The different statuses of Roman roads

The different statuses of Roman roads

The writings of Siculus Flacus, a Roman surveyor (mensor) of the 1st century, give us the following classification:
The viae publicae

These are the main roads of the Empire, the main arteries of the road network, connecting the great cities to each other. They are also called viae praetoriae (praetorian ways), viae militares (military ways) or viae consulares (consular ways). It was the State that could finance their construction, but a contribution was required from the cities and owners of the estates crossed by these roads, who then had to ensure their maintenance2.

They often bear the name of the person who brought the project for its construction (Agrippa for via Agrippa, Domitius Ahenobarbus for via Domitia).

In Italy, management is then placed under the supervision of the curator viarum, a civil servant. It is the ordering party for the works of the track, its repairs.

The observed average width of a via publica is 6 to 12 m.

A few examples of major public roads:via Agrippa, from Rome to Boulogne-sur-Mer; via Appia, from Rome to Brindisi; via Domitia (Domitian Way), from Italy to Spain via the Narbonnaise; via Egnatia, from Dyrrachium (Durrës) to Byzantium.
The local viae

They branch off from the viae publicae and thus make it possible to link together the different vici (a vicus is a large town) of the same region. They obviously constitute the majority of the routes on the network.

The average width of a via vicinalis was about 4 m.

Some examples in Gaul of viae vicinales:the Regordane route linking Le Puy-en-Velay to Montpellier or the Aquitaine route linking Narbonne to Bordeaux.
The viae privatae

They linked the large estates, the villae, to the viae vicinales and publicae. They were private, reserved for the sole use of the owner who financed them in full. They were often found at the property line.

The average width of a via privata was 2.50 to 4 m.