Divide the text into semantic parts. Title them

4. Give the situations, in which the following words and expressions are used:

 

Conscious, the peak of the empire, traversed, regardless, eastward, ground level, embankment, stone slabs, passenger version, the total thickness, employing material, small gravel and coarse sand, set the standard, ultimate development, speed of travel.

 

5. Retell the text according to the following plan:

 

a) The reasons, why the Romans built good road systems.

b) Peoples, from whom the Romans drew their expertise.

c)  The time of the beginning of Roman Road System construction.

d) The most famous of Roman military roads.

e)  The hallmark of Roman road engineering.

f)  The structure of Roman roads.

g) The Roman public transport.

h) The speed of Roman vehicles.

 

ROADS OF PERSIA AND BABYLON

 

The earliest long-distance road was a 1,500-mile route between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. It came into some use about 3500 BC, but it was operated in an organized way only from about 1200 BC by the Assyrians, who used it to join Susa, near the Persian Gulf, to the Mediterranean ports of Smyrna (Izmir) and Ephesus. More a track than a constructed road, the route was duplicated between 550 and 486 BC by the great Persian kings Cyrus II and Darius I in their famous Royal Road. Like its predecessor, the Persian Royal Road began at Susa, wound northwestward to Arbela, and thence proceeded westward through Nineveh to Harran, a major road junction and caravan centre. The main road then continued to twin termini at Smyrna and Ephesus. The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in about 475 BC, put the time for the journey from Susa to Ephesus at 93 days, although royal riders traversed the route in 20 days.

In Babylon about 615 BC the Chaldeans connected the city's temples to the royal palaces with a major Processional Way, a road in which burned bricks and carefully shaped stones were laid in bituminous mortar.

 

Active Words and Word-Combinations

 

route                        маршрут

it came into use       она начала использоваться  

be operated             быть управляемым, эксплуатируемым

track                        тропа, проселочная дорога

duplicate                 дублировать

predecessor             предшественник

thence                     уст. (зд.)оттуда; поэтому

proceed                   отправляться (дальше)

twin termini            две конечные станции

royal                        королевский

rider                        всадник

temple                     (зд.) храм

palace                     дворец

brick                       кирпич

shaped                    (зд.) обтесанный

bituminous             содержащий битум

 

1. Answer the following questions:

 

a) How long was the earliest road between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea?

b) Who used that road to join Susa to the Mediterranean ports?

c) Was it more a track or a constructed road?

d) Which place was then a major junction and caravan centre?

e) How was the Processional Way in Babylon constructed?

 

What geographical and historical names are used in this text?

Say, why was the road between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea so important.

4. Match English and Russian equivalents:

 

a) route, shaped, predecessor, rider, thence, temple, twin termini, duplicate, royal, track, brick.

  

b) оттуда, предшественник, всадник, королевский, храм, обтесанный, две конечные станции, маршрут, дублировать, кирпич, проселочная дорога.

 

5. Retell the text, using the following plan:

 

a) The earliest road of the region.

b) The time it came into use and was operated in an organized way.

c)  Say when and by whom it was duplicated.

d) How long did it take to travel from Susa to Ephesus?

e)  Describe the major Processional Way in Babylon.

 

 

ANCIENT ROADS OF EUROPE

The Amber Routes

During the 2nd millennium BC, trade ways developed in Europe. One route, for example, ran between Italy and Spain via Marseille and nearby Heraclea, close to present-day Avignon. Such ways were used for the movement of flints from Denmark, freestone from Belgium, salt from Austria, lead and tin from England, and amber from northern Europe. By about 1500 BC many of the ways in eastern and central Europe had linked together into an extensive trading network known as the Amber Routes. Four routes have been identified, the first from modern Hamburg southwestward by dual routes through Cologne and Frankfurt to Lyon and Marseille. The second also passed from Hamburg south to Passau on the Danube and then through the Brenner Pass to Venice. The third began at Samland on the East Prussian coast (where amber is still found), crossed the Vistula River at Thorn, and thence continued southeastward through the Moravian Gate to Aqullela on the Adriatic. The fourth, the Baltic-Pontus road, followed the main eastern rivers, the Vistula, Saw, Sereth, Prut, Bug, and Dnieper.

While the Amber Routes were not roads in the modern sense, they were improved at river crossings, over mountain passes, and across wet and swampy areas. A few remnants of these roads survive today. They were constructed by laying two or three strings of logs in the direction of the road on a bed of branches and boughs up to 20 feet (6 metres) wide. This layer was then covered with a layer of transverse logs 9 to 12 feet in length laid side by side. In the best log roads, every fifth or sixth log was fastened to the underlying subsoil with pegs. There is evidence that the older log roads were built prior to 1500 BC. They were maintained in a level state by being covered with sand and gravel or sod. In addition, the Romans used side ditches to reduce the moisture content and increase the carrying capacity.