The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-05-06
THE ROsrRA AND THE CURIA.
The Platform or the Orators FOUND
Z r,omc-wbcrs Cicero. Marc Anto'
my. and Gracious Addressed the Peo'
~. ola Corroboratcd.


annLAan InG 4 III w ~ AhaN'
,;,o,us scyerus have now disappeared, eX-
CON, where a gang OF men at the rear OF the
Temnle Of Saturn are busy demolishing the
accent that led behind II mp to the piazza
os the Ca~mpidoglio. a year AGO it was a
motter Of considerable difficulty for those
Who hod given no special study TO the sub
;ert 10 understand the exact Typographical
Connection Of the ruins Of the northwest
extremity OF the Forum with those in the
o~nnosite direction. Now the t~ime-pressed
man OF this century, from the indge on the
bench 10 the hard-worked East End curate
with only a few DAYS of his well-earned
holiday 10 spend i'm Rome. can easily bring
his classical lore to practical application for
himself on the spot. Even the dullesl
minds can recognize what the ep!endor Oh
that end OF the Forum was when the lem
pies with their roofs OF git bronze ,iIes
were entire, and the Comitium n lhe i'os.
ira were peopled with statues: Inc eisn'
Ionic columns of the Temple of Saturn are
now seen towering aloft on q pouiuha y
basement measuring no less tpan thlrty-nNe
Soet In hc,oht. The rise Of the ground be-
yond gives the graceful Cofihtniah Sua''s
OF the Temple OF NespaSian an a',hosl
| equally imposing aspect, ana Dut l..'o
imagination is required 10 restore tie HIS,
ING columns, reconstruct the scehe' anu
picture the busy throng passing up anu
down the Clivus Capitolinus, or ascehuiis
the lofty flight Of steps that led Into tne
Temple OF Saturn. as on any churcn iesIiNu'
we can see the populace gOlngupa ana Vow
! those OF the Ara Cell on the other slde OF
| the hill.
Rut the excavations ut this point have
-.I,.1l. ..1tttt- Than 0npn.
inc up a full view Of the ruins, ana en-
| abliug every one 10 form a better ana more
| exact idea OF the ancient grandeur OF inc
| Forum. They have in conjunction WIN
and elucidated by other researches-c1
ried on simultaneously thrown more hShii
on its topography than has been obtained
for some time, the discoveries connected
with the Sacra Via aud the Regla notWlti-
standing. They have established the posi-
ton OF the Comitium, the Cufla, ana tle
Rostra, and, i'm solving the loug ana hotly
disputed questions as to where they were
situated, have localized the Hood OF memo
ries connected with the most important
part OF the great centre OF Roman lie.
must first briefly describe what the re-
moval OF the causeway has revealed ana
what is recognized in the wrecked ana muti'
lated remains in front OF the northwest eX-
tremity OF the Forum, now rs open as IL was
the day after the Arch OF Septimlus SeNcfus
was finished and all the scaloldlng re
moved, with the exception only tnat iort he
| nresent heaps of architectural fragments OF
| marble and tone are lying about on all
| sides. waiting until they can be sorted for
| preservation or carting away, and that the
| Column OF PhOcas, with lis great un-
| slightly base and steps, encumbers tlat
| free space where the citizens gath
cred when Gracious spoke or CICERO
| stood before them inyeighing against Catl-
| line. Standing, then, let us suppose, on
| the middle OF the tagged area, and look
inc toward the Tabularium, we see hr't
| before Us. nearly parallel TO that building.
n ruined wall, ~ feet in length, extending
in a straight line from the Arch OF sep
| timins Severus on the right TO the VIA
| Socra and the Basilica Julia on the let. III
is situated. however. p feet inches nearer
10 lis than the front Of the arch. which,
| therefore, stands at that distance back
| from il on the right, n we must sup
| nose the Arch OF TiberiuS did on the
| left. The construction Of this wall Is opus
| 0uddratum-that is. large square blocks OF
| tufa. measuring from 4 feet 6 inches TO
) feet 3inches in length and , feet , inches
in width. and built upon a foundation OF
| one course of large blocks Of tTayertine.
The HIGHEST portion OF this wall remaining.
and probably showing the full height,
| measures II feet. Upon its face there are
a series of perpendicular channels, each
"a inches i'm width and from / to 2 inches
in depth. cut at distances OF 3 feet 4 inches
from each other. and in each OF these cham
80 ~, ,.,14 l. niappaI fhTpngh hN
| ronnd holes % inches in diameter,
placed Mt about Is inches apart, to re-
ceiye the metal pms or stanchiOns which
held the Rostra firmly IN their places; for
| this wall-or rather construction, Tor ii
| forms three sides OF an oblong, seventy
eight feet along the front and fOrty-three
feet six inches along each ends recog-
nized as being the remains OF that orators
platform. ON the front of which the beak,
OF the Latin 0allcys taken at Antium %
c. 1881 were placed. and which henceiortf
took lis name from them and from the Other
naval trophies OF the same kind subse'
%quently fixed upon it,. The trophies on
| this platform were placed in double row
one above the other. There must have
been Mt least eighty Of them. for they eX'
| tended along the sides as well as the front
and the stanchi0ns that held them were
fully three feet SIN Inches in length, for i
is evident that they passed completely
through the wall and were bOlted TO il OF
the inner side.
That this is the old Rostra is plainly
proved. in the first place, by the antiquity
of the construction. ArcheOlogisis will
remember that a small portion OF it wa,
/ visible on the side OF the narrow longitude
nal passage built in the cauSeway undei
. which it was hidden, and believe | am cor
rect in stating that Nj. j. ii. Parker, attrl
e buting II 10 the time of the Kings, looked
/ upon il rs a portion OF the primitive wall
, of fertilization. In the second place. tn,
proof OF Identification is completed by thu
! important discovery not merely OF the sit
I Of the Curia, but Of the Curia itself, re
a Gently made by Signor Lanciani. In
the researches that eminent archaolo
giSt is carrying on i'm the Vatican
and other European libraries for the note
e books, drawings, and sketches of the earl'
o Italian architects and others, be has, anon!
several hundred containing most VALUABLE
information in the shape OF plans, measure
( ments, and memoranda yesarding the build
] ingS, or the remains or traces OF the build
o ings, OF the ancient city existing or re
cognizable in their time, found some bv tn
architect Baldassare Peruzzi. who die,
A. ID. 1886, and Antonio da San
gallo the younger, his contemporary
which prove what SignOr Rosa Away
coniectured-that the ancient edifice con
verted into a Christion BaSilica by Pop
Honorius l., and dedicated to ;. Adrian
A. ID. $50, was no other than the Curia, o
rather the more important part of ii. Spac
will not permit OF my describing the re
ruzzl and Sangallo drawings In this letter
further than by saying that they show tina
- while 5. Adriano was the Senate chambe
proper--that Is, the hall in which the sen
. ators met-the Curia buildings covered tn
whole Of the space from the southeast sid