CIRCUS OF MAXENTIUS.
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At the back of the modern premises, in the middle of this enclosure, are the remains of a considerable circular tomb, in front of which was a colonnade facing the Via Appia. In all probability this is the identical building erected by Maxentius in honour of his son Romulus, who died in the year 300. Representations of this tomb are to be met with on coins. At the side is the

CIRCUS OF MAXENTIUS,

erected A.D. 310, the enclosure walls of which have been preserved almost entire. These display the interesting phenomenon of pots of earthenware built into them, which not merely expedited the progress of the work, but allowed of its being more easily repaired than was possible in any other mode of construction. Its length was 1574 feet, and breadth 269, and 18,000 spectators could be accommodated within its vast walls, yet it was a small building compared with the Circus Maximus (see [page 209]). In 1825 three inscriptions were found proving this to be the circus consecrated to Romulus, son of Maxentius. Two towers flank the entrance, supposed to have been the seats for the judges. It is the most perfect specimen of a Roman circus remaining. On the top of the hill is the "stern round fortress of other days," known as

THE TOMB OF CECILIA METELLA,

wife of Lucius Cornelius Sylla, and daughter of Quintus Cæcilius Metellus (Plutarch). The building consists of a circular tower, seventy feet in diameter, resting on a quadrangular basement made chiefly of lava and stone, cemented together by lime and pozzuolana, and strengthened with key-stones of travertine. This ruin, so long respected as a tomb, was converted into a fortress by Boniface VIII., and used as such by the Gaetani, his near relatives. It now belongs to archæology. Learned men have made it one of their most sacred resting-places, and it is a favourite resort of tourists and artists. The inscription on the side facing the road runs as follows: "Cæciliæ—Q. Cretici. F.—Metellæ. Crassi." To the right there are bas-reliefs, well preserved—one representing a trophy of victory, another a slave or a prisoner; both were brought from a tomb about a mile further on. The tower was built seventy-nine years before Christ. The construction is very remarkable, on account of the enormous thickness of the walls, which are of concrete faced with travertine and lined with brick in the interior. The enormous massiveness of the structure indicates a rude and semi-barbarous period. Plutarch speaks of the extravagance of Sylla in funeral ceremonies. Cecilia Metella had been previously married to the elder Scaurus (Pliny, xxxvi. 24; xxxvii. 5). "Sylla dreamed, shortly before his death, that his son Cornelius, who died before his wife, Cecilia Metella, appeared to him, and summoned him away to join his mother" (Plutarch).

The inner chamber of the ruin is fifteen feet in diameter, and was at one time supposed to contain great treasures both of art and coinage. But the sarcophagus of white marble now in the court of the Farnese Palace, and believed to have been discovered in or near the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, is the only treasure it has produced.