132 CARTER— EVOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ROME. [April 22, 



quantities of running water, and the consequent erosion, produced 

 a large number of tongue-shaped or circular elevations, admirably 

 suited to such settlements.^ These clusters of houses surrounded 

 by a ring-wall were merely habitations. The people tilled the fields 

 in the valleys below. It is impossible for us to distinguish clearly 

 between these hill-top towns in their early history. They were 

 probably very similar in population and consequently in customs. 

 Judging however by the presence or absence in historic times of 

 old cult centers it would seem that there was no settlement upon 

 the Aventine,^ possibly because it was too close to the river. Nor 

 does there seem to be any particular justification for supposing 

 that the Palatine was in any sense the leader in this group of hill 

 towns, by virtue either of its superior age or of its greater influence. 

 The Palatine is singularly free from old cult associations.^** Such 

 associations as seem old are connected with the later legends, for 

 example that of Romulus and Remus, which did not arise until the 

 fourth century, and even in these cases the Capitoline offers a dis- 

 tinct rivalry to the Palatine.^^ It is easy to understand how at a 

 later day the Palatine might have been elevated into this position 

 of superiority.^^ 



* Cp. the presentation of Richter : " Topographie der Stadt Rom," p. 25, 26. 



" At least in later times it is known as pagus Aventinensis, CIL., XIV., 

 2105 (inscription from Lanuvium) ; and the fact that it was later opened 

 to the plebeians for settlement would indicate the absence of any older 

 settlement. The town of Aventum is an unfortunate suggestion of Jordan 

 ("Topographie," I., i, 182) and never had existence. Cp. Huelsen in Pauly- 

 Wissowa's " Encyclopaedic der classischen Altertumswissenschaft," s. v 

 Aventinus, Sp. 2283, 23 ff. 



" Cacus and the very doubtful Caca, in whom Wissowa ("R. und K.,'" 

 p. 24, note i) is inclined to see a pair of ancient gods, belong really on the 

 Aventine rather than on the Palatine. Huelsen's statement (Jordan- 

 Huelsen, I. 3, p. 45), " von den Kulten auf dem Palatin cheinen einige in sehr 

 alte Zeit hinauf zu gehen, wie der der Febris, der Fortuna, der Dea Viriplaca, 

 der Luna Noctiluca," must be taken merely relatively, as none of the deities 

 mentioned (with the exception of the uncertain Dea Viriplaca) precede the 

 later kingdom. 



" Cp. the rival casa Romuli on the Capitoline ; and the Salii Palatini 

 versus the Salii Collini. 



'■- Owing to its popularity as a residence during the closing years of the 

 Republic, and the preference of Augustus and his successors. 



