Rambles in Rome: An Archæological and Historical Guide to the Museums, Galleries, Villas, Churches, and Antiquities of Rome and the CampagnaForbes, S. Russell
History
Rambles in Rome: An Archæological and Historical Guide to the Museums, Galleries, Villas, Churches, and Antiquities of Rome and the Campagna
Forbes, S. Russell
Art -- Rome; Rome (Italy) -- Guidebooks; Rome -- Antiquities
which passed through the Fora of Cæsar and Augustus to the Suburra. It
was the Paternoster Row of ancient Rome. "Thou preferrest, little
book, to dwell in the shops in the Argiletum" (Martial, i. 3).
_At its entrance stood_
THE BRONZE SHRINE OF JANUS.
In A.U.C. 39, "Numa built a shrine to Janus, near the foot of the hill
Argiletum, which was to notify a state either of war or peace" (Livy,
i. 19). Ovid ("Fasti," i. 259) says, "Thou hast a shrine adjoining two
Fora" (the Forum of Cæsar and the Roman Forum). "There was a Janus in
the Forum before the Curia. This temple was made entirely of bronze,
and of a square form; it was hardly large enough to hold the figure of
Janus. The bronze image was four cubits high; in other respects like a
man, except that it had two faces, one looking towards the east and
the other towards the west. There were bronze doors in each front"
(Procopius, "Bel. Got." i. 25). A brick podium under the right end
column of the Arch of Severus marks its site.
_Somewhat in the foreground is_
THE ARCH OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS,
erected, A.D. 205, in honour of the emperor and his two sons,
Caracalla and Geta, by the senate and people of Rome.[4] The
sculptures adorning it are interesting, and represent his victories
over the Parthians, Arabians, and Adiabenes.
A chariot, containing the statues of the emperor and his sons, drawn
by six horses (now in S. Mark's, Venice), stood on the summit. The
sculptures represent details of the Roman military harangues, sieges,
camps, assaults with battering-rams, and the submission of prisoners.
The front towards the Forum represents the emperor addressing his
troops, the taking of Carrha, the siege of Nisibis. The front facing
the Capitol represents another harangue, the siege of Atra, and the
passage of the Euphrates and Tigris.
_In front of the arch are the bases of_
THE DUILIAN COLUMN,
[Illustration: DUILIAN COLUMN.]
erected A.U.C. 493. "Caius Duilius was the first to gain a naval
triumph over the Carthaginians: his column still remains in the
Forum" (Pliny, xxxiv. 11). It was of bronze, made out of the rostra of
the captured ships. Being struck by lightning, it was restored by
Germanicus, under Tiberius, and part of his inscription is still to be
seen in the column made to receive it by Michael Angelo in the Palazzo
dei Conservatori, on the Capitol.
THE MÆNIA COLUMN
"was erected in honour of C. Mænius, who conquered the ancient Latins,
A.U.C. 416, and to whom the Romans gave a third of the spoil" (Pliny,
xxxiv. 11).
_Immediately behind the Arch of Severus are the remains of_
OPIMIUS'S TEMPLE OF CONCORD.
Here was originally a shrine erected by Flavius. Livy (ix. 46) says,
"In A.U.C. 449, to the great displeasure of the nobles, Caius Flavius
performed the dedication of the Temple of Concord, in the area of
Vulcan."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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