The lautumiae were

tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. ...

quarries that became a topographical marker in

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 ...

. They were located on the northeast slope of the

Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...

, forming one side of the

Graecostasis The Graecostasis was a platform in the Comitium near the Roman Forum, located to the west of the Rostra. The name refers to the Greek ambassadors for whom the platform was originally built after the Roman Republic conquered Greece. Placed at the s ...

, where foreign embassies gathered prior to appearing before the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

. The Clivus Lautumiarum was the road (''clivus'', "slope" or "street") on which they were located.

Platner Platner may refer to: Places * Platner, Colorado People * Ernst Platner (1744–1818), German anthropologist, physician, and philosopher * Ernst Zacharias Platner (1773–1855), German painter and writer, son of the foregoing * Samuel Ball Platner ...

identified the road as the one running between the

Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

and the

Temple of Concordia The Temple of Concordia ( it, Tempio della Concordia) is an ancient Greek temple in the Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) in Agrigento (Greek: Akragas) on the south coast of Sicily, Italy. It is the largest and best-preserved Doric temple ...

which became the Clivus Argentarius in the later

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, but the Argentarius is also thought to have been a separate street. In Platner's analysis, it was thus one of six streets leading into the

Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

, which it connected to the

Porta Fontinalis The Porta Fontinalis was a gate in the Servian Wall in ancient Rome. It was located on the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill, probably the northeast shoulder over the Clivus Argentarius. The Via Salaria exited through it, as did the Via Flam ...

, from there forming the direct link to the

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...

until the street plan was altered by the building of the Imperial fora. Vicus Lautumiarum refers to the area as a neighborhood or quarter (see ''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...

'') . The quarries themselves were used as

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...

s, primarily for low-status prisoners such as

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. They were adjacent to or near the Tullianum or Carcer, forming with it a penal complex that included the

Tarpeian Rock The Tarpeian Rock (; Latin: ' or '; it, Rupe Tarpea) is a steep cliff on the south side of the Capitoline Hill, which was used in Ancient Rome as a site of execution. Murderers, traitors, perjurors, and larcenous slaves, if convicted by the '' ...

and

Gemonian stairs The Gemonian Stairs ( la, Scalae Gemoniae, it, Scale Gemonie) were a flight of steps located in the ancient city of Rome. Nicknamed the Stairs of Mourning, the stairs are infamous in Roman history as a place of execution. Location The steps ...

. The name ''Lautumiae'' was supposed to derive from the ''latomia'' (λατομία) of

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, where quarries were used as prisons. Despite

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

's statement that

Servius Tullius Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned from 578 to 535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome ...

modeled an underground chamber after the Syracusan ''latomiae'', the word probably came into use sometime between 212 and 180 BC. The fire of 210 BC burned an area along the northeast side of the Forum Romanum as delineated by the Lautumiae. The Atrium Maenium was located ''in lautumiis'' on the Clivus Argentarius.

Clivus Argentarius

Although Platner identified the Clivus Argentarius ("Banker Street") with the Lautumiae, Lawrence Richardson distinguishes the two in ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (1992). Richardson identified the Clivus Argentarius as the street that connects the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius, running from the

Vulcanal The Shrine of Vulcan ( it, Volcanale), or Vulcanal, or Volcanal, was an 8th-century BC sacred precinct on the future site of the Roman Forum in Rome, modern Italy. Dedicated to Vulcan (mythology), Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, it was tradition ...

and along the front of the Carcer (Tullianum) over the northeast slope of the Capitoline Hill. Only medieval sources name a ''Clivus Argentarius,'' but it probably reflects the ancient financial activity centered on the offices of '' argentarii'', professional deposit bankers.Jean Andrea, ''Banking and Business in the Roman World'' (Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. xiii.

References

{{Reflist Topography of the ancient city of Rome Defunct prisons in Italy Quarries