_ma_GISTRI . VICI . ÆSCLETI . ANNI . VIIII
which is valuable as giving us the name of the street Vicus Æscletus,
Beech Street.
"Nec rigida mollior æsculo."
HORACE, _Odes_, iii. 10.
"Altior ac penitus terræ defigitur arbos,
Æsculus in primis."
VIRGIL, _Georgics_, ii. 290.
This is the first mention we have of this street. The victors of the
Pythian games were crowned with a chaplet made of beech leaves before
the bay (laurel) was used; hence Ovid,--
"Æsculeæ capiebat frondis honorem."
_Met._ i. 449.
Suetonius ("Augustus," xxx.) says, "He divided the city into regions
and streets, ordaining that the annual magistrates should take by lot
the charge of the former, and that the latter should be superintended
by wardens chosen out of the people of each neighbourhood." Pliny ("N.
H.," iii. 9) says, "The city is divided into fourteen regions, with
two hundred and sixty-five cross streets under the guardianship of the
Lares."
The pedestal of the Apollo, leader of the Muses (No. 516), in the
Vatican Museum, is an altar dedicated to the Laribus Augustis, Genius
Cæsarum, by four street officials; on the left of which is the Genius
of Augustus, similar to the statue, 555, in the Sala Rotonda.
If the Jewish tradition is correct, that the House of S. Paul was at
the angle of the Via S. Bartolomeo dei Vaccinari and the Via degli
Strengari; and if the Romish Church tradition is true, that he had a
school (room shown) at the Church of S. Paola alla Regola, on the Via
S. Paola alla Regola, a continuation of the Via S. Bartolomeo dei
Vaccinari; then we have at last arrived at the name of the street
where the apostle dwelt for two whole years in his own hired house, 62
to 64,--namely, the Vicus Æscletus, probably so called because it led
to a grove of beech trees, Æsculus being corrupted into Æscletus.
Pliny (xvi. 15) speaks of this grove: "Q. Hortensius, the dictator, on
the secession of the plebeians to the Janiculum (A.U.C. 466), passed a
law in the Æsculetum, that what the plebeians had enacted should be
binding on every Roman citizen."
* * * * *
_Second Room._--The walls are encased with inscriptions. _On the left_
is a fragment of a Roman calendar, found in 1888 near S. Martino di
Monti. It represents the 1st to 3rd, 18th to 29th of April, and 1st to
4th of May. _On the door_ is part of a Lex Horreorum of the time of
Hadrian. These magazines were situated near Monte Testaccio. _On the
right_ of window inscription of Lucius Aquilinus Modestus, master of
the guild of timber merchants at Ostia. _On the door opposite_,
inscription dedicated to the imperial house by a college of health
found near Monte Testaccio.
_Third Room._--_In the centre_ is the pedestal of the statue of
Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, which Pliny (xxxiv. 14) tells us
was erected in the Portico of Octavia, where it was found in 1879. _On
right of door_, fragment of the inscription recording Hadrian burning
the bonds in Trajan's Forum in 118; a part of the inscription is in
Trajan's Forum. _By the window_, inscription to Aulus Septicius
Alexander, a seller of floral wreaths on the Via Sacra. _By the next
window_, a dedication to Concord by Marcus Artorius Geminus, prefect
of the military treasury, from the Temple of Concord in the Forum.
Inscription to Nero and Poppæa, wishing them good health, on behalf of
the governor of the Balearic Islands, A.D. 60. Fragment of a Fasti,
A.D. 220. A fragment of the Maffeiano Calendar. _On the next wall_,
inscription of Lucius Considius Gallus, prætor for the strangers, etc.
Page 184. _Hall of Inscriptions: First Room._--No. 11. Sarcophagus
representing hunting of wild animals. 18. Cippus to Faustina the
elder, erected by an official of the treasury, found near the Temple
of Saturn in the Forum. 19. Head of Giuba II., King of Numidia. 26.
