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→Paved Roads
Although royal roads proved to be useful for military purposes, as armies after the Assyrian 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. The long-term legacy of royal roads that allowed armies to move quickly were later adopted by various armies. 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 their routes, similar to highways today.
==Paved Long-Distance 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 pathways serviced by rest stations, stables, and inns. Such roads became difficult to travel in wet conditions, making them less than ideal in the wet season. 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. Additionally, paved roads were developed on the most important highways. This included using large capstones. Pavement gave roads additional speed since wheeled carts and chariots could move more quickly in pavement than in dirt roads. Sometimes these roads were construct with multiple layers so that water could be drained and pavement would provide for additional speed. Some of these roads are still used or are visible today.
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