Roman Roads go ever on…Digital Britannia’s New Resource

A press release for this amazing new resource from Digital Britannia and The Roman Roads Research Association

“The Best SatNav that Romano-Britons Never Had:

Digital Britannia

If only they had possessed the massive data bank of Digital Britannia to power their Satnavs, no Roman would ever have got lost on Britannia’s roads! The Roman Road Research Association (RRRA) is delighted to announce publication of this first fully up-to-date, digital map of Roman roads in Britain. It is freely available (under Copyright) on the RRRA website, romanroads.org. Specifically, it can be found at https://roadsofromanbritain.org/digital-britannia/overview.html.

The map is very much the personal achievement of RRRA Chairman, Mike Haken, who has been recognised with the Britannia Award 2026, the Roman Society’s prestigious award for this remarkable work, and for his unwavering championship of Roman road research since the RRRA’s inception in 2015.

Roman roads have long fascinated the British public, and many still underlie today’s highways. Hundreds of miles of superbly engineered road have, however, long since disappeared – apparently without trace – in the two millennia since the Empire abandoned these shores.

Widespread publicity attended the publication, some months ago, of Itiner-e, a digital map of roads across the empire. This was a remarkable achievement welcomed by the RRRA. However, for Britain the data utilised is more than half a century out of date, not reflecting the enormous advances of modern research and Lidar technology. This is where Digital Britannia shines, presenting scholarship’s most up-to-date knowledge.

The first beta version already allows free download of the data into GIS packages and Google Earth Pro. Later versions will also allow download into Google Maps. Clicking on sections of road reveals supporting information, including road numbers and level of confidence regarding precise routes. This continues to be developed.

For Digital Britannia, the route of every supposed Roman road in Britain has been re-assessed, with layers representing milestones, camps, and a whole range of other infrastructure. It is hard to imagine a more valuable resource for everyone interested in Roman Britain, whether from casual interest in local routes, or focused academic scholarship. The RRRA intends that this digital map will continue to evolve as a go-to resource on Roman Britain.”