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AUTHOR: 
 
 NICHOLS, FRANCIS 
 
 MORGAN 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM 
 
 PLACE: 
 
 LONDON 
 
 DA TE : 
 
 \^'n 
 
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 876 
 N512 
 
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 Nichols, Francis Morgan, 1826-1915. 
 
 The Roman Forum ; a topographical study, by Francis j 
 
 Morgan Nichols ... London, Longmans and co. ; [etc., etc.] \ 
 
 1877. ' 
 
 2 p. 1., X, 336 p. front, illus., plans. 23*". j 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 :'aps and plans of the I-'orun of Rone and its 
 
 neighborhood, fron Nicholas Roman Forum. London, 
 Longmans, 1877. ^5^ p., 5 maps 22?r cm. 
 1. Rome (City) , Forum romanum. 
 
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 Claas §^g Book N 512. 
 
 Coiuinbia College Library 
 
 Madison Av. and 49th St. New York. 
 
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 NOVJTlEZf 
 
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ii 
 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
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 THE ROMAN FORUM 
 
 A TOPOGRAPHICAL STUDY 
 
 y^ {n\ f{ ,1 1 
 
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 V N . YO % K . 
 
 / 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANCIS MORGAN ^:ICHOLS M.A. F.S.A 
 
 FORMERLY FELLOW OF WADHAM COLLEGE OXFORD 
 
 LONDON. LONGMANS AND CO. 
 ROME. 8PITH6VER 
 
 ]877 
 
[The right of translation is 7'eserved.] 
 
 WESTMINSTER : 
 
 PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, 
 
 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 
 

 
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 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The North-western Division of tlie Forum, from the Tabularium ^^^^ 
 to the Temple of Saturn and Arch of Severus ... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Mid-Forum ^^ 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The South-eastern Division of the Forum .... 97 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Comitium, the Curia, and other monuments upon the 
 
 Comitium ••..... 14^ 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Rostra ..... ^ * ,q« 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The North-eastern Side of the Mid- Forum . . . .218 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Argiletum and the Imperial Fora 244 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Sacra Via and the Velia 276 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Nova Via . . . oak 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Catalogue of the Fourth and Eighth Regions of Rome, from 
 
 the Curiosum Urbis and Notitia .... 39a 
 
 C 
 
 13B10 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 1 
 
 ;, 
 
 MAPS. 
 
 The Forum in the Time of Constantine 
 
 The Excavations of the Forum, with the surrounding Streets . 
 The Fragments of the Capitoline Plan relating to the Forum . 
 The Forum in the time of Augustus ..... 
 North Corner of the Forum B.C. 150 
 
 The Roman Forum, with the surrounding Fora and Streets, in 
 the time of Constantine . 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Frontispiece. The Forum in the second century, from the 
 
 Temple of Julius. 
 The Forum in the time of Constantine 
 The Trajan Monument in the Forum 
 The same ..... 
 South-east view of the Forum 
 West view of the Forum 
 Triumph of Aurelius, from bas-relief 
 Temple of Julius and Arch of Augustus 
 The Prison and Temple of Concord, from the Maenian Column 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 
 
 ib. 
 
 26 
 
 40 
 
 181 
 
 244 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 21 
 
 62 
 
 63 
 
 68 
 
 69 
 
 140 
 
 141 
 
 180 
 
 Vielleicht kcimmt einst eine gluckliche Zeit, welche den tief unter Schutt 
 und Enle Hegenden alten Boden offen gelegt sieht, und daraus mit Leicht- 
 i<rkeit und Sicherlieit Resultate ziehen kann, die sich jetzt nur miihsam 
 und vermuthungsweise aus den Nachrichten der Schriftsteller gewinnen 
 lassen. Becker, Handbuch der Romischen Alterlhumer. Theil. i. p. 216. 
 
 The surpassing interest of the topography of Ancient 
 Rome is derived from its connection with the history 
 of the dominant nation of the world. It follows as a 
 consequence that this interest has its principal seat 
 in the place which was the centre of the public life 
 of the Roman people. A host of stirring associations, 
 such as belong in our own history to many different 
 localities, gathered around the Roman Forum. There 
 the Senate sate in its Curia, the people met in their 
 Comitia. There laws were passed which reformed the 
 constitution of the sovereign state, decrees were made 
 which determined the fate of subject populations. 
 The judicial business of an empire was there trans- 
 acted; statesmen were attainted, and civil causes in- 
 volving the fortune of a Crassus were determined; 
 while at another tribunal the police of a gi^eat city 
 was conducted and ordinary criminals sentenced and 
 punished. The state prison and the place of public 
 execution were close at hand. The same area which 
 was the Westminster Hall, the Old Bailey, and the 
 
 b 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
p 
 
 11 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 t 
 
 Tower Hill, was also the Lombard Street and tlie 
 Exchange of Rome. The most important financial 
 transactions of the world were there arranged; loans 
 were contracted by 'which armies were to be raised, 
 provinces to be bought, kingdoms to be conquered, or 
 the liberty of the Republic itself to be overthrown. 
 The great religious festivals of Rome were celebrated 
 in the same area, which was overlooked by the 
 principal temples of the national deities; and the 
 popular spectacles, which in imperial times filled the 
 great amphitheatre, had their earlier home in the 
 Roman Forum. 
 
 It is the province of topography to enable the 
 student to conceive more vividly and accurately the 
 events of history and the life of a bygone age,byasso^ 
 ciating them with their actual localih^es, and with such 
 remains of ancient monuments as Time may have 
 spaied. The identification of historical sites is the 
 first business of the topographer; but this mere identi- 
 fication presents a task of no slight difiiculty where 
 the remains of antiquity are few and indistinct, and 
 the whole configuration of the ground lias been 
 altered in the course of ages. Ancient Rome lies 
 buried at various depths below the surface of the 
 modern city, and the archaeologists of the last three 
 centuries have been disputing over topographical 
 problems which could only be finally solved with the 
 aid of ruder tools than those with which they laboured. 
 
 Within the last few years the shovel and pickaxe 
 have been busy, and a large part of the ancient 
 
 Forum has been reduced to its original level by the 
 removal of from twenty to thirty feet of accumulated 
 rubbish. The effect of this revelation upon our topo- 
 graphical knowledge has not yet been estimated. The 
 fruits are still to be gathered, and the sight of such 
 a harvest lying open to the first comer has tempted 
 the present writer into the field. 
 
 In the time of the great Italian topographers whose 
 * w^orks form the foundation of our literature on this 
 sul)ject, and even in the time of Nibby and Canina, of 
 Bunsen and of Becker, the disposition of the historical 
 localities of the Forum was a matter of speculation 
 and conjecture, founded upon the interpretation and 
 comparison of ancient texts. Recent excavations have 
 changed the nature of the i)robleiii. Instead of the 
 inquiry, — where may we expect to find such a monu- 
 ment? — the question 1)ecomes more frequent, — what is 
 the monument the ruins of w^hich have been found? 
 It is obvious that the latter question is open to a far 
 more certain and definite solution than the former. 
 Approaching the subject from this side, I propose in 
 the first place to describe and identify the ruins which 
 exist in the area of the Forum which has been cleared: 
 this will occupy the first three chapters. The three 
 follow^ing chapters are devoted to the discussion of 
 subjects connected with the history of the Forum, but 
 only indirectly illustrated by the late excavations, 
 such as the site of the Comitium and Curia, the 
 history of the Rostra, and the topography of that side 
 of the Forum which has not yet been disinterred. In 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the three remaining chapters the attention of the 
 reader is withdrawn from the Roman Forum itself 
 to the imperial Fora, the Sacra Via, the Velia, the 
 Nova Via, and the gates of Palatine or primeval 
 Rome. The additional data which have been fur- 
 nished by recent discoveries may excuse a fresh 
 attempt to deal with some of the topographical pro- 
 blems which these names suggest, and as to all of 
 them there remains, in the present state of our know- 
 ledge, something to be said. 
 
 Upon none of the questions discussed in the present 
 volume can a useful opinion be formed without an 
 accurate acquaintance with the language of the ancient 
 writers. The vast apparatus of learning that has 
 been accumulated by the great scholars who have 
 written on the subject of Roman topography, from 
 Donati to Becker, furnishes the instruments by which, 
 with the additional information supplied by modern 
 exploration, their own conclusions may be supple- 
 mented and corrected. In the present work the prin- 
 cipal passages of ancient authors bearing upon the 
 topography of the Forum are cited in full, either in 
 the text or at the foot of the page, in order that the 
 reader may have before him in a trustworthy shape 
 the literary material upon which his judgment is to be 
 exercised. Some knowledge of the existing condition 
 of the localities may be supplied to those who have not 
 the actual sites within reach by plans and drawings, 
 and still more completely in modern times by the aid 
 of photography. This art places the distant student 
 
 '1 
 
 
 PREFACE. T 
 
 almost upon the same level with the resident upon the 
 spot. A very extensive and interesting series of pho- 
 tographs of the ancient monuments, sculptures, and 
 excavations of Rome has been executed under the 
 superintendence of Mr. J. H. Parker, who has thereby 
 placed every student under a deep obligation. 
 
 No good map has been published of the exca- 
 vations of the Forum, although the Cavaliere Rosa, 
 the intelligent director of the excavations, has pre- 
 pared a very accurate and detailed drawing, which it 
 is understood he intends sometime to make public. 
 The writer was consequently compelled for his own 
 study to make a map from careful observation upon 
 the ground, which he has reduced to a small scale 
 for the present work, and has added a sketch of the 
 neighbouring modern streets. This will be found 
 at the commencement of the volume. In the plan 
 accompanying it an attempt is made to represent the 
 arrangement of the same quarter of the city at the 
 closing period of pagan Rome. This and the other 
 plans, one of which represents the same quarter in the 
 time of Augustus, and the other includes a somewhat 
 larger area, in order to illustrate the concluding 
 chapters of the work, are founded partly on the 
 existing ruins and partly on inference from ancient 
 authors. This distinction is indicated by tlie shading 
 of the buildings and by the form of tbe letters used in 
 the names. In placing some important monuments the 
 author has been unable to coincide with the opinions 
 generally received among recent archaeologists. For 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 such deviations he trusts lie has given sufficient reasons 
 in his text/ The remains of the antique marble plan 
 of Rome preserved in the Capitoline Museum form an 
 important part of our topographical evidences. A copy 
 of the few fragments that appear to relate to the 
 Forum is given at p. 26. For convenience of com- 
 parison they have been reduced to the same scale as 
 the other plans, and arranged in their probable relative 
 position. 
 
 Another kind of illustration has been used in the 
 present volume, which is submitted to the indulgence 
 of the reader. It was an observation which early 
 struck the attention of the author, that an adequate 
 use had not been made of some of the ancient sculp- 
 tures which illustrate the topography of the Forum. 
 The representation of its north-western extremity con- 
 tained in the bas-relief upon the Arch of Constantino 
 has been well appreciated by Canina. The full topo- 
 graphical significance of the Trajan monument, re- 
 cently excavated in the Forum itself, was first pointed 
 out by the author in a paper read l)efore the Society 
 of Antiquaries of London in January 1875. The 
 recognition of the south-eastern end of the Forum 
 as there exhibited naturallv led to that of some of the 
 
 a See as to tbe site of the Comitium, and the objects connected with it, 
 Chapter IV\; the Forum Julium, pp. 247-250; the Velia, pp. 302-304; the 
 Temple of Jupiter Stator and Torta iMuirlonia, pp. 311-321; the Porta 
 Ronumula, pp. 325-327. 
 
 I take this oi)portunity of requesting tlie lieader to add at p. 19 a refer- 
 ence to p. 184, where the terrace with the curved fiice, commonly called 
 the Rostra, is identified with the Graecostadium. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Vll 
 
 same monuments as represented in the bas-relief of 
 the triumph of M. Aurelius, now in the Ca])itoline 
 Museum. It appeared to the author that the back- 
 grounds of these sculptures are best explained bv 
 translating into perspective their somewhat conven- 
 tional representations of temples, basilicas, and arches. 
 In the Frontispiece the writer has been tempted to 
 step beyond his authorities, in order to exhibit a 
 general view of the Forum. He trusts that it is need- 
 less to say how thoroughly he is aware of the imper- 
 fection of these attempts. AVere they much better 
 than they are, it is always true that the best in 
 this kind are but shadows, unless imagination mend 
 them. Their object is to assist the reader to recon- 
 struct in imagination the outward appearance of the 
 Forum, as that of the entire book is to furnish some 
 trustworthy materials towards an adequate conception 
 of its ancient monuments and of their history, and of 
 the wonderfully intense and varied life which once 
 animated this small portion of the earth*s surface. 
 
IJ 
 
 / 
 
 ,( 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUJi^ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ■^ 
 
 (^C^i ("( \ 
 
 X 
 
 N 
 
 A \, 
 
 ?oruin. 
 
 THE NORTH-WESTERN DIVISION OF THE FORUM, MRQ^ 
 THE TABULARIUM TO THE TEMPLE OF SATURN AND 
 ARCH OF SEVERUS. 
 
 The Koman Forum was once, according to an- chap. i. 
 cient traditions confirmed by the physical cha- Tra"didonai 
 racter of the locality, a marshy valley subject to \ITy^^ ""^ 
 frequent inundation by the Tiber, and even in the 
 dry season partly covered with water. 
 
 Hoc, ubi nunc fora sunt, udae tenuere paludes.^ 
 
 Virgil presents a somewhat happier picture of 
 the place, as viewed by Aeneas and Evander from 
 the ascent of the Palatine hill. 
 
 Talibus inter se dictis ad tecta subibant 
 Pauperis Evandri, passimque armenta videbant 
 Romanoque foro et lautis mugirc Carinis.2 
 
 This space of ground, if we believe the legend- 
 ary history, was the scene of a long-contested 
 battle between the rival nations of Romans 
 and Sabines, when the Romans were seated on 
 the Palatine hill, and the Sabines had possession 
 of the Capitol. Upon the termination of the 
 struggle by the interference of the Sal)ine women, 
 
 ' Ovid. Fast. vi. 401 
 
 ^ Virg. Aen. viii. 359. 
 
 B 
 
 1 
 
Position 
 and extent 
 of the 
 Forum. 
 
 
 2 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. I. the enforced wives of tlie Romans, the kings 
 Romuhis and Tatius converted the battle-iiekl 
 into a market-place for their united peoples. ^ 
 
 The centre in historical times of the religious, 
 political, and social life of the nation, the Forum 
 l)ecame surrounded and filled with the most im- 
 portant temples and public buildings of the city, 
 and in its area was transacted the internal history 
 of Rome. 
 
 The ancient Forum lay until a recent period 
 buried some twenty feet below the modern sur- 
 face, and, with the exception of a few columns 
 which still reared a part of their height above the 
 Campo Vaccino, the situation of its monuments 
 was unknown. Relying upon the evidence of 
 ancient writers as to its position between the 
 Capitoline and Palatine hills,"* it was the prevail- 
 ing opinion of antiquaries, from Nardini in the 
 seventeenth to Nibby in the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, that its principal area extended southward 
 
 ' Mettius Curtius ab Sabinis prlnceps ab arce decucurrerat, et 
 effusos egerat Romanes toto quantum foro spatium est. Nee 
 procul iam a porta Palatii erat. Liv. i. 12. 
 
 To dk vTTOKtifitvov Tt^ KaTTiTioXitf) TTsSiov, tKKo-ipavrti; Tit)v iv avrt^ 
 •nt<pvKviav v\riv^ Kai Ti}(; Xi/xvrjg^ i) h) ^la to koIXov dvai to \u)piov 
 lirXiiOvve Tolg KaTiovtriv tK tCjv oqCjv vufiaai^ ra noXXa x<«><Tarrf^, ayopdp 
 avToBi KaTt(TTt)(TavTo^ y Kai vvv ?Ti xpw/itvot 'Ptu/iaTor ^taTiXovaiv. 
 Dionys. ii. 50. 
 
 * No/irtf H Tt)v apxrjv TrapaXa(3cjv tu£ fiiv Idiat; ovk iKivrjrre tiov 
 (ppaTpiCjv tariaCt Koivtjv ^t KaTi(rTi]aaTo TzavTutv fiiav^ Iv ti^ fiira^v tov 
 Ti KaTTtrwXtoy Kai rov UaXuTiov \ij>p'n^^ (JvfnnTroXia^iviov ySr] tHjv Xo^wi/ 
 ivi 7rfpt/36Xy Kai fistrr^g ctfxcpolv ovatjg Tijg ayopac^ tv y KaTt(TKfi'ia(TTai to 
 \ep6v. Dionys. ii. 66. See also Liv. i. 12 (Note 3); Plutarch. Rom. 18. 
 
 ) 
 
 I 
 
 THE TABULARIUM. 
 
 from the columns whicli adorned the base of 
 the Capitol. This opinion was corrected by 
 modern criticism ; and recent explorations, in 
 whicli tlie greater part of the Forum has l)een 
 laid bare to its ancient level, have shewn beyond 
 dispute that its longer measurement was from 
 the north-west, on which side it was closed in 
 by the Capitol, to the south-east, where it ex- 
 tended to the northern corner of the Palatine. 
 Its lengtli from the Tabularium to the Regia was 
 about 230 yards. The width of its open area 
 varied from 80 to 40 yards. 
 
 The Capitoline hill was composed of two 
 heights united by a lower ridge. Upon the 
 south-eastern slope of this ridge was constructed 
 a large edifice, a great part of which has survived 
 to the present day, and is incorporated in the 
 Senatorial Palace, of which the principal fa9ade 
 is in the Piazza del Campidoglio. On the oppo- 
 site face the ancient external wall remains, and 
 forms the north-western ])oundary of the Forum. 
 In the upper part of this side of the building was 
 a long loggia or arcade, one arch only of whicli is 
 now open, with Doric half-columns at the sides ; 
 the capitals of several of the other half-columns 
 are traceable at intervals in the wall. 
 
 By an inscription which existed on its walls 
 until the seventeenth century, this building is 
 identified as the Tabularium or Public Record 
 Ofiice, the destruction of wliich by an incendiary 
 
 B 2 
 
 3 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 The Tahn- 
 larium. 
 
 Gallory of 
 the Tahn- 
 hirium. 
 
 i 
 
Clivus 
 Capitol i 
 nos. 
 
 I! 
 
 4 THE ROMAN FORUM 
 
 CHAP. I. is twice alluded to by Cicero. It was rebuilt by 
 ~ Q. Lutatius Catulus, consul, B.C. 78.^ There were 
 other tabularia at Rome ; one in the Atrium 
 Libertatis is mentioned by Livy.' But this great 
 office in the most prominent situation of the 
 city may well be taken for the public Tal)ula- 
 rium alluded to by Virgil, which his fortunate 
 worshipper of the rural deities was privileged not 
 to know. 
 
 Nee ferrea iiira 
 Insanumque forum ant populi tabularia vidit 7 
 
 On the right of the Tabularium, as you look 
 from it towards the Forum, was the principal 
 road leading from the Capitol, called the Clivus 
 Capitolinus, which descended in zigzag to the 
 Forum. A small piece of the lava pavement of 
 this ancient road is visible by the south-w^est wall 
 of the Palazzo del Senatore ; and the lower part is 
 completely uncovered. On the left of the Tabu- 
 larium was a steeper path leading down from 
 the Capitol, called the Scalae Gemoniae, which 
 
 * Cic. pro Rabirio perd. reo, 3 ; do nat. D. iii. 30. 
 
 Q. LVTATIVS Q.F. Q.N. CATVLVS . COS . SVBSTRVCTIONEM . ET . 
 TABVLARIVM . EX . S.C. FACIENDVM . COERAVIT. (RomaC in Capitollo, 
 
 ex Panvinio et Boissardo.) Gruter, Ins. 170, 6; Nardini, Rom. 
 
 Ant. ii. 300. 
 
 The name of Catulus was also inscribed on the great temple of the 
 Capitol after its reconstruction by Sulla. Tac. Hist. iii. 72; Dio 
 Cass, xliii. 14. 
 
 6 Censores extemplo in atrium Libertatis escenderunt: et ibi si^'- 
 natis tabellis publicis clausoque tabulario . . . ncgarunt se . . . quic- 
 quam publici negotii gestures. Liv. xliii. 16. 
 
 ' Virg. Georg. ii. 501. 
 
 Scalae 
 Gemoniae. 
 
 SCALAE GEMONIAE. 
 
 reached the Forum close to the ancient Prison of chap, i 
 Rome ; upon the steps at the bottom, the bodies 
 of persons executed in the prison were frequently 
 thrown. No traces of this path are now visible, 
 but its direction and extent are indicated by a 
 passage of Dio Cassius, in which that historian, 
 speaking of the events which foreshadowed the fall 
 of Sejanus, describes his return to the Forum from 
 a sacrifice in the Capitol, when some of his attend- 
 ants, prevented by the crowd from keeping up 
 with their master, turned aside into the path which 
 led to the prison, and slipped and fell upon the steps 
 where the condemned were used to be thrown.^ 
 
 The Prison, Career^ is mentioned by Livy as The 
 having been built by King Ancus, in the midst of 
 the city, overhanging the Forum.^ It contained 
 an undergound cell, which was called Tullianum, tuIH 
 having been, according to Varro, an addition of 
 Servius TuUius.^'^ This part of the prison was 
 used as a place of execution, and is depicted by 
 Sallust with some minuteness in recording the fate 
 of the Catilinarian consj)irators. He describes it 
 
 ® 'Entidt'i re Kai tv Ttp KuTriToiXiqt Qvaaq iq ri)v dyo<pdv Kar^eiy o't 
 oiKtTai avTov oi dopvtpopoty Sid r« Ttjg udou r»)t; tg to Ct(jfiioTr}piov dyovar}Q 
 i^tTpdirovTO^ lifj Svvi}9ipTig ai)T<p viro rov ox^ov tTraKoXovOiirrui, koi Kara 
 Tutv dvajSafffiutv kuO wv ol SiKniovfievoi ippnrrovvTo Kartovrtg oiXiaOov 
 Kai Kark-jnaov. Dio Cass. Iviii. 5. 
 
 ^ Career ad terrorcm inerescentis audaciae media urbc imminens 
 foro aedificatur. Liv. i. 33. 
 
 '<> Career a coercendo, quod ex ire prohibentur. In hoc pars quae 
 sub terra Tullianum, ideo ({uod additum a Tullio rcge. Varro, L. L. 
 V. 32. So Festus (ed. Mull.), p. 3jC. 
 
 Prison. 
 
 Iiuuum. 
 
Site of the 
 Trison. 
 
 Prison of 
 St. I'eter. 
 
 b THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CPiAP. I. as approached by a slight ascent to the left, 
 the cell being twelve feet below the ground, 
 with walls all round, and a vault above con- 
 structed with stone arches, its aspect dark, filthy, 
 and friii:htfulJ^ 
 
 It has been usual to place the ancient prison of 
 Rome on the site of the church of S. Giusep])e 
 dei Falegnami, where there is an underground 
 cell called tlie Prison of St. Peter. 
 
 This structure forms a sort of crypt to the 
 church, being composed of two chambers one above 
 the other, the upper chamber being about twenty 
 feet square and thirteen feet high, and the lower, 
 w^hich is round, about eighteen feet in diameter 
 and scarcely more than six feet in height. A 
 flat vault of travertine divides the two chambers ; 
 and the ancient conical vaulting of the upper 
 chamber has been partly replaced by a flat stone 
 roof Both are now reached by a stone staircase. 
 In the lower chamber is a shallow well, the 
 water of which rises nearly to the surface of the 
 natural floor of the cell. On the face of the 
 buikling, towards the Forum, is the following in- 
 
 i( 
 
 II 
 
 Ipse (Cicero) praesidiis dispositis Lentulum in carcerem deducit : 
 idem fit caeteris per praetores. Est in carcere locus, quod Tullianum 
 appellatur, ubi paululum ascenderis ad laevara, circiter xii. pedes 
 humi depressus. Eum muniunt undique parietes, atque insuper 
 camera lapideis fornicibus vincta : sed incultu, tenebrls, odore, foeda 
 atque terribilis eius facies. In eum locum postquam demissus Len- 
 tulus, vindices rerum capitalium, quibus praeceptum erat, laqueo 
 gulam fregere . . . De Cethego, Statilio, Gabinio, Cepario, eodem 
 modo supplicium sumptum est. Sallust Bell. Catilin. 55. 
 
 i 
 
 THE PRISON. 7 
 
 scription, which records some restoration in the chap, i 
 consulship of Vibius and Nerva, during the reign 
 of Tiberius, a.d. 22. 
 
 C . VIBIVS . C . F . KVFINVS . M . COCCKIVS . . . NERVA . 
 
 EX . S . C. 
 
 The lower subterranean cham])er communicates 
 by narrow passages with otlier hirger cliambers of 
 solid masonry, situated under some houses in the 
 Vicolo del Ghettarello, and also with the Cloaca 
 Maxima. 
 
 The so-called Prison of St. Peter is supposed 
 by some anticjuaries to have been originally a 
 well-house, or a subterranean cistern for collecting 
 water. The word tullius in early language sig- 
 nified a well, and a derivation is thus suggested 
 for the name Tullianum, by wliicli the connection 
 with king Tullius, and the impro])able supposition 
 that the under portion of the building is later than 
 the upper, are superseded. 
 
 The identification of the Career with the struc- identity of 
 ture existing at S. Giuseppe is not undisputed.'" of st.mer 
 The inscri])tion contains nothing to show the pur- Careen 
 pose of the building, and the description of Sallust 
 miglit apply equally well to many an underground 
 vault, and does not perhaps fit the existing cell with 
 ])erfect accuracy, the original vaulting having 
 apparently been constructed with overlaj)ping 
 
 " See Burn, Rome and tie Campagna, p. 81; Appendix, p 455. 
 
8 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Associa- 
 tions of the 
 Prison. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 stones, and not, as might have been expected from 
 the expression of the historian, with an arch. 
 
 On the other hand, the mere situation of the 
 structure in question makes it difficult to reject 
 its received identity. The prison was in a posi- 
 tion overlooking the Forum, ^^ near the Temple of 
 Concord,"* and at the bottom of a steep path 
 leading from the Capitol.^ If this was not its site, 
 where is it possible to place it ? The severe style 
 of architecture of the remaining portion of the 
 ancient fagade agrees with the assumed destination 
 of the building. The existence of passages con- 
 necting this structure with other strongly- built 
 cells and also with the cloaca, by means of which 
 the bodies of criminals might be secretly disposed 
 of, tends to confirm the identification. On the 
 whole, it can scarcely be doubted that we have here 
 some remains of the Career : and it seems not 
 improbable that the existing prison of St. Peter 
 was actually the Tullianum of Varro and Sallust, 
 originally, perhaps, entered only by a hole in the 
 top of the vaulting, to which the slight ascent to 
 the left mentioned by Sallust may have led. 
 
 The Career plays a part in Roman history like 
 that of the Tower of London in our own. The 
 Tullianum was a secret Tower Hill. We read in 
 Livy, that Pleminius, the legate of Scipio Afri- 
 canus, who was connnitted to the Career on account 
 
 •' Liv. i. 33 (Note 9). ' Dio Cass. Iviii. 11. (Note 20.) 
 
 ^ Dio Cass. Iviii. 5. (Note 8.) 
 
 THE PRISON. 
 
 9 
 
 ' f 
 
 V 
 
 of his excesses at Locri, was detected in hiring chap. i. 
 men to set fire to the city, and was thereupon 
 sent down into the lower prison and executed.^^ 
 Cicero, in his Second Oration against Catiline, 
 speaks threateningly of the Career as having been 
 ordained by their ancestors as the avenger of 
 heinous and notorious crimes.^ And Plutarch 
 describes how the orator carried out his threats 
 of taking Lentulus from the Palatine along the 
 Sacred Way and through the midst of the Forum 
 to the prison, where, according to Sallust, he was 
 j)ut down into the Tullianum and strangled by 
 the executioners. The same fate befel Cethegus 
 and several other conspirators.^ It was into 
 this hole that the wild Jugurtha was thrust, when, 
 according to Plutarch, he exclaimed, '' How cold 
 is this bath of vours;" and in it he was starved 
 to death.^ When Sejanus, the minister of Tibe- 
 rius, was disgraced and imprisoned, the Senate 
 met in the Temple of Concord on account of its 
 proximity to the prison, and immediately decreed 
 his death. His body was cast on the Scalae 
 
 '* Liv. xxix. 22 ; xxxiv. 44. 
 
 ' Carcerem quern vindicera nefiiriorum ac manifestorum scelerum 
 inalores nostri esse voluerunt. Cic. in Cat. ii. 12. 
 
 ^ Kai irpwruv Ik UaXariov TrapaXajicji' tuv AtvrXov t)yt Sid ri/f itpdg 
 oSov xai riiQ ayopiic /ittrj/g . . . AitXOwv di Tt)v dyopdv Kai yivoutvoq 
 irpoQ T(fi dt(j^b}Ti]p'uii TraptcwKt top AivTXop rtp Irjii'uj) Kai Trpoaira^tv 
 di'tXtlv' tl9^ i^qg TuvK^Ojjyov Kai ovTto twv dXXuiv fKaoTov Karayayojv 
 dirUTuvtv. Plutarch. Cic. 22. Sallusst. Bell. Cat. 55. (Note 11.) 
 
 '■* 'HaOtig St yvfivoQ tig to (idpaOpov Kart(iXi)Oii. . . 'HpuicXttg, ilntVj 
 wj; il^vxpov I'nutv TO (3aXapilov. Plutarch. Mar. 12. 
 
10 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 il 
 
 SCALAE GEMONIAE. 
 
 11 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Gemoniae, where it remained for three davs ex- 
 posed to the insults of the ])opuhice,*^ who, accord- 
 ing to Juvenal, if Tiberius had been overthrown, 
 would have been equally ready to salute him 
 emperor. 
 
 Seianus ducitur unco 
 Spectandus. Gaiident omnes. 
 
 Idem populus, si Nursia Tusco 
 Favisset, si oppressa foret seciira senectus 
 Princii)is, liac ipsa Seianum diceret hora 
 Augustiim.i 
 
 The subsequent execution of his children was 
 carried out in the jn-ison with circumstances of 
 frightful atrocity, and their bodies thrown on the 
 Scalae Gemoniae.^ Sad, however, as were the 
 associations connected with this l)uilding, the 
 Roman Satirist, among the multiplied instruments 
 of tyranny of his own day, could look back w4tli 
 fond regret to its early history. 
 
 Felices proavoriim atavos, felicia dicas 
 
 Secula, quae quondam sub regibus atque tribunis 
 
 Viderunt uno contentam carcere Roinam.^ 
 
 20 
 
 T(5r£ \iiv yiip tQ to dttrfiwri'iptov tvtf3\r}9t)' varepov S' oh ttoXX.^, 
 aW av9t]fifpdv y yipovaia nXrjaiov tov oiKt'ifiaTog tv rtji 'O/iovofiV • • • 
 edvarov avrov KaTtxprjcpiaaro- Kni ovtuj CiKuiio9ei£ Kara re Tiov dva- 
 fHafffiiov ippiipr], Kai avTov 6 o^iXog rpiaiv oXaig y)^ipaig iXvfit'ivaTo, Kui 
 fiiTo. TovTo ig TOV TTOTOfibv tvff3aXt. Dio Cass. Iviii. 11. 
 
 ' Juvenal. Sat. x. 66. 
 
 ^ Placitum posthac ut in reliquos Seiani liberos adverteretur . . . 
 Tgitur portantur in carcerem . . . Tradunt temporis eius auctores, 
 quia triumvirali supplicio adfici virginem inauditum habebatur, a 
 carnifice laqueum iuxta conipressam ; exin oblisis faucibus, id aetatis 
 corpora in Gemonias abiecta. Tac. Ann. v. 9. So Dio Cass. Iviii. 1 1 . 
 
 ^ Juvenal. Sat. iii. 313. 
 
 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 The Career, like the Tower, had also its literary 
 reminiscences. Naevius is said to have written 
 two of his plays while he was confined in the 
 Prison for his attacks on the aristocracv.^ 
 
 (Jn the Gemonian steps the headless trunk of 
 Flavins Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian, was 
 thrown by the soldiers of Vitellius, and not 
 many days after Vitellius himself met his end on 
 the same spot. Pliny calls the place gmdus 
 gemitorii, the Steps of Sighs.^ 
 
 Near the prison, on the other side of the 
 Gemonian steps, was the Temj)le of Concord, 
 the extensive podium of which, with remains of 
 its marble pavement, has recently been exposed, 
 with tlie exception of a small part which is under 
 the modern pathway leading up to the Piazza del 
 Campidoglio. The building of which we see the 
 remains appears to have consisted of a large cell 
 placed against the wall of the Tabularium, with 
 a portico of less width projecting towards the 
 Forum, the portico being approached by a lofty 
 flight of steps. 
 
 The identity of this ruin with the Temple of 
 Concord is undisjuited. It is proved hy its posi- 
 tion ])etween the Capitol and the Forum,^ near 
 the Temple of Saturn and the Clivus Capito- 
 
 '* A. Cell, iii 3. 
 
 * Tac. Hist. iii. 74, 85. Sueton. Vitell. 17. Plin. N. II. viii. 61. 
 Aedis Concordiau inter Capitolium et Forum. Festus (ed. Miill ) 
 p. 347. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Scalae 
 Gemoniae. 
 
 Temple of 
 Concord. 
 
12 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 i I 
 
 Temple of 
 Camillus. 
 
 THE ROMAN FOKUM. 
 
 liniis," and in close proximity to the prison ;« and 
 finally by a comparison of the three inscriptions 
 preserved in the Einsiedlen Manuscript with the 
 •letters still remaining on the other two temples 
 at the head of the Forum, which, assumino; the 
 three mscriptions to have belonged to these three 
 temples, leaves that which has the name of Con- 
 cord as the one belonging to this.^ The identity 
 is further confirmed by the fragment of the Capi- 
 toline Plan, in which the letters ordia appear.'" 
 The existing remains appear to be those of an 
 extensive building, the last restoration of the 
 Temple. But, when Varro wrote, it would seem 
 that there was not only a Temple of Concord, but 
 a Basilica, called the Basilica Opimia, on this 
 ground, and that in earlier times the same locality 
 had furnished the site of a ])uilding called the 
 Senaculum.i 
 
 The first Temple of Concord placed on part of 
 this site was probably that of M. Furius Camillus, 
 erected to celebrate the reconciliation of the Pa- 
 trician and Plebeian orders upon the concession 
 
 " Templum Saturni quod est ante clivum Capitolii, iuxta Con- 
 cord.ae te.nplum Serv. ad Aen. ii. 116. Cic. Phil. ii. 7. (Note 41.) 
 Dio Cass. Ivin. 11. (Note 20.) 9 See p 24 
 
 - These fragments of a marble plan of Rome were found "at the 
 
 Damian (See Chapter VII.) They are now on the walls of the stair- 
 case of the Cap.toline Museum. The fragments relating to this part 
 of Rome are engraved in Canina's Edifizj di Roma, vol. ii. tav. 89. 
 
 of til""' ; ; 'ly'^' ^^" ^'"P^"- ^^^ ^^'-^'^ ^^- topography 
 of tins corner of the Forum is discussed with more detail 
 
 TEMPLE OF CONCORD. 
 
 13 
 
 of one of the consulships to the latter, B.C. 367. chap. i. 
 Its locality is described by Plutarch as com- 
 manding a view of the Forum and Comitium.^^ 
 But the temple existino- here in the time of Varro J,^™i\^^ ^^ 
 
 ^ c» Opmims. 
 
 and Cicero appears to have been that erected in 
 the Forum, by order of the Senate, by L. Opimius, 
 consul, B.C. 121, after the triumph of the aristo- 
 cratical party over C. Gracchus.^ This may 
 account for its association with the Basilica 
 Opimia, which appears to have adjoined it. 
 
 The restoration of the Temple of Concord was Restora- 
 undertaken by Tiberius in his own name and Tempieof 
 that of his brother Drusus, during the reign of ^^LTu?^ 
 Augustus, B.C. 6; and shortly after, on his journey 
 to his retirement at Rhodes, he is said to have 
 compelled the people of Pares to sell him a statue 
 of Vesta, which he wished to present to the new 
 temple.^ It does not, however, appear to have 
 been dedicated till the triumphal return of Tibe- 
 rius from his German campaigns, a.d. 12; though 
 Dio places the dedication in the previous year. 
 Livia united with her son in providing the altar 
 and accessories of the new temple.^ 
 
 The Temple of Concord was adorned with 
 
 3' ' E\\/i)<pi<TavTo tTiq fitv 'Ofiovoiag lepbv, (oainp tjv^aro 6 KdfitWog, iig 
 rt)v ayopdv Kai etQ rtjv iKK\r\(jiav uTroTrrov tTrl toXq ytytVTjfitvoiQ iSpv- 
 aaaOai, Plutarch. Cam. 42. 
 
 H U (3ov\t) Kai veujv 'Ofiovoiag avrbv iv dyop^ Trpocrtf^'^ti/ iytTpai. 
 Appian. Bell. Civ. i. 26. Plutarch. C. Gracch. 17. 
 
 * Dio Cass. Iv. 8, 9. 
 
 • Candida, te niveo posuit lux proxima templo 
 
 Qua fert sublimes aha Moneta gradus ; 
 
14 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Identity of 
 temples of 
 Opimius 
 and Tibe- 
 rius. 
 
 many valual^le works of art. It possessed among 
 other treasures a picture by Zeuxis of Marsyas 
 Bound, and another of Liber Pater by Nicias of 
 Athens, an artist who is said by Pliny to have 
 excelled in breadth and in the relief with which 
 he brought out his subjects. ^^ 
 
 The identity of the temple restored by Tiberius 
 with that of Camillus is testified by Ovid. But 
 there is no direct evidence of the identity of 
 either with the temple erected by Opimius in the 
 Forum ; and a learned English writer has argued 
 from the description of the site by Plutarch 
 
 Nunc bene prospicies Latiam, Concordia, turbam ; 
 
 Nunc te sacratae restltuere inanus. 
 Furius antiquum populi superator Etrusci 
 
 Voverat, et voti solverat ante fidem. 
 Causa, quod a patribus sumptis sece.sserat arniis 
 
 Vulgus, et ipsa suas Roma timebat opes. 
 Causa recens melior : passos Germania crincs 
 
 Porrigit auspiciis, dux venerande, tuis. 
 Inde triumphatae libasti munera gentis, 
 
 Templaque fecisti, quam colis ipse, deae. 
 Ilaec tua constituit genitrix et rebus et ara, 
 Sola toro magni digna reperta lovis. 
 
 Ovid. Fast. i. 637. 
 A Germania in urbem post biennium regressus, triumplmm, quern 
 distulerat. egit . . . Dedicavit et Concordiae aedem, item Pollucis et 
 Castoris, suo fratrisque nomine de manubiis. Sueton. Tib. 20. Dio 
 Cass. Iv. 25. 
 
 '' Zeuxidismanu Romae Helena est in Philippi porticibus, et in 
 Concordiae delubro Marsjas religatus. Plin. N. H. xxxv. 36 
 
 Lumen et umbras custodivit (Nicias), atque ut eminerent e tabulis 
 picturae maxime curavit. Opera ejus, Nemea advecta ex Asia 
 Komam a^.Iano, quam in Curia di.ximus positam, item Liber pater 
 .naede Concordiae. Plin. N. H. xxxv. 40 (28). See also il>. 
 XXXVI. by ; xxxvii. 2. 
 
 TEMPLE OF CONCORD. 
 
 15 
 
 #■■* 
 V 
 
 I 
 
 already cited, and from the language of Ovid, <^hap. i. 
 that the true position of the temple built l)y 
 Camillus and restored by Tiberius was in the Arx, 
 close to the temple of Juno Moneta;"' but it will 
 be found that the expressions of these authors 
 are not inapplicable to the well-known site in the 
 Forum. Ovid's description places it by the steps 
 of Moneta, in a position whence the goddess Con- 
 cord had a ])erfect view of the Latin crowd. The 
 latter part of this description is equivalent to 
 Plutarch's expression respecting the temple of 
 Camillus, that it commanded a prospect of the 
 Forum ; and both are eminently appropriate to the 
 l)resent site at the foot of the Capitol. The allu- 
 sion to the steps of Moneta requires more expla- 
 nation. The steep way which led from the prison, 
 past the side of the Temple of Concord, to the 
 Arx, where the Temple of Juno Moneta probably 
 occupied the site of the present church of Araceli, 
 was called (at its lower part at least) Scalae Ge- 
 moniae. But Ovid may well have preferred to 
 associate this path with the hallowed title of 
 Moneta rather than to introduce into his verse 
 any nearer allusion to the ill-omened name by 
 which it was generallv known. Possiblv in the 
 syllable common to both he may have found a 
 connection between the two names. In judging 
 whether the temple rebuilt ])y Tiberius was or 
 was not the famous monument of the Forum, it 
 
 '' Smith's Diet. Geogr. ait. Roma, p. 7G5. 
 
 i 
 
IT) 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 AHCH OF SEVERUS. 
 
 17 
 
 ^^^J^^ should be remembered that, whatever minor 
 temples of Concord ma}^ have existed,^^ the temple 
 in the Forum is always referred to by Roman 
 authors as the Temple of Concord without qua- 
 lification.^ When, therefore, Suetonius and Dio 
 speak of the dedication of the Temple of Con- 
 cord, it is as difficult to suppose that they refer 
 to some less know^n temple as it w^ould be to 
 doubt the meaning of an historian of London w^ho 
 spoke of the rebuilding of St. Paul's. 
 
 Under the podium of the Temple of Concord 
 
 was a passage, closed in ancient times, which 
 
 appears to have led into the Tabulariiun. 
 
 Meetings The Temple of Concord was frequently used 
 
 Senate for the meeting of the Senate. It was to this 
 
 in the , 
 
 Temple of placc that Cicero brought the accomplices of 
 
 Concord. r^ ^^• 
 
 Catilme, and here he exposed the conspiracy j"*^^^ 
 w^hile the Clivus Capitolinus was thronged with 
 the noblest of Rome.' It was here, during the 
 same excitement, that Caesar, as he came out of 
 
 3« Other temples of Concord were an aedicula Concordiae in area 
 Vulcani, dedicated by Cn. Flavius, b.c. 304 (Liv. ix. 46, Plin. N. II. 
 xxxiii. 6), as to which see further on in Chapter IV.; an nedes 
 Concordiae in arce, vowed by L. Manlius, b.c. 219, and built b.c. 
 217 (Liv. xxii. 33); and an aedes Concordiae (qu. Concordiae Viri- 
 lis) in Porticu Liviae. (Ovid. Fasti, vi. 637.) 
 
 See the passages from Pliny already cited, and those from Cicero 
 and Sallust cited in this and the followin<r pages ; Tacitus, Hist. iii. 68. 
 
 *^ Consul Lentulum, quod praetor erat, ipse manu tenens in sena- 
 tum perducit, reliquos cum custodibus in aedem ConcH)rdiae venire 
 iubet. Eo senatum advocat. Sallust. Bell. Catilin. 
 
 ' Quis enim eques Romanus, quis, praeter te, adolescens nobilis, 
 . . . quum senatus in hoc templo esset, in clivo Capitolino non fuit ? 
 Cic. Phil. ii. 7; Cic. p. Sext. 12. 
 
 the Senate, was threatened with violence by the chap. i. 
 Roman knights, who stood in guard round the 
 temple.42 It was here, after Caesar's death, that 
 Cicero and the Senate defied Mark Antonv, 
 while the knights stood crow^ded on the steps of 
 Concord, and called on the orator to haranirue 
 the people.^ Another meeting of the Senate in 
 this temple has been already mentioned, when the 
 death of Sejanus was decreed. 
 
 It is not easy to explain why this temple was 
 chosen during the Catilinarian conspiracy for the 
 meetings of the Senate, when the Curia was so 
 near. Possibly the greater sanctity of the place, 
 or even a greater facility for defence, mav have 
 given rise to the choice/ During the contest 
 between the Senate and Antony the Curia was 
 not in use.^ 
 
 In front of the ruin of the Temple of Concord Arch of 
 stands the arch which its inscription shows to 
 have been erected in honour of the emperor 
 Septimius Severus and his sons Caracalla and 
 Geta, but from which the name of the last has 
 
 *' Usque adeo uti nonnulli equites Romani, qui praesidii causa cum 
 telis erant circum aedem Concordiae .... egredienti ex senatu 
 Caesari gladio minitarentur. Sallust. Bell. Catilin. 
 
 3 An equites Komanos amplectetur ? Occulta enim fuit eorum 
 voluntas iudiciumque de M. Antonio? Qui frequentissimi in gradi- 
 bus Concordiae steterunt, . . . me una cum populo Romano in con- 
 cionem vocaverunt. Cic. Phil. vii. 8. 
 
 * In Cicero's first oration against Catiline, which seems to have 
 been delivered in the Temple of Jupiter Stator,he alludes to the place 
 of meeting as hie munitissimus hahendi senatus locus. Cic. in Cat. i. 1. 
 * See Chapter IV. on the position and history of the Curia. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Statue of 
 M. Aure- 
 lius. 
 
 Umbilicus 
 Romae, 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 been erased. I propose to show in a future chap- 
 ter how this monument broke in upon the ancient 
 arrangement of the Forum."*^ 
 
 The carriage-way betw^een the Temple of Con- 
 cord and the Arch of Severus is part of the 
 ancient road leading from the Clivus Capitolinus 
 to the prison ; but the road branching from it and 
 passing under the arch is probably not older than 
 the arch itself, if it is not of a later date. This 
 roadway may be traced further to the south- 
 east in the open Forum, and probably joined the 
 Sacra Via near the Temple of Divus Julius. 
 
 Beyond the arch on the left-hand (in the direc- 
 tion of S. Adriano) are the remains of the pe- 
 destal of an equestrian statue. There seems 
 some reason to believe that this was the original 
 position of the Marcus Aurelius, which was for- 
 merly at the Lateran, and was placed by Paul III. 
 on its present pedestal in the Piazza del Campi- 
 doglio. An equestrian statue of Constantine is 
 mentioned in the Notitia in this part of the Forum.^ 
 
 At the western corner of the arch, in front of 
 the Temple of Concord, is the nucleus of a tall 
 circular structure, about fifteen feet in diameter, 
 which is identified by some antiquaries with the 
 Umbilicus Eomae, mentioned in the Notitia next 
 to the Temple of Concord, and by the Einsiedlen 
 MS. placed near the church of SS. Sergio e 
 
 '« See Chapter IV. 
 J' Fea, Miseell. Ixii. 18. Winkelman, Storia Art. Autiq. (ed. Ital.), 
 iii. 410. Xotitia in Reg. viii. (Note 49.) 
 
 TRIBUNAL OR ROSTRA. 
 
 19 
 
 Bacco, which was built against the Arch of Sevems. chap. i. 
 Nothing more, as far as I am aware, is known of 
 this monument. It appears to have been distinct 
 from the Milliarium Aureum, which is separately 
 named in the Notitia, between the Capitolium 
 and the Via Jugaria.'' Becker, who maintains the Genius 
 identity of the Umbilicus and the Milliarium, Romani. 
 has suggested that the circular pedestal may 
 have been that of a Genius Populi Romani 
 which is said to have been placed at the Rostra 
 by Aurelian.^ At the time of the triumvirate 
 of Octavianus, Antonius, and Lepidus, there ap- 
 pears to have existed a temple of some importance 
 dedicated to this deity, near that of Concord. 
 Its site is unknown.'^ 
 
 Commencing from the edge of the so-called Tribunal 
 Umbilicus Romae is a platform, or terrace, on a ""' ^'''''^' 
 level (or nearly so) with the ground towards the 
 Capitol, l)ut with a perpendicular face, about ten feet 
 high, forming part of a circle towards the Forum, 
 which face has been cased with marble. Part 
 of this monument is covered by the modern road. 
 Below it, at a little distance, are the remains of a 
 
 " S. Sergii, ubi umbilicum Romae. MS. Einsiedlen. (Becker, 
 Ilandbuch, i. 344.) See Notitia in Reg. viii. (Note 61.) 
 
 '•> Genium populi Romani aureum in rostra posuit. Catal. Scrip. 
 Vienn. lib. ii. p. 246. (Becker, Handbuch, i. 360.) See further, p 39. 
 
 Forum Romanuni Magnum, Genium Populi Romani aureum, equum 
 Constantini. senatum, atrium MInervae, Forum Caesaris, August!, 
 Nervae Trajani, etc. Notitia in Reg. viii. 
 
 I vireg re twi « rov veut tov Peviov tov h'lfiov Kai eni rfje 'Ofiovoing 
 Trafi7r\i)0fic u)pvOtj(rav. Dio Cass, xlvii. ii. lb. 1. 8. 
 
 c2 
 
» 
 
 20 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. I. low structure, which appears to have been carried 
 in a straight line across this part of the Forum, 
 and a portion of which is to be seen in the foot-pas- 
 saire leadin^: under the modern street. The base 
 of the latter structure is upon the same level as 
 that of the curved terrace. The former of these 
 monuments was recognised by Canina as one of 
 the Rostra of the Forum, but there is no mark, 
 w^here the face of it can be examined, of its ever 
 having been ornamented with heads of ships ; 
 and the existence of another building in front of 
 it at so little distance would seem to interfere 
 with its suggested use. It may possibly have 
 been the site of the Tribunal in the Comitium, of 
 which the structure in front probably marks the 
 boundary. ^^ Suetonius describes a scene enacted 
 in this part of the Forum, of which the terrace now 
 in question, if it be not of later date, may have been 
 the stage. When Tiberius celebrated his triumph 
 after his return from Germany, Augustus sat in 
 state at the foot of the Clivus Capitolinus, at which 
 point Tiberius descended from his car and threw 
 himself before the knees of his adopted father.^ 
 Represent- In ouo of the bas-rcliefs on the Arch of Con- 
 the Forum stautiuo, and of the date of that monument, the 
 
 in bas- 
 
 •'*' See Chapter IV. on the Comitium, and Tribunal. 
 
 - A Germania in urbem post biennium regressus triumphum queni 
 distulerat egit, prosequentibus etiam legatis, quibus triumphalia 
 ornamenta impetrarat. Ac prius quani in Capitoliuni flecteret, 
 descendit e eurru, seque praesidenti patri ad genua summisit. Sueton. 
 Tib. 20. 
 
 relief of 
 Constan- 
 tine. 
 
 TERRACE WITH CURVED FACE. 
 
 21 
 
 y 
 
 ^^. 
 
 THE FORUM IN THE TIME OP CONSTANTINE. 
 
 emperor is represented standing upon a terrace chap.i. 
 between the triumphal arches of Severus and — 
 Tiberius, Avith attendants about liim, and the 
 people in the Forum below. The terrace so re- 
 presented appears to be that now existing with the 
 curved face.^^ 
 
 Returning to the wall of the Tabularium we Ruins of 
 
 find, separated from the Temple of Concord by a Ve",^'"an' 
 
 passage of about five feet in width, the ruins of a ^nL^^' 
 temple, three of whose Corinthian columns still 
 
 *' The above engraving is the result of an attempt to represent in 
 perspective the locality of the bas-relief of Constantine. A photo- 
 graph of the original may be easily procured. The cancelli, or 
 marble railings, are probably the remains of the fence of the Comi- 
 tium See Chapter IV. Behind the arches are the Basilica Julia 
 and the temples of Saturn, Vespasian, and Concord; behind the tem- 
 pies the Tabularium. 
 
22 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. I. support the north corner of the entablature of the 
 portico, inscribed with the letters estitver. This 
 temple, which was mounted on an elevated podium, 
 faced towards the Forum, and concealed a por- 
 tion of the loggia of the Tabularium. Before its 
 southern corner, on the other side of the road 
 which passes in front of it, is the nearly perfect 
 Ionic hexastyle portico of another temple, having 
 its fac;ade at right angles to that of the temple last 
 mentioned. Upon the entablature of the Ionic 
 Portico may still be read the complete inscription : 
 
 SENATVS . POPVLVSQVE . ROMANVS . 
 INCENDIO . CONSVMPTVM . RESTPfVIT . 
 
 Behind the Portico are the remains of some 
 chambers which were below the cell of the 
 temple ; and in front is a ruined terrace where tlie 
 steps of the temple must have been, and round 
 which the Clivus Capitolinus is carried at a steep 
 incline, continuing its upward course along the 
 north-western side of the temple. On the oppo- 
 site or south-eastern side of the temple, a lane ran 
 towards the Tiber, and beyond the lane, which was 
 very narrow at its opening into the Forum, is the 
 latelv cleared area of an extensive building, to 
 which we shall presently return, and which is 
 2:enerallv recoo:nised as the Basilica Julia. 
 ver"sr' The two tcmplcs which I have described are 
 
 Temples' boyoud disputo those of Vespasian and Saturn, 
 alfves." ^^^^ antiquaries have not been agreed in distin- 
 
 pasian. 
 
 SITE OF TEMPLE OF SATURN. 
 
 23 
 
 guishing their identity. In spite of the weighty chap. i. 
 opposition of Becker, modern opinion has gene- 
 rally agreed with Canina in ascribing the Ionic 
 Temple to Saturn. ^lany of the ])assages from site of 
 ancient authors descriptive of the Temple of satHL^*^ 
 Saturn, wliicli have been cited in this controversy, to old " 
 
 T 1 1 •.! 1 1 . , authors. 
 
 are appncable with nearly equal appropriateness on 
 both sides. Varro speaks of the fane of Saturn 
 as being in the "jaws" of the Capitoline hill; 
 Servius describes the same temple as being under 
 or before the Clivus Capitolinus, and close to the 
 Temple of Concord ;^^ Dionysius speaks of an 
 altar of Saturn by the root of the liill at the 
 ascent from the Forum to the Capitol, and of the 
 subsequent temple near the same spot ; ^ and Fes- 
 tus mentions the altar of Saturn at the bottom of 
 the Clivus.^ If the question depended on these 
 descriptions alone, no certain decision could be 
 
 ** Saturni fanum In fauclbus (Capitolini mentis). Varro,L.L.v,5(14). 
 
 Orestis vero ossa Aricia Romam translata sunt, et condita ante 
 templum Saturni, quod est ante clivum Capitolinum iuxta Concordiae 
 templura. Serv. ad Aen. ii. 115. Sibi oppidum fecit (Saturnus) sub 
 clivo Capitoline, ubi nunc eius aedes videtur. Serv. ad Aen. viii. 319. 
 See also the citation from the Curiosum, in Note 61. 
 
 * Kai Tov j3u}fi6v Tqi KpoviiJ tovq ^Ettuovq icpvaaadai fitQ'' 'HpaKXeovg, og 
 tTi Kai vvv Siafitvti Trapa Ty piZ,y tov \6(pov Kara Trjv dvoSov Tt)v otto rrjg 
 dyopdg tphpovtrav eig to KaTriTwXiov. Dionys. i. 34. 
 
 'Etti tovtcjv (AuXov 'Zffnrpiopiov Kai MdpKOv MivvKtov^ ipaai tCjv vTrctTuiv 
 TOV VEujv Ka9upu}9t)vai Ttfi Kpovy, Kara ti)v dvocov Ttfv elg to KaTrtTwXiov 
 
 <f)fpov(Tav aTTo Ttfg dyopdg Tov St Trporov (iiofiov avToBi KaQiSpvO' 
 
 Gat Xtyovm tov v<f ')\paK\tovg KaTf.aKwa(Tfitvov. Dionys. vi. 1. 
 
 ^ Saturnii quoque dicebantur qui castrum in imo clivo Capitolino 
 incolebant, ubi ara dicata ei dee ante bellum Troianum videtur. 
 Festus, ed. Muller, p. 322. 
 
24 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Ancvran 
 monument. 
 
 Inscrip- 
 tions of 
 the three 
 temples 
 under the 
 Capitol. 
 
 made. But the most convincing proof of the 
 received opinion is founded upon the inscription 
 discovered at Ancyra, which records the beneiits 
 confeiTed by Augustus upon the Roman people, 
 and which, speaking in the name of that emperor, 
 describes the Basilica Julia as being between the 
 Temple of Castor and the Temple of Saturn." 
 Now, as we find the area of the Basilica Julia 
 lying, in fact, between two temples, it is scarcely 
 possible to resist the conclusion that the temples 
 are those named by Augustus ; and since the 
 Temple of Saturn must, in accordance with tlie 
 authorities already cited, be placed under the 
 Capitol, and not at the other end of the Basilica, 
 it can be no other than that with the Ionic portico. 
 Becker's answer, that the Temple of Vespasian 
 did not exist at the date of the Ancyran Monu- 
 ment, and that the abutments of the basilica there 
 given might therefore on his theory be still cor- 
 rect, is met by the consideration that so large and 
 important a space as that occupied by the disputed 
 temple is not likely to have been altogether 
 vacant. The conclusion is confirmed by a com- 
 parison of the inscription remaining on this portico 
 with those preserved in the Einsiedlen Manuscript. 
 The inscriptions of several temples are there given 
 as follows, without distinguishing the parts belong- 
 ing to each monument. 
 
 •" BASILICAM QVAE FVIT INTER AEDEM CASTORIS ET AEDEM SATURNI 
 
 . . . PERFECi. Mon. Ancyr. ed. Momuisen, p. 56. (Note 100.) 
 
 TEMPLE OF VESPASIAN. 
 
 25 
 
 I 
 
 Senatus popuhisq. romanus incendio con 
 
 suniptum restituit divo vespasiano angusto. 
 
 S. P. Q. R. inipp. caess. severus et antoninus 
 
 pii felic aug. restituerunt. 8. P. Q. R. aedem 
 
 concordiae vetnstate collapsam in me 
 
 liorem faciem opere et cultu splendidiore restituerunt.^^ 
 
 It is universally agreed that we have here the 
 inscrii)tions from three temples ; and Becker, re- 
 lying upon the punctuation of the MS., has made 
 the first division after Augusto, contending that 
 all the preceding words belong to the temple with 
 the Ionic portico. But, as the inscription on the 
 Ionic portico is still })erfect (with no room for 
 more), it is natural to conclude that where that 
 ends, with the word restituit^ the second inscrip- 
 tion begins ; and that the w^ords Divo Vespasimio 
 Angusto belong to the second or intermediate 
 temple. This is confirmed by the observation, that 
 the letters estitver now to be seen on that temple 
 are ])elow the middle of the entablature, so that 
 the inscription of which tliey were part was pro- 
 bably in two lines, of which the first recorded 
 the original dedication by the Senate, the second 
 the restoration under Severus. The remaining 
 letters are so placed as to leave room in one line for 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 *' Becker, Ilandbuch, vol. i. p. 315 ; Rom. Topog. in Rom. p. 35. 
 The MS. preserved in the monastery of Einsiedlen is apparently the 
 work of a traveller of the ninth century. IJecker in attributing the 
 Corinthian Temple to Saturn relics partly on this inscription, divided 
 as above mentioned, and partly on the expression iuxta Concordiae 
 templum in Servius (Note 54), and on the order in which the three 
 temples are named in the Notitia and Curiosum. (Note 61.) 
 
26 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. I. ^\i ij^Q words from Impp, to restituerunt. Becker 
 suggests that the dedication to Vespasian was 
 inscri])ed upon tlie opposite pediment of the Ionic 
 temple, and supports this suggestion by the 
 opinion of Bunsen, that the principal fagade of 
 this building was towards the south. The sup- 
 position tliat this important temple turned its 
 back upon the Forum, is too improbable to need 
 discussion ; and with it Becker's theory as to the 
 position of the dedicatory inscription falls to the 
 
 Capitoiine ^Tround. A further confirmation of the view here 
 advocated is furnished by a fragment of the Capi- 
 toiine Plan, which represents a part of the end of 
 a building with a triple row of piers or columns, 
 answering in every respect to the Basilica Julia. 
 On this building is the letter b, which forms the 
 commencement of a word,^^ and between it and 
 the adjoining structure are the letters vrni, part, 
 apparently, of the word satvrni. 
 
 Assuming, on the strength of the above reasons, 
 that the Ionic temple is that of Saturn, we con- 
 clude that the temple with the Corinthian columns 
 was that dedicated to Vespasian, the situation of 
 which in the immediate neighbourhood of Concord 
 and Saturn may be inferred from the Curiosum 
 and Notitia,^ and the inscriptions in the Einsiedlen 
 
 <'° Another fragment shows part of a building with like piers, in- 
 scribed VLiA, and another building which may represent Castor. 
 
 ^ Templum Coneordiae et [Uml)ilicum Romae, Templum. NotitiaJ] 
 Saturni et Vespasiani et Titi, Capitoliura, Milliarium Aureum, Vicuni 
 lugarium. Curiosum, in Reg. viii 
 
 Temple of 
 Vespasian. 
 
 
 StarJards Gfioq tstaJf 
 
 FRAa.MKXTS OF CAPITOIINE PLAN 
 
 ThjR portions marked ■^ are restorations frcm. tfot e^rtgraiungs vf heUcn /- <. u 
 he-re. rvrrected' frimiy the VcjutuMn dram/i^ I Ced^ 3U39i 
 
TEMPLE OF SATURN. 
 
 27 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 Manuscript. This position of Vespasian, side by chap, l 
 side with Concord, agrees well with the allusion 
 of Statins, where, speaking of Domitian's statue 
 in the middle of the Forum, he says : 
 
 Terga pater blandoque videt Concordia vultu.^^ 
 
 The Temple of Vespasian was probably built 
 in the time of Titus, and appears, from the in- 
 scription already cited, to have been restored by 
 the Emperor Severus. We may conjecture, from 
 the words of the Notitia, that it was called the 
 Temple of Vespasian and Titus. It probably 
 contained images of both divinities. 
 
 In the wall of the Tabularium, behind this poo™y 
 temple, is a doorway, which was built up in an- larium. 
 cient times, and further concealed by the con- 
 struction of the Temple. It gave access to a 
 staircase, which is still preserved in the interior, 
 and led to the upper floor of the Tabularium with- 
 out any communication with the lower story. The 
 condition of this doorway is an obvious argument 
 for the later origin of the temple, by which it was 
 
 closed. 
 
 The Temple of Saturn is the relic of a very Tcmpk of 
 early worship. Dionysius relates the legend of a 
 city founded by Hercules on the Saturnian Hill, mn of 
 afterwards called the Capitol, and speaks of an 
 altar erected by the companions of the same hero 
 at the base of the hill, which remained to the 
 
 ^ Stat. Silv. i. 1, 31. (Note 168.) 
 
i 
 
 28 
 
 THE IIOMAN FORUM. 
 
 Citv of 
 Saturnia. 
 
 CHAP. 1. historian's timc/"^ Varro, also, appears to have 
 believed in the former existence of a Satiirnian 
 citv, of which he found three traces : first, the 
 Temple of Saturn, in the jawsof tlie hill; secondly, 
 the gate, formerly called Porta Saturnia, but in 
 his day Pandana ; and, thirdly, the fact that 
 some walls of buildings behind this tem])le were, 
 in some legal instruments, called postern ram- 
 parts.^ Virgil alludes to the same tradition. 
 
 Haec duo praeterea disiectis oppida miiris 
 Reliquias vetenimqiie vides moniimenta viroruiu. 
 Hanc laiius pater, banc Satiirnus coudidit arccin ; 
 laniculiim liiiic, illi fuerat Saturnia noinon.^ 
 
 The age of the Temple of Saturn was a dis- 
 puted question with the Roman antiquaries. Ma- 
 crobius relied on some evidence or tradition that 
 it was dedicated by King Tullus Hostilius, while 
 Varro asserted that it was begun by Tarquinius 
 Superbus, and dedicated by Titus Lartius, the 
 first dictator, B.C. 501. Dionysius attributes it to 
 Sempronius and Minutius, the consuls of B.C. 497. 
 Gellius found a decree of the Senate, ordering 
 the erection of a temple of Saturn, the building 
 
 ••3 Dionys. i. 34. (Note 55). 
 
 * Antiquum oppidum in hac fuisse Saturnia scribitur: eius vesti- 
 gia etiani nunc manent tria ; quod Saturni fiinum in faucibiis ; quod 
 Saturnia porta quam Junius seribit ibi, quam nunc vocant Pandanam; 
 quod post aedem Saturni in aedificiorum le;:ibus privatis parietes 
 Postici Muri sunt scripti. Varro, L. L. v. 7 (13). 
 
 * Vir*;. Aen. viii. 355. 
 
 Age of the 
 temple. 
 
 TEMPLE OF SATURN. 
 
 29 
 
 
 of which was entrusted to L. Furius, Tribunus ciiap.i. 
 militum. This would, apparently, l)e in the year 
 B.C. 381. «« 
 
 The Temple of Saturn was the treasury of ^X'"""' 
 the Roman Government. Phitarch attributes this Temple of 
 arrangement to Publicola, and says that it con- 
 tinued to his own day. An ancient balance was 
 kept in the temple, a vestige, as Varro thought, 
 of the time when payments were made by 
 weight.^ Suetonius speaks of the Treasury of 
 Saturn as an existing institution, of which the 
 Quaestors were the original and proper guar- 
 dians.^ The military standards w^ere kept in the 
 Treasury." It was into this temple that Julius 
 
 ^ Tulluni Hostilium, cum bis de Albanis, de Sabinis tertio tri- 
 uraphasset, inveni fanum Saturno ex voto consacravasse, et Satur- 
 nalia tunc primum Romae instituta ; quamvis Varro libro sexto, 
 qui est de sacris aedibus, scribat aedem Saturno ad forum faciendum 
 Jocasse L. Tarquinium regem, T. vero Lartium dictatorem Satur- 
 nalibus earn dedicasse. Nee me fugit Gellium scribere, senatum 
 decrevisse, ut aedes Saturni fieret, eique rei L. Furium tribunum 
 militum praefuisse. Macrob. i. 8. Dionys. vi. 1. (Note 55.) 
 
 ^ TafiuTov fiiv oTTfCa^e [UoTrXiKoXac] top tou Kpovov vabv^ «^ ii'txpi 
 vvv xpiofjifvoi ^laTtXoimv. Plutarch. Poplic. 12. Id. Quaest. Rom. 42. 
 
 Aedem vero Saturni aerarium Romani esse voluerunt. Macrob. 
 
 Sat. i. 8. 
 
 Per trutinam solvi solitum. Vestigium etiam nunc manet in aede 
 Saturni, quod ea etiam nunc propter pensuram trutinam habet posi- 
 tam. Ab aere aerarium appellatum. Varro, L. L v. 36 (50). 
 
 « Collegio quaestorum . . . curam aerari Saturni reddidit (Clau- 
 dius), quam medio tempore praetores aut, uti nunc, praetura functi 
 sustinuerant. Sueton. Claud. 24. Tac. Ann. xiii. 28, 29. 
 
 '■' 'EKiXtvfffv tjc Tutv Upwv Til (Tijfieia KOTatpipeiv. Dionys. x. 18. Com- 
 pare Liv. iii. 69, Signa ... a quaestoribus ex aerario prompta dela- 
 taque in campum ; Liv. iv. 22. lb. vii. 23. Livy also mentions a 
 sanctius aerarium, where a reserve of gold was kept. Liv. xxvii. 10. 
 
30 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 COURSE OF THE TRIUMPHS. 
 
 31 
 
 Architec- 
 ture of the 
 temple. 
 
 n 
 
 CHAP. I. Caesar made a violent entry for the purpose of 
 taking possession of the treasure of the State. 
 
 Tristi spoliantiir tcmpla rapina 
 Pauperiorque fuit tunc primiim Caesare Roma.''^ 
 
 The Temple of Saturn was rebuilt in the time 
 of Augustus by Munatius Plancus/ and it pro- 
 bably at that time assumed the architectural 
 form which it subsequently retained. Though 
 the existing portico has been generally considered 
 to be a late restoration,' we have evidence that 
 in the time of Trajan the character of the archi- 
 tecture was similar to that we now see.' It is very 
 probable that before the latest restoration of the 
 temple its use as a treasury had ceased ; but the 
 
 •0 Lucan. Phars. 167. 
 
 Aerarium quoque sanctum, quod tardius apcriebant tribuni, jussit 
 effrinrri, censum et patrimonium populi Romani ante rapuit quam 
 imperium. Florus, Epit. ii. 13. [iii. 2.] 
 The locality is most clearly indicated by Lucan. 
 
 Metellus 
 Ut videt ingenti Saturnia templa revelli 
 Mole, rapit gressus et Caesaris ugmina rumpens, 
 Ante fores nondum reseratae constitit aedis. 
 * ♦ ♦ * 
 
 Tunc rupes Tarpeia sonat, raagnoque reclusas 
 Testatur stridore fores. Tunc conditus imo 
 Eruitur templo multis intac;us ab annis 
 Romani census populi. Pharsalia, iii. 119. 
 Compare Plutarch. Caes. 39 ; Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 41 ; Die Cass. 
 
 xli. 17. 
 
 » Multaque a multis tunc extructa sunt, sicut ... a Munatio 
 
 Planco aedes Saturni. Suetonius, Aug. 29. 
 
 2 Canina, Foro Romano, 347. Becker, Ilandbuch, i. 357. 
 ' See p. 66. 
 
 chambers beneath the cell, of which there are chap.i. 
 remains, may be some small traces of the lower 
 floor, — imum templum^ as Lucan calls it, — in 
 which the treasures were deposited. 
 
 It is worth observation, that the lofty podium Height of 
 
 i^j.i»cij- 1*1 • 11 xi this temple 
 
 m front oi oaturn, which was occasioned by the imitated 
 back of the temple being on rising ground, pro- ^° ^* ^^^' 
 bably suggested that peculiar character which 
 marks all the temples of the Forum, the later 
 buildings being raised on artificial substructions 
 in imitation of the earlier temple. 
 
 The altar of Saturn already mentioned was not 
 superseded by the temple, l)ut remained in the 
 time of Dionysius, and to a later date.'^ There 
 seems to have been also at one time a Sacellum 
 Ditis adjoining this altar.^ 
 
 Before the temple was a statue of Silvanus, by 
 which there grew a fig-tree, which was removed 
 at an early date with some religious ceremonies, 
 because it was overturning the statue.^ 
 
 The Clivus Capitolinus was the route by which Course 
 
 ^ . -^ of the 
 
 the triumphs reached the Capitol. The entire triumphs. 
 course of these processions is not free from con- 
 troversy; but it seems clear that after traversing 
 the Circus Maximus they followed the road along 
 the eastern side of the Palatine Hill, identified by 
 Becker with the Via Triumphalis, at the end of 
 
 ■» Dionys. i. 34 (Note 55) ; Festus, ed. Miill., p. 322 (Note 56) ; 
 Macrob. Sat. i. 8. 
 * Macrob. Sat. i. 11. « Plin. xv. 20. 
 
'J 
 
 32 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. I. which is placed the Arch of Constantine, mounted 
 the slope where we now drive over the old pave- 
 ment to the Arch of Titus, descended the Sacred 
 Way, and so passed through the Forum to the 
 Capitoline Hill. It is a melancholy association 
 attached to this part of the Forum, that in front 
 of the Temple of Saturn, where the victorious 
 general turned his car to mount to the Capitoline 
 sanctuary, he was accustomed to order the 
 captive chiefs who had formed part of the pro- 
 cession to be led to the Prison and put to death." 
 Between the Temple of Saturn and the Tabu- 
 larium is a broad terrace at a level considerably 
 higher than the Forum, towards which it is open, 
 but having at the back a long portico, built in part 
 against the Tabularium, and in part against the 
 retaining wall of the Clivus Capitolinus, which 
 was here above it. Behind the portico was a series 
 of small cells. This portico has been a good deal 
 restored. It bore on its entablature an inscription, 
 of which the following is Canina's restoration. 
 
 [dEVM . CJONSENTIVM . SACROSANCTA . SIMVLACRA . 
 CVM . OMNI . LO . . . NE . CVLTV . INI . . . [vJeTTIVS . 
 PRAETEXTATVS . V . C . PRAE . Vl^BI . CVRANTE . 
 LONGEIO . CONSVLE. 
 
 Porticus 
 Deuiii 
 Conscn- 
 tum. 
 
 "' Quuiu (le foro in Capitolium currum flectere incipiunt, illos duci 
 in carcereni iubent ; idemque dies et vietoribus imperii et victis 
 vitae finem facit. Cic. Verr. Actio II. v. 30. Ilor. Od. ii. 13. 17. Liv. 
 xxvi. 13; xxxviii. 60. loseph. vii. 29. Perseus, after having followed 
 the triumph of Paullus, appears to have been spared. Liv. xlv. 
 40, 42. 
 
 PORTICO OF THE DEI CONSENTES. 
 
 33 
 
 > 
 
 Hence it appears that this porticus once con- chap. i. 
 tained the images of the twelve Di Consentes, 
 which w ere placed here by Vettius Agorius Prae- 
 textatus, Praefectus Urbi, a.d. 3G7. Thisw^as in all 
 probability a restoration of a much earlier shrine 
 of these deities, whose gilded images, six of gods 
 and six of goddesses, are mentioned by Varro as 
 existing at the Forum.'^ 
 
 Between the terrace last described and the Sc^^^a 
 Temple of Vespasian is a passage at a lower level, 
 about twelve feet wide, into which open a series 
 of cells or chambers constructed under the side of 
 the terrace. In this neighbourhood was found an 
 inscription, preserved by some of the older Roman 
 topographers, which relates to the restoration, by 
 A. Fabius Xanthus and others, of a scliola^ appa- 
 rently an office or waiting-room, for the clerks 
 and criers of the aediles.^ Hence these chambers 
 have gained the name of Scliola Xantha, a name 
 first found in the apocryphal account of the 
 
 '^ Invocabo .... xii. deos consentis, neque tamen eos urbanos, 
 quorum imagines ad forum auratae stant, sex mares et faeminae 
 totidem, sed illos xii. deos qui maxime agricolarum duces sunt. 
 Varro, de Re Rustica, i. 1 . The language of the inscription differs from 
 that ofVarro's day. Item quaerunt . . cur appellant omnes aedes 
 deum Consentum, et non deorura Consentium. Varro, L. L. viii. 
 38 (121). 
 
 ^ C. AVILIVS . LICINIVS . TROSIVS . CVRATOR . SCHOLARVM . 
 DE . SVO . FECIT . . BEBRYX . AVG . L DRVSIANVS . A. FABIVS . XAN- 
 THVS . CVR . SCRIBIS . LIBRARIIS . ET . PRAECONIBVS . AED . CVR . 
 SCnOLAM . AB . INCnOATO . REFECERVNT . MARMORIBVS . ORNAVERVNT . 
 VICTORIAM . AVGVSTAM . ET . SEDES . AENEAS . ET . CETERA . ORNA- 
 
 MENTA . DE . svA . PECvNiA . FECERv>T. Gruler, luscript. 1 70, 3 ; 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Porta Ster 
 coraria. 
 
 Vicus 
 Jngarius, 
 
 CHAP. I. regions of Rome, which passes under the name 
 of Sextiis Riifus.^'^ 
 
 Half-way up the Clivus Capitolinus was a narrow 
 passage, into which once a year, on the 15th of 
 June, the ordure from the Temple of Vesta was 
 carried. This was the last day of the Festival of 
 Vesta, which began June 7th, and until this cere- 
 mony was completed no legal business could be 
 done. The passage was closed by a gate called 
 Porta Stercoraria.^ 
 
 The lane which ran between the Temple of 
 Saturn and the Basilica Julia was the Vicus 
 Juo'arius, said to have derived its name from an 
 altar of Juno Juga, the patroness of marriage.^ 
 This street led from the Forum to the Carmental 
 Gate, which was situated between the Capitol and 
 the river. On the occasion of the special sacrilice 
 which was offered, B.C. 207, to Juno Regina, 
 whose temple was on the Aventine, the pro- 
 cession entered the citv at the Carmental Gate, 
 and came by the Vicus Jugarius to the Forum, 
 whence it proceeded by the Vicus Tuscus, the 
 
 Marliani, Urb. topogr. ii. 10; Lucio Fauno, Ant. di Roma, p. 49. 
 (Becker, Handbuch, i. 318). 
 
 *" Burn, Rome and the Carapagna, p. 96. 
 
 • Q.S.D.F. Quando stercum delatum fas : ab eo appellatus quod 
 eo die ex aede Vestae stercus everritur et per Capitolinum clivura 
 in locum defertur certum. Varro, L. L. vi. 4 (60). 
 
 Stercus ex aede Vestae xvii. kal. lul. defertur in angiportum 
 medium clivi Capitolini, qui locus clauditur porta Stercoraria. Fest. 
 ed. Mull. p. 344. 
 
 2 Paul. Diac. in Fest. ed. Mull. p. 104. 
 
 VICUS JUGARIUS. 
 
 55 
 
 Velabrum, and the Boarium Forum, to the Clivus chap.i. 
 Pu])licius and the temple of Juno Regina. That 
 the Vicus Jugarius was close under the Capitoline 
 hill we know from tlie fact mentioned by Livv 
 that in the year B.C. 1D2 a mass of rock fell 
 from that hill into the street and crushed several 
 j)ersons.^'^ Tlie modern street, running in the same 
 direction, by the Church of the Consolation, is 
 verv close to the cliff. 
 
 t-' 
 
 The temple of Ops is more than once alluded Temple of 
 to by Cicero as the depository of the treasure of 
 Caesar, amounting at his deatli to 700,000,000 
 sesterces, and a]i])ropriated by Antonius under 
 the pretence of carrying out his will, — ill-gotten 
 wealth, as the orator thouglit, but extremely 
 useful if it liad fallen into the right hands.^ This 
 temple has been supposed to have adjoined that 
 of Saturn, but there is no distinct proof of its site. 
 The worship of Ops, the symbol of Plenty, was 
 connected with that of the god of agriculture. 
 
 fl3 
 
 Ab aede Apollinis boves feminae albae duae porta Carmentali 
 in urbem ductae ... A porta lugario vico in forum venere : in foro 
 pompa constitit . . . Inde vico Tusco Velabroque per Boarium forum 
 in clivum Publicium atque aedem lunonis Reginae perrectum. Liv. 
 xxvii. 37. 
 
 Saxum ingens, sive imbribus sive motu terrae leviore quam ut 
 alioqui sentiretur, labefactatum, in vicum lugarium ex Capitolio pro- 
 cidit, et multos oppressit. Liv. xxxv. 21. 
 
 * Ubi est septies millies sestertium, quod in tabulis quae sunt ad 
 Opis patebat? funestae illius quidem pecuniae, sed tamen, si iis 
 quorum erat non reddereter, quae nos a tributis posset vindicare. 
 Cic. Phil. ii. 37. lb. i. 7: ii. 14. 
 
 D 2 
 
3() 
 
 THE nO.MAX FOKUM. 
 
 ciiAP. I. Her great festival, the Opalia, was celebrated 
 durin^^ tbe Saturnalia, on the 19th of Decem])er,'' 
 and the manner in which this festival is entered 
 in the Fasti Amiternini seems to indicate that 
 there was some Sacrum of Ops at the Forum.' 
 Donati mentions two antique bronze weio:hts, of 
 two and five pounds, preserved at the Collegio 
 Romano, which were inscribed in silver letters, 
 TEMPL . oris . AVG . II . and templ . opis . avg . v . 
 and suggests that thev were used for weighing 
 money: it does not appear where they were found/ 
 An altar of Ops Augusta and Ceres, in the Yicus 
 Jugarius, is noticed in the Fasii, at which altar a 
 feast was held on the lOtli of August; and Livy 
 mentions an Aedes Opis in the Capitol, where, as 
 appears from the Fasti, the Opiconsiva were cele- 
 brated August 25th.' 
 
 At the end of the Vicus Jugarius, adjoining 
 the Basilica Julia (under the modern roadway 
 which crosses the excavated space), was the site 
 of the Lacus Servilius, a spot alluded to by 
 Cicero and Seneca as associated with the memory 
 of the proscriptions of Sulla, this fountain having, 
 hke the Rostra, been used for displaying the 
 
 "^ Macrob. Saturn, i. 10. 
 
 « XVI. [Kal. lan.J sat . np . fer . saturno saturn. ad for 
 XIV . opal . NP . FER . opi ad forvm. Fast. Amitern. Dec 
 
 pJ-,^--";'!" \?' ^"'"- •'• ^^'"'^- '^^"^- '"• ^9^-) Compare Cic. 
 1 hil. 11. 38. Varro, L. L. v. 36. (Note 67.) 
 
 ^« Liv. xxxix. 22. Fast. Capran. iv. Id. Aug.; viii. Kal. Sept.; 
 rust. Aniitern. iv. Id. A\x». 
 
 Lacns Ser- 
 vilius. 
 
 1 
 
 :\IILLIAKIUM AUKEUM. 
 
 37 
 
 heads of tiie slaughtered senators. M. Agri|)pa chap. i. 
 adorned this monument with the figure of a — 
 hydra.^^ 
 
 Another monument, which must have been Miiiia. 
 near the end of the Vicus Jugarius, is the Millia- Aureu.... 
 rium Aureum, or Golden Milestone, which was 
 erected by Augustus, b.c. 29. It appears to have 
 been also called the City Milestone, MUliarium 
 Urbisy' Pliny speaks of the Milliarium as situated 
 at the top of the Forum, and uses it to give an 
 idea of the greatness of Rome by calculatino- from 
 It the distances to the thirty-seven gates, the sum 
 of which distances he reckons as exceeding thirty 
 miles. The gates were considerably within the 
 limits of the inhabited space, and the total length 
 of all the streets from the milestone to the ex- 
 tremity of the houses is calculated by Pliny as 
 somewhat more than seventy miles.^ Plutarch 
 
 89 
 
 Multos caesos, non ad Tiirasiinenum lacum sed ad Servilium, 
 vidimus. Cic. Hose. Am. 32. 
 
 Videant lar-^um in foro sanguinem, et supra Servilium lacum, id 
 enim proscriptionis Sullanaespoliarium est, senatorum capita. Seneca, 
 de Prov. 3. 
 
 Servilius lacus appellabatur [ab] eo qui eum faciendum curaverat, 
 in principio vici lugari, continens basilicae luliae, in quo loco fuit 
 effigies hydrae posita a M. Agrippa. Festus, ed. Mull. p. 290. 
 
 "" Dio Cass. liv. 8. Macer in Dig. lib. L. tit. xvi. § 154. 
 
 ' Eiusdem spatlum mensura currente a milliario in capite Roiuani 
 fori statuto ad slngulas portas, quae sunt hodie numero triginta 
 septem, ita ut duodecim semel numerentur i)raetereanturque ex 
 veteribus septem quae esse desierunt, efiicit passuum per directum 
 XXX. M. DCCLV. Ad extrema vero tectorum cum castris practoriis 
 ad eodem milliario per vicos omnium viarum mensura colligit paullo 
 amplius septuaginta millia j)a6s;uum. IMin. N. II. iii. D. 
 
38 
 
 THE ROMAN FOKUM. 
 
 MILLIAIUUM AUREUM. 
 
 39 
 
 Meeting:; of 
 Otho with 
 the J'rae- 
 torian 
 conspi- 
 rators. 
 
 I 
 
 4'' 
 
 point. But the distances upon them appear to 
 have l)een measured from the crates. 
 
 The principal historical interest of the Millia- 
 rium arises from its having been the rendezvous 
 at which Otho met the handful of praetorians by 
 whom the empire of Galba was overthrown. 
 The accounts given by various historians of 
 this incident involve the mention of so many 
 localities of Rome as to give it a special topo- 
 graphical significance. Otho made his morning 
 visit to the Emi)eror in the Palatine, and ac- 
 companied him in his sacrifice at the temple of 
 Apollo, where the haruspex, on inspection of the 
 entrails, foretold a pressing danger. Otho then 
 received a message that his architect awaited 
 him, and, making an excuse for leaving the 
 emperor, proceeded by what Suetonius callls the 
 back part of the Palatine, through the house of 
 Tiberius, to the yela])rum, and so to the Golden 
 Milestone in the Forum under the temple of 
 Saturn. Here he was met by three-and-twenty 
 soldiers, who alarmed him by openly saluting him 
 emperor. He was then put into a lady's chair, 
 and hurried through the Forum to the Praetorian 
 Camp.^^ The situation of the Golden Milestone, 
 
 Site of 
 the Mil 
 liarium. 
 
 - Sacrificanti pro aede Apollinis Galbae haruspex tristia exta et 
 mstantes insidias ac domesticum hostem praedicit, audiente Othone 
 nam proximus adstiterat ... nee multo post libertus Ononiastus 
 nuntiat, expectan eum ab architecto et redemtoribus . Otho 
 
 at the head of the Forum and under the Temple ^^^^- ^^ 
 of Saturn, would lead us to look for it o])posite 
 the end of the Vicus Jugarius, at the southern 
 termination of the curved teiTace alreadv de- 
 scribed, in a position corresponding to that of the 
 round pedestal at the other end of the same 
 terrace. Some remains of the Milliarium may 
 possibly be discovered in case of the removal of 
 the modern road, which crosses the Forum.^^ 
 
 innixus liberto per Tiberianum domum in Velabrum, inde ad millia- 
 rium aureum sub aedem Saturni pergit. Ibi tres et viginti specula- 
 tores consalutatum imperatorem ac paucitate salutautium trepidum, 
 et sellae festinanter Impositum, strictis mucronibus rapiunt. Tac. 
 Hist. i. 27. 
 
