CAPITOL (Lat. capitoliurn, from caput= a head) ; said to have been so called from a human head (ca put) found when digging the foundations of the fortress of Rome, on the hill Tarpeius. Here a temple was built to Jupiter Capi tolinus. The foundation was laid by Tarquinius Priscus, 616 B. C.; the build ing was continued by Servius Tullius; completed by Tarquinius Superbus, but not dedicated till 507 B. c., by the consul Horatius. It was destroyed by lightning, 183; burnt during the civil wars, 83; rebuilt by Sylla, and dedicated again by Lutatius Catulus, 69; twice again burnt A. D. 69, 80; rebuilt 70, 82; sacked by Genseric, June, 455. The Roman consuls made large donations to this temple, and the Emperor Augustus bestowed on it 2,000 pounds weight of gold, of which metal the roof was composed; its thresholds were of brass, and its interior was decorated with shields of solid silver. The Capitoline games, instituted 387 B. C. to commemorate the deliverance from the Gauls, were revived by Domitian, A. D. 86. The Campidoglio in Rome con tains palaces of the senators, erected on the site of the Capitol by Michael An gelo soon after 1546. The word is also applied to the building in which the Con gress of the United States meets.
The National Capitol.—The S. E. cor
ner-stone of the Capitol was laid Sept. 18, 1793, "by Brother George Washing ton, assisted by the Worshipful Masters and Free Masons of the surrounding cities, the military, and a large number of people." The N. wing was ready for occupancy in 1800, the S. wing in 1808; but both were partially destroyed by the British in 1814. The foundation of the main building was laid in 1818 (March 24), the restoration of the wings having been commenced three years earlier; and the whole was completed in 1827. July 4, 1851, the corner-stone of the S. ex tension was laid by President Fillmore, and this was finished in 1857. The N. extension was occupied by the Senate in 1859. The present dome, commenced in 1855, was completed eight years later, and Dec. 12, 1863, the American flag floated from its summit. The cost of the entire building was $13,000,000: main building, $3,000,000; dome, $1,000,000; extensions, $8,000,000; miscellanenous items, $1,000,000. The length of the en tire building is 751 feet 4 inches; its greatest breadth, 324 feet, and it covers a little over 3%acres. The distance from the ground to the top of the dome is 307% feet; the diameter of the dome, 1351/2 feet.