THE META SUDANS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 285, 2 December 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE META SUDANS.

MUSSOLINI'S DECISION. The future of the Mcta Sudans lias been dccided. This is an important fact for those archaeologists and historians of Rome who have been arguing for months as to whether it should be demolished or restored to a replica of its original beauty when Emperor Domitian built it. One party objected that it spoilt, the look of the later Arch of Titus. Others claimed it as the one relic of Domitian's Rome which could be restored easily. Mussolini heard echoes of these heated discussions, ordered his ear and drove off to see it. The big bronze ball has gone long ago, and so has the marble that faced the cone and lined the basin. Only the brickwork of the cone remains. He listened to both sides, strode over to the relic, studied the prospect of the Arch of Titus, and came to the conclusion that it would be seen to better advantage without the cone. , "Cut it down to the base," he commanded. "Have water playing over it, put marble there, and it can stand without spoiling the view." This was a solution neither side had thought of. The Arch of Titus, used in imperial times for the recipients of a Roman Triumph to march under, stood forlorn for centuries. Last August Air Marshal Balbo and his flyers were allowed to march under it when they came back from their mass formation flight to Chicago. And the custom of using it in Roman Triumphs will be continued.