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"Via, a public road. It was not until the period of the long protracted Samnite wars that the necessity was felt of securing a safe communication between the city and the legions; and then for the first time we hear of those famous paved roads, which, in after ages, connected Rome with her most distant provinces, constituting the most lasting of all her works. The excellence of the principles upon which they were constructed is sufficiently attested by their extraordinary durability, many specimens being found in the country around Rome which have been used without being repaired for more than a thousand years." — Smith; 1873

Via

"Via, a public road. It was not until the period of the long protracted Samnite wars that the necessity…