Herodotus, Histories v.52-54, viii.98; Herodotus seems to have been in possession of an itinerary. Calder, W. M. (1925). "The Royal Road in Herodotus". The Classical Review. 39 (1/2): 7–11. doi:10.1017/S0009840X0003448X. S2CID162371707 suggested that Herodotus was partly in error in his tracing the route through Anatolia by making it cross the Halys and showed that though his overall his distances in parasangs are approximately correct, his distances over the sections he describes bear no relation to geographical facts.
Near Gordium the track was identified as post-Phrygian, as it wound round Phrygian tumuli: Young, Rodney S. (1956). "The Campaign of 1955 at Gordion: Preliminary Report". American Journal of Archaeology. 60 (3): 249–266. doi:10.2307/500152. JSTOR500152. S2CID192962099 p. 266 "The Royal Road"; and 61 (1957:319 and illus.).
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"Herodotus, a Greek from the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, appears to have reported only that part of the network which led directly to the parts of the Greek world that concerned him," notes Young, Rodney S. (1963). "Gordion on the Royal Road". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 107 (4): 348–364. JSTOR985675.
Near Gordium the track was identified as post-Phrygian, as it wound round Phrygian tumuli: Young, Rodney S. (1956). "The Campaign of 1955 at Gordion: Preliminary Report". American Journal of Archaeology. 60 (3): 249–266. doi:10.2307/500152. JSTOR500152. S2CID192962099 p. 266 "The Royal Road"; and 61 (1957:319 and illus.).
Herodotus, Histories v.52-54, viii.98; Herodotus seems to have been in possession of an itinerary. Calder, W. M. (1925). "The Royal Road in Herodotus". The Classical Review. 39 (1/2): 7–11. doi:10.1017/S0009840X0003448X. S2CID162371707 suggested that Herodotus was partly in error in his tracing the route through Anatolia by making it cross the Halys and showed that though his overall his distances in parasangs are approximately correct, his distances over the sections he describes bear no relation to geographical facts.
Near Gordium the track was identified as post-Phrygian, as it wound round Phrygian tumuli: Young, Rodney S. (1956). "The Campaign of 1955 at Gordion: Preliminary Report". American Journal of Archaeology. 60 (3): 249–266. doi:10.2307/500152. JSTOR500152. S2CID192962099 p. 266 "The Royal Road"; and 61 (1957:319 and illus.).