A study shows that ancient Roman methods still have magical effects even though they have been lost!

New research shows that the Romans certainly knew what they were doing when it came to building roads, as roads paved thousands of years ago are still associated with today’s rapidly growing cities.

In other words, if you live near the Roman road network that was established more than 2,000 years ago, you’re probably in a pretty rich area. The trade, income, and development supported by these roads are still important in modern times.

This was not originally a primary use of roads, as the ancient Romans built roads to facilitate the movement of troops. Over time, roads began to connect important towns and cities.

“Because so much has happened since then, many things need to be adapted to modern conditions,” said economist Ola Olsson of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. “But our main finding is that Roman roads contributed to modern condensation. of cities and even the economic activities there have disappeared and they have been covered by new roads.

At the height of the expansion of the Roman Empire in the early 2nd century AD, about 80,000 km (49,710 mi) of roads were built, with the first road – a military supply route – starting in 312 BC.

Using the intensity of nighttime lighting as a rough indicator of economic activity, the researchers mapped the roads of the Roman Empire from recent satellite images.

The map is divided into smaller grids for closer examination and one degree of longitude and one degree of latitude are measured.

The team reported a “remarkable pattern of correlation” between the geography of Roman roads and the geography of modern economic activity, although much of the original infrastructure has completely disappeared.

There is a fluctuation between the hypothesis that these roads stimulate economic activity and the hypothesis that these roads are already paved in developed areas – but there are indications that the first hypothesis is correct and that the roads leads to increased trade and commerce. presence The team said the emergence of market towns along roads is important.

Olson added: “This is the biggest challenge in this whole field of research. What made this work even more exciting was that the roads themselves had disappeared and the turmoil in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire was an opportunity to reorient the economy. ” Despite this, the model maintained an urban standing.

However, the results were not uniform everywhere: Roman roads were not built or modified in North Africa and the Middle East, where camel caravans replaced the wheeled vehicle between the fourth and sixth that century AD.

There is no connection between the old ways and current economic development in these regions. Market cities, or in this case their lack, are important, the researchers say.

It is worth noting that these results also have implications for future infrastructure planning. Decisions about where to place roads and railways have the potential to significantly improve the economic environment in a given region, and as this latest study shows, this development can took a very long time.

The detailed results of this study have been published in Comparative Economics.

Source: ScienceAlert