Parker, John Henry: The archaeology of Rome (1,2): Illustrations to I. The primitive fortifications. II. The walls and gates of Rome. III. The historical constructions of walls (Oxford [u.a.], 1874)

Construction of Walls.

Plate I.
i. Part of the Wall at the West End.
This end is the oldest part, the east end has been rebuilt after the
great fire in the time of Sylla. The construction of the AErarium is
the same as this earliest part, but on the exterior a portion of it has
been faced with smaller square stones, probably in the time of King
Theodoric, who repaired many of the public buildings in Rome.
The original part is now the same as it was in the time of Terentius
Varro, who wrote nearly a century before the Christian era. He
says that it was considered in his time to have belonged to the City
of the Sabines, on the hill of Saturn, before the arrival of the
Romans, but the construction is fine-jointed, as is shewn in the pho-
tograph, and therefore of later date than the rude wide-jointed
masonry of Roma Quadrata on the Palatine. All the original parts
of this great public building are of the same construction. There is
every probability that it was erected by the Romans and the Sabines
jointly, to contain the public offices of the new City, when it was
enclosed in one Wall. The stones are cut with the saw, those on
the Palatine are not.