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Porta San Sebastiano

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The Porta San Sebastiano is the largest and one of the best-preserved gates passing through the Aurelian Walls in Rome ( Italy ).

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64-772: Originally known as the Porta Appia, the gate sat astride the Appian Way , the regina viarum (queen of the roads), which originated at the Porta Capena in the Servian Wall . During the Middle Ages probably it was also called "Accia" (or "Dazza" or "Datia"), a name whose etymology is quite uncertain, but arguably associated with the river Almone , called "Acqua Accia", that flowed nearby. A document ca. AD 1434 calls it Porta Domine quo vadis . The present name

128-529: A witches' sabbath on the Lateran meadows – to chase them away, the Romans organised a big party with rattles and fireworks. The notti di S. Giovanni was always characterised by the custom of eating slugs, whose horns symbolised discord (the meaning of the tradition is much more recent) – the eaten slugs, thus, buried in the stomach all arguments and resentments that had accumulated over the previous year, giving

192-584: A circumference, with an inscription in Greek , dedicated to Saint Conon and Saint George , dating back to 6th-7th century, but today there is no visible trace left. On the right jamb of the gate there is also a carved figure portraying Archangel Michael killing a drake, alongside of a blackletter inscription written in Medieval Latin , that commemorates the battle fought on 29 September 1327 (the day of Saint Michael) by Roman Ghibelline militiamen of

256-461: A flat surface. The historian Procopius said that the stones fit together so securely and closely that they appeared to have grown together rather than to have been fitted together. The road was cambered in the middle (for water runoff) and had ditches on either side of the road which were protected by retaining walls. The road began in the Forum Romanum , passed through the Servian Wall at

320-404: A floor has been added to the whole structure, towers included. Due to the absence of the usual plate commemorating the works, some archaeologists doubt that the work has not been carried out by Honorius, who left panegyric epigraphs on any other restored part of the walls or the gates. The latch was released by means of two wooden gates and a shutter that rolled, through still visible grooves, from

384-514: A primarily Etruscan to a primarily Italic state. Dense populations of sovereign Samnites remained in the mountains north of Capua, which is just north of the Greek city of Neapolis . Around 343 BC, Rome and Capua attempted to form an alliance. The Samnites reacted with military force. Between Capua and Rome lay the Pontine Marshes ( Pomptinae paludes ), a swamp infested with malaria . A tortuous coastal road wound between Ostia at

448-503: A real triumphal arch , decorating it with statues, columns and friezes, as well as arranging - through the demolition of former buildings - a triumphal way up to the Roman Forum . The event is commemorated by an inscription above the arch, which - using an adulation maybe a bit excessive - compares Charles to Scipio : “CARLO V ROM. IMP. AUG. III. AFRICANO”. On 4 December 1571, the triumphal procession in honor of Marcantonio Colonna ,

512-469: A reserved area (called Mutatorium Caesaris ) just a little farther at the beginning of the Appian Way. Some lumps, still visible on the travertine upholstery in the basis of the monument, are quite interesting: they could be reference marks for the stone cutters. According to historian Antonio Nibby , in the centre of the arch of the gate, on the inner side, there is a carved Greek cross inscribed into

576-551: A result. Pyrrhus withdrew to Greece, where he died in a street fight in Argos in 272 BC. Tarentum fell to the Romans that same year, who proceeded to consolidate their rule over all of Italy. The Romans pushed the Via Appia to the port of Brundisium in 264 BC. The itinerary from Beneventum was now Aeculanum , Forum Aemilii  [ it ] , Venusia , Silvium , Tarentum, Uria and Brundisium. The Roman Republic

640-640: A simple decorative scheme composed of a large bearded head atop the arch on the external side. The road in fact gives access to the via Campana (now the Via Appia Nuova), which for its first 3 miles follows the route of the ancient Via Asinaria , then that of the Via Labicana . The name via Campana , it is presumed, derives both from the road's ultimate destination of Campania and from the Roman Campagna through which it runs. Besides

