The road linked numerous villa estates along the greensand ridge and joined various north-south routes. There was a Roman temple at Chanctonbury Ring and a large cemetery has been found near a crossroads at Hassocks. The road is unlikely to have had any military importance in the early Roman period when the empire was at the zenith of its power and the Sussex area was a friendly client kingdom, but as Saxon and Jute raiding became a problem along the coasts the inland route may have become a safer alternative to the coastal roads. In the aftermath of Roman rule it took some fourteen years for Saxon settlers in the Chichester area to overcome Romano-British resistance based on the fortress of Anderida at Pevensey. The road may have had military importance during this time.