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{{Short description|Ancient Roman road}}
{{About|the ancient Roman road|other uses|Appian Way (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Appian Way
|native_name = Via Appia
|native_name_lang = Latin
|image = Paesaggio dell'Appia antica.jpg
|caption = Section of the [[Appian Way Regional Park|Regional Park]], Rome
|built = 312–264 BC
|builder = [[Appius Claudius Caecus]], addition by [[Trajan]] ([[Via Appia Traiana]])
|type = [[Roman road]]
|location = [[Roman Forum]], [[Rome]] to [[Brindisi]]
|coordinates = {{Coord|41|50|29|N|12|31|57|E|display=it|name=Appian Way}}
|image_size = 270
|mapframe-frame-width = 270
|mapframe = yes
|mapframe-caption = Click on the map for a fullscreen view
|mapframe-zoom = 6
|mapframe-marker = monument
|mapframe-wikidata = yes
|website = {{official URL}}
   | designation1            = WHS
   | designation1_offname    = Via Appia. Regina Viarum
   | designation1_date       = 2024
   | designation1_number     = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1708 1708]
   | designation1_criteria   = iii, iv, vi
   | designation1_type       = Cultural
   | designation1_free1name  = Region
   | designation1_free1value  = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Southern Europe|Southern Europe]]
   | length                   = 403.9 miles (650 km) 
}}

The '''Appian Way''' ([[Latin]] and {{langx|it|Via Appia}}) is one of the earliest and strategically most important [[Roman roads]] of the ancient [[Roman Republic|republic]]. It connected [[Rome]] to [[Brindisi]], in southeast Italy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/356966898 |title=Places: 356966898 (Via Appia) |author=L. Quilici |author2=S. Quilici Gigli |author3=R. Talbert |author4=S. Gillies |author5=T. Elliott |author6=J. Becker |access-date=14 March 2013|website=Pleiades}}</ref> Its importance is indicated by its common name, recorded by [[Statius]],<ref>''Silvae'', [https://archive.org/stream/statiusstat01statuoft#page/96/mode/2up 2.2].</ref><ref>{{cite news |first= Elisabetta|last= Povoledo|title=Past Catches Up With the Queen of Roads |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/arts/design/05appi.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=5 April 2008 |access-date=5 April 2008 }}</ref> of {{lang|la|Appia longarum... regina viarum}} ('the Appian Way, the queen of the long roads'). The road is named after [[Appius Claudius Caecus]],<ref name=apwistlg>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9cheAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WzIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1274%2C4114284 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Idaho |agency=Associated Press |title=The Appian Way is still a good military road |date=June 4, 1944 |page=4, section 2}}</ref> the [[Roman censor]] who, during the [[Samnite Wars]], began and completed the first section as a military road to the south in 312 BC.<ref name=Chambers>"Appian Way" in ''[[Chambers's Encyclopædia]]''. London: [[George Newnes Ltd|George Newnes]], 1961, Vol. 1, p. 490.</ref>

In July 2024, the Appian Way entered the [[UNESCO World Heritage List]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/italy-rome-appian-way-unesco-world-heritage-list-35e308789b65127189bfd32b975dea23 |title=Italy's Ancient Roman Appian Way included in UNESCO World Heritage List |publisher=AP News |date=27 July 2024 }}</ref>

== Origins ==

=== Development ===
[[File:RemainsViaAppia.jpg|thumb|left|Near Rome]]
The Appian Way was a [[Roman roads|Roman road]] that the [[Roman Republic|Republic]] used as a main route for military supplies for its conquest of southern Italy in 312 BC and for improvements in communication.<ref>William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' (London, 1854), 1288. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=via-appia-geo]''</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rodgers |first=Nigel |url= |title=Roman Empire |date=2008 |publisher=Metro Books |isbn=978-1-4351-0455-6 |location=New York |page=116 |language=en}}</ref>

The Appian Way&nbsp;— essential to the Romans&nbsp;— was the first long road built specifically to transport troops outside the smaller region of greater [[Rome]]. The few roads outside the early city were [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] and went mainly to [[Etruria]]. By the late Republic, the Romans had expanded over most of [[Italian peninsula|Italy]] and were masters of road construction. Their roads began at Rome, where the master {{lang|la|[[itinerarium]]}}, or list of destinations along the roads, was located, and extended to the borders of their domain, hence the expression, "[[wikt:all roads lead to Rome|All roads lead to Rome]]".

