ABSTRACT
The dissolution of centralized Roman authority under the impact of successive waves of barbarian invasions after the fourth century meant the collapse of the remaining road-building and maintenance activities. Drainage in the medieval town tended to be far removed from the Roman model. By the fourth century, the Roman road system began to fall into disrepair as a series of imperial laws designed to require landowners whose properties adjoined the imperial roadways to provide for the maintenance of the roads and bridges. Since the primary purpose of Roman roads was to provide for efficient communications between the various local, provincial, and central government administrative centers, the roads, or cursus publici, were maintained at government expense. The Roman road system began to decline during the second century, and this decline was hastened by official abuse and the imperial decision to provide for roadway maintenance through compulsory service and payments.
