Were Roman public roads built by private companies?
score:71
If the question is "did the roman government officials pay individuals, slave owners and groups of workers to build construction projects instead of using the government's direct manpower?", the answer is yes, just like any other public construction work during the Roman republic, principate and empire.
If the question is "did something like Claudius & Sons Roadbuilding Inc. exist at that time that was paid to lay out, organize and execute these projects in the name of the government, with government funding?", the answer is no.
If the question is "did a rich individual pay for the first tram of the via Appia and its bordering aqueduct out of their own pocket?" the answer is yes-ish, the via was named after himself, Appius Claudius. It was not a concession nor a government instructed work though, the senate didn't even have time to debate if it was necessary when he laid out the first stones.
He was paying for it with the money granted to his political office, the Censorship, and not truly privately owned money, but it was still his to use during his "term". More importantly, nobody stopped him from doing so, his initial spending on this project gave him the surname "the blind", not because he was, but because he started investing on it without knowing if Neapolis would become a Roman colony or not in the end.
Source: The Political Aims of Appius Claudius Caecus & Wikipedia.
Upvote:52
Roman roads were largely constructed by the military, at least the long distance roads between regions and cities. The legions had work crews and civil engineers attached to them for such works, as well as for building fortifications and everything else the legion would need (siege engines, barges, you name it, they'd all build it as needed where needed).
In towns and cities it'd probably be the local governments and citizens paving streets as needed and as they could afford it.
(Source)
More post
- 📝 When Adam Smith discusses "corn" to what crop does he refer?
- 📝 Was race really unimportant in the 1660's?
- 📝 Who was the last Egyptian pharaoh to be worshipped as a 'deity' or seen as something 'divine' whether in potential or actuality?
- 📝 Was the battle of Stalingrad "unique" in the annals of history?
- 📝 Was Martin Luther King's leadership conference Southern Christian or Southern Baptist?
- 📝 Did any UK declaration of war extend automatically to Australia?
- 📝 Did Kim Jong-Il wrest away power (rather than inherit it) from Kim Il-Sung in a power struggle?
- 📝 Why did Allied invasion of France occur only in 1944 and not earlier?
- 📝 Before the Civil War, did the USA ever offer something like a "5-year plan" for the South to abolish slavery?
- 📝 When did Rome recognize the Christian church as a judical person?
- 📝 What percentage of British and American troops were involved in direct combat with enemy in World War II
- 📝 Are there any battles that have been extensively studied across the world?
- 📝 Do we know if Patton ever said "l'audace l'audace toujours l'audace"?
- 📝 Why are Illyrian and Thracian cultures not studied as thoroughly as other balkans people?
- 📝 Why Was Hitler So Sure America Would Enter on Side of Allies?
- 📝 Who were the social elites of the European middle ages?
- 📝 Natural born citizen
- 📝 Why did Peter the Great name Saint Petersburg, Russia with a foreign styled name?
- 📝 Did Empress Cixi divert funds for the Beiyang Fleet to build the Summer Palace?
- 📝 What was John Buchan's position on Jewish immigration?
- 📝 When has a military force used their own people as human shields?
- 📝 What was the fate of Latvian Jewish population sent to gulags in June 1941?
- 📝 Rose tattoo used to mark convicts condemned to death?
- 📝 What historical situation is comparable to what Europe is currently facing?
- 📝 Were there any ancient cultures that accepted h*m*sexuality?
- 📝 When was the concept of the "border wall" between the United States and Mexico first proposed?
- 📝 Was the Wehrmacht a mechanized army?
- 📝 German influence if the Nazis had won
- 📝 Was Saladin Agnostic?
- 📝 Have there been other examples of reunification/annexation, such as in the Crimea, that succeeded without using deadly force?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Were Roman public roads built by private companies?
- 📝 When were public roads cleaned electromagnetically?
- 📝 Were Medieval Britons aware of the existence of the Roman Empire?
- 📝 What language(s) were spoken within the Holy Roman Empire?
- 📝 How were medieval castles built in swamps or marshes without draining them?
- 📝 Were Roman males ever named after their mothers?
- 📝 What documentary evidence is there that Roman crucifixion victims were completely nude?
- 📝 What were Greek and Roman sails made from?
- 📝 Were Roman gladiators ever enlisted into the military?
- 📝 How rich were carpenters in Roman Galilee in the 1st century AD?
- 📝 Were there punishments in the Roman Empire for not believing in the official religion?
- 📝 Where were the western legions when the Roman empire fell?
- 📝 What were the conditions of joining or leaving the Holy Roman Empire?
- 📝 Were the lands of the Teutonic Knights part of the Holy Roman Empire?
- 📝 Were there weapons that a private citizen could not legally own in 1789 in the US?
- 📝 Were there any Roman villas in Britain which were used rather than destroyed after the Romans left?
- 📝 Were Roman marching songs still bawdy during principate/dominate?
- 📝 How were Roman Legions disarmed/disbanded before entering Italia?
- 📝 What were the rights of various classes of people in the Roman Republic?
- 📝 Were Roman emperors officially considered kings of Egypt?
- 📝 Why didn't the Germanic tribes harry the Roman troops to distraction when Caesar built the bridges across the Rhine?
- 📝 How alcoholic were ancient Greek and Roman wines, before and after dilution?
- 📝 Were there any Jewish members of the Roman Senate?
- 📝 Were mattress labels inspired by public outcry?
- 📝 How were the borders of the Holy Roman Empire established?
- 📝 What were the insignia of the Western Roman Empire and what happened to them?
- 📝 How many citizens were in each century of the Roman electoral system?
- 📝 What kinds of goods were commonly smuggled in the Roman Empire up to the end of the 3rd century AD?
- 📝 Were Roman emperors in the first century AD shown as holding stars in their hands?
- 📝 Who were the successors of the Roman Empire?