Page 64 - Introduction to Tourism

fourth reason to credit the Sumerians with the

beginnings of the travel industry.

The history of roads is thus related to the

centralizing of populations in powerful cities.

Alexander the Great found well - developed

roads in India in 326 B.C.E. In Persia (now Iran),
all the cities and provinces were connected to the

capital, Susa, by roads built between 500 and
400 B.C.E. One of these roads was 1,500 miles

long.
The Romans started building roads in about 150

B.C.E. These were quite elaborate in

construction. The roadway was surveyed using a

cross staff hung with plumb bobs.

Soldiers and laborers dug the roadbed, and then

stones and concrete were evenly placed.

Paving stones were then laid on top, and the

highway was edged with curbstones and

contoured to a sloping crown to shed the rain.

Some of these roads are still in use.

By the time of Emperor Trajan (ruled from 98 to

117 C.E. ), the Roman roads comprised a

network of some 50,000 miles. They girdled the

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