The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-01

every man taking 4 small piece OF earth
of the country from whencc he came.
they all threw In promiscuously together.
This trench they called 'mundus. mean
ing world and making IL their centre they
described their city in IA circle round 1t
Then Romulus fitted TO 81 plough II brazen
pioughshare. and yoking together II bull
and COW drove himself deep line or
furrow round the bounds. Over this line
they built the walls"
Prof. Boni recites Plutarch's account
almost word for word. AZ IL he knew 1t by
After n pause the professor points to the
shaft and says again:
There is the 'rnundus.' knew It must
have been on the summit OF the hill. II
was covered by square rough hewn
slab OF tufa pierced by two round holes.
This was the 'lap!s manalis.' I found 1t
broken into two pieces One Is over
there" pointing TO stone about three
feet wide and five feet long, land the
other piece must have fallen inside. This
slab was removed on three particular
days OF the year. August a. October
and November S. The 'rnundus' was then
open, 'mundus patel and supposed to
give free egr.ss to the deniZens OF the un-
derworld. The 'mundus' was considered
the gate Of the unseen world and ded!-
Gated to the gods OF the lower regions, Dis
OF Hades and Persephonc.
seeds Kept There in Summer.
The Romans inherited from the Etrus-
cars the belle. that a relation existed
between the blessings OF the earth and
| the workings OF tn. world below and the
"mundus'' guarded the seeds for the prim-
| tive Roman urban settlement on the Pal
\ atine II was opened on August - after
| the harvest TO place the seeds In II, and
again in October and November, when
the seeds were taken out and distributed
| 10 the inhabitants to SOW In their fields.
| When asked what was found inside the
''mundus" Prof. Boni replies "Oh. moth
ing" He declines TO describe It's shape
and size. He merely mentions II
''vaulted granary'' with "favisss'' eXca-
waited to q depth Of forty fee. below the
granary. These ''favissse' have not yet
been explored. As a rule they were pits
or cellars 90 instructed underneath a tenn.
pie for slowing away the sacred i'm.
, PIGMENTS. ornaments, furniture or other
property after they had become UNIT FOL
use. 1t Is possible that there is no con.
ncctlon between the "Inundus' and thes,
pits, but Prof, Boni seems to think thai
the 'fav'sse' guarded the sacred seed,
which were not kept in the 'mundus."
There are men working down in tn,
shaft where poi, Boni claims to hav,
discovered the "mundus" Their work Il
| ny fTOl. BON
himself. who besides being an archaologis,
is also an architect So far nobody eX-
ccpt Prof. Boni and five workmen ha.
gone down the shaft When asked
whether il was possible to have photo
graphs or even sketches. Prof. Boni sim
ply said mo absolutely impossible"
The area now under excavation on tn
Palatins IL closed to the public and NJ
one Is allowed inside unless accompanies
by Prof. Boni.
The site Of the "mundus' Is still a
mysterious as II was in the early days O
Rome. when It was guarded by terrlbl
shades and concealed the most ancien
rites OF an ancient religion. Prof. Bon
In IA statement given out to the Italian
press admitted that tho holiness Of thi
innermost shrine inspired him with dec
veneration and that he was nwed an
Impressed by the fearful darkness un
broken for nearly twenty centuries Thi
darkness has not yet been pierced by an,
; light and tho 'mundus'' In still practicSll
hidden.
Other archRologlsts. and there ar
many In Rome besides Prof. Boni, hay
so far neither accepted nor disputed tn
! discovery of tho 'mundus." They ADM
that It's discovery Is possible. but douh
, whether It could he identified. 1t IL sa,
, | that tho 'mundus" was a round pit, tn
, concave hollow beng perhaps suppose
= to correspond to the concavs sky abov,
Cato. quoted by Festus. says that tn
!. name 'mundus' was given to It from Il,
world that Ia above US. Now. 1t is ~
mored. that what Prof. Boni discovers
II square pit and consequently It car
A not be the lost ''mundiis" The certal
remains which should identify the dis
covery are not known, at least they hav
, not yet been fully described and III
, only thing that Prof Boni IL certain {
. Ia tho locality, He found the geologics
axis OF the Palatine and hence assume
!, that the pit discovered IN this locality
, Tho "inundus."
Exsct Meaning Of Word Uncertais
Then there is tho question OF tho m
ligious meaning OF the "mundus." Th
4 study Of the oldest Roman religion Ia ir
: superably difficult. The festivals mer
o toned In the calendar which cannot
Y interpreted. rs absolutely nothing
q known about thenE are many. The