Appian Way

This street takes its name from the Via Appia, or Appian Way, the ancient highway that once connected Rome to Brindisi – a distance of some 350 miles, give or take. That Appian Way was begun in 312 B.C. by its namesake, Appius Claudius Caecus, a Roman censor (a magistrate who oversaw both the census and public morality – hence today’s definition of “censorship”). This Appian Way was named in 1910 on Carl F. Schader’s Seaside Terrace tract. Located on the former site of the Arcadia Hotel, which Schader purchased in 1909, many of the tract’s bungalows still exist while its hotels have been significantly upgraded. In contrast to the magnitude of its imperial namesake, however, SM’s Appian Way is more or less a back alley.