The Esquiline Hill is the largest of the Seven Hills of Rome. It lies northeast of the Palatine Hill and just south of the Viminal Hill. In antiquity the Esquiline consisted of three main spurs: the Oppian, Fagutal, and Cispian.
Ancient historians report that the hill was incorporated into the city during the reign of Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome. Both Livy (1.44.3-4) and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (4.13.2-3) state that Servius Tullius expanded the city’s boundaries to include the Esquiline and even moved his residence there. Archaeological evidence suggests the area had already been inhabited long before this royal reorganization. According to archaeologist Filippo Coarelli, an Iron Age necropolis discovered on the hill in the 19th century indicates early settlement. Coarelli also notes that the name Exquiliae likely meant “the inhabited area outside the city,” suggesting that the district began as a suburb beyond the earliest city limits.
In the imperial period the Esquiline became one of the most densely populated areas of Rome, and today it preserves a remarkable concentration of ancient remains.
The Oppian Spur
On the Oppian spur, in the modern Parco del Colle Oppio, visitors can see scattered remains of the Baths of Trajan. Built in 104 CE during the reign of Trajan, these enormous baths once overlooked the nearby Colosseum and the surrounding valley. Nearby stands the Sette Sale Cistern, which likely supplied water to the baths. Just north of the complex once stood the Porticus of Livia.
The Baths of Trajan were partly constructed over the remains of Domus Aurea, the vast palace built by Nero after the Great Fire of Rome. The historian Suetonius describes the extraordinary luxury of this palace. According to his account, it contained porticos a mile long, dining rooms with ivory-paneled ceilings that could release flowers and perfume, and baths supplied with seawater.
Another imperial bath complex once stood nearby: the Baths of Titus. Little remains today except a few structural fragments north of the Colosseum. Coarelli suggests that these baths may actually have been a renovation or adaptation of bathing facilities already present within the Domus Aurea.
The Cispian Spur
On the summit of the Cispian spur stands Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas. Built in the fifth century CE, it contains some of the earliest surviving Christian mosaics in the city.
Several ancient monuments also surround the basilica. Behind it stands the Esquiline Obelisk, which was brought to Rome by Augustus to decorate his mausoleum. In front of the basilica stands the Colonna della Pace, a surviving column from the massive vault of the Basilica of Maxentius.
The Porta Esquilina and the Imperial Gardens
Moving east from the basilica brings visitors to the Porta Esquilina, one of the gates in the Servian Wall. In the third century CE this gate was transformed into the Arch of Gallienus. Originally a triple arch, only the central opening survives today.
Beyond this gate lay the suburban gardens known as the horti. These luxurious estates belonged to wealthy Romans and were decorated with sculptures, fountains, and elaborate pavilions. Among the most famous were the Gardens of Maecenas, owned by Gaius Maecenas, a close ally of Augustus and a renowned patron of the arts. Parts of this garden complex can still be visited today, most notably the so-called Auditorium of Maecenas. Once thought to be an auditorium, it is now generally interpreted as a richly decorated triclinium, or dining room. Many statues from these gardens are now displayed in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme and the Capitoline Museums.
Part of the Horti Lamiani can now be visited at the Museo Ninfeo beneath Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. Nearby stands the so-called Temple of Minerva Medica, which was likely a monumental hall or dining room within an imperial estate rather than an actual temple.
Also within the piazza is the impressive Nymphaeum of Alexander Severus, built by Alexander Severus in 226 CE. This monumental fountain distributed water to the surrounding district.
Porta Maggiore and the Southeastern Esquiline
Further southeast stands the imposing Porta Maggiore. This monumental gateway marked the point where the Via Labicana and the Via Praenestina exited the city. It was transformed into its present monumental form during the reign of Claudius and later restored by Vespasian and Titus.
The gate also served an architectural function: it supported the aqueduct channels of the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus. In the third century CE it was incorporated into the Aurelian Wall and later reinforced under Honorius.
Just outside the gate stands the remarkable Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker, built by a wealthy freedman who made his fortune in the baking industry.
The Sessorian Palace and the Horti Variani
In the southern part of the Esquiline stands the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Nearby lie the remains of the Sessorian Palace, an imperial residence used by the Severan Dynasty and later by Helena, mother of Constantine.
Within this area stood the Circus Varianus and the Amphitheatrum Castrense. The circus was constructed by Caracalla, and the emperor Elagabalus is said to have raced chariots there. The circus was also the site where the Pincian Obelisk was discovered after it had been transported from Antinoöpolis by Elagabalus.
Bibliography:
- Claridge, Amanda. Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Coarelli, Filippo. Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014.
- La Regina, Adriano. Archaeological Guide to Rome. Translated by John Denton. Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2005.
The earlier general name for the MONS OPPIUS and MONS CISPIUS, the two projections from the high ground on the east of the city afterwards known as the mons Esquilinus. Esquiliae is in form a place-name and was so treated grammatically (Cic. de nat. deor. iii. 63; de legg. ii. 28; cf. Madvig, Kl. Schrift. 299). It is derived from ex‑colo (Walde, Etym. Wörterb. s.v.; cf. inquilinus, and for fanciful etymologies, Varro, LL V.49; Ov. Fast. III.245), and meant ‘an outside settlement,’ that is, the settlement on the Oppius and Cispius when that district was still beyond the limits of the Palatine city.
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Von Duhn’s explanation (Italische Graberkunde i. 468 sqq.) of Esquiliae as ‘ Nicht-Wohngebiet,’ i.e. necropolis, is tempting. He points out that it was devoted to this use as early as the time of the Kings, though (p. 434) he also notes that very few cremation tombs have actually been found–so far as we can gather from the insufficient reports that are the only sources of our information. In point of time its use is of course later than that of the necropolis of the forum, belonging as it does to the period after the enlargement of the Septimontium into the city of the four regions. Regio Esquilina was the second in the City of the Four Regions (Varro, LL v. 49-50), and comprised the Oppius, Cispius, Subura and Argiletum. Its eastern limit must have been the ancient necropolis which began near the present S. Martino ai Monti (KH i.). After the Servian wall was built, the eastern limit of the region probably coincided with the wall, and the adjacent district beyond was organised as the PAGUS MONTANUS (q.v.). At the end of the republic the PUTICULI (q.v.) were ultra Esquilias (Varro, LL v. 25). This region was well wooded at first, as is shown by the several luci (Fagutalis, Mefitis, Esquilinus, Lucinae) within its limits.
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Cite this page as: Darius Arya, The American Institute for Roman Culture, “Esquilinus Mons (Esquiline Hill),” Ancient Rome Live. Last modified 03/16/2026. https://ancientromelive.org/esquilinus-mons-esquiline-hill/
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