The Clivus Scauri was an ancient Roman road that originally branched off from the road that connected the

Circus Maximus The Circus Maximus ( Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and ...

to the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

along the depression between the

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

and Caelian hills of Rome. It followed the east side of the latter, up to its summit, which is today known as Piazza della Navicella. In the initial section the road has retained the old name. It becomes Via di S. Paolo della Croce further up the hill. The Clivus Scauri now begins at the church of San Gregorio al Celio, and runs along the side and underneath the buttresses of the Basilica of Saints John and Paul. The street name occurs only in documents of the 6th and 10th centuries but is probably ancient, and may be the vicus Scauri of one inscription. It probably owes its origins to the Aemilia Scauri family, possibly Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. The road has suggestively preserved an ancient appearance, with some sections flanked by homes from the time of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

, and large parts of the facades preserved and linked. On the right opposite the Piazza Santi Giovanni e Paolo are brick remains from the third century, consisting of a row of ''

taberna A ''taberna'' (plural ''tabernae'') was a type of shop or stall in Ancient Rome. Originally meaning a single-room shop for the sale of goods and services, ''tabernae'' were often incorporated into domestic dwellings on the ground level flankin ...

e'' (small shops), with traces of a second floor. In the piazza, at the base of the campanile, are ruins of the Temple of the Divine Claudius. The final stretch of the road leads to the Porta Caelimontana, preserved as the Arch of Dolabella. The original purpose of this arch was probably to support a branch of the

Aqua Marcia The Aqua Marcia ( it, Acqua Marcia) is one of the longest of the eleven aqueducts that supplied the city of Rome. The aqueduct was built between 144–140 BC, during the Roman Republic. The still-functioning Acqua Felice from 1586 runs on long ...

References

Ancient Roman roads in Rome Streets in Rome R. XIX Celio {{AncientRome-stub