The Appian Way

The world's first all-weather road system was built to facilitate modern warfare. Following their defeat in the Samnite Wars, particularly their humiliation at the Battle of the Caudine Forks along the rocky Apennines in 321 BC, the Roman military began to develop more effective attack formations and better transportation routes through uneven terrain. The formation, the legion, allowed troops to scatter when facing troublesome roads, then reunite easily when conditions improved. The improved transportation route was the Via Appia, or AppianWay.

The Roman censor Appius C laudius Caecus ordered construction of the Appian Way, a paved road uniting Rome and Capua, to be usable by troops in all weather. Begun in 312 BC, the road was built of multiple layers of durable materials, the top layer composed of a mixture of concrete, rubble, and stones set in mortar. The road was instrumental in facilitating Roman victory in future wars with the Samnites.

Equally important was the Appian Way's vatious political uses. It was ctucial to building commercial interests and sustaining cultural links with and poIitical control over the provinces. Over time, several roads were built to link Rome with other cities and colonies, including the Via Flaminia (Flaminian Way), which headed north to link Italy with the Latin colony of Ariminum. In aII, the Roman road system covered more than fifty thousand miles and crossed through thirty countries. Only remnants of the roads still exist.

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