The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-12-18
FIELDS FOR RESEARCH.
SECTIONS OF ANCIENT COCN-
TRIES

TO DredSe the Tiber Recalled by the
Recent Action of eho Italian GOvern-
ment-tNhat Professor Landi and Ills
Assistants May Expect to Find.
At length the italian Government
has granted permission to dredge the
Tiber. So we are Informed and
archaeologists throughout the world
will earnestly hope the rumor is true.
Students of history and of anthrcpoI-
ogy are also interested. The Tiber was
a sacred stream to Latin tribes, no
doubt, before the Romans contrived
| to gain ascendency over their fellows
and each Of these would throw in Of
ferings yearly when the festival came
round. But it is the treasures to be
expected at Rome itself which concern
the public. Imagination is free to
reckon them up as it will The single
historic facts bearing on the matter
with which we are acquainted are the
hurting down Of the statues that dec-
grated the Mausoleum of Hadrian up
on the heads of the besieging Goths
and the iconoclastic zeal of the cary
Christians, who threw into the river
many objects specially priced by the
heather. But it is only by rare chance
that incidents of the sort would be
mentioned in history.
If our Thames yields a crop Of an
tiquities whenever it is searched, the
Tiber must contain a harvest indeed
From time to time for at least a CEN
fury foreign enthusiasts have asked
permission to dredge, offering a price
more or less liberal; but they always
claimed to keep the finds" and there
the negotiation broke down. There is
a legend Of some members of the S0Ci-
ETY. of Antiquaries engaging to deepen
the bed of the Tiber to the sea so that
vessels of a specified tonnage could
pass up, on the usual housekeeping
what they found. These gentlemen, as
the story goes, were specially tempted
by tradition, still popular in Rome,
which asserts that the seven branched
candlestick and other relics of the jew
ish Temple looted by Genseric were
| wrecked in the Tiber. This would sug-
gest that the legend is old, for the fate
of the candlestick has been we'll known
to antiquaries for generations; and it
is worth while to tell it briefly, for we
shall hear of that tradition again.
doubtless, when the new enterprise is
discussed
Genseric safely conveyed the Jewish
treasures to Carthage where Belsarius
recaptured them eighty years later and
sent them to Constantinople. There is
no question about this, for the histor-
ian Procopius accompanied the army.
After while, Justinian, fearing to
keep such sacred objects, restored them
to Jerusalem, where they remained,
probably, until the sack by Omar and
his wild Arabs. But the popular belief
that they were wrecked in the Tiber is
easily explained. Genseric loaded up
the most precious articles of his plum
der on single ship, which never
reached Carthage. Where it was
wrecked is unknown. The Roman pop
ulace might naturally think that he in
Guided these things among his most
1t is Prof. Giro Nispi Landi who has
at length obtained permission to ex-
plore the river bed. He will have no
difficulty in raising funds if in want Of
them. In estimating the chances of his
success, however, it must not be for
gotten that dredging the Tlber had
been regular industry in Rome for
centuries, until the italian occupation,
and we cannot hope that it ceased
| then. Old travellers describe the scores
of glimmering lanterns in the bed Of
| the river on a. moonless night. Watch
| jnCr not iYO1aS from hridoA nh
served in sudden scurry and instan-
taneous browsing of the glims"-a
police boat was making a foray. But
the men captured had nothing to fear
liz they belonged to the regular set
the Papal police shared their gains,
which were very considerable indeed,
occasionally, as report alleged. There
| is one deposit in Rome, however, which
has never been touched, though the
value of it is incalculabe, and the SPOT
perfectly well known. After the fifth
burning of the Capitol Vespasian laid
| the foundation stone of the new Tenn
| pie in II A. D.
| Tacitus describes the grand cere-
mony. After sacrifices and religious
rites all the population of Rome filed
past, headed by the Senators, the Mag
| istrates, the knights, and soldiers. And
| they threw offerings into the pit in
which the stone was to be laid. Most
| ly," says Tacitus, the objects were
gold and silver, in Jumps, as they came
| from the mine, not worked by human
hand" A not inconsiderablc proportion
of the wealth of Rome at the moment
must have been buried under that huge
rock, and though the fruits of nature,
so they say, would be held more ac-
ceptable to the god, we may be sure
| that a good deal of jewelry and plate
| would be offered. The walls of the
building have been traced, and the
site of the foundation-ston indicated
hot quite accurately, perhaps, but
with confidence. It stands in the
grounds Of the German Embassy. Pro-
fessor Lanciani, greatest of authorities
on ancient Rome, had never ceased to
think of this wondrous treasure pit
| since reading the account of Tacitus
when boy. He has ascertained that
several attempts were made to find it
at different eras, but in each instance a
| full report of the proceedings was kent.
The board is still lying where it was
placed, he says; and Professor Lam
Giants assurance is sufficient guaran-
tee. Is there not one millionaire extant
| sufficiently cultured or even sufficient
| ly adventurous, to spend a few hun
! Il dc, dc IN 1,n