704-496: Is attested only since the second half of 15th century, due to the vicinity to the Basilica of San Sebastiano and its catacombs . The original structure was constructed by Aurelian ca. AD 275 and included a double-arched opening surmounted by bow windows and two semi-cylindrical towers. The façade was faced with travertine . After a later restoration, the towers were enlarged, increased, and linked, through two parallel walls, to

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768-533: Is in the second mile of the road. Along or close to the part of the road closest to Rome, there are three catacombs of Roman and early Christian origin and one of Jewish origin . The construction of Rome's ring road, the Grande Raccordo Anulare or GRA, in 1951 caused the Appian Way to be cut in two. More recent improvements to the GRA have rectified this through the construction of a tunnel under

832-531: Is no surprise that, after his term as censor, Appius Claudius became consul twice, subsequently held other offices, and was a respected consultant to the state even during his later years. The road achieved its purpose. The outcome of the Second Samnite War was at last favorable to Rome. In a series of blows the Romans reversed their fortunes, bringing Etruria to the table in 311 BC, the very year of their revolt, and Samnium in 304 BC. The road

896-450: Is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic . It connected Rome to Brindisi , in southeast Italy . Its importance is indicated by its common name, recorded by Statius , of Appia longarum... regina viarum ("the Appian Way, the queen of the long roads"). The road is named after Appius Claudius Caecus , the Roman censor who, during

960-557: The Aurelian Wall of Rome , Italy , named after the nearby Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran . It consists of a single grand arch built for Pope Gregory XIII in opera forse by Giacomo della Porta or, it is argued, Giacomo del Duca , who had collaborated with Michelangelo on the Porta Pia . The confusion is because the chronology of the era merely speaks of a famous architect called Giacomo. Popular tradition insists

1024-511: The Colonnas , led by Giacomo de’ Pontani (or Ponziano), against the Guelph army of Robert of Anjou , King of Naples , led by John II and Gaetano Orsini: In addition to such remains, that are interesting from an historic viewpoint, the whole monument is noteworthy also for the abundance of graffiti traces that, though not official at all, provide evidence of the daily life that occurred around

1088-567: The Samnite Wars , began and completed the first section as a military road to the south in 312 BC. In July 2024, the Appian Way entered the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Appian Way was a Roman road used as a main route for military supplies for its conquest of southern Italy in 312 BC and for improvements in communication. The Appian Way was the first long road built specifically to transport troops outside

1152-746: The Via Aemilia  [ it ] , then the Via Minucia  [ it ] , finally the emperor Trajan built the Via Traiana , a branch of the Via Appia from Beneventum, reaching Brundisium via Canusium and Barium rather than via Tarentum. This was commemorated by an arch at Beneventum. Travellers could cross the Adriatic Sea through the Otranto Strait towards Albania either by landing at present day Durrës through

1216-671: The Via Egnatia or near the ancient town of Apollonia and continue towards present day Rrogozhinë in central Albania. In 73 BC, a slave revolt (known as the Third Servile War ) under the ex-gladiator of Capua, Spartacus , began against the Romans. Slaves accounted for roughly every third person in Italy. Spartacus defeated many Roman armies in a conflict that lasted for over two years. While trying to escape from Italy at Brundisium he unwittingly moved his forces into

1280-594: The Via Latina . By 290 BC, the sovereignty of the Samnites had ended. The heel of Italy lay open to the Romans. The dates are somewhat uncertain and there is considerable variation in the sources, but during the Third Samnite War the Romans seem to have extended the road to Venusia , where they placed a colony of 20,000 men. After that they were at Tarentum. Roman expansion alarmed Tarentum,

1344-624: The porta Capena , went through a cutting in the clivus Martis , and left the city. For this stretch of the road, the builders used the Via Latina. The building of the Aurelian Wall centuries later required the placing of another gate, the Porta Appia . Outside of Rome the new Via Appia went through well-to-do suburbs along the Via Norba, the ancient track to the Alban hills , where Norba

