★ Following Caesar: From Rome to Constantinople, the Pathways That Planted the Seeds of Empire

John Keahey. St. Martin’s, $30 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-79240-2

This delightful travelogue from historian Keahey (Seeking Sicily) chronicles his three-month journey to walk the very stones Julius Caesar did some 2,000 years ago. While traversing the routes of the Via Appia and the Via Traiana in Italy and the Via Egnatia across the Balkans, Keahey ruminates on the integral role played in Roman and European history by these roads, sections of which underlie modern highways today, and traces the paths of famous figures who traveled them, including the poet Horace and the apostles Peter and Paul. Throughout, Keahey highlights the impact these roads had on Caesar’s political career. In 66 BCE, a young Caesar became curator of the Via Appia, which stretched from Rome to Brindisi in southern Italy. Spending his own fortune on improvements and repairs, Caesar gained favor with villages along the route, paving the way for his first electoral victory. He later achieved acclaim leading armies along the route to fight Rome’s civil wars. As Keahey seeks out the remaining stretches of the original roadways, he charmingly recounts being assisted by archeologists, historians, and knowledgeable locals; on one memorable occasion, he’s driven through the mud of a farmer’s field to be shown a yet unmapped portion of the Via Appia. Keahey’s winsome and deeply researched account will spellbind readers. (Dec.)