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Whatever the solution, after the Romans acquired the necessary materials the construction of the Via Appia could begin. The laborers of the Via Appia were largely made up of freed men and Roman citizens enrolled by Appius Claudius, who wanted only non-members of the political elite to be involved in this civil project Berechman, The laborers were provided spades, picks, mattocks , and hammers to carve out the path of the road while baskets were used to transport unused material from the site Casson, Construction began with the clearing and loosening of the route and digging of parallel ditches.
These ditches were usually 40 feet apart, 3 to 4 feet wide, and were as deep as the road foundations. These ditches served two purposes. One was to help gather building material for the road.
The second was to help divert rainwater away from the road to avoid potential flooding and degradation of the road Berechman, These ditches were only present when the space and terrain could allow it. Next, a trench was dug between the ditches in a step known as fossor, or excavation. The depth of this trench varied depending upon the soil. The goal was to reach a firm and stable point to build from, meaning the soil is mostly made up of rocks Casson, This was important, as the Romans wished to avoid any chance of settling occurring on the Via Appia, which would quickly deteriorate the road when subjected to the load forces of traveling armies and trade Nardo, This step could take quite a bit of time depending upon the soil.
In most cases, the laborers had to dig down to about 3 feet. In order to remove all of the useless debris, baskets were passed down on ramps leading from the surface to the bottom of the trench, filled, and removed from the site. Once cleared, the bottom of the trench was then compacted and leveled Berechman, A sketch of what this may have looked like can be seen in Figure 6. Now is the point where the construction of the Via Appia could vary greatly.
Depending on the depth of the dug out trench and the firmness of the soil underneath, the Romans could either add the surfacing layer directly at this point, or would have to begin adding foundation layers.
Although there is controversy as to whether cement was used in the Roman roads, Casson neither provides a real reason why Romans would not use it or cites specific references to his claim. On the other hand, Berechman does cite a specific study by the US on cross sections of the Via Appia. The first layer from the ground up is known as the bedding, or pavimentum.
This layer was made of lime mortar or sand, depending on the available material. It could be 9 inches thick and was used to further smooth out the trench. This layer was compacted, raked, and smoothed out before adding the next layer Berechman, This layer involved no skilled labor, as it required mostly mixing and pouring of the materials.
Also, due to the thickness and the type of materials required, this layer most likely had abundant material to construct with. The next layer is the first base layer, or the statumen. This layer consisted of 2 inch thick stones gathered from the clearing of the road. These stones were placed in rows above the pavimentum layer with lime mortar or clay, filling in the empty spaces between and binding together the stones.
This layer could vary in depth, from as little as 10 inches to as much as 2 feet. Unlike the previous layer, skilled labor was required in order to cut-fit and place the stones Berechman, Due to its potential depth, it can be reasonable to believe this layer may have been compromised by a lack of material, perhaps forcing the Romans to rely more on clay or lime mortar than the thick stones to make up this layer.
The following layer is the second base layer, or the rudus. This layer could be 9 inches thick and involved first a layer of lime mortar, sand, or clay, on top of which gravel or crushed rock was poured onto. The layer was then tamped and displayed characteristics similar to concrete Berechman, Judging by the material and depth of this layer, two things could be inferred.
One is little to no skilled labor was necessary to complete this layer, only requiring mixing, placing, and tamping of material. The next is this layer would have readily available material due to the small size of the necessary stones and the amount of alternative bindings that could be used. The next layer was the upper-base layer, or the nucleus. This layer consisted of multiple layers of pressed gravel mixed with hot lime, allowing it to bind to the previous layer.
Here, the crown of the road is defined by a 1-foot thickness at the roadside increasing to a 1. This layer marks the end of the construction of the original Via Appia. Again, because of the materials and process of construction, this layer probably did not require any skilled labor and would have had readily available material in order to construct. The final layer added to the Via Appia after its original construction was the pavement, or the summacrusta.
This layer involved 6-inch thick igneous rocks, usually basalt, with a diameter of about 1-foot each. These were cut into irregular polygons and fit together with such delicacy as to form a completely smooth surface Casson, It is understandable why this surfacing was not originally done, and why it is estimated it only occurred in segments and not along the entire Via Appia.
