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WALKS IN ROME

TWO VOLS.--I.




    WALKS IN ROME

    BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE

    AUTHOR OF "MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE," "WANDERINGS IN SPAIN," ETC.

    TWO VOLUMES.--I.

    _FIFTH EDITION_

    LONDON
    DALDY, ISBISTER & CO.
    56, LUDGATE HILL
    1875

    [_All rights reserved_]

JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.

    TO
    HIS DEAR MOTHER
    THE CONSTANT COMPANION OF MANY ROMAN WINTERS
    These pages are Dedicated

    BY THE AUTHOR.




CONTENTS.


    INTRODUCTORY.

                                                                    PAGE

    THE ARRIVAL IN ROME                                                9

    CHAPTER I.

    DULL-USEFUL INFORMATION                                           27

    CHAPTER II.

    THE CORSO AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD                                   36

    CHAPTER III.

    THE CAPITOLINE                                                   109

    CHAPTER IV.

    THE FORUMS AND THE COLISEUM                                      159

    CHAPTER V.

    THE VELABRUM AND THE GHETTO                                      221

    CHAPTER VI.

    THE PALATINE                                                     273

    CHAPTER VII.

    THE CŒLIAN                                                       316

    CHAPTER VIII.

    THE AVENTINE                                                     348

    CHAPTER IX.

    THE VIA APPIA                                                    372

    CHAPTER X.

    THE QUIRINAL AND VIMINAL                                         433




INTRODUCTORY.

THE ARRIVAL IN ROME.


"Again this date of Rome; the most solemn and interesting that my hand
can ever write, and even now more interesting than when I saw it last,"
wrote Dr. Arnold to his wife in 1840--and how many thousands before and
since have experienced the same feeling, who have looked forward to a
visit to Rome as one of the great events of their lives, as the
realization of the dreams and longings of many years.

An arrival in Rome is very different to that in any other town of
Europe. It is coming to a place new and yet most familiar, strange and
yet so well known. When travellers arrive at Verona, for instance, or at
Arles, they generally go to the amphitheatres with a curiosity to know
what they are like; but when they arrive at Rome and go to the Coliseum,
it is to visit an object whose appearance has been familiar to them from
childhood, and, long ere it is reached, from the heights of the distant
Capitol, they can recognize the well-known form;--and as regards St.
Peter's, who is not familiar with the aspect of the dome, of the
wide-spreading piazza, and the foaming fountains, for long years before
they come to gaze upon the reality?

"My presentiment of the emotions with which I should behold the Roman
ruins, has proved quite correct," wrote Niebuhr. "Nothing about them is
new to me; as a child I lay so often, for hours together, before their
pictures, that their images were, even at that early age, as distinctly
impressed upon my mind, as if I had actually seen them."

Yet, in spite of the presence of old friends and landmarks, travellers
who pay a hurried visit to Rome, are bewildered by the vast mass of
interest before them, by the endless labyrinth of minor objects, which
they desire, or, still oftener, feel it a duty, to visit. Their Murray,
their Baedeker, and their Bradshaw indicate appalling lists of churches,
temples, and villas which ought to be seen, but do not distribute them
in a manner which will render their inspection more easy. The promised
pleasure seems rapidly to change into an endless vista of labour to be
fulfilled and of fatigue to be gone through; henceforward the hours
spent at Rome are rather hours of endurance than of pleasure--his
_cicerone_ drags the traveller in one direction,--his antiquarian
friend, his artistic acquaintance, would fain drag him in others,--he is
confused by accumulated misty glimmerings from historical facts once
learnt at school, but long since forgotten,--of artistic information,
which he feels that he ought to have gleaned from years of society, but
which, from want of use, has never made any depth of impression,--by
shadowy ideas as to the story of this king and that emperor, of this
pope and that saint, which, from insufficient time, and the absence of
books of reference, he has no opportunity of clearing up. It is
therefore in the hope of aiding some of these bewildered ones, and of
rendering their walks in Rome more easy and more interesting, that the
following chapters are written. They aim at nothing original, and are
only a gathering up of the information of others, and a gleaning from
what has been already given to the world in a far better and fuller, but
less portable form; while, in their plan, they attempt to guide the
traveller in his daily wanderings through the city and its suburbs.

It must not, however, be supposed, that one short residence at Rome will
be sufficient to make a foreigner acquainted with all its varied
treasures; or even, in most cases, that its attractions will become
apparent to the passing stranger. The squalid appearance of its modern
streets, the filth of its beggars, the inconveniences of its daily life,
will leave an impression which will go far to neutralize the effect of
its ancient buildings, and the grandeur of its historic recollections.
It is only by returning again and again, by allowing the _feeling_ of
Rome to gain upon you, when you have constantly revisited the same view,
the same temple, the same picture, that Rome engraves itself upon your
heart, and changes from a disagreeable, unwholesome acquaintance, into a
dear and intimate friend, seldom long absent from your thoughts.
"Whoever," said Chateaubriand, "has nothing else left in life, should
come to live in Rome; there he will find for society a land which will
nourish his reflections, walks which will always tell him something new.
The stone which crumbles under his feet will speak to him, and even the
dust which the wind raises under his footsteps will seem to bear with it
something of human grandeur."

"When we have once known Rome," wrote Hawthorne, "and left her where she
lies, like a long-decaying corpse, retaining a trace of the noble shape
it was, but with accumulated dust and a fungous growth overspreading all
its more admirable features--left her in utter weariness, no doubt, of
her narrow, crooked, intricate streets, so uncomfortably paved with
little squares of lava that to tread over them is a penitential
pilgrimage; so indescribably ugly, moreover, so cold, so alley-like,
into which the sun never falls, and where a chill wind forces its deadly
breath into our lungs--left her, tired of the sight of those immense
seven-storied, yellow-washed hovels, or call them palaces, where all
that is dreary in domestic life seems magnified and multiplied, and
weary of climbing those staircases which ascend from a ground-floor of
cook-shops, cobblers'-stalls, stables, and regiments of cavalry, to a
middle region of princes, cardinals, and ambassadors, and an upper tier
of artists, just beneath the unattainable sky,--left her, worn out with
shivering at the cheerless and smoky fireside by day, and feasting with
our own substance the ravenous population of a Roman bed at night, left
her sick at heart of Italian trickery, which has uprooted whatever faith
in man's integrity had endured till now, and sick at stomach of sour
bread, sour wine, rancid butter, and bad cookery, needlessly bestowed on
evil meats,--left her, disgusted with the pretence of holiness and the
reality of nastiness, each equally omnipresent,--left her, half lifeless
from the languid atmosphere, the vital principle of which has been used
up long ago or corrupted by myriads of slaughters,--left her, crushed
down in spirit by the desolation of her ruin, and the hopelessness of
her future,--left her, in short, hating her with all our might, and
adding our individual curse to the infinite anathema which her old
crimes have unmistakeably brought down:--when we have left Rome in such
mood as this, we are astonished by the discovery, by-and-by, that our
heartstrings have mysteriously attached themselves to the Eternal City,
and are drawing us thitherward again, as if it were more familiar, more
intimately our home, than even the spot where we were born."

This is the attractive and sympathetic power of Rome which Byron so
fully appreciated--

      "Oh Rome my country! city of the soul!
      The orphans of the heart must turn to thee,
      Lone mother of dead empires! and controul
      In their shut breasts their petty misery.
      What are our woes and sufferance? Come and see
      The cypress, hear the owl, and plod your way
      O'er steps of broken thrones and temples. Ye!
      Whose agonies are evils of a day--
    A world is at our feet as fragile as our clay.

      "The Niobe of nations! there she stands
      Childless and crownless, in her voiceless woe;
      An empty urn within her withered hands,
      Whose sacred dust was scattered long ago;
      The Scipios' tomb contains no ashes now;
      The very sepulchres lie tenantless
      Of their heroic dwellers: dost thou flow,
      Old Tiber! through a marble wilderness?
    Rise, with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress!"

The impressiveness of an arrival at the Eternal City was formerly
enhanced by the solemn singularity of the country through which it was
slowly approached. "Those who arrive at Rome now by the railway," says
Mrs. Craven in her 'Anne Severin,' "and rush like a whirlwind into a
station, which has nothing in its first aspect to distinguish it from
that of one of the most obscure places in the world, cannot imagine the
effect which the words 'Ecco Roma' formerly produced, when on arriving
at the point in the road from which the Eternal City could be descried
for the first time, the postillion stopped his horses, and pointing it
out to the traveller in the distance, pronounced them with that Roman
accent which is grave and sonorous, as the name of Rome itself."

"How pleasing," says Cardinal Wiseman, "was the usual indication to
early travellers, by voice and outstretched whip, embodied in the
well-known exclamation of every vetturino, 'Ecco Roma.' To one 'lasso
maris et viarum,' like Horace, these words brought the first promise of
approaching rest. A few more miles of weary hills, every one of which,
from its summit, gave a more swelling and majestic outline to what so
far constituted 'Roma,' that is, the great cupola, not of the church,
but of the city, its only discernible part, cutting, like a huge peak,
into the dear winter sky, and the long journey was ended, and ended by
the full realization of well-cherished hopes."

Most travellers, perhaps, in the old days came by sea from Marseilles
and arrived from Civita Vecchia, by the dreary road which leads through
Palo, and near the base of the hills upon which stands Cervetri, the
ancient Cære, from the junction of whose name and customs the word
"ceremony" has arisen,--so especially useful in the great neighbouring
city. "This road from Civita Vecchia," writes Miss Edwards, the talented
authoress of 'Barbara's History,' "lies among shapeless hillocks, shaggy
with bush and briar. Far away on one side gleams a line of soft blue
sea--on the other lie mountains as blue, but not more distant. Not a
sound stirs the stagnant air. Not a tree, not a housetop, breaks the
wide monotony. The dust lies beneath the wheels like a carpet, and
follows like a cloud. The grass is yellow, the weeds are parched; and
where there have been wayside pools, the ground is cracked and dry. Now
we pass a crumbling fragment of something that may have been a tomb or
temple, centuries ago. Now we come upon a little wide-eyed peasant boy,
keeping goats among the ruins, like Giotto of old. Presently a buffalo
lifts his black mane above the neighbouring hillock, and rushes away
before we can do more than point to the spot on which we saw it. Thus
the day attains its noon, and the sun hangs overhead like a brazen
shield, brilliant, but cold. Thus, too, we reach the brow of a long and
steep ascent, where our driver pulls up to rest his weary beasts. The
sea has now faded almost out of sight; the mountains look larger and
nearer, with streaks of snow upon their summits, the Campagna reaches on
and on and shows no sign of limit or of verdure,--while, in the midst of
the clear air, half way, so it would seem, between you and the purple
Sabine range, rises one solemn solitary dome. Can it be the dome of St.
Peter's?"

The great feature of the Civita Vecchia route was that after all the
utter desolation and dreariness of many miles of the least interesting
part of the Campagna, the traveller was almost stunned by the
transition, when on suddenly passing the Porta Cavalleggieri, he found
himself in the Piazza, of St. Peter's, with its wide-spreading
colonnades, and high-springing fountains; indeed the first building he
saw was St. Peter's, the first house that of the Pope, the palace of the
Vatican. But the more gradual approach by land from Viterbo and Tuscany
possessed equal if not superior interest.

"When we turned the summit above Viterbo," wrote Dr. Arnold, "and opened
on the view on the other side, it might be called the first approach to
Rome. At the distance of more than forty miles, it was of course
impossible to see the town, and besides the distance was hazy; but we
were looking on the scene of the Roman history; we were standing on the
outward edge of the frame of the great picture, and though the features
of it were not to be traced distinctly, yet we had the consciousness
that they were before us. Here, too, we first saw the Mediterranean, the
Alban hills, I think, in the remote distance, and just beneath us, on
the left, Soracte, an outlier of the Apennines, which has got to the
right bank of the Tiber, and stands out by itself most magnificently.
Close under us in front, was the Ciminian lake, the crater of an extinct
volcano, surrounded as they all are, with their basin of wooded hills,
and lying like a beautiful mirror stretched out before us. Then there
was the grand beauty of Italian scenery, the depth of the valleys, the
endless variety of the mountain outline, and the towns perched upon the
mountain summits, and this now seen under a mottled sky, which threw an
ever-varying light and shadow over the valley beneath, and all the
freshness of the young spring. We descended along one of the rims of
this lake to Ronciglione, and from thence, still descending on the
whole, to Monterosi. Here the famous Campagna begins, and it certainly
is one of the most striking tracts of country I ever beheld. It is by no
means a perfect flat, except between Rome and the sea; but rather like
the Bagshot Heath country, ridges of hills with intermediate valleys,
and the road often running between high steep banks, and sometimes
crossing sluggish streams sunk in a deep bed. All these banks are
overgrown with broom, now in full flower; and the same plant was
luxuriant everywhere. There seemed no apparent reason why the country
should be so desolate; the grass was growing richly everywhere. There
was no marsh anywhere visible, but all looked as fresh and healthy as
any of our chalk downs in England. But it is a wide wilderness; no
villages, scarcely any houses, and here and there a lonely ruin of a
single square tower, which I suppose used to serve as strongholds for
men and cattle in the plundering warfare in the middle ages. It was
after crowning the top of one of these lines of hills, a little on the
Roman side of Baccano, at five minutes after six, according to my watch,
that we had the first view of Rome itself. I expected to see St. Peter's
rising above the line of the horizon, as York Minster does, but instead
of that, it was within the horizon, and so was much less conspicuous,
and from the nature of the ground, it looked mean and stumpy. Nothing
else marked the site of the city, but the trees of the gardens and a
number of white villas specking the opposite bank of the Tiber for some
little distance above the town, and then suddenly ceasing. But the whole
scene that burst upon our view, when taken in all its parts, was most
interesting. Full in front rose the Alban hills, the white villas on
their sides distinctly visible, even at that distance, which was more
than thirty miles. On the left were the Apennines, and Tivoli was
distinctly to be seen on the summit of its mountain, on one of the
lowest and nearest parts of the chain. On the right and all before us
lay the Campagna, whose perfectly level outline was succeeded by that of
the sea, which was scarcely more so. It began now to get dark, and as
there is hardly any twilight, it was dark soon after we left La Storta,
the last post before you enter Rome. The air blew fresh and cool, and we
had a pleasant drive over the remaining part of the Campagna, till we
descended into the valley of the Tiber, and crossed it by the Milvian
bridge. About two miles further on we reached the walls of Rome, and
entered it by the Porta del Popolo."

Niebuhr coming the same way says:--"It was with solemn feelings that
this morning from the barren heights of the moory Campagna, I first
caught sight of the cupola of St. Peter's, and then of the city from the
bridge, where all the majesty of her buildings and her history seems to
lie spread out before the eye of the stranger; and afterwards entered by
the Porta del Popolo."

Madame de Staël gives us the impression which the same subject would
produce on a different type of character:--

"Le comte d'Erfeuil faisait de comiques lamentations sur les environs de
Rome. Quoi, disait-il, point de maison de campagne, point de voiture,
rien qui annonce le voisinage d'une grande ville! Ah! bon Dieu, quelle
tristesse! En approchant de Rome, les postillons s'écrièrent avec
transport: _Voyez, voyez, c'est la coupole de Saint-Pierre!_ Les
Napolitains montrent aussi le Vésuve; et la mer fait de même l'orgueil
des habitans des côtes. On croirait voir le dôme des Invalides, s'écria
le comte d'Erfeuil."

It was by this approach that most of its distinguished pilgrims have
entered the capital of the Catholic world: monks, who came hither to
obtain the foundation of their Orders; saints, who thirsted to worship
at the shrines of their predecessors, or who came to receive the crown
of martyrdom; priests and bishops from distant lands,--many coming in
turn to receive here the highest dignity which Christendom could offer;
kings and emperors, to ask coronation at the hands of the reigning
pontiff; and among all these, came by this road, in the full fervour of
Catholic enthusiasm, Martin Luther, the future enemy of Rome, then its
devoted adherent. "When Luther came to Rome," says Ampère, in his
'Portraits de Rome à Divers Ages,' "the future reformer was a young
monk, obscure and fervent; he had no presentiment, when he set foot in
the great Babylon, that ten years later he would burn the bull of the
Pope in the public square of Wittenberg. His heart experienced nothing
but pious emotions; he addressed to Rome in salutation the ancient hymn
of the pilgrims; he cried, 'I salute thee, O holy Rome, Rome venerable
through the blood and the tombs of the martyrs.' But after having
prostrated on the threshold, he raised himself, he entered into the
temple, he did not find the God he looked for; the city of the saints
and martyrs was a city of murderers and prostitutes. The arts which
marked this corruption were powerless over the stolid senses, and
scandalised the austere spirit of the German monk; he scarcely gave a
passing glance at the ruins of pagan Rome;--and inwardly horrified by
all that he saw, he quitted Rome in a frame of mind very different from
that which he brought with him; he knelt then with the devotion of the
pilgrims, now he returned in a disposition like that of the _frondeurs_
of the Middle Ages, but more serious than theirs. This Rome of which he
had been the dupe, and concerning which he was disabused, should hear of
him again; the day would come when, amid the merry toasts at his table,
he would cry three times, 'I would not have missed going to Rome for a
thousand florins, for I should always have been uneasy lest I should
have been rendering injustice to the Pope.'"

When one is in Rome life seems to be free from many of the petty
troubles which beset it in other places; there is no foreign town which
offers so many comforts and advantages to its English visitors. The
hotels, indeed, are enormously expensive, and the rent of apartments is
high; but when the latter is once paid, living is rather cheap than
otherwise, especially for those who do not object to dine from a
_trattoria_, and to drive in hackney carriages.

The climate of Rome is very variable. If the _sirocco_ blows, it is mild
and very relaxing; but the winters are more apt to be subject to the
severe cold of the _tramontana_, which requires even greater precaution
and care than that of an English winter. Nothing can be more mistaken
than the impression that those who go to Italy are sure to find there a
mild and congenial temperature. The climate of Rome has been subject to
severity, even from the earliest times of its history. Dionysius speaks
of one year in the time of the republic when the snow at Rome lay seven
feet deep, and many men and cattle died of the cold.[1] Another year,
the snow lay for forty days, trees perished, and cattle died of
hunger.[2] Present times are a great improvement on these: snow seldom
lies upon the ground for many hours together, and the beautiful
fountains of the city are only hung with icicles long enough to allow
the photographers to represent them thus; but still the climate is not
to be trifled with, and violent transitions from the hot sunshine to the
cold shade of the streets often prove fatal. "No one but dogs and
Englishmen," say the Romans, "ever walk in the sun."

The _malaria_, which is so much dreaded by the natives, lies dormant
during the winter months, and seldom affects strangers, unless they are
inordinately imprudent in sitting out in the sunset. With the heats of
the late summer this insidious ague-fever is apt to follow on the
slightest exertion, and particularly to overwhelm those who are employed
in field labour. From June to November the Villa Borghese and the Villa
Doria are uninhabitable, and the more deserted hills--the Cœlian, the
Aventine, and the greater part of the Esquiline,--are a constant prey to
fever. The malaria, however, flies before a crowd of human life, and the
Ghetto, which teems with inhabitants, is perfectly free from it. In the
Campagna,--with the exception of Porto d'Anzio, which has always been
healthy,--no town or village is safe after the month of August, and to
this cause the utter desolation of so many formerly populous sites
(especially those of Veii and Galera) may be attributed:--

    "Roma, vorax hominum, domat ardua colla virorum;
    Roma, ferax febrium, necis est uberrima frugum:
    Romanæ febres stabili sunt jure fideles."

Thus wrote Peter Damian in the 10th century, and those who refuse to be
on their guard will find it so still.

The greatest risk at Rome is incurred by those who, coming out of the
hot sunshine, spend long hours in the Vatican and the other galleries,
which are filled with a deadly chill during the winter months. As March
comes on this chill wears away, and in April and May the temperature of
the galleries is delightful, and it is impossible to find a more
agreeable retreat. It is in the hope of inducing strangers to spend more
time in the study of these wonderful museums, and of giving additional
interest to the hours which are passed there, that so much is said about
their contents in these volumes. As far as possible it has been desired
to evade any mere catalogue of their collections,--so that no mention
has been made of objects which possess inferior artistic or historical
interest; while by introducing anecdotes connected with those to which
attention is drawn, or by quoting the opinion of some good authority
concerning them, an endeavour has been made to fix them in the
recollection.

So much has been written about Rome, that in quoting from the remarks of
others the great difficulty has been selection,--and the rule has been
followed that the most learned books are not always the most instructive
or the most interesting. No endeavour has been made to enter into deep
archæological questions,--to define the exact limits of the Walls of
Servius Tullius,--or to hazard a fresh opinion as to how the earth
accumulated in the Roman Forum, or whence the pottery came, out of which
the Monte Testaccio has arisen; but it has rather been sought to gather
up and present to the reader such a succession of word pictures from
various authors, as may not only make the scenes of Rome more
interesting at the time, but may deepen their impression afterwards.
This was the work which the late illustrious M. Ampère intended to carry
out, and which he would have done so much better and more fully.

From the experience of many years the writer can truly say that the more
intimately these scenes become known, the more deeply they become
engraven upon the inmost affections. Rome, as Goethe truly says, "is a
world, and it takes years to find oneself at home in it." It is not a
hurried visit to the Coliseum, with guide book and cicerone, which will
enable one to drink in the fulness of its beauty; but a long and
familiar friendship with its solemn walls, in the ever-varying grandeur
of golden sunlight and grey shadow--till, after many days'
companionship, its stones become dear as those of no other building ever
can be;--and it is not a rapid inspection of the huge cheerless
basilicas and churches, with their gaudy marbles and gilded ceilings and
ill-suited monuments, which arouses your sympathy; but the long
investigation of their precious fragments of ancient cloister, and
sculptured fountain,--of mouldering fresco, and mediæval tomb,--of
mosaic-crowned gateway, and palm-shadowed garden;--and the
gradually-acquired knowledge of the wondrous story which clings around
each of these ancient things, and which tells how each has a motive and
meaning entirely unsuspected and unseen by the passing eye.

The immense extent of Rome, and the wide distances to be traversed
between its different ruins and churches, is in itself a sufficient
reason for devoting more time to it than to the other cities of Italy.
Surprise will doubtless be felt that so few pagan ruins remain,
considering the enormous number which are known to have existed even
down to a comparatively late period. A monumental record of A.D. 540,
published by Cardinal Mai, mentions 324 streets, 2 capitols--the
Tarpeian and that on the Quirinal,--80 gilt statues of the gods (only
the Hercules remains), 66 ivory statues of the gods, 46,608 houses,
17,097 palaces, 13,052 fountains, 3785 statues of emperors and generals
in bronze, 22 great equestrian statues of bronze (only Marcus Aurelius
remains), 2 colossi (Marcus Aurelius and Trajan), 9026 baths, 31
theatres, and 8 amphitheatres!

It is impossible to speak too highly of the facilities afforded to
strangers for seeing and enjoying everything, especially by the Roman
nobility. The beautiful grounds of the Villa Borghese and the Villa
Doria appear to be kept up at an enormous expense, solely for the use
and pleasure of the public, and almost all the palaces and collections
are thrown open on fixed days with unequalled liberality. In almost all
these galleries, museums, and gardens the stranger is permitted to
wander about and linger as he pleases, entirely unmolested by officious
servants and ignorant _ciceroni_.

Those will enjoy Rome most who have studied it thoroughly before leaving
their own homes. In the multiplicity of engagements in which a foreigner
is soon involved, there is little time for historical research, and few
are able to do more than "read up their Murray," so that half the
pleasure and all the advantage of a visit to Rome are thrown away: while
those who arrive with the foundation already prepared, easily and
naturally acquire, amid the scenes around which the history of the world
revolved, an amount of information which will be astonishing even to
themselves. "People out of Rome," says Goethe, "have no idea how one is
_schooled_ there;" but then, as the author of 'Vera' remarks, "that is
true of Rome, which Madame Swetchine said of life, viz. that you find
exactly what you put into it."

The pagan monuments of Rome have been written of and discussed ever
since they were built, and the catacombs have lately found historians
and guides both able and willing,--about the later Christian monuments
far less has hitherto been said. In English, except in the immense
collection of interest which is imbedded in the works of Hemans, and in
the few beautiful notices of some of the early martyrs by Mrs. Jameson,
very little has been written; in French there is far more. There is a
natural shrinking in the English Protestant mind from all that is
connected with the story of the saints,--especially the later saints of
the Roman Catholic Church. Many believe, with Addison, "that the
Christian antiquities are so embroiled in fable and legend, that one
derives but little satisfaction from searching into them." And yet, as
Mrs. Jameson observes, when all that the controversialist can desire is
taken away from the reminiscences of those, who to the Roman Catholic
mind have consecrated the homes of their earthly life, how much
remains!--"so much to awaken, to elevate, to touch the heart;--so much
that will not fade from the memory, so much that may make a part of our
after-life."

No attempt has been made in these pages to describe the country round
Rome, beyond a few of the most ordinary drives and excursions outside
the walls. The opening of the railways to Naples and Civita Vecchia have
now brought a vast variety of new excursions within the range of a
day's expedition--and the papal citadel of Anagni, the temples of Cori,
the cyclopean remains of Segni, Alatri, Norba, Cervetri, and Corneto,
and the wild heights of Soracte, will probably ere long become as well
known as the oft-visited Tivoli, Ostia, and Albano. It is intended to
supplement these "Walks in Rome" by a similar volume of "Excursions
round Rome."




CHAPTER I.

DULL-USEFUL INFORMATION.


     _Hotels._--For passing travellers or bachelors, the best are: Hotel
     d'Angleterre, Bocca di Leone; Hotel de Rome, Corso. For families,
     or for a long residence: Hotel des Iles Britanniques, Piazza del
     Popolo; Hotel de Russie (close to the last), Via Babuino; Hotel de
     Londres, and Hotel Europa, Piazza di Spagna; Hotel Costanzi, Via S.
     Nicolo in Tolentino, in a high airy situation towards the
     railway-station, and very comfortable and well managed, but further
     from the sights of Rome. Less expensive, are: Hotel d'Allemagne,
     Via Condotti; Hotel Vittoria, Via Due Macelli; Hotel d'Italie, Via
     Quattro Fontane; Hotel della Pace, 8 Via Felice; Hotel Minerva,
     Piazza della Minerva, very near the Pantheon. A large new hotel is
     the "Quirinale," in the Via Nazionale.

     _Pensions_ are much wanted in Rome. The best are those of Miss
     Smith and Madame Tellenbach, in the Piazza di Spagna; Pension Suez,
     Via S. Nicolo in Tolentino; and the small Hotel du Sud, in the Capo
     le Case.

     _Apartments_ have lately greatly increased in price. An apartment
     for a very small family in one of the best situations can seldom be
     obtained for less than 300 to 500 francs a month. The English
     almost all prefer to reside in the neighbourhood of the Piazza di
     Spagna. The best situations are the sunny side of the Piazza
     itself, the Trinità de' Monti, the Via Gregoriana, and Via Sistina.
     Less good situations are, the Corso, Via Condotti, Via Due Macelli,
     Via Frattina, Capo le Case, Via Felice, Via Quattro Fontane, Via
     Babuino, and Via delle Croce,--in which last, however, are many
     very good apartments. On the other side of the Corso suites of
     rooms are much less expensive, but they are less convenient for
     persons who make a short residence in Rome. In many of the palaces
     are large apartments which are let by the year.

     _Trattorie_ (Restaurants) send out dinners to families in
     apartments in a tin box with a stove, for which the bearer calls
     the next morning. A dinner for six francs ought to be amply
     sufficient for three persons, and to leave enough for luncheon the
     next day. _Restaurants_ where luncheons or dinners may be obtained
     upon the spot, are those of Bedeau, Via della Croce, and Nazzari,
     Piazza di Spagna. Those who wish for a real Roman dinner of
     Porcupine, Hedgehog, and other such delicacies, find it at the
     Falcone, where Ariosto used to lodge when in Rome.

     _English Church._--Just outside the Porta del Popolo, on the left.
     Services at 9 A.M., 11 A.M., and 3 P.M. on Sundays; daily service
     twice on week-days. The _American Church_ is in the same building,
     with an entrance further on.

     _Post Office._--In the Piazza Colonna. The English mail leaves
     daily at 8 P.M.

     _Telegraph Office._--121 Piazza Monte-Citorio. A telegraph of 20
     words to England, including name and address, costs 11 francs.

     _Bankers._--Hooker, 20 Piazza di Spagna; Macbean, 378 Corso;
     Plowden, 50 Via Mercede; Spada and Flamini, 20 Via Condotti.

     _For sending Boxes to England._--Welby, Strada Papala. (His agents
     in London, Messrs. Scott, 11 King William St.)

     _English Doctors._--Dr. Grigor, 3 Pa di Spagna; Dr. Small, 56 Via
     Babuino; Dr. Gason, 82 Via della Croce. _German_: Dr. Taussig, 144
     Via Babuino. _American_: Dr. Gould, 107 Via Babuino. _Italian_: Dr.
     Valeri, 138 Via Babuino.

     _Homœopathic Doctor._--Dr. Liberali, 69 Via della Frezza.

     _Dentist._--Dr. Parmby, 93 Piazza di Spagna.

     _Sick-nurses._--Mrs. Meyer, 44 Via delle Carozze; the Nuns of the
     Bon-Secours at the convent in the Via del Banchi.

     _Chemists._--English Pharmacy, 498 Corso; Sininberghi, 134 Via
     Frattina; and Borioni, Via Babuino, are those usually employed by
     the English; but the chemists' shops in the Corso are as good, and
     much less expensive.

_English House Agent._--Shea, 11 Piazza di Spagna.

_English Livery Stables._--Jarrett, 3 Piazza del Popolo; Ranucci, Vicolo
Aliberti.

_Circulating Library._--Piale, 1, 2, Piazza di Spagna.

_Booksellers._--Monaldini, Piazza di Spagna; Spithover, Piazza di
Spagna; Bocca, 216 Corso; Loesther, 346 Corso.

_Italian Masters._--Vannini, 31 Via Condotti (in the summer at the Bagni
di Lucca); Monachesi (a Roman), 8 Via S. Sebastianello; Gordini, 374
Corso; N. Lucantini, 17 Via della Stamperia.

_Photographers.--For views of Rome._--Watson, Via Babuino; Macpherson,
12 Vicolo Aliberti; Mang, 104 Via Felice; Anderson (his photographs sold
at Spithover's); Joseph Phelps, 169 Via Babuino; Maggi, 329 Corso. _For
Artistic Bits_, very much to be recommended, De Bonis, 11 Via Felice.
_For Portraits_.--Suscipi, 48 Via Condotti (the best for medallions);
Alessandri, 12 Corso (excellent for Cartes de Visite); Lais, 57 Via del
Campo-Marzo; Ferretti, 50 Via Sta. Maria in Via.

_Drawing Materials._--Dovizelli, 136 Via Babuino; Corteselli, 150 Via
Felice. For commoner articles and stationery, the "Cartoleria," 214
Corso, opposite the Piazza Colonna.

_Engravings._--At the Stamperia Nazionale (fixed prices), 6 Via della
Stamperia, near the fountain of Trevi.

_Antiquities._--Depoletti, 31 Via Fontanella Borghese; Innocenti, 118
Via Frattina; Santelli, 141 Via Frattina; Capobianchi, 152 Via Babuino.

_Bronzes._--Röhrich, 104 Via Sistina; Chiapanelli, 92 Via Babuino;
Dressler, 17 Via Due Macelli.

_Cameos._--Saulini, 96 Via Babuino; Neri, 72 Via Babuino.

_Mosaics._--Rinaldi, 125 Via Babuino; Boschetti, 74 Via Condotti.

_Jewellers._--Castellani, 88 Via Poli (closed from 12 to 1), very
beautiful, but very expensive; Pierret, 20 Piazza di Spagna; Innocenti,
33 Piazza Trinità de' Monti.

_Roman Pearls._--Rey, 122 Via Babuino; Lacchini, 70 Via Condotti.

_Bookbinder._--Olivieri, 1 Via Frattina.

_Engraver._--(For visiting cards, &c.), Martelli, 139 Via Frattina.

_Tailors._--Mattina (the "Poole" of Rome), Corso, opposite S. Carlo,
entrance 2 Via delle Carozze; Vai, 60 Piazza di Spagna; Reanda, 61
Piazza. S. Apostoli; Evert, 77 Piazza Borghese.

_Shoemakers._--Rubini, 223 Corso (none good).

_Dressmaker._--Clarisse, 166 Corso.

_Shops for Ladies' Dress._--Massoni, Palazzo Simonetti; the Ville de
Lyon, 48 Via dei Prefetti (behind S. Lorenzo in Lucina); Sebastiani, 8
Via del Campo-Marzo; Giovannetti, 50 to 53 Campo-Marzo.

_Roman Ribbons and Shawls._--Arvotti, 66 Piazza Madama (fixed prices);
Bianchi, 82 Via della Minerva.

_Gloves._--Cremonesi, 420 Corso; 4 Piazza S. Lorenzo in Lucina.

_Carpets and small Household Articles._--Cagiati, 250 Corso.

_German Baker._--Colalucci, 88 Via della Croce (excellent).

_English Grocer._--Lowe, 76 Piazza di Spagna.

_Italian Grocer and Wine Merchant._--Giacosa, Via della Maddalena.

_Oil, Candles and Wood, &c._--Luigioni, 70 Piazza di Spagna.

_English Dairy._--Palmegiani, 66 Piazza di Spagna.


_Artists' Studios._--

  Benonville, 61 Via Babuino,--landscapes.
  Brennan, 76 Via Borghetto.
  Coleman, 16 Via dei Zucchelli,--very good for animals.
  Corrodi, 25 Angelo-Custode,--water-colour landscapes, very highly finished.
  Desoulavy, 33 Via Margutta,--landscapes.
  Fattorini, Via Margutta,--a very beautiful copyist.
  Flatz, 3 Mario di Fiori,--sacred subjects.
  Haseltine, J. H., 59 Via Babuino.
  *Joris, 33 Via Margutta,--quite first-rate for figure subjects
   in water-colour.
  Garelli, 217 Ripetta,--an admirable copyist, generally to be found
   in the Capitoline Gallery.
  *Glennie, 17 Piazza Margana,--water-colour, first-rate.
  Knebel, 33 Via Margutta,--oil landscapes.
  Maes, 33 Via Margutta.
  *Marianecci, 53 Via Margutta,--the prince of copyists.
  Muller, 60 Piazza Barberini,--water-colour landscapes.
  Podesti, 55 Via Margutta,--oil: large historical and sacred subjects.
  Poingdestre, 36 Vicolo dei Greci--oil: landscapes.
  Buchanan Read, 55 Via Margutta.
  *Rivière, 36 Vicolo dei Greci,--water-colour.
  De Sanctis, 33 Via Margutta.
  Strutt (Arthur), 81 Via della Croce,--landscapes and figures,
   both oil and water-colour.
  Tapiro (Spanish), 72 Sistina,--admirable for figures.
  Tilton, 20 Via S. Basilio,--remarkable for his drawings of the Nile.
  Vertunni, 53 Via Margutta.
  Wedder, 55A Via Margutta.
  *Penry Williams, 12 Piazza Mignanelli.

       *       *       *       *       *

_Sculptors' Studios._--

    D'Epinay, 57 Via Sistina.
    Fabj-Altini, 4 S. Nicolo in Tolentino.
    Miss Foley, 53 Via Margutta,--admirable for medallion portraits and
    busts, also the author of a beautiful fountain.
    *Miss Hosmer, 118 Via Margutta--(Gibson's studio).
    Miss Lewis, 8 Via S. Nicolo in Tolentino.
    Macdonald, 7 Piazza Barberini.
    Rosetti, 55 Via Margutta.
    Story, 2 Via S. Nicolo in Tolentino.
    Tadolini, 150A Via Babuino.
    Wood (Shakspeare), 504 Corso,--excels in medallion portraits.
    Wood (Warrington), 7 Piazza Trinità de' Monti.


It is impossible for a traveller who spends only a week or ten days in
Rome to see a tenth part of the sights which it contains. Perhaps the
most important objects are:

     _Churches._--S. Peter's, S. John Lateran, Sta. Maria Maggiore, S.
     Lorenzo fuori Mura, S. Paoli fuori Mura, S. Agnese fuori Mura, Ara
     Cœli, S. Clemente, S. Pietro in Montorio, S. Pietro in Vincoli,
     Sta. Sabina, Sta. Prassede and Sta. Pudentiana, S. Gregorio, S.
     Stefano Rotondo, Sta. Maria sopra Minerva, Sta. Maria del Popolo.

     _Palaces._--Vatican, Capitol, Borghese, Barberini (and, if
     possible, Corsini, Colonna, Sciarra, Rospigliosi, and Spada).

     _Villas._--Albani, Doria, Borghese, Wolkonski, and, though less
     important, Ludovisi.

     _Ruins._--Palace of the Cæsars, Temples in Forum, Coliseum, and, if
     possible, the ruins in the Ghetto, and the Baths of Caracalla.

It is desirable for the traveller who is pressed for time to apply at
once to his Banker for orders for any of the villas for which they are
necessary. The following scheme will give a good general idea of Rome
and its neighbourhood in a few days. The sights printed in italics can
only be seen on the days to which they are ascribed:--

     _Monday._--General view of Capitol, Gallery of Sculpture, Ara
     Cœli, General view of Forum, Coliseum, St. John Lateran (with
     cloisters), and drive out to the Via Latina and the aqueducts at
     Tavolato.

     _Tuesday._--Morning: St. Peter's and the Vatican Stanze. Afternoon:
     _Villa Albani_, St. Agnese, and drive to the Ponte Nomentana.

     _Wednesday._--Go to Tivoli (the Cascades, Cascatelle, and Villa
     d'Este).

     _Thursday._--Morning: _Palace of the Cæsars._ Afternoon: drive on
     the Via Appia as far as Torre Mezzo Strada; in returning, see the
     Baths of Caracalla.

     _Friday._--Morning: Palazzo Borghese, Palazzo Spada, The Ghetto,
     The Temple of Vesta, cross the Ponte Rotto to Sta. Cecilia; and end
     in the afternoon at St. Pietro in Montorio and the _Villa Doria_
     (or on Monday).

     _Saturday._--Frascati and Albano. Drive to Frascati early, take
     donkeys, by Rocca di Papa to Mte. Cavo; take luncheon at the
     Temple, and return by Palazzuolo and the upper and lower Galleries
     to Albano, whither the carriage should be sent on to await you at
     the Hotel de Russie. Drive back to Rome in the evening.

     _Sunday._--Morning: Sta. Maria del Popolo on way to English Church.
     Afternoon: St. Peter's again; drive to Monte Mario (Villa Mellini),
     or in the Villa Borghese, and end with the Pincio.

     _2d Monday._--Morning: Sta. Prassede, Sta. Pudentiana, Sta. Maria
     Maggiore. Afternoon: Sta. Sabina, Priorato Garden, English
     Cemetery, S. Paolo, and the Tre Fontane.

     _2d Tuesday._--Morning: Vatican Sculptures. Afternoon: S. Gregorio,
     S. Stefano Rotondo, S. Clemente, S. Pietro in Vincoli, Sta. Maria
     degli Angeli, S. Lorenzo fuori Mura, and drive out to the Torre dei
     Schiavi, returning by the Porta Maggiore.

     _2d Wednesday._--Morning: Palazzo Barberini, _Palazzo Rospigliosi_,
     (and on Saturdays) Vatican Pictures. Afternoon: Forum in detail,
     SS. Cosmo and Damian, and ascend the Coliseum.

       *       *       *       *       *

The following list may be useful as a guide to some of the best subjects
for artists who wish to draw at Rome, and have not much time to search
for themselves:--

_Morning Light_:

    Temple of Vesta with the fountain.
    Arch of Constantine from the Coliseum (early).
    Coliseum from behind Sta. Francesca Romana (early).
    Temples in the Forum from the School of Xanthus.
    View from the Garden of the Rupe Tarpeia.
    In the Garden of S. Giovanni e Paolo.
    In the Garden of S. Buonaventura.
    In the Garden of the S. Bartolomeo in Isola.
    In the Garden of S. Onofrio.
    On the Tiber from Poussin's Walk.
    From the door of the Villa Medici.
    At S. Cosimato.
    At the back entrance of Ara Cœli.
    At the Portico of Octavia.
    Looking to the Arch of Titus up the Via Sacra.
    In the Cloister of the Lateran.
    In the Cloister of the Certosa.
    Near the Temple of Bacchus.
    On the Via Appia, beyond Cecilia Metella.
    Torre Mezza Strada on the Via Appia.
    Torre Nomentana, looking to the mountains.
    Ponte Nomentana, looking to the Mons Sacer.
    Torre dei Schiavi, looking towards Tivoli.
    Aqueducts at Tavolato.

_Evening Light_:

    From St. John Lateran.
    From the Ponte Rotto.
    From the Terrace of the Villa Doria (St. Peter's).
    Palace of the Cæsars--Roman side--looking to Sta. Balbina.
    Palace of the Cæsars--French side--looking to the Coliseum.
    Apse of S. Giovanni e Paolo.
    Near the Navicella.
    Garden of the Villa Mattei.
    Garden of the Villa Wolkonski.
    Garden of the Priorato.
    Porta S. Lorenzo.
    Torre dei Schiavi, looking towards Rome.
    Via Latina, looking towards the Aqueducts.
    Via Latina, looking towards Rome.

The months of November and December are the best for drawing. The
colouring is then magnificent; it is enhanced by the tints of the
decaying vegetation, and the shadows are strong and clear. January is
generally cold for sitting out, and February wet; and before the end of
March the vegetation is often so far advanced that the Alban Hills,
which have retained glorious sapphire and amethyst tints all winter,
change into commonplace green English downs; while the Campagna, from
the crimson and gold of its dying thistles and fenochii, becomes a
lovely green plain waving with flowers.

Foreigners are much too apt to follow the native custom of driving
constantly in the Villa Borghese, the Villa Doria, and on the Pincio,
and getting out to walk there during their drives. For those who do not
care always to see the human world, a delightful variety of drives can
be found; and it is a most agreeable plan for invalids, without
carriages of their own, to take a "course to the Parco di San Gregorio,"
or to the sunny avenues near the Lateran, and walk there instead of on
the Pincio. A carriage for the return may almost always be found in the
Forum or at the Lateran.




CHAPTER II.

THE CORSO AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.

     The Piazza del Popolo--Obelisk--Sta. Maria del Popolo--(The
     Pincio--Villa Medici--Trinità de' Monti) (Via Babuino--Via
     Margutta--Piazza di Spagna--Propaganda) (Via Ripetta--SS. Rocco e
     Martino--S. Girolamo degli Schiavoni)--S. Giacomo degli
     Incurabili--Via Vittoria--Mausoleum of Augustus--S. Carlo in
     Corso--Via Condotti--Palazzo Borghese--Palazzo Ruspoli--S. Lorenzo
     in Lucina--S. Sylvestro in Capite--S. Andrea delle Fratte--Palazzo
     Chigi--Piazza Colonna--Palace and Obelisk of Monte-Citorio--Temple
     of Neptune--Fountain of Trevi--Palazzo Poli--Palazzo Sciarra--The
     Caravita--S. Ignazio--S. Marcello--Sta. Maria in Via Lata--Palazzo
     Doria Pamfili--Palazzo Salviati--Palazzo Odescalchi--Palazzo
     Colonna--Church of SS. Apostoli--Palazzo Savorelli--Palazzo
     Buonaparte--Palazzo di Venezia--Palazzo Torlonia--Ripresa dei
     Barberi--S. Marco--Church of Il Gesu--Palazzo Altieri.


The first object of every traveller will naturally be to reach the
Capitol, and look down thence upon ancient Rome; but as he will go down
to the Corso to do this, and must daily pass most of its surrounding
buildings, we will first speak of those objects which will, ere long,
become the most familiar.

A stranger's first lesson in Roman geography should be learnt standing
in the _Piazza del Popolo_, whence three streets branch off--the Corso,
in the centre, leading towards the Capitol, beyond which lies ancient
Rome; the Babuino, on the left, leading to the Piazza di Spagna and the
English quarter; the Ripetta, on the right, leading to the Castle of St.
Angelo and St. Peter's. The scene is one well known from pictures and
engravings. The space between the streets is occupied by twin churches,
erected by Cardinal Gastaldi.

     "Les deux églises élevées au Place du Peuple par le Cardinal
     Gastaldi à l'entrée du Corso, sont d'un effet médiocre. Comment un
     cardinal n'a-t-il pas senti qu'il ne faut pas élever une église
     pour _faire pendant_ à quelque chose? C'est ravaler la majesté
     divine." _Stendhal_, i. 172.

It is in the church on the left that sermons are preached every winter
on Sunday afternoons by some of the best Roman Catholic
controversialists, just at the right moment for catching the Protestant
congregations as they emerge from their chapels outside the Porta del
Popolo.

These churches are believed to occupy the site of the magnificent tomb
of Sylla, who died at Puteoli B.C. 82, but was honoured at Rome with a
public funeral, at which the patrician ladies burnt masses of incense
and perfumes on his funeral pyre.

The _Obelisk_ of the Piazza del Popolo was placed on this site by Sixtus
V. in 1589, but was originally brought to Rome and erected in honour of
Apollo by the Emperor Augustus.

     "Apollo was the patron of the spot which had given a name to the
     great victory of Actium; Apollo himself, it was proclaimed, had
     fought for Rome and for Octavius on that auspicious day; the same
     Apollo, the Sun-god, had shuddered in his bright career at the
     murder of the Dictator, and terrified the nations by the eclipse of
     his divine countenance." ... Therefore, "besides building a temple
     to Apollo on the Palatine hill, the Emperor Augustus sought to
     honour him by transplanting to the Circus Maximus, the sports of
     which were under his special protection, an obelisk from
     Heliopolis, in Egypt. This flame-shaped column was a symbol of the
     sun, and originally bore a blazing orb upon its summit. It is
     interesting to trace an intelligible motive for the first
     introduction into Europe of these grotesque and unsightly monuments
     of eastern superstition."--_Merivale, Hist. of the Romans._

     "This red granite obelisk, oldest of things, even in Rome, rises in
     the centre of the piazza, with a four-fold fountain at its base.
     All Roman works and ruins (whether of the empire, the far-off
     republic, or the still more distant kings) assume a transient,
     visionary, and impalpable character, when we think that this
     indestructible monument supplied one of the recollections which
     Moses and the Israelites bore from Egypt into the desert.
     Perchance, on beholding the cloudy pillar and fiery column, they
     whispered awe-stricken to one another, 'In its shape it is like
     that old obelisk which we and our fathers have so often seen on the
     borders of the Nile.' And now that very obelisk, with hardly a
     trace of decay upon it, is the first thing that the modern
     traveller sees after entering the Flaminian Gate."--_Hawthorne's
     Transformation._

It was on the left of the Piazza, at the foot of what was even then
called "the Hill of Gardens," that Nero was buried (A.D. 68).

     "When Nero was dead, his nurse Eclaga, with Alexandra, and Acte the
     famous concubine, having wrapped his remains in rich white stuff,
     embroidered with gold, deposited them in the Domitian monument,
     which is seen in the Campus-Martius under the Hill of Gardens. The
     tomb was of porphyry, having an altar of Luna marble, surrounded by
     a balustrade of Thasos marble."--_Suetonius._

Church tradition tells that from the tomb of Nero afterwards grew a
gigantic walnut-tree, which became the resort of innumerable crows,--so
numerous as to become quite a pest to the neighbourhood. In the eleventh
century, Pope Paschal II. dreamt that these crows were demons, and that
the Blessed Virgin commanded him to cut down and burn the tree ("albero
malnato"), and build a sanctuary to her honour in its place. A church
was then built by means of a collection amongst the common people;
hence the name which it still retains of "St. Mary of the People."

_Sta. Maria del Popolo_ was rebuilt by Bacio Pintelli for Sixtus IV. in
1480, and very richly adorned. It was modernized by Bernini for
Alexander VII. (Fabio Chigi, 1655-67), of whom it was the family
burial-place, but it still retains many fragments of beautiful fifteenth
century work (the principal door of the nave is a fine example of this);
and its interior is a perfect museum of sculpture and art.

Entering the church by the west door, and following the right aisle, the
first chapel (Venuti, formerly Della Rovere[3]) is adorned with
exquisite paintings by _Pinturicchio_. Over the altar is the
Nativity--one of the most beautiful frescoes in the city; in the
lunettes are scenes from the life of St. Jerome. Cardinal Christoforo
della Rovere, who built this chapel and dedicated it to "the Virgin and
St. Jerome," is buried on the left, in a grand fifteenth century tomb;
on the right is the monument of Cardinal di Castro. Both of these tombs
and many others in this church have interesting and greatly varied
lunettes of the Virgin and Child.

The second chapel, of the Cibo family, rich in pillars of nero-antico
and jasper, has an altarpiece representing the Assumption of the Virgin,
by _Carlo Maratta_. In the cupola is the Almighty, surrounded by the
heavenly host.[4]

The third chapel is also painted by _Pinturicchio_. Over the altar, the
Madonna and four saints; above, God the Father, surrounded by angels. In
the other lunettes, scenes in the life of the Virgin;--that of the
Virgin studying in the Temple, a very rare subject, is especially
beautiful. In a frieze round the lower part of the wall, a series of
martyrdoms in grisaille. On the right is the tomb of Giovanni della
Rovere, ob. 1483. On the left is a fine sleeping bronze figure of a
bishop, unknown.

The fourth chapel has a fine fifteenth century altar-relief of St.
Catherine between St. Anthony of Padua and St. Vincent. On the right is
the tomb of Marc-Antonio Albertoni, ob. 1485; on the left, that of
Cardinal Costa, of Lisbon, ob. 1508, erected in his lifetime. In this
tomb is an especially beautiful lunette of the Virgin adored by Angels.

Entering the right transept, on the right is the tomb of Cardinal
Podocanthorus of Cyprus, a very fine specimen of fifteenth century work.
A door near this leads into a cloister, where is preserved, over a door,
the Gothic altar-piece of the church of Sixtus IV, representing the
Coronation of the Virgin, and two fine tombs--Archbishop Rocca, ob.
1482, and Bishop Gomiel.

The choir (shown when there is no service) has a ceiling by
_Pinturicchio_. In the centre, the Virgin and Saviour, surrounded by the
Evangelists and Sibyls; in the corners, the Fathers of the
Church--Gregory, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine. Beneath are the tombs
of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, and Cardinal Girolamo Basso, nephews of
Sixtus IV. (Francesco della Rovere), beautiful works of _Andrea di
Sansovino_. These tombs were erected at the expense of Julius II.,
himself a Della Rovere, who also gave the windows, painted by _Claude
and Guillaume de Marseilles_, the only good specimens of stained glass
in Rome.

The high-altar is surmounted by a miraculous image of the Virgin,
inscribed, "In honorificentia populi nostri," which was placed in this
church by Gregory IX., and which, having been "successfully invoked" by
Gregory XIII., in the great plague of 1578, has ever since been annually
adored by the pope of the period, who prostrates himself before it upon
the 8th of September. The chapel on the left of this has an Assumption,
by _Annibale Caracci_.

In the left transept is the tomb of Cardinal Bernardino Lonati, with a
fine fifteenth century relief of the Resurrection.

Returning by the left aisle, the last chapel but one is that of the
Chigi family, in which the famous banker, Agostino Chigi (who built the
Farnesina) is buried, and in which _Raphael_ is represented at once as a
painter, a sculptor, and an architect. He planned the chapel itself; he
drew the strange design of the Mosaic on the ceiling (carried out by
_Aloisio della Pace_), which represents an extraordinary mixture of
Paganism and Christianity, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn (as
the planets), conducted by angels, being represented with and
surrounding Jehovah; and he modelled the beautiful statue of Jonah
seated on the whale, which was sculptured in the marble by _Lorenzetto_.
The same artist sculptured the figure of Elijah,--those of Daniel and
Habakkuk being by _Bernini_. The altarpiece, representing the Nativity
of the Virgin, is a fine work of _Sebastian del Piombo_. On the pier
adjoining this chapel is the strange monument by _Posi_ (1771) of a
Princess Odescalchi Chigi, who died in childbirth, at the age of twenty,
erected by her husband, who describes himself, "In solitudine et luctu
superstes."

The last chapel contains two fine fifteenth century ciboria, and the
tomb of Cardinal Antonio Pallavicini, 1507.

On the left of the principal entrance is the remarkable monument of Gio.
Batt. Gislenus, the companion and friend of Casimir I. of Poland (ob.
1670). At the top is his portrait while living, inscribed, "Neque hic
vivus"; then a medallion of a chrysalis, "In nidulo meo moriar";
opposite to which is a medallion of a butterfly emerging, "Ut Phœnix
multiplicabo dies": below is a hideous skeleton of giallo antico in a
white marble winding-sheet, "Neque hic mortuus."

     Martin Luther "often spoke of death as the Christian's true birth,
     and this life as but a growing into the chrysalis-shell in which
     the spirit lives till its being is developed, and it bursts the
     shell, casts off the web, struggles into life, spreads its wings,
     and soars up to God."

The Augustine Convent adjoining this church was the residence of Luther
while he was in Rome. Here he celebrated mass immediately on his
arrival, after he had prostrated himself upon the earth, saying, "Hail
sacred Rome! thrice sacred for the blood of the martyrs shed here!"
Here, also, he celebrated mass for the last time before he departed from
Rome to become the most terrible of her enemies.

     "Lui pauvre écolier, élevé si durement, qui souvent, pendant son
     enfance, n'avait pour oreiller qu'une dalle froide, il passe devant
     des temples tout de marbre, devant des colonnes d'albâtre, des
     gigantesques obélisques de granite, des fontaines jaillissantes,
     des _villas_ fraîches et embellies de jardins, de fleurs, de
     cascades et de grottes. Veut-il prier? il entre dans une église qui
     lui semble un monde véritable, où les diamants scintillent sur
     l'autel, l'or aux soffites, le marbre aux colonnes, la mosaïque aux
     chapelles, au lieu d'un de ces temples rustiques qui n'ont dans sa
     patrie pour tout ornement que quelques roses qu'une main pieuse va
     déposer sur l'autel le jour du dimanche. Est-il fatigué de la
     route? il trouve sur son chemin, non plus un modeste banc de bois,
     mais un siège d'albâtre antique récemment déterré. Cherche-t-il une
     sainte image? il n'aperçoit que des fantaisies païennes, des
     divinités olympiques, Apollon, Vénus, Mars, Jupiter, auxquelles
     travaillent mille mains de sculpteurs. De toutes ces merveilles, il
     ne comprit rien, il ne vit rien. Aucun rayon de la couronne de
     Raphaël, de Michel-Ange, n'éblouit ses regards; il resta froid et
     muet devant tous les trésors de peinture et de sculpture rassemblés
     dans les églises; son oreille fut fermée aux chants du Dante, que
     le peuple répétait autour de lui. Il était entré à Rome en pèlerin,
     il en sort comme Coriolan, et s'écrie avec Bembo: 'Adieu, Rome, que
     doit fuir quiconque veut vivre saintement! Adieu, ville où tout est
     permis, excepté d'être homme de bien.'"--_Audin, Histoire de
     Luther_, c. ii.

It was in front of this church that the cardinals and magnates of Rome
met to receive the apostate Christina of Sweden upon her entrance into
the city.

       *       *       *       *       *

On the left side of the piazza rise the terraces of the Pincio, adorned
with rostral-columns, statues, and marble bas-reliefs, interspersed with
cypresses and pines. A winding road, lined with mimosas and other
flowering shrubs, leads to the upper platform, now laid out in public
drives and gardens, but, till twenty years ago, a deserted waste, where
the ghost of Nero was believed to wander in the middle ages.

Hence the Eternal City is seen spread at our feet, and beyond it the
wide-spreading Campagna, till a silver line marks the sea melting into
the horizon beyond Ostia. All these churches and tall palace roofs
become more than mere names in the course of the winter, but at first
all is bewilderment Two great buildings alone arrest the attention:

     "Westward, beyond the Tiber, is the Castle of St. Angelo, the
     immense tomb of a pagan emperor with the archangel on its
     summit.... Still further off, a mighty pile of buildings,
     surmounted by a vast dome, which all of us have shaped and swelled
     outward, like a huge bubble, to the utmost scope of our
     imaginations, long before we see it floating over the worship of
     the city. At any nearer view the grandeur of St. Peter's hides
     itself behind the immensity of its separate parts, so that we only
     see the front, only the sides, only the pillared length and
     loftiness of the portico, and not the mighty whole. But at this
     distance the entire outline of the world's cathedral, as well as
     that of the palace of the world's chief priest, is taken in at
     once. In such remoteness, moreover, the imagination is not debarred
     from rendering its assistance, even while we have the reality
     before our eyes, and helping the weakness of human sense to do
     justice to so grand an object. It requires both faith and fancy to
     enable us to feel, what is nevertheless so true, that yonder, in
     front of the purple outline of the hills, is the grandest edifice
     ever built by man, painted against God's loveliest
     sky."--_Hawthorne._

Here the band plays under the great palm-tree every afternoon except
Friday. On Sunday afternoons the Pincio is in what Miss Thackeray
describes as "a fashionable halo of sunset and pink parasols"--when
immense crowds collect, showing every phase of Roman life; and disperse
again as the Ave-Maria bell rings from the churches, either to descend
into the city, or to hear benediction sung by the nuns in the Trinità
de' Monti.

     "When the fashionable hour of rendezvous arrives, the same spot,
     which a few minutes before was immersed in silence and solitude,
     changes as it were with the rapidity of a scene in a pantomime to
     an animated panorama. The scene is rendered not a little ludicrous
     by the miniature representation of the Ring in Hyde Park in a small
     compass. An entire revolution of the carriage-drive is performed in
     the short period of three minutes as near as may be, and the
     perpetual occurrence of the same physiognomies and the same
     carriages trotting round and round for two successive hours,
     necessarily reminds one of the proceedings of a country fair, and
     children whirling in a roundabout."--_Sir G. Head's 'Tour in
     Rome.'_

     "The Pincian Hill is the favourite promenade of the Roman
     aristocracy. At the present day, however, like most other Roman
     possessions, it belongs less to the native inhabitants than to the
     barbarians from Gaul, Great Britain, and beyond the sea, who have
     established a peaceful usurpation over all that is enjoyable or
     memorable in the Eternal City. These foreign guests are indeed
     ungrateful, if they do not breathe a prayer for Pope Clement, or
     whatever Holy Father it may have been, who levelled the summit of
     the mount so skilfully, and bounded it with the parapet of the city
     wall; who laid out those broad walks and drives, and overhung them
     with the shade of many kinds of tree; who scattered the flowers of
     all seasons, and of every clime, abundantly over those smooth,
     central lawns; who scooped out hollows in fit places, and setting
     great basons of marble in them, caused ever-gushing fountains to
     fill them to the brim; who reared up the immemorial obelisk out of
     the soil that had long hidden it; who placed pedestals along the
     borders of the avenues, and covered them with busts of that
     multitude of worthies,--statesmen, heroes, artists, men of letters
     and of song,--whom the whole world claims as its chief ornaments,
     though Italy has produced them all. In a word, the Pincian garden
     is one of the things that reconcile the stranger (since he fully
     appreciates the enjoyment, and feels nothing of the cost,) to the
     rule of an irresponsible dynasty of Holy Fathers, who seem to have
     arrived at making life as agreeable an affair as it can well be.

     "In this pleasant spot the red-trousered French soldiers are always
     to be seen; bearded and grizzled veterans, perhaps, with medals of
     Algiers or the Crimea on their breasts. To them is assigned the
     peaceful duty of seeing that children do not trample on the
     flower-beds, nor any youthful lover rifle them of their fragrant
     blossoms to stick in his beloved one's hair. Here sits (drooping
     upon some marble bench, in the treacherous sunshine,) the
     consumptive girl, whose friends have brought her, for a cure, into
     a climate that instils poison into its very purest breath. Here,
     all day, come nursery maids, burdened with rosy English babies, or
     guiding the footsteps of little travellers from the far western
     world. Here, in the sunny afternoon, roll and rumble all kinds of
     carriages, from the Cardinal's old-fashioned and gorgeous purple
     carriage to the gay barouche of modern date. Here horsemen gallop
     on thorough-bred steeds. Here, in short, all the transitory
     population of Rome, the world's great watering-place, rides,
     drives, or promenades! Here are beautiful sunsets; and here,
     whichever way you turn your eyes, are scenes as well worth gazing
     at, both in themselves and for their historical interest, as any
     that the sun ever rose and set upon. Here, too, on certain
     afternoons in the week, a French military band flings out rich
     music over the poor old city, floating her with strains as loud as
     those of her own echoless triumphs."--_Hawthorne._

The garden of the Pincio is very small, but beautifully laid out. At a
crossroads is placed an _Obelisk_, brought from Egypt, and which the
late discoveries in hieroglyphics show to have been erected there, in
the joint names of Hadrian and his empress Sabina, to their beloved
Antinous, who was drowned in the Nile A.D. 131.

From the furthest angle of the garden we look down upon the strange
fragment of wall known as the _Muro-Torto_.

     "Le Muro-Torto offre un souvenir curieux. On nomme ainsi un pan de
     muraille qui, avant de faire partie du rempart d'Honorius, avait
     servi à soutenir la terrasse du jardin du Domitius, et qui, du
     temps de Bélisaire, était déjà incliné comme il l'est aujourd'hui.
     Procope racconte que Bélisaire voulait le rebâtir, mais que les
     Romains l'en empêchèrent, affirmant que ce point n'était pas
     exposé, parce que Saint Pierre avait promis de le défendre. Procope
     ajoute: 'Personne n'a osé réparer ce mur, et il reste encore dans
     le même état.' Nous pouvons en dire autant que Procope, et le mur,
     détaché de la colline à laquelle il s'appuyait, reste encore
     incliné et semble près de tomber. Ce détail du siége de Rome est
     confirmé par l'aspect singulier du Muro-Torto, qui _semble toujours
     près de tomber_, et subsiste dans le même état depuis quatorze
     siècles, comme s'il était soutenu miraculeusement par la main de
     Saint Pierre. On ne saurait guère trouver pour l'autorité temporel
     des papes, un meilleur symbole."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 397.

     "At the furthest point of the Pincio, you look down from the
     parapet upon the Muro-Torto, a massive fragment of the oldest Roman
     wall, which juts over, as if ready to tumble down by its own
     weight, yet seems still the most indestructible piece of work that
     men's hands ever piled together. In the blue distance rise Soracte,
     and other heights, which have gleamed afar, to our imagination, but
     look scarcely real to our bodily eyes, because, being dreamed about
     so much, they have taken the aerial tints which belong only to a
     dream. These, nevertheless, are the solid framework of hills that
     shut in Rome, and its broad surrounding Campagna; no land of
     dreams, but the broadest page of history, crowded so full with
     memorable events, that one obliterates another, as if Time had
     crossed and recrossed his own records till they grew
     illegible."--_Hawthorne._

In early imperial times the site of the Pincio garden was occupied by
the famous villa of Lucullus, who had gained his enormous wealth as
general of the Roman armies in Asia.

     "The life of Lucullus was like an ancient comedy, where first we
     see great actions, both political and military, and afterwards
     feasts, debauches, races by torchlight, and every kind of frivolous
     amusement. For among frivolous amusements, I cannot but reckon his
     sumptuous villas, walks, and baths; and still more so the
     paintings, statues, and other works of art which he collected at
     immense expense, idly squandering away upon them the vast fortune
     he amassed in the wars. Insomuch that now, when luxury is so much
     advanced, the gardens of Lucullus rank with those of the kings, and
     are esteemed the most magnificent even of these."--_Plutarch._

Here, in his Pincian villa, Lucullus gave his celebrated feast to Cicero
and Pompey, merely mentioning to a slave beforehand that he should sup
in the hall of Apollo, which was understood as a command to prepare all
that was most sumptuous.

     After Lucullus--the beautiful Pincian villa belonged to Valerius
     Asiaticus, and in the reign of Claudius was coveted by his fifth
     wife, Messalina. She suborned Silius, her son's tutor, to accuse
     him of a licentious life, and of corrupting the army. Being
     condemned to death, "Asiaticus declined the counsel of his friends
     to starve himself, a course which might leave an interval for the
     chance of pardon; and after the lofty fashion of the ancient
     Romans, bathed, perfumed, and supped magnificently, and then opened
     his veins, and let himself bleed to death. Before dying he
     inspected the pyre prepared for him in his own gardens, and ordered
     it to be removed to another spot, that an umbrageous plantation
     which overhung it might not be injured by the flames."

     As soon as she heard of his death, Messalina took possession of the
     villa, and held high revel there with her numerous lovers, with the
     most favoured of whom, Silius, she had actually gone through the
     religious rites of marriage in the lifetime of the emperor, who was
     absent at Ostia. But a conspiracy among the freedmen of the royal
     household informed the emperor of what was taking place, and at
     last even Claudius was aroused to a sense of her enormities.

     "In her suburban palace, Messalina was abandoning herself to
     voluptuous transports. The season was mid-autumn, the vintage was
     in full progress; the wine-press was groaning; the ruddy juice was
     streaming; women girt with scanty fawnskins danced as drunken
     Bacchanals around her: while she herself, with her hair loose and
     disordered, brandished the thyrsus in the midst, and Silius by her
     side, buskined and crowned with ivy, tossed his head to the
     flaunting strains of Silenus and the Satyrs. Vettius, one, it
     seems, of the wanton's less fortunate paramours, attended the
     ceremony, and climbed in merriment a lofty tree in the garden. When
     asked what he saw, he replied, 'an awful storm from Ostia'; and
     whether there was actually such an appearance, or whether the words
     were spoken at random, they were accepted afterwards as an omen of
     the catastrophe which quickly followed.

     "For now in the midst of these wanton orgies the rumour quickly
     spread, and swiftly messengers arrived to confirm it, that Claudius
     knew it all, that Claudius was on his way to Rome, and was coming
     in anger and vengeance. The lovers part: Silius for the forum and
     the tribunals; Messalina for the shade of her gardens on the
     Pincio, the price of the blood of the murdered Asiaticus." Once the
     empress attempted to go forth to meet Claudius, taking her children
     with her, and accompanied by Vibidia, the eldest of the vestal
     virgins, whom she persuaded to intercede for her, but her enemies
     prevented her gaining access to her husband; Vibidia was satisfied
     for the moment by vague promises of a later hearing; and upon the
     arrival of Claudius in Rome, Silius and the other principal lovers
     of the empress were put to death. "Still Messalina hoped. She had
     withdrawn again to the gardens of Lucullus, and was there engaged
     in composing addresses of supplication to her husband, in which her
     pride and long-accustomed insolence still faintly struggled into
     her fears. The emperor still paltered with the treason. He had
     retired to his palace; he had bathed, anointed, and lain down to
     supper; and, warmed with wine and generous cheer, he had actually
     despatched a message to the _poor creature_, as he called her,
     bidding her come the next day, and plead her cause before him. But
     her enemy Narcissus, knowing how easy might be the passage from
     compassion to love, glided from the chamber, and boldly ordered a
     tribune and some centurions to go and slay his victim. 'Such,' he
     said, 'was the emperor's command'; and his word was obeyed without
     hesitation. Under the direction of the freedman Euodus, the armed
     men sought the outcast in her gardens, where she lay prostrate on
     the ground, by the side of her mother Lepida. While their fortunes
     flourished, dissensions had existed between the two; but now, in
     her last distress, the mother had refused to desert her child, and
     only strove to nerve her resolution to a voluntary death. 'Life,'
     she urged, 'is over; nought remains but to look for a decent exit
     from it.' But the soul of the reprobate was corrupted by her vices;
     she retained no sense of honour; she continued to weep and groan as
     if hope still existed; when suddenly the doors were burst open, the
     tribune and his swordsmen appeared before her, and Euodus assailed
     her, dumb-stricken as she lay, with contumelious and brutal
     reproaches. Roused at last to the consciousness of her desperate
     condition, she took a weapon from one of the men's hands and
     pressed it trembling against her throat and bosom. Still she wanted
     resolution to give the thrust, and it was by a blow of the
     tribune's falchion that the horrid deed was finally accomplished.
     The death of Asiaticus was avenged on the very spot; the hot blood
     of the wanton smoked on the pavement of his gardens, and stained
     with a deeper hue the variegated marbles of Lucullus."--_Merivale,
     Hist. of the Romans under the Empire._

From the garden of the Pincio a terraced road (beneath which are the
long-closed catacombs of St. Felix) leads to the _Villa Medici_, built
for Cardinal Ricci da Montepulciano by Annibale Lippi in 1540. Shortly
afterwards it passed into the hands of the Medici family, and was
greatly enlarged by Cardinal Alessandro de Medici, afterwards Leo XI. In
1801 the Academy for French Art-Students, founded by Louis XIV., was
established here. The villa contains a fine collection of casts, open
every day except Sunday.

Behind the villa is a beautiful _Garden_ (which can be visited on
application to the porter). The terrace, which looks down upon the Villa
Borghese, is bordered by ancient sarcophagi, and has a colossal statue
of Rome. The garden side of the villa has sometimes been ascribed to
Michael Angelo.

     "La plus grande coquetterie de la maison, c'est la façade
     postérieure. Elle tient son rang parmi les chefs-d'œuvre de la
     Renaissance. On dirait que l'architecte a épuisé une mine de
     bas-reliefs grecs et romains pour en tapisser son palais. Le jardin
     est de la même époque: il date du temps où l'aristocratie romaine
     professait le plus profond dédain pour les fleurs. On n'y voit que
     des massifs de verdure, alignés avec un soin scrupuleux. Six
     pelouses, entourées de haies à hauteur d'appui, s'étendent devant
     la villa et laissent courir la vue jusqu'au mont Soracte, qui ferme
     l'horizon. A gauche, quatre fois quatre carrés de gazon s'encadrent
     dans de hautes murailles de lauriers, de buis gigantesques et de
     chênes verts. Les murailles se rejoignent au-dessus des allées et
     les enveloppent d'une ombre fraîche et mystérieuse. A droite, une
     terrasse d'une style noble encadre un bois de chênes verts, tordus
     et eventrés par le temps. J'y vais quelquefois travailler à
     l'ombre; et le merle rivalise avec le rossignol au-dessus de ma
     tête, comme un beau chantre de village peut rivaliser avec Mario ou
     Roger. Un peu plus loin, une vigne toute rustique s'étend jusqu'à
     la porte Pinciana, où Belisaire a mendié, dit-on. Les jardins
     petits et grands sont semés de statues, d'Hermes, et de marbres de
     toute sorte. L'eau coule dans des sarcophages antiques ou jaillit
     dans des vasques de marbre: le marbre et l'eau sont les deux luxes
     de Rome."--_About, Rome Contemporaine._

     "The grounds of the Villa Medici are laid out in the old fashion of
     straight paths, with borders of box, which form hedges of great
     height and density, and are shorn and trimmed to the evenness of a
     wall of stone, at the top and sides. There are green alleys, with
     long vistas, overshadowed by ilex-trees; and at each intersection
     of the paths the visitor finds seats of lichen-covered stone to
     repose upon, and marble statues that look forlornly at him,
     regretful of their lost noses. In the more open portions of the
     garden, before the sculptured front of the villa, you see fountains
     and flower-beds; and, in their season, a profusion of roses, from
     which the genial sun of Italy distils a fragrance, to be scattered
     abroad by the no less genial breeze."--_Hawthorne._

A second door will admit to the higher terrace of _the Boschetto_; a
tiny wood of ancient ilexes, from which a steep flight of steps leads to
the "Belvidere," whence there is a beautiful view.

     "They asked the porter for the key of the Bosco, which was given,
     and they entered a grove of ilexes, whose gloomy shade effectually
     shut out the radiant sunshine that still illuminated the western
     sky. They then ascended a long and exceedingly steep flight of
     steps, leading up to a high mound covered with ilexes.

     "Here both stood still, side by side, gazing silently on the city,
     where dome and bell-tower stood out against a sky of gold; the
     desolate Monte Mario and its stone pines rising dark to the right.
     Behind, close at hand, were sombre ilex woods, amid which rose here
     and there the spire of a cypress or a ruined arch, and on the
     highest point, the white Villa Ludovisi; beyond, stretched the
     Campagna, girdled by hills melting into light under the evening
     sky."--_Mademoiselle Mori._

From the door of the Villa Medici is the scene familiar to artists, of a
fountain shaded by ilexes, which frame a distant view of St Peter's.

     "Je vois (de la Villa Medici) les quatre cinquièmes de la ville; je
     compte les sept collines, je parcours les rues régulières qui
     s'étendent entre le cours et la place d'Espagne, je fais le
     d'enombrement des palais, des églises, des dômes, et des clochers;
     je m'égare dans le Ghetto et dans la Trastévère. Je ne vois pas des
     ruines autant que j'en voudrais: elles sont ramassées là-bas, sur
     ma gauche, aux environs du Forum. Cependant nous avons tout près de
     nous la colonne Antonine et la mausolée d'Adrien. La vue est fermée
     agréablement par les pins de la villa Pamphili, qui reunissent
     leurs larges parasols et font comme une table à mille pieds pour un
     repas de géants. L'horizon fuit à gauche à des distances infinies;
     la plaine est nue, onduleuse et bleue comme la mer. Mais si je vous
     mettais en présence d'un spectacle si étendu et si divers, en seul
     objet attirerait vos regards, un seul frapperait votre attention:
     vous n'auriez des yeux que pour Saint Pierre. Son dôme est moitié
     dans la ville, moitié dans la ciel. Quand j'ouvre ma fenêtre, vers
     cinq heures du matin, je vois Rome noyée dans les brouillards de la
     fièvre: seul, le dôme de Saint-Pierre est coloré par la lumière
     rose du soleil levant."--_About._

The terrace ("La Passeggiata") ends at the _Obelisk of the Trinità de'
Monti_, erected here in 1822 by Pius VII., who found it near the Church
of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme.

     "When the Ave Maria sounds, it is time to go to the church of
     Trinità de' Monti, where French nuns sing; and it is charming to
     hear them. I declare to heaven that I am become quite tolerant, and
     listen to bad music with edification; but what can I do? The
     composition is perfectly ridiculous, the organ-playing even more
     absurd: but it is twilight, and the whole of the small bright
     church is filled with persons kneeling, lit up by the sinking sun
     each time that the door is opened; both the singing nuns have the
     sweetest voices in the world, quite tender and touching, more
     especially when one of them sings the responses in her melodious
     voice, which we are accustomed to hear chaunted by priests in a
     loud, harsh, monotonous tone. The impression is very singular;
     moreover, it is well known that no one is permitted to see the fair
     singers, so this caused me to form a strange resolution. I have
     composed something to suit their voices, which I have observed very
     minutely, and I mean to send it to them. It will be pleasant to
     hear my chaunt performed by persons I never saw, especially as they
     must in turn sing it to the 'barbaro Tedescho,' whom they also
     never beheld."--_Mendelssohn's Letters._

     "In the evenings people go to the Trinità to hear the nuns sing
     from the organ-gallery. It sounds like the singing of angels. One
     sees in the choir troops of young scholars, moving with slow and
     measured steps, with their long white veils, like a flock of
     spirits."--_Frederika Bremer._

_The Church of the Trinità de' Monti_ was built in 1495 by Charles VIII.
of France, at the request of S. Francesco di Paola. At the time of the
French revolution it was plundered, but was restored by Louis XVIII. in
1817. It contains several interesting paintings.

In the second chapel on the left is the Descent from the Cross, the
masterpiece of _Daniele da Volterra_, declared by Nicholas Poussin to be
the third picture in the world, but terribly injured by the French in
their attempts to remove it.

     "We might almost fancy ourselves spectators of the mournful
     scene,--the Redeemer, while being removed from the cross, gradually
     sinking down with all that relaxation of limb and utter
     helplessness which belongs to a dead body; the assistants engaged
     in their various duties, and thrown into different and contrasted
     attitudes, intently occupied with the sacred remains which they so
     reverently gaze upon; the mother of the Lord in a swoon amidst her
     afflicted companions; the disciple whom he loved standing with
     outstretched arms, absorbed in contemplating the mysterious
     spectacle. The truth in the representation of the exposed parts of
     the body appears to be nature itself. The colouring of the heads
     and of the whole picture accords precisely with the subject,
     displaying strength rather than delicacy, a harmony, and in short a
     degree of skill, of which M. Angelo himself might have been proud,
     if the picture had been inscribed with his name. And to this I
     believe the author alluded, when he painted his friend with a
     looking-glass near it, as if to intimate that he might recognize in
     the picture a reflection of himself."--_Lanzi._

     "Daniele da Volterra's Descent from the Cross is one of the
     celebrated pictures of the world, and has very grand features. The
     body is not skilfully sustained; nevertheless the number of strong
     men employed about it makes up in sheer muscle for the absence of
     skill. Here are four ladders against the cross, stalwart figures
     standing, ascending, and descending upon each, so that the space
     between the cross and the ground is absolutely alive with
     magnificent lines. The Virgin lies on one side, and is like a grand
     creature struck down by a sudden death-blow. She has fallen, like
     Ananias in Raphael's cartoon, with her head bent backwards, and her
     arm under her. The crown of thorns has been taken from the dead
     brow, and rests on the end of one of the ladders."--_Lady
     Eastlake._

The third chapel on the right contains an Assumption of the Virgin,
another work of _Daniele da Volterra_. The fifth chapel is adorned with
frescoes of his school. The sixth has frescoes of the school of
_Perugino_. The frescoes in the right transept are by _F. Zuccaro_ and
_Pierino del Vaga_; in that of the Procession of St. Gregory the
mausoleum of Hadrian is represented as it appeared in the time of Leo X.

The adjoining _Convent of the Sacré Cœur_ is much frequented as a
place of education. The nuns are all persons of rank. When a lady takes
the veil, her nearest relations inherit her property, except about
1000_l._, which goes to the convent. The nuns are allowed to retain no
personal property, but if they wish still to have the use of their
books, they give them to the convent library. They receive visitors
every afternoon, and quantities of people go to them from curiosity, on
the plea of seeking advice.

From the Trinità the two popular streets--Sistina and
Gregoriana--branch off; the former leading in a direct line (though the
name changes) to Sta. Maria Maggiore, and thence to St. John Lateran and
Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme. The house adjoining the Trinità was that of
Nicholas Poussin; that at the angle of the two streets, called the
_Tempietto_, was once inhabited by Claude Lorraine. The adjoining house
(64 Sistina)--formerly known as Palazzo della Regina di Polonia, from
Maria Casimira, Queen of Poland, who resided there for some years--was
inhabited by the Zuccari family, and has paintings on the ground-floor
by _Federigo Zuccaro_. One of the rooms on the first-floor was adorned
with frescoes by modern German artists at the expense of the Prussian
consul Bartholdy, viz.:--

    The Selling of Joseph: _Overbeck._
    Joseph and Potiphar's Wife: _Veit._
    Meeting of Joseph and his Brethren: _Cornelius._
    The Seven Lean Years: _Overbeck._
    Joseph interprets the Dreams in Prison: _Schadow._
    The Brethren bring Joseph's Coat to Jacob: _Schadow._
    Joseph interprets the Dreams of Pharaoh: _Cornelius._
    The Seven Plentiful Years: _Veit._

       *       *       *       *       *

On the left of the Piazza del Popolo, the _Via Babuino_ branches off,
deriving its name from the mutilated figure on a fountain halfway down.
On the right is the Greek _Church of S. Atanasio_, attached to a college
founded by Gregory XIII. in 1580.

     "To-day, the feast of the Epiphany, I have witnessed mass according
     to the Greek rite. The ceremonies appear to be more stately, more
     severe, more significant, and at the same time more popular, than
     those of the Latin rite."--_Goethe, Romische Briefe._

Behind this street is the _Via Margutta_, almost entirely inhabited by
artists and sculptors.

     "The Via Margutta is a street of studios and stables, crossed at
     the upper end by a little roofed gallery with a single window, like
     a shabby Bridge of Sighs. Horses are continually being washed and
     currycombed outside their stable doors; frequent heaps of
     _immondeazzajo_ make the air unfragrant; and the perspective is
     frequently damaged by rows of linen suspended across the road from
     window to window. Unsightly as they are, however, these obstacles
     in no wise affect the popularity of the Via Margutta, either as a
     residence for the artist, or a lounge for the amateur. Fashionable
     patrons leave their carriages at the corner, and pick their way
     daintily among the gutters and dust-heaps. A boar-hunt by Vallatti
     compensates for an unlucky splash; and a campagna sunset of
     Desoulavey glows all the richer for the squalor through which it is
     approached."--_Barbara's History._

In this street also is situated the _Costume Academy_.

     "Imagine a great barn of a room, with dingy walls half covered with
     chalk studies of the figure in all possible attitudes. Opposite the
     door is a low platform with revolving top, and beside it an
     _écorché_, or plaster figure bereft of skin, so as to exhibit the
     muscles. Ranges of benches, raised one above the other, occupy the
     remainder of the room; and if you were to look in at about eight
     o'clock on a winter's evening, you would find them tenanted by a
     multitude of young artists, mostly in their shirt sleeves, with
     perhaps three or four ladies, all disposed around the model, who
     stands upon the platform in one of the picturesque costumes of
     Southern Italy, with a cluster of eight lamps, intensified by a
     powerful reflector, immediately above his or her unlucky head.

     The costumes are regulated by Church times and seasons. During Lent
     the models were mediæval dresses; during the winter and carnival,
     Italian costumes of the present day; and with Easter begin mere
     draperies, _pieghe_, or folds, as they are technically called.

     Every evening the subject for the next night is chalked up on a
     black board beside the platform; for the next _two_ nights rather;
     for each model poses for two evenings; the position of his feet
     being chalked upon the platform, so as to secure the same attitude
     on the second evening. Consequently, four hours are allowed for
     each drawing.... The _pieghe_ are only for a single time, as it
     would be impossible to secure the same folds twice over.... The
     expense of attending the Academy, including attendance, each
     person's share in the model, and his own especial lamp, amounts to
     2½_d._ an evening, or a scudo and a half (about 6_s._ 6_d._) a
     month; marvellously cheap, it most be confessed."--_H. M. B._, in
     _Once a Week_.

The Babuino ends in the ugly but central square of the _Piazza di
Spagna_, where many of the best hotels and shops are situated. Hence the
Trinità is reached by a magnificent flight of steps (disgracefully ill
kept), which was built by Alessandro Specchi at the expense of a private
individual, M. Gueffier, secretary to the French embassy at Rome, under
Innocent XIII.

     "No art-loving visitor to Rome can ever have passed the noble
     flight of steps which leads from the Piazza di Spagna to the Church
     of the Trinità de' Monti without longing to transfer to his
     sketch-book the picturesque groups of models who there spend their
     day, basking in the beams of the wintry sun, and eating those
     little boiled beans whose yellow husks bestrew every place where
     the lower class Romans congregate--practising, in short, the 'dolce
     far niente.' Beppo, the celebrated lame beggar, is no longer to be
     seen there, having been banished to the steps of the Church of St.
     Agostino; but there is old Felice, with conical hat, brown cloak,
     and bagpipes, father of half the models on the steps. He has been
     seen in an artist's studio in Paris, and is reported to have
     performed on foot the double journey between Rome and that capital.
     There are two or three younger men in blue jackets and goat-skin
     breeches; as many women in folded linen head-dresses, and red or
     blue skirts; and a sprinkling of children of both sexes, in
     costumes the miniature fac-similes of their elders. All these
     speedily learn to recognise a visitor who is interested in that
     especial branch of art which is embodied in models, and at every
     turn in the street such a one is met by the flash of white teeth,
     and the gracious sweetness of an Italian smile."--_H. M. B._

     "Among what may be called the cubs or minor lions of Rome, there
     was one that amused me mightily. It is always to be found there;
     and its den is on the great flight of steps that lead from the
     Piazza di Spagna to the Church of the Trinità de' Monti. In plainer
     words, these steps are the great place of resort for the artists'
     'Models,' and there they are constantly waiting to be hired. The
     first time I went up there, I could not conceive why the faces
     seemed so familiar to me; why they appeared to have beset me, for
     years, in every possible variety of action and costume; and how it
     came to pass that they started up before me, in Rome, in the broad
     day, like so many saddled and bridled nightmares. I soon found that
     we had made acquaintance, and improved it, for several years, on
     the walls of various Exhibition Galleries. There is one old
     gentleman with long white hair, and an immense beard, who, to my
     knowledge, has gone half-through the catalogues of the Royal
     Academy. This is the venerable or patriarchal model. He carries a
     long staff; and every knob and twist in that staff I have seen,
     faithfully delineated, innumerable times. There is another man in a
     blue cloak, who always pretends to be asleep in the sun (when there
     is any), and who, I need not say, is always very wide awake, and
     very attentive to the disposition of his legs. This is the _dolce
     far niente_ model. There is another man in a brown cloak, who leans
     against a wall, with his arms folded in his mantle, and look out of
     the corners of his eyes, which are just visible beneath his broad
     slouched hat. This is the assassin model. There is another man, who
     constantly looks over his own shoulder, and is always going away,
     but never goes. This is the haughty or scornful model. As to
     Domestic Happiness, and Holy Families, they should come very cheap,
     for there are heaps of them, all up the steps; and the cream of the
     thing is, that they are all the falsest vagabonds in the world,
     especially made up for the purpose, and having no counterparts in
     Rome or any other part of the habitable globe."--_Dickens._

     "Climb these steps when the sun is setting. From a hundred belfries
     the bells ring for Ave Maria, and there, across the town, and in a
     blaze of golden glory, stands the great dome of St. Peter's: and
     from the terrace of the Villa Medici you can see the whole
     wonderful view, faintly pencilled Soracte far to your right, and
     below you and around you the City and the Seven Hills."--_Vera._

The _Barcaccia_, the fountain at the foot of the steps, executed by
_Bernini_, is a stone boat commemorating the naumachia of
Domitian,--naval battles which took place in an artificial lake
surrounded by a kind of theatre, which once occupied the site of this
piazza. In front of the _Palazzo di Spagna_ (the residence of the
Spanish ambassador), which gives its name to the square, stands a
_Column_ of cipollino, supporting a statue of the Virgin, erected by
Pius IX. in 1854, in honour of his new dogma of the Immaculate
Conception. At the base are figures of Moses, David, Isaiah, and
Ezekiel.

The Piazza di Spagna may be considered as the centre of the English
quarter, of which the Corso forms the boundary.

     "Every winter there is a gay and pleasant English colony in Rome,
     of course more or less remarkable for rank, fashion, or
     agreeability, with every varying year. Thrown together every day
     and night after night, flocking to the same picture-galleries,
     statue-galleries, Pincian drives, and church functions, the English
     colonists at Rome perforce become intimate, and in many cases
     friendly. They have an English library where the various meets for
     the week are placarded: on such a day the Vatican galleries are
     open; the next is the feast of Saint so-and-so; on Wednesday there
     will be music and vespers at the Sistine Chapel; on Thursday the
     pope will bless the animals--sheep, horses, and what-not; and
     flocks of English accordingly rush to witness the benediction of
     droves of donkeys. In a word, the ancient city of the Cæsars, the
     august fanes of the popes, with their splendour and ceremony, are
     all mapped out and arranged for English diversion."--Thackeray,
     _The Newcomes._

The Piazza is closed by the _Collegio di Propaganda Fede_, founded in
1622 by Gregory XV., but enlarged by Urban VIII., who built the present
edifice from plans of Bernini. Like all the buildings erected by this
pope, its chief decorations are the bees of the Barberini. The object of
the college is the education of youths of all nations as missionaries.

     "The origin of the Propaganda is properly to be sought in an edict
     of Gregory XIII., by which the direction of eastern missions was
     confided to a certain number of cardinals, who were commanded to
     promote the printing of catechisms in the less known tongues. But
     the institution was not firmly established; it was unprovided with
     the requisite means, and was by no means comprehensive in its
     views. It was at the suggestion of the great preacher Girolamo da
     Narni that the idea was first conceived of extending the
     above-named institution. At his suggestion, a congregation was
     established in all due form, and by this body regular meetings
     were to be held for the guidance and conduct of missions in every
     part of the world. The first funds were advanced by Gregory; his
     nephew contributed from his private property; and since this
     institution was in fact adapted to a want, the pressure of which
     was then felt, it increased in prosperity and splendour. Who does
     not know the services performed by the Propaganda for the diffusion
     of philosophical studies? and not this only;--the institution has
     generally laboured (in its earliest years most successfully,
     perhaps) to fulfil its vocation in a liberal and noble
     spirit."--_Ranke, Hist. of the Popes._

     "On y reçoit des jeunes gens nés dans les pays ultramontains et
     orientaux, où sont les infidéles et les hérétiques; ils y font leur
     education religieuse et civile, et retournent dans leur pays comme
     missionnaires pour propager la loi."--_A. Du Pays._

     "Le collége du Propaganda Fede, ou l'on engraisse des missionnaires
     pour donner à manger aux cannibales. C'est, ma foi, un excellent
     ragout pour eux, que deux pères franciscains à la sauce rousse. Le
     capucin en daube, se mange aussi comme le renard, quand il a été
     gelé. Il y a à la Propagande une bibliothèque, une imprimerie
     fournie de toutes sortes de caractères des langues orientales, et
     de petits Chinois qu'on y élève ainsi que des alouettes
     chanterelles, pour en attraper d'autres."--_De Brosses._

In January a festival is held here, when speeches are recited by the
pupils in all their different languages. The public is admitted by
tickets.

       *       *       *       *       *

The _Via Ripetta_ leaves the Piazza del Popolo on the right. Passing, on
the right, a large building belonging to the Academy of St. Luke, we
reach, on the right, the Quay of the Ripetta, a pretty architectural
construction of Clement XI. in 1707.

Hence, a clumsy ferry-boat gives access to a walk which leads to St.
Peter's (by Porta Angelica) through the fields at the back of S. Angelo.
These fields are of historic interest, being the _Prata Quinctia_ of
Cincinnatus.

     "L. Quinctius Cincinnatus, the only hope of the Roman people, lived
     beyond the Tiber, opposite the place where the Navalia are, where
     he cultivated the four acres of ground which are now called the
     Quinctian meadows. There the messengers of the senate found him
     leaning on his spade, either digging a trench or ploughing, but
     certainly occupied in some field labour. The salutation, 'May it be
     well with you and the republic,' was given and returned in the
     usual form, and he was requested to put on his toga to receive a
     message from the senate. Amazed, and asking if anything was wrong,
     he desired his wife Racilia to fetch his toga from the cottage, and
     having wiped off the sweat and dust with which he was covered, he
     came forward dressed in his toga to the messengers, who saluted him
     as dictator, and congratulated him."--_Livy_, iii. 26.

The churches on the left of the Ripetta are, first, _SS. Rocco e
Martino_, built 1657, by Antonio de Rossi, with a hospital adjoining it.

     "The lying-in hospital adjoins the Church of San Rocco. It contains
     seventy beds, furnished with curtains and screens, so as to
     separate them effectually. Females are admitted without giving
     their name, their country, or their condition in life; and such is
     the delicacy observed in their regard, that they are at liberty to
     wear a veil, so as to remain unknown even to their attendants, in
     order to save the honour of their families, and prevent abortion,
     suicide, or infanticide. Even should death ensue, the deceased
     remains unknown. The children are conveyed to Santo Spirito; and
     the mother who wishes to retain her offspring, affixes a
     distinctive mark, by which it may be recognised and recovered. To
     remove all disquietude from the minds of those who may enter, the
     establishment is exempt from all civil, criminal, and
     ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and its threshold is never crossed
     except by persons connected with the establishment."--_Dr.
     Donovan._

Then, opposite the quay, _S. Girolamo degli Schiavoni_, built for Sixtus
V. by Fontana. It contains, near the altar, a striking figure of St.
Jerome, seated, with a book upon his knees.

       *       *       *       *       *

We will now follow the Corso, which, in spite of its narrowness and bad
side-pavements, is the finest street in Rome. It is greatly to be
regretted that this street, which is nearly a mile long, should lead to
nothing, instead of ending at the steps of the Capitol, which would have
produced a striking effect. It follows the line of the ancient Via
Flaminia, and in consequence was once spanned by four triumphal
arches--of Marcus Aurelius, Domitian, Claudius, and Gordian--but all
these have disappeared. The Corso is perfectly lined with balconies,
which, during the carnival, are filled with gay groups of maskers
flinging confetti. These balconies are a relic of imperial times, having
been invented at Rome, where they were originally called "Mœniana,"
from the tribune Mœnius, who designed them to accommodate spectators
of processions in the streets below.

     "The Corso is a street a mile long; a street of shops, and palaces,
     and private houses, sometimes opening into a broad piazza. There
     are verandahs and balconies, of all shapes and sizes, to almost
     every house--not on one story alone, but often to one room or
     another on every story--put there in general with so little order
     or regularity, that if, year after year, and season after season,
     it had rained balconies, hailed balconies, snowed balconies, blown
     balconies, they could scarcely have come into existence in a more
     disorderly manner."--_Dickens._

On the left of the Corso is the Augustine Church of _Gesù e Maria_, with
a façade by _Rinaldi_. Almost opposite, is the Church of _S. Giacomo
degli Incurabili_, by _Carlo Maderno_. It is attached to a surgical
hospital for 350 patients. In the adjoining Strada S. Giacomo was the
studio of Canova, recognizable by fragments of bas-reliefs engrafted in
its walls.

Three streets beyond this (on right) is the _Via de' Pontefici_ (so
called from a series of papal portraits, now destroyed, which formerly
existed on the walls of one of its houses), where (No. 57R) is the
entrance to the remains of the _Mausoleum of Augustus_.

     "Hard by the banks of the Tiber, in the grassy meadows where the
     Roman youths met in athletic and martial exercises, there rose a
     lofty marble tower with three retiring stages, each of which had
     its terrace covered with earth and planted with cypresses. These
     stages were pierced with numerous chambers, destined to receive,
     row within row, and story upon story, the remains of every member
     of the imperial family, with many thousands of their slaves and
     freedmen. In the centre of that massive mound the great founder of
     the empire was to sleep his last sleep, while his statue was
     ordained to rise conspicuous on its summit, and satiate its
     everlasting gaze with the view of his beloved city."--_Merivale._

The first funeral here was that of Marcellus, son of Octavia, the sister
of Augustus, and first husband of his daughter Julia, who died of
malaria at Baiæ, B.C. 23.

    "Quantos ille virûm magnam Mavortis ad urbem
    Campus aget gemitus! vel quæ, Tiberine, videbis
    Funera, cum tumulum præterlabere recentem!
    Nec puer Iliacâ quisquam de gente Latinos
    In tantum spe tollet avos; nec Romula quondam
    Ullo se tantum tellus jactabit alumno.
    Heu pietas, heu prisca fides, invictaque bello
    Dextera! non illi se quisquam impune tulisset
    Obvius armato, seu quum pedes iret in hostem,
    Seu spumantis equi foderet calcaribus armos.
    Heu, miserande puer! si qua fata aspera rumpas,
    Tu Marcellus eris."

    _Æneid_, vi. 873.

The next member of the family buried here was Agrippa, the second
husband of Julia, ob. 12 B.C. Then came Octavia, sister of the emperor
and widow of Antony, honoured by a public funeral, at which orations
were delivered by Augustus himself, and Drusus, son of the empress
Livia. Her body was carried to the tomb by Tiberius (afterwards
emperor) and Drusus, the two sons of the empress. Drusus (B.C. 9) died
in a German campaign by a fall from his horse, and was brought back
hither for interment. In A.D. 14 the great Augustus died at Nola, and
his body was burnt here on a funeral pile so gigantic, that the widowed
Livia, dishevelled and ungirt, with bare feet, attended by the principal
Roman senators, had to watch it for five days and nights, before it
cooled sufficiently for them to collect the ashes of the emperor. At the
moment of its being lighted an eagle was let loose from the summit of
the pyre, under which form a senator, named Numerius Atticus, was
induced, by a gift from Livia equivalent to 250,000 francs, to swear
that he saw the spirit of Augustus fly away to heaven. Then came
Germanicus, son of the first Drusus, and nephew of Tiberius, ob. A.D.
19, at Antioch, where he was believed to have been poisoned by Piso and
his wife Plancina. Then, in A.D. 23, Drusus, son of Tiberius, poisoned
by his wife, Livilla, and her lover, Sejanus: then the empress, Livia,
who died A.D. 29, at the age of 86. Agrippina, widow of Germanicus (ob.
A.D. 33), starved to death, and her two sons, Nero and Drusus, also
murdered by Tiberius, were long excluded from the family sepulchre, but
were eventually brought hither by the youngest brother Caius, afterwards
the emperor Caligula. Tiberius, who died A.D. 37, at the villa of
Lucullus at Misenum, was brought here for burial. The ashes of Caligula,
murdered A.D. 41, and first buried in the Horti Lamiani on the
Esquiline, were transferred here by his sisters. In his reign, Antonia,
the widow of Drusus, and mother of Germanicus, had died, and her ashes
were laid up here. The Emperor Claudius, A.D. 54, murdered by Agrippina;
his son, Britannicus, A.D. 55, murdered by Nero; and the Emperor Nerva,
A.D. 98, were the latest inmates of the mausoleum.

The last cremation which occurred here was long after the mausoleum had
fallen into ruin, when the body of the tribune Rienzi, after having hung
for two days at S. Marcello, was ordered to be burnt here by Jugurta and
Sciaretta, and was consumed by a vast multitude of Jews (out of flattery
to the Colonna, their neighbours at the Ghetto), "in a fire of dry
thistles, till it was reduced to ashes, and no fibre of it remained."

There is nothing now remaining to testify to the former magnificence of
this building. The area is used in summer as an open-air theatre, where
very amusing little plays are very well acted. Among its massive cells a
poor washerwoman, known as "Sister Rose," established, some ten years
ago, a kind of hospital for aged women (several of them centagenarians),
whom she supported entirely by her own exertions, having originally
begun by taking care of one old woman, and gradually adding another and
another. The English church service was first performed in Rome in the
Palazzo Correa, adjoining this building.

Opposite the Via de' Pontefici, the _Via Vittoria_ leaves the Corso. To
the Ursuline convent in this street (founded by Camilla Borghese in the
seventeenth century) Madame Victoire and Madame Adelaide ("tantes du
Roi") fled in the beginning of the great French revolution, and here
they died.

_The Church of S. Carlo in Corso_ (on right) is the national church of
the Lombards. It is a handsome building with a fine dome. The interior
was commenced by _Lunghi_ in 1614, and finished by _Pietro da Cortona_.
It contains no objects of interest, unless a picture of the Apotheosis
of S. Carlo Borromeo (the patron of the church), over the high altar, by
_Carlo Maratta_, can be called so. The heart of the saint is preserved
under the altar.

Just beyond this on the left, the _Via Condotti_--almost lined with
jewellers'-shops--branches off to the Piazza di Spagna. The Trinità de'
Monti is seen beyond it. The opposite street, Via Fontanella, leads to
St. Peter's, and in five minutes to the magnificent--

_Palazzo Borghese_, begun in 1590 by Cardinal Deza, from designs of
Martino Lunghi, and finished by Paul V. (Camillo Borghese, 1605-21),
from those of Flaminio Ponzio. The apartments inhabited by the family
are handsome, but contain few objects of interest.

     "In the reign of Paul V. the Borghese became the wealthiest and
     most powerful family in Rome. In the year 1612, the church
     benefices already conferred upon Cardinal Scipione Borghese were
     computed to secure him an income of 150,000 scudi. The temporal
     offices were bestowed on Marc-Antonio Borghese, on whom the pope
     also conferred the principality of Sulmona in Naples, besides
     giving him rich palaces in Rome and the most beautiful villas in
     the neighbourhood. He loaded his nephews with presents; we have a
     list of them through his whole reign down to the year 1620. They
     are sometimes jewels or vessels of silver, or magnificent
     furniture, which was taken directly from the stores of the palace
     and sent to the nephews; at other times carriages, rich arms, as
     muskets and falconets, were presented to them; but the principal
     thing was the round sums of hard money. These accounts make it
     appear that to the year 1620, they had received in ready money
     689,627 scudi, 31 baj; in luoghi di monte, 24,600 scudi, according
     to their nominal value; in places, computing them at the sum their
     sale would have brought to the treasury, 268,176 scudi; all which
     amounted, as in the case of the Aldobrandini, to nearly a million.

     "Nor did the Borghese neglect to invest their wealth in real
     property. They acquired eighty estates in the Campagna of Rome; the
     Roman nobles suffering themselves to be tempted into the sale of
     their ancient hereditary domain by the large prices paid them, and
     by the high rate of interest borne by the luoghi di monte, which
     they purchased with the money thus acquired. In many other parts of
     the ecclesiastical states, the Borghese also seated themselves, the
     pope facilitating their doing so by the grant of peculiar
     privileges. In some places, for example, they received the right of
     restoring exiles; in others, that of holding a market, or certain
     exemptions were granted to those who became their vassals. They
     were freed from various imposts, and even obtained a bull, by
     virtue of which their possessions were never to be
     confiscated."--_Ranke, Hist. of the Popes._

     "Si l'on peut reprocher à Paul, avec Muratori, ses libéralités
     envers ses neveux, envers le cardinal Scipion, envers le duc de
     Sulmone, il est juste d'ajouter que la plupart des membres de cette
     noble famille rivalisèrent avec le pape de magnificence et de
     générosité. Or, chaque année, Paul V. distribuait un million d'écus
     d'or aux pélerins pauvres et un million et demi aux autres
     nécessiteux. C'est à lui que remonte la fondation de la banque du
     Saint-Esprit, dont les riches immeubles servirent d'hypothèques aux
     dépôts qui lui furent confiés. Mais ce fut surtout dans les
     constructions qu'il entreprit, que Paul V. déploya une royale
     magnificence."--_Gournerie._

     "The Palazzo Borghese is an immense edifice standing round the four
     sides of a quadrangle; and though the suite of rooms, comprising
     the picture-gallery, forms an almost interminable vista, they
     occupy only a part of the ground-floor of one side. We enter from
     the street into a large court surrounded with a corridor, the
     arches of which support a second series of arches above. The
     picture-rooms open from one into another, and have many points of
     magnificence, being large and lofty, with vaulted ceilings and
     beautiful frescoes, generally of mythological subjects, in the flat
     central parts of the vault. The cornices are gilded; the deep
     embrasures of the windows are panelled with wood-work; the doorways
     are of polished and variegated marble, or covered with a
     composition as hard, and seemingly as durable. The whole has a kind
     of splendid shabbiness thrown over it, like a slight coating of
     rust; the furniture, at least the damask chairs, being a good deal
     worn; though there are marble and mosaic tables which may serve to
     adorn another palace, when this has crumbled away with
     age."--_Hawthorne._

The Borghese Picture Gallery is the best private collection in Rome, and
is open to the public daily from 9 to 2, except on Saturdays and
Sundays. The gallery is entered from the side of the palace towards the
Piazza Borghese. It contains several gems, which are here marked with
an asterisk; noticeable pictures are:--

     _1st Room._--Schools of Milan and Perugia.

    1. Holy Family: _Sandro Botticelli_.
    2. Holy Family: _Lorenzo di Credi_.
    3. Holy Family: _Paris Alfani Perugino_.
    4. Portrait: _Lorenzo di Credi_.
    5. Vanity: _School of Leonardo da Vinci_.
    27, 28. Petrarch and Laura.
    32. St. Agatha: _School of Leonardo_.
    33. The Young Christ: _School of Leonardo_.
    34. Madonna: _School of Perugino_.
    35. Raphael as a boy: _Raphael?_
    43. Madonna: _Francesco Francia?_
    44. Calvario: _C. Crivelli_.
    48. St. Sebastian: _Perugino_.
    49, 57. History of Joseph: _Pinturicchio_.
    59. Presepio: _Sketch attributed to Raphael when young_.
    61. St. Antonio: _Francesco Francia_.
    66. Presepio: _Mazzolino_.
    67. Adoration of the Child Jesus: _Ortolano_.
    68. Christ and St. Thomas: _Mazzolino?_
    69. Holy Family: _Pollajuolo_.

     _2nd Room._--Chiefly of the school of Garofalo.

    6. Madonna with St. Joseph and St. Michael: _Garofalo_.
    9. The mourners over the dead Christ: _Garofalo_.*
    18. Portrait of Julius II.: _Giulio Romano, after Raphael_.
    22. Portrait of a Cardinal: _Bronzino? called Raphael_.*
    23. 'Madonna col divin' amore': _School of Raphael_.*
    26. Portrait of Cæsar Borgia: _Bronzino, attributed to Raphael_.*[5]
    28. Portrait of a (naked) woman: _Bronzino_.
    36. Holy Family: _Andrea del Sarto_.
    38. Entombment: _Raphael_.*

     This picture was the last work of Raphael before he went to Rome.
     It was ordered by Atalanta Baglioni for a chapel in S. Francesco
     de' Conventuali at Perugia. Paul V. bought it for the Borghese.
     The 'Faith, Hope, and Charity' at the Vatican, formed a predella
     for this picture.

     "Raphael's picture of 'Bearing the Body of Christ to the
     Sepulchre,' though meriting all its fame in respect of drawing,
     expression, and knowledge, has lost all signs of reverential
     feeling in the persons of the bearers. The reduced size of the
     winding-sheet is to blame for this, by bringing them rudely in
     contact with their precious burden. Nothing can be finer than their
     figures, or more satisfactory than their labour, if we forget what
     it is they are carrying; but it is the weight of the burden only,
     and not the character of it, which the painter has kept in view,
     and we feel that the result would have been the same had these
     figures been carrying a sack of sand. Here, from the youth of the
     figure, the bearer at the feet appears to be St. John."--_Lady
     Eastlake._

    40. Holy Family: _Fra Bartolomeo_.
    43. Madonna: _Fr. Francia_.
    44. Madonna: _Sodoma_.
    51. St. Stephen: _Francesco Francia_.*
    59. Adoration of the Magi: _Mazzolino_.
    60. Presepio: _Garofalo_.
    65. The Fornarina: _Copy of Raphael, Giulio Romano?_
    69. St. John Baptist in the Wilderness: _Giulio Romano_.

_3rd Room._--Chiefly of the school of Andrea del Sarto. (The works of
this painter are often confounded with those of his disciple, Domenico
Puligo.)

    1. Christ bearing the Cross: _Andrea Solario_.
    2. Portrait: _Parmigianino._
    5. 'Noli me tangere': _Bronzino?_
    11. The Sorceress Circe: _Dosso Dossi_.
    13. Mater Dolorosa: _Solario?_
    22. Holy Family: _School of Raphael_.
    24. Madonna and Child with three children: _A. del Sarto_.
    28. Madonna, Child, and St. John: _A. del Sarto_.
    29. Madonna, Child, St. John, and St. Elizabeth: _Pierino del
    Vaga_.
    33. Holy Family: _Pierino del Vaga_.
    35. Venus and Cupids: _A. del Sarto_.
    40. Danae: _Correggio_.*

In the corner of this picture are the celebrated Cupids sharpening an
arrow.

    42. Cosmo de' Medici: _Bronzino_.
    46. The Reading Magdalene: _School of Correggio_.
    47. Holy Family: _Pomarancio_.
    48. The Flagellation: _Sebastian del Piombo_.*
    49. St. M. Magdalene: _A. del Sarto_.

_4th Room._--Bolognese school.

    1. Entombment: _Ann. Carracci_.
    2. Cumæan Sibyl: _Domenichino_.*
    18. St. Francis: _Cigoli_.
    20. St. Joseph: _Guido Reni_.
    23. St. Francis: _Ann. Carracci_.
    29. St. Domenic: _Ann. Carracci_.
    36. Madonna: _Carlo Dolce_.
    37. Mater Dolorosa: _Carlo Dolce_.
    38, 41. Two heads for an Annunciation: _Furino_.
    42. Head of Christ: _Carlo Dolce_.
    43. Madonna: _Sassoferrato_.

_5th Room._--

    11, 12, 13, 14. The Four Seasons: _Fr. Albani_.

     "The Seasons, by Francesco Albani, were, beyond all others, my
     favourite pieces; the beautiful, joyous, angel-children--the Loves,
     were as if creations of my own dreams. How deliciously they were
     staggering about in the picture of Spring! A crowd of them were
     sharpening arrows, whilst one of them turned round the great
     grindstone, and two others, floating above, poured water upon it.
     In Summer, they flew about among the tree-branches, which were
     loaded with fruit, which they plucked; they swam in the fresh
     water, and played with it. Autumn brought the pleasures of the
     chase. Cupid sits, with a torch in his hand, in his little chariot,
     which two of his companions draw; while Love beckons to the brisk
     hunter, and shows him the place where they can rest themselves side
     by side. Winter has lulled all the little ones to sleep; soundly
     and fast they lie slumbering around. The Nymphs steal their quivers
     and arrows, which they throw on the fire, that there may be an end
     of the dangerous weapons."--_Andersen, in The Improvisatore._

    15. La Caccia di Diana: _Domenichino_.
    25. The Deposition, with Angels: _F. Zuccari_.

_6th Room._--

    5. Return of the Prodigal Son: _Guercino_.
    7. Portrait of G. Ghislieri: _Pietro da Cortona_.
    10. St Stanislaus with the Child Jesus: _Ribera_.*
    12. Joseph Interpreting the Dreams in Prison: _Valentin_.
    13. The Three Ages of Man. _Copy from Titian by Sassoferrato_.[6]
    18. Madonna: _Sassoferrato_.
    22. Flight of Æneas from Troy: _Baroccio_.

_7th Room._--Richly decorated with mirrors, painted with Cupids by
_Girofiri_, and wreaths of flowers by _Mario di Fiori_.

_8th Room._--Contains nothing of importance, except a mosaic portrait of
Paul V. by _Marcello Provenzali_.

_9th Room._--Containing several interesting frescoes.

    1. The Nuptials of Alexander and Roxana.
    2. The Nuptials of Vertumnus and Pomona.
    3. 'Il Bersaglio dei Dei.'

     These three frescoes were brought hither from the Casino of
     Raphael, in the Villa Borghese (destroyed in the siege of Rome in
     1849), and are supposed to have been painted by some of Raphael's
     pupils from his designs. The other frescoes in this room are by
     _Giulio Romano_, and were removed from the Villa Lante, when it was
     turned into a convent.

_10th Room._--

    2. Cupid blindfolded by Venus: _Titian_.
    4. Judith: _School of Titian_.
    9. Portrait: _Pordenone_.
    13. David with the head of Goliath: _Giorgione_.*
    14. St. John the Baptist preaching (unfinished): _Paul Veronese_.
    16. St. Domenic: _Titian_.
    19. Portrait: _Giac. Bassano_.
    21. 'Sacred and Profane Love': _Titian_.*

     "Out of Venice there is nothing of Titian's to compare to his
     Sacred and Profane Love. It represents two figures: one, a heavenly
     and youthful form, unclothed, except with a light drapery; the
     other, a lovely female, dressed in the most splendid attire; both
     are sitting on the brink of a well, into which a little winged Love
     is groping, apparently to find his lost dart.... Description can
     give no idea of the consummate beauty of this composition. It has
     all Titian's matchless warmth of colouring, with a correctness of
     design no other painter of the Venetian school ever attained. It
     is nature, but not individual nature: it is ideal beauty in all its
     perfection, and breathing life in all its truth, that we
     behold."--_Eaton's Rome._

     "Two female forms are seated on the edge of a sarcophagus-shaped
     fountain, the one in a rich Venetian costume, with gloves, flowers
     in her hands, and a plucked rose beside her, is in deep meditation,
     as if solving some difficult question. The other is unclothed; a
     red drapery is falling behind her, while she exhibits a form of the
     utmost beauty and delicacy; she is turning towards the other figure
     with the sweetest persuasiveness of expression. A Cupid is playing
     in the fountain; in the distance is a rich, glowing
     landscape."--_Kugler._

    30. Madonna: _Giov. Bellini_.
    34. St. Cosmo and Damian: _Venetian School_.

_11th Room._--Veronese school.

    1. Madonna with Adam (?) and St. Augustine: _Lorenzo Lotto_, MDVIII.
    2. St. Anthony preaching to the Fishes: _P. Veronese?_
    3. Madonna: _Titian?_
    11. Venus and Cupid on Dolphins: _Luc. Cambiaso_.
    14. Last Supper: _And. Schiavone_.
    15. Christ and the Mother of Zebedee's Children: _Bonifazio_.*
    16. Return of the Prodigal Son: _Bonifazio_.*
    17. Samson: _Titian_.
    18. Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery: _Bonifazio_.
    19. Madonna and Saints: _Palma Vecchio_.

     In this picture the donors are introduced--the head of the man is
     grandly devout and beautiful.

    25. Portrait of Himself: _Titian?_
    27. Portrait: _Giov. Bellini_.
    31. Madonna and St. Peter: _Giov. Bellini_.
    32. Holy Family: _Palma Vecchio_.
    33. Portrait of the Family of Licini da Pordenone: _Bart.
        Licini da Pordenone_.

_12th Room._--Dutch and German school.

    1. Crucifixion: _Vandyke_.
    7. Entombment: _Vandyke_.
    8. Tavern Scene: _Teniers_.
    9. Interior: _Brouerer_.
    19. Louis VI. of Bavaria: _Albert Dürer?_
    21. Portrait: _Holbein_.
    21. Landscape and Horses: _Wouvermann_.
    22. Cattle-piece: _Paul Potter_.
    24. Portrait: _Holbein_.
    26. Skating (in brown): _Berghem_.
    27. Portrait: _Vandyke_.
    35. Portrait: _Lucas von Leyden?_
    44. Venus and Cupid: _Lucas Cranach_.

The _Palazzetto Borghese_ on the opposite side of the piazza, originally
intended as a dower-house for the family, is now let in apartments. It
is this house which is described as the "Palazzo Clementi," in
_Mademoiselle Mori_.

At the corner of the Via Fontanella and the Corso is the handsome
_Palazzo Ruspoli_, built by Ammanati in 1586. It has a grand white
marble staircase erected by Lunghi in 1750. Beyond this are the palaces
_Fiano_, _Verospi_, and _Teodoli_.

     "Les palais de Rome, bien que n'ayant pas un caractère original
     comme ceux de Florence ou de Venise n'en sont pas moins cependant
     un des traits de la ville des papes. Ils n'appartiennent ni au
     moyen age, ni à la renaissance (la Palais de Venise seul rappelle
     les constructions massives de Florence); ils sont des modèles
     d'architecture civile moderne. Les Bramante, les Sangallo, les
     Balthazar Peruzzi, qui les ont batis, sont des maîtres qu'on ne se
     lasse pas d'étudier. La magnificence de ces palais reside
     principalement dans leur architecture et dans les collections
     artistiques que quelques-uns contiennent. Un certain nombre sont
     malheureusement dans un triste état d'abandon. De plus, à
     l'exception d'un très petit nombre, ils sont restés inachevés. Cela
     se conçoit; presque tous sont le produit du luxe célibataire des
     papes ou des cardinaux; très-peu de ces personages ont pu voir la
     fin de ce qu'ils avaient commencé. Leurs heritiers, pour le
     plupart, se souciaient fort peu de jeter les richesses qu'ils
     venaient d'acquerir dans les édifices de luxe et de vanité. A
     l'intérieur, le plus souvent, est un mobilier rare, suranné, et
     mesquin."--_A. Du Pays._[7]

The _Palazzo Bernini_ (151 Corso), on the left, has, inside its
entrance, a curious statue of "Calumny" by _Bernini_, with an
inscription relative to his own sufferings from slander.

On the right, the small piazza of S. Lorenzo opens out of the Corso.
Here is the _Church of S. Lorenzo in Lucina_, founded in the fifth
century, but rebuilt in its present form by Paul V. in 1606. The
campanile is of an older date, and so are the lions in the portico.

     "When the lion, or other wild beast, appears in the act of preying
     on a smaller animal or on a man, is implied the severity of the
     Church towards the impenitent or heretical; but when in the act of
     sporting with another creature, her benignity towards the neophyte
     and the docile. At the portal of St Lorenzo in Lucina, this idea is
     carried out in the figure of a mannikin affectionately stroking the
     head of the terrible creature who protects, instead of devouring
     him."--_Hemans' Christian Art._

No one should omit seeing the grand picture of _Guido Reni_, over the
high altar of this church,--the Crucifixion, seen against a wild, stormy
sky. Niccolas Poussin, ob. 1660, is buried here, and one of his best
known Arcadian landscapes is reproduced in a bas-relief upon his tomb,
which was erected by Chateaubriand, with the epitaph,--

    "Parce piis lacrymis, vivit Pussinus in urnâ,
      Vivus qui dederat, nescius ipse mori.
    Hîc tamen ipse silet; si vis audire loquentem,
      Mirum est, in tabulis vivit, et eloquitur."


In "The Ring and the Book" of Browning, this church is the scene of
Pompilia's baptism and marriage. She is made to say:--

           --"This St. Lorenzo seems
    My own particular place, I always say.
    I used to wonder, when I stood scarce high
    As the bed here, what the marble lion meant,
    Eating the figure of a prostrate man."


Here the bodies of her parents are represented as being exposed after
the murder:

           --"beneath the piece
    Of Master Guido Reni, Christ on Cross,
    Second to nought observable in Rome."


On the left, where the Via della Vite turns out of the Corso, an
inscription in the wall records the destruction, in 1665, of the
triumphal arch of Marcus Aurelius, which existed here till that time.
The magnificence of this arch is attested by the bas-reliefs
representing the history of the emperor, which were removed from it, and
are preserved on the staircase of the palace of the Conservators.

     "Les Barbares n'en savaient pas assez et n'avaient pas assez de
     patience pour démolir les monuments romains; mais, avec les
     ressources de la science moderne et à la suite d'une administration
     régulière, on est venu à bout de presque tout ce que le temps avait
     épargné. Il y'avait, par exemple, au commencement du XVIe.
     siècle, quatre arcs de triomphe qui n'existent plus; le dernier,
     celui de Marc Aurele, a été enlevé par le pape Alexandre VII. On
     lit encore dans le Corso l'inconcevable inscription dans laquelle
     le pape se vante d'avoir debarrassé la promenade publique de ce
     monument, qui, vu sa date, devait être d'un beau style."--_Ampère,
     Voyage Dantesque._

A little further down the Corso, on the left, the Via delle Convertite
leads to _S. Sylvestro in Capite_, one of three churches in Rome
dedicated to the sainted pope of the time of Constantine. This, like S.
Lorenzo, has a fine mediæval campanile. The day of St. Sylvester's
death, December 31 (A.D. 335), is kept here with great solemnity, and is
celebrated by magnificent musical services. This pope was buried in the
cemetery of Priscilla, whence his remains were removed to S. Martino al
Monte. The title "In Capite" is given to this church on account of the
head of St John Baptist, which it professes to possess, as is narrated
by an inscription engrafted into its walls.

