Department Colloquium: Liana Brent (Penn) "Not All Roads Lead to Rome"

Title: Not All Roads Lead to Rome

Abstract: Over the course of its long history, the Via Appia has been extended, repaved, rerouted, and eventually, replaced with a modern highway system. Today, the road serves as a type site for mortuary landscapes and streets of the tombs on the outskirts of Rome. As the boundaries of Rome fluctuated over time, the relationships between the Via Appia, city and suburb changed too. But just how representative was the Via Appia of mortuary landscapes of the first to fourth centuries? How have the reconstructed and resurrected tombs along the Via Appia taken on emblematic status over the years, and what do we learn from a deep-time approach to this ancient road?