Even in the last three centuries so much that was of archaeological value among the ruins of Ancient Rome has been destroyed, that any record of the existing remains which dates back as far as the 16th century must be of interest to the modern student.

The great revival of classical architecture which took place in the sixteenth century induced all the chief architects of that time to study with special care even the smallest fragments of the former architectural glory of the ancient city. Among the many professional architects of that time who measured and copied both the general form and the details of the classical remains, none did so with greater zeal and more patient labour than Pirro Ligorio in the preparation of his copious work L'Antichità di Roma, which still exists as a MS. in thirty folio volumes among the royal archives at Turin.