Old Rome Part 2

The Museum in which are collected the various fragments of statuary and antiquarian interest which have been found in the late excavations on the Palatine has been placed in the ground-floor of the casina which stands near the Clivus Victoriae. The ancient road is then overreached and arched over by the extensions of the Palatine imperial palace built by Caligula, under which it pa.s.ses to the site of the ancient Porta Romanula.[4] Most of the chambers on the left were probably occupied by the guards of the gateway, and the graffiti they contain are of a character which confirms this supposition.

Outside the Porta Romanula the road bends round the hill along the side which looks towards the Capitoline. The first ruins to be seen under the slope of the hill here are the remains of a portico of the republican era, constructed of tufa with reticular-work facings. This portico has been supposed to be possibly that which Lutatius Catulus built after his victory over the Cimbri in the Area Flacciana, mentioned by Valerius Maximus and by Cicero as being near his house.[5] But there seems to be nothing left which can identify this ruin with the Porticus Catuli.

[Sidenote: Area Flacciana.]

Beyond this so-called Area Flacciana the line of walls presents some projecting ma.s.ses, which appear to be built upon the ancient substructions of towers such as would be formed in fortified buildings. A great part of the walls erected here in imperial times were built of concrete framed and supported by beams and planks of timber. These beams having now rotted away, have left their impressions on the concrete, and hence the vertical and horizontal grooves which form so conspicuous a part of these walls.

Two remarkable fragments of antiquity must be noticed here. The first is a conical aperture in the side of the hill which supplied a cistern placed below with water. Such cisterns are to be found elsewhere in the hills, and may be supposed to have been constructed previous to the great supplies of water having been brought by the aqueducts.

At the western corner of the hill opposite to the Ja.n.u.s Quadrifrons stands a large fragment of the most ancient walls of the Palatine. It is constructed of ma.s.ses of tufa, taken from the hill behind it, and roughly laid together without cement or mortar. These stones appear to have been split from the rock, and not cut by chisel, which shows the antiquity of their construction. The wall of Romulus is the name by which this and the other portions of ma.s.sive tufa walls round the Palatine are now known.

They undoubtedly belong to the earliest defences of the Palatine settlement.

[Sidenote: Altar.]

Not far from this ancient fragment of wall stands a most interesting relic of primitive superst.i.tion, an altar of travertine stone cut in archaic fashion, with volutes resembling those in the well-known tomb of Scipio in the Vatican Museum. The inscription on this altar is as follows: SEI DEO SEI DEIVae SAC. C. s.e.xTIUS, C. F. CALVINUS, PR. DE SENATI SENTENTIA RESt.i.tUIT. This is supposed by some antiquarians to be the altar mentioned by Cicero and Livy, as having been erected in consequence of the voice heard before the Gallic invasion predicting disastrous times.[6]

But that altar is said to have been placed above the Temple of Vesta at the end of the Nova Via, which was on the other side of the Palatine. This mode of dedication to an unknown Deity was not uncommon at Rome, and is mentioned by Cato and commented upon by Gellius. The form of the word DEIVae shows that the inscription belongs to the earlier Latin.[7]

C. s.e.xtius Calvinus, who restored the altar, was probably son of C. S.

Calvinus, the Consul of A.U.C. 630, and was the compet.i.tor of C. Servilius Glaucia in the year 654.[8]

[Sidenote: Germalus.]

The north-western end of the Palatine Hill, round which we have been pa.s.sing, was the spot whence arose the name Germalus which Varro tells us was given to it in memory of the (germani) twin brothers, Romulus and Remus having been cast ash.o.r.e here from the Tiber waters, and suckled by the wolf. How far the district called Germalus extended over the hill is not known. Cicero speaks of a house belonging to Milo which stood upon the Germalus, and Livy says that a wolf ran through the Vicus Tuscus and the Germalus to the Porta Capena.[9] The bronze figure of the wolf and twins now in the Capitoline Museum is said by Flaminius Vacca, who wrote in 1594, to have been found at no great distance from this place, and Urlichs has shown that this figure is probably the one dedicated by the Ogulnii, aediles in B.C. 297.[10]

Further southwards at the foot of the slope we come to another fragment of the most ancient wall of the Palatine settlement. This building appears to stand at right angles to the line of the hillside, and it was therefore supposed at first to have belonged to a wall traversing the intermontium or depression which crosses the Palatine Hill from this point to the Arch of t.i.tus, and to have confirmed the opinion of those archaeologists who confine the extent of Roma quadrata to the north-western end of the hill.

