340 Antiquities, &c. ROME. Antiquities, &c. 
remains of the temple of Jupiter Tonans, stood on the de¬ 
clivity of the Capitoline. They formed the corner of its 
portico, and were erected by Augustus. The frieze is finely 
sculptured in bas-relief, and the letters ESTITUER remain 
of the inscription. 
In quitting the forum by the Via Secondaria, wepass through 
the broken and defaced triumphal arch of Tiberius. It con¬ 
sists of a single arch, and only four of its eight fluted marble 
columns remain; two of which are entire. The interior of 
the arch is adorned with two bas-reliefs, representing Titus 
in triumph, and the spoils of the temple of Jerusalem. On 
the roof is the apotheosis of the emperor. Through this 
mouldering arch are seen the ruins of the magnificent Coli¬ 
seum: one of the grand monuments of ancient Rome. 
This amphitheatre is a structure of an oval form, 580 feet 
long, 470 broad, and above 1600 in circumference. It was 
erected by Vespasian out of part of the materials, and on a 
portion of the site of Nero’s golden house ; and though its 
demolition was begun by the barbarous conquerors of Rome, 
yet it was so perfect in the thirteenth century, that games 
were exhibited in it for the amusement of the Italian nobility. 
Upon the revival of architecture in Rome, the Coliseum was 
used as a quarry both by the vulgar and the grandees, and 
Paul V. pulled much of it down in order to build his huge 
palaces. This system of depredation would soon have com¬ 
pleted its destruction, had not Benedict XIV. erected a cross 
in the centre of the arena, and declared the place sacred, out 
of respect to the martyrs who had suffered within its walls. 
In no part of its vast circuit has the Coliseum been completely 
broken through, and in only a small segment is its external 
elevation preserved entire. In the interior the destruction of 
the building is deplorable. The marble seats are all torn 
away, the steps and vomitories overthrown, and the sloping 
walls and broken arches overgrown with the luxuriance of 
vegetation. Here is a temporary wooden stair-case, by which 
visitors ascend to the highest practicable point. 
The forums of the emperors were chiefly situated to the 
east of the Roman forum. The forum of Caesar extended 
from the church of St. Adrian to the church of St. Cosmo 
and Damiano, and in the court of that convent are still to 
be seen some massy walls which are supposed to have been 
a part of the forum. The forum of Augustus, which con¬ 
tained the splendid temple of Mars, stood behind the present 
church of Santa Martina and S. Luca. Some fragments of 
walls belonging to the shops which encircled it still remain. 
The forum of Vespasian is supposed to have been in the 
vicinity of the temple of Peace. Of the forum of Nerva there 
are some beautiful remains at the Area Pantani. They con¬ 
sist of three fluted Corinthian columns and one pilaster of 
Parian marble 50 feet high. They are supposed to have 
belonged to the beautiful temple of Nerva; the columns are 
flanked by a lofty wall of large masses of Tiburtine stone. 
The ruin of the temple of Minerva, situated in that part of 
the forum which was built by Domitian, consists of two 
marble Corinthian columns in front of a wall of Tiburtine 
stone. They are more than half buried beneath the pave¬ 
ment, and support a richly sculptured frieze. The forum of 
Trajan stood at the base of the Quirinal Hill. The centre of 
the Piazza Trajana, which contains Trajan’s column, was 
excavated by the French to the level of the ancient pave¬ 
ment, and they brought to light various majestic columns of 
black oriental granite, once the supports of the Basilica Ulpia. 
The entrance to this forum (near the little church of Santa 
Maria in Campo Carleo) passed under the triumphal arch of 
Trajan. At the farther extremity stood the temple of Trajan, 
with the triumphal column in front of it, and in the centre the 
Basilica Ulpia, one of the most splendid buildings of any age. 
