The Classical Topography of the Roman Campagna.—III. (The Via Latina).—Section I.

Abstract

The Via Latina forms the third portion of the description of the Classical Topography of the Roman Campagna, of which two parts have already appeared in these Papers (Via Collatina, Via Praenestina, and Via Labicana, i. 125 sqq.; Via Salaria, Via Nomentana, and Via Tiburtina, iii. 1 sqq.). The general remarks made in the introductions apply, in. the main, to the present portion also: and the preliminary matter may, therefore, be comparatively brief. It is fortunate that Professor Tomassetti has dealt fully with the mediaeval topography of the Via Latina in La Via Latina nel Medio Evo(Rome, 1886, reprinted from the Archivio della Società Romana di Storia Patria). This indispensable work contains also a very large amount of information as to the classical period, and it will be necessary to cite it constantly in these pages.The Via Latina originated (cf. Papers, i. 128) during the gradual establishment of the Latin League in the form in which it appears as. completed about 370 B.C. The dates of the various military operations given by Livy as occurring in Algido must not, naturally, be pressed; we can only say generally that the pass of Algidus was a position of considerable importance in the warfare against the Aequi in 465–389 B.C., and that the road must have gone at least so far—possibly further, inasmuch as Signia is said to have been founded by Tarquinius Superbus, and a fresh colony sent there in 495 B.C. Nor can we fix the date of the transformation of the Via Latina into a permanent military highway.