How did people travel in Roman Britain? In Roman times people
travelled on land on horseback, in carts pulled by oxen, or
walking. Before the Romans, Britain had no proper roads. The
Roman soldiers built good roads. All the roads they built were
remarkably straight. The Romans knew that the shortest distance
from one place to another is a straight line, but their roads
did zigzag sometimes, to make going uphill easier. The Romans
built their roads on foundations of clay, chalk and gravel. They
laid bigger flat stones on top. The road sloped from the middle
to ditches either side, so rain water drained off. What was it
like in Roman Britain? Most of Roman Britain was wild, with
forests and hills where few people lived. Away from the towns,
people lived in villages of round wooden houses with thatched
roofs, much as they had before the Romans arrived. Some wealthy
Romans lived in villas. Villas were large farms with a big house
for the owners. Servants and farm workers lived in small wooden
houses. Villas had r