Base dedicated to Hercules Victorious. 28. Sarcophagus of a boar and
stag hunt. 30. Sarcophagus, Hunt of the Calydonian Boar, from third
room. (See at foot of page 183.)
_Near the door_, inscription of a monument to Marcus Calpurnius Piso
Frugi, B.C. 88, restored by Trajan. _Over the door_, inscription of
the guild of bargemen of Ostia, A.D. 193.
Page 185, line 2, _for_ 2 _read_ 3; _for_ 6 _read_ 4; _for_ 12, 13
_read_ 15, 17; _for_ 15 _read_ 19.
Page 186, line 7, _for_ 5 _read_ 20.
Page 187. _Hall of Emperors._--A fine head of Augustus, found, 1889,
on Via Merulana, represents him crowned with a wreath of myrtle in
commemoration of the ovation celebrated by him (Pliny, xv. 38).
Page 192. GHETTO.--The Via Rua and other streets of the Jews' Quarter
have been demolished.
Page 194. The new bridge, Ponte Garibaldi, is approached by the new
Via Arenula.
Page 196. The Spada Palace is closed to the public.
Page 199. The Pons Cestius is being rebuilt.
Page 201. The Ponte Rotto has been destroyed by the municipality, and
a new bridge, Ponte Palatino, has been built alongside the site of the
old one.
Page 208. THE WALL OF THE LATINS.--This is now best seen from the new
road, Via di Porta S. Paolo.
Page 212. THE CLOACA MAXIMA.--_For_ 530 _read_ 615. The exit is now
covered by the new embankment of the Tiber.
Page 222, line 14, _for_ by entering the stonemason's yard, _read_ in
the new excavations.
Page 248. MUSEO URBINO.--Not yet opened to the public.
Page 254, line 11, _for_ close by _read_ in the Via Urbana.
Page 255, tenth line from bottom, _for_ we come to where _read_ at the
junction of the new Via Cavour, the Via Giovanni Lanza; and
Page 258, line 21, _for_ Paul _read_ Pius.
NEW NATIONAL MUSEUM--Page 265.
The Government is forming in the old monastery, amidst the ruins of
the Baths of Diocletian, a museum, composed of the objects found on
Government property since 1870. It promises to be one of the most
interesting collections in Rome. Amongst the objects of primary
importance we may mention the Ceres, found in the Stadium of Domitian
on the Palatine, 1878. The Apollo Ægioclus from Hadrian's Villa. The
bronze Meleager by Lysippus, found in February 1885 amidst the ruins
of the Thermæ of Constantine on the Quirinal Hill. The Boxer, also in
bronze, found in the same place in April of the same year. This is the
most realistic statue preserved from ancient days. The youth Bacchus,
in bronze, found in the Tiber, September 1885; probably by Praxiteles,
or of his school.
Page 269. Ludovisi Museum closed to the public.
Page 284, last line but 13, _for_ palace _read_ Prætorian Camp.
Page 299. Sixth line. At the tenth mile carriages _cannot now_ pass
into the Via Appia Nuova. From the eighth to the eleventh mile it is
now practicable to walkers only.
NEW ETRUSCAN MUSEUM--Page 305.
The Government have formed in the Villa of Papa Julio a museum of the
objects recently discovered at Civita Castellana, the ancient Etruscan
city of Falerii. Our young friends will remember the Schoolmaster and
his Pupils. The objects are arranged in cases round the rooms, and are
of great interest; but they are considerably mixed as regards their
epochs. Three periods are represented--Native, Etruscan, and Greek.
Instead of these being arranged in distinct cases, they are mixed up
in nearly every case. Some of the vases are fine works of art, whilst
all are interesting. The wooden coffins, hollowed out of trees, should
be examined; also the skull with the gold band, which formerly
supported four false teeth.
* * * * *
Page 315. Dr. Forbes's excursion is on Friday.