The name “Tarpeian Rock” is derived from the legend of Tarpeia, a Roman maiden. During the early history of Rome, when it was still a small settlement, the Sabines, a neighboring tribe, attacked the city. Tarpeia, the daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, a Roman commander, offered to open the city gates for the Sabines in exchange for their valuable jewelry, such as their gold bracelets.
About the Tarpeian Rock
- Location: It is situated within the Capitoline Hill complex, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, and overlooks the Roman Forum.
- Height: The cliff stands at an elevation of roughly 82 feet (25 m) and is distinguished by its steep drop.
- Historical Execution Site: The Tarpeian Rock served as a place in ancient Rome for carrying out the executions of people convicted of specific offenses, notably acts like high treason. It served as a reminder of the consequences of disobedience.
- Mythological Connection: The story of Tarpeia’s betrayal and her fate at the rock has been a part of Roman mythology and literature for centuries.
However, the Sabines, after gaining entry, did not give Tarpeia the expected jewelry. Instead, they threw their large shields on their left arms at her, calling her a traitor to her nation. This severe Roman punishment became part of Roman folklore.
Over time, the Tarpeian Rock came to be associated with execution. It was used as a site for executing traitors, particularly those accused of high treason. Criminals and condemned (Mamertine Prison) individuals, after being sentenced, were often thrown from the cliff to their deaths.
The History of Tarpeian Rock
In his book Ab Urbe Condita (From the Founding of the City), Livy (Titus Livius) recounts the mythological early history of Rome, which includes an attack on the city by Titus Tatius, the Sabine king, in the eighth century BC.
This was a consequence of The Rape of the Sabine Women, during which the Romans, under the pretense of a festival, abducted Sabine women due to the lack of their own wives. Spurius Tarpeius was in command of the fortress on Capitoline Hill.
One day, his daughter Tarpeia, a Vestal Virgin, left the fortress to fetch water for a religious ceremony. Tatius encountered her and tempted her with jewelry to open the fortress’s gates for the Sabines. As soon as they were inside, they crushed her to death beneath their shields, or she was killed as a warning that no promises should be kept to traitors.
This story has been told repeatedly with various details, and Livy mentions another variant: the Sabines had a habit of wearing heavy gold rings on their left arms and precious gem rings. The maiden asked for them to promise to give her “what they had on their left arms,” but instead, they buried her under their shields until she died.
Livy also mentions that “some say that in bargaining for what they had in their left hands, she expressly asked for their shields, and being suspected of wishing to betray them, fell a victim to her own bargain.”
Other ancient authors have conveyed roughly the same story. According to the Roman author Marcus Terentius Varro, “Here, before [the hill] was called Tarpeian by Vestal Virgin Tarpeia, who was killed there by the Sabines with their arms and buried, a monument of her name has been left, and even now the cliff is called the Tarpeian Rock (Latin: hic mons ante Tarpeius dictus a virgine Vestali Tarpeia, quae ibi ab Sabini necata armis et sepulta, cuius nominis monimentum relictum quod etiam nunc eus rupes Tarpeium appellatur saxum).“
The main outcome was that Tarpeia was killed for her betrayal and was buried either on the hill or beneath the rock that bears her name.
According to Roman mythology, the seventh mythical monarch, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, leveled Capitoline Hill’s summit about 500 BC, demolished the Sabine shrines that had been constructed there, and built a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus in the space between the two hills.
The executions on the rock itself persisted far into the period of the dictator Sulla in the early 1st century BC; thus, the rock was obviously rather resilient. Simon bar Giora, a Jewish insurgent, was put to death for “treason” in the year 70 AD, far into the reign of Emperor Vespasian.
Being shamed to the point of being thrown from the Tarpeian Rock was thought to be even more terrible than dying. The Mamertine Prison, located in the Roman Forum, was where most people were put to death by strangulation. The republic saw unofficial executions on the Tarpeian Rock, such as Senator Gaius Marcius Coriolanus’ near-death experience when a Plebeian tribune incited a crowd to kill him.
Notable Victims
- Sextus Marius: Tiberius captured and executed Sextus Marius, a rich Spaniard who owned copper and gold mines, in AD 33 after accusing him of incest.
- Spurius Cassius Vecellinus, 485 BC, for perduellio (i.e., high treason).
- Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, 384 BC, for sedition.
- Rebels from Tarentum, 212 BC.
- Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus, 80 BC.
- Syllaeus, 6 BC.
- Aelius Saturninus, 23 AD.
- Barbarius Philippus
- Simon bar Giora, 70 AD.
Restoration and Rehabilitation
In 2019, Gucci, the renowned Italian fashion house, announced its support for the restoration of the Tarpeian Rock with a donation of 1.6 million euros. The company contributed financially to the cultural project “Tarpeian Rock, Between Legend and Future,” in collaboration with the Capitoline Superintendence for Cultural Heritage.
The project aimed to reorganize the overall landscape. It involved the conservation and maintenance of the gardens on various terraced levels to reopen them to the public and restore several panoramic terraces.
Additionally, it focused on enhancing the green areas at the foot of the hill, including the Belvedere Garden of Villa Tarpea. The reopening of these areas took place on September 19, 2021.
References
- Platner (1929). A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, Tarpeius Mons, pp509-510. London. Oxford University Press.
- Featured Image: Lalupa, CC BY-SA 4.0
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