Where the Via Appia crossed the River Garigliano, the Romans built a town, and armies have been fighting over the crossing ever since. Minturnae was founded as a Roman colony in the late fourth century BC on the border between Lazio and Campania, and its ruins lie beside the river near the modern town of Minturno: a theatre still used for summer performances, a forum, temples, baths, a stretch of the Via Appia's paving and the arches of an aqueduct striding across the fields. A small museum displays statues and finds from the site.
The crossing has seen some decisive battles. In 915 a Christian alliance defeated a Saracen stronghold near the river mouth, in 1503 Spanish forces under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba won a crucial victory over the French here, and in 1944 the Garigliano formed part of the German Gustav Line, with fierce fighting as the Allies pushed north toward Rome. War cemeteries in the area are a sober reminder of that last battle.
The riding is varied and rewarding. The Via Appia, now the SS7, runs along the coastal plain, busy with traffic, and the coast road toward Gaeta, Sperlonga and Terracina is beautiful, with cliffs, beaches and old towns perched above the sea. Inland, the Monti Aurunci rise steeply, with twisting roads through olive groves, oak woods and hill villages offering wonderful views. Traffic is heavy in summer, especially at weekends, and road surfaces vary.
Minturno is a town of about sixteen thousand people, with fuel, shops, cafés and restaurants, and the hilltop old town is a pleasant place to wander. Across the river in Campania lies buffalo mozzarella country, and the coast offers fresh fish and seafood. Try a plate of spaghetti with clams, or a fresh mozzarella with tomatoes and basil, and a glass of local wine.
The shoulder seasons suit it best, when the theatre stones are warm rather than scorching and the coach parties have gone home. Summer brings heat and beach crowds. Walk along the old paving of the Via Appia by the river, look at the theatre and the aqueduct, and think of the legions, merchants, pilgrims and armies that have passed this way for more than two thousand years.