Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/761

 ROMA. so rich and so close to one another that they miglit appear to exhibit the rest of the city as a mere supplement. Hence this place is considered the most honourable and sacred of all, and has been appro- priated to the monuments of the most distinguished men and women. The most remarkable of these is that called the Mausoleum, a vast mound near the river raised upon a lofty base of white stone, and covered to its summit with evergreen trees. Ou the top is a bronze statue of Augustus ; whilst under the mound are the tombs of himself, his relatives, and friends, and at the back of it a large grove, affording delightful promenades. In the middle of the Campus is an enclosed space where the body of Augustus was burnt, also constructed of white stone, sur- rounded with an iron rail, and planted in the interior with poplar trees. Then if we proceed to the ancient forum, and sm-vey the numerous ba- silicae, porticoes, and temples which surround it, and view the Capitol and its works, as well as those on the Palatine and in the portico of Livia, we might easily be led to forget all other cities. Such is Rome " (v. pp. 235, 236). In spite, however, of this glowing picture, or rather perhaps from the emphasis which it lays on the description of the Campus Martins, whilst the remainder of the city is struck off with a few light touches, it may be suspected that in the time of Augustus tlie ancient part of Rome, with the excep- tion of the immediate vicinity of the forum and Capitol, did not present a spectacle of any great magnificence. The narrovsmess and irregularity of the streets, the consequence of the hasty manner iu which the city was rebuilt after its destruction by the Gauls, still continued to disfigure it in the time of Augustus, as is shown by a passage in Livy (v. 55), already cited (cf. Tacitus, Ann. xv. 38: " Ob- noxia m-be artis itineribus, hucque et illuc flexis, atque enormibus vicis, qualis vetusRoma. fuit" — that is, before the fire). This defect was not remedied till the great fire in the reign of Nero, which forms the next remarkable epoch in the history of the city. V. The City till the Time of Aueelian. Fire under Nero. — There had been a destructive fire in the reign of Tiberius, which bm-nt down all the buildings on the Caelian hill (Tac. Ann. iv. 64); but this was a mere trifle compared with the extensive conflagration under Nero. The latter, the most de- structive calamity of the kind that had ever happened at Rome, is unequivocally said by Suetonius {Nero, 38) to have been caused by the wilful act of the emperor, from disgust at the narrow and winding streets. Nero is represented by that historian as contemplating the flames with delight from the tower of Maecenas on the Esquiiine, and as convert- ing the awful reality into a sort of dramatic spectacle, by singing as the fire raged, in proper scenic attire, the Sack of Troy ; nor does the more judicious Tacitus altogether reject the imputation {Anii. xv. 38, seq.) The fire commenced at the lower part of the Circus Maximus, where it adjoins the Caelian and Palatine, in some shops containing combustible materials. Thence it spread through the whole lfni;th of the circus to the Forum Boarium, and northwards over the whole Palatine till it was arrested at the foot of the Esquiiine. It lasted six days and seven nights, and its extent m.iy be judged from the fact that out of the fourteen Regions three were completely destroyed, and seven very nearly so, whilst only thrue escaped altogether untouched. ROMA. •41 The three Regions utterly destroyed must have been the xitli, xth, and ivth, or those called Circus Maximus, Palatium, and Templum Pacis. The forum must have suffered considerably, but the Ca- pitol seems to have escaped, as the Capitoline temple, after its first destruction in the time of Sulla, remained entire till burnt by the Vitellians. The narrow and crooked streets, and the irregular Vici of which ancient Rome was composed, rendered it impossible to arrest the conflagration. Nero was at Antium when it broke out, and did not return to Rome till the flames were threatening his own palace, which he had not the power to save. Tliis was the Domiis Transiloria, the domain of which he had extended from the Palatine to the gardens of Maecenas on the Esquiiine. What chiefly directed suspicion against Nero, as having wilfully caused the fire, was the circumstance of its breaking out afresh in the Aemilian property of his minion Tigellinus. Much irreparable loss was occasioned by this fire, such as the destruction of several time-honoured fanes, of many master-pieces of Greek art, besides a vast amount of private property. Among the vene- rable temples which perished on this occasion, were that of Luna, erected by Servius TuUius, the altar and fane of Hercules in the Forum Boarium, the temple of Jupiter Stator, founded by Romulus, those of Vesta and of the Penates Populi Romani, and the Regia of Numa. Yet, on the other hand, the fire made room for great improvements. Nero caused the town to be rebuilt on a regular plan, with broad streets, open spaces, and less lofty houses. All the buildings were isolated, and a certain portion of each was constructed with Alban or Gabinian stone, so as to be proof against fire; to guard against which a plentiful supply of water was laid on. As a means of escape and assistance in the same calamity, as well as for the sake of ornament, Nero also caused porticoes to be built at his own expense along the fronts of the insulae. He supplied the proprietor with money for building, and specified a certain time by which the houses were to be completed (Tac. Ann. xv. 38— 43; Suet. Ner^o, 38). Thus Rome sprung a second time from her ashes, in a style of far greater splendour than before. The new palace, or dumus aurea, of the emperor himself kejit pace with the increased magnificence of the city. Its bounds comprehended large parks and gardens, filled with wild animals, where solitude might be found in the very heart of the city ; a vast lake, sur- rounded with large buildings, filled the valley iu which the Flavian amphitheatre was afterwartls erected ; the palace was of such extent as to have triple porticoes of a thousand feet ; in the vestibule stood a colossal figure of Nero himself, 120 feet in height ; the ceilings were panelled, the cli.imbers gilt, and inlaid with gems and mother-of-pearl; and the baths flowed both with fresh and .sea water. When this magnificent abode was completed, Nero vouchsafed to honour it with his qualified approba- tion, and was heard to observe, " that he was at last beginning to lodge like a man." (Suet. Nero, 3 1 ; M-Mt.de Sped. 2.) Chaiujes under subsequent Emperors. — The two predecessors of Nero, Caligula and Claudius, did not effect much for the city ; and the short and turbulent reigns of his three successors, Galba, Otho, and Vitcllius, were charactori.vcd r;ithcr by destruction than improvement. Caligula indeed )iei- fccted bome of the dcsigua of Tiberius (Suet. L'aL 3 B 3