But subsequent exploration has shown that this wall does not pa.s.s along the intermontium, but turns off at a right angle. Another fragment of the most ancient wall was found in 1860, according to Lanciani, under the Villa Mills, showing that the wall of Roman quadrata pa.s.sed round the whole hill, and not only round the north-western end.

[Sidenote: Domus Gelotiana.]

Close to the fragment of ancient wall we come to a series of chambers excavated first in 1857, and afterwards cleared and rendered more accessible in 1869. These belonged to a building in connection with this part of the imperial palace, and were occupied by soldiers of the emperor's guard, as may be seen by examination of the inscriptions left on the walls. The traces of a square court, surrounded with a portico, one granite pillar of which remains, and on the side of this court towards the hill, of a number of chambers arranged on each side of a semicircular recess, are the main features of this ruin. The brickwork supports which appear here were erected by Canina, and a large quant.i.ty of remains have fallen from the higher levels of the hill.

The inscriptions which are most remarkable are the following. On the right-hand wall near the entrance the name HILARUS, followed by the letters MI. V. D. N., which have been interpreted to mean "miles vetera.n.u.s domini nostri," a veteran soldier of our Lord. Numerous other inscriptions with the letters V. D. N. will be found in the chamber to the left of the central recess. One of these in the triangular room records the name of two soldiers who belonged to the foreign troop of Peregrini: Ba.s.sUS ET SATURUS PEREG.[11] Other inscriptions allude to a paedagogium, or training school, as for example, CORINTHUS EXIT DE PEDAGOGIO. Most of these are in the triangular rooms behind the central semicircular recess, or in the furthest room on the left of it. In this last is to be seen the figure of an a.s.s turning a mill, with the inscription, LABORA ASELLE QUOMODO EGO LABORA VI ET PRODERIT TIBI. But the most famous of these graffiti is that now shown in the Kircherian Museum representing the crucified a.s.s, with the t.i.tle "Alexamenus worshipping his G.o.d," which was taken from the room on the right of the central semicircular recess, and has been the subject of much comment. Another record of the same Alexamenus was found here in 1870, in which he is called Alexamenus fidelis.

[Sidenote: Stadium.]

Pa.s.sing now beneath the Villa Mills which occupy the site of the Augustan library, and the Temple of Apollo, built by Augustus, we turn to the left up the slope of the hill and find a large open s.p.a.ce in which the later excavations have disinterred the relics of a stadium, consisting of a curved series of walls, surrounding the foundation of a meta or goal, and two lines of bases of columns, which ran along the sides and the end of the stadium.[12]

A large building in the form of a semicircular recess of exedra, a stand for viewing the races, is still partially remaining, and also the foundation of two entrances on the southern side. That this was a stadium connected with the imperial palace is evident from its shape and its length, which corresponds to that laid down by the ancient writers as the proper length of a stadium for foot-races. The large exedra at the southern side contains on the ground-floor a vast central saloon, and two side rooms. A few decorative paintings of the latest and least valuable kind of art remain on the walls, among which are some geographical and astronomical figures. A coat of foreign marbles covered the walls, and the pavement was of marble. This part of the Palatine buildings was probably occupied by the Frangipani in the 13th century. The right-hand chamber was apparently without decoration, but in the one on the left the wall is ornamented with fresco paintings of elegance, and the pavement is of fine mosaic. A list of names with numbers attached to them, which seem to be those of combatants in the stadium, was found among the graffiti here.

The upper level of the semicircular exedra was filled by a large chamber, the side of which, towards the stadium, was occupied by a line of granite columns, fragments of which remain in the arena below. The interior of this chamber was also ornamented with marbles and statues. Some statues of Amazons and the Hercules of Lysippus now in the Pitti at Florence, were found here according to Vacca, who wrote at the end of the sixteenth century. The brickwork and the architecture of this exedra seem to be of the time of Hadrian, and the bricks found here with labels give the date of A.D. 134, the third consulship of Ursus Servia.n.u.s. The portico which ran round the stadium was apparently of later construction than the exedra, as the date on its bricks seems to refer to Tertullus Scapula, Consul in A.D. 195, in the reign of Septimius Severus, under whom great alterations and extensions were carried out in this wing of the palace.

The vast ruins which remain on the south of the stadium belong chiefly to the works of Septimius Severus, and have long been celebrated as the most picturesque among the Caesarean relics. The curved wall behind the great exedra, and the numerous pa.s.sages and chambers which stand near it, seem to have belonged to a bath supplied with water from the branch of the Aqua Claudia, four arches of which are still remaining on the hill below, opposite to the church of S. Gregorio. This was a branch from the Claudian aqueduct, and crossed the valley from the opposite Caelian Hill.

[Sidenote: Palatine Belvedere.]

