I've always thought that it was interesting the Romans built the Antonine Wall where it is, and declared that to be the end of the empire in Britannia.
There would have been a long march across a sinky, sucky, midgie-infested bog to the south, then a long climb up a hill that's just steep enough to be annoying, and then when you get to the ridge overlooking what's now the Kelvin Valley - where Bar Hill fort is - there's just another even bigger wetter bog with lochs to wade through, hoaching with midgies, and an even bigger set of very steep hills beyond.
Inhabited by angry armed locals.
You know what, lads, if Antonius wants the land to the north of it then Antonius can come and claim it for himself, okay? Who's with me? Build the camp here? Build the camp here, then.
And now, if you brought a Roman soldier 1900 years forwards, I wonder what they'd make of it? Nothing left of the empire, except a few weirdly straight roads a little north of Glasgow, some half-buried ruins that the local high school kids get taken to on field trips during the day and go up to and smoke weed at night, and a few of those local kids have bigger noses than you might otherwise expect.
It would be interesting to know if there are any modern economic implications from these ancient road networks. Like economic advantages that regions that had Roman roads 2,000 years ago, have today, with all other factors being held constant.
Scott-David
Impressive dataset—very valuable for exploring Roman road networks."
"A great tool for historians and archaeology enthusiasts alike."
"High-resolution data like this opens up new possibilities for research on the Roman Empire.
I've always thought that it was interesting the Romans built the Antonine Wall where it is, and declared that to be the end of the empire in Britannia.
There would have been a long march across a sinky, sucky, midgie-infested bog to the south, then a long climb up a hill that's just steep enough to be annoying, and then when you get to the ridge overlooking what's now the Kelvin Valley - where Bar Hill fort is - there's just another even bigger wetter bog with lochs to wade through, hoaching with midgies, and an even bigger set of very steep hills beyond.
Inhabited by angry armed locals.
You know what, lads, if Antonius wants the land to the north of it then Antonius can come and claim it for himself, okay? Who's with me? Build the camp here? Build the camp here, then.
And now, if you brought a Roman soldier 1900 years forwards, I wonder what they'd make of it? Nothing left of the empire, except a few weirdly straight roads a little north of Glasgow, some half-buried ruins that the local high school kids get taken to on field trips during the day and go up to and smoke weed at night, and a few of those local kids have bigger noses than you might otherwise expect.
Previously discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45864341
online viewer: https://itiner-e.org/
It would be interesting to know if there are any modern economic implications from these ancient road networks. Like economic advantages that regions that had Roman roads 2,000 years ago, have today, with all other factors being held constant.
Impressive dataset—very valuable for exploring Roman road networks."
"A great tool for historians and archaeology enthusiasts alike."
"High-resolution data like this opens up new possibilities for research on the Roman Empire.
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