Pomoerium

Definition: The pomoerium (post + murum) was an area around the circumference of a city. Rome, like Etruscan cities, had a pomoerium. This perimeter was marked by pillars called cippi pomoerii. The line was originally drawn using a plough which engraved a line in the dirt and made a mound on the city side. This mound is the "wall" of the pomoerium. It changed over time. In Rome, almost everyone was buried beyond the limits of the city or pomoerium, which is thought to have been a disease-reducing practice from the early days when burial was more common than cremation. The Campus Martius, although an important part of Rome, was beyond the pomoerium during the Republic and for part of the Empire.

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