The Flaminia way

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Category: Punti di interesse

An ancient Roman road that passed through Umbria, from Otricoli to Scheggia, the Via Flaminia was used both as a trade and a military route. It connected Rome to the Adriatic Sea, passing through the Apennines. Bridges and substructures carried it over rivers and uneven ground, an outstanding engineering feat that facilitated the Romanization of Umbria. But the impact of this superb work went further. It also spurred a unifying tendency, leading the Umbrian populations to abandon the ancient schemes based on a village-centered culture in the name of a different use of the territory and a new cultural belonging. The consular road, (the first of the Roman Viae publicae to the North) made by the censor Caio Flaminio in 220 BC, connected Rome to the Adriatic ports and Northern Italy, going in its original route from Narnia to Mevania, on the western foothills of the Monti Martani.

The road was built using and adapting previous routes that Umbrians used for transhumance and travels. It was eighteen Roman miles from Narnia to the Statio ad Martis, near the church of Santa Maria in Pantano: the Vicus Martis, solidly attested in many Roman inscriptions found in the area.

From the third century this first route of the Via Flaminia began to be subject to variations, made for economic purposes, which led to Terni, Spoleto and Forum Flaminii, (near the present Foligno).

The two paths forked at the beginning of the Martani mountains after the Flaminia vetus crossed Carsulae and reached, after the Statio ad Martis, the Vicus ad Martis (Today Massa Martana). The life and prosperity of the Vicus Martis were closely tied to the fate of the Flaminia as proved by several epigraphic and archaeological remains.

There are wo interesting epigraphies about the restoration of the route: the first refers to the Emperor Antonino Pio, the latter, preserved under the arch of the city door of Massa Martana, is by Emperor Adriano and was found near the ruined church of San Giacomo, along the Via Flaminia

After the fall of Roman Empire the western route of the Via Flaminia was abandoned and decayed, but the area was not excluded from transit because it was between the new path and the Via Amerina. In the early Middle Age it was an important road of connection between Rome and Ravenna, as shown by the ruins of Montecastro, probably a temple related to an Umbrian cult and later become a castrum in defense of the underlying Via Flaminia. Many materials were reused throughout the area: numerous columbaria remained unknown for a long time and the Romanesque churches built over pagan temples dedicated to the gods Apollo, Ceres, Mercury and Mars. The latter took its name from the nearby mountains and the surrounding area, rich of brick and pottery fragments which continually come to light during farm work.