ANCIENT ROME IN 1888 All rights reserved. ANCIENT ROME IN 1888 BY J. HENRY MIDDLETON FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE AND SLADE PROFESSOR OF FINE ART IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE " Possis nihil urbe Roma Visere majus." — HoR. Car. Sec. II. EDINBURGH ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1888 ADVERTISEMENT. The object of the present re-issue of this work is to add some account of the latest discoveries made in Rome. The description of what has been done in the way of excava- tion between 1885 and 1888 will be found in Chapter XVI. Unfortunately the record of the last three or four years has been one of destruction, rather than of addition, to the interest and beauty of Rome. J. H. M. King's College, Cambridge, September 12, 1888. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Sources of Information ; Classical writers ; Inscriptions and coins ; Mediaeval books and pictures ; Modern books . . Pages xi-xxvi CHAPTER I. Site ; physical aspect; building materials; Architectural styles; methods of construction ; building laws 1-41 CHAPTER II. Prehistoric Period; the Pomoerium ; " Wall of Romulus " ; Roma Quadrata ; Regal period ; Wall of Servius ; rivet quay ; Mamertine Prison 42-84 CHAPTER III. The Palatine Hill; Early remains; "Domus Tiberiana"; "House of Livia"; Area of Apollo and House of Augustus; Palace of Caligula 85-115 CHAPTER IV. The Palatine Hill {continued) ; Flavian Palace ; " Domus Gelotiana " ; Stadium and Palace of Hadrian ; Palace of Severus ; Velia and Cermalus ; Velabrum ; Nova Via ; Sacra Via . . . 116-143 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. The Foeum Magnum ; prehistoric period ; Comitium and Curia, Basilica iEmilia ; Rostra ; Temple of Saturn ; Arch of Tiberius ; Basilica Julia ; Temples of Castor, Divus Julius, and Vesta Pages 144-184 CHAPTER VI. The Foeum Magnum {continued) ; Regia and Atrium Vestse ; Statues of Vestals ; Arches of Fabius and Augustus ; Temples of Faustina, Concord, and Vespasian ; Porticus of the Dii Consentes ; Arch of Severus ; Central Area 185-223 CHAPTER VII. The Capitoline Hill ; Early history ; Temples of Jupiter Capitolinus, Juno Moneta and others ; Works of Art ; the "Tabularium" ; the Age of Augustus ; Fourteen Eegiones ; Monumentum Ancyranum ; "Works of Severus and Caracella 224-251 CHAPTER VIII. Imperial Fora ; Forum of Julius and of Augustus ; Forum Pacis ; Marble Plan ; Temple of Eomulus ; Forum of Nerva and of Trajan 252-281 CHAPTER IX. Places of Amusement ; Circus Maximus ; Circi of Maxentius, of Flaminius, of Nero, and of D&mitian ; Theatres of Scaurus, of Pompey, of Marcellus and of Balbus 282-299 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER X. Amphitheatres ; their origin ; the Colosseum ; its structural his- tory ; its arrangements ; its existing remains and its construc- tion Pages 300-329 CHAPTER XL Baths ; their arrangements anil construction ; Thermae of Agrippa and the Pantheon ; Thermfe Alexandrine ; Thermae of Titus and Golden House of Nero ; Thermae of Caracalla, of Diocletian, and of Constantine 330-375 CHAPTER XII. OTHER Remains in Rome ; Temples in the Forum Boarium and Oli- torium ; Porticus Octaviae ; "Temple of Neptune"; Septa Julia; Temples of Minerva, Isis, and Serapis ; Temple of Venus and Rome ; " Domus Vectiliana " ; Nymphaeum ; Praetorian Camp; Basilica of Constantine; "Villa of Maecenas"; Villa and Gardens of Sallust, and other private houses ; wall paintings and technical methods ; barracks of the Vigiles ....... 376-420 CHAPTER XIII. Tombs and Monuments; Tombs of the Cornelian Gens; Columbaria; Tombs of Eurysaces and Bibulus ; other tombs recently found ; Pyramids of Cestius and others ; Mausoleum of Augustus and of Hadrian ; Arches of Claudius, M. Aurelius, Titus, Severus (in the Forum Boarium), Constantine, Dolabella, and Gallienus ; Columns of Antoninus and M. Aurelius ...... 421-450 CHAPTER XIV. Water Supply ; laws and methods of carrying water ; inscribed lead pipes ; the eleven Aqueducts ; fountains .... 451-476 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. Roads and their construction ; bridges ; Walls of Aurelian ; their con- struction ; their circuit and gates .... Pages 477-503 CHAPTER XVI. Discoveries of 1885-1888 ; modern destruction ; Line of Sacra Via ; Regia ; tombs and sarcophagi ; bronze statues ; Arch of Augustus. 504-512 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. COLOURED PLATES. Plate I. Frontispiece ; Map of Modern Rome, showing existing ancient remains and proposed new streets. Plate II. (Page 1) Map of Ancient Rome. Plate III. At end ; Plan of the Forum Magnum, showing the most recent discoveries. WOODCUTS. FIG. PAGE 1. Concrete wall faced with opus inccrtum and opus reHoufatum . 31 2. Concrete wall faced with bricks ...... 32 3. Example of marble lining 39 4. Section of wall of Roma Qnadrata 49 5. "Wall of Romulus" 51 6. Wall and Agger of Servius 70 7. Masons' marks on the Servian wall 72 8. Servian wall on the Aventine ....... 74 9. Mamertine Prison ......... 79 10. Plan of the Palatine Hill 82 11. Early cistern by the S'calcc Caci 87 12. Altar to the Unknown God 98 13. "House of Li via" 100 14. The Curia (S. Adriano) 150 15. Early paved road 156 16. Plan of the Rostra 15S 17. Section of the Rostra 159 18. Ancient representation of the Rostra 161 19. Plan of Temple of Castor 175 20. Temple of Vesta restored 1S4 x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIG. PAGE 21. Plan of the Atrium Vestse and Regi a 187 22. Section of the Atrium Vestse . . . . . . .189 23. Ancient relief of corn -mill . . . . . . .194 24. Statue of a Vestal 199 25. Ancient relief of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus . . . 231 26. Arch in the Tabularium 240 27. Plan of Fora of Julius, Augustus, and Nerva .... 253 28. Wall round Forum Julium ....... 255 29. Templum Sacra} urbis ........ 262 30. Forum of Trajan 269 31. Plan of Basilica Ulpia 272 32. Interior of Basilica Ulpia restored ...... 273 33. Mixed construction in the Colosseum 313 34. Substructures in the Colosseum 325 35. Painting of a Bath 332 36. Construction of hypocaust ....... 334 37. Pantheon and part of Thermos of Agrippa .... 336 38. Bronze moulding round the hypeethrum of the Pantheon . . 340 39. Golden House of Nero 350 40. Baths of Titus 355 41. Baths of Caracalla 357 42. Tepidarium of Caracalla ........ 361 43. Section of Peristyle of Thermse of Caracalla .... 363 44. "Temple of Fortuna Virilis " 377 45. Three Temples in the Forum Olitorium 381 46. " Temple of Neptune " 389 47. Temple of Venus and Rome ....... 394 48. Do., on a coin of Hadrian ....... 395 49. Basilica of Constantine 401 50. House of Sallust 408 51. Wall painting, from a house by the Tiber .... 412 52. Section of an Aqueduct arch 456 53. Lead pipes and turncocks ....... 460 54. Aqueduct arch built by Augustus ...... 469 55. Elevation of part of the Wall of Aurelian 491 56. Section „ 492 57. Plan ,, 493 INTRODUCTION. An excuse for adding one more to the already long list of books on the Archaeology of Rome may perhaps be partly supplied by the fact that the last few years have been extra- ordinarily fertile in the discoveries of hitherto unknown remains, and in the new light that has been thrown on many of those that have for long been visible. To excavations made during the last ten years is due the complete exposure of the whole area of the Forum Magnum and much of the ground near it ; the determination of the real form of the Rostra of Julius Caesar j the discovery of most important remains of the Temple of Vesta, the Regia, the House of the Vestals, and the line of the Nova Via. The great Servian Agger, with countless early tombs and houses of all dates, have, during the same period, been brought to light by the extensive excavations made in laying out a new quarter of modern Rome. Most important of all, in its relation to the early history of Rome, has been the discovery of a large Etruscan Necropolis on the Esquiline Hill, which implies the existence, at a very remote period, of a great city of the Rasena, highly advanced in culture and technical skill in all the minor arts of life — a serious blow to the long established tradition of the early supremacy of the Latin race in the city of the