Roman Roads of Britannia

• The Roman Province of Britannia had an extensive network of Roman Roads, many radiating out from London.
• Two documents describing the road network have survived, the Antonine Itinerary and the Peutinger Table.

The Roman Roads

• Akeman Street: (A41)
  • St. Albans (Verulamium) to Cirencester (Corinium)
• Dere Street: (A68, A7)
  • York to Antonine Wall, Scotland
• Ermin Street: (A417, A419, B400)
  • Gloucester to Silchester
• Ermine Street: (A10, A1)
  • London to Lincoln and York
  • Known in Medieval England as the ‘Old North Road’.
  • The ‘Great North Road’ was a Turnpike road used by the Mail coaches between London and Scotland that followed the route of the modern A1.
• Fosse Way: (A429)
  • Exeter to Lincoln
• Icknield Street: (A38, A61)
  • Gloucester to York
• Icknield Way (Not a Roman Road)
  • Ancient east-west trackway probably extending from Exeter to Hunstanton
• Military Way:
  • Follows Hadrian's Wall
• Portway: (A30)
  • London via Silchester (Calleva) to Dorchester
• Via Trinobantina: (A40 in part)
  • Colchester–London–Silchester
  • The A40 runs over the almost straight line of the Via Trinobantina between Bank, High Holborn, Oxford Street, Marble Arch, and the Bayswater Road.
• Pye Road: (A12, A140)
  • Venta Icenorum, near Norwich, to Colchester. Later extended to London.
• Stane Street (A3, A24, A29 and A285)
  • London to Chichester
• Stanegate: (Runs parallel to the A69)
  • Carlisle to Corbridge
• Via Devana:
  • Colchester to Chester
• Watling Street: (A2, A5)
  • Dover via London to Wroxeter
• A Northern Roman Road
  • From Carlisle on Hadrian's Wall to the Antonine Wall.

The Antonine Itinerary

• The Antonine Itinerary is a fourth century CE list of all the Routes around the Roman Empire.
• The British Section, also known as the ‘Iter Brittaniarum’, lists 15 Itineraries:
• Iter I
  • Hadrian's Wall to Brough
• Iter II
  • Hadrian's Wall to Richborough via Chester and Wall
• Iter III
  • London to Dover
• Iter IV
  • London to Lympne
• Iter V
  • London to Carlisle
• Iter VI
  • London to Lincoln
• Iter VII
  • London to Chichester via Southampton and Silchester
• Iter VIII
  • London to York
• Iter IX
  • London to Caistor St Edmund
• Iter X
  • Ravenglass to Whitchurch
• Iter XI
  • Caernarfon to Chester
• Iter XII
  • Carmarthen to Wroxeter
• Iter XIII
  • Caerleon to Silchester via Gloucester and Newbury
• Iter XIV
  • Caerleon to Silchester via Sea Mills and Bath
• Iter XV
  • Silchester to Exeter

The Peutinger Table

• This is a road map of all the roads in the Roman Empire.

Margary numbers

• In 1955 ‘The Roman Roads of Britain’ was published by Ivan Margary.
• This is a catalogue of known and supposed Roman Roads and their branches in Britain by the historian Ivan Margary.
• No preserved record remains from antiquity listing how the Romans numbered or named their roads. They are known only by their Anglo-Saxon names such as Watling Street.
• So Margary copied the modern road numbering technique. Main Roads are given single digit numbers Eg 1, Main branches are given double digit numbers Eg 2b, and Minor branches are given three digit numbers Eg 45c.

Modern Class A Roads following a Roman Road

• A1
  • Ermine Street (London) Huntingdon to York) (Margary no.2)
    • The A10 follows the Roman Road between London and Royston, after which it follows the A1 at Huntingdon.
• A10
  • Ermine Street (London to Royston) (Margary no.2)
  • The A10 follows the Roman alignment north starting from King William Street, Bishopsgate, then running along Shoreditch High Street, Kingsland Road, Kingsland High Street, Stoke Newington Road, Stoke Newington High Street to Tottenham, Enfield, Waltham Cross, Ware and Royston.
• A2, A207
  • Watling Street (Dover to London) (Margary no.1)
  • The A2 starts at Borough and follows the straight Roman alignment along the Old Kent Road to New Cross, then the A207 and the A296 follow the Roman Road along Shooters Hill to Dartford and Springhead, where the A2 picks up the Roman road again.
• A5
  • Watling Street (London to Wroxeter) (Margary no.1)
  • The Edgeware Road follows the straight alignment of the Roman Road from Marble Arch.
• A3, A24, A29 and A285
  • Stane Street (London to Chichester) (Margary no.15)
  • The A3 from London Bridge to Clapham Common and the A24 from Clapham Common to Ewell follows the straight alignment of the Roman Road for 12 miles (20km).
• A12
  • Pye Road (London to Ipswich) (Margary no.3)
• A30
  • Portway (London to Exeter) (Margary no.4)
• A38, A61
  • Icknield Street (Lichfield to Chesterfield) (Margary no.18)
• A40
  • The A40 runs over the almost straight line of the Via Trinobantina (Colchester-London-Silchester) between Bank, High Holborn, Oxford Street, Marble Arch and the Bayswater Road.
• A41
  • Akeman Street (St. Albans to Cirencester) (Margary no.16)
• A68, A7
  • Dere Street (Corbridge to Edinburgh) (Margary no.8)
• A69
  • Runs parallel to the Stanegate (Corbridge to Carlisle) (Margary no. 85)
• A140
  • Pye Road (Ipswich to Norwich) (Margary no.3)
• A417, A419 and B400
  • Ermin Street (Gloucester to Silchester) (Margary no.41)
• A429
  • Fosse Way (Chippenham to Coventry) (Margary no.5)

London