APPIAN WAY - Research Paper Example

The Appian Way The Appian Way is regarded as one of ancient Roman’s oldest as well as strategically important roads. It is also termed as Europe’s first great road. “For the classicist Robert Kaster, there is no road in Europe that has been so heavily travelled by people with so many different aims, from conquest to pilgrimage.” (Smith, 2014). It is named after the Roman censor Appius Claudius Caecus, who initiated the road construction process and completed the first as well as the main section of the road in 312 BC.

The first section was a military road constructed to connect Rome with the south. The remaining sections were constructed in the course of next few centuries, with the road spanning about 563kms and thereby connecting Rome to Brindisi in southeast Italy. When the road construction process was started, it was mainly leveling the dirt road. After leveling, large stones as well as mortar were laid, which is followed by the laying of gravel. When the basic structure of the road was formed, it was topped with small stones which fitted into the gaps, thereby forming a flat surface.

The small stones fitted into the gaps so aptly that historians marveled at how the small stones seem to have “grown” along with the other components. For instance, historian Procopius said that small stores “did not look so much fitted together but as grown together”, so much so they led to the formation of a road surface which was smooth, and far better than the jagged irregular roads before. (Kaster, 2012, p. 23). On the whole, the initial construction process of using large stones as the base, and then fitting in with softer gravel as well as small stones gave a proper and also functional look to the road.

“Large stones made up the bulk of its construction and softer gravel that was compacted between the rocks cemented it.” (Appian Way, Rome,” n. d). Then, when the construction began on the stretch between Rome and Lake Albano, the Romans started using lime cement to build better quality roads. Sourced from volcanic rocks, this lime cement was laid over the small stones thereby providing a far smoother road surface. In addition, the Romans crowned the middle portion of the road for the purpose of water runoff, and also built ditches on either side of the road which were protected by retaining walls.

It was while extending the road through the Pontine Marshes; the Romans faced number of challenges. Their plan to dry the marshes, build bridges over it and so on did not gave expected results, forcing the Romans to build a canal along the road, and that canal became the preferred route for the people. Then when the road was extended along the coast of Tarracina, Romans cut through certain mountains to provide a straightened road. Finally, when the road was extended up to Beneventum, followed by Calabria and eventually till Brindisi, better roads were laid as “the road itself consisted of five layers, including the basalt paving stones on top, now (where the road still exists) deeply furrowed by countless wagon.

” (Smith, 2014). Thus, what started as a gravel road evolved into a high quality road, remnants of which exist even today, all of which reflects Romans civil engineering acumen. ReferencesAppian Way, Rome. (n. d). Rome Info. Retrieved from:http://www.rome.info/ancient/appian-way/Kaster, R. A. (2012). The Appian Way: Ghost Road, Queen of Roads. University of Chicago Press.Smith, P. D. (2014, Aug 22). The Appian Way Review – an Evocative History of Europes first Great Road. Retrieved from:http://www.

theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/22/the-appian-way-review-robert-kaster