Esquilino

Esquiline Gate

The construction of the Esquiline Gate dates back to the sixth century BC, during the reign of Servius Tullius when the Servian Walls were built. Located on the flat hilltop, this gate was the entrance to the city from the east, along the Via Labicana-Prenestina and the Via Tiburtina; the Clivus Suburanus (now Via Santa Lucia in Selci) and the Vicus Sabuci (Via di San Pietro in Vincoli-Via delle Sette Sale) started here, descending towards the populous district of the Subura. In ancient times, the transition between the inside and outside of the city, marked by the gate, formed a clear boundary between the world of the living, inside the walls, and the world of the dead, always buried outside the walls. After the construction of the walls, the area previously occupied by the necropolis was altered and a large public area was built in part of it: the Forum Esquilinum, a vast open-air market.
In the Augustan period, at the turn of the first century BC, the expansion of the city led to the almost complete destruction of the walls. However, the Esquiline Gate was completely rebuilt in travertine, becoming a monumental triple arch that marked the transition between the lower area, more densely populated, and the rich aristocratic residences interspersed with large gardens that stood on top of the hill.
The gate built by Augustus was used until late antiquity, accompanying the transformations of this area of ​​the city: the inscription that we can still read today, commissioned in AD 262 by the prefect Aurelius Victor, celebrates the emperor Gallienus who reigned from AD 253 to 268 and his wife Salonina. They almost certainly passed through this gate every time they travelled from the city centre to their luxurious suburban villa a little further east, in the area now occupied by Termini Station:

"GALLIENO CLEMENTISSIMO PRINCIPI CVIVS INVICTA VIRTUS SOLA PIETATE SUPERATA EST ET SALONINAE SANCTISSIMAE AUG. M. AVRELIUS VICTOR DEDICATISSIMVS NVMINI MAIETSTAIQUE EORVM"

“To Gallienus, most merciful prince, whose unconquered valour is surpassed only by his religious piety, and to Salonina, most virtuous Augusta, Aurelius Victor, an eminent man, most devoted to the gods and to their majesties”

The two side arches of the gate were demolished in 1447, when the church of Santi Vito e Modesto was built; this is when the Esquiline Gate, which had already become the Arcus Gallieni (Arch of Gallienus), took its current name of Arch of San Vito.