OPPIUS MONS
the southern spur of the Esquiline hill (Varro,
LL v. 50),
separated from the
CISPIUS (q.v.) on the north by the valley of the
Subura, and from the Caelius on the south by the valley of the Colosseum.
The Oppius and the Cispius united to form the Esquiline plateau just
inside the line of the Servian wall. In the divisions of the
SEPTIMONTIUM
FAGUTAL (Fest. 341, 348) (q.v.) appears as an independent locality, so
that we may infer that originally Oppius was strictly applied to this
spur except the western end (HJ 254-257 ; Mon.
L. xv. 782-785). Part
of this western end was also called
CARINAE (q.v.). The name Oppius
continued in use, at least for religious purposes, to the end of the republic
(CIL i². 1003 =vi. 32455-for this inscription, which mentions the Montani
montis Oppi, cf. also
PAGUS MONTANUS;
BC 1887, 156;
Mitt. 1889, 278;
DE ii. 2159-61); no later instance has been found. Oppius, according
to Varro (Fest. 348), was a citizen of Tusculum, who came to the assistance
of the Romans while Tullus Hostilius was besieging Veil, but the etymology
of the word is obscure. It may possibly be that of a clan located at this
point (Jord. i. I. 183-188) and it is noteworthy that it is a plebeian
gentilicium (v.
SEPTIMONTIUM). Detlefsen's conjecture (Bull. d.
Inst.
1861, 18) that Oppius is derived from Oppidus is revived by Pinza
(Mon.
L. xv. 782), who regards the name as comparatively late.
