‘igh 
THE IMPERIAL ATRIUM OF THE THIRD PERIOD. 
There is no evidence that any further calamity befell the Atrium until the 
time of Commodus. At two different periods before that time, however, 
important changes took place in the building. The first of these, which 
represents the third stage in its growth," consisted in the addition by Hadrian 
of the group of rooms on the east,’ the center of which is the large hall, or 
exedra, and of a smaller group on the south.* These two groups will be 
discussed separately. : 
The Rooms on the East: The group of rooms on the east, which was 
held by Auer* to be the oldest part of the imperial Atrium, was located 
at the rear of the garden and united to the earlier structure by the outer 
walls only.® The space occupied by it was at least 42 meters long and 16+ 
meters wide. The new building extended on the north only to the line of 
shops belonging to the first period.® The destruction of these shops and the 
inclusion of the space occupied by them in the Atrium took place at a later 
time.’ On the south the new building extended to within a short distance 
of the Nova Via.’ The rooms extended on the east to the street in the rear 
of the Atrium,’ the shops opening upon which were in consequence almost 
wholly destroyed.” The orientation of the new rooms conforms in general 
to that of the earlier building, but their level differs greatly, being a meter 
higher than that of the rooms on the west, that is to say, two meters above 
the republican level. Since the height of the hypocaust openings, which are 
still to be seen in the smaller courts" on the north and south, is but Io centi- 
meters less than this, the original level of the rooms can not have been lower 
than it is at present. This noticeable difference in level between the newer 
and the older parts of the building was due to the natural rise in the ground 
towards the east and south. The garden, at least the eastern end of it, agreed 
in level with the new rooms which adjoined it. This is evident from the 
1 See p. 6. 7 The walls at this corner of the Atrium are of the 
2 Plan C, 29-39. next period. 
3 Plan C, 13 a-d, and plate v1, fig. 1. 8 The rooms on the ‘south of the court at a higher 
4 Auer, Der Tempel der Vesta, 20. level are of a later period. 
5 There may have been a row of rooms along the % Walls 1.20 to 1.30 meters in thickness were built 
south side of the garden, but no traces of behind the new rooms, to resist the pressure 
them remain. of the earth by which the street had been 
6 The point at which the new front wall was raised to the higher level. 
attached to the rear wall of the shops may The walls between the shops were in no case 
still be determined from changes in the wholly destroyed. 
masonry. Plan C, 31 and 39. 
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