The Terebinth of Nero ( lat, Terebinthus Neronis; also named ''Tiburtinum Neronis'' or ''Obeliscus Neronis'' in Latin) was a mausoleum built 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 BC ...

that is important for historical, religious and architectural reasons. By the 14th century, it was almost completely demolished.

Location

The mausoleum was located in today's Borgo

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of Rome, between

old Saint Peter's Basilica Old St. Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where the new St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began dur ...

in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

and the Mausoleum of Hadrian. Its foundations have been discovered under the first north block of

via della Conciliazione Via della Conciliazione (Road of the Conciliation) is a street in the Rione of Borgo within Rome, Italy. Roughly in length, it connects Saint Peter's Square to the Castel Sant'Angelo on the western bank of the Tiber River. The road was constru ...

, which now includes the Auditorium Conciliazione and the Palazzo Pio. This would place it north of the

Meta Romuli The Meta Romuli (in Latin ''mēta Rōmulī'' , transl.: "Pyramid of Romulus"; also named "Piramide vaticana" or "Piramide di Borgo" in Italian) was a pyramid built in ancient Rome that is important for historical, religious and architectural reas ...

History

The ''Terebinthus Neronis'' was a monumental burial erected in the

Roman age 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 ...

on the right bank of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, 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 ...

, near the intersection of two

Roman roads Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, the

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 ...

and the

Via Triumphalis Via Trionfale is a Roman road that leads to and within Rome, Italy. Formerly called Via Triumphalis, it was an ancient consular road that connected Rome to Veii. The northern terminus of the road connects with the Via Cassia. History The name gi ...

, in an area outside the ''

pomerium The ''pomerium'' or ''pomoerium'' was a religious boundary around the city of Rome and cities controlled by Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within its ''pomerium''; everything beyond it was simply territory ('' ager'') belonging to Rome. ...

'' (the religious boundary around Rome); this area, named ''

Ager Vaticanus In Ancient Rome, the ''Ager Vaticanus'' (, "Vatican Field") was the alluvial plain on the right (west) bank of the Tiber. It was also called ''Ripa Veientana'' or ''Ripa Etrusca'', indicating the Etruscan dominion during the archaic period. It ...

'', hosted at that time numerous cemetery areas such as the nearby

Vatican Necropolis The Vatican Necropolis lies under the Vatican City, at depths varying between 5–12 metres below Saint Peter's Basilica. The Vatican sponsored archaeological excavations (also known by their Italian name ''scavi'') under Saint Peter's in the y ...

and, due to its proximity 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 cove ...

represented an ideal area to build the monumental tombs of the members of the Roman upper class.Petacco (2016), p. 33 It lay next to another large mausoleum, the so-called ''

'', a

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

which was demolished in 1499 by Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503). The ''Terebinthus Neronis'' is supposed to have had a circular plan and the shape of a giant ''

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bu ...

'' tomb. While both monuments survived the great changes due to the construction of the

old St. Peter's Basilica Old St. Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where the new St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began dur ...

, the former was destroyed already during the Middle Ages, while the latter survived until the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

age becoming an important element of Rome's topography. The first mention of the Terebinth is by Benedictus Canonicus Sancti Petri (c. 1144), which names it "obeliscus Neronis",Gigli (1990) p. 84 and by the ''

Mirabilia Urbis Romae ''Mirabilia Urbis Romae'' ("Marvels of the City of Rome") is a much-copied medieval Latin text that served generations of pilgrims and tourists as a guide to the city of Rome. The original, which was written by a canon of St Peter's, dates from ...

'' (a 12th-century guide of the city), where it is described like a circular monument composed with two superimposed cylinders (like Castel Sant'Angelo) lined with marble slabs and it is called ''Tiburtinum Neronis''; the name ''Tiburtinum'' derives from the material of its revetment, the

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

(''lapis tiburtinus'', that is from the city of Tivoli in Latin),Castagnoli, (1958), p. 241 while the name ''Neronis'' ("of

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 unti ...

" in Latin) is typical of many toponyms and names of monuments of the Vatican area (like ''prata Neronis'', ''pons Neronis'', etc.). The Name ''Terebinthus '' originates from a passage in the ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. ...

'' of

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

which writes that in a place in the ''Ager Vaticanus'' grew a large terebinth tree (a tree belonging to the family of the ''

Anacardiaceae The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...

''). According to the religious traditionPseudo-Marcellus, ''Acta Petri et Pauli''

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

was buried under a terebinth, and due to the assonance between the two words ''terebinthus'' and ''tiburtinum'' Pietro Mallio,

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of Saint Peter, around 1180 named the monument ''Terebinthus'', moving the place of the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

of Saint Peter at the top of today's

. The identification between tree and monument implied that the site of the

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

of Saint Peter was placed either between the ''Terebinthus'' and the ''Meta Romuli'', or between the latter and the obelisk of the

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 ...

