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In The Photos of La Vanguardia Readers we are going to talk today about the modern milestones that inform about the ancient Roman Via Augusta, as it passes through the Penedès.
They inform not only the layout of this very important road, but also all the topics related to the Roman world in this region.
Milestone or milestone stones (from the Latin miliarium) are large stone columns, with a cylindrical, oval or quadrangular section, often more than two meters high and between 50 and 80 cm in diameter.
One was placed every “milia passum”, that is, every thousand “passus” (Roman mile), which is equivalent to a distance of approximately 1,481 meters. They were located next to the Roman roads and reported the distance between cities (equivalent to the “kilometer points” of our roads).
In addition to engraving the miles on them, there was often an inscription informing who had built or repaired the road. They were also, without a doubt, efficient propaganda support for politicians and emperors.
These milestones had a cubic or square base and measured between 2 and 4 meters in height. They usually carried an inscription that indicated:
Between the Devil’s Bridge of Martorell and the Arco de Berà nine have been located, almost always displaced from their original place. In some cases, in late antiquity or the Middle Ages, these elements were reused as a sarcophagus.
This is the case of those of Sant Pere Molanta or the castle of Subirats. In other cases they were used as an altar, as in Santa Maria de Olèrdola.
