ROME 409 the hand of a Frankish assassin, and Theo- dosius, who merited from posterity the sur- name of Great, was acknowleded in 394 with- out a rival or colleague throughout the whole Roman empire. His death the following year plunged everything again into confusion. The sovereignty was divided between his sons Ar- cadius and Honorius, and thenceforth there were two distinct empires, the further history of which will be found in the articles BY- ZANTINE EMPIRE and WESTERN EMPIRE. (For Roman antiquities, see the general or special articles on the various subjects, such as AQUE- DUCT, ARMY, AUGURS, BATH, CALENDAR, CIR- CUS, CIVIL LAW, COMITIA, CONSUL, FORUM, &c.) Description of Ancient Rome. The an- cient city of Rome was situated principally on the left bank of the Tiber, about 16 m. from the sea, and just on the N. border of Latium. From the Palatine hill, where it was originally founded, it spread over several adjacent emi- nences and the valleys between them, and be- came known as urbs septicollis, the "city of seven hills;" these were Mons Palatinus, Capi- tolinus, Esquilinus, Cealius, Aventinus, Quiri- nalis, and Viminalis. The Quirinal, Viminal, and Capitoline hills were occupied by the Sa- bines, and the Cselian, together with Mons Cis- pius and Mons Oppius, which are parts of the Esquiline, by the Etruscans. The Aventine hill was for a time not included within the po- mcerium (limits which could not be built upon, extending along the walls both on the outer and the inner sides, and in which auguries were taken). Ancus Martius is said to have built the first fortress on the Janiculan hill, on the right bank of the Tiber, beyond the lim- its of the ancient city. The walls ascribed to Servius Tullius enclosed all the seven hills, and were about seven miles in circumference. These fortifications had, as generally reported, 17 gates, though ancient writers are not all agreed concerning the number. In some places the steep sides of the hills were a sufficient pro- tection without artificial fortification ; in others the wall is known to have been over 60 ft. high and 50 ft. wide, faced exteriorly with flag stones and bordered by a ditch, and traces of it are still visible. The city was divided by Servius Tullius into four regiones, corresponding to the four tribes in which the citizens were classed ; they were named Suburana, Esquilina, Collina, and Palatina. The Capitoline, as the seat of the gods, was not included in them. Augustus increased the number of regiones to 14, com- prehending besides the city of Servius Tullius the suburbs which had since grown up. Each regio was subdivided into tici. At what time the Mons Janiculus, on the right bank of the Tiber, was encompassed by walls seems doubt- ful ; it was fortified and connected with the left bank by a bridge as early as the time of An- cus Martius. The emperor Aurelian (270-'75) began the new walls, which were completed under Probus, in 276. These fortifications, restored and perhaps amplified in circuit by Honorius in 402, formed the actual defences of the city, not however including the Trans- tiberian quarter, on the right bank, which was first enclosed with walls by Pope Urban VIII. (1623-'44). The region called Borgo, on the same side, which contains St. Peter's church and the Vatican, was protected by oth- er walls built long anterior by Pope Leo IV. (847-'55) ; and this quarter, like a separate city, was called after him Civitas Leonina, or the Leonine City. The walls of Aurelian and Ho- norius, as they now exist, are between 11 and 12 m. in circuit, and have 16 gates, three of which are now walled up as useless, and one, the Porta Septimiana, on the Transtiberian side, is surrounded by streets. "Within this fortified circuit are five bridges spanning the Tiber (besides the ruins of two others), three of which are ancient : the ./Elian, now the Ponte Sant' Angelo ; the Fabrician, now the Ponte Quattro Capi ; and the Cestian, now the Ponte San Bartolommeo. The last two connect the small island in the Tiber, now called Isola di San Bartolommeo, with the opposite banks. The number of streets is said to have been 215, the principal avenues being called vice and vici, and the narrow ways angi- portus. The main thoroughfare was the Via Sacra, which began in the valley between the CaBlian and Esquiline mounts, and wound in a rather devious course westward, past the Flavian amphitheatre and under the arch of Titus, through the centre of the city to the capitol. The Via Lata and its continuation the Via Flaminia extended from the N. side of the capitol to the Porta Flaminia near the N. W. angle of the city. The Vicus Tuscus, running out of the Forum Romanum, con- tained many of the shops, and was celebrated by Horace for the rascally character of its inhabitants. The Vicus Sandalarius was the place where shoemakers congregated, and also the quarter of some of the booksellers. The whole valley between the Esquiline, Viminal, and Quirinal hills, a little N. E. of the cen- tre of the city, was called the Subura, and through it ran a street of the same name. This was the scene of most of the bustle and wickedness of the city, and the seat of the principal shops and brothels. The Carinse, a district just without the limits of this noisy region, was the residence of Pompey, Cicero, and many other distinguished persons. Here and there were open places called fora and campi, the former being intended for the trans- action of business, and the latter for pleasure grounds. The fora were level oblong spaces, paved, and surrounded with buildings of vari- ous kinds, and were either fora civilia, where justice was administered and other public mat- ters were attended to, or fora venalia, which answered very nearly to modern market places. The Forum Romanum, sometimes called sim- ply the forum, or forum magnum or vetus, oc- cupied a space between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, and was the most important of