=== The Samnite Wars ===
Romans had an affinity for the people of [[Campania]], who, like themselves, traced their backgrounds to the [[Etruscans]]. The [[Samnite Wars]] were instigated by the [[Samnites]] when Rome attempted to ally itself with the city of [[Santa Maria Capua Vetere|Capua]] in Campania. The [[Italic languages|Italic]] speakers in [[Latium]] had long ago been subdued and incorporated into the Roman state. They were responsible for changing Rome from a primarily Etruscan to a primarily Italic state.

Dense populations of sovereign Samnites remained in the mountains north of Capua, which is just north of the [[Greece|Greek]] city of [[Naples|Neapolis]]. Around 343 BC, Rome and Capua attempted to form an alliance. The Samnites reacted with military force.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fronda |first=Michael P. |date=2007 |title=Hegemony and Rivalry: The Revolt of Capua Revisited |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20304639 |journal=Phoenix |volume=61 |issue=1/2 |pages=83–108 |jstor=20304639 |issn=0031-8299}}</ref>

=== The barrier of the Pontine Marshes ===
[[File:Monument of Gaius Rabirius Hermodorus, Rabiria Demaris, and Usia Prima Enhanced.jpg|thumb|Grave monument of Caius Rabirius Postumus Hermodorus, Lucia Rabiria Demaris and Usia Prima, priestess of [[Isis]] along the Via Appia, near Quarto Miglio]]
Between Capua and Rome lay the [[Pontine Marshes]] (''Pomptinae paludes''), a [[swamp]] infested with [[malaria]]. A tortuous coastal road wound between [[Ostia Antica (archaeological site)|Ostia]] at the mouth of the [[Tiber]] and [[Naples|Neapolis]]. The [[Via Latina]] followed its ancient and scarcely more accessible path along the foothills of Monti Laziali and [[Monti Lepini]], which are visible towering over the former marsh.

In the [[First Samnite War]] (343–341&nbsp;BC) the Romans found they could not support or resupply troops in the field against the Samnites across the marsh. A revolt of the [[Latin League]] drained their resources further. They gave up the attempted alliance and settled with [[Samnium]].

=== Colonization to the southeast ===
The Romans were only biding their time while they looked for a solution. The first answer was the [[Colonia_(Roman)|colonia]], a "cultivation" of settlers from Rome, who would maintain a permanent base of operations. The [[Second Samnite War]] (327–304&nbsp;BC) erupted when Rome attempted to place a colony at [[Cales]] in 334 BC and again at [[Fregellae]] in 328 BC on the other side of the marshes. The Samnites, now a major power after defeating the [[Greeks in Italy|Greeks]] of [[Taranto|Tarentum]], occupied Neapolis to try to ensure its loyalty. The Neapolitans appealed to Rome, which sent an army and expelled the Samnites from Neapolis.

=== Appius Claudius' beginning of the works ===
In 312&nbsp;BC, [[Appius Claudius Caecus]] became [[Roman censor|censor]] at Rome. He was of the [[gens Claudia]], who were [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] descended from the [[Sabines]] taken into the early Roman state. He had been given the name of the founding ancestor of the gens, Appius Claudius (Attus Clausus in Sabine). He was a [[Populism|populist]], i.e., an advocate of the common people. A man of discernment and perception, in the years of success he was said to have lost his eyesight and thus acquired the name {{lang|la|caecus}}, 'blind'. In antique literature, blindness was sometimes associated with great vision, cf. Homer.

