Horti Agrippinae

The Horti Agrippinae (Gardens of Agrippina) was a luxurious villa-estate belonging to Agrippina the Elder in ancient Rome. They were located on west bank of the river Tiber[1] where St. Peter's Basilica is now, and extended to the river where a terrace with a portico was built.

Horti of ancient Rome

Her son Caligula inherited the horti[2] and as a chariot-racing enthusiast built the so-called Circus of Nero there. After the Great Fire of Rome in 64, Nero had the first Christians persecuted and (presumably) executed in these horti.[3] One of them was the Apostle Peter, who was crucified in the circus. He was buried in the nearby necropolis on Via Cornelia and in the centuries that followed his tomb became a place of pilgrimage. In 324 Constantine the Great therefore had the first St. Peter's Basilica built on the grounds of the Gardens of Agrippina and the circus.

See also

References
  1. Seneca, De ira III 18.4
  2. Philo, On the Embassy to Gaius II 572
  3. Tacitus, Annales XV 39.2, 44.5

Bibliography


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.