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JANICULUM

Volume 11 · 130 words · 1815 Edition

or JANICULARIS, a hill of ancient Rome, added by Ancus Martius; the burial place of Numa, and of Statius Caecilius the poet; to the east and south, having the Tiber; to the west, the fields; to the north, a part of the Vatican. So called, either from an ancient city, (Virgil); or because it was a janua, or gate, from which to issue out and make incursions on the Tuscan, (Verrius Flaccus). Now called Mons Aureus, corruptly Montorius, from its sparkling sands. From this hill, on account of its height, is the most extensive prospect of Rome: but it is least inhabited, because of its gross air; neither is it reckoned among the seven hills. Hither the people retired, and were hence afterwards recalled by Q. Hortensius the dictator, (Pliny).