, 1874-03-21
THE CHICAGO DAILY TR1BUNE SATURDAY, MARCH el 1874

brated aarcophagas boarlng tho name Of Luolus
Bcpio Ia now among tho Vatican COLLECTIONS.
longer. When descended from tho ton Of tfio
towor, I walked around to tho brink Of The o1as-
Bto. -
rAnrE1AN nook
how far tIloso dropped Who did mix make tic tic jump. n
It Ia on tho southeastern summit or tho ,CnnIto.
line Hill, which faces tho Pa1atiue (onco covered
by tho Palacoa OF tho CmBars, but now tro-
hnn ann mest 5 od dw rln1 oo mhe t9p Of to seo
buildings. and at Tie bottom 1t bas boon floti up
considerably. But thcro yot romaina not far
from 30 foot OF rugged, perpendicular descent
alonK . distance Or feeo Of poIrhapa 100 teot. 1t
is still lligh enough to put = log, X not neck,
out Of Joint. Enough remains to mark
rsrpe.p, attest iSs sosl Ses'f Il frea,on's r.eo,
'e.s Gns oI s'iyyo whence tho Traitors aap,
It was on this side that tho different attao1.s
wore mndo On tho Capital In tho carly dayy Of
Home. The first was made by Hordontua, ut tho
hond Of baud Of slavos who scaled tho heights
aon, and proclaimed tho froodom Of nll slavos
who should Join him. But fow accepted the
oifor, and, after most OF his hand wore slain,
Herdonius aud tho ronainaor .woro hurled over
incilont wbici, schoolboys aro never tircd Of eu-
ploying in their essays and yalodictorea. 1t WIS
ATTACK or THE aAu1s,
In $40, Il. O., who climbed, tho steep rock near
the Tarpeian, and had nearly reached tho Bum-
NIT unobservcd, for tho dogs neglected to
bark.-whcn the crics Of tho aacrod goeso Of
Juno aroused an otilcor namod Nautilus, who
rushed to tho defonso, aud hurled over tho
others below him in bis fall, aud thus tho Cap
it'll was ssyod. Tho story goes, that, In re-
menbranuo Of this accident q goose was carried
annually in triumph, md q dog was crucilel
ss Sey''o ot " souss tss? Tho Of spo 6msnu' e po md
tho sacred goeso hisacd tho salvation Of Rono,
and whore tho unfalthful dog was tortured to
doatl,,--all for Hllnplastcr-'i'c. Cheap
enough BY Tho way, 1t WAS tho Bamo Manliua
thas rushed TO tho doionso OF tho Oapital at the
aignnl OF tho geese. who waB afterwards oou-
demncd by tho patrclanB, on tho prctonsc that
ho aspirod to mako himsclf King, and waH
thrown from tho Tarpeinn Rock, III sglt ot the
Forum, and killod within few stops Of tho spot
where ho had hurled down tho Gauls. 1t vas
thus his valor and patriotism wore rewarded.
Not far from there, and cloao under the Pala-
tine HILL is tho sltc Of tho famous circular
Il, TEMPLE OF VE8TA,
Palladium saved from Troy. On the nltar Of
this temple, blood was annually Bprinklcd from
tho tail Of tho horse which was sacrificed to tho
god Mara In the Campus Murtius. This temple
survived tho wreck aud ruin Of ancient Romo.
It las stood in It's present form since about tho
tima Of Moro. Close to the Iomple of VeBta was
tue Regin, whore julius O;psar lived, and whence
Brutus. Standing on this classic ground, 1
asked my olcerono to show me the scono OF tho
exploit Of
MARCUS ounT1us.
which must bo somewhere in this vicinity. Ho
confidently and youbly pointed it out.
According to the tradition or account as rolatod
by tho historians Status, Liyy, aud pliny, the
ground whore it happened was originally the
Uurtia Lako, so-called from Curtius, q Sabine
warrior who with difficulty escaped from Its
and Iatius. The quagtuiro deopenod until it
bacamo gulf, which n,l oracle declarod would
never close until tho braveHt llomau was sacri-
ncod to it aud. as this diHasreeabIe and annoy
ing gulf stretched betweon tue oapitolinc md
Ayontine Hills, it become public necessity to
have it closed. Then it wns that young Marcus
CurtiuB, oqulpped in full armor, and in the pres-
ence Of all tho Romans putting spurs to his
tlory steed, leaped horse and rider Into tho awful
abyss, exclainling, as he made the plunge into
the mud, that overy warrior WAS bound to sacrl-
flee hiB life for the good Of Rome; and the gulf
WAS cloaet-foreycr. "rwo altars wero eroctod
on tho site-one to tho hero, mud the othor to Aia
heroic chorse; aud vine and all olive grew thero."
-Livy.
a little further to the South aud batween tho
Palatlne and Avontine Hills is tho valley where
the great Circus Maximils WAS established, which
would Heat 100000 spectators. It was ob!oug In
form, and milo in circumference. But tho
valley il moro famous aB tie celebrated scene Of
tie
RATE OF THE SABINE aA1pENs,
who Wero invited Oh guests to grand picnic by
tho young no1aau bioods. Their visit was
trenchero,lsly abused. But the young rakea
n,ado tho amcudo honorable to tho fo,lorn
dauaots, aftcr shouldering and running off with
them, as tho pictures in tue Isonlan galleries
show, by marrying them. Their EXCUSE or iusti-
ncation for their misconduct ,sas to tho effect
That thero WA n great scarcity Of uarriageable
Indies among the Romans, and TINT thoy wantod
them for wiyes but they confessed they woro
guilty Of " irrogularitios " in not observing the
duo and proper order Of the matrimonial services
and fornalitics.
I havo extended this letter already too long for
tho readers patience, but submit aB M apology,
TINT it is hard to quit thcHe classic Hills and VAL
loys, ind sights mud ncenes Of 10 much that en-
crosses the Imagination Of ovory student, and
foudly fingers III tile uemory OF manhood, and
survives to the last cAaptor OF old ago. Ii the
literature and history Of anoont 1tomo wore
blotted ont OF our education, what woful blank
they would loaye in the memory of oyory intc1ll-
gont person, nun or boy, male or femalo.