TARPEIAN ROCK (RUPE TARPEA) IS A steep cliff located on the southern side of the Capitoline Hill, just above the Roman Forum. For centuries, the location was used to execute criminals by throwing them from the 80 foot(25-meter) high cliff ledge to the Forum below. This method of execution carried a stigma of shame and was considered a fate worse than death.

It was reserved for the most heinous of criminals and was used as punishment for treason, murder, and perjury. According to legend Tarpeia, the daughter of Roman commander Spurius Tarpeius, betrayed Rome and opened the doors of the city to the Sabine king Titus Tatius. Tatius was attacking Rome in the aftermath of the Rapes of the Sabines during the 8th-century BC.