Roman roads in Britannia section of Watling Street was begun in the years following the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, it may have been known to the Romano-Britons as the "Via Claudia" in honour of Emperor Claudius (r.41-54 AD) who led the military campaign. The only Anglo-Saxon name which might be etymologically linked to an original Roman name is the Fosse Way between Exeter and Lincoln. "Fosse" may derive from "fossa", the Latin word for "ditch". But this is likely to be attributable to a popular, rather than official, Roman name for the route. Generally the Roman roads in Britain have names
Roman road from Trier to Cologne shows the Roman road network of the 4th century. The route of the Roman road is described in the "Itinerarium Antonini" as passing through seven stations, whose distance is given in leagues. 1 Gallic league corresponds to 1.5 milia passum = ca. 2,200 metres, where 1 milia passum = 1,000 passus = ca. 1,480 metres The later Peutinger Table describes the same places with the exception of Tolbiacum (Zülpich) and Belgica (Billig), but without the addition of the word "vicus". However, the entries about the route vary considerably from those of the Antonine itinerary and are often interpreted as transcription