The Appian Way in Rome - Research Paper Example

Appian Way The prime intent of the research paper is to evaluate the facts associated with the significance of one of the imperative roads of Rome i.e. The Appian Way. Evaluations represented that this roadway is recognized as one of the earliest known architectural constructions during the period of 312 B.C. The historical facts also signified the developmental stages of the Roman Empire and construction strategies that brought this nation numerous counts of victory. Further evaluation also revealed certain facts regarding the utility of this road for conducting multiple other trade practices that eventually developed after capturing Italy. EVENT SUMMARIZATION The Appian Way in Rome has been always accounted as one of the earliest roman construction works, which has remarkable significance even in this modern day context. This pathway construction found its existence during 312 B.C. and was constructed by ‘Appius Claudius Caecus’ who during that period held the position of a powerful political figure. This political figure was also known for the construction of the primitive aqueduct structures within Rome so as to provide consumable water to the entire nation. The entire pathway spanned around a distance of 563 kilometers connecting Rome and the Brindisi, Italy. In terms of historical significance, this road till date represents the preliminary phase of traditional human engineering. Apart from just being a sign of historical significance, the Appian Way consistently served multiple other purposes as well1. One of such purposes was found to be the provision of a fighting advantage to the roman army during situations of war outbreak. The Roman army during that period utilized this pathway in an extensive manner for supplying ration, reinforcements and armaments to their front line fighting troops. After their expansion within Italy, the Roman Empire invested significant amount of time and finance in terms of developing and mastering the procedures of distant roadway construction. Eventually with time, such pathways emerged as significant connective lines between Rome and its acquired domains. As a result of all these roman developments, multiple underdeveloped cultural civilizations also had the chances of developing and marking their existence in the history of mankind (National Geographic Society, “Rome Walking Tour: Ancient Appian Way”)2. The utility of the Appian Way again formed a factor of historical significance as a result of Rome’s victory against Samnite tribes between the period of 343 & 341 BC. As a matter of fact, the Romans recorded this pathway as a credential aspect within their history that has helped them in gaining control over Italy3. BRIEF IDEA OF ROMAN CULTURE With regards to the above stated context, the cultural aspects of Rome during the period of 312 B. C. represented this nation as a central hub for all sorts of ‘trade’, ‘politics’, ‘commerce’ and ‘military’ activities that developed during that period. It was due to the construction of the Appian Way, which helped Rome in establishing contact with multiple other surrounding tribal groups such as Latium and Ostia. Taking consideration of these aspects, one can easily perceive about the existence of variedness within the roman culture at that point of time4. Christianity was also accounted as one of the prime cultural factors, which prevailed within the roman culture during the period of 312 B.C. This era of Roman history also addressed the emergence of multiple superstitious events such as voodoos and black magic. However, the punishment levels regarding such superstitious practices were harsh and in certain cases, the convicts were even sentenced with death penalties. Roman inhabitants during that period were also provided with the freedom of practicing their own religion under condition that they will have to adhere to the state’s religion as well. The emperors were addressed with high sign of societal respect and their judgments were considered as a word of God. The trend of establishing secret societies also emerged within Rome culture during that historical period5.   CONSTRUCTION FACTS AND PURPOSE OF THE APPIAN WAY It has been already mentioned that this distant pathway i.e. the Appian Way was built for a specific purpose of serving the war requirements of the Roman army. Thus, the overall construction of this road required the utility of high quality of raw materials and appropriate implementation of strategic plans. In addition, the Appian Way was also built to cater multiple trade practices and VIP travels during the period when Roman economy got subjected to a depletion stage. The primitive stage of this distant route construction was funded by the Roman Empire. However, with time, the cost burden associated with such construction eventually got shifted upon the findings as generated by the activities of this nation’s population6. As a part of the construction plan, multiple mountainous areas were leveled down and reinforced bridges were constructed on the rivers. In order to continue the roadway expansion, the expertise Roman engineers were made a part of the Roman army and the troops within the army were assigned the roles of being workforce for such projects. Apparently, these troops were also paid with regular or periodical wages based upon the accomplishment of their assigned job responsibilities. The Roman generals were also provided with the authority of utilizing the raw materials of the local and distant trivial areas in exchange of coins. Appropriate efforts regarding maintenance of such constructed roads were also facilitated till the period of this nation’s economic decline7. MATERIALS USED IN CONSTRUCTION Roman engineers preferred quality within every foundation or structure being constructed. In simple words, every Roman artifact was build to last. A similar aspect was also implemented during the construction of the Appian Way. During the foundation stage of this pebbled road construction, the labor forces were made to dig up few feet of the ground surface with the prime intention of attaining a stable foundation platform. The clement mixture for reinforcing the pebbled rocks was formed from the mixture of ‘sand and compact rocks.’ Necessary drainage provisions were also structured beneath the road surfaces specifically within the urban populated areas. Within areas where the soil grip appeared to be low, the Roman engineering made use of the wooden plans based upon which the pebbled roads were constructed with the intention of attaining a better ground hold. The foundation structure of the Appian Way has been provided the following in the form of graphical illustration: . Source: (Virginia Asphalt Association, “Pavement Drainage”) The survey reports conducted on this Roman contraction revealed that the foundation of the Appian Way comprised five specific layers, each stuffed with a different composition of raw materials. The fist layer of the pathway entailed mostly sand or lime. This layer also provided a temporary flat base upon which a rigid construction can be carried out. In the second layer, the Roman engineers integrated a mixture of two varied sorts of stones and cemented the same by using clay. This layer eventually formed a rigid base upon which the large blocks of concrete rocks can be placed. In an associated manner, the engineers also planned of filling up the minute gaps that were formed within the second layer and thus they applied a mixture of crushed rocks and gravel upon the cracked surface of the second layer. Simultaneous application of clay helped in attaining a smooth surface that was filled up with compact pebble stones. All these materials in an integrated manner helped the engineers in constructing a smooth and durable roadway that lasted for centuries (Virginia Asphalt Association, “Pavement Drainage”). RESOURCE ATTAINMENT OPTIONS Majority of the stones and clay used in constructing the Appian Way were attained from the nearby areas. The proportion of the stones and clay however varied depending on the area of their availability. Moreover, the Roman engineers directly placed large slabs of concrete rocks on the ground surfaces that appeared pretty firm and even. Multiple changes were also brought in within certain portions of the Appian Way depending on the type and quality of the locally available resources. Under war prone areas, the engineers laid their focus towards the utilization of good quality of raw materials with the prime intention of preventing wear and tear on the road surface in case of heavy war machineries when moved upon it8. ASSIGNED LABOR FORCES In relation to the above context, the construction of this long route also required the enrollment of a huge population of workers. The primitive section of the construction was mainly performed by the army troops. Consequently, a major portion of the employed workforce got replaced with the Roman citizens who were appointed by ‘Appian Way.’ The prime intention of ‘Appius Claudius’ behind such a shift was to employ a workforce that will be holding no attachments with the political and military elites. Associated aspects of the intention also included the development of the Romanian economy in order to support multiple other future projects such as the Appian Way. This eventually improvised the engineering skills of the workers who were allotted to that project. From the perspective of acquiring a brief idea about the assigned labor forces in relation to such project, it can be affirmed that gathering of the necessary construction resources eventually increased the work burden over the Roman troops who primitively worked in this project during its establishment phase. Understanding this obligation, ‘Appius Claudius’ intended towards separating the army troops from the constructions areas so that they could effectively concentrate towards learning other war related strategies. Each of the enrolled labor unit were provided with appropriate construction and sculpturing tools such as hammers, spades as well as baskets so as to speed up the construction pace. Appropriate wheel carts were also provided to the labor forces through the help of which, they can easily transport heavy materials in and out of the construction site. The labor forces were also instructed to dig ditches of specific sizes in order to drift the rain water away from the construction site, failure to which would have caused severe level of distortion during construction9. Specially mentioning, precise digging of the ditches also provided multiple necessary raw materials for the projects such as small stone fragments and clay. As a result, the quality of materials used during the construction of the Appian Way differed within multiple locations. Justification regarding this statement can be provided by taking into concern the fact that quality of the rocks and clays that were as attained from the ditches varied from location to location. This aspect under certain areas increased the construction costs by considerable amounts because standing quality of raw materials was imported to those areas where the quality of the soil was extremely low10. Likewise, the sides of the Appian Way were also reinforced with compact blocks of rocks or evenly cut slabs in order to prevent flood water from directly entering into the middle section of the road under situations of natural calamity. This eventually boosted up the durability of the Appian Way as a result of which, it lasted for multiple decades11. ROADWAY MEASUREMENTS The Roman engineers planned the measurements of every section of the Appian Way in alignment with the situation prevailed in Rome. This was mainly due to the fact that multiple portion of this road was laid upon different geographical landscapes that projected varied challenges to the Roman troops during their passage. As a matter of fact, the dimensions of the Appian Way was planned in such a manner that it would easily allow two or more horses