Chapter 5

TO THE ANNIHILATOR OF TYRANTS,AND THE AUTHOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY,TO OUR CONSTANT AND FELICITOUS LORD,ARCADIUS AUGUSTUS.ALBINUS, PREFECT OF THE CITY, ETC.,HAS ERECTED THIS.

Having now made the circuit of the Forum, we will proceed to

Beyond the Temple of Castor, to the right of the Temple of Vesta, are remains of these stairs.

"Augustus lived at first near the Roman Forum, above the Ringmaker's Stairs, in a house which had once been occupied by Calvus the orator" (Suetonius, "Augustus," lxxii.). Calvus the orator, a friend of Cicero, lived on the Palatine; and the Scalæ Annulariæ was a flight of stairs that led from the east end of the Forum up the north side of the Palatine to the Clivus Victoriæ.

On the 12th of April 1882, a piece of the marble plan was found here which, curiously enough, represents this part of the Forum, showing the side of the Temple of Castor and the Ringmaker's Stairs.

Between the Temple of Vesta and the Sacra Via was the original dwelling-place of the Vestals, of which little remains beyond tufa walls beneath the more recent level. These walls were again exposed to view in some excavations made in the spring of 1886. They are marked in black on our Plan (page 61), being now again covered up.

Martial (i. 70), in addressing his book which he sends to Proculus, says, "You will pass by the Temple of Castor, near that of ancient Vesta, and that goddess's virgin home."

Dionysius (ii. 67) says: "They live near by the temple of the goddess."

By the side of the temple is a pit four feet square, where the ashes and sweepings of the temple were deposited; which were cleared out on the 15th of June, and thrown down the Porta Stercoraria, on the Clivus Capitolinus, into the Cloaca. (Ovid, "F." vi. 237, 712; Varro, "L. L." v.; Festus.)

Beyond the Temple of Vesta, on the right, is a small brick shrine. The base of the statue of this shrine was fortunately found telling us the name.

DIOMERCVRIO

On the flank of the base is another inscription, giving us the date of its erection, April 26, 275A.D.

The brick podium of the shrine was cased with marble, one piece, one foot four inches high, beingin situon the side towards the steps. It supported an entablature of Carrara marble formed by two half-columns at the rear and two columns in front, of the fluted composite order. On the frieze is the inscription, in beautifully cut letters five inches high, recording its erection by the Roman senate and people—

SENATVS . POPVLVSQVE . ROMANVSPECVNIA . PVBLICA . FACIENDAM . CVRAVIT.

The podium is 4 feet 7 inches high, 9 feet 9 inches wide, 8 feet 2inches deep. The fragments found are to be built up in their original sites, and so the shrine will be preserved. It was originally erected by Antoninus Pius, and is represented on a bronze coin of his—the pediment being supported by four Hermes (the Greek name for Mercury) busts. In the tympanum are the tortoise, cock, ram, winged cap, caduceus, and the magic purse. When it was restored in the consulship of Aurelian and Marcellino, columns and composite capitals took the place of the Hermes busts.

The travertine steps by the side of the Shrine of Mercury led into

After the destructive fire of 192, the Forum and edifices on the Sacra Clivus were rebuilt by Septimius Severus and Julia Domna (Spartianus, Dion Cassius, Eutropius), the empress taking upon herself the special work of rebuilding the temple and residence of the Vestal Virgins; and although the original podium of the temple was used, it was considerably raised by rubble being placed on the top of the ancient tufa platform. This was necessary owing to the raising of the level fromdébris.

For the Atrium Vestæ a different site was selected, more to the south under the Palatine; in fact the whole disposition of the edifices about here was changed, as proved by comparing the earlier with the later classical notices, and the excavations of 1883–4.

DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.View larger image.

To commemorate this rebuilding a silver coin was struck by the empress, bearing her head on the obverse; and on the reverse is the Temple of Vesta in the background, in front of which stands an altar, and on either side are three virgins, two of whom are pouring an oblation over the altar.

This new arrangement of the buildings is thus exactly described by Servius (in "Æn." vii. 153): "By the Temple of Vesta was the Regia of Numa Pompilius, but near to the Atrium of Vesta, which was distinct from the temple."

Standing just inside, at the top of the steps, we have the whole Atrium Vestæ, as their residence was named, uncovered before us—a large peristylium paved with black and white mosaic, 222 feet long by 76 feet wide. Standing out thirteen feet from the boundary wall of the Atrium, and extending all round the court, were forty-fourcolumns of various marbles, whilst under the colonnade were the pedestals bearing honorary inscriptions and statues of High Vestals: sixteen on each side, six at the top, and six at the bottom. Of these, thirteen honorary inscriptions have been found dedicated to six different High Vestal Virgins, the Lady Superiors of the nunnery. Four slight fragments of other inscriptions were also found, making seventeen in all. Twelve of the statues, more or less perfect, have also been found: likewise an honorary pedestal to Caracalla; and a statue to Vettius Agorius Prætextatus, erected to this champion of paganism, 367A.D., by Cœlia Concordia, the last of the High Vestal Virgins.

At the east end of the Atrium is the fountain, beyond which is a step up on to a tesselated pavement, and from that four steps lead into the tabularium, or reception-room, having on each side three chambers, in which most probably the Vestals deposited those objects intrusted to their sacred keeping.

On each side of the Atrium were the residential chambers of the High Vestals, the simple Virgins, and their domestics, two stories high. Those on the south side are best preserved.

From the tesselated pavement a door gives access into a corridor, once paved with white and black mosaic; at the end, on the left, is a bath-chamber; and opening out from the corridor are several chambers showing traces of marble pavements, frescoed and marble-cased walls. In the second chamber are the remains of the mill for grinding the salt used in sacrifice. (See Virgil, "Buc." viii. 82; Horace, "O." iii. 23; Festus.) Pliny (xxxi. 41) says, "It is in our sacred rites more particularly that the high importance of salt is to be recognized, no offering ever being made unaccompanied by crushed salt."

This corridor does not run the whole length of the Atrium, but turns off to a flight of stairs leading to the upper chambers. The remainder of the chambers on this side were reached direct from the Atrium by steps. The first one contains a hexagonal pedestal to Flavia Publicia. From the marble and fresco decorations found here, these rooms were most probably the apartment of the High Vestal Virgin.

