Earth and Space News: On March 15, 44 BCE, Cleopatra Was in Caesar's Villa at Horti Caesaris

Summary: While Julius Caesar was being assassinated on March 15, 44 BCE, Cleopatra was in Caesar's villa at Horti Caesaris on the Tiber River's right bank.

detail of maquette historique (historical model) of Julius Caesar's Horti Caesaris by Quebecois Canadian communication scholar and historic model maker André Caron: 𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙪𝙨 𝘾𝙖𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙧 @Divus_Imperator, via Twitter Jan. 13, 2023

While Julius Caesar was being assassinated on March 15, 44 BCE, Cleopatra was in Caesar's villa at Horti Caesaris, which was located on the right bank of the Tiber River beyond Rome's walls.

Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopatra Philopator; ca. 69-Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE) stayed at Horti Caesaris with her first child and oldest son, Ptolemy XV Caesar Philopator Philometor (Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Καῖσαρ Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ, Ptolemaios Kaisar Philopator Philometor, "Ptolemy Caesar, Beloved of his Father, Beloved of his Mother"; 47-30 BCE), known as Caesarion (Ancient Greek: Καισαρίων, Kaisarion, "Little Caesar"). History knows Caesarion as the only known biological son of Roman general and statesman Gaius Julius Caesar (July 12 or 13, 100-March 15, 44 BCE).

Caesar's villa was sited as a verdant outlier beyond "the lower reaches of the Tiber" in the Transtiberine district, as described by American classicist and archaeologist Samuel Ball Platner (Dec. 4, 1863-Aug. 20, 1921) in The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome, first published in 1904 (second edition, 1911: page 507). The Transtiberine (Latin: trans, "beyond" + Tiberis, "Tiber River" + -inus, masculine singular suffix, "of or pertaining to"; Italian: Transtevere) district extended westward and southward from the Tiber's right bank.

"The most distinctive feature of the Transtiberine region was the gardens, which extended from the bank of the river opposite monte Testaccio along the ridge of the Janiculum to the mausoleum of Hadrian," noted Platner (page 511). Mons Testaceus mounded near the Tiber's left bank, east of and opposite to Horti Caesaris. Mons Testaceus (Latin: testa, "brick, tile, shard, shellfish" + -aceus, maculine suffix, "resembling") received its descriptive name as an artificial mound constructed from broken ancient Roman pottery, especially amphorae (Latin: amphora, "large storage container for oil and wine"; from Ancient Greek: ἀμφορεύς, amphoreus, “two-handled pitcher or vessel"). The mound neighbors warehouses (Latin: horreum, "barn, granary, warehouse"; plural: horrea) for storage of a variety of products, especially earthenware-encased foodstuffs.

Inscribed jars excavated from the pottery mound have date ranges of 140 to 251 CE, according to A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (page 512), begun by Platner and, after his death, completed and published in 1929 by British archaeologist Thomas Ashby (Oct. 14, 1874-May 15, 1931). The origins of Mons Testaceus could trace back to Julius Caesar's century, the first century BCE. "Inasmuch as the first of these warehouses (horrea) dated from the last century of the republic, the accumulation of these fragments probably began as early as that date" (The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome, page 17).

Red arrows (inserted) locate Cleopatra's stayover, Julius Caesar's Horti Caesaris (lower center), and Julius Caesar's assassination setting, Theatrum Pompeii (upper right); pottery shard-constructed Mons Testaceus (lower right) grows across the Tiber River from Horti Caesaris; detail of Ancient Rome map (1911) by Samuel Bell Platner, after Christian Hülsen's Ancient Rome map (1901): Public Domain (No known copyright restrictions), via Internet Archive

Janiculum (Latin: Ianiculum, from Ianus, Roman two-faced god; Italian: Gianicolo) is a long, north-south oriented ridge west of the Tiber. "The name was usually explained by the ancients as meaning 'the city of Janus'" (A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, page 274). The ridge's name reflected its status as a center for the cult of Janus.

Hadrian's mausoleum (Latin: Mausoleum Hadriani; Italian: Mausoleo di Adriano) was not a landmark for Julius Caesar, as the cylindrical building was constructed approximately one and three-quarter centuries after his assassination. Sited on the Tiber's right bank, north of Horti Caesaris, the above-ground tomb was commissioned by Hadrian (Caesar Traianus Hadrianus; Jan. 24, 76-July 10, 138 CE), recognized as the third of the "Five Good Emperors" in the Roman Empire's seven-member Nerva-Antonine dynasty.

