Saxa Rubra was a village and station on the Roman

Flaminian Way The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' ( Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans ha ...

, from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy. It is now the name of a neighborhood north of Rome and of the city's Roma Nord railway station. Situated on the modern Via Flaminia it is also the site of a major RAI public service broadcaster center. The area derived its name from the redness of the

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

rocks, which are still conspicuous around Prima Porta and Grottarossa, both of which have been identified as the current site of Saxa Rubra ( Grottarossa, meaning ''red cave'').

History

The name is written ''Ad Rubras'' in the Peutingeriana Tabula, while

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 an ...

calls the place simply Rubrae. This form of the name is also found in the

Jerusalem Itinerary The ''Itinerarium Burdigalense'' ("Bordeaux Itinerary"), also known as the ''Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum'' ("Jerusalem Itinerary"), is the oldest known Christian '' itinerarium''. It was written by the "Pilgrim of Bordeaux", an anonymous pilgrim ...

although the proper reference appears to have been Saxa Rubra, which is used both by

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 in ...

and

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 est ...

. The former mentions it during the wars between Rome and Veii, in connection with the operations from the Cremera in 478 BC (Liv. ii. 49); and Cicero notes it as a place in the immediate vicinity of Rome, where

Marcus Antonius Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the aut ...

halted before entering the city. (Cic. ''Phil.'' ii. 3. 1) It was also here that Antonius, Vespasian's general, arrived on his march upon Rome, when he learned of the successes of the Vitellians and the death of Sabinus. ( Tac. ''Hist.'' iii. 79.) At a much later period (312) it was also the point to which

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

advanced to meet Constantine previous to the battle at the Milvian bridge. (Vict. ''Caes.'' 40. § 23.) Martial (''l. c.'') states that a village had grown up on the spot, as would naturally be the case with a station so immediately in the neighborhood of the city. On a hill on the right of the Via Flaminia, a little beyond Prima Porta, are considerable ruins, which are believed to be those of the villa of Livia, known by the name of '' Ad Gallinas'', which was situated from Rome, on the Via Flaminia. ( Plin. xv. 30. s. 40; Suet. ''Galb.'' 1.)

References

* Roman towns and cities in Italy Roman sites in Lazio {{AncientRome-stub