User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: How 2000 year-old roads predict modern-day prosperity

  1. #1
    Original Ranter
    Points: 859,122, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 90.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialCreated Album picturesOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awards:
    Posting Award
    Peter1469's Avatar Advisor
    Karma
    496584
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    NOVA
    Posts
    241,700
    Points
    859,122
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    153,223
    Thanked 147,594x in 94,422 Posts
    Mentioned
    2552 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    How 2000 year-old roads predict modern-day prosperity

    How 2000 year-old roads predict modern-day prosperity

    Although some question the causality of this study, I tend to agree with its findings. The research team took a map of the Roman road system and put it over satellite imagery of nighttime illumination in 2010.

    The image below shows the resultant map. Ancient Roman roadways are in light yellow, while the boundaries of the Roman Empire as of 117 A.D. are outlined in red. The background layer shows modern nighttime illumination.
    (Washington Post illustration using data from NOAA Earth Observatory, Natural Earth and Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilization)

    The visual relationship is particularly striking in France. There, you can clearly see the paths of ancient roadways connecting not just major modern cities, like Paris and Lyon, but also many minor ones, too. Across inland France, nearly every junction of ancient roads is marked by a splash of light in the modern era.
    From the beginning of the article:

    Prosperity begets prosperity: On a global level, economists and historians have shown that places that prospered 100, 500, even 1,000 years ago tend to be more economically developed today.

    But how? We’re less clear on the exact channels by which economic activity sustains itself over the millennia. Could dynastic wealth play a role? How about the concentration and transmission of knowledge via institutions such as schools and libraries? How does military might factor in?


    Now, a team of Danish economists has put forth a forceful case for one largely overlooked driver of economic development in Europe: roadways built by the Roman empire nearly two thousand years ago. They demonstrate that the density of ancient Roman roads at a given point in Europe strongly correlates with present-day prosperity, as measured by modern-day road density, population density and even satellite imagery of nighttime lighting.


    Their data shows that infrastructure investments are — if you’ll pardon an unpardonable pun — a pathway to long-term prosperity.


    To arrive at this conclusion, Carl-Johan Dalgaard of the University of Copenhagen and his colleagues first obtained a geographic database of the major roads of the Roman era that had been compiled by Harvard University’s Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations.


    Roman roadways were massive infrastructure projects even by modern standards. They consisted of several base layers, including stone, gravel and sand, over which large stone slabs were laid. At the empire’s peak in 117 A.D., scholars estimate, the Romans had built more than 80,000 kilometers of roadway across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Many of them have lasted well into the present day.
    Read the rest at the link.
    ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Peter1469 For This Useful Post:

    Admiral Ackbar (08-08-2018),Mister D (08-08-2018)

  3. #2
    Points: 34,558, Level: 45
    Level completed: 41%, Points required for next Level: 892
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    Tagger First ClassYour first Group25000 Experience PointsVeteranSocial
    Admiral Ackbar's Avatar Advisor
    Karma
    5002
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    6,897
    Points
    34,558
    Level
    45
    Thanks Given
    4,270
    Thanked 4,992x in 3,109 Posts
    Mentioned
    168 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I dont think most people realize the impact Rome still has on the modern world. In a sense it never really went away. The achievements of the Romans in all fields were amazing. Had the invasions of the 400's not happened we might be 1000 years ahead of where we are now technologically
    "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining"----Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales

  4. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Admiral Ackbar For This Useful Post:

    Captdon (08-09-2018),Mister D (08-08-2018),MisterVeritis (08-08-2018),Peter1469 (08-08-2018)

  5. #3
    Original Ranter
    Points: 859,122, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 90.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialCreated Album picturesOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awards:
    Posting Award
    Peter1469's Avatar Advisor
    Karma
    496584
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    NOVA
    Posts
    241,700
    Points
    859,122
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    153,223
    Thanked 147,594x in 94,422 Posts
    Mentioned
    2552 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Rome was certainly an amazing empire.
    ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


  6. The Following User Says Thank You to Peter1469 For This Useful Post:

    Captdon (08-09-2018)

  7. #4
    Original Ranter
    Points: 297,717, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 41.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second ClassOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Mister D's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    416530
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    117,870
    Points
    297,717
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    25,302
    Thanked 53,475x in 36,449 Posts
    Mentioned
    1102 Post(s)
    Tagged
    1 Thread(s)
    I don't think the correlation is quite so meaningful. After all, the heart of the ancient empire consists of the least developed regions of modern Europe. Moreover, Germany possessed no such infrastructure in ancient times outside the southwest. That's not to diminish the impact of Roman civilization on the West. I just think there is a lot more going on here.
    Whoever criticizes capitalism, while approving immigration, whose working class is its first victim, had better shut up. Whoever criticizes immigration, while remaining silent about capitalism, should do the same.


    ~Alain de Benoist


  8. The Following User Says Thank You to Mister D For This Useful Post:

    Peter1469 (08-08-2018)

  9. #5
    Original Ranter
    Points: 859,122, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 90.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialCreated Album picturesOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awards:
    Posting Award
    Peter1469's Avatar Advisor
    Karma
    496584
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    NOVA
    Posts
    241,700
    Points
    859,122
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    153,223
    Thanked 147,594x in 94,422 Posts
    Mentioned
    2552 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Mister D View Post
    I don't think the correlation is quite so meaningful. After all, the heart of the ancient empire consists of the least developed regions of modern Europe. Moreover, Germany possessed no such infrastructure in ancient times outside the southwest. That's not to diminish the impact of Roman civilization on the West. I just think there is a lot more going on here.
    Good point about Germany.
    ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


  10. The Following User Says Thank You to Peter1469 For This Useful Post:

    Mister D (08-09-2018)

  11. #6
    Points: 4,367, Level: 15
    Level completed: 64%, Points required for next Level: 183
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    1000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Mr.Soxes's Avatar Post Review / PM Disabled
    Karma
    165
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    692
    Points
    4,367
    Level
    15
    Thanks Given
    405
    Thanked 155x in 118 Posts
    Mentioned
    3 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Who made the trails that eventually became roads in the US?

  12. #7
    Original Ranter
    Points: 297,717, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 41.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second ClassOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Mister D's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    416530
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    117,870
    Points
    297,717
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    25,302
    Thanked 53,475x in 36,449 Posts
    Mentioned
    1102 Post(s)
    Tagged
    1 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr.Soxes View Post
    Who made the trails that eventually became roads in the US?
    Europeans settlers from regions the Romans colonized.
    Whoever criticizes capitalism, while approving immigration, whose working class is its first victim, had better shut up. Whoever criticizes immigration, while remaining silent about capitalism, should do the same.


    ~Alain de Benoist


  13. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Mister D For This Useful Post:

    Captdon (08-09-2018),Peter1469 (08-09-2018)

  14. #8
    Points: 41,437, Level: 49
    Level completed: 76%, Points required for next Level: 413
    Overall activity: 0.2%
    Achievements:
    Recommendation Second ClassSocial25000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Lummy's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    6307
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Posts
    12,618
    Points
    41,437
    Level
    49
    Thanks Given
    4,948
    Thanked 6,307x in 4,359 Posts
    Mentioned
    60 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Those roads are as old as the towns they link. What's the big deal?

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts