The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1876-11-22
ROMAN SOIL.

.E =zf y a45 7. a s.E,z tgqa e 4aa s
r. Lanciani, in the London Atheaa9uni,
gives tile following dismal account Of the
",iust OF the earth" beneath the Eternal
City
the ground on which the Eternal City
stands In such Us geologist would find u
hard TO describe; II is u mass of flashes, OF
vegetable and animal dctritus, corrupted
by contact with the filth Observers, CON-
structed at different periods, without any
regular plan or regard toihe public health.
msdiately after the fall Of the Empire,
the law forbidding burials within the
walls was neglected, and the city became
q vast cemetery. where the living dweit
In perpetual contact with the dead. First
the burials invaded the ancient ruins, and.
la long experience Of archaeological
research, have never yet found a singie
ancient building which did not conceal
corpses.-often only few dozen, but
sometimes millions. The fact that each
parish church had Its cemetery ut It's side
explains the greater part of these dismal
discoveries, but sometimes one Is sobliged
% beiake oneself TO other hypotneses
more or less problematical. The subsoil
of the Piazza Colonna. the gayest and
most lively spot In the city, Is strewed
with corpses. II was the cemetery OF the
Church lnow destrnyed) Of 81. Andrea.
first discovered In 1925, In digging In the
piazza for water-conduit lGiacchetti, S.
Silvestro In Capite. u. 81. The same re-
marks applies TO the Piazza del Pantheon,
the former battle-ground of the Church
OF D. Maria and Martyros. In 1871. when
I was experimenting the excavations In
the Forum and the Basilica Julia. a saw
carried away Al least 1900 cubic feet Of
human bones which had been buried 1t
the side Of the Chapel Of s. Maria dele
Giraffe. A passage In Flaminio vacca on
the same subject Is very characteristics
In the Therme Of constantine,' says he,
opposite the Church oiS. Silvestros la q
garden belonging to Bernardo Acceaguoli,
were found two enormous subtermnean
vaults, 100 palms long and thirty wide.
filed with several thousand corpses. The
entrance TO these dreaslful vaults had been
carefully stopped up, and the bodies were
packed 50 close one on top Of the other
that there remained hardly curbic fooi
OF space free (Menoria.' ll2). / do moi
douot that burial-place so singular owed
its existence 10 one Of those terrible cpl
denies which rayaged the city between
the twelfth aud sixteenth centuries.
1T il, therefore, no wonder that during
the great heats Of summer the excavations
have 10 be suspended from q regard "a
the public health, and that when, undei
exceptional circumstances. something has
to be done, IL Is often effected at the cost
Of the llfeor health ofthe workmen. The
construction has been commenced Of Q
collecting drain, which Is to connect the
basin of the Coliseum with the Tiber
passing through the Via Triumphalis and
The valley OF the CircIs MaximuS II
digging for tins purpose, az the grea
depth of thirty-three feet, the workmer
came upon, not far from the Church Of S.
Anastasia, reservoir cf water, OF the
eighth century U. c; an hydraulic work o
great iniportance, and already know
through the descent of the archeologist
cassio. Fea. aud yDconti. A youni
architect. employed by the municipality
was sent to osketch the monument. Sem,
hours after he had finished bis work Ia
had an attack OF fever, which nearly cos
him his life; aud The same thing hap
pened 10 one Of those who had accom-
panied him, and had helped him.
II may add another anecdote NOR
amusing, II not less tragie. At the be
ginning Of last July. when the tenders fo
the construction ofthe railway from Rom
TO Fiumicino were adjudlcated, this re
markable postcript was added: 'AlI Oh
worknien who shall asslst Ia the work
have right toan unlimited distribution
OF quinine. Those who work in IN
neighborhood Of Fiumicino VIII have
right to the gratuitous attendance Of en-
municipal doctor Of the place, as well q
| if necessary 70 an honorable place In CHI
cemetery
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