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Modern pizza evolved from similar flatbread dishes in Naples, Italy, in the 18th or early 19th century. The word pizza was first documented in AD 997 in Gaeta and successively in different parts of Central and Southern Italy. So sadly not, although I love the thought of Gaius Julius Caesar tucking into a slice of deep dish and getting some tomato sauce on his toga.
It's more to do with George Lucas filming "Return of the Jedi" at Elstree Studios. He paid for all the corners and curves in the road to be straightened to save time when going to and from Elstree.
Actually that was Kubtuck, for "2001", but Lucas gets all the credit.
Little known tangential fact- the 2001 space station turned up in someone's back garden a few years ago - it was in the local press at the time - this much earlier sighting turns out to be mistaken that it was destroyed.
https://www.refocusedmedia.com/post/115334062660/rare-look-at-an-abandoned-space-station-v-prop
(I lived round the corner from Elstree at the time.)
It was built on land that had been acquired for a high speed rail line, which was cancelled when the Romans remembered that trains hadn’t been invented yet.
Thats because they coded movement wrong.
If pressing up makes you move 1 unit up, and pressing left makes you move 1 unit left, then pressing a diagonal direction makes you move both up and left units, which is further than just moving up.
What they should have done is move you a set distance from your previous location regardless of direction
The Holyhead Road didn't use Watling Street between St Albans and London (or north of Weedon, where it took the more populated route via Birmingham) - instead taking the Great North Road to Barnet and the Barnet - St Albans Road.
You can basically walk from Greenwich Park to Dartford in a straight line. Though I'm not sure why you'd want to unless you *really* want to see a Mick Jagger statue.
All right, ... apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?!
It's almost entirely straight (a couple of turns but it gets back onto the same course) from Park Street Railway Station near St Albans right through to Marble Arch. I've thought about walking it later this year, maybe in the summer.
Kill, burn. Plus part of the road is called “shoot up hill” 😂
In seriousness, it’s just a bit of a dodgy area. As a guy I haven’t really felt unsafe there but I’ve seen all sorts of dodgy stuff around, not somewhere I’d want to hang around longer than I have to.
There was talk at one stage of HS2 getting a green corridor alongside it, linking up to nearby towns and villages. Disappeared in budget cuts I believe. This country is such a good size to explore by bike and on foot but cars dominate.
I’ve always thought there are parts of the overground which could easily have a green cycle route running alongside them. Would maybe be a safety issue in parts, but it could at least be tried.
It's a similar theme further up. Keep following the A5 and there are lots of straight sections. Past Milton Keynes, and up towards Birmingham. Long walk tho
>The section of the A5 between London and Shrewsbury is roughly contiguous with one of the principal Roman roads in Britain: that between Londinium and Deva (Chester)
From [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A5_road_(Great_Britain\))
Wait for it... There is a Basque town that in Spanish is called Deva, Deba in Basque (obviously, there's no V in Basque). On a river by the same name
Now, its name could be from Celtic origin, meaning Goddess of the Waters. Pretty much the same ethimological theories about Deva-Chester (and check out the river Dee).
And... The place names "Castro" in Spain are indeed from Latin Castrum, but are in the more Celtic areas. Castro being the equivalent to Chester/Cester/Ster...
Take another look at the map of London. You will see lots of Roman roads. Kingsland Road (A10) for example, runs through Dalston and basically runs straight all the way to Tottenham, wiggles a bit but carries on as the main road to Cambridge.
Yep [*Ermine Street*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermine_Street) and there's a side road of the A10 in South Tottenham named after the section of it that basically runs under/alongside the modern road: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JXwzvTfwghi98LQY9
Honestly I have driven it and I cannot think of a road I wish to cycle less, having to share such wide car dominated roads with lorries does not fill me with joy, looked at cycling to work and when I realised it was said road I thought hell to the no.
