Scalae Gemoniae: The Stairs of Death

Not too far from Tarpeian Rock , a cliff on Capitoline Hill in the center of Rome, where convicted criminals were once flung to their deaths, there stood another gruesome execution site. It was a flight of stairs leading from the Arx of Capitoline Hill down to the Roman Forum below. Near the stairs stood Mamertine Prison, where many of the criminals who met horrific deaths at the stairs were imprisoned. A section of the Gemonian stairs in Rome. Photo: RussieseO/Shutterstock.com The Gemonian stairs, or Scalae Gemoniae, were constructed at the turn of the first century, possibly by Emperor Augustus, but it was during the time of his successor Tiberius, that the stairs started playing the infamous role. Tiberius had many of his political opponents, including Lucius Sejanus, who tried to conspire against him, executed at the stairs. Falling down a flight of stairs by itself was seldom fatal, so the condemned was usually strangled, then their lifeless bodies bound and thrown down the stairs. The bodies remained at the bottom of the stairs for a few days until they started to rot or were partially scavenged by dogs and vultures. When Lucius Sejanus’s body came tumbling down the stairs, the frenzied crowd themselves tore it to pieces. The corpses were then dragged off with a hook and thrown into the Tiber. After Tiberius’s death in 37 AD, the practice of execution on the stairs became less frequent, although the stairs continued to be used in this fashion throughout the imperial period. One famous victim of the stairs was emperor Vitellius. During the brutal battle for Rome between Vitellius' forces and the armies of Vespasian, in 69 AD, Vitellius was dragged out of his hiding place and driven to the Gemonian stairs, where he was tortured to death. His body was then flung down the stairs where it was attacked by Rome’s residents. Indeed, getting executed and abused on the stairs was a matter of great shame and dishonor for the dead.