mentioned by Suetonius as the place from which Caligula viewed the games in the Circus Maximus, is supposed to have been a house occupied by the guard and servants of the palace. Its ruin consists of chambers at the base of the hill, under the convent. It was here that the skit of the Crucifixion, now in the Museum of the Collegio Romano, was found. (Seepage 160.) The walls are still covered with names, &c., scratched by the soldiers.
We learn from Suetonius and Tacitus that it was situated on the western side of the Palatine, overlooking and communicating with the Velabrum. The remains consist of vast halls and substructions, and a row of arches supposed to have been the guard's quarters. This palace has yet to be excavated.
"Having continued part of the Palatine as far as the Forum, he converted the Temple of Castor and Pollux into the vestibule of his house." "He built a bridge over the temple of the deified Augustus, by which he joined the Palatine to the Capitol" (Suetonius). He connected his palace with that of Tiberius by means of porticoes. The remains consist of a suite of rooms, portions built over the Clivus Victoriæ, chambers with fresco and stucco decorations, and mosaic pavements, also a portion of the beautiful marble balustrade of the solarium. Suetonius tells us that this palace was destroyed by fire; in fact, most of the remains show the construction of Hadrian, who must have rebuilt it and used it as his palace.
The remains of this palace have been recently uncovered at the northern side of the Palatine. It appears that the palace was built in a series of terraces against the Palatine Hill, the construction showing work of Caligula, Trajan, and Septimius Severus. There are some chambers which were warmed with hot air in terra-cotta pipes, and containing fragments of statuary on the lowest level excavated. Then, on the terrace above, there is an arcade paved with blocks of silex, and on one side shops. A flight of travertine steps conducts to some small chambers above, with mosaic pavements and frescoes, which were built by Hadrian against a wall of Caligula having frescoes on yellow and white grounds. The side walls and vaults are decorated with frescoes of the time of Hadrian.
PLAN OF THE PALACE OF DOMITIAN, A.D. 81–96.A, Tablinium.B, Lararium.C, Basilica.D, Vestibule.E, Tricliniarium.F, Nymphæum.G, Temple Jupiter Victor.H, Vometarium.K, Cubiculum.View larger image.
PLAN OF THE PALACE OF DOMITIAN, A.D. 81–96.
PLAN OF HOUSE OF GERMANICUS, A.D. 1View larger image.
PLAN OF HOUSE OF GERMANICUS, A.D. 1View larger image.
He used the remains of Augustus's palace, destroyed by fire in the second year of the reign of Titus, filling in the chambers of the earlier buildings with earth, so that they formed a solid foundation. "He embellished the portico, in which he took his airing, with polished stone, so that he might observe if any one approached him" (Suetonius). The remains consist of the tablinium, or summer-parlour; the lararium, or chapel of the household gods; the bed-chamber where he was assassinated; the tricliniarium, or dining-room; the peristylium, or open court; nymphæum, or aquarium; the vometarium; auditorium; and the crypto-porticoes connecting it with the other palaces.
When the Palace of Augustus and the other edifices were burned down, Domitian filled them in with earth, and on the top of the platform built his palace. But some of the destroyed edifices were consecrated: as he could not do away with them, he rebuilt them upon the higher level, over their old sites. The basilica and chapel of the household gods were both treated in this way. As this was the only basilica on the Palatine, we may presume that it was the court of appeal unto Cæsar himself. If so, on this site S. Paul appeared before Nero; but not in this identical building, which was erected by Domitian,A.D.81–96, after Paul's death,A.D.64.
PLAN OF THE BASILICA ON THE PALATINE.
PLAN OF THE BASILICA ON THE PALATINE.
The Basilica was the hall of justice, coming from a Greek word signifying "the regal hall." It consisted of a tribunal, nave, and aisles. The form was oblong; the middle was an open space, calledtestudo, and which we now call the nave. On each side of this were rows of pillars, which formed what we should call the aisles, and which the ancients calledporticus. The end of the testudo was curved, and was called thetribunal, from causes being heard there. A rail separating the tribunal from the body of the hall was calledcancelli, because it was of open work. Not far from the entrance was a round stone in the pavement, on which the prisoner stood to be tried. Between the judge's seat on the tribunal and the rails stood the altar of Apollo. These halls were likewise used as places of exchange by business men. Being the largest halls the Romans had, the form of them was copied by the early Christians for their churches. The tribunal was called the apse; in some churches it is still called the tribunal. The judge's seat gave place to the bishop's throne; the altar of Apollo to the communion table; the cancelli to the chancel; and the fountain in the court in front to the holy-water basins; and so the name was handed down and given to Christian churches,though there is not a single church in Rome that was once a pagan basilica, or hall of justice. Many of the so-called basilicas are not true basilicas, for they have introduced the transept to give them the form of a cross.
On the east side of the Palatine, built by Domitian, and only partly excavated. Used for races both for men and women. "Young girls ran races in the Stadium, at which Domitian presided in his sandals, dressed in a purple robe made after the Grecian fashion, and wearing upon his head a golden crown bearing the effigies of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva; with the flamen of Jupiter and the college of priests sitting at his side in the same dress, excepting only that their crowns had also his own image on them" (Suetonius).
The work of excavating the Stadium is not yet completed. It appears that the portico surrounding it originally consisted of cipollino columns, with composite capitals. This was rebuilt in the third century in two tiers, supported with half-columns of brick, coated with slabs of marble, having Ionic bases and Doric capitals. A brick stamp informs us that the Imperial tribune was built in the third consulship of Ursus Servianus, under Hadrian, 134. At the edge of the foot-course, below the portico, was a marble channel to carry off the rain-water. Traces of the spina still remain. The Stadium seems to have been altered into a hippodrome in the time of Diocletian by building elliptical walls upon its surface. The following stamp was found on some of the bricks,—A.D. 500 OFFS R. F. MARCI HIPPODROME THEODORIC REGNANTE DN THEODERICO FELIX ROMA,—evidently some of the repairs ordered by the great king during his six months' visit to Rome.
On the right of the Stadium, for musical performances, with three chambers underneath decorated with fresco work.
We claim the honour of having discovered the use of these imposing ruins, whose summit is climbed by many visitors to enjoy the fine view over the Campagna. It was built by the best of the Roman emperors as a large reservoir for the supply of water to the Palatine Hill, acting as the Trevi Fountain does at present. We have traced the specus of the aqueduct to it; and the top is coveredwithopus signinum, the peculiar cement used by the Romans whenever they conducted water.
The brickwork shows signs of careful construction; the courses of cement carefully laid between the bricks being of the same thickness as the bricks themselves, seven of which measure a foot. The Nymphæum probably took its name from the female statues which decorated it, handing down the custom of the ancient Romans in peopling the springs with nymphs.
It is thus mentioned by Marcellinus (xv. vii. 3):—"The Emperor Marcus built the Nymphæum, an edifice of great magnificence, near the well-known Septemzodium," which was built by Septimius Severus at the corner of the Palatine, where slight traces of it remain; it having been destroyed by Pope Sixtus V.
The spot now forms a pleasant terrace, from which a splendid prospect of the southern part of ancient Rome, the Campagna, and the distant Alban Hills may be enjoyed. In fact, a vast study is spread, like a map, before the visitor.
stood on the south-east side of the hill. He constructed a passage from the Palatine to the arena of the Colosseum. He was strangled in his chamber; and his successor, Pertinax, was stabbed in the same palace. This was destroyed by fire, and on the top of the ruins was erected the Palace of Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Alexander Severus. The remains consist of numerous chambers, corridors, and vaults, still retaining some of their mosaic pavements and stucco roofs, with walls built into them in a very confused manner, showing different alterations. The palace is to be cleared out.
After the death of Alexander Severus,A.D.235, we have little or no history of buildings upon the Palatine, and there are no remains the construction of which shows a later date. Indeed the emperors reigned but a short time down to Diocletian, except Gallienus, who, we know, had a palace and gardens on the Esquiline. Fifty years after Alexander Severus died a great blow was struck at the grandeur of Rome; for the colleagues in empire, Diocletian and Maximian, made new capitals at Milan and Nicomedia, and thus divided the seat of power and empire. InA.D.302, eighteen years after his declaration, Diocletian came to Rome for the first time, to celebrate his triumph, making a short stay of two months. The year 312witnessed a great change. On October 28 the great Constantine, the first Christian emperor, and a Briton, made his entry into the imperial city, which for years had ceased to give rulers to the empire, and was now to be the seat of government no longer. Constantine did not make a long stay in the city; and, after he had secured his power, removed in 330 the capital of the empire to Byzantium, which was named Constantinople, to decorate which Rome was stripped of statues, marbles, and works of art. In 356 Constantius visited Rome, which had been abandoned by her rulers and denied the splendours of the imperial court. "After his entry he retired into the imperial palace, where he enjoyed the luxury he had wished for." "He quitted Rome on the thirtieth day after his entry (29th May)" (Marcellinus). The same historian informs us that, "on the night of the 18th of March 362, the Temple of Apollo, on the Palatine, was burned down." Theodosius, in 394, entered Rome in triumph. Honorius, his son, in 403 celebrated the grandest triumph since that of Diocletian, one hundred years before. Indeed, during this long period but four emperors had paid flying visits only to their ancient capital, and the Palace of the Cæsars was falling into decay, as Claudian, the last of the Roman poets, sings. Honorius for a short time revived the glories and memories of the past; the curule chairs once more surrounded the rostra, and their emperor's voice was once more heard by theplebs, whilst they gazed with awe at the lictors with their gilt fasces. After Honorius's departure, Alaric, and the barbarians that were with him, in 410, "took Rome itself, which they pillaged, burning the greatest part of the magnificent structures and other admirable works of art it contained" (Socrates, "E. H." v. 10). In 417 Honorius again entered Rome in triumph, and endeavoured to restore the city, and invited fugitives from all parts to people it. This benefactor of the city was buried near the supposed remains of S. Peter in the Vatican basilica. In 425 Valentinian III., whilst still a boy, received the imperial purple in the ancient Palace of the Cæsars, at the hands of an ambassador of Theodosius; and, although Ravenna was the seat of his government, he frequently visited Rome and inhabited the imperial palace. During one of these visits, in 454, Aetius, the general, fell in the imperial palace, stabbed by the hand of the licentious emperor, who drew his sword for the first time to kill the general who had saved his empire. In the following year, March 27, he was himself assassinated in the Campus Martius during a review; and Petronius Maximus was declared emperor, but was in his turn soon after murdered.The third day thereafter, Genseric and his Vandals entered Rome, and plundered it of everything they could carry off, from the seven-branched candlestick to the common utensils of Cæsar's Palace, which they completely stripped. Avitus, a Gaul, the successor of Petronius, visited Rome for a short time, and was murdered on his return to Auvergne. After the throne had been vacant for ten months, Majorianus was made emperor by Ricimer, 457. He published an edict from Ravenna against destroying the ancient monuments of Rome and using the materials for building. Severus Libius was his successor, and he was poisoned within the walls of the Palatine, August 465. Anthemius entered Rome in a triumphal procession in April 467, and revived the Lupercalia games; he was put to death in the palace by Ricimer, who captured Rome, July 11, 472. From 472 to 476 there were four emperors, the last of whom, Romulus Augustus, abdicated in presence of the senate, who proclaimed the extinction of the Western Empire.
