The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-08-05

wei are great quantities Of broken pot
terry and stone weights. together with one
or two small altar-ike objects Of terra
Gotta The latter were prettily moulded
with decoratie and figure subjects, and
were Of late date. The pottery, was In the
main, of ware similar to the fine glazed
bowls ornamented with seals or coins that
come from Coqua. A few eculls of the
mustela, the animal which played the part
Of the modern cat in the Roman house
hold, were also brought UP from the well.
The secaond well is nea rthe front of the
Regia, and had not been entirely cleared
when 1 left Rome two weeks ago. This
second well differed from the first In not
having pedaroh. Close beside it tbs a els
tern which, from the point Of view Of con-
struction. more than makes up for the or
binary quality Of the well. 1t is dome
shaped, about ten feet in diameter, and
built Of two shells constructed In the COM
mon way Of overlapping Cbut not arched
stones.)
The inner shell was covered on the in
side with stucco, while the foot or more OF
space between the two shells was filed
with clay.
So far as the Regia itself is concerned,
nothing new Of much Importance has been
learned. In front of 1t, however, the low
er part Of what appears to be a piece of
the core Of the foundation of the Temple
OF Caesar has been cleared. If this is what
1t seems, 1t will show that the temple was
in plan much deeper than has heretofore
been supposed. In addition, several bits
Of plasters cornice, and casettes Of this
store Of such frabments.
Between this temples Of aCesar and that
Of Castor and Rollux stood the arch Of
Augustus. Of which only the lower courses
Of the foundation stone could be formerly
seen. Superimposed on these now stand
sevehal Of the lower blocks Of the acrh
arch itself, which have been brought back
to their original site from the various
corners Of the Forum to which they had
been, in some inexplicable manner, scat.
tered. As yet there are not very many Of
them, but what there are will be sufficient
to give to the uninitiated at least, a very
different idea Of the arch from any which
they have been able to form befor this
tim.
1t will be remembered that on the north
ern side OF the temple Of aCesar and west
Of the temple Of Antoninus, probably
about opposite the temple Of aCstor and
Pollux, stood the Basicila Aemila. The
desire tina Psychologists have long had
that this spot might be excavated Is at
last being satisfied. For this our tfanxS
are due to an Englishman, from Souht AZ
RIGA, believe, Mr.. Phillips. Happening
to visit Rome this last spring. he became
Interested In the work that was then in
progress, and heard Of the difficulties to
overcome before the sight could be exca-
waited, chiefly owing to the existance of
a block OF squalid dwellings standing on
the spot to be cleared. hTese were held
at so high price that the government
did not feel Itself justified in buying them.
To an Anglo-Saxon accustomed to make
the earth give up her secrets, this OBJ
stacle seemed flittle moment, and Mr..
Phillips sent to the government an offer
Of certain sum to head a subscription to
buy the houses. The ministry were I'M
prepared for this turn or affairs. Spec
tal meetings were held, and finally the of,
fer which had meanwhile been consid-
erabfy Increased, was refuse don the
ground tina 1.-THE acceptance Of it would be
compromising to the dignity of the gov
eminent. Mr., Phillips. however, had made
up his mind to see the work done In one
way or another. and so he bought the
whole site for 1t is reported, some $1,000
lire, and made gift of 1t to the govern.
ment. The houses are row torn down,
and 1t is a reasonable no pc that befaore
many weeks have passed we shall have
accurate knowledge of the BasIlica. What
ever the results of the excavation, the
action taken by Mr.. Phillips will long be
remembered with gratitude by all archeol-
ogists. 1t is to be hoped that his ex-
ample may be followed, and that Ameri-
cans and Englishmen may contest in
friendly rivalry to promote the interests
of scholarship
1t Is at the western end of the Forum,
however, nea rthe niger lapis. that the
most interesting discoveries have been
made. This whole region is being slowly
ard carefully cleared. First there found
pieces OF a slab of travertine cut on one
side with an iscription of the time Of SulIa-
This had been used to repair the pave
ment Of the commitium, probably after
the fire Of 33. So far as can be made cut
the words refer to contracts for public
works-probably drains as the price was
only about s. foot. Then close about the
arch Of Severus, the foundation OF several
early buildings were discovered. and II
can now be chown that the steps by which
as Jordon and Middleton thought, the line
OF the Comitiub was marked, did not
serve that purpose, but are aof late date,
as are als0 the slabs heretofore usually
thought TO be the pavement o fthe Comit-
ium. Bits fihe true pavement have been
found near the niger lapis. II Is this,
the niger lapis, around which theh exca-
vations have revolved like the free leg OF
the compass about its fixed center. Sig
nor Boni has even pushed his explora-
lions under the black stone. which is now
supported in mid air by beams and braces.
When the report first spead that the
niger lapis had been found Prof. Huelssn,
OF the German Institute wrote an article
to show that the report could not be true.
because certain authors spoke OF two lions