(and in some medieval description the monument itself is named "obelisk of Nero"), or in the mid-point between the two pyramids (''ad Terebinthus inter duas metas...in Vaticano'') and consequently the ''Terebinthus'' (either as monument or as tree) was for a long time a popular subject in the depictions of Saint Peter's martyrdom and in the representations of the city in the Middle Ages.Petacco (2016), p. 34 Some examples are the Stefaneschi Polyptych by

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

;Gigli (1990) p. 85 a

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a " triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapt ...

Jacopo di Cione Jacopo di Cione (c. 1325 – c. 1399) was an Italian Gothic period painter in the Republic of Florence. Life and career Born in Florence between 1320 and 1330, he is closely associated with his three older brothers Andrea di Cione di Arcange ...

; one tile of

Filarete Antonio di Pietro Aver(u)lino (; – ), known as Filarete (; from grc, φιλάρετος, meaning "lover of excellence"), was a Florentine Renaissance architect, sculptor, medallist, and architectural theorist. He is perhaps best remembered for ...

's Bronze Doors in Old St. Peter's Basilica; the frescoes on the vaults of the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi by

Cimabue Cimabue (; ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World’s Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter ...

;Petacco (2016), p. 35 and possibly the fresco of '' The Vision of the Cross'' in

Raphael's Rooms The four Raphael Rooms ( it, Stanze di Raffaello) form a suite of reception rooms in the Apostolic Palace, now part of the Vatican Museums, in Vatican City. They are famous for their frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop. Together with ...

in the

. According to the ''Mirabilia'' the terebinth too, like the nearby ''meta Romuli'', lost very soon its stone revetment, used to pave the ''

quadriporticus This page is a glossary of architecture. A B C The Caryatid Porch of the Erech ...

'' and the stairs of Saint Peter's church; in its description of the monument the anonymous writer uses the past tense, implying that at his time (12th century) the monument had been already partially destroyed. The terebinth survived until the 14th century.Coarelli (1974) p. 322

Description

The medieval guides describe the ''terebinthus'' as a very tall structure (comparable with the ''Castrum

Crescentii The Crescentii (in modern Italian Crescenzi) were a baronial family, attested in Rome from the beginning of the 10th century and which in fact ruled the city and the election of the popes until the beginning of the 11th century. History Several ...

'', that is Hadrian's Mausoleum), with a circular plan and two elements (like a ''castrum''). Unfortunately, due to the vagueness of their descriptions, all the depictions of the monument (by Giotto, Cimabue, etc.) have very little in common with its real appearancePetacco (2016) p. 37 Based on the middle age descriptions, it has been hypothesized that the ''terebinthus'' was a tomb of ''tumulus'' type, like the so-called ''tomb of the

Curiatii In the ancient Roman legend of the kingdom era, the Horatii were triplet warriors who lived during the reign of Tullus Hostilius. The accounts of their epic clash with the Curiatii and the murder of their sister by Publius, the sole survivor ...

'' at the beginning of the 6th mile of the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, ...

;Petacco (2016) p. 38 In this case, the circular monument was composed of a large plinth tiled with

; above it, there was a ''

'' of earth surmounted with a cylinder in masonry. On the top of it, towered the statue of the defunct or a

memorial stone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

. In 1948–49, during the works for the construction of the first block of the north side of

Via della Conciliazione Via della Conciliazione (Road of the Conciliation) is a street in the Rione of Borgo within Rome, Italy. Roughly in length, it connects Saint Peter's Square to the Castel Sant'Angelo on the western bank of the Tiber River. The road was constru ...

, several semicircular stone blocks carved by a 8 cm deep groove accompanied by symmetrical double dovetail recesses came to light. They belonged either to the drain at the base of the monument, or to the plinth covering; in the latter case, the groove with dovetail recesses has to be interpreted as the interlocking of a balustrade. Depending on the hypothesis, the terebinth had a diameter of 20 m (in the former case) or of 22 m (in the latter case). The location of the terebinth resulting from the excavations of 1948–49, northwest of the ''Meta Romuli'', is in contradiction with that given by all the middle age descriptions, which say that the monument lay northeast of the pyramid.Petacco (2016) p. 39

References

Sources

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External links

{{Commons category, Terebinthus Neronis Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Rome Buildings and structures demolished in the 14th century Rome R. XIV Borgo Mausoleums in Rome