Defensive walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...

are a feature of

ancient Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often consi ...

. The Romans generally fortified cities, rather than building stand-alone fortresses, but there are some fortified camps, such as the

Saxon Shore forts The Saxon Shore () was a military command of the Later Roman Empire, Late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Sa ...

Porchester Castle Portchester Castle is a medieval fortress that was developed within the walls of the Roman Saxon Shore fort of Portus Adurni at Portchester, to the east of Fareham in Hampshire. The keep was probably built in the late 11th century as a bar ...

in England. City walls were already significant in

Etruscan architecture Etruscan architecture was created between about 900 BC and 27 BC, when the expanding civilization of ancient Rome finally absorbed Etruscan civilization. The Etruscans were considerable builders in stone, wood and other materials of temples, hou ...

, and in the struggle for control of Italy under the early Republic many more were built, using different techniques. These included tightly fitting massive irregular polygonal blocks, shaped to fit exactly in a way reminiscent of later

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

work. The Romans called a simple rampart wall an agger; at this date great height was not necessary. The

Servian Wall The Servian Wall (; ) is 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 at its base, long, and is believed to hav ...

around Rome was an ambitious project of the early 4th century BC. The wall was up to 10 metres (32.8 ft) in height in places, 3.6 metres (12 ft) wide at its base, 11 km (7 mi) long,Fields, Nic; Peter Dennis ''The Walls of Rome'' Osprey Publishing; 10 Mar 2008 p.1

/ref> and is believed to have had 16 main gates, though many of these are mentioned only from writings, with no other known remains. Some of it had a ''fossa'' or ditch in front, and an agger behind, and it was enough to deter

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

. Later the

Aurelian Wall 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 ...

replaced it, enclosing an expanded city, and using more sophisticated designs, with small forts at intervals. The Romans walled major cities and towns in areas they saw as vulnerable, and parts of many walls remain incorporated in later defences, as at

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

(2nd century BC),

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

(earth and wood in the 70s AD, stone from c. 100), and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

(from 70s AD). Strategic walls defending the frontiers of the Empire by running across open country were far rarer, and

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

(from 122) and the

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...

(from 142, abandoned only 8 years after completion) are the most significant examples, both on the

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

frontier. Most defences of the

borders of the Roman Empire The borders of the Roman Empire, which fluctuated throughout the empire's history, were realised as a combination of military roads and linked forts, natural frontiers (most notably the Rhine and Danube rivers) and man-made fortifications which ...

relied on systems of forts and roads without attempting a continuous barrier.

Examples

Notable walls built by

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

include, in chronological order of construction: *

Murus Romuli Murus Romuli (Latin for "the Wall of Romulus") is the name given to a wall built to protect the Palatine Hill, the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome, in one of the oldest parts of the city of Rome. Ancient tradition holds that this wall was b ...

, built around early Rome in remote antiquity *

, built around Rome in the early 4th century BC *

Roman walls of Córdoba The Roman Walls of Córdoba are the ancient Roman defensive walls of the Roman ''Colonia (Roman), colonia'' of Corduba –present-day Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba, Spain–, capital of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica. Stretching , they were ...

* Colchester city walls, built after the Boudiccan revolt c.65–80 A.D *

Chester city walls Chester city walls consist of a defensive structure built to protect the city of Chester in Cheshire, England. Their construction was started by the Roman Britain, Romans when they established the Castra, fortress of Deva Victrix between 70 and ...

, originating as part of the fortress of Deva Victrix between 70 and 80 AD *

York city walls York has, since Roman Britain, Roman times, been defended by defensive wall, walls of one form or another. To this day, substantial portions of the walls remain, and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. They are k ...

, originally constructed around 71 AD when York was a Roman colony *

, built in England beginning in 122 AD at the edge of Roman conquest to keep out the Picts *

, a short-lived, advanced frontier wall built in Scotland north of Hadrian's Wall beginning in 142 AD *

Serdica Serdika or Serdica ( Bulgarian: ) is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans ...

first defensive walls build between 176 and 180 under

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

as evidenced by inscriptions above the gates. Serdica again flourished in the 6th century during the reign of

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

, when its defensive walls were reinforced by doubling their thickness and adding more towers, and whose remnants can still be seen today *

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

, built around Londinium between 190 and 225, probably between 200 and 220 *

Roman walls of Lugo The Roman walls of Lugo are the ancient Roman defensive walls of the Roman '' colonia'' of Lucus Augusti –present-day Lugo, Spain–, in the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis. Stretching , they were built in the third century AD to defe ...

, built between 263 and 276 AD to defend the Roman town of Lucus Augusti (in what is now Spain) *

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 ...

, the later wall of Rome, built in the late 3rd century AD * Diocletianopolis city walls of 2.3 km total length were built in the early 4th century after the Gothic invasions *

Walls of Constantinople The Walls of Constantinople (; ) are a series of defensive wall, defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (modern Fatih district of Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire b ...

, a great defensive wall that defended the metropolitan capital from the fourth century AD until 1453 *

Anastasian Wall The Anastasian Wall (Greek: , ; ) or the Long Walls of Thrace (Greek: , ; Turkish: ''Uzun Duvar'') or simply Long Wall / Macron Teichos () is an ancient stone and turf fortification located west of Istanbul, Turkey, built by the Eastern Roman Em ...

, a wall named built in the late 5th century to ensure extra defenses for Constantinople. It was not very effective, and was abandoned in the 7th century * Venta Silurum, Caerwent, Wales. Si o que Venta Silurum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. The walls are some of the best examples in the UK

Examples

See also

References

Further reading