 Ergo destinata die praemonitis consciis ut se in foro sub aede 
 Saturni ad milliarium aureum opperirentur, mane Galbam salutavit, 
 utque consueverat osculo exceptus, etiam sacrifieanti interfuit 
 audivitque praedicta haruspicis. Deinde liberto adesse architectos 
 nuntiante, quod signum convenerat, quasi venalem domum inspec- 
 turus abscessit, proripuitque se postica parte l*alatii ad constitutum. 
 Alii febrem simulasse alunt . . . Tunc abditus propere muliebri 
 sella in castra contendit. Sueton. Otho. 6. 
 
 'Arrr/X^f, Kai ^td ri/c Tififpiov KaXovfxhnjc oIkioc KciTafidc tl^uti'^sv eig 
 dyopuv, ov xpv'^ovc t'tnrliKH kUov, ei'f ov at Ttrfitjfitvai tTic: IraXiaQ i^oi 
 TTiiaai TfXfvTujffip. Plutarch. Galba, 24. 
 
 " There are some remains of a round monument built into the 
 north wall of the passage under the modern road, near the Temple 
 of Saturn. I do not know whether these are in situ. The name 
 umbilicus liomae (see p. 18) looks like a fanciful synonym for j/iillia- 
 rium urhis. But the Umbilicus Romae is placed by the author of 
 the Einsiedlen MS. at the Church of S. Sergio, which lay behind 
 the Arch of Severus and partly upon it. The two are separately 
 named in the Notitia, but in the Curiosum only the Milliarium. See 
 Note 61. 
 
40 
 
 THE ROMAN FORLM. 
 
 MEDIUM FORUM. 
 
 Infimum 
 Forum. 
 
 Medium 
 Forum. 
 
 CHAPTEK 11. 
 
 THK MID FORUM. 
 
 CHAP.II. The partition of the excavated space, wliicli is 
 
 HZ^tt ^^""^ ^^•'I'*«'d foi- purposes of study, corresponds 
 
 the Forum. With an ancient division of the Roman Forum. 
 
 The open area, wliicli lay under the modern road 
 
 crossing the Forum, together with the space 
 
 between that road and the great temples at the 
 
 comitium, foot of the Capitol, constituted theComitium."^ The 
 
 other extremity of the Forum, where the Temple 
 
 of Julius was built, was called Infinuim Forum." 
 
 The expression Mid Forum appears to have 
 been applied to the space lying between the Basi- 
 lica Julia on the one side and the Basilica Aemilia 
 on the other, and bounded in the direction of the 
 Capitol by the edge of the Comitium, and in the 
 du-ection of the Regia by the cross-road in front 
 of the Temple of Castor. Cicero speaks of Paul- 
 lus restoring a basilica in medio foro; ' and in 
 another place of one of the praetors having his 
 tribunal in foro medio, where the locality appears 
 
 - If this part of the Forum had not ha,l the name of Comitium it 
 m,.h have been ealled .„,««„» /„„,,. jy;^„^^. ^^„ ^^^ 
 use the word Comitium, calls it the best and m'ost c nspieuous par 
 
 mity of the i or„m, caput Homanifori. Plin. N. H. iii. 9 (note 91 \ 
 See more as to the topography of the Comitium in Chapter IV ^ 
 l-laut. Curcuho, iv. i. 14. (Note 97) 
 ' ^i'^e'-o ad Atticuu,, iv. 16, 8. See Chapter VI. 
 
 Hi 
 
 ^) 
 
 41 
 
 to have been near the temple of Castor."" The chap. ii. 
 same expression occurs in Plautus. — 
 
 In foro infimo boni homines iitqne ditcs ambulant, 
 In medio propter canaleni ibi ostentatores meri.? 
 
 Livy, in telling the story of the self-devotion of 
 Curtius, commences by relating that, owing to an 
 earthquake or some other force, almost the whole 
 
 " Dixi pro Bestia de ambitu apud praetorem Cn. Domitium in foro 
 med,o, maximo conventu : incidicjue in eum locu.n dicendo, „uum 
 Sextius mulfs .n tempio Castoris vulneribus aceeptis subsidio Bestiae 
 servatus esset. C,c. ad Quinlun. frat. ii. 3. See further, p. 81 
 
 The passage in which these lines oceur touches upon so many 
 objects m the M,d >oru.n, that it m,ay be convenient to give it here 
 ent,re. Whether it is the work of Plautus, has been doubted, on 
 account of the mention of a basilica. See Chapter VI. on the Basilica 
 lorcia. 
 
 Commonstrabo quo in quemque hominem facile inveniatis loco 
 
 * * ♦ ♦ » 
 
 Qui periurum convenire volt hominem, mitto in Comitium • 
 Qui mendacem et gloriosum, apucl Cloacinae sacrum. 
 Ditis damnosos maritos sub Basilica quaerito : 
 Ibidem sunt scorta e.xoleta, quique stipulari solent. 
 Symbolarum collatores apud forum piscarium. 
 In foro infimo boni homines atque dites ambulant, 
 In medio propter canalem, ibi ostentatores meri. 
 Confidentes garrulique et malevoli supra lacum, 
 Qui alter! de nihilo audacter dicunt contumelia'm, 
 Kt qui ipsi sat habeant quod in se possit vere dicier 
 Sub Veteribus, ibi sunt qui dant quique accipiunt foenere. 
 Pone aedem Castoris, ibi sunt subito quibus credas male. 
 In Tusco vico, ibi sunt homines qui ipsi sese venditant. 
 In Velabro vel pistorem vel lanium vel aruspicem, 
 Vel qui ipsi vortant, vel qui aliis ut vorsentur praebeant. 
 Ditis damnosos maritos apud Leucadiam Oppiam. 
 
 ^, ,. . , P^aut. Curculio, iv. 1. 
 
 Ibe mnahs in medio foro is probably simply tiie gutter. Canali- 
 colae forenses homines pauperes dicti, quod circa canales fori consis- 
 terent. Paul. Diac. in Fest. ed. Mull. p. 45. 
 
42 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Basilica 
 Julia. 
 
 CHAP. II. Mid Forum had sunk into a vast cavern of an 
 immense depth ;'' and Pliny uses the same phrase 
 to describe tlie position of a self-sown fig-tree at the 
 Lacus Curtius.' The area of the Medium Forum 
 has now been cleared down to its ancient level, 
 with the exception of a strip on its north-eastern 
 side, where we may still hope to find traces of the 
 Basilica Aemilia and other important buildings. 
 
 The whole of the south-western side of the Mid 
 Forum was bounded by one of the longer sides of 
 a building, of which the extensive pavement has 
 been recently cleared, occupying a rectangular 
 space of about four hundred by one hundred and 
 sixty feet. This vast edifice appears to have been 
 supported by a multitude of piers or columns 
 arranged in triple rows around the central space, 
 having eighteen on the longer facade and eight 
 on the shorter. Of the superstructure there exist 
 but small remains, principally at the western end, 
 where, owing to the rise of the ground in the 
 direction of the Vicus Jugarius, this corner of the 
 building w^as constructed against the side of the 
 hill, and was earlier and more completely buried 
 and protected by debris. SuflScient fragments 
 have been found to furnish materials for the 
 
 "» Eodem anno, seu motu terrae seu qua vi alia, forum medium ferme 
 specu vasto collapsum in immensam altitudinem dicitur. Liv. vii. 6. 
 
 9 Eadem fortuito satu vivit in medio foro. Tiin. N. H. xv. 20. 
 (Note 162). So to ^daov t^q ayopac, DIo Cass. Ixiii. 4. (Note 228) ; 
 tri rnQ ayopac: ft^ff/jt', Herodian. ii. 9. (Note 170); and, perhaps, 
 in medio foro, Hor. Sat. i. 4, 74. 
 
 BASILICA JULIA. 
 
 43 
 
 ••■f 
 
 n 
 
 restoration of one of the piers upon the facade chap, ii. 
 towards the Forum; and the positions supposed 
 to have been occupied by the other piers are now 
 marked by modern l)rickwork. The restored pier 
 has on its face a half-column of the Tuscan order. 
 
 This magnificent monument has been recognised its identi- 
 by universal consent as the Basilica Julia. Its 
 identity is proved not only by the character of the 
 building but by the evidence of the Ancyran in- 
 scription, which places that basilica ])etween the 
 Temples of Castor and Saturn, ^**^ and by the frag- 
 ments of the Capitoline Plan, which indicate the 
 situation of the basilica in relation to the two 
 temples.^ An inscription recording the dedica- 
 tion, about the end of the second century, of a 
 statue as an ornament to the Basilica Julia, then 
 recently repaired, was discovered near the column 
 of Phocas, in the vicinity of this building.^ 
 
 The Basilica Julia was be2:un by Julius and History of 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ theBasi- 
 
 finished l)v AuiJrustus, who afterwards rebuilt it HcaJuiia. 
 on a more extensive site after the destruction by 
 
 100 FORVM IVLIVM ET BASILICAM QVAE FVIT INTER . AEDEM . 
 CA8TORIS . ET . AEDEM . SATVRM . COEPTA . PROFLIGATAQVE . OPERA . 
 A . PATRE . MEO . PERFECI . ET . EANDEM . BASILICAM . CONSVMPTAM . 
 INCENDIO . AMPLIATO . EIVS . SOLO . SVB . TITVLO . NOMINIS . 
 FILIORVM . [mEORVm] . IXCOHAVI . ET . SI . VIVVS . NON . PERFECISSEM . 
 
 PERFici . AB . HEREDiBiJS . [meis . ivssi]. Mon. Ancyr. ed. Momm- 
 sen, p. 56. 
 
 • See before, p. 26. 
 
 2 GABINIVS . VETTIVS . PROBIANVS . V.C . PRAEF . VRB . STATVAM . 
 QVAE . BASILICAE . IVLIAE . A . SE . NOVITER . REPARATAE . ORNA- 
 MENTO . ESSET . ADIECIT . DEDIC . XV . KAL . FEBRVARl .... 
 PVBLICORVM . CORNELIO . ANXVLINO . II . ET . AVFID . FK*»\TON"E - 
 
44 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 ciiAi'. II. fire of the first building. The honour of this 
 restoration was attributed by the eni])eror to his 
 o-randsons and adojited sons, Lucius and Caius, 
 and the basilica accordingly appears to have 
 l)een known for a time by their names.^"^ Dio 
 places its dedication during the consulate of 
 Germanicus B.C. 12, in the second year before 
 Augustus's death, but it is mentioned as unfi- 
 nished in the Ancyran monument, which belongs 
 to his last year.* It was repaired, as we have 
 seen, at the end of the second century, and under- 
 went subsequent restoration in the reign of 
 Diocletian;^ l)ut the architectural features of 
 the building of Augustus appear to have been 
 preserved, as may be seen by comparing the 
 restored pier and Tuscan half-column with the 
 representations of the building upon the monu- 
 ment of Trajan hereafter described, and upon the 
 
 cos . Gruter, Inscrip. clxxi. 7 ; Panvinius, Antiq. Urb. Imago, 
 Gruevius, vol. iii. p. 300. This inscription was found and copied in 
 the sixteenth century, and has since been re-discovered in a much 
 less perfect state. Bull, del Instit. Arch, di Roma, Mar 20, 1835. 
 As to the place of discovery, see Becker, Handbuch, i. 341, note 631. 
 
 '*' Monumentum Ancyranum. (Note 100.) 
 
 Quaedam etiam opera sub nomine alieno, nepotum scilicet et 
 uxoris sororisque, fecit, ut porticum basilicanique Gai et Luci, item 
 portions Liviae et Octaviae, theatrumque Marcelli. Sueton. Aug. 29. 
 
 * "H re (TTod t) Aiovia [loi'Xt'a] KaXovfitVij <{iKocofii)9r] re eg Tifiijv tov re 
 Va'wv Ktti TOV AovKiov riov Katffapujv,, Kai tots KaOiepioGi]. Dio Cass. Ivi. 27. 
 
 The lustrum solemnized tluring the consulate of Fompeius and 
 Appuleius, who were consuls when Augustus died, is mentioned in 
 the Ancyran Monument. 
 
 ^ Catal. imp. Vienn. t. ii. p. 247. (Becker, Ilandb vol. i. p. 342.) 
 
 BASILICA JULIA. 
 
 45 
 
 bas-relief on the arch of Constantine, which has chap. ii. 
 been alreadv mentioned. 
 
 The Basilica Julia was the place of meeting of Use of the 
 
 liasilica. 
 
 the Centumviri, a court which had, in the time 
 of the younger Pliny, who practised before it, 
 not less than a hundred and eighty yx^c/^c^^, sitting 
 in four separate consilia. The four trlhunalia 
 were not in separate rooms, but within sight and 
 hearing of one another, like the old courts in 
 Westminster Hall. The area of the basilica also 
 accommodated a large audience, which in Pliny's 
 time was too much accustomed to applaud the 
 advocates. The upper gallery afforded additional 
 room, whence at an interesting trial the proceed- 
 ings might be seen, if they could not be heard. ^"' 
 
 Jam clamor, centumqiie viri, densumque coronae 
 Vnlgus, et infanti lulia tecta placent.^ 
 
 The Basilica Julia is mentioned by Dio as one 
 of the places in which the Emperor Trajan sat to 
 administer justice." 
 
 '0' Cum (Trachalus) in basilica lulia diceret primo tribunali? 
 quatuor autem indicia, ut moris est, cogerentur, atque omnia clamo- 
 ribus fremerent, et auditum eum et intellectum, et, quod agentibus 
 caeteris contumeliosissimum fuit, laudatum quoque ex quatuor tri- 
 bunalibus, memini. Quintil. Inst. Or. xii. 5. 
 
 Sedebanl indices centum et octoginta, tot enim quatuor consiliis 
 colliguntur : ingens utrinque advocatio et numerosa subsellia; prae- 
 terea densa circumstantium corona, latissimum iudicium {qu. indi- 
 cium), multiplici circulo ambibat. Ad hoc stipatum tribunal, atque 
 etiam ex superiore basilicae parte, qua feminae qua viri, et audiendi, 
 quod erat difficile, et, quod facile, visendi studio imminebant. Plin. 
 Epist. vi. 33. lb. ii. 14, v. 21. 
 
 « Martial, Ep. vi. 38, 5. 
 
 " Tort ^itv fv Ty dyop<f ror ' Avyovarov, Tort ^t iv Ty nro^ tij '\ov\ia 
 
46 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 VICUS TUSCUS. 
 
 CHAP. n. 
 
 Streets 
 adjoining 
 the Basi- 
 lica. 
 
 Suetonius, among his instances of Caligula s 
 prodigality, describes that emperor as mountmg 
 on the parapet or roof of the Basilica .Julia and 
 throwing day after day coins to a large amount 
 among: the people."" 
 
 The Basilica Julia was surrounded on three 
 sides at least hy streets. The Vicus .luganus, 
 which has been already described, was on its 
 western side towards the Temple of Saturn and 
 the Capitol. On the opposite or eastern side 
 another ancient street has been recently im- 
 covered, to which we shall presently return. On 
 Sacra Via. the northern side ran the great street, which 
 entered the Forum at its eastern corner near the 
 Temple of Faustina, and after crossing it in the 
 manner we shall hereafter describe, and passing 
 in front of the basilica, swept round the base of 
 the Temple of Saturn and ascended the Capitol 
 by the Clivus Capitolinus. This street was a 
 part of the Sacra Via in the larger acceptation of 
 the term, which included its whole course from 
 the Carinae to the Capitol, though the name was 
 usually reserved for the slope between the Tem- 
 ple of Venus and Rome and the commencement 
 
 of the Forum. ^ 
 
 Opposite the basilica, but not far from its 
 
 Arch of 
 Tiberius. 
 
 dtvofiaafi^vy, TToXXdKig ^e Kai dWoOi, tKpiKev eTri (infiarog. Dio Cass. 
 
 Ixxxviii. 10. 
 
 "0 Quin et nummos non mediocris summae e fastisio basilicae 
 
 luliae per aliquot dies sparsit in plebem. Sueton. Calig. 37. 
 
 » See Chapter VIII. on the Sacra Via. 
 
 narrowing 
 
 47 
 
 of the ancient chap. ii. 
 
 Tuscus. 
 
 southern corner, a 
 
 roadway just before it passes under the modern 
 road marks the probable site of the arch, which, 
 as we learn from Tacitus, was erected a.d. 17, 
 near the Temple of Saturn, to commemorate the 
 recovery by Germanicus, under the auspices of 
 Tiberius, of the standards which had been lost 
 with Varus in his defeat by the Germans under 
 Arminius.^^^ This arch appears towards the left 
 in the bas-relief, already mentioned, represent- 
 ing the Emperor Constantine in the Formii.^ 
 
 The ancient street that has been uncovered at vicus 
 the eastern end of the Basilica Julia is identified 
 beyond dispute as the Vicus Tuscus, wliich is 
 know n to have led from the Forum to the Vela- 
 brum and Circus Maximus.^ This street vies with 
 the Sacred Way both in its frequent mention by 
 ancient winters and in its religious character, 
 being the route taken by the great procession on 
 
 "= Fine anni arcus propter aedem Batumi, ob recepta signa cum 
 Varo amissa ductu Germanici auspiciis Tiberii, (dicatur). Tacit. 
 Annal. ii. 41. 
 
 3 See p. 21. 
 
 * Tuscus dicitur vicus quo itur Velabrum, ubi .... unguentarii 
 consistunt. Porphyrio, Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 228. Liv. xxvii. 37. (Note 83). 
 
 Olc (roTc fiiTa Uopaivov Tvpprivolg) tdwKtv ?/ fiovXi) x*>^pf^v '"'/C TroXewg, 
 tvOa o'lKiav tp.kXXov KaraaKtvaaaaQai^ tov p,tTa^v tov te UaXariov Kai tov 
 KairiTujXiov Ttrapm fidXiffra fii]Kvv6p.evov (TTadioit; avXwva, og Kai fitXP^^ 
 tuov Tvppt]vCjv o'lKTjmg inro 'Pwfiaiujv KaXfUrai Kara Tt)v Imxiopiov cioXek' 
 TOV, y) (pipovffa ^ioCog dnb Ttjg dyopdg tiri tov p.kyav 'nnroSpofiov. 
 Diouys. V. 36. Cic. Verr. Actio II. i. 59. (Note 116.) 
 
 The locality of the Velabrum is still marked by the Church of 
 S. Giorgio in Velabro. 
 
48 
 
 THE KOMAN FOKUM. 
 
 Derivation 
 of the 
 name. 
 
 CHAP. II. the occasion of the Liidi Romani, in which the 
 statues of the gods were carried, in cars called 
 theyisae, from the Capitol through the Forum to 
 the Circus."^ Among the charges brought by 
 Cicero against Verres, as Praetor Urbanus, is that 
 of liaving maintained this street, by which the 
 procession of the gods was conducted, in such a 
 condition that he himself did not venture to use it.^ 
 The tradition which derived the name of the 
 street from Tuscan settlers is variously given 
 by different authors. According to Yarro, the 
 followers of Caeles Vibenna, an Etruscan chief 
 who came to the assistance of Romulus, were 
 first settled on the Caelian hill, and then for 
 security removed to the lower ground, which be- 
 came the Yicus Tuscus.' Tacitus records a tra- 
 dition varying but slightly from tliis,^ and a 
 
 "5 Dionys. vii. 72 ; Cic. Verr. Actio II. i. 59 ; Ovid. Amor. iii. 2, 
 43-60; Liv. ix.40. 
 
 * Quis a signo Vertunini in Circum Maximum venit quin is in uno 
 quoque gradu de avaritia tua comraoneretur ? qiiam tu viam then- 
 sarum atqiie pompac eiusmodi exegisti, ut tu ipse ilia ire non 
 audeas. Cic. Verr. Actio II. i. 59 ; ib. iii. 3 ; v. 72. 
 
 ' In Suburanae regionis parte princeps est Caeiius mons a Caelio 
 Vibenna Tusco duce nobili, qui cum sua manu dicitur Romulo 
 venisse auxilio contra Latinum regem ; hinc post Caelii mortem, 
 quod nimis munita loca tenerent, neque sine suspicione essent, 
 deducti dicuntur in planum. Ab eis dictus vicus Tuscus, et ideo ibi 
 Vertumnum stare, quod is deus Etruriae princeps. Varro, L. L. v. 
 8(14). 
 
 » Caelium adpellitatum a Caele Vibenna, qui dux gentis Etruscae, 
 cum aux ilium adpellatum ductavisset, sedem earn acceperat a Tar- 
 quinio Frisco ; seu quis alius regum dedit, nam scriptores in eo 
 dissentiunt. Cetera non ambigua sunt, magnas eas copias per plana 
 
 I 
 
 VICUS TURARIUS. 
 
 49 
 
 similar storv with a chano-e in the name of the chap. ii. 
 Tuscan captain is lianded down by Propertius, 
 in whose verse the god Vertumnus is made to 
 sav : 
 
 Et til, Roma, meis tribiiisti pracmia Tiiscis, 
 
 Unde liodie victis nomina Tuscus habet, 
 Tempore quo sociis venit Lucumonius armis 
 
 Atqnc Sabina fori contiulit arm a Tati.^^^ 
 
 Livy and Dionysius derive the name of the 
 street from a Tuscan colony, which had formed 
 part of the army of Porsenna, and, having been 
 defeated before Aricia, took refuo-e at Rome.^*^ 
 
 Beside the sacred prestige already mentioned, character 
 the Vicus Tuscus had the character of a busy Vitus 
 tradesmen's quarter.^ Horace calls its dealers 
 generally, Tusci turba impia vici, without per- 
 haps meaning much against their character ; and 
 it is probably to this street that he alludes as the 
 place to which the works of neglected poets were 
 carried to wrn]i up parcels of spice or perfume. 
 
 Deferar in vicum vendentem tus et odores 
 Et piper et qnidquid chartis amieitnr ineptis.* 
 
 It seems that the street was in later times J^^^"^. 
 
 1 uniruis. 
 
 etiam ac foro propinqua babitasse, unde Tuscum vicum e vocabulo 
 advenarum dictum. Tacit. Annal. iv. 65. 
 
 "» Propert. Eleg. iv. 2, 49. 
 
 ^ Multos Komae hospitum urbisque caritas tenuit. His locus ad 
 habitandum datus, quem deinde Tuscum vicum appcllarunt. Liv. 
 ii. 14. Dionys v. 36 (Note 114). 
 
 • Nee nisi prima velit de Tusco serica vico. IMar.tial. Epitr. xi. 
 27, 11. 
 
 '^ Hor. Epist. ii. 1, 269. See also Sat. ii. .3, 228; Porphyrio, ib. 
 (Note 114). 
 
 E 
 
 iiilliliiiMiMiaimriiiiiiiilM^^ 
 
50 
 
 THE ROMAX FOKUM. 
 
 Statue of 
 Vertuni- 
 nus at the 
 conuT of" 
 the Basi- 
 lica Julia. 
 
 CHAP. ji. Ccalled Jlcffs Turarius, ajipnrently from tlio sj^ice- 
 sliops tliere.^^'^ In the time of riautus the \'iciis 
 Tiiscus and its neigh1)ourliood ])ehind the Tem])le 
 of Castor had a ])ad reputation as the haunt of 
 rogues and infamous persons, and Seneca has an 
 alhision to a traffic in shives which was carried 
 on ad Cantoris, where the shops were filled with 
 shaves of the w^orsc character.* 
 
 Cicero describes the processional street as lead- 
 ing to the Circus ilaximus from the statue of 
 \"ertumnus, and one of his commentators tells 
 us that this statue was at the end of the Vicus 
 Turarius, under the corner of the basilica. Varro 
 also places it at the Yicus Tuscus.' The statue 
 is alluded to by Ovid as being in sight on entering 
 the Forum bv the road communicating: with the 
 Nova Via/' and Propertius has devoted an elegy 
 
 '-^ Signum Vertumni in ultimo vico Turario est, sub basilicae 
 angulo ilectentibus se ad postremam liexteraiu ])artem. Pseudo- 
 Asconius in Cic. Verr. II. i. 59. 
 
 Tusci alicjuando ab Aricinis pulsi contulere se llomam, et vicuui 
 qui modo Turarius dicitur iiisederunt. Schol. Cruq. Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 
 228. 
 
 * Piaut. Curcul. iv. 1 (Note 97). 
 
 Qui ad Castoris negotiantur iiequam maneipia enientes veudentes- 
 que, quorum tabernae pessimorum scrvoium turba refertae sunt. 
 Seneca, de constantia ba[)ientis, 13. 
 
 ' Notes IIG, 117, and 123. 
 
 " Forte revertebar f'estis Vestalibus iliac 
 
 Qua Nova Komnno nunc via iuncta foro est. 
 
 * * ♦ ♦ - 
 
 Nondum conveniens diversis iste fiiruris 
 
 Xomen ab averso ceperat amne deus, 
 
 Ovid, Fast. vi. 395, 409. 
 See Chapter IX. on the Nova Via. 
 
 STATUE OF VERTUMXUS. 
 
 51 
 
 I 
 
 to the honour of Vertumnus, from whicli it 
 appears that this deity looked into tlie Forum, 
 witli the toga'd crowd jmssing before his feet.^^^ 
 
 A ruined pedestal, measuring about ten feet by 
 eight, has lately been uncovered on the steps at 
 the nortli-east corner of the basilica. It seems 
 pro])able that we have here the remains of the 
 pedestal of Vertumnus. 
 
 Livy informs us that, for the site of the Basilica 
 Sempronia, erected b.c. 1G9, (hu'ing the censor- 
 ship of Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, the father of 
 the tri])unes, Sempronius purchased the house of 
 Scipio Africanus, which stood beliind the Veteres 
 at the image of Vertumnus, with some butchers' 
 stalls and shops adjoining. It ajipears therefore 
 that this earlier basilica furnislied part of the site 
 of the more magnificent Basilica Julia.^ 
 
 Tlie Veteres mentioned by Livy in the passage 
 just cited were some of the tahernae, or sliops, of 
 the Foruin, the history and position of which it 
 may l)e convenient to consider in this place. The 
 origin of the Tabernae is attributed ])v Livv to 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Remains 
 of the 
 pedestal of 
 Vertum- 
 nus. 
 
 Basilica 
 Sempro- 
 
 nia. 
 
 Mouse of 
 Scipio. 
 
 Tiihcrnae 
 of tlio 
 Forum. 
 
 '^ Ilaec me turba iuvat, nee templo laetor ebnrno, 
 
 Komanum satis est posse videre forum. 
 
 * ♦ * * 
 
 Sed facia.s, divum sator, ut Romana per aevum 
 Transcat ante meos turba togata pedes. 
 
 Propert. iv. 2. 5, b^i. 
 " Ti. Sempronius, ex ea pecunia quae ei attributa est, aedes P. 
 Africani pone W^teres ad Vertumni signum lanienasque et tabernas 
 in publicum emit, basilicamque faciendam curavit. quae postea Sem 
 pronia appelbita est. Li v. xliv. Ifi. 
 
 E 2 
 
TABERNAE OF THE FORUM. 
 
 53 
 
 52 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 11. King Tarqiiinius Priscus, in whose reign some of 
 the irroimd about the Forum was divided among 
 private persons, and the covered galleries and shops 
 were constructed. These buildings, however, 
 appear to have been pul)lic property, since they 
 were rebuilt by the censors.^^^ The shops in 
 early times were naturally those required for the 
 trades generally carried on in a market-place. 
 . Hence the butchers' stalls, replaced as w^e have seen 
 by the Basilica Sempronia ; and the butchers' 
 stall at the Tabernae afterwards called Novae, 
 from which Virginius took the knife to stab his 
 daughter.^*^ The schools for children were, accord- 
 ing to the same story, also among the shops of 
 the Forum ; and it was there that Appius Clau- 
 dius had first seen Virginia reading. ^ As the 
 dignity of the locality increased, the more ordi- 
 nary trades disappeared from the Forum, and the 
 shops that remained were occupied hy dealers in 
 the precious metals, silversmiths, moneychangers, 
 
 '29 Ab eodem rege et circa forum priviitis aedificanda divisa sunt 
 loca; porticus tabcrnaeque factae. Liv. i. 35. lb. xxvii. 11. (Note 
 136.) 
 
 Ti)v r€ ayopdv tv y SiKa^ovai /cat tKK\ij<Jid'Cov<Ti Kai rag dWag tiriTeXovat 
 iroXiTiKug Trpd^eig^ tKsivog tKufTfiijaev IpyaoTiipioig rf Kai Tolg dXKoig KufTfiotg 
 TrepiXaiSujv. DIonys. iii. 67. 
 
 30 Data venia seducit filiam ac nutricem prope Cloaclnae ad 
 tabernas quibus nunc novis est nomen, atque ibi ab lanio cultio 
 abrepto, . . . pectus deinde pucllae transfigit. Liv. iii. 48. 
 
 ' Virglni venienti in lorum, ibi namque in tabernis literarum ludi 
 erant, minister decemviri libidinis manum iniecit. Liv. iii. 44. 
 
 TavTtjv Ti)v Kopijv tiriyafiov omav ij^r) Oeaadfitvog 'Airwiog KXavSiog 6 
 Ttjg ceKupxiag i}yifiwv dvayivuKTKOvaav tv ypai-ifianKou' y)v de Ta h^aaKa- 
 Xkla tCjv Traidiov tote irepi r»)v dyopuV tvOvg Tt vttu tov KaXXvvg r/jg 
 Traidog iciXw, ktX. Dionys. xi. 28. 
 
 I 
 
 ) 
 
 and usurers. Hence the name tabernae argen- chap.ii. 
 
 iariae appears to have applied, as a description, to 
 
 all the shops of the Forum.'"' It was also given, as 
 
 will be seen, as a distinctive name to those on the 
 
 north side. On occasions of festivity, especially ^^^[^^^^«_^ 
 
 dmnno; the Ludi Romani, when the great Cir- ixrnacat 
 
 o • 1 -n iestivals. 
 
 censian procession passed through it, the 1^ orum 
 was decorated by the Aediles, a custom which, 
 according to Livy, originated upon the triumph of 
 L. Papirius, dictator, B.C. 308, when the gilt shields 
 of the conquered Samnites were distributed among 
 the owners of the arcjentariae for this purpose.^ 
 Hannibal is said to have put up for sale the 
 tabernae argentariae which were around the 
 Forum of Rome. ^ 
 
 The Tabernae appear to have consisted of two Jwo ^'^^^ 
 rows of shops ranged along the two longer sides ^«^- 
 of the Mid Forum. At the time of the gi'eat fire 
 in the Forum, B.C. 210, which destroyed all the 
 
 >32 Hoc intervallo primum forensis dignitas crevit, atque ex tabernis 
 lanienis argentariae factae. Varro in Nonio, p. 532, M. p. 364. 
 Gerl. (Becker, Ilandbuch, i. 295). 
 
 Ut comitia edicat de rostris, et argentarii tabernas occludant. 
 Varro. L. L. vi. 9 (75). 
 
 3 Tantum magnilicentiae visum in iis, ut aurata scuta dominis 
 argentariarum ad forum ornandum dividerentur. Inde natum initium 
 dicitur fori ornandi ab aedilibus quum tensae ducerentur. Liv. ix. 40. 
 
 Ludis ipsis Ilomanis, foro ornato. Cic. in Verr. Actio II. i. 54. 
 
 The closing of the tabernae was a principal mark of public 
 mourning. Tabernae circa forum chiusae, iustitiumque in foro sua 
 sponte coeptum prius quam indictum. Liv. ix. 7. lb. iii. 27; iv. 31. 
 Cic. p. dom. sua, 2L They were also closed when the Comitia were 
 hold. Varro, L. L vi. 9 (Note 132). 
 
 * Ut extemplo (Hannibal) vocato praecone tabernas argentarias, 
 fiuae circa forum Romanum tunc essent, iusserit venire. Liv. xxvi. 11. 
 
54 
 
 THE KOMAN FORUM. 
 
 TABERNAE OF THE FORUM. 
 
 55 
 
 u 
 
 Sei)tein 
 Tahornae 
 
 Arj^en- 
 tariae ; 
 
 I'leheiae 
 
 Xov{ 
 
 Vc teres. 
 
 CHAP. H. shops, as well as the Atrium Regiuni, and threat- 
 ened the temple of Vesta, the shops on one side 
 appear to have been called Septem Tabernae, and 
 those on the other Argentariae.^^^ The former were 
 rebuilt hy the censors in the followino: vear, to- 
 gether with the Atrium Regium f the latter were 
 re])uilt a few years later by the Plebeian Aediles, 
 and were sometimes called tiie Plebeian Tabernae. 
 Their more usual name in later times was Novae, 
 while the seven shops which had been previously 
 rebuilt were called Veteres.' From these names 
 
 suNVeto- the two sides of the Forum came to be distin- 
 
 rii)ns: 
 
 Sub Novis. guished as Sul) Veteribus and Sub Xovis.^ 
 
 '3^ Eodem tempore septem tabernae, quae postea quinque [an. 
 veteres], et argentariae, ([uae nunc novae appellantur, arsere. Coni- 
 prehensa postea privata aedificia; neque enim tuni basilicae erant. 
 Compreliensae lautumiae fbrumque piscatorium et atrium refnum. 
 Aedes Vestae vix defensa est tredecem servorum maxime openi, (iiii 
 in publicum redempti ac manumissi sunt. Liv. xxvi. -27. It has 
 been well conjectured that the rending quimjue arose from the first 
 letter of vet. for veteres, the two other letters being rejected as a 
 reduplication of the following et. The change of expression, quae 
 postea, quae nunc, lends some probability to the supposition that the 
 Veteres Tabernae did not survive to the time of Livy. See p. 58. 
 
 « Locaverunt (censores) inde reHcienda qu;ie circa forum incendio 
 consumpta erant, septem tabernas, macellum, atrium regium. Liv. 
 xxvii. 11. 
 
 • [Plebeias tabernas nojvas vocant nos[tra aetate ut dicunt V. 
 tabernjas esse, et septem ferun[tur olim fuisse. Plebeias appellajmus 
 a genere magistratus; eas enim faciendas curaverunt M. lunlus 
 Brutus, Q. Oppius, aediles. Festus, ed Mull. p. 230. As to the 
 date of these magistrates, compare Liv.xxxiv. 1, xxxv. 24, xxxvi. 2, 
 xxxvii. 5.5. Readers will be reminded of the Procuratic Vecchie and 
 Nuove on the two sides of the Piazza of St. Mark at Venice. 
 
 * Sub novis dicta pars in foro aedificiorum, quod vocabulum ei per- 
 vetustum, ut Novae viae, (juae via iam diu vetus. Varro, vi. 7 ((j7). 
 
 uu 
 
 That the Xovac and Veteres Tabernae were on char ii. 
 opposite sides of the Forum, the former on the ^'^JjJ^o" 
 sunny, the latter on the shadv side, is shown l)y Vetcrcs 
 
 •^ ' " . 1 • i.* ''^"*^ Novae 
 
 a passage of Cicero, where, in speakmg ot a Tabcmue. 
 [)hilosopher having changed his school, the author 
 com])ares him to the strollers who were driven 
 by the heat of summer from the sunshine sub 
 Novis to the shade of the Vetera maeniuna}^'' The Macuia 
 exi^YQusiomnae it tenia as here used is interpreted by 
 Festus, who states that the censor Maenius first 
 made the wooden galleries in the Forum to pro- 
 ject beyond the i)illars that supi)orted them, so as 
 to irive UTcater accommodation for viewing the 
 area from al)ove.^ Vitruvius, picturing an ideal 
 Forum, advises that the area dedicated to spec- 
 tacles should be surrounded by spacious colon- 
 nades, and in the porticoes should be placed 
 silversmiths' shoi)S, with maeniana on the upper 
 Hoors.^ Aided by this description we may con- 
 ceive the tabernae on the sunny and shady sides 
 of the Mid Forum as low shops placed behind 
 a colonnade, surmounted with an overhanging 
 
 '«» Et uthi qui sub novis solera non ferunt, item ille (luum aestuaret 
 veterunj, ut niaenianorum, sic xVcademicorum umbram secutus est. 
 Cic. Acad. Pr. ii. 22. 
 
 » Maeniana appellata sunt a Maenio censore, (jui primus in foro 
 ultra columiias tigna proiecit, »pio ampliarentur superiora spect:uMjla. 
 
 Feat. ed. Miill. p. 134. 
 
 - .V maioribus consuetudo tradita est, gladiatoria muucra in loro 
 dari. Igitur circum spectacula spatiosiora intercolumnia distribu- 
 antur, circaque in porticibus argentarine tabernae, mnenlaniKpie 
 >uperioribus ciKi.xationibus cod'icentur. Vitniv. v. 1. 
 
i! 
 
 56 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Paintiiifjjs 
 oil the 
 Tabuniuo. 
 
 CHAP. II. loggia, or gallery, which formed a sort of stand 
 whence the processions or games held in the area 
 below could be viewed. The shops were dis- 
 tinguished by the numeral of their pillar. Thus 
 Catullus indicates a shop sub Veterihus^ coni- 
 mencino; his reckonins: from Castor : 
 
 Salax taberna, vosque contubernales 
 A pileatis nona fratribus })ila.^"*'^ 
 
 The colonnades and galleries were, as might 
 be expected in that climate, decorated with 
 paintings, those on the side of the Veteres 
 Tabernae being covered with the works of Se- 
 rapion, who, according to Pliny, was an excel- 
 lent painter of scenery, but not of figures.^ The 
 porticoes of the Tabernae Novae, or the galleries 
 above them, appear to have contained a picture 
 })ainted in celebration of the triumph of Marius 
 over the Cimbri, which was called Marius's Cim- 
 brian shield. Among the figures was a Gaul, whose 
 absurd face and attitude were made an engine of 
 ridicule by C. Caesar Strabo in one of his speeches 
 delivered in the Forum. " I will show thee what 
 thou art like," said he to his opponent. '' What?" 
 cried the other ; and the orator pointed with his 
 finger at the picture of the Gaul, which was pro- 
 nounced a perfect likeness. The same story is 
 
 "^ Catull. xxxvii. 1. 
 
 * Maeniana, inquit Varro, omnia operiebant Serapionis tabulae 
 sub veteribus. Hie scenas optime pinxit, sed bominem pin«rere non 
 potuit. Plin, N. H. xxxv. 37. 
 
 Ut nieum illud in Helvlum Manciam : lam ostuiidam cuiusmod 
 
 TABERNAE OF THE FORUM. 
 
 57 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 told of the orator Crassus by Pliny, who shifts chap. ii. 
 
 the scene from the Novae to the Yeteres. Another 
 
 picture in the Forum represented an old shepherd 
 
 with a stafif', as to which the story was told, that 
 
 a barbarian ambassador was asked what he valued 
 
 him at, and replied that he would not take him as 
 
 a gift, even if he were real.^^^ 
 
 The descrii)tion of Livy, which places the site ot the 
 
 / . Veteres 
 
 house of Africanus behind the Veteres at the Tabernae. 
 statue of Yertumnus, compared with the other 
 evidence which fixes this statue exactly at the 
 corner of the Yicus Tuscus and Sacra Yia, appears 
 to forl^id the supposition that the Tabernae were 
 on the same side of the latter street as the statue. 
 And, if thev were coexistent with the Basilica 
 Julia as we now see it, there would be no room 
 for them on the same side of the way. It seems 
 probable that their place was on the other side of 
 the Yia Sacra, between that street and the open 
 Forum, where we now find seven brick piers Seven 
 
 piers oppo- 
 
 about thirteen feet square, which have been suj)- site to the 
 
 r» 1 1 /» 1 Basilica 
 
 posed to be the remains or pedestals tor large Juiia. 
 
 sis; quum ille, Ostende quaeso, demonstravi digito pictum Galium, 
 in Mariano scuto Cimbrico sub novis, distortum eiecta lingua, buccis 
 fluentibus. Risus est commotus ; nihil tarn Manciae simile visum 
 est. Cicero, de Orat. ii. 66. 
 
 >" Deinde video etin foro positas (tabulas) vulgo. llincenim ille 
 Crassi oratoris lepos ageniis sub veteribus, quum testis compellatus 
 instaret : Die ergo, Crasse, qualem me reris? Talem, incjuitjostendens 
 in tabula pictum inficetissime Galium exserentem linguam. In foro 
 fuit et ilia pastoris senis cum bacula, de (jua Teutonorum legatus 
 respondit, interrogatus quanti eum aestimarct, sibi donari nolle 
 talem vivu.n verunupie. Plin. N. 11. xxxv. 8. 
 
 
58 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 
 Tabernae, 
 
 li 
 
 Diinitiou 
 of the 
 Tubenuie. 
 
 CHAP. II. works of sculpture.'^ The Novae Ta])ernae occu- 
 siteotthe pied a similar position on tlie other side of the 
 open I ormn hi front of the Basilica Aemilia. Both 
 bnildings were doubtless extremely shallow: an 
 additional reason for confining their use to dealers 
 whose wares could be packed in a small compass. 
 The rows of goldsmiths' shops on each side of the 
 bridge at Florence, over one of which the o:allery 
 which unites the two palaces is carried, furnish 
 an example of similar structures. Enolish readers 
 may perhaps recall the Pantiles at Tunbridge 
 Wells. 
 
 The Veteres Tabernae survived the ])uildino' of 
 the Basilica Sempronia, and were extant in the 
 time of Cicero. The Xovae Tabernae were 
 standing when Livy wrote.' But how lon<'- 
 either continued after the remodelling of the 
 basilicas and the other great improvements of the 
 imperial time is uncertain. Most of the Taber- 
 nae appear to have been burnt down shortly 
 before the death of Agrippa, n.c. 12; and we may 
 doubt whether what was then destroyed was re- 
 built.'' Pliny speaks of Serapion's pictures on tlie 
 authority of Varro : the anecdotes which he tells 
 of i)ictures in the Forum do not ap|)ear to refer 
 
 ^ ^ '^"' The (]ut'sti()ii may occur : were these piers connected with the 
 Tabernae? Looking at their construction, and the condition of the 
 pavement between them, i judge this to be quite improbable. 
 
 • Liv. xxvi. 27. (Xote 135.) The mention of them by Festus as 
 existing buihlings (Note 137) is probably to be referred to his 
 author, Verrius, who was a coiitentporary of Livy. 
 
 ' Dio Cass. Iv. 8. (Xote 213.) 
 
 m 
 
 COLUMN OF PI I or AS. 
 
 59 
 
 I 
 
 -i 
 
 to existing works; and we have seen that he ciiaimi. 
 places sub Veterihus the picture of the Gaul 
 which Cicero mentions as suh Novis}'^ It is 
 not impro])able that ])efbre the period of the 
 Flavian emperors these ])uildings, which can 
 scarcely have been suita])le to the magnificent 
 architecture around them, were removed, and the 
 area of the Mid Forum between the two great 
 basilicas laid entirely open. Plutarch's account 
 of the way in which the soldiers who attacked 
 Galba at the J.acus Curtius made their a])pearance 
 out of the Basilica of Paullus. ami Statins' de- 
 scription of the statue of Domitian as guarded on 
 each flank hy the two basilicas, confirm this 
 supposition.^ 
 
 In the open space of the Mid Forum, near its Column of 
 north-western end, is the monument of Phocas, ^ *"'''' 
 consisting of a Corinthian column which long 
 stood with its ))ase buried in the Camj)o Vaccinot 
 and was taken for the ruin of a temple or other 
 
 '« See before, pp.56,57. Becker has suggested thatCrassus,speakin- 
 sub Veteribus, might i)oint to the picture .mb Novis (Handbuch, i. 297)"^ 
 but this appears scarcely probable, when we consider the obj'ects and 
 persons which would impede the view across the Forum. 
 
 •-' 'V.<paivovTo wfrnnn, IrrTTHr, Ctra oirXirai cm Tn<: UavU,, i^amXiKr,, 
 7rfHm<p^fH,finw,, fiuj ^,ovy filya fioiljVT.r, UttoCwp 'iaraixOai ruv icuornv 
 Plut. Galb. 26. ■ 
 
 At laterum passus bine lulia tecta tuentur 
 mine belligeri sublimis regia Pauli.— Stat. Silv. i. 1, 29. 
 We may suspect that there was at one time a single tabenia stand- 
 ing alone in the Forum, as Pliny mentions the sudden death of C. 
 Servilius Pansa, rjunm staret in foro cul kibeniam. (Plin. X. II. vii! 
 54.) The date of this event is uncertain. 
 
 I 
 
GO 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 MONUMENT OF TRAJAN. 
 
 Gl 
 
 Monunicnt 
 of Triijan. 
 
 ^1 
 
 CHAP. ir. similar building. When excavated in 1813, the 
 column was found to stand on an isolated pedestal, 
 mounted upon a broad square base forming a 
 flight of steps on every side. The pedestal bears 
 an inscription which shows it to have been erected 
 A.D. G08 by the exarch Smaragdus in honour of 
 the infamous emperor Phocas.^^^ 
 
 Near the eastern corner of the base of the 
 column of Phocas is one of the most interesting 
 monuments which have been brouo;ht to li2:ht bv 
 the recent excavations in Rome. It was dis- 
 covered in September, 1872, and consists of two 
 walls of white marble, sculptured with bas-reliefs 
 on both sides, and surmounted with a richlv- 
 moulded cornice. The sculptured spaces, when 
 complete, were about seventeen feet in length, 
 and five feet and a half in height ; the cornices 
 about one foot in height. Each wall is formed of 
 several pieces of marble of unequal size ; and 
 some of the pieces have been lost. The stone 
 bases on which they had been mounted were 
 found in situ, placed parallel to each otlier, at a 
 distance of about nine feet, and upon them the 
 marble fragments, which had been more or less 
 displaced, have been put together. Thus re- 
 stored in position, they form a double screen 
 with an intermediate passage, in a line crossing 
 the open area of the Forum. AVhy the monu- 
 ment was constructed in this form, and what 
 
 Nibby, Foro Romano, p. 164. 
 
 IJO 
 
 purpose beyond a commemorative object it chap. ii. 
 served, it is difficult to determine. It seems 
 possible, when we look at the sul)ject of the sculp- 
 tures, especially the sacrificial animals, that it 
 formed a sort of avenue leading to an altar and 
 statue of the emperor in whose honour the monu- 
 ment may have been erected after his deifica- 
 tion by the Senate.^^^ 
 
 The sculptures on the two interior walls repre- sculptures 
 sent the three animals used in sacrifice, the boar, w" ii"!""^ 
 the bull, and the ram, whose names were com- 
 bined to form the title of the great lustral cere- 
 mony, Suovetaiirllla. The beasts are adorned 
 with ribbons and vlitae, and move on both sculp- 
 tures in the direction of the Basilica Julia. 
 
 The sculptures on the outer walls of the screens Sculptures 
 
 ,/»,.,. on outer 
 
 present a far greater variety and interest, consist- walls. 
 ing of a number of human figures in more or less 
 
 '^' Mr. liurn, in an appendix to his admirable work on Rome, lias 
 done me the honour to notice the opinion sug^a^sted above, which I 
 had expressed at Rome, but asks what has become of the altar and its 
 substructions, some trace of which would probably remain. I answer, 
 first, that near the end of the passage between the sculptures, in the 
 direction towards which the sacrificial animals move, there are traces 
 on the pavement of some structure having been removed; stcondiy, that 
 such an altar would naturully be condemned to destruction in the 
 time of Christian ascendency, and when removed would be removed 
 entirely with its substructions; and thirdly, that, if not removed 
 before, such substructions would certainly have been cleared away 
 at the time of the erection of the Phocas column close by. It has 
 been suggested that the existing monument formed the Septa of the 
 Comitium. But there is no reason to believe that the Comitium was 
 here ; and it is not likely that it had any permanent Septa. See 
 Chapter IV. 
 
62 
 
 THE KOMAN FOIIUM. 
 
 2^^ 
 
 --'^^ -^ 
 
 cnAiMi. Iiigli relief; about half life size, with a backo:roiind 
 of arehiteetural and other ol^iects indicatiriir the 
 locality of the scenes represented. The historical 
 meanino; of these reliefs has been well discussed 
 in two learned ])apers by Signor Brizio and Pro- 
 fessor Henzen in the Proceedings of the Roman 
 Archaeological Institute.''' The topographical 
 significance of the l)ackgrounds has not received 
 sufficient attention in an}^ ]nd)lis}ied work. 
 
 The screen placed nearer to the Capitol displays, 
 to the right of the spectator, a group which has 
 furnished a key to the probable meaning of the 
 entire monument by its resemblance to some of 
 the medals of the Emperor Trajan. These medals 
 represent the emperor seated, with Italy and lier 
 children before him, and bear the inscription : 
 
 '•^- Annali dell' Instituto di Correspondenza Arcbeologica, 1872 
 p 309; Bulletino dell' Instituto. 1872, p. 273. I have Introduced 
 the above cngravinrrs to make my description more easily intelligible. 
 The enrichments of the cornices are omitted. For study, photo- 
 graphs of the original bas-reliefs should be procured. 
 
 Trajan 
 with Italy 
 and lior 
 chiMrcn. 
 
 If 
 
 MONUMENT OF TRAJAN. 
 
 03 
 
 I 
 
 l'\ 
 
 ,u-' I 
 
 ALIM . ITAL . S . 1> . Q . U . OPTIMO . riUNCIPl.^^'' Thev CHAP. II. 
 
 commemorate the provision made by Trajan for 
 the children of j)oor or deceased citizens, who were 
 called pueri et puellae alimentarii. The same 
 figures are seen in the l)as-relief. The torso of an 
 infant remains on the left arm of the female fio-nre 
 and another child probably stood under her right 
 hand. To the left a distinct group represents a 
 personage standing on the Rostra and addressing Trajan 
 a crowd of persons, who evidently receive his "^^^t^ 
 words with pleasure and applause. Fufortunately ^^'"'''''• 
 the head of the principal figure in each of the 
 groups is missing, owing to its having been in 
 liigh relief, but there can be little doubt that we 
 have here an allusion to some other ])ublic act of 
 the same emperor. 
 
 The bas-relief on the outer side of the other Burning of 
 screen rej)resents a single event. The principal booklf" 
 
 '••' Cohen, vol. ii. 303, 304, 30.5. The first words of the epigraph in 
 full would be read : AJimnituni IhiUnc. 
 
(U 
 
 TIIK ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. II. figure (of which the upper part is lost) is seated 
 on the Rostra to the right, while in front of the 
 Rostra are a number of persons carrying parcels, 
 looking like large tablets with a strap or band 
 round them, to a heap which is composed of 
 similar materials. Near the Rostra are some of 
 higher rank, who merely watch tlie proceedings, 
 and one who bends towards the heap with his 
 right arm extended, as if to touch it with some- 
 thing in his hand. This something, having been 
 in high relief, is lost ; but it is conjectured that 
 he held a torch, and that the whole scene repre- 
 sents the burning of some tablets or registers 
 by the order of the personage seated on the 
 Rostra. It is recorded by Spartianus, that the 
 Emperor Hadrian, when he remitted some large 
 sums which w^ere due to the Fiscus, caused the 
 evidences of the obligation to be burnt in the 
 Forum of Trajan, in order to give greater assu- 
 rance to the debtors.^^^ But, if the other events 
 commemorated by the monument are acts of 
 Trajan, it is prol)able that this act is also his ; 
 and it will be shown that the locality indicated by 
 the background does not agree with that men- 
 tioned by Spartianus. There is evidence of a like 
 
 ^^* Infinitam pccuniam quae fisco debebatur . . . remisit, syn- 
 graphis in foro divi Traiani, quo iiiagis securitas omnibus robora- 
 retur, incensis. Spartian. 7. 
 
 The precedent, had been set by Augustus. Tabulas veterum aerari 
 debitorum, vel praecipuam calumniandi materiam exussit. Sueton. 
 Aug. 32. 
 
 MONUMENT OF TRAJAN. 
 
 65 
 
 1 
 
 remission of taxes by Trajan ;^'^^ and we may infer chap. ii. 
 from this monument, that it was accompanied by 
 a simihir external denu)nstration in another j)ublic 
 ])lace. The ])recedent of Trajan and Hadrian 
 was followed at a later i)eriod ])y the Emperor 
 Gratianus, whose remission of tribute was ac- 
 companied by tlie Imrning of the evidences in 
 the Fora of all the cities benefited bv his indul- 
 
 gence. 
 
 When we turn to the l)acki>;rounds of the two i^-^^*^ 
 bas-reliefs, we find that they ))oth represent the the Forum, 
 scene tliat was in reality before the spectator, the 
 Forum Romamun ; and in this lies the im])ortant 
 topographical interest of the sculj)tures. 
 
 The localitv of the Burnino; of tlie Registers ^^^^*'^' 
 
 ^ ^ ground 
 
 IS most easily recognised, and may be con- "^t'^e 
 
 liurnnig 
 
 veniently taken first. In the foreground, to the <^>t the 
 
 Rc^istcrs. 
 
 left of the spectator, is a fig-tree, and next it a 
 statue on a pedestal. In the background, behind 
 the figures, were five arches of a building divided 
 by piers with half-columns or ])ilasters of the 
 Tuscan order. At a short distance from the end 
 of this building is a hexastyle Ionic portico with 
 
 135 y^.\ \\\m\ ununi tuiusniodi est de condonatis residuis tributorum? 
 . . . Fecerat et Traianus olim, sed, partibus retentls, non habebat 
 t.intam oblectationeni concessi debiti portio quanta suberat amaritudo 
 &ervati. Et Antoninus indulserat, sed imperii non beneficii successor 
 invidit, (jui ex docuinentis tabulisque populi condonata repetivit. 
 Tu argunienta omnia Ihigitandi publicitus ardere iussisti. Videre in 
 suis quaeque foris onines civitates conflagrationem salubris inc^ndii. 
 Ausonii Gratiarum actio ad Gratianum, 21. 
 
 ^' Ausonius, 1. c. 
 
 1 
 
66 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 West view 
 of the 
 Forum. 
 
 Rostra, 
 statue, and 
 fig-tree 
 in fore- 
 ground. 
 
 Back- 
 ground of 
 Trajan 
 and Italv. 
 
 tup: ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 a pediment. Then, after a short interval, through 
 which an arch is seen in the further distance, is 
 another hexastyle portico and pediment with 
 Corinthian columns. A part of the bas-relief to 
 the right is lost; but in the foreground is a portion 
 of the Rostra, upon which the emperor was 
 seated. In order to identify the scene it is only 
 necessary for the spectator to turn from the 
 sculpture to the ruined buildings before him. In 
 the Corinthian colunms of the temple of Vespasian 
 he will recoo^nise the remains of the Corinthian 
 portico, in the portico of Saturn the Ionic por- 
 tico of the bas-relief. The arch seen in the dis- 
 tance between the two porticoes would probably 
 be a part of the loggia of the Tabularimn. The 
 long line of arches, with piers between them, will 
 be found in the Basilica Julia with its ornaments 
 of Tuscan architecture. The whole of the back- 
 ground may thus be explained by the aid of the 
 ruins which remain. Of the objects represented 
 in the foreground no distinct traces are now to be 
 seen. Thev consist, as has been mentioned, of the 
 Rostra to the right and a fig-tree and statue to 
 the left. 
 
 On the other bas-relief, which is more perfect 
 than the first, the same statue and fig-tree are 
 seen in the foreground on the right, and next to 
 them, behind the figures, are seven arches with 
 intermediate piers, similar to those of the first 
 sculpture. Then, after an interval of some width, 
 
 A 
 
 MONUMENT OF TRAJAN. 
 
 67 
 
 ■x 
 
 
 is a Corinthian portico, which is represented as chap. ii. 
 having five columns ; and finally, to the left, an 
 arch, which appears nearer to the spectator than 
 the portico. In the foreground are the Rostra, 
 from which the emperor is speaking. 
 It will be observed that in the foreground of each Relative 
 
 , ^ position of 
 
 sculpture we have the Rostra on one side and the objects in 
 statue and fig-tree on the other, l)ut in one repre- ground. 
 sentation the Rostra are on the right, in the other 
 on the left. In the two scenes the spectator is 
 supposed to 1)0 placed on diflferent sides of the 
 Rostra ; but in both cases the statue and fig-tree 
 are seen in the same relative position, or nearly 
 so, — the tree to the left of the statue. In order 
 that these two objects vshould l)e so seen from the 
 right and left of the Rostra, we must suppose 
 both of them to have been before the Rostra, at 
 about equal distances from it. Thus, though the 
 spectator has changed his position from one side 
 of the Rostra to the other, his situation with 
 reference to the statue and fig-tree remains nearly 
 as before; and, as the one sculpture ends with 
 those objects on the left, and the other begins 
 with them on the right, the background of build- 
 ings behind these two objects in the second sculp- 
 ture may be expected to begin at about the same 
 point where it terminated in the first. With this 
 clue we find in the piers and arches of the second ^^^° 
 bas-relief a continuation of the long colonnade of 
 the Basilica Julia. In the wide interval to the 
 
 F 2 
 
 South-east 
 view of the 
 m. 
 
68 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 SOUTH-EAST VIEW OF THE FORUM. 
 
 Julius, 
 
 CHAP. II. left of the basilica the portico of the temple of 
 Castor might be expected to be seen; but the 
 artist has not thought fit to introduce this monu- 
 ment, possibly because hidden from the Rostra 
 
 I'enipieot ]3V gouie nearer objects. In the i^ortico ^\ith the 
 Corinthian columns we may recognise the Temple 
 of Divus Julius, the podium of which has been 
 recently excavated, and which is represented in 
 medals of Augustus and of Hadrian with a 
 tetrastyle Corinthian portico. The five colunms 
 mav be assumed to be a mistake, as this form of 
 portico is unknown. The arch behind the Rostra 
 was probably that of Augustus, of which we have 
 
 A roll of 
 Augustus 
 
 (' 
 
 'A 
 
 H 
 
 O 
 
 n 
 
 25 
 
 O 
 
 s 
 
 H 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 """ •■! 
 
MONUMENT OF TRAJAN. 
 
 69 
 
 h 
 
 WEST VIEW OF THE FORUM. 
 
 some obscure mention as standing near the chap, ii 
 Temple of Julius;-^' 
 
 The explanation here given of the first back- 
 ground (in which the Temples of Vespasi«*in and 
 Saturn appear) agrees with that of Signor Brizio, 
 to whose paper I have referred. In the other 
 background that learned anticpiary tliought we 
 niiirht find the Basilica Aemilia and some other 
 buildinu's of the north-eastern side of the Forum. 
 This opinion was founded on the supposition that 
 
 ••'■ Haec . . Augustus. Iluius facti notae repraesentantur in arcu 
 qui est iuxta aedem Dlvi lulii. Mai. Interpret. Vir;ril. Aen. vii. 6; 
 viii. 666: cited by Canina, Foro Rom. 134, 139. In the representa- 
 tion in relief of tlie triumph of Marcus Aurelius now preserved in 
 the Capitol, the buildin;is of the background appear to me to be the 
 
70 
 
 THE ROMAN FOKUM. 
 
 CHAP. II. the two views were taken in opposite directions, 
 a supposition which is contradicted by the similar 
 relative position of the statue and fig-tree in both 
 scenes. The two sculptures are in fact united by 
 the recurrence of these objects, and present us 
 with a partial panorama, comprehending the south- 
 east, south-west, and part of the north-west side 
 of the Forum, as seen from the neighbourhood of 
 
 the Rostra. 
 Rostra of We Hiav HOW tum to the identification of the 
 Forum. objocts in the foreground. Among these are the 
 Rostra of the Forum. The removal of this monu- 
 ment from its old site at the edge of the Comitium, 
 w^here it stood till the time of Cicero, is testified 
 by Dio and Asconius ; but its subsequent position 
 has not been ascertained, except so far as the 
 sculpture before us enables us to do so.^^^ 
 statue of rp^^ statue seen in both the bas-reliefs repre- 
 
 Marsyas. 
 
 sents a figure nearly nude, but shod with a sort 
 of loose boots. On his left shoulder he bears 
 a full w^ine-skin, and his right arm, which is lost 
 in both sculptures, appears to have been raised 
 in the air. This figure has been recognised as 
 that of Marsyas, who is represented with the attri- 
 butes of a Satyr or Silenus, a character ascribed 
 to him by Herodotus and Pausanias.^ This 
 
 same arch and temple as seen from the other side of the arch. The 
 temple is tetrastyle. See p. 140. 
 
 '^s Dio Cass, xllii. 49. Ascon. ad Cic. p. 10, INIil. 5. The history of 
 the Rostra is more fully discussed in Chapter V. 
 
 ' 'Ev Ty 6 Tov ^iXrjvov Mapai'isu) drrKOi' iv Ty ttoKi (KfXatj/atf) 
 
 MARSYAS. 
 
 71 
 
 character agrees with the description of Servius, chap. ii. 
 who, commenting on Virgil's '' father Lyaeus," 
 says that Marsyas, the servant of Lyaeus, was 
 put in market-places as an emblem of liberty 
 (perhaps of plenty), and bore witness with up- 
 lifted hand to the ample supplies of the town.^"' 
 The uplifted hand is alluded to by Horace, where 
 he represents Marsyas as professing his inability 
 to tolerate the face of Novius. 
 
 Obeundiis Marsya, qui se 
 Vultiim ferre negat Noviorum posse minoris.^ 
 
 The Marsyas of the Forum is mentioned hy 
 Martial. 
 
 Si schola damnetur, fora litibus omnia servant ; 
 Ipse potest fieri Marsya causidicus.'-^ 
 
 The position of the statue before the Rostra 
 is attested by the Scholia to Horace,'^ and ap- 
 pears to be alluded to by Seneca in a passage 
 in which he describes Julia, the licentious daug-h- 
 
 (ivuKpfiiaTai, TOV iirb ^pvywv Xoyog tx^i vtto 'ATroXXwvog Udapevra 
 araKpffxacjOt'ivai. llerodot. vii. 26. Paus. ii. 7, 9. 
 
 '«« Lyaeo ; qui, ut supia diximus, apte iu urbibus libertatis [qu. 
 ubertatis] est deus. Unde etiam Marsyas eius minister in civitatibus 
 in foro positus libertatis [//m. ubertatis] imo iustitiae indicium; qui 
 erecta manu testatur nihil urbi deesse. Servius ad Virg. Aen. iv. 58. 
 
 * Horat. Sat. i 6. 120. The same jest has been applied in modern 
 times to the statue of the Nile in the Piazza Navona (or Agonale), 
 who was said by Bernini to veil his head, that he might not see the 
 fa9ade of Santa Agnese. 
 
 2 Mart. Ep. ii. 64, 8. 
 
 3 Marsya statua erat in Rostris . . . Novii fuerunt acerrimi fenera- 
 tores. Schol. Acronis, ad Ilor. Sat. i. 6. 120. Marsya statua erat pro 
 Rostris, ad quam solebant eonvenire causidici. Schol. Cruq. ib. 
 
72 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 FIG-TREE OF THE LACUS CURTIUS. 
 
 73 
 
 CHAP II. ter of Augustus, as giving her assignations at 
 Marsvas, and as (lisii:racino: with her crimes the 
 Rostra where her father had pronudgated his 
 hiws in favour of chastity and niarriage.^'^^ Pliny 
 tells us that Au<>ustus himself in some of his 
 letters spoke with bitterness of the statue of Mar- 
 svas havins: been crowned with 2;arlands by his 
 daughter in her nightly excursions. We read in 
 the same author of a certain P. Munatius having 
 been ordered to prison by the Triumviri Capitales 
 for taking a chaplet from Marsyas and placing it 
 on his own head, and having in vain called for 
 the intercession of tlie Tribuni Plebis in the case.^ 
 Botli these anecdotes appear to show that the 
 vStatue was of no great height. It is represented 
 in the bas-reliefs as less than life size, but this 
 may be the result of want of space. 
 
 When we find a fi2;-tree associated with other 
 monuments of Roman celebritv, our thoughts na- 
 turally turn to the Ruminal Fig-tree, mentioned 
 by so nianv classical writers. But that famous 
 tree, originally at the foot of the Palatine hill, 
 was, in the time of Tacitus, undoubtedlv in the 
 
 "■'^ Forum ipsuin ac Rostra ex quibus pater legem de adulteriis 
 tulerat, filiae in stupra placulsse, quotidianum ad Marsyam concur- 
 sura, etc. Seneca de benef. vi. 32. 
 
 * P. Munatius quum demptam JMarsyae coronam capiti suo impo- 
 suisset atque ob id duci eum in vincula Triumviri jussissent, appel- 
 lavit Tribunes plebis : nee intercessere illi .... Apud nos exem- 
 plum liccntiae huius non est aliud quam filia divi Augusti, cuius lux- 
 uria noctibus coronatum Marsyam literae iilius dei gemunt. Plin. 
 N. II. xxi. 7. 
 
 Fig-tree, 
 
 not the 
 
 Ruminal 
 
 Fig-tree. 
 
 Comitium,^*^'' and therefore the tree here repre- chap. ii. 
 
 sented as standing in the Mid Forum cannot 
 
 be the Ruminal Fig-tree. It is fortunate for ^eif-sown 
 
 " ng-tree m 
 
 the elucidation of the topo2:raphv of the Forum the Mid 
 
 ^ ^ ^ - Forum. 
 
 that Pliny has given an account of another 
 tree, which we mav claim without much doubt 
 as the subject of the bas - relief. After speak- 
 ing of the fig-tree of the Comitium, lie adds 
 that the same tree grows self-soAvn in the Mid 
 Forum, where Curtius filled up the chasm of a 
 falling state with the gifts of valour and piety and 
 an illustrious death.' Assuming therefore this to 
 be the tree represented in the bas-relief, we must 
 conclude that the statue of Marsyas stood near 
 the edge of the Lacus Curtius. This flimous ^^^^M^ 
 
 Curtius. 
 
 monument, as we may gather from the notices of 
 Yarro and Ovid, was nothing but a diy space of 
 ground, marked off by a low fence, witliin which 
 in Ovid's time an altar was included. While 
 tradition related various stories about its ori^rin, 
 the one connecting it w ith ^Mettus Curtius, the 
 Sabine leader against Romulus in the battle 
 fought in tlie Forum, the other with the self- 
 
 '*^' Tac. Ann. xiii. 58. See further in Chapter IV. 
 
 ^ Colitur ficus arbor in foro ipso ac comitio Romae nata sacro 
 (ulguribus ibi conditis .... Eadem fortuito satu vivit in medio 
 foro, qua sidentia imperi fundamenta ostento fatali Curtius maxu- 
 mis bonis, hoc est virtute ac pietate ac morte praedara, expleverat. 
 Aeque fortuita eodem loco est vitis atque olea umbrae f^ratia 
 sedulitate plebeia satae. Ara inde sublata gladiatorio munere divi 
 lulii quod novissime pugnavit in foro. Plin. N. II. xv. 20. 
 
 \i. 
 
74 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAR II devotion of M. Curtius — stories whieli were sup- 
 ported by the name of the place, and perhaps had 
 no other foundation, — its appearance seems rather 
 to have suggested the idea that it was a fnlguri- 
 tiim^ or spot struck by lightning, and therefore 
 considered sacred.^^^ It was only in such a place, 
 religiously protected from traffic, that a self-sown 
 tree was likely to grow in the midst of so crowded 
 a locality. We learn from Pliny, that, besides 
 the fig, there were in his time a vine and an olive 
 growing in the Lacus Curtius, which were much 
 prized for the shade they afforded. Tlie altar 
 had been, according to an obscure passage of 
 this author, removed at some gladiatorial show 
 
 Altar of 
 the Lucus 
 (-urtius. 
 
 168 
 
 Curtius ille lacus, siccas qui sustinet aras, 
 Nunc solida est tellus, sed lacus ante fuit. 
 
 Ovid. Fast. vi. 403. 
 
 In foro lacum Curtium a Curtio dictum constat, et de eo triceps 
 historia ... A Procilio relatum, in eo loco dehisse terram et id ex 
 senatus consulto ad haruspices relatum esse : rcsponsum deum 
 ]\Ianio Postilionem postulare, id est civem fortissinoum eodera mitti : 
 turn quendam Curtium civem fortem armatum ascendisse in equum 
 et a Concordia versum cum equo eo praecipitatum : eo facto locum 
 coisse atque eius corpus divinitus humasse ac reliquisse genti suae 
 memoriam. Piso in annalibus scribit, Sabino bello quod fuit Romulo 
 et Tatio, virum fortissimum Metium Curtium Sabinum, cum Romulus 
 cum suis ex superiore parte impressionem fecisset, Curtium in locum 
 palustrem, qui turn fuit in foro antequam cloacae sint factae, secessisse, 
 atque ad suos in Capitolium recepisse; ab eo lacum invenisse nomen. 
 C. Aelius et Lufatius sciibunt eum locum esse fulguritum, et ex 
 senatus consulto septum esse, id quod factum est a Curtio consule, 
 quoi M. Genucius fuit collega, Curtium appellatum. Varro, L. L. v. 
 32 (42). 
 
 Livy tells impartially both stories (Liv. i. 13; vii. 6) ; Dionysius 
 that of Mettus Curtius (Dionys ii. 41.) The name of Curtius is 
 probably connected with Curia and Quirites. 
 
 i 
 \ 
 
 LACUS CURTIUS. 
 
 75 
 
 either exhibited by, or in honour of, Julius ; chap. ii. 
 but this information appears to be contradicted 
 by the passage from Ovid, in which he speaks 
 of the altar as existing.^^'^ It is mentioned by 
 Suetonius, as a proof of the popularity of Augus- 
 tus, that persons of all ranks were accustomed 
 once a vear to throw a coin into the Lacus Curtius 
 with a prayer for the health of the emperor.^'^ 
 
 The monument of Trajan serves, therefore, not Site of 
 
 . the Lacus 
 
 only to illustrate the relative position of the Curtius. 
 Rostra and Marsyas, but to fix in some measure 
 the situation of the Lacus Curtius, which would 
 seem to have been in front of the Rostra, some- 
 what to the left as one looked towards the Ba- 
 silica Julia. It will be rememl)ered that the 
 Lacus Curtius was the scene of the death of the i^eath of 
 
 Galba. 
 
 emperor Galba, who was here thrown out of his 
 chair by his frightened bearers, and despatched 
 by the partisans of Otho.^ Its proximity to the 
 Rostra, as shown by a comparison of the bas- 
 reliefs with the passage cited from Pliny, gives a 
 meaning to the subsequent narrative of Tacitus, 
 when, describing Vitellius's more ignominious 
 end, when he was driven with violence from the 
 Palatine to tlie Scalae Gemoniae, the historian 
 
 »«« Plin. N. H. XV. 20 (Note 167) ; Ovid. Fast. vi.403 (Note 168). 
 
 •'<• Omnes ordines in lacum Curt! quot annis ex voto pro salute eius 
 stipem iaciebant. Sueton. Aug. 57. 
 
 ' luxta Curti lacum trepidatione ferentium Galba proiectus e 
 sella ac provolutus est. Tac. Hist. i. 41. lb. ii. 5^. lun^ulatus est 
 ad lacum Curti. Sueton. Galba, 20. 
 
 I 
 
76 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM, 
 
 CHAP. II. says tliat he was forced to raise his face, and look 
 sometimes at his own falling; statues, and fre- 
 quently at the Rostra or the place of Galba's 
 
 1. 
 
 172 
 
 Position of 
 the Rostra. 
 
 Ruin of 
 the Rostra. 
 
 deatl 
 
 The Ilostra, as represented in the bas-reliefs, 
 appear to have stood in the open area of the 
 Forum, opposite to the middle of the Basilica 
 Julia. With respect to their precise position 
 some further light is furnished by the back- 
 ground of the bas-relief of the burning of the re- 
 gisters. It has been remarked that, between the 
 porticoes of the temples of Saturn and Vespasian, 
 an arch is seen, which appears to be one of those 
 belonging to the loggia or gallery of the Ta))ula- 
 rium. Now, the relative position of these two 
 porticoes is such that it is only from a certain 
 limited area, traversing the open Forum, that any 
 interval would appear between them. This may 
 be best seen by reference to the Plan. We may 
 conclude, therefore, that the site of the Rostra, 
 from the immediate neighbourhood of which this 
 view is supposed to be taken, was within these 
 limits, or very near them. Somewhat eastward 
 
 ^■- Vitelliuni infestis niucronibus coaetum niodo eri<;ere os et 
 offerre contumeliis, nunc cadentes statuas suas, pleruniqne Rostra 
 aut Galbae occisi locum contueri, postremo ad Gemonias, ubi corpus 
 Flavii Sabini iacuerat, propulere. Tac. Hist. iii. 85. 
 
 Seminudus in forum tractus est inter magna rerum verboruinque 
 ludibria per totum Viae Sacrae spatium, reducto coma capite, ceu 
 noxii sclent, atque etiam mento mucrone gladii subruto, ut visendam 
 praeberet facicm neve submitteret. Sueton. Vitell. 17. 
 
 POSITION OF THE ROSTRA. 
 
 77 
 
 * 
 
 » 
 
 M 
 
 of the monument last described, upon the very chap. n. 
 line which commands a view between the porti- 
 coes of Saturn and Vespasian, the ruin of the 
 I)ase of a ])uilding has recentlv been excavated, 
 which may not impro])abIy l)e a part of the 
 Rostra themselves. 
 
 Supposing the Marsyas to have stood some ten Horse of 
 yards in front of this site, with the Lacus Curtius ^'""''''"° 
 to the left of it, the latter would be immediately 
 behind a ]iedestal — a])parently of a large equestrian 
 statue — the ruins of which remain, and corre- 
 spond in j)osition with what is known of the site 
 of the colossal equestrian statue of Domitian. 
 This statue is the su1)ject of a poem by Statius, 
 who descril^es the emperor as having l)efore him 
 the Temple of Julius, on one side the Basilica 
 Julia, on the other that of Paullus, and behind 
 him, his fatiier and Concord ; while in his more 
 distant view rise his new structures on the Pala- 
 tine and the sacred buildings of Vesta. He 
 further represents him as saluted on his arrival 
 by Curtius, tlie tutelary genius of the s])ot.^'^ We 
 
 173 
 
 Pur operi sedes. llinc obvia liiniua pandit, 
 Qui fessus bellis, adscitae munere prolis 
 Primus iter nostris ostendit in aetliera divis. 
 ♦ * ♦ • 
 
 At laterum passus hinc lulia tecta tuentur, 
 Illinc belligeri sublimis rcgia Pauli ; 
 Terga pater, blandoque videt Concordia vultu. 
 I{)se autem puro celsum caput acre septus 
 Templa superlulges, et [)rospectare videris, 
 An nova contemptis surgant Pallatia llammis 
 
78 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Horse of 
 Domitian 
 
 CHAP. II. liave thus a group of objects belonging to the 
 Mid Forum — the horse of Domitian, the Lacus 
 Curtius, the Marsyas, and the Rostra — the rela- 
 tive positions of which are in a great measure 
 ascertained ; and their absolute sites cannot be 
 far from the positions suggested. 
 
 It may be observed that the position thus given 
 to the Lacus Curtius corresponds nearly with that 
 indicated by Dionysius, namely, the very centre 
 of the open space of the Forum.^'* 
 
 It is unlikely that the gigantic statue of Domi- 
 tian should have been allowed to occupy so promi- 
 nent a position after his death, when his memory 
 was generally execrated ; and no subsequent men- 
 tion of the statue is to be found. The ruined 
 l)ase now remaining may have served to support a 
 succession of emperors. In the time of Herodian 
 a colossal equestrian statue of bronze stood in the 
 middle of the Forum, not improbably upon this 
 pedestal, which was understood to be commemo- 
 rative of a dream of Septimius Severus. The 
 
 Pulchrius, an tacita vigilet face Troicus icrnis. 
 
 Atque exploratas iam landet Vesta ministras. 
 
 ♦ * * » 
 
 Ipse loci custom, cuius sacrata voraf^o 
 Famosique lacus noinen meniorabile servant, 
 Tnnumeros aeris sonitus, et verbere crebro 
 Ut sensit mugire forum, movet liorrida sancto 
 Ora situ, meritaque caput venerabile quercu. 
 
 Statius, Silv. i. 1,22, 66. 
 >■* KaXeWat dk . . . Kovpriog Xdicog, iv fiemp indXiara ^v n/f 'PwfxaUov 
 dyopai: Dionys. ii. 41. Liv. vii. 6. (Note 98.) 
 
 Colossal 
 horse of 
 Severus. 
 
 nORSE OF SEVERUS. 
 
 79 
 
 dream itself is illustrative of the topography of chap. ii. 
 the Forum. Severus, some time before his acces- 
 sion, saw in his sleep the emperor Pertinax 
 mounted on a spirited horse, on which he rode 
 through the middle of the Sacred Way. When he 
 came to the beginning of the Forum, a public 
 assembly was held, at which Pertinax was thrown 
 from his seat. The restive animal was mounted 
 by Severus himself, and stood quiet in the Mid 
 Forum, where, according to the historian, a 
 colossal image of the dream in bronze remained 
 to his day.^'^ 
 
 Near the Rostra were statues of the Three The Three 
 Sibyls, mentioned hy Pliny, and considered by ^'^^^'' 
 him to have been among the earliest works of the 
 kind in Rome.' It was probably these statues 
 which at a later time Avere popularly known as 
 tlie Three Fates. Procopius, a writer of the Three 
 sixth century, describes the Temple of Janus as 
 
 '" Mfyav Se Kai yfvvaTov 'Ittttov (SaffiXiKoTg tpaXdpoiQ KEKo<TfiT]ftfvov .^'/y0j/ 
 fiX^TTHP, (p'fpovTa Tov UepHvaKa iiroxov/ievov cid fifffrjc Tt'ig tv 'Pwfiy hpag 
 ocov. tTTEt Sk KOTd Tt)v rz/f uyopdc dpxi]v lyh^TO, tv9a tirl t^q Stj/xoKpa- 
 riag npoTfpov o ^Tinog (ri-i/iwi/ lKKXt](Tia'Ctv, (^ii^ij tov 'ittttov aTTotTHcaneai 
 fiiv TOV mprivaKU Kai p^ai, avTtp dt dXXwg itTToJri VTToSvvai re avrov Kai 
 dpdfisvov tTTi To7g vutToig (j>'tpHv re datpaXwg Kai arijvai f3ef3aiwg Itti rijg 
 dyopdg fietTT]g, elg vxjyog dpaura tup H^lSripov, u,g {Ttto TTdvnov opdtrBai re 
 Kai Tifxdrreai. fxtvu Sk Kai fig ,)fidg iv Uuvn^ nf x^^P^V V rov opeiparog 
 ttKMP fieyiarr]^ x'^^x^f^" TreTroiij^'tvi). Herodian. ii 9. 
 
 « Equidem et Sibyllas iuxta rostra esse non miror, tres sint licet, 
 una quam Sextus Pacuvius Taurus Aedilis plebis instituit {qu. res- 
 tituit), duae quas M. Messala. Primas putarem has, et Atti Navii 
 positas aetate Taniuinii Prisci, nisi regum antecedentium essent m 
 Capitolio. Plin. N. II. xxxiv. 11. 
 
80 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 ciiAP^ II. being' a little past the Three Fates ;'''' and, at a still 
 later date, the same name seems to have served to 
 designate a street running along the north-eastern 
 side of the Forum, and even to have taken the 
 place of the name of the Sacra \'ia. In the 
 account of Pope Honorius I. l)y Anastasius, 
 Ilonorius is said to have built the Church of 
 S. Adriano in the Three Fates ; and, in the same 
 work, the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian is 
 also described as in the Three Fates, the latter 
 being in the very middle of the Sacra Via." The 
 fact that their name was borrowed for the street 
 makes it probal)le that the Sibyls stood behind the 
 Rostra near the edge of the Forum. 
 
 On the north-eastern side of the uncovered 
 area of the Mid Forum may be seen at intervals 
 some traces of a road, which appears to have led 
 to the Arch of Severus. 
 
 At the south-eastern end of the Mid Forum 
 was a building of which no satisfactorv account 
 as far as I am aware, has been given. The ruins 
 consist of a brick nucleus with some reniains of a 
 marble plinth. At the j)eriod when the monument 
 of Trajan was designed, this place must have been 
 either vacant or occupied only by a low structure, 
 since the Temple of Divus Julius is represented in 
 
 '" Procop. Bell. Goth. i. 25. See Chapter VI. 
 
 » Fecit ecelesiam B. Adriano Martvri in Tribus Fatis, et dedicavit 
 et dona multa obtulit. Anasas. Biblioth. in vit. Hon. I. 
 
 Pariier et basilicam S.S. Cosmae et Damiani sitani in Tribus 
 Fatis e novo totam restauravit. Id. in vit. Hadriani I. 
 
 I 
 
 TRIBUNAL AURELIUM. 
 
 81 
 
 one of the bas-reliefs, as seen in this direction from chap ii 
 the Rostra. The site, which is near the steps Trii;;;;:ai 
 of the Temijle of Castor, was probably that of ^"""™- 
 the tril)unal in the Mid Forum at which Cicero 
 pleaded the cause of Bestia, when he made use 
 of tlie locality to liring in an allusion to an 
 event which had happened at the Temple.'™ It 
 was probably the same tribunal which is fre- 
 quently mentioned by Cicero under the name of 
 Tribunal Aurelium, and at which Clodius enlisted 
 his followers during the turbulent days of his tri- 
 buneship, when, according to Cicero, the Temple 
 of Castor was filled with armed men, and made 
 the citadel of the enemies of the state." The 
 tribunal appears to have been a more solid and 
 permanent structure than those of the Forum 
 usually were. Its origin and name have been 
 ascribed to M. Aurelius Cotta, consul b.c. 74 ;™ but 
 Cicero s])eaks of the ffmdus Aurelii as newly built 
 when L. Quintius was tribune,' which appears to 
 
 '■' Cic. ail Quint, frat. ii. 3. fNote 96.) 
 
 » Pro Aureli.. trihunali . . . delectus servorum habebatur ab eo 
 qu. n>b,l s,b, unquan, nee facere nee pati turpe duxit. Arma in tern- 
 plum Castons . . eonstituebantur ab eo latrone, eui templum illud 
 fuit, te eonsule, arx civium perditorum. Cic. in Pis. 5. Id pro 
 next. 15 ; pro dom. sua. 21. 
 
 ••Becker, Handbuch, i. 324. As to tbe nature of the tribunals of 
 the torum, see further, Chapter IV. 
 
 ' Aecus.-.bat tribunus plebis idem in coneionibus, idem ad sub- 
 sell.a; ad md.eium, non n.odo de coneione, sed etiam cum ipsa con- 
 c,one ven,ebat. Gradus iUi Aurelii, tum novi, quasi pro theatro illi 
 mdico aed.ficat, videbantur, qu„s ubi aceusator concitatis hominibus 
 compl^at, non mode dicendi ab reo, ,ed ne surgendi quidem potestas 
 erat. Cic. pro Cluent. 34. ^ f ^ 
 
 6 
 
82 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Pila Hora 
 tia. 
 
 CHAP. 11. have been in the preceding year, during the consul- 
 ship of C. Aurelius Cotta, the brother of Marcus. 
 At the corner, either of one of the rows of 
 tabernae^ or of one of the two great basilicas of 
 the Forum, stood a small pillar, which was called 
 Pila Horatia, and was believed to have once sup- 
 ported the spoils of the Curiatii. This monument 
 
 182 
 
 Transverse 
 limb of 
 the Sacra 
 Via. 
 
 was still in existence in the Augustan age. 
 
 Adjoining the ruin which has been associated 
 with the Trilninal Aurelium is an ancient roadway, 
 running at right angles with the street which passes 
 in front of the Basilica Julia, but forming, never- 
 theless, a continuation of it. For this latter street 
 (which has been already described as a part of 
 the Sacra Via in the larger sense of the term),^ 
 after passing the end of the Vicus Tuscus, has 
 been found upon excavation to turn sharply round 
 to the left, in front of the Temple of Castor. This 
 cross limb of the Sacra Via forms the eastern 
 boundary of the Mid Forum. Its further coiu-se 
 is now lost under the l)ank of modern debris, just 
 
 '^2 Spolia Curiatioruni fixa eo loco, qui nunc Pila Horatia appel- 
 latur. Liv. i. ''i.Q, 
 
 "ETipov ^f rriQ dpiTiJQ i)v iirfhi^aro Kara ttjv fiaxv^ fiaprvpiov i) yioviaia 
 ffrvXig i) Trig trkpag TraaTucoQ dpxovaa tv ciyop^^ itf ijq tKHTO to. (TKvXa 
 tCjv 'AX/3avwv Tpt^i'pojv. to. fitv ovv ovXa i}<puviaTai hd fitJKog xpovov^ 
 TTjv S' tTriKXijcriv /) <ttvXiq (pvXaTTSi ttjv avriiv, 'Oparia KaXovfitvr] Tri'Xa. 
 Dionys. iii. 21. In the Latin writers the word pila is plural, not 
 pillar, but javelins. Inter ilia pila et spolia hostium. Liv. i. 26. 
 Et cecinit Curios Iratres et Horatia pila. 
 
 Propert. iii. 3, 7. 
 ' See before, p. 46. 
 