This layer would have required a high level of skilled labor in order to cut and fit the rock as described Berechman, Also, the rock would be heavy to transport, and if not readily available from surrounding volcanic areas, would be extremely expensive to transport. Figure 7 provides some insight into the size of the paving stones used. The above construction process was carried out in various degrees in straight segments along the Via Appia, with obstacles such as marshes, rivers and valleys, and mountains requiring additional construction steps.
When passing through marshes, as the Via Appia does along the Pomptine marches, workers would dig and fill a trench with stones, compacting it with rollers and oxen until there was no more observable settlement. Another option was to stack a wooden pier into the marsh, build a wooden frame atop this, and then finish with a layer of gravel Casson, Another obstacle included rivers and valleys.
The Romans had several options to cross these points. One was to fill the river or valley with stones or debris, which retained the straightness of the road but diverted the flow of the river. This option could take quite a bit of time and use up a lot of material. Another option was to follow the river or valley from the above or side embankments, which resorted to curving the road and adding travel time.
The last option was to bridge over the river or valley, which was expensive and used much material Casson, The Romans usually picked whatever the cheapest option was. The final obstacles were mountains. These often caused workers to reduce the lane widths to pass along natural routes, or were avoided entirely. Another possibility was to carve a path through the mountain, as was done when a foot tall rock slab was carved away along the mountainous coast near Terracina Berechman, Given this extensive construction process, it is not surprising several sections of the Via Appia still in use today even after years of existence.
This section of the report is made up of three subsections. The first describes the current condition of the Via Appia. The second describes how the Via Appia is used today. The final section focuses on any aspects of the Via Appia that can be used in the modern construction of roads. It starts from the Porta San Sebastiano gate within the Aurelian walls and ends nine miles later where the Via Appia Nuova has been laid over the top of the original Via Appia.
The Via Appia Antica has many layers of history incorporated into it. The side of the road is lined with ancient monuments, modern restaurants, and extravagant villas. The Via Appia itself is a strange mixture of history as well, sharply transitioning from the ancient paved stones, to sampietrini , and even modern asphalt, as seen in Figure 8.
One is the width of the street. Near the beginning of the Via Appia Antica, the road easily allows for two-lane traffic, and has just barely enough room for foot traffic as well. As the road continues away from the Aurelian Walls and Rome, the width of the road narrows to just barely two lane traffic.
Another feature that remains is the remarkable straightness of the road. As can be seen in Figure 9, the Via Appia Antica stretches in a straight line as far as the eye can see.
In fact, along the first 5 miles there is only one noticeable slight bend, as seen in Figure This again keeps in line with the original intent of constructing a road that travels from one destination to another in the quickest manner possible. The final noticeable feature maintained is the igneous stone surfacing of the road, although only present in small sections today. Here the large igneous stone paving added after the initial construction of the Via Appia can be seen. The surface is badly worn from over years of traffic and weathering.
Despite this, the original crowned shape of the road is still maintained, and continues to fulfill its original design intent to drain the water away from the road, as seen in the below video.
Another missing feature is the majority of the igneous stone paving. As mentioned above, there are some sections where the original stone paving is present, but most of the Via Appia Antica is now paved with long stretches of sam pietrini. These sections are a part of a effort spanning several centuries to restore and continue using what is left of the Via Appia Antica and the surrounding ruins.
Restorative interest began in the early 16th century with Raphael and Pirro Ligorio both expressing a desire to restore and protect the road Portella, Restorative work did not begin in ernest until when Pope Pius IX entrusted Luigi Canina with not only the Via Appia Antica itself, but also the surrounding available ruins Rossi, The road was further restored to its former glory during the Papal Jubilee , during which a major highway bypass was removed from the original Via Appia Antica footprint Portella, Today the Via Appia is largely a site for tourists and wealthy citizens.
Along the first 8 miles of the Via Appia Antica, there are at least 58 points of interests for tourists to see. Colosseum Pantheon St. Peter's Basilica. It was built in B. Large stones made up the bulk of its construction and a softer gravel that was compacted between the rocks cemented it. Roman roads and especially the Appian Way were extremely important to Rome.
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