or caravans to pass in a parallel manner without the scope of causing road block. However, the road dimensions within the mountainous and forest regions were kept narrow in order to address the crucial concern of incoming enemy invasion. In alignment with the disunion descriptions, the width of the normal section of the Appian Way was planned to be of 3 meters that would easily allow two carriages to cross each other. However, under certain areas wherein, the military movement was maximum, the dimensions of the roadway was expanded to about 7 meters in order to facilitate large troop and heavy war machinery movements12. CONSTRUCTION OF THE APPIAN WAY IN THE PRESENT DAY SCENARIO The completion of the Appian Way project took multiple years due to the absence of innovative technological tools. However, depending on the present development in construction technology, it can be stated that the accomplishment of such a massive construction project can be attained within a few years. The overall mechanism might remain the same but an intense amount of change can be observed within the tools that will be utilized in the present scenario. The initial phase of such a project will start with the attainment of a labeled ground upon which the further foundation can be laid. The utility of soil excavation and leveling vehicles can be found appropriate within such projects. Such machineries in the present phase can accomplish the initial land leveling task within few days as compared to the primitive days, which would have taken months or years. Moreover, with the availability of high capacity transportation vehicles such as earth movers, tons of raw materials can be brought to the construction areas within few consignments. This would also help in minimizing the overall transportation and labor costs. In context to the necessary count of labor force, one can say that massive construction projects such as the Appian Way in the present day scenario would only require the involvement of few labor units who would be supervising the appropriate distribution and utilization of the raw materials. Justification regarding this statement can be provided by revealing the fact that a majority of the raw material preparation works can be accomplished by the use of high tech construction equipments13. Construction techs such as cement mixers and stone crushers can be relied upon for distributing evenly mixed concentration of cement and crushed stones over the flattened ground surface. Specially mentioning, availability of quality raw materials such as iron bars and quick cements will reduce the expected completion time of such a project by drastic rate. Apart from these, the widening of the technological dimension will also facilitate the structuring of necessary security and accident preventive measures within such projects. Appropriate use of signaling equipments and concealed wiring techniques will associatively help in maintaining a steady flow of traffic through such roadways. Precise implementation of modern day civil construction theories will also help in structuring of the road dimensions in case of a project like the Appian Way gets constructed in the present day scenario14. It is worth mentioning that appropriate construction of the Appian Way in the present scenario would also require the implementation of multiple dimensional strategies along with effective drainage provisions. One aspect need to be understood that the durability of a lengthy road depends on its capability of surviving under the occurrence of varied sorts of natural and manmade calamities. Floods, earthquakes, level of traffic and effect on the surrounding environment can be duly considered as such instances. Strategic implementation regarding the appropriate attainment of resources will also be done in case such massive projects are conducted in the present day scenario. Justification to this statement can be provided depending on the fact that a vast difference can be seen within the land alignment of the previous and the current generation. Moreover, the present generation also posses the appropriate equipments through which they can construct roadways upon any form of land surface irrespective of its evenness15. The ‘Rio–Antirrio Bridge’ between ‘Rio (Peloponnese) and Antirrio (Greece)’ can be regarded as one of such manmade wonders upon waterways. Clearly, this bridge illustrates the changes within the road construction engineering techniques that developed since the period of 312 B.C. Specially mentioning, the overall distance of the Appian Way might get reduced, in case it gets constructed in this present day context. This might be owing to the reason that the present generation engineers will utilize the advanced hydraulic equipments reinforced with steel for constructing such a roadway. The utility of such tools will also find applicability in case the road extends over highly uneven ground surfaces such as mountains or waterways. In an associated manner, the engineers might also prefer the installation of appropriate load detection and weather monitoring sensors so as to record the occurrence of any accident or natural hazard that might result in damaging the road by a severe extent16. Thus, based on the above discussed aspects, it can be affirmed from a broader understanding that building such massive projects like the Appian Way will hold remarkable historical significance in this modern day context with maximum utilization of valuable resources. Works Cited “Appian Way.” Famouswonders.com. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. “Rome Walking Tour: Ancient Appian Way.” National Geographic Society. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. “From plans to pavement: How a road is built.” State of Michigan. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. “Roman Roads.” UNRV.com. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. “Via Appia Antica, Rome.” Virtual Tourist. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. Read More