VIA APPIA ROSE 365 



Oaths for 3 days' labor, paid in silver {inipensae) or in kind 

 (operae) were regulated by the magistrates. The taxes were based 

 upon the area of land affected, or upon the number of interested 

 inhabitants. 



Statute labor for maintenance of the roads was at first resented 

 by the people and classed with those servile contributions which did 

 not apply to Roman citizens. Later, when the right of citizenship 

 was extended to everyone, Theodosius, Honorius, and Arcadius, in 

 order to assure the upkeep of the roads, ranked statute labor among 

 the honorable contributions, owed in principle by all citizens, even 

 by the Emperor himself. 



The statute labor of the Romans established the precedent for the 

 system of road upkeep which is found incorporated in English laws 

 from the time of the Middle Ages. The same system prevailed in 

 France under the name of les corvees. One of the main causes for 

 the French Revolution was attributed to the inherent defects in this 

 law, which permitted all sorts of maladministration. Prior to the 

 advent of the automobile, when the roads of the United States were 

 in a deplorable condition, much of road maintenance was carried on 

 by voluntary labor provided for by similar statute-labor legislation. 

 The motor age in America, however, has brought about a rapid aban- 

 donment of this type of public service and substituted for it the 

 more economical contract system. 



DISINTEGRATION OF ROMAN ROADS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES 



The foregoing discussion illustrates the vast difference between 

 roads of the ancient Romans, built by slow and laborious methods, 

 with the aid of manual labor, and used by relatively light horse-, 

 mule-, or ox-drawn vehicles, and modern highways built rapidly by 

 mechanical methods, to withstand the destructive wear and tear to 

 which they are subjected by motor vehicles. 



Built with a tremendous waste of material and labor, the great 

 depth and solidity of the Roman roads have caused them to resist 

 disintegration during many centuries and to survive as a monument 

 to their builders. An artist's conception of a high-type Roman road 

 as it existed during the days of the Empire is shown in plate 4. The 

 Romans relied upon massive construction to support the traffic of 

 their time, whereas the modern road builder proceeds upon the as- 

 sumption that the pavement should act as a wearing surface and roof 

 to protect the subsoil which bears the load. The present-day road 

 builders have constructed in this manner more extensive systems of 

 roads which cost much less than those of the Romans. It is doubtful, 

 however, whether the lighter and more economical construction of 

 our time could withstand, as have the pavements of the Romans, the 

 destructive effects of climatic changes over many centuries. 



