The first and greatest of the Italian roads was the famous Appian Way
(_Via Appia_, called _Regina Viarum_, “Queen of Roads”), which was begun
by Appius Claudius, Censor in 312 B. C. The struggle with the Samnites
was at its height when this great causeway, built with large, square
stones on a raised platform, was made direct from the gates of Rome to
Capua, in Campania. The _Via Appia_ was afterwards extended, through
Samnium and Apulia, to Brundusium (on the lower Adriatic), the port of
embarkment for Greece. Parts of the original stonework are existing at
this day. Other great roads of Italy were the _Via Aurelia_--the great
coast-road northward, by Genua (Genoa), into Transalpine Gaul; the _Via
Flaminia_, through Umbria to Ariminum; and the _Via Æmilia_, from
Ariminum, through Cisalpine Gaul to Placentia.
III. EPOCH OF THE PUNIC WARS, 264-146 B. C.--The third period in
Roman history extends from the final triumph of the Plebeians to the
capture of Carthage, B. C. 146. Rome had hitherto been distracted
with intestine feuds and dissensions, and had extended her dominion
over but a small extent of territory. The admission of Plebeians to
all the high offices of trust and distinction promoted the
consolidation and strength of the republic, and the career of
conquest was soon begun.
We now see Rome engage in the greatest conflict of her history,--that
with the powerful maritime state, Carthage,--a struggle which, when it
was fully developed, became for Rome a fight for national existence, in
which her enemy was at the height of her power and resources, with Spain
and Africa at her back, and with the first general of the age to command
her armies.