seven hills. Moreover, in the following pages an attempt has been made to describe the buildings of ancient Rome with increased attention to detail and methods of construction — points which are usually passed over too lightly by those antiquaries who b xii INTRODUCTION. are without any practical acquaintance with the actual pro- cesses and materials employed in building. Great as must always be the value of documentary evidence, such as that which is supplied by inscriptions, coins, and the long list of classical writers mentioned below, yet it is of quite equal importance for the student to learn to read the story told by each building itself — a record by no means clear, and which requires long and careful study of what may at first sight appear to be matters of small moment. It is not only the general design of a building, the contours of its mouldings, or the style of its sculpture, which supplies valuable evidence as to its history, but no less important help is often to be gained by the minute examination of such purely constructional points as the composition of the concrete, the form of the wood centering shown by its imprints on the vaults, and countless other technical details. It is hoped, too, that the plans and other illustrations may be of assistance to future students — especially the plan of the Forum, which has been measured and drawn by the author entirely afresh, and shows for the first time the whole extent of the area of the Forum and most of its surrounding build- ings. The latest excavations, down to 1885, are shown on the plan of the Palatine Hill and on that of the House of the Vestals. Before passing on to the subject in hand it may be well to give a list of the various sources of information on the Archae- ology of Eome, with the names of the chief books and periodi- cals which should be consulted by those who wish to enter upon the subject in a more thorough way than has been attempted in the following incomplete and scanty volume. The sources of information on the Archaeology of Eome may be classified in the following way : — I. Classical Writers. II. Inscriptions and Coins. INTRODUCTION. xiii III. The Regionary Catalogues and other Documents of the DECADENCE AND MIDDLE AGES. IV. A NUMBER OP WORKS, MOSTLY ILLUSTRATED, DATING FROM THE REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY DOWN TO THE PRESENT CENTURY, AND OLD PICTURES WHICH SHOW CLASSICAL BUILDINGS NOW DESTROYED. V. Modern Works. I. The following are the chief classical writers who give information on the antiquities and topography of Rome : — Plautus, Roman Dramatist: b. c. 254 B.C. — d. 184 B.C. Wrote an immense number of Comedies, a few of which exist. Ennius, Poet ami Historian: b. 239 — d. 169 B.C. Wrote Annals of Borne, Satires, and Tragedies, of which only fragments exist. Polybius, Greek Historian: b. c. 204— d. c. 122 b. c. Wrote a History of Home, Greece, and other countries, in forty books, of which the first five exist, and fragments of others. P. Terentius Afer, native of Carthage, a Roman Comic Poet: b. 195 — d. c. 159 B.C. Wrote Comedies, of which six exist. M. Terentius Varro, Roman Antiquary and Philologist : b. 116 — d. 28 B.C. Wrote Be Lingua Latina, Dc re Rustica, Antiquitah m Libri, and other works. M. Tullius Cicero, Roman Orator and Statesman: b. 106 — d. 43 B.C. Wrote Orations, De Natura Dcorum, Be Lcgibus, and many other works on philosophy, theology, and history, together with Poems and Miscellaneous Essays, mostly full of topographical allusions. C. Sallustius Crispus, Roman Historian : 86-34 B.C. Wrote on the Jugurthinc War and Catiline Conspiracy, as well as a History of Rome, in five books, which is now lost. Valerius Catullus, Roman Poet: 87-c. 47 B.C. Wrote Odes, of which 116 exist. P. Virgilius Maro, Roman Poet: 70-19 B.C. The ^Encid contains many references to Rome and its history. Q. Horatius Flaccus, Roman Poet: 65-8 B.C. Wrote Odes, Epistles, Ars Poctica, and Satires : the latter have many passages illustrative of Roman topography. Titus Livius, the chief Roman Historian, 59 B.C. -17 a.d. His History of Rome, which ends with the year 9 B.C., consisted of 142 books, of which 35 exist complete, with Epitomes of all the lost books, except two. xiv INTRODUCTION. Diodorus Siculus, Greek Historian : reign of Augustus. Wrote Biblio- theca Historica. P. Oviditjs Naso, Roman Poet: b. 43 B.C.— d. a.d. 18. Wrote Fasti, Tristia, Epistolaz ex Ponto, and other works. The Fasti are specially valuable to the student of Roman archaeology. Albius Tibullus, Roman Poet: b. c. 54 — d. c. 18 B.C. Wrote Elegies, of which two genuine books exist. Sextus Aurelius Propertius, Roman Poet: b. c. 52 — d. c. 10 B.C. Wrote Elegies. Strabo, Greek Geographer : b. c. 54 B.C. — d. after 20 a.d. Wrote on the Geography of the known world, in 17 books. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Greek Historian: died 7 B.C. Wrote History of Rome. M. Vitruvius Pollio, Roman Engineer and Architect: b. c. 80 B.C., date of death unknown. Wrote He Architectura, in the reign of Augustus, a most interesting and valuable work. C. Yelleiijs Paterculus, a Roman Historian : b. c. 20 B.C. — d. c. a.d. 31. Wrote Historia Romana, published in a.d. 30. M. Valerius Maximtjs, Roman Historian : reign of Augustus and Tiberius. Wrote He Factis Dictisquc Memorabilibus, Libri IX., a curious collection of historical anecdotes. Aulus Persius Flaccus, a Roman Satiric Poet: 34-62 a.d. Wrote Satires, of which six books exist. Decimus Junius Juvenalis, Roman Satiric Poet : middle of first cen- tury a. d. Wrote Satires, which contain many passages illustrative of Roman topography. C. Silius Italicus, Roman Poet: middle of first century a.d. Wrote a heroic poem in 17 books, entitled Punica, on the second Punic War, from the taking of Saguntum down to the triumph of Scipio Africanus. Flavius Josephus, Jewish Historian: b. 37 a.d. — d. after 97. Wrote in Greek the History of the Jewish Wars ; a book on Jewish Anti- quities, and other works. P. Papinius Statius, Roman Poet: c. 61-c. 96 a.d. Wrote Sylvce, Thebais, and Achilleis. The first of these poems contains descrip- tions of various parts of Rome in the reign of Domitian. C. Cornelius Tacitus, Roman Historian : b. c. 55 a.d. — d. after 117 a.d. Wrote Annates and Historian Romce, and other works of great importance to the student of Roman antiquities. C. Suetonius Tranquillus, Roman Historian : second half of the first century a.d. Wrote Lives of the Ccesars down to Domitian, of the highest value and interest, together with many other works now lost. M. Annaeus Lucanus, Roman Poet: 39-65 a.d. Wrote the Pharsalia, INTRODUCTION. XV a poem in 10 books, descriptive of the struggle between Pompey and Csesar. Pliny the Elder (C. Plinius Sccundus) : 23-79 a.d. Wrote an Ency- clopaedia of general information, called Historia Naturcdis, which contains much valuable information on the buildings of Rome and their works of art. Pliny the Younger (C. Plinius Ccecilius Sccundus) b. 61 — d. after 110 a.d., was the nephew of the elder Pliny ; he practised as an advocate in the Basilicas, of Rome, and wrote a Panegyricus and Epistolce, the latter of special interest. Plutarch, a Greek Historian and Moralist : second half of the first century a.d. Wrote Lives of forty-six distinguished Greeks and Romans, and a work called Quccstiones Romance, which contains much curious information on Roman antiquities. M. Valerius Martialis, Roman Poet: b. 43 — d. after 104 a.d. Wrote Epigrams, of which 14 books exist ; one of these, entitled Be Spectaculis, is of special archaeological interest. S. J. Frontinus, Curator of the Aqueducts under Trajan. Wrote Be Aquaiductibus Romce. See page 451. Aulus Gellius, Roman Essayist : c. 117-180 a.d. Wrote Nodes Atticce, in which are many notes on Roman anticp:iities. Dion Cassius Cocceianus, Roman Senator and Historian : b. c. 155 a.d. — date of death unknown. Wrote a History of Rome down to the reign of Caracalla, only parts of which now exist ; it is of very great value. Appianus, Greek Historian of Rome : second century a. d. Wrote a History of Rome, of which books xiii. to xxi., ra 'E/xcpvXia, on the Civil War between Marius and Sulla, are of special value. Q. Septimius Tertullianus — The earliest of the Latin Fathers, c. 160 -c. 220 A.d. Wrote a tract called Be Spectaculis, on the wicked- ness of the cruel shows in amphitheatres, which contains some information on the details of the games. Herodianus, Greek Historian of Rome: c. 180-240 a.d. Wrote the History of his own Time. The biographies of the Roman Emperors from Hadrian A.D. 117 to Carinus a.d. 284, entitled Historia: Augusta:, were the work of six writers, ^Elius Spiartianus, Jidius Capitolinus, Vidcatius Gallicanus, JElius Lanvpridius, Trebcllius Pollio, and Flavins Vopiscus, but it is impossible to attribute with certainty each biography to its real author. This work was compiled at different times towards the end of the third and beginning of the fourth century. C. Junius Solinus, Roman Historian and Archaeologist : third century a.d. Wrote Polyhistor, a sort of Encyclopaedia. xvi INTRODUCTION. Calpurnius Sicultjs, Roman Poet : date very doubtful, usually said to be of the third century A. d. Wrote Eclogues, in which he describes shows in a Roman amphitheatre with much detail and vividness. Sex. Aurelius Yictor, Roman Historian : fourth century a.d. "Wrote Lives of the Emperors and Illustrious Romans, and perhaps the Origo Gentis Romance?