The Via Julia Augusta (modern Italian Via Giulia Augusta) is the name given to the
Roman road formed by the merging of the
Via Aemilia Scauri
The ''Via Aemilia Scauri'' was an ancient Roman road built by the consul Marcus Aemilius Scaurus during his term as censor in 109 BC. E. Fentress, 'Via Aurelia, Via Aemilia' ''Papers of the British School at Rome'' LII, 1984, 72-76.
Route
It ...
with the
Via Postumia
The Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the ''consul'' Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus.
It ran from the coast at Genua through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia (the termination of the Via Aem ...
. The road runs from
Placentia (modern Piacenza) to
Arelate (modern Arles), initially westward along the edge of the plain of the
River Po to Derthona (
Tortona), then southward to the
Ligurian coast. There it formed a continuous route westward along the precipitous descent of the Ligurian mountains into the sea. This takes it to Vada Sabatia (
Vado Ligure
Vado Ligure ( lij, Voæ), in antiquity Vada Sabatia, is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Savona, Liguria, in northern Italy.
Economy
Vado has a large industrial and commercial port.
Vado Ligure is home to a railway construction plant ...
), Albingaunum (
Albenga
Albenga ( lij, Arbenga; la, Albingaunum) is a city and ''comune'' situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy. Albenga has the nickname of ''city of a hundred spires''. The economy is ...
) and Album Intimilium (
Ventimiglia
Ventimiglia (; lij, label=Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label= Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label= Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...
), continuing to
La Turbie (above modern
Monaco), where its original terminus was marked by a
triumphal arch. Later it was extended, taking a route away from the coast via the valley of the River Laghet, north of
Nice and westward to Arles where it joined the
Via Domitia.
It was begun in 13 BCE by
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
, and its engineering works were repeatedly renewed by later emperors. However by about 420 CE, when
Rutilius Namatianus Rutilius Claudius Namatianus (fl. 5th century) was a Roman Imperial poet, best known for his Latin poem, ''De reditu suo'', in elegiac metre, describing a coastal voyage from Rome to Gaul in 416. The poem was in two books; the exordium of the first ...
returned to Gaul from Italia, he took ship past the
Maritime Alps
The Maritime Alps (french: Alpes Maritimes ; it, Alpi Marittime ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the Italian regions of Piedmont and L ...
rather than rely upon the decaying road. In 1764
Tobias Smollett similarly travelled by sea rather than use the seaside tracks, fit only for "mules and foot passengers".
[Travels through France and Italy, by Tobias Smollett. Published by J. Mundell & Co. Edinburgh, 1796. Letter XXV. Written from Nice, Jan. 1, 1765. Re-keyed by Bill Thayer. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/_Texts/Smollett/Travels/25.html accessed 26 Oct 2016] Road access was not restored until the time of Napoleon.
Roman bridges
There are the remains of a number of Roman bridges along the road, including the Pont des Esclapes
Pont Flavien; Pontaccio; Ponte dell’Acqua; Ponte delle Fate; Ponte delle Voze; Ponte Lungo; Ponte sul Rio della Torre; Primo Ponte di Val Ponci; Quarto Ponte di Val Ponci and Pontetto.
See also
*
Roman engineering
External links
References
Giulia Augusta, Via
Giulia Augusta, Via
Augustus
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