Parker, John Henry: The archaeology of Rome (1,2): Illustrations to I. The primitive fortifications. II. The walls and gates of Rome. III. The historical constructions of walls (Oxford [u.a.], 1874)

HILLS OF ROME.

The Aventine.

Plate XX.
Ancient Fort, with the monastery of S. Sabba built upon it.
The high situation of this monastery makes it a very conspicuous
object, and the medieval building with the cloister is extremely
picturesque. The old fort is seen below the wall, it is built ot
concrete or rubble-stone in layers, having very much the appear-
ance of having been cast in boxes, like the pier at Dover. It
was originally cased with squared stones, some of which were found
at the foot of it in the excavations made for the purpose in 1870,
and which is seen in one of the photographs. This fort is at
the south-west corner of a gorge in the hill, at the narrow end of
which is the site of a gate where four roads meet. On the opposite
corner, or the south-east angle of this'gorge, are considerable remains
of another ancient fort, called the Wall of the Latins, shewn in other
views. These two forts defended the approach to the gate, when
there was no outer wall to this^part of the City, and for that reason
there was no pomcerium to the Aventine until the time of Claudius,
who first built an outer wall here.
At the western end of the hill beyond S. Sabba, the city of the
Kings and the city of the Empire are identical for a short distance;
the wall of the Empire is built up against the lower part of a lofty
cliff, which had been scarped, and had formed part of the original
fortifications of that hill. From that point to the Tiber the wall of
Claudius was built, but it seems to have been a low wall after the
old fashion, and was used as foundations for the lofty wall of
Aurelian. In the Porta Ostiensis, which is near the cliff, and stands
in what was the ancient foss, the two inner gates are of the time of
Claudius, the outer one is of Theodoric, who repaired the gateway
fortress.