Part 5

The name Mamertine Prison is medieval. By the ancients it was called _the Prison_, or the Tullian Prison.[3] The two chambers are only a small part of the ancient prison, which extended up the left side of the Clivus Argentarius, the modern Via Marforio, and evidences of its extent can be seen in the cellars of the houses. It evidently extended up as far as No. 68, for under that wine shop we found two chambers corresponding with the two under the church. The prison was approached from the Forum by a flight of stairs called

THE SCALÆ GEMONIÆ,

or Stairs of Wailing. Criminals were often put to death on them, and others were exposed there after death. "Those who were put to death were exposed on the Scalæ Gemoniæ, and then dragged into the Tiber" (Suetonius, "Tiberius," lxi.).

_At a short distance from the church in the little lane opposite, Via Marmorelle, 29_, are some more remains of the Prison, which eventually became the

"STATIONES MUNICIPIORUM" AND FORUM OF JULIUS CÆSAR.

"Julius Cæsar, with money raised from the spoils of war, began to construct a new Forum" (Suetonius, "Cæsar," xxvi.)--the site costing about £807,291. This new Forum was necessary, on account of the old Forum becoming too small for the public business. Pliny (xvi. 86) mentions the barracks of the municipal guards as being between the Vulcanal and the Forum of Julius Cæsar. These remains consist of a series of five large chambers; one is forty feet long and fourteen wide, divided by modern walls and partitions in various ways, and not easy of access. The walls are of tufa. The vaults are of brick, with openings for letting down prisoners. These are of later date than the tufa walls, and one of them is supported by a fine arch of travertine.

THE ROMAN FORUM (Il Foro).

_The new excavations are open to the public every day without fee._

To understand the Roman Forum and its surroundings, visitors should attend the lectures given on the spot by the author of these Rambles, descend with him to its level, and examine each remaining object in detail; thus they may learn something of the buildings and the history that crowded on its space. For particulars, apply at 93 Via Babuino, Rome.

Mutilated fragments still speak of the former grandeur of the spot, dead men of its fame, and living authors of its past and present history.

In these Rambles we shall only treat of the most important and present remains, which are classed in the order in which they should be visited, and not chronologically.

The real foundation of the ancient city has long been covered over by the heaping up, during ages, of earth, stones, rubbish, &c., to the depth of thirty feet. The thick crust had lain untouched by shovel during the long series of popes; especially was this, until recently, the condition of the Roman Forum. The latter is to be entirely excavated, and the removal of the superincumbent earth is at this present moment being made with a vigour never before attempted.

In short, the Forum is dressed up in quite a new attire, and many old visitors would scarcely recognize it in its modern garb. Crowds of spectators lean against the barriers every day, anxiously reviewing the carting of the earth, and awaiting for artistic valuables to "turn up."

The picturesqueness of the crowds, of the costumes and scenery, the variety of language and nationality, the past associations, all go to make up a spectacle quite unique.

_We will follow the modern road, which crosses the Forum, and turning to the left, proceed along the side of the Basilica Julia to the Temple of Castor and Pollux, where a flight of steps gives access to the Forum._

Standing upon the platform of the temple, we propose to explain the various buildings that surrounded the Forum, and then to descend to its ancient level to examine the chief points of interest.

The word _forum_, in its simple signification, means market-place; and the Roman Forum was the market-place when Rome consisted of but two hills, the Palatine and Capitoline. It soon lost its primitive use, and became the centre of the religious, civil, and political life of the Romans. Then other market-places were formed, and called after the principal commodity sold therein. In the time of Cæsar the Forum was found too small, and then was commenced the first of the Imperial Fora. The Forum, from the time of Constantine, gradually fell into decay, and was finally ruined in the year 1084, when Robert Guiscard, the Norman chief, burned all Rome from the Lateran to the Capitol.

HOW THE SOIL ACCUMULATED.

