originally built by Tullus Hostilius one hundred years after the
foundation of Rome, and called the Curia Hostilia. "He built a Senate
House, which retained the name Hostilia even within the memory of our
fathers" (Livy, i. 30).
[Illustration: THE ROMAN FORUM, FROM THE CAPITOL.
1. Senate House.
2. Arch of Septimius Severus.
3. Monument of Marcus Aurelius.
4. Rostra ad Palmam.
5. Comitium.
6. Column of Phocas.
7. Temple of Vespasian.
8. Temple of Saturn.
9. Basilica Julia.
10. Sacred Way.
11. Vicus Tuscus.
12. Temple of Castor and Pollux.
13. Palace of Caligula.
14. Temple of Vesta.
15. Palatine Hill.
16. Arch of Titus.
17. House of Cæsar.
18. Arcade of the Pearl-Dealers.
19. S. Francisca, Forum of Cupid.
20. Colosseum.
21. Basilica of Constantine.
22. Temple of Venus and Roma.
23. Temple of the Penates.
24. Temple of Romulus.
25. Temple of Antoninus Pius.
26. Temple-Tomb of Cæsar.
27. Site of the Arch of Fabius.
28. Curtian Lake.
29. Site of Basilica Æmilia.
30. Site of Basilica Porcia.
31. The Janus or Exchange.
32. Site of Original Rostra.]
It was destroyed by fire when the body of the tribune Clodius was
burned, A.U.C. 702. Rebuilt by Faustus, the son of Sylla. Destroyed a
second time, to do away with the name of Sylla, on pretence of
erecting the Temple of Felicity; rebuilt by Julius Cæsar, A.U.C. 711,
completed by the Triumvirs, and consecrated by Augustus, who named it
the Curia Julia. Again destroyed by fire under Titus, and rebuilt by
Domitian, and called Senatus.
It was approached by a flight of steps; for "Tarquin carried old
Servius out of the Curia, and threw him down the steps to the bottom"
(Livy, i. 48).
This was the proper Senate House; and when we read of the senators
meeting in other places, there was always some special reason for
their so doing. The tradition of the church, S. Adriano, is, that it
was erected out of the remains of the Senate House, the bronze doors
of which were carried off to the Lateran by Alexander VII., where they
still remain.
An anonymous writer, quoted by Eckhard, states that in A.D. 283, under
Carinus, a fire destroyed the Curia Julia, the Græcostasis, the
Basilica Julia, and the Forum of Cæsar, all of which were restored by
Diocletian, 290. The Senate House seems to have been again destroyed,
and rebuilt by Flavianus, prefect of the city, in 399, under the title
of "Secretarium Senatus;" another prefect, Eucharius, restored it in
407.
_The Church of S. Martino occupies the site of_