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The inscriptions to the High Vestals found, date between 180 and 364A.D., and were erected in return for some advantage derived from the patronage of the High Vestal. Historically they are of no great importance, giving us only names of Vestals that were already known. The most important inscriptions are those found here whichdo not refer to the Virgins. Commencing with the first pedestal at the top of the entry steps, they read as follows:—

Flavia Publicia. Erected July 9, 283A.D.

Concordiæ. Dedicated June 9, 364. She was the last High Vestal, and her name was erased because she became a Christian.

Cœlia Claudiana. 253–7A.D.

Caracalla pedestal. July 2, 114A.D.

Prætextata Crassi. 180–200A.D.

Flavia Publicia. 257–284.

Numisia Maximilla. 201–216.

Statue of an unknown Vestal; no head.

Flavia Publicia. 257–84.

Another pedestal to her, with statue adjoining.

Pedestal to Trentia Flavola. About 350.

Blank pedestal, with statue of Ceres adjoining.

Pedestal to Flavia Publicia. September 30, 257.

Statue of Vettius Agorius Prætextatus. 380.

Fragment of a seated statue.

Statue unknown.

Statue and pedestal to Flavia Publicia.

This part of the city was finally destroyed by the great fire, when Robert Guiscard burned Rome from the Lateran to the Capitol, in 1084. During this long period of nearly seven hundred years the Atrium Vestæ underwent many changes and received other tenants, for the new excavations show that it had been inhabited after the Vestals were abolished.

At the rear of the first pedestal a terra-cotta jar was discovered, containing a brooch bearing the name of Pope Martin III., 943–46; a gold coin of the Eastern Emperor Theophilus (827–42); and eight hundred and thirty Anglo-Saxon silver coins of Alfred the Great (871–900), Edward (900–24), Edgar Athelstan (925–41), and Edmund I. (941–48)—four kings of Northumbria—and of Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury (889–923). We may presume that this money was brought to Rome by some English tourist, who left his all and fled when the building was finally destroyed by fire; or that it formed part of a donation of "Peter's Pence." Ethelwulf, the English king during the time of Leo IV. (845–57), was the first English prince who gave tribute to the See of Rome; and as such his portrait is to be seen inchiaro-oscuro, by Caravaggio, in the Stanze of the Incendio del Borgo in the Vatican.

After running a course of one thousand and eighty years, Gratianin 367 "refused the office of Pontifex Maximus, and abolished the functions of the Vestal Virgins" (Zosimus, iv.), which were finally suppressed by Theodosius in 392. "Theodosius directed his attention towards the suppression of idolatry, and issued a law commanding the demolition of idolatrous temples." "The faithful emperor Theodosius interdicted these rites and consigned them to disuse" (Theodoret, v. 21).

The Bishop of Rome and his clergy came by right, as heads of the established religion, into the possessions of the defunct faiths, and inhabited the quarters of the Vestals, assuming the title of the head of the ancient religion, Pontifex Maximus, a title held to the present day—a dignity two thousand six hundred and forty years old, the oldest title in the world.

In the centre of the peristylium, just coming to the surface and occupying the whole of the width of the open court, are the foundations of an octagonal edifice in brick, with ribs running from the angles to a central circle. Here, doubtless, was the shrine in which was kept the Sacred Palladium, or fatal token of the empire of the Romans. "Fatale pignus imperii Romani" (Livy, xxvi. 27). "Kept under the safeguard of Vesta's temple" (ibid.v. 52). This was a statuette of "Minerva, by no male beheld" (Lucan, ix. 994). "The Vestals alone were permitted to behold the Trojan Minerva" (ibid.i. 598). "That fell from heaven" (Dionysius, ii. 67). It seems it was originally kept in the Temple of Vesta itself (Pliny, vii. 45; Ovid, "T." iii. 1, 39).

"The sacred image of Minerva, to which the Romans pay uncommon veneration, and which, as they say, was brought from Troy, was exposed to public view (during the fire of 192), so that the men of our age beheld the Palladium, never seen by any before since the time it came from Ilium into Italy. For the Vestal Virgins laid hold on it in the hurry and confusion, and carried it openly through the Sacred Way into the Imperial Palace" (Herodian, in "Commodus").

"Elagabalus, wanting a wife for his sun-god, sent for the sacred image of Pallas, which the Romans worship in secret from human eyes, and had it brought into his own bed-room. Thus he dared to displace the Palladium, that had never been moved since the time it came from Ilium, except when the temple was destroyed by fire, and they conveyed the goddess into the Imperial Palace" (ibid.in "Antoninus;" Lampridius, in "Elagabalus," iii.).

Fragments of a statuette of Minerva were found in the excavations.

From the Via Sacra, above the Arch of Titus, a street, passing along a ledge on the northern side of the Palatine, runs into the Vicus Tuscus at the back of the Temple of Castor. This was the street of the Vestals, separating their house from the Imperial Palace. Asconius ("ad Ciceronem pro Scauro,") speaks of it.

We now cross over to the Sacred Way.

The first object that attracts our attention is the

on the left, occupying the site and built out of the remains of two temples by Felix IV., 527A.D.The subterranean church contains a spring said to have been called forth by S. Felix. Upon the apse of the upper church is a mosaic of the time of Felix.

son of Maxentius, forms the vestibule of the present church. It was a circular building, and fronted towards the Via Sacra. The second temple Felix made into the nave of the church; it was quadrangular, and built of brick, but the western wall was of blocks of Gabii stone, forming part of the second wall of Rome, which was here utilized for the temple. It is thirty feet in diameter, and was erected in 302A.D.Ligorio ("Vatican Codex," 3439) has preserved the inscription:—

IMP . CAES . AUGUSTUS . MAXIMUS . TRIUMPHPIUS . FELIX . AUGUSTUS.

The two porphyry columns and the cornice belong to the temple; but the bronze doors are Etruscan, having been sent from Perugia by Urban VIII. in 1630. The wings on either side of the doorway were added in 772–95 by Hadrian I.; the niches, which still show traces of frescoing, being for relics of the saints. At the same time the present flooring of the church was inserted some feet above the ancient level.

On the left are slight remains of

Remains of this temple have been discovered in the recent excavationson the Sacra Via, between the Temple of Antoninus Pius and the Temple of Romulus. From the slight remains found, it seems that three of its sides were formed by deep apses, the fourth side fronting towards the Via Sacra, and entered by a portico.

