Capitolinus

This name derives from the Imperial Latin “Căpĭtōlīnus,” meaning “Capitoline,” from the Latin “Căpĭto,” meaning “big head” “which in turn derives from the Latin “căput,” meaning “head, start, beginning, origin.” 1) The Capitoline Wolf (Italian: Lupa Capitolina) is a bronze sculpture of a she-wolf suckling twin human infants, inspired by the legend of Rome’s founding. 2) Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus was a Roman statesman and general. He was a member of the gens Quinctia, one of the oldest patrician families in Rome. 3) Capitoline Hill was the citadel (the equivalent of the ancient Greek Acropolis) of the earliest Romans. By the 16th-century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol derives from Capitoline. 4) Aelia Capitolina, a Roman colony, built under the emperor Hadrian on the site of Jerusalem, which was in ruins since the siege of 70 AD, leading in part to the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136.