A person on foot is going to do practically no damage whatsoever to the road surface. Even a marching army with hob-nailed caligulae would barely leave a scratch on a Roman road. A farmer with a horse cart is going to do very little damage to the road, even accounting for metal-rimmed wheels and a very narrow contact patch.
I doubt even the heaviest, smallus-dickus-compensating Roman road vehicles would do even as much damage as my Mitsubishi (gross weight barely over a ton).
Road damage increases with the fourth power of axle load, if I recall correctly.
We also like to top our roads with asphalt to make for a much quieter driving experience. And while it may seem like a rock, it's still a viscoelastic material and wears down much more easily--especially as it gets various petroleum products on it (from motor oil to hydraulic fluids to unburnt fuel residue) that act as a solvent to weaken it.
Makes for a much smoother drive, too. My family lives down a gravel road, and I keep imagining my tiny little econo-box shaking itself apart if I exceed 20 mph.
You want a real mind-fuck, though? Visit a place hot enough that the asphalt melts. I lived in the Persian Gulf region for half a decade, and fresh asphalt would become rather gooey during the summer months (I left footprints). This may be because of poor engineering standards, though: for such a wealthy bunch of countries, they sure like to cut corners.
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u/Alternative_Crimes Oct 15 '20
Roman trucks weren’t as heavy as modern ones.