Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Puticuli

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

PUTIC'ULI or -LAE. Grave pits in which the bodies of slaves and people of the poorest classes, who could not afford the expense of a private tomb, or of a funeral pyre, were interred as in a public burial ground. Originally they were situated on the Esquiline hill, but were removed from that locality in the time of Augustus, out of regard for the healthiness of the district, the site being subsequently occupied by the palace and gardens of Mecaenas. Varro, L. L. v. 25. Festus, s. v. Compare Hor. Sat. i. 8. 10.