The Appian Way

In ancient Rome, burial within the boundaries of the city

was forbidden to all but Emperors and vestal virgins.

And so the area just outside the city walls

grew into a suburban necropolis-scape.

The Appian Way

The Appian Way begins in the center of Rome.

It crosses the great defensive walls that ring the city.

A newer road, the Appia Nueva,

runs alongside the old one.

The ground underneath this area is

honeycombed with vast and complex

galleries, tunnels, and passages.

These crypts, the catacombs, were forgotten for

centuries. Now one may take a guided tour.

In the 1980s a park was created

to protect the Appian Way.

Most of the area is private property,

owned by old aristocratic families.

1% of the park belongs to the military.

A section of the old road is called the

archaeological promenade, and here a

sense of the ancient Appian Way is evoked.

The cobblestones are said to

still show the ruts carved by

centuries of carts and chariots.

Many ancient tombs are hidden behind

the high garden walls of private villas.

There is a strange mingling of

the romantic and the everyday,

with hybrid ruins grafted over time.

The Casal Rotondo is a residence built

on the top of an ancient funerary monument.

The Torre Selce is a tower built in the 12th century

on the base of a tomb from the Roman era.

The tomb of Cecilia Metella was converted

into a medieval castle and fortress.

Now it’s a tourist attraction.

There is surprisingly little graffiti on the Appian Way.

In fact, there is very little interpretative

signage or tourist infrastructure.

In the 19th century the first systematic excavation, documentation,

and restoration of the Appian Way occurred.

A strip of land along each side of the road was

enclosed with low stone walls and hedges.

Pines and cypress trees were planted.

Countless monuments, shrines, sculptures, inscriptions,

and marble fragments were unearthed.

Some were taken to museums.

Replicas were substituted in their place.

Smaller pieces were gathered up, fixed into new

brick walls, and displayed along the roadway.

Nowadays, much has been stripped

from even the restorations,

leaving only enigmatic rubble.

Yet the character of the Appian Way remains true

to its ancient role as a place of display.

Once a funerary promenade, now an

archaeological drive-through park.

Now the road begins to show signs of more recent paving.

Then even this road surface begins to break up.

Crosses the great encircling ring road.

The Appian Way gradually emerges from

its antique fantastical dream, and the

modern world begins to intrude.

Towards the end, the old road is

unmaintained. The wreckage of time

mixes with another kind of debris.

Finally it is blocked to vehicles.

The Appian Way becomes a place where men 
wait, to meet in eternal assignation.