Without waiting to be told what to do by the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], Appius Claudius began bold public works to address the supply problem. An aqueduct (the [[Aqua Appia]]) secured the water supply of the city of Rome. By far the best known project was the road, which ran across the [[Pontine Marshes]] to the coast northwest of [[Naples]], where it turned north to Capua. On it, any number of fresh troops could be sped to the theatre of operations, and supplies could be moved en masse to Roman bases without hindrance by either enemy or terrain. It is no surprise that, after his term as censor, Appius Claudius became [[Roman consul|consul]] twice, subsequently held other offices, and was a respected consultant to the state even during his later years.

=== Success of the road ===
The road achieved its purpose. The outcome of the Second Samnite War was at last favorable to Rome. In a series of blows the Romans reversed their fortunes, bringing Etruria to the table in 311&nbsp;BC, the very year of their revolt, and [[Samnium]] in 304 BC. The road was the main factor that allowed them to concentrate their forces with sufficient rapidity and to keep them adequately supplied, whereafter they became a formidable opponent.

== Construction ==
[[File:Via Appia map.jpg|thumb|centre|600px|The path of the Via Appia and of the Via Appia Traiana]]
The main part of the Appian Way was started and completed in 312&nbsp;BC.

The road began as a leveled dirt path on which small stones and [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]] were laid. This base was covered with gravel, and finally topped with tightly fitting, interlocking stones to create a flat and durable surface. The historian Procopius remarked that the stones fit together so securely and precisely that they appeared to have grown together rather than been set by hand.<ref>Tingay, G. I. F., and J. Badcock. ''These Were The Romans''. Chester Springs, Pennsylvania: Dufour Editions, Inc., 1989. ISBN 9780802312956. p. 42.</ref> The road was cambered in the middle to allow for water runoff and flanked by ditches on either side, which were protected by retaining walls.

=== Between Rome and Lake Albano ===
The road began in the [[Roman Forum|Forum Romanum]], passed through the [[Servian Wall]] at the [[porta Capena]], went through a cutting in the clivus Martis, and left the city. For this stretch of the road, the builders used the Via Latina. The building of the [[Aurelian Wall]] centuries later required the placing of another gate, the [[Porta Appia]]. Outside of Rome the new Via Appia went through well-to-do suburbs along the Via Norba, the ancient track to the [[Alban hills]], where [[Norba]] was situated. The road at the time was a via glarea, a gravel road. The Romans built a high-quality road, with layers of cemented stone over a layer of small stones, cambered, drainage ditches on either side, low retaining walls on sunken portions, and dirt pathways for sidewalks. The Via Appia is believed to have been the first Roman road to feature the use of lime cement. The materials were volcanic rock. The surface was said to have been so smooth that you could not distinguish the joints. The Roman section still exists and is lined with monuments of all periods, although the cement has eroded out of the joints, leaving a very rough surface.

=== Across the marsh ===
The road concedes nothing to the [[Alban hills]], but goes straight through them over cuts and fills. The gradients are steep. Then it enters the former Pontine Marshes. A stone causeway of about {{convert|19|mi|km|sp=us|order=flip}} led across stagnant and foul-smelling pools blocked from the sea by sand dunes. Appius Claudius planned to drain the marsh, taking up earlier attempts, but he failed. The causeway and its bridges subsequently needed constant repair. In 162&nbsp;BC, Marcus Cornelius Cathegus had a canal constructed along the road to relieve the traffic and provide an alternative when the road was being repaired. Romans preferred using the canal.{{Citation Needed|date=February 2023}}

=== Along the coast ===
[[File:Minturno Via-Appia.jpg|thumb|Via Appia within the ancient [[Minturno]]]]
The Via Appia picked up the coastal road at [[Terracina|Tarracina]] (Terracina). However, the Romans straightened it somewhat with cuttings, which form cliffs today. From there the road swerved north to Capua, where, for the time being, it ended. The [[Caudine Forks]] were not far to the north. The itinerary was [[Ariccia|Aricia]] (Ariccia), [[Three Taverns|Tres Tabernae]], [[Forum Appii]], Tarracina, [[Fondi, Italy|Fundi]] (Fondi), [[Formiae]] (Formia), [[Minturnae]] (Minturno), [[Suessa Pometia|Suessa]], [[Casilinum]] and Capua, but some of these were colonies added after the Samnite Wars. The length of the Appian Way from Rome to Capua was 132 [[Mile|Roman miles]] ({{convert|121|mi|km|sp=us|order=flip|}}). The original road had no milestones, as they were not yet in use. A few survive from later times, including a first milestone near the Porta Appia.

