he remains of which are still an object of wonder. It was first built
from Rome to Capua by Appius Claudius Caecus in the fourth century before
Christ, and was afterwards continued as far as Brundisium. It was broad
enough for two carriages to pass each other, and was built of solid
stone. The stones were hewn sharp and smooth, and their corners fitted
into one another without the aid of any connecting material, so that,
according to Procopius, the whole appeared to be one natural stone. Each
side of the street had a high border for foot-passengers, on which were
also placed alternately seats and mile-stones. In spite of its age and
heavy traffic parts of this road are still in a good state of
preservation. After the completion of the Via Appia similar roads were
constructed, so that under the emperors seven great highways started
from Rome, viz.: the Via Appia and Latina to the south; two, Valeria and
Salaria, to the Adriatic; two, Cassia and Aurelia, to the northwest; and
the Via AEmilia, serving for both banks of the Po.

Nor were the provinces by any means neglected. During the last Punic war
a paved road was constructed from Spain through Gaul to the Alps, and
similar roads were afterwards built in every part of Spain and Gaul,
through Illyricum, Macedonia and Thrace, to Constantinople, and along
the Danube to its mouths on the Black Sea. So, likewise, were the
islands of Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily and Great Britain crossed by them.
It has justly been said that the roads of the Roman Empire, whose strong
net-work enlaced the known world, were the architectural glory of its
people. These military roads caused in the various parts of the empire a
wonderful social and commercial revolution. They made it possible for
civilization to penetrate into the most remote retreats and to conquer
their inhabitants more completely than could Caesar at the head of his
legions.

The Romans also had an efficient postal service, which was first
instituted by Augustus and greatly improved by Hadrian. The former, as
Gibbon states in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," placed
upon all roads leading away from the golden milestone of the Forum, at
short distances, relays of young men to serve as couriers, and later
provided vehicles to hurry information from the provinces. These posts
facilitated communication through all parts of the empire, and while
they were originally established in the interest of the government, they
proved