rchaic type, inscribed with the following dedication: "Sacred to a
Divinity, whether male or female. Caius Sextius Calvinus, son of
Caius, praetor, has restored this altar by decree of the Senate."
Nibby and Mommsen believe Calvinus to be the magistrate mentioned
twice by Cicero as a candidate against Glaucias in the contest for the
praetorship of 125 B. C. They also identify the altar as (a
restoration of) the one raised behind the Temple of Vesta, in the
"lower New Street," in memory of the mysterious voice announcing the
invasion of the Gauls, in the stillness of the night, and warning the
citizens to strengthen the walls of their city. The voice was
attributed to a local Genius, whom the people named Aius Loquens or
Locutius. As a rule, the priests refrained from mentioning in public
prayers the name and sex of new and slightly known divinities,
especially of local Genii, to which they objected for two reasons:
first, because there was danger of vitiating the ceremony by a false
invocation; secondly, because it was prudent not to reveal the true
name of these tutelary gods to the enemy of the commonwealth, lest in
case of war or siege he could force them to abandon the defence of
that special place, by mysterious and violent rites. The formula _si
deus si dea_, "whether god or goddess," is a consequence of this
superstition; its use is not uncommon on ancient altars; Servius
describes a shield dedicated on the Capitol to the Genius of Rome,
with the inscription: GENIO URBIS ROMAE SIVE MAS SIVE FEMINA, "to the
tutelary Genius of the city of Rome, whether masculine or feminine."
The Palatine altar, of which I give an illustration, cannot fail to
impress the student, on account of its connection with one of the
leading events in history, the capture and burning of Rome by the
Gauls, 390 B. C.

[Illustration: Ara of Aius Locutius on the Palatine.]

THE ARA DITIS ET PROSERPINAE. On the 20th of September, 1890, the
workmen employed in the construction of the main sewer on the left
bank of the Tiber, between the Ponte S. Angelo and the church of S.
Giovanni dei Fiorentini, found a mediaeval wall, built of materials
collected at random from the neighboring ruins. Among them were
fragments of one or more inscriptions which described the celebrations
of the _Ludi Saeculares_ under the Empire. By the end of the day,
seventeen pieces had been recovered, seven of which belonged to the
records of the games celebrated under Au