=== Extension to Beneventum ===
The [[Third Samnite War]] (298–290&nbsp;BC) is perhaps misnamed. It was an all-out attempt by all the neighbors of Rome: Italics, Etruscans and [[Gauls]], to check the power of Rome. The Samnites were the leading people of the conspiracy. Rome dealt the northerners a crushing blow at the [[Battle of Sentinum]] in [[Umbria]] in 295. The Samnites fought on alone. Rome now placed 13 colonies in Campania and Samnium. It must have been during this time that they extended the Via Appia 35 miles beyond Capua past the Caudine Forks to a place the Samnites called Maloenton, "passage of the flocks". The itinerary added [[Calatia]], [[Caudium]] and [[Benevento|Beneventum]] (not yet called that).<ref>William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' (London, 1854), 1292–93. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=via-appia-geo]''</ref> Here also ended the [[Via Latina]].<ref>William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' (London, 1854), 1303. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=via-latina-geo]''</ref>

=== Extension to Apulia and Calabria ===
By 290&nbsp;BC, the sovereignty of the Samnites had ended. The heel of Italy lay open to the Romans. The dates are somewhat uncertain and there is considerable variation in the sources, but during the Third Samnite War the Romans seem to have extended the road to [[Venusia]], where they placed a colony of 20,000&nbsp;men. After that they were at Tarentum.

Roman expansion alarmed Tarentum, the leading city of the Greek presence (Magna Graecia) in southern Italy. They hired the mercenary King [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]] in neighboring [[Greece]] to fight the Romans on their behalf. In 280&nbsp;BC the Romans suffered a defeat at the hands of Pyrrhus at the [[Battle of Heraclea]] on the coast west of [[Taranto|Tarentum]]. The battle was costly for both sides, prompting Pyrrhus to remark "One more such victory and I am lost." Making the best of it, the Roman army turned on Greek [[Rhegium]] and effected a massacre of Pyrrhian partisans there.

Rather than pursue them, Pyrrhus went straight for Rome along the Via Appia and then the Via Latina. He knew that if he continued on the Via Appia he could be trapped in the marsh. Wary of such entrapment on the Via Latina also, he withdrew without fighting after encountering opposition at [[Anagni]]. Wintering in [[Campania]], he withdrew to Apulia in 279&nbsp;BC, where, pursued by the Romans, he won a second costly victory at the [[Battle of Asculum]]. Withdrawing from Apulia for a Sicilian interlude, he returned to Apulia in 275&nbsp;BC and started for Campania up the Roman road.

Supplied by that same road, the Romans successfully defended the region against Pyrrhus, crushing his army in a two-day fight at the [[Battle of Beneventum (275 BC)|Battle of Beneventum]] in 275&nbsp;BC. The Romans renamed the town from "Maleventum" ("site of bad events") to Beneventum ("site of good events") as a result. Pyrrhus withdrew to Greece, where he died in a street fight in Argos in 272&nbsp;BC. Tarentum fell to the Romans that same year, who proceeded to consolidate their rule over all of Italy.<ref>See: ''The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History'', p. 66</ref>

The Romans pushed the Via Appia to the port of [[Brundisium]] in 264&nbsp;BC. The itinerary from Beneventum was now [[Aeculanum]], {{ill|Forum Aemilii|it}}, [[Venusia]], [[Gravina in Puglia|Silvium]], Tarentum, [[Oria (town)|Uria]] and Brundisium. The Roman Republic was the government of Italy, for the time being. Appius Claudius died in 273, but in extending the road a number of times, no one has tried to displace his name upon it.

