A new digital atlas has uncovered an “ancient Rome network” of roads stretching across continents — nearly 50% longer than previously known. The study, called Itiner-e, mapped almost 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) of Roman roadways spanning Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, expanding the known reach of Rome’s infrastructure by over 100,000 kilometers, The Associated Press reported.
The project, developed over five years by a team of archaeologists, combines ancient records with cutting-edge digital mapping. Researchers analyzed historical journals, milestone locations, and archival data before verifying results using satellite imagery and aerial photography — including digitized photos from World War II reconnaissance flights. “It becomes a massive game of connecting the dots on a continental scale,” said Tom Brughmans, co-author of the study published in Scientific Data.
Routes traced from Spain to Syria connect more than 5,000 ancient settlements. Earlier estimates placed the total at roughly 117,000 miles (188,000 km), focusing mainly on imperial highways. The new work reveals thousands of smaller roads linking rural farms, villas, and military outposts — the vital arteries of daily Roman life.
“This will be a very foundational work for a lot of other research,” said Benjamin Ducke of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. However, he cautioned that not all identified roads may have been active at the same time.
The Itiner-e project merges historical documentation with GIS, LiDAR, and crowdsourced data to reconstruct these ancient paths. Only 2% to 3% of the mapped roads have high physical certainty, according to the report. Scholars believe the dataset could reshape understanding of ancient trade, military logistics, and even the spread of Christianity. “The Romans left a huge impact with this road network,” said co-author Adam Pažout of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
The atlas and interactive map are freely available at itiner-e.org, allowing the public to explore routes that once connected the ancient world — many of which still shape modern roads today.
