Porta Maggiore

"One of the most grandiose, complex, and impressive monuments of ancient engineering in Rome. Located in the eastern part of the city, this gate is a colossal two-span travertine arch from the 1st century AD, originally built as part of the grand Roman aqueduct system and later transformed into a powerful outpost of the Aurelian defensive wall. The gate was erected under the Emperor Claudius, long before it became part of the defensive walls. Two important ancient roads (Via Praenestina and Via Labicana) intersected at this point, and the emperor decided to monumentally engrave the point where two strategic aqueducts—the Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus—passed over these roads. If you look at the gate's massive upper part (attic), you'll see that it is divided into three horizontal bands. Three long inscriptions are carved into these bands, praising the emperors Claudius, Vespasian, and Titus, who carried out work here. But the most important detail is hidden within: in the upper tiers of this attic, two separate, enclosed stone canals run one above the other, carrying the purest drinking water to Rome from mountain streams. When Emperor Aurelian began hastily enclosing Rome with a powerful defensive wall to protect it from barbarians, engineers decided not to build new fortifications from scratch, but simply integrated the massive arches of the Claudian aqueduct directly into the contours of the fortress wall, transforming the spans into the city's main eastern gate. Visually, the Porta Maggiore stands out sharply against the ideal classical arches of Rome. They are executed in the so-called rustic style (opera rustica). The travertine stone blocks are not hewn smooth, but left rough and convex, like wild rock. The columns supporting the pediments appear unfinished, with a rough stone texture. Emperor Claudius adored this technique, emphasizing the colossal, primordial power, durability, and utilitarian strength of Roman engineering. Just before the gate, on a small patch of ground between diverging ancient roads, stands one of Rome's most amusing and unusual monuments—the Tomb of Marcus Virgilius Eurisace (Sepolcro di Eurisace), built in the late first century BC. Eurisace was a simple freedman (former slave) who became rich through large-scale grain deliveries to the Roman army and state. Proud of his craft, he built himself a massive mausoleum, which resembles a gigantic industrial dough-making machine or a grain silo. Round openings in the walls mimic measuring vessels for grain, and the upper frieze is meticulously carved with all the stages of bread-making in ancient Rome—from milling flour to weighing the finished loaves."