Dionysius (v. 19), Plutarch in "Publicola," and Livy (ii. 7) record that Publius Valerius, surnamed Publicola, built a house on the Velia overlooking the Forum; but owing to the invidious remarks made he pulled the house down, and re-erected it at the foot of the Velia. Plutarch adds, "upon the spot where the Temple of Victory now stands." Livy also says, "The house was built at the foot of the hill where the Temple of Victory now stands." Dionysius (v. 48) says, after speaking of the poverty of Publicola, "The senate decreed that he should be buried at the expense of the public, and appointed a place in the city, under the hill called Velia, near the Forum, where his body was burnt and buried."

PLAN OF THE NORTH SIDE OF THE SACRA VIA.A Temple of Antoninus Pius.B Temple of Victory.C Temple of Romulus.D Temple of Venus and Roma.E Temple of the Penates.F Mediæval Portico.G Arch of Titus.View larger image.

PLAN OF THE NORTH SIDE OF THE SACRA VIA.

This Temple of Victory was dedicated,B.C.295, by the consul Lucius Postumus. "He dedicated the Temple of Victory, for the building of which he had provided, when curule ædile, out of the money arising from fines" (Livy, x. 33).

This temple is represented on a coin of Gordianus III., 240A.D., who restored it after his Persian victories.

erected by Hadrian in 134A.D.It was the largest and most sumptuous in Rome. It was designed by Hadrian himself, who sent the drawings to the celebrated architect Apollodorus, whom he had banished, to ask his opinion. He replied, "That Hadrian ought to have made it more lofty, and with subterraneous accommodation for receiving, as occasion might require, the machinery of the theatre, and for giving it a more imposing aspect towards the Via Sacra. That as to the statues, they were so disproportionate, that if the goddesses desired to get up and walk out, they would not be able" (Dion Cassius; Xiphilinus, "Hadrian").

For this criticism Apollodorus lost his head; and we learn that the temple wasnoton a lofty platform, that there werenosubterranean chambers, and that it wasnotimposing towards the Via Sacra. The front was towards the Forum of Peace. What is now the back of the church, in a stone-cutter's yard, was originally the front of the temple. It is mentioned by Prudentius as being in the vicinity of the Via Sacra.

"The Sacred Way resounded (they say) with lowings before the shrine of Rome; for she also herself is worshipped with blood after the fashion of a goddess, and the name of the place (Rome) is regarded as a divinity. The temples also of the city and of Venus rise with a like roof; and at one and the same time frankincense is consumed to the twin-gods."

It could not have faced the Via Sacra, or Maxentius would not have built the temple of his son against it, 311A.D.

The bronze doors of the Round Temple were found at Perugia by Urban VIII. The two columns of porphyry, with the cornice, are supposed to have been found amongst the ruins when it was turned into a church. On the right side of the present church is a piece of wall of Gabii tufa stone ofopus quadratum. At the back of the church is the brick front wall of the temple, on which the celebratedPianta Capitolinawas originally attached (seepage 185) by means of cement and cramps, and which was found below the soil under the wall, having been thrown down by an earthquake.

Suetonius tells us that Nero's colossus stood in the vestibule of his palace.

Martial says, "It was removed by Vespasian, when he builtthe Temple of Peace, to where the atrium (a more inward part) was."

It was a second time removed, for Spartianus informs us that "Hadrian removed it with twenty-four elephantsfromthe place where now stands the Temple of the City."

Thus we learn that the spot where the Temple of Rome is, was formerly the atrium of Nero's Golden House, and that the Temple of Peace occupied the vestibule.

"Maxentius restored the Temple of Venus and Rome, which had been damaged by fire" (Aur. Victor, "Cæs." xl.).

The Emperor Heraclius gave permission to Pope Honorius I. to remove the bronze tiles of this temple in order to use them for the roof of S. Peter's; whence they were stolen by the Saracens in 846.

Dion Cassius (lxxi. 31) tells us that "Cleopatra's statue in gold is to be seen in the Temple of Venus to this day." Also that "the senate ordered two statues of silver to be erected in the Temple of Venus; one in honour of Faustina, and the other in honour of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. They likewise ordered an altar to be set up before it, on which every contracted couple were to sacrifice before marriage."

Mr. J. H. Parker, C.B., made some excavations under the wall of Gabii stone in 1868–9, and found that a street ran from the Sacred Way along the side of the wall, in which was a small doorway into the temple. This has now been re-excavated by the Government (1880), who have taken possession of the Round Temple.

The government have recently pulled down the chapel of the burial society adjoining the Temple of Romulus, and on the two thousand six hundred and thirty-third anniversary of the foundation of Rome, April 21st, 1880, the two cipollino columns were found to have belonged to the

As the Lares were the departed spirits of the ancestors of each family who watched over their descendants, so the Penates were the gods selected by each family as its special protectors. And as there were the Lares of the city, so there were the Penates, whose chapel was termed Ædes Deum Penatium, and the gods were called Penates Populi Romani. These Penates were supposed to have been the gods brought from Troy by Æneas.

We learn from the "Monumentum Ancyranum," that Augustusrebuilt the Ædem Deum Penatium in Velia; and Solinus (i.) tells us that Tullus Hostilius lived on the Velia, where afterwards was the Chapel of the Penates. Dionysius thus describes it:—"For the things which I myself know, by having seen them, and concerning which no scruple forbids me to write, are as follows. They show you a temple at Rome, not far from the Forum, in the street that leads the nearest way to the Carinæ, which is small, and darkened by the height of the adjacent buildings. This place is called by the Romans, in their own language,Veliæ; in this temple are the images of the Trojan gods exposed to public view, with this inscription, ΔΕΜΑΣ, which signifies Penates. For, in my opinion, the letter θ not being yet found out, the ancients expressed its power by the letter Δ. These are two youths, in a sitting posture, each of them holding a spear; they are pieces of ancient workmanship" (Dionysius, i. 68).

In the new excavations upon the line of the Via Sacra a monumental cippus has been found, with the following inscription,—FABIUS. TITIANUS.—V. C. CONSUL.—PRAEF. URBI.—CURAVIT.

He was consul and prefect of the city,A.D.339 to 341, under the Emperor Constans I. This was one of three bases recorded as having stood in front of the Temple of Romulus in the sixteenth century, one of which is in the Museum of the Villa Borghese, and the other is in the Naples Museum.

Another base was found, dedicated to the Emperor Constantius II. by Flavius Leontius, prefect of Rome in 356A.D.This is similar to the one in the Capitoline Museum.

The inscription reads,—TOTO. ORBE. VICTORI.—DN. CONSTANTIO. MAX.—TRIUMFATORI.—SEMPER. AUG.—FL. LEONTIUS. V. C.—PRAEF. URBI. ITERUM.—VICE. SACRA. INDICANS.—D. N. M. Q. EIUS.

Remains of Roman and medieval buildings and a fountain have been uncovered in the course of excavating, also some architectural fragments. The whole length of the Via Sacra has been now uncovered as far as the steps leading up to S. Bonaventura.

The recent excavations along the line of the Via Sacra brought to light some unimportant remains of shops and houses facing towards the street. These buildings are of the time of Constantine, and agree in their construction with his Basilica on the opposite side ofthe street. This part of Rome was destroyed by fire in the reign of Commodus, and again under Maxentius (Dion Cassius, Herodian, Galen, Capitolinus). In this rebuilding they did not clear away the remains of the older houses, but built on and over them—a not unusual custom in Rome. Let us carefully examine the older remains. Our attention is first attracted by different fragments of beautiful mosaic pavements of the best period of the art, and evidently the flooring of no mean house. The first piece that we come across is composed of a pattern made up of several cubes in different colours; in the rebuilding this was hid by a pavement of herring-bone brickwork. Beyond is a beautiful black and white octangular and diamond mosaic pavement, which also did duty to the rebuilt house. In a small room adjoining we notice a travertine base of a column, which stands near a piece of black mosaic pavement, in which are inserted small squares of white marble; in another chamber close by is a white mosaic with a black border, and near this another, of white and black sexangular and diamond shape. Near the cube mosaic are two more bases of columns of travertine, and a travertine well head: travertine stone, from Tivoli, was not used in Rome as a building material till about 50B.C.Amongst the constructions of the older period we notice six distinct pieces of walls composed of tufa blocks, perhaps old material re-used, some blocks of peperino, and a small piece ofopus reticulatum. Tufa was used during the kingly period, peperino during the republic, andopus reticulatum—net-work wedges of tufa—by the late republic and early empire. Amidst the later construction, which is of brickwork, we notice terra-cotta hot-air pipes, and one piece of a lead pipe, and remains of flights of stairs leading to upper floors. The brick stamps found were of the second, third, and fourth centuries. Amongst these remains was found a small altar. On the scroll at the top is a Roman eagle, and beneath,—

LARIBUS AUG. SACRUM.

From the line of the bases of the columns we see that the front of the older house sloped back diagonally from the Via Sacra, the point farthest from the Forum being nearest to the Via Sacra; whilst the more recent construction was on a line parallel with, and abutting on to, the Sacred Way.

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This early house, appearing beneath the building of later date, is in all probability the house in which Julius Cæsar lived. The construction agrees with that of earlier and contemporary date. It isthe first house on the Via Sacra, and the site coincides with the notices which we have of Cæsar's house:—

"He first inhabited a small house in the Suburra; but after his advancement to the pontificate, he occupied a palace belonging to the state in the Via Sacra. Many writers say that he liked his residence to be elegant ... and that he carried about in his expeditions tesselated and marble slabs for the floor of his tent" (Suetonius, "Cæsar," xlvi.).

"As a mark of distinction he was allowed to have a pediment on his house" (Florus, iv. 3).

"Julius Cæsar once shaded the whole Forum and Via Sacra from his house, as far as the Clivus Capitolinus" (Pliny, xix. 6).

"The night before his murder, as he was in bed with his wife, the doors and windows of the room flew open at once.... Calpurnia dreamed that the pediment was fallen, which, as Livy tells us (in the lost books), the senate had ordered to be erected upon Cæsar's house by way of ornament and distinction; and that it was the fall of it which she lamented and wept for" (Plutarch, in "Cæsar").

"He lay for some little time after he expired, until three of his slaves laid the body on a litter and carried it home, with one arm hanging down over the side" (Suetonius, "Cæsar," lxxxii.).

The house of Cæsar was under the Palatine, on which, above Cæsar's, stood the house of Cicero. "He (Vettius) did not name me, but mentioned that a certain speaker, of consular rank (Cicero), and neighbour to the consul (Cæsar), had suggested to him that some Ahala Servilius, or Brutus, must be found" (Cicero, "Ad Att." ii. 24).

In Cæsar's fourth consulship, the year before he was killed, for some reason or other the defence of King Deiotarus by Cicero was heard by Cæsar in his own house. Cicero says to Cæsar: "I am affected also by the unusual circumstance of the trial in this place, because I am pleading so important a cause—one the fellow of which has never been brought under discussion—within the walls of a private house. I am pleading it out of the hearing of any court or body of auditors, which are a great support and encouragement to an orator. I rest on nothing but your eyes, your person, your countenance. I behold you alone; the whole of my speech is necessarily confined to you alone.... But since the walls of a house narrow all these topics, and since the pleading of the cause is greatly crippled by the place, it behoves you, O Cæsar," &c. ("Pro Deiot." ii.).

It was in the year of his prætorship (62B.C.) that the scandal ofClodius being found in the house whilst they were about to celebrate the rites of the Bona Dea happened. "When the anniversary of the festival comes, the consul or prætor (for it is at the house of one of them that it is kept) goes out, and not a male is left in it" (Plutarch, "Cæsar"). The trial that such a scene gave rise to caused Cæsar's celebrated words on being asked why he had divorced his wife: "Because I would have the chastity of my wife clear even of suspicion" (Plutarch, "Cæsar").

Plutarch speaks of it as "a great house." Ovid says the house of Numa, the Regia, was "small," showing that the house of Cæsar and the Regia were two distinct edifices.

This old house of which we have been speaking fronted towards the Temple of Vesta, whilst the portico and shops, built at a late period over its ruins, ran parallel with the Via Sacra. The house side of the atrium is plainly marked by the fragments of columns, composed of travertine coated with stucco, and frescoed. There is the base of an isolated column near what must have been the middle of the house side; and to its right there is a half column of the same workmanship, and between these two bases runs a travertine gutter which drained the atrium. Amidst the shops built over the atrium are remains of beautiful black and white mosaic pavement, the fragments of the borders showing that they once belonged to the older edifice. On the right of the atrium, towards the Via Sacra, was an area-vestibulum, giving access to the house from the Via Sacra, and, like it, paved with polygonal blocks of silex.

