Whenever and however Rome had its begin ning, its inception was on the Palatine Hill, the centre of,a group of eminences of slight eleva tion on theleft bank of the Tiber. The Pala tine was not a large stage for so vast a drama of world history as developed there, its circum ference being less than a mile and its elevation above the but little more than a hundred feet. The area of the hill is less' than a 20th of that of Central Park, N. Y. It was the home .of the Rainnes, who were regarded as the original Romans; a tribe of uncertain origin,. but probably of the Opican stock. The form of the so-called city of Romulus — that of a trapezium — forced upon it by the contour of the hill, procured for it the name Roma Quad rata. This early city was enclosed by the wail credited to Romulus, which began on the west ern edge of the Palatine opposite the S. Giorgio in Velabro, ran thence southward in such wise as to enclose the site of the•church of S. Anas tasia and the declivity of the valley of the Cerche under the southern slope of the Pala. tine, along the eastern edge of the Palatine op posite the Callan Hill, then along the Sacra Via close to the Arch of Titus to the Forum Romannm near S. Marie Liberatrite, and thence to the beginning. Within this enclosure were the temples of the gods and the homes of the patricians; the commons lived beyond the walls with only incidental protection from the fortress within. There was little room for growth. Imperial expansion began with Augustus, who lived in the house of Hortensius until it was burned. Then the Romans, building him a palace worthy of his state --it covered the sites of the houses of Cicero, Hortensius, Catiline and Clodius — really began the (Palace of the Camas,* which spread over the entire hill, and, before the day of its decline, extended beyond the Romulan wall to two other hills, the Caliati and the Esquiline. Tiberius extended the palace toward the edge of the hill above Velabrutu (the riverside marsh), Caligula toward the Forum Romanum, connecting it with the capi tol by a bridge, and converted the temple of Castor and Pollux into a vestibule for it. Nero built it toward the Colosseum and filled the valley between the Catkin and the Palatine with the over-grown structure.
The Calian Hill, southeast of the Palatine, was inhabited by the Luceres, a tribe of sup posed Greek origin. It was the site of the Campus Martialis, the playground of Rome whenever the Campus Martins was flooded by the Tiber. It is more than three times the nee of the Palatine, and, because it was covered with oaks — a part of which made the sacred wood of the Camena —it was known as Mons Querquetulanus. The Callan figures, in the history of Rome, less than the other hills. Originally the home of a dense population, it was later long given up to the monks of the Camaldolese, Passionist and Redemptorist orders and the Augustinian nuns of the In coronati. New streets have now been opened and settled.
The Esquiline, (Hill of the a tree sacred to Jove, is directly nOrth of the Callan across the ancient Subura. It has two eleva tions or summits rising from a common plain — one summit, known as the Oppius, now occu pied by the churches S. Pietro in Vincoli and S. Martino al Monte, and the other as the Cipius, now the site of S. Mary Major's. It is the largest of the Roman hills. Temples dedicated to Fever ((near S. Maria Maggiore),Juno Mephitis (near a malarial pool), and to Venus Libitina the registration of deaths, bear testimony to‘ uhe insalubrity of the Esquiline. On the slope behind the Forum was the fashion able quarter called the Carina, on the site of the present Via del Colosseo. Near here the
Senate sat occasionally in the Temple of Tul lius. Pompey's home was here; and near this patrician quarter of the hill was the already mentioned Subura — in the valley formed by the convergence of the Esquiline, the Quirinal and the Viminal — the plebeian quarter, to this day the scene of a crowded population. Virgil lived on the Esquiline, Maecenas, patron of Augustan poets, had his home where the baths of Titus stood later. To-day only the northern side of .the hill is inhabited; the southern is covered with vineyards and gardens and ruins.
The Capitoline, the smallest of the seven hills, is less than five minutes from the Pala tine, in a northwesterly direction. It had but one building devoted to secular affairs, the record office (Tabularium), but many pagan temples. It was the home of Saturn, the pre decessor of Jupiter in the city's legendary story, and was called successively Saturnium, Mom Tarpeius and Capitolium, or Mons Capitolinus, the Hill of the Skull. There Were two summits; one the citadel or Arx, the other the site of the earliest temple mentioned by any classic author — that of Jupiter Capitolinus, built under Tar quinius Superbus, 535 ac., with money taken from the Volscians in war. This sumptuous fane had peculiar claims on the veneration of Roman citizens — it was citadel and shrine combined. The Sybilline books were preserved there. There both Titus and Vespasian cele brated their triumph over the fall of Jerusalem. It was later robbed of its treasures during in vasions of the Vandals. Near it stood the temple of Fides and the twin temples of Mars and Venus Erycina. The temple of Jupiter Tonans was built by Augustus; the temple of Honor and Virtue by Marius in 103 ac., with spoils taken in the Cimbric wars. There were still other notable temples, and the Altar of Jupiter Pistor, commemorating the stratagem of the Romans, who threw down loaves into the camp of the besieging Gauls to deceive them as to the state of their supplies. On this hill Petrarch received his laurel crown, and the tribune Rienzi promulgated new laws. Michelangelo designed the present museum and palace of the conserva tories. The Museo Capitolino contains one of the finest collections of statuary and painting, and the famous mosaic, Pliny's Doves, found in the ruins of Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli. In (The Reserved Cabinet)) stands the exquisite Greek statue Venus of the Capitol, found im mured in a wall upon the Quirinal. In the Hall of the Emperors is the imposing seated statue of Agrippina (grand-daughter of Augus tus) and 83 busts of Roman emperors, em presses and their families, a character study. The Hall of Illustrious Men is interesting, as is also the Hall of the Faun, from the Faun found at Hadrian's Villa. The statue of the Faun is highly graceful and artistic. The three gems of the collection are found in the Hall of the Dying Gladiator,— the Dying Gladiator, the Antinous of the Capitol and the Faun of Praxiteles. The Palace of the Conservatories contains busts of artists by Canova, the restoration of a column of Michelangelo, many fine frescoes and re liefs by Bernini and other masters; the Apollo Belvedere and the famous Bronze Wolf of the Capitol, of unknown antiquity. Near the wolf is the well-known and beautiful figure of the boy extracting a thorn from his foot. The Picture Gallery of the Capitol contains few good works: a beautiful Saint Sebastian by Guido and several others by Guercino.