THE ROMAN HIGHWAYS. 255 



THE EOMA^ HIGHWAYS. 



Bt D. K. McANALLY. 



THE Romans were noted for many things, but for nothing do 

 they better deserve fame than for the system of roads which con- 

 nected every part, even the remotest province of the empire, with 

 Italy and the capitaL During the golden days every road literally 

 led to Rome, for outside the limits of the Roman world there were 

 no roads worthy of the name, and within its limits every highway 

 was but a part of the system which had its center in theAppian 

 Forum. 



The system was worthy of the conquerors of the world. Start- 

 ing from the Forum, the great Appian Way, the first which was 

 built, passed through the Porta Capena and swept off to the south, 

 through the Three Taverns, where Paul met the Christian Church, 

 through Terracina, through Capua to Brundisium, where sailing craft 

 and rowboats were always ready day and night to take the traveler 

 over to Dyrrachium. Landing on the Macedonian coast near the 

 modern city of Valona, the traveler might traverse a good Roman 

 highway in an almost direct line seven hundred miles to Byzantium. 

 In Asia the great highway again began, trended off to the south, 

 followed the coast to Troy, sent off branches to numerous and popu- 

 lous cities of Asia Minor, across the mountains to Ancyra, followed 

 the coast to Tarsus, thence to Antioch, to Tyre, and to Jerusalem. 

 It is probable there was also a highway from Jerusalem to Alexandria 

 in Egypt. There were certainly roads from Jerusalem east to the 

 Euphrates, and up and down that mighty stream. Egypt had its own 

 system of roads, beginning at Alexandria and continuing south to 

 the Cataracts, while North Africa was also provided with internal 

 arteries of commerce, starting from various seaports and penetrating 

 the interior until lost in the sands of Sahara. 



The Appian Way was the great highroad to the south of Italy 

 and to the East, but the empire was provided with a northern system 

 also. The northeast road started from Rome, crossed the Apennines 

 on the upper waters of the Tiber, and continued through many im- 

 portant cities to the base of the Alps. South of Trent the road 

 divided: one branch turned east, passed through what are now the 

 territories of Austria, Bosnia, Servia, and Bulgaria to the Black 

 sea; the other continued to the north and traversed the terrible passes 

 of the Tyrol to the lower lands of South Germany. There was yet 

 another great central highway which started like the others from 

 Rome, went directly north, continuing, however, east of the Apen- 

 nines, and following the east coast passed through or near the pres- 



