DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42497#0106
54
Primitive Fortifications.
[CHAP. I.
of which the mill-stream supplied by water from the Aqua Crabra
and the Marrana now runs. At the east end, opposite the Lateran,
the cliff is also supported by a wall on the side of the valley and
great foss, which has a tomb of the first century on each side of it.
On the north side the Santi Quattro stands in a square fortress, with
steep cliffs on three sides, joined on to the main hill on the south
side only, with a small foss there also.
The pomoerium, or slopes round the Ccelian, were bounded on the
north-west by the Via di S. Gregorio ; on the north by a marsh, the
site of which was afterwards occupied by the Colosseum, and by
the road or street now called the Via Labicana; on the east by the
Lateran, which was a separate fortress; on the south by the outer
moenia, on which the Wall of Aurelian is built; and by the Via
Appia on the south-west. The line of the outer agger, between the
Porta Metronia and the Via Appia, probably followed the course of
the stream. The Via Metronia, now called Via della Navicella, is
carried in a clivus, or cleft, and road up the hill to the Arch of
Dolabella, where it meets two other roads coming up clefts, the Via
di S. Stefano, as before mentionedz, and the Clivus Scauri.
The Cceliolus.
There is some doubt as to the situation of the Cceliolus, some
antiquaries a consider it to be the fortified promontory on which the
Quattro Santi Coronati stands; this is a very strong position, there
being a wide and deep foss or valley round three sides of it, and the
fourth separated from the main hill by a foss only.
The Coeliolus is thus referred to by Varro :—
‘ ‘ But those of the inhabitants of the Ccelian who were free from suspicion were
transferred to the place called Cceliolus, which joins on to the Coelianb.”
Mr. Burnc considers it to be the eastern half of what is usually
z Besides these clefts on the north,
south, and west, there is another on
the south-west, opposite to S. Balbina,
with an ancient road in it leading also
to the central point at the Arch of Dola-
bella ; this is now in the grounds of
the Villa Mattei.
a Others consider that the Cceliolus
was a detached small hill to the south-
west of the Coelian in Regio I., called
Monte cT Oro, on which the Porta Latina
stands, and where the wall of the Empire
is built against a scarped cliff. This is
a lofty hill on a level with the Lateran,
and has been a hill-fortress always sepa-
rated from the Coelian by a valley, in
which the brook runs between them ;
and as Varro says that the Coeliolus
was joined to the Coelian, this separate
hill can hardly be the one so called.
The evidence, however, is so imperfect,
that there is no reason why the hill of
the Lateran itself should not have been
the Coeliolus.
b “De Ccelianis qui a suspicione li-
beri essent, traductos in eum locum, qui
vocatur Coeliolus, cum Ccelio nunc con-
junctum.” (T. Varro, lib. v. c. 8.)
0 “Rome and the Campagna,” by
Robert Burn. Cambridge, 1871, 4to.,
p. 220.
Primitive Fortifications.
[CHAP. I.
of which the mill-stream supplied by water from the Aqua Crabra
and the Marrana now runs. At the east end, opposite the Lateran,
the cliff is also supported by a wall on the side of the valley and
great foss, which has a tomb of the first century on each side of it.
On the north side the Santi Quattro stands in a square fortress, with
steep cliffs on three sides, joined on to the main hill on the south
side only, with a small foss there also.
The pomoerium, or slopes round the Ccelian, were bounded on the
north-west by the Via di S. Gregorio ; on the north by a marsh, the
site of which was afterwards occupied by the Colosseum, and by
the road or street now called the Via Labicana; on the east by the
Lateran, which was a separate fortress; on the south by the outer
moenia, on which the Wall of Aurelian is built; and by the Via
Appia on the south-west. The line of the outer agger, between the
Porta Metronia and the Via Appia, probably followed the course of
the stream. The Via Metronia, now called Via della Navicella, is
carried in a clivus, or cleft, and road up the hill to the Arch of
Dolabella, where it meets two other roads coming up clefts, the Via
di S. Stefano, as before mentionedz, and the Clivus Scauri.
The Cceliolus.
There is some doubt as to the situation of the Cceliolus, some
antiquaries a consider it to be the fortified promontory on which the
Quattro Santi Coronati stands; this is a very strong position, there
being a wide and deep foss or valley round three sides of it, and the
fourth separated from the main hill by a foss only.
The Coeliolus is thus referred to by Varro :—
‘ ‘ But those of the inhabitants of the Ccelian who were free from suspicion were
transferred to the place called Cceliolus, which joins on to the Coelianb.”
Mr. Burnc considers it to be the eastern half of what is usually
z Besides these clefts on the north,
south, and west, there is another on
the south-west, opposite to S. Balbina,
with an ancient road in it leading also
to the central point at the Arch of Dola-
bella ; this is now in the grounds of
the Villa Mattei.
a Others consider that the Cceliolus
was a detached small hill to the south-
west of the Coelian in Regio I., called
Monte cT Oro, on which the Porta Latina
stands, and where the wall of the Empire
is built against a scarped cliff. This is
a lofty hill on a level with the Lateran,
and has been a hill-fortress always sepa-
rated from the Coelian by a valley, in
which the brook runs between them ;
and as Varro says that the Coeliolus
was joined to the Coelian, this separate
hill can hardly be the one so called.
The evidence, however, is so imperfect,
that there is no reason why the hill of
the Lateran itself should not have been
the Coeliolus.
b “De Ccelianis qui a suspicione li-
beri essent, traductos in eum locum, qui
vocatur Coeliolus, cum Ccelio nunc con-
junctum.” (T. Varro, lib. v. c. 8.)
0 “Rome and the Campagna,” by
Robert Burn. Cambridge, 1871, 4to.,
p. 220.