Note 50 — CHAPTER THE SECOND
Reading edition
The making of a Roman road was a formidable enterprise. H. M. Scarth, in his “Roman Britain,” relates how a portion of the Fosse Road at Radstock, about ten miles south-west of Bath, was opened in February, 1881, and that its work showed the following details in constructive method. 1. Pavimentum, or foundation, fine earth, hard beaten in. 2. Statumen, or bed of the road, composed of large stones, sometimes mixed with mortar. 3. Ruderatio, or small stones well mixed with mortar. 4. Nucleus, formed by mixing lime, chalk, and pounded brick or tile; or gravel, sand, and lime mixed with clay. 5. Upon this completed foundation the summum dorsum, or surface of the paved road, was laid with infinite care. So the men of a day built roads for the centuries, and were proud to be servants to the unborn.