Tarpeian Rock

American  

[tahr-pee-uhn] / tɑrˈpi ən /

noun

1. a rock on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, from which criminals and traitors were hurled.

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Tarpeian Rock British  

/ tɑːˈpiːən /

noun

1. (in ancient Rome) a cliff on the Capitoline hill from which traitors were hurled

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Etymology

Origin of Tarpeian Rock

1600–10; < Latin ( mōns ) Tarpēi ( us ) Tarpeian (hill) + -an

Example Sentences

Roman trumpet with the rattle of the sistrum, chased the Liburnian prow with a poled barge, spread her foul mosquito nets over the Tarpeian Rock, and gave judgements among Marius’ weapons and statues.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

Someone looking for bad omens might have found one in the name of the hill where it’s built, Roca Tarpeya; the Tarpeian Rock was an execution ground in ancient Rome.

From The Guardian • Sep. 15, 2017

The Tarpeian Rock, from which the condemned used to be thrown by the ancient Romans, is close by this edifice, if the Rupe Tarpeia still pointed out is the veritable one.

From The Youthful Wanderer An Account of a Tour through England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany by Heffner, George H.

I then went to look at the Tarpeian Rock, but the accumulation of earth has diminished its height—there is the Rock, but in a very obscure hole.

From The Greville Memoirs A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV, Vol. I by Reeve, Henry

On the other side of the Capitol is the Tarpeian Rock, and at the foot of this rock we find at the present time a hospital, called The Hospital of Consolation.

From Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2) Or Italy by Greig, R. S.