Transportation--economic aspects of Roman highway development: the case of Via Appia

Joseph Berechman

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2003, vol. 37, issue 5, 453-478

Abstract: The ancient Romans built an excellent system of roads, the development of which required systematic planning, creative design and high-quality construction and maintenance capabilities. At the empire's peak about 85,000 km (53,000 miles) of road connected the capital Rome with its far-away frontiers. Twenty-nine major public roads radiated from Rome, the most famous of which was Via Appia (The Appian Way), also called the "queen of roads". Built in 312 BC, it is the most illustrious example of Roman civil engineering skills; small sections of it are still in use today. What were the major reasons underlying this (and similar) massive and costly undertakings? How was it constructed so as to last for so many centuries? How much real resources were invested in its construction and what were the principal benefits? These are the main questions that this study aims to examine.

Date: 2003
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965-8564(02)00056-3
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:37:y:2003:i:5:p:453-478

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().