The Appian Way

vol. II p.238-242

Appia via,

the large main road from Rome to Campania and all of lower-Italy (longarum regina viarum Stat. silv. II 2, 12 ingens Appia ibid., Ausoniae maxima fama viae Martial. IX 101, 2), <20> was built by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus in the year 442 = 312 (Liv. IV 29. Front. de aq. I 5. Diod. XX 36. Elogium des Appius CIL XI 1827 = I² p. 192 nr. X). Its endpoint was originally Capua (so in Procop. bell. Goth. I 14; though the auct. de v. ill. c. 34 incorrectly gives Caecus’ building work an endpoint of Brundisium). It’s uncertain when it was extended first to Beneventum, and then to Tarentum and Brundisium (see below). <30> As it seems, C. Gracchus’ duties involved upkeep of the Via Appia (Plut. C. Gracchus 7), and Caesar, in his youth (as an aedile ?) was ἐπιμελητὴς τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς Ἀππίας (Plut. Caes. 5, 5). For the state of the Appia in the time of the empire, the main source is Strab. V 282. 283 (ἀπὸ Βρεντεσίου εἰς Ῥώμην) δύο εἰσὶν ὁδοί (the ἡμιονικὴ about Gnathia-Canusium, see below) ἡ δὲ διὰ Τάραντος μικρὸν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ ὅσον δὴ μιᾶς ἡμέρας περίοδον κυκλεύσαντι, ἡ Ἀππία λεγομένη, ἁμαξήλατος μᾶλλον⋅ ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ πόλις Οὐρία τε καὶ Οὐενουσία .. συμβάλλουσι δὲ ἄμφω κατὰ Βενεουεντὸν καὶ τὴν Καμπανίαν ἐκ τοῦ Βρεντεσίου. Τοὐντεῦθεν δ’ ἤδη μέχρι τῆς Ῥώμης Ἀππία καλεῖται, διὰ Καυδίου καὶ Καλατίας καὶ Καπύης καὶ Κασιλίνου μέχρι Σινοέσσης .. ἡ δὲ πᾶσά ἐστιν ἐκ Ῥώμης εἰς Βρεντέσιον μίλια τρακόσια ἑξήκοντα (cf. V 233. 249). The iter Brundisium by Horace (sat. I 5) is also important for our knowledge of the Via Appia in the time of Augustus, because it deals with the Appia up until the border of Apulia (Trevicum), <50> though then goes over to a side street over Ausculum on the east road (the later Traiana, ἡμιονικὴ in Strabon). In the time of the empire, the Via Appia was the duty of a curator of a praetorian rank (the known ones are collected by Cantarelli Bull. arch. com. 1891, 90-95). But. in the 1st century, it seems that the southern section of the Appia, just as the rest of the lower-Italian roads, had fallen into a bit of a state of disrepair, and it seems that it was Trajan and Hadrian who first made energetic repairs (Cass. Dio LXVIII see below). <60> The Appia lasted through the fall of the west Roman empire. Theodorich repaired the street through the Pontine marshes (see below), and in the year 535, there is this description in Procop. bell. Goth. I 14: <page break 238/239> ἔστι δὲ ἡ Ἀππία ὁδὸς ἡμερῶν πέντε ἀνδρὶ εὐζώνῳ⋅ ἐκ Ῥώμης γὰρ αὕτη ἐς Καπύην διήκει. εὖρος δέ ἐστι τῆς ὁδοῦ ταύτης ὅσον ἁμάξας δύο ἀλλήλαις ἐναντίας ἰέναι, καὶ ἔστιν ἀξιοθέατος πάντων μάλιστα. τὸν γὰρ λίθον ἅπαντα μυλίτην τε ὄντα καὶ φύσει σκληρὸν ἐκ χώρας ἀλλης μακρὰν οὔσης τεμὼν Ἄππιος ἐνταῦθα ἐκόμισε⋅ ταύτης γὰρ δὴ τῆς γῆς οὐδαμῆ πέφυκε (this is not correct, since there were lava-rifts[?] right by the Appia, eg. not far from the grave of Caecilia Metella, Jordan Topogr. I 1, 119), λείους δὲ τοὺς λίθους καὶ ὁμαλοὺς ἐργασάμενος, ἐγγωνίους δὲ τῇ ἐντομῇ πεποιημένος, ἐς ἀλλήλους ξυνέδησεν, οὔτε χαλκὸν ἐντὸς οὔτε τι ἄλλο ἐμβεβλημένος cet. <10> The original Via Appia was, however, (though Diod. XX 36 also says: App. Claudius τῆς Ἀππίας ὁδοῦ τὸ πλεῖον μέρος λίθοις στερεοῖς κατέστρωσεν ἀπὸ Ῥώηης μέχρι Καπύνης) doubtless only paved with gravel (glarea strata), its gradual improvements are given by the Roman city construction-chronicle. In the year 298 BCE Cn. et Q. Ogulnii aediles curules … semitam saxo quadrato a Capena porta ad Martis straverunt (Liv. X 23, 12), <20> three years later ab aedilibus curulibus … damnatis aliquot pecuariis, via a Martis silice ad Bovillas perstrata est (Liv. X 47, 4); in the year 191 censores T. Quinctius Flamininus et M. Claudius Marcellus … viam silice sternendam a porta Capena ad Martis locaverunt (Liv. XXXVIII 28, 3). The account that the censors of the year 174 (Liv. XLI 27, 5) vias sternendas silice in urbe, glarea extra urbem substernendas marginandasque primi omnium locaverunt pontesque multis locis faciendos also doubtless refers to the Via Appia. <30> The part in the marshes, from Trepontium to the Forum Apii, was first paved with cobblestone by Nerva and Trajan, in the places where it had previously had ballast (CIL X 6824). About the construction of the Via Appia, cf. Nicolai Del bonificamento delle terre pontine, Roma 1800 f. Canina La Via Appia I 15ff. Gius. Novi Poliorama pittoresco XIX 43, repeated in Mommsen CIL X p. 683. <40> The path of the Appia, according to its three main sections, is this:

