A gate of Rome, on the
Aurelian wall, through which passed the road
via Salaria, leading north to
Italy’s Sabina region. It had several other names, including
Salara,
Porta Sancti Silvestri and the "Gate of Salt". The latter name referring to the carts of
salt that ancient traders brought through the gate.
In the
summer of 410
A.D.,
Alaric king of the
Visigoths laid siege to Rome. Allies within the capital opened the gate at Porta Salaria for him on the night of
August 24, and for three days his troops sacked the city, which had been
untouched by a foreign enemy for nearly 800 years.
Two semi-circular
towers of brickwork, perhaps the original work of
Aurelian, flanked the the
Porta Salaria. The gate stood until 1870, when it was seriously damaged by
Giuseppe Garibaldi’s troops during their capture of
Rome. The removal of rubble the following year led to the discovery of two marble
tombs below the towers. Found under the eastern tower was
the tomb of the young poet Q. Sulpicius Maximus. Under the western tower was the Sepulcrum Corneliae, which housed the
remains of Cornelia L. Scipionis.
The latest version of the Porta Salaria, built in 1873, was removed in 1921 due to high
traffic volume. A plaque in the road’s
pavement commemorates the gate.