This special issue of Acta Archaeologica, titled GIS and Roads: Innovative Digital Frameworks for Route Analysis in Antiquity, brings together thirteen peer-reviewed articles that investigate innovative digital methodologies and tools for the study of Roman roads. The overarching aim is to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue that combines classical historiographical and archaeological sources with cutting-edge digital technologies, particularly Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, spatial modelling and systematic field validation in order to improve our understanding and reconstruction of ancient communication networks. The contributions are organised thematically into four lines of inquiry.
The first thematic axis focuses on remote sensing and its capacity to identify and predict ancient road trajectories. Through the use of multispectral satellite data, aerial photography, LiDAR scanning and UAV photogrammetry, researchers reveal buried features such as berms and road fills. These are further analysed using adaptive filtering and supervised machine learning, producing predictive models even in dense vegetation or altered landscapes.
The second line explores reinterpretations of classical and archaeological sources through digital means, including text mining of itineraries, GIS mapping of milestones and inscriptions and the reassessment of station locations.
The third axis evaluates computational modelling techniques for reconstructing ancient mobility, emphasising least-cost path and corridor analyses, graph-based network metrics, agent-based simulations, and AI classifiers, while underscoring the need for collaborative data standards and rigorous training datasets.
The fourth line considers environmental and methodological constraints, integrating paleoenvironmental GIS data, soil chemistry, and hydrological models to reassess route viability in high-altitude, desert, and deltaic regions, highlighting the need for continuous fieldwork and adaptable modelling. The last line offers an example of the same methodologies presented in the work, but applied to another type of historical road network for other non-Roman chronological periods.
Taken together, the contributions in this volume illustrate the synergistic potential of integrating digital tools, ranging from remote sensing and GIS to artificial intelligence, with traditional archaeological approaches. This multidisciplinary framework not only enhances the reliability of reconstructions but also lays the foundation for new, more context-sensitive interpretations of Roman mobility and infrastructure across diverse geographies and chronological scales.
Pedro Trapero Fernández and Patricia A. Argüelles Álvarez