We may learn from the erection of the Column of Phocas, in A.D. 608, that the Forum was then unencumbered with soil. Rome having been at that time deserted for a long period by its emperors, its principal monuments began to fall into decay, the Romans themselves hastening on the work for the sake of the marble; the steady hand of time, allied with the luxuriant vegetation, working slowly but surely, added to the _débris_; whilst deposits from the Tiber floods, the wind, and the wash of the rain-shed, helped still more to fill in the valleys. During a long course of years Rome was almost abandoned; the streets remained unswept, and the rubbish of the city collected upon them. At length a new life sprang up, and to the dust of ages was added the refuse of building materials for the new city, till in the year 1650 we have the Forum presented to us on a level with the modern streets, under the name of the Campo Vaccino (the Cow-field); and thus was the Forum filled up. Such are the fluctuations of worldly splendour!

[Illustration: PLAN OF THE ROMAN FORUM]

EXTENT OF THE FORUM.

The Forum was not, as many have supposed, a building, but an open space surrounded with buildings, the whole forming the Forum. It was 260 yards long, and 55 yards wide at the bottom. The top, under the Capitol, was 140 yards wide. The temples were built on lofty platforms (_podia_), to give them a more commanding appearance.

[Illustration: THE ROMAN FORUM, LOOKING TOWARDS THE CAPITOLINE HILL.

1. The Temple of Castor and Pollux. 2. The Basilica Julia. 3. Shrine of Venus. 4. Temple of Saturn. 5. Tabularium. 6. Arch of Severus. 7. Mamertine Prison. 8. Column of Phocas. 9. Temple of Vespasian. 10. Temple-tomb of Cæsar. 11. Senate House. 12. Shop. 13. Via Sacra. 14. Bases. 15. Pedestal of Domitian's Statue. 16. Puteal. 17. Marsyas. 18. Attus Navius. 19. Old Rostra. 20. Reliefs of M. Aurelius. 21. Site of Statue. 22. Portico of the 12 Gods. 23. Clivus Capitolinus. 24. Tarpeian Rock. 25. Tower of Capitol. 26. Vicus Tuscus. 27. Street of Ox Heads. 28. Curtian Lake.]

TEMPLE OF CASTOR AND POLLUX.

Founded by Aulus Posthumius, A.U.C. 268-74, in commemoration of the battle of Lake Regillus. It was afterwards rebuilt by Lucius Metellus. "Tiberius dedicated the Temple of Castor and Pollux, which had been rebuilt out of the spoils of the German war, in his own and his brother's name" (Suetonius, "Tiberius," xx.). "Caligula converted it into a kind of vestibule to his house" (_Ibid._, "Caligula," xxii.).

The three magnificent pillars still standing belonged to the side facing the Palatine. They indicate approximately the south-east boundary of the Forum. The narrower front looked down from a terrace of considerable elevation upon the Forum, and was connected with it by means of a double flight of stairs, the remains of which were discovered during excavations made some time ago. These pillars, as well as the fragments of the architrave and cornice supported by them, are among the most beautiful architectural remains of ancient Rome. The ornaments of the capitals and of the entablature are as rich and splendid as they are pure and simple. It is therefore probable that they belong to the time of Tiberius.

Pliny (x. 60) tells us of "a raven that was hatched upon the roof of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, and flew into a bootmaker's shop _opposite_. Every morning it used to fly to the Rostra which looked towards the Forum (the Rostra Julia), where he would salute the Emperor Tiberius, Germanicus, Drusus, and others, as they passed; after which he returned to the shop. This the bird did for several years, till the owner of an opposition shop, through jealousy, killed him, for which the man was put to death; and such a favourite had the bird become that he had a public funeral, and was buried in the field of Rediculus, on the right-hand side of the Via Appia, at the second milestone. No such crowds had ever escorted the funeral of any one out of the whole number of Rome's distinguished men."

_The Church of S. Maria Liberatrice, on our right, occupies the site of_

THE REGIA NUMÆ.

"Numa erected a palace near the Temple of Vesta, called to this day Regia" (Plutarch, "Numa"). Horace (O. i. 2) says: "We see the tawny Tiber, its waves violently forced back from the Tuscan shore, proceed to demolish the monumental Regia (Numæ) and the Temple of Vesta." It was the residence of the Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest, down to the time of Augustus. "Augustus presented the Regia to the Vestal Virgins, because it adjoined their residence" (Dion Cassius, lxv. 27). In the sixteenth century twelve inscriptions relative to the Virgins were found near the church.

_Opposite the church_, on the level of the Forum, is the round podium of

THE TEMPLE OF VESTA.

