that we think of Rome, the classical world, roads, travel, and perhaps even the powers of the state?
That Roman roads actually have produced a social imaginary should perhaps be a little more mysterious to us. After all, as my guest writes: “Many roads do go without saying. They’re not aesthetically exciting. They’re functional and mundane. We notice roads when they have problems – a traffic jam or accident. When the journey is smooth they’re not worthy of comment. (I noted, while researching, how rarely the word ‘road’ is indexed.) And yet for centuries the Roman roads have been a source of fascination.”
Those were the words of Catherine Fletcher, Professor of History at Manchester Metropolitan University, and author most recently of The Roads to Rome: A History of Imperial Expansion. This is her second appearance on Historically Thinking; she was last here in Episode 166 talking about her book The Beauty and the Terror: The Italian Renaissance and the Rise of the West. We discuss how Roman roads became a metaphor for civilization, a tool of state power, and a lens through which later generations imagined classical antiquity. For anyone interested in historical thinking, the history of infrastructure, or the legacy of empire, this conversation offers new paths to explore.
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