- Eusebius of CiESAREA : c. 264 -c. 340 a.d. Wrote Historia Ecclesi- astica and the Chronicon. Eutropius, Roman Historian : fourth century A. d. Wrote a Compendium of Roman History in 10 books, from Romulus to Yalens. Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman Historian : second half of fourth cen- tury a.d. Wrote History of Rome from Nerva a.d. 96 to Valens a.d. 378. Aurelius Theodosius Macrobius, Roman Writer, first half of fifth century a.d. Wrote Saturnaliorum Conviviorum, Libri VII., an interesting archaeological work. Claudius Claudianus, the last Roman Poet: d. c. 408 a.d. Wrote He Bello Getico on Stilicho's victories over the Goths, and many other poems. Sidonius Apollinaris, a Latin Bishop, 430-482 a.d. Wrote Poems and Epistles. Zosimus, Greek Historian : fifth century a. d. Wrote a History of the Decline of the Roman Empire, in six books, down to a.d. 410.1 Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus, Roman Statesman and Writer : b. c. 468 — d. c. 564. Wrote a Chronicon ox Abstract of Universal History, an Ecclesiastical History, and many other works. He also compiled a series of contemporary State papers. Procopius, Byzantine Historian : b. c. 500. Wrote a History of his own Time, a work of great merit, containing an account of the wars of the Romans with the Persians, the Goths, and the Vandals. II. Inscriptions. These are frequently of the highest value in throwing light on Roman topography. The most important existing inscription, as regards this subject, is that cut on the walls of the Temple of Augustus at Ancyra, an account of which is given at page 247. 1 The IPubliusl Victor and the Regionary Catalogue, of which he is sup- posed tojiave been the author, are|inventions of some' mediaeval antiquary. INTRODUCTION. xvii The Consular Fasti, inscribed on marble slabs, contained a list of consuls and other state officials down to the time of Augustus. In the sixteenth century many fragments of this valuable record were found near the Temple of Vesta, and are now preserved in the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitol. It appears probable that these were originally preserved in the Begia, and after its destruction in the House of the Vestals. See Fea, Frammenti di Fasti, Eome, 1820; and Keber, Rumen Boms, p. 135. The Ancyrsean inscription, Bes gestce Augusti, has been edited by Zumpt, Berlin, 1845; and by Mommsen in 1883. Other inscriptions are published by — Gruter, Inscriptiones Antiquce Romance. Muratori, Thesaurus veterum inscriptionum, Milan, 1739. Orelli and Henzen, Inscriptionum latinarum collcctio, 1828-56. Zumpt, Commentationum Epigraphicarum volumcn, Berlin, 1850. Mommsen and others, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, 1863 — in progress ; and its Supplement, Ephemeris EpigrapMca, 1872 — in progress. Coins and Medallions. The coins of Rome contain an immense number of records relating to the buildings of the city. The reverses of the denarii of the later Republic, after about 150 B.C., are very rich in this way. Under the Empire coins of all denominations very frequently have reverses with representations of buildings erected or restored by the emperors. These, as a rule, are treated in a conventional way — the number of the columns of the front is often reduced for want of space ; thus hexastyle temples are commonly shown as tetrastyle, and the statue of the god which was within the cella is often shown between the columns of the portico. The coins may, however, be trusted to give the general design of the buildings they commemorate, and some are treated with much minuteness and accuracy, showing not only the form of the Temple but even the details and arrangement of its sculptured decorations. xviii INTRODUCTION. The large bronze medallions of the Empire are even richer than the current coins in carefully executed representations of the buildings and sculpture of Rome, and were frequently struck to commemorate the completion of some important architectural work. The chief examples which relate to this class of subject begin with the reign of Antoninus Pius, and continue till about the middle of the third century. Many coins and medallions on which Eoman buildings are represented are illustrated by Canina in his Indicazione, 1830, and by Donaldson, Architectures Numismatica, London, 1859 ; neither set of drawings are remarkable for accuracy. Cohen's works on Koman coins of the Eepublic and Empire ; Froehner, Medallions de V Empire, Paris, 1878 ; and Grueber, Roman Medallions, British Museum, 1872, are all well and accurately illustrated. III. Uhlrich, in his Codex Urhis Romce Topographicus, Wurtz- burg, 1871, has published the Regionary Catalogues, called the Notitia and Curiosum, which were compiled in the fourth century, giving lists of the chief buildings and monuments in each of the regiones of Augustus. In the same work are printed the catalogue of the pseudo- Publius Victor, and the itinerary of the Einseidlen MS., so called from its being preserved in the monastery of Einseidlen in Switzerland ; it was written by an unknown visitor to Eome in the ninth century. Also the Mirabilia Urhis Romce, a twelfth century account of the marvels of the sacred city. The Graphia Aurece Urbis Romce, a somewhat similar list, dating from the thirteenth century, is included in this Codex. In the same valuable compilation are included many other extracts from mediaeval sources which relate to Roman antiquities. Preller, Regionen der Stadt Rom, Jena, 1846, also gives the INTRODUCTION. xix Regionary Catalogues, which are printed in the works of Nardini, Jordan, and other antiquaries ; see below. The Mirabilia has also been edited by Parthey, Berlin, 1869 ; and the Einseidlen MS. by Haenel, Archiv. far PhUologie, Berlin, 1837, v. 115. The best edition of Festus is that of Muller, Pauli Diaconi excerpta ex libro Pomp. Festi, Leipsic, 1839. Much information about Roman Antiquities is given by the various commentators on Virgil, who pass under the general name of Servius, a grammarian of the fifth century. An excellent edition is that published by Thilo and Hagen, Leipsic, 1881-5. Other early Scholiasts give valuable topographical notes, especially some commentaries on Cicero's works, written probably in the fifth century, but which have been wrongly ascribed to Asconius, a Roman writer of the first century A.D. V. Early Works on Roman Antiquities. The revival of interest in classical archaeology, which naturally accompanied the revival of classical learning, began to dawn in Rome about the middle of the fifteenth century. The antiquarian works which were produced at this early time, and for long after, are not of course remarkable for finished scholarship or power of accurate and critical research, but are frequently of the greatest value to the modern student both for their accounts of discoveries which were made, and would otherwise have been forgotten, and also for their numerous illustrations of buildings which have now either wholly or in part disappeared. The Florentine Poggio and the Venetian