Roman road "Ausoniusstraße"

Around 370 AD, Roman poet DECIMUS MAGNUS AUSONIUS portrays the beautiful Moselle landscape in his “Mosella” poem. He describes a journey on the Roman road from Mainz to Trier via the Hunsrück and Neumagen ("NOVIOMAGUS, the famous castle of the godly Constantine"). This Roman road is named “Ausonius Road” after the poet.

The course of today´s road in the Hunsrück is almost identical with the Roman original. At Piesport, the asphalt road gently descends from the heights into the vineyards. The Peutinger Map documents the road course from Bingen via Neumagen to Trier.Roman roads mostly had a width of about 6 metres. The roads were slightly cambered and had a thickness of up to one metre because of their several layers. They were sealed with mortar. North of the Alps, the roads outside the cities were covered with sand and gravel and lined by ditches on either side.Hiking hints.