The two gates opened on the eastern side of the Caelian Hill. Only in recent times (although some doubts still persist), it has finally been established that Porta Caelimontana was the westernmost one,[1] while Porta Querquetulana was located further east.[2]
Until a few years ago the arguments of some scholars tended to support the exact opposite, on the basis of both toponymic and archaeological evaluations. In the absence of clear indications from the classical sources (whose quotations in this regard are almost non-existent), the hypothesis was based on the assumption that both gates derived their name from that of the hill on which they were located. Querquetulum (meaning "covered with oak woods" in Latin) was in fact the ancient name of what was only later called Caelius: it could therefore be assumed that the two gates could have been opened in succession: the Querquetulana first and then - maybe in an expansion of the Servian walls, when the oaks were no longer there - the Caelimontana.
The only surviving remains belong to the westernmost gate, still existing, which was transformed into what is currently known as the Arch of Dolabella and Silanus,[3] and consist of blocks dating back to the beginning of the fourth century BC, when the first republican walls were built: it can be therefore deduced that this should have been Porta Querquetulana. An indirect (although a bit weak) confirmation of such conclusion is provided by Livy, who mentions Porta Caelimontana for the first time (XXXV, 9) to report a lightning that struck it in 193 BC.
Despite some residual doubts, the hypothesis that places Porta Querquetulana to the east - within the perimeter of the current San Giovanni Hospital, close to the intersection between Via dei Santi Quattro and Via di Santo Stefano Rotondo - and Porta Caelimontana further west - at the beginning of Via San Paolo della Croce, on the route of the former Clivus Scauri - is currently more accredited.
This turnaround about the real location of the two gates is not due to an argument that's considered no longer valid, but to an incorrect chronological evaluation, according to which the fourth-century wall was thought the oldest one on the hill. In fact Porta Querquetulana, as well as Porta Viminalis, Porta Esquilina and Porta Collina, actually dates back to a very ancient period, about two centuries before the construction of the Servian wall: the four original gates can be traced back to the enlargement of Rome by king Servius Tullius, which included in the territory of the city three of the historical "seven hills", the Quirinal, the Viminal, the Esquiline and the Querquetulan. The first defensive bulwark that connected the gates to each other - that is, the 1,300 metres (4,300ft) long agger between Porta Collina and Porta Esquilina - also dates back to the same period.
According to scholars, another hint of the antiquity of these gates, confirming the above hypothesis, is also provided by their name, which derives directly from that of the hill to which they gave access, rather than from some monumental features (temples, altars, etc.) in the area, as one would expect if the gates were subsequent to the incorporation of the area itself into the urban perimeter. Therefore, it does not seem plausible that Porta Querquetulana and Porta Caelimontana are contemporary.
The arch of Dolabella and Silanus
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, View of the Fornix of the Consuls Dolabella and Silanus, from Roman Antiquities of the Time of the First Republic and the First Emperors (1756).
While it is virtually impossible to provide any other information about Porta Querquetulana, due to the lack of both literary and archaeological finds, it is known that Porta Caelimontana was restored, like many other gates of the Servian wall, in the Augustan age. The present travertine arch replaced in AD 10 the old gate built with tuff blocks, still partially visible on the right, as a result of a restoration (or a reconstruction) carried out by senatorial decree at the behest of the consuls in office, as can be read on the plaque affixed to the attic of the external facade of the arch:
P CORNELIVS P F DOLABELLA C IVNIVS C F SILANVS FLAMEN MARTIAL[IS] CO[N]S[ULES] EX S[ENATVS] C[ONSULTO] FACIVNDVM CVRAVERVNT IDEMQVE PROBAVER[VNT]
Following a subsequent restoration in 211, during the reign of Caracalla, the gate was used to support the large arches, still visible today, of the Neronian aqueduct, a secondary branch of the Aqua Claudia.
The arch is surmounted by a window, behind which there is a small room, open to the public, in which tradition says that St. John of Matha, the founder of the Trinitarian Order, lived from 1209 until his death in 1213; the church of San Tommaso in Formis, next to the arch, still belongs to the Order.
Laura G.Cozzi: Le porte di Roma. F. Spinosi Ed., Rome, 1968
Filippo Coarelli: Guida archeologica di Roma. A. Mondadori Ed., 1984
Giuliano Malizia: Gli archi di Roma. Newton Compton Ed., Rome, 2005
Related Research Articles
The Porta Capena was a gate in the Servian Wall in Rome, Italy. The gate was located in the area of Piazza di Porta Capena, where the Caelian, Palatine and Aventine hills meet. Probably its exact position was between the entrance of Via di Valle delle Camene and the beginning of Via delle Terme di Caracalla, facing the curved side of the Circus Maximus.
