The Torre delle Milizie ("Tower of the Militia") is a tower in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy, annexed to the Trajan's Market

Trajan's Market

Trajan's Market is a large complex of ruins in the city of Rome, Italy, located on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, at the opposite end to the Colosseum...

 in the Imperial fora.

One of the main medieval monuments of the city, the tower is on a square plan, its base sides measure 10.5 x 9.5 m, and it currently stands at almost 50 meters. The earthquake of 1348 caused both the crumbling of an upper floor and the slightly tilting of the structure. In origin it belonged to a series of fortified edifices grouped around a court, in which the tower was located.

It gained the popular nickname of "Nero's Tower" from a tradition that it originated as a Roman construction from which Emperor Nero

Nero

Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

 watched the fire of Rome

Great Fire of Rome

The Great Fire of Rome was an urban fire that occurred beginning July 19, AD 64.-Background:According to Tacitus, the fire spread quickly and burned for six days. Only four of the fourteen districts of Rome escaped the fire; three districts were completely destroyed and the other seven suffered...

–this is derived from the classical account that he watched from a tower in the Gardens of Maecenas

Gardens of Maecenas

The Gardens of Maecenas, built by the Augustan era patron of the arts Gaius Maecenas, were the first gardens in the Hellenistic-Persian garden style in Rome...

, though more trustworthy accounts place him out of town, at Antium at the time. Its actual construction probably dates to the time of Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III

Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....

 (1198-1216).

At the end of the 13th century the tower was a possession of the powerful Annibaldi family, who were followed by the Prefetti di Vico

Prefetti di Vico

The Prefetti di Vico were an Italian noble family, of German origin, who established in Rome from the 10th century.They obtained the title of praefect urbis by the Holy Roman Emperor. The rest of the name derived from the Lake Vico, in northern Lazio, where most of their lands were located...

 and by the Caetani

Caetani

Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family princely family which played a great part in the history of Pisa and of Rome, principally via their close links to the papacy.-Origins:...

, Pope Boniface VIII

Pope Boniface VIII

Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...

's family. Under the Caetani the fortified quarter was enlarged and strengthened, probably rivalling with Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family...

 as Rome's main fortress. When Henry VII of Luxembourg

Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry VII was the King of Germany from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first emperor of the House of Luxembourg...

 came to the city for his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

 (May-June 1312), he chose the Torre delle Milizie as the base for his Guelph

Guelphs and Ghibellines

The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...

 supporters. Twenty years later the tower was ceded to the Conti

Conti

-People:* Bill Conti, film music director* Bruno Conti, former football player and member of the Italian national football team in 1982* Carlos Conti , Spanish comic writer* Francesco Bartolomeo Conti , Florentine composer...

. During their ownership Raphael

Raphael

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...

, in his role as curator of the antiquities of the city, cited the tower as an example of an edifice built re-using antique parts

Spolia

Spolia is a modern art-historical term used to describe the re-use of earlier building material or decorative sculpture on new monuments...

. The Conti held it until 1619, when it was acquired by the nuns of the neighbouring convent (later demolished) of Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli

Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli

Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli is a 16th century church in Rome. It is devoted to St. Catherine of Siena, and is located on the Quirinal Hill, in piazza Magnanapoli.-History:...

.