  What's New! Detailed Sitemap All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore. Page revised in November 2009. |  Porta S. Sebastiano (Book 1) (Map A4) (Day 5) (View C11) (Rione Ripa) and (Rione Campitelli) In this page:
Porta Capena, the gate of the Republican walls from which Via Appia
started, was located at the south-eastern corner of the Palatine. The new gate built by Emperor Aurelian retained the name of
Porta Capena, but was more commonly called Porta Appia. Later on it was called Porta S. Sebastiano with reference to the basilica dedicated to that saint along Via Appia and today this is the prevailing name. At Vasi's time the gate had minor importance because of the opening in the XVIth century of Porta S. Giovanni and of a new section of Via Appia which replaced the old one (hence Via Appia Antica).
Porta S. Sebastiano has always been regarded as the most imposing of the ancient gates and this has helped its conservation; the sections of walls at its sides are among the most evocative ones and they have not been breached to allow an easier flow of traffic. Unfortunately however the Mayors of the City of Rome have not had the strength to impose the total closure to cars of the urban section of Via Appia which starts at S. Cesareo in Palatio. Porta S. Sebastiano
Originally the gate had two entrances between two round towers; the latter were strengthened by Maxentius and their lower sections were given a square shape during the reign of Emperor Honorius; at that time the two entrances were replaced by a single one and the gate was linked by two short walls to nearby Arco di Druso; in this way Porta S. Sebastiano became very similar to Porta S. Paolo which still retains the appearance of a small castle.
Apotropaic is a word deriving from the Greek and meaning "which turns away/averts"; the bumps on the marble facing of the towers are thought to have been placed with the purpose of averting bad luck, although a more practical explanation suggests that they were used for measuring the work completed by stone cutters. The walls of the gate are covered with inscriptions: some of them are merely graffiti which show that this bad habit has ancient roots, but two inscriptions/relief are linked to historical events: a) on St. Michael's day (September 29) 1327 the Romans rebuked an attempt by Neapolitan troops to enter the city; the episode is part of the long fight for supremacy in Rome between Colonna and Orsini during the period the popes were in Avignon: in this instance the Colonna were among the defenders and the Orsini among the attackers; b) it is generally thought that a cross with a Greek sentence thanking the Lord and Sts. Conon and George, patrons of the army, was placed in the VIth century by one of the Byzantine generals (Belisarius and Narses) who conquered Rome during the Greek-Gothic war. During this period another storey was added to the towers and to the wall between them.
Today Porta S. Sebastiano houses a small museum on the history of the Walls of Rome, but the main reason for visiting it is that it allows walking along a well preserved stretch of the walls; from the terrace of one of the towers it is possible to see some private houses along Via Appia; many of them are residences of ambassadors (you may wish to see other such residences in Parioli). Arco di Druso
Via Appia was very often the scene of the triumphal entrance to Rome of a victorious general or emperor returning from the eastern provinces of the empire. For this reason the crossing of Via Appia by the branch of an aqueduct built by Emperor Caracalla to supply water to the baths he built was given the appearance of a triumphal arch. It is unclear why the arch was subsequently associated with Drusus, a name born by many members of the family of Livia, Emperor Augustus' third wife and in particular by a brother and a son of Emperor Tiberius.
Quo Vadis is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz which in 1951 was adapted to the screen for a film by the same name starring Deborah Kerr, Robert Taylor and Peter Ustinov. During the persecution of Emperor Nero St. Peter was fleeing from Rome by Via Appia when he met Jesus Christ whom he asked Domine quo vadis? (Lord, where are you going?); the answer was Venio Romam iterum crucifigi (I am going to Rome to be crucified again). St. Peter understood he should not try to escape his fate and returned to Rome. The episode is described in the Acts of Peter, an apocryphal text. Tomba di Priscilla and Cappella di Reginald Pole
Opposite Domine Quo Vadis there is a Roman circular tomb upon which the Caetani, the family of Pope Boniface VIII, built a round tower. It is called Tomba di Priscilla, the name of one of the first martyrs and it is one of the many Roman monuments along Via Appia which were modified during the Middle Ages. The lower part shows evidence of opus reticulatum (see a page on Roman Construction Techniques), while the upper one is medieval and it was built with stones taken from other tombs. A chapel was built near Domine Quo Vadis in memory of another encounter which occurred in 1539 between Cardinal Reginald Pole and the assassins sent by King Henry VIII of England. In 1521 the king had been granted the title of Defensor Fidei by Pope Leo X, but later on his relations with the Church of Rome turned sour. The cardinal managed to escape from the ambush and as an ex-voto he built the chapel; the king took revenge on him by executing his mother in London. The use of brickwork pillars was maybe inspired by a nearby ancient tomb, known as Sepolcro di Annia Regillia. You may wish to continue your walk along Via Appia Antica by visiting the following pages: Via Appia Antica from Basilica di S. Sebastiano to Cecilia Metella Via Appia Antica from Cecilia Metella to Torre in Selci Via Appia Antica from Torre in Selci to Frattocchie. The Walls between Porta S. Sebastiano and Porta Ardeatina
The walk along this section of the walls is very interesting and it offers great views: the walls are south facing and not overwhelmed by nearby buildings. The towers are placed at a distance of a hundred Roman feet (the Roman foot is very slightly shorter than the English one). This measure was a module for Roman architects in the sense that it can be found in many buildings and also in the design of castra, the square military encampments.
Porta Ardeatina is in between a gate and a posterula: it did not have the size of a major gate, but it had some sort of decoration and it actually had a road departing from it; Via Ardeatina today branches off Via Appia Antica at Domine Quo Vadis, but in the past it started at this point. It led to Ardea and to Antium, where Emperor Nero had a villa by the sea. Bastione del Sangallo
The Sack of Rome in 1527 by the German mercenary troops of Emperor Charles V led the Popes to worry about the defence of Rome. The Aurelian walls not only were ruined at many locations, but they were built before the development of gunpowder and cannon and they could be easily breached. In 1536 Pope Paul III entrusted Antonio da Sangallo the Younger with the task of upgrading them. Sangallo, with the assistance of military experts, built a large bastion as a real life sample of the new wall; it is actually a very imposing and elaborate construction which can be regarded as the state-of-the-art of Italian military architecture. It had only one drawback: its cost. The idea of surrounding the whole city with new walls was abandoned in 1542, but the walls around the Vatican were rebuilt according to the standard set by this bastion (starting from Porta S. Spirito). The Walls between Bastione del Sangallo and Porta S. Paolo
The section of the walls between the bastion and Porta S. Paolo is very picturesque; fragments of ancient Roman buildings can be spotted on its towers and some of the restorations made by the popes are celebrated by coats of arms; today the walls protect S. Saba, a very peaceful neighbourhood, from the chaotic traffic of modern Rome.
Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:
Next plate in Book 1: Porta S. Paolo Next plate in Day 5 itinerary Basilica di S. Sebastiano fuori delle mura Next step in your tour of Rione Campitelli: Chiesa di S. Sisto Vecchio Next step in your tour of Rione Ripa: Porta S. Paolo |
