So extensive were these
channels, that in the reign of Augustus the city was subterraneously
navigable.
22. The public roads were little inferior to the aqueducts and Cloa'cae
in utility and costliness; the chief was the Appian road from Rome to
Brundu'sium; it extended three hundred and fifty miles, and was paved
with huge squares through its entire length. After the lapse of
nineteen centuries many parts of it are still as perfect as when it
was first made.
23. The Appian road passed through the following towns; Ari'cia,
Fo'rum Ap'pii, An'xur or Terraci'na, Fun'di, Mintur'nae, Sinue'ssa,
Cap'ua, Can'dium, Beneven'tum, Equotu'ticum, Herdo'nia, Canu'sium,
Ba'rium, and Brundu'sium. Between Fo'rum Ap'pii and Terraci'na lie the
celebrated Pomptine marshes, formed by the overflowing of some small
streams. In the flourishing ages of Roman history these pestilential
marshes did not exist, or were confined to a very limited space; but
from the decline of the Roman empire, the waters gradually encroached,
until the successful exertions made by the Pontiffs in modern times to
arrest their baleful progress.
Pages:
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58