Network science reveals the structure and lasting impact of the Roman road system
Adam Pažout, Tom Brughmans, Pau de Soto, Matteo Mazzamurro, María Coto-Sarmiento, Clara Filet, Eduardo Herrera Malatesta, Magnus L Nielsen, Gustav Emil Ølgaard, Peter B Vahlstrup · 2026
Read Network science reveals the structure and lasting impact of the Roman road system by Adam Pažout, Tom Brughmans, Pau de Soto, Matteo Mazzamurro, María Coto-Sarmiento, Clara Filet, Eduardo Herrera Malatesta, Magnus L Nielsen, Gustav Emil Ølgaard, Peter B Vahlstrup (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13578412.txt.
Description
Adam Pažout and co-authors measured the Roman road system with network science in 2026, using a new detailed map of roads across the empire. Roman roads linked Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and are often credited with shaping later settlement, but their structure had not been quantified.
The team asked how straight the roads are, how long they lasted, and how central Rome and other cities were. Roads ran straight where the land allowed, but less straight than modern roads. Provincial capitals sat in more central spots than other cities for land travel. Main roads carried more through traffic than side roads. Roman road density also matches major modern roads.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Adam Pažout, Tom Brughmans, Pau de Soto, Matteo Mazzamurro, María Coto-Sarmiento, Clara Filet, Eduardo Herrera Malatesta, Magnus L Nielsen, Gustav Emil Ølgaard, Peter B Vahlstrup |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 88 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |