Walls of Gallienus

The name of this monument originates from Emperor Gallienus who, in order to further defend the city, decided to build a new city wall in 265 A.C.

The construction work was extremely fast: in 8 months the wall was built 1300 meters long and about 12 meters high. The cause of this rapidity was the growing fear of the advancing barbarian invader, already defeated by the emperor near Milan. The first city that would be attacked, being at the beginning of the Adige Valley, was Verona, so in addition to a certain speed, to save time were chosen materials of fortune, such as pebbles, tuff and waste of other monuments.

The role of this work was to defend the historic centre and the Arena, an important historical find incorporated into the city walls, but also to attack any enemies. The route ran along the ancient wall, but was advanced about eight meters. The suburbs of the city were excluded from this construction, as they were too large to be defended effectively.

Only a few parts of the ancient wall remain in Via Diaz (Latin inscriptions on some visible marble) and behind the Arena in Piazza Mura Gallieno.