Via Nova Traiana

The road left Bostra, the provincial capital. It ran south-west through the station of Thantia into what is now Jordan, a straight line across the basalt country east of Mafraq. It passed the road station at Khirbet es-Samra and the springs at Zarqa before reaching Philadelphia, the Decapolis city beneath modern Amman.

South of Amman it crossed the plateau through Esbus at Hesban, Madaba and Dibon at Dhiban, then went down into the Wadi Mujib, the Arnon of the Bible. It climbed out the far side. On the plateau of Moab came Areopolis, also called Rabbathmoba, at Rabba, then Characmoba at Kerak.

Beyond the Wadi Hasa the road climbed through Thornia and Negla, in the uplands near Shobak, to Petra, the old Nabataean capital. South of the city it crossed the high plateau by Zodocatha at Sadaqa and Auara at Humayma, a Nabataean town given a Roman fort, then followed the Wadi Yitm down to Aila on the Gulf of Aqaba.

Jordan's Highway 35, still signed for visitors as the King's Highway, follows the Via Nova's corridor from Madaba through Dhiban, Kerak and Tafila to Shobak. It is the same route more than the same road: both go through the plateau towns and across the same canyons, but stretches of Roman paving survive off the asphalt, notably on the southern slopes of the Wadi Mujib and east of Shobak. North of Amman the main road through Zarqa and Mafraq runs close to the Roman line. Beyond Mafraq village streets sit directly on top of it as it heads for Bosra. In the far south the Desert Highway takes over, descending the Wadi Yitm to Aqaba as the Roman road did.

The finest surviving stretch lies around the village of Ba'ij, about ten kilometres east-north-east of Mafraq. Here the paving runs for long distances towards the Syrian border, with a distinct later widening along its eastern edge. At least one group of milestones still stands where it was set up. Umm el-Jimal, the basalt Roman and Byzantine town, is a short drive away.

At the southern end, a Trajanic milestone from Khirbet al-Kithara in the Wadi Yitm is shown in the Aqaba Archaeological Museum. Humayma, a few kilometres off the Desert Highway, keeps the walls of its Roman fort. Petra and the Ancient City of Bosra are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.