In 312 BCE, a road was built from Rome to Capua - 115 miles to the south. This was the largest state project undertaken in Italy and one that would set a precedent for the future. The building of this road created a new geography of hegemonic dominance centred on Rome and Capua at either end of the new road.
Never before had an individual polity undertaken construction on such a large scale. The Via Appia was a demonstration of Roman Power, particularly to Rome's new allies in Campania, and confirmed Rome's leadership within Italy as a major power.
Route of the Via Appia initially built just to Capua, but then extended to Brindisi.
Image by NASA and AlMare, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Prior to the construction of the Via Appia, travel from Rome to Capua was undertaken through the cities of Rome's Latin allies. The new route of the Via Appia avoided these settlements and followed a straight line through the Pontine Marshes to the site of Rome's new colony at Terracina on the coast founded in 329 BCE. With the Via Appia constructed, Rome aided her Campanian allies in conflict with the Samnites by establishing colonies on the road at Minturnae and Sinuessa (Livy 10.21.7-10).
The Via Appia adjacent to the Forum of the Colony of Terracina
Photo by Ray Laurence
Appius Claudius Caecus, as censor in 312 BCE, broke with a tradition of relatively small construction projects and pushed for his scheme for both an aqueduct and a road to be constructed in the face of opposition from the consuls of that year. The result was according to many sources in antiquity the creation of two timeless monuments as the queen of roads (Diod.Sic.20.36; Frontin.Aq.1.4; Livy 9.29; Livy Per.9; Stat.Silv.2.2.98; ILS 54;CIL6. 40943).
Elogium to Appius Claudius Caecus from Arezzo - a similar inscription, beneath a statue of Appius was set up in the Forum of Augustus in Rome. Note that Caecus means "blind", thus Appius Claudius as a road builder sits alongside other visually impaired roadbuilders, such as Blind Jack of Knaresborough I, Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Road building could be seen to appeal to those in need of work, and it is at this time that coinage featuring Mars - the god of agriculture and war - and a horse's head with the legend Romano (RRC 13/1) appears in Italy. These coins used the same weight standards as those of Rome's Campanian allies. Appius Claudius' popularity increased and there were rumours of a plot to seize Italy through his many dependents (Suet.Tib.2). It is clear the monumental work of building both the road and the aqueduct had struck a chord with those in Rome and created a huge following for Appius Claudius.
The actual building of the road was contracted out for the five year period to 308 BCE, in the year after Rome built local roads within the public land or ager publicus (Livy 9.43.25). The road was not originally paved in stone and the first section from Rome's Porta Capena to the Temple of Mars was paved in square blocks of stone in 295 BCE (Livy 10.23) and, a few years later, the road was paved to Bovillae - 10 miles from Rome in a hard stone that was probably quarried from the lava flow that the Via Appia overlies as it leaves Rome (Livy 10.47).
Map showing Lava Flows and the Location of the Major Roads leaving the City of Rome.
Check out more information on-line for the relation of paving to geology.
Check out more information on-line for the relation of paving to geology.
The upgrade of the road and its paving was funded from money raised from fines imposed for over-grazing on the public land under the Lex Licinia of 367 BCE (App.BC 1.8.33). The result was a sudden change of surface as travelers came closer to Rome and then gaining their first glimpses of Rome as they descended from the Alban Hills to the city with its hills topped off with temples to the gods - the recent addition of a four-horse triumphal chariot to the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline would not have been missed.
Model of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus with chariot placed on the roof
Hiro-o at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Hiro-o at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Rome was asserting its identity as a major player, and it is in these early years of the third century that a statue of a wolf was added to - with the addition of the twins - Romulus and Remus (Livy 10.23.12) and was to become a feature of coinage in the third century (RRC 20/1). Rome was to become a city associated with many statues of wolves (Livy 22.1.12), but by the end of the first century BCE - Italy would become known for its famous roads as well (CIL 11.365).
The Image of the twin infants Romulus and Remus plus wolf was an enduring one - as seen here on a coin found in Britain datingto the fourth century CE - i.e. some 600 years after the construction of the Via Appia. The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia CommonsBY-SA 4.0 <http
The creation of the Via Appia, statues of wolves, the myth of Romulus and Remus, as well as the ever-present war-god - Mars - need to be connected together, alongside the foundation of colonies and the development of productive land in the Pontine Marshes.
Seeing these elements together we can see ancient Rome in the late fourth and early third century BCE beginning a new chapter in its history when her identity was re-defined and a new geography of a road connecting citizens across space was to become the building block for a long-lasting Roman empire based on a new scale of connectivity and investment in land transport - roads that continue to shape Italy, even in the 21st century.
Further Reading
This blog was created to celebrate Roman Roads Friday - the research behind it can be found in publications by the author and links below take you to what is available for free! Ancient sources are linked in the text above, as are some other publications.
Laurence, R. (1999). The roads of Roman Italy: mobility and cultural change. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
This blog was created to celebrate Roman Roads Friday - the research behind it can be found in publications by the author and links below take you to what is available for free! Ancient sources are linked in the text above, as are some other publications.
Laurence, R. (1999). The roads of Roman Italy: mobility and cultural change. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
Laurence, R. (2020). The meaning of roads: a reinterpretation of the Roman Empire. In J. Kuuliala, & J. Rantala (Eds.), Travel, pilgrimage and social interaction from antiquity to the middle ages (pp. 37-63). (Studies in Medieval History and Culture). Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429028458-3.
Worthing, M., Bosworth, L., Bannister, J., & Laurence, R. (2017). Geochemical methods for sourcing lava paving stones from the Roman roads of Central Italy. Archaeometry, 59(6), 1000-1017. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12321
About Me!
I moved to Sydney from London 4 years ago to take up the job of Professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University. Due to the pandemic, I am somewhat Rome-sick at present. This blog was designed as a contribution to #RomanRoadsFriday on Twitter - if interested in roads or, as they say, all things odologically Roman - reach out via Twitter - @raylaurence1 is me!
I moved to Sydney from London 4 years ago to take up the job of Professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University. Due to the pandemic, I am somewhat Rome-sick at present. This blog was designed as a contribution to #RomanRoadsFriday on Twitter - if interested in roads or, as they say, all things odologically Roman - reach out via Twitter - @raylaurence1 is me!