The name is written
Ad Rubras in the
Peutingeriana Tabula, while
Martial calls the place simply
Rubrae. This form of the name is also found in the
Jerusalem Itinerary although the proper reference appears to have been Saxa Rubra, which is used both by
Livy and
Cicero. The former mentions it during the
wars between Rome and Veii, in connection with the
operations from the
Cremera in 478 BC (Liv. ii. 49); and Cicero notes it as a place in the immediate vicinity of Rome, where
Marcus Antonius halted before entering the city. (Cic.
Phil. ii. 3. 1) It was also here that Antonius,
Vespasian's general, arrived on his march upon Rome, when he learned of the successes of the Vitellians and the death of
Sabinus. (
Tac. Hist. iii. 79.) At a much later period (312) it was also the point to which
Maxentius advanced to meet
Constantine previous to the
battle at the Milvian bridge. (Vict.
Caes. 40. § 23.) Martial (
l. c.) states that a village had grown up on the spot, as would naturally be the case with a station so immediately in the neighborhood of the city. On a hill on the right of the Via Flaminia, a little beyond
Prima Porta, are considerable ruins, which are believed to be those of the villa of Livia, known by the name of
Ad Gallinas, which was situated from Rome, on the Via Flaminia. (
Plin. xv. 30. s. 40;
Suet. Galb. 1.) ==References==