研究揭示羅馬帝國道路網的非凡之處

作者：威爾・鄧納姆（Will Dunham）By Will Dunham

9月15日（路透社）——古羅馬首任皇帝奧古斯都（Augustus）於西元前20年在羅馬廣場設置了一座鍍金紀念碑，稱為「金色里程碑」（Milliarium Aureum，Golden Milestone），象徵這個幅員遼闊帝國所有道路的起點。這些道路確實是全球第一套洲際規模運輸系統的骨幹。Sept 15 (Reuters) - Augustus, ancient Rome's first emperor, placed a gilded monument called the Milliarium Aureum, or Golden Milestone, in the Roman Forum in 20 BC to mark the symbolic starting point for all roads in the sprawling empire. These roads indeed were the backbone of the world's first continental-scale transportation system.

如今，研究人員對這個帝國的道路網進行了詳細的結構分析；這套路線網總長約19萬英里（30萬公里），縱橫交錯於歐洲、中東與北非。Now, researchers have conducted a detailed structural analysis of the empire's road network, spanning roughly 190,000 miles (300,000 km) of routes crisscrossing Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

研究顯示，「條條大路通羅馬」這句古諺並不完全正確；帝國後來的首都君士坦丁堡（Constantinople）——也就是今日的伊斯坦堡——其實更符合這句話。研究還發現，雖然羅馬人偏好建造筆直道路，但艱困地形有時會阻礙這項目標。The study showed the old adage "all roads lead to Rome" was not exactly true, and the empire's later imperial capital Constantinople — present-day Istanbul — was a better fit for that maxim. While the Romans preferred building straight roads, difficult terrain sometimes frustrated that goal, it found.

研究人員也記錄到，許多地區的古羅馬道路與現代公路之間存在關聯。The researchers also documented a correlation in many regions between the old Roman roads and modern highways.

羅馬人是工程與建築大師，興建的道路南至摩洛哥沙漠、東至阿拉伯沙漠，北達蘇格蘭，西抵大西洋。這些道路與可航行河流和海上航道相連，形成一張完整的交通網。The Romans, master engineers and builders, constructed roads stretching from the Moroccan and Arabian deserts in the south and east, all the way to Scotland and the Atlantic Ocean in the north and west. These roads were linked to navigable rivers and sea lanes to form a comprehensive transportation web.

協助主導這項研究的丹麥奧胡斯大學（Aarhus University）古典考古學家湯姆・布魯赫曼斯說：「這項基礎建設意味著，一個廣大區域變得更緊密整合：它提供了一個洲際規模的平台，讓人、動物、病原體、商品與思想得以傳播。」這項研究週二刊登於《自然通訊》（Nature Communications）期刊。"This infrastructure meant that a vast region became more tightly integrated: it provided a continent-sized platform for people, animals, pathogens, goods and ideas to spread," said classical archaeologist Tom Brughmans of Aarhus University in Denmark, who helped lead the study published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

布魯赫曼斯說：「羅馬軍團沿著道路行軍，以因應威脅、支援同僚，並殖民新領土。早期基督教等激進新思想，也隨著人群經由陸路與海路移動。不過，道路本身最常被用於農場與田地之間的日常往返，或前往當地市場販售農產品。」"The Roman legions marched over roads to respond to threats, relieve colleagues and colonize new territories. Radical new ideas like early Christianity moved with people over land and sea. But the roads themselves were most used for the frequent commutes between farm and field, or to local markets for selling produce," Brughmans said.

有些道路非常耐用，採用碎石、石灰水泥、礫石與鋪路石等材料混合建造。道路上的交通主要是行人，以及騎乘馬、驢、騾和駱駝等動物的人，還有馱獸與畜力拖拉的運貨車、馬車。Some roads were very durable, constructed with a combination of materials including crushed stone, lime cement, gravel and paving stones. Traffic consisted mostly of people walking and riding on animals including horses, donkeys, mules and camels, as well as pack animals and animal-drawn carts and carriages.

從羅馬出發的道路距離，是以「金色里程碑」為基準測量。但這座古代巨型都市真的是道路網的中心嗎？Road distances from Rome were measured from the Milliarium Aureum. But was this ancient megalopolis really the center of the network?

布魯赫曼斯說：「條條大路通羅馬？其實不然。就地中海航運而言，羅馬位居中心，但在羅馬道路系統中並不特別居中。我們發現，各省省會在其所屬省分的道路上位置極佳，有助於有效的省級行政管理與稅收。」"All roads lead to Rome? Not really," Brughmans said. "Rome is centrally located for Mediterranean shipping, but not particularly central in the Roman road system. We found that provincial capitals were exceptionally well located on the roads in their province, facilitating effective provincial administration and tax collection."

