Not the least interesting discovery in this neighbourhood was that of a number of primitive tombs formed with local stone, shaped like the Campagna huts. It is curious that after upwards of two thousand five hundred years of burial, the remains of the early inhabitants of the Palatine, Cœlian, and Quirinal hills, should be brought to light on the Esquiline, which was the burial-ground till the days of Mæcenas, and be another confirmation of the truth of early Roman history. THE CHURCH OF S. MARTINO was erected by Symmachus, A.D. 500, on the site of the Church of S. Silvester, in the time of Constantine. The nave is formed by twenty-four ancient columns, said to have come from Hadrian's Villa. The Confession, beneath the high altar, leads to the more ancient church formed out of part of the Baths of Hadrian. It was here that the Councils of A.D. 352-356 were held, when the acts of the Council of Nicæa were condemned and burned. The landscape frescoes in the upper church are by the brothers Poussin. _From here we can best visit (No. 10 up the lane, turn round to the left)_ THE SETTE SALE, which was a reservoir for the Colosseum. It consists of nine parallel chambers, communicating with each other by arches placed obliquely, to prevent the pressure of the water on the walls. Between this and S. Maria Maggiore was found the Laocoon, now in the Vatican, by Felix de Freddis, as we are informed by the inscription on his tomb in the Church of Ara Cœli. It was found in 1506, in the same niche where Pliny tells us it was admired in his time. _Returning down the lane into the Via Merulana, turn right. Upon our left were_ THE GARDENS OF MÆCENAS, which, we learn from various ancient authors, were situated on the Esquiline. Horace, speaking of them, says: "Now it is possible to live on the Esquiline, for it is a healthy spot, especially to wander on the sunny agger." Suetonius, speaking of the great fire in Nero's time: "This fire he [Nero] beheld from a tower in the house of Mæcenas on the Esquiline." "Here was a common burying-place for wretched paupers" (Horace). Hence it must have been outside the Wall or agger of Servius Tullius, remains of which have been found on the left-hand side of the road leading from S. Maria Maggiore to S. Giovanni in Laterano. Close to this part, and inside the agger, a chamber has been excavated, evidently THE AUDITORIUM,