Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Arx

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

ARX (ἀκρόπολις). The fortress or citadel of an ancient town. These were always formed upon the top of a steep hill, or an abrupt and precipitous rock, rising out of the general level of the plain upon which the habitable parts of the city were built. They required, therefore, but little artificial fortification, in addition to the natural difficulties of the site, beyond that of a wall at the top, and of a gate and tower to command the principal access. Many of these citadels are still to be traced in various parts of Greece and Italy, all of which are constructed in the manner described. They are not fortified upon any regular plan, nor have they any precise shape, but merely follow the outline of the summit on which they stand. The illustration (Arx/1.1) here inserted is from a sketch of the Acropolis at Athens, as it now remains, with some columns of the temple of Jupiter Olympius in the plain below, which will serve to convey a general notion of the common appearance of these fortresses. Like the Arx of Rome, it contains the principal temples of the deities who presided over the city, which were placed within the enclosure for the sake of protection.

2. Of the ARX at Rome no positive traces now remain, the site upon which it formerly stood being entirely covered with modern buildings. It occupied, however, the most northern and lofty of the two summits into which the crown of the Capitoline hill was divided, facing toward the Via Flaminia and Mons Esquilinus, and upon the area on which the church of Ara-celi (supposed to be a corruption of Arce) now stands. Niebuhr, Hist. Rom. i. p. 502. transl.

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  Arx/1.1