Parker, John Henry: The archaeology of Rome (1,text): I. The primitive fortifications (Oxford [u.a.], 1874)

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The Mamertine Prison.

men, to whom orders had been given, strangled him with a cord. Thus this
patrician, who was of the illustrious family of the Cornelii, and who had filled
the office of consul at Rome, met with an end suited to his character and conduct.
On Cethegus, Statilius, Gabinius, and Cceparius, punishment was inflicted in
a similar manner

Sifax, king of Numidia, was imprisoned here at the time of
the triumph of Scipio Africanus. Perseus, king of Macedonia,
by Paulus FEmilius. Jugurtha, king of Numidia, and forty-three
AEtolian princes were imprisoned here at the same time, as stated
by Livy, after the conquest of their country by Scipio Africanus,
about two centuries before the Christian erak. According to
Plutarch, Vercingetorix, chief of the Gauls,' was first thrown into
a bath of icy coldness, and then starved to death in this prison,
in the time of Julius Caesar ; and Simon, a captain of the Jews, was
put to death here after having been exhibited in the triumph of
Vespasian and Titus, as we are told by Josephus1. Valerius Maxi-
mus m also relates that the body of Q. Csepio, torn by the hands of
the executioners, was exhibited on the steps, to the horror of the
people in the Forum Romanum. Under the tyrant Tiberius, two
of the principal officers of the Empire, Sabinus and Sejanus, were
confined and executed here under circumstances of atrocity. They
were beheaded, and their bodies exposed on the Gemonian steps,
or steps of horror, which could only be the steps leading from the

’ “ Postquam, ut dixi, senatus in
Catonis sententiam discessit, consul,
optumum factu ratus noctem quae in-
stabat antecapere ne quid eo spatio
novaretur, tresviros quse ad subplicium
postulabat parare jubet : ipse praesidiis
dispositis Lentulum in carcerem dedu-
cit : idem fit ceteris per praetores. Est
in carcere locus, quod Tullianum ad-
pellatur, ubi paululum ascenderis ad
laevam, circiter duodecim pedes humi
clepressus. Eum muniunt undique pa-
rietes atque insuper camera lapideis
fornicibus juncta, sed incultu tenebris
odore fceda atque terribilis ejus facies
est. In eum locum postquam demissus
est Lentulus, (vindices rerum capito-
lium) quibus preeceptum erat laqueo
gulam fregere. Ita ille patricius ex
gente clarissuma Comeliorum, qui con-
sulare imperium Romae habuerat, dig-
num moribus factisque suis exitium vitae
invenit. De Cethego Statilio, Gabinio,
Caepario eodem modo subplicium sump-
turn est.” (Gai Sallustii Crispi, De Ca-
tilinae conjuratione, c. 55.)
k “ The conclusion of the Jugurthine

War is quite as abrupt as that of the
Conspiracy of Catiline. Jugurtha, being
conveyed to Rome, was led in triumph,
with his two sons, by Marius. But the
humiliation which he experienced on
that occasion, was more than his
haughty spirit could endure, and he
lost his senses before the termination
of the procession. He was then led to
the Tullian dungeon, the same into
which the accomplices of Catiline were
afterwards thrown, and precipitated,
with great ignominy and violence, to
the bottom of it. In his descent, he
is said to have exclaimed, ‘ Heavens,
how cold is this bath of yours !’ He
survived, according to Plutarch and
others, six days. See Plutarch’s Life
of Marius. Eutrop. iv. 11 seq. Eutro-
pius, however, says that he was strangled
in prison.” Watson’s Sallust, Lond.
1861, p. 214.
1 Josephus de Bello Judaico, lib. vii.
c- 5-
m Valerius Maximus, Epist., lib. vi.
c. 9.