Among the Transtiberine district's celebrated gardens, the ". . . most southern were the horti Caesaris, which extended from a point near the porta Portuensis south along the via Portuensis, and contained within their limits the temple of Fors Fortuna, which was one mile from the porta Portuensis. These gardens were left by Caesar to the Roman people, and were thereafter public property. There is no later mention of them; but remains of works of art as well as of buildings have frequently been found within these limits" (Platner, The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome, pages 511-512).

Cleopatra's Transtiberine stayover, Julius Caesar's Horti Caesaris (center), across the Tiber River from pottery shard-composed Mons Testaceus (upper center); detail of partly inventive, partly realistic depiction of ancient Rome, Antiquae Urbis Romae Imago accuratissime ex vetustis monumentis formata (Image of the Ancient City of Rome Most Accurately Formed From Ancient Monuments), engraved by Italian antiquarian, architect and painter Pirro Ligorio (1513-Oct. 30, 1583): CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Socks Project (Fosco Lucarelli and Mariabruna Fabrizi of MICROCITIES, Architecture Cityscape, Landscape)

Porta Portuensis was a gate in the Aurelian Walls (Latin: Muri Aureliani; Italian: Mura aureliane), city walls begun during the reign (ca. May 270 to September 275 CE) of Crisis of the Third Century (235–285) Roman Emperor Aurelian (Latin: Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; Sep. 9, 214-Sep. 275 CE). Predating the expansive Aurelian Walls, Julius Caesar instead recognized the circumscribed Servian Wall (Latin: Murus Servii Tullii; Italian: Mura serviane) as Rome's defensive barrier. Construction of the volcanic tuff (consolidated volcanic ash and other detritus)-composed wall has been attributed to the reign (ca. 578-ca. 535 BCE) of Roman King Servius Tullius (Italian: Servio Tullio), sixth ruler of the Roman Kingdom (Latin: Regnum Romanum; ca. 753-ca. 509 BCE).

Cleopatra and Caesarion vacated Horti Caesaris within one month of Julius Caesar's assassination. "I am not sorry for the Queen's flight," observed Roman statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (Jan. 3, 106-Dec. 7, 43 BCE) in a letter to wealthy Roman publisher Titus Pomponius Atticus (110-March 31, 32 BCE), as translated by English classical scholar and translator Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh (July 12, 1843-July 10, 1906) in The Letters of Cicero (volume IV, page 13), published in 1900. The Cleopatra disfavorer's letter, dated April 15, 44 BCE, was sent from his "seaside houses" in Sinuessa, a port on the northwest Mediterrean marginal Tyrrhenian Sea (Latin: Mare Tyrrhenum; from Ancient Greek: Τυρρηνός (Turrhēnós, “Etruscan”), to Atticus at his patrician home on the Quirinal Hill (Latin: Collis Quirinalis), the highest and northernmost of the Seven Hills of Rome (Latin: Septem colles Romae, Italian: Sette colli di Roma).

On June 13, Cicero still erupted against long-relocated Cleopatra. Almost three months had passed since Caesar's Ides of March demise. Almost two months had elapsed since Cicero's April 13th expression of his anti-Cleopatra sentiment. Nevertheless, Cicero vented: "I can't stand the Queen: and the voucher for her promises, Hammonius, knows that I have good cause for saying so. What she promised, indeed, were all things of the learned sort and suitable to my character -- such as I could avow even in a public meeting. . . . The Queen's insolence, too, when she was living in Caesar's trans-Tiberine villa, I cannot recall without a pang" (Shuckburgh, page 73-74).

