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The Hills, Gates and Bridges of Ancient Rome

The topography of the ancient city: its hills, the gates of its two great wall circuits, and the bridges across the Tiber.

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The hills

Name	About
Palatine Hill	The hill of Romulus' foundation (Roma Quadrata) and of the Lupercal, an aristocratic quarter under the Republic and from Augustus onward the seat of the imperial residences. Its name is the origin of the word 'palace'.
Capitoline Hill	Citadel and religious centre of Rome, with two summits - the Arx to the north and the Capitolium to the south - separated by the saddle called the Asylum (now Piazza del Campidoglio). Triumphs ended here at the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
Aventine Hill	Southernmost of the seven hills, where Remus took his auspices. It was the plebeian quarter, scene of secessions of the plebs and of Gaius Gracchus' last stand (121 BC), and remained outside the pomerium until Claudius included it in AD 49.
Caelian Hill	South-eastern of the seven hills, earlier called Mons Querquetulanus ('oak hill'). Tradition says Tullus Hostilius settled the population of destroyed Alba Longa here. In imperial times it was a wealthy residential quarter with the Temple of Divus Claudius at its western end.
Esquiline Hill	The largest of the seven hills, on the east of the city, ending westward in the Oppian, Cispian and Fagutal spurs. Its plateau outside the Servian Wall was a burial ground until Maecenas laid out his gardens there, starting a belt of aristocratic and imperial horti.
Viminal Hill	A narrow tongue between the Quirinal and the Cispian spur of the Esquiline, named from the osiers (vimina) that grew there. The least built-up of the seven hills in antiquity; the Baths of Diocletian rose at its north-eastern root.
Quirinal Hill	Northernmost and highest of the seven hills, a long ridge traditionally settled by Titus Tatius' Sabines and named after the god Quirinus. Its spine was followed by the street Alta Semita (modern Via del Quirinale - Via XX Settembre) to the Porta Collina.
Pincian Hill	Known as the Collis Hortulorum for the aristocratic gardens (of Lucullus, the Acilii, and Sallust nearby) that covered it; the later name comes from the 4th-century Pincii family. Outside the Servian Wall but enclosed by the Aurelian Walls.
Janiculum	The ridge west of the Tiber, named after Janus and said to have been fortified by Ancus Marcius and linked to the city by the Pons Sublicius. A red flag flown here signalled that the city was guarded during the comitia centuriata; Aurelian's walls climbed to its crest at the Porta Aurelia.
Vatican Hill	The hill above the Ager Vaticanus on the right bank, outside the ancient city and never one of the seven hills. The Circus of Gaius and Nero and a roadside necropolis lay at its southern foot, where Constantine built Old St Peter's.
Capitolium	The southern summit of the Capitoline, site of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno and Minerva. The Tarpeian Rock was on its southern cliff. The name was later extended to the whole hill and copied for the chief temple of Roman colonies.
Cermalus	The western height of the Palatine (the eastern being the Palatium proper), counted separately in the archaic Septimontium festival. It held the Hut of Romulus, the Scalae Caci, the Temple of Magna Mater and the House of Augustus.
Lesser Aventine	The smaller, south-eastern height of the Aventine, divided from the main hill by the valley of the Vicus Piscinae Publicae (modern Viale Aventino). It lay in Augustan Regio XII (Piscina Publica) and is crowned today by San Saba and Santa Balbina.
Oppian Hill	The southern spur of the Esquiline, overlooking the Colosseum valley. It carried the residential wing of Nero's Domus Aurea, over which the Baths of Titus and the Baths of Trajan were built.
Cispian Hill	The northern spur of the Esquiline, between the Subura valley and the Vicus Patricius (modern Via Urbana). The basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore crowns it today.
Fagutal	A western projection of the Oppian, named from the beech trees (fagi) of the grove of Jupiter Fagutalis. It was one of the heights of the archaic Septimontium and is now marked by San Pietro in Vincoli.
Velia	The saddle-ridge between the Palatine and the Oppian, one of the heights of the archaic Septimontium. The Arch of Titus, the Temple of Venus and Roma and the Basilica of Maxentius stood on it; most of it was excavated away for the Via dei Fori Imperiali in 1932.