 LEVELS OF THE FORUM. 
 
 apparently at the point wl.ere it turned again to 
 the r,o.ht „, order to pass in front of the Temple 
 otl^austma. ^ 
 
 The progress of exploration on the north-east 
 side of the Porum is stoj,ped by the street which 
 runs at the modern level along- this side of 
 the excavated space. If the ground could be 
 fuither cleared ,n this direction, we n.ight hope 
 to find some remains of the highest interest. It 
 
 was on tins side of the Forum that the Basilica 
 Porca was budt by the elder Cato, in the imme- 
 diate proximity of the Curia. It was on this si.le 
 a so that the Temple of Janus was situated, at 
 the bottom of the Argiletum, and commanding a 
 v,ewofo„eof the other Fora to the north-e.^st. 
 The Basdica Aemilia was another of the prin- 
 cipal Inuldmgs of the same side of the Forum 
 and was situated close to the Jani^s.'" These 
 monuments will be the subject of further consider- 
 ation m another chapter.^ 
 
 The lowest level of the Forum is in the road 
 near the eastern corner of the Basilica Julia, at 
 he end of the Vicus Tuscus. From this point 
 the street rises gradually as far as the si e of 
 the Arch of Ti]>erius, whence the ascent becon.es 
 more rapid to the Capitol. In the other direction 
 also there IS a very sensible rise in front of the 
 Temple of Castor, and in the space beyond, as 
 
 '" Schol. Cruq. ad Uor. Sat. ii. 3, IH 
 ' See Chapter VI. 
 
 G 2 
 
 83 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 North-east 
 side of 
 the Mid 
 I'orum. 
 
 Basilica 
 J*orcia. 
 
 Janus. 
 
 Basilica 
 Aemilia. 
 
 I.<evels of 
 the Forum. 
 
84 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. II. far as the eastern end of the Forum. The Cloaca 
 cio^ Maxima, which we may suppose to have been 
 Maxima, ^^.j^jj^.^n^. (.^^.^^ied through the lowest ground, 
 passes under the raised platform of the Basilica 
 Julia near its eastern end, where the Cloaca has 
 been opened so that the structure of its arches may 
 be well seen. It then crosses obliquely the open 
 area of the Forum, passing under the ruins of the 
 large pedestal which has l)een supposed to mark 
 the position of Domitian's Horse. 
 
 The commencement of the great cloacae, by 
 
 which the low ground in and near the Forum w\as 
 
 drained, is attributed by the Roman historians 
 
 to King Tarquinius Priscus, by whom, as w^e have 
 
 seen, the Forum is said to have been otherwise 
 
 improved.^^' The later Tarquin, who completed 
 
 his grandfather's work, was believed to have 
 
 employed in the construction of the drains the 
 
 forced labour of the Roman people.' 
 
 Pavement Xhc surflicc of the opcu Forum, as we now find 
 
 Forum. it, is pavcd, wherc it was intended for the use of 
 
 carriages, with large polygonal l)locks of hard grey 
 
 volcanic stone, called silex by the ancient, and 
 
 selce by the modern Romans ; and, w here it is in- 
 
 »s« See p. 52. 
 
 (Tarquinius Priscus) infima urbis loca circa forum aliasque inter- 
 iectas collibus convalles, quia ex planis locis baud facile evehebant 
 aquas, cloacis e fastigio in Tiberim ductis siccat. Liv. i. 38. 
 
 • Ad alia . . (plebs) traducebatur opera . . cloacamque maxi- 
 mam, receptaculum omnium purgamentorum urbis, sub terram agen- 
 dam. Liv. i. 56. 
 
 Dionys. iii. 67; iv. 44. Plin. N. H. xxxvl. 24. 
 
 PAVEMENT OF THE FORUM. 
 
 85 
 
 tended for foot passengers only, with rectangular chap, ii 
 slabs of travertine. The date of tlie first paving — 
 of the Forum is not preserved. Tlie paving of 
 the Clivus Capitolinus with silex, b.c. 174, is 
 mentioned by Livy.^«« It was probal)ly on the oc- 
 casion of some improvement in the paving of the 
 Forum that the elder Cato said that it should be 
 l)aved with shaqi shells, being of oi)inion appa- 
 rently tliat people were better kept out of it.' 
 
 The parts of the Forum in wliich justice was Awnings 
 administered must have ])een shaded in some way 
 from the sun even in early times, prol)ably by 
 temporary sheds or awnings. Marcellus, the 
 nephew of Augustus, during his aedileship, is said 
 to have spread an awning over the whole Forum, 
 at the beginning of August, for the convenience 
 of those engaged in legal business.''^ During an 
 extremely hot summer, a.d. 39, it was found ne- 
 cessary to cover it in the same way.' 
 
 The Forum, especially in the Comitium and statues of 
 the neighbourhood of the Rostra, afforded the '^' ^"'"'^ 
 favourite sites for commemorative sculpture ; and 
 
 ""' Censores clivum Capitolinum silice sternendum curaverunt. 
 Liv. xli. 27. 
 
 " Plin. N. II. xix. 6. (Note 190 ) 
 
 ^ Deinde et sine ludis Marcellus, Octavia sorore Augusti geni- 
 tus, in aedilitate sua, avunculo xi. consule, a. d. calendls Au°usti 
 velis forum inumbravit, utsalubrius litigantes consisterent; quantum 
 mutatis moribus Catonis Censorii, (jui sternendum quoque forum 
 muricibus censuerat. Plin. N. II. xix. 6. Compare Dio Cass liii 
 31. (Note 226.) 
 
 ' Dio Cass. lix. 23. 
 
86 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. II. the area, not being large, soon became incum- 
 bered with statues. As early as B.C. 159, the 
 Censors P. Seipio Xasica and M. Popilius ordered 
 the removal of the statues of magistrates that 
 were round the Forum, except those which had 
 been erected by the decree of the People or 
 Senate.^'' 
 
 Themur- Beforc the Rostra of the Comitium, or, as it 
 
 (lered am- ' ' 
 
 bassadors. ^^s exprcssed, iu rostris^ were placed, B.C. 438, 
 statues of the four Roman ambassadors who were 
 killed by the Fidenates. These statues were 
 existing within the memory of Cicero, and were 
 probably destroyed at the time of the removal of 
 the Rostra.^ When Publius Junius Coruncanius 
 and his brother Tiberius, ambassadors to Teuta, 
 Queen of the Illyrians, were put to death by her 
 order, B.C. 229, their statues w^ere erected, accord- 
 ing to the former precedent, at the Rostra. Pliny 
 mentions an interesting fact respecting these 
 
 '»2 (Ti. Gracchus ait) prohibuisse (Africanum) statuas sibi in 
 comltio, in Rostris, in Curia, in Capitolio in cella lovis, poni. Liv 
 xxxviii. 5Q. It is obvious that in tljis passa<;e the orator proceeds 
 from the ordinary positions of commemorative sculpture to extra- 
 ordinary honours. The principal statues of the Comitium will be 
 mentioned in Chapter IV. 
 
 Lucius Piso prodidit, M. Aemilio C. Popilio ii. Consulibus, a 
 censoribus P. Cornelio Scipione M. Popilio statuas circa forum 
 eorum qui magistratum gesserant sublatas omnes, praeter eas quae 
 populi aut senatus sententia statutae essent. Plln. N. H. xxxiv. 14. 
 
 3 Legatorum qui Fidenis caesi erant statuae publice in Rostris 
 positae sunt. Liv. iv. 17. 
 
 Lar Tolumnius Rex Veientium, quatuor legates populi Romani 
 Fidenis interemit, quorum statuae in Rostris steterunt usque ad 
 nostram memoriam. Cic. Phil. ix. 2. 
 
 STATUES AT THE ROSTRA. 
 
 87 
 
 Sulpifius. 
 
 early honorary statues, that they were only half chap, il 
 life size. They had become in his day matters of 
 history.^-'' Another personage who earned by his Cn. Octa- 
 death the same distinction was Cn. Octavius, who ^'"^ 
 was assassinated at Laodicea, b.c. 162, while on 
 an embassy to the Syrian monarchy. This statue 
 appears to have been thought worthy of preserva- 
 tion on the removal of the Rostra, and was pro- 
 bably moved with them, since Cicero speaks of it 
 as still to be seen in rostris,^ In imitation of Servius 
 these ancient precedents, a bronze statue was 
 erected at the new Rostra, by the advice of Cicero, 
 in honour of his friend, the jurist Servius Sulpicius, 
 who was sent by the Senate on a mission to M. 
 Antonius, and died by disease in his camp before 
 Mutina B.C. 43. This statue was still existing 
 pro rostris in the time of the jurist Pomponius.^ 
 The decree which conferred this honour on Sul- 
 picius also gave to his posterity the use of a space 
 five feet wide in every direction round the statue 
 for the spectacles exhibited in the Forum.' 
 
 »"* Inter antiquissimas sunt Tullii Cloelii, L. Roscii, Sp. Nautii, 
 C. Fulcinii in Rostris, aFidenatibus in legatione interfectorum. Hoc 
 a republica tribui solebat iniuria caesis, sicut et P lunio et Tib. 
 Coruncaniis, qui ab Teuta lllyriorum regina interfecti erant. Non 
 omittendum videtur, quod annales annotavere, tripeditanas his 
 statuas in foro statutas. Haec videlicet mensura honorata tunc 
 erat. Plin. N. 11. xxxiv. II. 
 
 * Cn. Octavii . . . statuam videmus in Rostris. Cic. Phil. ix. 2. 
 
 In qua legatione interfecto [Octavio] senatus statuam poni iussit 
 quam in oculatissimo loco in rostris. Plin. N. H. xxxiv. 11. 
 
 « Dig. lib. I. tit. ii. 2, 43. 
 
 " Quum talis vir ob rcmpublicam in legatione mortem obierit, 
 
88 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. II 
 
 Caniillus. 
 
 Another early monument erected m rostris was 
 the statue of Camillus, wbicli, like that of Romu- 
 lus in the Capitol, was an example of the ancient 
 simplicity of dress, being clothed in a toga with- 
 out tunic. The statue of Camillus was apparently, 
 in Pliny's time, a thing of the past, though that of 
 Romulus was still preserved.^''^ According to Livy, 
 c.Maenius. an equcstriau statue of C. Maenius was erected 
 with that of Camillus, in consequence of their 
 triumph over the Latins, B.C. 338, a rare honour 
 in those early times. ^ 
 
 During the rule of Sulla, a gilded equestrian 
 statue of the dictator was placed before the 
 Rostra of the Comitium, with the inscription : 
 
 Sulla. 
 
 CORNELIO SULLAE IMPERATORI FELICI. 
 
 Pompeius. In the same locality a statue of Pompeius was 
 also placed, which, with that of Sulla, was re- 
 moved after the battle of Pharsalia.^ Both statues 
 were, however, restored by the generosity of 
 
 Senatui placere, Ser. Sulpicio statuam pedestrem aeneain in Rostris 
 ex hujus ordinis sententia statui, circumque earn statuam locum 
 gladiatoribus liberos posterosque eius quoquo versus pedes quinque 
 habere. Cic. Phil. ix. 7. 
 
 '»* Ex his Romuli est sine tunica, sieut et Camilli in Rostris et 
 ante aedem Castoris fuit Q. Marcii Tremuli equestris togata. PHn. 
 N. H. xxxiv. 1 1. 
 
 » Additus triumpho honos, ut statuae equestres iis, rara ilia aetate 
 res, in foro ponerentur. Liv. viii. 13 
 
 2**** E/«rova reavTov tirixpvtrov tiri "i-mrov Trpb twv tfi^oXiov civtOsmiv, Kai 
 VTriypa^PaV KOPNHAIOV . SVAAA . 'HrEMONGS . EVTVX0V2. Ap- 
 pian. Bell. Civ. i. 97. 
 
 Inaurata equestris, qualis est L. Sullae prima statua. Cic. Phil. ix. 6. 
 
 ' Die Cass. xlii. 18. 
 
 STATUES IN THE FORUM. 
 
 89 
 
 Caesar, upon the building of the new Rostra in chap. ii. 
 the Forum.^^^ 
 
 Two statues of Julius himself were erected, J"ii"«- 
 according to Dio, at the Rostra;^ and in the year 
 of Caesar's death an equestrian statue of the young 
 Octavianus in his nineteenth year was placed there Augustus. 
 by the Senate, the inscription upon which is 
 cited l)y Paterculus in evidence of the emperor's 
 age.'^ 
 
 There was also a statue of the triumvir Lepidus Eepidus. 
 at the Rostra, which was removed upon the 
 breach between him and Augustus.^ 
 
 Of early statues in other parts of the Forum Trcmuius. 
 the most famous was that of Q. Marcius Tremulus, 
 the consul who defeated the Hernici, B.C. 306. 
 This was an equestrian statue, and placed before 
 the Temple of Castor.^ A gilded equestrian ^.•^^"^^- 
 statue was erected in the Forum in honour of 
 L. Antonius, which Cicero mockingly compares 
 with that of the conqueror of the Hernici before 
 the Temple of Castor ; ' and from the orator's 
 
 «« Dio Cass, xliii. 49; Sueton. Caes. 75. See Chapter V. 
 3 Dio Cass. xliv. 4. See Chapter V. 
 
 * Eum senatus honoratum equestri statua, quae hodieque in 
 Rostris posita aetatera eius scriptura indicat, qui honor non alii per 
 ccc. annos quam L. Sullae et Cn. Pompeio et C. Caesari contigerat, 
 bellum cum Antonio gerere iussit. Velleius Paterc. ii. 61. 
 
 * Dio Cass. xlvi. 51, 
 
 6 Liv. ix. 43; Cic. Phil. vi. 5. Plin. N. II. xxxiv. 11. (Note 198.) 
 ^ Aspicite a sinistra illam equestrem statuam inauratam .... In 
 
 foro L. Antonii statuam videmus, sicut illam Q. Tremuli qui ller- 
 
 nicos dcvicit ante Castoris. Cic. Piiil. vi. 5. 
 
DO 
 
 THE KOMAN FORUM. 
 
 Statues of 
 emperors. 
 
 CHAP. II. words an aimiment has been flillaciously drawn 
 with respect to the position of the Rostra, from 
 which he bids his audience to look at Antonius's 
 statue on the left, it being assumed that this 
 statue was in front of Castor.^^'^ There appears, 
 however, to be no ground for inferrino; from 
 Cicero's language that any other statue but that 
 of Tremulus was in this position. 
 
 in imperial times it seems to have been usual to 
 multiply statues of the reigning prince in various 
 parts of the city, a practice which was anticipated 
 in the case of Julius, to whom the Senate decreed 
 the erection of statues in all the temples of Rome.^ 
 Hence Yitellius, dragged through the Forum on 
 his way to execution, was forced to look at his 
 own falling statues;'' and in the time of Domitian 
 che Sacred Way was full of images of that em- 
 peror.' Domitian's colossal equestrian statue in 
 the Forum by the Lacus Curtius has been already 
 mentioned.^ 
 
 Statues of other persons of eminence appear 
 also to have been multiplied in the Forum and 
 elsewhere; those of Sejanus were innumerable 
 several of them being gilt. He, like Yitellius, on 
 
 =<>« Becker, Handbuch, vol. i. p. 337 ; Smith, Diet. Geo-, art. Rome 
 p 792. ' 
 
 " DIo Cass. xliv. 4. 
 
 '" Tac. Hist. iii. 85. (Note 167.) 
 
 ' Inde sacro veneranda petes palatia clivo 
 
 Plurima qua summi fulget imago ducis. 
 
 Mart. £p. i. 71. 6. 
 ' See before, p. 77. 
 
 Sejanus. 
 
 
 COLUMNA IJUILIA. 
 
 91 
 
 Columna 
 Duilia. 
 
 his way from the Palatine to the prison, witnessed chap. ii. 
 the destruction of several of his own statues.^^^ 
 
 Another commemorative monument of the Fo- 
 rum was the Colunma Duilia, a pillar ornamented 
 with 7*ost?Y(, which was erected in honour of the 
 naval victory gained by C. Duilius over the Car- 
 thaginians, B.C. 2(J0. It was standing in the time 
 of Pliny,' and some remains of it were found in 
 the Campo Vaccino, not far from the Arch of 
 Severus, and may now be seen restored in the 
 Capitoline Museum. 
 
 One of the ])urposes to which the Forum was de- Spectacle* 
 voted nuist have been uiuch impeded by the crowd- ^«r"m- 
 ing of statues upon its area. It was the ordinary 
 place for religious processions and the exhibition 
 of public games and spectacles. We have seen that 
 the upj)er stories of the tahernae were specially 
 designed for the convenience of spectators. 
 
 On the occasion of the Ludi Romani in the Religious 
 month of September, when the great procession ^ons^.^ 
 of the gods passed from the Capitol to the Circus, 
 the Comitium was covered with a wooden roof 
 or an awning, and the Forum ornamented by the 
 aediles/ Another great religious spectacle of the 
 Forum was the procession of the knights to the 
 Temple of Castor on the ides of July.^ 
 
 ^•3 Dio Cass. Iviii. 2, 11 ; Sueton. Tib. 65. 
 
 * Item C. Duiliu (columna posita est) ... qui primus navalem 
 triumphum egit de Poeiiis, quae est etiam nunc in foro. Plin. N. H. 
 xxxiv. 11. Sil. Ital. Punic, vi. 663 ; Quint. Inst. Or. i. 7. 
 
 * Liv. ix. 49. (Note 133.) lb. xxvii. 36. • See p. 106. 
 
92 
 
 CHAP. II 
 
 « 
 
 ii: 
 
 Gladiato- 
 rial games. 
 
 ; I 
 
 THE ROMAN FOilUM. 
 
 The festival of the Salii, which took place in 
 the beginning of March and lasted some days, was 
 partly celebrated in the Forum.^^^ The Lupercalia, 
 which were held in the middle of February, also 
 extended into the same locality, as is shown by 
 Antonius having at that festival offered the crown 
 to Caesar at the Rostra.^ The dances and strano-e 
 costumes of the former of these festivals, and the 
 licence of the latter, appear to have anticipated 
 the modern Carnival. 
 
 The first gladiatorial combat which took place 
 at Rome is said to have been exhibited in the 
 Forum Boarium by D. Junius Brutus at the 
 funeral of his father, b.c. 264.' These shows 
 appear to have been afterwards frequent in the 
 Roman Forum. On the death of M. Aemilius 
 Lepidus, b.c. 216, his three sons exhibited funeral 
 games and twenty-two pairs of gladiators for 
 three days in the Forum. Other similar occasions 
 are mentioned by Livy, among which was the 
 funeral of P. Licinius Crassus, pontifex maximus, 
 B.C. 183, when an hundred and twentv o-iadiators 
 
 =»■ 'Eoprr) St avTiov {twp ^laXicjp) lari irtpi ra UavaBifvaia r<p koKoo- 
 Hiv<{i Mapruii fiijvi, StifioreXi/Q ^m ttoWuc W^pag ayofiivi), iv alg Sid n/t.- 
 7r6\(u)g dyovffi rovg x^povs t'c rt ri/p eiyopdv Kai to KamruiXiov Kcii 
 iroWovf: dWovg iSiovg Tt Kai Sii^otriovQ tottovq, x^rCjvaQ ttoikIXovq ^aX- 
 KiaiQ fir'iTpaig Kare'^MfTuhoi, ktX. Dionys. ii. 70. 
 
 » DioCass. xliv. 11 ; Sueton. lul. 79. 
 
 » D. lunius Brutus munus gladiatorium in honorem defuncti patris 
 edidit primus. Liv. Epit. xvi. 
 
 Gladiatorium munus primuni lioniae datum est in foro boario 
 App. Claudio M. Fulvio coss. Valer. Max. ii. 4. 7. 
 
 GLADIATORIAL GAMES. 
 
 93 
 
 fought, the games l)eing continued for three days chap. ii. 
 and followed by a public banquet in the Forum. 
 The funeral 2:ames c-iven bv T. Flamininus on 
 the death of his father, B.C. 174, included ludi 
 scenici as well as gladiators.^'" This employment 
 of the Forum continued to the end of the republic. 
 Julius, on the occasion of his accumulated tri- 
 umphs, exhibited gladiatorial games in the Forum, 
 in which some noble Romans took ])art, and a 
 Pyrrhic dance was performed by children of 
 Asiatic and Bithynian princes.^ 
 
 It was probably at this festival that Caesar Forum co- 
 surprised the Roman pul)lic by covering for the a^vnin-s. 
 first time the whole Forum and its approaches, 
 from the Regia to the Capitol, with awnings. At 
 a gladiatorial exhibition given by Caesar, or in his 
 honour, an altar is saidby Pliny to have been cleared 
 away from the Lacus Curtius.^' Cicero in one of 
 his orations mentions the railings which were put 
 up on these occasions in the Forum, and the 
 stands for spectators on the Capitoline Hill.^ 
 
 We have seen that as late as the last years of 
 
 220 
 
 M. Aemilio Lepido, qui bis consul augurque fuerat, filii trcs, 
 Lucius, Marcus, Quintus, ludos funebros per triduum et gladiatorum 
 ])aria duo et viginti per triduum in foro dederunt. Liv. xxiii. 30. 
 Id. xxxi. 50; xxxix. 46; xli. 28. Vitruv. v. 1. (Xote 142 ) 
 
 ' Munere in foro depugnavit Furius Leptinus stirpe praetoria, et 
 Q. Calpenus senator quondam actorque causarum. Pyrrhicam salta- 
 vcrunt Asiae Bitliyniaeque principum liberi. Sueton. Jul. 39. 
 
 - Mox Caesar dictator totum forum Romanum intexit, viamque 
 sacram ab dorao sua ad clivum usque Capitolinum, quod munere 
 ipso gladiatorio niirabilius visum tradunt. Plin. N. H. xix. 6. lb. xv. 
 20. (Note 1G2.) Seep. 74 
 
 ^ Maximum vero populi Iloninni indicium universe* consessu tda- 
 
94 
 
 THE ROMAN FOllUM. 
 
 CHAP. II. Cicero, when the honour of a statue in the Forum 
 was decreed to Sulpicius, a space around the 
 pedestal was reserved for his posterity to view 
 the gladiatorial games. Even in the time of 
 Augustus the use of the Forum for shows of 
 wild beasts and gladiators was not o])solete, 
 although the Circus, the Septa, and the amphi- 
 theatres provided a more convenient stage.''' 
 Tiberius, during the rule of Augustus, after 
 assuming the toga virilis, exhibited two sej)arate 
 gladiatorial shows in memory of his fiither, 
 Nero, and of his grandfather, Drusus, the first in 
 the Forum, the second in the Amphitheatre/ 
 During the aedileship of Marcellus, b.c. 24, 
 games were exhibited in the Forum w^hich 
 included a Roman knight and a noble lady intro- 
 duced as dancers, the Forum being covered with 
 an awning, which was allowed to remain the 
 whole summer.' The games at the funeral of 
 
 diatorio declaratum est . . . Venit, ut scitis (Sextius), ad columnam 
 Maeniam. Tantus est ex omnibus spectaculis usque a Capitolio, 
 tantus ex fori cancellis plausus excitatus, etc. Cic. p. Sexr. .58. 
 
 «* [VENATIONES . BKSTIaJrvM , AFBICANARVM . IN CIRCO . AVT . 
 IN . FORO . AVT IN . AMPHITHEATRIS . POPVLO . DEDI . SEXIENS . ET 
 VICIENS . QUIBUS . CONFECTA SUNT . BESTIARVM . CIRCITER . TRIA 
 
 MiLOA . ET . QuiNGENTAE. Mon. Aiicjr. Fecitquo (Augustus 
 ludos) . . . non in foro inodo nee in aniphitbeatro, sod et in^Circo 
 et in Septis. Sueton. Aug. 43. 
 
 ' Munus gladiatorium in memoriam patris et alterum in avi Drusi 
 dedit diversis temporibus et locis, primum in foro, secundum in am- 
 phitheatro. Sueton. Tib. 7. 
 
 « ('O Avyov<TTOs) Ti)v eopT,)v, i)v U n/c dyopopofuat: ^^iriXsi (6 Map- 
 «\\oO m>vSia9dg \afnrp{og, d>aTe rr,v rs dyopdv tv navri ri^e^pnlv irapa- 
 ir^rdrr^iam Kara 'Kopv4>,)v ^iuXa^elv, Kai 6pxvrru,v nva inma, yvvaiKu r. 
 iTupavn k Tt)v 6pxn(TTpav faayayelv, ofnog, ktX. DIo Cass. llii. .31. 
 
 <! 
 
 
 CORONATION OF TIRIDATES. 
 
 95 
 
 M. Agrippa, b.c. 12, were at the Septa, and not in chap. ii. 
 the Forum, both for the greater honour of the 
 deceased and because many of the tabernae of the 
 Forum had been destroyed by tire.^^' 
 
 An historical drama w^as enacted in the Forum, Coronation 
 which Suetonius very appropriately mentions ^^t*"^ 
 among the spectacles provided for the gratifi- 
 cation of the Roman people, when Nero crowned 
 Tiridates as King of Armenia. On the night 
 before the ceremony the city was illuminated, the 
 Mid-Forum was crowded with citizens in white 
 togas with chaplets of laurel, the temples around 
 were filled with soldiers in their most splendid 
 armour, the very roofs of the buildings were hid- 
 den by s])ectators. Nero, accompanied by the 
 Senate and his Praetorian guard, came into the 
 Forum at break of day, and took his seat on the 
 Rostra in a curule chair in habit of triumph, 
 surrounded l)y military ensigns and flags. The 
 king, on appearing before the Rostra and making 
 his ol)eisance, was received with such a shout 
 as for a time unnerved him. When he had re- 
 covered his self-possession, he approached the 
 Rostra by a sloping platform erected for the pur- 
 pose, and, kneeling at the emperor's feet, was 
 raised and saluted with a kiss. He then prayed for 
 his crown, the words of his prayer being repeated 
 
 "^ 'Ettit^ioi tiri ry 'kypiinrq, birXo^axiai . . . tv toIq SfTrrott:, ^id re 
 Ti)v Trpog TOP 'AypiTTTTav ti^))v Kai hd to TroXXd tu>v xfpi Hjv dyopdv 
 oiKoSfffidriup K€Kav(T9ai, ly'tvovTo. Dio Cass. Iv. 8. 
 
9G 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAR II. and translated to the crowd, and the diadem was 
 placed on his head by the emperor. A similar 
 scene was repeated at the theatre, where Nero 
 seated the king by his side. After this pageant 
 Nero ordered the Janus Geminus to ])e closed.^^^ 
 
 The period of the Flavian emperors witnessed 
 the construction of the great public amphitheatre, 
 and it may be assumed that the use of the Forum 
 for any theatrical purpose, if it had not already 
 become obsolete, then entirely ceased. 
 
 "» Non immerito inter spectacula ab eo edita et Tiridatis in urbem 
 introitum retulerim. Quern Arineniae regeni .... produxit .... 
 dispositis circa fori templa armatis cohortibus, ciiruli residens apud 
 rostra triumpliantis habitu inter signa militaria atque vexilla; et 
 primo per devexum pulpitum subeuntem admisit ad genua adleva- 
 tumque dextra exosculatus est, dein precanti tiara deducta diaderaa 
 imposuit . . . . ob quae . . . lanum Geminum clausit tarn nullo quani 
 residuo bello. Sueton. Ner. 13. 
 
 Kai TTuoa fitv 7) ttoXiq tKBKoa^tijTo Kai (pioffi Kal ffrftpavibfiamv, 01 re 
 avBpioTToi TToWol Travraxoh kopCjVTO, fidXitTTO St i) dyopu *7r€7rX/ypwro. To 
 ^ifv yap fdaov aimiQ 6 Cifnog Xtvx^ifiovatv Kai Sa<pvi)(pQpu)V Kara riXi] flyf, 
 rd Sf dXXa oi (TTpaTiutrai XafiTrpoTara MTrXirrfxsvoi ktX. Dio Cass. Ixiii. 4. 
 
 1 
 
 97 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Forum 
 uni. 
 
 CHAPTER irr. 
 
 THE SOUTH-EASTERN DIVISION OF THE FORUM. 
 
 t 
 
 The part of the Forum which remains to be de- 
 scri])ed is that lying to the south-east of the Vicus 
 Tuscus and of the transverse limb of the Sacra i^Z 
 Via. The residence in this quarter of the Pontifex 
 Maximus and the Vestal Virgins, persons of the 
 Iiighest rank and treated with the greatest vene- 
 ration, appears to have extended a certain deco- 
 rum in their neighbourhood, which was the resort 
 in the time of Plautus of the more respectable 
 frequenters of the Forum. 
 
 In foro infinio boni homines atque dites ambnlant.229 
 
 Adjoining the Vicus Tuscus, but facing the open Temple of 
 area, was one of the most magnificent of the monu- ^'^'^''' 
 ments of tlie Forum. Its site has long been distin- 
 guished ])y the three marl)le Corinthian columns 
 in a line, which formed one of the landmarks of 
 the Campo Vaccino, and were formerly known hy 
 the name of the Temple of Jupiter Stator. Canina 
 for a time identified this ruin with the Curia Julia. 
 It is now recognised as the Temple of Castor and 
 Pollux, tlie divine twins whose supernatural inter- 
 position is so curiously interwoven with the tra- 
 ditions of the early struggles of Rome. The 
 
 yjfl 
 
 Plant. Curculio, iv. 1. (Xoto 97.) 
 II 
 
98 
 
 CdAP. 
 III. 
 
 Tradition 
 of the spot. 
 
 Pool of 
 Jutunui. 
 
 THE ROMAN FOllUM. 
 
 complete disinterment of the Basilica Julia, and 
 the furtlier explorations wliicli have l)rou2:ht to 
 light the remains of the Temples of Julius and 
 Vesta, have placed this identification beyond 
 doubt/'' 
 
 The well-known legend of the appearance of the 
 Dioscuri at the battle of the Lake Regillus, and 
 of the hoof-marks left by the horse of Castor in 
 the rock, is alluded to by Cicero.^^ Livv tells us 
 only that the dictator A. Postumius Avas said to 
 have vowed a temple to Castor during the light, 
 but Dionysius and Plutarch relate the presence of 
 the two horsemen at the battle, and their later 
 apparition in the Forum, where they Avashed their 
 horses at the spring which made a pool near the 
 Temple of Vesta, and announced the result of 
 the war to the crowdJ The dedication of the 
 
 22S Monum. Ancyr. (Note 100); Dionys. vi. 13. (Note 231); Plu- 
 tarch. Coriol.3. (Note 231) ; Mart. Ep. i. 71, 3. (Note 262). 
 
 30 Ergo et illud in silice quod hodie apparet apud Kegilluin tan- 
 quain vestigium nngulae, Castoris equi eredis esse ? Cic. de nat. 
 Deor. iii. 5. 
 
 ' Ibl nihil nee divinae nee humanne opis dictator praetermittens 
 aedem Castori vovisse fertur. Liv. ii. 20. 
 
 'Ef Ti) 'Viofiaiiov ayo^q. tuv aiirov TpoTrov 6(p9iivai cvo veaviffKoi 
 X'fyovTai . . Tovg 'iTnrovQ i^oCjti Sia(3p6xovg tTrayofievoi' (wavritj ct Tutv 
 'iinrujv tKUTfpoi icai a'n-ovi\pavT€g aTro rz/t; XifSddog, i) Trapa to 'npuv rnc 
 'F.(TTiag avaSiSwai, \t^vt]v Troiovaa tf.ijiv9iov oXiyijp .... ri'iv rf udxtiv 
 avTolg ^pd'i^ovffiv wQ tyivero Kai on vikukjiv .... TaiirtjQ l<TTi rtjg 
 tTTt^aveiag tv "Pwjwy iroWd <T;;/<Ha, o re vemq o tmv AiocTKovpwv, ov tni tT^q 
 dyopdg KaTe(TK€va(T€P // TroXtf," tvOa io(*>Bi] rd f-ldioXa^ Kai // irap' avrto 
 Kpi)vt] KciXovfiavr] re riov QeCJv rovriov lepd Kai elg Toce \p6vov vouuouh'ii, 
 ktX. Dioiiys. vi. 13. 
 
 'Ev tKcivy ^t rj/ fidx^j Kai rove AtonKopovi: kTTKpai'tjPai Xiyovm, Kai fierd 
 
 TEMPLE OF CASTOR. 
 
 99 
 
 , 
 
 temple on the spot where they aj)peared is said to chap. 
 have been made fifteen years after the battle, — 
 B c. 482, l)y the son of the dictator/'- A similar 
 ai)parition of the Dioscuri at the same place was 
 said to have made known the victorv gained in 
 Macedonia by Paullus Aemilius over Perseus.^ 
 
 The Temple of Castor was rebuilt l^y L. Me- Temple 
 telhis Dalmaticus, consul p.c. 119;' and, whatever u^^n^ 
 may have been the character of the original 
 temple, the edifice of Metellus was one of con- 
 sideralile size and im])ortance, and was frequently 
 used for the meetings of the Senate.' The expense 
 ai)j)ears to have been provided out of the Dal- 
 matian prize money, since Cicero accuses Verres 
 
 T,)p fidxni' et'Oi's 6(per,vai peofiivoig icpu^ri role 'iirTroit^ Iv dyop^ t,)i^ v!ktjv 
 dTrayylXXoi'Tac, 0^- vT'j^ Trapd t,)v Kp,)vn7' vetog itrrir aiWoTc: iCpvfievog. 
 Plutarch. Coriol. 3. 
 
 Castoreni vero et Pollucem etia.n illo tempore pro imperio populi 
 Komani excubuisse cognitum, quo ad lacura luturnae suum equo- 
 rumque sudorem abluere visi sunt; iunctaque fonti aedes eorum 
 nullius hominum nianu reserata patuit. Valer. Max. i. 8. i, 
 
 ^'•^ Castoris aedes eodem anno idibus Quintilibus dedicata est. 
 Vota erat Latino bello, Postumlo dictatore : filius eius duumvir ad 
 id ipsum creatus dedicavit. Liv. ii. 42. 
 
 ' Eodem die quo victus Perses in Macedonia, Romae cognitum 
 est. Duo iuvenes candidis equis apud luturnae lacum pulve°rem et 
 cruorem abluebant; hi nuncitavere. Castorem et Pollucem fuisse 
 <3reditum vulgo. Flor. Epit. ii. 12. 
 
 * L. ipse Metellus, avus huius, sanctissimos deos illo constituisse in 
 templo videtur in vestro conspectu, indices, ut salutem a vobis 
 nepotes sui deprecarentur. Cic. pro Scauro, 46. 
 
 Castoris et Pollucis templum Metellus, quem nominat, refecit. 
 Asconius in Cic. pro Scauro, 46. 
 
 ' In aede Castoris celeberrimo clarissimoque monumento, 
 quo saepenumero Senatus convocatur, rpio maximarum rerum fiv- 
 quentissimae quotidie advocationes fiunt. Cic. in Verr II. i. 49 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 230 
 
 r^xtoition 
 of Verres. 
 
 Contract 
 for imiin 
 
 of making- ]>lunder out of the plunder of Metellus. 
 The extortion alleged to have l)een committed 
 by Verres in connection with this temj)le throws 
 some h'ght upon the character of the building as 
 well as upon the system adopted hy the Romans 
 for keeping their public edifices in repair. It is 
 worth while to follow the story as told hy Cicero. 
 ._. The censors had entered into a contract with a 
 
 Spfe'' ^'^'^^''^"^ ^' '^^^^^i^^S' ^^ person of middle rank, pro- 
 bably a builder or contractor l)y trade, to take 
 charge of the Temple of Castor and keep it in 
 repair, the statues and treasures of the temple 
 being also delivered into his charge. Junius died 
 leaving a son, a minor, and the charge of the 
 temple was transferred to one L. Ra])onius. 
 Verres, as Praetor Urbanus, had with his col- 
 league, by decree of the Senate, the special 
 cognizance of the repairs of public buildings. 
 He summons Rabonius before him, and asks him 
 what can be required from the minor that had 
 not been delivered. The answer was that no sort 
 of difficulty had arisen, the statues and gifts were 
 all forthcoming, and the building was in perfect 
 repair. Verres, thinking it intolerable that out of 
 so great a temple and so large a contract he should 
 not obtain some plunder," especially as he bad a 
 
 ■^^ Dubitamus quid iste in Lostium praeda molitussit, qui manubias 
 sibi tantas ex L. Metelli manubiis fecerit ? Cic. in Verr II i 59 
 
 • Indignum isti videri coepit ex tanta aede tantoque opere se non 
 opnnum praeda praesertim a pupillo discedere. Cic. in Verr ib 50 
 
 
 
 MAINTENANCE OF TEMPLES. 
 
 minor to deal with, goes himself to inspect the 
 building. He looks round, sees the roof beauti- 
 fully ceiled, everything else in excellent condition.^^ 
 " The only thing you can do here," suggests a 
 sharp adviser, "is to require the columns to be 
 made jierpendicular."^ Not having much know- 
 ledge of such matters, Verres asks what is the 
 meaning of the phrase. It is explained to him 
 that scarcely any columns can be exactly perpen- 
 dicular. " Be it so," says he, " then let these be 
 made so." The new contractor has no wish to 
 require it, as he knows that in Junius's contract, 
 though the number of columns was specified, 
 there was nothing said about the perpendicular, 
 and he has no desire to have any such matter 
 introduced into the new contract. He is over- 
 borne by Verres, and makes a demand upon the 
 minor accordingly. The tutores of the minor, 
 after trying in vain to obtain an alteration in the 
 decision of the praetor, agree with Rabonius to 
 ])ay him 200,000 sesterces. Verres disapproves 
 the compromise, and orders Rabonius to renounce 
 it. He then puts uj) the work to pul)lic com- 
 petition without due delay or notice, in the midst 
 of the festivities of the Ludi Romani.^*' The 
 
 -^ Videt undique tectum pulcherrinie laqueatum, praeterea caetera 
 nova atque integra. Cic. in Verr. II. i. 51. 
 
 '^ Nihil habcs nisi forte vis ad perpendiculum coluuinas exigcre. 
 Cic. in Verr. ib. 
 
 '" Ip.'C vero non procrastinat, locare inci[)it non proscripta neque 
 edicta die, ludis ipsis llomanis fore ornato. Cic. in Verr. ib. 54. 
 
 101 
 
 CHAP. 
 IIJ. 
 
102 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 v> 
 
 CHAP, tutors hasten to the spot, and bid in the name of 
 — their ward, offering to complete the work to the 
 praetor's satisfaction for 80,000 sesterces. Verres, 
 seeing that, if the contract is let to the minor, he 
 can obtain no profit out of it, makes an order 
 prohibiting the original contractor from having 
 any part in the new contract, and lets out the 
 work to Eabonius at 560,000 sesterces, ordering 
 this sum to be forthwith paid out of the minor's 
 estate. The greater part of this amount finds its 
 way into the praetor's own hands. The work 
 t/ro^the ^^^''^^b Jone to the temple Cicero describes to 
 ^J:'" ^^^ audience: ^' Those columns which you see 
 fresh whitened have been taken down by ma- 
 chinery, and erected again with the same stones. 
 Nay, some of the columns have not been disturbed. 
 There is one from which the old stucco only has 
 been removed, and new stucco applied. To furnish 
 one such column new would be as nuich work as 
 to replace those four; and I could show you 
 columns not less than these in private buildings, 
 where the carriage was long and difficult, that 
 have been put up new for 40,000 sesterces." 
 
 '241 
 
 •-'^' Onines iUae columnae quas dealbatas videtis, machina apposif-i 
 nulla impensa delectae, eisde.nque lapidibus repositae sunt. Hoc tu 
 H. S. lOLx mlllibus locavisti: atqui in illis columnis dico esse, quae 
 a tuo redemptore commotae non sint : dIco esse, ex qua tantum 
 
 tectorium vetus delituiu sit, et novum inductum Utrum existi- 
 
 niatis minus operis esse, unam columnam effieere ah integro novam 
 nullo lapide redevivo, an quatuor illas reponere? Nemo dubitat 
 quin niulto maius sit nevam facere. Ostendam in ao.libus privatis' 
 
 TEMPLE OF CASTOR. 
 
 We may conjecture from this description that 
 the colimms of the buildinii; of Metellus were 
 of stone covered with fine white stucco, like 
 those of the round temple at Tivoli. I do not 
 know whether we should infer from Cicero's re- 
 ference to " those four columns " that the portico 
 was tetrastyle, or (as is more probable) that four 
 columns only out of a larger number had been re- 
 placed. The comparison of the columns of the 
 temple with those of private edifices, of which the 
 orator knew the cost, may serve to indicate the 
 enormous advance in luxurv and mao-nificence 
 which had l)een made in the last two generations. 
 
 The temple of Castor, with its lofty steps and 
 commanding situation, was always one of the 
 most conspicuous objects of the Forum, '*^ and 
 became in turbulent times a position of great 
 political im])ortance. Popular assemblies were 
 frequently held in front of it, w^hen its terrace 
 and steps served the purpose of Rostra.. Sulla 
 and Q. Pompeius Rufus, during their consulship, 
 B.C. 88, were holding a meeting here, when they 
 were attacked by the tribune Sulpicius and the 
 partisans of Marius. In the riot that ensued, 
 L. Pompeius, the consul's son, was killed, and 
 
 longa difficilique vectura, columnas singulas ad inipluvium H. S. 
 quadraginta millibus, non minus magnas, locatas. Cic. in Verr. II. i. 
 55, 56. 
 
 ■**■- Vosque, omnium rerum forensium, consiliorum maximorum 
 legum, iudicioruuKiue arbitri et testes, celoberrimo in loco populi 
 Romani locati. Castor et Pollux, etr. Cic. in Verr. v. 72. 
 
 103 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Architec- 
 tural de- 
 tails of the 
 older tem- 
 ple. 
 
 Political 
 importance 
 of the 
 Temple of 
 Castor, 
 
 Mfc—I 
 
104 
 
 THE llOMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP 
 III. 
 
 Occupa- 
 tion of the 
 temple by 
 Clodius. 
 
 Sulla was forced to take refuo-e in the Louse of 
 Marius.^^^ 
 
 The contest between Cato and Metellus respect- 
 ing the recall of Pompeius from Asia took place 
 upon the terrace before this temple, into which, 
 at one period of the proceedings, Cato was carried 
 for safety by the consul Murena.^ 
 
 It was here that Caesar, as consul, proposed his 
 agrarian law, and was opposed by his colleague 
 Bibulus, who w^as pushed down the steps and 
 driven from the Forum. ^ 
 
 In the following year, during the troubled 
 consulate of Piso, when Cicero's banishment was 
 in agitation, the temple was occupied by Clodius 
 with his armed followers ; its steps were torn up 
 and removed, and the building became, in the lan- 
 guage of Cicero, a sort of citadel or fortified posi- 
 tion in the hands of his political adversaries.^ 
 
 When in the next year Cicero's recall was pro- 
 posed by Fabricius, the tribune Sextius coming to 
 
 2" 'ETrayaywv arrotg €KK\r](naZov(Ti Trepi tov vewv tCjv AiorrKouptov oxXov, 
 dWovg re iroWovg Kai to UofiTrtjiov tov vttutov fietpciKiov ini tFk; dyopa^ 
 dvelXev, ktX. Plutarch. Sulla. 8. 
 
 * 'Qg ovv €7nfTTdg 6 Kutiov Karelde tov vsmv tCjv AioaKoopwv oTrXoig 
 Trepiexofievov Kai Tag dvajidaeig ^povpovfitimg vtto fxopofidxojv, avrov Se 
 KaGijfdvov dvu) fieTU Kaiaapog tov MheWov, ktX . . . dfxa c evOvg 
 tf3dSiiev fiCTd tov Ofpfiov, Kai hf(TTij(Tav ai'Tolg tKelvoi oi Tag dva(3daei£ 
 KaTexovTeg, ktX. Plut. Cat. Min. 28. 
 
 * Kai Trpbg to AioaKovpeiov dip' ovirep eKelvog ec^///t/;yo,uei, (6 Bil3ovXog) 
 hfjiTzeae' . . . djg Sk dvio re eyfvcTO Kai dvTiXkyeiv iTreipdTO, avTog re kotu 
 Twv dvajiaa^uiv €wd,f Kai pdji^oi avTOv <TVveTpii3r](Tav. Dio Cass, 
 xxxviii. 6. Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 11. 
 
 « Arma in tcniplo Castoris . . . constituebantur ab eo latronc, 
 cui tenipluin illud fuit, te consult', arx civium perditorum, reccptacu- 
 
 TEMPLE OF CASTOR. 
 
 105 
 
 see one of the consuls at this temple was attacked chap. 
 and nearly killed by the partisans of Clodius, — 
 who were armed, some with swords and some 
 with fragments of the septa or polling-pens of 
 the Forum. ^'' 
 
 Upon the arrival of Octavianus in the year of 
 Caesar's death, he was brought into the city by 
 the tri])une Canutius, and they both harangued 
 the people against Antony from the steps of 
 Castor, the temple being surrounded by soldiers 
 with their weapons concealed.^ 
 
 The Temi)le of Castor was among the numer- Kebuiidin,. 
 ous pu])Iic edifices which were rebuilt in the time litaT' 
 of Augustus. Tliis was done by Ti])erius in his '^"^"'^"'• 
 own name and that of his brother Drusus out of 
 the spoils of the German campaign.^ The exist- 
 
 lun. veterum Catalinae militum, castellum forensis latrocinii, bustum 
 legum omnium ac reli-ionum. Cic. in Pis. 5. 
 
 lisdem consulibus, arma in templo Castoris palam comportabantur 
 .radus ciusdem templi tollebantur, armati homines forum'e t concionT: 
 tcnobant. Cic. pro Sextio, 15. 
 
 Ciuum arma in aedem Castoris comportabas . . . duun. vero 
 pdusCastons convellisti ac removisti, tum ut modeste tibi a^e e 
 bceret, honnnes audaces ab cius ten.pli aditu atque adscensu rcpubsti ' 
 Cic.prodomosua, 21. See before, p 81. ^ 
 
 J Itaque A^ctus sanctitate tribunatus . . . venit in templum Cas- 
 tons obnuntiav.t consuli, cum subito manus ilia Clodiana 
 
 ZlfhL ' r '" ^'''" ^J-i-tur, alii fragmentis septorun. 'et 
 fu.t.bu C.c. pro Sext.0, 37. Cic ad Q. frat. ii. 3. (Note 96.) 
 See further, as to the septa of the Forum, p. 142. 
 
 « 'Ug ie ,;rrr,X9ov, 6 ^ev eig tov vc^v to^v A.orrKovp.v ^apr^XOe, Kai t6v 
 ve.v .epunTn.av o. arp«re.o/-.o, ^,p^,a d^pav^g n.puK.a^.o. Ka- 
 vovuog^e TrpoTepov Icn^v'^i KaTa tov 'Avtu^v.ov 6 Se Kai tov ^utpoc 
 avTOvg vTTffiipvnnKe, ktX. Appian. iJell. Civ. iii 41 
 
 " Dedicavit et Concordiae aedem, iteui PoUucis et Castoris suo 
 fratrisque nomme do manubiis. Sueton. Tib. 20. 
 
CHAP. 
 111. 
 
 Ptilacc of 
 Calij^ula. 
 
 lOG THE ROMAN FOUUM. 
 
 ing marble columns are probably a relic of tliis 
 maornificent restoration. The dedication to the 
 two brother gods by the imperial brothers is thus 
 mentioned by Ovid. 
 
 At quae Venturas praecedit sexta kalendas 
 Hac sunt Ledaeis templa dicata deis. 
 
 Fratribus ilia deis fratres de gente deorum 
 Circa luturnae coni})osuere lacus.'-^^'^ 
 
 This temple was the scene of one of the 
 strangest freaks of the Emperor Caligula, who 
 extended a part of the buildings of the Palatine 
 towards the Forum, and, having converted the 
 temple into a sort of vestibule, and made the 
 Dioscuri his doorkeepers, frequently placed him- 
 self for adoration between the statues of the 
 divine twins. Claudius restored the temple to 
 its former state.^ The ruined walls and arches, 
 not far from the back of the temple, are probably 
 remains of the l)uildings of Caligula. 
 Procession An annual sacrifice by the Roman knights took 
 
 of knif^hts . .. , *^iti pti* i 
 
 totheCas- place at this temple on the Ides oi July in cele- 
 emp e. j^j,^|.j^j^ ^£ ^^le victoiy of the Lake Regillus. The 
 
 sacrifice was followed by a procession of horse - 
 
 -^0 Ovid. Fast. i. 705. 
 
 • Partem Palatii ad forum usque promovit, atque aede Castoris et 
 Pollucis in vestibulum transfigurata, consistens saepe inter fratres 
 deos medium adorandum se adeuntibus exhibebat. Sueton. Calijr. 22. 
 
 To re AioffKoiipeiov to e'v ry dyopq. ry 'Viofiaiif, ov ciarefiutv, Cia fisffov 
 tCov dyaXficiTiou eirrocov h' avTov tg to llaXaTiov tiroiiirraTO., oTrmg Kai 
 TTvXiopovr Tovt; Aioaicovpovg, uKTye Kal tXeyti^, tj^y. Dio Cass. lix. 29. 
 
 ATTH^wKe ^'t (o KXavCiog) Kai toIij AioaKovpoig tov peujv. Dio Cass. 
 Ix. 6. 
 
 I 
 
 ■ 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Treasures 
 deposited 
 in temples. 
 
 PllOCESSION OF KNIGHTS. 107 
 
 men, in which it is said that ii\e thousand persons 
 sometimes took part. The ranks were formed at 
 the temple of Mars outside the walls, and the 
 knights, all clad in the pm-ple robe called t?^abea, 
 marched through the city and filed in front of 
 the temple of the Dioscuri, presenting a pageant 
 worthy, in the opinion of Dionysius, of the great- 
 ness of the empire of Rome."'^ 
 
 The temple of Castor, in common with other 
 religious edifices, was used as a repository for 
 private treasures, which the owners were afraid 
 of retaining at home, although, in the time of 
 Juvenal, even the temples and statues of the gods 
 do not appear to have been secure from theft. 
 
 Ad vigilera ponendi Castora numi , 
 Ex quo Mars Ultor galeam (pioque perdidit et res 
 Non potuit servare suas.^ 
 
 The epithet applied by Juvenal to Castor has 
 been supposed to imply that special watch was 
 kept over the temple. 
 
 This temple, though dedicated to the two divi- Tempic of 
 nities, generally bore the name of Castor only, a p^J^x^' 
 circumstance whicli was happily alluded to by 
 Bibulus, in complaining that Caesar, with wliom 
 he was aedile, obtained all the credit of their 
 joint expenses. ^' The same thing has happened 
 to me as to Pollux." he said. '' The temple in the 
 Formii, though built for both brothers, is called 
 
 Dionvs. vi. i;{ 
 
 ' Juvenal. Sat. xiv. 2(J0. 
 
108 
 
 CHAP. 
 Jll. 
 
 Statue (»!" 
 Tretuuliis. 
 
 Lane coii- 
 net'tiug the 
 Forum 
 with the 
 Nova Via. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Castor's, so the munificence wiiicli is mine and 
 Caesar's is called Caesar's."^'* 
 
 In front of this temple was erected the eques- 
 trian statue of Q. Marcius Tremulus, consul B.C. 
 306, the conqueror of the Hernici.' Cicero in one 
 of his Philippics speaks of this statue as still to be 
 seen in its place. Pliny mentions it as an early 
 equestrian statue, clothed, like that of Romulus 
 and Camillus, in the toga without the tunic, but 
 not as existing in his time.^ It was probably 
 removed on the occasion of the rebuilding of the 
 temple by Tiberius. 
 
 The space in front of the steps of Castor, beyond 
 the turn in the street which has been already 
 mentioned, is paved with travertine as a foot- 
 pavement ; but on the south-east side of the 
 temple we come to the end of a lane paved as a 
 carriage-way. The state of the excavations does 
 not allow us to trace this lane for more than a 
 few feet. It probably communicated by a cross 
 street at the back of the temple with the Vicus 
 
 -'^ Evenisse sibi quod Polluci : ut enim geminis fratribus aedes in 
 loro constituta tantum Castoris vocaretur, ita suam Cacsarisque 
 munificentiam unius Caesarls dici. Sueton. Caes. 10. The same 
 sayinuj is repeated by Dio Casis, xxxvii. 8. 
 
 ^ Marcius de Hernicis triumphans in urbem rediit, statuaque 
 equestris in foro decreta est, quae ante teinplum Castoris posita est. 
 Liv. ix. 43 
 
 « In foro L. Antonii statuain vidcmus, sicut illam Q Tremuli, qui 
 Hornicosdevicit, ante Castoris. Cic. Phil. vi. 5. 
 
 Ante aedem Castorum luit Q. Marcii Tremuli equestris togata 
 Plin. N. H xxxiv. 11. See Note 198 
 
 i' 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 LAKE OF JUTURNA. 
 
 Tuscus, and also in tlie other direction, by a 
 steep slope or steps, with the Via Nova, which 
 passed at a higher level between this end of the 
 Forum and the Palatine hill.-'' It is not unlikely 
 that it is to this lane that Ovid alludes as a com- 
 munication recently made between the Nova Via 
 and the Forum. 
 
 Forte revertebar festis Vestatibiis iliac 
 
 Qua Nova Romano nunc via iuncta foro est. 
 Hue pede matronam vidi descendere imdo.^ 
 
 The formation of this way was pro])ably an 
 improvement connected with the rebuilding of the 
 Temple of Castor by Tiberius, and intended to 
 add to the accommodation of the Vestals, whose 
 liouse adjoined it.^ 
 
 Near the end of this lane, and about twenty 
 feet from the eastern corner of the steps of 
 Castor, are the remains of a low round construc- 
 tion, apparently a basin of water, which has been 
 identified with the greatest probability as the 
 Lake of Juturna, the proximity of which to the 
 temple is mentioned by Ovid.'*^ This monument 
 ap])ears in early story as a natural spring or pool 
 near the Temple of Vesta, at which the divine 
 twins were seen after the battle of the Lake 
 Regillus. ' It was probably in later times a lacus 
 or basin artificially supplied with water. 
 
 "• See Chapter IX. « Ovid. Fast. vl. S95. 
 
 « See pp. 1 18, 124, 125. -o Ovid. Fasti, i. 705. See p. lOG. 
 
 • Dionys. vi. 13; Plutarch. Coriol. 3 ; Val. Max. i. 8, 1 (Note 
 231.) 
 
 109 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Lake ol' 
 Juturna. 
 
no 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 TEMPLE OF VESTA. 
 
 Ill 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Temple of 
 Vesta. 
 
 Temple of 
 Vest! 
 
 About twenty -five feet further to the south- 
 east is tlie ruined podium of a circular building, 
 which can scarcely have been other than the 
 Temple of Vesta itself. The proximity of this 
 Temple to that of Castor is testified by Martial : 
 
 Qiiaeris iter ? Dicam. Vicinnm Castora canae 
 Transibis Yestae, virgineamqiie domiim.2<52 
 
 We have also seen that the Lake of Juturna 
 
 !l, 111 
 
 the Fornni. was in the immediate vicinity of the Temple of 
 Vesta,^ which is placed by Dionysius in the 
 Forum,^ and not, as some modern topographers 
 have placed it, " somewhat back towards the 
 Palatine."^ This latter supposition, which would 
 put it upon higher ground, is opposed to the well- 
 known lines of Horace, in which he describes the 
 sanctuary of Vesta and the Regia as threatened 
 by the flood: 
 
 Vidimus fiavnm Tiberim, retortis 
 Littore Etrusco violenter undis, 
 Ire deiectum moniimenta Regis 
 Templaqiie Vestae.^ 
 
 The highest recent inundation of the Tiber, 
 flooding the excavated Forum through the Cloaca, 
 has reached nearly, if not quite, to the base of 
 
 -*« Mart. Ep. i. 71, 3. 
 
 3 Dionys. vi. 13. (Note 231.) 
 
 * Dionys. ii. 66. (Note 4.) 
 
 "• Mr. Dyer in Smith, Diet. Geog. ii. 779. Der Tempel selbst aber 
 reicbte jedenfals nicbt bis an das Forum, sondern lag weiter zuriick 
 naeh dem Abhange des Palatin. Becker, Handbuch, i. 223; ib. i. 
 289. « Hor. Od. I. ii. 13. 
 
 Tiif 
 
 \ 
 
 the circular ruin which is identified with the 
 Temple of Vesta. 
 
 Dionysius observes, as an argument for attri- 
 buting the origin of the Temi)le of Vesta to Numa 
 rather than to Romulus, that it was outside the 
 Boma qitadrata fortified by the latter, whereas a 
 temple of the hearth-goddess would certainly be 
 built in an important situation within the walls.^" 
 The worship of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth 
 or of fire, was an important part of the early re- 
 ligion of Rome, and apparently of Latin origin, 
 derived from a Tyrrhenian or Pelasgic source.lhe 
 name of the goddess being equivalent to the Greek 
 earia. It will be remembered that Rhea Sylvia, 
 the mother of Romulus, was described in the 
 legend as a Vestal Virgin of Alba. The Vestals 
 at Rome were believed to have been instituted by 
 Numa.*^ They were persons of the highest rank and 
 official consequence, six in number, and lived in a 
 house close to the temple. The importance of the 
 worship there conducted was further enhanced by 
 the residence, in the immediate vicinity, of the 
 Pontifex Maximus, the chief of the Roman religion, 
 who was considered in a special manner devoted 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Vesta, out- 
 side Koma 
 Quadrata. 
 
 Worship 
 of Vesta. 
 
 Vestal 
 
 Virgins. 
 
 I*ontifex 
 Maximus. 
 
 267 
 
 OiVc ydp TO xiopiop TOVTO Iv (^ TO Upbv <pv\dTT€Tai ^>, 'PujfivXog ,> 
 o KaOiepujffac ry Oet^' ^lya ^t tovtov T€Kiii,piov, 'on t^q TCTpayuiVov KaXov 
 fihrjQ 'VujfiJic i)p UfJpog WeixiTev Utoq ttTTiv. 'EfTTiag ci Koivr,g lepov iv 
 T,; KpaTi(TTi{i fidXifTTu KaQicpvovTai tFiq TToXewQ ilTravreg, t^u, St rov relvovr 
 ovdetc. Dionys. ii. 60. 
 
 " Vir-inesque Vestae legit. Alba oriunduin sacerdotium, et genti 
 conditoris baud alienuni. Liv. i. 20. Dionys. ii. 65. 
 
112 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 STATUES OF VESTA. 
 
 113 
 
 CHAP, to the service of Vesta. Ovid, speakinix of the 
 HI. . . . . 
 
 — assassination of Julius, vvlio was Pontifex Maxi- 
 mus, makes Vesta claim him as her priest. 
 
 Mens fiiit ille sacerdos ; 
 Sacrilegae telis me petiere manus. 
 
 And in another place he describes Augustus as 
 
 fostering, in the same capacity, the eternal fire.^^'^ 
 
 Males not But it appears that no male person, not even the 
 
 into the Pontifex, was allowed to enter the Penetralia of 
 
 the temple,'** the contents of which were matters 
 
 of mysterious conjecture. Hence, with Horace, 
 
 " to dwell within the Penetralia of Vesta," is 
 
 equivalent to being utterly unknown to the world. ^ 
 
 This sanctuary had the peculiar name of J?enus.^ 
 
 Sncrod fire. If we may believe the testimony of Ovid, the 
 
 temple contained no statue of the goddess, who 
 
 was represented only by the sacred fire,'^ which 
 
 was believed to have been brought from Troy, 
 
 and the continuance of which was connected by 
 
 superstition with tlie fortunes of Pome. But this 
 
 2«9 Ovid. Fast. iii. 699 ; ib. iii. 427. 
 
 •« Ovid. Fast. vi. 253, 450: Lucan. Phars. ix. 993; Appian. Bell. 
 Civ. i. 54. 
 
 ' Quamvis invita recedant, 
 
 Et versentur adhuc intra penetralia Vcstae. 
 
 Ilor. p]p. ii. 2, 114. 
 ' Penus vocatur locus intimus in aede Vcstae. Festus, ed. IMiill. 
 250. 
 
 ' Esse diu stultus Vestae simulacra putavi, 
 
 Mox didici curve nulla subesse tliolo. 
 Ignis inextinctus templo celatur in illo, 
 Efligiem nullam Vesta nee i<;nis liabet. 
 Ovid. Fast. vi. 295. Plutarch. Camill. 20. (Note 284). 
 
 absence of material representation was not gene- chap. 
 rallv knoAvn, since Ovid himself confesses that he 
 
 llf 
 
 had long supposed there was an image of Vesta Vesta. 
 in her temple.^'* Cicero speaks of the image of 
 Vesta being sprinkled with the blood of Scaevola, 
 Pontifex Maximus, who was killed in this temple 
 among the victims put to death by order of 
 Marius;^ and in the Aeneid the shade of Hector 
 delivers to the care of Aeneas not only the eternal 
 fire, but the goddess herself. 
 
 Vittas, Vestamque potentem 
 Aetcrnunique adytis efl'ert penetralibus ignem.*' 
 
 Pliny mentions a celebrated sitting Vesta by 
 Scopas, which was not, however, in any temple, 
 but in the Servilian Gardens.' Dio relates that 
 Tiberius placed a statue of Vesta in his newly- 
 restored Temple of Concord." And on a coin of 
 Vespasian, representing the Temple of Vesta, a 
 standing female figure is shown under the domed 
 roof of a circular temple. 
 
 Beside the sacred fire, the temple contained Palladium. 
 another treasure, on the preservation of which 
 
 ■^* In another place he alludes to a supposed image in the temple 
 
 at Alba: 
 
 Sylvia fit mater. Vestae simulacra ferunlur 
 
 Virgineas uculis opposuisse manus 
 
 Ovid. Fast. iii. 45. 
 
 * Neque enim (L. Crassus) . . . coUegae sui, pontificis maximi, 
 
 sanguine simulacrum Vestae respersum esse videt. Cic. de Orat. 
 
 iii. 3. Florus. iii. 21. Lucan. Phars. ii. 126. 
 
 « Virgil. Aen. ii. 296. 
 
 ' Plin. N. II. xxxvi. 4 (7). 
 
 ' See before, p. 13. 
 
114 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Form of the 
 temple. 
 
 THE IIOMAN FORUM. 
 
 the safety of the empire was supposed to depend. 
 Tliis was the Palladiiiin or image of Pallas, 
 which was believed to have been brought from 
 Trov, ha vino; oris^inallv foil en from Heaven .^'^ 
 
 Liicet in aris 
 Ignis ailhnc Pliiygins, iiullique atlspecta viroruin 
 Pallas, in abstruso pignus niemorabilc teniplo.^^ 
 
 The temple was round, with a domed roof, and 
 this form is connected bv Ovid and Festus with 
 the attributes of the goddess, who was associated 
 not onlv Avith Plre, but Avith the Earth.^ 
 
 It appears from some statements of Roman 
 antiquaries, that the Aedes Vestae Avas not a 
 templiim^ in the proper sense of the term, as it 
 was not consecrated bv auo;m^v. Servius accounts 
 
 2'" Dionjs. i. 69 ; Ovid. Fast. vi. 421, et seq. 
 
 »" Lucan. Phars. ix. 99-2. 
 
 ' Vesta eadem est quno Terra; subest vigil i^^nis utrique 
 
 Significant sedem terra ibcnsque snum. 
 ♦ ♦ * * 
 
 Arte Syracosia suspensns in acre clau?o 
 
 Stat globus, imniensi parva figura poli ; 
 
 Et (juantum a sunnnis tantuin secessit ab imis 
 
 Terra, quod ut fiat forma rotunda facit. 
 
 Par fades tempi i : nullus procurrit in illo 
 
 Angulus: a pluvio vindicat imbre tholus. 
 
 Ovid. Fast. vi. 267-282. 
 
 Nojitof ^t Xfyerrtt Ka\ rn riyf 'Kor/ag 'lepov eyicvKXiov Trepi^^aXf^rrOai rqt 
 
 d(Tl3e(TT(iJ TTVpi <ppovpdv dTro^nf.iovfiei>oc^ ou to <rxW" tI^IQ ynQ ^^ 'EfTTiag 
 
 oiifTj/g, aXXrt Tor (rv^nravroQ Koa/jov, or (ittTov o'l HuOayopiKoi to irvp 
 
 'i^pvrrOai voni'Covm^ kt\. Plutarch. Num. 11. 
 
 liutundam aedeui Vestae Numa Ponqiilius rex Romanorum conse- 
 
 crasse videtur, quod candem esse terram, qua vita hominum susten- 
 
 taretur, crediderit; eamque pihii' forma esse, ut sui simili temple 
 
 dea coleretur. Fest. ed. ^luM. p. 262. 
 
 TEMPLE OF VEST\. 
 
 115 
 
 nm 
 
 for this omission by supposing that it AA^as in- chap. 
 tended to prevent the meeting of the Senate in — 
 the Virgins' temple, since such a meeting could 
 only take place in a localitA^ so consecrated, but 
 adds that the Senate might meet in the Atrium 
 Vestae, Avhich AA^as a distinct building.*"*' 
 
 The original temple of Vesta is attributed by Piistorj 
 Ovid to Numa, and is supposed by the poet to Temple. 
 have been constructed Avith Avattled Avails and a 
 thatched roof ^ When Rome Avas taken l)y the 
 Gauls, the Virgins took the sacred fire and other 
 relics to Caere in Etruria for safety.' The tem- 
 ple Avas pro1)abl3^ then destroyed. The temple of 
 Vesta w\as burnt in the year B.C. 241, on which paiiadi 
 occasion L. Metellus, tlien Pontifex Maximus, Meteiius. 
 saved the Palladium at the expense of his oAvn 
 eyesight."' In return for his devotion a privilege 
 
 "^ Id quoque scriptum reliquit (Varro), non omnis aedes sacras 
 templa esse, ac ne acdem quidam Vestae templum esse. A. Gell. 
 xiv. 7. 
 
 Et nisi in augusto loco consilium senatus habere non poterat. 
 ITnde templum Vestae non fuit augurio consecratum, ne illuc con- 
 veniret senatus, ubi erant Virgines. Nam liaec fuerat regia Numae 
 Pompilii. Ad atrium autem Vestae conveniebat, quod a temple 
 remotum fuerat. Servius ad Aen. vii. 153. 
 
 * Quae nunc acre vides, stipula tunc tecta videres, 
 
 Et paries lento vimine tcxtus erat. 
 
 Ovid. Fast. vi. 261. Dicmys. ii. 65. (Note 267.) 
 
 * To ^i Tvp TijQ 'V^ffTiaq at irapQlvoi fieTii tCjv tepwv apTraadfievoi 
 t(pvyov^ KOiTOt TitnQ ouciv elvai to (ppovpovfievov vtt' uvtmv fTcpov rf irop 
 a(pQiTov iffTopoLKTi. Plutarcli. Camill. 20; Liv. v. 40; Ovid. Fasti, 
 vi. 265. 
 
 * Siquidem is Metellus orbam luminibus exegii senectam amissis 
 incendio, quum palladium raperet ex aede Vestae. Plin. N. II. vii. 
 45. Ovid. Fast. vi. 437 ; Dionys. ii. 66. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 HI. 
 
 was granted to him, wliicli bad been enjoyed by 
 no other Roman ; he was allowed to be conveyed 
 in a car to the Cm'ia whenever he attended the 
 Senate.'^' 
 
 At a later period, B.C. 210, the temple narrowly 
 escaped destruction by a fire, which broke out in 
 different parts of tlie Forum, and which certain 
 Campanians were accused of having caused for 
 the very purpose of burning this temple with its 
 contents, and so inflicting a fatal blow upon the 
 fortunes of Rome.' The building was saved by 
 the exertions of some slaves, who were rewarded 
 with liberty.'^ 
 
 The age of the temple, as it existed in the time 
 of Augustus, with the bronze dome mentioned 
 by Ovid, is not known. It is not named in the 
 Ancyran inscription among the restorations of 
 Augustus himself; and Pliny speaks of the roof 
 of Syracusan bronze as if it were a work of con- 
 siderable antiquity.'^ 
 
 The temple of Yesta was burnt down in the 
 great Are of Nero,'^'^ and probably rebuilt by Ves- 
 pasian, on some of whose coins it .is repre- 
 sented. It was again burnt down in the fire 
 
 28« Plin. N. II. vii. 45. 
 
 ' Vestae aedem petitam et aeternos ignes et condituni in penetrali 
 fatale pignus imperii Komani. Liv. xxvi. 27. 
 
 « Liv. xxvi. 27. (Note 135.) » PJin. N. H. xxxiv. 7. 
 
 *" Vetustissima religione quod Servius Tullius l^unae, et magna 
 ara fanumque quae praesenti Ilcrculi Areas Evander sacraverat, 
 aedesque Statoris Jovis vota Romulo, Numaeque regia, et delubrum 
 Vestae cum Penatibus populi Romani exusta. Tac. Ann. xv. 41. 
 
 TEMPLE OF VESTA. 
 
 117 
 
 whicli occurred during: the reio:n of Commodus, and chap. 
 
 . . . III. 
 
 which destroyed among other important buildings — 
 
 the magnificent Temple of Peace erected by Ves- 
 pasian. Herodian describes the removal of the 
 Palladium bv the Vestal Virg-ins throui^-h the 
 midst of the Sacred Way to the imperial Court, on 
 which occasion it was supposed that this image 
 was first beheld bv ordinarv mortal eyes since 
 its arrival from Troy.*^^ 
 
 The pu])lic maintenance of the Vestal Virgins Failure of 
 and of the worship of Vesta was stopped or cur- ship of 
 tailed by Gratianus, a.d. 382, and was the subject 
 of protests addressed l)y Symmachus to that 
 emperor and his colleague Valentianus. 
 
 The corner of the Forum with whicli we are Murder of 
 
 . IT . . Piso. 
 
 now occupied was the scene of the assassination 
 of Piso Licinianus, the adopted son of the emperor 
 Galba. When the latter was killed at the Lacus 
 Curtius, Piso, who had joined him on his way to 
 the Forum, fled to the Temple <»f Vesta, and was 
 liidden by one of the public slaves in his own 
 apartment ; but, having been sought out by 
 command of Otho, he was put to death at the 
 door of the temple.^ 
 
 ^* Ti/t; 'EtrWaf roj" veto Kara(p\ex9(VTog vttu tov irvpoq yvfivu)9h> oxpBq 
 TO Ti}Q YlaWacoQ ayaXfia . . ore Trpuirov Kai fieTO. Hiv inr 'Wiov €t£ 
 IraXtav d<pi^tv eJ^ov o'l KaO' yfiac; dvOpioTroi. dpTrdrraaai yap to dyaXfia 
 at TtJQ 'Ecrriac Uofiai TranOei'oi cid fittTfjQ Ttjg lepdg odou ilg Ttjv tov fiaai- 
 XtMQ avX))v nerfKofxitTav. Ilerodian. i. 14. 
 
 - Piso in aedem Vestae pervasit, exceptusque misericordia publici 
 servi et contubernio eius abditus. . . . cum advenere missu Othonis 
 nominatim in caedeni eius ardentes, Sulpicius Florus, e Britannicis 
 
118 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. Around the southern side of the Temple of 
 ~ Vesta, partly concealed by the bank of modern 
 
 the Vestals. debris,are the ruins of some buildings, themselves 
 perhaps of a later date, which occupied the site of 
 the houses of the Vestal Virgins and the inferior 
 attendants of the temple.''' The backs of these 
 buildino-s looked into the Nova Via ; and beyond 
 the Nova Via, on the slope of the Palatine Hill, 
 
 Grove of was a garden of no very great extent, called the 
 
 ^^'^^ Grove of Vesta.^ This grove appears to have 
 1)een used as a place of interment for the Virgins, 
 since traces of their sepulture were found in the 
 sixteenth centurv on the site of the Church of 
 Sta. Maria Liberatrice. It is mentioned by Ser- 
 vius that the Vestals had the privilege of burial 
 within the citv/ 
 
 The Regia. Closc to the houscs of the Vestals, and on the 
 north-eastern side of the temple, was the Regia or 
 King's House, the traditional palace of Numa,' 
 
 cohortibus nuper a Galba civitate donatus, et Statius Murcus specu- 
 lator, a quibus protractus Piso in foribus templi trucidatur. Tac. 
 Plist. i. 43. 
 
 2"^ Mart. i. 71, 3. (Note t>G2.) 
 
 ♦ Non multo ante iirbem captam e.x audita vox est a luco Vestae, 
 qui a Palatii radice in novam viam devexus est. Cicero de Div. i. 45. 
 
 " Servius ad Aen. xi. 206. Vicino a Sta. Maria Liberatrice, dove 
 vogliono che fosse il Tempio di Vesta, sono stati ritrovati da duo- 
 dieci sepolcri di virgini Vestali coUe loro inscrizioni. H. AUlroandus, 
 Meniorie, n. 3. Lucio Fauno, Antich. di Rom. p. 46 ; Andr. Fulv. 
 de Urb. Antiq. p. 206. (Becker, Ilandbuch, i. 223 ) See more as 
 to the Xova Via and the Grove of Vesta, in Chapter IX. 
 
 " 'ETTfi U ^i€K6(Tixi}(Te rrtc lepwavvag, fCeifiaro Tr\i]mov tov Ti]q 'Karjaf 
 iefmr t})v Ka\ov^hvr)v 'Vrjyiai', o'tov n liaaiXeiov oI'k//^«. Plutarch. 
 Num. 14. 
 
 THE KEGIA. 
 
 119 
 
 a 
 
 and the residence of the Pontifex Maximus. The ^?j^^- 
 north-east side of this building was in the Sacra Via. — 
 The site of the Reoia, close to the Temple of ^;teof the 
 
 '^ ' A Kegia. 
 
 Vesta, and the houses of the Vestals, and at the 
 spot where the Sacra Via left the Forum, is one 
 of the clearest points of Roman topography. 
 Servius descril)es it as at the bottom of the slope 
 of the Palatine, and on tlie limits of the Forum.^'*^ 
 That it abutted on the Sacred AVay ajipears from 
 the passage of Festus, in which he explains that 
 the Sacred Way in its ordinary sense was the 
 road leading from the Regia to the house of the 
 Rex Sacrificuhis, and from Suetonius's description 
 of the Regia as the residence of Caesar, where it 
 is said that he lived in the Sacred Way.^ That 
 it was close to the Temple of Vesta is shown 
 by the statement of Solinus cited below, and by 
 other authorities;^ and it appears from a passage 
 in Dio Cassius, hereafter to be mentioned, that it 
 actually adjoined the buildings devoted to the use 
 of the Vestals.^"' The group of ol)jects collected 
 at this point is depicted in three lines of Ovid : 
 
 Nunia (habitavit) in colle primuni Quirinali, dcinde })ropter aedcni 
 Vestae in llegin, cjuae adhuc ita appellatur. Solinus Polyhist. 1. 
 
 2»' Quis enini ignorat Kegiani, ubi Xuma habitaverit, in radicibus 
 Palatii finibus(iue Romani fori esse. Servius in Aen. viii. 363. 
 
 " Festus, ed. Miill. p. 293; Sueton. Jul. 46. (Note 311). See 
 Chapter VIII. on tlie Sacred Way. 
 
 » Solinus 1. (Note 296); Plutarch. Ptoni. 18, Xum. 14. 
 
 ^«« Dio Cass. liv. 27. (Note 318.) 
 
CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 II 
 
 120 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Haec est a sacris quae via nomen habet ; 
 Hie locus est Vestae, qui Pallada servat et ignem ; 
 Hie fuit antiqui regia parva Numae.'"^^^ 
 
 Atrium The Atrium Vestae is treated by Serviiis as 
 
 Vcstjic n. 
 
 part of' the somctliing distinct from the Regia,^ but he is not 
 ^^^^' supported by more reliable authorities. When 
 Livy records the destruction by fire, B.C. 210, and 
 the sul)sequent rebuilding of the Atrium Regium, 
 he must be understood to speak of the entire Regia, 
 including the Atrium.^ And Ovid expressly 
 identifies the Atrium Vestae with the palace of 
 Numa. 
 
 Hie locus exigmis, qui sustinet atria Vestae, 
 Tunc erat intonsi regia magna Numae."* 
 
 THE ATRIUM VESTAE. 
 
 121 
 
 Atrium 
 Vestae. 
 
 IIJ! 
 
 The Atrium of the house of the Pontifex had a 
 specially sacred character. It was probably the 
 place of meeting of the pontifical college,*^ and 
 appears to have been a templtim, consecrated by 
 augury. Servius implies this by saying that the 
 Senate met in the Atrium Vestae, but it can 
 scarcely have been large enough to be convenient 
 for this purpose. The scanty area of the whole 
 
 3<» Ovid. Trist. iii. 1.28. 
 
 2 Servius ad Aen. vii. 153. (Note 282.) 
 
 3 Liv. xxvi. 27. (Note 132); xxvii. 11. (Note 133.) 
 
 ♦ Ovid. Fast. vi. 263. In later times, when the Regia was added to 
 the Virgins' house, the latter was called Atrium Vestae. See p. 125 
 
 * Nam quum (Domitianus) Corneliam Max i mill am Vestalem 
 defodere vivam concupisset, . reliquos pontifices non in Regiam, 
 sed in Albanam villam convocavit. Plin. Ep. iv. 11. It is not clear 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 building is more than once alluded to by Ovid, 
 and is suflficiently manifest on the ground. That 
 it was, however, a templimi, seems the more pro- 
 bable, as the Atrium of the imperial house on the 
 Palatine, which replaced the Regia as the resi- 
 dence of the Pontifex Maximus, was inaugurated, 
 and used for the assemblies of the Senate.^"*^ 
 
 In the Regia, probably in the Atrium, was a Sacrarium 
 Sacrarium, in which were preserved some sacred Kegia. 
 weapons called Hastae Martis, which, like the iiastae 
 Ancilia, were believed to be sometimes stirred by 
 a supernatural power when a special expiatory 
 ceremony was required. A decree of the Senate 
 has been preserved by Gellius, which was made 
 upon the report of this wonder occurring during 
 the pontificate of Caesar;' and the same prodigy 
 was repeated at his death .^ There was also in 
 the Regia a Sacrarium of the goddess Opeconsiva, 
 into which onlv the Vestals and the Pontifex were 
 admitted.^ 
 
 whether Pliny means the original Regia, or the substituted Atrium 
 of the imperial palace. See next Note. 
 
 ^^ Idcircoetiamin Palatii Atrio quod aut^urato conditum est, apud 
 maiores consulebatur senatus. Servius ad Aen. xi. 232. Tac. Ann. 
 ii. 37. 
 
 ^ Eius rei causa senatus consultum factum est . . . qvod. c. 
 
 IVLIVS . L. F. PONTIFEX . MAXIMVS . NVNCIAVIT . IN . SACRARIO . IN . 
 REGIA . HASTAS . MARTIAS . MOVISSE . DE . EA . RE . ISTA . CENSVE- 
 
 RVNT . VTi . etc. Gell. iv. 6. Julius Obseq. 96, 104, 107, 110. 
 " Dio Cass. xliv. 17. 
 " Opeconsiva dies ab dea Opeconsiva, quoius in Regia sacrarium, 
 
122 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAr. As the official residence of the Pontifex Maxi- 
 — miis, the Regia was during the greater part of 
 tear's his public life the home of Julius Caesar.'^" Here 
 Ihe Rcgia"!^ took place the scandalous intrusion of Clodius 
 at the festival of the Bona Dea, which induced 
 Caesar to divorce his Avife Ponipeia, though he 
 refused to assist in In-inging Clodius to punish- 
 ment, alleging as his reason for the divorce, 
 that his wife must be above suspicion.* Cicero, 
 in one of his letters to Atticus, alludes to a visit 
 paid by the latter to the Regia, when, after the 
 battle of Pharsalus, it had become a necessity to 
 court Caesar's pardon or protection.' From this 
 house he set forth on the fatal Ides of March, 
 alarmed, according to the stories that were after- 
 wards current, by his wife Calpurnia's dreams, 
 and by other evil omens ; ' and hither his lifeless 
 body was brought l)ack from the Curia of 
 
 Pompey.^ 
 
 Nothing is known of the architecture of the 
 
 quod ideo actum ut eo praeter virgines Vestales et sacerdotem pub- 
 licum introeat nemo, is cvm eat, suffibvlvm havd iiabeat, scrip- 
 tuin. Varro L. L. vi. 3 (57). 
 
 3»« llabitavitprimo in Suburamodicisaedibus : post autem pontifi- 
 catum maximum in Sacra via domo publica. Sueton. Jul. 46. 
 
 > Plutarch. Caes. 10. 
 
 - Visum te aiunt in Regia; nee reprehendo, quippe quum ipse 
 istam reprehensionem non fugerim . . . Caesar milii ignoscit per 
 literas, quod non venerim. Cic. cp. ad Att. x. 3. 
 
 3 riutarch. Caes. 63; Sueton. Jul. 81 ; Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 115. 
 
 * Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 118. 
 
 , 
 
 
 CxVESAR's RESIDENCE AT THE REGIA. 
 
 Regia, except that it >vas surmounted in the time 
 of Julius by a fiistigium, or pediment, which was 
 erected by the Senate in order to add to the dig- 
 nity of the dictator's house. It was one of the 
 ominous dreams of Calpurnia that this pediment 
 fell down.=^^' 
 
 Caesar was succeeded as Fontifex Maximus by 
 Lepidus, upon whose death, B.C. 13, Augustus 
 assumed the office, which was afterwards always 
 filled by the emperors. Augustus did not occupy 
 the Regia, but made part of his house on the 
 Palatine public, to satisfy the law or custom that 
 required the Pontifex Maximus to live in a house 
 belonging to the state. The new palace included, 
 as we know from Ovid, a temple or chapel of 
 Vesta, and probably a Sacrarium in substitution 
 for that of the Regia. The Atrium was inaugu- 
 rated, and probably served the same purposes as 
 the ancient Atrium Vestae. 
 
 Phoebus habet partem, Vestae pars altera cessit, 
 Quod Huperest illis, tertius ipse tenet. 
 
 ^'^ Quern is (Caesar) maiorem lionorem consecutus erat, (^uam ut 
 liaberet pulvinar, simulacrum, fastigium, flaminem ? Cic. Phil. ii. 43. 
 
 Omnes unum in principem congesti honores .... suggestus in 
 curia, fastigium in domo. Florus, iv. 2. 
 
 Et Calpurnia uxor imaginata est, conlabi fastigium domus. Sueton. 
 
 Jul. 81. 
 
 'AXXu ifi' 7«p Ti ry Kai(Tapo(j otKicji TrnoffKtifievov olov IttI KofffKfi Kai 
 ffeuvoTiiTi Ti'iQ lioDX^iQ xpfiipKra^iviji^ aKpajTi'ifHOi'^ wc Aijiiog i<Troptl' tovto 
 ovan t) Ka\-7rovr)via Oeaaan'tvi) KarappTfyvi'fievov^ ico^e TroTViaaOai Kai 
 caKpueiv. Plutarch. Caes. 63. 
 
 123 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Fastij^iuni 
 of the 
 llej^ia. 
 
 Ketnoval 
 of the 
 Pontifex 
 from ihe 
 Regia. 
 
124 
 
 CHAP. 
 111. 
 
 Later 
 history of 
 the Kei;iu. 
 
 , 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 State Palatinae laurus, praetextaqiie quercii 
 Stet domiis : aeternos tres habet una dcos.''^ 
 
 The dedication of the Sacrum of Vesta in the 
 house of Augustus during the consulship of Qui- 
 rinius and Valgius, B.C. 12, is mentioned in one 
 of the Fasti.' 
 
 The Re2:ia, heins: vacated bv the Pontifex, was 
 used to provide additional room for the Vestals. The 
 authority for this statement is Dio, who says that 
 Augustus gave up the house of the/^ao-tXev? tmv lepcov 
 to the Virgins, because it adjoined theirs.® The 
 house here spoken of, in spite of the doubtful 
 description of the office to which it had been 
 attached, could be no other than the Regia, since 
 the house of the Rex Sacrifi cuius was at the other 
 end of the Sacra Via.^ The fact is indirectly 
 confirmed bv Suetonius, who alludes to Auo;ustus 
 having added to the accommodation of the 
 
 «'« Ovid. Fast. iv. 951. 
 
 Vestaque Caesareos inter sncrata penates. 
 
 Ovid. Metam. xv. 8G4. 
 
 ^ Fast. Praen. iv. Kal. Mai. (Becker, Ilandb. i. 236.) 
 
 * 'EiretSt) re tov \€iri^ov fieTaWa^avroQ aoxteperg ciTreceixOi} . . . our' 
 
 olKiav Tiva di)HO(Tiav tXafieVi, dWd fispog ti Tt}g iavTov, oti tov apxifpewv 
 
 'r K-on'cp TTnvTiOQ oiKelv tXP'7*') fCijUioire. rt)v fi'fVTOi to? ftaaiKtwQ twv 
 
 iepiov Talg denrapOtvoic t^wKfr, tTTf i^r) ofXoTOixog toiq o('K))<Teniv avTutv tiv. 
 
 Dio Cass. liv. 27. 
 
 » Festus, ed. MUll. p. 293. See Chapter VIII. The name, Regia, 
 seems to have given rise to the idea that it had formerly been the 
 residence of the Rex Sacrificulus. Domus enim in qua Pontifex 
 habitat Regia dicitur, quod in ea Rex Sacrificulus habltare consu- 
 esset. Servius ad Aen. viii. 363. lb. ii. 57; Paul. Diac. in Fest. 
 ed. Mull. p. 279. 
 
 LATER HISTORY OF THE REGIA. 
 
