Arx (Roman)

Arx (Roman)

Arx is the Latin word for citadel. In the ancient city of Rome, the Arx, not always capitalized, was located on the northern spur of the Capitoline Hill, and is sometimes specified as the Arx Capitolina. Sentries were posted there to watch for a signal to be displayed on the Janiculum if an enemy approached.[1] A red flag would be raised on the Arx[2] and a trumpet blown.[3] It was not regularly garrisoned, however, and should not be regarded as a "fort." However, in the Gallic siege of Rome, the Arx was considered the point of last retreat, the capture of which was synonymous with the capture of the city. It thus held a symbolic power beyond its importance in military strategy, and was a central place in archaic Roman religion.

On the Arx was located the auguraculum, the open space where the augurs conducted the rituals that determined whether the gods approved of whatever undertaking was at hand, public business or military action. Major temples on the Arx include that of Juno Moneta (established 344 BC), where the mint was located; Concordia (217 BC); Honor and Virtue;[4] and Vediovis. Jupiter, however, was the god of the Arx.[5]

In the early Republic, patricians might live on the Arx, among them Titus Tatius. After 384 BC, the senate banned patrician dwellings from the Arx and Capitolium. The house of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, a patrician champion of the plebs, was torn down, and became the site of the temple of Juno Moneta.

The Romans also referred to the citadel of other cities as an arx.

References

Unless otherwise noted, general background and references to ancient sources from Samuel Ball Platner and Thomas Ashby, "Arx," A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Oxford University Press, 1929), LacusCurtius edition.

  1. ^ Cassius Dio 37.28.
  2. ^ Livy 4.18.6 and 39.15.11; Festus 103; Macrobius 1.16.15; Servius, note to Aeneid 8.1.
  3. ^ Varro 6.92.
  4. ^ This was the Aedes Honoris et Virtutis built by Gaius Marius, to be distinguished from the Temple of Honor and Virtue near the Porta Capena.
  5. ^ Jerzy Linderski, "The Augural Law", Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.16 (1986), p. 2226, note 312, and 2291.


Stub icon This Ancient Rome-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.