THE PRIMITIVE FORTIFICATIONS OF THE CITY OF ROME, AND OTHER BUILDINGS OF THE TIME BY JOHN HENRY PARKER, C.B. HON. M.A. OXON., F.S.A. LOND. ; Keeper of tHE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. THIS was originally published in 1874, as the first Part of a series of works on the Archæology of Rome, the first three Parts of which were published together in two volumes, one of Text, the other of Plates. This arrangement was thought more convenient for readers, but experience has shewn that it was a mistake: it prevented the plan of the book from being understood, and it could not be conveniently used for reference. This First Edition was sold off very rapidly, and the present part has been out of print for the last four years; but the great excavations that were going on, even while the work was in the press and before it could be reprinted, made it necessary to enlarge it considerably. It differs from any other work on the Antiquities of Rome, in being entirely grounded on the existing remains (chiefly brought to light since 1850), and written on the spot, after careful examination of these remains. It is shewn that these remains cannot be explained without the help of "the old family legends," as the arrangement of the walls is not intelligible without the legends, and the legends are not intelligible without the walls-the two put together, make a perfectly clear, natural, and probable history of the foundation and progress of the City. In doing this, comparison has also been made with the walls and legends of many other ancient cities on the hills of Italy, the result being, that (where the building-material is the same) the one always confirms the other. These walls of ancient Rome were not visible half a century ago, when Niebuhr, Bunsen, Arnold, and Cornewall Lewis wrote their works; and it is certain that they could not have written as they have, if these walls could then have been seen. Since their time, it has been the fashion for scholars and schoolmasters to consider the old family legends of Rome as entirely false, and made up at a much later period, under Greek influence. It is now clearly seen that this was an error; the incidental notices of the walls of the first, second, and third cities fit so exactly with remains now brought to light for the first time, after more than two thousand years, that the only possible explanation is, that those legends contain the truth, and sometimes in very minute particulars. The great progress of the excavations made it necessary to add a Supplement in 1876, two years after the publication; this is now incorporated in the present volume, which is complete in itself, with the Plates belong b ing to it, and there is no necessary connection with the other Parts. It is obvious, from the very nature of the work, that the Plates must be the most important part of it; and these are either Photoengravings, or Plans and Sections, by no means silent witnesses to the facts stated in the text. The most important building within the walls of Rome, in an archæological point of view, is the great structure in the centre of the city, now called the MUNICIPIO, because the Municipal offices are in the upper part of it. These have always been on the same site, from the time of the foundation of "the City on the two hills," but they were of wood until the sixteenth century, when they were built of stone, although they had been rebuilt many times with the upper part of wood. The north front is that of the handsome hall attributed to Michael Angelo, which faces the open square space now called Piazza del Campidoglio, originally called Area Capitolina. This north end of the building consists only of the grand hall or Mansion-house-with a gallery under it, long used as a receptacle for rubbish, and the small windows blocked up-but it is now being restored, as part of the Capitoline Museums. This end is on the top of a steep slope; at the south end the building is five storeys high, the three upper storeys being occupied by the Municipal offices. Under these is the Ærarium, or a series of Bank-vaults, small square chambers of the most massive construction, of the time of the early Kings, with a passage at the back cut out of the slope of the hill. There were two doorways below this, each at the foot of a staircase leading up to the upper storey. The stairs pass behind the Ærarium, and the Tabularium over it. The western stairs are perfect, and are of the time of Sylla the Dictator; but the west end wall of the Tabularium, beyond it, is of the earliest period. Of the eastern staircase only a part remains, also of the time of Sylla, leading up from the Ærarium to the Senaculum, Senate-house or Curia, of which the vestibule, the south end wall, and the substructure remain. This is just behind the south end of the great hall before mentioned; the lower part of the stairs is buried, and the doorway concealed by the basement of the Temple of Concord built up against it when that was rebuilt; but the upper part of the other doorway at the low level, behind the Temple of Saturn, is visible, and the fan-light over the top of it gives light to the foot of the steep steps. This remarkable building had never before been understood; the architectural history of it can now be explained. All the lower part was buried twenty feet deep or more, and houses built upon that earth ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. vii against the building, before it was rebuilt in the sixteenth century; and for this reason, the south end was left perfectly plain, not being intended to be seen, but it is now very conspicuous, being the north end of the Forum Romanum. A great deal of space and a number of Plates are given to the history of this building, which appears to be the same as that called Capitolium in the Regionary Catalogue of the fourth century. The lofty tower that stands in the middle of this great building is on the highest ground in Rome, and is conspicuous from every part. The view from the top is justly celebrated for its enormous extent, as the whole city lies like a map before the visitor. Thus, on the north, he looks over the Venetian Palace, and straight up the Corso, the principal street in Rome, to the obelisk at the Porta del Popolo and the Pincian Hill.-On the south, over the Forum at his feet, to the Palaces of the Cæsars, and the Velia, with the Via Sacra leading from it to the Colosseum, while beyond that are the Lateran and the Sessorium (or Santa Croce), and the eastern part of the wall of Aurelian.-On the west, the winding course of the Tiber, with the Janiculum and the Lateran beyond it, are visible. On the east, the most conspicuous objects are the great Royal Palace on the Quirinal, the railway station, and part of the new City in the Maccao, near the old Prætorian Camp, and the part begun in the old Exquiliæ, with the Porta Maggiore, and the well-known building called Minerva Medica. On all sides the distant hills are clearly visible. Close to the foot of this great building, on the eastern side, are the subterranean chambers of the MAMERTINE PRISON, the carcer in medio urbis of the time of the Kings, as is shewn also by the construction of the walls. The alterations made in the time of Tiberius and recorded by an inscription, which gives the names of the Consuls, are also very visible. These chambers are now cellars under houses, which I had discovered, and rented for some years for the purpose of shewing them to the archeologists, and I have led many scores of people through them,-(they are now closed again). A flight of steps still descends due east to this, from the site of the door of the Ærarium at the foot of the steps, which remain, that lead up into the vestibule of the Senaculum or Curia; the modern external steps must be on the site of the Gemonian Steps, so often mentioned in connection with the Forum. The importance of these great buildings, and the very interesting Architectural History belonging to them, have led to making them important parts of this work. This history has never been made |