How do you transport goods in the game? Before I could start programming, I did a lot of research on Roman logistics. For one thing, I was able to find out how long transportation took via the following website [click here]. The website is a kind of GoogleMaps© for ancient travels. From my home (Zurich) to Rome it took about 12 days. 1 time across the empire took over a month.
Then of course it was important how goods and people were transported. For this my thanks to Sebastian from the archaeological park in Xanten. He gave me a book, in which the transport system is explained very well. So I did not know that most of the roads were not paved but well-maintained gravel roads. But people often walked beside the road. And in fact, there was often a grassy area next to the road that was as wide as the road. It was easier on the joints for people and horses to travel there (when it was dry). Leisure traffic, as we know it today, existed only for very rich people. They traveled on horseback or in one of the famous travel wagons. You will see such carriages in the game. I have recreated one 1:1.
The transportation of goods was very important. The fastest and cheapest means of transportation was by ship. Even in the center of Europe, goods were transported by ship whenever possible. Often on flat ships, which were also called prams. You can find a pram experiment here: [click here].
On the sea, there were also transport ships. One of them (Corbita) I have reproduced 1:1.
In the countryside, goods were often transported in carts. However, carts pulled by mules were slow and expensive. In addition to transporting goods, of course, the information had to be transported, since there were no electronic means of communication. In Rome, it was necessary to know if a legion was victorious or if new soldiers were needed due to heavy losses. For this purpose, there was a dense network of inns (ursus publicus) since the imperial period, when horses and riders were ready. One possibility was that a messenger rode from station to station and received new horses in exchange. In this way, he could travel quickly without burdening the animals and transport information quickly. However, these messenger stations were reserved exclusively for the emperor and a few privileged Romans. But this was also exploited. So one also knew about the situation and tried to fight it, that senators used these postal stations not only to distribute mail but also to organize private trips over them.
I hope you learned something new about the transportation system. Much of what I have explained you will then encounter in the game.
Cheers