Laudator Temporis Acti

Trevor Dean and Daniel Waley, The Italian City-Republics, 5th ed. (London: Routledge, 2023), pp. 110-111 (notes omitted):

Second only to the palace were the walls, another great source of pride. Giovanni Villani devotes two chapters to the Florentine walls which were being constructed in the 1320s. Most communes had officials entrusted with the upkeep of the walls — Pisa's 'captains of the walls' figure in the 1162 statutes. A good deal of legislation was devoted to the walls and in particular to the attempt — always destined to frustration — to keep them entirely clear of private and public buildings. Compulsory work by the population played a big part in the construction and maintenance of walls. In some cities each region had the obligation of providing labour for its own section of the walls and its gateway.

Wall-building campaigns represented a huge commitment of money and effort. The necessary land could sometimes be acquired only slowly and with difficulty, in the face of resistance from local landowners. Some wall circuits were built quickly – for example, the first medieval circuit at Florence (1173-75); others much more slowly, such as the second circuit at Bologna (1250-1370). Often the walls were a very expensive item in the commune's budget. Florence's second medieval circle (mentioned above, p. 24) cost about 6,000 L a year in the first years of the fourteenth century, and in 1324 nearly 20,000 L was spent on it in five months, which represented roughly a quarter of the commune's total expenditure. The site, appearance and function of walls and gates combined the functional, the aesthetic and the symbolic. Walls had defensive functions against siege and attack, but also served to control daily movement into and out of the city and to act as points of taxation for goods. Aesthetically, the materials and design could give external impressions of solidity and antiquity. At Lucca, for example, the exterior faces were built with large stone blocks of similar size, while the interior faces were of brick, and the round gate towers have been said to recall those of ancient Rome. The profile of walls and gates then also projected urban power into the countryside and beyond. At Lucca, again, most of the towers were on the south and west sides, towards the city's main enemy, Pisa.

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