ARCH OF TITUS, BEFORE RECENT EXCAVATIONS.View larger image.
ARCH OF TITUS, BEFORE RECENT EXCAVATIONS.View larger image.
InA.D.500 King Theodoric paid a visit of six months to Rome. After addressing the people from the Rostra ad Palmam, which stands at the head of the Forum, he took up his residence at the Palace of the Cæsars, and appointed officers to take care of the ancient monuments. After his death, Athalaric and his mother governed till the former's death in 534. Theodatus, his successor, was murdered on the Flaminian Way, as he was retreating before Belisarius, the general of the Eastern emperor Justinian, who fixed his quarters at the Pincian Palace. In 549 Totila captured the city, and resided in the Palace of the Cæsars, exhibiting games in the Circus Maximus for the last time. During the winter of 552–553 Narses, the Eastern general, took Rome, and resided there, Rome being again united to the Eastern Empire, governed by an exarch, who generally resided at Ravenna. The history of the Palatine is a blank till the time of Heraclius I. Though not present himself, a coronation ceremony was held with great pomp in the Palace of the Cæsars, 610. A great event for Rome took place in 663. Then, for the last time, she received within her walls her emperor, Constans II., who contemplated again making her the capital of the empire. He was received by Pope Vitalianus at the Porta Appia with a procession of priests with tapers, banners, and crosses,—a curious contrast with former usages. Constans was the last emperor who resided in the Palace of the Cæsars, which was even then in a dilapidated condition; and his time seems to have been occupied with church ceremonies. His visit lasted twelve days, when he carried off what plunder he could, besidesthe gilt bronze tiles of the roof of the Pantheon. A blank again occurs till Justinian II., in 709, created the first Duke of Rome, who was afterwards elected by Pope and people, and resided in the Palace of the Cæsars. For many years the power of the Church ofRome had been increasing, and in 772 Pope Adrian I. threw off the nominal sovereignty of the Eastern Empire, and, calling upon Charlemagne to free him from the Lombard kings, he entered Rome on Saturday, April 2, Easter eve. Charlemagne confirmed Pepin's gifts to the Holy See. He again visited it, and on Christmas dayA.D.800 Pope Leo III. crowned him emperor in S. Peter's, with the title of Emperor of the Romans. From thence commenced the Holy Roman Empire.
Leaving the Palatine, we turn to the right, and by the newly-excavated Vicus Vestæ, on the north side of the hill, reach
On the ridge of the Velia hill, which forms a continuation of the Palatine, and separates the hollow of the Forum from that of the Colosseum, a triumphal arch was erected (though not till after his death and deification) to Titus, the conqueror of Jerusalem. The reliefs, still preserved within the arch, are among the most remarkable of the kind existing in Rome as to the position they occupy in the history of art and of the world. We find here not only the emperor standing in the triumphal chariot in which he advanced to the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, but also the table of the shewbread, and the seven-branched candlestick, borne in this triumphal procession as the most precious spoils of the Jewish temple.
BAS-RELIEF ON THE ARCH OF TITUS.View larger image.
BAS-RELIEF ON THE ARCH OF TITUS.View larger image.
"There was a golden table, which weighed many talents; also a golden candlestick, which was constructed upon a different principle from anything in use amongst us now. In the middle was the mainstem, which rose out of the base; from this proceeded smaller branches, very much resembling the form of a trident; and on the top of them was a lamp, worked in brass. There were seven such in all, emblematic of the seven days of the Jewish week. The Law of the Jews was the last of those spoils in the procession" (Josephus, "Wars of the Jews," viii. v. 5). "The legs of the table were perfectly finished in the lower half, like those the Dorians put upon their couches, but the upper half of them was worked square" (Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews," iii. vi. 6).
Two censers were placed upon the table; in front of the table are two trumpets crossed. (See Exodus xxv. 26).
These spoils were deposited by Vespasian in the Temple of Peace. After the sack of Rome,A.D.455, the Vandal king Genseric carried them to Carthage. Belisarius recovered them,A.D.535, and took them to Constantinople; and they were transferred from there to the Christian Church in Jerusalem (Procopius, "De Bell. Vand.," i. 5 and ii. 4).
Evagrius (iv. 17) relates that when Khosroes, king of Persia, took Jerusalem in 614, they passed into his hands; and all trace of them has been lost since then. It is altogether erroneous to suppose they were thrown into the Tiber.
On the opposite sideis the Emperor Titus in a chariot drawn by four horses, preceded by Romans wearing laurel wreaths and carrying the fasces. Behind the chariot, Victory is in the act of placing a crown on the emperor's head. The vault is ornamented with square coffers and roses, and in the centre the apotheosis of Titus, in square relief.
At this point the Via Sacra was sometimes called the Clivus Palatinus, as it led up to the Palatine,on the right.
"Clœlia had her statue in the Via Sacra, as you go up to the Palatine" (Plutarch, in "Publicola").
Passing through the Arch of Titus,
On our rightare some remains of the Frangipani fortress, a tower of the middle ages; a piece of the second wall of Rome; some substructions and walls, as it were supporting the Palatine Hill; and remains of the Baths and
"built by Elagabalus, on the slopes of the Palatine, for the worship of the Syro-Phœnician sun-god, which was represented by a black conical stone, set with gems. Elagabalus broke into the Temple ofVesta, intending to remove the Palladium to his Temple of the Sun, but the virgins, by a pious fraud, defeated his object, on discovering which he broke into their sanctuary, and carried off one of the virgins to add to his list of wives" (Lampridius).
ARCH OF TITUS, WITH THE META SUDANS, AND BASILICÆ OF THE FORUM OF CUPID.View larger image.
ARCH OF TITUS, WITH THE META SUDANS, AND BASILICÆ OF THE FORUM OF CUPID.View larger image.
The temple was built for the worship of the Sun. Around it was the Lavacrum, or gratuitous baths,A.D.218–222. The temple was converted inA.D.800 into the Church of S. Maria, by Pope Leo III. The remains of the altar can be seen at the east end; at the west end is the baptistery, in the form of a Greek cross, with an apse at the top containing the raised platform with the depressed basin of the font in which the person about to be baptized stood, whilst the minister occupied the platform above it and poured the water over his head.
On our left is
miscalled the Temple of Venus and Rome. The platform upon which it stands is partly the Velia ridge and partly artificial.
When a building was inaugurated after consecration it was called atemplum. Adelubrumwas an isolated building, surrounded with an area, dedicated to religious purposes. This—because it was double, having two aspects, two distinct apses or tribunals—we call, in the plural number,delubra, or the double basilica.
The remains consist of two large tribunals, back to back, with a portion of the lateral walls and vaults. The wall in the monastery gardens is apsidal, the other is rectangular.
The name of this building is entirely lost. All we know about it is, that it is of the time of Maxentius and Constantine,A.D.306–337, the construction showing it to be of that time; besides, Nibby found in the walls bricks stamped with the name of Maxentius.
Nearly all late authorities have called this ruin the Temple of Venus and Rome. Now, it could not possibly be that temple, for we are told distinctly, as we have related, by Apollodorus, that the Temple of Rome wasNOTbuilt on a platform. Again, the Temple of Rome was built by Hadrian,A.D.118–138, and these remains are of the time of Maxentius and Constantine,A.D.306–337; besides, Roman temples had no tribunals or apses.
These basilicas were surrounded by a colonnade of gray granite, numerous fragments of which still lie about, and there was probably originally a forum or market-place for the sale of fruit and toys.
Varro (L. L. 532, R. R. i. 2), Ovid (A. A. ii. 265), Propertius (iii.xvii. 11), Terence, Eunuchus, contemporary writers, all speak of a macellum and forum of Cupid upon the Via Sacra.
Festus, who lived in the fourth century, speaks of them under the same name; so we may conclude that the ruins before us are the basilicas of the Forum of Cupid, restored by Maxentius, and dedicated by Constantine.
The front of this platform, towards the Colosseum, was discovered in 1828 to have been used during the middle ages as a cemetery, several coffins of terra cotta being exhumed.
At the corners are the remains of steps which led from below up to the delubra. Near the left-hand steps, in descending, are the remains of the
which, as we have seen, first stood in the vestibule of his house; then where the atrium was; thence it was removed by Hadrian with twenty-four elephants to this spot, as is shown on a coin of Alexander Severus. It was 120 feet high. Vespasian radiated the head to make it represent the sun; Commodus took off Nero's head, and replaced it with his own. The popular quotation from Bede refers to this Colossus, not to the Colosseum.
In a line with Nero's Pedestal is the
the remains of a fountain, erected by Titus, and repaired by Domitian and Gordianus, which stood in the centre of a large circular basin. Popular tradition narrates that the gladiators used to wash here after combat: it is certainly possible, but not very probable, that they would come outside to wash at an open fountain. The epithet Meta Sudans, or "sweating-goal," is supposed to be taken from the perpetual issue of foaming water, or because it contributed to satisfy the thirst of the audience at the Colosseum; ormeta, because it was built in the form of a goal, andsudans, because the water trickled out.
To the right is
dedicated by the senate and people of Rome to commemorate the victories of the first Christian emperor, to do which they took reliefs from the Arch of Trajan, and built them into an attic which they erected upon the top of the Arch of Isis, re-dedicating the conglomeration as the Triumphal Arch of Constantine. The reliefs whichrefer to Trajan can be easily distinguished from those of Constantine (which are very bad) owing to their superior style and the subjects represented.
ARCH OF CONSTANTINE.View larger image.
ARCH OF CONSTANTINE.View larger image.
