"Clivus" is Latin for incline or slope; "multrum" is a Swedish composite word meaning "compost room," thus a "Clivus Multrum" is an inclining compost room.
The main road to the Roman Capitol, the Clivus Capitolinus ("Capitoline Rise") starts at the head of the Forum Romanum beside the Arch of Tiberius as a continuation of the Via Sacra; proceeding around the Temple of Saturn and turning to the south in front of the Portico Dii Consentes, it then climbs up the slope of the Capitoline Hill to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus at its summit.