Old Rome Part 10

The two bridges uniting the island to either bank were probably, as has been said, first erected in or about the fifth century of the city, but the existing bridges, though ancient, must be considered as restorations of the older fabrics.

The bridge on the side towards the Campus Martius was built by L.

Fabricius in B.C. 62, as the inscription still extant on the bridge shows.

In accordance with this we find Dion Ca.s.sius giving it the name of Pons Fabricius, and a coin with the t.i.tle L. Fabricius gives on the other side a bridge with a snake, plainly pointing to the island of the Tiber.

Another inscription, also still remaining upon the bridge, states that it was examined and found in good repair by Q. Lepidus and M. Lollius, consuls in B.C. 21.

This bridge is the oldest now standing on the Tiber, and the masonry is of admirable solidity and workmanship. It was called, in the Middle Ages Pons Judaeus, from its proximity to the Jews' quarter of the city, and now bears the name Quattro Capi from the jani quadrifrontes which stand upon it.[84]

These jani were formerly the posts which supported the railings of the bridge, as may be seen by the holes bored in them for the ancient bronze bars.

The twin bridge on the right-hand side of the river, dates from the imperial era, and probably, like the Pons Fabricius, replaced a much older bridge of the same age as the Temple of aesculapius.

Two inscriptions are still legible on this bridge, from which we learn that it was finished in the year A.D. 370, and dedicated to the use of the Roman people in the name of the Emperor Gratia.n.u.s, by Valentinian, Valens and Gratia.n.u.s. These inscriptions must be understood as referring to the rebuilding of the bridge, though they are so worded as to claim the credit of its first erection. That there was an older bridge is clear, not only from the fact that the island was called inter duos pontes before the time of Gratian, but also from the name pons Cestius, which occurs in the Not.i.tia, and undoubtedly belongs to that bridge. It is not clear who Cestius was, but it is generally supposed that a praefectus urbi of that name in B.C. 46 is the person after whom the bridge was named, and this agrees with the statement of Dion Ca.s.sius about the building of the Fabrician bridge.

The church of S. Nicola in Carcere, which stands in the Via della Bocca della Verita close to the Piazza Montanara, contains the remains of two or perhaps of three temples.

[Sidenote: S. Nicola in Carcere.]

These ruins consist first of three fluted columns of travertine with Ionic capitals, which stand in the facade of the church of S. Nicola. Above them is a part of the ancient entablature, and in the room to the left of the portico of the church are two more columns built into the wall. In the nave of the church on the left hand are remains of the cella of the temple, to the p.r.o.naos of which the five columns belonged. The walls of the cella were, as has been discovered by excavations, constructed of travertine blocks. At the end of this left-hand wall of the cella, there stood before the last restoration of the church, the remains of a pilaster of the Doric order with an Attic base, and opposite to this pilaster another column. The position of the six columns shows that the temple was of the form called peripteros, i.e., surrounded by a continuous colonnade.

On the right-hand side aisle of the church are five other columns built into the wall, and a pilaster which evidently belonged to a second temple standing side by side with the first. These columns are not so high as those of the first temple described, and their style and the intervals between them are different. A portion of the entablature, which is of a simple character, still surmounts them. Two more columns of this temple are to be seen in the wall of the house which stands to the right of the church. It was surrounded with colonnades on three sides, but the back of the cella was ornamented with pilasters only.

On the left-hand side of the church are six more half-exposed columns, and some remains of an entablature which may have either belonged to a third and smaller temple standing by the side of the first, or may have been merely the portico of some other building.

The materials of which these buildings consist are chiefly travertine and peperino, and their difference of style shows them to have been erected at different times, probably during the Age of the Republic. It is commonly a.s.sumed, from their position near the theatre of Marcellus, that they are to be identified with the Temples of Spes and Juno Sospita. As the Temple of Pietas was removed to make room for the theatre, we cannot suppose that we have here any part of it, and the Temple of Ja.n.u.s would probably have a.s.sumed a different form.

