Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/840

 820 ROMA. tend to confirm them. Appian {B. C. iii. 41) mentions a temple of Mars 15 stadia distant from the city, which would answer pretty nearly to the distance of between 1 and 2 miles sSe'n. in the inscription quoted. Ovid says {Fast. vi. 191): — " Lux eadem Slarti festa est ; quern prospicit extra Appositum tectae Porta Capena viae." The word prospicit denotes a long view; and as the temjile of Mars stood on a hill, as is evident from the Clivus Jlartis, it misjht easily be visible at the distance of a mile or two. The words of Statins (" qua primum nascitur," &c.) must be corrupt, beins; both tautological and contrary to fact. The pavint; of the road from the Porta Capena to the temple would not have been worth twice recording by Livy, had it lain only at a distance of some 300 yards (x. 23, xsxviii. 28). The only way in which Becker can escape from the legitimate con- clusion is by assuming two temples of JIars in this quarter; in which few, we suspect, will be inclined to follow him, and which may be regarded as equi- valent to a confession of defeat. (Becker, Handb. p. 511, seq.; Antw. p. 63, seq. ; Urlichs, Rom. To- pogr. p. 105, seq.; Preller, Regionen, p. 116, seq.; Canina, Indicazione, p. 56, seq.) Close to the Porta Capena and the temple of Honos et Virtus lay the Vallev of Egeria with the Lucus and Aedes C.vjmenaru."^!, the traditionary spot where Numa sought inspiration and wisdom from the nymph Egeria. (Liv. i. 21; Plut. Nuvi. 13.) In the time of Juvenal, whose description of the spot is a locus classicus for its topography, the grove and temple had been profaned and let out to the Jews : — " Substitit ad veteres arcus madidamque Cape- nam Hie ubi nocturnae Numa constituebat amicae. Nunc sacri fontis nemus et delubra locantur Judaeis, quorum cophinus foenumque supellex. Omnis enim populo mercedem pendere jussa est Arbor, et ejectis mendicat silva Camenis. In vallem Egeriae descendimus et speluncas Dissimiles veris. Quanto praestantius esset Numen aquae, viridi si margine clauderet undas Herba, nee ingenuum violarent marmora to- phum." {Sat. iii. 10, seq.) It is surprising how Becker could doubt that there was an Aedes Camenarum here, since it is not only alluded to in the preceding passage, but also expressly mentioned by PHny (xxxiv. 10.) The modern Ciceroni point out to the traveller as the valley of Egeria a pretty retired spot some distance outsideof the Porto 5. &&as<iano, in the valley called La Caffarella, near which are the remains of a little temple, called by some the temple of Honos et Virtus, by others a temple of Bacchus, with a grove said to be sacred to the latter deity. But though at present our imagination would more gladly fix on this spot as the scene of the conferences between Numa and his nymph, and though respectable au- thorities are not wanting in favour of this view (Venuti, Descr. di Rom. ii. p. 18; Guattani, Rom. Descr. ii. p. 45), yet the preceding passages, to which may be added Symmachus (" Sed enim propter eas (aedes Honoris et Virtutis) Camenarum religio sacro fonti advertitur," Epist, i. 21) and the Notitia, which places the temple of the Camcnae PvOMA. close to that of Honour and Valour, are too decisive to allow us to do so; and we must therefore assume the valley of Egeria to h.ave been that near the church of S. Sisto, opposite to the baths of Caracalla. The little fountain pointed out as that of Egeria in the valley Caffarella, is perhaps the remains of a nymphaeum. Here was probably a sanctuary of the Almo, which waters the valley. Near the temple of Mars, since it is mentioned in iheNotilia in conjunction with it,lay the Temple of Temfestas, built by L. Cornelius Scipio, the victor of Aleria, in commemoration of the escape of the Ro- man fleet from shipwreck off the island of Corsica, as appears from the inscription on his tomb. Tlie temple and the occasion of its foundation are al- luded to by Ovid {Fasti, vi. 1 93) in the following lines : — " Te quoque, Tempestas, meritam delubra fate- mur, Cum paene est Corsis obruta classis aquis." But of the Temple of Minerva, also mentioned at the same time with that of Mars, we know nothing more. Near the last was preserved the Lapis M.^NALis, a large cylindrical stone so called from manare, " to flow," because during seasons of drought it was carried in procession into the city, for the sake of procuring rain. (Paul. Diac. p. 128; Varr. ap. Noil. XV. p. 375, Gerl.) Close to the Porta Capena, and probably outside of it, lay one of the three Senacula mentioned by Festus ; but the only time at which we find meet- ings of the senate recorded there is during the year following the battle of Cann.ae, when they appear to have been regularly held at this place. (Liv. xxiii. 32.) During the same period the tribunal of the praetor was erected at the Piscina Publica. This last object, which seems to have been a swimming- place for the people in the Republican times (Festus, p. 213), gave name to the 12th Regio, which adjoined the 1st, or that of Porta Capena, on the W. (Amm. Marc. xvii. 4; cf. Cic. ad Quint. Fr. iii. 7.) The pond had, however, vanished in the time of Festus, and its exact situation cannot be determined. There are several other objects in this district in the like predicament, such as the Lacus Promethei, the Balneum Torquati, and others mentioned in the Notitia. The Thermae Commodianae and Severi- anae will be considered under the section which treats of the thermae. The Mutatorium Caesaris, perhaps a kind of imperial villa (Preller, Reg. p. 115), appears to have been situated ne.ar the modern church of S. Balbina. (Montfaucon, ap. Urlichs Rom. Topogr. p. 112.) The three Tri- umphal Arches of Trajan, Veeus, and Drusus, mentioned by the Notitia in the 1st Regio, probably spanned the Via Appia in the space be- tween the temple of Jlars and the Porta Capena. The arch still existing just within the Porta S. Sehastiano is generally tliought to be that of Drusus, the father of the emperor Cl.ai-.dius. (" Praeterea Sen.atus, inter .alia complura, marmoreum arcum cum tropaeis via Appia decrevit (Druso)," Suet. Claud. 1) For many miles the tombs of distinguished Ro- mans skirt both sides of the Via Appia; and these remains are perhaps better calculated than any other object to impress the stranger with an adequate idea of Rome's former greatness. For the most part, however, they lie beyond the bounds of the present subject, and we shall therefore content ourselves