M. Agrippa, B.C. 12, were at the Septa, and not in CHAP. II. the Forum, both for the greater honour of the deceased and because many of the tabernae of the Forum had been destroyed by fire.227 of Tiri An historical drama was enacted in the Forum, Coronation which Suetonius very appropriately mentions dates. among the spectacles provided for the gratification of the Roman people, when Nero crowned Tiridates as King of Armenia. On the night before the ceremony the city was illuminated, the Mid-Forum was crowded with citizens in white togas with chaplets of laurel, the temples around were filled with soldiers in their most splendid armour, the very roofs of the buildings were hidden by spectators. Nero, accompanied by the Senate and his Praetorian guard, came into the Forum at break of day, and took his seat on the Rostra in a curule chair in habit of triumph, surrounded by military ensigns and flags. The king, on appearing before the Rostra and making his obeisance, was received with such a shout as for a time unnerved him. When he had recovered his self-possession, he approached the Rostra by a sloping platform erected for the purpose, and, kneeling at the emperor's feet, was raised and saluted with a kiss. He then prayed for his crown, the words of his prayer being repeated ... 227 Επιτάφιοι ἐπὶ τῷ ̓Αγρίππᾳ ὁπλομαχίαι . ἐν τοῖς Σεπτοῖς, διά τε τὴν πρὸς τὸν ̓Αγρίππαν τιμὴν καὶ διὰ τὸ πολλὰ τῶν περὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν οἰκοδημάτων κεκαῦσθαι, ἐγένοντο. Dio Cass. lv. 8. CHAP. II. and translated to the crowd, and the diadem was placed on his head by the emperor. A similar scene was repeated at the theatre, where Nero seated the king by his side. After this pageant Nero ordered the Janus Geminus to be closed.2 228 The period of the Flavian emperors witnessed the construction of the great public amphitheatre, and it may be assumed that the use of the Forum for any theatrical purpose, if it had not already become obsolete, then entirely ceased. 228 Non immerito inter spectacula ab eo edita et Tiridatis in urbem introitum retulerim. Quem Armeniae regem. ... produxit . . . . dispositis circa fori templa armatis cohortibus, curuli residens apud rostra triumphantis habitu inter signa militaria atque vexilla; et primo per devexum pulpitum subeuntem admisit ad genua adlevatumque dextra exosculatus est, dein precanti tiara deducta diadema imposuit. . . . ob quae . . . Ianum Geminum clausit tam nullo quam residuo bello. Sueton. Ner. 13. Καὶ πᾶσα μὲν ἡ πόλις ἐκεκόσμητο καὶ φωσὶ καὶ στεφανώμασιν, οἵ τε ἄνθρωποι πολλοὶ πανταχοῦ ἑωρῶντο, μάλιστα δὲ ἡ ἀγορὰ ἐπεπλήρωτο. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ μέσον αὐτῆς ὁ δῆμος λευχειμονῶν καὶ δαφνηφορῶν κατὰ τέλη εἶχε, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα οἱ στρατιῶται λαμπρότατα ὡπλισμένοι κτλ. Dio Cass. lxiii. 4. 97 CHAPTER III. THE SOUTH-EASTERN DIVISION OF THE FORUM. III. Forum THE part of the Forum which remains to be de- CHAP. scribed is that lying to the south-east of the Vicus Tuscus and of the transverse limb of the Sacra Infimum. Via. The residence in this quarter of the Pontifex Maximus and the Vestal Virgins, persons of the highest rank and treated with the greatest veneration, appears to have extended a certain decorum in their neighbourhood, which was the resort in the time of Plautus of the more respectable frequenters of the Forum. In foro infimo boni homines atque dites ambulant.229 Castor. Adjoining the Vicus Tuscus, but facing the open Temple of area, was one of the most magnificent of the monuments of the Forum. Its site has long been distinguished by the three marble Corinthian columns in a line, which formed one of the landmarks of the Campo Vaccino, and were formerly known by the name of the Temple of Jupiter Stator. Canina for a time identified this ruin with the Curia Julia. It is now recognised as the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the divine twins whose supernatural interposition is so curiously interwoven with the traditions of the early struggles