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The map of Achaemenid Empire and the Royal Road.

The Persian Royal Road was an ancient highway built by the Persian king Darius I of Achaemenid Empire in the 5th Century BC. Darius built the road to facilitate rapid communication throughout his very large empire from Susa to Sardis. These couriers could travel 1,677 miles (2,699 km) in seven days. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote, "There is nothing in the world that travels faster than these Persian couriers." Herodotus' praise for these messengers — "neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor darkness of night prevents these couriers from completing their designated stages with utmost speed" — is the inspiration for the unofficial motto of the United States Postal Service.[1]

The course of the road has been reconstructed from the writings of Herodotus, archeological research, and other historical records. It began in the west in Sardis (about 60 miles east of İzmir in present-day Turkey), traveled east through what is now the middle northern section of Turkey to the old Assyrian capital Nineveh (present-day Mosul, Iraq), then traveled south to Babylon (present-day Baghdad, Iraq). From near Babylon, it is believed to have split into two routes, one traveling northwest then west through Ecbatana and on along the Silk Road, the other continuing east through the future Persian capital Susa (in present-day Iran) and then southeast to Persepolis.

Because the road did not follow the shortest nor the easiest route between the important cities of the Persian Empire, archeologists believe the western-most sections of the road may have originally been built by the Assyrian kings, as the road plunges through the heart of their old empire. More eastern segments of the road (in present-day northern Iran) are coincident with the major trade route known as the Silk Road.

However, Darius I made the Royal Road as it is recognized today by improving the road bed and connecting the parts together in a unified whole, primarily as a quick mode of communication using the kingdom's pirradazis, or messengers.

The construction of the road as improved by Darius was of such quality that the road continued to be used into Ancient Rome. A bridge at Diyarbakır, Turkey still stands from this period of the road's use. The road also helped Persia increase long distance trade, which reached its peak during the time of Alexander of Macedon.

Euclid is said to have replied to King Ptolemy's request for an easier way of learning mathematics that "there is no royal road to geometry"[2]. Charles S. Peirce, in his 'How to Make Our Ideas Clear' (1878), says 'There is no royal road to logic, and really valuable ideas can only be had at the price of close attention.' This essay was claimed by William James as instrumental in the foundation of the philosophical school of pragmatism. Sigmund Freud also famously described dreams as the 'royal road to the unconscious'. The phrase was echoed in a modern context in the essay No Silver Bullet where Fred Brooks said of software engineering improvements: "There is no royal road, but there is a road".

• Lockard, Craig A. Societies, Networks, and Transitions, A Global History. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008.
• The Persian Royal Road. Livius: Articles on Ancient History. Retrieved on February 16, 2005.
• The Royal Road. The History of Iran. Retrieved on May 5, 2006.

• Persian Corridor
• Baghdad Railway
• Trans-Iranian Railway
• History of Iran
• Achaemenid Empire