place soon after the complete subjugation of the Transpadane Gauls. Nor do we know with any certainty whether the name of Via Aemilia was ever applied in common usage to this portion of the road, or to the branches that led from Mediolanum to the foot of the Alps, as well as from that city by Verona to Patavium. But as Strabo distinctly applies the name to the branch that led by Patavium to Aquileia, we may here most conveniently include all the principal highroads of the N. of Italy under one view in the present article. 1. The main or trunk line of the Via Aemilia from Ariminum to Placentia. The stations on this road are thus given in the Antonine Itinerary, where they are repeated more than once (pp. 99, 126, 287); and, from the direct line of the road, the distances are subject to no doubt : From Ariminum (Rimini) to XX. M.P. Faventia (Faenza) Σχίν. Forum Cornelii (Imola) Bononia (Bologna) Σχίν. Mutina (Modena) Fidentiola (Borgo S. Donino) XV. Placentia (Piacenza) XXİV. The same line is given more in detail in the Jerusalem Itinerary (p. 615, &c.), with which the Tabula substantially agrees; but the distances are more correctly given in the latter. The stations enumerated are:Competu (I. H.) Ad Comfluentes (Tub.) Caesena (Cesena) Forum Forum Livii xii. M. P. (Fort)poli) vii. Faventia (Faenza) Claterna (Quaderna) Mutina (Modena) · vii. Σ. X. xiv. X. xvii. xvii. xi. vii. Fidentia (Borgo S. Donino) XV. X. XV. The general agreement in the distances above given (which are those of the Tabula) with those of the Antonine Itinerary, though the division is different, sufficiently shows the accuracy of the two. The distances in the Jerusalem Itinerary are, for this line of route, generally less accurate. Some obscure Mutationes mentioned in the one document, and not in the other, have been omitted in the above list. 2. Continuation of the Via Aemilia from Placentia to Mediolanum. This line is summarily given in the Antonine Itinerary thus: From Placentia to Laus Pompeia (Lodi Vecchio) - xxiv. M.P. The same distances are thus divided in the Jeru (In the above line of route the minor stations (Mutationes) given in the Jerusalem Itinerary are omitted. For an examination of them, and a careful comparison of all the Roman roads through Cisalpine Gaul, see Walckenaer, Géographie des Gaules, vol. iii. pp. 2-13.) 5. From Bononia to Aquileia. This is the road of which Strabo expressly speaks as a continuation of the Via Aemilia (v. p. 217), but it is probable that he did not mean to say that it branched off directly from Bononia; at least the only line given in the Itineraries turns off from the main line of the Via Aemilia at Mutina, and thence proceeds to whence it followed the same line to Aquileia as that given above. Another line of road, which though more circuitous was probably more frequented, led from Mutina by Colicaria (an uncertain station) to Hostilia (Ostiglia), where it crossed the Padus, and thence direct to Verona (xxx. M. P.). (Itin. Ant. p. 282.) 6. From Placentia to Dertona, where it communicated with the road constructed by Aemilius Scaurus across the Apennines to Vada Sabata. (Strab. v. p. 217.) The stations on this short line were:From Placentia to The first station, Comillomagus, or Camiliomagus, as the name is written in the Tabula, is unknown, but must have been situated a short distance to the W. of Broni. 7. Lastly, a branch of the Via Aemilia led from Placentia to Ticinum (Pavia), whence it was carried westwards to Augusta Taurinorum (Turin) and Rigomagus (Trino Vecchio) Ceste (?) Quadratae (near Londaglio) Ad Decimum Taurini (Turin) Ad Fines (Avigliano) xi. xii. X. xvi. xii. xii. The rest of the route over the Cottian Alps is given in the article ALPES. [E. H. B.] VIA AEMILIA SCAURI, is the name given, for the sake of distinction, to a road which was constructed by Aemilius Scaurus long after the more celebrated Via Aemilia above described. Strabo, the only author who distinctly mentions the two, says that Aemilius Scaurus, after having drained the marshes on the S. side of the Padus, constructed the Aemilian Way through Pisae and Luna as far as Sabata, and thence through Dertona. (Strab. v. p. 217.) Whether "the other Aemilian Way," as Strabo calls it, had been already continued from Placentia to Dertona, or this also was first effected by Scaurus, we know not; but it is clear that the two were thus brought into connection. The construction of this great work must be assigned to the censorship of M. Aemilius Scaurus, in B. c. 109, as we learn from Aurelius Victor (Vir. Ill. 72), who, however, probably confounds it with the more celebrated Via Aemilia from Placentia to Ariminum. But a comparison of the two authors leaves no doubt as to the road really meant. The name seems to have gradually fallen into disuse, probably on account of the ambiguity arising between the two Viae of the same name; and we find both the coast-road from Pisae to Vada Sabata, and that across the mountains from the latter place by Aquae Statiellae to Dertona, included by the Itineraries as a part of the Via Aurelia, of which the former at least was in fact a mere continuation. Hence it will be convenient to discuss the stations and distances along these lines, under the general head of VIA AURELIA. [E. H. B.] VIA AMERINA, is the name given in an inscription of the time of Hadrian (Orell. Inscr. 