New-York tribune., 1901-07-07
THE BISfLICI .EUILIl.
SPLENDID RUINS UNEARTHED IN THE
ROMAN FORJ NJ.

Rome correspondence Of The London Post.
The uorkmen of the Roman Forum, under
the direction OF Si%ncr Bonn, have lately been
clearing IS much OF the surface of the RasIiIca
Emilia as possible without ondanGerinG the
houses which stand on the top Of the "mudnk-
mcnt some thirty feet above. The einh"nkintnt
and tie houses stiIl nreV"nt large. and prob
ably the most important. part of The Kasilica
from being cleared, Sc much s." that several
valuable archaeological fragment have To J." lelt
partially cmbrudcd because their removal would
cndaneer the soldity OF the "mhankncnt ana
the stability of the hous iuJ IN" recent
work has enabled accurat" calculation To- he
made of tho exact extent of the t}asiiica and its
original position. Pending tha generosity ~
some donor who VIII supply tho tI"ip necessary
to appropriate the houses. II Is interesting /"
state the facts as they are At present known.
Tho Easlca Emilia is situated between IN"
temple OF Antcn.EuS ana F"istHa ana "
Curia: il faced southwest. running for lI'
metres tatcut 100 YARDS alNnr The Sacred NaN
The depth IL II. tres and It's area about '"l1
s,iual in,tl,S The Ugh; side facing the t"U!I /,
OF Antoninus and Faustina. ran al right angles
to the front: but the lift sid. parallel 10 the
Curia was ohliquo \ wide row ut steps ia
Greek mafhlc led from the Sacred Wy W 1" .
majestic Iortico seven yards wide. iu IN" b1r''
stylc. Tho. porjIco consisted "f sixteen arches.
built entirely OF m'rEl" blocks richly carved
with hucrauia and rosettcs. The first archWay
to the right was conn Ctcd with The temple o.
julius Caesar hy kind of arChrd lying bui-
tress which formed a triumphal archWAy across
the Via Sacra. 1t seems that the great marble
inscription dcdi to Luciu@. adopted son al
Augustus, belonged To this triumphAl arch Al!
the FRAGMENTS Of tn" inscription are stll l%ing
where. they feI when the HaShca was de
stroycd and AheIc they were found in the
summer Of 1899 during the excavation of tn"
site presented To the ltaIlah '"N''HHr"t y!
Lionel Phillips
Hchind the portico and corresponding to each
Of its arches were the Tahernr. of which the
foundation walls ana som" valuable iIaSHlrh'S
Of the diviiint, walls and pavcments still exist.
The pavement was mad" of various f.ihdS "i
I ,narl,. in tha sn-c.,Icd \leNandriue style The
T., we'd q
port the wall OF the great internal nan hu't o'
mfa blocks. OF this hail part *tI exists.
The hall which was about twenty ave YARDS
vide was divided into three uaVeS, OF when
( the central one measured fifteen yards between
the columns and ,hc two lateral ones iive ana q
half yards each. The naNcs were 'lNlded p\
/ two colonnades. each consisting OF two rows OF
/ columns placed ore above the other. The lower
row was Of African marble, and supported a
rich and cxquistcy carved corn!cc Of Greek
marble. Round the cornlc" ran q Scupluleu
frieza in high relief. beautifully wrought. ON
the cornice rested the upper row OF columns,
4 which were mon0litkS Of African marble, ana
which, like the lower columns, supported Il
i ri .hlv carved marble conicc IHto the upper
cornce fitted the transversal supports "i inc
! roof.
The pavement of the lateral naves OF
/ seville works and that Of the central nave con
/ sisted of large squares of African marble, OF
Porta Santa from the Island of Chios. Of t'iaiio
] Antico. of green EuhCran cipollino, or paV"naI-
zcto. or Pm ygian marble and other rare stones
| The same marbles were used to cover the walls
The most marvellous part Of the Hasllica, re
/ garded as a work Of art was the Tribunal ot
which many fragments nave come to NGht suca
as Easements. pasters and capitals. All these
/ fragment; are carved in the best style OF the
/ epoch of Augustus, and are being reproduced l"
serve as models for the various Italian schools
of arts and crafts. The parts OF the BaSlilc'i
hitherto cleared are those most damaged ana
robbed bv the vandalS of the hfth ana sixth
/ centuries A. ID. The parts still buried beneath
! the cnbanfmcnt. though not intact appear from
their position likely to have been mucn sS ieSs
+ devastated 50 that their excavation would yIeId
results still more valuable than those already
/ obtained. Even at present an astonishing guam
titv of fraements of marble columns has been
! found together with bass -reliefs sculptures IN
! Phrygian marble Grecian marble. marble can
| delabra portions Of porphyry statues ana aren't
tecturaI ornaments Of all kinds