Velian Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Velian Hill, a hill of Rome |
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|---|---|---|
| In Latin / Italian | Velia / Velio |
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| Rione | Monti | |
| Buildings | Arch of Titus, Sepulcretum, domus Valeriorum | |
| Ancient Roman religion | temple of the Penates | |
The Velia or Velian Hill is the ridge or spur that stretched out from the middle of the north side of the Palatine Hill towards the Oppian Hill (Dionys. V.19), more commonly called Summa Sacra Via in later times, and marked by the arch of Titus. (One other theory was that the Velia was the eastern half of the Palatine - see Gilb. I.104‑109).
The Velian was reckoned as one of the seven hills on which the Septimontium was celebrated (Fest. 341). The name appears more frequently in the singular (Varro, LL V.54; Liv. II.7; XLV.16; hemerol. Amit. ad VIII Kal. Iun.), but also in the plural (Varro, loc. cit.; Non. 531; Fest. 154; Asc. in Pison. 52; Dionys. I.68 Οὐελίαι - "ὑπ᾽ Ἐλαίας, Dionys. V.48").
The hill is described by Dionys. (v.19) as ὑψηλὸν ἐπιεικῶς καὶ περίτομον; and a primitive grave found in 1908 near the arch of Titus lay at about 28 metres above sea-level, whereas virgin soil was found in the lowest part of the forum valley at 3.6m, and in connection with the excavation of the Sepulcretum, at 10.63 metres (AJA 1923, 390 sqq.). The original height of the ridge may have been somewhat diminished by the construction of the Domus Aurea.
The meaning and derivation of the Velia is as uncertain now as it was in antiquity (Varro, LL. v.54: Veliae unde essent plures accepi causas in quis quod ibi pastores Palatini ex ovibus ante tonsuram inventam vellere lanam sint soliti, a quo Vellera dicuntur). It is regularly mentioned in extant literature in connection with the aedes deum Penatium (temple of the Penates) and the domus Valeriorum (home of the Valerii) (Jord. I.1.196; 2.416‑419; HJ 1; Gilb. I.38‑39, 101‑109).
