The basilica and the tomb near the Porta Maggiore

solu FR NEA a Id MES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER mice AND THE TOMBS NEAR THE ORTA MAGGIORE. The beautiful subterranean basilica discoverod last year under tho railway line b tho Porta Maggiore as the result of a landslip (The Times Literary Supplement, November 15) has aroused much interest and become tho subject of eager conjecture. From the first official report by Professors Gatti and Fornari it appears that the walls and pillars were constructed of a concrete of selce which was poured into pits sunk in the virgin soil, while the vaults and arches were set on centering formed we mew The as the concrete had hardencd. The concrete,: in which no fragments of tiles are found, must be assigned to the period before Tiberiug; and this date is confirmed by the character. of the opus reticulatum of the flue-shaped: channel that protected tho sky-light “ot lucernarium of the vestibule. Thns tho basilica? which from the resemblance of its decoration! to that of the so-called “ Latin tombs” had: been conjecturally assigned in tho first instance to the second century, turns out on a critica} examination af its building material te. belong to tho earlier decades of the Empire. This tallies satisfactorily with the theory: put forward by Fornari in explanation of the: purpose of tho basilica and of the mystery’ Ho points out that the.? site is close to the hurial ground of the gena: Statilia, whore was found many years ago’ the marble urn with a scene from the Eleusi-: nian mysteries (Musco delle Terme) which; since its first publication by Contessa Ersilia: Lovatelli has become the corner stone of our: knowledge of Eleusinian initiation. But not oniy does the celebrated urn afford certain: evidence of a connexion between the familia. of the Statilii and the religion of the “mysteries,” but one of the Ziberti buried in the Statilian columbarinm bore the significant: namo of mystes. Moreover, according to 8° lurid story told by Tacitus (Annals XIL,' 59), one member of the family, T. Statilius: Taurus, a man of fabulous wealth and consul of the year 44, was accused of extortion and: especially of magical practices at the base; instigation of Agrippina, the wife of Claudius,:: who coveted his famous gardens—pauce « repetundarum erimina celerum maricas supers. stitiones. Before tho Senate had had time“ to pass sentence the unfortunate man took‘ his own life. ‘The mystical scenes depicted” on the gleaming white walls of the basilieas” svnibolic of the sorrows and trials of this”, life and of the jovs and punishments of the’: next, are precisely whit malevolent or, ignorant persons might misconstrue as having‘ an unhaly significance, adducing doubtlesa:% as a further proof of guilt tho secrecy of thay ew ey UA vaa rités were performed. It’ remains:to note that what was first interpreted as an altar against the wall of the ‘apse is, according to Gatti, a cathedra or thronus, forerunner of the Episcopal chair of Christian basilicas The tombs found last year in the Viale di Santa Croce have now been made accessible and where necessary reconstructed from the actual fragments. Their typo is that of the small aediculae much 6f the samo soil. nave and aisles were then excavated:as goon? that surrounded it. mm en sere pes ‘ approach, as to a sanctuary where prohibited in fashion in Rome aro cut in towards the close of the Republic, with facades successfully imitating in tufa those of tho rock-cut tombs of Asia Minor and Etruria. The portraits, which deep relief (so deep as to give a first impression of being in the round). appear as if placed in an arched nicho intended to recall tho armaria of the wax imagines. The inscriptions have now been carefully published by Fornari. Since my last report a fourth sepulchrel chamber, of which the facade, however, is almost entirely destroyed, has been found on the same line of tombs. Thanks to the generous gift of 20,000 lire from one of the large Roman hanks, the work of disengaging from its sordid surroundings the little Republican temple of Fortuna Virilis and of reopening its portico, which was decided upon last year, has now been seriously taken in hand. The clearing out of the Domus Aurea of Nero is being proceeded with under the able direction of Professor Munoz. Tho delicate beauty of many of the nowly recovered paint. ings and their perfect preservation are ag. tonishing; especially attractive is a serie of small panel pictures with figures relieved against a deep but brilliant blue background, and another with traces of gilding still fresh upon them. It is, however, to a certain extent disappointing that all these pictures are on a very small scale and that no large wallpaintings comparable in importance to those of Pompeii, Herculanourn, or of the House of Livia on the Palntine, have so far come to light. In another letter I will deal with matters outside Rome and beyond. I am. Sir, yours faithfully, EUGENIE STRONG Assistant Director (Faculty of Archeology, History and Letters), Britieh School at Rome, Valle Giulin.-