Via Appia

The Via Appia Antica or Appian Way was built in 312 BCE by Appius Claudius Caecus. It is one of Italy’s oldest Roman Roads and was Europe’s first all-weather paved long distance highway, running in a straight line, bypassing towns and crossing marshes, lakes and mountains.
Its length is 350 miles (563 km) and it runs from the Forum Romanum in Rome to Brindisi on the Adriatic Sea. A ‘Via Appia Nuova’ was built recently for modern traffic in parallel to it.

The Via Appia was first laid to Capua in 312 BCE, then later extended to Taranto (Tarentum) and Brindisi (Brindisium).
It was named the ‘regina viarum’ meaning the ‘queen of the roads’.
The Via Appia was built for the Roman Armies to head south, but was also toll-free and open to all to use it.
After Spartacus and the Third Servile War was crushed in 71 BCE, 6,000 slaves were crucified along 130 miles (210 km) of the Appian Way between Rome and Capua.

Inside Rome:
- Via Sacra
  - This is the Appian Way inside Rome called the Sacred Road. It starts at Capitol Hill, passing the Roman Forum, Arch of Titus, Palatine, Caracalla’s Baths until it exits through Porta San Sebastiano.
- Porta San Sebastiano
  - This is the well-preserved Gate in the Aurelian Walls through which the Via Appia exits.

Via Appia Antica