Definition: The most famous Roman road is the Appian Way (Via Appia) leading from the forum Romanum in Rome to the southeastern coast of Italy, at Brundisium. Originally it only reached as far as Capua, in Campania, when it was built by the censor Appius Claudius (later, known as Ap. Claudius Caecus 'blind'), in 312 B.C., to help with the battles Rome was fighting in the Italic peninsula.
The road was made by laying small stones on a level dirt road and covering them with a flat layer of interlocking stones.
The Appian Way was the site of Clodius Pulcher's murder. Clodius Pulcher was an originally patrician (Claudian) descendant of Appius Claudius who became a plebeian for political reasons and pronounced his name in a manner thought to represent the plebeian branch of his gens. It was also along the Appian Way that the bodies of the rebellious slaves from the revolt of Spartacus were crucified. Christian legend holds that Peter had a vision of Christ along the Appian Way.
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At first, the Appian Way ran only 132 miles (212 km) from Rome to Capua, but later, it extended another 230 miles (370 km) away from Rome to Brundisium.
