Change My Mind
(media.communities.win)
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The sole purpose of Roman roads was to permit soldiers to march quickly from one part of the empire to another. Yes, civilian pedestrians, as well as human and animal pack trains used them as well, but they were too narrow for large wagons, and in some places were too steep for anything but foot traffic. However, the stone was hard on legs and feet when dry, and very slippery when wet, which is why both soldiers and civilians alike preferred to walk on the sides of the roads whenever possible.
And it also kept the legions fit and occupied when they were not fighting, and built support from the locals who could also use the roads for their daily agricultural hauling and other needs. Noone gonna get fat and lazy from swinging a pick in a quarry for hours every day to make all the gravel.
And happy provinces pay their taxes, treat the tribunes well, and dont host rebels.
Excellent point, although I'm not sure about how "happy" those provinces were, haha.
Pax Romana.
At least at first they got to go from literally living in mud huts (look up wattle and daub) to having actual state of the art infrastructure and an economic link to a massive empire. Most were VERY happy for the sudden, massive increase in their standards of living.
It was much later when everybody was used to the improvements, knew how to build it for themselves, and the Empire became predatory with its taxes as it increasingly leaned on the provinces to fund its own corruption that the resentment started to build.
Fair point, unrest will be present in the newly conquered areas.. but law and order, roads, aqueducts etc may well be looked on enviously by those who have none. Until things started going to shit with the empire anyways. As the saying goes, what have the romans ever done for us!
Worth watching by the way, is 'The Truth About The Fall Of Rome'.. plenty of parallels to what we are seeing today all over the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGYVWrjRMXU
Made by a guy who got booted from youtube (the above one is the video re-housed on a different channel), and whose main channel is now on bitchute at https://www.bitchute.com/channel/freedomainradio/