Empire Roads Reframed: Constantinople Surpasses Rome as Top Overland Hub

A Nature Communications study analyzing about 190,000 miles of Roman roads shows Rome wasn’t the empire’s sole central hub; Constantinople (Istanbul) emerged as the key overland travel center after the fourth century, while Rome remained the political/military heart and maritime transport dominated connectivity. The proverb “all roads lead to Rome” is thus not literally accurate, though it doesn’t diminish Rome’s imperial importance. Lead author Tom Brughmans and colleagues suggest the traffic network was more distributed, with provincial capitals shaping overland routes and sea transport providing major connectivity across the empire.