English Heritage is laying on Roman festivals this weekend at Scarborough Castle (0870 333 1183; www.english-heritage .uk; from 11.30am; £4); and on 27/28 August at Corbridge, with drill and falconry displays.CAN ONE WALK ALONG ANY ROMAN ROADS?Since so many roads in our towns and cities follow Roman roads, many people do, without realising it. The street entered Lindum via the Newport Arch (now the city's most impressive Roman sight), then ran right through the centre of the settlement, down what is now Bailgate, which was next to the forum, and along the High Street.You can pick up Ermine Street again south of Lincoln, on the A15. South of the Humber, pick up the A15, which will take you along Ermine Street to Lincoln (Lindum). Another Roman equivalent of our motorways, it ran for around 200 miles between Eboracum and Londinium.

Towns often had regular street layouts, with aligned gates and the main streets meeting at a crossroads adjacent to the forum. This was true of York (Eboracum), whose main crossroads was the junction of Stonegate (the via praetoria) and Petergate (via principalis).Eboracum began its Roman life as a military outpost, but grew into a sophisticated self-governing town, or colonia, that was capital of Britannia Inferior - for more information, visit Yorkshire Museum (01904 687687; www.yorkshiremuseum .uk), which currently has an exhibition (until 29 October; daily 10am-5pm; admission £5.50) on Constantine the Great, who, AD306, was proclaimed Emperor in York.When you hit the road, make it the A1079 to Market Weighton, and you'll be on Ermine Street. You can also tour the city guided by a Roman legionary (01244 324324; www.chester.gov.uk; call for departure points and times; £4.50).DID THE ROMANS USE ROUNDABOUTS?No, the circular road junction first appeared in Britain in 1911, in the newly built Letchworth Garden City, some way from Watling Street. Where roads met, the Romans employed T- and dogleg junctions, and especially crossroads, to marshal traffic. Once one of three legionary bases in Britannia, Chester's centre is enclosed by walkable city walls that are Roman in origin.

Other Roman attractions include the remains of the largest amphitheatre found in Britain, and a superb collection of inscribed tombstones in the Grosvenor Museum (01244 402008; www.chester.gov.uk; open daily 10.30am-5pm, 1-4pm Sunday; admission free). It then shoots due west to Wroxeter (Viroconium), just outside Shrewsbury. This was a significant town in Roman times, whose most impressive ruins are its municipal baths (01604 730320; www.roman-britain ; open daily 10am-6pm; admission £3.10).From here, Welsh Watling Street, sometimes called Watling Street (West) goes north to Chester (Deva), though its route cannot be detected from the current roads. You're following Watling Street, an ancient Celtic track paved by the Romans and turned into one of their major thoroughfares (later used by Chaucer's pilgrims). From Marble Arch in central London, the Edgware Road, or A5, aims north-west towards St Albans (Verulamium).