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East gate and town wall

Megalomania of the town's mayor? Here, in the east of the town, a 500 m stretch of the town wall is known. Its construction was never completed. The east gate was originally planned on a grand scale but eventually scaled down to a simple passageway through the town wall with a small tower on either side. The construction of a lockable gate was abandoned. This suggests that the town wall and the gate did not serve any protective purpose but were purely prestigious edifices.

- Panorama photograph - a panoramic view from the east gate to the animal park in Augusta Raurica - To the western section of the town wall - Town wall and military fortifications in Augusta Raurica
Today:		In Roman times:
While the town wall and the towers of the east gate were known for a period of one hundred years, their historic context remained unknown. Only the excavations of the past number of decades have revealed that the town fortification was not built at the time of the town founding or at some other period of imminent danger, but around AD 80, at a time of peace. Interestingly, Aventicum constructed a substantial town wall around the same time, which suggests that both ambitious developments may have been purely commenced for reasons of prestige. Unlike Aventicum, however, Augusta Raurica soon ran out of money and the town wall here was never completed.
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