Conceived in 312 B.C., the Via Appia was the first and the most famous of Rome’s long-distance military-commercial highways, by which the ancient city bound her conquests to her.
Hundreds of roads led to Rome by the beginning of the second century A.D. But no route achieved the lasting fame of Via Appia, whose stones have felt the tread of Hannibal and St. Paul, Charlemagne, Lord Byron, and Mark Twain. Today travelers can still ride or walk on patches of the huge green-gray volcanic stones that Romans paved with.
Ruins of Roman tombs line the Appia. For rich Romans, it was a burial site—multitudes of travelers reading the deceased's names was believed to confer a kind of immorality.
—Text adapted from "Down the Ancient Appian Way," National Geographic magazine, June 1981
Often labeled as poor, rural, and beholden to the Mafia, Sicily insists that change has arrived. Explore this small Italian island—a unique world unto itself.
An enclave of remarkable buildings and art surrounded by the city of Rome, Vatican City is the smallest sovereign nation in the world—and one of the most powerful.
Trapped in the myth of her beauty, Venice beguiles and remains elusive. See why this city has held such sway over artists and romantics for centuries in this gallery.
