, and pastoral huts scattered under the shade of
palm or sycamore trees, the foliage of which is waving gently in the
breeze. The people are variously occupied,--some are fishing with the
rod, some bathing, some carrying water-jars on their heads. The gem of
the reliefs is a group of oxen, grazing in the meadow, of such
exquisite beauty as to cast into shade the best engravings of
Italo-Greek or Sicilian coins.

[Illustration: Specimen of outline designs in the ancient house in the
Farnesina Gardens.]

Next in importance to the Roman house comes the tomb of Sulpicius
Platorinus, discovered in May, 1880, at the opposite end of the
Farnesina Gardens, near the walls of Aurelian. A corner of this tomb
had been exposed to view for a couple of years, nobody paying
attention to it, because, as a rule, tombs within the walls, having
been exposed for centuries to the thieving instincts of the populace
in general, and of treasure-hunters in particular, are always found
plundered and barren of contents. In this instance, however, it was
our fortune to meet with a welcome exception to the rule.

From an inscription engraved on marble above the entrance door, we
learn that the mausoleum was raised in memory of Caius Sulpicius
Platorinus, a magistrate of the time of Augustus, and of his sister
Sulpicia Platorina, the wife of Cornelius Priscus. The room contained
nine niches, and each niche a cinerary urn, of which six were still
untouched. These urns are of the most elaborate kind, carved in white
marble, with festoons hanging from bulls' heads, and birds of various
kinds eating fruit. Some of the urns are round, some square, the
motive of the decoration being the same for all of them. The cover of
the round ones is in the shape of a _tholus_, a building shaped
something like a beehive, the tiles being represented by acanthus
leaves, and the pinnacle by a bunch of flowers.

The covers of these urns were fastened with molten lead. The unsealing
of them was an event of great excitement; it was performed in the
coffee-house of the Farnesina, in the presence of a large and
distinguished assembly. I remember the date, May 3, 1880. They were
found to be half full of water from the last flood of the Tiber, with
a layer of ashes and bones at the bottom. The contents were emptied on
a sheet of white linen. Those of the first had no value; the second
contained a gold ring without its stone,--which was found, however,
in the third cinerari