==== Rediscovery ====
The Appian Way's path across today's regions [[Lazio]] and [[Campania]] has always been well known, but the exact position of the part located in Apulia (the original one, not the extension by Trajan) was long unknown, since there were no visible remains of the Appian Way in that region.<ref>[[#lugli-orientate|lugli-orientate]]</ref><ref>[[#piepoli-2014|piepoli-2014]]</ref>

In the first half of the 20th century, the professor of ancient Roman topography [[Giuseppe Lugli]] managed to discover, with the then-innovative technique of [[photogrammetry]], what probably was the route of the Appian Way from [[Gravina in Puglia]] (''Silvium'') up to [[Taranto]]. When analysing [[aerophotogrammetry|aerophotogrammetric]] shots of the area, Lugli noticed a path ({{langx|it|tratturo}}) named ''la Tarantina'', whose direction was still largely influenced by the [[centuriation]]; this, according to Lugli, was the path of the Appian Way. This path, as well as the part located in today's [[Apulia]] region, was still in use in the [[Middle Ages]]. A further piece of evidence for Lugli's proposed path is the presence of a number of archaeological remains in that region, among them the ancient settlement of Jesce.<ref>[[#lugli-orientate|lugli-orientate]]</ref><ref>[[#piepoli-2014|piepoli-2014]]</ref>

By studying the distances given in the [[Antonine Itinerary]], Lugli also assigned the Appian Way stations ''Blera'' and ''Sublupatia'' (which also occurs on the ''[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]'') respectively to the areas ''Murgia Catena'' and ''Taverna'' (between masseria (estate farmhouse) S. Filippo and masseria S. Pietro). However, the toponym ''Murgia Catena'' defined too large an area, not allowing a clear localization of the Appian Way station. More recently Luciano Piepoli, based on the distances given in the [[Antonine Itinerary]] and on newer archeological findings, has suggested that ''Silvium'' should be ''Santo Staso'', an area very close to [[Gravina in Puglia]], ''Blera'' should be ''masseria Castello'', and ''Sublupatia'' should be ''masseria Caione''.<ref>[[#lugli-orientate|lugli-orientate]]</ref><ref>[[#piepoli-2014|piepoli-2014]]</ref>

=== Main branches ===
[[File:Viatraiana-egnaziartp.jpg|thumb|Emperor [[Trajan]] built a deviation of Via Appia. This is a tract of Via Appia Traiana near [[Gnatia|Egnatia]].]]
Since the latter stretch of the Appian Way turned out to be very impervious, some branches were created: first the {{ill|Via Aemilia in Hirpinis|it|lt=Via Aemilia}}, then the {{ill|Via Minucia|it}}, finally the emperor [[Trajan]] built the [[Via Traiana]], a branch of the Via Appia from Beneventum, reaching Brundisium via [[Canosa di Puglia|Canusium]] and [[Bari]]um rather than via Tarentum. This was commemorated by an arch at Beneventum.

Travellers could cross the [[Adriatic Sea]] through the [[Strait of Otranto|Otranto Strait]] towards [[Albania]] either by landing at present day [[Durrës]] through the [[Via Egnatia]] or near the ancient town of [[Apollonia (Illyria)|Apollonia]] and continue towards present day [[Rrogozhinë]] in central Albania.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haFlGXIg8uoC&q=via+appia+albania&pg=PA471 |title = Historical Dictionary of Albania|isbn = 978-0-8108-7380-3|last1 = Elsie|first1 = Robert|date = 2010| publisher=Scarecrow Press }}</ref>

== Notable historical events along the road ==

=== Crucifixion of Spartacus's army ===
{{Further|Third Servile War}}
[[File:"Brundisium" (Heute Brindisi) wurde im Jahr 266 v. Chr. von den Römern erobert. 05.jpg|thumb|The column in [[Brindisi]], marking the end of the Via Appia]]
In 73&nbsp;BC, a slave revolt (known as the [[Third Servile War]]) under the ex-gladiator of Capua, [[Spartacus]], began against the Romans. Slaves accounted for roughly every third person in Italy.

