Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Via

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

VIA. A paved road, said to be an invention of the Carthaginians (Isidor. Orig. xv. 16. 6.), for horses, carriage, and foot-passengers (Varro, L. L. v. 35.), both in town and country; but more especially such as formed the main channel of communication or high-way between one district and another, as opposed to a back-street or bye-lane. (Mart. vii. 61. Cic. Phil. xii. 9. Hor. Sat. i. 9. 1.) The Roman roads were constructed with the greatest regard to convenience and durability; consisting of a carriage-way (agger) in the centre, paved with large polygonal blocks of basaltic lava (silex), imbedded in a substratum formed by three layers of different materials one under the other, the lowest of small stones or gravel, the next of rubble-work, i. e. broken stones and lime; the upper one a bed of six inches deep, composed of fragments of brick and pottery, mixed with cement; and a raised foot-way (crepido) on each side, flanked by a series of kerb-stones (umbones), which in some cases were interspersed at intervals by large wedge-shaped trusses (gomphi), which bound and consolidated the whole frame. The illustration (Via/1.1) represents a view of the main road from Herculaneum to Pompeii, at the entrance into the lattery city; showing the carriage-way and foot-paths, with their kerb-stones on each side. A section, exhibiting the method of setting the polygonal blocks is given s. AGGER, 4, and illustrations of the other parts in detail under their respective terms bracketed above.

• 
  Via/1.1