A walk on the Appia Antica

It has been said over and again that all roads lead to Rome. Maybe. The old roads of the Ancient Roman Empire are still there, radiating out of the city like the spokes of a wheel: the Aurelia, the Appia, the Salaria, the Flaminia and the Emilia.

The roads of Rome are important. They give the city its identity. They are a reminder of its tremendous past. Nowadays the grand old roads are frequently clogged up with traffic, at certain times of the day edging forwards at a snail's pace. At night, they give way to a different kind of traffic, the kind that stops to consider the merchandise before, either stopping to effect a transaction, or moving on.

Most of the ancient roads have modern counterparts running parrallel. Hence the Appia Nuova runs close by the Appia Antica, the better to preserve the latter's status as an open air museum. In turn the Appia Nuova assists the Via Tuscolana in shouldering the burden of traffic as all three roads head in the direction of the Colli Albani and the suburbs of Ciampino, served by an airport for low cost flights, and Morena, a residential neighbourhood bordered by large, ugly shopping complexes.

It's Sunday. The citizens of this great city are gathering at schools turned into voting posts. They are electing the new mayor today. The candidates are a woman, Virginia Raggi, of the 5 Stelle Movement and Roberto Giachetti, a proponent of the Partito Democratico,  the PD. Word on the street is that whoever gets elected won't last more than two years.

I can't vote so I'm going to the Appia Antica, the ancient Appian Way, I head up the road of the seven churches (Via delle Sette Chiese), and it really does have seven churches. It's a favourite with pilgrims.

Once you've passed the entrance to the Catacombs of San Callisto, that is,  if you're on a bike or (as I am) on foot, you reach a fork in the road. The left hand one is the continuation of the Via delle Sette Chiese whereas the right hand one is the Via Ardeatina.

So bear to the left, and if it's early summer, enter a verdant tunnel (it turns dry yellow as under the harsh sun the greenery withers). The road is one way, in your face, and cars rush up towards you at a startling speed, it may be that it seems fast because the road is so narrow. Lizards dart up the sides and hide in the foliage.

 At the end of the Via delle Sette Chiese is the Appia Antica with the under-whelming church of San Sebastiano. I rarely stop here other than to let my dog have a drink at the fountain. Many Romans D.O.P (ie the real McCoy) like to get married here, and as I go past I notice there's a wedding in progress.

I walk past the Circus of Maxentius and up a small hill to the tomb of Cecilia Mettela, a small scale version of the far more impressive, Castel St. Angelo in the centre of Rome, the burial mound of the architect-Emperor Hadrian.

 Yet, I've discovered that this mausoleum is the 22nd most visited site in Italy(according toWikipedia). As to who the woman was? The wife and daughter of Roman generals - the greatness of the monument celebrated the greatness of the family rather than being a testimony to the woman (or to love as has been suggested - a Roman version of the Taj Mahal) who once was buried inside.

Circus of Maxentius

Tomb of Cecilia Metella

 Opposite the tomb of Cecilia Metella are the ruins of the ancient Gothic church of San Nicola.

Church of San Nicola at Capo di Bove

 Personally, if I were to get married this is the place I'd choose, not the prestigious but dull San Sebastiano. Or to quote a friend : "it's so romantic." The fact that it is open to the elements plus the smell of flowers in Spring and the back ground squawking of the large grey-green parrots that have colonised the area all combine to create the perfect setting for the big day. It's also deconsecrated. Maybe not then.

Detail at the ancient site of Capo di Bove

 Further on I pass the remains of Roman baths at Capo di Bove, it means bulls head. For more information:  www.ezrome.it/roma-da-vedere/luoghi-poco-noti/1302-una-sorpresa-sullappia-antica-villa-capo-di-bove

This time I don't go in.The villa and grounds are worth a visit but I've seen them before. The dark clouds ahead could be a summer storm on the way. And when summer storms hit, they can hit hard. The umbrella pines bend under strong gusts and large wet raindrops turn to nuggets of hail. This time I'm wrong, the sky darkens but as I head homewards clears again.

The Appia Antica once stretched as far South as Brindisi and was known as 'the queen of the long roads.'

One of  its most infamous moment came when along its sides were crucified the members of Spartacus' slave army (in the third servile war).  After the defeat in 71BC, 6,000 rebel slaves met their death here, the bodies stretched from Rome all the way to Capua.

Appia Antica with the old Roman stones

Today the road is part of the Appian Way Regional Park, www.parcoappiaantica.it  ,while talked about since Napoleonic times, it only came into existence in 1988. It extends over 3,400 hectares, most of which are within the province of Rome though extending as far as the cities of Ciampino and Marino at the foot of the Alban hills. A large part of the park is privately owned.

In 2002 a wooded area known  as Tor Marancia, over the Via Ardeatina, was purchased and added to the Park.

On the way home we stop outside the church of San Sebastiano. The wedding is over and I watch some elegantly dressed guests totter on the cobbles in their high-heels.

If you come for a walk here sensible shoes, trainers or flats, are a must. The road surface is uneven, cobbled and in the parts covered by the ancient stones full of unexpected holes and gulleys. The pine needles that fall off the trees make the going slippery.

Later, I find out who the new mayor is: a victory for women in a country, she says in her maiden speech,  where women are under-represented in the institutions.

 She's right. I just hope she can get on with her job. She has vowed to work for the Romans, to clean up the public transport system, make the rubbish collection service more efficient and, above all, eradicate all taint of corruption from public offices. Good luck to her.