The Two Towers (of Perge)

The remains of the hellenistic city gate of Perge in modern Turkey are still imposing, the two massive flanking towers of red/ochre stone rising tall. Perge, once the capital of Pamphylia, was conquered by the Persians, who lost it to Alexander the Great. The latter's successor (well, one of them), Seleucos integrated it into his Seleucid Empire, from which period these city gates date. The oval towers were an improvement over the rectangular version, as they cover a greater field of fire - corners tend to get in the way. They were an estimated 18 meters (60 feet) high, and featured arrowslits on the first and windows for siege-engines on the second floor.

The fortifications were quite necessary: the Attalids of Pergamon disputed the Seleucid claim to the city. Unfortunately for the Seleucids, Pergamon had something of an advantage. Something that trumped the massive city gate: they were friends and allies of Rome. In 189 B.C. the Romans noticed the Seleucid King Antiochus III was getting interested in Greece after the Romans had kindly removed Macedon from the list of world powers for that generation. Rome noticed, and reacted in the typical way. They declared war. In 189 B.C., Antiochus' army (according to the ancient sources outnumbering the Romans more than 2:1 and fielding scythed chariots) was beaten (in ancient sources, read: annihilated) at Magnesia. The peace treaty involved Antiochus turning Perge over to Pergamon. Rome finally inherited it, with the rest of Pergamon, in 133 B.C., when the last of the Attalids died.

In Roman times, the walls were no longer needed, but kept because they looked monumental and made a great statement of the glory of the Empire to which the city belonged. They marked the beginning of a large, collonaded street henceforth.