About the Via Nova Traiana
The Via Nova Traiana is a Roman road about 455 km long in the Itiner-e atlas of ancient roads. It is mapped as 38 separate segments and crosses Jordan and Syria. The longest stretch, 436 km (96%), is in Jordan. 16 Roman places lie along it, from Aelana to Bostra.
The Via Nova Traiana is better documented than most: 57% of the length is classed as certain, and 43% is conjectured.
- 455 kmlength
- 38segments
- 16Roman places
- 2countries
How sure are we where it ran?
| How certain | Length (km) | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Certain | 258 | 57% |
| Conjectured | 197 | 43% |
| Hypothetical | 0 | 0% |
Certain: well documented, mapped to within about 50 to 200 m. Conjectured: known road, course less precisely documented. Hypothetical: route not pinned down, or existence uncertain.
Where the Via Nova Traiana goes
| Country | Length (km) |
|---|---|
| Jordan | 436 |
| Syria | 18.4 |
Roman places along the Via Nova Traiana
In order along the route, from Aelana to Bostra. Names are the Roman ones from the Pleiades gazetteer.
- Aelana
- Auara
- Zodacatha
- Ail
- Negla
- Thornia
- Mothous
- Characmoba
- Areopolis
- Dibon
- Madaba
- Esbous
- Amman
- Thantia
- Qasr el-Ba'iq
- Bostra
Modern towns near the route
These towns and cities are within about 4 km of the road, in route order.
- Aqaba (Jordan)
- ‘Izrā (Jordan)
- Qīr Moāv (Jordan)
- Karak City (Jordan)
- Mādabā (Jordan)
- Khuraybat as Sūq (Jordan)
- Ḩayy al Quwaysimah (Jordan)
- Amman (Jordan)
- Russeifa (Jordan)
- Zarqa (Jordan)
Source
Road name as recorded in the Itinerary field of Itiner-e (version 2024 1.3, doi:10.5281/zenodo.17122148). Sources most often cited by its 38 segments (segments citing each in brackets): [1] Brünnow and Domaszewski 1904 (19): Brünnow, Rudolph Ernst & von Domaszewski, Alfred (1904). Die Provincia Arabia, Erster Band Die Römerstrasse von Madeba über Petra und Odruh bis el-Akaba. Karl J. Trübner, Strassbourg. [2] Thomsen 1917 (19): Thomsen, Peter (1917). Die römischen Meilensteine der Provinzen Syria, Arabia und Palaestina. in Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 40, pp. 1-103. [3] Bauzou 1998 (11): Bauzou, Thomas (1998). La Via Nova en Arabie. Le secteur nord, de Bostra a Philadelphie. in Fouilles de Khirbet es-Samra en Jordanie 1: La voie romaine, Le cimitiere, Les documents épigraphiques, pp. 105-255.. Route lines: Itiner-e, CC BY 4.0. See all data sources and licences.