Old Rome. With Maps and Illustrations. By K. Burn. (G.
Bell and Sons.)—Mr. Burn's splendid but costly work, Rome and the Campagna, is within the reach of only a fortunate few ; bat here we have an admirable handbook, based on the larger volume, at a price not absolutely prohibitive to modest purses. A summary is given us, both of the history and of the archaeological value of all the chief monuments of ancient Rome, and Mr. Burn is by no means un- reasonably sanguine in hoping that this abridgment of his great work will be useful to the historical student, and serve as a guide to the traveller. The book is very richly furnished with maps and illustra- tions. We get from it a very clear idea of the result of the recent excavations, which have led to very important modifications of some of the old theories. The famous three columns, among the most beautiful of the relics of antiquity, it is now de- finitely settled, belonged to the Temple of Castor and Pollux, originally founded in honour of the Great Twin Brethren in commemoration of the victory of the Lake Regillas. The sub- structures lately brought to light in front of this temple
are probably to be assigned to what was known as the Heronm of Caesar, a chapel built and dedicated to the great Julius. The re- mains of the base of a large pedestal, which are to, be traced in the centre of the Foram, mark the site of the equestrian statue of the Emperor Domitian, which the poet Statius describes at length in the first of his Silvae. In 1872, two marble slabs were discovered, com- memorating, it would appear, some grand public benefaction, either of Trojan or Hadrian. The eight columns at the western end of the Forum, about which there has been much discussion, may now be safely pronounced to have belonged to the temple of Saturn, one of the most ancient and venerable in the city, dedicated, it was said, in the year 498 B.C. It must have often been restored, and an in- scription recording a restoration, made under the Emperor Augustus, has been discovered. The three Corinthian columns under the mine now known as the Tabularium (a name, however, not known to ancient writers), have now been proved to have been a portion of a temple dedicated to Vespasian, by his son Domitian. As far as we know, the volume before us is far the best existing hand-book to the ruins of Rome and the Campagna. It is the work of a distinguished scholar, who has devoted many years to the subject, and who has now given us the result of his researches, in a most convenient and accessible form.
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