The Ccelian Hill is crowned by the massive ar.d lofty arches of Nero's aqueduct. Its precipitous banks are encircled by various ruins, by arches, recesses, niches, and passages, which are considered by some to have been the Nymplurum of Nero. An arched corridor, supposed to have formed part of the Vivarium, is to be found beneath the tower of the convent. The west ern extremity of this hill is occupied by the church of San Stefano Rotonda, the reputed temple of Clau dius; and the great Basilica of St. John Lateran stands on its most eastern summit.
The Esquiline hill is of great extent, and of a very indefinite form. A part of it is covered with the streets and edifices of modern Rome, and the rest of it is co vered with the vestiges of buildings of every age, with deserted convents and papal churches, as well as with the ruins of ancient Rome. On its summit are the majestic arches of the united aqueducts of Claudius and Nero; and it contains also the lonely ruin of Mi nerva Medica, and various subterranean sepulchres and other ruins. The Esquiline has two summits, viz. L'Oppio, which is occupied by the church of St. Pie tro in Vinculis, built upon part of the extensive baths of Titus, and Ii Cispio, now crowned with the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, but once the site of the temple of Juno Lucina.
The Viminal hill, which stands between the Esqui line and the Quirinal, is scarcely to be distinguished from either, and it must therefore be considered as forming a part of both.
The Quirinal hill is occupied with magnificent pa laces, churches, streets, and fountains. The principal remains of antiquity which it contains, are the vestiges of the baths of Constantine, in the garden of the Co lonna palace; and a part of those of Dioclesian, which were erected both on this and the Viminal hill. This hill is better known by the name of Monte Cavallo, in consequence of two colossal groups of a young man and horse, which were found in the ruins of the baths of Constantine, having been placed before the pope's palace on the summit of this hill. These figures are supposed to represent Castor and Pollux, and to have been the production of Phidias and Praxiteles, princi pally on the authority of the inscriptions upon them. The house of Scipio is supposed to have occupied the site of the Colonna palace and garden; and there is a little street, Vico de' Cornell, which has derived its name from that illustrious house. !laving thus given
a general notice of the seven hills of ancient Rome, we shall proceed to give a brief account of the principal remains of her ancient grandeur.
The ancient Forum extends from east to west, along the base of the Capitoline hill, and stretching to the base of the Palatine hill. Its four corners are consi dered to have been at the Church of Santa Martina and S. Luca on the N. E.; of Santa Maria della. Con solazionne on the N. W'.; the little church of St. Theo dore, once the temple of Romulus, on the S. W.; and an unmarked point, where the arch of the Fabii once stood, within the line of the temple of Antoninus and Faustina, on the S. E. The ruins which now stand within these limits, are the triumphal arch of Septi mius Severus, the temple of Concord or Fortuna, the column of the emperor Phocas, the ruined wall of the Curia, and the three columns of the Comitium, at the base of the Palatine. The triumphal arch of Severus, built of marble, stands at the base of the Capitoline hill. It consists of one large and two smaller arches, with an entablature supported by four Corinthian co lumns with pilasters. The whole of it is adorned with bas relief sculptures, representing Severus's triumph over the Parthians. The Ionic portico of the temple of Concord is all that remains; but it is now supposed to have been the temple of Fortune. The column of Phocas is a single Corinthian pillar, erected in the seventh century by the Exarch Smaragdus to the em peror Phocas. The only remains of the Roman curia or senate house, the site of which is occupied by the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice, is a high broken brick wall. The Comitium which stood in front of the curia, is now supposed to have been the owner of the three beautiful Corinthian columns called the dis puted columns, which have been conjectured to be the remains of the temple of Jupiter Stator. Marble steps in front of them have been discovered by recent exca vations. The three beautiful fluted Corinthian columns which were supposed to be the remains of the temple of Jupiter Tonans, stood on the declivity of the Capi toline. They formed the corner of its portico, and were erected by Augustus. The frieze is finely sculp tured in bas relief, and the letters ESTITUER are the only remains of the inscription.