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Pisco Montano in Terracina: Trajan's Cliff Cut Measured in Roman Numerals
At the southern entrance to Terracina, the great limestone crag of Pisco Montano rises sheer above the sea to a height of nearly 100 metres. The vertical face visible today is not natural: it is the mark of one of the most impressive cuts in Roman engineering, ordered by Emperor Trajan around 104 AD to allow the Via Appia to follow the coast. Nearly 38 metres of rock was removed by hand.
One Mile Less Between Rome and Brindisi
Before this cut, those travelling the Appian Way from Rome to Brindisi had to climb 147 metres to get past the spur of Pisco Montano. Trajan decided to cut through it. The objective was purely logistical: to save one Roman mile — approximately 1.48 kilometres — on the route, to transport grain from newly conquered Dacia and for troop transfers. Over 13,000 cubic metres of limestone was quarried by pickaxe, a feat that must have taken years.
The Signs Measuring Work Progress
On the rock face, large Roman numerals carved in the rock are still legible: X, XX, XXX and so on, up to CXX (120). Trajan's engineers marked them every ten Roman feet — approximately 2.96 metres — to record how much rock had been removed. In practice, a construction diary carved in stone. The final figure, CXXIIX (128 feet, or 37.88 metres), is today buried under the asphalt, and was last seen during an excavation of 1911. An interesting fact: there are no zeroes, Romans did not have that concept.
Porta Napoli at the Foot of the Crag
At the foot of the Pisco stands Porta Napoli, an 18th-century arch placed on the road that led to the Kingdom of Naples, marking the southern boundary of the town.
