Uncovering a masterpiece of Roman engineering: The project of Via Appia between Colle Pardo and Terracina |
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| Institution: | 1. Faculty of Civil Architecture, Politecnico di Milano, Milano 20133, Italy;2. Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji Kyoto 611-0011, Japan;3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano 20133, Italy;4. Geomatics Research & Development, Como 22100, Italy;1. Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy;2. Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy;1. University of Vienna, Department of Physical Chemistry, Währinger Strasse 42, 1090 Wien, Austria;2. Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus, F. Scorina Avenue 68, 220012 Minsk, Belarus;1. Autonomous Systems, CSIRO Computational Informatics, Brisbane, Australia;2. School of Architecture, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia;1. Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences (DiSAFA), Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco, Torino, Italy;2. CNR–IVALSA, Istituto per la valorizzazione del legno e delle specie arboree, via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy;1. Department of Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry, High School of Civil Engineering (UPV), 46022 Valencia, Spain;2. Department of Architectural Projects, High School of Architecture (UPV), 46022 Valencia, Spain;3. Area of Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry, Polytechnic High School of Lugo (USC), 27002 Lugo, Spain |
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| Abstract: | Via Appia, built around 312 BC, is an engineering masterpiece, its most striking feature being the segment between Colle Pardo and Terracina, which goes “straight” for about 61 km. We investigate this segment by GPS techniques: results lead to uncover that the original project of the road was based on a complex interplay between geometry and astronomy. The project was indeed carried out with the help of an orthogonal centuriation grid, with all probabilities starting from a node located at the south easternmost point of the grid itself. The road however does not run along the grid's diagonal: it was orientated astronomically to the setting of the star Castor at the time of construction. Since the Gemini twins were patrons of the Roman army, the project turns out to be a work entertained for both practical and symbolic reasons, during a key moment of the Roman history. |
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| Keywords: | Via Appia Roman roads Centuriation Astronomical heritage |
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