Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/857

 EOMA. a very corrupt passage in Pliny (sxxvi. 24. s. 1), topogra pliers have related that the temple was de- dirated to Jupiter Ultor; but this is altogether in- consistent with other accounts of its destination; and it appears from an emendation of Jan, derived from the Codex Bambergensis, that we should read Diribitorii for Jovi Ullori (Becker, Handb. p. 6'{5). Dion Cassius states that it received the name ROMA. 8.37 of Pantheon because it contained the images of many gods (liii. 27), which, however, seem to have been thohe of the deities mythically connected with the Julian race, and among them that of Caesar him.self. The temple is circular, and its magnificent portico with triple row of columns, though perhaps not quite in harmony with the main building, cannot fail to excite the admiration of the beholder. It owes its 1"ANTHEN OF AGKIPPA. excellent state of preservation partly to the solidity of its construction, partly to its having been conse- crated .as a Christian church as early as the reign of Phocas, under the title of 5. Maria ad Martyres, or delki Rotonda. To the lover of the fine arts it is doubly interesting from containing the tomb of Raphael. Some architects have thought that it was not originally intended for a temple, but as part of the baths; a notion, however, that is refuted by passages in ancient writers, where it is styled templum (Plin. xxxvi. 5. s. 38; Jlacrob. Sat. ii. 13). The Pantheiin stood in the centre of the Campus Martius, taking that name in its widest sente. The Thermae, of which only a few unim| ortant remains exist, adjoined it on the S., and must have extended to near the Hecatostylon. The Diribitorium was a large building destined, according to Becker (^Handb. p. 638), to the examination of the voting tablets used in the comitia, in order to determine the result of elections, and must therefore have been situated near the Septa. It seems to have been left unfinished atAgrippa's death, and was dedicated by Augustus, u. c. 7. Its vast unsupported roof was one of the wonders of Rome, and, when destroyed in the fire of Titus, could not be replaced. (Dion Cass. Iv. 8; Plin. xvi. 40.) In hot weather Caligula some- times converted it into a theatre (Dion Cass. lix. 7). The portico whicji Agrippa erected in the Campus Martius appears to have been called Porticus Argonautarum, from its being adorned with a picture of the Argonauts, and was erected in com- memoration of Agrippa's naval victories (Dion Cass. liii. 27; Mart. iii. 20. 11). Becker (Handb. p. 637) contends that this was the tame building called Basilica Neptuni by Spartian (Iladr. 19), and noffdSiii'ioi' by Dion Cassius (Ixvi. 24). But a basilica is not equivalent to a portico, nor can we imagine that Dion would have used the term FIo- iretSciviov of a (Ttoo; whence it seems more probable, as a.-^sumed by Oanina (^Iridic, p. 406) and other topographers, that Agrippa also erected a Temple OF Neptune, which was connected with, or probably surrounded by the portico. Nardiiii and Canina — the latter from recent researches — are of opinion that the eleven columns now existing in the front of the Dogana di Terra in the Piazza di Pietra, near the Antonine column, belonged to this temple. Of .i Porticus Meleagri mentioned in the Kotitia in connection with that of the Argonautarum, we know nothing further. Augustus also erected a few monuments on the Campus Martius. Among them was the Solarium AuGUSTi, an obelisk which now stands on Monte Citorio, which served as a gigantic gnomon, and, on an immense marble flooring that surrounded it, exhibited not only the hours, but also the increase and de- crease of the days (Plin. xxxvi. 15). In the north- ern part of the Campus, between the Via Flaminia and the Tiber, he caused to be constructed during his life-time that superb Mausoleum, a description of which by Strabo has already been cited in the former part of this article. This district had for some time previously served as a burying place for the most distinguished persons. Among others buried near this spot were Sulla, Caesar together with his aunt and daughter, and the two consuls Hirtius and Pansa, who fell at Mutina. Several members of the fannly of Augustus had been entombed in the mausoleum before the ashes of Augustus himself were deposited within it ; a.s Marcellus, Agrippa, Octavia, and Drusus (Dion Cass. liii. 30; Virg. Aen. vi. 873, scq., Ov. dms. ad Liv. 67). By the time of Hadrian it was com- pletely filled ; which caused him to build a new one on the opposite side of the river (Dion Cass. Ixix. 23). There are still considerable remains of the monument of Augustus. The area on which the sepulchre of the Caesars stood is now converted into a sort of amphi- theatre for spectacles of the lowest description : sic transit gloria numdi. It is doubtful whether a third building of Augustus called Porticus ad Nati- ONES, or XIV. Nationes, stood in the Cantpus Martius or in the Circus Flaniiiiius. It appears to have been near the theatre of Pompey, and contained statues representing different nations (Plin. xxxvi. 5. s. 4 ; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 721.) Near the Mausoleum appears to have been a por- tico called Via Tecta, tlie origin of which is un- 3 K 3