The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-02-23
A VISIT TO THE PALACES
OF ANCIENT ROME'S RULERS
The Spot Where Evander Entertained AeaneaS and
Site Of the Abode Of Hercules -ROmuluS and
RemuS Rescued from Mythology.

william u. Curtis, special correspond
ent Of The Chicago Record Herald. writ
ing from Rome. Italy. says:
To the great majority Of people the
most interesting spots In Rome are st.
Peters Cathedral. the Colosseum ana the
splendor which is more closely identi-
fed with the lives Of the old Romans
We have. read 90 much about than any
other part Of the city Their n1agnid-
cent but comfortless palaces stood there.
and they seem nearer and more real to
us when we visit them In their homes.
touch the walls that sheltered them and
tread the floors that were pressed by
their golden sandals.
1 used to think that Richard Occur de
Leon was merely a character In fiction
until saw his armor, handled his SWORD
and read his autograph. ana that Alfreo
the Great was mytnoios,ca, iq hs ,, unSl
There Is always more or less vagueness
and uncertainty in the mind about the
heroes Of ancient history until you run
them down. as 1t were, and corner them
greatest benefit students derive by COM
ing to Rome. They see as well as read
and hear. and take their information
from the fountain head.
The Palatina Is one Of the seven hills
upon which Rome IL built and the only
one which is now practically clear. The
rest are covered with modern buildings.
and the diggers and filters and graders.
the superintendents of streets and the
architecture Of buildings have taken such
liberties with the original topography
that 1t strains the imagination to see
them as they used to be. But the Pala-
tine for various causes has been Kept
clear, and we can now actually visit the
place where Evander. the shepherd king.
Is represented by Virgil as entertaining
Aeneas; where Hercules lived, and where
the sylvan goddesses of the primeyal
woods used to perform skirt dances for
the entertainment Of the fauns. We can
see very plainly In several places parts
of the wall which Romulus built. to sur.
tSs his Of ~. c h rains 1as arswn
by bull and a heifer. with .xhe heifer
ytked to the. near side to signify that
strength and courage were required WITH
out and obedience and fertility within
the city. There Is also a well, which we
nIc told is the Oldest in Rome, as It was
there before Romulus came.
For century or more those exacung
German materialists have been trying to
OF the two boys who founded the Eter-
nal CITY and send them back into the
neurological department, but Professor
Lanciani, the great Roman archeolog1st,
Is rescued them, and within the last
few years has found some inscriptions
or pottery or something at that sort
bv which he IL able to establish their
reality; alohugh ! fear. the wolf that at
Romuius was preserved until the time
OF Nero. We are shown the place on
the brow Of the hill. whersStaze-SStzfe
brothers quarreled. Hike Cain and Abel,
and one slew the other: From that date
until the invasion Of the barbarians the
Paiatine Hill was almost continuously
sueared with blood.
One of the first things you see after
entering the enclosure that protects the
Palatine Is a block Of marble beautifully
sculptered as high as the breast Of a
man, five feet long and three feet thick.
which the guide tells us was an altar
to an unknown god, perhaps the same
that Paul referred to. 1t was discovered
in 1870 where Il stands, and the inscTip-
c. saxaius c. F. Calvinus Pr De
Senau Sententa Restitvit."
Beyond this Is the most interesting
thing Of all, one which touches the per-
sonality of every visitor. the names Of
a lot Of Roman school boys scrubbed
upon the walls of the Pedagogium, or
schoolhouse. at which the sons or the
patrician families were educated. HUI
man nature was about the same then
as now. Boys have been boys from the
time that Ewes first baby was born,
and these Roman youngsters more than
1000 years ago took the liberty to ex-
press in words or convictions their opin-
they were required to study. with the
crayon OF lead pencils upon the walls
Of what might have been the vestibule
Of the schoolhouse; Y sSa, Wiii ma the the
world, just the same as the crossroads
In Vermont or Iowa as In the palaces
of the Caesars.
What interests scholars more than
hi xAla M nnn nf mi r.
ing disclosures ever made in the exca-
yations on the Palatne, Is caricature
of the crucihxion. Among the early fol-
lowers of Christ were members Of thu
noble families of Rome. and Paul. In one
of his epistles to Timothy. / think. tells
him that the Christians in Caesars
household salute him. or something OF
that Sort 1t Is the theory of the arch
Of these Christian families attended
school at the palace, and was leased
about the new religion by his play-fel-
lows, and to make fun of him they drew
a rude sketch upon the wall Of a school
boy worshipping his Savior upon the
cross. wearing the head of an ass. Be-
meath 1T is the inscription in Greek.
"Alexamenus worships his God"
Upon the Palatine Hill were the grand
est temples and palaces the world has
ever seen. built when Rome was a city
of 100000 people; when 100000 specta-
tors often assembled to witness the cha
riot races in the Circus Maximus, which
is now occupied by the city gasworks
and a macaroni factory. and when 5000
voices in the Coliseum used to howl with
excitement as they do now at football
games. when a wild beast got his Jaws
into a Christian martyr. The ancient,
tottering walls, which are now tied up
with ropes and held together with iron
bands, before the fall OF the papacy,
were the most beautiful ruins In the
world. They were covered with ivy and
half concealed with shrubs. but now men
go about to pick out the spears Of grass
that spring up between the paving stones.
and under the direction of official archaic
ologists they have been restored In spots,
Just enough to give students an idea of
how the windows and doorways, the
arches and pillars, the floors and the
fountains were placed. The excavations
have been made with great care under
the direction of the government
Curiously enough the ruins were the
property of Emperor Napoleon III. of
France until 1871, having passed into his
hands from the Farnese family many
Years before. and during his exile in
England they were the only property
me retained in Rome. The Farnese FAM
W filled up the walls OF the roofless pal
aces with earth and made a garden on
a beautiful villa. and there spent the
hot weeks of summer. After 1t passed
out of their possession, while Napoleon
owned II, the soil that covered the pal
aces OF the Caesars became q truck gar
den and produced carrots and cabbages
for the people Of Rome. The only mod
prn buildings now standing there are the
the Sisters OF the Visitation and a mon
of m0nkS both of which Will