"Numa erected the Temple of Vesta (A.U.C. 37) between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills; the Forum in which this temple was built lying between them" (Dionysius, ii. 66). "It was made round, as a symbol of the earth" (Ovid, "Fasti," vi. 265). "The roof was covered with bronze of Syracuse" (Pliny, xxxiv. 7). It was destroyed by fire under Nero and Commodus, and rebuilt by Vespasian and Septimius Severus. It was the conservatory of the Palladium and holy fire. The number of Virgins was originally four, afterwards increased to six. They were bound to their ministry for thirty years. If they broke their vow they were buried alive: they took their vows for thirty years. "Ten years they were being instructed in their duties, ten years they practised them, and ten years they passed in instructing others" (Plutarch).

_On the opposite corner of the Forum_ ten columns and the side walls remain of

THE TEMPLE OF ANTONINUS AND FAUSTINA.

Erected by Antoninus Pius, A.D. 160; and dedicated by the Senate on his death to himself and wife, who were deified, as we learn from the inscription,--

DIVO . ANTONINO . ET . DIVAE . FAUSTINAE . EX . S. C.

The vestibule of this edifice, composed of ten Corinthian pillars of variegated green marble (cipollino) supporting an architrave and part of the cellæ, built of square blocks of peperino, still remain. The architrave is adorned at each side with arabesque candelabra guarded, as it were, by griffins.

The portico was excavated in 1876: the ascent to the Temple from the Via Sacra was found to be by a flight of twenty-one steps, fifteen feet in height. The portico now fulfils the same office to the Church of S. Lorenzo in Miranda, which we understand is to be pulled down.

_Between this temple and our vantage point_ a mass of rubble work marks the site of

THE TEMPLE-TOMB OF JULIUS CÆSAR.

Ovid ("Met." xv., "Let." ii. 2), describes it as "close to Castor and Pollux, having its aspect towards the Forum and the Capitol." "They [the Triumvirs] likewise built a tomb to Julius Cæsar in the middle of the Forum, with an asylum, that should be for ever inviolable" (Dion Cassius, "Aug."). Before the temple was built, "a column of Numidian marble, formed of one stone twenty feet high, was erected to Cæsar in the Forum, inscribed--TO THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY" (Suetonius, "Cæsar," lxxxv.). This gave place to the temple, which had four columns in front, as we learn from a relief and a coin. It was decorated with the statues of the Julian line. "About the time of the death of Nero, the Temple of Cæsar being struck with lightning, the heads of all the statues in it fell off at once; and Augustus's sceptre was dashed from his hand" (Suetonius, "Galba").

_We must now call attention to the buildings between the Temple of Antoninus and the Church of S. Adriano on the line of the houses shortly to be pulled down; but till the excavations are made, we cannot be certain of the details. Next to the temple stood_

THE BASILICA ÆMILIA.

In B.C. 180, "Marcus Fulvius made contracts for a court of justice behind the new bankers' shops" (Livy, xl. 51). It was destroyed by fire, and rebuilt by Paullus Æmilius, B.C. 53.

Plutarch says that Paullus expended on it the large sum of money he had received from Cæsar as a bribe.

Pliny (xxxvi. 24) tells us it was celebrated for its columns of Phrygian marble.

_For explanation of the word Basilica, see page 82._

_Between this and the Church of S. Adriano stood_

THE BASILICA PORCIA.

In B.C. 185, "Cato purchased for the use of the people the two houses, Mænius and Titius, in the Lautumiæ, and four shops, erecting on that ground a court of justice, which was called the Porcian" (Livy, xxxix. 44). "The tribunes likewise opposed him very much in his building, at the public charge, a hall below the Senate House, by the Forum, which he finished notwithstanding, and called it the Porcian Basilica" (Plutarch, in "Cato").

This is where the tribunes of the people used to hold their courts. It was destroyed by fire at the same time as the Curia.

_Behind was_

THE FORUM PISCATORIUM,

or Fish-Market. Plautus ("Capteivei," Act iv., Scene 2) says "that the stench of the fish frequently drove the frequenters of the Basilica Porcia into the Forum Romanum."

The Market was destroyed by fire B.C. 212 (Livy, xxvi. 27), and rebuilt B.C. 180 (Livy, xl. 51). "Marcus Fulvius contracted for the rebuilding of the Fish-Market."

