ength, seven feet, and
then dragged down the hill towards some stone-cutter's shop. Why it
was thus abandoned, half way, in a hollow or pit dug expressly for it,
there is nothing to show.

The Temple of Jupiter is represented in ancient monuments of the class
called pictorial reliefs. I have selected for my illustration one of
the panels from the triumphal arch of Marcus Aurelius, near S.
Martina, because it contains a good sketch of the reliefs of the
pediment, with Jupiter seated between Juno and Minerva. The temple
itself is most carelessly drawn, the number of columns being reduced
by one half, that is, from eight to four.[50]

[Illustration: PANEL FROM THE ARCH OF MARCUS AURELIUS]

There is one interesting feature of the Capitolium, which is not well
known among those who do not make a profession of archaeology. It was
used as a place for advertising State acts, deeds, and documents, in
order that the public might take notice of them and be informed of
what was going on in the administrative, military, and political
departments. This fact is known from a clause appended to imperial
letters-patent by which veterans were honorably discharged from the
army or navy, and privileges bestowed on them in recognition of their
services. These deeds, known as _diplomata honestae missionis_, were
engraved on bronze tablets shaped like the cover of a book, the
original of which was hung somewhere in the Capitolium, and a copy
taken by the veteran to his home. The originals are all gone, having
fallen the prey of the plunderers of bronze in Rome, but copies are
found in great numbers in every province of the Roman empire from
which men were drafted.[51] These copies end with the clause:--

"Transcribed (and compared or verified) from the original bronze
tablet which is hung in Rome, in the Capitolium"--and here follows the
designation of a special place of the Capitolium, such as,--

"On the right side of the shrine of the _Fides populi romani_"
(December 11, A. D. 52).

"On the left side of the _aedes Thensarum_" (July 2, A. D. 60).

"On the pedestal of the statue of Quintus Marcius Rex, behind the
temple of Jupiter" (June 15, 64).

"On the pedestal of the _ara gentis Iuliae_, on the right side,
opposite the statue of Bacchus" (March 7, 71).

"On the vestibule, on the left wall, between the two archways" (May
21, 74).

"On the pedestal of the statue of Jupiter Africus" (December 2, 76).

"On the base of the column