The term “milestone” is applied to the columns which marked distances on Roman roads. The Mazarrón Milestonte, from the year 8 B.C.., is a cylindrical column with a quadranguar base, and made from crude limestone. Its text is made up of six lines: the letters of the first five are between seven and eight centimetres high, and the sixth line, which indicates the number of miles, are 10cms.
The text is:
[I] M [P] CAESAR DIVI F
[AV] GVS [TVS] COS XI
[TRI]BVN[IC] [P]OTES[T] XVI
[IM]P [XIIII]PONTIFEX
MAX[IM]VS
XXIIII
This milestone corresponds to the conditioning works and perhaps works on new stretches of roads in the Augustan period. It would have been considered a possible outline of a secondary coast road from Cartagena, passing through Mazarrón, to Águilas and from here to the coast of Bética.
The coastal stretch of this secondary road which would join Cartagena to the coast, and specifically with the mining area of Mazarrón, could have the following route: from Carthagonova to Cuesta Blanca, or even to Palas, and from here cross to the coast by a secondary road, such as the current one through Mingrano or las Balsicas, or perhaps Alamillo.