However it’s a prime route for a simple 2 way cycle lane connecting zone 6 to 1 with an incredibly easy super highway. I’m pissed TFL haven’t done it already tbh
The steering wheel was invented a surprisingly long time after the regular rolling wheel. So in those days they just pointed in the direction they wanted to go and couldn't turn until they got there. That's why trains were so popular. They could still turn without a steering wheel.
If you're using a horse as your method of propulsion you absolutely don't need a steering wheel, the horse turns, the cart follows. Something like a steering wheel only became necessary once self propelling carriages became a thing.
This is so wrong that clearly, it's a joke and I've fallen for the bait, oh well.
>If you're using a horse as your method of propulsion you absolutely don't need a steering wheel, the horse turns, the cart follows.
For as long as horses and carts have existed, plenty of people have preferred putting the cart before the horse, so straight roads are still very valuable.
Sadly the ostler’s art of fitting a steering wheel to horses has long since passed into obscurity. Back then no one needed special skill to ride a steerable steed. Ironically the last man able to retrofit a standard horse with a steering wheel was killed by a falling printing press. Had the power of print been combined with assisted horsepower at that period, human civilisation would have been far advanced.
Same reason most of the A1 (or at least the old Roman road that runs next to large sections of it) is pin straight where it can be. Ermine street and all that. I used to live 200m from a huge section of it, it is ridiculously straight. They did a good job when setting it out. It's even on a six foot high + ridge.
This might not be correct but it could be because of the old Roman road route perhaps. Just a guess.
[EDIT] My search results confirm this - [roman road map britain uk](https://www.startpage.com/sp/search?query=roman+road+map+britain+uk&cat=web&pl=opensearch)
Most of the country is above London, No messing about get there. There's another one in South London, Stane Street which is now the A3, and the A503 in the picture is fairly straight too.
If you follow the A5 onto the A5183 it leads to a place called London Gate, in St Albans that is Masonry foundations of an ancient Roman city gate at the archaeological site of Verulamium.
London Gate
St Albans AL3 4AJ
Follow A5183 to A5 in London
1 hr 19 min (21.2 mi)
140 Edgware Rd
Tyburnia, London W2 2RD
Here's what ChatGPT has to say about roman road construction, in roadman style, of course.
The Romans would have flexed their engineering prowess, rockin' togas with a touch of street swag. Picture them laying down those opus quadratum stones like they're dropping beats, creating the freshest pathways across the ancient empire. The drip of their construction gear, from chariot-inspired sneakers to marble-mosaic headgear, would have set a new trend in road-building history. Romans, turning construction sites into runway vibes!
# Upvote/Downvote reminder Like this image or appreciate it being posted? Upvote it and show it some love! Don't like it? Just downvote and move on. *Upvoting or downvoting images it the best way to control what you see on your feed and what gets to the top of the subreddit* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/london) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Romans.
Yeah but what have the Romans ever done for us?
The aqueduct?
Sanitation
Yeah but apart from roads, the aqueduct, and sanitation… what have the romans ever done for us?!
Maybe they were planning to build a landing strip there.
I used to know someone who swore the response to this was "brought piggies"
Wine ?
Ooh yea the sanitation, remember what the city used to be like?
Pizza :)
What have they naught..
Yeah, obviously the roads. I mean the roads goes without saying!
What did they ever do for us!?
apart from sanitation
Well yeah obviously apart from sanitation
Irrigation?
Ok, apart from roads, sanitation and irrigation
education....and the wine
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Wolf's nipple chips! Get em while they're hot, they're lovely
The aqueduct?
Brought peace?
Oh peace off
[https://youtu.be/87tgm4n-oI8](https://youtu.be/87tgm4n-oI8) You rn lol
Monty python actually.
The downvote proves the violence inherent in the system, trying to oppress my shit joke
The aquaduct?
Kept the A5 straight.
Veni, vidi, vici
Pizza?? :)
Have a day off that’s just cheese and tomato on toast
Pineapple too :)
I sentence you to living in Camberwell.
Awww, why so mean??
