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This map lets you explore the Roman Empire’s ancient transport network

Itiner-e is a new interactive map that reimagines the Roman Empire’s transport system, revealing how its web of roads and sea routes once connected millions across Europe, Africa, and Asia.

According to Brughmans, the Roman road system had an impact on the spread of early Christianity, mass migration, and pandemics throughout the continent. (Image: itiner-e)

A groundbreaking new map has dramatically expanded our understanding of the Roman Empire’s land transport network –– revealing it to be about 60 per cent larger than previously thought. This map, named itiner-e, is the first open dataset of its kind, meticulously drawing upon a wealth of information, including topography mapping, satellite imagery, and centuries of historical documents.

The intricate compilation, now publicly available, details almost 300,000 kilometres of roads as they existed in AD 150. Archaeologists compiled the data to create the most detailed map yet of the empire’s road system.

How did the creator create the comprehensive map?

To build the map, Tom Brughmans of Aarhus University in Denmark and his colleagues combined diverse research data to reconstruct more realistic routes for known roads. Each road segment was assigned a confidence rating based on the reliability of the evidence supporting its location.

According to Brughmans, the project began “out of enormous frustration, and is comparable to Roman archaeology’s most mysterious subject. “All roads lead to Rome” is one of our proverbs. So why in the world am I unable to download every Roman road?” “Where are they?”

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Their research showed that the road network’s overall length at this time was around 299,171 kilometres, which is far longer than the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World’s earlier estimate of 188,555 km.

The analysis also shows that just 2.8 per cent of the network’s length can be exactly determined, within 50 metres in mountains and 200 metres on flat terrain, despite the fact that we have solid evidence for the beginning and ending of numerous routes.

According to Brughmans, this suggests that a significant amount of work hasn’t been completed, as it may be challenging to secure funding to excavate entire Roman roadways. It can be challenging to find the original route because major roads have been constructed numerous times throughout history.

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Gaining further insight into the Roman road system may help us comprehend a number of significant historical occurrences in Europe. According to Brughmans, the Roman road system had an impact on the spread of early Christianity, mass migration, and pandemics throughout the continent.

The Map can be accessed through their website, itiner-e.org

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