Interview with 

 GIACOMO BONI 



The great discoveries at the Palatine. 

 I fouud Giacomo Boni just back from Vienna, 

 where he liad been to spread Italy's fame. 

 I found him amongst the flowers of his little 

 garden which were all in bloom, Over the 

 fountain in the midst lies Venus basking 

 lazily in the sun, with her lovely arms folded 

 over her bosom, whilst all round there is, a 

 deep and almost religious silence spread over 

 the immense ruins. Signor Boni accustomed to 

 this infinite stillness and to the veneration of 

 the past, speaks very little and in a low voice. 

 His eyes .are down cast like those of one who 

 is accustomed to scrutinize at his feet the very 

 heart of the ruins, the stairs which lose them- 

 selves in the dark depths, the regular tren- 

 ches of the excavations in which appear bits 

 of beautifully carved marble and walls frescoed 

 in vivid hues. When his voice becomes ani- 

 mated and he raises his eyes to yours, it is 

 his love for his science that has made liim ob- 

 livious of his habitual meditativeness. It is 

 then that the secret of his discoveries is re- 

 vealed and that the mystei-y of that obscure 

 labour carried ou in the bowels of the Im- 

 perial Hill, is explained. Before I could 

 pursuade the famous scientist to confide to 

 me the revelations wliich I transmit to the 

 readers of the Roman Herald, I was obliged 

 to provoke that kind of exaltation in his soul 

 that we meet with in all those that live 

 amongst the evidences of by-gone centuries, 

 unconscious of tlie civilisation around tliem. 

 This is what I gathered: 



" The iirst ruins of the Domus " per ex- 

 cellence " (the gorgeous imperial palace of 

 Domitian) made tlieir appearance last spring; 

 it was then tliat from the flower clad soil, 

 behind the cypresses of the Villa Mills, crum- 

 l)ling beneath the inexorable pick, in the sil- 

 ence of the clear morning undisturbed by the 

 chattering cosmopolitan visitors, the admirable 

 fragments came to light. The patient hands 

 of the workmen freed the ruins from their 

 gray and green sliroud. There aie large pieces 

 of jjolychrome marble, beautifully carved discs 

 of Egyptian gr.anile alternating with slabs 

 of yellow Nximidian marble and purple Phiy- 

 gian marble and poi-phyry, etc." 



He went on talking tirelessly, digging out, 

 as it were, the Palatine, where his first efforts 

 were crowned by t.lie discovery of tlie Palace 

 - <>f-Domitian which vevealed tlie distinct charac- 

 teristics of the Domus witli its rectangular 

 impluvium, the large atrium, the superb re- 

 mains ot the flooring of the imperial tric- 

 linium, the intricate pipes of the Claudian 

 water works. This clever work has been car- 

 ried on for naonths and months and still goes 

 on with success, showing, little by little, the 

 mysteries, until now unknown, of the imperial 

 greatness. " The desire to find the remains 

 of indigenous races who first lived on the 

 glorious hill ", said Giacomo Boni, " and to 

 follow the development of the home from the 

 rustic " Casa Eomoli " to the luxurious palace 

 of the decline of the Eepublic has been the 

 first part of my programme in my explora- 

 tions of the Palatine area, occupied by the 

 palace of the Flavii- I now intend : 



1st: to study attentively the edifice re- 

 built about 91 A. D. by the architect Rabi- 

 rius and modified under the Aiitonines, Max- 

 entius and Constantiue, until the first years 

 of the dark ages. 



2nd : to study attentively tlie ruins of 

 the palace of Nero and the old imperial liouses 

 (palace of Caligula) arriving thus to the Au- 

 gusteum (domns Tiberiana). 



3rd : to find out the net worlc of Repub- 

 lican roads and analyse tlie constructive and 

 decorative progress of the people rich by birtli, 

 office or luck, of the pre-.Scyllana and post- 

 Caesarian age, like Scuurus .and Crassus, Ca- 

 talina and Claudius, Cicero and Hortentius, 

 Augustus and Tiberius. 



4th : to verify the archaeological strata 

 found under the atrium in the palace of Dom- 

 itian in order to obtain a knowledge of the 



strnctuic and of the grouping of the pre-Sco- 

 latina huts, determining at the same time the 

 original configuration of the summit of the 

 hill. I also will try to discover through the 

 deep str.ata of marble strewn clay the ver- 

 tical cuuiculi and tlie intricate tiers of fovis- 

 sae, Uke those already found in the rock of 

 Supercola and underneath the Velia. ' ' 



The study of the Palatine area carried on 

 by Signor Boni is all marked out precisely; 

 but until the small monastery near the Villa 

 Mills (of which the building was stopped in 

 1870) has also been pulled down, the first 

 part of his programme cannot be completed. 