3306) to a line of road, which must obviously be that leading direct from Rome to Ameria. This, as we learn from the Tabula, branched off from the Via Cassia at Baccanae (Baccano), and proceeded through Nepete and Falerii to Ameria. The stations and distances as there given are:Rome to Baccanae Nepete (Nepi) Falerii (Sta Maria di Castellum Amerinum xxi. M. P. ix. V. xii. ix. The sum of these distances (56 miles) agrees precisely with the statement of Cicero, who, in the The distance from that city to Clusium is again omitted. [E. H. B.] ... VIA APPIA († 'Awæla ddós), the greatest and most celebrated of all the Roman highways in Italy, which led from Rome direct to Brandusium, and thus became the principal line of communication with Greece, Macedonia and the East. Hence it became, in the flourishing times of the Roman Empire, the most frequented and important of the Roman roads, and is called by Statius" regina viarum." (Silv. ii. 2. 12.) Martial also calls it "Appia . . . Ausoniae maxima fama viae" (ix. 102). The former author terms it annosa Appia," in reference to its great antiquity (Ib. iv. 3. 163.) It was indeed the earliest of all the Roman highways, of the construction of which we have any definite account, and very probably the first of all that was regularly made as a great public work; the Via Salaria, Tiburtina, &c., having doubtless long been in use as mere natural roads, before they were converted into solidly constructed Viae. There must in like manner have always been some kind of road communicating from Rome with Alba and Aricia; but it is evident, from the perfectly straight line followed by the Via Appia from a point very little without the gates of Rome to Aricia, that this must have been a new work, laid out and executed at once. The original construction of the Via Appia was undoubtedly due to the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, who commenced it in B. C. 312, and completed it as far as Capua before the close of his censorship. (Liv. ix. 29; Diod. xx. 36; Frontin. de Aquaed. 5; Orell. Inscr. 539.) From Capua it was undoubtedly carried on to Beneventum, and again at a subsequent period to Brundusium; but the date of these continuations is unknown. is evident that the last at least could not have taken place till after the complete subjugation of the south of Italy in B. C. 266, and probably not till after the establishment of the Roman colony at Brundusium, B. C. 244. Hence it is certainly a mistake when Aurelius Victor speaks of Appius Claudius Caecus as having carried the Appian Way to Brundusium. (Vict. Vir. Ill. 34.) The continuation and completion of this great work has been assigned to various members of the Claudian family; but this is entirely without authority. It Strabo distinctly speaks of the Appian Way as extending, in his time, from Rome to Brundusium; and his description of its course and condition is important. After stating that almost all travellers from Greece and the East used to land at Brundusium, he adds: “From thence there are two ways to Rome, the one adapted only for mules, through the country of the Peucetians, Daunians, and Samnites, to Beneventum, on which are the cities of Egnatia, Caelia, Canusium, and Her. donia; the other through Tarentum, deviating a little to the left, and going round about a day's journey, which is called the Appian, and is better adapted for carriages. On this are situated Uria (between Brundusium and Tarentum) and Venusia, on the confines of the Samnites and Lucanians. Both these roads, starting from Brundusium, meet at Beneventum. | speaks with admiration of the solidity and perfection Thence to Rome the road is called the Appian, of its construction. "The Appian Way (says he) passing through Caudium, Calatia, Capua, and extends from Rome to Capua, a journey of five days Casilinum, to Sinuessa. The whole distance from for an active traveller. Its width is such as to Rome to Brundusium is 360 miles. There is yet a admit of the passage of two waggons in contrary third road, from Rhegium, through the Bruttians and directions. The road itself is worthy of the highest Lucanians, and the lands of the Samnites to Campania, admiration, for the stone of which it is composed, a where it joins the Appian; this passes through the kind of mill-stone, and by nature very hard, was Apennine mountains, and is three or four days' brought by Appius from some distant region, since journey longer than that from Brundusium." (Strab. none such is found in this part of the country. He v. p. 283.) It is not improbable that the first of then, after having smoothed and levelled the stones, these branches, which Strabo distinctly distinguishes and cut them into angular forms, fitted them from the true Appian Way, is the Via Numicia or closely together, without inserting either bronze Minucia (the reading is uncertain), mentioned by or any other substance. But they are so accuHorace as the alternative way by which it was cus-rately fitted and joined together, as to present the tomary to proceed to Brundusium. (Hor. Ep. i. appearance of one compact mass naturally united, 18. 20.) But Strabo gives us no information as to and not composed of many parts. And notwithhow it proceeded from Herdonia, in the plains of standing the long period of time that has elapsed, Apulia, through the mountains to Beneventum. It during which they have been worn by the continual is, however, probable that it followed nearly the passage of so many carriages and beasts of burden, same line as the high road afterwards constructed by they have neither been at all displaced from their Trajan, through Aecae and Equus Tuticus. This is original position, nor have any of them been worn indeed one of the principal natural passes through down, or even lost their polish." (Procop. B. G. i. this part of the Apennines, and is still followed, with 14.) The above description conveys an accurate little deviation, by the modern highroad from Naples impression of the appearance which the Appian Way to Brindisi and Taranto. But it is worthy of re- must have presented in its most perfect state. The mark, that Horace and his companions in their extraordinary care and accuracy with which the journey to Brundusium, of which he has left us blocks that composed the pavement of the Roman the poetical itinerary (Sat. i. 5), appear not to have roads were fitted together, when first laid down, is followed this course, but to have taken a somewhat well seen in the so-called Via Triumphalis, which led more direct route through Trivicum, and a small to the Temple of Jupiter, on Mons Albanus. [ALtown not named (“ oppidulum quod versu dicere non BANUS MONS.] But it is evident from many other est"), to Canusium. This route, which does not examples, that they became much worn down with agree with either of those mentioned by Strabo, or time; and the pavement seen by Procopius had with those given in the Itineraries, was probably dis- doubtless been frequently restored. He is also misused after that constructed by Trajan, through taken in supposing that the hard basaltic lava (silex) Equus Tuticus and Aecae, had become the frequented with which it was paved, had to be brought from a line. It was to that emperor that the Appian Way distance: it is found in the immediate neighbourhood, was indebted for many improvements. He restored, and, in fact, the Appian Way itself, from the Capo if he was not the first to construct, the highroad di Bove to the foot of the Alban Hills, runs along a through the Pontine Marshes from Forum Appii to bank or ridge composed of this lava. Procopius also Tarracina (Dion Cass. lxviii. 15; Hoare, Class. Tour, falls into the common mistake of supposing that the vol. i. p. 28); and he at the same time constructed, road was originally constructed by Appius Claudius at his own expense, a new line of highroad from Bene- such as he beheld it. But during the long interval ventum to Brundusium (Gruter, Inscr. p. 151. 2), it had been the object of perpetual care and restorawhich is undoubtedly the Via Trajana celebrated by tion; and it is very doubtful how far any of the great coins. (Eckhel, vol. iv. p. 421.) It is probable (as works along its line, which excited the admiration of already pointed out) that he did no more than render the Romans in later ages, were due to its original practicable for carriages a line of route previously author. Caius Gracchus in particular had bestowed existing, but accessible only to mules; and that great pains upon the improvement of the Roman the Via Trajana coincided nearly with the road roads; and there is much reason to believe that it described by Strabo. But from the time that this was in his time that they first assumed the finished road was laid open to general traffic, the proper Via appearance which they ever afterwards bore. (Plut. Appia through Venusia to Tarentum, which tra- C. Gracch. 