geographia - Studia

I. IRIMUŞ, FL. FODOREAN, D. PETREA, I. RUS, P. COCEAN, O. POP
The roads were mapped, the maps being intended to serve the following purposes: for
the army (legions), by assuring the rapid movement of troops towards the threatened locations
(rebellions or barbarian attacks); provisioning Rome and the other great towns of the Roman
Empire; trade and tourism (exchange of cereal and animal products; procuring weapons,
metals, salt; travels for games or treatment in balneal resorts, travels for acquiring information
about the undergone activities within the Empire etc.) (according to Lascu, 1986, p. 151 – 206).
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Fig. 1. The geographical location of Dacia Porolissensis.
The research of the Roman roads has begun during the XIX th century. In 1916,
Miller elaborates the first methodological approach in a scientific study, starting from the
existing cartographic, epigraphic and archaeological evidence. Pekary continued the scientific
presentation of the Roman roads in 1968. Pekary’s undergone research provides with a complete
image of the Roman state politics to unify the Empire, the arguments stating in the public
importance of the roads due to their costs and especially to their transportation and access
function within the Empire, being considered as a factor of economic and cultural unity.
In 1974, Cason elaborated a chronological study of the Roman roads, arguing their
importance through their vital implications in areas such as army, postal services,
administration. In Romania, Lascu has developed scientific research in this direction (1985,
1986), his studies being but based mainly on literary evidence and to a less extent on
epigraphic and archaeological proofs.