The convent attached to this church was founded in 1318, especially for
noble sisters of the house of Colonna who dedicated themselves to God.
Here it was that the celebrated Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa di Pescara,
came to reside in 1525, when widowed in her thirty-sixth year, and here
she began to write her sonnets, a kind of "In Memoriam," to her husband.
It is a curious proof of the value placed upon her remaining in the
world, that Pope Clement VII. was persuaded to send a brief to the
abbess and nuns, desiring them to offer her "all spiritual and temporal
consolations," but forbidding them, under pain of the greater
excommunication, to permit her to take the veil in her affliction.[8]

At the end of this street, continued under the name of Via de Mercede
(No. 11 was the residence of Bernini), and behind the Propaganda, is the
_Church of S. Andrea delle Fratte_, whose brick cupola by Borromini is
so picturesque a feature. The bell-tower beside it swings when the bells
are rung. In the second chapel on the right is the beautiful modern tomb
of Mademoiselle Julie Falconnet, by Miss Hosmer. The opposite chapel is
remarkable for a modern miracle (?) annually commemorated here.

     "M. Ratisbonne, un juif, appartenant à une très-riche famille
     d'Alsace, qui se trouvait accidentellement à Rome, se promenant
     dans l'église de S. Andrea delle Fratte pendant qu'on y faisait les
     préparatifs pour les obsèques de M. de la Ferronays, s'y est
     converti subitement. Il se trouvait debout en face d'une chapelle
     dédiée à l'ange gardien, à quelques pas, lorsque tout-à-coup il a
     eu une apparition lumineuse de la Sainte Vierge qui lui a fait
     signe d'aller vers cette chapelle. Une force irrésistible l'y a
     entraíné, il y est tombé à genoux, et il a été à l'instant
     chrétien. Sa première parole à celui qui l'avait accompagné a été,
     en relevant son visage inondé de larmes: 'Il faut que ce monsieur
     ait beaucoup prié pour moi.'"--_Récit d'une Sœur._

     "Era un istante ch'io mi stava in chiesa allora che di colpo mi
     sentii preso da inesprimibile conturbamento. Alzai gli occhi; tutto
     l'edifizio s'era dileguato a' miei sguardi; sola una cappella aveva
     come in se raccolta tutta la luce, e di mezzo di raggianti
     splendori s' è mostrata diritta sull'altare, grande,
     sfolgoreggiante, piena di maestà, e di dolcezza, la Vergine Maria.
     Una forza irresistibile m'ha sospinto verso di lei. La Vergine m'ha
     fatto della mano segno d'inginocchiarmi; pareva volermi dire,
     'Bene!' Ella non mi ha parlato ma io ho inteso tutto."--_Recital of
     Alfonse Ratisbonne._[9]

M. de la Ferronays, whose character is now so well known from the
beautiful family memoirs of Mrs. Augustus Craven, is buried beneath the
altar where this vision occurred. In the third chapel on the left is the
tomb of Angelica Kauffmann; in the right aisle that of the Prussian
artist, Schadow. The two angels in front of the choir are by _Bernini_,
who intended them for the bridge of S. Angelo.

Returning to the Corso, the Via S. Claudio (left) leads to the pretty
little church of that name, adjoining the Palazzo Parisani. Behind, is
the Church of Sta. Maria in Via.

At the corner of the Piazza Colonna is the _Palazzo Chigi_, begun in
1526 by Giacomo della Porta, and finished by Carlo Maderno. It contains
several good pictures and a fine library, but is seldom shown.[10]

The most remarkable members of the great family of Chigi have been the
famous banker Agostino Chigi, who lived so sumptuously at the Farnesina
(see chap. 20), and Fabio Chigi, who mounted the papal throne as
Alexander VII., and who long refused to have anything to do with the
aggrandisement of his family, saying that the poor were the only
relations he would acknowledge, and, like Christ, he did not wish for
any nearer ones. To keep himself in mind of the shortness of earthly
grandeur, this pope always kept a coffin in his room, and drank out of a
cup shaped like a skull.

The side of the _Piazza Colonna_, which faces the Corso, is occupied by
the Post-Office. On its other sides are the Piombino and Ferrajuoli
palaces, of no interest. In the centre is placed the fine _Column_,
which was found on the Monte Citorio in 1709, having been originally
erected by the senate and people A.D. 174, to the Emperor Marcus
Aurelius Antoninus (adopted son of the Emperor Hadrian,--husband of his
niece, Annia Faustina,--father of the Emperor Commodus). It is
surrounded by bas-reliefs, representing the conquest of the Marcomanni.
One of these has long been an especial object of interest, from being
supposed to represent a divinity (Jupiter?) sending rain to the troops,
in answer to the prayers of a Christian legion from Mitylene. Eusebius
gives the story, stating that the piety of these Christians induced the
emperor to ask their prayers in his necessity, and a letter in Justin
Martyr (of which the authenticity is much doubted), in which Aurelius
allows the fact, is produced in proof. The statue of St. Paul on the
top of the column was erected by Sixtus V.; the pedestal also is modern.

Behind the Piazza Colonna is the _Piazza Monte Citorio_, containing an
_Obelisk_ which was discovered in broken fragments near the Church of S.
Lorenzo in Lucina. It was repaired with pieces of the column of
Antoninus Pius, the pedestal of which may still be seen in the Vatican
garden. Its hieroglyphics are very perfect and valuable, and show that
it was erected more than 600 years before Christ, in honour of
Psammeticus I. It was brought from Heliopolis by Augustus, and erected
by him in the Campus Martius, where it received the name of Obeliscus
Solaris, from being made to act as a sun-dial.

     "Ei, qui est in campo, divus Augustus addidit mirabilem usum ad
     deprehendendas solis umbras, dierumque ac noctium ita magnitudines,
     strato lapide ad magnitudinem obelisci, cui par fieret umbra, brumæ
     confectæ die, sexta hora; paulatimque per regulas (quæ sunt ex die
     exclusæ) singulis diebus decresceret ac rursus augesceret: digna
     cognitu res et ingenio fœcundo. Manilius mathematicus apici
     auratam pilam addidit, cujus umbra vertice colligeretur in se ipsa
     alias enormiter jaculante apice ratione (ut ferunt) a capite
     hominis intellecta. Hæc observatio triginta jam ferè annos non
     congruit, sive solis ipsius dissono cursu, et cœli aliqua
     ratione mutato, sive universa tellure a centra suo aliquid emota ut
     deprehendi et in aliis locis accipio: sive urbis tremoribus ibi
     tantum gnomone intorto, sive inundationibus Tiberis sedimento molis
     facto: quanquam ad altitudinem impositi oneris in terram quoque
     dicantur acta fundamenta."--_Plin. Nat. Hist._ lib. xxxiv. 14.

_The Palace of the Monte Citorio_ (designed by Bernini) contains public
offices connected with police, passports, &c. On the opposite side of
the piazza are the Railway and Telegraph Offices.

Proceeding up the Corso, the Via di Pietra (right) leads into the small
Piazza di Pietra, one side of which is occupied by the eleven remaining
columns of the _Temple of Neptune_, built up by Innocent XII. into the
walls of the modern Custom-house. It is worth while to enter the
courtyard in order to look back and observe the immense masses of stone
above the entrance, part of the ancient temple,--which are here
uncovered.

Close to this, behind the Palazzo Cini, in the Piazza Orfanelli, is the
_Teatro Capranica_, occupying part of a palace of _c._ 1350, with gothic
windows. The opposite church, _Sta. Maria in Aquiro_, recalls by its
name the column of the Equiria, celebrated in ancient annals as the
place where certain games and horse-races, instituted by Romulus, were
celebrated. Ovid describes them in his Fasti. The church was founded
_c._ 400, but was re-built under Francesco da Volterra in 1590.

A small increase of width in the Corso is now dignified by the name of
the _Piazza Sciarra_. The street which turns off hence, under an arch
(Via de Muratte, on the left), leads to the _Fountain of Trevi_, erected
in 1735 by Niccolo Salvi for Clement XII. The statue of Neptune is by
Pietro Bracci.

     "The fountain of Trevi draws its precious water from a source far
     beyond the walls, whence it flows hitherward through old
     subterranean aqueducts, and sparkles forth as pure as the virgin
     who first led Agrippa to its well-springs by her father's door. In
     the design of the fountain, some sculptor of Bernini's school has
     gone absolutely mad, in marble. It is a great palace-front, with
     niches and many bas-reliefs, out of which looks Agrippa's legendary
     virgin, and several of the allegoric sisterhood; while at the base
     appears Neptune with his floundering steeds and tritons blowing
     their horns about him, and twenty other artificial fantasies, which
     the calm moonlight soothes into better taste than is native to
     them. And, after all, it is as magnificent a piece of work as ever
     human skill contrived. At the foot of the palatial façade, is
     strown, with careful art and ordered regularity, a broad and broken
     heap of massive rock, looking as if it may have lain there since
     the deluge. Over a central precipice falls the water, in a
     semicircular cascade; and from a hundred crevices, on all sides,
     snowy jets gush up, and streams spout out of the mouths and
     nostrils of stone monsters, and fall in glistening drops; while
     other rivulets, that have run wild, come leaping from one rude step
     to another, over stones that are mossy, shining and green with
     sedge, because, in a century of their wild play, nature has adopted
     the fountain of Trevi, with all its elaborate devices, for her own.
     Finally the water, tumbling, sparkling, and dashing with joyous
     haste and never ceasing murmur, pours itself into a great marble
     basin and reservoir, and fills it with a quivering tide; on which
     is seen, continually, a snowy semi-circle of momentary foam from
     the principal cascade, as well as a multitude of snow-points from
     smaller jets. The basin, occupies the whole breadth of the piazza,
     whence flights of steps descend to its border. A boat might float,
     and make mimic voyages, on this artificial lake.

     "In the daytime there is hardly a livelier scene in Rome than the
     neighbourhood of the fountain of Trevi; for the piazza is then
     filled with stalls of vegetable and fruit dealers,
     chestnut-roasters, cigar-vendors, and other people whose petty and
     wandering traffic is transacted in the open air. It is likewise
     thronged with idlers, lounging over the iron railing, and with
     _forestieri_, who come hither to see the famous fountain. Here,
     also, are men with buckets, urchins with cans, and maidens (a
     picture as old as the patriarchal times) bearing their pitchers
     upon their heads. For the water of Trevi is in request, far and
     wide, as the most refreshing draught for feverish lips, the
     pleasantest to mingle with wine, and the wholesomest to drink in
     its native purity, that can anywhere be found. But, at midnight,
     the piazza is a solitude; and it is a delight to behold this
     untameable water, sporting by itself in the moonshine, and
     compelling all the elaborate trivialities of art to assume a
     natural aspect, in accordance with its own powerful simplicity.
     Tradition goes, that a parting draught at the fountain of Trevi
     ensures a traveller's return to Rome, whatever obstacles and
     improbabilities may seem to beset him."--_Hawthorne's
     Transformation_.

     "Le bas-relief, placé au-dessus de cette fontaine, représente la
     jeune fille indiquant la source précieuse, comme dans l'antiquité
     une peinture représentait le même évènement dans une chapelle
     construite au lieu où il s'était passé."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 264.

In this piazza is the rather handsome front of _Sta. Maria in Trivia_,
formerly Sta. Maria in Fornica, erected by Cardinal Mazarin, on the site
of an older church built by Belisarius--as is told by an inscription:--

    "Hanc vir patricius Belisarius urbis amicus
      Ob culpæ veniam condidit ecclesiam.
    Hanc, idcirco, pedem qui sacram ponis in ædem
      Ut miseretur eum sæpe precare Deum."

The fault which Belisarius wished to expiate, was the exile of Pope
Sylverius (A.D. 536), who was starved to death in the island of Ponza.
The crypt of the present building, being the parish church of the
Quirinal, contains the entrails of twenty popes (removed for
embalmment)--from Sixtus V. to Pius VIII.--who died in the Quirinal
Palace!

The little church near the opposite corner of the piazza is that of _The
Crociferi_, and is still (1870) served by the Venerable Don Giovanni
Merlini, Father General of the Order of the Precious Blood, and the
personal friend of its founder, Gaspare del Buffalo.

The Fountain of Trevi occupies one end of the gigantic _Palazzo Poli_,
which contains the English consulate. At the other end is the shop of
the famous jeweller, Castellani, well worth visiting, for the sake of
its beautiful collection of Etruscan designs, both in jewellery and in
larger works of art.

     "Castellani est l'homme qui a ressuscité la bijouterie romaine. Son
     escalier, tapissé d'inscriptions et de bas-reliefs antiques, fait
     croire que nous entrons dans un musée. Un jeune marchand aussi
     érudit que les archéologues fait voir une collection de bijoux
     anciens de toutes les époques, depuis les origines de l'Etrurie
     jusqu'au siècle de Constantin. C'est la source où Castellani puise
     les éléments d'un art nouveau qui détrônera avant dix ans la
     pacotille du Palais-Royal."--_About_, _Rome Contemporaine_.

     "C'est en s'inspirant des parures retrouvées dans les tombes de
     l'Etrurie, des bracelets et des colliers dont se paraient les
     femmes étrusques et sabines, que M. Castellani, guidé par le goût
     savant et ingénieux d'un homme qui porte dignement l'ancien nom de
     Caetani, a introduit dans la bijouterie un style à la fois
     classique et nouveau. Parmi les artistes les plus originaux de Rome
     sont certainement les orfèvres Castellani et D. Miguele Caetani,
     duc de Sermoneta."--_Ampère_, _Hist. Rom._ i. 388.

The _Palazzo Sciarra_ (on left of the Corso), built in 1603 by Labacco,
contains a gallery of pictures. Its six celebrated gems are marked with
an asterisk. We may notice:--

    _1st Room._--

     5. Death of St. John Baptist: _Valentin_.
    13. Holy Family: _Innocenza da Imola_.
    15. Rome Triumphant: _Valentin_.
    20. Madonna: _Titian_.
    23. Sta. Francesca Romana: _Carlo Veneziano_.

    _2nd Room._--

    17. Flight into Egypt: _Claude Lorrain_.
    18. Sunset: _Claude Lorrain_.

    _3rd Room._--

     6. Holy Family: _Francia_.
     9. Boar Hunt: _Garofalo_.
    11. Holy Family: _Andrea del Sarto_.
    17. A Monk led by an Angel to the Heavenly Spheres: _Gaudenzio
          Ferrari_.
    26. The Vestal Claudia drawing a boat with the statue of Ceres up
          the Tiber: _Garofalo_.
    29. Tavern Scene: _Teniers_.
    33. The Fornarina: _Copy of Raphael by Giulio Romano_.
    36. Holy Family with Angels: _Lucas Cranach_, 1504.

    _4th Room._--

    1. Holy Family: _Fra Bartolomeo_.*

     "The glow and freshness of colouring in this admirable painting,
     the softness of the skin, the beauty and sweetness of the
     expression, the look with which the mother's eyes are bent upon
     the baby she holds in her arms, and the innocent fondness with
     which the other child gazes up in her face, are worthy of the
     painter whose works Raphael delighted to study, and from which, in
     a great measure, he formed his principles of colouring."--_Eaton's
     Rome_.

    5. St. John the Evangelist: _Guercino_.
    6. The Violin Player (Andrea Marone?): _Raphael_.*

     "The Violin Player is a youth holding the bow of a violin and a
     laurel wreath in his hand, and looking at the spectators over his
     shoulder. The expression of his countenance is sensible and
     decided, and betokens a character alive to the impressions of
     sense, yet severe. The execution is excellent,--inscribed with the
     date 1518."--_Kugler._

     7. St. Mark: _Guercino_.
     8. Daughter of Herodias: _Guercino_.
    12. Conjugal Love: _Agostino Caracci_.
    16. The Gamblers: _Caravaggio_.*

     "This is a masterpiece of the painter. A sharper is playing at
     cards with a youth of family and fortune, whom his confederate,
     while pretending to be looking on, is assisting to cheat. The
     subject will remind you of the Flemish School, but this painting
     bears no resemblance to it. Here is no farce, no caricature.
     Character was never more strongly marked, nor a tale more
     inimitably told. It is life itself, and you almost forget it is a
     picture, and expect to see the game go on. The colouring is beyond
     all praise."--_Eaton's Rome._

    17. Modesty and Vanity: _Leonardo da Vinci_.*

     "One of Leonardo's most beautiful pictures is in Rome, in the
     Sciarra Palace--two female half-figures of Modesty and Vanity. The
     former, with a veil over her head, is a particularly pleasing,
     noble profile, with a clear, open expression; she beckons to her
     sister, who stands fronting the spectator, beautifully arrayed, and
     with a sweet seducing smile. This picture is remarkably powerful in
     colouring, and wonderfully finished, but unfortunately has become
     rather dark in the shadows."--_Kugler._

    19. Magdalen: _Guido Reni_.
    24. Family Portrait: _Titian_.
    25. Portrait: _Bronzino_.
    26. St. Sebastian: _Perugino_.
    29. Bella Donna: _Titian_.*

     Sometimes supposed to represent Donna Laura Eustachio, the peasant
     Duchess of Alphonso I. of Ferrara.

     "When Titian or Tintoret look at a human being, they see at a
     glance the whole of its nature, outside and in; all that it has of
     form, of colour, of passion, or of thought; saintliness and
     loveliness; fleshly power, and spiritual power; grace, or strength,
     or softness, or whatsoever other quality, those men will see to the
     full, and so paint, that, when narrower people come to look at what
     they have done, every one may, if he chooses, find his own special
     pleasure in the work. The sensualist will find sensuality in
     Titian; the thinker will find thought; the saint, sanctity; the
     colourist, colour; the anatomist, form; and yet the picture will
     never be a popular one in the full sense, for none of these
     narrower people will find their special taste so alone consulted,
     as that the qualities which would ensure their gratification shall
     be sifted or separated from others; they are checked by the
     presence of the other qualities, which ensure the gratification of
     other men.... Only there is a strange undercurrent of everlasting
     murmur about the name of Titian, which means the deep consent of
     all great men that he is greater than they."--_Ruskin's Two Paths,
     Lect. 2._

    31. Death of the Virgin: _Albert Durer_.
    32. Maddalena della Radice: _Guido Reni_.*

     "The two Magdalens by Guido are almost duplicates, and yet one is
     incomparably superior to the other. She is reclining on a rock, and
     her tearful and uplifted eyes, the whole of her countenance and
     attitude, speak the overwhelming sorrow that penetrates her soul.
     Her face might charm the heart of a stoic; and the contrast of her
     youth and enchanting loveliness, with the abandonment of grief, the
     resignation of all earthly hope, and the entire devotion of herself
     to penitence and heaven, is most affecting."--_Eaton's Rome._[11]

Near the Piazza Sciarra, the Corso (as Via Flaminia) was formerly
spanned by the Arch of Claudius, removed in 1527. Some reliefs from this
arch are preserved in the portico of the Villa Borghese, and though much
mutilated are of fine workmanship. The inscription, which commemorated
the erection of the arch in honour of the conquest of Britain, is
preserved in the courtyard of the Barberini Palace.

On the right of the Piazza Sciarra is the Via della Caravita, containing
the small but popular _Church of the Caravita_,[12] used for the
peculiar religious exercises of the Jesuits, especially for their
terrible Lenten "flagellation" services, which are one of the most
extraordinary sights afforded by Catholic Rome.

     "The ceremony of pious whippings, one of the penances of the
     convents, still takes place at the time of vespers in the oratory
     of the Padre Caravita and in another church in Rome. It is preceded
     by a short exhortation, during which a bell rings, and whips, that
     is, strings of knotted whipcord, are distributed quietly amongst
     such of the audience as are on their knees in the nave. On a second
     bell, the candles are extinguished--a loud voice issues from the
     altar, which pours forth an exhortation to think of unconfessed, or
     unrepented, or unforgiven crimes. This continues a sufficient time
     to allow the kneelers to strip off their upper garments; the tone
     of the preacher is raised more loudly at each word, and he
     vehemently exhorts his hearers to recollect that Christ and the
     martyrs suffered much more than whipping. 'Show, then, your
     penitence--show your sense of Christ's sacrifice--show it with the
     whip.' The flagellation begins. The darkness, the tumultuous sound
     of blows in every direction--'Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us!'
     bursting out at intervals,--the persuasion that you are surrounded
     by atrocious culprits and maniacs, who know of an absolution for
     every crime--so far from exciting a smile, fixes you to the spot in
     a trance of restless horror, prolonged beyond bearing. The
     scourging continues ten or fifteen minutes."--_Lord Broughton._

     "Each man on entering the church was supplied with a scourge. After
     a short interval the doors were barred, the lights extinguished;
     and from praying, the congregation proceeded to groaning, crying,
     and finally, being worked up into a kind of ecstatic fury, applied
     the scourge to their uncovered shoulders without
     mercy."--_Whiteside's Italy in the Nineteenth Century._

Beyond the Caravita is the _Church of S. Ignazio_, built by Cardinal
Ludovisi. The façade, of 1685, is by Algardi. It contains the tomb of
Gregory XIV. (Nicolo Sfondrati, 1590--91), and that of S. Ludovico
Gonzaga, both sculptured by _Le Gros_.

     "In S. Ignazio is the chapel of San Luigi Gonzaga, on whom not a
     few of the young Roman damsels look with something of the same kind
     of admiration as did Clytie on Apollo, whom he and St. Sebastian,
     those two young, beautiful, graceful saints, very fairly represent
     in Christian mythology. His festa falls in June, and then his altar
     is embosomed in flowers, arranged with exquisite taste; and a pile
     of letters may be seen at its foot, written to the saint by young
     men and maidens, and directed to Paradiso. They are supposed to be
     burnt unread, except by San Luigi, who must find singular petitions
     in these pretty little missives, tied up now with a green ribbon,
     expressive of hope, now with a red one, emblematic of love, or
     whatever other significant colour the writer may
     prefer."--_Mademoiselle Mori._

The frescoes on the roof and tribune are by the Padre Pozzi.

     "Amid the many distinguished men whom the Jesuits sent forth to
     every region of the world, I cannot recollect the name of a single
     artist unless it be the Father Pozzi, renowned for his skill in
     perspective, and who used his skill less as an artist than a
     conjuror, to produce such illusions as make the vulgar stare; to
     make the impalpable to the grasp appear as palpable to the vision;
     the near seem distant, the distant near; the unreal, real; to cheat
     the eye; to dazzle the sense;--all this has Father Pozzi most
     cunningly achieved in the Gesù and the Sant' Ignazio at Rome; but
     nothing more, and nothing better than this. I wearied of his
     altar-pieces and of his wonderful roofs which pretend to be no
     roofs at all. Scheme, tricks, and deceptions in art should all be
     kept for the theatre. It appeared to me nothing less than profane
     to introduce _shams_ into the temples of God."--_Mrs. Jameson._

On the left of the Corso--opposite the handsome Palazzo Simonetti--is
the _Church of S. Marcello_ (Pope, 308--10), containing some interesting
modern monuments. Among them are those of Pierre Gilles, the traveller
(ob. 1555), and of the English Cardinal Weld. Here, also, Cardinal
Gonsalvi, the famous and liberal minister of Pius VII., is buried in
the same tomb with his beloved younger brother, the Marchese Andrea
Gonsalvi. Their monument, by Rinaldi, tells that here repose the bodies
of two brothers--

    "Qui cum singulari amore dum vivebant
          Se mutuo dilexissent
            Corpora etiam sua
    Una eademque urna condi voluere."


Here are the masterpieces which made the reputation of Pierino del Vaga
(1501--1547). In the chapel of the Virgin are the cherubs, whose
graceful movements and exquisite flesh-tints Vasari declares to have
been unsurpassed by any artist in fresco. In the chapel of the Crucifix
is the Creation of Eve, which is even more beautiful.

     "The perfectly beautiful figure of the naked Adam is seen lying,
     overpowered by sleep, while Eve, filled with life, and with folded
     hands, rises to receive the blessing of her Maker,--a most grand
     and solemn figure standing erect in heavy drapery."--_Vasari_, iv.

This church is said to occupy the site of a house of the Christian
matron Lucina, in which Marcellus died of wounds incurred in attempting
to settle a quarrel among his Christian followers. It was in front of it
that the body of the tribune Rienzi, after his murder on the Capitol
steps, was hung up by the feet for two days as a mark for the rabble to
throw stones at.

The next street to the right leads to the _Collegio Romano_, founded by
St. Francis Borgia, Duke of Gandia (a descendant of Pope Alexander VI.),
who, after a youth spent amid the splendours of the court of Madrid,
retired to Rome in 1550, in the time of Julius III., and became the
successor of Ignatius Loyola as general of the Jesuits. The buildings
were erected, as we now see them, by Ammanati, in 1582, for Gregory
XIII. The college is entirely under the superintendence of the Jesuits.
The library is large and valuable. The _Kircherian Museum_ (shown to
gentlemen from ten to eleven on Sundays) is worth visiting. It contains
a number of antiquities, illustrative of Roman and Etruscan customs, and
many beautiful ancient bronzes and vases. The most important object is
the "Cista Mistica," a bronze vase and cover, which was given as a prize
to successful gladiators, and which was originally fitted up with
everything useful for their profession.

The _Observatory_ of the Collegio Romano has obtained a European
reputation from the important astronomical researches of its director,
the Padre Secchi.

The Collegio Romano has produced eight popes--Urban VIII., Innocent X.,
Clement IX., Clement X., Innocent XII., Clement XI., Innocent XIII., and
Clement XII. Among its other pupils have been S. Camillo de Lellis, the
Blessed Leonardo di Porto-Maurizio, the Venerable Pietro Berna, and
others.

     "Ignace, François Borgia, ont passé par ici. Leur souvenir plane,
     comme un encouragement et une bénédiction, sur ces salles où ils
     présidèrent aux études, sur ces chaires où peut-être retentit leur
     parole, sur ces modestes cellules qu'ils ont habitées. A la fin du
     seizième siècle, les élèves du collége Romain perdirent un de leurs
     condisciples que sa douce aménité et ses vertus angéliques avaient
     rendu l'objet d'un affectueux respect. Ce jeune homme avait été
     page de Philippe II.; il était allié aux maisons royales
     d'Autriche, de Bourbon et de Lorraine. Mais au milieu de ces
     illusions d'une grande vie, sous ce brillant costume de cour qui
     semblait lui promettre honneurs et fortune, il ne voyait jamais que
     la pieuse figure de sa mère agenouillée au pied des autels, et
     priant pour lui. A peine âgé de seize ans, il s'échappe de Madrid,
     il vient frapper à la porte du collége Romain, et demande place, au
     dortoir et à l'étude, pour Louis Gonzague, fils du comte de
     Castiglione. Pendant sept ans, Louis donna dans cette maison le
     touchant exemple d'une vie céleste; puis ses jours _déclinèrent_,
     comme parle l'Ecriture; il avait assez vécu."--_Gournerie_, _Rome
     Chrétienne_, ii. 211.

We now reach (on right) the _Church of Sta. Maria in Via Lata_, which
was founded by Sergius I., in the eighth century, but twice rebuilt, the
second time under Alexander VII., in 1662, when the façade was added by
Pietro da Cortona.

     In this church "they still show a little chapel in which, as hath
     been handed down from the first ages, St. Luke the Evangelist
     wrote, and painted the effigy of the Virgin Mother of God."--_See
     Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 155.

The subterranean church is shown as the actual house in which St. Paul
lodged when he was in Rome.

     "And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to
     the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself
     with a soldier that kept him."

     "And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into
     his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God,
     persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and
     out of the prophets, from morning till evening." ...

     "And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and
     received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God,
     and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with
     all confidence, no man forbidding him."--_Acts_ xxviii. 16, 23, 30,
     31.

     "St. Paul after his arrival at Rome, having made his usual effort,
     in the first place, for the salvation of his own countrymen, and as
     usual, having found it vain, turned to the Gentiles, and during two
     whole years, in which he was a prisoner, received all that came to
     him, preaching the kingdom of God. It was thus that God overruled
     his imprisonment for the furtherance of the gospel, so that his
     bonds in Christ were manifest in the palace, and in all other
     places, and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by
     his bonds, were much more bold to speak the word without fear. Even
     in the palace of Nero, the most noxious atmosphere, as we should
     have concluded, for the growth of divine truth, his bonds were
     manifest, the Lord Jesus was preached, and, more than this, was
     received to the saving of many souls; for we find the Apostle
     writing to his Philippian converts: 'All the saints salute you,
     chiefly they which are of Cæsar's household.' The whole Church of
     Christ has abundant reason to bless God for the dispensation which,
     during the most matured period of St. Paul's Christian life,
     detained him a close prisoner in the imperial city. Had he, to the
     end of his course, been at large, occupied, as he had long been,
     'in labours most abundant,' he would, humanly speaking, never have
     found time to pen those epistles which are among the most blessed
     portion of the Church's inheritance. It was from within the walls
     of a prison, probably chained hand to hand to the soldier who kept
     him, that St. Paul indited the Epistles to the Ephesians,
     Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews."--_Blunt's Lectures on St.
     Paul._

     "In writing to Philemon, Paul chooses to speak of himself as the
     captive of Jesus Christ. Yet he went whither he would, and was free
     to receive those who came to him. It is interesting to remember
     amid these solemn vaults, the different events of St. Paul's
     apostolate, during the two years that he lived here. It was here
     that he converted Onesimus, that he received the presents of the
     Philippians, brought by Epaphroditus; it was hence that he wrote to
     Philemon, to Titus, to the inhabitants of Philippi and of Colosse;
     it was here that he preached devotion to the cross with that
     glowing eagerness, with that startling eloquence, which gained
     fresh power from contest and which inspiration rendered sublime.

     "Peter addressed himself to the Circumcised; Paul to the
     Gentiles,[13]--to their silence that he might confound it, to their
     reason that he might humble it. Had he not already converted the
     proconsul Sergius Paulus and Dionysius the Areopagite? At Rome his
     word is equally powerful, and among the courtiers of Nero, perhaps
     even amongst his relations, are those who yield to the power of
     God, who reveals himself in each of the teachings of his
     servant.[14] Around the Apostle his eager disciples group
     themselves--Onesiphorus of Ephesus, who was not ashamed of his
     chain;[15] Epaphras of Colosse, who was captive with him,
     _concaptivus meus_;[16] Timothy, who was one with his master in a
     holy union of every thought, and who was attached to him like a
     son, _sicut patri filius_;[17] Hermas, Aristarchus, Marcus,
     Demas--and Luke the physician, the faithful companion of the
     Apostle, his well-beloved disciple--'Lucas medicus
     carissimus.'"--_From Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne._

     "I honour Rome for this reason; for though I could celebrate her
     praises on many other accounts--for her greatness, for her beauty,
     for her power, for her wealth, and for her warlike exploits,--yet,
     passing over all these things, I glorify her on this account, that
     Paul in his lifetime wrote to the Romans, and loved them, and was
     present with and conversed with them, and ended his life amongst
     them. Wherefore the city is on this account renowned more than on
     all others--on this account I admire her, not on account of her
     gold, her columns, or her other splendid decorations."--_St. John
     Chrysostom, Homily on the Ep. to the Romans._

     "The Roman Jews expressed a wish to hear from St. Paul himself a
     statement of his religious sentiments, adding that the Christian
     sect was everywhere spoken against.... A day was fixed for the
     meeting at his private lodging.

     "The Jews came in great numbers at the appointed time. Then
     followed an impressive scene, like that at Troas (Acts xxi.)--the
     Apostle pleading long and earnestly,--bearing testimony concerning
     the kingdom of God,--and endeavouring to persuade them by arguments
     drawn from their own Scriptures,--'from morning till evening.' The
     result was a division among the auditors--'not peace, but a
     sword,'--the division which has resulted ever since, when the Truth
     of God has encountered, side by side, earnest conviction with
     worldly indifference, honest investigation with bigoted prejudice,
     trustful faith with the pride of scepticism. After a long and
     stormy discussion, the unbelieving portion departed; but not until
     St. Paul had warned them, in one last address, that they were
     bringing upon themselves that awful doom of judicial blindness,
     which was denounced in their own Scriptures against obstinate
     unbelievers; that the salvation which they rejected would be
     withdrawn from them, and the inheritance they renounced would be
     given to the Gentiles. The sentence with which he gave emphasis to
     this solemn warning was that passage in Isaiah, which recurring
     thus with solemn force at the very close of the Apostolic history,
     seems to bring very strikingly together the Old Dispensation and
     the New, and to connect the ministry of Our Lord with that of His
     Apostles:--'Go unto this people and say: Hearing ye shall hear and
     shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and shall not
     perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their
     ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest
     they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
     understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should
     heal them.'

     " ... During the long delay of his trial St. Paul was not reduced,
     as he had been at Cæsarea, to a forced inactivity. On the contrary,
     he was permitted the freest intercourse with his friends, and was
     allowed to reside in a house of sufficient size to accommodate the
     congregation which flocked together to listen to his teaching. The
     freest scope was given to his labours, consistent with the military
     custody under which he was placed. We are told, in language
     peculiarly emphatic, that his preaching was subjected to no
     restraint whatever. And that which seemed at first to impede, must
     really have deepened the impression of his eloquence; for who could
     see without emotion that venerable form subjected by iron links to
     the coarse control of the soldier who stood beside him? how often
     must the tears of the assembly have been called forth by the
     upraising of that fettered hand, and the clanking of the chain
     which checked its energetic action.

     "We shall see hereafter that these labours of the imprisoned
     Confessor were not fruitless; in his own words, he 'begot many
     children in his chains.' Meanwhile, he had a wider sphere of action
     than even the metropolis of the world. Not only 'the crowd which
     pressed upon him daily,' but also 'the care of all the churches'
     demanded his constant vigilance and exertion.... To enable him to
     maintain this superintendence, he manifestly needed many faithful
     messengers; men who (as he says of one of them) 'rendered him
     profitable service'; and by some of whom he seems to have been
     constantly accompanied, wheresoever he went. Accordingly we find
     him, during this Roman imprisonment, surrounded by many of his
     oldest and most valued attendants. Luke, his fellow-traveller,
     remained with him during his bondage; Timotheus, his beloved son in
     the faith, ministered to him at Rome, as he had done in Asia, in
     Macedonia, and in Achaia. Tychicus, who had formerly borne him
     company from Corinth to Ephesus, is now at hand to carry his
     letters to the shores which they had visited together. But there
     are two names amongst his Roman companions which excite a peculiar
     interest, though from opposite reasons,--the names of Demas and of
     Mark. The latter, when last we heard of him, was the unhappy cause
     of the separation of Barnabas and Paul. He was rejected by Paul, as
     unworthy to attend him, because he had previously abandoned the
     work of the Gospel out of timidity or indolence. It is delightful
     to find him now ministering obediently to the very Apostle who had
     then repudiated his services; still more to know that he
     persevered in this fidelity even to the end, and was sent for by
     St. Paul to cheer his dying hours. Demas, on the other hand, is now
     a faithful 'fellow-labourer' of the Apostle but in a few years we
     shall find that he had 'forsaken' him, having 'loved this present
     world.'

     "Amongst the rest of St. Paul's companions at this time, there were
     two whom he distinguishes by the honourable title of his
     'fellow-prisoners.' One of these is Aristarchus, the other
     Epaphras. With regard to the former, we know that he was a
     Macedonian of Thessalonica, one of 'Paul's companions in travel,'
     whose life was endangered by the mob at Ephesus, and who embarked
     with St. Paul at Cæsarea when he set sail for Rome. The other,
     Epaphras, was a Colossian, who must not be identified with the
     Philippian Epaphroditus, another of St. Paul's fellow-labourers
     during this time. It is not easy to say in what exact sense these
     two disciples were peculiarly _fellow-prisoners_ of St. Paul.
     Perhaps it only implies that they dwelt in his house, which was
     also his prison.

     "But of all the disciples now ministering to St. Paul at Rome, none
     has a greater interest than the fugitive Asiatic slave Onesimus. He
     belonged to a Christian named Philemon, a member of the Colossian
     Church. But he had robbed his master, and fled from Colosse, and at
     last found his way to Rome. Here he was converted to the faith of
     Christ, and had confessed to St. Paul his sins against his
     master."--_Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul._

A fountain in the crypt is shown, as having miraculously sprung up in
answer to the prayers of St. Paul, that he might have wherewithal to
baptize his disciples. At the end of the crypt are some large blocks of
peperino, said to be remains of the arch erected by the senate in honour
of the Emperor Gordian III., and destroyed by Innocent VIII.

Far along the right side of the Corso now extends the façade of the
immense _Palazzo Doria_, built by Valvasori (the front towards the
Collegio Romano being by Pietro da Cortona, and that towards the Piazza
Venezia by Amati). Entering the courtyard, one must turn left to reach
the _Picture Gallery_ (which is open on Tuesdays and Fridays, from ten
till two)--a vast collection, which contains some grand portraits and a
few other fine paintings.

The _1st Room_ entered is a great hall--to which pictures are removed
for copying. It contains four fine sarcophagi, with reliefs of the Hunt
of Meleager, the Story of Marsyas, Endymion and Diana, and a Bacchic
procession. Of two ancient circular altars, one serves as the pedestal
of a bearded Dionysus. The pictures are chiefly landscapes, of the
school of Poussin and Salvator Rosa,--that of the Deluge is by _Ippolito
Scarsellino_.

_2nd Room._--In the centre a Centaur (restored), of basalt and
rosso-antico. On either side groups of boys playing.

     _Pictures:_--

     4. Caritas Romana: _Valentin_.

     5. Circumcision: _Giov. Bellini?_

     7. Madonna and Saints: _Basaiti_.

     15. Temptations of St. Anthony: _Scuola di Mantegna_.

     19. St. John in the Desert: _Guercino?_

     35. Birth of St. John: _Vittore Pisanello_.

     21. Spozalizio: _V. Pisanello_.

     23. St. Sylvester before Maximin II.: _Pesellino_.

     24. Madonna and Child: _F. Francia?_

     28. Annunciation: _Fil. Lippi_.

     29. St. Sylvester and the Dragon: _Pesellino_ (see the account of
     Sta. Maria Liberatrice).

     33. St. Agnes on the burning pile: _Guercino_.

     37. Magdalen: _Copy of the Titian in the Pitti Palace_.

_4th Room._--

     A bust of Innocent X. (with whose ill-acquired wealth this palace
     was built) in rosso-antico, with a bronze head: _Bernini_.

_5th Room._--

     17. The Money-changers: _Quentin Matsys_.

     25. St. Joseph: _Guercino_. In the centre, a group of Jacob
     wrestling with the Angel: _School of Bernini_.

_6th Room._--

     8. Portrait of Olympia Maldacchini, the sister-in-law of Innocent
     X., who ruled Rome in his time.

     13. Madonna: _Carlo Maratta_.

     30. Sketch of a Boy: _Incognito_.

From this room we enter a small cabinet, hung with pictures of
_Breughel_ and _Fiammingo_, and containing a bust by _Algardi_, of
Olympia Maldacchini-Pamfili, who built the Villa Doria Pamfili for her
son.

_7th Room._--

     8. Belisarius in the desert: _Salvator Rosa_.

     19. Slaughter of the Innocents: _Mazzolino_.

We now enter the Galleries--which begin towards the left--

_1st Gallery._--

     2. Holy Family in glory, and two Franciscan Saints adoring:
     _Garofalo_.

     3. Magdalen: _Annibale Caracci_.

     8. Two Heads: _Quentin Matsys_.

     9. Holy Family: _Sassoferrato_.

     10. Story of the conversion of S. Eustachio (see the description of
     his church): _School of Albert Durer_.

     14. A Portrait: _Titian_.

     15. Holy Family: _Andrea del Sarto_.

     20. The Three Ages of Man: _Titian_.*

     21. Return of the Prodigal Son: _Guercino_.

     25. Landscape with the Flight into Egypt: _Claude Lorraine_.

     26. The meeting of Mary and Elizabeth: _Garofalo_.

     38. Copy of the "Nozze Aldobrandini:" _Poussin_.

     45. Madonna: _Guido Reni_.

     50. Holy Family: _Giulio Romano, from Raphael_.

_2nd Gallery._--

     6. Madonna: _Fran. Francia_.

     14. "Bartolo and Baldo:" _Raphael_.*

     17. Portrait: _Titian_.

     21. Portrait of a Widow: _Vandyke_.

     24. Three Heads, called Calvin, Luther, and Catherine: _Giorgione_.

     26. Sacrifice of Isaac: _Titian_.

     33. Portrait of a Pamfili: _Vandyke_.

     40. Herodias with the Head of John the Baptist: _Pordenone_. A
     grand bust of Andrew Doria.

     50. "The Confessor:" _Rubens_.

     53. Joanna of Arragon: _School of Leonardo da Vinci_.*

     56. Magdalene: _School of Titian_.

     61. Adoration of the Infant Jesus: _Gio. Batt. Benvenuti_
     ('_l'Ortolano_').

     66. Holy Family: _Garofalo_.

     69. Glory crowning Virtue (a sketch): _Correggio_.

     80. Portrait of Titian and his Wife: _Titian_. Also a number of
     pictures of the Creation: _Breughel_.

_3rd Gallery._--

     1, 6, 28, 34. Landscapes (with figures introduced): _Ann. Caracci_.

     5. Landscape, with Mercury stealing cattle: _Claude Lorraine_.

     10. Titian's Wife: _Titian_.

     11. "Niccolaus Macchiavellus Historiar. Scriptor:" _Bronzino_.

     12. "The Mill:" _Claude Lorraine_.*

     "The foreground of the picture of 'the Mill' is a piece of very
     lovely and perfect forest scenery, with a dance of peasants by a
     brook-side; quite enough subject to form, in the hands of a master,
     an impressive and complete picture. On the other side of the brook,
     however, we have a piece of pastoral life; a man with some bulls
     and goats tumbling head foremost into the water, owing to some
     sudden paralytic affection of all their legs. Even this group is
     one too many; the shepherd had no business to drive his flock so
     near the dancers, and the dancers will certainly frighten the
     cattle. But when we look farther into the picture, our feelings
     receive a sudden and violent shock, by the unexpected appearance,
     amidst things pastoral and musical, of the military; a number of
     Roman soldiers riding in on hobby-horses, with a leader on foot,
     apparently encouraging them to make an immediate and decisive
     charge on the musicians. Beyond the soldiers is a circular temple,
     in exceedingly bad repair; and close beside it, built against its
     very walls, a neat water-mill in full work; by the mill flows a
     large river with a weir across it.... At an inconvenient distance
     from the water-side stands a city, composed of twenty-five round
     towers and a pyramid. Beyond the city is a handsome bridge; beyond
     the bridge, part of the Campagna, with fragments of aqueducts;
     beyond the Campagna the chain of the Alps; on the left, the
     cascades of Tivoli.

     "This is a fair example of what is commonly called an 'ideal'
     landscape; _i.e._ a group of the artist's studies from nature,
     individually spoiled, selected with such opposition of character as
     may insure their neutralizing each other's effect, and united with
     sufficient unnaturalness and violence of association to insure
     their producing a general sensation of the impossible."--_Ruskin's
     Modern Painters._

     "Many painters take a particular spot, and sketch it to perfection;
     but Claude was convinced that taking nature as he found it, seldom
     produced beauty. Neither did he like exhibiting in his pictures
     accidents of nature. He professed to pourtray the style of general
     nature, and so his pictures were a composition of the various
     draughts which he had previously made from beautiful scenes and
     prospects."--_Sir J. Reynolds._

     18. Pietà: _Ann. Caracci_.

     23. Landscape, with the Temple of Apollo: _Claude Lorraine_.

     26. Portrait: _Mazzolino_.

     27. Portrait: _Giorgione_.

     33. Landscape, with Diana hunting: _Claude Lorraine_.

At the end of this gallery is a small cabinet, containing the gems of
the collection:--

     1. Portrait of a "Letterato:" _Lucas V. Leyden?_*

     2. Portrait of Andrea Doria: _Sebastian del Piombo_.*

     3. Portrait of Giannetto Doria: _Bronzino_.*

     4. Portrait of S. Filippo Neri, as a boy: _Barocci_.

     5. Portrait of Innocent X.; Gio. Battista Pamfili (1644--55):
     _Velasquez_.*

     6. Entombment: _John Emelingk_.*

Here, also, is the bust of the late beloved Princess Doria (Lady Mary
Talbot), which has always been veiled in crape since her death.

The _4th Gallery_ is decorated with mirrors, and with statues of no
especial merit.

     "In the whole immense range of rooms of the Palazzo Doria, I saw
     but a single fire-place, and that so deep in the wall that no
     amount of blaze would raise the atmosphere of the room ten degrees.
     If the builder of the palace, or any of his successors, have
     committed crimes worthy of Tophet, it would be a still worse
     punishment to him to wander perpetually through this suite of
     rooms, on the cold floors of polished brick tiles, or marble, or
     mosaic, growing a little chiller and chiller through every moment
     of eternity--or at least, till the palace crumbles down upon
     him."--_Hawthorne, Notes on Italy._

Opposite the Palazzo Doria is the _Palazzo Salviati_. The next two
streets on the left lead into the long narrow square called _Piazza
Santi Apostoli_, containing several handsome palaces. That on the right
is the _Palazzo Odescalchi_, built by Bernini, in 1660, for Cardinal
Fabio Chigi, to whose family it formerly belonged. It has some fine
painted and carved wooden ceilings. This palace is supposed to be the
scene of the latest miracle of the Roman Catholic Church. The present
Princess Odescalchi had long been bedridden, and was apparently dying of
a hopeless disease, when, while her family were watching what they
considered her last moments, the pope (Pius IX.) sent, by the hands of a
nun, a little loaf (panetello), which he desired her to swallow. With
terrible effort, the sick woman obeyed, and was immediately healed, and
on the following day the astonished Romans saw her go in person to the
pope, at the Vatican, to return thanks for her restoration!

The building at the end of the square is the _Palazzo Valentini_, which
once contained a collection of antiquities.

Near this, on the left, but separated from the piazza by a courtyard, is
the vast _Palazzo Colonna_, begun, in the fifteenth century, by Martin
V., and continued at various later periods. Julius II. at one time made
it his residence, and also Cardinal (afterwards San Carlo) Borromeo.
Part of it is now the residence of the French ambassadors. The palace is
built very near the site of the ancient fortress of the Colonna
family--so celebrated in times of mediæval warfare with the Orsini--of
which one lofty tower still remains, in a street leading up to the
Quirinal.

The _Gallery_ is shown every day, except Sundays and holidays, from 11
to 3. It is entered by the left wing. The first room is a fine, gloomy
old hall, containing the family dais, and hung with decaying Colonna
portraits. Then come three rooms covered with tapestries, the last
containing a pretty statue of a girl, sometimes called Niobe. Hence we
reach the pictures. The _1st Room_ has an interesting collection of the
early schools, including Madonnas of _Filippo Lippi_; _Luca Longhi_;
_Botticelli_; _Gentile da Fabriano_; _Innocenza da Imola_; a curious
Crucifixion, by _Jacopo d'Avanzo_; and a portrait by _Giovanni Sanzio_,
father of Raphael.

The ceiling of the _3rd Room_ has a fresco, by _Battoni_ and _Luti_, of
the apotheosis of Martin V. (Oddone Colonna, 1417--24). Among its
pictures, are St. Bernard, _Giovanni Bellini_; Onuphrius Pavinius,
_Titian_; Holy Family, _Bronzino_; Peasant dining, _Annibale Caracci_;
St. Jerome, _Spagna_; Portrait, _Paul Veronese_; Holy Family,
_Bonifazio_.

Hence we enter the _Great Hall_, a truly grand room, hung with mirrors
and painted with flowers by _Mario de' Fiori_, and with genii by
_Maratta_. The statues here are unimportant. The ceiling is adorned with
paintings, by _Coli_ and _Gherardi_, of the battle of Lepanto, Oct. 8,
1571, which Marc-Antonio Colonna assisted in gaining. The best pictures
are the family portraits:--Federigo Colonna, _Sustermanns_; Don Carlo
Colonna, _Vandyke_; Card. Pompeio Colonna, _Lorenzo Lotto_; Vittoria
Colonna, _Muziano_; Lucrezia Colonna, _Vandyke_; Pompeio Colonna,
_Agostino Caracci_; Giacomo Sciarra Colonna, _Giorgione_. We may also
notice an extraordinary picture of the Madonna rescuing a child from a
demon, by _Niccolo d'Alunno_, with a double portrait, by _Tintoret_, on
the right wall, and a Holy Family of _Palma Vecchio_ at the end of the
gallery. Near the entrance are some glorious old cabinets, inlaid with
ivory and lapis-lazuli. On the steps leading to the upper end of the
hall is a bomb left on the spot where it fell during the siege of Rome
in 1848.

(Through the palace access may be obtained to the beautiful Colonna
Gardens; but as they are generally visited from the Quirinal, they will
be noticed in the description of that hill.)

     "On parle d'un Pierre Colonna, dépouillé de tous ses biens en 1100
     par le pape Pascal II. Il fallait que la famille fût déjà
     passablement ancienne, car les grandes fortunes ne s'élèvent pas en
     un jour."--_About._

     "Si n'etoit le différent des Ursins et des Colonnois (Orsini and
     Colonna) la terre de l'Eglise seroit la plus heureuse habitation
     pour les subjects, qui soit en tout le monde."--_Philippe de
     Comines._ 1500.

    "Gloriosa Colonna, in cui s' appoggia
      Nostra speranza, e'l gran nome Latino,
      Ch'ancor non torte del vero cammino
    L'ira di Giove per ventosa pioggia."

    _Petrarca, Sonnetto_ X.

Adjoining the Palazzo Colonna is the fine _Church of the Santi
Apostoli_, founded in the sixth century, rebuilt by Martin V., in 1420,
and modernized, _c._ 1602, by Fontana. The portico contains a
magnificent bas-relief of an eagle and an oak-wreath (frequently copied
and introduced in architectural designs).

     "Entrez sous la portique de l'église des Saints-Apôtres, et vous
     trouverez là, encadré par hasard dans le mur, un aigle qu'entoure
     une couronne d'un magnifique travail. Vous reconnaîtrez facilement
     dans cet aigle et cette couronne la représentation d'une ensigne
     romaine, telle que les bas-reliefs de la colonne Trajane vous en
     ont montré plusieurs; seulement ce qui était là en petit est ici en
     grand."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 168.

Also in the portico, is a monument, by _Canova_, to Volpato, the
engraver. Over the sacristy door is the tomb of Pope Clement XIV. (Giov.
Antonio Ganganelli, 1769-74), also by Canova, executed in his
twenty-fifth year.

     "La mort de Clément XIV. est du 22 Septembre, 1774. A cette époque,
     Alphonse de Liguori était évêque de Sainte-Agathe des Goths, au
     royaume de Naples. Le 22 Septembre, au matin, l'évêque tomba dans
     une espèce de sommeil léthargique après avoir dit la messe, et,
     pendant vingt-quatre heures, il demeura sans mouvement dans son
     fauteuil. Ses serviteurs s'étonnant de cet état, le lendemain, avec
     lui:--'Vous ne savez pas, leur dit-il, que j'ai assisté le pape qui
     vient de mourir.' Peu après, la nouvelle du décès de Clément arriva
     à Sainte Agathe."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne_, ii. 362.

In 1873 the traditional grave of St. Philip and St. James, the
"Apostoli" to whom this church is dedicated, was opened during its
restoration. Two bodies were found, enclosed in a sarcophagus of
beautiful transparent marble, and have been duly enshrined. In the choir
are monuments of the fifteenth century, to two relations of Pope Sixtus
IV., Pietro Riario, and Cardinal Raffaelo Riario. To the right is the
tomb of the Chevalier Girard, brother-in-law of Pope Julius II., and
maître d'hôtel to Charles VIII. and Louis XII. of France. The tomb of
Cardinal Bessarion was removed from the church, in 1702, to the
cloisters of the adjoining Convent, which is the residence of the
General of the Order of "Minori Conventuali" (Black Friars). The
altar-piece represents the martyrdom of SS. Philip and James, by
_Muratori_.

The heart of Maria Clementina Sobieski (buried in St. Peter's), wife of
James III., called the First Pretender, is also preserved here, as is
shown by a Latin inscription.

     "Le roi d'Angleterre est devot a l'excès; sa matinée se passe en
     prières aux Saints-Apôtres, près du tombeau de sa femme."--_De
     Brosses_, 1739.

In 1552 this church was remarkable for the sermons of the monk Felix
Peretti, afterwards Sixtus V.

     "Suivant un manuscrit de la bibliothèque Alfieri, un jour, pendant
     qu'il était dans la chaire des Saints-Apôtres, un billet cacheté
     lui fut remis; Frère Félix l'ouvre et y lit, en face d'un certain
     nombre de propositions que l'on disait être extraites de ses
     discours, ce mot écrit en gros caractères: MENTIRIS (tu mens). Le
     fougueux orateur eut peine à contenir son émotion; il termina son
     sermon en quelques paroles, et courut au palais de l'Inquisition
     présenter le billet mystérieux, et demander qu'on examinât
     scrupuleusement sa doctrine. Cet examen lui fut favorable, et il
     lui valut l'amitié du grand inquisiteur, Michael Ghislieri, qui
     comprit aussitôt tout le parti qu'on pouvait tirer d'un homme dont
     les moindres actions étaient empreintes d'une inébranlable force de
     caractère."--_Gournerie._

In this church is buried the young Countess Savorelli, the story of
whose love, misfortunes, and death, has been celebrated by About, under
the name of _Tolla_ (the Lello of the story having been one of the
Doria-Pamfili family).

     "The convent which Tolla had sanctified by her death sent three
     embassies in turn to beg to preserve her relics: already the people
     spoke of her as a saint. But Count Feraldi (Savorelli) considered
     that it was due to his honour and to his vengeance to bear her
     remains with pomp to the tomb of his family. He had sufficient
     influence to obtain that for which permission is not granted once
     in ten years: the right of transporting her uncovered, upon a bed
     of white velvet, and of sparing her the horrors of a coffin. The
     beloved remains were wrapped in the white muslin robe which she
     wore in the garden on the day when she exchanged her sweet vows
     with Lello. The Marchesa Trasimeni, ill and wasted as she was, came
     herself to arrange her hair in the manner she loved. Every garden
     in Rome despoiled itself to send her its flowers; it was only
     necessary to choose. The funeral procession quitted the church of
     S. Antonio Abbate on Thursday evening at 7.30 for the Santi
     Apostoli, where the Feraldis are buried. The body was preceded by a
     long file of the black and white confraternities, each bearing its
     banner. The red light of the torches played upon the countenance of
     the beautiful dead, and seemed to animate her afresh. The piazza
     was filled with a dense and closely packed but dumb crowd; no
     discordant sound troubled the grief of the relations and friends of
     Tolla, who wept together at the Palazzo Feraldi....

     "The Church of the Apostoli and the tomb of the poor loving girl,
     became at certain days of the year an object of pilgrimage, and
     more than one young Roman maiden adds to her evening litany the
     words, 'St. Tolla, virgin and martyr, pray for us.'"--_About._

Just beyond the church is the _Palazzo Muto-Savorelli_ (the home of
Tolla, "Palazzo Feraldi") long the residence of Prince Charles Edward
("the last Pretender"), who died here in 1788. Hence the _Via delle
Vergini_, with its dismal lines of latticed convent-windows, leads to
the Fountain of Trevi.

Returning to the Corso, we pass (right) _Palazzo Buonaparte_, built by
Giovanni dei Rossi in 1660. Here Lætitia Buonaparte--"Madame Mère"--the
mother of Napoleon I., died February 2nd, 1836. The present head of the
family is Cardinal Lucien-Louis Buonaparte, son of Prince Charles (son
of Lucien) and of Princess Zénaïde, daughter of King Joseph of Spain.
His only surviving brother is Prince Napoleon Buonaparte.

This palace forms one corner of the _Piazza di Venezia_, which contains
the ancient castellated _Palace_ of the Republic of Venice, built in
1468 by Giuliano da Majano (with materials plundered from the Coliseum)
for Paul II., who was of Venetian birth. On the ruin of the republic the
palace fell into the hands of Austria, and is still the residence of the
Austrian ambassador, to whom it was specially reserved on the cession of
Venice to Italy.

Opposite this, on a line with the Corso, is the _Palazzo Torlonia_,
built by Fontana in 1650, for the Bolognetti family.

     "Nobility is certainly more the fruit of wealth in Italy than in
     England. Here, where a title and estate are sold together, a man
     who can buy the one secures the other. From the station of a
     lacquey, an Italian who can amass riches, may rise to that of duke.
     Thus Torlonia, the Roman banker, purchased the title and estate of
     the Duca di Bracciano, fitted up the 'Palazzo Nuovo di Torlonia'
     with all the magnificence that wealth commands; and a marble
     gallery, with its polished floors, modern statues, painted
     ceilings, and gilded furniture, far outshines the faded splendour
     of the halls of the old Roman nobility."--_Eaton's Rome._

     "Un ancien domestique de place, devenu spéculateur et banquier,
     achète un marquisat, puis une principauté. Il crée un majorat pour
     son fils aîné et une seconde géniture en faveur de l'autre. L'un
     épouse une Sforza-Cesarini et marie ses deux fils à une Chigi et
     une Ruspoli; l'autre obtient pour femme une Colonna-Doria. C'est
     ainsi que la famille Torlonia, par la puissance de l'argent et la
     faveur du saint-père, s'est élevée presque subitement à la hauteur
     des plus grands maisons népotiques et féodales."--_About._

The most interesting of the antiquities preserved in this palace is a
bas-relief, representing a combat between men and animals, brought
hither from the Palazzo Orsini, and probably pourtraying the famous
dedication of the theatre of Marcellus on that site, celebrated by the
slaughter of six hundred animals.

The end of the Corso--narrowed by a projecting wing of the Venetian
Palace--is known as the _Ripresa dei Barberi_, because there the
horses, which run in the races during the Carnival, are caught in large
folds of drapery let down across the street to prevent their dashing
themselves to pieces against the opposite wall.

Close to the end of this street, built into the wall of a house in the
Via di Marforio, is one of the few relics of republican times in the
city,--a Doric _Tomb_, bearing an inscription which states that it was
erected by order of the people on land granted by the Senate to Caius
Publicius Bibulus, the plebeian ædile, and his posterity. Petrarch
mentions in one of his letters that he wrote one of his sonnets leaning
against the tomb of Bibulus.

This tomb has a secondary interest as marking the commencement of the
Via Flaminia, as it stood just outside the Porta Ratumena from whence
that road issued. There are some obscure remains of another tomb on the
other side of the street. The Via Flaminia, like the Via Appia, was once
fringed with tombs.

From the Ripresa dei Barberi, a street passing under an arch on the
right, leads to the back of the Venetian Palace, where is the _Church of
S. Marco_, originally founded in the time of Constantine, but rebuilt in
833, and modernized by Cardinal Quirini in 1744. Its portico, which is
lined with early Christian inscriptions, contains a fine fifteenth
century doorway, surmounted by a figure of St. Mark. The interior is in
the form of a basilica, its naves and aisles separated by twenty
columns, and ending in an apse. The best pictures are S. Marco, "a pope
enthroned, by _Carlo Crivelli_, resembling in sharpness of finish and
individuality the works of Bartolomeo Viviani,"[18] and a Resurrection
by _Palma Giovane_.

     "The mosaics of S. Marco, executed under Pope Gregory IV. (A.D.
     827--844), with all their splendour, exhibit the utmost poverty of
     expression. Above the tribune, in circular compartments, is the
     portrait of Christ between the symbols of the Evangelists, and
     further below SS. Peter and Paul (or two prophets) with scrolls;
     within the tribune, beneath a hand extended with a wreath, is the
     standing figure of Christ with an open book, and on either side, S.
     Angelo and Pope Gregory IV. Further on, but still belonging to the
     dome, are the thirteen lambs, forming a second and quite uneven
     circle round the figures. The execution is here especially rude,
     and of true Byzantine rigidity, while, as if the artist knew that
     his long lean figures were anything but secure upon their feet, he
     has given them each a separate little pedestal. The lines of the
     drapery are chiefly straight and parallel, while, with all this
     rudeness, a certain play of colour has been contrived by the
     introduction of high lights of another colour."--_Kugler._

This church is said to have been originally founded in honour of the
Evangelist in 337 by Pope Marco, but this pope, being himself canonized,
is also honoured here, and is buried under the high altar. On April
25th, St. Mark's Day, a grand procession of clergy starts from this
church. It was for the most part rebuilt under Gregory IV. in 838.

Behind the Palazzo Venezia is the vast _Church of Il Gesù_, begun in
1568 by the celebrated Vignola, but the cupola and façade completed in
1575 by his scholar Giacomo della Porta. In the interior is the monument
of Cardinal Bellarmin, and various pictures representing events in the
lives or deaths of the Jesuit saints,--that of the death of St. Francis
Xavier is by _Carlo Maratta_. The high altar, by Giacomo della Porta,
has fine columns of giallo-antico. The altar of St. Ignatius at the end
of the left transept is of gaudy magnificence. It was designed by Padre
Pozzi, the group of the Trinity being by Bernardino Ludovisi; the globe
in the hand of the Almighty is said to be the largest piece of
lapis-lazuli in existence. Beneath this altar, and his silver statue,
lies the body of St. Ignatius Loyola, in an urn of gilt bronze, adorned
with precious stones. A great ceremony takes place in this church on
July 31st, the feast of St. Ignatius, and on December 31st a Te Deum is
sung here for the mercies of the past year, in the presence of the pope,
cardinals, and the people of Rome,--a really solemn and impressive
service.

The _Convent of the Gesù_ is the residence of the General of the Jesuits
("His Paternity"), and the centre of religious life in their Order. The
rooms in which St. Ignatius lived and died are of the deepest historic
interest. They consist of four chambers. The first, now a chapel, is
that in which he wrote his "Constitutions." The second, also a chapel,
is that in which he died. It contains the altar at which he daily
celebrated mass, and the autograph engagement to live under the same
laws of obedience, poverty, and chastity, signed by Laynez, Francis
Xavier, and Ignatius Loyola. On its walls are two portraits of Ignatius
Loyola, one as a young knight, the other as a Jesuit father, and
portraits of S. Carlo Borromeo and S. Filippo Neri. It was in this
chamber also that St. Francis Borgia died. The third room was that of
the attendant monk of St. Ignatius; the fourth is now a kind of museum
of relics containing portions of his robes and small articles which
belonged to him and to other saints of the Order.

Facing the Church of the Gesù is the _Palazzo Altieri_, built by
Cardinal Altieri in 1670, from designs of Giov. Antonio Rossi.

     "Quand le palais Altieri fut achevé, les Altieri, neveux de Clément
     X., invitèrent leur oncle à le venir voir. Il s'y fit porter, et
     d'aussi loin qu'il aperçut la magnificence et l'étendue de cette
     superbe fabrique, il reboussa chemin le cœur serré, sans dire un
     seul mot, et mourut peu après."--_De Brosses._

     "On the staircase of the Palazzo Altieri, is an ancient colossal
     marble _finger_, of such extraordinary size, that it is really
     worth a visit."--_Eaton's Rome._

This palace was the residence of the late noble-hearted vicar-general,
Cardinal Altieri, who died a martyr to his devotion to his flock (as
Bishop of Albano) during the terrible visitation of cholera at Albano in
1867.

The _Piazza del Gesù_ is considered to be the most draughty place in
Rome. The legend runs that the devil and the wind were one day taking a
walk together. When they came to this square, the devil, who seemed to
be very devout, said to the wind, "Just wait a minute, mio caro, while I
go into this church." So the wind promised, and the devil went into the
Gesù, and has never come out again--and the wind is blowing about in the
Piazza del Gesù to this day.




CHAPTER III.

THE CAPITOLINE.


     The Story of the Hill--Piazza del Campidoglio--Palace of the
     Senator--View from the Capitol Tower--The Tabularium--The Museo
     Capitolino--Gallery of Statues--Palace of the Conservators--Gallery
     of Pictures--Palazzo Caffarelli--Tarpeian Rock--Convent and Church
     of Ara-Cœli--Mamertine Prisons.

The Capitoline was the hill of the kings and the republic, as the
Palatine was of the empire.

Entirely composed of tufa, its sides, now concealed by buildings or by
the accumulated rubbish of ages, were abrupt and precipitous, as are
still the sides of the neighbouring citadels of Corneto and Cervetri. It
was united to the Quirinal by an isthmus of land cut away by Trajan, but
in every other direction was isolated by its perpendicular cliffs:--

    "Arduus in valles et fora clivus erat."

    _Ovid, Fast._ i. 264.

Up to the time of the Tarquins, it bore the name of Mons Saturnus,[19]
from the mythical king Saturn, who is reported to have come to Italy in
the reign of Janus, and to have made a settlement here. His name was
derived from sowing, and he was looked upon as the introducer of
civilization and social order, both of which are inseparably connected
with agriculture. His reign here was thus considered to be the golden
age of Italy. His wife was Ops, the representative of plenty.[20]

     "C'est la tradition d'un âge de paix représenté par le règne
     paisible de Saturne; avant qu'il y eut une _Roma_, ville de la
     force, il y eut une _Saturnia_, ville de la paix."--_Ampère, Hist.
     Rom._ i. 86.

Virgil represents Evander, the mythical king of the Palatine, as
exhibiting Saturnia, already in ruins, to Æneas.

    "Hæc duo præterea disjectis oppida muris,
    Reliquias veterumque vides monumenta virorum.
    Hanc Janus pater, hanc Saturnus condidit arcem:
    Janiculum huic, illi fuerat Saturnia nomen."

    _Æn._ viii. 356.

When Romulus had fixed his settlement upon the Palatine, he opened an
asylum for fugitive slaves upon the then deserted Saturnus, and here, at
a sacred oak, he is said to have offered up the spoils of the
Cæcinenses, and their king Acron, who had made a war of reprisal upon
him, after the rape of their women in the Campus Martius; here also he
vowed to build a temple to Jupiter Feretrius, where spoils should always
be offered. But in the mean time, the Sabines, under Titius Tatus,
besieged and took the hill, having a gate of its fortress (said to have
been on the ascent above the spot where the arch of Severus now stands)
opened to them by Tarpeia, who gazed with longing upon the golden
bracelets of the warriors, and, obtaining a promise to receive that
which they wore upon their arms, was crushed by their shields as they
entered. Some authorities, however, maintain that she asked and obtained
the hand of king Tatius. From this time the hill was completely occupied
by the Sabines, and its name became partially merged in that of _Mons
Tarpeia_, which its southern side has always retained. Niebuhr states
that it is a popular superstition that the beautiful Tarpeia still sits,
sparkling with gold and jewels, enchanted and motionless, in a cave in
the centre of the hill.

After the death of Tatius, the Capitoline again fell under the
government of Romulus, and his successor, Numa Pompilius, founded here a
Temple of Fides Publica, in which the flamens were always to sacrifice
with a fillet on their right hands, in sign of fidelity. To Numa also is
attributed the worship of the god Terminus, who had a temple here in
very early ages.

Under Tarquinius Superbus, B.C. 535, the magnificent _Temple of Jupiter
Capitolinus_, which had been vowed by his father, was built with money
taken from the Volscians in war. In digging its foundations, the head of
a man was found, still bloody, an omen which was interpreted by an
Etruscan augur to portend that Rome would become the head of Italy. In
consequence of this, the name of the hill was once more changed, and has
ever since been _Mons Capitolinus_, or Capitolium.

The site of this temple has always been one of the vexed questions of
history. At the time it was built, as now, the hill consisted of two
peaks, with a level space between them. Niebuhr and Gregorovius place
the temple on the south-eastern height, but Canina and other
authorities, with more probability, incline to the north-eastern
eminence, the present site of Ara-Cœli, because, among many other
reasons, the temple faced the south, and also the Forum, which it could
not have done upon the south-eastern summit; and also because the
citadel is always represented as having been nearer to the Tiber than
the temple: for when Herdonius, and the Gauls, arriving by the river,
scaled the heights of the Capitol, it was the _citadel_ which barred
their path, and in which, in the latter case, Manlius was awakened by
the noise of the sacred geese of Juno.

The temple of Jupiter occupied a lofty platform, the summit of the rock
being levelled to receive it. Its façade was decorated with three ranges
of columns, and its sides by a single colonnade. It was nearly square,
being 200 Roman feet in length, and 185 in width.[21] The interior was
divided into three cells; the figure of Jupiter occupied that in the
centre, Minerva was on his right, and Juno on his left. The figure of
Jupiter was the work of an artist of the Volscian city of Fregellæ,[22]
and was formed of terra-cotta, painted like the statues which we may
still see in the Etruscan museum at the Vatican, and clothed with the
tunica palmata, and the toga picta, the costume of victorious generals.
In his right hand was a thunder-bolt, and in his left a spear.

    "Jupiter angusta vix totus stabat in Æde;
      Inque Jovis dextra fictile fulmen erat."

    _Ovid, Fast._ i. 202.

At a later period the statue was formed of gold, but this figure had
ceased to exist in the time of Pliny.[23] When Martial wrote, the
statues of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, were all gilt.

    "Scriptus es æterno nunc primum, Jupiter, auro,
    Et soror, et summi filia tota patris."

    _Martial,_ xi. _Ep._ 5.

In the wall adjoining the cella of Minerva, a nail was fastened every
year, to mark the lapse of time.[24] In the centre of the temple was the
statue of Terminus.

     "The sumptuous fane of Jupiter Capitolinus had peculiar claims on
     the veneration of the Roman citizens; for not only the great lord
     of the earth was worshipped in it, but the conservative principle
     of property itself found therein its appropriate symbol. While the
     statue of Jupiter occupied the usual place of the divinity in the
     furthest recess of the building, an image of the god Terminus was
     also placed in the centre of the nave, which was open to the
     heavens. A venerable legend affirmed, that when, in the time of the
     kings, it was requisite to clear a space on the Capitoline to erect
     on it a temple to the great father of the gods, and the shrines of
     the lesser divinities were to be removed for the purpose, Terminus
     alone, the patron of boundaries, refused to quit his place, and
     demanded to be included in the walls of the new edifice. Thus
     propitiated he was understood to declare that henceforth the bounds
     of the republic should never be removed; and the pledge was more
     than fulfilled by the ever increasing circuit of her
     dominion."--_Merivale, Romans Under the Empire._

The gates of the temple were of gilt bronze, and its pavement of
mosaic;[25] in a vault beneath were preserved the Sibylline books placed
there by Tarquin. The building of Tarquin lasted 400 years, and was
burnt down in the civil wars, B.C. 83. It was rebuilt very soon
afterwards by Sylla, and adorned with columns of Pentelic marble, which
he had brought from the temple of Jupiter Olympus at Athens.[26] Sylla,
however, did not live to rededicate it, and it was finished by Q.
Lutatius Catulus, B.C. 62. This temple lasted till it was burnt to the
ground by the soldiers of Vitellius, who set fire to it by throwing
torches upon the portico, A.D. 69, and dragging forth Sabinus, the
brother of Vespasian, murdered him at the foot of the Capitol, near the
Mamertine Prisons.[27] Domitian, the younger son of Vespasian, was, at
that time, in the temple with his uncle, and escaped in the dress of a
priest; in commemoration of which, he erected a chapel to Jupiter
Conservator, close to the temple, with an altar upon which his adventure
was sculptured. The temple was rebuilt by Vespasian, who took so great
an interest in the work, that he carried away some of the rubbish on his
own shoulders; but his temple was the exact likeness of its predecessor,
only higher, as the aruspices said that the gods would not allow it to
be altered.[28] In this building Titus and Vespasian celebrated their
triumph for the fall of Jerusalem. The ruin of the temple began in A.D.
404, during the short visit of the youthful Emperor Honorius to Rome,
when the plates of gold which lined its doors were stripped off by
Stilicho.[29] It was finally plundered by the Vandals, in A.D. 455, when
its statues were carried off to adorn the African palace of Genseric,
and half its roof was stripped of the gilt bronze tiles which covered
it; but it is not known precisely when it ceased to exist,--the early
fathers of the Christian Church speak of having seen it. The story that
the bronze statue of Jupiter, belonging to this temple, was transformed
by Leo I. into the famous image of St. Peter, is very doubtful.

Close beside this, the queen of Roman temples, stood the _Temple of
Fides_, said to have been founded by Numa, where the senate were
assembled at the time of the murder of Tiberius Gracchus, B.C. 133, who
fell in front of the temple of Jupiter, at the foot of the statues of
the kings: his blood being the first spilt in Rome in a civil war.[30]
Near this, also, were the twin _Temples of Mars and Venus Erycina_,
vowed after the battle of Thrasymene, and consecrated, B.C. 215, by the
consuls Q. Fabius Maximus and T. Otacilius Crassus. Near the top of the
Clivus was the _Temple of Jupiter Tonans_, built by Augustus, in
consequence of a vow which he made in an expedition against the Cantabri
when his litter was struck, and the slave who preceded him was killed by
lightning. This temple was so near, that it was considered as a porch to
that of Jupiter Capitolinus, and in token of that character, Augustus
hung some bells upon its pediment.

On the Arx, or opposite height of the Capitol, was the _Temple of Honour
and Virtue_, built B.C. 103, by Marius, with the spoils taken in the
Cimbric wars. This temple was of sufficient size to allow of the senate
meeting there, to pass the decree for Cicero's recall.[31] Here Nardini
places the ancient _Temple of Jupiter Feretrius_, in which Romulus
dedicated the first spolia opima. Here, on the site of the house of
Manlius, was built the _Temple of Juno Moneta_, B.C. 345, in accordance
with a vow of L. Furius Camillus.[32] On this height, also, was the
_Altar of Jupiter Pistor_, which commemorated the stratagem of the
Romans, who threw down loaves into the camp of the besieging Gauls, to
deceive them as to the state of their supplies.[33]

    "Nomine, quam pretio celebratior, arce Tonantis,
      Dicam Pistoris quid velit ara Jovis."

    _Ovid, Fast._ vi. 349.

It was probably also on this side of the hill that the gigantic _Statue
of Jupiter_ stood, which was formed out of the armour taken from the
Samnites, B.C. 293, and which is stated by Pliny to have been of such a
size that it was visible from the top of Monte Cavo.

Two cliffs are now rival claimants to be considered as the Tarpeian
Rock; but it is most probable that the whole of the hill on this side of
the Intermontium was called the Mons Tarpeia, and was celebrated under
that name by the poets.

    "In summo custos Tarpeiæ Manlius arcis
    Stabat pro templo, et Capitolia celsa tenebat:
    Romuleoque recens horrebat regia culmo.
    Atque hic auratis volitans argenteus anser
    Porticibus, Gallos in limine adesse canebat."

    _Virgil, Æn._ viii. 652.

    "Aurea Tarpeia ponet Capitolia rupe,
    Et junget nostro templorum culmina cœlo."

    _Sil. Ital._ iii. 623.

    ... "juvat inter tecta Tonantis,
    Cernere Tarpeia pendentes rupe Gigantes."

    _Claud._ vi. _Cons. Hon._ 44.

Among the buildings upon the _Intermontium_, or space between the two
heights, were the Tabularium, or Record Office, part of which still
remains; a portico, built by Scipio Nasica,[34] and an arch which Nero
built here to his own honour, the erection of which upon the sacred
hill, hitherto devoted to the gods, was regarded even by the subservient
senate as an unparalleled act of presumption.[35]

In mediæval times the revolutionary government of Arnold of Brescia
established itself on this hill (1144), and Pope Lucius II., in
attempting to regain his temporal power, was slain with a stone in
attacking it. Here Petrarch received his laurel crown (1341); and here
the tribune Rienzi promulgated the laws of the "good estate." At this
time nothing existed on the Capitol but the church and convent of
Ara-Cœli, and a few ruins. Yet the cry of the people at the
coronation of Petrarch, "Long life to _the Capitol_ and the poet!" shows
that the scene itself was then still more present to their minds than
the principal actor upon it. But, when the popes returned from Avignon,
the very memory of the Capitol seemed effaced, and the spot was only
known as the Goat's Hill,--_Monte Caprino_. Pope Boniface IX. (1389--94)
was the first to erect on the Capitol, on the ruins of the Tabularium, a
residence for the senator and his assessors, Paul III. (1544--50)
employed Michael Angelo to lay out the Piazza del Campidoglio; when he
designed the Capitoline Museum and the Palace of the Conservators. Pius
IV., Gregory XIII., and Sixtus V. added the sculptures and other
monuments which now adorn the steps and balustrade.[36]

       *       *       *       *       *

Just beyond the end of the Corso, the _Via della Pedacchia_ turns to the
right, under a quaint archway in the secret passage constructed as a
means of escape for the Franciscan Generals of Ara-Cœli to the
Palazzo Venezia, as that in the Borgo is for the escape of the popes to
S. Angelo. In this street is a house decorated with simple but elegant
Doric details, and bearing an inscription over the door which shows that
it was that of Pietro da Cortona.

The street ends in the sunny open space at the foot of the Capitol, with
Ara-Cœli on its left, approached by an immense flight of steps,
removed hither from the Temple of the Sun, on the Quirinal, but marking
the site of the famous staircase to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus,
which Julius Cæsar descended on his knees, after his triumph for his
Gallic victories.[37]

The grand staircase, "_La Cordonnata_," was opened in its present form
on the occasion of the entry of Charles V., in 1536.[38] At its foot are
two lions of Egyptian porphyry, which were removed hither from the
Church of S. Stefano in Cacco, by Pius IV. It was down the staircase
which originally existed on this site, that Rienzi the tribune fled in
his last moments, and close to the spot where the left-hand lion stands,
that he fell, covered with wounds, his wife witnessing his death from a
window of the burning palace above. A small space between the two
staircases has lately been transformed into a garden, through which
access may be obtained to four vaulted brick chambers, remnants of the
substructions of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. A living wolf is
kept here in commemoration of the nurse of Romulus and Remus.

At the head of the stairs are colossal statues of the twin heroes,
Castor and Pollux (brought hither from the Ghetto), commemorating the
victory of the Lake Regillus, after which they rode before the army to
Rome, to announce the joyful news, watered their horses at the Aqua
Argentina, and then passed away from the gaze of the multitude into
celestial spheres. Beyond these, on either side, are two trophies of
imperial times discovered in the ruin on the Esquiline, misnamed the
Trophies of Marius. Next come statues of Constantine the Great and his
son Constantine II., from their baths on the Quirinal. The two ends of
the parapet are occupied by ancient Milliaria, being the first and
seventh milestones of the Appian Way. The first milestone was found in
_situ_, and showed that the miles counted from the gates of Rome, and
not, as was formerly supposed, from the Milliarium Aureum, at the foot
of the Capitol.

We now find ourselves in the _Piazza del Campidoglio_, occupying the
Intermontium, where Brutus harangued the people after the murder of
Julius Cæsar. In the centre of the square is the famous _Statue of
Marcus Aurelius_, the only perfect ancient equestrian statue in
existence. It was originally gilt, as may still be seen from marks of
gilding upon the figure, and stood in front of the arch of
Septimius-Severus. Hence it was removed by Sergius III. to the front of
the Lateran, where, not long after, it was put to a singular use by John
XIII., who hung a refractory prefect of the city from it by his
hair.[39] During the rejoicings consequent upon the elevation of Rienzi
to the tribuneship in 1347, one of its nostrils was made to flow with
water and the other with wine. From its vicinity to the Lateran, so
intimately connected with the history of Constantine, it was supposed
during the middle ages to represent that Christian emperor, and this
fortunate error alone preserved it from the destruction which befell so
many other ancient imperial statues. Michael Angelo, when he designed
the buildings of the Capitoline Piazza, wished to remove the statue to
its present site, but the canons of the Lateran were unwilling to part
with their treasure, and only consented to its removal upon an annual
acknowledgment of their proprietorship, for which a bunch of flowers is
still presented once a year by the senators to the chapter of the
Lateran. Michael Angelo, standing in fixed admiration before this
statue, is said to have bidden the horse "Cammina." Even until late
years an especial guardian has been appointed to take care of it, with
an annual stipend of ten scudi a year, and the title of "Il custode del
Cavallo."

     "They stood awhile to contemplate the bronze equestrian statue of
     Marcus Aurelius. The moonlight glistened upon traces of the gilding
     which had once covered both rider and steed; these were almost
     gone, but the aspect of dignity was still perfect, clothing the
     figure as it were with an imperial robe of light. It is the most
     majestic representation of the kingly character that ever the world
     has seen. A sight of the old heathen emperor is enough to create an
     evanescent sentiment of loyalty even in a democratic bosom, so
     august does he look, so fit to rule, so worthy of man's profoundest
     homage and obedience, so inevitably attractive of his love. He
     stretches forth his hand with an air of proud magnificence and
     unlimited authority, as if uttering a decree from which no appeal
     was permissible, but in which the obedient subject would find his
     highest interests consulted: a command that was in itself a
     benediction."--_Hawthorne._

     "I often ascend the Capitoline Hill to look at Marcus Aurelius and
     his horse, and have not been able to refrain from caressing the
     lions of basalt. You cannot stand on the Aventine or the Palatine
     without grave thoughts, but standing on the spot brings me very
     little nearer the image of past ages."--_Niebuhr's Letters._

     "La statue équestre de Marc-Aurèle a aussi sa légende, et celle-là
     n'est pas du moyen âge, mais elle a été recueillie il y a peu
     d'années de la bouche d'un jeune Romain. La dorure, en partie
     détruite, se voit encore en quelques endroits. A en croire le jeune
     Romain, cependant, la dorure, au lieu d'aller s'effaçant toujours
     davantage, était en voie de progrès. 'Voyez, disait-il, la statue
     de bronze commence à se dorer, et quand elle le sera entièrement,
     le monde finira.'--C'est toujours, sous une forme absurde, la
     vieille idée romaine, que les destinées et l'existence de Rome sont
     liées aux destinées et à l'existence du monde. C'est ce qui faisait
     dire au septième siècle; ainsi que les pèlerins saxons l'avaient
     entendu et le répétaient; 'Quand le Colisée tombera, Rome et le
     monde finiront.'"--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 228.

The building at the back of the piazza is _The Palace of the Senator_,
originally built by Boniface IX. (1389), but altered by Michael Angelo
to correspond with his buildings on either side. The fountain at the
foot of the double staircase was erected by Sixtus V., and is adorned
with statues of river gods found in the Colonna Gardens, and a curious
porphyry figure of Minerva--adapted as Rome. The body of this statue
was found at Cori, but the head and arms are modern additions.

     "Rome personnifiée, cette déesse à laquelle on érigea des temples,
     voulut d'abord être une Amazone, ce qui se conçoit, car elle était
     guerrière avant tout. C'est sous la forme de Minerve que Rome est
     assise sur la place du Capitole."--_Ampère, Hist. Romaine_, iii.
     242.

In the interior of this building the Hall of the Senators contains some
papal statues, and that of Charles of Anjou, who was made senator of
Rome in the thirteenth century.

The _Tower of the Capitol_ contains the great bell of Viterbo, carried
off from that town during the wars of the middle ages, which is never
rung except to announce the death of a pope, or the opening of the
carnival. During the closing years of the temporal power of the popes,
it has been difficult to obtain admission to the tower, but the ascent
is well repaid by the view from the summit, which embraces not only the
seven hills of Rome, but the various towns and villages of the
neighbouring plain and mountains which successively fell under its
dominion.

     "Pour suivre les vicissitudes des luttes extérieures des Romains
     contre les peuples qui les entourent et les pressent de tous côtés,
     nous n'aurons qu'à regarder à l'horizon la sublime campagne romaine
     et ces montagnes qui l'encadrent si admirablement. Elles sont
     encore plus belles et l'œil prend encore plus de plaisir à les
     contempler quand on songe à ce qu'elles ont vu d'efforts et de
     courage dans les premiers temps de la république. Il n'est presque
     pas un point de cette campagne qui n'ait été témoin de quelque
     rencontre glorieuse; il n'est presque un rocher de ces montagnes
     qui n'est été pris et repris vingt fois.

     "Toutes ces nations sabelliques qui dominaient la ville du Tibre et
     semblaient placées là sur des hauteurs disposées en demi-cercle
     pour l'envelopper et l'écraser, toutes ces nations sont devant nous
     et à la portée du regard.

     "Voici de côté de la mer les montagnes des Volsques; plus à l'est
     sont les Herniques et les Æques; au nord, les Sabins; à l'ouest,
     d'autres ennemis, les Etrusques, dont le mont Ciminus est le
     rempart.

     "Au sud, la plaine se prolonge jusqu'à la mer. Ici sont les Latins,
     qui, n'ayant pas des montagnes pour leur servir de citadelle et de
     refuge, commenceront par être des alliés.

     "Nous pouvons donc embrasser le panorama historique des premiers
     combats qu'eurent à soutenir et que soutinrent si vaillamment les
     Romains affranchis."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 373.

Beneath the Palace of the Senator (entered by a door in the street on
the right), are the gigantic remains of the _Tabularium_, consisting of
huge rectangular blocks of peperino supporting a Doric colonnade, which
is shown by an inscription still preserved to have been that of the
public Record Office, where the Tabulæ, engraved plates bearing
important decrees of the Senate, were preserved, having been placed
there by Q. Lutatius Catulus in B.C. 79. A gallery in the interior of
the Tabularium has been fitted up as a museum of architectural
antiquities collected from the neighbouring temples. This building is as
it were the boundary between inhabited Rome and that Rome which is a
city of ruins.

     "I came to the Capitol, and looked down on the other side. There
     before my eyes opened an immense grave, and out of the grave rose a
     city of monuments in ruins, columns, triumphal arches, temples, and
     palaces, broken, ruinous, but still beautiful and grand,--with a
     solemn mournful beauty! It was the giant apparition of ancient
     Rome."--_Frederika Bremer._

The traces of an ancient staircase still exist, which led down from the
Tabularium to the Forum. This is believed by many to have been the path
by which the besiegers under Vitellius, A.D. 69, attacked the Capitol.

The east side of the piazza--on the left as one stands at the head of
the steps--is the _Museo Capitolino_ (open daily from 9 to 4, for a
fee; and on Mondays and Thursdays gratis, from 2½ to 4½).

Above the fountain in the court, opposite the entrance, reclines the
colossal statue of a river-god, called Marforio, removed hither from the
end of the Via di Marforio (Forum Martis?) near the arch of Severus.
This figure, according to Roman fancy, was the friend and gossip of
Pasquin (at the Palazzo Braschi), and lively dialogues, merciless to the
follies of the government and the times, used to appear with early
morning, placarded on their respective pedestals, as passing between the
two. Thus, when Clement XI. mulcted Rome of numerous sums to send to his
native Urbino, Marforio asked, "What is Pasquino doing?" The next
morning Pasquin answered, "I am taking care of Rome, that it does not go
away to Urbino." In the desire of putting an end to such inconvenient
remarks, the government ordered the removal of one of the statues to the
Capitol, and, since Marforio has been shut up, Pasquino has lost his
spirits.

From the corridor on the ground floor open several rooms devoted to
ancient inscriptions and sarcophagi with bas-reliefs. The first room on
the left has some bronzes--in the centre a mutilated horse, found, 1849,
in the Trastevere.

     "Calamis, venu un peu avant Phidias, n'eut point de rival pour les
     chevaux. Calamis, qui fut fondeur en bronze, serait-il l'auteur du
     cheval de bronze du Capitole, qui, en effet, semble plutôt un peu
     antérieur que postérieur à Phidias?"--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii.
     234.

At the foot of the staircase is a colossal statue of the Emperor
Hadrian, found on the Cœlian.

The _Staircase_ is lined with the fragments of the _Pianta Capitolina_,
a series of marble slabs of imperial date (found in the sixteenth
century under SS. Cosmo and Damian), inscribed with ground plans of
Rome, and exceedingly important from the light they throw upon the
ancient topography of the city.

The upper _Corridor_ is lined with statues and busts. Here and elsewhere
we will only notice those especially remarkable for beauty or historic
interest.[40]

     L. 12. Satyr playing on a flute.
     R. 13. Cupid bending his bow.
     R. 20. Old woman intoxicated.

     "Tout le monde a remarqué dans le musée du Capitole une vieille
     femme serrant des deux mains une bouteille, la bouche entr'ouverte,
     les yeux mourants tournés vers le ciel, comme si, dans la
     jubilation de l'ivresse, elle savourait le vin qu'elle vient de
     boire. Comment ne pas voir dans cette caricature en marbre une
     reproduction de _la Vielle Femme ivre_ de Myron, qui passait pour
     une des curiosités de Smyrne."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 272.

    L. 26. The infant Hercules strangling a serpent.
    L. 28. Grand Sarcophagus--the Rape of Proserpine.
    R. 33. Satyr playing on a flute.
    (In the wall on the left inscriptions from the columbarium of Livia.)
    R. 43. Head of Ariadne.
    L. 48. Sarcophagus--the birth and childhood of Bacchus.
    L. 56. Statue, draped.
    R. 64. Jupiter, on a cippus with a curious relief of Claudia drawing
    the boat with the image of the Magna Mater up the Tiber.
    L. 69. Bust of Caligula.
    R. 70. Marcus Aurelius, as a boy--a very beautiful bust.
    R. 70. Statue of Minerva from Velletri. The same as that in the
    Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican.
    R. 72. Trajan.
    76. In the window, a magnificent vase, found near the tomb
    of Cecilia Metella, standing on a puteal adorned with reliefs of the
    twelve principal gods and goddesses.

From the right of this corridor open two chambers. The first is named
the _Room of the Doves_, from the famous mosaic found in the ruins of
Hadrian's villa near Tivoli, and generally called _Pliny's Doves_,
because Pliny, when speaking of the perfection to which the mosaic art
had attained, describes a wonderful mosaic of Sosus of Pergamos, in
which one dove is seen drinking and casting her shadow on the water,
while others are pluming themselves on the edge of the vase. As a
pendant to this is another _Mosaic, of a Tragic and Comic Mask_. In the
farther window is the _Iliac Tablet_, an interesting relief in the soft
marble called palombino, relating to the story of the destruction of
Troy, and the flight of Æneas, and found at Bovillæ.

     "L'ensemble de la guerre contre Troie est contenu dans un abrégé
     figuré qu'on appelle la Table Iliaque, petit bas-relief destiné à
     offrir un résumé visible de cette guerre aux jeunes Romains, et à
     servir dans les écoles soit pour l'_Iliade_, soit pour les poëmes
     cycliques comme d'un _Index parlant_.

     "La Table Iliaque est un ouvrage romain fait à Rome. Tout ce qui
     touche aux origines troyennes de cette ville, inconnues à Homère et
     célébrées surtout par Stésichore avant de l'être par Virgile, tient
     dans ce bas-relief une place importante et domine dans sa
     composition."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 431.

In the centre of the room is a pretty statuette of a girl shielding a
dove.

The second chamber, known as _The Reserved Cabinet_, contains the famous
_Venus of the Capitol_--a Greek statue, found immured in a wall upon the
Quirinal.

     "La vérité et la complaisance avec lesquelles la nature est rendue
     dans la Vénus du Capitole faisaient de cette belle statue,--qui
     pourtant n'a rien d'indécent bien que par une pruderie peu chaste
     on l'ait reléguée dans un cabinet réservé,--faisaient de cette
     belle statue un sujet de scandale pour l'austérité des premiers
     chrétiens. C'était sans doute afin de la soustraire à leurs
     mutilations qu'on l'avait enfouie avec soin, ce qui l'a conservée
     dans son intégrité; ainsi son danger l'a sauvée. Comme on l'a
     trouvée dans le quartier suspect de la Suburra, on peut supposer
     qu'elle ornait l'atrium élégant de quelque riche
     courtisane."--_Ampère_, iii. 318.

The two smaller sculptures of Leda and the Swan, and Cupid and
Psyche--two lovely children embracing (most needlessly secluded here),
were found on the Aventine.

From the end of the gallery we enter

_The Hall of the Emperors._ In the centre is the beautiful seated statue
of Agrippina (grand-daughter of Augustus--wife of Germanicus--and mother
of Caligula).

     "On s'arrête avec respect devant la première Agrippine, assise avec
     une si noble simplicité et dont le visage exprime si bien la
     fermeté virile."--_Ampère_, iv.

     "Ici nous la contemplons telle que nous pouvons nous la figurer
     après la mort de Germanicus. Elle semble mise aux fers par le
     destin, mais sans pouvoir encore renoncer aux pensées superbes dont
     son âme était remplie aux jours de son bonheur."--_Braun._

Round the room are ranged 83 busts of Roman emperors, empresses, and
their near relations, forming perhaps the most interesting portrait
gallery in the world. Even viewed as works of art, many of them are of
the utmost importance. They are--

     1. Julius Cæsar, nat. B.C. 100; ob. B.C. 44.
     2. Augustus, Imp. B.C. 12--A.D. 14.
     3. Marcellus, his nephew and son-in-law, son
     of Octavia, ob. B.C. 23, aged 20.
     4, 5. Tiberius, Imp. A.D. 14-37.
     6. Drusus, his brother, son of Livia and Claudius Nero, ob. B.C. 10.
     7. Drusus, son of Tiberius and Vipsania, ob. A.D. 23.
     8. Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia, wife of the elder
     Drusus, mother of Germanicus and Claudius.
     9. Germanicus, son of Drusus and Antonia, ob. A.D. 19.
     10. Agrippina, daughter of Julia and Agrippa, granddaughter of
     Augustus, wife of Germanicus. Died of starvation under Tiberius, A.D. 33.
     11. Caligula, Imp. A.D. 37-41, son of Germanicus and
     Agrippina. Murdered by the tribune Cherœa (in basalt).
     12. Claudius, Imp. A.D. 41-54, younger son of Drusus and Antonia.
     Poisoned by Agrippina.
     13. Messalina, third wife of Claudius. Put
     to death by Claudius, A.D. 48.

     "Une grosse commère sensuelle, aux traits bouffis, à l'air assez
     commun, mais qui pouvait plaire à Claude."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 32.

    14. Agrippina the younger, sixth wife of Claudius, daughter of Germanicus
        and Agrippina the elder, great-granddaughter of Augustus. Murdered by
        her son Nero, A.D. 60.

     "Ce buste la montre avec cette beauté plus grande que celle de sa
     mère, et qui était pour elle un moyen. Agrippine a les yeux levés
     vers le ciel, on dirait qu'elle craint, et qu'elle attend."--_Emp._
     ii. 34.

    15, 16. Nero, Imp. A.D. 54-69, son of Agrippina the younger by her first
        husband, Ahenobarbus. Died by his own hand.
    17. Poppæa Sabina (?), second wife of Nero. Killed by a kick from
    her husband, A.D. 62.

     "Ce visage a la délicatesse presque enfantine que pouvait offrir
     celui de cette femme, dont les molles recherches et les soins
     curieux de toilette étaient célèbres, et dont Diderot a dit avec
     vérité, bien qu'avec un peu d'emphase, 'C'était une furie sous le
     visage des grâces.'"--_Emp._ ii. 38.

    18. Galba, Imp. A.D. 69. Murdered in the Forum.
    19. Otho, Imp. A.D. 69. Died by his own hand.
    20. Vitellius (?), Imp. A.D. 69. Murdered at the Scalæ Gemoniæ.
    21. Vespasian, Imp. A.D. 70-79.
    22. Titus, Imp. A.D. 79-81. Supposed to have been poisoned by Domitian.
    23. Julia, daughter of Titus.
    24. Domitian, Imp. A.D. 81-96, son of Vespasian. Murdered
        in the Palace of the Cæsars.

     "Domitien est sans comparaison le plus beau des trois Flaviens:
     mais c'est une beauté formidable, avec un air farouche et
     faux."--_Emp._ ii. 12.

  25. Longina (?).
  26. Nerva (?), Imp. A.D. 96.
  27. Trajan, Imp. A.D. 98-118.
  28. Plotina, wife of Trajan.
  29. Marciana, sister of Trajan.
  30. Matidia, daughter of Marciana, niece of Trajan.
  31, 32. Hadrian, Imp. A.D. 118-138, adopted son of Trajan.
  33. Julia Sabina, wife of Hadrian, daughter of Matidia.
  34. Elius Verus, first adopted son of Hadrian.
  35. Antoninus Pius, Imp. A.D. 138-161, second adopted son of Hadrian.
  36. Faustina the elder, wife of Antoninus Pius and sister of Elius Verus.
  37. Marcus Aurelius, Imp. A.D. 161-180, son of Servianus by Paulina, sister
      of Hadrian, adopted by Antoninus Pius, as a boy.
  38. Marcus Aurelius, in later life.
  39. Annia Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius, daughter of Antoninus Pius
      and Faustina the elder.
  40. Galerius Antoninus, son of Antoninus Pius.
  41. Lucius Verus, son-in-law of Marcus Aurelius.
  42. Lucilla, wife of Lucius Verus, daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina
      the younger. Put to death at Capri for a plot against her husband.
  43. Commodus, Imp. A.D. 180-193, son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina.
      Murdered in the Palace of the Cæsars.
  44. Crispina, wife of Commodus. Put to death by her husband at Capri.
  45. Pertinax, Imp. A.D. 193, successor of Commodus, reigned three months.
      Murdered in the Palace of the Cæsars.
  46. Didius Julianus, Imp. A.D. 193, successor of Pertinax. Murdered in
      the Palace of the Cæsars.
  47. Manlia Scantilla (?), wife of Didius Julianus.
                       {rival candidates (after murder of Didius
  48. Pescennius Niger,{Julianus, A.D. 193) for the Empire, which
  49. Clodius Albinus, {they failed to obtain, and were both put to
                       {death.
  50, 51. Septimius Severus, Imp. A.D. 193-211, successor of Didius Julianus.
  52. Julia Pia, wife of Septimius Severus.
  53. Caracalla, Imp. A.D. 211-217, son of Sept. Severus and Julia Pia.
      Murdered.
  54. Geta, brother of Caracalla, by whose order he was murdered in the
      arms of Julia Pia.
  55. Macrinus, Imp. A.D. 217, murderer and successor of Caracalla. Murdered.
  56. Diadumenianus, son of Macrinus. Murdered with his father.
  57. Heliogabalus, Imp. A.D. 218--222, son of Julia Soemis, daughter of
      Julia Mœsa, who was sister of Julia Pia. Murdered.
  58. Annia Faustina, third wife of Heliogabalus, great-granddaughter of
      Marcus Aurelius.
  59. Julia Mœsa, sister-in-law of Septimius Severus, aunt of Caracalla,
      and grandmother of Alexander Severus.
  60. Alexander Severus, Imp., son of Julia Mammea, second daughter of Julia
      Mœsa. Murdered at the age of 30.
  61. Julia Mammea, daughter of Julia Mœsa, and mother of Alexander
      Severus. Murdered with her son.
  62. Julius Maximinus, Imp. 235--238; elected by the army. Murdered.
  63. Maximus. Murdered with his father, at the age of 18.
  64. Gordianus Africanus, Imp. 238; a descendant of Trajan. Died by his
      own hand.
  65. (Antoninus) Gordianus, Junior, Imp. 238, son of Gordianus Africanus and
      Fabia Orestella, great-granddaughter of Antoninus Pius. Died in battle.
  66. Pupienus, Imp. 238, {reigned together for four months and then
  67. Balbinus, Imp. 238, {were murdered.
  68. Gordianus Pius, Imp. 238, grandson, through his mother, of Gordianus
      Africanus. Murdered.
  69. Philip II., Imp. 244, son of, and co-emperor with Philip I. Murdered.
  70. Decius(?), Imp. 249--251. Forcibly elected by the army. Killed in
      battle.
  71. Quintus Herennius Etruscus, son of Decius and Herennia Etruscilla.
      Killed in battle with his father.
  72. Hostilianus, son or son-in-law of Decius, Imp. 251, with Treb. Gallus.
      Murdered.
  73. Trebonianus Gallus, Imp. 251--254. Murdered.
  74, 75. Volusianus, son of Trebonianus Gallus. Murdered.
  76. Gallienus, Imp. 261--268. Murdered.
  77. Salonina, wife of Gallienus.
  78. Saloninus, son of Gallienus and Salonina. Put to death by Postumus, A.D.
      259, at the age of 17.
  79. Marcus Aurelius Carinus, Imp. 283, son of the Emperor Carus. Murdered.
  80. Diocletian, Imp. 284-305; elected by the army.
  81. Constantinus Chlorus, Imp. 305-306, son of Eutropius and Claudia, niece
      of the Emperor Claudius and Quintilius, father of Constantine the Great.
  82. Julian the Apostate, Imp. 361-363, son of Julius Constantius and nephew
      of Constantine the Great. Died in battle.
  83. Magnus Decentius, brother of the Emperor Magnentius. Strangled
      himself, 353.

     "In their busts the lips of the Roman emperors are generally
     closed, indicating reserve and dignity, free from human passions
     and emotions."--_Winckelmann._

     "At Rome the emperors become as familiar as the popes. Who does not
     know the curly-headed Marcus Aurelius, with his lifted brow and
     projecting eyes--from the full round beauty of his youth to the
     more haggard look of his latest years? Are there any modern
     portraits more familiar than the severe wedge-like head of
     Augustus, with his sharp cut lips and nose,--or the dull phiz of
     Hadrian, with his hair combed down over his low forehead,--or the
     vain, perking face of Lucius Verus, with his thin nose, low brow,
     and profusion of curls,--or the brutal bull head of Caracalla,--or
     the bestial, bloated features of Vitellius?

     "These men, who were but lay figures to us at school, mere pegs of
     names to hang historic robes upon, thus interpreted by the living
     history of their portraits, the incidental illustrations of the
     places where they lived and moved and died, and the buildings and
     monuments they erected, become like men of yesterday. Art has made
     them our contemporaries. They are as near to us as Pius VII. and
     Napoleon."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

     "Nerva est le premier des bons, et Trajan le premier des grands
     empereurs romains; après lui il y en eut deux autres, les deux
     Antonins. Trois sur soixante-dix, tel est à Rome le bilan des
     gloires morales de l'empire."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ liii.

Among the reliefs round the upper walls of this room are two,--of
Endymion sleeping, and of Perseus delivering Andromeda, which belong to
the set in the Palazzo Spada, and are exceedingly beautiful.

       *       *       *       *       *

_The Hall of Illustrious Men_ contains a seated statue of M. Claudius
Marcellus (?), the conqueror of Syracuse, B.C. 212. Round the room are
ranged 93 busts of ancient philosophers, statesmen, and warriors. Among
the more important are:--

       4, 5, 6. Socrates.
             9. Aristides, the orator.
            10. Seneca (?).
            16. Marcus Agrippa.
            19. Theophrastus.
            23. Thales.
            25. Theon.
            27. Pythagoras.
            28. Alexander the Great(?).
            30. Aristophanes.
            31. Demosthenes.
            38. Aratus.
        39, 40. Democritus of Aldera.
        42, 43. Euripides.
    44, 45, 46. Homer.
            47. Eumenides.
            48. Cneius Domitius Corbulo, general under Claudius and Nero.
            49. Scipio Africanus.
            52. Cato Minor.
            54. Aspasia(?).
            55. Cleopatra (?).
            60. Thucydides (?).
            61. Æschines.
        62, 64. Epicurus.
            63. Epicurus and Metrodorus.
        68, 69. Masinissa.
            71. Antisthenes.
        72, 73. Julian the Apostate.
            75. Cicero.
            76. Terence.
            82. Æschylus (?).

Among the interesting bas-reliefs in this room is one of a Roman
interior with a lady trying to persuade her cat to dance to a lyre--the
cat, meanwhile, snapping, on its hind legs, at two ducks; the detail of
the room is given--even to the slippers under the bed.

_The Saloon_ contains, down the centre,

     1. Jupiter (in nero-antico), from Porto d'Anzio, on an altar with
     figures of Mercury, Apollo, and Diana.

     2, 4. Centaurs (in bigio-morato), by _Aristeas_ and _Papias_ (their
     names are on the bases), from Hadrian's villa.

     3. The young Hercules, found on the Aventine. It stands on an altar
     of Jupiter.

     "On voit au Capitole une statue d'Hercule très-jeune, en basalte,
     qui frappe assez désagréablement, d'abord, par le contraste,
     habilement exprimé toutefois, des formes molles de l'enfance et de
     la vigueur caractéristique du héros. L'imitation de la Grèce se
     montre même dans la matière que l'artiste a choisie; c'est un
     basalt verdâtre, de couleur sombre. Tisagoras et Alcon avaient fait
     un Hercule en fer, pour exprimer la force, et, comme dit Pline,
     pour signifier l'énergie persévérante de dieu."--_Ampère, Hist.
     Rom._ iii. 406.

     5. Æsculapius (in nero-antico), on an altar, representing a
     sacrifice.

Among the statues and busts round the room the more important are:--

     9. Marcus Aurelius.

     14. A Satyr.

     21. Hadrian, as Mars, from Ceprano.

     24. Hercules, in gilt bronze, found in the Forum-Boarium (the
     columns on either side come from the tomb of Cecilia Metella).

     "On cite de Myron trois Hercules, dont deux à Rome; l'un de ces
     derniers a probablement servi de modèle à l'Hercule en bronze doré
     du Capitole. Cette statue a été trouvée dans le marché aux
     Bœufs, non loin du grand cirque. L'Hercule de Myron était dans
     un temple élevé par Pompée et situé près du grand cirque; mais la
     statue du Capitole, dont le geste est maniéré, quel que soit son
     mérite, n'est pas assez parfaite qu'on puisse y reconnaître une
     œuvre de Myron. Peut-être Pompée n'avait placé dans son temple
     qu'une copie de l'un des deux Hercules de Myron et la donnait pour
     l'original; peut-être aussi Pline y a-t-il été trompé. La vanité
     que l'un montre dans tous les actes de sa vie et le peu de
     sentiment vrai que trahit si souvent la vaste composition de
     l'autre s'accordent également avec cette supposition et la rendent
     assez vraisemblable."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 273.

     28. Hecuba.

     "Nous avons le personnage même d'Hécube dans la Pleureuse du
     Capitole. Cette prétendué pleureuse est une Hécube furieuse et une
     Hécube en scène, car elle porte le costume, elle a le geste et la
     vivacité du théâtre, je dirais volontiers de la pantomime.... Son
     regard est tourné vers le ciel, sa bouche lance des imprécations;
     on voit qu'elle pourra faire entendre ces hurlements, ces
     aboiements de la douleur effrénée que l'antiquité voulut exprimer
     en supposant que la malheureuse Hécube avait été métamorphosée en
     chienne, une chienne à laquelle on a arraché ses petits."--_Ampère,
     Hist. Rom._ iii. 468.

     31. Colossal bust of Antoninus Pius.

       *       *       *       *       *

_The Hall of the Faun_ derives its name from the famous Faun of
rosso-antico, holding a bunch of grapes to his mouth, found in Hadrian's
Villa. It stands on an altar dedicated to Serapis. Against the right
wall is a magnificent sarcophagus, whose reliefs (much studied by
Flaxman) represent the battle of Theseus and the Amazons. The opposite
sarcophagus has a relief of Diana and Endymion. We should also notice--

15. A boy with a mask.

21. A boy with a goose (found near the Lateran).

Let into the wall is a black tablet--the Lex Regia, or
Senatus-Consultum, conferring imperial powers upon Vespasian, being the
very table upon which Rienzi declaimed in favour of the rights of the
people.

       *       *       *       *       *

_The Hall of the Dying Gladiator_ contains the three gems of the
collection--"the Gladiator," "the Antinous of the Capitol," and the
"Faun of Praxiteles." Besides these, we should notice--2. Apollo with
the lyre, and 9. a bust of M. Junius Brutus, the assassin of Julius
Cæsar.

In the centre of the room is the grand statue of the wounded Gaul,
generally known as the Dying Gladiator.

    "I see before me the gladiator lie:
    He leans upon his hand--his manly brow
    Consents to death, but conquers agony,
    And his drooped head sinks gradually low,--
    And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow
    From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,
    Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now
    The arena swims around him--he is gone,
    Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won.

    "He heard it, but he heeded not--his eyes
    Were with his heart, and that was far away;
    He reck'd not of the life he lost, nor prize,
    But where his rude hut by the Danube lay
    There were his young barbarians all at play,
    There was their Dacian mother--he, their sire,
    Butchered to make a Roman holiday.
    All this rushed with his blood--shall he expire,
    And unavenged? Arise, ye Goths, and glut your ire!"

    _Byron, Childe Harold._

It is delightful to read in this room the description in
_Transformation_:--

     "It was that room in the centre of which reclines the noble and
     most pathetic figure of the dying gladiator, just sinking into his
     death-swoon. Around the walls stand the Antinous, the Amazon, the
     Lycian Apollo, the Juno; all famous productions of antique
     sculpture, and still shining in the undiminished majesty and beauty
     of their ideal life, although the marble that embodies them is
     yellow with time, and perhaps corroded by the damp earth in which
     they lay buried for centuries. Here, likewise, is seen a symbol (as
     apt at this moment as it was two thousand years ago) of the Human
     Soul, with its choice of Innocence or Evil close at hand, in the
     pretty figure of a child, clasping a dove to her bosom, but
     assaulted by a snake.

     "From one of the windows of this saloon, we may see a broad flight
     of stone steps, descending alongside the antique and massive
     foundation of the Capitol, towards the battered triumphal arch of
     Septimius Severus, right below. Farther on, the eye skirts along
     the edge of the desolate Forum (where Roman washerwomen hang out
     their linen to the sun), passing over a shapeless confusion of
     modern edifices, piled rudely up with ancient brick and stone, and
     over the domes of Christian churches, built on the old pavements
     of heathen temples, and supported by the very pillars that once
     upheld them. At a distance beyond--yet but a little way,
     considering how much history is heaped into the intervening
     space--rises the great sweep of the Coliseum, with the blue sky
     brightening through its upper tier of arches. Far off, the view is
     shut in by the Alban mountains, looking just the same, amid all
     this decay and change, as when Romulus gazed thitherward over his
     half-finished wall.

     "In this chamber is the Faun of Praxiteles. It is the marble image
     of a young man, leaning his right arm on the trunk or stump of a
     tree: one hand hangs carelessly by his side, in the other he holds
     a fragment of a pipe, or some such sylvan instrument of music. His
     only garment, a lion's skin with the claws upon the shoulder, falls
     half-way down his back, leaving his limbs and entire front of the
     figure nude. The form, thus displayed, is marvellously graceful,
     but has a fuller and more rounded outline, more flesh, and less of
     heroic muscle, than the old sculptors were wont to assign to their
     types of masculine beauty. The character of the face corresponds
     with the figure; it is most agreeable in outline and feature, but
     rounded and somewhat voluptuously developed, especially about the
     throat and chin; the nose is almost straight, but very slightly
     curves inward, thereby acquiring an indescribable charm of
     geniality and humour. The mouth, with its full yet delicate lips,
     seems so really to smile outright, that it calls forth a responsive
     smile. The whole statue--unlike anything else that ever was wrought
     in the severe material of marble--conveys the idea of an amiable
     and sensual creature, easy, mirthful, apt for jollity, yet not
     incapable of being touched by pathos. It is impossible to gaze long
     at this stone image, without conceiving a kindly sentiment towards
     it, as if its substance were warm to the touch, and imbued with
     actual life. It comes very near to some of our pleasantest
     sympathies."--_Hawthorne._

     "Praxitèle avait dit à Phryné de choisir entre ses ouvrages celui
     qu'elle aimerait le mieux. Pour savoir lequel de ses
     chefs-d'œuvre l'artiste préférait, elle lui fit annoncer que le
     feu avait pris à son atelier. 'Sauvez, s'écria-t-il, mon Satyre et
     mon Amour!'"--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 309.

The west or right side of the Capitoline Piazza is occupied by _the
Palace of the Conservators_, which contains the Protomoteca, the Picture
Gallery, and various other treasures.

The little court at the entrance is full of historical relics, including
remains of two gigantic statues of Apollo; a colossal head of Domitian;
and the marble pedestal, which once in the mausoleum of Augustus
supported the cinerary urn of Agrippina, wife of Germanicus, with a very
perfect inscription. In the opposite loggia are a statue of Rome
Triumphant, and a group of a lion attacking a horse, found in the bed of
the Almo. In the portico on the right is the only authentic statue of
Julius Cæsar; on the left, a statue of Augustus, leaning against the
rostrum of a galley, in allusion to the battle of Actium.

_The Protomoteca_, a suite of eight rooms on the ground floor, contains
a collection of busts of eminent Italians, with a few foreigners
considered as naturalised by a long residence in Rome. Those in the
second room, representing artists of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth centuries, were entirely executed at the expense of Canova.

At the foot of the staircase is a restoration by Michael Angelo of the
column of Caius Duilius. On the upper flight of the staircase is a
bas-relief of Curtius leaping into the gulf, here represented as a
marsh.

     "Un bas-relief d'un travail ancien, dont le style ressemble à celui
     des figures peintes sur les vases dits archaïques, représente
     Curtius engagé dans son marais; le cheval baisse la tête et flaire
     le marécage, qui est indiqué par des roseaux. Le guerrier penché en
     avant, presse sa monture. On a vivement, en présence de cette
     curieuse sculpture, le sentiment d'un incident héroïque
     probablement réel, et en même temps de l'aspect primitif du lieu
     qui en fut témoin."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 321._

On the first and second landings are magnificent reliefs, representing
events in the life of Marcus Aurelius, Imp., belonging to the arch
dedicated to him, which was wantonly destroyed, in order to widen the
Corso, by Alexander VII.

     "Jusqu'au lègne de Commode Rome est représentée par une Amazone;
     dans l'escalier du palais des Conservateurs, Rome, en tunique
     courte d'Amazone et le globe à la main, reçoit Marc Aurèle; le
     globe dans la main de Rome date de César."--_Ampère_, iii. 242.

_The Halls of the Conservators_ consist of eight rooms. The 1st, painted
in fresco from the history of the Roman kings, by the _Cavaliere
d'Arpino_, contains statues of Urban VIII., by Bernini; Leo X., by the
Sicilian Giacomo della Duca;[41] and Innocent X., in bronze, by Algardi.
The 2nd room, adorned with subjects from republican history by
_Lauretti_, has statues of modern Roman generals--Marc Antonio Colonna,
Tommaso Rospigliosi, Francesco Aldobrandini, Carlo Barberini, brother of
Urban VIII., and Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma. The 3rd room,
painted by _Daniele di Volterra_, with subjects from the wars with the
Cimbri, contains the famous _Bronze Wolf of the Capitol_, one of the
most interesting relics in the city. The figure of the wolf is of
unknown antiquity; those of Romulus and Remus are modern. It has been
doubted whether this is the wolf described by Dionysius as "an ancient
work of brass" standing in the temple of Romulus under the Palatine, or
the wolf described by Cicero, who speaks of a little gilt figure of the
founder of the city sucking the teats of a wolf. The Ciceronian wolf was
struck by lightning in the time of the great orator, and a fracture in
the existing figure, attributed to lightning, is adduced in proof of its
identity with it.

              "Geminos huic ubera circum
    Ludere pendentes pueros, et lambere matrem
    Impavidos: illam tereti cervice reflexam
    Mulcere alternos, et corpora fingere lingua."

    _Virgil, Æn._ viii. 632.

    "And thou, the thunder-stricken nurse of Rome!
    She-wolf! whose brazen-imaged dugs impart
    The milk of conquest yet within the dome
    Where, as a monument of antique art,
    Thou standest:--mother of the mighty heart,
    Which the great founder sucked from thy wild teat,
    Scorch'd by the Roman Jove's ethereal dart,
    And thy limbs black with lightning--dost thou yet
    Guard thy immortal cubs, nor thy fond charge forget?"

    _Byron, Childe Harold._

Standing near the wolf is the well-known and beautiful figure of a boy
extracting a thorn from his foot, called the Shepherd Martius.

     "La ressemblance du type si fin de l'Apollon au lézard et du
     charmant bronze du Capitole _le tíreur d'épine_ est trop frappante
     pour qu'on puisse se refuser à voir dans celui-ci une inspiration
     de Praxitèle ou de son école. C'est tout simplement un enfant
     arrachant de son pied une épine qui l'a blessé, sujet naïf et
     champêtre analogue au Satyre se faisant rendre ce service par un
     autre Satyre. On a voulu y voir un athlète blessé par une épine
     pendant sa course et qui n'en est pas moins arrivé au but; mais la
     figure est trop jeune et n'a rien d'athlétique. Le moyen âge avait
     donné aussi son explication et inventé sa legende. On raccontait
     qu'un jeune berger, envoyé à la découverte de l'ennemi, était
     revenu sans s'arrêter et ne s'était permis qu'alors d'arracher une
     épine qui lui blessait le pied. Le moyen âge avait senti le charme
     de cette composition qu'il interprétait à sa manière, car elle est
     sculptée sur un arceau de la cathédrale de Zurich qui date du
     siècle de Charlemagne."--_Ampère_, iii. 315.

Forming part of the decorations of this room are two fine pictures, a
dead Christ with a monk praying, and Sta. Francesca Romana, by
_Romanelli_. Near the door of exit is a bust said to be that of Junius
Brutus.

     "Il est permis de voir dans le buste du Capitole un vrai portrait
     de Brutus; il est difficile d'en douter en le contemplant. Voilà
     bien le visage farouche, la barbe _hirsute_, les cheveux roides
     collés si rudement sur le front, la physiognomie inculte et
     terrible du prémier consul romain; la bouche serrée respire la
     détermination et l'énergie; les yeux, formés d'une matière
     jaunâtre, se détachent en clair sur le bronze noirci par les
     siècles et vous jettent un regard fixe et farouche. Tout près est
     la louve de bronze. Brutus est de la même famille. On sent qu'il y
     a du lait de cette louve dans les veines du second fondateur de
     Rome, comme dans les veines du premier, et que lui aussi, pareil au
     Romulus de la légende, marchera vers son but à travers le sang des
     siens.

     "Le buste de Brutus est placé sur un piédestal qui le met à la
     hauteur du regard. Là, dans un coin sombre, j'ai passé bien des
     moments face à face avec l'impitoyable fondateur de la liberté
     romaine."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 270.

The 4th Room contains the _Fasti Consulares_, tables found near the
temple of Minerva Chalcidica, and inscribed with the names of public
officers from Romulus to Augustus. The 5th Room contains two bronze
ducks (formerly shown as the sacred geese of the Capitol) and a female
head--found in the gardens of Sallust, a bust of Medusa, by _Bernini_,
and many others. The 6th, or Throne Room, hung with faded tapestry, has
a frieze in fresco, by _Annibale Caracci_, representing the triumphs of
Scipio Africanus. The 7th Room is painted by _Daniele da Volterra_(?)
with the history of the Punic Wars. The 8th Room (now used as a passage)
is a chapel, containing a lovely fresco, by _Pinturicchio_, of the
Madonna and Child with Angels.

