Vicus Patricius was a street in ancient
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, ...
, whose route corresponds to that of the present Via Urbana.
It started from the point where the ''
Argiletum'' branched into ''
clivus Suburanus'' and '' vicus Patricius'', crossed the
Cispian and the
Viminal hills and reached the ''
Porta Viminalis'' in the
Servian Wall.
It probably marked the border between the
IV and
VI regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
of ancient Rome.
Along its course rose the only temple of
Diana to which male people had no access. There was also a ''
domus
In ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (: ''domūs'', genitive: ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...
'', demolished at the beginning of the reign of
Antoninus Pius
Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...
to erect the Baths of Novatus (''Thermae Novati'' or ''Novatianae''), which were in turn converted, not before the 4th century, into the
Basilica di Santa Pudenziana.
In 1848, the excavations of another large ''domus'' overlooking the ''vicus'', near the present Via Graziosa, brought to light a
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
of the
Republican era, decorated with a fresco depicting scenes from the
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
.
In the 5th century, the presbyter Ilicius built a portico (''Porticus Ilicii'') that ran along the ''vicus'' for about {{Convert, 1,300, ft, m, from the sanctuary of the martyr
Hyppolitus (the present
church of San Lorenzo in Fonte) up to Santa Pudenziana.
[Richardson, «''Porticus Ilicii''», p. 314.] In the Middle Ages there is news of a church called ''Sancta Euphemia in vico Patricio''.
Notes
Bibliography
*Samuel Ball Platner, "Vici", A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, Oxford University Press, 1929, p. 576.
External links
Vicus Patricius a view of the ''vicus'' in a modeling reconstruction of ancient Rome.
Fragmentof the ''
Forma Urbis Romae'' that is supposed to show a section of the ''Vicus Patricius''.
Ancient Roman roads in Rome