Rambles in Rome / An Archæological and Historical Guide to the Museums, Galleries, Villas, Churches, and Antiquities of Rome and the Campagna

by S. Russell Forbes

THE TORRE DELLE MILIZIE,

within the precincts of the Convent of S. Catherina di Sienna, supposed to have been built upon a cella formerly occupied by Trajan's soldiers. This tower is called by the Roman valets de place "Nero's Tower," from his having sat there and fiddled whilst Rome was burning. Now, as this tower was built in 1210 by Pandolfo della Suburra, the senator, it could not have been the tower Nero fiddled on. Besides, Suetonius says, "This fire he [Nero] beheld from a tower in the house of Mæcenas," which was on the Esquiline, where remains have been recently found.

The Via Panisperna, to the left, descends into the valley between the Quirinal and Viminal hills. In the valley to the left of the street is