The lofty wing of the palace, which extends along the slope of the Circus Maximus, opposite to the Aventine, is reached by a modern bridge from the ruins adjoining the stadium. From the top of this huge ruin a splendid view of the Caelian, the Aventine, and the Alban Hills may be seen, and the spot has been sometimes called the Palatine Belvedere. What the exact nature of the buildings placed upon these lofty ranges of arches was cannot be easily determined, but they correspond in some degree to the arched walls of the side between the arches of t.i.tus and Constantine and to those of the palace of Caligula near the Capitoline, and were mainly intended to raise the imperial saloons to the higher level of the northern end of the hill. Spartia.n.u.s in his 'Life of Severus' says that Severus bestowed particular pains on this part of the Palatine Hill in order to make it the chief entrance to the imperial palace, and that his reason for so doing was to produce an impression of his magnificence upon his African fellow-countrymen, who, when visiting Rome, would naturally enter at this point by the Porta Capena, which was the gate just below. The Septizonium was an imperial building near this part of the hill probably built by Severus, views of the ruins of which are to be seen in the books of the topographers Du Perac and Garrucci who wrote before the end of the sixteenth century, when the Septizonium was pulled down by Sixtus the Fifth.[13] At the western end of the long and lofty ruin, and near the end of the stadium, is a projecting portion of ruined chambers which has been generally supposed to have contained the emperor's private pulvinar, or box whence he viewed the games in the Circus Maximus. But the construction of this edifice, including its round tower, seems to be of a very late style, and it may have been built as late as the sixteenth century.

We now return along a modern path which runs under the grounds of the Villa Mills towards the domus Gelotiana described above. A curved terrace occupies the upper edge of the hill, along which probably ran a portico commanding a view over the southern part of Rome and the Trastevere. At the back of this are the buildings called the Villa Mills from their former possessors, now occupied by a nunnery, and therefore inaccessible to the public. In the year 1777, the plan of the ancient buildings which stood here was explored by Rancoureuil. They consist of a court surrounded with columns and suites of chambers. Parts of the main front looking towards the circus remained till the year 1827. The brickwork of these ruins has induced Cav. Rosa to a.s.sign them to the Augustan Age and to call them Domus Augustana. No sure evidence has, however, been discovered for this, and it seems more probable that the Domus Augustana was nearer to the Forum Romanum.[14]

[Sidenote: Academia and Bibliotheca.]

Pa.s.sing back again by the ruins called the Domus Gelotiana as before described, we turn to the right and ascend the side of the hill. On the higher level at this point are the ruins of two buildings to which the names of Academia and Bibliotheca have been given by Rosa. In one of these the remains of semicircular ranges of seats and a platform have been supposed to be recognizable, and here may have taken place the recitations and discussions mentioned by Pliny as constantly kept up in the imperial palace.[15]

[Sidenote: aedes Publicae.]

Behind these rooms stand the ruins of a portico, built upon substructions of an earlier period, with Corinthian columns of cipollino, probably forming the side of a small courtyard. Here it may be seen through an opening in the ground to what a depth the substructions of this part of the Palatine buildings descend into the depression or intermontium which originally separated the two parts of the hill, and was filled up by the Flavian emperors. We now enter the range of reception rooms commenced by Vespasian when he destroyed Nero's golden house, and built by Vespasian and his sons, t.i.tus and Domitian, at the same time with the Coliseum.

These are raised on gigantic constructions of opus quadratum to the level of the rest of the Palatine Hill. Many stamps on the bricks found here seem to show that the buildings were finished by Domitian.

[Sidenote: Triclinium.]

The south-eastern side of the range of the Imperial Flavian buildings we are now entering is still covered by the edge of the monastery which occupies the grounds of the Villa Mills, and we can therefore only see the north-western part. But this is sufficient to convey a full idea of the extent of the suite. We are now entering at the back of the triclinium or dining hall, at the end of which is a semicircular apse, possibly intended for the emperor's table when he dined here. The form of the room corresponds to Vitruvius' description of the proper arrangements for a triclinium. Very little of the original decoration remains, except two granite columns, of which there were originally sixteen, and a portion of beautiful pavement composed of porphyry, serpentine, and giallo antico. It is possible that this may be the triclinium in which Statius dined at Domitian's table, and of the marble decorations and s.p.a.cious size of which he speaks in the fourth book of his 'Silvae.'[17]

Near the apse of this room an opening in the ground leads down to some subterranean rooms which formerly belonged to a private house situated in the depression of the hill, and afterwards covered over by the Flavian emperors. The brickwork in this house seems to be of the later republican period, and the walls retain decorations of the best style.