1. From Rome to Capua (132 mp.), the itineraria (Tab. Peut. It. Ant. 108. 111. 121; Hieros. 610. 611. Geogr. Rav. IV 32. 34. V 2, cf. CIL X p. 59) give the following stations: Roma - X - Bovillae (le Fratocchie) - VI - Aricia - XIIII - ad Sponsas (at Cisterna) - III - tres Tabernae - X - Forum Appii (see above) - IX - ad Medias (Mesa) - X - Tarracina - XIII - Fundi - XIII - Formiae - IX - Minturnae (Traetto) - IX - Sinuessa (Mondragone) - IX - Pons Campanus - V - Urbana - IX - Casilinum - III - Capua. The street leaves Rome through the Porta Capena (between the Caelian and the Aventine), from which point its milestones start counting (it’s wrong that the first milestone of the Via Appia stood near Porta S. Sebastiano, which eg. Caninas bases all their calculations of distances near the city on, see Dessau Bull. dell’ Inst. 1882, 125). <60> The temple of Mars was about 3km away from the gate, on the left hand side; the inscription CIL VI 1270, from the time of the early empire, refers to a repair of the Appia (clivus Martis) done there by the senate and the people. Especially near the capital, it was lined with uninterrupted rows of graves which were occasionally large and splendid, <page break 239/240> amongst which that of Scipio at the first milestone and of Caecilia Metella at the third are the most famous; the monuments are recorded and reconstructed particularly by Canina Edifizj di Roma antica vol. VI and in the separate edition: La Via Appia, vol 2. fol. Rom 1853; cf. also Labruzzi Vedute di sepolcri della Via Appia, Rom ca. 1795, newly published by A. Rem-Picci Rom 1844, fol. max. Piranesi Antichità di Roma vol. II. III. V (monumenti degli Scipioni). XI (antichità di Albano). <10> From Rome to Terracina, the Via Appia is practically dead straight, at the crossing of the Alban hills (Bovillae-Aricia) they didn’t shy away from steep gradients, which meant they weren’t forced to go around the hills. Next, the Appia moves into the Pontine area. The fact that it still went along the slopes of the Monti Lepini (over Cora, Norba, and Setia) at the time of Lucilius is disproven, <20> because milestones from Mesa have been found in the middle of the marshes which were only set up ~50 years after the Via Appia was built, which is the oldest artifact of the Appia and Roman street-building (Hülsen Röm. Mitt. 1889, 83. 84). At the Pontine marshes, the street was accompanied by a canal, in the middle of which there were a lot of boats used to to transport people, <30> see Strab. V 233: πλησίον δὲ τῆς Ταρρακίνης βαδίζοντι ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥώμης παραβέβληται τῇ ὁδῷ τῇ Ἀππίᾳ διῶρυξ ἐπὶ πολλοὺς τόπους πληρουμένη τοῖς ἑλείοις τε καὶ τοῖς ποταμίοις ὕδασι⋅ πλεῖται δὲ μάλιστα μὲν νύκτωρ, ὥστ’ ἐμβάντας ἀφ’ ἑσπέρας ἐκβαίνειν πρωίας καὶ βαδίζειν τὸ λοιπὸν τῇ ὁδῷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μεθ’ ἡμέραν. ῥυμουλκεῖ δ’ ἡμιόνιον. cf. Hor. sat. I 5, 3ff. The actual marsh-path from the Forum Appii to Tarracina was 19 Roman miles long (Decennovium, see its respective article). At Tarracina, the promontory of the Monte S. Angelo (named Pesco Montano), which falls abruptly into the sea, was removed[?] perpendicular for 120 Roman feet (36m), so that there would be room for the road; one of the most important achievements of Roman street-building technology, which likely first appeared in the time of the empire (CIL X 6849). At Terracina, the street continues in a large arc at the slopes of the mountain so that it avoids the marshy terrain of the Lago di Fondi, it crosses over the Apennine, but goes around the Mons Massicus on the way over Sinuessa. <50>

