Aurelian Walls
|
South section of the walls |
The
Aurelian Walls were built between
270 and
273, by
Roman Emperor Aurelian. The 12.5 mile long wall was intended to defend the city of
Rome, capital of the
Roman Empire, from barbarian attacks. At the time, the city had been grown well beyond the old
Servian Wall, built during the late 4th century BC, and had been relatively safe during the centuries of Roman expansion and consolidation. However, by the
3rd century, the menace of barbarian tribes flooding through the German frontier could not be easily stopped by the
Roman Army, with the empire in a heavy
crisis.
In order to quickly build the Wall, and for economical and military reasons, many buildings were included in the Wall. Among them were the
Amphitheatrum Castrense and the
Pyramid of Cestius. A section of an
aqueduct, the
Aqua Claudia, is also built into the wall near the
Porta Maggiore.
While the Aurelian Wall seems not to have been built along the
Tiber River, which forms a natural barrier, a
salient enclosed part of the
Transtiberim (Trastevere) across the river.
In
401, under
Honorius, the walls and the gates were improved. At this time, the
Tomb of Hadrian across the Tiber was incorporated as a fortress in the city defenses. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the
popes added additional defenses to the walls to counter firearms.
The Aurelian Wall continued as a significant military defense for the city of Rome until
September 20 1870, when the
Bersaglieri of the Kingdom of Italy breached the wall near the
Porta Pia.
Due to the need to maintain its defensive ability through the centuries, the Aurelian Wall remains remarkably well preserved today, especially in its southern extent. The
Museo delle Mura near the
Porta San Sebastiano offers information on its construction and how the defenses operated.
The later
Protestant Cemetery is near the walls.
List of gates (
porte), from the northernmost and clockwise:
*
Porta del Popolo – here begins
via Flaminia*
Porta Pinciana*
Porta Salaria – here begins
via Salaria*
Porta Pia – here begins the new
via Nomentana*
Porta Nomentana – here began the old via Nomentana
*
Porta Praetoriana – old entrance to
Castrum Praetorium, the camp of the
Praetorian Guard*
Porta Tiburtina – here begins
via Tiburtina*
Porta Maggiore – here three aqueducts meet, and
via Praenestina begins
*
Porta San Giovanni – near
Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano*
Porta Asinaria – here begins the old
via Tuscolana*
Porta Metronia*
Porta Latina – here begins
via Latina*
Porta San Sebastiano – here begins
Appian Way*
Porta Ardeatina*
Porta San Paolo – next to the
Pyramid of Cestius, leading to
Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura, here
via Ostiense begins
Gates in
Trastevere (from the southernmost and clockwise):
*
Porta Portuensis*
Porta Aurelia Pancraziana*
Porta Septimiana *
Porta Aurelia-Sancti Petri
