Racism and Roman Roads

A semi-accurate historial account provides a powerful metaphor

Ruts in the Roman roads of Pompeii. Image by Dvortygirl, via Wikimedia Commons.

Last week, Irish author and polymath Bill Holohan published a viral Twitter thread explaining that modern train rails are set at a particular width because that was the width of Roman chariots. If you haven’t already encountered it, the condensed version is that early train rails were designed to accommodate the wheels of horse wagons, which were designed so…