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41-505: The settlement was occupied without interruption between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD on a hill with good views over the coastal plain, being close to the Via Domitia , the Montady lake, and fertile agricultural land below. There is a museum on the site which offers a display of some of the finds on the site, as well as giving more information about the fort and the field system. Below

82-642: A bridge with an arch, the Ianus Augusti , was erected in honor of Augustus. From this arch all the rest of the milestones on the way to Gades were numbered. Milestones were placed on the edge of Roman roads to indicate distances between capitas (starting points), at a distance of a thousand paces between the milestones (a pace was a Roman double step called a mille passum ) equivalent to a Roman mile, i.e., 1.480 metres, hence its name. The milestones were cylindrical stone columns of granite or sandstone between 2 and 3 metres high and 50 to 80 cm in diameter, set on

123-505: A large number of milestones bearing his name have been found. The isolation of Hispania from the rest of the Mediterranean world was a circumstance addressed by the building of Augustus' road network. The itineraries and milestones, as well as traces of the ancient roads, suggest that this was an intensive project. There were four important routes between the conventus capitals of Bracara Augusta ( Braga ) and Asturica Augusta ( Astorga ),

164-454: A period between 16 and 13 BC doing administrative work. He and his advisors set about devising an ambitious programme to restructure the administration of the territory, its primary objectives being the establishment of new cities, the construction of roads connecting them, and the distribution of large areas of land to be parcelled out among veteran professional soldiers. With the complete subjugation of Hispania, Augustus determined to lay out

205-551: A proper road system like that which Agrippa had built in Gaul, and the basic network appears to have been completed in his reign. He repaired and relaid the coastal road from Tarraco (the imperial headquarters during his residence, Augustus made it the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis ), through Valentia to Carthago Nova (Cartagena), as well as the road through the Baetis valley by way of Corduba and Hispalis to Gades itself, and in this section

246-516: A square base. They were inscribed with information referring to the road: the name of the builder or restorer, the name of the nearest station and the distance, and sometimes the point of departure ( caput viae ) or of arrival ( terminus viae ). The construction of the Via Augusta was undertaken within the context of the administrative reorganisation of the provinces of Hispania initiated by Augustus. The immediate precedent of this roadbuilding project

287-617: Is currently on display in the vestibule of the Museo Arqueológico de Lorca (MUAL). The Column of San Vicente Ferrer, dating to the reign of Caesar Augustus (CIL II 4937) is inscribed: IMP. Caesar. DIVI. F. / AVGVSTUS. CONS. XI / TRIBVNIC. POTEST. XVI / IMP. XIIII. PONTIFEX. / MAX / M. P. XXVIII. This is the abbreviated form of: IMPERATOR CAESAR DIVI FILIVS / AGVSTVS CONSVL XI / TRIBVNICIA POTESTATE XVI / IMPERATOR XIIII PONTIFEX. / MAXIMVS / MILLE PASSVS XXVIII The inscription translated to English reads: Emperor Caesar Augustus, son of

328-781: The Arc de Berà , around which the road divides. At Martorell , the ancient Via crosses the river Llobregat on the Pont del Diable , which dates from the High Middle Ages (circa 1289) in its current form. At present, the N-IV N-420, N-340 and the Mediterranean Highway ( A-7, AP-7, A-70 ) follow the same itinerary in many sections as the Vía Augusta. In some sections of the current N-340, the Roman road

369-633: The Avinguda Diagonal with the Vallvidrera tunnels, passing through Plaça Molina. A large part of line 6 of the Generalitat of Catalonia Railways passes underneath the Via Augusta roadbed. The Roman Arch of Cabanes , in the flat area known as Pla de l'arc , 19 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Castellón in the Valencian Country , crosses the Via Augusta, which followed the inland valley in

410-729: The Rhône at Beaucaire passed through Nîmes (Nemausus) then followed the coastal plain along the Gulf of Lion . At Narbonne, it met the Via Aquitania (which led toward the Atlantic Ocean through Toulouse and Bordeaux ). Thus Narbonne was a crucial strategic crossroads of the Via Domitia and the Via Aquitania, and it was an accessible, but easily defensible port at that time. This "cusp point" in

