The Velabrum (Classical Latin:[weː.laː.brũ]) is the low valley in the city of Rome that connects the Forum with the Forum Boarium,[1] and the Capitoline Hill with the western slope of the Palatine Hill.[2] The outer boundaries of the area are not themselves clear. Roman etymologies of the name are confused, with attempts to connect it to the Latin words vehere (conveyance) and velum (cloth): Varro, Propertius, and Tibullus claimed that it was the location of a ferry;[3] Plutarch, however, claimed the name derived from the awnings placed over the Circus Maximus during games.[4] The name may also translate to "place of mud".[5]
It was believed that before the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, which probably follows the course of an ancient stream called Spinon,[6] the area was a swamp,[7] though this claim has been disproven by core samples taken from Velabrum in 1994.[8] Varro claims there are two velabra, one maius and one minus, with the smaller emerging from the drainage of a swamp close to the northern side of the Forum: if there was any drainage the distinction between the two was largely forgotten by the last century BC when it was referred to in the plural for both.[9] Ancient authorities[which?] state that in this marshy area the roots of a fig tree (Ficus Ruminalis) caught and stopped the basket carrying Romulus and Remus as it floated along on the Tiber current.[5] The place therefore has a high symbolic significance.
It was also used as a marketplace and a centre of commerce, connecting the Palatine with the two major fora.[10][11][12] Plautus (Captivi 489) mentions it as a place where oil-sellers were found, and a scholiast (ancient commentator) on Horace (Satires 2.3.229) states: "Velabrum is a place in Rome where everything connected with food and delicacies was on sale."[13]
Even after the Cloaca was built, the area was still prone to flooding from the Tiber,[14] until the ground level was raised after the Neronian fire.
Within it were the tomb of Acca Larentia along with a small temple to Felicitas.[10] It is also the site of the Arch of Janus, the Arcus Argentariorum and the church San Giorgio al Velabro.[15]
^Schmitz, Leonhard (2012-12-13). The Classical Museum: A Journal of Philology, and of Ancient History and Literature. Cambridge University Press. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-108-05777-6.
^Richmond, Ian Archibald; Patterson, John (2012). "velabrum". Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.6712. ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
^ abLandart, Paula (2021-12-05). Finding Ancient Rome: Walks in the city. Paula Landart. p. 45.
^Roma: la valle del Velabro, il Tevere e il canale idraulico dei Tarquini prima della Cloaca Massima; Elisabetta Bianchi, Piero Bellotti; IX Convegno Nazionale di Speleologia in Cavità Artificiali; Opera Ipogea, 1-2/2020, p83
^Beard, Mary (2009-06-30). The Roman Triumph. Harvard University Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-674-02059-7.
^Ammerman, Albert J (2013-03-28). "Looking at Early Rome With Fresh Eyes: Transforming the Landscape". In Evans, Jane DeRose (ed.). A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Republic. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 167–180. doi:10.1002/9781118557129.ch11. ISBN 978-1-118-55712-9. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
^Richardson 1992, p. 406, citing Varro Ling. 5.156.
^ abRichardson 1992, p. 406.
^Platner, Samuel (1929). Velabrum. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2023-01-14. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^Ammerman, Albert J (1998). "Environmental archaeology in the Velabrum, Rome: interim report". Journal of Roman Archaeology. 11: 213–223. doi:10.1017/S1047759400017268. ISSN 1047-7594. S2CID 163003508.
^W. M. Lindsay (1900), Plauti Captivi, p. 238.
^Littlewood, R Joy (2006-06-29). A Commentary on Ovid's Fasti, Book 6. Oxford University Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-19-927134-4.
^Wiseman, T P (2007). "Where was the Porta Romanula?". Papers of the British School at Rome. 75: 231–237. doi:10.1017/S0068246200003548. ISSN 2045-239X. S2CID 163018804.
The Velabrum (Classical Latin: [weː.laː.brũ]) is the low valley in the city of Rome that connects the Forum with the Forum Boarium, and the Capitoline...
Roman forum from a swamp into a solid building ground, thus reclaiming the Velabrum. In order to achieve this, they filled it up with 10-20,000 cubic meters...
Boarium and Circus Maximus via the west side of the Palatine Hill and Velabrum. The name of Vicus Tuscus is believed to have originated from Etruscan...
located next to the Arch of Janus in the rione of Ripa in the ancient Roman Velabrum. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built where Roman...
similar in appearance and scale to the so-called Arch of Janus in the Velabrum (actually named the Arch of the Divine Constantine), in Roman times. The...
Capitoline Hill plan Area Capitolina Arx Forum Romanum Fori Imperiali Velabrum Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus Tabularium Temple of Juno Moneta Theatre of...
Capitoline Hill plan Area Capitolina Arx Forum Romanum Fori Imperiali Velabrum Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus Tabularium Temple of Juno Moneta Theatre of...
Flaminius, proceeded into the Forum, passed along to the Vicus Tuscus, Velabrum, through the Forum Boarium, and finally ended at the Temple of Juno Regina...
Domus Tiberiana lie on the northwest corner of the Palatine, facing the Velabrum and the Roman Forum below, with the Capitoline hill beyond. The site comprises...
between the Palatine and the Aventine. It contained the Circus Maximus, the Velabrum (the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline), as well as the areas...
Capitoline Hill plan Area Capitolina Arx Forum Romanum Fori Imperiali Velabrum Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus Tabularium Temple of Juno Moneta Theatre of...
crossroads at the northeastern limit of the Forum Boarium, close to the Velabrum, over the Cloaca Maxima drain that went from the Forum to the River Tiber...
visible inside the church. Forum Venalium Forum Boarium Forum Piscarium Velabrum Lawrence Richardson, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Johns...
altars dedicated to Acca Larentia. A sacrifice was typically offered in the Velabrum, the spot where Acca Larentia is buried. Larentalia was part of a series...
temples in ancient Rome, of which one was located between the Palatine and Velabrum. The second temple was on the Esquiline and the last on the Vicus Longus...
Circus Flaminius, skirting the southern base of the Capitoline Hill and the Velabrum, along a Via Triumphalis (Triumphal Way) towards the Circus Maximus, perhaps...
people. Ancus, in gratitude for this, allowed her to be buried in the Velabrum, and instituted an annual festival, the Larentalia, at which sacrifices...
south, and the Tiber River to the west. It also contained the areas of the Velabrum, the Vallis Murcia and the Forum Boarium. A measurement taken at the end...
the Tiber, after their abandonment. It was thought to be located in the Velabrum, a short distance from the Lupercal. The tree offered the twins shade and...
the means to amass private collections. The temple was located in the Velabrum in the Vicus Tuscus of the Campus Martius, along a route associated with...
largely followed the contours of the Palatine, and so was bordered by the Velabrum on the north west, the Circus Maximus to the south west, the Via Sacra...
Larentia. A sacrifice was offered at the site of her supposed tomb on the Velabrum. She was not a goddess but a sort of heroine, with two conflicting legends:...
shepherds hung their votive offerings on trees; boats used to pass through the Velabrum often carrying girls, who, after pleasing their young men, would return...
and dedicated by Euhodus, a margaritarius, or dealer in pearls, in the Velabrum, perhaps Tampia's husband. Lucius Tampius L. l. Papa, a freedman buried...
priest, he was sent on a legation with Cardinal Manfred of S. Georgio ad velabrum to King William I of Sicily, to beg him to bring military aid to the pope...
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