June 2, 2026—A new high-resolution map nearly doubles the number of roads in the Roman Empire. Plus, the oldest human art in the U.K. and mathematicians try to rein in AI.

—Andrea Gawrylewski
Chief Newsletter Editor

TODAY'S NEWS

Two images of red paint on cave wall. Image on right shows vivid red strreaks.

“Rediscovered Late Upper Palaeolithic Painted Imagery at Bacon Hole, Gower Peninsula, South Wales,” by George H. Nash et al., in Quartenary, Vol. 9, No. 3. Published online May 26, 2026

For 100 years, scientists thought these red markings inside a cave in Wales were natural. Now a new analysis suggests they were made deliberately by ancient humans some 17,000 years ago and therefore are the oldest cave art ever discovered in the U.K. | 2 min read
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On the Roman Roads

A new map of Roman roads suggests that the ancient Roman Empire built more than 300,000 kilometers of roads, more than double the previous estimate. The roads span an area the size of the European Union in a network that allowed the flow of people, goods, ideas and disease from Egypt to Germany, Spain to Turkey. Historically, archaeologists have used the physical remnants of the roads and historical documents to estimate the locations of these ancient paths. But the researchers behind this new project combined information from historical datasets plus modern topographical maps and satellite data to form a high-definition online atlas, called Itiner-e.

GIF that pans across a map that shows a wide view of land masses around the Mediterranean Sea with the approximate limit of the Roman empire in 150 C.E. highlighted. A network of lines trace ancient road locations. Roads shown in darker, thicker lines are based on more reliable sources and are more accurately digitized than roads indicated by paler, thinner lines.

Researchers found 8,000 kilometers of roads whose locations are known with certainty and 292,000 kilometers of roads that rely on varying degrees of conjecture. Daniel P. Huffman

How they did it:

Milestone digitization: For every 1,000 “paces” (one pace = about 5 Roman feet) on a road, the ancient Romans placed a labeled rock “milestone” to help travelers understand where they were. These milestones have been hugely helpful to modern archaeologists as they retrace the locations of ancient Roman roads. By aggregating databases that include more than 8,000 milestone locations and 14,000 ancient places, the Itiner-e team started their process of connecting these dots into the roads they once were.
Historical satellite photography: Some of the ancient roads are no longer visible today. For example, the ancient city of Samosata (in present-day Turkey) was flooded by a dam in the 1980s. But declassified photos from cold war–era satellites helped the researchers see what the roads there looked like before they were flooded. This is also true for other roads that have long since been destroyed by urbanization or other changes.
Topography: Detailed topographic maps—typically made for military strategy—also helped inform the precise shape of roads along mountains or other pre-developed landscapes. Taking the shape of the landscape into account helps researchers map the roads more precisely.
Paleogeography: The sediment near these ancient roads also helped the researchers reconstruct the landscapes. In some parts of the map, like in the Netherlands, the current canalized landscape doesn’t match the marshy landscape it once was. Dutch researchers on the project used paleogeography to identify old, abandoned riverbeds and locate the dry land between settlements that could have supported roads.

A stone cylinder bears an engraved inscription.

The Romans used milestones, such as this one on the Via Domitia in Herault, France, across the Empire to inform travelers of their location and distance. These stone markers can be used to reconstruct the paths of Roman roads. Hemis/Alamy

What the experts say: Despite seeing the full scope of the network, researchers know the precise location of only 2.7 percent of it. They created a “confidence map” that describes the varying certainty they have on the location of the roads across the map. “It essentially charts our ignorance,” writes Tom Brughmans, one of the co-directors of the project and an archaeologist at Aarhus University in Denmark. As remarkably precise and thorough as this map is, “as researchers, we must be open and explicit about what is observed and what is informed conjecture.” —Emma Gometz, newsletter editor

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The Romans did not invent roads. But they knew a good thing when they saw it and went about expanding and scaling up thoroughfares throughout their expanding empire. This enabled unprecedented movement of goods and resources among city centers and rural areas. Humans have always depended on close personal bonds, but we seem equally driven to build connections across ever-greater distances—exchanging ideas, culture and opportunity along the way.

Thanks for reading and send any feedback to: newsletters@sciam.com. Until tomorrow!

—Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Newly-discovered roads of the Roman Empire

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