Esquiline Hill
Encyclopedia
The Esquiline Hill is one of the celebrated Seven Hills
Seven hills of Rome
The Seven Hills of Rome east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the ancient city.The seven hills are:* Aventine Hill * Caelian Hill...

 of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Its southern-most cusp is the Oppius (Oppian Hill
Oppian Hill
The Oppian Hill is the southern spur of the Esquiline Hill , one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. It is separated from the Cispius on the north by the valley of the Subura, and from the Caelian Hill on the south by the valley of the Colosseum...

).

Etymology

The origin of the name Esquilino is still under much debate. One view is that the Hill was named after the abundance of holm-oaks, exculi, that resided there. Another view is that, during Rome's infancy, the Capitolium, the Palatium, and the northern fringes of the Caelian were the most-populated areas of the city, whose inhabitants were considered inquilini, in-towners; those that inhabited the external regions - Aurelian, Oppius, Cispius, Fagutal - were considered exquilini, suburbanites.

History

The Esquiline Hill includes three prominent spurs, which are sometimes called ‘hills’ as well:
  • Cispian (Cispius) - northern spur
  • Oppian (Oppius) - southern spur
  • Fagutal (Fagutalis) - western spur


Rising above the valley in which was later built the Colosseum
Colosseum
The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...

, the Esquiline was a fashionable residential district.

According to Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...

, the settlement on the Esquiline was expanded during the reign of Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of ancient Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned 578-535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome's first Etruscan king, who was assassinated in 579 BC...

, Rome' sixth king, in the 6th century BC. The king also moved his residence to the Hill, in order to increase its respectability.

The political advisor and art patron Maecenas (70 BC-8 BC) sited his famous gardens
Gardens of Maecenas
The Gardens of Maecenas, built by the Augustan era patron of the arts Gaius Maecenas, were the first gardens in the Hellenistic-Persian garden style in Rome...

, the first gardens in the Hellenistic-Persian garden style in Rome, on the Esquiline Hill, atop the Servian Wall
Servian Wall
The Servian Wall was a defensive barrier constructed around the city of Rome in the early 4th century BC. The wall was up to 10 metres in height in places, 3.6 metres wide at its base, 11 km long, and is believed to had 16 main gates, though many of these are mentioned only from...

 and its adjoining necropolis, near the gardens of Lamia. It contained terraces, libraries and other aspects of Roman culture. At the Oppius
Oppian Hill
The Oppian Hill is the southern spur of the Esquiline Hill , one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. It is separated from the Cispius on the north by the valley of the Subura, and from the Caelian Hill on the south by the valley of the Colosseum...

, Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

 (37-68) confiscated property to build his extravagant, mile-long Golden House
Domus Aurea
The Domus Aurea was a large landscaped portico villa, designed to take advantage of artificially created landscapes built in the heart of Ancient Rome by the Emperor Nero after the Great Fire of Rome had cleared away the aristocratic dwellings on the slopes of the Palatine...

, and later still Trajan (53-117) constructed his bath complex
Baths of Trajan
The Baths of Trajan were a massive thermae, a bathing and leisure complex, built in ancient Rome starting from 104 AD and dedicated during the Kalends of July in 109...

, both of whose remains are visible today. The 3rd century AD Horti Liciniani
Horti Liciniani
The Horti Liciniani were a set of gardens in ancient Rome, originally belonging to the gens Licinia, and which in the third century were owned by the Emperor Gallienus, himself a member of the gens...

, a group of gardens (including the relatively well-preserved nymphaeum formerly identified
Temple of Minerva Medica (nymphaeum)
The nymphaeum called the Temple of Minerva Medica is a ruin of late Imperial Rome, between the via Labicana and Aurelian Walls and just inside the line of the Anio Vetus. Once part of the Horti Liciniani on the Esquiline Hill, it now faces the modern Via Giolitti...

 as the non-extant Temple of Minerva Medica
Temple of Minerva Medica
The temple of Minerva Medica was a temple in ancient Rome, built on the Esquiline Hill in the Republican era, though no remains of it have been found...

