The Temple of Mars in Clivo ( la, Aedes Martis in Clivo) was a temple on the western side of the

Via Appia 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, ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, between the first and second milestones, built in the early 4th century BCE, and dedicated to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. It was the oldest standing temple dedicated to Mars within the city.

Location and history

Situated around two kilometres from the

Porta Capena Porta Capena was a gate in the Servian Wall in Rome, Italy. The gate was located in the area of Piazza di Porta Capena, where the Caelian Hill, Caelian, Palatine Hill, Palatine and Aventine Hill, Aventine hills meet. Probably its exact position ...

, the Temple of Mars used to sit just outside the Porta Appia, beyond the Aurelian Walls. It was positioned overlooking the valley where the brook Almo ran, and it stood next to a grove.Platner, pg. 327 Its name stemmed from a rise in the road leading to it (in Latin a ''clivus''). According to

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

, the temple was vowed to the god Mars in the aftermath of the Roman defeat at the

Battle of the Allia The Battle of the Allia was a battle fought between the Senones – a Gallic tribe led by Brennus, who had invaded Northern Italy – and the Roman Republic. The battle was fought at the confluence of the Tiber and Allia rivers, 11 Roman ...

in 390 BCE by the

Senones The Senones or Senonii (Gaulish: "the ancient ones") were an ancient Gallic tribe dwelling in the Seine basin, around present-day Sens, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Part of the Senones settled in the Italian peninsula, where they ...

. It was dedicated on 1 June 387 by Titus Quinctius, one of the '' Duumviri sacrorum''. In 189 BCE the Via Appia was paved from the Porta Capena to this point, along with the stretch of road that linked the Via Appia to the temple (the ''Clivus Martis''). This road was then referred to as the Via Tecta, named after the construction of a portico along the road. Within the temple were a statue of Mars and figures of wolves, which were considered sacred to the god. The statue of Mars was most probably the one erected by the former

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC), five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War. Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roma ...

in 211 BCE, fulfilling a vow made during the conquest of Syracuse in 212 BCE.Luci, Fabio, ''Monuments and Inscriptions in Republican Rome: Linguistic Framework for Interpreting Art and Text'' (2019), pgs. 249-25

/ref> The writer

Julius Obsequens Julius Obsequens was a Roman writer active in the 4th or early 5th centuries AD, during late antiquity. His sole known work is the ''Prodigiorum liber'' (''Book of Prodigies''), a tabulation of the wonders and portents that had occurred in the Ro ...

noted in his book the "Prodigiorum liber" (Book of Prodigies) that observers in the past had seen the statue sweating.Rome and Art, ''TEMPLUM MARTIS IN CLIVO'' Also within the temple was kept one of the two ''

Lapis manalis A ''lapis manalis'' was either of two sacred stones used in the Roman religion. One covered a gate to Hades, abode of the dead; Sextus Pompeius Festus called it ''ostium Orci'', "the gate of Orcus". The other was used to make rain; this one may ...

'' stones. This stone was used as part of a ceremony of

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

origin called the ''aquaelicium'' which sought to produce rain in times of drought. The stone was removed from the temple by the ''

pontifices A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was lat ...

'', and taken by procession to 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. ...

, and a sacrifice was made to the god Jupiter, petitioning him to send rain. The district around the temple, reaching as far as the Almo, was known as ''ad Martis''. It was in this area around the temple that the soldiers of the Republic would assemble before heading off to fight their wars, and it was here that they would return to lay down their arms prior to re-entering the city. It was also the spot where, on 15 July, the '' Transvectio equitum'' procession would commence, to commemorate the victory at the

Battle of Lake Regillus The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary Roman victory over the Latin League shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic and as part of a wider Latin War. The Latins were led by an elderly Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the se ...

. Today, this temple no longer exists, and there are no details as to when it was demolished. It was mentioned in the '' Einsiedeln Itinerary'' as still standing in the 8th century. No images exist of the temple except for a frieze on the

Arch of Constantine The Arch of Constantine ( it, Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milv ...

References

Sources

* Platner, Samuel Ball, ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', Oxford University Press (1929
(online version)
* Rome and Art, ''TEMPLUM MARTIS IN CLIVO'' (2016

{{coord missing, Italy Roman temples by deity Temples of Ares