7.) Caesar also, when a young man, was versed a wild and thinly-peopled country, seems appointed "Curator Viae Appiae," which had beto have fallen much into disuse. It is, however, still come a regular office, and laid out large sums of given in the Antonine Itinerary (p. 120) though not money upon its improvement. (Plut. Caes. 5.) as the main line of the Appian Way. The latter ap- The care bestowed on it by successive emperors, and pellation seems indeed to have been somewhat vaguely especially by Trajan, is attested by numerous inscripused under the Empire, and the same Itinerary tions. bestows the name on the line, already indicated by Strabo (1. c.), that proceeded S. through Lucania and Bruttium to Rhegium, on the Sicilian Strait, a route which never went near Beneventum or Brundusium at all. The Appian Way long survived the fall of the Western Empire. That portion of it which passed through the Pontine Marshes, which was always the most liable to suffer from neglect, was restored by Theodoric (Gruter, Inscr. p. 152. 8); and It is very doubtful, indeed, whether the original Via Appia, as constructed by the censor Appius, was carried through the Pontine Marshes at all. No mention is found of his draining those marshes, without which such a work would have been impossible; and it is much more probable that the road was originally carried along the hills by Cora, Norba, and Setia, by the same line which was again in use in the last century, before the Pontine Marshes had been drained for the last time by Pius VI. This conjecture describing his journey from Rome to Capua, complains of the extremely hilly character of the road in approaching Setia. (Lucil. Fragm. iii. 6, ed. Gerlach.) Even in the time of Horace, as we learn from his well-known description of the journey to Brundusium, it was customary for travellers to continue their route from Forum Appii by water, embarking at that point on the canal through the Pontine Marshes (Hor. Sat. i. 5. 11, &c.). But the very existence of this canal renders it probable that there was at that time a road by the side of it, as we know was the case in Strabo's time, notwithstanding which he tells us that the canal was much used by travellers, who made the voyage in the night, and thus gained time. (Strab. v. p. 233.) It will be convenient to divide the description of the Appian Way, as it existed under the Roman Empire, and is given in the Itineraries, into several portions. The first of these from Rome to Capua was the main trunk line, upon which all its branches and extensions depended. This will require to be described in more detail, as the most celebrated and frequented of all the Roman highways. 1. From Rome to Capua. The stations given in the Antonine Itinerary are:From Rome to Aricia (Lariccia) xvi. M.P. Tres Tabernae Appii Forum Fundi (Fondi) Tarracina (Terracina) xvii. xviii. xvi. (xiii.) Formiae (Mola di Gaëta) xiii. Minturnae (near Tragletto) ix. Sinuessa (Mondragone) - ix. Capua (Sta Maria) -xvi.(xxvi.) The above stations are for the most part well known, and admit of no doubt. Those in the neigh-❘ bourhood of the Pontine Marshes have indeed given rise to much confusion, but are in fact to be easily determined. Indeed, the line of the road being almost perfectly straight from Rome to Tarracina renders the investigation of the distances a matter of little difficulty. The Jerusalem Itinerary (p. 611) subdivides the same distance as follows: Rome to Ad Nonum (mutatio) ix. M.P. vii. Sponsae or Ad Sponsas (mutatio) xix. Appii Forum (do.) vii. (xii.?) ix. xiii. Ad Medias (do.) Tarracina (civitas) - X. Fundi (do.) Formiae (do.) Minturnae (do.) Sinuessa (do.) Pons Campanus (mutatio) xii. ix. viii. The intermediate stations were (as they are expressly called in the Itinerary itself) mere Mutationes, or posthouses, where relays of horses were kept. The determination of their position is therefore of no interest, except in connection with the distances given, which vary materially from those of the other Itinerary, though the total distance from Rome to Capua (125 miles) is the same in both. The Appian Way issued from the Porta Capena, in the Servian walls of Rome, about half a mile outside of which it separated from the Via Latina, so that the two roads passed through different gates in the walls of Aurelian. That by which the Via Appia finally quitted Rome was known as the Porta Appia; it is now called the Porta S. Sebastiano. The first milestone on the road stood about 120 yards outside