Roman Britain / Learning resources
Archaeological skills
Follow a Roman road
Trace connections between places and test the clues used to identify an ancient route.
Start here
Read the English Heritage material on roads and the Binchester guide. Work with a map at home or in a group. This activity does not require walking an unmarked route or entering private land.
Try the activity
- Mark Binchester and two other Roman places on your map. Use a published source to identify an attested connection rather than joining dots and calling the line a Roman road.
- Make a key distinguishing excavated evidence, a recorded surviving feature and a proposed route.
- List two reasons for connecting military bases, towns or ports. Consider goods and messages as well as troops.
- Find a straight modern feature on the map and write why its shape alone does not establish a Roman date.
Discuss and check
- What could a road’s construction reveal that a map cannot?
- How might later roads reuse or obscure an earlier route?
- Why can a raised straight line sometimes be misleading?
Review your work
Check the source for each marked segment. If a route is conjectural, keep that visible in the key. Explain what datable material or excavation might help test it. Your finished map should communicate the strength of the evidence, not just present a confident-looking network.
Sources and further reading
Romans in Britain · People · Places · Learning resources