The Roman road system

Text 1

I. Read the text about the appearance of the first roads and wheeled carts.

The Roman road system

In the Roman Empire, for the first time in history, a system of fully integrated roads (and of cities integrated by roads) came into existence. But its military and administrative purposes were clear; when the question was the shipment of wheat or other bulky staples, the method used was almost certainly a relatively primitive sailing ship. Land transport was too costly of food resources to be employed in freight shipment: the justification for the extensive land transportation system of the Roman Empire was the efficiency and speed it brought to over lordship and administration.

The chariot was capable of speeds that could assure relatively quick communication if a firm and reasonably sloping surface could be had. The Romans accomplished such construction by devising a drained sub-base to be paved with fairly tight-fitting flat rocks. Few of these roads were wide enough to allow wagons to pass each other. In fact, the pavements were rather narrow for the passage of a single wagon; only chariots fitted comfortably.

Another reason the use of roads was strongly oriented toward the movement of people was that the Romans were not particularly successful in operating wagons or carts for the handling of freight. In common with other southern Eurasian cultures, the Romans kept oxen and knew how to employ their strength to draw loads using the horn and then the withers yoke. But they made no technical improvements on two-wheel and four-wheel carts. The wheels were rigidly fixed to the axle, forcing left and right wheels to revolve together and at the same speed but over different distances. Turning from a straight course thus forced one side to move farther than the other, dragging the wheels on one side while introducing considerable frictional resistance on the other. Furthermore, the axles were rigidly fixed to the cart's frame so any turning motion forced the cart to be dragged into a turn rather than turning into it by steering the direction of the wheels. Only the Celts had by Roman times discovered the efficiency of the pivoting front axle, as well as a better harness to attach the horse to the cart.

II. Look through the text again and answer the following questions:

1. What was the first primitive method of transporting? What was it used for?

2. Was the chariot of that time speedy enough? What surface was it capable to move on?

3. Why could only chariots move on the paved roads of Rome?

4. Why the roads were mostly oriented to the movement of people?

5. How did the old wheel system function?

III. Match the words with their definitions and make up your own sentences with these words:

1. shipment a) characteristic of an early state, to be uncivilized;

2. friction b) to pull with force along the ground;

3. to revolve c) a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle;

4. primitive d) disclosure or finding of smth.;

5. chariot e) small in breadth;

6. to drag f) transporting of a cargo by ship;

7. communication g) voluminous, cumbersome, heavy or massive;

8. to discover h) the effect of rubbing one object against another;

9. narrow i) the imparting or exchange of information;

10. bulky j) to move around a centre or axis, to rotate;

IV. Read the following statements and discuss them with a partner:

1. The military and administrative purpose of the roads was the shipment of wheat and bulky staples.

2. Land transport was too costly to be employed for freight shipment.

3. Pavements were rather narrow for wagons and people.

4. Romans kept oxen and knew how to employ their strength to draw loads.

5. Romans made no technical improvements on two-wheel and four-wheel carts.

Giving your opinion you may find the following expressions helpful:

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Погляди	\|	By the way as for me I’d like to know

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