Roman walls of Milan

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The Roman walls of Milan were a walls with towers that had different phases of construction during the Roman era. A first phase took place in the Republican era (around 49 BC) and a second after 291, in the imperial era, at the time of the Maximian Augustus, when Mediolanum became the capital of the Western Roman Empire.

The ancient Mediolanum was defended, as well as by walls and towers, even by four fortifications, the Castrum Vetus, the Castrum Portae Novae, the Roman Arx and the Castrum Portae Jovis. The Roman walls of Milan were destroyed during the siege of Milan in 1162, which was the work of Federico Barbarossa, then being replaced by the medieval walls of Milan.

History

Mediolanum began to equip itself, perhaps starting from 49 BC, after the assumption to the rank of municipium, of first public buildings in masonry such as the same wall circle and the Roman Theatre of Milan (the oldest building discovered by archaeologists), at a time when the city counted about 25,000 inhabitants. The walls seem to have been built in the cesarian age in delimitation of a not large agglomerate, that some scholars hypothesize were 1,23 km2.

With the instauration of the Tetrarchian government wanted by Diocletian, from about 291, Augustus for the Roman Empire of the West Maximian after 291 greatly expanded the circle of defensive walls (always that it was not already upgraded at the time of the Emperor Gallienus in 260 or the usurper Aureolo in 267/268), both to the west and to the current Among the wars that suffered, worthy of note were the siege of Milan of 268, the siege of 402, the siege of 452 and the siege of 538-539.

Before his definitive destruction by Frederick Barbarossa after the siege of 1162, the walls were repeatedly reinforced and expanded. In fact, the repairs requested by Narsete between 556 and 568 or those of the Archbishop of Milan, Ansperto of 868/881 are remembered.

Urbis form of Mediolanum

Description

The path of the walls of the republican era was quadrangular (about 700 m per side) oriented from north-east to south-west with a beveled side in the western part. At the end of the cardo and the decuman opened the following doors, probably built, along with the walls, by Ottaviano after the intake of Mediolanum to the rank of municipium in the year 49 BC:
Porta Comasina (Lat. Porta Comacina, Porta Cumana or Porta Cumensis), located where the modern street of the Bear is now present. From Porta Comasina they departed the Via Regina, that is the road artery that connected Cremona (Cremona) to Comum (Como: from which the name of the door), and the Via Mediolanum-Bellasium, that put in communication Mediolanum with Bellagio.
Porta Giovia (lat. Porta Jovia), located where there are now the modern Teatro Dal Verme and the demolished church of San Giovanni s