The
Via Appia was often referred to in ancient Roman
times as "longarum regina viarum" --
"queen of highways" -- because it was
the first and in many ways the most important
of Roman roads. It also was the only road that
really led to Rome.
The hicks from the sticks, including ourselves,
might think "All roads lead to Rome",
but the insiders, real ancient Romans from Rome,
not just generic "Romans" who were
granted citizenship for political purposes,
no, the real Romans all knew better. Roman roads
always went from Rome, not to Rome: from Rome
to the other nearby cities that needed conquering,
from Rome to the countryside where produce and
natural resources were to be taken, from Rome
to those neighboring countries that eventually
also needed conquering, from Rome to those far
away places from England to Arabia and from
the Danube to North Africa that also eventually
needed conquest and exploitation. Rome built
more than 80,000 miles of paved highways, all
of which led from Rome to somewhere. Roads were
military structures designed, built and maintained,
and guarded by specific legions, which used
them to get from Rome to wherever they needed
to be. So roads always were from Rome.
