FAMOUS FOUNTAIN

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 713, 13 December 1933, Page 3

FAMOUS FOUNTAIN

ERECTED BY DOMITIAN AND REMOVED BY MUSSOLINI. Signor Mussolini on September 14 inspected the various public works being carried out to cope with unemployment in Rome. He- promptly sealed th'e fate of the famous Meta Tudans, the fountain huilt by th'e 'Emperor Domitia.n in y6 A.D., in which gladiators used to wash, says the News-Chronicle. The Prim-e Minister gave orders for the cone of the fountain to be cut down and for

ithe water to be made to flow from its marble basin. Thus ended a "battle of experts," which' had been raging for some time previous. The structure at one time stood 17 feet high and was surmounted by a large bronze globe. Now, however, only the brick cone being left, it is regarded in some quarters as merely an unsightly obstacle on the scene of 'the reeent restoration work. Some 1 experts, however, fought strongly for its preservation. After walking round the fountain and through the Triumphal Arch of 'Titus, Signor Mussolini decided that the cone obstructed the view of the arch. Heneforth this arch will be reserved for Italians who are accorded ,a Roman triumph. In August, AirkMarshal Balbo and his armada were the first to march under it since imperial days. That was on their re".turn from the flight to Chicago. iSignor M^ussolini gave orders for the brick base of Nero's golden statue, which stands near, to be al'lowed to remain. He may have the statue itself reproduced and put there. Sculptors suggested an equestrian statue of the Dictator instead. But Signor Mussolini would not hear of it. He is believed to have a superstition on the point. Another order Signor Mussolini racently gave was for the quick construction of a stone map of the ancient Roman Empire. It was being cut out of four large slabs of white marble and will be put up in the Via del Impero, near the Imperial Forum, some of which has already been excavated.