ROME 411 assassinated, was one among many superb edi- fices raised by Pompey the Great. This, to- gether with a theatre, a temple of Venus, and a portico with 500 columns, stood between the western side of the Campus Martius and the Tiber. A few remains of this temple and theatre were visible, till concealed by recent buildings, in the cellars of a modern palace. The basilicas were chief courts of justice presided over by the urban prefects, in which the em- perors themselves often heard causes and ad- ministered justice. Among these, the most splendid one founded under the republic was the Basilica ^Emilia, so called after its found- er .ZEurilius Paulus, 179 B. C. It is supposed that a remnant of it is preserved in the outer walls of Sant' Adriano, a church on the N. E. side of the forum. Three other basilicas founded under the republic (in the 2d century B. C.), the Porcian, the Sempronian, and the Opimian, have totally disappeared. The Julian, founded by Augustus and dedicated to Julius Csesar, still exists in extensive but low and roofless ruins on the "W. side of the principal forum. These ruins were brought to light through works undertaken by the pontifical and recently finished under the royal govern- ment. Among favorite places of resort for business or recreation were the porticoes, sev- eral of which, with far-extending colonnades, ornamented ancient Rome. One, built by Agrippa in the Campus Martius, was called Porticus Argonautarum/from a picture or se- ries of pictures on its walls illustrating the Ar- gonautic expedition. The only one of these porticoes the ruins of which are still considera- ble is that built by Augustus and named after his sister Octavia. Within the quadrangle of colonnades forming this portico stood temples of Jupiter and Juno, both wholly destroyed. We find mention of only two prisons in ancient Rome, the oldest being that founded by Ancus Martius and said to have been enlarged by Ser- vius Tullius. Two dark subterranean cham- bers of these ancient prisons, known as the Mamertine, and entered below a church on the principal forum, were long ago consecrated and are still used as chapels, because supposed to have been the place where St. Peter and St. Paul were confined, and from which they were led to death. Five other vaulted cham- bers, mostly built of similar stonework, have recently been cleared out (one of them had long been used as a safe for butcher's meat), and are now recognized as pertaining to the same prisons, and ascribable therefore to the time of the kings. Another ancient prison was destroyed and a temple of Piety raised on its site, in commemoration of the act of the Roman daughter who saved the life of a parent condemned to die in that dungeon ; a well known story narrated by Pliny the Elder and by Valerius Maximus. The military were quartered in two great camps, walled around and defended like fortresses, beyond the lim- its of the primitive city, the castra prcetoria at the K E. extremity of the city, beyond the walls of Servius Tullius, and the castra pere- grina, on the Cselian hill. The former, built by Tiberius, was occupied by the prretorian guards, and the latter by foreign legions. The aqueducts, the most stupendous works of their kind in the world, and the sewers, the chief of which, called cloaca maxima, is still in ex- cellent preservation, are described elsewhere. (See AQUEDUCT, and CLOACAE.) Scarcely sur- passed by any of the public edifices were the thermce or baths, whose name conveys but a very imperfect idea of the various uses to which they were devoted. Besides the apart- ments for bathing (see BATH), they contained places for athletic exercises, public halls, ves- tibules and porticoes for lounging and conver- sation, shaded walks and gardens, fountains, libraries, and collections of paintings and sculptures. The thermce of Antoninus, built principally by Caracalla and completed by Alexander Severus, had accommodations for 2,300 bathers at the same time, and the ther- mos of Diocletian for 3,000. The latter was the most extensive building of the kind in Rome. Those of Agrippa or Alexander Seve- rus, Nero, Titus, Trajan, Commodus, and Con- stantino were also celebrated ; and there were several smaller ones, besides a great number of balnea or common baths. There were only three theatres proper, those of Pompey, Cor- nelius Balbus, and Marcellus. The first was in the Campus Martius, and had seats for 40,000 spectators ; the second, near the Tiber, where the Cenci palace now stands, could contain 11,600 people ; and the third, in the S. part of the Campus Martius, between the Capitoline and the river, could hold 20,000. The first theatres were mere temporary structures of wood, though even these were sometimes of extravagant splendor, like that upon which M. JEmilius Scaurus wasted an enormous for- tune, and which was large enough to seat 80,- 000 spectators. The stage was decorated with 360 columns, arranged in three stories, the lowest of white marble, the middle of glass, and the uppermost of gilt wood. The odeum in the Campus Martius was a sort of music hall, and was capable of accommodating 11,- 000 persons. The circus dates its introduction into Rome long prior to the erection of per- manent theatres. (See CIP.CUS.) Amphithea- tres, for gladiatorial combats and shows of wild beasts, were at first built of wood and ta- ken to pieces after the performances were over (see AMPHITHEATRE) ; the first stone edifice of the kind was erected by Statilius Taurus in 30 B. C. Another was begun by Caligula, but never finished. The great Flavian amphithea- tre, founded by the emperor Vespasian (of the Flavian family) about A. D. 72, dedicated by his son Titus in 80, and called the Colosseum from its vast size, is still in its ruinous state among the most imposing of Roman antiqui- ties. Excavations carried on in its interior by the government since 1873 have brought