The designs commence,on the left side, with the triumphal entrance of Trajan by the Porta Capena, after the first Dacian war; then, secondly, commemorate his services in carrying the Appian Way through the Pontine Marshes; thirdly, founding an asylum for orphan children; fourthly, his relations with Parthamasiris, king of Armenia.On the opposite side, dedication of the aqueduct built by Trajan (seen on the left); secondly, audience with the Dacian king Decebalus, whose hired assassins are brought before him; thirdly, with a representation of the emperor haranguing his soldiers; and, fourthly, the emperor offering thesuovetauriliasacrifice of a boar, ram, and bull.
Corresponding with these reliefs, two medallions, representing the private life of the emperor in simple and graceful compositions, are introduced over each of the side arches. The first represents his starting for the chase; the second, a sacrifice to Silvanus, the patron of silvan sports; the third displays the emperor on horseback at a bear-hunt; and the fourth a thank-offering to the goddess of hunting. On the side facing the Colosseum, a bear-hunt, a sacrifice to Apollo, a group contemplating a dead lion, and lastly a consultation of an oracle. Most of these refer to Trajan; we think some refer to Hadrian, because on one of them Antinoüs is represented. On the inside of the arch is a battle-piece, assigned to Constantine by the inscriptions, "To the founder of peace," "To the deliverer of the city." They are older than his time. Over the side arches are some narrow reliefs referring to Constantine, one of which is peculiarly interesting, as it represents that emperor addressing the people from the Rostra ad Palmam, with some of the principal monuments in the Forum in the background.
"A noble wreck in ruinous perfection."—Byron.
"A noble wreck in ruinous perfection."—Byron.
"A noble wreck in ruinous perfection."—Byron.
The vast amphitheatre erected in the centre of ancient Rome by Vespasian was known to the ancient Romans as the Flavian Amphitheatre. It was begun by the Flavian emperorsA.D.72, and dedicatedA.D.80. It is 157 feet high, and is 1900 feet in circumference, and was built by the captive Jews after the fall of Jerusalem. Originally the upper story was of wood, but this was burned down, and it was rebuilt with travertine stone like the rest of the edifice. Martialtells us that its site was formerly occupied by the artificial lakes of Nero; and Marcellinus (xvi. x. 14) says, "The vast masses of the amphitheatre so solidly erected of Tiburtine stone, to the top of which human vision can scarcely reach." All the brickwork we now see are repairs at various dates after the dedication; but there is enough travertine left at different points to show that it was originally built of this stone, as recorded by the historian. For nearly five hundred years it was the popular resort of the Roman populace and their betters. There were eighty arches of entrance, and it held one hundred thousand people, and could be emptied in ten minutes; such were the order kept and regulations observed that there was no confusion. It was devoted to the exhibition of wild beasts, their fighting together, gladiators fighting together, or with beasts, and naval fights. On these latter displays the stage or arena was moved, water let in, and naval fights represented in real earnest.
Suetonius ("Vespasian," vii.), says, "He began an amphitheatre in the middle of the city, upon finding that Augustus had projected such a work."Ibid.("Titus," vi.): "He entertained the people with most magnificent spectacles, and in one day brought into the amphitheatre five thousand wild beasts of all kinds."
The last display was given by Theodoric in 523; and in 555 the lower part was destroyed by a flood from the Tiber, when the whole of Rome was under water for seven days. From then we must date the ruin of the Flavian Amphitheatre—the Romans themselves hastening on the work, using the material for building purposes.
"Which on its public shows unpeopled Rome,And held uncrowded nations in its womb."—Juvenal.
"Which on its public shows unpeopled Rome,And held uncrowded nations in its womb."—Juvenal.
"Which on its public shows unpeopled Rome,
And held uncrowded nations in its womb."—Juvenal.
It is held by the Roman Church, on the authority of an inscription found in the Catacombs, that the architect of the Colosseum was one Gaudentius; but that inscription only says that he was employed there. We believe the architect to have been Aterius, whose monument is now in the Lateran, and upon which several buildings are represented of which he was no doubt the architect, also the machine used to raise the stones into their places. He flourished at the end of the first century, and, no doubt, these buildings shown in relief upon his tomb were erected by him, the dates agreeing; for if not, why should they be there represented?
First, we have an arch which says on it, "Arcus ad Isis." Now if we compare this with the Arch of Constantine, we find it is the samewithout the attic. Then we have the amphitheatre without the upper story; then an arch (query, Arch of Domitian?). Then another arch with the words, "Arcus in Sacra Via Summa:" compare this with the Arch of Titus, and, minus the restorations, it will be found to be the same. Then there is a temple agreeing with the descriptions of that of Jupiter Stator upon the Palatine. All these buildings were erected or rebuilt about this time, and from being recorded on this monument of the Aterii, tend to show that Aterius was the architect of them.
When perfect, the Colosseum consisted of four stories—the lowest, of the Doric order, 30 feet high; the second, Ionic, 38 feet high; the third, Corinthian, about the same height; and the fourth, also Corinthian, 44 feet high. The holes in the cornice with the corbels below them were to receive the masts that supported thevelariaon the outside.
The numerous holes in the stone were made in the middle ages for the purpose of extracting the iron cramps that kept the stones from shifting. The long diameter is 658 feet, the shorter 558 feet; the arena is 298 feet by 177 in its widest part.
