Italian archaeologists on Tuesday said they may never find the remains of the opening stretch of ancient Rome's first highway, the Appian Way, because underground water makes it impossible to dig deep enough to reach it.

Appius Claudius Caecus, a magistrate, started the Appian Way in the 4th century BC. It was known in ancient times as the "regina viarum", or queen of the roads, due to its importance connecting Rome to Brindisi, a port on the south-eastern tip of Italy with sea access to Greece and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean. In the Middle Ages, it was the pilgrims' route to the Holy Land.