Ancient Roads of Persia and Rome
Efficient Highways Enable Successful Civilizations to Flourish
Improvements that led to more efficient transportation may be directly linked to the success of ancient empires and civilizations, notably the Persians and the Romans. Construction of reliable roads facilitated increased trade and commerce, allowed for speedier and organized troop movements, and provided for improved communication within the empire. Referring to the roads systems constructed by Cyrus the Great in the early days of the Persian Empire, Daniel Snell writes that, “a fast messenger could travel sixteen hundred miles…in two weeks.” The same motivations driving the ancient empires toward the utility of road systems can be found in modern civilizations as well.
Cyrus the Great and the Royal Road
Begun by Cyrus during the first years of the Persian Empire, the Royal Road linked Susa, his capital, with Sardis in Asia Minor. Branches of the approximately 1500 mile road led to other cities, such as Nineveh, and contained hundreds of stations for the exchange of horses. The Royal Road served many purposes including trade and the ability to dispatch troops when needed in recalcitrant provinces.
The road system of the Persians connected the satrapies more efficiently, fostering superb bureaucratic organization and communication. According to Snell, the connection to empire and road building was clear: “…the persistence of the Assyrian and Persian empires seems to owe something to the maintenance of roads or at least way stations that allowed messages to pass relatively quickly from distant provinces to the imperial centers.”
The Histories of Herodotus also mention the utility of Cyrus’ road, crediting the road with the facilitation of an efficient spy network. In terms of trade and commerce, the road brought India and East Asia together with the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The road also served a self-defeating purpose: it allowed invaders such as Alexander the Great to enter Persia.
Roman Roads
Tony Perrottet, in his book Route 66 A.D., recounts the start of a typical journey by Roman citizens in the chapter, “All Roads Lead From Rome.” “Rome’s oldest artery, the Appian Way was also its most spectacular…” Although not the first road built during the Republic, it served to deploy legions quickly and, according to historian Michael Grant, contributed to Rome’s victory over the Samnites (Grant, 63). Many Roman roads are still is existence and often still used, including part of the Appian Way or the “Queen of Roads.”
Roman roads intricately connected the empire. Grant states that, “by the second century AD there were more than fifty thousand miles of first-class roads…and over two hundred thousand miles of lesser roads…” (264). Much of this road building occurred during the reign of Augustus, whose vision and foresight transformed the empire into the Pax Romana. The connection between the extensive system of roads and a flourishing and peaceful empire is clearly evident.
The Modern Connection
The first major highway system constructed in modern Europe was the German Autobahn during the period of National Socialism. German military planners saw the road system as an extension of the railroad, the extensive use of which had provided German victory in 1871 and had been fundamental to the 1914 von Schlieffen plan. The Nazis, however, required an Autobahn to facilitate their blitzkrieg strategy.
In 1956, US President Dwight Eisenhower promoted the Interstate Highway Act. Resulting in hundreds of thousands of miles of interstate highways, the roads served the dual purpose of private and commercial transportation as well as providing military options in the face of the Cold War. Additionally, fear of the atomic age provided an efficient means of evacuating cities.
From the time of the ancients to modern history, the great highways served many purposes yet, in a universal sense, contributed to the building and maintaining of empires. In the case of the Nazis, however, the “Thousand Year Reich” ended in 1945, although Hitler’s Autobahn is still being used.
Sources:
Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, and others, The Romans From Village to Empire: A History of Ancient Rome from Earliest Times to Constantine (Oxford University Press, 2004).
Michael Grant, History of Rome (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1978).
Michael Grant, The Ancient Historians (Barnes and Noble, 1970).
Tony Perrottet, Route 66 A.D. On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists (Random House, 2002).
Daniel C. Snell, Life in the Ancient Near East (Yale University Press, 1997).
Roman Roads Linked the Empire
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