Red arrows (inserted) locate Horti Caesaris (lower left) and Theatrum Pompeii (left center); red outline=Servian Wall, black ridged outline=Aurelian Walls; Ancient Rome map (1901) by Christian Hülsen: Public Domain, via Gallica BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Barron, Caroline. "Pomponius Bassus administers the alimenta (CIL VI, 1492)." Judaism and Rome > Resources > Ancient Sources > Inscriptions. Aug. 28, 2018.
Available @ https://www.judaism-and-rome.org/pomponius-bassus-administers-alimenta-cil-vi-1492

Caron, André. "Les Jardins de César; Caesar's Gardens; Caesar Gärten." Maquettes Historiques.
Available @ https://www.maquettes-historiques.net/P19d.html

Fabrizi, Mariabruna. "Pirro Ligorio’s 'Antiquae Urbis Romae Imago' (Image of the Ancient City of Rome), 1561." Socks. March 13, 2016.
Available @ https://socks-studio.com/2016/03/13/pirro-ligorios-antiquae-urbis-romae-imago-image-of-the-ancient-city-of-rome-1561/

Greenough, J. B. (James Bradstreet), ed. "[I, IX, 18] . . . trans Tiberim longe cubat is, prope Caesaris hortos. . . . 1 8. cubat, lies sick. -- hortos, an estate on the Janiculum, left by Julius Caesar to the Roman people." Page 69. The Satires and Epistles of Horace. College Series of Latin Authors. Copyright, 1915, by Harriet S. Greenough. Boston; New York; Chicago; London; Atlanta; Dallas; Columbus; San Francisco: Ginn and Company, 1887.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/satiresepistlese00horauoft/page/69/mode/1up

Harmanşah, Ömür. "Fors Fortuna, Fanum. Map Entry 181." Digital Augustan Rome > Directory > Records With Locations.
Available via Digital Augustan Rome @ https://www.digitalaugustanrome.org/records/fors-fortuna-fanum/

Harmanşah, Ömür. "Sepulcrum: Rusticelii. Map Entry 275." Digital Augustan Rome > Directory > Records With Locations.
Available via Digital Augustan Rome @ https://www.digitalaugustanrome.org/records/sepulcrum-rusticelii/

Hülsen, Christian. Romae veteris tabula in usum scholarum / descripta a Christiano Huelsen. Berolini [Berlin]: E. Vohsen, 1901.
Available via Gallica BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) @ https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b530301333

𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙪𝙨 𝘾𝙖𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙧 @Divus_Imperator. "his villa by the Tiber. this is where Cleopatra stayed during her stay in 44 BC. http://maquettes-historiques.net/P19d.html." Twitter. Jan. 13, 2023.
Available via Twitter @ https://twitter.com/Divus_Imperator/status/1614039178467053573

Ligorio, Pirro. Antiquae urbis Romae imago accuratiss: ex vetustis monumentis, ex vestigiis videlicet aedificior, moenium ruinis, fide numismatum, monumentis aeneis, plumbeis, saxeis tiglinisque collecta, veter. denique auctorum fide confirmata, in hãc tabulam redacta atque descripta a Pyrrho Ligorio romano per XIII regiones in quas urbem divisit imp. Caesar Augustus. Volume XII de la collection Gaston d'Orléans contenant la description d'Italie, tome I, p. 170. Publication date: 1552.
Available via Gallica BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) @ https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b550044837/f1.item

Marriner, Derdriu. "Beware the Ides of March: The Assassination of Julius Caesar." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 3, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/beware-ides-of-march-assassination-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Beware the Ides of March Meal: Caesar or Brutus Salad, Cleopatra's Dulcis Coccora, Caesar Cocktail." Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/beware-ides-of-march-meal-caesar-or.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesar Commissioned Gilt Statue of Cleopatra for Venus Genetrix Temple." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 22, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/caesar-commissioned-gilt-statue-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesar Salad Recipe: Named for Chef Cesare Cardini, Not Julius Caesar. Earth and Space News. Thursday, March 17, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/caesar-salad-recipe-named-for-chef.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Caesarion Sought to Refuge in India But Was Lured Away To Be Murdered." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/08/caesarion-sought-to-refuge-in-india-but.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra Had Planned Flight From Egypt But Nabateans Burned Her Ships." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 1, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/cleopatra-had-planned-flight-from-egypt.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra or Caesarion Could Have Refuged in Five Ports in Western India." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 8, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/cleopatra-or-caesarion-could-have.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cleopatra Painting in Pompeii May Copy Statue in Venus Genetrix Temple." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 29, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/cleopatra-painting-in-pompeii-may-copy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Julius Caesar's Birth Quintilis 12/13 Became July in Julian Calendar." Earth and Space News. Thursday, July 21, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/07/julius-caesars-birth-quintilis-1213.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Mother and Child Fresco in Pompeii May Depict Cleopatra With Caesarion." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Sep. 15, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/mother-and-child-fresco-in-pompeii-may.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Quintilii Marble Head May Copy Cleopatra Statue in Temple of Venus." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/10/quintilii-marble-head-may-copy.html

