The Romans are famous for their roads, which were very straight and well built. At least two Roman roads leading out from the settlement of Londinium passed through Hackney.

Ermine Street was the northward road leading to Lincoln, then York. It ran absolutely straight until a point just north of where Liverpool Street station is now, then it veered south west to where it met the Roman London bridge, about 30 yards downstream of the present London bridge. The reason it veers is probably because it was one of the early Roman roads in London and originally went straight down to meet an earlier Roman pontoon bridge crossing the Thames.

The second road ran from Colchester, the original Roman HQ, to Silchester and crossed Ermine Street at the junction of Old Street and Kingsland Road, bypassing London. Excavations under Old Street near this junction unearthed evidence of a Roman road. The route continued along Bethnal Green Road crossing the River Lea at Old Ford, where there was a Roman settlement.

The River Lea was likely to have been used by Roman ships. To carry heavy goods long distance Romans preferred to use ships rather than wagons as it was cheaper; the wagons could not carry big loads and were slow. Merchants and farmers would have used carts, pulled by oxen or mules, and these either had two or four wheels.

To go short distances people in Roman times simply walked, although wealthier Romans could have travelled by horseback, and some had litters in which they sat and were carried by slaves. Litters were beds or seats supported between two long horizontal poles, rather like a stretcher. For travelling further wealthier Romans would have used wagons, which were also used for transporting goods. For poorer people long distance travel was unlikely, the majority of people would never have left their local area during their whole lifetime.

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