The Horti Agrippinae (''Gardens of Agrippina'') was a luxurious villa-estate belonging to

Agrippina the Elder Agrippina "the Elder" (also, in Latin, , "Germanicus's Agrippina"; – AD 33) was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (a close supporter of the first Roman emperor, Augustus) and ...

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

. It was located on the west bank of the river

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

where

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

is now, and extended to the river where a terrace with a portico was built. It was built on the ''

Ager Vaticanus In Ancient Rome, the ''Ager Vaticanus'' (, "Vatican Field") was the alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regio ...

'', the alluvial plain outside the city walls which was developed at the end of the first century BC, allowing

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

families to construct luxurious private residences (''Horti''). Her son

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...

inherited the horti and as a

chariot racing Chariot racing ( grc-gre, ἁρματοδρομία, harmatodromia, la, ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from ...

enthusiast he built the so-called

Circus of Nero The Circus of Nero or Circus of Caligula was a circus in ancient Rome, located mostly in the present-day Vatican City. Location and dimensions The accompanying plan shows an early interpretation of the relative locations of the circus and the m ...

there. After the

Great Fire of Rome The Great Fire of Rome ( la, incendium magnum Romae) occurred in July AD 64. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, on the night of 19 July. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before ...

in 64 AD,

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 ...

had the first Christians persecuted and (presumably) executed in these horti.Tacitus, Annales XV 39.2, 44.5 One of them was the

Apostle Peter An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

, who was crucified in the circus. He was buried in the nearby necropolis on

Via Cornelia Via Cornelia is an ancient Roman road that supposedly ran east–west along the northern wall of the Circus of Nero on land now covered by the southern wall of St. Peter's Basilica. The location is closely associated with the Via Aurelia and the Vi ...

and in the centuries that followed his tomb became a place of pilgrimage. In 324,

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

therefore had the first St. Peter's Basilica built on the grounds of the Horti Agrippinae and on the circus. The horti also included the

Theatre of Nero The Theatre of Nero ( la, Theatrum Neronis) was the private theatre erected in Rome by Nero, the Roman emperor between AD 53 and AD 68. It was known only from literary sources until its remains were discovered in 2020. The remains were excavate ...

, excavated from 2021 to 2023 in the courtyard of the

Palazzo dei Penitenzieri Palazzo Della Rovere is a palace in Rome, Italy, facing Via della Conciliazione. It is also known as Palazzo dei Penitenzieri. History The construction of the palace was started in 1480 by cardinal Domenico della Rovere, a relative of Pope Sixtus ...

References

Bibliography

* http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/horti.html Agrippinae {{AncientRome-struct-stub

See also

References

Bibliography