Morris, Edward Parmelee, trans. "[I, 9, 18]. . . trans Tiberim longe cubat is, prope Caesaris hortos. . . . 17 f. . . . across the Tiber -- a long way off -- he’s sick in bed, too -- way over by Caesar’s Gardens.’ Cf. the similar embarrassed search for an excuse in Catull. 10, 28 ff. -- Caesaris hortos: an estate on the Janiculum, left by Caesar’s will to the Roman people, to be a public park." Page 123. Horace: The Satires. New York; Cincinnati; Chicago: American Book Company, 1909.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/horacesatires00horagoog/page/n127/mode/1up

Ollero, Marisa. "The last Roman emperor elected by the Senate. 25 September, 275." VCoins > This Week in History. Sep. 23, 2021.
Available @ https://social.vcoins.com/twih/last-roman-emperor-elected-senate/

Platner, Samuel Ball. "(12) The via Portuensis ran down the right bank of the Tiber to Portus Augusti. This road began at the pons Aemilius and extended southwest through the porta Portuensis. Its ancient pavement exists within the city, in the via di S. Cecilia and via di S. Michele, and also south of the wall, but here it does not correspond with any modern road." Page 127. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome. "Chapter VII Walls, Gates and Roads," pages 110-128; "Roads," pages 124-128. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Allyn and Bacon's College Latin Series. Copyright, 1904 and 1911, by Samuel Ball Platner. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924019169485/page/127/mode/1up

Platner, Samuel Ball. "Ancient Rome. Places and buildings in red date from the republic. Hülsen, Romae Veteris Tabula, Berlin, 1901, with slight changes." Frontispiece. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Allyn and Bacon's College Latin Series. Copyright, 1904 and 1911, by Samuel Ball Platner. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924019169485/page/n9/mode/2up

Platner, Samuel Ball. "Gates. -- The gates in the Aurelian wall, beginning at the north, were the Flaminia, Pinciana, Salaria, Nomentana, an unnamed gate just south of the castra Praetoria, the Tiburtina, Praenestina, Asinaria, Metrovia, Latina, Appia, Ardeatina, Ostiensis, Portuensis, Aurelia, and Septimiana. Of these original gates the following have been destroyed at various dates: the Flaminia in 1561, replaced by the modern porta del Popolo; the Salaria in 1871, replaced by the present gate of the same name; the Ardeatina in 1539, to make way for the Bastione del Sangallo; the Portuensis in 1643, when the city limits were moved 500 metres farther north; the Aurelia in 1643, replaced by the present porta S. Pancrazio; and the Septimiana in 1498, when the present porta Septimiana was built. There was probably a gate at or near the point where the Marrana flowed under the wall, and an archway in the angle of the wall at this place is usually identified with the porta Metrovia." Pages 120-121. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome. "Chapter VII Walls, Gates and Roads," pages 110-128; "Gates," pages 120-123. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Allyn and Bacon's College Latin Series. Copyright, 1904 and 1911, by Samuel Ball Platner. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924019169485/page/120/mode/1up

Platner, Samuel Ball. "Horti. -- The most distinctive feature of the Transtiberine region was the gardens, which extended from the bank of the river opposite monte Testaccio along the ridge of the Janiculum to the mausoleum of Hadrian. The most southern were the horti Caesaris, which extended from a point near the porta Portuensis south along the via Portuensis, and contained within their limits the temple of Fors Fortuna, which was one mile from the porta Portuensis. These gardens were left by Caesar to the Roman people, and were thereafter public property. There is no later mention of them; but remains of works of art as well as of buildings have frequently been found within these limits. . . ." Pages 511-512. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome. "Chapter XX The Transtiberine District. Region XIV," pages 507-520; "Horti," pages 511-513. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Allyn and Bacon's College Latin Series. Copyright, 1904 and 1911, by Samuel Ball Platner. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924019169485/page/511/mode/1up

