APPIAN WAY

Description

Essentials about the Appian Way in brief

The Via Appia Antica (Apptian Way) was already called “Regina Viarum” (“Queen of Roads”) in ancient times. And rightly so, because it was once one of the world’s most important and famous roads that connected Rome with its southern provinces. Due to the many historical buildings and tombs along the road, it is commonly considered the longest museum in the world.

The history of the Appian Way

The Appian Way, originally built in 312 BC, was the idea of Appius Claudius Caecus, then Censor of Rome, who was known for organizing daring public works that would make life easier for the Roman people. Appius Claudius most famous project was this road that would eventually run all the way from Rome to the port city of Brindisi. The road was first laid out as an even earthen surface on which mortar and small stones were placed. Gravel was scattered on top of this and a layer of interlocking stones was laid on top, providing travelers with an almost flat road surface.

The course of the Appian Way

The Appian Way began at the Circus Maximus, passed by the Baths of Caracalla and later by the Aurelian Wall. After leaving the Roman city limits, the roads ran across the Appian Hills and over the former Pontine Marshes. After about 55 kilometers it reached Terracina, a coastal town south of Rome. From there on, the Appian Way followed the west coast and ended after 210 kilometers at Capua. Around 190 BC, the road was extended to Brundisium (today Brindisi), which became the most important transhipment point for goods and slaves from the Orient.

The graves and tomb monuments on the Appian Way

Near Rome, the road was lined with tombs, many of whose ruins can still be visited today. Since it was forbidden to bury the dead within the Roman city limits, many people were buried along the Roman arterial roads. Important people built tombs for themselves or for their whole family. Sometimes these tombs were as large as a house and varied in shape from pyramids to small temples.

The most impressive is the well-preserved funerary monument of Cecilia Metella, the wife of one of Julius Caesar’s generals, which looks almost like a fortress. Other notable tombs are those of Marcus Servilius, Romulus (son of Emperor Maxentius), Seneca (a Roman philosopher) and the family of Sextus Pompeius Justus. With Gallienus, who was assassinated in 268 AD, an emperor is also buried along the Appian Way.

The monuments on the Appian Way

Besides the numerous tombs, the Appian Way is also lined with some other monuments: the Temple of Hercules, the Church of Quo Vadis (where Peter is said to have met Christ) and the remains of the Gothic Church of San Nicola. The Villa of the Quintilians, with its ancient baths and beautiful friezes and sculptures, is located near the Via Appia Nuova.

Near the tomb of Romulus is the long ruined field of the Circus of Maxentius. Its immense dimensions of 513 meters long and 91 meters wide are reminiscent of the Circus Maximus at the foot of the Palatine Hill. The relatively well preserved horse racing track still shows the turning marks, the grandstands for about 10,000 spectators and even remains of the imperial box. However, chariot races never thrilled the spectators here in the second largest Roman circus, because the circus was not completed. It was already a ruined building in ancient times, but today it is the best preserved of all Roman circuses.

The catacombs on the Appian Way

While the Appian Way is lined with monuments and tombs of Roman patrician families, many visitors find more interesting what lies beneath the street. The underground of the street is crisscrossed with miles of tunnels – known as catacombs – where the early Christians buried their dead. Some of the catacombs are open to the public.

A walk on the Appian Way

And those who are not at all enthusiastic about all the tombs, ruins and catacombs should still take a walk on the Via Appia Antica, because there is hardly any other place in Rome where you can enjoy so much rural idyll between sprawling pines and disheveled cypresses as here. Sometimes, in the midst of the magnificent scenery, one feels reminded of a landscape painting of the 19th century. Long stretches of the road are paved today, but there are also stretches with the original Roman paving, in which the heavy chariot wheels that once rumbled along the Via Appia Antica have left deep indentations.