Biondo were the first of that throng of students of pagan remains which in the succeeding century became so large. Poggio's work, De Fortunce Varietate, written about A. P. 1440, and dedicated by XX INTRODUCTION. him to Eugenius IV., contains an interesting account of the ruins of Rome in his time. His MS. was printed at Basle in 1538, and several other editions appeared within a few years. Biondo's Borne Restored, was written about the same time. The great outburst of enthusiasm on this subject did not, how- ever, occur till the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the Pontificate of Julius II., when fresh impulse was given to study of the classical remains of Eome by the discovery of the buried chambers of Nero's Golden House, under the Thermce of Titus, with their rich store of decorations in colour and stucco reliefs. These at once became not only objects of interest to the anti- quary, but also were copied and imitated by countless sculptors and painters, especially by Raphael and his numerous pupils, who reproduced them with varying degrees of imitation or originality on the walls and vaults of most of the magnificent palaces which sprang up with such wonderful rapidity during the first quarter of the sixteenth century. The loggie and the bath-room of Cardinal Bibiena in the Vatican, the chamber of Clement VII. in the Castle of S. Angelo, and, most magnificent of all, the Villa Madama on the slopes of Monte Mario, built for Cardinal de' Medici (afterwards Clement VII.), are among the chief existing examples of the result of this study of classical methods of decoration by Raphael and his school. 1 Nor was the influence of ancient Rome confined to methods of decoration ; the thoroughly pagan spirit of the sixteenth century brought with it a taste for the scholastic formalism of Roman architecture, and hence every important architect of that time measured and drew the then existing remains of ancient Rome as one of the chief parts of his professional training. This has fortunately preserved to us a large number of 1 Another splendid example, rather later in date, is the Villa of Pope Julius, built by Yignola, near Monte Parioli, a short way outside the Porta del Popolo. INTRODUCTION. xxi drawings, from now destroyed buildings, by the hands of Raphael, Bramante, Bramantino, Baldassare and Sallustio Peruzzi, Andrea Sansovino, Palladio, Vignola, and many other great architects of the sixteenth century. Raphael's zeal as an archaeologist, not only in making drawings of ancient buildings but also in taking energetic measures for their preservation, is strongly shown by a report which he wrote to Leo X., describing the wholesale destruc- tion that had been going on in Rome, and pleading for assist- ance from the Pope to prevent further injury. 1 Some of these drawings by sixteenth-century architects exist only in MS., preserved in the libraries of the Vatican, the Uffizi, Siena, Milan, and elsewhere. A valuable MS. by Ligorio exists in the Bodleian at Oxford. Some few have been recently published in facsimile. Palladio's very valuable work on the Thermae of Borne is well illustrated by plans, which show far more than now exists — some, such as the Thermae of Constantine, having almost wholly disappeared ; this was first published in London in 1732. Paintings, especially those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, often give representations of the remains of ancient Rome, supplying much that is now lost. These are frequently overlooked, as they are scattered about in various churches and palaces, and are usually of but little artistic value ; moreover, the valuable bit of information which a painting supplies is often merely put in as an accidental accessory or background, and may easily be overlooked. All old pictures should, however, be examined by the student with this object in view. Among the most notable examples are the frescos in the library of the Vatican, painted for Sixtus V. ; those by Vasari in the Palazzo della Cancelleria ; frescos in the Carafa Chapel in S. Maria Maggiore, and those in S. Martino ai 1 This was published by Visconti, Lettcra sulV Antichitti di Roma . . . da Raffaello, etc., Rome, 1834 ; see also Miintz, Gaz. des B. Arts, Oct. and Nov. 1880. xxii INTRODUCTION. Monti. The ancient monuments shown on the bronze door of S. Peter's are mentioned at page 435. One of the most important pictures to the student of Roman Archaeology is a large bird's eye view of Rome, painted in oil in the sixteenth century, which shows all the then exist- ing monuments of Rome with some minuteness. This has been published by De Rossi, in a work which contains much that is interesting of the same sort — Piante di Roma anteriori al Secolo XVI., Rome, 1879. See also Miintz, Un plan de Rome, cm XVme Sikle, Soc. Nat. des Antiquaires, Paris, April 1880. List of Works on the Archaeology of Rome. 1 Works of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Biondo, Roma Ristaurata, MS. of 1430-40, printed at "Venice in 1543. Poggio, De Fortunes Varietate, MS. of about 1440, printed at Basle in 1538. Bramantino, Rovine di Roma, 1503-1513, with many sketches, printed by Mongeri, Milan, 1875, from the original MS. in the Ambrosian Library at Milan. Albertini, Opusculum de Mirabilibus TJrbis Romce, 1509. Pomponius, Be Vetustate TJrbis Romce, 1523. Andrea Fulvio, Antiquaria TJrbis Romce, "Venice, 1527. Calvus, Antiquce TJrbis Romce Simulachrum, 1532. Marlianus, TJrbis Romce Topographia, 1544. Palladio, JJ Architettura, Venice, 1542 ; and Le Terme dei Romani London, 1732. Serlio, L Architettura, Yenice, 1545 ; lib. iii. deals with the buildings of ancient Rome. Fauno, Antichita di Roma, 1548. Pomp. Leto, Antichita di Roma, Yenice, 1550. Labacco, Architettura ed Antichita di Roma, 1557 ; a careful and well illustrated work, which has been much used by later antiquaries. L. Mauro, Antichita di Roma, Venice, 1558. Ligorio, Effigies Antiquce Romoe, 1561. Gamucci, Antichita di Roma, Yenice, 1565. 1 All these books are printed in Rome unless otherwise described. Other works on special sections are mentioned in the text under their respective headings — Baths, Amphitheatres, etc. INTRODUCTION. xxiii Du Perac, Vestigj di Roma, 1575 ; this very valuable series of etched plates shows an immense quantity of what is now lost. The drawings appear to have been made about the middle of the century, though not published till 1575. Fabricius, Romce Antiquitates, 1587. Vacca, Memorie di varie Antichitd, 1594 ; printed in Nardini, Roma Ant, Ed. Nibby, vol. iv. Works of the Seventeenth Century. Crechi, Antichitd di Roma, 1601. Laurus, Antiquce Urbis Splendor, 1612. Maggius, JEdificia et Ruince Romce, 1618 ; a set of etchings. Felini, Alma Cittcl di Roma, 1625. Scamozzi, L y Antichitd di Roma, 1632. Franzini, Roma Antica e Modcma, 1653. Desgodetz, Edifices Antiques de Rome, 1682 ; a valuable collection of measured plans and details. Ciampini, Vetera Monumenta, 1690. Bartoli, Admiranda Romce Vestigia, 1693. De Rubeis, Romas Magnificcntice Monumenta, 1699. Works of the Eighteenth Century. Pinarole, Antichitd di Roma, 1709, and Vcstiqi di Roma, 1744. Donatus, Roma Vetus, 1725. Piranesi's large and skilfully executed etchings are now of great interest for their record of buildings which have since been injured or destroyed. They are grouped in Atlas folio volumes, entitled La Magnificenza dei Romani, 1761-4, L Antichitd Romana, 1756, and other works. 1 Bellori, Ichnographia Vcteris Romaz, 1764. Venuti, Vetera Monumenta, 1778 ; and Dcscrizionc Topographica di Roma, 1824. Guattani, Monumenta Antiqua, 1784-1789, and Roma Descritta, 1805. Works of the Nineteenth Century (in addition to those named at page xxv). Valadier, Lepiu insigni Fabbriche di Roma, 1810-26. Rossini, Antichitd di Roma, 1817. 