_This museum is in a chronic state of being "arranged." The entrance
fee is one lira, and the old custodians follow the visitor about as
though the latter wished to eat the bronzes. On Sundays and Government
festas the entry is free._
ENTRY HALL.--In a case down the centre are many highly interesting
objects, mostly in bronze--early money, gems, styli, etc. The _Glandes
Missiles_, or lead sling-bullets, are unique; many of them have
messages cut upon them. In the cases against the wall are many objects
of interest. The second on the left contains _Silver Cups_ found at
the Aquæ Aureliæ on Lake Bracciano, three of which have itineraries
from Cadiz to Rome engraved upon them. They are of the times of
Augustus, Vespasian, and Nerva, and are supposed to have been thrown
in by people who had made the journey and were cured by the waters, as
an offering to the _genii loci_.
An ancient mosaic forms the floor of the hall, and in a semicircle at
the end statuettes are grouped.
FIRST ROOM, on the left of entry hall, is devoted to bronzes used for
domestic purposes, and to Lares and Penates. In the centre of the room
is the _Bisellium_, or chair of state, formed of bronze inlaid with
silver. It was found at Otimo. The _Cista Mistica_ was a prize given
to gladiators to contain the requisites for their toilets. Three
eagles' claws pressing on toads form the feet. Upon the cylindrical
vase are engravings,--a gladiator stepping out of a galley with the
_cista_ in his hand; Amycus being killed by Pollux, the Argonauts
looking on. It was found at Palestrina, where several similar ones
have recently been found. The handle is formed by three figures with
their arms entwined.
The THIRD ROOM, at end on left, contains the caricature found cut in
the plaster of the Domus Gelotiana of the Palatine--_the Skit of the
Crucifixion_. It represents the body of a man with an ass's head being
crucified. Below, on the left, is the figure of a man in adoration;
beneath, in Greek, "Alexamenos adores his God." The Romans mixed up
the Jews and the Christians; and believing that the former worshipped
a white donkey (Tacitus, "H." v. 3), they applied it to the
Christians, and in this way, because they knew the Christian's God was
crucified. Tertullian ("Apol." xvi.) says it was a common caricature
against the Christians. The date is about 200.
The inscriptions and reliefs are early Christian; also the objects in
the glass case. To the right, at the end of the entry hall, is the
entry to the Natural History and Pre-historic Museums. Passing through
these, or better, returning and passing by the entrance, we enter the
rooms of