The Carmental Gate , also known by its Latin name as the Porta Carmentalis , was a double gate in the Servian Walls of ancient Rome . It was named for a nearby shrine to the goddess or nymph Carmenta , whose importance in early Roman religion is also indicated by the assignment of one of the fifteen flamines to her cult, and by the archaic festival in her honor, the Carmentalia . The shrine was to the right as one exited the gate.
18-410: The gate's two arches seem to have been set at angles, and were known by separate names. It was unlucky to leave the city through the arch called Porta Scelerata ("Accursed Gate"), which was supposed to have been named for the military disaster at Cremera in 479 or 478 BC, since the 306 Fabii who died had departed through it. The Servian Walls, however, did not exist at that time. The accursed nature of
36-630: The Forum Olitorium , Rome's vegetable market. The Carmental Gate was rebuilt by Domitian and topped with a sculpture group of a triumphal chariot drawn by elephants, to celebrate his campaign against the Sarmatians and the Marcomanni . The gate is depicted in relief sculpture dating to the reign of Marcus Aurelius . It was eventually destroyed by order of the emperor Constantine I . The Vicus Iugarius forked just before reaching
54-646: The Roman Republic and the Etruscan city of Veii , in 477 BC ( AUC 277). It most likely occurred on 18 July, although Ovid gives a different date of 13 February. Since the overthrow of the Roman monarchy in 509 BC, the Roman Republic and its neighbour Veii had been at peace. Conflict erupted, however, in 483 BC with a series of clashes that occurred almost annually. Rome
72-622: The Aequi and in 462 BC, when both consuls were occupied with fighting both the Aequi and Volscians, Fabius was appointed as Praefectus urbi and given command in Rome. During his third consulate, he besieged Antium and helped the Tusculans to rescue their city, which was occupied by the Aequi . In the end, he attacked the Aequi fleeing from Tusculum, killing many of them near Mount Algidus . In
90-473: The Aequi retreated to their own territory. However the Aequi immediately returned to Latium and began pillaging the countryside. Fabius successfully ambushed the Aequi and routed them, recovering all the bounty that had been taken from the Latin territory. He then pursued the Aequi into their own territory and ravaged their lands, later returning to Rome with much bounty and glory. The war would continue with
108-533: The Aequi. In his second consulship in 465 BC Fabius was given a special command against the Aequi. He sought to persuade the Aequi to make peace, however the Aequi rejected that offer, and marched to Algidum . The Romans were so offended by the Aequian behaviour that the second consul Quinctius was sent with another Roman army against the Aequi. A battle was fought and the Romans were successful, following which
126-773: The Carmental Gate, with one branch passing through the Forum Holitorium by making a right curve around the foot of the Capitoline Hill , and the other passing through the Forum Boarium to the mouth of the Cloaca Maxima on the Tiber . The precise location of the Carmental Gate itself remains unclear, despite excavations in the area from the late 1930s onward. Livy names the Carmental Gate as
144-534: The Cremera in 477 BC, since he was too young to be sent to war. He was consul of the Roman Republic three times: In his first consulship there was popular agitation for an agrarian law , which had been the cause of much social conflict at Rome for many years. Fabius successfully brought an end to the conflict by passing a law that the lands of the Volsci at the new Roman colony of Antium be distributed amongst
162-531: The Fabii. The Veientes were superior in number; however, the Romans formed a wedge formation, broke through and reached a hill, where they successfully repulsed the initial Veientine attacks, until some of the Veientes went around the Romans to attack them from the rear, uphill from the Romans. All of the Fabii were slaughtered save Quintus Fabius Vibulanus , who was too young to be sent to war. Upon hearing of
180-597: The Porta Scelerata for entering, and the Triumphalis for exiting. Funeral processions reversed the normal direction of traffic flow for the Scelerata, as the triumphal procession did for the Triumphalis. Augustus was accorded the special honor of having his funeral procession exit by the Triumphalis. The temples of Mater Matuta , Fortuna , Juno Sospita , and Spes were located nearby, the later two at
198-456: The countryside, until they were defeated by the Romans in the following year. Quintus Fabius Vibulanus (consul 467 BC) Quintus Fabius Vibulanus , son of Marcus Fabius Vibulanus (consul 483 BC), was consul of the Roman Republic and one of the second set of decemviri . According to Livy , Quintus was the only male to escape the slaughter of the gens Fabia at the Battle of
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#1732776616107216-415: The following year, 458 BC, he was one of three ambassadors sent by the senate to demand recompense from the Aequi for the breaking of a treaty. Later in the year, during the dictatorship of Cincinnatus , Fabius was again appointed Praefectus urbi and held command in Rome. In 450 BC, Appius Claudius named him one of the second set of decemviri, ten men given absolute authority in Rome while they compiled
234-583: The gate probably derives from the transport of corpses out of the city proper to funeral pyres on the Campus Martius . The family tomb of the Claudii was located outside the Carmental Gate. The other gate was the Porta Triumphalis . A governor returning from his province could not enter through this gate unless he had been awarded a triumph . It therefore must have been routine to use
252-682: The grave defeat, the Roman Senate sent the consul Titus Menenius Lanatus with an army against the Veientes, but the Romans were defeated once again. The Veientes marched on Rome, and occupied the Janiculum . There were two indecisive battles against the Veientes, the first near the temple of Spes near the Praenestine Gate , and the second at the Colline Gate . Thereafter the Veientes withdrew from Rome and set about ravaging
270-487: The main battle which followed. The Veientes, embarrassed by their lack of success, formed plans for an ambush of the Fabii. The Veientes led a herd of cattle along a road, at a distance from the Fabian camp at the Cremera, in order to lure the Romans from their camp and into an ambush. The Romans pursued the herd and scattered to capture the animals. At that point, the Veientes sprang from their hiding places and surrounded
288-414: The plebs. Three commissioners were named for the purpose of dividing the lands Titus Quintius , Aulus Verginius , and Publius Furius . Also in 467 BC, Fabius led a Roman army against the Aequi . The Aequi sued for peace, which was granted, however the Aequi broke the peace shortly after with a raid into the Latin territory. The following year Fabius was sent by the senate to demand restitution from
306-651: The point of entry for a ritual procession undertaken in 207 BC as part of an expiatory sacrifice for Juno . Two white cows were led from the Temple of Apollo through the gate and along the Vicus Iugarius to the Forum. 41°53′29″N 12°28′49″E / 41.89139°N 12.48028°E / 41.89139; 12.48028 Battle of the Cremera The Battle of the Cremera was fought between
324-513: Was victorious in a close-fought battle in 480 BC; nevertheless, hostilities continued. In 479 BC, the family of the Fabii offered to take the Roman responsibility for the war upon themselves, which the Roman senate accepted. The Fabii built a camp on the Cremera , from which they harassed Veii and held back its raids on Rome. The Fabii were successful in the fighting in 478 BC and 477 BC prior to
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