Inancient Rome, theAger Vaticanus ([ˈa.ɡɛrwaː.t̪iːˈkaː.n̪ʊs], "Vatican Field") was thealluvial plain on the right (west) bank of theTiber. It was also calledRipaVeientana orRipa Etrusca, indicating theEtruscan dominion during the archaic period.[1] It was located between theJaniculum, theVatican Hill, andMonte Mario, down to theAventine Hill and up to the confluence of theCremera creek.[1]
About the etymology ofVātī̆cānus there are several hypotheses: according toBarthold Georg Niebuhr, the toponym perhaps refers to an archaic Etruscan settlement calledVaticum;[2][3]Varro derives the name from a childbirth deity namedVaticanus orVagitanus, the god of thevagiti ("wailings"), sinceva was supposed to be the first syllable pronounced by a child;[4][2]Aulus Gellius on his part derives the name fromvāticinium, a prophecy elicited by the flight of the birds or from the study of the liver of the victims of sacrifices and inspired by the god who controlled the area:[4][2] the science of theVaticini , thearuspicina orEtrusca Disciplina, had been introduced in Rome by the Etruscans.[5] This term was ultimately derived fromvātēs (“soothsayer, prophet”) andcanō (“to sing”).[6]
During the first centuries of Rome, theAger Vaticanus was the boundary between Rome and the powerful Etruscan city ofVeii.[1] After the Roman conquest of the rival city in 396 BC, theCenturiate Assembly kept the tradition of raising an ensign on the summit of the Janiculum hill, to signal a possible Etruscan raid. The hill was known asAntipolis ("anti-city" in Greek), in contrast with theCapitoline Hill.
By the laws of theDuodecim Tabulae, insolvent debtors could be sold into slavery, but only on the right bank of the Tiber. AfterCincinnatus paid a large punitive fine for his son, it was recorded that he retired "like an exiled man" to his property in theAger Vaticanus, although the plain was already Roman territory.[1]
The toponymAger Vaticanus is attested until the 1st century AD: afterwards, another toponym appeared,Vaticanus, denoting an area much more restricted: theVatican Hill, today'sSt. Peter's Square, and possibly today'sVia della Conciliazione.[1]
TheAger Vaticanus lowland was exposed to the periodic floods of the Tiber, hosted vegetable gardens and vineyards, and was known for its unhealthy climate and bad wine[1][7] until the end of the first century BC, when the development of local roads along theVia Cornelia (towards the port ofCaere), thevia Triumphalis towards Veii and thevia Aurelia nova[8] made possible for the families of the aristocracy the construction of luxurious private suburban residences (Horti).[1]
Excavations carried out in various periods in the area that stretches fromSanto Spirito in Sassia[9] to thePalazzaccio have brought to light traces of 1st and 2nd century buildings, pertinent to theHorti Agrippinae ("Agrippina's gardens"), belonging toAgrippina the Elder, wife ofGermanicus.[10] After her death, theHorti passed to her sonCaligula, who had a hippodrome built there (theCircus Gaianus).[10] To mark itsspina, Caligula erected in the circusan Egyptian obelisk (the only one always standing, among the numerousobelisks in Rome); it was later moved in 1586 byPope Sixtus V (r. 1590–95) to St. Peter's Square.[9][11]
Thecircus and theHorti were inherited byNero, who used both to lodge the Romans damaged by the great fire of 64, and to carry out the executions of the Christians accused of the fire itself.[11] Because of that, until the end of the Middle Ages the popular name of the area beyond the Tiber north ofTrastevere remainedPrata Neronis ("Nero's meadows").[12]
The neighboringHorti Domitiae ("Domitia's gardens"), owned either byDomitian's wife,Domitia Longina, or by Nero's aunt,Domitia Lepida the Younger,[13] also flowed into the imperial property; in this areaHadrian (r. 117–138) let later buildhis Mausoleum.[10] Further away from the river,Trajan had aNaumachia built, a facility intended to host naval battles.[14]
TheAger Vaticanus was serviced by two roads: thevia Triumphalis and thevia Cornelia.[15] Both roads are well known from the ancient authors, but their real paths are unknown.[15] There is consensus that the former, so called because of thetriumphs of theRoman armies coming back fromVeii, started in theCampus Martius, crossed the Tiber on thePons Neronianus, heading north in directionMonte Mario and then flowing into thevia Cassia;[15] About theCornelia's path there are several hypotheses: until the 1940s was a common opinion that the road branched from theTriumphalis at a short distance from the bridge of Nero, running in east-west direction.[15] According to this hypothesis, the Christians condemned to death by Nero would have walked across this road while going to theirmartyrdom in the Circus of the emperor.[15] However, since during the excavations inBorgo during the 1940s for the building ofVia della Conciliazione no sign of the road was found, now many scholars think that thevia Cornelia started fromPonte Milvio and – running along the right bank of the Tiber – reachedHadrian's Mausoleum crossing thevia Triumphalis in a place corresponding to the destroyedPiazza Scossacavalli in Borgo.[15]A third road, thevia Aurelia nova, started from thePons Aelius running southwest until today'sPorta San Pancrazio.[15]
TheAger Vaticanus always remained outside thewalls of Rome and thepomerium.[7] According to Roman tradition, therefore, necropolises and sepulchers also settled along the streets that crossed it,[16] and were normally left in place until the need arose to demolish them to make room for new buildings (like theBasilica of Saint Peter),[17] or to recover materials.[18]
This was the fate of the so-calledMeta Romuli (the other funerary pyramid existing in Rome in addition tothat of Gaius Cestius outsidePorta San Paolo)[19] and the nearby large cylindrical monument with overlapping tower calledTerebinthus Neronis; both burials were often considered in the Middle Ages as the place of Peter's martyrdom.[19] Traces of both monuments were found during the construction of the new buildings along Via della Conciliazione.[20]
Among the tombs, noteworthy is the one containing the sarcophagus of the youngCrepereia Tryphaena; this contained, together with her funeral equipment, a doll with jointed arms.[21] This find, occurred in 1889, aroused much public emotion.[21]
The most recent discovery in this field (which occurred in 2003 but was published only in 2006) is that of the large necropolis known as Santa Rosa's,[16] along thevia Triumphalis, which came to light during the excavation of the Vatican car park under the Janiculum hill. The latter site is not isolated, but constitutes a part of a vast burial ground which had been already discovered and explored in the 1950s, called "dell'Autoparco".[22]
In one of these very modest sepulchres, the body ofSaint Peter was handed down after hiscrucifixion under Nero.[23] WhenConstantine legitimized the Christian cult with hisEdict of Milan and began his Christian public building program with theLateran, he didn't do so in the public spaces of Rome, but on areas lying to the margins of the urban area and belonging to the imperial state property.[24]
Thus began the construction, in the 4th century, of the first basilica dedicated to St. Peter, established according to Christian usage above what tradition claims is his tomb (theconfessio), and founded on the north side of theGaianum along the Via Cornelia.[23] Part of the surrounding necropolis was submerged under the construction of the church, but partly re-emerged during the research of the tomb of Peter conducted in the 1940s–1950s.[25]
TheAger Vaticanus was connected to Rome through two bridges: