Between the Capitoline and the well known church of S. Maria in Cosmedin is an area which in early Rome was used as a cattle market, though during the empire it was as thickly populated as it is now. In this area, near the river, are found two republican temples for which the original names have not yet been discovered. The rectangular temple, usually called the Temple of Fortuna, was freed from mediaeval additions in 1923 and conservatively restored. It is exceedingly interesting as showing the type of building used at Rome in the late republic before Caesar and Augustus began to reconstruct Rome's temples in marble. It is an Ionic tetrastyle pseudo-peripteral temple of pleasing propor tions, though small, measuring only 20XI 2 metres. The walls are of Anio tufa as are also the imbedded columns except those at the corners. These latter, as well as the free columns of the portico, all the capitals, the entablature of the porch and the facing of the podium are of travertine. The whole was covered with white stucco and the stucco of the frieze was neatly moulded into low reliefs of ox-skulls and garlands. The careful distribution of these materials points to the period of about 70-50 B.C. The round temple near by stands on a foundation of the 3rd or 4th century B.C., but the marble temple itself seems to belong to the Augustan period. It would be a graceful temple if the entablature and roof could be restored as well as several of the capitals which have apparently been replaced by alien material. It is of course not a temple of Vesta, but its true name is not known. Huelsen has suggested "Portunus." The double-arched Janus quadrifrons which stands over the Cloaca Maxima, is of late date and of ugly proportions. The extensive remains that are found in and under S. Maria in Cos medin apparently belong to the public granary as it was in Cicero's day. Under the church of S. Nicola in Carcere near the Piazza Montanara are seen the foundations of three temples that stood beside the vegetable market outside the ancient Porta Carmen talis. These seem to be—from north to south—the temples of Janus, Juno Sospita, and Spes, originally built respectively in 26o, 194 and 258 B.C. Most of the materials now visible belong to the rebuildings of c. 90 B.C. ( Janus), 90 B.C. ( Juno Sospita) and 3r B.C. (Spes). For the architectural history of the republic they are very important. Farther north on the site of S. Maria in Campitelli stood the famous old temple of Apollo where the sibylline books were kept and near which, on the slope of the Capitoline, Rome's early plays were given at the games of Apollo. The temple was first built in the early republic (431 B.c.) but the extensive remains now to be seen under the church seem to belong Tichorius, Die Trajans-Siiule (1896) ; Lehmann-Hartleben, Die Trajans-Saule (1926).
to the reconstruction of 179 Because of the association of this district with early dramatic performances Augustus con structed a very large theatre near by (first used, when still in complete, in 17 B.c.) which he named in honour of his nephew Marcellus. A large part of the semicircular façade is still standing and when it has been cleared of its ugly shops and superstructure —excavations are in progress—it will be one of the most imposing ruins of ancient Rome. The exterior consisted of three series of open arcades, the lower one being decorated with engaged columns of the Doric order, the middle with Ionic ones, the third with Corinthian pilasters. The theatre seated about io,000 spectators and had a stage of the enormous proportion of 8ox2o metres.
North of this theatre may be seen the portal of the extensive Porticus of Octavia (originally the Porticus of Metellus) which enclosed large temples of Juno and Jupiter. The whole was orig inally built in the 2nd century B.C., but all the remains now visible belong to the debased art of the Septimian period. Within may be seen, rising above shabby walls, a column and capital of one of the great temples. North-east of this lay the extensive Circus Flaminius built before the second Punic war as a place to hold the plebeian games. Fragments of the supporting walls may be seen in the basements of several houses on the Via d. Bottege Oscure, but these all belong to a rebuilding of about 50-30 B.C. A few hundred feet to the north-west of this circus, Pompey built his massive theatre in 55 B.C., the first permanent theatre of Rome. This was about the same size as the Marcellus theatre and its stage was even longer. Considerable remains of it are to be found under the shops east of the Campo dei Fiori.
Farther north, in the old Campus Martius is the Pantheon,' a structure which Hadrian built to replace the earlier temple of Agrippa and Domitian. This round temple was one of the boldest of old Roman structures, having a brick and concrete dome with a diameter of 431 metres without support except on the walls of the temple. The dome itself was built of narrowing circles of brick on which were laid several layers of concrete which hardened into one firm mass so that there is no lateral thrust on the walls. The walls of the rotunda are also of brick-faced concrete with solid brick arches running through the mass to aid in carrying the weight over the niches while the mass was solidifying. The portico is a rectangular structure, most of whose columns belong to Hadrian's time. Some of the repairs of its entablature seem to be of a later period. The large inscription on its front generously credits the building to Agrippa while the smaller one mentions the repairs of Septimius. Nothing is said of the actual builder, but the brick stamps and the style of work prove that Hadrian should have the chief credit. The exterior was of course faced with marble slabs, and the sumptuous decoration of the interior— originally even more elaborate—will give some idea of how lavish the whole building must have been. The temple was dedicated by Agrippa to the divinities of the Julian house, and the name was intended to convey the idea of "all-holy." Of other notable build ings in this region we may mention the temple of Hadrian, the walls of which have been incorporated in the Borsa, or stock exchange; the Mausoleum of Augustus which has till recently served as a concert hall, called the Augusteo, and the tomb of Hadrian, on the right bank of the Tiber, rebuilt during the middle ages into a fort called the Castel Sant' Angelo.' The Colosseum,' or more correctly, the Amphitheatrum Flavi um, was begun by Vespasian on the low ground that Nero had used for a lake in the centre of his imperial villa. It was used for hunts, sham battles, gladiatorial shows and races, and the arena could be flooded for sham naval battles. The facade con sists of three series of 8o arches decorated in the three orders as were the theatres of Pompey and Marcellus, and rises metres. Stone masonry in travertine lined with tufa supports the heavier outer portion, while the vaulting of the arcades and the inner bowl consist of concrete. The seats were of marble and could hold about 50,000 spectators. The building which is elliptical measures revision of Anderson and Spiers, Architecture of Rome, p. 78.