VII. tion with the locality of the Temple of Janus, CHAP. which in his time was undoubtedly in the Forum.744 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 5 Hill. And Paulus Diaconus describes Latulae as a place outside the city. opinion as of the Lau tolae and Janus. Site of the infimum tum. Becker has concluded that the real situation of Becker's the Lautolae was under the Carinae, and thinks to the site it probable that the original Janus Geminus of Numa was there, though afterwards rebuilt on the Forum; and that Livy's Janus ad infimum Argiletum and Varro's description of the objects in the neighbourhood of the Janus Geminus refer to the former site. The connection established Argileby Martial between the Argiletum and the Suburra appears to be Becker's chief reason for looking in this direction for the infimum Argiletum. 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 the infimum Argiletum would be found rather in the low ground near the Forum than at the foot of the Viminal Hill, where Macrobius places his Porta Janualis, which latter situation would be rather described as summum 744 Servius ad Virg. Aen. i. (Note 612.) 5 Macrob. i. 9. (Note 615.) • Latulae, locus extra urbem. Paulus Diaconus, in Fest. eď. Müll. p. 118. 7 Becker, Handbuch, i. 352. Mart. Ep. i. 118, 9; ii. 17. See before, pp. 245, 246. T VII. 749 CHAP. Argiletum. If this be so, Livy's Janus at least is the Janus of the Forum. It is of course admitted 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 gives his explanation of the word Lautolae among a group of terms connected with the objects in the neighbourhood 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 Lautolae 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. Prison of Lautumiae. The prison called Lautumiae is noticed by Varro in immediate association with the prison of the Kings. He connects its name with the Latomiae of Syracuse, and also with the supposed pre-existence of a stone quarry on its site.50 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 of war.1 It appears to 749 Ovid. Fast. i. 261. (Note 614.) 50 Carcer a coercendo . . . Quod Syracusis, ubi simili de causa custodiuntur, vocantur Latomiae, et de Lautumiis translatum, quod hic quoque in eo loco lapidicinae fuerunt. Varro, L. L. v. 32 (42). 1 Liv. xxxii. 26; xxxvii. 3. VII. have been a less rigorous prison than the Carcer, CHAP. for when Julius Sabinus was brought from the Carcer before the Senate, he begged, as an indulgence, to be transferred to the Lautumiae.752 called The word Lautumiae also occurs in Livy, and I Locality believe in Livy only, in another sense, designating Lautu a locality in Rome. The atria bought as part of 3 4 miae. 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 Lautumiae were involved. The latter passage may either refer to the prison, or to the locality in which the atria above mentioned were situated. This locality must have been at the back or side of the Basilica Porcia, supposing that monument to have faced the Forum. But, as the Janus Lautumiae Geminus adjoined this basilica, the Lautolae tolae the 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. 772 Seneca, Controv. 27. 5 3 Liv. xxxix. 44. (Note 594.) Liv. xxvi. 27. (Note 135.) 5 See before, p. 231. 6 Canina, Foro Romano, pp. 267, 319. and Lau same place. CHAPTER VIII. VIII. Sacra Via. Summa Origin of the name. THE SACRA VIA AND THE VELIA. THE Roman antiquaries inform us that the term Sacred Way was applicable to a road leading 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.757 This highest point of the Sacred Way (in its ordinary and more restricted sense) was 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 757 Ceroliensis a Carinarum iunctu dictus Carinae, postea Cerionia, quod hinc oritur caput Sacrae viae ab Streniae sacello, quae pertinet in arcem, qua sacra quotquot mensibus feruntur in arcem, et per quam augures ex arce profecti solent inaugurare. 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 existimant, quod in ea foedus ictum sit inter Romulum ac Tatium: quidam quod eo itinere utentur sacerdotes idulium sacrorum conficiendorum causa. Itaque ne eatenus quidem, ut vulgus opinatur, Sacra appellanda est a Regia ad domum Regis Sacrificuli, sed etiam a Regis domo ad sacellum Streniae, et rursus a Regia usque in arcem. Festus, ed. Müll. 290. Romulus and Tatius, who were said to have made in the middle of this road their solemn peace after the battle in the Forum.758 Virgil places the scene of this treaty before the altar of Jupiter, perhaps in anticipation of the Temple of Stator. Inter se posito certamine, reges Armati Iovis ante aram paterasque tenentes Stabant, et caesa iungebant foedera porca." And Servius asserts that in memory of this event CHAP. VIII. Romulus and Tatius. of the bably by the Stator temple. The Roman anti- Procession quaries rather derived the name from the use of Idulia. 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.1 758 The same story was told of the origin of the Comitium. See before, p. 145. 9 Aen. viii. 639. 60 Ταῦτα ὁμόσαντες καὶ βωμοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς ὅρκοις ἱδρυσάμενοι κατὰ μέσην μάλιστα τὴν καλουμένην ἱερὰν ὁδὸν συνεκράθησαν ἀλλήλοις. Dionys. ii. 46. Id. ii. 50. (Note 468.) Καὶ συνελθόντες Ρωμύλος τε καὶ Τάτιος εἰς τὴν ἐξ ἐκείνου ἱερὰν καλουμένην ὁδόν, κτλ. 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. 1 Varro, L. L. v. 8 (14); Festus, ed. Müll. 290. (Note 757.) |