15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
===Appius Claudius Caecus===
[[File: Cesare_Maccari_Appius_Claudius_Caecus_in_senate.jpg|300px|thumbnail|rightleft|Nineteenth Century AD Painting by Cesare Maccari Depicting an Eldery Appius Claudius Being Led into the Senate]]
The idea of roads was not a new concept in the world or even Italy when the Appian Way was built in the fourth century BC. The Etruscans are credited with building the first roads in northern Italy, <ref> Sitwell, N.H.H. <i>Roman Roads of Europe.</i> (New York: Saint Martin’s Press, 1981), p. 16</ref> but those roads were inferior to the later Roman versions because they did not use concrete. By the time the Roman Republic began expanding outside of central Italy in late fourth century BC, the city’s prominent leaders knew that a network of permanent roads that could withstand the elements was needed. They endeavored to build a network of stone and concrete roads that would all lead to Rome with the Appian Way being the first, which is how it earned the moniker “Queen of the Roads.” The Appian Way was also the only Roman road to be named after the praenomen or personal name of a Roman. <ref> MacBain, Bruce. “Appius Claudius Caecus and the Via Appia.” <i>Classical Quarterly.</i> 30 (1980) p. 361</ref>
