In his right hand was a thunder-bolt, and in his left a spear.

"Jupiter angusta vix totus stabat in aede; Inque Jovis dextra fictile fulmen erat."

_Ovid, Fast._ i. 202.

At a later period the statue was formed of gold, but this figure had ceased to exist in the time of Pliny.[23] When Martial wrote, the statues of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, were all gilt.

"Scriptus es aeterno nunc primum, Jupiter, auro, Et soror, et summi filia tota patris."

_Martial,_ xi. _Ep._ 5.

In the wall adjoining the cella of Minerva, a nail was fastened every year, to mark the lapse of time.[24] In the centre of the temple was the statue of Terminus.

"The sumptuous fane of Jupiter Capitolinus had peculiar claims on the veneration of the Roman citizens; for not only the great lord of the earth was worshipped in it, but the conservative principle of property itself found therein its appropriate symbol. While the statue of Jupiter occupied the usual place of the divinity in the furthest recess of the building, an image of the god Terminus was also placed in the centre of the nave, which was open to the heavens. A venerable legend affirmed, that when, in the time of the kings, it was requisite to clear a space on the Capitoline to erect on it a temple to the great father of the gods, and the shrines of the lesser divinities were to be removed for the purpose, Terminus alone, the patron of boundaries, refused to quit his place, and demanded to be included in the walls of the new edifice. Thus propitiated he was understood to declare that henceforth the bounds of the republic should never be removed; and the pledge was more than fulfilled by the ever increasing circuit of her dominion."--_Merivale, Romans Under the Empire._

The gates of the temple were of gilt bronze, and its pavement of mosaic;[25] in a vault beneath were preserved the Sibylline books placed there by Tarquin. The building of Tarquin lasted 400 years, and was burnt down in the civil wars, B.C. 83. It was rebuilt very soon afterwards by Sylla, and adorned with columns of Pentelic marble, which he had brought from the temple of Jupiter Olympus at Athens.[26] Sylla, however, did not live to rededicate it, and it was finished by Q.

Lutatius Catulus, B.C. 62. This temple lasted till it was burnt to the ground by the soldiers of Vitellius, who set fire to it by throwing torches upon the portico, A.D. 69, and dragging forth Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian, murdered him at the foot of the Capitol, near the Mamertine Prisons.[27] Domitian, the younger son of Vespasian, was, at that time, in the temple with his uncle, and escaped in the dress of a priest; in commemoration of which, he erected a chapel to Jupiter Conservator, close to the temple, with an altar upon which his adventure was sculptured. The temple was rebuilt by Vespasian, who took so great an interest in the work, that he carried away some of the rubbish on his own shoulders; but his temple was the exact likeness of its predecessor, only higher, as the aruspices said that the gods would not allow it to be altered.[28] In this building Titus and Vespasian celebrated their triumph for the fall of Jerusalem. The ruin of the temple began in A.D.

404, during the short visit of the youthful Emperor Honorius to Rome, when the plates of gold which lined its doors were stripped off by Stilicho.[29] It was finally plundered by the Vandals, in A.D. 455, when its statues were carried off to adorn the African palace of Genseric, and half its roof was stripped of the gilt bronze tiles which covered it; but it is not known precisely when it ceased to exist,--the early fathers of the Christian Church speak of having seen it. The story that the bronze statue of Jupiter, belonging to this temple, was transformed by Leo I. into the famous image of St. Peter, is very doubtful.

Close beside this, the queen of Roman temples, stood the _Temple of Fides_, said to have been founded by Numa, where the senate were assembled at the time of the murder of Tiberius Gracchus, B.C. 133, who fell in front of the temple of Jupiter, at the foot of the statues of the kings: his blood being the first spilt in Rome in a civil war.[30]

Near this, also, were the twin _Temples of Mars and Venus Erycina_, vowed after the battle of Thrasymene, and consecrated, B.C. 215, by the consuls Q. Fabius Maximus and T. Otacilius Crassus. Near the top of the Clivus was the _Temple of Jupiter Tonans_, built by Augustus, in consequence of a vow which he made in an expedition against the Cantabri when his litter was struck, and the slave who preceded him was killed by lightning. This temple was so near, that it was considered as a porch to that of Jupiter Capitolinus, and in token of that character, Augustus hung some bells upon its pediment.

