Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/830

 810 ROMA. between the arch of Constantine and the Colosseum. (Hieron. p. 443, Rone; Cassiod. Chron. ii. p. 198.) It stands in the middle of a large circular basin, which was discovered in the last excavations at that spot, as well as traces of the conduit which con- EOMA. vered the water. A meta sudans is mentioned in Seneca (£)). 56), whence we might infer that the one DOW existing superseded an earlier one (v. Beschr. iii. 312, seq.; Canina, Indicaz. p. 119). AKCH OF CONSTANTINE. VII. The Aventine. We have already adverted to the anomalous cha- racter of this hill, and how it was regarded with suspicion in the early times of Rome, as ill-omened. Yet there were several famous spots upon it, having traditions connected with them as old or older than those relating to the Palatine, as well as several re- nowned and antique temples. One of the oldest of these legendary monuments was the Altar of Evander, which stood at the foot of the hill, near the Porta Trigemina. (Dionys. i. 32.) Not far from it, near the Salinae, was the Cave of Cacus, a name which a part of the hill near the river still retains. (Solinus, i. 8; cf. Virg. ^era. viii. 190, seq.; Ovid, Fast. i. 551, seq.) Here also was the altar said to have been dedicated by Hercules, after he had found the cattle, to Jupiter Inventor. (Dionys. i. 39.) A spot on the summit of the hill, called Remoria, or Remuria, preserved the memory of the auspices taken by Remus. (Paul. Diac. p. 276 ; Dionys. i. 85, seq.) Niebuhr, however, assumes another hill beyond the basilica of St. Paolo, and consequently far outside the walls of Aurelian, to have been the place called Remoria, destined by Remus for the building of his city. (^Eist. i. p. 223, seq. and note 618.) Other spots connected with very ancient traditions, though subsequent to the foundation of the city, were the Armilustrium and the Lauretum. The Armilustrum, or Armilustrium, at first indi- cated only a festival, in which the soldiers, armed with ancilia, performed certain military sports and sacrifices ; but the name was subsequently applied to the place where it was celebrated. (Varr. L.L. V. § 153, vi. § 22, Miill.; Liv. xxvii. 37; Plut. Rom. 23.) Plutarch (/. c.) says that king Tatius was buried here; but the Lauretum, so named from its grove of laurels, is also designated as his place of sepulture. (Varr. L.L. v. § 152; Plin. xv. § 40 ; Dionys. iii. 43 ; Festus, p. 360.) There was a distinction between the Lauretum Majus and Mi- nus {Cal. Capran. Id. Aug.); and the Basis Capi- tolina mentions a Vicus Loreti Jlajoris and another I.oreti Minoris. The same document also records a Vicus Annilustri. Numa dedicated an altar to J rriTEU Elicius on the Aventine. (Varr. L. L. vi. § 54; Liv. i. 20; cf. Ov. F. iii. 295, seq.); and the Calendars indicate a sacrifice to be performed there to Consus (Fast. Capran. XIL Kal. Sep; Fast. Amitern. Pr. Id. Dec); but this is probably the same deity whose altar we have mentioned in the Circus Maximus. The Temple of Diana, built by Servius Tullius as the common sanctuary of the cities belonging to the Latin League, with money contributed by them, conferred more importance on the Aventine (Varr. L.L. V. § 43 ; Liv. i. 45 ; Dionys. iv. 26). This union has been compared with, and is said to have been suggested by, that of the lonians for building the Artemisium, or temple of Diana, at Ephesus. It has been justly observed that Rome's supremacy was tacitly acknowledged by the building of the temple on one of the Roman hills (Liv. I. c. ; Val. Max. vii. 3. § 1). Dionysius informs us that he saw in this temple the original stele or pillar containing the Foedus Latinum, as well as that on which the Lex Icilia was engraved. It appears, from Martial (vi. 64. 12), to have been situated on that side of the Aventine which faced the Circus Maximus, and hence it may have stood, as marked in Bufalini's plan, at or near the church of 5. Prisca (cf. Canina, In- dicazione, p. 532).i We may further observe that Martial calls the Aventine " CoUis Dianae," from this temple (vii. 73, xii. 18. 3). We learn from Suetonius that it was rebuilt hy L. Cornificius, in the reign of Augustus {Auff. 29). That emperor does not appear to have done anything to it himself, as it is not mentioned in the Monumentum Ancyra- num. Another famous temple on the Aventine was that of Juno Regina, built by Camillus after the con- quest of Veil, from which city the wooden statue of the goddess was carried off, and consecrated here ; but the temple was not dedicated by Camillus till four years after his victory (Liv. v. 22, seq.; Val. Max. i. 8. § 3). Hence, probably, the reason why " cupressea simulacra," or images of cypress, were subsequently dedicated to this deity (Liv. xxvii. 37; Jul. Obs. 108); although a bronze statue appears to have been previously erected to her. (Liv. xxi. 62.) We have already seen from the description of the procession of the virgins in Livy (xxvii. 37) that the I