under S. Sabba, that part of the hill appears to have been the arx, or citadel, of the Aventine. Another ancient hill-fortress is on the south-west side of the Cælian. The scarped cliffs are very distinct on three sides. The art of the Esquiline was probably where the church of S. Pietro in Vincoli now stands; that of the Quirinal was probably where the great palace is now situated; while the remains of the ancient fortifications of the Viminal are on the cliff opposite S. Vitale. This making an arx, or fortress, on a hill, would appear to be a characteristic feature of those primitive times when a place of security was required. Mr. Finlay, in a letter he wrote to me some years ago, told me he detected in several parts of Greece positions of habitations in prehistoric times, from the quantity of chips of obsidian in the mountains, marked by the difficulty of access on three sides, and the vicinity of a spring of water, easily defensible, on the other.

The first wall built to encompass the arx and town of Rome was the earthen rampart (murus) raised by the mythical Romulus, at some little distance from the foot of the Palatine. This appears to have been the usual way of enclosing an arx and town on a hill; as Mr. Parker says, 'It must be borne in mind that these ancient fortresses would require an enclosure, or wall of enceinte, according to the universal principle of fortification, which seems to be natural, as the same is found everywhere. This outwork would consist of a wall of earth and a great wide and deep fosse, and the earth thrown up from this would be thrown on the inner side, thus making a

wall of earth, which, as Varro tells us, was called murus. This earthen rampart or murus raised by Romulus is described by Tacitus as beginning at the Forum Boarium, so as to enclose the Ara Maxima, thence proceeding along the foot of the hill (per ima

montis) to the Ara Consi, the Curiæ Veteres, the Sacellum Larum, and so completely encircling the square of the Palatine Hill. It followed the furrow which was traced by Romulus at the foot of the Palatine, and which was drawn at right angles, taking the natural line of the hill. Between this rampart

and the roots of the hill was the Pomerium, or unoccupied space behind the wall. Aulus Gellius tells us 'that the Pomerium of Romulus was bounded by the radices, or lower extremities, of the Palatine.' The great mistake of writers on the subject of these walls is their not seeing that the first earthen rampart or murus of the so-called Romulus was raised at some little distance from the foot of the hill, and not on the cliff, as generally understood, where no plough could trace a furrow, and where no room could have been left for the Pomerium, or space behind the walls.*

The art and town surrounded by this earthen rampart was Roma Quadrata.

In this rampart were three gateways, according to Pliny; the names of two only are preserved-one, Porta Mugionis, probably near the Arch of Titus; the other, Porta Romanula, at the foot of the Clivus Victoriæ, as we are told by Festus.

*The great Niebuhr has taken the same view. His words are: The result of my researches is as follows: Old Rome was situated on the Palatine. The Pomerium of Romulus, mentioned in Tacitus, which ran from the Forum Boarium through the Circus as far as to the Septizonium, St. Gregorio, the Arch of Constantine, the Thermæ of Titus, and from thence back through the Via Sacra by the temples of Venus and Rome -even the whole of this circuit is a suburb built around the old city, and surrounded, not by walls, but by a rampart and ditch.' -Niebuhr Lectures on Roman History,' vol. i., p. 187.

Mr. Fergusson also accepts the same view. He writes to me : 'I would be quite prepared to accept your view, that the original "wall" of Romulus was a mere earthen rampart, and that the Etruscan masonry is, as you point out, of the later kings.' Mr. Burn also adopts the same view. In a letter to me he says: 'Your view of the early earthen rampart surrounding the Palatine agrees with my idea of it.'

The rampart raised by Romulus encircled two divisions or parts of the Palatine. The western half was the arx, which was fortified by scarping the cliffs which formed the sides of the hill. This, the original arx of Rome, must have been of early date, as tradition assigns the foundation of it to Evander Evandrus, Romanæ conditor arcis,' as Virgil

says.

The eastern half was probably covered with an irregular collection of thatched cottages, similar to that styled 'the hut of Romulus.' Thus, in Roma Quadrata, we have the two parts, of which every city in that early period consisted, the arx, or citadel, or hill-fastness, on the western half, and the town on the eastern half.

On the eastern side of the hill, and in the centre of Roma Quadrata, was to be found the sacred symbol of the original settlement-the 'outfit vault' (mundus), as it was called, in which the first settlers deposited all those things which were used for good auspices in the founding of a city. Mommsen conjectures that the free space round the mundus, afterwards called the Area Apollinis, was the primitive place of assembly for the burgesses and the Senate, and the stage erected over the mundus itself, the primitive seat of justice of the Roman community.*

Of the earliest wall of Rome-the earthen rampart

* A fragment of the Capitoline plan, with the imperfect inscription REA APO (Area Apollinis), and in the space beside it a plan of a square elevation, with steps at two of its sides, is supposed by Becker to represent this mundus.

-no traces now remain; all has been swept away in the lapse of ages.

Another, or second wall or rampart of earth, was probably carried round the Palatine and Capitoline Hills by Romulus, after the death of Tatius, when the Capitol was added to the city. Dionysius tells us that in the reign of Numa both these hills had already been encompassed with one wall, and he says further, that Romulus surrounded the Capitoline Hill with ditches and strong palisades. This rampart was probably carried outside the outlying ridge of the Velia, including, of course, the Forum in its circuit, which became the centre of the city, and the place of meeting for the two associated communities-the Ramnes and the Tities. This second rampart was evidently, like the first, nothing more than an earthen rampart, with palisades on the top and a fosse outside.

In the time of Tarquinius Priscus, who first introduced the Etruscan mode of building stone walls, the stone wall against the cliff of the arx of the Palatine was built for the purpose of strengthening the citadel, where Tarquinius lived. This was the first stone wall built in Rome, which is confirmed by the imperfect style of the masonry, the joints being sometimes placed one over another.

The second wall of Rome, which included within its circuit the Palatine, the Capitol, and the Roman Forum, was completed by being built of stone. This was in reality the first stone wall which encircled the city of Rome; for Dionysius states that 'the walls of the city, which had been constructed in haste, and