He rebuilt many noble edifices which had been destroyed by fire, and amongst them the Capitol, which had been burnt down a second time; 1 but all the inscriptions were in his own name, without the least mention of the original founders. He likewise erected a new temple in the Capitol to Jupiter Custos, and a forum,2 which is now called Nerva's, as also the temple of the Flavian family,3 a stadium, 4 an odeum, 5 and a naumachia;6 out of the stone dug from which, the sides of the Circus Maximus, which had been burnt down, were rebuilt.
1 The Capitol had been burnt, for the third time, in the great fire mentioned TITUS, c. viii. The first fire happened in the Marian war, after which it was rebuilt by Pompey, the second in the reign of Vitellius.
2 This forum, commenced by Domitian and completed by Nerva, adjoined the Roman forum and that of Augustus, mentioned in c. xxix. of his life. From its communicating with the two others, it was called Transitorium. Part of the wall which bounded it still remains, of a great height, and 144 paces long. It is composed of square masses of freestone, very large, and without any cement; and it is not carried in a straight line, but makes three or four angles, as if some buildings had interfered with its direction.
3 The residence of the Flavian family was converted into a temple. See c. i. of the present book.
4 The Stadium was in the shape of a circus, and used for races both of men and hotses.
5 The Odeum was a building intended for musical performances. There were four of them at Rome.
6 See before, c. iv.
Suetonius: The Lives of the Twelve Caesars; An English Translation, Augmented with the Biographies of Contemporary Statesmen, Orators, Poets, and Other Associates. Suetonius. Publishing Editor. J. Eugene Reed. Alexander Thomson. Philadelphia. Gebbie & Co. 1889.
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