 125 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 Vestals.''' The house previously devoted to them chap. 
 was no doubt scanty, according to the more — 
 luxurious ideas of the imperial time, and from its 
 position it could not be otherwise enlarged. It 
 is probably in consequence of this change that 
 Martial in the passage lately quoted, in which 
 he descril)es the ol)jects between the Temple of 
 Castor and the Sacred Way, mentions the Virgins' 
 house, but altogether omits the Regia.^ 
 
 From this time, therefore, the Regia became A^rn^m 
 ])art of the house of the Vestals, and the term 
 Atrium Vestae appears to have been used in the 
 time of the younger Pliny and of Gellius as a 
 general name for the Virgins' residence.' But it 
 seems that the name of Regia was not forgotten ; 
 Plutarch speaks of the Regia as existing in his 
 day, and Solinus ( probably early in the third cen- 
 tury) descril)es the building as still known by its 
 old name.^ Pliny mentions two statues placed be- 
 fore the Regia, which were believed to have once 
 
 3-« Sacerdotum et numerum et dignitatem, sed et commoda auxit, 
 praecipue Vestaliura virginum. Sueton. Aug. 31. 
 
 » Martial. Ep. i. 71,3. Compare Ovid. Tris\ iii. 1, 28. See before, 
 
 pp. 110, 120. 
 
 2 Anf^it me a Fanniae valetudo. Contraxit hanc dum assidet luniae 
 vir^ini Vestali, sponte primum, est enim affinis, deinde etiam ex 
 auctoritate pontificum; nam virgines, cum vi morbi atrio Vestae 
 co<Tuntur excedere, matronarum curae custodiaeque mandantur. 
 Plin. Epist. vii. 19. 
 
 Virgo autem Vestalis, simul est capta atque in atrium Vestae 
 deducta et pontificibus tradita, . . . e patris potestate exit. Gellius, 
 
 i. 12. 
 
 ' Plutarch. Rom. 18. Solinus, i. (Note 297.) Serv. ad Aen. viii. 
 363. (Note 298.) Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 148. (Note 362.) 
 
( 
 
 126 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Arch of 
 Fabius. 
 
 THE liOMAN FORUM. 
 
 supported the tent of Alexander the Great. Two 
 others were ])efore the Temple of* Mars Ultor."^^^ 
 
 The Sacred Way, at the point where it entered 
 the Forum, aftei* ])assing the Regia, was spanned 
 by the Fornix Fabius, one of the earliest of a 
 class of monuments which were afterwards so 
 numerous at Rome, and in imperial times were 
 multiplied to satiety.^ This conmiemorative arch 
 was erected by Q. Fabius Maxinuis Allobrq,-. 
 gicus, consul B.C. 121, by means of the ])lunder 
 gained in his campaign against the Allobroges 
 and Arverni, tribes of Gaul. The prominence of 
 this monument made it a frequent subject of allu- 
 sion in ancient authors. Cicero reports a saying 
 of Crassus about Memmius, that he thous-ht him- 
 self so great a man, that he could not come down 
 into the Forum without stooping his head at the 
 Arch of Fal)ius.^ The site of this arch at the 
 entrance of the Forum is here indicated, as is its 
 position at the ])ottom of the Sacra Via by another 
 allusion of Cicero, where he says, that, when he 
 is hustled in a crowd and pushed against the 
 
 323 Plin. N. II. xxxiv. 18, ad fin. 
 
 * lanos arcusque cum quadrigis et insignibus triumphorum tantos 
 ac tot extruxit (Domitianus), ut cuidam Graece inscriptum sit, arci 
 (apKei). Sueton. Dom. 15. The earliest arches of this kind appear 
 to have been those of L. Stertinius, who erected three, two in the 
 Forum Boarium and one in the Circus Maximus, b.c. 196, and that 
 of Scipio Africanus, b.c. 190, in the Capitol. Liv. xxxiii. 27 ; 
 xxxvii. 3. 
 
 * Ut tu, Crasse, in concione, ita sibi ipsum magnum videri i\Iem- 
 mium, ut in forum descendens caput ad fornicem Fabii demitteret. 
 Cic. de Orat. ii. 66. 
 
 ARCH OF FABIUS. 
 
 127 
 
 Fabian Arch, he does not find fault with a person chap. 
 at the top of tlie Sacra Via, but with the man who — 
 runs against him.^^^ An ancient commentator on 
 Cicero describes the arch as close to the Regia in 
 tlie Sacra Via, and speaks of a statue of Fabius 
 Allobrox placed on or near it.' 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of the Arch of Fabius '^nten] 
 
 Libonis. 
 
 was a monument of a somewhat mysterious 
 character, which is often alluded to bv ancient 
 authors, called the Puteal Scribonianum or Puteal 
 Libonis. It seems to have ])een a circidar struc- 
 ture with an ajx^rture in the top which it was 
 forbidden to close.'' It thus resembled a well-head, 
 whence its name, and is so represented upon coins 
 of the family of the Scribonii Libones, by one of 
 whom it Avas prol)ably erected.^ According to 
 
 ^ Hoc tamen miror^ cur tu huic potissiraum irascare, qui lono-issime 
 a te abfuit. K(iuidem, si quando, ut fit, iactor in turba, non ilium 
 accuso qui est in summa Sacra via, quum ego ad Fabium fornicem 
 impellor, sed eum qui in me ipsum incurrit atque incidit. Cic. pro 
 riancio. 7. 
 
 ' Fornix Fabianus arcus est iuxta Regiam in Sacra via, a Fabio 
 censore constructus qui a devictis Allobrogibus Allobrox cognomina- 
 tus est, ibicjue statua eius posita propterea est. Pseudo-Ascon. ad 
 Cic. Verr. i. 7. 
 
 « [Scribonianum apjpellatur ante atria [puteal, quod fecit Scri] 
 bonius, cui negotium da[tum a senatu fuerat ut] conquireret sacella 
 att[acta, isque illud pro]euravit, quia in eo loco [attactum fulmine] 
 sacelluin fuit. Quod igno[raverunt contegere] ut quidam, fulgur 
 conditum [quod cum scitur, quia ne]fas est integi : semper fora- 
 mi[ne ibi aper]to coelum patet. Festus, ed. :Mu1I. p. 333. The words 
 in brackets were supplied by Scaliger and Ursinus. 
 
 » See Smith's Diet. Biogr. art. Libo, where there is a representa- 
 tion of the coin. 
 
128 
 
 TilE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP 
 III. 
 
 Another 
 Puteal in 
 the Comi- 
 tium. 
 
 Festiis it was originally a fulguritum^ or spot 
 struck by llghtning.^^'^ The allusions to it in 
 classical literature are associated with indebted- 
 ness or litigation, and have been explained by 
 some commentators by supposing that it was a 
 rendezvous for usm*ers, while others assert that it 
 was the site of the praetor's tribunal.^ 
 
 Cicero describes the Consul Gabinius as a man 
 ruined by the Puteal and by herds of usurers.^ 
 Horace, in the character of a disciple of Cratinus, 
 who believed in an intimate association between 
 poetry and wine, commends the Forum, and this 
 spot in particular, to the advocates of temperance. 
 
 Eniiius ipse pater nuiiquam nisi potus ad anna 
 Prosiluit dicenda. Forum putealque Libonis 
 Mandabo siccis.' 
 
 On another occasion his own presence was 
 required at the Puteal, to assist a friend. 
 
 Ante secundam 
 Roscius orabat sibi adesses ad Puteal eras.* 
 
 The Puteal and its topography have given rise 
 
 530 Festus, ed Mull. 333. (Note 328.) 
 
 • Locus Roniae ad quern veniebant feneratores; alii dicuut in 
 quo tribunal solebat esse praetoris. Aero ad Hor. Sat. ii. 6, 34. 
 
 Ad puteal Scribonis Licinii, quod est in portica lulia ad Fabianum 
 arcum feneratores eonsistere solebant. Schol. ad Pers. Sat. iv. 49. 
 
 Puteal auteiu Libonis sedes praetoris fuit prope arcum Fabianum, 
 dictum quod a Libone illic primum tribunal et subsellia collocuta 
 sint. Porphyrio ad Hor. Ep. i. 19. 8. 
 
 2 Puteali et feneratorum gregibus inflatus atque pereulsus. Cic- 
 pro Sextio 8. 
 
 » Hor. Ep. i. 19, 8. 
 * Hor. Sat. ii. 6, 34. 
 
 PUTEAL LIBONIS. 
 
 129 
 
 CHAP. 
 TIL 
 
 to considerable controversy, owing to tlie fact 
 
 that there was in the Comitium a spot so called, 
 
 where, according to the old story, the razor and 
 
 whetstone of Attius Xavius were l)uried.^^' Hence 
 
 it has been sui)posed that the Puteal Libonis was 
 
 in the Comitium.'^ There seems, however, to be sitooi ,1.. 
 
 strong evidence for placing the Puteal of Li])o in l'S's. 
 
 this eastern corner of the Forum, and therefore 
 
 for concluding that it was altogether distinct from 
 
 the Puteal of the Comitium. Festus describes it 
 
 as before the Atria, hy which we may supj)ose 
 
 he means the Atrium or Atria Vestae ;' Porphy- 
 
 rio, a commentator on HorAce, says it was near 
 
 the Arch of Fabius, and an ancient scholiast on 
 
 Persius j)laces it in the Porticus Julia at the Arch 
 
 of Fabius.*" This Porticus, if it liad any real VovWcn^ 
 
 * I I ' 
 
 existence, may have been either a part of the " " 
 temple of Divus Julius, or more probably a co- 
 vered way between that buildins; and the Reo-ia."^ 
 
 With respect to the praetor \s tribunnl having siteofti.o 
 been at the Puteal Libonis, there is some diHiculty S,mi: 
 m the apparent want of si)ace for the accommo- 
 
 "■■ Cic.dedivin.i.17; Liv.i. 36; Dionys.iii.7L See Chapter IV. 
 '"• Becker, Ilandbuch, vol. i. 280. 
 " Festus, cd. Miill. p. 333. (Note 328.) 
 
 " Porphyrio ad Hor. Ep. i. 19, 8; Schol. ad Pers. Sat. iv. 49. 
 (Note 331.) 
 
 *" Another Porticus Julia has been imagined, but probably had 
 no existence as distinct from the Basilica Julia, which was called in 
 Greek <Tro« 'lorXm, and which appears to be referred to by Suetonius 
 as the Porticus basilicaque Gai ct Luci. See Notes 101 and 106; 
 Hecker, Ilandbuch, i. 339, note 628. 
 
 K 
 
uo 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 dation of a court of justice. We have no contem- 
 porary autlior who bears witness directly to the 
 fact ; and of the two known commentators who 
 mention it, it is remarkable that the earlier, Aero, 
 speaks of it with doubt, while the later, Porpliy- 
 rio, asserts it without hesitation, adding thatLibo 
 was the first to place the tribunal and benches 
 there.^^^ The same assertion is repeated by another 
 ancient scholiast, probably on the authority of 
 Porphyrio.^ The direct evidence does not appear 
 very strong ; and the extent of the locality is 
 unfavourable. On the other hand, the inconve- 
 nience of a limited space must have been more 
 or less common to all the ancient tribunals of 
 the Forum ; and the supposition of the praetor's 
 tribunal being held at the Puteal furnishes the 
 most consistent explanation, not only of the two 
 allusions of Horace already cited, but also of 
 another well-known passage of the same poet, 
 which seems to imply the existence of some court 
 of justice in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 Temple of Vesta. 
 
 Ventum erat ad Vestac qiiarta iam parte diei 
 Praeterita ; et casn tunc respondere vadato 
 Debebat, qnod ni fecisset perdore litem. 
 8i me amas, inqiiit, paiilum hie ades. Intercam si 
 Aut valeo stare ant novi civilia iura.-'' 
 
 '»! Aero ad Ilor. Sat. ii. 6, 34; Porpliyrio ad lior. Ep. i IJ), 8. 
 (Note 331.) 
 
 2 Schol. Cruq. ad Hor. Ep. i. 19, 8. 
 
 3 llor. Sat. i. 9. 35. 
 
 
 ROMAN MONEY-LENDERS. 
 
 131 
 
 I 
 
 The existence of a praetor's tribunal in this post chap. 
 would also account for its association with usurers, — 
 since this class of creditors would have frequent 
 recourse to the jurisdiction of the praetor. 
 
 The connexion of the Roman money-lenders ^^'^"^•'in 
 with the Forum is part of the history of liotli. "emie'rs. 
 It was in the Forum that the banking business of 
 Rome was carried on.'*^ Here loans were con- 
 tracted, and interest paid ; and it was here that 
 the repayment of the debt, in case of default, was 
 enforced by legal proceedings. Hence the fre- 
 quent allusions in classical writers to the feuera- 
 tores of the Forum. Marsyas is associated in tlie 
 mind of Horace with the usurer Novius.' The 
 Puteal was a place at which a nobleman might be 
 ruined, or at which a friend's security was re- 
 quired.^ The Yeteres in Plautus's day were 
 thronged with money-lenders ; ' and in the time 
 of Cicero and of Horace the great money market 
 of Rome was on the other side of the Mid Forum, 
 at the place called Janus Medius. ^ It was pro- 
 bably on account of this character of the Forum 
 
 1i)v 'Piof/aiiov TroXtrelap . . TrutXojv dvatpav^vv t/piOfici t))v Tifiriv cul 
 rna7ri::t}(: 4v ayop^ KfifuviiQ. riutarch, Sull. 8; Liv. vii. 21; (Note 
 350); Cic. Off. ii. 25. 
 
 ' Ilor. Sat. i. G. 120; (Note 157); Schol. Acron. ad Ilor. ib. 
 (Note 158.) 
 
 « Cic. pro Sextio, 8; (Nofe 332) ; llor. Sat. ii. 6. 34; (Note 334). 
 ■ Plaiitus, Curcul. iv. 1. (Note 97.) 
 
 '^ Cic. Off. ii. 25; Cic. Phil. vi. 5; Ilor. Sat. iii. 18. See further 
 in Chapter VI. 
 
 I< '1 
 
132 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Usury 
 ille<i;al. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 that Cato the Censor, who professed a great 
 hatred of usury, wished it paved with shells.''^ 
 On one of the several occasions on which the 
 distress of debtors demanded a pul)lic remedy 
 (B.C. 352), five magistrates were created who 
 were called Mensarii, on account of the tables 
 which were placed for them in the Forum, and 
 supplied with cash from the public treasury for 
 the liquidation of debts upon security.'' 
 
 Although by the Twelve Tables a legal rate 
 of interest, at twelve per cent., was recognised, 
 an attempt was subsequently made by the Genu - 
 cian Law (b.c. 342), confirmed by the Sempro- 
 nian Law (b c. 194), to prevent the oppression 
 of debtors by forbidding usury altogether.' It 
 need scarcely be said that these laws were in- 
 effectual, and tended to increase the mischief 
 which they proposed to cure. Before the close 
 of the Republic an established rate of interest 
 was again recognised by custom, if not by law. 
 During the intermediate period usurers were 
 subject to prosecution, and money Avas occasion- 
 ally raised for religious or public purposes by 
 imposing fines upon the whole class, or a con- 
 siderable number of them.' Tlie usurers, how- 
 
 3^9 Cic. Off. ii. 25 ; Plin. N. H. xix. 6. (Note 190.) 
 50 Tarda enim nomina . . . aerarium niensis cum aere in toro positis 
 dissolvit, ut populo caveretur. Liv. vii. 21. Compare Tac. Ann. 
 
 vi. 17. 
 
 1 Tac. Ann. vi. 16. 
 
 2 Liv. X. 2.3; xxiv. 16; xxxv. 41 ; Plin. N. II. xxxiii. 6. 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF ASELLIO. 
 
 133 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 ever, continued a numerous body, and their in- 
 dispensableness or their influence with power- 
 ful customers was 2:enerallv suflicient to shield 
 them from attack. Enjoying a practical immu- 
 nity, they naturally resented with bitterness 
 any suggestion to revive the old laws. Ap- Assassin- 
 
 , ^ ^ ation oi 
 
 i)ian relates an event which shows how strono; Asciiio. 
 and unscru})ulous a body the usurers were, and 
 at the same time presents a picture of the Forum 
 in some respects singular. In or about b.c. 89, 
 some persons having a grudge against the money- 
 lenders proposed to j)ut in force the laws against 
 usury ; Asellio, the praetor, to the dismay of the 
 defendants, appointed a day for trial. Shortly 
 afterwards, as he was sacrificing at the Temple of 
 Castor, he was surrounded by a mob of usurers, 
 and attacked at first with a stone. Throwing down 
 his patera, he fled and tried to take refuge in the 
 Temple of Vesta ; l)ut his escape in this direc- 
 tion was cut off, and he was pursued into an inn 
 or tavern, and assassinated. Though this crime 
 was committed in the morning, and in the midst 
 of the Forum, and rewards were off'ered by the 
 Senate for information, with promise of impunity 
 to accomplices, it was found impossible to detect 
 the murderers, so poAverful was the influence of 
 the usurers over their own class and others.^^^ 
 
 '^^ Ot t"are7oTai ft, \(iK€.Tr\fvavT€(^oTi rhv pofiou iraXaiiv ovra dveKaiviZe^ 
 KTeivovmv avrov loce, 'O fiiv tOve toIq Ato(TKOvpoig Iv ayooq.^ tov TrXijOovg 
 (og tiri 9v<Ti(f irfntardi'Toc. ivbg Ct XiOov Toir^iutTov tir' ai'irdu d^eOtVTogj 
 
134 
 
 CHAP 
 III. 
 
 Inn in the 
 Forum. 
 
 Ilonse of 
 
 Salvidi- 
 
 enus. 
 
 Temple of 
 Julius. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 This narrative contains the only notice, so far 
 as the writer is aware, of any inn or tavern in the 
 Forum. It is not easy to find room, either in its area 
 or in its circuit, for such an establishment. The 
 tahernae described in the last chapter wxre too 
 small and narrow to furnish acconmiodation for a 
 place of public entertainment. The only part of 
 the circuit of the Forum not known to be occupied 
 by public buildings was on the north side of the 
 Sacred Way, near the Arch of Fabius and the 
 later Temple of Faustina ; and the course taken 
 by Asellio in his attempt to escape from the mob 
 of money-lenders rather points in this direction. 
 A house with three shops overlooking the Forum 
 existed as late as the reign of Xero, and was the 
 property of Salvidienus Orlitus.^^' This house was 
 pro])ably in the same corner of the Forum, and 
 may possi])ly have been the inn of the preceding 
 century. 
 
 In front of the site of the Eegia, and opposite 
 to the eastern portion of the steps of the Temple 
 of Castor, is the ruin of a Iniilding which seems to 
 have vied with that temple itself, not in extent of 
 
 tpoi-^e Ti)v (pia\i]v, Kai tQ to 'Earlaq lepov tero ^po^,^!' o'l St avrov TrnoXa- 
 fiovre^ rt drnKXeicrav cnro tov 'lepov, Kal KaracjwyovTa tg ri TravSoxfwv 
 ta(patav' iroWoi re tCov Suokoptujp tg Tag TrapOevovij avrov I'lyovfievoi Kara- 
 tpvyelv, ta^Spafiop tvOa fii, Gffiic t)v avdpdmv. Ovtw fitv 'AaeWiwv . . . 
 dfKpi SevTtpav (opav tatpd^ero iv dyopq, fitay mipd lepolg. Appian. Bell 
 Civ. i. 54. 
 
 ^ ^••^ SalvidienoOrfito oblectum est, quod tabernas tres de dome sua 
 circa forum civitatibus ad stationcm locasset. Sueton. Nero, 37. 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 f 
 
 TEMPLE OF JULIUS. 
 
 area, but iu the height of the artificial i)latfomi 
 "pon wliich it was raised.^' The rude nucleus of 
 the^poduun, formed of brick, tufa, and cement, is 
 unfortunately all that remains of an edifice which 
 from Its situation and other indications we identify 
 as the temple erected in honour of the first deified 
 Koman of historical times. 
 
 Ille qnidem coelo positus lovis atria soivat, 
 Et tenet in magnc. tenipla dicata foio. » 
 
 The temple itself appears to have occupied a 
 part only of the large platform which has been 
 uncovered, and to have faced towards the Mid 
 Forum and Capitol. This orientation recalls the 
 allusion to this temple which Ovid places in the 
 mouth of Jupiter : 
 
 Ut semper Capitolia nostra fornmque 
 Divus ab excelsa prospectet Jnlius aede;' 
 
 while the view it commanded of the neighbourino- 
 Temple of Castor on the left agrees wiih another 
 passage of the same poet, where he compares the 
 youthful Caesars, Germanicus and Drusus, sharino- 
 in their father's triumph, to the twin gods : 
 
 Fratribus assimiles, qnos proxinia tcnipla tencutcs, 
 Divus ab e.xcelsa .Julius aede videt. s 
 
 - When on the spot I roughly estimated the height of the hi-hest 
 1 "t of the bases of these tv,„ te.nples ,o be about twent.-two ee 
 above the intervening paved space. 
 
 « Ovid. Fast. iii. 703. 
 
 ' Ovid. Wetamcrph. xv. 841. 
 
 " Ovid. Ep. ex Tonto. ii. 2. 8;j. 
 
 135 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
136 
 
 CFIAP. 
 III. 
 
 Temple of 
 Julius on 
 the spot 
 where his 
 body was 
 burnt. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 It is remarkable liow the singular height of the 
 artificial level of this temple, the only character- 
 istic which the ruin has preserved for us, justifies 
 Ovid's repeated epithet. 
 
 The identification of the site is confirmed by its 
 vicinity to the Regia, where Appian places the 
 Temple of Julius,^'*' and by its position directly in 
 front of the equestrian statue of Domitian. 
 
 Hie obviji limina pandit, 
 Qui fessus bellis adscitae munere i)rolis 
 Primus iter nostris ostendit in acthera divis.^<> 
 
 The temple of which we see the remains was 
 that of which Dio Cassius records the desi2:n, 
 B.C. 42, in the early period of the triumvirate of 
 M. Antonius, Lepidus, and Augustus, and which 
 IS said by that historian to have been intended to 
 be placed on the spot where Caesar's body was 
 burnt.^ This account of the previous associations 
 of the site agrees w ith the statement of Appian, 
 that the burning of Caesar's body took place be- 
 fore the Regia, where in the historian's time the 
 temple stood f but is not easily reconciled with 
 other authors, who speak of the burning of the 
 
 '^" Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 148. (Xote3G2.) 
 
 '■'' Stutius, Silv. i. 1. 22. (Note 168.) See before, p. 77. 
 
 ' Tar-ra re ovv ovTwq ol av^^eq eKeJvoi o', rpeTf eVoi'oi/v .... Kui 
 
 myv oi h' rf ry «yo{,^ kcu Iv t.{, roTTtp iv 4, lictKuvro Tr^wKare^idWoi^ro. 
 
 Dig Cass, xlvii. 18. 
 
 - 'Er Tiiv dyooav aWig W.rrav (to \exog rov Kaiaapov), tvOa to nuXai 
 Wofuuou: dar\ iiacriXeiov . . ^VlvQu ,^ojf.6c Tro.iroc h^O,,. vvv ,V, i^Ti 
 i€ioQ avToi k«.'(7«j.or. Ai)piun. Bell. Civ. ii. 148. 
 
 TEMPLE OF JULIUS. 
 
 body before the Rostra.''' This difKcuItv will be 
 further noticed in discussing the history of the 
 Rostra.^ 
 
 On the site of the cremation the partisans of 
 the dictator very soon after placed a column, 
 which Suetonius describes as of Numidian marble, 
 nearly twenty feet high, and inscribed pakexti 
 PATRIAE. The person princij)ally instrumental in 
 this act of veneration was C. Amatius, who as- 
 sumed the name of Marius, and represented him- 
 self as the grandson of C. Marius and so a kins- 
 man of Caesar. Before the column appears to 
 have been an altar, which was for some time the 
 centre of an irregular worship.^ After Amatius 
 had been put to death by Antonius, the column 
 and altar were removed by the other consul, Dola- 
 bella, the son-in-law of Cicero, who was so de- 
 lighted with Dolabella's proceedings on this emer- 
 gency that he was ready to forgive at once all his 
 previous offences both public and private.' The 
 
 ^"^ Caesaris corpus quum in caniputu Marti urn ferretur, a plebe ante 
 ^Rostra creniatujn est. Li v. Epitom. IKj; ef. Sueton. lul. 84. 
 . * See Chapter V. 
 
 ^••Plebs . . . postea solidam eolumnam prope viginti pedum lapidis 
 Xumidici in foro statuit, scripsitque : Parenti Patriae. Apud earn 
 longo tempore sacrificare, vota suscipere, controversias (^uasdam in- 
 terposito per Caesarem iure iurando distrabere perseveravit. Sueton. 
 lul. 80 ; Cic. Ep. div xi. 2. (Note 368.) 
 
 'A/uartoc »/i^ 6 xl/ev^oftdpiog . . . ytyi'OfievoQ ovv Sid Tt'ivSe Ttjv vTroicpiaiv 
 (rvyyfvi)q T(^ Kaiffapi^ vTripifXyfi fidXitTTCi avTor TiOvfwTOc; kui ^wfibv tTTtpKo- 
 SofJin Til wvp^. Appian. Bell. Civ. iii. 2. Dio Cass. xlix. 51. 
 
 « O mirificum Dolabellam meum : iam enim dico meuni, antea, 
 credc uiihi, subdubitabam. Miignam dvaOtajptjaiv res habet; de 
 
 137 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 in. 
 
 Column 
 and altar 
 on the 
 same site. 
 

 138 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Arcliitcc- 
 ture ot* 
 temple of 
 Julius. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 populace met in the Forum, and demanded the 
 restoration of the altar and an act of worship by 
 the magistrates, but they were dispersed by the 
 authorities and several of their leaders executed, 
 the slaves being crucified, and the citizens being- 
 hurled from the Tarpeian Rock/*^' Later in the 
 year there seems to have been another proposal 
 to replace the altar, before the tteparture of An- 
 tonius from the city; but it is probable that nothing 
 further was done at this time.^ The temple, which 
 was desimed bv the triumvirs in the followino- 
 year or the year after, was erected on the same 
 spot.^ In the monument of Ancyra the Aedes 
 Divi Juli is claimed as a work of Augustus.'" 
 I have already mentioned that this temple, which 
 
 stixo; incrucem; columnam tollere ; locum ilium sternendum locare. 
 Cic. ad Attic, xiv. 15. 
 
 Liberatus caedis i)ericulo post paucos dies Senatus: uncus im- 
 pactus est fugitivo illi, qui in C. Marii nomen invaserat. Atque hacc 
 omnia communiter cum collega ; alia porro propria Dolabellae . . . 
 Nam quum serperet in urbe infinitum malum . . . iidemque bustum 
 in foro facerent, qui illam insepultam sei)ulturam efiecerint . . . talis 
 animadversio fuit Dolabellae quam in audaces sceleratosque servos 
 tarn in impuros et nefarios liberos ; talisque eversio illius exsecratae 
 columnac, etc Cic. Phil. i. 2. 
 
 3fi' T/)j/ dyopav ovv KaraXa^ovrfc t/3owr, Kai rov 'Avtmviop i^XcKTipiifiovv^ 
 K.ti rag apxiig tKtXevov uvTt 'AfidTiov tuv jSujubv tK^tovv Kai Oveiv t7r' 
 aiiTov Kaiaapi -n-pioTOvg . . Kai avWijcpBtpreg trfpoi iKpf^uiaGi]aav oaoi Oepa- 
 TtovTtg ijffap^ oi ck f:\tv9spoi KaTu rov Kpijfivov Kareppi^riffar. Appian. 
 Bell. Civ. iii. 3; Cic. Phil. i. 2. (Note 366.) 
 
 ^ Putesne nos tutos fore in ranta frequentia militum veteranorum, 
 quos etiam de reponenda ara cogitare audimus. Brutus et Cassius 
 Antonio, in Cic. Ep. div. xi. 2. 
 
 " Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 148 (Note 362.) 
 
 ■" AKDEM Divi IV LI . . FKci. Mou. Aucyr. 
 
 il 
 
 \ 
 
 p 
 
 ( 
 
 ] 
 
 >> 
 
 ROSTRA JULIA. 
 
 in the Trajan monument is represented by mis- 
 take with a portico of five Corinthian columns, 
 a})pears uj)on some medals of Augustus and 
 Hadrian as a tetrastyle temple. Vitruvius men- 
 tions it as an example of a pycnostyle building, 
 that is, having columns placed at short distances 
 from each other.^'^ 
 
 The temple appears to have stood on the 
 hinder or south-eastern part of the artificial })lat- 
 form, having in front of it, at a lower level, a 
 broad terrace about sixty feet wide and thirty 
 feet deep, approached by two flights of steps, one 
 on each side. This spacious terrace was used 
 as a suggestum or platform for public speaking, a 
 destination which was so completely recognised 
 that its fiice was ornamented with the beaks of 
 Egyi^tian ships taken at the battle of Actium,^ in 
 allusion to the time-honoured decoration of the 
 ancient Rostra of the Comitium and Forum. 
 Looking more closely at the remains of this 
 terrace, we find that a portion, nearly semicircular 
 in form, of al)Out fifteen feet radius, appears to 
 have been built separately from the rest, and to 
 
 ^■* Pycnostylos est cuius intercolumnio unius et dimidiatae columnac 
 crassitudo interponi potest, quemadmodum est divi lulii, et in Cae- 
 saris foro Veneris, et si quae aliae sic sunt compositae. Vitruv. iii. 2. 
 Becker (Ilandbuch, vol. i. p. 336) ; citing Vitruvius, states that this 
 letnple was pcripteros pycnostylos^ and this has been repeated by 
 some other authors; but I find no authority in Vitruvius for sup- 
 posing it to have been peripteral, which would be inconsistent with 
 the evidence of its being letrastyle. Becker anticipated very correctly 
 the two flights of steps with the terrace between them. 
 
 - DioCass. Ii 10 (Note 374.) 
 
 139 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Rostrji 
 .Julia. 
 
i 
 
 140 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Arch of 
 Augustus. 
 
 THE llOMAN FOllUM. 
 
 have either existed 
 previously or been a 
 subsequent addition. 
 No satisfactory ex- 
 ])la nation of this sin- 
 gular construction 
 has yet been given. 
 It has been suo^o:ested 
 that the existence of 
 the Rostra at or near 
 this spot was ante- 
 rior to that of the 
 temple, but there is 
 no good ground for 
 such a supposition. 
 This terrace was frequently used at the public 
 funerals of the imperial family.^'^ 
 
 Near the Temple of Divus Julius was a tri- 
 umphal arch, erected in honour of Auo-ustus, 
 which probably spanned the Sacra Via, where 
 that road was continued from the Eeo-ia throuo^h 
 the Forum, just before it turned in the direction 
 of the Temple of Castor. Dio mentions two occa- 
 sions on which this honour was decreed to 
 Augustus, once after the battle of Actium, and 
 afterwards on the recovery of the standards 
 taken by the Parthians. On the first occasion an 
 arch was placed in the Forum ; the site of the 
 second arch (if another was erected) is not men- 
 
 ^■^ See Cluipter V. on the History of the Rostra. 
 
 BAS-RELIEF OF AURELIUS. 
 
 11 
 
 \, 
 
 ARCH OF AUGUSTUS. 
 
 141 
 
 MMMM 
 
 If f 
 
 ff 
 
 TEMPLE OF JULIUS AND ARCH OF AUGUSTUS. 
 
 tioned.^'' The position of the arch near the chap. 
 
 Temple of Julius is mentioned by an obscure ' 
 
 commentator on Virgil.'^ It is this arch and the Arch of 
 Temple of Divus Julius that are represented in nmx 
 the bas-relief of the triumph of Marcus Aurelius juiiuVin 
 now preserved in the capitol, as well as on the «fAuV^ 
 monument of Trajan in the Forum. ^' The arch ^^'"^"^ 
 appears to have l)een of a simple type, somewhat 
 similar to that known as the Arch of Drusus, with 
 a single opening and one column or pilaster on 
 each side. The several arches now remaining: at 
 Rome enable us to observe the successive elabo- 
 
 ■^'^ Koi ('t\l/lca Tpoiraiotpopop tv re rtp li^tvTeaiift icoi h'tpav ep ry Piofxai^ 
 ayon^ iCu)Kat>' ti'iv re K(>r}ir7ca tov '\ov\iciov t'lpt^ov Toig twv aixfxaXijjTiCmv 
 veCjv ^^jidXoiQ icofTfit]Orivai. Dio Cass. li. 19. 
 
 Kai a}p7ci r()O7ra«o0o()^ ertfju'jOi]. Dio Cass. liv. 8. 
 
 * Mai. Interpret. Virg. Aen. vii. 6, viii. 666. (Note 153.) A tri- 
 umphal arch appears on medals of Aujiustus, with the legend, civib . 
 ET . SIGN . MiLiT . A . PART . RECVP . and on another with the simple 
 legend, imp . caesar. 
 
 " See before, p. 68. 
 
142 
 
 THE IIOMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Meeting 
 of the 
 Coinitia 
 Tril)ntti 
 in the 
 Forum. 
 
 ration of design introduced into this species of 
 monument, from the arch of Drusus to that of 
 Titus, and from the latter to that of Constantine. 
 
 The space before the Temple of Castor, occu- 
 pied in part by the monuments hist described, 
 was before tlieir erection the least incumbered part 
 of the open area, and was, not impro])a])ly, the 
 place of meeting of the Comitia trlhuta when 
 assembled in the Forum.^'' For convenience in 
 taking the suffrages of the several tribes, the 
 space Avhere they met was divided hy septa., 
 formed of posts and ropes,. ^ Appian describes 
 Octavianus, soon after his return to Rome on the 
 death of Julius, as standing at the septa to 
 canvass the voters in fiivour of a roo:aiion con- 
 ferring upon Antonius the command in Gaul.^ 
 
 It should be mentioned, before leaving this 
 part of the Forum, that in the Curiosum, as com- 
 monly read, a temple of Minerva occurs between 
 those of Castor and Vesta. No trace of sucli a 
 temple, or any room for it, can be found in or 
 near the locality thus indicated.' 
 
 8U 
 
 3'' See before, pp. 103-105. 
 
 * Ot Zi ^I'lfiapxoi ffvvfKaXovv to ttXijOoq tTri t))v (^vXhiv iKKXtjaiav,, 
 Xiopia Tt/Q ayopag TrfptrrxoiviaavT^g, iv dig t^fWov at <pv\al (TTi'ifTfaOai kht' 
 aiirag. Dionys vii. 59. Cie. pro Sextio, 37. (Xote 246.) 
 
 ^ 'O t)]n6-i](2 Xewf, axQo^uvoQ ry 'AvTiovitu, avv'cTrpaaatv o^m^ ha tuv 
 KaiVrtjoa, tcpEffrutra To7g Trfpiffxaivirxfiani Kai deoi-iivov. Appian. Bell, 
 Civ. iii. 30. 
 
 «o Basilica lulia, Templuni Castorum et Minervae, Vestam. Curio- 
 sum, in Keg. viii. It may be suspected that under the words ef 
 mineruae is concealed the notice of some other monument, possibly lac. 
 iuteniae ; or et iulii may have been misread et min. 
 
 143 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I IIK COMITIUM, THE CURIA, AND OTUEU MONUMENTS 
 
 UPON THE COMITIUM. 
 
 An attemj)t has been made in the three precediiio; ciiai 
 chapters to identify the existing remains in that ^ 
 l^art of tlie Forum which has ])een cleared to its 
 old level. But of some historical sites belonging 
 to the Forum no distinct traces have yet been 
 found. Among the most important of tbis class 
 are tlie Comitium and the Curia, the positions of 
 which are still to be ascertained. The investiga- 
 tion of these localities, and of the monuments 
 connected with them, involves some interesting 
 togographical questions, which it is proposed to 
 discuss in the present chapter. 
 
 The Comitium was an open space, forming part Comitinm 
 of the Forum in the larger acceptation of the ^'rum. 
 latter word. In this sense the Forum included 
 the entire public area and the monuments sur- 
 rounding it ; l)ut in the present chapter the word 
 will be generally used with a more restricted 
 signification for the open area exclusive of the 
 Comitium, Avhicli was probably divided from the 
 rest of the Forum by some sort of wall or fence.^^^ 
 Tlie Comitium commanded a good view of the 
 
 "• Fecitque idem (Tullus Ilostilius) et sepsit de mauubiis comi- 
 tium et curiam. Cic. Rep. ii. 17. 
 
144 
 
 THE ROMAN TOllUM. 
 
 THE COMITIUM. 
 
 145 
 
 CHAP 
 IV. 
 
 Level 
 of the 
 Comitium 
 
 Forum, for when the hitter was used for public 
 spectacles the former appears to have been 
 covered with a temporary roof, as a place for the 
 more distinguished spectators.''-' 
 
 There has l)een some variance of opinion among 
 antiquaries whether the ancient authorities justify 
 the conclusion that the Comitium was on a higher 
 level than the Forum. The passage of Livy, 
 describing the statue of Attus Navius " in the' 
 Comitium upon the steps to the left of the Curia," 
 has been thought to refer to steps leading from 
 the Forum to the Comitium, and therefore to 
 imply the greater elevation of the latter.' But 
 the steps referred to may possibly have been 
 those of the Curia. An inference in favour of 
 the higher level of the Comitium might ])e drawn 
 with some probability from the paraphrase used 
 by Dionysius for the Comitium, when he de- 
 scribes Romulus as placing his tril)unal in '' the 
 most conspicuous part of the Forum,'" and from 
 the fact of the Comitium being used as a place for 
 
 ^^- Eo anno prinium, ex quo Hannibal in Italiam vcnissef, comitiun, 
 tectum esse memoriae proditum est, et ludos Romanes semel instau- 
 ratos ab aedilibus curulibus. Liv. xxvii. 36. 
 
 ■^ Smith, Diet. Geog. art. Roma, p. 777. 
 
 Statua Atti, ... in comitio in gradibus ipsis ad laevam curiae fuit 
 Liv. 1. 36. Compare Liv. i. 48. (Note 409) 
 
 {TrapffTKevaKero). Dionys. ii. 29; Xiebuhr, Hist. Rom. (En<r| Tnnsl ) 
 vol. ii 314, note 720. If, as there is some groun.l fo'^r thinkin'..' 
 the Hephaesteum or Vulcanale of this historian is the same a. tlu-' 
 Comitium, it is distinctly placed above the level of the Forum. See 
 further on, p. 164. 
 
 i 
 
 spectators when there were games given in the chap 
 Forum.^^^ Xiebuhr on the other hand asserts posi- — '- 
 tively that the Comitium and Forum were on the 
 same level, relying on an expression of Fronto, in 
 which the orator, as an illustration of a trifling 
 superiority, says, "as much as the Rostra are 
 higher than the Forum and Comitium."' The 
 significance of this passage for the present pur- 
 l)ose depends upon the question of the number 
 and position of the Rostra.' If, as seems likely, 
 the Rostra of the Comitium and Forum were in 
 Fronto's time two difl^erent structures, Niebuhr's 
 inference of course tails to the ground. It is only 
 as if one said, " as nuich as the pulpit is above 
 the pavement at St. Paul's and Westminster." 
 
 The origin of the Comitium is probably as Origin of 
 ancient as that of the Forum itself Cicero at- Uum^''"''" 
 tributes its establishment to Tullus liostilius, the 
 founder of tlu Curia. Plutarch believed it to be the 
 ])lace of meeting and agreement between Ronmlus 
 and Tatius after their battle in the Forum, and to 
 have derived its name from this circumstance.'' 
 
 .«5 
 
 The story told by Gellius about the statue of Iloratius also bears 
 on this question. See p. 164. 
 
 « Locuturumque . . . nobiscum de loco superiore, nee tantulo su- 
 periore quanto Rostra fbro et Comitio excelsiora sunt, sed quanto 
 altiores antemnae sunt prora, vel potius carina. Fronto ad Antonin. 
 lib. i. ep. 2. (p. 98, ed. Lips. 1867). Becker is equally confident that 
 the Comitium was not on a higher level. Ilandbuch, i. 281. It will 
 be seen hereafter that it was situated where the ground naturally rose 
 above the Forum. See p. 189. 
 
 " See Chapter V. 
 
 * 'Owov ^t ravra nvvlOevrn fitxpt vvv Ko^iVior KaXflTai' KOfilfte yap 
 
146 
 
 CHAR 
 IV. 
 
 Political 
 use of 
 Comitium 
 
 Tribunals 
 of the 
 Comitium, 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Its political importance is indicated by its 
 name. It was the gathering place of the primitive 
 citizens of Rome, when the Forum was no more 
 than a market. Hence, when the representatives 
 of the original citizens, the Populus as distin- 
 guished from the Plebs, became an aristocratical 
 class, the Comitium was the patrician, and the 
 Forum the plebeian, place of meeting ; and the 
 comitia curiata, or assemblies of the curiae, which 
 represented the ancient patrician body, were held 
 ^ in the Comitium.'^' ^ These assemblies, however, 
 early lost their political importance, and long 
 before the close of the Republic were summoned 
 only for formal purposes, when the constituents 
 were represented by the officers of the curiae. 
 
 The Comitium was also the juridical centre of 
 Rome. Hence the satirical line of Plautus, 
 
 Qui periiirum convenire volt hominem mitto in Comitinm.'^o 
 
 The Praetor had his tribunal there.^ The 
 
 'Pwfialoi TO (TvveWelv KaXorm. Plutarch, Rom. 19. CIc. Rep. ii. 17. 
 (Note 381.) The same story was told of the origin of the Sacra Via' 
 See Chapter VIII. p. 276. 
 
 '«" Comitium, ab eo quod coibant eo comitiis curiatis et litium 
 causa. ^ Varro, L. L. v. 32 (43). Comitium, locus propter Senatum, 
 quo coire equitibus et populo Romano licet. Pseudo-Ascon. in Cic. 
 Verr II. ,. 22. The Forum (fromfero, 0.» was a place to which 
 merchandise (ra tpopua) was brought. 
 
 «o Plaut. Cure. iv. 1. (Note 97.) 
 
 • Homo in ius vocatus ... (ex xii. tabulis) ad praetorem in 
 Comitium . . . effertur. A. Gell. x. 1. 
 
 C.Titiusvir aetatis Lucilianae, in oratione qua legem Fann^am 
 suasit . . . describens . . . homines prodigos in forum ad iudican- 
 
 
 ^» 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 TRIBUNALS OF THE COMITIUM. 147 
 
 Triumviri Capitales sat at the Maenian column 
 to hear criminal causes, and their sentences of 
 punishment were executed on the spot.^^^ I^ivy, 
 in describing the arraignment of M. Manlius 
 Capitolinus before the dictator Cornelius, places 
 the scene in the Comitium, where the dictator 
 iixes his tril)unal, surrounded by the Senate just . 
 issued from the Curia. So the consuls sit in the 
 Comitium to hear tlie complaints of the legates 
 from Locri, who prostrate themselves before the 
 tribunal.^ In later times the civil tribunals appear 
 to have hoen held in various parts of the Forum, 
 as well as in the Comitium,* and the l)asilicas 
 furnished a more convenient place for the trans- 
 action of legal business. 
 
 Some idea of the size of the Comitium and of Forum, 
 
 Comitium, 
 dum cbrlos commeantes ... sic ait. Ludunt alea . . . ubi horae ^ "'^**'" 
 decem sunt, iubent puerum vocari ut in Comitium eat percunctatum 
 quid in foro gestum sit . . . inde ad Comitium vadunt, ne litem suam 
 faciant. Dum eunt, nulla est in angiporto amphora, quam non 
 impleant, quippe qui vesicam plenam vini habeant. Veniunt in 
 Comitium tristes; iubent dicere; quorum negotium est dicunt; index 
 testes poscit; ipsus it mictum. Ubi redit, ait se omnia audivissc, 
 tabulas poscit, literas inspicit, vix prae vino sustinet palpebras. 
 Macrob. Saturn, ii. 12. 
 
 Varro, L. L. v. 32 (43). (Note 389.) Dionys. ii. 29. (Note 384.) 
 
 •■'"- Cic. in Caecil. div. 16. Ascon. a<l Cic. ib. (Note 484.) Sueton. 
 Dom. 8. (Note 399.) 
 
 ' Postero die Senatu hablto, quum satis periclitatus volunfates 
 hominum discedere senatum ab se vetuisset, stipatus ea multitudinc, 
 sella in Comitio posita, viatorem ad M. Manlium misit. Liv. vi. 15. 
 
 Decern legati Locrensium ... in Comitio sedentibus consulibus. 
 . . . ante tribunal . , humi procubuerunt. Liv. xxix. 16. 
 
 * See before, pp. 81, 129. Ius diligenter et Industrie dixit, ple- 
 rumqiie et in foro pro tribunal! extra ordinem. Sueton. Dom. S. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 ^^^^' its relation to tlie rest of the Forum on the one 
 hand and to the Curia on the other may be 
 formed from Livy^s narrative of the excitement 
 which prevailed at Rome after the defeats of 
 Trasimene and Cannae. The people on the first 
 occasion gather in the Forum, and then turn to 
 the Comitium and Curia to demand explanations 
 from the magistrates. In the second case the 
 crowd is represented as collected in the Comi- 
 tium, and addressing its complaints and remon- 
 strances to the Curia, in which the Senate is 
 assembled to hear the messengers from the Roman 
 prisoners of war.^^"^ 
 
 uonsl^^the ^^^^ Comitium was used with the Forum for 
 ^'omitium. pu])lic exhibitions. Thus, in the aedilesliip of 
 Julius and Bibulus, both these areas were filled 
 with temporary galleries for the exhibition of 
 the animals prepared for the extraordinary 
 spectacles which were given by the aediles^" 
 So the Comitium, as well as the Forum, was 
 decorated, probably on some pu1)lic occasion of 
 
 ''' Romae, ad primum nuntium cladls eius, cum ingenti terrore ac 
 tumuitu concursus in forum populi est factus. Matronae vaijae per 
 vias, quae repens clades allata quaeve fortuna exercitus esseCobvios 
 percunctantur. Et quum frequentis concionis modo turba in Comi- 
 tium et Curiam versa magistratus vocaret, tandem, etc. Liv. xxii. 7. 
 
 Legatis captivorum senat.is ab dictatore datus est, quorum prin- 
 ceps M. Junius, Patres conscripti, inquit .... Ubi is fineni iecit, 
 exten.plo ab ea turb.i quae in Comitio erat, clamor llebilis est subla- 
 tus manusque ad Curiam tendebant orantes, ut sibi liberos, fratres 
 cognatos redderent. Liv. xxii. 59, 60. 
 
 « Aedilis praeter Comitium ac forum basilicasque, etiam Capito- 
 1mm ornavit porticibus ad tempus extructis, in quibus abundante 
 rerum copia pars apparatus exponeretur. Sueton. in lul. 10. 
 
 THE COMITIUM. 
 
 149 
 
 h 
 
 festivity, with the vast collection of pictures and chap. 
 statues amassed by Verres, when, according to il. 
 the pathetic reproach of Cicero, the am])assadors 
 from Greece and Asia recognised and worshipped 
 in the Forum of Rome the images which had 
 been torn from their native temples.^'' 
 
 The Comitium was used as a place for the in- i^unition 
 fliction of capital punishment more majorum as Comftium. 
 late as the reign of Domitian, who in his severi- 
 ties against the Vestals and their paramours or- 
 dered Cornelia to be buried alive (pro])al)ly at the 
 Colline gate),^ and the male criminals to ]>e 
 flogged to death in the Comitium.^' The conti- 
 nuance of the Comitium as a distinct locality in 
 the time of M. Aurelius may be inferred from the 
 passage of Fronto already inentioned.^^'^ This is 
 perhaps the last notice to l)e found of its exist- 
 
 - Dices tua quoquesigna et tabulas pictasornamentourbi foroque 
 popuh Ilomam fuisse. Mennni, vidi simul cum populo Kon.ano 
 orum Com.t.umque adornatum . . . vidi collucere omnia furtis 
 tu.s, praeda provinciarum, spoliis sociorum . . . casu Ic^ati ex 
 As.aatque Achaia plurimi Romae tunc fuerunt, qui deorum simulacra 
 ex suis fanis sublata in foro venerabantur. Cic. Verr. Actio II i 22 
 Teque, Latona, et Apollo, et Diana, quorum iste Deli sedem 
 
 ant.quam . . . compilavit; etiam te, Apollo, quem iste Chio suslulit: 
 teque etiam atque etiam, Diana, quam Pergae spoliavit, etc. Cic 
 Verr. Act. II. v. 72. 
 
 ' Liv. viii. 15; Plut. Xuma, 10; Serv. ad Aen. xi. -iOC 
 
 » Cornelian, ma.vin,a„, Virginem . . . defodi imperavit, stunra- 
 
 torcque v,rg,« ,n Comitio ad necen, caedi, cxcepto praetorio viro. 
 
 bueton. Dom. 8. * i u 
 
 Celer, equc, Jfomanus, cui Cornelia obiiciebatur, cun, in Comitio 
 virgis caederetur in hac voce perstiterat, Quid feci ? nihil feci 
 Ilin.fcp.iv.il. Liv. xxii. 57. 
 
 '" Fronto ad Antonin. lib. I, ep. 2. (Note 386.) 
 
CHAl* 
 IV. 
 
 Comitium, 
 partly in 
 front of 
 the Curia; 
 
 I 
 
 150 THE KOMAN FORUM. 
 
 ence. We shall see reason to believe that its 
 form and character were in a great measure lost 
 during the reign of Septimius Severus. 
 
 Part of the Comitium was in front of the Curia, 
 that is, between that building and the Forum. 
 But this part cannot have been more than a narrow 
 terrace, since the ancient Rostra, which stood on 
 the edo-e both of the Comitium and Forum, so 
 that the orators were able to turn either to a 
 patrician or to a plel)eian audience,^^'^ were before 
 
 but mostly ^ . i i • i 'xi 'x 2 T 
 
 tit the side, the Curia and almost m contact with it. In 
 order therefore to find room for the Comitium, 
 the whole extent of which, as the meeting-place 
 of the curiae^ must have been considerable, we 
 are compelled to suppose its greatest area to have 
 been at the side of the Curia. It cannot have 
 been behind that building, as it would not then 
 have commanded a view of the Forum. 
 
 In telling the story of Tarpeia, Propertius 
 associates the site of the Curia with a natural 
 well of water. 
 
 Curia. 
 
 401 
 
 »• Cic. de Amicit. 25 ; Plutarch. C Gracch. 5. (Note 540.) 
 2 Comitium ab eo, quod coibant eo comitiis curiatis et Htium 
 causa. Curiae duorum generum; nam et ubi curarent sacerdotes 
 res divinas, Curiae Veteres, et ubi senatus humanas, ut Curia llos- 
 tilia, quod primus aedificavit Ilostilius rex. Ante hanc llostra, 
 quoius id vocabulum, ex hostibus capta fixa sunt rostra. Sub dextra 
 huius a Comitio locus substructus, ubi nationum subsisterent legati 
 qui ad senatum essent missi : is Graecostasis appellatus a parte, ut 
 multa. Senaculum supra Graecostasin, ubi aedis Concordiae et 
 basilica Opimia. Senaculum vocatum, ubi senatus aut ubi seniores 
 consisterent : dictum ut yi^wvaia apud Graecos. Varro, L. L. v. 
 32 (43). Valerius Max. ix. 5. 2. (Note 421.) Asconius ad Cic. pro 
 Mil. 5. (Note 551.) See Chapter V. p. 199. 
 
 THE CURIA. 
 
 151 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 llostilia. 
 
 Lucus erat felix hederoso consitus antro, 
 
 Multaque nativis obstrepit arbor aquis. 
 • « ♦ * 
 
 Miirus erant montes : ubi nunc est Curia septa, 
 Bellicus ex illo fontc bibebat equus.^^* 
 
 One is reminded of the traditional springs at 
 Janus Geminus,'^ and of the well in St. Peter's 
 prison.^ 
 
 The Curia adjoined the Comitium and was ra9adeof 
 
 •^ Curia to- 
 
 entered from it/ the fiicade and principal doors wards the 
 
 ' ^ * *^ iorum. 
 
 being in the direction of the Forum,^ and ap- 
 proached by a flight of steps, which existed, ac- 
 cording to tradition, in the earliest times.^ The Curia 
 origin of the ancient Curia was attributed to king 
 TuUus Hostilius, whose name the building bore 
 until its destruction at the funeral of Clodius.^^ 
 One of the earliest paintings placed in a public 
 
 *«« Propertius, iv. 4. 3. 13. 
 
 * Varro, L. L. v. 32 (43). (Note 740.) 
 
 « See pp. 6, 7. 
 
 ' C. Aufustius (obiit) egressus, quum in Senatum iret, ofTenso 
 pede in Comitio. Plin. N. H. vii. 54 ; Dionys. iv. 38. (Note 409.) 
 I assume that the Curia always stood on the same place, or in other 
 words that the site of the Curia llostilia and Curia Julia was identical. 
 See this matter discussed further on, p. 153. 
 
 « Dio Cass. Ixxiii. 13 (Note 620) ; Procop. B. Goth. i. 25. (Note 
 639.) 
 
 » Turn Tarquinius , . . medium arripit Servium, elatumque e 
 Curia in inferiorem partem per gradus deiicit. Liv. i. 48. Liv. i. 
 36 (Note 474.) 
 
 Vevo^tvoQ Se t^io tov (iovXtvrijpiov fiETtiopov tKapTTfJ^fraQ ahrbv . . . 
 avappiiTTei Kara tCjv KprjTridCJv rov (3ov\tvTT]i)iov ToJv elg to iKKXrimaff- 
 Ti]piov (pfpovautv. Dionys iv. 38. 
 
 »» Principes Albanorum in Patres . . . legit . . . templumque ordini 
 ab se aucto Curiam fecit, quae Hostilia usque ad patrum nostrorum 
 aetatem appellata est. Liv. i. 30. Cic. Hep. ii. 17. (Note 381.) 
 
1 
 
 152 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Tabula 
 Valeria. 
 
 Curia 
 
 Hostilia 
 
 burnt. 
 
 Intended 
 
 Curia 
 
 Cornelia. 
 
 tup: ROMAN FDRUM. 
 
 situation in Rome was on the side of the ancient 
 Curia. It was placed there by M. Valerius Maxi- 
 mus Messala, consul B.C. 263, and represented the 
 victory obtained by him over Hiero and the Car- 
 thaginians in Sicily. This picture gave its name 
 to a known localitv, which was situated between 
 the Rostra and the Career. When the tribune 
 Vatinius arrested Bibulus at the Rostra and was 
 caiTying him to the prison, the other tribunes 
 released him at the Tabula Yaleria."*^^ 
 
 The Curia Hostilia was destro3^ed at the funeral 
 of Clodius, B.C. 52, when the populace insisted on 
 burning his ])()dy within it. and thus set lire to 
 the building itself. The l)uilding then destroyed 
 had l)een rebuilt or considerably altered by the 
 dictator Sulla, and the Senate committed the task 
 of restoring it to his son Faustus Cornelius Sulla, 
 intending it to receive the new denomination of 
 Curia Cornelia.^ The history of the Curia and 
 its site during the ten years that followed is some- 
 
 ''" M Valerius Max. Mess:ila . . . princeps tabulampicturaepraelii, 
 quo Carthagenienses et Hieronem in Sicilia devicerat, proposuit in 
 latere Curiae Hostiliae. f^lin. N. II. xxxv. 7. 
 
 Cum eum (Bihulum) tu consulem in vinela duceres, et a tabula 
 Valeria collegaetui mitti iuberent, fecerisne ante Rostra ponteni con- 
 tinuatis tribunalibus, per quern consul populi Ilomani . . . non in car- 
 cerem sed ad supplicium et necem duceretur ? Cic. in Vatin. ix. 21. 
 
 Nam ad me P. Valerius . . . scripsit . . . quemadmodum a Vestae ad 
 tabulam Valeriam ducta esses. Cic. ad Terent. (Ep. addiv. xiv.2, 2.) 
 
 - To re (iovXevTt'ipiov np <l>aiVr(^ r^ too ^vWov v'lel dpoiKocofii'ifTai 
 Trpe<TkTa^av. >)j/ fitv yap tu 'OrrriXiov, fxeTfaKEvatTTO dt virb tov Y.vWov' 
 did TovTO re Trtpi avTOu tdo^e^ Kcti oTrutg t^oiKodofitjOtv to Ik^ivov ovofia 
 diroXd^y. Dio Cass. xl. 50. Plin. N. 11. xxxiv. 12. (Note 485.) 
 Ascon. ad Cic. p. Mil. 5. (Note 551.) 
 
 REBUILDING OF TUE CL'RI\. 
 
 153 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 what obscure. Our chief information on the sub- 
 ject is derived from Dio. The restoration decreed 
 by the Senate appears, according to this historian, 
 to have l)een commenced, if not completed, when 
 Caesar or his friends, jealous of the honour })ro- 
 posed to l)e paid to the family of Sulla, caused 
 the new ])uilding of Faustus to be pulled down, 
 under pretence of raising on its site a temple 
 to Felicity (which was actually completed by Temple of 
 
 ^ ^ . '^ i^ • ^'elifitj. 
 
 Lepidus), l)ut really in order that a new Curia 
 mii>:ht be built to bear the name of Julia.*^^ In ^""'^ 
 
 o duiia. 
 
 the year following the death of Julius, an order 
 was given for the rel)uilding of the Curia Hostilia 
 on the occasion of an alarm caused by various 
 j)ortents and calamities,^ and in the next year the 
 Curia Julia was erected at the side of the Comi- 
 tiuni in pursuance of the previous decree.^ 
 
 The above narrative does not make it certain Qu<i^t^on 
 
 as to ideu- 
 
 Avhethcr the Curia Julia stood on the site of the Curia <^^^y ^^ '^i*^®- 
 Hostilia. The hrst passage, which describes the 
 removal of the proposed Curia Cornelia to make 
 room for a Temple of Felicity, implies an intention 
 
 *'* \\ov\tvTi]pwv Tf Ti Kaivov TTOoyffrtt (Krt/Vapi) irpoaWa^av^ kireiSij to 
 'OtTTiXioi' Kainep uvoiKodofitiOtv KaTyplOif ■n-pn(l)afrtp fitv toi' vabv Vaitv' 
 \ia{; ivravOa olno^ofiiiOi'ivat, ov Kai 6 A(:Tri^oc iTnrapxiloat; t^t'Troiz/fftj', 
 tpyip St oTTwf /'//re tv iKEivift to tov "H^vXXov ovofia (toj^oito^ Kai tTtpuv tK 
 KuivtiQ KaTatTKevaaOiv 'lovXiov ovonaaOt'u] Dio Cass, xliv 5. 
 
 * Kai Cid TOVTO to t6 f3ovXtVTi)f}iov to 'OcTiXiov dvoiKocoiit]9i'ivai , . 
 t-il/i}(pifTOij. Dio Cass. xlv. 17. 
 
 * To (iovXtvTiipiov TO 'lovXiov ott' avTOv KXt]Oiv irapd Tt^ KofiiTUiJ a*vo- 
 /iu(T/uiv<^i i>iKocofiovif, iooTTi-p tipi'itpKTTo. Dio Catss. xlvii. ID. 
 
154 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 at that time to build a new Curia on another 
 site ; and the completion of the temple, of the 
 subsequent removal of which not a word is said, 
 seems to present a difficulty in supposing the 
 Curia Julia to have occupied the same spot. On 
 the other hand, the decree to rebuild the Curia 
 Hostilia, and the description of the position of the 
 new Curia, which corresponds so exactly with 
 that of the old, at the side of the Comitium,*^^ 
 leaves the impression that the intention to seek 
 another position was abandoned, and that the 
 Curia Julia ultimately occupied the site of the 
 older Curia. It should be added that no further 
 mention is found of the Temple of Felicity. The 
 identification of the Curia Hostilia and the Curia 
 Julia is confirmed by the expression of Livy, who 
 says that the Curia up to his father's time bore 
 the name of Hostilia." The same inference may 
 be drawn from other authors subsequent to the 
 rebuilding, who speak of the Curia as an individual 
 monument without any indication of a change of 
 site having interrupted its identity. 
 
 Curia, praetexto quae nunc nitet alta senatu, 
 Pellitos habuit, rustica corda, patres.* 
 
 *>" Pliny likewise places the Curia Julia in the Comitium. Plin. 
 N. H. XXXV. 10. (Note 428.) The new Curia was, not improbably, 
 on a larger scale than the old. The adjoining basilica, which was 
 burnt with it, may have afforded room for its extension. 
 
 ' Liv. i. 30 (Xote 410.) 
 
 « Propertius, iv. 1, 11. Mon. Ancyr. (Xote 437.) Dionys. iv. 38. 
 (Xote 409.) 
 
 THE CURIA. 
 
 155 
 
 The meaning of the word Curia is not without chap. 
 its bearing upon the question here discussed. This ^^ — ^ 
 word was undoubtedly used not only for the of^thcwmd 
 regular Senate-house, but for any place where the 
 Senate met. and also for the Senate itself. Cicero 
 boasts that during his consulate he had always on 
 the Rostra defended the Curia, and in the Senate 
 defended the people.''' Sallust speaks of Catiline 
 bursting out of the Curia when the Senate was 
 sitting in the Temple of Jupiter Stator, though 
 the historian does not mention the locality .^^ In 
 one of the anecdotes of Valerius Maximus, the 
 Curia, as the place where the Senate w^as 
 actually assembled, is contrasted with the Hos- 
 tilia. The Senate invited the tribune Drusus, 
 who w^as at the Rostra, to come to the Curia. 
 *' Why does not the Senate rather," said he, 
 "come to the Hostilia, that is, to me ?"' Still 
 the word Curia, when used of a locality without 
 reference to the presence of the Senate, could 
 only mean the ordinary place of meeting for the 
 time being of that body. 
 
 Durino- the interval between the burning of the Curia 
 
 «^ /^ 1 Ponipeia. 
 
 Curia Hostilia and the death of Caesar, the great 
 
 «»» Ut semper in rostris Curiam, in senatu populum defenderim. 
 
 Cic. in Pis. 3. 
 
 29 Dein se ex Curia domum proripuit. Sallust. Bell. Catilin. Cic. 
 
 in Catil. i 1. (Note 44.) 
 
 » Cum senatus ad eum misisset ut in Curiam veniret, Quare non 
 potius, inquit, ipse in Ilostiliam, propimiuam Rostris, id est ad me, 
 venit y Val. Max. ix. 5, '1. 
 
15f) 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Ciniji 
 Julia. 
 
 THE ROMAN FOIiUM. 
 
 hall in the Porticus of Pooipey was the usual 
 meeting-place of the Senate, and was inaugurated 
 for this purpose/^^ This building was therefore 
 for the time the Curia ; and an anecdote told by 
 Suetonius, in which the word is used without 
 qualification, probably relates to this building. 
 Caesar having given great offence to the Romans 
 l)y admitting strangers, especially half- barbarous 
 Gauls, into the Senate, some wit suggested, as 
 a happy thought, that they should all agree to 
 refuse to show a new senator the way to tlie 
 Curia.^ So Ovid writes with reference to the 
 death of Caesar : 
 
 Neqne eniin locns nllns in iirbe 
 Ad facinus diramqiie i)lacet nisi Curia caedcni.^ 
 
 The Curia, with a structure called the Chalci- 
 dicum attached to it, is amono; the buildinc^-s 
 claimed by Augustus in the Ancyran inscription/ 
 It was dedicated by him in the year B.C. 29, the 
 same year in which he celebrated his triple 
 triumph and closed the Temple of Janus. He 
 
 *" Confirmavitque (Varro), nisi in loco per augures constituto, 
 quod templum appellaretur, senatus consultuin factum esset, iustuni 
 id non fuisse ; propterea et in Curia Hostilia et in Pompeia et post 
 in Inliii, quum profana ea loca fuissent, tenipla esse per au«Tures 
 eon?tituta, ut in iis senatus consulta more maiorum iusta fieri 
 possent. A. Gell. xiv. 7. 
 
 ^ Peregrinis in senatum allectis, libellus propositus est: bonum 
 factum, ne quis senatori novo Curiam monstrare velit. Suetonius, 
 lul. 80. 
 
 * Ovid, Metam, xv. 801. 
 
 ^ Man. Ancyr. (Note 437.) 
 
 CURIA JULTA. 
 
 157 
 
 placed in the Curia a statue of Victory, which chap. 
 
 IV 
 
 remained there in the time of Dio. This statue 1 
 
 came originally from Tarentum ;''' it was carried vklon^^ 
 in the funeral procession of Augustus.' Two 
 pictures, placed upon the walls of the Curia l)y Pictures in 
 the same emperor, preserved the names of their jlliia""'' 
 authors, Nicias and Philochares, to the age of 
 Pliny, who mentions, as a singular circumstance 
 with reference to the material, tliat the work of 
 Nicias was said, in his own inscription on the 
 picture, to be burnt in.'^ 
 
 The Curia Julia is mentioned by Suetonius as Later 
 existing at the death of Caligula, when the Roman tile Curil. 
 aristocracy was so averse to the rule of the 
 Caesars, that tlie consuls convoked the Senate in 
 the Capitol, rather than in the Curia, because the 
 latter l)ore the name of Julia.'* This, it appears, 
 is the latest mention by any classical writer of 
 the Curia Julia as an existing building.^^ It was 
 probably ])urnt down in the time of Titus or 
 
 *^ To r€ 'kOiivaiov Ka'i to XoXkicikov wvofiaafitvov Kai to f3ov\evTt)piov 
 TO 'lovXieiov TO tTTi Ty TOO TTttTpot; avTOv Tifiy yevofievov KaOieptofftv. 
 lpt<TTt}<Tf Se tf ai'To TO tiynXfjia to Tti^ Niic>/g Kai to vvv oV . . ijv St St) 
 Tutv TapevTivujv. Dio Cass. li. 22. 
 
 ^ Sueton. Aug. 100. ' 
 
 * Item in Curia quoque, quam in Comitio consecrabat (Augustus), 
 duas tabulas impressit parieti. Nemeam sedentem supra leonem 
 Nicias scripsit se inussisse, tali enim usus est verbo. Alterius 
 tabulae . . . Philochares hoc suum opus esse testatus est. Plin. 
 XXXV. 10. lb. XXXV. 40. (Note 36.) 
 
 » Sueton. Calig. fiO. 
 
 =»" Becker, Handbuch, i. 34G. 
 
158 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 II 
 
 CJJAP. Domitian, since a Senate-bouse was 1)iiilt by tbe 
 — latter emperor.''^'^ It was again burnt in tbe time of 
 Diocletian.^ 
 Altar of Herodian mentions a statue and altar of Vic- 
 
 Victory 
 
 removed ))y torv, wbicb stood in tbe Senate-bouse in tbe 
 
 Christian *^ 
 
 influence. reio:ns of Helio2:abalus and Maximin.^ Tbe altar 
 of Victory became afterwards a central point 
 around wbicb was waged tbe war between Cliris- 
 tianity and expiring Heatbendom. It appears to 
 bave been removed by Cbristian influence under 
 tbe emperor Gratianus in tbe year a.d. 382, and 
 its restoration was demanded by Symmacbus, and 
 opposed by Ambrose as offensive to tbe conscience 
 of tbe Cbristian senators.^ Tbe Cbristian party 
 is said to bave prevailed ; but an allusion of 
 Claudian, in bis description of Stilicbo's reception 
 by tbe senate some twenty years later, seems to 
 imply tbat tbe statue, if not tbe altar, of Victory 
 was tben in tbe Senate-bouse. 
 
 *'<> Ilieron. an. xcii. t. i. p. 443. Rone. ; Prosp. Aquit. p. 571 ; 
 Cassiod. Chron. t. ii. p. 197 ; Catal. Imp. Vienn. p. 243. (Becker, 
 llandbuch, i. 347.) 
 
 > Catal. Imp. Vienn. (Xote 448.) 
 
 ' Herodian, v. 5 ; ib. vii. 11. Die Cass. li. 22. (Note 426.) 
 
 ' Quis ita familiaris est barbaris ut aram Victoriae non requirat? 
 Relatio Symmach. i. 4. Prudentius, ed. V^alpy, p 683. 
 
 Cum vir clar. Praelectus urbis Symmachus ad clementiam tiiam 
 retulisset, ut ara quae de urbis Romae Curia sublata fuerat redde- 
 
 jetur loco, etc Sic deam esse et Victoriam crediderunt . . . 
 
 Hujus aram strui in urbis Romae Curia petunt, hoc est, quo plures 
 conveniunt Christian!. Ambros. Epist. in Symra. ibid. pp. 689, 
 699. 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 159 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 CIIALCIDIOUM OF AUGUSTUS. 
 
 Ducibus circumstipata togatis 
 Jure paludatae iam Curia militat aulae. 
 Ad fait ipsa suis ales Victoria templis, 
 Romanae tutela togae : quae divite pompa 
 Patricii reverenda fovet sacraria coetus.^'"^* 
 
 Tbe Senatus, as tbe building itself was com- 
 monly called in later times,^ probably continued 
 to exist on its ancient site for many centuries. 
 Botb tbe original Curia and tbe Curia Julia appear Fence of 
 to bave been guarded by some sort of fence.^ ^""^' 
 
 Wben tbe Curia was rebuilt by Augustus, TheChai- 
 be joined to it a building, wbicb was of suffi- AugulTus. 
 cient importance to be specially mentioned in 
 tbe Ancyran inscription, and is tbere called 
 Cbalcidicum." Tbe cbaracter of tbis monument 
 is matter of conjecture. Vitruvius speaks of 
 chcdcidica as proper adjuncts to a basilica,^ and 
 a chalcidlcum is named in an inscription found 
 at Pompeii, descril)ing tbe various parts of tbe 
 building tbere discovered, wbicb is called tbe 
 Hall of Eumacbia. It may be reasonably sup- 
 posed tbat tbe Cbalcidicum of Augustus con- 
 tained waiting-rooms and offices for tbe conve- 
 
 *" Claudian, xxviii. De vi. Cons. Honor. 595. 
 
 ^ Senatum dici et pro loco et pro hominibus. A. Gell. xviii. 7. 
 Compare Plin. N. H. vii. 54 (Xofe 407); Pseudo-Ascon. in Cic. 
 Verr. II. i. 22. (Xote 389.) 
 
 « Cic. Rep ii. 17. (Note 381.) Propertius, iv. 4. 13. See before, 
 p. 151. 
 
 ^ CVRIAM . ET . CONTINENS . EI . CHALCIDICVM . . . FECI . MoH. 
 
 Ancyr. 
 
 « Basilicarum loca adiuncta foris. Sin autem locus erit amplior 
 in lon«ritudine, chalcidica in extremis constituantur. Vitruv.v. 1. 
 
160 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP, nience of the senators. The dedication of the 
 — Chalcidicum is mentioned by Dio, who associates 
 it with the Curia, and with a building called 
 TO WOi^vaiov^ unless, as has been long suspected, his 
 Chalcidicum and Athenaeum are the same.'^'' No 
 subsequent notice is found of the Chalcidicum under 
 this name. But in the Notitia the monument 
 Atrium mentioned next after the Senatus in the eio-hth Re- 
 gion IS called Atruun Minervae, and this buildino; 
 appears to have been among those burnt with the 
 Senatus in the time of Diocletian.''^ A temple of 
 Minerva Chalcidica^ was among the works of 
 Domitian,^ and it seems not improbable that the 
 word Chalcidicum, as appropriated to the build- 
 ing of Augustus, was connected with the same 
 goddess, whose image may have consecrated its 
 hall, and that the foreign name was rejected by 
 popular usage in favour of the more familiar 
 Atrium Minervae. We have seen that in like 
 manner the whole residence of the Vestals was in 
 Pliny's time called Atrium Vestae, a name which 
 had originally belonged to a part of the Regia.' 
 
 «" 'ETra U TUvTa SiertXecTf, to rf. 'Xdnvaiov kuI to XaXKioiKuv wpofiarrftf- 
 
 VOV Kai TO (iovXfvHipiOV TO 'lovXieiOU, to .TT,' ry to? TCOTpOQ ahTOV Tipy 
 
 y^pofievov, KaMpoxrev. Dio Cass. li. 22. The readin-, 'X9;,vcaov to 
 Kai XaXKi^iKov ojvoftatTfihov, was suggested by Reimar in the edition 
 of 1750. 
 
 *" Catal. Imp. Vienn. (Xote 448.) 
 
 • The temple of IMinerva Chalcidica is mentioned in the Notitia in 
 the ninth Region, [ts name is still preserved in that of the church 
 of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. 
 
 = Eusebius or Hieron. 01. 217, p. 443. Rone, (liecker, Iland'uuch, 
 • ^^'^O ^ See p. 125. 
 
 THE GRAECOSTASIS. 
 
 161 
 
 Upon the Comitium, at the side of the Curia, chap. 
 and to its right, was, as we learn from Varro, a — 
 terrace or platform called the Graecostasis^ This I^lfi"' 
 is described as a place in which the ministers of 
 friendly states might pass their time while await- 
 ing an audience of tlie Senate.''^ In speaking of 
 this monument as being to the right of the CuHa, 
 we understand Varro to mean that it was to thj 
 right of a person standing in front of the Curia and 
 looking from it. Cicero, in a letter to liis brother, 
 describes the followers of Clodius as disturbing 
 the Senate by their shouting from tlie Grae"^ 
 costasis and from the steps,— apparently of the 
 Curia.' The Graecostasis seems to have been 
 an open area, since we read of the prodigy of a 
 shower of milk falling there.' 
 
 The Graecostasis, or a monument called by a TheGrae- 
 similar name, existed in the time of Antoninus ''''''^'""'' 
 Pius, by whom it Avas restored after fire.' A 
 building called Graecostadium was also rebuilt 
 by Diocletian,' and is named in tlie Curiosum 
 
 *" Varro, L. L. v. 32. (Xote 402.) 
 
 ^ Deinde eius (Clodi) operae repente a Graecostasi et gradibus 
 clamorem satis magnum sustulerant. Cic. ad Quint, fr. ii. 1. 
 
 « Caio Cassio Longino, Caio Sextilio Coss in Graecostasi lacte 
 pluit. lul. Obseq. p. 69 (ed. Paris, 1533). Anton, P. c. 8. Varro 
 L. L. V. 32. (Note 402.) ' 
 
 ' Opera eius haec extant, Romae . . . Graecostadium post incendlum 
 restitutum. Capitolinus, Anton. Pius, c. 8. (Hist. Aug. Script.) 
 
 « Opera publica arserunt Senatum, foium Caesaris, "patrimonium 
 [Atrium Minervae, Preller] basilicam Tuliam et Graecostadium. 
 Catal. Imp. Vienn. Preller, Regionen, p. 143. 
 
 M 
 
1G2 
 
 THE KOMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 VnlcjiHiil. 
 
 of tlie time of Constantine."*^^ But on both these 
 occasions it is mentioned in conjunction with 
 tlie Basilica Julia ; and it is probable that the 
 Graecostasis did not exist at this period on its 
 old site as described hy Varro.'^*' 
 
 In connection with the Comitium should be 
 noticed the Vul canal. From the expressions of 
 the Greek writers upon Roman antiquities, it 
 would ])e concluded that this was a temple of 
 Vulcan. Dionysius and Plutarch generally call 
 it TO Tov 'R(j)a[aTou lepov^ and the latter even calls it 
 vao^} But we learn from the Latin authors, who 
 frequently call it Area Vulcani, that it was an 
 open space in which trees grew, and upon which 
 a shower of ])lood was believed to have fellen.^ 
 riiny says that Romulus founded the Vulcanal in 
 memory of one of his victories ;^ and Dionysius 
 and Plutarch speak of a 1)ronze quadriga said to 
 have been dedicated by Romulus in the Sacrum of 
 Vulcan out of the spoils of Camerium.' It is 
 one of Plutarch's questions on Roman Anti- 
 
 "» Vicum Tugariuni, Graecostadium, basilicam luliam. Curiosum 
 in Regione viii. See Appendix. 
 ^^ Seep. 183. 
 
 • Plutarch, Quaest. Rom. 47. (Note 455.) Dionys. ii. 50, vi. 67. 
 (Note 456.) 
 
 - Quod sanguine per hiduuni pluisset in area Vulcani. Liv. 
 xxxix. 46. In area Vulcani et Concordiae sanguinem pluit. Liv. 
 xl. 19. In area Vulcani per biduuni, in area Concordiae totldem 
 diebus, sanguinem pluit. lul. Obs. p. 61 (ed. Paris, 1533). Plin. 
 N. II. xvi. 86. (Note 463.) 
 
 ^ Plin. N. II. xvi. 86. (Note 463.) 
 
 * Dionys. ii. 54; Plutarch, Rom. 24. 
 
 THE VULCANAL. 
 
 163 
 
 quities why Romulus founded this sacred place 
 outside his city ; and he supposes it to have l>een 
 a secret meeting-place for the two kings and their 
 senators. ''^^ 
 
 Dionysius frequently speaks of the Vulcanal 
 as the usual place of pul)lic assembly in the early 
 age of Roman History. This appears to identify 
 it with the Comilium; and, as this historian makes 
 no distinct mention of the Comitium bv its ordi- 
 nary name, his Ilephaesteum can hardly be taken 
 otherwise than as another name for that locality.*' 
 In other authors the Vulcanal is clearly a distinct 
 area. It contained an altar, at which a singular 
 sacrifice was performed, tlie small fish caught in 
 
 *" A(tt Ti TO TOV 'HtpaiffTOV \epov tKut TroXewg 6 'PwfivXog icpvaaro; . . . 
 qiKoSofit'ie,} ^e 6 vadg IK ctpxnQ, <rvviCpiov Kai (3ov\evr,)piov dTToppijrov 
 avT(p fitTu TaTiov tov av^i^amXeimavToi:, ottioq avviuvTeQ tvravOa perd 
 Tiov yepovTiov, k.t.X. Plutarch. Quaest. Rom. 47. Compare the ac- 
 count the same writer gives of the Comitium, Plutarch. Rom. 19. 
 (Note 388.) 
 
 « 'Ayopav avToOi KaTeaTi'iaavTO, y Kal vvv hi xpiopevoi 'Pwpaioi CiaTS- 
 Xovm' Kctl Tovg (Tvi^oCovg tVTavQa Ittoiovvto tv 'WtpaiaTOv xpn^^aTiW'Teg 
 \fp(p^ piKpbv tTravtcTTijKoTi Ttjg dyopag. Dionys. ii. 50. 
 
 'Eiiytaav tTri Tt)v dyopiW . . kcii TrapeXOovTtg tm to Upov to? 
 'H(pai(TT0V, tvQa i/v tdog avToJg Tar tKKX}]aiag iiriTtXelv^ irpihTov ptv 
 unjv^aav tov ci'ifiov, <crX. Dionys. vi. 67. 
 
 KnTaXdiSopfvot to 'U(patrTTt7oi', tv9a t)v Wag avTolg tKKXijmd^HV, 
 tk-aXovv ptv eig tKKXtirriav tov cTipov. Dionys. vii. 17. 
 
 'Avaiidg tiri tov 'WtpaicfTov to lepov, UaXft (o 'AirTTtog) tov It^ifiov fig 
 iKKX7j(Tiav. Dionys. xi. 39. 
 
 These passages should be compared with that in which the same 
 author speaks of the part of the Comitium before the Curia as 
 to iKKXi}(Tiacrr{ipiov. Dionys. iv. 38. (Note 409 ) Elsewhere he uses 
 another paraphrase for the same locality: to KpuTiaTov x^o'"" ('' 
 KpaTKTTog TOTTog) Tt'ig dyopdg. Dionys. i. 87; iii. 1. (Note 481.) tu 
 (pavfpojTciTov Ttjg dyopag^ ib. ii. 29. (Note 384). 
 
 M 2 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 IIo])}iaes- 
 
 touni of 
 
 Dionysins 
 
 identical 
 
 with 
 
 Comitium. 
 
164 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 The Vul- 
 canal 
 above the 
 Coniitium. 
 
 Statue of 
 
 Horatius 
 
 Codes 
 
 removed 
 
 from Co- 
 
 mitium to 
 
 Vulcanal. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 the Tiber being there offered alive to Vulcan in 
 atonement for human lives.^" 
 
 The Vulcanal adjoined the Comitium, and was 
 at a higher elevation.^ This is expressly stated l)y 
 Festus, in speaking of a column and statue placed 
 there in memory of an actor or gladiator, whose 
 death by lightning in the Circus was followed by 
 some prodigies, on account of which his bones were 
 removed from their first burial-place to this spot. 
 
 Gellius tells a story about another statue, which 
 also illustrates the difference of level of these areas. 
 The statue of Horatius Codes, which stood in 
 the Comitium, was struck by lightning. Public 
 superstition being alarmed, Etruscan augurs were 
 sent for, under whose perfidious advice the statue 
 was removed to a lower situation, where it was 
 shaded by buildings. Treachery being suspected, 
 the augurs were arraigned, confessed, and were 
 put to death. It was now clear that the statue 
 ought to have been placed on a higher level, and 
 it was accordingly removed to the Vulcanal, with 
 
 *" Piscatorii ludi vocantur qui quodannis mense lunio trans Tibe- 
 rim fieri solent a PR. Urbane pro piscatoribus Tiberinis, quorum 
 quaestus non in Macellum pervenit sed fere in aream Volcani, quod 
 id genus pisciculorum vivorum datur ei Deo pro animis humanis. 
 Festus, ed Miill. p. 238. 
 
 Volcanalia a Volcano, quod ei tum feriae, et quod eo die populus 
 pro se in ignem animalia miltlt. Varro, L.L. vi. 3 (57). 
 
 « Statua est ludi eius,qui quondam, fulmine ictus inCirco,sepuUus 
 est in laniculo: cuius ossa postea ex prodigis oraculorumque respon- 
 sis senatus decreto intra urbem relata in Volcanali, quod est supra 
 Comitium, obruta sunt, superque ea columpna, cum ipsius effigie, 
 posita est. Festus, ed. Miill. p. 290. 
 
 TEMPLE OF CONCORD. 1(55 
 
 the best results to the Common wealth. ''' This chap. 
 ancient statue, Avhicli was believed to have been — 
 erected to the hero in his lifetime, still existed 
 in the time of Pliny.'^ It probably owed its 
 preservation to its removal, since the ancient 
 statues of the Comitium appear for the most part 
 to have been destroyed during the alterations 
 which took place upon that area. 
 
 The temple which was dedicated to Concord, Temple of 
 B.C. 310, by Cn. Flavius, curule aedile, in spite on The 
 of the opposition of the patricians, is placed by ^"^'''°^^' 
 Livy in the Area of Vulcan.^ But Pliny describes 
 the same temple as a small building of bronze 
 erected in a Graecostasis which was then above 
 
 *'' Statua Romae in comitio posita Iloratii Coclitis fortissimi viri 
 de caelo tacta est . . . haruspices ex Etruria acciti . . . illam sta- 
 tuam suaserunt in inferiorem locum perperam transponi, quern sol 
 oppositu circum undique aliarum aedium nunquam illustraret 
 Constititque earn statuam ... in locum editum subducendam, atque 
 ita in area Vulcani, sublimiori loco, statuendam ; eaqueres bene et 
 prospere rei publicae cesyit. A. Gell. iv. .1. 
 «» Plin. N. II. xxxiv. 11. (Note 535.) 
 
 • Civile ius repositum in penetralibus pontificura (Cn. Flavius) 
 evulgavit, fastosque circa forum in albo proposuit. ut quando le-e 
 agi posset sciretur : aedem Concordiae in area Vulcani summa invidia 
 nobilium dedicavit. Liv. ix. 46. Cic. pro Murena, 11; A. Gell. vi. 9. 
 Hie (Flavius) namque publicatis diebus fastis, quos populus a 
 paucis principum quotidie petebat, tantam gratiam plebis adeptus est, 
 alioqui libertino patre genitus et ipse Appii Caeci scriba, cuius hor- 
 tatu exceperat eos dies consultando assidue sagaci ingenio promulga- 
 veratque, ut aedilis curulis crearetur .... Flavius vovit aedem Con- 
 cordiae, si populo reconciliasset ordines. Et quum ad id pecunia 
 publica non decerneretur, ex multatitia feneratoribus condemnatis 
 aediculam aeream fecit in Graecostasi, quae tunc supra Comitium erat. 
 Inciditque in tabella aerea earn aedem trecentis quatuor annis post 
 Capitolinam dedicatam. Plin. N. H. xxxiii. 6. 
 
160 
 
 THE ROMAN FOHUM. 
 
 THE SENACULUM. 
 
 1()7 
 
 CHAP, the Comitiuin. This aecUcula, with tlie Grae- 
 
 IV 
 
 — '- eostasis in which it was placed, liad disappeared 
 
 before Pliny's tinie.^*^^ 
 
 Fasti imnj? The Same Flavins, who had been a clerk of the 
 
 Forum. censor Appins Clandins the Blind, hnng around 
 
 the Forum tablets containini^ the Roman Calendar 
 
 of dies fasti and ncfasf I, for the knowledge of which 
 
 the people had previously^ been dependent on the 
 
 pontifices. 
 
 Vukanai There still remained in the time of the empire 
 
 of the time . n ^-^ i • i*i j_ a. r 
 
 of Pliny, an Area of Vulcan, m which grew two trees oi 
 remarkable age, supposed to be coeval with the 
 city. One of these, a cypress, fell down about 
 the end oi' Nero's reign ; the other, a lotos, 
 existed in the time of Pliny, and had roots which, 
 according to that author, extended under the 
 
 statioiies Statioucs Muuicipiorum as far as the Forum of 
 
 Mnnici- tip i • 
 
 piorum. Lacsar. \V e may conclude irom tins statement 
 that between the Vulcanal of Pliny and the last- 
 
 *•'■-' The Graecostasis so placed can scarcely have been the same as 
 tlie Graecostasis to tlie right of the Curia, described by Varro, and 
 mentioned by Pliny in speaking of the observation of mid-day. 
 (Plin. N. II. vii. 60.) The latter was in the Comitium, and pro- 
 jected, as we shall see, in front of the Curia. See further, p. 177, 
 The expression supra Comitium (lb. xxxiii. 6. Note 402) means, as 
 in Festus's Vulcanal supra Comitium (Note 458) and Varro's Sena- 
 culum supra Graecostasiu (Note 402), on the higher level behind it. 
 Pliny's phrase, Graecostasis quae tunc erat supra Comitium, points 
 to a monument on a site not generally connected with the name. 
 