     "The Madonna is seated enthroned, fronting the spectator; her large
     mantle forms a grand cast of drapery; the child on her lap sleeps
     in the loveliest attitude; she folds her hands and looks down,
     quiet, serious, and beautiful: in the clouds are two adoring
     angels."--_Kugler._

The four Evangelists are by _Caravaggio_; the pictures of Roman saints
(Cecilia, Alexis, Eustachio, Francesca-Romana), by _Romanelli_.

By the same staircase, passing on the left a wonderful relief of the
apotheosis of the wicked Faustina, we may arrive at the _Picture Gallery
of the Capitol_ (which can also be approached by a separate staircase,
entered from an alley at the back of the building), reached by two rooms
inscribed with the names of the Roman Conservators from the middle of
the sixteenth century. This gallery contains very few first-rate
pictures, but has a beautiful St. Sebastian, by Guido, and several fine
works of _Guercino_. The most noticeable pictures are--

_1st Room._--

     2. Disembodied Spirit (unfinished): _Guido Reni_.
    13. St. John Baptist: _Guercino_.
    16. Mary Magdalene: _Guido Reni_.
    20. The Cumæan Sibyl: _Domenichino_.
    26. Mary Magdalene: _Tintoretto_.
    27. Presentation in the Temple: _Fra. Bartolomeo_.
    30. Holy Family: _Garofalo_.
    52. Madonna and Saints: _Botticelli?_
    61. Portrait of himself: _Guido Reni_.
    78. Madonna and Saints: _F. Francia_, 1513.
    80. Portrait: _Velasquez_.
    87. St. Augustine: _Giovanni Bellini_.
    89. Romulus and Remus: _Rubens_.

_2nd Room._--

    100. Two male portraits: _Vandyke_.
    104. Adoration of the Shepherds: _Mazzolino_.
    106. Two Portraits: _Vandyke_.
    116. St. Sebastian: _Guido Reni_.
    117. Cleopatra and Augustus: _Guercino_.
    119. St. Sebastian: _Lud. Caracci_.
    128. Gipsy telling a fortune: _Caravaggio_.
    132. Portrait: _Giovanni Bellini_.
    134. Portrait of Michael Angelo: _M. Venusti?_
    136. Petrarch: _Gio. Bellini?_
    142. Nativity of the Virgin: _Albani_.
    143. Sta. Petronilla: _Guercino_. An enormous picture, brought hither
         from St. Peter's, where it has been replaced by a mosaic copy. The
         composition is divided into two parts. The lower represents the
         burial of Sta. Petronilla, the upper the ascension of her spirit.

"The Apostle Peter had a daughter, born in lawful wedlock, who
accompanied him in his journey from the East. Petronilla was wonderfully
fair; and Valerius Flaccus, a young and noble Roman, who was a heathen,
became enamoured of her beauty, and sought her for his wife; and he,
being very powerful, she feared to refuse him; she therefore desired him
to return in three days, and promised that he should then carry her
home. But she prayed earnestly to be delivered from this peril; and when
Flaccus returned in three days, with great pomp, to celebrate the
marriage, he found her dead. The company of nobles who attended him,
carried her to the grave, in which they laid her, crowned with roses;
and Flaccus lamented greatly."--_Mrs. Jameson, from the Perfetto
Legendario._

199. Death and Assumption of the Virgin: _Cola della Matrice_.

"Here the death of the Virgin is treated at once in a mystical and
dramatic style. Enveloped in a dark blue mantle, spangled with golden
stars, she lies extended on a couch; St. Peter, in a splendid scarlet
cope as bishop, reads the service; St. John, holding the palm, weeps
bitterly. In front, and kneeling before the couch or bier, appear the
three great Dominican saints as witnesses of the religious mystery; in
the centre St. Dominic; on the left, St. Catherine of Siena; and on the
right, St. Thomas Aquinas. In a compartment above is the
Assumption."--_Jameson's Legends of the Madonna_, p. 315.

    123. Virgin and Angels: _Paul Veronese_.
    124. Rape of Europa: _Paul Veronese_.

At the head of the Capitol steps, to the right of the terrace, is the
entrance to the _Palazzo Caffarelli_, the residence of the Prussian
minister. It has a small but beautiful garden, and the view from the
windows is magnificent.

     "After dinner, Bunsen called for us, and took us first to his house
     on the Capitol, the different windows of which command the
     different views of ancient and modern Rome. Never shall I forget
     the view of the former; we looked down on the Forum, and just
     opposite were the Palatine and the Aventine, with the ruins of the
     Palace of the Cæsars on the one, and houses intermixed with gardens
     on the other. The mass of the Coliseum rose beyond the Forum, and
     beyond all, the wide plain of the Campagna to the sea. On the left
     rose the Alban hills, bright in the setting sun, which played full
     upon Frescati and Albano, and the trees which edge the lake, and
     further away in the distance, it lit up the old town of
     Labicum."--_Arnold's Letters._

From the further end of the courtyard of the Caffarelli Palace one can
look down upon part of the bare cliff of the Rupe Tarpeia. Here there
existed till 1868 a small court, which is represented as the scene of
the murder in Hawthorne's Marble Faun, or "Transformation." The door,
the niche in the wall, and all other details mentioned in the novel,
were realities. The character of the place is now changed by the removal
of the boundary-wall. The part of the rock seen from here is that
usually visited from below by the Via Tor de' Specchi.

To reach the principal portion of the south-eastern height of the
Capitol, we must ascend the staircase beyond the Palace of the
Conservators, on the right. Here we shall find ourselves upon the
highest part of

              "The Tarpeian rock, the citadel
    Of great and glorious Rome, queen of the earth,
    So far renown'd, and with the spoils enriched
    Of nations."
          _Paradise Regained._

                          "The steep
    Tarpeian, fittest goal of treason's race,
    The promontory whence the traitor's leap
    Cured all ambition."
         _Childe Harold._

The dirty lane, with its shabby houses, and grass-grown spaces, and
filthy children, has little to remind one of the appearance of the hill
as seen by Virgil and Propertius, who speak of the change in their time
from an earlier aspect.

    "Hinc ad Tarpeiam sedem, et Capitolia ducit,
    Aurea nunc, olim, silvestribus horrida dumis,
    Jam tum religio pavidos terrebat agrestes
    Dira loci; jam tum silvam saxumque tremebant."
                _Virgil, Æn._ viii. 347.

    "Hoc quodcumque vides, hospes, qua maxima Roma est,
    Ante Phrygem Aeneam collis et herba fuit."
                _Propertius_, iv. eleg. I.

It was on this side that the different attacks were made upon the
Capitol. The first was by the Sabine Herdonius at the head of a band of
slaves, who scaled the heights and surprised the garrison, in B.C. 460,
and from the heights of the citadel proclaimed freedom to all slaves who
should join him, with abolition of debts, and defence of the plebs from
their oppressors; but his offers were disregarded, and on the fourth day
the Capitol was re-taken, and he was slain with nearly all his
followers. The second attack was by the Gauls, who, according to the
well-known story, climbed the rock near the Porta Carmentale, and had
nearly reached the summit unobserved--for the dogs neglected to
bark--when the cries of the sacred geese of Juno aroused an officer
named Manlius, who rushed to the defence, and hurled over the precipice
the first assailant, who dragged down others in his fall, and thus the
Capitol was saved. In remembrance of this incident, a goose was
annually carried in triumph, and a dog annually crucified upon the
Capitol, between the temple of Summanus and that of Youth.[42] This was
the same Manlius, the friend of the people, who was afterwards condemned
by the patricians on pretext that he wished to make himself king, and
thrown from the Tarpeian rock, on the same spot, in sight of the Forum,
where Spurius Cassius, an ex-consul, had been thrown down before. To
visit the part of the rock from which these executions must have taken
place, it is necessary to enter a little garden near the German
Hospital, whence there is a beautiful view of the river and the
Aventine.

     "Quand on veut visiter la roche Tarpéienne, on sonne à une porte de
     peu d'apparence, sur laquelle sont écrits ces mots: _Rocca
     Tarpeia_. Une pauvre femme arrive et vous mène dans un carré de
     choux. C'est de là qu'on précipita Manlius. Je serais desolé que le
     carré de choux manquât."--_Ampère, Portraits de Rome._

This side of the Intermontium is now generally known as _Monte Caprino_,
a name which Ampère derives from the fact that Vejovis, the Etruscan
ideal of Jupiter, was always represented with a goat.[43] On this side
of the hill, the viaduct from the Palatine, built by Caligula (who
affected to require it to facilitate communication with his friend
Jupiter), joined the Capitoline.

We have still to examine the north-eastern height, the site of the most
interesting of pagan temples, now occupied by one of the most
interesting of Christian churches. The name of the famous _Church of
Ara-Cœli_ is generally attributed to an altar erected by Augustus to
commemorate the Delphic oracle respecting the coming of our Saviour,
which is still recognised in the well-known hymn of the Church:

    Teste David cum Sibylla.[44]

The altar bore the inscription "Ara Primogeniti Dei." Those who seek a
more humble origin for the church, say that the name merely dates from
mediæval times, when it was called "Sta, Maria in Aurocœlio." It
originally belonged to the Benedictine Order, but was transferred to the
Franciscans by Innocent IV. in 1252, since which time its convent has
occupied an important position as the residence of the General of the
Minor Franciscans (Grey-friars), and is the centre of religious life in
that Order.

The staircase on the left of the Senators' palace, which leads to the
side entrance of Ara-Cœli, is in itself full of historical
associations. It was at its head that Valerius the consul was killed in
the conflict with Herdonius for the possession of the Capitol. It was
down the ancient steps on this site that Annius, the envoy of the
Latins, fell (B.C. 340), and was nearly killed, after his audacious
proposition in the temple of Jupiter, that the Latins and Romans should
become one nation, and have a common senate and consuls. Here also,[45]
in B.C. 133, Tiberius Gracchus was knocked down with the leg of a chair,
and killed in front of the temple of Jupiter.

It is at the top of these steps, that the monks of Ara-Cœli, who are
celebrated as dentists, perform their hideous, but useful and gratuitous
operations, which may be witnessed here every morning!

Over the side entrance of Ara-Cœli is a beautiful mosaic of the
Virgin and Child. This, with the ancient brick arches above, framing
fragments of deep blue sky--and the worn steps below--forms a subject
dear to Roman artists, and is often introduced as a background to groups
of monks and peasants. The interior of the church is vast, solemn, and
highly picturesque. It was here, as Gibbon himself tells us, that on the
15th of October, 1764, as he sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol,
while the bare-footed friars were singing vespers, the idea of writing
the "Decline and Fall" of the city first started to his mind.

     "As we lift the great curtain and push into the church, a faint
     perfume of incense salutes the nostrils. The golden sunset bursts
     in as the curtain of the (west) door sways forward, illuminates the
     mosaic floor, catches on the rich golden ceiling, and flashes here
     and there over the crowd (gathered in Epiphany), on some brilliant
     costume or closely shaven head. All sorts of people are thronging
     there, some kneeling before the shrine of the Madonna, which gleams
     with its hundreds of silver votive hearts, legs, and arms, some
     listening to the preaching, some crowding round the chapel of the
     _Presepio_. Old women, haggard and wrinkled, come tottering along
     with their _scaldini_ of coals, drop down on their knees to pray,
     and, as you pass, interpolate in their prayers a parenthesis of
     begging. The church is not architecturally handsome, but it is
     eminently picturesque, with its relics of centuries, its mosaic
     pulpits and floors, its frescoes of Pinturicchio and Pesaro, its
     antique columns, its rich golden ceiling, its gothic mausoleum to
     the Savelli, and its mediæval tombs. A dim, dingy look is over
     all--but it is the dimness of faded splendour; and one cannot stand
     there, knowing the history of the church, its great antiquity, and
     the varied fortunes it has known, without a peculiar sense of
     interest and pleasure.

     "It was here that Romulus in the grey dawning of Rome built the
     temple of Jupiter Feretrius. Here the _spolia opima_ were
     deposited. Here the triumphal processions of the emperors and
     generals ended. Here the victors paused before making their vows,
     until, from the Mamertine prisons below, the message came to
     announce that their noblest prisoner and victim--while the clang of
     their triumph and his defeat rose ringing in his ears, as the
     procession ascended the steps--had expiated with death the crime of
     being the enemy of Rome. On the steps of Ara-Cœli, nineteen
     centuries ago, the first great Cæsar climbed on his knees after
     his first triumph. At their base, Rienzi, the last of the Roman
     tribunes, fell--and if the tradition of the Church is to be
     trusted, it was on the site of the present high altar that Augustus
     erected the 'Ara Primogeniti Dei,' to commemorate the Delphic
     prophecy of the coming of our Saviour. Standing on a spot so
     thronged with memories, the dullest imagination takes fire. The
     forms and scenes of the past rise from their graves and pass before
     us, and the actual and visionary are mingled together in strange
     poetic confusion."--_Roba di Roma_, i. 73.

The floor of the church is of the ancient mosaic known as Opus
Alexandrinum. The nave is separated from the aisles by twenty-two
ancient columns, of which two are of cipollino, two of white marble, and
eighteen of Egyptian granite. They are of very different forms and
sizes, and have probably been collected from various pagan edifices. The
inscription "A Cubiculo Augustorum" upon the third column on the left of
the nave, shows that it was brought from the Palace of the Cæsars. The
windows in this church are amongst the few in Rome which show traces of
gothic. At the end of the nave, on either side, are two ambones, marking
the position of the choir before it was extended to its present site in
the sixteenth century.

The transepts are full of interesting monuments. That on the right is
the burial-place of the great family of Savelli, and contains--on the
left, the monument of Luca Savelli, 1266 (father of Pope Honorius IV.)
and his son Pandolfo,--an ancient and richly sculptured sarcophagus, to
which a gothic canopy was added by _Agostino_ and _Agnolo da Siena_ from
designs of Giotto. Opposite, is the tomb of the mother of Honorius, Vana
Aldobrandesca, upon which is the statue of the pope himself, removed
from his monument in the old St. Peter's by Paul III.

On the left of the high altar is the tomb of Cardinal Gianbattista
Savelli, ob. 1498, and near it--in the pavement, the half-effaced
gravestone of Sigismondo Conti, whose features are so familiar to us
from his portrait introduced into the famous picture of the Madonna di
Foligno, which was painted by Raphael at his order, and presented by him
to this church, where it remained over the high altar, till 1565, when
his great niece Anna became a nun at the convent of the Contesse at
Foligno, and was allowed to carry it away with her. In the east transept
is another fine gothic tomb, that of Cardinal Matteo di Acquasparta
(1302), a General of the Franciscans mentioned by Dante for his wise and
moderate rule.[46] The quaint chapel in the middle of this transept, now
dedicated to St. Helena, is supposed to occupy the site of the "Ara
Primogeniti Dei."

Upon the pier near the ambone of the gospel is the monument of Queen
Catherine of Bosnia, who died at Rome in 1478, bequeathing her states to
the Roman Church on condition of their reversion to her son, who had
embraced Mahommedanism, if he should return to the Catholic faith. Near
this, upon the transept wall, is the tomb of Felice de Fredis, ob. 1529,
upon which it is recorded that he was the finder of the Laocoon. The
Chapel of the Annunciation, opening from the west isle, has a tomb to G.
Crivelli, by Donatello, bearing his signature, "Opus Donatelli
Florentini." The Chapel of Santa Croce is the burial-place of the
Ponziani family, and was the scene of the celebrated ecstasy of the
favourite Roman saint Francesca Romana.

     "The mortal remains of Vanozza Ponziani (sister-in-law of
     Francesca) were laid in the church of Ara-Cœli, in the chapel of
     Santa Croce. The Roman people resorted there in crowds to behold
     once more their loved benefactress--the mother of the poor, the
     consoler of the afflicted. All strove to carry away some little
     memorial of one who had gone about among them doing good, and
     during the three days which preceded the interment, the concourse
     did not abate. On the day of the funeral Francesca knelt on one
     side of the coffin, and, in sight of all the crowd, she was wrapped
     in ecstasy. They saw her body lifted from the ground, and a
     seraphic expression in her uplifted face. They heard her murmur
     several times with an indescribable emphasis the word 'Quando?
     Quando?' When all was over, she still remained immoveable; it
     seemed as if her soul had risen on the wings of prayer, and
     followed Vanozza's spirit into the realms of bliss. At last her
     confessor ordered her to rise and go and attend on the sick. She
     instantly complied, and walked away to the hospital which she had
     founded, apparently unconscious of everything about her, and only
     roused from her trance by the habit of obedience, which, in or out
     of ecstasy, never forsook her."--_Lady Georgiana Fullerton's Life
     of Sta. Fr. Romana._

There are several good pictures over the altars in the aisles of
Ara-Cœli. In the Chapel of St Margaret of Cortona are frescoes
illustrative of her life by _Filippo Evangelisti_,--in that of S.
Antonio, frescoes by _Nicola da Pesaro_;--but no one should omit
visiting the first chapel on the right of the west door, dedicated to S.
Bernardino of Siena, and painted by _Bernardino Pinturicchio_, who has
put forth his best powers to do honour to his patron saint with a series
of exquisite frescoes, representing his assuming the monastic habit, his
preaching, his vision of the Saviour, his penitence, death, and burial.

Almost opposite this--closed except during Epiphany--is the Chapel of
the _Presepio_, where the famous image of the _Santissimo Bambino d'Ara
Cœli_ is shown at that season lying in a manger.

     "The simple meaning of the term _Presepio_ is a manger; but it is
     also used in the Church to signify a representation of the birth of
     Christ. In the Ara-Cœli the whole of one of the side-chapels is
     devoted to this exhibition. In the foreground is a grotto, in which
     is seated the Virgin Mary, with Joseph at her side and the
     miraculous Bambino in her lap. Immediately behind are an ass and an
     ox. On one side kneel the shepherds and kings in adoration; and
     above, God the Father is seen surrounded by crowds of cherubs and
     angels playing on instruments, as in the early pictures of Raphael.
     In the background is a scenic representation of a pastoral
     landscape, on which all the skill of the scene-painter is expended.
     Shepherds guard their flocks far away, reposing under palm-trees or
     standing on green slopes which glow in the sunshine. The distances
     and perspective are admirable. In the middle ground is a crystal
     fountain of glass, near which sheep, preternaturally white, and
     made of real wool and cotton wool, are feeding, tended by figures
     of shepherds carved in wood. Still nearer come women bearing great
     baskets of real oranges and other fruits on their heads. All the
     nearer figures are full-sized, carved in wood, painted, and dressed
     in appropriate robes. The miraculous Bambino is a painted doll
     swaddled in a white dress, which is crusted over with magnificent
     diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. The Virgin also wears in her ears
     superb diamond pendants. The general effect of the scenic show is
     admirable, and crowds flock to it and press about it all day long.

     "While this is taking place on one side of the church, on the other
     is a very different and quite as singular an exhibition. Around one
     of the antique columns a stage is erected, from which little
     maidens are reciting, with every kind of pretty gesticulation,
     sermons, dialogues, and little speeches, in explanation of the
     _Presepio_ opposite. Sometimes two of them are engaged in alternate
     questions and answers about the mysteries of the Incarnation and
     the Redemption. Sometimes the recitation is a piteous description
     of the agony of the Saviour and the sufferings of the Madonna, the
     greatest stress being, however, always laid upon the latter. All
     these little speeches have been written for them by their priest or
     some religious friend, committed to memory, and practised with
     appropriate gestures over and over again at home. Their little
     piping voices are sometimes guilty of such comic breaks and
     changes, that the crowd about them rustles into a murmurous
     laughter. Sometimes, also, one of the little preachers has a
     _dispetto_, pouts, shakes her shoulders, and refuses to go on with
     her part; another, however, always stands ready on the platform to
     supply the vacancy, until friends have coaxed, reasoned, or
     threatened the little pouter into obedience. These children are
     often very beautiful and graceful, and their comical little
     gestures and intonations, their clasping of hands and rolling up of
     eyes, have a very amusing and interesting effect."--_Story's Roba
     di Roma._

At other times the Bambino dwells in the inner Sacristy, where it can be
visited by admiring pilgrims. It is a fresh-coloured doll, tightly
swathed in gold and silver tissue, crowned, and sparkling with jewels.
It has servants of its own, and a carriage in which it drives out with
its attendants, and goes to visit the sick. Devout peasants always kneel
as the blessed infant passes. Formerly it was taken to sick persons and
left on their beds for some hours, in the hope that it would work a
miracle. Now it is never left alone. In explanation of this, it is said
that an audacious woman formed the design of appropriating to herself
the holy image and its benefits. She had another doll prepared of the
same size and appearance as the "Santissimo," and having feigned
sickness, and obtained permission to have it left with her, she dressed
the false image in its clothes, and sent it back to Ara-Cœli. The
fraud was not discovered till night, when the Franciscan monks were
awakened by the most furious ringing of bells and by thundering knocks
at the west door of the church, and hastening thither could see nothing
but a wee naked pink foot peeping in from under the door; but when they
opened the door, without stood the little naked figure of the true
Bambino of Ara-Cœli, shivering in the wind and the rain,--so the
false baby was sent back in disgrace, and the real baby restored to its
home, never to be trusted away alone any more.

In the sacristy is the following inscription relating to the Bambino:--

     "Ad hoc sacellum Ara Cœli a festo nativitatis domini usque ad
     festum Epiphaniæ magna populi frequentia invisitur et colitur in
     presepio Christi nati infantuli simulacrum ex oleæ ligno apud
     montem olivarum Hierosolymis a quodam devoto Minorita sculptum eo
     animo, ut ad hoc festum celebrandum deportaretur. De quo in primis
     hoc accidit, quod deficiente colore inter barbaras gentes ad
     plenam infantuli figurationem et formam, devotus et anxius artifex,
     professione laicus, precibus et orationibus impetravit, ut sacrum
     simulacrum divinitus carneo colore perfunctum reperiretur. Cumque
     navi Italiam veheretur, facto naufragio apud Tusciæ oras, simulacri
     capsa Liburnum appulit. Ex quo, recognita, expectabatur, enim a
     Fratribus, et jam fama illius a Hierosolymis ad nostras familiæ
     partes advenerat, ad destinatam sibi Capitolii sedem devenit.
     Fertur etiam, quod aliquando ex nimia devotione à quadam devota
     fœmina sublatum ad suas ædes miraculosè remeaverit. Quapropter
     in maxima veneratione semper est habitum a Romanis civibus, et
     universo populo donatum monilibus, et jocalibus pretiosis,
     liberalioribusque in dies prosequitur oblationibus."

The outer Sacristy contains a fine picture of the Holy Family by _Giulio
Romano_.

The scene on the long flight of steps which leads to the west door of
Ara-Cœli is very curious during Epiphany.

     "If any one visit the Ara-Cœli during an afternoon in Christmas
     or Epiphany, the scene is very striking. The flight of one hundred
     and twenty-four steps is then thronged by merchants of Madonna
     wares, who spread them out over the steps and hang them against the
     walls and balustrades. Here are to be seen all sorts of curious
     little coloured prints of the Madonna and Child of the most
     extraordinary quality, little bags, pewter medals, and crosses
     stamped with the same figures and to be worn on the neck--all
     offered at once for the sum of one _baiocco_. Here also are framed
     pictures of the saints, of the Nativity, and in a word of all sorts
     of religious subjects appertaining to the season. Little wax dolls,
     clad in cotton-wool to represent the Saviour, and sheep made of the
     same materials, are also sold by the basket-full. Children and
     _Contadini_ are busy buying them, and there is a deafening roar all
     up and down the steps, of 'Mezzo baiocco, bello colorito, mezzo
     baiocco, la Santissima Concezione Incoronata,'--'Diario Romano,
     Lunario Romano nuovo,'--'Ritratto colorito, medaglia e quadruccio,
     un baiocco tutti, un baiocco tutti,'--'Bambinella di cera, un
     baiocco.' None of the prices are higher than one baiocco, except to
     strangers, and generally several articles are held up together,
     enumerated, and proffered with a loud voice for this sum. Meanwhile
     men, women, children, priests, beggars, soldiers, and _villani_ are
     crowding up and down, and we crowd with them."--_Roba di Roma_, i.
     72.

     "On the sixth of January the lofty steps of Ara-Cœli looked like
     an ant-hill, so thronged were they with people. Men and boys who
     sold little books (legends and prayers), rosaries, pictures of
     saints, medallions, chestnuts, oranges, and other things, shouted
     and made a great noise. Little boys and girls were still preaching
     zealously in the church, and people of all classes were crowding
     thither. Processions advanced with the thundering cheerful music of
     the fire-corps. Il Bambino, a painted image of wood, covered with
     jewels, and with a yellow crown on its head, was carried by a monk
     in white gloves, and exhibited to the people from a kind of
     altar-like erection at the top of the Ara-Cœli steps. Everybody
     dropped down upon their knees; Il Bambino was shown on all sides,
     the music thundered, and the smoking censers were
     swung."--_Frederika Bremer._

The _Convent of Ara-Cœli_ contains much that is picturesque and
interesting. S. Giovanni Capistrano was abbot here in the reign of
Eugenius IV.

Let us now descend from the Capitoline Piazza towards the Forum, by the
staircase on the left of the Palace of the Senator. Close to the foot of
this staircase is a church, very obscure-looking, with some rude
frescoes on the exterior. Yet every one must enter this building, for
here are the famous _Mamertine Prisons_, excavated from the solid rock
under the Capitol.

The prisons are entered through the low Church of S. Pietro in Carcere,
hung round with votive offerings and blazing with lamps.

     "There is an upper chamber in the Mamertine Prisons, over what is
     said to have been--and very possibly may have been--the dungeon of
     St. Peter. The chamber is now fitted up as an oratory, dedicated to
     that saint; and it lives, as a distinct and separate place, in my
     recollection, too. It is very small and low-roofed; and the dread
     and gloom of the ponderous, obdurate old prison are on it, as if
     they had come up in a dark mist through the floor. Hanging on the
     walls, among the clustered votive offerings, are objects, at once
     strangely in keeping and strangely at variance with the
     place--rusty daggers, knives, pistols, clubs, divers instruments of
     violence and murder, brought here, fresh from use, and hung up to
     propitiate offended Heaven; as if the blood upon them would drain
     off in consecrated air, and have no voice to cry with. It is all so
     silent and so close, and tomblike; and the dungeons below are so
     black, and stealthy, and stagnant, and naked; that this little dark
     spot becomes a dream within a dream: and in the vision of great
     churches which come rolling past me like a sea, it is a small wave
     by itself, that melts into no other wave, and does not flow on with
     the rest."--_Dickens._

Enclosed in the church, near the entrance, may be observed the outer
frieze of the prison wall, with the inscription C. TIBIUS. C. F.
RUFINUS. M.. COCCEIUS. NERVA. COS. EX. S. C., recording the names of two
consuls of A.D. 22, who are supposed to have repaired the prison.
Juvenal's description of the time when one prison was sufficient for all
the criminals in Rome naturally refers to this building:

    "Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas
    Sæcula, quæ quondam sub regibus atque tribunis
    Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam."

    _Sat._ iii. 312.

A modern staircase leads to the horrible dungeon of Ancus Martius,
sixteen feet in height, thirty in length, and twenty-two in breadth.
Originally there was no staircase, and the prisoners were let down
there, and thence into the lower dungeon, through a hole in the middle
of the ceiling. The large door at the side is a modern innovation,
having been opened to admit the vast mass of pilgrims during the festa.
The whole prison is constructed of huge blocks of tufa without cement.
Some remains are shown of the _Scalæ Gemoniæ_, so called from the groans
of the prisoners--by which the bodies were dragged forth to be exposed
to the insults of the populace or to be thrown into the Tiber. It was by
this staircase that Cicero came forth and announced the execution of
the Catiline conspirators to the people in the Forum, by the single word
_Vixerunt_, "they have ceased to live." Close to the exit of these
stairs the Emperor Vitellius was murdered. On the wall by which you
descend to the lower dungeon is a mark, kissed by the faithful, as the
spot against which St. Peter's head rested. The lower prison, called
_Robur_, is constructed of huge blocks of tufa, fastened together by
cramps of iron and approaching horizontally to a common centre in the
roof. It has been attributed from early times to Servius Tullius; but
Ampère[47] argues against the idea that the lower prison was of later
origin than the upper, and suggests that it is Pelasgic, and older than
any other building in Rome. It is described by Livy, and by Sallust, who
depicts its horrors in his account of the execution of the Catiline
conspirators.[48] The spot is shown to which these victims were attached
and strangled in turn. In this dungeon, at an earlier period, Appius
Claudius and Oppius the decemvirs committed suicide (B.C. 449). Here
Jugurtha, king of Mauritania, was starved to death by Marius. Here
Julius Cæsar, during his triumph for the conquest of Gaul, caused his
gallant enemy Vercingetorix to be put to death. Here Sejanus, the friend
and minister of Tiberius, disgraced too late, was executed for the
murder of Drusus, son of the emperor, and for an intrigue with his
daughter-in-law, Livilla. Here, also, Simon Bar-Gioras, the last
defender of Jerusalem, suffered during the triumph of Titus.

The spot is more interesting to the Christian world as the prison of SS.
Peter and Paul, who are said to have been bound for nine months to a
pillar, which is shown here. A fountain of excellent water, beneath the
floor of the prison, is attributed to the prayers of St. Peter, that he
might have wherewith to baptize his gaolers, Processus and Martinianus;
but, unfortunately for this ecclesiastical tradition, the fountain is
described by Plutarch as having existed at the time of Jugurtha's
imprisonment This fountain probably gave the dungeon the name of
_Tullianum_, by which it was sometimes known, _tullius_ meaning a
spring.[49] This name probably gave rise to the idea of its connection
with Servius Tullius.

It is hence that the Roman Catholic Church believes that St. Peter and
St Paul addressed their farewells to the Christian world.

     That of St. Peter:--

     "Shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus
     Christ hath showed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be
     able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
     For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made
     known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ....
     Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and
     a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."--_2nd St. Peter._

     That of St. Paul:--

     "God hath not given us a spirit of fear.... Be not thou, therefore,
     ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but
     be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
     power of God.... I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds;
     but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things,
     for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which
     is in Christ Jesus.... I charge thee by God and by the Lord Jesus
     Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead ... preach the
     word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort
     with all long-suffering and doctrine; ... watch in all things,
     endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof
     of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of
     my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have
     finished my course, I have kept the faith."--_2nd Timothy._

On July 4, the prisons are the scene of a picturesque solemnity, when
they are visited at night by the religious confraternities, who first
kneel and then prostrate themselves in silent devotion.

Above the Church of S. Pietro in Carcere, is that of _S. Giuseppe del
Falegnami_, St. Joseph of the Carpenters.

     "Pourquoi les guides et les antiquaires qui nous ont si souvent
     montré la voie triomphale qui mène au Capitale et nous en ont tant
     de fois énuméré les souvenirs; pourquoi aucun d'eux ne nous a-t-il
     jamais parlé de ce qui survint le jour du triomphe de Titus,
     là-bas, près des prisons Mamertines? Laisse-moi vous rappeler que
     ce jour-là le triomphateur, au moment de monter au temple, devant
     verser le sang d'une victime, s'arrêta à cette place, tandis que
     l'on détachait de son cortége un captif de plus haute taille et
     plus richement vêtu que les autres, et qu'on l'emmenait dans cette
     prison pour y achever son supplice avec le lacet même qu'il portait
     autour du cou. Ce ne fût qu'après cette immolation que le cortége
     reprit sa marche et acheva de monter jusqu'au Capitole! Ce captif
     dont on ne daigne nous parler, c'était Simon Bar-Gioras; c'était un
     des trois derniers défenseurs de Jérusalem; c'était un de ceux qui
     la défendirent jusqu'au bout, mais hélas! qui la défendirent comme
     des démons maîtres d'une âme de laquelle ils ne veulent pas se
     laisser chasser, et non point comme des champions héroïques d'une
     cause sacrée et perdue. Aussi cette grandeur que la seule infortune
     suffit souvent pour donner, elle manque à la calamité la plus
     grande que le monde ait vue, et les noms attachés à cette immense
     catastrophe ne demeurèrent pas même fameux! Jean de Giscala,
     Eléazar, Simon Bar-Gioras; qui pense à eux aujourd'hui? L'univers
     entier proclame et vénère les noms de deux pauvres juifs qui,
     quatre ans auparavant, dans cette même prison, avaient eux aussi
     attendu la supplice; mais le malheur, le courage, la mort tragique
     des autres, ne leur ont point donné la gloire, et un dédaigneux
     oubli les a effacés de la mémoire des hommes!"--_(Anne Severin)
     Mrs. Augustus Craven._

                        "Along the sacred way
    Hither the triumph came, and, winding round
    With acclamation, and the martial clang
    Of instruments, and cars laden with spoil,
    Stopped at the sacred stair that then appeared,
    Then thro' the darkness broke, ample, star-bright,
    As tho' it led to heaven. 'Twas night; but now
    A thousand torches, turning night to day,
    Blazed, and the victor, springing from his seat,
    Went up, and, kneeling as in fervent prayer,
    Entered the Capitol. But what are they
    Who at the foot withdraw, a mournful train
    In fetters? And who, yet incredulous,
    Now gazing wildly round, now on his sons,
    On those so young, well pleased with all they see,
    Staggers along, the last? They are the fallen,
    Those who were spared to grace the chariot-wheels;
    And there they parted, where the road divides,
    The victor and the vanquished--there withdrew;
    He to the festal board, and they to die.
      "Well might the great, the mighty of the world,
    They who were wont to fare deliciously
    And war but for a kingdom more or less,
    Shrink back, nor from their thrones endure to look,
    To think that way! Well might they in their pomp
    Humble themselves, and kneel and supplicate
    To be delivered from a dream like this!"

    _Rogers' Italy._




CHAPTER IV.

THE FORUMS AND THE COLISEUM.

     Forum of Trajan--(Sta. Maria di Loreto)--Temple of Mars
     Ultor--Forum of Augustus--Forum of Nerva--Forum of Julius
     Cæsar--(Academy of St. Luke)--Forum Romanum--Tribune--Comitium
     --Vulcanal--Temple of Concord--Temple of Vespasian--Temple of
     Saturn--Arch of Septimius Severus--Temple of Castor and
     Pollux--Pillar of Phocas--Temple of Antoninus and
     Faustina--Basilica of Constantine--(Sta. Martina--S. Adriano--Sta.
     Maria--Liberatrice, SS. Cosmo and Damian--Sta. Francesca
     Romana)--Temple of Venus and Rome--Arch of Titus--(Sta. Maria
     Pallara--S. Buonaventura)--Meta Sudans--Arch of
     Constantine--Coliseum.


Following the Corso to its end at the Ripresa dei Barberi, and turning
to the left, we find ourselves at once amid the remains of the _Forum of
Trajan_, erected by the architect Apollodorus for the Emperor Trajan on
his return from the wars of the Danube. This forum now presents the
appearance of a ravine between the Capitoline and Quirinal, but is an
artificial hollow, excavated to facilitate the circulation of life
within the city. An inscription over the door of the column, which
overtops the other ruins, shows that it was raised in order to mark the
depth of earth which was removed to construct the forum. The earth was
formerly as high as the top of the column, which reaches, 100 Roman
feet, to the level of the Palatine Hill. The forum was sometimes called
the "Ulpian," from one of the names of the emperor.

     "Before the year A.D. 107 the splendours of the city and the Campus
     beyond it were still separated by a narrow isthmus, thronged
     perhaps by the squalid cabins of the poor, and surmounted by the
     remains of the Servian wall which ran along its summit. Step by
     step the earlier emperors had approached with their new forums to
     the foot of this obstruction. Domitian was the first to contemplate
     and commence its removal. Nerva had the fortune to consecrate and
     to give his own name to a portion of his predecessor's
     construction; but Trajan undertook to complete the bold design, and
     the genius of his architect triumphed over all obstacles, and
     executed a work which exceeded in extent and splendour any previous
     achievement of the kind. He swept away every building on the site,
     levelled the spot on which they had stood, and laid out a vast area
     of columnar galleries, connecting halls and chambers for public use
     and recreation. The new forum was adorned with two libraries, one
     for Greek, the other for Roman volumes, and it was bounded on the
     west by a basilica of magnificent dimensions. Beyond this basilica,
     and within the limits of the Campus, the same architect
     (Apollodorus) erected a temple for the worship of Trajan himself;
     but this work probably belonged to the reign of Trajan's successor,
     and no doubt the Ulpian forum, with all its adjuncts, occupied many
     years in building. The area was adorned with numerous statues, in
     which the figure of Trajan was frequently repeated, and among its
     decorations were groups in bronze or marble, representing his most
     illustrious actions. The balustrades and cornices of the whole mass
     of buildings flamed with gilded images of arms and horses. Here
     stood the great equestrian statue of the emperor; here was the
     triumphal arch decreed him by the senate, adorned with sculpture,
     which Constantine, two centuries later, transferred without a blush
     to his own, a barbarous act of this first Christian emperor, to
     which however we probably owe their preservation to this day from
     more barbarous spoliation."--_Merivale, Romans under the Empire_,
     ch. lxiii.

The beautiful _Column of Trajan_ was erected by the senate and people of
Rome, A.D. 114. It is composed of thirty-four blocks of marble, and is
covered with a spiral band of bas-reliefs illustrative of the Dacian
wars, and increasing in size as it nears the top, so that it preserves
throughout the same proportion when seen from below. It was formerly
crowned by a statue of Trajan, holding a gilt globe, which latter is
still preserved in the Hall of Bronzes in the Capitol. This statue had
fallen from its pedestal long before Sixtus V. replaced it by the
existing figure of St. Peter. At the foot of the column was a sepulchral
chamber, intended to receive the imperial ashes, which were however
preserved in a golden urn, upon an altar in front of it.

                            "And apostolic statues climb
    To crush the imperial urn, whose ashes slept sublime."
           _Childe Harold_, cx.

It was while walking in this forum, that Gregory the Great, observing
one of the marble groups which told of a good and great action of
Trajan, lamented bitterly that the soul of so noble a man should be
lost, and prayed earnestly for the salvation of the heathen emperor. He
was told that the soul of Trajan should be saved, but that to ensure
this he must either himself undergo the pains of purgatory for three
days, or suffer earthly pain and sickness for the rest of his life. He
chose the latter, and never after was in health. This incident is
narrated by his three biographers, John and Paul Diaconus, and John of
Salisbury.[50]

The forum of Trajan was partly uncovered by Pope Paul III. in the
sixteenth century, but excavated in its present form by the French in
1812. There is much still buried under the streets and neighbouring
houses.

     "All over the surface of what once was Rome it seems to be the
     effort of Time to bury up the ancient city, as it were a corpse,
     and he the sexton; so that, in eighteen centuries, the soil over
     its grave has grown very deep, by the slow scattering of dust, and
     the accumulation of more modern decay upon older ruin.

     "This was the fate, also, of Trajan's forum, until some papal
     antiquary, a few hundred years ago, began to hollow it out again,
     and disclosed the whole height of the gigantic column, wreathed
     round with bas-reliefs of the old emperor's warlike deeds (rich
     sculpture, which, twining from the base to the capital, must be an
     ugly spectacle for his ghostly eyes, if he considers that this
     huge, storied shaft must be laid before the judgment seat, as a
     piece of the evidence of what he did in the flesh). In the area
     before the column stands a grove of stone, consisting of the broken
     and unequal shafts of a vanished temple, still keeping a majestic
     order, and apparently incapable of further demolition. The modern
     edifices of the piazza (wholly built, no doubt, out of the spoil of
     its old magnificence) look down into the hollow space whence these
     pillars rise.

     "One of the immense gray granite shafts lies in the piazza, on the
     verge of the area. It is a great, solid fact of the Past, making
     old Rome actually visible to the touch and eye; and no study of
     history, nor force of thought, nor magic of song, can so vitally
     assure us that Rome once existed, as this sturdy specimen of what
     its rulers and people wrought. There is still a polish remaining on
     the hard substance of the pillar, the polish of eighteen centuries
     ago, as yet but half rubbed off."--_Hawthorne, Transformation._

On the north of this forum are two churches: that nearest to the Corso
is _Sta. Maria di Loreto_ (founded by the corporation of bakers in
1500), with a dome surmounted by a picturesque lantern by Giuliano di
Sangallo, c. 1506. It contains a statue of Sta. Susanna (_not_ the
Susanna of the Elders) by _Fiammingo_ (François de Quesnoy), which is
justly considered the chef-d'œuvre of the Bernini School. The
companion church is called _Sta. Maria di Vienna_, and (like Sta. Maria
della Vittoria) commemorates the liberation of Vienna from the Turks in
1683, by Sobieski, king of Poland. It was built by Innocent XI.

Leaving the forum at the opposite corner by the Via Alessandrina, and
passing under the high wall of the Convent of the Nunziatina, a street,
opening on the left, discloses several beautiful pillars, which, after
having borne various names, are now declared to be the remains of the
_Temple of Mars Ultor_, built by Augustus in his new forum, which was
erected in order to provide accommodation for the crowds which
overflowed the Forum Romanum and Forum Julium.

     "The title of Ultor marked the war and the victory by which,
     agreeably to his vow, Augustus had avenged his uncle's death.

    "'Mars ades, et satia scelerato sanguine ferrum;
      Stetque favor causa pro meliore tuus.
    Templa feres, et, me victore, vocaberis Ultor.'[51]

     The porticoes, which extended on each side of the temple with a
     gentle curve, contained statues of distinguished Roman generals.
     The banquets of the Salii were transferred to this temple, a
     circumstance which led to its identification, from the discovery of
     an inscription here recording the _mansiones_ of these priests.
     Like the priesthood in general, they appear to have been fond of
     good living, and there is a well-known anecdote of the Emperor
     Claudius having been lured by the steams of their banquet from his
     judicial functions in the adjacent forum, to come and take part in
     their feast. The temple was appropriated to meetings of the senate
     in which matters connected with wars and triumphs were debated....
     Here while Tiberius was building a temple to Augustus upon the
     Palatine, his golden statue reposed upon a couch."--_Dyer's City of
     Rome._

     "Up to the time of Augustus, the god Mars, the reputed father of
     the Roman race, had never, it is said, enjoyed the distinction of a
     temple within the walls. He was then introduced into the city which
     he had saved from overthrow and ruin; and the aid he had lent in
     bringing the murderers of Cæsar to justice, was signalised by the
     title of Avenger, by which he was now specially addressed.... The
     temple of Mars Ultor, of gigantic proportions, 'Et deus est ingens
     et opus,' was erected in the new forum of Augustus at the foot of
     the Capitoline and Quirinal hills."--_Merivale, Romans under the
     Empire._

     "Ce temple était particulièrement cher à Auguste. Il voulut que les
     magistrats en partissent pour aller dans leurs provinces; que
     l'honneur du triomphe y fût décerné, et que les triomphateurs y
     fissent hommage à Mars Vengeur de leur couronne et de leur sceptre;
     que les drapeaux pris à l'ennemi y fussent conservés; que les chefs
     de la cavalerie exécutassent des jeux en avant des marches de ce
     temple; enfin que les censeurs, en sortant de leur charge, y
     plantassent le clou sacré, vieil usage étrusque jusque-là attaché
     au Capitole. Auguste désirait que ce temple fondé par lui prît
     l'importance du Capitole.

     "Il fit dédier le temple par ses petit-fils Caius et Lucius; et son
     autre petit-fils, Agrippa, à la tête des plus nobles enfants de
     Rome, y célébra le jeu de Troie, qui rappelait l'origine prétendue
     troyenne de César; deux cent soixante lions furent égorgés dans la
     cirque, c'était leur place; deux troupes de gladiateurs
     combattirent dans les Septa ou se faisaient les élections au temps
     de la république, comme si Auguste eût voulu, par ces combats qui
     se livraient en l'honneur des morts, célébrer les funérailles de la
     liberté romaine."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 224.

The temple of Mars stands at the north-eastern corner of the magnificent
_Forum of Augustus_, which extended from here as far as the present Via
Alessandrina, surpassing in size the forum of Julius Cæsar, to which it
was adjoining. It was of sufficient size to be frequently used for
fights of animals (venationes). Among its ornaments were statues of
Augustus triumphant and of the subdued provinces--with inscriptions
illustrative of the great deeds he had accomplished there; also a
picture by Apelles representing War with her hands bound behind her,
seated upon a pile of arms. Part of the boundary wall exists, enclosing
on two sides the remains of the temple of Mars Ultor, and is constructed
of huge masses of peperino. The arch, in the wall close to the temple,
is known as Arco dei Pantani. The sudden turn in the wall here is
interesting as commemorating a concession made to the wish of some
proprietors, who were unwilling to part with their houses for the sake
of the forum.

     "C'est l'histoire du moulin de Sans-Souci, qui du reste paraît
     n'être pas vraie.

     "Il est piquant d'assister aujourd'hui à ce ménagement d'Auguste
     pour l'opinion qu'il voulait gagner. Envoyant le mur s'infléchir
     parce-qu'il a fallu épargner quelques maisons, on croit voir la
     toute-puissance d'Auguste gauchir à dessein devant les intérêts
     particuliers, seule puissance avec laquelle il reste à compter
     quand tout intérêt général a disparu. L'obliquité de la politique
     d'Auguste est visible dans l'obliquité de ce mur, qui montre et
     rend pour ainsi dire palpable le manège adroit de la tyrannie, se
     déguisant pour se fonder. Le mur biaise, comme biaisa constamment
     l'empereur."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 233.

(The street on the left--passing the Arco dei Pantani--the Via della
Salita del Grillo, commemorates the approach to the castle of the great
mediæval family Del Grillo; the street on the right leads through the
ancient Suburra.)

At the corner of the next street (Via della Croce Bianca)--on the left
of the Via Alessandrina--is the ruin called the "Colonnace," being part
of the _Portico of Pallas Minerva_, which decorated the _Forum
Transitorium_, begun by Domitian, but dedicated in the short reign of
Nerva, and hence generally called the _Forum of Nerva_, on account of
the execration with which the memory of Domitian was regarded. Up to the
seventeenth century seven magnificent columns of the temple of Minerva
were still standing, but they were destroyed by Paul V., who used part
of them in building the Fontana Paolina. The existing remains consist of
two half-buried Corinthian columns with a figure of Minerva, and a
frieze of bas-reliefs.

     "Les bas-reliefs du forum de Nerva représentent des femmes occupées
     des travaux d'aiguille, auxquels présidait Minerve. Quand on se
     rappelle, que Domitien avait placé à Albano, près du temple de
     cette déesse, un collège de prêtres qui imitaient la parure et les
     mœurs de femmes, on est tenté de croire qu'il y a dans le choix
     des subjets figurés ici une allusion aux habitudes efféminées de
     ces prétres."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 161.

     "The portico of the temple of Minerva is most rich and beautiful in
     architecture, but woefully gnawed by time, and shattered by
     violence, besides being buried midway in the accumulation of the
     soil, that rises over dead Rome like a flood-tide. Within this
     edifice of antique sanctity a baker's shop is now established, with
     an entrance on one side; for everywhere, the remnants of old
     grandeur and divinity have been made available for the meanest
     neccessities of to-day."--_Hawthorne._

It was in this forum that Nerva caused Vetronius Turinus, who had
trafficked with his court interest, to be suffocated with smoke, a
herald proclaiming at the time, "Fumo punitur qui vendidit fumum."

Returning a short distance down the Via Alessandrina, and turning (left)
down the Via Bonella, we traverse the site of the _Forum of Julius
Cæsar_, upon which 4000 sestertia (800,000 _l._) were expended, and
which is described by Dion-Cassius as having been more beautiful than
the Forum Romanum. It was ornamented with a Temple of Venus
Genetrix--from whom Julius Cæsar claimed to be descended--which
contained a statue of the goddess by Archesilaus, a statue of Cæsar
himself, and a group of Ajax and Medea by Timomacus. Here, also, Cæsar
had the effrontery to place the statue of his mistress, Cleopatra, by
the side of that of the goddess. In front of the temple stood a bronze
figure of a horse--supposed to be the famous Bucephalus--the work of
Lysippus.

    "Cedat equus Latiæ qui, contra templa Diones,
    Cæsarei stat sede Fori. Quem tradere es ausus
    Pellæo Lysippa Duci, mox Cæsaris ora
    Aurata cervice tulit."

    _Statius, Silv._ i. 84.

The only visible remains of this forum are some courses of huge square
blocks of stone (Lapis Gabinus), in a dirty court.

Part of the site of the forum of Julius Cæsar is now occupied--on the
right near the end of the Via Bonella--by the _Accademia di San Luca_,
founded in 1595, Federigo Zuccaro being its first director. The
collections are open from 9 to 5 daily. A ceiling representing Bacchus
and Ariadne, is by _Guido_. The best pictures are:--

     Bacchus and Ariadne: _Poussin_.
     Vanity: _Paul Veronese_.
     Calista and the Nymphs: _Titian_.
     The murder of Lucretia: _Guido Cagnacci_.
     Fortune: _Guido_.
     Innocent XI.: _Velasquez_.
     The Saviour and the Pharisee: _Titian_.
     A lovely fresco of a child: _Raphael_.
     St. Luke painting the Virgin: _Attributed to Raphael_.

"St. Luke painting the Virgin has been a frequent and favourite
subject. The most famous of all is a picture in the Academy of St.
Luke, ascribed to Raphael. Here St. Luke, kneeling on a footstool
before an easel, is busied painting the Virgin with the Child in
her arms, who appears to him out of heaven, sustained by clouds;
behind St. Luke stands Raphael himself, looking on."--_Mrs.
Jameson._

A skull preserved here was long supposed to be that of Raphael, but his
true skull has since been found in his grave in the Pantheon.

     "On a longtemps vénéré ici un crâne que l'on croyait être celui de
     Raphael; crâne étroit sur lequel les phrénologistes auront prononcé
     de vains oracles, devant lequel on aura bien profondément rêvé et
     qui n'était que celui d'un obscur chanoine bien innocent de toutes
     ces imaginations."--_A. Du Pays._

Just beyond St. Luca, we enter the Forum Romanum.

       *       *       *       *       *

The interest of Rome comes to its climax in the Forum. In spite of all
that is destroyed, and all that is buried, so much still remains to be
seen, and every stone has its story. Even without entering into all the
vexed archæological questions which have filled the volumes of Canina,
Bunsen, Niebuhr, and many others, the occupation which a traveller
interested in history will find here is all but inexhaustible; and,
after the disputes of centuries, the different sites seem now to be
verified with tolerable certainty. The study of the Roman Forum is
complicated by the _succession_ of public edifices by which it has been
occupied, each period of Roman history having a different set of
buildings, and each in a great measure supplanting that which went
before. Another difficulty has naturally arisen from the exceedingly
circumscribed space in which all these buildings have to be arranged,
and which shows that many of the ancient temples must have been mere
chapels, and the so-called "lakes" little more than fountains.

     "This spot, where the senate had its assemblies, where the rostra
     were placed, where the destinies of the world were discussed, is
     the most celebrated and the most classical of ancient Rome. It was
     adorned with the most magnificent monuments, which were so crowded
     upon one another, that their heaped-up ruins are not sufficient for
     all the names which are handed down to us by history. The course of
     centuries has overthrown the Forum, and made it impossible to
     define; the level of the ancient soil is twenty-four feet below
     that of to-day, and however great a desire one may feel to
     reproduce the past, it must be acknowledged that this very
     difference of level is a terrible obstacle to the powers of
     imagination; again, the uncertainties of archæologists are
     discouraging to curiosity and the desire of illusion. For more than
     three centuries learning has been at work upon this field of ruins,
     without being able even to agree upon its bearings; some describing
     it as extending from north to south, others from east to west. The
     origin of the Forum goes back to the alliance of the Romans and
     Sabines. It was a space surrounded by marshes, which extended
     between the Palatine and the Capitol, occupied by the two colonies,
     and serving as a neutral ground where they could meet. The Curtian
     Lake was situated in the midst. Constantly adorned under the
     republic and the empire, it appears that it continued to exist
     until the eleventh century. Its total ruin dates from Robert
     Guiscard, who, when called to the assistance of Gregory VII., left
     it a heap of ruins. Abandoned for many centuries, it became a
     receptacle for rubbish, which gradually raised the level of the
     soil. About 1547, Paul III. began to make excavations in the Forum.
     Then the place became a cattle-market, and the glorious name of
     Forum Romanum changed into that of Campo Vaccino.

     "The Forum was surrounded by a portico of two stories, the lower of
     which was occupied by shops (tabernæ). In the beginning of the
     sixth century of Rome, two fires destroyed part of the edifices
     with which it had been embellished. This was an opportunity for
     isolating the Forum, and basilicas and temples were raised in
     succession along its sides, which in their turn were partly
     destroyed in the fire of Nero. Domitian rebuilt a part, and added
     the temple of Vespasian, and Antoninus that of Faustina."--_A. Du
     Pays._

The excavations which were made in the Forum before 1871 are for the
most part due to the generosity of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. The
papal government always displayed the most extraordinary apathy about
extending them, and, when a large excavation was made in the winter of
1869--70, by the British Archæological Society, in front of the Church
of Sta. Martina, insisted on its being immediately filled up again,
instead of extending it, as might easily have been done, to join the
excavation which had long existed on the Clivus Capitolinus. Lately the
excavations have been considerably increased, but were the roads
leading to the Forum to be closed, and a large body of efficient
labourers set to work, the whole of the Roman Forum and its surroundings
might be laid bare in a month, without any injury to the interesting
churches in its neighbourhood. At present, even that part which is
disinterred is cut up by a number of raised causeways, which distract
the eye and mar the general effect, and the excavations, recommenced by
the Italian government, are slowly and inadequately carried on.

If we stand on the causeway in front of the arch of Septimius Severus,
and turn towards the Capitol, we look upon the Clivus Capitolinus, which
is perfectly crowded with historical sites and fragments, viz.:--

1. The modern Capitol, resting on the _Tabularium_. This is one of the
earliest architectural relics in Rome. It is built in the Etruscan
style, of huge blocks of tufa or peperino placed long-and cross-ways
alternately. It was formerly composed of two stages called Camellaria.
Only the lower now remains. It contained the tables of the laws. The
corridor which remains in the interior is used as a museum of
architectural fragments. The Tabularium probably communicated with the
_Ærarium_ in the temple of Saturn.

2. On the right of the excavated space, and nearest the Tabularium, the
site of the _Tribune_, in front of which were the _Rostra_, to which the
head of Octavius was affixed by Marius, and the head and hand of Cicero
by Antony, and where Fulvia, the widow of Clodius, spat in his dead
face, and pierced his inanimate tongue with the pin which she wore in
her hair. In front of the rostrum were the statues of the three Sibyls
called Tria Fata.

3. Below, a little(**typo? little?) more to the right, is the site of
the _Comitium_, where the survivor of the Horatii was condemned to
death, and saved by the voice of the people. Here, also, was the
trophied pillar which bore the arms of the Curiatii. In the area of the
Comitium grew the famous fig-tree which was always preserved here in
commemoration of the tree under which Romulus and Remus were suckled by
the wolf, and beneath which was a bronze representation of the wolf and
the children.

4. A little more to the left, is the site of _the Vulcanal_, so called
from an altar dedicated to Vulcan, a platform (still defined) where, in
the earliest times, Romulus and Tatius used to meet on intermediate
ground and transact affairs common to both; and where Brutus was seated,
when, without any change of countenance, he saw his two sons beaten and
beheaded. Adjoining the Vulcanal was the _Græcostasis_, where foreign
ambassadors waited before they were admitted to an audience of the
senate.

5. Below the Vulcanal, and just behind the Arch of Severus, is the site
of the _Temple of Concord_, dedicated, with blasphemous
inappropriateness, B.C. 121, by the consul Opimius, immediately after
the murder of Caius Gracchus. Here Cicero pronounced his orations
against Catiline before the senate. A pavement of coloured marbles
remains. At its base are still to be seen some small remains of the
_Colonna Mænia_, which was surmounted by the statue of C. Mænius, who
decorated the rostra with the iron beaks of vessels taken in war.

6. The three beautiful columns which are still standing were attributed
to a temple of Jupiter Tonans, but are now decided to belong to the
_Temple of Vespasian_. The engravings of Piranesi represent them as
buried almost to their capitals, and they remained in this state until
they were disinterred during the first French occupation. The space was
so limited in this part of Rome, that in order to prevent encroaching
upon the street Clivus Capitolinus, which descends the hill between this
temple and that of Saturn, the temple of Vespasian was raised on a kind
of terrace, and the staircase which led to it was thrust in between the
columns. This temple was restored by Septimius Severus, and to this the
letters on the entablature refer, being part of the word _Restituere_.
Instruments of sacrifice are sculptured on the frieze.

7. On the left of the excavated space, close beneath the Tabularium, a
low range of columns recently re-erected represents the building called
the _School of Xanthus_, chambers, for the use of the scribes and
persons in the service of the curule ædiles, which derived their name
from Xanthus, a freedman, by whom they were rebuilt.

8. The eight Ionic columns still standing, part of the _Temple of
Saturn_, the ancient god of the Capitol. Before this temple Pompey sate
surrounded by soldiers, listening to the orations which Cicero was
delivering from the rostrum, when he received the personal address, "Te
enim jam appello, et ea voce ut me exaudire possis." Here the tribune
Metellus flung himself before the door and vainly attempted to defend
the treasure of the _Ærarium_ in this temple against Julius Cæsar. The
present remains are those of an indifferent and late renovation of an
earlier temple, being composed of columns which differ in diameter, and
a frieze put together from fragments which do not belong to one another.
The original temple was built by Tarquin, and was supposed to mark the
site of the ancient Sabine altar of the god and the limit of the wood of
refuge mentioned by Virgil.

9. Just below the Temple of Saturn is the site of the _Arch of
Tiberius_, erected, according to Tacitus, upon the recovery by
Germanicus of the standards which Varus had lost.

10. The remains of the _Milliarium Aureum_, which formed the upper
extremity of a wall faced with marbles, ending near the arch of Severus
in a small conical pyramid. Distances without the walls were inscribed
upon the Milliarium Aureum, as distances within the walls were upon the
pyramid (from which in this case they were also measured) which bore the
name of _Umbilicus Romæ_. The Via Sacra, which is still visible,
descended from the Capitol between the temples of Saturn and
Vespasian,--being known here as the Clivus Capitolinus, and passed to
the left of--

11. The _Arch of Septimius Severus_, which was erected by the senate
A.D. 205, in honour of that emperor and his two sons, Caracalla and
Geta. It is adorned with bas-reliefs relating his victories in the
east,--his entry into Babylon and the tower of the temple of Belus are
represented. A curious memorial of imperial history may be observed in
the inscription, where we may still discern the erasure made by
Caracalla after he had put his brother Geta to death in A.D. 213, for
the sake of obliterating his memory. The added words are OPTIMIS
FORTISSIMISQVE PRINCIPIBUS--but the ancient inscription P. SEPT. LVC.
FIL. GETÆ. NOBILISS. CÆSARI, has been made out by painstaking
decipherers. In one of the piers is a staircase leading to the top of
the arch which was formerly (as seen from coins of Severus and
Caracalla) adorned by a car drawn by six horses abreast, and containing
figures of Severus and his sons. It was in front of this arch that the
statue of Marcus Aurelius stood, which is now at the Capitol.

     "Les proportions de l'arc de Septime-Sévère sont encore belles.
     L'aspect en est imposant; il est solide sans être lourd. La grande
     inscription où se lisent les épithètes victorieuses qui rappellent
     les succès militaires de l'empereur, Parthique, Dacique,
     Adiabénique, se déploie sur une vaste surface et donne à
     l'entablement un air de majesté qu'admirent les artistes. Cette
     inscription est doublement historique; elle rappelle les campagnes
     de Sévère et la tragédie domestique qui après lui ensanglanta sa
     famille, le meurtre d'un de ses fils immolé par l'autre, et
     l'acharnement de celui-ci à poursuivre la mémoire du frère qu'il
     avait fait assassiner. Le nom de Géta a été visiblement effacé par
     Caracalla. La même chose se remarque dans une inscription sur
     bronze qu'on voit au Capitale et sur le petit arc du Marché aux
     bœufs dont j'ai parlé, où l'image de Géta a été effacée comme
     son nom. Caracalla ne permit pas même à ce nom proscrit de se
     cacher parmi les hiéroglyphes. En Egypte, ceux qui composaient le
     nom de Géta ont été grattés sur les monuments."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii.
     278.

(The excavations in thé Forum are open to the public on the same days as
the Palace of the Cæsars--Thursdays and Sundays.)

The platform on which we have been standing leads to the Via della
Consolazione, occupying the site of the ancient _Vicus Jugarius_, where
Augustus erected an altar to Ceres, and another to Ops Augusta, the
goddess of wealth. (In this street, on the left, is a good cinque-cento
doorway.) Where this street leaves the Forum was the so-called _Lacus
Servilius_, a basin which probably derived its name from Servilius Ahala
(who slew the philanthropist Sp. Mælius with a dagger near this very
spot), and which was encircled with a ghastly row of heads in the
massacres under Sylla. This fountain was adorned by M. Aggrippa with a
figure of a hydra. The right side of the Forum is now occupied for a
considerable distance by the disinterred remains of the _Basilica
Julia_, begun by Julius Cæsar, and finished by Augustus, who dedicated
it in honour of his daughter. A basilica of this description was
intended partly as a Law Court and partly as an Exchange. In this
basilica the judges called Centumviri held their courts, which were four
in number:

    "Jam clamor, centumque viri, densumque coronæ
    Vulgus: et infanti Julia tecta placent."

    _Martial_, vi. _Ep._ 38.

Beyond the basilica are three beautiful columns which belong to a
restoration of the _Temple of Castor and Pollux_, dedicated by
Postumius, B.C. 484. Here costly sacrifices were always offered in the
ides of July, at the anniversary of the battle of the Lake Regillus,
after which the Roman knights, richly clothed, crowned with olive, and
bearing their trophies, rode past it in military procession, starting
from the temple of Mars outside the Porta Capena. The entablature which
the three columns support is of great richness, and the whole fragment
is considered to be one of the finest existing specimens of the
Corinthian order. None of the Roman ruins have given rise to more
discussion than this. It has perpetually changed its name. Bunsen and
many other authorities considered it to belong to the temple of Minerva
Chalcidica; but as it is known that the position of the now discovered
Basilica Julia was exactly between the temple of Saturn and that of
Castor, and a passage of Ovid describes the latter as being close to the
site of the temple of Vesta, which is also ascertained, it seems almost
certain now that it belonged to the temple of the Dioscuri. Dion-Cassius
mentions that Caligula made this temple a vestibule to his house on the
Palatine.

Here, on the right, branches off the Via dei Fienili, once the _Vicus
Tuscus_, or Etruscan quarter (see Chap. V.), leading to the Circus
Maximus. At its entrance was the bronze statue of Vertumnus, the god of
Etruria, and patron of the quarter. The long trough-shaped fountain
here, at which such picturesque groups of oxen and buffaloes are
constantly standing, is a memorial of the _Lake of Juturna_ the sister
of Turnus, or as she was sometimes described, the wife of Janus the
Sabine war-god. This fountain, for such it must have been, was dried up
by Paul V.

    "At quæ venturas præcedit sexta kalendas,
      Hac sunt Ledæis templa dicata deis.
    Fratribus illa deis fratres de gente deorum
      Circa Juturnæ composuere lacus."

    _Ovid, Fast._ i. 705.

Here, close under the Palatine, is the site of the famous _Temple of
Vesta_, in which the sacred fire was preserved, with the palladium saved
from Troy. On the altar of this temple, blood was sprinkled annually
from the tail of the horse which was sacrificed to Mars in the
Campus-Martius. The foundation of the temple was attributed to Numa, but
the worship must have existed in Pelasgic times, as the mother of
Romulus was a vestal. It was burnt down in the fire of Nero, rebuilt and
again burnt down under Commodus, and probably restored for the last time
by Heliogabalus. Here, during the consulate of the young Marius, the
high priest Scævola was murdered, splashing the image of Vesta with his
blood,--and here (A.D. 68) Piso, the adopted son of Galba, was murdered
in the sanctuary whither he had fled for refuge, and his head, being cut
off, was affixed to the rostra. Behind the temple, along the lower ridge
of the Palatine, stretched the sacred grove of Vesta, and the site of
the Church of Sta. Maria Liberatrice was occupied by the _Atrium Vestæ_,
a kind of convent for the vestal virgins. Here Numa Pompilius fixed his
residence, hoping to conciliate both the Latins of the Palatine and the
Sabines of the Capitoline by occupying a neutral ground between them.

    "Quæris iter? dicam, vicinum Castora, canæ
      Transibis Vestæ, virgineamque domum,
    Inde sacro veneranda petes palatia Clivo."

    _Martial_, i. _Ep._ 70.

    "Hic focus est Vestæ, qui Pallada servat et ignem.
      Hic fuit antiqui regia parva Numæ."
         _Ovid, Trist._ iii. _El._ 1.

    "Hic locus exiguus, qui sustinet atria Vestæ,
      Tunc erat intonsi regia magna Numæ.
    Forma tamen templi, quae nunc manet, ante fuisse
      Dicitur; et formæ causa probanda subest.
    Vesta eadem est, et Terra; subest vigil ignis utrique,
      Significant sedem terra focusque suam.
    Terra pilæ similis, nullo fulcimine nixa,
      Aëre subjecto tam grave pendet onus.
    Arte Syracosia suspensus in aëre clauso
      Stat globus, immensi parva figura poli;
    Et quantum a summis, tantum secessit ab imis
      Terra. Quod ut fiat, forma rotunda facit.
    Par facies templi: nullus procurrit ab illo
      Angulus. A pluvio vindicat imbre tholus."

    _Ovid, Fast._ vi. 263.

    "Servat et Alba, Lares, et quorum lucet in aris
    Ignis adhuc Phrygius, nullique adspecta virorum
    Pallas, in abstruso pignus memorabile templo."

    _Lucan_, ix. 992.

Close to the temple of Vesta was the _Regia_, where Julius Cæsar lived
(as pontifex maximus)--where Pompeia his second wife admitted her lover
Clodius in the disguise of a woman to the mysteries of the Bona
Dea--whence Cæsar went forth to his death--and from which his last wife
Calpurnia rushed forth with loud outcries to receive his dead body.

Somewhere in this part of the Forum was the famous _Curtian Lake_, so
called from Mettus Curtius, a Sabine warrior, who with difficulty
escaped from its quagmires to the Capitol after a battle between Romulus
and Tatius.[52] Tradition declares that the quagmire afterwards became a
gulf, which an oracle declared would never close until that which was
most important to the Roman people was sacrificed to it. Then the young
Marcus Curtius, equipped in full armour, leapt his horse into the abyss,
exclaiming that nothing was more important to the Roman people than arms
and courage; and the gulf was closed.[53] Two altars were afterwards
erected on the site to the two heroes, and a vine and an olive tree grew
there.[54]

    "Hoc, ubi nunc fora sunt, udæ tenuere paludes:
      Amne redundatis fossa madebat aquis.
    Curtius ille lacus, siccas qui sustinet aras,
      Nunc solida est tellus, sed lacus ante fuit."
             _Ovid, Fast._ vi. 401.

Some fountain, like those of Servilius and Juturna, bearing the name of
Lacus Curtius must have existed on this site to imperial times, for the
Emperor Galba was murdered there.

     "A single cohort still surrounded Galba, when the standard-bearer
     tore the Emperor's image from his spear-head, and dashed it on the
     ground. The soldiers were at once decided for Otho; swords were
     drawn, and every symptom of favour for Galba amongst the bystanders
     was repressed by menaces, till they dispersed and fled in horror
     from the Forum. At last, the bearers of the emperor's litter
     overturned it at the Curtian pool beneath the Capitol. In a few
     moments enemies swarmed around his body. A few words he muttered,
     which have been diversely reported: some said that they were abject
     and unbecoming; others affirmed that he presented his neck to the
     assassin's sword, and bade him strike 'if it were for the good of
     the republic;' but none listened, none perhaps heeded the words
     actually spoken; Galba's throat was pierced, but even the author of
     his mortal wound was not ascertained, while his breast being
     protected by the cuirass, his legs and arms were hacked with
     repeated gashes."--_Merivale_, vii. 73.

At the foot of the Clivus Capitolinus, on the left (looking towards the
Arch of Titus) stood the _Temple of Janus Quirinus_, between the great
Forum and the Forum of Julius Cæsar, and near the ascent to the Porta
Janualis, by which Tarpeia admitted the Sabines to the Capitol.
Procopius, in the sixth century, saw the little bronze temple of Janus
still standing. This was one of many temples of the great Sabine god.

    "Quum tot sint Jani; cur stas sacratus in uno,
    Hic ubi juncta foris templa duobus habes?"

    _Ovid, Fast._ i. 257.

This was the temple which was the famous index of peace and war, closed
by Augustus for the third time from its foundation after the victory of
Actium.[55]

    " ...et vacuum duellis
    Janum Quirini clausit, et ordinem
    Rectum, et vaganti fræna licentiæ
    Injecit."

    _Horace_, Ode iv. 15.

Besides this temple there were three arches, whose sites are unknown,
dedicated to Janus in different parts of the Forum.

    " ...Hæc Janus summus ab imo
    Perdocet----"

    _Horace, Ep._ i. 1, 54.

The central arch was the resort of brokers and money-lenders.[56]

    " ...Postquam omnis res mea Janum
    Ad medium fracta est."

    _Hor. Sat._ ii. 3, 18.

Along this side of the Forum stood the _Tabernæ Argentariæ_, the
silversmiths' shops, and beyond them--probably in front of S.
Adriano--were the Tabernæ Novæ, where Virginia was stabbed by her father
with a butcher's knife, which he had seized from one of the stalls,
saying, "This, my child, is the only way to keep thee free," as he
plunged it into her heart.[57] Near this also was the statue of Venus
Cloacina.[58]

The front of the Church of S. Adriano is a fragment of the _Basilica of
Æmilius Paulus_, built with part of 1500 talents which Cæsar had sent
from Gaul to win him over to his party. This basilica occupied the site
of the famous _Curia_ of Tullus Hostilius.

     "Là se réunit, pour la première fois sous un toit, le conseil des
     anciens rois que le savant Properce, avec un sentiment vrai des
     antiquités romaines, nous montre tel qu'il était dans l'origine, se
     rassemblant au son de la trompe pastorale dans un pré, comme le
     peuple dans certains petits cantons de la Suisse."--_Ampère, Hist.
     Rom._ ii. 310.

The Curia was capable of containing six hundred senators, their number
in the time of the Gracchi. It had no tribune,--each speaker rose in
turn and spoke in his place. Here was "the hall of assembly in which the
fate of the world was decided." The Curia was destroyed by fire, which
it caught from the funeral pyre of Clodius. Around the Curia stood many
statues of Romans who had rendered especial service to the state. The
Curia Julia occupied the site of the Curia Hostilia in the early part of
the reign of Augustus. Close by the old Curia was the _Basilica Porcia_,
built by Cato the Censor, which was likewise burnt down at the funeral
of Clodius. Near this, the base of the rostral column, _Colonna Duilia_,
has been found.

Opposite the Basilica Julia, in the depth of the Forum, is the _Column
of Phocas_, raised to that emperor by the exarch Smaragdus in 608. This
is--

    "The nameless column with a buried base,"

of Byron, but is now neither nameless nor buried, its pedestal having
been laid bare by the Duchess of Devonshire in 1813, and bearing an
inscription which shows an origin that no one ever anticipated.

     "In the age of Phocas (602--610), the art of erecting a column like
     that of Trajan or M. Aurelius had been lost. A large and handsome
     Corinthian pillar, taken from some temple or basilica, was
     therefore placed in the Forum, on a huge pyramidal basis quite out
     of proportion to it, and was surmounted with a statue of Phocas in
     gilt bronze. It has so little the appearance of a monumental
     column, that for a long while it was thought to belong to some
     ruined building, till, in 1813, the inscription was discovered. The
     name of Phocas had, indeed, been erased; but that it must have been
     dedicated to him is shown by the date.... The base of this column,
     discovered by the excavations of 1816 to have rested on the ancient
     pavement of the Forum, proves that this former centre of Roman life
     was still, at the beginning of the seventh century, unencumbered
     with ruins."--_Dyer's History of the City of Rome._

     "Ce monument et l'inscription qui l'accompagne sont précieux pour
     l'histoire, car ils montrent le dernier terme de l'avilissement où
     Rome devait tomber. Smaragdus est le premier magistrat de
     Rome,--mais ce magistrat est un préfet, l'élu du pouvoir impérial
     et non de ses concitoyens;--il commande, non, il est vrai, à la
     capitale du monde, mais au chef-lieu du duché de Rome. Ce préfet,
     qui n'est connu de l'histoire que par ses lâches ménagements envers
     les Barbares, imagine de voler une colonne à un beau temple, au
     temple d'un empereur de quelque mérite, pour la dédier à un
     exécrable tyran monté sur le trône par des assassinats, au
     meurtrier de l'empereur Maurice, à l'ignoble Phocas, que tout le
     monde connaît, grâce à Corneille, qui l'a encore trop ménagé. Et le
     plat drôle ose appeler très-clément celui qui fit égorger sous les
     yeux de Maurice ses quatre fils avant de l'égorger lui-même. Il
     décerne le titre de triomphateur à Phocas, qui laissa conquérir par
     Chosroès une bonne part de l'empire. Il ose écrire: 'pour les
     innombrables bienfaits de sa piété, pour le repos procuré à
     l'Italie et à la liberté.' Ainsi l'histoire monumentale de la Rome
     de l'empire finit honteusement par un hommage ridicule de la
     bassesse à la violence."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 389.

A little behind the Column of Phocas are the marble slabs commemorating
the sacrifices called Suovetaurilia, consisting of a pig, a sheep, and
an ox, animals which are sculptured here in bold relief. On the side
towards the Capitol a number of figures are represented, amongst them a
woman presenting a child to the emperor, in reference to Trajan's asylum
for orphans, or for those who were too poor to bring up their children.
On the other side is a burning of deeds in reference to the famous
remission of debts by Trajan.

Beyond this, on the left, the base of the famous statue of Domitian has
been discovered as described by Statius:

    "Ipse loci custos, cujus sacrata vorago,
    Famosusque lacus nomen memorabile servat."

    _Silv._ i. 66.

Here the Via Sacra turns, almost continuing the Vicus Tuscus. On its
right, on a line with the Temple of the Dioscuri, has been discovered
the base of the small Temple of Julius Cæsar (Ædes Divi Julii),[59]
which was surrounded with a colonnade of closely-placed columns and
surmounted by a statue of the deified triumvir. This was the first
temple in Rome which was dedicated to a mortal.

    "Fratribus assimilis, quos proxima templa tenentes
    Divus ab excelsa Julius æde videt."

    _Ovid, Pont. El._ ii. 2.

Dion Cassius narrates that this temple was erected on the spot where the
body of Julius was burnt. It was adorned by Augustus with the beaks of
the vessels taken in the battle of Actium, and hence obtained the name
of Rostra Julia. He also placed here the statue of Venus Anadyomene of
Apelles, because Cæsar had claimed descent from that goddess. Here, in
A.D. 14, the body of Augustus, being brought from Nola, where he died,
was placed upon a bier, while Tiberius pronounced a funeral oration over
it, before it was carried to the Campus Martius.

The road turns again in front of the remains of the _Temple of Antoninus
and Faustina_, erected by the flattery of the senate to the memory of
the licentious Empress Faustina, the faithless wife of Antoninus Pius,
whom they elevated to the rank of a goddess. Her husband, dying before
its completion, was associated in her honours, and the inscription,
which still remains on the portico, is "DIVO ANTONINO ET DIVÆ FAUSTINÆ.
EX. S. C." The front of the temple is adorned with eight columns of
cipolino, forty-three feet high, supporting a frieze ornamented with
griffins and candelabra. The effect of these remains would be
magnificent if the modern road were removed, and the temple were laid
bare in its full height, with the twenty-one steps which formerly led to
it. It is also greatly injured by the hideous Church of S. Lorenzo in
Miranda, which encloses the cella of the temple, and whose name, says
Ampère, naively expresses the admiration in which its builders held
these remains.[60]

On the left we now reach the Church of SS. Cosmo and Damian, considered
by Nibby and others to occupy the site of a temple of Remus. Ampère has
since proved that this temple never existed, and that the remains are
those of a _Temple of the Penates_, rebuilt by Augustus. Here Valerius
Publicola had a house, to which he removed from the Velia, in deference
to the wishes of the Roman people.

     "Le sentiment d'effroi que la demeure féodale des Valérius causait,
     était pareille à celui qu'inspiraient aux Romains du moyen âge les
     tours des barons, que le peuple, dès qu'il était le maître, se
     hâtait de démolir. Valerius n'attendit pas qu'on se portât à cette
     extrémité, et il vint habiter au pied de la Velia. C'est le premier
     triomphe des plébéiens sur l'aristocratie romaine et la première
     concession de cette aristocratie."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 274.

A little further on are three gigantic arches, being all that remains of
the magnificent _Basilica of Constantine_, which was 320 feet in length
and 235 feet in width. The existing ruins are those of one of the aisles
of the basilica. There are traces of an entrance towards the Coliseum.
The roof was supported by eight Corinthian columns, of which one,
remaining here till the time of Paul V., was removed by him to the
piazza of Sta. Maria Maggiore, where it still stands. This site was
previously occupied by the _Temple of Peace_, burnt down in the time of
Commodus. This temple was the great museum of Rome under the empire, and
contained the seven-branched candlestick and other treasures brought
from Jerusalem,[61] as well as all the works of art which had been
collected in the palace of Nero and which were removed hither by
Vespasian. A statue of the Nile, with children playing around it, is
mentioned by Pliny as among the sights in the temple of Peace.[62]

It was near this that the Via Sacra was crossed by the _Arch of Fabius_,
erected B.C. 121, in honour of the conqueror of the Allobroges,--the
then inhabitants of Savoy. Close to this portion of the Via Sacra also
stood a statue of Valeria, daughter of Publicola, by whom the honours of
the virgin Clœlia were disputed.

Besides those which we have noticed, there is mention in classical
authors of many other buildings and statues which were once crowded into
this narrow space; but all trace of many even of those enumerated is
still buried many feet below the soil.

The modern name of _Campo Vaccino_, by which the Forum is now known, is
supposed by some antiquaries to be derived from Vitruvius Vacco, who
once had a house there.

     "La guerre aux habitants de Privernum (Piperno) rattache à une
     localité du Palatin.... Les habitants de Fondi avaient fait cause
     commune avec les habitants de Privernum. Leur chef, Vitruvius
     Vacca, possedait une maison sur le Palatin; c'était un homme
     considérable dans son pays et même à Rome. Ils demandèrent et
     obtinrent grâce. Privernum fut pris, et Vitruvius Vacca, qui s'y
     était réfugié, conduit à Rome, enfermé dans le prison Mamertine
     pour y être gardé jusqu'au retour du consul, et alors battu de
     verges et mis à mort; sa maison du Palatin fut rasée, et le lieu où
     elle avait été garda le nom de _Prés de Vacca_."--_Ampère, Histoire
     Romaine_, iii. 17.

But the name will seem singularly appropriate to those who are familiar
with the groups of meek-faced oxen of the Campagna, which are always to
be seen lying in the shade under the trees of the Forum, or drinking at
its water-troughs.

     "'Romanoque Foro et lautis mugire Carinis.'

     "Ce vers m'a toujours profondément frappé, lorsque je traversais le
     Forum, aujourd'hui Campo-Vaccino (le champ du bétail); je voyais
     en effet presque toujours à son extrémité des bœufs couchés au
     pied du Palatin. Virgile, se reportant de la Rome de son temps à la
     Rome ancienne d'Evandre, ne trouvait pas d'image plus frappante du
     changement produit par les siècles, que la présence d'un troupeau
     de bœufs dans le lieu destiné à être le Forum. Eh bien, le jour
     devait venir où ce qui était pour Virgile un passé lointain et
     presque incroyable se reproduirait dans la suite des âges; le Forum
     devait être de nouveau un lieu agreste, ses magnificences s'en
     aller et les bœufs y revenir.

     "J'aimais à les contempler à travers quelques colonnes moins
     vieilles que les souvenirs qu'ils me retracaient, reprenant
     possession de ce sol d'où les avait chassés la liberté, la gloire,
     Cicéron, César, et où devait les ramener la plus grande vicissitude
     de l'historie, la destruction de l'empire romain per les barbares.
     Ce que Virgile trouvait si étrange dans le passé n'étonne plus dans
     le présent; les bœufs mugissent au Forum; ils s'y couchent et y
     ruminent aujourd'hui, de même qu'au temps d'Evandre et comme s'il
     n'était rien arrivé."--Ampère, Hist. Rom. 1. 211.

                  "In many a heap the ground
    Heaves, is if Ruin in a frantic mood
    Had done his utmost. Here and there appears,
    As left to show his handy-work not ours,
    An idle column, a half-buried arch,
    A wall of some great temple. It was once,
    And long, the centre of their Universe,
    The Forum--whence a mandate, eagle-winged,
    Went to the ends of the earth. Let us descend
    Slowly. At every step much may be lost,
    The very dust we tread stirs as with life,
    And not a breath but from the ground sends up
    Something of human grandeur.

           *       *       *       *       *

    Now all is changed; and here, as in the wild,
    The day is silent, dreary as the night;
    None stirring, save the herdsman and his herd,
    Savage alike; or they that would explore,
    Discuss, and learnedly; or they that come,
    (And there are many who have crossed the earth,)
    That they may give the hours to meditation,
    And wander, often saving to themselves,
    'This was the Roman Forum!'"

    _Rogers' Italy._

     "We descended into the Forum, the light fast fading away and
     throwing a kindred soberness over the scene of ruin. The soil has
     risen from rubbish at least fifteen feet, so that no wonder that
     the hills look lower than they used to do, having been never very
     considerable at the first. There it was one scene of desolation,
     from the massy foundation-stones of the Capitoline Temple, which
     were laid by Tarquinius the Proud, to a single pillar erected in
     honour of Phocas, the eastern emperor, in the fifth century. What
     the fragments of pillars belonged to, perhaps we can never know;
     but that I think matters little. I care not whether it was a temple
     of Jupiter Stator or the Basilica Julia, but one knows that one is
     on the ground of the Forum, under the Capitol, the place where the
     tribes assembled, and the orators spoke; the scene, in short, of
     all the internal struggles of the Roman people."--_Arnold's
     Journal._

     "They passed the solitary column of Phocas, and looked down into
     the excavated space, where a confusion of pillars, arches,
     pavements, and shattered blocks and shafts--the crumbs of various
     ruins dropt from the devouring maw of Time--stand, or lie, at the
     base of the Capitoline Hill. That renowned hillock (for it is
     little more) now rose abruptly above them. The ponderous masonry,
     with which the hillside is built up, is as old as Rome itself, and
     looks likely to endure while the world retains any substance or
     permanence. It once sustained the Capitol, and now bears up the
     great pile which the mediæval builders raised on the antique
     foundation, and that still loftier tower, which looks abroad upon a
     larger page of deeper historic interest than any other scene can
     show. On the same pedestal of Roman masonry, other structures will
     doubtless arise, and vanish like ephemeral things.

     "To a spectator on the spot, it is remarkable that the events of
     Roman history, and of Roman life itself, appear not so distant as
     the Gothic ages which succeeded them. We stand in the Forum, or on
     the height of the Capitol, and seem to see the Roman epoch close at
     hand. We forget that a chasm extends between it and ourselves, in
     which lie all those dark, rude, unlettered centuries, around the
     birthtime of Christianity, as well as the age of chivalry and
     romance, the feudal system, and the infancy of a better
     civilization than that of Rome. Or, if we remember these mediæval
     times, they look further off than the Augustan age. The reason may
     be, that the old Roman literature survives, and creates for us an
     intimacy with the classic ages, which we have no means of forming
     with the subsequent ones.

     "The Italian climate, moreover, robs age of its reverence, and
     makes it look nearer than it is. Not the Coliseum, nor the tombs of
     the Appian Way, nor the oldest pillar in the Forum, nor any other
     Roman ruin, be it as dilapidated as it may, ever give the
     impression of venerable antiquity which we gather, along with the
     ivy, from the grey walls of an English abbey or castle. And yet
     every brick and stone, which we pick up among the former, had
     fallen, ages before the foundation of the latter was
     begun."--_Hawthorne, Transformation._

     "A Rome, vous marchez sur les pierres qui ont été les dieux de
     César et de Pompée: vous considérez la ruine de ces grands
     ouvrages, dont la vieillesse est encore belle, et vous vous
     promènerez tous les jours parmi les histoires et les fables.... Il
     n'y à que Rome où la vie soit agréable, où le corps trouve ses
     plaisirs et l'esprit les siens, où l'on est à la source des belles
     choses. Rome est cause que vous n'êtes plus barbares, elle vous a
     appris la civilité et la religion.... Il est certain que je ne
     monte jamais au Palatin ni au Capitole que je n'y change d'esprit,
     et qu'il ne me vienne d'autres pensées que les miennes ordinaires.
     Cet air m'inspire quelque chose de grand et de généreux que je
     n'avais point auparavant: si je rêve deux heures au bord du Tibre,
     je suis aussi savant que si j'avais étudié huit jours."--_Balzac._

       *       *       *       *       *

Before leaving the Forum we must turn from its classical to its mediæval
remains, and examine the very interesting group of churches which have
sprung up amid its ruins.

Almost opposite the Mamertine Prisons, surmounted by a handsome dome, is
the _Church of Sta. Martina_, which contains the original model,
bequeathed by the sculptor Thorwaldsen, of his Copenhagen statue of
Christ in the act of benediction. The opposite transept contains a very
inferior statue of Religion by _Canova_. The figure of Sta. Martina by
_Guerini_ reposes beneath the high altar. The subterranean church is
well worth visiting. An ante-chapel adorned with statues of four virgin
martyrs leads to a chapel erected at the cost and from the designs of
Pietro da Cortona, whose tomb stands near its entrance, with a fine bust
by _Bernini_. In the centre of the inner chapel lamps are burning round
the magnificent bronze altar which covers the shrine of Sta. Martina,
and beneath it, you can discover the martyr's tomb by the light of a
torch which a monk lets down through a hole. In the tribune is an
ancient throne. A side chapel contains the grave in which the body of
the virgin saint, with three other martyrs, her companions, was found in
1634: it is adorned with a fine bas-relief by _Algardi_.

     "At the foot of the Capitoline hill, on the left hand as we descend
     from the Ara Cœli into the Forum, there stood in very ancient
     times a small chapel dedicated to Sta. Martina, a Roman virgin, who
     was martyred in the persecution under Alexander Severus. The
     veneration paid to her was of very early date, and the Roman people
     were accustomed to assemble there on the first day of the year.
     This observance was, however, confined to the people, and not very
     general till 1634; an era which connects her in rather an
     interesting manner with the history of art. In this year, as they
     were about to repair her chapel, they discovered, walled into the
     foundations, a sarcophagus of terra-cotta, in which was the body of
     a young female, whose severed head reposed in a separate casket.
     These remains were very naturally supposed to be those of the saint
     who had been so long venerated on that spot. The discovery was
     hailed with the utmost exultation, not by the people only, but by
     those who led the minds and consciences of the people. The pope
     himself, Urban VIII., composed hymns in her praise; and Cardinal
     Francesco Barberini undertook to rebuild her church. Amongst those
     who shared the general enthusiasm was the painter, Pietro da
     Cortona, who was at Rome at the time, who very earnestly dedicated
     himself and his powers to the glorification of Sta. Martina. Her
     church had already been given to the Academy of Painters, and
     consecrated to St. Luke, their patron saint. It is now 'San Luca
     and Santa Martina.' Pietro da Cortona erected at his own cost, the
     chapel of Sta. Martina, and when he died, endowed it with his whole
     fortune. He painted for the altarpiece his best picture, in which
     the saint is represented as triumphing over the idols, while the
     temple in which she has been led to sacrifice, is struck by
     lightning from heaven, and falls in ruins around her. In a votive
     picture of Sta. Martina kneeling at the feet of the Virgin and
     Child, she is represented as very young and lovely; near her, a
     horrid instrument of torture, a two-pronged fork with barbed
     extremities, and the lictor's axe, signifying the manner of her
     death."--_Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art._

The feast of the saint is observed here on Jan. 30, with much solemnity.
Then in all the Roman churches is sung the Hymn of Sta. Martina--

    "Martinæ celebri plaudite nomini,
    Cives Romulei, plaudite gloriæ;
    Insignem mentis dicite virginem,
    Christi dicite martyrem.

    Hæc dum conspicuis orta parentibus
    Inter delicias, inter amabiles
    Luxus illecebras, ditibus affluit
    Faustæ muneribus domus.

    Vitæ despiciens commoda, dedicat
    Se rerum Domino, et munifica manu
    Christi pauperibus distribuens opes
    Quærit præmia cœlitum.

    A nobis abigas lubrica gaudia
    Tu, qui martyribus dexter ades,
    Deus
    Une et trine: tuis da famulis jubar,
    Quo clemens animos beas. Amen."

There is nothing especial to notice in _S. Adriano_, which is built in
the ruins of the basilica of Emilius Paulus, or in _S. Lorenzo in
Miranda_, which occupies the temple of Antoninus and Faustina, but _Sta.
Maria Liberatrice_, built on the site of the house of Numa and the
convent of the Vestals, commemorates by its name a curious legend of the
fourth century. On this site, it is said, dwelt in a cave, a terrible
dragon who had slain three hundred persons with the poison of his
breath. Into this cave, instructed thereto by St. Peter, and entrusting
himself to the care of the Virgin, descended St. Silvester the Pope,
attended by two acolytes bearing torches, and here, having pronounced
the name of Christ, he was miraculously enabled to bind the dragon, and
to shut him up till the day of Judgment. But when he ascended in safety,
he found at the mouth of the cave two magicians who had followed him in
the hope of discovering some imposture, dying from the poison of the
dragon's breath,--and these also he saved alive.

We now reach the circular building which has been so long known as the
temple of Remus. To the right of the entrance are two pillars of
cipolino, almost buried in the soil. The porphyry pillars at the
entrance, supporting a richly sculptured cornice, were probably set up
in their present position when the temple was turned into a church. The
bronze doors were brought from Perugia. If, as is now supposed, the
temple on this site was that of the Penates, the protectors against all
kinds of illness and misfortune, the modern dedication to the protecting
physicians Cosmo and Damian may have had some reference to that which
went before.

The Church of _SS. Cosmo and Damiano_ was founded within the ancient
temple by Pope Felix IV. in 527, and restored by Adrian I. in 780. In
1633 the whole building was modernized by Urban VIII., who, in order to
raise it to the present level of the soil, cut the ancient church in
half by the vaulting which now divides the upper and lower churches. To
visit the lower church a monk must be summoned, who will bring a torch.
This is well worth while. It is of great size, and contains a curious
well into which Christian martyrs in the time of Nero are said to have
been precipitated. The tomb of the martyrs Cosmo and Damian is beneath
the altar, which is formed of beautiful transparent marble. Under a side
altar is the grave of Felix IV. The third and lowest church (the
_original_ crypt) which is very small, is said to have been a place of
refuge during the early Christian persecutions. Here is shown the altar
at which Felix IV. celebrated mass while his converts were hiding
here--the grave in which the body of the pope was afterwards
discovered--and a miraculous spring, still flowing, which is said to
have burst forth in answer to his prayers that he might have wherewithal
to baptize his disciples. A passage which formerly led from hence to the
Catacombs of St. Sebastian, was walled up, twenty years ago, by the
paternal government, because twenty persons were lost in it. In this
crypt were found the famous "Pianta Capitolina," now preserved in the
Capitol. In the upper church, on the right of the entrance from the
circular vestibule into the body of the building is this inscription--

     "L'imagine di Madonna Santissima che esiste all'altar magg. parlò a
     S. Gregorio Papa dicendogli, 'Perchè piu non mi saluti mentre
     passando eri solito salutarmi?' Il santo domandò perdona e concesse
     a quelli che celebrano in quell'altare la liberazione dell'anima
     dal purgatorio, cioé per quell'anima per la quale si celebra la
     messa."[63]

Another inscription narrates--

     "Gregorius primus concessit omnibus et singulis visitantibus
     ecclesiam istam sanctorum Cosmæ et Damiani mille annos de
     indulgentia, et in die stationis ejusdem ecclesiæ idem Gregorius
     concessit decem millia annorum de indulgentia."

Among the many relics preserved in this church are, "Una ampulla lactis
Beatæ Mariæ Virginis"; "De Domo Sanctæ Mariæ Magdalenæ"; "De Domo Sancti
Zachariæ profeta!"

Deserving of the most minute attention is the grand mosaic of
Christ--coming on the clouds of sunset.

     "The mosaics of SS. Cosmo and Damian (A.D. 526--530) are the finest
     of ancient Christian Rome. Above the arch appear, on each side of
     the Lamb, four angels, of excellent but somewhat severe style; then
     follow various apocalyptic emblems: a modern walling up having left
     but few traces of the four and twenty elders. A gold surface,
     dimmed by age, with little purple clouds, forms the background:
     though in Rome, at least, at both an earlier and later date, a blue
     ground prevailed. In the apsis itself, upon a dark blue ground,
     with golden-edged clouds, is seen the colossal figure of Christ;
     the right hand raised, either in benediction or teaching, the left
     holding a written scroll; above is the hand, which is the emblem of
     the First Person of the Trinity. Below, on each side, the apostles
     Peter and Paul are leading SS. Cosmo and Damiano, each with crowns
     on their heads, towards the Saviour, followed by St. Theodore on
     the right, and by Pope Felix IV., the founder of the church, on the
     left. This latter, unfortunately, is an entirely restored figure.
     Two palm-trees, sparkling with gold, above one of which appears the
     emblem of eternity, the phœnix--with a star-shaped nimbus, close
     the composition on each side. Further below, indicated by
     water-plants, sparkling also with gold, is the river Jordan. The
     figure of Christ may be regarded as one of the most marvellous
     specimens of the art of the middle ages. Countenance, attitude, and
     drapery combine to give him an expression of quiet majesty, which,
     for many centuries after, is not found again in equal beauty and
     freedom. The drapery, especially, is disposed in noble folds, and
     only in its somewhat too ornate details is a further departure from
     the antique observable. The saints are not as yet arranged in stiff
     parallel forms, but are advancing forward, so that their figures
     appear somewhat distorted, while we already remark something
     constrained and inanimate in their step. The apostles Peter and
     Paul wear the usual ideal costume. SS. Cosmo and Damiano are
     attired in the late Roman dress: violet mantles, in gold stuff,
     with red embroideries of oriental barbaric effect. Otherwise the
     chief motives of the drapery are of great beauty, though somewhat
     too abundant in folds. The high lights are brought out by gold and
     other sparkling materials, producing a gorgeous play of colour
     which relieves the figures vigorously from the dark blue
     background. Altogether, a feeling for colour is here displayed, of
     which no later mosaics with gold grounds give any idea. The heads,
     with the exception of the principal figure, are animated and
     individual, though without any particular depth of expression;
     somewhat elderly, also, in physiognomy, but still far removed from
     any Byzantine stiffness; St. Peter has already the bald head, and
     St. Paul the short brown hair and dark beard, by which they were
     afterwards recognizable. Under this chief composition, on a gold
     ground, is seen the Lamb upon a hill, with the four rivers of
     Paradise, and the twelve sheep on either hand. The great care of
     execution is seen in the five or six gradations of tints which the
     artist has adopted."--_Kugler._

SS. Cosmo and Damian, to whom this church is dedicated, were two Arabian
physicians who exercised their art from charity. They suffered under
Diocletian. "First they were thrown into the sea, but an angel saved
them; and then into the fire, but the fire refused to burn them; then
they were bound to crosses and stoned, but the stones either fell
harmless or rebounded on their executioners and killed them, so then the
pro-consul Lycias, believing them to be sorcerers, commanded that they
should be beheaded, and thus they died." SS. Cosmo and Damian were the
patron saints of the Medici, and their gilt statues were carried in
state at the coronation of Leo X. (Giovanni de' Medici). Their fame is
general in many parts of France, where their fête is celebrated by a
village fair--children who ask for their fairing of a toy or gingerbread
calling it their "St. Côme."

     "It is related that a certain man, who was afflicted with a cancer
     in his leg, went to perform his devotions in the Church SS. Cosmo
     and Damian at Rome, and he prayed most earnestly that these
     beneficent saints would be pleased to aid him. When he had prayed,
     a deep sleep fell upon him. Then he beheld St. Cosmo and St.
     Damian, who stood beside him; and one carried a box of ointments,
     and the other a sharp knife. And one said, 'What shall we do to
     replace this diseased leg when we have cut it off?' And the other
     replied, 'There is a Moor who has been buried just now at St.
     Pietro in Vincoli; let us take his leg for the purpose.' So they
     brought the leg of the dead man, and with it they replaced the leg
     of the sick man; anointing it with celestial ointment, so that he
     remained whole. When he awoke he almost doubted whether it could be
     himself; but his neighbours, seeing that he was healed, looked into
     the tomb of the Moor, and found that there had been an exchange of
     legs: and thus the truth of this great miracle was proved to all
     beholders."--_Mrs. Jameson, from the Legenda Aurea._

Just beyond the basilica of Constantine, stands the _Church of Sta.
Francesca Romana_, which is full of interest. It was first built by St.
Sylvester on the site of the temple of Venus and dedicated to the
Virgin, under the title of Sta. Maria Antica. It was rebuilt in A.D. 872
by John VIII., who resided in the adjoining monastery during his
pontificate. An ancient picture attributed to St. Luke, brought from
Troy in 1100, was the only object in this church which was preserved
when the building was totally destroyed by fire in 1216, after which the
church, then called Sta. Maria Nuova, was restored by Honorius III.
During the restoration, the picture was kept at S. Adriano, and its
being brought back led to a contest amongst the people, which was ended
by a child exclaiming--"What are you doing? the Madonna is already in
her own church." She had betaken herself thither none knew how.

In the twelfth century the church was given to the Lateran Canons, in
the fourteenth to the Olivetan monks; under Eugenius IV., the latter
extended their boundaries so far that they included the Coliseum, but
their walls were forced down in the succeeding pontificate. Gregory XI.,
Paul II., and Cæsar Borgia, were cardinals of Sta. Maria Novella. In
1440 the name was changed to that of Sta. Francesca Romana, when that
saint, Francesca de' Ponziani, foundress of the Order of Oblates, was
buried here. Her tomb was erected in 1640 by Donna Agata Pamfili, sister
of Innocent X., herself an Oblate. It is from the designs of Bernini,
and is rich in marbles. The figure was not added till 1868.

     "After the death of Francesca, her body remained during a night and
     a day at the Ponziani Palace, the Oblates watching by turns over
     the beloved remains.... Francesca's face, which had recently borne
     traces of age and suffering, became as beautiful again as in the
     days of youth and prosperity; and the astonished bystanders gazed
     with wonder and awe at her unearthly loveliness. Many of them
     carried away particles from her clothes, and employed them for the
     cure of several persons who had been considered beyond the
     possibility of recovery. In the course of the day the crowd
     augmented to a degree which alarmed the inhabitants of the palace,
     Battista Ponziani took measures to have the body removed at once to
     the church, and a procession of the regular and secular clergy
     escorted the venerated remains to Santa Maria Nuova, where they
     were to be interred.

     "The popular feeling burst forth on the occasion; it was no longer
     to be restrained. Francesca was invoked by the crowd, and her
     beloved name was heard in every street, in every piazza, in every
     corner of the Eternal City. It flew from mouth to mouth, it seemed
     to float in the air, to be borne aloft by the grateful enthusiasm
     of a whole people, who had seen her walk to that church by her
     mother's side in her holy childhood; who had seen her kneel at that
     altar in the grave beauty of womanhood, in the hour of bereavement,
     and now in death, carried thither in state, she the gentle, the
     humble saint of Rome, the poor woman of the Trastevere, as she was
     sometimes called at her own desire."--_Lady G. Fullerton's Life of
     Sta. Francesca Romana._

A chapel on the right of the church contains the monument of Cardinal
Vulcani, 1322, supporting his figure, with Faith, Hope, and Charity
sculptured in high relief below. Near the door is that of Cardinal
Adimari, 1432, who died here after an ineffectual mission to the
anti-pope Pedro da' Luna. In the left transept was a fine Perugino
(removed 1867); in the right transept is the tomb of Pope Gregory XI.,
by Pietro Paolo Olivieri, erected by the senate in gratitude for his
having restored the papal court to Rome from Avignon. A bas-relief
represents his triumphal entry, with St. Catherine of Siena, by whose
entreaties he was induced to return, walking before his mule. A breach
in the walls indicates the ruinous state into which Rome had fallen, the
chair of St. Peter is represented as floating back through the air,
while an angel carries the papal tiara and keys; a metaphorical figure
of Rome is coming forth to welcome the pope.

     "The greatest part of the praise due to Gregory's return to Rome
     belongs to St. Catherine of Siena, who, with infinite courage,
     travelled to Avignon, and persuaded the pope to return, and by his
     presence to dispel the evils which disgraced Italy, in consequence
     of the absence of the popes. Thus it is not to be wondered at, that
     those writers, who rightly understand the matter, should have said
     that Catherine, the virgin of Siena, brought back to God the
     abandoned apostolical chair upon her shoulders."--_Ughelli, Ital.
     Sacra_, vi. col. 45.

Near Pope Gregory's tomb some blackened marks in the wall are shown as
holes made by the (gigantic) knees of St. Peter, when he knelt to pray
that Simon Magus might be dropped by the demons he had invoked to
support him in the air, which he is said to have done to show his power
on this spot.

     "When the error of Simon was spreading farther and farther, the
     illustrious pair of men, Peter and Paul, the rulers of the Church,
     arrested it by going thither, who suddenly exhibited as dead,
     Simon, the putative God, on his appearance. For when Simon declared
     that he would ascend aloft into heaven, the servants of God cast
     him headlong to the earth, and though this occurrence was wonderful
     in itself, it was not wonderful under the circumstances, for it was
     Peter who did it, he who bears with him the keys of heaven, ... it
     was Paul who did it, he who was caught up into the third
     heaven."--_St. Cyril of Jerusalem._

     "Simon promised to fly, and thus ascend to the heavenly abodes. On
     the day agreed upon, he went to the Capitoline hill, and throwing
     himself from the rock, began his ascent. Then Peter, standing in
     the midst, said, 'O Lord Jesus, show him that his arts are in
     vain.' Hardly had the words been uttered, when the wings which
     Simon had made use of became entangled, and he fell. His thigh was
     fractured, never to be healed,--and some time afterwards, the
     unhappy man died at Aretia, whither he had retired after his
     discomfiture."--_St. Ambrose._[64]

     "There can be no doubt that there existed in the first century a
     Simon, a Samaritan, a pretender to divine authority and
     supernatural powers; who, for a time, had many followers; who stood
     in a certain relation to Christianity; and who may have held some
     opinions more or less similar to those entertained by the most
     famous heretics of the early ages, the Gnostics. Irenæus calls this
     Simon the father of all heretics. 'All those,' he says, 'who in any
     way corrupt the truth, or mar the preaching of the Church, are
     disciples and successors of Simon, the Samaritan magician.' Simon
     gave himself forth as a God, and carried about with him a beautiful
     woman named Helena, whom he represented as the first conception of
     his--that is, of the divine--mind, the symbol and manifestation of
     that portion of spirituality which had become entangled in
     matter."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 204.

The vault of the tribune is covered with mosaics.

     "The restored tribune mosaics (A.D. 858--887, during the
     pontificate of Nicholas I.), close the list of Roman Byzantine
     works. By their time it had become apparent that such figures as
     the art of the day was alone able to achieve, could have no
     possible relation to each other, and therefore no longer constitute
     a composition; the artists accordingly separated the Madonna on the
     throne, and the four saints with uplifted hands, by graceful
     arcades. The ground is gold, the nimbuses blue. The faces consist
     only of feeble lines--the cheeks are only red blotches; the folds
     merely dark strokes; nevertheless a certain flow and fulness in the
     forms, and the character of a few accessories (for instance, the
     exchange of a crown upon the Virgin's head for the invariable
     Byzantine veil), seem to indicate that we have not so much to do
     here with the decline of Byzantine art, as with a northern and
     probably Frankish influence."--_Kugler._

The convent attached to this church was the abode of Tasso during his
first visit to Rome.

Behind Sta. Francesca Romana, and facing the Coliseum, are the remains
generally known as the _Temple of Venus and Rome_, also called Templum
Urbis (now sometimes called by objectors the "Portico of Livia"), which,
if this name is the correct one, was originally planned by the Emperor
Hadrian to rival the Forum of Trajan, erected by the architect
Apollodorus. It was built upon a site previously occupied by the atrium
of Nero's Golden House. Little remains standing except a cella facing
the Coliseum, and another in the cloisters of the adjoining convent
(these, perhaps, being restorations by Maxentius, _c._ 307, after a fire
had destroyed most of the building of Hadrian), but the surrounding
grassy height is positively littered with fragments of the grey granite
columns which once formed the grand portico (400 by 200 feet) of the
building. A large mass of Corinthian cornice remains near the cella
facing the Coliseum. This was the last pagan temple which remained in
use in Rome.[65] It was only closed by Theodosius in 391, and remained
entire till 625, when Pope Honorius carried off the bronze tiles of its
roof to St. Peter's.

    "Ac sacram resonare viam mugitibus, ante
    Delubrum Romæ; colitur nam sanguine et ipsa
    More deæ, nomenque loci, ceu numen, habetur.
    Atque Urbis, Venerisque pari se culmine tollunt
    Templa, simul geminis adolentur thura deabus."

    _Prudentius contr. Symm._ v. 214.

     "When about to construct his magnificent temple of Venus and Rome,
     Hadrian produced a design of his own and showed it with proud
     satisfaction to the architect Apollodorus. The creator of the
     Trajan column remarked with a sneer that the deities, if they rose
     from their seats, must thrust their heads through the ceiling. The
     emperor, we are assured, could not forgive this banter; but we can
     hardly take to the letter the statement that he put his critic to
     death for it."--_Merivale_, ch. lxvi.

In front of this temple stood the bronze statue of Clœlia, mentioned
by Livy and Seneca, and (till the sixth century) the bronze elephants
mentioned by Cassiodorus. Nearer the Coliseum may still be seen the
remains of the foundation prepared by Hadrian for the _Colossal Statue
of Nero_, executed in bronze by Zenodorus. This statue was twice moved,
first by Vespasian, in A.D. 75, that it might face the chief entrance of
his amphitheatre,[66] whose plan had been already laid out. At the same
time--though it was a striking likeness of Nero--its head was surrounded
with rays that it might represent Apollo. In its second position it is
described by Martial:

    "Hic ubi sidereus propius videt astra colossus
      Et crescunt media pegmata celsa via,
    Invidiosa feri radiabant atria regis,
      Unaque jam tota stabat in urbe domus."

    _De Spect._ ii.

It was again moved (with the aid of forty-two elephants), a few yards
further north, by Hadrian, when he built his temple of Venus and Rome.
Pliny describes the colossus as 110, Dion Cassius as 100 feet high.

     "Hadrian employed an architect named Decrianus to remove the
     colossus of Nero, the face of which had been altered into a Sol. He
     does not seem to have accomplished the design of Apollodorus to
     erect a companion statue of Luna."--_Merivale_, ch. lxvi.

Near the Church of Sta. Francesca the Via Sacra passes under the _Arch
of Titus_, which, even in its restored condition, is the most beautiful
monument of the kind remaining in Rome. Its Christian interest is
unrivalled, from its having been erected by the senate to commemorate
the taking of Jerusalem, and from its bas-reliefs of the seven-branched
candlestick and other treasures of the Jewish Temple. In mediæval times
it was called the Arch of the Seven Candlesticks (septem lucernarum)
from the bas-relief of the candlestick, concerning which Gregorovius
remarks, that the fantastic figures carved upon it prove that it was
_not_ an exact likeness of that which came from Jerusalem. The
bas-reliefs are now greatly mutilated, but they are shown in their
perfect state in a drawing of Giuliano di Sangallo. On the frieze is the
sacred river Jordan, as an aged man, borne on a bier. The arch, which
was in a very ruinous condition, had been engrafted in the middle ages
into a fortress tower called Turris Cartularia, and so it remained till
the present century. This tower originally formed the entrance to the
vast fortress of the powerful Frangipani family, which included the
Coliseum and a great part of the Palatine and Cœlian hills; and here,
above the gate, Pope Urban II. dwelt in 1093, under the protection of
Giovanni Frangipani. The arch was repaired by Pius VII., who replaced in
travertine the lost marble portions at the top and sides.

     "Standing beneath the arch of Titus, and amid so much ancient dust,
     it is difficult to forbear the commonplaces of enthusiasm, on which
     hundreds of tourists have already insisted. Over the half-worn
     pavement, and beneath this arch, the Roman armies had trodden in
     their outward march, to fight battles, a world's width away.
     Returning victorious, with royal captives, and inestimable spoil, a
     Roman triumph, that most gorgeous pageant of earthly pride, has
     streamed and flaunted in hundred-fold succession over these same
     flagstones, and through this yet stalwart archway. It is politic,
     however, to make few allusions to such a past; nor is it wise to
     suggest how Cicero's feet may have stepped on yonder stone, or how
     Horace was wont to stroll near by, making his footsteps chime with
     the measure of the ode that was ringing in his mind. The very
     ghosts of that massive and stately epoch have so much density that
     the people of to-day seem the thinner of the two, and stand more
     ghost-like by the arches and columns, letting the rich sculpture be
     discerned through their ill-compacted substance."--_Hawthorne,
     Transformation._

     "We passed on to the arch of Titus. Amongst the reliefs there is
     the figure of a man bearing the golden candlestick from the Temple
     at Jerusalem, as one of the spoils of the triumph. Yet He who
     abandoned His visible and local temple to the hands of the heathen
     for the sins of His nominal worshippers, has taken to Him His great
     power, and has gotten Him glory by destroying the idols of Rome as
     He had done the idols of Babylon; and the golden candlestick burns
     and shall burn with an everlasting light, while the enemies of His
     holy name, Babylon, Rome, or the carcass of sin in every land,
     which the eagles of His wrath will surely find out, perish for ever
     from before Him."--_Arnold's Journal._

     "The Jewish trophies are sculptured in bas-relief on the inside of
     the arch beneath the vaulting. Opposite to these is another
     bas-relief representing Titus in the quadriga, the reins borne by
     the goddess Roma. In the centre of the arch, Titus is borne to
     heaven by an eagle. It may be conjectured that these ornaments to
     his glory were designed after the death of Vespasian, and completed
     after his own.... These witnesses to the truth of history are
     scanned at this day by Christians passing to and fro between the
     Coliseum and the Forum; and at this day the Jew refuses to walk
     beneath them, and creeps stealthily by the side, with downcast
     eyes, or countenance averted."--_Merivale, Romans under the
     Empire_, vii. 250.

     "The restoration of the arch of Titus reflects the greatest credit
     on the commission appointed by Pius VII. for the restoration of
     ancient edifices. This, not only beautiful, but precious monument,
     had been made the nucleus of a hideous castellated fort by the
     Frangipani family. Its masonry, however, embraced and held
     together, as well as crushed, the marble arch; so that on freeing
     it from its rude buttresses there was fear of its collapsing, and
     it had first to be well bound together by props and bracing beams,
     a process in which the Roman architects are unrivalled. The simple
     expedient was then adopted by the architect Stern of completing the
     arch in stone; for its sides had been removed. Thus increased in
     solid structure, which continued all the architectural lines, and
     renewed its proportions to the mutilated centre, the arch was both
     completely secured and almost restored to its pristine
     elegance."--_Wiseman's Life of Pius VII._

The processions of the popes going to the Lateran for their solemn
installation, used to halt beside the arch of Titus while a Jew
presented a copy of the Pentateuch, with a humble oath of fealty. This
humiliating ceremony was omitted for the first time at the installation
of Pius IX.

       *       *       *       *       *

At this point it may not be inappropriate to notice two other buildings,
which, though situated on the Palatine, are totally disconnected with
the other objects occupying that hill.

A lane runs up to the right from the arch of Titus. On the left is a
gateway, surmounted by a faded fresco of St. Sebastian. Here is the
entrance to a wild and beautiful garden, possessing most lovely views of
the various ruins, occupying the site of the gardens of Adonis. This is
the place where St. Sebastian underwent his (so-called) martyrdom, and
will call to mind the many fine pictures, scattered over Europe, of the
youthful and beautiful saint, bound to a tree, and pierced with arrows.
The finest of these are the Domenichino, in Sta. Maria degli Angeli, and
the Sodoma at Florence. He is sometimes represented as bound to an
orange tree, and sometimes, as in the Guido at Bologna, to a cypress,
like those we still see on this spot. Here was an important Benedictine
Convent, where Pope Boniface IV. was a monk before his election to the
papacy, and where the famous abbots of Monte Casino had their Roman
residence. Here, in 1118, fifty-one cardinals took refuge, and elected
Gelasius II. as Pope. The only building remaining is the _Church of Sta.
Maria Pallara_ or _S. Sebastiano_, containing some curious inscriptions
relating to events which have occurred here, and--in the tribune,
frescoes, of the Saviour in benediction with four saints, and below,
two other groups representing the Virgin with saints and angels, placed,
as we learn by the inscription beneath, by one Benedict--probably an
abbot.

Further up the lane a "Via Crucis" leads to the _Church of S.
Buonaventura_, "the seraphic doctor" (Cardinal and Bishop of Albano, ob.
July 14, 1274), who in childhood was raised from the point of death
(1221) by the prayers of St. Francis, who was so surprised when he came
to life, that he involuntarily exclaimed, "O buona ventura"--("what a
happy chance")--whence the name by which he was afterwards known.[67]

The little church contains several good modern monuments. Beneath the
altar is shown the body of the Blessed Leonardo of Porto-Maurizio (ob.
1751), who arranged the Via Crucis in the Coliseum, and who is much
revered by the ultra-Romanists for having prophesied the proclamation of
the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The crucifix and the picture of
the Madonna which he carried with him in his missions, are preserved in
niches on either side of the tribune, and many other relics of him are
shown in his cell in the adjoining convent of Minor Franciscans. Entered
through the convent is a lovely little garden, whence there is a grand
view of the Coliseum, and where a little fountain is shaded by two tall
palm trees.

     "Oswald went next to the monastery of S. Buenaventura, built on the
     ruins of Nero's palace. There, where so many crimes had reigned
     remorselessly, poor friars, tormented by conscientious scruples,
     doom themselves to fasts and stripes for the least omission of
     duty. 'Our only hope,' said one, 'is that when we die, our faults
     will not have exceeded our penances.' Nevill, as he entered,
     stumbled over a trap, and asked its purpose. 'It is through that we
     are interred,' answered one of the youngest, already a prey to the
     bad air. The natives of the south fear death so much that it is
     wondrous to find there these perpetual mementoes; yet nature is
     often fascinated by what she dreads, and such an intoxication fills
     the soul exclusively. The antique sarcophagus of a child serves as
     the fountain of this institution. The boasted palm of Rome is the
     only tree of its garden."--_Madame de Staël, Corinne._

       *       *       *       *       *

The arch of Titus is spoken of as being "in summa _Via Sacra_," as the
street was called which led from the southern gate of Rome to the
Capitol, and by which the victorious generals passed in their triumphant
processions to the temple of Jupiter. Between the arch of Titus and the
Coliseum, the ancient pavement of this famous road, composed of huge
polygonal blocks of lava, has been allowed to remain. Here we may
imagine Horace taking his favourite walk.

    "Ibam forte Via Sacrâ, sicut meus est mos,
    Nescio quid meditans nugarum, et totus in illis."

    _Sat._ i. 9.

It appears to have been the favourite resort of the _flaneurs_ of the
day:

    "Videsne, Sacram metiente te viam
      Cum bis ter ulnarum togâ,
    Ut ora vertat huc et huc euntium
      Liberrima indignatio?"

    _Horace, Epod._ 4.

The Via Sacra was originally bordered with shops, some of which,
together with some baths, have been unearthed on the right of the road.
Ovid alludes frequently to the purchases which might be made there in
his time. In this especial part of the Via was the market for fruit and
honey.[68]

    "Dum bene dives ager, dum rami pondere nutant;
      Adferat in calatho rustica dona puer.
    Rure suburbano poteris tibi dicere missa;
      Illa vel in Sacra sint licet empta Via."

    _Ovid, Art. Aman._ ii. 263.

At the foot of the hill are the remains of the bason and the brick cone
of a fountain called _Meta Sudans_, where the gladiators used to wash.
Seneca, who lived in this neighbourhood, complains (Epist. lvi.) of the
noise which was made by a showman who blew his trumpet close to this
fountain.

On the right the Via Triumphalis leads to the Via Appia, passing under
the _Arch of Constantine_. The lower bas-reliefs upon this arch, which
are crude and ill-designed, refer to the deeds of Constantine; but the
upper, of fine workmanship, illustrate the life of Trajan, which has led
some to imagine that the arch was originally erected in honour of
Trajan, and afterwards appropriated by Constantine. They were, however,
removed from an arch of Trajan (whose ruins existed in 1430[69]), and
were appropriated by Constantine for his own arch.

     "Constantin a enlevé à un arc de triomphe de Trajan les statues de
     prisonniers daces que l'on voit au sommet du sien. Ce vol a été
     puni au seizième siècle, car, dans ce qui semble un accès de folie,
     Lorenzino, le bizarre assassin d'Alexandre de Médicis a décapité
     toutes les statues qui surmontaient l'arche Constantin, moins une,
     la seule dont la tête soit antique. Heureusement on a dans les
     musées, à Rome et ailleurs, bon nombre de ces statues de captifs
     barbares avec le même costume, c'est-à-dire le pantalon et le
     bonnet, souvent les mains liées, dans une attitude de soumission
     morne, quelque fois avec une expression de sombre fierté, car l'art
     romain avait la noblesse de ne pas humilier les vaincus; il ne les
     représentait point à genoux, foulés aux pieds par leurs vainqueurs;
     on ne donnait pas à leurs traits étranges un aspect qu'on eût pu
     rendre hideux; on les plaçait sur le sommet des arcs de triomphe,
     debout, la tête baissée, l'air triste."

    "'Summus tristis captivus in arcu.'"

    _Ampère, Emp._ ii. 169.


The arch was further plundered by Clement VIII., who carried off one of
its eight Corinthian columns to finish a chapel at the Lateran. They
were formerly _all_ of giallo-antico. But it is still the most striking
and beautiful of the Roman arches.