There was another entrance to the house at the point where it nearly touched, at its north-eastern corner, the Via Sacra. The bases of two columns mark the ingress into a small vestibule which has a mosaic pavement, on the right of which was the entrance to the house, the threshold of travertine stone beingin situ. There are the two holes at the ends where the doors turned on their pivots, and the bolt-hole in the middle.

After the fire, the site of Cæsar's house was occupied by shops and dwellings, along the front of which was an arcade. As these shops were mostly kept by pearl-dealers, the arcade was known as the Porticus Margaritaria. It is mentioned in the "Curiosum" and the "Notitia" of the fourth century as in the eighth region, Forum Romanum Magnum.

In the recent excavations along the line of the Via Sacra, theremains of an arcade 201 feet long by 24 feet wide, and consisting of two rows of piers, have been found running parallel with the street, and having shops on either side. This no doubt is the Porticum Margaritarium of the catalogues. Beneath the arcade and the shops are the remains of Cæsar's house. Judging from the monumental stones, the pearl trade was an extensive one in Rome; and from the same authority we learn that the shops were on the Sacra Via. This is mentioned on the tomb of Ateilius Evhodus at the sixth mile on the Via Appia.

Horace was wont to come down the Sacred Way ("S." i. 9), and talks of Britons descending it in chains ("Ep." vii.). Now we are free to ascend it. Where the Sacred Way ascends the Velia ridge it will be noticed that the road is extraordinarily wide (45 feet). This was no doubt made after the great fire under Commodus, for four feet below the pavement was found the original and narrower street, and beneath that the drain in the reticulated work of the republic.

The right-hand side of the ascent was bordered with honorary monuments and inscriptions to Trajan, Hadrian, Titus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Constantine; but the most interesting, perhaps, was the monument with Greek inscription of Gordianus, erected to him by the citizens of Tarsus, St. Paul's city, and interesting as showing that the close friendship between Rome and Tarsus continued to this late period. Four columns of Porta Santa marble stood on a podium, 7 feet by 4 feet, and supported a canopy, under which was the emperor's statue. On the cornice was the inscription, ΤΑΡϹΕωΝ , filled in with bronze.

This was the street mentioned by Dionysius as leading into the Carinæ.

In the "Curiosum" and "Notitia" is mentioned the Apollinem Sandaliarium. This was a statue of Apollo, which gave name to a street of the fourth region. Suetonius ("Aug." lvii.) says: "With which donations Augustus purchased some costly images of the gods, which he erected in several of the streets of the city, as that of Apollo Sandaliarius." It is mentioned by Aulus Gellius (xviii. 4): "In Sandaliario forte apud librarios fuimus." Also by Galen ("De Libris suis," iv. 361).

The marble plan of Rome shows this street by the lettersDLARIVS.

This was the street, recently excavated, between the Temple ofthe Penates and the Basilica Constantine, and which led into the Suburra.

At the entrance from the Via Sacra there still exists a brick pedestal on which the statue may have stood. For engraving of this, see Gruter, cvi. 7, andDcxxi. 3.

In this street the remains of the Temple of Venus and Rome can be distinctly seen. A short distance up it is tunnelled over to allow the Basilica of Constantine to square; but the tunnel is closed about half way through. From the level of the street the western tribunal of the Basilica has been built up. The tunnel, called Arco d'Ladroni, and the street itself, have been used as a burial-place by the monks of the church; and there is a ninth century fresco of the dead body of the Saviour over a shrine on the left.

Beyond is the

the colossal arches of which have served as models to architects for building all the larger churches in Rome. This splendid ruin usually bears the name of the Temple of Peace, erected by Vespasian in this neighbourhood and partly on this site, and which was destroyed by fire as early as the time of Commodus,A.D.191. Herodianus, who saw the fire, says: "By the slight earthquake and the thunderbolt which followed it, the whole of the sacred enclosure was consumed." Claudius Galenus, the celebrated physician, says that the whole edifice was consumed, as also most of his writings, which were in his shop in the Via Sacra.

This is one of the most imposing ruins in Rome; the three noble arches which formed the northern side being almost perfect, rising to the height of 95 feet, and having a span of 80 feet. The southern side was similar; whilst a noble vaulted roof, supported from the side piers and arches, covered the centre. Thus, entering from the Vicus Eros, on the east, the spectator saw a magnificent hall 333 feet long by 84 feet wide, with aisles 60 feet in width. To the central hall the tribunal at the west end was added in the rebuilding of Constantine, when he made the main entry from the Sacra Via, the ruins of which exist in the porphyry columns. By this entry the nave is 227 feet long, the tribunal being 24 feet deep, and the aisles 80 feet wide.

Nibby has the merit of having been the first to prove that these ruins are the last remains of the Basilica erected by Maxentius, and completed and partially rebuilt by Constantine the Great. In 1828 a medal of Maxentius was found amongst the ruins of a piece of thevault which fell down. The principal entrance was originally intended to have been on the side facing the Colosseum, towards a street that ran out from the left of the Via Sacra, which, turning to the right, reached the Colosseum.

At a later period it may have been found more suitable to add a splendid portal on the side facing the Via Sacra; opposite to which, in the central side arch, a tribune was erected. So whichever way you enter it, it is a nave with two aisles. Of the vast vaulted arches spanning the middle space, only the supports from which the arches sprang still exist. These, however, suffice to indicate what they must have been. The Basilica contained many works of art, and the roof was supported by eight columns. The Via Sacra here passed along the front of the present Church of S. Francis of the Romans, and the Arch of Titus, to the Palatine.

By applying at No. 61 Via del Colosseo, at the back of the Basilica, permission will be given to ascend to the top, from which a magnificent view is obtained.

On our right is the

Built in the ninth century, and called S. Maria Nuova. The mosaic on the apse dates from 862. There is a monument to Gregory XI., and a relief representing the return of the Papal court to Rome from Avignon. In the transept are the two stones marked with depressions, said to have been where Peter knelt when he prayed that Simon Magus might fall. (See picture in S. Peter's,page 115.) The church contains a beautiful marbleciborium, and monuments to Cardinal Vulcani, 1322, and General Rido, 1475.

