Aurelian Walls

Defensive fortifications built around Rome in the 3rd century AD

Aurelian Walls

Part of Rome
Italy

A section of Aurelian wall between the Porta Ardeatina and Porta San Sebastiano

Map of ancient Rome with the Aurelian walls (red line) and its gates highlighted. The 4th-Century BC Servian Walls (blue line) are also shown. Highlands and the seven hills of Rome are shown in beige, with names; lowlands are in white.

Aurelian Walls

Type| Defensive wall
Height| Up to 10 metres (33 ft)
Site information
Owner| Italian Government
Open to
the public| Open to public
Condition| Remaining sections: Either semi-ruinous or
partly restored
Site history
Built| 271–275 AD
Built by| Roman citizens
Materials|

* Concrete
* Brick
* Mortar

Demolished| Some parts in the Medieval Period
Events|

* Sack of Rome (410)
* Sack of Rome (455)
* Capture of Rome

Garrison information
Garrison| Praetorian Guard
Occupants| Romans

The Aurelian Walls (Italian: Mura aureliane) are a line of city walls built between 271 AD and 275 AD in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian. They superseded the earlier Servian Wall built during the 4th century BC.

The walls enclosed all the seven hills of Rome plus the Campus Martius and, on the right bank of the Tiber, the Trastevere district. The river banks within the city limits appear to have been left unfortified, although they were fortified along the Campus Martius. The size of the entire enclosed area is 1,400 hectares (3,500 acres).[1] The wall cut through populated areas: in reality the city at the time embraced 2,400 hectares (5,900 acres).[citation needed] Pliny the Elder in the first century AD suggested that the densely populated areas, extrema tectorum ("the limits of the roofed areas") extended 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) from the Golden Milestone in the Forum (Natural History 3.67).[2]

## Construction[edit]

The full circuit ran for 19 km (12 mi) surrounding an area of 13.7 km2 (5.3 sq mi). The walls were constructed in brick-faced concrete, 3.5 m (11 ft) thick and 8 m (26 ft) high, with a square tower every 100 Roman feet (29.6 m (97 ft)).

In the 4th century, remodelling doubled the height of the walls to 16 m (52 ft). By 500 AD, the circuit possessed 383 towers, 7,020 crenellations, 18 main gates, 5 postern gates, 116 latrines, and 2,066 large external windows.[3]

## History[edit]

By the third century AD, the boundaries of Rome had grown far beyond the area enclosed by the old Servian Wall, built during the Republican period in the late 4th century BC. Rome had remained unfortified during the subsequent centuries of expansion and consolidation due to lack of hostile threats against the city. The citizens of Rome took great pride in knowing that Rome required no fortifications because of the stability brought by the Pax Romana and the protection of the Roman army. However, the need for updated defences became acute during the crisis of the Third Century, when barbarian tribes flooded through the Germanic frontier and the Roman army struggled to stop them. In 270, the barbarian Juthungi and Vandals invaded northern Italy, inflicting a severe defeat on the Romans at Placentia (modern Piacenza) before eventually being driven back. Further trouble broke out in Rome itself in the summer of 271, when the mint workers rose in rebellion. Several thousand people died in the fierce fighting that resulted.[4]

Aurelian's construction of the walls as an emergency measure was a reaction to the barbarian invasion of 270; the historian Aurelius Victor states explicitly that the project aimed to alleviate the city's vulnerability.[5] It may also have been intended to send a political signal as a statement that Aurelian trusted that the people of Rome would remain loyal, as well as serving as a public declaration of the emperor's firm hold on power. The construction of the walls was by far the largest building project that had taken place in Rome for many decades, and their construction was a concrete statement of the continued strength of Rome.[4] The construction project was unusually left to the citizens themselves to complete as Aurelian could not afford to spare a single legionary for the project. The root of this unorthodox practice was the imminent barbarian threat coupled with the wavering strength of the military as a whole due to being subject to years of bloody civil war, famine and the Plague of Cyprian.

The walls were built in the short time of only five years, though Aurelian himself died before the completion of the project. Progress was accelerated, and money saved, by incorporating existing buildings into the structure. These included the Amphitheatrum Castrense, the Castra Praetoria, the Pyramid of Cestius, and even a section of the Aqua Claudia aqueduct near the Porta Maggiore. As much as a sixth of the walls is estimated to have been composed of pre-existing structures.[4] An area behind the walls was cleared and sentry passages were built to enable it to be reinforced quickly in an emergency.