這些省會包括土耳其的安卡拉、英國的倫敦，以及希臘的科林斯。Some of these provincial capitals included Ankara in Turkey, London in Britain and Corinth in Greece.

布魯赫曼斯說：「羅馬本身位在義大利第勒尼安海岸道路上的中心位置。但當我們考量整個義大利半島內的所有移動時，驚訝地發現最居中心的道路其實沿著相反方向的亞得里亞海岸線前進，完全繞過羅馬。」"Rome itself was centrally located on the roads on the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. But when we consider all movement within the entire Italian peninsula, we were shocked to discover that the most central road actually follows the opposite Adriatic coastline, bypassing Rome altogether," Brughmans said.

新首都A NEW CAPITAL

西元4世紀初，君士坦丁大帝（Emperor Constantine）將首都遷至君士坦丁堡。In the early fourth century AD, the Emperor Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople.

布魯赫曼斯說：「這座新首都位在歐洲與亞洲交會的戰略位置，而我們的研究顯示，對於橫跨整個帝國的陸上旅行而言，它格外居中——遠比羅馬更是如此。它位於博斯普魯斯海峽（Bosporus）旁，而我們知道古代有渡輪穿越這道海峽，實際上連接了歐洲與亞洲的道路交通。」"This new capital was strategically located where Europe and Asia meet, and our research has revealed that it was exceptionally central for empire-wide overland travel — way more so than Rome," Brughmans said. "It's on the Bosporus, and we know of ferries that crossed this strait in antiquity, effectively connecting European and Asian road traffic."

羅馬工程師運用工具與技術，盡可能把道路修得筆直，羅馬以南的阿庇亞大道就是典型例子。Roman engineers used tools and techniques to make roads as straight as possible, with the Via Appia south of Rome a prime example.

布魯赫曼斯說：「但即使是羅馬人，也不得不向自然低頭。我們發現，羅馬道路往往只有在當地地形允許時才會筆直，例如比利時、法國北部或義大利波河平原等相當平坦的地區。整體而言，他們不會只為了築路而移山。」"But even the Romans had to bow to nature. We found that Roman roads tend to be straight only if the local topography allows for it, such as in the rather flat areas of Belgium, northern France or the Po Valley in Italy. On the whole, they did not move mountains just to build a road," Brughmans said.

這些古道形塑了數以億計人群之間的互動，時間長達兩千多年；因為其中許多道路在西羅馬帝國於西元476年滅亡、東羅馬帝國（又稱拜占庭帝國）於1453年覆亡後，仍持續被使用很長一段時間。These ancient roads structured interactions among hundreds of millions of people for more than two millennia, given the continued use of many long after the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD and the Eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, succumbed in 1453.

協助主導這項研究的巴塞隆納自治大學（Autonomous University of Barcelona）博士後研究員亞當・帕祖特（Adam Pazout）說：「羅馬道路網的持續性可以在許多地區得到證明，從不列顛到近東皆然。而在許多地方，這些道路在中世紀期間一直是主要交通通訊路線，直到19世紀鐵路與20世紀高速公路發展起來。」"The persistency of the Roman road network can be demonstrated for many regions, from Britain to the Near East," said Adam Pazout, a postdoctoral fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona who helped lead the study. "And these roads in many places served as the main communications throughout the medieval period until development of the railroads in the 19th century and highways in the 20th century."

許多現代公路沿襲古道的路線。Many modern highways trace ancient roads.

布魯赫曼斯說：「一個很好的例子是奧古斯塔大道（Via Augusta），它從西班牙南部的加的斯（Cadiz）通往庇里牛斯山（Pyrenees）。這條道路在塔拉戈納（Tarragona）與巴塞隆納（Barcelona）之間，穿過一座名為貝拉拱門（Arc de Bera）的凱旋門下方；你可以清楚看到，它與現代N-340高速公路路線相同。」"A great example is the Via Augusta, which goes from Cadiz in the south of Spain to the Pyrenees. The road passes under a triumphal arch called the Arc de Bera between Tarragona and Barcelona, where you can clearly see it has the same course as the modern N-340 motorway," Brughmans said.

（華盛頓威爾・鄧納姆報導；丹尼爾・沃利斯編輯）(Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis)