British School at Rome: Papers of the British School at Rome (9.1920)

248 The British School at Rome.
actual remains than his ; while in the latest, that of Cipolla, the central
and most ancient of all the buildings is not shown.
A fair amount has been written on the subject of Palestrina and its
history. The first scientific and careful survey of the site is that by
Nibby. Of late years, since excavation has begun, the amount of litera-
ture dealing with Palestrina has largely increased. The most valuable
general description (giving plan and elevation of the ruins) is that of
P. Blondel, who lived for some years at Palestrina. The work of the
later authorities in the list is also important.
In the preparation of my drawings of the actual state of Praeneste
(Pl. XXVII., XXVIII., XXIX., XXX.), I have depended chiefly on the
surveys made by Mr. Prestwich. The plan (Pl. XXVII.) has been based
on the Stato Ponteficio Survey of 1818, kindly supplied by the Ufficio
Tecnico di Finanza di Roma, supplemented by the levels and survey of
the i° Reg. Genio stationed in Palestrina during the war. The whole
has been brought up to date and corrected by measurements and levels
which I took on the spot.
I have made no study of the lower part of the city (i.e. the Roman
forum and its surroundings below the present town), and have limited my
restoration to the part above the Via degli Arcioni. A certain amount is
visible south of this road, but until further excavations have been made
any attempt at a reconstruction of this part would be useless.
The date chosen for the restoration is the end of the first century a.d.
(Pl. XXXI., XXXII., XXXIII.). The site of the ancient town was at
this time partly covered by the sanctuary as rebuilt by Sulla, who
founded a new Roman colony at the foot of the hill. Here was the
forum with new public buildings, which later included libraries,1 an
amphitheatre,2 and even a school for gladiators.3 Houses and public
buildings must, however, have existed in the more ancient part of the
town, and there is no warrant for supposing that this part contained the
temple buildings only.
Before the time of Sulla there was obviously no attempt at
symmetry in the planning of the town. The lower terrace walls and
south boundary are not parallel. The axis of the central building
under the present Cathedral was not parallel with that of the group of
' C.I.L. xvi. 2196, Magoffin, p. 53. 2 C.I.L. xiv. 3010, 3014, Magoffin, p. 52.
3 C.I.L. xiv. 3014.