Esquilino - tempio di Minerva medica - Horti liciniani 2059

The Esquiline Hill (; la, Collis Esquilinus; it, Esquilino ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Its southernmost cusp is the ''Oppius'' (

Oppian Hill The Oppian Hill (Latin, ''Oppius Mons''; it, Colle Oppio) is the southern spur of the Esquiline Hill, one of the Seven hills of Rome, Italy. It is separated from the Cispius on the north by the valley of the Suburra, and from the Caelian H ...

A handbook of Rome and the Campagna (1899) (14762604401)

Etymology

The origin of the name ''Esquiline'' is still under much debate. One view is that the hill was named after the abundance of (

Italian oak ''Quercus frainetto'' (syn. ''Quercus conferta'' Kit., ''Quercus farnetto'' Ten.), commonly known as the Hungarian oak or Italian oak, is a species of oak, native to southeastern Europe (parts of Italy, the Balkans, parts of Hungary, Romania) and ...

s) growing there. Another view is that, during Rome's infancy, the Capitolium, the Palatinum, and the northern fringes of the Caelian were the most-populated areas of the city, whose inhabitants were considered ("in-towners"); those who inhabited the external regions – Aurelian, Oppius, Cispius, Fagutal – were considered ("suburbanites").

History

The Esquiline Hill includes three prominent spurs, which are sometimes called "hills" as well: *Cispian (''Cispius'') – northern spur *

Oppian Oppian ( grc, Ὀππιανός, ; la, Oppianus), also known as Oppian of Anazarbus, of Corycus, or of Cilicia, was a 2nd-century Greco-Roman poet during the reign of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, who composed the ''Halieutica'', a f ...

(''Oppius'') – southern spur *Fagutal (''Fagutalis'') – western spur Rising above the valley in which was later built the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

, the Esquiline was a fashionable residential district. According to

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

, the settlement on the Esquiline was expanded during the reign of Servius Tullius, Rome's sixth king, in the 6th century BC. The king also moved his residence to the hill in order to increase its respectability.

, ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an ex ...

'', 1.44 The political advisor and art patron

Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. During the r ...

(70–8 BC) sited his gardens, the first in the Hellenistic-Persian garden style in Rome, on the Esquiline Hill, atop the Servian Wall and its adjoining

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

. It contained terraces, libraries and other aspects of Roman culture. At the

Oppius The Oppian Hill (Latin, ''Oppius Mons''; it, Colle Oppio) is the southern spur of the Esquiline Hill, one of the Seven hills of Rome, Italy. It is separated from the Cispius on the north by the valley of the Suburra, and from the Caelian Hill ...

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

(37 AD–68 AD) confiscated property to build his extravagant, mile-long

Golden House The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a vast landscaped complex built by the Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part of the city.Roth (1993) It replac ...

, and later still Trajan (53–117) constructed his bath complex, both of whose remains are visible today. The 3rd-century Horti Liciniani, a group of gardens (including the relatively well-preserved

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

formerly identified as the non-extant Temple of Minerva Medica), were probably constructed on the Esquiline Hill. Farther to the northeast, at the summit of the ''Cispius'', is the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. In 1781, the first known copy of the marble statue of a

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

er – the ''

Discobolus The ''Discobolus'' of Myron ("discus thrower", el, Δισκοβόλος, ''Diskobólos'') is an Ancient Greek sculpture completed at the start of the Classical period at around 460–450 BC. The sculpture depicts a youthful male athlete thro ...

'' of

Myron Myron of Eleutherae ( grc, Μύρων, ''Myrōn'' ), working c. 480–440 BC, was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Pliny's '' Natural History'', Agelada ...

– was discovered on the Roman property of the

Massimo family The princely House of Massimo is one of the great aristocratic families of Rome, renowned for its influence on the politics, the church and the artistic heritage of the city. Legendary origins The Massimo family is sometimes referred to as on ...

, the Villa Palombara, on the Esquiline Hill. The famous Esquiline Treasure, now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, was found on the Esquiline Hill.

Namesakes

*The tiny hamlet of El Esquilinchuche in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

is named after the Esquiline Hill.

References

{{coord, 41, 53, 44, N, 12, 29, 48, E, region:IT-RM_type:mountain_source:dewiki, display=title Seven hills of Rome Rome R. XV Esquilino

Etymology

History

Namesakes

See also

References