Rome

from fire. The ceilings of the rooms were domed with concrete and an arcade of round and flat arches was developed far beyond the usual architectural customs of the day to avoid the use of inflammable material. It is probably the first attempt at a hall of records that was to be absolutely impervious to the accidents of the elements, and the attempt was successful as the present condi tion of the store-chambers proves.

The Julian Forum.

Julius Caesar set aside a large part of the moneys which he derived from Gallic booty for the relief of the overcrowded forum. Thus he moved the comitium to the new saepta farther north, and built in the forum the large basilica mentioned above. His most extensive building, however, was a new forum enclosure with high walls and numerous shops lining the walls north of the old forum. In the via delle Marmorelle there are remains of the portico and walls ingeniously constructed of the three varieties of stone best adapted to the requirements. This wall was veneered with marble. Beneath, not now visible, are the remains of several of the shops built of tufa and vaulted with concrete. In the centre of the forum Caesar erected a marble temple to Venus Genetrix, the "ancestress" of the Gens Iulia. This temple he vowed at the battle of Pharsalus, doubtless intending that it should be a visible reminder of his own exalted claims. The forum itself was planned in 54 B.C. but not yet fully completed at Caesar's death in 44 Forum Augusti.—Augustus completed the forum, of his predecessor and built a larger one on adjacent ground chiefly for the purpose of enclosing a temple to Mars Ultor which he vowed at Philippi, B.C. To protect the temple from fire he raised a massive wall of Gabine and Alban stone about the area. This wall, one of the most imposing now at Rome, rises iooft. high. On the outside the great blocks were left rustic, while on the inside, where it was faced with marble, two rows of niches were cut to hold statues and honorary tablets to the noted heroes of Roman history. The statues have disappeared but many fragments of the tablets have been found. The area in front of the temple and on its north side was excavated in 1925-27 and revealed fragments enough of the entablature to ensure complete drawings of the whole structure. The marble decoration was of the best that the Augustan age could produce. The temple proves to be octostyle with a row of columns on each side while the rear of the cella stands solidly against the massive enclosure wall.

Forum Vespasiani.

The next imperial forum to be built was that of Vespasian, through the area of which the Via Cavour now runs. In its centre he constructed a magnificent temple to Peace, which is frequently mentioned for its library and its large collection of works of art—among them statues of Phidias and Lysippus. No part of this structure is now visible. Between the

forum of Augustus and that of Vespasian lay the long and nar row area of the lower Argiletum about forty metres wide in which Domitian began to build a forum to contain a small temple of Minerva. Since Nerva completed and dedicated it, the structure bore his name, but the decorative work is all of the luxurious style of the Flavian period. Two of the columns of the handsome colonnade still remain with a part of the entablature. Its frieze is in bold relief representing the story of Arachne and other themes suitable for the adornment of a precinct sacred to the goddess of arts and crafts. No portion of the temple of Minerva is now visible but the whole area will probably soon be excavated.

Forum Traiani.

The forum of Trajan, north-west of the Augustan group, was a large complex of open areas and buildings, including the spacious forum proper enclosed with a portico, the basilica Ulpia, the two library buildings, the column of Trajan, and, an addition of Hadrian, the massive temple of Trajan. Since the valley was too narrow for all these structures the op posing slopes of the Capitoline and Quirinal hills were cut back, and when necessary heavy retaining walls of concrete and brick erected, a part of which still remain. The forum proper had its stately entrance in the form of a triumphal arch near the forum Ancient Rome, p. 274 (Igir), with earlier bibliography.

of Augustus. Its area is rectangular, 116 metres wide and 95 metres long. The large hemicycle against the Quirinal which is now being excavated served as a retaining wall of the Forum. The corresponding one on the opposite side has disappeared. The forum was of course open to the sky, but was surrounded by a very beautiful marble portico backed by a masonry wall. Many fragments of this portico may be seen lying about in the area. Next to the forum proper stood the basilica, which far surpassed the earlier ones in magnificence. A double row of 96 Corinthian columns supported the upper arcade that bore the roof. The nave was 25 metres wide ; the apses at the end have been destroyed. North of this judgment hall were the two wings of the library, a rendezvous of literary men and students. In the area between these was built the column of Trajani which is still standing. This column is iooft. high and is covered with reliefs arranged in a spiral band representing the events of Trajan's two campaigns in Dacia. This is apparently the first column which was decorated in this manner, and the reliefs are made with such fidelity to fact as to be our best document for the history of the wars. Since the porticoes of the library rose on both sides, the reliefs could then be seen from near at hand. Nothing now remains of the great temple of Trajan which Hadrian erected north of the column.