The actual effectiveness of the wall is disputable, given the relatively small size of the city's garrison. The entire combined strength of the Praetorian Guard, cohortes urbanae, and vigiles of Rome was only about 25,000 men – far too few to defend the circuit adequately. However, the military intention of the wall was not to withstand prolonged siege warfare; it was not common for the barbarian armies to besiege cities, as they were insufficiently equipped and provisioned for such a task. Instead, they carried out hit-and-run raids against ill-defended targets. The wall was a deterrent against such tactics.[6]

Parts of the wall were doubled in height by Maxentius in the period 306 - 312 AD, who also improved the watch-towers. 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.

## Later use[edit]

The Aurelian Walls halted the Arab raid against Rome in 846 and limited the raiders' pillaging, sacking, and plundering of historic treasures to sites outside the walls, including the basilicas of Old St Peter's and St Paul's-Outside-the-Walls. This vulnerability prompted the construction of the Leonine walls from 848 to 852 to encircle Vatican Hill.

The Aurelian Walls continued as a significant military defense for the city of Rome until 20 September 1870, when the Bersaglieri of the Kingdom of Italy breached the wall near the Porta Pia and captured Rome. The walls also defined the boundary of the city of Rome up until the 19th century, with the built-up area being confined within the walled area.

The Aurelian Walls remain remarkably well-preserved today, largely the result of their constant use as Rome's primary fortification until the 19th century. The Museo delle Mura near the Porta San Sebastiano offers information on the walls' construction and how the defenses operated. The best-preserved sections of the walls are found from the Muro Torto (Villa Borghese) to Corso d'Italia to Castro Pretorio; from Porta San Giovanni to Porta Ardeatina; from Porta Ostiense to the Tiber; and around Porta San Pancrazio.[3]

## Gates[edit]

Sentry passage near Porta Metronia.

List of gates (porte), from the northernmost and clockwise:

* Porta del Popolo (Porta Flaminia) - 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 Castra Praetoria, the camp of the Praetorian Guard
* Porta Tiburtina - here begins via Tiburtina
* Porta Maggiore (Porta Praenestina) - 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 (Porta Appia) - here begins the Appian Way
* Porta Ardeatina
* Porta San Paolo (Porta Ostiense) - 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 / San Pancrazio
* Porta Settimiana
* Porta Aurelia-Sancti Petri (also known as Porta Cornelia)

## Gallery[edit]

* Porta Asinaria.

* A section of wall near the Pyramid of Cestius.

* An interior view of the Aurelian walls near Porta San Sebastiano.

* A restored section between towers on the wall.

* Parts of the Roman wall and its towers have become domestic properties in Rome.

* The 1700-year-old walls were constructed from tiled brick and concrete.

* A latrine (circled in red) built into the wall near the Porta Salaria.

## See also[edit]

* Leonine Wall, the first wall around Vatican City
* Museum of the Walls, Rome
* Sack of Rome
* Walls of Constantinople

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Gadeyne, Dr Jan; Smith, Professor Gregory (2013-05-28). Perspectives on Public Space in Rome, from Antiquity to the Present Day. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9781472404275.
2. ^ Stephen L. Dyson, Rome A Living Portrait of and Ancient City, 2010 p. 298 ISBN 978-0-8018-9254-7
3. ^ a b Claridge, Amanda (1998). Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide, First, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 59, 332-335. ISBN 0-19-288003-9
4. ^ a b c Aldrete, Gregory S (2004). Daily Life In The Roman City: Rome, Pompeii, And Ostia, Greenwood Press, pp. 41-42. ISBN 0-313-33174-X
5. ^ Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus. 35, 7.
6. ^ Southern, Pat 2001. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, p. 115. ISBN 0-415-23943-5

## Sources[edit]

* Mancini, Rossana (2001). Le mura Aureliane di Roma. Atlante di un palinsesto murario, Quasar, Roma ISBN 88-7140-199-9

## External links[edit]

* Museum of the Walls official website
* Article about Walls, 2023

Media related to Gates of Rome at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
Rome | Landmarks of Rome
Aurelian Walls  | Succeeded by
Porta Ardeatina

|
|

* v
* t
* e

Landmarks of Rome

Walls and gates|

* Aurelian Walls
* Ardeatina
* Asinaria
* Latina
* Maggiore
* Metronia
* Nomentana
* Pia
* Pinciana
* Popolo
* Portese
* San Pancrazio
* San Paolo
* San Giovanni
* San Sebastiano
* Settimiana
* Tiburtina
* Leonine Wall
* Cavalleggeri
* Pertusa
* Santo Spirito
* Castra Praetoria
* Janiculum Wall
* Terreus Wall
* Romuli Wall
* Servian Wall
* Caelimontana
* Capena
* Collina
* Dolabella
* Esquilina
* Fontinalis
* Gallienus
* Viminale
* Naevia
* Querquetulana
* Trigemina

Ancient obelisks|

* Lateran Obelisk
* Flaminian Obelisk
* Obelisk of Minerveo
* Obelisk of Montecitorio