Platner, Samuel Ball. "On the right bank of the Tiber, the ridge of the Janiculum, in its modern sense, runs almost due north and south for 2 kilometres, coming to an abrupt end at the point where the river makes its great bend to the southeast. Here the hill approaches to within 100 metres of the river. The ridge is separated from the plateau behind by a long depression. At the northern end of the Janiculum, the level between the river and the hill stretches out for 1.5 kilometres, and is founded on the west by the continuation of the high ground behind the Janiculum." Pages 16-17. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome. "Chapter II General Topography of Rome and the Campagna," pages 11-21; "The Site of Rome," pages 15-19. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Allyn and Bacon's College Latin Series. Copyright, 1904 and 1911, by Samuel Ball Platner. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924019169485/page/16/mode/1up

Platner, Samuel Ball. "There are now in the city three elevations of artificial origin. One mons Testaceus (monte Testaccio), southwest of the Aventine and close to the river and ancient warehouses, is composed entirely of fragments of earthen vessels in which grain and stores of various sorts were brought to Rome, and rises to a height of 43 metres above the Tiber. Inasmuch as the first of these warehouses (horrea) dated from the last century of the republic, the accumulation of these fragments probably began as early as that date." Page 17. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome. "Chapter II General Topography of Rome and the Campagna," pages 11-21; "The Site of Rome," pages 15-19. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Allyn and Bacon's College Latin Series. Copyright, 1904 and 1911, by Samuel Ball Platner. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924019169485/page/17/mode/1up

Platner, Samuel Ball. "The Wall of Servius. . . . In different parts of the city different methods of construction were followed, which depended largely upon the nature of the ground traversed. . . . Servius Tullius is credited by tradition with having surrounded Rome with a wall, and this system of fortification has always been called by his name. . ." Pages 112, 115-116. The Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome. "Chapter VII Walls, Gates and Roads," pages 110-128; "The Wall of Servius," pages 112-117. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Allyn and Bacon's College Latin Series. Copyright, 1904 and 1911, by Samuel Ball Platner. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1911.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924019169485/page/112/mode/1up

"Fors Fortuna, fanum: a temple of Fors Fortuna on the bank of the Tiber, outside the city, ascribed to Servius Tullius . . . . That this temple was on the right bank of the Tiber is shown with reasonable certainty by the calendars . . ., which, however, mention two such temples, one at the first, and the other at the sixth, milestone on the via Portuensis, the latter close to the grove of the Arval Brethren. Both had the same festival day, 24th June. . . . There seems, therefore, to be no escape from assuming the existence of three temples near the first milestone and the gardens of Caesar, unless there is error in the sources." Pages 212-214. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > F. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929.
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0262/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0054%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DF%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3Dfors-fortuna-fanum
Available via The University of Chicago Library LacusCurtius (formerly Penelope) @ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Fors_Fortuna.html

Platner, Samuel Ball; and Thomas Ashby. "HORTI CAESARIS (1) the gardens of Julius Caesar that were probably just outside the porta Collina. They are mentioned in the fourth century (Obseq. 71) under date of 17 B.C., and probably by Cassius Dio (xlii. 26. 3) under date of 47 B.C. They appear to have fallen into the possession of Sallust (Ps. Cic. resp. in Sail. 19), and may have formed part of the horti Sallustiani (HJ 430; RE viii. 2483)." Page 265. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > H. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929.
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0321/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0054%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dhorti-caesaris-2
Available via The University of Chicago Library LacusCurtius (formerly Penelope) @ http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Horti_Caesaris.html

Platner, Samuel Ball; and Thomas Ashby. "HORTI CAESARIS (2) the gardens of Julius Caesar, on the right bank of the Tiber (Hor. Sat. i. 9. 18). Their exact limits are unknown, but they extended from a point near the porta Portuensis southwards along the via Portuensis, and contained the temple of FORS FORTUNA (q.v.), which was one mile from the gate (Tac. Ann. ii. 41; Plut. Brut. 20; HJ 643; RE iii. 1297). Caesar entertained Cleopatra in these gardens in 44 B.C. (Cic. ad Att. xv. 5. 2), and left them by will to the Roman people (Cic. Phil. ii. 009; Suet. Caes. 83; Appian, BC ii. 143; Cass. Dio xliv. 35). For remains of works of art and buildings found within the area of these gardens, cf. Ann. d. Inst. 1860, 415-450; BC 1884, 25-30; 1887, 90-95; Mitt. 1890, 149; 1892, 331; PT 181." Pages 265-266. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > H. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929.
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0321/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0054%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dhorti-caesaris-2
Available via The University of Chicago Library LacusCurtius (formerly Penelope) @ http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Horti_Caesaris.html

