View source for Via Aurelia

{{Short description|Roman road in Italy}}
{{For|the modern road|Strada statale 1 Via Aurelia}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Via Aurelia
| image = Viae Cassia Aurelia Clodia.jpg 
| caption = Map of Roman roads; Via Aurelia is in dark blue.
| coordinates = 
| location = [[Rome]] to [[Luni, Italy]]
| map_type = 
| epochs = 241 BC
| builder = [[Aurelia (gens)|Gaius Aurelius Cotta]]
| type = [[Roman road]]
}}

[[Image:Map of Roman roads in Italy.png|thumb|right|Route of Via Aurelia (in yellow)]]
The '''Via Aurelia''' ({{literally|Aurelian Way}}) is a [[Roman road]] in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by [[Aurelia (gens)|Gaius Aurelius Cotta]], who at that time was [[Roman censor|censor]].<ref name=autogenerated1>Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary.'' 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.</ref> Cotta had a history of building roads for Rome, as he had overseen the construction of a military road in Sicily (as consul in 252 BC, during the [[First Punic War]]) connecting ''Agrigentum'' (modern [[Agrigento]]) and ''Panormus'' (modern [[Palermo]]).<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History.'' [New] ed. London: Cambridge University Press, 1970. Volume 7, p. 548 & 643</ref>

==Background==
In the middle Republic, a series of roads were built throughout Italy to serve the needs of Roman expansion, including swift army movements and reasonably quick communication with Roman colonies spread throughout Italy. There also was the unintended (but beneficial) consequence of an increase in trade among Italian cities and with Rome. The roads were standardized to {{convert|15|ft|m}} wide allowing two chariots to pass, and distance was marked with [[milestone]]s.<ref>[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Road-Warrior.html Via Aurelia: The Roman Empire's Lost Highway] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605161210/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Road-Warrior.html |date=2009-06-05 }} ''Smithsonian Magazine'', June 2009</ref> 

The Via Aurelia was constructed as a part of this road construction campaign, which began in 312 BC with the building of the [[Appian Way|Via Appia]]. Other roads included in this construction period were the ''Viae Amerina'' ({{Circa}} 231 BC), ''Flaminina'', ''Clodia'', ''[[Via Aemilia|Aemilia]]'', ''Cassia'', ''Valeria'' ({{Circa}} 307 BC), and ''Caecilia'' ({{Circa}} 283 BC).<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History.'' [New] ed. Paris: Cambridge University Press, 1950. Volume 8, pg. 484.</ref>

==Route==
The Via Aurelia crossed the [[Tiber]] by way of the bridge ''Pons Aemilius'', then exited Rome from its western side. After the Emperor [[Aurelian]] built a wall around Rome ({{Circa}} 270–273 CE), the Via Aurelia exited from the Porta Aurelia (gates). The road then ran about {{convert|25|mi|km|0}} to [[Alsium]] on the Tyrrhenian coast, north along the coast to ''Vada Volaterrana'', [[Cosa]], and ''Pisae'' (modern-day [[Pisa]]). There the original length of the Via Aurelia terminated.<ref>Platner, Samuel Ball. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome.'' London, Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1929. pg. 561.</ref> 

This was an especially important route during the early and middle Republic because it linked Rome, ''Cosa'', and ''Pisae''. ''Cosa'' was an important colony and military outpost in [[Etruria]], and ''Pisae'' was the only port between ''Genua'' and Rome. Consequently, it was an important naval base for the Romans in their wars against the [[Ligures|Ligurians]], [[Gauls]] and [[Carthaginians]].<ref>Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola & Richard J.A. Talbert. A Brief History of the Romans. Oxford University Press, New York, US, 2006. pp. 48-49.</ref>

The Via Aurelia later was extended by roughly {{convert|320|km|-1|abbr=on}} in 109 BC by the [[Via Aemilia Scauri]], constructed by [[Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (consul 115 BC)|M. Aemilius Scaurus]]. This road led to ''Dertona'' (modern [[Tortona]]), ''Placentia'', [[Cremona]], ''Aquilea'', and ''Genua'', from which travellers could proceed to ''Gallia Narbonensis'' (southern France) by way of the [[Via Postumia]].<ref name=autogenerated1 /> 

This followed some rebuilding of the road by the same person during his consulship in 119 BC.<ref>Fentress, E., 'Via Aurelia, Via Aemilia', Papers of the British School at Rome LII, 1984, pp. 72-76</ref> 

By the time of the high Empire, travellers could go from Rome by way of the Via Aurelia across the Alps on the [[Via Julia Augusta]] to either northern France or ''Gades'' (modern [[Cádiz]], Spain).<ref>Boumphrey, Geoffrey Maxwell. ''Along the Roman Roads.'' London: Allen & Unwin, 1935.</ref>

The modern [[Strada Statale 1 Aurelia]] occupies the same route, and colloquially is still referred to as ''La Via Aurelia''.

==Roman bridges==
There are the remains of several [[Roman bridge]]s along the road, including the Cloaca di Porta San Clementino, Ponte del Diavolo, Primo Ponte, and the Secondo Ponte (the last three in Sta Marinella).{{cn|date=October 2021}}

==See also==
* [[List of Roman bridges]]
* [[Roman roads|Roman road]]
* [[Roman bridge]]
* [[Ancient Roman engineering|Roman engineering]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons cat}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Aurelia, Via}}
* Samuel Ball Platner, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Via_Aurelia.html Via Aurelia], from ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (London: Oxford University Press, 1929).
* Joshua Hammer, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090605161210/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Road-Warrior.html Via Aurelia: The Roman Empire's Lost Highway], ''Smithsonian'' magazine, June 2009.
* [http://www.omnesviae.org/#!iter_ROMA_Pisis Omnes Viae: Via Aurelia on the Tabula Peutingeriana]

{{List of Roman roads}}
[[Category:Roman roads in Italy|Aurelia, Via]]
[[Category:240s BC establishments]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC establishments in the Roman Republic]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:Rome Q. XIV Trionfale]]
[[Category:Rome S. IX Aurelio]]
[[Category:Rome S. VIII Gianicolense]]