On the Arx, or opposite height of the Capitol, was the _Temple of Honour and Virtue_, built B.C. 103, by Marius, with the spoils taken in the Cimbric wars. This temple was of sufficient size to allow of the senate meeting there, to pass the decree for Cicero's recall.[31] Here Nardini places the ancient _Temple of Jupiter Feretrius_, in which Romulus dedicated the first spolia opima. Here, on the site of the house of Manlius, was built the _Temple of Juno Moneta_, B.C. 345, in accordance with a vow of L. Furius Camillus.[32] On this height, also, was the _Altar of Jupiter Pistor_, which commemorated the stratagem of the Romans, who threw down loaves into the camp of the besieging Gauls, to deceive them as to the state of their supplies.[33]

"Nomine, quam pretio celebratior, arce Tonantis, Dicam Pistoris quid velit ara Jovis."

_Ovid, Fast._ vi. 349.

It was probably also on this side of the hill that the gigantic _Statue of Jupiter_ stood, which was formed out of the armour taken from the Samnites, B.C. 293, and which is stated by Pliny to have been of such a size that it was visible from the top of Monte Cavo.

Two cliffs are now rival claimants to be considered as the Tarpeian Rock; but it is most probable that the whole of the hill on this side of the Intermontium was called the Mons Tarpeia, and was celebrated under that name by the poets.

"In summo custos Tarpeiae Manlius arcis Stabat pro templo, et Capitolia celsa tenebat: Romuleoque recens horrebat regia culmo.

Atque hic auratis volitans argenteus anser Porticibus, Gallos in limine adesse canebat."

_Virgil, aen._ viii. 652.

"Aurea Tarpeia ponet Capitolia rupe, Et junget nostro templorum culmina clo."

_Sil. Ital._ iii. 623.

... "juvat inter tecta Tonantis, Cernere Tarpeia pendentes rupe Gigantes."

_Claud._ vi. _Cons. Hon._ 44.

Among the buildings upon the _Intermontium_, or space between the two heights, were the Tabularium, or Record Office, part of which still remains; a portico, built by Scipio Nasica,[34] and an arch which Nero built here to his own honour, the erection of which upon the sacred hill, hitherto devoted to the gods, was regarded even by the subservient senate as an unparalleled act of presumption.[35]

In mediaeval times the revolutionary government of Arnold of Brescia established itself on this hill (1144), and Pope Lucius II., in attempting to regain his temporal power, was slain with a stone in attacking it. Here Petrarch received his laurel crown (1341); and here the tribune Rienzi promulgated the laws of the "good estate." At this time nothing existed on the Capitol but the church and convent of Ara-Cli, and a few ruins. Yet the cry of the people at the coronation of Petrarch, "Long life to _the Capitol_ and the poet!" shows that the scene itself was then still more present to their minds than the principal actor upon it. But, when the popes returned from Avignon, the very memory of the Capitol seemed effaced, and the spot was only known as the Goat's Hill,--_Monte Caprino_. Pope Boniface IX. (1389--94) was the first to erect on the Capitol, on the ruins of the Tabularium, a residence for the senator and his assessors, Paul III. (1544--50) employed Michael Angelo to lay out the Piazza del Campidoglio; when he designed the Capitoline Museum and the Palace of the Conservators. Pius IV., Gregory XIII., and Sixtus V. added the sculptures and other monuments which now adorn the steps and balustrade.[36]

Just beyond the end of the Corso, the _Via della Pedacchia_ turns to the right, under a quaint archway in the secret passage constructed as a means of escape for the Franciscan Generals of Ara-Cli to the Palazzo Venezia, as that in the Borgo is for the escape of the popes to S. Angelo. In this street is a house decorated with simple but elegant Doric details, and bearing an inscription over the door which shows that it was that of Pietro da Cortona.

The street ends in the sunny open space at the foot of the Capitol, with Ara-Cli on its left, approached by an immense flight of steps, removed hither from the Temple of the Sun, on the Quirinal, but marking the site of the famous staircase to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which Julius Caesar descended on his knees, after his triumph for his Gallic victories.[37]

The grand staircase, "_La Cordonnata_," was opened in its present form on the occasion of the entry of Charles V., in 1536.[38] At its foot are two lions of Egyptian porphyry, which were removed hither from the Church of S. Stefano in Cacco, by Pius IV. It was down the staircase which originally existed on this site, that Rienzi the tribune fled in his last moments, and close to the spot where the left-hand lion stands, that he fell, covered with wounds, his wife witnessing his death from a window of the burning palace above. A small space between the two staircases has lately been transformed into a garden, through which access may be obtained to four vaulted brick chambers, remnants of the substructions of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. A living wolf is kept here in commemoration of the nurse of Romulus and Remus.

