The Porta Naevia was a minor gateway in
Rome’s Servian Wall
The Servian Wall ( la, Murus Servii Tullii; it, Mura Serviane) was an ancient Roman defensive barrier constructed around the city of Rome in the early 4th century BC. The wall was built of volcanic tuff and was up to in height in places, wide ...
.
Located in
the 12th Augustan region, according to
Marcus Terentius Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...
’s description the gate was almost certainly situated on the minor summit of the
Aventine Hill (''Aventinus Minor''), in between the churches of
Santa Balbina
Santa Balbina is a Roman Catholic basilica church in located in the Aventine rione, adjacent to the Baths of Caracalla in Rome.
History
A church at the site initially was built in the 4th century over the house of consul Lucius Fabius Cilo. ...
and
Santa Sabina
The Basilica of Saint Sabina ( la, Basilica Sanctae Sabinae, it, Basilica di Santa Sabina all'Aventino) is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Pre ...
. The
Via Ardeatina
The Via Ardeatina (Ardeatine Way) was an ancient road of Rome leading to the town of Ardea, after which it is named. Ardea lay 24 miles (39 kilometers) distant from Rome.L. Quilici and S. Quilici Gigli, R. Talbert, Sean Gillies, Tom Elliott, and ...
emerged from this gate.
According to an apocryphal story recounted by the 4th century historian
Festus, this gate was supposedly named after a
grove called Naevia that had once belonged to a man named Naevius. Over time the grove obtained an unsavoury reputation due to the criminals and homeless people who would frequent the area.
[Richardson, p. 304]
References
{{coord missing, Italy
Naevia