The Appian Way

The eminent classicist delivers “an evocative history of Europe’s first great road” from Rome to the heel of Italy in this “slim but evocative volume” ( The Guardian , UK). The 1st century Roman poet Statius called the Via Appia “the Queen of Roads,” and for nearly a thousand years that description held true, as countless travelers trod its path from the center of Rome to the Southern Italian city of Brindisi. Today, the road is all but gone, destroyed by time, neglect, and the incursions of mod