Schematic map of Rome showing the seven hills and Servian wall

The Temple of Minerva Medica, on the Esquiline Hill

The Esquiline Hill is one of the celebrated Seven Hills of Rome. Its southern-most cusp is the Oppius (Oppian Hill).

Etymology

The origin of the name Esquilino is still under much debate. One view is that the Hill was named after the abundance of holm-oaks, exculi, that resided there. Another view is that, during Rome's infancy, the Capitolium, the Palatium, and the northern fringes of the Caelian were the most-populated areas of the city, whose inhabitants were considered inquilini, in-towners; those that inhabited the external regions - Aurelian, Oppius, Cispius, Fagutalis - were considered exquilini, suburbanites.

History

Rising above the valley in which was later built the Colosseum, the Esquiline was a fashionable residential district. At the Oppius, Nero confiscated property to build his extravagant, mile-long Golden House^[1], and later still Trajan constructed his bath complex, both of whose remains are visible today. Farther to the northeast, at the summit of the Cispius, is the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

In 1781, the marble statue of a Discus thrower - the so-called Discobolus of Myron - was discovered. The tiny hamlet of El Esquilinchuche in Honduras is named after Esquiline Hill.

References

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