of the niches to pigeon-holes (columbaria). The names of the
deceased, painted on plaster or carved on marble lablets, are placed
above or beneath the niches (loculi), which run in uninterrupted
rows round the chamber, even below the low stone benches (podia).
The mode of acquisition of the spot was frequently, added. Let into
the wall under each niche were 2, or more rarely, 1, 3, or 4 ollae,
or cinerary urns. The nature of the decorations depended of course
on the means of the family. The columbarium of Hylas is distin-
guished by its decorations in stucco and colours. Directly opposite
the staircase is a niche decorated with stucco, beneath which is a
cinerary urn with shells and mosaic; to the right is an apse with
painted vine-tendrils and Victories.
In the adjacent Vigna Codini, No. 13, are three other Colum-
baria (ring; fee ½ fr.).
Two of these structures are almost square. The vaulting of the larger
building, in which there are more than 600 urns, is borne by a massive
central pier. The smaller building, according to the inscriptions, was
built in A.D. 10 for the Slaves and Freedmen of Marcella, niece of
Augustus. — The third columbarium consists of three vaulted passages in
the. shape of a horseshoe, the walls of which contaip rectangular niches of
various sizes, some of them formerly adorned with rare marbles and stucco.
A few min. farther on, just inside the Porta San Sebastiano
(1 ¼ M from the Arch of Constantine), is the so-called Arch of
Drusus (Pl. III, 30), constructed of travertine blocks, partly covered
with marble, and still possessing two marble columns on the side
towards the gate. It originally had a lateral opening on each side.
The name and date ( 8 B.C.) commonly ascribed to this monument
are erroneous; the arch is more probably of the reign of Trajan.
Caracalla, for the supply of his baths (p. 331), conducted an aque-
duct over it, the brick remains of which seriously mar the effect.
The marble blocks of the Porta San Sebastiano (Pl. III, 30),
the ancient Porta Appia, seem to have been taken from antique
buildings. The gate is surmounted by mediæval battlements.
With regard to the Via Appia without the city, see p. 441; the
Catacombs of Calixtus, 1 ¼ M. from the gate, see p. 453.
h. The Caelius.
This once densely-peopled hill (165 ft.) was long deserted, like
the Palatine and Aventine, but new streets have recently sprung
up between the Colosseum and the Via Santo Stefano.
Starting from the Arch of Constantine (Pl. III, 22; p. 307), we
follow the Via di San Gregorio (Pl. III, 22) towards the S., leading
between the Palatine and Cælius. On the right we observe the
handsome palm of the convent of San Bonaventura (p. 303), and
the arches of the Aqua Claudia (p. 320). Above the street, on the
left, at No. 1, is the entrance to the municipal —