this gate; the distances always continuing to be measured from the old Porta Capena. The buildings and tombs which bordered the Via Appia in that portion of it which lay between the two gates, are described in the article ROMA, p. 821. It was appa. rently in this part of its course, just outside the original city, that it was spanned by three triumphal arches, erected in honour of Drusus (the father of the emperor Claudius), Trajan, and L. Verus. One only of these still remains, just within the Porta S. Sebastiano, which, from its plain and unadorned style of architecture, is probably that of Drusus. Outside the Porta Appia the road descends to a small stream or brook, now called Acquataccia, which it crosses by a bridge less than half a mile from the gate: this trifling stream is identified, on good grounds, with the river Almo, celebrated for the peculiar sacred rites with which it was connected [ALMO]. A short distance beyond this the road makes a considerable bend, and ascends a bank or ridge before it reaches the second milestone. From that point it is carried in a straight line direct to the remains of Bovillae at the foot of the Alban Hills, running the whole way along a slightly elevated bank or ridge, formed in all probability by a very ancient current of lava from the Alban Mount. This long, straight line of road, stretching across the Campagna, and bordered throughout by the remains of tombs and ruins of other buildings, is, even at the present day, one of the most striking features in the neighbourhood of Rome, and, when the edifices which bordered it were still perfect, must have constituted a magnificent approach to the Imperial City. The whole line has been recently cleared and carefully examined. It is described in detail by the Car. Canina (in the Annali dell' Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica for 1852 and 1853; and more briefly by Desjardins Essai sur la Topographie du Latium, 4to. Paris, 1854, pp. 92-130. We can here mention only some of the most interesting of the numerous monumenta that have been thus brought to light, as well as those previously known and celebrated. On the right of the road, shortly after crossing the Almo, are the remains of a vast sepulchre, which now serve to support the tavern or Osteria dell' Acquataccio; this is clearly identified by the inscriptions discovered there in 1773, as the monument of Abascantius, a freedman of Domitian, and of his wife Priscilla, of which Statius has left us in one of his poems a detailed description (Stat. Silv. v. 1). On the left of the road, almost exactly 3 miles from Rome, is the most celebrated of all the monuments of this kind, the massive sepulchre of Caecilia Metella, the daughter of Q. Metellus Creticus, and wife of Crassus the triumvir. Converted into a fortress in the middle ages, this tower-like monument is still in remarkable preservation, and, from its commanding position, is a conspicuous object from all points of the surrounding country. It is popularly known as the Capo di Bove, from the bucranium which appears as an ornament in the frieze. (A view of this remarkable monument is given in the article ROMA, p. 822.) Before reaching the Capo di Bove, the road passes some extensive remains of buildings on the left, which appear to have formed part of an imperial villa constructed by the emperor Maxentius, attached to which are the remains of a circus, also the work of the same emperor, and which, from their remarkably perfect condition, have thrown much light on the general plan of these edifices. 844.] [ROMA, p. 1 miles. A little farther on are the remains of Bo- Proceeding onwards from the tomb of Caecilia Metella, the road is bordered throughout by numerous sepulchres, the most remarkable of which is the tomb of Servilius Quartus, on the left, about 3 miles from Rome. The remarkable preservation of the ancient road in this part of its course, shows the accuracy of the description above cited from Procopius; but it is remarkable that this, the greatest and most frequented highway of the Roman empire, was only just wide enough to admit of the passage of two carriages abreast, being only 15 feet broad between the raised crepidines which bordered it. After passing a number of obscure tombs on both sides of the way, there occurs, just beyond the fifth mile from Rome, a remarkable enclosure, of quadrangular form, surrounded by a low wall of Alban stone. This has frequently been supposed to be the Campus Sacer Horatiorum, alluded to by Martial (iii. 47) as existing on the Appian Way, and which preserved the memory of the celebrated combat between the Horatii and Curiatii. This was believed to have been fought