The Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

 of northern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 constructed in 148 BC

148 BC

Year 148 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magnus and Caesoninus...

 by the consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus

Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus

Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus was a politician of ancient Rome, of patrician rank, of the 2nd century BC. He was consul in 148 BC, in which year a great fire happened at Rome...

.

It ran from the coast at Genua

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia

Piacenza

Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...

 (the termination of the Via Aemilia Lepidi) and Cremona

Cremona

Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...

, just east of the point where it crossed the Po River

Po River

The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...

. From Cremona the road ran eastward to Bedriacum, where it forked, one branch running to the left to Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

, the other to the right to Mantua

Mantua

Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...

, Gemona and Aquileia

Aquileia

Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times...

. The military occupation of Liguria

Liguria

Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

 depended upon this road, and several of the more important towns owed their origin largely to it. Cremona was its central point, the distance being reckoned from it both eastwards and westwards.

The Via Julia Augusta is the name given to the Roman road by Augustus Caesar's efforts starting in 13 BC to merge the Via Aemilia Scauri with the Via Postumia, running from Placentia (modern Piacenza) to a triumphal arch in La Turbie

La Turbie

La Turbie is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.-History:...

. It is later extended to Arelates (modern Arles) joining the Via Domitia, through Derthona (Tortona), Vada Sabatia (Vado Ligure), Albingaunum (Albenga) and Album Intimilium (Ventimiglia).

The ancient Arco dei Gavi

Arco dei Gavi

The Arco dei Gavi is an ancient structure in Verona, northern Italy. It was built by the gens Gavia, a noble Roman family who had their hometown in Verona, at the beginning of the Via Postumia, the Roman road leading to the city. During the Middle Ages it was used as a gate in the...

still marks the Via Postumia's branch leading to Verona.