EUROPE TO-DAY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 53, 31 January 1938, Page 2

EUROPE TO-DAY

IN ANCIENT RGME. What is there to see in ancient Rome? Of the splendid buildings which once adorned Rome there are still a vast number to see. We come upon theatres, temples, ruined baths, public halls, porticoes, palaces without end. The oldest and most sacred temple was that of Jupiter Capitolinus, on the Capitoline Hill. The Pantheon, a temple of various gods, is still in excellent preservation. Other temples were the Temple of Apollo, which Augustus built of white marble, on the Palatine, containing a splendid library; the Temple of Minerva, which Pompey built in the Campus-Martius, and which Augustus covered with bronze; the Temple of Peace, once the richest and most beautiful temple in Rome, built by Vespasian, in the Via Sacra which contained the treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem, a splendid library, and other curiosities, but was burned under the reign of Com mod us; the Temple of the Sun which Aurelian erected to the East of the Quirinal; and the magnificent Temple of Venus, which Caesar caused to be built to her as the origin of his family. The principal palace of ancient Rome was the Palatium or imperial palace on the Palatine Hill, a private dwelling-house enlarged and adopted as the imperial residence by Augustus. Of the theatre of Marcellus, complete 13 8.C., a portion still remains. The most magnificent of the amphitheatres was that of Titus, completed A.D. 80, now known as the Coliseum. The principal of the circuses was the Circus Maximus. Tiie public baths or thermae in Rome were also numerous. The largest were the Thermae of Titus, part of the substructure of which may still be seen on the Esquiline Hill; the Thermae of Caracalla, even larger, extensive remains of which still exist in the south-east, of the city; and the Thermae of Diocletian, the largest and most magnificent of all, part of wihch is converted into a church. Of the triumphal arches the most celebrated are those of Titus, Sever-, us, and that of Constantine (A.D. 311), all in or near the Forum, and all well preserved. Among the columns the most beautiful was Trajan’s Pillar in the Forum of Trajan, 117 feet high and still standing.—(G.)