ROADS
We drive on them, walk, watch parades, and run marathons on them, yet we spare them little thought, and take them for granted. When they are closed for repairs however, or rendered impassable because of floods, landslides, or potholes, we miss our roads very much indeed.
From the earliest times, one of the strongest indicators of a society’s development has been the presence or absence of a road system. The people of the over 5000 year old ancient Indus Valley Civilization, constructed wide, straight roads, paved with stone, in a grid formation with a drainage system that ran along their sides.
It’s not really known when and how the very first roads came into existence. Early roads or dirt tracks were probably formed when people and animals walked over the same paths repeatedly, as they hunted for food and water. Eventually, as groups of people started living in small communities, these early footpaths probably turned into better defined routes.
After the wheel was invented about 7000 years ago, larger, heavier loads began to be transported in carts that trundled along the rough dirt roads. However, the limitations of these roads soon became apparent. As soon as it started raining, the roads turned into muddy bogs where the wooden wheels got stuck into. Thus, the need for paved roads was born out of sheer necessity. The people of the ancient city of Babylon paved their roads with asphalt, a sticky, black, naturally occurring substance, between 625 and 604 B.C. The world’s finest road builders were undoubtedly the ancient Romans, who, at the height of the Roman Empire, built and maintained about 80,000 kilometres of complex, superbly built roads.
These covered all of the north of England, a large part of Western Europe, spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and circled and crisscrossed the entire Mediterranean area. The roads built by these champion road builders, were usually perfectly straight. This was because Roman roads were meant primarily to move armies of soldiers along, and winding roads with bends in them not only took longer to navigate, but also provided robbers and enemies with perfect hiding places.
Roman roads were always built a little higher at the centre, and tapered off to ditches at the sides, to allow rainwater to drain away, leaving the road free from mud. Whenever a Roman Emperor conquered a new territory, roads would immediately be built to link it with the rest of the Roman Empire.
The Romans built their roads very intelligently – they generally used material that was available locally, and when they had to build across boggy ground. Roman engineers put down bundles of sticks and sheepskins as foundations, to stop the road from sinking. Below the Temple of Saturn in Rome, Emperor Augustus placed a ‘golden milestone’ ‘Millarium Aureum,’ which recorded the distances that separated his capital, Rome, from the principal cities of his Empire.
There were ‘miliaria’ or milestones, on all principal roads too – they had the name of the emperor inscribed on them, and indicated to travellers how many miles away they were from Rome. This is the origin of the famous proverb ‘All roads lead to Rome’, which means that there are different ways to achieve the same results.
Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire, and the road network was constructed and maintained to connect every province of the empire to this nerve centre. There were post houses, where horses could be changed, and inns every fifteen to twenty kilometres on Roman roads. Though the Romans did not have maps, they had an ‘itinerarium’ which listed the structures along the course of each Roman road. This allowed travellers to plan their routes in advance.
Roman roads were constructed by Roman soldiers or legionnaires who were well disciplined, extremely tough, highly trained, and ruthless. They did their work with dedication and efficiency, which is why Roman roads still exist in many parts of Europe, 2000 years after the empire ended! In England, many existing roads are the original ones built by the Romans, re-touched and re-done numerous times. Roman soldiers made prisoners of war and slaves do hard manual labour on roads. Roman emperors wanted to make sure that their soldiers were always fit and occupied, even when there were no military campaigns; so building and maintaining forts and roads was a routine part of a soldier’s duties. Roman roads were not free – tolls were collected at towns along the course of the road.
The Incas, who lived more than seven centuries ago, were also prodigious road builders, and built over 22,000 kilometres of roads during their rule. Since the wheel had not been invented during their time, they lived in one of the world’s most precipitous and difficult terrains, high up in the Andes Mountains.
Inca roads were completely different from other roads. Though some Inca roads were four to five metres wide, some were so steep that walls had to be built at their sides to prevent travelers from falling off them!
Ordinary people needed special permission to travel on the roads in the Inca Empire, which were meant mainly for the use of the army, government officials, and a 24-hour messenger service which was organized rather like a superbly co-ordinated relay race. Messengers lived in small huts located about eight hundred metres apart on the major roads. Trained to run at high speeds, a messenger would repeat his message at the next hut, where another messenger would be waiting to sprint to the next hut ahead. In this way, news traveled at 240 kilometres a day! News was always conveyed verbally through messengers running on roads, as the Incas had no written script to write things down. Since their terrain was full of tall cliffs, mighty rivers, and deep gorges, the Incas built amazing, hand-woven bridges called chacas to cross them. These unique bridges lasted as long as 500 years, and were held in very high regard by the Incas. The punishment for tampering with such a bridge was death. The hanging or suspension bridge was undoubtedly the Incas’ masterpiece. These bridges were built from huge cables fashioned from woven reed that were replaced every two years. An Incan bridge over 75 metres long, built in 1350, lasted until 1890!
