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The main road to the Roman Capitol, the
Clivus Capitolinus ("Capitoline Rise") starts at the head of the
Forum Romanum beside the
Arch of TiberiusThe Arch of Tiberius was built in the Forum Romanum to celebrate the recovery of the eagle standards that had been lost to Germanic tribes by Varus in 9 CE. The Roman general Germanicus had recovered the standards in 15 or 16 CE.The Arch spanned the Vicus Jugarius between the Temple of Saturn and...
as a continuation of the
Via SacraThe Via Sacra was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum , to the Colosseum....
; proceeding around the
Temple of SaturnThe Temple of Saturn is a monument to the agricultural deity. The Temple of Saturn stands at the foot of the Capitoline Hill in the western end of the Forum Romanum in Rome, Italy.-Archaeology:...
and turning to the south in front of the
Portico Dii ConsentesThe Portico Dii Consentes , sometimes known as the Area of the Dii Consentes, is located at the bottom of the ancient Roman road that leads up to the Capitol in Rome and to the Temple of Jupiter at its summit...
, it then climbs up the slope of the
Capitoline HillThe Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...
to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus at its summit. This was traditionally the last and culminating portion of all
Roman triumphThe Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
s.
The street is significant as one of the oldest roads in Rome as well as its central location around temples and judicial offices leading to the largest and most important of the Republican Temples. Julius Caesar is said to have climbed this road on his knees to offset a bad omen during his triumph.
The earliest history of the road as well as the hill itself is not completely clear as much of Rome's earliest records were destroyed in a sacking of the city. The road may have been part of the original route to the Sabine settlement altered when the
Temple of SaturnThe Temple of Saturn is a monument to the agricultural deity. The Temple of Saturn stands at the foot of the Capitoline Hill in the western end of the Forum Romanum in Rome, Italy.-Archaeology:...
was built. The hills of Rome have an extensive amount of construction built on top of ancient Etruscan stones that can bee seen at the rear of the remaining chambers of the Portico Dii Consentes.