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previous: previous This webpage reproduces part of The Roman Forum — Its History and Its Monuments by Christian Hülsen published by Ermanno Loescher & Co Publishers to H. M. the Queen of Italy 1906 Text, maps, and black-and‑white images are in the public domain. Color photos are © William P. Thayer. next: next

 p67  III. The Schola Xantha

To the right (northwards) near the foundations of the arch of Tiberius lies the marble pavement which belonged to a small room; marks on the marble seats seem to show that a bench once extended along the sides and across the rear-wall. At the present time nothing of the superstructure is left; but about 1540 excavations were made on this spot, and remains of a small but elegant structure from the time of the empire were brought to light. On the architrave over the entrance stood a double inscription, according to which an imperial freedman Bebryx (of the time of Tiberius) together with a certain Aulus Fabius Xanthus had built "the schola (office) of the clerks and herolds of the curule aediles", and had adorned it with decorations in marble, seats of bronze, and the silver statues of the seven planets (the gods of the days of the week). A second inscription, added later, gave the information that in the reign of Caracalla (about 224 A.D.) a certain C. Avillius Licinius Trosius had restored the schola. The bits of architecture and the fragments of inscriptions which were found at that time (1540) were immediately destroyed; even the exact spot, where these discoveries were made, was so completely forgotten, that for a long time the name 'Schola Xantha' was wrongly given to the seven chambers under the Porticus deorum consentium (see below p89). It was most proper that the subordinate officials under the aediles should have their office beside the Rostra and near the treasury (below p78).