If I were to walk through a Roman town at any given time between 27BC and the fall of Constantinople, would I find street names like we know them today, something like "Augustus Ave"?
Yes. The Latin term for a "road" is via, and these are usually longer or more important. For instance, the Via Appia that runs from Rome towards the Bay of Naples; or the Via Sacra in Rome, along which triumphal processions ran.
The term for a smaller, intra-urban street was vīcus, which is a little confusing because that same word also means "district, quarter, village." The Romans seem to have conceptualized smaller streets not just as thoroughfares, but as the backbones of what was around them (neighborhoods). We have lots of little tidbits of Roman vīcus names, but usually only in passing. The names of the vast majority have been lost. Here are a few examples:
vīcus Camenārum, named for the local water nymph deities the Camenae. It ran along the southeast side of the Caelian hill and joined up with the Via Appia.
vīcus Cyclopis, probably very near the Camenārum and associated with a now-lost antrum Cyclopis, "grotto of the Cyclops." The specifics are unknown.
vīcus Frūmentārius, named for the grain merchants which probably operated in the neighborhood. It was adjacent to the Tiber river below the Aventine hill.
vīcus Iugārius, named for the goddess Iuno Iuga (the iuga- root means to "yoke together," and Iuno was a goddess of marriage). It led out of the forum from the Basilica Iulia to the Porta Carmentalis. It still exists today, more or less, though almost all of the stones have been replaced through the centuries.
vīcus Patricius, running from the Suburra to the Porta Viminalis. The modern Via Urbana has a similar path. The name might come from a very old legend that king Servius Tullius forced (or tried to force) the ancient Roman patricians to live there so that they would be "oppressed" by those on the surrounding hills. If true, it didn't work.
vīcus Sulpicius, which ran along the southern(?) side of the gigantic Baths of Caracalla. It was later subdivided into ulterior and citerior, suggesting it was rather long. It may have intersected with the via Appia.
Followup: there has been a similar question on Roman roads elsewhere in the subreddit, concerning "highways," and that actually touches on another aspect of this topic as well.
Many Roman towns were founded (or re-founded) as coloniae. There function was often military, and they were often peopled by discharged veteran soldiers. Perhaps for this reason, the form of the town planning was very similar to a Roman military camp. This meant that the main arteries north to south and east to west were named after military camp streets. The decumanus was a street oriented east-west, and the Decumanus Maximus was the central and usually largest of these streets. The Cardo Maximus, similarly, was the central and usually largest of the north-south running streets. Where they met, in the center of the grid, was the "heart" (or forum) of the camp (or the city). These streets ran to the gates of the camp (or the city) and linked up with the viae leading out of town. Outside of towns, the viae were the arteries of the Roman state's military and economic power. Some, like the *via Egnatia,* were very long and very important (this one connected the Adriatic to Byzantium, through some very rough country in the central Balkans). The via Egnatia was a highway in most senses of the modern word: it facilitated rapid travel and enabled the crossing of difficult terrain. It was maintained by the Roman state (though they were built to last and didn't need a huge amount of attention once built). The soldiers built the Roman roads (for the most part), and there primary function was more or less military first: movement of men and materiel to problem areas quickly. Snaking a new Roman road to an area was also a symbolic act: this place was now visibly, permanently attached to the Roman world. Roads had an interesting effect on the lands through which they passed, and often seemed to have spurred urbanism and/or the conversion of the local communities to Rome's burgeoning transport economy.
There is a great newish book on this topic by Ray Laurence (The Roads of Roman Italy. Routledge 1999). In it he explores topics related to roads, and the early ethos of Roman road-building. He discusses, among others, the via Appia, the original Roman "great road" and the grand-daddy of all roads in its time. He says this:
"The building of the Via Appia would seem to be both symptomatic of Rome's hegemonic leadership and at the same time to be actively reinforcing or establishing that leadership. Never before had an individual polity undertaken construction on such a large scale. The road, as built to Capua 115 miles away, was a demonstration of Roman power, particularly to Rome's new allies in Campania. . ."
I have an add on question:
Did Romans have any freeways/highways? I was looking at a map that showed the extensive road network Rome developed, but it made me wonder if there were ever special roads that acted as freeways/highways. I know in Game of Thrones, the books mention the Kings Road that goes from the capitol to the Wall, and is described as a much larger road than other roads in that world. Did Rome have anything like this either?