 But notwithstanding the study of the imperial 

 palaces, tliey have started out with alacrity 

 to search for two other intermediary palaces, 

 which are supposed to belong to Nero and 

 Caligula. We are just now in a good position 

 to determine the shape and structure of the 

 huts, owing to the discovery of some funereal 

 urns, found in the Forum Romanum on which 

 huts Averc depicted. 



The Palatine was not only the residence of 

 the emperors but the much souglit after abode 

 of many patrician families who built their 

 houses there, putting them in alignment with 

 the imperial palace. The Domus Tiberiana, 

 or rather that wliicli is so called, wile furnish 

 important elements for the study of the topo- 

 graphy of the Palatine and the net work of 

 roads dating back to the Republic. 



The first group of the imperial palaces was 

 found immediately beyond the Palace of Do 

 mitian, Signor Boni is not yet sure of its 

 identity but he is nearly certain that it 

 is the house of Tiberius. If he is correct in 

 his deductions, it was in the dark and terrible 

 prison of this house tliat, according to Tacitus, 

 Drusus was imprisoned, the Drusus whose 

 triumplial arch still stands on the Aventine. 



And iiere beside these remains of terror 

 and death was discovered an exceedingly sump- 

 tuous triangular bathroom. It has two ampk 

 staircases, an empty niche for statues and .al- 

 coves with porpliyry columns and the traces of 

 an intricate system of pipes, ten fountains, a 

 conch for massage, and the floor is covered 

 with an ivy leaf design on a background o 

 gray Numidian marble, where one can still 

 see the hole for the bronze candelabra. Was 

 this the chosen room of some genial em- 

 press for the care of her precious beauty? 

 And what graceful forms these marble slabs 

 must have seen in the scented baths, Ou the 

 north side there liave been found on Neronian 

 walls, some Homeric pictures, illustrating the 

 Iliad in a masterly way, lepreseuting well 

 known subjects: the assembly of the Greek 

 chief at the siege of Troy, the invectives of 

 Agamemnon against Ulysses the ludi ordered 

 by Achilles for Patrocies. On the other side, 

 under the basilica of the Elavil, a narrow 

 staircase leads to the Nerorian swiming bath: 

 there are five large lanks with two different 

 water levels and two enormous sluices. After 

 these we find the ruins of the Villaua and 

 Caesarian houses. These constitute the most 

 important documents of the Egyptian influence 

 on Roman art and architecture. The admir- 

 able pictures which adorn the walls and ceiling 

 are still fresh and life like. Round the ceiling 

 there is a frieze formed by an undulating 

 line with interlaoings of scarlet, blue, and 

 gree, wliicli is emphiitically Egyptian. It 

 is done in delicate and clear tones and we 

 find the austere Osiris and stiff figures of 

 animals alternating with the sweet lotus flower. 



The traces of the Republican houses and 

 the signs of their gradual development aie 

 found on the opposite side of the imperial 

 vestibulum where there can be seen the w.alls 

 of Domitian, Nero and Galigula. These walls 

 interweave with the buildings of the Repub- 

 tican period and, deprived of their carcase .and 

 coatng of marble, form a triple inter-twining 

 of walls. The development of these architec- 

 tures and their importance is clearly shown 

 by the quality of the stones of which the 

 capitals and columns are made, being of red 

 granite, oriental marble and of the tinted 

 and rare marbles of Umbria. 



" T.iere, said n,y illustrious guide, inde- 

 cating some delapidatcd excavations, " are the 

 vertical cuniculi and the favissae which were 

 found abandoned in the flftli centuries. But ' 

 he adds, " we found no coins in them. Only 

 the aes rude; the remains of tbod and some 

 traces of fire and the innumerable elements 

 that go to form true historical pages. Basing 

 myself on these data I am able to reconstruct 

 an important chapter on the epocli that pre- 

 ceded the Gallic incursion and the destruction 

 of Rome 390 B. C. " 



After this long interview, Signor Boni re 

 lapsed into his usual silence and slowly we 

 left the theatre of his remarkable discovei-ies 

 and went towards the small Parnese house 

 surrounded with flowers and illuminated by 

 the glorious sunshine. Rome is spread out 

 below, beyond the Fornm, white with marble, 

 rise the towering walls of the Campidoglio 

 and furtlier on, the numerous populous streets 

 flanked by modern palaces. 



The contrast between the new and old civi- 

 lisations seem to stike the famous archaeolo- 

 gisl and ho pointed out to me with a slow 

 gesture of his and, this great and symbolic 

 spectable but withoul speaking a word. 



Smiling he returns to his study where the 

 voices of the past are the only ones to sing 

 their admonitory and eternal chorus and takes 

 up his patient and fruitful work. What new 

 discoveries will his tranquil voice announce 

 tomorrow? To wliat dreams will his genial 



