Following Caesar : from Rome to Constantinople, the pathways that planted the seeds of empire

Following Caesar From Rome to Constantinople, the pathways that planted the seeds of empire

John Keahey

Book - 2023

"A travel narrative following three ancient roads and looking at more than two thousand years of history of Ancient Rome through the modern eye. In 66 B.C., young, ambitious Julius Caesar, seeking recognition and authority, became the curator of the Via Appia. He borrowed significant sums to restore the ancient highway. It was a way to curry favor from Roman citizens in villages along the route, built from Rome to Brindisi between 312-191 B.C. He succeeded and rapidly grew in popularity. After achieving greatness in Rome and the far reaches of Gaul, he led armies along this road to battle enemies in Roman civil wars. And then, across the Adriatic Sea, he joined Via Appia's sister road, the Via Egnatia that began in today's Al...bania. Other armies followed these two roads that eventually connected Rome to Byzantium, today's Istanbul. Octavian, who became, in 27 B.C., Rome's first emperor, and his friend and later enemy Mark Antony traveled portions of both roads to defeat Caesar's murderers Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in eastern Macedonia. The great Roman statesman Cicero, the Roman poet Homer, the historian Virgil and many other notables traveled along one or both of these roads. In the first century of the Roman Empire in the earliest years of Christianity, the apostles Peter and Paul traversed portions of them. Pilgrims, seeking salvation in far-away Jerusalem, followed them as well throughout much of the Middle Ages. In the early second century A.D., the emperor Trajan charted a new coastal route between Benevento and Brindisi, later called the Via Traiana. Today, short stretches of the original three roads can be seen in the ruins of ancient Roman cities, now preserved as archaeological wonders, and through the countryside near, and sometimes under, modern highways. Following those routes is the purpose of treading along the path that Caesar and so many others took over the early centuries. Modern eyes, seeing through the mists of more than two thousand years of history, lead the traveler along these three roads coursing through six countries between Rome and Istanbul. It is a journey full of adventure, discovery, and friendship-one one worth taking"--

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Subjects
Keahey, John > Travel > Europe, Southern.
Keahey, John
Roads, Roman > Europe, Southern.
Cities and towns, Ancient > Europe, Southern.
HISTORY / Ancient / Rome.
Cities and towns, Ancient
Roads, Roman
Travel
Rome > History.
Europe, Southern > Description and travel.
Rome (Empire)
Southern Europe
History
Travel writing
Travel writing.
Genres
History
Travel writing
Published
New York, NY : St. Martin's Press, an imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group 2023.
Language
English
Main Author
John Keahey (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xiv, 232 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781250792402
  • Born out of necessity
  • A beginning
  • Goddesses and despots
  • Hitting the road
  • Terracina and Anxur to Itri
  • Cicero
  • The City of Venus
  • A very short river
  • Brindisi
  • A Macedonian lake
  • To Pella
  • From Philippi to Byzantium and back to the boot
  • Nearing the end.
Review by Booklist Review

When Julius Caesar traveled the now-famous Via Appia (or Appian Way), he improved the ancient roadway, thus earning the gratitude and support of towns beyond Rome. Today, parts of it are preserved as archaeological ruins. To unfurl the story of the empire-making roadway, John Keahey (Hidden Tuscany, 2014) takes up the challenge of traversing it, and then journeys much farther. He roams the boot of Italy, sails the Adriatic Sea, and crosses the Balkan peninsula. There he takes up the Via Egnatia to its terminus at the Eastern Roman Empire's capital, Constantinople, now Istanbul. Referenced by the poet Horace and vital to imperial Roman history, the Via Egnatia was the road the apostle Paul traveled to reach nascent Christian churches in ancient cities such as Philippi. As Keahey relates, parts of these ancient roads are now virtually abandoned or replaced by modern motorways, and he has to turn to knowledgeable locals to ferret out the original paths. Readers following Keahey's detailed history and geography may want to consult internet maps to supplement the book's outline ones.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This delightful travelogue from historian Keahey (Seeking Sicily) chronicles his three-month journey to walk the very stones Julius Caesar did some 2,000 years ago. While traversing the routes of the Via Appia and the Via Traiana in Italy and the Via Egnatia across the Balkans, Keahey ruminates on the integral role played in Roman and European history by these roads, sections of which underlie modern highways today, and traces the paths of famous figures who traveled them, including the poet Horace and the apostles Peter and Paul. Throughout, Keahey highlights the impact these roads had on Caesar's political career. In 66 BCE, a young Caesar became curator of the Via Appia, which stretched from Rome to Brindisi in southern Italy. Spending his own fortune on improvements and repairs, Caesar gained favor with villages along the route, paving the way for his first electoral victory. He later achieved acclaim leading armies along the route to fight Rome's civil wars. As Keahey seeks out the remaining stretches of the original roadways, he charmingly recounts being assisted by archeologists, historians, and knowledgeable locals; on one memorable occasion, he's driven through the mud of a farmer's field to be shown a yet unmapped portion of the Via Appia. This winsome and deeply researched account will spellbind readers. (Dec.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Traveling with the Caesars, Cicero, and Horace along Roman byways. At the apex of its power, the Roman Empire had 50,000 miles of paved roads. Constructed chiefly for military purposes, some 372 roads connected the empire's 113 provinces, from Britain to Mesopotamia and from the Danube River to Spain and North Africa. Nearly 30 roads left Rome itself. Keahey, the author of Seeking Sicily and Venice Against the Sea, begins much earlier, with the extraordinary achievement of the Roman Republic in building three ancient routes: the Via Appia, Via Egnatia, and Via Traiana. The author devotes most of the book to the first and most famous route--the Appian Way--and to those who traveled it in war or for diplomatic missions. To revisit the political, geological, and architectural history of each, Keahey's journey stuck as close as possible to the original routes, coursing through some of most arresting landscapes, ruins, villages, and towns of modern Italy, Greece, and Turkey. The author, who has written widely about Italy, reveals engineering marvels built largely by Roman soldiers, all the more impressive because so much of the pavement created from varied local materials still survives. Instrumental in the success of both journey and book were the numerous informal guides who assisted Keahey along the way, helping him separate fact from folklore and locate the most intriguing places. His own knowledge of the interplay between the great figures of the Republic and the Empire, of ancient mythology and earlier Italian cultures, is just as vital. Readers less enamored of the subject will be slowed by the sheer weight of journalistic detail and occasional repetition, but for others, it's an admirable travelogue reflecting Keahey's passions and an ideal step-by-step guide to anyone wanting to duplicate his excursions. The ancient routes of Rome come alive in this appealing new history. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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