The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-15
IN The ROMAN FORUM.
TREASURE TROVE FOUND IN THE
HOUSE OF THE VESTALS.

etatue of JunO-W1tness OF the
grandeur That Was Rome.
From the Baltimore Sun.
Rome. Nov. 19.-The excavations that
.rs now being carried on in the Roman
5-,r1n under the direction of Slgnor Bac-
..m Italian Minister of Public Instruction,
are constantly bringing TO light new and
,rteresting objects and sites renowned in
history. These. to a certain degree, tell
+beir own story and furnish suggestions
and indications that are exceedingly valua-
HE as aids to history.
The day before yesterday I passed sew
oral hours in this historic field listening
70 Signor Boni, who related to me the
most recent discoveries made here. He has
va>hed them with special care from the
baainning, noted their development day by
H d3y. and recorded each phase of their in
spence on the accepted history OF the Fo-
n rum. all |
Since this excavation has begun it has
II becone more obvious than before that the
tr9e history of the Roman Forum has yet
h 10 be written.
All the works that have hitherto treated
Il on this subject are incomplete. as their
writer's were quite unaware of the sites
4 and remains of ancient buildings which
cav at the very bottom below" underly-
ing what seemed ancient buildings and old
+ navements worn with the traffic of untold
centuries.
Valuable Find.
Two hours after I had left the Forum a
most striking discovery, of which all Rome
is talking, was made in the House of the
Vesta!s
A few men were at work here. some re-
pstrng the marble pavement in two of the
rooms inhabited by these priestesses of
the ancient religion of Rome, and others
clearing out a drain that dates from The
Il eime of the Emperor Nero-that is to say
4 .Srom the first century.
on a sudden, one of the men at work
here. saw a shining object embedded in the
solid mud of the drain; a closer eXamina-
ton revealed another and a third such
object When the mud was broken up it
was seen that these were gold coins; and
in a few minutes no less than 379 gold
pieces were brought to light.
One of the workmen took his hat ana
filed it with coins and their surrounding
mud and brought these to the directors
Office in the Forum.
All the workmen of the place hurried to
"A see the discovery and to watch the shin
Ing gold coins as they were brought out of
the mass of mud which filled the Neronian
drain beneath the marble paved rooms of
the House of the Vestal Virgins.
This ancient treasure-trove has been ex-
81 amned and classified by Prof. Borsari,
who says, according to the Popolo Ro
hi mano Of this morning, shat the coins
81 must have been hidden at the end of the
ri fifth century in one of those moments of
nj trepidation and of fear caused by the in
81 vasion Of Genserics vandals."
M Tx TDrNfassOs. is No safe
n guide in his history as he is in his knowl-
edge of coins, as it will be seen that the
N latest of the coins are dated several years
after the invasion of Genseric, and there
fore could not have been hidden in terror
Of that event.
Imperial Gold Coins.
The first of these coins, in the order of
"a time. are those of Flavius julius Constan-
81 thus II CA. D. S53-36D; on the reverse is
represented the figures of Rome and OF
Constautinople in the act Of holding up a
shield on which are expressed the VOWS
made for the Emperor; in the exergue are
III the words Gloria ReiDublicae."
Then follow the coins of Veterinarians
III 423-450 on the reverse is represented
the Emperor who places his right foot
on the head of a dragon and in one hand
holds a cross and in the other globe sur
mounted by a figure of Victory.
The greater part of these gold coins be
longs however, to the time of the EN-
peror Anthemius (467-472); there are more
II than 800 of these.
n Nine coins found here are very valuable
b in a numsmatic point of view, as they
are the only specimens yet known. These
~ are the coins of Ella Marcia EuDhemia
81 daughter of the Emperor Marcianus and
wife Of Anthemius.
On one side of these gold pieces is seen
the bust of the Empress with a diadem
W haa nd an "a Ofhpr side a fig
ure of Victory holding a cross.
Notable also are the coins of Bibius Sew
erus, who reigned from 461 TO 465.
Some gold Byzantine soldi of the En-
peror Marclanus are among the findings
and finally, a few of Leo l, who reigned
from 457 to 461
The question arises, What dreaded dan
ger induced the possessor of these gold
COINS to cast them into the drain of the
Fesal Virgins dwelling place and never
come back to recover them.
That it was not the Vestals who did
TINS We know, for their worship had been
suppressed, and the last of them had died
out many years before.
The VestaIs Curse.
The ancient pagan historian tells US that
When Theodosius ii entered Rome. about
The end of 394, and priests and priestesses
were expelled from the temples, and the
empes were closed, the Princess Serena
entered the Temple of Vesta to examine It.
mere she was so captivated by the beauty
necklace that she took it with her
own hands from the shoulders of the god
4ess and fixed il on her own neck.
al Old woman, the last surviving Vestal
ld'hg Witnessed by chance the profana-
oh cursed the Princess, and predicted
IaI sooner or later, she would sadly ex-
Hate her crime.
serena at first took no notice of the
"iuI malediction; but the old Vestal had
@
me Nestals were not here any more
dwellings, of these ancient priestesses
aS gwen over to the members of the
4leflal household of the Palace of the
ssSars' and it was probably one of the
l I5ers of this household that cast the
wv INTO the drain, from which they were
\ TSash' forth on Friday last
.Qe CONS are in excellent condition, be-
out little worn by use; some, indeed
ave never been in circulation for they