1 Piranesi's copper plates, though much retouched, are preserved, and still printed from at the Calcografia Camerale of Rome ; they are sold, either in sets or singly, at three lire each. The Calcografia also possesses the coppers of many other valuable old plates of Roman antiquities. xxiv INTRODUCTION. Fea, Ragionamento, and other works, 1821-33. Taylor and Cressy, Architectural Antiquities of Rome, London, 1821. Romanis, Vestigie di Roma Antica, 1832. Gell, Topography of Rome, London, 1834. Donovan, Rome, Ancient and Modem, 1842. Becker, Die Romische Topographic, Leipsic, 1844. Zestermann, Be Basilicis, Brussels, 1847. Braun, Die Ruinen und Museen Roms, Berlin, 1854. Ampere, Histoire Romaine, Paris, 1862-4. Zinzow, Das dlteste Rom, Pyritz, 1866. Parker, Photographs, illustrating the Archseology of Rome ; a very valu- able set, price half a franc each. 1 Friedlander, Sittengeschichte Roms, Leipsic, 1869 ; and Darstellungen aus der Sittenges. Roms, Leipsic, 1881. Wey, Description de Rome, Paris, 1870. Gsell-Fels, Romische Ausgrabungen, Hildburghausen, 1870. Jordan, Forma Urbis Roma, Berlin, 1875, with supplement of 1883 ; Novoz Questiones Topographical, Konigsberg, 1868 ; and other works mentioned below. Lanciani, Dissertazioni Archmologiche, 1876-85, and other works on the Aqueducts, Vestals, Curia, etc. De Rossi, Note di Topografia Romana, 1882. Duruy, Histoire des Romains, Paris, 1878-84 ; well illustrated. Dyer, The City of Rome, new ed., 1883. Maps — Nolli's Map of Ancient Rome, 1748, has been largely followed by Canina in his large and fanciful plan of Rome in many plates, published in 1850. Moltke, Carta Topographica di Roma, Berlin, 1852. Rieu, Romoe veteris ychnographia, Lyons, 1863. Burn, Rome and the Campagna, London, 1871, gives a good map of ancient Rome. Works on the Museums and Sculpture of Rome. Pistolesi, II Vaticano, 1829-38. Visconti, Museo Chiaramonti, Pio Clementino, and Museo Gregoriano, 1803-43. Bottari, Museo Capitolino, Milan, 1821-2. 1 All students of Roman archseology owe a great debt of gratitude to Mr. J. H. Parker for this large and well selected set of photographs ; unhappily, his numerous writings on this subject are rendered worse than useless to the student by their countless inaccuracies and baseless theories. INTRODUCTION. XXV S. Q. Visconti, Sculture clella Villa Borghese, 1796, and Sculture del Pal. Giustiniani, 1811. Winckelmann, OjJere di, best edition is in Italian, Ed. Fea, Prato, 1830. Vitale, Marmi nel Pal. Torlonia, n.d. Benndorf, Die Bildwerke des Lateran Museum, Leipsic, 1867. Wolff, Bildwerke des Vdticans, etc., Berlin, 1870. Schreiber, Antiken Bildwerke der Villa Ludovisi, Leipsic, 1880. De Montault, Musees et Galeries de Rome, 1880. Matz and Von Duhn, Antike Bildwerke in Rom, Leipsic, 1881. Bernoulli, Romische Ikonographie, Stuttgard, 1881. See also Overbeck, Geschichte der griechischen Plastik, new ed., Leipsic, 1882, vol. ii. Some of the most valuable information on Eoman archaeo- logy, and especially accounts of the recent discoveries, are contained in the following periodicals : — The Annali, Bulletino, and Monumenti dell' Instituto di Corrisjjondenza Archceologica di Roma, 1829 — in progress. Atti dclV Accadcmia Romana dei Lincei — in progress. Bulletino dclla Commissione Archxologica Municipale di Roma, 1872 — in progress. Notizie degli Scavi, 1876 — in progress. The Monografia di Roma, 1878, by various writers, gives a list of works on Rome down to 187G, and contains valuable articles on the health, population, etc., of ancient Eome. See also Bonghi, Bibliografta Storica di Iloma Antica, 1879. The reader who wishes to study the subject of Roman archaeology in a fairly concise form, and without immediate reference to original sources, will find the following books the most useful : — Nardini, Roma Antica, Ed. Nibby, 1818-20. Nibby, Antichitd di Roma, 1830, and Roma nclV Anno, 1838. Becker, Handbuch der RomiscJien Alterthiimer, Leipsic, 1843 ; of special value from its numerous references to classical writers. Bunsen and others, Bcschrcibung der Stadt Rom, Stuttgard, 1829-42 ; and its abridgment by Plattner and Uhlrichs, 1844. Reber, Die Ruinen Roms, Leipsic, 1863. Von Reumont, Geschichte der Stadt Rom, Berlin, 1867-70. xxvi INTRODUCTION. Jordan, Topographie der Stadt Rom, Berlin, 1878 — in progress, a very- useful work. Burn, Borne and the Campagna, London, 1871 ; this is by far the best work in English. The large and magnificently illustrated works by Canina must be used with great caution ; they contain highly imagina- tive restorations, often invented without a shadow of evidence. Even those parts of the drawings which profess to show the existing remains are rendered of little value by their numerous inaccuracies. The chief of Canina's works are Indicazione di Roma Antica, 1830; Esposizione Topografica, 1842 ; Edifizj di Roma Antica, 1848-56 ; Foro Romano, 1845 ; and Architettura Antica, 1834-44. CHAPTER I. SITE OF ROME, AND ROMAN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION. The city of Rome stands about fourteen miles from the pre- sent mouth of the Tiber, in a great plain of alluvial and marine deposit, broken into elevations by numerous masses of volcanic matter. The nine or ten hills and ridges on which the city is built are formed of great heaps of tufa, or conglomerated ashes and sand thrown out of the craters of a number of volcanoes now extinct, but in an active state down to a comparatively recent period. One group of volcanoes is that around the Lago Bracciano, while another, still nearer to Rome, is that which composes the Alban Hills. That some at least of these craters have been in a state of activity at no very distant period has been shown by the discovery at many places of broken pottery of a primitive character, and bronze implements, below the strata of tufa or other volcanic deposit. Traces of human life have even been found below that great flood of lava which, issuing from the Alban Hills, flowed towards the site of Rome, and only stopped short about three miles from the city, where the tomb of Csecilia Metella was afterwards built. The superficial strata on which Rome is built are of three kinds — first, the plains and valleys on the left bank of the Tiber, which are covered, as it were, by a sea of alluvial deposit, in the midst of which, secondly, the hills of B 2 THE SITE OF ROME. CHAP. volcanic origin rise like so many islands ; and thirdly, on the right bank of the Tiber, around the Janiculan and Vatican Hills, are extensive remains of an ancient seabeach, con- spicuous in parts by its fine golden sand and its deposit of pure grayish -white potters' clay. From its yellow sand the Janiculan Hill has been sometimes known as the Golden Mount, a name which survives in the title of the church at its summit, called S. Pietro in Montorio (monte d'oro). In addition to these chief deposits, at a few places, espe- cially on the Aventine and Pincian Hills, under -strata of travertine crop out ; this is a hard limestone rock, once in solution in running water, and deposited gradually, as the water by exposure to air loses its carbonic acid solvent — a process still rapidly going on at Terni, Tivoli, and other places in the neighbourhood along the course of the river Anio. The conditions under which the tufa hills were formed have been very various, as is clearly seen by an examination of the rock at different places. The volcanic ashes and sand, of which the tufa is composed, appear in parts to lie just as they were showered down from the crater ; in that case the tufa shows but little or no sign of stratification, and consists wholly of igneous products. In parts time and pressure have bound together these scoria into a soft and friable rock ; in other places it still lies in loose sandy beds, which can be dug out with the spade. Other masses of tufa, again, show signs either of having been deposited in water or else washed away from their first resting-place and redeposited elsewhere with visible marks of stratification. This is shown by the water-worn pebbles and chips of limestone rock which form a conglomerate, bound together by the volcanic ashes into a sort of natural cement. A third variety is that of which the Palatine Hill is com- posed. Here the shower of red-hot ashes has evidently fallen on a thickly-growing forest, the burning wood of which, partly I. THE SITE OF ROME. 3 smothered by the ashes, has been converted into charcoal, large lumps of which are embedded in the tufa rock. In some places charred branches of trees, their form and structure well preserved, can be easily distinguished. The so- called Wall of Romulus, and some others of the prehistoric buildings of the Palatine, are built of this curious