The Caelian Hill is one of the famous seven hills of Rome.
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 10 m (33 ft) in height in places, 3.6 m (12 ft) wide at its base, 11 km (6.8 mi) long, and is believed to have had 16 main gates, of which only one or two have survived, and enclosed a total area of 246 hectares. In the 3rd century AD it was superseded by the construction of the larger Aurelian Walls as the city of Rome grew beyond the boundary of the Servian Wall.
In 7 BC, Augustus divided the city of Rome into 14 administrative regions. These replaced the four regiones—or "quarters"—traditionally attributed to Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome. They were further divided into official neighborhoods.
Esquilino is the 15th rione, or administrative division, of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. XV, and is Located within the Municipio I. It is named after the Esquiline Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
Castro Pretorio is the 18th rione of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. XVIII, and it is located within the Municipio I. The rione takes its name by the ruins of the Castrum Praetorium, the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, included in the Aurelian Walls.
The Gardens of Sallust was an ancient Roman estate including a landscaped pleasure garden developed by the historian Sallust in the 1st century BC. It occupied a large area in the northeastern sector of Rome, in what would become Region VI, between the Pincian and Quirinal hills, near the Via Salaria and later Porta Salaria. The modern rione is now known as Sallustiano.
The Porta San Sebastiano is the largest and one of the best-preserved gates passing through the Aurelian Walls in Rome (Italy).
Porta can refer to:
The Temple of Apollo Sosianus is a Roman temple dedicated to Apollo in the Campus Martius, next to the Theatre of Marcellus and the Porticus Octaviae, in Rome, Italy. Its present name derives from that of its final rebuilder, Gaius Sosius.
The Arch of Gallienus is a name given to the Porta Esquilina, an ancient Roman arch in the Servian Wall of Rome. It was here that the ancient Roman roads Via Labicana and Via Tiburtina started.
The Porta Esquilina was a gate in the Servian Wall, of which the Arch of Gallienus is extant today. Tradition dates it back to the 6th century BC, when the Servian Wall was said to have been built by the Roman king Servius Tullius. However modern scholarship and evidence from archaeology indicate a date in the fourth century BC. The archway of the gate was rededicated in 262 as the Arch of Gallienus.
Porta San Pancrazio is one of the southern gates of the Aurelian walls in Rome, Italy.
The Tomb of the Scipios, also called the hypogaeum Scipionum, was the common tomb of the patrician Scipio family during the Roman Republic for interments between the early 3rd century BC and the early 1st century AD. Then it was abandoned and within a few hundred years its location was lost.
Porta Settimiana is one of the gates of the Aurelian walls in Rome, Italy. It rises at the northern vertex of the rough triangle traced by the town walls, built by Emperor Aurelian in the 3rd century, in the area of Trastevere an up through the Janiculum.
The Porta Fontinalis was a gate in the Servian Wall in ancient Rome. It was located on the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill, probably the northeast shoulder over the Clivus Argentarius. The Via Salaria exited through it, as did the Via Flaminia originally, providing a direct link with Picene and Gallic territory. After the Aurelian Walls were constructed toward the end of the 3rd century AD, the section of the Via Flaminia that ran between the Porta Fontinalis and the new Porta Flaminia was called the Via Lata ("Broadway").
The Porta Querquetulana or Querquetularia was a gateway in the Servian Wall, named after the sacred grove of the Querquetulanae adjacent to and just within it. The grove appears not to have still existed in the latter first century BC.
The Janiculum walls are a stretch of defensive walls erected in 1643 by Pope Urban VIII as a completion of the Leonine wall and for a better protection of the area of Rome rising on the right bank of the Tiber.
The Porta Viminale was a gateway in the Servian Wall of ancient Rome, at the centre of the most exposed stretch of the wall between the Porta Collina and the Porta Esquilina. These three gates and the Porta Querquetulana were the oldest in the wall.
Hannibal's March on Rome occurred in 211 BC during the Second Punic War; the Carthaginian leader Hannibal marched by surprise with his army towards Rome, initially causing great concern among the leaders and citizens of the republic. The raid, however, ended in failure; soon, faced with firm resistance from the Romans, Hannibal left the city to head with his troops to Campania.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