_In this district_ was also

THE LAUTUMIÆ.

It was not only a district near the Forum, but a prison, as the name signifies, made out of stone quarries. It is first mentioned (B.C. 212) by Livy (xxvi. 27) in his account of the fire. Livy (xxxii. 26; xxxvii. 3) says it was a place for the custody of hostages and prisoners of war. When Q. M. Celer the consul was imprisoned there by the tribune L. Flavius, Celer attempted to assemble the Senate in it (Dion Cassius, xxxvii. 50); so we may infer that it was a large building. The _Lautumiæ_ was _entirely distinct_ from the Mamertine Prison.

_The church with the plain front, S. Adriano, and the house with the green shutters, occupy the site of_

THE SENATE HOUSE,

originally built by Tullus Hostilius one hundred years after the foundation of Rome, and called the Curia Hostilia. "He built a Senate House, which retained the name Hostilia even within the memory of our fathers" (Livy, i. 30).

[Illustration: THE ROMAN FORUM, FROM THE CAPITOL.

1. Senate House. 2. Arch of Septimius Severus. 3. Monument of Marcus Aurelius. 4. Rostra ad Palmam. 5. Comitium. 6. Column of Phocas. 7. Temple of Vespasian. 8. Temple of Saturn. 9. Basilica Julia. 10. Sacred Way. 11. Vicus Tuscus. 12. Temple of Castor and Pollux. 13. Palace of Caligula. 14. Temple of Vesta. 15. Palatine Hill. 16. Arch of Titus. 17. House of Cæsar. 18. Arcade of the Pearl-Dealers. 19. S. Francisca, Forum of Cupid. 20. Colosseum. 21. Basilica of Constantine. 22. Temple of Venus and Roma. 23. Temple of the Penates. 24. Temple of Romulus. 25. Temple of Antoninus Pius. 26. Temple-Tomb of Cæsar. 27. Site of the Arch of Fabius. 28. Curtian Lake. 29. Site of Basilica Æmilia. 30. Site of Basilica Porcia. 31. The Janus or Exchange. 32. Site of Original Rostra.]

It was destroyed by fire when the body of the tribune Clodius was burned, A.U.C. 702. Rebuilt by Faustus, the son of Sylla. Destroyed a second time, to do away with the name of Sylla, on pretence of erecting the Temple of Felicity; rebuilt by Julius Cæsar, A.U.C. 711, completed by the Triumvirs, and consecrated by Augustus, who named it the Curia Julia. Again destroyed by fire under Titus, and rebuilt by Domitian, and called Senatus.

It was approached by a flight of steps; for "Tarquin carried old Servius out of the Curia, and threw him down the steps to the bottom" (Livy, i. 48).

This was the proper Senate House; and when we read of the senators meeting in other places, there was always some special reason for their so doing. The tradition of the church, S. Adriano, is, that it was erected out of the remains of the Senate House, the bronze doors of which were carried off to the Lateran by Alexander VII., where they still remain.

An anonymous writer, quoted by Eckhard, states that in A.D. 283, under Carinus, a fire destroyed the Curia Julia, the Græcostasis, the Basilica Julia, and the Forum of Cæsar, all of which were restored by Diocletian, 290. The Senate House seems to have been again destroyed, and rebuilt by Flavianus, prefect of the city, in 399, under the title of "Secretarium Senatus;" another prefect, Eucharius, restored it in 407.

_The Church of S. Martino occupies the site of_

THE GRÆCOSTASIS AND SENACULUM.

Varro ("Ling. Lat.," v. 155) says: "The Græcostasis was on the right of the Curia, and projected in front of it; and here the Senate received the foreign ambassadors in audience. The Senaculum lay above the Græcostasis, and towards the Temple of Concord, and the senators deliberated in this building with the magistrates who were not entitled to enter the Senate House."

Between S. Martino and S. Adriano the Via Bonella runs out of the Forum on the line of

THE ARGILETUM,

which passed through the Fora of Cæsar and Augustus to the Suburra. It was the Paternoster Row of ancient Rome. "Thou preferrest, little book, to dwell in the shops in the Argiletum" (Martial, i. 3).

_At its entrance stood_

THE BRONZE SHRINE OF JANUS.

