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Recent Excavations in the Roman Forum

H. E. Burton

The results of the excavations now in progress, which began in the autumn of 1898, may be summarized as follows. In the semi-circular recess before the Temple of Divus Julius a base has been found which once held an altar for the worship of Caesar. The plan of the Regia, as reconstructed in 36 B.C. has been determined. In the podium of the Temple of Vesta is a chamber, probably a receptacle for ashes. The foundations of the steps of the temple have been cleared and many architectural fragments have been found. The removal of the church of St. Maria Liberatrice has allowed the excavation of the rooms at the west end of the Atrium of Vesta, especially a large room corresponding to the Tablinum at the other end. In the western half of the floor of the peristyle, two tanks have been found, one of which was evidently in the middle of the earlier and shorter peristyle. The various restorations of the Atrium have been determined. The building or Juturna has been excavated; there were found the lacus, an altar, a well, a shriile of Juturna, and various fragIIll'llls of statues and inscriptions.

The republican road which formed the eastern boundary of the Forum has been uncovered; it crossed the site of the later temple of Divus Julius and Arch of Augustus. The south side of the Temple of Castor has been cleared. 'The foundation of the Arch of Tiberius has been found and, near it, the marble floor of a small building identified as the Schola Xantha, the office of the clerks of the curule cediles. West of this are eight arches, supporting the Sacra Via. North- west of the rostra, the front of which has been restored, is the tufa foundation of the very ancient altar of Vulcan. East of the Arch of Septimius Severus is the rectangular pavement of black marble called the niger lapis, and at first thought to be the tomb of Romulus. Below this are various remains of the republican period,-two bases, between these a block which possibly held the genuine niger lapis, marking the tomb of Romulus, and a raised platform, which is possibly the tomb itself; at the same level, another platform, identified by some as the republican rostra, and, adjoining this, a triangular platform, on which is a truncated cone of tufa, bearing an inscription probably of the sixth century B.C., a lex sacrata, the meaning of which has not been determined.

In the excavation of the Comitium three pavements of travertine have been found at different levels and, below these, one still earlier of tufa. The facade of the Curia has been cleared. The Basilica Aemilia has been partly excavated, and remains of three periods have been found,-republican, Augustan, and later imperial. The long southern portico and a part of the central hall of the Augustan building have been cleared, ane).many architectural fragments have been found. The Sacra Via of the early empire has been uncovered from the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina to the Arch of Titus. South-east of the temple a very early cemetery has been excavated. There are round tombs, containing a dolium with the ashes of the dead. and rectangular tombs for burial, the fonner being somewhat earlier. The graves, which date from the eighth or ninth century to the sixth, contained rude tufa sarcophagi, vases, and ornaments of silver, amber, and bone.

Paving-stones found under the steps of the Temple of Venus and Roma, about thirty feet north of the Arch of Titus, show the location of the road before the building of the temple. South of the a;rch the remains of a small temple have' been discovered, snpposed to be the Temple of the Lares.

In the central area of the Forum, three long underground galleries have been fonnd, running east from the Rostra, and four cross-galleries; these could be entered by shafts from the Forum level. In the galleries are six vaulted chambers, which served perhaps for the storage of objects use in exhibitions in the Forum. The bases of three equestrian statues have been, found :-near the front of the Temple of Divus Julius that of Q. Marcius Tremulus, consul in 306 B.C.; west of this, the statue of Constantine; and, still further west, that of Domitian. In the last was a hollow travertine block, containing five archaic vases. These were perhaps found in a tomb disturbed when the foundation of the statue was laid, or they were made and deposited as an offering at the dedication of the statue. About sixty feet west of this base Lacus Curtius has been discovered. It is an area paved with travertine and surrounded by a curb; below is an earlier pavement of tufa. At one end is an elevated twelve-sided platform of tufa about twelve feet in diameter, enclosed by a parapet.