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Aurelian Walls, Celio segment

Historic site · Celio, Italy

The stretch of the Aurelian Walls that forms the south-eastern side of the rione, running from Porta Metronia to Porta San Sebastiano with the quartiere of Appio-Latino beyond it. Roma Capitale gives the whole circuit as about 19 kilometres of brick, with a square tower every thirty metres — a hundred Roman feet — a height of about 6 metres and a thickness of 3.5 metres as first built.

History

Roma Capitale records that the walls were built between 270 and 275 AD at the wish of Aurelian, that the works, begun in 271, were completed under Probus, emperor from 276 to 282, and that in 401 and 402, under Honorius and Arcadius, the height was doubled and the old wall-walk replaced by covered corridors with a new open crenellated walk above them; further restoration followed in the sixth century under Belisarius. Large existing buildings were absorbed into the circuit, among them the Praetorian camp, the Amphitheatrum Castrense, the Pyramid of Cestius, the Muro Torto and stretches of aqueduct. In 2020 the Comune and Acea installed new lighting on the stretch from piazzale Metronio to via Numidia, 78 recessed projectors and 47 step-markers.

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