ROME
ROME
419
was the natural meeting place of tlie comnmnities on the lulls abovi', and this it continnccl to Iw as long as ancient Konie lasted. It was tlanUvd by all sorts of slio]is, those of the moneychangers or bankers imludcd. Military processions passed through it. The peoiile were aildressed there. Funeral processions stopped there for the funeral oration to be pronounced. In the adjoining build- ings law-eases were tried. An enumeration of the buildings, ])roceeiiing from N. to S., will serve to give some notion of the comprehensiveness of the life of the Forum.
The Tahularium or Record Olfii'e was situated at the foot of the Cajiitol, and was built in 78 li.C. Its lower courses, on which median'al work is now snperimpo.sed, are the most splendid specimens of Republican masonry surviving.
In front of this was the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, erected in A.D. 80. Three columns are still standing. There is also a richly decorated frieze and cornice. An inscription records that the temple was restored by Septimius Severus and Caracalla.
To the left of this was the Temple of Concord. This temple with concrete foundations, built by M. Furius Camillus in 366 B.C., was restored by Opimius in 121 B.C., and again rebuilt by Tiberius in A.D. 7-10. Only the threshold is preserved, but some parts of the columns are to be found in museums.
Beyond this are the remains of the Mamertine Prison, where the Catilinarian conspirators Len- tulus and Cethegus were strangled by order of the consul Cicero. The tradition that St. Paul was confined there is valueless.
To return to the other side, we come to the Temple of Saturn. Of this great temple the lofty sub-structures are preserved. The eight columns of red and grey granite belong to a late restoration. This restoration was irregular and carelessly carried out. The temple was originally built about 500 B.C. In its vaults was stored the public treasure of Rome. Julius C:esar, after crossing the Rubicon and thus declaring civil wiir, forced his way in and seized £300,000 of coined money, as well as 15,000 gold and 30,000 silver ingots.
Right over on the other side is the Arch of Severus. This was built in A. D. 203 as a memorial of the victorious campaigns of the Emperor Septimius Severus in the East. In ancient times it was reached by steps, being above the level of the Forum, and now that the ground has been cleared away, that is again true. The middle archway is 40 ft. 4 ins. in height and 22 ft. 11 ins. wide ; the side archways are exactly as high as the large one is wide, b\it they are only 9 ft. 10 ins. wide. There are four columns on each facade standing on high bases. The bas-reliefs are the most interesting part. Some represent legionary soldiers leading prisoners from the East in chains. Another figures Rome receiving the homage of conquered Oriental peoples. The great majority depict detailed scenes of the various stages of war.
In front of this arch lie some of the mostantique remains yet discovered in Rome — the Lapis Niger, etc. At this place there was probably a grave or an ill-omened place of some sort. The most in- teresting part is a rectangular column covered with inscriptions on all four faces. The writing goes from the top down and from the bottom up. The letters show a great resemblance to those of the Greek alphabet, from which the Latin alphabet is admittedly derived. The date is not later than the 5th cent. B.C. The sense cannot be made out. All we can say is that there is mention of a rex, of iouxmetita, 'beasts of burden,' and of a kalator, ' public servant ' ; the words ■■sakros esed ( = sacer sit, ' let so-and-so be sacred ') occur al.so. It is prob-
ably a portion of a religious law that we have
here.
IJeyond the Black St(me lies all that remains of the ConiHium, the voting-place of the Republic.
Beyond this again lies the Church of S. Adriano, which corre-sponils to the nuiin room of the Senate House of the Empire. It was constructed by .Julius Ca'sar. The situation of the smaller com- mittee room is also known. The level of the ground round about h.as been gradually raised in the period intervening between the original date of the building and the ])resent day.
If we turn back again to get to the other side we come to the remains of three large oblong erections l)arallel with one another, all much larger than any with which we have yet had to do. The first is the Basilica ^Emilia. It is only recently that this has been thoroughly excavated. The original building on this site goes back to the year 179 B.C., when its construction was completed l)y two censors. Lucius j^i^milius Paullus, the comiueror of Perseus of Macedon, seems to have decorated it, as an in- scription in his honour has lately been found among the ruins. The building was restored by another /Emilius, consul in 78 B.C. A coin of 61 B.C. shows the building as a two-storied portico. In 54 B.C. it was again restored by yet another yEmilius — it was a sort of monument of this family — with Julius Ctesar's approval and at his expense. The building was restored again after a lire in 14 B.C. at the expense of the Emperor Augustus. The next restoration took place in A.D. 22 in the reign of Tiberius. Of the Re- publican building only foundations remain. The entrance opens into six rooms which served for banking business, etc. A staircase led to the upper story, which was similarly arranged. The main room was 95 ft. wide and about 228 ft. long. The galleries above the side aisles were supported by columns. A considerable number of these have been found lying among the other ruins, in all cases broken, but in some cases more so than in others. These are like Peterhead granite, and form part of the 5th cent, reconstruction, which was very thorough.