 3 Verum altera lotos in Vulcanali quod Komulus constituit ex 
 victoria de decumis, aequaeva urbi intelligitur, ut auctor est Masu- 
 rius. Kadices eius in forum usque Caesaris per stationes munici- 
 pioruni penetrant. Fult cum ea cupressus aequalis, circa suprema 
 Neronis principis prola})sa atque neglecta. Plin. N. II. xvi. 86. 
 
 I 
 
 named Forum was a monument, which probably chap. 
 answered a similar purpose for the use of the re- — '- 
 presentatives of subject municipia as the Graeco- 
 stasis for those of foreign nations. 
 
 In Varro's account of the objects near the iSena. 
 Curia, he proceeds, from the Graecostasis upon 
 the Comitium at the right of the Curia, to the 
 Senaculum, which was at a higher level. This is 
 described as a waiting-place used by the senators 
 themselves, and in which they appear to liave held 
 conferences with those magistrates who had not 
 the entry of the Senate."'^ We meet with it in Livv, 
 B.C. 174, when it would seem that a covered o:al- 
 lery was constructed, or paved, from the Temple 
 of Saturn to the Senaculum, and, further on, to 
 the Curia.^ The site of this ancient Senaculum Temple of 
 is identified by Varro with that of the Temple ^^ 
 of Concord and Basilica Opimia. Festus also, on ^i*""^*- 
 the authority of Nicostratus, an older author, 
 says that there was formerly a Senaculum in the 
 place where in later times the Temple of Concord 
 stood, between the Capitol and the Forum.' The 
 
 «« Varro L. L. v. 32 (43). (Note 402.) Festus, ed. Mull. p. 347. 
 (Note 467.) 
 
 ^ Censores . . . clivum Capitolinum silice sternendum curaverunt, 
 et porticum ab aede Saturni in Capitolium ad Senaculum ac super id 
 Curiam. Liv. xli. 27. The reading is evidently defective in some 
 way, so that the passage is not reliable as topographical evidence. 
 
 " Senacula tria fuisse Romae, in quibus senatus haberi solitus sit, 
 memoriae prodidit Nicostratus in libro, qui inscribitur de Senatu ha- 
 bendo : unum ubi nunc est aedis Concordiae inter Capitolium et Forum, 
 in quo solebant magistratus D. T. cum senioribus deliberare. Festus, 
 ed. Mull. p. 347. 
 
168 
 
 CHAP 
 IV. 
 
 What was 
 the Sena- 
 culum? 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 name of Senaculuin Ions: ling-ered in connection 
 with the spot, and was probably applied to the 
 great portico of Concord, or the space in front of 
 it, for Valerius Maximus, writing in the time of 
 Tiberius, sajs that the senators used formerly to 
 wait, before they were summoned into the Curia, 
 at the place which was still to that day called 
 Senatulum.^'^ And Macrobius asserts that the altar 
 of Saturn, which was probably not far from the 
 temple of that god, stood (in the writer's time) 
 before the Senaculum. The Temple of Concord 
 formed a convenient place for waiting before 
 going into the Curia, since we read that Pertinax, 
 on his election as emperor, coming late on the 
 last night of the year from the Camp to the 
 Senate, sat down in this temple until the porter 
 could be found to open the Curia.^ 
 
 Whether the Senaculum was an inclosed build- 
 ing, or a porticus^ or a terrace, or merely a 
 locality so called from the use made of it, we 
 have no distinct information. Livy's notice of it 
 
 ^'^ Antea senatus assiduam stationem eo loco peragebat, qui hodie 
 quoque senatulumappellatur, nee expectabat ut edicto contraheretur, 
 sed inde cltatus protinus in Curiam veniebat. . . . Illud quoque 
 memoria repetendum est, quod tribunis plebis intrare Curiam non 
 licebat ; ante valvas autem positis subselliis decreta patrum .... 
 exammabant, et si qua ex iis improbassent rata esse non sinerent. 
 Valer. Max. ii. 2, 6. 
 
 > Habet (Saturnus) aram et ante Senaculum: illlc Graeco ritu 
 capite aperto res divina fit, quia primo a Pelasgis, post ab Hercule, 
 ita earn a principio factitalam putant. Macrob. Saturn, i. 8. Dionys. 
 i. 34; vi. 1. (Note 55.) 
 
 TEMPLE OF CONCORD. 
 
 169 
 
 throws no light upon this question. Festus, or 
 the author whom he cites, appears to speak of it 
 as a monument which had been displaced by the 
 Temple of Concord. But neither Valerius Maxi- 
 mus nor Varro know anvthin^; of the Senaculum 
 except as a locality. The former mentions it as 
 a place which was still so called. The latter 
 fixes it where the Temple of Concord and Basilica 
 Opimia stood, and gives no indication that he is 
 speaking of a monument which had been removed 
 to make room for those buildings. 
 
 Beyond its mention by Varro, nothing is known 
 of the Basilica Opimia. It is conjectured to have 
 been the work of L. Opimius, consul B.C. 121, the 
 rebuilder of the Temple of Concord. It was pro- 
 bably destroyed before the restoration of that 
 temple by Tiberius. Its site may have been 
 partly used for the enlargement of the Temple of 
 Concord, which it appeal's to have adjoined, and 
 may have extended to the ground afterwards 
 occupied by the Temple of Vespasian. 
 
 Havino^ reached in this direction the limits of 
 the Forum at the base of the Capitol, we will now 
 return to the front of the Curia.^'^ 
 
 It is said that in early times benches were 
 placed before the doors of this building for the 
 accommodation of the Tribunes of the Plebs, who 
 were not admitted into the senate. 
 
 ♦■- Factus autem sexagenario maior imperator, pridie Kal. Ian. de 
 castris nocte quum ad Senatum venisset, et cellani Curiae iussisset 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 The Sena- 
 culum in 
 Varro and 
 Valerius 
 a locality. 
 
 Basilica 
 Opimia. 
 
 Its site. 
 
 Benches 
 of the 
 Tribunes. 
 
170 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Statue 
 of Attus 
 Navius. 
 
 1{uniinu1 
 fij^-tree. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Upon the steps to the left of the Curia stood in 
 the time of the Republic the bronze statue of the 
 famous augur Attus Navius, whicli was believed 
 to have been placed here by King Tarquinius 
 Priscus, and which existed on the spot until the 
 time of Dionysius, who describes it as less than a 
 man of ordinary stature, with the head veiled. 
 This curious relic was probably removed during 
 the rebuilding of the Curia. Livy speaks of it in 
 the past tense, and Pliny tells us that the pedestal 
 was burnt in the fire that destroyed the Curia at 
 the funeral of Clodius. Close by were said to be 
 buried the razor and whetstone with which Navius 
 performed his miracle; the site of this sacred 
 deposit being marked by a monument called the 
 Puteal.''* 
 
 Before the Curia, near the statue of Navius, 
 grew a sacred %-tree,' which appears to have 
 
 aperiri, neque inveniretiir aedituus, in templo Concordiae resedit. 
 Capitolin. Pertin. 4. 
 
 *'* Statua Atti capite velato, quo in loco res acta est, in Comitio in 
 gradil)us ipsis ad laevam Curiae fuit: cotem quoqueeodeni loco sitani 
 iui.se ineniorant, ut esset ad posteros niiraculi ejus monunientuni. 
 Liv. i. 36. 
 
 Cotem autem illam et novaculani defossani in Comitio supraque 
 impositum Puteal accepimus. Cicero de Div. i. 17. See p. V29. 
 
 Namque et Atti Navii statua fuit ante Curiam cuius basis confla- 
 gravit Curia incensa Puhlii Clodii funere. Plin. N. II. xxxiv. II. 
 
 ElKova KaraaKfvcwai: avrov xa\^//i/ (o TapKvviog) cdarti^ev im r,}^ 
 ayopag' i) Kai eig i^u ,)v tri ^p6 rov iiovX.vrnpiov Ks,,,ivn, 7r\r,,riov r,}^ 
 lepag avKng, IXarnov dv^pog ^erpiov, t,)v 7repifh\,)v txovna Kara rr,g 
 K^<pa\r,g. 6Xiyo^> ^e drroOn^ ai,rr,g i} re uKovr, ysypd^Oac [qu. .e^p^,00„O 
 A.yfra, Ka, 6 ^vpog kutii yr,g vtto fiojfufi run. Dionjs. iii. 71. 
 
 •■• Dionys. iii. 71. (Note 474.) 
 
 RUMINAL FIG-TREE. 
 
 been once called Ficus Navia, from some tradi- 
 tional association with the augur,^'*^ but had become 
 by the time of Tacitus identified in popular belief 
 with the Ruminal Fig-tree, the original site of 
 which was at the foot of the hill called Germalus, 
 at the western corner of the Palatine on the road 
 to the Circus Maximus.' In a somewhat confused 
 passage of Pliny's Natural History, he alludes to 
 a story of the tree having been miraculously 
 transplanted to the Comitium. Whenever it 
 withered it was planted anew by the priests.^ 
 Tacitus mentions an occasion when the dvins; 
 down of the Ruminal Fig-tree, as it was called, 
 
 *'^ Ficus quoque in Comitio appellatur Navia ab Atto Navio 
 augure. Festus, ed. Miill. p. 169. The story of the growth of the 
 fig-tree according to a prediction of Navius, and of its miraculous 
 preservation, is told by Festus, but the text is for the most part 
 supplied by conjecture. 
 
 ^ Germalum a germanis Romulo et Remo, quod ad ficum Runii- 
 naleni ii ibi inventi. Varro, L. L. v. 8 (17). Dionys, i. 79. (Note 
 223.) Plutarch, Rom. 3, 4. 
 
 » Colitur ficus arbor in foro ipso ac comitio Romae nata, sacra 
 fulguribus ibi conditis, magisque ob memoriam eius, quae nutrix 
 Romuli ac Remi conditoris imperi in Lupercali prima protexit, 
 Ruminalis apj)t'llata, quoniam sub ea inventa est lupa infiintibus 
 ju-aebens rumim, ita vocabant raammam, miraculo ex aere iuxta 
 dicato, tanquam in Comitium sponte transisset, Atto Navio augu- 
 rante ; nee sine praes-agio aliquo arescit, rursusque cura sacerdotum 
 seritur. Plin. N. H. xv. 20 (ed. Sillig). 
 
 [Ruminalem ficum nppel]latam ait Varro [prope Curiam sub 
 veter]ibus quod sub ea ar[bore lupa a monte decurrens] Remo et 
 Romulo [mammam praebuerit, mannnja autem rumis di[cebatur]. 
 Festue, ed. Miill. 270. The clauses in brackets were supplied by 
 Scaliger and Ursinus, and the words prope Curiam sub veterihus are 
 inconsistent with our present knowledge, and with Varro, L. L. v. 8. 
 (Note 477.) 
 
 171 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 I 
 
172 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAR 
 IV. 
 
 Lion of 
 Faustulus. 
 
 Columna 
 Maenia. 
 
 on the Comitium, gave rise to some public un- 
 easiness, which was allayed by the appearance of 
 fresh shoots/^^ 
 The Rostra The ])Osition of the Rostra in front of the Curia 
 
 of the ^ 
 
 Comitium. and upon the edge of the Comitium has been 
 already mentioned. They were removed from 
 this site in the year preceding the assassination of 
 Caesar, probably during some of the alterations 
 that accompanied the rebuilding of the Curia.^^ 
 
 On the Comitium, by the side of the Rostra, 
 was in early times a stone lion, which was be- 
 lieved to mark the site of the death and 1)urial of 
 Faustulus.^ 
 
 Another ancient monument of the Comitium 
 was the Columna Maenia, mentioned by Plin}^ as 
 one of the oldest commemorative monuments of 
 Rome, but which had apparently been removed 
 before he wrote. It was erected in honour of 
 C. Maenius, the conqueror of the Latins, in whose 
 consulate, B.C. 338, the rostra of the ships taken 
 at Antium were fixed on the suggestum.^ This 
 monument appears to have been near one of the 
 entrances of the Forum in the larger sense of the 
 
 *'» Eodem anno Ruminalem arborem in Comitio, quae super octin- 
 gentos et quadraginta ante annos Remi Romulique infantiam texerat, 
 mortuis ramalibus et arescente trunco diminutam prodigii loco ba- 
 bitum est, donee in novos fetus reviresceret. Tac. Ann. xiii. 5S. 
 
 »" See more as to the history of the Rostra in Chapter V. 
 
 » TivkQ Se Kai Tbv Xsoura rov \i9ivov, oq tKe.ro rr,g ccyopug Trjg rdv 
 'Piofiaiiov Iv T>p Kparianp x^^pi^p Trapa ro7t> ^i,(36\otg, IttI r<i> awfiavL tov 
 ^avarvXov TeOijval (paaiv^ tvOa tTreaep. Dionys. i. 87. 
 
 ■' Antiquior eolumnarum (celebratio), sicut C.;Maenio, qui devi^ 
 
 COLUMNA MAENIA. 
 
 173 
 
 word. For on the occasion of the tribune Sextius, 
 who had distinguished himself by his exertions 
 for the recall of Cicero from exile, attending a 
 gladiatorial spectacle, he had come as far as the 
 Maenian Column, when he was received with 
 general applause, which extended to the stands 
 on the Capitoline slope, and was repeated from 
 the railings of the Forum .^^^ 
 
 At the Maenian Column was the tribunal of 
 the Triumviri Capitales, the principal Criminal 
 Court of Rome. This tribunal appears from an 
 allusion of Cicero to have had a special class of 
 advocates practising before it, the Old Bailey Bar 
 of the Forum. '^ 
 
 Upon the Comitium also in the time of the 
 Republic stood two statues, the history of which 
 is a singular one. On occasion of one of the 
 reverses which befel the Roman arms in the 
 second Samnite War, about three centuries before 
 the Christian era, the Senate applied to Delphi 
 for advice, and were commanded by the oracle 
 
 cerat priscos Latinos . . . eodemque in consulatu in suggestu rostra 
 devictis Antiatibus fixerat anno urbis ccccxvi. Item C. Duilio, qui 
 primus navalcm triumphum egit de Poenis, quae est etiam nunc in 
 foro, Plin. N. H. xxxiv. 11. 
 
 ♦" Cic. Sext. 58. (Note 223.) As to the site of the column, see 
 pp. 178, 191. 
 
 * Vobis autem tanta inopia reorum est, ut mihi causam prae- 
 ripere conemini potius quam aliquos ad columnam Maeniam vestri 
 ordinis reos reperiatis ? Cic. in Caecil. div. 16. 
 
 Reos vestra defensione condignos, ut fures et servos nequam, qui 
 apud triumviros capitales apud columnam Maeniam puniri solent. 
 Pseudo-Asconius ad Cic. ib. 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Tribunal 
 of the 
 Triumviri 
 Capitales. 
 
 Statues of 
 Pytha- 
 goras and 
 Alci- 
 biades. 
 
\ 
 
 J 
 
 174 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Porsenna. 
 
 Flermo- 
 dorus. 
 
 Basilica 
 Porcia. 
 
 THE HOMAX FORUM. 
 
 to dedicate in some frequented site a statue to 
 the wisest, and another to the bravest, of the 
 Greek race. The philosopher and warrior chosen 
 were Pythagoras and Alcibiades; and the statues 
 were placed, to use Pliny's expression, on the 
 horns of the Comitium, that is apparently at its 
 two corners or extremities. These statues re- 
 tained their position until the rebuilding of the 
 Curia by Sulla.^^^ Their disappearance on that 
 occasion leads to the supposition that the "horns " 
 of the Comitium, or one of them, were in imme- 
 diate proximity to the Curia. 
 
 Plutarch mentions a bronze statue of Porsenna 
 of rude and archaic workmanship, which used to 
 stand at the side of the Curia.^ 
 
 Another ancient statue of the Comitium was 
 that of Hermodorus the Ephesian, who assisted the 
 decemvirs in drawing up the laws of the Twelve 
 Tables. Tliis was lost before the time of Pliny.^ 
 Under the Curia at the side of the Forum was 
 the Basilica Porcia,^ and at a short distance in 
 
 - Invenioet Pythagorae et Alcibiadi (statuas) in cornibus Comitil 
 pos.tas, cum bello Saniniti Apollo Pythius fortissimo Graiae .^entis 
 lussisset, et alteri sapientissimo, simulacra celebri loco dicari'' Ei 
 s^etere donee Sulla dictator ibi Curiam faceret. Plin. N. II. xxxiv 12 
 
 ^ VAarhKU n xa\Kov, dv^^na, avroo rrapd to (iov\evri,p.ov, aTrXov, kcu 
 apxciiKog Ty tpycKriif. Plutarch. Popl. 19. 
 
 ^ Fuit et Hermodori Ephesii (statua) in Comitio, legum quas 
 decemv.n scnbebant interpretis, publice dicata. Alia causa, alia 
 auctontas M. Iloratii Coclitis statuae, quae durat hodieque, quum 
 hostes a ponte Sublicio solus arcuisset. Plin. N. II. xxxiv 11 
 
 « Phitarch, Cat. mai. 19; Asconius, arirum. ad Cic. pro Mil 
 
 ) 
 
 1 
 
 OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUN. 
 
 front of the Curia stood the Temple of Janus, 
 the closing or opening of which was the index of 
 peace or war. This monument was placed at the 
 lower end of the Argiletum, a street which led 
 from the Forum to the Suburra. It was actually 
 in the Forum Romanum,^*^^ but was also united, as 
 we learn from Ovid, witli another Forum.^*^ The 
 latter was in all probability the Forum of Caesar, 
 the proximity of which to the group of monuments 
 with which we are now occupied has been al- 
 ready observed. Having indicated the position 
 of these objects in relation to the Curia, it is con- 
 venient to defer what remains to be said about 
 them, in order to complete our observations 
 respecting the Curia itself and the other monu- 
 ments situated uj)on the Comitium.^ 
 
 Before attempting to determine the absolute 
 locality of these monuments, the attention of the 
 reader should be called to a passage of Pliny, which 
 enables us to fix with considerable minuteness 
 the relative situation of some of them with respect 
 to one another. We learn from that author that 
 tlie legal mid-day was for some time ascertained 
 by observing the time when the sun was to be seen 
 from the Curia between the Rostra and the Grae- 
 
 175 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Janus. 
 
 Argile- 
 tum. 
 
 Forum of 
 Caesar. 
 
 Time 
 
 ascertained 
 by observa- 
 tions on the 
 Comitium. 
 
 489 
 
 90 
 
 'KXft ct Tuv vfMV tv Ty dyop^ rrpu too f5ov\evTi)piov. Procop. Bell. 
 Goth. i. 25. Liv. i. 19. (Note 611.) 
 
 Cum tot sint iani, cur stas sacratus in uno, 
 Hie ubi terapla foris iuncta duobus habes ? 
 
 Ovid Fast. i. 257. 
 See further, Chapters VI. and VII. 
 
 ) • 
 
 il 
 
176 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 costasis, and that the suprema iempestas, which 
 
 closed the hours of legal business, was announced 
 
 when the sun, as observed from the column 
 
 of Maenius, was sinking towards the Prison. 
 
 The latter announcement was made, according: to 
 
 Varro, in the Comitium. This primitive method 
 
 of ascertaining the mid-daj and evening hour, 
 
 which could only be used in clear weather, was 
 
 practised before the first Punic war.''' It was 
 
 afterwards superseded by the sun-dial, and still 
 
 «2 Duodecim tabulis ortus tantum et occasus nominantur; post 
 aliquot annos adiectus est et meridies, accenso consulum id pronun- 
 ciante quum a Curia inter Rostra et Graecostasin prospexisset solera. 
 A columna Maenia ad carcerem inclinato sidere, supremam pronun- 
 ciabat, sed hoc serenis tantum diebus, usque ad primum Punicuin 
 bellum. Plin. N. H. vii. 60. 
 
 In duodecim tabulis verbum hoc, sol occasus, ita scriptum est : 
 
 ANTE . MERIDIEM . CAVSAM . CONICIVNTO . QVOM . PERORANT . AMBO • 
 PRAESENTES . POST . MERIDIEM . PRAESENTI . LITEM . ADDICITO . SOL 
 OCCASVS . SVPREMA . TEMPESTAS . ESTO. A. Gcll. Xvii. 2. 
 
 Quia est in xii Tabulis scriptum sic : solis . occasvs . svprema . 
 TEMPESTAS . ESTO. Scd postca M. PlactoHus tribunus plebis scitum 
 tulit, in quo scriptum est : praetor . vrbanvs . qvi . nvnc . est. 
 
 QVIQVE . post . HAC . FVAT . DVOS . LICTORES . APVD SE . HABETO . 
 VSQVE . AD SVPREMAM . [ad . SOLEM . OCCASUM] IVS[qve] INTER . 
 
 civis . DiciTO. Censorinus, de die nat. c. 24. ed. Hultsch, Lips. 1867. 
 
 Suprema summum diei, id a superrimo. Hoc tempus xii. tabulae 
 dicunt occasum esse solis ; sed postea lex praetoria [qu. Plaetoria] id 
 quoque tempus iubet esse supremum, quo praeco in Comitio supre- 
 mam pronuntiavit populo. Varro, L. L. vi. 2 (52). 
 
 Accensum solitum ciere, Boeotia ostendit, quam comoediam Attii 
 esse dicunt, hoc versu : 
 
 Ubi primum accensus clamarat meridiem. 
 Hoc idem Cosconius in actionibus scribit, praetorem accensum 
 solitum tum esse iubere, ubi ei videbatur horam esse tertiam, incla- 
 mare horam tertiam esse, itemquo meridiem, ot horam nonam. 
 Varro, L. L vi. 9 (75). 
 
 ORIENTATION OF THE CURIA. 
 
 177 
 
 I 
 
 later by the more accurate division of time ob- chap. 
 tained by the water-clock.^^^ The topographical — 
 significance of the practice descri])ed by Pliny has 
 relation therefore to an early disposition of the 
 monuments of the Comitium ; but there is no 
 reason to suppose that any change took place in 
 the position of the Curia, Graecostasis, Rostra, 
 Colunma Maenia, or Career, between the first 
 Punic war and the last years of tlie Republic. 
 
 It is obvious that, if two objects are used to ohserva- 
 indicate a meridian line from a given point, mlHly 
 their extremities nmst be nearly in the same %Z^'" 
 direction from that point, so that a vertical line 
 may l)e drawn from tliese extremities, or from a 
 narrow space between them, to the sun. The 
 observation in question may Iiave been made 
 either in this manner, or more easily by Avatching 
 the moment wlien the shadows of the two monu- 
 ments fell on the two sides of a line marked upon 
 the pavement for tlie purpose. 
 
 The Rostra were, as we have seen, before tlie Rostra. 
 Curia, and close to it.'"' Tlie observation nmst 
 therefore have been taken from the front of the 
 Curia. The Graecostasis was on its right, and Graico- 
 was therefore the more western object ; and its '^'^' 
 terrace must have projected somewhat before the 
 fa(;ade of the Curia, as it would not otherwise 
 have been seen from the front of it. 
 
 The two facts, that the observation of the Orienta- 
 tion of the 
 «»^ See pp. 150, 199. Curia. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 ()!)scrva- 
 tioTi of 
 evening. 
 
 Maenian 
 column 
 in the 
 Comitium, 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 meridian was taken from the front of the Curia, 
 and tliat tlie sun at mid-day was above the edge 
 of an object to the right of the building, prove 
 further, that the facade of the Curia was opposite 
 to a point east of soutli. We may conclude there- 
 fore that the front of the Curia looked down the 
 Forum, and not across it, in the direction of Vesta 
 and not of Saturn. This orientation of the Curia 
 agrees well with the fact that the temple of Janus, 
 which was clearly at the side and not in the middle 
 space of the Forum, was in front of the Curia. 
 
 The last moment of the legal day was ascer- 
 tained by an observation made at the Maenian 
 column. Varro states that the siipi^ema was pro- 
 claimed in the Comitium. We may infer with 
 some probability that the column was also in that 
 area. We may also conclude that this monument 
 stood towards the east of the Prison, from which 
 it cannot have been far distant, since from any 
 distant point to the east that building would be seen 
 iiir below the horizon of the Capitoline Hill. It 
 would not therefore have ])een chosen as an index 
 for such an observation from the Mid Forum. 
 It may be remarked, however, that in winter it 
 would be impossible from the neighbourhood of 
 the prison to observe the sunset, or any position 
 of the sun towards the west, since it would be 
 hidden long before sundown by the Capitoline Hill. 
 The observation must therefore have been con- 
 fined to the long days as well as to clear weather. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 SUPREMA TEMPESTAS. 
 
 179 
 
 A more accurate conclusion might perhaps be chap. 
 drawn as to tlie relative position of the column — 
 and Prison, if we knew what length of time after L'nronhe 
 mid-day was intended to be allowed for le2:al •''"^''''''^' 
 l)roceedings. Roman hours were generally early. 
 The emperor Severus, who was verv diliirent in 
 this part of his duties, sat at the tribunal until 
 mid-day.'^' According to Martial, 
 
 In quintam varios extendit Roma labores 
 Sexta quies lassis, septima finis erit.s 
 
 The less occupied would conclude their affairs 
 at one o'clock; but this was not the end of the 
 legal day. There were proceedings which were 
 expressly to take place in the afternoon, and the 
 supremo, as fixed by this rude observation, was a 
 substitute for sunset. It appears from an author 
 cited by Varro that the Praetor, when he deter- 
 mined that it was the third hour, ordered his 
 accensiis to declare it so, and that he did the 
 same at midday and at the ninth hour.^ We 
 cannot conclude, however, that the ninth hour 
 was the siiprema. We read of careless judlces 
 Avho did not make their appearance in the Co- 
 mitium until the tenth hour;" and Augustus is 
 said to have i)resided at the tribunal till nightfall, 
 sometimes, when unwell, lying on a sofa.*" The 
 
 ♦"* '¥.KQivt Si n'tX9^ Atf'^';A'/^(>t«(.> Ktti fierd tov9' 'iinrtvev. Dio Cass. 
 Ixxvi. 17. 
 
 * Martial. Ep. iv. 8. 3. « Varro, L. L. vi. 9. (Note 492.) 
 
 " Macrob. Saturn, ii. 12. (Note 391.) 
 
 " lus dixit assiduc, et in noctem nonnunquam ; si paruni corpore 
 valeret, Icctica pro tri]>unali locata. Sueton. Aug. 33. 
 
 n2 
 
180 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Probable 
 site of the 
 Miienian 
 column. 
 
 THE ROMAN FOllUM. 
 
 suprema determined by the observation in ques- 
 tion on a summer afternoon Avas i)rol)ably not 
 intended to allow less than six hours after mid- 
 day. If, however, the day was ended throughout 
 the year when the sun appeared vertically above 
 a given point, the afternoons would be very 
 unequal, and shorter by more than an hour at 
 midsummer than at the equinoxes. This may 
 have been roughly remedied by observing when 
 --....-^ ^Ijg g^jj reached an oblique 
 
 line, such as might be given 
 by the roof of a building or 
 by a wall seen in perspective, 
 and extended, if necessary, 
 by the eye or with the assist- 
 ance of a rod. In this way, supposing the column 
 to have stood to the east of the south corner of 
 the Prison, a tolerably uniform observation may 
 have been made about six o'clock from April to 
 September.^^^ 
 
 We may now endeavour to see how far our 
 information enables us to fix the absolute locality 
 of the Curia and other monuments, the relative 
 position of which in respect of each other we have 
 so far been able to describe.^^^ 
 
 1- . * 
 
 -^j.^ ______ 
 
 ^^^fe 
 
 i^Si^f'TTS^^IB 
 
 HmO 
 
 pF ' '^^B 
 
 ^bI 
 
 I^.jlJ|P 
 
 4uy 
 
 The topographical problems presented by these observations of 
 the course of the sun have been discussed by Canina, Foro Romano, 
 pp. 3o8, 362 ; Becker, Ilandbueh, i. 284, 322. 
 
 ^'^ The plan on the opposite page is suggested as an arrangement 
 of the Curia and objects near it, consistent with the descriptions 
 of ancient writers and the existing remains. The best proof to the 
 author's mind of its probability is, that he has been unable to arrange 
 
 il - 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 LOCALITY OF CURIA, ETC. 
 
 181 
 
 PLAN OF THE NORTH CORNER OF THE FORUM, B.C. 150. 
 
 We may first observe, tliat the vicinity of the chap. 
 
 IV 
 
 Argiletum and tlie Forum of Caesar leads us at — 
 
 , , 1 ,1 . -. « , Curia on 
 
 once to the north-eastern side of the Forum thenorth- 
 Eomanum. The Argiletum led to the Su])urra,^^^ thfi^rum^ 
 and, although tlie precise locality and extent of the 
 Julian Forum are not known, it is not doubted 
 that it formed i)art of the group of imperial Fora 
 on this side of the Roman Forum. 
 
 It is remarkable that, of all the other objects Temple of 
 which have been mentioned in connection with 
 the Curia, there is only one which can be confi- 
 dently identified with any existing remains. The 
 Comitium, the Rostra, the Graecostasis, the Sena- 
 
 the objects differently consistently with the data. The Senaculum 
 is represented as a distinct monument; see before, p. 168. 
 ■•"• Mart. p:p. ii. 17. (Note 673.) 
 
182 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CITAP- 
 IV. 
 
 I 
 
 Gallery 
 situl en- 
 trances of 
 the Tiibu- 
 lariuni. 
 
 Doorway 
 of the Ta- 
 bnlarinm 
 behind 
 Concord. 
 
 culiim, and the Janus, as well as the Curia itself 
 and the Fonim of Caesar, have all disappeared 
 without leaving any certain traces behind them. 
 The one monument which still exists in ruin is the 
 Temple of Concord. The remains of this temple 
 under the base of the Capitoline Hill have been 
 already described. It has also been shown that 
 the latest temple occupied the site on which the 
 temple built hy Opimius and the Basilica Opimia 
 had previously stood. The temple of Opimius 
 again had replaced that of Camillus, and pro- 
 bably superseded the small bronze temple of Fla- 
 vins, the associations connected with which were 
 not agreeal)le to the dominant party.^*^^ 
 
 It should be observed that when the gallery of 
 the Tal)ularium was erected, probably by Catulus, 
 B.C. 78, during the existence of the basilica and 
 temple of Opimius, there were no buildings abut- 
 ting on the Tabularium of the height of the 
 more recent temples of Concord and Vespasian, 
 by which this gallery was afterwards in a great 
 measure closed or o])scured. Beside the doorway 
 of the Tabularium already mentioned, which was 
 closed by the Temple of Vespasian,^ there are 
 traces of another entrance into this building from 
 the Forum behind the podium of the Temple of 
 Concord. The passage leading to this door appears 
 to have been originally carried under the base of 
 
 "" See before, pp. 11— IG, and pp. 165-169. 
 ■^ See p. 27. 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 ARCH OF SEVERUS. 
 
 some earlier structure, but to have been closed 
 upon the rebuilding of the temple by Tiberius.^'^^ 
 
 Proceedini!: downwards from the site of the 
 Temple of Concord, the first monuments which 
 our authorities have taught us to seek are the 
 Comitiuin and the Graecostasis raised upon it."* 
 Now the principal object wliich at present occu- 
 pies the area below this site is the Arch of Severus. 
 I have little hesitation in concludino; that this 
 structure, which belongs to a period when the 
 associations connected with the ancient Roman 
 constitution had lost their general influence, and 
 were disregarded by the reigning prince,^ was 
 placed in the midst of the Comitium, the original 
 character of which was thereby destroyed. The 
 ancient Graecostasis had probably occupied a part 
 of the site so invaded ; but whether it had sur- 
 vived on its old site until the erection of the arch 
 we have no direct evidence to show. 
 
 A monument called Graecostadium was re- 
 stored after fire by Antoninus Pius ; a Graeco- 
 stadium was also rebuilt by Diocletian, and is 
 named in the Curiosum. A fragment of the Capi- 
 
 **' The passage " has old walls faced with opus reticulatum of the 
 time of the Republic. It is stopped abruptly at the further end by 
 a wall of the time of Augustus." Parker, Forum Ronianum, Descrip- 
 tion of IMate III. 
 
 * Sub dextra huius (Curiae) a Comitio locus substructus . . . 
 Graecostasis appellatus . . . Senaculum supra Graecostasin, nbi aedis 
 Concordiae et Basilica Opimia. Varro, L. L. v. 32. (Note 402.) 
 
 '" Gibbon, Roman Empire, chap. v. at the end. 
 
 183 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Grae- 
 costasis. 
 
 Arch of 
 Severus 
 placed in 
 the Co- 
 mitium. 
 
 Site of the 
 Graeco- 
 stasis. 
 
 The Grae- 
 costadium. 
 
 Capitoline 
 Plan. 
 
184 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Older 
 
 (iraecOKta 
 sis in the 
 l"lan. 
 
 ciiAP. toline Plan sliows a rectangular structure of con- 
 siderable size, having the appearance of a terrace, 
 with steps on one side, and columns or pedestals 
 "pon it, and hears the imperfect inscription 
 Asc of .he REcosT. This ,,lan appears to have been made in 
 tlie reign of Severus, after the association of 
 Caracalla in the empire, a.d. 198, and before that 
 of Geta, A.D. 211.-'« The arch was erected a.d. 
 203. The plan may therefore be either earlier 
 or later than the arcli. But if, as we can scarcely 
 doubt, the building shown on this fragment is 
 the Graecostadium, it is probal)le that the plan 
 is earlier, and that the terrace here represented, 
 which has no counterpart in the existing ruins,' 
 was destroyed upon tiie erection of the arch. The 
 notices of the Graecostadium of a later time 
 pomt to the neighbourhood of the Vicus Juo-a- 
 nus and the Basilica Julia, between wliich objects 
 Grreosta. '^ '' mentioned in the Curiosum. In this direc- 
 ■hum^a t.on no other place can be found for such a 
 monument than that now occupied by the terrace 
 with the curved face, which is described in the 
 first Chapter, and which has been commonly 
 known as the Rostra.' The form of this ruin 
 does not correspond with tlmt figured on the 
 Cap.tolme Plan, and was prol,ably adopted on the 
 
 « See plan, p. 26. The only evidence of the date of the plan is 
 an .nscr,pt,„n on some buildings in the Palatine, s.v.k. bx xo». 
 
 • See p. 19. 
 
 I 
 
 li 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 SITE OF TIIE GRAECOSTADIUM. 
 
 « 
 
 removal of the monument from its former site, 
 to suit the narrower area of this part of the 
 Comitium. The view of the Forum given by the 
 bas-relief of Constantine exhibits one monumental 
 terrace only, occupying the ground between the 
 Arch of Tiberius and the Arch of Severus/'' 
 This could be no other than the curved ten^ace ; 
 there is not room for another on the ground ; and 
 no such monument as that now in ruins is likely 
 to have been added to the Forum after the age 
 of Constantine. We can scarcely avoid the con- 
 clusion, that in this terrace we have the Graeco- 
 stadium of the later empire. It may be observed, 
 that the suj)position that this was also the site of 
 the Republican Graecostasis is excluded beyond 
 question by the evidence of Pliny, since it is 
 impossible to place the Curia to the north of the 
 curved terrace.^ It is pro])a])le that, in earlier 
 times, this end of the Comitium had been the site 
 of the Praetor's tribunal.^ The Graecostadium, 
 so far as the existing remains enable us to judge' 
 was an open terrace, without any permane^nt 
 covermg. This agrees with what we read of the 
 earlier Graecostasis.^*^ 
 
 With respect to the position of the Curia, it Site of 
 has been shown to have had a south-easterly '''''""• 
 aspect, and was therefore situated to the north- 
 Avest of the Janus, which stood in front of it; 
 
 185 
 
 •"'■ See p. 21. 
 
 ' See pp. 175, 177. 
 
 " See p. 192. 
 "• Seep. IGl. 
 
 I, 
 
186 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 SITE OF THE ClIALCIDICUM. 
 
 187 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Site of 
 the Chal- 
 cidicum, 
 or Atrium 
 MiDcrvae. 
 
 and as the Janus was itself on the north-eastern 
 edge of the Forum Romanum, looking in one 
 direction into the Forum of Caesar, we may con- 
 clude that the Curia was also anions; the buildings 
 l)ounding the Forum (in its larger sense, including 
 the Comitium), on the same north-eastern side. 
 It appears to have adjoined, or nearly so, the 
 Graecostasis,'" and we know from the argument 
 of the meridian that it lay to the north of that 
 monument.^ Assuming that the Graecostasis was 
 on the site of the Arch of Severus, the Curia must 
 be placed, wholly or in part, upon the site of the 
 Church of Santa Martina. 
 
 The Chalcidicum of Augustus, which, as we 
 have seen, was probably identical with the Atrium 
 Minervae of later authors, adjoined the Curia 
 Julia.^ It could not have been on its right or 
 south-western side, as that position was otherwise 
 occupied ; and, if we are correct in the position of 
 the Curia, there was no room foi^ it at the back. 
 It may have been built, wholly or in part, on the 
 site of the Basilica Porcia, that is, in front of the 
 Curia to the left. This basilica nearly adjoined 
 the Curia Hostilia, and was burnt with it, and we 
 read nothing of its subsequent restoration.^ It 
 is probable that the Chalcidicum lay in part 
 against the north-east wall of the Curia Julia, 
 where its site is now marked hy the apse of the 
 
 *'» Varro, L. L. v. 32. (Note 402.) See before, p. 161. 
 
 ^ See p. 177. » See p. 159. * See Chapter VI. 
 
 church of Santa Martina, in which an inscription chap. 
 was found recording the restoration of a sea^e- — '- 
 tarium senatus in the year a.d. 407.''' This build- fium Sena- 
 ing, the foundation of which is attributed by the ^'''' 
 inscription to Flavianus, Praefectus Urbi, a.d. 309, 
 can scarcely have been the principal place of 
 asseml)ly of the Senate, which, as we have seen, 
 was popularly called Senatus, and in the contro- 
 versy between Aml)rose and Symmachus, not 
 long before the restoration of this Secretarium, 
 had still its old title of Curia.' The Secretarium 
 was more probably an adjunct to the Curia, which 
 had taken the place of the Atrium Minervae, the 
 name of which would naturally be dropped under 
 Christian influence. The Senatus itself, and the 
 Atrium Minervae, had been both burnt down 
 towards the end of the third century.^ 
 
 With regard to the site of the Comitium, the site of the 
 fact that it was the place of meeting of a privi- 
 leged class of citizens makes it probable that it 
 was at one end, or at the side, and not in the 
 middle, of the Forum. The same kind of position 
 is also indicated by its use as a place for spec- 
 
 "* SALVIS . DOMINIS . NOSTRIS . HONORIO . ET . THEODOSIO . VICTORI- 
 OSJSSIMIS . PRINCIPinVS . SECRETARIVM . AMpLlSSIMI . SENATVS . QVOD. 
 VIR . InLvSTRIS . fLavIA>VS . INSTITVERAT . ET . FATaLis . IGNIS . 
 ABSVMPSIT . fLaVIVS . ANMVS . EVCHARIVS . EPIPHANIVS . VC 
 PRAeF . VRB . VICE . SACRA . IVD . REPARAVIT . ET . AD . PRISTINAM . 
 
 FAciEM . REDvxiT. (In hemicjclo templi S. Martinae.) Gruter, 
 Inscr. 170. 5. 
 
 ^ Ambros. Ei)ist. in Symmach. (Note 433.) • Note 448. 
 
 Comitium. 
 
 ( 
 
188 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Limits and 
 level of the 
 Comitium. 
 
 THE KOMAN TORUM. 
 
 tators at the public games.'^' It lay, as we have 
 seen, partly before the Curia' and partly to the 
 right of that building, as one looked from the 
 front of it.' It was in sight of the Temple of 
 Concord,^ and close below it.^'^ With these marks 
 we can have no difficulty in concluding that 
 the Comitium constituted the upper or north- 
 western end of the Forum, commencing where 
 the ground naturally began to rise, occupying 
 the principal part of the space between the 
 Temple of Saturn on the one side and the Curia 
 on the other, and also extending in a narrow 
 terrace before the Curia, wliere it supported the 
 republican Rostra. The evidence which places 
 the Comitium in the locality which has been 
 indicated, though slight, is still so significant that 
 the reader may wonder that its bearing has not 
 been previously pointed out. This has arisen 
 partly from the position and orientation of the 
 Curia not having been distinctly conceived, and 
 still more from the intrusion of the Arch of 
 Severus, which has obscured the topography of 
 this part of the Forum. 
 
 The great temples at the foot of the Capitol 
 are never described as situated in the Comitium. 
 We may infer that the road which ran in front 
 of their steps formed its western boundary. The 
 
 *'« See p. 144. ' See pp. 150, 151. 
 
 8 Varro, L. L. v. 32. (Note 402.) 
 
 ^ Plutarch, Cam. (Note 32.) 
 
 ■-» Varro, L. L. v. 32. (Note 402.) 
 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 SITE OF THE COMITIUM. 189 
 
 space thus included was on a natural slope, the 
 road last mentioned being higher by about eight 
 feet than the Mid Forum. Bv what terraces and 
 steps this slope was broken, in the ancient arrange- 
 ment of the ground before the introduction of the 
 Arch of Severus, it is useless to conjecture. The Dura- 
 
 . , . . tion of the 
 
 limits of the Comitium, m its central part, were Comitium. 
 obliterated at the time of the erection of this 
 arch. Its special uses and associations had 
 already become obsolete. Possibly in more re- 
 cent alterations all traces of its distinction from 
 the rest of the Forum may have disappeared, 
 unless the ancient wall, fragments of which are 
 to be seen under the modern road between the 
 Arch of Severus and the Column of Phocas, 
 may mark a part of its boundary. 
 
 It is probable that, before the erection of the Way 
 Arch of Severus and the formation of the ways Comitium. 
 under it, there had been for centuries a well-worn 
 footway past the side of the Curia and Graecosta- 
 sis, and across the Comitium. This would be the 
 ordinary route from the Forum to the short and 
 steep ascent of the Capitol called the Scalae Ge- Position of 
 
 \ ^ . the Scalae 
 
 moniae,^^^ and probal)ly also to the street which Gemoniae. 
 followed the direction of the present Via Marforio 
 towards the Campus Martins. We have some in- 
 dication of this ancient route in Livy's story about 
 the proposed evacuation of the city after its con- 
 
 "' These steps began to rise between the Career and the Portico of 
 Concord, nearly where the modern steps begin, but, as they were at a 
 
190 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Ciirriajje- 
 way niidcr 
 the Arch 
 of Sevcrus. 
 
 quest by the Gauls. The Senate is represented 
 as holding counsel in the Curia Hostilia, when a 
 l)ody of soldiers, returning from guard duty, 
 crosses tlie Forum and passes into the Comitium. 
 Jn the Comitium the centurion gives the com- 
 mand to halt, in words, which, overheard by the 
 senators, determine tlie fate of Rome: "Ensign, 
 fix the standard ; here we had best remain " ! 
 The senators immediately issvie from the Curia, 
 declare that they accept the omen, and their de- 
 cision is confirmed by the people.^^^ 
 
 The previously frequented route across the 
 Comitium was probably converted into a carriage- 
 way at the time of the erection of the Arch of 
 Severus. Some antiquaries, indeed, have been of 
 opinion that there was no carriage-way originally 
 under the arch, and I do not know whether the 
 investigation on the spot which might decide the 
 point has been made.^ But the form of the build- 
 ino", with its wide central arch and narrower 
 arches on either side, seems to imply a carriage- 
 way as well as footways beneath it. 
 
 lower level at the bottom, they must have been considerably steeper. 
 They led out of the Forum, and the spot where the condemned were 
 thrown was in full view from its area. (Calpio) in publicis vinculis 
 spiritum deposuit, corpusque eius, funesti carnificis manibus lacera- 
 tum, in sealis Gemoniis iacens magno cum horrore totius fori Romani 
 conspectum est. Valer. Max.vi. 9, 13. Dio. Cass. Iviii. 5. (Note 8.) 
 
 522 Quum Senatus ... in curia Hostilia haberetur, cohortesque ex 
 praesidiis revertentes forte agmine forum transirent, centurio in 
 Comitio exclamavit : Signifer, statue signum, hie manebimus optime. 
 Qua voce audita et senatus accipere se omen ex Curia egressus con- 
 clamavit, et plebs circumfusa appiobavit. Liv. v. 55. 
 
 ' But see Burn, Rome and the Campagna, p. 121. 
 
 SITE OF THE VULCANAL. 
 
 191 
 
 The Columna Maenia was probably placed near chap. 
 the south-western wall of the Curia, with little — '- 
 but the roadwav between it and the Pj-ison. This M^acuia. 
 proximity must have l)een convenient for the 
 criminal tri1)unal of tlie Triumviri Capitales, 
 wliich sat at the Maenian Column. From this 
 locality, and from no other, could the observation 
 of the afternoon position of the sun with reference 
 to the Prison be made. And this site ag-rees 
 perfectly witli the indication afforded by Cicero, 
 since a person entering the Comitium by the 
 ancient street leading from the Campus Martins, 
 now represented by the Via Marforio, would first 
 come in view of the crowd of spectators collected 
 on the Capitoline slope and in the Mid-Forum 
 when he arrived at this point.^^'* 
 
 Of all the sites in the immediate neighbour- site of the 
 
 , . . ^ Vulcaiial. 
 
 hood of the Curia, tliere is none more difficult to 
 place than the Vulcanal or Area Vulcani. We 
 have already seen that in Dionysius the Hephaes- 
 teum is not distins-uishable from the Comitium. 
 But the Vulcanal of other authors is clearly a 
 distinct locality. Being on a higher level than 
 the Comitium, it doubtless lay on the rising 
 ground in the direction of the Capitoline Hill. 
 Judging by the slight indications of its locality in 
 early times, we might be inclined to place it on the 
 site ultimately occupied by the great Temple of 
 
 ^"■^ See before, pp. 172, 178. 
 
192 
 
 THE ROMAN FOIIUM. 
 
 CHAP. Concord/'' But the more distinct evidence of its 
 — later position leads us to tbe north-east side of 
 the Curia, in the direction of the Forum Caesaris, 
 into which, as we have seen, the roots of its 
 ancient lotus-tree extended. And there is no 
 reason to suppose that its site was ever moved. 
 The speculations of Plutarch as to the origin of 
 the Vulcanal seem to associate it with the meet- 
 ing-place of the Senate.^ 
 
 Some confusion has been caused among topo- 
 graphers by an Area Vulcani being found in the 
 printed Notitia in the list of remarka])le objects 
 in the fourth Region. This is clearlv to be re- 
 garded as an error, prol)a])lj arising from the in- 
 correct state of the manuscript.' The Vulcanal 
 was certainly in the eighth Region. 
 Tribunal There is no direct evidence as to the position 
 Comitium. of the practor's tribunal on the Comitium. We 
 have seen that the Triumviri Capitales sat at 
 the Maenian Column, near the Prison, to hear 
 criminal causes. The principal civil tribunal was 
 probably towards the southern extremity of the 
 Comitium, where there would be more ample 
 space for the numerous jucUces, witnesses, and 
 
 Site of 
 the tri. 
 Imual. 
 
 524 
 
 See before, pp. 165, 168. 
 J Plin. N. H. xvi. 86. (lYote 463.) Plutarch. Quaest. Rom. 47 
 (Aote 455.) Festus, ed. Mull. 290. (Note 458.) 
 
 « The words in one MS. are auro uulcani aurum bucinum, possibly 
 a twofold entry of the same object, whatever it may have been 
 The two words which are read arcam Vulcani are not in the 
 turiosum. See Appendix. 
 
 TRIBUNAL OF THE COMITIUM. 
 
 193 
 
 advocates who attended before it. The parti- 
 culars of the trial of Milo furnish some sugges- 
 tions as to its situation. That trial was presided 
 over by L. Domitius, a Quaesitor specially chosen 
 for the occasion, and the court consisted of fifty - 
 one judlces. When the first witness against the 
 accused was cross-examined bv ^larcellus, one 
 of the advocates of Milo, the Clodian faction 
 among the bystanders was so excited against 
 the advocate, that he was forced to take refuge 
 with the presiding judge within the tribunal, and 
 Domitius appealed for assistance to Pompey, 
 who was consul, and sat before the Aerarium, or 
 Temple of Saturn. The next day Pompey occu- 
 pied the same spot, surrounded by soldiers f"^ and 
 Cicero in his published speech represents himself 
 as raisinij: his voice to address himself to the 
 consul.^ This description corresponds with no 
 place so well as with the situation of the curved 
 terrace near the Temple of Saturn, which is 
 probably of later date, and has been identified 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 *2« Primo die datus erat in Milonem testis Cassinius Schola . . . quern 
 cum interrogate M. Marcellus coepisset, tanto tumultu Clodianae 
 multitudinis circumstantis exterritus est, ut vim ultimam timens in 
 tribunal a Domitio reciperetur . . . Sedebat eo tempore Cn. Pompeius 
 ad aerarium . . . Euntibus ad tabellam ferendam postero die iudi- 
 cibus . . . clausae fuerunt tota urbe tabernae, praesidia in foro et 
 circa omnes fori aditus Pompeius disposuit. Ipse pro aerario ut 
 pridie consedit, septus delecta manu militum. Asconius, argum. ad 
 Cic. pro Mil. 
 
 9 Tuas, Cn. Pompeie, te enim iam appello ea voce ut me audire 
 possis, tuas inquam suspiciones perhorrescimus. Cic. pro Mil. 25. 
 
 O 
 
194 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 ^"v ^* ^^^^^ ^^^^ Graccostadium/^" The open-air tribunals 
 — appear to have been for the most part wooden 
 tiorofThe structures consisting of a raised platform, — the 
 tribunals. pi-Qp^^j. tribunal, upon which were placed the sella 
 of the presiding magistrate, and the seats of the 
 judlces^ — of desks for the scrihae^ and of distinct 
 subselUa for the adverse parties and their advo- 
 cates and witnesses.^ These structures were easily 
 torn in pieces by a mob, and their materials were 
 
 *^ See pp. 20, 185. A bas-relief on the arch of Constantine repre- 
 sents the emperor addressing the people from this monument, which 
 may possibly have been sometimes called Tribunal in memory of the 
 previous use of the site. Ammianus Marcellinus, in describing the 
 entry of Constantine into Rome, says that he addressed the nobility 
 in the Curia, and the people from the Tribunal. Proinde Romam 
 ingressus, imperii virtutumque omnium larem, cum venisset ad Rostra 
 perspectissimumque priscae potentiae forum obstupuit; perque omne 
 latus quo se oculi contulissent miraculorum densitate praestrictus, 
 adloquutus nobilitatem in Curia, populumque e tribunali, in Palatium 
 receptus, etc. xVmmianus Marcellinus, xvi. 10. 
 
 ' Quaero ex te, Vatini, . . . num quis reus in tribunal sui quaesi- 
 toris adscenderit, eumque vi deturbarit, subsellia dissiparit . . . 
 Sciasne . . . indices quaestionum de proximis tribunalibus esse 
 depulsos, in foro, luce, inspectante populo Romano? Cic. in Vatin. 
 14. Plin. Ep. vi. 33. (Note 107 ) 
 
 Palam de sella ac tribunali pronuntiat. Cic. Verr. Actio II. ii. 38. 
 Liv. vi. 15. (Note 393.) 
 
 Tiberius watched the proceedings of the praetor andjudices from a 
 corner of the tribunal. Nee Patrum cognitionibus satiatus indiciis 
 adsidebat in cornu Iribunalis, ne praetorem sella curuli depelleret 
 Tac. i. 75. 
 
 ' Erant ei veteres inimicitiae cum duobus Rosciis Amerinis, quo- 
 rum alterum sedere in accusatorum subselliis video. Cic. pro Rose. 
 Am. 6. 
 
 Volo hoc oratori contingat, ut quum auditum sit eum esse dictu- 
 rum, locus in subselliis occupetur, compleatur tribunal, gratiosi 
 scribae sint in dando et cedendo loco. Cic. Brut. 84. 
 
 TRIBUNALS OF THE FORUM. 
 
 195 
 
 used on more than one historical occasion for pur- 
 poses for which they were not designed.^^^ But 
 we have seen that the Tribunal Aurelium was 
 built with a permanent platform and steps, which 
 were probably of stone or marble; and the tribu- 
 nal of the Comitium may have been similarly con- 
 structed/ 
 
 The subsellia were especially the advocates' seats. Hence a suh- 
 selliia esse was equivalent to being an advocate, or, as we say, at 
 the bar (Cic. in Caecil. div. 15.) ; a suhselliis se in otimn conferre, to 
 retire from the bar. (Cic. de Orat. ii 38.) But, as in our own 
 courts, room was probably made in the subsellia, and even in the seats 
 of the clerks of the court, for respectable visitors. (Cic. Brut. /. c.) 
 
 "' Fecerisne ante Rostra pontem continuatis tribunalibus, per queni 
 consul ... ad necem duceretur. Cic. in Vatin. 9. (Note 547.) 
 
 Populus, duce Sex. Clodio scriba, corpus P. Clodii in Curiam 
 intulit, cremavit(|ue subselliis et tribunalibus et mensis et codicibus 
 librariorum, quo igne et ipsa Curia flagravit, et item Basilica Porcia, 
 quae erat ei iuncta, ambusta est. Ascon. argum. ad Git. pro Mil. 
 
 Confestimque circumstantium turba vulgulta arida et cum sub- 
 selliis tribunalia . . . congessit (ad funus Caesaris). Sueton. Jul. 84. 
 (Note 571.) 
 
 * The several tribunals placed in the basilicas appear to have been 
 distributed in their areas like the older tribunals in the open Forum, 
 and not to have occupied separate rooms. See p. 45. 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 2 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ROSTRA. 
 
 
 ConcioTios 
 held in the 
 Comitium. 
 
 CHAP. V. The several Rostra of the Comitium and Forum 
 have been alreadv mentioned in treatins; of the 
 localities in which they were placed. But in order 
 to gain a clear idea of the relation of these monu- 
 ments to one another, and of the part played by 
 each in the history of the Forum, some connected 
 account of them is required. 
 
 The old meeting-place of the citizens of Rome 
 was doubtless the Comitium. It was here that the 
 conciones were assembled at which tlie measures 
 proposed by the magistrates were recommended 
 onife'*""" *^ *^^^ people.''' But it is not known at what period 
 Comitium. ^ fixed platform was first erected for the use of 
 orators. Some such monument probably existed in 
 very remote times, since as early as B.C. 438 the 
 statues of the ambassadors killed by the Fide- 
 nates are said by Livy to have been placed at the 
 Rostra ; and, though the name of Rostra seems to 
 be applied to it by anticipation, there is no reason 
 why the suggestum should not have l)een already 
 on the site which it occupied when within Cicero\s 
 recollection these statues were still before it.^ 
 
 533 
 
 Dionys. ii. 50; iv. 38; vi. 67; vii. 17; xi. 39. (Note 455.) 
 See before, pp. 146, 148, 162. 
 
 * Legatorum, qui FIdenis caesi sunt, statuae publico in Rostris 
 positae sunt. Llv. iv. 17. 
 
 Rex Veientium quatuor legates populi Roniani Fidenis interemit, 
 
 11 
 
 ROSTRA OF THE COMITIUM. 
 
 197 
 
 In the vear B.C. 838, when the Latin towns were chap. v. 
 subjugated under the consulship of Camillus and Suggcstum 
 
 ' "-^ 1 x* 1 1 • adorned 
 
 Maenius, some of the rostra or beaks of the ships with ws- 
 taken from the Antiates were used to adorn the 
 siiggestum. The number of beaks so used seems 
 to have been six. , The platform was thenceforth 
 known bv the name of Rostra.^^^ This monument TheKc.stra 
 
 ^ , a temple. 
 
 was consecrated by augury, and was appropriated 
 to the use of the higher magistrates, who in early 
 times were themselves inaugurated. Cicero speaks 
 of it as an act of proflmation when the tribune 
 Vatinius produced the informer Vettius upon 
 the Rostra, that inaugurated temple, to which 
 former tribunes had only invited the chiefs of the 
 state to give authority to their proposals.^ A 
 special interest in the Rostra appears to be here 
 ascribed to the tribunes, who are represented by 
 Livy as using them for a tribunal.' 
 
 quorum statuae in Rostris steterunt usque ad nostram memoriam. 
 Cic. rhil. ix. 2. 
 
 ^^ Naves Antiatium partim in navalia Roraae subductae, partim 
 incensae, rostrisque earum suggestum in foro extructum adornari 
 placuit, Rostraque id templum appellatum. Li v. viii. 14. 
 
 Extant et parta de Antio spolia, quae Maenius in suggestu fori 
 capta hostium classe suffixit, si tamen ilia classis, nam sex fuere ros- 
 tratae ; sed hie numerus illis initiis navale bellum fuit. Florus. i. 11. 
 
 Antiquior columnarum (celebratio), sicut C. Maenio, qui devicerat 
 priscos Latinos, .... eodemque in consulatu in suggestu rostra 
 devictis Antiatibus fixerat anno urbis ccccxvi. Tlin. N. H. xxxiv. 1 1 . 
 
 « Cum L. Vetiium ... in concioneni produxeris, indicera in Ros- 
 tris, in illo incjuam augurato templo ac loco, collocaris, quo auctori- 
 tatis exquirendae causa ceteri iribuni plebis principes civitatis pro- 
 ducere consuerunt, ibi tu indicem Vettium, etc. Cic. in Vatin. x. 24. 
 Liv. viii. 14. (Note 535.) 
 
 - Llv. xxxviii.51. (Note 545.) Val. Max. ix. 5, 2. (Note 421.) 
 
198 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM 
 
 CHAP. V. Cicero says that M. Antonius the orator, whose 
 head was affixed to the liostra when he was put 
 to death bv order of Mariiis, had adorned the 
 same Rostra during his censorship (b.c. 97) witli 
 manuhiae i7nperatoriae, tlie fruits apparently of 
 his Cilician victories, which gained him a triumph 
 five years before. ^^^ 
 
 Site of the The sito of these first Rostra has been de- 
 
 tra. scribed in a previous cliapter. They were upon 
 
 the Comitium, and were entered from it,** but 
 were so placed with reference to the remaining 
 part of the Forum that the speech, which was 
 primarily addressed to the aristocratic body in 
 the former, could also be heard by a plebeian 
 
 Posture of audience in the latter. In later times it became 
 the custom for orators to address their harangues 
 to the larger asseml)ly. This alteration of posture 
 indicated a material change in the constitution of 
 Rome. According to Cicero, C. Licinius Crassus, 
 tribune of the plebs, B.C. 145, was the first to 
 turn in the direction of the Forum, Init Plutarch 
 ascribes the innovation to C. Gracchus.^^' 
 
 538 
 
 lam M. Antonii in his ipsis Rostris, in quibus ille rempublicam 
 constantissime consul defenderat, quaeque censor imperatoriis 
 manubiis ornarat, positum caput illud fuit, a quo erant multoruni 
 civium capita servata. Cic. de Orat. iii. 3. 
 
 » Pulsus e Rostris (fratermeus) in Comitio iacuit. Cic. p. Sext 35. 
 See before, p. 150. 
 
 *" Is (C. Licinius Crassus) primum instituit in forum versus agere 
 cum populo. Cic. de Amicit. 25. A passage ofVarro, which has 
 given rise to much controversy, seems to allude to the same change. 
 
 SITE OF THE FIRST ROSTRA. 
 
 199 
 
 The Rostra were in front of the Curia, and so chap v. 
 near to that l)uilding as almost to touch it.^^^ They Rostra 
 
 •, f. t ^ -, 1 , i«i "nder con- 
 
 must therefore have been close to the steps wliicJi troi of the 
 led to its principal entrance.^ This position was, no 
 doubt, chosen for the convenience of the Senate, 
 who made use of the Rostra for announcing and 
 recommending their decisions to the assembled 
 people. They would also in this position be more 
 immediatelv under the control of the Fathers of 
 the State. Their relation to the Senate in this 
 respect is noticed by Cicero, who says that the 
 Curia watches and besets tlie Rostra to punish 
 indiscretion and temper duty.^ The actual pos- 
 session of the Rostra was a matter of importance 
 in a moment of ])olitical excitement, and Dio- 
 nysius, in illustrating the influence of the patria 
 jwtestas among the Romans, speaks of it as a 
 familiar thing for a son, however eminent his 
 public position, to be dragged by his father from 
 
 Eiusdem gentis C. Licinius, tribunus plebis cum esset post reges 
 exactos ccclxv., primus populum ad leges excipiundas in septem 
 iugera forensia e Comitio eduxit. Varro de Re Rust. i. 2. 9. 
 
 Torrov rov vofiop eintphpwv rd re dWa Xsyfrat (nrovcuffai ha<pipovTh)Q^ 
 Kai rioi> Trpu avTov yrdvTojv dijftayijjywv irpbg Tt)v evyKXrjTov d<popm'TO}V 
 Kai Tu KaXovfifvop Ko/wiVtor, TrputTov rorf (rrpatpf'tc; t^io tt puQ Tt)v dyopdv 
 Crjfitjyopt'iffai, Kcii to Xoittuv ovtio ttouIv t^ tKfivov, fiiicp^ TrapfyKXifffi Kai 
 fierarrrdrrn <T\ifiJiaTog fifya Trpdyfia Kivi)<Tor, Kai fitreveyKiov rpoirov rivd Tt)v 
 TToXtreiav tK Tf/g dpitTTOKpaTiag eiq Tt)v ^ijfXOKpaTiav. Plut. C. Gracch. 5. 
 
 ^" To7r TTpo ToT' fioi>XfvTi]piov roTt KHn'tvoiQ l^fioXoiq. Diodor. Sic. xii. 
 26. Asconius ad Cic. pro Mil. 5. (Note 551.) 
 
 2 See before, p. 151. 
 
 ' Speculatur atque obbldet Rostra, vindex temcritatis et modcra- 
 trix oflicii, Curia. Cic. pro Flacco, 24. 
 
200 
 
 CHAP. V 
 
 History of 
 the first 
 Uostra. 
 
 THE ROMAX FORUM. 
 
 • tlie Rostra, if lie was advancing opinions hostile 
 to the policy of the Senate/^* 
 
 The Rostra, thus advantageously placed for the 
 influence of the nobles, was the scene of the long 
 struggle between the aristocratic and democratic 
 elements of the Roman constitution. It was from 
 these Rostra that the Gracchi advocated their 
 laws. Here, according to the story told by Livy, 
 Africanus was arraigned by the tribunes, and, 
 having summoned the whole people to the Capitol 
 to give thanks to the gods for his former vic- 
 tories, left his accusers alone upon the Rostra.^ 
 From the same place Cicero spoke his second 
 and third Catilinarian orations. Durino; the con- 
 sulship of Caesar and Bibulus, Avhen the former 
 found the senate determinately opposed to his 
 measures, he closed the Curia and brought all 
 his legislation before the people.' On one occa- 
 sion in the midst of these contests, Vatinius the 
 tribune made a bridge with the platforms of the 
 tribunals, by which he took the Rostra bv storm, 
 
 su 
 
 Kara tovtov ys toi vofiov tivdpeg tTrKpavelg StifinyopioQ SifHwvTeg im 
 Twv tfii36Xiov h'aPTiag fiiv rg (iovXy Kixapicrn'tvag Se ung CnfioriKolg . . . 
 KaracTraaekvng c'tTro too l3,'ifiaTog dmix^nnav vtto tC^v Trcirepiov, kt\. 
 Dionys. ii. 26. 
 
 ^ Tribuni in Rostris prima luce consedcrunt. Citatus reus . . . per 
 mediam concionem ad Rostra subiit . . . Ab Rostris se universa 
 concio avertit et secuta Seipionem est; a<leo ut postremo scribae 
 viatoresque tribunos relinquerent. Liv. xxxviii. 51. 
 
 ^ « Kai l3ovXi,v ptv ovkIti avvnytv ^tt/ to hog '6\ov, IttI Si tCjv t/i/Jo\a>v 
 IcnfiriyopH. Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 10. 
 
 ASSOCIATIONS OF THE FIRST ROSTRA. 
 
 and put liibulus under arrest.'*' Cicero, three years 
 after, in denouncing the disturbances wliich took 
 place in the Forum on the day on which his own 
 recal from exile w^as proposed, when his l)rother 
 was driven from the Rostra, and almost lost his 
 life, gives a lively picture of Avhat had been 
 connnon in the recollection of his hearers. '' You 
 remember," he says, " the Tiber filled with 
 cori)ses, the drains choked, the blood sponged 
 from the Forum." '' Stone-throwing we have 
 often seen; not so often, though too frequently, 
 swords drawn; but such a massacre, such heaps of 
 human bodies, who ever saw in the Forum, unless 
 perhaps on that day of Cinna and Octavius ?"^ 
 
 The Rostra of the Comitium were alreadv as- 
 sociated with some of the most terri])le atrocities 
 of history. The heads of the consul Octavius and 
 of the chiefs of the aristocracy put to death by 
 Marius and Cinna were hung in front of the 
 Rostra; and in the retribution of Sulla similar 
 horrors were repeated.^ 
 
 m: 
 
 Volo uti mihi respondeas, . . . fecerisne ante Rostra pontem 
 continuatis tribunalibus, per quern Consul populi Roniani, non in 
 carcerem, sed ad supplicium et ad necem duceretur. Cic. in Vatin. 
 ix. 21. 
 
 « (Frater meus) pulsus e Rostris in Comitio iacuit . . . Memi- 
 nistis, turn, indices, corporibus civium Tiberim compleri, cloacas 
 referciri, e foro spongiis effingi sanguinem . . . Lapidationes per- 
 saepe vidimus, non ita saepe sed nimium tamen saepe ^ladios, 
 caedem vero tantam, tantos acervos corporum exstructos, nisi forte 
 illo Cinnano atque Octaviano die, quis unquam in foro vidit? Cic. 
 p. Sext. XXXV. xxxvi. 
 
 " App. Bell. Civ. i.7 1,94; Dio Cass. frag. 119, 139 ; Florus, iii. 21. 
 
 201 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 4 
 
202 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 REMOVAL OF THE ROSTRA. 
 
 203 
 
 \. 
 
 Public 
 funerals at 
 the Rostra. 
 
 Rostra 
 between 
 B.C. 52 and 
 B.C. 44. 
 
 Removal 
 of the 
 Rostra, 
 B.C. 44. 
 
 Upon tlie same Rostra the body of Sulla was 
 placed in liis funeral ceremony, as those of Julius 
 and Augustus were deposited upon the later 
 Eostra of the Forum. The body of Clodius was 
 also placed upon the old Rostra before it was 
 burnt by the populace in the Curia.^^^ 
 
 The Rostra of the Comitium continued in use 
 until the destruction of the Curia upon the i 
 occasion last mentioned, b.c. 52. During that 
 scene of tumult one of the tribunes continued to 
 address the mob from the suggestum till he was 
 scorched, as Cicero sarcastically describes it, by 
 the fire which was burning at his l)ack.^ 
 
 During the eight years which followed the \ 
 destruction of the Curia Hostilia, the site of that 
 monument underwent a series of alterations, 
 which have been described in a previous chapter.^ 
 Whether the old Rostra continued in use in spite 
 of the disturbance around them, we have no in- 
 formation. 
 
 We learn from Dio, that in the last year of 
 Caesar's dictatorship, b.c. 44, the Rostra were 
 removed to the position which they still occu- 
 
 "« Appian. Hell. Civ. ii. 21. 
 _ ' Declarant huius ambusti tribuni plebis illae intermortuae con- 
 c.ones, etc. Cic. pro Mil. 5. Tribuni plebis . . . concionati sunt eo 
 ipso tempore . . . quo propter Clodii corpus Curia incensa est, 
 nee pnus destiterunt quam flamma eius incendii fu-ati sunt e con- 
 Clone. Erant enira tunc Rostra non eo loco quo nunc sunt, sed ad 
 Conmiuui prope iuncta Curiae. Ob hoc T. Munatium ambustum 
 tribunum appellat. Asconius ad Cic. ib. 
 ' See p 153. 
 
 1 
 
 pied in the time of the historian, having been chap. v. 
 previously, as he informs us, somewhere in the 
 middle of the Forum.^'^ Whether the locality last 
 mentioned refers to some temporary position 
 occupied by the Rostra after the destruction of 
 the Curia Hostilia, or whether, as is more pro- 
 bable, it is a loose description of their ancient 
 site between the Comitium and the Forum, it is 
 impossible to say; but it may be observed that 
 Appian uses similar language to describe the 
 latter locality in speaking of the head of the 
 younger Marius being hung before the Rostra.^ 
 It is possible that neither Appian nor Dio were 
 acquainted with the precise site of the ancient 
 Rostra, which had ])ecome in the time of the 
 Antonines a mere matter of archaeofosfv. 
 
 The new Rostra were adorned with l)eaks of 
 ships, which were believed to be the same relics 
 of the navy of the ancient Latins that had deco- 
 rated the old suggestum!' 
 
 A gilded equestrian statue of Sulla, and a statues 
 
 at the 
 
 563 
 
 Kai TO iSrifia, tv fifnif) ttov Trporepov rtjc ayopuQ or, Iq top vvv tottov 
 avexiopirrOr]. Dio. Cass, xliii. 49. 
 
 * Kai avTi)v (Mapiov t})v KftpaXiiv) u ^vWag ip ayop^ fii^y yrpd twv 
 tfif36\iop Q'^jievoQ iTTiyfXdfTai Xfyerm tj) viorijTi tov vTrdrov^ ktX. Appian. 
 Bell. Civ. i. 94. The heads appear to have been hung upon the 
 fSrifia itself. Compare Dio, frag. 139, Ai Kf(paXai tg t^v twv 'Pwfialujv 
 dyopav Uofiii^ovTo, Kai tiri tov (it'ifiaTog tKeriOevro, and Appian. Bell. 
 Civ. i. 71 (of the head of Octavius) lK(>ffid<T9r] irpb twv tfi/ioXiov iv 
 dyop^, where the historian observes that this precedent was followed 
 in later massacres. 
 
 * Florus. i. 11 . (Note 536.) 
 
 Rostra. 
 
204 
 
 THE EOMAN FORUM. 
 
 THE SECOND 110STR4. 
 
 205 
 
 CHAP. V. statue of Fonipey, bad formerly stood in front of 
 
 the ancient sitgrjestiim, but bad been dispbiced 
 
 by the people. Tbese were restored upon tlie 
 
 erection of tbe new Kostra. An inscription, wbicb 
 
 attributed tbe restoration to tbe consul Antony, 
 
 only served to increase tbe glory of Caesar, to 
 
 wbom alone sucb li])erality could be ascribed.^^"^ 
 
 On tbis restitution Cicero is said to bave made 
 
 tbe epigrammatic remark, tbat in setting up Pom- 
 
 pey's statues Caesar strengtbened tbe foundation 
 
 of bis own.' Two statues of Julius bimself adorned 
 
 tbe same monument, one witb a civic cbaplet as 
 
 tbe saviour of bis fellow-citizens, tbe otber with 
 
 an obsidional crown as tbe successful defender of 
 
 Rome.® 
 
 The evidence of Dio is important to show tbat 
 tbe Rostra, after tbe one removal wbicb he re- 
 cords, remained on tbe same spot for nearly three 
 centuries, that is to say, during all the remaining 
 period tbat any interest attached to such an insti- 
 tution. It was upon tbe Rostra in their new site 
 that Caesar sat in purple upon a throne of gold, 
 when Antony offered him tbe diadem, and a 
 groan echoed through the Forum.^ From tbe 
 
 ^^ Dio Cass. xlii. 18, xliii. 49; Plutarch. Caes. 57 ; Sueton. lul. 75. 
 
 • Plutarch. Caes. 57 ; Id. Apophthegm, (ed. Reiske, p. 774.) 
 
 " Dio Cass. xliv. 4. Other statues at the Rostra have been 
 already mentioned in Chapter II. See p. 86-89. 
 
 " Sedebat in Rostris collega tuus, amictus toga purpurea, in sella 
 aurea, coronatus. Adscendis, accedis ad sellam ; ita eras Lupercus 
 ut te consulem esse meminisse deberes ; diadcma ostenilis ; gemitus 
 
 History of 
 the second 
 Rostra. 
 
 same Rostra Cicero's later barans-ues were de- chap. v. 
 livered, and upon them tbe orator's lifeless bead 
 and hand were fixed, conspicuous among a number 
 of otber like ghastly trophies.^^^ From these Rostra 
 Augustus recommended to tbe people bis new 
 laws, which were to restore the sanctity of 
 marriage, and reform tbe corru])tions of Roman 
 society; and before tbe same Rostra his daughter 
 Julia kept her assignations with her paramours, 
 or abandoned herself to any chance companion.^ 
 Upon tbese Rostra Trajan was pleased to appear 
 as a citizen rather than a prince, and to accept or 
 resign tbe ancient offices of tbe magistracy before 
 popular assemblies already unaccustomed to sucb 
 condescension;^ and upon tbese Rostra be sat, as 
 
 toto foro. . . Tu diadema imponebas cum plangore popuH, ille cum 
 plausu reiiciebat. Cic. Phil. ii. 34. Sueton. lul. 79; Dio Cass, 
 xliv. 11 ; Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 109 ; Plutarch, Caes. 61. 
 
 *«** Liv. Epit. cxx. ; Appian. Bell. Civ. iv. 20 ; Dio Cass, xlvii. 8 ; 
 luvenal. x. 120. 
 
 • Divus Augustus flagitia principalis domus In publicum emisit . . 
 admissos gregatim adulteros . . forum ipsuni ac Rostra, ex quibus 
 pater legem de adulteriis tulerat, filiae in stupra placuisse, quoti- 
 dianum ad Marsyam concursum, quum ex adultera in quaestuuriam 
 versa ius omnis licenclae sub ignoto adultero peteret. Seneca de 
 Benef. vi. 32. 
 
 Tt)v fievTOi 'lovXiav T})v OvyuTcpa dfreXfiaivoimav ovtwq woTf. Kai iv ry 
 uyop^ Kai iir' avToh ye too fSt'ifiarog Kai Kiofid'Cfiv vvKTOjp Kai (rvfiTTivf-iv^ 
 o;//f ^{}i:oT€ (pioputrag inrfpopyifrOi}. Dio Cass Iv. 10. 
 
 Apud nos exemplum licentiae huius non est aliud quam fdia Divi 
 August!, cuius luxuria noctibus coronatam Marsyam literae illius dei 
 gemunt. Plin. N. II. xxi. 6. 
 
 Marsya statua erat pro Rostris. Schol. Cruq. ad Ilorat. Sat. i. 6. 
 120. 
 
 - lam toties procedere in Rostra, inasccnsumque ilium superbiae 
 
20() 
 
 THE ROMAN FOIIUM. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ^"j^v- we liave seen, to witness the burning of the 
 registers of the taxes which he had remitted/'^ 
 We have the testimony of Dio, that the same 
 Rostra continued to exist in the reign of Severus. 
 There can be little dou])t that they were among 
 the tliree Rostra which were to be seen in the 
 Forum Romanum in the time of Constantine,' 
 and probal)ly continued on the same spot as long 
 as any trace of the old condition of things re- 
 mained. 
 
 fh^Ko'L. ^ ^^'^^' ^^«P^^^ t^ tlie form of the Rostra in 
 either situation, our information is not verv 
 
 Figures on accuratc. Two coins of the Lollian and Sulpician 
 gentes are supposed to contain representations 
 of Rostra. The former, whicli has the leo:end 
 PALiKANVs, exhibits what appears to be a curved 
 terrace, ornamented with arched panels in which 
 are fixed the beaks of ships, and having upon 
 it a sort of table or desk. The other seems 
 to show an oblong platform, which is orna- 
 mented in front with rostra, and on Avhich two 
 persons are seated. Until the discoverv of the 
 Trajan monument in the Forum we had no image 
 of the Rostra on sculpture. Formino- our idea 
 from the slight representations there given of the 
 later Rostra, we should conceive them as a 
 
 principum locum terere, hie suscipere, hie ponere magistratus, quain 
 dignum te. Plin. Panesyr. 65. 
 
 Trajan 
 nionunient 
 in the 
 Forum. 
 
 563 
 
 See before, p. 64. 
 ' Curiosum, in Reg. viii. See Appendix. 
 
 FORM OF THE ROSTRA. 
 
 207 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 rectangular j)Iatform, large enough to accom- chap. v. 
 modate several persons besides the orator, ap- 
 proached by steps from behind, and ornamented 
 with a double row of 7^osfra upon their face. 
 The platform, though at no great height a])ove 
 the Forum,''^ was sufficiently raised to place the 
 persons who might ])e upon it out of contact with 
 the audience. Its possession therefore afforded 
 some security to its occupiers. The tribune Va- 
 tinius, when he wished to get at the consul 
 Bibulus, who was in possession of the ancient 
 Rostra, had to make a bridge for this purpose out 
 of the wooden tribunals of the Forum ;' and a 
 sloping platform was constructed in front of the 
 Rostra for the ceremony of the coronation of 
 Tiridates.' When the emperor Gal]}a and his 
 attendants in the Forum, alarmed at the news 
 of the proceedings of the Praetorians, were un- 
 certain what course to take, and some of those 
 about him proposed to return to the Palatine, 
 and others to make for the Capitol, the ma- 
 jority were in favour of occupying the Rostra.^ 
 
 The site of the Rostra of the Forum, near the Site of the 
 middle of the north side of the open area, has fh^Forum. 
 been determined in a previous chapter, principally 
 
 ^* Frontoad Antonin. i. 2. (Note 386.) 
 
 « Cic. in Vatin. ix. 21. (Note 547.) 
 
 • See before, p. 95. 
 
 ^ lam Marius Cel.sus hand laeta retulerat, cum alii Palatium redire 
 aln Capltolium petere, plerique Rostra occupanda censerent. Tac' 
 Hist. i. 29. 
 
208 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Rostra. 
 
 CHAP. V. by the aid of the sculptures on the monument of 
 Fanenii of Trajan.^^^ But there is one important event that 
 
 Caesar '^ ^ 
 
 before the occurrcd shortlj after the removal of the Rostra 
 to this spot, which it will be necessary to notice 
 with reference to the oriorinal authorities as 
 bearing upon some topographical questions re- 
 lating to this monument. -The circumstances of - 
 Caesar's funeral are principally known to us by 
 the naratives of Dio Cassius, Appian, and Sue- 
 tonius. After the assassination of the dictator, 
 his body was privately brought to his residence 
 in the Regia.'^' When tlie funeral was to take 
 place the pyre was prepared in the Campus 
 Martins, near the spot where his daughter Julia, 
 the wife of Pompey, had been l)uried by the 
 popular will. The bier was borne from the Regia 
 into the Forum l)y persons of magisterial rank, 
 and placed on or before the Rostra, where a sort 
 of catafalque had been constructed in the form 
 of the Temple of Venus Genitrix. The consul 
 Antony mounted the Rostra and caused the 
 Senate's decree in his honour, and the oath which 
 had been taken by the Senate, including the con- 
 spirators, to watch over his safety, to be read. 
 A few words of his own in addition were more 
 
 **' See before, p 76. Becker asserts that the Rostra were suh tjete- 
 ribus, on the authority of the passage in Suetonius, Aug. 100 (Note 
 580), where, instead of pro Rostris veterihus, he adopts the reading, 
 jfro Hostris sub vrterrbus. (Becker, Handbuch, i. 338.) This reading 
 must now be finally abandoned. 
 
 ■" Appian. ii 118. 
 
 FUNERAL OF CAESAR. 
 
 209 
 
 than sufficient. The populace became eager for chap. v. 
 vengeance. The conspirators were sought in 
 vain. According to Appian the body of Caesar 
 was carried by the mob to the Capitol to be at 
 once placed among the gods, but the priests 
 having refused it admission to the temple, it was 
 brought back to the Forum and placed before the 
 Regia; other authors speak only of a proposal to 
 carry the body to the Capitol to be burnt there. 
 A pyre was at length hastily made in the Forum Burning of 
 by collecting the materials of the tribunals and beforethe 
 benches, and whatever other fuel came to hand. ^^^'^' 
 The apparatus of the funeral and other ofFerin2:s 
 of value were heaped upon it. The veterans 
 threw on their arms, the women their ornaments. 
 Thus the l)ody was burned, and the people 
 watclied it tlirough the night; some of Caesar's 
 freedmen tlien collected his ashes and placed 
 them in tlie sepulchre of his family. The spot site of the 
 where the pyre had stood was first marked by ^/cwr. 
 an altar, and afterwards became the site of the 
 temple erected in lionour of Julius.^'^ 
 
 '*■' Funere indicto rogus extructus est in Martio campo, et pro 
 Rostris aurata aedes ad simulacrum temi)li Veneris Genetricis collo- 
 cata . . . Lectum pro Rostris in forum magistratus et honoribus 
 functi detulerunt. Quem cum pars in Capitolini lovis cella cremare 
 pars in Curia Pompei destinaret, repente duo quidam . . . arden- 
 tibus cereis succenderunt, confcstimque circumstantium turba vir- 
 gulta arida et cum subselliis tribunalia . . . congessit . . . Plebs 
 . . . postca solidara columnam prope viginti pedum lapidis Numidici 
 in foro statuit, scripsit(pie, Parenti Patriae. Apud earn longo tempore 
 Facrilicare . . . perseveravit. Sueton. lul. 84, 85. 
 
 K^fc TOVTOv TO Tf (Tojfiu ai'Tov dpTrdtravTe^, o'l fiiv iq to ohrffia iv (^ 
 
210 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Rostra 
 Julia. 
 
 Caesar's 
 })ody l)nrnt 
 l)efore the 
 Kcfjia, or 
 before the 
 Rostra? 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 The base of this temple has been hitely exca- 
 vated at the eastern corner of the Forum. We 
 have already seen that it had in front of it a large 
 platform, which served the purpose of a siigges- 
 turn, and was adorned with the beaks of ships 
 taken at Actium. It thus ])ecame a sort of second 
 Rostra, and appears to have been sometimes 
 called the Rostra Julia.^"^ 
 
 The statement of Appian, that the spot where 
 the body of Caesar was burnt was the same that 
 was subsequently occupied by his temple, is 
 confirmed by Dio, and is so consistent with ante- 
 cedent probability that we cannot hesitate to 
 accept it.'^ ^On the other hand, the narrative of 
 
 cnritjipaKTO^ oi St tc to KaTriTU)\iov Koiiiffai re ifSovXavTo kui tKel Kavffai. 
 KioXvOt vTcg Si inro tujv (rrparnoTuiP . . . avrov tv ry dyop^, woirep el^ov^ 
 
 lirl TTvpav lTr'f:9i]Kav f^iofiov ct riva Iv t<^ TtjQ Trvpoq xiopiif) iSpvaa- 
 
 fievoi . . Oi'eiv rt tir' avTi^ . . iirex^ipovv. o\ ovv imaTOi tKelvuv rt 
 fivirperpap, ktX. Dio Cass. xliv. 50, 51. 
 
 To aaifia . . . tTTJ TO. f/i/3oXa TrpovTiQij . . . kui 6 'Avtmvio(; ypi]iiivo{; 
 tiTreiv . . TO tTTiTciipiov, ktX. "O^e Sk avTolg txov(Tiv i]Sr} rl Kai xeipibv tyyvQ 
 ovaiv av'iaxe tiq vmp to XixoQ dvpSftKfXov auTov Kaitrapog Ik Kj)poii ire- 
 TroiijfitvoV TO yap (rdfia ujg vtttiou tTri X^xovg ovk tiopuTo . . 'O ci 
 Sijfiog, tVt TO Xsxog . . IrrapeXOutv, t<pfpov ai'TO tg to KamTioXtop . .~j 
 KuAvo^evoi Sk VTTo Twp lepiwv, tg Trfv ciyopdv avOig tOetrav, tv6a to ttuXcu 
 'Piofiaioig tffTi ^maiXeiov^ Kal '^vXa avTi^ Kai [idOpa cxra ttoXXu ))v iv 
 dyopqt . . . (TvveveyKovTeg .... t^i]^av, Kai ti]v vvktu Travciifiei ti) Trvp^ 
 naptfievov. tv9a (iiojxog TrpCJTog tTtOij, vvv S' taTi veCog auTou Kaicrapog. 
 Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 143, 147, 148. 
 
 Cicero's scornful allusion to Caesar's funeral, in his titade af^ainst 
 Antony, contains no topographical details relating to the Forum. 
 Funeri t}H-anni, si funus illud fuit, sceleratissime praefuisti . . . tu, 
 tu, inquam, illas faces incendisti, et eas quibus semiust'ulatus ille est, 
 et eas quibus incensa L. Bellieni domus deflagravit. Cic. Phil. ii. 36. 
 
 ^■2 Dio Cass. Ivi. 34. (Note 580.) See before, p. 139. 
 
 ' Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 148. (Note 571); Dio Cass, xlvii. 18. 
 (Note 361). 
 
 PLACE OF CREMATION OF CAESAR. 
 