     "L'inscription gravée sur l'arc de Constantin est curieuse par le
     vague de l'expression en ce qui touche aux idées religieuses, par
     l'indécision calculée des termes dont se servait un sénat qui
     voulait éviter de se compromettre dans un sens comme dans l'autre.
     L'inscription porte que cet arc a été dédié a l'empereur parcequ'il
     a délivré la république d'un tyran (on dit encore la république!)
     par la grandeur de son âme et une inspiration de la Divinité,
     _instinctu Divinitatis_. Il parait même que ces mots ont été
     ajoutés après coup pour remplacer une formule peut-être plus
     explicitement païenne. Ce monument, qui célèbre le triomphe de
     Constantin, ne proclame donc pas encore nettement le triomphe du
     Christianisme. Comment s'en étonner, quand sur les monnaies de cet
     empereur on voit d'un côté le monogramme du Christ et l'autre
     l'effigie de Rome, qui était une divinité pour les
     païens?"--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 355.

We now turn to the _Coliseum_, originally called The Flavian
Amphitheatre. This vast building was begun in A.D. 72, upon the site of
the reservoir of Nero, by the Emperor Vespasian, who built as far as the
third row of arches, the last two rows being finished by Titus after his
return from the conquest of Jerusalem. It is said that 12,000 captive
Jews were employed in this work, as the Hebrews in building the Pyramids
of Egypt, and that the external walls alone cost a sum equal to
17,000,000 francs. It consists of four stories, the first Doric, the
second Ionic, the third and fourth Corinthian. Its circumference is 1641
feet, its length is 287, its width 182, its height 157. The entrance for
the emperor was between two arches facing the Esquiline, where there is
no cornice. Here there are remains of stucco decoration. On the opposite
side was a similar entrance from the Palatine. Towards S. Gregorio has
been discovered the subterranean passage in which the Emperor Commodus
was near being assassinated. The numerous holes visible all over the
exterior of the building were made in the middle ages, to extract the
iron cramps, at that time of great value. The arena was surrounded by a
wall sufficiently high to protect the spectators from the wild beasts,
who were introduced by subterranean passages closed by huge gates, from
the side towards the Cœlian. The _podium_ contained the places of
honour reserved for the Emperor and his family, the Senate, and the
Vestal virgins. The places for the other spectators who entered by
openings called _vomitoria_, were arranged in three stages (_caveæ_),
separated by a gallery (_præcinctio_). The first stage for knights and
tribunes, had 24 steps, the second (for the common people) 16, the third
(for the soldiery) 10. The women, by order of the emperor, sate apart
from the men, and married and unmarried men were also divided. The whole
building was probably capable of containing 100,000 persons. At the top,
on the exterior, may be seen the remains of the consoles which sustained
the _velarium_ which was drawn over the arena to shelter the spectators
from the sun or rain. The arena could on occasions be filled with water
for the sake of naval combats.

Nothing is known with certainty as to the architect of the Coliseum,
though a tradition of the Church (founded on an inscription in the crypt
of S. Martino al Monte), ascribes it to Gaudentius, a Christian martyr,
who afterwards suffered on the spot.[70]

     "The name of the architect to whom the great work of the Coliseum
     was entrusted has not come down to us. The ancients seem themselves
     to have regarded this name as a matter of little interest; nor, in
     fact, do they generally care to specify the authorship of their
     most illustrious buildings. The reason is obvious. The forms of
     ancient art in this department were almost wholly conventional, and
     the limits of design within which they were executed gave little
     room for the display of original taste and special character.... It
     is only in periods of eclecticism and renaissance, when the taste
     of the architect has wider scope, and may lead the eye instead of
     following it, that interest attaches to his personal merit. Thus it
     is that the Coliseum, the most conspicuous type of Roman
     civilisation, the monument which divides the admiration of
     strangers in modern Rome with St. Peter's itself, is nameless and
     parentless, while every stage in the construction of the great
     Christian temple, the creation of a modern revival, is appropriated
     with jealous care to its special claimants.

     "The dedication of the Coliseum afforded to Titus an opportunity
     for a display of magnificence hitherto unrivalled, A battle of
     cranes with dwarfs representing the pigmies was a fanciful novelty,
     and might afford diversion for a moment; there were combats of
     gladiators, among whom women were included, though no noble matron
     was allowed to mingle in the fray; and the capacity of the vast
     edifice was tested by the slaughter of five thousand animals in its
     circuit. The show was crowned with the immission of water into the
     arena, and with a sea-fight representing the contests of the
     Corinthians and Corcyreans, related by Thucydides.... When all was
     over, Titus himself was seen to weep, perhaps from fatigue,
     possibly from vexation and disgust; but his tears were interpreted
     as a presentiment of his death, which was now impending, and it is
     probable that he was already suffering from a decline of bodily
     strength.... He lamented effeminately the premature decease he too
     surely anticipated, and, looking wistfully at the heavens,
     exclaimed that he did not deserve to die. He expired on the 13th
     September, 81, not having quite completed his fortieth
     year."--_Merivale_, ch. Ix.

     "Hadrian gave a series of entertainments in honour of his
     birth-day, with the slaughter of a thousand beasts, including a
     hundred lions and as many lionesses. One magical scene was the
     representation of forests, when the whole arena became planted with
     living trees, shrubs, and flowers; to complete which illusion the
     ground was made to open, and send forth wild animals from yawning
     clefts, instantly re-covered with bushes.

     "One may imagine the frantic excess to which the taste for
     gladiatorial combats was carried in Rome, from the preventive law
     of Augustus that gladiators should no more combat without
     permission of the senate; that prætors should not give these
     spectacles more than twice a year; that more than sixty couples
     should not engage at the same time; and that neither knights nor
     senators should ever contend in the arena. The gladiators were
     classified according to the national manner of fighting which they
     imitated. Thus were distinguished the Gothic, Dacian, Thracian, and
     Samnite combatants; the _Retiarii_, who entangled their opponents
     in nets thrown with the left hand, defending themselves with
     tridents in the right; the _Secutores_, whose special skill was in
     pursuit; the _Laqueatores_, who threw slings against their
     adversaries; the _Dimachæ_, armed with a short sword in each hand;
     the _Hoplomachi_, armed at all points; the _Myrmillones_, so called
     from the figure of a fish at the crest of the Gallic helmet they
     wore; the _Bustuarii_, who fought at funeral games; the
     _Bestiarii_, who only assailed animals; other classes who fought on
     horseback, called _Andabates_; and those combating in chariots
     drawn by two horses, _Essedarii_. Gladiators were originally
     slaves, or prisoners of war; but the armies who contended on the
     Roman arena in later epochs, were divided into compulsory and
     voluntary combatants, the former alone composed of slaves, or
     condemned criminals. The latter went through a laborious education
     in their art, supported at the public cost, and instructed by
     masters called _Lanistæ_, resident in colleges, called _Ludi_. To
     the eternal disgrace of the morals of Imperial Rome, it is recorded
     that women sometimes fought in the arena, without more modesty than
     hired gladiators. The exhibition of himself in this character by
     Commodus, was a degradation of the imperial dignity, perhaps more
     infamous, according to ancient Roman notions, than the theatrical
     performances of Nero."--_Hemans' Story of Monuments in Rome._

The Emperor Commodus (A.D. 180-182), frequently fought in the Coliseum
himself, and killed both gladiators and wild beasts, calling himself
Hercules, dressed in a lion's-skin, with his hair sprinkled with
gold-dust.

The gladiatorial combats came to an end, when, in A.D. 403, an oriental
monk named Telemachus, was so horrified at them, that he rushed into the
midst of the arena and besought the spectators to renounce them: instead
of listening to him, they stoned him to death. The first martyrdom here
was that of St Ignatius, said to have been the child especially blessed
by our Saviour--the disciple of John--and the companion of Polycarp--who
was sent here from Antioch, where he was bishop. When brought into the
arena, he knelt down, and exclaimed, "Romans who are present, know that
I have not been brought into this place for any crime, but in order that
by this means I may merit the fruition of the glory of God, for love of
whom I have been made prisoner. I am as the grain of the field, and must
be ground by the teeth of the lions, that I may become bread fit for His
table." The lions were then let loose, and devoured him, except the
larger bones, which the Christians collected during the night.

     "It is related of Ignatius that he grew up in such innocence of
     heart and purity of life, that to him it was granted to hear the
     angels sing; hence, when he became bishop of Antioch, he introduced
     into the service of his church the practice of singing the praises
     of God in responses, as he had heard the choirs of angels answering
     each other.... His story and fate are so well attested, and so
     sublimely affecting, that it has always been to me a cause of
     surprise as well as regret to find so few representations of
     him."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, 693.

Soon after the death of Ignatius, 115 Christians were shot down here
with arrows. Under Hadrian, A.D. 218, a patrician named Placidus, his
wife Theophista, and his two sons, were first exposed here to the wild
beasts, but when these refused to touch them were shut up in a brazen
bull, and roasted by a fire lighted beneath. In 253, Abdon and Sennen,
two rich citizens of Babylon, were exposed here to two lions and four
bears, but on their refusing to attack them, were killed by the swords
of the gladiators. In A.D. 259, Sempronius, Olympius, Theodulus, and
Exuperia, were burnt at the entrance of the Coliseum, before the statue
of the Sun. In A.D. 272, Sta. Prisca was vainly exposed here to a lion,
then starved for three days, then stretched on a rack to have her flesh
torn by iron hooks, then put into a furnace, and--having survived all
these torments--was finally beheaded. In A.D. 277, Sta. Martina, another
noble Roman lady, was exposed in vain to the beasts and afterwards
beheaded in the Coliseum. St. Alexander under Antoninus; St. Potitus,
168; St. Eleutherius, bishop of Illyria, under Hadrian; St Maximus, son
of a senator, 284; and Vitus, Crescentia, and Modesta, under Domitian,
were also martyred here.[71]

     "It is no fiction, but plain, sober, honest truth, to say: so
     suggestive and distinct is it at this hour: that, for a
     moment--actually in passing in--they who will, may have the whole
     great pile before them, as it used to be, with thousands of eager
     faces staring down into the arena, and such a whirl of strife, and
     blood, and dust going on there, as no language can describe. Its
     solitude, its awful beauty, and its utter desolation, strike upon
     the stranger, the next moment, like a softened sorrow; and never in
     his life, perhaps, will he be so moved and overcome by any sight,
     not immediately connected with his own affections and afflictions.

     "To see it crumbling there, an inch a year; its walls and arches
     overgrown with green, its corridors open to the day; the long
     grass growing in its porches; young trees of yesterday springing
     up on its ragged parapets, and bearing fruit--chance produce of the
     seeds dropped there by the birds who build their nests within its
     chinks and crannies; to see its pit of fight filled up with earth,
     and the peaceful cross planted in the centre; to climb into its
     upper halls, and look down on ruin, ruin, ruin, all about it; the
     triumphal arches of Constantine, Septimius Severus, and Titus, the
     Roman Forum, the Palace of the Cæsars, the temples of the old
     religion, fallen down and gone; is to see the ghost of old Rome,
     wicked, wonderful old city, haunting the very ground on which its
     people trod. It is the most impressive, the most stately, the most
     solemn, grand, majestic, mournful sight conceivable. Never, in its
     bloodiest prime, can the sight of the gigantic Coliseum, full and
     running over with the lustiest life, have moved one heart, as it
     must move all who look upon it now, a ruin. God be thanked: a ruin!

     "As it tops all other ruins: standing there, a mountain among
     graves: so do its ancient influences outlive all other remnants of
     the old mythology and old butchery of Rome, in the nature of the
     fierce and cruel Roman people. The Italian face changes as the
     visitor approaches the city; its beauty becomes devilish; and there
     is scarcely one countenance in a hundred, among the common people
     in the streets, that would not be at home and happy in a renovated
     Coliseum to-morrow."--_Dickens._

The spot where the Christian martyrs suffered is now marked by a tall
cross, devoutly kissed by the faithful,--and all round the arena of the
Coliseum, are the small chapels or "stations," used in the Via Crucis,
which is observed here at 4 P.M. every Friday, when a confraternity
clothed in grey, with only the eyes visible, is followed by a crowd of
worshippers who chaunt and pray at each station in turn,--after which a
Capuchin monk preaches from a pulpit on the left of the arena. These
sermons are often very striking, being delivered in a familiar style,
and upon popular subjects of the day, but they also often border on the
burlesque.

     "Oswald voulut aller au Colisée pour entendre le Capucin qui devait
     y prêcher en plein air au pied de l'un des autels qui désignent,
     dans l'intérieur de l'enceinte, ce qu'on appelle _la route de la
     Croix_. Quel plus beau sujet pour l'éloquence que l'aspect de ce
     monument, que cette arène où les martyrs ont succédé aux
     gladiateurs! Mais il ne faut rien espérer à cet égard du pauvre
     Capucin, qui ne connâit de l'histoire des hommes que sa propre vie.
     Néanmoins, si l'on parvient à ne pas écouter son mauvais sermon, on
     se sent ému par les divers objets dont il est entouré. La plupart
     de ses auditeurs sont de la confrérie des Camaldules; ils se
     revêtent, pendant les exercises religieux, d'une espèce de robe
     grise qui couvre entièrement la tête et le corps, et ne laisse que
     deux petites ouvertures pour les yeux; c'est ainsi que les ombres
     pourraient être représentées. Ces hommes, ainsi cachés sous leurs
     vêtements, se prosternent la face contre terre, et se frappent la
     poitrine. Quand le prédicateur se jette à genoux en criant
     _miséricorde de pitié!_ le peuple qui l'environne se jette aussi à
     genoux, et répète ce même cri, qui va se perdre sous les vieux
     portiques du Colisée. Il est impossible de ne pas éprouver alors
     une émotion profondément religieuse; cet appel de la douleur à la
     bonté, de la terre au ciel, remue l'âme jusque dans son sanctuaire
     le plus intime."--_Madame de Staël._

     "'C'est aujourd'hui Vendredi,' dit Guy, 'il y aura foule au
     Colisée, il vaudrait mieux, je crois, y aller un autre jour.'

     "'Non, non,' dit Eveline, 'c'est précisément pour cela que je veux
     y aller. On m'a dit qu'il fallait le voir ainsi rempli de monde, et
     que d'ailleurs cette fête était curieuse.'

     "'Ce n'est pas une fête,' dit Guy gravement, 'c'est un simple acte
     de dévotion qui se répète tous les Vendredis.'

     "'En vérité,' dit Eveline, 'et pourquoi le Vendredi?'

     "'Parceque c'est le jour où Christ est mort pour nous; par cette
     raison, vous ne l'ignorez pas, ce jour est demeuré consacré dans le
     monde chrétien ... dans le monde catholique du moins,' repondit
     Guy.

     "'Mais à quel propos choisit-on le Colisée pour s'y réunir ce jour
     là?'

     "'Parceque le Colisée a été baigné du sang des martyrs et que leur
     souvenir se mêle là plus qu'ailleurs à celui de la croix pour
     laquelle ils l'ont versé.'"--_Mrs. Augustus Craven in Anne
     Severin._

The pulpit of the Coliseum was used for the stormy sermons of Gavazzi,
who called the people to arms from thence in the revolution of March,
1848.

It is well worth while to ascend to the upper galleries (a man who
lives near the entrance from the Forum will open a locked door for the
purpose), as then only is it possible to realize the vast size and
grandeur of the building.

     "_May, 1827._--Lastly, we ascended to the top of the Coliseum,
     Bunsen leaving us at the door, to go home; and I seated myself just
     above the main entrance, towards the Forum, and there took my
     farewell look over Rome. It was a delicious evening, and everything
     was looking to advantage:--the huge Coliseum just under me, the
     tufts of ilex and aliternus and other shrubs that fringe the walls
     everywhere in the lower part, while the outside wall, with its top
     of gigantic stones, lifts itself high above, and seems like a
     mountain barrier of bare rock, enclosing a green and varied valley.
     I sat and gazed upon the scene with an intense and mingled feeling.
     The world could show nothing grander; it was one which for years I
     had longed to see, and I was now looking at it for the last time.
     When I last see the dome of St. Peter's I shall seem to be parting
     from more than a mere town full of curiosities, where the eye has
     been amused, and the intellect gratified. I never thought to have
     felt thus tenderly towards Rome; but the inexplicable solemnity and
     beauty of her ruined condition has quite bewitched me, and to the
     latest hour of my life I shall remember the Forum, the surrounding
     hills, and the magnificent Coliseum."--_Arnold's Letters._

The upper arches frame a series of views of the Aventine, the
Capitoline, the Cœlian, and the Campagna, like a succession of
beautiful pictures.

Those who visit the Coliseum by moonlight will realize the truthfulness
of the following descriptions:--

    "I do remember me, that in my youth,
    When I was wandering,--upon such a night,
    I stood within the Coliseum's wall,
    Midst the chief relics of almighty Rome;
    The trees which grew along the broken arches
    Waved dark in the blue midnight, and the stars
    Shone through the rents of ruin; from afar
    The watch-dog bayed beyond the Tiber; and
    More near from out the Cæsar's palace came
    The owl's long cry, and, interruptedly,
    Of distant sentinels the fitful song
    Began and died upon the gentle wind:--
    Some cypresses beyond the time-worn breach
    Appeared to skirt the horizon, yet they stood
    Within a bowshot where the Cæsars dwelt,
    And dwell the tuneless birds of night, amidst
    A grove which springs through levell'd battlements,
    And twines its roots with the imperial hearths;
    Ivy usurps the laurel's place of growth;--
    But the gladiator's bloody circus stands,
    A noble wreck in ruinous perfection!
    While Cæsar's chambers, and the Augustan halls,
    Grovel on earth in indistinct decay.
    And thou didst shine, thou rolling moon, upon
    All this, and cast a wide and tender light,
    Which softened down the hoar austerity
    Of rugged desolation, and fill'd up,
    As 't were anew, the gaps of centuries;
    Leaving that beautiful which still was so,
    And making that which was not, till the place
    Became religion, and the heart ran o'er
    With silent worship of the great of old:--
    The dead but scepter'd sovereigns, who still rule
    Our spirits from their urns."

    _Manfred._

    "Arches on arches! as it were that Rome,
    Collecting the chief trophies of her line,
    Would build up all her triumphs in one dome,
    Her Coliseum stands; the moonbeams shine
    As 't were its natural torches, for divine
    Should be the light which streams here, to illume
    The long-explored but still exhaustless mine
    Of contemplation; and the azure gloom
    Of an Italian night, where the deep skies assume

    "Hues which have words, and speak to ye of heaven,
    Floats o'er this vast and wondrous monument,
    And shadows forth its glory. There is given
    Under the things of earth, which Time hath bent,
    A spirit's feeling, and where he hath leant
    His hand, but broke his scythe, there is a power
    And magic in the ruined battlement,
    For which the palace of the present hour
    Must yield its pomp, and wait till ages are its dower."

    _Childe Harold._

     "No one can form any idea of full moonlight in Rome who has not
     seen it. Every individual object is swallowed in the huge masses of
     light and shadow, and only the marked and principal outlines remain
     visible. Three days ago (Feb. 2, 1787) we made good use of a light
     and most beautiful night. The Coliseum presents a vision of beauty.
     It is closed at night; a hermit lives inside in a little church,
     and beggars roost amid the ruined vaults. They had lighted a fire
     on the bare ground, and a gentle breeze drove the smoke across the
     arena. The lower portion of the ruin was lost, while the enormous
     walls above stood forth into the darkness. We stood at the gates
     and gazed upon this phenomenon. The moon shone high and bright.
     Gradually the smoke moved through the chinks and apertures in the
     walls, and the moon illuminated it like a mist. It was an exquisite
     moment!"--_Goethe._

It is believed that the building of the Coliseum remained entire until
the eighth century, and that its ruin dates from the invasion of Robert
Guiscard, who destroyed it to prevent its being used as a stronghold by
the Romans. During the middle ages it served as a fortress, and became
the castle of the great family of Frangipani, who here gave refuge to
Pope Innocent II. (Papareschi) and his family, against the anti-pope
Anacletus II., and afterwards in the same way protected Innocent III.
(Conti) and his brothers against the anti-pope Paschal II. Constantly at
war with the Frangipani were the Annibaldi, who possessed a neighbouring
fortress, and obtained from Gregory IX. a grant of half the Coliseum,
which was rescinded by Innocent IV. During the absence of the popes at
Avignon the Annibaldi got possession of the whole of the Coliseum, but
it was taken away again in 1312, and placed in the hands of the
municipality, after which it was used for bull-fights, in which (as
described by Monaldeschi) nobles of high rank took part and lost their
lives. In 1381 the senate made over part of the ruins to the Canons of
the Lateran, to be used as a hospital, and their occupation is still
commemorated by the arms of the Chapter (our Saviour's head between two
candelabra) sculptured in various parts of the building. From the
fourteenth century it began to be looked upon as a stone-quarry, and the
Palazzos Farnese, Barberini, S. Marco, and the Cancellaria, were built
with materials plundered from its walls. It is said that the first of
these destroyers, Cardinal Farnese, only extorted permission from his
reluctant uncle, Paul III., to quarry as much stone as he could remove
in twelve hours, and that he availed himself of this permission to let
loose four thousand workmen upon the building. Sixtus V. endeavoured to
utilize it by turning the arcades into shops, and establishing a woollen
manufactory, and Clement XI. (1700--1721) by a manufactory of saltpetre,
but both happily failed. In the last century the tide of restoration
began to set in. A Carmelite monk, Angelo Paoli, represented the
iniquity of allowing a spot consecrated by such holy memories to be
desecrated, and Clement XI. consecrated the arena to the memory of the
martyrs who had suffered there, and erected in one of the archways the
still existing chapel of Sta. Maria della Pietà. The hermit appointed to
take care of this chapel was stabbed in 1742, which caused Benedict XIV.
to shut in the Coliseum with bars and gates. After this time destruction
became sacrilege, and the five last popes all contributed to strengthen
and preserve the walls which remain. Even so late as thirty years ago,
however, the interior was (like that of an English abbey) an uneven
grassy space littered with masses of ruin, amid which large trees grew
and flourished, and the clearing out of the arena, though exhibiting
more perfectly the ancient form of the building, is much to be regretted
by lovers of the picturesque.[72]

Among the ecclesiastical legends connected with the Coliseum, it is said
that Gregory the Great presented some foreign ambassadors with a handful
of earth from the arena as a relic for their sovereigns, and upon their
receiving the gift with disrespect, he pressed it, when blood flowed
from the soil. Pius V, urged those who wished for relics to gather up
the dust of the Coliseum, wet with the blood of the martyrs.

In 1744 "the blessed Leonardo di Porto Maurizio," who is buried in S.
Buonaventura, drew immense crowds to the Coliseum by his preaching, and
obtained permission from Benedict XIV. to found the confraternity of
"Amanti di Gesù e Maria," for whom the Via Crucis was established here.
Recently the ruins have been associated with the holy beggar, Benoit
Joseph Labré (beatified by Pius IX. in 1860), who died at Rome in 1783,
after a life spent in devotion. He was accustomed to beg in the
Coliseum, to sleep at night under its arcades, and to pray for hours at
its various shrines.

The name Coliseum is first found in the writings of the Venerable Bede,
who quotes a prophecy of Anglo-Saxon pilgrims.

    "While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand;
    When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall;
    And when Rome falls, the world."[73]

The name was probably derived from its size; the amphitheatre of Capua
was also called Colossus.

     "When one looks at the Coliseum everything else becomes small; it
     is so great that one cannot keep its true image in one's soul; one
     only remembers it on a smaller scale, and returning thither again
     finds it again grown larger."--_Goethe, Romische Briefe._

Once or twice in the course of every Roman winter the Coliseum is
illuminated with Bengal lights.

     "Les étrangers se donnent parfois l'amusement d'éclairer le Colisée
     avec des feux de Bengale. Cela ressemble un peu trop à un finale de
     mélodrame, et on peut préférer comme illumination un radieux soleil
     on les douces lueurs de la lune. Cependant j'avoue que la première
     fois que le Colisée m'apparut ainsi, embrasé de feux rougeâtres,
     son histoire me revint vivement à la pensée. Je trouvais qu'il
     avait en ce moment sa vraie couleur, la couleur du sang."--_Ampère,
     Emp._ ii. 156.




CHAPTER V.

THE VELABRUM AND THE GHETTO.

     S. Teodoro--Sta. Anastasia--Circus Maximus--S. Giorgio in
     Velabro--Arch of Septimius Severus--Arch of
     Janus--Cloaca-Maxima--Sta. Maria in Cosmedin--Temple of
     Vesta--Temple of Fortuna Virilis--House of
     Rienzi--Ponte-Rotto--Ponte Sublicio--S. Nicolo in Carcere--Theatre
     of Marcellus--Portico of Octavia--Pescheria--Jewish
     Synagogue--Palazzo Cenci--Fontana Tartarughe--Palazzo
     Mattei--Palazzo Caetani--Sta. Caterina dei Funari--Sta. Maria
     Campitelli--Palazzo Margana--Convent of the Tor de' Specchi.


The second turn on the right of the Roman Forum is the Via dei Fienili,
formerly the _Vicus Tuscus_, so called from the Etruscan colony
established there after the drying up of the marsh which occupied that
site in the earliest periods of Roman history. During the empire, this
street, leading from the Forum to the Circus Maximus, was one of the
most important. Martial speaks of its silk-mercers; from an inscription
on a tomb we know that the fashionable tailors were to be found there;
and the perfumers' shops were of such abundance as to give to part of
the street the name of Vicus Thurarius. At its entrance was the statue
of the Etruscan god, Vertumnus, the patron of the quarter.[74] This was
the street by which the processions of the Circensian games passed from
the Forum to the Circus Maximus. In one of the Verrine Orations, an
accusation brought by Cicero against the patrician Verres, was that from
avaricious motives he had paved even this street--used for processions
of the Circus--in such a manner that he would not venture to use it
himself.[75]

All this valley was once a stagnant marsh, left by inundations of the
Tiber, for in early times the river often overflowed the whole valley
between the Palatine and the Capitoline hills, and even reached as far
as the foot of the Quirinal, where the Goat's Pool, at which Romulus
disappeared, is supposed to have formed part of the same swamp. Ovid, in
describing the processions of the games, speaks of the willows and
rushes which once covered this ground, and the marshy places which one
could not pass over except with bare feet:

    "Qua Velabra solent in Circum ducere pompas,
      Nil præter salices crassaque canna fuit,
    Sæpe suburbanas rediens conviva per undas
      Cantat, et ad nautas ebria verba jacit.
    Nondum conveniens diversis iste figuris
      Nomen ab averso ceperat amne deus.
    Hic quoque lucus erat juncis et arundine densus,
      Et pede velato non adeunda palus.
    Stagna recesserunt, et aquas sua ripa coërcet:
      Siccaque nunc tellus. Mos tamen ille manet."

    _Fast._ vi. 405.

We even know the price which was paid for being ferried across the
Velabrum: "it was a _quadrans_, three times as much as one pays now for
the boat at the Ripetta."[76] The creation of the Cloaca Maxima had
probably done much towards draining, but some fragments of the marsh
remained to a late period.

According to Varro the name of the Velabrum was derived from _vehere_,
because of the boats which were employed to convey passengers from one
hill to the other.[77] Others derive the name from _vela_, also in
reference to the mode of transit, or, according to another idea, in
reference to the awnings which were stretched across the street to
shelter the processions,--though the name was in existence long before
any processions were thought of.

It was the waters of the Velabrum which bore the cradle of Romulus and
Remus from the Tiber, and deposited it under the famous fig-tree of the
Palatine.

       *       *       *       *       *

On the left of the Via dei Fienili (shut in by a railing, generally
closed, but which will be opened on appealing to the sacristan next
door) is the round _Church of S. Teodoro_. The origin of this building
is unknown. It used to be called the temple of Romulus, on the very
slight foundation that the famous bronze wolf, mentioned by Dionysius as
existing in the temple of Romulus, was found near this spot. Dyer
supposes that it may have been the Temple of Cybele; this, however, was
upon, and not under, the Palatine. Be they what they may, the remains
were dedicated as a Christian church by Adrian I., in the eighth
century, and some well preserved mosaics in the tribune are of that
time.

     "It is curious to note in Rome how many a modern superstition has
     its root in an ancient one, and how tenaciously customs still cling
     to the old localities. On the Capitoline hill the bronze she-wolf
     was once worshipped as the wooden Bambino is now. It stood in the
     Temple of Romulus, and there the ancient Romans used to carry
     children to be cured of their diseases by touching it. On the
     supposed site of the temple now stands the church dedicated to S.
     Teodoro, or Santo Toto, as he is called in Rome. Though names must
     have changed and the temple has vanished, and church after church
     has here decayed and been rebuilt, the old superstition remains,
     and the common people at certain periods still bring their sick
     children to Santo Toto, that he may heal them with his
     touch."--_Story's Roba di Roma._[78]

Further on the left, still under the shadow of the Palatine Hill, is the
large _Church of Sta. Anastasia_, containing, beneath the altar, a
beautiful statue of the martyred saint reclining on a faggot.

     "Notwithstanding her beautiful Greek name, and her fame as one of
     the great saints of the Greek Calendar, Sta. Anastasia is
     represented as a noble Roman lady, who perished during the
     persecution of Diocletian. She was persecuted by her husband and
     family for openly professing the Christian faith, but being
     sustained by the eloquent exhortations of St. Chrysogonus, she
     passed triumphantly, receiving in due time the crown of martyrdom,
     being condemned to the flames. Chrysogonus was put to death with
     the sword and his body thrown into the sea.

     "According to the best authorities, these two saints did not suffer
     in Rome, but in Illyria; yet in Rome we are assured that Anastasia,
     after her martyrdom, was buried by her friend Apollina in the
     garden of her house under the Palatine hill and close to the Circus
     Maximus. There stood the church, dedicated in the fourth century,
     and there it now stands. It was one of the principal churches in
     Rome in the time of St. Jerome, who, according to ancient
     tradition, celebrated mass at one of the altars, which is still
     regarded with peculiar veneration."--_Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and
     Legendary Art._

It was the custom for the mediæval popes to celebrate their second mass
of Christmas night in this church, for which reason Sta. Anastasia is
still especially commemorated in that mass.

To the left of the high altar is the tomb of the learned Cardinal Mai,
by the sculptor Benzoni, who owed everything to the kind interest with
which this cardinal regarded him from childhood. The epitaph is
remarkable. It is thus translated by Cardinal Wiseman:

    "I, who my life in wakeful studies wore,
      Bergamo's son, named Angelo, here lie.
    The empyreal robe and crimson hat I bore,
      Rome gave. Thou giv'st me, Christ, th' empyreal sky.
    Awaiting Thee, long toil I could endure:
    So with Thee be my rest now, sweet, secure."

Through this church, also, we may enter some of the subterraneous
chambers of the Palace of the Cæsars.

The valley near this, between the Palatine and the Aventine, was the
site of the _Circus Maximus_, of which the last vestiges were destroyed
in the time of Paul V. Its ground plan can, however, be identified, with
the assistance of the small circus of Maxentius on the Via Appia, which
still partially exists. It was intended for chariot-races and
horse-races, and is said to have been first instituted by Tarquinius
Priscus after his conquest of the Latin town of Apiolæ. It was a vast
oblong, ending in a semicircle, and surrounded by three rows of seats,
termed collectively _cavea_. In the centre of the area was the low wall
called the _spina_, at each end of which were the _metæ_, or goals.
Between the metæ were columns supporting the _ova_, egg-shaped balls,
and _Delphinæ_, or dolphins, each seven in number, one of which was put
up for each circuit made in the race. At the extremity of the Circus
were the stalls for the horses and chariots called _Carceres_. This, the
square end of the Circus, was termed _oppidum_, from its external
resemblance to a town, with walls and towers. In the Circus Maximus,
which was used for hunting wild beasts, Julius Cæsar made a canal,
called _Euripus_,[79] ten feet wide, between the seats and the
racecourse, to protect the spectators. The _Ludi Circenses_ were first
established by Romulus, to attract his Sabine neighbours, in order that
he might supply his city with wives. The games were generally at the
expense of the ædiles, and their cost was so great, that Cæsar was
obliged to sell his Tiburtine villa, to defray those given during his
ædileship. Perhaps the most magnificent games known were those in the
reign of Carinus (Imp. A.D. 283), when the Circus was transformed into
an artificial forest, in which hundreds of wild beasts and birds were
slaughtered. At one time this Circus was capable of containing 385,000
persons.

At the western extremity of the Circus Maximus stood the Temple of
Ceres, Liber, and Libera (said to have been vowed by the Dictator Albus
Postumius, at the battle of the Lake Regillus), dedicated by the Consul
Sp. Cassius, B.C. 492.

     "Quand le père de Cassius l'eut immolé de ses propres mains à
     l'avidité patricienne, il fit don du pécule de son fils--un fils
     n'avait que son pécule comme un esclave--à ce même temple de Cérès
     que Spurius Cassius avait consacré, et par une féroce ironie, mit
     au bas de la statue faite avec cet argent, et qu'il dédiait à la
     déesse: 'Don de la famille Cassia.'

     "L'ironie était d'autant plus amère, que l'on vendait auprès du
     temple de Cérès ceux qui avaient offensé au tribun.

     "Ce temple, mis particulièrement sous la surveillance des édiles et
     où ils avaient leurs archives, était le temple de la démocratie
     romaine. Le farouche patricien le choisit pour lui faire adresser
     par son fils mort au service de la démocratie un dérisoire
     hommage."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 416.

We must now retrace our steps for a short distance, and descend into a
hollow on the left, which we have passed, between the churches of S.
Teodoro and Sta. Anastasia.

Here an interesting group of buildings still stands to mark the site of
the famous ox-market, _Forum Boarium_. In its centre a brazen bull,
brought from Egina,[80] once commemorated the story of the oxen of
Geryon, which Hercules left to pasture on this marshy site, and which
were stolen hence by Cacus,--and is said by Ovid to have given a name to
the locality:

    "Pontibus et magno juncta est celeberrima Circo
    Area, quæ posito de bove nomen habet."

    _Fast._ vi. 478.

The fact of this place being used as a market for oxen is mentioned by
Livy.[81]

The Forum Boarium is associated with several deeds of cruelty. After the
battle of Cannæ, a male and female Greek and a male and female Gaul were
buried alive here;[82] and here the first fight of gladiators took
place, being introduced by M. and D. Brutus, at the funeral of their
father in B.C. 264.[83] Here the Vestal virgins buried the sacred
utensils of their worship, at the spot called Doliola, when they fled
from Rome after the battle of the Allia.[84]

Amongst the buildings which once existed in the Forum Boarium, but of
which no trace remains, were the Temple of the Sabine deity Matuta, and
the Temple of Fortune, both ascribed to Servius Tullius.

    "Hac ibi luce ferunt Matutæ sacra parenti,
    Sceptiferas Servi templa dedisse manus."

    _Ovid, Fast._ vi. 479.

    "Lux eadem, Fortuna, tua est, auctorque, locusque,
    Sed superinjectis quis latet æde togis?
    Servius est: hoc constat enim----"

    _Fast._ vi. 569.

The Temple of Fortune was rebuilt by Lucullus, and Dion Cassius mentions
that the axle of Julius Cæsar's car broke down in front of it on
occasion of one of his triumphs.[85] Another temple in this
neighbourhood was that of Pudicitia Patricia, into which the noble
ladies refused to admit Virginia, because she had espoused a plebeian
consul[86] (see Chap. X.). Here, also, was the Temple of Hercules
Victor, erected by Pompey.[87] The two earliest triumphal arches were
built in this forum, being in honour of L. Stertinius, erected B.C. 196,
after his victories in Spain.

The building which first attracts attention, among those now standing,
is the _Arch of Janus_, the Sabine god. It has four equal sides and
arches, turned to the four points of the compass, and forty-eight
niches, probably intended for the reception of small statues.
Bas-reliefs on the inverted blocks employed in the lower part of this
edifice, show that they must have been removed from earlier buildings.
This was probably used as a portico for shelter or business for those
who trafficked in the Forum; there were many similar porticoes in
ancient Rome.

On the left of the arch of Janus is a narrow alley, spanned by low brick
arches, which leads first to the beautiful clear spring of the Aqua
Argentina, which, according to some authorities, is the place where
Castor and Pollux watered their horses after the battle of the Lake
Regillus.

    "Then on rode those strange horsemen,
      With slow and lordly pace;
    And none who saw their bearing
      Durst ask their name or race.
    On rode they to the Forum,
      While laurel boughs and flowers
    From house-tops and from windows,
      Fell on their crests in showers.

    "When they drew nigh to Vesta,
      They vaulted down amain,
    And washed their horses in the well
      That springs by Vesta's fane.
    And straight again they mounted
      And rode to Vesta's door;
    Then, like a blast, away they passed,
      And no man saw them more."

    _Macaulay's Lays._

The alley is closed by an arch of the celebrated _Cloaca Maxima_, the
famous drain formed by Tarquinius Priscus, fifth king of Rome, to dry
the marshy land of the Velabrum.

     "Infima urbis loca circa Forum, aliasque interjectas collibus
     convalles, quia ex planis locis haud facile evehebant aquas,
     cloacis a fastigio in Tiberim ductis siccat."--_Livy_, lib. i. c.
     38.

The Cloaca extended from the Forum to the Tiber, and is still, after
2,400 years, used, during the latter part of its course, for the purpose
for which it was originally intended, though Pliny was filled with
wonder that, in his time, it had already withstood the earthquakes,
inundations, and accidents of seven hundred years. Strabo tells that the
tunnel of the Cloaca was of sufficient height to admit a waggon laden
with hay, but this probably supposes the water at its lowest. Agrippa,
who cleaned out the Cloaca, navigated its whole length in a boat. The
mouth of the Cloaca, composed of three concentric courses of blocks of
peperino, without cement, is visible on the river a little to the right
of the temple of Vesta.

     "Ces lieux ont encore un air et comme une odeur de marécage--quand
     on rôde aux approches de la nuit dans ce coin désert de Rome où fut
     placée la scène des premiers moments de son premier roi, on y
     retrouve, à présent mieux qu'au temps de Tite-Live, quelque chose
     de l'impression que ce lieu devait produire il y a vingt-cinq
     siècles, à l'époque où, selon la vieille tradition, le berceau de
     Romulus s'arrêta dans les boues du Vélabre, au pied du Palatin,
     près de l'antre Lupercal. Il faut s'écarter un peu de cet endroit,
     qui était au pied du versant occidental du Palatin, et faire
     quelques pas à droite pour aller chercher les traces du Vélabre là
     où les rues et les habitations modernes ne les ont pas entièrement
     effacées. En s'avançant vers la Cloaca Maxima, on rencontre un
     enfoncement où une vieille église, elle-même au dedans humide et
     moisie, rappelle par son nom, San Giorgio in Velabro, que le
     Vélabre a été là. On voit sourdre encore les eaux qui
     l'alimentaient sous une voûte sombre et froide, tapissée de
     mousses, de scolopendres et de grandes herbes frissonnant dans la
     nuit. Alentour, tout a un aspect triste et abandonné, abandonné
     comme le furent au bord du marais, suivant l'antique récit, les
     enfants dont on croit presque ouïr dans le crépuscule les
     vagissements. L'imagination n'a pas de peine à se représenter les
     arbres et les plantes aquatiques qui croissaient sur le bord de cet
     enfoncement que voilà, et à travers lesquelles la louve de la
     légende se glissait à cette heure pour venir boire à cette eau. Ces
     lieux sont assez peu fréquentés et assez silencieux pour qu'on se
     les figure comme ils étaient alors, alors qu'il n'y avait ici,
     comme dit Tite-Live, vrai cette fois, que des solitudes désertes:
     _Vastæ tunc solitudines erant_."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ i. 271.

The church with the picturesque campanile near the arch of Janus, is _S.
Giorgio in Velabro_, founded in the fourth century, as the Basilica
Sempronia, but repeatedly rebuilt. The architrave above its portico was
that where Rienzi affixed his famous inscription, announcing the return
to the Good Estate: "_In breve tempo gli Romani torneranno al loro
antico buono stato_." The church is seldom open, except on its festival
(Jan. 20), and during its station in Lent. The interior is in the
basilica form, the long nave being lined by sixteen columns, of various
sizes, and with strangely different capitals, showing that they have
been plundered from ancient temples. The carving on some of the capitals
is sharp and delicate. There is a rather handsome ancient baldacchino,
with an old Greek picture let into its front, over the high altar.
Beneath is preserved a fragment of the banner of St George. Some injured
frescoes in the tribune replace mosaics which once existed here, and
which were attributed to Giotto. In the centre is the Saviour, between
the Virgin and St. Peter; on one side, St. George with the martyr's palm
and the warrior's banner,--on the other, St. Sebastian, with an arrow.
Several fragments of carving and inscriptions are built into the side
walls. The pictures are poor and ugly which relate to the saint of the
church, St. George (the patron of England and Germany), the knight of
Cappadocia, who delivered the Princess Cleodolinda from the dragon.

     "Among good specimens of thirteenth century architecture is the
     portico of S. Giorgio, with Ionic columns and horizontal
     architrave, on which is a gothic inscription, in quaint Leonine
     verse, informing us that the Cardinal (or Prior) Stephen, added
     this detail (probably the campanile also), to the ancient
     church--about the middle of the thirteenth century, as is supposed,
     though no date is given here; and in the midst of an age so alien
     to classic influences, a work in which classic feeling thus
     predominates, is remarkable."--_Heman's Sacred Art._

Partly hidden by the portico of this church, is the beautiful miniature
_Arch of Septimius Severus_, erected to the emperor, his wife Julia Pia,
and his sons Caracalla and Geta, by the silversmiths (argentarii) who
had their shops in the Forum Boarium on this very spot ("cujus loci qui
invehent"). The part of the dedication relating to Geta (as in the
larger arch of Septimius) was obliterated after his murder, and the
words FORTISSIMO FELICISSIMOQUE PRINCIPI engraved in its place. The
architecture and sculpture, part of which represents a sacrifice by the
imperial family, prove the decadence of art at this period.

Proceeding in a direct line from the Arch of Janus, we reach the _Church
of Sta. Maria in Cosmedin_, on the site of a Temple of Ceres, dedicated
by the consul Spurius Cassius, B.C. 493, and afterwards re-dedicated to
Ceres and Proserpine, probably by Augustus, who had been initiated into
the Eleusinian mysteries in Greece. The church was built in the basilica
form, in 782, by Adrian I., when the name Cosmedin, from the Greek
κοσμος, is supposed to have been given, from the ornaments with which he
adorned it It was intended for the use of the Greek exiles expelled from
the East by the iconoclasts under Constantine Copronimus, and derived
the epithet of Sta. Maria in Scuola Greca, from a "Schola" attached to
it for their benefit. Another relic of the Greek colony which existed
here is to be found in the name of the adjoining street, Via della
Greca. In the middle ages the whole bank of the river near this was
called Ripa Greca.

The interior of this church is of great interest. The nave is divided
from the aisles by twelve ancient marble columns, of which two have
especially curious antique capitals, and are evidently remains of the
temple which once existed here. The choir is raised, as at S. Clemente.
The pavement is of splendid Opus Alexandrinum (1120); the ambones are
perfect; there is a curious crypt; the altar covers an ancient bason of
red granite, and is shaded by a gothic canopy, supported by four
Egyptian granite pillars; behind it is a fine episcopal throne, with
lions, said to have been used by St. Augustine, an ancient Greek picture
of the Virgin, and a graceful tabernacle of marble inlaid with mosaic,
by _Deodato Cosmati_. In the sacristy is a very curious mosaic, one of
the few relics preserved from the old St Peter's, A.D. 705. (There is
another in S. Marco at Florence.) Crescimbeni, the founder and historian
of the Arcadian Academy (d. 1728), is buried in this church, of which he
was a canon. On St. Valentine's Day the skull of St. Valentine, crowned
with roses, is exhibited here.

In the portico is the strange and huge mask of stone, which gives the
name of _Bocca della Verita_ to the neighbouring piazza. It was believed
that if a witness, whose truthfulness was doubtful, were desired to
place his hand in the mouth of this mask, he would be unable to withdraw
it, if he were guilty of perjury.

     "Cette Bouche-de-Vérité est une curieuse relique du moyen âge. Elle
     servait aux jugements de Dieu. Figurez-vous une meule de moulin qui
     ressemble, non pas à un visage humain, mais au visage de la lune:
     on y distingue des yeux, un nez et une bouche ouverte où l'accusé
     mettait la main pour prêter serment. Cette bouche mordait les
     menteurs; au moins la tradition l'assure. J'y ai introduit ma
     dextre en disant que le Ghetto était un lieu de délices, et je n'ai
     pas été mordu."--_About, Rome Contemporaine._

On the other side of the portico is the tomb of Cardinal Alfanus, ob.
1150.

     "The church was rebuilt under Calixtus II.; about A.D. 1128, by
     Alfanus, Roman Chancellor, whose marble sepulchre stands in the
     atrium, with his epitaph, along a cornice, giving him that most
     comprehensive title, 'an honest man,' _vir probus_. Some more than
     half-faded paintings, a Madonna and Child, angels, and two mitred
     heads, on the wall behind the canopy, give importance to this
     Chancellor's tomb. Though now disfigured exteriorly by a modern
     façade in the worst style, interiorly by a waggon-vault roof and
     heavy pilasters, this church is still one of the mediæval gems of
     Rome, and retains many olden details: the classic colonnades,
     probably left in their original place since the time of Adrian I.;
     and the fine campanile, one of the loftiest in Rome; also the
     sculptured doorway, the rich intarsio pavement, the high altar, the
     marble and mosaic-inlaid ambones, the marble episcopal throne, with
     supporting lions and a mosaic decoration above, &c.,--all of the
     twelfth century. But we have to regret the destruction of the
     ancient choir-screens, and (still more inexcusable) the
     white-washing of wall surfaces so as entirely to conceal the
     mediæval paintings which adorned them, conformably to that once
     almost universal practice of polychrome decoration in churches,
     prescribed even by law under Charlemagne. Ciampini (see his
     valuable history of this basilica) mentions the iron rods for
     curtains between the columns of the atrium, and those, still in
     their place, in the porch, with rings for suspending; also a small
     chapel with paintings, at one end of the atrium, designed for those
     penitents who were not allowed to worship within the sacred
     building--as such, an evidence of disciplinary observance, retained
     till the twelfth century. Over the portal are some tiny
     bas-reliefs, so placed along the inner side of the lintel that many
     might pass underneath without seeing them: in the centre, a hand
     blessing, with the Greek action, between two sheep, laterally; the
     four evangelistic emblems, and two doves, each pecking out of a
     vase, and one perched upon a dragon (more like a lizard), to
     signify the victory of the purified soul over mundane
     temptations."--_Hemans' Christian Art._

Close to this church stood the Palace of Pope Gelasius II. (1118).

Opposite the church is a beautiful fountain, erected by one of the
Medici, and beyond it the graceful round temple now called the _Temple
of Vesta_, supposed by Canina to have been that of Mater Matuta, and by
others to have been that of Hercules founded by Pompey. It is known to
have existed in the time of Vespasian. It is very small, the
circumference of the peristyle being only 156 feet, and that of the
cella 26 feet,--the height of the surrounding Corinthian columns
(originally twenty in number) 32 feet This temple was first dedicated as
a church under the name of S. Stefano delle Carrozze; it is now called
_Sta. Maria del Sole_.

This is not the Temple of Vesta (which was situated near the Church of
Sta. Maria Liberatrice in the Forum) of which Horace wrote:--

    "Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis
    Littore Etrusco violenter undis,
    Ire dejectum monumenta regum
                      Templaque Vestæ."

    _Carm._ i. 2.

The modern overhanging roof of the temple has been much objected to, as
it replaces an entablature like that on the temple of the Sibyl at
Tivoli; but artists admire the exquisite play of light and shade caused
by its rugged tiles, and, finding it a perfect "subject," wish for no
change.

     "C'est auprès de la Bouche-de-Vérité, devant le petit temple de
     Vesta, que la justice romaine exécute un meurtrier sur cent. Quand
     j'arrivai sur la place, on n'y guillotinait personne; mais six
     cuisinières, dont une aussi belle que Junon, dansaient la
     tarantelle au son d'un tambour de basque. Malheureusement elles
     divinèrent ma qualité d'étranger, et elles se mirent à polker
     contre la mesure."--_About._

Close to this--overhanging a little hollow way--is the _Temple of
Fortuna Virilis_, built originally by Servius Tullius, but rebuilt
during the republic, and, if the existing building is really republican,
the most ancient temple remaining in Rome. It is surrounded by Ionic
columns (one side being enclosed in other buildings), 28 feet high,
clothed with hard stucco, and supporting an entablature adorned with
figures of children, oxen, candelabra, &c. The Roman matrons had a great
regard for this goddess, who was supposed to have the power of
concealing their personal imperfections from the eyes of men. At the
close of the tenth century this temple was consecrated to the Virgin,
but has since been bestowed upon _St. Mary of Egypt_.

Hard by, is a picturesque end of building, laden with rich but
incongruous sculpture, at one time called "The House of Pilate," but now
known as the _House of Rienzi_. It derives its present name from a long
inscription over a doorway, which tallies with the bombastic epithets
assumed by "The Last of the Tribunes" in his pompous letter of Aug. 1,
1347, when, in his semi-madness, he summoned kings and emperors to
appear before his judgment-seat. The inscription closes:--

    "Primus de primis magnus Nicolaus ab imis,
    Erexit patrum decus ob renovare suorum.
    Stat patris Crescens matrisque Theodora nomen.
    Hoc culmen clarum caro de pignore gessit,
    Davidi tribuit qui pater exhibuit."

It is believed, from the inscription, that the house was fortified by
Nicholas, son of Crescentius and Theodora, who gave it to David, his
son; that the Crescentius alluded to was son of the famous patrician who
headed the populace against Otho III.; and that, three centuries later,
the house may have belonged to Cola di Rienzi, a name which is, in fact,
only popular language for Niccola Crescenzo. It is, however, known that
Rienzi was not born in this house, but in a narrow street behind S.
Tommaso, in the Rione alla Regola, where his father Lorenzo kept an inn,
and his mother, Maddalena, gained her daily bread as a washerwoman and
water-carrier--so were the Crescenzi fallen!

Here is the entrance to a suspension-bridge, which joins the remaining
arches of the _Ponte Rotto_, and leads to the Trastevere. On this site
was the Pons Æmilius, begun, B.C. 180, by M. Æmilius Lepidus and Marcus
Fulvius Nobilior, and finished by P. Scipio Africanus and L. Mummius,
the censors, in B.C. 142. Hence the body of the Emperor Heliogabalus was
thrown into the Tiber. The bridge has been three times rebuilt by
different popes, but two of its arches were finally carried away in an
inundation of 1598, and have never since been replaced. The existing
remains, which only date from the time of Julius III., are highly
picturesque.

     "Quand on a établi un pont en fil de fer, on lui a donné pour base
     les piles du Ponte-Rotto, élevé au moyen âge sur les fondements du
     Pons Palatinus, qui fut achevé sous la censure de Scipion
     l'Africain. Scipion l'Africain et un pont en fil de fer, voilà de
     ces contrastes qu'on ne trouve qu'à Rome."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 209.

From this bridge is the best view of the Isola Tiberina and its bridges,
and hence, also, the Temple of Vesta is seen to great advantage. Just
below is the mouth of the Cloaca Maxima.

     "Quand du Ponte-Rotto on considère le triple cintre de l'ouverture
     par laquelle la Cloaca Maxima se déchargeait dans le Tibre, on a
     devant les yeux un monument qui rappelle beaucoup de grandeur et
     beaucoup d'oppression. Ce monument extraordinaire est une page
     importante de l'histoire romaine. Il est à la fois la suprême
     expression de la puissance des rois étrusques et le signe
     avant-coureur de leur chute. L'on croit voir l'arc triomphal de la
     royauté par où devait entrer la république."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._
     ii. 233.

In the bed of the river a little lower down may be seen, at low water,
some massive fragments of masonry. Here stood the _Pons Sublicius_, the
oldest bridge in Rome, built by Ancus Martius (B.C. 639), on which
Horatius Cocles and his two companions "kept the bridge" against the
Etruscan army of Lars Porsenna, till--

    "Back darted Spurius Lartius;
      Herminius darted back:
    And, as they passed, beneath their feet
      They felt the timbers crack.
    But when they turned their faces,
      And on the farther shore
    Saw brave Horatius stand alone,
      They would have crossed once more.

    "But with a crash like thunder
      Fell every loosened beam,
    And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
      Lay right athwart the stream:
    And a long shout of triumph
      Rose from the walls of Rome,
    As to the highest turret-tops
      Was splashed the yellow foam."

    _Macaulay's Lays._

The name "Sublicius" came from the wooden beams of its construction,
which enabled the Romans to cut it away. The bridge was rebuilt by
Tiberius and again by Antoninus Pius, each time of beams, but upon stone
piers, of which the present remains are fragments, the rest having been
destroyed by an inundation in the time of Adrian I.

On the Trastevere bank, between these two bridges, half hidden in shrubs
and ivy (but worth examination in a boat), are two gigantic _Heads of
Lions_, to which in ancient times chains were fastened, and drawn across
the river to prevent hostile vessels from passing.

Near this we enter the _Via S. Giovanni Decollato_, decorated with
numerous heads of John the Baptist in the dish, let into the walls over
the doors of the houses. The "Confraternità della Misericordia di S.
Giovanni Decollato," founded in 1488, devote themselves to criminals
condemned to death. They visit them in prison, accompany them to
execution, receive their bodies, and offer masses for their souls in
their little chapel. Vasari gives the highest praise to two pictures of
Francesco Salviati in the Church of S. Giov. Decollato, "before which
all Rome stood still in admiration,"--representing the appearance of the
angel to Zacharias, and the meeting of the Virgin and Elizabeth.

On the left is the _Hospital of Sta. Galla_, commemorating the pious
foundation of a Roman matron in the time of John I. (523--526), who
attained such celebrity, that she is still commemorated in the Roman
mass by the prayer--

     "Almighty and merciful God, who didst adorn the blessed Galla with
     the virtue of a wonderful love towards thy poor; grant us, through
     her merits and prayers, to practise works of love, and to obtain
     Thy mercy, through the Lord, &c. Amen."

On, or very near this site, stood the _Porta Carmentalis_, which, with
the temple beside it, commemorated Carmenta, the supposed mother of
Evander, a Sabine prophetess, who is made by Ovid to predict the future
grandeur of Rome.[88] Carmenta was especially invoked by women in
childbirth. The Porta Carmentalis was reached from the Forum by the
Vicus Jugarius. It was by this route that the Fabii went forth to meet
their doom in the valley of the Crimera. The Porta had two gates--one
for those who entered, the other for those who left it, so that in each
case the passenger passed through the "Janus," as it was called, upon
his right. After the massacre of the Fabii, the road by which they left
the city was avoided, and the Janus Carmentalis on the right was closed,
and called the Porta Scelerata.

    "Carmentis portæ dextro via proxima Jano est
    Ire per hanc noli, quisquis es; omen habet."

    _Ovid, Fast._ ii. 201.

Just beyond the Porta Carmentalis was the district called _Tarentum_,
where there was a subterranean "Ara Ditis Patris et Proserpinæ."

We now reach (left) the _Church of S. Nicolo in Carcere_. It has a mean
front, with an inscription in honour of one of the Aldobrandini family,
and is only interesting as occupying the site of the three _Temples of
Juno Matuta, Piety(?), and Hope_, which are believed to mark the site of
the Forum Olitorium. The vaults beneath the church contain the massive
substructions of these temples, and fragments of their columns.

The central temple is believed to be that of Piety, built by M. Acilius
Glabrio, the duumvir, in B.C. 165 (though Pliny says that this temple
was on the site afterwards occupied by the theatre of Marcellus), in
fulfilment of a vow made by his father, a consul of the same name, on
the day of his defeating the forces of Antiochus the Great, king of
Syria, at Thermopylæ. Others endeavour to identify it with the temple
built on the site of the Decemviral prisons, to keep up the recollection
of the famous story, called the "Caritas Romana,"--of a woman condemned
to die of hunger in prison being nourished by the milk of her own
daughter. Pliny and Valerius Maximus tell the story as of a mother;
Festus only speaks of a father;[89]--yet art and poetry have always
followed the latter legend. A cell is shown, by torchlight, as the scene
of this touching incident.

    "There is a dungeon, in whose dim drear light
    What do I gaze on? Nothing. Look again!
    Two forms are slowly shadowed on my sight--
    Two insulated phantoms of the brain:
    It is not so; I see them full and plain--
    An old man, and a female young and fair,
    Fresh as a nursing mother, in whose vein
    The blood is nectar:--but what doth she there,
    With her unmantled neck, and bosom white and bare?

    "But here youth offers to old age the food,
    The milk of his own gift:--it is her sire,
    To whom she renders back the debt of blood
    Born with her birth. No, he shall not expire
    While in those warm and lovely veins the fire
    Of health and holy feeling can provide
    Great Nature's Nile, whose deep stream rises higher
    Than Egypt's river;--from that gentle side
    Drink, drink, and live, old man! Heaven's realm holds no such tide.

    "The starry fable of the milky-way
    Has not thy story's purity; it is
    A constellation of a sweeter ray,
    And sacred Nature triumphs more in this
    Reverse of her decree, than in the abyss
    Where sparkle distant worlds:--Oh, holiest nurse!
    No drop of that clear stream its way shall miss
    To thy sire's heart, replenishing its source
    With life, as our freed souls rejoin the universe."

    _Childe Harold._

A memorial of this story of a prison is preserved in the name of the
church--S. Nicolo _in Carcere_. It was probably owing to this legend
that, in front of the Temple of Piety, was placed the _Columna
Lactaria_, where infants were exposed, in the hope that some one would
take pity upon and nurse them out of charity.

A wide opening out of the street near this, with a pretty fountain, is
called the _Piazza Montanara_, and is one of the places where the
country people collect and wait for hire.

     "Le dimanche est le jour où les paysans arrivent à Rome. Ceux qui
     cherchent l'emploi de leurs bras viennent se louer aux marchands de
     campagne, c'est-à-dire aux fermiers. Ceux qui sont loués et qui
     travaillent hors des murs viennent faire leurs affaires et
     renouveler leurs provisions. Ils entrent en ville au petit jour
     après avoir marché une bonne partie de la nuit. Chaque famille
     amène un âne, qui porte le bagage. Hommes, femmes, et enfants,
     poussant leur âne devant eux, s'établissent dans un coin de la
     place Farnèse, ou de la place Montanara. Les boutiques voisines
     restent ouvertes jusqu'à midi, par un privilège spécial. On va, on
     vient, on achète, on s'accroupit dans les coins pour compter les
     pièces de cuivre. Cependant les ânes se reposent sur leurs quatre
     pieds au bord des fontaines. Les femmes, vêtues d'un corset en
     cuirasse, d'un tablier rouge, et d'une veste rayée, encadrent leur
     figure hâlée dans une draperie de linge très-blanc. Elles sont
     toutes à peindre sans exception: quand ce n'est pas pour la beauté
     de leurs traits, c'est pour l'élégance naïve de leurs attitudes.
     Les hommes ont le long manteau bleu de ciel et le chapeau pointu;
     là-dessous leurs habits de travail font merveille, quoique roussis
     par le temps et couleur de perdrix. Le costume n'est pas uniforme;
     on voit plus d'un manteau amadou rapiécé de bleu vif ou de rouge
     garance. Le chapeau de paille abonde en été. La chaussure est
     très-capricieuse; soulier, botte et sandale foulent successivement
     le pavé. Les déchaussés trouvent ici près de grandes et profondes
     boutiques où l'on vend des marchandises d'occasion. Il y a des
     souliers de tout cuir et de tout âge dans ces trésors de la
     chaussure; on y trouverait des cothurnes de l'an 500 de la
     république, en cherchant bien. Je viens de voir un pauvre diable
     qui essayait une paire de bottes à revers. Elles vont à ses jambes
     comme une plume à l'oreille d'un porc, et c'est plaisir de voir la
     grimace qu'il fait chaque fois qu'il pose le pied à terre. Mais le
     marchand le fortifie par de bonnes paroles: 'Ne crains rien,' lui
     dit-il, 'tu souffriras pendant cinq ou six jours, et puis tu n'y
     penseras plus.' Un autre marchand débite des clous à la livre: le
     chaland les enfonce lui-même dans ses semelles; il y a des bancs
     _ad hoc_. Le long des murs, cinq ou six chaises de paille servent
     de boutique à autant de barbiers en plein vent. Il en coute un sou
     pour abattre une barbe de huit jours. Le patient, barbouillé de
     savon, regarde le ciel d'un œil résigné; le barbier lui tire le
     nez, lui met les doigts dans la bouche, s'interrompt pour aiguiser
     le rasoir sur un cuir attaché au dossier de la chaise, ou pour
     écorner une galette noire qui pend au mur. Cependant l'opération
     est faite en un tour de main; le rasé se lève et sa place est
     prise. Il pourrait aller se laver à la fontaine, mais il trouve
     plus simple de s'essuyer du revers de sa manche.

     "Les écrivains publics alternent avec les barbiers. On leur apporte
     les lettres qu'on a reçues; ils les lisent et font la réponse:
     total, trois sous. Dès qu'un paysan s'approche de la table pour
     dicter quelque-chose, cinq ou six curieux se réunissent
     officieusement autour de lui pour mieux entendre. Il y a une
     certaine bonhomie dans cette indiscrétion. Chacun place son mot,
     chacun donne un conseil: 'Tu devrais dire ceci.'--'Non; dis plutôt
     cela.'--'Laissez-le parler,' crie un troisième, 'il sait mieux que
     vous ce qu'il veut faire écrire.'

     "Quelques voitures chargées de galettes d'orge et de maïs circulent
     au milieu de la foule. Un marchand de limonade, armé d'une pince de
     bois, écrase les citrons dans les verres. L'homme sobre boit à la
     fontaine en faisant un aqueduc des bords de son chapeau. Le gourmet
     achète des viandes d'occasion devant un petit étalage, où les
     rebuts de cuisine se vendent à la poignée. Pour un sou, le débitant
     remplit de bœuf haché et d'os de côtelettes un morceau de vieux
     journal; une pincée de sel ajoutée sur le tout pare agréablement la
     denrée. L'acheteur marchande, non sur le prix, qui est invariable,
     mais sur la quantité; il prend au tas quelques bribes de viande, et
     on le laisse faire; car rien ne se conclut à Rome sans marchander.

     "Les ermites et les moines passent de groupe en groupe en quêtant
     pour les âmes du purgatoire. M'est avis que ces pauvres ouvriers
     font leur purgatoire en ce monde; et qu'il vaudrait mieux leur
     donner de l'argent que de leur en demander; ils donnent pourtant,
     et sans se faire tirer l'oreille.

     "Quelquefois un beau parleur s'amuse à raconter une histoire; on
     fait cercle autour de lui, et à mesure que l'auditoire augmente il
     élève la voix. J'ai vu de ces conteurs qui avaient la physionomie
     bien fine et bien heureuse; mais je ne sais rien de charmant comme
     l'attention de leur public. Les peintres du quinzième siècle ont dû
     prendre à la place Montanara les disciples qu'ils groupaient autour
     du Christ."--_About, Rome Contemporaine._

An opening on the left discloses the vast substructions of the _Theatre
of Marcellus_. This huge edifice seems to have been projected by Julius
Caesar, but he probably made little progress in it. It was actually
erected by Augustus, and dedicated (_c._ 13 B.C.) in memory of the young
nephew whom he married to his daughter Julia, and intended as his
successor, but who was cut off by an early death. The theatre was
capable of containing 20,000 spectators, and consisted of three tiers of
arches, but the upper range has disappeared, and the lower is very
imperfect. Still it is a grand remnant, and rises magnificently above
the paltry houses which surround it. The perfect proportions of its
Doric and Ionic columns served as models to Palladio.

     "Le mur extérieur du portique demi-circulaire qui enveloppait les
     gradins offre encore à notre admiration deux étages d'arceaux et de
     colonnes doriques et ioniques d'une beauté presque grecque. L'étage
     supérieur, qui devait être corinthien, a disparu. Les _fornices_,
     ou voûtes du rez-de chaussée, sont habitées encore aujourd'hui
     comme elles l'étaient dans l'antiquité, mais plus honnêtement, par
     de pauvres gens qui vendent des ferrailles. Au-dessous des belles
     colonnes de l'enceinte extérieure, on a construit des maisons
     modernes dans lesquelles sont pratiquées des fenêtres, et à ces
     fenêtres du théâtre de Marcellus, on voit des pots à fleurs, ni
     plus ni moins qu à une mansarde de la rue Saint Denis; des chemises
     sèchent sur l'entablement; des cheminées surmontent la ruine
     romaine, et un grand tube se dessine à l'extrémité.

     "Dans les jeux célébrés à l'occasion de la dédicace du théâtre de
     Marcellus, on vit pour la première fois un tigre apprivoisé,
     _tigrim mansuefactum_. Dans ce tigre le peuple romain pouvait
     contempler son image."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 256.

In the middle ages this theatre was the fortress of the great family of
Pierleoni, the rivals of the Frangipani, who occupied the Coliseum;
their name is commemorated by the neighbouring street, Via Porta Leone.
The constant warfare in which they were engaged with their neighbours
did much to destroy the building, whose interior became reduced to a
mass of ruins, forming a hill, upon which Baldassare Peruzzi (1526)
built the _Palazzo Savelli_, of which the entrance, flanked by the two
armorial bears of the family, may be seen in the street (Via Savelli)
which leads to the Ponte Quattro Capi.

     "Au dix-septième siècle, les Savelli exerçaient encore une
     jurisdiction féodale. Leur tribunal, aussi régulièrement constitué
     que pas un, s'appellait Corte Savella.[90] Ils avaient le droit
     d'arracher tous les ans un criminel à la peine de mort: droit de
     grâce, droit régalien reconnu par la monarchie absolue des papes.
     Les femmes de cette illustre famille ne sortaient point de leurs
     palais sinon dans un carosse bien fermé. Les Orsini et les Colonna
     se vantaient que pendant les siècles, aucun traité de paix n'avait
     été conclu entre les princes chrétiens, dans lequel ils n'eussent
     été nominativement compris."--_About._

The palace has now passed to the family of Orsini-Gravina, who descended
from a senator of A.D. 1200. The princes of Orsini and Colonna, in
their quality as attendants on the throne (_principi assistenti al
soglio_), take precedence of all other Roman nobles.

     "Nicolovius will remember the Theatre of Marcellus, in which the
     Savelli family built a palace. My house is half of it. It has stood
     empty for a considerable time, because the drive into the courtyard
     (the interior of the ancient theatre) rises like the slope of a
     mountain upon the heaps of rubbish; although the road has been cut
     in a zig-zag, it is still a break-neck affair. There is another
     entrance from the Piazza Montanara, whence a flight of
     seventy-three steps leads up to the same story I have mentioned;
     the entrance-hall of which is on a level with the top of the
     carriage-way through the courtyard. The apartments in which we
     shall live are those over the colonnade of Ionic pillars forming
     the third story of the ancient theatre, and some, on a level with
     them, which have been built out like wings on the rubbish of the
     ruins. These enclose a little quadrangular garden, which is indeed
     very small, only about eighty or ninety feet long, and scarcely so
     broad, but so delightful! It contains three fountains--an abundance
     of flowers: there are orange-trees on the wall between the windows,
     and jessamine under them. We mean to plant a vine besides. From
     this story, you ascend forty steps, or more, higher, where I mean
     to have my own study, and there are most cheerful little rooms,
     from which you have a prospect over the whole country beyond the
     Tiber, Monte Mario, and St. Peter's, and can see over St. Pietro in
     Montorio, indeed almost as far as the Aventine. It would, I think,
     be possible besides to erect a loggia upon the roof (for which I
     shall save money from other things), that we may have a view over
     the Capitol, Forum, Palatine, Coliseum, and all the inhabited parts
     of the city."--_Niebuhr's Letters._

Following the wall of the theatre, down a filthy street, we arrive at
the picturesque group of ruins of the "Porticus Octaviæ," erected by
Augustus, in honour of his sister (the unhappy wife of Antony), close to
the theatre to which he had given the name of her son. The exact form of
the building is known from the Pianta Capitolina,--that it was a
parallelogram, surrounded by a double arcade of 270 columns, and
enclosing the temples of Jupiter and Juno, built by the Greek
architects, Batracus and Saurus.[91]

With regard to these temples, Pliny narrates a fact which reminds one of
the story of the Madonna of Sta. Maria Nuova.[92] The porters having
carelessly carried the statues of the gods to the wrong temples, it was
imagined that they had done so from divine inspiration, and the people
would not venture to remove them, so that the statues always remained
where they had been placed, though their surroundings were utterly
unsuitable.

The _Portico of Octavia_ built by Augustus, occupied the site of an
earlier portico--the Porticus Metelli--built by A. Cæcilius Metellus,
after his triumph over Andriscus in Macedonia, in B.C. 146. Temples of
Jupiter Stator and Juno existed also in this portico, one of them being
the earliest temple built of marble in Rome. Before these temples
Metellus placed the famous group of twenty-five bronze statues, which he
had brought from Greece, executed by Lysippus for Alexander the Great,
and representing that conqueror himself and twenty-four horsemen of his
troop who had fallen at the Granicus.[93]

The existing fragment of the portico is the original entrance to the
whole. The building had suffered from fire in the reign of Titus, and
was restored by Septimius Severus, and of this time is the large brick
arch on one side of the ruin.

     "It was in this hall of Octavia that Titus and Vespasian celebrated
     their triumph over Israel with festive pomp and splendour. Among
     the Jewish spectators stood the historian Flavius Josephus, who was
     one of the followers and flatterers of Titus ... and to this base
     Jewish courtier we owe a description of the
     triumph."--_Gregorovius, Wanderjahre in Italien._

Within the portico is the _Church of S. Angelo in Pescheria_. Here it
was that Cola Rienzi summoned, at midnight--May 20, 1347--all good
citizens to hold a meeting for the re-establishment of "the good
estate;" here he kept the vigil of the Holy Ghost; and hence he went
forth, bareheaded, in complete armour, accompanied by the papal legate,
and attended by a vast multitude, to the Capitol, where he called upon
the populace to ratify the Good Estate.

It is said that one of the causes which most incited the indignation of
Rienzi against the assumption and pride of the Roman families, was the
fact of their painting their arms on the ancient Roman buildings, and
thus in a manner appropriating them to their own glory. Remains of coats
of arms thus painted may be seen on the front wall of the Portico of
Octavia. It was also on this very wall that Rienzi painted his famous
allegorical picture. In this painting kings and men of the people were
seen burning in a furnace, with a woman half consumed, who personified
Rome,--and on the right was a church, whence issued a white-robed angel,
bearing in one hand a naked sword, while with the other he plucked the
woman from the flames. On the church tower were SS. Peter and Paul,
crying to the angel, "Aquilo, aquilo, succurri a l'albergatrice
nostra,"--and beyond this were represented falcons (typical of the Roman
barons) falling from heaven into the flames, and a white dove bearing a
wreath of olive, which it gave to a little bird (Rienzi), which was
chased by the falcons. Beneath was inscribed: "I see the time of great
justice, do thou await that time."

    "Then turn we to her latest tribune's name,
    From her ten thousand tyrants turn to thee,
    Redeemer of dark centuries of shame--
    The friend of Petrarch--hope of Italy--
    Rienzi! last of Romans! While the tree
    Of Freedom's wither'd trunk puts forth a leaf,
    Even for thy tomb a garland let it be--
    The forum's champion, and the people's chief--
    Her newborn Numa thou--with reign, alas! too brief."

    _Childe Harold._

Through the brick arch of the Portico we enter upon the ancient
_Pescheria_, with the marble fish-slabs of imperial times still
remaining in use. It is a striking scene--the dark, many-storied houses
almost meeting overhead and framing a narrow strip of deep blue
sky,--below, the bright groups of figures and rich colouring of hanging
cloths and drapery.

     "C'est une des ruines les plus remarquables de Rome, et une de
     celles qui offrent ces contrastes piquants entre le passé et le
     présent, amusement perpétuel de l'imagination dans la ville des
     contrastes. Le portique d'Octavie est, aujourd'hui, le marché aux
     poissons. Les colonnes et le fronton s'élèvent au milieu de
     l'endroit le plus sale de Rome; leur effet n'en est pas moins
     pittoresque, il l'est peut-être davantage. Le lieu est fait pour
     une aquarelle, et quand un beau soleil éclaire les débris antiques,
     les vieux murs sombres de la rue étroite où la poisson se vend sur
     des tables de marbre blanc, et à travers laquelle des nattes sont
     tendues, on a, à côté du monument romain, le spectacle d'un marché
     du moyen âge, et un peu le souvenir d'un bazar d'Orient."--_Ampère,
     Emp._ i. 179.

     "Who that has ever been to Rome does not remember Roman streets of
     an evening, when the day's work is done? They are all alive in a
     serene and homelike fashion. The old town tells its story. Low
     arches cluster with life--a life humble and stately, though rags
     hang from the citizens and the windows. You realize it as you pass
     them--their temples are in ruins, their rule is over--their
     colonies have revolted long centuries ago. Their gates and their
     columns have fallen like the trees of a forest, cut down by an
     invading civilization."--_Miss Thackeray._

       *       *       *       *       *

Here we are in the centre of the Jews' quarter--the famous _Ghetto_.

The name "Ghetto" is derived from the Hebrew word _chat_, broken,
destroyed, shaven, cut down, cast off, abandoned (see the Hebrew in
Isaiah xiv. 12; xv. 2; Jer. xlviii. 25, 27; Zech. xi. 10--14; &c.). The
first Jewish slaves were brought to Rome by Pompey the Great, after he
had taken Jerusalem, and forcibly entered the Holy of Holies. But for
centuries after this they lived in Rome in wealth and honour, their
princes Herod and Agrippa being received with royal distinction, and
finding a home in the Palace of the Cæsars,--in which Berenice (or
Veronica), the daughter of Agrippa, presided as the acknowledged
mistress of Titus, who would willingly have made her empress of Rome.
The chief Jewish settlement in imperial times was nearly on the site of
their present abode, but they were not compelled to live here, and also
had a large colony in the Trastevere; and when St. Peter was at Rome (if
the Church tradition be true), he dwelt, with Aquila and Priscilla, on
the slopes of the Aventine. Julius, Augustus, and Tiberius Cæsar treated
the Jews with kindness, but under Caligula they already met with
ill-treatment and contempt,--that emperor being especially irritated
against them as the only nation which refused to yield him divine
honours, and because they had successfully resisted the placing of his
statue in the Holy of Holies at Jerusalem. On the destruction of
Jerusalem by Titus, thousands of Jewish slaves were brought to Rome, and
were employed on the building of the Coliseum. At the same time
Vespasian, while allowing the Hebrews in Rome the free exercise of their
religion, obliged them to pay the tax of half a skekel, formerly paid
into the Temple treasury, to Jupiter Capitolinus,--and this custom is
still kept up in the annual tribute paid by the Jews in the Camera
Capitolina.

Under Domitian the Jews were banished from the city to the valley of
Egeria, where they lived in a state of poverty and outlawry, which is
described by Juvenal,[94] and occupied themselves with soothsaying,
love-charms, magic-potions, and mysterious cures.[95]

During the reigns of the earlier popes, the Jews at Rome enjoyed a great
amount of liberty, and the anti-pope Anacletus II. (ob. 1138) was even
the grandson of a baptized Jew, whose family bore a leading part in
Rome, as one of the great patrician houses. The clemency with which the
Jews were regarded was, however, partly due to their skill as
physicians,--and long after their persecutions had begun (as late as
Martin V., 1417--31), the physician of the Vatican was a Jew. The first
really bitter enemy of the Jews was Eugenius IV. (Gabriele Condolmiere,
1431--39), who forbade Christians to trade, to eat, or to dwell with
them, and prohibited them from walking in the streets, from building new
synagogues, or from occupying any public post. Paul II. (1468) increased
their humiliation by compelling them to run races during the Carnival,
as the horses run now, amidst the hoots of the populace. This custom
continued for two hundred years. Sprenger's "Roma Nuova" of 1667,
mentions that "the asses ran first, then the Jews--naked, with only a
band round their loins--then the buffaloes, then the Barbary horses."
It was Clement IX. (Rospigliosi), in 1668, who first permitted the Jews
to pay a sum equivalent to 1500 francs annually instead of racing.

     "On the first Saturday in Carnival, it was the custom for the heads
     of the Jews in Rome to appear as a deputation before the
     Conservators in the Capitol. Throwing themselves upon their knees,
     they offered a nosegay and twenty scudi with the request that this
     might be employed to ornament the balcony in which the Roman Senate
     sate in the Piazza del Popolo. In like manner they went to the
     senator, and, after the ancient custom, implored permission to
     remain in Rome. The senator placed his foot on their foreheads,
     ordered them to stand up, and replied in the accustomed formula,
     that Jews were not adopted in Rome, but allowed from compassion to
     remain there. This humiliation has now disappeared, but the Jews
     still go to the Capitol, on the first Saturday of Carnival, to
     offer their homage and tribute for the pallii of the horses, which
     they have to provide, in memory that now the horses amuse the
     people in their stead."--_Gregorovius, Wanderjahre._

The Jews were first shut up within the walls of the Ghetto by the
fanatical Dominican pope, Paul IV. (Gio. Pietro Caraffa, 1555--59), and
commanded never to appear outside it, unless the men were in yellow
hats, or the women in yellow veils. "For," says the Bull Cum Nimis,

     "It is most absurd and unsuitable that the Jews, whose own crime
     has plunged them into everlasting slavery, under the plea that
     Christian magnanimity allows them, should presume to dwell and mix
     with Christians, not bearing any mark of distinction, and should
     have Christian servants, yea, even buy houses."

The Ghetto, or Vicus Judæorum, as it was at first called, was shut in by
walls which reached from the Ponte Quattro Capi to the Piazza del
Pianto, or "Place of Weeping," whose name bears witness to the grief of
the people on the 26th July, 1556, when they were first forced into
their prison-house.

     "Those Jews who were shut up in the Ghetto were placed in
     possession of the dwellings of others. The houses in that quarter
     were the property of Romans, and some of them were inhabited by
     families of consideration, such as the Boccapaduli. When these
     removed they remained the proprietors and the Jews only tenants.
     But as they were to live for ever in these streets, it was
     necessary that the Jews should have a perpetual lease to defend
     them against a twofold danger,--negligence on the part of the owner
     to announce to his Jewish tenant when his possession expired, or
     bankruptcy if the owner raised his rent. Thus originated a law
     which established that the Romans should remain in possession of
     the dwellings let to the Jews, but that the latter should hold the
     houses in fee farm; that is, the expiration of the contract cannot
     be announced to a Jewish tenant, and so long as he pays the lawful
     rent, the rent can never be raised; the Jew at the same time may
     alter or enlarge his house as he chooses. This still existing
     privilege is called the Jus Gazzaga. By virtue of it a Jew is in
     hereditary possession of the lease, and can sell it to his
     relations or others, and to the present day it is a costly fortune
     to be in possession of a Jus Gazzaga, or a hereditary lease. Highly
     extolled is the Jewish maiden who brings her bridegroom such a
     dowry. Through this salutary law the Jew became possessed of a
     home, which to some extent he may call his own."--_Gregorovius._

The Jews were kindly treated by Sixtus V. on the plea that they were
"the family from whom Christ came," and he allowed them to practise many
kinds of trades, and to have intercourse with Christians, and to build
houses, libraries, and synagogues, but his mild laws were all repealed
by Clement VIII. (Aldobrandini, 1592--1605), and under Clement XI. and
Innocent XIII. all trade was forbidden them, except that in old-clothes,
rags, and iron, "stracci feracci." To these Benedict XIV. (Lambertini)
added trade in drapery, with which they are still largely occupied.
Under Gregory XIII. (Buoncompagni, 1572--85) the Jews were forced to
hear a sermon every week in the church, first of S. Benedetto alla
Regola, then in S. Angelo in Peschiera, and every Sabbath police-agents
were sent into the Ghetto to drive men, women, and children into the
church with scourges, and to lash them while there if they appeared to
be inattentive.

     "Now was come about Holy Cross Day, and now must my lord preach his
     first sermon to the Jews: as it was of old cared for in the
     merciful bowels of the Church, that, so to speak, a crumb at least
     from her conspicuous table here in Rome, should be, though but once
     yearly, cast to the famishing dogs, undertrampled and bespitten
     upon beneath the feet of the guests; and a moving sight in truth
     this, of so many of the besotted, blind, restive, and
     ready-to-perish Hebrews! now maternally brought--nay (for He saith,
     'Compel them to come in'), haled, as it were, by the head and hair,
     and against their obstinate hearts, to partake of the heavenly
     grace...."--_Diary by the Bishop's Secretary,_ 1600.

Though what the Jews really said, on thus being driven to church, was
rather to this effect:--

                   IX.

    "Groan all together now, whee-hee-hee!
    It's a-work, it's a-work, ah, woe is me!
    It began, when a herd of us, picked and placed,
    Were spurred through the Corso, stripped to the waist;
    Jew-brutes, with sweat and blood well spent
    To usher in worthily Christian Lent.

                    X.

    'It grew, when the hangman entered our bounds,
    Yelled, pricked us out to his church like hounds.
    It got to a pitch, when the hand indeed
    Which gutted my purse, would throttle my creed.
    And it overflows, when, to even the odd,
    Men I helped to their sins, help me to their God."

    _R. B. Browning, Holy Cross Day._

This custom of compelling Jews to listen to Christian sermons was
renewed by Leo XII., and was only abolished in the early years of Pius
IX. The walls of the Ghetto also remained, and its gates were closed at
night until the reign of the present pope, who removed the limits of the
Ghetto, and revoked all the oppressive laws against the Jews. The humane
feeling with which he regarded this hitherto oppressed race is said to
have been first evinced,--when, on the occasion of his placing a liberal
alms in the hand of a beggar, one of his attendants interposed, saying,
"It is a Jew!" and the pope replied, "What does that matter, it is a
man?"

     "The present population of the Ghetto is estimated at 3800, a
     number out of all proportion, considering the small size of the
     Ghetto, which covers less space than the fifth part of any small
     town of 3000 inhabitants. The Jews are under the chief congregation
     of the Inquisition, and their especial magistrate for all civil and
     criminal processes is the Cardinal Vicar. The tribunal which
     governs them consists of the Cardinal Vicar, the Prelato
     Vicegerente, the Prelato Luogo-tenente Civile, and the Criminal
     Lieutenant. In police matters, the President of the Region of S.
     Angelo and Campitelli exercises the local police magistracy. The
     Jewish community has itself the right of regulating its internal
     order by the so-called Fattori del Ghetto, chosen every half-year.
     The common tribute of the Ghetto to the state, and to various
     religious bodies, amounts to about 13,000 francs."

Opposite the gate of the Ghetto near the Ponte Quattro Capi a converted
Jew erected a church, which is still to be seen, with a painting of the
Crucifixion on its outside wall (upon which every Jew must look as he
comes out of the Ghetto), and underneath an inscription in large letters
of Hebrew and Latin from Isaiah, lxv. 2:--"All day long I have stretched
out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people." The lower streets
of the Ghetto, especially the Fiumara, which is nearest to the banks of
the Tiber, are annually overflowed during the spring rains and melting
of the mountain snows, which is productive of great misery and distress.
Yet in spite of this, and of the teeming population crowded into its
narrow alleys, the mortality was less here during the cholera than in
any other part of Rome, and malaria is unknown here, a freedom from
disease which may perhaps be attributed to the Jewish custom of
whitewashing their dwellings at every festival. There is no Jewish
hospital, and if the Jews go to an ordinary hospital, they must submit
to a crucifix being hung over their beds. It is remarkable that the very
centre of the Jewish settlement should be the Portico of Octavia, in
which Vespasian and Titus celebrated their triumph after the fall of
Jerusalem. Here and there in the narrow alleys the seven-branched
candlestick may be seen carved on the house walls, a "yet living symbol
of the Jewish religion."

Everything may be obtained in the Ghetto: precious stones, lace,
furniture of all kinds, rich embroidery from Algiers and Constantinople,
striped stuffs from Spain,--but all is concealed and under cover. "Cosa
cercate," the Jew shopkeepers hiss at you as you thread their narrow
alleys, and try to entice you into a bargain with them. The same article
is often passed on by a mutual arrangement from shop to shop, and meets
you wherever you go. On Friday evening all shops are shut, and bread is
baked for the Sabbath, all merchandise is removed, and the men go to the
synagogue, and wish each other "a good Sabbath," on their return.[96]

In the Piazza della Scuola are five schools under one roof--the Scuola
del Tempio, Catilana, Castigliana, Siciliana, and the Scuola Nuova,
"which show that the Roman Ghetto is divided into five districts or
parishes, each of which represents a particular race, according to the
prevailing nationality of the Jews, whose fathers have been either
Roman-Jewish from ancient times, or have been brought hither from Spain
and Sicily; the Temple-district is said above all others to assert its
descent from the Jews of Titus." In the same piazza, is the chief
synagogue, richly adorned with sculpture and gilding. On the external
frieze are represented in stucco the seven-branched candlestick, David's
harp, and Miriam's timbrel. The interior is highly picturesque and
quaint, and is hung with curious tapestries on festas. The frieze which
surrounds it represents the temple of Solomon with all its sacred
vessels. A round window in the north wall, divided into twelve panes of
coloured glass, is symbolical of the twelve tribes of Israel, and a type
of the Urim and Thummim. "To the west is the round choir, a wooden desk
for singers and precentors. Opposite, in the eastern wall, is the Holy
of Holies, with projecting staves (as if for the carrying of the ark)
resting on Corinthian columns. It is covered by a curtain, on which
texts and various devices of roses and tasteful arabesques in the style
of Solomon's temple are embroidered in gold. The seven-branched
candlestick crowns the whole. In this Holy of Holies lies the sealed
Pentateuch, a large parchment roll. This is borne in procession through
the hall and exhibited from the desk towards all the points of the
compass, whereat the Jews raise their arms and utter a cry."

     "On entering the Ghetto, we see Israel before its tents, in full
     restless labour and activity. The people sit in their doorways, or
     outside in the streets, which receive hardly more light than the
     damp and gloomy chambers, and grub amid their old trumpery, or
     patch and sew diligently. It is inexpressible what a chaos of
     shreds and patches (called _Cenci_ in Italian) is here accumulated.
     The whole world seems to be lying about in countless rags and
     scraps, as Jewish plunder. The fragments lie in heaps before the
     doors, they are of every kind and colour,--gold fringes, scraps of
     silk brocade, bits of velvet, red patches, blue patches, orange,
     yellow, black and white, torn, old, slashed and tattered pieces,
     large and small. I never saw such varied rubbish. The Jews might
     mend up all creation with it, and patch the whole world as gaily as
     harlequin's coat. There they sit and grub in their sea of rags, as
     though seeking for treasures, at least for a lost gold brocade. For
     they are as good antiquarians as any of those in Rome, who grovel
     amongst the ruins to bring to light the stump of a column, a
     fragment of a relief, an ancient inscription, a coin, or such
     matters. Each Hebrew Winckelmann in the Ghetto lays out his rags
     for sale with a certain pride, as does the dealer in marble
     fragments. The latter boasts a piece of giallo-antico, the Jew can
     match it with an excellent fragment of yellow silk; porphyry here
     is represented by a piece of dark red damask, verde-antico by a
     handsome patch of ancient green velvet. And there is neither jasper
     nor alabaster, black marble, or white, or parti-coloured, which the
     Ghetto antiquarian is not able to match. The history of every
     fashion from Herod the Great to the invention of paletôts, and of
     every mode of the highest as well as of the lower classes may be
     collected from these fragments, some of which are really
     historical, and may once have adorned the persons of Romulus,
     Scipio Africanus, Hannibal, Cornelia, Augustus, Charlemagne,
     Pericles, Cleopatra, Barbarossa, Gregory VII., Columbus, and so
     forth.

     "Here sit the daughters of Zion on these heaps and sew all that is
     capable of being sewn. Great is their boasted skill in all work of
     mending, darning, and fine-drawing, and it is said that even the
     most formidable rent in any old drapery or garment whatsoever,
     becomes invisible under the hands of these Arachnes. It is chiefly
     in the Fiumara, the street lying lowest and nearest to the river,
     and in the street corners (one of which is called Argumille, _i.e._
     of unleavened bread), that this business is carried on. I have
     often seen with a feeling of pain the pale, stooping, starving
     figures, laboriously plying the needle,--men as well as women,
     girls, and children. Misery stares forth from the tangled hair, and
     complains silently in the yellow-brown faces, and no beauty of
     feature recalls the countenance of Rachel, Leah, or Miriam,--only
     sometimes a glance from a deep-sunk, piercing black eye, that looks
     up from its needle and rags, and seems to say--'From the daughter
     of Zion, all her beauty is departed--she that was great among the
     nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become
     tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her
     cheeks; among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her
     friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her
     enemies. Judah is gone into captivity, because of affliction, and
     because of great servitude; she dwelleth among the heathen, she
     findeth no rest; all her persecutors overtook her between the
     straits. How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a
     cloud in his anger!"--_Gregorovius, Wanderjahre._

The narrow street which is a continuation of the Pescheria, emerges upon
the small square called _Piazza della Giudecca_. In the houses on the
left may be seen some columns and part of an architrave, being the only
visible remains of the _Theatre of Balbus_, erected by C. Cornelius
Balbus, a general who triumphed in the time of Augustus, with the spoils
taken from the Garamantes, a people of Africa. It was opened in the same
year as the Theatre of Marcellus, and though very much smaller, was
capable of containing as many as 11,600 spectators.

To the right, still partly on the site of the ancient theatre, and
extending along one side of the Piazza delle Scuole, is the vast
_Palazzo Cenci_, the ancient residence of the famous Cenci family (now
represented by Count Cenci-Bolognetti), and the scene of many of the
terrible crimes and tragedies which stain its annals.

     "The Cenci Palace is of great extent: and, though in part
     modernized, there yet remains a vast and gloomy pile of feudal
     architecture in the same state as during the dreadful scenes which
     it once witnessed. The palace is situated in an obscure corner of
     Rome, near the quarter of the Jews, and from the upper windows you
     see the immense ruins of Mount Palatine, half hidden under the
     profuse undergrowth of trees. There is a court in one part of the
     palace supported by columns, and adorned with antique friezes of
     fine workmanship, and built up, after the Italian fashion, with
     balcony over balcony of open work. One of the gates of the palace,
     formed of immense stones, and leading through a passage dark and
     lofty, and opening into gloomy subterranean chambers, struck me
     particularly."--_Shelley's Preface to "The Cenci."_

Opposite the further entrance of the Palace, is the tiny Church of _S.
Tommaso del Cenci_, founded 1113 by Cencio, bishop of Sabina; granted by
Julius II. to Rocco Cenci;--and rebuilt in 1575 by the wicked Count
Cenci.

     "In 1585, Francesco Cenci was the head of the family, a man of
     passions so ungovernable and heart so depraved, that he hesitated
     at no species of crime. His first wife was a Princess Santa Croce,
     whom he is believed to have poisoned in order to marry the
     beautiful Lucrezia Petroni. His domestic cruelties to his children,
     especially to his three elder sons, Giacomo, Christoforo, and
     Rocco, were so terrible, that they petitioned the reigning Pope
     Clement VIII. to interfere in their behalf, but he abruptly
     dismissed them as rebels against the paternal authority; one
     daughter, Marguerita, alone escaped from her miserable home, being
     given in marriage by the pope to a Signor Gabrielli.

     "The escape of this daughter made Francesco the more embittered
     against the remainder of his family. His youngest child, Beatrice,
     he immured in a solitary chamber, to which no one but himself was
     admitted, and where he constantly starved and beat her severely.
     When he received the news that his sons Christoforo and Rocco were
     assassinated in the neighbourhood of Rome by an unknown hand, he
     expressed the utmost joy, declaring that no money of his should
     purchase masses for the repose of their souls, and that he could
     have no peace until his wife and every child he had were in their
     graves.

     "Lucrezia, believing that the monster whom she had espoused was
     possessed, in spite of his cruelty, by a criminal passion for his
     own daughter, attempted secretly to save her, by presenting a
     memorial to the pope imploring him to give her in marriage to a
     Signor Guerra, who had long been attached to her. But this petition
     was intercepted by Francesco, who then carried off Lucrezia and his
     two youngest children, Beatrice and Bernardo, to Petrella, a vast
     and desolate castle in the Apennines. Guerra, and Giacomo the
     eldest remaining brother of Beatrice, hired a band of banditti in
     the Sabine hills who were to attack the party on the way, and to
     carry off Francesco for a ransom, liberating the women;--but the
     rescue arrived too late.

     "When they reached Petrella, Beatrice was incarcerated in a
     subterranean dungeon, where she was persuaded that her lover Guerra
     had been murdered, and was treated with such awful cruelty by her
     father, that, for a time, she was deprived of her reason. One day a
     servant, Marzio, whose betrothed had previously been seduced and
     murdered by Francesco, roused by the shrieks of Beatrice, burst
     into the room, and rushing upon his master dealt a terrible thrust
     with a dagger on his neck, exclaiming, 'I murder thee, assassin of
     thy own blood.' But Cenci arose uninjured, to the horror of Marzio,
     who imagined that only a demon could avert such a blow, and who was
     ignorant that he wore under his vestments, even in bed, a coat of
     mail which covered his entire body.

     "At length Beatrice contrived to communicate with her brother
     Giacomo, who united with Guerra in hiring the services of Marzio
     and of Olympio, another servant, who was inspired with an equal
     thirst for vengeance upon Count Cenci. All felt that the death of
     Francesco was the only hope for his unhappy family. The assassins
     communicated with Lucrezia, who administered an opiate to her
     husband, and then stole from him some keys which enabled her after
     midnight to liberate Bernardo and Beatrice. The latter she found in
     a state of stupefaction, and vainly endeavoured to rouse her,
     signifying that the moment of escape had arrived. Beatrice showed
     no symptom of surprise at the announcement, or at the visit of her
     stepmother at that strange hour; she asked not how they had opened
     her door, or how her liberty had been acquired. When they were all
     assembled in the hall, Lucrezia told them the project, and asked
     their aid. Bernardo at first hesitated, but Lucrezia roused him by
     every argument she could urge and obtained his consent. Beatrice
     made no reply.

     " ... Francesco Cenci was murdered in his sleep. Marzio placed a
     large nail or iron bolt on his right eye, which Olympio, with one
     blow of a hammer, drove straight into the brain. The deed thus
     accomplished, Marzio and Olympio wrapped the dead body in a sheet,
     and carried it to a small pavilion built at the end of a
     terrace-walk, overlooking an orchard. From this height they cast it
     down on an old gnarled elder-tree, in order that when the body
     should be found the next morning, it might appear that whilst
     walking on the terrace, the foot of the count had slipped, and that
     he had fallen head-foremost on one of the stunted branches of the
     tree, which, piercing through his eye to the brain, had caused his
     death. Returning to the hall, they received from Lucrezia a purse
     of gold; Marzio, carrying with him a valuable cloak trimmed with
     gold lace, turned towards Beatrice (who still stood leaning against
     the table), and saying, 'I shall keep this as a memorial of you,'
     departed with Olympio. The report of Francesco's death was not
     spread through the castle until the next morning. Lucrezia then
     rushed through the house uttering cries. In a day or two the
     funeral took place, and immediately after the family returned to
     Rome. Giacomo took possession of the Cenci palace, and Beatrice
     daily improved in health of body and mind.

     "Soon, however, the suspicious circumstances of Count Cenci's
     death excited attention; the body was exhumed and examined, and
     the inhabitants of Petrella placed under arrest, when a washerwoman
     deposed to having received bloody sheets from one of the
     inhabitants of the castle--she thought from Beatrice--the day after
     the murder. On hearing this, the fear that he would turn against
     them, induced Signor Guerra to hire assassins to pursue Olympio,
     whom they despatched at Terni; but Marzio was arrested, and
     confessed the circumstances of the murder, though when confronted
     with Beatrice, he proclaimed her innocence of it, and declared her
     incapable of crime.

     "Guerra made good his escape, but the whole Cenci family were
     thrown into prison and put to the torture. Giacomo, Bernardo, and
     Lucrezia, unable to endure the sufferings of the rack, confessed at
     once.

     "Such, however, was not the case with the young and beautiful
     Beatrice. Full of spirit and courage, neither the persuasions nor
     threats of Moscati the judge could extort from her the smallest
     confession. She endured the torture of the cord with all the
     firmness which the purity of her heart inspired. The judge failed
     to extort from her lips a single word which could throw a shade
     over her innocence, and at length, believing it useless to pursue
     the torture further, he suspended the proceedings, and reported
     them to the pope. But Clement VIII, suspecting that the
     unwillingness of Moscati to believe Beatrice guilty was induced by
     her extreme beauty, only replied by consigning the prosecution to
     another judge, and Beatrice was left in the hands of Luciani, 'a
     man whose heart was a stranger to every feeling of humanity.' Upon
     her renewed protestations of innocence, he ordered the torture of
     the Vigilia.

     "The torture of the Vigilia was as follows:--Upon a high
     joint-stool, the seat about a span large, and instead of being
     flat, cut in the form of pointed diamonds, the victim was seated:
     the legs were fastened together and without support; the hands
     bound behind the back, and with a running knot attached to a cord
     descending from the ceiling: the body was loosely attached to the
     back of the chair, cut also into angular points. A wretch stood
     near, pushing the victim from side to side, and now and then, by
     pulling the rope from the ceiling, gave the arms most painful
     jerks. In this horrible position the sufferer _remained forty
     hours_, the assistants being changed every fifth hour. At the
     expiration of this time, Beatrice was carried into the prison more
     dead than alive. The judge was annoyed at the account he received
     of the fortitude of Beatrice, and, in a rage, he exclaimed, 'Never
     shall it be said that a weak girl can escape from my hands, while
     not one of those condemned have been able to resist my power!'

     "On the third day the examination was renewed, and Beatrice was
     condemned to the _tortura capillorum_. 'At a given signal, the
     satellites of the tribunal carried Beatrice under a rope suspended
     from the ceiling, and twisting into a cord her long and beautiful
     hair, they attached it, with diabolical art, to the rope, so that
     the whole body could by this means be raised from the ground. The
     frightful preparations over, and her protestations of innocence
     again disregarded, she was elevated from the ground by the hair of
     her head; at the same time was added another torture, consisting of
     a mesh of small cords twined about the fingers, twisting them
     nearly out of joint and dragging the hand almost from the bone of
     the arm. The wretched girl screamed with agony, while the judge
     stood by, commanding the suspended rope to be tightened, and
     raising the body by the hair from the ground gave it a sudden jerk,
     exhorting her to confess. She cried out in a convulsion for water,
     rolling her eyes in agony, and exclaiming, 'I am innocent.' The
     torture being repeated with still greater cruelty, and the
     fortitude of the young girl remaining unshaken, the judge,
     believing it impossible that a young female could resist such
     torments, concluded, with the superstition of the times, that she
     carried about with her some witchcraft; he ordered her to be
     examined, and finding no cause of suspicion, was about to have her
     hair cut off, when it was suggested the torment of the _tortura
     capillorum_ could not then be renewed; her hair was again fastened
     to the rope, and for a whole hour she was subjected to such a
     succession of cruelties as the heart shrinks from narrating: but
     not a word escaped from her lips, that could compromise her
     innocence.

     "In the mean time Lucrezia, Giacomo, and Bernardo were taken into
     the hall Erculeo, and in their presence a repetition of the torture
     was ordered, to so awful an extent, that she fainted and lay
     senseless. A new cruelty was devised--the _taxilla_,--her feet were
     bared, and to the soles was applied a block of heated wood,
     prepared in such a way as to retain the scorching heat; then did
     the unhappy girl utter piercing shrieks, and remained some minutes
     apparently dead. These accumulated tortures were repeated, until
     her relations, who were handcuffed lest they should render her any
     assistance, began to implore her with heart-rending tears and
     entreaties to yield. To this the judge mingled threats and the
     application of further torments, and enforced them with such
     rigour, that the victim shrieked in agony, and exclaimed, 'Oh!
     cease this martyrdom, and I will confess anything.'

     "The tortures were at once suspended and restoratives applied,
     while her family on their knees implored Beatrice to adhere to her
     promise, urging that the unnatural cruelties of her father would be
     a just defence for the crime imputed to her, and that by agreeing
     to their deposition, she might give them a hope of common
     liberation. The unhappy girl replied, 'Be it as you wish. I am
     content to die if I can preserve you'--and to each interrogatory of
     the judge she replied, '_E vero_,' until asked whether she did not
     urge the assassins to kill her father, and, on their refusal,
     propose to commit the crime herself, when she involuntarily
     exclaimed, 'Impossible, impossible! a tiger could not do it; how
     much less a daughter!' Threatened anew with the torture, she
     answered not, but, raising her eyes to Heaven, and moving her lips
     in prayer, she said, 'Oh my God, Thou knowest if this be true!'
     Thus did the judge force from Beatrice an assent to a deed at which
     her very nature revolted.

     "Luciani hastened to the pope with the news that Beatrice had
     confessed. Clement VIII. was seized with one of those fits of anger
     to which he was subject, and exclaimed--'Let them all be
     immediately bound to the tails of wild horses, and dragged through
     the streets until life is extinct.' The horror evinced by all
     classes at this sentence induced him to grant a respite of
     twenty-five days, at the end of which a trial took place, and the
     advocate Farinacci boldly pleaded the defence of the prisoners. But
     while their fate was hanging in the balance, the Marchesa
     Santa-Croce was murdered by her own son, which caused Clement to
     order the immediate execution of the whole Cenci family, and the
     entreaties of their friends only induced him to spare the life of
     Bernardo, with the horrible proviso that he was to remain upon the
     scaffold and witness the execution of his relations.

     " ... During the fearful and protracted transit to the scaffold, it
     was the custom of the satellites of the inquisition, at regular
     intervals, to tear from the body pieces of flesh with heated
     pincers, but in this instance the pope dispensed with this torture,
     but ordered that Giacomo should be beaten to death and then
     quartered. As the procession passed the piazza of the Palazzo
     Cenci, Giacomo, who had appeared resigned, became dreadfully
     agitated, and uttered heart-rending cries of, 'My children! my
     children!' The people shouted, 'Dogs, give him his children!' The
     procession was proceeding, when the multitude assumed such a
     threatening aspect, that two of the Compagnia dei Confortati
     thought themselves authorised to pause, the unhappy man imploring
     them in accents of despair, to suffer him once more to behold his
     children. The crowd became pacified on seeing Giacomo descend from
     the cart and conducted to the vestibule of his palace, where they
     brought to him his children and his wife. The latter fainted on the
     last step.

     "The scene that followed was the most affecting and painful that
     the imagination can picture. His three children clung around his
     legs, uttering cries that rent the hearts of all present The
     unhappy man embraced them, telling them that in Bernardo they would
     find a father; then, fixing his eyes on his unconscious wife, he
     said, 'Let us go!' Reascending the cart, the procession stopped
     before the prison of the Corte Savella.

     "Here Beatrice and Lucrezia appeared before the gates, conducted by
     the Confortati. They knelt down and prayed for some time before the
     crucifix, and then walked on foot behind the carriage. Lucrezia
     wore a robe of black, and a long black veil covered her head and
     shoulders; Beatrice in a dark robe and veil, a handkerchief of
     cloth of silver on her head, and slippers of white velvet,
     ornamented with crimson sandals and rosettes, followed.... Twice
     during the passage, an attempt was made to rescue Beatrice, but
     each failed, and she reached the chapel, where all the condemned
     were to receive the blessing of the Sacrament before execution.

     "The first brought out to ascend the scaffold was Bernardo, who,
     according to the conditions of his reprieve, was to witness the
     death of his relatives. The poor boy, before he had reached the
     summit, fell down in a swoon, and was obliged to be supported to
     his seat of torture. Preceded by the standard and the brethren of
     the Misericordia, the executioner next entered the chapel to convey
     Lucrezia. Binding her hands behind her back, and removing the veil
     that covered her head and shoulders, he led her to the foot of the
     scaffold. Here she stopped, prayed devoutly, kissed the crucifix,
     and taking off her shoes, mounted the ladder barefoot. From
     confusion and terror, she with difficulty ascended, crying out,
     'Oh, my God! oh, holy brethren, pray for my soul, oh, God, pardon
     me!' The principal executioner beckoned to her to place herself on
     the block; the unhappy woman, from her unwieldy figure, being
     unable to do so, some violence was used, the executioner raised his
     axe, and with one stroke severed the head from the body! Catching
     it by the hair, he exposed it, still quivering, to the gaze of the
     populace; then wrapping it in the veil, he laid it on a bier in the
     corner of the scaffold, the body falling into a coffin placed
     underneath. The violence used towards the sufferer had so excited
     the multitude, that a universal uproar commenced. Forty young men
     rushed forward to the chapel to rescue Beatrice, but were again
     defeated, after a short struggle....

     "Meanwhile Beatrice, kneeling in the chapel absorbed in prayer,
     heeded not the uproar that surrounded her. She rose, as the
     standard appeared to precede her to the block, and with eagerness
     demanded, 'Is my mother then really dead?'--Answered in the
     affirmative, she prayed with fervour; then raising her voice, she
     said, 'Lord, thou hast called me, and I obey the summons
     willingly, as I hope for mercy!' Approaching her brother, she bade
     him farewell, and with a smile of love, said, 'Grieve not for me.
     We shall be happy in heaven, I have forgiven thee.' Giacomo
     fainted; his sister, turning round, said, 'Let us proceed!' The
     executioner appeared with a cord, but seemed afraid to fasten it
     round her body. She saw this, and with a sad smile said, 'Bind this
     body; but hasten to release the soul, which pants for immortality!'

     "Scarcely had the victim arrived at the foot of the scaffold, when
     the square, filled with that vast multitude before so uproarious,
     suddenly assumed the silence of a desert. Each one bent forward to
     hear her speak; with every eye riveted on her, and lips apart, it
     seemed as if their very existence depended on any words she might
     utter. Beatrice ascended the stairs with a slow but firm step. In a
     moment she placed herself on the block, which had caused so much
     fear to Lucrezia. She did not allow the executioner to remove the
     veil, but laid it herself upon the table. In this dreadful
     situation she remained a few minutes, a universal cry of horror
     staying the arm of the executioner. But soon the head of his victim
     was held up separated from the trunk, which was violently agitated
     for a few seconds. The miserable Bernardo Cenci, forced to witness
     the fate of his sister, again swooned away; nor could he be
     restored to his senses for more than half an hour.

     "Meanwhile the scaffold was made ready for the dreadful punishment
     destined for Giacomo. Having performed some religious ceremonies,
     he appeared dressed in a cloak and cap. Turning towards the people,
     he said in a clear voice, 'Although in the agonies of torture I
     accused my sister and brother of sharing in the crime for which I
     suffer, I accused them falsely. Now that I am about to render an
     account of my actions to God, I solemnly assert their entire
     innocence. Farewell, my friends. Oh, pray to God for me.'

     "Saying these words, he knelt down; the executioner bound his legs
     to the block and bandaged his eyes. To particularise the details of
     this execution would be too dreadful; suffice it to say, he was
     beaten, beheaded, and quartered in the sight of that vast
     multitude, and by the side of a brother, who was sprinkled with his
     blood. All was now over.

     "..... Near the statue of St. Paul, according to custom, were
     placed three biers, each with four lighted torches. In these were
     laid the bodies of the victims. A crown of flowers had been placed
     around the head of Beatrice, who seemed as though in sleep, so
     calm, so peaceful was that placid face, while a smile such as she
     wore in life still hovered on her lips. Many a tear was shed over
     that bier, many a flower was scattered around her, whose fate all
     mourned--whose innocence none questioned.

     "On that night the bodies were interred. The corpse of Beatrice,
     clad in the dress she wore on the scaffold, was borne, covered with
     garlands of flowers, to the church of San Pietro in Montorio; and
     buried at the foot of the high altar, before Raffaelle's celebrated
     picture of the Transfiguration."[97]

Retracing our steps to the Piazza della Giudecca and turning left down a
narrow alley, which is always busy with Jewish traffic, we reach the
_Piazza delle Tartarughe_, so called from the tortoises which form part
of the adornments of its lovely little fountain,--designed by Giacomo
della Porta, the four figures of boys being by Taddeo Landini.

At this point we leave the Ghetto.

       *       *       *       *       *

Forming one side of the Piazza delle Tartarughe is the _Palazzo
Costaguti_, celebrated for its six splendid ceilings by great artists,
viz.:--

    1. _Albani_: Hercules wounding the Centaur Nessus.
    2. _Domenichino_: Apollo in his car, Time discovering truth,
        &c., much injured.
    3. _Guercino_: _Rinaldo_ and _Armida_ in a chariot drawn by dragons.
    4. _Cav. d'Arpino_: Juno nursing Hercules, Venus and Cupids.
    5. _Lanfranco_: Justice and Peace.
    6. _Romanelli_: Arion saved by the dolphin.

In a corner of the piazza, is a well-known _Lace-Shop_, much frequented
by English ladies, but great powers of bargaining are called for. Almost
immediately behind this is one of the most picturesque mediæval
courtyards in the city.

On the same line, at the end of the street, is the _Palazzo Mattei_,
built by Carlo Maderno (1615) for Duke Asdrubal Mattei, on the site of
the Circus of Flaminius. The small courtyard of this palace is well
worth examining, and is one of the handsomest in Rome, being quite
encrusted, as well as the staircase, with ancient bas-reliefs, busts,
and other sculptures. It contained a gallery of pictures, the greater
part of which have been dispersed. The rooms have frescoes by
_Pomerancio_, _Lanfranco_, _Pietro da Cortona_, _Domenichino_, and
_Albani_.

Behind this, facing the Via delle Botteghe Oscure, is the vast _Palazzo
Caëtani_, now inhabited by the learned Don Michael-Angelo Caëtani (Duke
of Sermoneta and Prince of Teano), whose family is one of the most
distinguished in the mediæval history of Rome, and which gave Boniface
VIII. to the church:

    "Lo principe de' nuovi farisei."

    _Dante, Inferno,_ xxvii.

It claims descent from Anatolius, created Count of Gaieta by Pope
Gregory II. in 730.

Close to the Palazzo Mattei is the _Church of Sta. Caterina de' Funari_,
built by Giacomo della Porta, in 1563, adjoining a convent of
Augustinian nuns. The streets in this quarter are interesting as bearing
witness in their names to the existence of the Circus Flaminius, the
especial circus of the plebs, which once occupied all the ground near
this. The _Via delle Botteghe Oscure_, commemorates the dark shops which
in mediæval times occupied the lower part of the circus, as they do now
that of the Theatre of Marcellus. The Via dei Funari, the ropemakers who
took advantage for their work of the light and open space which the
interior of the deserted circus afforded. The remains of the circus
existed to the sixteenth century.

Near this, turning right, is the _Piazza di Campitelli_, which contains
the _Church of S. Maria in Campitelli_, built by Rinaldi for Alexander
VII. in 1659, upon the site of an oratory erected by Sta. Galla in the
time of John I. (523-6), in honour of an image of the Virgin, which one
day miraculously appeared imploring her charity, in company with the
twelve poor women to whom she was daily in the habit of giving alms. The
oratory of Sta. Galla was called Sta. Maria in Portico, from the
neighbouring portico of Octavia, a name which is sometimes applied to
the present church. The miraculous mendicant image is now enshrined in
gold and lapis-lazuli over the high altar. Other relics supposed to be
preserved here are the bodies of Sta. Cyrica, Sta. Victoria, and Sta.
Vincenza, and half that of Sta. Barbara! The second chapel on the right
has a picture of the Descent of the Holy Ghost by _Luca Giordano_; in
the first chapel on the left is the tomb of Prince Altieri, inscribed
"Umbra," and that of his wife, Donna Laura di Carpegna, inscribed
"Nihil;" they rest on lions of rosso-antico. In the right transept is
the tomb, by _Pettrich_, of Cardinal Pacca, who lived in the Palazzo
Pacca, on the opposite side of the square, and was the faithful friend
of Pius VII. in his exile. The bas-relief on the tomb, of St. Peter
delivered by the angel, is in allusion to the deliverance from the
French captivity.

The name Campitelli is probably derived from Campusteli, because in this
neighbourhood (see Ch. XIV.) was the Columna Bellica, from which when
war was declared a dart was thrown into a plot of ground, representing
the hostile territory,--perhaps the very site of this church.

In the street behind this, leading into the Via di Ara Cœli, are the
remains of the ancient _Palazzo Margana_, with a very richly-sculptured
gateway of _c._ 1350.

Opening from hence upon the left is the _Via Tor de' Specchi_, whose
name commemorates the legend of Virgil as a necromancer, and of his
magic tower lined with mirrors, in which all the secrets of the city
were reflected and brought to light.

Here is the famous _Convent of the Tor de' Specchi_, founded by Sta.
Francesca Romana, and open to the public during the octave of the
anniversary of her death (following the 9th of March). At this time the
pavements are strewn with box, the halls and galleries are bright with
fresh flowers, and Swiss guards are posted at the different turnings, to
facilitate the circulation of visitors. It is a beautiful specimen of a
Roman convent. The first hall is painted with ancient frescoes,
representing scenes in the life of the saint. Here, on a table, is the
large bowl in which Sta. Francesca prepared ointment for the poor. Other
relics are her veil, shoes, &c. Passing a number of open cloisters,
cheerful with flowers and orange-trees, we reach the chapel, where
sermons or rather lectures are delivered at the anniversary upon the
story of Sta. Francesca's life, and where her embalmed body may be seen
beneath the altar. A staircase seldom seen, but especially used by
Francesca, is only ascended by the nuns upon their knees. It leads to
her cell and a small chapel, black with age, and preserved as when she
used them. The picturesque dress of the Oblate sisters who are
everywhere visible, adds to the interest of the scene.

     "It is no gloomy abode, the Convent of the Tor di Specchi, even in
     the eyes of those who cannot understand the happiness of a nun. It
     is such a place as one loves to see children in; where religion is
     combined with everything that pleases the eye and recreates the
     mind. The beautiful chapel; the garden with its magnificent
     orange-trees; the open galleries, with their fanciful decorations
     and scenic recesses, where a holy picture or figure takes you by
     surprise, and meets you at every turn; the light airy rooms, where
     religious prints and ornaments, with flowers, birds, and ingenious
     toys, testify that innocent enjoyments are encouraged and smiled
     upon; while from every window may be caught a glimpse of the
     Eternal City, a spire, a ruined wall,--something that speaks of
     Rome and its thousand charms.

     "It was on the 21st of March, the festival of St. Benedict, that
     Francesca herself entered the convent, not as the foundress, but as
     a humble suppliant for admission. At the foot of the stairs, having
     taken off her customary black gown, her veil, and her shoes, and
     placed a cord around her neck, she knelt down, kissed the ground,
     and, shedding an abundance of tears, made her general confession
     aloud in the presence of all the Oblates; she described herself as
     a miserable sinner, a grievous offender against God, and asked
     permission to dwell amongst them as the meanest of their servants;
     and to learn from them to amend her life, and enter upon a holier
     course. The spiritual daughters of Francesca hastened to raise and
     embrace her; and clothing her with their habit, they led the way to
     the chapel, where they all returned thanks to God. While she
     remained there in prayer, Agnese de Lellis, the superioress,
     assembled the sisters in the chapter-room, and declared to them,
     that now their true mother and foundress had come amongst them, it
     would be absurd for her to remain in her present office; that
     Francesca was their guide, their head, and that into her hands she
     should instantly resign her authority. They all applauded her
     decision, and gathering around the Saint, announced to her their
     wishes. As was to be expected, Francesca strenuously refused to
     accede to this proposal, and pleaded her inability for the duties
     of a superioress. The Oblates had recourse to Don Giovanni, the
     confessor of Francesca, who began by entreating, and finally
     commanded her acceptance of the charge. His order she never
     resisted; and accordingly, on the 25th of March, she was duly
     elected to that office."--_Lady Georgina Fullerton's Life of Sta.
     Francesca Romana._

     "Sta. Francesca Romana is represented in the dress of a Benedictine
     nun, a black robe and a white hood or veil; and her proper
     attribute is an angel, who holds in his hand the book of the Office
     of the Virgin, open at the words, '_Tenuisti manum dexteram meam,
     et in voluntate tua deduxisti me, et cum gloria suscepisti me_'
     (Ps. lxxiii. 23, 24); which attribute is derived from an incident
     thus narrated in the acts of her canonisation. Though unwearied in
     her devotions, yet if, during her prayers, she was called away by
     her husband on any domestic duty, she would close her book, saying
     that 'a wife and a mother, when called upon, must quit her God at
     the altar, and find him in her household affairs.' Now it happened
     once, that, in reciting the Office of Our Lady, she was called away
     four times just as she was beginning the same verse, and, returning
     the fifth time, she found that verse written upon the page in
     letters of golden light by the hand of her guardian
     angel."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 151.

Almost opposite the convent is the Via del Monte Tarpeio, a narrow
alley, leading up to the foot of the Tarpeian rock, beneath the Palazzo
Caffarelli, and one of the points at which the rock is best seen. This
spot is believed to have been the site of the house of Spurius Mælius,
who tried to ingratiate himself with the people, by buying up corn and
distributing it in a year of scarcity (B.C. 440), but who was in
consequence put to death by the patricians. His house was razed to the
ground, and its site, being always kept vacant, went by the name of
Æquimælium.[98]




CHAPTER VI.

THE PALATINE.

     The Story of the Hill--Orti Farnesiani--The Via Nova--Roma
     Quadrata--The Houses of the early Kings--Temple of Jupiter
     Stator--Palace of Augustus--Palace of
     Vespasian--Crypto-Porticus--Temple of Jupiter-Victor--The Lupercal
     and the Hut of Faustulus--Palace of Tiberius--Palace of
     Caligula--Clivus Victoriæ--Ruins of the Kingly Period--Altar of the
     Genius Loci--House of Hortensius--Septizonium of Severus--Palace of
     Domitian.


"The Palatine formed a trapezium of solid rock, two sides of which were
about 300 yards in length, the others about 400: the area of its summit,
to compare it with a familiar object, was nearly equal to the space
between Pall-Mall and Piccadilly in London."[99]

The history of the Palatine is the history of the City of Rome. Here was
the Roma Quadrata, the "oppidum," or fortress of the Pelasgi, of which
the only remaining trace is the name Roma, signifying force. This is the
fortress where the shepherd-king Evander is represented by Virgil as
welcoming Æneas.

The Pelasgic fortress was enclosed by Romulus within the limits of this
new city, which, "after the Etruscan fashion, he traced round the foot
of the hill with a plough drawn by a bull and a heifer, the furrow being
carefully made to fall inwards, and the heifer yoked to the near-side,
to signify that strength and courage were required without, obedience
and fertility within the city.... The locality thus enclosed was
reserved for the temples of the gods and the residence of the ruling
class, the class of patricians or burghers, as Niebuhr has taught us to
entitle them, which predominated over the dependent commons, and only
suffered them to crouch for security under the walls of Romulus. The
Palatine was never occupied by the plebs. In the last age of the
republic, long after the removal of this partition, or of the civil
distinction between the great classes of the state, here was still the
chosen site of the mansions of the highest nobility."[100]

In the time of the early kings the City of Rome was represented by the
Palatine only. It was at first divided into two parts, one inhabited,
and the other called Velia, and left for the grazing of cattle. It had
two gates, the Porta Romana to the north, and the Porta Mugonia--so
called from the lowing of the cattle--to the south, on the side of the
Velia.

