Map of Rome in the time of the Roman Republic. Thepomerium at that time is marked in pink; theCapitoline andAventine areextra pomerium, 'beyond the wall', with their boundaries in yellow.
Thepomerium orpomoerium was a religious boundary around the city ofRome and cities controlled by Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within itspomerium; everything beyond it was simply territory (ager) belonging to Rome.
The termpōmērium is aclassicalcontraction of theLatin phrasepost moerium (lit.'behind/beyond the wall'). The Roman historianLivy writes in hisAb Urbe Condita that, although the etymology implies a meaning referring to a single side of the wall, thepomerium was originally an area of ground on both sides of city walls. He states that it was anEtruscan tradition to consecrate this area byaugury and that it was technically unlawful to inhabit or to farm the area of thepomerium, which in part had the purpose of preventing buildings from being erected close to the wall (although he writes that, in his time, houses were in fact built against the wall on the line).[1] Other writers suggest a derivation fromprō moerium, "against the wall".[2][3]
Tradition maintained that thepomerium was the original lineritually ploughed byRomulus around the walls of theoriginal city and that it was expanded byServius Tullius. The legendary date of its demarcation, 21 April, continued to be celebrated as the anniversary of the city's founding.[4]
Thepomerium did not follow the line of theServian walls, and remained unchanged until thedictatorLucius Cornelius Sulla, in a demonstration of his absolute power, expanded it in 80 BC. Several white marker stones (known as "cippi") commissioned byClaudius have been foundin situ and several have been found away from their original location. These stones mark the boundaries and relative dimensions of thepomerium extension by Claudius. This extension is recorded inTacitus and outlined byAulus Gellius.[5] The latest pomerial stone from the reign of Claudius was discovered on 17 June 2021 in the vicinity of theMausoleum of Augustus.[6]
Inscription marking the Claudianpomerium in Via del Pellegrino
Thepomerium was not a walled area, but rather a legally and religiously defined one marked by cippi. It encompassed neither the entire metropolitan area nor even all theSeven Hills (thePalatine Hill was within thepomerium, but theCapitoline andAventine Hills were not). TheCuria Hostilia and the well of theComitium in theForum Romanum, two extremely important locations in the government of thecity-state and its empire, were located within thepomerium, while theTemple of Bellona was beyond thepomerium.
Pomerium represented a sacred boundary. According toLivy, violating thepomerium was akin to stretching the human body too far.[7]
Themagistrates who heldimperium did not have full power inside thepomerium. They could have a citizen beaten, but not sentenced to death. This was symbolised by removing the axes from thefasces carried by the magistrate'slictors.[8] Only a dictator's lictors could carry fasces containing axes inside thepomerium.
It was forbidden to bury the dead inside thepomerium. During his life,Julius Caesar received in advance the right to a tomb inside thepomerium, but his ashes were actually placed in his family tomb.[9] However,Trajan's ashes were interred after his death in AD 117 at the foot of hisColumn,[10] which was within thepomerium.[9]
Provincialpromagistrates and generals were forbidden from entering thepomerium, and resigned their imperium immediately upon crossing it (as it was the superlative form of the ban on armies entering Italy). Ceremonies oftriumph, in which an army would march through the city in celebration of a victory, were an exception to this rule, although a general could only enter the city on the very day of his triumph, and would be required to wait outside thepomerium with his troops until that moment.[9] Under the Republic, soldiers similarly lost their status when entering thepomerium, becoming citizens.[citation needed] TheComitia Centuriata, one of theRoman assemblies, consisting ofcenturiae (voting units, but originally military formations within the legions), was required to meet on theCampus Martius outside thepomerium. Similarly to the triumph, the Romanovation also allowed a general to cross thepomerium without losing rank, but generally he could not bring his soldiers and had to enter on foot rather than on a chariot led by white horses.
TheTheatre of Pompey, where Julius Caesar was murdered, was outside thepomerium and included a chamber where the Senate could meet allowing the attendance of any senators who were forbidden to cross thepomerium and thus would not have been able to meet in theCuria Hostilia.
Weapons were prohibited inside thepomerium.Praetorian Guards were allowed in only in civilian dress (toga), and were then called collectivelycohors togata. But it was possible to sneak in daggers (the proverbial weapon for political violence; seesicarius). Since Julius Caesar's assassination occurred outside this boundary, the senatorial conspirators could not be charged with sacrilege for carrying weapons inside the sacred city.
Emmelius, Daniel (2021).Das Pomerium. Geschriebene Grenze des antiken Rom [The Pomerium. Written Border of Ancient Rome]. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.ISBN978-3-949189-06-7.
