Car RentalsAll Roads Lead to Rome
Roman road at Grumentum
You don’t need to spend much time in Italy to discover there is truth in the old adage that “all roads lead to Rome” (or as they say it Italian, “tutte le strade si portano a Roma”).
Many of the modern roads used today in Italy, and even other parts of Europe, were built by the Romans as a means of expanding and accessing their Empire from the capital city. Beneath that asphalt highway, country lane, or modern city street may lurk a byway that was laid down by the Romans over 2000 years ago. The modern road surfaces is built upon (and hides) that ancient foundation.
The first major road that the Romans built to their expanding empire was the via Appia (now known as the Appia Antica, or Appian Way). It was constructed in the 3rd century BC by Appius Claudius Caecus. Outside of Rome you can still walk on parts of this ancient highway…now that is a well built road!
Road in the center of Terracino
Such engineering marvels have survived in part due to their excellent base and a surface of crystalline basalt block, using materials readily available in and around Rome or the location of construction. A trench was dug then filled with layers of gravel and sand, then capped with heavy, hard, durable blocks like travertine or granite. The surface was rounded to allow proper drainage. When finished, the roads were used to transport troops and goods to and from the far reaches of the empire. Later, they facilitated invaders’ aspirations.
Driving between Rome and Ascoli Piceno, we follow the via Salaria, the so-called ‘salt road’ that transported the valuable commodity from the Adriatic coast to the Roman markets. That particular highway dates back to 361 BC. We have located and tread upon other Roman roads, as well; one right outside the Colosseo in the heart of Rome, and others in various locales around the country. Amazingly, some are overgrown and neglected, seemingly forgotten.
As you walk along these routes, it is hard not to imagine the history that has passed over their surfaces during the past two millennia.
