The Tor Fiscale park in Rome is located between the 3rd and 4th miles of the Roman

Via Latina The Via Latina (Latin for "Latin Road") was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers. Route It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mount Algidus; it was important in the ea ...

and forms part of the

Appian Way Regional Park The Appian Way Regional Park is the second-largest urban park of Europe, after Losiny Ostrov National Park in Moscow. It is a protected area of around 4580 hectares, established by the Italian region of Latium. It falls primarily within ...

. It is connected by a short path to Rome's Aqueduct Park and is dominated by a 30 m-high tower, which gives the park its name. Several aqueducts traversed the area and their remains are still visible.

The aqueducts

Six Roman aqueducts criss-crossed the park area, including the

Aqua Claudia Aqua Claudia ("the Claudius, Claudian water") was an ancient Roman aqueduct that, like the Aqua Anio Novus, was begun by Emperor Caligula (37–41 AD) in 38 AD and finished by Emperor Claudius (41–54 AD) in 52 AD. It was the eighth aqueduct to ...

, the

Aqua Marcia The Aqua Marcia () is a long Roman aqueduct, and the longest of List of aqueducts in the city of Rome, eleven aqueducts that supplied the city of ancient Rome, Rome. The aqueduct was built between 144–140 BC. The still-functioning Acqua Fe ...

and the

Aqua Anio Novus Aqua Anio Novus (Latin for "New Anio aqueduct") was an ancient Roman aqueduct supplying the city of Rome. Like the Aqua Claudia, it was begun by emperor Caligula in 38 AD and completed in 52 AD by Claudius, who dedicated them both on August 1. ...

. Much of Aqua Marcia was demolished to make way for the Aqua Felice, which was constructed in the Middle Ages. Aqua Claudia was almost fully dismantled over the centuries to provide building materials for new houses.

Military history

The area of the park was suitable to be transformed into a fortified zone, which could be used to control both the Via Latina and the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...

. This was first done by the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

during the

Siege of Rome (537–38) Siege of Rome may refer to: * Siege of Rome (508 BC), by Lars Porsena, the Etruscan king of Clusium * Siege of Rome (408), see Sack of Rome (410) * Siege of Rome (409), see Sack of Rome (410) * Siege of Rome (472), by the Western Roman general Ri ...

in the early years of the

Gothic War (535–554) The Gothic War between the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Roman emperor, Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian peninsula, Dalmatia (theme), Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily, and Cors ...

. They closed in the arches of the aqueducts to provide a fortified camp, enabling them to block the flow of supplies to the city via the Via Appia and the Via Latina. They also interrupted the flow of water to the city by severing the aqueducts. Subsequently, the area took on the name of Campus Barbaricus. Its strategic importance meant that it continued to be used by invading armies. For example, in 1084 the troops of

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard ( , ; – 17 July 1085), also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Normans, Norman adventurer remembered for his Norman conquest of southern Italy, conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century. Robert was born ...

, who had come to the aid of

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. One of the great ...

in his struggle with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, pitched their camp in this area.

The tower

The Tor Fiscale dates back to the 13th Century, with the first written record from 1277. It is situated at one of the two crossing points of the Claudia and Marcia aqueducts. The tower is square and is made of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

, with a few rows of bricks, and small rectangular windows. On the west side there is a small

depressed arch A basket-handle arch (also depressed arch or chop arch) is characterized by an intrados profile formed by a sequence of circular arcs, each tangent to its neighbors, resulting in a smooth transition between arcs. The simplest form, a three-cente ...

, built, perhaps, to relieve the weight of the wall above the foundations of the aqueducts. The tower was originally surrounded by a

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

, remains of which could be seen until the mid-twentieth century. It originally served as a watch tower, as part of a small castle owned by the Annibaldi family. The name of Fiscale attributed to the tower appears not to come from a tax-collecting function, as was one role of the nearby

Tomb of Caecilia Metella The Tomb of Caecilia Metella (Italian: ''Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella'') is a mausoleum located just outside Rome at the three mile marker of the Via Appia. It was built during the 1st century BC to honor Caecilia Metella, who was the daughter of ...

on the Appian Way, but from the fact that at one time the estate belonged to the Papal Treasurer.

References

{{Coord, 41.855700, 12.545506, type:landmark, display=title Parks in Rome

The aqueducts

Military history

The tower

See also

References