410 ROME the 19 Roman fora. (See FOBUM.) Among the others were the Forum Julium or Csesaris, close behind the former ; the Forum August! ; the Forum Nervro or tranxitorium, intended merely as a passageway from the two pre- ceding to the temple of Peace ; and the Forum Trajani. But little of the .splendid forum of Trajan is now visible, except the celebrated column. Most of the magnificent buildings founded by that emperor within the limits of his forum were left for ages in ruin and buried under earthworks. Excavations begun by the French early in the present century, and con- tinued by the pontifical government after the restoration of Pius VII., resulted in the dis- covery of some remains of the Ulpian basilica, so called from the family name of the founder (Ulpius Trajanus), and other fragments of an- tique structures, strewn over an area not more than one twelfth of the space occupied by Tra- jan's buildings. In this narrow place, below the level of the surrounding piazza Traiana, is all that now remains visible of the ruins of those magnificent structures. The Campus Martins, at the N. W. side of the ancient city, was almost entirely occupied by public build- ings, temples (among which was the Panthe- on), the mausoleum of Augustus, and plea- sure grounds. This region is now covered by the modern city, and contains those streets and piazzas whore the population is most dense. (See CAMPUS.) The Campus Sceleratus was the spot where vestals who had violated their vows were buried alive, and the Campus Esqui- linus was originally used for the execution of criminals and the burial of the poor, though the greater part of it was afterward converted into pleasure grounds. Besides these places of public resort, there were beautiful private parks and gardens on the hills around the city. The houses of Rome were divided into two classes, the domiu, or residences of the nobles, corresponding to the modern palazzi, and the i inn fir or dwellings of the middle and lower classes, which were often let out by floors or apartments after the modern fashion. These imulce were sometimes carried up so many stories that a law was passed forbidding any house to be built more than 70 ft. high a regulation all the more necessary as every house was surrounded by an open space of at least 5 ft. The domus had porticoes in front and inner courts called atria. The iruula perhaps had smaller courts within, and in place of the porticoes they had open spaces which served for shops and workshops. The common build- ing material was brick, at least before the time of Augustus; the upper story of the domiu was generally of wood. Under the emperors more costly materials, sach as marble and oth- er stone, came into frequent use ; and when Nero rebuilt the city after the great fire, he employed a kind of volcanic rock now called peperino, formed by the cementing together of sand and cinders. He also dispensed with the wooden upper story, and took pains to make the streets wide and straight. Most of the domus were situated at the E. end of the city on the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline hills ; they did not form streets, but were built in the midst of large gardens and fields. The city is supposed to have reached its greatest size in the time of Vespasian, when it was 13 m. in circuit, and embraced a population prob- ably not much -under 2,000,000, of whom about half were slaves. The public edifices during the palmiest days of the empire were of almost unparalleled magnificence. The high grounds of the Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, and Aven- tine hills were mostly occupied by the popu- lous quarters of the ancient city, but were covered in some parts by private gardens, as those of Mecamas on the Escmiline. The Cap- itoline hill was almost entirely covered by pub- lic edifices, with the arx (citadel) on its high- est point, the Tarpeian rock. The most splen- did of the many temples on this hill was that of Jupiter Capitolinus, the exact site of which is still in dispute among antiquaries. (See CAP- ITOL.) Latin writers, when using the name " Capitolium," usually imply this great temple, the most important and magnificent in Rome. The residence on the Palatine hill, which final- ly became developed into the vast palace of the Oiesars, was originally the private house of the orator Hortensius, which was inhabit- ed by Augustus and rebuilt for his use at the public expense. New buildings were raised for themselves by successive emperors, till the greater part of the hill was covered by their splendid structures. Nero built more than any other emperor, and after his first great palace had been destroyed by the most disastrous conflagration that ever visited Rome (A. D. 04), he began another, the edifices, gardens, and pleasure grounds of which extended over the Palatine, Esqniline, and Crolian hills, and the intervening valleys. This immense palace, the Domus Aurea of Nero, was almost totally de- molished by Vespasian. There were several cMrwB, or senate houses, and the senators some- times assembled in temples, especially in that of Concord, on the southern slope of the Cap- itoline hill. The Curia Hostilia, the most an- cient senate house, said to have been founded by Tullus Hostilius, was burned down during the tumultuous funeral of the tribune Clodius in 52 B. C., and was first restored by Faustus, the son of Sulla. This later building having been taken down, a new curia was begun, or at least projected, by Julius Cfflsar, and after his death completed, if not actually founded, by Augustus, who dedicated it, in his great un- cle's name, as the Curia Julia. Its exact site cannot be determined, but Roman antiquaries recognize it in the ruins of a large structure, built in brickwork like that of the Augustan age, below the N. E. declivity of the Palatine, and therefore in the immediate vicinity of the forum at its S. W. limit. The Curia Pom- peiana, which was abandoned after it had been stained by the blood of Cresar, who was there
