Romans an arch of Janus Quadrifrons. Though partly built of
earlier fragments, it is late in style, and may be the Arcus
Constantini mentioned in the XIth region. The finest existing arch
is that by the Colosseum erected by Constantine. It owes, however,
little of its beauty to that artistically degraded period. Not only
most of its reliefs but its whole design and many of its architectural
features were stolen from an earlier arch erected by Trajan as an
entrance to his forum (see above). The arch of Claudius, built in
43 to commemorate his supposed victories in Britain, stood across
the Via Lata (modern Corso) in the Piazza Sciarra. Its exact
position is shown in Bull. Comm. Arch. Rom., 1878, pl. iv. Its remains
were removed in the middle of the 16th century,[1] and nothing now
is left but half its inscription, preserved in the garden of the Barberini
palace. It is shown on both aurei and denarii of Claudius, with
an attic inscribed DE BRITANNIS, and surmounted by a quadriga
and trophies. A little to the N. of the Piazza Colonna was an
arch popularly called the Arco di Portogallo, destroyed in 1665,
whose reliefs are now in the Palazzo dei Conservatori. They appear
to date from the reign of Hadrian, but may have been used at a
later time to decorate this arch. An arch also stood opposite
S. Maria in Via Lata until 1498, which was probably erected by
Diocletian in A.D. 303. The central part of the once triple arch of
Gallienus still exists on the Esquiline; it took the place of the ancient
Porta Esquilina of the Servian wall. It is built of travertine, is
simple in design, with coarse details, and has an inscription on its
attic. The two side arches and pediment over the centre existed
in the 16th century, and are shown in the Mantuan oil-painting
of Rome,[2] and in several antiquarian works of the 16th century.
The inscription (C. I. L. vi. 1106) records that it was erected in
honour of Gallienus and his wife Salonina by Aurelius Victor.[3]
The column of Antoninus Pius was a monolith of red granite, erected after his death by his adopted sons M. Aurelius and L. Verus. One fragment of it is preserved in the Vatican with an interesting quarry inscription, recording that it was cut in the ninth year of Trajan's reign, under the supervision Columns. of Dioscurus and the architect Aristides. The rest of its fragments were used by Pius VI. to repair the obelisk of Monte Citorio, set up by Augustus in the Campus Martius as the gnomon of a sundial (Plin. H.N. xxxvi. 72). The marble pedestal of the Antonine column is now in the Vatican; it has reliefs representing the apotheosis of Faustina and Antoninus Pius, and the decursio equitum which formed part of the funeral ceremony. This and the column of M. Aurelius were both surmounted by colossal portrait statues of gilt bronze. The column of M. Aurelius is very similar in size and design to that of Trajan. Its spiral reliefs represent victories in Germany from 171-175, arranged in twenty tiers. Like the column of Trajan, it is exactly 100 Roman ft. high, without the pedestal. The pedestal was originally much higher than at present, but is now partly buried; it is shown by Gamucci, Du Pérac and other 16th-century writers. This column stood in front of a temple to M. Aurelius, and within a great peribolus, forming a forum similar to that of Trajan, though much smaller; the remains of this temple, amongst other buildings, probably form the elevation now called Monte Citorio.[4]
For the catacombs, see Catacombs; for obelisks, see Obelisk and Egypt.
The prehistoric cemeteries of Rome are described above (Prehistoric Rome). Few tombs exist of the Roman period earlier than the 1st century B.C.,—probably owing to the great extension of the city beyond the Servian limits, which thus obliterated the earlier burial-places. The tomb of the Cornelii Scipiones is the most Tombs. important of early date which still exists. It is excavated in the tufa rock at the side of the Via Appia, outside the Porta Capena. Interments of the Scipio family went on here for about 400 years, additional chambers and passages being excavated from time to time. The peperino sarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus (Liv. x. 12, 13), consul in 298 B.C., is now in the Vatican; its inscription, in rude Saturnian verse, is one of the most important existing specimens of early Latin epigraphy. Many other inscribed slabs were found in the 17th century, covering the loculi in which lay the bodies of later members of the family. Those now existing in the tomb are modern copies.[5] This burial-place of the Scipios is unlike those of other families, owing to the gens Cornelia keeping up the early custom of interment without burning; thus stone sarcophagi or loculi (rock-cut recesses) were required instead of mere pigeonholes to hold the cinerary urns. The tomb of M. Bibulus, a few yards outside the Porta Fontinalis, and remains of two recently discovered during the destruction of the Aurelian towers at the Porta Salara, date from about the middle of the 1st century B.C., as does also the curious tomb of the baker Eurysaces outside the Porta Maggiore. In 1863 an interesting tomb of the Sempronia gens[6] was discovered on the Quirinal, below the royal palace, near the site of the Porta Salutaris. It is of travertine, with a rich entablature and frieze sculptured with the Greek honeysuckle ornament (see Bull. Comm. Arch., 1876, 126, pl. xii.). This also is of the last years of the republic.
