''Arx'' is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

". In the

ancient city of Rome Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

, the ''arx'' was located on the northern spur of the Capitoline Hill, and is sometimes specified as the ''Arx Capitolina''.

History

At Rome, sentries were traditionally posted on the ''Arx'' to watch for signals displayed on the

Janiculum The Janiculum (; it, Gianicolo ), occasionally the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill (the tallest being Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among t ...

if an enemy approached. A red flag would be raised and a trumpet blown. The ''Arx'' was not regularly garrisoned, however, and should not be regarded as a "fort." However, in the Gallic siege of Rome (387 BC), the ''Arx'' was considered the point of last retreat, the capture of which was synonymous with the capture of the city. It thus held a symbolic power beyond its importance in military strategy, and was a central place in archaic Roman religion. During the regal period, some members of the elite were permitted to live on the ''Arx'', among them the legendary Sabine leader

Titus Tatius According to the Roman foundation myth, Titus Tatius was the king of the Sabines from Cures and joint-ruler of the Kingdom of Rome for several years. During the reign of Romulus, the first king of Rome, Tatius declared war on Rome in respo ...

. After 384 BC, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the ...

banned all private dwellings from the Capitoline Hill, including the ''Arx.'' The house of

Marcus Manlius Capitolinus Marcus Manlius Capitolinus (died 384 BC; sometimes spelled ''Manilius'') was consul of the Roman Republic in 392 BC. He was the brother of Aulus Manlius Capitolinus. The Manlii were a patrician ''gens''. Biography During the Gallic siege ...

, a patrician champion of the ''

plebs In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins ...

'' who was convicted of seeking kingship, was torn down at this time and later became the site of the

Temple of Juno Moneta The Temple of Juno Moneta (Latin: Templum Iunonis Monetæ) was an ancient Roman temple that stood on the Arx or the citadel on the Capitoline Hill overlooking the Roman Forum. Located at the center of the city of Rome, it was next to the place w ...

. On the ''Arx'' was located the

auguraculum The auguraculum (plural: auguracula), was a roofless temple oriented to the cardinal points, in which the priests of ancient Rome practiced augury and ornithomancy. The priest observer was positioned at the center of the temple, in a tent or a hut, ...

, the open space where the

augur An augur was a priest and official in the ancient Rome, classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the List of Roman deities, gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were ba ...

s conducted the rituals that determined whether the gods approved of whatever undertaking was at hand, public business or military action. This auguraculum was the stone where the elected monarch, during the

Roman Kingdom The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began wit ...

, was seated by the augurs with his face to the south. Major temples on the ''Arx'' include that of

Juno Moneta In Roman mythology, Moneta (Latin Monēta) was a title given to two separate goddesses: It was the name of the goddess of memory (identified with the Greek goddess Mnemosyne), and it was an epithet of Juno, called Juno Moneta (Latin Iūno Monē ...

(established 344 BC), where the

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES ...

was located; Concordia (217 BC);

Honor Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

and

Virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standards: ...

; and

Vediovis Vejovis or Vejove ( lat, Vēiovis, italic=yes or ''Vēdiovis''; rare ''Vēive'' or ''Vēdius'') was a Roman god of Etruscan origins. Representation and worship Vejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows, pilum, (or ligh ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth th ...

, however, was the god of the ''Arx''.

Jerzy Linderski Jerzy Sever Linderski (born 21 August 1934 in Lwow, Poland, now Lviv) is a contemporary Polish scholar of ancient history and Roman religion and law. Currently George L. Paddison Professor of Latin ''Emeritus'' at the University of North Caroli ...

, "The Augural Law", ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' II.16 (1986), p. 2226, note 312, and 2291.

Other ''arces''

The Romans also referred to the citadel of other cities as an ''arx'' (plural ''arces''). Excavations in

Cosa Cosa was a Latin colony founded in southwestern Tuscany in 273 BC, on land confiscated from the Etruscans, to solidify the control of the Romans and offer the Republic a protected port. The Etruscan site (called ''Cusi'' or ''Cosia'') may have ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, conducted in 1948–54 and 1965–72, uncovered the settlement's ''arx''. Frank E. Brown and his team studied the site extensively when they began the Cosa excavations in 1948. The citadel was a fortified hill on which were built several temples, including the so-called "capitolium" of Cosa. In

Lavinium Lavinium was a port city of Latium, to the south of Rome, midway between the Tiber river at Ostia and Antium. The coastline then, as now, was a long strip of beach. Lavinium was on a hill at the southernmost edge of the ''Silva Laurentina'', a ...

, south of Rome, Castello Borghese is thought to be the possible site of the Roman-era ''arx'' constructed in the port city. The arx of

Londinium Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cross ...

was located in the northwest corner of the present-day City of London, south of

Cripplegate Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London. The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into t ...

. It was constructed around 120 and dismantled around the time of

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

References

* Unless otherwise noted, general background and references to ancient sources from

Samuel Ball Platner Samuel Ball Platner (December 4, 1863 – August 20, 1921) was an American classicist and archaeologist. Platner was born at Unionville, Connecticut, and educated at Yale College. He taught at Western Reserve University Western may refer t ...

and

Thomas Ashby Thomas Ashby, (14 October 1874 – 15 May 1931) was a British archaeologist. Family He was the only child of Thomas Ashby (1851–1906), and his wife, Rose Emma, daughter of Apsley Smith. His father belonged to the well-known Quaker family ...

, "Arx," ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 1929),

LacusCurtius LacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in July 2021 it had "3707 webpages, 765 photos, 772 drawings & engravings, 120 plans, 139 maps." ...

br>edition.
Topography of the ancient city of Rome Roman citadels in Italy {{Rome landmarks