The Romans have left us with near-endless contributions. Many European languages stem from Latin, and much of the Western legal tradition and governmental structure can be traced back to the days of the early years of the republic. However, one of the most overlooked but enduring aspects of Roman life is their road network. The Romans were far from the first to build roads but were certainly the first to perfect them.

The amount of engineering and planning that went into each roadway was truly staggering and did not get near the amount of attention that it deserves whenever Rome is studied or discussed. The Roman road network was the backbone of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Easy-to-use, well-built, and maintained roads meant that traveling across the vast Roman territory was relatively easy and straightforward.