VIA ASINARIA
a road which issued from the
PORTA ASINARIA of the
Aurelian wall, accessible from the via Latina, from which Belisarius
diverged, in his advance on Rome, so as to enter by the
PORTA ASINARIA
(Not. app.; Procop.
BG i. 14. 14). It is also mentioned by Festus 282
(s.v. retricibus:
aqua eo nomine quae est supra viam Ardeatinam inter
lapidem secundum et tertium, qua inrigantur horti infra viam Ardeatinam
et Asinariam usque ad Latinam), which shows that it must have run
towards the via Appia and the via Ardeatina. Its course is variously
indicated, but probably the modern Via Appia Nuova at first coincides
with it (Bull. d. Inst. 186x, 72;
RE ii. 1581;
T. ii. 28-33;
PBS iv.
42-45). The via Tusculana diverges from it about 400 metres from the
gate (
PBS iv. 51 sqq.).