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Roads have been important transport systems for many cultures. While we take their place and presence for granted, as something universal in landscapes today, the reality is several factors often develop before these features become common. Furthermore, roads often reflect levels of authority that begins to reflect how power is distributed in society and where it ultimately is found.

==Early Development of Roads==

Paths used by travelers likely developed in response to physical or geographic obstacles that made movement slow or difficult if one did not use a given road. However, with the innovation and spread of agriculture, roads in the countryside began to be placed in lands between fields. In other words, roads soon were created to control traffic between settlements and to access regions around settlements. Roads became ways in which people could be controlled so that their movements would not disrupt agricultural activity or even private property, as the concept of property itself began to create the idea that roads were common space that helped avoid and access private spaces. With agricultural cycles in the Neolithic becoming more common and fixed on the landscape, roads became more fixed features since they proved to be expected ways that one can move without disrupting agricultural activities. Regions that developed pastoral-based economies, on the other had, may have not developed fixed roads, as movement did not need to be regulated or confined to specific spaces. <ref> For more on how or why roads first developed, see: Alcock, S. E., Bodel, J. P., & Talbert, R. J. A. (Eds.). (2012). Highways, byways, and road systems in the pre-modern world. Chichester, West Sussex ; New York: Wiley-Blackwell.</ref>

==Royal Roads==

The next major change to roads was the development of the "royal roads" or official government roads that connected very distant towns. This idea developed in the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian period, from the late 2nd millennium BCE and early 1st millennium BCE. These roads were roads the government had authority over and to utilize them one had to have official permission, unlike normal roads that were considered as common space.<ref>For evidence of such royal roads, see: Altaweel, Mark; 2003. "The roads of Ashur and Nineveh," Akkadica 124: 205-212.</ref> The idea of these roads was for developing rapid transport to connect distant places of an empire or large state for military purposes. Unlike many early roads connecting towns, these long-distance royal roads developed to be more linear or straight, as speed was the primary goal of these roads. Such roads became particularly important as horses developed as the primary transport option for military purposes as well as messengers. Royal roads also helped develop the concept of highways, where a type of road would bypass local roads and help those moving on these roads to more quickly move without going through each city or town along the way. Major nodes or towns, rather than small cities or towns, became the focus in royal roads. Inns and rest places developed as such long-distance roads became important features for large empires. In effect, unlike earlier roads, the growing state needed to create systems of communication that was rapid. Royal roads became the chief vehicle for this along with horses.<ref>For more on the infrastructure in relation to royal roads, see: Briant, P. (2002). From Cyrus to Alexander: a history of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, pg. 364.</ref>

Although royal roads proved to be useful for military purposes, as armies after the Assyrians began to adopt such roads, it also led to the development of long-distance trade along secure roadways. In part, long-distance roads helped to spawn the developing Silk Road connecting trade between China and Europe (Figure 1). The long-term legacy of royal roads that allowed armies to move quickly were later adopted by various armies.<ref>For more on how long-distance roads benefited trade, see: Bakhtia, L. M., & Bariand, P. (2011). Afghanistan’s blue treasure lapis lazuli.</ref> The modern highway system created in the United States and other countries reflect the concept of rapid movement along large distances by the military, showing that the concepts born in the Iron Age continued to be adopted even by more modern transport. In effect, highways were always seen as initially being for the military above all, but benefits of rapid movement also led to trade thriving along routes, similar to highways today.

==Improvements in Paved Roads==

While highways and royal roads developed by the late 2nd and early 1st millennium BCE, such roads were not paved and often were little more than dirt pathways serviced by rest stations, stables, and inns. Such roads became difficult to travel in wet conditions, making them less than ideal during various parts of the year. In the Roman Period, road engineering reached a new level. Now, roads were built with deeper foundations and underlain with crushed gravel. This helped to drain roads as water could go through rather than be trapped in the clay (Figure 2). Additionally, paved roads were developed on the most important highways.<ref>For more on Roman engineered roads, see: Nardo, D. (2015). Roman roads and aqueducts. San Diego, CA: ReferencePoint Press.</ref> This included using large capstones for pavement. Such pavement gave roads additional speed since wheeled carts and chariots could move more quickly in pavement than on dirt roads. Sometimes these roads were construct with multiple layers underneath the pavement to assist with drainage and strengthening the road. Some of the Roman roads are still used or are visible today. Road technology in Europe, in fact, did not improve to any great extent from Roman designs until about the 18th century CE.

In the Islamic world, innovations were developed in the types of pavement used. Baghdad developed the use of tar that derived from pitch or bitumen.<ref>For more on Islamic roads, see: Bobrick, B. (2012). The caliph’s splendor: Islam and the West in the golden age of Baghdad (1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed). New York: Simon & Schuster.</ref> In fact, this was already present in ancient Babylonian cities in ancient periods. The use of bitumen as a type of tar was a forerunner of tar and asphalt roads that are today widely used. Bitumen was relatively easily available and its waterproofing qualities meant that streets could become relatively dry quickly and remain mud free.

==References==