S. Teodoro—Sta. Anastasia—Circus Maximus—S. Giorgio in Velabro—Arch of Septimius Severus—Arch of Janus—Cloaca-Maxima—Sta. Maria in Cosmedin—Temple of Vesta—Temple of Fortuna Virilis—House of Rienzi—Ponte-Rotto—Ponte Sublicio—S. Nicolo in Carcere—Theatre of Marcellus—Portico of Octavia—Pescheria—Jewish Synagogue—Palazzo Cenci—Fontana Tartarughe—Palazzo Mattei—Palazzo Caetani—Sta. Caterina dei Funari—Sta. Maria Campitelli—Palazzo Margana—Convent of the Tor de' Specchi.
THE second turn on the right of the Roman Forum is the Via dei Fienili, formerly the Vicus Tuscus, so called from the Etruscan colony established there after the drying up of the marsh which occupied that site in the earliest periods of Roman history. During the empire, this street, leading from the Forum to the Circus Maximus, was one of the most important. Martial speaks of its silk-mercers; from an inscription on a tomb we know that the fashionable tailors were to be found there; and the perfumers' shops were of such abundance as to give to part of the street the name of Vicus Thurarius. At its entrance was the statue of the Etruscan god, Vertumnus, the patron of the quarter.[74] This was the street by which the processions of the Circensian games passed from the Forum to the Circus Maximus. In one of the Verrine Orations, an accusation brought by Cicero against the patrician Verres, was that from avaricious motives he had paved even this street—used for processions of the Circus—in such a manner that he would not venture to use it himself.[75]
All this valley was once a stagnant marsh, left by inundations of the Tiber, for in early times the river often overflowed the whole valley between the Palatine and the Capitoline hills, and even reached as far as the foot of the Quirinal, where the Goat's Pool, at which Romulus disappeared, is supposed to have formed part of the same swamp. Ovid, in describing the processions of the games, speaks of the willows and rushes which once covered this ground, and the marshy places which one could not pass over except with bare feet:
"Qua Velabra solent in Circum ducere pompas,
Nil præter salices crassaque canna fuit,
Sæpe suburbanas rediens conviva per undas
Cantat, et ad nautas ebria verba jacit.
Nondum conveniens diversis iste figuris
Nomen ab averso ceperat amne deus.
Hic quoque lucus erat juncis et arundine densus,
Et pede velato non adeunda palus.
Stagna recesserunt, et aquas sua ripa coërcet:
Siccaque nunc tellus. Mos tamen ille manet."
Fast. vi. 405.
We even know the price which was paid for being ferried across the Velabrum: "it was a quadrans, three times as much as one pays now for the boat at the Ripetta."[76] The creation of the Cloaca Maxima had probably done much towards draining, but some fragments of the marsh remained to a late period.
According to Varro the name of the Velabrum was derived from vehere, because of the boats which were employed to convey passengers from one hill to the other.[77] Others derive the name from vela, also in reference to the mode of transit, or, according to another idea, in reference to the awnings which were stretched across the street to shelter the processions,—though the name was in existence long before any processions were thought of.
It was the waters of the Velabrum which bore the cradle of Romulus and Remus from the Tiber, and deposited it under the famous fig-tree of the Palatine.
On the left of the Via dei Fienili (shut in by a railing, generally closed, but which will be opened on appealing to the sacristan next door) is the round Church of S. Teodoro. The origin of this building is unknown. It used to be called the temple of Romulus, on the very slight foundation that the famous bronze wolf, mentioned by Dionysius as existing in the temple of Romulus, was found near this spot. Dyer supposes that it may have been the Temple of Cybele; this, however, was upon, and not under, the Palatine. Be they what they may, the remains were dedicated as a Christian church by Adrian I., in the eighth century, and some well preserved mosaics in the tribune are of that time.
"It is curious to note in Rome how many a modern superstition has its root in an ancient one, and how tenaciously customs still cling to the old localities. On the Capitoline hill the bronze she-wolf was once worshipped as the wooden Bambino is now. It stood in the Temple of Romulus, and there the ancient Romans used to carry children to be cured of their diseases by touching it. On the supposed site of the temple now stands the church dedicated to S. Teodoro, or Santo Toto, as he is called in Rome. Though names must have changed and the temple has vanished, and church after church has here decayed and been rebuilt, the old superstition remains, and the common people at certain periods still bring their sick children to Santo Toto, that he may heal them with his touch."—Story's Roba di Roma.[78]