the colossal arches of which have served as models to architects for
building all the larger churches in Rome. This splendid ruin usually
bears the name of the Temple of Peace, erected by Vespasian in this
neighbourhood and partly on this site, and which was destroyed by fire
as early as the time of Commodus, A.D. 191. Herodianus, who saw the
fire, says: "By the slight earthquake and the thunderbolt which
followed it, the whole of the sacred enclosure was consumed." Claudius
Galenus, the celebrated physician, says that the whole edifice was
consumed, as also most of his writings, which were in his shop in the
Via Sacra.
This is one of the most imposing ruins in Rome; the three noble arches
which formed the northern side being almost perfect, rising to the
height of 95 feet, and having a span of 80 feet. The southern side was
similar; whilst a noble vaulted roof, supported from the side piers
and arches, covered the centre. Thus, entering from the Vicus Eros, on
the east, the spectator saw a magnificent hall 333 feet long by 84
feet wide, with aisles 60 feet in width. To the central hall the
tribunal at the west end was added in the rebuilding of Constantine,
when he made the main entry from the Sacra Via, the ruins of which
exist in the porphyry columns. By this entry the nave is 227 feet
long, the tribunal being 24 feet deep, and the aisles 80 feet wide.
Nibby has the merit of having been the first to prove that these ruins
are the last remains of the Basilica erected by Maxentius, and
completed and partially rebuilt by Constantine the Great. In 1828 a
medal of Maxentius was found amongst the ruins of a piece of the
vault which fell down. The principal entrance was originally intended
to have been on the side facing the Colosseum, towards a street that
ran out from the left of the Via Sacra, which, turning to the right,
reached the Colosseum.
At a later period it may have been found more suitable to add a
splendid portal on the side facing the Via Sacra; opposite to which,
in the central side arch, a tribune was erected. So whichever way you
enter it, it is a nave with two aisles. Of the vast vaulted arches
spanning the middle space, only the supports from which the arches
sprang still exist. These, however, suffice to indicate what they must
have been. The Basilica contained many works of art, and the roof was
supported by eight columns. The Via Sacra here passed along the front
of the present Church of S. Francis of the Romans, and the Arch of
Titus, to the Palatine.
_By applying at No. 61 Via del Colosseo, at the back of the Basilica,
permission will be given to ascend to the top, from which a
magnificent view is obtained._
_On our right is the_