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At the end of the fifth century, the baths are mentioned by Sidonius Apollinaris as still used, but at the time of the visit of the anonymous writer of the Einsiedlen MS., probably about A.D. 850, they were evidently in ruins. Among the ruins have been found, from time to time, a number of busts of the Emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantine, and also the well-known busts of philosophers now in the Farnese collection at Naples.

The great fountain now in front of the railway station is supplied by the water brought along the course of the ancient Aqua Marcia.

The Servian Agger.

The Agger of Servius, which has now been so much levelled and destroyed, ran between the Church of S. Maria degli Angeli and the present walls. This enormous rampart has been described by Dionysius. He says that the ditch outside was more than one hundred feet broad at the narrowest part and thirty feet deep, and that a wall stood upon the edge of the ditch supported by the agger, which was of such massive strength that it could not be shaken down by battering rams or breached by undermining the foundation. Dionysius gives the length of the agger as seven stadia, and Strabo as six, which, taking the stadium at 202 yards, nearly corresponds to 1400 yards. The breadth he states at fifty feet. That this ditch and wall were the work of some of the later kings there can be no doubt, but it cannot be determined what part each took in their erection. The final completion of the whole undertaking is ascribed to Tarquinius Superbus, who deepened the ditch, raised the wall, and added new towers. The additions made by him can be distinguished in the portion brought to light by the modern excavations in the railway cutting.[109]

Excavations which have been made in this part of the agger from time to time, and the extensions of the city in this direction have brought to light an enormous wall buried in the earth, constructed of huge blocks of peperino. This is probably the wall mentioned by Dionysius, which in his time stood outside the rampart on the edge of the ditch. The remains of buildings of the imperial times have been found placed upon and outside of this wall, and it is probable that the whole ditch is now filled with such remains, and most part of the wall buried in them.

The central railway station stands close to this agger, and cuttings have lately been made through it to make room for the station, by which new portions of the wall have been disinterred. All these excavations have proved the truth of Dionysius’s description, the wall having been found on the outer side of the original agger, which is easily distinguishable from the rubbish in which it is buried by being composed of clean soil unmixed with potsherds and brickbats. The wall probably ran from the southern end of the agger along the back of the Esquiline and Cælian in the direction of the modern Via Merulana and Via Ferratella. In this portion must be placed the Porta Querquetulana and the Porta Cælimontana, but their exact situation is unknown.[110]

The Prætorian Camp.

Near the Porta Pia, to the north-east of the church of S. Maria degli Angeli, the square of the Castra Prætoria projects from the Avails. This permanent camp was established under Tiberius by Sejanus; subsequently Aurelian made use of the four outer walls of this camp as a part of his fortification, and therefore Constantine, when he abolished the Prætorian Guard, pulled down the side towards the city only. The porta decumana of the camp is still to be seen though it is now walled up, and also the porta principalis dextra, but the porta principalis sinistra has disappeared or perhaps never existed. The camp was enclosed by a wall at least as early as the time of Pertinax and Julian, for here occurred that memorable and most melancholy scene in Roman history, when the Prætorian guards shut themselves within their camp after the murder of the reforming Emperor Pertinax and put up the throne to auction. Julian and Sulpicianus were the bidders. The soldiers let down a ladder and allowed Julian to get up upon the wall, says Herodian, for they would not open the gates before they heard how much would be offered. Sulpicianus was not allowed to mount the wall. They then bid one against the other, and at last they ran up the price little by little to five thousand drachmas to each soldier. Julian then impatiently outbid his rival by offering at once six thousand two hundred and fifty, and the Empire was knocked down to him. This was not by any means the first or only time that the fate of the Empire had been decided here.[111]