The Appian Way is the oldest and most important road in the Roman world.
Built in 312 BC, it ran from Rome all the way to Brindisi on the heel of Italy — a distance of nearly 600 kilometres.
The Romans called it the Regina Viarum: the Queen of Roads.
Walking it today, you are walking on the original Roman paving stones.
The basalt blocks were cut and laid with extraordinary precision — designed to last, and they have.
On either side, the road is lined with tombs.
Roman law forbade burial within the city walls, so families built elaborate mausoleums along the roads leading out — making the Appian Way one long open-air necropolis.
This road also carried armies.
It was down the Appian Way that the bodies of 6,000 crucified slaves were displayed after the defeat of Spartacus's revolt in 71 BC — one cross every forty metres, all the way from Capua to Rome.
The road was a demonstration of Roman power in every direction.
Fun fact: the early Christians used the catacombs beneath the Appian Way as burial sites and secret meeting places.
There are over 60 kilometres of underground tunnels beneath this stretch of road, containing the remains of hundreds of thousands of people.
If you're interested make sure to visit the Catacomb of San Callisto.