In the Via S. Teodoro is the entrance to

Open every day. Admission, one lira. Sunday, free. In order to fully understand these ruins, it is advisable to attend the lectures given on the spot by the author of these Rambles, Mr. S. Russell Forbes, who conducts visitors over, describing fully the remains of the Arcadian, Kingly, Republican, and Imperial Periods. Particulars to be had at 93 Via Babuino.

PLAN OF THE PALATINE HILL AND PALACE OF THE CÆSARSView larger image.

Itinerary for Visiting the Palatine.

Turn to the left when through Entrance Gate.

The foundations of most magnificent buildings of the imperial times lie buried in the gardens. The paintings on the walls are in themselves sufficient to give us an idea of the splendour of theinternal decorations of the Roman palaces. The streets, temples, palaces, &c., are full of interest. Some beautiful views may be had from various parts of the gardens, from the height near the entrance, as well as looking over the site of theCircus Maximus, which occupied the valley between the Palatine and Aventine Hills.

In our description of the Palatine we have classed the remains in chronological order. In the accompanying plan they are numbered in the order in which they are best visited. The numbers correspond with those placed by the title of the different ruins in the Guide; so that the visitor can follow the numbers consecutively in his ramble, and turn to the corresponding number for the description. We only treat of the actual remains.

In studying the Palatine Hill, the topography presents the first difficulty. It must be borne in mind that the form of the hill has undergone many important changes since the days of Romulus, and, as seen by us, is very different from what it was when Romulus built his city. Now it presents a lozenge-shaped form; then it was oblong and smaller. Our theory is, that if a line be drawn from about the Arch of Titus across the hill, that part to the right or west was the extent of the hill in the time of Romulus; and that to the left or east, formerly "the pastures round the old town" (Varro), now presenting the form of a hill, was no hill then. From a careful survey of the part to the left of our line, we find it to be artificially formed of imperial ruins upon the top of ruins, rubbish, and accumulation of soil, and not of rock or solid earth. This new light does away with innumerable difficulties in studying the form of Roma Quadrata, and presents to us instead a very simple story.

If the hill had been of the same form then as now, Romulus would have occupied the whole of it: this he certainly did not do, as his walls are to the right of our line; and it is not likely that he would have left part of the hill outside his boundary to command his city or to be occupied by foes.

Our view agrees with classic authority. Tacitus (xii. 24) describing the pomœrium or boundary of Roma Quadrata, which went round the base of the hill on the level below, thus showing its shape, says: "The first outline began at the Ox-Market, where still is to be seen the brazen statue of a bull, that animal being commonly employed at the plough. From that place a furrow was carried onof sufficient dimensions to include the great Altar of Hercules. By boundary stones, fixed at proper distances, the circuit was continued along the foot of Mount Palatine to the Altar of Consus, extending thence to the Old Curiæ; next, to the Chapel of the Lares." These buildings were built after Roma Quadrata, with the exception of the Altar of Hercules, and are mentioned by Tacitus to mark the line; they existed when he wrote. Ovid ("Fasti," iv. 825) says: "Pressing the tail of the plough, he traces out the walls with a furrow; a white cow with a snow-white bull bears the yoke." Dionysius (i. 88) says: "Romulus called the people to a place appointed, and described a quadrangular figure about the hill, tracing with a plough, drawn by a bull and a cow yoked together, onecontinuedfurrow." Taking these authors for our guides, we can easily trace the line of the pomœrium. Commencing at the Forum Boarium, which site is well known, it went down to the Altar of Hercules, which must have also been in the Forum Boarium, "in the spot where a part of the city has its name derived from an ox" (Ovid, "Fasti," i. 581). Taking in this altar, it passed under the Palatine's southern side to the Ara Consi, which Tertullian ("De Spec." v.) tells us was buried in the circus at the first meta. It here turned to the east, passing along the valley which then existed, along our imaginary line; for it is ridiculous to suppose that it would have passed right across the Palatine had the hill been then what it is now. From the Altar of Consus it extended past the Old Curiæ, which we think may be seen in the tufa walls under the south end of the Palace of Domitian (19), then to the Chapel of the Lares, which stands at the head of the Sacra Via below the Palace of Domitian (17).

"Ædem Larum in Summa Sacra Via" ("Mon. Ancyr."). "Ancus Martius (habitavit) in Summa Sacra Via, ubi ædes Larum est" (Solinus, i. 24). "Romulus built a temple to Jupiter, near the gate called Mugonia, which leads to the Palatine Hill from the Sacra Via" (Dionysius, ii. 30). The Sacred Way did not pass through the Arch of Titus, as is generally supposed, but passing by it led up to the Palatine—this can be seen by examining the stones—and was then called Clivus Palatinus. A large piece of the pavement still exists on the Palatine, leading up to the Ædem Larum, and which road is miscalled Nova Via. The road leading from the Arch of Titus to that of Constantine was called the Clivus Triumphalis.

Hence the furrow must have passed under the north side of the Palatine, and down the west side to where it began; for Tacitus's account says, "Hence to the Forum which was added by Tatius." Thisfurrow marked the bounds of the city, within which were the walls, the city itself occupying the hill above.

The remains of the walls of Roma Quadrata existing are sufficient to show us their exact line, for we have remains on four different sides, and, curious enough, at three of the angles. On the west and east sides it appears to have been built up to support the scarped cliff and above it; but on the south it ran along the edge on the top of the cliff—the valley below, beyond the pomœrium, being then the Murzian Lake. Along the southern cliff it was not a solid wall, but had embrasures, through which abalistaorcatapultmight be fired upon an enemy below—the remains of which are still existing. These are the oldest Roman arches, being older than the Cloaca of Tarquin or the arches of Ancus Martius.

"But Romulus had formed theideaof a city rather than arealcity; for inhabitants were wanting" (Florus, i. 1).