Spartacus defeated many Roman armies in a conflict that lasted for over two years. While trying to escape from Italy at [[Brindisi|Brundisium]] he unwittingly moved his forces into the historic trap at [[Apulia]] in [[Calabria]].{{clarify|date=May 2021}} The Romans were well acquainted with the region. Legions were brought home from abroad and Spartacus was pinned between armies. The ex-slave army was defeated at the [[Sele (river)|Siler River]] by [[Marcus Licinius Crassus]]. [[Pompey]]'s armies captured and killed several thousand rebels that escaped from the battle and Crassus captured several thousand more. The Romans judged that the slaves had forfeited their right to live. In 71&nbsp;BC, 6,000 slaves were [[crucifixion|crucified]] along the {{convert|200|km|sp=us|adj=on}} Via Appia from Rome to Capua.<ref>[[Appian]], ''Civil Wars'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/1*.html#120 1.120].</ref>

=== World War II, Battle of Anzio ===
{{Main article|Battle of Anzio}}
In 1943, during [[World War II]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] fell into the same trap Pyrrhus had retreated to avoid, in the [[Pontine Marshes|Pomptine fields]], the successor to the [[Pontine Marshes]]. The marsh remained, despite many efforts to drain it, until engineers working for [[Benito Mussolini]] finally succeeded (even so, the fields were infested with [[malaria]]l [[Mosquito|mosquitos]] until the advent of [[DDT]] in the 1950s).

Hoping to break a stalemate at [[Monte Cassino]], the Allies landed on the coast of Italy at the [[Anzio]]-[[Nettuno]] area – ancient [[Antium]] – which was midway between [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]] and [[Terracina]]. They found that the place was undefended. They intended to move along the line of the Via Appia to take Rome, outflanking Monte Cassino, but they did not do so quickly enough. The Germans occupied Mounts Laziali and Lepini along the track of the old Via Latina, from which they rained down shells on Anzio. Even though the Allies expanded into all the Pomptine region, they gained no ground. The Germans counterattacked down the via Appia from the Alban hills in a front four miles wide, but could not retake Anzio. The battle lasted for four months, one side being supplied by sea, the other by land through Rome. In May 1944, the Allies broke out of Anzio and took [[Rome]]. The German forces escaped to the north of [[Florence]].

===1960 Summer Olympics===
During the [[1960 Summer Olympics]], the Via Appia was part of the course of the [[Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics|men's marathon]]. The event was won by [[Abebe Bikila]] of [[Ethiopia at the 1960 Summer Olympics|Ethiopia]].<ref>[http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1960/OR1960v1.pdf 1960 Summer Olympics official report.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031012134/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1960/OR1960v1.pdf |date=31 October 2008 }} Vol. 1. pp. 80–81.</ref><ref>[http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1960/OR1960v2pt1.pdf 1960 Summer Olympics official report.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527211502/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1960/OR1960v2pt1.pdf |date=27 May 2008 }} Vol. 2. Part 1. pp. 117–118.</ref>

== Main sights ==

=== Via Appia Antica ===
[[File:Via appia.jpg|thumb|upright|Via Appia Antica 4.1 km southeast from Porta Appia ([[Porta San Sebastiano]]), the gate of the Aurelian Walls]]
{{Main|Appian Way Regional Park}}
After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], the road fell out of use; [[Pope Pius VI]] ordered its restoration. A new Appian Way was built in parallel with the old one in 1784 as far as the Alban Hills region. The new road is the Via Appia Nuova ('New Appian Way') as opposed to the old section, now known as Via Appia Antica. The old Appian Way close to Rome is now a free tourist attraction. It was extensively restored for Rome's [[Millennium]] and [[Great Jubilee]] celebrations. The first {{convert|3|mi|km|0|sp=us|order=flip}} are still heavily used by cars, buses and coaches but from then on traffic is very light and the ruins can be explored on foot in relative safety. The [[Santa Maria in Palmis|Church of Domine Quo Vadis]] is in the second mile of the road. Along or close to the part of the road closest to Rome, there are three [[catacombs]] of Roman and early [[Christians|Christian]] origin and one of [[Vigna Randanini|Jewish origin]].

The construction of Rome's ring road, the [[Grande Raccordo Anulare]] or GRA, in 1951 caused the Appian Way to be cut in two. More recent improvements to the GRA have rectified this through the construction of a tunnel under the Appia, so that it is now possible to follow the Appia on foot for about {{convert|10|mi|km|sp=us|order=flip|abbr=on}} from its beginning near the [[Baths of Caracalla]].

