Aurelian Walls
Towering third-century circuit of walls and gates, largely intact, built to defend the ancient city.
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About this audio guide
This guide to Rome's Aurelian Walls opens with a city that had grown far beyond its old defenses, and the crisis in the 270s AD that forced Emperor Aurelian's hand: a Germanic invasion, an army defeated, and no legions to spare for the job. It follows the unusual decision he made instead, and how ordinary Roman citizens raised nearly twelve miles of fortification in just five years, folding existing structures like an aqueduct and a pyramid straight into the circuit. Listen while standing at Porta San Sebastiano, looking up at the towers ordinary Romans raised in that five-year race against invasion.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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