Editing Ancient Roman architecture (section)

=== Roads ===
{{Main|Roman road}}
[[File:Appia antica 2-7-05 048.jpg|thumb|The [[Appian Way]]]]
[[Roman road]]s were vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 500 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the [[Roman Republic]] and the [[Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Forbes|1993|page=146}} They provided efficient means for the overland movement of [[Military history of ancient Rome|armies]], officials and civilians, and the inland carriage of official communications and [[Roman commerce|trade]] goods.{{sfn|Kaszynski|2000|p=9}} At the peak of Rome's development, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the capital, and the Late Empire's 113 provinces were interconnected by 372 great road links.{{sfn|Bunson|2009|p=195}}{{sfn|O'Flaherty|2002|p=2}}
Roman road builders aimed at a regulation width (see [[#Laws and standards|Laws and standards]] above), but actual widths have been measured at between {{convert|3.6|ft|m|abbr=on}} and more than {{convert|23|ft|m|abbr=on}}. Today, the concrete has worn from the spaces around the stones, giving the impression of a very bumpy road, but the original practice was to produce a surface that was much closer to being flat.