Late Roman Walls of Mediolanum (Milan)

These are the walls of Milan from the 4th Century when Milan was the primary imperial centre and effective capital of the Western Roman Empire and briefly under Theodosius in the 390s the capital of the re-united Empire until his death in 395.

Milan was much better placed for the Western Augustus to cover the exits from the Alpine passes into Northern Italy, and to move west to quash usurpers in Gaul (France) and East to meet hostile attacks from the Eastern Roman Empire.

As a result Milan, already a large and prosperous Roman city, received imperial palace, baths, cathedrals and a circus.

The multi-angular tower is typical of 4th century Roman city defences. Most remarkably next to it in the gardens of the archaeological museum of Milan, is a tower from the starting line of the Circus used for chariot racing. Commendably this is being restored and is covered in scaffolding, so alas cannot be photographed at the moment.