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1408-428: The 5th century, and at least until the 15th, the farming out or the sell of town gates and of the toll collection for their transit to private citizens is attested as a usual practice. A document dating back to 1467 reports an announcement specifying the modalities for the auction sale of the town gates for the period of a year. Another document dated 1474 states that the tender price for both Porta Latina and Porta Appia

1472-516: The Appia, so that it is now possible to follow the Appia on foot for about 16 km (10 mi) from its beginning near the Baths of Caracalla . Many parts of the original road beyond Rome's environs have been preserved, and some are now used by cars (for example, in the area of Velletri ). The road inspires the last movement of Ottorino Respighi 's Pini di Roma . To this day the Via Appia contains

1536-503: The Appian Way in that region. In the first half of the 20th century, the professor of ancient Roman topography Giuseppe Lugli managed to discover, with the then-innovative technique of photogrammetry , what probably was the route of the Appian Way from Gravina in Puglia ( Silvium ) up to Taranto . When analysing aerophotogrammetric shots of the area, Lugli noticed a path ( Italian : tratturo ) named la Tarantina , whose direction

1600-513: The Appian Way station. More recently Luciano Piepoli, based on the distances given in the Antonine Itinerary and on newer archeological findings, has suggested that Silvium should be Santo Staso , an area very close to Gravina in Puglia , Blera should be masseria Castello , and Sublupatia should be masseria Caione . Since the latter stretch of the Appian Way turned out to be very impervious, some branches were created: first

1664-590: The Romans, he won a second costly victory at the Battle of Asculum . Withdrawing from Apulia for a Sicilian interlude, he returned to Apulia in 275 BC and started for Campania up the Roman road. Supplied by that same road, the Romans successfully defended the region against Pyrrhus, crushing his army in a two-day fight at the Battle of Beneventum in 275 BC. The Romans renamed the town from "Maleventum" ("site of bad events") to Beneventum ("site of good events") as

1728-472: The Samnite Wars. The distance was 212 kilometers (132 mi). The original road had no milestones, as they were not yet in use. A few survive from later times, including a first milestone near the Porta Appia. The Third Samnite War (298–290 BC) is perhaps misnamed. It was an all-out attempt by all the neighbors of Rome: Italics, Etruscans and Gauls , to check the power of Rome. The Samnites were

1792-695: The Secretary of the Fascist Party . The white-and-black bichromatic mosaics, still visible in some rooms, were realized in those years. Currently the towers house the Museum of the Walls , that exhibits, among other things, models of the walls and the gates during different phases of their building. [REDACTED] Media related to Porta San Sebastiano (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons Appian Way The Appian Way ( Latin and Italian : Via Appia )

1856-529: The architect was Della Porta, for he died in crowds at the gate, "which he had built" of violent indigestion brought on by melons and watermelons, returning from a trip to the Castelli Romani . Inaugurated in 1574, it had been necessitated by the reorganization of the whole Lateran area to facilitate traffic to and from southern Italy. Its opening led to the definitive closure of the neighboring and more imposing Porta Asinaria , of Aurelian date, which

1920-399: The attempted alliance and settled with Samnium . The Romans were only biding their time while they looked for a solution. The first answer was the colonia , a "cultivation" of settlers from Rome, who would maintain a permanent base of operations. The Second Samnite War (327–304 BC) erupted when Rome attempted to place a colony at Cales in 334 BC and again at Fregellae in 328 BC on

1984-548: The best of it, the Roman army turned on Greek Rhegium and effected a massacre of Pyrrhian partisans there. Rather than pursue them, Pyrrhus went straight for Rome along the Via Appia and then the Via Latina. He knew that if he continued on the Via Appia he could be trapped in the marsh. Wary of such entrapment on the Via Latina also, he withdrew without fighting after encountering opposition at Anagni . Wintering in Campania , he withdrew to Apulia in 279 BC, where, pursued by

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2048-477: The coastal road at Tarracina (Terracina). However, the Romans straightened it somewhat with cuttings, which form cliffs today. From there the road swerved north to Capua, where, for the time being, it ended. The Caudine Forks were not far to the north. The itinerary was Aricia (Ariccia), Tres Tabernae , Forum Appii , Tarracina, Fundi (Fondi), Formiae (Formia), Minturnae (Minturno), Suessa , Casilinum and Capua, but some of these were colonies added after