Ancient Roman
landmarks|

| Triumphal arches|

* Arch of Constantine
* Arch of Dolabella
* Arch of Drusus
* Arch of Gallienus
* Arch of Janus
* Arch of Septimius Severus
* Arch of Titus
* Arcus Novus

|

Aqueducts|

* Aqua Appia
* Aqua Alexandrina
* Aqua Anio Vetus
* Aqua Anio Novus
* Aqua Claudia
* Aqua Julia
* Aqua Marcia
* Aqua Tepula

Sewers|

* Cloaca Maxima
* Cloaca Circi Maximi

Public baths|

* Baths of Agrippa
* Baths of Caracalla
* Baths of Diocletian
* Baths of Nero
* Baths of Trajan

Religious|

* Ara Pacis
* Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
* Temple of Apollo Palatinus
* Temple of Apollo Sosianus
* Temple of Hadrian
* Temple of Hercules Victor
* Temple of Janus
* Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
* Temple of Jupiter Tonans
* Temple of Minerva Medica
* Temple of Portunus
* Temple of Saturn
* Temple of Vesta
* House of the Vestals
* Largo di Torre Argentina
* Lupercal
* Pantheon
* Porta Maggiore Basilica

Fora|

* Roman Forum
* Imperial fora
* Forum of Augustus
* Forum of Caesar
* Forum of Nerva
* Forum of Vespasian
* Trajan's Forum
* Forum Boarium
* Forum Holitorium

Civic|

* Basilica Argentaria
* Basilica Julia
* Basilica of Junius Bassus
* Basilica of Maxentius
* Basilica of Neptune
* Basilica Ulpia
* Comitium
* Curia Julia
* Portico Dii Consentes
* Porticus Octaviae
* Tabularium

Entertainment|

* Circus Maximus
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Palaces and villae|

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* Villa of the Quintilii
* Villa of the sette bassi

Column monuments|

* Column of Antoninus Pius
* Column of Marcus Aurelius
* "Column of Phocas"
* Trajan's Column
* Five-Columns Monument

Commerce|

* Porticus Aemilia
* Trajan's Market

Tombs|

* Casal Rotondo
* Catacombs of Domitilla
* Catacombs of Rome
* Catacombs of San Sebastiano
* Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas
* Mausoleum of Augustus
* Mausoleum of Helena
* Mausoleum of Maxentius
* Pyramid of Cestius
* Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker
* Tomb of Hilarus Fuscus
* Tomb of the Haterii
* Tomb of the Scipios
* Tombs of Via Latina
* Tomb of Priscilla
* Vigna Randanini

Bridges|

* Pons Cestius
* Pons Fabricius
* Ponte Milvio
* Ponte Sant'Angelo

Roman Catholic
Basilicas|

* Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran
* Basilica of Saint Mary Major
* Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
* Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican
* S. Lorenzo fuori le mura
* S. Agnese fuori le mura
* S. Agostino
* S. Anastasia al Palatino
* S. Andrea delle Fratte
* S. Andrea della Valle
* S. Antonio da Padova in Via Merulana
* S. Apollinare alle Terme
* Ss. Apostoli
* S. Balbina
* S. Bartolomeo all'Isola
* Ss. Bonifacio ed Alessio
* S. Camillo de Lellis
* S. Carlo al Corso
* S. Cecilia in Trastevere
* Ss. Celso e Giuliano
* S. Clemente
* Ss. Cosma e Damiano
* S. Crisogono
* S. Croce in Via Flaminia
* S. Croce in Gerusalemme
* S. Eugenio
* S. Eustachio
* S. Francesca Romana
* S. Giovanni a Porta Latina
* S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini
* Ss. Giovanni e Paolo
* S. Lorenzo in Damaso
* S. Lorenzo in Lucina
* S. Maria Ausiliatrice
* S. Marco
* S. Maria degli Angeli
* S. Maria in Montesanto
* S. Maria in Cosmedin
* S. Maria in Domnica
* S. Maria in Aracoeli
* S. Maria del Popolo
* S. Maria sopra Minerva
* S. Maria in Trastevere
* S. Maria in Via
* S. Maria in Via Lata
* S. Maria della Vittoria
* S. Martino ai Monti
* Ss. Nereo e Achilleo
* S. Nicola in Carcere
* S. Pancrazio
* Pantheon
* S. Pietro in Vincoli
* S. Prassede
* S. Pudenziana
* Ss. Quattro Coronati
* S. Saba
* S. Sabina
* Sacro Cuore di Maria
* Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re
* Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio
* S. Sebastiano fuori le mura
* S. Silvestro in Capite
* S. Sisto Vecchio
* S. Sofia a Via Boccea
* S. Stefano Rotondo
* S. Teresa
* S. Vitale

