The Lake Charles echo., 1877-01-11
ROMAN RELICS.

Recent ArchaeotogjcaI Discereri"s b8 Er- .
c0rafion-The T"Itsof Serri,Gs Tnti"s.
A Rome correspondent Of the New
York Evening Post writes Among the
treasures recently discovered on the
Esquiline was a little gold bell, of a
graceful shape, with some mystic words
engraved on its four sides. This was
secreted by the workman who found it,
by whom it was afterward sold to an
antiquarian for a very trifing sum. A
few copies were made, and one was pre-
sented by one Of the ladies of the court
to the Princess Margherita, who wore it
as an ornament. This was the signal for
the starting Of new fashion, and now
innumerabIe copies Of this little bell, in
silver and gold, called the "C4mpanellO
Principessa Margherita," are constantly
exposed for sale in all the jewellers
stores in the city. The mysterious words
have been explained by archeoIogists to
mean: Il have been made as a pre-
ventive against the Evil Eye" and it is
supposed that, in accordance with the
; well-known superstition Of the ancient
/ Romans, bells of this sort were hung by
! mothers round the necks of their chill
dren to keep them from harm.
! To the left of the railway station stood
a mount. called popularity " the hill of
Justice" Lately, however, the city
having given orders to demolish it, the
workmen came upon large part of the
old wall of Servius Tullius, of which
remnants exist in various parts of the
city. This wall is frequently mentioned
by the ancients, among them Cicero
StrabO, Livy and Pliuy; it is generally
attributed to Tullius, though Pliny
thinks that it was built by Tarquinlus
in imitation Of the style Ofthe Etruscans
DiOnvsius of Halicarnassue, who came tc
Rome about thirty years before the
christian era for the special purpose o
devoting himself to the study of its an
tiquities, saws. however, with confidence
that Tarouinius was merely the restorer
the original wall having been built many
wears before. This famous wall, which
was in the beginning about seven stadia
or A little over six miles in length, anC
more than fifty feet in breadth, is bull
of parallelopipedous, and presents mani
fest differences of time and material. s.
, that modern archaologists fully coincid
with the opinion of Dyonvsius. If tn
discovery and study of antiquities IS a
all times absorbing, how much more 5
+ is it when we know that the very OF
iects which we behold were the them
, and admiration of the ancients Centurie
AGO. How, for instance, does our II
\ terest increase when we think that Tn
, group of LAGOON and his sons, whic
q new forms the principal attraction at tn
+ vatican. was spoken of by Virgil as on
+ of the masterpieces of antiquity, and W
o can imagine the joy of lovers of art whe
n this work, 50 long known by reputation
, was brought to light while digging
- one of the villas of Rome.
d The superintendent of excavations h;
- decided to proceed very soon to dlgglr
% in many points of the villa of Livia, Wi
- Of Augustus, at Prima P>rta, six mil
havond the Ponte Molie, on the V
=, Flaminia. These excavations will hay
# n tor their object to determine more e
A. actly the topography ct this historic
Is villa, besides the hope Of finding one
- more colossal statues of the empire
. Iivia herself. Fifteen years ago W
- found in this place magnificent stat'
.. of Augustus, with the symbolical d'
N phin, now preserved in the vatican m
y, scum. and there is reason to hope tn
W. the number Of objects of art found he
rs will richly repay the expenses incurr
in the work.
IL Tu4, EAST TNDI1S HORROR.