The Incas employed bridgekeepers or ‘chacacamayocs’ at every bridge, and they were responsible not only for maintaining and administering the bridge, but also for collecting tolls, and helping frightened travelers across. Sadly, it was their superbly constructed roads that led to the downfall of the Incas. Invading Spanish explorers used the Incas’ own roads to move armies and weapons deep into their empire, to eventually conquer, and subjugate the Incas. Roads had great importance in ancient India. Under the Mauryans, the entire subcontinent was criss-crossed with roads. A royal highway connecting Taxila and Pataliputra was built - a road, which survives to this day as the Grand Trunk Road.
The Greek diplomat, Megasthenes, who spent 15years in Chandragupta Maurya’s court, wrote in his account of the Mauryan kingdom that a ‘Ministry of Public Works’, with an army of officials was responsible for the construction, marking, and maintenance of the roads and rest houses. The numerous spies of Emperor Ashoka Maurya, disguised as common traders, entered and exited from his capital through an elaborate system of tunnels that lay under the city’s main roads.
Some ancient roads have had a great influence on the course of human history. The Silk Road, more than 6000 kilometres long, is not one single road, but a historical trade route that stretched westward from China across Asia’s deserts and mountain ranges through the Middle East, until it reached the Mediterranean Sea.
This ancient international trade route was as plendid cultural bridge, linking the cultures of China, India, Persia, Arabia, Greece, and Rome. It was called the Silk Road because silk, which was made only in China in ancient times, was the item most coveted by traders who traversed this route.
Four great ancient Chinese inventions - paper making, printing, gunpowder, and the compass, as well as the skills of silkworm breeding and silk spinning were transmitted to the West through the Silk Road. Many products from the West flowed into China through this route, including grapes, clovers, walnuts, carrots, peppers, beans, spinach, cucumbers, pomegranates, rare animals, and jewellery. Chinese porcelains and lacquers were sent to the West as well. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism reached China through the Silk Road. The Silk Road, a forum for the spreading of knowledge, ideas, culture and religion for over 3,000 years, had a far reaching effect on world civilization.
The Khyber Pass, an ancient mountain pass that connects Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is an integral part of the Silk Road, has great historic importance.
It was through the biting cold of this pass that invaders like Alexander the Great, Mahmud Ghazni, and Muhammed Ghori swept into the Indian subcontinent. Zahiruddin Babur made use of this pass to establish a mighty Mughal Empire that ruled India for more than three centuries.
Throughout history, roads have been used as a metaphor for life’s journey. Living our lives is rather like traversing a long road. Sometimes, we have smooth stretches that we travel along with ease, but occasionally, we encounter twists, turns, and bends of difficulty. There are times when our road is divided, and we have to decide which way we will turn. We sometimes meet narrow passes of opportunity on life’s road, when we have to make the difficult choice between security or adventure, as we move towards achieving our goals.
Do you know:
● The ancient Chinese living in mountainous regions over rivers and gorges dug holes in rocky cliffs, rammed thick wooden or iron pegs into them, and placed wooden boards on the pegs to make narrow, plank roads.
● The native Indians, original inhabitants of the North American continent, followed the walkways created by migratory animals. These became their paths or trails. By the time European explorers arrived on the continent, there were many networks of trails, and the Europeans built roads on them.
● The petroleum company that introduced an improved quality petrol called ‘Speed’ is Bharat Petroleum.
● One of the reasons why Napoleon Bonaparte failed to conquer Russia when he invaded it in 1812 with 6,00,000 men, was because the country had such poor roads. The army could only advance at a snail’s pace in very bad weather, and this took its toll on the French soldiers.
● The longest road in the world is the Pan-American Highway. It is a network of roads that stretches from Alaska to Argentina. It is over 25,000 miles long.
● Asphalt is a sticky, black material that is made from oil and sand. It is a very good material for roads, because it is durable and it can withstand a lot of wear and tear.
● Roads made from recycled car tyres were first built in the USA in the 1960s. These environmentally friendly, rubber roads make less noise.
● The most beautiful road in the world is said to be the Great Ocean Road in Australia. It winds along the coast of Victoria and it is known for its scenic views.