It is recorded by Livy that M. Acilius Glabrio erected an equestrian statue near the Temple of Pietas. During some excavations made in 1808 by the architect Valadier, the pedestal of an equestrian statue was found in the small piazza opposite to the church of S. Nicola. It appears possible that when the Temple of Pietas was removed to make way for the theatre, this statue may have been preserved and set up here as near as possible to the original site.[85]

[Sidenote: Portico of Octavia.]

In the street called the Via di Pescaria, which runs north-westwards from the Theatre of Marcellus, stand four fluted Corinthian columns, two on each side of the street. These formed part of the princ.i.p.al entrance to a colonnade or portico, some of the other columns of which can be traced at intervals in the walls of the houses further on in the Via di Pescaria along which the line of the colonnade ran. The entrance or gateway faced towards the south-west, and over the arch looking into the little Piazza di Pescaria will be seen an inscription recording its restoration after a fire, by Septimius Severus and Caracalla (M. Aurelius Antoninus) in the year A.D. 203, the eleventh year of the tribunitian power of Severus. No traces can be found of the erasure of Geta's name, which Caracalla, as we have seen, caused to be effaced after his death from all the inscriptions containing it. There is no doubt, however, that it was originally placed here after the name of Caracalla, since Severus was careful to pay equal honour to both of his sons in all respects. The whole inscription may have been replaced by a new one, or the fourth line may have been completely effaced and altered. As it now stands the inscription has been restored as follows: IMP. CaeS. L. SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. PIUS. PERTINAX. AUG. ARABIC.

ADIABENIC. PARTHIC. MAXIMUS. TRIB. POTEST. XI. IMP. XI. COS. III. P. P. ET IMP. CaeS. M. AURELIUS. ANTONINUS. PIUS. FELIX. AUG. TRIB. POTEST. VI. COS.

PROCOS. PORTIc.u.m. INCENDIO CONSUMPTAM RESt.i.tUERUNT.

The pediment and tympanum over the inscription are still preserved, but two of the columns below have been replaced by a high brickwork arch, probably of the fifth century, which now supports the inscription and pediment. Pa.s.sing round again into the street Via di Pescaria, we find ourselves in the interior of the gateway. It consisted of four columns placed on each side between two antae or projecting piers ornamented with pilasters, and was of larger dimensions than the colonnades to which it formed the entrance. The brickwork of the antae was originally faced with marble, and they supported arches which led into the colonnades along the line of the street. The bases of the columns are now buried in rubbish, but parts of the architecture, frieze, and cornice, which are of a simple description, may be still traced over the front. The inner side of the gateway, with the exception of the two columns and the pier which stand at the entrance of the Via di S. Angelo in Pescaria, has been removed to make room for the church of S. Michaele Archangelo.

If we enter the street just mentioned, the capital of a column may be seen on the right hand over the wall of the yard belonging to No. 12, and in the yard itself stand three others, with a portion of the architecture above them. Their position shows that they formed the corner of a temple.

There is ample proof that we have in the ruins just described, the entrance gateway of the Porticus Octaviae and the corner of the temple of Juno Regina. For Festus states that there were two Octavian porticoes, one built in honour of Octavia, the sister of Augustus, near the Theatre of Marcellus, and a second close to the Theatre of Pompeius, built by Q.

Octavius, the conqueror of Perses. The site upon which the former was built had been previously occupied by the Porticus Metelli, built by Q.

