Roman Empire roads sea routes disease spread

Roman roads carried epidemics as efficiently as they carried goods

The Roman Empire connected distant cities through roads, shipping routes and trade networks. Those links moved soldiers, merchants and supplies, but they also created opportunities for infectious diseases to spread between populations. Epidemics could therefore travel through the same infrastructure that made the empire economically and politically powerful.

A tiny effect can be statistically significant

A large enough study can find statistical significance even when an effect is tiny. A p-value tells you neither how large the effect is nor whether it matters in real life. A confidence interval can show both the estimated size and the uncertainty around it.

A short passage looks much longer

7 m → 30 m

At Rome’s Palazzo Spada, architect Francesco Borromini used columns that get smaller, a narrowing floor and a small statue to make a seven-meter passage appear thirty meters long.

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Roman Empire roads sea routes disease spread

Roman roads carried epidemics as efficiently as they carried goods

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