Traffic and congestion in the Roman Empire

"In this book, Cornelis van Tilburg examines the construction of Roman roads in detail and studies the myriad road-users of the Roman Empire: civilians, wagons and animals, the cursus publicus, commercial use and the army. In examining the roads, much is revealed of town planning in ancient cities: the narrow paths of older cities, and the wider, chessboard-patterned streets designed to sustain heavy traffic. He discusses toll points and city gates as measures taken to hamper traffic, and concludes with a discussion as to why the local governments' attempts to regulate the traffic flow missed their targets of improving the infrastructure. Traffic was, contrary to modern traffic, a closing entry."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.