As part of their invasion, the Romans constructed a number of major roads throughout Britain, some of which are still followed today
When the Roman’s invaded Britain in AD43, they did so with overwhelming military power. However, even with as many as 50,000 troops on the island, the Romans still couldn’t be everywhere at once. It was thus necessary to construct a system whereby troops could be moved quickly about the country to where they were needed. Also, and just as important, those troops would needs supplies, the majority of which would be imported from the continent. In order to deal with both problems, the Roman constructed several major road systems across Britain.
Using London as a base, the Romans constructed three main roads along their main avenues of conquest through the country. The mostly southerly road ran to the no longer existent town of Silchester (near modern Oxford) before swinging up to Gloucester near the point where southern Wales and the Cornish peninsula meet. The middle road ran straight up to Wroxeter and then up to Chester at the northern tip of Wales. This road was known as the Watling Street, a name that crops up again and again in British history. The Northern most road, which was called Ermine Street, ran from London to Lincoln. Finally, a fourth road called the Fosse Way was constructed to cut across the other three running down from Lincoln to the coast near south-western tip of the Cornish peninsula. This line marked the initial border of the new British Roman province and was used as a staging post for advances further into the country.
The Roman roads were marvels of ancient engineering and required thousands of man hours to construct. It is not unwise to assume that slave labour was instrumental in their construction. Roman roads were built by digging a line of parallel trenches and piling the dirt in the middle to make an embankment. The embankment was then pounded flat and layers of stony and porous materials where laid out on top of it. The exact composition of a Roman road varied according to what materials were available. In perfect circumstances Roman roads would be made of four layers: earth, small stones with mortar, then gravel and sand, and finally covered in paving stones. These roads could be as much as 30 feet wide.
From the original four roads, numerous of-shoots were constructed so that all of Roman Britain could be reached quickly and controlled. In modern Britain many of these roadways still exist. Some have been paved over, but others have been left in their original state (one good example is the road that runs between Canterbury and Lympne). The Romans were famous for constructing very long, straight roads, and on modern maps of Britain this can still serve as a clue to the roads origin.
