Infrastructure of Ancient CivilizationsRomeOver 700 years Romans built over 55,000 miles of paved highway that allowed for the swift movement of goods, soldiers and information throughout the Roman Empire. There is an old expression, "All roads lead to Rome." In ancient Rome, the City of Rome was the heart of the empire. Each

time a new city was conquered, a road was built from that city back to Rome. The roads were typically built of stone and/or concrete and were very durable (long-lasting). Roads were built in straight lines. Many had gutters to help stop flooding. Along the side of the road, the Romans built road signs called milestones. Milestones did not give any information about other towns in the area. Milestones told how far it was back to Rome. Occasionally, milestones also listed who built that section of road and how much it cost! Roman roads were built so well that some are still in use today.

Ancient India (Planned Cities on the Indus River Valley)The Indus Valley Civilization influenced an area larger than Mesopotamia or Egypt. From about 7000 B.C., there is evidence of agriculture and domesticated (tamed) animals.

To put this in perspective, 7000B.C. was over 9,000 years ago! By 3200 B.C. or over 5,200 years ago, people were farming in villages along the Indus River.

Over 4,500 years ago, there is evidence that people built cities with many brick buildings. These cities were laid out on a grid system like many cities are today. Some of the streets in these grid systems were 30 feet wide. There is also evidence that these cities had plumbing and sewage systems for sanitation purposes. Some major cities were built on a mud-brick platform to protect against flooding. These cities very similar to modern cities in many ways.

The world’s earliest known plumbing systems are those found in the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, located in parts of what are now India and Pakistan. In Mohenjo-Daro, a city of the Indus River Valley there was plumbing that allowed water to travel throughout the buildings and provide water to everyone. Almost everyone, rich

or poor, had a private bathroom and toilet! No other civilization achieved this level of convenience until the late 19th and 20th centuries. Toilets were built of brick with a wooden seat and pipes connected to each house carried wastewater into an underground sewer system.

Ancient Americas (Aztec)Tenochtitlan was located on a swampy island in Lake Texcoco in what is today south central Mexico. The Aztecs were able to settle there because no one else wanted the land. At first, it wasn't a great place to start a city, but soon

the Aztecs built up islands, called chinampas, where they could grow crops. The water also worked as a natural defense against attacks from other cities.

Early on in the history of the city the Aztecs built causeways and canals for transportation to and from the city. A causeway is a raised road that allowed the people to easily travel over the swampy and wet areas.

There were three major causeways that led from the island city to the mainland. There were also bridges built into the causeways that allowed small boats and canoes to travel under them. These bridges could be removed when the city was being attacked. The Aztecs also built many canals throughout the city. The canals acted like water roads that allowed people to easily travel around the large city in boats. The city was well planned and laid out in a grid that made traveling around the city.

Ancient Americas (Inca)Remember the Inca lived in the Andes Mountains in modern day South America. They invented terrace farming. Flatlands were rare, so they simply created flat land by building steps of land for agriculture down

the mountainside. This was great for irrigation. Instead of rainwater running down the mountainside, the Inca channeled it through each step. They also built aqueducts to carry water where it was needed.

Ancient Incans built over 24,000 miles of road connecting every piece of the Empire. Amazingly it was done completely by hand without the use of iron or wheeled

transportation. The Inca roads were paved and very well built. They belonged to the government. Roads were used for transportation, trade, and for military and religious purposes. Incas used runners to deliver messages along the roads and llamas and alpacas to carry goods. Because mountains were worshipped as gods, the Inca needed roads to reach their summits to worship. Roads helped build the Incan Empire, but also helped destroy it. Spanish conquistadors used the roads to eventually overtake the Inca.

The Inca were also known for their amazing suspension bridges as part of their transportation system. There were many of these bridges built over the gorges and ravines in the mountains which allowed runners to get messages throughout the Empire. The Incas used natural fibers found within the local vegetation to build bridges.

These fibers were woven together creating a strong enough rope and were reinforced with wood creating a cable floor. Each side was then attached to a pair of stone anchors on each side of the canyon with massive cables of woven grass linking these two pylons together. Adding to this construction, two additional cables acted as guardrails. The cables which supported the footpath were reinforced with plaited branches. This multi-structure system made these bridges strong enough to even carry the Spaniards while riding horses after they arrived. Cables were replaced each year by local villagers to keep the bridges in working order.

Ancient EgyptThe Egyptians built canals and irrigation systems. They didn't make so many roads. Roads

were not so important because they relied on the Nile for transportation, trade and communication. In 2300 B.C. the ancient Egyptians built channels through the first cataract of the Nile, where the Aswan Dam stands today. This helped open the way for trade throughout Africa.

Ancient Mesopotamia Irrigation was extremely vital to Mesopotamia. Remember, the word “Mesopotamia” is Greek for "the land between the rivers." Flooding problems were more serious in Mesopotamia than in Egypt because the Tigris and Euphrates carried several times more silt per unit volume of water than the Nile. This resulted in rivers rising faster and changing their courses more

often in Mesopotamia. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia dug irrigation canals to control the flow of water. Building irrigation systems allowed the water to be redirected to the fields as needed making farming easier and more efficient.