The principal roadway upon the Palatine was the Nova Via, a new way, evidently made after the Via Sacra, and simply called Nova Via without any distinguishing name being given to it. It commenced at the Porta Mugonia on the east, inside Roma Quadrata, and was here called Summa Nova Via. "Tarquinius Priscus ad Mugoniam Portam supra Summam Novam Viam" [habitabat] (Solinus, i. 24). From this point it went along the north and down the west side past the gate—there being steps down from the gate to the road. The descent off the hill was called the Hill of Victory. "Sed Porta Romana instituta est a Romulo infimo Clivo Victoriæ" (Festus). "Quæ habet gradus in Nova Via" (Varro). Passing by the Porta Romana it turned to the left, or west, under the Palatine to the Velabrum, where it ended. This part was called Infima Nova Via. "Aius Loquens in Infima Nova Via" (Varro, "Ap. Gell." xvi. 17). This altar still exists at the south-west corner under the Palatine. "Hoc Sacrificium [to Larentia] fit in Velabro, qua in novam Viam exitur" (Varro, "Ling. Lat." vi.).

5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 19, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41.

Romulus, the son of Rhea Silvia and Mars, founded Rome on the Palatine Hill, above the Tiber, 753B.C., on the site of the Arcadian city of Evander, near the Lupercal, where the wolf had given him suckle. The city was built after the Etruscan rites, and surrounded by a massive wall, in a quadrangular form, whence it was called Roma Quadrata. See "Walls of Rome,"page xvii.

Pliny (iii. 9) informs us that the city was entered by three gates.

situated on the east of the hill, the site of which has been identified by Varro ("L. L." 164):—

"Moreover, I observe that the gates within the walls are thus named; that at the Palatine 'Mucionis' (from 'mugitus,' lowing), because through it they used to drive out the cattle into the pastures around the old town."

At the middle of the western side, at the commencement of the ascent on the Via Nova, called the Clivus Victoriæ in commemoration of the victory of Romulus over Acron. The remains were discovered March 1886. Varro says:—

"The other, called Romulana, was so called from Rome, the same which has steps into the Nova Via at the shrine of Volupiæ."

Festus, speaking of the same gate, says:—

"But the Porta Romana was set up by Romulus above the foot of the Hill of Victory, and this place is formed of tiers of steps disposed in a square. It is called Romana by the Sabines in particular, because it is the nearest entrance to Rome from the side of the Sabines."

Authorities on the subject say that the name and position of the third gate are lost.

Now we contend that the mass of ruins called the Scali Caci are the remains of the third gate, and that that gate was the Porta Carmenta, as distinctly stated by Virgil in his description of the meeting of Æneas and Evander, "without the gates." "Thus, walking on, he spoke, and showed the gate,sincecalled Carmental by the Roman state; then stopping, through the narrow gate they pressed" (Virgil, "Æn.," viii.). The position corresponds with his description, and is just the spot where a gate would be required. The remains consist of two different early periods—immense blocks of soft tufa of the Arcadian period, and blocks of hard brown tufa of the time of Romulus, corresponding with the material of which his wall is built.

The Porta Carmenta was to the south, and is thus mentioned by Propertius (iv. 1):—

"Where rose that house of Remus upon tiers of steps, a single hearth was once the brothers' modest reign."

We suppose he uses the name of Remus here instead of Romulus on account of the rhythm.

Solinus gives this description of it:—

"It [Roma Quadrata] begins at the wood which is in the area of Apollo, and ends at the top of the stairs of Caius, where was [once] the cottage of Faustulus."

Plutarch says ("Romulus," xx.):—

"Romulus dwelt close by the steps, as they call them, of the fair shore, near the descent from the Mount Palatine to the Circus Maximus. There, they say, grew the holy blackthorn tree, of which they report that Romulus once, to try his strength, threw a dart from Mount Aventine, which struck so deep that no one could pluck it up, and grew into a trunk of considerable size, which posterity preserved and worshipped as one of the most sacred things, and therefore walled it about.

"But, they say, when Caius Cæsar was repairing the steps about it, some of the labourers digging too close, the root corrupted, and the tree quite withered."

Now, in this passage, we think we have an explanation of why it is called the Stairs of Caius,notCacus. This name does not refer to Cacus, the shepherd robber, who had his cave on the Aventine, but, as we learn from the above passage from Plutarch, to Caius the emperor, who was nicknamed Caligula from his having worn the sandals so-called of the Roman troops—he having been brought up in the camp on the banks of the Rhine, Caius being his proper name. He, as we have seen, repaired these steps, and so they were called after him; but that was not their previous name. The question arises, What was that name? Why, none other than the Porta Carmenta, the missing third gate of Roma Quadrata, "the gatesincecalled Carmental by the Roman state."

It was up this gateway that the Romans brought the Sabine women when they ran off with them in the Circus Maximus. Valerius Antias says they were five hundred and forty-seven in number; Plutarch says there were six hundred and eighty-three, and that the event took place on the 18th of August.

But before this the gate had another name, the original name in the Arcadian period. We know from Virgil and Diodorus Siculus that it existed before the time of Romulus, and was incorporated by him into his city. Let us see what that name was.

"Hercules, after he had gone through Liguria and Tuscany, encamped on the banks of the Tiber, where Rome now stands, built many ages after by Romulus, the son of Mars. The natural inhabitants at that time inhabited a little town upon a hill, now called Mount Palatine. Here Potitius and Pinarius, the most eminent persons of quality among them, entertained Hercules. There are now at Rome ancient monuments of these men; for the most noble family, called the Pinarii, remains still among the Romans, and is accounted the most ancient at this day. And there are Potitius's stone stairs to go down from Mount Palatine (called after his name), adjoining to that which was anciently his house" (Diodorus Siculus, iv. 1). Thus we see that the spot was originally called the Stairs of Potitius.

Virgil ("Æn.," viii.) informs us that Potitius, the Arcadian high priest, instituted the worship of Hercules; and that the priests were selected from the Pinarian house.

"When the new walls were built by Servius Tullius, one of his gates was named Carmentalis after the above tradition; the original Porta Carmenta having become obsolete."

The valley between the Palatine and Aventine, the site of the Circus Maximus, was formerly the Murzian Lake or bay, formed by an arm of the Tiber, and these stairs led down to the fair shore (Pulcrum Littus, Καλὴ Ἀκτή )—that is, to the shore of the lake, where Æneas landed—and this had nothing to do with the banks of the Tiber, which would hardly be called a fair shore by Plutarch. Virgil calls it "the strand."

The above name was also given to one of the temples.

