Built upon the ancient tomb of Cecilia Metella, this massive fortress derives its name from the ox-head images that decorate its walls. In the 11th century the fortress was incorporated into a larger walled complex. In the 14th century Pope Boniface VIII gave control of the complex to the Gaetani family, who improved the walls of the fortress to include arrow slits and battlements. The Gaetani also constructed a palace nearby within the walls of the complex. The fortress was used to fortify the Via Apia, offering protection from invaders and revenue from tolls collected from travelers.

Looking at the fortress, it is readily apparent that its construction took place in distinct stages. The white marble of the original tomb forms the lowermost layer, while smaller stones and brick from medieval renovations form the upper walls of the tower and much of the connected building. In the medieval period, the building would likely have been outfitted with a second floor, as evidenced by the pegs that would have supported such a structure and the seats built into the windows on the upper levels. The imposing exterior and the remains of what may have been a gate or arch spanning the Via Apia are reminders of the function of the building as a toll station and line of defense.

]]> History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages (Cambridge University, 2010), 673-675.

Ivana Della Portella, Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio, Francesca Ventre, The Appian Way From Its Foundation to the Middle Ages (Getty Publications, 2004), 61-68.]]> Built in the 7th century upon a 5th century deaconry, which in turn was built over a complex from the 3rd century, the Chiesa di San Giorgio in Velabro has an irregular layout. The church was completed under Pope Leo II (611-683 C.E.), who dedicated it to Saint Sebastian. Saint George, a Cappadocian saint, became associated with the church in the 8th century when Pope Zachary moved George’s relics there. S. Giorgio in Velabro is named for the saint and for its location in the marsh (vel in Latin) that formed due to the frequent flooding of the Tiber and the presence of the cloaca maxima. The church stands near two antique arches: the 4th century Giano Quadrifronte Arch, which in part protected the markets in the Foro Boario and Foro Olitorio, and the 3rd century Argentari Arch, which was a gift from the bankers of the market and indicated the entrance to the Foro Boario.

The Chiesa di San Giorgio in Velabro represents a blending of ancient and medieval decorative styles. The surviving antique-style components include eight spoliated columns and the 13th century apse fresco, which mirrors the Early Christian apse program of SS. Cosma e Damiano and depicts both Saint George and Saint Sebastian with Christ in heaven. This fresco is attributed to Pietro Cavallini due to stylistic similarities with his other work. The church also underwent several additions in the medieval period that were more congruous with contemporary style. These additions include the 12th century campanile and the 13th century narthex constructed according to what was then the standard type. This narthex features ionic capitals and trabeated colonnades. These capitals were damaged in 1993 by a bombing orchestrated by the Mafia, but were left unrepaired after an extensive restoration effort to serve as reminders of the offense.

]]> Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks, Palladio’s Rome (New Haven: Yale University, 2006), 42, 70.

Richard Krautheimer, Rome. Portrait of a City, 313-1300 (Princeton: Princeton University, 1983), 222, 251.

Ministero Per I Beni E Le Attiva Culturali, Chiesa di San Giorgio al Velabro (Plaque outside of S. Giorgio in Velabro).

John Tagliabue, “Bombed Church is Resurrected in Rome as Testament to Faith,” New York Times, August 4, 1996, accessed June 2, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/04/world/bombed-church-is-resurrected-in-rome-as-testament-to-faith.html?emc=eta1.&nbsp,

]]> The Tomb of Alfanus is located on the porch of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Attributed to a wealthy, twelfth-century noble, this tomb is one of the best examples of twelfth-century tombs in Rome. Although perhaps unremarkable to the untrained eye, John Osbourne identifies this tomb as a visible turning point for tombs in the medieval period, speaking primarily to its past, but also to its future. The Tomb of Alfanus exemplifies early medieval tombs in several ways. First, the tomb is situated within the urban perimeter on the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, as most tombs were after the sixth century when it was no longer mandatory to bury the dead outside the walls. Second, its shape and construction, which includes a sarcophagus, a canopy, and an enclosed mural, follows a formula that reaches back through the medieval period to the late classical period, demonstrated by findings of this same formula in the catacombs of earlier centuries. Although the mural is somewhat damaged, this formula for construction can still be easily identified in this tomb.

However, the tomb also begins to indicate a shift towards the 12th century renovation in which Romans began to evoke antiquity in their art. In what seems to be an evolutionary step away from earlier tombs, the Tomb of Alfanus attempts to create a Corinthian capital and has carved foliage running around the edge of the sarcophagus, both of which recall antiquity. In this way, Osbourne suggests, the tomb demonstrates the newly developing vocabulary of finery and luxury products for Roman tombs in the 12th century that would continue to develop in the years to come.

