Etruscan and Roman Roads in Southern Etruria

The main roads that led north from Rome into Etruria have received surprisingly little attention from students of classical topography. With the exception of the Via Flaminia, which has been the subject of a characteristically detailed study by Ashby and Fell, the course of none of these roads has been systematically worked out on the ground. Martinori's monograph on the Via Cassia (and Clodia) is little more than a compilation of facts about the places along its presumed route; and Lopes Pegna's recent articles, though a useful contribution, are concerned rather with the problems raised by the study of the Classical itineraries than with their topographical implications. And yet for two millennia these roads have played a major, often a determining, part in the history of the regions through which they pass They have become a part of the essential pattern of life, and it is perhaps for that very reason that they have so often been taken for granted.