Augustus was born on the Palatine, and dwelt there in common with other
patrician citizens in his youth. After he became emperor he still lived
there, but simply, and in the house of Hortensius, till, on its
destruction by fire, the people of Rome insisted upon building him a
palace more worthy of their ruler. This building was the
foundation-stone of "the Palace of the Cæsars," which in time overran
the whole hill, and, under Nero, two of the neighbouring hills besides,
and whose ruins are daily being disinterred and recognised, though much
confusion still remains regarding their respective sites. In A.D. 663,
part of the palace remained sufficiently perfect to be inhabited by the
Emperor Constans, and its plan is believed to have been entire for a
century after, but it never really recovered its sack by Genseric in
A.D. 455, in which it was completely gutted, even of the commonest
furniture; and as years passed on it became imbedded in the soil which
has so marvellously enshrouded all the ancient buildings of Rome, so
that till within the last ten years, only a few broken nameless walls
were visible above ground.

    "Cypress and ivy, weed and wallflower grown
    Matted and mass'd together, hillocks heap'd
    On what were chambers, arch crush'd, columns strown
    In fragments, choked-up vaults, and frescoes steep'd
    In subterranean damps, where the owl peep'd,
    Deeming it midnight:--Temples, baths, or halls?
    Pronounce who can; for all that Learning reap'd
    From her research has been, that these are walls.--
    Behold the Imperial Mount! 'Tis thus the mighty falls."

    _Byron, Childe Harold._

How different is this description to that of Claudian (de Sexto
Consulat. Honorii).

    "The Palatine, proud Rome's imperial seat,
    (An awful pile) stands venerably great:
    Thither the kingdoms and the nations come,
    In supplicating crowds to learn their doom:
    To Delphi less th' inquiring worlds repair,
    Nor does a greater god inhabit there:
    This sure the pompous mansion was design'd
    To please the mighty rulers of mankind;
    Inferior temples rise on either hand,
    And on the borders of the palace stand,
    While o'er the rest her head she proudly rears,
    And lodged amidst her guardian gods appears."

    _Addison's Translation._

After the middle of the sixteenth century a great part of the Palatine
became the property of the Farnese family, latterly represented by the
Neapolitan Bourbons, who sold the "Orti Farnesiani," in 1861, to the
Emperor Napoleon III., for £10,000. Up to that time this part of the
Palatine was a vast kitchen-garden, broken here and there by picturesque
groups of ilex trees and fragments of mouldering wall. In one corner was
a casino of the Farnese (still standing) adorned in fresco by some of
the pupils of Raphael. This and all the later buildings in the "Orti,"
are marked with the Farnese _fleur-de-lis_, and on the principal
staircase of the garden is some really grand distemper ornament of their
time. Since 1861 extensive excavations have been carried on here under
the superintendence of Signor Rosa, which have resulted in the discovery
of the palaces of some of the earlier emperors, and the substructions of
several temples. After the revolution of 1870 the French portion of the
Palatine was sold by the Ex-Emperor Napoleon to the Roman municipal
government.

In visiting the Palace of the Cæsars, it will naturally be asked how it
is known that the different buildings are what they are described to be.
In a great measure this has been ascertained from the descriptions of
Tacitus and other historians,--but the greatest assistance of all has
been obtained from the Tristia of Ovid, who, while in exile, consoles
himself by recalling the different buildings of his native city, which
he mentions in describing the route taken by his book, which he had
persuaded a friend to convey to the imperial library. He supposes the
book to enter the Palatine by the Clivus Victoriæ behind the Temple of
Vesta, and follows its course, remarking the different objects it passed
on the right or the left.

       *       *       *       *       *

If we enter the palace by the Farnese gateway, on the right of the
Campo-Vaccino, opposite SS. Cosmo e Damiano, we had better only ascend
the first division of the staircase and then turn to the left. Passing
along the lower ridge of the Palatine, afterwards occupied by many of
the great patrician houses, whose sites we shall return to and examine
in detail, we reach that corner of the garden which is nearest to the
Arch of Titus. Here a paved road of large blocks of lava has lately been
laid bare, and is identified beyond a doubt as part of the Via Nova,
which led from the Porta Mugonia of the Palatine along the base of the
hill to the Velabrum. In the reign of Augustus it appears to have been
made to communicate also with the Forum.

    "Qua Nova Romano nunc Via juncta Foro est."

    _Ovid, Fast._ vi. 396.

At this point the road was called _Summa Via Nova_.

Near this spot must have been the site of the house where Octavius lived
with his wife Afra, the niece of Julius Cæsar (daughter of his eldest
sister Julia), and where their son, Octavius, afterwards the Emperor
Augustus, was born. This house afterwards passed into the possession of
C. Lætorius, a patrician; but after the death of Augustus, part of it
was turned into a chapel, and consecrated to him. It was situated at the
top of a staircase--"supra scalas annularias"[101]--which probably led
to the Forum, and is spoken of as "ad capita bubula," perhaps from
bulls' heads, with which it may have been decorated.

Here we find ourselves, owing to the excavations, in a deep hollow
between the two divisions of the hill. On the left is the Velia, upon
which, near the Porta Mugonia, the Sabine king, Ancus Martius, had his
palace. When Ancus died, he was succeeded by an Etruscan stranger,
Lucius Tarquinius, who took the name of Tarquinius Priscus. This king
also lived upon the Velia,[102] with Tanaquil his queen, and here he was
murdered in a popular rising, caused by the sons of his predecessor.
Here his brave wife Tanaquil closed the doors, concealed the death of
the king, harangued the people from the windows,[103] and so gained time
till Servius Tullius was prepared to take the dead king's place and
avenge his murder.[104]

Keeping to the valley, on our right are now some huge blocks of tufa, of
great interest as part of the ancient _Roma Quadrata_, anterior to
Romulus. Beyond this, also on the right, are foundations of the _Temple
of Jupiter Stator_, built by Romulus, who vowed that he would found a
temple to Jupiter under that name, if he would arrest the flight of his
Roman followers in their conflict with the superior forces of the
Sabines.[105]

    "Inde petens dextram, porta est, ait, ista Palati;
    Hic Stator, hoc primum condita Roma loco est."

    _Ovid, Trist._ iii. El. I.

    "Tempus idem Stator ædis habet, quam Romulus olim
    Ante Palatini condidit ora jugi."

    _Ovid, Fast._ vi. 793.

The temple of Jupiter Stator has an especial interest from its
connection with the story of Cicero and Catiline.

     "Cicéron rassembla le sénat dans le temple de Jupiter Stator. Le
     choix du lieu s'explique facilement; ce temple était près de la
     principale entrée du Palatin sur le Vélia, dominant, en cas
     d'émeute, le Forum, que Cicéron et les principaux sénateurs
     habitants du Palatin n'avaient pas à traverser comme s'il eût fallu
     se rendre à la Curie. D'ailleurs Jupiter Stator, qui avait arrêté
     les Sabines à la porte de Romulus, arrêterait ces nouveaux ennemis
     qui voulaient sa ruine. Là Cicéron prononça la première
     Catilinaire. Ce discours dut être en grande partie improvisé, car
     les événements aussi improvisaient. Cicéron ne savait si Catilina
     oserait se présenter devant le sénat; en le voyant entrer, il
     conçut son fameux exorde: 'Jusqu'à quand, Catilina, abuseras-tu de
     notre patience!'

     "Malgré la garde volontaire de chevaliers qui avait accompagné
     Cicéron et qui se tenait à la porte du temple, Catilina y entra et
     salua tranquillement l'assemblée; nul ne lui rendit son salut, à
     son approche on s'écarta et les places restèrent vides autour de
     lui. Il écouta les foudroyantes apostrophes de Cicéron, qui, après
     l'avoir accablé des preuves de son crime, se bornait à lui dire:
     'Sors de Rome. Va-t-en!'

     "Catilina se leva et d'un air modeste pria le sénat de ne pas
     croire le consul avant qu'une enquête eût été faite. 'II n'est pas
     vraisemblable, ajouta-t-il, avec une hauteur toute aristocratique,
     qu'un patricien, lequel, aussi bien que ses ancêtres, a rendu
     quelques services à la république, ne puisse exister que par sa
     ruine, et qu'on ait besoin d'un étranger d'Arpinum pour la sauver.'
     Tant d'orgueil et d'impudence révoltèrent l'assemblée; on cria à
     Catilina: 'Tu es un ennemi de la patrie, un meurtrier.' Il sortit,
     réunit encore ses amis, leur recommanda de se débarasser de
     Cicéron, prit avec lui un aigle d'argent qui avait appartenu à une
     légion de Marius, et à minuit quitta Rome et partit par la voie
     Aurélia pour aller rejoindre son armée."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv.
     445.

Nearly opposite the foundations of Jupiter Stator, on the left,--are
some remains considered to be those of the Porta Palatii.

The valley is now blocked by a vast mass of building which entirely
closes it. This is the palace of Augustus, built in the valley between
the Velia and the other eminence of the Palatine, which Rosa, contrary
to other opinions, identifies with the _Germale_. The division of the
Palatine thus named, was reckoned as one of "the seven hills" of
ancient Rome. Its name was thought to be derived from Germani, owing to
Romulus and Remus being found in its vicinity.[106]

The _Palace of Augustus_ was begun soon after the battle of Actium, and
gradually increased in size, till the whole valley was blocked up by it,
and its roofs became level with the hill-sides. Part of the ground which
it covered had previously been occupied by the villa of Catiline.[107]
Here Suetonius says that Augustus occupied the same bed-room for forty
years. Before the entrance of the palace it was ordained by the Senate,
B.C. 26, that two bay-trees should be planted, in remembrance of the
citizens he had preserved, while an oak wreath was placed above the gate
in commemoration of his victories.

    "Singula dum miror, video fulgentibus armis
      Conspicuos postes, tectaque digna deo.
    An Jovis hæc, dixi, domus est? Quod ut esse putarem,
      Augurium menti querna corona dabat.
    Cujus ut accepi dominum, non fallimur, inquam:
      Et magni rerum est hanc Jovis esse domum.
    Cur tamen apposita velatur janua lauro?
      Cingit et Augustas arbor opaca fores?"

    _Ovid, Trist._ i. 33.

    "State Palatinæ laurus; prætextaque quercu
      Stet domus; æternos tres habet una deos."

    _Fast._ iv. 953.

It was before the gate of this palace that Augustus upon one day in
every year sate as a beggar, receiving alms from the passers-by, in
obedience to a vision that he should thus appease Nemesis.

Upon the top of this building of Augustus, Vespasian built his palace in
A.D. 70, not only using the walls of the older palace as a support for
his own, but filling the chambers of the earlier building entirely up
with earth, so that they became a solid massive foundation. The ruins
which we visit are thus for the most part those of the palace of
Vespasian, but from one of its halls we can descend into rooms
underneath excavated from the palace of Augustus. The three projecting
rostra which we now see in front of the palace are restorations by
Signor Rosa.

The palace on the Palatine was not the place where the emperors
generally lived. They resided at their villas, and came into the town to
the Palace of the Cæsars for the transaction of public business. Thus
this palace was, as it were, the St. James's of Rome. The fatigue and
annoyance of a public arrival every morning, amid the crowd of clients
who always waited upon the imperial footsteps, was naturally very great,
and to obviate this the emperors made use of a subterranean passage
which ran round the whole building, and by which they were enabled to
arrive unobserved, and not to present themselves in public till their
appearance upon the rostra in front of the building to receive the
morning salutations of their people.

If we ascend a winding path to the right, to the garden which now covers
the greater part of the hill Germale, we shall find a staircase which
descends on the left to join this passage, following which, we will
ascend, with the emperor, into his palace.

The passage, called _Crypto-Porticus_, is still quite perfect, and
retains a great part of its mosaic pavements and much of its inlaid
ceilings, from which the gilt mosaic has been picked out, but the
pattern is still traceable. The passage was lighted from above. It was
by this route that St. Laurence was led up for trial in the basilica,
of the palace. Turning to the left, we again emerge upon the upper
level.

The emperor here reached the palace, but as he did not yet wish to
appear in public, he turned to the left by the private passage called
_Fauces_, which still remains, running behind the main halls of the
building. Here he was received by the different members of the imperial
family, much as Napoleon III. was received by Princesses Mathilde,
Clotilde, and the Murats, in a private apartment at the Tuileries,
before entering the ball-room. Hence, passing across the end of the
basilica, the emperor reached the portico in front of the palace,
looking down upon the hollow space where were the Temple of Jupiter
Stator and the other buildings connected with the early history of the
Roman state. Here the whole Court received him and escorted him to the
central rostra, where he had his public reception from the people
assembled below, and whence perhaps he addressed to them a few words of
morning salutation in return. The attendants meanwhile defiled on either
side to the lower terraced elevation, which still remains.

This ceremony being gone through, the emperor returned as he came, to
the basilica, for the transaction of business.

The name Basilica means "King's House." It was the ancient Law Court. It
usually had a portico, was oblong in form, and ended in an apse for
ornament. The Christians adopted it for their places of worship because
it was the largest type of building then known. They also adopted the
names of the different parts of the pagan basilica, as the Confessional,
from the _Confession_, the bar of justice at which the criminal was
placed,--the Tribune, from the _Tribunal_ of the Judge, &c. A chapel
and sacristy added on either side produced the form of the cross. The
_Basilica_ here is of great width. A leg of the emperor's chair actually
remains _in situ_ upon the tribunal, and part of the richly wrought bar
of the Confession still exists. This was the bar at which St. Laurence
and many other Christian martyrs were judged. The basilica in the palace
of the Cæsars was also the scene of the trial of Valerius Asiaticus in
the time of Claudius (see Chap. II.), when the Empress Messalina, who
was seated near the emperor upon the tribunal, was so overcome by the
touching eloquence of the innocent man, that she was obliged to leave
the hall to conceal her emotion,--but characteristically whispered as
she went out, that the accused must nevertheless on no account be
suffered to escape with his life,[108]--that she might take possession
of his Pincian Garden, which was as Naboth's Vineyard in her eyes. An
account is extant which describes how it was necessary to increase the
width of the seat upon the tribunal at this period, in consequence of a
change in the fashion of dress among the Roman ladies.

This basilica, though perhaps not then itself in existence, will always
have peculiar interest as showing the form and character of that earlier
basilica in the Palace of the Cæsars, in which St. Paul was tried before
Nero. But it is quite possible that it may be the same actual basilica
itself,--and that the palace of Nero which overran the whole of the
hill, may have had its basilica on this site, where it was preserved by
Vespasian in his later and more contracted palace.

     "The appeals from the provinces in civil causes were heard, not by
     the emperor himself, but by his delegates, who were persons of
     consular rank: Augustus had appointed one such delegate to hear
     appeals from each province respectively. But criminal appeals
     appear generally to have been heard by the emperor in person,
     assisted by his council of assessors. Tiberius and Claudius had
     usually sat for this purpose in the Forum; but Nero, after the
     example of Augustus, heard these causes in the imperial palace,
     whose ruins still crown the Palatine. Here, at one end of a
     splendid hall,[109] lined with the precious marbles of Egypt and of
     Libya, we must imagine Cæsar seated in the midst of his assessors.
     These councillors, twenty in number, were men of the highest rank
     and greatest influence. Among them were the two consuls and
     selected representatives of each of the other great magistracies of
     Rome. The remainder consisted of senators chosen by lot. Over this
     distinguished bench of judges presided the representatives of the
     most powerful monarchy which has ever existed,--the absolute ruler
     of the whole civilised world.

     "Before the tribunal of the blood-stained adulterer Nero, Paul was
     brought in fetters, under the custody of his military guard. The
     prosecutors and their witnesses were called forward, to support
     their accusation; for although the subject-matter for decision was
     contained in the written depositions forwarded from Judæa by
     Festus, yet the Roman law required the personal presence of the
     accusers and the witnesses, whenever it could be obtained. We
     already know the charges brought against the Apostle. He was
     accused of disturbing the Jews in the exercise of their worship,
     which was secured to them by law; of desecrating their Temple; and,
     above all, of violating the public peace of the empire by perpetual
     agitation, as the ringleader of a new and factious sect. This
     charge was the most serious in the view of a Roman statesman; for
     the crime alleged amounted to _majestas_, or treason against the
     commonwealth, and was punishable with death.

     "These accusations were supported by the emissaries of the
     Sanhedrim, and probably by the testimony of witnesses from Judæa,
     Ephesus, Corinth, and the other scenes of Paul's activity.... When
     the parties on both sides had been heard, and the witnesses all
     examined, the judgment of the court was taken. Each of the
     assessors gave his opinion in writing to the emperor, who never
     discussed the judgment with his assessors, as had been the practice
     of better emperors, but after reading their opinion, gave sentence
     according to his own pleasure, without reference to the judgment
     of the majority. On this occasion it might have been expected that
     he would have pronounced the condemnation of the accused, for the
     influence of Poppæa had now reached its culminating point, and she
     was a Jewish proselyte. We can scarcely doubt that the emissaries
     from Palestine would have demanded her aid for the destruction of a
     traitor to the Jewish faith; nor would any scruples have prevented
     her listening to their request, backed as it probably was,
     according to Roman usage, by a bribe. However this may be, the
     trial resulted in the acquittal of St. Paul. He was pronounced
     guiltless of the charges brought against him, his fetters were
     struck off, and he was liberated from his long
     captivity."--_Conybeare and Howson._

Beyond the basilica is the _Tablinum_, the great hall of the palace,
which served as a kind of commemorative domestic museum, where family
statues and pictures were preserved. This vast room was lighted from
above, on the plan which may still be seen at Sta. Maria degli Angeli,
which was in fact a great hall of a Roman house. The roof of this hall
was one vast arch, unsupported except by the side walls. We have record
of a period when these walls were supposed insufficient for the great
weight, and had to be strengthened, in interesting confirmation of which
we can still see how the second wall was added and united to the first.

Appropriately opening from the family picture gallery of the Tablinum,
was the _Lararium_, a private chapel for the worship of such members of
the family--Livia and many others--as were deified after death. An
altar, on the original site, has been erected here by Signor Rosa, from
bits which have been found.

Hitherto the chambers which we have visited were open to the public;
beyond this, none but his immediate family and attendants could follow
the emperor. We now enter the _Peristyle_, a courtyard, which was open
to the sky, but surrounded with arcades ornamented with statues, where
we may imagine that the empresses amused themselves with their birds
and flowers. Hence, by a narrow staircase, we can descend into what is
perhaps the most interesting portion of the whole, the one unearthed
fragment of the actual _Palace of Augustus_, which still retains remains
of gilding and fresco, and an artistic group in stucco. An original
window remains, and it will be recollected on looking at it, that when
this was built it was not subterranean, but merely in the hollow of the
valley, afterwards filled up. In these actual rooms may have lived
Livia, who in turn inhabited three houses on the Palatine, first that of
her first husband Nero Drusus, whom Augustus compelled her to divorce;
then the imperial house of Augustus; and lastly that of Tiberius, the
son by her first husband, whom she was the means of raising to the
throne.

We now reach the _Triclinium_ or dining-room, surrounded by a skirting
of pavonazzetto with a cornice of giallo. Tacitus describes a scene in
the imperial triclinium, in which the Emperor Tiberius is represented as
reclining at dinner, having on one side his aged mother, the Empress
Livia, and on the other his niece Agrippina, widow of Germanicus and
granddaughter of the great Augustus.[110] It was while the imperial
family were seated at a banquet in the triclinium, in the time of Nero,
that his young step-brother Britannicus (son of Claudius and Messalina)
swallowed the cup of poison which the emperor had caused Locusta to
prepare and sank back dead upon his couch, his wretched sisters Antonia
and Octavia, also seated at the ghastly feast, not daring to give
expression to their grief and horror,--and Nero merely desiring the
attendants to carry the boy out, and saying that it was a fit to which
he was subject.[111] Here it was that Marcia the concubine presented the
cup of drugged wine to the wicked Commodus, on his return from a wild
beast hunt, and produced the heavy slumber during which he was strangled
by the wrestler Narcissus. In this very room also his successor
Pertinax, who had spent his short reign of three months in trying to
reform the State, resuscitate the finances, and to heal, as far as
possible, 'the wounds inflicted by the hand of tyranny,' received the
news that the guard, impatient of unwonted discipline, had risen against
him, and going forth to meet his assassins, fell, covered with wounds,
just in front of the palace.[112]

Vitruvius says that every well-arranged Roman house has a dining-room
opening into a nymphæum, and accordingly here, on the right, is a
_Nymphæum_, with a beautiful fountain surrounded by miniature niches,
once filled with bronzes and statues. Water was conveyed hither by the
Neronian aqueduct. The pavement of this room was of oriental alabaster,
of which fragments remain.

Beyond the Triclinium is a disgusting memorial of Roman imperial life,
in the _Vomitorium_, with its bason, whither the feasters retired to
tickle their throats with feathers, and come back with renewed appetite
to the banquet.

We now reach the portico which closed the principal apartments of the
palace on the south-west. Some of its Corinthian pillars have been
re-erected on the sites where they were found. From hence we can look
down upon some grand walls of republican times, formed of huge tufa
blocks.

Passing a space of ground, called, without much authority,
_Bibliotheca_, we reach a small _Theatre_ on the edge of the hill,
interesting as described by Pliny, and because the Emperor Vespasian,
who is known to have been especially fond of reciting his own
compositions, probably did so here. Hence we may look down upon the
valley between the Palatine and Aventine, where the rape of the Sabines
took place, and upon the site of the Circus Maximus. From hence, we may
imagine, that the later emperors surveyed the hunts and games in that
circus, when they did not care to descend into the amphitheatre itself.

Beyond this, on the right, is (partially restored) the grand staircase
leading to the platform once occupied by the _Temple of Jupiter-Victor_,
vowed by Fabius Maximus during the Samnite war, in the assurance that he
would gain the victory. On the steps is a sacrificial altar, which
retains its grooves for the blood of the victims, with an inscription
stating that it was erected by "Cnæus Domitius C. Calvinus,
Pontifex,"--who was a general under Julius Cæsar, and consul B.C. 53 and
B.C. 40.

Now, for some distance, there are no remains, because this space was
always kept clear, for here, constantly renewed, stood the _Hut of
Faustulus and the Sacred Fig-tree_.

     "The old Roman legend ran as follows:--Procas, king of Alba, left
     two sons. Numitor, the elder, being weak and spiritless, suffered
     Amulius to wrest the government from him, and reduce him to his
     father's private estates. In the enjoyment of these he lived rich,
     and, as he desired nothing more, secure: but the usurper dreaded
     the claims that might be set up by heirs of a different character.
     He had Numitor's son murdered, and appointed his daughter, Silvia,
     one of the Vestal virgins.

     "Amulius had no children, or at least only one daughter: so that
     the race of Anchises and Aphrodite seemed on the point of
     expiring, when the love of a god prolonged it, in spite of the
     ordinances of man, and gave it a lustre worthy of its origin.
     Silvia had gone into the sacred grove, to draw water from the
     spring for the service of the temple. The sun quenched its rays:
     the sight of a wolf made her fly into a cave: there Mars
     overpowered the timid virgin, and then consoled her with the
     promise of noble children, as Posidon consoled Tyro, the daughter
     of Salmoneus. But he did not protect her from the tyrant; nor could
     the protestations of her innocence save her. Vesta herself seemed
     to demand the condemnation of the unfortunate priestess; for at the
     moment when she was delivered of twins, the image of the goddess
     hid its eyes, her altar trembled, and her fire died away. Amulius
     ordered that the mother and her babes should be drowned in the
     river. In the Anio Silvia exchanged her earthly life for that of a
     goddess. The river carried the bole or cradle, in which the
     children were lying, into the Tiber, which had overflowed its banks
     far and wide, even to the foot of the woody hills. At the root of a
     wild fig-tree, the Ficus Ruminalis, which was preserved and held
     sacred for many centuries, at the foot of the Palatine, the cradle
     overturned. A she-wolf came to drink of the stream: she heard the
     whimpering of the children, carried them into her den hard by, made
     a bed for them, licked and suckled them. When they wanted other
     food than milk, a woodpecker, the bird sacred to Mars, brought it
     to them. Other birds consecrated to auguries hovered over them, to
     drive away insects. This marvellous spectacle was seen by
     Faustulus, the shepherd of the royal flocks. The she-wolf drew
     back, and gave up the children to human nature. Acca Laurentia, his
     wife, became their foster-mother. They grew up, along with her
     twelve sons, on the Palatine hill, in straw huts which they built
     for themselves: that of Romulus was preserved by continual repairs,
     as a sacred relic, down to the time of Nero. They were the stoutest
     of the shepherd lads, fought bravely against wild beasts and
     robbers, maintaining their right against every one by their might,
     and turning might into right. Their booty they shared with their
     comrades. The followers of Romulus were called Quinctilii, those of
     Remus Fabii: the seeds of discord were soon sown amongst them.
     Their wantonness engaged them in disputes with the shepherds of the
     wealthy Numitor, who fed their flocks on Mount Aventine: so that
     here, as in the story of Evander and Cacus, we find the quarrel
     between the Palatine and the Aventine in the tales of the remotest
     times. Remus was taken by the stratagem of these shepherds, and
     dragged to Alba as a robber. A secret foreboding, the remembrance
     of his grandsons, awakened by the story of the two brothers, kept
     Numitor from pronouncing a hasty sentence. The culprit's
     foster-father hastened with Romulus to the city, and told the old
     man and the youths of their kindred. They resolved to avenge their
     own wrong and that of their house. With their faithful comrades,
     whom the dangers of Remus had brought to the city, they slew the
     king; and the people of Alba again became subject to Numitor.

     "But love for the home which fate had assigned them drew the youths
     back to the banks of the Tiber, to found a city there, and the
     shepherds, their old companions, were their first citizens.... This
     is the old tale, as it was written by Fabius, and sung in ancient
     lays down to the time of Dionysius."--_Niebuhr's Hist. of Rome._

In the cliff of the Palatine, below the fig-tree, was shown for many
centuries the cavern Lupercal, sacred from the earliest times to the
Pelasgic god Pan.

    "Hinc lucum ingentum, quem Romulus acer Asylum
    Retulit, et gelidâ monstrat sub rupe Lupercal,
    Parrhasio dictum Panos de monte Lycæi."

    _Virgil, Æn._ viii. 342.

     "La louve, nourrice de Romulus, a peut-être été imaginée en raison
     des rapports mythologiques qui existaient entre le loup et Pan
     défenseur des troupeaux. Ce qu'il y a de sûr, c'est que les fêtes
     lupercales gardèrent le caractère du dieu en l'honneur duquel elles
     avaient été primitivement instituées et l'empreinte d'une origine
     pélasgique; ces fêtes au temps de Cicéron avaient encore un
     caractère pastoral en mémoire de l'Arcadie d'où on les croyait
     venues. Les Luperques qui représentaient les Satyres, compagnons de
     Pan, faisaient le tour de l'antique séjour des Pélasges sur le
     Palatin. Ces hommes nus allaient frappant avec les lanières de peau
     de bouc, l'animal lascif par excellence, les femmes pour les rendre
     fécondes; des fêtes analogues se célébraient en Arcadie sous le nom
     de Lukéia (les fêtes des loups), dont le mot lupercales est une
     traduction."--_Ampère, Hist. Rome_, i. 143.

In the hut of Romulus were preserved several objects venerated as relics
of him.

     "On conservait le bâton augural avec lequel Romulus avait dessiné
     sur le ciel, suivant le rite étrusque, l'espace où s'était
     manifesté le grand auspice des douze vautours dans lesquels Rome
     crut voir la promesse des douze siècles qu'en effet le destin
     devait lui accorder. Tous les augures se servirent par la suite de
     ce bâton sacré, qui fut trouvé intact après l'incendie du monument
     dans lequel il était conservé, miracle païen dont l'equivalent
     pourrait se rencontrer dans plus d'une légende de la Rome
     chrétienne. On montrait le cornouiller né du bois de la lance que
     Romulus, avec la vigueur surhumaine d'un demi-dieu, avait jetée de
     l'Aventin sur le Palatin, où elle s'était enfoncée dans la terre et
     avait produit un grand arbre.

     "On montrait sur le Palatin le berceau et la cabane de Romulus.
     Plutarque a vu ce berceau, le _Santo-Presepio_ des anciens Romains,
     qui était attaché avec des liens d'airain, et sur lequel on avait
     tracé des caractères mystérieux. La cabane était à un seul étage,
     en planches et couverte de roseaux, que l'on reconstruisait
     pieusement chaque fois qu'un incendie la détruisait; car elle brûla
     à diverses reprises, ce que la nature des matériaux dont elle était
     formée fait croire facilement. J'ai vu dans les environs de Rome un
     cabaret rustique dont la toiture était exactement pareille à celle
     de là cabane de Romulus."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ i. 342.

Turning along the terrace which overhangs the Velabrum we reach the
ruins of the _Palace of Tiberius_,[113] in which he resided during the
earlier part of his reign, when he was under the influence of his aged
and imperious mother Livia. Here he had to mourn for Drusus, his only
son, who fell a victim (A.D. 23) to poison administered to him by his
wife Livilla and her lover the favourite Sejanus. Here also, in A.D. 29,
died Livia, widow of Augustus, at the age of eighty-six, "a memorable
example of successful artifice, having attained in succession, by craft
if not by crime, every object she could desire in the career of female
ambition."[114]

The row of arches remaining are those of the soldiers' quarters. In the
fourth arch is a curious _graffite_ of a ship. In another the three
pavements in use at different times may be seen _in situ_, one above
another. On the terrace above these arches has recently been discovered
a large piscina, or _fish-pond_, and the painted chambers of a building,
which is supposed to have been the _House of Drusus_ (elder brother of
Tiberius) _and Antonia_. Several of the rooms in this building are
richly decorated in fresco, one has a picture of a street with figures
of females going to a sacrifice, and of ladies at their toilette;
another of Mercury, Io, and Argus; and a third of Galatea and
Polyphemus. From the names of the characters in these pictures
represented being affixed to them in Greek, we may naturally conclude
that they are the work of Greek artists.

The north-eastern corner of the area is entirely occupied by the vast
ruins of the _Palace of Caligula_, built against the side of the hill
above the _Clivus Victoriœ_, which still remains, and consisting of
ranges of small rooms, communicating with open galleries, edged by
marble balustrades, of which a portion exists. In these rooms the
half-mad Caius Caligula rushed about, sometimes dressed as a charioteer,
sometimes as a warrior, and delighted in astonishing his courtiers by
his extraordinary pranks, or shocking them by trying to enforce a belief
in his own divinity.[115]

     "C'est dans ce palais que, tourmenté par l'insomnie et par
     l'agitation de son âme furieuse, il passera une partie de la nuit à
     errer sous d'immenses portiques, attendant et appellant le jour.
     C'est là aussi qu'il aura l'incroyable idée de placer un dieu
     infâme.

     "Caligula se fit bâtir sur le Palatin deux temples. Il avait
     d'abord voulu avoir une demeure sur le mont Capitolin; mais, ayant
     réfléchi que Jupiter l'avait precédé au Capitole, il en prit de
     l'humeur et retourna sur le Palatin. Dans les folies de Caligula,
     on voit se manifester cette pensée: Je suis dieu! pensée qui
     n'était peut-être pas très-extraordinaire chez un jeune homme de
     vingt-cinq ans devenu tout-à-coup maître du monde. Il parut en
     effet croire à sa divinité, prenant le nom et les attributs de
     divers dieux, et changeant de nature divine en changeant de
     perruque.

     "Non content de s'élever un temple à lui-même, Caligula en vint à
     être son propre prêtre et à s'adorer. Le despotisme oriental avait
     connu cette adoration étrange de soi: sur les monuments de l'Egypte
     on voit Ramsès-roi présenter son offrande à Ramsès-dieu; mais
     Caligula fit ce que n'avait fait aucun Pharaon; il se donna pour
     collègue, dans ce culte de sa propre personne, son cheval, qu'il ne
     nomma pas, mais qu'il songea un moment de nommer consul."--_Ampère,
     Emp._ ii. 8.

     Here "one day at a public banquet, when the consuls were reclining
     by his side, Caligula burst suddenly into a fit of laughter; and
     when they courteously inquired the cause of his mirth, astounded
     them by coolly replying that he was thinking how by one word he
     could cause both their heads to roll on the floor. He amused
     himself with similar banter even with his wife Cæsonia, for whom he
     seems to have had a stronger feeling than for any of his former
     consorts. While fondling her neck he is reported to have said,
     'Fair as it is, how easily I could sever it.'"--_Merivale_, ch.
     xlviii.

After the murder of Caligula (Jan. 24, 794) by the tribune Cheræa, in
the vaulted passage which led from the palace to the theatre, a singular
chance which occurred in this part of the palace led to the elevation of
Claudius to the throne.

     "In the confusion which ensued upon the death of Caius, several of
     the prætorian guards had flung themselves furiously into the palace
     and began to plunder its glittering chambers. None dared to offer
     them any opposition; the slaves or freedmen fled and concealed
     themselves. One of the inmates, half-hidden behind a curtain in an
     obscure corner, was dragged forth with brutal violence; and great
     was the intruder's surprise when they recognised him as Claudius,
     the long despised and neglected uncle of the murdered emperor.[116]
     He sank at their feet almost senseless with terror: but the
     soldiers in their wildest mood still respected the blood of the
     Cæsars, and instead of slaying or maltreating the suppliant, the
     brother of Germanicus, they hailed him, more in jest perhaps than
     earnest, with the title of Imperator, and carried him off to their
     camp."--_Merivale_, ch. xlix.

In this same palace Claudius was feasting when he was told that his
hitherto idolised wife Messalina was dead, without being told whether
she died by her own hand or another's,--and asked no questions, merely
desiring a servant to pour him out some more wine, and went on eating
his supper.[117] Here also Claudius, who so dearly loved eating,
devoured his last and fatal supper of poisoned mushrooms which his next
loving wife (and niece) Agrippina prepared for him, to make way for her
son Nero upon the throne.[118]

The Clivus Victoriæ commemorates by its name the _Temple of
Victory_,[119] said to have been founded by the Sabine aborigines before
the time of Romulus, and to be the earliest temple at Rome of which
there is any mention except that of Saturnus. This temple was rebuilt by
the consul L. Posthumius.

Chief of a group of small temples, the famous _Temple of Cybele_,
"Mother of the Gods," stood at this corner of the Palatine. Thirteen
years before it was built, the "Sacred Stone," the form under which the
"Idæan Mother" was worshipped, had been brought from Pessinus in
Phrygia, because, according to the Sibylline books, frequent showers of
stones which had occurred could only be expiated by its being
transported to Rome. It was given up to the Romans by their ally
Attalus, king of Pergamus, and P. Cornelius Scipio, the young brother of
Africanus--accounted the worthiest and most virtuous of the Romans--was
sent to receive it. As the vessel bearing the holy stone came up the
Tiber it grounded at the foot of the Aventine, when the aruspices
declared that only chaste hands would be able to move it. Then the
Vestal Claudia drew the vessel up the river by a rope.

     "Ainsi Sainte Brigitte, Suédoise morte à Rome, prouva sa pureté en
     touchant le bois de l'autel, qui reverdit soudain. Une statue fut
     érigée à Claudia, dans le vestibule du temple de Cybèle. Bien
     qu'elle eût été, disait on, seule épargnée dans deux incendies du
     temple, nous n'avons plus cette statue, mais nous avons au Capitole
     un bas-relief où l'événement miraculeux est représenté. C'est un
     autel dédié par une affranchie de la gens Claudia; il a été trouvé
     au pied de l'Aventin, près du lieu qu'on désignait comme celui où
     avait été opéré le miracle."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 142.

In her temple, which was _round and surmounted_ by a cupola, Cybele was
represented by a statue with its face to the east; the building was
adorned with a painting of Corybantes, and plays were acted in front of
it.[120]

          "Qua madidi sunt tecta Lyæi
    Et Cybeles picto stat Corybante domus."

    _Martial, Ep._ i. 71, 9.

This temple, after its second destruction by fire, was entirely rebuilt
by Augustus in A.D. 2.

     "Cybèle est certainement la grande déesse, la grande mère,
     c'est-à-dire la personnification de la fécondité et de la vie
     universelle: bizarre idole qui présente le spectacle hideux de
     mamelles disposés par paires le long d'un corps comme enveloppé
     dans une gaîne, et d'où sortent des taureaux et des abeilles,
     images des forces créatrices et des puissances ordonnatrices de la
     nature. On honorait cette déesse de l'Asie par des orgies
     furieuses, par un mélange de débauche effrénée et de rites cruels;
     ses prêtres efféminés dansaient au son des flûtes lydiennes et de
     ses _crotales_, véritables castagnettes, semblables à celles que
     fait résonner aujourd'hui la paysanne romaine en dansant la
     fougueuse _saltarelle_. On voit au musée du Capitole l'effigie
     bas-relief d'un _archigalle_, d'un chef de ces prêtres insensés, et
     près de lui les attributs de la déesse asiatique, les flûtes, les
     crotales, et la mystérieuse corbeille. Cet archigalle, avec son air
     de femme, sa robe qui conviendrait à une femme, nous retrace
     l'espèce de démence religieuse à laquelle s'associaient les délires
     pervers d'Héliogabale."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 310.

We have the authority of Martial[121] that in the immediate
neighbourhood of the temple of Cybele, stood the _Temple of Apollo_,
though Signor Rosa places it on the other side of the hill in the
gardens of S. Buonaventura. Its remains have yet to be discovered.

     "Nothing could exceed the magnificence of this temple, according to
     the accounts of ancient authors. Propertius, who was present at its
     dedication, has devoted a short elegy to the description of it, and
     Ovid describes it as a splendid structure of white marble.

    'Tum medium claro surgebat marmore templum,
        Et patria Phœbo carius Ortygia.
    Auro solis erat supra fastigia currus,
        Et valvæ Libyci nobile dentis opus.
    Altera dejectos Parnassi vertice Gallos,
        Altera mœrebat funera Tantalidos.
    Deinde inter matrem Deus ipse, interque sororem
        Pythius in longa carmina veste sonat.'

    _Propertius,_ ii. _El._ 31.

    'Inde timore pari gradibus sublimia celsis
        Ducor ad intonsi candida templa Dei.'

    _Ovid, Trist._ iii. _El._ 1.

     "From the epithet _aurea_ porticus, it seems probable that the
     cornice of the portico which surrounded it was gilt. The columns
     were of African marble, or _giallo-antico_, and must have been
     fifty-two in number, as between them were the statues of the fifty
     Danaids, and that of their father, brandishing a naked sword.

    'Quæris cur veniam tibi tardior? aurea Phœbi
      Porticus a magno Cæsare aperta fuit.
    Tota erat in speciem Pœnis digesta columnis:
      Inter quas Danai fœmina turba senis.'

    _Propert._ ii. _El._ 31.

    'Signa peregrinis ubi sunt alterna columnis
      Belides, et stricto barbarus ense pater.'

    _Ovid, Trist._ iii. 1. 61.

     "Here also was a statue of Apollo sounding the lyre, apparently a
     likeness of Augustus; whose beauty when a youth, to judge from his
     bust in the Vatican, might well entitle him to counterfeit the god.
     Around the altar were the images of four oxen, the work of Myron,
     so beautifully sculptured that they seemed alive. In the middle of
     the portico rose the temple, apparently of white marble. Over the
     pediment was the chariot of the sun. The gates were of ivory, one
     of them sculptured with the story of the giants hurled down from
     the heights of Parnassus, the other representing the destruction of
     the Niobids. Inside the temple was the statue of Apollo in a tunica
     talaris, or long garment, between his mother Latona and his sister
     Diana, the work of Scopas, Cephisodorus, and Timotheus. Under the
     base of Apollo's statue Augustus caused to be buried the Sibylline
     books which he had selected and placed in gilt chests. Attached to
     the temple was a library called _Bibliotheca Græca et Latina_,
     apparently, however, only one structure, containing the literature
     of both tongues. Only the choicest works were admitted to the
     honour of a place in it, as we may infer from Horace:

                          'Tangere vitet
    Scripta, Palatinus quæcunque recepit Apollo.'

    _Ep._ i. 3. 16.

     "The library appears to have contained a bronze statue of Apollo,
     fifty feet high; whence we must conclude that the roof of the hall
     exceeded that height. In this library, or more probably, perhaps,
     in an adjoining apartment, poets, orators, and philosophers recited
     their productions. The listless demeanour of the audience on such
     occasions seems, from the description of the younger Pliny, to have
     been, in general, not over-encouraging. Attendance seems to have
     been considered as a friendly duty."--_Dyer's City of Rome._

The temple of Apollo was built by Augustus to commemorate the battle of
Actium. He appropriated to it part of the land covered with houses which
he had purchased upon the Palatine;--another part he gave to the
Vestals; the third he used for his own palace.

    "Phœbus habet partem, Vestæ pars altera cessit:
    Quod superest illis, tertius ipse tenet.

           *       *       *       *       *

    Stet domus, æternos tres habet una deos."

    _Ovid, Fast._ iv. 951.

Thus Apollo and Vesta became as it were the household gods of Augustus:

    "Vestaque Cæsareos inter sacrata penates,
    Et cum Cæsarea tu, Phœbe domestice, Vesta."

    _Ovid, Metam._ xv. 864.

Other temples on the Palatine were that of _Juno_ Sospita:

    "Principio mensis Phrygiæ contermina Matri
      Sospita delubris dicitur aucta novis."

    _Ovid, Fast._ ii. 55.

of Minerva:

    "Sexte, Palatinæ cultor facunde Minervæ
      Ingenio frueris qui propiore Dei."

     _Martial,_ v. _Ep._ 5.

a temple of Moonlight mentioned by Varro (iv. 10) and a shrine of Vesta.

    "Vestaque Cæsareos inter sacrata penates."

    _Ovid, Met._ i.

From the _Torretta del Palatino_ which is near the house of Caligula,
there is a magnificent view over the seven hills of Rome;--the Palatine,
Aventine, Capitoline, Cœlian, Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline. From
this point also it is very interesting to remember that these were not
the heights considered as "the Seven Hills" in the ancient history of
Rome, when the sacrifices of the _Septimontium_ were offered upon the
Palatine, Velia, and Germale, the three divisions of the Palatine--of
which one can no longer be traced; upon the Fagutal, Oppius, and
Cispius, the secondary heights of the Esquiline; and upon the Suburra,
which perhaps comprehended the Viminal.[122] Hence also we see the
ground we have traversed on the Palatine spread before us like a map.

If we descend the staircase in the Palace of Caligula, we may trace as
far as the Porta Romana the piers of the _Bridge of Caligula_, which,
half in vanity, half in madness, he threw across the valley, that he
might, as he said, the more easily hold intercourse with his friend and
comrade Jupiter upon the Capitol. One of the piers which he used for his
bridge, beyond the limits of the palace, was formed by the temple of
Augustus built by Tiberius.[123] This bridge, with all other works of
Caligula, was of very short duration, being destroyed immediately after
his death by Claudius.

Returning by the Clivus Victoriæ, we shall find ourselves again on the
eastern slope of the hill from which we started, the site once occupied
by so many of the great patrician families. Here at one time lived Caius
Gracchus, who to gratify the populace, gave up his house on the side of
the Palatine, and made his home in the gloomy Suburra. Here also lived
his coadjutor in the consulship, Fulvius Flaccus, who shared his fate,
and whose house was razed to the ground by the people after his murder.
At this corner of the hill also was the house of Q. Lutatius Catulus,
poet and historian, who was consul B.C. 102, and together with Marius
was conqueror of the Cimbri in a great battle near Vercelli. In memory
of this he founded a temple of the "Fortuna hujusce diei," and decorated
the portico of his house with Cimbrian trophies. Varro mentions that his
house had also a domed roof.[124] Here also the consul Octavius,
murdered on the Janiculum by the partisans of Marius, had a house, which
was rebuilt with great magnificence by Emilius Scaurus, who adorned it
with columns of marble thirty-eight feet high.[125] These two last-named
houses were bought by the wealthy Clodius, who gave 14,800,000
sesterces, or about 130,000_l._, for that of Scaurus, and throwing down
the Porticus Catuli, included its site, and the house of E. Scaurus, in
his own magnificent dwelling. Clodius was a member of the great house of
the Claudii, and was the favoured lover of Pompeia, wife of Julius
Cæsar, by whose connivance, disguised as a female musician, he attempted
to be present at the orgies of the Bona Dea, which were celebrated in
the house of the Pontifex Maximus close to the temple of Vesta, and from
which men were so carefully excluded, that even a male mouse, says
Juvenal, dared not show himself there. The position of his own dwelling,
and that of the pontifex, close to the foot of the Clivus Victoriæ,
afforded every facility for this adventure, but it was discovered by his
losing himself in the passages of the Regia. A terrible scandal was the
result--Cæsar divorced Pompeia, and the senate referred the matter to
the pontifices, who declared that Clodius was guilty of sacrilege.
Clodius attempted to prove an alibi, but Cicero's evidence showed that
he was with him in Rome only three hours before he pretended to have
been at Interamna. Bribery and intimidation secured his acquittal by a
majority of thirty-one to twenty-five,[126] but from this time a deadly
enmity ensued between him and Cicero.

The house of Clodius naturally leads us to that of Cicero, which was
also situated at this corner of the Palatine, whence he could see his
clients in the Forum and go to and fro to his duties there. This house
had been built for M. Livius Drusus, who, when his architect proposed a
plan to prevent its being overlooked, answered, "Rather build it so that
all my fellow-citizens may behold everything that I do." In his acts
Drusus seemed to imitate the Gracchi; but he sought popularity for its
own sake, and after being the object of a series of conspiracies was
finally murdered in the presence of his mother Cornelia, in his own
hall, where the image of his father was sprinkled with his blood. When
dying he turned to those around him and asked, with characteristic
arrogance, based perhaps upon conscious honesty of purpose, "when will
the commonwealth have a citizen like me again?" After the death of
Drusus the house was inhabited by L. Licinius Crassus the orator, who
lived here in great elegance and luxury. His house was called from its
beauty "the Venus of the Palatine," and was remarkable for its size, the
taste of its furniture, and the beauty of its grounds. "It was adorned
with pillars of Hymettian marble, with expensive vases, and triclinia
inlaid with brass. His gardens were provided with fishponds, and some
noble lotus-trees shaded his walks. Ahenobarbus, his colleague in the
censorship, found fault with such corruption of manners,[127] estimated
his house at a hundred million, or, according to Valerius Maximus,[128]
six million sesterces, and complained of his crying for the loss of a
lamprey as if it had been a daughter. It was a tame lamprey which used
to come at the call of Crassus, and feed out of his hand. Crassus
retorted by a public speech against his colleague, and by his great
powers of ridicule, turned him into derision; jested upon his name,[129]
and to the accusation of weeping for a lamprey, replied, that it was
more than Ahenobarbus had done for the loss of any of his three
wives."[130] Cicero purchased the house of Crassus a year or two after
his consulate for a sum equal to about 30,000_l._, and removed thither
from the Carinæ with his wife Terentia. His house was close to that of
Clodius, but a little lower down the hill, which enabled him to threaten
to increase the height, so as to shut out his neighbour's view of the
city. Upon his accession to the tribuneship Clodius procured the
disgrace of Cicero, and after his flight to Greece, obtained a decree of
banishment against him. He then pillaged and destroyed his house upon
the Palatine, as well as his villas at Tusculum and Formia, and obliged
Terentia to take refuge with the Vestals, whose Superior was fortunately
her sister. But in the following year, a change of consuls and revulsion
of the popular favour led to the recall of Cicero, who found part of his
house appropriated by Clodius, who had erected a shrine to Libertas
(with a statue which was that of a Greek courtezan carried off from the
tomb)[131] on the site of the remainder, which he had razed to the
ground.[132]

     "Clodius had also destroyed the portico of Catulus; in fact, he
     appears to have been desirous of appropriating all this side of the
     Palatine. He wanted to buy the house of the ædile Seius. Seius
     having declared that so long as he lived, Clodius should not have
     it, Clodius caused him to be poisoned, and then bought his house
     under a feigned name! He was thus enabled to erect a portico three
     hundred feet in length, in place of that of Catulus. The latter,
     however, was afterwards restored at the public expense.

     "Cicero obtained public grants for the restoration of his house and
     of his Tusculan and Formian villas, but very far from enough to
     cover the losses he had suffered. The aristocratic part of the
     Senate appears to have envied and grudged the _novus homo_ to whose
     abilities they looked for protection. He was advised not to rebuild
     his house on the Palatine, but to sell the ground. It was not in
     Cicero's temper to take such a course; but he was hampered ever
     after with debts. Clodius, who had been defeated but not beaten,
     still continued his persecutions. He organised a gang of street
     boys to call out under Cicero's windows, 'Bread! Bread!' His bands
     interrupted the dramatic performances on the Palatine, at the
     Megalesian games, by rushing upon the stage. On another occasion,
     Clodius, at the head of his myrmidons, besieged the Senate in the
     temple of Concord. He attacked Cicero in the streets, to the danger
     of his life; and when he had begun to rebuild his house, drove away
     the masons, overthrew what part had been re-erected of Catulus'
     portico, and cast burning torches into the house of Quintus Cicero,
     which he had hired next to his brother's on the Palatine, and
     consumed a great part of it."--_Dyer's City of Rome_, 152.

The indemnity which Cicero received from the state in order to rebuild
his house on the Palatine, amounted to about 16,000_l._ The house of
Quintus Cicero was rebuilt close to his brother's at the same time by
Cyrus, the fashionable architect of the day.[133]

Among other noble householders on this part of the Palatine was Mark
Antony,[134] whose house was afterwards given by Augustus to Agrippa and
Messala, soon after which it was burnt down.

A small _Museum_ in this part of the garden contains some of the
smaller objects which have been found in the excavations, and specimens
of the different marbles and alabasters. There is nothing of any great
importance. The fragments of statues and some busts which have been
found (including Flavia Domitilla, wife of Vespasian, and Julia,
daughter of Titus), have been sent to Paris, but casts have been left
here.

We have now made the round of the French division of the Palatine.

       *       *       *       *       *

It has been decided that some remains which exist in the garden of the
Villa Mills (now a Convent of Visitandine Nuns) are those of the House
of Hortensius, an orator, "who was second only to Cicero in eloquence,
and who, in the early part at least of their lives, was his chief
opponent."[135] Cicero himself describes the extraordinary gifts of his
rival[136] as well as the integrity with which he fulfilled the duties
of a quæstor.[137] In the latter portion of his public career Hortensius
was frequently engaged on the same side with Cicero, and then always
recognised his superiority by allowing him to speak last. Hortensius
died B.C. 50, to the great grief of his ancient rival.[138] The splendid
villas of Hortensius were celebrated. He was accustomed to water his
trees with wine at regular intervals,[139] and had huge fishponds at
Bauli, into which the salt-water fish came to be fed from his hand, and
he became so fond of them, that he wept for the death of a favourite
muræna.[140] But the house on the Palatine was exceedingly simple and
had no decorations but plain columns of Alban stone.[141] This was the
chosen residence of Augustus, until, upon its destruction by fire, the
citizens insisted upon raising the more sumptuous residence in the
hollow of the Palatine by public subscription. The subterranean chambers
which have been discovered have some interesting remains of stucco
ornament.

The villa, which is now turned into a convent, possessed some frescoes
painted by Giulio Romano from designs of Raphael, but these have been
destroyed or removed in deference to the modesty of the present
inhabitants. The neighbouring church and garden of S. Sebastiano occupy
the site of the _Gardens of Adonis_. (See Chap. IV.)

       *       *       *       *       *

A large, and by far the most picturesque portion of the Palace of the
Cæsars (the only part which was not imbedded in soil ten years ago), is
now accessible either from the end of the lane of S. Buenaventura, or
from a gate on the left of the Via dei Fienili just before reaching Sta.
Anastasia. The excavations in the last-named quarter were begun by the
Emperor of Russia, who purchased the site, but afterwards presented it
to the city.

Behind Sta. Maria Liberatrice, in some farm buildings, are remains which
probably belong to the Regia of Julius Cæsar.

Beyond this, against the escarpment of the Palatine, a part of the
_Walls of Romulus_ has been discovered, built in large oblong blocks.
Here also are fragments of bases of towers of republican times. Behind
S. Teodoro are remains of an early concrete wall, behind which the tufa
rock is visible. The wall is only built where the tufa is of a soft
character.

     "La système de construction est le même que dans les villes
     d'Étrurie et dans la muraille bâtie à Rome par les rois étrusques.
     Cependant l'appareil est moins régulier. Les murs d'une petite
     ville du Latium fondée par un aventurier ne pouvaient être aussi
     soignés que les murs des villes de l'Étrurie, pays tout autrement
     civilisé. La petite cité de Romulus, bornée au Palatin, n'avait pas
     l'importance de la Rome des Tarquins, qui couvrait les huit
     collines.

     "Du reste, la construction est étrusque et devait l'être. Romulus
     n'avait dans sa ville, habitée par des pâtres et des bandits,
     personne qui fût capable d'en bâtir l'enceinte. Les Étrusques,
     grands bâtisseurs, étaient de l'autre côté du fleuve. Quelques-uns
     même l'avaient probablement passé déjà et habitaient le mont
     Cœlius. Romulus dut s'adresser à eux, et faire faire cet ouvrage
     par des architects et des maçons étrusques. Ce fut aussi selon le
     rite de l'Étrurie, pays sacerdotal, que Romulus, suivant en cela
     l'usage établi dans les cités latines, fit consacer l'enceinte de
     la ville nouvelle. Il agit en cette circonstance comme agit un
     paysan romain, quand il appelle un prêtre pour bénir l'emplacement
     de la maison qu'il veut bâtir.

     "Les détails de la cérémonie par laquelle fut inaugurée la première
     enceinte de Rome nous ont été transmis par Plutarque,[142] et, avec
     un grand détail par Tacite,[143] qui sans doute avait sous les yeux
     les livres des pontifes. Nous connaissons avec exactitude le
     contour que traça la charrue sacrée. Nous pouvons le suivre encore
     aujourd'hui.

     "Romulus attela an taureau blanc et une vache blanche à une charrue
     dont le soc était d'airain.[144] L'usage de l'airain a précédé à
     Rome, comme partout, l'usage du fer. Il partit du lieu consacré par
     l'antique autel d'Hercule, au-dessous de l'angle occidental du
     Palatin et de la première Rome des Pelasges, et, se dirigeant vers
     le sud-est, traça son sillon le long de la base de la colline.

     "Ceux qui suivaient Romulus, rejetaient les mottes de terre en
     dedans du sillon, image du Vallum futur. Ce sillon était l'Agger de
     Servius Tullius en petit. A l'extrémité de la vallée qui sépare le
     Palatin de l'Aventin, où devait être le grand cirque, et où est
     aujourd'hui la rue des _Cerchi_, il prit à gauche, et, contournant
     la colline, continua, en creusant toujours son sillon, à tracer
     sans le savoir la route que devaient suivre un jour les triomphes,
     puis revint au point d'où il était parti. La charrue, l'instrument
     du labour, le symbole de la vie agricole des enfants de Saturne,
     avait dessiné le contour de la cité guerrière de Romulus. De même,
     quand on avait détruit une ville, on faisait passer la charrue sur
     le sol qu'elle avait occupé. Par là, ce sol devenait sacré, et il
     n'était pas plus permis de l'habiter qu'il ne l'était de franchir
     le sillon qu'on creusait autour des villes lors de leur fondation,
     comme le fit Romulus et comme le firent toujours depuis les
     fondateurs d'une colonie; car toute colonie était une
     Rome."--_Ampère, Hist. Rome_, i. 283.

Close under this, the northern side of the walls of Romulus, ran the
_Via Nova_, down which Marcus Cædicius was returning to the city in the
gloaming, when, at this spot, between the sacred grove and the temple of
Vesta, he heard a supernatural voice, bidding him to warn the senate of
the approach of the Gauls. After the Gauls had invaded Rome, and
departed again, an altar and sanctuary recorded the miracle on this
site.[145]

At the corner near Sta. Anastasia, are remains of a private house of
early times built against the cliff. Near this were the steps called the
_Stairs of Cacus_, leading up to the hut of Faustulus. On the other side
the _Gradus Pulchri Littoris_, the κλη Ακτη of Plutarch, led to the
river.[146]

Here a remarkable altar of republican times has been discovered, and
remains _in situ_. It is inscribed SEI DEO SEI DIVAE SAC.--C SEXTIVS C T
CALVINUS TR--DE SENATI SENTENTIA RESTITVIT. Some suppose this to be the
actual altar mentioned above as erected to the Genius Loci, in
consequence of the mysterious warning of the Gallic invasion. The father
of the tribune, C. S. Calvinus, mentioned in the inscription, was consul
with C. Cassius Longinus, B.C. 124, and is described by Cicero as an
elegant orator of a sickly constitution.[147]

Beyond this a number of chambers have been discovered under the steep
bank of the Palatine, and retain a quantity of _graffiti_ scratched upon
their walls. The most interesting of these, found in the fourth chamber,
has been removed to the museum of the Collegio Romano. It is generally
believed to have been executed during the reign of Septimius Severus,
and to have been done in an idle moment by one of the soldiers occupying
these rooms, supposed to have been used as guard-chambers under that
emperor. If so, it is perhaps the earliest existing pictorial allusion
to the manner of our Saviour's death. It is a caricature evidently
executed in ridicule of a Christian fellow-soldier. The figure on the
cross has an ass's head, and by the worshipping figure is inscribed in
Greek characters, _Alexamenos worships his God_.

     "The lowest orders of the populace were as intelligently hostile to
     it [the worship of the Crucified] as were the philosophers. Witness
     that remarkable caricature of the adoration of our crucified Lord,
     which was discovered some ten years ago beneath the ruins of the
     Palatine palace. It is a rough sketch, traced, in all probability,
     by the hand of some pagan slave in one of the earliest years of the
     third century of our era. A human figure with an ass's head is
     represented as fixed to a cross, while another figure in a tunic
     stands on one side. This figure is addressing himself to the
     crucified monster, and is making a gesture which was the customary
     pagan expression of adoration. Underneath there runs a rude
     inscription: _Alexamenos adores his God_. Here we are face to face
     with a touching episode of the life of the Roman Church in the days
     of Severus or of Caracalla. As under Nero, so, a century and a half
     later, there were worshippers of Christ in the household of Cæsar.
     But the paganism of the later date was more intelligently and
     bitterly hostile to the Church than the paganism which had shed the
     blood of the apostles. The Gnostic invective which attributed to
     the Jews the worship of an ass, was applied by pagans
     indiscriminately to Jews and Christians. Tacitus attributes the
     custom to a legend respecting services rendered by wild asses to
     the Israelites in the desert; 'and so, I suppose,' observes
     Tertullian, 'it was thence presumed that we, as bordering upon the
     Jewish religion, were taught to worship such a figure.' Such a
     story, once current, was easily adapted to the purposes of a pagan
     caricaturist. Whether from ignorance of the forms of Christian
     worship, or in order to make his parody of it more generally
     intelligible to its pagan admirers, the draughtsman has ascribed to
     Alexamenos the gestures of a heathen devotee. But the real object
     of his parody is too plain to be mistaken. Jesus Christ, we may be
     sure, had other confessors and worshippers in the Imperial palace
     as well as Alexamenos. The moral pressure of the advancing Church
     was felt throughout all ranks of pagan society; ridicule was
     invoked to do the work of argument; and the moral persecution which
     crowned all true Christian devotion was often only the prelude to a
     sterner test of that loyalty to a crucified Lord, which was as
     insensible to the misrepresentations, as Christian faith was
     superior to the logic, of heathendom."[148]--_Liddon, Bampton
     Lectures of 1866_, lect. vii. p. 593.

These chambers acquire a great additional interest from the belief which
many entertain that they are those once occupied by the Prætorian Guard,
in which St. Paul was confined.

     "The close of the Epistle to the Ephesians contains a remarkable
     example of the forcible imagery of St. Paul. Considered simply in
     itself, the description of the Christian's armour is one of the
     most striking passages in the sacred volume. But if we view it in
     connection with the circumstances with which the Apostle was
     surrounded, we find a new and living emphasis in his enumeration of
     all the parts of the heavenly panoply,--the belt of sincerity and
     truth, with which the loins are girded for the spiritual war,--the
     breast-plate of that righteousness, the inseparable links whereof
     are faith and love,--the strong sandals, with which the feet of
     Christ's soldiers are made ready, not for such errands of death and
     despair as those on which the Prætorian soldiers were daily sent,
     but for the universal message of the gospel of peace,--the large
     shield of confident trust, wherewith the whole man is protected,
     and whereon the fiery arrows of the Wicked One fall harmless and
     dead,--the close-fitting helmet, with which the hope of salvation
     invests the head of the believer,--and finally the sword of the
     Spirit, the Word of God, which, when wielded by the Great Captain
     of our Salvation, turned the tempter in the wilderness to flight,
     while in the hands of His chosen Apostle (with whose memory the
     sword seems inseparably associated), it became the means of
     establishing Christianity on the earth.

     "All this imagery becomes doubly forcible if we remember that when
     St. Paul wrote the words he was chained to a soldier, and in the
     close neighbourhood of military sights and sounds. The appearance
     of the Prætorian Guards was daily familiar to him; as his 'chains,'
     on the other hand (so he tells us in the succeeding Epistle),
     became well known throughout the whole _Prætorium_! (Phil. i. 13).
     A difference of opinion has existed as to the precise meaning of
     the word in this passage. Some have identified it, as in the
     authorised version, with the house of Cæsar on the Palatine: more
     commonly it has been supposed to mean that permanent camp of the
     Prætorian Guards, which Tiberius established on the north of the
     city, outside the walls. As regards the former opinion, it is true
     that the word came to be used, almost as we use the word 'palace,'
     for royal residences generally or for any residences of princely
     splendour. Yet we never find the word employed for the imperial
     house at Rome: and we believe the truer view to be that which has
     been recently advocated, namely, that it denotes here, not the
     palace itself, but the quarters of that part of the imperial
     guards, which was in immediate attendance upon the emperor. The
     emperor was _prætor_ or commander-in-chief of the troops, and it
     was natural that his immediate guard should be in _prætorium_ near
     him. It might, indeed, be argued that this military establishment
     on the Palatine would cease to be necessary, when the Prætorian
     camp was established: but the purpose of that establishment was to
     concentrate near the city those cohorts, which had previously been
     dispersed in other parts of Italy: a local body-guard near the
     palace would not cease to be necessary: and Josephus, in his
     account of the imprisonment of Agrippa, speaks of a 'camp' in
     connection with the 'royal house.' Such we conceive to have been
     the barrack immediately alluded to by St. Paul: though the
     connection of these smaller quarters with the general camp was such
     that he would naturally become known to '_all the rest_' of the
     guards, as well as those who might for the time be connected with
     the imperial household.

     "St. Paul tells us (in the Epistle to the Philippians) that
     throughout the Prætorian quarter he was well known as a prisoner
     for the cause of Christ, and he sends special salutations to the
     Philippian Church from the Christians of the imperial household.
     These notices bring before us very vividly the moral contrasts by
     which the Apostle was surrounded. The soldier to whom he was
     chained to-day might have been in Nero's body-guard yesterday; his
     comrade who next relieved guard might have been one of the
     executioners of Octavia, and might have carried her head to Poppæa
     a few weeks before.

     "History has few stronger contrasts than when it shows us Paul
     preaching Christ under the walls of Nero's palace. Thenceforward
     there were but two religions in the Roman world; the worship of the
     emperor, and the worship of the Saviour. The old superstitions had
     long been worn out; they had lost all hold on educated minds....
     Over against the altars of Nero and Poppæa, the voice of a prisoner
     was daily heard, and daily woke in grovelling souls the
     consciousness of their divine destiny. Men listened, and knew that
     self-sacrifice was better than ease, humiliation more exalted than
     pride, to suffer nobler than to reign. They felt that the only
     religion which satisfied the needs of man was the religion of
     sorrow, the religion of self-devotion, the religion of the
     cross."--_Conybeare and Howson._

Hence, we may ascend through some gardens beneath the Villa Mills, to
the terrace which surmounts the grand ruins at the end of the Palace of
the Cæsars, supposed to be remains of the _Palace of Nero_, but as no
inscriptions have been discovered, no part of it can be identified.[149]
These are by far the most picturesque portions of the ruins, and few
compositions can be finer than those formed by the huge masses of
stately brick arches, laden with a wealth of laurustinus, cytizus, and
other flowering shrubs, standing out against the soft hues and delicate
blue and pink shadows of the distant Campagna. Beneath the terrace is a
fine range of lofty chambers, with a broken statue at the end, through
which there is a striking view. One of these ruined halls has been
converted into a kind of museum of architectural fragments found in this
part of the palace, many of them of great beauty. This was the portion
of the palace which longest remained entire, and which was inhabited by
Heraclius in the seventh century. Some consider that these ruins were
incorporated into the

_Septizonium of Severus_, so called from its seven stories of building,
erected A.D. 198, and finally destroyed by Sixtus V., who carried off
its materials for the building of St Peter's. It was erected by Severus
at the southern corner of the palace, in order that it might at once
strike the eyes of his African compatriots,[150] on their arrival in
Rome. He built two other edifices which he called Septizonium, one on
the Esquiline near the baths of Titus, and the other on the Via Appia,
which he intended as the burial-place of his family, and where his son
Geta was actually interred.

The remaining ruins on this division of the hill, supposed to be those
of a theatre, a library, &c., have not yet been historically identified.
They probably belong to the _Palace of Domitian_ (Imp. A.D. 81--96), who
added largely to the buildings on the Palatine. The magnificence of his
palace is extolled in the inflated verses of Statius, who describes the
imperial dwelling as exciting the jealousy of the abode of Jupiter--as
losing itself amongst the stars by its height, and rising above the
clouds into the full splendour of the sunshine! Such was the
extravagance displayed by Domitian in these buildings, that Plutarch
compares him to Midas, who wished everything to be made of gold. This
was the scene of many of the tyrannical vagaries of Domitian.

     "'Having once made a great feast for the citizens, he proposed,'
     says Dion, 'to follow it up with an entertainment to a select
     number of the highest nobility. He fitted up an apartment all in
     black. The ceiling was black, the walls were black, the pavement
     was black, and upon it were ranged rows of bare stone seats, black
     also. The guests were introduced at night without their attendants,
     and each might see at the head of his couch a column placed, like a
     tomb-stone, on which his own name was graven, with the cresset lamp
     above it, such as is suspended in the tombs. Presently there
     entered a troop of naked boys, blackened, who danced around with
     horrid movements, and then stood still before them, offering them
     the fragments of food which are commonly presented to the dead. The
     guests were paralysed with terror, expecting at every moment to be
     put to death; and the more, as the others maintained a deep
     silence, as though they were dead themselves, and Domitian spake of
     things pertaining to the state of the departed only.' But this
     funeral feast was not destined to end tragically. Cæsar happened to
     be in a sportive mood, and when he had sufficiently enjoyed his
     jest, and had sent his visitors home expecting worse to follow, he
     bade each to be presented with the silver cup and platter on which
     his dismal supper had been served, and with the slave, now neatly
     washed and apparelled, who had waited upon him. Such, said the
     populace, was the way in which it pleased the emperor to solemnise
     the funereal banquet of the victims of his defeats in Dacia, and of
     his persecutions in the city."--_Merivale_, ch. lxii.

It was in this palace that the murder of Domitian took place:

     "Of the three great deities, the august assessors in the Capitol,
     Minerva was regarded by Domitian as his special patroness. Her
     image stood by his bedside: his customary oath was by her divinity.
     But now a dream apprised him that the guardian of his person was
     disarmed by the guardian of the empire, and that Jupiter had
     forbidden his daughter to protect her favourite any longer. Scared
     by these horrors he lost all self-control, and petulantly cried,
     and the cry was itself a portent: 'Now strike Jove whom he will!'
     From supernatural terrors he reverted again and again to earthly
     fears and suspicions. Henceforward the tyrant allowed none to be
     admitted to his presence without being previously searched; and he
     caused the ends of the corridor in which he took exercise to be
     lined with polished marble, to reflect the image of any one behind
     him; at the same time he inquired anxiously into the horoscope of
     every chief whom he might fear as a possible rival or successor.

     "The victim of superstition had long since, it was said,
     ascertained too surely the year, the day, the hour which should
     prove fatal to him. He had learnt too that he was to die by the
     sword.... The omens were now closing about the victim, and his
     terrors became more importunate and overwhelming. 'Something,' he
     exclaimed, 'is about to happen, which men shall talk of all the
     world over.' Drawing a drop of blood from a pimple on his forehead,
     'May this be all,' he added. His attendants, to reassure him,
     declared that the hour had passed. Embracing the flattering tale
     with alacrity, and rushing at once to the extreme of confidence, he
     announced that the danger was over, and that he would bathe and
     dress for the evening repast. But the danger was just then ripening
     within the walls of the palace. The mysteries there enacted few,
     indeed, could penetrate, and the account of Domitian's fall has
     been coloured by invention and fancy. The story that a child, whom
     he suffered to attend in his private chamber, found by chance the
     tablets which he had placed under his pillow, and that the empress,
     on inspecting them, and finding herself, with his most familiar
     servants, designated for execution, contrived a plot for his
     assassination, is one so often repeated as to cause great
     suspicion. But neither can we accept the version of Philostratus,
     who would have us believe that the murder of Domitian was the deed
     of a single traitor, a freedman of Clemens, named Stephanus, who,
     indignant at his patron's death, and urged to fury by the sentence
     on his patron's wife, Domitilla, rushed alone into the tyrant's
     chamber, diverted his attention with a frivolous pretext, and smote
     him with the sword he bore concealed in his sleeve. It is more
     likely that the design, however it originated, was common to
     several of the household, and that means were taken among them to
     disarm the victim, and baffle his cries for assistance. Stephanus,
     who is said to have excelled in personal strength, may have been
     employed to deal the blow; for not more, perhaps, than one
     attendant would be admitted at once into the presence. Struck in
     the groin, but not mortally, Domitian snatched at his own weapon,
     but found the sword removed from its scabbard. He then clutched the
     assassin's dagger, cutting his own fingers to the bone; then
     desperately thrust the bloody talons into the eyes of his
     assailant, and beat his head with a golden goblet, shrieking all
     the time for help. Thereupon in rushed Parthenius, Maximus, and
     others, and despatched him as he lay writhing on the
     pavement."--_Merivale_, ch. lxii.

Trajan stripped the palace of his predecessors of all its ornaments to
adorn the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus,[151] but it was restored by
Commodus, after a fire which occurred in his reign,[152] and enriched by
Heliogabalus,[153] and almost every succeeding emperor, till the time of
Theodoric.[154]

    "'Brickwork I found thee, and marble I left thee!' their Emperor vaunted;
    'Marble I thought thee, and brickwork I find thee!' the Tourist may
     answer."

    _A. H. Clough._




CHAPTER VII.

THE CŒLIAN.

     S. Gregorio--S. Giovanni e Paolo--Arch of Dolabella--S. Tommaso in
     Formis--Villa Mattei--Sta. Maria della Navicella--S. Stefano
     Rotondo--I Santi Quattro Incoronati--S. Clemente.


The Cœlian Hill extends from St. John Lateran to the Vigna of the
Porta Capena, and from the Fountain of Egeria to the Convent of S.
Gregorio. It is now entirely uninhabited, except by monks of the
Camaldolese, Passionist, and Redemptorist Orders, and by the Augustinian
Nuns of the Incoronati.

In the earliest times the name of this hill was Mons Querquetulanus,
"The Hill of Oaks," and it was clothed with forest, part of which long
remained as the sacred wood of the Camenæ. It first received its name of
Cœlius from Cœlius Vibenna, an Etruscan Lucumo of Ardea, who is
said to have come to the assistance of Romulus in his war against the
Sabine king Tatius, and to have afterwards established himself here. In
the reign of Tullus Hostilius the Cœlian assumed some importance, as
that king fixed his residence here, and transported hither the Latin
population of Alba.

As the Cœlian had a less prominent share in the history of Rome than
any of the other hills, it preserves scarcely any historical monuments
of pagan times. All those which existed under the republic were
destroyed by a great fire which ravaged this hill in the reign of
Tiberius,[155] except the Temple of the Nymphs, which once stood in the
grove of the Camenæ, and which had been already burnt by Clodius, in
order to destroy the records of his falsehoods and debts which it
contained.[156] Some small remains in the garden of the Passionist
convent are attributed to the temple which Agrippina raised to her
husband the Emperor Claudius, and in S. Stefano Rotondo some antiquaries
recognize the Macellum of Nero. There are no remains of the palace of
the Emperor Tetricus, who lived here, "between the two sacred
groves,"[157] in a magnificent captivity under Aurelian, whom he
received here at a banquet, at which he exhibited an allegorical picture
representing his reception of the empire of Gaul, and his subsequent
resignation of it for the simple insignia of a Roman senator.[158]

To the Christian visitor, however, the Cœlian will always prove of
the deepest interest--and the slight thread of connection which runs
between all its principal objects, as well as their nearness to one
another, brings them pleasantly within the limits of a single day's
excursion. Many of those who are not mere passing visitors at Rome, will
probably find that their chief pleasure lies not amid the well-known
sights of the great basilicas and palaces, but in quiet walks through
the silent lanes and amid the decaying buildings of these more distant
hills.

     "The recollection of Rome will come back, after many years, in
     images of long delicious strolls, in musing loneliness, through the
     deserted ways of the ancient city; of climbing among its hills,
     over ruins, to reach some vantage-ground for mapping out the
     subjacent territory, and looking beyond on the glorious chains of
     greater and lesser mountains, clad in their imperial hues of gold
     and purple; and then, perhaps, of solemn entrance into the cool
     solitude of an open basilica, where your thought now rests, as your
     body then did, after the silent evening prayer, and brings forward
     from many well-remembered nooks, every local inscription, every
     lovely monument of art, the characteristic feature of each, or the
     great names with which it is associated. The Liberian speaks to you
     of Bethlehem and its treasured mysteries; the Sessorian of Calvary
     and its touching relics. Baronius gives you his injunctions on
     Christian architecture inscribed, as a legacy, in his title of
     Fasciola; St. Dominic lives in the fresh paintings of a faithful
     disciple, on the walls of the opposite church of St. Xystus; there
     stands the chair and there hangs the hat of St. Charles, as if he
     had just left his own church, from which he calls himself in his
     signature to letters 'the Cardinal of St. Praxedes;' near it, in a
     sister church, is fresh the memory of St. Justin Martyr, addressing
     his apologies for Christianity to heathen emperor and senate, and
     of Pudens and his British spouse; and, far beyond the city gates,
     the cheerful Philip[159] is seen kneeling at S. Sebastiano, waiting
     for the door to the Platonia to be opened for him, that he may
     watch the night through in the martyr's dormitory."--_Wiseman's
     Life of Leo XII._

     "For myself, I must say that I know nothing to compare with a
     pilgrimage among the antique churches scattered over the Esquiline,
     the Cœlian, and the Aventine Hills. They stand apart, each in
     its solitude, amid gardens, and vineyards, and heaps of nameless
     ruins;--here a group of cypresses, there a lofty pine or solitary
     palm; the tutelary saint, perhaps some Sant' Achilleo, or Santa
     Bibiana, whom we never heard of before,--an altar rich in precious
     marbles,--columns of porphyry,--the old frescoes dropping from the
     walls,--the everlasting colossal mosaics looking down so solemn, so
     dim, so spectral;--these grow upon us, until at each succeeding
     visit they themselves, and the associations by which they are
     surrounded, become a part of our daily life, and may be said to
     hallow that daily life when considered in a right spirit. True,
     what is most sacred, what is most poetical, is often desecrated to
     the fancy by the intrusion of those prosaic realities which easily
     strike prosaic minds; by disgust at the foolish fabrications which
     those who recite them do not believe, by lying inscriptions, by
     tawdry pictures, by tasteless and even profane restorations;--by
     much that saddens, much that offends, much that disappoints;--but
     then so much remains! So much to awaken, to elevate, to touch the
     heart; so much that will not pass away from the memory, so much
     that makes a part of our after-life."--_Mrs. Jameson._

       *       *       *       *       *

We may pass under the Arch of Constantine, or through the pleasant sunny
walks known as the _Parco di San Gregorio_,--planted by the French
during their first occupation of Rome, but which may almost be regarded
as a remnant of the sacred grove of the Camenæ which once occupied this
site.

The further gate of the Parco opens on a small triangular piazza, whence
a broad flight of steps lead up to the _Church of S. Gregorio_, to the
English pilgrim one of the most interesting spots in Rome, for it was at
the head of these steps that St. Augustine took his last farewell of
Gregory the Great, and, kneeling on this green-sward below, the first
missionaries of England received the parting blessing of the great
pontiff, as he stood on the height in the gateway. As we enter the
portico (built 1633, by Card. Scipio Borghese,) we see on either side
two world-famous inscriptions.

On the right:

            Adsta hospes
              et lege.
    Hic olim fuit M. Gregori domus
    Ipse in monasterium convertit,
    Ubi monasticen professus est
      Et diu abbas præfuit.
    Monachi primum Benedictini
      Mox Græci tenuere
        Dein Benedictini iterum
              Post varios casos
                Quum jamdiu
            Esset commendatum
            Et poene desertum.
                Anno MDLXXIII
            Camaldulenses inducti
              Qui et industria sua
                Et ope plurium
              R. E. Cardinalium
      Quorum hic monumenta exstant,
    Favente etiam Clemente XI. P. M.
      Templum et adjacentes ædes
      In hanc quam cernis formam
              Restituerunt.

On the left:

                  Ex hoc monasterio
                    Prodierunt.
    S. Gregorius, M. Fundator et Parens
    S. Eleutherius, A.B. Hilarion, A.B.
    S. Augustinus. Anglor. Apostol.
    S. Laurentius. Cantuar. Archiep.
    S. Mellitus. Londinen. Ep. mox.
                  Archiep. Cantuar.
    S. Justus. Ep. Roffensis.
    S. Paulinus. Ep. Eborac.
    S. Maximianus. Syracusan. Ep.
    SS. Antonius, Merulus, et Joannes, Monachi.
    St. Petrus. A.B. Cantuar.
      Marinianus. Archiep. Raven.
      Probus. Xenodochi. Jerosolymit.
      Curator. A. S. Gregori. Elect.
      Sabinus Callipodit. Ep.
      Gregorius. Diac. Card. S. Eustach.
      Hic. Etiam. Diu. Vixit. M. Gregori
      Mater. S. Silvia. Hoc. Maxime
      Colenda. Quod. Tantum. Pietatis
      Sapientiæ. Et. Doctrinæ. Lumen
                Pepererit.

     "Cette ville incomparable renferme peu de sites plus attrayants et
     plus dignes d'éternelle mémoire. Le sanctuaire occupe l'angle
     occidental du mont Cœlius.... Il est à égale distance du grand
     Cirque, des Thermes de Caracalla et du Colisée, tout proche de
     l'église des saints martyrs Jean et Paul. Le berceau du
     christianisme de l'Angleterre touche ainsi au sol trempé par le
     sang de tant de milliers de martyrs. En face s'élève le mont
     Palatin, berceau de Rome païenne, encore couvert des vastes débris
     du palais des Césars.... Où est donc l'Anglais digne de ce nom qui,
     en portant son regard du Palatin au Colisée, pourrait contempler
     sans émotion ce coin de terre d'où lui sont venus la foi, le nom
     chrétien et la Bible dont il est si fier. Voilà où les enfants
     esclaves de ses aïeux étaient recueillis et sauvés! Sur ces pierres
     s'agenouillaient ceux qui ont fait sa patrie chrétienne! Sous ces
     voûtes a été conçu par une âme sainte, confié à Dieu, béni par
     Dieu, accepté et accompli par d'humbles et généreux chrétiens, le
     grand dessein! Par ces degrés sont descendus les quarante moines
     qui ont porté à l'Angleterre la parole de Dieu, la lumière de
     l'Évangile, la succession apostolique et la règle de
     Saint-Benoît!"--_Montalembert, Moines d'Occident._

Hard by was the house of Sta. Silvia, mother of St. Gregory, of which
the ruins still remain, opposite to the church of S. Giovanni e Paolo,
and in the little garden which still exists, we may believe that he
played as a child under his mother's care. Close to his mother's home he
founded the monastery of St. Andrew, where he dwelt for many years as a
monk, employed in writing homilies, and in the enjoyment of visionary
conversation with the Virgin, whom he believed to answer him in person
from her picture before which he knelt. "To this monastery he presented
his own portrait, with those of his father and mother, which were
probably in existence 300 years after his death; and this portrait of
himself probably furnished that peculiar type of physiognomy which we
trace in all the best representations of him."[160] During the life of
penance and poverty which was led here by St. Gregory, he sold all his
goods for the benefit of the poor, retaining nothing but a silver bason
given him by his mother. One day a poor shipwrecked sailor came several
times to beg in the cell where he was writing, and as he had no money,
he gave him instead this one remaining treasure. A long time after, St.
Gregory saw the same shipwrecked sailor reappear in the form of his
guardian angel, who told him that God had henceforth destined him to
rule his church, and become the successor of St. Peter, whose charity he
had imitated.[161]

     "Un moine (A.D. 590) va monter pour la première fois sur la chaire
     apostolique. Ce moine, le plus illustre de tous ceux qui ont compté
     parmi les souverains pontifes, y rayonnera d'un éclat qu'aucun de
     ses prédécesseurs n'a égalé et qui rejaillera comme une sanction
     suprême, sur l'institut dont il est issu. Grégoire, le seul parmi
     les hommes avec le Pape Léon Ier qui ait reçu à la fois, du
     consentement universel, le double surnom de Saint et de Grand, sera
     l'eternel honneur de l'Ordre bénédictin comme de la papauté. Par
     son génie, mais surtout par le charme et l'ascendant de sa vertu,
     il organisera le domaine temporel des papes, il développera et
     régularisera leur souveraineté spirituelle, il fondera leur
     paternelle suprématie sur les royautés naissantes et les nations
     nouvelles qui vont devenir les grands peuples de l'avenir, et
     s'appeler la France, l'Espagne, l'Angleterre. A vrai dire, c'est
     lui qui inaugure le moyen âge, la société moderne et la
     civilisation chrétienne."--_Montalembert._

The church of St. Gregory is approached by a cloistered court filled
with monuments. On the left is that of Sir Edward Carne, one of the
commissioners to obtain the opinion of foreign universities respecting
the divorce of Henry VIII. from Catherine of Arragon, ambassador to
Charles V., and afterwards to the court of Rome. He was recalled when
the embassy was suppressed by Elizabeth, but was kept at Rome by Paul
IV., who had conceived a great affection for him, and he died here in
1561. Another monument, of an exile for the catholic faith, is that of
Robert Pecham, who died 1567, inscribed:

     "Roberto Pecham Anglo, equite aurato, Philippi et Mariæ Angliæ et
     Hispan regibus olim a consiliis genere religione virtute præclaro
     qui cum patriam suam a fede catholica deficientem adspicere sine
     summo dolore non posset, relictis omnibus quæ in hac vita carissima
     esse solent, in voluntarium profectus exilium, post sex annis
     pauperibus Christi heredibus testamento institutis, sanctissime e
     vita migravit."

The _Church_, rebuilt in 1734, under Francesco Ferrari, has sixteen
ancient granite columns and a fine Opus-Alexandrinum pavement. Among its
monuments we may observe that of Cardinal Zurla, a learned writer on
geographical subjects, who was abbot of the adjoining convent. It was a
curious characteristic of the laxity of morals in the time of Julius II.
(1503-13), that her friends did not hesitate to bury the famous Aspasia
of that age in this church, and to inscribe upon her tomb: "Imperia,
cortisana Romana, quæ digna tanto nomine, raræ inter homines formæ
specimen dedit. Vixit annos xxvi. dies xii. obiit 1511, die 15
Augusti,"--but this monument has now been removed.

At the end of the right aisle is a picture by _Badalocchi_,
commemorating a miracle on this spot, when, at the moment of elevation,
the Host is said to have bled in the hands of St. Gregory, to convince
an unbeliever of the truth of transubstantiation. It will be observed
that in this and in most other representations of St. Gregory, a dove is
perched upon his shoulder, and whispering into his ear. This is
commemorative of the impression that every word and act of the saint was
directly inspired by the Holy Ghost; a belief first engendered by the
happy promptitude of Peter, his arch-deacon, who invented the story to
save the beloved library of his master which was about to be destroyed
after his death by the people, in a pitiful spirit of revenge, because
they fancied that a famine which was decimating them, had been brought
about by the extravagance of Gregory.[162] An altar beneath this picture
is decorated with marble reliefs, representing the same miracle, and
also the story of the soul of the Emperor Trajan being freed from
purgatory by the intercession of Gregory. (Chap. IV.)

A low door near this leads into the monastic cell of St. Gregory,
containing his marble chair, and the spot where his bed lay, inscribed:

    "Nocte dieque vigil longo hic defessu labore
      Gregorius modica membra quiete levat."

Here also an immense collection of minute relics of saints are exposed
to the veneration of the credulous.

On the opposite side of the church is the _Salviati Chapel_, the
burial-place of that noble family, modernized in 1690 by Carlo Maderno.
Over the altar is a copy of Annibale Caracci's picture of St. Gregory,
which once existed here, but is now in England. On the right is the
picture of the Madonna, "which spoke to St. Gregory," and which is said
to have become suddenly impressed upon the wall after a vision in which
she appeared to him;--on the left is a beautiful marble ciborium.

Hence a sacristan will admit the visitor into the _Garden of Sta.
Silvia_, whence there is a grand view over the opposite Palatine.

     "To stand here on the summit of the flight of steps which leads to
     the portal, and look across to the ruined Palace of the Cæsars,
     makes the mind giddy with the rush of thoughts. _There_, before us,
     the Palatine Hill--pagan Rome in the dust; _here_, the little cell,
     a few feet square, where slept in sackcloth the man who gave the
     last blow to the power of the Cæsars, and first set his foot as
     sovereign on the cradle and capital of their greatness."--_Mrs.
     Jameson._

Here are three Chapels, restored by the historian Cardinal Baronius, in
the sixteenth century. The first, of _Sta. Silvia_, contains a fresco of
the Almighty with a choir of angels, by _Guido_, and beneath it a
beautiful statue of the venerable saint (especially invoked against
convulsions), by _Niccolo Cordieri_--one of the best statues of saints
in Rome. The second chapel, of _St. Andrew_, contains the two famous
rival frescoes of _Guido_ and _Domenichino_. Guido has represented St.
Andrew kneeling in reverent thankfulness at first sight of the cross on
which he was to suffer; Domenichino--a more painful subject--the
flagellation of the saint. Of these paintings Annibale Caracci observed
that "Guido's was the painting of the Master; but Domenichino's the
painting of the scholar who knew more than the master." The beautiful
group of figures in the corner, where a terrified child is hiding its
face in its mother's dress, is introduced in several other pictures of
Domenichino.

     "It is a well-known anecdote that a poor old woman stood for a long
     time before the story of Domenichino, pointing it out bit by bit
     and explaining it to a child who was with her,--and that she then
     turned to the story told by Guido, admired the landscape, and went
     away. It is added that when Annibale Caracci heard of this, it
     seemed to him in itself a sufficient reason for giving the
     preference to the former work. It is also said that when
     Domenichino was painting one of the executioners, he worked himself
     up into a fury with threatening words and gestures, and that
     Annibale, surprising him in this condition, embraced him, saying:
     'Domenico, to-day you have taught me a lesson, which is that a
     painter, like an orator, must first feel himself that which he
     would represent to others.'"--_Lanzi_, v. 82.

     "In historical pictures Domenichino is often cold and studied,
     especially in the principal subject, while on the other hand, the
     subordinate persons have much grace, and a noble character of
     beauty. Thus, in the scourging of St. Andrew, a group of women
     thrust back by the executioners is of the highest beauty. Guido's
     fresco is of high merit--St. Andrew, on his way to execution, sees
     the cross before him in the distance, and falls upon his knees in
     adoration,--the executioners and spectators regard him with
     astonishment."--_Kugler._

The third chapel, of _Sta. Barbara_, contains a grand statue of St.
Gregory by _Niccolo Cordieri_[163] (where the whispering dove is again
represented), and the table at which he daily fed twelve poor pilgrims
after washing their feet. The Roman breviary tells how on one occasion
an angel appeared at the feast as the thirteenth guest. This story,--the
sending forth of St. Augustine,--and other events of St. Gregory's life,
are represented in rude frescoes upon the walls by _Viviani_.

The adjoining _Convent_ (modern) is of vast size, and is now occupied by
Camaldolese monks, though in the time of St. Gregory it belonged to the
Benedictines. In its situation it is beautiful and quiet, and must have
been so even in the time of St. Gregory, who often regretted the
seclusion which he was compelled to quit.

     "Un jour, plus accablé que jamais par le poids des affaires
     séculières, il s'était retiré dans un lieu secret pour s'y livrer
     dans un long silence à sa tristesse, et y fut rejoint par le
     diàcre Pierre, son élève, son ami d'enfance et le compagnon de ses
     chères études. 'Vous est-il donc arrivé quelque chagrin nouveau,'
     lui dit le jeune homme, 'pour que vous soyez ainsi plus triste qu'à
     l'ordinaire.' 'Mon chagrin,' lui répondit le pontife, 'est celui de
     tous mes jours, toujours vieux par l'usage, et toujours nouveau par
     sa croissance quotidienne. Ma pauvre âme se rappelle ce qu'elle
     était autrefois, dans notre monastère, quand elle planait sur tout
     ce qui passe, sur tout ce qui change; quand elle ne songeait qu'au
     ciel; quand elle franchissait par la contemplation le cloître de ce
     corps qui l'enserre; quand elle aimait d'avance la mort comme
     l'entrée de la vie. Et maintenant il lui faut, à cause de ma charge
     pastorale, supporter les mille affaires des hommes du siècle et se
     souiller dans cette poussière. Et quand, après s'être ainsi
     répandue au dehors, elle veut retrouver sa retraite intérieure,
     elle n'y revient qu'amoindrie. Je médite sur tout ce que je souffre
     et sur tout ce que j'ai perdu. Me voici, battu par l'océan et tout
     brisé par la tempête; quand je pense à ma vie d'autrefois, il me
     semble regarder en arrière vers le rivage. Et ce qu'il y a de plus
     triste, c'est qu'ainsi ballotté par l'orage, je puis à peine
     entrevoir le port que j'ai quitté.'"--_Montalembert, Moines
     d'Occident._

Pope Gregory XVI. was for some years abbot of this convent, to which he
was afterwards a generous benefactor;--regretting always, like his great
predecessor, the peace of his monastic life. His last words to his
cardinals, who were imploring him, for political purposes, to conceal
his danger, were singularly expressive of this--"Per Dio
lasciatemi!--voglio morire da frate, non da sovrano." The last great
ceremony enacted at S. Gregorio was when Cardinal Wiseman consecrated
the mitred abbot of English Cistercians,--Dr. Manning preaching at the
same time on the prospects of English Catholicism.

Ascending the steep paved lane between S. Gregorio and the Parco, the
picturesque church on the left with the arcaded apse and tall campanile
(_c._ A.D. 1206), inlaid with coloured tiles and marbles, is that of
_SS. Giovanni e Paolo_, two officers in the household of the Christian
princess Constantia, daughter of the Emperor Constantine, in whose time
they occupied a position of great influence and trust. When Julian the
Apostate came to the throne, he attempted to persuade them to sacrifice
to idols, but they refused, saying, "Our lives are at the disposal of
the emperor, but our souls and our faith belong to our God." Then
Julian, fearing to bring them to public martyrdom, lest their popularity
should cause a rebellion and the example of their well-known fortitude
be an encouragement to others, sent off soldiers to behead them
privately in their own house. Hence the inscription on the spot, "Locus
martyrii SS. Joannis et Paoli in ædibus propriis." The church was built
by Pammachus, the friend of St. Jerome, on the site of the house of the
saints. It is entered by a portico adorned with eight ancient granite
columns, interesting as having been erected by the English pope,
Nicholas Breakspear, A.D. 1158. The interior, in the basilica form, has
sixteen ancient columns and a beautiful Opus-Alexandrinum pavement. In
the centre of the floor is a stone, railed off, upon which it is said
that the saints were beheaded. Their bodies are contained in a porphyry
urn under the high altar. In early times these were the only bodies of
saints preserved within the walls of Rome (the rest being in the
catacombs). In the Sacramentary of St. Leo, in the Preface of SS. John
and Paul, it is said, "Of Thy merciful providence Thou hast vouchsafed
to crown not only the circuit of the city with the glorious passions of
the martyrs, but also to hide in the very heart of the city itself the
victorious limbs of St. John and St. Paul."[164]

Above the tribune are frescoes by _Pomerancio_. A splendid chapel on the
right was built 1868;--two of its alabaster pillars were the gift of
Pius IX. Beneath the altar on the left of the tribune is preserved the
embalmed body of St. Paul of the Cross (who died 1776), founder of the
Order of Passionists, who inhabit the adjoining convent. The aged face
bears a beautiful expression of repose;--the body is dressed in the robe
which clothed it when living.[165]

Male visitors are admitted through the convent to its large and
beautiful _Garden_, which overhangs the steep side of the Cœlian
towards the Coliseum, of which there is a fine view between its ancient
cypresses. Here, on a site near the monastery, are some remains believed
to be those of the temple built by Agrippina (_c._ A.D. 57), daughter of
Germanicus, to the honour of her deified husband (and uncle) Claudius,
after she had sent him to Olympus by feeding him with poisonous
mushrooms. This temple was pulled down by Nero, who wished to efface the
memory of his predecessor, on the pretext that it interfered with his
Golden House; but was rebuilt under Vespasian. In this garden also is
the entrance to the vast substructions known as the _Vivarium_, whence
the wild beasts who devoured the early Christian martyrs were frightened
by burning tow down a subterranean passage into the arena.

The famous Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo at Venice was founded by
emigrants from this convent. The memory of these saints was so much
honoured up to the time of Pope Gregory the Great, that the eve of their
festival was an obligatory fast. Their fête (June 26) is still kept with
great solemnities on the Cœlian, when the railing round their place
of execution is wreathed and laden with flowers. When the "station" is
held at their church, the apse is illuminated.

Continuing to follow the lane up the Cœlian, we reach the richly
tinted brick _Arch of Dolabella_, erected, A.D. 10, by the consuls P.
Cornelius Dolabella and Caius Julius Silanus. Nero, building his
aqueduct to the palace of the Cæsars, made use of this, which already
existed, and included it in his line of arches.

Above the arch is a _Hermitage_, revered as that where S. Giovanni di
Matha lived, and where he died in 1213. Before he came to reside here he
had been miraculously brought from Tunis (whither he had gone on a
mission) to Ostia, in a boat without helm or sail, in which he knelt
without ceasing before the crucifix throughout the whole of his voyage!

Passing beneath the gateway, we emerge upon the picturesque irregular
Piazza of the Navicella, the central point of the Cœlian, which is
surrounded by a most interesting group of buildings, and which contains
an isolated fragment of the aqueduct of Nero, dear to artists from its
colour. Behind this, under the trees, is the little marble _Navicella_,
which is supposed to have been originally a votive offering of a sailor
to Jupiter Redux, whose temple stood near this; but which was adapted by
Leo X. as a Christian emblem of the Church,--the boat of St. Peter.

     "The allegory of a ship is peculiarly dwelt upon by the ancient
     Fathers. A ship entering the port was a favourite heathen emblem of
     the close of life. But the Christian idea, and its elevation from
     individual to universal or catholic humanity, is derived directly
     from the Bible,--see, for instance, I Peter iii. 20, 21. 'Without
     doubt,' says St. Augustine, 'the ark is the figure of the city of
     God pilgrimising in this world, in other words, of the Church,
     which is saved by the wood on which hung the mediator between God
     and man, the man Christ Jesus.' The same interpretation was
     recognised in the Latin Church in the days of Tertullian and St.
     Cyprian, &c. The bark of St. Peter is similarly represented on a
     Greek gem, found in the Catacombs, as sailing on a fish, probably
     Leviathan or Satan, while doves, emblematical of the faithful,
     perch on the mast and stern,--two Apostles row, a third lifts up
     his hands in prayer, and our Saviour, approaching the vessel,
     supports Peter by the hand when about to sink.... But the allegory
     of the ship is carried out to its fullest extent in the
     fifty-seventh chapter of the second book of the 'Apostolical
     Constitutions,' supposed to have been compiled in the name of the
     Apostles, in the fourth century."--_Lord Lindsay's Christian Art_,
     i. 18.

On the right is (first) the gateway of the deserted convent of
Redemptorists, called _S. Tommaso in Formis_, which was founded by S.
Giovanni de Matha, who, when celebrating his first mass at Paris, beheld
in a vision, an angel robed in white, with a red and blue cross upon his
breast, and his hands resting in benediction upon the heads of two
captives,--a white and a black man. The bishop of Paris sent him to Rome
to seek explanation from Innocent III., who was celebrated as an
interpreter of dreams,--his foundation of the Franciscan order having
resulted from one which befell him. S. Giovanni was accompanied to the
pope by another hermit, Felix de Valois. They found that Innocent had
himself seen the same vision of the angel between the two captives while
celebrating mass at the Lateran, and he interpreted it as inculcating
the duty of charity towards Christian slaves, for which purpose he
founded the Trinitarians, since called Redemptorists. The story of the
double vision is commemorated in a _Mosaic_, erected above the door,
A.D. 1260, and bearing the name of the artist, Jacobus Cosmati.

The next gate beyond the church is that of the _Villa Mattei_, the
garden of the Redemptorists. (The villa is now the property of Baron
Richard Hoffmann: visitors are generally admitted upon writing down
their names at the gate.)

These grounds are well worth visiting--quite the ideal of a deserted
Roman garden, a wealth of large Roman daisies, roses, and periwinkle
spreading at will amid remains of ancient statues and columns. A grand
little avenue of ilexes leads to a terrace whence there is a most
beautiful view towards the aqueducts and the Alban Hills, with a noble
sarcophagus and a quantity of fine aloes and prickly-pears in the
foreground. There is an obelisk, of which only the top is Egyptian. It
is said that there is a man's hand underneath;--when the obelisk was
lowered it fell suddenly, and one of the workmen had not time to take
his hand away. In the grounds annexed to the lower part of the villa is
the Fountain of Egeria (p. 375).

Almost standing in the garden of the villa, and occupying the site of
the house of Sta. Cyriaca, is the _Church of Sta. Maria in Domenica_ or
_della Navicella_. (If no one is here, the hermit at S. Stefano Rotondo
will unlock it.) The portico is due to Raphael (his design is at
Windsor). The damp interior (rebuilt by Leo X. from designs of Raphael)
is solemn and striking. It is in the basilica form, the nave separated
from the aisles by eighteen columns of granite and one (smaller, near
the tribune) of porphyry. The frieze, in chiaroscuro, was painted by
_Giulio Romano_ and _Pierino del Vaga_. Beneath the confessional are
the bones of Sta. Balbina, whose fortress-like church stands on the
Pseudo-Aventine. In the tribune are curious mosaics, in which the figure
of Pope Paschal I. is introduced, the square nimbus round his head being
an evidence of its portrait character, _i. e._, that it was done during
his lifetime.[166]

     "Within the tribune are mosaics of the Virgin and Child seated on a
     throne, with angels ranged in regular rows on each side; and, at
     her feet, with unspeakable stiffness of limb, the kneeling figure
     of Pope Paschal I. Upon the walls of the tribune is the Saviour
     with a nimbus, surrounded with two angels and the twelve apostles,
     and further below, on a much larger scale, two prophets, who appear
     to point towards him. The most remarkable thing here is the rich
     foliage decoration. Besides the wreaths of flowers (otherwise not a
     rare feature) which are growing out of two vessels on the edge of
     the dome, the floor beneath the figures is also decorated with
     flowers--a graceful species of ornament seldom aimed at in the
     moroseness of Byzantine art. From this point, the decline into
     utter barbarism is rapid."--_Kugler._

     "The Olivetan monks inhabited the church and cloisters of Sta.
     Maria in Domenica, commonly called in Navicella, from the rudely
     sculptured marble monument that stands on the grass before its
     portal, a remnant of bygone days, to which neither history nor
     tradition has given a name, but which has itself given one to the
     picturesque old church which stands on the brow of the Cœlian
     Hill."--_Lady Georgiana Fullerton._

A tradition of the Church narrates that St. Lorenzo, deacon and martyr,
daily distributed alms to the poor in front of this church--then the
house of Sta. Cyriaca--with whom he had taken refuge.

Opposite, is the round _Church of S. Stefano Rotondo_, dedicated by St.
Simplicius in 467. It appears to have been built on the site of an
ancient circular building, and to have belonged to the great victual
market--Macellum Magnum--erected by Nero in this quarter.[167] It is
seldom used for service, except on St. Stephen's Day (December 26), but
visitors are admitted through a little cloister, in which stands a well
of beautiful proportions, of temp. Leo X.--attributed to Michael Angelo.
The interior is exceedingly curious architecturally. It is one hundred
and thirty-three feet in diameter, with a double circle of granite
columns, thirty-six in the outer and twenty in the inner series,
enclosing two tall Corinthian columns, with two pilasters supporting a
cross wall. In the centre is a kind of temple in which are relics of St.
Stephen (his body is said to be at S. Lorenzo). In the entrance of the
church is an ancient marble seat from which St. Gregory is said to have
read his fourth homily.

The walls are lined with frescoes by _Pomerancio_ and _Tempesta_. They
begin with the Crucifixion, but as the Holy Innocents really suffered
before our Saviour, one of them is represented lying on each side of the
cross. Next comes the stoning of St. Stephen, and the frescoes continue
to pourtray every phase of human agony in the most revolting detail, but
are interesting as showing a historical series of what the Roman
Catholic Church considers as the best authenticated martyrdoms, viz.:

                       {St. Peter, crucified.
                       {St. Paul, beheaded.
                       {St. Vitale, buried alive.
                       {St. Thecla, tossed by a bull.
  Under Nero           {St. Gervase, beaten to death.
                       {SS. Protasius, Processus, and Martinianus, beheaded.
                       {St. Faustus and others, clothed in skins of beasts
                       {and torn to pieces by dogs.

                       {St. John, boiled in oil (which he survived) at the
                       {Porta Latina.
                       {St. Cletus, Pope, beheaded.
  Under Domitian       {St. Denis, beheaded (and carrying his head).
                       {St. Domitilla, roasted alive.
                       {SS. Nereus and Achilles, beheaded.

                       {St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, eaten by lions in
                       {the Coliseum.
  Under Trajan         {St. Clement, Pope, tied to an anchor and thrown
                       {into the sea.
                       {St. Simon, Bishop of Jerusalem, crucified.

                       {St. Eustachio, his wife Theophista, and his children
                       {Agapita and Theophista, burnt in a
                       {brazen bull before the Coliseum.
  Under Hadrian        {St. Alexander, Pope, beheaded.

                       {St. Sinforosa, drowned, and her seven sons martyred
                       {in various ways.
                       {St. Pius, Pope, beheaded.

                       {St. Felicitas and her seven sons martyred in
  Under Antoninus-Pius {various ways.
  and Marcus           {St. Justus, beheaded.
  Aurelius             {St. Margaret, stretched on a rack, and torn to
                       {pieces with iron forks.

                       {St. Blandina, tossed by a bull, in a net.
  Under Antoninus      {St. Attalus, roasted on red-hot chair.
  and Verus            {St. Pothicus and others, burnt alive.

                       {SS. Perpetua and Felicitas, torn to pieces by lions
  Under Septimius      {in the Coliseum.
  Severus and          {SS. Victor and Zephyrinus, Leonida and Basil,
  Caracalla            {beheaded.
                       {St. Alexandrina, covered with boiling pitch.

                       {St. Calixtus, Pope, thrown into a well with a stone
                       {round his neck.
                       {St. Calepodius, dragged through Rome by wild
                       {horses, and thrown into the Tiber.
  Under Alexander      {St. Martina, torn with iron forks.
  Severus              {St. Cecilia, who, failing to be suffocated with hot
                       {water, was stabbed in the throat.
                       {St. Urban the Pope, Tibertius, Valerianus, and
                       {Maximus, beheaded.

                       {St. Pontianus, Pope, beheaded in Sardinia.
                       {St. Agatha, her breasts cut off.
                       {SS. Fabian and Cornelius, Popes, and St. Cyprian
                       {of Carthage, beheaded.
                       {St. Tryphon, burnt.
                       {SS. Abdon and Sennen, torn by lions.
                       {St. Apollonia, burnt, after all her teeth were pulled
  Under Valerianus     {out.
  and Gallienus        {St. Stephen, Pope, burnt in his episcopal chair.
                       {St. Cointha, torn to pieces.
                       {St. Sixtus, Pope, killed with the sword.
                       {St. Venantius, thrown from a wall.
                       {St. Laurence the deacon, roasted on a gridiron.
                       {St. Hippolytus, torn by wild horses.
                       {SS. Rufina and Semula, drowned in the Tiber.
                       {SS. Protus and Hiacinthus, beheaded.

                       {Three hundred Christians, burnt in a furnace.
                       {St. Tertullian, burnt with hot irons.
                       {St. Nemesius, beheaded.
                       {St. Sempronius, Olympius, and Theodulus, burnt.
  Under Claudius       {St. Marius, hung, with a huge weight tied to his
  II.                  {feet.
                       {St. Martha, and her children, martyred in different
                       {ways.
                       {SS. Cyprian and Justinian, boiled.
                       {St. Valentine, killed with the sword.

                       {St. Agapitus (aged 15), hung head downwards over
                       {a pan of burning charcoal. Inscribed above
                       {are these words from Wisdom, 'Properavit ut
  Under Aurelian       {educeret illum a seductionibus et iniquitatibus
  and Numerianus       {gentis suæ.'
                       {St. Christina, transfixed through the heart.
                       {St. Columba, burnt.
                       {SS. Chrysanthus and Daria, buried alive.

                       {St. Agnes, bound to a stake, afterwards beheaded.
                       {St. Caius, Pope, beheaded.
                       {St. Emerantia, stoned to death.
                       {Nearly the whole population of Nicomedia martyred
                       {in different ways.
                       {St. Erasmus, laid in a coffin, into which boiling
                       {lead was poured.
                       {St. Blaise, bound to a column, and torn to pieces.
                       {St. Barbara, burnt with hot irons.
                       {St. Eustrathius and his companions, martyred in
  Under Diocletian     {different ways.
  and Maximianus       {St. Vincent, burnt on a gridiron.
                       {SS. Primus and Felicianus, torn by lions.
                       {St. Anastasia, thrown from a rock?
                       {SS. Quattro Incoronati, martyred in various ways.
                       {SS. Peter and Marcellinus, beheaded.
                       {St. Boniface, placed in a dungeon full of boiling
                       {pitch.
                       {St. Lucia, shut up in a well full of serpents.
                       {St. Euphemia, run through with a sword.
                       {SS. Vitus, Modestus, and Crescentius, boiled alive.
                       {St. Sebastian, shot with arrows (which he survived).
                       {SS. Cosmo and Damian, Pantaleon, Saturninus,
                       {Susanna, Gornius, Adrian, and others, in
                       {different ways.

                       {St. Catherine of Alexandria, and others, broken
                       {on the wheel.
  Under Maxentius      {SS. Faustina and Porfirius, burnt with a company
                       {of soldiers.
                       {St. Marcellus, Pope, died worn out by persecution.

                       {St. Simon and 1600 citizens cut into fragments.
  Under Maximinus      {St. Peter, Bishop of Alexandra, and forty soldiers,
  and Licinius         {left to die, up to their waists in a frozen lake.

                       {SS. John and Paul, beheaded.
                       {St. Artemius, crushed between two stones.
  Under Julian the     {St. Pigmenius, drowned in the Tiber.
  Apostate             {St. Bibiana, flogged to death, and thrown for food
                       {to dogs in the Forum.

The last picture represents the reunion of eminent martyrs (in which the
Roman Church includes English sufferers under Elizabeth), and above is
inscribed this verse from Isaiah xxv., "Laudabit populus fortis, civitas
gentium robustarum."

     "Au-dessus du tableau de la Crucifixion se trouve cette
     inscription: 'Roi glorieux des martyrs, s'il donne sa vie pour
     racheter la péché, il verra une postérité sans fin.' Et quelle
     postérité! Hommes, femmes, vieillards, jeunes hommes, jeunes
     filles, enfants! Comme tous accourent, comme tous savent
     mourir."--_Une Chrétienne à Rome._

     "Les païens avaient divinisé la vie, les chrétiens divinisèrent la
     mort."--_Madame de Stael._

     "S. Stefano Rotondo exhibits, in a series of pictures all round the
     church, the martyrdoms of the Christians in the so-called
     persecutions, with a general picture of the most eminent martyrs
     since the triumph of Christianity. No doubt many of the particular
     stories thus painted will bear no critical examination; it is
     likely enough, too, that Gibbon has truly accused the general
     statements of exaggeration. But this is a thankless labour, such as
     Lingard and others have undertaken with regard to the St.
     Bartholomew massacre, and the Irish massacre of 1642. Divide the
     sum total of reported martyrs by twenty,--by fifty, if you
     will,--but after all you have a number of persons of all ages and
     sexes suffering cruel torments and death for conscience' sake and
     for Christ's, and by their sufferings manifestly, with God's
     blessing, ensuring the triumph of Christ's gospel. Neither do I
     think that we consider the excellence of this martyr-spirit half
     enough. I do not think pleasure is a sin: the stoics of old, and
     the ascetic Christians since, who have said so (see the answers of
     that excellent man, Pope Gregory the Great, to Augustine's
     questions, as given at length by Bede), have, in saying so,
     outstepped the simplicity and wisdom of Christian truth. But,
     though pleasure is not a sin, yet surely the contemplation of
     suffering for Christ's sake is a thing most needful to us in our
     days, from whom, in our daily life, suffering seems so far removed.
     And, as God's grace enabled rich and delicate persons, women, and
     even children, to endure all extremities of pain and reproach in
     times past, so there is the same grace no less mighty now, and if
     we do not close ourselves against it, it might in us be no less
     glorified in a time of trial. And that such times of trial will
     come, my children, in your times, if not in mine, I do believe
     fully, both from the teaching of man's wisdom and of God's. And
     therefore pictures of martyrdom are, I think, very wholesome--not
     to be sneered at, nor yet to be looked on as a mere
     excitement,--but as a sober reminder to us of what Satan can do to
     hurt, and what God's grace can enable the weakest of His people to
     bear. Neither should we forget those who, by their sufferings, were
     more than conquerors, not for themselves only, but for us, in
     securing to us the safe and triumphant existence of Christ's
     blessed faith--in securing to us the possibility, nay, the actual
     enjoyment, had it not been for the Antichrist of the priesthood--of
     Christ's holy and glorious ἑκκλησια, the
     congregation and commonwealth of Christ's people."--_Arnold's
     Letters._

     "On croit que l'église de Saint-Etienne-le-Rond est bâtie sur
     l'emplacement du _Macellum Augusti_. S'il en est ainsi, les
     supplices des martyrs, hideusement représentés sur les murs de
     cette église, rappellent ce qu'elle a remplacé."--_Ampère, Emp._ i.
     270.

The first chapel on the left, dedicated to SS. Primus and Felicianus,
contains some delicate small mosaics.

     "The mosaics of the small altar of S. Stefano Rotondo, are of A.D.
     642--649. A brilliantly-decorated cross is represented between two
     standing figures of St. Primus and St. Felicianus. On the upper end
     of the cross (very tastefully introduced) appears a small head of
     Christ with a nimbus, over which the hand of the Father is extended
     in benediction."--_Kugler._

In the next chapel is a very beautiful tomb of Bernardino Capella, Canon
of St. Peter's, who died 1524.

In a small house, which formerly stood among the gardens in this
neighbourhood, Palestrina lived and wrote.

     "Sous le règne de Paul IV., Palestrina faisait partie de la
     chapelle papale; mais il fut obligé de la quitter, parce-qu'il
     était marié. Il se retira alors dans une chaumière perdue au milieu
     des vignes du Mont Cœlius, et là, seul, inconnu au monde, il se
     livra, durant de longs jours, à cette extase de la pensée qui
     agrandit, au-delà de toute mesure, la puissance créatrice de
     l'homme. Le désir des Pères du concile lui ayant été manifesté, il
     prit aussitôt une plume, écrivit en tête de son cahier, 'Mon Dieu,
     éclairez-moi,' et se mit à l'œuvre avec un saint enthousiasme.
     Ses premiers efforts ne répondirent pas à l'idéal que son génie
     s'était formé; mais peu à peu ses pensées s'éclaircirent, et les
     flots de poésie qui inondaient son âme, se répandirent en mélodies
     touchantes. Chaque parole du texte retentissait clairement, allait
     chercher toutes les consciences, et les exaltait dans une émotion
     commune. La _messe du pape Marcel_ trancha la question; et Pie IV.
     s'écria, après l'avoir entendue, qu'il avait cru assister aux
     concerts des anges."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne_, ii. 195.

Following the lane of S. Stefano Rotondo--skirted by broken fragments of
Nero's aqueduct--almost to its debouchment near St. J. Lateran, and then
turning to the left, we reach the quaint fortress like church and
convent of the _Santi Quattro Incoronati_ crowned by a stumpy campanile
of 1112. The full title of this church is "I Santi quattro Pittori
Incoronati e i cinque Scultori Martiri," the names which the Church
attributes to the painters being Severus, Severianus, Carpoforus, and
Vittorinus; and those of the sculptors Claudius, Nicostratus,
Sinforianus, Castorius, and Simplicius,--who all suffered for refusing
to carve and paint idols for Diocletian. Their festa is kept on Nov. 8.

This church was founded on the site of a temple of Diana by Honorius I.,
A.D. 622; rebuilt by Leo IV. A.D. 850; and again rebuilt in its present
form by Paschal II., who consecrated it afresh in A.D. 1111. It is
approached through a double court, in which are many ancient
columns,--perhaps remains of the temple. Some antiquaries suppose that
the church itself was once of larger size, and that the pillars which
now form its atrium were once included in the nave. The interior is
arranged on the English plan with a triforium and a clerestory, the
triforium being occupied by the nuns of the adjoining convent. The
aisles are groined, but the nave has a wooden ceiling. Behind the
tribune is a vaulted passage, partly subterranean. The tribune contains
a marble throne, and is adorned with frescoes by _Giovanni di San
Giovanni_.[168] In the right aisle are preserved some of the verses of
Pope Damasus. Another inscription tells of the restoration of the church
in the fifteenth century, and describes the state of desolation into
which it had fallen.

    "Hæc quæcumque vides veteri prostrata ruina
    Obruta verberis, ederis, dumisque jacebant."

Opening out of the court in front of the church is the little _Chapel of
S. Sylvestro_, built by Innocent II. in 1140. It contains a series of
very curious frescoes.

     "Showing the influence of Byzantine upon Roman art is the little
     chapel of S. Silvestro, detailing the history of the conversion of
     Constantine with a naïveté which, with the exception of a certain
     dignity in some of the figures, constitutes their sole attraction.
     They are indeed little better than Chinese paintings; the last of
     the series, representing Constantine leading Pope Sylvester's horse
     by the bridle, walking beside him in his long flowing robe, with a
     chattah held over his head by an attendant, has quite an Asiatic
     character."--_Lord Lindsay's Christian Art._

     "Here, as in so many instances, legend is the genuine reflex, not
     of the external, but the moral part of history. In this series of
     curious wall-paintings, we see Constantine dismissing, consoled and
     laden with gifts, the mothers whose children were to be slaughtered
     to provide a bath of blood, the remedy prescribed--but which he
     humanely rejected--for his leprosy, his punishment for persecuting
     the Church while he yet lingered in the darkness of paganism; we
     see the vision of St. Peter and St. Paul, who appear to him in his
     dreams, and prescribe the infallible cure for both physical and
     moral disease through the waters of baptism; we see the mounted
     emissaries, sent by the emperor to seek St. Sylvester, finding that
     pontiff concealed in a cavern on Mount Soracte; we see that saint
     before the emperor, exhibiting to him the authentic portraits of
     the two apostles (said to be still preserved at St. Peter's),
     pictures in which Constantine at once recognises the forms seen in
     his vision, assuming them to be gods entitled to his worship; we
     see the imperial baptism, with a background of fantastic
     architecture, the rite administered both by immersion (the neophyte
     standing in an ample font) and affusion; we see the pope on a
     throne, before which the emperor is kneeling, to offer him a
     tiara--no doubt the artist intended thus to imply the immediate
     bestowal of temporal sovereignty (very generally believed the act
     of Constantine in the first flush of his gratitude and neophyte
     zeal) upon the papacy; lastly, we see the pontiff riding into Rome
     in triumph, Constantine himself leading his horse, and other mitred
     bishops following on horseback. Another picture--evidently by the
     same hand--quaintly represents the finding of the true cross by St.
     Helena, and the miracle by which it was distinguished from the
     crosses of the two thieves,--a subject here introduced because a
     portion of that revered relic was among treasures deposited in this
     chapel, as an old inscription, on one side, records. The largest
     composition on these walls, which completes the series, represents
     the Saviour enthroned amidst angels and apostles. This chapel is
     now only used for the devotions of a guild of marble-cutters, and
     open for mass on but one Sunday--the last--in every
     month."--_Hemans Mediæval Christian Art._

In the fresco of the Crucifixion in this chapel an angel is represented
taking off the crown of thorns and putting on a real crown, an incident
nowhere else introduced in art.

The castellated Convent of the Santi Quattro was built by Paschal II. at
the same time as the church, and was used as a papal palace while the
Lateran was in ruins, hence its defensive aspect, suited to the
troublous times of the anti-popes. It is now inhabited by Augustinian
Nuns.

At the foot of the Cœlian beneath the Incoronati, and in the street
leading from the Coliseum to the Lateran, is the _Church of S.
Clemente_, to which recent discoveries, have given an extraordinary
interest.

The upper church, in spite of modernizations under Clement XI. in the
last century, retains more of the details belonging to primitive
ecclesiastical architecture than any other building in Rome. It was
consecrated in memory of Clement, the fellow-labourer of St Paul, and
the third bishop of Rome, upon the site of his family house. It was
already important in the time of Gregory the Great, who here read his
thirty-third and thirty-eighth homilies. It was altered by Adrian I. in
A.D. 772, and by John VIII. in A.D. 800, and again restored in A.D. 1099
by Paschal II., who had been cardinal of the church, and who was elected
to the papacy within its walls. The greater part of the existing
building is thus either of the ninth or the twelfth century.

At the west end a porch supported by two columns, and attributed to the
eighth century, leads into the _quadriporticus_, from which is the
entrance to the nave, separated from its aisles by sixteen columns
evidently plundered from pagan buildings. Raised above the nave and
protected by a low marble wall is the _cancellum_, preserving its
ancient pavement, ambones, altar, and episcopal throne.

     "In S. Clemente, built on the site of his paternal mansion, and
     restored at the beginning of the twelfth century, an example is
     still to be seen, in perfect preservation, of the primitive church;
     everything remains in statu quo--the court, the portico, the
     cancellum, the ambones, paschal candlestick, crypt, and
     ciborium--virgin and intact; the wooden roof has unfortunately
     disappeared, and a small chapel, dedicated to St. Catherine, has
     been added, yet even this is atoned for by the lovely frescoes of
     Masaccio. I most especially recommend this relic of early
     Christianity to your affectionate and tender admiration. Yet the
     beauty of S. Clemente is internal only, outwardly it is little more
     than a barn."--_Lord Lindsay._

On the left of the side entrance is the Chapel of the Passion, clothed
with frescoes of _Masaccio_, which, though restored, are very
beautiful--over the altar is the Crucifixion, on the side walls the
stories of St. Clement and St Catherine.

     "The celebrated series relating to St. Catherine is still most
     striking in the grace and refinement of its principal figures:

     "1. St. Catherine (cousin of the Emperor Constantine) refuses to
     worship idols.

     "2. She converts the empress of Maximin. She is seen through a
     window seated inside a prison, and the empress is seated outside
     the prison, opposite to her, in a graceful listening attitude.

     "3. The empress is beheaded, and her soul is carried to heaven by
     an angel.

     "4. Catherine disputes with the pagan philosophers. She is standing
     in the midst of a hall, the forefinger of one hand laid on the
     other, as in the act of demonstrating. She is represented fair and
     girlish, dressed with great simplicity in a tunic and girdle,--no
     crown, nor any other attribute. The sages are ranged on each side,
     some lost in thought, others in astonishment, the tyrant (Maximin)
     is seen behind, as if watching the conference, while through an
     open window we behold the fire kindled for the converted
     philosophers, and the scene of their execution.

     "5. Catherine is delivered from the wheels, which are broken by an
     angel.

     "6. She is beheaded. In the background three angels lay her in a
     sarcophagus on the summit of Mount Sinai."--See _Jameson's Sacred
     Art_, p. 491.

     "'Masaccio,' says Vasari, 'whose enthusiasm for art would not allow
     him to rest contentedly at Florence, resolved to go to Rome, that
     he might learn there to surpass every other painter.' It was during
     this journey, which, in fact, added much to his renown, that he
     painted, in the Church of San Clemente--the chapel which now so
     usually disappoints the expectations of the traveller, on account
     of the successive restorations by which his work has been
     disfigured.... The heavy brush which has passed over each
     compartment has spared neither the delicacy of the outline, the
     roundness of the forms, nor the play of light and shade: in a word,
     nothing which constitutes the peculiar merit of Masaccio."--_Rio,
     Poetry of Christian Art._

At the end of the right aisle is the beautiful tomb of Cardinal
Rovarella, ob. 1476. A statue of St. John the Baptist is by Simone,
brother of Donatello. Beneath the altar repose the relics of St.
Clement, St. Ignatius of Antioch--martyred in the Coliseum, St. Cyril,
and St. Servulus.

    "'The Fathers are in dust, yet live to God:'
      So says the Truth; as if the motionless clay
    Still held the seeds of life beneath the sod,
      Smouldering and struggling till the judgment-day.

    "And hence we learn with reverence to esteem
      Of these frail houses, though the grave confines:
    Sophist may urge his cunning tests, and deem
      That they are earth;--but they are heavenly shrines."

    _J. H. Newman_, 1833.

     "St. Grégoire raconte que de son temps on voyait dans le vestibule
     de l'église Saint Clément un pauvre paralytique, priant et
     mendiant, sans que jamais une plainte sortît de sa bouche, malgré
     les vives douleurs qu'il endurait. Chaque fidèle lui donnait, et le
     paralytique distribuait à son tour, aux malheureux ce qu'il avait
     reçu de la compassion publique. Lorsqu'il mourut, son corps fut
     placé près de celui de Saint Clément, pape, et de Saint Ignace
     d'Antioche, et son nom fut inscrit au martyrologe. On le vénère
     dans l'Eglise sous le nom de Saint Servulus."--_Une Chrétienne à
     Rome._

The mosaics in the tribune are well worth examination.

     "There are few Christian mosaics in which mystic meaning and poetic
     imagination are more felicitous than in those on the apse of S.
     Clemente, where the crucifix, and a wide-spreading vine-tree
     (allusive to His words, who said 'I am the True Vine'), spring from
     the same stem; twelve doves, emblems of the apostles, being on the
     cross with the Divine Sufferer; the Mother and St. John beside it,
     the usual hand stretched out in glory above, with a crown; the four
     doctors of the Church, also other small figures, men and birds,
     introduced amidst the mazy vine-foliage; and at the basement, the
     four mystic rivers, with stags and peacocks drinking at their
     streams. The figure of St. Dominic is a modern addition. It seems
     evident, from characteristics of style, that the other mosaics
     here, above the apsidal arch, and at the spandrils, are more
     ancient, perhaps by about a century; these latter representing the
     Saviour in benediction, the four Evangelic emblems, St. Peter and
     St. Clement, St. Paul and St. Laurence seated; the two apostles
     designated by their names, with the Greek 'hagios' in Latin
     letters. The later art-work was ordered (see the Latin inscription
     below) in 1299, by a cardinal titular of S. Clemente, nephew to
     Boniface VIII.; the same who also bestowed the beautiful gothic
     tabernacle for the holy oils, with a relief representing the donor
     presented by St. Dominic to the Virgin and Child--set against the
     wall near the tribune, an admirable, though but an accessorial,
     object of mediæval art."--_Hemans' Mediæval Art._

From the sacristy a staircase leads to the _Lower Church_ (occasionally
illuminated for the public) first discovered in 1857. Here, there are
several pillars of the rarest marbles in perfect preservation, and a
very curious series of frescoes of the eighth and ninth centuries, parts
of which are still clear and almost uninjured. These include--the
Crucifixion, with the Virgin and St. John standing by the cross,--the
earliest example in Rome of this well-known subject; the Ascension,
sometimes called by Romanists (in preparation for their dogma of 1870),
"the Assumption of the Virgin," because the figure of the Virgin is
elevated above the other apostles, though she is evidently intent on
watching the retreating figure of her divine Son--in this fresco the
figure of a pope is introduced (with the square nimbus, showing that it
was painted in his lifetime), and the inscription "Sanctissimus dominus,
Leo Papa Romanus," probably Leo III. or Leo IV.; the Maries at the
sepulchre; the descent into Hades; the Marriage of Cana; the Funeral of
St. Cyril with Pope Nicholas I. (858--67) walking in the procession;
and, the most interesting of all--probably of somewhat later date, the
story of S. Clemente, and that of S. Alexis, whose adventures are
described in the account of his church on the Aventine. An altar of
Mithras was discovered during the excavations here. Beneath this crypt
is still a third structure, discovered 1867,--probably the very house of
St. Clement,--(decorated with rich stucco ornament)--sometimes supposed
to be the 'cavern near S. Clemente' to which the Emperor Otho III., who
died at the age of twenty-two, retired in A.D. 999 with his confessor,
and where he spent fourteen days in penitential retirement.

According to the Acts of the Martyrs, the Prefect Mamertinus ordered the
arrest of Pope Clement, and intended to put him to death, but was
deterred by a tumult of the people, who cried with one voice, "What evil
has he done, or rather what good has he not done?" Clement was then
condemned to exile in the Chersonese, and Mamertinus, touched by his
submission and courage, dismissed him with the words--"May the God you
worship bring you relief in the place of your banishment."

In his exile Clement received into the Church more than two hundred
Christians who had been waiting for baptism, and miraculously discovered
water for their support in a barren rock, to which he was directed by a
Lamb, in whose form he recognised the guidance of the Son of God. The
enthusiasm which these marvels excited led Trajan to send executioners,
by whom he was tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. But his
disciples, kneeling on the shore, prayed that his relics might be given
up to them, when the waves retired, and disclosed a marble chapel, built
by unearthly hands--over the tomb of the saint. From the Chersonese the
remains of St. Clement were brought back to Rome by St. Cyril, the
Apostle of the Slavonians, who, dying here himself, was buried by his
side.




CHAPTER VIII.

THE AVENTINE.

     Jewish Burial-ground--Sta. Sabina--S. Alessio--The Priorato--Sta.
     Prisca--The Vigna dei Gesuiti--S. Sabba--Sta. Balbina.


The Aventine, which is perhaps the highest, and now--from its coronet of
convents--the most picturesque of all the Roman hills, is of irregular
form, and is divided into two parts by a valley; one side, the higher,
is crowned by the churches of Sta. Sabina, S. Alessio, and the Priorato,
which together form "the Capitol of the Aventine;" the other, known as
the Pseudo-Aventine, is marked by the churches of S. Sabba and Sta.
Balbina.

Virgil and Ovid allude repeatedly to the thick woods which once clothed
the Aventine.[169] Dionysius speaks of the laurels or bays, an
indigenous tree of ancient Rome, which grew there in abundance. Only one
side of the hill, that towards the Tiber, now shows any of the natural
cliff, but it was once remarkable for its rocks, and the Pseudo-Aventine
obtained the name of Saxum from a huge solitary mass of stone which
surmounted it.

    "Est moles nativa; loco res nomina fecit
    Appellant Saxum: pars bona mentis ea est."[170]

The upper portion of the hill is of volcanic formation, and it is
supposed that the legend of Cacus vomiting forth flames from his cave on
the side of the Aventine had its origin in noxious sulphuric vapours
emitted by the soil, as is still the case at the Solfatara on the way to
Tivoli. The demi-god Faunus, who had an oracle at the Solfatara, had
also an oracle on this hill.[171]

Some derive the name of Aventine from Aventinus-Silvius, king of Alba,
who was buried here;[172] others from Avens, a Sabine river; while
others say that the name simply means "the hill of birds," and connect
it with the story of the foundation of the city. For when it became
necessary to decide whether Romulus or Remus was to rule over the
newly-built Rome, Romulus seated himself upon the Palatine to watch the
auspices, but Remus upon the rock of the Pseudo-Aventine. Here Remus saw
only six vultures, while Romulus saw twelve, but each interpreted the
augury in his own favour, and Remus leapt across the boundary of the
Palatine, whether in derision or war, and was slain by his brother, or
by Celer, one of his followers. He was brought back and buried upon the
Aventine, and the stone whence he had watched the vultures was
thenceforth called the Sacred Rock. Ancient tradition places the tomb of
Remus on the Pseudo-Aventine, but in the middle ages the tomb of Caius
Cestus was believed--even by Petrarch--to be the monument of Remus.

Some authorities consider that when Remus was watching the vultures on
the Pseudo-Aventine, that part of the hill was already occupied by a
Pelasgic fortress called Romoria, but at this time and for long
afterwards, the higher part of the Aventine was held by the Sabines.
Here the Sabine king Numa dedicated an altar to Jupiter Elicius,[173]
and the Sabine god Consus had also an altar here. Hither Numa came to
visit the forest-gods Faunus and Picus at their sacred fountain:

    Lucus Aventino suberat niger ilicis umbra,
      Quo posses viso dicere, numen inest.
    In medio gramen, muscoque adoperta virenti
      Manabat saxo vena perennis aquæ.
    Inde fere soli Faunus Picusque bibebant.[174]

By mingling wine and honey with the waters of their spring, Numa snared
the gods, and compelled them to tell him how he might learn from Jupiter
the knowledge of his will, and to reveal to him a charm against thunder
and lightning.[175]

The Sabine king Tatius, the rival of Romulus, was buried on the Aventine
"in a great grove of laurels," and, at his tomb, then called
Armilustrum, it was the custom, every year, in the month of October, to
hold a feast for the purification of arms, accompanied by martial
dances. A horse was at the same time sacrificed to Janus, the Sabine
war-god.[176]

Ancus Martius surrounded the Aventine by a wall,[177] and settled there
many thousands of the inhabitants of Latin towns which he had subdued.
This was the origin of the plebs, who were soon to become such
formidable opponents of the first colonists of the Palatine, who took
rank as patricians, and who at first found in them an important
counterpoise to the power of the original Sabine inhabitants, against
whom the little Latin colony of Romulus had hitherto been standing
alone. The Aventine continued always to be the especial property and
sanctuary of the plebs, the patricians avoiding it--in the first
instance, it is supposed, from an impression that the hill was of evil
omen, owing to the story of Remus. In B.C. 416, the tribune Icilius
proposed and carried a law by which all the public lands of the Aventine
were officially conferred upon the plebs, who forthwith began to cover
its heights with houses, in which each family of the people had a right
in one floor,--a custom which still prevails at Rome. At this time,
also, the Aventine was included for the first time within the
pomœrium or religious boundary of the city. Owing to its being the
"hill of the people," the commons henceforth held their comitia and
elected their tribunes here; and here, after the murder of Virginia, to
whom the tribune Icilius had been betrothed, the army assembled against
Appius Claudius.

Very little remains of the numerous temples which once adorned the hill,
but their sites are tolerably well ascertained. We still ascend the
Aventine by the ancient Clivus Publicius, originally paved by two
brothers Publicii, who were ædiles at the same time, and had embezzled a
public sum of money, which they were compelled to expend thus--

    Parte locant clivum, qui tune erat ardua rupes:
    Utile nunc iter est, Publiciumque vocant.[178]

At the foot of this road was the temple of Luna, or Jana, in which
Tatius had also erected an altar to Janus or the Sun.

    Luna regit menses; hujus quoque tempora mensis
    Finit Aventino Luna colenda jugo.[179]

It was up this road that Caius Gracchus, a few hours before his death,
fled to take refuge in a small Temple of Diana, which stood somewhere
near the present site of S. Alessio, where, kneeling before the statue
of the goddess, he implored that the people who had betrayed him might
never be free. Close by, singularly enough, rose the Temple of Liberty,
which his grandfather Sempronius Gracchus had built. Adjoining this
temple was a hall where the archives of the censors were kept, and where
they transacted business; this was rebuilt by Asinius Pollio, who added
to it the first public library established in Rome.

    Nec me, quæ doctis patuerunt prima libellis
    Atria, Libertas tangere passa sua est.[180]

In the same group stood the famous sanctuary of Juno Regina, vowed by
Camillus during the siege of Veii, and to which the Juno of the captured
city was removed after she had given a verbal consent when asked whether
she wished to go to Rome and inhabit a new temple, much as the modern
queen of heaven is apt to do in modern times at Rome.[181] The Temples
of Liberty and Juno were both rebuilt under Augustus; some imagine that
they were under a common roof. If they were distinct buildings, nothing
of the former remains; some beautiful columns built into the church of
Sta. Sabina are all that remain of the temple of Juno, though Livy
thought that her reign here would be eternal--

    ... in Aventinum, æternam sedem suam.[182]

Also belonging to this group was a Temple of Minerva.

    Sol abit a Geminis, et Cancri signa rubescunt:
    Cœpit Aventina Pallas in arce coli.[183]

Here the dramatist Livius Andronicus, who lived upon the Aventine, was
honoured after his death by a company of scribes and actors. Another
poet who lived upon the Aventine was Ennius, who is described as
inhabiting a humble dwelling, and being attended by a single female
slave. The poet Gallus also lived here.

    Totis, Galle, jubes tibi me servire diebus,
    Et per Aventinum ter quater ire tuum![184]

On the other side of the Aventine (above the Circus Maximus), which was
originally covered with myrtle--a shrub now almost extinct at Rome--on
the site now occupied by Sta. Prisca, was a more important Temple of
Diana, sometimes called by the Sabine name of Murcia,--built in
imitation of the temple of Diana at Ephesus. Propertius writes--

    Phyllis Aventinæ quædam est vicina Dianæ;[185]

and Martial--

    Quique videt propius magna certamina Circi
    Laudat Aventinæ vicinus Sura Dianæ.[186]

Here till the time of Dionysius was preserved the pillar of brass on
which was engraved the law of Icilius.

Near this were the groves of Simila, the retreat of the infamous
association discovered and terribly punished at the time of the Greek
wars; and--in the time of the empire--the gardens of Servilia, where she
received the devotion of Julius Cæsar, and in which her son Brutus is
said to have conspired his murder, and to have been interrogated by his
wife Portia as to the mystery, which he refused to reveal to her,
fearing her weakness under torture, until, by the concealment of a
terrible wound which she had given to herself, she had proved to him
that the daughter of Cato could suffer and be silent.

The Aventine continued to be inhabited, and even populous, until the
sixth century, from which period its prosperity began to decline. In the
eleventh century it was occupied by the camp of Henry IV. of Germany,
when he came in war against Gregory VII. In the thirteenth century
Honorius III. made a final effort to re-establish its popularity; but
with each succeeding generation it has become--partly owing to the
ravages of malaria--more and more deserted, till now its sole
inhabitants are monks, and the few ague-stricken contadini who look
after the monastic vineyards. In wandering along its desolate lanes,
hemmed in by hedges of elder, or by walls covered with parasitical
plants, it is difficult to realize the time when it was so thickly
populated; and except in the quantities of coloured marbles with which
its fields and vineyards are strewn, there is nothing to remind one of
the 16 ædiculæ, 64 baths, 25 granaries, 88 fountains, 130 of the larger
houses called _domus_, and 2487 of the poorer houses called _insulæ_,
which occupied this site.

The present interest of the hill is almost wholly ecclesiastical, and
centres around the story of St. Dominic, and the legends of the saints
and martyrs connected with its different churches.

       *       *       *       *       *

The best approach to the Aventine is behind the Church of Sta. Maria in
Cosmedin, where the _Via Sta. Sabina_, once the Clivus Publicius
(available for carriages), turns up the hill.

A lane on the left leads to the Jewish burial-ground, used as a place of
sepulture for the Ghetto for many centuries. A curious instance of the
cupidity attributed to the Jewish race may be seen in the fact, that
they have, for a remuneration of four baiocchi, habitually given leave
to their neighbours to discharge the contents of a rubbish cart into
their cemetery, a permission of which the Romans have so abundantly
availed themselves, that the level of the soil has been raised by many
yards, and whole sets of older monuments have been completely swallowed
up, and new ones erected over their heads.

After we turn the corner at the hill top, with its fine view over the
Palatine, and cross the trench of fortification formed during the fear
of a Garibaldian invasion in 1867, we skirt what appears to be part of a
city wall. This is in fact the wall of the Honorian city, built by Pope
Honorius III., of the great family of Savelli, whose idea was to render
the Aventine once more the populous and favourite portion of the city,
and who began great works for this purpose. Before his arrangements were
completed St. Dominic arrived in Rome, and was appointed master of the
papal household, and abbot of the convent of Sta. Sabina, where his
ministrations and popularity soon formed such an attraction, that the
pope wisely abandoned his design of founding a new city which should
commemorate himself, and left the field to St. Dominic,--to whom he made
over the land on this side of the hill. Henceforward the convent of
Sta. Sabina and its surroundings have become, more than any other spot,
connected with the history of the Dominican Order,--there, all the great
saints of the Order have received their first inspiration,--have
resided,--or are buried; there St. Dominic himself received in a
beatific vision the institution of the rosary; there he was ordered to
plant the famous orange-tree, which, being then unknown in Rome, he
brought from his native Spain as the only present which it was suitable
for the gratitude of a poor monk to offer to his patron Honorius, who
was himself one of the great botanists of his time,--an orange-tree
which still lives, and which is firmly believed by the monks to flourish
or fail with the fortunes of the Order, so that it has lately been
greatly the worse for the suppression of the convents in Northern Italy,
though the residence of Père Lacordaire within the convent proved
exceedingly beneficial to it, and his visit even caused a new sucker to
sprout.

The _Church of Sta. Sabina_ was built on the site of the house of the
saint--in which she suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Hadrian,[187]
in A.D. 423--by Peter, a priest of Illyria, "rich for the poor, and poor
for himself" _(pauperibus locuples, sibi pauper)_, as we read by the
mosaic inscription inside the principal entrance. St. Gregory the Great
read two of his homilies here. The church was rebuilt in 824, and
restored and reconsecrated by Gregory IX. in 1238. Much of its
interest,--ancient pavements, mosaics, &c.,--was destroyed in 1587 by
Sixtus V., who took the credit of discovering the relics of the martyrs
who are buried beneath the altar.

On the west is a covered corridor containing several ancient
inscriptions. It is supported on one side by ancient spiral columns of
pavonazzetto, on the other these have been plundered and replaced by
granite. Hence, through a window, ladies are allowed to gaze upon the
celebrated orange-tree, 665 years old, which they cannot approach; a
rude figure of St. Dominic is sculptured upon the low wall which
surrounds it. The west door, of the twelfth century, in a richly
sculptured frame, is cited by Kugler as an instance of the extinction of
the Byzantine influence upon art. Its panels are covered with carvings
from the Old and New Testament, referred by Mamachi to the seventh, by
Agincourt to the thirteenth century. Some of the subjects have been
destroyed; among those which remain are the Annunciation, the Angels
appearing to the Shepherds, the Angel and Zachariah in the Temple, the
Magi, Moses turning the rods into serpents, the ascent of Elijah, Christ
before Pilate, the denial of Peter, and the Ascension. Within the
entrance are the only remains of the magnificent mosaic, erected in 431,
under Celestine I., which entirely covered the west wall till the time
of Sixtus V., consisting of an inscription in large letters, with a
female figure on either side, that on the left bearing the name
"Ecclesia cum circumcisione," that on the right, "Ecclesia ex gentibus."
Among the parts destroyed were the four beasts typical of the
Evangelists, and St. Peter and St. Paul. The church was thus gorgeously
decorated, because in the time of the Savelli popes, it was what the
Sistine is now, the Chiesa Apostolica.

The nave is lined by twenty-four Corinthian columns of white marble,
relics of the temple of Juno Regina, which once stood here. Above, is
an inlaid frieze of pietradura, of A.D. 431, which once extended up to
the windows, but was destroyed by Sixtus V., who at the same time built
up the windows which till then existed over each pier. In the middle of
the pavement near the altar, is a very curious mosaic figure over the
grave of Munoz de Zamora, a General of the Dominican Order, who died in
1300. Nearer the west door are interesting incised slabs representing a
German bishop and a lady, benefactors of this church, and (on the left)
a slab with arms in mosaic, to a lady of the Savelli family. In the left
aisle is another monument of 1312, commemorating a warrior of the
imperial house of Germany. The high altar covers the remains of Sabina
and Seraphia, Alexander the Pope, Eventius and Theodulus, all martyrs.
In the chapel beneath St. Dominic is said to have flagellated himself
three times nightly, "perché uno colpo solo non abbastava per
mortificare la carne."

At the end of the right aisle is the Chapel of the Rosary, where a
beautiful picture of Sassoferrato, called "La Madonna del Rosario,"
commemorates the vision of St. Dominic on that spot, in which he
received the rosary from the hands of the Virgin.

     "St. Catherine of Siena kneels with St. Dominic before the throne
     of the Madonna; the lily at her feet. The Infant Saviour is turned
     towards her, and with one hand he crowns her with thorns, with the
     other he presents the rosary. This is the master-piece of the
     painter, with all his usual elegance, without his usual
     insipidity."--_Jameson's Monastic Orders._

Few Roman Catholic practices have excited more animadversion than the
"vain repetition" of the worship of the Rosary. The Père Lacordaire (a
Dominican) defended it, saying--

     "Le rationaliste sourit en voyant passer de longues files de gens
     qui redisent une même parole. Celui qui est éclairé d'une meilleure
     lumière comprend que l'amour n'a qu'un mot, et qu'en le disant
     toujours, il ne le répète jamais."

Grouped around this chapel are three beautiful tombs,--a cardinal, a
bishop, and a priest of the end of the fifteenth century. That of the
cardinal (which is of the well-known Roman type of the time), is
inscribed "Ut moriens viveret, vixit est moriturus;" the others are
incised slabs. At the other end of this aisle is a marble slab, on which
St. Dominic is said to have been wont to lie prostrate in prayer. One
day while he was lying thus, the Devil in his rage is said to have
hurled a huge stone (a round black marble, _pietra di paragone_,) at
him, which missed the saint, who left the attack entirely unnoticed. The
devil was frantic with disappointment, and the stone, remaining as a
relic, is preserved on a low pillar in the nave. A small gothic
ciborium, richly inlaid with mosaic, remains on the left of the tribune.

Opening from the left aisle is a chapel built by Elic of Tuscany--very
rich in precious marbles. The frame of the panel on the left is said to
be unique.

It was in this church, in 1218, that St. Hyacinth, struck by the
preaching of St. Dominic, and by the recollection of the barbarism,
heathenism, and ignorance which prevailed in many parts of his native
land of Silesia, offered himself as its missionary, and took the vows of
the Dominican Order, together with his cousin St. Ceslas. Hither fled to
the monastic life St. Thomas Aquinas, pursued to the very door of the
convent by the tears and outcries of his mother, who vainly implored him
to return to her. One evening, a pilgrim, worn out with travel and
fatigue, arrived at the door of this convent mounted upon a wretched
mule, and implored admittance. The prior in mockery asked, "What are you
come for, my father? are you come to see if the college of cardinals is
disposed to elect you as pope?" "I come to Rome," replied the pilgrim
Michele Ghislieri, "because the interests of the Church require it, and
I shall leave as soon as my task is accomplished; meanwhile I implore
you to give me a brief hospitality and a little hay for my mule."
Sixteen years afterwards Ghislieri mounted the papal throne as Pius V.,
and proved, during a troubled reign, the most rigid follower and eager
defender of the institutions of St. Dominic. One day as Ghislieri was
about to kiss his crucifix in the eagerness of prayer, "the image of
Christ," says the legend, retired of its own accord from his touch, for
it had been poisoned by an enemy, and a kiss would have been death. This
crucifix is now preserved as a precious relic in the convent, where the
cells both of St. Dominic and of St. Pius V. are preserved, though, like
most historical chambers of Roman saints, their interest is lessened by
their having been beautified and changed into chapels. In the cell of
St. Dominic is a portrait by _Bazzani_, founded on the records of his
personal appearance; the lily lies by his side,--the glory hovers over
his head,--he is, as the chronicler describes him, "of amazing beauty."
In this cell he is said frequently to have passed the night in prayer
with his rival St. Francis of Assisi. The refectory is connected with
another story of St. Dominic:--

     "It happened that when he was residing with forty of his friars in
     the convent of Sta. Sabina at Rome, the brothers who had been sent
     to beg for provisions had returned with a very small quantity of
     bread, and they knew not what they should do, for night was at
     hand, and they had not eaten all day. Then St. Dominic ordered that
     they should seat themselves in the refectory, and, taking his place
     at the head of the table, he pronounced the usual blessing: and
     behold! two beautiful youths clad in white and shining garments
     appeared amongst them; one carried a basket of bread, and the other
     a pitcher of wine, which they distributed to the brethren: then
     they disappeared, and no one knew how they had come in, nor how
     they had gone out. And the brethren sat in amazement; but St.
     Dominic stretched forth his hand, and said calmly, 'My children,
     eat what God hath sent you:' and it was truly celestial food, such
     as they had never tasted before nor since."--_Jameson's Monastic
     Orders_, p. 369.

Other saints who sojourned for a time in this convent were St. Norbert,
founder of the Premonstratensians (ob. 1134), and St. Raymond de
Penaforte (ob. 1275), who left his labours in Barcelona for a time in
1230 to act as chaplain to Gregory IX.

In 1287 a conclave was held at Sta. Sabina for the election of a
successor to Pope Martin IV., but was broken up by the malaria, six
cardinals dying at once within the convent, and all the rest taking
flight except Cardinal Savelli, who would not desert his paternal home,
and survived by keeping large fires constantly burning in his chamber.
Ten months afterwards his perseverance was rewarded by his own election
to the throne as Honorius IV.

In the garden of the convent are some small remains of the palace of the
Savelli pope, Honorius III. Here, on the declivity of the Aventine, many
important excavations were made in 1856--57, by the French Prior Besson,
a person of great intelligence, and he was rewarded by the discovery of
an ancient Roman house--its chambers paved with black and white mosaic,
and some fine fragments of the wall of Servius Tullius, formed of
gigantic blocks of peperino. In the chambers which were found decorated
in stucco with remnants of painting in figures and arabesque ornaments,
"one little group represented a sacrifice before the statue of a god, in
an ædicula. Some rudely scratched Latin lines on this surface led to the
inference that this chamber, after becoming subterranean and otherwise
uninhabitable, had served for a prison; one unfortunate inmate having
inscribed curses against those who caused his loss of liberty; and
another, more devout, left record of his vows to sacrifice to Bacchus in
case of recovering that blessing."[188]

Since the death of Prior Besson[189] the works have been abandoned, and
the remains already discovered have been for the most part earthed up
again. A nympheum, a well, and several subterranean passages, are still
visible on the hillside.

Just beyond Sta. Sabina is the Hieronymite _Church and Convent of S.
Alessio_, the only monastery of Hieronymites in Italy where meat was
allowed to be eaten,--in consideration of the malaria. The first church
erected here was built in A.D. 305 in honour of St. Boniface, martyr, by
Aglae, a noble Roman lady, whose servant (and lover) he had been. It was
reconsecrated in A.D. 401 by Innocent I., in honour of St. Alexis, whose
paternal mansion was on this site. This saint, young and beautiful, took
a vow of virginity, and being forced by his parents into marriage, fled
on the same evening from his home, and was given up as lost. Worn out
and utterly changed he returned many years afterwards to be near those
who were dear to him, and remained, unrecognised, as a poor beggar,
under the stairs which led to his father's house. Seventeen years
passed away, when a mysterious voice suddenly echoed through the Roman
churches, crying, "Seek ye out the man of God, that he may pray for
Rome." The crowd was stricken with amazement,--when the same voice
continued, "Seek in the house of Euphemian." Then, pope, emperor, and
senators rushed together to the Aventine, where they found the despised
beggar dying beneath the doorstep, with his countenance beaming with
celestial light, a crucifix in one hand, and a sealed paper in the
other. Vainly the people strove to draw the paper from the fingers which
were closing in the gripe of death, but when Innocent I. bade the dying
man in God's name to give it up, they opened, and the pope read aloud to
the astonished multitude the secret of Alexis; and his father Euphemian
and his widowed bride, regained in death the son and the husband they
had lost.

S. Alessio is entered through a courtyard.

     "The courtyards in front of S. Alessio, Sta. Cecilia, S. Gregorio,
     and other churches, are like the vestibula of the ancient Roman
     houses, on the site of which they were probably built. This style
     of building, says Tacitus, was generally introduced by Nero. Beyond
     opened the _prothyra_, or inner entrance, with the _cellæ_ for the
     porter and dog, _both_ chained, on either side."

In the portico of the church is a statue of Benedict XIII. (Pietro
Orsini, 1724). The west door has a rich border of mosaic. The church has
been so much modernised as to retain no appearance of antiquity. The
fine Opus-Alexandrinum pavement is preserved. In the floor is the
incised gothic monument of Lupi di Olmeto, General of the Hieronymites
(ob. 1433). Left of the entrance is a shrine of S. Alessio, with his
figure sleeping under the staircase--part of the actual wooden stairs
being enclosed in a glass case over his head. Not far from this is the
ancient well of his father's house. In a chapel which opens out of a
passage leading to the sacristy is the fine tomb of Cardinal Guido di
Balneo, of the time of Leo X. He is represented sitting, with one hand
resting on the ground--the delicate execution of his lace in marble is
much admired. The mosaic roof of this chapel was burst open by a
cannon-ball during the French bombardment of 1849, but the figure was
uninjured. The baldacchino (well known from Macpherson's photographs) is
remarkable for its perfect proportions. Behind, in the tribune, are the
inlaid mosaic pillars of a gothic tabernacle. No one should omit to
descend into the _Crypt of S. Alessio_, which is an early church,
supported on stunted pillars, and containing a marble episcopal chair,
green with age. Here the pope used to meet the early conclaves of the
Church in times of persecution. The pillar under the altar is shown as
that to which St. Sebastian was bound when he was shot with the arrows.

The cloister of the convent, from which ladies are excluded, blooms with
orange and lemon trees. There are only six Hieronymite brethren here
now. The convent was at one time purchased by the ex-king Ferdinand of
Spain, who intended turning it into a villa for himself.

A short distance beyond S. Alessio is a sort of little square, adorned
with trophied memorials of the knights of Malta, and occupying the site
of the laurel grove (Armilustrum) which contained the tomb of Tatius.
Here is the entrance of the Priorato garden, where is the famous _View
of St. Peter's through the Keyhole_, admired by crowds of people on
Ash-Wednesday, when the "stazione" is held at the neighbouring churches.
Entering the garden (which can always be visited) we find ourselves in a
beautiful avenue of old bay-trees framing the distant St. Peter's. A
terrace overhanging the Tiber has an enchanting view over the river and
town. In the garden is an old pepper-tree, and in a little court a
picturesque palm-tree and well. From hence we can enter the church,
sometimes called _S. Basilio_, sometimes _Sta. Maria Aventina_, an
ancient building modernized by Cardinal Rezzonico in 1765, from the very
indifferent designs of Piranesi. It contains an interesting collection
of tombs, most of them belonging to the Knights of Malta; that of Bishop
Spinelli is an ancient marble sarcophagus, with a relief of Minerva and
the Muses. A richly sculptured ancient altar contains relics of saints
found beneath the pavement of the church.

The Priorato garden, so beautiful and attractive in itself, has an
additional interest as that in which the famous Hildebrand (Gregory
VII., 1073--80) was brought up as a boy, under the care of his uncle,
who was abbot of the adjoining monastery. A massive cornice in these
grounds is one of the few architectural fragments of ancient Rome
existing on the Aventine. It may perhaps have belonged to the smaller
temple of Diana in which Caius Gracchus took refuge, and in escaping
from which, down the steep hillside, he sprained his ankle, and so was
taken by his pursuers. Some buried houses were discovered and some
precious vases brought to light, when Urban VIII. built the stately
buttress walls which now support the hillside beyond the Priorato.

The cliff below these convents is the supposed site of the cave of the
giant Cacus, described by Virgil.

    "At specus et Caci detecta apparuit ingens
    Regia, et umbrosæ penitus patuere cavernæ;
    Non secus, ac si quâ penitus vi terra dehiscens
    Infernas reseret sedes, et regna recludat
    Pallida, dîs invisa; superque immane barathrum
    Cernatur, trepidentque immisso lumine manes."

    _Æneid_, lib. viii.

Hercules brought the oxen of Geryon to pasture in the valley between the
Aventine and Palatine. Cacus issuing from his cave while their owner was
asleep, carried off four of the bulls, dragging them up the steep side
of the hill by their tails, that Hercules might be deceived by their
foot-prints being reversed. Then he concealed them in his cavern, and
barred the entrance with a rock. Hercules sought the stolen oxen
everywhere, and when he could not find them, he was going away with the
remainder. But as he drove them along the valley near the Tiber one of
his oxen lowed, and when the stolen oxen in the cave heard that, they
answered; and Hercules, after rushing three times round the Aventine
boiling with fury, shattered the stone which guarded the entrance of the
cave with a mass of rock, and, though the giant vomited forth smoke and
flames against him, he strangled him in his arms. Thus runs the legend,
which is explained by Ampère.

     "Cacus habite une caverne de l'Aventin, montagne en tout temps mal
     famée, montagne anciennement hérissée de rochers et couverte de
     forêts, dont la forêt Nœvia, longtemps elle-même un repaire de
     bandits, était une dépendance et fut un reste qui subsista dans
     les temps historiques. Ce Cacus était sans doute un brigand
     célèbre, dangereux pour les pâtres du voisinage dont il volait les
     troupeaux quand ils allaient paître dans les prés situés au bord du
     Tibre et boire l'eau du fleuve. Les hauts faits de Cacus lui
     avaient donné cette célébrité qui, parmi les paysans romains,
     s'attache encore à ses pareils, et surtout le stratagème employé
     par lui probablement plus d'une fois pour dérouter les bouviers des
     environs, en emmenant les animaux qu'il dérobait, à manière de
     cacher la direction de leurs pas. La caverne du bandit avait été
     découverte et forcée par quelque pâtre courageux, qui y avait
     pénétré vaillamment, malgré la terreur que ce lieu souterrain et
     formidable inspirait, y avait surpris le voleur et l'avait
     étranglé.

     "Tel était, je crois, le récit primitif où il n'était pas plus
     question d'Hercule que de Vulcain, et dans lequel Cacus n'était pas
     mis à mort par un demi-dieu, mais par un certain Recaranus, pâtre
     vigoureux et de grande taille. A ces récits de bergers, qui
     allaient toujours exagérant les horreurs de l'antre de Cacus et la
     résistance désespérée de celui-ci, vinrent se mêler peu à peu des
     circonstances merveilleuses."--_Hist. Rom._ i. 170.

We must retrace our steps, as far as the summit of the hill towards the
Palatine, and then turn to the right in order to reach the ugly
obscure-looking _Church of Sta. Prisca_, founded by Pope Eutychianus in
A.D. 280, but entirely modernised by Cardinal Giustiniani from designs
of Carlo Lombardi, who encased its fine granite columns in miserable
stucco pilasters. Over the high altar is a picture by _Passignano_ of
the baptism of the saint, which is said to have taken place in the
ancient crypt beneath the church, where an inverted Corinthian
capital,--a relic of the temple of Diana which once occupied this
site,--is shown as the font in which Sta. Prisca was baptized by St.
Peter.

Opening from the right aisle is a kind of terraced loggia with a
peculiar and beautiful view. In the adjoining vineyard are three arches
of an aqueduct.

     "According to the old tradition, this church stands on the site of
     the house of Aquila and Priscilla, where St. Peter lodged when at
     Rome, and who are the same mentioned by St. Paul as tent-makers;
     and here is shown the font, from which, according to the same
     tradition, St. Peter baptized the first Roman converts to
     Christianity. The altar-piece represents the baptism of Sta.
     Prisca, whose remains being afterwards placed in the church, it has
     since borne her name. According to the legend, she was a Roman
     virgin of illustrious birth, who, at the age of thirteen, was
     exposed in the amphitheatre. A fierce lion was let loose upon her,
     but her youth and innocence disarmed the fury of the savage beast,
     which, instead of tearing her to pieces, humbly licked her
     feet;--to the great consolation of Christians, and the confusion of
     idolaters. Being led back to prison, she was there beheaded.
     Sometimes she is represented with a lion, sometimes with an eagle,
     because it is related that an eagle watched by her body till it was
     laid in the grave; for thus, says the story, was virgin innocence
     honoured by kingly bird as well as by kingly beast."--_Mrs.
     Jameson._

Opposite the door of this church is the entrance of the _Vigna dei
Gesuiti_, a wild and beautiful vineyard occupying the greater part of
this deserted hill, and extending as far as the Porta S. Paolo and the
pyramid of Caius Cestius. Several farm-houses are scattered amongst the
vines and fruit trees. There are beautiful views towards the Alban
mountains, and to the Pseudo-Aventine with its fortress-like convents.
The ground is littered with fragments of marbles and alabaster, which
lie unheeded among the vegetables, relics of unknown edifices which once
existed here. Just where the path in the vineyard descends a slight
declivity towards S. Paolo, are the finest existing remains of the
_Walls of Servius Tullius_,[190] formed of large quadrilateral blocks of
tufa, laid alternately long and cross-ways, as in the Etruscan
buildings. The spot is beautiful, and overgrown by a luxuriance of wild
mignonette and other flowers in the late spring.

Descending to the valley beneath Sta. Prisca, and crossing the lane
which leads from the Via Appia to the Porta S. Paolo, we reach, on the
side of the Pseudo-Aventine, the _Church of S. Sabba_, which is supposed
to mark the site of the Porta Randusculana of the walls of Servius
Tullius. Its position is very striking, and its portico, built in A.D.
1200, is picturesque and curious.

This church is of unknown origin, but is known to have existed in the
time of St. Gregory the Great, and to have been one of the fourteen
privileged abbacies of Rome. Its patron saint was St. Sabbas, an abbot
of Cappadocia, who died at Jerusalem in A.D. 532.

     "The record of the artist Jacobus dei Cosmati, dated the third year
     of Innocent III. (1205), on the lintel of the mosaic-inlaid
     doorway, justifies us in classing this church among monuments of
     the thirteenth century. From its origin a Greek monastery, it was
     assigned by Lucius II., in 1141, to the Benedictines of the Cluny
     rule. An epigraph near the sacristy mentions a rebuilding either of
     the cloisters or church, in 1325, by an abbot Joannes; and in 1465
     the roof was renewed in woodwork by a cardinal, the nephew of Pius
     II.

     "In 1512 the Cistercians of Clairvaux were located here by Julius
     II.; and some years later these buildings were given to the
     Germanic-Hungarian College. Amidst gardens and vineyards,
     approached by a solitary lane between hedgerows, this now deserted
     sanctuary has a certain affecting character in its forlornness.
     Save on Thursdays, when the German students are brought hither by
     their Jesuit professors to enliven the solitude by their sports and
     converse, we might never succeed in finding entrance to this quiet
     retreat of the monks of old.

     "Within the arched porch, through which we pass into an outer
     court, we read an inscription telling that here stood the house and
     oratory (called _cella nova_) of Sta. Sylvia, mother of St. Gregory
     the Great, whence the pious matron used daily to send a porridge of
     legumes to her son, while he inhabited his monastery on the Clivus
     Scauri, or northern ascent of the Cœlian. Within that court
     formerly stood the cloistral buildings, of which little now
     remains. The façade is remarkable for its atrium in two stories:
     the upper with a pillared arcade, probably of the fifteenth
     century; the lower formerly supported by six porphyry columns,
     removed by Pius VI. to adorn the Vatican library, where they still
     stand. The porphyry statuettes of two emperors embracing, supposed
     either an emblem of the concord between the East and West, or the
     intended portraits of the co-reigning Constantine II. and
     Constans--a curious example of sculpture in its deep decline, and
     probably imported by Greek monks from Constantinople--project from
     two of those ancient columns."--_Hemans' Mediæval Art._

The interior of St. Sabba is in the basilica form. It retains some
fragments of inlaid pavements, some handsome inlaid marble panels on
either side of the high altar, and an ancient sarcophagus. The tribune
has rude paintings of the fourteenth century--the Saviour between St.
Andrew and St. Sabbas the Abbot; and below the Crucifixion, the Madonna
and the twelve Apostles. Beneath the tribune is a crypt,--and over its
altar a beautifully ornamented disk with a Greek cross in the centre.

Behind St. Sabbas is another delightful vineyard, but it is difficult to
gain admittance. Here Flaminius Vacca describes the discovery of a
mysterious chamber without door or window, whose pavement was of agate
and cornelian, and whose walls were plated with gilt copper; but of this
nothing remains.[191]

To reach the remaining church of the Aventine, we have to turn to the
Via Appia, and then follow the lane which leads up the hillside from the
Baths of Caracalla to the _Church of Sta. Balbina_, whose picturesque
red brick tower forms so conspicuous a feature, as seen against the long
soft lines of the flat Campagna, in so many Roman views. It was erected
in memory of Sta. Balbina, a virgin martyr (buried in Sta. Maria in
Domenica), who suffered under Hadrian, A.D. 132. It contains the remains
of an altar erected by Cardinal Barbo, in the old basilica of St.
Peter's, a splendid ancient throne of marble inlaid with mosaics, and a
fine tomb of Stefano Sordi, supporting a recumbent figure, and adorned
with mosaics by one of the Cosmati.

Adjoining this church Monsignor de Mérode established a house of
correction for youthful offenders, to avert the moral result of exposing
them to communication with other prisoners.




CHAPTER IX.

THE VIA APPIA.

     The Porta Capena--Baths of Caracalla--Vigna Guidi--SS. Nereo ed
     Achilleo--SS. Sisto e Domenico--S. Cesareo (S. Giovanni in Oleo--S.
     Giovanni in Porta Latina)--Columbarium of the Freedmen of
     Octavia--Tomb of the Scipios--Columbarium of the Vigna Codini--Arch
     of Drusus--Porta S. Sebastiano--Tombs of Geta and Priscilla--Church
     of Domine Quo Vadis (Vigna Marancia)--Catacombs of S. Calixtus, of
     S. Pretextatus, of the Jews, and SS. Nereo ed Achilleo--(Temple of
     Bacchus, _i.e._ S. Urbano--Grotto of Egeria--Temple of Divus
     Rediculus)--Basilica and Catacombs of S. Sebastiano--Circus of
     Maxentius--Temple of Romulus, son of Maxentius--Tomb of Cecilia
     Metella--Castle of the Caetani--Tombs of the Via Appia--Sta. Maria
     Nuova--Roma Vecchia--Casale Rotondo--Tor di Selce, &c.


The _Via Appia_, called Regina Viarum by Statius, was begun B.C. 312, by
the Censor Appius Claudius the Blind, "the most illustrious of the great
Sabine and Patrician race, of whom he was the most remarkable
representative." It was paved throughout, and during the first part of
its course served as a kind of patrician cemetery, being bordered by a
magnificent avenue of family tombs. It began at the Porta Capena, itself
crossed by the Claudian aqueduct, which was due to the same great
benefactor,--

    "Substitit ad veteres arcus madidamque Capenam,"

and was carried by Claudius across the Pontine Marshes as far as Capua,
but afterwards extended to Brundusium.

The site of the Porta Capena, so important as marking the commencement
of the Appian Way, was long a disputed subject. The Roman antiquaries
maintained that it was outside the present Walls, basing their opinion
on the statement of St. Gregory, that the river Almo was in that Regio,
and considering the Almo identical with a small stream which is crossed
in the hollow about half a mile beyond the Porta S. Sebastiano, and
which passes through the Valle Caffarelle, and falls into the Tiber near
S. Paolo. This stream, however, which rises at the foot of the Alban
Hills below the lake, divides into two parts about six miles from Rome,
and its smaller division, after flowing close to the Porta San Giovanni,
recedes again into the country, enters Rome near the Porta Metronia, a
little behind the Church of S. Sisto, and passing through the Circus
Maximus, falls into the Tiber at the Pulchrum Littus, below the temple
of Vesta. Close to the point where this, the smaller branch of the Almo,
crosses the Via San Sebastiano, Mr. J. H. Parker, in 1868--69,
discovered some remains, on the original line of walls, which he has
identified, beyond doubt, as those of the _Porta Capena_, whose position
had been already proved by Ampère and other authorities.

Close to the Porta Capena stood a large group of historical buildings,
of which no trace remains. On the right of the gate was the temple of
Mars:

    "Lux eadem Marti festa est; quem prospicit extra
    Appositum Tectæ Porta Capena viæ."

    _Ovid, Fast._ vi. 191.

It is probably in allusion to this temple that Propertius says:

    "Armaque quum tulero portæ votiva Capenæ,
    Subscribam, salvo grata puella viro."

    _Prop._ iv. _Eleg._ 3.

Martial alludes to a little temple of Hercules near this:

    "Capena grandi porta qua pluit gutta,
    Phrygiæque Matris Almo qua lavat ferrum,
    Horatiorum qua viret sacer campus,
    Et qua pusilli fervet Herculis fanum."

    _Mart._ iii. _Ep._ 47.

Near the gate also stood the tomb of the murdered sister of the
Horatii,[192] with the temples of Honour and Virtue, vowed by Marcellus
and dedicated by his son,[193] and a fountain, dedicated to Mercury:

    "Est aqua Mercurii portæ vicina Capenæ;
      Si juvat expertis credere, numen habet.
    Huc venit incinctus tunicas mercator, et urna
      Purus suffita, quam ferat, haurit aquam.
    Uda fit hinc laurus: lauro sparguntur ab uda
      Omnia, quæ dominos sunt habitura novos."

    _Ovid, Fast._ v. 673.

It was at the Porta Capena that the survivor of the Horatii met his
sister.

     "Horatius went home at the head of the army, bearing his triple
     spoils. But as they were drawing near to the Capenian gate, his
     sister came out to meet him. Now she had been betrothed in marriage
     to one of the Curiatii, and his cloak, which she had wrought with
     her own hands, was borne on the shoulders of her brother; and she
     knew it, and cried aloud, and wept for him she had loved. At the
     sight of her tears Horatius was so wrath that he drew his sword,
     and stabbed his sister to the heart; and he said, 'So perish the
     Roman maiden who shall weep for her country's enemy!'"--_Arnold's
     Hist. of Rome_, i. 16.

Among the many other historical scenes with which the Porta Capena is
connected, we may remember that it was here that Cicero was received in
triumph by the senate and people of Rome, upon his return from
banishment B.C. 57.

       *       *       *       *       *

Two roads lead to the Via S. Sebastiano, one the Via S. Gregorio, which
comes from the Coliseum beneath the arch of Constantine; the other, the
street which comes from the Ghetto, through the Circus Maximus, between
the Palatine and Aventine.

The first gate on the left, after the junction of these roads, is that
of the vineyard of the monks of S. Gregorio, in which the site of the
Porta Capena was found. The remains discovered have been reburied, owing
to the indifference or jealousy of the government; but the vineyard is
worth entering on account of the picturesque view it possesses of the
Palace of the Cæsars.

On the right, a lane leads up the Pseudo-Aventine to the Church of Sta.
Balbina, described Chap. VIII.

On the left, where the Via Appia crosses the brook of the Almo, now
called Maranna, the Via di San Sisto Vecchio leads to the back of the
Cœlian behind S. Stefano Rotondo. Here, in the hollow, in the grounds
of the Villa Mattei, under some picturesque farm-buildings, is a spring
which modern archæology has determined to be the true _Fountain of
Egeria_, where Numa Pompilius is described as having his mysterious
meetings with the nymph Egeria. The locality of this fountain was
verified when that of the Porta Capena was ascertained, as it was
certain that it was in the immediate neighbourhood of that gate, from a
passage in the 3d Satire of Juvenal, which describes, that when he was
waiting at the Porta Capena with Umbritius while the waggon was loading
for his departure to Cumæ, they rambled into the valley of Egeria, and
Umbritius said, after speaking of his motives for leaving Rome, "I could
add other reasons to these, but my beasts summon me to move on, and the
sun is setting. I must be going, for the muleteer has long been
summoning me by the cracking of his whip."

To this valley the oppressed race of the Jews was confined by Domitian,
their furniture consisting of a basket and a wisp of hay:

    "Nunc sacri fontis nemus et delubra locantur
    Judæis, quorum cophinus fœnumque supellex."

    _Juvenal, Sat._ iii. 13.

On the right, are the _Baths of Caracalla_, the largest mass of ruins in
Rome, except the Coliseum; consisting for the most part of huge
shapeless walls of red and orange-coloured brickwork, framing vast
strips of blue sky, and tufted with shrubs and flowers. These baths,
which could accommodate 1600 bathers at once, were begun in A.D. 212, by
Caracalla, continued by Heliogabalus, and finished under Alexander
Severus. They covered a space of 2,625,000 square yards--a size which
made Ammianus Marcellinus say that the Roman baths were like
provinces--and they were supplied with water by the Antonine Aqueduct,
which was brought hither for that especial purpose from the Claudian,
over the Arch of Drusus.

Antiquaries have amused themselves by identifying different chambers, to
which, with considerable uncertainty, the names of Calidarium,
Laconicum, Tepidarium, Frigidarium, &c., have been affixed.

The habits of luxury and inertion which were introduced with the
magnificent baths of the emperors were among the principal causes of the
decline and fall of Rome. Thousands of the Roman youth frittered away
their hours in these magnificent halls, which were provided with
everything which could gratify the senses. Poets were wont to recite
their verses to those who were reclining in the baths.

                         ----"In medio qui
    Scripta foro recitent, sunt multi,--quique lavantes:
    Suave locus voci resonat conclusus."

    _Horace, Sat._ i. 4.

     "These _Thermæ_ of Caracalla, which were one mile in circumference,
     and open at stated hours for the indiscriminate service of the
     senators and the people, contained above sixteen hundred seats of
     marble. The walls of the lofty apartments were covered with curious
     mosaics that imitated the art of the pencil in elegance of design
     and in the variety of their colours. The Egyptian granite was
     beautifully encrusted with the precious green marble of Numidia.
     The perpetual stream of hot water was poured into the capacious
     basons through so many wide mouths of bright and massy silver; and
     the meanest Roman could purchase, with a small copper coin, the
     daily enjoyment of a scene of pomp and luxury which might excite
     the envy of the kings of Asia. From these stately palaces issued
     forth a swarm of dirty and ragged plebeians, without shoes and
     without mantle; who loitered away whole days in the street or
     Forum, to hear news and to hold disputes; who dissipated, in
     extravagant gaming, the miserable pittance of their wives and
     children; and spent the hours of the night in the indulgence of
     gross and vulgar sensuality."--_Gibbon._

In the first great hall was found, in 1824, the immense mosaic pavement
of the pugilists, now in the Lateran museum. Endless works of art have
been discovered here from time to time, among them the best of the
Farnese collection of statues,--the Bull, the Hercules, and the
Flora,--which were dug up in 1534, when Paul III. carried off all the
still remaining marble decorations of the baths to use for the Farnese
Palace. The last of the pillars to be removed from hence is that which
supports the statue of Justice in the Piazza Sta. Trinità at Florence.

A winding stair leads to the top of the walls, which are worth
ascending, as well for the idea which you there receive of the vast size
of the ruins, as for the lovely views of the Campagna, which are
obtained between the bushes of lentiscus and phillyrea with which they
are fringed. It was seated on these walls that Shelley wrote his
"Prometheus Unbound."

     "This poem was chiefly written upon the mountainous ruins of the
     baths of Caracalla, among the flowery glades and thickets of
     odoriferous blossoming trees which are extended in ever-winding
     labyrinths upon its immense platforms and dizzy arches suspended in
     the air. The bright blue sky of Rome, and the effect of the
     vigorous awakening spring in that divinest climate, and the new
     life with which it drenches the spirits even to intoxication, were
     the inspiration of the drama."--_Preface to the Prometheus._

     "Maintenant les murailles sont nues, sauf quelques fragments de
     chapiteaux oubliés par la destruction; mais elles conservent ce que
     seules des mains de géant pourraient leur ôter, leur masse
     écrasante, la grandeur de leurs aspects, la sublimité de leurs
     ruines. On ne regrette rien quand on contemple ces énormes et
     pittoresque débris, baignés à midi par une ardente lumière ou se
     remplissant d'ombres à la tombée de la nuit, s'élançant, à une
     immense hauteur vers un ciel éblouissant, ou se dressant, mornes et
     mélancoliques, sous un ciel grisâtre,--ou bien, lorsque, montant
     sur la plate-forme inégale, crevassée, couverte d'arbustes et
     tapissée de gazon, on voit, comme du haut d'une colline, d'un côté
     se dérouler la campagne romaine et le merveilleux horizon de
     montagnes qui la termine, de l'autre apparaître, ainsi qu'une
     montagne de plus, le dôme de Saint-Pierre, la seule des œuvres
     d'homme qui ait quelque chose de la grandeur des œuvres de
     Dieu."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 286.

The name of the lane which leads to the baths (_Via all' Antoniana_)
recalls the fact that, "with a vanity which seems like mockery,
Caracalla dared to bear the name of Antoninus," which was always dear
to the Roman people.

Passing under the wall of the government-garden for raising shrubs for
the public walks, a door on the left of the Via Appia, with a sculptured
marble frieze above it, is that of Guidi, the antiquity vendor, who has
a small museum here of splendid fragments of marble and alabaster for
sale. Opposite is the Vigna of Signor Guidi, who has unearthed a
splendid mosaic pavement of Tritons riding on dolphins, and who has here
also a collection of antique fragments to be disposed of.

On the right, is _SS. Nereo ed Achilleo_, a most interesting little
church. The tradition runs that St. Peter, going to execution, let drop
here one of the bandages of his wounds, and that the spot was marked by
the early Christians with an oratory, which bore the name of Fasciola.
Nereus and Achilles, eunuchs in the service of Clemens Flavius and
Flavia Domitilla (members of the imperial family exiled to Pontia under
Diocletian), having suffered martyrdom at Terracina, their bodies were
transported here in 524 by John I., when the oratory was enlarged into a
church, which was restored under Leo III., in 795. The church was
rebuilt in the sixteenth century, by Cardinal Baronius, who took his
title from hence. In his work he desired that the ancient basilica
character should be carefully carried out, and all the ancient ornaments
of the church were preserved and re-erected. His anxiety that his
successors should not meddle with or injure these objects of antiquity
is shown by, the inscription on a marble slab in the tribune:

     "Presbyter, Card. Successor quisquis fueris, rogo te, per gloriam
     Dei, et per merita horum martyrum, nihil demito, nihil minuito, nec
     mutato; restitutam antiquitatem pie servato; sic Deus martyrum
     suorum precibus semper adjuvet!"

The chancel is raised and surrounded by an inlaid marble screen. Instead
of ambones there are two plain marble reading-desks for the epistle and
gospel. The altar is inlaid, and has "transennæ," or a marble grating,
through which the tomb of the saints Nereus and Achilles may be seen,
and through which the faithful might pass their handkerchiefs to touch
it. Behind, in the semicircular choir, is an ancient episcopal throne,
supported by lions, and ending in a gothic gable. Upon it part of the
twenty-eighth homily of St. Gregory was engraved by Baronius, under the
impression that it was delivered thence,--though it was really first
read in the catacomb, whence the bodies of the saints were not yet
removed. All these decorations are of the restoration under Leo III., in
the eighth century. Of the same period are the mosaics on the arch of
the tribune (partly painted over in later times), representing, in the
centre, the Transfiguration (the earliest instance of the subject being
treated in art), with the Annunciation on one side, and the Madonna and
Child attended by angels on the other.

It is worth while remarking that when the relics of Flavia Domitilla
(who was niece of Vespasian) and of Nereus and Achilles were brought
hither from the catacomb on the Via Ardeatina, which bears the name of
the latter, they were first escorted in triumph to the Capitol, and made
to pass under the imperial arches which bore as inscriptions: "The
senate and the Roman people to Sta. Flavia Domitilla, for having brought
more honour to Rome by her death than her illustrious relations by
their works." ... "To Sta. Flavia Domitilla, and to the Saints Nereus
and Achilles, the excellent citizens who gained peace for the Christian
republic at the price of their blood."

Opposite, on the left, is a courtyard leading to the _Church of S.
Sisto_, with its celebrated convent, long deserted on account of
malaria.

It was here that St. Dominic first resided in Rome, and collected one
hundred monks under his rule, before he was removed to Sta. Sabina by
Honorius III. After he went to the Aventine, it was decided to utilize
this convent by collecting here the various Dominican nuns, who had been
living hitherto under very lax discipline, and allowed to leave their
convents, and reside in their own families. The nuns of Sta. Maria in
Trastevere resisted the order, and only consented to remove on condition
of bringing with them a Madonna picture attributed to St. Luke, hoping
that the Trasteverini would refuse to part with their most cherished
treasure. St. Dominic obviated the difficulty by going to fetch the
picture himself at night, attended by two cardinals, and a bare-footed,
torch-bearing multitude.

     "On Ash-Wednesday, 1218, the abbess and some of her nuns went to
     take possession of their new monastery, and being in the
     chapter-house with St. Dominic and Cardinal Stefano di Fossa Nuova,
     suddenly there came in one tearing his hair, and making great
     outcries, for the young Lord Napoleon Orsini, nephew of the
     cardinal, had been thrown from his horse, and killed on the spot.
     The cardinal fell speechless into the arms of Dominic, and the
     women and others who were present were filled with grief and
     horror. They brought the body of the youth into the chapter-house,
     and laid it before the altar; and Dominic, having prayed, turned to
     it, saying, 'O adolescens Napoleo, in nomine Domini nostri Jesu
     Christi tibi dico surge,' and thereupon he arose sound and whole,
     to the unspeakable wonder of all present."--_Jameson's Monastic
     Orders._

After being convinced by this miracle of the divine mission of St.
Dominic, forty nuns settled at S. Sisto, promising never more to cross
its threshold.[194]

There is very little remaining of the ancient S. Sisto, except the
campanile, which is of 1500. But the vaulted _Chapter-House_, now
dedicated to St. Dominic, is well worth visiting. It has recently been
covered with frescoes by the Padre Besson,--himself a Dominican
monk,--who received his commission from Father Mullooly, Prior of S.
Clemente, the Irish Dominican convent, to which S. Sisto is now annexed.
The three principal frescoes represent three miracles of St. Dominic--in
each case of raising from the dead. One represents the resuscitation of
a mason of the new monastery, who had fallen from a scaffold; another,
that of a child in a wild and beautiful Italian landscape; the third,
the restoration of Napoleone Orsini on this spot,--the mesmeric
upspringing of the lifeless youth being most powerfully represented. The
whole chapel is highly picturesque, and effective in colour. Of two
inscriptions, one commemorates the raising of Orsini; the other, a
prophecy of St. Dominic, as to the evil end of two monks who deserted
their convent.

Just beyond S. Sisto, where the Via della Ferratella branches off on the
left to the Lateran, stands a small ædiculum, or _Shrine of the Lares_,
with brick niches for statues.

Further, on the right, standing back from a kind of piazza, adorned with
an ancient granite column, is the _Church of S. Cesareo_, which already
existed in the time of St. Gregory the Great, but was modernized under
Clement VII. (1523--34). Its interior retains many of its ancient
features. The pulpit is one of the most exquisite specimens of church
decoration in Rome, and is covered with the most delicate sculpture,
interspersed with mosaic; the emblems of the Evangelists are introduced
in the carving of the panels. The high altar is richly encrusted with
mosaics, probably by the Cosmati family; tiny owls form part of the
decorations of the capitals of its pillars. Beneath is a "confession,"
where two angels are drawing curtains over the tomb of the saint. The
chancel has an inlaid marble screen. In the tribune is an ancient
episcopal throne, once richly ornamented with mosaics.

In this church St. Sergius was elected to the papal throne, in 687; and
here, also, an Abbot of SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio was elected in 1145,
as Eugenius III., and was immediately afterwards forced by the opposing
senate to fly to Montecelli, and then to the Abbey of Farfa, where his
consecration took place.

Part of the palace of the titular cardinal of S. Cesareo remains in the
adjoining garden, with an interesting loggia of _c._ 1200.

In this neighbourhood was the _Piscina Publica_, which gave a name to
the twelfth Region of the city. It was used for learning to swim, but
all trace of it had disappeared before the time of Festus, whose date is
uncertain, but who lived before the end of the fourth century--

    "In thermas fugio: sonas ad aurem,
    Piscinam peto: non licet natare."

    _Martial_, iii. _Ep._ 44.

       *       *       *       *       *

Here a lane turns on the left, towards the ancient _Porta Latina_
(through which the Via Latina led to Capua), now closed.

In front of the gate is a little chapel, of the sixteenth century,
called _S. Giovanni in Oleo_, decorated with indifferent frescoes, on
the spot where St. John is said to have been thrown into a cauldron of
boiling oil (under Domitian), from which "he came forth as from a
refreshing bath." It is the suffering in the burning oil which gave St.
John the palm of a martyr, with which he is often represented in art.
The festival of "St. John ante Port. Lat." (May 6) is preserved in the
English Church Calendar.

On the left, is the _Church of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina_, built in
1190 by Celestine III.

In spite of many modernizations, the last by Cardinal Rasponi in 1685,
this building retains externally more of its ancient character than most
Roman churches, in its fine campanile and the old brick walls of the
nave and apse, decorated with terra-cotta friezes. The portico is
entered by a narrow arch resting on two granite columns. The
entrance-door and the altar have the peculiar mosaic ribbon decoration
of the Cosmati, of 1190. The frescoes are all modern; in the tribune,
are the deluge and the baptism of Christ,--the type and antitype. Of the
ten columns, eight are simple and of granite, two are fluted and of
porta-santa, showing that they were not made for the church, but removed
from some pagan building--probably from the temple of Ceres and
Proserpine. Near the entrance is a very picturesque marble _Well_, like
those so common at Venice and Padua, decorated with an intricate pattern
of rich carving.

In the opposite vineyard, behind the chapel of the Oleo, very
picturesquely situated under the Aurelian Wall, is the _Columbarium of
the Freedmen of Octavia_. A columbarium was a tomb containing a number
of cinerary urns in niches like pigeon-holes, whence the name. Many
columbaria were held in common by a great number of persons, and the
niches could be obtained by purchase or inheritance; in other cases, the
heads of the great houses possessed whole columbaria for their families
and their slaves. In the present instance the columbarium is more than
usually decorated, and, though much smaller, it is far more worth seeing
than the columbaria which it is the custom to visit immediately upon the
Appian Way. One of the cippi, above the staircase, is beautifully
decorated with shells and mosaic. Below, is a chamber, whose vault is
delicately painted with vines and little Bacchi gathering in the
vintage. Round the walls are arranged the urns, some of them in the form
of temples, and very beautifully designed, others merely pots sunk into
the wall, with conical lids, like pipkins let into a kitchen-range. A
beautiful vase of lapis-lazuli found here has been transferred to the
Vatican.

       *       *       *       *       *

Proceeding along the Via Appia, on the left by a tall cypress (No. 13)
is the entrance to _the Tomb of the Scipios_, a small catacomb in the
tufa rock, discovered in 1780, from which the famous sarcophagus of L.
Scipio Barbatus, and a bust of the poet Ennius,[195] were removed to the
Vatican by Pius VII.

    "The Scipios' tomb contains no ashes now;
    The very sepulchres lie tenantless
    Of their heroic dwellers."

    _Childe Harold._

The contadino at the neighbouring farmhouse provides lights, with which
one can visit a labyrinth of steep narrow passages, some of which still
retain inscribed sepulchral slabs. Among the Scipios whose tombs have
been discovered here were Lucius Scipio Barbatus and his son, the
conqueror of Corsica; Aula Cornelia wife of Cneius Scipio Hispanis; a
son of Scipio Africanus; Lucius Cornelius son of Scipio Asiaticus;
Cornelius Scipio Hispanis and his son Lucius Cornelius. At the further
end of these passages, and now, like them, subterranean, may be seen the
pediment and arched entrance of the tomb towards the Via Latina. "It is
uncertain whether Scipio Africanus was buried at Liternum or in the
family tomb. In the time of Livy monuments to him were extant in both
places."[196]

There is a beautiful view towards Rome from the vineyard above the tomb.

A little further on, left (No. 14), is the entrance of the _Vigna
Codini_ (a private garden with an extortionate custode), containing
three interesting _Columbaria_. Two of these are large square vaults,
supported by a central pillar, which, as well as the walls, is
perforated by niches for urns. The third has three vaulted passages.

We now reach the _Arch of Drusus_. On its summit are the remains of the
aqueduct by which Caracalla carried water to his baths. The arch once
supported an equestrian statue of Drusus, two trophies, and a seated
female figure representing Germany.

The Arch of Drusus was decreed by the senate in honour of the second son
of the empress Livia, by her first husband, Tiberius Nero. He was father
of Germanicus and the emperor Claudius, and brother of Tiberius. He died
during a campaign on the Rhine, B.C. 9, and was brought back to be
buried by his step-father Augustus in his own mausoleum. His virtues are
attested in a poem ascribed to Pedo Albinovanus.

     "This arch, 'Marmoreum arcum cum tropæo Appia Via' (Suet. I), is,
     with the exception of the Pantheon, the most perfect existing
     monument of Augustan architecture. It is heavy, plain, and narrow,
     with all the dignified but stern simplicity which belongs to the
     character of its age."--_Merivale._

     "It is hard for one who loves the very stones of Rome, to pass over
     all the thoughts which arise in his mind, as he thinks of the great
     Apostle treading the rude and massive pavement of the Appian Way,
     and passing under that Arch of Drusus at the Porta S. Sebastiano,
     toiling up the Capitoline Hill past the Tabularium of the Capitol,
     dwelling in his hired house in the Via Lata or elsewhere,
     imprisoned in those painted caves in the Prætorian Camp, and at
     last pouring out his blood for Christ at the Tre Fontane, on the
     road to Ostia."--_Dean Alford's Study of the New Testament_, p.
     335.

_The Porta San Sebastiano_ has two fine semicircular towers of the
Aurelian wall, resting on a basement of marble blocks, probably
plundered from the tombs on the Via Appia. Under the arch is a gothic
inscription relating to the repulse of some unknown invaders.

It was here that the senate and people of Rome received in state the
last triumphant procession which has entered the city by the Via Appia,
that of Marc-Antonio Colonna, after the victory of Lepanto in 1571. As
in the processions of the old Roman generals, the children of the
conquered prince were forced to adorn the triumph of the victor, who
rode into Rome attended by all the Roman nobles, "in abito di grande
formalità,"[197] preceded by the standard of the fleet.

From the gate, the _Clivus Martis_ (crossed by the railway to Civita
Vecchia) descends into the valley of the Almo, where antiquaries
formerly placed the Porta Capena. On the hillside stood a Temple of
Mars, vowed in the Gallic war, and dedicated by T. Quinctius the
"duumvir sacris faciundis," in B.C. 387. No remains exist of this
temple. It was "approached from the Via Capena by a portico, which must
have rivalled in length the celebrated portico at Bologna extending to
the church of the Madonna di S. Luca."[198] Near this, a temple was
erected to Tempestas in B.C. 260, by L. Cornelius Scipio, to commemorate
the narrow escape of his fleet from shipwreck off the coast of
Sardinia.[199] Near this, also, the poet Terence owned a small estate of
twenty acres, presented to him by his friend Scipio Emilianus.[200]
After crossing the brook, we pass between two conspicuous tombs. That on
the left is the _Tomb of Geta_, son of Septimius Severus, the murdered
brother of Caracalla; that on the right is the _Tomb of Priscilla_, wife
of Abascantius, a favourite freedman of Domitian.

    "Est locus, ante urbem, qua primum nascitur ingens
    Appia, quaque Italo gemitus Almone Cybele
    Ponit, et Idæos jam non reminiscitur amnes.
    Hic te Sidonio velatam molliter ostro
    Eximius conjux (nec enim fumantia busta
    Clamoremque rogi potuit perferre), beato
    Composuit, Priscilla, toro."

    _Statius_, lib. v. _Sylv._ i. 222.

Just beyond this, the _Via Ardeatina_ branches off on the right,
passing, after about two miles, the picturesque _Vigna Marancia_, a
pleasant spot, with fine old pines and cypresses.

Where the roads divide, is the _Church of Domine Quo Vadis_, containing
a copy of the celebrated footprint said to have been left here by Our
Saviour: the original being removed to S. Sebastiano.

     "After the burning of Rome, Nero threw upon the Christians the
     accusation of having fired the city. This was the origin of the
     first persecution, in which many perished by terrible and hitherto
     unheard-of deaths. The Christian converts besought Peter not to
     expose his life. As he fled along the Appian Way, about two miles
     from the gates, he was met by a vision of our Saviour travelling
     towards the city. Struck with amazement, he exclaimed, 'Lord,
     whither goest thou?' to which the Saviour, looking upon him with a
     mild sadness, replied, 'I go to Rome to be crucified a second
     time,' and vanished. Peter, taking this as a sign that he was to
     submit himself to the sufferings prepared for him, immediately
     turned back to the city.[201] Michael Angelo's famous statue, now
     in the Church of Sta. Maria sopra Minerva, is supposed to represent
     Christ as he appeared to St. Peter on this occasion. A cast or copy
     of it is in the little church of 'Domine, quo vadis?'

     "It is surprising that this most beautiful, picturesque, and, to my
     fancy, sublime legend, has been so seldom treated; and never, as it
     seems to me, in a manner worthy of its capabilities and high
     significance. It is seldom that a story can be told by two figures,
     and these two figures placed in such grand and dramatic
     contrast;--Christ in His serene majesty, and radiant with all the
     joy of beatitude, yet with an expression of gentle reproach; the
     Apostle at his feet arrested in his flight, amazed, and yet filled
     with a trembling joy; and for the background the wide Campagna, or
     towering walls of imperial Rome."--_Mrs. Jameson._[202]

Beyond the church is a second "Bivium," or cross-ways, where a lane on
the left leads up the Valle Caffarelle. Here, feeling an uncertainty
_which_ was the crossing where Our Saviour appeared to St. Peter, the
English Cardinal Pole erected a second tiny chapel of "Domine Quo
Vadis," which remains to this day.

On the left, is the _Columbarium of the Freedmen of Augustus and Livia_,
divided into three chambers, but despoiled of its adornments. Other
Columbaria near this are assigned to the Volusii, and the Cæcilii.

Over the wall on the left of the Via Appia now hangs in profusion the
rare yellow-berried ivy. Many curious plants are to be found on these
old Roman walls. Their commonest parasite, the Pellitory--"_herba
parietina_," calls to mind the nickname given to the Emperor Trajan in
derision of his passion for inscribing his name upon the walls of Roman
buildings which he had merely restored, as if he were their
founder;[203] a passion in which the popes have since largely
participated.

We now reach (on the right) the entrance of the _Catacombs of St.
Calixtus_.

     (The Catacombs (except those at S. Sebastiano) can only be visited
     in company of a guide. For most of the Catacombs it is necessary to
     obtain a _permesso_ at the office of the Cardinal-Vicar, 70 Via
     della Scrofa, before 12 A.M.; upon which a day (generally Sunday)
     is fixed, which must be adhered to. The Catacombs of St. Calixtus
     are sometimes superficially shown without a special _permesso_. It
     may be well for the visitor to provide himself with
     tapers--_cerini._)

All descriptions of dangers attending a visit to the Catacombs, if
accompanied by a guide, and provided with "cerini," are quite imaginary.
Neither does the visitor ever suffer from cold; the temperature of the
Catacombs is mild and warm; the vaults are almost always dry, and the
air pure.

     "The Roman Catacombs--a name consecrated by long usage, but having
     no etymological meaning, and not a very determinate geographical
     one--are a vast labyrinth of galleries excavated in the bowels of
     the earth in the hills around the Eternal City; not in the hills on
     which the city itself was built, but in those beyond the walls.
     Their extent is enormous; not as to the amount of superficial soil
     which they underlie, for they rarely, if ever, pass beyond the
     third mile-stone from the city, but in the actual length of their
     galleries; for these are often excavated on various levels, or
     _piani_, three, four, or even five--one above the other; and they
     cross and recross one another, sometimes at short intervals, on
     each of these levels; so that, on the whole, there are certainly
     not less than 350 miles of them; that is to say, if stretched out
     in one continuous line, they would extend the whole length of Italy
     itself. The galleries are from two to four feet in width, and vary
     in height according to the nature of the rock in which they are
     dug. The walls on both sides are pierced with horizontal niches,
     like shelves in a bookcase or berths in a steamer, and every niche
     once contained one or more dead bodies. At various intervals this
     succession of shelves is interrupted for a moment, that room may be
     made for a doorway opening into a small chamber; and the walls of
     these chambers are generally pierced with graves in the same way as
     the galleries.

     "These vast excavations once formed the ancient Christian
     cemeteries of Rome; they were begun in apostolic times, and
     continued to be used as burial-places of the faithful till the
     capture of the city by Alaric in the year 410. In the third
     century, the Roman Church numbered twenty-five or twenty-six of
     them, corresponding to the number of her titles, or parishes,
     within the city; and besides these, there are about twenty others,
     of smaller dimensions, isolated monuments of special martyrs, or
     belonging to this or that private family. Originally they all
     belonged to private families or individuals, the villas or gardens
     in which they were dug being the property of wealthy citizens who
     had embraced the faith of Christ, and devoted of their substance to
     His service. Hence their most ancient titles were taken merely from
     the names of their lawful owners, many of which still survive.
     Lucina, for example, who lived in the days of the Apostles, and
     others of the same family, or at least of the same name, who lived
     at various periods in the next two centuries; Priscilla, also a
     contemporary of the Apostles; Flavia Domitilla, niece of Vespasian;
     Commodilla, whose property lay on the Via Ostiensis; Cyriaca, on
     the Via Tiburtina; Pretextatus, on the Via Appia; Pontiano, on the
     Via Portuensis; and the Jordani, Maximus and Thraso, all on the Via
     Salaria Nova. These names are still attached to the various
     catacombs, because they were originally begun upon the land of
     those who bore them. Other catacombs are known by the names of
     those who presided over their formation, as that of St. Calixtus,
     on the Via Appia; or St. Mark, on the Via Ardeatina; or of the
     principal martyrs who were buried in them, as SS. Hermes, Basilla,
     Protus, and Hyacinthus, on the Via Salaria Vetus; or, lastly, by
     some peculiarity of their position, as _ad Catacumbas_ on the Via
     Appia, and _ad duas Lauros_ on the Via Labicana.

     "It has always been agreed among men of learning who have had an
     opportunity of examining these excavations, that they were used
     exclusively by the Christians as places of burial and of holding
     religious assemblies. Modern research has now placed it beyond a
     doubt, that they were also originally designed for this purpose and
     for no other: that they were not deserted sand-pits (_arenariæ_) or
     quarries, adapted to Christian uses, but a development, with
     important modifications, of a form of sepulchre not altogether
     unknown even among the heathen families of Rome, and in common use
     among the Jews both in Rome and elsewhere.

     "At first, the work of making the Catacombs was done openly,
     without let or hindrance, by the Christians; the entrances to them
     were public on the high-road or on the hill-side, and the galleries
     and chambers were freely decorated with paintings of a sacred
     character. But early in the third century, it became necessary to
     withdraw them as much as possible from the public eye; new and
     often difficult entrances were now effected in the recesses of
     deserted _arenariæ_, and even the liberty of Christian art was
     cramped and fettered, lest what was holy should fall under the
     profane gaze of the unbaptized.

     "Each of these burial-places was called in ancient times either
     _hypogæum_, i. e. generically, a subterranean place, or
     _cœmeterium_, a sleeping-place, a new name of Christian origin
     which the pagans could only repeat, probably without understanding;
     sometimes also _martyrium_, or _confessio_ (its Latin equivalent),
     to signify that it was the burial-place of martyrs or confessors of
     the faith. An ordinary grave was called _locus_ or _loculus_, if it
     contained a single body; or _bisomum_, _trisomum_, or
     _quadrisomum_, if it contained two, three, or four. The graves were
     dug by _fossores_, and burial in them was called _depositio_. The
     galleries do not seem to have had any specific name; but the
     chambers were called _cubicula_. In most of these chambers, and
     sometimes also in the galleries themselves, one or more tombs are
     to be seen of a more elaborate kind; a long oblong _chasse_, like a
     sarcophagus, either hollowed out in the rock or built up of
     masonry, and closed by a heavy slab of marble lying horizontally on
     the top. The niche over tombs of this kind was of the same length
     as the grave, and generally vaulted in a semicircular form, whence
     they were called _arcosolia_. Sometimes, however, the niche
     retained the rectangular form, in which case there was no special
     name for it, but for distinction's sake we may be allowed to call
     it a table-tomb. Those of the _arcosolia_, which were also the tomb
     of martyrs, were used on the anniversaries of their deaths
     (_Natalitia_, or birthdays) as altars whereon the holy mysteries
     were celebrated; hence, whilst some of the _cubicula_ were only
     family-vaults, others were chapels, or places of public assembly.
     It is probable that the holy mysteries were celebrated also in the
     private vaults, on the anniversaries of the deaths of their
     occupants; and each one was sufficiently large in itself for use on
     these private occasions; but in order that as many as possible
     might assist at the public celebrations, two, three, or even four
     of the _cubicula_ were often made close together, all receiving
     light and air through one shaft or air-hole (_luminare_), pierced
     through the superincumbent soil up to the open air. In this way as
     many as a hundred persons might be collected in some parts of the
     catacombs to assist at the same act of public worship; whilst a
     still larger number might have been dispersed in the _cubicula_ of
     neighbouring galleries, and received there the bread of life
     brought to them by the assistant priests and deacons. Indications
     of this arrangement are not only to be found in ancient
     ecclesiastical writings; they may still be seen in the very walls
     of the catacombs themselves, episcopal chairs, chairs for the
     presiding deacon or deaconess, and benches for the faithful, having
     formed part of the original design when the chambers were hewn out
     of the living rock, and still remaining where they were first
     made."--_Roma Sotterranea, Northcote and Brownlow._

     "To our classic associations, Rome was still, under Trajan and the
     Antonines, the city of the Cæsars, the metropolis of pagan
     idolatry--in the pages of her poets and historians we still linger
     among the triumphs of the Capitol, the shows of the Coliseum; or if
     we read of a Christian being dragged before the tribunal, or
     exposed to the beasts, we think of him as one of a scattered
     community, few in number, spiritless in action, and politically
     insignificant. But all this while there was living beneath the
     visible an invisible Rome--a population unheeded,
     unreckoned--thought of vaguely, vaguely spoken of, and with the
     familiarity and indifference that men feel who live on a
     volcano--yet a population strong-hearted, of quick impulses, nerved
     alike to suffer or to die, and in number, resolution, and physical
     force sufficient to have hurled their oppressors from the throne of
     the world, had they not deemed it their duty to kiss the rod, to
     love their enemies, to bless those that cursed them, and to submit,
     for their Redeemer's sake, to the 'powers that be.' Here, in these
     'dens and caves of the earth,' they lived; here they died--a
     'spectacle' in their lifetime 'to men and angels,' and in their
     death a 'triumph' to mankind--a triumph of which the echoes still
     float around the walls of Rome, and over the desolate Campagna,
     while those that once thrilled the Capitol are silenced, and the
     walls that returned them have long since crumbled into
     dust."--_Lord Lindsay' s Christian Art_, i. 4.

The name Catacombs is modern, having originally been only applied to S.
Sebastiano "ad catacumbas." The early Christians called their
burial-places by the Greek name _Cœmeteria_, sleeping-places. Almost
all the catacombs are between the first and third mile-stones from the
Aurelian wall, to which point the city extended before the wall itself
was built. This was in obedience to the Roman law which forbade burial
within the precincts of the city.

The fact that the Christians were always anxious not to burn their dead,
but to bury them, in these rock-hewn sepulchres, was probably owing to
the remembrance that our Lord was himself laid "in a new tomb hewn out
of the rock," and perhaps also for this reason the bodies were wrapt in
fine linen cloths, and buried with precious spices, of which remains
have been found in the tombs.

The Catacomb which is known as St. Calixtus, is composed of a number of
catacombs, once distinct, but now joined together. Such were those of
Sta. Lucina; of Anatolia, daughter of the consul Æmilianus; and of Sta.
Soteris, "a virgin of the family to which St. Ambrose belonged in a
later generation," and who was buried "in cœmeterio suo," A.D. 304.
The passages of these catacombs were gradually united with those which
originally belonged to the cemetery of Calixtus.

The high mass of ruin which meets our eyes on first entering the
vineyard of St. Calixtus, is a remnant of the tomb of the Cæcilii, of
which family a number of epitaphs have been found. Beyond this is
another ruin, supposed by Marangoni to have been the basilica which St.
Damasus provided for his own burial and that of his mother and sister;
which Padre Marchi believed to be the church of St. Mark and St.
Marcellinus;--but which De Rossi identifies with the _cella memoriæ_,
sometimes called of St. Sistus, sometimes of St. Cecilia (because built
immediately over the graves of those martyrs), by St. Fabian in the
third century.[204]

Descending into the Catacomb by an ancient staircase restored, we reach
(passing a sepulchral cubiculum on the right) the _Chapel of the Popes_,
a place of burial and of worship of the third or fourth century, (as it
was restored after its discovery in 1854) but still retaining remains
of the marble slabs with which it was faced by Sixtus III. in the fifth
century, and of marble columns, &c. with which it was adorned by St. Leo
III. (795--816). The walls are lined with graves of the earliest popes,
many of them martyrs--viz. St. Zephyrinus, (202--211); St Pontianus, who
died in banishment in Sardinia, (231--236); St. Anteros, martyred under
Maximian in the second month of his pontificate, (236); St. Fabian,
martyred under Decius, (236--250); St. Lucius, martyred under Valerian,
(253--255); St. Stephen I., martyred in his episcopal chair under
Valerian, (255--257); St. Sixtus II., martyred in the catacombs of St.
Pretextatus, (257--260); St. Dionysius, (260--271); St. Eutychianus,
martyr, (275--283); and St. Caius, (284--296). Of these, the gravestones
of Anteros, Fabian, Lucius, and Eutychianus, have been discovered, with
inscriptions in Greek, which is acknowledged to have been the earliest
language of the Church,--in which St. Paul and St. James wrote, and in
which the proceedings of the first twelve Councils were carried on.[205]
Though no inscriptions have been found relating to the other popes
mentioned, they are known to have been buried here from the earliest
authorities.

Over the site of the altar is one of the beautifully-cut inscriptions of
Pope St. Damasus (366--384), "whose labour of love it was to rediscover
the tombs which had been blocked up for concealment under Diocletian, to
remove the earth, widen the passages, adorn the sepulchral chambers with
marble, and support the friable tufa walls with arches of brick and
stone."[206]

    "Hic congesta jacet quæris si turba Piorum
    Corpora Sanctorum retinent veneranda sepulchra,
    Sublimes animas rapuit sibi Regia Cœli:
    Hic comites Xysti portant qui ex hoste tropæa;
    Hic numerus procerum servat qui altaria Christi;
    Hic positus longâ vixit qui in pace Sacerdos;
    Hic Confessores sancti quos Græcia misit;
    Hic juvenes, puerique, senes, castique nepotes,
    Quis mage virgineum placuit retinere pudorem.
    Hic fateor Damasus volui mea condere membra,
    Sed cineres timui sanctos vexare Piorum.

    "Here, if you would know, lie heaped together a number of the holy,
    These honoured sepulchres inclose the bodies of the saints,
    Their lofty souls the palace of heaven has received.
    Here lie the companions of Xystus, who bear away the trophies
     from the enemy;
    Here a tribe of the elders which guards the altars of Christ;
    Here is buried the priest who lived long in peace;[207]
    Here the holy confessors who came from Greece;[208]
    Here lie youths and boys, old men and their chaste descendants,
    Who kept their virginity undefiled.
    Here I Damasus wished to have laid my limbs,
    But feared to disturb the holy ashes of the saints."[209]

From this chapel we enter the _Cubiculum of Sta. Cecilia_, where the
body of the saint was buried by her friend Urban after her martyrdom in
her own house in the Trastevere (see Chap. XVII.) A.D. 224, and where it
was discovered in 820 by Pope Paschal I. (to whom its resting-place had
been revealed in a dream), "fresh and perfect as when it was first laid
in the tomb, and clad in rich garments mixed with gold, with linen
cloths stained with blood rolled up at her feet, lying in a cypress
coffin."[210]

Close to the entrance of the cubiculum, upon the wall, is a painting of
Cecilia, "a woman richly attired, and adorned with bracelets and
necklaces." Near it is a niche for the lamp which burnt before the
shrine, at the back of which is a large head of Our Saviour, "of the
Byzantine type, and with rays of glory behind it in the form of a Greek
cross. Side by side with this, but on the flat surface of the wall, is a
figure of St. Urban (the friend of Cecilia, who laid her body here) in
full pontifical robes, with his name inscribed." Higher on the wall are
figures of three saints, "executed apparently in the fourth, or perhaps
even the fifth century"--Polycamus, an unknown martyr, with a palm
branch; Sebastianus; and Curinus, a bishop (Quirinus bishop of
Siscia--buried at St. Sebastian). In the pavement is a gravestone of
Septimus Pretextatus Cæcilianus, "a servant of God, who lived worthy for
three-and-thirty years;"--considered important as suggesting a
connection between the family of Cecilia and that of St. Prætextatus, in
whose catacomb on the other side of the Appian Way her husband and
brother-in-law were buried, and where her friend St. Urban was
concealed.

These two chapels are the only ones which it is necessary to dwell upon
here in detail. The rest of the catacomb is shown in varying order, and
explained in different ways. Three points are of historic interest. 1.
The roof-shaped tomb of Pope St. Melchiades, who lived long in peace and
died A.D. 313. 2. The Cubiculum of Pope St. Eusebius, in the middle of
which is placed an inscription, pagan on one side, on the other a
restoration of the fifth century of one of the beautiful inscriptions
of Pope Damasus, which is thus translated:--

     "Heraclius forbade the lapsed to grieve for their sins. Eusebius
     taught those unhappy ones to weep for their crimes. The people were
     rent into parties, and with increasing fury began sedition,
     slaughter, fighting, discord, and strife. Straightway both (the
     pope and the heretic) were banished by the cruelty of the tyrant,
     although the pope was preserving the bonds of peace inviolate. He
     bore his exile with joy, looking to the Lord as his judge, and on
     the shore of Sicily gave up the world and his life."

At the top and bottom of the tablet is the following title:--

    "Damasus Episcopus fecit Eusebio episcopo et martyri,"

and on either side a single file of letters which hands down to us the
name of the sculptor who executed the Damasine inscriptions.

    "Furius Dionysius Filocalus scripsit Damasis pappæ cultor atque amatot."

3. Near the exit, properly in the catacomb of Sta. Lucina, connected
with that of Calixtus by a labyrinth of galleries, is the tomb of Pope
St. Cornelius (251, 252) the only Roman bishop down to the time of St.
Sylvester (314) who bore the name of any noble Roman family, and whose
epitaph, (perhaps in consequence) is in Latin, while those of the other
popes are in Greek. The tomb has no chapel of its own, but is a mere
grave in a gallery, with a rectangular instead of a circular space
above, as in the cubicula. Near the tomb are fragments of one of the
commemorative inscriptions of St. Damasus, which has been ingeniously
restored by De Rossi thus:--

    "Aspice, descensu extructo tenebrisque fugatis
    Corneli monumenta vides tumulumque sacratum
    Hoc opus ægroti Damasi præstantia fecit,
    Esset ut accessus melior, populisque paratum
    Auxilium sancti, et valeas si fundere puro
    Corde preces, Damasus melior consurgere posset,
    Quem non lucis amor, tenuit mage cura laboris."

     "Behold! a way down has been constructed, and the darkness
     dispelled; you see the monuments of Cornelius, and his sacred tomb.
     This work the zeal of Damasus has accomplished, sick as he is, in
     order that the approach might be better, and the aid of the saint
     might be made convenient for the people; and that, if you will pour
     forth your prayers from a pure heart, Damasus may rise up better in
     health, though it has not been love of life, but care for work,
     that has kept him (here below)."[211]

St. Cornelius was banished under Gallus to Centumcellæ--now Civita
Vecchia, and was brought back thence to Rome for martyrdom Sept. 14,
A.D. 252. On the same day of the month, in 258, died his friend and
correspondent St. Cyprian, archbishop of Carthage,[212] who is
consequently commemorated by the Church on the same day with St.
Cornelius. Therefore also, on the right of the grave, are two figures of
bishops with inscriptions declaring them to be St. Cornelius and St.
Cyprian. Each holds the book of the Gospels in his hands and is clothed
in pontifical robes, "including the pallium, which had not yet been
confined as a mark of distinction to metropolitans."[213] Beneath the
picture stands a pillar which held one of the vases of oil which were
always kept burning before the shrines of the martyr. Beyond the tomb,
at the end of the gallery, is another painting of two bishops, St.
Sistus II., martyred in the catacomb of Pretextatus, and St. Optatus
who was buried near him.

In going round this catacomb, and in most of the others, the visitor
will be shown a number of rude paintings, which will be explained to him
in various ways, according to the tendencies of his guide. The paintings
may be considered to consist of three classes, symbolical; allegorical
and biblical; and liturgical. There is little variety of subject,--the
same are introduced over and over again.

The symbols most frequently introduced on and over the graves are:--

     _The Anchor_, expressive of hope. Heb. vi. 19.

     _The Dove_, symbolical of the Christian soul released from its
     earthly tabernacle. Ps. lv. 6.

     _The Sheep_, symbolical of the soul still wandering amid the
     pastures and deserts of earthly life. Ps. cxix. 176. Isaiah liii.
     6. John x. 14; xxi. 15, 16, 17.

     _The Phœnix_, "the palm bird," emblematical of eternity and the
     resurrection.

     _The Fish_--typical of Our Saviour--from the word ιχθυς, formed
     by the initial letters of the titles of Our Lord--Ιησοὑς Χριστὁς
     θεοὑ Υἱὁς Σωτἡρ--"Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour."

     _The Ship_--representing the Church militant, sometimes seen
     carried on the back of the fish.

     _Bread_, represented with fish, sometimes carried in a basket on
     its back, sometimes with it on a table--in allusion to the
     multiplication of the loaves and fishes.

     _A Female Figure Praying_, an "Orante"--in allusion to the Church.

     _A Vine_--also in allusion to the Church. Ps. lxxx. 8. Isaiah v. 1.

     _An Olive branch_, as a sign of peace.

     _A Palm branch_, as a sign of victory and martyrdom. Rev. vii. 9.


_Allegorical and Biblical Representations._

Of these _The Good Shepherd_ requires an especial notice from the
importance which is given to it and its frequent introduction in
catacomb art, both in sculpture and painting.

     "By far the most interesting of the early Christian paintings is
     that of Our Saviour as the Good Shepherd, which is almost
     invariably painted on the central space of the dome or cupola,
     subjects of minor interest being disposed around it in
     compartments, precisely in the style, as regards both the
     arrangement and execution, of the heathen catacombs.

     "He is represented as a youth in a shepherd's frock and sandals,
     carrying the 'lost sheep' on his shoulders, or leaning on his staff
     (the symbol, according to St. Augustine, of the Christian
     hierarchy), while the sheep feed around, or look up at him.
     Sometimes he is represented seated in the midst of the flock,
     playing on a shepherd's pipe,--in a few instances, in the oldest
     catacombs, he is introduced in the character of Orpheus, surrounded
     by wild beasts enrapt by the melody of his lyre,--Orpheus being
     then supposed to have been a prophet or precursor of the Messiah.
     The background usually exhibits a landscape or meadow, sometimes
     planted with olive-trees, doves resting on their branches,
     symbolical of the peace of the faithful; in others, as in a fresco
     preserved in the Museum Christianum, the palm of victory is
     introduced, --but such combinations are endless. In one or two
     instances the surrounding compartments are filled with
     personifications of the Seasons, apt emblems of human life, whether
     natural or spiritual.

     "The subject of the Good Shepherd, I am sorry to add, is not of
     Roman but Greek origin, and was adapted from a statue of Mercury
     carrying a goat, at Tanagra, mentioned by Pausanias. The Christian
     composition approximates to its original more nearly in the few
     instances where Our Saviour is represented carrying a goat,
     emblematical of the scapegoat of the wilderness. Singularly enough,
     though of Greek parentage, and recommended to the Byzantines by
     Constantine, who erected a statue of the Good Shepherd in the forum
     of Constantinople, the subject did not become popular among them;
     they seem, at least, to have tacitly abandoned it to Rome."--_Lord
     Lindsay's Christian Art._

     "The Good Shepherd seems to have been quite the favourite subject.
     We cannot go through any part of the Catacombs, or turn over any
     collection of ancient Christian monuments, without coming across it
     again and again. We know from Tertullian that it was often designed
     upon chalices. We find it ourselves painted in fresco upon the
     roofs and walls of the sepulchral chambers; rudely scratched upon
     gravestones, or more carefully sculptured on sarcophagi; traced in
     gold upon glass, moulded on lamps, engraved on rings; and, in a
     word, represented on every species of Christian monument that has
     come down to us. Of course, amid such a multitude of examples,
     there is considerable variety of treatment. We cannot, however,
     appreciate the suggestion of Kügler, that this frequent repetition
     of the subject is probably to be attributed to the capabilities
     which it possessed in an artistic point of view. Rather, it was
     selected because it expressed the whole sum and substance of the
     Christian dispensation. In the language even of the Old Testament,
     the action of Divine Providence upon the world is frequently
     expressed by images and allegories borrowed from pastoral life; God
     is the Shepherd, and men are His sheep. But in a still more special
     way our Divine Redeemer offers Himself to our regards as the Good
     Shepherd. He came down from His eternal throne into this wilderness
     of the world to seek the lost sheep of the whole human race, and
     having brought them together into one fold on earth, thence to
     transport them into the ever-verdant pastures of Paradise."--_Roma
     Sotterranea._

Other biblical subjects are:--from the _Old Testament_ (those of Noah,
Moses, Daniel, and Jonah being the only ones at all common)--

     1. The Fall. Adam and Eve on either side of the Tree of Knowledge,
     round which the serpent is coiled. Sometimes, instead of this, "Our
     Saviour (as the representative of the Deity) stands between them,
     condemning them, and offering a lamb to Eve and a sheaf of corn to
     Adam, to signify the doom of themselves and their posterity to
     delve and to spin through all future ages."

     2. The Offering of Cain and Abel. They present a lamb and sheaf of
     corn to a seated figure of the Almighty.

     3. Noah in the Ark, represented as a box--a dove, bearing an
     olive-branch, flies towards him. Interpreted to express the
     doctrine that "the faithful having obtained remission of their sins
     through baptism, have received from the Holy Spirit the gift of
     divine peace, and are saved in the mystical ark of the church from
     the destruction which awaits the world."[214] (Acts ii. 47.)

     4. Sacrifice of Isaac.

     5. Passage of the Red Sea.

     6. Moses receiving the Law.

     7. Moses striking water from the rock--(very common).

     8. Moses pointing to the pots of manna.

     9. Elijah going up to heaven in the chariot of fire.

     10. The Three Children in the fiery furnace;--very common as
     symbolical of martyrdom.

     11. Daniel in the lions' den;--generally a naked figure with hands
     extended, and a lion on either side; most common--as an
     encouragement to Christian sufferers.

     12. Jonah swallowed up by the whale, represented as a strange kind
     of sea-horse.

     13. Jonah disgorged by the whale.

     14. Jonah under the gourd; or, according to the Vulgate, under the
     ivy.

     15. Jonah lamenting for the death of the gourd.

     These four subjects from the story of Jonah are constantly
     repeated, perhaps as encouragement to the Christians suffering from
     the wickedness of Rome--the modern Nineveh, which they were to warn
     and pray for.

Subjects from the _New Testament_ are:

     1. The Nativity--the ox and the ass kneeling.

     2. The Adoration of the Magi--repeatedly placed in juxtaposition
     with the story of the Three Children.

     3. Our Saviour turning water into wine.

     4. Our Saviour conversing with the woman of Samaria.

     5. Our Saviour healing the paralytic man--who takes up his bed.
     This is very common.

     6. Our Saviour healing the woman with the issue of blood.

     7. Our Saviour multiplying the loaves and fishes.

     8. Our Saviour healing the daughter of the woman of Canaan.

     9. Our Saviour healing the blind man.

     10. The raising of Lazarus, who appears at a door in his
     grave-clothes, while Christ with a wand stands before it. This is
     the New Testament subject oftenest introduced. It is constantly
     placed in juxtaposition with a picture of Moses striking the rock.
     "These two subjects may be intended to represent the beginning and
     end of the Christian course, 'the fountain of water springing up to
     life everlasting.' God's grace and the gift of faith being typified
     by the water flowing from the rock, 'which was Christ,' and life
     everlasting by the victory over death and the second life
     vouchsafed to Lazarus."[215]

     11. Our Saviour's triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

     12. Our Saviour giving the keys to Peter--very rare.

     13. Our Saviour predicting the denial of Peter.

     14. The denial of Peter.

     15. Our Saviour before Pilate.

     16. St.Peter taken to prison.

     These last six subjects are only represented on tombs.[216]

The class of paintings shown as _Liturgical_ are less definite than
these. In the Catacombs of Calixtus several obscure paintings are shown
(in cubicula anterior to the middle of the third century), which are
said to have reference to the sacrament of baptism. Pictures of the
paralytic carrying his bed are identified by some Roman Catholic
authorities with the sacrament of penance. (!) Bosio believed that in
the Catacomb of Sta. Priscilla he had found paintings which illustrated
the sacrament of ordination. Representations undoubtedly exist which
illustrate the _agape_ or love-feast of the primitive Church.

On the opposite side of the Via Appia from St. Calixtus (generally
entered from the road leading to S. Urbano) is the _Catacomb of St.
Pretextatus_, interesting as being the known burial-place of several
martyrs. A large crypt was discovered here in 1857, built with solid
masonry and lined with Greek marble.

     "The workmanship points to early date, and specimens of pagan
     architecture in the same neighbourhood enable us to fix the middle
     of the latter half of the second century (A.D. 175) as a very
     probable date for its erection. The Acts of the Saints explain to
     us why it was built with bricks, and not hewn out of the rock--viz.
     because the Christian who made it (Sta. Marmenia) had caused it to
     be excavated immediately below her own house; and now that we see
     it, we understand the precise meaning of the words used by the
     itineraries describing it--viz. 'a large cavern, most firmly
     built.' The vault of the chapel is most elaborately painted, in a
     style by no means inferior to the best classical productions of the
     age. It is divided into four bands of wreaths, one of roses,
     another of corn-sheaves, a third of vine-leaves and grapes (and in
     all these, birds are introduced visiting their young in nests), and
     the last or highest, of leaves of laurel or the bay-tree. Of course
     these severally represent the seasons of spring, summer, autumn,
     and winter. The last is a well-known figure or symbol of death; and
     probably the laurel, as the token of victory, was intended to
     represent the new and Christian idea of the everlasting reward of a
     blessed immortality. Below these bands is another border, more
     indistinct, in which reapers are gathering in the corn; and at the
     back of the arch is a rural scene, of which the central figure is
     the Good Shepherd carrying a sheep upon his shoulders. This,
     however, has been destroyed by graves pierced through the wall and
     the rock behind it, from the eager desire to bury the dead of a
     later generation as near as possible to the tombs of the martyrs.
     As De Rossi proceeded to examine these graves in detail, he could
     hardly believe his eyes when he read around the edge of one of them
     these words and fragments of words:--_Mi Refrigeri Januarius
     Agatopos Felicissim Martyres_--'Januarius, Agapetus, Felicissimus,
     martyrs, refresh the soul of....' The words had been scratched upon
     the mortar while it was yet fresh, fifteen centuries ago, as the
     prayer of some bereaved relative for the soul of him whom they were
     burying here, and now they revealed to the antiquarian of the
     nineteenth century the secret he was in quest of--viz. the place of
     burial of the saints whose aid is here invoked; for the numerous
     examples to be seen in other cemeteries warrant us in concluding
     that the bodies of the saints, to whose intercession the soul of
     the deceased is here recommended, were at the time of his burial
     lying at no great distance."--_Roma Sotterranea._

The St. Januarius buried here was the eldest of the seven sons of St.
Felicitas, martyred July 10, A.D. 162. St. Agapitus and St. Felicissimus
were deacons of Pope Sixtus II., who were martyred together with him and
St. Pretextatus[217] in this very catacomb, because Sixtus II. "had set
at nought the commands of the Emperor Valerian."[218]

A mutilated inscription of St. Damasus, in the Catacomb of Calixtus,
near the tomb of Cornelius, thus records the death of this pope:

    "Tempore quo gladius secuit pia visura Matris
    Hic positus rector cælestia jussa docebam;
    Adveniunt subito, rapiunt qui forte sedentem;
    Militibus missis, populi tunc colla dedere.
    Mox sibi cognovit senior quis tollere vellet
    Palmam seque suumque caput prior obtulit ipse,
    Impatiens feritas posset ne lædere quemquam.
    Ostendit Christus reddit qui præmia vitæ
    Pastoris meritum, numerum gregis ipse tuetur."

     "At the time when the sword pierced the heart of our Mother
     (Church), I, its ruler, buried here, was teaching the things of
     heaven. Suddenly they came, they seized me seated as I was;--the
     soldiers being sent in, the people gave their necks (to the
     slaughter). Soon the old man saw who was willing to bear away the
     palm from himself, and was the first to offer himself and his own
     head, fearing lest the blow should fall on any one else. Christ who
     awards the rewards of life recognises the merit of the pastor, he
     himself is preserving the number of his flock."

An adjoining crypt, considered to date from A.D. 130, is believed to be
the burial-place of St. Quirinus.

Above this catacomb are ruins of two basilicas, erected in honour of St.
Zeno; and of Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, companions of Sta.
Cecilia in martyrdom.

In the road leading to S. Urbano is the entrance to the _Jewish
Catacomb_. It is entered by a chamber open to the sky, floored with
black and white mosaic, which is supposed to have formed part of a pagan
dwelling. The following chamber has remains of a well. Hence a low door
forms the entrance of a gallery out of which open six cubicula, one of
them containing a fine while marble sarcophagus, and decorated with a
painting of the seven-branched candlestick. A side passage leads to
other cubicula, and to an open space which seems to have been an actual
arenarium. A winding passage at the end of the larger gallery leads to
the graves in the floor divided into different cells for corpses, and
called _Cocim_ by Rabbinical writers. A cubiculum at the end of the
catacomb has paintings of figures--Plenty, with a cornucopia; Victory,
with a palm leaf, &c. The inscriptions found show that this cemetery was
exclusively Jewish. They refer to officers of the synagogue, rulers
(αρχοντες), and scribes (γραμματεις), &c. The inscriptions are in great
part in Greek letters, expressing Latin words.

Another small Jewish catacomb has been discovered behind the basilica of
St. Sebastian. Behind the Catacomb of St. Calixtus, on the right of the
Via Ardeatina, is the _Catacomb of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo_. Close to its
entrance is the farm of _Tor Marancia_, where are some ruins, believed
to be remains of the villa of Flavia Domitilla. This celebrated member
of the early Christian Church was daughter of the Flavia Domitilla who
was sister of the Emperor Domitian,--and wife of Titus Flavius Clemens,
son of the Titus Flavius Sabinus who was brother of the Emperor
Vespasian. Her two sons were, Vespasian Junior and Domitian Junior, who
were intended to succeed to the throne, and to whom Quinctilian was
appointed as tutor by the emperor. Dion Cassius narrates that "Domitian
put to death several persons, and amongst them Flavius Clemens the
consul, although he was his nephew, and although he had Flavia Domitilla
for his wife, who was also related to the emperor. They were both
accused of atheism, on which charge many others also had been
condemned, going after the manners and customs of the Jew; and some of
them were put to death, and others had their goods confiscated; but
Domitilla was only banished to Pandataria."[219] This Flavia Domitilla
is frequently confused with her niece of the same name,[220] whose
banishment is mentioned by Eusebius, when he says:--"The teaching of our
faith had by this time shone so far and wide, that even pagan historians
did not refuse to insert in their narratives some account of the
persecution and the martyrdoms that were suffered in it. Some, too, have
marked the time accurately, mentioning, amongst many others, in the
fifteenth year of Domitian (A.D. 97), Flavia Domitilla, the daughter of
a sister of Flavius Clemens, one of the Roman consuls of those days,
who, for her testimony for Christ, was punished by exile to the island
of Pontia." It was this younger Domitilla who was accompanied in her
exile by her two Christian servants, Nereus and Achilles; whose
banishment is spoken of by St. Jerome as "a life-long martyrdom,"--whose
cell was afterwards visited by Sta. Paula,[221] and who, according to
the Acts of SS. Nereus and Achilles, was brought back to the mainland to
be burnt alive at Terracina, because she refused to sacrifice to idols.
The relics of Domitilla, with those of her servants, were preserved in
the catacomb under the villa which had belonged to her Christian aunt.

Receiving as evidence the story of Sta. Domitilla, this catacomb must be
looked upon as the oldest Christian cemetery in existence. Its galleries
were widened and strengthened by John I. (523--526). A chamber near the
entrance is pointed out as the burial-place of Sta. Petronilla.

     "The sepulchre of SS. Nereus and Achilles was in all probability in
     that chapel to which we descend by so magnificent a staircase, and
     which is illuminated by so fine a _luminare_; for that this is the
     central point of attraction in the cemetery is clear, both from the
     staircase and the luminare just mentioned, as also from the greater
     width of the adjacent galleries and other similar tokens." Here
     then St. Gregory the Great delivered his twenty-eighth homily
     (which Baronius erroneously supposes to have been delivered in the
     Church of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo, to which the bodies of the saints
     were not yet removed), in which he says--"These saints, before
     whose tomb we are assembled, despised the world and trampled it
     under their feet, when peace, plenty, riches, and health gave it
     charms."

     " ... There is a higher and more ancient _piano_, in which coins
     and medals of the first two centuries, and inscriptions of great
     value, have been recently discovered. Some of these inscriptions
     may still be seen in one of the chambers near the bottom of the
     staircase; they are both Latin and Greek; sometimes both languages
     are mixed; and in one or two instances Latin words are written in
     Greek characters. Many of these monuments are of the deepest
     importance both in an antiquarian and religious point of view; in
     archaeology, as showing the practice of private Christians in the
     first ages to make the subterranean chambers at their own expense
     and for their own use, _e. g._--'M. Aurelius Restutus made this
     subterranean for himself, and those of his family who believed in
     the Lord,'--where, both the triple names and the limitation
     introduced at the end (which shows that many of his family were
     still pagan), are unquestionably proofs of very high
     antiquity."--_Northcote's Roman Catacombs_, p. 103, &c.

Among the most remarkable paintings in this catacomb are, Orpheus with
his lyre, surrounded by birds and beasts who are charmed with his music;
Elijah ascending to heaven in a chariot drawn by four horses; and the
portrait of Our Lord.

     "The head and bust of our Lord form a medallion, occupying the
     centre of the roof in the same _cubiculum_ where Orpheus is
     represented. This painting, in consequence of the description
     given of it by Kügler (who misnamed the catacomb St. Calixtus), is
     often eagerly sought after by strangers visiting the catacombs. It
     is only just, however, to add, that they are generally
     disappointed. Kügler supposed it to be the oldest portrait of Our
     Blessed Saviour in existence, but we doubt if there is sufficient
     authority for such a statement. He describes it in these
     words:--'The face is oval, with a straight nose, arched eyebrows, a
     smooth and rather high forehead, the expression serious and mild;
     the hair, parted on the forehead, flows in long curls down the
     shoulders; the beard is not thick, but short and divided; the age
     between thirty and forty.' But this description is too minute and
     precise, too artistic, for the original, as it is now to be seen. A
     lively imagination may, perhaps, supply the details described by
     our author, but the eye certainly fails to distinguish
     them."--_Roma Sotterranea_, p. 253.

Approached by a separate entrance on the slope of the hill-side is a
sepulchral chamber, which De Rossi considers to have been the
_Burial-place of Sta. Domitilla_.

     "It is certainly one of the most ancient and remarkable Christian
     monuments yet discovered. Its position, close to the highway; its
     front of fine brickwork, with a cornice of terra-cotta, with the
     usual space for an inscription (which has now, alas, perished); the
     spaciousness of its gallery, with its four or five separate niches
     prepared for as many sarcophagi; the fine stucco on the wall; the
     eminently classical character of its decorations; all these things
     make it perfectly clear that it was the monument of a Christian
     family of distinction, excavated at great cost, and without the
     slightest attempt at concealment. In passing from the vestibule
     into the catacomb, we recognise the transition from the use of the
     sarcophagus to that of the common _loculus_; for the first two or
     three graves on either side, though really mere shelves in the
     wall, are so disguised by painting on the outside as to present to
     passers-by the complete outward appearance of a sarcophagus. Some
     few of these graves are marked with the names of the dead, written
     in black on the largest tiles, and the inscriptions on the other
     graves are all of the simplest and oldest form. Lastly, the whole
     of the vaulted roof is covered with the most exquisitely graceful
     designs, of branches of the vine (with birds and winged genii among
     them) trailing with all the freedom of nature over the whole walls,
     not fearing any interruption by graves, nor confined by any of
     those lines of geometrical symmetry which characterise similar
     productions in the next century. Traces also of landscapes may be
     seen here and there, which are of rare occurrence in the catacombs,
     though they may be seen in the chambers assigned by De Rossi to SS.
     Nereus and Achilles. The Good Shepherd, an _agape_, or the heavenly
     feast, a man fishing, and Daniel in the lions' den, are the chief
     historical or allegorical representations of Christian mysteries
     which are painted here. Unfortunately they have been almost
     destroyed by persons attempting to detach them from the
     wall."--_Roma Sotterranea_, p. 70.

       *       *       *       *       *

A road to the left now leads to the Via Appia Nuova, passing about a
quarter of a mile hence, a turn on the left to the ruin generally known
as the _Temple of Bacchus_, from an altar dedicated to Bacchus which was
found there, but considered by modern antiquaries as a temple of Ceres
and Proserpine. This building has been comparatively saved from the
destruction which has befallen its neighbours by having been consecrated
as a church in A.D. 820 by Pope Pascal I., in honour of his sainted
predecessor Urban I., A.D. 226--whose pontificate was chiefly passed in
refuge in the neighbouring Catacomb of St. Calixtus--because of a belief
that he was wont to resort hither.

A chapel at a great depth below the church, is shown as that in which
St. Urban baptized and celebrated mass. A curious fresco here represents
the Virgin between St. Urban and St. John.

Around the upper part of the interior are a much injured series of
frescoes, comprising--the life of Christ from the Annunciation to the
descent into Hades,--and the life of St. Cecilia and her husband
Valerian, ending in the burial of Cecilia by Pope Urban in the Catacombs
of Calixtus, and the story of the martyred Urban I. In the picture of
the Crucifixion, the thieves have their names, "Calpurnius and
Longinus." The frescoes were altered in the seventeenth century to suit
the views of the Roman Church, keys being placed in the hand of Peter,
&c. Sets of drawings taken _before_ and _after_ the alterations, are
preserved in the Barberini Library, and curiously show the difference.

A winding path leads from S. Urbano into the valley. Here, beside the
Almo rivulet, is a ruined Nymphæum containing a mutilated statue of a
river-god, which was called "the Grotto of Egeria," till a few years
ago, when the discovery of the true site of the Porta Capena fixed that
of the grotto within the walls. The fine grove of old ilex-trees on the
hillside, was at the same time pointed out as the sacred grove of
Egeria.

    "Egeria! sweet creation of some heart
    Which found no mortal resting-place so fair
    As thine ideal breast; whate'er thou art
    Or wert,--a young Aurora of the air,
    The nympholepsy of some fond despair;
    Or, it might be, a beauty of the earth,
    Who found a more than common votary there
    Too much adoring; whatsoe'er thy birth,
    Thou wert a beautiful thought, and softly bodied forth.

    "The mosses of thy fountain still are sprinkled
    With thine Elysian water-drops; the face
    Of thy cave-guarded spring, with years unwrinkled,
    Reflects the meek-eyed genius of the place,
    Whose green, wild margin now no more erase
    Art's works; nor must the delicate waters sleep,
    Prisoned in marble, bubbling from the base
    Of the cleft statue, with a gentle leap
    The rill runs o'er, and round, fern, flowers, and ivy, creep,

    "Fantastically tangled; the green hills
    Are clothed with early blossoms, through the grass
    The quick-eyed lizard rustles, and the bills
    Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass;
    Flowers fresh in hue, and many in their class,
    Implore the pausing step, and with their dyes
    Dance in the soft breeze in a fairy mass;
    The sweetness of the violet's deep blue eyes,
    Kiss'd by the breath of heaven, seems coloured by its skies."

    _Byron, Childe Harold._

It is now known that this nymphæum and the valley in which it stands
belonged to the suburban villa called Triopio, of Herodes Atticus, whose
romantic story is handed down to us through two Greek inscriptions in
the possession of the Borghese family, and is further illustrated by the
writings of Filostratus and Pausanias.

     A wealthy Greek named Ipparchus offended his government and lost
     all his wealth by confiscation, but the family fortunes were
     redeemed, through the discovery by his son Atticus of a vast
     treasure, concealed in a small piece of ground which remained to
     them, close to the rock of the Acropolis. Dreading the avarice of
     his fellow-citizens, Atticus sent at once to Nerva, the then
     emperor, telling him of the discovery, and requesting his orders as
     to what he was to do with the treasure. Nerva replied, that he was
     welcome to keep it, and use it as he pleased. Not yet satisfied or
     feeling sufficiently sure of the protection of the emperor, Atticus
     again applied to him, saying that the treasure was far too vast for
     the use of a person in a private station of life, and asking how he
     was to use it. The emperor again replied that the treasure was his
     own and due to his own good fortune, and that "what he could not
     use he might abuse." Atticus then entered securely into possession
     of his wealth, which he bequeathed to his son Herodes, who used his
     fortune magnificently in his bountiful charities, in the
     encouragement of literature and art throughout both Greece and
     Italy, and (best appreciated of all by the Greeks) in the splendour
     of the public games which he gave.

     Early in the reign of Antoninus Pius, Herodes Atticus removed to
     Rome, where he was appointed professor of rhetoric to Marcus
     Aurelius and Lucius Verus, the two adopted sons of the emperor, and
     where he attained the consulship in A.D. 143. Soon after his
     arrival he fell in love with Annia Regilla, a beautiful and wealthy
     heiress, and in spite of the violent opposition of her brother,
     Annius Attilius Braduas, who, belonging to the Julian family, and
     claiming an imaginary descent from Venus and Anchises, looked upon
     the marriage as a mesalliance, he succeeded in obtaining her hand.
     Part of the wealth which Annia Regilla brought to her husband was
     the Valle Caffarelli and its nymphæum.

     For some years Herodes Atticus and Annia Regilla enjoyed the
     perfection of married happiness in this beautiful valley; but
     shortly before the expected birth of her fifth child, she died very
     suddenly, leaving her husband almost frantic with grief and
     refusing every consolation. He was roused, however, from his first
     anguish by his brother-in-law Annius Braduas, who had never laid
     aside his resentment at the marriage, and who now accused him of
     having poisoned his wife. Herodes demanded a public trial, and was
     acquitted. Filostratus records that the intense grief he showed and
     the depth of the mourning he wore, were taken as signs of his
     innocence. Further to clear himself from imputation, Herodes
     offered all the jewels of Annia Regilla upon the altar of the
     Eleusinian deities, Ceres and Proserpine, at the same time calling
     down the vengeance of the outraged gods if he were guilty of
     sacrilege.

     The beloved Regilla was buried in a tomb surrounded by "a
     sepulchral field" within the precincts of the villa, dedicated to
     Minerva and Nemesis, and (as recorded in one of the Greek
     inscriptions) it was made an act of the highest sacrilege, for any
     but her own descendants to be laid within those sacred limits. A
     statue was also erected to Regilla in the Triopian temple of Ceres
     and Proserpine, which is now supposed to be the same with that
     usually called the temple of Bacchus. Not only did Herodes hang his
     house with black in his affliction, but all gaily coloured marbles
     were stripped from the walls, and replaced with the dark grey
     marble known as "bardiglio,"--and his depth of woe made him so
     conspicuous, that a satirical person seeing his cook prepare white
     beans for dinner, wondered that he could dare to do so in a house
     so entirely black.

