16/06/2020
The Ancient Appian Way, also called “Regina Viarum” (the Queen of Roads), was built in 312 B.C. by Appius Claudius, Censor of Rome. The route linked Rome to Capua (the current Santa Maria Capua Vetere). Its first stretch was 132 miles long, a distance that could be covered in five or six days.
Following Rome’s expansion, it was extended several times: initially until Beneventum, then to the Apennines, to Venosa, and again to Taranto. Finally, it reached Brindisi, the Empire’s Eastern Gateway.
An alternate route was built during the second century A.D. by the emperor Trajan, whose name was added. The new Appian Trajan Way allowed to cover the distance of 365 miles from Rome to Brindisi in 13 or 14 days.
Nowadays, the Ancient Appian Way can be visited on foot or with Rome in a Day’s Bike Tours. It is the heart of the Appia Antica Regional Park (established in 1988). It includes the Caffarella and Aqueducts parks, plus several archaeological sites such as the Massenzio Villa, the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella and the Quintili Villa.
