The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-19
ANCIENT ROME
CITY OF THE CAESARS SHOWN IN
 ALL ITS sPLENDOT-
Notable Model of Temples and Mona mcnts by An Italian Who Made Ancient Rome His Life
 study.

Rome Letter.
 Professor Marcelliana. modest but learned archaeologist, who has made the topography of ancient Rome life study. has after seventeen months of patient and careful work, succeed cd in reconstructing in terra cotta the principal buildings of imperial Rome. :. His models. complete in every detail. are now exhibited in a hall near the Forum.
 To attempt an adequate even though brief description of Professor Marcel lianPs work would fill volumes. Moth ing short of a treatise on ancient top- ography would give a correct idea of this vast undertaking, which is meant more for students than for ordinary sfghtseers. A thorough knowledge Of Roman history is indispensable Tn or der to appreciate the work and to realize how faithfully the construct- been done still even to the uninitiat- ed the reconstructed city of the Cae- says will be interesting.
 The models of the various imperial buildings are made of terra cotta, painted and often gilded after the style of their originals. The different kinds of marbles. the coiors of bronze. the statues, tiles, and trees are all faithfully reproduced.
 Reproduction of Temples. Sometimes a single broken column has served to reconstruct whole por- tico, the representation of e temple Of an old coin has been copied in the pres ent reconstruction. and when such ma terials were lacking, old prints. de- scriptions by classic authors and re- searches have been utilized and made to serve for the reproduction of tem- ples, palaces, besilicas and fora, Of which not one single stone standing on another exists at the present day.
 The Amphitheatrum Flavtum. or Col iseum, is the most prominent building in Professor Marceiiiani's model of fm- perial Rome. It stands isolated, won- derful and immense. a striking monu- ment, rightly compared in magnitude with the Pyramids of Egypt, intact and complete as 1t stood before the fire. earthquake, and modern generations had reduced 1t to ruinsl
 Stone cippi surround the huge build. ing. The imperial box. painted and with kiIded stucco reliefs, is seen be tween the nineteen arches, and the poles for the awning are on the roof
 The colossal statue of Nero or of the Sun is in gilt bronze. the work of Zc nodorus, with the seven rays around its head. may be seen near the Coli scum. with the Meta Sudans on the left Back of the Colossus is the Tenn pie of Venus and Rome, veneris ct Ro. mae, and immediately behind it the Basilica of Constantine. with it's nave and two aisles. it's vaulted ceiling sup. ported by eight auted columns of pro- connesian marble and it's entrances on the Via Sacra decorated with four large columns of porphyry-
 Arcade fer Jewellers.
 On tho opposite side of the Clivus Sacer is the Porticus Margaritaria, an arcade for jewellers and goldsmiths, supported by ten rows of stone pilas-~ ters. where the negotiators exhibited their precious merchandise in booths and in shops made by means of brick walls raised between pairs of stone pilasters.9
 Further along on the same line fol. lows the House of the vestals an ob-