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Ausonius Way: the old Roman road
The route along the ridge of Hunsrück, as well as a number of other ridge
paths in the region, date back to
Bronze Age
but could actually have much earlier origins. The rapid development of connecting
roads during the
Roman occupation
(58 BC - 402 AD) is historically well documented. Shortly after their conquest of
the region, the Romans rebuilt all the existing trade routes as "stone roads",
cutting straight across the landscape, which were marked by milestones and
guarded by watchtowers at regular intervals. The network of the overland
routes was complemented by supplementary or 'vicinal' roads. The result
was permanent roads with a very complex structure, made up of multiple layers,
whose ingenious composition has remained intact for many centuries. All the
transportation routes were, according to Roman standards, about 5 or 6 meters
wide, so that two carts could easily pass each other. There were also road maps
on which the most important stages were marked. An impressive example of one such
road map has been handed down to us in the form of the Tabula Peutingeriana.
It comes from Reichenau Cloister on an island by the same name in the lower part
of Bodensee (so named after the learned Konrad Peutinger, 1465-1547). As
the main axis of Hunsrück, used by armies and as a trade route, Via Ausonia
connected the regions of Mainz (Moguntiacum) and Bingen (Bingium) to the
imperial city of Trier (Augusta Treverorum) in Late Antiquity.
Photo: The connecting paths of the Hunsrück, which were systematically
developed by the Romans between 58 BC and 402 AD, had a very complex structure
made up of multiple layers, whose ingenious composition has remained intact for
many centuries.
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