2112-400: The control room placed above, whose supporting travertine shelves are still existing. Some notches on the jambs could indicate that wooden beams were also employed to strengthen the latch. Because of the importance of the Appian Way, that just here entered the town, the whole area was concerned with great traffic movements, especially during ancient Rome. It seems that close to the door there

2176-469: The distances given in the Antonine Itinerary , Lugli also assigned the Appian Way stations Blera and Sublupatia (which also occurs on the Tabula Peutingeriana ) respectively to the areas Murgia Catena and Taverna (between masseria (estate farmhouse) S. Filippo and masseria S. Pietro). However, the toponym Murgia Catena defined too large an area, not allowing a clear localization of

2240-557: The early Roman state. He had been given the name of the founding ancestor of the gens, Appius Claudius (Attus Clausus in Sabine). He was a populist , i.e., an advocate of the common people. A man of discernment and perception, in the years of success he was said to have lost his outer vision and thus acquired the name caecus , "blind". Without waiting to be told what to do by the Senate , Appius Claudius began bold public works to address

2304-654: The expression, " All roads lead to Rome ". Romans had an affinity for the people of Campania , who, like themselves, traced their backgrounds to the Etruscans . The Samnite Wars were instigated by the Samnites when Rome attempted to ally itself with the city of Capua in Campania. The Italic speakers in Latium had long ago been subdued and incorporated into the Roman state. They were responsible for changing Rome from

2368-617: The fields were infested with malarial mosquitos until the advent of DDT in the 1950s). Hoping to break a stalemate at Monte Cassino , the Allies landed on the coast of Italy at the Anzio - Nettuno area – ancient Antium – which was midway between Ostia and Terracina . They found that the place was undefended. They intended to move along the line of the Via Appia to take Rome, outflanking Monte Cassino, but they did not do so quickly enough. The Germans occupied Mounts Laziali and Lepini along

2432-550: The gate along the centuries. On the left jamb, in front of Archangel Michael, there are several crosses and a christogram (JHS with a cross above the H), probably carved by pilgrims; there are also several Italian and foreign names (a man by the name of Giuseppe Albani wrote his name three times) and dates, that can be deciphered back to 1622; somebody also carved a kind of road direction to Porta San Giovanni or St. John Lateran , addressed to foreign wanderers and still visible just outside

2496-511: The gate, on the left: “DI QUA SI VA A S. GIO…” ( Italian for "Hither you go to S. Jo..."), interrupted by something or someone; as well as other signs and writing hard to decipher, such as the engraving “LXXV (underlined three times) DE L”, on the tower on the right. On 5 April 1536, on the occasion of the entry in Rome of Emperor Charles V , Antonio da Sangallo the Younger changed the gate into

2560-527: The historic trap at Apulia in Calabria . The Romans were well acquainted with the region. Legions were brought home from abroad and Spartacus was pinned between armies. The ex-slave army was defeated at the Siler River by Marcus Licinius Crassus . Pompey 's armies captured and killed several thousand rebels that escaped from the battle and Crassus captured several thousand more. The Romans judged that

2624-589: The historical and military events on its reliefs, the Porta San Giovanni is linked to popular Roman traditions, now almost entirely disappeared, especially that relating to the Notte di San Giovanni , on 23 June, the notte delle streghe , with a major festival. According to legend, on that night the ghost of Herodias , who had convinced her husband Herod Antipas to decapitate John the Baptist , organizes

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2688-477: The leading city of the Greek presence (Magna Graecia) in southern Italy. They hired the mercenary King Pyrrhus of Epirus in neighboring Greece to fight the Romans on their behalf. In 280 BC the Romans suffered a defeat at the hands of Pyrrhus at the Battle of Heraclea on the coast west of Tarentum . The battle was costly for both sides, prompting Pyrrhus to remark "One more such victory and I am lost." Making

