Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis
Littore Etrusco violenter undis
Ire dejectum monumenta Regis
Templaque Vestae. (Horat. Carm. I. 2.)
If the palace of Numa and temple of Vesta were thrown down in Horace's time, what was consumed of those buildings by Nero's fire could hardly deserve the epithets of vetustissima or incorrupta.