Metellus Macedonicus, propraetor in B.C. 146, and the Octavian portico was a complete restoration of this by Augustus.[86]

Pliny also mentions two statues of Apollo near the Porticus Octaviae, which probably stood in the Temple of Apollo, known to have been situated outside the Porta Carmentalis between the Forum Olitorium and the Circus Flaminius. But the princ.i.p.al evidence is derived from the plan of Rome, now on the staircase of the Capitoline Museum, where the whole design of this portico is laid down, and the temples which it enclosed are named. We learn from this plan that the portico was in form an oblong s.p.a.ce enclosed with colonnades, and that the ruins now remaining const.i.tuted the princ.i.p.al entrance to this court, and to the Temple of Juno Regina which it enclosed. The line of the Via di Pescaria corresponds to one of the shorter sides of the court, and in the centre of this side the gateway stood. In two points only the Capitoline map fails to correspond with the actually existing ruins. The antae of the gateway are not represented, and the corner column of the Temple of Juno is omitted. The former of these two omissions may be explained by supposing that the plan was probably made before the restoration of the portico by Severus.

The excavations carried on in 1861 by Pellegrini and Contigliozzi, established the following limits for the Portico of Octavia.

The southern corner of the rectangle was occupied by a quadrifrontal archway, and this was situated near No. 4 in the Via della Catena di Pescaria. From this the south-western side of the portico ran nearly along the line of the street till it reached the gateway to which the present ruins belong, near the oratory of S. Angelo. The western corner of the portico was also formed by a quadrifrontal archway.

The north-western side pa.s.sed through the church of S. Ambrogio a little below the high altar, and then skirted the Palazzo Righetti near the Piazza di S. Caterina de' Funari, where it joined the north-eastern and shorter side. In this side there was a pediment with pillars corresponding to the gateway at the opposite end, but not containing the real entrance, which stood near the angle of the Palazzo Caraletti in the Via de'

Delphini. The eastern angle was near the Palazzo Capizucchi, and the south-eastern side pa.s.sed close to the convent of monks of the order of Madre di Dio, attached to the church of S. Maria in Portico in the piazza di Campitelli.

The three Composite columns of marble, which still stand in the house, No.

11 in the Via di S. Angelo in Pescaria, belonged to the Temple of Juno, and stood at the western angle of that temple.

The remains of the Temple of Jupiter are hidden under the church of S.

Maria in Portico, and the street which is now called Via della Tribuna dei Campitelli occupies the line of the interval between the two temples. A part of one of the side walls of the Temple of Jupiter rises a little above the ground at the corner of the church of S. Maria in Portico. The school or academy of Augustus was behind the temples, and stood near the centre of the Via della Tribuna di Campitelli. The back of this formed a part of the northern side of the portico.

The interior of the gateway has of late years been cleared of some of the buildings which have blocked it up, and the whole is now visible, with all the columns except one, which has been taken away to enlarge the church door.

A most interesting relic was found near the side door of the church of S.

Angelo in Pescaria in April 1878, consisting of a pedestal of marble engraved with the t.i.tle of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi. This was evidently the pedestal of the sitting statue of Cornelia mentioned by Pliny in his 'Natural History' as having been placed in the Portico of Metellus. The statue was the work of Tisicrates.

Excavations which have been made in the repair of houses and for other objects during the six years since 1873, have confirmed the conclusions which have been stated as to the position of the Portico of Octavia, and the temples near it. Some of the columns of the north side of the portico were found along the row of houses in the Via di Pescaria, No. 25-34.

The bas.e.m.e.nt of the Temple of Apollo, between the Theatre of Marcellus and the Portico of Octavia, was found under the Albergo della Catena.

[Sidenote: Crypta and Theatrum Balbi.]

In the Via di S. Maria in Cacaberis, No. 23, there are two Doric columns of travertine half buried in the around, with a portion of entablature above them, and between them an ancient brick arch forming the entrance to a stable. In the interior of the stable are two other similar arches and columns, and above these there are indications of an upper story. Other ruins of the same description are built into the next house, No. 22, and into several other houses near. In the sixteenth century, the Bolognese architect Serlio saw more ruins here, and he represents in his sketch an upper story with Corinthian pillars. The name Crypta Balbi, which is found in the catalogue of places in the ninth region, has been given with much probability to these ruins. A crypta, or cryptoporticus, according to Pliny, was a covered corridor with windows, which could be shut or opened at pleasure. Such a building was used for exercise in wet or hot weather.