2752-604: The leading people of the conspiracy. Rome dealt the northerners a crushing blow at the Battle of Sentinum in Umbria in 295. The Samnites fought on alone. Rome now placed 13 colonies in Campania and Samnium. It must have been during this time that they extended the Via Appia 35 miles beyond Capua past the Caudine Forks to a place the Samnites called Maloenton, "passage of the flocks". The itinerary added Calatia , Caudium and Beneventum (not yet called that). Here also ended

2816-507: The longest stretch of straight road in Europe, totaling 62 km (39 mi). There are the remains of several Roman bridges along the road, including the Ponte di Tre Ponti, Ponte di Vigna Capoccio, Viadotta di Valle Ariccia, Ponte Alto and Ponte Antico. [REDACTED] Media related to Via Appia at Wikimedia Commons Porta San Giovanni (Rome) Porta San Giovanni is a gate in

2880-634: The mouth of the Tiber and Neapolis . The Via Latina followed its ancient and scarcely more accessible path along the foothills of Monti Laziali and Monti Lepini , which are visible towering over the former marsh. In the First Samnite War (343–341 BC) the Romans found they could not support or resupply troops in the field against the Samnites across the marsh. A revolt of the Latin League drained their resources further. They gave up

2944-632: The north of Florence . For the 1960 Summer Olympics , it served as part of the men's marathon course that was won by Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia . After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the road fell out of use; Pope Pius VI ordered its restoration. A new Appian Way was built in parallel with the old one in 1784 as far as the Alban Hills region. The new road is the Via Appia Nuova ("New Appian Way") as opposed to

3008-429: The number of decrees and threats being issued. Alongside of the west tower there are remains of a walled-in postern , placed above the ground level, whose peculiarity is the absence of traces of wear on the jambs, just as if it was locked soon after it was built. As regards the interior, the most relevant changes are recent and date back to 1942-1943, when the whole structure was occupied and used by Ettore Muti , then

3072-414: The old section, now known as Via Appia Antica. The old Appian Way close to Rome is now a free tourist attraction. It was extensively restored for Rome's Millennium and Great Jubilee celebrations. The first 5 kilometers (3 mi) are still heavily used by cars, buses and coaches but from then on traffic is very light and the ruins can be explored on foot in relative safety. The Church of Domine Quo Vadis

3136-514: The other side of the marshes. The Samnites, now a major power after defeating the Greeks of Tarentum , occupied Neapolis to try to ensure its loyalty. The Neapolitans appealed to Rome, which sent an army and expelled the Samnites from Neapolis. In 312 BC, Appius Claudius Caecus became censor at Rome. He was of the gens Claudia , who were patricians descended from the Sabines taken into

3200-399: The pre-existing Arch of Drusus . In AD 401-402 Emperor Honorius reshaped the gate with a single fornix and a higher attic with two rows of six bow windows each; it was also provided with an uncovered chemin de ronde with merlons . The bases of the towers were incorporated within two square-plan platforms, faced with marble. A later modification yielded the gate's present form, in which

3264-401: The sea by sand dunes. Appius Claudius planned to drain the marsh, taking up earlier attempts, but he failed. The causeway and its bridges subsequently needed constant repair. In 162 BC, Marcus Cornelius Cathegus had a canal constructed along the road to relieve the traffic and provide an alternative when the road was being repaired. Romans preferred using the canal. The Via Appia picked up

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3328-564: The slaves had forfeited their right to live. In 71 BC, 6,000 slaves were crucified along the 200-kilometer (120 mi) Via Appia from Rome to Capua. In 1943, during World War II , the Allies fell into the same trap Pyrrhus had retreated to avoid, in the Pomptine fields , the successor to the Pontine Marshes . The marsh remained, despite many efforts to drain it, until engineers working for Benito Mussolini finally succeeded (even so,

3392-491: The smaller region of greater Rome (this was essential to the Romans). The few roads outside the early city were Etruscan and went mainly to Etruria . By the late Republic , the Romans had expanded over most of Italy and were masters of road construction. Their roads began at Rome, where the master itinerarium , or list of destinations along the roads, was located, and extended to the borders of their domain – hence

