If the Jewish tradition is correct, that the House of S. Paul was at the angle of the Via S. Bartolomeo dei Vaccinari and the Via degli Strengari; and if the Romish Church tradition is true, that he had a school (room shown) at the Church of S. Paola alla Regola, on the Via S. Paola alla Regola, a continuation of the Via S. Bartolomeo dei Vaccinari; then we have at last arrived at the name of the street where the apostle dwelt for two whole years in his own hired house, 62 to 64,—namely, the Vicus Æscletus, probably so called because it led to a grove of beech trees, Æsculus being corrupted into Æscletus.
Pliny (xvi. 15) speaks of this grove: "Q. Hortensius, the dictator, on the secession of the plebeians to the Janiculum (A.U.C. 466), passed a law in the Æsculetum, that what the plebeians had enacted should be binding on every Roman citizen."
Second Room.—The walls are encased with inscriptions. On the left is a fragment of a Roman calendar, found in 1888 near S. Martino di Monti. It represents the 1st to 3rd, 18th to 29th of April, and 1st to 4th of May. On the door is part of a Lex Horreorum of the time of Hadrian. These magazines were situated near Monte Testaccio. On the right of window inscription of Lucius Aquilinus Modestus, master of the guild of timber merchants at Ostia. On the door opposite, inscription dedicated to the imperial house by a college of health found near Monte Testaccio.
Third Room.—In the centre is the pedestal of the statue of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, which Pliny (xxxiv. 14) tells us was erected in the Portico of Octavia, where it was found in 1879. On right of door, fragment of the inscription recording Hadrian burning the bonds in Trajan's Forum in 118; a part of the inscription is in Trajan's Forum. By the window, inscription to Aulus Septicius Alexander, a seller of floral wreaths on the Via Sacra. By the next window, a dedication to Concord by Marcus Artorius Geminus, prefect of the military treasury, from the Temple of Concord in the Forum. Inscription to Nero and Poppæa, wishing them good health, on behalf of the governor of the Balearic Islands, A.D. 60. Fragment of a Fasti, A.D. 220. A fragment of the Maffeiano Calendar. On the next wall, inscription of Lucius Considius Gallus, prætor for the strangers, etc.
[Page 184]. Hall of Inscriptions: First Room.—No. 11. Sarcophagus representing hunting of wild animals. 18. Cippus to Faustina the elder, erected by an official of the treasury, found near the Temple of Saturn in the Forum. 19. Head of Giuba II., King of Numidia. 26. Base dedicated to Hercules Victorious. 28. Sarcophagus of a boar and stag hunt. 30. Sarcophagus, Hunt of the Calydonian Boar, from third room. (See at foot of page 183.)
Near the door, inscription of a monument to Marcus Calpurnius Piso Frugi, B.C. 88, restored by Trajan. Over the door, inscription of the guild of bargemen of Ostia, A.D. 193.
[Page 185], line 2, for 2 read 3; for 6 read 4; for 12, 13 read 15, 17; for 15 read 19.
[Page 186], line 7, for 5 read 20.
[Page 187]. Hall of Emperors.—A fine head of Augustus, found, 1889, on Via Merulana, represents him crowned with a wreath of myrtle in commemoration of the ovation celebrated by him (Pliny, xv. 38).
[Page 192]. Ghetto.—The Via Rua and other streets of the Jews' Quarter have been demolished.