The Porta Nomentana was one of the gates in the

Aurelian Walls The Aurelian Walls () 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 They superseded the earlier Servian Wall built during the 4th century BC.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 ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is located along viale del Policlinico, around 70 m east of Porta Pia. It is now blocked and merely a boundary wall for the British Embassy.

History

It was built as a single-arch gate between 270 and 273 AD by the emperor

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

. Its original right-hand semicircular tower (on ''quadrato'' foundations) is still to be seen, while its left-hand one incorporated a tomb, presumed to belong to Quintus Aterius, a famous orator at the court of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

, called by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

"an old man made rotten by flattery" (''senex foedissimae adulationis'') and mentioned by him as the first to get up to refute Tiberius's feigned refusal of the imperial crown. Marble from that tomb was used to cover the gate in restorations by

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

in 403, who at the same time blocked the two nearby posterns in the direction of

Castra Praetoria Castra Praetoria were the ancient barracks (''castra'') of the Praetorian Guard of Imperial Rome. History According to the Roman historian Tacitus, the barracks were built in 23 AD by Sejanus, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, the praetorian prefect servi ...

and restored the porta Salaria. Unlike the nearby Via Salaria, the via Nomentana, which led to ''Nomentum'' (the modern Mentana), was of minor importance. In the Medieval period, the gate was once known as the Gate of St Agnes because it led to the Basilica of Sant'Agnese. It also was referred to as Porta de Domina or Domnae. A document of 1474From the register of customs for the year 1474. cites the price for the Porta Nomentana (called Porta La Donna), equal to the low price of ''fiorini 24, soll. 47 per sextaria'' (paid in semi-annual installment). It was converted into a two-arch gate by

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV (; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a b ...

in 1564 (as described in a papal inscription on the gate), the same year as it was replaced by Porta Pia as the access route to the

via Nomentana The Via Nomentana was an ancient Roman road in Italy, leading North-East from Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio ...

. This phase's brick arch, topped by the papal arms, and the original right-hand semicircular tower (with quadrato foundations) are still to be seen. Ten years later, the

Porta Asinaria The Porta Asinaria is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome. Dominated by two protruding tower blocks and associated guard rooms, it was built between 271 and 275 AD, at the same time as the Wall itself. Unlike most of the other gates, it was not ...

also closed to be replaced by the new Porta San Giovanni. The original 3rd-century left-hand tower was demolished in 1827 to excavate the 1st-century AD tomb built into it (previous to the gate the area had been outside the city centre and thinly populated, and thus ideal for a cemetery).

References

Sources

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External links

Porta Nomentana in Italiano
* {{Monuments of Rome Nomentana 270s establishments in the Roman Empire 3rd-century establishments in Italy Rome R. XVIII Castro Pretorio

History

See also

References

Sources

External links