Historic roads (or historic trails in the US and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient trackways, long-lasting roads, important trade routes, and migration trails. Many historic routes, such as the Silk Road, the Amber Road, and the Royal Road of the Persian Empire, covered great distances and their impact on human settlements remain today. The Post Track, a prehistoric causeway in the valley of the River Brue in the Somerset Levels, England, is one of the oldest known constructed trackways and dates from around 3800 BCE. The world's oldest known paved road was constructed in Egypt some time between 2600 and 2200 BC. The Romans were the most significant road builders of the ancient world. At the peak of the Roman Empire there were more than 400,000 kilometres (250,000 miles) of roads, of which over 80,000 kilometres (50,000 mi) were stone-paved. Another empire, that of the Incas of pre-Columbian South America, also built an extensive and advanced transportation system. Much later historic roads include the Red River Trails between Canada and the US, from the 19th century. Such pioneer trails often made use of ancient routes created by indigenous people.
Africa The history of transport in Africa includes some of the earliest paved roads in the world, as well as vast trans-continental trade networks that operated for millennia without formal paving.
Ancient Egypt The world's oldest known paved road, the Lake Moeris Quarry Road, is located in Faiyum, Egypt. Dating to the Old Kingdom period (c. 2600–2200 BC), the road was used to transport massive blocks of basalt from quarries to a quay on the shores of Lake Moeris, from where they were shipped to Giza for pyramid construction. The road covers a distance of 12 km (7.5 mi) and was constructed using slabs of sandstone and limestone, with some sections utilizing petrified wood. Fuad Street in Alexandria, Egypt is over 2,300 years old. The street was designed after the establishment of the city by Alexander the Great by his Architect Dinocrates of Rhodes, who laid the city’s urban layout. It was known as the Canopic Way in the ancient era and was city’s main street. Later, the Via Hadriana was constructed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. It connected Antinoöpolis on the Nile river to the Red Sea port of Berenice Troglodytica, facilitating trade with India and the Horn of Africa.
Horn of Africa In the Horn of Africa, the Kingdom of Aksum (c. 100–940 AD) maintained a sophisticated network of trade routes connecting the interior highlands to the Red Sea.
The Adulis-Aksum Route: The most significant ancient artery was the route connecting the port city of Adulis (near modern Massawa, Eritrea) to the imperial capital at Aksum (in northern Ethiopia). This 8-day caravan journey was a vital link in the global trade network connecting the Roman Empire and India. The route facilitated the export of African ivory, gold, and obsidian, and was described in detail in the 1st-century Greco-Roman text Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Salt Caravan Routes: Ancient trails connected the Danakil Depression to the Ethiopian highlands. These routes were used for centuries by caravans to transport rock salt bars (known as Amole), which served as currency throughout the region. The difficult ascent from the depression to the highlands required established paths that remained the primary logistical highway for the region well into the 20th century.
Trans-Saharan Trade Routes While not paved in the modern sense, the Trans-Saharan trade routes functioned as permanent highways for the exchange of gold, salt, ivory, and cloth between North Africa and the Sahelian kingdoms. These routes were strictly defined by the location of oases and wells.
The Darb al-Arba'in (The Forty Days Road) was a famous camel track connecting the Nile Valley (specifically Asyut) to the Darfur region in Sudan. It was used from the Old Kingdom of Egypt until the 19th century to trade livestock, spices, and slaves. The Garamantian Routes: The Garamantes, a civilization in the Fezzan (modern Libya), developed a complex network of trade routes through the Sahara as early as 500 BC. They utilized chariots and later camels to control trade between the Roman Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa.
Roman North Africa The Roman provinces in North Africa (such as Africa Proconsularis and Mauretania) possessed an extensive road network comparable to that of Europe, built to facilitate military movement and the transport of grain.
The Coastal Highway extended from Carthage (Tunisia) through Leptis Magna (Libya) to Alexandria (Egypt). The Limes Tripolitanus was a frontier zone of defense roads and forts protecting the empire from desert incursions, stretching across modern-day Tunisia and Libya.
Asia
China The Silk Road was a major trade route between China and India, Europe, and Arabia. It derives its name from the lucrative trade in silk carried out along its length, beginning in the Han dynasty (207 BCE–220 CE). The Han dynasty expanded the Central Asian section of the trade routes around 114 BCE through the missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial envoy Zhang Qian. The Chinese took great interest in the safety of their trade products and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route. Prior to the Silk Road an ancient overland route existed through the Eurasian Steppe. Silk and horses were traded as key commodities; secondary trade included furs, weapons, musical instruments, precious stones (turquoise, lapis lazuli, agate, nephrite) and jewels. This route extended for approximately 10,000 km (6,200 mi). Trans-Eurasian trade through the Steppe Route precedes the conventional date for the origins of the Silk Road by at least two millennia. See also the Northern Silk Road, the Southern Silk Road: Through Khotan, Tea Horse Road.
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