The steps that led to this Basilica may still be traced, and frag¬ 
ments of them are still strewed around. The portico of the 
temple consisted of eight immense columns of oriental 
granite, a fragment of one of which was six feet in diameter, 
and must have been 72 feet high. The column of Trajan, 
140 feet high, is ascended by an easy winding staircase of 
solid Parian marble, lighted by loop-holes, and at the top 
stands thebronze statue of St. Peter, which was placed there by 
Sextus V. In the midst of the forum of Antoninus Pius, a little' 
to the north of that of Trajan, stands the triumphal column of 
Marcus Aurelius, covered with the sculptures of his victories, 
and not much inferior to that of Trajan. The only other 
remains of the forum are the eleven beautiful Corinthian 
columns of Grecian marble, now built into the modern wall 
of the custom-house. 
In the forum Boarium, or market of Rome, stands the pic¬ 
turesque and magnificent ruin of Janus Quadrifrontis. It 
has four similar fronts, in each of which there is an arch of 
entrance, and it is built of immense blocks of Grecian mar¬ 
ble. The brick walls on its summits are part of a fortress 
into which it was converted during the dark ages. At the 
side of the old church of St. Georgio in Velatri, is a little 
insignificant marble arch, erected by the trades-people to the 
emperor Severus, who is sculptured upon it along with his 
wile Julia and his son Caracalla, the figure of Geta having 
erased. 
Close to this forum stands the Cloaca Maxima, the most 
ancient of all the ruins of Rome, and considered the work of 
Tarquinius Superbus. The tunnel was once so large that a 
waggon of hay could pass through it. All that is now seen 
of it is the upper part of a grey massy arch of Peperine stone, 
as solid as it was on the day it was built. It is at present choked 
up nearly to its top by the artificial elevation of the surface 
of modern Rome; but it still serves as the common sewer 
of the city. Close to the Cloaca Maxima, is shewn the 
celebrated fountain of Juturna. 
One of the largest and most beautiful temples of antiquity 
is the Pantheon or Rotunda. See Pantheon. 
The temple of Vesta is a beautiful little building, near the 
Tiber, of Parian marble, and having a portico consisting of 
a circular colonnade of twenty fluted Corinthian columns. 
The French removed the modern wall that filled up the inter- 
columniatioii; but its coarse tiled conical roof resting imme¬ 
diately on the capitals still destroys the general effect. The 
circular altar built of marble, is converted into a chapel 
dedicated to the Madonna. 
Opposite to this building is the church of Santa Maria in 
Cosmedin, built on the ruins of what is called the temple of 
Pudicitia Patrizia. The ruins within the church are the 
remains of a magnificent peripteral temple, with eight com¬ 
plete columns in front like the Parthenon. Six of the front 
columns may now be traced, and some of the lateral ones. 
The church of S. S. Cosmo and Damiano is partly formed 
out of what is considered to have been the double temple of 
Romulus and Remus; the first having been circular, and the 
second square. Here was found the marble plan of Rome 
which had formed the pavement of the temple, and the 
broken fragments of which are fixed in the staircase wall of 
the Museum of the capitol. 
The remains of the double temple near the Coliseum are 
supposed to be those of Hadrian’s magnificent temple of 
Venus and Peace. The peristyles of this double perip¬ 
teral temple had 12 columns in front, and 22 in depth, of 
Parian marble, some broken remains of which are still to be 
seen. The whole was surrounded by a double colonnade, 
500 feet long and 300 broad, of columns of oriental granite, 
with rows of capitals of Parian marble, the gigantic shafts of 
which are strewed around near Titus’s arch. The platform 
of the colonnade, and the situation, and even steps of the 
temple, may yet be traced. The picturesque ruin called the 
temple of Minerva Medica stands in a solitary vineyard on 
the Esquiline hill. It is decagonal within. It is built of 
brick, and stripped of all its ornaments. The remains of the 
temple of Venus Erycina, consisting of the octagonal brick 
cella, stand in the circus and gardens of Sallust. 
The only remains of the theatres of ancient Rome are 
those of the theatre of Marcellus. It was of Tiburtine stone, 
and consisted of four orders of arcades. 
The portico of Octavia consisted of a double row of mar¬ 
ble columns, enclosing a large oblong square, in which are the 
temples of Jupiter and Juno. Many of the beautiful columns 
of this colonnade are built up in tire miserable houses of the- 
Jews which now cover its ancient site. At No. 11, via di 
San 