The gates

Name	Built	Builder	What and where
Porta Maggiore	AD 52	Claudius	Built by Claudius where the Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus crossed the Via Praenestina and Via Labicana; the attic, which holds the two channels, bears inscriptions of Claudius, Vespasian and Titus. Aurelian incorporated it into his walls. Eight of Rome's eleven aqueducts entered the city in this area.
Porta Ostiensis	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The southern gate of the Aurelian Walls on the Via Ostiensis, originally double-arched and reduced to one arch under Honorius. Totila's Goths entered through it in 549. It now houses the Museo della Via Ostiense.
Porta Tiburtina	5 BC	Augustus	Built by Augustus in 5 BC as the monumental crossing of three superimposed aqueducts over the Via Tiburtina, with inscriptions of Augustus, Titus and Caracalla. Aurelian incorporated it as a gate and Honorius added an outer facade. Known in the Middle Ages as Porta San Lorenzo.
Porta Flaminia	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The northern gate of the Aurelian Walls on the Via Flaminia, the main entrance to Rome from the north. The ancient gate was replaced in 1561-65 under Pius IV by the present Porta del Popolo.
Porta Salaria	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The gate of the Aurelian Walls on the Via Salaria Nova. Alaric's Goths were let in here in 410. Damaged in the bombardment of 1870, it was rebuilt by Vespignani and finally demolished in 1921; the tombs of Sulpicius Maximus and Cornelia were found in its towers.
Porta Nomentana	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The single-arched gate of the Aurelian Walls for the Via Nomentana, closed when Pius IV had the Porta Pia built (1561-64) on a straightened road. Its blocked arch and right-hand tower remain; the left tower stood over the tomb of the orator Quintus Haterius.
Porta Clausa	c. AD 275	Aurelian	A single-arched gate just south of the Castra Praetoria, walled up at an early date - hence its modern name, 'closed gate'. The road from the Porta Viminalis passed through it to join the Via Tiburtina.
Porta Asinaria	c. AD 275	Aurelian	Originally a minor postern on the Via Asinaria, upgraded with towers and a vantage court in 401-403 because of the nearby Lateran. It was replaced for traffic in 1574 by the adjacent Porta San Giovanni and is well preserved.
Porta Metronia	c. AD 275	Aurelian	A simple postern opened in the base of a wall tower, between the Porta Asinaria and Porta Latina. It was walled up in the Middle Ages, when the Acqua Mariana stream (1122) was led through it towards the Circus Maximus.
Porta Latina	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The gate of the Aurelian Walls on the Via Latina, which forked from the Via Appia inside the walls. It retains its travertine facade, with a Chi-Rho on the keystone, and its round towers. Nearby are San Giovanni a Porta Latina and the oratory of San Giovanni in Oleo.
Porta Appia	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The gate of the Aurelian Walls on the Via Appia, rebuilt several times up to Honorius, when it received its present single arch and towering bastions. Renamed after the basilica and catacombs of St Sebastian further along the road. The so-called Arch of Drusus stands just inside it.
Porta Ardeatina	c. AD 275	Aurelian	A minor gate or postern for the road to Ardea, west of the Porta Appia. The stretch of wall here was heavily altered by Antonio da Sangallo's bastion (1537-42) and by the modern road openings; a small travertine postern survives (pin approximate).
Porta Portuensis	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The gate of the Aurelian Walls on the Via Portuensis, which kept its two arches after Honorius' restoration. Urban VIII pulled it down in 1643 when the new Janiculum walls shortened the circuit (pin approximate).
Porta Aurelia	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The gate on the summit of the Janiculum where the Via Aurelia left the city, protecting the mills driven by the Aqua Traiana. Nothing ancient survives: it was rebuilt in the 17th century and again in 1854 as the Porta San Pancrazio.
Porta Septimiana	c. AD 275	Aurelian	The gate where the Aurelian Walls came down from the Janiculum to the Tiber on the north side of Trastevere. Its name is often linked to buildings of Septimius Severus in the area. The present gate is Alexander VI's rebuilding of 1498.
Porta Pinciana	c. AD 403	Honorius	Originally a simple postern of Aurelian's wall on the old Via Salaria Vetus, monumentalised in 401-403. It was a key point in Belisarius' defence of Rome in 537-538 and is linked to the medieval legend of the blind Belisarius begging.
