The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1902-03-22
NUMBER 70.
THE APPiAN WAY.

| Inc 1OllOWlng interesting ana III
structive paper was given by Miss
Lucy Lea, an eye. witness Of the cele-
brated "Appian Way, at the last
meeting of the Dixie Chapter, U. ID.
c., and is published, with her per-
mission.
The Appian Way was the great
southern road from Rome. The CEN
sorship of Appius Claudius and Caius
| Plautius was remarkable for many
things, but the name of Appius is
better known from the name given
to this road than from any other act
ProcOcius thus describes the Appian
Way" To traverse the Appian Way
is d five days journey: it leads from
Rome to Capua; its breadth is such
that two chariots may meet upon it
and pass each other. andin magnitlcence
surpasses all others. Appius caused
the material to be brought from a
great distance, SO it would be hard,
being made from large mill stones,
| polished and cut so to fit, with copper
rivets. In this manner they were SO
firmly united they appeared to be one
solid rock. and with the immense
travel always going on over it it
still retains shape and hardness.
The road is lined with temples,
villas and tombs. for it was the Gus
tom of the Romans to bury their dead
on the sides of the principal roads.
We met ir Rome some Mississippi
| friends, and, as il was their second
visit to Rome. they proposed to take
with US a drive over this road. made
sacred not only by the buried dead Of
Rome, but by the footprints Of st.
Paul himself, and also by the tradi
tions of st. Peter.
We four started at one O'Clock, for
it is unsafe to stay out late at Rome.
and, with the sOfteSt Of blue Italian
skies above us and congenial compan
ionship. spent one of the most pleas
ant afternot ms of our most lovely sum-
mer. The first p ace We halted was
to get down and examine the church
of Domino, Quo Nadis," so called
from the legend that st Peter. when
escaping from Rome was met by our
Savior at this spot, Peter asked Of
him. Domino. quo vadis," to which
Jesus replied. "Nendo iterum cruci
tigi, " which caused the apostle to re-
turn to his doom.
There is on a small piece Of marble
two foot prints, which they say is the
place where oar Lord stood. There
! fg,
| will only mention two more stops
Next the Catac0mbS Of st. CaliXtus.
We all know that the CatacOmbs were
the burial places of Roman families.
but in the third century. the persecu-
ted Christians sought safety in the
CatacombS. and lived in them. The
TombS were freScoed by the heathen
first. and then the Christian. The
latter are very wide daubs. remem-
Der, especially. the one of Jonah. In
one Of the galleries is the crypt of ST.
Cecilia, where her body was placed
after martyrdom, by Priest Urban, y
ID. Iii. On the wall is a freScoe OF
st. Cecilia in Byzantine dress. Our
guide through the Catacombs was
the jolliest monk | ever saw. He said
he knew we would come back again
some day to see him: that many peo-
pie did. Conducting people all the
time through these tombS did not
seem jolly work to me, but he was
the witticst of guides / saw on my
travels further on.
On the top of hill is the stern
round fortress of other days, known
: as the Tomb of Cecilia Metalla, wife
of Lucius Cornelius Sylla, and daugh-
! ter of Quintus Memellus. The build
} ing is a circular tower seventy feet il
diameter. This ruin, so long respect
t ed as tomb, was converted into ;
! fortress by Boniface the Eighth
t Learned men have made it one Of thei'
/. most sacred resting places and it is
, favorite of tourists and artists. Th'
r tower, as shown in the picture, wa
built seventy-nine years before Christ
The construction is very remarkable
on account of the enormous thickness
of the walls: the middle chamber
fifteen feet in diameter, and was sup
posed to contain much treasure.
= What was this tomb of strength
. Within its cave, what treasure lay 5
~ locked--do hid? A woman's grave.