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Itiner‑e Atlas Maps 186,000 Miles of Roman Roads, Expanding Past Estimates by 50%

Researchers combined archival sources with aerial imagery to produce a public map that reports certainty for each segment.

Overview

  • The interactive Itiner‑e dataset and study were published on November 6 in Scientific Data and are freely available online.
  • The reconstruction focuses on around 150 CE and adds extensive secondary routes, with paths adjusted to realistic terrain rather than straight lines.
  • Researchers used milestones, historical records, archaeological evidence, satellite data, and digitized World War II aerial photos to trace routes.
  • Only 2.7% of segments are mapped with precise certainty, about 89.8% are less precisely established, and 7.4% are hypothesized, reflecting explicit confidence levels.
  • Coverage expands notably in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, the plains of France, and Greece’s Peloponnese, though whether all routes were active simultaneously remains unresolved.