Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-12-19

emperors finally obtained possession
OF the whole of it and covered it witt
one immense palace whose vast ruin,
/ present most imposing appearance
even at the present day. The Pala
tine retained its magnificence many
hundred years, but it was iina.ly given
over to ruin, until in 1861 Napoleon
III. purchased portion of it and
commenced excavations for the pur
pose of obtaining material for his
great work, the Life of Caesar. Al
this time all that was visible Of the
magnificent structure of the palace of
the Caesars, which at one time cover
ed the whole of the hill, no less than
81 acres, were some picturesque frag-
ments of ivy-clad walls, juiting up
here and there from among the vines
and vegetables, and at two corners
great masses of unrecognized RUNS.
The excavations which have been
continued to the present time, have
given MS a good idea of the construc-
tion and arrangement of a grand
Roman house. A more particular
description would be interesting, hut
we can only say that everything in
dicates luxury and civilization which
we do not generally ascribe to the
ancients.
In one of the open conrts of the
palace is a shapeless mass of concrete
VIII ch is the scanty remains of the
Temple of Jupiter Stator, founded by
Romulus on the spot where the tide
OF battle turned against the Sabines.
1t was in this temple that Cicero con.
vened the Senate on the discovery of
the great conspiracy against the Re
public and where, out of all patience
when he saw Cataline walk deliber-
ately in with the other Senators, he
broke out with that incompatible and
terrible vindictive beginning, "QuouS-
que tandem abutere Catalina, patientia
nostra ?"
In the underground stories are Gel.
lars with wine jugs about the size of
the arm, sharp at the bottom, and
some three feet long. They were
made of baked clay, the material look
ing about like unglazed yellow or
brown flower pots. In these cham
bers are frescoes with the painting
yet bright The bricks of which the
inner walls of all the Roman buildings
were constructed are about ten inches
square and not more than one in
thickness, and were often stamped
with the name of the emperor in
whose reign they were made. The
walls of one room which had evident
ly been used az a school room for the
slaves OF the palace, were scratched
aud marked similarly to some of our
modern school houses. In one place
is the figure of Roman soldier, in
another rude sketch of mill driven
by an ass, under which is the inscrip.
ton, "Labor like an ass as | have
done, and it will drag you down."
One of these rude scrawls seems TO
record the JOY of some boy over the
dismission of an unpopular teacher,
for it reads "Cornthus eIit de paeda.
gogio," which might be freely trans.
lated, "Corinthus mas been kicked out
of the school ROOM" In this room
also was found the celebrated carica
ture of the Christians which represents
a man with the head of an ass hang.
ing to cross, with man on a cross
on each side of him, and underneath
this inscription in Greek, "Alexamen-
os worships this God" which was
evidently intended to ridicule some
pupil of the Christian faith.
Tn one place the excavations have
brought to light parts of the wall built
by Romulus around the Palatine, in
the time when Rome was only fort,
and this the only hill occupied. 1t is
constructed of large blocks of hard
tufa put together without mortar and
so closely fitted that q knife blade can
scarcely be put between the joints,
and is as solid now as when built $50
years before Christ. Adjoining this
is the grotto supposed to be the cave
in which the she wolf nourished the
twins, Romulus and Remus. Stand
ing at the entrance to this grotto and
near this old historic wall, we seem
to be almost able to look into the land
and times of fable, and to reach back
and grasp the mythical and unknown
past.
Not far from the Forum along the
| Appian way we come to the Colosse.
um, the grandest and best known of
all the ruins of Rome, and which is
all and even more to the traveller than
ever can be described. It's massive.
ness has ever been a symbol of the
greatness of Rome and gave rise
among the Anglo Saxon pilgrims of
the 9Th century to the saying:
While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall
stand;
When falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall:
And when Rome falls--the World.p
Near it are the beautiful arch OF
Constantine, and the basis on which
stood the magnificent gilded statue,
40 feet high, OF Nero as god of the
Sun.
1 AHS'O "AN hiohy piaSCo III IeOmc
associated in tradition at least with
one or more of the apostles. We Wis.
it the three small, low, arched rooms
some ten feet below the surface OF
the modern city, and which it is GER
tainly known is the hired house in
which st. Paul dwelt while in Rome.
The old Etruscan prison is shown us
in which it is said st. Peter and ST.
Paul were confined. In its lower
story now far below ground, is a
spring which is said to have had a
miraculous origin so that the Apostle
could hove water with which to bap-
TIE the jailor and forty other converts
In this prison we are shown the i'm
preston of human face in the hard
rock, and are told that when Peter
was being let down into this prison,
the jailor cruelty pushed his head
against the wall, and that this miracu.
lous impression of his face was thus
I