{"id":2264,"date":"2026-03-20T12:10:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=2264"},"modified":"2026-07-19T09:52:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T13:52:33","slug":"via-del-portico-ottavia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=2264","title":{"rendered":"Via\u00a0del\u00a0Portico\u00a0Ottavia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"399\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-1998.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-1998.png 399w, https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-1998-300x226.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Via del Portico Ottavia&nbsp;remains&nbsp;the&nbsp;<strong>principal thoroughfare&nbsp;<\/strong>of the Ghetto area.&nbsp;Along its route is the 15<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;century house,&nbsp;<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Casa di Lorenzo&nbsp;Manilio&nbsp;#1<\/span><\/strong>&nbsp;(Aedes&nbsp;Manliana),&nbsp;with&nbsp;ancient&nbsp;Roman&nbsp;funerary fragments&nbsp;from Via Appia embedded in its walls. His name, abbreviated in Latin (LAVR MANLIUS) and a date (MMCCXXI) are inscribed on the building\u2019s wall in marble lettering. The number 2221 (MMCCXXI) signifies 2221 AUC (from the&nbsp;founding&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;City&nbsp;indicating&nbsp;the&nbsp;year&nbsp;1476&nbsp;AD&nbsp;(2221-753&nbsp;=&nbsp;1478)&nbsp;and&nbsp;indicates&nbsp;the date of construction. Lorenzo&nbsp;Manilius, a prosperous merchant of pharmaceuticals, claimed, fictitiously, connection to the ancient, 4<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;BC,&nbsp;Manlian&nbsp;family of soldiers, politicians, and&nbsp;statesmen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inscriptions&nbsp;appear&nbsp;as&nbsp;well&nbsp;on&nbsp;other&nbsp;parts&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;structure:&nbsp;his&nbsp;name&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">lintels&nbsp;above&nbsp;the&nbsp;doors&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;epigram,&nbsp;\u2018Ave&nbsp;Roma\u2019,&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;windows.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"297\" height=\"222\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-1999.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2266\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Piazza Cinque Scuole<\/span><\/strong> is a\u00a0relatively new\u00a0public square built in the 19th century when the Ghetto was demolished and named after the five synagogues (two Italian, two Spanish and one Sicilian). These were\u00a0housed in one building in this area when it was called Piazza della\u00a0Giudia. This\u00a0ghetto\u00a0structure\u00a0remained\u00a0until\u00a01910\u00a0when\u00a0it\u00a0was\u00a0partially\u00a0destroyed\u00a0by fire. The fountain in the middle of the square was\u00a0relocated\u00a0here from Piazza Giudia by Giacomo della Porta.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"147\" height=\"222\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-2001.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2268\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bordering on Piazza delle Cinque&nbsp;Scole&nbsp;and&nbsp;located&nbsp;in the area of&nbsp;the ancient Circus of Flaminius and once a part of a larger family complex stands&nbsp;<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Palazzo Cenci<\/span><\/strong>, the 16th century home of&nbsp;<strong>Beatrice Cenci&nbsp;<\/strong>beheaded for parricide in 1559.&nbsp;The&nbsp;Cencis, a large family engaged in trading&nbsp;and&nbsp;banking&nbsp;activities,&nbsp;engaged&nbsp;in&nbsp;commercial&nbsp;enterprises&nbsp;involving the Roman Curia. Beatrice lived&nbsp;in&nbsp;the back side of the palace.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"169\" height=\"223\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-2000.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2267\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her aristocratic father, Francesco, a descendent of the Byzantine Empress Theodora, but a brutal man, regularly abused his wives (two) and all his children.&nbsp;Beatrice,&nbsp;her&nbsp;step-mother&nbsp;and&nbsp;her&nbsp;two&nbsp;brothers,&nbsp;took&nbsp;their&nbsp;revenge and&nbsp;murdered&nbsp;him&nbsp;at&nbsp;one&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;estates&nbsp;outside&nbsp;the&nbsp;City.&nbsp;Despite&nbsp;the&nbsp;great sympathy they aroused among the general population of the&nbsp;City&nbsp;which requested&nbsp;for them a pardon, they went to trial in 1599. Found guilty, three&nbsp;of them executed in the&nbsp;piazza&nbsp;outside of Castel Sant\u2019Angelo. While the youngest brother (Bernardo)&nbsp;was&nbsp;spared from death, he&nbsp;was, nonetheless, forced to&nbsp;witness&nbsp;the executions (the women by beheading, the older brother by drawing and quartering) and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Pope Paul V (Borghese) confiscated the Cenci properties and distributed them among his nephews. The Villa&nbsp;Borghese, built by this Pope\u2019s nephew, Cardinal Scipio Borghese,&nbsp;represents&nbsp;one such property. Remains&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Cenci&nbsp;house&nbsp;<\/span>(Casa&nbsp;Cenci<\/strong>)&nbsp;still&nbsp;stand&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;gardens&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Villa.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"271\" height=\"217\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-2002.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2269\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beatrice\u2019s execution at&nbsp;the&nbsp;Sant\u2019Angelo&nbsp;bridge&nbsp;which her twelve-year-old brother was forced to&nbsp;witness, has been the source of much controversy then and now.&nbsp;<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Beatrice&nbsp;<\/span><\/strong>became a symbol of popular outrage toward the privileged&nbsp;aristocracy.&nbsp;In&nbsp;legend&nbsp;she&nbsp;returns&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;bridge&nbsp;annually&nbsp;on&nbsp;the anniversary of her death.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"168\" height=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-2003.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2270\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Via del Portico Ottavia&nbsp;remains&nbsp;the&nbsp;principal thoroughfare&nbsp;of the Ghetto area.&nbsp;Along its route is the 15th&nbsp;century house,&nbsp;Casa di Lorenzo&nbsp;Manilio&nbsp;#1&nbsp;(Aedes&nbsp;Manliana),&nbsp;with&nbsp;ancient&nbsp;Roman&nbsp;funerary fragments&nbsp;from Via Appia embedded in its walls. His name, abbreviated in Latin (LAVR MANLIUS) and a date (MMCCXXI) are inscribed on the building\u2019s wall in marble lettering. The number 2221 (MMCCXXI) signifies 2221 AUC (from the&nbsp;founding&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;City&nbsp;indicating&nbsp;the&nbsp;year&nbsp;1476&nbsp;AD&nbsp;(2221-753&nbsp;=&nbsp;1478)&nbsp;and&nbsp;indicates&nbsp;the date of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2264","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}