News Letter from Rome

In the House of Livia, as part of the completion of the undertaking to restore the important group of paintings, the Istituto Centrale del Restauro has proceeded to detach the left-hand wall of the right ala, including the well-known yellow monochrome frieze. To the southwest of the House of Livia, the excavation has been extended to the zone between the Scalae Caci and the so-called Temple of Apollo, where there is a large construction going back to the beginning of the imperial age, with walls of tufa ashlar, decorated with paintings, and pavements in mosaic and in marble inlay. In this zone, numerous architectural elements are coming to light, columns of portasanta, Doric capitals, and cornices, probably pertaining to a portico the exact location of which has not as yet been identified. In line with the northern corner of the Domus Tiberiana, an important task of restoration has been accomplished, the reconditioning of the large vaulted spaces which flank the Clivus Victoriae; and the rehabilitation of their upper surfaces has made it possible to acquire a new, large terrace overlooking the Roman Forum. In the zone of the Comitium, bordering on the Roman Forum, progress has been achieved with the stratigraphical investigation of the structures of the Republican age. We add an item from another quarter of the city. Building activity near the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme-in an area of the ancient city which had been assumed to have consisted largely of open spaces such as gardens-has resulted in a quite unexpected addition to knowledge of the plan of ancient Rome: a large circus, which had been bisected by the builders of Aurelian's wall. Its investigation is in the hands of Professor Giulio Jacopi, Soprintendente of Rome I, and the suggestion has already been made that it might be accorded a function, or at least be given some prominence, on the occasion of the approaching Olympic Games. The discussions of recent years regarding the protection and preservation of the landscape and antiquities along the Latin and Appian Ways in the neighborhood of the capital have now culminated in an official project, the Park of the Appian Way: it is contemplated that there should be a protected zone extending out from Aurelian's wall so far as to include the seventh mile of the Latin Way with the point where the two highest of the urban aqueducts emerged above ground; thus completing the creation of a "green zone" which will start with the Roman Forum and Palatine and will be continued by the Passeggiata Archeologica with the Baths of Caracalla, including also the villa on the Caelian. Meanwhile, the area in and about the Circus of Maxentius has already yielded significant remains, some of them antedating that emperor's activities. The south wall of the circus itself has now been cleared (pl. o102, fig. i). The circus will probably be accorded prominence in connection with the Olympic Games. An unusual addition to the Communal Collec-