Located
towards the end of the Curetes Street,
it was called the Hercules gate because
of the relief of Hercules on it. It was
brought from another place in the fourth
century AD to its current place, but the
relief on it dates back to the second
century AD.
Only
the two side of the columns remain today
and the other parts of it have not been
found. The relief of the flying Nike in
the Domitian Square is thought to also
be a part of this gate.
The Heracles Gate narrowed the access to the street, preventing the passage of vehicles.We can understand that from the Fourth Century, the street had become a pedestrian area.
In these reliefs Heracles was depicting with the skin of the Nemean lion in myhtology. The Nemean lion had been terrorizing the area around Nemea, and had a skin so thick that it was impossible to kill it. Finally he wrestled the lion to the ground, eventually killing it by thrusting his arm down its throat and choking it to death. Heracles was the god of power and strenght.