The last performance was a bull-fight, held at the expense of the Roman nobles, in the year 1332. Many martyrs are said to have perished in the Colosseum during the persecutions of the early Christians, and among others S. Ignatius, who was brought from Antioch to be devoured by wild beasts. Benedict XIV. consecrated the building to the Christian martyrs,A.D.1750.
In excavating the Basilica of S. Clement, the Rev. Father Mullooly found (1870) the remains of S. Ignatius, and had them carried with great ceremony over the scene on the anniversary of his martyrdom.
At the present day there remains sufficient to indicate the construction of the building, though but a small portion of the immense outer shell, which originally both adorned and formed an impenetrable girdle round the whole, has been preserved. In the interior, a great deal of rebuilding has been necessary for its preservation.
Vast as the building is, its construction is easily understood; a simple segment of the whole serving to show how all the others succeed one another like the cells of a bee-hive.
THE COLOSSEUM.View larger image.
THE COLOSSEUM.View larger image.
The upper part was originally of wood only, and was burned, having been set on fire by lightning. The three lower stories only are of the time of the Flavian emperors; the upper story was rebuilt and added in the third century, and only finished in the time of theGordiani, as is shown by the coins representing it. The imperial entrance was from the Esquiline side, between the arches Nos. 38, 39, which is without number. Commodus constructed an underground passage from the arena to the Palatine, which has not yet been discovered, his so-called passage (on the right in entering) being that by which the dead bodies were carried from the arena. Dion Cassius says: "Upon the last day of the sports his helmet was taken off and fell through the door where the dead used to be carried out."
The area, basement, or ground-floor, was flooded for the naval fights. Surrounding this were the dens, in front of which was a channel for fresh water for supplying the animals with drink—a spring still supplies it; about ten feet above was the movable stage, sprinkled with sand for the combats, and hence called the arena. A few feet above the arena was the podium, or seat of the emperor, vestal virgins, &c., protected from the arena by iron bars. Behind the podium was a double portico, which ran round the whole building. Fragments of the marble chimeras, with long wings, that ornamented the seats of the podium have been found.
The three successive tiers were calledcavea. Above these was a tier for the people; above this one for the "gods;" thus making six in all. The amphitheatre seated eighty-seven thousand people, and there was standing room for thirteen thousand more.
The walls standing upon the area, composed of tufa, travertine, and brick, old material re-used, were built at a period long after the building was dedicated, when the naval fights being abandoned there was no longer any occasion for a movable stage or arena as before. They contained the machinery for the stage above, and for the lifts orpegmatato send men or beasts from the area to the arena. Probably these are the walls thus alluded to by Dion Cassius: "He [Commodus] divided the theatre into four parts by two partitions that cut through diametrically, and by right angles, to the end that from the galleries that were round about he might with greater ease single out the beasts he aimed at."
PLAN OF THE EXCAVATIONS BELOW THE ARENA OF THE COLOSSEUM.View larger image.
PLAN OF THE EXCAVATIONS BELOW THE ARENA OF THE COLOSSEUM.View larger image.
"The emperor having employed himself in shooting from above ... descended afterwards to the bottom of the theatre, and there slew some other private beasts, whereof some made toward him, others were brought to him, and others were shut up in dens. Returning after dinner, he used the exercises of a gladiator, with a shield in his right hand, and in his left a wooden sword. After him fought those whom he had chosen in the morning at the bottom ofthe theatre." Also, in his life of Septimius Severus, he says: "There was a kind of cloister made in the amphitheatre, in the form of a ship, to receive them [the wild beasts]. On a sudden there issued out bears, lions, ostriches, wild asses, and foreign bulls."
The walls before us are of very bad construction, evidently repairs of a late date: they are the work of either Lampridius, prefect of Rome under Valentinian III., 425–455, who repaired the steps and renewed the arena; or of Basilius, who restored the podium and arena after their destruction by an earthquake in 486—this we learn from two inscriptions standing at the entrance. Half way, on each side, two large passages have been discovered choked up with mud: they were the aqueducts to bring the water for thenaumachiæfrom the reservoirs upon the Esquiline and Cælian Hills respectively; from the small openings in the blind arches the water also poured out over the top of the dens, thus forming cascades all round. At the end opposite the present entrance a long passage has been opened, above the level of the area floor; below this passage is the great drain, with the remains of the iron grating[6]to prevent large objects going down: this and the passage were closed by flood-gates on naval representations, which can be clearly seen in the construction. On the right and left of this passage, connected with it, but at a lower level, two dens have been cleared out, 27 yards long by 5 wide, containing six holes in the floor, in the centre of square blocks of stone, and these holes are faced with bronze, evidently the sockets into which metal posts were fixed to which the beasts were chained. On the fragments depicting scenes from the arena, the animals are shown with a long piece of rope or chain dangling from their necks, which seems to bear out our idea that they were attached to posts fixed in these sockets, and that as they were wanted the chain or rope was cut, and they were free to rush upon the arena.
The corbels round the front of the line of arches under the podium are in pairs, and between them the masts were inserted to support the awning on the inside, as the holes and corbels supported the masts on the outside; for we find on examination that those inside are exactly in a line with those outside at the top of the building. These corbels are 29 inches deep, and from them to the level of the area is 10 feet, and to the present surface 11 feet; between each pair of corbels are chases 19½ inches wide, ending on a block of travertine for the masts to rest on, the chases coming down 1½ yards below the corbels, which are 15 feet apart. They probably helped tosupport the arena, and show what the height of this wooden arena must have been, and that from its vast size it must have had a framework and supports: the numerous holes on the area, in travertine, were for the heels of the supports; one of these, a square one, has remains of the decayed timber in it.