These decorative paintings have, of course, suffered very much from damp and neglect, and all the princ.i.p.al features of the house have been destroyed by the substructures of the Flavian triclinium. The name of Bagni di Livia was long used in connection with this spot by the ciceroni.

[Sidenote: Nymphaeum.]

Returning to the upper level, we find, at the side of the triclinium, the remains of a nymphaeum or viridarium, consisting of an elliptical basin and fountain of marble, with niches for statues and bas reliefs, and ledges for ornamental flowers and plants. On the western side of the nymphaeum a garden-house was built by the Farnese, part of which still stands, the portico having some arabesques and some paintings by a pupil of Taddeo Zuccari, representing scenes on the Palatine as described by Virgil, the meeting of aeneas and Evander, and the monster Cacus.

[Sidenote: Peristylium. Vestibulum.]

[Sidenote: Atrium.]

Beyond the triclinium and nymphaeum we come to the remains of the largest court in the suite, which is called the peristylium, occupying a s.p.a.ce of 140 by 154 paces, anciently surrounded by a portico of columns of Porta Santa marble. The pavement and decorations of this quadrangle would seem by the remains to have been most superb. On the north-west side of it are eight rooms of various shapes, arranged symmetrically round an octagonal central chamber, from which four large doors open, with four corresponding niches. The same plan of rooms was carried out also on the opposite side of the peristylium, as was shown by some excavations in 1869. These were waiting-rooms and offices of various kinds. From the great quadrangle of the peristylium we pa.s.s to the grand audience chamber, the position of which corresponds generally to that of the atrium of a Roman house. This was surrounded by a portico of sixteen Corinthian columns of foreign marbles, and their frieze and bases were ornamented in a most elaborate manner. Eight niches with colossal statues of basalt are said by Bianchini to have stood round this court, and in the Tribune at the southern end was placed the solium augustale, where the emperor sat on grand occasions, when meetings of the senate or other bodies were held here. The grand entrance of this atrium, which looked towards the Arch of t.i.tus, was adorned by two huge columns of giallo antico, and the threshold stone consisted of a ma.s.s of Greek marble from which the altar of the church of the Pantheon was made. Many of the marbles from this atrium were taken by the Farnese to Naples.

[Sidenote: Lararium.]

On the right hand of this reception room towards the Villa Mills was a building which shows us by its position and shape that it was the lararium or shrine of the household G.o.ds where sacrifices were offered on solemn occasions. The remains of an altar were discovered here.

[Sidenote: Basilica.]

Opposite to the lararium are the foundations of a building with a tribune and podium, probably used by the emperor in cases such as those described by Tacitus, when imperial constraint was exercised over a legal verdict.

Two rows of columns, arranged as is commonly the case in the basilicae, and a portion of some white marble railings have been found and preserved here.

Along the side of this tribunal hall and that of the peristylium and its adjoining offices, ran a long portico connecting the whole suite of halls together.

The history of this range of imperial buildings has been very probably supposed to be as follows. Vespasian intended them to be used in support of his revival of the Augustan imperial policy, and that a name such as aedes Publicae, "National Chambers," should be given to them.[18]

Accordingly, all these rooms have the character of public rather than private buildings. There is apparently no provision for domestic life, and all the sections of the edifice seem to have been public audience or banqueting rooms.

[Sidenote: Porta Mugionia.]

[Sidenote: Jupiter Stator.]

In front of the last described buildings, which we have called the basilica, the atrium, and the lararium, is an open s.p.a.ce, on the right hand of which, looking towards the Arch of t.i.tus, a fragment of the earliest walls of the Palatine remains, constructed of tufa blocks taken from the hill underneath. Beyond this, towards the Arch of t.i.tus, are the paving stones of an ancient road which was probably the approach to the palace, and to the left of this road stand the relics of one of the most ancient gates, the Porta Mugionia. This is described by Vacca as having been discovered at the end of the sixteenth century, when it was still decorated with marble. The substructions alone now remain, and close to them may still be traced the foundations of an ancient temple which can be no other than the temple of Jupiter Stator. Solinus says that the house of Tarquinius Priscus was near the Porta Mugionia, and Livy states that he lived near the Porta Mugionia. The statue of Cllia is also said by Livy to have stood at the top of the Sacra Via which was near the Arch of t.i.tus, and this statue is further placed by Pliny near the Porta Mugionia.[19] The remains of the temple show that it was arranged according to the cardinal points of the heavens, looking north and south.

On the foundation stones are the names of Philocrates and Diocles, masons employed in building. Three old inscriptions referring to the worship of Jove were found here, and are to be seen in the Palatine Museum.