The mausoleum of Augustus, built 28 B.C., stood in the north part of the Campus Martius, between the Tiber and the Via Flaminia. It is a massive cylindrical structure of concrete, faced with opus reticulatum; according to Strabo, this was faced with “white stone,” i.e. travertine; inside was a series of radiating Mausolea. chambers, in plan like a wheel. On the top was a great mound of earth, planted with trees and flowers (Tac. Ann. iii. 9). In the middle ages it was converted into a fortress by the Colonna, which was destroyed in 1167. In the 16th century the central portion was occupied by a garden.[7] Only the bare core exists now, with its fine opus reticulatum, best seen in the court of the Palazzo Valdambrini. The inside is concealed by modern seats, being now used as a concert-hall (Anfiteatro Chorea). The sepulchral inscription in honour of Augustus, engraved on two bronze columns at the entrance, is preserved to us by its copy at Ancyra (q.v.). It records an almost incredible amount of building: in addition to the long list of building mentioned by name Augustus says, DVO . ET . OCTAGINTA . TEMPLA . DEVM . IN . VRBE . CONSVL . SEXTVM . REFECI. The first burial in the mausoleum of Augustus was that of M. Claudius Marcellus (died 23 B.C.), and it continued to be the imperial tomb till the death of Nerva, A.D. 98, after whose interment there was no more room.
The mausoleum of Hadrian, built by that emperor as a substitute for that built by Augustus, and dedicated in A.D. 138 by his successor, was a large circular building on a square podium; its walls, of enormous thickness, were of tufa faced with Parian marble and surrounded by a colonnade with rows of statues,—a work of the greatest magnificence. The splendour of the whole is described by Procopius (Bell. Goth. i. 22), who mentions its siege by the Goths, when the defenders hurled statues on to the heads of the enemy. In the 7th century the church of S. Angelus inter Nubes was built on its summit, and all through the middle ages it served as a papal fortress. The interior chambers are still well preserved, but its outside has been so often wrecked and refaced that little of the original masonry is visible.[8]
Several of the grander sepulchral monuments of Rome were built in the form of pyramids. One of these still exists, included in the Aurelian wall, by the Porta Ostiensis. It is a pyramid of concrete, 118 feet high, faced with blocks of white marble, and contains a small chamber decorated with painted Sepulchral pyramids. stucco. An inscription in large letters on the marble facing records that it was built as a tomb for C. Cestius, a praetor, tribune of the people, and septemvir of the epulones (officials who supervised banquets in honour of the gods). It was erected, according to Cestius's will, by his executors, in the space of 330 days. It dates from the time of Augustus[9] (see Falconieri, in Nardini, Roma Antica, iv. p. 1, ed. 1818-20). Another similar pyramid, popularly known as the tomb of Romulus, stood between the mausoleum of Hadrian and the basilica of St Peter. It was destroyed at the close of the 15th century, during the rebuilding of the long bridge which connects the former building with the Vatican.
The earliest bridge was a wooden drawbridge called the Pons Sublicius from the piles (sublicae) on which it was built. The river being an important part of the defence of Rome from the Aventine to the Porta Flumentana (see plan of Servian wall, fig. 8), no permanent bridges were made till the Romans were Bridges. strong enough not to fear attacks from without. The Pons Sublicius had a sacred character, and was always restored in wood, even in the imperial period.[10] Its exact site is doubtful, but it must be placed some distance below the Ponte Rotto. The first stone bridge was begun in 179 B.C. and completed in 142 B.C., when the conquest of Etruria and the defeat of Hannibal had put an end to fears of invasion; it was called the Pons Aemilius, after the pontifex maximus[11] M. Aemilius Lepidus, its founder. It was also called Pons
- ↑ See Vacca, ap. Fea, Misc., p. 67.
- ↑ Reproduced by De Rossi in his Piante di Roma Anteriori al Sec. XVI. (1879).
- ↑ See Bellori, Veteres Arcus (1690), showing some now destroyed; and Rossini, Archi Trionfali (1832).
- ↑ On the Antonine column see Petersen in Amelung's Katalog der vaticanischen Sculpturen, i. p. 883; on that of M. Aurelius see Die Marcussäule, by Petersen, v. Domaszewski and Calderini (Munich, 1896).
- ↑ The inscriptions are given in C. I. L. i. 29-39—vi. 1284-94. On the earlier ones see Woelfflin, Münchener Sitzungsberichte (1892), 188 ff.
- ↑ This is shown by an inscription (C. I. L. vi. 26152) found on the site in the 17th century.
- ↑ See Du Pérac’s Vestigj, pl. 36, which shows the garden on the top.
- ↑ On the mausoleum of Hadrian, see Borgatti, Castel S. Angelo (1890).
- ↑ Near the tomb of Cestius is that extraordinary mound of potsherds called Monte Testaccio. These are mostly fragments of large amphorae, not piled up at random, but carefully stacked, with apertures at intervals for ventilation. It has been shown by Dressel (Ann. dell' Inst., 1878, 118 ff.; C. I. L. xv. p. 492) that damaged or imperfect vessels were thus disposed of.
- ↑ See Varro, L.L. v. 83; Ov. Fast. v. 622; Tac. Hist. i. 86; Vita Antonini Pii, 8.
- ↑ The bridges were specially under the care of the pontifex maximus, at least till the later years of the republic (Varro, I. L. v. 83).
