ROME 



783 



Quirinale stand two colossal horses from the 

 thermae which occupied the site. In the formation 

 of the steps which lead down from the piazza, 

 and of the Via Nazionale, substructures belonging 

 to these thermae were discovered, and portions of 

 their massive walls may be seen in the gardens of 

 tlie Colonna and Rospigliosi palaces. At the other 

 end of Rome, on the low ground south of the 

 Ca>lian, are the ruins of the Thermie Antoniniana?, 

 usually called the Baths of Caracalla, by whom 

 they were begun in 212 A.I)., and completed by 

 Alexander Severus. They were built to accommo- 

 date 1600 bathers, and, after serving for centuries 

 as a quarry, are still the vastest, and in their 

 dt.-solation perhaps the most impressive, of all the 

 ruins in Rome. The lofty walls are still standing, 

 and, as the halls have been cleared of rubbish, the 

 iirrangenients of Roman thermos (see BATH) can 

 here l>est be studied. We see the Calidarium, the 

 Tepidarium, and a Frigidarium, with an Exedra 

 and a Stadium or racecourse. The outer wall 

 encloses a space of nearly 27 acres, of which 

 the baths themselves occupy more than 6 acres. 

 Even more magnificent were the Therniie of Diocle- 

 tian, on the summit of the Quirinal, designed 

 to accommodate 3600 bathers. The semicircular 

 curve which forms such a conspicuous feature in the 

 Piazza delle Terme was the exedra of these baths. 

 One of the smaller circular halls forms the church 

 of S. Bernardo, while a portion of one of the great 

 vaulted central halls, with its columns of Egyptian 

 /'ranite, serving probably as the Tepidarium, was 

 ,:onverted by Michelangelo into the magnificent 

 .rhurcli of S. Maria degh Angeli. Another hall is 

 iised as a prison, another as a fencing-school, others 

 ;<iow serve as barracks, stables, coach-houses, and 

 warehouses for timber, while the cloisters of a 

 C.arthusian convent built out of the ruins are now 

 converted into a museum. 



A large marshy plain, which now forms the most 

 densely populated part of Rome, lay outside the 

 Servian vValls, extending from the foot of the 

 Capitoline and Quirinal hills to the Tiber. This, 

 being used for military exercises, was called the 

 Campus Martius. Towards the close of the re- 

 publican era this suburban plain began to be 

 utilised for the erection of places of public recrea- 

 tion, such as baths, theatres, and racecourses. 

 These were connected by the Porticoes, a net- 

 work of colonnades forming covered walks, serving 

 as a protection alike from the sunshine and the 

 rain, along which the citizens could stroll to the 

 various places of recreation and amusement. The 

 Campus Martius was traversed by the Flaminian 

 Way, approximately represented by the modern 

 street called the Corso, which was bordered on 

 either side by the stately tombs of Roman nobles, 

 and spanned by the triumphal arch of Claudius 

 and by that of Marcus Aurelins, demolished in 

 1662. On these fields were built the Baths of 

 Agrippa and the Baths of Nero. Here was erected 

 the Theatre of Balbus and the vast Theatre of 

 Pompey, said to have contained seats for 40,000 

 spectators. Some of its substructures may be 

 seen behind the church of S. Andrea della Valle. 

 Somewhat nearer to the Capitol was the Theatre of 

 Marcellus, of which a considerable portion still 

 stands, forming one of the most characteristic 

 examples of Roman architecture of the best period. 

 This theatre was begun by Julius Ca'sar, and 

 finished in the year 11 B.C. by Augustus, who 

 named it after his nephew Marcellus, the son of 

 Ortavia. In the llth century, like the Colosseum 

 and the Mausoleum of Hadrian, it was turned into 

 a fortress by the turbulent Roman nobles of the 

 Orsini family. The interior is now occupied by 

 the Palax/o Orsini-Savelli, while the outer arches 

 are used ao rag-shops and smithies. 



