Like the billboard-lined highways of today, Via Appia was a place to advertise: here, the aristocracy showed their wealth via their tombs, and the Roman Empire showed their might through engineering and punishment.

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Sacred catacombs open to the public include the Catacombs of Priscilla (Via Salaria, 430), the Catacombs of St Callixtus (Via Appia Antica, 110-126) and the Catacombs of St Agnes (Via Nomentana, 349).

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Christians were buried by the Via Appia too, in the catacombs that run for miles underground.

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By 191 BC, the Via Appia was complete, reaching as far as Brindisi in present-day Puglia.

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Besides having enormous military and political importance, the Via Appia Antica was also the road of tombs.

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It is tucked away off Via Appia Antica, the ancient road where 6, 000 of Spartacus' slave army were crucified in 71 BC.

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Via Appia Antica stretches out south of Rome, as straight as a die, its steppingstone cobblestones disappearing into the distance.

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