3456-484: The supply problem. An aqueduct (the Aqua Appia ) secured the water supply of the city of Rome. By far the best known project was the road, which ran across the Pontine Marshes to the coast northwest of Naples , where it turned north to Capua. On it, any number of fresh troops could be sped to the theatre of operations, and supplies could be moved en masse to Roman bases without hindrance by either enemy or terrain. It

3520-582: The track of the old Via Latina, from which they rained down shells on Anzio. Even though the Allies expanded into all the Pomptine region, they gained no ground. The Germans counterattacked down the via Appia from the Alban hills in a front four miles wide, but could not retake Anzio. The battle lasted for four months, one side being supplied by sea, the other by land through Rome. In May 1944, the Allies broke out of Anzio and took Rome . The German forces escaped to

3584-409: The winner of the battle of Lepanto , also passed through the gate. The feature of that procession that mostly raised curiosity and interest certainly was the parade of the one hundred and seventy chained Turkish prisoners. On that occasion Pasquino , the famous Roman talking statue, expressed its opinion, but this time without talking: it was primped with the blooding head of a Turk and a sword. Since

3648-419: Was ”39 florins, 31 solidi, 4 dinars for sextaria” (“biannual payment”); the price was not so high, so the urban traffic through the two gate probably was not excessive as well, though sufficient to guarantee a congruous profit to the purchaser. The profit itself was regulated by detailed tables specifying the charge for each kind of goods, but arguably was rounded off through various kinds of abuses, judging from

3712-458: Was an area designed for parking of the private means of transport (belonging to high rank personalities which could afford it) that accessed the town from here; it was what now could be defined a "park and ride", since the transit of private means within the town was usually not allowed. This rule probably was effective also for the members of the Imperial family, whose private means were parked in

3776-405: Was by the 1570s proving unable to sustain such a high level of traffic and almost unusable due to the progressive raising of the road level neighboring. The commemorative inscription above the arch reads: Its design is conceived as more like the entrance to a villa than as a defensive work, lacking side towers, ramparts, and battlements, and marked instead by pronounced rustication work and by

3840-509: Was said to have been so smooth that you could not distinguish the joints. The Roman section still exists and is lined with monuments of all periods, although the cement has eroded out of the joints, leaving a very rough surface. The road concedes nothing to the Alban hills , but goes straight through them over cuts and fills. The gradients are steep. Then it enters the former Pontine Marshes. A stone causeway of about 31 kilometers (19 mi) led across stagnant and foul-smelling pools blocked from

3904-422: Was situated. The road at the time was a via glarea, a gravel road. The Romans built a high-quality road, with layers of cemented stone over a layer of small stones, cambered, drainage ditches on either side, low retaining walls on sunken portions, and dirt pathways for sidewalks. The Via Appia is believed to have been the first Roman road to feature the use of lime cement. The materials were volcanic rock. The surface

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3968-458: Was still largely influenced by the centuriation ; this, according to Lugli, was the path of the Appian Way. This path, as well as the part located in today's Apulia region, was still in use in the Middle Ages . A further piece of evidence for Lugli's proposed path is the presence of a number of archaeological remains in that region, among them the ancient settlement of Jesce. By studying

4032-478: Was the government of Italy, for the time being. Appius Claudius died in 273, but in extending the road a number of times, no one has tried to displace his name upon it. The Appian Way's path across today's regions Lazio and Campania has always been well known, but the exact position of the part located in Apulia (the original one, not the extension by Trajan) was long unknown, since there were no visible remains of

4096-440: Was the main factor that allowed them to concentrate their forces with sufficient rapidity and to keep them adequately supplied, whereafter they became a formidable opponent. The main part of the Appian Way was started and finished in 312 BC. The road began as a leveled dirt road upon which small stones and mortar were laid. Gravel was laid upon this, which was finally topped with tight fitting, interlocking stones to provide

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