The inscriptions in which this story is related (one of them containing
thirty-nine Greek verses) are engraved on slabs of Pentelic marble--and
Philostratus and Pausanias narrate that the quarries of this marble were
the property of Herodes, and that in his magnificent buildings he almost
exhausted them.[222]

The field path from hence leads back to the Church of Domine Quo Vadis,
passing on the right a beautifully-finished tomb (of the time of
Septimius Severus) known as the _Temple of Divus Rediculus_, and
formerly described as having been built to commemorate the retreat of
Hannibal, who came thus far in his intended attack upon Rome. The temple
erected in memory of this event was really on the right of the Via
Appia. It was dedicated to Rediculus, the god of Return. The folly of
ciceroni often cites this name as "Ridiculous."

     The neighbourhood of the Divus Rediculus (which he however places
     on the _right_ of the Via Appia) is described by Pliny in
     connection with a curious story of imperial times. There was a
     cobbler who had his stall in the Roman Forum, and who possessed a
     tame raven, which was a great favourite with the young Romans, to
     whom he would bid good day as he sate perched upon the rostra. At
     length he became quite a public character, and the indignation was
     so great when his master killed him with his hammer in a fit of
     rage at his spoiling some new leather, that they slew the cobbler
     and decreed a public funeral to the bird; who was carried to the
     grave on a bier adorned with honorary crowns, preceded by a piper,
     and supported by two negroes in honour of his colour,--and
     buried--"ad rogum usque, qui constructus dextrâ Viæ Appiæ ad
     secundum lapidem in campo Rediculo appellate fuit."--_Pliny, Nat.
     Hist._ lib. x. c. 60.

       *       *       *       *       *

Returning to the Via Appia, we reach, on the right, the _Basilica of S.
Sebastiano_, rebuilt in 1611 by Flaminio Ponzio for Cardinal Scipio
Borghese on the site of a church which had been founded by Constantine,
where once existed the house and garden of the matron Lucina, in which
she had buried the body of Sebastian, after his (second) martyrdom under
Diocletian. The basilica contains nothing ancient, but the six granite
columns in the portico. The altar covers the relics of the saint (a
Gaul, a native of Narbonne, a Christian soldier under Diocletian) and
the chapel of St. Sebastian has a statue of him in his youth, designed
by Bernini and executed by Antonio Giorgetti.

     "The almost colossal form lies dead, the head resting on his helmet
     and armour. It is evidently modelled from nature, and is perhaps
     the finest thing ever designed by Bernini.... It is probably from
     the association of arrows with his form and story that St.
     Sebastian has been regarded from the first ages of Christianity as
     the protecting saint against plague and pestilence; Apollo was the
     deity who inflicted plague, and therefore was invoked with prayer
     and sacrifice against it; and to the honour of Apollo, in this
     particular character, St. Sebastian has succeeded."--_Jameson's
     Sacred Art_, p. 414.

The original of the footprint in the Domine Quo Vadis is said to be
preserved here.

On the left of the entrance is the descent into the catacombs, with the
inscription:

     "In hoc sacrosancto loco qui dicitur ad Catacumbas, ubi sepulta
     fuerunt sanctorum martyrum corpora 174,000 ac 46 summorum
     pontificium pariterque martyrum. In altare in quo corpus divi
     Sebastiani Christi athletæ jacet celebrans summus Pontifex S.
     Gregorius Magnus vidit angelum Dei candidiorem nive, sibi in
     tremendo sacrificio ministrantem ac dicentem, 'Hic est locus
     sacratissimus in quo est divina promissio et omnium peccatorum
     remissio, splendor et lux perpetua, sine fine lætitia, quam Christi
     martyr Sebastianus habere promeruit.' Prout Severanus Tom. Pº.
     pagina 450, ac etiam antiquissimæ lapideæ testantur tabulæ.

     "Ideo in hoc insigne privilegiato altari, tam missæ cantatæ quam
     privatæ, dum celebrante, animæ quæ sunt in purgatorio pro quibus
     sacrificium offertur plenariam indulgentiam, et omnium suorum
     peccatorum remissionem consequuntur prout ab angelo dictum fuit et
     summi pontifices confirmarunt."

These are the catacombs which are most frequently visited by strangers,
because they can always be seen on application to the monks attached to
the church,--though they are of greatly inferior interest to those of St
Calixtus.

     "Though future excavations may bring to light much that is
     interesting in this cemetery, the small portion now accessible is,
     as a specimen of the Catacombs, utterly without value. Its only
     interest consists in its religious associations: here St. Bridget
     was wont to kneel, rapt in contemplation; here St. Charles Borromeo
     spent whole nights in prayer; and here the heart of St. Philip Neri
     was so inflamed with divine love as to cause his very bodily frame
     to be changed."--_Northcote's Roman Catacombs._

    "Philip, on thee the glowing ray
      Of heaven came down upon thy prayer,
    To melt thy heart, and burn away
      All that of earthly dross was there.

    "And so, on Philip when we gaze,
      We see the image of his Lord;
    The saint dissolves amid the blaze
      Which circles round the Living Word.

    "The meek, the wise, none else is here,
      Dispensing light to men below;
    His awful accents fill the ear,
      Now keen as fire, now soft as snow."

    _J. H. Newman_, 1850.

Owing to the desire in the early Christian Church of saving the graves
of their first confessors and martyrs from desecration, almost all the
catacombs were gradually blocked up, and by lapse of time their very
entrances were forgotten. In the fourteenth century very few were still
open. In the fifteenth century none remained except this of St.
Sebastian, which continued to be frequented by pilgrims, and was called
in all ancient documents "cœmeterium ad catacumbas."

At the back of the high-altar is an interesting half-subterranean
building, attributed to Pope Liberius (352--355), and afterwards adorned
by Pope Damasus, who briefly tells its history in one of his
inscriptions, which may still be seen here:

    "Hinc habitasse prius sanctos cognoscere debes,
    Nomina quisque Petri pariter Paulique requiris.
    Discipulos Oriens misit, quod sponte fatemur,
    Sanguinis ob meritum Christumque per astra sequuti,
    Aetherios petiere sinus et regna piorum.
    Roma suos potius meruit defendere cives.
    Hæc Damasus vestras referat sidera laudes."

     "Here you should know that saints dwelt. Their names, if you ask
     them, were Peter and Paul. The East sent disciples, which we freely
     acknowledge. For the merit of their blood they followed Christ to
     the stars, and sought the heavenly home and the kingdom of the
     blest. Rome however deserved to defend her own citizens. May
     Damasus record these things for your praise, O new stars."

     "The two Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, were originally buried,
     the one at the Vatican, the other on the Ostian Way, at the spot
     where their respective basilicas now stand; but, as soon as the
     Oriental Christians had heard of their death, they sent some of
     their brethren to remove their bodies, and bring them back to the
     East, where they considered that they had a right to claim them as
     their fellow-citizens and countrymen. These so far prospered in
     their mission as to gain a momentary possession of the sacred
     relics, which they carried off, along the Appian Way, as far as the
     spot where the church of St. Sebastian was afterwards built. Here
     they rested for a while, to make all things ready for their
     journey, or, according to another account, were detained by a
     thunderstorm of extraordinary violence, which delay, however
     occasioned, was sufficient to enable the Christians of Rome to
     overtake them and recover their lost treasure. These Roman
     Christians then buried the bodies, with the utmost secrecy, in a
     deep pit, which they dug on the very spot where they were. Soon,
     indeed, they were restored to their original places of sepulture,
     as we know from contemporary authorities, and there seems reason to
     believe the old ecclesiastical tradition to be correct, which
     states them to have only remained in this temporary abode for a
     year and seven months. The body of St. Peter, however, was destined
     to revisit it a second time, and for a longer period; for when, at
     the beginning of the third century, Heliogabalus made his circus at
     the Vatican, Calixtus, who was then pope, removed the relics of the
     Apostle to their former temporary resting-place, the pit on the
     Appian Way. But in A.D. 257, St. Stephen, the pope, having been
     discovered in this very cemetery and having suffered martyrdom
     there, the body of St. Peter was once more removed, and restored to
     its original tomb in the Vatican."--_Northcote's Roman Catacombs._

In the passages of this catacomb are misguiding inscriptions placed here
in 1409 by William, Archbishop of Bourges, calling upon the faithful to
venerate _here_ the tombs of Sta. Cecilia and of many of the martyred
popes, who are buried elsewhere. The martyr St. Cyrinus is known to have
been buried here from very early itineraries, but his grave has not been
discovered.

     "When I was a boy, being educated at Rome, I used every Sunday, in
     company with other boys of my own age and tastes, to visit the
     tombs of the apostles and martyrs, and to go into the crypts
     excavated there in the bowels of the earth. The walls on either
     side as you enter are full of the bodies of the dead, and the whole
     place is so dark, that one seems almost to see the fulfilment of
     those words of the prophet, 'Let them go down alive into Hades.'
     Here and there a little light, admitted from above, suffices to
     give a momentary relief to the horror of the darkness; but as you
     go forwards, and find yourself again immersed in the utter
     blackness of night, the words of the poet come spontaneously to
     your mind: 'The very silence fills the soul with dread.'"--_St.
     Jerome_ (A.D. 354), _In Ezek._ ch. lx.

     "A gaunt Franciscan friar, with a wild bright eye, was our only
     guide down into this profound and dreadful place. The narrow ways
     and openings hither and thither, coupled with the dead and heavy
     air, soon blotted out, in all of us, any recollection of the track
     by which we had come; and I could not help thinking, 'Good Heaven,
     if in a sudden fit of madness he should dash the torches out, or if
     he should be seized with a fit, what would become of us!' On we
     wandered, among martyrs' graves: passing great subterranean vaulted
     roads, diverging in all directions, and choked up with heaps of
     stones, that thieves and murderers may not take refuge there, and
     form a population under Rome, even worse than that which lives
     between it and the sun. Graves, graves, graves; graves of men, of
     women, of little children, who ran crying to the persecutors, 'We
     are Christians! we are Christians!' that they might be murdered
     with their parents; graves with the palm of martyrdom roughly cut
     into their stone boundaries, and little niches, made to hold a
     vessel of the martyr's blood; graves of some who lived down here,
     for years together, ministering to the rest, and preaching truth,
     and hope, and comfort, from the rude altars, that bear witness to
     their fortitude at this hour; more roomy graves, but far more
     terrible, where hundreds, being surprised, were hemmed in and
     walled up; buried before death, and killed by slow starvation.

     "'The triumphs of the Faith are not above-ground in our splendid
     churches,' said the friar, looking round upon us, as we stopped to
     rest in one of the low passages, with bones and dust surrounding us
     on every side. 'They are here! among the martyrs' graves!' He was a
     gentle, earnest man, and said it from his heart; but when I thought
     how Christian men have dealt with one another; how, perverting our
     most merciful religion, they have hunted down and tortured, burnt
     and beheaded, strangled, slaughtered, and oppressed each other; I
     pictured to myself an agony surpassing any that this Dust had
     suffered with the breath of life yet lingering in it, and how these
     great and constant hearts would have been shaken--how they would
     have quailed and drooped--if a foreknowledge of the deeds that
     professing Christians would commit in the great name for which they
     died, could have rent them with its own unutterable anguish, on the
     cruel wheel, and bitter cross, and in the fearful
     fire."--_Dickens._

     "Countless martyrs, they say, rest in these ancient sepulchres. In
     these dark depths the ancient Church took refuge from persecution;
     there she laid her martyrs, and there, over their tombs, she
     chaunted hymns of triumph, and held communion with Him for whom
     they died. In that church I spend hours. I have no wish to descend
     into those sacred sepulchres, and pry among the graves the
     resurrection trump will open soon enough. I like to think of the
     holy dead, lying undisturbed and quiet there; of their spirits in
     Paradise; of their faith triumphant in the city that massacred
     them.

     "No doubt they also had their perplexities, and wondered why the
     wicked triumph, and sighed to God, 'How long, O Lord, how
     long?'"--_Schonberg Cotta Family._

     "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the
     souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the
     testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice,
     saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and
     avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes
     were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that
     they should rest yet for a little season, until their
     fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as
     they were, should be fulfilled."--_Rev._ vi. 9--11.

In the valley beneath S. Sebastiano are the ruins of the _Circus of
Maxentius_, near those of a villa of that emperor. The circus was 1482
feet long, 244 feet broad, and was capable of containing 15,000
spectators, yet it is a miniature compared with the Circus Maximus,
though very interesting as retaining in tolerable preservation all the
different parts which composed a circus. The circular ruin near it was a
_Temple_ dedicated by Maxentius to his son Romulus.

     "Le jeune Romulus, étant mort, fut placé au rang des dieux, dans
     cet olympe qui s'écroulait. Son père lui éleva un temple dont la
     partie inférieure se voit encore, et le cirque lui-même fut
     peut-être une dépendance de ce temple funèbre, car les courses de
     chars étaient un des honneurs que l'antiquité rendait aux morts, et
     sont souvent pour cela représentées sur les tombeaux."--_Ampère,
     Emp._ ii. 360.

These ruins are very picturesque, backed by the peaks of the Sabine
range, which in winter are generally covered with snow.

The opposite hill is crowned by the _Tomb of Cecilia Metella_, daughter
of Quintus Metellus Creticus, and wife of Crassus. It is a round tower,
seventy feet in diameter. The bulls' heads on the frieze gave it the
popular name of Capo di Bove. The marble coating of the basement was
carried off by Urban VIII. to make the fountain of Trevi. The
battlements were added when the tomb was turned into a fortress by the
Caëtani in the thirteenth century.

     "About two miles, or more, from the city gates, and right upon the
     roadside, is an immense round pile, sepulchral in its original
     purpose, like those already mentioned. It is built of great blocks
     of hewn stone, on a vast, square foundation of rough, agglomerated
     material, such as composes the mass of all the other ruinous tombs.
     But, whatever might be the cause, it is in a far better state of
     preservation than they. On its broad summit rise the battlements of
     a mediæval fortress, out of the midst of which (so long since had
     time begun to crumble the supplemental structure, and cover it with
     soil, by means of wayside dust) grow trees, bushes, and thick
     festoons of ivy. This tomb of a woman has become the dungeon-keep
     of a castle; and all the care that Cecilia Metella's husband could
     bestow, to secure endless peace for her beloved relics, only
     sufficed to make that handful of precious ashes the nucleus of
     battles, long ages after her death."--_Hawthorne, Transformation._

    "There is a stern round tower of other days,
    Firm as a fortress, with its fence of stone,
    Such as an army's baffled strength delays,
    Standing with half its battlements alone,
    And with two thousand years of ivy grown,
    The garland of eternity, where wave
    The green leaves over all by time o'erthrown;--
    What was this tower of strength? within its cave
    What treasure lay so lock'd, so hid?--a woman's grave.

    "But who was she, the lady of the dead,
    Tomb'd in a palace? Was she chaste and fair?
    Worthy a king's--or more--a Roman's bed?
    What race of chiefs and heroes did she bear?
    What daughter of her beauties was the heir?
    How lived--how loved--how died she? Was she not
    So honoured--and conspicuously there,
    Where meaner relics must not dare to rot,
    Placed to commemorate a more than mortal lot?

    "Perchance she died in youth: it may be, bow'd
    With woes far heavier than the ponderous tomb
    That weigh'd upon her gentle dust, a cloud
    Might gather o'er her beauty, and a gloom
    In her dark eye, prophetic of the doom
    Heaven gives its favourites--early death; yet shed
    A sunset charm around her, and illume
    With hectic light, the Hesperus of the dead,
    Of her consuming cheek the autumnal leaf-like red.

    "Perchance she died in age--surviving all,
    Charms, kindred, children--with the silver grey
    On her long tresses, which might yet recall,
    It may be, still a something of the day
    When they were braided, and her proud array
    And lovely form were envied, praised, and eyed
    By Rome--but whither would Conjecture stray?
    Thus much alone we know--Metella died,
    The wealthiest Roman's wife: Behold his love or pride!"

    _Childe Harold._

Close to the tomb are the ruins of a Gothic church of the Caëtani.

     "Le tombeau de Cecilia-Metella était devenu un château fort alors
     aux mains des Caëtani, et autour du château s'était formé un
     village avec son église, dont on a récemment retrouvé les
     restes."--_Ampère, Voyage Dantesque._

It is at Cecilia Metella's tomb that the beauties of the Via Appia
really begin. A very short distance further, we emerge from the walls
which have hitherto shut in the road on either side, and enjoy
uninterrupted views over the Latin plain, strewn with its ruined castles
and villages--and the long lines of aqueducts, to the Sabine and Alban
mountains.

     "The Via Appia is a magnificent promenade, amongst ruinous tombs,
     the massive remains of which extend for many miles over the Roman
     Campagna. The powerful families of ancient Rome loved to build
     monuments to their dead by the side of the public road, probably to
     exhibit at once their affection for their relations and their own
     power and affluence. Most of these monuments are now nothing but
     heaps of ruins, upon which are placed the statues and sculptures
     which have been found in the earth or amongst the rubbish. Those
     inscriptions which have been found on the Via Appia bear witness to
     the grief of the living for the dead, but never to the hope of
     reunion. On a great number of sarcophagi or the friezes of tombs
     may be seen the dead sitting or lying as if they were alive, some
     seem to be praying. Many heads have great individuality of
     character. Sometimes a white marble figure, beautifully draped,
     projects from these heaps of ruins, but without head or hands;
     sometimes a hand is stretched out, or a portion of a figure rises
     from the tomb. It is a street through monuments of the dead, across
     an immense churchyard; for the desolate Roman Campagna may be
     regarded as such. To the left it is scattered with the ruins of
     colossal aqueducts, which, during the time of the emperors,
     conveyed lakes and rivers to Rome, and which still, ruinous and
     destroyed, delight the eye by the beautiful proportions of their
     arcades. To the right is an immense prairie, without any other
     limit than that of the ocean, which, however, is not seen from it.
     The country is desolate, and only here and there are there any huts
     or trees to be seen."--_Frederika Bremer._

     "For the space of a mile or two beyond the gate of S. Sebastiano,
     this ancient and famous road is as desolate and disagreeable as
     most of the other Roman avenues. It extends over small,
     uncomfortable paving-stones, between brick and plastered walls,
     which are very solidly constructed, and so high as almost to
     exclude a view of the surrounding country. The houses are of the
     most uninviting aspect, neither picturesque, nor homelike and
     social; they have seldom or never a door opening on the wayside,
     but are accessible only from the rear, and frown inhospitably upon
     the traveller through iron-grated windows. Here and there appears a
     dreary inn, or a wine-shop, designated by the withered bush beside
     the entrance, within which you discover a stone-built and
     sepulchral interior, where guests refresh themselves with sour
     bread and goat's-milk cheese, washed down with wine of dolorous
     acerbity.

     "At frequent intervals along the roadside, up rises the ruin of an
     ancient tomb. As they stand now, these structures are immensely
     high, and broken mounds of conglomerated brick, stone, pebbles, and
     earth, all molten by time into a mass as solid and indestructible
     as if each tomb were composed of a single boulder of granite. When
     first erected, they were cased externally, no doubt, with slabs of
     polished marble, artfully wrought, bas-reliefs, and all such
     suitable adornments, and were rendered majestically beautiful by
     grand architectural designs. This antique splendour has long since
     been stolen from the dead, to decorate the palaces and churches of
     the living. Nothing remains to the dishonoured sepulchres, except
     their massiveness.

     "Even the pyramids form hardly a stranger spectacle, or a more
     alien from human sympathies, than the tombs of the Appian Way, with
     their gigantic height, breadth, and solidity, defying time and the
     elements, and far too mighty to be demolished by an ordinary
     earthquake. Here you may see a modern dwelling, and a garden with
     its vines and olive-trees, perched on the lofty dilapidation of a
     tomb, which forms a precipice of fifty feet in depth on each of the
     four sides. There is a house on that funeral mound, where
     generations of children have been born, and successive lives have
     been spent, undisturbed by the ghost of the stern Roman whose ashes
     were so preposterously burdened. Other sepulchres wear a crown of
     grass, shrubbery, and forest-trees, which throw out a broad sweep
     of branches, having had time, twice over, to be a thousand years
     of age. On one of them stands a tower, which, though immemorially
     more modern than the tomb, was itself built by immemorial hands,
     and is now rifted quite from top to bottom by a vast fissure of
     decay; the tomb-hillock, its foundation, being still as firm as
     ever, and likely to endure until the last trump shall rend it wide
     asunder, and summon forth its unknown dead.

     "Yes, its unknown dead! For, except in one or two doubtful
     instances, these mountainous sepulchral edifices have not availed
     to keep so much as the bare name of an individual or a family from
     oblivion. Ambitious of everlasting remembrance as they were, the
     slumberers might just as well have gone quietly to rest, each in
     his pigeon-hole of a columbarium, or under his little green
     hillock, in a grave-yard, without a headstone to mark the spot. It
     is rather satisfactory than otherwise, to think that all these idle
     pains have turned out so utterly abortive."--_Hawthorne._

Near the fourth milestone, is the tomb of Marcus Servilius Quartus (with
an inscription), restored by Canova in 1808. A bas-relief of the death
of Atys, killed by Adrastus, a short distance beyond this, has been
suggested as part of the tomb of Seneca, who was put to death "near the
fourth milestone" by order of Nero. An inscribed tomb beyond this is
that of Sextus Pompeius Justus.

Near this, in the Campagna on the left, are some small remains, supposed
to be those of a Temple of Juno.

Beyond this a number of tombs can be identified, but none of any
importance. Such are the tombs of Plinius Eutychius, erected by Plinius
Zosimus, a freedman of Pliny the younger; of Caius Licinius; the Doric
tomb of the tax-gatherer Claudius Philippanus, inscribed "Tito. Claudio.
Secundo. Philippiano. Coactori. Flavia. Irene. Vxori Indulgentissimo;"
of Rabinius, with three busts in relief; of Hermodorus; of Elsia Prima,
priestess of Isis; of Marcus C. Cerdonus, with the bas-relief of an
elephant bearing a burning altar.

Beyond the fifth milestone, two circular mounds with basements of
peperino, were considered by Canina to be the tombs of the Horatii and
Curiatii.

On the opposite side of the road is the exceedingly picturesque mediæval
fortress, known as _Torre Mezza Strada_, into which are incorporated the
remains of the Church of Sta. Maria Nuova, or della Gloria. Behind this
extend a vast assemblage of ruins, which form a splendid foreground to
the distant mountain view, and whose size has led to their receiving the
popular epithet of _Roma Vecchia_. Here was the favourite villa of the
Emperor Commodus, where he was residing, when the people, excited by a
sudden impulse during the games of the Circus, rose and poured out of
Rome against him--as the inhabitants of Paris to Versailles--and refused
to depart, till, terrified into action by the entreaties of his
concubine Marcia, he tossed the head of the unpopular Cleander to them
out of the window, and had the brains of that minister's child dashed
out against the stones. This villa is proved by the discovery of a
number of pipes bearing their names to have been that of the brothers
Condianus and Maximus, of the great family of the Quintilii, which was
confiscated by Commodus.

     "L'histoire des deux frères est intéressante et romanesque.
     Condianus et Maximus Quintilius étaient distingués par la science,
     les talents militaires, la richesse, et surtout par une tendresse
     mutuelle qui ne s'était jamais démentie. Servant toujours ensemble,
     l'un se faisait le lieutenant de l'autre. Bien qu'étrangers à toute
     conspiration, leur vertu les fit soupçonner d'être peu favorables à
     Commode; ils furent proscrits et moururent ensemble comme ils
     avaient vécu. L'un d'eux avait un fils nommé Sextus. Au moment de
     la mort de son père et de son oncle, ce fils se trouvait en Syrie.
     Pensant bien que le même sort l'attendait, il feignit de mourir
     pour sauver sa vie. Sextus, après avoir bu sang du lièvre, monta à
     cheval, se laissa tomber, vomit le sang qu'il avait pris et qui
     parut être son propre sang. On mit dans sa bière le corps d'un
     bélier qui passa pour son cadavre, et il disparut. Depuis ce temps,
     il erra sons divers déguisements; mais on sut qu'il avait échappé,
     et on se mit à sa recherche. Beaucoup furent tués parce-qu'ils lui
     ressemblaient ou parce-qu'ils étaient soupçonnés de lui avoir donné
     asile. Il n'est pas bien sûr qu'il ait été atteint, que sa tête se
     trouvât parmi celles qu'on apporta à Rome et qu'on dit être la
     sienne. Ce qui est certain, c'est qu'après la mort de Commode, un
     aventurier, tenté par la belle villa et par les grandes richesses
     des Quintilii, se donna pour Sextus et réclama son héritage. Il
     paraît ne pas avoir manqué d'adresse et avoir connu celui pour
     lequel il voulut qu'on le prît, car par ses réponses il se tira
     très-bien de toutes les enquêtes. Peut-être s'était-il lié avec
     Sextus et l'avait-il assassiné ensuite. Cependant l'empereur
     Pertinax, successeur de Commode, l'ayant fait venir, eut l'idée de
     lui parler grec. Le vrai Sextus connaissait parfaitement cette
     langue. Le faux Sextus, qui ne savait pas le grec, répondit tout de
     travers, et sa fraude fut ainsi découverte."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii.
     253.

On the left of the Via Appia, appears a huge monument, on a narrow base,
called the Tomb of the Metelli. Beyond this, after the fifth milestone,
are the tombs of Sergius Demetrius, a wine merchant; of Lucius Arrius;
of Septimia Gallia; and of one of the Cæcilii, in whose sepulchre,
according to Eutropius, was buried Pomponius Atticus, the friend of
Cicero, whose daughter Vipsania was the first wife of Agrippa, and whose
granddaughter Vipsania Agrippina was the first wife of Tiberius.

Close to the sixth milestone is the mass of masonry sometimes called
"Casale Rotondo," or "Cotta's Tomb," from that name being found there
inscribed on a stone, but generally attributed to Messala Corvinus, the
poet, and friend of Horace, and believed to have been raised to him by
his son Valerius Maximus Cotta, mentioned in Ovid.

    "Te autem in turba non ausim, Cotta, silere,
    Pieridum lumen, præsidiumque fori."

    _Epist._ xvi.

This tomb was even larger than that of Cecilia Metella, and was turned
into a fortress by the Orsini in the fifteenth century.

Beyond this are tombs identified as those of P. Quintius, tribune of the
sixteenth legion; Marcus Julius, steward of Claudius; Publius Decumius
Philomusus (with appropriate bas-reliefs of two mice nibbling a cake);
and of Cedritius Flaccianius.

Passing on the left the _Tor di Selce_, erected upon a huge unknown
tomb, are the tombs of Titia Eucharis, and of Atilius Evodus, jeweller
(margaritarius) on the Via Sacra, with the inscription, "Hospes
resiste--aspice ubi continentur ossa hominis boni misericordis amantis
pauperis." Near the eighth milestone are ruins attributed to the temples
of Silvanus and of Hercules,--of which the latter is mentioned in
Martial's Epigrams, beyond which were the villas of Bassus and of
Persius. The last tomb identified is that of Quintus Verranius. Near the
ninth milestone is a tomb supposed to be that of Gallienus (Imp. 268),
who lived close by in a villa, amid the ruins of which "the Discobolus"
was discovered.

From the stream called Pontecello, near the tenth milestone, the road
gradually ascends to Albano, passing several large but unnamed tombs. At
the Osteria delle Frattocchie it joins the Via Appia Nuova. Close to the
gate of Albano, it passes on the left the tall tomb attributed to Pompey
the Great, in accordance with the statement of Plutarch, and in spite of
the epigram of Varro Atacinus, which says:--

    "Marmoreo Licinius tumulo jacet; at Cato parvo;
    Pompeius nullo: quis putet esse Deus."

Among the many processions which have passed along this road, perhaps
the most remarkable have been that bearing back to Rome the dead body of
Sylla, who died at Pozzuoli, "in a gilt litter, with royal ornaments,
trumpets before him, and horsemen behind;"[223] and the funeral of
Augustus, who dying at Nola (A.D. 14), was brought to Bovillæ, and
remained there a month in the sanctuary of the Julian family, after
which the knights brought the body in solemn procession to his palace on
the Palatine.

But throughout a walk along the Appian Way, the one great Christian
interest of this world-famous road, will, to the Christian visitor,
overpower all others.

     "And so we went toward Rome.

     "And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet
     us as far as Appii-forum, and the Three Taverns: whom when Paul
     saw, he thanked God, and took courage.

     "And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to
     the captain of the guard; but Paul was suffered to dwell by
     himself, with a soldier that kept him."--_Acts_ xxviii. 14--16.

     "It is not without its manifold uses to remember that, amidst the
     dim and wavering traditions of later times, one figure at least
     stands out clear and distinct and undoubted, and this figure is the
     Apostle Paul. He, whatever we may think concerning any other
     apostle or apostolic man in connection with Rome, he, beyond a
     shadow of doubt, appears in the New Testament as her great teacher.
     No criticism or scepticism of modern times has ever questioned the
     perfect authenticity of that last chapter of the Acts, which gives
     the account of his journey, stage by stage, till he set foot within
     the walls of the city. However much we may be compelled to distrust
     any particular traditions concerning special localities of his life
     and death, we cannot doubt for a moment that his eye rested on the
     same general view of sky and plain and mountain; that his feet trod
     the pavement of the same Appian road; that his way lay through the
     same long avenue of ancient tombs on which we now look and wonder;
     that he entered (and there we have our last authentic glimpse of
     his progress) through the arch of Drusus, and then is lost to our
     view in the great Babylon of Rome."--_A. P. Stanley's Sermons._

     "When St. Paul was approaching Rome, all the bases of the mountains
     were (as indeed they are partially now) clustered round with the
     villas and gardens of wealthy citizens. The Appian Way climbs and
     then descends along its southern slope. After passing Lanuvium it
     crossed a crater-like valley or immense substructions, which still
     remain. Here is Aricia, an easy stage from Rome. The town was above
     the road, and on the hillside swarms of beggars beset travellers as
     they passed. On the summit of the next rise, Paul of Tarsus would
     obtain his first view of Rome. There is no doubt that the prospect
     was, in many respects, very different from the view which is now
     obtained from the same spot. It is true that the natural features
     of the scene are unaltered. The long wall of blue Sabine mountains,
     with Soracte in the distance, closed in the Campagna, which
     stretched far across to the sea and round the base of the Alban
     hills. But ancient Rome was not, like modern Rome, impressive from
     its solitude, standing alone, with its one conspicuous cupola, in
     the midst of a desolate though beautiful waste. St. Paul would see
     a vast city, covering the Campagna, and almost continuously
     connected by its suburbs with the villas on the hill where he
     stood, and with the bright towns which clustered on the sides of
     the mountains opposite. Over all the intermediate space were the
     houses and gardens, through which aqueducts and roads might be
     traced in converging lines towards the confused mass of edifices
     which formed the city of Rome. Here no conspicuous building,
     elevated above the rest, attracted the eye or the imagination.
     Ancient Rome had neither cupola nor campanile, still less had it
     any of those spires which give life to all the capitals of northern
     Christendom. It was a widespread aggregate of buildings, which,
     though separated by narrow streets and open spaces, appeared, when
     seen from near Aricia, blended into one indiscriminate mass: for
     distance concealed the contrasts which divided the crowded
     habitations of the poor and the dark haunts of filth and
     misery--from the theatres and colonnades, the baths, the temples,
     and palaces with gilded roofs, flashing back the sun.

     "The road descended into the plain at Bovillæ, six miles from
     Aricia: and thence it proceeded in a straight line, with the
     sepulchres of illustrious families on either hand. One of these was
     the burial-place of the Julian gens, with which the centurion who
     had charge of the prisoners was in some way connected. As they
     proceeded over the old pavement, among gardens and modern houses,
     and approached nearer the busy metropolis--the 'conflux issuing
     forth or entering in' in various costumes and on various
     errands,--vehicles, horsemen, and foot-passengers, soldiers and
     labourers, Romans and foreigners,--became more crowded and
     confusing. The houses grew closer. They were already in Rome. It
     was impossible to define the commencement of the city. Its populous
     portions extended far beyond the limits marked out by Servius. The
     ancient wall, with its once sacred pomœrium, was rather an
     object for antiquarian interest, like the walls of York or Chester,
     than any protection against the enemies, who were kept far aloof by
     the legions on the frontier.

     "Yet the Porta Capena is a spot which we can hardly leave without
     lingering for a moment. Under this arch--which was perpetually
     dripping with the water of the aqueduct that went over it--had
     passed all those who, since a remote period of the republic, had
     travelled by the Appian Way,--victorious generals with their
     legions, returning from foreign service,--emperors and courtiers,
     vagrant representatives of every form of heathenism, Greeks and
     Asiatics, Jews and Christians. From this point entering within the
     city, Julius and his prisoners moved on, with the Aventine on their
     left, close round the base of the Cœlian, and through the hollow
     ground which lay between this hill and the Palatine: thence over
     the low ridge called Velia, where afterwards was built the arch of
     Titus, to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem; and then
     descending, by the _Via Sacra_, into that space which was the
     centre of imperial power and imperial magnificence, and associated
     also with the most glorious recollections of the republic. The
     Forum was to Rome, what the Acropolis was to Athens, the heart of
     all the characteristic interest of the place. Here was the
     _Milliarium Aureum_, to which the roads of all the provinces
     converged. All around were the stately buildings, which were raised
     in the closing years of the republic, and by the earlier emperors.
     In front was the Capitoline Hill, illustrious long before the
     invasion of the Gauls. Close on the left, covering that hill, whose
     name is associated in every modern European language with the
     notion of imperial splendour, were the vast ranges of the
     _palace_--the 'house of Cæsar' (Philipp. iv. 22). Here were the
     household troops quartered in a _prætorium_ attached to the palace.
     And here (unless, indeed, it was in the great Prætorian Camp
     outside the city wall) Julius gave up his prisoner to Burrus, the
     Prætorian Prefect, whose official duty it was to keep in custody
     all accused persons who were to be tried before the
     Emperor."--_Conybeare and Howson._




CHAPTER X.

THE QUIRINAL AND VIMINAL.

     Palazzo Barberini--Palazzo Albani--S. Carlo a Quattro Fontane--S.
     Andrea a Monte Cavallo--Quirinal Palace--Palazzo della
     Consulta--Palazzo Rospigliosi--Colonna Gardens and Temple of the
     Sun--S. Silvestro a Monte Cavallo--Sta. Caterina di Siena--SS.
     Domenico e Sisto--Sta. Agata dei Goti--Sta. Maria in Monte--S.
     Lorenzo Pane e Perna--Sta. Pudenziana--S. Paolo Primo Eremita--S.
     Dionisio--S. Vitale.


It is difficult to determine the exact limits of what in ancient times
were regarded as the Quirinal and Viminal hills. They, like the
Esquiline and Cœlian, are "in fact merely spurs or tongues of hill,
projecting inwards from a common base, the broad table-land, which
slopes on the other side almost imperceptibly into the Campagna."[224]
That, which is described in this chapter as belonging to these two
hills, is chiefly the district to the right of the Via Quattro Fontane,
and its continuations--which extend in a straight line to Sta. Maria
Maggiore.

The Quirinal, like all the other hills, except the Palatine and the
Cœlian, belonged to the Sabines in the early period of Roman history,
and is full of records of their occupation. They had a Capitol here
which is believed to have been long anterior to that on the Capitoline,
and which was crowned by a temple of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. This
Sabine capitol occupied the site of the present Palazzo Rospigliosi.

The name Quirinal is derived from the Sabine word _Quiris_--signifying a
lance, which gave the Sabines their name of Quirites, or lance-bearers,
and to their god the name Quirinus.[225] After his death Romulus
received this title, and an important temple was raised to him on the
Quirinal by Numa,[226] under this name, thus identifying him with Janus
Quirinus, the national god. This temple was surrounded by a sacred grove
mentioned by Ovid.[227] It was rebuilt by the consul L. Papirius Cursor,
to commemorate his triumph after the third Samnite war, B.C. 293, when
he adorned it with a sun-dial (_solarium horologium_), the first set up
in Rome, which, however, not being constructed for the right latitude,
did not show the time correctly. This defect was not remedied till
nearly a century afterwards, when Q. Marcius Philippus set up a correct
dial.[228] In front of this temple grew two celebrated myrtle-trees, one
called _Patricia_, the other _Plebeia_, which shared the fortunes of
their respective orders, as the orange-tree at Sta. Sabina now does that
of the Dominicans. Thus, up to the fifth century, Patricia flourished
gloriously, and Plebeia pined; but from the time when the plebeians
completely gained the upper hand, Patricia withered away.[229] The
temple was rebuilt by Augustus, and Dion Cassius states that the number
of pillars by which it was surrounded accorded with that of the years of
his life.[230]

Adjoining the temple was a portico:

    "Vicini pete porticum Quirini:
    Turbam non habet otiosiorem
    Pompeius."

    _Martial_, xi. Ep. i.

                     ----"Officium cras
    Primo sole mihi peragendum in valle Quirini."

    _Juvenal, Sat._ ii. 132.

Hard by was a temple of Fortuna Publica,

    "Qui dicet, Quondam sacrata est colle Quirini
    Hac Fortuna die Publica; verus erit."

    _Ovid, Fast._ iv. 375.

also an altar to Mamurius, an ancient Sabine divinity, probably
identical with Mars, and a temple of Salus, or Health, which gave a name
to the Porta Salutaria, which must have stood nearly on the site of the
present Quattro Fontane, and near which, not inappropriately, was a
temple of Fever, in the Via S. Vitale, where fever is still prevalent.

The site of the temple of Quirinus is ascertained to have been nearly
that now occupied by S. Andrea a Monte Cavallo. On the opposite side of
the street, where part of the papal palace now stands, was the temple of
Semo-Sanctus, the reputed father of Sabinus. Between these two temples
was the House of Pomponius Atticus (the friend and correspondent of
Cicero), a situation which gave an opportunity for the witticism of
Cicero when he said that Caesar would rather dwell with Quirinus than
with Salus, meaning that he would rather be at war than be in good
health.[231]

In the same neighbourhood lived Martial the epigrammatist, "on the
third floor, in a narrow street," whence he had a view as far as the
portico of Agrippa, near the Flaminian Way. Below, probably on the site
now occupied by the Piazza Barberini, was a Circus of Flora.

    "Mater, ades, florum, ludis celebranda jocosis:
      Distuleram partes mense priore tuas.
    Incipis Aprili: transis in tempora Maii.
      Alter te, fugiens; cum venit, alter habet.
    Quum tua sint cedantque tibi confinia mensum,
      Convenit in laudes ille vel ille tuas.
    Circus in hunc exit, clamataque palma theatris:
      Hoc quoque cum Circi munere carmen eat."

    _Ovid, Fast._ v. 183.

Among the great families who lived on the Quirinal were the Cornelii,
who had a street of their own, _Vicus Corneliorum_, probably on the
slopes behind the present Colonna Palace; and the Flavii, who were of
Sabine origin.[232] Domitian was born here in the house of the Flavii,
afterwards consecrated by him as a temple, in which Vespasian, Titus,
and Domitian himself were buried, and Julia the ugly daughter of
Titus--well known from her statues in the Vatican.

As some fragments remain of the two buildings erected on the Quirinal
during the later empire, Aurelian's Temple of the Sun, and the Baths of
Constantine, they will be noticed in the regular course.

       *       *       *       *       *

On the ascent of the hill, just above the Piazza del Tritone, is the
noble _Barberini Palace_, built by Urban VIII. from designs of Carlo
Maderno, continued by Borromini, and finished by Bernini, in 1640. It is
screened from the street by a magnificent railing between columns,
erected 1865--67, and if this railing could be continued, and the block
of houses towards the piazza removed, it would be far the most splendid
private palace in Rome.

This immense building is a memorial of the magnificence and ambition of
Urban VIII. Its size is enormous, the smallest apartment in the palace
containing forty rooms. The Prince at present inhabits the right wing;
with him lives his elder brother the Duke, who abdicated the family
honours in his favour. In the left wing--occupied in the beginning of
this century by the ex-king (Charles VII.) and queen of Spain, and the
"Prince of Peace"--is the huge apartment of the late Cardinal Barberini,
now uninhabited. On this side is the grand staircase, upon which is
placed a lion in high relief, found on the family property at
Palestrina. It is before this lion that Canova is said to have lain for
hours upon the pavement, studying for his tomb of Clement XIII. in St.
Peter's. The _guarda-roba_, badly kept, contains many curious relics of
family grandeur; amongst them is a sedan-chair, painted by Titian.

The _Library_ (open on Thursdays from nine to two) contains a most
valuable collection of MSS., about 7000 in number, brought together by
Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Urban VIII. They include
collections of letters of Galileo, Bembo, and Bellarmine; the official
reports to Urban VIII., relating to the state of Catholicism in England
in the time of Charles I.; a copy of the Bible in the Samaritan
character; a Bible of the fourth century; several MSS. copies of Dante;
a missal illuminated by Ghirlandajo; and a book of sketches of ancient
Roman edifices, of 1465, by Giuliano de Sangallo,--most interesting to
the antiquarian and architect, as preserving the forms of many public
buildings which have disappeared since that date. Among the 50,000
printed books is a Hebrew Bible of 1788, one of the twelve known copies
of the complete edition of Soncino; a Latin Plato, by Ficino, with
marginal notes by Tasso and his father Bernardo; a Dante of 1477, with
notes by Bembo, &c.

In the right wing is a huge _Hall_ (adorned with second-rate statues),
with a grand ceiling by _Pietro da Cortona_ (1596--1669), representing
"Il Trionfo della Gloria," the Forge of Vulcan, Minerva annihilating the
Titans, and other mythological subjects--much admired by Lanzi, and
considered by Kugler to be the most important work of the artist. Four
vast frescoes of the Fathers of the Church are preserved here, having
been removed from the dome of St. Peter's, where they were replaced with
mosaics by Urban VIII. Below are other frescoes by _Pietro da Cortona_,
a portrait of Urban VIII., and some tapestries illustrative of the
events of his reign and of his own intense self-esteem--thus the Virgin
and Angels are represented bringing in the ornaments of the papacy at
his coronation, &c. But the conceit of Pope Urban reaches its climax in
a room at the top of the house, which exhibits a number of the Barberini
bees (the family crest) flocking against the sun, and eclipsing it--to
typify the splendour of the family. The Will of Pope Urban VIII. is a
very curious document, providing against the extinction of the family in
every apparent contingency; this, however, now seems likely to take
place; the heir is a Sciarra. The pillars in front of the palace, and
all the surrounding buildings, teem with the bees of the Barberini,
which may also be seen on the Propaganda and many other great Roman
edifices, and which are creeping up the robe of Urban VIII. in St.
Peter's.

     "The Barberini were the last papal nephews who aspired to
     independent principalities. Urban VIII., though he enriched them
     enormously, appears to have been but little satisfied with them. He
     used to complain that he had four relations who were fit for
     nothing, the first, Cardinal Francesco, was a saint, and worked no
     miracles: the second, Cardinal Antonio, was a monk, and had no
     patience: the third, Cardinal Antonio the younger, was an orator
     (_i.e._ an ambassador), and did not know how to speak: and the
     fourth was a general, who could not draw a sword."--_Goethe,
     Romische Briefe._

On the right, on entering the palace, is the small _Collection of
Pictures_ (open when the custode chooses to be there), indifferently
lodged for a building so magnificent. We may notice:--

     _2nd Room._--

    34. Urban VIII.: _Andrea Sacchi_.
    35. A Cardinal: _Titian_.
    48. Madonna and Child, St. John, and St Jerome: _Francia_.
    54. Madonna and Child: _Sodoma_.
    58. Madonna and Child: _Giovanni Bellini_.
    63. Daughter of Raphael Mengs: _Mengs_.
    67. Portrait of himself: _Masaccio_.
    74. Adam and Eve: _Domenichino_.

     _3rd Room._--

     73. The "Schiava:" _Palma Vecchio_.

     "The so-called Slave (a totally unmeaning name) is probably a mere
     school picture, of grand beauty, but with too clumsy a style of
     drapery, too cold an expression, and too brown a carnation for
     Titian--to whom it is attributed."--_Kugler._

     76. Castel Gandolfo: _Claude Lorraine_.

     78. Portrait: _Bronzino_.

     79. Christ among the Doctors--painted in five days, in 1506:
     _Albert Durer_.

     81. "The mother of Beatrice Cenci"? _Caravaggio_.

     82. The Fornarina (with the painter's name on the armlet):
     _Raphael_.

     "The history of this person, to whom Raphael was attached even to
     his death, is obscure, nor are we very clear with regard to her
     likenesses. In the tribune at Florence there is a portrait,
     inscribed with the date 1512, of a very beautiful woman holding the
     fur trimming of her mantle with her right hand, which is said to
     represent her. The picture is decidedly by Raphael, but can hardly
     represent the Fornarina; at least it has no resemblance to this
     portrait, which has the name of Raphael on the armlet, and of the
     authenticity of which (particularly with respect to the subject)
     there can hardly be a doubt. In this the figure is seated, and is
     uncovered to the waist; she draws a light drapery around her; a
     shawl is twisted round her head. The execution is beautiful and
     delicate, although the lines are sufficiently defined; the forms
     are fine and not without beauty, but at the same time not free from
     an expression of coarseness and common life. The eyes are large,
     dark, and full of fire, and seem to speak of brighter days. There
     are repetitions of this picture, from the school of Raphael, in
     Roman galleries."--_Kugler._

    86. Death of Germanicus: _Poussin._
    88. Seaport: _Claude Lorraine._
    90. Holy Family: _Andrea del Sarto._
    93. Annunciation: _Botticelli._

But the interest of this collection centres entirely around two
portraits--that (81) of Lucrezia, the unhappy wife of Francesco Cenci,
by _Scipione Gaetani_, and that (85) of Beatrice Cenci, by _Guido Reni_.

     "The portrait of Beatrice Cenci is most interesting as a just
     representation of one of the loveliest specimens of the workmanship
     of nature. There is a fixed and pale composure upon the features;
     she seems sad and stricken down in spirit, yet the despair thus
     expressed is lightened by the patience of gentleness. Her head is
     bound with folds of white drapery, from which the yellow strings of
     her golden hair escape, and fall about her neck. The moulding of
     her face is exquisitely delicate; the eyebrows are distinct and
     arched; the lips have that permanent meaning of imagination and
     sensibility which suffering has not repressed, and which it seems
     as if death scarcely could extinguish. Her forehead is large and
     clear; her eyes, which we are told were remarkable for their
     vivacity, are swollen with weeping, and lustreless, but beautifully
     tender and serene. In the whole mien there is a simplicity and
     dignity, which, united with her exquisite loveliness and deep
     sorrow, is inexpressibly pathetic. Beatrice Cenci appears to have
     been one of those persons in whom energy and gentleness dwell
     together without destroying one another; her nature simple and
     profound. The crimes and miseries in which she was an actor and
     sufferer, are as the mask and the mantle in which circumstances
     clothed her for her impersonation on the scene of the
     world."--_Shelley's Preface to the Cenci._

     "The picture of Beatrice Cenci represents simply a female head; a
     very youthful, girlish, perfectly beautiful face, enveloped in
     white drapery, from beneath which strays a lock or two of what
     seems a rich, though hidden luxuriance of auburn hair. The eyes are
     large and brown, and meet those of the spectator, evidently with a
     strange, ineffectual effort to escape. There is a little redness
     about the eyes, very slightly indicated, so that you would question
     whether or no the girl had been weeping. The whole face is very
     quiet; there is no distortion or disturbance of any single feature;
     nor is it easy to see why the expression is not cheerful, or why a
     single touch of the artist's pencil should not brighten it into
     joyousness. But, in fact, it is the very saddest picture ever
     painted or conceived; it involves an unfathomable depth of sorrow,
     the sense of which comes to the observer by a sort of intuition. It
     is a sorrow that removes this beautiful girl out of the sphere of
     humanity, and sets her in a far-off region, the remoteness of
     which, while yet her face is so close before us,--makes us shiver
     as at a spectre. You feel all the time you look at Beatrice, as if
     she were trying to escape from your gaze. She knows that her sorrow
     is so strange and immense, that she ought to be solitary for ever
     both for the world's sake and her own; and this is the reason we
     feel such a distance between Beatrice and ourselves, even when our
     eyes meet hers. It is infinitely heart-breaking to meet her glance,
     and to know that nothing can be done to help or comfort her,
     neither does she ask help or comfort, knowing the hopelessness of
     her case better than we do. She is a fallen angel--fallen and yet
     sinless: and it is only this depth of sorrow with its weight and
     darkness, that keeps her down to earth, and brings her within our
     view even while it sets her beyond our reach."--_Hawthorne,
     Transformation._

     "The portrait of Beatrice Cenci is a picture almost impossible to
     be forgotten. Through the transcendent sweetness and beauty of the
     face, there is a something shining out that haunts me. I see it
     now, as I see this paper, or my pen. The head is loosely draped in
     white; the light hair falling down below the linen folds. She has
     turned suddenly towards you; and there is an expression in the
     eyes--although they are very tender and gentle--as if the wildness
     of a momentary terror, or distraction, had been struggled with and
     overcome, that instant; and nothing but a celestial hope, and a
     beautiful sorrow, and a desolate earthly helplessness remained.
     Some stories say that Guido painted it the night before her
     execution; some other stories, that he painted it from memory,
     after having seen her on her way to the scaffold. I am willing to
     believe that, as you see her on his canvas, so she turned towards
     him, in the crowd, from the first sight of the axe, and stamped
     upon his mind a look which he has stamped on mine as though I had
     stood beside him in the concourse. The guilty palace of the Cenci:
     blighting a whole quarter of the town, as it stands withering away
     by grains: had that face, to my fancy, in its dismal porch, and at
     its black blind windows, and flitting up and down its dreary
     stairs, and growing out of the darkness of its ghostly galleries.
     The history is written in the painting; written, in the dying
     girl's face, by Nature's own hand. And oh! how in that one touch
     she puts to flight (instead of making kin) the puny world that
     claims to be related to her, in right of poor conventional
     forgeries!"--_Dickens._

     "Five days had been passed by Beatrice in the secret prisons of the
     Torre Savella, when, at an early hour in the morning, her advocate,
     Farinacci, entered her sad abode. With him appeared a young man of
     about twenty-five years of age, dressed in the fashion of a writer
     in the courts of justice of that day. Unheeded by Beatrice, he sat
     regarding her at a little distance with fixed attention. She had
     risen from her miserable pallet, but, unlike the wretched inmate of
     a dungeon, she seemed a being from a brighter sphere. Her eyes were
     of liquid softness, her forehead large and clear, her countenance
     of angelic purity, mysteriously beautiful. Around her head a fold
     of white muslin had been carelessly wrapped, from whence in rich
     luxuriance fell her fair and waving hair. Profound sorrow imparted
     an air of touching sensibility to her lovely features. With all the
     eagerness of hope, she begged Farinacci to tell her frankly if his
     visit foreboded good, and assured him of her gratitude for the
     anxiety he evinced, to save her life and that of her family.

     "Farinacci conversed with her for some time, while at a distance
     sat his companion, sketching the features of Beatrice. Turning
     round, she observed this with displeasure and surprise; Farinacci
     explained that this seeming writer was the celebrated painter,
     Guido Reni, who, earnestly desiring her picture, had entreated to
     be introduced into the prison for the purpose of obtaining so rich
     an acquisition. At first unwilling, but afterwards consenting, she
     turned and said, 'Signor Guido, your renown might make me desirous
     of knowing you, but how will you undervalue me in my present
     situation. From the fatality that surrounds me, you will judge me
     guilty. Perhaps my face will tell you I am not wicked; it will show
     you, too, that I now languish in this prison, which I may quit,
     only to ascend the scaffold. Your great name, and my sad story, may
     make my portrait interesting, and,' she added, with touching
     simplicity, 'the picture will awaken compassion if you write on one
     of its angles the word, _innocente_.' The great artist set himself
     to work, and produced the picture now in the Palazzo Barberini, a
     picture that rivets the attention of every beholder, which, once
     seen, ever after hovers over the memory with an interest the most
     harrowing and mysterious."--_From "Beatrice Cenci, Storia del
     Secolo XVI., Raccontata dal D.A.A., Firenze." Whiteside's
     Translation._

There is a pretty old-fashioned garden belonging to this palace, at one
corner of which--overhanging an old statue--was the celebrated
_Barberini Pine_, often drawn by artists from the Via Sterrata at the
back of the garden, where statue and pine combined well with the Church
of S. Caio; but, alas, this magnificent tree was cut down in 1872.

At the back of the palace-court, behind the arched bridge leading to the
garden, is--let into the wall--an inscription which formed part of the
dedication of an arch erected to Claudius by the senate and people, in
honour of the conquest of Britain. The letters were inlaid with bronze.
It was found near the Palazzo Sciarra, where the arch is supposed to
have stood.

Ascending to the summit of the hill, we find four ugly statues of
river-gods, lying over the _Quattro Fontane_, from which the street
takes its name.

On the left is the _Palazzo Albani_, recently restored by Queen
Christina of Spain.

     "In one of its rooms is a very ancient painting of Jupiter and
     Ganymede, in a very uncommon style, uniting considerable grandeur
     of conception, great force and decision, and a deep tone and colour
     which produce great effect. It is said to be Grecian."--_Eaton's
     Rome._

The opposite church, _S. Carlo a Quattro Fontane_, is worth observing
from the fact that the whole building, church and convent, corresponds
with one of the four piers supporting the cupola of St. Peter's. Here
was formed the point of attack against the Quirinal Palace, November 16,
1848, which caused the flight of Pius IX., and the downfall of his
government. From a window of this convent the shot was fired which
killed Monsignor Palma, one of the pontifical secretaries, and a writer
on ecclesiastical history--who had unfortunately exposed himself at one
of the windows opposite. The church contains two pictures by _Mignard_
relating to the history of S. Carlo.

Turning down Via del Quirinale, on the left is _S. Andrea a Monte
Cavallo_ (on the supposed site of the temple of Quirinus), erected, as
it is told by an inscription inside, by Camillo Pamphili, nephew of
Innocent X., from designs of Bernini. It has a Corinthian façade and a
projecting semicircular portico with Ionic columns. The interior is
oval. It is exceedingly rich, being almost entirely lined with red
marble streaked with white (Sicilian jasper), divided by white marble
pillars supporting a gilt cupola. The high altar--supposed to cover the
body of St. Zeno--between really magnificent pillars, is surmounted by a
fine picture, by _Borgognone_, of the crucifixion of St. Andrew. Near
this is the tomb, by _Festa_, of Emmanuel IV., king of Sardinia, who
abdicated his throne in 1802, to become a Jesuit monk in the adjoining
convent, where he died in 1818. On the right is the chapel of Santa
Croce, with three pictures of the passion and death of Christ by
_Brandini_; and that of St. Francis Xavier, with three pictures by
_Baciccio_, representing the saint preaching,--baptizing an Indian
queen,--and lying dead in the island of Sancian in China. On the left
is the chapel of the Virgin, with pictures, by _David_, of the three
great Jesuit saints--St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Francis Borgia, and St.
Luigi Gonzaga--adoring the Virgin, and, by _Gerard de la Nuit_, of the
Adoration of the Shepherds and of the Magi; and lastly the chapel of S.
Stanislas Kostka, containing his shrine of gold and lapis-lazuli, under
an exceedingly rich altar, which is adorned with a beautiful picture by
_Carlo Maratta_, representing the saint receiving the Infant Jesus from
the arms of his mother. At the sides of the chapel are two other
pictures by _Maratta_, one of which represents S. Stanislas "bathing
with water his breast inflamed with divine love," the other his
receiving the host from the hands of an angel. These are the three
principal incidents in the story of the young S. Stanislas, who belonged
to a noble Polish family and abandoned the world to shut himself up
here, saying, "I am not born for the good things of this world; that
which my heart desires is the good things of eternity."

     "I have long ago exhausted all my capacity of admiration for
     splendid interiors of churches; but methinks this little, little
     temple (it is not more than fifty or sixty feet across) has a more
     perfect and gem-like beauty than any other. Its shape is oval, with
     an oval dome, and above that another little dome, both of which are
     magnificently frescoed. Around the base of the larger dome is
     wreathed a flight of angels, and the smaller and upper one is
     encircled by a garland of cherubs--cherub and angel all of pure
     white marble. The oval centre of the church is walled round with
     precious and lustrous marble, of a red-veined variety, interspersed
     with columns and pilasters of white; and there are arches, opening
     through this rich wall, forming chapels, which the architect seems
     to have striven hard to make even more gorgeous than the main body
     of the church. The pavement is one star of various tinted
     marble."--_Hawthorne, Notes on Italy._

The adjoining _Convent of the Noviciate of the Order of Jesus_ contains
the room in which S. Stanislas Kostka died, at the age of eighteen, with
his reclining statue by _Le Gros_, the body in white, his dress (that of
a novice) in black, and the couch upon which he lies in yellow marble.
Behind his statue is a picture of a celestial vision which consoled him
in his last moments. On the day of his death, November 13, the convent
is thrown open, and mass is said without ceasing in this chamber, which
is visited by thousands.

     "La petite chambre de S. Stanislas Kostka, est un de ces lieux où
     la prière naît spontanément dans le cœur, et s'en échappe comme
     par un cours naturel."--_Veuillot, Parfum de Rome._[233]

In the convent garden is shown the fountain where "the angels used to
bathe the breast of S. Stanislas burning with the love of Christ."

Passing the Benedictine convent, with a courtyard containing an old
sarcophagus as a fountain, and a humble church decorated with rude
frescoes of St. Benedict and Sta. Scholastica, we reach a small and
popular church, rich in marbles, belonging to the _Perpetua Adoratrice
del Divin Sacramento del Altare_, founded by sister Maddalena of the
Incarnation, who died 1829, and is buried on the right of the entrance.
Here the low monotonous chant of the perpetual adoration may be
constantly heard.

The _Piazza of the Monte Cavallo_ has in its centre the red granite
obelisk (ninety-five feet high with its base) erected here by Antinori
in 1781, for Pius VI. It was originally brought from Egypt by Claudius,
A.D. 57, together with the obelisk now in front of Sta. Maria Maggiore,
and they were both first placed at the entrance of the mausoleum of
Augustus. At its base are the colossal statues found in the baths of
Constantine, of the Dioscuri Castor and Pollux reining in their horses.
These statues give a name to the district. Their bases bear the names of
Phidias and Praxiteles, and though their claim to be the work of such
distinguished sculptors is doubtful, they are certainly of Greek origin.
Copies of these statues at Berlin have received the nicknames of
Gehemmter Fortschritt, and Beförderter Rückschritt,--Progress checked
and Retrogression encouraged.

     "At the time when the _Mirabilia Romæ_ were published, that is,
     about the thirteenth century, these statues were believed to
     represent the young philosophers, Praxiteles and Phidias, who came
     to Rome during the reign of Tiberius, and promised to tell him his
     most secret words and actions provided he would honour them with a
     monument. Having performed their promise, they obtained these
     statues, which represent them naked, because all human science was
     naked and open to their eyes. From this fable, wild and absurd as
     it is, we may nevertheless draw the inference that the statues had
     been handed down from time immemorial as the works of Phidias and
     Praxiteles, though those artists had in the lapse of ages been
     metamorphosed into philosophers. May we not also assume the
     existence of a tradition that the statues were brought to Rome in
     the reign of Tiberius? In the middle ages the group appears to have
     been accompanied by a statue of Medusa, sitting at their feet, and
     having before her a shell. According to the text of the
     _Mirabilia_, as given by Montfaucon in his _Diarium Italicum_, this
     figure represented the Church. The snakes which surrounded her
     typified the volumes of Scripture, which nobody could approach
     unless he had first been washed--that is, baptized--in the water of
     the shell. But the Prague MS. of the _Mirabilia_ interprets the
     female figure to represent Science, and the serpents to typify the
     disputed questions with which she is concerned."--_Dyer's Hist. of
     the City of Rome._

     "L'imitation du grand style de Phidias est visible dans plusieurs
     sculptures qu'il a inspirées, et surtout dans les colosses de
     Castor et Pollux, domptant des chevaux, qui ont fait donner à une
     partie du mont Quirinal le nom de _Monte Cavallo_.

     "Il ne faut faire aucune attention aux inscriptions qui attribuent
     un des deux colosses à Phidias et l'autre à Praxitèle, Praxitèle
     dont le style n'a rien à faire ici; son nom a été inscrit sur la
     base de l'une des deux statues, comme Phèdre le reprochait déjà à
     des faussaires du temps d'Auguste, qui croyaient augmenter le
     mérite d'un nouvel ouvrage en y mettant le nom de Praxitèle. Quelle
     que soit l'époque où les colosses de Monte Cavallo ont été
     exécutés, malgré quelques différences, on doit affirmer que les
     deux originaux étaient de la même école, de l'école de
     Phidias."--_Ampère, Hist. Romaine_, iii. 252.

     "Chacun des deux héros dompte d'une seule main un cheval fougueux
     qui se cabre. Ces formes colossales, cette lutte de l'homme avec
     les animaux, donnent, comme tous les ouvrages des anciens, une
     admirable idée de la puissance physique de la nature
     humaine."--_Mad. de Staël._

    "Ye too, marvellous Twain, that erect on the Monte Cavallo
    Stand by your rearing steeds in the grace of your motionless movement,
    Stand with your upstretched arms and tranquil regardant faces,
    Stand as instinct with life in the might of immutable manhood,--
    O ye mighty and strange, ye ancient divine ones of Hellas."

    _A. H. Clough._

     "Before me were the two Monte Cavallo statues, towering
     gigantically above the pygmies of the present day, and looking like
     Titans in the act of threatening heaven. Over my head the stars
     were just beginning to look out, and might have been taken for
     guardian angels keeping watch over the temples below. Behind, and
     on my left, were palaces; on my right, gardens, and hills beyond,
     with the orange tints of sunset over them still glowing in the
     distance. Within a stone's throw of me, in the midst of objects
     thus glorious in themselves, and thus in harmony with each other,
     was stuck an unplaned post, on which glimmered a paper lantern.
     Such is Rome."--_Guesses at Truth._

Close by is a fountain playing into a fine bason of Egyptian granite,
brought hither by Pius VII. from the Forum, where it had long been used
for watering cattle.

On the left, is the _Palace of the Consulta_, built in 1730 by Clement
XII. (Corsini), from designs of Fuga. Before its gates, under the old
regime, some of the Papal Guardia Nobile were always to be seen sunning
themselves in a uniform so resplendent that it could scarcely be
believed that the pay of this "noble guard" of the Pope amounted only to
£5 6_s._ 3_d._ a month!

On the right, is the immense _Palace of the Quirinal_, which also
extends along one whole side of the street we have been pursuing.

     "That palace-building, ruin-destroying pope, Paul IV., began to
     erect the enormous palace on the Quirinal Hill; and the
     prolongation of his labours, by a long series of successive
     pontiffs, has made it one of the largest and ugliest buildings
     extant."--_Eaton's Rome._

     The chief, indeed almost the only, interest of this palace arises
     from its having been the favourite residence of Pius VII.
     (Chiaramonte). It was here that he was taken prisoner by the
     French. General Radet forced his way into the pope's room on the
     night of June 6, 1809, and, while excusing himself for being the
     messenger, hastily intimated to the pontiff, in the name of the
     emperor, that he must at once abdicate his temporal sovereignty.
     Pius absolutely refused, upon which he was forced to descend the
     staircase, and found a coach waiting at the entrance of the palace.
     Here the pope paused, his face streaming with tears, and, standing
     in the starlit piazza, solemnly extended his arms in benediction
     over his sleeping people. Then he entered the carriage, followed by
     Cardinal Pacca, and was hurried away to exile.... "Whirled away
     through the heat and dust of an Italian summer's day, without an
     attendant, without linen, without his spectacles--fevered and
     wearied, he never for a moment lost his serenity. Cardinal Pacca
     tells us, that when they had just started on this most dismal of
     journeys, the pope asked him if he had any money. The secretary of
     state replied that he had had no opportunity of providing himself.
     'We then drew forth our purses,' continues the cardinal, 'and
     notwithstanding the state of affliction we were in at being thus
     torn away from Rome, and all that was dear to us, we could hardly
     compose our countenances, on finding the contents of each purse to
     consist--of the pope's, of a papetto (10_d._), and of mine, of
     three grossi (7½_d._). We had precisely thirty-five baiocchi
     between us. The pope, extending his hand, showed his papetto to
     General Radet, saying, at the same time, 'Look here--this is all I
     possess.'"[234].... Six years after, Napoleon was sent to St.
     Helena, and Pius VII. returned in triumph to Rome!

It was from this same palace that Pius IX.--who has never inhabited it
since--made his escape to Gaeta during the revolution of 1848, when the
siege of the Quirinal by the insurgents had succeeded in extorting the
appointment of a democratic ministry.

     "On the afternoon of the 24th of November, the Duc d'Harcourt had
     arrived at the Quirinal in his coach as ambassador of France, and
     craved an audience of the sovereign. The guards wondered that he
     stayed so long; but they knew not that he sat reading the
     newspapers in the papal study, while the pope had retired to his
     bed-room to change his dress. Here his major-domo, Filippani, had
     laid out the black cassock and dress of an ordinary priest. The
     pontiff took off his purple stole and white pontifical robe, and
     came forth in the simple garb he had worn in his quiet youth. The
     Duc d'Harcourt threw himself on his knees exclaiming, 'Go forth,
     holy Father; divine wisdom inspires this counsel, divine power will
     lead it to a happy end.' By secret passages and narrow staircases,
     Pius IX. and his trusty servant passed unseen to a little door,
     used only occasionally for the Swiss guards, and by which they were
     to leave the palace. They reached it, and bethought them that the
     key had been forgotten! Filippani hastened back to the papal
     apartment to fetch it; and returning unquestioned to the wicket,
     found the pontiff on his knees, and quite absorbed in prayer. The
     wards were rusty, and the key turned with difficulty; but the door
     was opened at last, and the holy fugitive and his servant quickly
     entered a poor hackney coach that was waiting for them outside.
     Here, again, they ran risk of being discovered through the
     thoughtless adherence to old etiquette of the other servant, who
     stood by the coach, and who, having let down the steps, knelt, as
     usual, before he shut the door.

     "The pope wore a dark great coat over his priest's cassock, a
     low-crowned round hat, and a broad brown woollen neckcloth outside
     his straight Roman collar. Filippani had on his usual loose cloak;
     but under this he carried the three-cornered hat of the pope, a
     bundle of the most private and secret papers, the papal seals, the
     breviary, the cross-embroidered slippers, a small quantity of
     linen, and a little box full of gold medals stamped with the
     likeness of his Holiness. From the inside of the carriage, he
     directed the coachman to follow many winding and diverging streets,
     in the hope of misleading the spies, who were known to swarm at
     every corner. Beside the Church of SS. Pietro e Marcellino, in the
     deserted quarter beyond the Coliseum, they found the Bavarian
     minister, Count Spaur, waiting in his own private carriage, and
     imagining every danger which could have detained them so long. The
     sovereign pressed the hand of his faithful Filippani, and entered
     the Count's carriage. Silently they drove on through the old gate
     of Rome,--Count Spaur having there shown the passport of the
     Bavarian minister going to Naples on affairs of state.

     "Meanwhile the Duc d'Harcourt grew tired of reading the newspapers
     in the pope's study; and when he thought that his Holiness must be
     far beyond the walls of Rome, he left the palace, and taking
     post-horses, hastened with all speed to overtake the fugitive on
     the road to Civita Vecchia, whither he believed him to be flying.
     As he left the study in the Quirinal, a prelate entered with a
     large bundle of ecclesiastical papers, on which, he said, he had to
     confer with the pope; then his chamberlain went in to read to him
     his breviary, and the office of the day. The rooms were lighted up,
     and the supper taken in as usual; and at length it was stated that
     his Holiness, feeling somewhat unwell, had retired to rest; and his
     attendants, and the guard of honour, were dismissed for the night.
     It is true that a certain prelate, who chanced to see the little
     door by which the fugitive had escaped into the street left open,
     began to cry out, 'The pope has escaped! the pope has escaped!' But
     Prince Gabrielli was beside him; and, clapping his hand upon the
     mouth of the alarmist, silenced him in time, by whispering, 'Be
     quiet, Monsignore; be quiet, or we shall be cut to pieces!'

     "Near La Riccia, the fugitives found Countess Spaur (who had
     arranged the whole plan of the escape) waiting with a coach and six
     horses--in which they pursued their journey to Gaeta, reaching the
     Neapolitan frontier between five and six in the morning. The pope
     throughout carried with him the sacrament in the pyx which Pius the
     Seventh carried when he was taken prisoner to France, and which, as
     if with prescience of what would happen, had been lately sent to
     him as a memorial by the Bishop of Avignon."--_Beste._

It is in the Quirinal Palace that the later conclaves have always met
for the election of the popes.

     "In the afternoon of the last day of the novendiali, as they are
     called, after the death of a pope, the cardinals assemble (at S.
     Sylvestro a Monte Cavallo), and walk in procession, accompanied by
     their conclavisti, a secretary, a chaplain, and a servant or two,
     to the great gate of the royal residence, in which one will remain
     as master and supreme lord. Of course the hill is crowded by
     persons, lining the avenue kept open for the procession. Cardinals
     never before seen by them, or not for many years, pass before
     them; eager eyes scan and measure them, and try to conjecture, from
     fancied omens in eye, in figure, or in expression, who will be
     shortly the sovereign of their fair city; and, what is much more,
     the head of the Catholic Church, from the rising to the setting
     sun. They all enter equal over the threshold of that gate: they
     share together the supreme rule, spiritual and temporal: there is
     still embosomed in them all, the voice yet silent, that will soon
     sound from one tongue over all the world, and the dormant germ of
     that authority which will soon again be concentrated in one man
     alone. To-day they are all equal; perhaps to-morrow one will sit
     enthroned, and all the rest will kiss his feet; one will be
     sovereign, and others his subjects; one the shepherd, and the
     others his flock.

            *       *       *       *       *

     "From the Quirinal Palace stretches out, the length of a whole
     street, an immense wing, divided in its two upper floors into a
     great number of small but complete suites of apartments, occupied
     permanently, or occasionally, by persons attached to the Court.
     During conclave these are allotted, literally so, to the cardinals,
     each of whom lives apart with his own attendants. His food is
     brought daily from his own house, and is overhauled, and delivered
     to him in the shape of 'broken victuals,' by the watchful guardians
     of the _turns_ and lattices, through which alone anything, even
     conversation, can penetrate into the seclusion of that sacred
     retreat. For a few hours, the first evening, the doors are left
     open, and the nobility, the diplomatic body, and, in fact, all
     presentable persons, may roam from cell to cell, paying a brief
     compliment to its occupant, perhaps speaking the same good wishes
     to fifty, which they know can only be accomplished in one. After
     that, all is closed; a wicket is left accessible for any cardinal
     to enter, who is not yet arrived; but every aperture is jealously
     guarded by faithful janitors, judges and prelates of various
     tribunals, who relieve one another. Every letter even is opened and
     read, that no communications may be held with the outer world. The
     very street on which the wing of the conclave looks is barricaded
     and guarded by a picquet at each end; and as, fortunately, opposite
     there are no private residences, and all the buildings have access
     from the back, no inconvenience is thereby created.... In the mean
     time, within, and unseen from without, _fervet opus_.

     "Twice a day the cardinals meet in the chapel belonging to the
     palace, included in the enclosure, and there, on tickets so
     arranged that the voter's name cannot be seen, write the name of
     him for whom they give their suffrage. These papers are examined in
     their presence, and if the number of votes given to any one do not
     constitute the majority, they are burnt in such a manner that the
     smoke, issuing through a flue, is visible to the crowd usually
     assembled in the square outside. Some day, instead of this usual
     signal to disperse, the sound of pick and hammer is heard, a small
     opening is seen in the wall which had temporarily blocked up the
     great window over the palace gateway. At last the masons of the
     conclave have opened a rude door, through which steps out on the
     balcony the first Cardinal Deacon, and proclaims to the many, or to
     the few, who may happen to be in waiting, that they again possess a
     sovereign and a pontiff."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

     "Sais-tu ce que c'est qu'un conclave? Une réunion de vieillards,
     moins occupés du ciel que de la terre, et dont quelques-uns se font
     plus maladifs, plus goutteux, et plus cacochymes qu'ils ne le sont
     encore, dans l'espérance d'inspirer un vif interêt à leurs
     partisans. Grand nombre d'éminences ne renonçant jamais à la
     possibilité d'une élection, le rival le plus près de la tombe
     excite toujours le moins de répugnance. Un rhumatisme est ici un
     titre à la confiance; l'hydropisie a ses partisans: car l'ambition
     et la mort comptent sur les mêmes chances. Le cercueil sert comme
     de marchepied au trône; et il y a tel pieux candidat qui
     négocierait avec son concurrent, si la durée du nouveau règne
     pouvait avoir son terme obligatoire comme celui d'un effet de
     commerce. Eh! ne sais-tu pas toi-même que le pâtre d'Ancône brûla
     gaiement ses béquilles dès qu'il eut ceint la tiare; et que Léon
     X., élu à trente-huit ans, avait eu grand soin de ne guérir d'un
     mal mortel que le lendemain de son couronnement?"--_Lorenzo
     Ganganelli (Clement XIV.) à Carlo Bertinazzi, Avril 16, 1769._

Under the rule of the Popes the palace was shown from 12 A.M. to 4 P.M.
on presentation of a ticket, which could easily be obtained through a
banker. It was stripped of all historical memorials and contained very
few fine pictures, so was little worth visiting. Since the winter of
1870--71 the palace has been appropriated as the residence of the
Sardinian Royal Family.

On the landing of the principal staircase, in a bad light, is a very
important fresco by _Melozzo da Forli_, a rare master of the Paduan
school.[235]

     "On the vaulted ceiling of a chapel in the Church of the SS.
     Apostoli at Rome, Melozzo executed a work (1472) which, in those
     times, can have admitted of comparison with few. When the chapel
     was rebuilt in the eighteenth century some fragments were saved.
     That comprehending the Creator between angels was removed to a
     staircase in the Quirinal palace, while single figures of angels
     were placed in the sacristy of St. Peter's. These detached portions
     suffice to show a beauty and fulness of form, and a combination of
     earthly and spiritual grandeur, comparable in their way to the
     noblest productions of Titian, although in mode of execution rather
     recalling Coreggio. Here, as in the cupola frescoes of Coreggio
     himself, half a century later, we trace that constant effort at
     true perspective of the figure, hardly in character, perhaps, with
     high ecclesiastical art; the drapery, also, is of a somewhat
     formless description; but the grandeur of the principal figure, the
     grace and freshness of the little adoring cherubs, and the elevated
     beauty of the angels are expressed with an easy naïveté, to which
     only the best works of Mantegna and Signorelli can
     compare."--_Kugler._

Passing through a great hall, one hundred and ninety feet long, we are
shown a number of rooms fitted up by Pius VII. and Gregory XVI. for the
papal summer residence. They contain few objects of interest. In one
chamber is a Last Supper by _Baroccio_;--in the next a fine tapestry
representing the marriage of Louis XIV. The following rooms contain some
good Gobelin tapestries.

Several apartments have mosaic pavements, brought hither from pagan
edifices. The chamber is shown in which Pius VII. died,--the bed has
been changed. In the next room--an audience chamber--he was taken
prisoner. Here is a curious ancient pietra-dura of the
Annunciation,--the ceiling is painted by Overbeck. In one of the
following rooms are some pictures, including--

    S. Giorgio: _Pordenone_.

     "One picture especially attracted me at the Quirinal; a St. George,
     the conqueror of the dragon, and deliverer of the maiden. No one
     could tell me the name of the master, till a modest little man
     stepped forward, and told me the picture was by Pordenone the
     Venetian, one of his best works, showing all his merits. This quite
     explained my liking for it; the picture had struck me, because
     being best acquainted with the Venetian school, I could best
     appreciate the merits of one of its masters."--_Goethe, Romische
     Briefe._

    Marriage of S. Catherine: _Battoni_.
    St. Peter and St. Paul: _Fra Bartolomeo_.

     "The two standing figures of St. Peter and St. Paul, as large as
     life, were executed during a short residence in Rome. The first was
     completed by Raphael after Fra Bartolomeo's departure."--_Kugler._

The room which is decorated with a fine modern tapestry of the martyrdom
of St. Stephen, has a plaster frieze, being the original cast of the
Triumph of Alexander the Great, modelled for Napoleon by _Thorwaldsen_.
One of the last rooms shown is a kind of picture gallery. Among the best
works here are:--

    Saul and David: _Guercino_.
    Ecce Homo: _Domenichino_.
    St. Jerome: _Spagnoletto_.
    The Flight into Egypt: _Baroccio_.

Here also is a worthless picture of the Battle of Mentana, presented to
Pius IX. by the English Catholic ladies.

The _Private Chapel of the Pope_, opening from this gallery, contains a
magnificent picture of the Annunciation by _Guido_, and frescoes of the
life of the Virgin by _Albani_. The great hall of the Consistory, a bare
room with benches, has a fresco of the Virgin and Child by _Carlo
Maratta_, over an altar.

The _Gardens of the Quirinal_ can be visited with an order from 8 to 12
A.M. They are in the stiff style of box hedges and clipped avenues,
which seems to belong especially to Rome, and which we know to have
been popular here even in imperial times. Pliny, in his account of his
Tusculan villa, describes his gardens decorated with "figures of
different animals, cut in box: evergreens clipped into a thousand
different shapes; sometimes into letters forming different names; walls
and hedges of cut box, and trees twisted into a variety of forms." But
the Quirinal gardens are also worth visiting, on account of the many
pretty glimpses they afford of St. Peter's and other distant buildings,
and the oddity of some of the devices--an organ played by water, &c. The
Casino, built by Fuga, has frescoes by _Orizonti_, _Pompeo Battoni_, and
_Pannini_.

If we turn to the left on issuing from the palace, we reach--on the
left--the entrance to the courtyard of the vast _Palazzo Rospigliosi_,
built by Flaminio Ponzio, in 1603, for Cardinal Scipio Borghese, on a
portion of the site of the Baths of Constantine. It was inhabited by
Cardinal Bentivoglio, and sold by him to Cardinal Mazarin, who enlarged
it from designs of Carlo Maderno. From his time to 1704 it was inhabited
by French ambassadors, and it then passed to the Rospigliosi family. The
present Prince Rospigliosi inhabits the second floor, his brother,
Prince Pallavicini, the first.

The palace itself (well known from its hospitalities) is not shown, but
the _Casino_ is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It is situated at the
end of a very small but pretty garden planted with magnolias, and
consists of three chambers. On the roof of the central room is the
famous Aurora of Guido.

     "Guido's Aurora is the very type of haste and impetus; for surely
     no man ever imagined such hurry and tumult, such sounding and
     clashing. Painters maintain that it is lighted from two
     sides,--they have my full permission to light theirs from three if
     it will improve them, but the difference lies
     elsewhere."--_Mendelssohn's Letters_, p. 91.

     "This is the noblest work of Guido. It is embodied poetry. The
     Hours, that hand in hand encircle the car of Phœbus, advance
     with rapid pace. The paler, milder forms of those gentle sisters
     who rule over declining day, and the glowing glance of those who
     bask in the meridian blaze, resplendent in the hues of heaven,--are
     of no mortal grace and beauty; but they are eclipsed by Aurora
     herself, who sails on the golden clouds before them, shedding
     'showers of shadowing roses' on the rejoicing earth; her celestial
     presence diffusing gladness, and light, and beauty around. Above
     the heads of the heavenly coursers, hovers the morning star, in the
     form of a youthful cherub, bearing his flaming torch. Nothing is
     more admirable in this beautiful composition than the motion given
     to the whole. The smooth and rapid step of the circling Hours as
     they tread on the fleecy clouds; the fiery steeds; the whirling
     wheels of the car; the torch of Lucifer, blown back by the velocity
     of his advance; and the form of Aurora, borne through the ambient
     air, till you almost fear she should float from your
     sight."--_Eaton's Rome._

     "The work of Guido is more poetic than that of Guercino, and
     luminous, and soft, and harmonious. Cupid, Aurora, Phœbus, form
     a climax of beauty, and the Hours seem as light as the clouds on
     which they dance."--_Forsyth._

     Lanzi points out that Guido always took the Venus de Medici and the
     Niobe as his favourite models, and that there is scarcely one of
     his large pictures in which the Niobe or one of her sons is not
     introduced, yet with such dexterity, that the theft is scarcely
     perceptible.

The frescoes of the frieze are by _Tempesta;_ the landscapes by _Paul
Brill_. In the hall are busts, statues, and a bronze horse found in the
ruins of the Baths.

There is a small collection of pictures--the only work of real
importance being the beautiful _Daniele di Volterra_ of our Saviour
bearing his cross, in the room on the left. In the same room are two
large pictures, David triumphing with the head of Goliath,
_Domenichino_; and Perseus rescuing Andromeda, _Guido_. In the room on
the right are, Adam gathering fig-leaves for Eve, in a Paradise which is
crowded with animals like a menagerie, _Domenichino_; and Samson pulling
down the pillars upon the Philistines, _Ludovico Caracci_.

A second small garden belonging to this palace is well worth seeing in
May from the wealth of camellias, azaleas, and roses, with which it is
filled.

Opposite the Rospigliosi Palace, by ringing at a gate in the wall, we
gain admission to the _Colonna Gardens_ (connected with the palace in
the Piazza SS. Apostoli, by a series of bridges across the intervening
street). Here, on a lofty terrace which has a fine view towards the
Capitol, and overshadowed by grand cypresses, are the colossal remains
of the _Temple of the Sun_ (huge fragments of cornice) built by Aurelian
(A.D. 270--75). At the other end of the terrace, looking down through
two barns into a kind of pit, we can see some remains of the _Baths of
Constantine_--built A.D. 326--and of the great staircase which led up to
them from the valley below. The portico of these baths remained erect
till the time of Clement XII. (1730--40), and was adorned with four
marble statues, of which two--those of the two Constantines--may now be
seen on the terrace of the Capitol.

Beneath the magnificent cypress-trees on the slope of the hill are
several fine sarcophagi. Only the stem is preserved of the grand
historical pine-tree, which was planted on the day on which Cola di
Rienzi died, and which was one of the great ornaments of the city till
1848, when it was broken in a storm.

Just beyond the end of the garden, are the great _Convent_ and _Church
of S. Silvestro a Monte Cavallo_--belonging to the Missionaries of St.
Vincent de Paul--in which the Cardinals meet before going in procession
to the Conclave. It contains a few rather good pictures. The cupola of
the second chapel has frescoes by _Domenichino_, of David dancing before
the Ark,--the Queen of Sheba and Solomon,--Judith with the head of
Holofernes,--and Esther fainting before Ahasueras. These are considered
by Lanzi as some of the finest frescoes of the master. In the left
transept is a chapel containing a picture of the Assumption, painted on
slate, considered the masterpiece of _Scipione Gaetani_. The last chapel
but one on the left has a ceiling by _Cav. d'Arpino_, and frescoes on
the walls by _Polidoro da Caravaggio_. The picture over the altar,
representing St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena, is by _Mariotto
Albertinelli_. Cardinal Bentivoglio--who wrote the history of the wars
in Flanders, and lived in the Rospigliosi Palace--is buried here.

We now reach the height of Maganaopoli, from which the isthmus which
joined the Quirinal to the Capitoline was cut away by Trajan. Here is a
cross-ways. On the right is a descent to the Forum of Trajan, at the
side of which is the villa of Cardinal Antonelli, and beyond it, the
handsome modern palace of Count Trapani, cousin to the King of Naples.

Opposite, is the _Church of Sta. Caterina di Siena_, possessing some
frescoes attributed, on doubtful grounds, to the rare master _Timoteo
della Vite_. Adjoining, is a large convent, enclosed within the
precincts of which is the tall brick mediæval tower, sometimes called
the Tower of Nero, but generally known as the _Torre delle Milizie_,
_i.e._ the Roman Militia. It was erected by the sons of Peter Alexius, a
baron attached to the party of the Senator Pandolfo de Suburra. The
lower part is said to have been built in 1210, the upper in 1294 and
1330.

     "People pass through two regular courses of study at Rome,--the
     first in learning, and the second in unlearning.

     "'This is the tower of Nero, from which he saw the city in
     flames,--and this is the temple of Concord,--and this is the temple
     of Castor and Pollux,--and this is the temple of Vesta,--and these
     are the baths of Paulus-Æmilius,'--and so on, says your lacquey.

     "'This is not the tower of Nero,--nor that the temple of Castor and
     Pollux,--nor the other the temple of Concord,--nor are any of these
     things what they are called,' says your antiquary."--_Eaton's
     Rome._

The Convent of Sta. Caterina was built by the celebrated Vittoria
Colonna, who requested the advice of Michael Angelo on the subject, and
was told that she had better make the ancient "Torre" into a belfry. A
very curious account of the interview in which this subject was
discussed, and which took place in the Church of S. Silvestro a Monte
Cavallo, is left us in the memoirs of Francesco d'Olanda, a Portuguese
painter, who was himself present at the conversation.

Near this point are two other fine mediæval towers. One is to the right
of the descent to the Forum of Trajan, being that of the Colonnas, now
called _Tor di Babele_, ornamented with three beautiful fragments of
sculptured frieze, one of them bearing the device of the Colonna, a
crowned column rising from a wreath. The other tower, immediately facing
us, is called _Torre del Grillo_, from the ancient family of that name.

Opposite Sta. Caterina is the handsome _Church of SS. Domenico e Sisto_,
approached by a good double twisted staircase. Over the second altar on
the left is a picture of the marriage of St. Catherine by _Allegrani_,
and, on the anniversary of her (visionary) marriage (July 19), the dried
hand of the saint is exhibited here to the unspeakable comfort of the
faithful.

Turning by this church into the Via Maganaopoli (formerly Baganaopoli, a
corruption of Balnea Pauli--Baths of Emilius Paulus), we pass on the
left the _Palazzo Aldobrandini_, with a bright pleasant-looking court
and handsome fountain. The present Prince Aldobrandini is brother of
Prince Borghese. Of this family was S. Pietro Aldobrandini, generally
known as S. Pietro Igneo, who was canonized because, in 1067, he walked
unhurt, crucifix in hand, through a burning fiery furnace ten feet long
before the church door of Settimo, near Florence, to prove an accusation
of simony which he had brought against Pietro di Pavia, bishop of that
city.

In the Via di Mazzarini, in the hollow between the Quirinal and Viminal,
is the _Convent of Sta. Agata in Suburra_, through the courtyard of
which we enter the _Church of Sta. Agata dei Goti_. A tradition declares
that this (like S. Sabba on the Aventine) is on the site of a house of
Sta. Silvia, mother of St. Gregory the Great, who consecrated the church
after it had been plundered by the Goths, and dedicated it to Sta.
Agata. It was rebuilt by Ricimer, the king-maker, in A.D. 472. Twelve
ancient granite columns and a handsome opus-alexandrinum pavement are
its only signs of antiquity. The church now belongs to the Irish
Seminary. In the left aisle is the monument of Daniel O'Connell, with
bas-reliefs by Benzoni, inscribed:--

     "This monument contains the heart of O'Connell, who dying at Genoa
     on his way to the Eternal City, bequeathed his soul to God, his
     body to Ireland, and his heart to Rome. He is represented at the
     bar of the British House of Commons in MDCCCXXIII., when he refused
     to take the anti-catholic declaration, in these remarkable
     words--'I at once reject this declaration; part of it I believe to
     be untrue, and the rest I know to be false.' He was born vi. Aug.
     MDCCLXXVI., and died xv. May, MDCCCXLVIII. Erected by Charles
     Bianconi, the faithful friend of the immortal liberator, and of
     Ireland the land of his adoption."

At the end of the left aisle is a chapel, which Cardinal Antonelli (who
has his palace near this) decorated, 1863, with frescoes and arabesques
as a burial-place for his family. In the opposite chapel is a gilt
figure of Sta. Agata carrying her breasts--showing the manner in which
she suffered.

     "Agatha was a maiden of Catania, in Sicily, whither Decius the
     emperor sent Quintianus as governor. He, inflamed by the beauty of
     Agatha, tempted her with rich gifts and promises, but she repulsed
     him with disdain. Then Quintianus ordered her to be bound and
     beaten with rods, and sent two of his slaves to tear her bosom with
     iron shears, and as her blood flowed forth, she said to him, 'O
     thou cruel tyrant! art thou not ashamed to treat me thus--hast thou
     not thyself been fed at thy mother's breasts?' Thus only did she
     murmur. And in the night a venerable man came to her, bearing a
     vase of ointment, and before him walked a youth bearing a torch. It
     was the holy apostle Peter, and the youth was an angel; but Agatha
     knew it not; though such a glorious light filled the prison, that
     the guards fled in terror.... Then St. Peter made himself known and
     ministered to her, restoring with heavenly balm her wounded
     breasts.

     "Quintianus, infuriated, demanded who had healed her. She replied,
     'He whom I confess and adore with heart and lips, he hath sent his
     apostle who hath healed me.' Then Quintianus caused her to be
     thrown bound upon a great fire, but instantly an earthquake arose,
     and the people in terror cried, 'This visitation is sent because of
     the sufferings of the maiden Agatha.' So he caused her to be taken
     from the fire, and carried back to prison, where she prayed aloud
     that having now proved her faith, she might be freed from pain and
     see the glory of God;--and her prayer was answered and her spirit
     instantly departed into eternal glory, Feb. 5, A.D. 251."--_From
     the "Legende delle SS. Vergini."_

Agatha (patroness of Catania) is one of the saints most reverenced by
the Roman people. On the 5th of February her vespers are sung here,
which contain the antiphons:--

     "Who art thou that art come to heal my wounds?--I am an apostle of
     Christ, doubt not concerning me, my daughter.

     "Medicine for the body have I never used; but I have the Lord Jesus
     Christ, who with his word alone restoreth all things.

     "I render thanks to thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for that thou hast
     been mindful of me, and hast sent thine apostle to heal my wounds.

     "I bless thee, O Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, because through
     thine apostle thou hast restored my breasts to me.

     "Him who hath vouchsafed to heal me of every wound, and to restore
     to me my breasts, him do I invoke, even the living God.

            *       *       *       *       *

     "Blessed Agatha, standing in her prison, stretched forth her hands
     and prayed unto the Lord, saying, 'O Lord Jesus Christ, my good
     master, I thank thee because thou hast given me strength to
     overcome the tortures of the executioners; and now, Lord, speak the
     word, that I may depart hence to thy glory which fadeth not away."

The tomb of John Lascaris (a refugee from Constantinople when taken by
the Turks) has--in Greek--the inscription:--

     "Lascaris lies here in a foreign grave; but, stranger, that does
     not disturb him, rather does he rejoice; yet he is not without
     sorrow, as a Grecian, that his fatherland will not bestow upon him
     the freedom of a grave."

Passing the great Convent of S. Bernardino Senensis, we reach the Via
dei Serpenti, interesting as occupying the supposed site of the Vallis
Quirinalis, where Julius Proculus, returning from Alba Longa,
encountered the ghost of Romulus:

    "Sed Proculus Longâ veniebat Julius Albâ;
      Lunaque fulgebat; nec facis usus erat:
    Cum subito motu nubes crepuere sinistræ:
      Retulit ille gradus, horrueruntque comæ.
    Pulcher, et humano major, trabeâque decorus,
      Romulus in mediâ visus adesse viâ."

    _Ovid, Fast._ ii. 498.

Turning to the right down the Via dei Serpenti, we reach the Piazza Sta.
Maria in Monti, containing a fountain, and a church dedicated to SS.
Sergius and Bacchus, two martyrs who suffered under Maximian at Rasapha
in Syria.

One side of this piazza is occupied by the _Church of Sta. Maria in
Monti_, in which is deposited a figure of the beggar Labre (canonized by
Pius IX. in 1860), dressed in the gown of a mendicant-pilgrim, which he
wore when living. Over the altar is a picture of him in the Coliseum,
distributing to his fellow-beggars the alms which he had obtained. His
fête is observed here on April 16. (At No. 3 Via dei Serpenti, one may
visit the chamber in which Labre died--and in the Via dei Crociferi,
near the fountain of Trevi, a chapel containing many of his relics,--the
bed on which he died, the crucifix which he wore in his bosom, &c.)

     "Benoît Joseph Labre naquit en 1748 dans le diocèse de Boulogne
     (France) de parents chrétiens et jouissant d'une modeste aisance.
     D'une piété vive et tendre, il voulut d'abord se faire religieux;
     mais sa santé ne put résister, ni aux règles des Chartreux, ni à
     celles des Trappistes, chez lesquels il entra successivement. _Il
     fut alors sollicité intérieurement_, est il dit dans la notice sur
     sa vie, _de mener une vie de pénitence et de charité au milieu du
     siècle_. Pendant sept années, il parcourut en pèlerin-mendiant,
     les sanctuaires de la Vierge les plus vénérés de toute l'Europe; on
     a calculé qu'il fit, à pied, plus de cinq mille lieues, pendant ces
     sept années.

     "En 1777, il revint en Italie, pour ne plus en sortir. Il habitait
     Rome, faisant seulement une fois chaque année, le pèlerinage de
     Lorète. Il passait une grande partie de ses journées dans les
     églises, mendiait, et faisait des œuvres de charité. Il couchait
     quelquefois sous le portique des églises, et le plus souvent au
     Colysée derrière la petite chapelle de la cinquième station du
     chemin de la croix. L'église qu'il fréquentait le plus, était celle
     de Ste. Marie des Monts; le 16 Avril, 1783, après y avoir prié fort
     longtemps, en sortant, il tomba, comme évanoui, sur les marches du
     péristyle de l'église. On le transporta dans une maison voisine, où
     il mourut le soir."--_Une Année à Rome._

Almost opposite this church, a narrow alley, which appears to be a
_cul-de-sac_ ending in a picture of the Crucifixion, is in reality the
approach to the carefully concealed _Convent of the Farnesiani Nuns_,
generally known as the _Sepolte Vive_. The only means of communicating
with them is by rapping on a barrel which projects from a wall on a
platform above the roofs of the houses,--when a muffled voice is heard
from the interior,--and if your references are satisfactory, the barrel
turns round and eventually discloses a key by which the initiated can
admit themselves to a small chamber in the interior of the convent. Over
its door is an inscription, bidding those who enter that chamber to
leave all worldly thoughts behind them. Round the walls are
inscribed,--"Qui non diligit, manet in morti."--"Militia est vita
hominis super terram."--"Alter alterius onera portate"; and, on the
other side, opposite the door,

    "Vi esorto a rimirar
      La vita del mondo
    Nella guisa che la mira
      Un moribondo."

In one of the walls is an opening with a double grille, beyond which is
a metal plate, pierced with holes like the rose of a watering-pot. It is
beyond this grille and behind this plate, that the abbess of the Sepolte
Vive receives her visitors, but she is even then veiled from head to
foot in heavy folds of thick bure. Gregory XVI., who of course could
penetrate within the convent and who wished to try her, said, "Sorella
mia, levate il velo." "No, mio padre," she replied, "E vietato dalla
nostra regola."

The nuns of the Sepolte Vive are never seen again after they once assume
the black veil, though they are allowed double the ordinary noviciate.
They never hear anything of the outer world, even of the deaths of their
nearest relations. Daily, they are said to dig their own graves and lie
down in them, and their remaining hours are occupied in perpetual and
monotonous adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Returning as far as the Via Pane e Perna (a continuation of the Via
Maganaopoli) we ascend the slope of the _Viminal Hill_, now with
difficulty to be distinguished from the Quirinal. It derives its name
from _vimina_, osiers, and was once probably covered with woods, since a
temple of Sylvanus or Pan was one of several which adorned its principal
street--the Vicus Longus--the site of which is now marked by the
countrified lane called Via S. Vitale. This end of the hill is crowned
by the _Church of S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna_, built on the site of the
martyrdom of the deacon St. Laurence, who suffered under Claudius II.,
in A.D. 264, for refusing to give up the goods of the Church. Over the
altar is a huge fresco, representing the saint extended upon a red-hot
gridiron, and below--entered from the exterior of the church--a crypt
is shown as the scene of his cruel sufferings.[236]

     "Blessed Laurentius, as he lay stretched and burning on the
     gridiron, said to the impious tyrant, 'The meat is done, make haste
     hither and eat. As for the treasures of the Church which you seek,
     the hands of the poor have carried them to a heavenly
     treasury.'"--_Antiphon of St. Laurence._

The funeral of St. Bridget of Sweden took place in this church, July
1373, but after resting here for a year, her body was removed by her son
to the monastery of Wastein in Sweden.

Under the second altar on the right are shown the relics of St. Crispin
and St. Crispinian, "two holy brothers, who departed from Rome with St.
Denis to preach the Gospel in France, where, after the example of St.
Paul, they laboured with their hands, being by trade shoemakers. And
these good saints made shoes for the poor without fee or reward (for
which the angels supplied them with leather), until, denounced as
Christians, they suffered martyrdom at Soissons, being, after many
tortures, beheaded by the sword (A.D. 300)."[237] The festival of St.
Crispin and St. Crispinian is held on October 25, the anniversary of the
battle of Agincourt.

    "And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
    From this day to the ending of the world,
    But we in it shall be remembered."

    _Shakespeare, Henry V._

Throughout the middle ages the statues of Posidippus and Menander, now
in the gallery of statues at the Vatican, were kissed and worshipped in
this church under the impression that they represented saints (see Ch.
XV.). They were found on this site, which was once occupied by the baths
of Olympias, daughter-in-law of Constantine.

The strange name of the church, Pane e Perna, is supposed to have had
its origin in a dole of bread and ham once given at the door of the
adjacent convent. In the garden belonging to the convent is a mediæval
house of _c._ 1200. The campanile is of 1450.

The small neighbouring _Church of S. Lorenzo in Fonte_ covers the site
of the prison of St. Lawrence, and a fountain is shown there as that in
which he baptized Vicus Patricius and his daughter Lucilla, whom he
miraculously raised from the dead.

Descending the hill below the church--in the valley between the
Esquiline and Viminal--we reach at the corner of the street a spot of
preëminent historical interest, as that where Servius Tullius was
killed, and where Tullia (B.C. 535) drove in her chariot over the dead
body of her father. The Vicus Urbius by which the old king had reached
the spot is now represented by the Via Urbana; the Vicus Cyprius, by
which he was about to ascend to the palace on the hill Cispius, by the
Via di Sta. Maria Maggiore.

     "Servius-Tullius, après avoir pris le chemin raccourci qui partait
     du pied de la Velia et allait du côté des Carines, atteignit le
     Vicus-Cyprius (Via Urbana).

     "Parvenu à l'extrémité du Vicus-Cyprius, le roi fut atteint et
     assassiné par les gens de Tarquin auprès d'un temple de Diane.

     "C'est arrivés en cet endroit, au moment de tourner à droite et de
     gagner, en remontant le Vicus-Virbius, le Cispius, où habitait son
     père, que les chevaux s'arrêtèrent; que Tullie, poussée par
     l'impatience fièvreuse de l'ambition, et n'ayant plus que quelques
     pas à faire pour arriver au terme, avertie par le cocher que le
     cadavre de son père était là gisant, s'écria: 'Eh bien, pousse le
     char en avant.'

     "Le meurtre s'est accompli au pied du Viminal, à l'extrémité du
     Vicus-Cyprius, là où fut depuis le Vicus-Sceleratus, la rue
     Funeste.

     "Le lieu où la tradition plaçait cette tragique aventure ne peut
     être sur l'Esquilin: mais nécessairement au pied de cette colline
     et du Viminal, puisque, parvenu à l'extrémité du Vicus-Cyprius, le
     cocher allait tourner à droite et remonter pour gravir l'Esquilin.
     Il ne faut donc pas chercher, comme Nibby, la rue Scélérate sur une
     des pentes, ou, comme Canina et M. Dyer, sur le sommet de
     l'Esquilin, d'où l'on ne pouvait monter sur l'Esquilin.

     "Tullie n'allait pas sur l'Oppius (San-Pietro in Vincoli), dans la
     demeure de son mari, mais sur le Cispius, dans la demeure de son
     père. C'était de la demeure royale qu'elle allait prendre
     possession pour le nouveau roi.

            *       *       *       *       *

     "Je n'oublierai jamais le soir où, après avoir longtemps cherché le
     lieu qui vit la mort de Servius et le crime de Tullie, tout-à-coup
     je découvris clairement que j'y étais arrivé, et m'arrêtant plein
     d'horreur, comme le cocher de la parricide, plongeant dans l'ombre
     un regard qui, malgré moi, y cherchait le cadavre du vieux roi, je
     me dis: 'C'était là!'"

    _Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 153.

Turning to the left, at the foot of the Esquiline, we find the
interesting _Church of Sta. Pudenziana_, supposed to be the most ancient
of all the Roman churches ("omnium ecclesiaram urbis vetustissima").
Cardinal Wiseman, who took his title from this church, considers it was
the principal place of worship in Rome after apostolic times, being
founded on the site of the house where St. Paul lodged, A.D. 41 to 50,
with the senator Pudens, whose family were his first converts, and who
is said to have himself suffered martyrdom under Nero. On this ancient
place of worship an oratory was engrafted by Pius I. (_c._ A.D. 145), in
memory of the younger daughter of Pudens, Pudenziana, perhaps at the
request of her sister Prassede, who is believed to have survived till
that time. In very early times two small churches existed here, known
as "Titulus Pudentis" and "Titulus Pastoris," the latter in memory of a
brother of Pius I.

The church, which has been successively altered by Adrian I. in the
eighth century, by Gregory VII., and by Innocent II., was finally
modernised by Cardinal Caetani in 1597. Little remains of ancient
external work except the graceful brick campanile (_c._ 1130) with
triple arcades of open arches on every side separated by bands of
terra-cotta moulding,--and the door adorned with low reliefs of the Lamb
bearing a cross, and of Sta. Prassede and Sta. Pudenziana with the vases
in which they collected the blood of the martyrs, and two other figures,
probably St. Pudens and St. Pastor.

The chapel on the left of the tribune, which is regarded as the "Titulus
Pudentis," has an old mosaic pavement, said to have belonged to the
house of Pudens. Here is a bas-relief by Giacomo della Porta,
representing our Saviour delivering the keys to St. Peter; and here is
preserved part of the altar at which St. Peter is said to have
celebrated mass (the rest is at the Lateran), and which was used by all
the early popes till the time of Sylvester. Among early Christian
inscriptions let into the walls, is one to a Cornelia, of the family of
the Pudenziani, with a rude portrait.

Opening from the left aisle is the chapel of the Caetani family, with
tombs of the seventeenth century. Over the altar is a bas-relief of the
Adoration of the Magi, by _Paolo Olivieri_. On each side are fine
columns of Lunachella marble. Over the entrance from the nave are
ancient mosaics,--of the Evangelists and of Sta. Pudenziana collecting
the blood of the martyrs. Beneath, is a gloomy and neglected vault, in
which all the sarcophagi and coffins of the dead Caetani are shown by
torchlight.

In the tribune are magnificent mosaics, ascribed by some to the eighth,
by others to the fourth century, and considered by De Rossi,[238] as the
best of all ancient Christian mosaics.

     "In conception and treatment this work is indeed classic: seated on
     a rich throne in the centre, is the Saviour with one arm extended,
     and in the other hand holding a book open at the words,
     _Conservator Ecclesiæ Pudentianæ_; laterally stand SS. Praxedis and
     Pudentiana with leafy crowns in their hands; and at a lower level,
     but more in front, SS. Peter and Paul with eight other male
     figures, all in the amply-flowing costume of ancient Romans; while
     in the background are seen, beyond a portico with arcades, various
     stately buildings, one a rotunda, another a parallelogram with a
     gable-headed front, recognizable as a baptistery and basilica,
     here, we may believe, in authentic copy from the earliest types of
     the period of the first Christian emperors. Above the group, and
     hovering in the air, a large cross, studded with gems, surmounts
     the head of our Saviour, between the four symbols of the
     Evangelists, of which one has been entirely, and another in the
     greater part, sacrificed to some wretched accessories in woodwork
     actually allowed to conceal portions of this most interesting
     mosaic! As to expression, a severe solemnity is that prevailing,
     especially in the principal head, which _alone_ is crowned with the
     nimbus--one among other proofs, if but negative, of its high
     antiquity."--_Heman's Ancient Christian Art._

Besides Sta. Pudenziana and St. Pudens,--St. Novatus and St. Siricius
are said to be buried here. Those who visit this sanctuary every day
obtain an indulgence of 3000 years, with remission of a third part of
their sins! Excavations made by Mr. J. H. Parker, in 1865, have laid
bare some interesting constructions beneath the church,--supposed to be
those of the house of Pudens--a part of the public baths of Novatus, the
son of Pudens, which were in use for some centuries after his time, and
a chamber in which is supposed to have been the oratory dedicated by
Pius I. in A.D. 145.

     "Eubulus greeteth thee, and _Pudens_, and Linus, and Claudia, and
     all the brethren."--_2 Timothy_ iv. 21.

The following account of the family of Pudens is received as the legacy
of Pastor to the Christian Church.

     "Pudens went to his Saviour, leaving his daughters strengthened
     with chastity, and learned in all the divine law. These sold their
     goods, and distributed the produce to the poor, and persevered
     strictly in the love of Christ, guarding intact the flower of their
     virginity, and only seeking for glory in vigils, fastings, and
     prayer. They desired to have a baptistery in their house, to which
     the blessed Pius not only consented, but with his own hand drew the
     plan of the fountain. Then calling in their slaves, both from town
     and country, the two virgins gave liberty to those who were
     Christians, and urged belief in the faith upon those who had not
     yet received it. By the advice of the blessed Pius, the
     affranchisement was declared, with all the ancient usages, in the
     oratory founded by Pudens; then, at the festival of Easter,
     ninety-six neophytes were baptized; so that thenceforth assemblies
     were constantly held in the said oratory, which night and day
     resounded with hymns of praise. Many pagans gladly came thither to
     find the faith and receive baptism.

     "Meanwhile the Emperor Antonine, being informed of what was taking
     place, issued an edict commanding all Christians to dwell apart in
     their own houses, without mixing with the rest of the people, and
     that they should neither go to the public shops, nor to the baths.
     Praxedis and Pudentiana then assembled those whom they had led to
     the faith, and housed them. They nourished them for many days,
     watching and praying. The blessed bishop Pius himself frequently
     visited us with joy, and offered the sacrifice for us to the
     Saviour.

     "Then Pudentiana went to God. Her sister and I wrapped her in
     perfumes and kept her concealed in the oratory. Then, at the end of
     twenty-eight days, we carried her to the cemetery of Priscilla, and
     laid her near her father Pudens.

     "Eleven months after, Novatus died in his turn. He bequeathed his
     goods to Praxedis, and she then begged of St. Pius to erect a
     titular (a church) in the baths of Novatus, which were no longer
     used, and where there was a large and spacious hall. The bishop
     made the dedication in the name of the blessed virgin Praxedis. In
     the same place he consecrated a baptistery.

     "But, at the end of two years, a great persecution was declared
     against the Christians, and many of them received the crown of
     martyrdom. Praxedis concealed a great number of them in her
     oratory, and nourished them at once with the food of this world and
     with the word of God. But the Emperor Antonine, having learnt that
     these meetings took place in the oratory of Priscilla, caused it to
     be searched, and many Christians were taken, especially the priest
     Simetrius and twenty-two others. And the blessed Praxedis collected
     their bodies by night, and buried them in the cemetery of
     Priscilla, on the seventh day of the calends of June. Then the
     virgin of the Saviour, worn out with sorrow, only asked for death.
     Her tears and her prayers reached to heaven, and fifty-four days
     after her brethren had suffered, she passed to God. And I, Pastor,
     the priest, have buried her body near that of her father
     Pudens."--_From the Narration of Pastor._

Returning by the main line of streets to the Quattro Fontane, we skirt
on the right the wall of the Villa Negroni (see Ch. XI). Beyond this, on
the left, is the _Church of S. Paolo Primo Eremita_. The strange-looking
palm-tree over the door, with a raven perched upon it and two lions
below, commemorates the story of the saint, who, retiring to the desert
at the age of 22, lived there till he was 112, eating nothing but the
dates of his tree for twenty-two years, after which bread was daily
brought to him by a raven. In his last hours St. Anthony came to visit
him and was present at his burial, when two lions his companions came to
dig his grave. The sustaining palm-tree and the three animals who loved
S. Paolo are again represented over the altar. Further on the left, we
pass the Via S. Vitale, occupying the site of the Vicus Longus,
considered by Dyer to have been the longest street in the ancient city.
Here stood the temples of Sylvanus, and of Fever, with that of Pudicitia
Plebeia, founded _c._ B.C. 297, by Virginia the patrician, wife of
Volumnius, when excluded from the patrician temple of Pudicitia in the
Forum Boarium, on account of her plebeian marriage. "At its altar none
but plebeian matrons of unimpeachable chastity, and who had been married
to only one husband, were allowed to sacrifice."[239]

The _Church of S. Vitale_ on the Viminal, which now stands here, was
founded by Innocent I. in A.D. 416. The interior is covered with
frescoes of martyrdoms. It is seldom open except early on Sunday
mornings. S. Vitale, father of S. Gervasius and S. Protasius, was the
martyr and patron saint of Ravenna who was buried alive under Nero.

Beyond this, on the left of the Via delle Quattro Fontane, is the
_Church of S. Dionisio_, belonging to the Basilian nuns, called
Apostoline di S. Basilio. It contains an Ecce Homo of _Luca Giordano_,
and the gaudy shrine of the virgin martyr Sta. Coraola.

END OF VOL. I.

[Illustration: ROME

Showing the more important streets and buildings. (left-side of map)]

[Illustration]




WALKS IN ROME

TWO VOLS.--II.




    WALKS IN ROME

    BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE
    AUTHOR OF "MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE," "WANDERINGS IN SPAIN," ETC

    TWO VOLUMES.----II.

    _FIFTH EDITION_

    LONDON
    DALDY, ISBISTER & CO.
    56, LUDGATE HILL
    1875

    [_All rights reserved_]

JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.




CONTENTS.


    CHAPTER XI.

                                                                    PAGE

    THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN                       7

    CHAPTER XII.

    THE ESQUILINE                                                     46

    CHAPTER XIII.

    THE BASILICAS OF THE LATERAN, SANTA CROCE, AND S. LORENZO         94

    CHAPTER XIV.

    IN THE CAMPUS MARTIUS                                            148

    CHAPTER XV.

    THE BORGO AND ST. PETER'S                                        223

    CHAPTER XVI.

    THE VATICAN                                                      282

    CHAPTER XVII.

    THE ISLAND AND THE TRASTEVERE                                    360

    CHAPTER XVIII.

    THE TRE FONTANE AND S. PAOLO                                     392

    CHAPTER XIX.

    THE VILLAS BORGHESE MADAMA, AND MELLINI                          410

    CHAPTER XX.

    THE JANICULAN                                                    432




CHAPTER XI.

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN.

     The Cappuccini--S. Isidore--S. Niccolo in Tolentino--Via S.
     Basilio--Convent of the Pregatrici--Villa Massimo Rignano--Gardens
     of Sallust--Villa Ludovisi--Porta Salara--(Villa Albani--Catacombs
     of Sta. Felicitas and Sta. Priscilla--Ponte Salara)--Porta
     Pia--(Villa Torlonia--Sant' Agnese--Sta. Costanza--Ponte
     Nomentana--Mons Sacer--S. Alessandro)--Villa Torlonia within the
     walls--Via Macao--Pretorian Camp--Railway Station--Villa
     Negroni--Agger of Servius Tullius--Sta. Maria degli
     Angeli--Fountain of the Termini--Sta. Maria della Vittoria--Sta.
     Susanna--S. Bernardo--S. Caio.


Opening from the left of the Piazza Barberini, is the small _Piazza of
the Cappuccini_, named from a convent suppressed since the Sardinian
occupation, but which was one of the largest and most populous in Rome.

The conventual church, dedicated to _Sta. Maria della Concezione_,
contains several fine pictures. In the first chapel, on the right, is
the magnificent _Guido_ of the Archangel Michael trampling upon the
Devil,--said to be a portrait of Pope Innocent X., against whom the
painter had a peculiar spite.

     "Here the angel, standing, yet scarcely touching the ground, poised
     on his outspread wings, sets his left foot on the head of his
     adversary; in one hand he brandishes a sword, in the other he holds
     the end of a chain, with which he is about to bind down the demon
     in the bottomless pit. The attitude has been criticised, and
     justly; the grace is somewhat mannered, verging on the theatrical;
     but Forsyth is too severe when he talks of 'the air of a dancing
     master': one thing, however, is certain, we do not think about the
     attitude when we look at Raphael's St. Michael (in the Louvre); in
     Guido's it is the first thing that strikes us; but when we look
     farther, the head redeems all; it is singularly beautiful, and in
     the blending of the masculine and feminine graces, in the serene
     purity of the brow, and the flow of the golden hair, there is
     something divine; a slight, very slight expression of scorn is in
     the air of the head. The fiend is the worst part of the picture; it
     is not a fiend, but a degraded prosaic human ruffian; we laugh with
     incredulous contempt at the idea of an angel called down from
     heaven to overcome such a wretch. In Raphael the fiend is human,
     but the head has the god-like ugliness and malignity of a satyr;
     Guido's fiend is only stupid and base. It appears to me that there
     is just the same difference--the same _kind_ of difference--between
     the angel of Raphael and the angel of Guido, as between the
     description in Tasso and the description in Milton; let any one
     compare them. In Tasso we are struck by the picturesque elegance of
     the description as a piece of art, the melody of the verse, the
     admirable choice of the expressions, as in Guido by the finished
     but somewhat artificial and studied grace. In Raphael and Milton we
     see only the vision of a 'shape divine.'"--_Jameson's Sacred Art_,
     p. 107.

In the same chapel is a picture by _Gherardo della Notte_ of Christ in
the purple robe. The third chapel contains a fresco by _Domenichino_ of
the Death of St Francis, and a picture of the Ecstasy of St. Francis,
which was a gift from the same painter to this church.

The first chapel on the left contains The Visit of Ananias to Saul, by
_Pietro da Cortona_.

     "Whoever would know to what length this painter carried his style
     in his altar-piece should examine the Conversion of St. Paul in the
     Cappuccini at Rome, which though placed opposite to the St. Michael
     of Guido, cannot fail to excite the admiration of such judges as
     are willing to admit various styles of beauty in art."--_Lanzi._

On the left of the high-altar is the tomb of Prince Alexander Sobieski,
son of John III., king of Poland, who died at Rome in 1714.

The church was founded in 1624, by Cardinal Barberini, the old
monk-brother of Urban VIII., who, while his nephews were employed in
building magnificent palaces, refused to take advantage of the family
elevation otherwise than to endow this church and convent. He is buried
in front of the altar, with the remarkable epitaph--very different to
the pompous, self-glorifying inscriptions of his brother--

    "Hic jacet pulvis, cinis, et nihil."

This Cardinal Barberini possesses some historical interest from the
patronage he extended to Milton during his visit to Rome in 1638.

     "During his sojourn in Rome Milton enjoyed the conversation of
     several learned and ingenious men, and particularly of Lucas
     Holsteinius, keeper of the Vatican library, who received him with
     the greatest humanity, and showed him all the Greek authors,
     whether in print or MS.--which had passed through his correction;
     and also presented him to Cardinal Barberini, who, at an
     entertainment of music, performed at his own expense, waited for
     him at the door, and taking him by the hand, brought him into the
     assembly. The next morning he waited upon the Cardinal to return
     him thanks for these civilities, and by the means of Holsteinius
     was again introduced to his Eminence, and spent some time in
     conversation with him."--_Newton's Life of Milton._[240]

Over the entrance is a cartoon (with some differences) for the Navicella
of Giotto.

From this church is entered the famous cemetery of the Cappuccini (not
subterranean), consisting of four chambers, ornamented with human bones
in patterns, and with mummified bodies. The earth was brought from
Jerusalem. As the cemetery was too small for the convent, when any monk
died, the one who had been buried longest was ejected to make room for
him. The loss of a grave was supposed to be amply compensated by the
short rest in the holy earth which the body had already enjoyed. It is
pleasant to read on the spot the pretty sketch in the "Improvisatore."

     "I was playing near the church of the Capuchins, with some other
     children who were all younger than myself. There was fastened on
     the church door a little cross of metal; it was fastened about the
     middle of the door, and I could just reach it with my hand. Always
     when our mothers had passed by with us they had lifted us up that
     we might kiss the holy sign. One day, when we children were
     playing, one of the youngest of them inquired, 'why the child Jesus
     did not come down and play with us?' I assumed an air of wisdom,
     and replied that he was really bound upon the cross. We went to the
     church door, and although we found no one, we wished, as our
     mothers had taught us, to kiss him, but we could not reach up to
     it; one therefore lifted up the other, but just as the lips were
     pointed for the kiss, that one who lifted the other lost his
     strength, and the kissing one fell down just when his lips were
     about to touch the invisible child Jesus. At that moment my mother
     came by, and when she saw our child's play, she folded her hands,
     and said, 'You are actually some of God's angels, and thou art mine
     own angel,' added she, and kissed me.

     "The Capuchin monk, Fra Martino, was my mother's confessor. He made
     very much of me, and gave me a picture of the Virgin, weeping great
     tears, which fell, like rain-drops, down into the burning flames of
     hell, where the damned caught this draught of refreshment. He took
     me over with him into the convent, where the open colonnade, which
     enclosed in a square the little potato-garden, with the two cypress
     and orange-trees, made a very deep impression upon me. Side by
     side, in the open passages, hung old portraits of deceased monks,
     and on the door of each cell were pasted pictures from the history
     of the martyrs, which I contemplated with the same holy emotions as
     afterwards the masterpieces of Raphael and Andrea del Sarto.

     "'Thou art really a bright youth,' said he; 'thou shall now see the
     dead.' Upon this, he opened a little door of a gallery which lay a
     few steps below the colonnade. We descended, and now I saw round
     about me skulls upon skulls, so placed one upon another, that they
     formed walls, and therewith several chapels. In these were regular
     niches, in which were seated perfect skeletons of the most
     distinguished of the monks, enveloped in their brown cowls, their
     cords round their waists, and with a breviary or withered bunch of
     flowers in their hands. Altars, chandeliers, bas-reliefs, of human
     joints, horrible and tasteless as the whole idea. I clung fast to
     the monk, who whispered a prayer, and then said to me, 'Here also I
     shall some time sleep; wilt thou thus visit me?'

