VATICANUS AGER
(1) VATICANUS AGER
the district on the right bank of the
Tiber, between its lower reaches and the more restricted Veientine
territory (Plin.
NH iii. 53:
Tiberis . . citra xvi milia passuum urbis
Veientem agrum a Crustumino, dein Fidenatem Latinumque a Vaticano
Dirimens;
Liv. x. 26. 15 (295 B.C.):
alii duo exercitus baud procul
urbe Etruriae oppositi unus in Falisco, alter in Vaticano agro). Its
fertility is spoken of slightingly by Cicero (de leg. agr. ii. 96), its wines
are frequently derided by Martial (i. 18. 2;
vi. 92. 3;
x. 45. 5;
xii.
48. 14), and references to farms or estates are very few (
Gell. xix. 17. I:
in agro Vaticano Iulius Paulus poeta. .. herediolum tenue possidebat;
Symm.
Ep. vi. 58. I:
rus Vaticanum quod vestro praedio cohaeret
Accessimus;
vii. 21:
urbanas turbas Vaticano in quantum licet rure
Declino). This name continued long in use, for it occurs in Solinus
(ii. 34:
Claudio principe ubi Vaticanus ager est in alveo occisae boae
spectatus est solidus infans, from Pliny,
NH viii. 37, where in Vaticano
is used for Vaticanus ager), and in Gellius (xvi. 17. 1-2:
et agrum Vaticanum et eiusdem agri deum praesidem appellatum acceperamus a
vaticiniis quae vi atque instinctu eius dei in eo agro fieri solita essent ...
sed praeter hanc causam M. Varro in libris divinarum aliam tradit istius
nominis rationem: non sicut Aius.. ita Vaticanus deus nominatus
penes quem essent vocis humanae initia . .), who gives two current
explanations of the name.
It is probable that the adjective form, Vaticanus, is derived from
some substantive, perhaps Vaticanum (Elter, see below), or from the early
Etruscan name of some settlement, like Vatica or Vaticum (Niebuhr), of
which all other traces have vanished, except possibly the cognomen
Vaticanus which is found twice in the consular Fasti in 455 and 451 B.C.
(RE i. A. 1071 ;
BC 1908, 23-26).
(2) VATICANI MONTES
without much doubt a general designation for
the hills in the ager Vaticanus, but used, in its only occurrence in litera-
ture, of the long ridge from the Janiculum to the modern Monte Mario
(Cic. ad
Att. xiii. 33. 4:
a ponte Milvio Tiberim duci sccundum montes
Vaticanos, campum Martium coacdificari, illum autem campus Vaticanum fieri quasi Martium campum). Here campus Vaticanus must
be used of the whole district between Monte Mario and the Tiber, known
in modern times until very recently as the Prati di Castello.
(3) VATICANUS MONS
in the singular could be used of any one of the
montes within the limits of the ager Vaticanus. It occurs ian Horace
(
Carm. i. 20. 7:
redderet laudes tibi Vaticani montis imago, cf. Porphyr.
et Acron ad loc.), where it means the Janiculum, and in Juvenal (6. 344:
et Vaticano fragiles de monte patellas), where it is more general, as the
clay pits are scattered all along this ridge. Festus' Vaticanus collis
(379:
Vaticanus collis appellatus est quod eo potitus sit populus Romanus
vatum responso expulsis Etruscis) is to be explained as a mere variant
of mons, introduced simply for the sake of the etymology. There is
no evidence that Vaticanus mons was a specific name for any one part
of the ridge during the classical period. It was in consequence of the
gradual restriction of Vaticanum (see below) to the area occupied by the
CIRCUS GAI ET NERONIS (q.v.), and the identification of this site as the
burial place of S. Peter, that Vaticanus mons became localised in its
mediaeval and modern sense (Prud. c.
Symm. i. 583:
qui... Vaticano
tumulum sub monte frequentat quo cinis ille latet genitoris amabilis
obses). With this new importance in Christian Rome, it took its place
among the seven hills (Not. app.).
(4) VATICANA VALLIS
used once, by Tacitus, for the site of the
circus Gai et Neronis (
Ann. xiv. 14:
clausumque valle Vaticana spatium
in quo equos regeret, haud promiscuo spectaculo), or, if not for its exact
site, for the entrance to the depression of the modern Vicolo del Gelsomino, just south-west of the area occupied by the circus proper.
(5) VATICANUM
the substantive, either an original place name or
the neuter of the adjective (see above), which was used first to designate,
in whole or in part, the level district between the Janiculum-Monte
Mario ridge and the Tiber, being more or less equivalent to Cicero's
campus Vaticanus, and extending south, probably to the city limits
proper (Plin.
NH xviii. 20:
aranti quattuor sua iugera in Vaticano
quae PRATA QUINCTIA (q.v.) appellantur Cincinnato viator attulit
dictaturam;
viii. 37;
xvi. 237:
vetustior autem urbe in Vaticano
ilex). Part at least of this district was regarded as unhealthy (Tac.
Hist. ii. 93:
infamibus Vaticani locis magna pars tetendit); thrice
tombs are mentioned that probably stood along the line of the modern
Borghi (Hist. Aug. Ver. 6. 4; Elag. 23. I; Acro ad Hor. Ep. 9. 25:
tunc
levati cineres eius sunt de pyramide in Vaticano constituta); and it
contained a recognised pauper element in its population (Amm.
Marcell.
xxvii. 3. 6:
accitos a Vaticano quosdam egentes opibus ditaverat magnis).
With the building of the circus Gai et Neronis, which was also called
circus Vaticanus (Plin. NI-I xvi. 201;
xxxvi. 74), increased importance
was given to this particular area, and Vaticanum then came to be used
of the circus itself, as well as of the whole district (Suet. Claud. 21. 2:
circenses frequenter etiam in Vaticano commisit; Amm.
Marcell. xvii. 4.
16:
quorum unus (obeliscus) in Vaticano; Not. Reg. XIV, cf. however,
Pr. Reg. 207).
Another application of the name Vaticanum seems to have been to
the shrine of the Magna Mater, whose cult was established close to the
circus (cf.
FRIGIANUM), if we may judge from an inscription found at
Lyon (
CIL xiii. 1751:
L. Aemilius Carpus vires excepit et a Vaticano
transtulit; cf. also an inscription of 236 A.D. from Kastell near Mayence,
ib. 728 :
deae Virtuti Bellonae montem Vaticanum vetustate conlabsum
restituerun(t) hastiferi civitatis Mattiacor.) (Jord. i. I. 438; HJ 623;
Gilb. ii. 122;
iii. 449; and especially Elter,
RhM 1891, 112-138).