Quote:How long after the AD43 invasion were the "Trackways" of the Brythons metalled by Roman engineers? I appreciate that it would have depended on the rate of expansion but were they done after the campaigns in times of relative peace or as part of the drive into enemy territory as a holding exercise? Or was it a much longer process?
This question has a multi-part answer.
First, some trackways never seem to have been resurfaced but continued in use parallel to the Romanised system. Many of these may well have formed the basis of the medieval and modern minor road system.
Second, a few (difficult to quantify) trackways seem to have been upgraded to a quasi-Roman standard. The Stanegate may be one such (in parts).
Third, what we think of as a traditional Roman road (lots of straight sections, obviously carefully engineered and surveyed) was probably usually following the course of a prehistoric (depends how you define 'Britons') trackway without actually being plonked directly on top. Stane Street is a good example, or even Watling Street (which parallels and supersedes the Pilgrim's Way, Chaucer of course using the former rather than the latter).
The third type was primarily military in origin and continued to be so through to the English Civil Wars. The speed at which such roads were built is unknown but our best guess is provided by the careful accounting undertaken during Wade and Cauldfeild's 18th-century Highland road construction campaigns (the roads they built were modelled on Roman roads). Our best guess for the Dere Street reaching the Tyne is
c.AD85, when Corbridge was built so that's about 40 years from the invasion. If you've ever worked on a modern road scheme, you'll know why the damn things take so long ;-)
Read all about it
here (they have the title wrong but it should be changed back to the correct one at some point, I've been assured).
Mike Bishop