The Road is named after Appius Claudius, the Roman censor who began and completed the first section as a military road to the south in 312 BC and was constructed in order to make a fast and reliable communication between Rome and Capua.
The Appian Way was celebrated by Horace and Statius, who called it longarum regina viarum, or “queen of long-distance roads.”
The first few miles of the Appian Way outside Rome are flanked by a striking series of monuments, and there are also milestones and other inscriptions along the remains of the road.
While trying to escape, the ex-gladiator and leader of the slave revolt Spartacus moved his forces into the historic trap in Apulia/Calabria where he was pinned between Legions that were brought from all over the Empire. On his defeat the Romans judged that the slaves had forfeited their right to live.
Below the street are miles of tunnels – known as catacombs – where early Christians buried their dead and, during the worst times of persecution, held church services discreetly out of the public eye.