Many parts of the original road beyond Rome's environs have been preserved, and some are now used by cars (for example, in the area of [[Velletri]]). The road inspires the last movement of [[Ottorino Respighi]]'s ''[[Pines of Rome|Pini di Roma]]''. To this day the Via Appia contains the longest stretch of straight road in Europe,<ref>{{cite arXiv|eprint=0706.1325|title=Astronomical references in the planning of ancient roads |last1=Magli |first1=Giulio |class=physics.hist-ph |year=2007 }}</ref> totaling {{convert|62|km|0|abbr=on}}.

=== Monuments along the Via Appia ===

==== 1st to 4th mile ====
* Porta Appia ([[Porta San Sebastiano]]), the gate of the Aurelian Walls
* [[Santa Maria in Palmis|Church of Domine Quo Vadis]]
* [[Tomb of Priscilla]] 
* [[Catacomb of Callixtus]]
* [[Hypogeum of Vibia]]
* [[San Sebastiano fuori le mura]]
* [[Catacombs of Rome#Catacombs of San Sebastiano|Catacombs of St Sebastian]]
* [[Vigna Randanini|Vigna Randanini Jewish catacombs]]
* [[Circus of Maxentius]]
* [[Tomb of Caecilia Metella]]
* Roman baths of [[Capo di Bove]]
* [[Tomb of Hilarus Fuscus]]

==== 5th mile ====
* Mausoleum of the [[Horatii and Curiatii|Orazi and Curiazi]]
* [[Villa of the Quintilii|Villa dei Quintili]], with ''[[Nymphaeum|nympheum]]'', theatre, and baths
* Mausoleum of [[Casal Rotondo]]

==== 6th mile and beyond ====
* Minucia tomb
* Torre Selce
* Temple of Hercules
* ''Berrettia di Prete'' (tomb and later church)
* Mausoleum of [[Gallienus]]
* [[Tre Taverne|Tres Tabernae]]
* Villa of Publius Clodius Pulcher (in the Villa Santa Caterina, owned by the Pontifical North American College), 14th mile
* Villa of Pompey

