Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/757

 ROMA. war with Pyrrhus which soon ensued, and after- wards the still larger and more destructive ones waited with the Carthaginians, prevented the pro- gress which might have been anticipated from these beginnings. The construction of a second aqueduct, the Anio Vetus, in the censorship of Man. Curius Dentatus and L. Papirius Cursor, b. c. 272, testifies, however, that the population of the city must have continued to increase. In the year b. c. 220 we find the censor C. Flaminius constructing the Flaminian Way, as well as the circus which bore his name. (Liv. Epit. XX.; Paul Diac. p. 89.) But it was the conquests of the Romans in Lower Italy, in Sicily, and Greece, which first gave them a taste for archi- tectural magnificence. The first basihca was erected at Rome in the year b. c. 184, and was soon followed by others, as there will be occasion to relate when we come to speak of the forum. But it was not till ten years later that the city was first paved by the care of the censors Q. Fulvius Flaccus and A. Post- uniius Albinus. They also paved the public high- ways, constructed numerous bridges, and made many other important improvements, both in the city and its neighbourhood. (Liv. xli. 27.) Yet, notwith- standing these additions to the public convenience and splendour, the private houses of the Romans continued, with few exceptions, to be poor and in- convenient down to the time of Sulla. The house of Cn. Octavius, on the Palatine, seems to have ex- hibited one of the earliest examples of elegant do- mestic architecture. (Cic. de Off. i. 39.) This was pulled down by Scaurus in order to enlarge his own house. The latter seems subsequently to have come into the possession of Clodius (Ascon. ad Cic. Mil. Arg. and its magnificence may be inferred from the circumstjince that he gave 14,800,000 sesterces for it, or about 130,000^. (Plin. xxxvi. 24. a. 2.) In- deed, as we approach the imperial times, the dwellings of the leading Romans assume a scale of extraordinary grandeur, as we see by Pliny's description of that of Crassus the orator, who was censor in b. c. 92. It was also on the Palatine, and was remarkable for six magnificent lotus-trees, which Pliny had seen in his youth, and which continued to ilourish till they were destroyed in the tire of Nero. It was also distinguished by four columns of Hymettian marble, the first of that material erected in Rome. Yet even this was surpassed by the house of Q. Catulus, the colleague of Marius in the Cimbrian war, which was also on the Palatine ; and still more so by that of C. Aquilius on the Viminal, a Roman knight, dis- tinguished for his knowledge of civil law. (Plin. xvii. 1.) M. Livius Drusus, tribune of the people in B. c. 93, also possessed an elegant residence, close to that of Catulus. After his death it came into the possession of the wealthy M. Crassus, of whom it was bought by Cicero for about 30,000Z. {ad Fam. V. 6). It seems to have stood on the N. side of the Palatine, on the declivity of the hill, not far from the Nova Via, so that it commanded a view of the forum and Capitol. It was burnt down in the Clo- diaii riots, and a temple of Freedom erected on the s])ot ; but after the return of Cicero was restored to iiiiM, rebuilt at the public expen.se. (Cic. ad Ait. ii. 24, Fam. v. 6.; Veil. Pat. ii. 45; Dion Cass. xxxviii. 17, xxxix. 11, 20; App. B. C. ii. 15, &c.) The house of Lepidus, consul in B.C. 77, was also remarkable for its magnificence, having not only columns, but even its thresholds, of solid Nuini- dian marble. (Plin. xxxvi. 8.) The luxury of private residences at Rome seems to have attained VOL. II. ROMA. 737 its acme in those of Sal Inst and Luculhis. The distinguishing feature of the former, which lay on the Quirinal, was its gardens (Horti Sallustiani), which probably occupied the valley between the Quirinal and Pincian, as well as part of the latter hill. (Becker, Ilandb. p. 583.) The house of Lu- cullus, the conqueror of Mithridates and Tigranes, was situated on the Pincian, and was also surrounded with gardens of such remarkable beauty, that the desire of possessing them, which they awakened in the breast of Messalina, caused the death of their subsequent owner, P. Valerius Asiaticus. (Tac. Ann. xi. 1; Dion Cass. Ix. 31.) From this period they formed one of the most splendid possessions of the imperial family. (Plut. Lucull. 39.) The ambitious designs entertained by the great leaders of the expiring Republic led them to court public favour by the foundation of public buildings rather than to lay out their immense wealth in adorning their own residences. The house inhabited by Pompey in the Carinae was an hereditary one ; and though, after his triumph over Mithridates and the pirates, he rebuilt it on a more splendid scale and adorned it with the beaks of ships, yet it seems even then to have been far from one of the most splendid in Rome. (Plut. Pomp. 40, seq.) On the other hand, he consulted the taste and convenience of the Romans by building a theatre, a curia, and several temples. In like manner Caesar, at the height of his power, was content to reside in the ancient Regia ; though this indeed was a sort of official residence which his office of Pontifex Maximns com- pelled him to adopt. (Suet. Cues. 46.) But ho formed, and partly executed, many magnificent de- signs for the embellishment of the city, which his short tenure of power prevented him from accom- plishing. Among these were a theatre of unexampled magnitude, to be hollowed out of the Tarpeian rock ; a temple of Blars, greater than any then existing ; the foundation of two large public libraries ; the construction of a new forum ; besides many other important works, both at Rome and in the provinces. (Suet. Cacs. 26, 44; App. B. C. ii. 102, &c.) The firm and lengthened hold of power enjoyed by Augustus, and the immense resources at hi* dis- posal, enabled him not only to carry out several of his uncle's plans, but also some new ones of his own ; so that his reign must be regarded as one of the most important epochs in the history of the city. The foundation of new temples and other public buildings did not prevent him from repairing and embellishing the ancient ones ; and all his designs were executed with so much magnificence that he could boast in his old age of having found Rome of brick and left it of marble. (Suet. Avg. 28.) In these under- takings he was assisted by the taste and iinmificenco of his son-in-law Agrippa, who first founded public and gratuitous baths at Rome (Dion Cass. liv. 29); but as we shall have occasion to give an account of these works, as well as of those executed by Pompey and Caesar, in the topographical pf)rtion of thi.s article, it will not be necessary to enumerate them here; and we shall proceed tfl describe the im- portant municipal reforms intriKluced by Augustus, especially his new divisiou of the city into Vici and Regions. Rvijiom of Aiirpislvs. — Although Rome had long outgrown its limits under Servius Tullius, yet the nnmiciiial divisions of that monarch subsisted till the time of Augustus, who made them his model, SO far as the altered circumstances of the city would Su