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 was burnt before the Rostra, if it be not taken to refer to the funeral ceremony in general rather than to the actual cremation, must be understood in a somewhat liberal sense. The spot chosen was not immediately in front of the Rostra, but was probably the nearest convenient position within sight of them. Old Rostra ceased to exist, B.C. It has been thought by some writers that after the establishment of the new Rostra, in the time of Caesar, the old Rostra of the Comitium still 44. 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 completely 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."585 There can be 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 See pp. 202, 203. CHAP. V. no mention in ancient authors of any existing Rostra upon the Comitium or at the north-western end of the Forum. Later Rostra on the 586 It is another question, whether there is reason Comitium. to believe that some Rostra existed at the Capitoline end of the Forum in late 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 compares a trifling superiority 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 Comitium, though it may possibly be a learned allusion Three Ros- 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 terrace 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 tra in the time of Constantine. 7 586 Fronto. ad Antonin. i. 2. (Note 386.) 7 Reg. viii. See Appendix. See before, pp. 20, 185. Augusti. ships.500 The Jurist Pomponius, who appears to CHAP. V. have written in the second century, speaks of the Rostra Rostra of the Forum as Rostra Augusti,1 a name which may possibly have been used to distinguish this old platform with its Augustan associations from some newer Rostra on the Comitium. Rostris. The immediate neighbourhood of the Rostra, Statues in both when they stood on the Comitium, and in their newer site on the Forum, was a favourite position for honorary statues. Such statues were said to be placed in Rostris, which appears to mean, not upon the Rostra, but at the Rostra, that is, probably, in front or at the side of them.2 Several examples of such statues have been mentioned in the present Chapter, and in the Chapter on the Mid Forum.3 590 Hemans, Historic Rome, p. 220. 1 Hic (Servius) cum in legatione perisset, statuam ei populus Romanus pro Rostris posuit, et hodieque extat pro Rostris Augusti. Pomponius 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. (Note 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 multitude, and that some of them were equestrian, this opinion can scarcely be maintained. 3 See pp. 86-89. CHAPTER VI. THE NORTH-EASTERN SIDE OF THE MID FORUM. CHAP. VI. Basilica Atria, IN a former chapter the ruins of the Mid Forum have been described, so far as they have been uncovered by excavation. But its north-eastern side still remains buried, and consequently some of the most important 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 atria called Maenium and Titium in the Lautumiae, and four tabernae, were purchased for its site.594 The story, told by a commentator reserving a 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 gladiatorial shows of the Forum," is evidently a blunder, et Titium. Story of Maenius column. 594 Cato atria duo, Maenium et Titium, in Lautumiis, et quatuor tabernas in publicum emit, basilicamque ibi fecit quae Porcia appellata est. Liv. xxxix. 44. 5 Maenius cum domum suum venderet Catoni et Flacco censoribus, 7 CHAP. VI. of the arising out of a double confusion of the Atrium of Maenius with the Columna Maenia, and with the Maeniana or covered balconies of the Tabernae,596 Plutarch places the basilica by the side of Position the Forum under the Curia; and it appears from the statement of an author who wrote about a century after the destruction of the Curia Hostilia that the basilica either adjoined it, or was connected with it by some other building. 8 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 been supposed that these passages are additions inserted in the text after the author's death.600 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 tum in foro dabatur. Ex illo igitur Columna Maenia vocitata est. PseudoAsconius ad Cic. in Caec. div. 16. 596 See pp. 55, 172. * Τῆς βασιλικῆς ... ἣν ἐκεῖνος ἐκ χρημάτων κοινῶν ὑπὸ τὸ βουλευτήριον τῇ ἀγορᾷ παρέβαλε καὶ Πορκίαν βασιλικὴν προσεγόρευσε. Plutarch. Cat. maior. 19. 8 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.) 9 Nam Plautus P. Claudio L. Porcio, viginti annis post illos quos dixi consules, mortuus est, Catone censore. Cic. Brut. 15. 600 Tum piscatores, qui praebent populo pisces foetidos, Ut sciant alieno naso quam exhibeant molestiam. Plaut. Capteivei, Act. iv. sc. 2, 33. Id. Curculio, Act. iv. sc. 1.. 11. (Note 97.) Basilica Porcia. |