Roman Roads

This afternoon in History, we looked at why the Romans built new roads in Britain and created a model to show the cross-section of a Roman road.

Before the Romans arrived, Britain had no proper roads. The Celts rode horses, walked and traveled in carts pulled by oxen along paths and tracks, often in poor condition. The Romans built better roads so that;

  • Troops could be quickly moved from one place to another
  • Supplies could be sent to different areas of the country
  • The Emperor had more control if messages could be sent quickly
  • Trading between places was better

The Romans were famous for their long, straight roads. You can still see some Roman roads today, two thousand years after they were built.

Building a Roman road

This afternoon We looked at how the Romans built their roads and recreated the process. 

  1. We used cardboard for the base, also acting as our two ditches and camber so that the rain would drain off.
  2. Scrunched up pieces of light brown paper were used for the broken stones, pebbles and sand.
  3. Next, we used brown tissue paper for the gravel on top to make a smooth and compact surface.
  4. Finally, scrap paper was rounded and painted to make the rough stones and hard surface.

 

Take a closer look at our photos in our photo gallery!