  The evolution of infrastructure networks such as roads and streets are of
utmost importance to understand the evolution of urban systems. However,
datasets describing these spatial objects are rare and sparse. The database
presented here represents the road network at the french national level
described in the historical map of Cassini in the $18^{th}$ century. The
digitization of this historical map is based on a collaborative methodology
that we describe in detail. This dataset can be used for a variety of
interdisciplinary studies, covering multiple spatial resolutions and ranging
from history, geography, urban economics to network science.
