Four Ancient Roads found around our World

This is 'The Royal Road of Persia' (c. 5th Century BCE): Reorganized by Darius the Great, this 2,700 km highway enabled fast communication across the Achaemenid Empire, with riders covering in 7 days what took travelers 90 days. It show riders and people on foot or on ox drawn carts on the road. I have included a way station.

This is the Via Appia (312 BCE):

Known as the "Queen of Roads," it was Rome's most important route, initially built to move troops quickly to southern Italy. It featured a multi-layered foundation of heavy stone blocks and lime mortar, topped with expertly fitted basalt lava slabs. It shows Roman calvary and infantry soldiers in full armor and people on foot or on ox drawn carts on the road. Also added a Roman way station

At its peak, the road stretched approximately 350 to 410 miles (560–660 km). It initially ran 132 miles (212 km) from Rome to Capua. It was eventually extended through the mountains and marshes to reach the port of Brundisium (modern Brindisi) on Italy's "heel"(c. 244 BCE)

Renowned for ignoring natural contours, it contains the longest straight stretch of road in Europe, a 39-mile (62 km) segment leading to Terracina a historic seaside city located in the Lazio region of central Italy.

Sunken Neolithic Road (c. 4900 BCE): An ancient road dating back around 7,000 years has been discovered off the coast of Croatia.

Archaeologists discovered a 7,000-year-old stone road connecting the sunken Hvar culture settlement of Soline to the Croatian island of Korčula. They uncovered some artefacts as well as the road which can be linked back to the Neolithic Era.

The Lake Moeris Quarry Road (also known as the Faiyum Quarry Road) is recognized as the oldest surviving paved road in the world. Located in the Faiyum District of Egypt, approximately 43 miles southwest of Cairo, it dates back to the Old Kingdom period (c. 2600–2200 BCE)

The road was engineered specifically for a massive industrial task: transporting heavy blocks of volcanic basalt from the Widan el-Faras quarry to the shores of the ancient (now largely dried up) Lake Moeris. Once at the lake, the basalt blocks were loaded onto boats and floated to the Nile during seasonal floods. These stones were used for royal sarcophagi and the pavements of mortuary temples at the Giza Necropolis.

Closing Words

These routes were not just dirt paths but, in many cases, sophisticated engineered structures involving gravel, stones, and drainage, reflecting the high engineering capabilities of their creators.

Folks I did this for fun, just another test of Image Studio versatility. Thanks to all who visit