new_Progetto7_opuscolo_inglese_altilia_sepino.qxp_Layout 1 15/07/19 07:54 Pagina 12
12 The Walls The walls, in an almost reticulated work, has a development of 1270 m and encloses an area of about 12 hectares with a quadrangular plan. Along its perimeter four, monumental doors open. The construction of the wall circuit was requested by the same Augusto who gave the task to the two adopted sons Tiberius (future emperor) and Drusus to realize it, according to the inscription, positioned on the attic of the four access gates to the city, which dates its construction between 2 BC and the 4 d.C. Along the walls, there is a series of circular towers, about 100 feet apart (30.135 m). On this page, below: The highest tower in the circuit of the walls and, next to it, the opus reticulatum of the city walls. On the side: The monumental Boiano portal.
Boiano portal Carried out according to the honorary arch scheme, through a precise iconography, the portal has the dual function of protecting the inhabitants of the city and allowing the performance of duties. For these reasons, in addition to symbolic images of chained slaves and divinities placed as a warning to the illintentioned and aimed at averting bad luck, it bears inscriptions bearing administrative provisions and an apparatus designed to support and survey the traffic. Of all the Sepino gates, the one in Boiano is the best preserved. It is still set between two sturdy towers and presents many of the original elements, including the sculpted figures of two barbarians and an imperial inscription from the time of Marcus Aurelius, which established precise provisions on the protection of sheep. On the keystone of the portal is the sculptural image of the head of Hercules.