The Horti Aciliorum were gardens in the city of Rome, created in the 2nd century on the

Pincian Hill The Pincian Hill (; it, Pincio ; la, Mons Pincius) is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical centre of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius. It was outside the original boundaries of th ...

, between the

Porta Pinciana Porta Pinciana is a gate of the Aurelian Walls in Rome. The name derives from the ''gens'' Pincia, who owned the eponymous hill (Pincian Hill). In ancient times it was also called ''Porta Turata'' ("Plugged Gate", for it was partially closed) ...

and what is now the

Spanish Steps The Spanish Steps ( it, Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top. The monumental stairwa ...

History

Surrounded to the north, west and east by ''

opus reticulatum ''Opus reticulatum'' (also known as reticulate work) is a facing used for concrete walls in Roman architecture from about the first century BCE to the early first century CE. Facings are a type of polygonal masonry used to apply a smooth finish to ...

'' retaining walls built along the slopes of the hill – the northern and eastern walls were later incorporated into the Aurelian Walls and so can be partially reconstructed – the northern part is the famous 'Muro Torto'. It was shaped as a wide semicircle, opening to the west, with a staircase leading down to the plain below to the north of the present-day Spanish Steps. It included a two-section

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...

connected to a cistern, consisting of a maze of small tunnels dug into the rock – the hill in the gardens of the current

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, ...

was built on the ruins of the 'Parnassus', an octagonal nymphaeum. The gardens belonged to the Anicii Glabriones, who had them built. In the 4th century they passed to the gens Pincia then to Anicia Faltonia Proba and her husband Sextus Petronius Probus,CIL VI, 1751
/ref> before finally becoming state property.

References

{{coord, 41.9125, N, 12.4864, E, source:wikidata, display=title Aciliorum +

History

See also

References