of Rome. The 229 Plaut. Curculio, iv. 1. (Note 97.) H III. CHAP. complete disinterment of the Basilica Julia, and the further explorations which have brought to light the remains of the Temples of Julius and Vesta, have placed this identification beyond doubt.2 Tradition of the spot. Pool of 229 The well-known legend of the appearance of the Dioscuri at the battle of the Lake Regillus, and of the hoof-marks left by the horse of Castor in the rock, is alluded to by Cicero.30 Livy tells us only that the dictator A. Postumius was said to have vowed a temple to Castor during the fight, but Dionysius and Plutarch relate the presence of the two horsemen at the battle, and their later apparition in the Forum, where they washed their horses at the spring which made a pool near the Temple of Vesta, and announced the result of the war to the crowd.' The dedication of the 229 Monum. Ancyr. (Note 100); Dionys. vi. 13. (Note 231); Plutarch. Coriol. 3. (Note 231); Mart. Ep. i. 71, 3. (Note 262). 30 Ergo et illud in silice quod hodie apparet apud Regillum tanquam vestigium ungulae, Castoris equi credis esse ? Cic. de nat. Deor. iii. 5. 1 Ibi nihil nec divinae nec humanae opis dictator praetermittens aedem Castori vovisse fertur. Liv. ii. 20. Ἐν τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἀγορᾷ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὀφθῆναι δύο νεανίσκοι λέγονται . . τοὺς ἵππους ἱδρῶτι διαβρόχους ἐπαγόμενοι· ἄραντες δὲ τῶν ἵππων ἑκάτεροι καὶ ἀπονίψαντες ἀπὸ τῆς λιβάδος, ἣ παρὰ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Εστίας ἀναδίδωσι, λίμνην ποιοῦσα ἐμβύθιον ὀλίγην αὐτοῖς φράζουσιν ὡς ἐγένετο καὶ ὅτι νικῶσιν ... τήν τε μάχην Ταύτης ἐστὶ τῆς ἐπιφανείας ἐν Ῥώμη πολλὰ σημεῖα, ὅ τε νεὼς ὁ τῶν Διοσκούρων, ὃν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς κατεσκεύασεν ἡ πόλις ἔνθα ὤφθη τὰ εἴδωλα, καὶ ἡ παρ ̓ αὐτῷ κρήνη καλουμένη τε τῶν θεῶν τοῦτων ἱερὰ καὶ εἰς τόδε χρόνου νομιζομένη, κτλ. Dionys. vi. 13. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ δὲ τῇ μάχῃ καὶ τοὺς Διοσκόρους ἐπιφανῆναι λέγουσι, καὶ μετὰ temple on the spot where they appeared is said to have been made fifteen years after the battle, B C. 482, by the son of the dictator.232 A similar apparition of the Dioscuri at the same place was said to have made known the victory gained in Macedonia by Paullus Aemilius over Perseus.3 CHAP. rebuilt by The Temple of Castor was rebuilt by L. Me- Temple tellus Dalmaticus, consul B.c. 119; and, whatever Metellus. may have been the character of the original temple, the edifice of Metellus was one of considerable size and importance, and was frequently used for the meetings of the Senate." The expense appears to have been provided out of the Dalmatian prize money, since Cicero accuses Verres τὴν μάχην εὐθὺς ὀφθῆναι ῥεομένοις ἱδρῶτι τοῖς ἵπποις ἐν ἀγορᾷ τὴν νίκην ἀπαγγέλλοντας, οὗ νῦν παρὰ τὴν κρήνην νεώς ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἱδρυμένος. Plutarch. Coriol. 3. Castorem vero et Pollucem etiam illo tempore pro imperio populi Romani excubuisse cognitum, quo ad lacum Iuturnae suum equorumque sudorem abluere visi sunt; iunctaque fonti aedes eorum nullius hominum manu reserata patuit. Valer. Max. i. 8. i. 232 Castoris aedes eodem anno idibus Quintilibus dedicata est. Vota erat Latino bello, Postumio dictatore: filius eius duumvir ad id ipsum creatus dedicavit. Liv. ii. 42. 3 Eodem die quo victus Perses in Macedonia, Romae cognitum est. Duo iuvenes candidis equis apud Iuturnae lacum pulverem et cruorem abluebant; hi nuncitavere. Castorem et Pollucem fuisse creditum vulgo. Flor. Epit. ii. 12. L. ipse Metellus, avus huius, sanctissimos deos illo constituisse in templo videtur in vestro conspectu, iudices, ut salutem a vobis nepotes sui deprecarentur. Cic. pro Scauro, 46. Castoris et Pollucis templum Metellus, quem nominat, refecit. Asconius in Cic. pro Scauro, 46. 5 In aede Castoris celeberrimo clarissimoque monumento, quo saepenumero Senatus convocatur, quo maximarum rerum frequentissimae quotidie advocationes fiunt. Cic. in Verr II. i. 49. |