Porta Nomentana
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Porta Nomentana was one of the Aurelian gates of Rome that was demolished in 1827, and now serves as a boundary wall for the British Embassy.
History
Construction
It was built as a single-arch gate between 270 and 273 AD by the emperor Aurelian. Its original right-hand semicircular tower (on quadrato foundations) is still to be seen, while its left-hand one incorporated a tomb, presumed to belong to Quintus Aterius, a famous orator at the court of Tiberius. Marble from that tomb was used to cover the gate in restorations by Honorius in 403, who at the same time blocked the two nearby posterns in the direction of Castra Praetoria and restored the Porta Salaria.
Renaissance
It was turned into a two-arch gate by Pope Pius IV in 1564 (as told in a papal inscription on it), the same year as it was replaced by Porta Pia as the access route to the via Nomentana. This phase's brick arch, topped by the papal arms, and the original right-hand semicircular tower (with quadrato foundations) are still to be seen. Ten years later, the Porta Asinaria also closed to be replaced by the new Porta San Giovanni.[1]
Database entry
One of the minor Mura Aureliane (Aurelian Wall) gates, Porta Nomentana was originally constructed as a single arch entrance. The Porta was flanked by two semi-circular towers, one of which was converted to a tomb for a man by the name of Quintus Aterius. Quintus was said to have been "a man rotten by flattery". But history had the last laugh, the gate is now incorporated into the wall of the British Embassy. His dead ears will never heard flattery again.[2]