Some were open on one side, others closed on both sides. A cryptoporticus of the latter kind is to be seen in the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea under the baths of t.i.tus. The ruins in the Via di Cacaberis appear to have had open arches at the sides. This cryptoporticus was probably attached to the Theatre of Balbus, as the portions Pompeii was to the Theatrum Pompeii, and Venuti thinks that it extended along the back of the scena, and that it was intended as a place of shelter for the spectators in case of the sudden showers of rain peculiar to the Roman climate.[87] The name of the street Cacaberis or Caccavari has been derived from crypticula. The Mirabilia, an ancient list of the sights in Rome, calls these ruins Templum Craticulae.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Circus Flaminius from Nolli's Map, Pl. 19.]

[Sidenote: Circus Flaminius.]

The Circus Flaminius, named from the Flaminian family of ancient Rome, lay in the quarter traversed by the Via delle Botteghe Oscure, and in the neighbourhood of the Palazzo Mattei. The Circus was destroyed before the 9th century, and there are now no traces of it left to guide us, but before the erection, in the 15th century, of the larger houses in this quarter, some few ruins appear to have been visible in the neighbourhood of the Palazzo Mattei. These are described by Andrea Fulvio and Ligorio as having belonged to the Circus Flaminius, and according to their account the length of the Circus lay in a direction from west to east, and reached from the Palazzo Mattei, where the semicircular end was situated, to the Piazzo Margana where the starting-point lay. A tower, now called the Torre Citrangole, was once called the Torre Metangole, and marked the spot where the goal of the Circus stood.

[Sidenote: Theatre of Pompeius.]

In the district called by the name Circus Flaminius, stand the ruins of a vast range of buildings, the theatre, porticus, curia, and domus Pompeii.

That these ruins, which are situated at the back of the church of S.

Andrea della Valle, and are plainly those of a theatre, belonged to the Theatre of Pompey, is clear if the proofs given of the situation of the other two theatres in ancient Rome be admitted as sufficient. The place was so familiar to the Romans that we hardly ever find its locality indicated even in any such general terms as in campo Martio or juxta Tiberim, expressions commonly applied to other buildings of less note in the Campus Martius.

The remains which are now left of these celebrated buildings are to be seen in the small piazza of S. Maria di Grottapinta behind the church of S. Andrea della Valle. They consist of ranges of travertine walls, converging to a centre, similar to those still visible in the interior of the Theatre of Marcellus and in the Coliseum, and are plainly the remains of the substructions supporting the cavea of a theatre. Further remains of piers and converging archways of peperino are visible in the cellars of the adjoining Palazzo Pio; and during some excavations made in 1837, a part of the outer walls of the theatre was discovered, with Doric half columns, and a Doric cornice. Most fortunately the ground plan, not only of the theatre, but also of the whole adjoining portico, is given upon some fragments of the Capitoline map.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRAGMENTS OF PIANTA CAPITOLINA. THEATRE OF POMPEY]

The first idea of building such a magnificent theatre seems to have been suggested to Pompey by his visit to the theatre at Mitylene, whither he went after the Mithridatic war to be present at a contest of rival poets held in his honour. Only one attempt had before been made to build a permanent theatre in Rome. The Censor C. Ca.s.sius Longinus in the year B.C.

