3iJ ROME. 



abandon their seats on the hills, and to descend into the plains between 

 the Caeliau aud the Esquiliue, whence the Vicus Tuacus in that district 

 derived its name. 



The three hills north of the Palatine, that is, the Quirinal, Viminal, 

 and Capitoline, were occupied by the Sabines, and the last of these 

 hill* was their citadel. When the Latin aud Sabine towns became 

 united, the valleys between the hills must have been drained, aud the 

 cloaca by which this was effected belong to the earliest architectural 

 remain* of Borne. The valley between the Palatine and CapiioUue 

 wa* set apart aa the place of meeting for the two nations (Comitium 

 and Forum Bomannni). and the boundary between the territories of 

 the two town* wa* probably marked by the Via Sacra, which came 

 down from the top of the Velia, ran between the Quirinal and the 

 Palatine, and then making a bend proceeded between the latter hill 

 and the Capitoline, as far as the temple of Vesta, whence it turned 

 right across the Couiiuum towards the gate of the Palatine. 



The Seven Uilli inhabited by these three different nations were 

 united into one town, and surrounded by a wall by kiug Servius 

 Tullius. The new fortification consisted in aouie place* of a wall, 

 probably with towers at certain intervale ; in other places the sleep 

 aides of the hills rendered artificial fortifications unnecessary, for 

 instance on the western side of the Capitolina The north-eastern 

 part from the Colline to the Esquiline gate, seven-eighths of a mile 

 in length, wa* fortified by a wall, or rather mound. From the border 

 of a moat 100 feet broad and 30 feet deep, wa* raised a wall 50 feet 

 wide and above 60 feet high, faced towards the moat with flagstones, 

 and flanked with towers. Traces of this gigantic work are still visible. 

 The wall* of Servius were above six mile* in circuit and had above 20 

 gates, the site* of almost all of which are determined. They included 

 considerable tracts of land which were not occupied by buildings, 

 bat were either pasture grounds or covered with wood or thickets, 

 such as gnat part* of the E-quiline aud ViminaL It was however 

 principally the inner space near the wall itteif which wa* not occupied 

 by buildings until a very late period. 



Many great buildings wen erected at Rome during the kingly 

 period. The great temple of Jupiter was on the Capitol The prison 

 of Tulliiu, called Career Tullianu*, or Mamertinu*, was at the eastern 

 foot of the Capitoline. The Circus Maximu* wa* between the 

 Palatine and the Aventiae. The Forum Romanum wa* between the 

 Palatine and Capitoliue. The Cloaca Maxima carried the water* of 

 the VeUbruin and the Forum Koniannm into the Tiber, and it still a 

 stupendous work. Of the wall of Servius Tulliua few traces remain ; 

 but it existed in the 8th century of Rome. 



About 120 year* after the establishment of the republic, wh-n the 

 city was taken by the Gauls, the whole wa* consumed by fire, with 

 the exception of the Capitol, a few house* on the Palatine, and some 

 of the works above enumerated, the magnitude of which saved them 

 from destruction. The hasty mode in which the city wa* rebuilt 

 explain* the fact that down to the time of Nero the streets of Rome 

 wen narrow, irregular, and crooked, and, in point of beauty and 

 regularity, Itome wa* far inferior to most of the other great town* in 

 Italy. Down to the 5th century of the city, private houses wen 

 generally covered with shingle*, aud there continued to be a number 

 of grovel within the wall* of the city. But toward* the and of the 

 period, which i* comprised between the Gallic conflagration and the 

 end of the second I'unic war, Rome began to be embellished with 

 temples, which however, both a* to material and architecture, wen 

 far inferior to the temples of Greece, liigh road* and aqueJucU 

 also began to be built. The street* of the city itself won not paved, 

 though we have no reason to suppose that they wen neglected. At a 

 somewhat later period we find public places, street*, and walks under 

 the porticoes, commonly paved with large square block* of tufo or of 

 travertine. In the year B.C. 176, the censor* ordered the street* of 

 the city to be paved with block* of basalt, which were laid on a 

 stratum of gravel, such a< i* still visible in a part of the Via Appia. 

 At the time of the war with Hannibal, the district near Uio river, 

 between the C'spitoline and Aventine, wan almost entirely covered 

 with i. u, Ming*. 



The private house* bad from the earliest time* been very simple in 

 structure ; but after the conquest of Greece, and more especially of 

 Asia, inaiviilual* began to build their dwellings in a magnificent style, 

 and the taste for splendid mansion* and palace* increased so rapidly, 

 that house like that of Craous, which at tint wa* univer-ally admired 

 for its splendour aud magnificence, in the course of a few years was 

 lost among superior buildings. Public edifice* however still remained 

 the chief object* of the pride of the Roman*. Theatres wen erected 

 ia several parts of Rome during the last century of the republic. 

 During the civil wars between Marius and Sulla the number of house* 

 had increased to such a degree, that the wall* of Servius Tulliu* in 

 several parts lay within the city itself. 



Of all the splendid buildings which wen raiitiH during the latter 

 part of the republic scarcely any traces exu>t, and Augustus might well 

 say that be bad changed Rome from a city of biicks into one of 

 marble; for the road', aqueduct*, and public building* of every 

 description, temple*, arcades, and theatre*, which were raised during 

 his loug and peaceful reign wan almost innumerable. The whole 

 plain between the O/iirinal and the river became a new town, which 

 in splendour and magnificence far surpassed the city of the hills : this 



ROME. 



