The monuments of Rome, unlike those of Athens, cannot lay
claim to great antiquity. The destruction wrought by the Gauls in 390 B.C. and
the great fire under Nero in 64 A.D. removed nearly all traces of the regal and
republican city. Many buildings erected in the imperial age have also
disappeared, because in medieval and modern times the inhabitants of Rome used
the ancient edifices as quarries. The existing monuments give only a faint idea
of the former magnificence of the capital city.
HILLS OF ROME
The city of Rome lies on the Tiber. Where the river
approaches Rome it makes two sharp turns, first to the west and then to the
east. On the western, or Etruscan, bank stood the two hills called Vatican and
Janiculum. They were higher than the famous seven which rose on the eastern
side, where the ancient city was built. Two of these seven hills possess
particular interest. The earliest settlement, as we have seen, probably
occupied the Palatine. It became in later days the favorite site for the town
houses of Roman nobles. In the imperial age the splendid palaces of the Caesars
were located here. The Capitoline, steepest of the seven hills, was divided
into two peaks. On one of these rose the most famous of all Roman temples,
dedicated to Jupiter and his companion deities, Juno and Minerva. The other
peak was occupied by a large temple of Juno Moneta ("the Adviser"),
which served as the mint. The altars, shrines, and statues which once covered
this height were so numerous that the Capitoline, like the Athenian Acropolis,
became a museum of art.
