Aurelian Walls

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 is located in Rome
Aurelian Walls
Aurelian Walls
TypeDefensive wall
HeightUp to 10 metres (33 ft)
Site information
OwnerItalian Government
Open to
the public
Open to public
ConditionRemaining sections: Either semi-ruinous or
partly restored
Site history
Built271–275 AD
Built byRoman citizens
Materials
DemolishedSome parts in the Medieval Period
Events
Garrison information
GarrisonPraetorian Guard
OccupantsRomans

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 They superseded the earlier Servian Wall built during the 4th century BC.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]

  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