ROMAN BOUNDARY WALLS

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MONUMENTS PROVINCE OF RIMINI

MONUMENTS RIMINI

The Roman Boundary Walls

The foundation of the colony of  Ariminum  - this is the Roman name of the city of Rimini – by the Romans in 268 B.C., has been soon followed by the construction of the defensive walls, as it seems confirmed by the archaeological excavations, which took place in 1987, in the site on which today stands the Arch of Augustus. During the excavations have been found part of the skeleton of a dog and three bronze coins of Roman mintage, which were minted to celebrate the recent victory over the Celts.  These finds, which were in the walls’ foundations,  are, in fact,  in connection with propitiatory rites pertinent to the foundation of the city, and demonstrate that the city walls have been build when the colony has been founded. The walls, made of  blocks of  sandstone from local quarries, did not encircle completely the colony of Ariminum. Two sides, in fact, were protected respectively by  the Adriatic sea and the Marecchia River. The city walls were almost semicircular, with embattled towers along the tracing and at the gates’ sides. During the age of Sulla (I cent. B.C.), in concomitance with the wars that took place in that period, the walls have been rebuilt and readjusted. Then, from the first imperial age, that is, from the end of the I cent. B.C. on, in the general peace established by the Emperor Augustus, the walls have been no more readjusted, as works of  strengthening and upkeep were unnecessary. The walls recovered again their defensive importance with the first barbarian invasions. New walls have been build probably during the principate of  the Emperor Aurelianus (270-275 A.D.), in concomitance with the first attempts the barbarians made in 270-271 A.D. to invade the Italian peninsula. These walls, still visible in  via Roma (Roma Street), near the ancient Roman amphitheatre, in a corner of  Piazza Ferrari (Ferrari Square),  in the Malatestas’ Fortress and in the ex hospital,  are made of  bricks tiling  a casting of  lime and  brick fragments. They were build on the old walls and encircled the city of Rimini.  The two sides previously without walls were fortified too.  The boundary walls were probably endowed with numerous embattled towers, as the quadrangular tower found in the Malatestas’ Fortress and the one discovered under Palazzo Tonini (Tonini Palace), in the Piazzetta Ducale, show.