Terracina - Appian Way

The Appian Way connects Rome to Brindisi in southeast Italy and is named after Appius Claudius Caecus, the Roman censor who started the construction of this road to be used by the military as a path to the south in 312 BC during the Samnite Wars.  The Appian Way was also used to link the port of Terracina to the city of Rome, and it is said that St. Paul and St. Peter once arrived to Rome in this way, the latter famously portrayed doing so in the ’50s classic film Quo Vadis. Under Trajan, the Appian Way was replaced by the easier to navigate Via Flacca.  The Appian Way began as a dirt road which was then covered with small stones and mortar.  Then on top of this, gravel was laid and this was finally topped with tight fitting stones to give the road a flat surface.  These stones were said to fit so well in places that it was impossible to insert a knife into the cracks between them.  To allow for water runoff, the Appian Way was slightly raised in the middle and had ditches running along either side, again displaying the fantastic tradesmanship of the Roman civilisation.  Many important historical events have taken place along the Appian Way including the crucifixion of Spartacus.  In 73 BC, a slave revolt under Spartacus of Capua, began against the Romans.  Spartacus was an ex-gladiator and one of many slaves in the Roman Republic at the time.  He defeated many Roman armies in his long-standing battle but while trying to escape from the country at Brindisi he moved his forces into a trap and Spartacus was pressed in by Roman armies coming from both directions.  In 71 BC, 6,000 were crucified along the 200-kilometer Via Appia, in one of the Appian Way’s most significant and famous moments in its 2500 year history.

Trevi Fountain
00:26

Spanish Steps
01:49

Navona Square
01:42

Pantheon
01:09

Vatican
01:05

Gianicolo
01:44

Tivoli
05:51

Gaeta
05:19

Sperlonga
01:48

Terracina
05:18