Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/803

 ROMA. and the Veieres of course on the south side. This relative situation is also establi^hed by the accounts which we have of basihcae being built either on or near their sites, as will appear in the i-equel.. Their arrangement cannot be .satisfactorily ascertained, but of course they could not have stood before the curia and comitium. In process of time the forum began to put on a better appearance by the conversion of the butchers' shops into those of silversmiths ('" Hoc inter'allo primum forensis dignitas erevit, atque ex labemis lanienis argentariae factae," Varro in Non. p. .5.32,51.). No clue, however, is given to the ex.act date of this change. The earliest period at which we read of the arrjentariae is in Livy's description of the triumph of Papirius Cursor, b. c. 308 (is. 40). When the coniitia were declared it seems to have been customary for the argentarii to close their shops. (Varr. L. L. vi. § 91, Jliill.) The tabernae were provided with Maeniana or balconies, which extended beyond the columns supporting the porticoes, and thus formed convenient places for beholding the games on the forum (Festus, p. 134, Miill. ; Isid. Orig. XV. 3, 11.) These JIaeniana appear to have been painted with subjects. Thus Cicero: "' De- monstravi digito pictum Galium in Mariano scuto Cimbrico sub Novis " (jle Or. ii. 66). Pliny mentions another picture, or rather caricature, of a Gaul snb Veterihus, and also a figure of an old sliepherd with a stick. The latter appears to have been considered by the Romans as a valuable work, as some of them asked a German ambassador what he valued it at ? But the barbarian, wlio had no taste for art, said he would not have it as a gift, even if the man was real and alive (xxxv. 8). According to Varro, quoted by the same author {lb. 37), the Maeniana sub Veteribus were painted by Serapion. Another service which Tarquin indirectly rendered to the forum was by the construction of his cloacae, which had the etiect of thoroughly draining it. It w.is now that the Lacus Curtius, which had fonnerly existed in the middle of the forum, disappeared (■' Curtium in locum palustrem, qui tum fuit in foro, iintequam cloacae sunt factae, secessisse," Piso ap. Varr.L. L. v. § 149, seq. Miill.) This, though not 80 romantic a story as the self-immolation of Curtius, is doubtless the true representation; but all the three legends connected with the subject will be found in Varro {I. c.) It was perliaps in commernoiation of the drainage that the shrine or sacellum of Venus Cmiacisa was erected on the N. side of the forum, ni-ar the Tabernae Novae, as appears from the story of Virginius snatching the butcher's knife from a Ro:rA. 78.*? SHRINE OF CLUAciNA. (From a Coin.) shop close to it. (Liv. iii. 48 ; cf, Plin. xv. 36.) Ilie site of the Lacus Curtius after its disappearance was commemorated in another manner. Having been struck with lightning, it seems to have been converted into a dry puteal, which, however, still continued to bear the name of Lacus Curtius (cf. Varr.v § 150): ' Curtius ille lacus, siccas qui su.stinet aras. Nunc solida est tellus, scd lacus ante fuit." (Ov. Fast. vi. 397.) Ever}' year the people used to throw pieces of money into it, a sort of augurium salutis, or new year's gift for Augustus. (.Suet. Avg. 57.) Close to it grew a fig-tree, a vine, and an olive, which had been for- tuitously planted, and were sedulously cultivated by the people; and near tl:em was an altar, dedicated to Vulcan, which was removed at the time of the gladiatorial games given at Caesar's funeral. (Plin. XV. 20; cf. Gruter, Inscr. Ixi. 1, 2.) Servius Tullius probably carried on and completed the works begun by his predecessor around the forum, just as he finished the wall; but he does not appear to have undertaken anything original except- ing the adding of a lovrer dungeon, called after him TuLLiA2{UM, to the Mamertine prison. (" In hoc (carcere) pars quae sub terra Tullianum, ideo quod additum a Tullio rege," Varr. L. L. v. § 151.) This remains to the present day, and still realises to the spectator the terrible description of Sallust (C'nt 55). The Roman Ciceroni point out to the traveller the ScALAK Gemoxi.e inside the JIamertine prison, where there are evident remains of an ancient stair- case. But it appears from descriptions in ancient .authors that th?y M-ere situated in a path leading down from the Capitol towards the prison, and that they were visible from the forum. (Dion Cass. Iviii; 5 : Valer. Max. vi. 9. § 13 ; Tac. Hist. iii. 74.) Traces of this path were discovered in the 16th century (Luc. Fauno, Ant. di Roma, p. 32), and also not; many years ago in excavating the ground by the arch of Severus. It does not appear that any additions or improve- ments were made in the fonim during the )eign of Tarquinius Superbus. The Forum during the Repiihlic. — One of the earliest buildings erected near the forum in the republican times was the temple of Castor Ajxu Pollux. After the b.attle at lake Regillus, the Dioscuri, who had assisted the PLomans in the fight, were seen refreshing themselves and their horses, all covered with dust and sweat, at the little fountain of Juturna, near the temple of Vesta. (Dionys. vi. 13 ; Val. Max. i. 8. § 1 ; Cic. N. D. ii. 2, &c.) A temple had been vowed to those deities during the Latin War by Postumius the dictator ; and the spot where this apparition had been observed was chosen for its site. It was dedi- cated by the son of Postumius B. c. 484. (Liv. ii. 42.) It was not a temple of the largest size ; but its conspicuous situation on the forum made it one of the best known in liome. From the same circumstance the flight of steps leading up to it served as a kind of snggestum or rostra from which to address the people in the forum ; a pur- pose to which it seems to have been sometimes applied by Cae.sar. (Dion Cass, xxxviii. 6 ; cf. Cic. p.8est.b ; Appian, .B.C. iii. 41.) The teniijle served for assemblies of the senate, and fur judicial busi- ness. Its importance is thus described by Cicero : " In aede Castoris. celeberriino clarissimoque monu- mento, quod fcmplum in oculis quotidianoque con- spectu populi Romani est positum ; quo saopemiincro senatus corvocatur ; quo maximarum rerum fre- quenti.ssiinao iiuotidie advocationes fiunt" {in Vei-r. i. 49). Tliouu'h (leiic.ited to the twin poiis, tiio temple was commonly called only Aedvs Castoris, as in the preceding passage ; whence Bibulus, the colleague of Cae.sar in the aedileship, took occasion to compare himself to Pollux, who, tlioiigh he shared the temple in common with his brother, was never once named. (Suet. Cnes. 10.) It was restored by