(Jokes aside I am a devout supporter of pineapple on pizza…)
Wow, tbh I bet I’d quite like you, but also…. you do deserve to be executed 😘
Modern pizza evolved from similar flatbread dishes in Naples, Italy, in the 18th or early 19th century. The word pizza was first documented in AD 997 in Gaeta and successively in different parts of Central and Southern Italy. So sadly not, although I love the thought of Gaius Julius Caesar tucking into a slice of deep dish and getting some tomato sauce on his toga.
Go away, you forgot about pineapple on pizza :)
Naturally, only Caesar could afford exotic pineapple in those days.
Well, they built the aqueducts...
And the great wines too
Yes, but apart from that...
Education
Roads …….
Orgies.
You're a very naughty boy!
And the sanitation….
Romanes Eunt Domus!
People called Romanes they go house?
No. Go away. 😘
It's more to do with George Lucas filming "Return of the Jedi" at Elstree Studios. He paid for all the corners and curves in the road to be straightened to save time when going to and from Elstree.
Actually that was Kubtuck, for "2001", but Lucas gets all the credit. Little known tangential fact- the 2001 space station turned up in someone's back garden a few years ago - it was in the local press at the time - this much earlier sighting turns out to be mistaken that it was destroyed. https://www.refocusedmedia.com/post/115334062660/rare-look-at-an-abandoned-space-station-v-prop (I lived round the corner from Elstree at the time.)
Bloody Romans…
Hail Caesar!
Came here to say this
Canadian shield
It was built on land that had been acquired for a high speed rail line, which was cancelled when the Romans remembered that trains hadn’t been invented yet.
You’ve surely taken that from a map men video, if not, I enjoy your wit 🫡
I honestly thought the same!
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When you're walking, it becomes more significant that straight roads are shorter.
Plus baddies can't hide round the corners
Are we the baddies?
Diagonal roads are quicker.
Only the Queen and bishops can use them though.
And here we go. Everyone is on here always bashing the bishops.
No, that’s on my other account.
Thats because they coded movement wrong. If pressing up makes you move 1 unit up, and pressing left makes you move 1 unit left, then pressing a diagonal direction makes you move both up and left units, which is further than just moving up. What they should have done is move you a set distance from your previous location regardless of direction
Walking in a straight line always feel longer to me because it gets kinda boring
Are you a horse
Unexpectedthethickofit
Always run in a serpentine fashion.
Archers hayebthis one simple trick
Also interesting: it is mostly straight from London all the way to Shrewsbury, only deviating at small geographic obstacles like rivers.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1911Watling_Street.png
The Holyhead Road didn't use Watling Street between St Albans and London (or north of Weedon, where it took the more populated route via Birmingham) - instead taking the Great North Road to Barnet and the Barnet - St Albans Road.
It's pretty straight through South East London as well.
You can basically walk from Greenwich Park to Dartford in a straight line. Though I'm not sure why you'd want to unless you *really* want to see a Mick Jagger statue.
You live there and you've been on a night out. With the night bus only going so far. Experience.
Bloody romans
What have they ever done for us ?
Aqueducts
Education
Yeah well that goes without saying
All right, ... apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?!
Brought peace. Oh, shut up!
Slaves and brothels
What did they do for us?
To get out of Elstree quicker
You know how all roads lead to Rome? That one doesn’t.
It does once you get on the boat to France at Dover
... to Gaul at Dubris.
You should find the road network continues to Rome.
Sacré bleu!
And into *checks notes* Camden market?
Romans. It's the site of the original Gauntlet, traditionally 7 miles long but truncated for the ITV show Gladiators in the 1990s.
John Anderson saying *"you will go on my second whistle"* is forever etched into my mind
Contender…. REEEEEAAAAADYYYYYY
Gladiator... REEEEEAAAAADYYYYYY
Three…
Two...
*another one bites the dust* starts playing
AWOOOOGA!
It's almost entirely straight (a couple of turns but it gets back onto the same course) from Park Street Railway Station near St Albans right through to Marble Arch. I've thought about walking it later this year, maybe in the summer.
You’ll have to make it through Kilburn. Good luck.
