__NOTOC__

View of the Ponte Nomentano-1837-Pierre-Nicolas Brisset

The Mons Sacer, Sacer Mons, or Sacred Mount is a hill in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, famed as the location of the first secession of the plebs, in 494 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'', vol. II, p. 871 ("Sacer Mons").

Geography

The Mons Sacer is a hill northeast of the

Anio The Aniene (; ), formerly known as the Teverone, is a river in Lazio, Italy. It originates in the Apennines at Trevi nel Lazio and flows westward past Subiaco, Vicovaro, and Tivoli to join the Tiber in northern Rome. It formed the principal v ...

, the modern Aniene, a little above the confluence of the Anio with the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, 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 R ...

. It was about three miles northeast of the ancient city, north of the Via Ficulensis,Livy, ii. 32. but now lies within the boundaries of modern Rome, where it gives its name to the ''Monte Sacro'' quarter. To the east and southwest, the hill descends steeply to the valley of the Anio, while to the north the hill is connected with a plateau extending away from the city. A small stream, the ''Rivus Ulmanus'', or stream of elms, descends from the steep eastern slope.

History

The name of the Sacred Mount might be derived from its use as the site of rituals by

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 events he observed within a predetermined s ...

s or

haruspices In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy, the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry. Various ancient ...

, but according to the historians, it took its name from the ''lex Sacrata'' (Sacred Law) that ended the

first secession The First Secession was an exodus of ministers and members from the Church of Scotland in 1733. Those who took part formed the Associate Presbytery and later the United Secession Church. They were often referred to as Seceders. The underlying ...

, which was passed and commemorated by an altar on the hill.Appian, ''Bellum Civile'', i. 1. The occasion for this law was strife between the

patricians The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...

, the hereditary aristocracy of ancient Rome, who held nearly all of the city's political and economic power, and the

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the Capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Et ...

, the common folk, who formed the majority of the city's population. This

conflict of the orders The Conflict of the Orders or the Struggle of the Orders was a political struggle between the plebeians (commoners) and patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC in which the plebeians sought political ...

reached its head in 494 BC, when faced with crushing debt, the plebeians appealed to the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

for relief, and were rebuffed. They then seceded ''en masse'' to the Sacred Mount, where they elected their own leaders, and refused all entreaties by the patricians to return. Secessio plebis

This standoff was resolved when the Senate, fearful of war with the

Sabines The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...

, and faced with the lack of an army to fight on the city's behalf, sent envoys known to be favourably disposed to the plebs, led by

Agrippa Menenius Lanatus Agrippa Menenius Lanatus (died 493 BC) was a consul of the Roman Republic in 503 BC, with Publius Postumius Tubertus. He was victorious over the Sabines and was awarded a triumph which he celebrated on 4 April 503 BC. According to Livy, he a ...

. Menenius and his colleagues argued that neither the patricians nor the plebeians could survive without the other, and agreed to a series of concessions to induce the people to return to the city. The most important of these established two annual offices to be elected by the plebeian assembly alone: the

aedile Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...

s, who took charge of the city's temples, public buildings, and religious festivals, and the

tribunes of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate ...

, who could advocate and propose legislation on behalf of the plebeians, and

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

the actions of the

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

or other officials. In 449 BC, the plebeians seceded from the city for a second time, in protest of the tyranny of the second decemvirate. According to

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

, they first withdrew to the

Aventine Hill The Aventine Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills. I ...

, in the southern end of Rome, but finding the decemvirs unmoved, they resolved to desert the city for the Sacred Mount, hoping that the symbolism of that hill and its role in the first secession would stir the decemvirs to action. They marched out of the city along the Via Ficulensis, and once again stationed themselves on the Mons Sacer, where they remained until the senate's envoys were able to negotiate their return.

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

reports these events in reverse, stating that the plebeians first seceded to the Sacred Mount, then returned to the city and occupied the Aventine Hill.Cicero, ''De Republica'', ii. 37. The Sacred Mount plays no significant role in Roman history after these secessions. In the mid-nineteenth century the hill was uninhabited. Today it forms part of Municipio III, within the city of Rome.

References

Bibliography

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

, ''

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

'', ''

De Republica ''De re publica'' (''On the Republic''; see below) is a dialogue on Roman politics by Cicero, written in six books between 54 and 51 BC. The work does not survive in a complete state, and large parts are missing. The surviving sections derive f ...

'', ''Pro Cornelio''. *

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus (, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was ''atticistic'' – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime. ...

, ''Romaike Archaiologia'' (Roman Antiquities). * Titus Livius (

), ''

History of Rome The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced m ...

''. * Quintus Asconius Pedianus, ''Commentarius in Oratio Ciceronis Pro Cornelio'' (Commentary on Cicero's Oration ''Pro Cornelio''). * Appianus Alexandrinus (

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...

), ''Bellum Civile'' (The Civil War). * Antonio Nibby, ''Analisi Storico-Topografico-Antiquaria della Carta di' Dintorni di Roma'' (Historical, Topographical, and Antiquarian Description of the Map of the Area of Rome), Tipografia della Belle Arti, Rome (1837). * ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' is the last in a series of classical dictionaries edited by the English scholar William Smith (1813–1893), following '' A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' and the '' Dictionary of G ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1854). {{coord, 41.9408, N, 12.5325, E, source:dewiki_region:IT_type:mountain, format=dms, display=title Hills of Rome Rome Q. XVI Monte Sacro