An ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

''statio'' (Latin for "position" or "location", pl. ''stationes'') was a stopping place on a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, for travellers looking for shelter for the night and a change of horses. The statio was sometimes a town or city with suitable accommodation such as inns, and sometimes a dedicated building between larger settlements. They often included

thermal baths A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

in the facilities. They are often referred to in English as a waystation or poststation. They were sometimes identical to, or complementary to, ''

Mansiones In the Roman Empire, a ''mansio'' (from the Latin word ''mansus,'' the perfect passive participle of ''manere'' "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or ''via'', maintained by the central government for the use ...

'', maintained by the central government for those on official business whilst travelling. ''Stationes'' are mostly known though the famous

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary ( la, Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, "The Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is a famous ''itinerarium'', a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly ...

, a register of ''stationes'' and their distances along various roads of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, seemingly based on official documents, possibly from a survey carried out under

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Antonini Itinerarium". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 148 Examples of ''stationes'' are: *

Tre Taverne Three Taverns ( la, Tres Tabernae; , ''Treis Tabernai'') was a place on the ancient Appian Way, about 50 km (31 miles) from Rome, designed for the reception of travellers, as the name indicates. History Tres Tabernae originated as a post stat ...

Forum Appii The Forum Appii (or Appii Forum) is an ancient post station on the Via Appia, 63.5 km (39.5 imperial miles; 43 Roman miles) southeast of Rome, founded, no doubt, by the original constructor of the road. Horace mentioned it as the usual halt a ...

* Philosophiana in Sicily.

References

{{reflist Roman waystations Roman roads