Via Salaria
Encyclopedia
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
It eventually ran from Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(from Porta Salaria
Porta Salaria
Porta Salaria was a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy, demolished in 1921.-History:Porta Salaria was part of the Aurelian Walls built by emperor Aurelian in the 3rd century, including pre-existing constructions in order to hasten the works. Under it passed the Via Salaria nova, which joined...
of the Aurelian Walls
Aurelian Walls
The Aurelian Walls is a line of city walls built between 271 and 275 in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperors Aurelian and Probus....
) to Castrum Truentinum (Porto d'Ascoli
Porto d'Ascoli
Porto d'Ascoli is an italian civil parish , part of the municipality of San Benedetto del Tronto in the province of Ascoli Piceno, Marche region.-History:...
) on the Adriatic coast - a distance of 242 km. The road also passed through Reate (Rieti
Rieti
Rieti is a city and comune in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of c. 47,700. It is the capital of province of Rieti.The town centre rests on a small hilltop, commanding a wide plain at the southern edge of an ancient lake. The area is now the fertile basin of the Velino River...
) and Asculum
Asculum
Asculum, also known as Ausculum, was the ancient name of two Italian cities.The first is Ascoli Piceno, the Ausculum in ancient Picenum . It is situated in the valley of the Truentus river on the via Salaria. It was originally a Sabine city . Following its defeat by the Romans in 268 BC...
(Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno is a town and comune in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is c. 51,400.-Geography:...
). The Via Salaria owes its name to the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word for "salt", since it was the route by which the Sabines came to fetch salt from the marshes at the mouth of the Tiber, one of many ancient salt road
Salt Road
A salt road ) is any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt has been transported to regions that lacked it ....
s in Europe. Some historians consider the Salaria and the trade in salt to have been the origin of the settlement of Rome. Some remains still exist of the mountain sections of the road.
A modern road by this name, part of the SS4 highway, runs 51 km from Rome to Osteria Nuova.
Roman bridges
- For an overview of the location of Roman bridges, see List of Roman bridges.
There are the remains of several Roman bridges along the road, including the Ponte del Gran Caso
Ponte del Gran Caso
The Ponte del Gran Caso is a Roman bridge across the Torrente Gran Caso 2 km south of Ascoli Piceno, central Italy.Today, the structure is surrounded by thick vegetation, and serves only to carry a wood shed. The bridge has a span of 6 m, a width of 3.3 m and is built of travertine...
, Ponte della Scutella, Ponte d’Arli, Ponte di Quintodecimo
Ponte di Quintodecimo
The Ponte di Quintodecimo is a Roman stone bridge over the river Tronto next to the village of Quintodecimo, Marche, central Italy.The bridge consists of a main arch spanning the river and 2 smaller arches connecting the road to the bridge. The main arch has a span of ca 17 m. The width of the...
, Ponte Romano (Acquasanta), Ponte Salario
Ponte Salario
The Ponte Salario, also called Ponte Salaro during the Middle Ages, is a road bridge in Rome, Italy, whose origins date back to the Roman period. In antiquity, it lay outside the city limits, 3 km north of the Porta Collina, at the point where the Via Salaria crossed the Aniene, a tributary...
and Ponte Sambuco.