Editing Appian Way (section)

== Origins ==
[[File:Porta St. Sebastiano Rome 2011 1.jpg|thumb|[[Porta San Sebastiano]] is the gate of the Appia in the [[Aurelian Walls]].]]

=== Development ===
The Appian Way was a [[Roman roads|Roman road]] that the [[Roman Republic|Republic]] used as a main route for military supplies for its conquest of southern Italy in 312 BC and for improvements in communication.<ref>William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' (London, 1854), 1288. ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=via-appia-geo]''</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rodgers |first=Nigel |url= |title=Roman Empire |date=2008 |publisher=Metro Books |isbn=978-1-4351-0455-6 |location=New York |page=116 |language=en}}</ref>

The Appian Way&nbsp;— essential to the Romans&nbsp;— was the first long road built specifically to transport troops outside the smaller region of greater [[Rome]]. The few roads outside the early city were [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] and went mainly to [[Etruria]]. By the late Republic, the Romans had expanded over most of [[Italy]] and were masters of road construction. Their roads began at Rome, where the master {{lang|la|[[itinerarium]]}}, or list of destinations along the roads, was located, and extended to the borders of their domain, hence the expression, "[[wikt:all roads lead to Rome|All roads lead to Rome]]".

=== The Samnite Wars ===
[[File:RemainsViaAppia.jpg|thumb|upright|Near Rome]]
Romans had an affinity for the people of [[Campania]], who, like themselves, traced their backgrounds to the [[Etruscans]]. The [[Samnite Wars]] were instigated by the [[Samnites]] when Rome attempted to ally itself with the city of [[Santa Maria Capua Vetere|Capua]] in Campania. The [[Italic languages|Italic]] speakers in [[Latium]] had long ago been subdued and incorporated into the Roman state. They were responsible for changing Rome from a primarily Etruscan to a primarily Italic state.

Dense populations of sovereign Samnites remained in the mountains north of Capua, which is just north of the [[Greece|Greek]] city of [[Naples|Neapolis]]. Around 343 BC, Rome and Capua attempted to form an alliance. The Samnites reacted with military force.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fronda |first=Michael P. |date=2007 |title=Hegemony and Rivalry: The Revolt of Capua Revisited |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20304639 |journal=Phoenix |volume=61 |issue=1/2 |pages=83–108 |jstor=20304639 |issn=0031-8299}}</ref>

=== The barrier of the Pontine Marshes ===
[[File:Sepolcro Priscilla Appia Antica.jpg|thumb|[[Tomb of Priscilla]]]]
[[File:Monument of Gaius Rabirius Hermodorus, Rabiria Demaris, and Usia Prima Enhanced.jpg|thumb|Grave monument of Caius Rabirius Postumus Hermodorus, Lucia Rabiria Demaris and Usia Prima, priestess of [[Isis]] along the Via Appia, near Quarto Miglio]]
[[File:San Sebastiano fuori le mura (Rome).jpg|thumb|upright|[[San Sebastiano fuori le Mura]], located on the catacombs of San Sebastiano]]

Between Capua and Rome lay the [[Pontine Marshes]] (''Pomptinae paludes''), a [[swamp]] infested with [[malaria]]. A tortuous coastal road wound between [[Ostia Antica (archaeological site)|Ostia]] at the mouth of the [[Tiber]] and [[Neapolis (Apulia)|Neapolis]]. The [[Via Latina]] followed its ancient and scarcely more accessible path along the foothills of [[Monti Laziali]] and [[Monti Lepini]], which are visible towering over the former marsh.

In the [[First Samnite War]] (343–341&nbsp;BC) the Romans found they could not support or resupply troops in the field against the Samnites across the marsh. A revolt of the [[Latin League]] drained their resources further. They gave up the attempted alliance and settled with [[Samnium]].

=== Colonization to the southeast ===
The Romans were only biding their time while they looked for a solution. The first answer was the [[Colonia_(Roman)|colonia]], a "cultivation" of settlers from Rome, who would maintain a permanent base of operations. The [[Second Samnite War]] (327–304&nbsp;BC) erupted when Rome attempted to place a colony at [[Cales]] in 334 BC and again at [[Fregellae]] in 328 BC on the other side of the marshes. The Samnites, now a major power after defeating the [[Greeks in Italy|Greeks]] of [[Taranto|Tarentum]], occupied Neapolis to try to ensure its loyalty. The Neapolitans appealed to Rome, which sent an army and expelled the Samnites from Neapolis.

=== Appius Claudius' beginning of the works ===
In 312&nbsp;BC, [[Appius Claudius Caecus]] became [[Roman censor|censor]] at Rome. He was of the [[gens Claudia]], who were [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] descended from the [[Sabines]] taken into the early Roman state. He had been given the name of the founding ancestor of the gens, Appius Claudius (Attus Clausus in Sabine). He was a [[Populism|populist]], i.e., an advocate of the common people. A man of discernment and perception, in the years of success he was said to have lost his outer vision{{clarify|date=December 2023}} and thus acquired the name {{lang|la|caecus}}, 'blind'.

Without waiting to be told what to do by the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], Appius Claudius began bold public works to address the supply problem. An aqueduct (the [[Aqua Appia]]) secured the water supply of the city of Rome. By far the best known project was the road, which ran across the [[Pontine Marshes]] to the coast northwest of [[Naples]], where it turned north to Capua. On it, any number of fresh troops could be sped to the theatre of operations, and supplies could be moved en masse to Roman bases without hindrance by either enemy or terrain. It is no surprise that, after his term as censor, Appius Claudius became [[Roman consul|consul]] twice, subsequently held other offices, and was a respected consultant to the state even during his later years.

=== Success of the road ===
The road achieved its purpose. The outcome of the Second Samnite War was at last favorable to Rome.  In a series of blows the Romans reversed their fortunes, bringing Etruria to the table in 311&nbsp;BC, the very year of their revolt, and [[Samnium]] in 304 BC. The road was the main factor that allowed them to concentrate their forces with sufficient rapidity and to keep them adequately supplied, whereafter they became a formidable opponent.