"A certain hallowed place on the Palatine before the Altar of Apollo Rhamnusii (5), which every city built with Etruscan rites contained, and in which were placed those things considered of good omen in founding a city" (Festus). This hallowed place, as well as the city, was called by Romulus Roma Quadrata.

called the Altar of Apollo of the Blackthorn. Erected in commemoration of the blackthorn tree that sprang from the staff of Romulus. The large tufa blocks of the altar, and in front of it the Temple of Roma Quadrata, still remain, and by their side the Porta Carmenta.

Romulus divided the people into three tribes, and each tribe into ten curiæ (Dionysius, ii. 8), thus making thirty curiæ in all. Each curia had its own priests and separate dining-room and chapel, which were also called curiæ (Ibid., ii. 23). The only one of these which we have mentioned as existing at a late period is the one connected with the Palatine: as we have seen, it is one of the objects Tacitus gives us for the line of the plough. Now, on the Palatine, on that line, we have a ruin below the present surface agreeing with the time of Romulus in its construction, to which no name has been given by the topographers, but which we consider as the Curiæ Veteres mentioned by Tacitus. It now supports the Auditorium of Domitian.

"was where the Roma Quadrata ended, at the corner as you turn from the Palatine Hill to the Circus" (Dionysius). It was upon that part of the hill called Germalus from the twins being left there when the flood went down. This would be the shelf at the south-west corner of the Palatine.

vowed by Romulus when his army was fleeing before the Sabines, if Jupiter would stay their flight; hence the name. "Romulus built a temple to Jupiter near the Porta Mugonia" (Dionysius, ii. 30). It was restored by Scipio,A.U.C.459 (Livy, x. 37). It was in this temple that Cicero made his first oration against Catiline (Plutarch). Cicero says that here the goods of Pompey were offered for sale.

It was not till the glories of the republic outshone the memory of the kings that the Palatine became the favourite residence of the wealthy. We have record of the houses inhabited by Vaccus, Catulus, Crassus, the Gracchi, Ceneus, Cicero, Scaurus, Mark Antony, and other notorious republicans. Some slight remains of republican walls can be seen at various points.

Dedicated by M. J. Brutus,B.C.191, under the name of Mater Idæa, Mother of the Gods (Livy, xxxvi. 36). "Cybele was not worshipped in Rome tillA.U.C.550, when the goddess, a stone, wasbrought from Pessinus, a city of Phrygia, by Scipio Nasica" (Strabo). The vessel containing it having grounded at the mouth of the Tiber, remained immovable till Claudia Quinta, to prove her chastity, after calling upon the goddess, drew the ship with slight effort to Rome (Ovid, "Fasti," vi. 300). This event is commemorated upon an altar in the Capitoline Museum. The form of the temple remains, and part of the seated statue of the goddess, a beautiful fragment, corresponding with her figure as represented on coins. The remains are ofopus incertum.

The remains of this are just inside the Porta Carmenta. It was founded originally by the Greek settlers, and restored under the republic; the construction agrees with this supposition, for here we have the two different stones used in these periods, soft tufa and peperino.

"Upon the top of the hill they set apart a piece of ground, which they dedicated to Victory, and instituted annual sacrifices to be offered up to her also, which the Romans perform even in my time" (Dionysius, i. 32), A.U.C. 458. "They carried the statue of Cybele into the Temple of Victory on the Palatine Hill" (Livy, xxix. 14).

Near this ruin, on the other side of the road, are the remains of

InA.U.C.560, "Marcus Portius Cato dedicated a chapel to Maiden Victory, near the Temple of Victory, two years after he had vowed it" (Livy, xxxv. 9).

Still standing; was erected 124B.C., on the site where Camillus had erected the original, in the undetermined state, to the unknown voice that warned Marcus Cedicius of the approaching Gauls, 391B.C.

"In the Via Nova, where now is the shrine, above the Temple of Vesta" (Livy, v. 23). "A voice was heard in the Grove of Vesta, which skirts the Nova Via at the foot of the Palatine" (Cicero, "Div." i. 45).

Founded during the second Samnite war by Fabius Maximus (Livy, x. 29)—326–304B.C.—overlooking the Circus Maximus. The remains consist of tufa substructions, steps leading up to the temple, and some peperino fragments.

The circular altar on the steps, found close by, bears an inscription to Calvinus, consulB.C.53–40.

(See plan,page 81)

called erroneously by various authorities the House of Claudius Nero, of Livia, of Augustus. It was incorporated into the Imperial Palace by Tiberius, though for very many years it preserved its distinctive title. Josephus tells us that "Caligula was killed in a private narrow passage within the palace as he was going to the bath, having turned from the direct road along which his servants had gone. The passages also were narrow wherein the work was done, and crowded with Caius's attendants, whence it was that they went by other ways, and came to the house of Germanicus, which house adjoined to the palace." A crypto-portico still connects this house with the Palace of Caligula, another going off at right angles to the House of Augustus.

We have here a good specimen of a Roman house. In the vestibulum are remains of the mosaic floor and frescoed walls. The atrium still shows the pattern of its pavement. The tricliniarium is ornamented with frescoes of arabesque work, animals and fountains, also with mosaic pavement. The tablinium, in three parallel halls, painted with beautiful arabesque groups; wreaths of flowers and fruit; a group of Galatea and Polyhymnia; another of Mercury, Io, and Argus; a view of a Roman house; a lady at her toilet, &c. Behind these is the peristylium, out of which open the bedrooms, bath, kitchen, &c. In the centre tablinium are some leaden pipes, found in the excavations, stamped with the names of Julia, Domitian, and Niger,—the daughter of Augustus, the emperor, and the insurgent.

gradually incorporated the whole of the Palatine buildings; and when we speak of the Palace of the Cæesars, it is not meant that it was one, but different palaces, built by different emperors, called after them, and connected with those previously erected by crypto-porticoes.

"He resided in a small house formerly belonging to Hortensius. This was destroyed by fire, and rebuilt by contributions of the public" (Suetonius). The palace was destroyed by fire, under Titus,A.D.72; the ruins were filled in by Domitian in the second year of his reign, and upon the top he built his celebrated palace. The remains of the Palace of Augustus—not now accessible, being under the convent—were explored and partly excavated some years ago.

From thePalace of Domitian(17) we can descend into some of thesmall chambers, the vault of one being adorned with a fresco representing Victory.

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