The evening times., 1899-09-12
ANCIENT ROMAN RELICS.
Interesting Souvenirs of the Past
Found I'm the Forum. $50

(From the London Globe.l
AS we are coming to an end of Gearing
out the "Tholus' in the Regia, the -nndsv
in II, few as they are, seem to me suffi-
cient TO enable it to tell its own story.
Over thirty "styli," or bone pens have
come out of the mud of two thousand five
hundred years. They are in perfect con-
dition, as l have proved. But why 50
many pens? And again, why is the Tho
lus,' or store pit, SO carefully coated with
cement inside, and what is the reason
which Can account for that outer, rim,
with the dark puttylike clay fillirg up the
interspace between the two circles? Sim
ply this: The .'Tholus'' was used as the
cornbin of the Pontifces. Into it the corn
was emptied from the jars in which it ar
rived, very few fragments of which, ho%-
ever, have got into it. A clerk must nave
stood by keeping tally of the number OF
jars received and emptied therein. Occa-
sionally, looking over the edge to see the
cavity filling up with grain the Stylus he
used to put behind his ear. being Oh smooth
bone, slipped and fell, and blurred itseL IN
the wheat, until today! The thick wrap
ping of clay was doubtless intended TO
keep the "Tholus" cool and free from per-
colations.
A singularly interesting find has since
come out of it-namely, fragments OF the
on the lip of which is the word "Regia,
1t is made of superior kind of highly crys-
tailine "travertino." The Regia was build
ing seventy feet long and forty-two aeross,
its southeastern termination forming an OBJ
tuse angle, instead of a rectangle. In one
of its three chambers was hall OF conro-
cation, where the Sacred College of Pontliis
met for deliberations. 1t also contained a
''sacrarium' or shrine, wherein were kept
81 pf a.
rum of Opis Consivae, a goddess who was
represented as a matron holding loaf in
her left hand, as if ready to assist the
needy. As she was the Goddess OF Earth
people paid their homage TO her in sitting
posture But more remains TO be discover
ed in the site of the Regia, in its central
region, and il is clear that its literature
will be enriched by the discoveries ! have
been enabled 10 watch over hour py hour
and retail to your readers. -e .vee
The history of the buildings in the Fo-
rum can only be known, and that mercy
approximately, by intimate knowledge OIL
styles, and above all, by close familiarity
with its various levels. The Forum sr We
have all known, il is not too mucn 10 say,
has been chiefly a late imperih ana meui-
aeyal Forum Beneath il lies classic, re-
publican and Etruscan Rome. For what
was originally an extensive marsh lying
between the Palatine, Esquiiine, and Capl-
toline hills became drained by the skill and
science of Etruscan engineers. HThence-
forward monuments began to accumulate.
! and presently the soil began to rise by the
/ process of additions and improvements.
1 This continued until the tall OF the EN-
: pire and even later until neglect, ueser-
! tion and destruction caused Ii to rise lar
/ more rapidly, and it became, hrst, rub-
! bish heap for the city, then quarry fof
the popes and princes, and. hnally, a pEe-
cious and sacred mine for the archaeoio-
! gist. ---a1 s-' r 'f''1
AS nothing illustrates the early rise OF
! the ground more vividly than Intimacy
! with the BLACK Stones" and the explara-
J ton now proceeding around and under
! them j shall make no excuse for here say
/ ing somsthing about the locality and the
monumental objects contained in ii.
! The first fact that strikes the student is
| that the black pavement above does not
| observe the same orientation as the tufa
: pedestals and other objects below. These
, latter observe the more ancient and more
correct orientation, whereas. TO put it as
simply as possible, the pavement, like the
| Curia (St. Adriano) in front of it, and all
| the imperial buildings in the Forum, use
! the y. E. for their \.
There is proof at hand however that
| this was not always so with this black
marble pavement. Under the 1o2gh trav-
ertine frame which binds ii an earlier AMI
! similar in part is seeen to survive, and ii
was oriented a few points more in har-
| mony with the pedestals, ETC., below. The
question at once suggests itself. Has tha
| pavement been raised and relaid? The
answer will be in the affirmative. 1t has
| been at one time in peril of being lost
| among the monuments which raised the
surrounding area. For this reason 1t has
been lifted about two feet, bpdiiy, and in
| relaying il the engineers of the Empire
| have oriented it in keeping with the i'm
| perial edifices around.
| In consequence of this, on descending
under the stones, we see at once tina.
originally the pavement must have reste
| on the fiattened or truncated tufa cone
| which we met with there nearly under its
centre. Any who recollect the famous
| tomb of Aruns, near Ariccia Commonly
| called that of the Horatio and Curiatii)
will call to mind the fiattened cones
which rise at the four corners of its vault
| ing The other truncated cone is precise
| ly similar to them. Within couple OF
feet south of the cone stands the quad
rangular inscribed "ciphus,S, with, beyeie /
edges. The inscription of it, though of
extremely archaic (semi- -Etruscan) char
acter is in Latin, and the word "Kalato-
faces. No sooner is one in that recess with
candle than one perceives that the tufa
| base lines with sharp edges run straight
on into the yet unexcayated ground west
ward, toward the south end of the Arch
| of Septimius Sererus.
| There will, quite probably, be found
other such cones, and possibly other in
scribed cippi. But as this cippus is brok-
! en- at the east face of its top, and the in
, scripJions are imperfect, there is 9Ieasoa
| To think it may be more ancient than its
/ fellow objects, and has been simply utlf-
| lied there as support. | humbly incline
| TO believe otherwise, and that it will be
found to be most intimately connected
with the religious history of the spot But
the soil around and formerly Immediately
/ under the black pavement has its own
story to tell, and | have no doubt that
story relates to some great and especial
national eXpiatory occasion. The reasons
will duly appear.
| First of all, the whole of this central
! portion of the ancient "Comitium'' nov
being explored rests upon an artificially
constructed bed made of Jumps OF cho- O.
! late colored tufa. On the top OF tn lies
! fourteen inches of riverne gravel, former
| ly thought to be natural to the spot, bat
now ascertained to have been deliberately
| brought thither from the Polte Mole or
the Janiculum. 1t entirely stops, with The
republican tufa wall Immediately east O,
the pedestals, which was the wal of the
Comitium, running north and south
To this gravel succeeds a layer of the
! most interesting character, one foot in
| thickness, and of dark brown color. 1t is
layer entirely composed of sacrificial ma
ferial From ii have come the bones of