Platner, Samuel Ball; and Thomas Ashby. "Muri Aureliani: the walls begun by Aurelian after the war against the Marcomanni and before that against Zenobia in 272 (Hist. Aug. Aurel. 21, 39; Aur. Victor. Caes. 35; Chron. 148; Eutrop. ix. 15; Oros. vii. 23; Hier. a. Abr. 2290) and finished by Probus (Zosim. i. 49)." Pages 348-350. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > M. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929.
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0408/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0054%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dmuri-aureliani
Available via The University of Chicago Library LacusCurtius (formerly Penelope) @ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Muri_Aureliani.html

Platner, Samuel Ball; and Thomas Ashby. "Murus Servii Tullii: the wall ascribed by tradition (Liv. i. 44; Dionys. iv. 13) to the sixth of the kings of Rome (ascriptions to Ancus Martius, such as vir. ill. v. I, Flor. i. I. 14 need not be taken into account; see Jord. i. I. 201), perhaps in completion of work already begun by Tarquinius Priscus (Strabo v. 3. 7, p. 234; Liv. I. 36; Dionys. iii. 67)." Pages 350-355. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > M. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929.
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0410/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0054%3Aentry%3Dmurus-servii-tullii
Available via The University of Chicago Library LacusCurtius (formerly Penelope) @ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Murus_Servii_Tullii.html

Platner, Samuel Ball; and Thomas Ashby. "Porta Portuensis: a gate in the Aurelian wall, rebuilt by Honorius in 403 A.D. (CIL vi. 1188: ob instauratos ... muros portas atque turres; DMH). Through it ran the VIA PORTUENSIS (q.v.). It had semi-circular brick towers and two arches, and thus resembled the original form of the portae Appia, Flaminia, and Ostiensis as built by Aurelian (see the view in Nardini, Roma Antica (1666), p. 36); so that it is not easy to see in what Honorius' restorations consisted.1 The church of S. Lorenzo de Porta, of which nothing is known, took its name from the gate (HCh 295). It was destroyed by Urban VIII, whose successor, Innocent X, completed the new gate, 453 metres nearer to the city (Jord. i. I. 37 ; T v. 7-12; LF 36; Roma iii. (1925), 317). 1 The excellent representation in Maggi's large bird's-eye view of Rome (published in facsimile by Ehrle, Roma nel tempo di Urbano VIII, Rome, 1914) shows a vantage court at the back, as at the Porta Appia, etc." Pages 350-355. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > P. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929.
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0478/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0054%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dporta-portuensis
Available via The University of Chicago Library LacusCurtius (formerly Penelope) @ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Porta_Portuensis.html

Platner, Samuel Ball; and Thomas Ashby. "Testaceus Mons: Monte Testaccio, the modern name for the artificial hill, south of the Aventine and the horrea Galbiana in Region XIII, which rises to a height of 50 metres above sea-level, and is about a kilometre in circumference. It is composed entirely of fragments of earthen jars (amphorae, dolia) in which corn, wine, and produce of various kinds had been brought to the horrea from Africa, Spain, and Gaul. Many of these jars were inscribed on the neck or handle, and a large number of these inscriptions have been recovered (CIL xv. pp. 491-659). They date from 140 to 251 A.D., but it is certain that the dumping of debris on this spot began as early as the time of Augustus, and that the hill had reached its present height by the middle of the second century. The distribution of the debris shows that the hill rose in the midst of the horrea. Under one of its sides the tomb of the RUSTICELII (q.v.) was found (HJ 177-178; Ann. d. Inst. 1878, 118-192; 1885, 232-234; CIL xv. pp. 491-492, 560-565; BC 1911, 246-260; 1915, 41-46, 279, 291; 1914, 241-250; 1915, 41-46, 279-290; Mem. Soc. Nat. Ant. France, 1915, '53; D. Orano, II Testaccio; il monte ed il quartiere dalle origini al 1910, Pescara, 1910)." Pages 512-513. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > T. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929.
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0584/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0054%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DT%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3Dtestaceus-mons
Available via The University of Chicago Library LacusCurtius (formerly Penelope) @ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Testaceus_Mons.html

