Date

Circa 1910

Of the Roman city gates, the only surviving trace from the republican period is a brick and tufa facing in the ruins of the Porta Leoni. At the Porta dei Borsari, built in the 1st century AD, the whole external façade of white limestone survives, incorporating an inscription recording the rebuilding of the walls in AD 265 (reign of emperor Gallienus). The twin entrances with triangular pediments are surmounted by a two-storey arcaded wall, articulated with aedicules and spiral-fluted Corinthian half-columns. The gate's Roman name was Porta Iovia, as it was located near a small temple dedicated to Jupiter lustralis.