he mosaic. Under
Claudius, between the years 51 and 54 A.D., a portico was decorated with
marble and a coating of marble facing. That this was a very splendid
ornamentation is shown by the fact that it is mentioned so particularly
in the inscription. And if in 54 A.D. marble and marble facing were
things so worthy of note, then certainly one hundred and thirty years
earlier there was no marble mosaic floor in Praeneste like the one under
discussion, which is considered the finest large piece of Roman mosaic
in existence. And it was fifty years later than the date Delbrueck
wishes to assign to this mosaic, before marble began to be used in any
great profusion in Rome, and at this time Praeneste was not in advance
of Rome. The mosaic, therefore, undoubtedly dates from about the time of
Hadrian, and was probably a gift to the city when he built himself a
villa below the town.[125]

Finally, a word with regard to the aerarium. This is under the temple of
Fortuna, but is not built with any regard to the facade of the temple
above. The inscription on the back wall of the chamber is earlier than
the time of Sulla,[126] and the position of this little vault[127]
shows that it was a treasury connected with the basilica, indeed its
close proximity about makes it part of that building and proves that it
was the storehouse for public funds and records. It occupied a very
prominent place, for it was at the upper end of the old forum, directly
in front of the Sacra Via that came up past the basilica from the Porta
Triumphalis. The conclusion of the whole matter is that the earliest
city forum grew up on the terrace in front of the place where the
mysterious lots had leaped out of the living rock. A basilica was built
in a prominent place in the northwest corner of the forum. Later,
another wonderful cave was discovered or made, and at such a distance
from the first one that a temple in front of it would have a facing on
the forum beyond the basilica, and this also gave a space of ground
which was leveled off into a terrace above the basilica and the forum,
and made into a sacred precinct. Because the basilica occupied the
middle front of the temple property, the temple was made to face west
along the terrace, toward the more ancient cave. The sacred precinct in
front of the temple and between the caves was enclosed, and had no
entrance except at the west end where the Sacra Via ended, which was in
front of the west cave. Before the t