154 had entered into a contract for the construction of a stone theatre near the Lupercal, but the senate, by the advice of Scipio Nasica, a rigid Puritan of the old Roman school, and jealous of the introduction of Greek luxury, ordered it when half finished to be demolished, and the materials sold. The same decree inflicted penalties on any one who should, either in the city or within a mile of its wails, venture to place any seats for spectators at the games, or sit down while looking on at them. Tacitus states that even in Pompey's time the conservative Romans retained the same dread lest indolence and luxury should be promoted by the construction of permanent theatres.[88] In carrying out this grand design Pompey was a.s.sisted by his freedman Demetrius, who had ama.s.sed immense riches during his master's campaigns, and took this opportunity of paying his acknowledgments to the author of his wealth. The capabilities of the theatre must have been very great; nor need we be surprised to hear that it contained 40,000 seats, for the remaining fragments show that it comprehended the whole s.p.a.ce between the Via de' Chiavari which corresponds nearly to the line of the scena, the Via di Giubbonari, the Campo di Fiore and the Via del Paradiso. Eastwards from the Via de'

Chiavari stretched the long ranges of colonnades of which the Capitoline plan gives the outline, and beyond them the Curia and a temple, with a variety of offices and shops, as far as the Via di Torre Argentina, including the modern Teatro Argentina within their compa.s.s. In this theatre Nero gave the grand entertainment to Tiridates, on which occasion not only the scena but the whole interior of the theatre and its furniture was covered with gilding, and a purple velarium stretched over it, upon which Nero himself was represented driving his chariot in the character of the Sun G.o.d, with golden stars glittering around him. The scena was burnt in the great fire in A.D. 80, but restored again by Vespasian. Two other conflagrations and restorations are recorded in the first half of the third century, one in the reign of Philippus in A.D. 249, and a second in that of Diocletian.[89] An inscription was found in the Via de' Chiavari in 1551, which commemorates the restoration of one of the colonnades under the name of Jovius, a t.i.tle which Diocletian often a.s.sumed, and in the time of Ammia.n.u.s Marcellinus the theatre could still be reckoned among the Mirabilia Urbis.[90] Another inscription given by the anonymous writer of the Einsiedlen MS. records a rebuilding by Arcadius and Honorius about A.D. 395. At the time the Not.i.tia was compiled, the number of seats had diminished from 40,000, as given by Pliny, to 27,580 or even less, and the theatre was therefore probably in a ruinous state when the last mentioned restoration took place. The building naturally suffered much in the Gothic wars, and we find that it was again restored by Symmachus in the time of Theodoric, after which it is again mentioned under the right name of Theatrum Pompeii by the anonymous writer of Einsiedlen in the 9th and by the Ordo Roma.n.u.s in the 12th centuries; but in the 13th the Orsini family had occupied it, and so changed the building that at the beginning of the 14th century it is called in the Mirabilia, Palatium Pompeii. The Florentine Poggio saw the ruins of the outer wall still standing in the Campo di Fiore in the 15th century, but the name of Pompey was then no longer connected with them, until Marliani, Fulvio, and Fauno the topographers of the 16th century revived the right designation. Canina, in his work on the buildings of the ancients, has taken the greatest pains to give a full description of the ruins now left, and it is from him that most of our information is derived.

[Sidenote: Ponte S. Sisto.]

The bridge now called Ponte S. Sisto, near the ruins of the Theatre of Pompeius, stands on the site of an ancient bridge, which was most probably the one named Pons Aurelius in the Not.i.tia. There is no conclusive proof that this was the Pons Aurelius, but the situation of none of the other bridges seems to suit this name, while it is peculiarly applicable to the bridge in question, because it was the princ.i.p.al pa.s.sage over the Tiber to the Porta Aurelia and the Aurelian road along the coast to Civita Vecchia.

The name frequently given to it by topographers, Pons Janicularis, appears to be a mere invention, as it is not found in any trustworthy authority; and another name Pons Antoninia.n.u.s, by which we find it called in the Middle Ages, seems to have arisen from the mistaken name Theatrum Antonini, formerly given to the Theatrum Balbi, which is not far distant, and also from the well-known fondness of Severus and Caracalla for the trans-Tiberine pleasure grounds. Marliani gives an inscription which is said to have existed formerly upon this bridge commemorating its restoration under Hadrian by Messius Rusticus, the Conservator of the Tiber. The bridge must therefore have been originally built before Hadrian's time, and cannot be a work of the Antonines.