]]> Papers of the British School at Rome (1983): pp. 240-247.]]>
During the 9th and 10th centuries its name underwent a series of changes that caused the statue’s true historical origin to become lost for quite some time. It was first documented as a representation of Constantine in the 10th century, when it was given the name “The Horse of Constantine”. It was believed that the Senate dedicated the statue to Constantine, which in turn prevented it from being melted down as recyclable bronze. However, later historians found that this was actually not the case. In many medieval representations of Rome, depictions of the horse and rider were quite common, and was thus associated with Constantine by the populace. Furthermore, the name “The Horse of Constantine” is the same name given to the sculpture inside the Forum. The interchanging name of the two pieces has caused much confusion for modern day scholars, however it is noted in historical writings, like John Wright’s The Life of Cola Di Rienzo that the medieval idea that the statue of Marcus Aurelius being the statue of Constantine was a mistake, which allowed it to survive destruction. In the 16th century, Pope Paul III moved the statue from the Lateran Hill to Piazza Campidoglio to emphasize Campidoglio’s significance as the city’s historical center. In addition to the Pope’s work with the piece, he commissioned Michelangelo to design the base for the statue. Thus the statue of Marcus Aurelius still rests inside of the Museum at Piazza Campidoglio for private viewing, accompanied by a replica at the center of the Piazza.]]> Macadam, Alta, and A. B. Barber. Rome. London: Somerset, 2010.

Nichols, Francis Morgan, and Eileen Gardiner. The Marvels of Rome = Mirabilia Urbis Romae. New York: Italica Press, 1986.

Wright, John Henry. The Life of Cola Di Rienzo. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1975.

]]> Upon entering the San Zeno Chapel, located in the Basilica di Santa Prassede, a dark marble object, spotted with white, lies in a niche to the right (Figure 1). The object appears to be an oddly large chess piece, but is allegedly the column upon which Jesus Christ was flogged in his final years.

During the medieval crusades, it was very common to take spoils from Jerusalem and bring them back to Rome. Some were then placed in churches as relics—such as the column itself, the crown of thorns (now in Notre Dame in Paris), or the bones of St. Jerome (now in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore). The relic was taken from the Holy Land and brought to Rome in 1222 by Cardinal Giovanni Colonna the Younger—a member of the powerful Colonna family during the 13th century. Given to him by the King of Jerusalem after the Fourth Crusade, Colonna brought the column back to Santa Prassede, his cardinalate church since 1212 (the church that is given to a cardinal). The history of the column before 1222, however, is unclear.

At the top of the column was a metal loop, where Christ was bound to during his flagellation. Before its move to the Chapel of San Zeno in 1699, the column was not completely visible by the pilgrims, and would only appear on feast days. Currently, the column is housed in a reliquary made of bronze, designed by Duilio Cambellotti in 1898. The column is also incorporated in other Roman monuments, such as the relief sculpture in the Chigi Chapel, located in Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pace, and one of the angels located on Ponte Sant’Angelo (Figure 2). While many scholars are skeptical of the true history that this column, it is a great example of translating relics from the Holy Land to Rome during the Crusades.

]]> ]]> ]]> Krautheimer, Richard. Rome : Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J. , Chichester: Princeton University Press, 2000.]]> Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.]]> Aldrete, Gregory S.. Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Accessed May 30, 2015. ProQuest ebrary.

Krautheimer, Richard. Rome : Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J. , Chichester: Princeton University Press, 2000. pp. 64, 237

Squatriti, Paolo. "The Floods of 589 and Climate Change at the Beginning of the Middle Ages: An Italian Microhistory." Speculum 85, no. 04 (2010): 799-826.

]]> Just northeast to the Pyramid of Gaius Cestuis, Porta San Paolo now serves as the entrance into the Museo della Via Ostiense. However, entry through the Porta San Paolo brings one to a very different setting--back in the Middle Ages. As an important gate along the Aurelian Walls, this porta sat on the Via Ostiense, one of the major highways used to get into medieval Rome. The Museo now inside the gatehouse is dedicated to this roadway and its history. The porta itself was built during the first construction period of the Aurelian Walls from 309-312. During 402 and 403, when the walls were reconstructed, Porta San Paolo lost one of its original archways and its towers were made taller. This is the building we see now. According to medieval guidebooks to Rome, Porta San Paolo took many names, including Porta Ostiense and Porta Trigemina.

Porta San Paolo’s significance goes beyond Rome. This is demonstrated in its use in Christian imagery in other places. One such image, painted in the 1300s by Jacopo di Cione of Florence, uses the Porta San Paolo as a geographic reference in his fresco retelling a traditional story regarding the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul. According to tradition, St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred on the same day in different parts of Rome. However, before being led to their sites of death, the two Apostles said good-bye to each other somewhere along the Via Ostiense. In his painting, Jacopo di Cione places Peter and Paul, surrounded by Roman soldiers, underneath the Porta San Paolo as they part ways. Porta San Paolo as it’s depicted here is quite large, taking up about three-fourths of the frame. Jacopo also paints the tower with its top, a cylindrical structure with two small slit-like windows and a cylindrical pyramid-shaped roof. This could be how the tower looked during the medieval period following the second construction phase of the Aurelian Walls.

The inclusion of the Porta here is crucial in revealing how medieval beliefs shaped the way traditional stories were told and how Roman features played a part in those stories. By including the Porta, Jacopo di Cione is demonstrating the centricity of Rome in Christian stories. In this way, medieval Porta San Paolo becomes multifunctional, serving not only as a gate and defensive fort but also as a method of promoting a Roman narrative.

]]> Finch, Margaret. “Petrine Landmarks in Two Predella Panels by Jacopo di Cione.” Artibus et Historiae 12 (1991): 67-82.

Hart, Vaughan and Peter Hicks, trans. Palladio’s Rome. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.

Nichols, Francis Morgan, trans. and ed. The Marvels of Rome: Mirabilia Urbis Romae. New York: Italica Press, 1986.

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