The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-22

lance to the Academy. The subjects discussed
In the present book are the Forum par excel
lsnce the Forum Romsnum). the Palatinc. tn,
Catacombs, Hadrisn's villa, ostia aud Pompeii
We shall touch chiefly upon the conclusion
reached by the latest srcheoloalsts, which diff
fer materially from the impresslons hitherto
popularity current.
The first thought that strike 30 one when he see,
the Roman Forum IS II now exists. partially
excavatcd-three of its sides are visible-is that
itoccupied too small o space TO contain the assem.
bled Roman people, while. on the other hand, II
seems too large for the voice OF an orator to be
heard all over II. Then again, the centre of the
place seems to have been encountered with q
multitude Of columns and statues, which must
have still further contracted the space available
for standing room. Touching this point NJ. Bots
sier reminds us that the Forum which we now
have before our eyes 10 not that Of the republic.
but that OF the empire. II was the Emperors
who raised most of tho columns and statues
which rose thickly In the middle OF the Forum.
Nevertheless, the space thus lost was more than
made good by the fact that the people could
group themselves on tho steps or in the vesti-
bules OF the surrounding temples. Those who
had not been able to ind room near the tribune.
packed themselves together In the two stories of
the basilicas. 1t is, therefore. a mistake to think
that the monuments built about tho Forum
ever prevented popular assemblies from being
held there. or that 1t could contain moro people
before these monuments were constructed.
Cnquestionably there is q reason why tho
Forum could never have been 30 vast as the
Imagination of the student loves to depict II. IL
was Indispensable that tho orators should be-
able to mako themselves heard in It. What
ever strength of lung we may suppose a Cicero
Or n H0rfeDsiua IN haya pnaaossa1 ~ Ia ippoa-
sible to imagine them pronouncing their ora
tions on a public square as largo as the Place do
Ii Conoorde in Paris. The ancient city States,
in truth, found themselves in o dilemma when
constructing their places for public meetings in
the open air. They had to make these large
enough to contain the whole body Of voters.
and. at tho same time. small enough for the
orators voice not to be lost In them. Since
tho Roman Forum was, for many CEN
turies. the usual place for public assem-
blios. we must believe that It fulfilled
both conditions. II It was large enough, this
may have been because the number of voters
was loss than we are tempted to think. or. per-
haps, q portion OF those who had the right TO
vote remained at home. 1t Is certain that,
toward the end Of the republic, prudent and
timid people got into tho habit of stunning the
popular assemblies. Cicero complains bitterly
Of this des, rtion of the oomttia, and speaks of
certain laws having been passed by Q few citi-
zens who had not even the right to vote. The
fact explains why 80 many Romans so easily
accepted the empire. They cared but little
about being deprived of political rights which
they had themselves renounced. On the other
hand, II the place was not too large for acoustic
purposes, II may DO that We should attribute
this In part to the situation of tho Fo-
rum. It lies In a kind OF hollow, reached
by steep slopes. On the side of the Capitol there
is a genuine precipice. At the opposite end,
toward the Arch Of Titus, the incline Is more
gentle, but still very decided. while on all sides,
asi was customary to say, one descended" to
the Forum. When one considers how favorable
for the voice must have been this conflguration
OF the locality. encircled as 1t was by hills and
shut in by buildings. 1t becomes less astonishing
that orators should have made themselves heard
In IL, and produced the great effects chronicled
in history. 1t is also to be borne in mind that
the Roman orators had to learn . particular
mode of emitting tho voice: to sing their ora
tions. as IL WERE, and, above all. to accompany
them with an expressive pantomime which
made them more easy to follow; hence the i'm
%portance OF rhythm and gesture to ancient elo-
quence. 1t was thanks partly to these ancillary
means that the Roman speakers made them
solves heard.
When, under the empire, tho Forum ceased
to be a place for political speaking, and became
simply a place for lounginR. 1t came to be re-
garded rs too small. Tho popular |
no longer existed. but promenaders, the idle
and the curious, had become more and moro
numerous, and strangers thronged thither from
all corners of the world. The oxpedient was re-
sorted to. not of charging the old Forum, which
could not have been done without destroying
ancient monuments. but OF building other
forums round about. The time came when a
foreigner entering Rome by the Flaminian
Way could pass through the forums Of Trajan.
of NervA. of Vespasian, of Augustus. and of
Cesar before he.reached the Forum Romanum.
The chapter on tho Palatlne dispels the i'm
preston once universally current, that on this
hill formerly stood only one vast habitation,
increasingly enlarged and embellished by sue
cessive Emperors. This Is the impression en-
bodied In the well-known lines OF Paradise
Regained: ~ Mount Palatine, imperial palace,
hugo ard high tho structure, skill of
noblest architects" The Palatine should
rather be described as . palatial fortress.
There were, in truth, FIVE different palaces
which bore the names OF tho Princes who
had them built. Nothing like this ag-
glomeFation Is seen In our modern capt.
tails. In our days when princes choose to
. new dwelling. 1t 10 usually very far
from the old one. Their desire 10 10 change. and
what they first seek Is a different situation
with now points OF view. In imperial Rome, on
the other hand, the palaces OF tho princes were
clustered together upon the same hill. This
hill had become the home, so TO speak. of the
empire, and It seemed As though a prince could
not reside elsewhere. Indeed. we learn from a
historian that the places where the Emperors
during their travels took the name
Of Palatine.
The accumulation OF palaces on this hill
musI have ureatlv imnraaaad tha vIaitnr Moan