Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy
Porta Tiburtina
Porta Tiburtina today, view from outside theAurelian Walls. During its long history, the gate was called also orPorta San Lorenzo,Capo de Bove andPorta Taurina.
The arch of Augustus was incorporated in theAurelian Walls by EmperorAurelian. At the time ofHonorius' restoration, in the 5th century, a second, external opening was built, with five small openings that enlightened the room where the gate was operated.[1]
With time, the gate changed its name into Porta San Lorenzo, because of the presence of the close bybasilica ofSan Lorenzo fuori le Mura. Common people, however, called it "Capo de bove" or "Porta Taurina", since the arch of Augustus was decorated with bull skulls.[1]
The gate is the witness of thevictory obtained in the evening of 20 November 1347 by the Roman popular leaderCola di Rienzo against the city's barons forces, in which the latter's leaderStefano Colonna was killed.[1]
In 1869 or 1870,Pope Pius IX ordered the removal of much of the surviving stonework of the Porta Tiburtina to build a monumental column to theEcumenical Council,[2][3] which was never completed due to theCapture of Rome.[4]
Next to the gate, there is the church ofSanta Bibiana.
In the middle, theAqua Tepula bears a legend dating to EmperorCaracalla restoration, in 212:
CAES(ar) M(arcus) AURELLIUS ANTONINUS PIUS FELIX AUG(ustus) PARTH(icus) MAXIM(us) BRIT(annicus) MAXIMUS PONTIFEX MAXIMUS AQUAM MARCIAM VARIIS KASIBUS IMPEDITAM purgato fonte excisis et perforatis montibus restituta forma adquisito etiam fonte novo Antoniniano in sacram urbem suam perducendam curavit
Imperator CaesarMarcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus,Parthicus Maximus,Britannicus Maximus, brought in his city the Aqua Marcia obstructed by several impediments, after cleaning the source, cutting and punching mountains, restoring the path, and having provided the new source Antoniniana.[6]
On the lower channel ofAqua Marcia there is an inscription about the restoration by EmperorTitus in 79:
TITUS CAESAR DIVI F(ilius) VESPASIANUS AUG(ustus) PONTIF(ex) MAX(imus) TRIBUNICIAE POTESTAT(is) IX IMPerator) XV CENS(or) CO(n)S(ul) VII DESIG(natus) IIX P(ater) P(atriae) RIVOM AQUAE MARCIAE VETUSTATE DILAPSUM REFECIT ET AQUAM QUAE IN USU ESSE DESIERAT REDUXIT
^Lanciani, Rodolfo (1899).The Destruction of Ancient Rome : a Sketch of the History of the Monuments. New York : London : Macmillan. p. 189-190. "In 1870, a few months before Rome became the capital of Italy, Pope Pius IX. [sic] determined to raise a monumental column in memory of the Ecumenical Council. To save time and money, and the trouble of quarrying travertine from the territory of Tivoli, one of the most interesting and best preserved gates of the City [of Rome], the Porta Tiburtina of Honorius, was sacrificed. The stones of which it was built were sunk in the foundations of the column, opposite the church of S. Pietro in Montorio all to no purpose, because the events of September 20 of that year [Capture of Rome] made the raising of the monument out of the question."
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