In the same characteristic Roman style as the 

 Theatre of Marcellus, but of a more debased type, 

 is the great Flavian Amphitheatre, built for gladia- 

 torial exhibitions and for the combats of wild 

 beasts, which goes by the name of the Colosseum. 

 Commenced by Vespasian, it was dedicated by 

 Titus 80 A.D., and finished by 'Domitian. It is 

 built in the form of an ellipse, the longer diameter 

 measuring 613 feet and the shorter 510 feet. It 

 rises to a height of 160 feet, covering five acres of 

 ground. In the middle ages ifc was used as a 

 fortress and .afterwards as a quarry ; but, though so 

 large a portion has been demolished, it constitutes 

 perhaps the most imposing monument of Roman 

 magnificence which is left (see AMPHITHEATRE). 

 The earlier amphitheatres were mostly of wood, 

 and have perished. The Piazza di Monte Citorio 

 on the Corso is believed to occupy the site of the 

 Amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus, erected in 31 

 B.C., the foundations having been found 88 feet 

 below the present surface of the street. At the 

 side of the church of S. Croce in Genisalemme 

 are considerable remains of the Amphitheatrum 

 Castrense, which was utilised in the construction 

 of the Aurelian Wall, from which it projects, 

 forming a sort of semicircular bastion. Below was 

 the Circus of Elagabalus, from which came the 

 Egyptian obelisk now in the Pincian Gardens. 



The oldest circus was the Circus Maximus, in 

 the valley between the Palatine and the Aventine. 

 It is supposed to date from the regal period, but 

 was enlarged by Julius Caesar. It was about three 

 furlongs in length and one in breadth, nearly the 

 size and shape of Eaton Square, and is said to 

 have been capable of seating 250,000 spectators. 

 The site is now occupied by the Jewish cemetery 

 and the gas-works. The arrangements of a Roman 

 circus can best be studied in the well-preserved 

 circus on the Appian Way, near the tomb of Ca:cilia 

 Metella, built in 311 A.D., which usually bears the 

 name of the Emperor Maxentius, but is more cor- 

 rectly assigned to his son Romulus. It is 350 yards 

 long and 86 broad. The meta?, the spina, the car- 

 ceres, and the seats for the emperor and the spec- 

 tators may still be traced. An Egyptian obelisk 

 from this circus now adorns the Piazza Navona 

 (see CIRCUS). 



Of the Circus of Flaminius, built in 220 B.C. 

 on the Campus Martius immediately below the 

 northern slope of the Capitoline Hill, no vestiges 

 remain. The same is the case with the Circus of 

 Nero on the Vatican, which occupied the hollow 

 between S. Peter's Church and the Sacristy 

 through which the visitor now drives to the 

 Vatican Museum. While the circus was designed 

 for chariot-races, the stadium was used for foot- 

 races. Of these there were several, but the 

 Imperial Stadium on the Palatine, between the 

 bouse of Augustus and the buildings of Septimius 

 Severus is the only one which remains in a 

 tolerable state of preservation. The Stadium of 

 Domitian on the Campus Martius is believed to be 

 represented by the present Piazza Navona, recently 

 renamed the Circo Agonale. Both of these stadia 

 are about the size and shape of St George's Square, 

 Pimlico, or the site of the Houses of Parliament. 



The roads leading out of Rome beyond the 

 Servian Walls were bordered by tpmbs, many of 

 which, on the erection of the Aurelian Wall, were 

 included within the city. On the Appian Way 

 (q.v.) are the tombs of the Scipios, the inscriptions 

 on which, forming the earliest contemporary records 

 of Roman history, are among the treasures of the 

 Vatican. Farther on four ancient columbaria 

 have been excavated. Outside the Aurelian Wall 

 is the Tomb of Csecilia Metella (see ROMAN ARCHI- 

 TECTURE), wife of the triumvir Crassus, which in 

 the 13th century was converted into a fortress 