451-1014: The Via Augusta begins. There are the remains of several Roman bridges along the road, including the Roman Bridge of Saint-Thibéry , the Pont Ambroix at Ambrussum , the Pont Julien and the Pont Serme . Via Augusta The Via Augusta (also known as the Via Herculea or Via Exterior ) was the longest and busiest of the major roads built by the Romans in ancient Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula ). According to historian Pierre Sillières, who has supervised excavation of Roman sites in Spain to identify

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492-622: The itinerary inscribed on the Vicarello Cups as well in as the Antonine Itinerary . The highway was named after the emperor Augustus , who ordered reconstruction of the previously existing Via Herculea (or Via Heraklea ), which ran from the Pyrenees to Carthago Nova , and extension of the arterial roadway as far as Gades . The works were carried out between 8 BC and 2 BC, taking advantage of what remained of roads that had existed in

533-455: The oppidum was the swamp of Montady , (centred on 43°19′12″N 3°07′24″E  /  43.32000°N 3.12333°E  / 43.32000; 3.12333 ), which is now wedge shaped fields separated by irrigation ditches that converge in the centre. In the 13th century, the swamp was drained; the ditches allowed water to flow to the centre of the circular depression, from which it was conveyed through underground pipes several kilometres to

574-594: The Divine, Consul for the 11th time, his 16th year of tribunal power, General in 14 campaigns and Chief High Priest , mile 28 [from Carthago Nova ( Cartagena ) towards Eliocroca (Lorca}] The Via Augusta was the great imperial road of Spain, and as a continuation of the Vias Julia Augusta , Aemilia , and Flaminia , it formed a major link in a chain of roads connecting Rome with the Atlantic Ocean. Its usage allowed

615-420: The Roman westwards expansion and ensuing supply, communication and fortification was a very important asset, and was treated as such (see Narbonne ). In between the cities that it linked, the Via Domitia was provided with a series of mansiones at distances of a day's journey for a loaded cart, at which shelter, provender and fresh horses could be obtained for travellers on official business. The route as it

656-590: The Via Augusta. Branches used for military purposes also ran to the interior. The Via Augusta is documented and referenced in two central places in Valencia : the first is next to the Valencia Cathedral in the Almoina Archaeological Centre, which houses archaeological excavations made between 1985 and 2005 that revealed stratigraphic layers representing successive eras of the city's history, and

697-614: The celebrated pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela . In the south, Emerita and Gades were connected by the Hispalis road. In Hispalis the road joined the branch of the Via Augusta which started in Acci (also Accitum) and veered inland to Corduba, Astigi (Écija), and Carmo. This was the main layout of the Roman road system in Hispania; together with the network of localised roads, they covered about 21,000 km (13,000 mi). Milestones indicate

738-472: The cities, were between three and ten metres wide on each side. Starting from Coll de Pertús pass in the Pyrenees, the Via Augusta ran south and southwest to the upper reaches of the River Baetis, and from that area on through Baetica to Gades. From the point where the road crossed the Baetis, however, a new system began. The river in that region formed the boundary between Baetica and Tarraconensis, and there

779-415: The course of the river Anas . Augustus had surrounded Hispania with a great circle of roads, with one or two branches reaching inland. In contrast to Gaul, where Agrippa had laid out four or five roads radiating from a central hub, here there was the perimeter of a wheel, so to speak, and it was the task of succeeding emperors to fill in the spokes and build more direct cross-country routes. The Via Augusta

820-528: The development of cities such as Valentia (Valencia), Saguntum ( Sagunto ), Lucentum ( Alicante ), Saetabis ( Xàtiva ), and Ilici ( Elche ). The Roman road engineers naturally considered the surrounding environment and the slope of the land when determining the course of the road, taking into account the existing old Iberian roads as well. The average width was between four and six metres, although there are some sections that were ten or fourteen metres wide. The sidewalks ( margines or crepidines ), built only near

