Roads to Empire
On roadbuilding traditions in ancient Rome and early China
Datos Bibliográficos
| ID | 22105263 |
|---|---|
| Autores | Jordan Thomas Christopher (0000-0002-1689-4905, Loyola Marymount University, autor de correspondencia) |
| Año | 2025 |
| Volumen | 13 |
| Número | 1 |
| Páginas | 119-158 |
| Fecha de publicación | 2025-05-27 |
| Open Access | No |
| Tipo | ARTICLE |
| Revista | Journal of Ancient History (JOURNAL) |
| Identificadores de la revista | ISSN: 2324-8106 • E-ISSN: 2324-8114 |
| Editorial | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/jah-2024-0011 |
| OpenAlex | W4410511041 |
| Idioma | EN |
| Referencias citadas | 69 |
This article examines the development of road networks in Roman and early Chinese imperial contexts, analyzing the role of political ideology and cultural frameworks in shaping infrastructure. It argues that Roman roadbuilding, deeply intertwined with notions of public participation and republicanism, developed into a system where roads symbolized power and facilitated state control. Early Imperial China saw similar approaches to roads with a few stark contrasts. These included a greater restriction of access and usage, and a more equivocal stance on the ethics of road construction, with roadbuilding becoming less emphasized in favor of waterways and hydraulic engineering in the Han period, reflecting a different mode of territorial management and imperial ideology. This study highlights key structural and ideological divergences in the two civilizations' approaches to infrastructure. The Roman 'hodological' worldview contrasts with the broader territorial understanding evident in early Chinese cartographical and hydraulic initiatives. By offering a comparative analysis, this paper provides a foundation for further inquiry into the political and cultural dynamics of imperial roadbuilding
Archaeology · China · Empire · History of China · Ideology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Roman Empire · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law
Monumentality in early Chinese art and architecture
Building Mid-Republican Rome
The Medieval Peutinger Map
Fire over Luoyang
Communication and Cooperation in Early Imperial China
Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre‐Modern World
Place and Performance in Ancient Greece, Rome, and China
Society, Cities, and the Significance of ‘Sacred Roads’ in Archaic Greece, in the Chinese Qin and Han Empires, and in the Archaic States of the Middle East
Marriages of the Ruling Elite in the Spring and Autumn Period
Chinese Philosophy
Roman Roads
Roads in the Roman World
The Tabula Peutingeriana and Antique Cartography
The Sea of the Greeks and Romans
Strabo, Italy and the Italian peoples
The Poetics of Early Chinese Thought
The "Birth" of Italy
A Biographical Dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin Periods (221 BC - AD 24)
The Early Roman Expansion into Italy
Legal Practice in the Formative Stages of the Chinese Empire
Construction of Space in Early China, The
Statius' Silvae and the Poetics of Empire
Ancient China and its Enemies
Roman Frontiers and Landscapes of Occupation
Travelling first class? Emperors, dignitaries and intellectuals on the roads of the Roman Empire
The Roman Transport Network
Etruscan and Roman Roads in Southern Etruria
The Via Flaminia
Roman Republican Road-Building
The Classical Topography of the Roman Campagna.—II
The Classical Topography of the Roman Campagna.–I
Appius Claudius Caecus and the Via Appia
The Impact of the Roman Empire on Landscapes
The Routledge Companion to Strabo
Pits and politics
Reaching “the Southern Wilderness”
Transportation, Boarding, Lodging, and Trade along the Early Silk Road
| Altamente citado | No |
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