Campus Esquilinus was an area on the
Esquiline Hill in
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
. It was the site of many extravagant buildings as well as baths and gardens. The Campus Esquilinus was also the site of executions and burials, though it was eventually turned into a park by Augustus.
Location
The Campus Esquilinus was the area of flat ground outside the
Servian Walls and the double
rampart
Rampart may refer to:
* Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement
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of the
Agger, between the
Querquetulan Gate and the
Colline gate. The name referred in particular to the area of the
Esquiline Hill that lay outside the portas Esquilina during the end of the Republic and the rise of the Empire. Though its exact location is not known, it is likely that the Campus Esquilinus was located in via Labicana, and included present day Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and the area north of it.
[Platner, Samuel Ball. “Campus Esquilinus.” ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, 1929.] The part of the Esquiline Hill that contained the Campus Esquilinus was very decorative. The hill itself was covered with many elegant gardens, including the Horti Pallantiani, Horti Maecenatis and Horti Lamiani. Along with gardens, the hill was also the site of many lavish buildings.
Structures
During the Great Roman Fire of 64 AD, the imperial residence on the
Palatine Hill, the
Domus Transitoria, burned down. The emperor Nero, who never enjoyed the Domus Transitoria, took this opportunity to construct his elaborate
Golden House (Domus Aurea), which was completed in 68 AD and stretched from the Palatine Hill to the Esquiline Hill. Because of the popularity of the Esquiline Hill, the
Flavians decided to construct the
Baths of Titus right by the Domus Aurea. Later, from 104 to 109 AD, the even more elaborate
Baths of Trajan were built by the architect Apollodorus atop the hill. These public baths were not only used as a place for bathing, but also as a location for social gatherings. The baths contained much of the Domus Aurea, and together they were the largest Roman structures built at the time.
[.]
Functions
The main purpose of the Campus Esquilinus was as a burial site. A praetor's edict forbade cremation of bodies and dumping of manure or carcasses within the area of the Campus Esquilinus.(The carcasses mentioned in the edict were most likely from animals used for chariots, various Roman games, or simply wild beasts.
["Notes On Supplementary Plates CV-CVIII." ''Greece & Rome'' 20 (1951): 95-97. ''JSTOR''.]) Because of these rules, the Campus Esquilinus became a location for human burials. The Campus Esquilinus contained part of early Rome's
necropolis, which was mainly a place of burial for paupers, but was a burial site for wealthier Romans as well. Executions also took place at the Campus Esquilinus. Eventually though, the emperor
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
took control of the Campus Esquilinus and remade it as a park.
See also
*
Campus Martius
References
{{reflist
Topography of the ancient city of Rome