861-630: The exact route followed by the Via Augusta, it was more a system of roads than a single road. Approximately 1,500 km (930 mi) long, the Via Augusta was built to link Spain with Italy, running from the southwestern coastal city of Gades ( Cádiz ) to the Pyrenees Mountains along inland valleys parallel to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea . As the main axis of the road network in Roman Hispania, it appears in ancient sources such as

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902-601: The need for roads and ordered the construction of the Via Augusta, the longest and most important road in Hispania. The road passed from near the southern tip of present-day Spain on the Atlantic to the Mediterranean through the Guadalquivir valley and along the coast to the Coll de Pertús ( Latin : " Pertusium ") pass in the Pyrenees . The Via Augusta linked Hispania Baetica in

943-472: The province of Tarragona . The Arc de Berà is located on the section that passed just south of the city. The strategic position of Roman Barcelona ( Barcino ) on a spur road of the Via Augusta allowed the city's commercial and economic development. In Barcelona, the ancient Via Augusta corresponds to one of the main avenues, also called "Via Augusta", in the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district, which connects

984-460: The province. This arch is now located in a roundabout of the CV-157 that still retains a certain resemblance to the appearance of the ancient Roman roads due to the rows of trees lining both sides of the highway, although the original route of the Via Augusta, which today is marked in many regions as a livestock route, does not always coincide with the current roads. However, the CV-157 road does not follow

1025-656: The road. It soon developed into a full Roman colony Colonia Narbo Martius . The lands on the western part of the route, beyond the River Rhône had been under the control of the Averni who, according to Strabo , had stretched their control to Narbo and the Pyrenees. Crossing the Alps by the easiest passage, the Col de Montgenèvre (1850 m), the Via Domitia followed the valley of the Durance , crossed

1066-581: The roads laid out by Augustus from Bracara to Asturica through Lucus Augusti, from Caesaraugusta to Juliobriga ( Reinosa ), from Emerita ( Mérida ) to Hispalis ( Seville ), penetrating the rich mining district of the Montes Mariani, and from Carthago Nova to Castulo ( Cazorla ), another mining region. There was a road built by him from Ilerda to Caesaraugusta, crossing the Ebro by a wooden bridge according to Strabo, and apparently one from Aesuris to Pax Julia , up

1107-457: The second half of the 1st century, with the social stability brought by the Pax Romana , the Roman city of Carmo , now Carmona , became a major crossroads on the Via Augusta and an important outpost in the Roman empire. Several cities have traces of the roadbed, which roughly follows that of the current AP-7 motorway. There is a fairly long visible stretch in the municipality of El Perelló , in

1148-751: The second place is next to the old Palace of the Borgias , now the Valencian Parliament . A few tens of metres of the pavement of the road can be found in the Almoina Museum, as well as remains of six Corinthian Order columns of the Temple of the Nymphs ( Templo de las Ninfas ) from the same period, a stone well, and remains of Visigothic and Arab houses. There are also milestones in San Vicente street (the city exit to

1189-574: The south with the north of Hispania. The still extant Alcantarilla bridge, a double arched stone bridge over the River Salado in Utrera , about 32 kilometres (20 mi) south of Seville, has an inscription on the cutwater of one of its pilings indicating that it was on the Via Augusta. The Romans built a fifteen-arched bridge over the River Baetis (the Guadalquivir ) at Andújar on the Augustan road. In

1230-706: The south) and in the Alameda de Valencia (the city esplanade ). The city of Lorca (known as Eliocroca in Roman times) in the province of Murcia has several vestiges of the Via Augusta, including two Roman columns, the San Vicente Ferrer and the Baldazos milestones (La Hoya), respectively, of Emperor Augustus (8–7 BC) and Emperor Constantius Chlorus , preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Lorca (Museo Arqueológico de Lorca). The milestone of Constantius Chlorus

