TV & Radio
All the must-see/hear programmes
Tuesday 30 June, 9pm 5Select
What did the Romans ever do for us? Well, there were the roads. Over the nearly four centuries that Britannia was a province of the empire, the Romans built a network of highways. While these routes were primarily intended to ensure that troops and military supplies could be moved around without delays, they also encouraged commerce and trade, and helped connect these islands to the wider world.
In a new series that finds Dan Jones tramping around Britain, and very possibly inspiring post-lockdown hikes as he does so, the historian travels six of these famously “ramrod straight” roads. The first episode gives an idea of what to expect as Jones travels the 240 mile-long Watling Street.
Beginning in Richborough, where the troops of Emperor Claudius landed nearly 2,000 years ago, this is the oldest Roman route, a gateway for invaders that would once have been marked by a great stone arch. Yet as Jones moves west, and admittedly after telling the story of Boudicca’s bloody resistance, a story of coexistence emerges.
Wroxeter in Shropshire, where Watling Street ends, was once the site of a massive gymnasium and bath house, which would have been used by both Britons and Romans.
The show emphasises that the history we typically imagine as belonging to the distant past still touches our lives today. Think, for instance, of how Edgware Road stretches out from Marble Arch through North-West London, a thoroughfare that once formed part of Watling Street.
The remaining episodes in the series find Jones exploring Ermine Street (London to York), Dere Street (York to Scotland), Fosse Way (Exeter to Lincoln), Ermin Way (Silchester to Gloucester) and Stane Street (London to Chichester). After Roman rule ended, it would be the 18th century before such a visionary, systematic and comprehensive road-building programme would be seen in Britain again.