 211 
 
 I 
 
 Suetonius, and still more distinctly the few words chap. v. 
 of the Epitome of Livy, place the site of the 
 burnins: of the bodv before the Rostra.^'* The 
 attempt to reconcile these statements has occa- 
 sioned no slight confusion, and some antiquaries 
 have concluded that the Rostra Julia had an 
 existence prior to that of the Temple of Julius, 
 and that the funeral of Caesar took jdace before Not hcfore 
 
 1 -r» rrM • i • • ^^'^ Rostra 
 
 those Rostra. Ihere is no authority for such Julia. 
 a supposition. At all periods of their history, 
 both before and after their removal from the Co- 
 mitium, })oth ])efore and after the l)uilding of the 
 Tem])le of Julius, the Rostra are always in Roman 
 authors a distinct monument, sufficiently desig- 
 nated l)y the name of Rostra alone. The Rostra, 
 says Asconius, writing in the age of Augustus, 
 were not formerly where they are now. The 
 Bema, says Dio, writing in the time of Severus, 
 was removed, in the last year of Caesar\s dictator- 
 shi]), to where it is now.'^ Had there been more 
 than one monument to which the simple term 
 Rostra would apply, these writers would not have 
 so expressed themselves. On the other hand the 
 platform of the Temple of Julius, though its use 
 as a suggest um is occasionally mentioned, is 
 generally described by reference to the temple.'^ 
 
 574 
 
 Caesaris corpus, (juuni in campum Martium ferretur, a plebe 
 ante Rostra crematum est. Liv. Epit. 116. 
 
 ■* Ascon.adCic.proMil.5. (Note551); DioCass.xliii.49. (Note553). 
 
 " Pro aede divi luli. Sueton. Aug. 100 (Note 583); ^tti r«.~ 'XovXiov 
 iipipov. Dio Cas.«^. liv. 35. (Note 578.) 
 
 1> t> 
 
212 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Public 
 funerals at 
 the Rostra. 
 
 CHAT. V. In one passage only, Dio, after having first men- 
 tioned the j)iiblic Rostra, speaks of this platform 
 as the other, or Julian, Rostra.'"^" It is plain that 
 no Roman author in using the simple word Rostra 
 would intend any other than the public Rostra. 
 It seems, moreover, to have been thought essen- 
 tial that on the occasion of a public funeral some 
 part at least of the ceremony should take ])lace at 
 tlie j)ublic Rostra. This is most distinctly shown 
 bv Dio's account of the funeral ofOctavia.the sister 
 of Au2:ustus. ' The bier was on that occasion 
 placed upon the terrace of the Temple of Julius, 
 and Augustus pronounced the funeral oration 
 from thence, but Drusus, because the funeral was 
 a pul)lic one, made his appearance upon the 
 Rostra.^ So at the funeral of Drusus himself, 
 though Augustus pronounced the funeral oration 
 in the Flaminian Circus, the body was brought 
 into the Forum, and Til)erius delivered another 
 laudation there.^ At Augustus's own funeral, 
 Tiberius pronounced a laudation at the Rostra 
 Julia, Imt the bier was placed upon tlie pu])lic 
 Rostra, from which Drusus, the son of the new 
 emperor, read a funeral speecli."" 
 
 '^" DioCass. Ivi. 34. (Note 580.) 
 
 " Tz/r 'OKranviav Tijv d^e\^i)v diroOavoixrav npo'iOeTO itri tov '\ov\iov 
 tipi^ov . . . Kcti avTO^ re Uel tov firiTd(l)iov elnev, Kai 6 ApovtroQ tTri tov 
 l3f)fiaTog (^ciji^ioffiov yap to jrsi'Oog) . . . tyh'fTo. Dio Cass. liv. 35. 
 
 " Dio Cass. liv. 35. 
 
 «" Bifariam laudatus est, pro aede divi lull a Tibcrio, et pro Rostris 
 veteribus a Druso Tiberi filio. Sueton. Aujr. 100. 
 
 TlpoTfOeicrifi: ^t Ttjt; KXiviji' ^tti tov ^ijfii^yoniKOv f^i'ifiaTOi;^ otto fxtv tKeivov 
 
 POSITION OF TUE ROSTRA. 
 
 213 
 
 h 
 
 Tliere cannot therefore be a doubt that the c:hap. \. 
 funeral ceremony of Julius took place at the 
 ]nil)lic Rostra ; and, as we know from Dio that 
 these were placed in the year preceding Caesar's 
 death in the same situation Avhich tliev continued 
 to occupy more than two centuries later, their 
 site cannot have been that of the subsequent 
 Rostra Julia. 
 
 Another theory has supposed that the Rostra, Position of 
 
 i 1 • 1 . , , , the liostra. 
 
 on their removal, b.c. 44, Avere placed between 
 
 the Temple of Castor and the Regia, or some- 
 
 wliere at the soutli-eastern end of the Forum.'^^ 
 
 Tliis supposition serves to reconcile in a very 
 
 simple way the diverging statements of Appian 
 
 and Livy's epitomist as to the site of the burning 
 
 of Caesar's body, l)ut has no other ground to 
 
 support it. The recent exploration of this part 
 
 of the Forum shows an absolute want of room on 
 
 the proposed site for sucli a monument, whicli we 
 
 must remember remained wherever it was then 
 
 placed long after the building of the Temple of 
 
 Julius. On the other hand, the discovery of the 
 
 sculptures on Trajan's monument has served to 
 
 fix the site of tlie Rostra of his day, and the 
 
 association of the Rostra represented in those 
 
 6 Apovffog Ti dv^yvor dnb ci twv h'tpwr ^fijioKojv twv 'lovXnoi' 6T,f3ipiog 
 cnfioffiov ^,) Tiva KUTU cdyfia \6yov tv' avT^p Toiovce IweX^'^uTo. Dio 
 Cass. Ivi. 34. 
 
 »» Dyer, in Smith's Diet. Geog. ii. 792 ; Burn, Rome and the Cani- 
 pagna, p. 82. 
 
214 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. V. sculptures with the statue of Marsyas identifies 
 them with the Rostra used l)y Augustus and 
 familiar to Horace/^^ We cannot doubt that the 
 Rostra so identified were the Rostra removed 
 l)efore Caesar's death, which, according to the 
 evidence of Dio, remained on the spot Avhere they 
 were then reconstructed until his own day. 
 
 Site of the With respect to the circumstances of Caesar's 
 
 l)urniii<^ of 
 
 Caesar's funeral, we may conclude the facts to have been 
 
 botiv, 
 
 these. The ceremony undoubtedly commenced 
 at the Rostra; but the space immediately in front 
 of this monument did not oflfer a convenient site 
 for the cremation. We have seen that the time- 
 honoured statue of Marsyas, and the Lake of 
 Curtius, a spot held in popular reverence, were 
 near the Rostra and in front of them. Other 
 statues adorned the area around them.^ A wider 
 space would naturally be sought; and probably the 
 most open area in the whole Forum, before the erec- 
 tion of the Temple of Julius, was that which lay 
 in front of the Temple of Castor and the Regia. 
 In this part of the Forum Caesar himself had 
 held the assembly at which he passed his 
 Agrarian Law, when the terrace of the Temple 
 of Castor served the purpose of Rostra.^ Here 
 therefore, before the house which he had so long 
 
 »2 Seneca, de benef. vi. 32. (Note 561); Her. Sat. i. 6, 120; 
 Schol. ad Her. ib. (Note 163.) See before, p. 71. 
 3 See before, pp. 86-89, 203-4. 
 * Sec before, pp. 103-4. 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD ROSTRA. 
 
 215 
 
 1' 
 
 inhabited, in the part of the Forum associated chap. v. 
 with his political triumphs, the people burned the 
 body of their idol.- The expression in the Epitome - 
 of Livy , that the body w^as burnt before the Rostra, 
 if it be not taken to refer to the funeral ceremony 
 in general rather than to the actual cremation, 
 must 1)0 understood in a somewhat liberal sense. 
 The spot chosen was not immediately in front of 
 the Rostra, but was probably the nearest con- 
 venient position within sight of them. 
 
 It has been thought ])y some writers that after oid Rostra 
 the establishment of the new Rostra, in the time exisT,V.c. 
 of Caesar, the old Rostra of the Comitium still ^^' 
 remained, and that they continued to exist till a 
 late period of Roman history. This supposition 
 has no support from any ancient authority, and is 
 inconsistent with the evidence of Asconius and 
 Dio. The former describes the old Rostra com- 
 pletely as a thing of the past—" they were not 
 where they now are, but at the Comitium;" the 
 latter seems scarcely to know where the Rostra 
 formerly were — '' somewhere in the middle of the 
 Forum."''' There can l)e little doubt that their 
 removal, however justified by other reasons of 
 convenience or policy, was connected with the 
 plan for the re -arrangement of this part of the 
 Forum upon the construction of the new Curia. 
 For nearly two centuries after this period there is 
 
 585 
 
 Sec pp. 202, 203. 
 
216 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Later Ros- 
 tra on the 
 Comitiun] , 
 
 Three Ros- 
 tra in the 
 time of 
 Constan- 
 tine. 
 
 
 I 
 
 I' 
 
 THE ROMAN FOllUM. 
 
 no mention in ancient autliors of any existing 
 Rostra upon the Comitium or at the north-western 
 end of the Forum. 
 
 It is another question, whether there is reason 
 to believe that some Kostra existed at the Capi- 
 toline end of the Forum in Lite imperial times. 
 The earliest and most distinct indication of this is 
 conveyed by an expression of Fronto in one of his 
 letters to the emperor M. Aurelius, where he com- 
 pares a trifling sujieriority in oratorical skill to 
 the slight elevation of the Rostra above the Forum 
 and Comitium,'^' — an expression which is more 
 easily understood if we assume that there were 
 some Rostra existing at that time on the Comi- 
 tium, though it may possibly be a learned allusion 
 to the Rostra of history. If we suppose that new 
 Rostra were erected upon the Comitium in the 
 reign of Hadrian or of the Antonines, it would 
 account for the mention in the Curiosum of three 
 Rostra in the Forum.^ The curved teiTace near 
 the Arch of Severus was supposed by Canina to 
 be the remains of Rostra, but this identification 
 has been already rejected.' Mr. Hemans observed 
 in the face of a wall under the modern road in 
 front of this terrace some marks which might 
 well have been left by the insertion and removal 
 of solid metal ornaments, such as the beaks of 
 
 *«« Fronto ad Antonin. i. 2. (Noto 386.) 
 " Reg. VIII. See Appendix. 
 « See before, pp. 20, 185. 
 
 STATUES 7.V ROSTIilS. 
 
 217 
 
 V 
 
 f 
 
 ships.^^^ The Jurist Pomponius, who appears to chap. v. 
 have written in the second century, speaks of the i\o^ 
 Rostra of the Forum as Rostra Augusti,^ a name ^''^'''*'' 
 which may possibly have been used to distinguish 
 this old i)latform with its Augustan associations 
 from some newer Rostra on the Comitium. 
 
 The immediate neighbourhood of the Rostra, statues /» 
 both when they stood on the Comitium, and in 
 their newer site on the Forum, was a favourite 
 position for honorary statues. Such statues w^ere 
 said to be placed in Rostrts, which a])pears to 
 mean, not upon the Rostra, but at the Rostra, 
 that is, probably, in front or at the side of them." 
 Several examples of such statues have been men- 
 tioned in the present Chapter, and in the Chapter 
 on the Mid Forum.^ 
 
 *»<* Ilemans, Historic Rome, p. 220. 
 
 » Hie (Servius) cum in logatione perisset, statuam ei populus 
 Romanus pro Rostris posuit, et hodieque extat pro Rostris Augusti. 
 Romponius in Dig. lib. I. tit. ii. 2, sect. 43. The jurist is speaking of 
 the statue of Servius Sulpicius, which was placed at the Rostra by 
 the proposal of Cicero, b.c. 43, when no other Rostra existed but 
 those of the Forum. See before, p. 87. 
 
 2 Compare the passage of Pomponius, cited in the last note, with 
 Cic. Phil. ix. 7. (Note 197.) So the Marsyas is said to have been in 
 Rostris and pro Rostris. (Xote 163.) Niebuhr seems to have thought 
 that the statues were placed upon the Rostra. (Hist. Rom. Eng. ed. 
 vol. iii. p. 145, note 268.) But when we consider their multkude, 
 and that some of them were equestrian, this opinion can scarcely be 
 maintained. 
 
 ^ See pp. 86-89. 
 
BASILICA PORCIA. 
 
 219 
 
 i 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Basilica 
 Porcia. 
 
 Atria, 
 Maeninm 
 et Titium. 
 
 Story of 
 Maenius 
 reserving a 
 column. 
 
 CILVrTER VI. 
 
 THE NORTH-EASTERN SIDE OF THE MID FORUM. 
 
 In a former chapter the ruins of the Mid Forum 
 have been described, so far as they have been 
 uncovered hy excavation. But its north-eastern 
 side still remains buried, and consequently some 
 of the most imj^ortant monuments of this part of 
 Rome are known to us only by the writings of 
 ancient authors. 
 
 Proceeding from the Comitium and Curia, the 
 first building on this side of the Forum in the 
 time of the Republic was the Basilica Porcia. 
 This edifice, the earliest basilica of Rome, was 
 built by the elder Cato, B.C. 184. Livy tells us, 
 that two atj^ia called Maenium and Titium in 
 the Lautumiae, and four tabernae, were purchased 
 for its site.^^' The story, told by a commentator 
 on Cicero, of Maenius, the proprietor of one of 
 the houses, reserving a column with the right to 
 erect an awning over it, for a seat at the oladia- 
 torial shows of the Forum,^ is evidently a blunder, 
 
 *"* Cato atria duo, Maenium et Titium, in Lautumiis, et quatuor 
 tabernas in publicum emit, basilicamque ibi fecit quae Porcia appel- 
 lata est. Liv. xxxix. 44. 
 
 ■■' Maenius cum domum suum venderetCatoni et Flacco ceusoribus, 
 
 arising out of a double confusion of the Atrium 
 of Maenius with the Columna Maenia, and with 
 the Maeniana or covered ])alcoiiies of the Taber- 
 nae.^^^ Plutarch places the basilica by the side of 
 the Forum under the Curia:' and it appears from 
 the statement of an author who w^rote about a 
 century after the destruction of the Curia Hos- 
 tilia that the basilica either adjoined it, or was 
 connected with it by some other building.^ 
 
 Two of the plays of Plautus contain allusions 
 to a basilica, but as the poet died in the year of 
 Cato's censorship,^ and no earlier basilica existed, 
 it has l)een supposed that these passages are addi- 
 tions inserted in the text after the author's death.^^ 
 
 ut ibi basilica aedificaretur, exceperat ius sibi unius columnae super 
 quam tectum proiiceret ex provolantibus tabulatis, unde ipse et 
 posteri eius spectare munus gladiatorum possent, quod etiam turn in 
 foro dabatur. Ex illo if^itur Columna Maenia vocitata est. Pseudo- 
 Asconius ad Cic. in Caec. div. 16. 
 
 59« See pp. 55, 172. 
 
 ^ Tr/c fiamXiictiQ ... i)v tKelvoQ tK xpHM''"^'*^ koivujv iiyrb to /3ou\ei»r//- 
 f)iov ry dyof)<^ rraptfiaXt Kai UopKiav ^aaCKiKijV Trponeyopevffe. lUutarcli. 
 Cat. maior. 19. 
 
 * Quo igne et ipsa quoque Curia flagravit, et item Porcia basilica, 
 quae erat ei iuncta, ambusta est. Asconius, arg. ad Cic. pro Mil. 
 (Note 533 ) 
 
 ® Nam Plautus P. Claudio L. Porcio, viglnti annis post illos quos 
 dixi consules, mortuus est, Catone censore. Cic. Brut. 15. 
 
 t^' Tum piscatores, qui praebent populo pisces foetidos, 
 
 Qui adveliuntur quadrupedanti crucianti canterio. 
 Quorum odos subbasilicanos omnes abigit in forum, 
 Eis ego era verberabo sirpiculis piscariis, 
 Ut sciant alieno naso quam exhibeant molestiam. 
 
 Plnut. Capteivei, Act. iv. sc. 2, 33. Id. Curculio, Act. iv. so. 1. 
 11. (Note 97.) 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Position 
 of the 
 Basilica 
 Porcia. 
 
220 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Forum 
 Pisca- 
 torium. 
 
 Burning 
 of the 
 Basilica 
 Porcia. 
 
 THE ROMAN FOUUM. 
 
 One of them describes the frequenters of the basi- 
 lica being driven into the Forum by the smell of 
 bad fish. This passage appears to show the prox- 
 imity of the fish-market to the basilica. That the 
 ancient Forum Piscatorium lav to the north-east 
 of the Forum Roman um appears jirobable, when 
 we read in Livv that the o-reat fire which occurred 
 in the Roman Forum, B.C. 210, extended to theLau- 
 tumiae, the Forum Piscatorium, and the Atrium 
 Regium.^^^ The Forum Piscatorium was sur- 
 rounded with new shops at tlie time of the build- 
 ing of the Fulvian basilica.^ Its area was probably 
 absorbed in later times by the Forum of Caesar. 
 
 The fire wliich destrojed the Curia Hostilia 
 extended to the Basilica Porcia ; but whether 
 it was entirely burnt down, or only injured, does 
 not appear.^ No subsequent mention of it is 
 found. At the time of the restoration of this part 
 of the Forum a memorial of the Catones was not 
 likely to be restored in its original name. Even 
 before its destruction, some part of the building- 
 appears to have been thought in the way ; since 
 we learn from Plutarch that the younger Cato was 
 forced into public life by his anxiety to protect 
 this monument of his flimilv from an alteration 
 proposed by the tribunes, who used this locality 
 for the transaction of their business, probably on 
 
 «•" Liv. xxvi. 27. (Note 135.) 
 
 - Liv. xl. 51. (Note 641.) 
 
 ' Asconius, arg. ad. Cic. pro Mil. (Note 598.) 
 
 vl 
 
 SITE OF THE BASILICA PORCIA. 
 
 account of its i)roxiniity both to the Curia and 
 the Rostra.*^'"* But, if the Basilica Porcia was not 
 rebuilt, its site, or the principal part of it, was 
 doubtless employed for some other edifice. The 
 Curia, as rebuilt by Augustus, had a structure 
 attached to it called the Chalcidicum, and it is 
 not improl)able that room for this building was 
 found on the site of the Basilica Porcia.'* 
 
 If we have been right in placing the Curia 
 where the church of Sta Martina now stands, the 
 Basilica Porcia, and the building which replaced 
 it, must have occupied the position now held by 
 the church of S. Adriano. This church was 
 built by Pope Honorius I. about the year a.d. G30, 
 that is, only about twenty years later than the 
 erection of the Column of Phocas. But, though 
 the column stands on the low level of the ancient 
 Forum, the church is on the level of the modern 
 street, some fifteen or twenty feet higher. This 
 contrast suggests the probability that the church 
 occupies the site of some ancient building raised 
 vipon an elevated podium, and that the level 
 around has risen to the height of the top of the 
 podium.'' AVe liave seen that the Curia was raised 
 
 221 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Chalci- 
 dicum. 
 
 Site of the 
 
 Basilica 
 
 Porcia. 
 
 Church of 
 S. Adriano. 
 
 Contrast of 
 level with 
 the Phocas 
 column. 
 
 604 
 
 'H H KaXovfii-vii UopKia i^amXiKi) TifiijriKup i)v livaOijfia tov TraXaiov 
 KaTiovog. EtioGoreQ ovv tKel x^/;/irtrtl'etv oi St'jfiapxot, Kfti kiovoc to7q 
 Si<ppoiQ tfiTTOCiov ^oKovvror, tyvioaav v<pe\e7p avriv if fiiTaffTtjiTat. Plu- 
 tarch. Cat. Min. 5. See before, pp. 1G9, 197, 200. 
 
 * See before, p. 186. 
 
 " The ground had formerly risen still higher, ibr in Du Perac's 
 
 r n liiiftiftiiTi HMiifiilrri'tiiiiMhrtiii^^ 
 
222 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI 
 
 Chjilci- 
 dicum. 
 
 Inscrip- 
 tion at S. 
 Adriano, 
 rclatin^^ to 
 a basilica. 
 
 Basilica 
 
 Arircn- 
 
 taria. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 by a flight of steps above the Comitium. If tlie 
 Chalcidiciim connected with it was here placed, 
 upon what was probably a lower part of the 
 Forum, it would require a considerable artificial 
 elevation. 
 
 Under the pavement of S. Adriano is said to 
 have been found in 1655 a marl)le pedestal, with 
 an inscription referring to a statue placed in a 
 basilica by Galiinius Vettius Probianus, Prae- 
 fectus Urbi.'*'' The inscription is very similar to 
 another found near the Phocas column, and re- 
 lating to a statue placed by the same magistrate 
 in the Basilica Julia during the consulate of An- 
 nulinus and Fronto, a.d. 1U9.' If the inscription 
 found under S. Adriano was in situ, we must con- 
 clude that the ground was occupied by a basilica 
 during the reign of Severus. 
 
 Assuming upon this evidence that a basilica 
 existed here in imperial times, some antiquaries 
 have supposed that they have found the site of 
 the Basilica Argentaria of the Curiosum and 
 Notitia, which is there mentioned after the im- 
 perial Fora and before the Temple of Concord.' 
 
 views, about 1585, the church is entered by steps which descend 
 from the outer level. 
 
 •'«■ GAVINIVS . VETTIVS . PROBIANVS VX. PRAEF . VRB . STATVAM . 
 CONLOCARI . PRAECEPIT . QVAE . ORNAMENTO . BASILICAE . ESSE 
 
 POSSET . iNLVSTRi. Romac in basi marmorea. Grutero Sirmondus 
 qui vidit. Gruter. MLxxx. 11. Gualdo de Lap. Sepulch. (Nardini, 
 Horn. Ant. ed Nibby, ii. 228. 
 
 * See before, p. 43, Note 102. 
 
 " Reg. VIII. See Appx. Burn, Rome and the Campagna p. 83. 
 
 BASILICA ARGENTARIA. 
 
 223 
 
 k 
 
 I 
 
 'I 
 
 But there seems to be some reason to tliink tliat chap. 
 the Basilica Argentaria lay between the imperial — 
 Fora and the street leading from the tomb of 
 Bi])ulus to the Prison. The street appears in the 
 Middle Ages to have been called Clivus Ar^ren- 
 tarius, and to have had on its eastern side an 
 insula Argentaria, which may be supposed to 
 mark the site of the basilica.'^" This locality 
 seems to range better with the order in which 
 the various monuments are named in the Xotitia. 
 
 The situation of the celebrated Janus in front .lanus 
 of the Curia has l)een already mentioned. The ^'""""' 
 foundation of this monument is attributed by 
 Livy to Xuma and l)y other autliors to Piomulus 
 and Tatius.' Varro calls it the Porta Janualis, 
 
 «'•' Ascendit sub arcu Manus carneaeper clivium {sic) argentariuni 
 inter insulam eiusdem nominis et Capitolium, descendit °ante pri- 
 vatam Mamertlni. Ordo Rom. a.d. 1143, Mabill. Mus. Ital. ii. 
 143. (Becker, Handbuch, i. 413.) In clivo argentarli templum Con- 
 cordiae et Saturni. In insula [in Tolusa Montf.-\ templum Bacclii, 
 in fme huius insulae argentariae templum Vespasiani. Mirab. Rom! 
 Montf. Diar. Ital. p. 29a. It may be observed that in the first and' 
 most trustworthy of these extracts the insula argentaria is placed 
 on the ascent of the hill in the Via Maiforio, before descending to 
 the prison. In the latter it is brought as far down as the tempfe of 
 Vespasian. 
 
 • lanum ad infimum Argiletum indicem pads bellique fecit ; aper- 
 tus, ut in armis esse civitatem, clausus, pacat(»s circa omnes populos 
 significaret. Bis deinde post Nuroae regnum clausus fuit: seniel 
 T. Manho consule post Punicum primum perfectum bellum, iterum 
 quod nostrae aetati dii dederunt ut videremus, post bellum Actiacum 
 ab imperatore Caesare Augusto, pace terra marique parta. Liv. i. J9. 
 
 2 Huius autem aperiendi vel claudendi templi ratio varia est: alii 
 dicunt Romulo contra Sabinos pugnante, quum in eo esset ut vin- 
 
224 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Lcjjcnd of 
 the sul- 
 phureous 
 spring. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 and mentions it as one of the ancient gates 
 which were in liis time within the walls.^^^ The 
 original gateway may possi])ly have been in the 
 h*ne of some early fortification uniting the Capitol 
 witli the Palatine, but there is no other evidence 
 of this. An ancient legend associated it with the 
 war between the Romans and Sabines, when the 
 god Janus was said to have driven back the in- 
 vaders from the gate by an outburst of suli)hu- 
 reous water.* The story is told by Macrol)ius of 
 
 ceretur, calidam aqunm ex eodem loco ei;upisse, quae fugavit exer- 
 citum Sabinorum. Ilinc ergo tractum morem, ut pugnaturi aperi- 
 rent templum quod in co loco fuerat constitutum, quasi ad spem auxilii 
 pristini. Alii dicunt Tatium et Romuluin facto foedere lani templum 
 aedificasse, unde et Tanus ipse duas facies habet, quasi ut ostendat 
 duorum regum coitionem. Serv. ad Aen. i. 291. Id. ad Aen. xii. 198. 
 ^'^ Tertia (porta) est Tanualis dicta a lano, et ideo ibi positum lani 
 signum, et ius institutum a Pompilio, ut sciibit in Annalibus Piso, 
 ut sit aperta semper nisi quom bellum sit nusquam. Varro, L. L. v. 
 'U(46). 
 
 * Cum tot sint iani, cur stas sacratus in uno 
 
 Hie ubi iuncta foris templa duobus habes ? 
 Hie, manu raulcens propexam ad pectora barbam, 
 
 Protinus Oebalii rettulit arma Tati, 
 Utque levis custos armillis capta Sabinis 
 Ad summae tacitos duxerit arcis iter. 
 Inde, velut nunc est, per quem descenditis, inquit, 
 
 Arduus in valles et fora clivus erat ; 
 Et iam contigerat portani, Saturnia cuius 
 
 Dempserat oppositas insidiosa seras. 
 Cum tanto veritus committere numine pugnam, 
 
 Ipse meae movi callidus artis opus, 
 Oraque, qua pollens ope sum, fontanareclusi, 
 
 Sumque repentinas eiaculatus aquas ; 
 Ante tanien gelidis subieci sulphura venis, 
 Clauderet ut Tatio fervidus humor iter. 
 
 
 " 
 
 TEMPLE OF JANT^S. 
 
 a gate under the Viminal Hill, which, he says, 
 was thence called Janualis ;''' but Ovid, who 
 mixes up this legend with tJiat of the treason of 
 Tarpeia, places the scene at the l)ott()m of tlie 
 steep slope wliich led from the Arx to the Forum. 
 The monument com])rised a j)assage-wav or 
 iamis, and a small temple in or at the side of it. 
 That it had this double character is shown ])v the 
 (piestion addressed by Ovid to the god : 
 
 Cnm tot sint iani, ciir stas sacratus in uno 
 Hie ubi iuncta foris templa duobus habes !" 
 
 and still more distinctly by tlie description of 
 Martial : 
 
 Pervius exiguos habitabas ante Penates, 
 Plurinia qua medium Roma terebat iter. ? 
 
 In the Forum in front of the temple stood an 
 
 Cuius ut utilitas pulsis percepta Sabinis, 
 
 Quae fuerat, tuto reddita forma loco est, 
 Ara mihi posita est parvo coniuncta sacello; 
 Ilaec adolet flammis cum strue farra suis. 
 Ovid Fast. i. 257. Serv. ad Aen. i. 291, xii. 198. (Note G12.) 
 •"* Quum bello Sabino, quod virginum raptarum gratia connnissum 
 est, Romani portam quae sub radicibus collis Viminalis erat, quae 
 postea ex eventu lanualis vocata est, claudere fcstinarent, quia in 
 ipsam hostes ruebant, postquam est clausa, mox sponte patefacta est ; 
 cumque iterum ac tertio idem contigisset . . . cunique Sabini per 
 portam patentem irrupturi essent, fertur ex aede Iani per hanc 
 portam magnam vim torrentium undis scatentil>us erupisse . . . ea 
 re placitum ut belli tempore, velut ad urbis auxilium profecto deo, 
 fores reserarentur. Macrob. Sat. i. 9. It is remarkable that Macro- 
 bius, while he places the Porta Janualis under the Viminal, still 
 identifies it with the Janus, the index of peace and war. Becker has 
 suggested that this was the original site of the Janus of Numa. See 
 further, p. 272. 
 
 « Ovid. Fasti, i. 263 ^ Martial, Ep. x. 28, 4. (Note 630.) 
 
 225 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Janus, 
 wh:it it 
 Wits. 
 
226 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Cell and 
 imaf^o of 
 Janus, 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 altar of the godf'^^ The temple contained an image, 
 l)elieyed to have been dedicated bv Numa, of the 
 venerable deity whose worship constituted an im- 
 portant part of the primitive religion of Rome.^ 
 The square cell, of bronze, was no larger ihan suffi- 
 cient to hold the statue, which was of the same 
 material, and not less than five cubits high.^'^ The 
 god was represented with two faces, hence called 
 Janus Bifrons and Janus Geminus, and indicated 
 by the fingers of his right hand the number three 
 hundred, and by those of his left fifty-five, 
 making the sum of the days of the year according 
 to the computation then received. The deit}^ was 
 thus exhibited as the lord of time.^ One face of 
 the image looked to the east and the other to the 
 
 «"* Ovid Fast. i. 275. (Note 614); Dio Cass. Ixxiii. 13. (Note 639). 
 
 ^ Saliorum qiioque antiquissimis carminibus deorum deus canitur 
 (lanus). Macrob. Sat. i. 9. 
 
 -" "Kx^* ^^ '""*' vfujvtv ry ayop^ irpo tov fiovXevTijpiov oXiyov vTripf^dpTi 
 TO. rpia (para, ovrio yap 'Vio/xaloi tuq fioipag vevofiiKaai KaXelv. o re 
 veu)(j iiTrag x^^'^^^'Q ^^ Terpayioviii (T\i)ftaTi tnrijKt:^ TO(To?Tog i-ttv oaov 
 ayaXfia tov '\avov OKhireiv. tan Ct xaXKOov ovk tiatjov /) Trtfxiov Trti'Tf to 
 dyaX/xa tovto^ tu fit}' dXXa -rraVTa tfi(j)fptQ avBpioir(()^ ^nrpuffioTrov Sf T))v 
 Ke(paXi)i> txoV Kill TOO TrpocrwTTov OaTepov fitv irpog dviaxovTa, to H 
 
 tTepOV TTpOQ ^VOVTa ifXlOV TiTpaTTTfU. Ovpai ^i X«^'f«« t0' tKaTiptf} TTpO- 
 
 aioTTij} elffiv, lig vi) iv /xtv eipi'ivy Kai dyaOolg tTririOeffOai to TraXaiop 
 'Pojjualot kv6fiiL,ov., TToXfjiiov Si aipiaiu ovTog ai/f<px^«*- ^Tei Sk to tCjv 
 XpiffTtapwv (?oy/wa, fiTTfjO Tivtg dXXoi, 'PwyuaTot hi/JiiicTav, TaiWag ^^ Tag 
 Gi'pag ovk^ti ovSi TroXfjiovvTeg dv'tKXivov. dXX tv TavTy h) Ty TToXiopKKf. 
 Tivtg Tiji' TraXauiv olfiai Co^av tv vt^ txovTtg tyKexeipt'iKaat fAtv avTitg 
 avotyvvvai XdOpa. Procopius, Bell. Gotb. i. 25. 
 
 > Praeterea lanus Geminus a Numa rege dicatus, qui pacis belHque 
 argumento colitur, digitis ita figuratis, ut trecentoruni quinquaginta 
 quinque dierum nota per significationem anni, temporis et aevi se 
 deuiu indicaret. Plin. N. H. xxxiv. 16. Macrobius Sat. i. 9 ; Serv. 
 ad Aen, vii. 607. 
 
 THE GATES OF WAR. 
 
 227 
 
 west and the two gates of the cell, which were chap. 
 twodl r""~"' """' •^"•^ 1''-^'' >•» the same ^ 
 
 tune of peace.^ They are said to have ),een only 
 once closed-at the end of the first Pu„ic war- 
 between the age of Numa and that of Au<n,stus 
 The latter, after the hattle of Actiun,, and! tZ' 
 subsequent periods, was able to make this Z 
 n«.„ent of the undisputed acceptance of his 
 
 Vacuum duellis 
 lanum Quirinum clausit.^ 
 
 The language of Livy and Varro would lead 
 to the supposition that the dou),le doors, which 
 were the inde.x of peace and war, were tl.; doors 
 of a gate.-ay ; but it is clear, from what we read 
 " llutarch and Servius, and the more minute 
 .lescr,pt,on of Procopius, that they were the doors 
 
 622 ^ * 
 
 ^ic ego prospicio coelestis ianitor aulae 
 Koas partes Hesperiasque simul. Ovid. Fast, i 1.39 
 ^unt genunae belli portae, sic nomine dicunt, " ' ' 
 
 Keligione sacrae et saevi formidine Martis- 
 Centum aerei claudunt vectes aeternaque ferri 
 Robora, nee custos absistit limine lanus. 
 Ha^ ub. certa sedet patribu« sententia pugnae, 
 Jpse, Quinnali trabea cinctuque Gabino ^ 
 J"^i?nis,reseratstridentialinu-na consul. Virg.Aen vii 607 
 ^of^^K^Tac ydp avt^x^a., ,rX. Plutarch. Num 20 
 
 Liv. i. ,9^ (Note 611.) Varro L. L. v. 34. (Not. 613.) 
 ^ Janum Qu.nnum, semel atque iterum a condita urbe ante memo 
 nan. suam clausan, in multo breviore temporis spatio, terrrmTnC; 
 pace parta, ter clusit. Sueton. in Aug. 22. IlcJat. Od. iv Ts 
 
 q2 
 
228 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Form of 
 the Janus. 
 
 Statue of 
 Janus. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 of the temple. This fact goes some way towards 
 disposing of the speculations of Xiebuhr as to the 
 reason for opening and closing the gates, which 
 he connects with the relations between the Roman 
 and Sabine inhabitants of the early city. The 
 popular notion doubtless was, that the god ought 
 to be free to assist his worshippers in w^ar.^^'^ 
 Some modern anti({uaries do not admit the exist- 
 ence of any gateway at all. Becker represents 
 the open temple as itself serving the purpose of a 
 passage, and thinks that the name of gate, applied 
 to it by Varro and Ovid, may have arisen from 
 the doul)le doors of the temple being connnonly 
 called the Gates of War.' This sui)position 
 might seem to imply that the announcement of 
 peace closed one of the great thoroughfares of 
 Rome ; ' but it is possible tliat the principal passage 
 was outside the Janus, and that tlie w^ay throuo-h 
 the monument, though in use, was not necessary 
 to the traffic. The coins of Augustus and of 
 Nero, which represent the temple, give no indi- 
 cation of any arch or gateway at the side of it. 
 
 Besides its proper idol, the Temple of Janus, 
 small as it was, also contained in the time of 
 Pliny a mar])le statue of the god, brought from 
 ^c2:ypt, and dedicated by Augustus. It was 
 doubted whether this was the work of Scopas or 
 
 ^-^^ Mticrob. Satur. i. 9 (Note 615); Serv. ad Aen. i. 291, vii.610. 
 (Note 612.) 
 
 « Becker, Handbuch, i. 119. < Mart. Ep x. 28. 4. (Note 630.) 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 TEMPLE OF JANUS. 
 
 229 
 
 Praxiteles, and Plinv thought that the dldino;, or chap. 
 plates of gold^ ivith which it was covered, made — '- 
 it all the more difficult to discern the hand of its 
 sculptor. He mentions it among other examples 
 of masterpieces the authorship of w^hich was 
 unknown, a proof, as he observes, how the very 
 abundance of statuary, and the occu])ation of 
 people's minds with other matters, made Rome 
 an unfavourable place for preserving the history 
 of art.''' 
 
 After the general adojition of Christianity at Janus, in 
 Rome the gates of Janus were closed, without tin"f '''' 
 reference to peace or war. while the idol was 
 left undistur])ed in its original position. We owe 
 to this circumstance a most interestini>: account 
 of the temple and statue by Procopius, who re- 
 lates that in the siege of the city by the Goths, 
 w^hen it was defended bv Belisarius, a.d. 537, 
 some of the people, who were still under the in- 
 fluence of the old superstition, made a secret at- 
 tempt to open the temple and release the god.^ 
 
 Martial has a hymn to this deity u]ion the com- 
 pletion of the Janus (}uadrii'rons, erected by 
 Domitiaii in the Forum Transitorium, which gives 
 
 •" Par liaesitatio est in temjilo Apollinls Sosii, Nioben cum liberis 
 morientein Scopas an Praxiteles fecerit ; item lanus pater in suo 
 templo dicatus ab Aiigusto ex Aciiypto advectus, utrius manus sit, 
 iani qiiidem et auro occultatus. Plin. N. H. xxxvi. 4. (8). 
 
 ' Frocop. B. Gotii. i. 25. (Note 620.) 
 
230 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 SITE OF THE JANUS. 
 
 281 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Site of the 
 Janus. 
 
 some interesting particulars respecting the more 
 venera1)le Janus of the Forum Romanum.^^^ 
 
 The position of this monument is indicated ])y 
 the following marks. It was in the Forum Ro- 
 manum, in front of the Curia/ near the foot of 
 the Capitoline hill,^ and not far from the Three 
 Fates f but at the same time it was at the bottom 
 of the Argiletum,^ and was united with another 
 Forum.^ Thus placed, a great part of the traffic 
 of Rome passed under its archway.^ The three 
 Sil)yls or Fates have been already mentioned, 
 and their probable position behind the Rostra 
 near the side of the Forum has been discussed.' 
 The various indications that have been mentioned 
 place the Janus Temple without doubt on the 
 
 «3o Annorum nitidique sator pulcherrime mundi, 
 
 Publica quern primuin vota precesque vocant, 
 Pervius exiguos habitabas ante Penates, 
 
 Plurima qua medium Koma terebat iter. 
 Nunc tua Caesareis cinguntur limina donis, 
 Et fora tot numeras, lane, quot ora geris. 
 At tu, sancte pater, tanto pro munere gratus, 
 Ferrea perpetua claustra tuere sera. 
 
 Mart. Ep. x. 28. 
 ' Primus interrogatur sententiam lanus pater . . . quantumvis vafer, 
 qui semper videt lifxa irpomo kuI ottiVw. Is multa diserte, quod 
 in foro vivat, dixit. Seneca, Apocolocyntosis. Dio Cass. Ixxiii. 13. 
 (Note 639). Procop. Bell Goth. i. 25. (Note 620.) 
 
 2 Ovid. Fast. i. 263. (Note 614 ) 
 
 3 Procopius Bell. Goth i. 25 (Note 620.) 
 ♦ Liv. i. 19. (Note 611 ) 
 
 5 Ovid. Fast. i. 257. (Note 614.) 
 « Mart. Ep x. 28, 4. (Note 630.) 
 ' See before, p. 79. 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 north-eastern side of the Forum Romanum, at 
 the end of a street communicatini>: in the first 
 place l)etween the Forum Romanum and another 
 Forum in its immediate vicinity, and beyond 
 that with some of the most frequented parts of 
 Rome. 
 
 The Basilica Porcia was also on the north- 
 eastern side of the Forum in front of the Curia, 
 which it eitlier adjoined, or was connected with it 
 by some intermediate l)uilding. The Janus, 
 therefore, beino; at the end of a street leadinir 
 from the Forum, must have l)een further from 
 the Curia than the Basilica. We cannot be far 
 wrong in placing it near the soutli corner of tlie 
 church of S. Adriano, which, as we have seen, 
 was proba])ly ])uilt on tlie site of the Basilica 
 Rorcia, or the edifice which replaced it.^^^ A street 
 running from this point in the direction of the 
 Suburra, to which the Argiletum extended, Avould 
 lie in a direction not much north of east ; so that 
 the cell of Janus at the l)ottom of it, which is 
 described as facins; the risins^ and setting: sun, 
 
 8*"' See before, pp. 186, 221. Labacco, an architect of the sixteenth 
 century, states that there had existed at S. Adriano. to the left, in the 
 direction of the Temple of Faustina, — quivi (a S. Adriano) da man 
 sinistra verso il tempio di Antonino e Faustina, — a square building, 
 aj)parently antique, of which he i^ives full architectural details. This 
 building, if his details are to be trusted, which appears doubtful, did 
 not agree with what we might expect the Temple of Janus to be, in- 
 asmuch ns it is represented with only one doorway. He does not 
 state at what level it stood. Labacco, Architettura (Roma, 1J.57), 
 J). 17. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 f ^ 
 
232 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Basilica 
 Aeniilirt. 
 
 THE KOMAN FORUM. 
 
 opened in one direction into the Forum, and in 
 the other up the street. 
 
 Tlie position of this temple near a corner of the 
 Forum is indicated by a passage of Dio, in whicli 
 he describes a scene at which he was himself 
 j)resent as a senator, when an angry crowd col- 
 lected round Didius Julianus, as he was preparing 
 to sacrifice to the elanus before tlie doors of the 
 Curia, and the loud shouts of the multitude were 
 rendered more terrible to the ears of a timid 
 senator bv the echo from the buildini>:s around.^^^ 
 
 The next buildins: to the Janus on this side of 
 the Forum, and proba])ly adjoining that monu- 
 ment,^" was the Basilica Aemilia. The original basi- 
 lica on this site was erected l)y JM. Fulvius, censor 
 with M. Aemilius Lepidus, u.c. 171). Livy places 
 it behind the Argentariae Xovae.^ This Basilica, 
 
 BASILICA AEMILIA. 
 
 233 
 
 G3!» 
 
 ^" Krti TiKoq tTT^i^i) TTftbtj TO (JWHpiov t)\9e, Kai T<p 'lavtfi ti^ irpo Ttov 
 Ovpwp ai'Tov Ovmn' t/ifWfi', t^i-Kpayov TravTfg . . • wt," ^t . . apyrpiov Ti 
 at'iTohj vTTffrxfro . . dvafioriffav a/Lia Travreij^ Ou OiXofiev, oi> Xofifidvofu-v. 
 Kai avTolq Kai tu ir'^pi^ otKo^ofiiifiaTa tppiKatStg ti (nweTri]X}iaav. Dio 
 Cass. Ixxiii. 13. 
 
 *« Schol. Cruq. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 3. 18. (Note 663.) 
 ' M. Fulvius . . locavit . . basilicam post arirentarias novas et 
 forum piscatorium, ciicumdatis tabernis quas vernlidit in privatum. 
 Liv. xl. 51. Tins passage has been understood as \i i\\Q forum pisca- 
 torivm were only introduced to indicate tlie position of the new 
 basilica, and the shops have been supposed to surround tlie basilica. 
 The forum piscatorium is mentioned by Livy as injured by a fire at 
 a previous date, B.C. 210. (Liv. xxvi. 27.) There can be little 
 doubt that Livy meant to commemorate the rebuilding of the fish 
 market, with new shops around it, by Fulvius. It is inconceivable 
 that the basilica, which was in the Forum Komanum (Plutarch, Caes. 
 29, Note 644), should be described as post forum piscatorium^ which 
 
 
 f/ 
 
 J. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 though distinctly attributed by the last-named 
 liistorian to Fulvius, was afterwards a])propriated 
 as a monument of the family of Lepidus. Pliny 
 tells us that M. Aemilius, consul B.C. 71), w^ho 
 appears to have been the great grandson of his 
 namesake the censor of a century before, fixed 
 some shields, containing portraits or figures, in 
 the Basilica Aemilia.''^ Yarro employs the doul)le 
 title of Basilica Aemilia et Fulvia when he men- 
 tions a sun-dial which was there placed.^ 
 
 The Basilica Aemilia was ])ulled down bv L. ^ripnof 
 
 . .,. -^ the Basi- 
 
 Aemihus FauUus, the son of the last-named con- iJ^^aPauiii 
 sul, and ])rother of the triumvir Lepidus, in 
 order to be replaced by a nol)ler edifice, which 
 was afterwards known as the Basilica Paulli. 
 Ft was believed that Caesar ])ought ofit* the oppo- 
 sition of Paullus to his ambitious schemes by a 
 bril)e of fifteen hundred talents, which were em- 
 l)loyed by Paullus upon this building. This was 
 during the consulate of Paullus, b.c. 50.' But it 
 
 could only mean that the iish market was between it and the Forum. 
 Its ^os\t\onpostargentarias novas corresponds with that of the Basilica 
 Sempronia on the other side, /;o we veteres. Liv. xliv. 16. (Note 125.) 
 
 ^- iM. Aemilius, coUega in consulatu Q. Lutatii, no!i in basilica 
 modo Aemilia, verum et domi suae posuit clypeos, idque Martio 
 exemplo: scutis enim qualibus apud Troiam pugnatum contineban- 
 tur imagines. Plin. N. H. xxxv. 4. 
 
 3 Solarium dictum id, in quo horae in sole inspiciebantur, quod 
 Cornelius in baslli., \..,„iliaet Fulvia inumbravit. Varro L L vi 
 2 (52). 
 
 * UavXil, Ct vwdTiij uvTi x«X«« Kai 7rn>Taic,'ma TaXavTa Cwtoq, d<p' ^v 
 Kai Tt)v iiamXiKiiv Uhvoq, dvofia^Tov dv(W,jf,a, tij dyop^ Trpoa^KoWfitrEv, 
 «j/r< n/f 4>oi;\/ji«f oiKucofiiiOfimtv. Plutarch. Caes. 29. 
 
 UarXov vi x'^iojv Kai TT^i'raKvnuou TaXdvTior inpiaro p,,civ al'Up fx,',Tf 
 
234 
 
 THE JIOMAN FORUM. 
 
 BASILICA PAULLI. 
 
 235 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Allusion of 
 Cicero to 
 the build- 
 in j;s of 
 Paullus. 
 
 Two basi- 
 licas 
 
 restored or 
 built by 
 Paullus. 
 
 Identity of 
 site of the 
 Basilica 
 Aemilia 
 and Basi- 
 lica Paulli. 
 
 appears from a letter of Cicero to Atticus, written 
 B.C. 54, that Paullus was at that earlier date 
 restoring a basilica in the Mid Forum, in which 
 he was using its old columns, and that he had 
 also contracted for the building of another on a 
 most magnificent scale, while Cicero himself was 
 Inisywith Caesar's plans for the enlargement of the 
 Forum.^*^ This passage of Cicero has occasioned 
 no little controversy in the endeavour to identify 
 the two basilicas which Paullus was sinndtaneously 
 building or restoring. It has been generally as- 
 sumed that the Basilica in medio Foro was the old 
 Aemilian basilica, and that the second basilica 
 mentioned by Cicero was the buildino; afterwards 
 known as the Basilica Paulli. But this explanation 
 presents considerable difficulty, as it supposes a 
 simidtaneous existence and distinct sites for these 
 two monuments, which, for the following reasons, 
 appear to be improba1)le. 
 
 The Basilica Aemilia was on the north east side 
 of the Mid Forum.^ So was the Basilica Paulli.' 
 And with the otlier public monuments on this 
 
 (rvinrpuTTHv fii'ire tvox^f^v • . • TlavXoi; fitv ^t) ti)v TlavXov Xsyofitinjv 
 iSaaiXiKiiv utto raiv^f^ tmv XjOf^^arwi/ driOijKS 'ViofiaioKj^ oiKoeufiijfia TTf-pi- 
 icaWtf;. Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 26. 
 
 "^^ Paullus in medio foro basilicani iam paene texuit iisdem anti- 
 quis columnis : illani autem <|uam locavit, faeit magni(icentissimaui. 
 Quid quaeris? Nihil gratius illo nionumento, nihil gloriosius. 
 Itaque Caesaris amici (me dico et Oppium, dirumparis licet) in 
 monumentum illud, etc. Cic. ad Attic, iv. 16. (Note 677.) 
 
 " Liv. xl. 51. (Note 641.) 
 
 ■ Statius, Silv. i. 1. 80. (Note 173.) Plut. Galb. 26. (Note 149.) 
 
 
 site there was not more than room for one basilica chap. 
 
 VI. 
 
 of such importance as the latter structure un- — 
 doubtedly was. We must therefore conclude that 
 the Aemilian ])asilica was removed to make place 
 for the new edifice. That this was in fact done, 
 is implied ])y the statements of the writers who 
 have handed down the story of Paullus receiving 
 a bril)e from Caesar, since Plutarch asserts that 
 the 1,500 talents were spent in building a l)asilica 
 on the site of that of Fulvius, while Appian says 
 that Paullus l)uilt with this money the Basilica 
 Paulli.^^^ The same conclusion is supported by the 
 fact that, after the period which we have now 
 reached, the name of Basilica Aemilia disappears, 
 while the Basilica Paulli is frequently mentioned. 
 The expression used by Tacitus in speaking of a 
 later restoration of the Basilica Paulli, where he 
 calls it the Aemilian monument, tends to confirm 
 the identification of the two basilicas.^ 
 
 Becker has coniectured that the second basilica ^T'^." 
 
 •^ of Cic 
 
 upon which Paullus was engaged was that after 
 
 wards called the Basilica Julia, and that he was Hcajuiia? 
 
 in this, like Cicero himself in the other matter, 
 
 only concerned as the agent of Caesar. If this 
 
 was so, it might account, in a more credital)le 
 
 way, for the large sum of money afterwards paid 
 
 him and reported to have been employed upon 
 
 his own basilica.^" But this conjecture supposes 
 
 «*•* See Note 644. " Tac. Ann. iv. 72. (Note 655.) 
 
 "•*' I^ecker, Ilandbuch, i. ;J04 : Smith, Diet. Biog. art. Lepidus, j).766. 
 
 me 
 
 cero's 
 basilicas 
 the Basi- 
 
 f 
 
23() 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 BASILICA PAULLI. 
 
 287 
 
 Cicero's 
 first hasi- 
 licji, \)vr- 
 hnjis tlie 
 IJasilica 
 Semproniii; 
 his second, 
 the IJjisi- 
 lica ruuUi. 
 
 Cicero's old 
 cohimns 
 not the 
 Phrygian 
 cohimns of 
 riinv. 
 
 THE JIOMAN FORUM. 
 
 Paullus to have been acting at this time in concert 
 with Caesar, wliich does not appear to have been 
 the case : and Cicero's lano;uao:e o-ives the im- 
 pression that a rivalry existed between them, and 
 that Caesar's friends were led on ])y the large ex- 
 penditure of Paullus to outbid him in nmnilicence. 
 It is more probable that, at the time when 
 Paullus was rebuilding the ancient monument of 
 the Aemilian family on a scale of unprecedented 
 grandeur, he was also restoring in a humbler 
 fashion one of the other older basilicas, possibly 
 the Basilica Sempronia, soon afterwards replaced, 
 as we have seen, by the Basilica Julia. Cicero's 
 description of the first basilica, which he places 
 in medio Foro, would apply with equal fitness to 
 the Basilica Sempronia as to the Basilica Aemilia ; 
 while the superlative admiration which he ex- 
 presses for the design of the second basilica would 
 lead us rather to identify this with the Basilica 
 Paulli, which was reckoned for many generations 
 one of the most mas^nificent monuments of Rome. 
 It is remarkal)le that Cicero mentions the preser- 
 vation of the ancient columns in the first basilica, 
 and that the Basilica Paulli was famous in the time 
 of Pliny for its columns of Phrygian marble."'^ But 
 it is not likely that the same colunms which were 
 conspicuous in a more luxurious age should have 
 belonged to the period of tlie older Basilica 
 Aemilia, when the materials introduced in Roman 
 
 «^' riin. X. H. xxxvi.24. (Note 656.) 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 buildings were by no means of the splendour and chap. 
 costliness afterwards usual.*^^^ We should therefore — '- 
 only regard this as an accidental coincidence, and 
 not as a reason for identifvins: Cicero's first basi- 
 lica with that of Paullus. The fact that the re- 
 storation of the former was nearly completed 
 when Cicero wrote, whereas the construction of 
 the latter was not finislied till some twenty years 
 later, supplies an additional reason against their 
 identity. 
 
 The ])uildin2: of the ij-reat monument of Paullus }^,asiiica of 
 
 O o Paullns 
 
 was prol)ably interrupted l)v the disturl)ance f>n;pi^ted 
 
 I ^ 1 . ijy Ills son. 
 
 arising from Caesar's assassination; and it appears 
 to have remained unfinislied at his own death, 
 since, according to Dio, the " Portico of Paullus " 
 was completed by Paullus Aemilius Lepidus, the 
 son of Aemilius Paullus, at his own expense, and 
 dedicated in his consulate, B.C. 34.^ Only twenty 
 vears later the same Iniildins: was damaged bv 
 a fire which reached so near the temple of Vesta 
 that the sacred treasures were removed for se- 
 curity. It was then restored by Augustus and 
 
 «" piin. N. H. xxxvi. 1,2. 3, 5, 8. See before, p. 103. 
 
 ' Kai T})v (TToup Tt)v WavXov KaXovfitpijv Al/j.i\io(j Aeirwoc TlavXor 
 idioig HXetTiv ^^iftKo^ofJijfTf, Kav ry vTrartiq KnOi^piorrtv. Dio Cass. xlix. 
 41. As to the use of the word <Troa by this author in the sense of 
 basilica, compare liv. 24 (Note 654), Ivi. 28 (Note 101), and Ixviii. 10 
 (Note 106), where the critics, supposing!; -d porticus to be meant, have 
 substituted the conjectural reading Aiovia for \ovXia. For the Latin 
 basilica^ Plutarch and Appian use the word fSamXiKt] (Note 644), Dio 
 (Tro«, Strabo fTToa i^amXiKi) (Xote 681), Dionysius, perhaps, Tracrrac 
 (Note 182). 
 
» 
 
 238 
 
 CHAP 
 VI. 
 
 Phrygian 
 columns 
 of the 
 Basilica 
 Paulli. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Others in the name of Aemilius Paulhis, the then 
 representative of the family of its founder.''^ 
 Some thirty years later, under the reign of 
 Til^erius, M. Lepidus, though a man of mode- 
 rate fortune, obtained leave from the Senate to 
 repair and decorate the Basilica of PauUus, 
 pu])lic munificence, as Tacitus informs us, being 
 then in fashion/ In the time of Pliny it wa's 
 accounted one of the most magnificent monu- 
 ments of Rome, l)eing especiaHy admired on 
 account of its columns of Phrygian marble/' 
 There are extant medals of M. Lepidus represent- 
 mg this basilica as a building with two rano-es of 
 columns one above the other, inscribed aemilia . 
 
 REF . S . C . M . LEPIDVS. 
 
 The Phrygian columns are said to have been 
 removed to decorate the basilica of a moreflmious 
 Paulus, the Church of San Paolo fuori le nuu^a, 
 where some of the columns saved from the burn- 
 
 H r. rrrod i, UavX^.o, UavOr,. Kai to nvp a^' af,rr„ ^pog ro 'EnnaTov 
 a<l>iK,To, ^ar, Kui ra iepd *, rs ro naXdrtov . . «ravo;u«^0,>,a Kai ei, ri.v 
 TOO \epku., rov A^og oUiav re9r,ra. ,) f^ir ohv arou f^.ru rovro 6v6f.ar^ f,h> 
 VTTO A,fc,Xiov, }g ov to tov iroinmiVTOQ TvoTE avT,)v ykvog lXyiX{,9e,, t^ c^ ^pyoj 
 viT AvyovoTov Kai vvo tu,v too UauXov <piXu,v ipKocotxi,Bn. Dio Cass. 11 v 24 
 
 ^ Iisdem d.ebus Lepidus ab Senatu petivit, ut basilicam Pauli, 
 Aemilia monuinenta, firinaret ornaretque ; erat etiam turn in more 
 pubhca nuimficentia . . . Lepidus, quanquam pecuniae niodicus 
 avitum deeus recoluit. Tac. Annal. iv. 72. 
 
 « Nonne inter niagnifiea basilicam Pauli columnis e Phry-ibus mira- 
 bdem, foru.nque Divi August!, et temphim Pacis Vespaslani Lnpe- 
 ratoris Augusti, pulcherrima opera quae unquam? Plin. N H 
 xxxvi. 24. 
 
 SACRUM OF CLOACINA. 
 
 239 
 
 I 
 
 ins: of the ancient church may still be seen in the chap. 
 modern edifice behind the high altar. — 
 
 It has been already noticed that the basilica of 
 Pauli us is alluded to by Statins as being on one 
 flank of the equestrian statue of Domitian. Its 
 proximity to the Lacus Curtius, which appears to 
 have been close to the same statue, is also indi- 
 cated by the circumstance mentioned by Plutarch 
 in describing the death of Galba, that some of 
 the mutinous soldiers by whom that emperor was 
 killed at the Lacus Curtius were seen to come 
 into the forum out of the basilica of PauUus.^" 
 
 The Basilica Aemilia in its earlier days was Tabemae 
 
 Novae. 
 
 ])artly hidden from the open Forum by the Taber- 
 
 nae Novae, behind which it was placed. Near these Sacrum of 
 
 shops was the altar of Cloacina, which is mentioned 
 
 by Livy as the scene of the death of Virginia. 
 
 The Sacrum of Cloacina is also mentioned in 
 
 Plautus among the localities of the Forum ;^ and 
 
 Pliny records a tradition that the Romans and 
 
 Sabines, after the battle of the Forum, underwent 
 
 purification at the ])lace where in his time were 
 
 the Signa Venerns Cluacinae, for that cluere in signa 
 
 the old language signified to purify.^ An ancient cinaciime. 
 
 coin of the gens Mussidla represents a sort of 
 
 «- Plutarch, Galb. 26. (Note 149.) 
 
 « Liv. iii. 48. (Note 130); Plaut. Cure. iv. 1 . 10. (Note 97.) 
 " Traditur myrtea verbena Romanos Sabinosque, quum propter 
 raptas virgines dimicare voluissent, depositis arniis purgatos in eo 
 loco qui nunc Veneris Cluacinae signa habet. Cluere enim antiqui 
 purgare dicebant. Plin. N. II. xv. 36. 
 
240 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Janus, a 
 street. 
 
 CHAP, terrace ha\ ino; cancelll and two images upon it, 
 — '- with the letters cloacin. Tliese are probably the 
 aigmi mentioned by Pliny. 
 
 Between the Basilica Aemilia and the Tabernae 
 Novae was a street leading from the Regia and 
 the arch of Augustus to the Curia. This road 
 was known in the time of the decadence by a 
 Tria Fata, name derived from the Three Sibyls or Fates, 
 whose statues stood upon the edge of it.'''' In 
 earlier days it appears to have been called Janus. 
 Before the end of the Republic this part of the 
 Forum had become the special resort of the 
 money-dealers, who probably found shelter in the 
 Basilica Paulli.' Hence Janus (in the sense of a 
 street) or the middle of Janus, Imius medlus, 
 appears in the writings of Cicero and Horace as 
 the Bourse or Exchange of Rome. Cicero, upon 
 the subject of the getting and investment of 
 money, refers his readers to the worthy persons 
 who sit at the middle of Janus ; and in one of his 
 Philippics, alluding to a statue of L. Antonius, 
 upon which he was described as patron of the 
 Mid Janus, he asks derisively, whether in all that 
 Janus a single man could be found who would 
 lend Antonius a thousand sesterces.- Horace 
 
 Id 71 lis 
 medins. 
 
 ^ See before, p. 79. 
 
 ' Quia omnes ad lanuin in basilica stabant feneratores. Porph ad 
 Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 18. 
 
 ' Sed toto hoc de -enere, de quaerenda, de coUocnnda pecunia, 
 etiara de utenda, commodius a quibusdum optimis viris ad medium' 
 
 JANUS, A STREET. 
 
 241 
 
 also speaks of the lessons as to the value of 
 money which were to be learnt in Janus from top 
 to bottom. 
 
 O cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia prinnmi est, 
 Virtus post nummos. Haec lanus summus ab imo 
 Prodocet. 
 
 And Damasippus, in one of Horace's satires, 
 speaks of his fortune wrecked at Mid Janus. 
 
 Postquam omnis res mea lanuni 
 Ad medium fracta est, aliena negotia euro, 
 Excussus propriis.^*'"^ 
 
 One of the older commentators on Horace, 
 strangely misunderstanding his language, thought 
 that, in the passages just cited, the poet spoke of 
 three statues of the god, a summus lanus, a 
 medius Imius, and an imus lanus, which other 
 scholiasts concluded must have stood at the two 
 ends, and in the middle of the Forum.^ Bentley 
 
 lanum sedentibus. quam ab ullis philosophis ulla in schola disputa- 
 tur. Cic. Off. ii. 25. 
 
 L. Antonio lani Medio Patrono. Itane, lanus medius in L. An- 
 tonii clientela sit? Quls unquam in illo lano inventus est, qui L. 
 Antonio millc numnium ferret expensum ? Cic. Phil. vi. 5. 
 
 e«3 Hor. Ep. i. 1, 52; Sat. ii. 3, 8. 
 
 * Duo lani ante basilicam Pauli steterunt, ubi locus erat fenera- 
 torum. lanus dicebatur locus in quosolebant convenire feneratores. 
 Aero ad Hor. Ep. i. 1, 52. 
 
 Ad lanos eos, qui sunt in refjjione basilicae Pauli, feneratores con- 
 sistunt . . . Unus enira illic lanus in summo, alius in imo est, quos 
 hie inducit monere. Porphyrio ad Hor. ib. 
 
 Duo lani ante basilicam Pauli steterunt, ubi locus erat fenera- 
 torum. lanus autem hie platea dicitur, ubi mercatores et feneratores 
 sortis causa convenire solebant. Schol. Cruq. ib. 
 
 R 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 Jainm, 
 stn/imt/s, 
 medivs et 
 imus. 
 
242 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 pointed out how groundless these interpretations 
 were.'^' But modern critics and antiquaries have 
 refined upon the assumption of the scholiasts, 
 and supposed that there were three iani or gate- 
 ways, instead of three statues of the god. This 
 supposition has no foundation whatever. Ovid's 
 allusion to the multitude of iani,^ which, assumino- 
 the existence of three iani of the Forum, midit 
 seem to refer to them, is easily explained when 
 we consider that every gateway in Rome was, in 
 this sense of the word, a iamis, Becker, who 
 has adopted the notion of three iani on the north 
 side of the Forum, ])etween the Arch of Severus 
 and the Faustina temple, pictures them as capa- 
 cious archways with cliaml)ers above, serving as 
 shelter for the money dealers. He argues that 
 Janus cannot have been the name of a street, 
 because the site of laniis 7necUiis was ])eyond all 
 question sub Nonis,^ This difficulty is founded on 
 an inaccurate idea of the locality to which this 
 
 Iani statuae tres erant; ad unam illarum solebant conven'ire credi- 
 tores et feneratores, alii ad reddendum alii ad locandum fenus. Aero 
 ad Ilor. Sat. ii. 3, 18. 
 
 Iani autem statuae tres erant ; una in ingressu fori, altera in medio 
 ubi erat eius templum prope basilicam Paulli, vel pro Rostris. Hue 
 concurrebant et potissimum suas stationes habebant feneratores, alii 
 ad reddendum fenus alii ad accipiendum. Tertia autem statua erat 
 ad exitum fori. Schol. Cruq. ib. 
 
 ««* Falluntur qui lanos tres hinc sibi finijunt, summum, medium, 
 imum; cum unus fuerit vicus Iani nomine insi<rnitus . . . Erf^o lanus 
 summus ab imo, est, totus, universus. ^ Bentl. ad Ilor. Ep. i. i. 54. 
 
 "^ Ovid. Fast. i. 257. (Note 614.) 
 
 •^ Becker, Ilandbucb, i. 326, note 600. 
 
 i 
 
 V 
 
 JANUS, A STREET. 
 
 latter name was applied. The Novae Taberaae 
 stood, as we have seen, at a short distance in 
 front of the Basilica Aemilia. The sunny side of 
 the Tabernae was, as we know from Cicero, called 
 sub Noi'ls.^*^' The street runnins; on the north of 
 the Tabernae, between them and the basilica, was 
 eJanus. 
 
 ""^ See before, p. 55. 
 
 243 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 R 1' 
 
 »•; 
 
CHAP 
 VII. 
 
 Ar^ilemm. 
 
 CIIArTER VII. 
 
 THE ARGILETUM AND THE IMPERIAL FORA. 
 
 The preceding chapter closes our study of the 
 monuinents inchided within the limits of the 
 Roman Forum. In those that follow it is pro- 
 posed to discuss with less detail the history of 
 some of the localities most intimately associated 
 with it. 
 
 The Argiletmii has been already mentioned in 
 connection with the Temple of Janus, which was 
 situated at the end of it. In the poem of Virgil, 
 Evander shows Aeneas the sacred grove of Ar- 
 giletum, and tells him the story of the Argive 
 stranger, whose death gave a name to the spot.^^^ 
 Varro supplies two conjectures as to the etymo- 
 logy of the word, one connecting it with Argos 
 and the burial of an Argive hero there, the other 
 deriving it from the argillaceous soil.'*^ The latter 
 derivation is also adopted by Servius.''^ 
 
 ••• Necnon et sacri monstrat nemus Argileti, 
 
 Testaturque locum, et letum docet hospitis Argi. 
 
 Virg. Aen. viii. 345. 
 » Argiletum sunt qui scripserunt ab Argola, seu quod is hue vene- 
 rit ibique sit sepultus, alii ab argilla, quod ibi id genus terrae. 
 Varro, L. L. v. 32 (44). 
 
 '" Servius ad Aen. viii. 345. 
 
 [ 
 
 
 
 ■f 
 
 > 
 
 S at 
 
 
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 EN 
 
 
 
 
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 p- 
 
 
 22 
 & -S < < ' -y 
 
 2 / «: -^. /. 
 
 
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 5? 
 
 
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 ^ ^ - H 
 
 I 
 
 
 5- 
 
CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Argiletum, 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ARGILETUM AND THE IMPERIAL FORA. 
 
 The preceding chapter closes our study of the 
 monuments included within the limits of the 
 Roman Forum. In those that follow it is pro- 
 posed to discuss with less detail the history of 
 some of the localities most intimately associated 
 with it. 
 
 The Argiletum has been already mentioned in 
 connection with the Temple of Janus, which was 
 situated at the end of it. In the poem of Virgil, 
 Evander shows Aeneas the sacred grove of Ar- 
 giletum, and tells him the story of the Argive 
 stranger, whose death gave a name to the spot.^^" 
 Varro supplies two conjectures as to the etymo- 
 logy of the word, one connecting it with Argos 
 and the burial of an Argive hero there, the other 
 deriving it from the argillaceous soil.^ The latter 
 derivation is also adopted by Servius.'^ 
 
 ••» Necnon et sacri monstrat nemus Arsileti, 
 
 Testaturque locum, et letum docet hospitis Argi. 
 
 Virg. Aen. viii. 345. 
 " Argiletum sunt qui scripserunt ab Argola, seu quod is hue vene- 
 rit ibique sit sepultus, alii ab argilla, quod ibi id genus terrae. 
 Varro, L. L. v. 32 (44). 
 
 ■* Servius ad Aen. viii. 345. 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
\ 
 
 \ 
 
 THE ARGILETUM. 
 
 Whatever the Aro^iletum may have been in the 
 
 245 
 
 ■r> 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 days of Evander, there can be little doubt that in 
 historical times it was a street. The expression of a street. 
 Livy, ad infimtmi Arglletum, when compared 
 with the ])hrases, siimma Sao^a Via, iiifima Nova 
 Via, ad medimu Janum, is alone sufficient to 
 suggest this conclusion. The same may be in- 
 ferred from the passage in Martial w^here he gives 
 the address of his bookseller, in the Argiletum, 
 opposite Caesar's Forum. 
 
 Quod qiiaeris propius petas Hcebit; 
 Argi nempe soles subire letiim. 
 Contra Caesaris est forum tabema 
 Scriptis postibus hinc et inde totis, 
 Omnes ut cito perlegas poetas. 
 ininc me pete, ne roges Atrectum ; 
 Hoc nomen dominus gerit tabernae.^"^ 
 
 This description, if it be taken to refer, as 
 it a])pears to do. to the Julian Forum, serves to 
 
 *^' Mart. Epig. i- 118, 8. In another epigram, Martial gives the 
 address of his bookseller, Secundus, limina post Pads Palladium- 
 que forum. (Epig. i. 3, 8.) If we could suppose that Martial 
 would use the term Caesar's Forum of Domitian's new work, we 
 shouhl be tempted to believe Atrectus and Secundus to be the same. 
 I5ut the term Forum Caesaris seems to have been too well appro- 
 priated to the Julian Forum to be otherwise applied. (Plin. N. H. 
 xvi. 86; XXXV. 45; Ovid. Trist. iii. i. 27.) Both booksellers were 
 probably in the Argiletum. Compare Epig. i. 4, 1. (ad librum 
 
 suum). 
 
 Arjriletanas mavis habitare tabernas. 
 
 Antiquaries have generally assumed that Argiletum was the name 
 ot a district or quarter of the town. (Nardini, ed. Nibby, iii. 260 ; 
 Becker, Ilandbuch, i. 254; Burn, Rome and the Campagna, p 79; 
 Smith, Diet. Geog. art. Roma, p. 798.) The name may be com- 
 
246 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP, explain Ovid's allusion to the position of the Janus 
 — in connection with two Fora. 
 
 Cum tot sint iani, cur stas sacratus in uno, 
 Hie ubi iuncta foris templa duobus habes ? 6" 
 
 Situation 
 of the 
 
 Before the existence of the imperial Fora the 
 Argiietuni. Argilctum was probably a lane, running from the 
 Janus to the Suburra, to which it appears from 
 another allusion of Martial to have extended.^ 
 The Argiletum thus formed the main communi- 
 cation between some of the most important and 
 populous parts of Rome, 
 
 Plurima qua medium Roma terebat iter.* 
 
 In later times it must have crossed the Forum 
 of Caesar and the Forum Transitorium, and pass- 
 ing in front of the so-called '' Colonnacce," (the 
 well-known half-buried Corinthian columns with 
 the figure of Minerva above, in the Via Croce- 
 bianca), it was probably carried under the lofty 
 wall inclosing the imperial Fora by the broad arch- 
 way which existed to the east of the Colonnacce 
 
 pared with our Piccadilly, Pall Mall, or Strand, which, whatever 
 may have been their origin, have for some centuries been streets. 
 This appears to be the natural destiny of names in a crowded city. 
 The Suburra, which gave its name to a Servian region (Regio 
 Suburana) appears to have been also a street. 'Ertpovg kuto. Tt)v xa- 
 Xovfiivriv ^vjSovppav oSbv TrepuTrefnrev. Appian. Bell. Civ. i. 58. 
 «^2 Ovid. Fast. i. 257. 
 
 ' Tonstrix Suburrae faucibus sedet primls, 
 
 Cruenta pendent qua flagella tortorum, 
 Argique letum multus obsidet sutor. 
 
 jNIart. Epig. ii. 17. 
 * Mart. Epig. x. 28, 4. (Note 630.) 
 
 ( 
 
 PORUM JULIUM. 
 
 until the seventeenth century, and is represented 
 with the neighbouring temple of Minerva (a ruin, 
 which has since entirely disappeared) in the views 
 of Du Perac and Gamucci.^'^ 
 
 The Forum of Caesar w^as situated, as we have 
 seen, opposite some part of the Argiletum ; but 
 whether it lay to the north or to the south of that 
 street, or on both sides of it, there is little satis- 
 factory evidence. The proximity to the Vul- 
 canal, which is implied in Pliny's story of the 
 lotos-tree whose roots reached from that area 
 to the Forum Caesaris, would lead us to infer 
 that it extended somewhat to the north.^ On 
 the other hand the expression of Cicero in one 
 of his letters to Atticus, where he speaks of this 
 great improvement, which he was himself assisting 
 to carry out, as a widening of the Forum,' supplies 
 an argument for placing it on the south of the 
 Argiletum. The construction of a new Forum 
 behind the Curia, or, where Canina and other 
 recent authors have placed it, north of the Via 
 Bonella, could not be well described as a widening 
 of the Forum Romanum ; but that expression 
 
 «'* Du Perac, Vestigj delle Antich. di Roma, 1674; Gamucci, 
 Antich. di Roma, p. 55. See further, p. 265. 
 
 « Plin. N. H. xxxiii. 6. (Note 463.) See further, p. 250, as to 
 the position of the Temple of Venus Genitrix. 
 
 ' Itaque Caesaris amici (me dico et Oppium, dirumparis licet) in 
 monumentum illud quod tu tollere laudibus solebas, ut forum laxare- 
 mus et usque ad atrium Libertatis explicaremus, contempsimus 
 sexcenties II. S. Cum privatis non poterat transigi minore pecunia. 
 Cic. ad Att. iv. 16. (Note 645.) 
 
 247 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Position 
 of the 
 Forum 
 Julium. 
 
 Position 
 generally 
 assigned 
 to it. 
 
 Suggested 
 position. 
 
248 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 SITE OF THE FORUM JULIUM. 
 
 249 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Argument 
 from the 
 Regions. 
 
 might be appropriately used if a space were cleared 
 the side of which would run parallel to the side of 
 the Forum along a great part of its extent, leaving 
 only the Basilica of Paullus between the two ai'eas. 
 This position of the Forum of Caesar appears to 
 be strikingly confirmed by the well-known passage 
 in Ovid's Tristia, where the poet, describing a 
 route to the Palatine, steps at once from the Julian 
 Forum to the Sacra Via. 
 
 Paruit, et diicens, liaec sunt fora Caesaris, inquit ; 
 
 Haec est a sacris quae via nomen habet ; 
 Hie locus est Vestae, qui Pallada servat et ignem ; 
 
 Hie fuit antiqui regia parva Nurnae.^^^ 
 
 According to this description the stranger is 
 led immediately from the Forum of Caesar to the 
 commencement of the Sacra Via in the neigfhbour- 
 hood of the Regia. If the Forum Romanum had 
 lain between these two localities the poet would 
 not have left it without mention. These consider- 
 ations induce me to think that the Julian Forum 
 extended on both sides of the Argiletum, and that 
 it lay side* by side with the Roman Forum for 
 nearly the whole length of the latter. 
 
 The fact that Caesar's forum was included 
 in the eighth Region with the Roman Forum 
 and that of Augustus, while the Basilica Paulli 
 was in the fourth Region with the Forum Trans- 
 itorium and the Temple of Peace, appears to 
 militate against the supposition that the Basilica 
 
 «'8 Ovid, Trist. iii. 1, 27. (Note 879.) 
 
 4i 
 
 lay between the Forum Romanum and the Forum 
 Caesaris. But this argument may be met by the 
 consideration, that the Argiletum, which appears 
 to have been the boundary of these Regions, and 
 probably of some previous divisions on which 
 they were founded, passed through the middle of 
 the Forum Caesaris. It would therefore be a 
 matter of discretion to assign the open area to 
 either Region, and it would prol)ably be more 
 convenient that it should be entrusted to the same 
 police supervision as the Forum Romanum. The 
 Forum Augusti fell within the same Region. The 
 Forum of Peace on tlie other hand was entirely 
 within the fourth Region, and the Forum Trans- 
 itorium, across which the Argiletum also passed, 
 and which might for this reason have been as- 
 si2:ned to either Re2:ion, naturallv went with the 
 last erected Forum, which it adjoined. 
 
 It is worth while to observe, as bearing upon 
 the topography of the Forum Romanum as well 
 as the later Fora, that the Fora of Augustus, Domi- 
 tian, and Trajan appear to have been designed 
 upon one rectangular plan, the walls of the re- 
 maining buildings of all these Fora being parallel 
 or at ri2:ht ani>:les to each other. It is natural to 
 su])pose that these parallel lines were adopted from 
 those of the Julian Forum, by the side of which the 
 later Fora were built, and that the lines of the Julian 
 Forum followed those of the buildings already 
 existino; between that Forum and the Forum 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Distribu- 
 ti(m of the 
 imperial 
 Fora in the 
 eighth and 
 fourth 
 Kegions. 
 
 Rectangu- 
 lar plan 
 of the 
 imperial 
 Fora 
 
250 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 Vll. 
 
 corre- 
 sponds 
 with that 
 of S. Adri. 
 aiio. 
 
 Connec- 
 tion of phm 
 of all the 
 Fora. 
 
 Romanum. Now the only remaining structure 
 which preserves any evidence of the parallels 
 upon which the ancient monuments of the north- 
 east side of the Forum Romanum were built is 
 the Church of S. Adriano, the walls of which are 
 of the seventh century, and probably raised upon 
 some more ancient substructions/'^ And it is a 
 remarkable fact, tliat the walls of this church are 
 parallel with the lines of the later imperial Fora. 
 It is impossible to doubt that we have here the 
 clue to the connection between the plans of all 
 the later Fora and that of the Roman Forum. It 
 will probably be found, when the north-eastern 
 side of the Forum has been excavated, that the 
 lines of the Basilica Paulli and the whole of this 
 side of the Forum Romanum were parallel with 
 those of the later Fora.'' There is a passage of 
 Strabo which gives a good idea of the relative 
 position of the Fora, where he describes the 
 striking effect produced upon a stranger when he 
 saw one Forum leading out of another, and all the 
 later areas laid side by side with the original 
 Forum.^ 
 
 «'9 Seep. 221. 
 
 8« The Temple of Faustina, which was the first building on the 
 Sacred Way after leaving the Forum, departs from these parallels, 
 being built to face that street. 
 
 ^ JldXivd' el nc, elg Tt)v ayopav rrapeXOiov Tt)v apxa'iav^ a\\i]v t% aWi]^ 
 Uoi 7rapaiifi3\T}[iivt]v ravry, Kai (SaaiXiKctg (TToag Kal vaovc, iSoi ^i Kui to 
 Ka7riTw\toi> Kai to. ivravQa tpya, mi tu iv Tt^ UaXariijj Kai T([j Tt~ig 
 Aif^iiag TrepnrdTq), p:'Miog kKXaOoiTO dv twv tKioOtV TOiavrr} fiev t) 'Pw/x//. 
 Strabo, v. 3, 8. 
 
 I 
 
 ■1 
 
 FORUM JULIUM. 
 
 251 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Oriffiu of 
 
 The Forum of Caesar was the first great im- 
 j)rovement in the ancient part of the city. It 
 seems to have been planned by Julius during his the juiian 
 absence from Italy, and commenced, about the ^'''^'™' 
 same time as the rebuilding of the Basilica 
 Aemilia by Paullus, when its founder was engaged 
 in the distant conquest of Britain, B.C. 54. The 
 land required for this new area was mostly co- 
 vered with houses, which had to be purchased at 
 an enormous cost from private persons. In these 
 purchases, at the date of Cicero's letter to Atticus 
 above mentioned, some sixty millions of sesterces 
 had been expended- The total cost of the ground, 
 without including the buildings, is said to have 
 exceeded a hundred million sesterces.^^^ It is pro- 
 bable that the new Forum also swallowed up the 
 ancient Fish Market, of the existence of which in 
 the neighbourhood of the Basilica Porcia there is 
 some indication in one of the plays of Plautus.^ 
 
 The position of the Atrium Libertatis, to which, Atrium 
 
 . Libertatis 
 
 as we learn from Cicero, it was proposed to ex- 
 tend the Forum,^ has been the subject of some 
 controversy. This monument first appears in the 
 pages of Livy as a place where, in the year b.c. 
 212, the Tarentine hostages were kept in confine- 
 
 682 
 
 Pyramidas regum miramur, quum solum tantum foro extruendo 
 H. S. millies Caesar dictator emerit. Plin. N. II. xxxvi. 24, 2. 
 
 Forum de manubiis inchoavit, cuius area super sestertium millies 
 constitit. Sueton. lul. 26. 
 
 ' Plaut. Capt. iv. 2, 33. (Note 600.) See before, p. 220. 
 
 * Cic. ad Att. iv. 16, 8. (Note 677.) 
 
252 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VH. 
 
 PiiMie 
 office of the 
 Censors. 
 
 merit, and out of which they escaped by the cor- 
 ruption of two aeditui.^^^ It was rebuilt by the 
 Censors with the Villa Publica, B.C. 194.^ Other 
 passages in Livy show that it was used as the 
 public office of the Censors, in which business 
 was transacted and documents preserved relating 
 to status, and especially to the condition of slaves 
 and libei'tiJ It appears from Cicero that the evi- 
 dence of slaves was taken in the Atrium Libertatis 
 previous to the hearing of a cause before the higher 
 Library of tribunals.^ Durins: the rule of Augustus this 
 monument was rebuilt by Asinius Pollio, who con- 
 verted it to an entirely new use, by establishing 
 there the first public library known at Rome. The 
 library was adorned with statues of authors, and 
 the only living person who was admitted to this 
 honom- was Varro.^ Ovid complains of his books 
 
 ^* Phileas Tarentinus . . aditum sibi ad obsides Tarentinos invenit. 
 Custodiebantur in atrio Libertatis minore cura . . Hos . . corruptis 
 aedituis duobus quum . . custodia eduxisset, etc. Liv. xxv. 7. 
 
 « Atrium Libertatis et Villa Publica ab iisdem refecta amplificata- 
 que. Liv. xxxiv. 44. 
 
 ' Postremo eo descensum est, ut ex quatuor urbanis tribubus unam 
 palam in atrio Libertatis sortlrentur in quam omnes qui servitutem 
 ■ servissent, coniicerent. Liv. xlv. 15. 
 
 Censores extemplo in atrium Libertatis escenderunt, et ibi signatis 
 tabellis publicis, etc. Liv. xliii. 15. (Note 6.) 
 
 * Sed quaestiones urgent Milonem, quae sunt habitae nunc in 
 atrio Libertatis. Quibusnam de servis ? Rogas ? de P. Clodii . . . 
 Heus tu Ruscio, verbi causa, cave sis mentiaris. Clodius insidias 
 fecit Miloni? Fecit. Certa crux. NuUas fecit. Sperata libertas. 
 Cic. pro Mil. 22. 
 
 " Multaque a multistunc extructa sunt, sicut , . ab Asinio Pollione 
 atrium Libertatis. Sueton, Aug. 29. 
 
 ATRIUM LIBERTATIS. 
 
 253 
 
 II' 
 
 being excluded from this library, as well as that of chap. 
 the Palatine. — 
 
 Nee me, quae doctis patuerunt prima libellis, 
 Atria Libertas tangere passa sua est.^^^ 
 
 The building was sufficiently large to furnish Soldiers 
 
 ^ , »/ o quartered 
 
 accommodation for soldiers, and a bodv of German in the 
 
 . ^ Atrium 
 
 troops was quartered here at the time of Otho s Libertatis. 
 insurrection, and was sent for as trustworthy by 
 Galba. According to Tacitus they appear to have 
 hesitated in their allegiance; according to Sue- 
 tonius they were anxious to bring assistance to 
 the emperor, but were delayed by losing their 
 way.^ 
 
 The Atrium Libertatis, of which the above site of the 
 notices are found, was placed by the older topo- Libertatis. 
 graphers on the Aventine, where a temple was 
 dedicated to Liberty by Tiberius Gracchus in the 
 third century before the Christian era.^ But it is 
 evident that the Atrium mentioned in Cicero's 
 letter to Atticus cannot have been there, and 
 some writers have therefore supposed that there 
 
 M. Varronis, in bibliotheca, quae prima in urbe ab Asinio Pollione 
 ex manubiis publicata Romae est, unius viventis posita imago est, 
 Plin. N. H. vii. 31. lb. xxxv. 2. 
 
 ««« Ovid. Trist. iii. 71. 
 
 • Praeceptum . . primipilaribus,utGermanicos milites e Libertatis 
 atrio arcesserent . . . Germanica vexilla diu nutavere. Tac. Hist, 
 i. 31. 
 
 li (Germanici) ... in auxiJium advolaverunt, sed serius itinere 
 devio per ignorantiam locorum retardati. Sueton. Galb. 20. 
 
 2 Liv. xxiv. 16. 
 
 I 
 
( 
 
 CHAP 
 VII. 
 
 Julian 
 Forum 
 
 254 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 were two Atria Libertatis.^^^ There is no sign of 
 this in the authors cited, who seem always to 
 speak of the Atrium as a well-known monument, 
 not requiring any further description to identify 
 it. Cicero's allusion in the letter to Atticus is 
 indeed the only passage whicli gives any direct 
 Atrium evidcuco of its locality. It was at the edge of 
 at the edge the Juliau Forum as then designed, and there is 
 no reason to suppose that any material alteration 
 was made in the plan, which Cicero was actually 
 engaged in carrying out. It has been observed that 
 one of the notices of Livy indicates that the Atrium 
 was at a higher level than the Forum, as the Cen- 
 sors are represented as going up to the building.^ 
 This has been applied to the supposed second 
 Atrium on the Aventine hill, but it is more likelv 
 atitsnorth- that the Ceusor's office should be near the Forum ; 
 
 westorn ' 
 
 t'n^i- and if it was placed on the rising ground behind 
 
 the Curia, in the direction of the Capitol, it might 
 well be the same building to which the Forum 
 was proposed to be extended. A fragment of 
 marble, having the appearance of part of the 
 dedicatory tablet of a temple, was found before 
 
 «" Smith, Diet. Antiq. Art. Atrium. Mr. Rich, the writer of this 
 article, relies on the use by Livy of the word aeditui in speaking of 
 the custodians of the Atrium (Note 685), to prove that it was a part 
 of the Aedes Libertatis. But perhaps, as the Atrium was also a con- 
 secrated place (Ovid. Fast. i. 623), it might have its aeditui. A 
 later historian speaks of the aedituus of the Curia. Capitolinus, 
 Pertin. 4. (Note 473.) 
 
