The Torre delle Milizie (“Tower of the Militia”) is a large defensive tower from medieval Rome located in Trajan's Market. Constructed between the late 1100s and the early 1200s, it was developed in the 1270s under Pandolfo della Subura, creating the massive base and the distinctive three-level outline that we see today. The name "of the militia" which was applied to the tower and to its immediate area recalls the site's use as a base for Byzantine troops under the Late Roman Emperor Tiberius I Constantine (578-582CE). .An earthquake destroyed the top floors in 1349, reducing the tower's height to 50m (165 ft). The tower was part of a larger fortress complex on that stood on the boundary between the medieval city center and Rome’s disabitato or "uninhabited" area: it loomed over the city’s visitors as they entered the built up part of the city. Defensive towers were a statement of family power and wealth during the medieval period. In the hands of the Frangipani family in the 12th century, the tower was controlled by the Annibaldi family in the mid thirteenth century, and later by the Caetani and Conti families. The Torre delle Milizie is one of the most imposing medieval structures in Rome and is a recognizable landmark from many viewpoints. The tower is also a good reminder that there would have been fortified structures like these scattered throughout the medieval city.
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980. Packer, James E. "Report from Rome: The Imperial Fora, a Retrospective." American Journal of Archaeology 101, no. 2 (1997): 307-30. Accessed May 17, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/506512.
Place
1200s