About 100 m past Golani Junction to the North-East, you will come to a ridge with the remains of an ancient Roman road that linked Acre and Tiberias. Jesus likely used this road on his journey from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee, as it was a major east-west thoroughfare during his time.
Exquisite roads were one of the hallmarks of the Roman Empire. The Romans were the first to create a comprehensive system of paved roads over such a large territory. The roads served the primary purpose of supporting military and trade development. The road networks also facilitated the movement of ideas and technology and allowed foods, fashions and other cultural artifacts to spread. As the Internet became the “information superhighway” of the 21st century, so were Roman roads at the time of the Roman empire.
Roman roads were well-known for being very straight and uniform, with a predilection for right angles and asserting dominance over, rather than harmony with nature. Distances along the roads were measured by mile stones, or milia passuum which means “one thousand paces.” A Roman mile was approximately 1500 m. As maps were expensive and scarce, these mile markers often cited the distance to important destinations along the road. Many of the modern roads and highways in Israel are constructed along the original Roman routes, seeing that a big part of the work required was already accomplished centuries ago.
