The Roman Empire, at its widest extent in the second
century, included forty-three provinces. They were protected against Germans,
Parthians and other foes by twenty-five legions, numbering with the auxiliary
forces, about three hundred thousand men. This standing army was one of Rome's
most important agencies for the spread of her civilization over barbarian
lands. Its membership was drawn largely from the border provinces, often from
the very countries where the soldiers' camps were fixed. Though the army became
less and less Roman in blood, it always kept in character and spirit the best
traditions of Rome. The long intervals of peace were not passed by the soldiers
in idleness. They built the great highways that penetrated every region of the
empire, spanned the streams with bridges, raised dikes and aqueducts, and
taught the border races the arts of civilization. It was due, finally, to the
labors of the legionaries, that the most exposed parts of the frontiers were
provided with an extensive system of walls and ramparts.
THE ROMAN ROADS
The Roman system of roads received its great extension
during the imperial age. The principal trunk lines began at the gates of Rome
and radiated thence to every province. Along these highways sped the couriers
of the Caesars, carrying dispatches and making, by means of relays of horses,
as much as one hundred and fifty miles a day. The roads resounded to the tramp
of the legionaries passing to their stations on the distant frontier. Travelers
by foot, horseback, or litter journeyed on them from land to land, employing
maps which described routes and distances. Traders used them for the transport
of merchandise. Roman roads, in short, were the railways of antiquity.
