If you drive in the United States, then you know the feeling of wincing helplessly as your car slams its brand-new tire into a pothole deep enough to deposit you in China. In some parts of the northeast and midwest, roads are so bad that Domino's even ran a “Paving for Pizza” ad campaign that vowed to save pizza delivery quality by filling in bumps along routes. But things don’t have to be this way! At least according to Roman road truthers.


They say that every road leads to Rome, and you best believe those roads were well-paved. As shared by the Twitter page non aesthetic things, this viral photo shows a well-paved “2,000 year old” cobblestone road next to a pothole-laden modern highway “Built by the Indiana Department of Transportation.”



“This is a clear definition of corruption and honesty,” @SportsbyIA commented.


“They definitely built better roads back in the day,” @ChrisandOla added.




But while there’s no doubt that the Romans knew how to build some solid roads, the two photos hardly seem like a fair comparison, (not to mention impossible to verify).


“I want to sacrifice one ancient Roman road by running semi trucks over it for a year just to prove a point,” @rice_rust_belt wrote. “You can still find sidewalks and bike paths in the US that were poured in the 1920s, and are in great shape still.”


The point is that while Roman roads were great for ancient Rome, they hardly make sense in today’s industrialized world. Not only would cobblestones make a rubbish highway surface, but unique cement and complicated construction would skyrocket cost and repair times. Italy also has the benefit of being a fair-weather country. “I wanna see them put one of those things through Minnesota weather,” @300furrybears commented.




The point is that if we want better roads, the answer isn’t to build them the same way they were paved 2,000 years ago. It’s to invest properly in modern infrastructure and transition away from being a completely car-dependent culture.