In each of the three piers supporting the attics with the channels concealed in the interior is a small gateway, over which a window, with a gable roof resting on rustic pillars, is introduced. By this arrangement, not only is a saving of materials effected, but the six construction arches thus acquired impart a greater degree of stability to the structure.

PORTA MAGGIORE.
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The first inscription on the aqueduct of Claudius mentions the streams conveyed into the city by the emperor upon these arches. From it we learn that the water in the channel which bore his name was taken from two sources,—the Cæruleus and the Curtius, forty-five miles off; and that the Anio Novus, which flows above the Aqua Claudia, was brought hither from a distance of sixty-two miles. The second inscription relates to the restorations of Vespasian; the third to those of Titus.

This gateway is the earliest specimen of the rustic style. It was named, by those going out, by which arch they passed through on their way either to Labicum or to Præneste. Coming in, they called it by the hill to which they were going. "After I had said that he entered by the Cœlimontane Gate, like a man of mettle he offered to lay a wager with me that he entered at the Esquiline Gate" (Cicero v. Piso).

Directly in front of the middle pier of the Porta Maggiore lies a monument, discovered in the year 1838, on the removal of the mound referred to. It is

THE BAKER'S TOMB.

The man who erected his own monument on this spot was a baker, who seems to have made a considerable fortune as a purveyor. According to the good old custom, he was not ashamed of his calling, but built a species of trophy for himself out of the utensils of the trade by means of which he had attained to wealth and respectability. The hollow drums of pillars, for instance, let into the superstructure, which rests upon double columns, seem to represent vessels for measuring fruit; and the inscription found beside them agrees with this opinion, as it states that the mortal remains of Atistia, the wife of Eurysaces, were deposited in a bread-basket. In fact, everything was represented that appertained to a baker's trade.

This is rendered the more interesting from the circumstance of several of these representations seeming to belong to the present time—people in this sphere in Italy usually adhering to the customs transmitted to them by their forefathers.