Chapter C: Vibius . C. F. Rufinus . M. Cocceius . Nerva . Cos . Ex . S. C (3)

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 the vault 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_

CHURCH OF S. FRANCISCA ROMANA.

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 marble _ciborium_, and monuments to Cardinal Vulcani, 1322, and General Rido, 1475.

_In the Via S. Teodoro is the entrance to_

THE PALATINE HILL AND THE PALACE OF THE CÆSARS.

_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._

Itinerary for Visiting the Palatine.

_Turn to the left when through Entrance Gate._

_Follow
the
Nos._ _Subject._ _Page._

1. ENTRANCE.

2. Palace of Caligula. 79

3. Palace of Tiberius. 79

4. Temple of Cybele. 76

5. Altar of Apollo. 75

6. Temple of Roma Quadrata. 75

7. Arches of Romulus. 72

8. Porta Carmenta. 73

9. Temple of Victory. 77

9 A. Shrine of Maiden Victory. 77

10. House of Germanicus. 78

11. Crypto-Portico. 78

12. Site of the Murder of Caligula. 78

13. Temple of Jupiter Stator. 76

14. Porta Mugonia. 73

15. Lararium. 71

16. Basilica. 82

17. Palace of Domitian. 81

18. House of Augustus. 78

19. Curiæ Veteres. 76

20. Auditorium. 81

21. Temple of Jupiter Victor. 77

22. _Path_, down.

23. _Path_, left.

24. Buildings of Domitian. 80

25. Palace of Commodus. 84

26. Stadium. 83

27. Odeum. 83

28. _Path_, up, turn right.

29. Palace of Septimius Severus. 84

30. Nymphæum of Marcus Aurelius. 83

31. _Path_, down through garden.

32. Gelotiana. 79

33. Piece of the Second Wall of Rome. xviii.

34. _Path_, round base of hill.

35. Altar to Aius Loquens. 77

36. Walls of Romulus. 72

37. Reservoir.

38, 39. Walls of Romulus. 71

40. Porta Romana. 73

41. Walls of Romulus, cliff. 71

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 the internal 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 the CIRCUS 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._

THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE PALATINE.

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 on of 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, one _continued_ furrow." 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." This furrow 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 a _balista_ or _catapult_ might 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 the _idea_ of a city rather than a _real_ city; 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.).

ROMA QUADRATA.

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, 753 B.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.

THE THREE GATES OF ROMA QUADRATA.

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

PORTA MUGONIA (14),

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."

PORTA ROMANA (40).

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."

PORTA CARMENTA (8).

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, _since_ called 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, _not_ Cacus. 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 gate _since_ called 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._

THE TEMPLE OF ROMA QUADRATA (6).

"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.

ALTAR OF APOLLO RHAMNUSII (5),

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.

THE CURIÆ VETERES (19).

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.

THE HOUSE OF ROMULUS

"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.

THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER STATOR (13),

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.

UNDER THE REPUBLIC.

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.

THE TEMPLE OF CYBELE (4).

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 till A.U.C. 550, when the goddess, a stone, was brought 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 of _opus incertum_.

THE TEMPLE OF VICTORY (9).

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_

THE SHRINE OF MAIDEN VICTORY (9A).

In A.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).

ALTAR TO AIUS LOQUENS (35).

Still standing; was erected 124 B.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, 391 B.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).

TEMPLE OF JUPITER VICTOR (21).

Founded during the second Samnite war by Fabius Maximus (Livy, x. 29)--326-304 B.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, consul B.C. 53-40.

THE HOUSE OF GERMANICUS (10),

(_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.

THE PALACES OF THE CÆSARS

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.

THE HOUSE OF AUGUSTUS (18).

"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 the PALACE OF DOMITIAN (17) we can descend into some of the small chambers, the vault of one being adorned with a fresco representing Victory.

THE GELOTIANA (32),

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. (See page 160.) The walls are still covered with names, &c., scratched by the soldiers.

THE HOUSE OF TIBERIUS (3).

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.

THE PALACE OF CALIGULA AND HADRIAN (2).

"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.

A, Tablinium.
B, Lararium.
C, Basilica.
D, Vestibule.
E, Tricliniarium.
F, Nymphæum.
G, Temple Jupiter Victor.
H, Vometarium.
K, Cubiculum.]

THE PALACE OF DOMITIAN (17).

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.

THE BASILICA (16).

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.

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, called _testudo_, 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 called _porticus_. The end of the testudo was curved, and was called the _tribunal_, from causes being heard there. A rail separating the tribunal from the body of the hall was called _cancelli_, 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.

THE STADIUM (26).

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.

THE EXEDRA, OR ODEUM (27).

On the right of the Stadium, for musical performances, with three chambers underneath decorated with fresco work.

THE NYMPHÆUM OF MARCUS AURELIUS (30).

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 covered with _opus 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.

THE PALACE OF COMMODUS (25, 29)

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.

THE PALACE OF THE CÆSARS.

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. In A.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 312 witnessed 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 the _plebs_, 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.

In A.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, besides the 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 of Rome 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 day A.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_

THE ARCH OF TITUS.

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.

"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 main stem, 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 side_ is 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 right_ are 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

TEMPLE OF THE SUN,

"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 of Vesta, 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).

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 in A.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_

THE FORUM OF CUPID AND ITS BASILICÆ,

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 a _templum_. A _delubrum_ was 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 was NOT built 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

PEDESTAL OF NERO'S COLOSSUS,

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_

META SUDANS,

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; or _meta_, because it was built in the form of a goal, and _sudans_, because the water trickled out.

_To the right is_

THE ARCH OF CONSTANTINE,

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 which refer to Trajan can be easily distinguished from those of Constantine (which are very bad) owing to their superior style and the subjects represented.

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 the _suovetaurilia_ sacrifice 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.

THE COLOSSEUM.

"A noble wreck in ruinous perfection."--BYRON.