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Vatican Hill (; la, Mons Vaticanus; it, Colle Vaticano) is a hill located across the
Tiber river The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...
from the traditional seven hills of Rome, that also gave the name of
Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...
. It is the location of St. Peter's Basilica.


Etymology

The
ancient Romans In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...
had several opinions about the derivation of the Latin word ''Vaticanus''.
Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...
(1st century BC) connected it to a ''Deus Vaticanus'' or '' Vagitanus'', a
Roman deity The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin litera ...
thought to endow infants with the capacity for speech evidenced by their first wail ''(vagitus'', the first
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological ...
of which is pronounced ''wa'' in
Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later period ...
). Varro's rather complicated explanation relates this function to the
tutelary deity A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety a ...
of the place and to the advanced powers of speech possessed by a prophet ''( vates)'', as preserved by the later
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...
:
We have been told that the word ''Vatican'' is applied to the hill, and the deity who presides over it, from the ''vaticinia'', or prophecies, which took place there by the power and inspiration of the god; but Marcus Varro, in his book on ''Divine Things'', gives another reason for this name. "As Aius," says he, "was called a deity, and an altar was built to his honour in the lowest part of the new road, because in that place a voice from heaven was heard, so this deity was called ''Vaticanus'', because he presided over the principles of the human voice; for infants, as soon as they are born, make the sound which forms the first syllable in ''Vaticanus'', and are therefore said ''vagire'' (to cry) which word expresses the noise which an infant first makes".
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
, who was familiar with Varro's works on ancient Roman theology, mentions this deity three times in '' The City of God''. ''Vaticanus'' is more likely to derive in fact from the name of an Etruscan settlement, possibly called ''Vatica'' or ''Vaticum'', located in the general area the Romans called ''vaticanus ager'', "Vatican territory". If such a settlement existed, however, no trace of it has been discovered. The consular ''fasti'' preserve a personal name ''Vaticanus'' in the mid-5th century BC, of unknown relation to the place name.


Topography of ancient Rome

''Vaticanus Mons'' (or ''Vaticanus Collis'') was most often a name in Classical Latin for the Janiculum.
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
uses the plural form ''Vaticani Montes'' in a context that seems to include the modern Vatican Hill as well as the Monte Mario and the Janiculan hill. The ''Vaticanum'' or ''Campus Vaticanus'' was originally a level area between the ''Vaticanus Mons'' and the Tiber. During the Republican era, it was an unwholesome site frequented by the destitute.
Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germani ...
and
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
used the area for chariot exercises, as at the Gaianum, and renewal was encouraged by the building of the Circus of Nero, also known as the ''Circus Vaticanus'' or simply the ''Vaticanum''. The location of tombs near the ''Circus Vaticanus'' is mentioned in a few late sources. The Vaticanum was also the site of the ''Phrygianum'', a temple of the Magna Mater goddess Cybele. Although secondary to this deity's main worship on the
Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; la, Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; it, Palatino ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire." ...
, this temple gained such fame in the ancient world that both
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
, in Gaul, and
Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
, in Germany called their own Magna Mater compounds "Vaticanum" in imitation. Remnants of this structure were encountered in the Seventeenth Century reconstruction of St. Peter's Square. ''Vaticanus Mons'' came to refer to the modern Vatican Hill as a result of calling the whole area the "Vatican" ''(Vaticanum)''. Christian usage of the name was spurred by the
martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
of
St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...
there. Beginning in the early 4th century AD, construction began on the Old St. Peter's Basilica over a cemetery that is the traditional site of St. Peter's tomb. Around this time, the name ''Vaticanus Mons'' was established in its modern usage, and the Janiculum hill was distinguished from it as the ''Ianiculensis Mons''. Another cemetery nearby was opened to the public on 10 October 2006 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the
Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
.


Christian history

The Vatican Hill was included within the city limits of Rome during the reign of
Pope Leo IV Pope Leo IV (790 – 17 July 855) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 April 847 to his death. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during the Arab raid against Rome, and for building the Leo ...
, who, between 848 and 852, expanded the city walls to protect St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican. Thus, Vatican Hill has been within the walls and city limits of Rome for over 1100 years. Until the Lateran Treaties in 1929 it was part of the Rione of Borgo. Before the
Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than in Rome. The situation a ...
(1305–1378), the headquarters of the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
were located at the
Lateran Palace The Lateran Palace ( la, Palatium Lateranense), formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran ( la, Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome. Located on St. ...
. After the Avignon Papacy the church administration moved to Vatican Hill and the papal palace was (until 1871) the Quirinal Palace, upon the Quirinal Hill. Since June 1929, part of the Vatican Hill is the site of the State of the Vatican City. However, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is not St. Peter's in the Vatican, but Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, which is extra-territorially linked, as indicated in the
Lateran Pacts The Lateran Treaty ( it, Patti Lateranensi; la, Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle ...
signed with the Italian state in February 1929, with the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
.


See also


References


Further reading

* {{Coord, 41, 54, 13, N, 012, 27, 01, E, region:VA_type:mountain, display=title Hills of Rome Geography of Vatican City