Other churches|

* List of churches in Rome

Castles and palaces|

* Arx
* Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi
* Castel Sant'Angelo
* Domus Internationalis Paulus VI
* Palazzo Aragona Gonzaga
* Palazzo Barberini
* Palazzo Borghese
* Palazzo della Cancelleria
* Palazzo Chigi
* Palazzo Colonna
* Palazzo della Consulta
* Palazzo Farnese
* Palazzo Fusconi-Pighini
* Palazzo Giustinani
* Lateran Palace
* Palazzo Madama
* Palazzo Malta
* Palazzo di Giustizia
* Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne
* Palazzo Mattei
* Palazzo del Quirinale
* Palazzo Pamphilj
* Palazzo Poli
* Palazzo Riario
* Palazzo Ruspoli
* Palazzo Spada
* Palazzo Valentini
* Palazzo Vidoni-Caffarelli
* Palazzo del Viminale
* Palazzo Wedekind
* Palazzo Zuccari
* Villa Farnesina
* Villa Giulia
* Villa Madama

Fountains|

* Api
* Acqua Felice
* Acqua Paola
* Babuino
* Barcaccia
* Il Facchino
* Marforio
* Moro
* Nasone
* Navicella
* Neptune
* Nettuno
* del Pantheon
* Pianto
* di Piazza d'Aracoeli
* di Piazza Colonna
* di Piazza Farnese
* della Piazza dei Quiriti
* di Piazza Nicosia
* in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere
* di Ponte Sisto
* Quattro Fiumi
* Quattro Fontane
* Tartarughe
* Trevi Fountain
* Tritons
* Tritone

Other landmarks|

* Altare della Patria (Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of Italy)
* Campo Verano
* Capocci Tower
* Column of the Immaculate Conception
* Conti Tower
* Hospital of the Holy Spirit
* Milizie Tower
* Sisto Bridge
* Spanish Steps

Squares, streets
and public spaces|

* Appian Way
* Campo de' Fiori
* Clivus Capitolinus
* Piazza Colonna
* Piazza d'Aracoeli
* Piazza del Popolo
* Piazza della Minerva
* Piazza della Repubblica
* Piazza Farnese
* Piazza Navona
* Piazza San Pietro
* Piazza di Spagna
* Piazza Venezia
* Via dei Coronari
* Via del Corso
* Via della Conciliazione
* Via dei Fori Imperiali
* Via Sacra
* Via Veneto

Parks, gardens
and zoos|

* Bioparco
* Villa Ada
* Villa Borghese gardens
* Villa Doria Pamphili
* Villa Medici
* Villa Torlonia
* Parco degli Acquedotti

Museums and
art galleries|

* Boncompagni Ludovisi Decorative Art Museum
* Capitoline Museums
* Casa di Goethe
* Doria Pamphilj Gallery
* Galleria Borghese
* Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna
* Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica
* Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna
* Giorgio de Chirico House Museum
* Galleria Spada
* Jewish Museum of Rome
* Keats–Shelley Memorial House
* MAXXI
* Museo Archeologico Ostiense
* Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica
* Museo Civico di Zoologia
* Museo delle anime del Purgatorio
* Museo delle Mura
* Museo di Roma
* Museo di Roma in Trastevere
* Museo nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia
* Museo Nazionale Etrusco
* Museo Nazionale Romano
* Museo Storico Nazionale dell'Arte Sanitaria
* Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome
* Museum of Roman Civilization
* Museum of the Ara Pacis
* Museum of the Liberation of Rome
* National Museum of Oriental Art
* Palazzo Colonna
* Palazzo delle Esposizioni
* Pigorini National Museum
* Porta San Paolo Railway Museum
* Santa Cecilia Musical Instruments Museum
* Venanzo Crocetti Museum

Art|

* Apollo Belvedere
* Augustus of Prima Porta
* Colossus of Constantine
* La Bocca della Verità
* Laocoön and His Sons
* Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus
* Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
* Pietà
* Portonaccio sarcophagus
* Raphael Rooms
* Sistine Chapel ceiling
* Velletri Sarcophagus

Landscape|

| Seven Hills|

* Aventine
* Caelian
* Capitoline
* Esquiline
* Palatine
* Quirinal
* Viminal

|

* Tiber Island
* Monte Testaccio

Metropolitan City
of Rome Capital|

* Appian Way Regional Park
* Capo di Bove
* Castello Orsini-Odescalchi
* Frascati
* Hadrian's Villa
* Ostia Antica
* Villa Aldobrandini
* Villa d'Este
* Villa Farnese

Events and traditions|

* Festa della Repubblica
* Rome Quadriennale
* Rome Film Festival

Enclave|

* Vatican City

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany

Geographic|

* Pleiades
* Structurae

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