just about 5 miles from Rome (Liv. i. 23), which would accord well with the position of the enclosure in question; but it is maintained by modern antiquaries that this, which was certainly of a sacred character, more probably served the purposes of an Ustrinum, or place where the bodies of the dead were burned, previously to their being deposited in the numerous sepulchres that lined both sides of the Appian Way. These still form a continuous cemetery for above two miles farther. The most massive of them all, which must, when entire, have greatly exceeded even that of Caecilia Metella in magnitude, and from its circular form is known as the Casal Rotondo, occurs near the 6th mile from Rome, on the left of the Via Appia. From a fragment of an inscription found here, it is probable that this is the tomb of Messala Corvinus, the friend of Augustus and patron of Tibullus, and is the very monument, the massive solidity of which is more than once referred to by Martial ("Messalae saxa," viii. 3. 5; "marmora Messalae," x. 2. 9). Somewhat nearer Rome, on the same side of the road, are extensive ruins of a different description, which are ascertained to be those of a villa of the Quintilii, two brothers celebrated for their wealth, who were put to death by Commodus (Dion Cass. Ixxii. 5), after which the villa in question probably became an imperial residence. The remainder of the road will not require to be described in such detail. From Aricia it was continued, with a slight deviation from the direct line, avoiding the hills of Genzano and those which bound the Lake of Nami, on the left, and leaving Lanuvium at some distance on the right, till it descended again into the plain beyond the Alban Hills and reached the station of Tres Tabernae. An intermediate station, Sub Lanuvio, indicated only in the Tabula, must have been situated where a branch road struck off to the city of Lanuvium. The position of Tres Tabernae has been much disputed, but without any good reason. That of Forum Appii, the next stage, is clearly established [FORUM APPII], and the 43rd milestone of the ancient road still exists on the spot; thus showing that the distances given in the Antonine Itinerary are perfectly correct. This being established, it is clear that Tres Tabernae is to be placed at a spot 10 miles nearer Rome, and about 3 miles beyond the modern Cisterna, where there are still ruins of ancient buildings, near a mediaeval tower called the Torre d'Annibale. The ancient pavement is still visible in many places between Aricia and Tres Tabernae, and no doubt can exist as to the course of the road. This was indeed carried in a perfectly straight line from the point where it descended into the plain, through the Pontine Marshes to within a few miles of Terracina, The position of the station Ad Sponsas, mentioned in the Jerusalem Itinerary, cannot be determined, as the distances there given are incorrect. We should perhaps read xii. for vii. as the distance from Forum Appii, in which case it must be placed 2 miles nearer Rome than Tres Tabernae. Between the latter station and Forum Appii was TRIPONTIUM, at which commenced the canal navigation called Decennovium from its being 19 miles in length. The site of this is clearly marked by a tower still called Torre di Tre Ponti, and the 19 miles measured thence along the canal would terminate at a point 3 miles from Terracina, where travellers quitted the canal for that city. An inscription records the paving of this part of the road by Trajan. The solitary posthouse of Mesa Some remains of a small temple, just 8 miles from Rome, have been supposed to be those of a temple of Hercules, consecrated or restored by Domitian at that distance from the city (Martial, iii. 47. 4, ix. 65. 4, 102. 12); but though the site of the temple in question is clearly indicated, it appears that the existing remains belong to an edifice of earlier date. Exactly 9 miles from Rome are the ruins of a villa of imperial date, within which is a large circular monument of brick, supposed with good reason to be the tomb of Gallienus, in which the emperor Flavius Severus also was buried. (Vict. Epit. lx.) Close to this spot must have been the station Ad Nonum mentioned in the Jerusalem Itinerary (l. c.). The road is still bordered on both sides by tombs; but none of these are of any special interest. At the Osteria delle Fratocchie (between 11 and 12 miles from Rome) the ancient Via is joined by the modern road to Albano: it here commences the ascent of the Alban Hills, which con- known as the CLIVUS VIRBII, mentioned by Persius tinues (though at first very gradually) for above 3 | (vi. 55). * It was probably this long ascent that was |
