Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1902-03-29
BY W. Z. CURTIS

Peters cathedral the Coliseum and
the palatinc I'M. that scene Of impe.
rial splendor which is moro closely
identified with the lives of the old llu-
mans we have read so much about
than any part Of the city Thor maEnl
iCcnt but comfortlosS palaces stood
there. and they seem nearer and more
real 10 MS when We visit them in their
homes. touch the walls which sheltered
them. and tread the floors that were
pressed by their golden sandals
used to think that Richard C'ucr
de Leon was merely "A character in
fiction, until | saw him in armor han.
died his sword and read his auto
graphs. and that Alfred the Great was
"A NEUROLOGICAL idea until ! went to
Winchester whore he l'vcd There
is always more or less Va-ucucss and
uncertainty In the mind about the he
rocs Of the ancient history. until you
run them down a. II were, and cor
ncr them in their own haunts. and That
is the greatest bcnCfi students derive
from the fountain head.
The palatinc Is one OF the seven
hills upon which Rome is built. aud
the only one IN Ch is now practically
clear The rest are covered with
modern buildings and the diggcrs and
graders. the supcrintendcnts of
streets and the architects of build.
ings have taken such liberties with
the original topography that II
strains the imagination to see them
as they used to be But the Palatine
for various causes has been kept
cloar. and W can no" actually visit
the place whore Eyander. the shcp-
herd king T. represented 10y Virgil a.
"a a.. linTHllnE
lived. and where the Sylvan goddesscs
of the primoval woods used 70 per
form skirt dances for the entertain
mont Of the fauns. We can see very
plainly In sevCral places the parts OF
wall which Romuus built 20 surround
the now city tracing the lines at the
foot Of the hill with a pillow drawn by
a ian and hcif e. with the heifer
yol. 20 ,ho near side to signify that
.ti.n-th and cou"aG' were required
~ LOU. ami o0cdionc" AMI fertility
1.u..a th, CITY. There is also a well
". "a Ne are told is the oidc t thing
in Rome. as il was tuCIo before Romu-
lus came.
For "A century or more those exact
ing German matcrialists have been
trying to destroy our belief in the
beautiful legend about the two boys
who founded the Eternal city and
send them back into the NEUROLOGICAL
department. but Professor Lancianni,
the great German archeologist. who,
by the way, has an American wife.
has rescued them. and within the last
few years has found some inscrip-
tlons or pottery or something of that
sort by which he is able to establish
their reality. although | fear the wolf
Ia, Cd
hut of Romuus VAS preserved, until
the time of Nero. We are shown the
place on the brow of the Hill where
the two brothers quarreled. like Cain
and Abel and one slew the other.
From that date until the invasion of
the barbarians the Palatine Hill was
almost continuously smearcd with
blood.
one of the first things YOU see af-
ter entering the Palatine is block OF
marble. beautifully sculptured as high
as the breast of a man, five feet long
and three feet thick, standing alone
in a little amphithoatcr, which the
guide tells us was an altar to an un
known god, perhaps the same that
Paul referred to. II was discovered in
1920. where it stands, and the inscrip
ton reads "Sei Dec Sci Deiyae Sac
G.. SaNatuS 4 +, talNlnuS Pr------
De Sanati Sententia Restivt.'
Beyond us Is the most Interesting
thing of all, one which touches the
personality of every visitor the
names of a lot of Roman school boys
scrubbed upon the walls of the peda
gomium, or school house, at which tn,
ons of patriCian families were edu
Gated. Human nature was about the
same then as now. Boys have been
boys from the time Ewes first baby
was born and these Roman young
sters more than 1000 years ago took
the liberty to express in words OF
convictions their opinions of the
schoolmaster and the books they were
reulred to study, with TIE crayon OF
lead pencils upon the walls of what
might have been the vestibule OF ,..e
schoolhouse. You will find the same
thing in every schoolhouse in the
world. just he same at the cross roads
in Vermont or Iowa as in the palaces
OF the Caesars.
What interests scholars more thar
anything else, and one of the most
striking disclosures ever made in The
excavations of the Palatine. Is a carl
cature of the crucfx.on Among tn,
early followers of Christ were mem
bers of the noble families of Rome
and Paul. in one of his epistles tC
Timothy, | think. told him that tn,
Christians in Caesars household sa
lutte him. or something OF that sort
II is the theory Of the archeolOgists
that the young son of one of these
Christian families attended school a
the palace. and was teased about thu
new religion by his playfellows anC
TO make fun Of him they drew n rud'
sketch upon the wall II "A school DO,
worshippng his Savior upon the cross
wearing the head of an ass Beneath
is the inscription in Greek, "AleXame
nus worships his god.
Upon the Palatine Hill were the
grandest temples and palaces the worl'
has ever seen, built when Rome wa
"A city OF 100000 people; when 400