Rus in Urbe III

Carciofi and Cabbages on the Appian Way

“… anxious to direct my steps where the Appian Way, Queen of Roads, winds a celebrated path ...” Statius. 187B via Appia Antica.

Back in March I wrote of the Parco della Caffarella which is part of the vast Parco Regionale dell’Appia Antica, Europe’s largest urban park. On the other side of the via Appia Pignatelli from the valley of the Caffarella is the path of the ancient Appian Way. It is calm, and green, and somehow entirely out of time. If feeling particularly whimsical (and, on occasion, I think that’s a good idea), one can hear the echoes of the massed steps of Roman soldiers as the wind stirs the pines.

The ancient Appian Way 14 January 2023.

The ancient “Regina Viarum” (Queen of Roads), a title coined by the poet Statius is still in part paved with slabs of local lava which bear ruts from the trundling wheels of centuries of carriages. These stones have seen it all: armies and emperors; the crucifixions of 6,000 slaves along the road following the rebellion led by Spartacus; the barefoot triumph of Abebe Bikila in the 1960 Olympic marathon.