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

"At a small distance from the statue of Attus, both the hone and the razor are said to be buried under a certain altar; the place is called Puteus by the Romans" (Dionysius, iii. 72). Cicero ("De Div." i. 17) says, "It was on the Comitium, and was erected over the spot where the hone and razor were buried." (See also Horace, Ep. i. 19.)

Upon the other base we will place

THE STATUE OF ATTUS NAVIUS.

"Tarquin erected a brazen statue of him in the Forum to eternalize his memory with posterity. This statue is still remaining, and stands before the Senate House, near to the holy fig-tree. It is less than a middle-sized man, and has a veil over the head" (Dionysius, iii. 72). "The statue of Attus Navius was erected before the Senate House, the pedestal of which was consumed when the Senate House itself was burned at the funeral of Publius Clodius" (Pliny, xxxiv. 11). "There was a statue of Attus, with a fillet on his head, in the place where Tarquin had the whetstone cut in two with a razor, on the Comitium, or place of assembly, just by the steps, at the left-hand side of the Senate House" (Livy, i. 36).

THE FICUS NAVIA

was a fig-tree that, according to Festus, was planted by Tarquin in commemoration of his having had the whetstone cut in two with a razor, according to the augury of Attus Navius. It should not be confounded with the Ruminal fig-tree which grew upon the Palatine, as has been done by some writers. It is rather a curious incident that since the excavations were made, a fig-tree sprang up near the pedestal of Marsyas. This is the tree shown on the reliefs of the monument of Marcus Aurelius.

Just beyond these three objects, a semicircular mark on the pavement points to the site of

THE ROSTRA.

The original Rostra was first called the Suggestum or Pulpit, but in A.U.C. 416 the name was changed into Rostra (beaks).

"The prows from the six ships captured from the Antiates were ordered to be placed as decorations on the Suggestum in the Forum, which was hence called Rostra" (Livy, viii. 14; Florus, i. 11; Pliny, xxiv. 11).