Foreign topography; or, an encyclopedick account, alphabetically arranged, of the ancient remains in Africa, Asia, and Europe; forming a sequel to the Encyclopedia of antiquities / By the Rev. Thomas Dudley Fosbroke.
- Thomas Dudley Fosbroke
- Date:
- 1828
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Foreign topography; or, an encyclopedick account, alphabetically arranged, of the ancient remains in Africa, Asia, and Europe; forming a sequel to the Encyclopedia of antiquities / By the Rev. Thomas Dudley Fosbroke. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![P. 69. The Basilica of Nerva, doubted whether it is not the Temple of Minerva. [The Basilica of Nerva was the Forum of Nerva, (Enc. v. Basiliques) by an ap- plication of the term, every forum having a Basilica annexed.] It is now the church of St. Basil. The remains are three striated columns of the Corinthian order, cum unicd pild. P. 71. The mentioned by Aurelius Victor in Nerva. The remains are two columns, with part of the vestibule. In the zophorus are figures and the arts of Pallas. P. 74. The Basilica of Caius and Lucius, supposed by some the Temple of Mi- nerva Medica, by others of Hercules Callaicus. [Ursini thinks that the remains of this basilica are from inscriptions found near the ruins of the temple of Fortuna f^irilis, to be sought there. Pwc.] P. 75. The Basilica Antonini, now the Dogana nova. On the ruins Innocent XII. built a palace, where the taxes are paid. [Nardini has proved that it was a temple, not the basilica of Antoninus. Enc.~\ P. 77. The sepulchral Pyramid of C. Cestius. [He was one of the seven Epu- iones, and is conjectured to have lived in the time of Augustus. Alexander VII. in 1673 repaired this pyramid. It is square and terminates in a sharp point. It is 120 feet high, and its greatest breadth 84 feet. The materials are brick coated over with white marble. The entry is by a low and narrow passage, which goes to the centre. There is a small vaulted room, 19 feet long, 13 broad, and 14 high. This chamber is covered with a white and polished stucco, upon which are some figures of women, many vases, and other ornaments. One of them holds a vase, into which some are pouring lus- tral water, others wine ; another figure holds large flutes. The subject is supposed to be preparations for a funeral or banquet, but as the figures are dressed in different colours which did not suit funeral ceremonies in Augustus’s time, the latter opinion is pre- ferred. The paintings are in distemper. Enc/\ P. 79. The Sepulchre of Bihulus, some remains. See Montfaucon. P. 81. The Mausoleum of Hadrian now the Castle of St. Angelo. [There has been a dispute whether it originally had two or three colonnades.] P. 83. The Mausoleum of Augustus. See Bartoli^nA Montfaucon. P. 85. Trojans Column. [It stood in the middle of the Forum, built under the directions of that prince, by Apollodorus of Athens; it is 128 feet high, ascended by a staircase of 185 steps, and lighted by 45 windows. It is entirely surrounded with bas- reliefs of the exploits of Trajan, and the variety in so many thousand heads is astonishing. The figures have very little relief, and towards the bottom of the column are two Roman feet high ; but those at the top appear of the same size, because, according to the laws of perspective, they lengthened them in proportion as they approached the summit. The ashes of Trajan stood on the top, in an urn of gold. Ciaconi (Colum. Traj. p. 4.) says, that in the 16th cent, the head of the colossal statue of the emperor stood upon this column. All known of the Forum, except an edifice upon a gold coin, is a column of fine black granite, adorned with white (tirant sur le blanc), and a cornice of the architrave, at the villa Albani. (Enc.) A head of Jupiter in the middle of the column is especially admired by connoisseurs. This column, the Antonine, and the Colisaeum, are full of holes, made by the barbarians to obtain the brass which cemented the blocks. Lalande, iii. 258, 26I.] Vol. ii. p. i. The Arch of Titus. [It was built after his apotheosis, for he is repre- sented sitting upon an eagle. On the frieze are preparations for a sacrifice. In the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22012035_0344.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
