THE ARCO DE'PANTANI – TEMPLE OF MARS THE AVENGER.

The great wall, with the archway called Arco de'Pantani, has always appeared to me one of the most interesting objects in Rome. The zigzag direction of the wall would seem to corroborate the curious story told of Augustus choosing to appear scrupulous about interfering with the private dwellings of the citizens, and twisting the walls of his forum accordingly. The throwing open of the convent of the Annunziata has discovered the pavement of the Forum, and of the temple, which, it may be safely believed, was dedicated to Mars the Avenger. I must add that the enormous height of this wall is not satisfactorily accounted for. Nibby's conjecture, that it was a part of the Tullian walls of the city, does not seem tenable: but it must be confessed that, in spite of the coincidence above alluded to, it does not appear to belong to the Augustan period, nor to be of the same age as the three Corinthian columns assigned to Mars the Avenger.

Until lately this very ancient structure seems to have been comparatively overlooked. So little attention was paid to it, that, in order to enlarge the contiguous nunnery, part of it was pulled down, and then were found those beams of wood pointed at both ends, and dove-tailed into the masonry, to which a very ancient date has been assigned, but which were so fresh and uninjured that they were used for carpenters' work at the time of their discovery.