As we study the Roman invasion of Britain, we take the time to look at how they influenced the ways in which the British people (then called Celts) lived.

Roads in Britain before the Romans came were simple dirt tracks walked by oxen, carts and people. They often only connected one or two small villages or a water source. People did not journey very far.

The Romans had different ideas. They needed to get men, resources, food and wine, goods and messages up and down Britain, and they needed to do it quickly. It's also worth noting that Roman soldiers usually wore open toed sandals (as they came from a hot country) and so they didn't want to walk around in the mud!

In order to stop this problem, the Romans built very large and very sturdy roads. They are well known for building them straight, because this was most efficient. Today, we looked at the routes of ancient Roman roads and tried to map them. To do this well, we had to use the index in our atlases, and create a key so that others could understand our maps.