 « Liv. xliii. 16. (Note 687) 
 
 ATRIUM LIBERTATIS. 
 
 255 
 
 the publication of Gruter in the church of Sta. chap 
 Martina, inscribed with the letters, 
 
 VII. 
 
 ENATVS . POPVLVSQVE . R 
 LIBERTATI.^®^ 
 
 The language of Cicero, which seems to treat 
 the extension of the open space as far as the 
 Atrium Libertatis as a distinct thing from the 
 widening of the Forum,' is favourable to the sup- 
 position that the Atrium lay at one end of the 
 new Forum. And tliis position is rather confirmed 
 by the fact that it remained undisturbed by the 
 construction of the Forum of Augustus, as is 
 shown by its mention by Ovid and Tacitus. It is 
 possible that the ancient substructions in the Via 
 Marmorelli, whicli have been generallv connected 
 by antiquaries with the Julian Forum, were part 
 of the Atrium Libertatis. 
 
 Becker and other antiquaries have been anxious Capitoiine 
 to connect the Atrium Libertatis with a fragment ^^''"' 
 of the Capitoiine plan, in which the word liber- 
 tatis is found upon the tribune of a basilica.^ 
 
 ««5 Romae in foro, in aede divae Martinae, fragmentum tabulae 
 marm. quam olim Libertatis templo praefixam fuisse veri simile est. 
 Vidit Smetius. Gruter, xcix. 11. 
 
 « Cic. ad Attic, iv. 16, 8. (Note 677.) 
 
 - Becker, llandbuch, i. 462; Smith, Diet Antiq. or^. Atrium p. 113; 
 Smith, Diet. Geog. art. Roma, p. 798. Becker thinks that the word 
 LIBERTATIS was placed in the tribune nearest the Capitol; but Canina 
 was probably ri^ht in placing it at the northern end of the basilica 
 under the Quirinal. This is shown by the direction of the letters 
 as compared with those on other fragments. It is thus removed as 
 far as possible from the Forum of Caesar. If, as has been supposed, 
 the map was placed on a wall, a comparison of the lettering shows 
 
 1 
 
I 
 
 256 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Tribune of 
 Liberty in 
 the Ulpian 
 basilica. 
 
 Slaves 
 manu- 
 mitted in 
 the Forum 
 of Trajan. 
 
 THE llOMAN FORUM. 
 
 The fragment was formerly attributed to the 
 Aemilian basilica, but Canina appears to have 
 rightly assigned it to that of Trajan. In neither 
 case can the building be the Atrium Libertatis. 
 On the former supposition it would be part of a 
 building adjoining the Roman Forum, and Cicero's 
 j)roposal to extend the Forum so far could have 
 no meaning. On the latter assumption, which is 
 admitted by Becker, identification is out of the 
 question, since the very site of the Ulpian basilica 
 was created in the time of Trajan by the removal 
 of part of the Quirinal hill. To whatever ])uild- 
 ing it belonged there could be no great i-esem- 
 blance between the object marked on the map 
 and the Atrium Libertatis. The Atrium was a 
 building of considerable extent, comprising at 
 different periods a public office and a prison, 
 a public library and a barrack. The word on the 
 map appears merely to indicate the dedication of 
 an altar or statue to Liberty in the tribune of a 
 basilica. It should be observed however that in 
 the fifth century the Ulpian Forum, and probably 
 the basilica, was used for some of the business 
 which would have been appropriate to the ancient 
 Atrium Libertatis, since the manumission of slaves 
 took place there.^^^ Becker has suggested that the 
 
 that the east side was at the top. See the fragments of the Forum, 
 p. 26, and further, pp. 267-8. 
 
 '^^^ Nam modo nos iam festa vocant, et ad Ulpia poscunt 
 Te fora, donabis quos libertate Quirites. 
 
 Sidonius Apoll. Carm. ii. 
 
 i 
 
 ii 
 
 ATHIUM LIBERTATIS. 
 
 257 
 
 Atrium was on the hill removed by the great chap. 
 
 work of Trajan, and that, while its name and '. 
 
 some of its purposes were transferred to the 
 basilica, the Ulpian li])rary was possibly a de- 
 velopment of that of Pollio. This is a tempting 
 conjecture, but it must be remembered that our 
 only evidence as to the position of the xVtrium 
 places it upon the limits of the extension of the 
 Forum as desiicned bv Caesar. 
 
 It mav seem strange that Suetonius should ^^^toryof 
 have believed that the German soldiers lost their H"'"" 
 
 their way. 
 
 way to the Forum, or to the Palatine, if they 
 were quartered in a building adjoining the Forum 
 of Caesar.'*^ But this historian, whose narrative is 
 not consistent with that of Tacitus, does not men- 
 tion, and may not have known, the situation of 
 their quarters. And it may be conjectured that 
 the part of the building in which the soldiers 
 would be lodged was at the back, opening upon 
 one of the narrow lanes of the city, on leaving 
 which it might not be so difficult to take a 
 wrong turn. 
 
 The principal monument of the Forum of Caesar Tempic of 
 was the temple of Venus Genitrix, dedicated by oenitrix. 
 the dictator, B.C. 45, to the goddess whom the Ju- 
 lian fiimily claimed as a parent.^ It is mentioned 
 
 •'»« See before, p. 253. 
 
 ' 'Ave<TrrjK€ kui rg yevEreip^ tov vcwi/, wanep ev^aro fifWojv iv ^ap- 
 naXiit ^iaxt^(T9ai' Kai rtfievog Tip vetp TrepuOrjKev^ o 'Vwnaioig tra^ev 
 ayopnv tlvai. ov roiv mvimv, dW iiri irpd^eai (Tvviovtojv ig d\\i)\ovg^ KaGa 
 Kai TltpaaiQ tiv tiq dyopd^ Z,t\Tovaiv i) ^avQuvovai rd ciKaia. KXtoTruTpar 
 
258 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Site of this 
 Temple. 
 
 Ruin de- 
 scribed by 
 Palladio. 
 
 by Vitruvius as an example of a pycnostvle biiild- 
 ing,702 rpj^^ statue of the deity was by Arce- 
 silaiis, an artist who had enjoyed the protection 
 of Lucullus. Such was the hurry of the dedica- 
 tion, that the statue was erected in tlie temple on 
 the occasion of the ceremony in an incomplete 
 state.^ A statue of Cleopatra was placed by the 
 side of the goddess.'* 
 
 In the portico of this temple Julius sat to 
 receive the Senate after it had passed some de- 
 crees in his honour, and gave inex])iable oifence 
 to the Senators by not rising to greet them. The 
 meeting of the Fathers had probably been held in 
 the temple itself/ 
 
 The site of the temple is unknown. Palladio 
 has recorded the discovery of the foundations of 
 what he considered to have been a temple of Nep- 
 tune, some fragments of a cornice found on the 
 spot being ornamented with dolphins and tridents. 
 The intercolumniations were observed to have 
 been remarkably narrow, and this latter circum- 
 stance has led Canina and others to identifv this 
 ruin with the pycnostyle temple of Venus Geni- 
 
 re eiKova Ka\i)v nj Bet^ TrapftTTnaaro, i) Kai vvp ovv'tarnKev avrn. Anniaii 
 Bell. Civ. ii. 102. "^ ' ^ ■ 
 
 ^«- Vitruv. iii. 3. (Xote 371.) 
 
 ' Plin. N. H. XXXV. 45. 
 
 * Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 102. (Note 701.) 
 
 ' Veru.m praecipuara et inexpiabilem sibi invidiam bine maxime 
 movit. Adeuntes se cum plurlmis bonorlficentissimisque decretis 
 universos patres conscriptos sedens pro aede Veneris Genitricis 
 excepit. Suet. lul. 78. Plutarch, Caes. 60 ; Dio Cass, xllv 8 
 
 
 
 
 TEMPLE OF VENUS GEXITRIX. 
 
 trix.'^^ It is unfortunate that the site where the 
 ruin was found is not more distinctly marked. 
 Palladio descril)es it as " opposite the Temple 
 of Mars Ultor, in the place called in Pantano, 
 which is behind Marforio ;" and savs that the 
 discovery was made in digging the foundations 
 of a house.' The position of the statue of Mar- 
 forio was between the churches of S. Giuseppe 
 
 '*>" Canina, Foro Rom. 94 ; Becker, Handbucli, I. 3G4. 
 
 ^ Rlncontro al Tempio di Marte V^endlcatore, del quale sono stall 
 posti I disegni di sopra, nel luogo cbe si dice in Pantano cbe e dietro 
 di Marforio, era anticaniente il Tempio che segue ; le cui funda- 
 menta furono scoperte cauandosi per fabricar vna casa ; e vl fu 
 ritrouato anco vna quantita grandissinia di marmo lauorati tutti ec- 
 cellentemente. Non si sa da clii egli fosse edificato, ne a qual Dio 
 fosse consccrato, ma percbe ne' fragmenti della Gola diritta della sua 
 cornice se vedono de' Dellini intagliati, ed in alcuni luoghi tra I'vn 
 Delfino e I'altro vi sono de' tridenti, mi do a creder cbe egli fosse 
 dedicato a Nettuno. L'aspetto suo era TAlato a torno. La sua 
 maniera era di spesse colonne. Gli intercolunnij erano la vndecima 
 parte del diametro delle colonne meno di vn diametro c mezo, 
 il che lo reputo degno di auertlmento per non auer veduto in- 
 tercolunnij cosi piccioll in alcun altro edificio antico. Di questo 
 Tempio non si vede parte alcuna in piedl ; ma dalle reliquie sue, 
 che sono molte, s'e potuto venir in cognitione degli uniuersali, 
 cioe della Pianta, e delT Alzato, e de' suoi membri particolari, I quail 
 sono tutti lauorati con mirabile artificio. lo ne ho fatto cinque 
 tauole. Palladio, Architettura, lib. iv. c. 31 Ted. Vcnet. 1570^. 
 
 This Is followed by the ground-plan of a hexastjle peripteral tem- 
 ple, with a cell G6 feet long and 44] feet wide and a portico at each 
 end, and by other engraved details. If such a building was found in 
 any site between the Forum Roman um and the Forum Augustum, 
 there can be little doubt that it was the Temple of Venus. But has 
 not the architect constructed a Hercules from the fragment of a 
 foot? He says expressly that It was Peripteral (Alato atorno). The 
 matter is obscure, and must remain so until exploration or accident 
 has rediscovered the ruin. 
 
 s 2 
 
 259 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 I 
 
 \ 
 
I 
 
 260 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Caesnr's 
 horse. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 (lei Falegnami and Santa Martina, close to the 
 west corner of the latter ; and the description of 
 Palladio might apply to any place between this 
 spot and the Arco de' Pantani, but seems rather to 
 point to some site near the Marforio, possibly in 
 the Via Cremona. Such a position cannot well 
 be supposed to have been near the centre of the 
 Julian Forum, but may have been at its north- 
 western end, where, according to the foregoini;* 
 observations, the Atrium Libertatis was probably 
 situated. '^^ We do not know enous^h of the later 
 historv of this monument to determine whether 
 Palladio's ruin, which must have belonged to a 
 building existing at a late date, had any probable 
 connection with it. 
 
 The Julian Forum was not finished at the dic- 
 tator's death, since its completion is claimed in 
 the Ancyran Monument as a work of Augustus." 
 
 In this Forum, before the temple of Venus, 
 was the statue of a horse, which was bred by 
 Caesar, and would not bear anv other rider. The 
 hoofs of the fore feet of this animal are said to 
 have been cloven in such a wav as to sui]:o:est a 
 resemblance to humanity, and to have given 
 occasion to consult the Haruspices upon the inean- 
 
 '"» See before, p. 254). If I were searching for the remains of the 
 temple of Venus Genitrix, I should commence my exploration 
 where a rise in the ground at the end of the Vicolo del Lauro marks 
 the site of a buried building of some consequence. 
 
 » FORVM . ivLiVM . . . PERFECi. Mon. Aucyr. (Note 100.) 
 
 261 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 o 
 
 FORUM JULIU3I. 
 
 ing of such a portent, which was interpreted as 
 })resaging to its owner the empire of the world.'^^ 
 Another monument of the Forum Caesaris, 
 more than once mentioned by Ovid, was a foun- 
 tain, which appears to have been adorned with 
 figures of nymphs called Appiades. 
 
 Et fora conveniunt, quis credere possit, Amori ; 
 
 Flammaque in arguto saepe reperta foro, 
 Subdita qua Veneris facto de marmore tempi 
 
 Appias expressis aera i)ulsat aqnis. 
 lllo saepe loco capitur consultiis Amori, 
 
 Quique aliis cavit non cavet ipse sibi.^ 
 
 The allusion to the lawyer in the last lines Tribunals 
 shows that tribunals were held in tlie Julian iTan Forum. 
 Forum, or in some building opening upon it, 
 perha))s the Basilica of Paullus.^ After the con- 
 struction of the Forum of Caesar, the older area 
 was sometimes distinguished as the Great Forum. ^ 
 
 It is not proposed to describe in detail the other ^^^ber 
 
 Fora. 
 
 "'° Nee Caesaris dictatoris quenquam alium recopisse dorso equus 
 traditur ; idemque humanis similes pedes priores habuisse : hac 
 efligie locatus ante Veneris Genetricis aedem. Plin. N. H. viii. 64. 
 
 Utebatur autem equo insigni, pedibus propc humanis et in modum 
 digitorum ungulis fissis, quem natum apud se cum haruspices im- 
 perium orbis terrae significare domino pronunciassent, magna cura 
 aluit nee palientem sessoris alterius primus ascendit, cuius ctiani 
 instar pro aede Veneris Genetricis postea dedicavit. Sueton. Jul. 61. 
 
 • Ovid. Ar. Am. i. 81 ; ib. iii. 451 ; Ovid. Rem. Am. 659. 
 
 ' Causas, inquis, agam Cicerone disertius ipso, 
 
 Atque erit in triplici par mihi nemo foro. 
 
 Mart. Ep. iii. 38-4. Sueton. Aug. 29. (Note 7 1 4.) 
 
 ' Dlo Cass, xliii. 2 ; Notitia in Keg. viii. See Appendix. 
 
 y 
 
CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Fornm 
 Augustum 
 
 262 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 imperial Fora, but a few words may be added with 
 respect to their position and principal monu- 
 ments. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the Forum of 
 Augustus lay to the north of that of Julius, and 
 to the south-east of the great im})rovement of Tra- 
 jan. This Forum w^as the result of the need still 
 felt of larger accommodation for judicial business 
 than was afforded by the Eoman and Julian Fora. 
 It was formed, like the latter, on ground pre- 
 viously occupied by private dwellings ; and was 
 opened, like that Forum, in a hurry, and w^ithout 
 waiting for the completion of the temple of Mars 
 Ma"T^^ ^^ Ultor, which w^as its great ornament. This temple 
 uitor. had been vowed by Augustus in the war against 
 Brutus and Cassius, but was not dedicated until 
 B.C. 2. It was appointed to be the place for 
 taking the opinion of the Senate upon wars and 
 triumphs ;'^^ and must, therefore, have been of con- 
 
 "* IN . PRIVATO . SOLO . MARTIS . VLTORIS . TEMPLVM . [f]oRVMQVE 
 
 AVGVSTVM . [ex . mamJbiis . FECI. Monum. Ancyr. 
 
 Publica opera extruxit . . . Forum cum aede Martis Ultoris . . . 
 Fori extruendi causa fuit, liomiiium et iudiciorum multitudo, quae 
 videbatur iion sufficientibus duobus, etiam tertio indigere; itaque 
 festinatius necdum perfecta Martis aede, publi(;atum est, cautumque 
 ut separatim in eo publica iudicia, et sortitiones iudicum fierent. 
 Aedem Marti bello Philippensi pro ultione paterna suscepto voverat. 
 Sanxit ergo, ut de bellis triumphisque hie consuleretur senatus, pro- 
 vincias cum imperio petituri liinc deducerentur, quique victores re- 
 dissent, hue insignia triumphorum conferrent. Sueton. Aug. 29. 
 
 Kai vtwv 'Apeog Tifiiopov tv T(p KaTnTcoXuf), Kara to tov Awg rov ^epe- 
 Tpiov lifKio^ia irpoQ ti)v twv fft]fi€iojv avicBemv Kai \pT]^i(T6i^ivai tK^Xevne Kai 
 iTToinoep. Dio Cass. liv. 8. Velleius, ii. 100, 2 ; Macrob. Sat. ii. 4. 
 
 I 
 
 FORUM AUGUSTUM. 263 
 
 siderable size, a fact which is directly testified bv C"ap. 
 
 Ovid. ^ I!i 
 
 Ultor ad ipse suos caelo descendit honores, 
 
 Temi)laque in Aiigusto conspicienda foro. 
 Et Deus est ingens et opus ; debebat in urbe 
 
 Non aliter nati Mars habitare sui. 
 
 The ruin with Corinthian columns in the Via 
 Bonella is recognised as a fragment of this temple, 
 the grandeur and beauty of the remains being the 
 principal evidence of their identity. 
 
 The words of Dio, which appear to place the Supposed 
 temple in the Capitol, have given rise to the sup- tem^ie 
 position that there were two temples of Mai-s Ultor uiton"' 
 built by Augustus, a supposition which is sup- 
 ported l)y the fact that one of the medals of that 
 emperor contains what looks like the representa- 
 tion of a round temple, with the letters mar . vl . 
 This conclusion is adopted by Niebuhr, and by 
 Becker, who thinks that it is confirmed by the 
 words used by Ovid in speaking of the dedication 
 of this temple : 
 
 Nee satis est meruisse semel cognomina Marti ; 
 
 Persequitur Partlia signa retenta nianu. 
 
 ♦ * * * ♦ * 
 
 Hite deo templunique datum nomenque bis ulto, 
 Et nieritus voti debita solvit honor. ^ 
 
 But, as the words of Dio appear really to relate No suf- 
 to the great temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum, evidence 
 
 of a second 
 ■'^ Ovid. Fast. v. 551. Tlin. N. II. xxxvi. 24. (Note 656.) temple. 
 
 « Ovid. Fast. v. 579, 595. Niebuhr. Beschr. der Stadt Rom. iii. 
 1. -281 ; Becker, Handbuch, i. 371. 
 
264 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 in which, according to Suetonius, the standards 
 were to be dedicated, it is not improbable that 
 a mistake has been caused in this passage by the 
 dislocation of words which are properly appli- 
 cable to the temple of Jupiter Feretrius. And 
 the verses of Ovid do not seem to imply that two 
 temples were built, but rather that one temple was 
 doubly earned. The coin still remains to be ex- 
 plained ; but perhaps Canina's interpretation of it 
 is the true one, that it represents the interior of a 
 temple with a semicircular tribune or apse. This 
 seems the more probable, as the cm-ved lines of 
 the entablature rise at the two ends, instead of 
 felling, as would be the case if the exterior of a 
 circular temple were seen in perspective. 
 
 The back of the temple of Mars ITltor is placed 
 
 the Forum . i /» n i • i 
 
 Augustum. agamst a lofty wall, which appears to have sepa- 
 rated the Forum Augustum from the crowded 
 district in its rear. Close to the temple is an 
 ancient arclnvay, now called Arco de' Pantani, 
 through whicli the modern traffic passes at a 
 considerably higher level than the original street, 
 which led into the neighbourhood of the Suburra. 
 It has been well suggested that the object of this 
 high wall was to protect the valuable monuments 
 of the Forum from the frequent risks of fire.'" 
 
 "' Becker, Handbuch, i. 370 Tacitus speaks of the absence ot 
 such impediments in the part of the city burnt in the fire of Xero. 
 Neque enim doraus munimentis septae vel templa muris cincta aut 
 quid aliud morae intcriacebat. Tac. Ann. xv. 38. 
 
 n 
 
 FORUM TRANSITORIUM. 
 
 265 
 
 Wall of 
 
 Arco de' 
 Pantani. 
 
 <•; 
 
 The Forum constructed by Domitian and chap. 
 
 •^ VII. 
 
 called Forum Transitorium, Forum Nervae, or — 
 
 „ _ p 1 /• Forum 
 
 rorum Minervae, lay to the south-east ot that oi Transi- 
 Augustus. Its site was formerly marked hy the ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ 
 considerable ruin of the Temple of Minerva which Minerva. 
 existed apparently until the seventeenth century, 
 with the south-east side of its portico opposite 
 to the so-called Colonnacce, the two Corinthian 
 colunms still remaining in the Via Crocebianca.'^^ 
 This Temple, erected by Domitian, was dedicated 
 by the emperor Nerva, a.d. 97, whence the second 
 name of the Forum, which was also sometimes 
 called after the 2:oddess.^ The name Transito- 
 rium or Pervium was probably given to it be- 
 cause the great thoroughfare called the Argiletum 
 passed across it. The so-called Colonnacce sup- The Colon. 
 
 A ^ *- nacce. 
 
 port an entablature rich with sculpture, over 
 which is a fis^ure of Minerva in hi^h relief. This 
 monument formed part of the decoration of the 
 wall of the Forum, w^hich in the time of Alexander 
 Severus was surrounded with statues of the deified 
 emperors, either equestrian or nude figures on 
 
 ^"» See p. 247, Note 675. 
 
 8 Excitavit . . . forum quod nunc Nervae vocatur. Sueton. Dom. 5. 
 Abdicavit (Nerva), dedicate prius foro quod appellatur Pervium, 
 quo aedes Minervae eminentior consurgit. Aur. Vict. Caes. 12. 
 Martial, Ep. i. 2, 8. The inscription preserved by Gamucci from the 
 ruins of the Portico is as follows : 
 
 IMF . NERVA . CAESAR . AVG. PONT . MAX 
 TRIB • POT . II • IMP . TI. PROCOS 
 
 See also Palladio, Architettura, iv. 8. 
 
266 
 
 II 
 
 CHAP 
 VII. 
 
 Junns 
 
 Qnjidri- 
 
 frons. 
 
 Forum of 
 Peace. 
 
 Temple of 
 Peace. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM, 
 
 f'oot.'^" Another chief monument of the Forum 
 Transitorium was the Temple of Janus Quadri- 
 frons. The completion of this monument is cele- 
 brated by one of the poems of Martial.^ 
 
 The Forum Pacis probably lay to the south- 
 east of the Forum Transitorium. The contiguity 
 of these two Fora is shown by Martial's descrip- 
 tion of the address of one of his booksellers. 
 
 Limina post Pacis Palladiumqiie fonim.2 
 
 The magnificent Temple of Peace, to which the 
 Forum formed a sort of close, was dedicated by 
 Vespasian in his eighth consulate, a.d. 77. Sue- 
 tonius has been generally understood to state that 
 that emperor built the Temple of Peace next to 
 proximur ^^^ 1^'orum Pvomauum.^ But no topographer has 
 found a place for it corresponding to this descrip- 
 tion, and it may be suggested that the words foro 
 proxiniU7n should rather be translated '' next to 
 her Forum," that is, adjoining the Forum of Peace. 
 It has been supposed that this area had not the 
 name of Forum until a later time, but Martial 
 counts it among the four Fora which surrounded 
 the Temple of Janus Quadrifrons. 
 
 "-<» Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 28. 
 
 > Martial, Ep. x. 28. (Note 630.) 
 
 - Martial, Ep. i. 2, 8. 
 
 ' Fecit et nova opera, templum Pacis foro proxiniuni. Siieton. 
 Vesp. 9. 
 
 'ETTi U Tov Oveamavov Urov Kai Im rov Thov rhaprov apxivrow, ro 
 rnq Eipt'ivng HfievoQ KaOKpioOn, o te ko\o<T(t6c d^POfxaop^vog Iv rg 'lep^ i^^^ 
 t^pvOi}. Dlo. Cass. Ixvi. 15. 
 
 Templum 
 
 
 TEMPLE OF PEACE. 
 
 Nunc tiia Caesareis cinguntur limina donis, 
 Et fora tot numcras, lane, quot era geris.^w 
 
 The ruin known in the last century as the 
 Temi)le of Peace has been assigned by modern 
 antiquaries to the Basilica of Constantine.^ 
 
 The temple, which is said to have been the 
 largest and most beautiful in Rome,^ was burnt 
 down in the reign of Commodus,^ and there is no 
 direct evidence of its having been rebuilt. It is 
 named however among the monimients of the 
 fourth Region, to which it gave its name, in the 
 Notitia of the time of Constantine, and appears to 
 be mentioned l)v Trebellius Pollio as an existing 
 building in the middle of the third century.' It 
 seems to have l)een a ruin in the time of Proco- 
 pius, about a.d. 550.^ 
 
 There are some ancient walls existing behind the 
 church of SS. Cosmas and Daniian, at the foot of 
 which, on the north-east side, near the north 
 corner of the Basilica of Constantine, the frag- 
 ments of the Marble Plan of Rome, now in the 
 Capitoline Museum, were found in the sixteenth 
 century, and some additional fragments were dug 
 out in 18G7.' These walls and those of the church 
 
 '■■' Martial, Ep. x. 28, 5. (Note 630 ) 
 
 « See Chapter VIll, p. 282. 
 
 =• MkyiffTov Kut Kd\\i(yTov yevofifvov tCov Iv ry noXfci tp-yu)V. llero- 
 dian, i. 14. Plin. N. II. xxxvi. 24. (Note G56 ) 
 
 « Dio Cass. Ixxii. 24. (Note 777.) 
 
 ■ Treb. Poll, xxx Tyran. 31. " Procop. Bell. Goth. iv. 21- 
 
 9 The first discovery was made during the papacy of Pius IV. 
 (1559—66) It is mentioned by Ganuicci, in his Antichit^ di Konia, 
 
 267 
 
 CHAP. 
 Vll. 
 
 History of 
 the Temple 
 of Peace. 
 
 Buildings 
 at the back 
 of the 
 Temple of 
 Romulus. 
 
 Marble 
 map of 
 Rome 
 
268 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP 
 VII. 
 
 probal)lv 
 plated in 
 the Forum 
 of Peace. 
 
 itself, which appears to occupy an ancient site, 
 do not square with the Via Sacra, but are parallel 
 with the lines of the imperial Fora. It may be 
 concluded that they belonged to buildings con- 
 tiguous to the Forum of Peace ; ''' and the Map of 
 Rome was not improbably placed beneath a Por- 
 ticus on the south-west wall of this Forum. It 
 
 published in 156.5, and by Panvinius, in an introduction to his Anti- 
 (juaeUrbis Imago (Spieilegium, Mai, viii. 654), both of whom state 
 that the plan had originally been affixed to a wall. Flaminio Vacca 
 in 1594 gives the following account, as having been an eye-witness 
 of the discovery:— Mi ricordo aver veduto cavare dietro alia Chiesa 
 di SS. Cosma e Damiano, e vi fu trovata la pianta di Koma pro- 
 filata in marmo; e detta pianta serviva per incrostura al muro : 
 . . . . ed al presente .... si ritrova nell' antiquario del Cardinal 
 Farnese. F. V. in Nardini, Ptoma Antica, iy. 
 
 In 1673Bellori published engravings of 167 fragments, with notes, 
 which are reproduced in Graevius, Thesaurus, iv. Bellori mentions 
 that Fulvius Orsinus had a copy of them on paper, which was 
 afterwards placed in the Vatican library (Cod. Vat. 3439). It is 
 believed that Bellori copied the drawings of Orsinus, but he does 
 not appear to have done so very accurately. Seventy-four out of 
 these 167 fragments have been lost. 
 
 Those which remained, with restorations of the lost portions, were 
 placed in 1742 by Benedict XIV. on the walls of the staircase of the 
 Capitoline Museum, in twenty groups, together with six groups of 
 fragments which are not included among those copied by Bellori. 
 It is stated, however, by Piranesi that many of these last nre broken 
 pieces of the missing fragments. Piranesi engraved the whole in his 
 Antichith Komane, 1756. Those discovered in 1867 will be found 
 in Mr. Parker's Archaeology of Rome, ii. plates 43. 44. 
 
 I'rof. II. Jordan has engraved all the original fragments still exist- 
 ing, with fac-similes of the Vatican drawings and the engravings of 
 Bellori for the lost portions, accompanied by a critical !account of 
 the whole, in his Forma Urbis Romae Regionum XIIII. Berlin, 
 1875. See also Burn, Rome and the Campagna, p. 198. 
 The fragments relating to the Forum itsehf arc given before p 26 
 ^^' See before, p. 249. The Temple of Romulus was not built upon 
 these lines, but faced the Sacred Way. Rossi, Bull. Christ. 1 867, p 6G 
 
 MARBLE PLAN OF ROME. 
 
 209 
 
 appears to have been made during the joint reign ciiap. 
 of Severus and Caracalla.'^^ The building whose — 
 
 1 1 1 ^> 1 ^^ n i • 1 Tcmplc of 
 
 remains exist at the back of the wall, from which vicapota, 
 the fragments of the map are supposed to have ^"* 
 fallen, had an arched entrance to the south-east, 
 in a lane which appears to have led from the 
 Sacra Via to the Carinae.^ This building has not 
 been identified. The Sub Velia, which must have 
 been about this site, contained in early times, 
 according to tradition, the residence of Publicola, 
 and in the time of Livy and Asconius possessed a 
 
 "•^ See before, p 184. The scale of the plan is said by Caninato 
 be about 1 in 250. According to Jordan (Forma Urbis lieg. p. 14) 
 it was as nearly as can be ascertained 1 in 300. Canina supposes it 
 to have formed the pavement of the Temple of Romulus, and not to 
 have been affixed to a wall. Becker (Ilandbuch, i. p. xii.) appears 
 to share the same opinion, and adopts the view of Canina that the 
 plan was intended to be looked at from north to south. Becker 
 and others interpret Vacca (see note 728) to mean that it was dis- 
 covered on a wall either inside the church or behind it. Vacca 
 seems rather to imply that the fragments were found by digging at 
 the foot of a wall behind the church, as were the later fragments in 
 1867, and that the conclusion that they had served for the facing of 
 the wall was an inference from the position in which they were 
 found. The word dentro has been printed for dietro in Vacca's me- 
 moir by Fea (IMiscell. i. 1), which appears to have contributed to 
 cause some confusion on this point. At the place where the frag- 
 ments were found in 1867 the original marble pavement was still in 
 sitUy twenty foet below the present level of the soil. 
 
 Prof. Jordan in his Forma Urbis (p. 9) abandons the opinion 
 which he had previously hehl (Monatsb.der Preuss. Akad. 1867,p.545) 
 that the plan had been a pavement, and concludes that it was cer- 
 tainly affixed to the wall in the rear of the church. The orientation 
 he considers still in doubt, only that it was not a northward or west- 
 ward one. Perhaps the difficulties of this question may be most 
 nearly reconciled by supposing the top of the map to have been a 
 little south of east. 
 
 » See Chapter VIII. on the Sacra Via, pp. 284, 304. 
 
270 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Forum of 
 Trajan. 
 
 Forum 
 Ul})iuni 
 
 Basilica 
 Ulpia. 
 
 temple of Vicapota or Victory. "^^ This temple 
 may have been rebuilt by Vespasian, or one of his 
 successors, at the edge of the new Forum. 
 
 The Forum of Trajan, the last in date and most 
 magnificent in design of all the imperial Fora, is 
 the only one the plan of which can be to any great 
 extent traced from the remains existing^ on the 
 present ground. This has been carefully done by 
 Canina. The architect employed upon this great 
 work was Apollodorus of Damascus.''^^ It included, 
 in the first place, on the side nearest to the Roman 
 Forum, a large open area, having at the north- 
 east and south-west sides a semi -circular termi- 
 nation. The buildino:s which bounded the semi- 
 circle towards the Quirinal were constructed 
 against the side of the hill, and remain in a ruined 
 condition to the present day behind the houses of 
 the modern Foro di Trajano. It is said that these 
 ruins were formerly known as the Baths of Paullus 
 Aemilius, and that this designation is preserved in 
 a corrupted form by the name of the neighbour- 
 ing street, Via Magnanapoli.^ Next to the Formn 
 Ulpium was the Basilica Ulpia, part of the ruins of 
 which have been excavated in the present centurv. 
 This building appears to have been terminated at 
 each end, in the directions of the Quirinal and 
 
 ■32 Liv. i. 7 ; Ascon. ad Cic. in Pis. 22. See Chnpter VIII. on the 
 Site of the Velia, p. 302. 3 dIq Qr^^^ i^j^, 4^ 
 
 ♦ Becker (Ilandbuch, i. 382.) derives this from a supposed inscrip- 
 tion, Magjianimi Pauli; it conies more probably through some verna- 
 cular form o( Balnea Pauli^ Bagno di Paolo. 
 
 b 
 
 rORUM ULPIUM. 
 
 Capitol, with semi-circular tribunes, now lost 
 under the modern debris and buildings.'^^ Beyond 
 the basilica is the Column of Trajan, which indi- 
 cates by its height the level of the soil removed 
 by the stupendous excavations required to unite 
 the older Fora with the Campus Martins.^ The 
 ashes of its founder were deposited in a golden 
 urn under the column.' North-east and south- 
 west of the column were two buildings, which 
 probal)ly contained the Greek and Latin Libraries 
 founded by the emperor.^ The great temple dedi- 
 cated to Divus Trajanus by Hadrian probably 
 stood further to the north-west, in the direction 
 of the Cam])us Martins, where some colossal gra- 
 nite pillars have been dug out near the column. 
 There is some evidence of the Forum of Trajan 
 having been commenced or designed in the time 
 of Domitian. The execution of the work pro- 
 bably occupied the whole period of Trajan's reign, 
 A.i). 98-117.' 
 
 There are two local names connected with the 
 neighbourhood of the Roman Forum on the north- 
 
 ■" See before, p. 256. 
 
 * SENATVS.POPVLVSQVE.ROMANVS IMP.CAESARI.dIvI.NERVAE.F.NER- 
 VAE TRAIANO.AVQ.GERM.DACICO.PONTIF MAXIMO.TRIB.POT.X VII.IMP. 
 VI.COS.Vl.P.P AD.DECLARANDVM.QVANTAE.ALTITVDINIS MONS.ET. 
 
 locvs.tan[tis.oper]ibvs.sit.egestvs Inscription on Trajan Column. 
 See also Dio Cass. Ixviii. 16. 
 
 ^ Dio Cass. Ixix. 2. 
 
 « Dio Cass. Ixviii. I6 ; Gell. xi. 17. One of these buildings appears 
 upon a fragment of the Capitoline plan. 
 
 •^ Adhuc Ko!nae a Domitiano coepta fora atque alia multa plus- 
 (juam magnifice coluit Aurelius Victor, Caes. 13. Ilieron. i. 443? 
 Spart. Uadr. 19. (Becker, Ilandbuch, i. 379, 380.) 
 
 271 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Column of 
 Trajan. 
 
 Ulpian 
 Libraries. 
 
 Temple of 
 Trajan. 
 
 Lantolar, 
 
 Lavtu- 
 
 viiae. 
 
272 
 
 CHAP 
 VIL 
 
 Lautolae 
 at Janus 
 (ieniinus. 
 
 Hot 
 
 springs at 
 Janus. 
 
 Vi'lahi'uvi 
 minus. 
 
 Lautulus 
 in the (yji- 
 rinac, qu. 
 
 THE ROMAN FOIIUM. 
 
 eastern side, wliicli ought not to pass altogetlier 
 without notice. 
 
 The word Lautolae appears in the pages of 
 Varro as the name of a locality close to the Janus 
 Geniinus ; and its etymology, lautolae a lavando, 
 is associated by that author with the tradition 
 of hot springs having once existed at the spot.^^^ 
 The same tradition is alluded to in the story 
 which Ovid tells of the god Janus having repulsed 
 the Sabines at his gate by an outburst of sulphu- 
 reous waters.^ Connected with this spring there 
 was, according to Yarro, in ancient times a marsh 
 called the lesser Velabrum, as the larger extent 
 of marshy ground on the other side of the Forum 
 near the Circus Maximus was known as the 
 Greater Velabrum. 
 
 Later authors have attached the name of 
 Lautulus to a different locality. The epithet 
 lautae applied by Virgil to the district called 
 Carinae^ seems to have led Servius, or some 
 preceding interpreter of the poet, to place the 
 Lautulus, and the scene of the miraculous repulse 
 of the Sa])ines, in tliat district f although in 
 another passage Servius tells the story in connec- 
 
 '*' Lautolae a lavando, quod ibi ad lanum Geminum aquae ealdae 
 fuerunt. Ab his palus fuit in minore Velabro, a quo, quod ibi vehe- 
 bantur lintribus, Velabrum, ut illud maius, de quo supra dictum est 
 Varro, L. L. v. 32 (43). 
 
 ' See before, p. 224. ^ Virg. Aen. viii. 360. (Note 2.) 
 
 ' Lautae Carinae. Alii, quod Romani Sabinis instanlibus fu-n-en- 
 tes eruptione aquae ferventis et ipsi liberati, et hostes ab insequ'endo 
 rcpressi : aut quia calida aqua lavandis vulneribus apta fuit, locus 
 Lautulus appellatus est. Servius ad Virg. Aen. viii. 3(51. 
 
 4 
 I 
 
 .1 
 
 li 
 
 LAUTOLAE. 
 
 273 
 
 Janus. 
 
 tion with the locality of the Tem))le of Janus, chap. 
 which in his time was undoul)tedlv in the Forum.'^^ — 
 We have seen that Macrobius relates the same 
 miracle as having occurred at a gate, afterwards 
 called Porta Janualis, at the foot of the Viminal 
 Hill/ And Paulus Diaconus describes Latidae 
 as a place outside the city.^ 
 
 Becker has concluded that the real situation of Beckers 
 
 4-1 T J. 1 1 1 >^ . opinion as 
 
 the Lautolae was under the Carmae, and thinks to the site 
 it probable that the original Janus Geminus of toiae'^and"" 
 Numa was there, though afterwards rebuilt on 
 the Forum ; and that Livy's Janus ad infimum 
 Arglleium and Varro's description of the objects 
 in the neighbourhood of the Janus Geminus refer site of the 
 to the former site.' The connection established AvfiUf. 
 by Martial between the Argiletum and the Sub- 
 urra appears to be Becker's chief reason for 
 looking in this direction for the infimum Arglle- 
 ium, It should be remembered, however, that, 
 by the testimony of Martial, the Argiletum appears 
 to have extended westward as far as the Forum 
 of Caesar;^ and tlie infimum Argiletum would 
 be found rather in the low ground near the Forum 
 than at the foot of the Viminal Hill, where Ma- 
 crobius places his Porta Janualis, which latter 
 situation w^ould l)e rather described as summum 
 
 '" Servius ad Virg. Aen. i. (Note 612.) 
 * Macrob. i. 9. (Note 615.) 
 
 ^ Latulae, locus extra urbem. Paulus Diaconus, in Fest. ed. 
 Mlill.p 118. ^ Becker, Handbuch, i. 352. 
 
 « Mart. Ep. i. 118, 9; ii. 17. See before, pp. 245, 246. 
 
 |i 
 
274 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 Prison of 
 
 Latitu- 
 
 miae. 
 
 ArgileUim, If this be so, Livy's Janus at least 
 is the Janus of the Forum. It is of course ad- 
 mitted that Ovid's tale of the Janus Gateway 
 and miraculous spring has most distinctly its 
 *' local habitation" at the foot of the Capitol.'^^ 
 And it is to be observed that Varro srives his ex- 
 planation of the word Lautolae among a group of 
 terms connected with the objects in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Forum. It can scarcely be denied 
 that the impression left on our minds by the older 
 writers is exclusively in favour of this locality ; 
 and if we transfer the earliest Janus and the Lau- 
 tolae to the Carinae, or to the foot of the Viminal 
 Hill, we must abandon the impressions derived 
 from Varro, Livy, and Ovid in deference to the 
 authority of Servius and Macrobius. 
 
 The prison called Lautumiae is noticed by 
 Varro in immediate association with the prison of 
 the Kings. He connects its name with the Lato- 
 miae of Syracuse, and also with the supposed 
 pre-existence of a stone quarry on its site.^^ The 
 latter supposition, whether founded on fact or 
 not, would lead us to place it at the foot of one of 
 the hills, but its site is not otherwise known. 
 Livy mentions it in reference to the detention 
 of hostages and prisoners ofwar.^ It appears to 
 
 •*3 Ovid. Fast. i. 261. (Note 614.) 
 
 ^" Career a coercendo . . . Quod Syracusis, ubi simili de causa cus- 
 todiuntur, vocantur Latomiae, et de Lautumiis translatum, quod hie 
 quoque in eo loco lapidiclnae fuerunt. Varro, L. L. v. 32 (42). 
 
 ' Liv. xxxii. 26; xxxvii. 3. 
 
 LAUTOLAE AND LAUTUMIAE. 
 
 275 
 
 have been a less rigorous prison than the Career, ^^'^^• 
 for when Julius Sabinus was brought from the — 
 Career before the Senate, he begged, as an in- 
 dulgence, to be transferred to the Lautumiae. '^^ 
 
 The word Lautumiae also occurs in Livv, and I Locality 
 
 ^ ^ ^ called 
 
 believe in Livy only, in another sense, designating Lautu- 
 a locality in Rome. The atria bought as part of 
 the site of the Basilica Porcia are said to have 
 been in Lautumiis,^ And in another place the 
 same historian speaks of a fire in which the Lau- 
 tumiae w^ere involved.^ The latter passage may 
 either refer to the prison, or to the locality in 
 which the atria above mentioned Avere situated. 
 This localitv must have been at the back or side 
 of the Basilica Porcia, supposing that monument 
 to have fiiced the Forum. But, as the Janus Lautumiae 
 
 .,. r T X 1 ^^^ Lau- 
 
 Geminus adjoined this basilica, the Lautolae toiae the 
 
 -^ , same place. 
 
 of Varro, which were close to the Janus, but are 
 not spoken of as in the Forum, must also have 
 been at the side of the basilica. This seems to 
 lend considerable probability to the supposition of 
 Canina, that the place called Lautumiae, in the 
 passage of Livy relating to the Basilica Porcia, is 
 the same as that called Lautolae by Varro.^ 
 
 --2 Seneca, Controv. 27. ' Liv. xxxix. 44. (Note 594.) 
 
 * Liv. xxvi. 27. (Note 135.) ^ See before, p. 231. 
 
 6 Canina, Foro Romano, pp. 267, 319. 
 
 t2 
 
SACRA VIA. 
 
 277 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Sacra Via 
 
 Suinma 
 Sacra Via. 
 
 Origin of 
 the name. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE SACRA VIA AND THE VELfA. 
 
 The Roman antiquaries inform us that the term 
 Sacred Way was applicable to a road leadinij 
 from the Sacellum of the goddess Strenia, in or 
 near the Carinae, to the Capitoline citadel ; but 
 that in its ordinary use it was understood only of 
 a part of the route, namely, the slope between the 
 Regia at the end of the Forum and the top of 
 the first ascent, where was the house of the Rex 
 Sacrificulus.'^' This highest point of the Sacred 
 Way (in its ordinary and more restricted sense) 
 w^as known by the name of Summa Sacra Via. 
 
 The origin of the name Sacred Way was 
 variously explained. Popular tradition seems to 
 have connected it, like so many other localities of 
 the neighbourhood of the Forum, with the story of 
 
 "' Ceroliensis aCarinarum iunctu dictus Carinae, postea Cerionia 
 quod hmc oritur caput Sacrae viae ab Streniae sacello, quae perti-' 
 net in arceni, qua sacra quotquot mensibus feruntur in arceni et per 
 quam augures ex arce profecti solent inau-urare. Huius Sacrae 
 viae pars haec sola volgo nota quae est a foro eunti primore clivo 
 Varro, L. L. v. 8 (15). 
 
 Sacram viam quidam appellatam esse existlmant, quod in ea 
 toedus ictuni sit inter Romulum ac Tatium : quidam quod co itinere 
 utentur sacerdotes idulium sacrorun, conficiendorum causa. Itaque 
 ne eatenus quidem, ut vulgus opinatur, Sacra appellanda est a Re-ia 
 ad domum Regis Sacrificuli, sed etiam a Regis domo ad sacellum 
 btren.ae, et rursus a Regia usque in arcem. Festus, ed. MUll. 290 
 
 'il 
 
 ^ 
 
 Romulus and Tatius, who were said to have made chap. 
 in the middle of this road their solemn peace ^— 
 after the battle in the Forum.'^^ Virgil places the ^nd^tfu. 
 scene of this treaty before the altar of Jupiter, 
 perhaps in anticipation of the Temple of Stator. 
 
 Inter se posito certamine, rcges 
 Armati lovis ante arani paterasque tenentes 
 Stabant, et caesa iuni^^ebant foedera porca." 
 
 And Servius asserts that in memory of this event 
 the images of the two kings stood in the Sacred 
 Way, Romulus towards the Palatine, and Tatius 
 as you came from the Rostra.^" These were pro- 
 bably l)y the Stator temple. The Roman anti- Procession 
 quaries rather derived the name from the use of Wuiia. 
 this road by the priests in the solemnities of the 
 festival in honour of Jupiter, which took place on 
 the Ides of every month. The procession on this 
 occasion seems to have passed from the Sacellum 
 of Strenia to the Arx, and the whole of this route 
 was therefore accounted sacred. According to 
 Varro, the Augurs took this way when they left 
 the Arx to perform the ceremony of inauguration.^ 
 
 •^ The same story was told of the origin of the Coraitium. See 
 })efore, p. 145. 
 
 " Aen. viii. 639. 
 
 "" lavra ufiotravTeg kui fiojfiovg tin Toig opKOiq iCpvrrafievoi Kara fit<TT]v 
 lici\i(Tra T})v KaXovfxiviiv iepav ocitv (TVi'^KpaOrjaav d\\i)\oic. Dionys. 
 ii. 46. Id. ii. 50. (Note 468.) 
 
 Kai (TvveXOuPTfg 'PojpvXog rf Kai Tariog elg ti)v t^ tKeivov itpdv KaXov- 
 ptvi]i' ocov^ ktX. Appian. Frag. i. 4. 
 
 Huius autem facti in Sacra via signa stant, Romulus ex parte 
 Palatii, Tatius venientibus a Rostris. Serv. ad Aen. viii. 641. 
 
 ' Varro, L. L. v. 8 (14) ; Festus, ed. Mull. 290. (Note 757.) 
 
278 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Three 
 divisions 
 of the Sa- 
 cra Via. 
 
 First di- 
 vision in 
 the Forum 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 The Sacred Way, in the larger acceptation of 
 the term, is thus divided into three distinct por- 
 tions, the first extending from the citadel to the 
 Regia ; the second (the Sacra Via as ordinarily 
 understood), from the latter spot to the Smiima 
 Sacra Via ; the third, from the Smnma Sacra Via 
 to the Sacellum Streniae. 
 
 The first portion of the Sacred Way has been 
 already described in the chapters on the Forum. 
 It entered that area by the Arch of Fabius, close 
 to the Regia, and proba])ly shortly after passed 
 under the Arch of Augustus. Its further progi'ess 
 may be traced on the spot. It crossed the Forum 
 in front of the Temple of Jidius ; it turned again 
 towards the Capitol before the Temple of Castor, 
 and, continuing in front of the Basilica Julia, 
 passed under the triumphal arch of Tiberius ; it 
 was then carried by the zigzag route called the 
 Clivus Capitolinus into the Citadel. But it must 
 be remembered that it is only in deference to the 
 nomenclature of the ancient antiquaries that the 
 name of Sacra Via is given to this route. It was 
 not in fiict known by that name. The hill lead- 
 ing up to the capitol was the Clivus Capitolinus ; 
 the road through the Forum does not appear to 
 have had in ordinary language any distinct name.'' 
 
 762 
 
 '«2 There is a passage of Pliny in which he speaks of some part at 
 least of the road from the Regia to the Capitoline ascent as the Via 
 Sacra. Mox Caesar dictator totum forum Romanum intexit viamque 
 Sacram ab domo sua ad clivum usque Capitolinum. Plin. N. H. 
 
 ■( 
 
 !l 
 
 TEMPLE OF FAUSTINA. 
 
 The Sacred Way commonly so called, the Sa- 
 cred Way of the Roman poets, orators, and histo- 
 rians, was the route from the Regia to the Summa 
 Sacra Via. The whole extent of this famous road 
 is only about an eighth of a mile. Leaving the 
 Forum at the Arch of Fabius its course ran in a 
 direction rather south of east. 
 
 The first building on the right hand was the 
 Regia, the topography of which has been already 
 discussed.'^^ The site which has been assio-ned to 
 this monument is opposite to the Church of S. 
 Lorenzo in Miranda, constructed on the ruins of 
 the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. Of this 
 tem])le the hexastyle Corinthian portico remains 
 almost entire, with ten monolithic columns of the 
 marble called Cipolino, and a frieze of white 
 marble adorned with griffins and candelabra. 
 The entablature is inscribed in two lines : 
 
 DIVO . ANTONINO . ET 
 DIVAE . FAVSTIXAE . EX. S. C. 
 
 The u])per line has rather the appearance of 
 subsequent addition, and the temple was probably 
 built by Antoninus Pius in honour of liis wife 
 Faustina, who died a.d. 141,* though some doubt 
 
 xix. 6. Between the time of Caesar and Pliny the Sacred Way, as 
 distinct from the Forum, had been extended by the building of the 
 Temple of Julius. 
 
 '«3 See pp. 118—125. 
 
 ♦ Tertio anno imperii sui Faustinam uxorem perdidit, quae a 
 Senatu consecrata est, delatis circencibus, curribus, atque templo, et 
 flaminicls, et statuis aureis et argenteis. Capitolinus, Ant. P. 6. One 
 
 279 
 
 chap. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Second di- 
 vision, the 
 Sacra Via 
 of classic 
 authors. 
 
 Regia. 
 
 Temple of 
 Faustina. 
 
280 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Nova Via, 
 
 Temple of 
 
 Jupiter 
 
 Stator. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 lias arisen upon its attribution, inasmuch as her 
 daughter the younger Faustina and her husband 
 M. Aurelius Antoninus (called M. Antoninus on 
 his later coins) were also deified. 
 
 At the eastern corner of the Re2:ia the Nova 
 Via probably l)ranched off to the right, leading 
 in a short distance to the Porta Mugionia at the 
 north corner of the Palatine.'"^ 
 
 At the commencement of the Sacred Way, as 
 we learn from Plutarch, stood the Temple of 
 Jupiter Stator, which was prol)ably on the eastern 
 side of the Nova Via, facing the Regia and the 
 Capitol.^' Tliis temple was of considerable size. 
 In its cell the Senate was convened to hear 
 Cicero's denunciation of Catiline. The orator's 
 expression, — hie munitissimus habendi Senatus 
 locus,' — seems to imply that it offered greater 
 facilities for defence than the Curia, partly per- 
 haps because it was not open to the Forum, lacing 
 separated from it by a narrow street, which rose 
 in the direction of the temple, in front of which 
 there appears to have been a small open Place,^ 
 probably on this occasion occupied by the consul's 
 
 of the medals of Faustina exhibits a hexastyie temple with the legend 
 
 DEDICATIO . AEDIS. 
 
 ■«^ See Chapter IX. 
 
 « 'O KiKspiov kicdXH Tyv ffvyK\t)Tov tig to tov ^rrjffiov Awq lepdv^ ov 
 ^TdTU)pa 'Pw/iaTot KaXoumv^ icpvfitvov tp dpxy t7iq npciQ oSov irpbg to 
 UaXiiTiov dvwvTMv. . . . Plutarch. Cic. 16. The site of the Temple 
 of Stator is further discussed, in connection with the Poita Mugionia 
 and the Nova Via, in Chapter IX, pp. 31 1—318. 
 
 ■ Cic. in Cat. i. 1. « See p. 321. 
 
 mi 
 
 K 
 
 ii 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Vlll. 
 
 TEMPLE OF STATOR. 2S1 
 
 supporters. In the time of Vitruvius it was a 
 peripteral tem])le with six columns in front and 
 eleven at the side. If, as is now generally be- 
 lieved, Vitruvius' book is of the time of Augustus, 
 the temple so described was burnt down in the 
 great fire of the reign of Nero.'*'' 
 
 On the left, in ascendino; the Sacred Way, was Temple of 
 a small round temple, which still exists, and 
 forms a vestibule to the Church of SS. Cosmas 
 and Damian. This monument appears to have 
 been long traditionally known as the Temjile of 
 Romulus,'" and has been identitied with great pro- 
 bability as a temple consecrated l)y the emperor 
 Maxentius to his son Romulus, who died before 
 him.^ A coin struck in honour of Divus Eomulus 
 
 •«» Tac. Ann. xv. 41. (Note 290.) 
 
 ■*• Qui basilicam SS. Cosniae et Damiani martyrum via Sacra iuxta 
 templum lioniuli, sicut hactenus cernitur, venustissime fabricavit. 
 loh. Diaconus in Vita S. Grcjiorii, i. 1. 
 
 Hie fecit basilicam sanctorum Co.^^mae ^t Damiani in urbe Ronra 
 in loco qui appellatur via Sacra iuxta templum Ilomuli. Anastas. 
 in vita papae Felicis IV. 
 
 S. Laurentius de IVIirandi ; juxta eum, ecclesia S. Cosme, que fuit 
 templum Asili ; retro fuit templum Pucis et Latone; super idem 
 templum Komuli. Mirnbilia Urbis Rome, Jordan, Topogr. ii. 636. 
 
 Ascendit ante asylum jjcr silicem ubi cecidit Simon Magus iuxta 
 templum Ilomuli, pergit sub arcu triumphali Titi, etc. Proces- 
 sionale in Mabilloii, Museum Italicum, j). 294. 
 
 ' See a monograjjh by Signor de Rossi in the Bulletino Christiano 
 for 1867, p. 6G, accompanied by a sketch of the elevation and plan 
 of this edifice, by Ligorio, from the Vat. Cod. 3439, p. 40. Over 
 the drawing is written, by the same hand, or that of Pauvinius, 
 SS. Cosma et Dantiano, Imp. Caes. Avgvstvs iNIaximvs Trivmph., 
 ita ub alio latere. Pivs Felix Avgvstvs in medio. These inscrip- 
 tions appear by the drawing to have been upon the ontal>laturc of 
 the temple, and confirm the identification of thf» building. Sco Aur. 
 Vict. Caes. 40. (Note 774.) 
 
9 
 
 282 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Lane lead- 
 in}^ to the 
 Ctirinae, 
 by the 
 Velia. 
 
 Basilica of 
 
 C\)nstan- 
 
 tine, 
 
 not on the 
 site of the 
 Temple of 
 Peace. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 has on its reverse the representation of a cir- 
 cular temple. 
 
 To the east of this temple a lane appears to 
 have branched off to the left, forming a shorter 
 route to the Carinae, which were reached in this 
 direction by crossing the north-western base of 
 the hill called Velia. Traces of the lava pave- 
 ment of this lane may l)e seen to the south- 
 east of the church of SS. Cosmas and Damian, 
 at the foot of a wall of ancient masonry which 
 appears to have belonged to some building con- 
 nected with the Forum of Peace.' '^ 
 
 Further on, upon the same side of the Sacra Via, 
 was the great basilica erected by Maxentius and 
 named after Constantino,* of which the ponderous 
 ruins remain. The last column was removed 
 from this basilica by Pope Paul V. to tlie Piazza 
 of Santa Maria Maggiore, where it may still be 
 seen. The basilica extends as far as the top of 
 the street. These ruins were called in the last 
 century the Temple of Peace, and the modern 
 street behind them now bears that name. Piranesi 
 pointed out how unlike they were to a temple,^ 
 and Nibby identified them with the Basilica of 
 Constantino.*^ This identification does not ex- 
 clude the possibility that the site is that of the 
 
 "3 See pp. 268, 303. 
 
 * Cuncta opera quae magnifice construxerat (Maxentius), Ilrbis 
 fanum atque Basilicam, Flavii meritis Patres sacravere. Aurelius 
 Victor, Caes. 40. • 
 
 ^ Piranesi, Le Antieh. Rom. 35. 
 
 •^ Nibby, Foro Romano, p. 189. 
 
 (I 
 
 I. 
 
 I i 
 
 H 
 
 BASILICA OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 Temple of Peace, which was destroyed by fire in 
 the reign of Commodus.'" But there is no ancient 
 authority for placing that temple in the Sacred 
 Way, and if it had l^een situated upon that route 
 it would probably have been so described. On 
 the other hand there is some evidence that the 
 Basilica of Constantino occupied the site of a 
 building of the emperor Domitian, called the 
 Spice Warehouses, which appears to have been 
 burnt down at the same time as the Temple of 
 Peace.^ Before the Basilica of Constantino the 
 lava pavement of the Sacred Way is now visible 
 for some distance, until it is lost under the church 
 of Santa Maria Nuova, the front of which stands 
 upon the Summa Sacra Via. 
 
 The south side of the road, opposite the Basi- 
 lica, has not been excavated, and it is not known 
 what buildings were upon it a])ove the Temple 
 of Stator. A lane branched out of the middle 
 of this side of the Sacra Via into the Palatine, 
 since Asconius tells us that the house of Scaurus, 
 the step-son of Sulla, Avas in that part of the 
 Palatine which was reached hy going down the 
 
 "' Tlrp Tt vvKTwp dpOtv i^ oliciag rivug Kai elg to ElprivaJop tfnriffuv rag 
 aTroOt'iKcig ruiv re AiyvTrritov Kai ruiv 'Apaf3iwv (popriwv tTreveifxaTO, tg re 
 TO naXuTwv fitTeiopiaetv ti'(TJ)\0f, kuI ttoXXu iravv aiiTov KOTtKuvaev, uktt^ 
 Kai Til ypafjfiaTa tu Tg dpxy TrpoatjKOVTa oXIyov ^eTv irdvTa (pOaprfvai. Dio 
 Cass. Ixxii. 24. llerodian, i. 14. See before, p. 267. 
 
 " Dio Cass. Ixxii. 24. (Xote 777.) Domitlanus . . . horrea pipera- 
 taria, ubi modo est Basilica Constantiniana, et forum Vespasiani. 
 Catal. Imp. Vienn. 243. Rone. Hicron. i. 443 Rone. (Becker, iiand- 
 buch, i. 379, 443.) 
 
 283 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Jlorrea 
 P'lpcra- 
 tnria. 
 
 Summa 
 Sacra Via. 
 
 South side 
 of the 
 Sacra Via. 
 
 House of 
 
 Crassus, 
 
 Scaurus, 
 
 Clodius, 
 
 and Cae- 
 
 cina. 
 
284 
 
 CHAP. 
 Vlll. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Sacred Way and proceeding by tlie nearest lane 
 to the lef't.''^ This magnificent liouse appears to 
 have l)een the same as that which had formerly 
 helonofed to the orator Crassiis, famous for its 
 beautiful lotos trees and for its atrium adorned 
 with four columns of marble of Hymettus, which 
 were replaced in the time of Scaurus by marble 
 columns of a much larger size.^" An adjoining 
 house had l)een built by Cn. Octavius, Consul 
 B.C. 165, and had l)een thought so magnificent as 
 to assist his pretensions to the first consulate held 
 by his fixmily. This w\as acquired and pulled down 
 by Scaurus, and the space added to his own man- 
 sion.^ It was probably the same house which 
 was purchased by P. Clodius from Scaurus a 
 few months l)efore the death of the former,^ and 
 for which he gave 14,800,000 sesterces, an extra- 
 vagance worthy of being compared, according to 
 Pliny, with the folly of kings.^ The palace of 
 
 "" Demonstrasse vobis memini me, hane domum in ea parte Palatii 
 esse, quae cum ab Sacra via descenderis et per proximum vicum qui 
 est ab sinistra parte prodieris posita est. Possidet eam nunc Largus 
 Caecina, qui consul fuit cumClaudio. In liuius domus atrio fuerunt 
 quatuorcolumnaemarmoreae insigni magnitudine. Asconius ad Cic. p. 
 Seauro. 
 
 **» Plin. N. H. xxxvi. 2, 3. 
 
 ' Cn. Octavio qui primus ex ea familia consul factus est, Iionori 
 fuisse accepimus (juod praeclaram aedificasset in Palatio et plenam 
 dignitatis domum, quae quum vulgo viseretur, suffragata domino 
 novo homini ad consulatum putabatur. Hunc Scaurus demolitus 
 accessionem adiunxit aedibus. Cic. Of!', i. 39. 
 
 - Erat domus Clodii ante paucos menses empta de jM. Seauro in 
 Palatio. Ascon. arg. ad Cic. pro Mil. 
 
 ^ Plin. N. H. xxxiv. 24, 2. 
 
 HOUSES OF CRASSUS AND CICERO. 
 
 285 
 
 U 
 
 ' 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 li 
 
 Scaurus was at a later date in the possession chap. 
 
 vin. 
 of C. Caecina Largus, consul with the Emperor — 
 
 Claudius, A.D. 42, who in Pliny's youth used to take 
 
 a pride in showing the lotos-trees of Crassus.'^^ 
 
 It is in this i)art of the Palatine that we must "^"^^ ""^ 
 
 *■ Cicero. 
 
 place the house of Cicero, which conmianded a 
 view of the city, and was approached from the 
 Forum by the Sacred Way." It appears to have 
 ])een in the direction of the Regia, since Cicero 
 was alluded to by Vettius, in his denunciations 
 from the Rostra, as a neighbour of the consul, 
 that is apparently of Caesar.' Cicero's house 
 was bought by him from one of the family of 
 Crassus,*^ Init was not the house of Crassus 
 the orator. It had been built by M. Livius 
 Drusus, the Tribune, and seems to have been 
 the same house of which the story is told, that, 
 when the architect suggested a plan by which 
 it might be less overlooked from the neighbour- 
 hood, Drusus told him rather to make it all open 
 to view, so that his fellow -citizens might see what 
 was the life he led. After Cicero's death it be- 
 longed to Censorinus. It was not absorbed in 
 the buildings of Augustus, ))ut in the time of 
 
 ^" Asconius ad Cic. p. Seauro (Note 779); Plin. N. II. xvii. 1. 
 
 " In conspectu praeterea totius urbis domus est mea. Cic. pro 
 domo sua, 37. Id. Har. Resp. 8, 33. (Notes 791, 832.) Plutarch. 
 Cic. 22. (Note 18) 
 
 ' Me non nominavit, sed dixit consularem disertum, vicinum con- 
 sulis, sibi dixisse, Ahalam Servilium aliquem aut Brutum opus esse 
 reperiri. Cic. ad Attic, ii. 24. 
 
 * Cic. Ep. ad fam. v. 6. 
 
286 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CLIVUS SACER. 
 
 287 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 vni. 
 
 89 
 
 House of 
 Catiline. 
 
 Honse of 
 Clodius. 
 
 Regions of 
 the Sacra 
 Via and 
 the Pala- 
 tine. 
 
 Paterculus was the property of Statiliiis Sisenna.' 
 
 The house of Catiline, which was also in this 
 neighbourhood, was included in the palace of 
 Augustus. ^*^ 
 
 Inimediatelv above the house of Cicero, on the 
 slope of the hill, was the mansion of Clodius, a 
 different house apparently from that already men- 
 tioned as purchased shortly before his death. 
 Cicero threatens, in a flourish of oratory, to raise 
 his own roof so that Clodius may not have a view 
 of the city he desired to destroy. It appears that 
 his life had been attempted by Clodius not far 
 from this spot.^ 
 
 It is probable that the Augustan division of 
 Regions followed on this ground the traditional 
 boundary of the Palatine city The Sacra Via and 
 the buildings upon it, including the Temple of 
 Jupiter Stator, and probably the other monuments 
 on the south side of the street, were included in 
 the fourth Region with the Forum of Peace and 
 the Sul)urra ; but the district lying south of the 
 Sacred Way beyond the buildings actually abut- 
 ting upon it was considered to be a part of the 
 Palatine, which constituted the tenth Res-ion. 
 
 o 
 
 ^*^ Plutarch. Reip. gerend. praecepta, ed Reiske, p. 194; Velleius 
 Paterc. ii. 14. s" Sueton. de Gram. 17. 
 
 ^ Tollam altius tectum ; non ut ego te despiciam, sed ne tu 
 aspicias urbem earn quam delere voluistl. Cic. Har. Resp. 33. 
 Haec intentata nobis est, haec eadem, longo intervailo conversa 
 rursus est in me ; nuper quidem, ut scitis, me ad Regiam poene con- 
 fecit. Cic. p. Mil. 14. 
 
 ' -I 
 
 .! 
 
 i I 
 
 
 The Sacred Way, as it was onVinallv formed, 
 lay in a natural hollow between the Palatine hill 
 on the one side and the steep ascent of the Velia 
 on the other, l)eing the easiest route from the low 
 ground of the Forum to the ridge which united 
 these two hills. Its whole course was a slope of 
 rather rapid incline. Hence Horace^s expression 
 m allusion to the triumphs which passed down the 
 Sacred Way towards the Capitol : 
 
 Intactus aut Britannus ut descenderet 
 Sacra catenatus via.'*** 
 
 Hence also the synonym, sacer dims, used by 
 Horace and Martial. 
 
 Concines maiore poeta plectro 
 Caesarem, quandoque trahet feroces 
 Per sacrum clivum, merita decorus 
 Fronde, Sygambros.^ 
 
 The steepest part of the ascent was before the 
 round temple which has been identified as that of 
 Romulus. This rise in the Sacred Way seems to 
 have acquired in the time of Constantino the 
 name of Mons Romuleus, possibly from the tem- 
 ple which had been lately built upon it.' 
 
 ■«2 Hor. Epod. viii. 7. 
 
 ' Hor. Od. iv. 2, 34; Martial. Ep. i. 71, 5. 
 
 * Coepit Pigmenius ascendere per clivum viae Sacrae, ante tern- 
 plum Romuli. Acta S. Pigmenii (Xibby, Foro Romano, p. 180) 
 Processionale. (Xote 770.) 
 
 Fuit denique hactenus statua in pede montis Romulei, hoc est 
 ante Sacram viam intra templum Faustinae advecta ad arcum 
 Fabianum, quae haberet inscriptum, Gallieno, etc. Trebellius Pollio 
 Salon.n. ,. (Hist. Aug. Script, ii. 244). Servius speaks of a statue 
 of Romulus m the Sacred Way. (Note 760.) 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Physical 
 topogra- 
 phy of 
 Sacred 
 Way. 
 
 Sacer 
 Clivus. 
 
 Mons 
 Romuleus. 
 
288 
 
 TUE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 criAi*. 
 viu. 
 
 The Sacred Way is agreeably associated with 
 
 the ha})its and daily life of Horace. He describes 
 
 the SuJred himself going down it in the morning, absorbed in 
 
 Ilorsice, in 
 
 Way 
 
 his thoughts or in bis verse. 
 
 Ibiim forte via Sacra, sicut mens est mos, 
 Nescio quid meilitaiis niigarum, ct totus in illis.'^^-'^ 
 
 Later in the day be frequently passed through it 
 to take his evening walk in the Forum. 
 
 Fallaceiii Circum, vespertiiumujiie pererro 
 8aepe forum. ^ 
 
 Branching to the right upon the ridge at the to] 
 
 Routes to 
 
 the Pala- r i o 
 
 tine i.y the of the Sacra Via, a street, the pavement of which 
 
 Sacred ^ 
 
 Way. 
 
 is for a considerable distance open to view, con- 
 ducted into the very heart of the Palatine hill. 
 The Sacred Way thus led by various routes to 
 different parts of the Pahitine. First the Nova 
 Via led out of the beginning of the Sacred Way 
 to the Porta Mugionia and the western side of 
 the hill.' Then, the Line alreadv mentioned led 
 to the house of Scaurus and prolmbly to other 
 mansions on the north slope. And finally the 
 street upon the ridge formed the easiest ascent to 
 the great buildings of the Flavian emperors. 
 Hence the Sacred Way (in its popular and re- 
 stricted sense) was primarily the road from the 
 Forum to the Palatine. 
 
 Inde saero venerauda petes Palatia clivo.'* 
 
 Cicero leads his prisoners from the Palatine to 
 
 "■•^ Hor. Sat. i. 9, 1 
 ' See Chapter IX 
 
 « Hor. Sat. i. 6, 113. 
 » Martial. Ep. i. 71, 5. 
 
 SUMMA SACRA VIA. 
 
 289 
 
 the Forum doAvn the Sacred Way^'l Vitellius in 
 the Forum, intent on abdicating empire in the 
 Temple of Concord, is forced by his friends back 
 to the Palace by closing every other route except 
 the Sacred Way.'^ 
 
 The house of the Rex Sacrificulus, mentioned 
 by Festus as the limit of the Sacra Via as com- 
 monly understood, must have been in the Summa 
 Sacra Via, but its site is unknown. The Aedes 
 Larum was also in the Summa Sacra Via, and it 
 is not imi)rol)able that the house of the sacrificial 
 king adjoined this temple, the shrine of the 
 guardian deities of the city, where the king Ancus 
 Martius is said to have dwelt ;^ as the residence of 
 the Pontifex Maximus, the traditional palace of 
 Xuma, was next to the temple of Vesta. The 
 temple of the Lares was situated on the line of 
 the boundary of the Palatine city, the Pomerium 
 of Ptomulus as laid down by Tacitus,^ and was 
 
 '«» Plutarch. Cic. 22. (Note 18.) 
 
 «"o Maior hie clamor obsistentium penatibus prlvatis, in Palatium 
 vocaiitium. Interclusum aliud iter, idque solum quod in Sacram 
 viam pergeret, patebat; turn consilii inops in Pjdatluin redilt. Tac. 
 Hist. iii. 68. Compare Dio Cass. Ixv. 20. 
 
 » Ancus Martius (habitavit) in summa Sacra via, ubi aedes Larum 
 est. Solinus, 1. Compare Nonius, xii. 531. (Note 856.) 
 
 2 Inde certis spatiis interiecti lapides per ima montis Palatini ad 
 arani Consi, mox ad Curias veteres, tum ad sacellum Larum; forum- 
 que llomanum et Capltolium non a Romulo sed a T. Tatio additum 
 urbi credidere. Tac. Ann. xii. 24. Some modern ediror-, including*' 
 OrcUi, read sacellum Larundae^ rolying upon a passanje in Varro 
 (L. L. V. 10, 22) where he says, tluit, according to the annalists, 
 Talius vowed a temple, amoncr other deities, to Larunda. But tins does 
 not show that any temple of Larunda existed in Varro's day, still less 
 
 U 
 
 CHAP 
 VIII. 
 
 Summa 
 Sacra Via. 
 
 House of 
 the Rex 
 Sacrificu- 
 lus. 
 
 Aedes 
 Larnm. 
 
290 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Market at 
 the Suinma 
 Sacra Via. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 therefore in all prol^ability on the southern side 
 of the Sacra Via, in the direction of the Palatine 
 hill. This temple was rebuilt by .Augustus,^^^ and 
 was probably maintained as long as the old religion 
 had anv influence. Some remains of it mav 
 perhaps be found, and that with no considerable 
 excavation, in the Open space near the south side 
 of the church of Sta. Maria Xuova. Close to the 
 temple of the Lares was an altar of Orbona.^ 
 
 The Summa Sacra Via appears, from what w^e 
 see of the pavement near the church of Santa 
 Maria Nuova, to have s})read into a broad paved 
 area. Here probably w^as a sort of open market 
 for the sale of tlowers, fruit, and other petty 
 articles.' Ovid alludes to this merchandise. 
 
 Dum bene dives iiger, duni rami }M)ndere imtant, 
 
 Afferat in calatho rustica dona puer; 
 Rure suburbano poteris tibi dicere missa 
 
 TUa, vel in Sacra sint licet empta via.'' 
 
 And in another jdace he speaks of the skilfid 
 
 that it was on the line of the poinerium, whereas the Temple of the 
 Lares certainly existed in imperial times, having been rebuilt by 
 Auf^ustus, and, beinjr on the Summa Sacra Via, must have been on 
 or near the limits of the ancient Palatine city. 
 
 ^"^^ AEDEM . LARVM . IN . SVMMA SACRA . VIA FECI. MoU. 
 
 Ancj'r, 
 
 * Ideoque etiam publice Febri fanum in Palatio dicatum est, Or- 
 bonae ad aedera Larium. Plin. N. II ii. 5. 
 
 ^ Huiusce, inquam, pomaria summa Sacra via, ubi poma veneunt 
 oontra auream imaginem. Varro, R. R. i. 2. The golden image is 
 not known. Cloelia's statue was of bronze, and may possibly have 
 been gilt. Dionys. v. 35. (Xote 864.) 
 
 '^ Ovid, de Art. Am. ii. 263. 
 
 GOLDEN HOUSE OF NERO. 
 
 29] 
 
 t 
 
 hands that were employed in tying up garlands chap. 
 before the temple of the Lares. 
 
 Lucifero subeunte Lares delnbra tulernnt 
 Hie, ubi fit docta niidta corona manu.***" 
 
 Propertius also mentions the trifles that might 
 be bought here, 
 
 Quaeque nitent Sacra vilia dona via.^ 
 
 Beyond the summit of tlie Sacra Via, and fempic ».f 
 
 Til • A 1-^ Venus and 
 
 extending back nearly as tar as the Colosseum, Home. 
 is a vast ])latform with a ruined ])uilding in its 
 centre, which has been recognised by modern 
 antiquaries as the Temj)le of Venus and Rome, (ioiden 
 originallv founded bv Hadrian." This site had NerT'' 
 been previously occupied ])y the ]ialace of Nero, 
 which reached from the Esquiline to the Palatiiu^ 
 Hill, and, liavins; been burnt down in the irreat 
 Hre which occurred in that em])eror's reign, was 
 rebuilt u])on the same site on a still more splendid 
 scale and called the Golden House, apparently on 
 account of the quantity of gilding used in its ex- 
 terior.^^ The vestibule, which was desii^ned to 
 contain a colossal bronze statue of the emperor, Coiosf^ns 
 — according to Pliny a hundred and ten, and ac- 
 cording to Suetonius a hundred and twenty feet 
 
 «»■ Fast. vi. 791. 
 
 " Propertius, ii. 24. 1. Numerous sepulchral inscriptions have 
 been preserved recording the location in the Sacred Way of various 
 trades, especially goldsmiths and jewellers. Orelli, Inscr. 4148, -9, 
 -55, -6, -92, -3, 4292, 4302, 7244; Grufer, mxxxiii. 1. 
 
 " The identification was first made by Nardini. Roma Autica, 
 p 130; Id. ed. Xibl.y, i. 286, 296. "^ Plin. X. II. xxxiii. \^. 
 
 I 2 
 
292 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Flavian 
 Amphi- 
 theatre. 
 
 Baths of 
 Titus. 
 
 Colossus. 
 
 811 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 liigh ^—probably fiiced the top of the Sacred Way. 
 The extent of the building is said to have been so 
 great, that the portico, which was of triple depth, 
 was a mile long. Behind the palace was a large 
 lake surrounded by buildings; and on the Esqui 
 line the o^round was cleared for an extensive park. 
 A great part of the space appropriated by this 
 selfisli extravagance was devoted by Vespasian 
 and Titus to public uses. The site of the lake 
 was occupied by the Flavian Amphitheatre, and 
 the Baths of Titus were placed on the gardens of 
 the Esquiline.- The Colossus, with some cliange 
 in the design, was completed after Nero's death, 
 and dedicated to the Sun, the head being sur- 
 rounded with rays. Some said that the face 
 retained the likeness of Nero ; others that it had 
 
 8" Nero Antii agens non ante in urbem regressus est quam doniui 
 eius, qua Falatium et Maecenatis bortos continuaverat, ignis propin- 
 quaret. Tac. Ann. xv. 39. 
 
 Domum a Palatio Esquiiias usque fecit, quam primo Transitoriam, 
 raox incendio absumptam restitutamque Auream nominavit. . . 
 Vestibulum eius fuit in quo colossus cxx. pedum staret ipsius effigie: 
 tanta laxitas ut porticus triplices milliarias haberet : item stagnum 
 maris instar circumsaeptum edificiis ad urbium speciem, rura insuper 
 arvis atque vinetis et pascuis silvis(pie varia cum multitudine omnis 
 generis pecudum ac ferarum. Sueton. Ner. 31. 
 
 2 Hie, ubi sidereus propius videt astra colossus, 
 
 Et crescunt media pegmata celsa via, 
 Invidlosa feri radiabant atria regis, 
 
 Unaque iam tota stabat in urbe domus. 
 Hie, ubi conspicui venerabilis ampbitlieatri 
 
 Erijiitur moles, stagna Neronis erant. 
 Hie, ubi miramur, velocia munera, thermas, 
 Abstulerat miseris tecta superbus ager. 
 
 Martial. Spect. ii. 
 
 
 i 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 TEMPLE OF VENUS AND ROME. 293 
 
 that of Titus.^^^ It was fixed in the reign of Ves- 
 pasian, A.i). 77, on the site originally prepared 
 for it at the top of the Sacred Way; but the 
 j)alace of Nero appears to have been pulled down, 
 and the ground, when Martial wit)te, was occupied 
 by scaffolding and engines, connected perhaps 
 with the work of the new amphitheatre."^ The Co- 
 lossus was removed to a new position, probably 
 to the great pedestal still existing close to the 
 Colosseum, by the Emperor Hadrian,^ who chose Temple of 
 
 , . f, ' . 1 -. -, p Venus and 
 
 the magniiicent site now lert vacant at the top ot Rome. 
 
 *" llomam accitus est (Zenodorus) a Nerone, ubi destinatum illius 
 principis simulacrum colossum fecit ex. pedum longitudine, qu. 
 dicatus Solis venerationi est, damnatis sceleribus illius principisi. 
 Plin. N. H. xxxiv. 18. 
 
 "O Tf KoXotTfToc wvofjiatTfitvoc, iv ry \ep^ odtp tlpvQi]. <paal dt avTov to 
 
 Tt V^pOr tKUTOV TTOCioVy KUl TO tlSoQ 01 fllv TO 'SfpwVOQ Ot Sk TO TOv TlTOV 
 
 tXfii^- Dio Cass. Ixvi. 16. In tbe Curiosum, Reg. IV. the Colossus 
 is said to be 102.Jft. in heiglit. See Appendix. 
 
 Colossi refectorem insigni congiario magnaque mercede donavit 
 (Vespasianus). Sueton. Vesp. 18. 
 
 Inde sacro veneranda petes palatia clivo, 
 
 Plurima qua summi fulget imago ducis ; 
 Xec te detineat miri radiata colossi 
 
 Quae Kliodium moles vincere gaudet opus. 
 
 Martial, Ep. i. 71, 5. 
 
 * Martial Spect. ii. (Note 812); Dio Cass. Ixvi. 16. (Note 813.) 
 
 * Transtulit et colossum stantem atque suspensum per Decrianum 
 arcbitectum de eo loco ubi nunc templum Urbis est, ingenti molimine 
 ita ut operi ctiam elephantes xxiv. exhiberet. Et quum hoc 
 simulacrum post Neronis vultum, cui antea dicatum iuerat. Soli 
 consecrasset, aliud tale ApoUodoro architecto auctore f'acere Lunae 
 molitus est. Spartian. Hadr. 19. (Hist. Aug. Script.) 
 
 The modern name of the Flavian amphitheatre (in the form 
 Culisaeus) is first found in an English author, Bede. (Nibby, 
 Foro Romano, p. 229.) Some have supposed that it was derived 
 from the neighbouring Colossus. 
 
 I 
 
294 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Criticism 
 of Apollo- 
 Uonis. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 the Sacred Way for his favourite monument, the 
 (lou])le Temple of Venus and Rome, said to have 
 been designed by the prince himself. Dio Cassius 
 tells a story about the building of this temple 
 which possesses a great topographical interest, as 
 confirming the assumed site of this monument. 
 The emperor, when his work was already in pro- 
 o-ress, submitted his drawings to the architect 
 Apollodorus of Damascus, who had designed the 
 Forum and other buildings of Trajan. The 
 professional architect did not disguise his opinion 
 of the designs of the imperial amateur, pointing 
 out that the statues were too large for their cells, 
 and that the principal building ought to have 
 been raised higher, so as more completely to 
 command the Sacred Way. This arrangement, 
 he observed, would have necessitated a vast sub- 
 structure, which should have been made hollow, 
 and would then have been signally useful both for 
 storing the machinery of the amphitheatre and 
 for preparing it out of sight for immediate use. 
 The conclusion of the story is so tragic, if we 
 admit its credibility, as to cast a shadow^ over the 
 memory of Hadrian. The amateur is said to have 
 iirst banished the artist, and afterwards to have 
 put him to death. ^^^ 
 
 *'^ 'O ^i dvT€Trk(TT€i\e irepi n tov vaov, on Kai ^ereujpov arruv icai vrrfic- 
 Ktvwfihov yevsffOai ixp^l^' '^ ''^ ^^ ^'^^ ifpav o^oi' Utpaveanpog t^ v\pj]\o- 
 Tspov eh), Kai tQ to ko~iXov ra fitjxdvw^ra US^xoito, wtrre Kai d<pavwc 
 ffV^TTyiyvvffOai Kai tK ov irpoeidoroi; fic to OfaTpov ehayeaOai. Dio Cass. 
 Ixix. 4. Spartian. Hadr. 19. 
 
 TEMPLE OF VENUS AND ROME. 
 
 295 
 
 
 Tlie vast terrace occupied by this monument chap. 
 was surrounded by a portico or colonnade.^^' * The — 
 double temple in the centre contained two cells 
 with tribunes or apses placed back to back, and 
 decastyle porticoes facing in the two directions 
 towards the Forum and the Amphitheatre. The 
 porticoes are represented upon coins of Hadrian. 
 The central ])uilding, l)eing placed at some distance 
 ])ack from the Summa Sacra Via, must have ap- 
 peared to a spectator approaching it from the 
 Forum somewhat sunk behind the surrounding 
 colonnade, and probably in this respect the criti- 
 cism attributed to Apollodorus was not without 
 foundation. 
 
 Tl.is temple appears to have been completed or ff^lftj*;;^^^^^^ 
 restored by Antoninus Pius, on whose medals, as temple. 
 well as on those of Hadrian, it is re])resented, and 
 
 «>' The recent discovery of a fragment of the Capitoline Plan, 
 representing the Porticus Liviae as a large area surrounded by a 
 pc.rtico, has" tempted an English antiquary to lit it to this locality. 
 (Parker, Archaeology of Rome, ii. p. 86.) It may be worth while 
 to observe, first, that no other site but the present, lying between the 
 Sacra Via and the Amphitheatre, answers to Apollodorus's criticism 
 of the temple budt by Hadrian ; secondly, that the Porticus Liviae 
 was in the third Region of Augustus (Curiosum and Notitia, Preller, 
 Regionen, pp. 6, 7), whereas this site lies in the fourth, and on the 
 boundary of the tenth Region; thirdly, that the fragment of the 
 Plan of the Porticus Liviae corresponds neither in the budding 
 delineated in the centre of the area, nor in the streets and buildings 
 surrounding it, with the ruins found on and near this site; and, 
 fourthly, that the Porticus Liviae, built by Augustus, subsisted in 
 the time of Constantine, whereas this site was almost certainly occu- 
 pied during part of the interval between these periods by the build- 
 ings of Nero. 
 
296 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 ARCH OF TITUS. 
 
 297 
 
 CHAP. 
 VHI. 
 
 Arch of 
 Titus. 
 
 rebuilt bv Maxeiitius after destruction by iire.*^^^ 
 In later times it was commonly called Templum 
 Url)is.^ The ancient worship of both deities was 
 still maintained in it when Prudentius wrote his 
 first book against Symmachus, about a.d. 400.^" 
 It appears to be this temple whose roof Claudian 
 describes as glittering on the Palatine hill, and 
 to which the nations bring their petitions. 
 
 Conveninnt ad tecta deae quae Candida lucent 
 Monte Palatino.i 
 
 The bronze plates, probably gilded, with which 
 the temple was covered, were removed by Pope 
 Honorius I. with the consent of the emperor 
 Heraclius, to be placed over the basilica of St. 
 Peter.^ 
 
 At the west corner of the great platform of 
 Venus and Rome stands the Arch of Titus, with 
 
 8>» Maxentius imp. ann. vi. Hoc imp. templum Romae arsit et 
 fabricatum est. Catal. imp. Vienn. p. 24§. Rone. (Becker, Hand- 
 buch, i. 443.) Aurelius Victor, Caes. 40. (Xote 774.) 
 
 ^ His coss. (Pompeiano et Attiliano) templum Romae et Veneris 
 factum est, quod nunc Urbis appellatur. Cassiod. Chron. Hadr. 
 Urbis templum, forumque Pads, . . aliaque inter haec decora urbis 
 aeternae. Ammianus Marccllinus, xvi. 10. 
 
 M 
 
 Ac Sacram resonare viam mugitibus ante 
 Delubrum Romae : colitur nam sanguine et Ipsa 
 More deae, nomenque loci ceu numen habetur ; 
 Atque Urbis Venerlsque pari se culmine tolhmt 
 Templa, simul geminis adolentur thura deabus. 
 
 Prudent, cont. Symmach. i 218. 
 ' Claudian, de laud. Stilich. ii. 227. 
 
