Appian Way

the most celebrated of all the Roman roads. It was begun 312 B. C. It extended from Rome to Capua, thence across Italy to Brundisium, the great stopping point for Eastern travelers. Like all other Roman roads, the Appian Way was constructed for military purposes. This thoroughfare was 350 miles in length and from 14 to 18 feet in width, with paths for foot passengers on each side. The roadway was prepared regardless of expense. Rocks were cut through, valleys were filled up, rivers were spanned with high stone arches, and long embankments were built across swamps. A bed was prepared of broken stone cemented with lime, and over all huge blocks of basaltic lava were fitted together with such exactness that the road was like one continuous flagstone. Portions of the road remain to this day. The cost must have been enormous. Historians say that the system of Roman roads of which the Appian Way was a beginning almost bankrupted the empire. Troops made great progress marching on roads like this. The Appian Way was the great highway between Rome and all points in the East. Grecian scholars and artists approached Rome by the Appian Way. Cicero, in his banishment, fled along this road. For a long distance from Rome the way is bordered by the ruins of expensive tombs and monumental buildings. The milestone nearest Rome was discovered in 1584. See Watling Street

Rome began her system of magnificent roads in 312 B. C. by the Via Appia to the new possessions in Campania. This was the work of the censor Appius Claudius. Afterward all Italy, and then the growing empire outside Italy, was traversed by a network of such roads. Nothing was permitted to obstruct their course. Mountains were tunneled; rivers were bridged; marshes were spanned for miles by viaducts of masonry. The roads were smoothly paved with huge slabs, over some two feet of gravel; and they made the best means of communication the world was to see until the time of railroads. They were so carefully constructed, too, that their remains, in good condition to-day, still "mark the lands where Rome has ruled." They were designed for military purposes; but they helped other intercourse and bound Italy together socially.--West.