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.

---

Tarpeian Rock British  

/ tɑːˈpiːən /

noun

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

---

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

Indeed, in France there is no medium between the Capitol and the Tarpeian Rock.

From Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris by Labouchere, Henry

One happy morning I went, being in the vicinity, to renew the acquaintance with the Tarpeian Rock, which I had hastened to make on my first visit to Rome.

From Roman Holidays, and Others by Howells, William Dean

Manlius, Capitolinus, a Roman hero who, in 390 B.C., saved Rome from an attack of the Gauls, and who was afterwards for treason thrown down the Tarpeian Rock.

From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin