Servian Accomplishments > Servian Wall
The Roman King Servius Tullius is credited with building the Servian Wall (Murus Servii Tullii) in the 6th century B.C. (Livy I.44; Dionysius IV.13) but archaeological study of the building material suggests it actually dates to the fourth century B.C.
The Servian Wall ran from the Tiber to the Capitoline Hill to the Quirinal, to the valley between the Quirinal and the Pincian, towards the Esquiline, to the valley between the mons Oppius and the Caelian, along the cliffs on the south and southeast of the Caelian, then probably along the southwest side of the Palatine, then south of the forum Boarium and to the Tiber at the Sublician Bridge (pons Sublicius). The Campus Martius, on one side of the Capitoline Hill, was outside the walls.
The Servian Wall has 12 gates. Like other ancient city walls, its purpose was defensive.
References
- Murus Servii Tullii from Samuel Ball Platner (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby):
A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome,
London: Oxford University Press, 1929. - The History of Rome, by Mommsen: Enlargement of the City Of Rome -- Servian Wall
