New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-12-21
OLD ROME NEW RISEN.
EANCIANIS LATEST BOOK OF ARCHAIC
OLOGICAL DISCOVERY
PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN ROME. BY Rodolfo Ian
ctani. PrOfnaey Illustrated. PIP X" ga
HOughtOn Minlin & Co.

"A
fact, Professor Lenciani. while he has taken the
best method to make clear at the outset the
overlapping of pagan period and Christian pc
nod docs not disclose the real chronological clew
to his labyrinth until be is we'll past the md
die of his volume In the chapter on pagan GENE
tories we learn how link BY link tho story OF
Rome is fitted together, reaching backward Wi'h-
out break from the present moment 'hough
Christian times, Latin times, the "recK colohlai
period. the Etruscan period, TO the dim unlet-
tered past of the Italic hut-builders. 80 slow
was the process OF change IN burial customs
that as the author remarks, nearly every type
of tomb known in Etruria, Magma Graecla anu
the prehistoric ralic stations has representa-
tive in the old cemeteries Of the Nimlnal ana
the Esauiline. There are caves hewn out OF the
natural rock with the entrance sealed by block
of the same material in these are skeletons ~
ing on the funeral beds on either side OF IN"
cave or even on the floor between them WIN
the feet turned toward the door, and ltalo-"reeK
pottery together with objects in bronze, amOer
and cold There are also artificial caves. formed
by horizontal courses of stones, which project
one beyond another, from both SIDES, tiil 'hcS
meet at the top. Then there are bodies pro'ec'c'
nv n circle of uncut stones: others lying at the
bottom of wells and, finally, regular s'rcophagi
in the shape of square huts and ciner'ria.
oniied the Campagna was buried in trunks OF
trees. followed inside and cut to measure. as
il the custom among Indian tribes OF the
present day. In March, 1889, the engineers
who were attending 10 the drainage OF '"e
Lago di astiglione-the ancient NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
cred a trunk of qucrcus robur saWn length
wise into two halves, with human skeleton
inside and fragments Of objects in amber ana
ivory lying by it, The coffin roughly cut ana
shaped was buried al a depth of fourteen fect Ill
n trench trihe longer ard larger than itseii ana
tho space between the coffin and the SIDES OF
the trench was filed with archaic poetry Of the
type found in our swn Roman metropolis oil the
Via dello Statute" Subsequently these log cei-
frs were initiated in clay
Thus at the beginning cremation was unknown
or at least, unpractised. Apparently IT. cameo
ground only by thu growing intercommunlcauon
of races on the Italian peninsula and whereas IN
archaic lrelas it was the aristocrafic method oil
putting away the bodies Of the dead, In Rome
pride Of family resisted il as an innovation ana
those families that had the best claim 10 antiquity
were the last to Weld. The Corneli Scipiones
persisted in the old custom down 10 the time OF
Sula. who required that his body should ne
burned. lest il should be treated he had treated
tie corpse Of his rival Marius. With these eXcep-
tons cremation became the prevalent practice by
anity, under the influence of Eastern doctrines
and customs caused return TO the practice OF
inhumation by the middle OF the second century
after Christ These intervening centuries suiiced
with a people so fond Of doing things systemau-
cally az the Romans have been from first 70 ast TO
bring into existence very elaborate methods Tor
disposing of the remains of the dead. Enclosures
called ustrina were sot apart as sacred in which
pyres were built for burning cOrpSeS The coium-
baria or osslria the author holds 10 have been the
outcome Of hvgicnic reform. They are unknown
outside of Rome and the CampagAa, and their first
appearance dates approximately from the time
when what would now, perhaps, be called pot
ter's field. was buried under great depth of frcoh
earth, the surface Of which was laid out in a pub
lie park called the Campus Eslunus. As this
was sanitary reform, it is natural to suppose that
the c0iupbaria We're product Of the same move
ment. To use a modern catch phrase these
brought the privileges OF the rich within reach
of the poor. One could secure burial place al
a cost Of a little more than eight dollars while. on
the other hand, if his purse was long he could
waste as many thousands as he chose on his final
resting place There are such organizations now
az burial societies. in which a member by antici-
patory payments can make Of a decent or even
Of a costly funeral SO in Rome persons and fami-
lies had their own vaults with places" for the
deposit of the ashes Of each individual Then
there were vaults built for sale, either in block
or place" by place" Frally there were vaults
or cOlumbaria-so called because the tiers OF small
openings gave them the appearance OF gigantic
dovccote-" built by company for the personal
use Of sharcho lcrs and contributors
An infinite variety of inscriptions attested the
aGectioratc interest Of the survivors in their
dead. Professor Lancani gives greet numbers Of
examples drawn from his own observation and
tba 81 nf orh ir,vcS ipafo Ono f
the most interesting is that of boy in his twelfth
year, who had already shown great aptitude for
literature. When DaIniiran celebrated the Capt.
toline games, this boy, Quintus Sulpicius Maxi
mus, carried Of the prize in Greek verse from
ffty-one competitors, and his sorrowng parents
caused his poem 70 be cut on his tomb. With
magnifying glass il can easily bc read in the
picture which accompanies Professor Lanciani's
narrative There is a canIor about the inscription
which Is we'll worthy Of Icing inflated. Tie
father and mother say that they have caused his
eytemporzcd poem to be engraved on this tomb
to prove that in prqisng his talents they have
not been inspired solely w their deep love for
him The incident leads the author into brief
but interesting discussion Of the antiquity of i'm
rrovisation in Italy. Thus, here, as on 50 many
other pages OF this volume, the door Of the
sepulchre is really the entrance 10 tho most in
innate and vivid details in the life Of the past
In the tomb Of young gill who died in the
interval between her lctrothal and the day fixed
for her wedding there WAS found dol. This
sxouistc puDa A work of art in itself is Of oak, 10
which the combined action Of time and water has
given the hardness of metal. II i modelled III
perfcc. imitation Of a womans foim and ranks
among the finest Of its kind yet found IN Roman
excavations. Tho hands and feet ar carved with
the utmost skill. The arrangement of tn HAIR u
characteristic Of the age Of the Announces, ana
differs but little from the coiIure Of fauStna the
elder. The doll was probably dressed, because
in the thumb of her right hand are inserted the
two gold kcyrings like those carried by house
,rli- 81. nrr,lnr littlc Gcurc. the i-iltS OF