), were probably constructed on the Esquiline Hill. Farther to the northeast, at the summit of the Cispius, is the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

In 1781, the first known copy of the marble statue of a Discus throw
Discus throw
The discus throw is an event in track and field athletics competition, in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as evidenced by the 5th century BC Myron statue, Discobolus...

er - the so-called Discobolus
Discobolus
The Discobolus of Myron is a famous Greek sculpture that was completed towards the end of the Severe period, circa 460-450 BC. The original Greek bronze is lost...

 of Myron
Myron
Myron of Eleutherae working circa 480-440 BC, was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Pliny's Natural History, Ageladas of Argos was his teacher....

 - was discovered on the Roman property of the Massimo
Massimo
Massimo is the name of a Roman princely family of great age; which by its own tradition descends from the ancient Maximi of republican Rome and from Quintus Fabius Maximus , called Cunctator...

 family, the Villa Palombara, on the Esquiline Hill.

Namesakes

  • The tiny hamlet of El Esquilinchuche
    Esquilinchuche
    El Esquilinchuche is a small village in the municipality of Juticalpa, Olancho, Honduras.-Topography and access:El Esquilinchuche sits on a low rise that forms the banks of the flood plain of the Guayape river that lies approximately 2 kilometers to the south during the dry season, but comes to...

     in Honduras
    Honduras
    Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

     is named after the Esquiline Hill.

See also

  • Seven hills of Rome
    Seven hills of Rome
    The Seven Hills of Rome east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the ancient city.The seven hills are:* Aventine Hill * Caelian Hill...

  • Aventine Hill (Aventino)
    Aventine Hill
    The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome.-Location and boundaries:The Aventine hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills...

  • Caelian Hill (Celio)
    Caelian Hill
    The Caelian Hill is one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. Under reign of Tullus Hostilius, the entire population of Alba Longa was forcibly resettled on the Caelian Hill...

  • Capitoline Hill (Capitolino)
    Capitoline Hill
    The 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...

  • Cispian Hill (Cispio)
    Cispius
    Cispius is the nomen of the Roman gens Cispia.-Cispius Laevus:The Mons Cispius, or Cispian Hill, is one of several summits of the Esquiline Hill in Rome. The grammarian Festus says that it was named for a Cispius Laevus of Anagnia, of the Publilia voting tribe . This Cispius may be legendary.-M...

  • Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo)
  • Monte Mario
    Monte Mario
    -External links :* * *...

  • Oppian Hill (Oppio)
    Oppian Hill
    The Oppian Hill is the southern spur of the Esquiline Hill , one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. It is separated from the Cispius on the north by the valley of the Subura, and from the Caelian Hill on the south by the valley of the Colosseum...

  • Palatine Hill (Palatino)
    Palatine Hill
    The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city...

  • Pincian Hill (Pincio)
    Pincian Hill
    The Pincian Hill is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical center of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius...

  • Quirinal Hill (Quirinale)
    Quirinal Hill
    The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian Head of State, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian President.- History :It was...

  • Vatican Hill (Vaticano)
    Vatican Hill
    Vatican Hill is the name given, long before the founding of Christianity, to one of the hills on the side of the Tiber opposite the traditional seven hills of Rome...

  • Velian Hill (Velia)
    Velian Hill
    The Velia — or Velian Hill or Velian Ridge — is a saddle or spur stretching out from the middle of the north side of the Palatine Hill towards the Oppian Hill ....

  • Viminal Hill (Viminale)
    Viminal Hill
    The Viminal Hill is the smallest of the famous seven hills of Rome. A finger-shape cusp pointing toward central Rome between the Quirinal Hill to the northwest and the Esquiline Hill to the southeast, it is home to the Teatro dell'Opera and the Termini Railway Station.At the top of Viminal Hill...

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