Paradigm and pragmatism: GIS‐based spatial analyses of Roman infrastructure networks and land‐use concepts in the Upper Rhine Valley

Abstract

AbstractThe Roman infrastructural network in the Upper Rhine Valley aligns with the locations of military fortifications and also connects agricultural areas and settlements to trade routes and regional markets. Conventionally, the connection of rural areas to these broader networks is imagined as a straight line, suggesting direct connectivity, maximum accessibility, and engineering pragmatism. However, it is important to appreciate that local environmental conditions had a strong impact on Roman road development and land‐use strategies. This article examines the geomorphological, geological, and hydrogeological conditions in the Upper Rhine Valley to define and analyze the relationships between Roman transport routes, settlement, and land‐use opportunities, and physical‐geographical factors. An accumulative cost surface is generated using vegetation data based on satellite imagery, and attributes are recorded in geomorphological and geological maps in a GIS. This modeling technique leads to potential movement and infrastructure corridors. Topographical aspects and terrain roughness play only a minor role in the study area, and it is argued that the interplay of aquifer thickness, groundwater level, quaternary sedimentology, and soil communities is decisive for assessing the suitability of terrain for corridors of movement.