1271-453: The south. The drainage is still functional and remains in use. 43°18′38″N 3°6′55″E  /  43.31056°N 3.11528°E  / 43.31056; 3.11528 Via Domitia The Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul , to link Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis , across what is now Southern France . The route that the Romans regularised and paved

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1312-424: The southwest–northeast orientation that the Via Augusta followed in almost all its route, but rather west–east. This is because, as in other regions of Spain (e.g., Barcelona, Cabanes, and Tarragona), the Via Augusta crossed sparsely populated areas, generally along interior valleys parallel to the coast, so that almost all the Roman cities, especially those on the coast, were reached by secondary roads perpendicular to

1353-475: The third hub of the system being the conventus capital Lucus Augusti ( Lugo ). Caesaraugusta ( Zaragoza ) and Carthago Nova were conventus capital cities that were also crossroads and the terminuses ( capita ) of roads. Augustus ordered the building of the road from Caesaraugusta to Tarragona, passing through Ilerda (Lerida) and Huesca. Domitian extended the road from Caesaraugusta to Olispo (Lisbon), by way of Toletum ( Toledo ) and Augusta Emerita. The latter city

1394-613: The time of the Roman Republic . Subsequently, it became an important communications and trade route between the cities and provinces and the ports of the Mediterranean. The Via Augusta was still used by the Moors of southern Spain in the 10th century, who called it al-Racif . Its route is currently followed by the N-340 road and the A-7 highway . North of Tarragona there remains a Roman Triumphal arch ,

1435-500: Was ancient when they set out to survey it, and traces the mythic route travelled by Heracles . The construction of the road was commissioned by Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus , whose name it bore, following the defeat of the Allobroges and Averni by himself and Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus in 122 BCE. Domitius also established a fortified garrison at Narbo (modern Narbonne ) on the coast, near Hispania, to guard construction of

1476-631: Was found in 1929 at Baldazos, in the Diputación of La Hoya, six km from Lorca. During Roman times this hamlet was a mansio , or official stopping place. Another milestone, the El Hornillo milestone, was found by a citizen on 5 February 2013 in the course of the River Guadalentín , upstream from Lorca; Like the San Vicente Ferrer column, this column dates to the reign of Caesar Augustus; it

1517-727: Was in Late Antiquity is represented in schematic fashion on the Tabula Peutingeriana . This route can be traced on topographical maps overprinted with the ancient route, in G. Castellve, J.-B. Compsa, J. Kotarba and A. Pezin, eds. Voies romaines du Rhône à l'Èbre: Via Domitia et Via Augusta ( DAF 61 ) Paris 1997. At Ruscino, the road separates in two: the Inland Route and the Coastal Route, which rejoin at La Junquera . Coastal Route Inland Route Rejoins at: Here

1558-449: Was originally a via militaris , i.e., a military road built by legionaries of the Roman army ; these units constructed a substantial part of the road network, especially at the beginning of the empire. These roads remained strategically important, but their main purpose was for general communications, as shown by an inscription on a fragmentary milestone found near Corduba (Córdoba). Here, in

1599-508: Was the network of roads, the Via Agrippa , built in Gaul under the supervision of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa at Augustus' command in 20-19 BC. Strabo (IV, 6, 11) alludes to Agrippa's laying out of the roadways. Agrippa then went to Hispania in 19-18 BC to personally direct the war against the Cantabrians in the north of the peninsula; Augustus himself returned to Hispania and remained for

1640-463: Was the starting point of the road (later the so-called "silver way"), which passed northward through Salamanca to Oceloduri . There it met the road following the course of the Ebro and then into the region of north-central Hispania. Asturica Augusta, the terminus of the "silver route", was an important junction, where the highways to Lusitania and the Cantabrian coast intersected. It later became

1681-517: Was used until the 1920s, when they were paved during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera . The Roman Empire built roads extending to its far corners; once the Romans had conquered Hispania they began to build roads there as in their other territories. Hispania , the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula, included what is now Spain, Portugal, Andorra , and the southernmost part of France. When Augustus went to Spain between 16 and 13 BC, he saw

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