352 ANNUAL REPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 4 



VIA APPIA NAMED AFTER ITS BUILDER, APPIUS CLAUDIUS 



The construction of the Via Appia was initiated by Appius 

 Claudius, Caecus (the blind), a famous general in the Roman army, 

 as well as an orator and poet, who at the time accupied the position 

 of Censor under the Republic. The duties of the Censor, who was 

 one of the two ruling magistrates of the city, was to make a regis- 

 ter of the number and property of the citizens, and to exercise the 

 office of inspector of morals and conduct. Because of the fame of 

 Appius Claudius, gained in large enterprises, and the fact that he 

 was considered the originator of the work, the road was named Via 

 Appia in his honor. The construction of this highway rendered im- 

 mortal the name of Appius Claudius, and it is fitting that it should, 

 for the road represents the consummation of an audacious plan. Its 

 importance in history may be measured by the fact that it placed 

 Rome in communication with southern Italy, Sicily, Africa, and 

 Asia. Its construction required an immense amount of labor, be- 

 cause no expense was spared to make it beautiful as well as sub- 

 stantial. This gigantic enterprise required not months but years to 

 complete, and thousands of slaves, freedmen, and soldiers, divided 

 into brigades, worked under the direction of experienced architects 

 and expert overseers. 



CONSTRUCTION BEGAN 5n THE VIA APPIA IN 312 B. C. 



Appius Claudius ordered the road laid out in 312 B. C, at a time 

 when the Romans were waging war against the Samnites. On those 

 portions of the road where public funds were insufficient or lacking, 

 Appius Claudius defrayed the expense from his own private for- 

 tune. He built the road no farther than Capua, because the 

 provinces beyond were not under the dominion of the Romans at 

 that time. The original Via Appia is thought to have been surfaced 

 with gravel {glarea strata). In 298 B. C. the first mile, from the 

 Porta Capena to the Temple of Mars, was paved with hewn stone 

 {peperino) as a way (semita) for walking and riding on horseback. 

 Later, 295 B. C, the entire road from the Temple of Mars to Boville 

 was paved with lava (silex). About 280 B. C, it was extended to 

 Beneventum, and then continued through Venusia and Tarentum to 

 Brundisium, reaching the latter place by 244 B. C. The first mile, 

 from the Porta Capena to the Temple of Mars, was repaved with 

 lava (silex) about 191 B. C. 



CHARACTER OF THE TRAFFIC ON THE ROMAN ROADS 



For a long period of time the great roads between Rome and the 

 provinces were only of strategic and political importance. They 