234 



new town was one mass of temples, arcades, theatres, and public places 

 of amusement, not interrupted by any private habitations. Aqueducts 

 for the purpose of supplying the city with water had been built as 

 early as the year B.C. 313, and the first (Aqua Claudia) was beguu by 

 Appius Claudius. It ran almost entirely underground, and conveyed 

 the water from a distance of about eight miles in the direction of the 

 Porta Capena into the city. Other aqueducts were constructed, but 

 it was not until the imperial period that this kind of architecture 

 reached perfection, and most of the remains which are still extant 

 belong to the period of the empire. They were mostly built upon, 

 arches which had an easy inclination, so that the water rau geutly 

 from its source towards the city. Each of the 14 Augustan regions, 

 according to a survey taken in the reign of Vespasian, contained 19, 

 or, according to a later account, 22 vici, with as many sacella iu places 

 where two streets crossed each other. Each vicus seems ou an average 

 to have contained about 230 dwelling-houses, so that every region 

 contained rather more than 4500. About one twenty-fifth part of this 

 number of houses were ' darn us,' that is, habitations of the rich (palazzi), 

 with a portico iu front and an extensive inner court (atrium). The 

 remainder consisted of ' iiuulto,' that is, habitations for citizens of the 

 uii'idle and lower classes : they had no portico iu front, but mostly 

 an open space which served as a shop or wnrkship. Jn the interior 

 they may have had a court, but of smaller extent than the at rium of a 

 domus. The number of these iusulse was about 44,000. All Roman 

 house* were very high. Augustus fixed 70 feet and Trajan 60 feet 

 a* the height, above which none wen allowed to be built ; and the 

 upper story was generally of wood. It was a law of the Twelve Tables, 

 which also occurs in the Roman legislation of later times, that no two 

 houses, whether domus or iusulae, should be built closely together 

 but that an open space of five feet should be left between them. 



Tiberius, besides completing many of the buildings of his predecessor, 

 began the Praetorian camp on the north-east side of the city, iu the 

 Campus Viniinalis, and surrounded it with hijh walls. The wealthy 

 Romans at this time had their palaces principally iu the eastern dis- 

 trict*, from the Porta Collina to the Porta Coelimoutaua ; they did 

 not however form streets, but lay in gardens within the fields between 

 the high roads which issued from the city ; and hence they are gene- 

 rally called Horti, a* Horti Msoceuatis, 4o. All that had been done 

 for the embellishment of the city previous to the reign of Nero was 

 eclipsed by the magnificent buildings of this emperor ; but the greater 

 pert of these works, together with those of former days, p- ruhed in 

 the conflagration which took place in his reign. In his restorations 

 the face of the city aiaumed a totally dim-nut aspect. On the ruins 

 of the temples and the imperial palace on the Palatine rose the so- 

 called Golden House of Nero, which occupied a space equal to a large 

 town. The greatest can was taken to make the new streets wide aud 

 straight, and that the buildings should not exceed a reasonable height 

 In order to render possible the execution of the regular plau the 

 several quarters of the city wen measured, aud the heaps of ruins 

 wen removed and conveyed in ship* to Ostia, to fill up the rnar.-hrs 

 in its vicinity. All the new buildings were massive, and constructed 

 of the fire-proof peperino, without the old wooden upper story. The 

 width of the new streets rendered it necessary to extend the city 

 beyond ita former limit*. Some time afterwards, in the reign of 

 Vespasian, a measurement of the circumference of Rome was taken, 

 according to which it amounted ta 13j Roman miles. The subsequent 

 emperor* continued to increase and embellish the city; but uuder 

 Commodus a great part was again consumed by a fire which destroyed 

 all the building* ou the Palatine. Septimius Severus exerted himself 

 to restore the parts which had been burnt, aud to ornament the city, 

 and some of his buildings an still extaut. But the grandeur and 

 magnificence of the thermic of Caraoalla, south of the Porta Capena, 

 surpassed all the works of his predecessors. Almost all the great 

 buildings, or their remains, which still exist at Rome, belong to the 

 period between Nero aud Coustantiue. 



The moot extensive work of this hitter period is the immense wall, 

 with its numerous towers, with which Aurcliau surrounded the city 

 Tue work, which wa* completed in the reign of 1'robus (A.D. 276), 

 doe* not however enable u* to form a correct estimate of the real 

 extent of the city, as tho object* of the fortification may have rendered 

 it necessary to inclose part* which were not covered with buildings. 

 The Janiculum, which seems to have been fortified from the earliest 

 time* of tho republic, was now for the first time included within the 

 city wall*, together with the Regio Traustiberiua. The whole circum- 

 ference of these new fortificatiou.i wan about 21 miles. In the time 

 of Houorius some parts of this wall which were decayed were restored. 

 Though the present walls do not much exceed the height of 15 or 

 20 feet on the inside, owing to the accumulation of rubbish, they are 

 in many places as much as 50 feet high on the outside. 



After the time of Coustantiue, when the emperors and the Roman 

 noble* had adopted the Christian religion, the decay aud destruction 

 of the ancient edifice* commenced. The building of numerous 

 churches wa* the immediate cause of this destruction. Neither the 

 court nor private individuals possessed sufficient wealth to raiie 

 buildings equal in form or material to those of their ancestors, aud as 

 heathen temples could not always be converted into Christian churches, 

 they were generally pulled down, and the materials used for other 

 purposes. During the 5th century of our era great calamities were 



