Timber from what became modern France was used to build villas, porticoes and ships in ancient Rome, according to a new study. Ancient Rome was built using wood cut from trees more than 1,000 miles away in the Jura mountains in eastern France, say researchers.

Experts from the National Research Council in Italy said the planks they have studied show that the timber requirements of ancient Rome were 'immense and complex'. They found that the ancient Romans relied on long-distance timber trading to construct their empire and likely transported the timber to Rome via river and sea.