At the head of the stairs are colossal statues of the twin heroes, Castor and Pollux (brought hither from the Ghetto), commemorating the victory of the Lake Regillus, after which they rode before the army to Rome, to announce the joyful news, watered their horses at the Aqua Argentina, and then passed away from the gaze of the multitude into celestial spheres. Beyond these, on either side, are two trophies of imperial times discovered in the ruin on the Esquiline, misnamed the Trophies of Marius. Next come statues of Constantine the Great and his son Constantine II., from their baths on the Quirinal. The two ends of the parapet are occupied by ancient Milliaria, being the first and seventh milestones of the Appian Way. The first milestone was found in _situ_, and showed that the miles counted from the gates of Rome, and not, as was formerly supposed, from the Milliarium Aureum, at the foot of the Capitol.

We now find ourselves in the _Piazza del Campidoglio_, occupying the Intermontium, where Brutus harangued the people after the murder of Julius Caesar. In the centre of the square is the famous _Statue of Marcus Aurelius_, the only perfect ancient equestrian statue in existence. It was originally gilt, as may still be seen from marks of gilding upon the figure, and stood in front of the arch of Septimius-Severus. Hence it was removed by Sergius III. to the front of the Lateran, where, not long after, it was put to a singular use by John XIII., who hung a refractory prefect of the city from it by his hair.[39] During the rejoicings consequent upon the elevation of Rienzi to the tribuneship in 1347, one of its nostrils was made to flow with water and the other with wine. From its vicinity to the Lateran, so intimately connected with the history of Constantine, it was supposed during the middle ages to represent that Christian emperor, and this fortunate error alone preserved it from the destruction which befell so many other ancient imperial statues. Michael Angelo, when he designed the buildings of the Capitoline Piazza, wished to remove the statue to its present site, but the canons of the Lateran were unwilling to part with their treasure, and only consented to its removal upon an annual acknowledgment of their proprietorship, for which a bunch of flowers is still presented once a year by the senators to the chapter of the Lateran. Michael Angelo, standing in fixed admiration before this statue, is said to have bidden the horse "Cammina." Even until late years an especial guardian has been appointed to take care of it, with an annual stipend of ten scudi a year, and the title of "Il custode del Cavallo."

"They stood awhile to contemplate the bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. The moonlight glistened upon traces of the gilding which had once covered both rider and steed; these were almost gone, but the aspect of dignity was still perfect, clothing the figure as it were with an imperial robe of light. It is the most majestic representation of the kingly character that ever the world has seen. A sight of the old heathen emperor is enough to create an evanescent sentiment of loyalty even in a democratic bosom, so august does he look, so fit to rule, so worthy of man's profoundest homage and obedience, so inevitably attractive of his love. He stretches forth his hand with an air of proud magnificence and unlimited authority, as if uttering a decree from which no appeal was permissible, but in which the obedient subject would find his highest interests consulted: a command that was in itself a benediction."--_Hawthorne._

"I often ascend the Capitoline Hill to look at Marcus Aurelius and his horse, and have not been able to refrain from caressing the lions of basalt. You cannot stand on the Aventine or the Palatine without grave thoughts, but standing on the spot brings me very little nearer the image of past ages."--_Niebuhr's Letters._

"La statue equestre de Marc-Aurele a aussi sa legende, et celle-la n'est pas du moyen age, mais elle a ete recueillie il y a peu d'annees de la bouche d'un jeune Romain. La dorure, en partie detruite, se voit encore en quelques endroits. A en croire le jeune Romain, cependant, la dorure, au lieu d'aller s'effacant toujours davantage, etait en voie de progres. 'Voyez, disait-il, la statue de bronze commence a se dorer, et quand elle le sera entierement, le monde finira.'--C'est toujours, sous une forme absurde, la vieille idee romaine, que les destinees et l'existence de Rome sont liees aux destinees et a l'existence du monde. C'est ce qui faisait dire au septieme siecle; ainsi que les pelerins saxons l'avaient entendu et le repetaient; 'Quand le Colisee tombera, Rome et le monde finiront.'"--_Ampere, Emp._ ii. 228.

The building at the back of the piazza is _The Palace of the Senator_, originally built by Boniface IX. (1389), but altered by Michael Angelo to correspond with his buildings on either side. The fountain at the foot of the double staircase was erected by Sixtus V., and is adorned with statues of river gods found in the Colonna Gardens, and a curious porphyry figure of Minerva--adapted as Rome. The body of this statue was found at Cori, but the head and arms are modern additions.

