Without doubt the most famous monument on the Via Appia, the tomb of Caecilia Metella is a circular drum mausoleum standing on a square base that was once faced with marble. This is the tomb of the daughter of Quintus Metella, the man who conquered Crete, and the wife of Marcus Licinius Crassus, an aide of Caesar's. The monument dates to the Augustan period. By the time of Pope Boniface VIII, the tomb was already incorporated into a fortified area and the cone of earth on top had been removed and replaced with battlements. His family, the Caetani, built the fortified palace that is now attached to the mausoleum. Despite the medieval additions, the tomb of Caecilia Metella is one of the best preserved funerary monuments in Rome and certainly the best on the Via Appia. In the ruined manor attached are a large assortment of classical sculptures and inscriptions gathered from the Via Appia.

Access: Paid entry and open daylight hours.

The grandest example imaginable of a private stadium is the circus of Maxentius, just off the Via Appia. Maxentius built a sumptuous palace on the ridge here at the start of the 3rd Century AD. Of the palace virtually nothing remains visible now, save one apse of a huge heated hall. The palace was built over the site of a 2nd century villa that has been suggested as belonging to the famous Herod Atticus, which in turn was built over a Republican villa. The circus itself, however, has survived remarkably well, one of the best preserved examples in the world and far more intact than the Circus Macimus in the city. Large sections of the seating remain intact, and the heavy towers at the western end are impressive. Next to this, enclosed within a rectangular area of heavy brick walls is the mausoleum of Maxentius' son, Romulus, who died in 309 AD at the age of seven. His mausoleum is a grand affair and cannot fail to impress.

Access: These monuments are paid entry, but are only open in the morning and through lunch time, so arrive early. Despite two attempts I have never arrived in time to gain entry. Both are reasonably visible externally from the Via Appia however.

A villa that existed by the side of the Via Appia that must have been extravagant and wealthy came into the state's possession relatively recently. The baths of this villa have been excavated and are now visitable free of charge at the Via Appia just south of the Mausoleum of Caecilia Metella.

The so called 'Queen of Roads', the Via Appia was constructed by Appius Claudius Caecus in 312 BC. It runs from Rome to Brindisi in southeast Italy, though originally it only ran as far as Capua and was contructed to aid in troop and supply movement in the Samnite war. In time it was extended south and became the most important artery of the Roman road system. The road remained one of the main south roads in Italy long after the fall of Rome until in 1784, Pope Pius VI ordered the construction of a new road, the Appia Nova that runs alongside the ancient road for much of its route as far as the Alban hills. The Via Appia now became known as the Via Appia Antica. Alongside the ancient road, many of the funerary monuments have been preserved (see below) and close to Rome there are fine stretches of the original paving. In the late 20th century, the area was designated an archaeological park and the road is preserved and maintained. People still live alongside the road, though it is open to vehicles for access only and is generally pedestrianised. A favourite sunday walk of urban Romans, the Via Appia is a very pleasant walk with many sights and is a 'should not be missed' when in Rome. The best preserved and most interesting stretch of the road constitutes a walk of 4.5 miles, running from the Porta San Sebastiano as far as the Villa of the Quintilli, though an intrepid explorer could travel much further (at least as far as Albano) and see other monuments along the way.

As was law in ancient Rome, tombs could not be built within the pomerium (which roughly defined is the city limits.) As such, most of the funerary monuments of Rome are outside the city's Aurelian walls. The best preserved and by far the most numerous are those along the Via Appia. Below are a mere few of the tombs and mausolea that stand by the road. It would be near impossible to relate here each monument, but the visitor will find brick-built columbaria with niches for urns, pyramids, towers, drum shaped mausolea, reconstructed friezes, statues, inscriptions, mounds and many more.

A side road from the Via Appia at the Rome end (the Via Della Cafarella) takes the visitor along a small valley that runs parallel to the Via Appia close by and has its own selection of Monuments. With care it can be included in a Via Appia trip with only a little doubling back, as your exit from the valley takes you back up to the Via Caecilia Metella where it joins the Appia Antica again. In this valley can be found temples, tombs, cisterns and the nymphaeum of Egeria, very important in the Roman period.