Porta Capena

In this area (called the valley of the Camenae), considered sacred and mysterious, it is said (and Livy punctually reports) that the peaceful king Numa Pompilius, the first successor of Romulus, had his nocturnal encounters with the goddess (or nymph) Egeria, who on those occasions provided him with all the necessary information for the institution of the rites most pleasing to each divinity, as well as the related priestly functions.

The first historical-legendary mention dates back to the time of King Tullus Hostilius (mid-7th century BC): it refers to the fact that the funerary monument to Horatia – the sister of the Horatii, killed because she was guilty of falling in love of one of the Curiatii – was erected close to the gate.

In literary evidence, the gate is also mentioned for another important event that deeply marked the history of Rome: as Livy reports, after the disastrous battle of Cannae, the Senate met to assess the situation "ad portam Capenam", which was one of the three meeting places of the assembly.

[3] The procession that introduced in Rome the goddess Cybele (the "Magna Mater"), which was one of the first representatives of foreign cults and rites later culminated with the affirmation of Christianity, also passed through Porta Capena.

According to Juvenal, in the 1st century A.D., the area of Porta Capena had lost its historical and legendary importance and had become a meeting place for beggars, especially those of the Jewish religion.