Marte Gradivo al primo miglio della via Appia: stato della questione e nuove prospettive di ricerca

The Mars Gradivus sanctuary, located on the first mile of the via Appia, from Republican age to Late Antiquity dominated the extramural landscape of Porta Appia. Later, the topic of its localization had a considerable success in the Antiquarian and Archaeological Studies from the Renaissance to the present day. Nevertheless, no archaeological excavation has yet provided scientific research to determine the location of the sanctuary (templum) and the temple (aedes) of Mars or to understand the significance of its cult for the city of Rome. The purpose of this paper is then to present all the available archaeological, literary and epigraphical sources concerning the sanctuary and the cult of Mars Gradivus, in order to highlight the crucial role of this cult for Republican Rome. Consequently, it is important to investigate the extramural area where the sanctuary was located.