The Roads of the Romans

 

The Roads of the Romans is a beautiful book published by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 2003. The text is written by Romolo Augusto Staccioli, who is professor of Etruscan Studies and Italian Antiquities at the University of Rome. The English translation is by Stephen Sartarelli. Following a brief introduction the main text is divided into five chapters:

# 1 - The Streets of the City [about Rome]
# 2 - The Roads outside the City [about the oldest roads]
# 3 - The Consular Roads [about Via Appia and other roads in Italy]
# 4 - The Great Roads of the Empire [about the roads in the provinces]
# 5 - The most durable of Monuments [about bridges and tunnels]
 
At the end of the book we find a bibliographical note and an index.

The Roads of the Romans is illustrated with beautiful colour photos. In addition, there are two maps (one of Italy, one of the Roman Empire) and two drawings, which show the building of a Roman road (figures 88-89). The maps and the drawings are by Marcello Bellisario.

Many photos are taken by Giovanni Lattanzi, but some are supplied by an bureau. Only two photos are taken by the author himself: figures 80-81 from Leptis Magna in Libya. Since the illustrations are so numerous and so large, the text takes up less than half of the 132 pages, perhaps 40-50 pages.

The book was reviewed by the Russian historian Vadim Prozorov (the faculty of history, Moscow State University) in the internet magazine Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2005.05.45). Prozorov says the photos are the best part of the book. He thinks the names of the photographers should have been indicated on the cover of the book, because the photos are an important part of this product.

While reading the book, Prozorov wondered “what its purpose was and who its audience might be.” It is not a guidebook, because there is almost no practical information. On the other hand it is not an academic work, because there is almost no analysis, and the documentation is limited.

Prozorov notes that there are several literary references in the first chapter, which is a good thing. But in the other four chapters there is almost no documentation, which is unfortunate (there is one reference on page 100 and a few more on page 104).

Prozorov says the text often feels like a long list of names, when the author mentions all the places a certain road passes from the beginning to the end. A good example of this style is quoted from page 76. Other examples could easily be added.

In conclusion Prozorov says:

“I would regard The Roads of the Romans as an album where the text is just an auxiliary part and [as an album] which can be used for its illustrative material or as a reference book.” 

While I agree with him on all these points, I would like to add the following observations:

(1) Stephen Sartarelli is well-known as the translator of the inspector Montalbano crime series written by the Italian author Andrea Camilleri, but I am afraid he is not so familiar with the world of ancient Rome.

(2) There is a striking lack of accuracy in the text. I am not sure who is to blame for this flaw: the author or the translator?

(a) Ancient Roman names are often given in the modern Italian version:

* On page 8: “the Emilii” and “the Giulii” instead of the Aemilii and the Julii.

* On page 68: “Marcus Emilius Scaurus” instead of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (but surprisingly the name is correct on page 72 and in the index).

* On page 80: “Via Emilia” instead of Via Aemilia.

* On page 86: “Gnaius Domitius Enobarbus” instead of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.

(b) Mistakes and misprints are common:

* On page 47: “…the pleb secession” instead of the plebeian secession.

* On page 56: “milia passum,” instead of “milia passuum.”

* The caption to figure 76 says: “A section of Hadrian’s Wall in Scotland.” This wall is in the north of England, near the modern border between England and Scotland.

* On page 94: “Caruntum.” The name of this Roman town on the Danube River is Carnuntum.

* Also on page 94: “ancient Drobetae.” The ancient name of this town is Drobeta.

* The caption to figure 95 says the Pondel Bridge is “50 meters long and 55 meters high.” In fact it is 60 m long and 66 m high (it must be the highest construction in the Roman Empire).

* On page 123: “The Furlo tunnel near Fossombrone in the Marches,” but the name of this Italian region is Marche (the mistake is repeated in the caption to figure 101).

* Also on page 123: “The tunnel was excavated at the behest of emperor Vespasian in 77-76 BC.” Vespasian ruled AD 69-79, and the tunnel was excavated in AD 76.

Prozorov says the photos are great; he is right. Prozorov says the text is not so great; he is right again. When I look at the photos, I want to give this book a rating of 5 stars. But the text deserves only 2 or 3 stars. When I look at the book as a whole, I think I have to give it 4 stars.

PS # 1. In 2004 the J. Paul Getty Museum published another book on this topic: The Appian Way edited by Ivana della Portella and illustrated with photos by Franco Mammana. As you can see from the title, this book covers only one of the many Roman roads, but it does so very well.

PS # 2. There is a chapter about Roman roads and bridges in The Oxford Handbook on Engineering and Technology in the Classical World edited by J. P. Oleson (HC 2008, PB 2010). Unfortunately, the author of this chapter (Lorenzo Quilici) decided to focus on Italy, so there is almost nothing about the roads and bridges in the provinces.

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Romolo Augusto Staccioli,

The Roads of the Romans,

J. Paul Getty Museum Press, 2003, 132 pages

 

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