In the central passage, resting on the area and extending as far as the excavations, is an ancient wooden framework in a decomposed state. Various suggestions have been made as to its use,—we suppose it to be the framework and joists of the flooring covering the central passage; others, a sort of tramway for running the cages along,—but till the whole space has been cleared out it is impossible to arrive at a correct estimate of its use.
Honorius,A.D.404, having abolished the gladiatorial combats, probably the last display of wild beasts was that given by King Theodoric at the beginning of the sixth century.
The soil cleared out in the passage, dens, galleries, and area was found to be composed of mud deposited during a flood or floods by the Tiber, the composition of which may still be seen in parts of the long passage not yet cleared. The most remarkable of these floods, which lasted some days and did immense damage to the city, were those ofA.D.555, 590, 725, 778, 1476, 1530, 1557, and 1598.
We may presume, from the nature of the soil, that at some early date, probablyA.D.555, one of those terrible floods reached the Colosseum, and on the waters retiring a great deposit of mud was left, covering the old area floor and filling up the various passages and galleries, and that the authorities, instead of clearing out this deposit, added to it to make a solid floor, and used the arena above; for after that date we have no record of its being used, with the exception of the bull-fight.
By applying to the custodian, the visitor can ascend to the top, where a most magnificent view is enjoyed, the only way to get a good idea of its size and oval shape, and where the construction of the upper galleries can be studied. It will be seen that the arches forming the tiers of seats have at some date been filled in with brickwork, of the time of Alexander Severus and the Gordiani. The water-courses for keeping the building cool in hot weather can also be traced. The highest wall of all, the inside brick casing of which is partly gone, is built of fragments evidently not originally intended for the purpose for which they are used, corresponding to a great extent with the construction of the walls upon the area.
The Colosseum was for a long time used as a quarry, from which several of the palaces in Rome were built.
Should the visitor be fortunate enough to see the ruin under moonlight, or when it is illuminated with Bengal lights, he will see it in its grandeur, for "it will not bear the brightness of the day."
SECTION OF SEATS AND ARCHES OF THE COLOSSEUM.View larger image.
SECTION OF SEATS AND ARCHES OF THE COLOSSEUM.View larger image.
THE BRIDGE AND CASTLE OF S. ANGELO—THE TOMB OF HADRIAN—S. PETER'S—THE SACRISTY—THE CRYPT—THE DOME—THE VATICAN—SCALA REGIA—SISTINE AND PAULINE CHAPELS—STANZE AND LOGGIE OF RAPHAEL—THE PICTURE GALLERY—THE MOSAIC MANUFACTORY—THE MUSEUM OF SCULPTURE—THE INQUISITION—PORTA S. SPIRITO—S. ONOFRIO AND TASSO'S TOMB—MUSEUM TIBERINO—THE CORSINI AND FARNESINA PALACES—PORTA SETTIMIANA—VIA GARIBALDI—S. PIETRO IN MONTORIO—PAULINE FOUNTAIN—VILLA PAMPHILI DORIA—S. CECILIA IN TRASTEVERE—CHURCH OF S. CRISOGONO—STAZIONE VII COHORTI DEI VIGILI—CHURCH OF S. MARIA IN TRASTEVERE—PONTE SISTO—FARNESE AND CANCELLERIA PALACES—STATUE OF PASQUINO—CHIESA NUOVA—CIRCO AGONALE—OBELISK—S. AGNESE—S. MARIA DELLA PACE—S. AGOSTINO.
IN TRASTEVERE.
(Over the Tiber.)
From the Piazza del Popolo the Via Ripetta leads towards S. Peter's, turning off to the right, past the bridge, by the Via Monte Brianzo.
From the Piazza di Spagna we take the Via Condotti to the Via Monte Brianzo and Tor di Nona.
At the right-hand end of the latter street is the Apollo Theatre, built on the site of the Tor di Nona prison, where Beatrice Cenci was confined. Passing into the Piazza Ponte S. Angelo, on our left, is the Italian Free Church of Gavazzi, and in the Palazzo Altoviti, in front, lived Visconti.
We turn to the right over
(Ponte S. Angelo,)
which is decorated with ten angels standing on the parapet, bearing the instruments of our Lord's passion; and SS. Peter and Paul, an addition made in 1668 by Clement IX. It is the finest bridge in Rome, and was built by Hadrian.
(Castel S. Angelo. Permissions required: seepage 353.)
It was covered with white Paros marble, and decorated with statues of the gods and heroes, the works of Praxiteles and Lysippus, which were hurled upon the heads of the Goths. Erected by Hadrian,A.D.130. The porphyry sarcophagus, which is supposed to have contained his remains, is now used as the font in the chapel on the left in S. Peter's.
Procopius thus describes it: "The tomb of the Emperor Hadrian is situated outside the Porta Aurelia. It is built of Parian marble, and the blocks fit close to one another without anything to bind them. It has four equal sides, about a stone-throw in length; its altitude rises above the city walls; on the top are statues of the same kind of marble, admirable figures of men and horses."