 ■ Hie (Honorius) cooperuit ecclesiam (S. Petri) omnem ex tabulis 
 aeneis quas levavit de templo quod appellatur Romae ex consensu 
 pientissimi Heraclel Imperatorls. Anastas. Biblloth. in Vita Hon. I. 
 
 its sculptures recording his Jewish triumph. It 
 bears the inscription: 
 
 SENATVS 
 POPVLVSQVE . ROAT ANVS 
 DIV( ) . TITO . DI VI . VESPASIANI . F 
 VESPASI ANO . A VGVSTO 
 
 The title cUv?ts, as well as the relief which 
 represents his apotheosis, shows that the arch was 
 not completed until after the em])eror's death. 
 The relief, in which the seven-branched candle- 
 stick is a conspicuous object, gave in the middle 
 ages the name of Arcus septem lucernarimi to 
 this monument. 
 
 The account of the ancient remains on and near 
 the Sacred Way given in the book de mirahilihus 
 Bomae, prol)al)ly of the twelfth century, affords 
 a curious picture both of the state of the ruins at 
 that period, and of the utter confusion into which 
 the traditional knowledge of the localities had 
 fallen. The Temple of Vesta was still remem- 
 bered, but whether in connection with its real site 
 is uncertain. The ruins near it, perhaps the 
 temple of Castor, were called the Temple of Pallas, 
 and next to them was what was l)elieved to be 
 the Forum of Caesar and the Temple of Janus, 
 where was a tower of the Cenci Frangipani, pos- 
 sibly on the site of the Temple of Julius ; then 
 the church of S. Lorenzo m Miranda, called the 
 Temple of Minerva, with an arch adjoining it, 
 apparently the Fornix Fabianus; near it the 
 church of S. Cosmas, which was believed to have 
 
 CHAP. 
 VHI. 
 
 w 
 
 Arch of 
 the Seven 
 Lamps. 
 
 Medieval 
 account of 
 tiic east 
 end of the 
 Forum and 
 the Sacred 
 Way. 
 
298 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 Streets ou 
 each side 
 of Venus 
 
 CHAP, been called the Tenii)le of Asylum; at the back of 
 Vlh this church tlie Temple of Peace and Latona, and 
 in front of it the Temple of Romulus; behind the 
 church of Santa Maria Nuova the two temples of 
 Concord and Piety; and near the arch of the seven 
 lamps the Temple of Aesculapius.^^^ 
 
 In the scul])ture upon the tomb of the Aterii, 
 
 A second \ , . 
 
 arch on the preserved in the Lateran Museum, there is repre- 
 kacrrVia. scutcd au arch, inscribed at^cus in sacra via sumfua, 
 
 \v hich does not correspond with the Arch of Titus. 
 
 This may possibly have been one of the numerous 
 
 arches of Domitian.^ 
 
 The road leading to the right from the top oi' 
 
 the Sacred Way into the Palatine has been already 
 
 OI venus ^ t • i • 
 
 and Honu. mentioned. In the opposite du^ection tliere is an 
 ancient street, now uncovered, which led ti-om the 
 Summa Sacra Via along the eastern side of the 
 Basilica of Constantino. From this a narrow lane, 
 turning at right angles to the right, is continued 
 between the great platform of the temple of Venus 
 and Rome and the neighbouring hill, and so 
 reaches the north-west side of the Flavian Amphi- 
 theatre at the end of the Via del Coliseo. On the 
 opposite or southern side of the same platform 
 
 823 Ibi est templum Veste, ... est ibi templuni Palladis et forum 
 Ces^iris et templum lani, . . . nunc autem dicitur turris Cencii 
 Frajapanis. Templum INIInerve cum arcum adiunctum est ei, nunc 
 autem vocatur S. Laurcnlius de Mirandi; iuxta eum ccclesia S. Cosme 
 que fuit templum Asili ; retro fuit templum Pacis et Latone, super 
 idem templum Komuli ; post S. Mariam Novam duo templa Con- 
 cordie et Pietatis ; iuxta arcum septem lucernarum templum Esco- 
 lapii. Mirabilia, Jordan, Topogr. der Stadt Rom, ii. 636. 
 
 * See p. 126, note 324. 
 
 ri 
 
 VELIA. 
 
 an ancient street of greater width now again in 
 use, branching to the left from that leading into 
 the Palatine and ])assing under the Arch of Titus, 
 leads to the Meta Sudans, the Arch of Constan- 
 tine, and the south-west side of the Colosseum. 
 
 We have thus two ways leading from the 
 Summa Sacra Via to the Amphitheatre, one passing 
 to the north, the otlier to the south, of the Temple 
 of Venus and Rome. The latter route is gene- 
 rally identified with the third portion of the Sacra 
 Via. It certainly seems to have been the more 
 important street, and was the route by which the 
 triumphs were conducted from the Circus Maxi- 
 mus to what Horace calls the Sacer Clivus, 
 descending into the Forum. Hence, as the earlier 
 triumphal arches of Fabius, Augustus, and Tibe- 
 rius were ])laced upon the triumphal route through 
 the Forum, the later arches of Titus and Con- 
 stantino are found upon this. But, in our utter 
 ignorance as to the position of the Sacellum 
 Streniae, to which the Sacra Via ultimately con- 
 ducted, it is useless to endeavour to identify its 
 course beyond the Summa vSacra Via. 
 
 The hill called Velia has been placed by topo- 
 graphers in the neighbourhood of the Sacred 
 Way; but the opinion generally received as to 
 the locality indicated by this name requires some 
 correction. 
 
 The Velia ap])ears to have been one of the 
 orio'iiial Seven Hills of Rome, and is named by 
 
 299 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Third 
 portion of 
 Sacra Via 
 
 Veli:t. 
 
300 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Velia, one 
 of the 
 ori?^inaI 
 Seven 
 Hills. 
 
 Velia uni- 
 ted with 
 the Pahi- 
 tine; 
 
 but a 
 
 distinct 
 
 Icoality. 
 
 Festus on the authority of Antistius Labeo, a 
 jurist of the Augustan Age, as one of the hills 
 which participated in the ancient festival of the 
 Septimontium, and as having its special sacrifice. 
 The Palatium was another of these hills, and had 
 its own sacrifice called Falainar; and the Ger- 
 malus or Cermalus w^as a third.^^^ Varro mentions 
 the existence on the Velia, at the Temple of the 
 Penates, of one of those shrines of earlv Roman 
 worship called Sacraria Argeorimi. He also tells 
 us that the Velia and Germalus were in the 
 fourth Servian Region, united with the Palatine.*^ 
 From this statement we may conclude that the 
 Velia was not within the natural boundaries of the 
 Palatine Hill, but that it was sufficiently near to 
 make some sort of vmion possible and convenient. 
 It may be that the hills were united by somQ 
 defensive w^orks of the early kings, before the 
 greater extension of the city marked by the Ser- 
 vian walls. It should be observed, however, that 
 the Velia was never absorl)ed in the Palatine, but 
 continued to be treated as a distinct locality ;' 
 
 *" Septimontio, ut ait Antistius Labeo, hisce montibus feriae ; 
 Falatio, cui sacrificium quod fit Palatuar dicitur, Veliue, cui item 
 sacrificium, Faguali [Fagutali], Suburae, Cernialo, Oppio, Caelio 
 monti, Cispio monti. Festus, ed. Miill. p. 348. As an amended read- 
 ini; ]\Iiiller has dele Caelio. 
 
 * Quartae regionis Palatium . . . huie Cermalum et Velias con- 
 iunxerunt, quod in hac regione sacriportus est, et in ea sic scrlptum 
 
 est, GERMALENSE . QVINTICEPS . APVD . AEDEM . ROMVLI, et, VELI- 
 ENSE . SEXTICEPS . IN . VELIA . APVD . AEDEM . DEVM , PENATIVM. 
 
 Varro, L. L. v. 8 (17). 
 
 ^ Cic. Har. Kesp. viii. (Note 832.) 
 
 STORY OF PVBLICOLA. 
 
 80] 
 
 the Temple of the Penates, the distinctive monu- 
 ment of the Velia, is never described as in the 
 Palatine; and in the Augustan division of Re- 
 gions the Velia does not appear to have been 
 included in the tenth Region, which comprised the 
 Palatine Hill. 
 
 The Velia had been in early times, according 
 to the Roman antiquaries, the residence of King 
 Tullus Hostilius,^^^ but is chiefly known in con- 
 nection with the story of P. Valerius Publicola. 
 It is narrated that when Publicola, shortly after 
 the expulsion of the kings, was preparing to build 
 a house upon the top of this hill, which is described 
 as a strong position raised a])ove the Forum by 
 a steep elevation, the Romans suspected him of 
 an intention to make himself king. He thereupon 
 abandoned his design, and placed his house under 
 the Velia at the bottom of the hill, upon a site so 
 low that his fellow-citizens might pelt him from 
 the hill above.** After his death he was honoured 
 bv the unusual distinction of being buried w^ithin 
 
 "^^ Tullus Ilostiliiis (habitavit) in Velia, ubi postea deum Penatium 
 aedes facta est. Solinus, rolyhisl. 1. Cic. de Rep. ii. 31. (Note 829.) 
 
 Varro de vita P. R. libro primo, Tullum Ilostilium in Velis, ubi 
 nunc est acdis deum Paenatlum ; Ancum in Palatio ad portam 
 jSIu'^iones secundum via sub sinistra. Nonius, xii. 531, ed. Gerlach, 
 
 Basil. 1842. 
 
 »2» P.Valerius . . aedes suas detuHt sub Veliam, postea quam, quod 
 in excelsiorc loco Veliae caepisset aedificare, eo ipso ubi rex Tullus 
 habitaverat, suspicionem populi sensit moveri. Cic. de Rep. ii. 31. 
 
 Aedificabat in summa Velia; ibl alto et munito loco areem inex- 
 pu'Tnabilem fore . . . 'Deferam non in planum niodo aedes sed colli 
 etiam subiiciam.' Delata confestim materia omnis infra Veliam, er, 
 ubi nunc Vicaepotae est domus, in infimo clivo aedificatur. Liv. ii. 7. 
 
 Tr)v olKiai' iv iTTirpBovt^ ro7r<;j KaTitTKevaaaTO^ \u(pov vTrepKeifitvov tTh: 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 vin. 
 
 House of 
 Publicola. 
 
302 
 
 THE llOMAN FORUM. 
 
 CHAP 
 VIII. 
 
 Temple 
 of the 
 Penates. 
 
 Site of the 
 Veliu. 
 
 the city, where his sepulchre was near the Foruni 
 and under the Velia.^^^ The site of the residence 
 of Tullus Hostilius, and of the intended house of 
 Publicola on the summit of the Velia, was marked 
 in historical times by the Temple of the Penates;^ 
 Temple of the position of Publicola's subsequent habitation 
 
 Vicupota. ^ 
 
 sub Velia by a Temple of Vicapota or of Victory.^ 
 The above narrative teaches us to look for the 
 Velia as a hill, overlooking a lower level in the 
 near neii^hbourhood of the Forum. Relvinu' ui)on 
 this indication, and upon the connection of tlie 
 Velia with the Palatine, modern antiquaries, under 
 the o:uidance of Niebuhr and Bunsen, have aiven 
 the name of Velia to the ridge which separates 
 the Forum from the valley of the Colosseum, 
 and which is surmounted bv the church of Santa 
 Maria Nuova and the Arch of Titus.^ 
 
 oyo/oat; v\pt]Xbv imtiKoJc Kai irepiTOfiov^ dp kuXoixti 'Pw/iatoi 'E\<ar, UXe- 
 Kdfitvoe .... Tt)v o'lKiav aTTo tov tottov tov \6(pov fieTdTiOtTai KaTuj^ h-a 
 i^i'ii) 'Piofiaioig, wg avrm: tKK\r)(riai:,m> tp]^ /3aX\eti/ uvtuv civtoOev airo roh 
 fieTtwpov XiOoig., el ti Xafiujmv adiKovvTct. Dionys. v. 19. 
 
 »3o Dionys. V. 48; Plutarch. Poplie. 10. 
 
 • Solinus, 1 ; Varro, in Nonius, xii. 531. (Note 828.) 
 
 - P. Valerio Volesi filio Publicolae aedes publicas sub Velia, ubi 
 nunc aedes Victoriae est, populum ex lege quam ipse tulerat con- 
 cessisse tradunt. Ascon. ad Cic. in Pis. 22. Liv. ii. 7. (Note 829.) 
 
 Cicero, in one of his orations, if the received reading be correct 
 represents the site of Publicola's house in Velia as a public gift. P. 
 Valerio pro maximis in rempublicam beneficiis data est domus in 
 Velia publice; at mihi in Palatio restituta ; illi locus, at mihi etiiini 
 parietes atque tectum. (Cic. Har. Resp. 8.) The early editors have 
 in villa publica. In Velia publice was a happy emendation of one of 
 the older critics. 
 
 ' Becker, Handbuch, vol. i. 249 ; Bunsen, Bcschreibung d. St. Rom. 
 iii. 1, 82; Niebuhr, Hist. Rom. (Eng. transl.) vol. i. p. 390, 499, 
 
 VELIA. 
 
 303 
 
 This identification is not entirely satisfactory. 
 The iiTadual rise of o-round in this direction does 
 not afford that contrast of level between the 
 Velia and sub Velia Avhich is implied in the story 
 of Publicola's habitation. But a more convincing 
 ol)jection is this, that the ridge in question is 
 generally admitted to l)e the site of the Summa 
 Sacra Via, and no authority is to be found for 
 placing the Summa Sacra Via, or any monument 
 belonging to it, upon the Velia. The two locali- 
 ties are indeed very clearly distinguished by 
 Solinus and in the Ancyran inscription.^^^ 
 
 Dionvsius in describing the temple of the 
 Penates affords us a clue to a more accurate de- 
 termination of the position of the Velia. That 
 temple, which was small and dark, though re- 
 built by Augustus,^ and was said to contain the 
 Penates brought from Troy, existed in the his- 
 torian's time, not far from the Forum, upon 
 the short way which led to the Carinae.^ Now 
 the Carinae lay at the edge of the Suburra, in 
 the neighbourhood of S. Pietro in Vincoli," and 
 
 Arnold, Hist. Rom. vol. i. p. 32 n. ; Burn, Rome and the Campagna, 
 p. 162. 
 
 "« AEDEM.LARVM.IN.SVMMA.SACRA.VIA. AEDEM.DEVM.PENATIVM. 
 
 IN .VELIA . . . FECI. Mou. Ancvr. 
 
 Tullus Hostilius in Velia (habitavit) ubi postea deum Penatium 
 aedes facta est, Ancus Martins in summa Sacra via ubi aedes Larium 
 est. Solinus, 1. ' Mon. Ancyr. (Note 834.) 
 
 « N«a;e iv 'Viofiy hiKwrai ri^ig dyopai; ov vpoffu), Kara Tqv ini Kapii/tit, 
 tp^povoav iir'iTO^ov b^ov virepoxn fTKOTtivbg idpvfiivor ov fikyac:' XiyfTai 
 i^t Kara Tt)v i7nxu)piov yXwrrav i'TrtXaiaic to xopiov. iv ^i TovT(f> kcIvtui 
 tCjv TpioiKuJi' OeiZv fiKovtc uTrdaiv op^v. Dionys. i. 68. 
 
 - Varro, L. L. v. 8 (14). 
 
 CHAP 
 VIU. 
 
 Summa 
 Sacra Via, 
 not the 
 Velia. 
 
 Vflia, 
 Ix'twi'cn 
 the Sacra, 
 Via and 
 the Cari- 
 nae. 
 
 Temple of 
 the Pe- 
 nates. 
 
304 
 
 THE ROMAN FOIIUM. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 were approached, somewliat circuitously, by the 
 Sacra Via. The short cut mentioned bv Dio- 
 nysius must have struck off to the left from that 
 road, and arrived more directly at the Carinae by 
 crossing the higher ground at the back of the 
 Basilica of Constantine.^^' It is therefore on this 
 ground that we nuist seek the site of the Temple 
 of the Penates.^ The historian adds, according; to 
 the ordinary reading of the passage, that the place 
 was called vireXaiaK;. The manuscripts vary as to 
 the name, but it is probable that we ought to read, 
 w^ith Casaubon, OveXiai, since the temple of the 
 Penates is distinctly placed by other autliorities, not 
 under the Velia, as the word vireXaiai^ mio lit suo^o-est, 
 but on its summit.'' The locality described as sub 
 Velia w^ould be to the north of the Sacra Via, near 
 the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian. Between 
 the ancient level of the ])uildings on this spot and 
 that of the ground at the 1)ack of the nei^-hbour- 
 ing basilica there is all the contrast which is found 
 in the old story between the site first chosen bv 
 
 « 
 
 Publicola and that upon which he afterwards built. 
 
 "•■'■ See before, pp. 268, 282. 
 
 " It has been thought that the Temple of the Penates was burnt 
 in the Neronian fire, with the Domus Transitoria and the other 
 monuments abutting on the Sacred AVay. (Tac. Ann. xv. 41. Note 
 290. Burn, Ptome and the Campagna, p. 164.) But I understand the 
 expression of Tacitus, deluhrum Vestae cum Pcnatihns populi Romnni, 
 to refer only to the Vesta temple and its contents. 
 
 » Casaubon ad Sexti Aurelii Victoris Epitomen, cited Dionys. i. 68, 
 ed. Oxon. Compare Dionys. i. 20. The plural form Vcliae is found 
 in Varro, L. L. v. 8. (Note 826.) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE NOVA VIA. 
 
 *' New Street," Nova Via, was one of the most chap. 
 ancient thoroughfiires of Rome, and was con- —1 
 nected witli monuments of the most primitive 
 time. The contrast between the name and the 
 fact is observed bv Varro.^^'* Its position is a sub- 
 ject of antiquarian conjecture, upon which recent 
 excavation has not added much to our knowledire. 
 It does not, however, appear impossible to j)lace 
 the matter in a somewhat clearer light than that 
 in which it has hitherto stood. 
 
 The principal facts, known from ancient authors, 
 respecting the situation of the Nova Via, are the 
 foUowins;. 
 
 i. The highest part of it, Summa Nova Via, Summa 
 
 11 .1 n 1 T • 1 Nova Via. 
 
 was under the windows of the traditional resi- 
 dence of King Tarquinius Priscus, wliich was 
 itself at the Mugionian Gate of the Palatine city 
 and close to the Temple of Jupiter Stator^^ 
 
 "» Varro, I,. L vi. 7. (67.) (Note 138.) 
 
 ^" Tarquinius Priscus (habitavit) ad Mugoniam Portam super 
 summam Novam viam. Solinus, i. 24. 
 
 Ex superiore parte aedium, per fenestras in Novnm viam versas, 
 habitabat cnim rex ad Jovis Statoris, populum Tanaquil alloquitur. 
 Liv. i. 41. 
 
306 
 
 THE ROMAN FOllUM. 
 
 INFIMA NOVA VIA. 
 
 307 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Aius Loou- 
 tius. 
 
 Communi- 
 cation with 
 Forum. 
 
 Porta Ro- 
 manula. 
 
 In lima 
 Nova Via. 
 
 Nova Via, 
 on north- 
 western 
 shipe of the 
 Palatine. 
 
 Velabrum. 
 
 ii. The Nova Via passed between the Grove of 
 Vesta and the altar of Aius Locutius, which was in 
 the Nova Via and above the Temple of Vesta.^" 
 
 iii. There was a communication in Ovid's time 
 between the Nova Via and the Forum.^ 
 
 iv. Not far from the lowest part of the Nova 
 Via w^as the Porta Romanula, which appears to 
 have been reached bv steps abutting on this 
 street.'^ 
 
 V. The lowest part of the street, Infima Nova 
 Via, extended to the Velabrum and that part of 
 the base of the Palatine Hill w^hich looked to- 
 wards the Aventine.^ 
 
 Of the various localities thus connected witli 
 the Nova Via, there are some of which the sites 
 are themselves matters of speculation, w^iile 
 others can be placed without difficulty. When 
 we know that the lowest part of the Nova Via 
 was in or near the Velabrum, that in another 
 part of its course it was not far from the 
 Temple of Vesta, that it had a communication 
 with the Forum, and that it passed under two 
 several gates of the ancient Palatine city, we 
 must conclude that it was a street running along 
 the north-western base of the Palatine Hill. The 
 site of the Velabrum is still marked by the 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 IX. 
 
 841 
 
 Liv. V. 32,50 ; Cic.de Div. i. 45; A. Gellius, xvi. 17. (Note 848.) 
 - Ovid. Fast. vi. 395. See before, p. 109. 
 ' Varro, v. 34 (46) ; vi. 3 (58). (Note 845.) 
 * Varro. V. 7. (14); vi. 3. (58). (Note 845.) 
 
 Church of San Giorgio in Velabro, under the 
 western corner of the Palatine ; according to 
 Varro it was in ancient times a marshy lake, and 
 the Nova Via led to the traditional spot where 
 people embarked in boats to cross from the Pa- 
 latine to the Aventine.^^^ Naturally the lowest infi"^* 
 
 X ri ^T Nova Via. 
 
 part ot the street, Infima Nova Via, was here, 
 
 and from this point the roadway must have risen 
 
 along the base of the hill. We are expressly 
 
 told by Varro, that at the low^er part, near the 
 
 Porta Romanula, the Nova Via was outside the Nova via 
 
 ancient Palatine city;^ and it appears to have pakline ^ 
 
 been still outside where at its highest point it ^^*' 
 
 reached the Porta Mugionia, which was above 
 
 itJ Deferring the consideration of the position 
 
 of these two gates, we may first fix some other 
 
 points in the Nova Via. 
 
 Cicero informs us that the altar of Aius Lo- Altar of 
 
 AiusLocu- 
 
 quens was to be seen in his day within a fence tins. 
 opposite to the spot where a mysterious voice of 
 warning had been heard from the Grove of Vesta 
 
 *** Aventinura . . . ego maxirae puto ab advectu; nam dim pa- 
 ludibus mons erat ab reliquis disclusus; itaque eo ex urbe advehe- 
 bantur ratibus, quoius vestigia, quod ea qua tum [ibatur] dicitur 
 Velabrum, et unde ascendebant ad infimam Novam viam locus 
 sacellum labrum. Velabrum a vehendo. Varro, L. L. v. 7 (14) 
 
 * Hoc sacrificium (Accae Larentiae) fit in Velabro, qua in Novam 
 viam exitur, ut aiunt quidam, ad sepulcrum Accae, ut quod ibi 
 prope faciunt Diis Manibus Servilibus .sacerdotes ; qui uterque 
 locus extra urbem antiquam fuit non longe a Porta Romanula. 
 Varro, L. L. vi. 3 (58). 
 
 ' Solinus, i. 24. (Note 840.) 
 
 x2 
 
 "I 
 
 ( 
 
308 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Grove of 
 Vesta. 
 
 THE ROMAN FOIIUM. 
 
 before tlie capture of the city by the Gauls, and 
 that the Grove of Vesta reached from the foot 
 of the Palatine to the Nova Via;''' and we learn 
 from Livy that the Sacellum of Aius Locutius 
 was in the Nova Via fibove the Aedes Vestae. 
 We may conclude that the Grove of Vesta was 
 in the near neighbourhood of the temple and 
 other buildings connected with the worship of 
 that goddess, but separated from them by the 
 Nova Via. The site of the temple has l)een 
 })laced beyond reasonable controversy by recent 
 explorations, which have disclosed its circular 
 base at the south-eastern extremity of the Forum. 
 The houses of the Vestals appear to have been 
 on the eastern side of the temple, and to have 
 closed the Forum in this direction.^ Imme- 
 diately in the rear, under the existing road and 
 tlie facade of Santa Maria Liberatrice, ran in all 
 probability the Nova Via, and behind the Nova 
 Via, on the steep slope of the Palatine, now occu- 
 
 848 
 
 Exaudita vox est a luco Vestae, qui a Palatii radice in Novam 
 viam (levexus est . . . Ara enim Aio Loqueuti, quam saoptam vide- 
 mus, exadversus eum locum consecrata est. Cic. de div. i. 45. 
 
 M. Caedicius de plebe nuntiavit tribunis, se in Nova via, ubi 
 nunc sacellum est supra aedem Vestae, vocem noctis silentio audisse 
 Liv. V. 32. 
 
 Expiandae etiam vocis nocturnae . . . nientio illata, iussumque 
 templum in Nova via Aio Locutio fieri. Liv. v. 50. 
 
 ^WnQ uV*Wro (o Ka^eXXof) Kai KXrjCovog Usl Tvapd rijp Kaiv,)p 6Sdv, 
 o^ov, ktX. Plutarch, de fort. Rom. (ed. Reiske, p. 265.) 
 
 Nam sicut Aius, inquit (M. Varro in libris divinarum), deus 
 appellatus araque ei statuta est, quae est infima [qu. in summaj 
 x^ova va, quod in eo loco divinitus vox edita erat. A. Gellius, xvi. 17. 
 
 ■•' See before, pp. J 10, 118. 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 GROVE OF VESTA. 
 
 309 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 l)ied by the church and its inclosure, spread the 
 Garden or Grove of Vesta. On this spot were — 
 found, in the sixteenth century, traces of the 
 sepulture of Vestal Virgins.''" ^^^^^^^^. 
 
 The Grove of Vesta was probal)ly filled with ^.a^Z wTtb 
 worshippers during the celebration of the Ves- 
 talia, which occurred yearly on the 9th of June. 
 It is with reference to this festival that Ovid men- 
 tions the communication which appears to have 
 been recentlv made in his day between the Nova 
 Via and the Forum, and by which he returned from 
 witnessing the ceremony.' It is prol)able that this 
 is the road of which the extremity has recently 
 been uncovered in the Forum between the Temple 
 of Castor and the houses of the Vestals, for whose 
 more convenient access to their dwellings it was 
 probably constructed, at the same time that other 
 additions to their accommodation were made by 
 
 Augustus.^ 
 
 Opposite the Grove of Vesta, the Nova Via was Su,n^a.^^ 
 
 at a level considerably above the Forum, and 
 continued at the higher level until it passed the 
 Mugionian Gate, below which the Summa Nova 
 Via was situated.^ 
 
 Close to this gate appears to have existed a nouse<>i 
 house which was associated with the names of the 
 later kings, and of which the site at least was re- 
 membere'Il in imperial times. Here Livy places 
 
 «i» See before, p. 118, note 295. 
 
 1 Ovid. Fast. vi. 395. See before, p. 109. 
 
 '^ See before, pp. 109, 124. 
 
 Solinus, i. (Note 840.) 
 
I 
 
 310 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Temple of 
 
 Jupiter 
 
 iStator. 
 
 Mugionian 
 Gate. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 the scene of the death of Tarquinius Prisciis, and 
 of the efforts of his wife Tanaquil to secure the 
 succession to Servius Tullius. Her address to 
 the people is said to have been delivered from the 
 windows opening on the Nova Via. The situa- 
 tion of the house of Tarquinius is indicated to the 
 readers of the Augustan age, not by reference to 
 this old gateway, but hy the proximity of a more 
 imposing monument. The king lived, says Livy, 
 at Jupiter Stator's.''^ So Annius Fetialis, an 
 author cited by Pliny, places the vestibule of the 
 house of Superbus (by which we can hardly 
 understand a different house from that assigned 
 by Livy to Tarquinius Priscus) opposite the 
 temple of Jupiter Stator.*^ The position of this 
 temple at the Mugionian Gate is abundantly con- 
 firmed by other authorities." In order therefore 
 to determine the position of the Summa Nova Via 
 and of the Mugionian Gate, it is necessary to con- 
 sider the question of the site of the Temple of 
 Jupiter Stator. 
 
 ^ Liv. i. 41 ; Solinus, i. 24. (Note 840.) Livy's ad Statoris mi-ht 
 seem to apply to the Regia; but, if he had meant so well-known a 
 monument, he would have named it ; and the passages of Solinus 
 and riiny point to a distinct traditional house of Tarquin. 
 
 « Plin. N. H. xxxiv. 12. (Note 85.) Ancus is said to have dwelt in 
 Palatium at the Mugionian Gate, near the road to the left. (Ancum 
 in Palatio ad portam Mugiones secundum viam sub sinistra. Yarro, in 
 Nonius, xii. 531.) According to Solinus, the residence of Ancus was 
 m the Summa Sacra Via at the aedes Larum. Solinus, i. (Note 801 .) 
 
 ' 'PujuvXbQ fikv 'iSpmuTO Upbv 'OpBiom^j An Trapa rdi^ KaXovfi^vaig 
 MvKiovim TTvXaig, a'i <p^povfnp elc to naXdnop eK Tqc \epag odov. Dionvs 
 ii. 50. Liv. i. 12 
 
 . r 
 
 I 
 
 TEMPLE OF JUPITER STATOR. 
 
 It has been the fashion of modern antiquaries to 
 place this celebrated temple in or near the Summa 
 Sacra Via f^ and it has also been placed by 
 Signer Rosa, the able director of the excavations 
 at Rome, far within the modern inclosures of the 
 Palatine Hill. No satisfactory proof can be found 
 of either position, and there is good ground for 
 believing that the temple of Stator was close to 
 the Forum, at the bottom of the Sacred Way. 
 The principal argument deduced from ancient 
 authors upon which Becker relies for placing the 
 Temple of Stator near the Summa Sacra Via is 
 founded on a comparison of the authorities prov- 
 ing tliat the equestrian statue of Cloelia was 
 erected at the top of the Sacred Way ^ with a 
 somewhat obscure passage of Pliny, which is 
 
 «»« See Becker, Handbuch, i. 112 ; Burn, Rome and the Campagna, 
 p. 161 ; Smith's Diet. Geog. art. Roma, ii. 727. 
 
 9 Cloelia virgo, una ex obsidibus . . . dux agminis virginum inter 
 tela hostium Tiberim tranavit . . . Romani novam in femina virtutem 
 novo genere honoris, statua equestri, donavere. In summa Sacra via 
 fuit posita virgo insidens equo. Liv. ii. 13. 
 
 Equestri insidens statuae in Sacra via, celeberrimo loco, Cloelia 
 exprobrat iuvenibus nostris pulvinum ascendentibus, in ea illos urbe 
 sic ingredi, in qua etiam feminas equo donavimus. Seneca, Consol. 
 ad Marciam. 16. 
 
 'AvitKeiTat de Tt)v Upav oSov iropevofikvoiQ elg IlaXaTiov dvdpidg avTtjg 
 t^tTTTTOc, ov Tiveg oh r^g KXoiXlag dXXd T^g OvaXepiag ilvai Xkyovmv. 
 Plutarch. Popl. 19. 
 
 'AvaKurai yovv t<pnrTrog cIkuiv yvvaiKug IttI Tt~ig bSov Trjg tfpdg Xfyo- 
 Hhtjg, ill' oi ^iv TTtg KXoiXiag oi Se riig OvaXfpiag Xeyovmv elvai. 
 Plutarch, de Virt. Mulier. (ed. Reiske, p. 28.) 
 
 Cui data est statua equestris, quam in Sacra via hodieijue conspi- 
 cimus. Serv. ad Aen. viii. 646. Dionys. v. 35. (Note 864) Varro, 
 R. R. i. 2. (Note 805.) 
 
 311 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Temple of 
 Stator 
 misplaced 
 in Sunmia 
 Sacra Via. 
 
 Argument 
 in favour 
 of this 
 position. 
 
 Equestrian 
 statue of 
 Cloelia in 
 Summa 
 Sacra Via. 
 
312 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Statue in 
 vestibule of 
 Turquin. 
 
 THE ROMAN FOIIUM. 
 
 thouglit to show tliat this statue stood opposite to 
 tlie Temple of Stator.'''' The validity of the argu- 
 ment depends upon the true meaning of this pas- 
 sage, in which, after alluding to the statue of 
 Cloelia as an early work actually existing, Pliny 
 adds, that Annius Fetialis on the contrary asserted 
 that the equestrian statue, which was (in Annius' 
 time) oi)posite the temple of Stator in the vesti- 
 bule of the house of Superbus, represented Valeria 
 the daughter of Publicola.' It is argued, that, as 
 this famous female equestrian statue was, by 
 Livy's testimony, in the Summa Sacra Via, and, 
 by the testimony of Annius, in the vestibule of 
 Tarquin's house opposite the Temple of Stator, the 
 Temple of Stator and the house of Tarquin must 
 have been on or near the Summa Sacra Via. This 
 argument cannot be met, as has been suggested,^ 
 by supposing that Pliny spoke of two clearly 
 different statues, one of Cloelia, the other of 
 Valeria, since he introduces the opinion of 
 Annius as contradictory to the tradition about 
 Cloelia's statue ; and the difference of opinion 
 about the statue on the Sacred Way, which some 
 supposed to represent Cloelia and some Valeria, 
 
 *«« Becker, Handbucb, i. 112. 
 
 ' Equestrium tamen origo perquam vetus est, cum feminis etiam 
 honore comraunicato. Cloeliae enini statua est equestris . . . E diverso 
 Annius Fetialis equestrem, quae fuerit contra lovis Statoris aedem 
 in vestibulo Superbi domus, Valeriae fuisse Publicolae consulis filiae. 
 Piin. N. H. XXX iv. 13. 
 
 ^ Diet. Gcog. art. Roma, ii 728. 
 
 '! 
 
 J 
 
 111 
 
 r 
 I . 
 
 STATUE OF CLOELIA. 
 
 is twice mentioned by Plutarch.'^' But Pliny's 
 language, while it implies that the statue men- 
 tioned by Annius was, or might be, the same as 
 that generally known as Cloelia, also indicates 
 that the site in which Annius found it was not the 
 ordinary or actual site of Cloelia's statue, which 
 he probably thought too well known to be men- 
 tioned. If, as Pliny seems to have believed, it 
 was the same work, it must have been placed for 
 a time in the vestibule of Tarquin's house. 
 
 Dionysius, who spent twenty- two years in Rome, 
 from B.C. 30 to 8, did not find the statue of Cloelia 
 in its proper place upon the Sacred Way, and was 
 told that it had been removed on the occasion of 
 a fire Avhich had broken out in some neighl)ouring 
 buildings.' But Seneca and Servius at a later 
 date speak of it as actually to be seen on the 
 Sacred Way,' and Pliny describes it as still exist- 
 ing in his own time. Its disappearance, there- 
 fore, during the residence of Dionysius at Rome 
 was only temporary. Possibly it may at that 
 very time have been removed for safety to the 
 vestibule of the house of Tarquin. However this 
 locality of the statue referred to bv Annius mav 
 
 ««3 Plutarch. Popl. 19; Id. de Virt. Mulier. (Note 859.) 
 
 * KXoi\('^ ^i Ty 7rap0ip(f, (jTumv eiK^vog xaXKriQ t^orrav, i)v avidtaav 
 km Tng Updf: oSou tFiq ei'q rt)v ayopdv (j>epov(T,)g o'l tu,v Trap9evutv Trariptg. 
 Tavrrjp yfit7g fitv ovk hi K6ipivr]v e'vpofiev. fXiyero dt on tpTrpii^wg mpi 
 Tiig nXijaiov oi'k'iag yevo^hiir t)<p(tvi(TOii. Dion^s. v. 35. 
 
 * Seneca, Coiibol. ad Marciaiii, 10; Servius ad Aen. viii 646 
 (Note 859.) 
 
 313 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Ar<i;nment 
 answered. 
 
 Statue of 
 Cloelia, not 
 found by 
 Dionysius 
 in the 
 Satred 
 Way, 
 
 hut ufter- 
 wards re- 
 stored. 
 
314 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 be explained, it is impossible to form from Pliny's 
 words any trustworthy conclusion as to the position 
 of the house of Tarquin or the Temple of Stator. 
 
 Becker's other arguments are founded upon the 
 passage of Plutarch hereafter cited, which to 
 an ordinary apprehension appears expressly to 
 contradict his position, and upon the natural 
 formation of the ground, which afforded the 
 easiest access to the Palatine Hill by the ridge 
 on which stands the Arch of Titus.'^' The last 
 argument suggests the probability that there was 
 an ancient entrance to the Palatine by this route, 
 as we have seen that there was a roadway in later 
 times, but does not prove that the Mugionian gate 
 
 was there. 
 
 The strongest argument which has occurred to 
 my own mind in favom- of the received opinion is 
 
 I 111 " »/ 
 
 the Forum, derived from the description by Dionysius of the 
 battle between Romulus and Tatius. The events 
 which were believed to have given occasion for 
 the foundation of the temple were the flight of the 
 Romans before the Sabines, and the staying of that 
 flight by divine interposition. Where the battle 
 was stayed the Temple of Stator was erected. 
 We may assume, therefore, that an historian, who 
 in the Augustan age undertook to describe the 
 battle, would have in his mind the position of the 
 temple. Dionysius places the battle-field on the 
 
 "«« Becker, Handbuch, i. 113. 
 
 Dionysius' 
 narrative 
 of the 
 
 III 
 
 
 •' \\ 
 
 •f 
 
 \ 
 
 L' 
 
 I 
 
 i. 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 
 BATTLE IN THE FORUM. 
 
 ground between the hostile camps, that is, between 
 the Palatine and the Capitol, the site of the future 
 Forum. He describes the pursuit of the Romans 
 by the Sabines as far as the gates of tlie city, and 
 the turning of the battle there. The retreat of 
 the Sabines to their camp from this point he re- 
 presents as difficult, because they were pursued 
 from higher ground, and through a hollow way.^^^ 
 Romulus, he says, afterwards dedicated a temple 
 to Jupiter Stator by the Mugionian gates, which 
 led into Palatium out of the Sacred Way, be- 
 cause it was there that the deity interposed to 
 stay the flight of the army.' The description 
 here given of the Sabine retreat seems somewhat 
 inappropriate to the open level of the Forum. On 
 the other hand it fits not inaptly with the hollow 
 slope between the Palatine hill and the Velia, 
 down which the Sacred Way was carried, and 
 appears, therefore, to favour the supposition that 
 the Mugionian gate was at the top of the Sacred 
 Way. The force of this argument is, however, 
 
 "«' Kai TrpoeWihmg ei'g to fiera^v riov ffrparoTrfdiov x^P^ov, kt\ 
 
 e/c TO avTo Ttp irpoT^ptp x'^P^'P (rvvi\96pT(g dxpi vvktoc ^fiaxovro 
 .... Kai oi ^aiSlvoi tCiojKoi^ uxpi rz/c in'>Xfwg, ,)dn ^e TrXtjirta^oprecj Tulg 
 
 TTvXaiQ iireXavvovTai 'Hi^ ^k airolg [ovk] ev7r€rr)g r) rrplg rol 
 
 xdpaKa dvaxwpi,(Tig, uTro Kaev4^t,\ou re x^P^ov Kcii cid Koi\T]g 66o~u 
 hioKOfiivoiQ. Dionys. ii. 41, 42, 43. 
 
 « 'Upd T€ i^pvaaPTO Kai litofiovg KaBdpwnav olg r}v^avTo /card Tdg fidxag 
 efolc. 'VojfxvXog flip OpOujfrit{j Aii Trapd raTg KaXovfispaig MvKujviat TrvXaig, 
 a'i <}>lpovmp eig to UaXdnop ^k T^g hpdg o^ov, '6t, t/jp CTpariap a^Tol 
 tpvyovaap ewoirint Beog, vwaKovaag TaXg evxaXg, arripai Tt Kai rrpog dXKrjv 
 TpaTTiaOai. Dionys. ii. 50. 
 
 315 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
316 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Narrative 
 of Livy. 
 
 Narrative 
 of Plu- 
 tarch. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 somewbat weakened when we find that Dionysius 
 in the same part of his narrative describes the 
 site of the Forum itself as a boHow, which was 
 filled up in order to adapt it to its future use.'^' 
 
 Livy, in bis account of the same fight, is more 
 distinct in confining the battle-field to the site of 
 the Forum. The two indications of locality 
 which he gives are, first, that the Romans were 
 driven back to the old gate of Palatium when 
 Romulus addressed his vow to Jupiter; and, 
 secondly, that Mettus Curtius descending from the 
 Capitol had routed the Romans along the whole 
 area which was afterwards the Forum, and was 
 near the ffate of Palatium when Romulus charged 
 and drove him back.^' In this description the 
 scene of the rout is measured by the length of 
 the Forum; and, if we were guided by this indi- 
 cation alone, we should have no difficulty in 
 placing the Temple of Stator and the old gate of 
 the Palatine city in the immediate vicinity of the 
 extremity of the Forum most remote from the 
 
 Capitol. 
 
 Plutarch, telling the same story, places the 
 battle-field in the future Forum between the hills 
 
 8«9 Dionys. ii. 50. (Note 1.) 
 
 ■0 Confestiin Romana inclinatur acies, fusaque est ad vetereni 
 pertain Palatil. Romulus . . . lupiter . . . inquit ... hie ego tibi 
 templum Statori lovi . . . voveo. . . . Mettus Curtius ab Sabinis 
 princeps ab arce decucurrerat, et effusos egerat Romanos toto quan- 
 tum foro spatium e^t, nee procul iam a porta Palatil erat ... In 
 cum . . . Romulus impetum facit. Liv. i. 12. 
 
 ^1 
 
 SITE OF THE TEMPLE OF STATOR. 
 
 317 
 
 occupied by the rival nations. He describes the chap. 
 incident of the Lacus Curtius, the flight of the -^- 
 Romans to Palatium, the vow of Romulus, and 
 the rallying of his army. " They stood first," he 
 says, " where now is built the Temple of Jupiter 
 Stator, which may be interpreted Stayer ; then, 
 re-forming their ranks, they drove back the 
 Sabines to the now so-called Regia and Temple 
 of Vesta." It will be observed that the narrative 
 never leaves the familiar localities of theForum.^'^ 
 To come to more direct evidence, the Temple Direct 
 
 evidence 
 
 of Stator is expressly asserted by Plutarch, in his of Piu- 
 life of Cicero, to have been in the beginning of 
 the Sacred Way, as you go up to the Palatine.^ 
 The Forum l>eing naturally taken as the starting- 
 point, the beginning of the Sacred Way would l)e 
 the part nearest the Regia, where the Sacred 
 Way, in its ordinary sense, commenced. And 
 this is made more clear by the words " as you go 
 up to the Palatine." The Summa Sacra Via, if 
 treated as the beginning of the Sacred Way, 
 would be the beginning to persons going down to 
 
 «" 'Exofitvr)£ ^^ '''nC (iKpaq viro tCjv ^aliivwv . . . . u yap fisraKv tottoq tv 
 (p (rvfiTriTTTeiv efifWov vtto ttoWwv Xucpojv Trf^pux^fiwoq kt\. . . tTvxt ^t 
 .... €yKaTa\t\ti<p9tu riXfia (5a9v . . Kara Trfv vvv ovaav ayopdv . . . o 
 fiiv ovp roTTOf . . Kovpriog XaKKog ovofid^srai . . . evtSioicuv oi Tiofialoi 
 Ktti ipvyy TTpbg to naXdvTiov tx^opovv . . . taTt\aav oov TrpwTOV ov vvv 6 
 TOV Atog Tov I,TdT<opog 'i^pvTai vtwg, ov iiriaTagiov av Tig tpfiijvtvffEifv. 
 elra avvamrifravTfg ttoXiv tuxrav bir'iaut Tovg ^afSivovg erri Tt)v vvv 
 'Pi]yiav npo<ynyoptvonivi]v Kai to T7]g '¥,<7Tiag itpov. Plutarch. Rom. 18. 
 
 2 '\?ipvit'ivov €V dpxy rijg Upcig bdov wpbg to UaXdTiov dvi6vTo.'V. 
 Plutarch. Cic. 16. (Note 766 ) 
 
318 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Ovid. 
 
 Appian. 
 
 Stator 
 Temple 
 south of 
 Sacra Via, 
 next to 
 Regia. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 the Forum, not to tliose going up to the Palatine. 
 It will l)e remembered that Ovid places the Temple 
 of Stator before the face of the Palatine hill. 
 
 Tempus idem Stator aedis liabet, qiiam Romulus olim 
 Ante Palatini condidit ora iugi.^'^ 
 
 And in another passage, which will be again re- 
 ferred to, he brings it into close connection with 
 the Regia.^ 
 
 The proximity of this temple to the Forum is 
 confirmed by a passage of Appian, in a\ hich, de- 
 scribing the contest between Caesar and Bibulus, 
 he savs that the latter, after havinii; his fasces 
 broken and some of his officers wounded in the 
 Forum, was compelled by his fi^iends to take 
 refuge in the neighbouring temple of Jupiter 
 Stator.^ 
 
 Thus confirmed, we can have no hesitation in 
 accepting the statement of Plutarch as to the 
 position of the Stator Temple at the beginning of 
 the Sacra Via in the obvious sense which we 
 have attributed to it. The temple was, as we 
 have seen, close to a gate of the Palatine city ; it 
 was, therefore, on the south side of the Sacred 
 Way, and, being at the beginning of the street, 
 
 8-3 Fast. vi. 793. 
 
 * Trist. iii. 1. 32. (Note 879.) 
 
 * 'AXXd TOP fiiv uKovra vTri^-ijyayov oi 0t\ot fc to TrXj/fxtov hpov tov 
 Knjo-i'ov [Sr/jo-ioy Gelenius] Atog. Appian. Bell. Civ. ii. 11. I have 
 assumed that the reading 2n/<Ttoi7 is correct. Compare Plutarch. Cic. 
 16. TO TOV '2tt}(tiov Aio£ \fpov ov "ETiiTMpa Piofialoi KaXoiiffiv. (Note 766) 
 
 SACRA VIA AND NOVA VIA. 
 
 we may conclude that it was the next building to 
 the Reo'ia on that side.®'^ 
 
 The Mugionian Gate is described by Dionysius 
 as leading into Palatium out of the Sacred Way.' 
 But we have seen from other authors that this 
 gate was above the highest part of the Nova Via, 
 and the house of Tarquin, which was close to it, 
 overlooked the latter street. This collocation of 
 objects indicates that the Nova Via at or near its 
 highest part communicated with the Sacred AVay. 
 It is probable that this communication was formed 
 between the Regia and the Temple of Stator, so 
 that the latter was at the corner of the Nova Via, 
 and faced towards the Forum and Capitol. Op- 
 posite to its south side would be the vestibule of 
 the house of Tarquin, which w^ould thus turn its 
 side to the Nova Via. Livy^s story of Tanaquil's 
 address to the people from the windows conveys 
 the impression that the front of the palace was 
 not in this direction.^ Close adjoining was the 
 Mugionian Gate, which must therefore have been 
 at the northern corner of the ancient Palatine city. 
 
 The position of these monuments, as thus deter- 
 mined, agrees most accurately with Ovid's well- 
 known description of the route from the Forum 
 
 *'* The Stator temple was in the fourth Region with the Sacred 
 \Vay (Aedem lovis Statoris, Viam Sacram. Notitia in Reg. iv.) 
 The Regia was probably with the other buildings of Vesta in the 
 eighth, and the Porta Mugionia, as part of the Palatine, in the tenth 
 Region. * Dionysius, ii. 50. (Note 868.) 
 
 In Palatio Mucionis (porta) a mugitu, quod ea pecus in [bucitatum] 
 antiquum oppidum exigebant. Varro, L. L. v. 34 (45). 
 
 ' Liv. i. 41. (Note 840.) 
 
 319 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Communi- 
 cation be- 
 tween the 
 Sacra Via 
 and Nova 
 Via. 
 
 House of 
 Tarquin. 
 
 Porta Mu- 
 gionia. 
 
 I 
 
 f, 
 
320 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 PORTA MUGIONIA. 
 
 321 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Palace of 
 Aujjfnstus 
 near the 
 north end 
 of the 
 Palatine. 
 
 Temple of 
 Apollo 
 
 of Caesar to the Palatine, where, after mentioning 
 the Via Sacra, the Temple of Vesta, and the Regia, 
 he immediately takes a turn to the right and 
 points out the Gate of Palatium and the Temple 
 of Stator. We learn from the same passage of 
 Ovid that the vestibule of the palace of Augustus 
 stood in sight from the same spot, and that the 
 temple and library of Apollo were approached from 
 the neighbourhood by a lofty flight of steps.^'^ 
 
 The position of the buildings of Augustus near 
 this northern end of the Palatine is confirmed by 
 the fact, that the libraries attached to the Temple 
 of Apollo were burned, with the Temple of Vesta, 
 in the great lire, which in the reign of Commodus 
 destroyed the Temple of Peace and the Sacra Via.^^ 
 This quarter of the city, with its noble mansions, 
 appears to have escaped the Neronian conflagra- 
 tion, in which the Temple of Vesta and the Regia 
 had perished.^ 
 
 *^^ Paruit et ducens, Haec sunt fora Caesaris, inquit; 
 
 Haec est a sacris quae via nomen habet; 
 Hie locus est Vestae, qui Pallada servat et igncm ; 
 
 Hie fuit antiqui regia parva Numae. 
 Inde petens dextram, Porta est, ait, ista Palati, 
 
 Hie Stator, hie priraum condita Roma fuit. 
 Singula dum miror, video fulgentibus arm is 
 
 Conspicuos postes tectaque digna deo. 
 
 # 4> * 4> 
 
 Inde tenore pari gradibus sublimia celsis 
 
 Ducor ad intonsi Candida templa dei. — Ovid. Trist. iii. T. 27. 
 ^•^ 'HviKa TO riiQ E/jO//i'»/(," rifievog oXov txavOrj, Kai Kara tu TlaXariov «i 
 fieydXat /3«/3\io0/7»cat. Galen, de comp. med. i. 1. Dio Cass. Ixxii. 24. 
 (Note 777.) Herodian, i. 14. 
 
 ' Tac Ann. xv. 41 (note 290) ; Ascon. ad Cic. p. Scaur, (note 779); 
 Sueton. de Gram. 17. 
 
 * 
 
 At the end of the Nova Via, in front of the 
 Temple of Stator, there appears to have been 
 either a wide road or a small open Place, since 
 this spot was occasionally used for public sales. 
 The furniture from the house of Pompey was 
 here sold, after his death and the confiscation of 
 his property, by order of Mark Antony .^^^ Sales 
 of this nature generally took place in the Forum.^ 
 Pompey^s house was in the Carinae,^ the short 
 road from which to the Forum probably reached 
 the Sacred Way not far from the Temple of 
 Stator/ 
 
 The proximity of the Mugionian Gate to the 
 Sacra Via, indicated by the above-cited expres- 
 sion of Dionysius. as well as by its nearness to the 
 Stator temple, which was itself in that street, 
 shows that the gate must have stood near the 
 bottom of the slope of the Palatine hill, probably 
 on the line of the city boundary as sketched by 
 Tacitus/ The limits of the hill are thus brought 
 very near to the Regia, which is described by 
 
 '" Ilasta posita pro aede lovis Statoris, bona . . . Cn. Pompeii 
 Magni voci acerbissimae subiecta praeconis . . . Maximus vini nume- 
 rus fuit, permagnum optimi pondus argenti, pretiosa vestis, multa et 
 lauta supellex. Cic. Phil. ii. 26, 27. 
 
 - Sic par est agere cum civibus, non, ut bis iam vidimus, hastam 
 in foro ponere et bona civium voci subiicere praeconis. Cic. Off. 
 ii. 23. 
 
 3 Sueton. Tib. 15. 
 
 * See before, p. 282. 
 
 * Dionys ii. 50. (Note 868.) Tac. Ann. xii. 24. (Note 802.) This 
 would agree with Ovid's description of the site of Stator, anie 
 Palatini ora iugi. Fast vi. 764. (Note 873.) 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Open Place 
 in front of 
 Stator. 
 
 Sale of 
 goods of 
 Pompey. 
 
 Site of the 
 Porta Mu- 
 gionia. 
 
322 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 PORTA ROMANULA. 
 
 323 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Servius as situated at the root of the Palatine/^^ 
 This extension of the bounds of the Palatine in the 
 direction of the Regia justifies the description of 
 the Forum as lying between the Capitoline and 
 Palatine Hills, a description which misled the 
 older Topographers/ and which, looking at the 
 present limits of the Palatine Hill, appears inaccu- 
 rate, the great rise of level in the lower ground 
 near the Regia having thrown the base of that 
 hill in modern times considerably further back 
 than its ancient position. It w^ill be remembered 
 that Cicero, who lived on this side of the Palatine, 
 was described as a neighbour of Caesar in the 
 Regia.^ 
 
 Some few observations remain to be added re- 
 specting the position of the Porta Romana, or 
 Romanula. The evidence of classical authors on 
 this point is soon collected. Varro, upon the 
 subject of the ancient gates existing within the 
 later walls, after mentioning the Forta Mucionis 
 in Palatio, proceeds to say that another gate was 
 Steps in the Called Romauvda, from Rome, and that this gate 
 at Porta had steps in the Nova Via at the Sacellum of Volu- 
 pia ;^ and in another place he says, that a sacrifice 
 
 Porta 
 Romanula. 
 
 886 
 
 In radicibus Palatii finibusque Romani fori. Servius ad Aen. 
 viii. 363. (Note 297.) 
 
 ^ Dionys. ii. 66. See before, p. 2. 
 
 ' See before, p. 285. 
 
 ^ Praeterea intra muros video portas dici. In Palatio Mucionis . . 
 Alteram Romanulam ab Roma dictam, quae habit gradus in Nova 
 via ad Volupiae sacellum. Varro, L. L. v. 34. (Note 877.) 
 
 
 to Acca Larentia was oflfered in the Velabrum 
 where one came out into the Nova Via, and that 
 some said this was at the tomb of Acca, like a 
 similar ceremony performed by the priests at a 
 neighbouring spot in honour of the Dii Manes 
 Serviles, — both which localities were outside the 
 ancient city, and not far from the Porta Roma- 
 nula.'^' 
 
 The only other evidence is that of Festus, w4io 
 tells us that the Porta Romana was founded by 
 Romulus at the bottom of the Clivus Victoriae, 
 where the ground Avas formed into a square with 
 steps ; and that the name of Roman Gate was 
 principally given to it by the Sabines, because it 
 was the nearest entrance to Rome.^ 
 
 The allusion to the Sabines, whose connection 
 with the Porta Romanula we may ascribe to 
 a conjecture of the Roman antiquary, appears to 
 refer to the old story of the occupation of the 
 Capitol by Tatius when Romulus held the Pala- 
 tine, and lends some probability to the position of 
 this gate on the Capitoline or north-western side 
 of the Palatine Hill. 
 
 We learn from the above authorities tliat the 
 o-ate on its outer side abutted on the lower 
 
 »''"> Varro, vi. 3 (58). (Note 846.) 
 
 ' Sed porta Romana instituta est a Romulo infimo clivo Victoriae, 
 qui locus gradibus in quadram formatus est : appellata autem Romana 
 a Sabinis praecipue, quod ea proximus aditus erat Romam. Festus, 
 ed. Mul. p. 262. 
 
 y2 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 Porta Ro- 
 manula, 
 near the 
 Vela- 
 brum. 
 
 Porta Ro- 
 mana 
 infimo 
 clivo 17c- 
 torlae. 
 
 Porta Ro- 
 manula at 
 the bottom 
 of the Pala- 
 tine Hill. 
 
p 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 324 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 part of the Nova Via, near tlie point where the 
 street entered the Velabrum ; and that on the 
 other side of the gate, within the ancient city, 
 there was a road ascending the hill called the 
 Clivus Victoriae. From its position near the 
 Velabrum it is manifest that the Porta Roma- 
 nula, like the Porta Mugionia, was at or near the 
 bottom of the slope and not on the crest of the 
 Palatine Hill. It has been suggested by Becker 
 that it is probably this egress from the Palatine 
 which is meant in the description of Otho's 
 route, when he left Galba sacrificing in the temple 
 of Apollo, and proceeded by the back of the 
 Palatine, through the buildings of Tiberius, into 
 the Velabrum, and so to his rendezvous with the 
 mutinous soldiers at the Milliarium Aureum.^^^ 
 
 The site of the Clivus Victoriae is unknown. 
 We may conjecture that, like other roads leading 
 into primitive Italian cities, it was not a street 
 adapted for wheeled vehicles, since the gateway 
 seems to have been approached by steps; and it 
 may therefore have risen by a very steep ascent. 
 Sacrum of Its name was probably derived from the sanctuary 
 
 Victory 
 
 above the of Victory, whicli Dionysius describes in con- 
 nection with the Lupercal, attributing the origin 
 of both to Evander and the Arcadians. The 
 Lupercal was, as we know from the same author, 
 situated under the hill upon the street leading to 
 the Circus. The sanctuary of Victory was on 
 
 8«2 Tac. Hist. i. 27 ; Sueton. Otho. 6 ; Plutarch. Galb. 24. (Note 92.) 
 
 CLIVUS VICTORIAE. 
 
 325 
 
 Clivns 
 Victoriae. 
 
 .*F« 
 
 , 
 
 
 I 
 
 j 
 
 the crest of the hill,'-" apparently above the Luper- chap. 
 cal, and therefore on or near the west corner of — 
 the more elevated part of the Palatine. 
 
 One of the fragments of the Capitoline Plan ^^p;;^^'"^ 
 exhibits a portion of what appears a narrow lane, 
 inscribed [cliJvvs victoria [e], with buildings on 
 both sides, and some other buildings near, in- 
 scribed SEVERi ET [an]tonini av[gg] nn ; which 
 shows that the hill of Victory passed near some 
 constructions of the emperors Severus and Cara- 
 
 calla. 
 
 Recent explorations within the Palatine have Supi^scd 
 disclosed a street of some length near the north- victoriae^ 
 east side of the hill, running nearly parallel with Romanuia. 
 the Sacra Via, and terminating at its lowest ])art 
 in an arch near the back of the church of Santa 
 Maria Liberatrice. The arch is at a level con- 
 siderably higher than the modern church ; and 
 outside the arch are some traces of a road along 
 the north-western slope in the direction of the 
 Velal)rum. The arch has l)een identified by 
 Signor Rosa, the zealous and able director of the 
 excavations, with the Porta Romanuia, and the 
 street by which it is approached from within 
 
 893 AovnepKuXiov . . . i)v ci rb apxaloi' utg Xtyerai <T7r,)\aiov imb t<^ 
 Xo0v ^'fya . . . tTTi ^t ry jcopy^y tov Xo^ow rb n/c Nki;? r'^f^evoQ l^ikovrtq, 
 
 kt\. Dionys. i. 32. 
 
 To ^£ avrpov H oh i) Xi/3«c ttc^i^orai t<{, naXavrup irpoijtinco^onrjutvov 
 WiKwrai Kara Hiv im rbv'XTrirucpoiiov tp'^povaav b^oV Kai niievbq ^ariv 
 avTOv Tr\r)<jiov tvOa eUutv Kelrai tov ttciGovc, XvKaiva TrmdioiQ cvffi tovq 
 fxaoTOVS irnxovrra, x«^«n TToninara TraXaiac tpynaiag. Dionys. i. 79. 
 
326 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM. 
 
 with the Clivus Victoriae. And this theory has 
 been adopted by other antiquaries. ^^^ 
 
 It is difficult to reconcile this identification with 
 some of the conclusions to which we have been 
 led by the evidence of ancient authorities. In the 
 first place, it is inconsistent with the testimony of 
 Varro that the Porta Romanula was near the 
 Velabrum. It also involves this further difficulty. 
 The Nova Via passed, as we have seen, near the 
 Temple of Vesta, between that temple and the 
 Grove of Vesta, which was itself on the Palatine 
 slope.^ Now the Temple of Vesta has been found 
 in front of the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice 
 at a much lower level. The Nova Via must 
 therefore have been at this point very much lower 
 down the slope of the Palatine Hill than the arch 
 in question, and at some distance from it ; and 
 this arch cannot therefore have had steps in the 
 Nova Via, as we know to have been the case with 
 the Porta Romanula.*^ 
 
 It may be further ol)served that the buildings 
 on each side of the supposed Clivus Victoriae 
 have been excavated, and do not at any part cor- 
 respond with those shown on the Capitoline Plan. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that this identification 
 cannot be accepted. It proceeds, we may also 
 remark, upon a wrong assumption as to the posi- 
 
 *^* Burn's Rome and the Campagna, pp. 35, 160. 
 * Liv. V. 32; Cic. de Div. i. 45. (Note 848.) 
 « Varro, v. 3i (46). (Note 889.) 
 
 i 
 
 
 PORTA ROMANULA. 
 
 tion of the Porta Mugionia, which has been sup- 
 posed to have been at the top of the Sacred Way, 
 and at some distance from the north corner of 
 the Palatine, whereas the position which we have 
 been led to assign to it is upon the lower slope 
 not far from this arch, to which probably a steep 
 pathway led from the latter gate.^^^ 
 
 Our researches in this and the preceding 
 chapter have led us up to the boundaries of 
 Palatium, upon the two sides which were nearest 
 to the Roman Forum. 
 
 The topography of the Palatine Hill consti- 
 tutes a separate sul)ject, into which it is not 
 proposed to enter in the present work. 
 
 8" See before, pp. 319, 321. 
 
 327 
 
 ( ( 
 
 *^/? 
 
 / 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 =• t i 
 
 V 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 4 
 
 Catalogue of the Fourth and Eighth Regions of 
 Rome, from the Curiosum Urbis and Notitia. 
 
 The two slightly differing lists of monuments contained in the 
 fourteen Augustan Regions, which have become known under 
 these names, may be regarded as successive editions of the same 
 work. The former title, Curiosum Urbis Romae Regionum 
 XIIII, is found in the earliest known MS. : but the latter is 
 derived only from the inclusion of the list in this form in the 
 Notitia Dignitatum utriusque Imperii, Basil. 1552. The origi- 
 nal document appears from internal evidence to have been com- 
 piled in the reign of Constantine. The lists have been printed 
 in various collections of antiquarian matter, and have been 
 edited by Prof L. Preller (Die Regionen der Stadt Rom, Jena, 
 1846) from several MSS., the earliest of which are, for the 
 Curiosum the Vatican Codex 3321 of the eighth century, and 
 for the Notitia that of Vienna of the tenth. The two lists are 
 here combined. Words occurring in the Curiosum which are 
 wanting in the Notitia are printed in italics, and those which 
 are found in the latter, but do not occur in the former, in 
 brackets. 
 
 Regio Quarta 
 Templum Pacis 
 
 Continct Porticum Absidatum, [Aream Vulcani,] Aura [Aureiim] 
 Bucinuni, Apollinem Sandaliarium, Templum Telluris, [Horrea char- 
 taria,] Vigilum Sororum [Tigillum Sororiiim], Colossum altum pedes 
 CII semis, habet in capite radia [numero] VII, singula pedum XXII 
 semis, Metani sudantem, Templum Romae [et Veneris], Aedem Jovis 
 [Statoris], Viam Sacram, Basilicam Novam [Constantinianamj et 
 
 / 
 
330 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Pauli, Tempi am Faustinae, [Basilicam Panli,] Forum Transitorium, 
 Subiiram, Balneum Dafnidis [Daphnidis]. Vici VIII, Aedes [ Aediculae] 
 VIII, Vicomagistri XLVIII, Curatores II, Insulae II DCCLVII, 
 Domos LXXXVIII, Horrea XVIII, Balnea LXV, Lacos LXXI 
 [LXXVIII], Pistrina XV. Continet pedes XIII. 
 
 Regio Octava 
 Forum Romanum Magnum 
 
 Continet Rostra s III, Genium Populi Romani [aureum, et Equum 
 Constantini], Senatum, Atrium Minervae, Forum Caesaris, Augusti, 
 Nervae Traiani,** Templum [Divi] Traiani et Columnam cochlidem 
 altam pedes CXXVIIS [CXXVIII semis], gradus intus habet 
 CLXXX[V], fenestras XLV, Cohortes VI [Cohortem sextam] 
 Vigilum, Basilicam Argentariam, Templum Concordiae €t[j Um- 
 bilicum Romae, Templum] 8aturni et Vespasiani et Titi, Capi- 
 tolium, Miliarium Aureum, Vicum lugarium, Graecostadium, Ba- 
 silicam luliam, Templum Castorum et Minej'vae, Vestam [Minerve et 
 Veste], Horrea [Germaniciana et] Agrippiana, Aquam Cernentem 
 quatuor scaros [Scauros] sub eadem [aede], Atrium Caci, [Vicum 
 lugarium, Vicum Unguentarium,^] Porticum Margaritarium, Ele- 
 phantum Herbarium. Vici XXXIV, Aedes [Aediculae] XXXIV, 
 Vicomagistri XLVIII, Curatores II, Insulae III CCCCLXXX, 
 Domos CXXX, Horrea XVIII, Balnea LXXXVI, Lacos CXX, 
 Pistrina XX. Continet pedes XIIII LXVII. 
 
 " Preller, Nervae, Traiani. He gives reasons for considering two Fora 
 to be meant. As, however, the Forum of Nerva is included in the fourth 
 Region under the name of Transitorium, and it seems improbable that 
 the same Forum should have been included in two Regions and be men- 
 tioned in the two by different names, there can be little doubt that the 
 above punctuation, which is that of the earlier editors, is the true one. 
 See before, p. 249. 
 
 ^» In one MS. only of the Notitia, the earliest, the word Graecostadium 
 occurs twice, between Castorum and Vestam, instead of et Minervae, and 
 again after Vicum Lugularium (sic) et Unguentarium, in this place. It is 
 omitted in the same MS., as well as Vicum lugarium, before Basilicam 
 luliam, for which it has Juliae. 
 
 i(. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Aemilia Basilica, 232, 234. 
 Aerarium, 29, 193. 
 Aius Locutius, altar of, 306, 307. 
 Alcibiades, statue of, 173. 
 Alhucntarii pucri, 63. 
 
 Ambassadors murdered, statues of, at the 
 
 Rostra, 86, 87. 
 Amphitheatre, Flavian, 292. 
 Antonius, L. statue of, 89, 240. 
 Antoninus, temple of, 279. 
 
 Apollo, temple of, 320. 
 library of, 320. 
 
 Appiades, fountain of, 261. 
 
 Arch of Augustus, 68, 140, 141. 
 Constantine, 299. 
 Domitian, 126,298. 
 Fabius, 126. 
 Severus, 17, 183. 
 Tiberius, 46. 
 Titus, 296. 
 
 Area Vulcani, 162-165. 
 
 site of, 191. 
 
 Arco de' Pantani, 264. 
 Argentaria Basilica, 222. 
 Argcntarius clivus, 223. 
 Argiletum, 244-247, 265, 273. 
 Arx, 15. 
 Asellio, assassination of, 133. 
 
 Atrium, Libertatis, 251-257. 
 
 Minervae, 159, 160, 186. 
 Vestae, 120, 125. 
 
 Attus Navius, statue of, 170. 
 fig tree of, 170. 
 
 Augustus, arch of, 68, 140, 141. 
 Forum of, 262-264. 
 palace of, 320. 
 statue of, 89. 
 
 Aurclii gradus, 81. 
 
 Aurelium tribunal, 81. 
 
 Aurelius, M. bas-relief of tiiumph of, 141. 
 statue of, 18. 
 
 Awnings of the Forum, 85, 93. 
 
 Basilica Aemilia, 232, 234. 
 Argentaria, 222. 
 Caii et Lucii, 44. 
 Constantiniana, 282. 
 Julia, 24, 42-46. 
 Ol.imia, 12, 13, 11, 167, 168. 
 Paulli, 233-239. 
 Porcia, 83, 218-222. 
 Sempronia, 51, 236. 
 
 Caligula, palace of, 106. 
 
 Camillus, his temple of Concord, 12, 14. 
 
 Canales inforo^ 41. 
 
 Capitoline hill, 3. 
 
 plan of Rome, 12, 26, 184, 255, 
 note 697, 267, note 728, 269, 
 note 730, 294, 325. 
 
 Capitolinus Clivus, 4, 22, 34, 278. 
 Career, 5-10. 
 
 Carinae, wav leading to, out of the Sacred 
 way, 269, '282, 303. 
 
 Carmental Gate, 34. 
 
 Catiline, house of, 286. 
 
 Catulus, Q. restored the Tabularium, 4. 
 restored the Capitolium, 4, 
 
 Censors, public office of the, 252. 
 
 Centumviri, court of, 45. 
 
 Chalcidicum, 159, 160, 186, 221. 
 
 Cicero, house of, 285. 
 
 Clivus Argcntarius, 223. 
 
 Capitolinus, 4, 22, 34, 278. 
 Sacer, 287. 
 Victoria, 323, 324. 
 
 Cloaca Maxima, 84. 
 
 Cloacina, Sacrum of, 239. 
 
 H 
 
332 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Clodius, house of, 283, 28G. 
 
 occupation of Castor lemplc by, 
 
 104. 
 
 Cloelia, statue of, 311-314. 
 
 Column of Phocas, 59, 221. 
 
 Colunina Duilia, 90. 
 
 Maenia, 172, 178, 180, 191. 
 
 Colonnacce, 246, 265. 
 
 Colosseum, 293, note 615. 
 
 Colossus of Nero, 291, 292, 293. 
 
 Comitia Tributa, 142. 
 
 Comitium, 40, 143-195. 
 
 duration of, 150, 189. 
 exhibitions in, 148. 
 level of, 144, 189. 
 orij;in of, 145. 
 political use of, 14(k 
 position of, 150, 187. 
 tribunals of, 146. 
 wav across, 189. 
 
 ConeUmcs, where held, 196. 
 
 Concord, temple of, 11-17,181. 
 inscription on, 25. 
 bronze Temple of, 165, 182. 
 minor temples of, 16. 
 
 Consentum deum porticus, 32. 
 
 Constantine, arch of, 299. 
 
 basilica of, 282. 
 bas-relief on arch of, 20. 
 statue of, 18. 
 
 Crassus, house of, 283. 
 
 Curia, 151-156, 177. 
 
 meaning of word, 155. 
 
 orientation of, 177. 
 
 site of, 150. 
 Curia Hostilia, 152. 
 
 Julia, 153, 156, 157. 
 
 Curiosum, Appendix. 
 
 Curtius Lacus, 73-76. 
 
 Deum Consentum porticus, 32. 
 
 Domitian, equestrian statute of, 77. 
 arches of, 126, 298. 
 
 Drusus, house of, 285. 
 
 Duilia columna, 90. 
 
 EinsiedlenMS., account of Rome in, 12, 18, 
 
 25. 
 Extent of the Forum, 2. 
 
 Fabius, arch of, 126. 
 
 Fasti, hung in the Forum, 166. 
 
 Fates or Sibyls, the Three, 79. 
 
 Faustina, temple of, 279. 
 
 Ficus Navia, 171. 
 
 Ruminalis, 170. 
 
 Figtree, at the Lacus Curtius, 73 
 Fish-market, 220. 
 
 Flavins, Cn., his Temple of Concord, 165, 
 182. 
 
 Fora, imperial, 247-270. 
 
 rectangular plan of, 249. 
 
 Fornix Fabius, 126. 
 
 Forum, Augustum, 262-264. 
 
 wall of, 262. 
 Caesaris, 247-261. 
 etymology of the word, 146, note 
 
 389 
 Julium, 247-261. 
 Magnum, 261. 
 Mincrvae, 265. 
 Nervae, 265. 
 Pacis, 266. 
 Pervium, 265. 
 Piscatorium, 220. 
 Romanum, extent of, 2. 
 
 infimum, 40, 97. 
 medium, 40. 
 originally a market, 2, 
 
 146. 
 physical topography of, 
 
 1. 
 various uses of, i. ii. 
 Trajani, 256, 270. 
 Transitorium, 265. 
 Ulpiura, 256, 270. 
 
 Galba, scenes of his death, 75, 239. 
 
 Games, gladiatorial, in the Forum, 92, 93. 
 
 Gate, see Porta. 
 
 Gemoniae Scalae, 4,10, 11. 
 
 site of, 189. 
 
 Genius populi Romani, statue of, 19. 
 
 temple of, 19. 
 
 Gradus Aurelii, 81. 
 Graecostadium, 161, 183. 
 Graecostasis, 161, 183. 
 
 Ilermodorus, statue of, 174. 
 Horatia Pila, 82. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 333 
 
 i 
 
 h 
 
 !' 
 
 ' 'I 
 
 I 
 
 Ilorrea Pipcrataria, 283. 
 
 Idulia, procession of, 277. 
 
 Infima Nova Via, 306, 307. 
 
 Infimum Argiletum, 230, 231, 273. 
 Forum, 40, 97. 
 
 Inn in the Forum, 134. 
 
 Janus Geminus, 223-232, 272. 
 
 closing and opening of, 
 
 227. 
 Me«lius, summus, imus, 
 
 240-243. 
 QuadrifTons, 229, 266. 
 
 Janus, a street, 240-243. 
 
 Julia, her assignations at the Rostra, 72, 
 205. 
 
 JuliaRostra, 139,210, 211. 
 
 Julius Caesar, funeral of, 137, 208-214. 
 
 residence of, at the Regia, 
 
 122. 
 statues of, 89. 
 temple of, 134-140. 
 
 Juno Moncta, temple of, 15. 
 
 Jupiter Stator, temple of, 280, 311-318. 
 
 Juturna, pool of, 98, 109. 
 
 Lacus Curtius, 73 — 76. 
 Juturnae, 98, 109. 
 Servilius, 36. 
 
 Lamm aedes, 289. 
 
 Lautolac, 271-273, 275. 
 
 Lautnmiae, 274. 
 
 Lepidus the triumvir, statue of, 89. 
 
 Levels of the Forum, 83. 
 
 Libonis Puteal, 127-129. 
 
 Library of Apollo, 320. 
 Pollio, 252. 
 Trajan, 257. 
 
 Li via, porticus of, 295, note 817. 
 
 Maeniana, 55. 
 
 Maenius, atrium of, 218. 
 
 Columnof, 172, 178, 180, 191. 
 
 statue of, 88. 
 Magnanapoli, via, 270. 
 Mars Ultor, temple of, 262. 
 Marsyas, statue of, 69-72. 
 
 Medium Forum, 40. 
 
 Medius Janus, 240-243. 
 
 Meridies, how determined, 175. 
 
 Milliarium Aureum, 19, 37-39. 
 
 Minerva, temple of, 142, 247, 265. 
 forum of, 265. 
 
 Minervae Atrium, 159, 160, 186. 
 
 Money-lenders of the Forum, 131-133. 
 
 Mugionia porta, 305, 310, 319, 321. 
 
 Navia ficus, 171. 
 
 Nero, fire of, 320. 
 
 golden house of, 291. 
 
 Nerva, forum of, 265. 
 
 Notitia, Appendi.r. 
 
 Nova Via, 109, .305-327. 
 
 Octavius, Cn., house of, 284. 
 statue of, 87. 
 Opalia, 36. 
 
 Opimia Basilica, 12, 13, 167. 
 Opimius, his temple of Concord, 13, 14. 
 Ops, temple of, 35, 36. 
 Otho, insurrection of, 38, 324. 
 
 Palatine Hill, houses upon, 283-286, 320. 
 
 Palatium, gates of, 319, 327. 
 
 Palladium, 113. 
 
 Pandana porta, 28. 
 
 Paulli, Basilica, 233. 
 
 Paullus, Aemilius, baths of, 270. 
 
 Pavement of the Forum, 84. 
 
 Peace, forum of, 266. 
 
 temple of, 266, 282. 
 
 Penatum aedes, 302, 303. 
 
 Phocas, column of, 59, 221. 
 
 Pictures, in temple of Concord, 14. 
 in the Curia Julia, 158. 
 on the Curia Hostilia, 152. 
 on the Ta])ernae, 58. 
 
 Pila Horatia, 82 
 
 Piso Licinianus, murder of, 117. 
 
 Plan, antique, of Rome, on marble, 12, 
 26, 184, 255, 267, 295, 325. 
 
 Pompey, statue of, 88. 
 
334 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 335 
 
 Pontifex Maximus, 111, 123, 
 
 Porcia Basilica, 83, 218-222. 
 
 Porsenna, statue of, 174, 
 
 Prison, 5-10. 
 
 Prison of St, Peter, G. 
 
 Procession, of the Idiilia, 277. 
 
 of the Knights to Castor, 01, 
 
 106. 
 of the ludl Itomaniy 91. 
 
 Porta Carmentalis, 34. 
 Janualis, 223, 225, 
 Mugionia, 305, 310, 319, 321. 
 Pandana, 28, 
 Komana, 322, 323, 
 Romanula, 30G, 322-326, 
 Saturnia, 28, 
 Stercoraria, 34. 
 
 Porticus deum Consentum, 32. 
 Julia, 129, 
 Liviae, 294, note 817, 
 
 Publieola, house of, 301. 
 
 Puteal of Attus Navius, 129. 
 of Libo, 127-129. 
 
 Pythagoras, statue of, 173. 
 
 Regia, 118-125, 
 
 Regions, catalogue of the Augustan, Ap- 
 pendix. 
 
 distributiou of the imperial fora ! 
 in the fourth and eighth, 248. 
 
 boundaries of the fourth and 
 tenth, 286. 
 
 Rex Sacrificulus, house of, 276, 289. 
 
 Romanula Porta, 306, 322-326. 
 
 Rome and Venus, temple of, 291, 296. 
 
 Rostra, chapter on, 197-217. 
 form of, 206. 
 public funerals at, 202, 
 removal of, 202, 215. 
 statues at, 86-89, 203. 
 of the Comitium, 196-202, 216. 
 site of, 198. 
 of the Forum, 69, 204. 
 site of. 76, 204. 
 Augusti, 217. 
 Julia, 139, 210, 211. 
 
 Ruminal figtree, 72, 170. 
 
 Sacra Via, 46, 276-299. 
 Salvidienus, house of, 134. 
 
 Saturn and Vespasian, controversy about 
 temples of, 22-26. 
 
 Saturn, city of, 27, 28. 
 hill of, 27. 
 temple of, 23, 27-31. 
 
 Satumia Porta, 28. 
 
 Scalae Gemoniae, 4, 10, 11. 
 site of, 189. 
 
 Scaurus, house of, 284. 
 
 Schola Xantha, 33. 
 
 Scipio, house of, 51. 
 
 Sejanus, statues of, 90. 
 fall of, 5, 9. 
 
 Senaculum, 167, 168, 169, 182. 
 Senate met in temple of Castor, 99. 
 
 Concord, 16, 17. 
 Mars Ultor, 263. 
 Jupiter Stator, 
 
 280, 
 Venus Genitrix, 
 258. 
 Septa, of the Comitium, 61, note 151, 
 Forum, 105, 142, 
 
 Severus, arch of, 17, 190. 
 
 equestrian statue of, 79. 
 Sibyls, statues of the three, 79. 
 
 Slaves, testimony of, taken by deposition 
 
 252. 
 manumission of, 256. 
 Stationes Municipiorum, 166. 
 Stator Temple, 2:^0, 311-318. 
 Statue of Alcibiades, 173. 
 
 < Antonius (L.), 89. 
 
 Attus Navius, 170. 
 
 Augustus, 89, 
 
 Aurelius, 18. 
 
 Cloelia, 311-314, 
 
 Constantine, 18, 
 
 Domitian, 77. 
 
 Hermodorus 174. 
 
 Horatius Codes, 164. 
 
 Lepidus, 89. 
 
 Maenius, 81, 
 
 Marsyas, 70. 
 
 Octavius (Cn.), 87. 
 
 Pompey, 88. 
 
 Porsenna, 174. 
 
 Pythagoras, 173. 
 
 Sejanus, 90. 
 
 Severus, 78. 
 
 Sulla, 88, 203. 
 
 Sulpicius, 87, 217, note 591. 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 ' 1 ,1 
 
 
 •;i 
 
 II' { 
 
 \ 
 
 Statue of Tremulus, 89, 108. 
 Vertumnus, 50. 
 Victory in the Curia, 157, 158. 
 
 Statues in the Comitium, 173. 
 in the Forum, 89, 90. 
 at the Rostra, 86-89, 203, 217. 
 
 Sub Velia, 269, 304. 
 
 Sulla, statue of, 88, 203. 
 
 Sulpicius, statue of, 87, 217, 
 
 Summa Nova Via, 305, 309. 
 
 Summa Sacra Via, 276, 283, 289, 290, 
 298, 302, 
 
 Sun, position of, observed from the Comi- 
 tium, 175, 
 
 Suprema ^cw_/;<'«ffl5, how determined, 176, 
 179, 
 
 Tabemae of the Forum, 51-59, 
 
 paintings on, 56. 
 
 Tabemae Argentariae, 54, 
 Novae, 54, 55, 58, 
 Septem, 54, 
 Veteres, 54, 55, 57. 
 
 Tabula Valeria, 152. 
 
 Tabularium, 3, 182. 
 
 doorway of, behind temple of 
 
 Concord, 182. 
 behind temple of Vespasian, 
 27. 
 
 Tarquin, house of, 305, 309, 319. 
 
 Temple of Antoninus, 279. 
 Apollo, 320. 
 Castor, 97-108, 
 Concord, 11-17,165,182, 
 Faustina, 279. 
 Felicity, 153. 
 Julius,'l34-140. 
 Jupiter Stator, 280, 311-318. 
 Janus, 223-232. 
 Libertas, 253. 
 the Lares, 289. 
 IMars Ultor, 262. 
 Minerva, 142, 247, 265. 
 Ops, 35. 
 Peace, 266, 282. 
 the Penates, 302. 
 Romulus, 281. 
 Saturn, 21-31. 
 Stator, 280, 311, 318, 
 Trajan, 270, 
 Vespasian, 21-27, 
 Venus Genitrix, 257-260. 
 
 Temple of Venus and Roma, 291-294. 
 Vesta, 110-117. 
 Vicapota, 270-302. 
 Victory, 270, 302, 324. 
 
 Temples, contracts for repair of, 100-102. 
 deposit of treasure in, 29, 35, 107. 
 
 Templum, what, 114, 156, 197. 
 
 Tiberius, arch of, 21, 46. 
 
 temple of Castor restored by, 105. 
 temple of Concord restored by, 
 
 13, 15. 
 triumph of, 20. 
 
 Tiridates, coronation of, 95. 
 
 Titus, arch of, 296. 
 temple of, 27. 
 
 Trajan, column of, 271. 
 
 monument of, in the Forum, 60- 
 
 78. 
 forum of, 256, 270. 
 temple of, 271. 
 
 Transitorium Forum, 265, 
 
 Treasury in temple of Saturn, 29, 31, 
 
 Trenmlus, Q. Marcius, statue of, 89, 108. 
 
 Tribunal Aurelium, 81. 
 
 of the Comitium, 20, 129, 147, 192. 
 
 site of, 192. 
 
 of the centumvlri, 45. 
 
 of the praetor, 129, 147, 192. 
 
 of the triumviri capitales, 147. 
 
 Tribunals of the Forum, form of, 194. 
 
 Triumphs, their course, 31. 
 
 captives led in, put to death, 
 32. 
 
 Trinmphalis via, 31, 
 
 Tullianum, 5, 8, 
 
 Ulpian basilica, 270. 
 forum, 270. 
 libraries, 271. 
 
 Umbilicus Romae, 18, 39. 
 
 Urbis templum, 296. 
 
 Usurers of the Forum, 131-133. 
 
 Valeria tabula, 152. 
 
 Velabrum, 306. 
 
 Velia, 299-304. 
 
 Venens Cluacinae signa, 239. 
 
336 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Venus and Rome, temple of, 291-294. 
 
 Venns Genitrix, temple of, 257-260, 
 
 Verres, exhibition of his pictures and 
 statues, 149. 
 
 extortion of money bj, for repair 
 of temple of Castor, 100-102. 
 
 Vertumnus, statue of, 50. 
 
 Vespasian, temple of, 26. 
 
 Vesta, temple of, 110-117. 
 statues of, 113. 
 jjrove of, 118. 
 sacrum of, in Palatium, 1 23. 
 
 Vestal Virgins, 111, 149 
 
 house of, 118. 
 
 Via Nova, 305-327. 
 . Sacra, 46, 279-299. 
 
 Via Triumphalis, 31. 
 
 Victoriae clivus, 323, 324. 
 
 Victory, altar of, in the Curia, 158. 
 
 sacrum of, above the Lupercal, 
 
 324. 
 statue of, in the Curia, 157, 158. 
 
 Vicus Jugarius, 34. 
 Turarius, 49. 
 Tuscus, 47-50. 
 
 Vulcanal, 162-165. 
 
 site of, 191. 
 
 Xantha schola, 33. 
 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 27, note «2. For note 168 read note 173. 
 
 Page 42, line 13. For four hundred read three hundred and forty. 
 
 Page 42, note ». For note 162 read note 167. 
 
 Page 42, note *. For note 170 read note 175. 
 
 Page 44, line 7. For B.C. 12 read A.D. 12. 
 
 Page 109, line 8. For Vestatibus read Vestalibus. 
 
 Page 113, 7iote "^ For videt read vidit. 
 
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 In the plans representing- tlie ancient condition 
 of the Forum the buildings and monuments whose 
 sites are considered to be determined with cer- 
 tainty by existing remains are distinguished by 
 names written in roman characters and by a dark 
 tint; those whose locality is more or less a matter 
 of speculation have the names in italic, and are 
 tinted light. For the justification of the positions 
 in which they are represented, the author must 
 refer to his book, '' The Roman Forum, a Topo- 
 graphical Study. 1877." 
 
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 I. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. The Forum in the time of Constantine. 
 
 11. The Excaviitions in the Forum, with the surrounding 
 Streets, 1877. 
 
 III. Tlie fragments of tlie Caj)itoline Plan relating to the 
 
 Forum. 
 
 IV. The Forum in the time of Augustus. 
 
 V. The Roman Forum, with the surrounding Fora and 
 Streets, in the time of Constantine. 
 
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