The Roads To Rome

The saying "All roads lead to Rome" may originate from medieval times, yet it holds true even now, with contemporary European roads mirroring the ancient Roman empire's thoroughfares, linking our past and continuing to captivate our imaginations. Over the millennia since their construction, these roads have been traversed by crusaders, pilgrims, liberators, dictators, tourists, writers, refugees, and artists alike. Catherine Fletcher illustrates how these routes, serving as conduits for commerce, travel, conquest, and creativity, have significantly altered cultures and interconnected the destinies of myriad people throughout Europe and beyond. "The Roads to Rome" unfolds a vivid narrative of a historical landscape that remains closely interwoven with our modern world. From journeys stretching across Scotland and Cádiz, Istanbul to Rome, we witness the rise and demise of different nations and empires. Along this path, we meet spies and bandits, clever innkeepers, a fleeing Byzantine noblewoman, young aristocrats on their Grand Tour, a triumphant Napoleon, literary figures like Keats and the Shelleys, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and even Mussolini on his motorcycle. Charles Dickens, reflecting on his walk along the Appian Way, noted that each stone embodies a story of history. Anchored in exceptional original research and teeming with vivid life and drama, this work is the inaugural exploration of two thousand years of history through one of the most remarkable imperial networks ever created.