Lucius Verus, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, were all buried here. It was first turned into a fortressA.D.423. Popes John XXIII. and Urban VIII. built the covered way connecting it with the Vatican. One of the barrack-rooms contains frescoes by Pierino del Vaga and Sicciolante, another by Giulio Romano. A circular room, surrounded with carved wood cases, once contained the archives of the Vatican. A large iron-bound chest contained the treasury. Some dark cells built in the thickness of the walls are shown as the prisons of Beatrice Cenci (?), Cellini, Cagliostro, and others. Tradition asserts that Gregory the Great saw S. Michael standing over the fortress sheathing his sword as a sign that a pestilence was stayed; to commemorate which the castle is now surmounted by a figure of the archangel in the act of sheathing his sword. This old castle served for a fortress during several ages, and its first cannon were cast out of part of the bronze taken from the roof of the Pantheon.
The Borgo Nuovo leads tothe Cathedral, passing,on the right, the Church of S. Maria, built on the site of a pyramid to Honorius, 423A.D., which is represented on the doors of S. Peter's.
(S. Pietro.)
Before the era of railways, the traveller in approaching Rome, across the Campagna, was generally electrified by the first glimpse of S. Peter's dome looming in the distance. Then he had full time, in advance of entering the gates of the city, to ponder over all the recollections which the magical word "Roma" might suggest to him. At present he is rapidly borne into the city, and sometimes before he is aware of having arrived even in its neighbourhood; yet the dome is plainly visible from afar by the railway approach of to-day. Now, as then, the first sight of Rome is always her unequalled cathedral; now, as then, the latter is the great object which the tourist eagerly hastens to visit. The present Church of S. Peter is relatively modern, having been first conceived by Pope Nicholas V. about the year 1450. It is built upon the site of the religious edifice erected in the time of Constantine, and consecrated as the "Basilica of S. Peter." The old basilica stood on part of the Circus of Nero, and occupies the spot consecrated by the blood of the martyrs slaughtered by order of that tyrant. Tradition supposes that the basilica held possession of the body of the apostle after his crucifixion,—a circumstance which reflected high credit upon it, and dignified its entrance with the appellation of the "limina apostolorum" (threshold of the apostles). After enjoying the veneration and tributes of all Christendom during eleven centuries, the walls of the old basilica began to give way, and its approaching ruin becoming visible about the year above stated, Nicholas V. conceived the project of taking down the old church, and erecting in its stead a new and more expensive structure. The project was begun, and resulted, after a long series of experiments made by various architects, in the splendid fabric which is now regarded by the world as the chief glory of modern Rome. The work made slight progress until the epoch of Julius II., who resumed the great task, and found in Bramante an architect capable of comprehending and executing his grandest conceptions. The walls of the ancient basilica were then wholly removed, and on the 18th of April 1508 the foundation stone of one of the vast pillars supporting the dome, as we now see it, was laid by Julius with great pomp and ceremony. From that period the work, though carried on with ardour and perseverance, continued during one hundred years tooccupy the attention and absorb much of the incomes of eighteen pontiffs. The most celebrated architects of the times displayed their talents in its erection—namely, Bramante, Raphael, San Gallo, Michael Angelo, Vignola, Carlo Maderno, and last, though not least, Bernini, who gave it the finishing touches of ornamentation, and who built the enclosing colonnade. It is estimated that its cost, after completion, was no less than £12,000,000 sterling—a sum representing a far greater value than it does in our day. Colossal statues of Peter and Paul, erected by Pius IX., guard the approach at the foot of the steps on either side.
Eustace says: "Entering the piazza, the visitor views four rows of lofty pillars, 70 feet high, sweeping off to the right and left in a bold semicircle. ('A tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain,' Isa. iv. 6.) In the centre of the area formed by this immense colonnade, an Egyptian obelisk, of one solid piece of granite, ascends to the height of 130 feet; two perpetual fountains, one on each side, play in the air, and fall in sheets round the basins of porphyry that receive them. Raised on three successive flights of marble steps, extending 379 feet in length, and towering to the elevation of 148, you see the majestic front of the basilica itself. This front is supported by a single row of Corinthian pillars and pilasters, and adorned with an attic, a balustrade, and thirteen colossal statues. Far behind and above it rises the matchless dome. Two smaller cupolas, one on each side, add not a little to the majesty of the principal dome."
Five lofty portals open into the vestibule; it is 468 feet in length, 66 in height, and 50 in breadth, paved with variegated marble, covered with a gilt vault, adorned with pillars, pilasters, mosaic, and bas-reliefs, and terminated at both ends by equestrian statues, one of Constantine, the other of Charlemagne.
is the only one near its original site, theSpinaof Nero's Circus, which was near the Sacristy, on the left of S. Peter's. An inscription in the pavement marks the place. Pliny (xxxvi. 14), says: "The third obelisk at Rome is in the Vatican Circus, which was constructed by the emperors Caius [Caligula] and Nero; this being the only one of them all that has been broken in the carriage. Nuncorcus, the son of Sesoses, made it [the original, this is probably a copy], and there remains [in Egypt] another by him, 100 cubits inheight, which, by order of an oracle, he consecrated to the sun, after having lost his sight and recovered it." Herodotus says: "It was dedicated by Phero, son of Sesostris, in gratitude for his recovery from blindness." It has no hieroglyphics, so if this was the original how could they know who erected it? but it bears this inscription of Caligula—