Appian Way

Appian Way (Lat. Via Appia), well named by an ancient writer Regina Viarum ('the queen of roads'), was formed, in part at least, by Appius Claudius Cæcus, while he was censor (313 B.C.). It is the oldest and most celebrated of all the Roman roads, and with its branches connected Rome with all parts of Southern Italy. It had an admirable substructure or foundation, from which all the loose soil had been carefully removed. Above this were various strata cemented with lime; and lastly came the pavement, consisting of large hard hexagonal blocks of stone, composed principally of basaltic lava, and jointed together with great nicety, so as to appear one smooth mass. The cost must have been enormous, for the natural obstructions are great. Excavations instituted by the papal government in 1850-53 reopened the road as far as Albano. The railway from Rome to Naples crosses this restored portion (now called the Via Appia Nova) near the eleventh milestone from the capital.