were to call in his debts, Jupiter himself, even were he to put up Olympus to auction, would not have been able to pay a shilling in the pound. Claudian mentions the carved doors, and some giants and winged figures, probably Victories, on the top of the temple. A bas-relief on the stairs of the palace of the Conservatori, representing Marcus Aurelius ascending in triumph to the Capitol, presents an exact image of what the temple was in his age. It seems to have suffered partially from fire in the reign of Commodus. In the time of Constantine it was still one of the most splendid sights in Rome. Ammianus Marcellinus, in the reign of Constantius II., mentions its excellence as divine. Towards the end of the fourth century Stilicho took away the plates of gold from the great doors. Procopius says that Genseric plundered it in 455 A.D., and carried off half the tiles, which were of bronze gilt. Totila appears to have burnt part of it, and Theodoric undertook to repair it. Insensibly, however, as Christianity gained ground, the Pagan temples fell into decay. St. Jerome says that in his age, 'the golden Capitoline was full of filth, and all the temples of Rome were covered with soot and spiders' webs.'

Extensive substructures have been brought to light in the Caffarelli gardens, which have been identified by some archæologists with those of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. They were excavated by Bunsen, and were allowed to remain open for forty years, but they are now buried again.

On the same summit as the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was a second shrine of Jupiter, under the

1

title of Feretrius, or the Spoil-bearer, and another was erected here, also to the same divinity, by Augustus, under the name of Thunderer (Tonans).

We now come to the disputed point on which summit the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was placed. There is every reason to believe it was on the Caffarelli height, from the numerous evidences in favour of this view. In the first place Varro tells us the name Capitolinus was given to the part of the hill where the temple of Jupiter was, as a human head was found in digging the foundations of the temple. He then adds, this hill was formerly called Tarpeia ; hence the temple must have been on the Tarpeian summit. Secondly, we are told the Emperor Caligula built a viaduct across the valley of the Capitoline Hill, in order that he might hold intercourse with the Capitoline Jupiter. Now, a viaduct from the corner of the Palatine, where the palace of Caligula was, would go direct to the Caffarelli height; a viaduct to the Araceli height would have had to pass over part of the Forum. Thirdly, Dion Cassius tells us the statue of Jupiter in the temple looked to the east and over the Forum. The statue on the Caffarelli height looking to the east would look over the Forum, while if it was placed on the Araceli height it would look away from the Forum. Fourthly, triumphal processions ascended the Capitol, where the victorious generals offered sacrifices to Jupiter Capitolinus; now, the Clivus Capitolinus, up which the procession passed, leads to the Caffarelli height. Fifthly, on the Caffarelli height alone was there room for the numerous temples erected on it, such as those of Jupiter Fere

trius, Jupiter Tonans, of Fides, Honour, and Virtue, etc. Sixthly, the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, while praising its superiority to everything else, and remarking that its excellence was divine-like, calls it the temple of Tarpeian Jove, showing it was on the side where the Tarpeian rock was. But the description of the burning of the temple by the Vitellian troops as given by Tacitus decides the matter, as he distinctly tells us that the Vitellian troops first attacked the arx (the north-east summit), where Sabinus and his soldiers were stationed, and from which they were repulsed. They then attacked the other side (the south-west summit) of the hill, near the Lucus Asyli, and where the Tarpeian rock is approached by a hundred steps, and there set fire to the temple. Thus, Tacitus adds, the Capitol was burned undefended. This he said because all the Flavian troops were in the arx on the north side, and did not defend the side where the temple was.*

On this same side of the hill was the famous Rupes Tarpeia. It was evidently on the south-east side of it, as we are told it overhung the Forum, and malefactors were cast down from it in view of all the people.†

* There is also further evidence in the following: A tumult took place on the Capitoline Hill when Tiberius Gracchus demanded his re-election. Some, it is said, lost their lives by falling over the Tarpeian Rock, and Tiberius sought refuge in the temple of Jupiter, but the doors were closed against him by the priests. It is evident from this account that the Tarpeian Rock and the temple of Jupiter were on the same side of the hill and near one another, that is, on the Caffarelli height.

+ The Tarpeian rock can be seen from the courtyard of a house in a street leading off of the Piazza della Consolazione.

On the north-east summit of the arx was the temple of Juno Moneta: it was erected by Camillus in pursuance of a vow. The name Moneta was given the goddess from a warning voice heard after an earthquake, advising (monens) that expiation should be made by sacrificing a sow. The Roman mint was subsequently established in it, whence the word moneta was applied to coin.

The Capitoline Hill was climbed perhaps by three paths, of which two, the Clivus Asyli and the Clivus Capitolinus, sprang from the Forum and ascended to the Intermontium on the right and left hand respectively. The first of these, the existence of which is matter of question, was probably a mere flight of steps; the other practicable for carriages, and for this purpose was made to climb the acclivity with a zigzag. The triumphal chariot rolled up this path, and was admitted within the fortress through the gate Pandana, midway on the ascent. There was a third access by the flight of the hundred stairs on the south-east side. The chief approach in modern times, that from the west, or the Campus Martius, was then a sheer declivity, and the spot most jealously guarded along the whole crest of the hill.

All traces of association with the ancient monuments upon this hill have entirely disappeared. Evidence of its being a fortress no longer exists, and the site of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus is a matter of dispute. At the present day we stand in the Piazza solely in the presence of modern buildings. The central building is styled the Palace of the

Senator-an invention of Papal times; on each hand are buildings now used as museums, and which contain the relics of the art and magnificence of Rome in its prime.

The most interesting association connected with the modern Capitol is that it was among the ruins of the Capitol Gibbon first conceived the idea of his immortal work on the 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,' which exercised near twenty years of his life.

On the slope, about the centre of the hill, is the Tabularium, or Public Record Office. In it were preserved not only decrees of the Senate, state treaties, and public deeds, but also records of private transactions. These were cut upon wooden or bronze tablets, the number of which, in the later times of the Republic and the early Empire, must have been enormous. This building dates from republican times. It was rebuilt by Q. Lutatius Catulus. The substructures are of the most massive kind. Livy mentions this building, and says it was a remarkable work, even in the magnificence of his day. The part towards the Forum consisted of an arcade in the Tuscan style. In the Middle Ages it was made to serve as a foundation to the palace of the Senator. Inside is a vaulted corridor with several arches, now used for preserving the fragments of ancient temples.

Beneath the Tabularium was the Ærarium, or Treasury. It consists of a series of small square chambers with very massive walls, with small loop-windows in each, and all connected by a narrow passage at the back.