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ThePorta Capena was a gate in theServian Wall in Rome, Italy.The gate was located in the area of Piazza di Porta Capena, where theCaelian,Palatine andAventine 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 (known as the "Archaeological Walk"), facing the curved side of theCircus Maximus.[1]
Nowadays Piazza di Porta Capena hosts theFAO Headquarters. Between 1937 and 2004, it was home to theobelisk of Axum.
The valley around what is now the avenue of theBaths of Caracalla was in ancient times covered with woods, caves, and freshwater springs.In this area (called the valley of theCamenae), considered sacred and mysterious, it is said (andLivy punctually reports) that the peaceful kingNuma Pompilius, the first successor ofRomulus, had his nocturnal encounters with the goddess (or nymph)Egeria, who on those occasions provided him with all the necessary information for the institution of the rites most pleasing to each divinity, as well as the related priestly functions.Whether he was in good or bad faith, with this expedient the king managed to keep calm for several years a rough and ignorant people, who could not let off steam in the war. Therefore, this area can be considered the cradle of the religion ofancient Rome.
Its location and some testimonies suggest that the gate was originally calledCamena and that its construction may even be earlier than that of theServian Wall.The first historical-legendary mention dates back to the time of KingTullus Hostilius (mid-7th century BC): it refers to the fact that the funerary monument to Horatia – the sister of theHoratii, killed because she was guilty of falling in love of one of the Curiatii – was erected close to the gate.
In 489 BC, it was from Porta Capena that a multitude of youngVolsci was driven out of Rome, while they waited for thegames, according to the project ofCoriolanus to foment their animosity against Rome and prepare for the subsequent war.[2]
In 312 BC theAppian Way was built, starting from the gate and having the city ofCapua as its arrival point: for this reason, the name of the gate was changed into Capena and the whole area, already relevant for various reasons, assumed a very important role as a major point of transit and contact withsouthern Italy.
In literary evidence, the gate is also mentioned for another important event that deeply marked the history of Rome: as Livy reports, after the disastrousbattle of Cannae, theSenate met to assess the situation"ad portam Capenam", which was one of the three meeting places of the assembly.[3]
The procession that introduced in Rome the goddessCybele (the"Magna Mater"), which was one of the first representatives of foreign cults and rites later culminated with the affirmation of Christianity, also passed through Porta Capena.
According toJuvenal, in the 1st century A.D., the area of Porta Capena had lost its historical and legendary importance and had become a meeting place for beggars, especially those of the Jewish religion.[4]The last use of the gate was as a supporting arch for the passage of theAqua Marcia aqueduct.
Porta Capena was destroyed and the entire area restructured by EmperorCaracalla; the access to Rome was later transferred a little further on, through the newPorta Appia which opened into theAurelian Wall. Its remains, while no longer visible today, were traced during the excavations carried out in 1867.
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