The Suburra, or Subura (unknown etymology[1]), was a vast and populous neighborhood of Ancient Rome, located below the Murus Terreus on the Carinae[2] and stretching on the slopes of the Quirinal and Viminal hills up to the offshoots of the Esquiline (Oppian, Cispian and Fagutal hills[3]).
Since the lower part of the neighborhood – although overlooking an area of monuments and public services – was home to an urban underclass who lived in miserable conditions, as well as a pleasure district,[4] the term suburra has remained in the Italian language with the generic meaning of "disreputable place", "place of ill repute" or similar.
Julius Caesar lived in a family home (domus) in the Suburra until, in 63 BC, he was elected pontifex maximus at the age of 37. The Suburra had grown up around the property many years before his birth. The poet Martial also lived there.
History
Via in Selci, following the route of the former Clivus Suburanus
The Suburra was originally part of the so-called Septimontium, an area of the city associated with a religious procession that was celebrated on 11 January of each year since the reign of Numa Pompilius.
Beginning in the 1st century BC, the lower part of the valley was first occupied by the Forum of Caesar, inaugurated in 46 BC under the eastern slope of the Capitolium, and then by the Forum of Augustus, inaugurated in 2 BC. Further additions towards the valley of the Colosseum were the Temple of Peace in AD 75, the Forum of Nerva inaugurated in AD 97 and finally – following the excavation of the hollow between the Quirinal Hill and the Capitolium – the Trajan's Forum, inaugurated in AD 112. In the time of Augustus, these monumental areas were protected from fires, which frequently broke out in the popular tenements of the Suburra, by building the massive wall that still survives today and represents the only trace of the ancient Suburra within the modern city.
In the Middle Ages, aristocratic families built houses and towers on the ruins of the Suburra and the Forums: some of them are still preserved, though greatly modified, such as Torre dei Conti and Torre del Grillo.
The urban fabric of the neighborhood, now a part of the rione Monti, was heavily altered by the opening of Via Cavour and Via degli Annibaldi at the end of the 19th century, while the demolitions of the 1930s for the construction of Via dell'Impero (now Via dei Fori Imperiali) deleted all the civil and religious buildings which, from the Renaissance onwards, had been erected in the Forums.
The Wall of Suburra
The Wall of Suburra and Arco dei Pantani (1880 ca.)
The wall of Suburra is an isodomum wall, stretching 33 metres (108.3ft) from the ground level of the Forum and built in peperino and Gabine stone (lapis gabinum),[5] which ancient Romans thought was particularly resistant to fire. The boulders with which it is made – arranged into highly precise laying surfaces – are not linked by mortar, but only connected to each other by dovetail oak joints, and the wall, interspersed with three travertine recesses, has stood for over 2000 years to its own weight.
At the time of its construction, the wall served several functions: it was a protection against fire, an element of separation between the residential area of the city and the public one, and a monumental backdrop of the Temple of Mars Ultor, to which it created a strong color contrast.
The access road to the Forum passed alongside the Temple of Mars Ultor, through the arch in travertine blocks which is still existing and visible – though among parked cars – which during Middle Ages was called "Arco dei Pantani" (Italian for "Arch of the Quagmires"), due to the gradual swamping of the Forum area.
Geographic location
The orography of the area – with the hollow between the slopes of the major hills merging into the valley between the Capitoline and Palatine hills towards the Tiber – conditioned the road system and the development of the neighborhood: the higher areas hosted the houses of senators and equites (remains can be found under the present churches of San Pietro in Vincoli, on the Fagutal, and Santa Pudenziana, on the Viminal Hill), while the valley floor, the most popular and infamous part, was occupied by large insulae (multi-storey residential buildings with tabernae on the ground floor), such as those found during the restoration of the monastery of San Martino ai Monti.
The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian president. The Quirinal Palace has an extension of 1.2 million square feet.
Vatican Hill is a hill located across the Tiber river from the traditional seven hills of Rome, that also gave the name to Vatican City. It is the location of St. Peter's Basilica.
The Viminal Hill is the smallest of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. A finger-shape cusp pointing toward central Rome between the Quirinal Hill to the northwest and the Esquiline Hill to the southeast, it is home to the Teatro dell'Opera and the Termini Railway Station.
The Imperial Fora are a series of monumental fora, constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The fora were the center of the Roman Republic and of the Roman Empire.
A rione of Rome is a traditional administrative division of the city of Rome. "Rione" is an Italian term used since the 14th century to name a district of a town. The term was born in Rome, originating from the administrative divisions of the city. The word comes from the Latin word regio ; during the Middle Ages the Latin word became rejones, from which rione comes. Currently, all the rioni are located in Municipio I of Rome.
Monti is the 1st rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. I, located in Municipio I. The name literally means "mountains" in Italian and comes from the fact that the Esquiline, the Viminal Hills, and parts of the Quirinal and the Caelian Hills belonged to this rione: currently, however, the Esquiline Hill belongs to the rione Esquilino.
In 7 BC, Augustus divided the city of Rome into 14 administrative regions. These replaced the four regiones—or "quarters"—traditionally attributed to Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome. They were further divided into official neighborhoods.
Castro Pretorio is the 18th rione of Rome (Italy), identified by the initials R. XVIII, and it is located within the Municipio I. The rione takes its name by the ruins of the Castrum Praetorium, the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, included in the Aurelian Walls.
The Forum of Caesar, also known by the Latin Forum Iulium or Forum Julium, Forum Caesaris, was a forum built by Julius Caesar near the Forum Romanum in Rome in 46 BC.
The Oppian Hill is the southern spur of the Esquiline Hill, one of the Seven hills of Rome, Italy. It is separated from the Cispius on the north by the valley of the Suburra, and from the Caelian Hill on the south by the valley of the Colosseum. The Oppius and the Cispius together form the Esquiline plateau just inside the line of the Servian Wall.
Cavour is a station on Line B of the Rome Metro, opened on 10 February 1955. It is located on via Cavour, in the Monti rione of Rome, midway between Santa Maria Maggiore and via dei Fori Imperiali.
During the Middle Ages, Rome was divided into a number of administrative regions, usually numbering between twelve and fourteen, which changed over time.
Municipio I is an administrative subdivision of the municipality of Rome, encompassing the centre of the city.
The Argiletum was a street in ancient Rome, which crossed the popular district of Suburra up to the Roman Forum, along the route of the current Via Leonina and Via della Madonna dei Monti.
The vicus Longus was a street in Regio VI of ancient Rome, linking the Suburra to the summit of the Quirinal Hill along the valley between the Quirinal Hill and the Viminal Hill.
Vicus Patricius was a street in ancient Rome, 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.
The Regio IV Templum Pacis is the fourth regio of imperial Rome, under Augustus's administrative reform. Regio IV took its name from the Temple of Peace built in the region by the emperor Vespasian. It includes the valley between the Esquiline and the Viminal hills, the popular area of the Suburra, and the Velian Hill.
The Regio VI Alta Semita is the sixth regio of imperial Rome, under Augustus's administrative reform. Regio VI took its name from the street passing over the Quirinal Hill. It was a large regio that also encompassed the Viminal Hill, the lower slopes of the Pincian, and the valleys in-between.
Via Alessandrina is an urban street in Rome (Italy), at the southern end of the Rione Monti, passing alongside the ruins of the Imperial Fora.
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