Porta Collina			The gate at the north end of the Servian agger, reached by the Alta Semita; its remains were destroyed in 1872 for the Ministry of Finance on Via XX Settembre. The Gauls entered by it c. 390 BC, Hannibal approached it in 211 BC, and Sulla won the decisive battle of the civil war here on 1 November 82 BC. Unchaste Vestals were buried alive in the Campus Sceleratus just inside.
Porta Viminalis			A minor gate in the centre of the agger, named after the hill behind it. The road through it later led to the Porta Clausa of the Aurelian Walls. Its position is marked in the surviving wall at Termini.
Porta Esquilina			The eastern gate of the Republican wall at the south end of the agger, starting point of the Via Labicana and Via Praenestina (and of the old Via Tiburtina). Rebuilt in monumental form under Augustus, it was rededicated in AD 262 as the Arch of Gallienus.
Porta Querquetulana			A gate of the Republican wall on the northern side of the Caelian, named from a grove of oaks (querquetum). Its site is not certain; it is conventionally placed near the church of Santi Quattro Coronati (pin approximate).
Porta Caelimontana			The gate of the Republican wall on the Caelian, through which the road to the Lateran area (Via Caelimontana) passed. It is almost certainly to be identified with the surviving Arch of Dolabella and Silanus of AD 10.
Porta Capena			The starting point of the Via Appia (312 BC) and Via Latina, from which distances on the Appia were measured. A branch of the Aqua Marcia crossed it, hence Juvenal's 'dripping' gate. Nearby were the grove of the Camenae and the Temple of Honos and Virtus; Augustus' Regio I took its name.
Porta Naevia			A gate of the Republican wall on the Lesser Aventine, near Santa Balbina, named from the Nemus Naevium. The Via Ardeatina started here. Its exact site is not known (pin approximate).
Porta Raudusculana			A gate in the valley dividing the Greater and Lesser Aventine, on the Vicus Piscinae Publicae leading towards the Via Ostiensis. Its name derives from raudus (bronze); Valerius Maximus tells of the praetor Genucius Cipus, who sprouted horns here. The Servian Wall at nearby Piazza Albania adjoined it.
Porta Lavernalis			A gate of the Republican wall on the south-west side of the Aventine, named from a nearby altar of Laverna, goddess of thieves and cheats. Its site is uncertain; the modern Via di Porta Lavernale preserves the name (pin approximate).
Porta Trigemina			The gate between the Aventine and the Tiber just south of the Forum Boarium, a little south of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The Emporium and the Porticus Aemilia were described as 'outside the Porta Trigemina', and the Via Ostiensis began here. Gaius Gracchus fled through it in 121 BC.
Porta Flumentana			The 'river gate' in the short stretch of Republican wall along the Tiber near the Forum Boarium, probably close to the head of the Pons Aemilius. Livy records the area outside it as repeatedly flooded. Its exact position is not known (pin approximate).
Porta Carmentalis			A two-arched gate at the foot of the Capitoline on the Vicus Iugarius, near the Sant'Omobono sanctuary, leading to the Forum Holitorium and Campus Martius. The right-hand arch was called Porta Scelerata after the Fabii left through it for the Cremera (477 BC).
Porta Fontinalis			The gate on the saddle between the Capitoline (Arx) and the Quirinal, at the top of the Clivus Argentarius. In 193 BC the aediles built a portico from it to the Altar of Mars in the Campus Martius. The Republican Tomb of Bibulus marks the road just outside.
Porta Sanqualis			A gate of the Republican wall on the Collis Mucialis (southern Quirinal), named from the Temple of Semo Sancus Dius Fidius. Blocks of the wall, and an arch of it inside Palazzo Antonelli, survive at Largo Magnanapoli.
Porta Salutaris			A gate on the west side of the Quirinal (Collis Salutaris), named after the Temple of Salus dedicated in 302 BC. It probably stood near the modern Via della Dataria, below the Quirinal Palace (pin approximate).
Porta Quirinalis			A gate of the Republican wall on the north-west flank of the Quirinal, near the Temple of Quirinus; it probably stood on the line of the modern Via delle Quattro Fontane near Palazzo Barberini (pin approximate).
Porta Cornelia			A gate associated with the bridgehead fortification at Hadrian's Mausoleum, on the Via Cornelia towards St Peter's; known in the early Middle Ages as Porta Sancti Petri. Its exact form and position are poorly known (pin approximate).

The bridges

Name	Built	Builder	What and where
Pons Sublicius	c. 620 BC	Ancus Marcius	Attributed to King Ancus Marcius, it crossed the Tiber just downstream of the island by the Forum Boarium (its exact position is uncertain). Named from sublicae, wooden piles, it was repeatedly rebuilt in wood down to late antiquity. The Argei puppets were thrown from it each May.
Pons Aemilius	179 BC	Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior	The censors Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior built its piers in 179 BC, and Scipio Aemilianus and Lucius Mummius added the arches in 142 BC. Repeatedly damaged by floods, it lost its eastern half in 1598; the one remaining arch stands beside the modern Ponte Palatino.
Pons Milvius	109 BC	Marcus Aemilius Scaurus	First mentioned in 207 BC and rebuilt in stone by the censor Marcus Aemilius Scaurus in 109 BC. Cicero had the envoys of the Allobroges arrested here in 63 BC, exposing Catiline's conspiracy, and Maxentius drowned beside it in 312. The four central arches are ancient.
Pons Fabricius	62 BC	Lucius Fabricius	Built in 62 BC by Lucius Fabricius as curator viarum, whose name is cut four times on the arches. Two wide arches and a flood opening in the central pier span 62 m. Its Italian nickname comes from two four-headed herms on the parapet.
Pons Aelius	AD 134	Hadrian	Built by Hadrian and named from his family name Aelius, it led directly to his tomb. It became the main pilgrim route to St Peter's; the angels with the instruments of the Passion were added by Bernini's workshop in 1669.
Pons Cestius	c. 46 BC		Built between 62 and 27 BC by a member of the Cestius family, it was rebuilt in 365–370 with stone from the Theatre of Marcellus and renamed Pons Gratiani. Only the central arch retains ancient fabric after the 19th-century widening of the river channel.
Pons Agrippae	c. 12 BC	Agrippa	Built by Agrippa before his death in 12 BC, perhaps also carrying the Aqua Virgo's pipes across the river, and restored under Antoninus Pius in AD 147. Its piers were seen in the riverbed in the 19th century.
Pons Neronianus	c. AD 60	Nero	Probably built under Nero (perhaps Caligula) to reach the Horti Agrippinae and the Vatican circus, carrying the Via Triumphalis. It is absent from the 4th-century Regionary Catalogues and may have been dismantled when the Aurelian Walls were built.
Pons Aurelius	c. AD 215	Caracalla	Also called Pons Antonini, which suggests Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) as builder. Valentinian I rebuilt it with a triumphal arch at the Campus Martius end. Ruined in the 8th century, its remains were reused for Ponte Sisto (1473–75).
Pons Probi	c. AD 280	Probus	Built by Probus (276–282) and reconstructed in 381–387, as letters of the urban prefect Symmachus record. It stood a little upstream of the modern Ponte Sublicio; its position is approximate.

The walls

Name	Built	Builder	What and where
Aurelian Walls	c. AD 275	Aurelian	Begun in 271 and finished under Probus, the walls ran c. 19 km, enclosing about 1,400 hectares including the Campus Martius and part of Trastevere, with 383 towers and 18 main gates. About a sixth incorporated existing structures (Castra Praetoria, Amphitheatrum Castrense, Pyramid of Cestius, aqueduct arcades). Honorius and Stilicho doubled their height in 401-403; they defended Rome until 1870.
Servian Wall	c. 378 BC		Rome's Republican defensive circuit, c. 11 km long and enclosing about 426 hectares including all seven hills. Though named after Servius Tullius, the surviving wall of Grotta Oscura tufa dates from c. 378 BC, after the Gallic sack. On the flat north-eastern plateau it was reinforced by a great earth rampart and ditch, the agger.
Servian Wall on the Aventine	c. 378 BC		The second major surviving stretch of the Republican wall, on the southern slope of the Aventine. Its arched artillery embrasure belongs to a late-Republican restoration, probably of 87 BC during the civil wars.
Muro Torto			The 'crooked wall': late-Republican or early-imperial substructures of the Horti Aciliorum, incorporated into the Aurelian Walls between the Porta Flaminia and Porta Pinciana. Procopius records that it already leaned in 537 and was believed to be under St Peter's protection.

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