Santa Lucia in Septisolio was an ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

church with a ''

diaconia A diaconia was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples (the successor to the Roman grain supply system, often standing on the very sites o ...

''. It formerly stood at the base of the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; la, Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; it, Palatino ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire." ...

, near the Septizodium of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

, from which it took its name. The date of its destruction is not certain, although it seems to have disappeared definitively after the pontificate of Sixtus V (1585–1590).

Name and location

The church was located in the southern corner of the Palatine Hill, and takes its name from the ancient Roman ruin Septizodium of Septimius Severus which was located there. The name ''septizodium'' is in turn derived from ''septisolium,'' meaning "temple of seven suns," and was probably named for the seven planetary deities (Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus), or for the fact that it was originally divided into seven parts. As such, the church of Saint Lucy which was built nearby is variously called ''in Septisolio,'' ''in Septizonium'' (both of which refer to the Septizodium), ''in septem solium,'' ''de septum solis,'' ''de sedes solis'' (referring to the "seven suns"), or even ''de septem viae'' or ''in septem vias'' (meaning, "at the seven ways"). The catalogue of Pietro Mallio, produced during the pontificate of

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

(1159–1181) calls it ''S. Lucie Palatii in cyrco iuxta Septa Solis'' ("

he church of He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

Saint Lucy of the Palatine, in the circus, near the Seven Suns").

Mariano Armellini Mariano Armellini (7 February 1852 – 24 February 1896) was an Italian archaeologist and historian. Born in Rome, he was one of the founders of the Pontifical Academy of Martyrs. He is the author of ''Gli antichi cimiteri cristiani di Roma e d'I ...

assures his readers that these names are all more or less corrupted versions of the same ancient monument's name. During the height of the Roman stational liturgy in the sixth century until its decline in the eleventh and extinction in the fourteenth, the church served as the ''ecclesia collecta'' for Friday of the first week of Lent, meaning that it was the meeting point for the papal procession that then moved to the day's ''statio'', Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

History

The church of Saint Lucy at the Septizodium is mentioned in the ''Liber Pontificalis'' as the site of one of the most ancient deaconries of the city. That ''diaconia'' is mentioned in the biographies of

Pope Leo III Pope Leo III (died 12 June 816) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 26 December 795 to his death. Protected by Charlemagne from the supporters of his predecessor, Adrian I, Leo subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position b ...

(795–816) and Gregory IV (827–844), and was situated next to the church. The church itself is described by Armellini as ''assai vasta e ricchissimamente decorata,'' "quite vast and most richly decorated." Even though the church survived until the time of Pope Sixtus V in a satisfactory condition, Armellini holds that was demolished during his papacy. In doing so, he was echoing the opinion of most authorities, who attributed its destruction to the unique architectural value of the Septizodium; it was demolished so that its pieces could be used in other buildings. Hülsen, however, objects to that theory, positing instead that the church fell into ruins when its cardinalatial title lapsed. He further argues that the church was somewhat removed from the ruins of the Septizodium, and would have stood closer to the

Torre della Moletta ''Torre'' (plurals ''torri'' and ''torres'') means ''tower'' in seven Romance languages (Portuguese, Spanish, Galician, Catalan, Italian, Occitan and Corsican) and may refer to: Biology * Muir-Torre syndrome, the inherited cancer syndrome * ' ...

in the Circus Maximus.

Notes and references

{{coord missing, Italy Lucia in Septisolio Palatine Hill Buildings and structures demolished in the 16th century