Old Rome: A Handbook to the Ruins of the City and the CampagnaBurn, Robert
History
Old Rome: A Handbook to the Ruins of the City and the Campagna
Burn, Robert
Rome (Italy) -- Antiquities; Rome (Italy) -- Description and travel
From the above description it will be seen that the architecture of the
temple appears to belong to the end of the Republican era, but the
inscription on the architecture gives us no further hint of the exact
date, as the whole of it: with the exception of the words L. CELLIO. L.
F., has disappeared. The most probable conjecture as to the deity to whom
it was dedicated is that based upon the fact that Vesta was worshipped at
Tibur, as is shown not only by two inscriptions found near the spot, but
also by the mediæval name of this quarter of the town. The form of the
temple also confirms such an opinion.
[Sidenote: Temple of Albunea.]
The second temple stands quite close to this round building, and is now
consecrated as the Church of S. Giorgio. Its shape was that of a
pseudoperipteral temple, i.e. with the side columns half sunk in the
walls, raised on a meagre base of tufa blocks. It had a front, with four
Ionic columns, one of which still remains, forming a support to the
Campanile. An inscription dedicated to Drusilla, the sister of Caligula,
was found here, but no reference as to the name of the temple can be drawn
from it. A bas-relief, also found on the spot, represents the Tiburtine
Sibyl sitting, and in the act of delivering an oracle. Hence it has been
thought that we have in the Church of S. Giorgio the Temple of the Sibyl
Albunea mentioned by Horace, Tibullus, and Lactantius, and this seems to
be the most probable of the various conjectures which have been hazarded
on the subject. The Grove of Tiburnus mentioned by Horace was probably on
the right bank of the Anio, but further than this it is impossible to
determine its exact position. There was also a grove dedicated to Diana.
The Mons Catillus, now Monte Catillo or Monte della Croce, is the height
on the right bank of the Anio. The name is at least as early as the time
of Servius.
[Sidenote: Villas.]
As may easily be imagined there are numerous remains of ancient villas
scattered about the immediate neighbourhood of Tibur, and the local
guides, in order to please travellers but without the slightest evidence
in support of their assertions, have dubbed them the Villas of Catullus,
Horace, Ventidius, Quintilius Varus, Mæcenas, Sallust, Piso, Capito,
Brutus, Popillius, and other celebrated Romans.
The most remarkable ruins are those to which the name of Mæcenas has been
attached. The greater part of these have been now unfortunately concealed
by new buildings and by an iron manufactory, but a fine terrace and parts
of the porticoes still remain on the lofty bank of the Anio. The rest is
a mere confused mass of vaulted chambers and archways. The Via Tecta, or
Porta Oscura, as it is sometimes called, by which the road passes
underneath these ruins, was built, as we learn from an inscription now in
the Vatican collection, by O. Vitulus and Rustius Flavos. The materials
and style show that it can hardly be of a later date than the first
century A.D.
[Sidenote: Tempio della Tosse.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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