parallel marble walls resting on a stone base, each 17 feet in length and 6 in height, leaving between them a passage about 9 feet wide. The bas-reliefs on the inner faces represent the Suvetanrilia, or sacrifice of a sow, a ram, and a bull. On the outside face of the north wall the scene is allusive to the Institution of the Pueri et Puellæ Alimentarii, made by Trajan in favour of the children of poor or deceased citizens, whom he allowed to be supported and educated at the expense of the State. The bas-relief on the outer side of the south screen represents the burning, in the Forum, of the registers of taxes which had not been paid to the first Imperial Treasury; in other words, the remission of the arrears of debts or dues conceded by that benevolent Emperor. References.-Brizio: Annal. Inst., 1872, p. 309. Henzen: Bull. Inst., 1872, p. 273. Visconti: Deux actes de Domitien, &c., Rome, 1873. Marucchi: Importanza topografica dei Bassorilievi, &c., Roma, 1880. Cantarelli: Osservazioni cet, in Bull. com., 1889.

SACRA VIA.

Closely connected with the forum, and associated in the Roman mind with the oldest recollections, was the Sacra Via, so called, it would seem, because it was the route followed by triumphal processions and religious pageants, as they defiled through the forum before ascending the Capitoline, although the antiquarians of the Augustan age believed that it received its name from the meeting of Romulus and Tatius when they solemnly pledged their faith to each other. The course of the Sacred Way has given rise to at least as much controversy as any portion of Roman topography; but although all the questions connected with the subject cannot be answered in a satisfactory manner, the recent investigations concerning the forum have cleared away many difficulties. Varro 2 states expressly that the commencement of the Sacred Way (caput Sacrae Viae) was at the chapel of the goddess Strenia, and that it extended to the Arx. We, moreover, infer from his words that the said chapel was in or near the Ceroliensis, which is generally believed to be the hollow between the Coelian and the Esquiline, in which the Coliseum stands. He adds that although this was the real extent of the Sacred Way, the term, in its ordinary acceptation, was limited to that portion which terminated at the first ascent on leaving the forum. The ascent here indicated must be what Horace calls the Clivus Sacer, the slope, namely, of the Velia, on the top of which the arch of Titus was built, and this was the highest point (summa sacra via). Festus confirms this account, and fixes two other points, the Regia, which agrees with Horace (ventum erat ad Vestae), and the Domus Regis Sacrificuli; but the position of the latter is, unfortunately, unknown. We are hence induced to lay down the course of the Sacred Way as follows:-Beginning where the arch of Constantine now stands, ascended the ridge of the Velia, passed under the arch of

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Dionys. II. 46. Appian. fragm. I. 6. Fest. 8. v. Sacram viam, p. 290. Serv. ad Virg. En. VIII. 641. comp. Plut. Rom. 19.

2 Varro L.L. V. §47.

3 Hor. C. IV. ii. 33. Epod. VII. 7. comp. Mart. L 70. 4 Fest. 8. v. Sacram viam. p. 290,

Hor. S. L. ix. 35.

Titus (summa sacra via), descended to the arch of Fabius, and, after passing in front of Faustina's temple, turned twice at right angles, skirting the southern and western sides of the Forum. Its junction with the Clivus Capitolinus was marked by the arch of Tiberius.

This is the course of the Sacra Via in imperial times. In the Kingly and in early Republican times it did not turn at right angles, but took a winding or diagonal course, passing between the temple of Vesta and the Regia.

We shall briefly describe the monuments which line the Sacra Via in the space between the Forum and the Coliseum.

Fornix Fabianus.-A triumphal arch of the greatest simplicity, erected by Q. Fabius Allobrogicus, consul, B.C. 121, in memory of his conquests in Savoy and in the lands of the Arubini. It was discovered and destroyed in 1540. A few blocks cut in travertine still mark its site a little beyond the temple of Faustina.

References.-De Rossi: dell'arco Fabiano in Ann. Inst. 1859, p. 307. Cicer. de orat. II. 66. pro Plancio 7. Pseud. Ascon. in Cic. verr. I. 7.

Heroon Romuli.—A small rotunda erected by Maxentius as a memorial to his son Romulus. After the defeat of that tyrant the Senate inscribed on the rotunda the name of Constantine. Felix IV. (A.D. 526-530) made it into a vestibule for his church of ss. Cosmas and Damianus.

Reference.-Lanciani: Antichi edificii componenti la chiesa dei ss. Cosma e Damiano, in Butt. com. 1882, p. 29.

Aedes Sacrae Urbis.-A massive square structure also dedicated by Felix IV. to ss. Cosmas and Damianus. The south wall built of blocks of tufa and peperino, with a doorway of travertine, belongs to the time of Vespasian: the back wall is faced with bricks of the time of Severus and Caracalla. In it there were kept all the documents connected with public and private property, maps, and surveys, &c. The plan of Rome engraved on the marble facing of the back wall, was discovered in fragments, in the time of Pius IV. (A.D. 1561) by Giovanni Dosio da San Geminiano.

References.-De Rossi: Bullett. Crist., 1887, p. 66. Iordan: Forma Urbis, p. 8.

Basilica Nova, erected by Maxentius, and named after Constantine, the most conspicuous ruin on the Sacra Via. The ceiling of the nave rested on eight marble columns of the Corinthian order, the last of which was removed to the Piazza di s. Maria Maggiore in 1613 by Pope Paul V. The entrance from the Sacra Via was ornamented with four large columns of red porphyry, pieces of which remain in situ.1

Reference.-Nibby: del Tempio della Pace e della Basil. di Constantino, Rome, 1819.

Aedes Romae et Veneris, built by Hadrian, A.D. 121-134, on the site of the vestibule of the Golden House of Nero. To make room for the new structure, the bronze colossus of the sun, 120 feet high, which stood in the middle of the atrium, was removed nearer to the Coliseum and placed on a pedestal still existing.

1 Aur. Vict. Caes. 40. Notitia Reg. IV. Becker: Hand. 6. I. 379, 443.

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