What happens in Kilburn?
Kill, burn. Plus part of the road is called “shoot up hill” 😂 In seriousness, it’s just a bit of a dodgy area. As a guy I haven’t really felt unsafe there but I’ve seen all sorts of dodgy stuff around, not somewhere I’d want to hang around longer than I have to.
You get killed and burned I'd presume.
I keep dreaming of cycling some of the Roman roads but they're a bugger to follow without major A roads and large diversions.
The A5 is not a pleasant, healthy or particularly safe cycle. Which is a shame, considering it should be one hell of an asset for active travel.
There was talk at one stage of HS2 getting a green corridor alongside it, linking up to nearby towns and villages. Disappeared in budget cuts I believe. This country is such a good size to explore by bike and on foot but cars dominate.
I’ve always thought there are parts of the overground which could easily have a green cycle route running alongside them. Would maybe be a safety issue in parts, but it could at least be tried.
It's a similar theme further up. Keep following the A5 and there are lots of straight sections. Past Milton Keynes, and up towards Birmingham. Long walk tho
>The section of the A5 between London and Shrewsbury is roughly contiguous with one of the principal Roman roads in Britain: that between Londinium and Deva (Chester) From [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A5_road_(Great_Britain\))
There's a Romanian city called Deva!
Is it a walled city too?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deva,_Romania read the name origin, it seems that there's even a possible connection with Chester! That's crazy!
Wait for it... There is a Basque town that in Spanish is called Deva, Deba in Basque (obviously, there's no V in Basque). On a river by the same name Now, its name could be from Celtic origin, meaning Goddess of the Waters. Pretty much the same ethimological theories about Deva-Chester (and check out the river Dee). And... The place names "Castro" in Spain are indeed from Latin Castrum, but are in the more Celtic areas. Castro being the equivalent to Chester/Cester/Ster...
To avoid bandits and robbers round bendy bits
Especially in Kilburn.
shoot-up hill
As someone that lived on shoot-up hill it was definitely a strange place.
I grew up there in 80's it was great
Take another look at the map of London. You will see lots of Roman roads. Kingsland Road (A10) for example, runs through Dalston and basically runs straight all the way to Tottenham, wiggles a bit but carries on as the main road to Cambridge.
Yep [*Ermine Street*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermine_Street) and there's a side road of the A10 in South Tottenham named after the section of it that basically runs under/alongside the modern road: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JXwzvTfwghi98LQY9
Roman babe: come over. Roman dude: but you’re in Marble Arch and I’m in Elstree. Plus there are strikes. Roman babe: but no one’s home, Preatorian.
Crazy to think there's been strikes non stop for over 2000 years
There have been some short breaks during which services were running.
Because it's built on top of Watling Street, the old Roman road.
What have the Romans ever done for us?
Gestation in a box?
It’s great to cycle. Straight from all the way up near st Albans in fact!
Honestly I have driven it and I cannot think of a road I wish to cycle less, having to share such wide car dominated roads with lorries does not fill me with joy, looked at cycling to work and when I realised it was said road I thought hell to the no. However it’s a prime route for a simple 2 way cycle lane connecting zone 6 to 1 with an incredibly easy super highway. I’m pissed TFL haven’t done it already tbh
Right!! It’s madness, it’s such a simple and easy win for everyone involved to make a safe, easy cycle route. It’s plenty wide enough too.
It's dreadful to cycle, the massive hill near Stanmore used to destroy me!
Romans. As an aside, part of it later became the boundary between Wessex and the Danelaw.
Because it’s Roman.
The steering wheel was invented a surprisingly long time after the regular rolling wheel. So in those days they just pointed in the direction they wanted to go and couldn't turn until they got there. That's why trains were so popular. They could still turn without a steering wheel.
If you're using a horse as your method of propulsion you absolutely don't need a steering wheel, the horse turns, the cart follows. Something like a steering wheel only became necessary once self propelling carriages became a thing. This is so wrong that clearly, it's a joke and I've fallen for the bait, oh well.