In A.U.C. 39, "Numa built a shrine to Janus, near the foot of the hill Argiletum, which was to notify a state either of war or peace" (Livy, i. 19). Ovid ("Fasti," i. 259) says, "Thou hast a shrine adjoining two Fora" (the Forum of Cæsar and the Roman Forum). "There was a Janus in the Forum before the Curia. This temple was made entirely of bronze, and of a square form; it was hardly large enough to hold the figure of Janus. The bronze image was four cubits high; in other respects like a man, except that it had two faces, one looking towards the east and the other towards the west. There were bronze doors in each front" (Procopius, "Bel. Got." i. 25). A brick podium under the right end column of the Arch of Severus marks its site.

_Somewhat in the foreground is_

THE ARCH OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS,

erected, A.D. 205, in honour of the emperor and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, by the senate and people of Rome.[4] The sculptures adorning it are interesting, and represent his victories over the Parthians, Arabians, and Adiabenes.

A chariot, containing the statues of the emperor and his sons, drawn by six horses (now in S. Mark's, Venice), stood on the summit. The sculptures represent details of the Roman military harangues, sieges, camps, assaults with battering-rams, and the submission of prisoners. The front towards the Forum represents the emperor addressing his troops, the taking of Carrha, the siege of Nisibis. The front facing the Capitol represents another harangue, the siege of Atra, and the passage of the Euphrates and Tigris.

_In front of the arch are the bases of_

THE DUILIAN COLUMN,

[Illustration: DUILIAN COLUMN.]

erected A.U.C. 493. "Caius Duilius was the first to gain a naval triumph over the Carthaginians: his column still remains in the Forum" (Pliny, xxxiv. 11). It was of bronze, made out of the rostra of the captured ships. Being struck by lightning, it was restored by Germanicus, under Tiberius, and part of his inscription is still to be seen in the column made to receive it by Michael Angelo in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, on the Capitol.

THE MÆNIA COLUMN

"was erected in honour of C. Mænius, who conquered the ancient Latins, A.U.C. 416, and to whom the Romans gave a third of the spoil" (Pliny, xxxiv. 11).

_Immediately behind the Arch of Severus are the remains of_

OPIMIUS'S TEMPLE OF CONCORD.

Here was originally a shrine erected by Flavius. Livy (ix. 46) says, "In A.U.C. 449, to the great displeasure of the nobles, Caius Flavius performed the dedication of the Temple of Concord, in the area of Vulcan."

Pliny (xxxiii. 6) gives us further particulars, and points out the exact site:--"Flavius made a vow that he would consecrate a temple to Concord, if he should succeed in reconciling the privileged orders with the plebeians; and as no part of the public funds could be voted for the purpose, he accordingly built a small shrine of bronze near the Græcostasis, then situated above the Comitium, with the fines which had been exacted for usury.

"Here, too, he had an inscription engraved upon a tablet of brass, to the effect that the shrine was dedicated 203 years after the consecration of the Capitoline Jupiter."

The third temple, Livy (xxii. 33) says, "was erected in the Citadel, A.U.C. 538, the Temple of Concord vowed by the Prætor Lucius Manlius, on occasion of the mutiny of some soldiers in Gaul, A.U.C. 536."

The fourth temple was dedicated to Concord by the Consul Lucius Opimius, after the death of Gracchus, A.U.C. 632. Appianus (i. 26) says "it was in the Forum." Varro ("L.L." v.) says, "The Senaculum was above the Græcostasis, towards the Temple of Concord and Basilica Opimia." Festus says it was "between the Capitoline Hill and the Forum."

The Senaculum was distinct from the Curia. Thus Livy (li. 27) says, "The censors constructed a portico from the Temple of Saturn on the Capitol to the Senaculum, which was above the Curia." The inscription has been preserved to us:--

S. P. Q. R. AEDEM CONCORDIAE VETVSTATE COLLAPSAM IN MELIOREM FACEM OPERE ET CVLTV SPLENDIDIORE RESTITVERVNT.

THE BASILICA OPIMIA.

At the back of the ruins of the temple are the remains of the Basilica Opimia. Part of the ground-plan is shown on a fragment of the marble map of Rome, with a fragment of a basilica behind. On examination of the ruins, the two buildings can be distinctly made out.