THE TEMPLE Of Jupiter FerETRIUS 142-144 VI. This wall is the one mentioned by Dionysius, who says, "For 149-156 OF ROME. THE MAMERTINE PRISON 161-176 XXXVII. - This is among the earliest and most interesting structures dis- XXXVIII. PAGE there probably was none underground, but in the time of Tiberius one The supplement describes the more recent excavations, in which these Extract from Dr. Newman about the State prisons of the Romans. PLATE Extract from Dionysius.-A subterranean cave-reservoir, partly na- XLIV. tural, and part built against it, at the north-west corner of the Palatine, in the valley near the church of S. Anastasia. The walls of the time of Augustus.-Covered by vaults over the two long narrow divisions. These walls and vaults have been covered with rich stucco ornament, which has fallen down.-In this cave, streams of good drinking-water gush out of the rock in great abundance: this is collected in a specus, and conveyed to the Cloaca Maxima, near the church of S. Georgio in Velabro, after passing through a modern mill, for which the cave- reservoir is used as a mill-dam. The water was formerly called Aqua Argentina, and is believed to have run underground, from the fountain of Egeria in the valley of the Cœlian near the Porta Capena: it has always had the reputation of miraculous power, and is believed to be slightly saline. The only entrance to this cave is by a ladder down a well, at the angle of the Via de' Cerchi and the Via de' Fienili. The situation of it agrees exactly with the description by Dionysius, which is extant. -It was rebuilt by Augustus, and is mentioned in the Inscriptio Ancy- rana.-An entrance might easily be made from the Infima Nova Via, or street of Julius Cæsar, under the Church of S. Anastasia; and such a passage is said to have existed within the memory of man. The water might be made a better use of than to turn the wheel of a mill.-The Lupercal games are mentioned by Dionysius and Plutarch.-The cave was almost in the Circus Maximus, near the Carceres, which agrees with the description of the games by Ovid; and the site agrees exactly with that mentioned by Virgil, (passage quoted).—Early sculpture of Parallel case in India in 1849-50, well authenticated by Sir W. H. Sleeman, (passages quoted). CAVE AND SPRINGS IN THE AVENTINE, CALLED OF PICUS AND FAUNUS, SUPPLEMENT. PAGE PLATE THE FIRST WALL OF ROME-The Foss of Roma Quadrata 195-199 XLVII. 200-204 L. THE SEVEN HILLS OF ROME AS SEPARATE HILL FORTRESSES 205-214 The Porta Capena, the Fountain of Egeria, and the Grove of the LV. LVII. AND WALLS OF THE KINGS. CHAP. I. THE ANCIENT EARTHWORKS. SECT. I. INTRODUCTION. THE history and the remains of the Primitive Fortifications of ancient Rome must be judged of by the same rules as other fortifications of the same kind and of about the same period. The kings of Rome were contemporary with the kings of Israel and Judah, and the wars of the Jews described in the historical books of the Old Testament throw more light on the fortifications of this period than we have anywhere else. They agree also with the existing remains not in Judea only, but in Italy and other countries also. Such fortifications always consist mainly of earthworks. Stone walls were used to keep up the earth, and prevent it from slipping down by the action of the weather. A stone wall was built against a scarped cliff on the edge of a hill, as on each of the seven hills of Rome, or against the face of a great bank of earth forming an artificial hill, such as the Agger and Wall of Servius Tullius. Such walls were used as enclosures only, for the defence of the dwellings of the inhabitants, and such cities are often called in Scripture, "Cities of Refuge," because the shepherds and the herdsmen of the neighbourhood could take refuge in them with their flocks and herds, for which space was always provided; but there were no buildings of a permanent character within these walls and earthworks during the early period. The earliest buildings in any city are the temples, and these are generally at least a century later than the walls, as at Gabii, Fiesole, and many other ancient cities. To fortify our dwellings against enemies or intruders is an instinct of human nature, and from the earliest period of the history of man we find traces of fortifications. The early inhabitants of the earth lived either in caves, or in huts formed of wicker-work, or wattle-work and wood, with thatched roofs. Such habitations continued to be the usual dwellings of the human race for many centuries, and similar structures are still in use in many parts of the world, and even in some parts of England and Wales, under the name of the huts of the shepherd or the charcoal-burner; but with us they are generally used for temporary purposes only. In Italy, the peasantry still reside habitually in such dwellings, which, at a little distance, have the appearance of haystacks or ricks of corn, and it is not until we are close to them that we see that they are provided with an aperture serving the double purpose of a door and window, that they are hollow, and that each is the habitation of a family. Such habitations are evidently open to every sort of attack, and for this reason they were soon collected together in villages, which afterwards grew into towns. These villages or towns were surrounded by a bank of earth and a wide deep trench, out of which the earth for the bank had been taken. There are often two trenches, one on each side of the bank, and when the town was large the inner trench served as a road for the soldiers to man the walls, and for the sentinel's path. On the top of the bank a wall of wood, with wooden towers, was placed, or sometimes a palisade only. These early fortifications were generally placed on the tops of the hills for greater security. The edge of the hill was then cut into vertical cliffs, and the earth or stone that was cut off to make a perpendicular surface naturally formed a bank or terrace at the foot of the cliff, and below that a second cliff was necessary, with a wall built up against it. This wall was originally of wood only, afterwards of stone. In process of time the summits of nearly all the hills became fortified in this manner, and a whole district of country was protected by a chain of these fortified hills, and the narrow gorges between them, which were easily defended also. This became what is called a chain of fortresses, to defend the borders of a country; and when war was expected, the first thing to do was to prepare these fortresses for defence, and supply them with provisions. We read frequently of such fortresses in the history of the Jews, the earliest authentic history that we possess. Thus when the Hebrews were expecting to be attacked by Holofernes, the general of Nabuchodonosor, king of Assyria, the first step was to prepare the fortresses, as we read in the fourth chapter of the Book of Judith :— "Now the children of Israel that dwelt in Judea heard all that Holofernes, the chief captain of Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations. ... Therefore they sent into all the coasts of Samaria and the villages . . . and possessed themselves beforehand of all the tops of the high mountains, and fortified the villages that were in them, and laid up victuals for the provision of war... Whole villages formed of huts of this primitive description still remain within sight of S. Peter's in many directions. There was a very remarkable village of this kind at Gabii, under the old walls, which forcibly brought to mind the days of the foundation of Rome. (This is shewn in my photograph, No. 1582, and in the engraving of it, Plate I. of the Supplement to this part of the work. It was destroyed, and the ground ploughed up, by the proprietor, in 1872.) |