The main road to the Roman Capitol, the Clivus Capitolinus ("Capitoline Rise") starts at the head of the
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...
beside the
Arch of Tiberius as a continuation of the
Via Sacra; proceeding around the
Temple of Saturn and turning to the south in front of the
Portico Dii Consentes
The Porticus Deorum Consentium ( it, Portico degli Dei Consenti; en, Portico of the Harmonious Gods), sometimes known as the Area of the Dii Consentes, is an ancient structure located at the bottom of the ancient Roman road that leads up to the ...
, it then climbs up the slope of the
Capitoline Hill to the
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus at its summit. This was traditionally the last and culminating portion of all
Roman triumphs.
Triumph
The street is significant as one of the oldest roads in Rome as well as its central location around temples and judicial offices leading to the largest and most important of the
Republican temples.
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
is said to have climbed this road on his knees to offset a bad omen during his triumph.
History
The earliest history of the road as well as the hill itself is not completely clear as much of Rome's earliest records were destroyed in a sacking of the city. The road may have been part of the original route to the
Sabine settlement altered when the Temple of Saturn was built. The hills of Rome have an extensive amount of construction built on top of
ancient Etruscan stones that can be seen at the rear of the remaining chambers of the Portico Dii Consentes.
References
External links
Clivus Capitolinus Encyclopædia Britannica
Ancient Roman roads in Rome
Rome R. X Campitelli
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