"Rome personnifiee, cette deesse a laquelle on erigea des temples, voulut d'abord etre une Amazone, ce qui se concoit, car elle etait guerriere avant tout. C'est sous la forme de Minerve que Rome est assise sur la place du Capitole."--_Ampere, Hist. Romaine_, iii.

242.

In the interior of this building the Hall of the Senators contains some papal statues, and that of Charles of Anjou, who was made senator of Rome in the thirteenth century.

The _Tower of the Capitol_ contains the great bell of Viterbo, carried off from that town during the wars of the middle ages, which is never rung except to announce the death of a pope, or the opening of the carnival. During the closing years of the temporal power of the popes, it has been difficult to obtain admission to the tower, but the ascent is well repaid by the view from the summit, which embraces not only the seven hills of Rome, but the various towns and villages of the neighbouring plain and mountains which successively fell under its dominion.

"Pour suivre les vicissitudes des luttes exterieures des Romains contre les peuples qui les entourent et les pressent de tous cotes, nous n'aurons qu'a regarder a l'horizon la sublime campagne romaine et ces montagnes qui l'encadrent si admirablement. Elles sont encore plus belles et l'il prend encore plus de plaisir a les contempler quand on songe a ce qu'elles ont vu d'efforts et de courage dans les premiers temps de la republique. Il n'est presque pas un point de cette campagne qui n'ait ete temoin de quelque rencontre glorieuse; il n'est presque un rocher de ces montagnes qui n'est ete pris et repris vingt fois.

"Toutes ces nations sabelliques qui dominaient la ville du Tibre et semblaient placees la sur des hauteurs disposees en demi-cercle pour l'envelopper et l'ecraser, toutes ces nations sont devant nous et a la portee du regard.

"Voici de cote de la mer les montagnes des Volsques; plus a l'est sont les Herniques et les aeques; au nord, les Sabins; a l'ouest, d'autres ennemis, les Etrusques, dont le mont Ciminus est le rempart.

"Au sud, la plaine se prolonge jusqu'a la mer. Ici sont les Latins, qui, n'ayant pas des montagnes pour leur servir de citadelle et de refuge, commenceront par etre des allies.

"Nous pouvons donc embrasser le panorama historique des premiers combats qu'eurent a soutenir et que soutinrent si vaillamment les Romains affranchis."--_Ampere, Hist. Rom._ ii. 373.

Beneath the Palace of the Senator (entered by a door in the street on the right), are the gigantic remains of the _Tabularium_, consisting of huge rectangular blocks of peperino supporting a Doric colonnade, which is shown by an inscription still preserved to have been that of the public Record Office, where the Tabulae, engraved plates bearing important decrees of the Senate, were preserved, having been placed there by Q. Lutatius Catulus in B.C. 79. A gallery in the interior of the Tabularium has been fitted up as a museum of architectural antiquities collected from the neighbouring temples. This building is as it were the boundary between inhabited Rome and that Rome which is a city of ruins.

"I came to the Capitol, and looked down on the other side. There before my eyes opened an immense grave, and out of the grave rose a city of monuments in ruins, columns, triumphal arches, temples, and palaces, broken, ruinous, but still beautiful and grand,--with a solemn mournful beauty! It was the giant apparition of ancient Rome."--_Frederika Bremer._

The traces of an ancient staircase still exist, which led down from the Tabularium to the Forum. This is believed by many to have been the path by which the besiegers under Vitellius, A.D. 69, attacked the Capitol.

The east side of the piazza--on the left as one stands at the head of the steps--is the _Museo Capitolino_ (open daily from 9 to 4, for a fee; and on Mondays and Thursdays gratis, from 2 to 4).

Above the fountain in the court, opposite the entrance, reclines the colossal statue of a river-god, called Marforio, removed hither from the end of the Via di Marforio (Forum Martis?) near the arch of Severus.

This figure, according to Roman fancy, was the friend and gossip of Pasquin (at the Palazzo Braschi), and lively dialogues, merciless to the follies of the government and the times, used to appear with early morning, placarded on their respective pedestals, as passing between the two. Thus, when Clement XI. mulcted Rome of numerous sums to send to his native Urbino, Marforio asked, "What is Pasquino doing?" The next morning Pasquin answered, "I am taking care of Rome, that it does not go away to Urbino." In the desire of putting an end to such inconvenient remarks, the government ordered the removal of one of the statues to the Capitol, and, since Marforio has been shut up, Pasquino has lost his spirits.

From the corridor on the ground floor open several rooms devoted to ancient inscriptions and sarcophagi with bas-reliefs. The first room on the left has some bronzes--in the centre a mutilated horse, found, 1849, in the Trastevere.