VIA BALBIA

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In the second world war this was the only major road ,1800 miles long,running all along the mediterrainean coast in north africa from TUNIS TO SOLLUM.IT IS NOW CALLED LIBYAN COSTAL HIGHWAY
In March 1937, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini made a state visit to Libya to open this new civilian/military highway, built by governor-general Italo Balbo.[1]
When Balbo died in 1940 in a plane crash, the Italian government named the 1822 kilometer road in his honour. It stretched from the Libyan border with Tunisia all over the full coast of Libya until Sollum, near Egypt.
In the middle of Via Balbia, the border of Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica was marked by a Marble Arch, named Arch of Fileni It was created by the Italian architect Florestano Di Fausto. There was an inscription at the top of the arch which read: Alme Sol, possis nihil urbe Roma visere maius (Latin for "Oh kind Sun, may you never look upon a city greater than Rome"). The "Arch of Fileni" was demolished in 1970 by the revolutionary regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
It was useful for the invasion of Egypt by the Axis forces at the beginning of World War Two.