Connected with the Via Appia, or turning into the first section which we have dealt with, were the Via Ardeatina, Setina, and Domitiana (see its respective article); also, side streets lead from Bovillae to Antium (later called the via Antiatina, Westphal Römische Kampagna 36f.) and from Minturnae to a junction with the Via Latina to Teanum (Itin. Ant. p. 121. Tab. Peut.). About the first section of the Via Appia, cf. Chaupy Maison d’Horace III 365-461. <60> R. C. Hoare Classical tour I 81-148. Angelini and Fea I monumenti più insigni del Lazio distribuiti in vie, P. I Via Appia, Rom 1828. Westphal Römische Kampagna 17f. 26-72. L. Rossini Viaggio pittoresco da Roma a Napoli, Roma 1839. Nibby Dell vie antiche in connection with Nardinis Roma Antica (1820) IV 119-135 and Ditorni di Roma² III 522-559. P. Andrae Via Appia, dens historie og mindesmaerker, 2 Bde. Kopenhagen 1882. <page break 240/241> C. Bohnsack Die Via Appia von Rom bis Albano, Wolfunbüttel 1886. A rich and valuable source about the section of the road which lay near the city is also found in de Rossis Roma Sotteranea, esp. vol. III 626-633. Milestones CIL X 6812-6880, cf. p. 1019.

2. From Capua to Beneventum, the Appian goes via (VI mp.) Calatia (Maddaloni) - VI - Novae (Arienzo) - IX - Caudium (Montesarchio) - XI - Beneventum. <10> It hasn’t been determined with certainty who made this extension, though it couldn’t have been before the colony was sent to Beneventum (268 BCE), and it was likely not much later. For milestones of this section, see CIL IX 5980-5997 = X 6908-6925. About the vicinal-streets in Campania, see Beloch Campanien 20f.

3. From Beneventum to Brundisium (202 mp.), the stations, according to the itineria (Tab. Peut. It. Ant. p. 111. 120; Hieros. 610. Geogr. Rav. IV 33 p. 876. 35 p. 283 P.) are: <20> Beneventum - IIII - Nuceriola - VI - ad Calorem - V - Aeclanum (Mirabella) - XVI - sub Romula - XI - Aquilonia (Lacedogna) - VI - Pons Aufidi (Ponte Venere) - XVIII - Venusia (Venosa) - XXXV - Silvium (Garagnone at Spinazzola) - XIII - Blera - XIIII - sub Lupatia - XIII - ad Canales - XIII - Tarentum - X - Mesochorum - X - Uria (Oria) - VIII - Scamnum - XV - Brundisium. <30> It also hasn’t been determined when this section was built. It can be concluded from a fragment of a speech by C. Gracchus in Gell. X 3, 5 that the long country road lead to lower-Italy across Venusia around 190 BCE. Strabon differentiates (VI 282) between the street fit for wagons (ἁμαξήλατος μᾶλλον) across Tarentum (the actual Appia), and the shorter though more difficult route across Herdoniae, Canusium, Caelia, and Gnathia (which was later joined on to the Via Traiana [see there]). <40> In older times, between Beneventum and Aquilonia, the Appia seems to have gone through the valley in Ufito and straight across the mountains of Trevicum (milestone of a consul Lepidus from the 2nd or 1st century BCE, CIL X 6073. Horat. sat. I 5, 80), though during the time of the empire, the wider but more pleasant route across Aeclanum was built. The latter was restored by Hadrian, as the inscriptions found between Beneventum and Aeclanum on many milestones show (CIL IX 6072. 6074. 6075), <50> according to which the Via Appia was restored from a length of 15750 steps costing the emperor 1 157 000 sesterces, and 569 000 sesterces from the surrounding citizens. Either way, in the late empire, the Via Appia lost some importance after traffic from the eastern section of the peninsula was taken more over the Via Traiana, and traffic from the west was taken over the Via Herculia. <60> Even so, the last section of the Via Appia (Tarentum - Brundisium) was restored by Constantine around 315 (CIL IX 6076. 6077).

As a work about the entire Via Appia, there is still [from 1895’s perspective] only the single F. M. Pratilli Della via Appia riconosciuta da Roma a Brindisi, Napoli 1745, though unfortunately it is full of unreliable accounts and mistakes, <page break 241/242> see E. Gesualdo Osservazioni critiche sopra la storia della V. A. di D. F. M. Pratillim Napoli 1754. Mommsen CIL X p. 373.

[Hülsen.]

This article is referenced by: Ap. Claudius Caecus (91)