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The Roman Road Network. The Capitalization of an Outstanding Patrimony. It is our purpose here to present some opinions regarding a subject intensively publicized in the Western countries of Europe, but hardly known in Romania: Roman roads. The Roman road system is a very ‘actual’ topic, if we are allowed to use this term. In the last 20 years, the relation between Roman roads and tourism has rapidly developed, on two levels: 1. the importance of Roman road network in tourism; 2. the benefits of that tourism for the contemporary society. In Roman times, the communication system assured the economic development of the settlements, the propagation of the Roman civilization, the possibility to travel. Let’s not forget that the unity of the Roman Empire was assured by the communication system, which was projected and then constructed beginning with the first century B.C. This project reached his maximum point during Trajan, when 80000 miles of Roman roads spanned all over the Empire. In fact, any town, any villa rustica, rural settlement, stone quarry etc. was connected to the road system. Beginning with Augustus, the emperors were extremely preoccupied with the construction of roads. They fecit or refecit numerous roads, because they understood that the political and administrative unity of the Empire could not be assured without roads. How important are Roman roads? How roads are perceived today in a geographical region, like Europe, where the main issue is to create a unified space, both political and economical? Why is it important to understand the impact and consequences of road construction in the Roman era? These are questions we will try to answer.

Keywords: Roman roads, tourism, capitalization, management projects, resources.