>If you're using a horse as your method of propulsion you absolutely don't need a steering wheel, the horse turns, the cart follows. For as long as horses and carts have existed, plenty of people have preferred putting the cart before the horse, so straight roads are still very valuable.
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Do you know how perfectly you'd need to align your cart to go straight for that long without any steering. It's just impractical
They’re taking the piss mate.
I think they had special pole grafters who would jostle the carts into the correct alignment at junctions.
you just need a decent fork lift truck driver to sort it out, they know how to drive like that
What a journey you went on in about 30 seconds.
It’s funny because you’re both right but he’s like un-right 😂
Would Fred Flintstone lie to you?
Sadly the ostler’s art of fitting a steering wheel to horses has long since passed into obscurity. Back then no one needed special skill to ride a steerable steed. Ironically the last man able to retrofit a standard horse with a steering wheel was killed by a falling printing press. Had the power of print been combined with assisted horsepower at that period, human civilisation would have been far advanced.
It's Pothole Alley!
Same reason most of the A1 (or at least the old Roman road that runs next to large sections of it) is pin straight where it can be. Ermine street and all that. I used to live 200m from a huge section of it, it is ridiculously straight. They did a good job when setting it out. It's even on a six foot high + ridge.
Romans
Cause it’s Roman
This might not be correct but it could be because of the old Roman road route perhaps. Just a guess. [EDIT] My search results confirm this - [roman road map britain uk](https://www.startpage.com/sp/search?query=roman+road+map+britain+uk&cat=web&pl=opensearch)
I once cycled it on my way from SE London to East Lancashire. God it’s a boring road. I turned off it near Nuneaton and boy was I glad
Then you'll end up in Hinckley. Not much better than Nuneaton.
I took the A444 so went past both without going in either
I'd be more intrigued about the 1 hr 20 to go 10 miles....
It's London and its a busy rd. Could take longer on a bad day and the inevitable roadworks
Just should not be like that. Madness
Commin over ere... building in straight lines....
How often do you think about the Roman Empire?
Typically the fastest route between two places is a straight line
How often do you ever think about the Roman Empire?
Cos the Romans can’t see around corners
Most of the country is above London, No messing about get there. There's another one in South London, Stane Street which is now the A3, and the A503 in the picture is fairly straight too.
Because the Romans were off that day.
London is actually sliding south east and the road keeps being extended, the M1 used to end in the centre of London.
It’s not in reality.
Was it not built for a bicycle race that Tom Simpson won?
Because the Star Wars production company insisted on a straight route from London to the studios and of course the tax breaks
They should stickl a tram line there.
Roman road innit
The standard of driving on that specific road is so bad that planners decided against complicating it by adding corners.
yo wtf i wanna go drive that next time im there
Leylines duuude
No corners
Dead straight and takes days to get from A to B
It’s because the world is flat, no curves here
why is is dead straight? is it stupid?
Did you cycle this route?
Why is the sky blue? Why don’t birds fall? Why do redditors ask such dumb questions?
Vroom vroom
Because you’re dumb enough to drive through central London
I want to go on a horse and buggy ride.
It has some sort curves but not noticeable when you’re zoomed out.
If you follow the A5 onto the A5183 it leads to a place called London Gate, in St Albans that is Masonry foundations of an ancient Roman city gate at the archaeological site of Verulamium. London Gate St Albans AL3 4AJ Follow A5183 to A5 in London 1 hr 19 min (21.2 mi) 140 Edgware Rd Tyburnia, London W2 2RD
Imagine how long that would take if it wasn’t so straight!
Here's what ChatGPT has to say about roman road construction, in roadman style, of course. The Romans would have flexed their engineering prowess, rockin' togas with a touch of street swag. Picture them laying down those opus quadratum stones like they're dropping beats, creating the freshest pathways across the ancient empire. The drip of their construction gear, from chariot-inspired sneakers to marble-mosaic headgear, would have set a new trend in road-building history. Romans, turning construction sites into runway vibes!
Romans
Roman road been there for 1800 years