Roman Empire milestone XXIX on Via Romana XVIII – the road linking the
Iberian cities of
Bracara Augusta and
Asturica Augusta between
Kirkby Thore and
Temple Sowerby (no inscription)
Miliarium () were originally
stone obelisks – made from
granite,
marble, or whatever local stone was available – and later
concrete posts. They were widely used by
Roman Empire road builders and were an important part of any
Roman road network: the distance travelled per day was only a few miles in some cases. Many Roman milestones only record the name of the reigning emperor without giving any placenames or distances. The first Roman milestones appeared on the
Appian Way. At the centre of Rome, the "
Golden Milestone" was erected to mark the presumed centre of the empire: this milestone has since been lost. The Golden Milestone inspired the
Zero Milestone in Washington, D.C., intended as the point from which all road distances in the United States should be reckoned.
Odometers were used to measure the Roman milestone spacing, most likely based on
Ancient Greek technology.
Byzantine Empire A mile-marker monument, the
Milion, was erected in the early 4th century AD in
Constantinople. It served as the starting point for measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the cities of the
Byzantine Empire, and had the same function as the
Milliarium Aureum of
Ancient Rome. The Milion survived intact until at least the late 15th century. Its fragments were discovered again in the late 1960s. A fragment is re-erected as a pillar.
Islamic civilization In Islamic civilisation, use of milestone began in the first Islamic century. The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik bin Marwan laid the milestones along the paths that travelers used, and some were found in the city of Faiq in the Syrian Golan, which is, Faiq, one of the main road stations throughout the Islamic ages. The function of these stones was to guide travelers and introduce them to long distances, as the separation between one and the other was one mile. Many of these stones were found in more than one location, one in the Islamic Archeology Museum in Istanbul and another in the Jerusalem Museum. A translation of the text written on the stone currently found in the Kasserine Museum in the Golan reads as follows:
Post-Medieval Europe , indicating 1 mile to
Berwick-upon-Tweed, 14 miles to
Belford and 333 miles to
London In
Europe, the distance measured typically starts at specified point within a
city or
town, as many roads were named for the towns at either end. For example, in
London,
United Kingdom, a plaque near the
Eleanor cross at
Charing Cross is the reference point from which distances from London to other towns and cities are measured. In the UK, milestones are especially associated with
former turnpike roads. The British built many milestones on the
island of Malta. They consisted of large slabs of local hard rock and they were engraved with the distance to or from a particular location. Many of these were defaced in
World War II to disorientate forces in a
potential invasion. Despite this, a very small number of milestones still exist undefaced, and one of these is now in the
Malta at War Museum.
India ,
New Delhi,
India The
Kos Minars or
Mile Pillars are medieval milestones that were made by the 16th-century
Afghan Ruler
Sher Shah Suri and later on by
Mughal emperors. These Minars were erected by the Mughal Emperors on the main highways across the empire to mark the distance. The Kos Minar is a solid round pillar, around in height that stands on a masonry platform built with bricks and plastered over with lime. Though not architecturally very impressive, being milestones, they were an important part of communication and travel in a large empire.
Kos is an ancient
Indian unit of distance. It can represent either a distance of approximately or .
Minar is a Persian word for tower.
Abul Fazl recorded in
Akbar Nama that in the year 1575 AD,
Akbar issued an order that at every Kos on the way from Agra to Ajmer, a pillar or a minar should be erected for the comfort of the travelers. == Modern highways ==