==== Bridges along the road ====
{{Further|List of Roman bridges}}
There are the remains of several Roman bridges along the road, including the Ponte di Tre Ponti, Ponte di Vigna Capoccio, Viadotta di Valle Ariccia, Ponte Alto and Ponte Antico.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="250px">
File:Porta St. Sebastiano Rome 2011 1.jpg|[[Porta San Sebastiano]] is the gate of the Appia in the [[Aurelian Walls]].
File:Sepolcro Priscilla Appia Antica.jpg|[[Tomb of Priscilla]]
File:San Sebastiano fuori le mura (Rome).jpg|[[San Sebastiano fuori le Mura]], located on the catacombs of San Sebastiano
File:Roma, Circo di Massenzio (7).jpg|The [[Circus of Maxentius]]
File:Roma Appia Antica - mausoleo Cecilia Metella.JPG|[[Tomb of Caecilia Metella]] and the ''castrum [[Caetani]]''
File:Appia antica 2-7-05 036.jpg|The Mausoleum of the Curiazi has been dated to between the end of the [[Roman Republic|Republic]] and the beginning of the [[Roman Empire|Empire]].
File:TorreSelceAppiaAntica.JPG|Torre Selce, a 12th-century tower built on a much older mausoleum
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Appian Way Regional Park]]
* [[Park of the Caffarella]] – which borders the northern side of the Appian Way
* [[Roman bridge]]
* [[Ancient Roman engineering|Roman engineering]]
* [[Tre Taverne|Three Taverns]]
* [[Pines_of_Rome#"I_Pini_della_Via_Appia"|The Pines of the Appian Way]] – a movement of [[Ottorino Respighi]]'s [[Symphonic poem|tone poem]] ''[[Pines of Rome]]''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*Berechman, Joseph. 2003. "Transportation – Economic Aspects of Roman Highway Development: The Case of Via Appia". ''Transportation Research Part A'' 37, no. 5: 453–478.
*Coarelli, Filippo. 2007. ''Rome and environs: An archaeological guide.'' Translated by James J. Clauss and Daniel P. Harmon. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
*Della Portella, Ivana. 2004. ''The Appian Way: From Its Foundation to the Middle Ages.'' Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
*Dubbini, Rachele. 2016. "A New Republican Temple on the Via Appia, at the Borders of Rome's Urban Space". ''Journal of Roman Archaeology'' 29: 327–347.
*Kleijn, M. de, R. de Hond, and O. Martinez-Rubi. 2016. "A 3D Spatial Data Infrastructure for Mapping the Via Appia". ''Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage'' 3: 23–32.
*Magli, Giulio, Eugenio Realini, Mirko Reguzzoni, and Daniele Sampietro. 2014. "Uncovering a Masterpiece of Roman Engineering: The Project of Via Appia between Colle Pardo and Terracina". ''Journal of Cultural Heritage'' 15, no. 6: 665–669.
*Peterson, John. 2015. "Modelling Roman surveying in the Pontine plain". ''1st International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology Benevento, Italy, 22–23 October 2015'' 445–459.
*{{Cite journal |title=Il percorso della via Appia antica nell'Apulia et Calabria: stato dell'arte e nuove acquisizioni sul tratto Gravina-Taranto |author=Luciano Piepoli |journal=Vetera Christianorum |year=2014 |issue=51 |pages=239–261 |url=https://www.academia.edu/19653893 |language=it |ref=piepoli-2014}}
*{{Cite book |title=La via Appia attraverso l'Apulia e un singolare gruppo di strade "orientate" |author=Giuseppe Lugli |url=http://emeroteca.provincia.brindisi.it/Archivio%20Storico%20Pugliese/1955/Archivio%20Storico%20pugliese%20A.8%201955%20fasc.1-4%20articoli%20PDF/La%20Via%20Appia%20Attraverso%20L'Apulia%20e%20un%20Singolare%20Gruppo%20di%20Strade%20Orientate.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229212533/http://emeroteca.provincia.brindisi.it/Archivio%20Storico%20Pugliese/1955/Archivio%20Storico%20pugliese%20A.8%201955%20fasc.1-4%20articoli%20PDF/La%20Via%20Appia%20Attraverso%20L'Apulia%20e%20un%20Singolare%20Gruppo%20di%20Strade%20Orientate.pdf |archive-date=2021-12-29 |url-status=live |language=it |ref=lugli-orientate|author-link=Giuseppe Lugli}}
*{{Cite book |first=William |last=Smith |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography |location=London |year=1854 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0064}}

== External links ==
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Appian Way |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{official website}}
* [https://www.parcoappiaantica.it Appian Way Regional Park]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=cIcpKJw2ajgC&q=appian+way Ivana Della Portella, Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio, Francesca Ventre. The Appian Way: From Its Foundation to the Middle Ages. Los Angeles, 2004 (Google Books Preview).]
* [http://www.romeartlover.it/Appia.html Via Appia Antica From Torre In Selci To Frattocchie]
* [http://www.romeartlover.it/Appia2.html Via Appia Antica From Cecilia Metella To Torre In Selci]
* [http://www.oldandsold.com/articles27n/roman-cities-8.shtml The Via Appia And The Cities Of The Pontine Plain]
* [http://www.ilmarefilm.org/archive/roba_archiv_E.html Documentary Film about the Sassi di Matera and the Appian Way, Roba Forestiera, 44 min., 2004]
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/arts/design/05appi.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=appian+way+rita&st=nyt&oref=slogin New York Times article on condition of Appian Way in modern times]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110513105613/http://www.omnesviae.org/#!iter_ROMA_Benebento Omnes Viae: Via Appia on the Tabula Peutingeriana]
* Robert Kaster's [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/excerpt/2012/kaster_appian.html "Advice for the Traveler"] excerpted from ''The Appian Way: Ghost Road, Queen of Roads''
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFOOOWQLc9ye25bNVRMoT8R9fY3FiwV15 Appia way series]

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