ITER
(EYE-tuhr)
1.
Latin for road or line of travel, journey, route 2. Passage
between the third and fourth ventricles in the brain Common
clues: Roman road; Anatomical passage; Brain passage; Road to
Roma; Appian Way, for instance; Route for Romulus; Roman
passageway Crossword
puzzle frequency:
3 times a year Video: Italy
Travel Video
The
Appian
Way (Latin: Via Appia) is a famous road built by the Romans. It
is the most important among the Roman roads; it was called regina
viarum,
the queen of the roads.
Remains
of the Appian Way in Rome Italy
Its
construction was started in 312
BC by the consul Appius Claudius Caecus, restructuring an
existing track that connected Rome with the Alban Hills (this
road has been supposed to be the one that originally brought
Latins from Albalonga to the future capital, at the time of its
founding).
The
original track of the Appian Way connected Rome (from Porta
San Sebastiano
in the Aurelian Walls, near the Baths
of Caracalla)
with Ariccia, Forum Appii, Terracina, Fondi, Formia, Minturnae
(Minturno), Sinuessa (Mondragone) and finally Capua.
The
road was later extended (190 BC) to Benevento (Beneventum)
and Venosa which was founded at that time and populated by 20,000
Roman farmers; in a following epoch it was extended to Taranto
(Tarentum)
and Brindisi (Brundisium).
The
Via
Appia Traiana
would soon have more linearly connected Benevento with Aecae
(Troia), Canusium (Canosa) and Barium (Bari).
In
71 BC six thousand slaves rebelling under Spartacus, having been
captured after his final defeat and death, were crucified along
this road by Marcus Licinius Crassus.
After
the fall of the Roman
empire, the road was not as used as before; Pope Pius VI ordered
its restoration and brought it into new use.
Wide
parts of the original road have been preserved, and some are now
used by cars (for example, in the area of Velletri). Along the
part of the road closest to Rome, one can see many tombs and
catacombs of Roman and early Christian origin. Also the Church of
Domine Quo Vadis is in the first mile of the road.
The
Via Appia was also the site of the first milestones.
A
new Appian Way was built in parallel with the old one in 1784.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Appian way".
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