Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Notes on Contributors -- Series Editor's Preface -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 Overland Shortcuts for the Transmission of Buddhism -- 2 The Power of Highway Networks during China's Classical Era (323 BCE-316 CE): Regulations, Metaphors, Rituals, and Deities -- 3 Privatizing the Network: Private Contributions and Road Infrastructure in Late Imperial China (1500-1900) -- Appendix: Chinese Quotations and Glossary -- 4 Linking the Realm: The Gokaidô Highway Network in Early Modern Japan (1603-1868) -- 5 Obliterated Itineraries: Pueblo Trails, Chaco Roads, and Archaeological Knowledge -- 6 Roads to Ruins: The Role of Sacbeob in Ancient Maya Society -- 7 The Chinchaysuyu Road and the Definition of an Inca Imperial Landscape -- 8 The Sahara as Highway for Trade and Knowledge -- 9 From the Indus to the Mediterranean: The Administrative Organization and Logistics of the Great Roads of the Achaemenid Empire -- 10 The Well-Remembered Path: Roadways and Cultural Memory in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt -- 11 Roads, Integration, Connectivity, and Economic Performance in the Roman Empire -- 12 Roads Not Featured: A Roman Failure to Communicate? -- 13 Road Connectivity and the Structure of Ancient Empires: A Case Study from Late Antiquity -- 14 Jews and News: The Interaction of Private and Official Communication-Networks in Jewish History -- Index.