The map that proves that all roads lead to Rome

German team project allows you to visualize paths to the Italian capital from almost 500 thousand points in Europe

A German urban design team adopted as its project the proof of the old saying “all roads lead to Rome”. And for this, he created the map that proves that all roads lead to Rome.

Specializing in an “anti-disciplinary” approach to data and maps, Moovel Lab sought to verify the connections between Europe and the Italian capital.

The project is called “Roads to Rome” and was launched five years ago. Based in Stuttgart, Moovel Lab's research focus is urban mobility.

The moovel.lab team created a grid of almost 500 points and placed it on a current street map of Europe. An algorithm was then developed to calculate a route to Rome from each of the points.

The resulting map reveals a design in which all roads seem to converge towards the Italian capital. The streets with a thicker layout are the most used, serving as part of the route from several different points.

In this link You can access the interactive version of the map, which allows you to get closer to locations and view the routes in detail.

A continental network

One of the first records of the saying is from the 12th century, when the French poet and theologian Alain de Lille wrote that “mille viae ducunt homines per saecula Romam” (“a thousand streets lead men to Rome”, in free translation).

The network of roads built by the Roman Empire covered much of Southern and Western Europe. Only 29 roads left Rome. The 113 provinces that made up the empire were connected to each other by 373 roads.

In total, the structure had a total of 80,5 thousand kilometers of paths paved with stones. Many of Europe's modern roads exist over ancient Roman routes.

The network reached from present-day Great Britain, where the Romans built between 3 and 4 kilometers of roads, to the region where Turkey is today. The first of these roads was the Appian Way, opened in 312 BC. Roman roads were used mainly for military purposes.

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By Camilo Rocha/NEXO