30 ft. high and 100 ft. long, consisting of large blocks of tufa, laid
alternately as headers and stretchers (comp. p. 321). The arch in it
is of much more recent date. The remains show that the wall was
quite out of use and built over in the later days of the Republic.
A little farther on the Via di San Saba (right) and the Via di
Santa Prisca (left) diverge to the churches of these names.
Santa Saba (Pl. III, 21), dedicated to the Cappadocian abbot
Sabas (d. about 531 A.D.), is a church of great antiquity, but was
almost entirely rebuilt in 1465. It belongs to the Collegium Ger-
manicum. To the left in the portico is an ancient sarcophagus with
a representation of a wedding and Juno Pronuba. The interior con-
tains 17 columns, some of granite, others of marble, with mutilated
capitals; the walls of the central apse and of the left aisle show
traces of paintings. In the left aisle are five ancient sarcophagi,
and other Roman remains may be seen in the convent-garden. The
loggia above the entrance commands a fine view.
In the course of the. extensive restorations, begun in 1900, numerous
antique fragments and sarcophagi were brought to light, as well as the
remains of an earlier church (about 13 ft. beneath the present floor), with
traces of paintings of the 7th and 12th centuries.
Santa Prisca (Pl. III, 20; usually closed), another very ancient
church, but modernised in the 18th cent., is traditionally stated to
cover the site of the house of Aquila and Priscilla. Adjacent is
the ' Castello dei Cesari' (p. 154), an osteria commanding a beautiful
View of the Palatine and the other deserted S. quarters of the
ancient city. — About 5 min. farther on the Via Santa Prisca unites
with the Via di Santa Sabina (p. 326).
g. The Via Appia within the City.
From the Arch of Constantine (Pl. III, 22; p. 307) by the Via
di San Gregorio to the church of San Gregorio, Magno, see
pp. 334-36. Just beyond the church the Via de' Cerchi diverges
to the right.
Near the point where the Via San Gregorio unites with the Via
di Porta San Sebastiano (Pl. III, 22, 23, 27) was anciently situated
the Porta Capena, whence the Via Appia issued. We follow
the Via di Porta San Sebastiano to the left. At Nos. 1-5 in this
street is the Auditorium Appium (Pl. III, 23), in which views
of the antique Via Appia are shown (adm. 10 till dusk, 1 fr.; closed
July-sept.).
After 5 min., at the end of the avenue which runs parallel with the
street on the right, a road ascends on the right to the church of Sana-
Balbina (Pl. III, 23), situated on the slope of the Aventine, and con-
secrated by Gregory the Great. The church is modernized and destitute
of ornament, but retains its open ceiling. It contains a relief (Cruci-
fixion) by Mino da Fiesole and the handsome tomb of Card. Stefano Surdi,