Platner, Samuel Ball; and Thomas Ashby. "Via Portuensis (Not. app.; Eins. 12. 4): the road leading to the portus Augusti constructed by Claudius on the right bank of the Tiber, at the mouth. It started from the pons Aemilius, and the first part of its course is identical with that of the via Campana. The PORTA PORTUENSIS (q.v.) of the Aurelian wall had a double arch, probably owing to the amount of traffic it had to carry (see Mon. Linc. xxvi. 417-430), but the divergence occurred a good deal further on, probably a mile from the gate. The via Portuensis went to the right into hilly country, while the via Campana kept to the valley of the Tiber. The roads rejoined at the modern Ponte Galera. See T. v. I-86. With the growth of importance of the via Portuensis from the time of Constantine onwards, that of the via Ostiensis correspondingly decreased. It is to be noted that Procopius (BG i. 26. 9-13), who calls the road to Portus ὁμαλήν τε καὶ ἐμπόδιον οὐδὲν ἔχουσαν, and tells us how barges were dragged up the river by teams of oxen moving along it, must be describing the towpath, and not either the via Portuensis or even the via Campana, which is in many places at quite a considerable distance from the winding course of the river." Page 566. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome > V. Completed and revised by Thomas Ashby. London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1929.
Available via Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg (Heidelberg University Library) @ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/platner1929/0644/image,info
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0054:id=via-portuensis
Available via The University of Chicago Library LacusCurtius (formerly Penelope) @ https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Via_Portuensis.html

Sheldon, Natasha. "Commemorating Fors Fortuna, the Roman Goddess of Luck." History and Archaeology Online. June 21, 2019.
Available @ https://historyandarchaeologyonline.com/commemorating-fors-fortuna-the-roman-goddess-of-luck/

Shuckburgh, Evelyn S. (Shirley). "DCCVII (A XIV, 8) To Atticus (at Rome) Sinuessa, 15 April. . . . I am not sorry for the Queen's flight." Pages 13-14. The Letters of Cicero; The Whole Extant Correspondence in Chronological Order. In four volumes. Vol. IV. B.C. 44-43. London: George Bell and Sons, 1900.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/letterswholeexta04ciceuoft/page/n64/mode/1up
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0022%3Atext%3DA%3Abook%3D14%3Aletter%3D8

Shuckburgh, Evelyn S. (Shirley). "DCCXLV (A XV, 15) To Atticus (at Rome) Astura, 13 June. . . . I can't stand the Queen: and the voucher for her promises, Hammonius, knows that I have good cause for saying so. What she promised, indeed, were all things of the learned sort and suitable to my character -- such as I could avow even in a public meeting. . . . The Queen's insolence, too, when she was living in Caesar's trans-Tiberine villa, I cannot recall without a pang." Page 73-74. The Letters of Cicero; The Whole Extant Correspondence in Chronological Order. In four volumes. Vol. IV. B.C. 44-43. London: George Bell and Sons, 1900.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/letterswholeexta04ciceuoft/page/73/mode/1up
Available via Tufts University Perseus Digital Library @ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0022%3Atext%3DA%3Abook%3D15%3Aletter%3D15

Strauss, Barry. "Beware the Ides of March -- Yet Again." March 21, 2016.
Available @ https://eidolon.pub/beware-the-ides-of-march-yet-again-5fdc6fb09ed0

Strauss, Barry. The Death of Caesar: The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination. New York: Simon & Schuster, March 3, 2015.

Took, Thalia. "Fors Fortuna." Thalia Took > Obscure Goddess Online Directory (OGOD) > Roman.
Available @ http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/fors.php

Vasi, Giuseppe. "Deſcrizione della duodecima Tavola rappreſentante la Porta Portuenſe." Pages LIV-LVII. Monumenti Sagri e Profanie Della Quattro Età di Roma Cioè De' Ré, De' Consoli, Degl' Imperatori, E De' Sommi Pontefici Incisi In Rame, E Divisi In Dieci Libri Colle Notizie Più Interessanti. Delle Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna: Libro Primo Che Contiene Le Porte e Mura di Roma. Roma: Nella Stamperia del Chracas Presso S. Marco al Corso, MDCCXLVII [1747].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/gri_33125009354925/page/n87/mode/1up

Earth and Space News

Thursday, March 23, 2023

On March 15, 44 BCE, Cleopatra Was in Caesar's Villa at Horti Caesaris

No comments:

Post a Comment