CHAP. VIII. Summa Sacra Via, not the This identification is not entirely satisfactory. The gradual rise of ground in this direction does not afford that contrast of level between the Velia and sub Velia which is implied in the story Velia. of Publicola's habitation. But a more convincing objection is this, that the ridge in question is generally admitted to be the site of the Summa Sacra Via, and no authority is to be found for placing the Summa Sacra Via, or any monument belonging to it, upon the Velia. The two localities are indeed very clearly distinguished by Solinus and in the Ancyran inscription.834 between de- the Sacra Via and the Cari nae. Temple of nates. the Pe Dionysius in describing the temple of the Velia, Penates affords us a clue to a more accurate termination of the position of the Velia. That temple, which was small and dark, though rebuilt by Augustus,5 and was said to contain the Penates brought from Troy, existed in the historian's time, not far from the Forum, upon the short way which led to the Carinae. Now the Carinae lay at the edge of the Suburra, in the neighbourhood of S. Pietro in Vincoli,' and Arnold, Hist. Rom. vol. i. p. 32 n.; Burn, Rome and the Campagna, p. 162. 6 AEDEM.DEVM.PENATIVM. Tullus Hostilius in Velia (habitavit) ubi postea deum Penatium aedes facta est, Ancus Martius in summa Sacra via ubi aedes Larium est. 5 Mon. Ancyr. (Note 834.) Solinus, 1. • Νεὼς ἐν Ῥώμῃ δείκνυται τῆς ἀγορᾶς οὐ πρόσω, κατὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Καρινὰς φέρουσαν ἐπίτομον ὁδὸν ὑπεροχῆ σκοτεινὸς ἱδρυμένος οὐ μέγας· λέγεται δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἐπιχώριον γλῶτταν ὑπελαίαις τὸ χωρίον. ἐν δὲ τούτῳ κεῖνται τῶν Τρωικῶν θεῶν εἰκόνες ἁπᾶσιν ὁρᾷν. Dionys. i. 68. 7 Varro, L. L. v. 8 (14). СНАР. were approached, somewhat circuitously, by the Sacra Via. The short cut mentioned by Dionysius must have struck off to the left from that road, and arrived more directly at the Carinae by crossing the higher ground at the back of the Basilica of Constantine.837 It is therefore on this name, 8 ground that we must seek the site of the Temple of the Penates. The historian adds, according to the ordinary reading of the passage, that the place was called veλaiais. The manuscripts vary as to the but it is probable that we ought to read, with Casaubon, Ovéλial, since the temple of the Penates is distinctly placed by other authorities, not under the Velia, as the word iπeλaíais might suggest, but on its summit. The locality described as sub Velia would be to the north of the Sacra Via, near the Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian. Between the ancient level of the buildings on this spot and that of the ground at the back of the neighbouring basilica there is all the contrast which is found in the old story between the site first chosen by Publicola and that upon which he afterwards built. 937 See before, pp. 268, 282. It has been thought that the Temple of the Penates was burnt in the Neronian fire, with the Domus Transitoria and the other monuments abutting on the Sacred Way. (Tac. Ann. xv. 41. Note 290. Burn, Rome and the Campagna, p. 164.) But I understand the expression of Tacitus, delubrum Vestae cum Penatibus populi Romani, to refer only to the Vesta temple and its contents. Casaubon ad Sexti Aurelii Victoris Epitomen, cited Dionys. i. 68, ed. Oxon. Compare Dionys. i. 20. The plural form Veliae is found in Varro, L. L. v. 8. (Note 826.) CHAPTER IX. THE NOVA VIA. "NEW STREET," Nova Via, was one of the most ancient thoroughfares of Rome, and was connected with monuments of the most primitive time. The contrast between the name and the fact is observed by Varro.839 Its position is a subject of antiquarian conjecture, upon which recent excavation has not added much to our knowledge. It does not, however, appear impossible to place the matter in a somewhat clearer light than that in which it has hitherto stood. The principal facts, known from ancient authors, respecting the situation of the Nova Via, are the following. CHAP. IX. Nova Via. i. The highest part of it, Summa Nova Via, Summa was under the windows of the traditional residence of King Tarquinius Priscus, which was itself at the Mugionian Gate of the Palatine city and close to the Temple of Jupiter Stator. 839 Varro, L. L. vi. 7. (67.) (Note 138.) 40 40 Tarquinius Priscus (habitavit) ad Mugoniam Portam super summam Novam viam. Solinus, i. 24. Ex superiore parte aedium, per fenestras in Novam viam versas, habitabat enim rex ad Jovis Statoris, populum Tanaquil alloquitur. Liv. i. 41. X CHAP. Aius Locu tius. Communi cation with Forum. Porta Romanula. Infima Nova Via. Nova Via, on northwestern slope of the Palatine. ii. The Nova Via passed between the Grove of Vesta and the altar of Aius Locutius, which was in the Nova Via and above the Temple of Vesta.811 iii. There was a communication in Ovid's time between the Nova Via and the Forum.2 iv. Not far from the lowest part of the Nova Via was the Porta Romanula, which appears to have been reached by steps abutting on this street.3 v. The lowest part of the street, Infima Nova Via, extended to the Velabrum and that part of the base of the Palatine Hill which looked towards the Aventine.1 Of the various localities thus connected with the Nova Via, there are some of which the sites are themselves matters of speculation, while others can be placed without difficulty. When we know that the lowest part of the Nova Via was in or near the Velabrum, that in another part of its course it was not far from the Temple of Vesta, that it had a communication with the Forum, and that it passed under two several gates of the ancient Palatine city, we must conclude that it was a street running along Velabrum. the north-western base of the Palatine Hill. The site of the Velabrum is still marked by the 841 Liv. v. 32, 50; Cic. de Div. i. 45; A. Gellius, xvi. 17. (Note 848.) 2 Ovid. Fast. vi. 395. See before, p. 109. 845 IX. Nova Via. Church of San Giorgio in Velabro, under the CHAP. western corner of the Palatine; according to Varro it was in ancient times a marshy lake, and the Nova Via led to the traditional spot where people embarked in boats to cross from the Palatine to the Aventine.8 Naturally the lowest Infima part of the street, Infima Nova Via, was here, and from this point the roadway must have risen along the base of the hill. We are expressly told by Varro, that at the lower part, near the Porta Romanula, the Nova Via was outside the Nova Via ancient Palatine city; and it appears to have Palatine been still outside where at its highest point it city. reached the Porta Mugionia, which was above it. Deferring the consideration of the position of these two gates, we may first fix some other points in the Nova Via. outside the Altar of Aius Locu Cicero informs us that the altar of Aius Loquens was to be seen in his day within a fence tius. opposite to the spot where a mysterious voice of warning had been heard from the Grove of Vesta 845 Aventinum ego maxime puto ab advectu; nam olim paludibus mons erat ab reliquis disclusus; itaque eo ex urbe advehebantur ratibus, quoius vestigia, quod ea qua tum [ibatur] dicitur Velabrum, et unde ascendebant ad infimam Novam viam locus sacellum labrum. Velabrum a vehendo. Varro, L. L. v. 7 (14) • Hoc sacrificium (Accae Larentiae) fit in Velabro, qua in Novam viam exitur, ut aiunt quidam, ad sepulcrum Accae, ut quod ibi prope faciunt Diis Manibus Servilibus sacerdotes; qui uterque locus extra urbem antiquam fuit non longe a Porta Romanula. Varro, L. L. vi. 3 (58). 7 Solinus, i. 24. (Note 840.) |