Besides the military structures along the Lower Rhine, further to the south exists the Roman town in Voorburg. The town was located on the Corbulo Canal (section 3.4.1) and was also connected to the surrounding area via roads (fig. 4.1). We will first discuss in this chapter the evidence of Roman roads, followed by the town itself. The combination of archaeological structures and material remains of the urban community will eventually provide an insight into the character of the urban community.

ROADS

The discovery of four milestones in The Hague in 1997913 made it clear that an important road ran straight through the Cananefatian area. This road was a via publica, (i.e. a public road), constructed and maintained by (members of) the senate or the emperor, or a via vicinalis, a road maintained from the capital of the civitas (see also section 3.4.2). The trajectory of the road is also depicted on the Peutinger map; it concerns the road between Lugdunum (Katwijk), via Forum Hadriani (Voorburg) to Flenio/Helinio (section 2.7). First the differences will be described between the milestones found in the research area, after which we discuss the appearance of the road along which these milestones stood. And finally, other (possible) roads will be discussed.

MILESTONES

In the research area, a total of nine (fragments of) milestones have been found between the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century and 2007 (table 4.1). Of one milestone it is unclear whether it is in fact a milestone. The oldest milestone dates from 151 and it is assumed that this is the period when the Roman road between Voorburg and Naaldwijk was constructed, also because older milestones are lacking. It is of course possible that there was already a simpler road before this period, but the erection of the first milestone indicates that the road came into use as an official route in 151. On the milestone is mentioned the distance to the place MAC, which means Municipium Aelium Cananefat(i)um. The road can be seen as part of the upgrading of the civil infrastructure in the area, in connection with the foundation or extension of the new town in Voorburg. However, work on the road could have started already under Emperor Hadrian and only completed under his successor.