Living in Ancient Rome involved navigating a system of inequality, with roads built for conquest rather than convenience. The empire, while powerful and sometimes harsh, created a connected network across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Ideas and identities spread rapidly despite the challenges faced by ordinary people. Roman infrastructure, particularly the extensive road system, played a crucial role in linking distant regions, allowing for significant cultural and trade exchanges that were unprecedented prior to Rome's dominance.
Before the Roman world, Europe was not joined up. Now the Roman Empire joined up Europe and the Middle East and North Africa into a system that was linked. Big roads went across continents, linking one place with another in a way that was inconceivable before.
If you were a little peasant and you suddenly woke up one morning and you saw the Roman road builders coming in, just carving away through your territory to build a road from A to B, I think you'd think, 'Blimey, this is the tough face of Roman power,' but it meant that people were joined up more than they'd ever been before.
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