conglomerate of tufa and charcoal. At one point — by the north side of the Scalce Caci — a very perfect section of the branch of a tree is visible on the face of one of the massive tufa blocks. So great have been the physical changes in the site of Eome since the first dawn of the historic period that it is very difficult now to realise what its aspect once was. The Forum Magnum, the Velabrum, the great Campus Martius (now the most crowded part of modern Rome), and other valleys, were once almost impassable marshes and pools of water — "Hie, ubi nunc For a sunt, udec tenuerc paludes." Ov. Fast. vi. 401. And Dionysius (ii. 50) speaks of the site of the Forum having formerly been a marshy thicket — 8ta to kolXop hvai to ^wpLov. The draining of these valleys was effected by means of the great Cloaca, which were among the very earliest important architectural works of Rome ; as Varro says (Lin. Lat. iv. 149), "... locum Curtium in locum palustrem, qui turn fait in Foro, antequam Cloacce facta} sunt." Moreover, the various hills and ridges of Rome were once more numerous and very much more abrupt than they are now. At an early period, when each hill was crowned by a separate village -fort, surrounded by hostile tribes, the great object of the inhabitants was to increase the natural steepness of the cliff, and so render access more difficult and defence easier. In later years, when the various villages and races which formed the city of Rome were united under one govern- ment, and the whole group of hills was surrounded by one extensive circuit wall, the very physical peculiarities which had 4 THE SITE OF ROME. CHAP. originally made its hills so populous through their natural adaptability for defence became extremely inconvenient in a united city, where architectural symmetry and splendour were above all things aimed at. Hence the most gigantic engineering works were carried out, with the object of as much as possible obliterating the natural unevenness of the site. Tops of hills were levelled, whole ridges cut away, and gentle slopes formed in the place of abrupt cliffs. The levelling of the Velia and the excavation of the site for Trajan's Forum are instances of this. This work continued in the Middle Ages, as when in the fourteenth century an access was made to the Capitoline Hill from the side of the Campus Martins, 1 where up to that time a steep cliff had prevented all approach except from the side of the Forum Magnum. Under the present government an even more extensive plan, called the Piano regolatore, is being gradually carried out, with the object of reducing hills and valleys to one level, on which wide boulevards are being constructed on a formal plan, regardless of the ancient topography of the city. The constant fires which have devastated Eome have been an important agent in obliterating the natural contour of the ground. The accumulated rubbish from these and other causes have in some places covered the ancient levels to the depth of as much as 40 feet, especially at the bottom of the valleys. Building Materials employed in Eome. The rapid growth and stability of Eome were very largely due to the richness of its site and the immediate neighbour- hood in a variety of excellent building materials, including several kinds of stone, and the different ingredients of the most durable concrete, cements, and mortar that have ever been produced. 1 This approach was made by building the great flight of steps up to the church of Ara Cceli. I. MATERIALS USED IN ROME. 5 The following is a list of the principal materials used in the building of ancient Rome : — I. Tufa, the ruber et niger tophus of Vitruvius, ii. 7. This was the only stone used during the early prehistoric period of Rome. Its manner of formation has been described above. It varies in colour from a dark brown, often reddish tint, to a light yellow; and in density from a deposit that can be cut with the spade to a firmly concreted mass about as hard as English Bath stone. It is usually a very bad " weather- stone," but the harder varieties are of ample strength for building purposes when protected from frost and wet. A simple coating of stucco was sufficient to protect exterior walls of tufa, and even in the earliest times it was probably never used externally without this protection. Vitruvius, ii. 7, advises that tufa should be quarried in the summer, and allowed two years to season before being used ; x and Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 48) copies his remarks. 2 Quarries of tufa are mentioned by Strabo (lib. v.), as existing on the banks of the Anio, near the quarries of travertine and peperino. Every hill in Rome consists mainly of tufa, and the materials for the early buildings appear usually to have been quarried on the spot. The quarries in the Aventine supplied the hardest kind. II. Lapis Albanus, so called from its quarries in the Alban Hills, still worked at Albano and Marino. This also is of volcanic origin, and is a conglomerate of ashes, gravel, and other fragments of stone, all cemented together into a dense 1 What stone-masons call the "sap " in stone should always be allowed to dry out before it is used ; otherwise, frost and damp rapidly cause it to flake or split. When once the "sap" is got rid off the stone can be soaked with wet without harm, very much like the necessity of drying out the sap in timber. 2 All the parts of Pliny's Historia Naturalis which relate to practical matters of construction appear to be taken from Vitruvius, and are incor- porated by Pliny without acknowledgment of their source. 6 MATERIALS USED IN ROME. CHAP. mass. It is a moderately good weather- stone and is quite fire-proof. Its modern name is Peperino, so called from the black scorice, like pepper-corns, which stud the stone. It is dark brown in colour, and is harder than the hardest kinds of tufa. It is used in parts of the Servian wall, and at the exit of the Cloaca Maxima. III. Lapis Gabinus (also called Peperino) is a variety of the same stone found at Gabii, near the modern Lago di Castiglione. It is similar in formation to the Alban stone, but contains less mica; is harder, and stands the weather much better. It contains broken fragments of lava, the pro- duct of some earlier eruption; the lumps vary in size from about 2 to 12 inches across. The Tabularium is faced with this stone, the inner walls being of tufa (see p. 240). In the lofty circuit wall round the Forum of Augustus both the Alban and Gabine stones are used, and their different powers of resisting decay can. be readily compared. The lower part of the wall is of Gabine stone, and is as fresh and sharp as ever; while the upper story of Alban stone shows considerable signs of surface decay. The fire -resisting qualities of the lapis Gabinus are men- tioned by Tacitus (Ann. xv. 43) ; and on account of this the building Act of Nero, enacted after the great fire, required it to be used for the fronts of houses in the streets of Kome, in order to prevent the recurrence of so wholesale a conflagration. IV. Lapis Tiburtinus (modern travertine), so called from its chief quarries at Tibur (Tivoli), Vitr. ii. 7. It is a pure carbonate of lime, very hard, of a beautiful creamy colour, which weathers into a rich golden tint ; it is a deposit from running water, and is formed in a highly stratified state, with frequent cavities and fissures, lined with crystallised carbonate of lime. In it are frequently embedded bits of stick and leaves. Great beds of it exist all along the river Anio and other streams. The hill just outside the Porta del Popolo, called Monte MATERIALS USED IN ROME. 7 Parioli, is composed of a coarse variety of travertine. As Vitruvius remarks, it is an excellent weather -stone, but is easily calcined by fire. 1 If laid on its natural bed it is very strong, but if set upright its crystalline beds are a great source of weakness, and it splits into lamince from end to end. Neglect on the part of Roman masons of this import- ant precaution frequently caused serious failures to occur in their buildings. This was notably the case in the Rostra (see p. 159). The exterior of the Colosseum is the most conspicuous example of the use of travertine. V. Silex (modern selce) ; this has no relation to what is now