There are various popular accounts of the ambitious and
vainglorious efforts of our kings in this matter. Still, I think, it is
interesting to know accurately the original plan of the precinct, as it was
fixed by Romulus. From the ox market, where we see the brazen statue of a
bull, because
CLAUDIUS ADOPTS DOMITIUS (NERO) |
that
animal is yoked to the plough, a furrow was drawn to mark out the town, so
as to embrace the great altar of Hercules; then, at regular intervals,
stones were placed along the foot of the
Palatine hill to the
altar of
Consus, soon afterwards, to the old Courts, and then to the
chapel of
Larunda. The
Roman forum and the
Capitol were not, it was supposed, added to
the city by Romulus, but by Titus Tatius. In time, the precinct was enlarged
with the growth of
Rome's fortunes. The boundaries now fixed by Claudius may
be easily recognized, as they are specified in the public records.