views. It was erected in memory of Sta. Balbina, a virgin martyr (buried in Sta. Maria in Domenica), who suffered under Hadrian, A.D. 132. It contains the remains of an altar erected by Cardinal Barbo, in the old basilica of St. Peter's, a splendid ancient throne of marble inlaid with mosaics, and a fine tomb of Stefano Sordi, supporting a recumbent figure, and adorned with mosaics by one of the Cosmati. Adjoining this church Monsignor de Mérode established a house of correction for youthful offenders, to avert the moral result of exposing them to communication with other prisoners. CHAPTER IX. THE VIA APPIA. The Porta Capena—Baths of Caracalla—Vigna Guidi—SS. Nereo ed Achilleo-SS. Sisto e Domenico S. Cesareo (S. Giovanni in Oleo -S. Giovanni in Porta Latina)-Columbarium of the Freedmen of Octavia-Tomb of the Scipios-Columbarium of the Vigna Codini -Arch of Drusus-Porta S. Sebastiano-Tombs of Geta and Priscilla-Church of Domine Quo Vadis (Vigna Marancia)—Catacombs of S. Calixtus, of S. Pretextatus, of the Jews, and SS. Nereo ed Achilleo-(Temple of Bacchus, i.e. S. Urbano-Grotto of Egeria -Temple of Divus Rediculus)-Basilica and Catacombs of S. Sebastiano-Circus of Maxentius-Temple of Romulus, son of Maxentius-Tomb of Cecilia Metella-Castle of the CaetaniTombs of the Via Appia-Sta. Maria Nuova-Roma VecchiaCasale Rotondo-Tor di Selce, &c. THE Via Appia, called Regina Viarum by Statius, was begun B.C. 312, by the Censor Appius Claudius the Blind, "the most illustrious of the great Sabine and Patrician race, of whom he was the most remarkable representative." It was paved throughout, and during the first part of its course served as a kind of patrician cemetery, being bordered by a magnificent avenue of family tombs. It began at the Porta Capena, itself crossed by the Claudian aqueduct, which was due to the same great benefactor, "Substitit ad veteres arcus madidamque Capenam," and was carried by Claudius across the Pontine Marshes as far as Capua, but afterwards extended to Brundusium. The site of the Porta Capena, so important as marking the commencement of the Appian Way, was long a disputed subject. The Roman antiquaries maintained that it was outside the present Walls, basing their opinion on the statement of St. Gregory, that the river Almo was in that Regio, and considering the Almo identical with a small stream which is crossed in the hollow about half a mile beyond the Porta S. Sebastiano, and which passes through the Valle Caffarelle, and falls into the Tiber near S. Paolo. This stream, however, which rises at the foot of the Alban Hills below the lake, divides into two parts about six miles from Rome, and its smaller division, after flowing close to the Porta San Giovanni, recedes again into the country, enters Rome near the Porta Metronia, a little behind the Church of S. Sisto, and passing through the Circus Maximus, falls into the Tiber at the Pulchrum Littus, below the temple of Vesta. Close to the point where this, the smaller branch of the Almo, crosses the Via San Sebastiano, Mr. J. H. Parker, in 1868-69, discovered some remains, on the original line of walls, which he has identified, beyond doubt, as those of the Porta Capena, whose position had been already proved by Ampère and other authorities. Close to the Porta Capena stood a large group of historical buildings, of which no trace remains. On the right of the gate was the temple of Mars: "Lux eadem Marti festa est; quem prospicit extra Appositum Tectæ Porta Capena viæ.” Ovid, Fast. vi. 191. It is probably in allusion to this temple that Propertius says: "Armaque quum tulero portæ votiva Capenæ, Subscribam, salvo grata puella viro.” Prop. iv. Eleg. 3. Martial alludes to a little temple of Hercules near this: Near the gate also stood the tomb of the murdered sister of the Horatii,* with the temples of Honour and Virtue, vowed by Marcellus and dedicated by his son,t and a fountain, dedicated to Mercury: "Est aqua Mercurii portæ vicina Capenæ ; Ovid, Fast. v. 673. It was at the Porta Capena that the survivor of the Horatii met his sister. "Horatius went home at the head of the army, bearing his triple spoils. But as they were drawing near to the Capenian gate, his sister came out to meet him. Now she had been betrothed in marriage to one of the Curiatii, and his cloak, which she had wrought with her own hands, was borne on the shoulders of her brother; and she knew it, and cried aloud, and wept for him she had loved. At the sight of her tears Horatius was so wrath that he drew his sword, and stabbed his sister to the heart; and he said, 'So perish the Roman maiden who shall weep for her country's enemy!'”—Arnold's Hist. of Rome, i. 16. * Livy, i. 10. † Livy, xxvii. 25; xxix. 11. Among the many other historical scenes with which the Porta Capena is connected, we may remember that it was here that Cicero was received in triumph by the senate and people of Rome, upon his return from banishment B.C. 57. Two roads lead to the Via S. Sebastiano, one the Via S. Gregorio, which comes from the Coliseum beneath the arch of Constantine; the other, the street which comes from the Ghetto, through the Circus Maximus, between the Palatine and Aventine. The first gate on the left, after the junction of these roads, is that of the vineyard of the monks of S. Gregorio, in which the site of the Porta Capena was found. The remains discovered have been reburied, owing to the indifference or jealousy of the government; but the vineyard is worth entering on account of the picturesque view it possesses of the Palace of the Cæsars. On the right, a lane leads up the Pseudo-Aventine to the Church of Sta. Balbina, described Chap. VIII. On the left, where the Via Appia crosses the brook of the Almo, now called Maranna, the Via di San Sisto Vecchio leads to the back of the Coelian behind S. Stefano Rotondo. Here, in the hollow, in the grounds of the Villa Mattei, under some picturesque farm-buildings, is a spring which modern archæology has determined to be the true Fountain of Egeria, where Numa Pompilius is described as having his mysterious meetings with the nymph Egeria. The locality of this fountain was verified when that of the Porta Capena was ascertained, as it was certain that it was in the immediate neighbourhood of that gate, from a passage in the 3d Satire of Juvenal, which describes, that when he was waiting |