called silex or flint, but is simply lava, poured out from the now extinct volcanoes near Rome. One great stream has very conveniently brought this useful material to within three miles of Rome j the tomb of Csecilia Metella stands on its very edge. It was used in great quantities for the paving of roads, and when broken into pieces and mixed with lime and pozzolana formed the hardest and most durable kind of concrete. It is dark gray in colour, very hard, and breaks with a slightly conchoidal fracture. (See Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 29 j and Vitr. ii. 7.) VI. Pulvis Puteolanus (modern pozzolana), so called from its bed at Puteoli, near Naples. It also exists in enormous quantities under and all round the city of Rome, lying in thick strata just as it was showered down out of the neigh- bouring volcanoes. It is a chocolate red in colour, 2 and resembles a sandy earth mixed with larger lumps about the size of coarse gravel. When mixed with lime it forms a very 1 This stone when burnt produces most excellent lime, and contri- buted greatly to the wonderful durability of the Roman concrete, cements, and mortar. (See Vitr. ii. 5. ) 2 An inferior sort is brown ; the better red quality was nearly always used till the third century a.d. After which the brown pozzolana was very frequently used. 8 MATERIALS USED IN ROME. CHAP. strong hydraulic cement — having the power, that is, of setting hard even under water. This peculiarity is mentioned by Vitruvius, 1 who devotes cap. vi. of lib. ii. to this very im- portant material, to which is mainly due the immense strength and durability of the Eoman concrete and cements in walls, vaults, and floors. The pozzolana, more than any other material, contributed to make Eome the proverbially " eternal city " ; without it a domed building like the Pantheon would have been impossible, as would also the immense vaulted Thermal, and a basilica such as that of Constantine. VII. Excellent sand (arena) and gravel (glarea) abound in and near Eome, and also contributed to the strength of the Eoman mortar and cement. Vitruvius' remarks on sand are very sensible (see lib. ii. 4) ; he mentions the three kinds of sand — arena fossitice (pit-sand) being the best, and arena de fluminibus (river-sand) next best. Arence marinoz (sea-sand) is to be avoided on account of the salt it contains efflorescing out from the mortar or stucco. The best sort of sand is known, he says, by its crackling when rubbed in the hand, and by its not staining a white dress — thus showing that it is both sharp and clean. No sand could be purer or better for building purposes than the golden pit-sand of the Janiculan Hill ; while that which is deposited by the Tiber is not free from muddy impurities. VIII. Bricks (later es) were of two sorts — crudi, or sun- dried, and cocti, or kiln-baked. The remarks of Vitruvius, ii. 3, seem to refer almost wholly to the lateres crudi, and he never mentions the triangular bricks which were used in all the existing Eoman walls which have brick facings. In the time of Vitruvius (reign of Augustus) and earlier, little but unburnt brick was used, and of these none remain. The existing examples of bricks in Eome are used 1 "Etiam moles quse construuntur in mare sub aqua solidescunt. " (Vitr. ii. 6.) I. MATERIALS USED IN ROME. 9 merely as facing to concrete walls ; no wall is ever of solid brick. 1 These facing bricks are equilateral triangles, varying in length from 4 to 14 inches. The facings of arches are nearly always made with large square tiles, about 2 Roman feet square, 2 the tegulce bipedales of Vitruvius. These are usually cut into three or four pieces so as only to tail a few inches into the concrete arch which they hide j at intervals in each arch a few of the complete squares are introduced to improve the bond. Tiles 12, 14, and 18 inches square also occur, but are less common : and there are also the small squares of only 8 or 9 inches, which were used specially for the pilce or short pillars of hypocausts, and also for laying over the wooden centering into which the fluid concrete to form vaults was poured. The bricks in Roman buildings are of many colours — red, yellow, and more rarely brown ; they are nearly always well burnt, and comprise a great many varieties of clays. In some of the bricks, and frequently in those of best quality, a quantity of the red pozzolana has been worked up with the clay, probably to prevent warping. 3 A great many varieties of brick occur frequently in the same building ; this is specially the case in part of Nero's Golden House, under the Thermae of Titus. The stamps which occur on the bricks of buildings in Rome are of great value in determining the dates of various structures. Though in other places in Italy brick stamps occur as early as the middle of the first century B.C., yet in Rome 1 Even walls which are only 7 inches thick are not built of solid brick, but are of concrete, faced with very small brick triangles. 2 They really are rather less than that, probably owing to shrinkage in firing ; they average about 1 foot 11 inches square. 3 This can be seen in many of the bricks in the Flavian Palace on the Palatine, and in the finest bit of brick-facing in Rome, an archway with engaged columns, which has been included in the line of the Aurelian wall near the Porta Latiim. 10 MATERIALS USED IN ROME. CHAP. the series does not begin till the second century A.D., and con- tinues, though not without interruptions, till circa 500 A.D., in the reign of Theodoric. The later ones are usually rectangular, but those of the second and third centuries are nearly always circular, with the inscription in two concentric rings : various names and facts are recorded on these stamps, e.g. the names of the consuls, though rarely; of much more frequent occurrence is the name of the owner of the brickfield from whence the clay came, and that of the potter (figulus) who made the brick ; after his name often comes the phrase Valeat qui fecit, "may the maker prosper" (see p. 122). The words ex prcedis refer to the estate where the clay was dug ; after it comes the name of the owner — very often the emperor. Severus appears to have owned many prcedia, which supplied the bricks used in his great palace on the Palatine (see p. 130). The potter's name comes after the words opus doliare or opus figlinum, meaning " clay-work," or else after ex figlinis or ex officina, meaning " from the pottery "or " manu- factory." An immense number of these brick inscriptions exist, and are being published in the Corpus Inscrip. Lat., Berlin : ed. by Mommsen, Henzen, and others. Decorative Materials used in Rome. Marble appears to have come into use about the beginning of the first century B.C. Its introduction, especially into private houses, was at first viewed with great jealousy, as savouring of Greek luxury. The house of the orator Crassus on the Palatine, built about 92 B.C., was the first which had marble columns, namely, six small columns of Hymettian marble in the Atrium. For this he was severely blamed ; and the stern republican, M. Brutus (the murderer of Csesar), nick- named him the "Palatine Venus" (see Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 3). A few years later, in 78 B.C., M. Lepidus was the first who used Numidian marble (giallo antico) \ he employed I. MARBLES. 