Archaic age Under the reign of
Tullus Hostilius, the entire population of
Alba Longa was forcibly resettled on the Caelian Hill. According to a tradition recounted by
Varro, the hill received its name from the
Etruscan folk hero
Caelius Vibenna, because he either settled there or was honored posthumously by his friend
Servius Tullius. Other authors have linked the name to the
Latin caelum, "
heaven". Nevertheless, the former name of the hill probably was
Querquetulanus mons due to the abundance of
oaks (Latin:
Quercus). Scholarship suggests that there existed the ethnic name
Querquetulani as a designation of the previous inhabitants of Caelius, in pre-Etruscan times. of a fresco in the
François Tomb at
Vulci. Caelius Vibenna is the far left. 4th century BC
Mons Caelius would have been included in the city perimeter under the reign of
Ancus Marcius. The list of
Septimontium mentions it, and it was part of the 1st city quarter (
Suburana) in the division made by Servius Tullius. In the later
Augustan division, it became the
Regio II Caelimontium. A trace of the archaic period remains in the memory of cults of woods and sources, such as that of the
nymph Egeria in the wood of
Camenae, just outside
Porta Capena.
Numa Pompilius is said to have been particularly devoted to his sanctuary.
Republican age In the
Republican age (as well as in
Imperial Rome) the Caelian Hill was a fashionable residential district and the site of residences of the wealthy. A section of
Pliny the Elder's
Natural History, "Who Was the First to Encrust the Walls of Houses at Rome with Marble", attests to this.
Mamurra, a soldier who
served under
Julius Caesar in
Gaul and profited tremendously from corruption, achieved this expensive feat on the Caelian Hill;
Horace and
Catullus mocked him accordingly. Most of the hill was outside the boundaries of the
pomerium, therefore temples to foreign divinities were allowed to be built, such as the Temple of Minerva Capta or the old Sacellum of Diana, outside the
Servian Wall. Some sepulchres, such as the burial chamber in Via Celimontana, just before
Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano, date back to this period.
Imperial age statue of
Agrippina the Younger as a priestess of the divine
Claudius, 54–59 AD, was discovered on the Caelian Hill in 1885. Under
Augustus the Caelian Hill was one of the
14 divisions of the town, called
Caelimontium. The area between the
Lateran and
Porta Maggiore was included in the v Regio (
Esquiliae), though physically it is part of the hill. On the higher point of the side facing the Colosseum, the
Temple of Claudius was erected on a huge supporting platform. It was dedicated to the Emperor
Claudius and begun by his widow
Agrippina after his death and deification in 54 AD; it was not ultimately finished until the reign of
Vespasian.
Nero added a grand
nymphaeum (tiered water fountain) to the eastern retaining wall of this platform, with semi-circular and rectangular niches. The water to supply this fountain was supplied by a special branch of the
Aqua Claudia, called the
Arcus Neroniani, which extended 2 kilometres west from the Claudia at
Porta Maggiore and terminated on the southern side of the Caelian Hill in a structure called the
Aqueductium. The
Aqueductium distributed the water via conduits to reservoirs behind the nymphaeum and to the site of the temple. The remains found in the area of the hill allow one to reconstruct a conspicuous housing phase in the second half of the 2nd century AD, while former buildings of the 1st century BC were probably destroyed by a fire in AD 27.
Jerome alleges that
Marcus Aurelius was born on the Caelian Hill in AD 121. It is possible that this uprising was somehow connected with the senatorial and equestrian classes, as Aurelian executed several senators. The buildings of the Caelian hill were badly damaged during the
sack of Alaric in 410; starting from this period, the hill was subject to increasing abandonment and ruralization.
Middle Ages In the 6th century it was part of the II Roman
ecclesiastical region due to its proximity to the Lateran basilica, so much so that the toponym of "Laterano" was often used for the entire hill. The erection of the
Patriarchium, which probably dates back to the 6th century, gave rise to the creation of various
tituli (the oldest places of Christian worship, often within private houses) and
xenodochia (centers for the assistance and reception of pilgrims and sick). New churches continued to be built, initially to supersede the former
tituli, later independently, such as the
Basilica of Saints John and Paul, the
Basilica of the Four Crowned Martyrs, the
Basilica of St. Mary in Domnica, the
Basilica of St. Stephen in the Round, the
church of San Giovanni a Porta Latina, the
church of San Gregorio al Celio, the
church of San Tommaso in Formis, the
church of San Sisto Vecchio. Monasteries, often surrounded by estates and gardens, were also founded on the hill, as well as some towers of noble families, mainly in the 10th and 11th centuries. A new destruction was suffered with the
sack of 1084. From the 12th century, it was part of the
Regio Montium, which even extended to the
Quirinal Hill.
Later history '' by
Charles Lock Eastlake, 1823 Today the Caelian Hill is included in the
Rione of the same name and, continuing its vocation for assistance, hosts the
Policlinico Militare del Celio, built on a project by Salvatore Bianchi and Filippo Laccetti.
George Santayana lived in a room at the Convent of
English Blue Sisters on the Caelian Hill from 1912 until his death. == Monuments ==