At the beginning of the 5th century CE the city was enclosed by a wall. The city gates, which until then were freestanding at the ends of the city’s main colonnaded streets, were incorporated within its route; no significant changes were made in the locations or shape of the gates. The length of the city wall was c. 4.8 kilometers and it traversed Tell Iztabba, north of Nahal Harod. In the south of the city the wall surrounded an extensive area that prior to this was not included within the city limits but was now populated. Consequently, a new gate was built in the southern segment of the wall. A colonnaded street with mosaic paved stoae and shops on either side of it was erected at this time in the south of the city and it led to the southern gate, from the continuation of Sylvanus Street. The wall was c. 2.5 m wide and masonry stones were extensively used in its construction, as well as architectural elements that were dismantled from different buildings in the city. On the inside of the city wall next to the northeastern gate a large storehouse compound was built that included alleys and adjacent to it was a workshop for the glass industry. The city wall was supported by the ramps of the northeastern bridge on either side of the river and the ramp rooms also served as storehouses. Three or possibly four of the inscriptions that were found in the city indicate that during the third decade of the 6th century CE several of the city’s governors (Flavius Anastasius, Flavius Leo and Flavius Johannes) conducted extensive renovations to the city wall, which were financed by the imperial budget at the initiative of one of the city’s Samaritan dignitaries (Flavius Arsenius). This is also related to the strengthening of the administrative and economic status of the city and province at this period of time.