11 it not only for columns in his house, but even for thresholds of the doors (Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 8). L. Lucullus, who was consul in 74 B.C., introduced the black marble that was called after him (see p. 14). Marble wall-linings were first used in a house by a Roman knight named Mamurra, one of Caesar's officials in Gaul. Pliny states this on the authority of Cornelius Nepos {Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 7). In this house were columns of Carystian (cipollino) and Luna marble. It was, however, considered more excusable in a public building; and the magnificent temporary theatre, built in 58 B.C. by the sedile M. ^Emilius Scaurus, had one story of its scena of marble, and 360 columns also of Greek marble (see p. 292). In a very few years marble became very com- mon under the rule of Augustus, who did all he could to make Rome splendid, not only by his personal munificence in building theatres, temples, and other buildings, but also by urging and persuading other Roman citizens to follow his example. Suetonius (Aug. 29), gives a list of wealthy Romans who were induced by Augustus to embellish the city with magnificent temples and places of amusement, and he remarks that Augustus used to boast that he had found Rome of brick and left it of marble. There was probably much truth in this, if for brick we read peperino and tufa. In the time of Au- gustus burnt brick had not yet come into general use, and the usual Roman wall-facings of his time were opus quadratum of peperino or tufa and opus reticulatum of tufa only. Varieties of Marble used in Rome. Four chief kinds of white "statuary marble " were used : — (1) Marmor Lunense, from Luna, the modern Carrara (Strabo, lib. v.) It is of many qualities, from the purest white, and a fine sparkling grain like loaf sugar, to the coarser sorts disfigured with bluish-gray streaks. Example : The eleven Corinthian columns built into the old Dogana, near the column of Marcus Aurelius. 12 MARBLES. CHAP. (2) Marmot Hymettium, from Mount Hymettus, above Athens. This appears to have been the first foreign marble introduced into Eome. It resembles the inferior kinds of Luna marble, being rather coarse in grain and frequently stained with gray striations (Strabo, lib. x.) Examples: The forty-two columns in the nave of S. Maria Maggiore, and the twenty in S. Pietro in Vincoli. 1 (3) Marmor Pentelicum, from Mount Pentelicus, also above Athens (Pausan. Attic, i.) It is fine in grain, and of a pure white ; some ancient sculptors, such as Scopas and Praxiteles, preferred it to any other marble (Pausan. Arcad. viii.) Its quarries are still largely worked, and the greater part of the hill appears to consist of it. It lies on a bed of schist. Example : The statue of Augustus in the Vatican. (4) Marmor Parium, from the isle of Paros : a very beautiful marble, though of a strongly crystalline grain ; it is slightly translucent. When fractured its crystals catch the light and sparkle brightly; hence it was also called lychnites. Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 4) wrongly explains this name, by saying that its quarries were underground and were worked by lamp- light. This is not the case : the quarries in Mount Marpesius (Strabo, lib. x.) were always worked, as they are now, from the surface. (See Dodwell, Journey in Greece, 1740, i. p. 501.) Examples : Statues of the vestals in the Atrium Vestce. Other statuary marbles, though to a less degree, were used by the Eomans, especially a kind which Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 28) calls Porus. This is possibly the modern grechetto, very similar to Parian, but not so crystalline in grain. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi was built of this fine porus marble, except the roof tiles, which were of Parian. The torso of Heracles, by Apollonios, in the Vatican, is of this grechetto. Thasian, Lesbian, and Tyrian white marbles were also used in Eome. 1 These, and all the fine marbles in the churches of Rome (except some in S. Paolo fuori le mura), have been taken from ancient Roman buildings. MARBLES USED IN ROME. 13 Coloured Marbles. (1) Marmor Numidicum (modern giallo antico). Pliny (Hist. Nat. v. 3) mentions this as being, together with wild beasts for the amphitheatres, the principal export from Numidia and Lybia ; from the latter province it was also called Marmor Lybicum. It is of a rich golden yellow, deepening in tint to orange and pink. Enormous quantities of it were used in Rome, especially for columns and wall-linings. Examples ; Six large fluted columns in the Pantheon, and seven on Constantine's Arch j the eighth has been taken to the Lateran Basilica. These eight columns originally belonged to the Arch of Trajan. (2) Marmor Carystium (modern cip>ollino) f from Carystos, in the Island of Eubcea (Strabo, lib. x.) It is a highly stratified marble, with alternate wavy beds of white and pale green — the "undosa Carystos" of Statius (Sylv. L v. 36). It is called cipollino from its layers like an onion — cipolla. Example : Columns of the Temple of Faustina. (3) Marmor Phrygium or Sinnadicum (modern pavonazetto), from Sinnada in Phrygia (Strabo, lib. xii. ; Juv. xiv. 307 ; and Tibull. III. iii. 13). A slightly translucent marble, with rich purple markings — violet verging on crimson ; according to the legend, it was stained with the blood of Atys (Stat. Sylv. I. v. 36). Example ; Twelve fluted columns in the nave of S. Lorenzo fuori le mura, and four large columns in the tribune of S. Paolo fuori le mura. (4) Marmoi' Iasium, from the island of Iasos ; probably the modern porta santa, so called because the "holy door" of S. Peter's is framed with this marble. It is mottled with large patches and veins of dull red, green, and brown, with some white. Examples : The slabs in front of the " Gmcostasis" and the four altar columns in S. Peter's, in the chapels of the Presenta- tion and of S. Sebastian. 14 MARBLES AND OTHER CHAP. (5) Marmot Chium, from the island of Chios, probably the modern " Africano." It is similar in markings and colours to the porta santa marble, but the tints are more brilliant. Examples: A great deal of the pavement of the Basilica Julia, and two large columns in the facade of S. Peter's. (6) Rosso antico, a Greek marble; its ancient name is unknown. As a rule it does not occur in large pieces, but was much used for small cornices, architraves, and other mould- ings in the interiors of buildings. It is hard, very fine in grain, and of a deep red, like blood. It takes a very high polish, and is one of the most richly decorative marbles used in ancient Eome. Examples : The largest known pieces are the fourteen steps to the high altar of S. Prassede, and two columns, nearly 12 feet high, in the Eospigliosi Casino delV Aurora. During the period of decadence it was occasionally used for sculpture : examples, two statues of fauns in the Vatican and Capitoline Museums. (7) Nero antico is probably the ancient marmor Tamarium, from Cape Tsenarus, in Sparta. It is mentioned by Tibullus (III. iii. 14) in conjunction with the Phrygian and Carystian marbles. (See also Prop. El. III. ii. ; and Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxx vi. 43.) Examples : Two columns in the choir of the church of Ara Coeli. It is of rare occurrence. An immense number of other less common marbles, includ- ing many varieties of breccia, and fossil madrepores, have been found in the ruins of Eome; but their ancient names are unknown. Some of the classical names for marbles, also, cannot be identified — such as the marmor Luculleum, from an island in the Nile, but which island Pliny does not say (see Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 8). It was so called because it was specially used in Eome by the consul L. Lucullus, about the year 74 B.C. Another doubtful marble is the marmor Proconnesium, from L DECORATIVE MATERIALS. 15 the island of Proconnesos, with which the celebrated mausoleum of Halicarnassus was decorated. (See Vitr. II. 8 j and Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxx vi. 6.) A very rich and beautiful mottled red and white marble, now called " Fior di Persico" may possibly be the marmor Molossium. A great part of the walls of the magnificent Corsini Chapel, in the Lateran Basilica, is lined with it. Many varieties of the beautiful " precious serpentines " were used by the Romans; these are not marbles strictly speaking, not being calcareous stones. The commonest is the lapis Atracius (verde antico), from Atrax on the Peneius in Thessaly (Livy, xxxii. 15). Like rosso antico it was mainly used for internal decoration. It has a brilliant green ground, mottled with white and dark brown. It seldom occurs in large pieces, but some columns of it were found by the Temple of Castor in the Forum, and are now set on its front flight of steps. The finest examples in Rome are the twenty-four columns by the niches of the Apostles in the Lateran Basilica. Another variety of " precious serpentine " found in Rome is the lapis ophites of Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxv. 11). It is deep green, with markings like the scales of a snake (o