In the left corner is the _lapis niger_, the traditional tomb of
Romulus. Facing us is the Arch of Titus, and to the right is the
Palatine.]
The city on the Palatine had been extended so as to include the town
of the Sabines or Quirites on the neighbouring Quirinal hill, before
the first king, who was born in the Sabine country, was called to rule
the Romans. The Capitol at this time was a spur of the Quirinal, and
so remained until Trajan dug away a part of the latter to lay the
foundations of his forum. The Etruscans lived on the Caelian and the
two horns of the Esquiline hills; the former was incorporated in the
primitive city, but the Esquiline and Viminal were not enclosed until
the time of Servius Tullius when Rome first became "the city on Seven
Hills." The Aventine where Remus had wished to build the city was
colonised by the conquered Latin towns in the reign of Ancus Martius,
and this isolated hill, overlooking the Tiber on one side and the
campagna on the other, still haunts the imagination with its
melancholy beauty, its pariah history, as though it embodied the
undying protest of Remus, an unceasing claim upon Roman justice. The
varied and interesting Christian memories here, which begin with the
_titulus_ of Priscilla and Aquila, are continued in the Priory of the
once international Order of the Knights of Malta, recording the
noblest effort of the lay world during the middle ages--the
institution of chivalry; and in the modern Benedictine house of Saint
Anselm--our English Anselm.
The Janiculum, the site of a fortress built by Ancus Martius against
the Etruscans, was not enclosed within the city walls till the time of
Aurelian; the Vatican hill was only enclosed in the ninth century by
Leo IV. All these hills were once steep defences against enemies in
the surrounding country; now that there are no longer any enemies the
Romans appear bent on abolishing the hills, and the mania for planing
and razing is carried to an extent which must seem nothing less
than childish to the visitor. The Viminal has become almost
indistinguishable since the Villa Massimo was pulled down, and only
the name _Via Viminale_, which replaces the older Via Strozzi,
indicates the hill which lay between the Quirinal and the Esquiline.
Some idea may be gained of the original steepness of the hills when we
realise that in the memory of the Romans the road past Palazzo
Aldobrandini--on a slope of the Quirinal--used to be at the level of
the top of the high wall which now surrounds it. The Capitol was only
approachable from the Forum, and was never connected with the city on
the hither side until the construction of the historic steps of Ara
Coeli, one of the rare works undertaken by the Romans during the
absence of the popes in Avignon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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