The Gates of Rome: ‘If you liked Gladiator, you’ll love Emperor’ THE TIMES: Book 1 (Emperor Series)

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Mancini, Rossana (2001). Le mura Aureliane di Roma. Atlante di un palinsesto murario, Quasar, Roma ISBN 88-7140-199-9 Eric H. Cline and Mark W. Graham, Ancient Empires: From Mesopotamia to the Rise of Islam (Cambridge University Press, 2011), p. 303. Lords of the Bow (2008, ISBN 978-0-00-720177-8) (titled Genghis: Lords of the Bow 2010, ISBN 978-0-385-34279-7) Most believe the Porta Scelerata was the gate entering the city and the Porta Triumphalis was the gate when departing the city.

During Numa's reign, the Gates of Janus were closed as Rome was at peace. The next king, Tullus Hostilius, opened the Gates of Janus when he went to war with Alba Longa. The Gates of Janus remained open for the next 400 years until after the First Punic War when A. Manlius Torquatus closed the Gates of Janus in 241BC. [10] War with the Gauls in Northern Italy forced the Gates of Janus to reopen. [ when?] They did not close again until 29BC, following the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra. [11] Fleming, Mike Jr. (26 May 2010). "Burr Steers To Direct Julius Caesar Film Based on Conn Iggulden Novels". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 26 June 2013. In 1559, Pope Pius IV (Medici) was elected as the leader of the Catholic Church. Among his civic improvements in the city, he commissioned the new Porta Pia, a gate equidistant between the Porta Salaria and the Porta Nomentana. After it’s completion in 1564, the Porta Nomentana was closed. Today there is nothing left of Porta Nomentana. You can barely make out one of the towers of the old gate as a part of the foundation in the British Embassy of Rome on via Nomentana.This failure caused Olympius to fall from power and to flee for his life to Dalmatia. [75] Jovius, the praetorian prefect of Italy, replaced Olympius as the power behind the throne and received the title of patrician. Jovius engineered a mutiny of soldiers in Ravenna who demanded the killing of magister utriusque militiae Turpilio and magister equitum Vigilantius; he had both men killed. [75] [76] [77] Warren T. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, (Stanford University Press, 1997), p. 79. The Aurelian Walls continued as a significant military defense for the city of Rome until 20 September 1870, when the Bersaglieri of the Kingdom of Italy breached the wall near the Porta Pia and captured Rome. The walls also defined the boundary of the city of Rome up until the 19th century, with the built-up area being confined within the walled area.

So for our most recent trips we have returned to a book full of action - The Gates of Rome, the first in the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden (and Iggulden’s extraordinary debut as a novelist). It is read perfectly by Robert Glenister. Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians, (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 84–100. Connor Iggulden ( / ˈ ɪ ɡ əl d ɛ n/; born ( 1971-02-24)24 February 1971) is a British author who writes historical fiction, most notably the Emperor series and Conqueror series. He also co-authored The Dangerous Book for Boys with his brother Hal. In 2007, Iggulden became the first person to top the UK fiction and nonfiction lists at the same time.Aurelian's construction of the walls as an emergency measure was a reaction to the barbarian invasion of 270; the historian Aurelius Victor states explicitly that the project aimed to alleviate the city's vulnerability. [5] It may also have been intended to send a political signal as a statement that Aurelian trusted that the people of Rome would remain loyal, as well as serving as a public declaration of the emperor's firm hold on power. The construction of the walls was by far the largest building project that had taken place in Rome for many decades, and their construction was a concrete statement of the continued strength of Rome. [4] The construction project was unusually left to the citizens themselves to complete as Aurelian could not afford to spare a single legionary for the project. The root of this unorthodox practice was the imminent barbarian threat coupled with the wavering strength of the military as a whole due to being subject to years of bloody civil war, famine and the Plague of Cyprian. a b Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 224. In the early stages of the city of Rome, the inhabitants lived in separate walled villas. The Janus was the gate from the Forum to the rest of the Rome as originally the Forum was the courtyard of the king's villa. [2] Ancient descriptions [ edit ] Gibbon, Edward (2 May 2013). The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Eighteenth Century Collections Online Text Creation Partnership. p.302. ISBN 978-0-19-966481-8. Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284–602, (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1964), p. 186.

Adolph Ludvig Køppen, "The World in the Middle Ages, an Historical Geography", (D. Appleton and Company, 1854), p. 14. Rufinus negotiated with Alaric to get him to withdraw from Constantinople (perhaps by promising him lands in Thessaly). Whatever the case, Alaric marched away from Constantinople to Greece, looting the diocese of Macedonia. [25] [26] The walls were doubled in height to 52’ tall in the 4 th early 5 th centuries but by the early 5 th century, the barbarians were at the gates. a b c Herwig Wolfram, History of the Goths, Trans. Thomas J. Dunlap, (University of California Press, 1988), p. 141. The legends of Janus have been used for many purposes throughout history. 16th century Roman priests used them to justify the seat of Christianity being moved from Rome to Jerusalem and described the Vatican as the "Throne of Janus". This was done to gain traction in Italy through the perceived support of the "god of beginnings". [18]After Alaric and the Visigoths came through Porta Salaria in the year 410 they looted the city for 3 days, taking gold, silver and gems. They broke into the Mausoleums of Augustus and Hadrian and stole the funerary jars, spilling to the ground the ash remains of 3 centuries of Rome’s greatest families. Romans were tortured into revealing the whereabouts of their wealth.

One final note on the Servian Walls. The 1st century BC wall behind the Imperial Forum of Augustus, along the Salita di Grillo is old but not as old as the Servian fortification. This is a double arch. They are slightly offset because each arch had a different purpose depending on which side of the arch you entered. The Goths rebelled and began looting and pillaging throughout the eastern Balkans. A Roman army, led by the Eastern Roman emperor Valens, marched to put them down. At the Battle of Adrianople in 378, Fritigern decisively defeated emperor Valens, who was killed in battle. [11] Alaric himself soon changed his mind when he heard Honorius was attempting to recruit 10,000 Huns to fight the Goths. [75] [81] He gathered a group of Roman bishops and sent them to Honorius with his new terms. He no longer sought Roman office or tribute in gold. He now only requested lands in Noricum and as much grain as the Emperor found necessary. [75] Historian Olympiodorus the Younger, writing many years later, considered these terms extremely moderate and reasonable. [79] But it was too late: Honorius' government, bound by oath and intent on war, rejected the offer. Alaric then marched on Rome. [75] The 10,000 Huns never materialized. [82]The half-Vandal, half-Roman general is credited with keeping the Western Roman Empire from crumbling during his 13 years of rule, and his death would have profound repercussions for the West. [52] His son Eucherius was executed shortly after in Rome. [54]