     "I answered not a word, but looked horrified at him, and then round
     about me upon the strange grizzly assembly. It was foolish to take
     me, a child, into this place. I was singularly impressed with the
     whole thing, and did not feel myself easy again until I came into
     his little cell, where the beautiful yellow oranges almost hung in
     at the window, and I saw the brightly coloured picture of the
     Madonna, who was borne upwards by angels into the clear sunshine,
     while a thousand flowers filled the grave in which she had
     rested.....

     "On the festival of All-Saints I was down in the chapel of the
     dead, where Fra Martino took me when I first visited the convent.
     All the monks sang masses for the dead, and I, with two other boys
     of my own age, swung the incense-breathing censer before the great
     altar of skulls. They had placed lights in the chandeliers made of
     bones, new garlands were placed around the brows of the skeleton
     monks, and fresh bouquets in their hands. Many people, as usual,
     thronged in; they all knelt and the singers intoned the solemn
     Miserere. I gazed for a long time on the pale yellow skulls, and
     the fumes of the incense which wavered in strange shapes between me
     and them, and everything began to swim round before my eyes; it was
     as if I saw everything through a large rainbow; as if a thousand
     prayer-bells rung in my ear; it seemed as if I was borne along a
     stream; it was unspeakably delicious--more, I know not;
     consciousness left me,--I was in a swoon."--_Hans Ch. Andersen._

The street behind the Piazza Cappuccini leads to the _Church of S.
Isidoro_,[241] built 1622, for Irish Franciscan monks. The altar-piece,
representing S. Isidore, is by _Andrea Sacchi_. This church contains
several tombs of distinguished Irishmen who have died in Rome.

Opposite are the recently founded convent and small chapel of the
_Pregatrici_--nuns most picturesquely attired in blue and white, and
devoted to the perpetual adoration of the Sacrament, who sing during the
Benediction service, like the nuns of the Trinità di Monti.

The _Via S. Niccolo in Tolentino_ leads by the handsome Church of that
name, from the Piazza Barberini to the railway station. In this street
are the hotels "Costanzi" and "Del Globo."

Parallel with, and behind this, the _Via S. Basilio_ runs up the
hill-side. At the top of this street is the entrance of the _Villa
Massimo Rignano_, containing some fine palm-trees. This site, with the
ridge of the opposite hill, and the valley between, was once occupied by
the _Gardens of Sallust_ (Horti Pretiosissimi), purchased for the
emperors after the death of the historian, and a favourite residence of
Vespasian, Nerva, and especially of Aurelian. Some vaulted halls under
the cliff of the opposite hill, and a circular ruin surrounded by
niches, are the only remains of the many fine buildings which once
existed here, and which comprised a palace, baths, and the portico
called Milliarensis, 1000 feet long. These edifices are known to have
been ruined when Rome was taken by the Goths under Alaric (410), who
entered at the neighbouring Porta Salara. The obelisk now in front of
the Trinità di Monti, was removed from hence by Pius VI. The picturesque
old casino of the Barberini, which occupied the most prominent position
in the gardens, was pulled down in 1869, to make way for a house
belonging to Spithover the librarian. The hill-side is supported by long
picturesque buttresses, beneath which are remains of the huge masonry of
Servius Tullius, whose _Agger_ may be traced on the ridge of the hill
running towards the present railway station. Part of these grounds are
supposed to have formed the Campus Sceleratus, where the vestal virgins
suffered who had broken their vows of chastity.

     "When condemned by the college of pontifices, the vestal was
     stripped of her vittæ and other badges of office, was scourged, was
     attired like a corpse, placed in a close litter, and borne through
     the forum, attended by her weeping kindred with all the ceremonies
     of a real funeral, to the Campus Sceleratus, within the city walls,
     close to the Colline gate. There a small vault underground had been
     previously prepared, containing a couch, a lamp, and a table with a
     little food. The Pontifex Maximus, having lifted up his hands to
     heaven and uttered a secret prayer, opened the litter, led forth
     the culprit, and placing her on the steps of the ladder which gave
     access to the subterranean cell, delivered her over to the common
     executioner and his assistants, who conducted her down, drew up the
     ladder, and having filled the pit with earth until the surface was
     level with the surrounding ground, left her to perish deprived of
     all the tributes of respect usually paid to the spirits of the
     departed. In every case the paramour was publicly scourged to death
     in the forum."--_Smith's Dict. of Antiquities._

     "A Vignaiuolo showed us in the Gardens of Sallust a hole, through
     which he said those vestal virgins were put who had violated their
     vows of chastity. While we were listening to their story, some
     pretty Contadini came up to us attended by their rustic swains, and
     after looking into the hole, pitied the vestal
     virgins--'_Poverine_,' shrugged their shoulders, and laughing,
     thanked their stars and the Madonna, that poor Fanciulle were not
     buried alive for such things now-a-days."--_Eaton's Rome._

A turn in the road now leads to the gate of the beautiful _Villa
Ludovisi_, to which it has been very difficult to obtain admittance
since the Sardinian occupation. The excellent proprietors, the Duke and
Duchess Sora, have lived at Foligno in complete seclusion, since the
change of government.

The villa was built early in the last century by Cardinal Ludovisi,
nephew of Gregory XV., from whom it descended to the Prince of Piombino,
father of Duke Sora. The grounds, which are of an extent extraordinary
when considered as being within the walls of a capital, were laid out by
Le Nôtre, and are in the stiff French style of high clipped hedges, and
avenues adorned with vases and sarcophagi. Near the entrance is a pretty
fountain shaded by a huge plane-tree; the Quirinal is seen in the
distance.

To the right of the entrance is the principal casino of sculptures, a
very beautiful collection (catalogues on the spot). Especially
remarkable are,--the grand colossal head, known as the "Ludovisi Juno"
(41);

     "A Rome, une Junon surpasse toutes les autres par son aspect et
     rappelle la Junon de Polyclète par sa majesté: c'est la célèbre
     Junon Ludovisi que Goethe admirait tant, et devant laquelle dans un
     accès de dévotion païenne,--seul genre de dévotion qu'il ait connu
     à Rome,--il faisait, nous dit-il, sa prière du matin.

     "Cette tête colossale de Junon offre bien les caractères de la
     sculpture de Polyclète; la gravité, la grandeur, la dignité; mais
     ainsi que dans d'autres Junons qu'on peut supposer avoir été
     sculptées à Rome, l'imitateur de Polyclète, on doit le croire,
     adoucit la sévérité, je dirai presque la dureté de l'original,
     telle qu'elle se montre sur les médailles d'Argos, et celles
     d'Elis."--_Ampère, Hist. Romaine_, iii. 264.

     "No words can give a true impression of the colossal head of Juno
     in the Villa Ludovisi: it is like a song of Homer."--_Goethe._

--the _Statue of Mars_ seated (I), with a Cupid at his feet, found in
the portico of Octavia, and restored by Bernini;

     "II y avait bien un Mars assis de Scopas, et ce Mars était à Rome;
     mais un dieu dans son temple devait être assis sur un trône et non
     sur un rocher, comme le prétendu Mars Ludovisi. On a donc eu
     raison, selon moi, de reconnaître dans cette belle statue un
     Achille, à l'expression pensive de son visage, et surtout à
     l'attitude caractéristique que le sculpteur lui a donnée, lui
     faisant embrasser son genou avec ses deux mains, attitude qui, dans
     le langage de la sculpture antique, était le signe d'une méditation
     douloureuse. On citait comme très-beau un Achille de Silanion,
     sculpteur grec habile à rendre les sentiments violents. D'après
     cela, son Achille pouvait être un Achille indigné; c'est de lui que
     viendrait l'Achille de la villa Ludovisi. L'expression de dépit,
     plus énergique dans l'original, eût été adoucie dans une admirable
     copie.'--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 437.

--and No. 28;

     "Le beau groupe auquel on avait donné le nom d'Arria et Pætus; il
     fallait fermer les yeux à l'évidence pour voir un Romain du temps
     de Claude dans ce chef barbare qui, après avoir tué sa femme, se
     frappe lui-même d'un coup mortel. Le type du visage, la chevelure,
     le caractère de l'action, tout est gaulois; la manière même dont
     s'accomplit l'immolation volontaire montre que ce n'est pas un
     Romain que nous avons devant les yeux; un Romain se tuait plus
     simplement, avec moins de fracas. Le principal personnage du groupe
     Ludovisi conserve en ce moment suprême quelque chose de triomphant
     et de théâtral; soulevant d'une main sa femme affaissée sous le
     coup qu'il lui a porté, de l'autre il enfonce son épée dans sa
     poitrine. La tête haute, l'œil tourné vers le ciel, il semble
     répéter le mot de sa race: 'Je ne crains qu'une chose, c'est que le
     ciel tombe sur ma tête.'"--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 207.

At the end of the gardens, to the left, is another casino, from whose
roof a most beautiful view may be obtained. Here are the most famous
frescoes of _Guercino_. On the ceiling of the ground-floor, Aurora
driving away Night and scattering flowers in her course, with Evening
and Daybreak in the lunettes; and, on the first floor, "Fame" attended
by Force and Virtue. Smaller rooms on the ground floor have landscapes
by _Guercino_ and _Domenichino_, and some groups of Cupids by _T.
Zucchero_; on the staircase is a fine bas-relief of two Cupids dragging
a quiver.

     "The prophets and sibyls of Guercino da Cento (1590--1666), and his
     Aurora, in a garden pavilion of the Villa Ludovisi, at Rome, almost
     attain to the effect of oil paintings in their glowing colouring
     combined with the broad and dark masses of shadow."--_Kugler._

     "In allegorising nature, Guercino imitates the deep shades of
     night, the twilight grey, and the irradiations of morning, with all
     the magic of _chiaroscuro_; but his figures are too mortal for the
     region where they move."--_Forsyth._

In B.C. 82, the district near the Porta Collina, now occupied by the
Villa Ludovisi, was the scene of a great battle for the very existence
of Rome, between Sylla, and the Samnites and Lucanians under the Samnite
general Pontius Telesinus, who declared he would raze the city to the
ground if he were victorious. The left wing under Sylla was put to
flight; but the right wing, commanded by Crassus, enabled him to restore
the battle, and to gain a complete victory; fifty thousand men fell on
each side.

The road now runs along the ridge of the hill to the Porta Salara, by
which Alaric entered Rome through the treachery of the Isaurian guard,
on the 24th of August, 410.

Passing through the gate and turning to the right along the outside of
the wall, we may see, against the grounds of the Villa Ludovisi, the two
round towers of the now closed _Porta Pinciana_, restored by Belisarius.
This is the place where tradition declares that in his declining years
the great general sat begging, with the cry, "Date obolum Belisario."

     "A côté de la Porta Pinciana, on lit sur une pierre les paroles
     célèbres: 'Donnez une obole à Bélisaire'; mais cette inscription
     est moderne, comme la légende à laquelle elle fait allusion, et
     qu'on ne trouve dans nul historien contemporain de Bélisaire.
     Bélisaire ne demanda jamais l'aumône, et si le cicerone montre
     encore aux voyageurs l'endroit où, vieux et aveugle, il implorait
     une obole de la charité des passants, c'est que près de ce lieu il
     avait, sur la colline du Pincio, son palais, situé entre les
     jardins de Lucullus et les jardins de Salluste, et digne
     probablement de ce double voisinage par sa magnificence. Ce qui est
     vrai, c'est que le vainqueur des Goths et des Vandales fut
     disgracié par Justinien, grâce aux intrigues de Théodora. La
     légende, comme presque toujours, a exprimé par une fable une
     vérité, l'ingratitude si fréquente des souverains envers ceux qui
     leur ont rendu lus plus grands services."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 396.

       *       *       *       *       *

A short distance from the gate, along the Via Salara, is, on the right,
the _Villa Albani_ (shown on Tuesdays by an order), built in 1760 by
Cardinal Alessandro Albani,--sold in 1834 to the Count of Castelbarco,
and in 1868 to Prince Torlonia, its present possessor. The scene from
its garden terrace is among the loveliest of Roman pictures, the view of
the delicate Sabine mountains--Monte Gennaro, with the Montecelli
beneath it--and in the middle distance, the churches of Sant' Agnese and
Sta. Costanza, relieved by dark cypresses and a graceful fountain.

The _Casino_, which is, in fact, a magnificent palace, is remarkable as
having been built from Cardinal Albani's own designs, Carlo Marchionni
having been only employed to see that they were carried out.

     "Here is a villa of exquisite design, planned by a profound
     antiquary. Here Cardinal Albani, having spent his life in
     collecting ancient sculpture, formed such porticoes and such
     saloons to receive it as an old Roman would have done: porticoes
     where the statues stood free upon the pavement between columns
     proportioned to their stature; saloons which were not stocked but
     embellished with families of allied statues, and seemed full
     without a crowd. Here Winckelmann grew into an antiquary under the
     cardinal's patronage and instruction; and here he projected his
     history of art, which brings this collection continually into
     view."--_Forsyth's Italy._

The collection of sculptures is much reduced since the French invasion,
when 294 of the finest specimens were carried off by Napoleon to Paris,
where they were sold by Prince Albani upon their restoration in 1815, as
he was unwilling to bear the expense of transport. The greater
proportion of the remaining statues are of no great importance. Those of
the imperial family in the vestibule are interesting--those of Julius
and Augustus Cæsar, of Agrippina wife of Germanicus, and of Faustina,
are seated; most of the heads have been restored.

Conspicuous among the treasures of this villa, are the sarcophagus with
reliefs of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, pronounced by Winckelmann
to be one of the finest in existence; a head of Æsop, supposed to be
after Lysippus; and the bronze "Apollo Sauroctonos," considered by
Winckelmann to be the original statue by Praxiteles described by Pliny,
and the most beautiful bronze statue in the world,--it was found on the
Aventine. But most important of all is the famous relievo of Antinous
crowned with lotus, from the Villa Adriana (over the chimney-piece of
the first room to the right of the saloon), supposed to have formed part
of an apotheosis of Antinous:

     "As fresh, and as highly finished, as if it had just left the
     studio of the sculptor, this work, after the Apollo and the
     Laocoon, is perhaps the most beautiful monument of antiquity which
     time has transmitted to us."--_Winckelmann, Hist. de l'Art_, vi.
     ch. 7.

Inferior only to this, is another bas-relief, also over a
chimney-piece,--the parting of Orpheus and Eurydice.

     "Les deux époux vont se quitter. Eurydice attache sur Orphée un
     profond regard d'adieu. Sa main est posée sur l'épaule de son
     époux, geste ordinaire dans les groupes qui expriment la séparation
     de ceux qui s'aiment. La main d'Orphée dégage doucement celle
     d'Eurydice, tandis que Mercure fait de la sienne un léger mouvement
     pour l'entraîner. Dans ce léger mouvement est tout leur sort;
     l'effet le plus pathétique est produit par la composition la plus
     simple; l'émotion la plus pénétrante s'exhale de la sculpture la
     plus tranquille."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 256.

The villa also contains a collection of pictures, of which the most
interesting are the sketches of _Giulio Romano_ for the frescoes of the
story of Psyche in the Palazzo del Te at Mantua, and two fine pictures
by Luca Signorelli and Perugino, in compartments, in the first room on
the left of the saloon. All the works of art have lately been
rearranged. The _Caffè_ and the _Bigliardo_--(reached by an avenue of
oaks, which, being filled with ancient tombstones, has the effect of a
cemetery)--contain more statues, but of less importance.

Beyond the villa, the Via Salara (said by Pliny to derive its name from
the salt of Ostia exported to the north by this route) passes on the
left the site of Antemnæ, and crosses the Anio two miles from the city,
by the _Ponte Salara_, destroyed by the Roman government in the terror
of Garibaldi's approach from Monte Rotondo, in 1867. This bridge was a
restoration by Narses, in the sixth century, but stood on the
foundations of that famous Ponte Salara, upon which Titus Manlius fought
the Gaulish giant, and cutting off his head, carried off the golden
collar which earned him the name of Torquatus.

     "Manlius prend un bouclier léger de fantassin, une épée espagnole
     commode pour combattre de très-près, et s'avance à la rencontre du
     Barbare. Les deux champions, isolés sur le pont, comme sur un
     théâtre, se joignent au milieu. Le Barbare portait un vêtement
     bariolé et une armure ornée de dessins et d'incrustations dorées,
     conforme au caractère de sa race, aussi vaine que vaillante. Les
     armes du Romain étaient bonnes, mais sans éclat. Point chez lui,
     comme chez son adversaire, de chant, de transports, d'armes agitées
     avec fureur, mais un cœur plein de courage et d'une colère
     muette qu'il réservait tout entière pour le combat.

     "Le Gaulois, qui dépassait son adversaire de toute la tête, met en
     avant son bouclier et fait tomber pesamment son glaive sur l'armure
     de son adversaire. Celui-ci le heurte deux fois de son bouclier, le
     force à reculer, le trouble, et se glissant alors entre le bouclier
     et le corps du Gaulois, de deux coups rapidement portés lui ouvre
     le ventre. Quand le grand corps est tombé, Manlius lui coupe la
     tête, et, ramassant le collier de son ennemi décapité, jette tout
     sanglant sur son cou ce collier, le _torques_, propre aux Gaulois,
     et qu'on peut voir au Capitole porté par celui qu'on appelle à tort
     le gladiateur mourant. Un soldat donne, en plaisantant, à Manlius
     le sobriquet de _Torquatus_, que sa famille a toujours été fière de
     porter."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 10.

Beyond the ruins of the bridge, is a huge tomb with a tower, now used as
an Osteria. Hence, the road leads by the Villa of Phaon (Villa Spada)
where Nero died, and the site of Fidenæ, now known as Castel Giubeleo,
to Monte Rotondo.

The district beyond the Porta Salara, and that extending between the Via
Salara and the Monte Parioli, are completely undermined by catacombs
(see Ch. IX.). The most important are--1. Nearest the gate, the
_Catacomb of St. Felicitas_, which had three tiers of galleries, adorned
by Pope Boniface I., who took refuge there from persecution,--now much
dilapidated. Over this cemetery was a church, now destroyed, which is
mentioned by William of Malmesbury. 2. _The Catacomb of SS. Thraso and
Saturninus_, much decorated with the usual paintings. 3. _The Catacomb
of Sta. Priscilla_, near the descent to the Anio. This cemetery is of
great interest, from the number of martyrs' graves it contains, and from
its peculiar construction in an ancient _arenarium_, pillars and walls
of masonry being added throughout the central part, in order to sustain
the tufa walls. Here were buried--probably because the entrance to the
Chapel of the Popes at St. Calixtus was blocked up to preserve it in the
persecution under Diocletian--Pope St. Marcellinus (ob. 308), and Pope
St. Marcellus (ob. 310), who was sent into exile by Maxentius. On the
tomb of the latter was placed, in finely cut type, the following epitaph
by Pope Damasus:--

    "Veredicus Rector, lapsos quia crimina flere
    Prædixit, miseris fuit omnibus hostis amarus.
    Hinc furor, hinc odium sequitur, discordia, lites,
    Seditio, cædes, solvuntur fœdera pacis.
    Crimen ob alterius Christum qui in pace negavit,
    Finibus expulsus patriæ est feritate tyranni.
    Hæc breviter Damasus voluit comperta referre,
    Marcelli ut populus meritum cognoscere posset."

     "The truth-speaking pope, because he preached that the lapsed
     should weep for their crimes, was bitterly hated by all those
     unhappy ones. Hence followed fury, hatred, discord, contentions,
     sedition, and slaughter, and the bonds of peace were ruptured. For
     the crime of another, who in (a time of) peace had denied Christ,
     (the pontiff) was expelled the shores of his country by the cruelty
     of the tyrant. These things Damasus having learnt, was desirous to
     narrate briefly, that people might recognise the merit of
     Marcellus."[242]

Several of the paintings in this catacomb are remarkable; especially
that of a woman with a child, claimed by the Roman Church as one of the
earliest representations of the Virgin. The painting is thus described
by Northcote:--

     "De Rossi unhesitatingly says that he believes this painting of our
     Blessed Lady to belong almost to the apostolic age. It is to be
     seen on the vaulted roof of a _loculus_, and represents the Blessed
     Virgin seated, her head partially covered by a short light veil,
     and with the Holy Child in her arms; opposite to her stands a man,
     clothed in the pallium, holding a volume in one hand, and with the
     other pointing to a star which appears above and between the
     figures. This star almost always accompanies our Blessed Lady, both
     in paintings and in sculptures, where there is an obvious
     historical excuse for it, _e. g._, when she is represented with the
     Magi offering their gifts, or by the side of the manger with the ox
     and the ass; but with a single figure, as in the present instance,
     it is unusual. The most obvious conjecture would be that the figure
     was meant for St. Joseph, or for one of the Magi. De Rossi,
     however, gives many reasons for preferring the prophet Isaias,
     whose prophecies concerning the Messias abound with imagery
     borrowed from light."--_Roma Sotterranea._

This catacomb is one of the oldest, Sta. Priscilla, from whom it is
named, being supposed to have been the mother of Pudens, and a
contemporary of the apostles. Her granddaughters, Prassede and
Pudenziana, were buried here before the removal of their relics to the
church on the Esquiline. With this cemetery is connected the
extraordinary history of the manufacture of Sta. Filomena, now one of
the most popular saints in Italy, and one towards whom idolatry is
carried out with frantic enthusiasm both at Domo d'Ossola and in some of
the Neapolitan States. The story of this saint is best told in the words
of Mrs. Jameson.

     "In the year 1802, while some excavations were going forward in the
     catacomb of Priscilla, a sepulchre was discovered containing the
     skeleton of a young female; on the exterior were rudely painted
     some of the symbols constantly recurring in these chambers of the
     dead; an anchor, an olive branch (emblems of Hope and Peace), a
     scourge, two arrows, and a javelin: above them the following
     inscription, of which the beginning and end were destroyed:--

    ----LUMENA PAX TE CUM FI----

     "The remains, reasonably supposed to be those of one of the early
     martyrs for the faith, were sealed up and deposited in the treasury
     of relics in the Lateran; here they remained for some years
     unthought of. On the return of Pius VII. from France, a Neapolitan
     prelate was sent to congratulate him. One of the priests in his
     train, who wished to create a sensation in his district, where the
     long residence of the French had probably caused some decay of
     piety, begged for a few relics to carry home, and these recently
     discovered remains were bestowed on him; the inscription was
     translated somewhat freely, to signify _Santa Philumena, rest in
     peace_. Another priest, whose name is suppressed _because of his
     great humility_, was favoured by a vision in the broad noon-day, in
     which he beheld the glorious virgin Filomena, who was pleased to
     reveal to him that she had suffered death for preferring the
     Christian faith and her vow of chastity to the addresses of the
     emperor, who wished to make her his wife. This vision leaving much
     of her history obscure, a certain young artist, whose name is also
     suppressed, perhaps because of his great humility, was informed in
     a vision that the emperor alluded to was Diocletian, and at the
     same time the torments and persecutions suffered by the Christian
     virgin Filomena, as well as her wonderful constancy, were also
     revealed to him. There were some difficulties in the way of the
     Emperor Diocletian, which _incline_ the writer of the _historical_
     account to incline to the opinion that the young artist in his
     wisdom _may_ have made a mistake, and that the emperor may have
     been not Diocletian but Maximian. The facts, however, now admitted
     of no doubt; the relics were carried by the priest Francesco da
     Lucia to Naples; they were enclosed in a case of wood resembling in
     form the human body; this figure was habited in a petticoat of
     white satin, and over it a crimson tunic after the Greek fashion;
     the face was painted to represent nature, a garland of flowers was
     placed on the head, and in the hands a lily and a javelin with the
     point reversed to express her purity and her martyrdom; then she
     was laid in a half-sitting posture in a sarcophagus, of which the
     sides were glass, and, after lying for some time in state in the
     chapel of the Torres family in the Church of Sant' Angiolo, she was
     carried in grand procession to Mugnano, a little town about twenty
     miles from Naples, amid the acclamations of the people, working
     many and surprising miracles by the way.... Such is the legend of
     Sta. Filomena, and such the authority on which she has become
     within the last twenty years one of the most popular saints in
     Italy."--_Sacred and Legendary Art_, p. 671.

It is hoped that very interesting relics may still be discovered in this
Catacomb.

     "In an account preserved by St. Gregory of Tours, we are told that
     under Numerianus, the martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria were put to
     death in an _arenaria_, and that a great number of the faithful
     having been seen entering a subterranean crypt on the Via Salara,
     to visit their tombs, the heathen emperor caused the entrance to be
     hastily built up, and a vast mound of sand and stone to be heaped
     in front of it, so that they might be all buried alive, even as the
     martyrs whom they had come to venerate. St. Gregory adds, that when
     the tombs of these martyrs were re-discovered, after the ages of
     persecution had ceased, there were found with them, not only the
     relics of those worshippers who had been thus cruelly put to death,
     skeletons of men, women, and children lying on the floor, but also
     the silver cruets (_urcei argentei_) which they had taken down with
     them for the celebration of the sacred mysteries. St. Damasus was
     unwilling to destroy so touching a memorial of past ages. He
     abstained from making any of those changes by which he usually
     decorated the martyrs' tombs, but contented himself with setting up
     one of his invaluable historical inscriptions, and opening a window
     in the adjacent wall or rock, that all might see, without
     disturbing, this monument so unique in its kind--this Christian
     Pompeii in miniature. These things might still be seen in St.
     Gregory's time, in the sixth century; and De Rossi holds out hopes
     that some traces of them may be restored even to our own
     generation, some fragments of the inscription perhaps, or even the
     window itself through which our ancestors once saw so moving a
     spectacle, assisting, as it were, at a mass celebrated in the third
     century."--_Roma Sotterranea_, p. 88.

       *       *       *       *       *

Returning to the Porta Salara, and following the walls, we reach the
_Porta Pia_, built, as it is now seen, by Pius IX.--very ugly, but
appropriately decorated with statues of St. Agnes and St. Alexander, to
whose shrines it leads. The statues lost their heads in the capture of
Rome in 1870 by the Italian troops, who entered the city by a breach in
the walls close to this. A little to the right was the _Porta
Nomentana_, flanked by round towers, closed by Pius IV. It was by this
gate that the oppressed Roman people retreated to the Mons Sacer--and
that Nero fled.

     "Suivons-le du Grand-Cirque à la porte Nomentane. Quel spectacle!
     Néron, accoutumé à toutes les recherches de la volupté, s'avance à
     cheval, les pieds nus, en chemise, couvert d'un vieux manteau dont
     la couleur était passée, un mouchoir sur le visage. Quatre
     personnes seulement l'accompagnent; parmi elles est ce Sporus, que
     dans un jour d'indicible folie il avait publiquement épousé. Il
     sent la terre trembler, il voit les éclairs au ciel: Néron a peur.
     Tous ceux qu'il a fait mourir lui apparaissent et semblent se
     précipiter sur lui. Nous voici à la porte Nomentane, qui touche au
     Camp des Prétoriens. Néron reconnaît ce lieu où, il y a quinze ans,
     suivant alors le chemin qu'il vient de suivre, il est venu se faire
     reconnaître empereur par les prétoriens. En passant sous les murs
     de leur camp, vers lequel son destin le ramène, il les entend
     former des vœux pour Galba, et lancer des imprécations contre
     lui. Un passant lui dit: 'Voilà des gens qui cherchent Néron.' Son
     cheval se cabre au milieu de la route: c'est qu'il a flairé un
     cadavre. Le mouchoir qui couvrait son visage tombe; un prétorien
     qui se trouvait là le ramasse et le rend à l'empereur, qu'il salue
     par son nom. A chacun de ces incidents son effroi redouble. Enfin
     il est arrivé à un petit chemin qui s'ouvre à notre gauche, dans la
     direction de la voie Salara, parallèle à la voie Nomentane. C'est
     entre ces deux voies qu'était la villa de Phaon, à quatre milles de
     Rome. Pour l'attendre, Néron, qui a mis pied à terre, s'enfonce à
     travers un fourré d'épines et un champ de roseaux comme il s'en
     trouve tant dans la Campagne de Rome; il a peine de s'y frayer un
     chemin; il arrive ainsi au mur de derrière de la villa. Près de là
     était un de ces antres creusés pour l'extraction du sable
     volcanique, appelé _pouzzolane_, tels qu'on en voit encore de ce
     côté. Phaon engage le fugitif à s'y cacher; il refuse. On fait un
     trou dans la muraille de la villa par où il pénètre, marchant
     quatre pieds, dans l'intérieur. Il entre dans une petite salle et
     se couche sur un lit formé d'un méchant matelas sur lequel on avait
     jeté un vieux manteau. Ceux qui l'entourent le pressent de mourir
     pour échapper aux outrages et au supplice. Il essaye à plusieurs
     reprises de se donner la mort et n'y peut se résoudre; il pleure.
     Enfin, en entendant les cavaliers qui venaient le saisir, il cite
     un vers grec, fait un effort et se tue avec le secours d'un
     affranchi."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 65.

       *       *       *       *       *

Immediately outside the Porta Pia is the entrance of the beautiful
_Villa Patrizi_, whose grounds enclose the small _Catacomb of St.
Nicomedus_. Then comes the _Villa Lezzani_, where Sta. Giustina is
buried in a chapel, and where her festa is observed on the 25th of
October.

Beyond this is the ridiculous _Villa Torlonia_ (shown with an order on
Wednesdays from 11 to 4, but not worth seeing), sprinkled with mock
ruins.

At little more than a mile from the gate the road reaches the _Basilica
of St' Agnese fuori le Mura_, founded by Constantine at the request of
his daughter Constantia, in honour of the virgin martyr buried in the
neighbouring catacomb; but rebuilt 625--38 by Honorius I. It was altered
in 1490 by Innocent VIII., but retains more of its ancient character
than most of the Roman churches. The polychrome decorations of the
interior, and the rebuilding of the monastery, were carried out at the
expense of Pius IX., as a thank-offering for his escape, when he fell
through the floor here into a cellar, with his cardinals and attendants,
on April 15, 1855. The scene is represented in a large fresco by
_Domenico Tojetti_, in a chamber on the right of the courtyard.

The approach to the church is by a picturesque staircase of forty-five
ancient marble steps, lined with inscriptions from the catacombs. The
nave is divided from the aisles by sixteen columns, four of which are of
"porta-santa" and two of "pavonazzetto." A smaller range of columns
above these supports the roof of a triforium, which is on a level with
the road. The baldacchino, erected in 1614, is supported by four
porphyry columns. Beneath is the shrine of St. Agnes surmounted by her
statue, an antique of oriental alabaster, with modern head, and hands of
gilt bronze. The mosaics of the tribune, representing St. Agnes between
Popes Honorius I. and Symmachus, are of the seventh century. Beneath, is
an ancient episcopal chair.

The second chapel on the right has a beautiful mosaic altar, and a
relief of SS. Stephen and Laurence of 1490. The third chapel is that of
St. Emerentiana, foster-sister of St. Agnes, who was discovered praying
beside the tomb of her friend, and was stoned to death because she
refused to sacrifice to idols.

     "So ancient is the worship paid to St. Agnes, that next to the
     Evangelists and Apostles, there is no saint whose effigy is older.
     It is found on the ancient glass and earthenware vessels used by
     the Christians in the early part of the third century, with her
     name inscribed, which leaves no doubt of her identity. But neither
     in these images, nor in the mosaics, is the lamb introduced, which
     in later times has become her inseparable attribute, as the
     patroness of maidens and maidenly modesty."--_Jameson's Sacred
     Art_, p. 105.

St. Agnes suffered martyrdom by being stabbed in the throat, under
Diocletian, in her thirteenth year (see Ch. XIV.), after which,
according to the expression used in the acts of her martyrdom, her
parents "with all joy" laid her in the catacombs. One day as they were
praying near the body of their child, she appeared to them surrounded by
a great multitude of virgins, triumphant and glorious like herself, with
a lamb by her side, and said, "I am in heaven, living with these virgins
my companions, near Him whom I have so much loved." By her tomb, also,
Constantia, a princess sick with hopeless leprosy, was praying for the
healing of her body, when she heard a voice saying, "Rise up,
Constantia, and go on constantly ('Costanter age, Constantia') in the
faith of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who shall heal your
diseases,"--and, being cured of her evil, she besought her father to
build this basilica as a thank-offering.[243]

On the 21st of January, a beautiful service is celebrated here, in which
two lambs, typical of the purity of the virgin saint, are blessed upon
the altar. They are sent by the chapter of St. John Lateran, and their
wool is afterwards used to make the pallium of the pope, which is
consecrated before it is worn, by being deposited in a golden urn upon
the tomb of St. Peter. The pallium is the sign of episcopal
jurisdiction.

     "Ainsi, le simple ornement de laine que ces prélats doivent porter
     sur leurs épaules comme symbole de la brebis du bon Pasteur, et que
     le pontife Romain prend sur l'autel même de Saint Pierre pour le
     leur adresser, va porter jusqu'aux extrémités de l'Eglise, dans une
     union sublime, le double sentiment de la force du Prince des
     Apôtres et de la douceur virginale d'Agnes."--_Dom Guéranger._

Close to St' Agnese is the round _Church of Sta. Costanza_. erected by
Constantine as a mausoleum for his daughters Constantia and Helena, and
converted into a church by Alexander IV. (1254--61) in honour of the
Princess Constantia, ob. 354, whose life is represented by Marcellinus
as anything but saintlike, and who is supposed to have been confused in
her canonization with a sainted nun of the same name. The rotunda,
seventy-three feet in diameter, is surrounded by a vaulted corridor;
twenty-four double columns of granite support the dome. The vaulting is
covered with mosaic arabesques of the fourth century, of flowers and
birds, with scenes referring to a vintage. The same subjects are
repeated on the splendid porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Costanza, of which
the interest is so greatly marred by its removal to the Vatican from its
proper site, whence it was first stolen by Pope Paul II., who intended
to use it as his own tomb.

     "Les enfants qui foulent le raisin, tels qu'on les voit dans les
     mosaïques de l'église de Sainte Constance, les bas-reliefs de son
     tombeau et ceux de beaucoup d'autres tombeaux chrétiens sont bien
     d'origine païenne, car on les voit aussi figurer dans les
     bas-reliefs où paraît Priape."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 257.

Behind the two churches is an oblong space, ending in a fine mass of
ruin, which is best seen from the valley below. This was long supposed
to be the Hippodrome of Constantine, but is now discovered to have
belonged to an early Christian cemetery.

_The Catacomb of St Agnese_ is entered from a vineyard about a quarter
of a mile beyond the church. It is lighted and opened to the public on
St. Agnes' Day. After those of St. Calixtus, this, perhaps, is the
catacomb which is most worthy of a visit.

We enter by a staircase attributed to the time of Constantine. The
passages are lined with the usual _loculi_ for the dead, sometimes
adapted for a single body, sometimes for two laid together. Beside many
of the graves the palm of victory may be seen scratched on the mortar,
and remains of the glass bottles or _ampullæ_, which are supposed to
indicate the graves of martyrs, and to have contained a portion of their
blood, of which they are often said to retain the trace. One of the
graves in the first gallery bears the names of consuls of A.D. 336,
which fixes the date of this part of the cemetery.

The most interesting features here are a square chamber hewn in the
rock, with an arm-chair (_sedia_) cut out of the rock on either side of
the entrance, supposed to have been a school for catechists,--and near
this is a second chamber for female catechists, with plain seats in the
same position. Opening out of the gallery close by is a chamber which
was apparently used as a chapel; its _arcosolium_ has marks of an altar
remaining at the top of the grave, and near it is a credence-table; the
roof is richly painted,--in the central compartment is our Lord seated
between the rolls of the Old and New Testament. Above the arcosolium, in
the place of honour, is our Saviour as the Good Shepherd, bearing a
sheep upon his shoulders, and standing between other sheep and
trees;--in the other compartments are Daniel in the lions' den, the
Three Children in the furnace, Moses taking off his shoes, Moses
striking the rock, and--nearest the entrance--the Paralytic carrying his
bed. A neighbouring chapel has also remains of an altar and
credence-table, and well-preserved paintings,--the Good Shepherd, Adam
and Eve, with the tree between them, Jonah under the gourd, and in the
fourth compartment a figure described by Protestants merely as an
Orante, and by Roman Catholics as the Blessed Virgin.[244] Near this
chapel we can look down through an opening into the second floor of the
catacomb, which is lined with graves like the first.

In the further part of the catacomb is a long narrow chapel which has
received the name of the _cathedral_ or _basilica_. It is divided into
three parts, of which the furthest, or presbytery, contains an ancient
episcopal chair with lower seats on either side for priests--probably
the throne where Pope St. Liberius (A.D. 359) officiated, with his face
to the people, when he lived for more than a year hidden here from
persecution. Hence a flight of steps leads down to what Northcote calls
"the Lady Chapel," where, over the altar, is a fresco of an orante,
without a nimbus, with outstretched arms,--with a child in front of her.
On either side of this picture, a very interesting one, is the monogram
of Constantine, and the painting is referred to his time. Near this
chapel is a chamber with a spring running through it, evidently used as
a baptistery.

At the extremity of the catacomb, under the basilica of St. Agnes, is
one of its most interesting features. Here the passages become wider and
more irregular, the walls sloping and unformed, and graves cease to
appear, indicating one of the ancient _arenaria_, which here formed the
approach to the catacomb, and beyond which the Christians excavated
their cemetery.

The graves throughout almost all the catacombs have been rifled, the
bones which they contained being distributed as relics throughout Roman
Catholic Christendom, and most of the sarcophagi and inscriptions
removed to the Lateran and other museums.

     "Vous pourriez voir ici la capitale des catacombes de toute la
     chrétienté. Les martyrs, les confesseurs, et les vierges, y
     fourmillent de tous côtés. Quand on se fait besoin de quelques
     reliques en pays étrangers, le Pape n'a qu'à descendre ici et
     crier, _Qui de vous autres veut aller être saint en Pologne?_
     Alors, s'il se trouve quelque mort de bonne volonté, il se lève et
     s'en va."--_De Brosses_, 1739.

Half a mile beyond St' Agnese, the road reaches the willow-fringed river
Anio, in which "Silvia changed her earthly life for that of a goddess,"
and which carried the cradle containing her two babes Romulus and Remus
into the Tiber, to be brought to land at the foot of the Palatine
fig-tree. Into this river we may also recollect that Sylla caused the
ashes of his ancient rival Marius to be thrown. The river is crossed by
the _Ponte Nomentana_, a mediæval bridge, partially covered, with forked
battlements.

     "Ponte Nomentana is a solitary dilapidated bridge in the spacious
     green Campagna. Many ruins from the days of ancient Rome, and many
     watch-towers from the middle ages, are scattered over this long
     succession of meadows; chains of hills rise towards the horizon,
     now partially covered with snow, and fantastically varied in form
     and colour by the shadows of the clouds. And there is also the
     enchanting vapoury vision of the Alban hills, which change their
     hues like the chameleon, as you gaze at them--where you can see for
     miles little white chapels glittering on the dark foreground of the
     hills, as far as the Passionist Convent on the summit, and whence
     you can trace the road winding through thickets, and the hills
     sloping downwards to the lake of Albano, while a hermitage peeps
     through the trees."--_Mendelssohn's Letters._

The hill immediately beyond the bridge is the _Mons Sacer_ (not only the
part usually pointed out on the right of the road, but the whole
hillside), to which the famous secession of the Plebs took place in B.C.
549, amounting, according to Dionysius, to about 4000 persons. Here they
encamped upon the green slopes for four months, to the terror of the
patricians, who foresaw that Rome, abandoned by its defenders, would
fall before its enemies, and that the crops would perish for want of
cultivation. Here Menenius Agrippa delivered his apologue of the belly
and its members, which is said to have induced them to return to Rome;
that which really decided them to do so being the concession of
tribunes, to be the organs and representatives of the plebs as the
consuls were of the patricians. The epithet Sacer is ascribed by
Dionysius to an altar which the plebeians erected at the time on the
hill to Ζεὑς Δειμἁτιος.

A second secession to the Mons Sacer took place in B.C. 449, when the
plebs rose against Appius Claudius after the death of Virginia, and
retired hither under the advice of M. Duilius, till the decemvirs
resigned.

Following the road beyond the bridge past the castle known as _Casale
dei Pazzi_ (once used as a lunatic asylum) and the picturesque tomb
called Torre Nomentana,--as far as the seventh milestone--we reach the
remains of the unburied _Basilica of S. Alessandro_, built on the site
of the place where that pope suffered martyrdom with his companions
Eventius and Theodulus, A.D. 119, and was buried on the same spot by the
Christian matron Severina.[245] The plan of the basilica, disinterred
1856-7, is still quite perfect. The tribune and high altar retain
fragments of rich marbles and alabasters; the episcopal throne also
remains in its place.

The "Acts of the martyrs Alexander, Eventius, and Theodulus," narrate
that Severina buried the bodies of the first two martyrs in one tomb,
and the third separately--"Theodulum vero alibi sepelivit." This is
borne out by the discovery of a chapel opening from the nave, where the
single word "martyri," is supposed to point out the grave of Theodulus.
A baptistery has been found with its font, and another chapel adjoining
is pointed out as the place where neophytes assembled to receive
confirmation from the bishop. Among epitaphs laid bare in the pavement
is one to a youth named Apollo "votus Deo" (dedicated to the
priesthood?) at the age of 14. Entered from the church is the catacomb
called "ad nymphas," containing many ancient inscriptions and a few rude
paintings.

Mass is solemnly performed here by the Cardinal Prefect of the
Propaganda on the festival of St. Alexander, May 3, when the roofless
basilica--backed by the blue Sabine mountains and surrounded by the
utterly desolate Campagna--is filled with worshippers, and presents a
striking scene. Beyond this a road to the left leads through beautiful
woods to _Mentana_, occupying the site of the ancient Nomentum, and
recently celebrated for the battle between the papal troops and the
Garibaldians on Nov. 3, 1867. The conflict took place chiefly on the
hillside which is passed on the right before reaching the town. Two
miles further is _Monte Rotondo_, with a fine old castle of the
Barberini family (once of the Orsini), from which there is a beautiful
view. This place was also the scene of fighting in 1867. It is possible
to vary the route in returning to Rome from hence by the lower road
which leads by the (now broken) Ponte Salara.

       *       *       *       *       *

If we re-enter Rome by the Porta Pia, immediately within the gates we
find another Villa belonging to the Torlonia family. The straight road
from the gate leads by the Termini to the Quattro Fontane and the Monte
Cavallo. On the left, if we follow the _Via de Macao_, which takes its
strange name from a gift of land which the princes of Savoy made to the
Jesuits for a mission in China, we reach a small piazza with two pines,
where a gate on the left leads to the remains of the _Pretorian Camp_,
established by Sejanus, the minister of Tiberius. It was dismantled by
Constantine, but from three sides having been enclosed by Aurelian in
the line of his city-wall, its form is still preserved to us. The
Pretorian Camp was an oblong of 1200 by 1500 feet; its area was occupied
by a vineyard of the Jesuits till 1861, when a "Campo Militare" was
again established here, for the pontifical troops.

     "En suivant l'enceinte de Rome, quand on arrive à l'endroit où elle
     se continue par le mur du Camp des prétoriens, on est frappé de la
     supériorité de construction que présente celui-ci. La partie des
     murs d'Honorius qui est voisine a été refaite au huitième siècle.
     Le commencement et la fin de l'empire se touchent. On peut
     apprécier d'un coup d'œil l'état de la civilisation aux deux
     époques: voilà ce qu'on faisait dans le premier siècle, et voilà ce
     qu'on faisait au huitième, après la conquête de l'empire Romain par
     les Barbares. Il faut songer toutefois que cette époque où l'on
     construisait si bien a amené celle où l'on ne savait plus
     construire."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 421.

Hence a road, three-quarters of a mile long, leads--passing under an
arch of Sixtus V.--to the Porta S. Lorenzo (Ch. XIII.).

The road opposite the gateway leading to the Camp is bordered on the
left by the buildings belonging to the _Railway Station_, beyond which
is the entrance to the grounds of the _Villa Massimo Negroni_, which
possessed a delightful terrace, fringed with orange-trees--a most
agreeable sunny walk in winter--and many pleasant shady nooks and
corners for summer, but which has been mutilated and stripped of all its
beauties since the Sardinian rule. In a part of this villa beyond the
railway but still visible from hence, is a colossal statue of Minerva
(generally called "Rome"), which is a relic of the residence here of
Cardinal Felix Perretti, who as a boy had watched the pigs of his father
at Montalto, and who lived to mount the papal throne as Sixtus V. The
pedestal of the statue bears his arms,--a lion holding three pears in
its paw. Here, with her husband's uncle, lived the famous Vittoria
Accoramboni, the wife of the handsome Francesco Perretti, who had been
vainly sought in marriage by the powerful and ugly old Prince Paolo
Orsini. It was from hence that her young husband was summoned to a
secret interview with her brothers on the slopes of the Quirinal, where
he was cruelly murdered by the hired bravos of her first lover. Hence
also Vittoria went forth--on the very day of the installation of Sixtus
V.--to her strange second marriage with the murderer of her husband, who
died six months after, leaving her with one of the largest fortunes in
Italy--an amount of wealth which led to her own barbarous murder through
the jealousy of the Orsini a month afterwards.

Here, after the election of her brother to the papacy, lived Camilla,
the sister of Sixtus V., whom he refused to recognise when she came to
him in splendid attire as a princess, but tenderly embraced when she
reappeared in her peasant's wimple and hood. From hence her two
granddaughters were married,--one to Virginius Orsini, the other to
Marc-Antonio Colonna, an alliance which healed the feud of centuries
between the two families.

In later times the Villa Negroni was the residence of the poet Alfieri.

The principal terrace ends near a reservoir which belonged to the baths
of Diocletian.

     "As one looks from the Villa Negroni windows, one cannot fail to be
     impressed by the strange changes through which this wonderful city
     has passed. The very spot on which Nero, the insane emperor-artist,
     fiddled while Rome was burning, has now become a vast
     kitchen-garden, belonging to Prince Massimo (himself a descendant,
     as he claims, of Fabius Cunctator), where men no longer, but only
     lettuces, asparagus, and artichokes, are ruthlessly cut down. The
     inundations are not for mock sea-fights among slaves, but for the
     peaceful purposes of irrigation. In the bottom of the valley, a
     noble old villa, covered with frescoes, has been turned into a
     manufactory for bricks, and part of the Villa Negroni itself is now
     occupied by the railway station. Yet here the princely family of
     Negroni lived, and the very lady at whose house Lucrezia Borgia
     took her famous revenge may once have sauntered under the walls,
     which still glow with ripening oranges, to feed the gold fish in
     the fountain,--or walked with stately friends through the long
     alleys of clipped cypresses, or pic-nicked _alla Giornata_ on lawns
     which are now but kitchen-gardens, dedicated to San
     Cavolo."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

The lower part of the Villa Negroni, and the slopes towards the
Esquiline, were once celebrated as the _Campus Esquilinus_, a large
pauper burial-ground, where bodies were thrown into pits called
_puticoli_,[246] as is still the custom at Naples. There were also tombs
here of a somewhat pretentious character: "those probably of rich
well-to-do burgesses, yet not great enough to command the posthumous
honour of a roadside mausoleum."[247] Horace dwells on the horrors of
this burial-ground, where he places the scene of Canidia's
incantations:--

    "Nec in sepulcris pauperum prudens anus
    Novemdiales dissipare pulveres."
        _Epod._ xvii. 47.

                    'Has nullo perdere possum
    Nec prohibere modo, simul ac vaga luna decorum
    Protulit os, quin ossa legant, herbasque nocentes.
    Vidi egomet nigrâ succinctam vadere pallâ
    Canidiam, pedibus nudis passoque capillo,
    Cum Saganâ majore ululantem; pallor utrasque
    Fecerat horrendas aspectu,

           *       *       *       *       *

                            Serpentes atque videres
    Infernas errare canes; lunamque rubentem,
    Ne foret his testis, post magna latere sepulcra."
           _Hor. Sat._ i. 8'

The place was considered very unhealthy until its purification by
Mæcenas.

    "Huc prius angustis ejecta cadavera cellis
    Conservus vili portanda locabat in arcâ.
    Hoc miseræ plebi stabat commune sepulcrum,
    Pantolabo scurræ, Nomentanoque nepoti.
    Mille pedes in fronte, trecentos cippus in agrum
    Hîc dabat; heredes monumentum ne sequeretur.
    Nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus, atque
    Aggere in aprico spatiari; quo modo tristes
    Albis informem spectabant ossibus agrum."

    _Hor. Sat._ i. 8.

    "Post insepulta membra different lupi,
    Et Esquilinæ alites."

    _Hor. Ep._ v. 100.

     "The Campus Esquilinus, between the roads which issued from the
     Esquiline and Viminal gates, was the spot assigned for casting out
     the carcases of slaves, whose foul and half-burnt remains were
     hardly hidden from the vultures. The _accursed field_ was enclosed,
     it would appear, neither by wall nor fence, to exclude the
     wandering steps of man or beast; and from the public walk on the
     summit of the ridge, it must have been viewed in all its horrors.
     Here prowled in troops the houseless dogs of the city and the
     suburbs; here skulked the solitary wolf from the Alban hills, and
     here perhaps, to the doleful murmurs of the Marsic chaunt, the
     sorceress compounded her philtres of the ashes of dead men's bones.
     Mæcenas (B.C. 7) deserved the gratitude of the citizens, when he
     obtained a grant of this piece of land, and transformed it into a
     park or garden.... The Campus Esquilinus is now part of the gardens
     of the Villa Negroni."--_Merivale, Romans under the Empire._

Within what were the grounds of the Villa Negroni until they were
encroached upon by the railway, but now only to be visited with a
"lascia passare" from the station master, are some of the best remains
of the _Agger of Servius Tullius_. In 1869--70, some curious painted
chambers were discovered here, but were soon destroyed,--and the foolish
jealousy of the authorities prevented any drawings or photographs being
taken. The Agger can be traced from the Porta Esquilina (near the Arch
of Gallienus), to the Porta Collina (near the Gardens of Sallust). In
the time of the empire it had become a kind of promenade, as we learn
from Horace.[248]

Opposite the station are the vast, but for the most part uninteresting,
remains of the _Baths of Diocletian_, covering a space of 440,000 square
yards. They were begun by Diocletian and Maximian, about A.D. 302, and
finished by Constantius and Maximinus. It is stated by Cardinal
Baronius, that 40,000 Christians were employed in the work; some bricks
marked with crosses have been found in the ruins. At the angles of the
principal front were two circular halls, both of which remain; one is
near the modern Villa Strozzi, at the back of the Negroni garden, and is
now used as a granary, the other is transformed into the Church of S.
Bernardo.

The Baths are supposed to have first fallen into decay after the Gothic
invasion of A.D. 410. In the sixteenth century the site was sold to
Cardinal Bella, ambassador of Francis I. at Rome, who built a fine
palace among the ruins; after his death, in 1560, the property was
re-sold to S. Carlo Borromeo. He sold it again to his uncle, Pope Pius
IV., who founded the monastery of Carthusian monks. These, in 1593, sold
part of the ruins to Caterina Sforza, who founded the Cistercian convent
of S. Bernardo.

About 1520, a Sicilian priest called Antonio del Duca came to Rome,
bringing with him from Palermo pictures of the seven archangels
(Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Santhiel, Gendiel, and Borachiel),
copied from some which existed in the Church of S. Angiolo. Carried away
by the desire of instituting archangel-worship at Rome, he obtained
leave to affix these pictures to seven of the columns still standing
erect in the Baths of Diocletian, which, ten years after, Julius II.
allowed to be consecrated under the title of Sta. Maria degli Angeli;
though Pius IV., declaring that angel-worship had never been sanctioned
by the Church, except under the three names mentioned in Scripture,
ordered the pictures of Del Duca to be taken away.[249] At the same time
he engaged Michael Angelo to convert the great oblong hall of the Baths
(Calidarium) into a church. The church then arranged was not such as we
now see, the present entrance having been then the atrium of the side
chapel, and the main entrance at first by what is now the right
transept, while the high altar stood in what is now the left transept.
In 1749, the desire of erecting a chapel to the Beato Nicolo Albergati,
led to the church being altered, under Vanvitelli, as we now see it.

The _Church of Sta. Maria degli Angeli_, still most magnificent, is now
entered by a rotunda (Laconicum) which contains four monuments of some
interest; on the right of the entrance is that of the artist Carlo
Maratta, who died 1713; on the left that of Salvator Rosa, who died
1673, with an epitaph by his son, describing him as "Pictorum sui
temporis nulli secundum, poetarum omnium temporum principibus parem!"
Beyond, on the right, is the monument of Cardinal Alciati, professor of
law at Milan, who procured his hat through the interest of S. Carlo
Borromeo, with the epitaph "Virtute vixit, memoria vivit, gloria
vivet,"--on the left, that of Cardinal Parisio di Corenza, inscribed,
"Corpus humo tegitur, fama per ora volat, spiritus astra tenet." In the
chapel on the right are the angels of Peace and Justice, by _Pettrich_;
in that on the left Christ appearing to the Magdalen, by _Arrigo
Fiamingo_. Against the pier on the right is the grand statue of S.
Bruno, by _Houdon_, of which Clement XIV. (Ganganelli) used to say, "He
would speak, if the rule of his Order did not forbid it."

The body of the church is now a perfect gallery of very large pictures,
most of which were brought from St. Peter's, where their places have
been supplied by mosaic copies. In what is now the right transept, on
the right, is the Crucifixion of St. Peter, _Ricciolini_; the Fall of
Simon Magus, a copy of _Francesco Vanni_ (the original in St. Peter's);
on the left, St. Jerome, with St. Bruno and St. Francis, _Muziano_
(1528--92) (the landscape by _Brill_); and the Miracles of St. Peter,
_Baglioni_. This transept ends in the chapel of the Beato Nicolo
Albergati, a Carthusian Cardinal, who was sent as legate by Martin V.,
in 1422, to make a reconciliation between Charles VI. of France and
Henry V. of England. The principal miracle ascribed to him, the
conversion of bread into coal in order to convince the Emperor of
Germany of his divine authority, is represented in the indifferent
altar-piece. In the left transept, which ends in the chapel of S. Bruno,
are: on the left, St. Basil by the solemnity of the Mass rebuking the
Emperor Valens, _Subleyras_; and the Fall of Simon Magus, _Pompeo
Battoni_;--on the right, the Immaculate Conception, _P. Bianchi_; and
Tabitha raised from the Dead, _P. Costanzi_.

In the tribune are, on the right, the Presentation of the Virgin in the
Temple, _Romanelli_; and the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, a grand fresco
of _Domenichino_, painted originally on the walls of St. Peter's, and
removed here with great skill by the engineer Zabaglia;--on the left,
the Death of Ananias and Sapphira, _Pomarancio_; and the Baptism of
Christ, _Maratta_.

On the right of the choir is the tomb of Cardinal Antonio Serbelloni; on
the left that of Pius IV., Giovanni Angelo Medici (1559-1565), under
whose reign the Council of Trent was closed,--uncle of S. Carlo
Borromeo, a lively and mundane pope, but the cruel persecutor of the
Caraffa nephews of his predecessor, Paul IV., whom he executed in the
Castle of S. Angelo.

Of the sixteen columns in this church (45 feet in height, 16 feet in
diameter), only the eight in the transept are of ancient Egyptian
granite; the rest are in brick, stuccoed in imitation, and were
additions of Vanvitelli. On the pavement is a meridian line, laid down
in 1703.

     "Quand Dioclétien faisait travailler les pauvres chrétiens à ses
     étuves, ce n'était pas son dessein de bâtir des églises à leurs
     successeurs; il ne pensait pas être fondateur, comme il l'a été,
     d'un monastère de Pères Chartreux et d'un monastère de Pères
     Feuillants.... C'est aux dépens de Dioclétien, de ses pierres et de
     son ciment qu'on fait des autels et des chapelles à Jesus-Christ,
     des dortoirs et des réfectoires à ses serviteurs. La providence de
     Dieu se joue de cette sorte des pensées des hommes, et les
     événements sont bien éloignés des intentions quand la terre a un
     dessein et le ciel un autre."--_Balzac._

The Carthusian convent behind the church (ladies are not admitted)
contains several picturesque fountains. That in the great cloister,
built from designs of Michael Angelò, is surrounded by a group of huge
and grand cypresses, said to have been planted by his hand.

     "Il semble que la vie ne sert ici qu'à contempler la mort--les
     hommes qui existent ainsi sont pourtant les mêmes à qui la guerre
     et toute son activité suffirait à peine s'ils y étaient accoutumés.
     C'est un sujet inépuisable de réflexion que les différentes
     combinaisons de la destinée humaine sur la terre. Il se passe dans
     l'intérieur de l'âme mille accidents, il se forme mille habitudes,
     qui font de chaque individu un monde et son histoire."--_Madame de
     Staël._

On a line with the monastery is a Prison for Women--then an Institution
for Deaf, Dumb, and Blind--then the ugly _Fountain of the Termini_
(designed by Fontana), sometimes called Fontanone dell' Acqua Felice,
(Felice, from Fra Felice, the name by which Sixtus V. was known before
his papacy,) to which the Acqua Felice was brought from Colonna 22 miles
distant in the Alban hills, in 1583, by Sixtus V. It is surmounted by a
hideous statue of Moses by _Prospero Bresciano_, who is said to have
died of vexation at the ridicule it excited when uncovered. The side
statues, of Aaron and Gideon, are by _Giov. Batt. della Porta_ and
_Flaminio Vacca_.

Opposite this, in the Via della Porta Pia, is the _Church of Sta. Maria
della Vittoria_, built in 1605, by Carlo Maderno, for Paul V. Its façade
was added from designs of Giov. Batt. Soria, by Cardinal Borghese, in
payment to the monks of the adjoining Carmelite convent, for the statue
of the Hermaphrodite, which had been found in their vineyard.

The name of the church commemorates an image of the Virgin, burnt in
1833, which was revered as having been instrumental in gaining the
victory for the Catholic imperial troops over the Protestant Frederick
and Elizabeth of Bohemia, at the battle of the White Mountain, near
Prague. The third chapel on the left contains the Trinity, by
_Guercino_; a Crucifixion, by _Guido_; and a portrait of Cardinal
Cornaro, _Guido_. The altar-piece of the second chapel on the right,
representing St. Francis receiving the Infant Christ from the Virgin, is
by _Domenichino_, as are two frescoes on the side walls. In the left
transept, above an altar adorned with a gilt bronze-relief of the Last
Supper, by Cav. d'Arpino, is a group representing Sta. Teresa transfixed
by the dart of the Angel of Death, by _Bernini_. The following
criticisms upon it are fair specimens of the contrast between English
and French taste.

     "All the Spanish pictures of Sta. Theresa sin in their materialism;
     but the grossest example--the most offensive--is the marble group
     of Bernini, in the Santa Maria della Vittoria at Rome. The head of
     Sta. Theresa is that of a languishing nymph, the angel is a sort of
     Eros; the whole has been significantly described as 'a parody of
     Divine love.' The vehicle, white marble,--its place in a Christian
     church,--enhance all its vileness. The least destructive, the
     least prudish in matters of art, would here willingly throw the
     first stone."--_Mrs. Jameson's Monastic Orders_, p. 421.

     "La sainte Thérèse de Bernin est adorable! couchée, évanouie
     d'amour les mains, les pieds nus pendants, les yeux demiclos, elle
     s'est laissée tomber de bonheur et d'extase. Son visage est maigri,
     mais combien noble! C'est la vraie grande dame qui a séché dans les
     feux, dans les larmes, en attendant celui qu'elle aime. Jusqu'aux
     draperies tortillées, jusqu'à l'allanguissement des mains
     défaillantes, jusqu'au soupir qui meurt sur ses levres
     entr'ouvertes, il n'y a rien en elle ni autour d'elle qui n'exprime
     l'angoisse volupteuse et le divin élancement de son transport. On
     ne peut pas rendre avec des mots une attitude si enivrée et si
     touchante. Renversée sur le dos, elle pâme, tout son être se
     dissout; le moment poignant arrive, elle gémit; c'est son dernier
     gémissement, la sensation est trop forte. L'ange cependant, un
     jeune page de quatorze ans, en légère tunique, la poitrine
     découverte jusqu'au dessous du sein, arrive gracieux, aimable;
     c'est le plus joli page de grand seigneur qui vient faire le
     bonheur d'une vassal trop tendre. Un sourire demi-complaisant,
     demi-malin, creuse des fossettes dans ses fraîches joues luisantes;
     sa flêche d'or à la main indique le tressaillement délicieux et
     terrible dont il va secouer tous les nerfs de ce corps charmant,
     ardent, qui s'étale devant sa main. On n'a jamais fait ce roman si
     séduisant et si tendre."--_Taine, Voyage en Italie._

Close by is the handsome _Church of Sta. Susanna_, rebuilt by _Carlo
Maderno_, for Sixtus V., on the site of an oratory founded by Pope Caius
(A.D. 283), in the house of his brother Gabinus, who was martyred with
his daughter Susanna because she refused to break her vow of virginity
by a marriage with Maximianus Galerus, adopted son of the Emperor
Diocletian, to whom this family were related. The bodies of these
martyrs are said to rest beneath the high altar. The side chapel of St.
Laurence was presented by Camilla Peretti, the sister of Sixtus V.,
together with a dowry of fifty scudi, to be paid every year to the nine
best girls in the parish, on the festival of Sta. Susanna. The frescoes
of the story of Susanna and the Elders, painted here on the side walls,
from the analogy of names, are by _Baldassare Croce_; those in the
tribune are by _Cesare Nebbia_.

Opposite this, is the Cistercian convent and _Church of S. Bernardo_, a
rotunda of the Baths of Diocletian, turned into a church in 1598, by
Caterina Sforza, Contessa di Santa Fiora.

Hence the Via della Porta Pia leads to the Quattro Fontane. On the left
is the small _Church of S. Caio_, which encloses the tomb of that pope,
inscribed "Sancti Caii, Papæ, martyris ossa." Further, on the left, is
the great recently suppressed convent of the Carmelites, and the _Church
of Sta. Teresa_. The right of the street is bordered by the
orange-shaded wall of the Barberini garden.

Between S. Caio and Sta. Teresa, is the _Studio of Overbeck_, the
venerable German devotional painter, who died 1869. His daughter allows
visitors to be admitted on Sunday afternoons.




CHAPTER XII.

THE ESQUILINE.

     Golden House of Nero--Baths of Titus and Trajan--S. Pietro in
     Vincoli--Frangipani Tower--House of Lucrezia Borgia--S. Martino al
     Monte--Sta. Lucia in Selce--Sta. Prassede--Santissimo
     Redentore--Arch of Gallienus--Trophies of Marius--Sta.
     Bibiana--Temple of Minerva Medica--S. Eusebio--S. Antonio
     Abbate--Sta. Maria Maggiore.


The Esquiline, which is the largest of the so-called 'hills of Rome,' is
not a distinct hill, but simply a projection of the Campagna. "The
Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, and Cœlian stretch out towards the
Tiber, like four fingers of a hand, of which the plain whence they
detach themselves represents the vast palm. This hand has seized the
world."[250]

Varro says that the name Esquiline was derived from the word _excultus_,
because of the ornamental groves which were planted on this hill by
Servius Tullius,--such as the Lucus Querquetulanus, Fagutalis, and
Esquilinus.[251] The sacred wood of the Argiletum long remained on the
lower slope of the hill, where the Via Sta. Maria dei Monti now is.

The Esquiline, which is still unhealthy, must have been so in ancient
times, for among its temples were those dedicated to Fever, near Sta.
Maria Maggiore--to Juno Mephitis,[252] near a pool which emitted
poisonous exhalations--and to Venus Libitina,[253] for the registration
of deaths, and arrangement of funerals. As the hill was in the hands of
the Sabines, its early divinities were Sabine. Besides those already
mentioned, it had an altar of the Sabine sun-god Janus, dedicated
together with an altar to Juno by the survivor of the Horatii,[254] and
a temple of Juno Lucina, the goddess of birth and light.

    "Monte sub Esquilio multis incæduus annis
    Junonis magnæ nomine lucus erat."

    _Ovid, Fast._ ii. 435.

This hill has two heights. That which is crowned by Santa Maria Maggiore
was formerly called _Cispius_, where Servius Tullius had a palace; that
which is occupied by S. Pietro in Vincoli was formerly called _Oppius_,
where Tarquinius Superbus lived. It was in returning to his palace on
the former (and not on the latter height, as generally maintained) that
Servius Tullius was murdered.

The most important buildings of the Esquiline, in the later republican
and in imperial times, were on the slope of the hill behind the Forum,
and near the Coliseum, in the fashionable quarter called Carinæ,--the
"rich Carinæ,"

          "Passimque armenta videbant
    Romanoque Foro et lautis mugire Carinis."

    _Virgil, Æn._ viii. 361.

of which the principal street probably occupied the site of the present
Via del Colosseo. At the entrance of this suburb, where the fine
mediæval Torre dei Conti now stands, was the house of Spurius Cassius
(Consul B.C. 493), which was confiscated and demolished, and the ground
ordained to be always kept vacant, because he was suspected of aiming at
regal power. Here, however, or very nearly on this site, the _Ædes
Telluris_, or temple of Tellus, was erected _c._ B.C. 269,[255]--a
building of sufficient importance for the senate, summoned by Antony, to
assemble in it. The quarter immediately surrounding this temple acquired
the name of _In Tellure_, which is still retained by several of its
modern churches.[256] Near this temple--"in tellure," lived Pompey, in a
famous though small historical house, which he adorned on the outside
with rostra in memory of his naval victories, and which was painted
within to look like a forest with trees and birds, much probably as the
chambers are painted which were discovered a few years ago in the villa
of Livia.[257] Here Julia, the daughter of Julius Cæsar, and wife of
Pompey, died. After the death of Pompey this house was bought by the
luxurious Antony. The difference between its two masters is pourtrayed
by Cicero, who describes the severe comfort of the house of Pompey
contrasted with the voluptuous luxury of its second master, and winds up
his oration by exclaiming, "I pity even the roofs and the walls under
the change." At a later period the same house was the favourite
residence of Antoninus Pius. Hard by, in the Carinæ, the favourite
residence of Roman knights, lived the father of Cicero, and hence the
young Tullius went to listen in the forum to the orators whom he was one
day to surpass.[258] Also in the Carinæ, but nearer the site of the
Coliseum, was the magnificent house of the wealthy Vedius Pollio, which
he bequeathed to Augustus, who pulled it down, and built the portico of
Livia on its site:

    "Disce tamen, veniens ætas, ubi Livia nunc est
      Porticus, immensæ tecta fuisse domûs.
    Urbis opus domus una fuit; spatiumque tenebat,
      Quo brevius muris oppida multa tenent.
    Hæc æquata solo est, nullo sub crimine regni,
      Sed quia luxuriâ visa nocere suâ.
    Sustinuit tantas operum subvertere moles,
      Totque suas heres perdere Cæsar opes."

    _Ovid, Fast._ vi. 639.

At its opposite extremity the Carinæ was united to the unfashionable and
plebeian quarter of the _Suburra_, occupying the valley formed by the
convergence of the Esquiline, Quirinal, and Viminal--which is still
crowded with a teeming population. In one of the small streets leading
from the Vicus Cyprius (between the Esquiline and Viminal) towards the
Carinæ, was the _Tigellum Sororis_, which was extant--repaired at the
public expense--till the fifth century. This, "the Sister's Beam,"
commemorated the well-known story of the last of the Horatii, who,
returning from the slaughter of the Curiatii, and being met by his
sister, bewailing one of the dead to whom she was betrothed, stabbed her
in his anger. He was condemned to death, but at the prayer of his father
his crime was expiated by his passing under the yoke of "the Sister's
Beam." On one side of the Tigellum Sororis was an altar to Juno Sororis;
on the other an altar to Janus Curiatius.[259]

During the empire several poets had their residence on the Esquiline.
Virgil lived there, near the gardens of Mæcenas, which covered the
slopes between the Esquiline and Viminal. Propertius had a house there,
as we learn from himself--

    "I, puer, et citus hæc aliqua propone columna
    Et dominum Esquiliis scribe habitare tuum."

    _Propert. Eleg._ iv. 23.

It is believed, but without certainty, that Horace also lived upon the
Esquiline. He was constantly there in the villa of Mæcenas, where he was
buried, and which he has described in his poems both in its original
state as a desecrated cemetery, and again after his friend had converted
it into a beautiful garden.

    "Nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus, atque
    Aggere in aprico spatiari, quo modo tristes
    Albis informem spectabant ossibus agrum."

    _Sat._ i.

The house of Mæcenas, the great patron of the poets of the Augustan age,
probably occupied a site above the Carinæ, where the baths of Titus
afterwards were. It was a lofty and magnificent edifice, and is
described by Horace, who calls it--

    "Fastidiosam desere copiam, et
    Molem propinquam nubibus arduis:
      Omitte mirari beatæ
        Fumum et opes strepitumque Romæ."

    _Od._ iii. 29.

Mæcenas bequeathed his villa to Augustus, and Tiberius at one time
resided in it.

Another, though less well-known poet of this age, who lived upon the
Esquiline, was Pedo Albinovanus, much extolled by Ovid, who lived at the
summit of the Vicus Cyprius (probably the Via Sta. Maria Maggiore), in a
little house:

    "Illic parva tui domus Pedonis
        Cælata est aquilæ minore penna."

    _Martial_, x. _Ep._ 19.

Near this was the _Lacus Orphei_, a fountain, in the centre of which was
a rock, &c., surmounted by a statue of Orpheus with the enchanted beasts
around him. The house of Pedo was afterwards inhabited by Pliny. On
_Septimius_, as the furthest slope of the Esquiline towards the Viminal
was called, lived Maximus--of whom Martial says:--

    "Esquiliis domus est, domus est tibi colle Dianæ,
      Et tua Patricius culmina Vicus habet:
    Hinc viduæ Cybeles, illinc sacraria Vestæ,
      Inde Novum, Veterem prospicis inde Jovem."

    _Mart._ vii. _Ep._ 72.

Only the northern side of the Esquiline is now inhabited at all; the
southern, and by far the larger portion, is clothed with vineyards and
gardens, sprinkled over with titanic masses of ruin. On most parts of
the hill, one might imagine oneself far away in the country. According
to Niebuhr, the dweller amid the vines of the Esquiline, when he
descends into the city, still says, "I am going to Rome."

       *       *       *       *       *

Nero (A.D. 54--68) purchased the site of the villa of Mæcenas, and
covered the whole side of the hill towards the Carinæ with the vast
buildings of his Golden House, which also swallowed up the Cœlian and
a great part of the Palatine; but he did not destroy the buildings which
already existed, and "the Golden House was still the old mansion of
Augustus and the villa of Mæcenas connected by a long series of columns
and arches."[260] Titus (A.D. 79--81) and Trajan (A.D. 98--117) used
part of the same site for their baths, and the ruins of all these
buildings are now jumbled up together, and the varying whims of
antiquaries have constantly changed the names of each fragment that has
been discovered.

The more interesting of these ruins are on the southern slope of the
Esquiline towards the Coliseum, and are most easily approached from the
Via Polveriera. They are shown now as the _Baths of Titus_, or Camere
Esquiline, and occupy a space of about 1150 feet by 850. That the
chambers which are now visible were to be seen in the time of Leo X.
(1513--22) we learn from Vasari, who says that Raphael and Giovanni da
Udine were wont to study there and copy the arabesques to assist their
work in the Vatican Loggie. After this, neglect and the falling in of
the soil caused these treasures to be lost till 1774, when they were
again partially unearthed, but they were only completely brought to view
by the French, who began to take the work in hand in 1811, and continued
their excavations for three years.

The principal remains, which are now exhibited by the dim torch of a
solitary cicerone, are those of nine chambers, extending for 300 feet,
and having on the north a kind of corridor, or cryptoporticus, whose
vault is covered with paintings of birds, griffins, and flowers, &c. In
two of these halls are alcoves for couches, and in one is a cavity for a
fountain with a trench round it, like that in the nymphæum of the Palace
of the Cæsars. In one of the halls is a group representing Venus
attended by two Cupids, with doves hovering over her. Near this a
pedestal is shown as that occupied by the Laocoon, though it was really
found in the Vigna de Fredis, between the Sette Sale and Sta. Maria
Maggiore. A set of thirty engravings, published by Mirri, from drawings
taken in 1776, show what the paintings were at that time, but very few
now remain perfect. A group of Coriolanus and his mother, represented in
Mirri's work, is now inaccessible. All the paintings are Pompeian in
character, and for some time were considered the best remains of ancient
pictorial art in Rome, but they are inferior to those which have since
been discovered on the Latin way and at the Baths of Livia. The chambers
which open beyond the nine outer halls are considered to be part of the
Golden House. In one of these the Meleager of the Vatican was found. A
small chapel, dedicated to Sta. Felicitas and her seven sons (evidently
engrafted upon the pagan building in the sixth century), was discovered
in 1813. It is like the chapels in the catacombs, and is decorated with
the conventional frescoes of the Good Shepherd, Daniel in the lions'
den, &c. There are also some faint remains of a fresco of the sainted
patrons.

Behind the convent of S. Pietro in Vincoli, in the open vineyards, are
other ruins called the _Sette Sale_, being remains of the reservoirs (in
reality nine in number) for the Baths. In these vineyards also are three
large circular ruins, adorned on the interior with rows of niches for
statues. One of them is partly built into the Polveriera, or powder
magazine. These have been referred alternately to the Baths of Titus
and those of Trajan.

       *       *       *       *       *

Immediately behind the forum of Nerva stands the colossal brick tower,
known as the Torre dei Conti, and built by Innocent III. (1198--1216) as
a retreat for his family, now extinct. Its architect was Marchione
d'Arezzo, and it was so much admired by Petrarch that he declared it had
"no equal upon earth;" he must have meant in height. Four of the Conti
have mounted the papal throne, Innocent III., Gregory IX., Alexander
IV., and Innocent XIII. The last-named pope (1721--24) boasted of having
"nine uncles, eight brothers, four nephews, and seven great nephews;"
yet--a century after--and not a Conti remained.

If we turn to the left close to this, we shall find, in a commanding
position, the famous Church of _S. Pietro in Vincoli_, said to have been
originally founded in A.D. 109 by Theodora, sister of Hermes, Prefect of
Rome, both converts of the then pope, who was the martyr St. Alexander
of the basilica in the Campagna. A bolder legend attributes the
foundation to St. Peter himself, who is believed to have dedicated this
church to his Divine Master. History, however, can assign no earlier
foundation than that in 442, by the Empress Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian
III., from whom the church takes its name of the _Eudoxican Basilica_,
and who placed there one of the famous chains which now form its great
attraction to Roman Catholic pilgrims.

     "The chains, left in the Mamertine Prisons after St. Peter's
     confinement there, are said to have been found by the martyr Sta.
     Balbina, in 126, and by her given to Theodora, another sainted
     martyr, sister to Hermes, Prefect of Rome, from whom they passed
     into the hands of St. Alexander, first pope of that name, and were
     finally deposited by him in the church erected by Theodora, where
     they have since remained. Such is the legendary, but the historic
     origin of this basilica cannot be traced higher than about the
     middle of the fifth century, subsequent to the year 439, when
     Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, presented to the Empress Eudoxia,
     wife of Theodosius the younger, two chains, believed to be those of
     St. Peter, one of which was placed by her in the basilica of the
     apostles at Constantinople, and the other sent to Rome for her
     daughter Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian III., who caused this church,
     hence called Eudoxian, to be erected, as the special shrine of
     Peter's chains."--_Hemans._

One chain had been sent to Rome by Eudoxia the elder, and the other
remained at Constantinople, but the Romans could not rest satisfied with
the possession of half the relic; and within the walls of this very
basilica, Leo I. beheld in a vision the miraculous and mystical uniting
of the two chains, since which they have both been exhibited here, and
the day of their being soldered together by invisible power, August 1,
has been kept sacred in the Latin Church!

The church is at present entered by an ugly atrium, which was the work
of Fontana in 1705; but Bacio Pintelli had already done almost all that
was possible to destroy the features of the old basilica, under the
Cardinal Titular of the church, Giulio della Rovere, the same who, as
Pope Julius II., destroyed the old St Peter's and eighty-seven tombs of
his predecessors. By Pintelli the present capitals were added to the
columns in the nave, and the horizontal architrave above them was
exchanged for a series of narrow round-headed arches.

But, in spite of alterations, the interior is still imposing. Two long
lines of ancient fluted Doric columns (ten on each side), relics of the
Baths of Titus or Trajan, which once covered this site, lead the eye to
the high altar, supposed to cover the remains of the seven Maccabean
brothers, and to the tribune, which contains an ancient episcopal
throne, and is adorned with frescoes by _Jacopo Coppi_, a Florentine of
the sixteenth century, illustrative of the life of St. Peter. Beneath
these is the tomb of G. Clovis, a miniature painter of the sixteenth
century, and canon of this church.

On the left of the entrance is the tomb of Antonio Pollajuolo, the
famous worker in bronze, and his brother Pietro. The fresco above, which
is ascribed to Pollajuolo, refers to the translation of the body of St.
Sebastian, as "Depulsor Pestilitatis," from the catacombs to this
church,--one of the most picturesque stories of the middle ages. The
great plague of A.D. 680 was ushered in by an awful vision of the two
angels of good and evil, who wandered through the streets by night, side
by side, when the one smote upon the door where death was to enter,
unless arrested by the other. The people continued to die by hundreds
daily. At length a citizen dreamt that the sickness would cease when the
body of St. Sebastian should be brought into the city, and when this was
done, the pestilence was stayed. In the fresco the whole story is told.
In the background the citizen tells his dream to Pope Agatho, who is
seated among his cardinals. On the right the angels of good and evil
(the bad angel represented as a devil) are making their mysterious
visitation, on the left a procession is bringing in the relics, and the
foreground is strewn with the corpses of the dead. The general
invocation of St. Sebastian in Italy, and the frequent introduction of
his figure in art, have their origin in this story.

At the entrance of the left aisle is a fine bas-relief of St. Peter
throned, delivering his keys to an angel, who acknowledges his supremacy
by receiving them on his knees. This work was executed in 1465, and
serves as a monument to the Cardinal de Cusa, Bishop of Brixen, whose
incised gravestone lies beneath.

Over the second altar is a most interesting mosaic of 680, representing,
in old age, the St. Sebastian whom we are accustomed to see as a
beautiful youth, wounded with arrows,--which he survived:--

     "A single figure in mosaic exists as an altar-piece in S. Pietro in
     Vincoli. It is intended for St. Sebastian, who was removed to the
     church by Pope Agathon, on occasion of the plague in 680, and
     doubtless executed soon after this date. As a specimen of its kind
     it is very remarkable. There is no analogy between this figure and
     the usual youthful type of St. Sebastian which was subsequently
     adopted. On the contrary, the saint is represented here as an old
     man with white hair and beard, carrying the crown of martyrdom in
     his hand, and dressed from head to foot in true Byzantine style. In
     his countenance there is still some life and dignity. The more
     careful shadowing also of the drapery shows that, in a work
     intended to be so much exposed to the gaze of the pious, more pains
     were bestowed than usual; nevertheless, the figure, upon the whole,
     is very inanimate; the ground is blue."--_Kugler._

The first altar in the right aisle has a picture of St. Augustine by
_Guercino_; then come tombs of Cardinals Margotti and Agucci, from
designs of _Domenichino_, who has introduced a portrait of the former in
his monument. At the end of this aisle is the beautiful picture of St.
Margaret and the Dragon by _Guercino_; the saint is inspired, and
displaying no sign of fear,--an earthly impulse only appearing in the
motion of her hand, which seems pushing back the dragon.

     "St. Margaret was daughter of a priest of Antioch named Theodosius,
     and was brought up as a Christian by her nurse, whose sheep she
     watched upon the hills, while meditating upon the mysteries of the
     gospel. The governor of Antioch fell in love with her and wished to
     marry her, but she refused, and declared herself a Christian. Her
     friends thereupon deserted her, and the governor tried to subdue
     her by submitting her to horrible tortures, amid which her faith
     did not fail. She was then dragged to a dungeon, where Satan, in
     the form of a terrible dragon, came upon her with his inflamed and
     hideous mouth wide open, and sought to terrify and confound her;
     but she held up the cross of the Redeemer, and he fled before it.
     She finally suffered death by decapitation. Her legend was
     certainly known in the fifth century: in the fourteenth century she
     was one of the favourite saints, and was specially invoked by women
     against the pains of child-birth.

    "'Mild Margarete, that was God's maide;
    Maid Margarete, that was so meeke and milde.'"

    See _Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art_, v. I.


Here is the glory of the church--the famous Moses of _Michael Angelo_,
forming part of the decorations of the unfinished monument of Julius II.

     "This pope, whom nature had intended for a conqueror, and destiny
     clothed with the robe of a priest, takes his place by the side of
     the great warriors of the sixteenth century, by the side of Charles
     V., of Francis I., of Gonsalvo, of Cortes, of Alba, of Bayard, and
     of Doria. It is difficult to imagine Julius II. murmuring prayers,
     or saying mass in pontifical robes, and performing, in the midst of
     all those unmanly functions and thousand passive forms, the
     spirit-deadening part which is assigned to the popes, while his
     soul was on fire with great-hearted designs, and while in the music
     of the psalms he seemed to hear the thunder of cannon. He wished to
     be a prince of the Church; and with the political instinct of a
     prince he founded his state in the midst of the most difficult wars
     against France, and unhesitatingly conquered and took possession of
     Bologna, Piacenza, Parma, Reggio, and Urbino....

     The greatest pope since Innocent III., and the creator of a new
     political spirit in the papacy, he wished, as a second Augustus, to
     glorify himself and his creation. He took up again the projects of
     Nicholas V. Rome should become his monument. To carry out his
     designs he found the genius of Bramante and Raphael, and, above
     all, that of Michael Angelo, who belonged to him like an organ of
     his being. St. Peter's, of which he laid the foundation-stone, the
     paintings of the Sistine, the loggie of Bramante, the stanze of
     Raphael, are memorials of Julius the Second."--_Gregorovius,
     Grabmaler der Papste._

Most of all Julius II. sought immortality in his tomb, for which the
original design was absolutely gigantic. Eighteen feet high, and twelve
wide, it was intended to contain more than forty statues, which were to
include Moses, St. Peter and St. Paul, Rachel and Leah, and chained
figures of the Provinces, while those of the Heaven and the Earth were
to support the sarcophagus of the pope. This project was cut short by
the death of Julius in 1513, when only four of the statues were
finished, and eight designed.[261] Of those which were finished, three
statues, the Moses, the Rachel, and the Leah, were afterwards used for
the existing memorial, which was put together under Paul III. by the
Duke of Urbino, heir of Julius II.--in this church of which his uncle
had been a cardinal.

     "The eye does not know where to rest in this the masterpiece of
     sculpture since the time of the Greeks. It seems to be as much an
     incarnation of the genius of Michael Angelo, as a suitable allegory
     of Pope Julius. Like Moses, he was at once lawgiver, priest, and
     warrior. The figure is seated in the central niche, with
     long-flowing beard descending to the waist, with horned head, and
     deep-sunk eyes, which blaze, as it were, with the light of the
     burning bush, with a majesty of anger which makes one tremble, as
     of a passionate being, drunken with fire. All that is positive and
     all that is negative in him is equally dreadful. If he were to
     rise up, it seems as if he would shout forth laws which no human
     intellect could fathom, and which, instead of improving the world,
     would drive it back into chaos. His voice, like that of the gods of
     Homer, would thunder forth in tones too awful for the ear of man to
     support. Yes! there is something infinite which lies in the Moses
     of Michael Angelo. Nor is his countenance softened by the twilight
     of sadness, which is stealing from his forehead over his eyes. It
     is the same deep sadness which clouded the countenance of Michael
     Angelo himself. But here it is less touching than terrible. The
     Greeks could not have endured a glance from such a Moses, and the
     artist would certainly have been blamed, because he had thrown no
     softening touch over his gigantic picture. That which we have is
     the archetype of a terrible and quite unapproachable sublimity.
     This statue might take its place in the cell of a colossal temple,
     as that of Jupiter Ammon, but the tomb where it is placed is so
     little suited to it, that regarded even only as its frame it is too
     small."--_Gregorovius._

On either side of the principal figure are niches containing Michael
Angelo's statues of Rachel and Leah,--emblematic of active and
contemplative life. Those above, of the Prophet and the Sibyl, are by
Raphael da Montelupo, his best pupil; on the summit is the Madonna with
the Infant Jesus by Scherano da Settignano. The worst figure of the
whole is that, by Maso dal Bosco, of the pope himself, who seems quite
overwhelmed by the grandeur of his companions, and who lies upon a
pitiful sarcophagus, leaning his head upon his hand, and looking down
upon the Moses. He is represented with the beard which he was the first
pope to reintroduce after an interval of many centuries,--and it is said
to have been from his example that Francis I., Charles V., and others,
adopted it also.

After all, Julius II. was not buried here, and the tomb is merely
commemorative. He rests beneath a plain marble slab near his uncle
Sixtus IV., in the chapel of the Sacrament at St. Peter's.

Close to the Moses is the entrance to the chapel in which the chains are
preserved, behind a bronze screen--the work of Pollajuolo. They are of
unequal size, owing to many fragments of one of them (first whole links,
then only filings) having been removed in the course of centuries by
various popes and sent to Christian princes who have been esteemed
worthy of the favour![262] The longest is about five feet in length. At
the end of one of them is a collar, which is said to have encircled the
neck of St. Peter. They are exposed on the day of the "station" (the
first Monday in Lent) in a reliquary presented by Pius IX., adorned with
statuettes of St. Peter and the angel--to whom he is represented as
saying, "Ecce nunc scio vere."[263] On the following day a priest gives
the chains to be kissed by the pilgrims, and touches their foreheads
with them, saying, "By the intercession of the blessed Apostle Peter,
may God preserve you from evil. Amen."

     "Peter, therefore, was kept in prison: but prayer was made without
     ceasing of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have
     brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two
     soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door
     kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him,
     and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side,
     and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell
     off from his hands."--_Acts_ xii. 5--7.

Other relics preserved here are portions of the crosses of St. Peter and
St. Andrew, and the body of Sta. Costanza.

The sacristy, opening out of this chapel, contains a number of pictures,
including, very appropriately, the Deliverance of St. Peter from Prison,
by _Domenichino_. Here, till a few years ago, was preserved the famous
and beautiful small picture, known as the Speranza of _Guido_. It has
lately been sold by the monks to an Englishman, and is replaced by a
copy.

In this church Hildebrand was crowned pope as Gregory VII. (1073).
Stephen IX. was also proclaimed here in 939. The adjoining convent was
built from designs of Giuliano San Gallo. Its courtyard contains a
picturesque well (with columns), bearing the arms of Julius II., by
_Simone Mosca_. The arcades were decorated in the present century with
frescoes by _Pietra Camosci_, as a votive offering for his recovery from
cholera, to St. Sebastian, "depulsori pestilitatis."

Opposite S. Pietro in Vincoli is a convent of Maronite monks, in whose
garden is a tall palm-tree, perhaps the finest in Rome. In the view from
the portico of the church it forms a conspicuous feature, and the
combination of the old tower, the palm-tree, and the distant capitol,
standing out against the golden sky of sunset, is one very familiar to
Roman artists.

The tall machicolated _Tower_ on the right was once a fortress of the
Frangipani family, who obtained their glorious surname of
"bread-breakers" from the generosity which they showed in the
distribution of food to the poor during a famine in the thirteenth
century. The tower is now used as a belfry to the adjoining Church of
_S. Francesco di Paola_, being the only mediæval fortress tower applied
to this purpose. The adjoining building is known as the _House of
Lucrezia Borgia_, and the balcony over the gateway on the other side is
pointed out as that in which she used to stand meditating on her crimes.
Here Cæsar Borgia and his unhappy brother, the Duke of Gandia, supped
with Lucrezia and their mother Vanozza, the evening before the murder of
the duke, of which Cæsar was accused by popular belief. It is worth
while to descend under the low-browed arch from the church piazza, and
look back upon this lofty house, with its steep, dark, winding
staircase,--a most picturesque bit of street architecture, which looks
better the further you descend. The Via S. Francesco di Paola is
considered by Ampère[264] to have been the place where the house of the
Horatii and the Tigellum Sororis once stood.

Following the narrow lane behind S. Pietro, we reach, on the left, _S.
Martino al Monte_, the great church of the Carmelites, which, though of
uninviting exterior, is of the highest interest. It was built in A.D.
500 by S. Symmachus, and dedicated to the saints Sylvestro and Martino,
on the site of an older church founded by St. Sylvester in the time of
Constantine. After repeated alterations, it was modernised in 1650 by P.
Filippini, General of the Carmelites. The nave is separated from the
aisles by twenty-four ancient Corinthian columns. The aisles are painted
with landscapes by _Gaspar Poussin_, having figures introduced by his
brother Nicholas. The roof is an addition by S. Carlo Borromeo.

The pillars of different marbles are magnificent, and the effect of the
raised choir, with winding staircases to the crypt below, is highly
picturesque. On the walls are frescoes by _Cavaluccio_ (ob. 1795), who
is buried in the left aisle. The collection of incised gravestones
deserves attention, they comprise those of a knight in mail armour of
1349; Cardinal Diomede Caraffa, with a curious epitaph; and various
generals and remarkable monks of the Carmelite Order. Beneath the high
altar rest the bodies of Popes Sergius, Sylvester, Martin I., Fabian,
Stephen I., Soter, Ciriacus, Anastasius, and Innocent I., with several
saints not papal, removed hither from the catacombs. In the curious
crypt, part of the Baths of Titus, the early Council of Sylvester and
Constantine was held, as represented in the fresco in the left aisle of
the upper church. The back of the ancient chair of Sylvester still
remains, green with age and damp. In the chapel on the left, where St.
Sylvester used to celebrate mass, is an ancient mosaic of the Madonna.
In front of the papal chair is the grand sepulchral figure of a
Carmelite, who was General of the Order in the time of Sta. Teresa. An
urn contains the intestines of the "Beato," Cardinal Giuseppe-Maria de
Tommasis, who died in 1713. His body is preserved beneath an altar in
the left aisle of the upper church, and is dressed in his cardinal's
robes.

     "In 1650 was reopened, beneath SS. Martino e Sylvestro, the
     long-forgotten oratory formed (according to Anastasius) by
     Sylvester among the halls of Trajan's Thermæ--or, more probably, in
     an antique palace adjacent to those imperial baths--and called by
     Christian writers 'Titulus Equitii,' from the name of a Roman
     priest then proprietor of the ground. Now a gloomy, time-worn, and
     sepulchral subterranean, this structure is in form an extensive
     quadrangle, under a high-hung vault, divided into four aisles by
     massive square piers; the central bay of one aisle adorned with a
     large red cross, painted as if studded with gems; and ranged round
     this, four books, each within a nimbus, earliest symbolism to
     represent the Evangelists. Among the much-faded and dim-seen
     frescoes on these dusky walls, are figures of the Saviour between
     SS. Peter and Paul, besides other saints, each crowned by a large
     nimbus."--_Hemans' Ancient Sacred Art._

Here is preserved a mitre, probably the most ancient extant, and said to
be that of St. Sylvester, who lived in the fourth century, and who was
the first Latin bishop to wear the mitre originally worn by the priests
of pagan temples. This ancient mitre is so low as to rise only just
above the crown of the head.

This church was dedicated to St. Martin, the holy Bishop of Tours,
within a hundred years after his death, showing the very early
veneration with which that saint was regarded.

Leaving S. Martino by the other door, near the tribune, we emerge at the
top of the steep street called _Sta. Lucia in Selci_, which is the same
with that described by Martial in going to visit the younger Pliny as--

    "Altum vincere tramitem Suburræ." _Lib._ x. _Ep._ 19, 5.

And again--

    "Alto Suburrani vincenda est semita clivi." _Lib._ v. _Ep._ 23, 5.

Here is a whole group of convents. In the hollow is the convent of S.
Francesco di Paola, with several others. Just above (in the Via Quattro
Cantone) is the convent of the Oratorians, or S. Filippo Neri. At this
point also are two mediæval towers, one enclosed within the convent
walls of Sta. Lucia in Selci, the other on the opposite side of the
street, supposed by some to be the tower of Mecænas, celebrated by
Horace. On the left of the street is the house of Domenichino (Domenico
Zampieri), whose residence here is commemorated by an inscription.

Mounting the street we soon reach, on the right, the picturesque tenth
century west gate (a high narrow arch upon Ionic columns, modernized and
plastered over under the Sardinian government) of the _Church of Sta.
Prassede_, which leads into the atrium of the church. This is seldom
open, but we can enter by a door in the north aisle.

Sta. Prassede was sister of Sta. Pudenziana, and daughter of Pudens and
his wife Claudia, with whom St. Paul lodged, and who were among his
first converts (see Ch. X., Sta. Pudenziana). She gave shelter in her
house to a number of persecuted Christians, twenty-three of whom were
discovered and martyred in her presence. She then buried their bodies in
the catacombs of her grandmother, Sta. Priscilla, but, collecting their
blood in a sponge, placed it in a well in her own house, where she was
afterwards buried herself. An oratory is said to have been erected on
the site by Pius I., A.D. 160, and was certainly in existence in A.D.
499, when it is mentioned in the acts of a Council. In A.D. 822 the
original church was destroyed, and the present church erected by Pascal
I., of whose time are the low tower, the porch, the terra-cotta
cornices, and the mosaics. During the absence of the popes at Avignon,
Sta. Prassede was one of the many churches which fell almost into ruin,
and it has since suffered terribly from injudicious modernisations,
first in the fifteenth century from Rosellini, under Nicholas V., and
afterwards under S. Carlo Borromeo in 1564.

The interior is a basilica, the nave being separated from the aisles by
sixteen granite columns, many of which have been boxed up in hideous
stucco pilasters, decorated with frescoes of apostles; but their
Corinthian capitals are visible, carved with figures of birds (the
eagle, cock, and dove) in strong relief against the acanthus leaves. The
nave is divided into four compartments by arches rising from the square
pilasters; the roof is coffered.

In the right aisle is the entrance to the famous chapel, called, from
its unusual and mysterious splendour, the _Orto del
Paradiso_--originally dedicated to S. Zeno, then to the Virgin, with the
invocation "Libera nos a pœnis inferi," and finally to the great
relic which it contains. Females are never allowed to enter this shrine
except upon Sundays in Lent, but can see the relic through a grating.
Males are admitted by the door which is flanked by two columns of rare
black and white marble, supporting a richly-sculptured marble cornice,
above which are two lines of mosaic heads in circlets--in the outer, the
Saviour and the twelve apostles; in the inner, the Virgin between St.
Stephen and St. Laurence, with eight female saints; at the angles St.
Pudens and St. Pastor. In the interior of the chapel four granite
columns support a lofty groined vault, which, together with the upper
part of the walls, is entirely covered with mosaic figures, which stand
out distinctly from a gold ground.

     "Here are SS. Peter and Paul before a throne, on which is the
     cross, but no seated figure; the former apostle holding a single
     gold key,[265] the latter a scroll; St. John the Evangelist, with a
     richly-bound volume; SS. James and Andrew, the two daughters of
     Pudens, and St. Agnes, all in rich vestments, and holding crowns;
     the Virgin Mary (a veiled matronly figure), and St. John the
     Baptist standing beside her; under the arch of a window, another
     half-figure of Mary, with three other females, all having the
     nimbus, one crowned, one with a square halo to indicate a person
     still living; above these, the Divine Lamb on a hill, from which
     the four rivers issue, with stags drinking of their waters; above
     the altar, the Saviour, between four other saints,--figures in part
     barbarously sacrificed to a modern tabernacle that conceals them.
     On the vault a colossal half-figure of the Saviour, youthful but
     severe in aspect, with cruciform nimbus, appears in a large
     circular halo supported by four archangels, solemn forms in long
     white vestments, that stand finely distinct in the dim light.
     Within a niche over the altar is another mosaic of the Virgin and
     Child, with the two daughters of Pudens, in which Rumohr
     (Italienische Forsch.) observes ruder execution, indicating origin
     later than the ninth century."--_Hemans' Ancient Christian Art._

The relic preserved here (one of the principal objects of pilgrimage in
Rome) is the column to which our Saviour is reputed to have been bound,
said to have been given by the Saracens to Giovanni Colonna, cardinal of
this church, and legate of the crusade, because, when he had fallen into
their hands and was about to be put to death, he was rescued by a
marvellous intervention of celestial light. Its being of the rarest
blood jasper is a reason against its authenticity; the peculiarity of
its formation having even given rise to the mineralogical term, "Granito
della Colonna." A disk of porphyry in the pavement marks the grave of
forty martyrs collected by Paschal I. The mother of that pope is also
buried here, and the inscription commemorating her observes an ancient
ecclesiastical usage in allowing her the title of "episcopa:" "_Ubi
utique benignissimæ suæ genitricis, scilicet Dominæ Theodoræ, Episcopæ
corpus quiescit._" In this chapel Paschal I. saw the spirit of his
nephew dragged to heaven by an angel, through the little window, while
he was saying a mass for his soul.

The high altar covers the entrance to a small crypt, in which are two
ancient sarcophagi, containing the remains of the sainted sisters
Prassede and Pudenziana. An altar here, richly decorated with mosaic, is
shown as that which existed in the house of Prassede. Above is a fresco,
referred to the twelfth century, representing the Madonna between the
sainted sisters. At the end of the left aisle is a large slab of granite
(nero-bianco), upon which Sta. Prassede is said to have slept, and above
it a picture of her asleep. In the centre of the nave is the well where
she collected the blood, with a hideous statue of her squeezing it out
of a sponge.

The chapel at the end of the left aisle is that of S. Carlo Borromeo,
who was cardinal of this church, and contains his episcopal throne (a
wooden chair) and a table, at which, like St. Gregory, he used to feed
and wait upon twelve poor men daily. The pictures in this chapel, by
_Louis Stern_, represent S. Carlo in prayer, and in ecstasy before the
Sacrament. In the cloister is an old orange-tree which was planted by
him, but is still flourishing.

Opposite the side entrance of the Orto del Paradiso is the tomb of
Cardinal Cetive (1474), with his sleeping figure and statuettes of SS.
Peter and Paul, Sta. Prassede, and Sta. Pudenziana. This will recall
Browning's quaint forcible poem of 'The Bishop who orders his tomb at
Saint Praxed's church.'

    "Saint Praxed's ever was the church for peace.

           *       *       *       *       *

    And there how I shall lie through centuries,
    And hear the blessed mutter of the mass,
    And see God made and eaten all day long,
    And feel the steady candle flame, and taste
    Good strong thick stupefying incense-smoke!"

Other tombs of interest are those of Cardinal Ancherus, assassinated in
1286 outside the Porta S. Giovanni, and of Monsignor Santoni, a bust,
said to have been executed by Bernini when only ten years old.

Two pictures in side chapels are interesting in a Vallombrosan church,
as connected with saints of that order,--one representing S. Pietro
Aldobrandini passing through the furnace at Settimo; and another the
martyrdom of Cardinal Beccaria, put to death at Florence (whither he was
sent by Alexander IV. to make peace between the Guelfs and
Ghibellines)--and consigned to hell by Dante.

       ----"Quel di Beccaria
    Di cui segò Fiorenza la gorgiera."

    _Inferno_, xxxii.

Steps of magnificent rosso-antico lead to the tribune, which is covered
with mosaics of A.D. 817-824. Those on the arch represent the heavenly
Jerusalem; within is the Saviour with a cruciform halo--the hand of the
first person of the Trinity holding a crown over his head--and St. Peter
and St. Paul bringing in the sainted sisters of the church; on the
right, Pope Paschal I.,[266] with a model of his church; on the left,
St. Zeno (?). Above these figures, is the Adoration of the spotless
Lamb, and beneath their feet the Jordan; below all is the Lamb again,
with the twelve sheep issuing from the mystic cities of Jerusalem and
Bethlehem, and verses recording the work of Paschal I.

     "The arrangement of saints at Sta. Prassede (817) is altogether
     different from that at Ravenna, but equally striking. Over the
     grand arch which separates the choir from the nave is a mosaic,
     representing the New Jerusalem, as described in the Revelations. It
     is a walled enclosure, with a gate at each end, guarded by angels.
     Within is seen the Saviour of the World, holding in his hand the
     orb of sovereignty, and a company of blessed seated on thrones:
     outside, the noble army of martyrs is seen approaching, conducted
     and received by angels. They are all arrayed in white, and carry
     crowns in their hands. Lower down, on each side, a host of martyrs
     press forward with palms and crowns, to do homage to the Lamb,
     throned in the midst. None of the martyrs are distinguished by
     name, except those to whom the church is dedicated--Sta. Prassede
     and her sister Pudenziana."--_Mrs. Jameson._

While Pope Gelasius II. was celebrating mass in this church, he was
attacked by armed bands of the inimical houses of Leone and Frangipani,
and was only rescued by the assistance of his nephew Gaetano, after a
conflict of some hours. Hence in 1630, Moriandi, abbot of Sta.
Prassede, was suddenly carried off and put to fearful tortures, which
resulted in his death, ostensibly on account of irregularities in his
convent, but really because he had been heard to speak against Urban
VIII.[267]

In the sacristy is preserved a fine picture by Giulio Romano of the
Flagellation--especially appropriate in the church of the Colonna.

Hence the curious campanile of the old church (built 1110) may be
entered, and a loggia whence the great relics of the church are
exhibited at Easter, including: portions of the crown of thorns, of the
sponge, of the Virgin's hair, and a miniature portrait of our Saviour
which is said to have belonged to St. Peter and to have been left by him
with the daughters of Pudens.

The _Monastery_ attached to the church, founded by Paschal I., was first
occupied by Basilian, but since 1198 has belonged to Vallombrosan monks.
Nothing remains of the mosaic-covered chapel of St. Agnes, built by the
founder within its walls.

Where the Via Sta. Prassede crosses the road leading from Sta. Maria
Maggiore to the Lateran, is the modern gothic church of _Il Santissimo
Redentore_, built by Father Douglas within the last few years.

A little beyond this, attached to the Church of S. Vito, from which it
has sometimes been named, is the _Arch of Gallienus_ (supposed to occupy
the site of the Esquiline gate in the wall of Servius), dedicated to
Gallienus (A.D. 253--260) and his Empress Salonina, by Marcus Aurelius
Victor, evidently a court-flatterer of the period, who was prefect of
Rome, and possessed gardens on this spot. It is of very inferior
execution; the original plan had three arches; only that in the centre
remains, but traces of another may be seen on the side next the church.
Gallienus was a cruel and self-indulgent emperor, who excited the
indignation of the Romans by leaving his old father, Valerian, to die a
captive in the hands of the Persians, so that the inscription,
"_Clementissimo principi cuius invicta virtus sola pietate superata
est_," is singularly false, even for the time.

     "Il arrivait à Gallien de faire tuer trois ou quatre mille soldats
     en un jour, et il écrivait des lettres comme celle-ci, adressée à
     un de ses généraux: 'Tu n'auras pas fait assez pour moi, si tu ne
     mets à mort que des hommes armés, car le sort de la guerre aurait
     pu les faire périr. Il faut tuer quiconque a eu une intention
     mauvaise, quiconque a mal parlé de moi. Déchire, tue, extermine:
     _lacera, occide, concide_.' Entré dans Byzance en promettant leur
     pardon aux troupes qui avaient combattu contre lui, il les fit
     égorger, et les soldats ravagèrent la ville au point qu'il n'y
     resta pas un habitant. Voilà pour la clémence. Tandis que Valérien,
     son père, était prisonnier du roi des Perses Sapor, qui pour monter
     à cheval se servait du dos du vieil empereur comme d'un marchepied,
     en attendant qu'il le fit empailler, l'indigne fils de Valérien
     vivait au sein des plus honteuses voluptés, et ne tentait pas un
     seul effort pour le délivrer. Voilà pour la vaillance et la
     piété."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 334.

Close to this Gallienus had ordered a statue of himself to be erected,
which was to be double the height of the colossus of Nero, but it was
unfinished at the time of his death, and destroyed by his successor.
From the centre of the arch hung, from the thirteenth century, the chain
and keys of the gates of Viterbo, removed at the same time as the great
bell of the Capitol. These interesting memorials of middle-age warfare
were taken down in 1825.

Passing under the arch we enter upon the Via Maggiore, the main artery
leading to Santa Croce. On the left is the humble convent of the
_Monache Polacche_, where the long-suffering Madre Makrena, the sole
survivor of the terrible persecution of the nuns of Minsk, has lived in
the closest retirement since her escape in 1845.

     The story of the cruel sufferings of the Polish-Basilian nuns of
     Minsk reminds one of the worst persecutions of the early
     Christians, under Nero and Diocletian. Makrena Miaczylslawska was
     abbess of a convent of thirty-eight nuns, whom the apostate bishop
     Siemasko first tried to compel to the Greek faith in the summer of
     1838. Their refusal led to their being driven, laden with chains,
     to Witepsk, in Siberia, where they were forced to hard labour, many
     of them being beaten to death, one roasted alive in a hot stove,
     and another having her brains beaten out with a stake by the abbess
     of the Czernice (apostate nuns), on their persisting in their
     refusal to change their religion. In 1840 the surviving nuns were
     removed to Polock, where they were forced to work at building a
     palace for the bishop Siemasko, and where nine of them perished by
     a falling scaffold, and many others expired under the heavy weights
     they were compelled to carry, or under the lash. In 1842 their
     tortures were increased tenfold, eight of the sisters having their
     eyes torn out, and others being trodden to death. In 1843 those who
     still survived were removed to Miadzioly, where the "protopope
     Skrykin" said that he would "drown them like puppies," and where
     they were dragged by boats through the shallows of the half-frozen
     Dwina, up to their necks in water, till many died of the cold. In
     the spring of 1845, Makrena, with the only three nuns who survived
     with the use of their limbs (Eusebia Wawrzecka, Clotilda Konarska,
     and Irene Pomarnacka,) scaled the walls of their prison, while the
     priests and nuns who guarded them were lying drunk after an orgie,
     and, after wandering for three months in the forests of Lithuania,
     made good their escape. The nuns remained in Vienna; the abbess,
     after a series of extraordinary adventures, arrived in Rome, where
     she was at first lodged in the convent of the Trinità de' Monti.
     The story of the nuns of Minsk was taken down from her dictation at
     the same time by a number of eminent ecclesiastics, authorized by
     the pope, and the authenticity of her statements verified; after
     which she retired into complete seclusion in the Polish convent on
     the Esquiline, where she has long filled the humble office of
     portress. Her legs are eaten into the bone by the chains she wore
     in her prison life. The story of the persecution at Minsk may be
     read in "Le Récit de Makrena Miaczylslawska," published at Paris,
     by Lecoffre, in 1846; in a paper by Charles Dickens, in the
     "Household Words," for May, 1854; and in "Pictures of Christian
     Heroism," 1855.

Nearly opposite this convent is the picturesque ruin of a nymphæum,
probably of the time of Septimius Severus, erroneously called _The
Trophies of Marius_, from the trophies, now on the terrace in front of
the Capitol, which were found here.

Beyond this, on the right, is the entrance of the _Villa Palombara_,
occupying a great part of the site of the Baths of Titus.

     "This villa once belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden, who has
     left upon the little doorway exactly opposite the ruin called the
     Trophies of Marius, a curious record of her credulity. It consists
     of a collection of unintelligible words, signs, and triangles,
     given her by some alchymist, as the rule to make gold, and which,
     no doubt, he had found successful, having obtained from her, and
     probably from many other votaries, abundance of that precious metal
     in exchange for it. But as she could make nothing of it, she caused
     it to be inscribed here, in case any passenger, wiser than herself,
     should be able to develope the mystic signs of this golden
     secret."--_Eaton's Rome._

Though the existing ruin is misnamed, the trophies erected in honour of
the victories which Marius gained over the Cimbri were really set up
near this; and, curiously enough, on this site also Marius was defeated
at the "Forum Esquilinum" by Sylla, who suddenly descended upon Rome
from Nola with six legions, and entering by the Porta Esquilina, met his
adversary here, and forced him to fly to Ostia.

Behind the Trophies of Marius a lane branches off on the left to the
desolate _Church of Sta. Bibiana_.

     In the time of Julian the Apostate, there dwelt in Rome a Christian
     unity, consisting of Flavian, his wife Dalfrosa, and his two
     daughters, Bibiana and Demetria. All these died for their faith.
     Flavian was exiled, and died of starvation; Dalfrosa was beheaded;
     the sisters were imprisoned (A.D. 362) and scourged, and Demetria
     died at once under the torture. Bibiana glorified God by longer
     sufferings. Apronius, the prefect of the city, astonished by her
     beauty, conceived a guilty passion for her, and placed her under
     the care of one of his creatures named Rufina, who was gradually to
     bend her to his will. But Bibiana repelled his proposals with
     horror, and her firmness excited him to such fury, that he
     commanded her to be bound to a column, and scourged to compliance.
     "The order was executed with all imaginable cruelty, rivers of
     blood flowed from each wound, and morsels of flesh were torn away,
     till even the most barbarous spectators were stricken with horror.
     The saint alone continued immoveable, with her eyes fixed upon
     heaven, and her countenance radiant with celestial peace,--until
     her body being torn to pieces, her soul escaped to her heavenly
     bridegroom, to receive the double crown of virginity and
     martyrdom."[268]

     After the death of Bibiana, her body was exposed to dogs for three
     days in the Forum Boarium, but remained unmolested; after which it
     was stolen at night by John the priest, who buried it here.

The church, founded in the fifth century by Olympia, a Roman matron, was
modernised by Bernini for Urban VIII., and has no external appearance of
antiquity. The interior is adorned with frescoes; those on the right are
by _Agostino Ciampelli_, those on the left are considered by Lanzi as
the best works of _Pietro da Cortona_. They pourtray in detail the story
of the saint:--

    1. Bibiana refuses to sacrifice to idols.
    2. The death of Demetria.
    3. Bibiana is scourged at the column.
    4. The body of Bibiana is watched over by a dog.
    5. Olympia founds the church, which is dedicated by Pope Simplicius.

The statue of the saint at the high altar is considered the masterpiece
of _Bernini_. It is dignified and graceful, and would hardly be
recognised as his work.

     "This statue is one of his earliest works; and it is said that when
     Bernini, in advanced life, returned from France, he uttered, on
     seeing it, an involuntary expression of admiration. 'But,' added
     he, 'had I always worked in this style, I should have been a
     beggar.' This would lead us to conclude, that his own taste led him
     to prefer simplicity and truth, but that he was obliged to conform
     to the corrupted predilection of the age."--_Eaton's Rome._

The remains of the saint are preserved beneath the altar, in a splendid
sarcophagus of oriental alabaster, adorned with a leopard's head. A
column of rosso-antico is shown as that to which Sta. Bibiana was bound
during her flagellation. The _fête_ of the martyred sisters is observed
with great solemnity on December 2.

     "Il est touchant de voir, le jour de la fête, le Chapitre entier de
     la grande et somptueuse basilique de Sainte-Marie-Majeure venir
     processionellement à cette modeste église et célébrer de
     solennelles et pompeuses cérémonies en l'honneur de ces deux
     vierges et leur mère: C'est que si ces trois femmes étaient faibles
     et ignorées selon le monde, elles sont devenues par leur foi,
     fortes et sublimes; et l'Église ne croit pouvoir trop faire pour
     glorifier une pareille grandeur."--_Impressions d'une Catholique à
     Rome._

On or near this site were the _Horti Lamiani_, in which the Emperor
Caligula was hastily buried after his assassination, A.D. 41, though his
remains were shortly afterwards disinterred by his sisters and burnt.
These gardens were probably the property of Ælius Lamia, to whom Horace
addressed one of his odes.[269] At an earlier period Elius Tubero lived
here, celebrated for his virtue, his poverty, and his little house,
where sixteen members of the Elian Gens dwelt harmoniously
together.[270] He married the daughter of L. Emilius Paulus, "who," says
Plutarch, "though the daughter of one who had twice been consul and
twice triumphed, did not blush for the poverty of her husband, but
admired the virtue which had made him poor."

On the other side of the Trophies of Marius, the Via Porta Maggiore
leads to the gate of that name (see Ch. XIII.). Approached by a gate on
the left of this road, most desolate, until the making of the railway
amid its vineyards and gardens, and crowned with lentiscus and other
shrubs, is the picturesque ruin generally called the _Temple of Minerva
Medica_, from a false impression that the Giustiniani Minerva, now in
the Vatican, had been found here.[271] It is now generally decided to be
a remnant of the bath built by Augustus in honour of his grandsons Caius
and Lucius Cæsar (sons of Agrippa and Julia). It is a decagon, with a
vaulted brick roof, and nine niches for statues; those of Æsculapius,
Antinous, Hercules, Adonis, Pomona, and (the Farnese) Faun, have been
found on the site.

Near this is a curious _Columbarium of the Arruntia Family_, and a
brick-lined hollow, supposed to be part of the Naumachia which Dion
Cassius says that Augustus constructed "in the grove of Caius and
Lucius."

Just where the lane turns off to Sta. Bibiana is the entrance to the
courtyard of the _Church and Monastery of S. Eusebio_, built upon the
site of the house of the saint, a priest of noble family, martyred by
starvation under Constantius, A.D. 357. His body rests under the high
altar, with that of St. Orosus, a Spanish priest, who suffered at the
same time. The ceiling of the church is painted by _Mengs_, and
represents the apotheosis of the patron saint. The campanile dates from
1220. In this convent (which was conceded to the Jesuits in 1825 by Leo
XII.) English clergymen about to join the Roman Catholic Church
frequently "make a retreat" before their reception; Archdeacon
Wilberforce is one of many converts who have been received here.

Turning towards Sta. Maria Maggiore, on the left is a _Cross_ on a
pedestal formed by a cannon reversed, and inscribed "In hoc signo
vinces,"--a memorial of the absolution given by Clement VIII. in 1595 to
Henry IV. of France on his being received into the Roman Catholic
Church.

Opposite this is a peculiar round arched doorway--unique in
Rome--forming the entrance to the _Church of S. Antonio Abbate_, said to
occupy the site of a temple of Diana. The church is decorated with very
coarsely-executed frescoes of the life of the saint,--his birth, his
confirmation by a bishop who predicted his future saintship, and his
temptation by the devil in various forms.

     "S. Antonio, called 'the patriarch of monks,' became a hermit in
     his twentieth year, and lived alone in the Egyptian desert till his
     fifty-fifth year, when he founded his monastery of Phaim, where he
     died at the age of 105, having passed his life in perpetual prayer,
     and often tasting no food for three days at a time. In the desert
     Satan was permitted to assault him in a visible manner, to terrify
     him with dismal noises; and once he so grievously beat him that he
     lay almost dead, covered with bruises and wounds. At other times
     the fiends attacked him with terrible clamours, and a variety of
     spectres, in hideous shapes of the most frightful wild beasts,
     which they assumed to dismay and terrify him; till a ray of
     heavenly light breaking in upon him, chased them away, and caused
     him to cry out, 'Where wast thou, my Lord and Master? Why wast thou
     not with me?' And a voice answered, 'Anthony, I was here the whole
     time; I stood by thee, and beheld thy combat: and because thou hast
     manfully withstood thy enemies I will always protect thee, and will
     render thy name famous throughout the earth.'"--_Butler's Lives of
     the Saints._

     "Surely the imagery painted on the inner walls of Egyptian tombs,
     and probably believed by Anthony and his compeers to be connected
     with devil-worship, explains his visions. In the 'Words of the
     Elders' a monk complains of being troubled with 'pictures, old and
     new.' Probably, again, the pain which Anthony felt was the agony of
     a fever, and the visions which he saw its delirium."--_Kingsley's
     Hermits._

In the chapel of S. Antonio is a very ancient mosaic, representing a
tiger tearing a bull.

     "Le tigre en mosaïque conservé dans l'église de St. Antoine, patron
     des animaux, est, selon toute apparence, le portrait d'un acteur
     renommé."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv. 28.

Hither, on the week following the feast of St. Anthony (January 17),
horses, mules, and cows are brought to be blest as a preservative
against accidents for the year to come. On the 23rd, the horses of the
pope, Prince Borghese, and other Roman grandees (about 2½ P.M.) are
sent for this purpose. All the animals are sprinkled with holy water by
a priest, who receives a gift in proportion to the wealth of their
master, and recites over each group the formula,--

     "Per intercessionem beati Antonii Abbatis, hæc animalia liberantur
     a malis, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen!"

     "Les bergers romains faisaient la _lustration_ de leurs taureaux;
     ils purifiaient leurs brebis à la fête de Pales (pour écarter d'eux
     toute influence funeste), comme ils les font encore asperger d'eau
     bénite à la fête de Saint Antoine."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii.
     329.[272]

     "'Long live St. Anthony,' writes Mabillon (in the 17th century) as
     he describes the horses, asses, and mules, all going on the saint's
     festival to be sprinkled with holy water, and receive the
     benediction of a reverend father. 'All would go to ruin,' say the
     Romans, 'if this act of piety were omitted.' So nobody escapes
     paying toll on this occasion, not even Nostro Signore
     himself."--_Stephens' French Benedictines._

     "S. Antonio Abbate is the patron of the four-footed creation, and
     his feast is a saturnalia for the usually hard-worked beasts and
     for their attendants and drivers. Gentlefolks must be content on
     this day to stay at home or go on foot, for there are not wanting
     solemn tales of how the unbelievers who had obliged their coachmen
     to drive out on this day have been punished by great misfortunes.
     The church of S. Antonio stands in a large piazza, usually looking
     like a desert; but to-day it was enlivened by a varied throng:
     horses and mules, with tails and manes splendidly interlaced with
     ribbons, are brought to a small chapel standing somewhat apart from
     the church, where a priest armed with a large asperge plentifully
     besprinkles the animals with the holy water which is placed before
     him in tubs and pails, sometimes apparently with a sly wish to
     excite them to gambols. Devout coachmen bring larger or smaller
     wax-tapers, and their masters send alms and gifts, in order to
     secure to their valuable and useful animals a year's exemption from
     disease and accident. Horned cattle and donkeys, equally precious
     and serviceable to their owners, have their share in the
     blessing."--_Goethe, Romische Briefe._

     "At the blessing of the animals, an adventure happened, which
     afforded us some amusement. A countryman, having got a blessing on
     his beast, putting his whole trust in its power, set off from the
     church door at a grand gallop, and had scarcely cleared a hundred
     yards before the ungainly animal tumbled down with him, and over
     its head he rolled into the dirt. He soon got up, however, and
     shook himself, and so did the horse, without either seeming to be
     much the worse. The priest seemed not a whit out of countenance at
     this; and some of the standers-by exclaimed, with laudable
     steadfastness of faith, 'That but for the blessing, they might have
     broken their necks.'"--_Eaton's Rome._

     "Un postilion Italien, qui voyait mourir son cheval, priait pour
     lui, et s'écriait: O, Sant' Antonio, abbiate pietà dell' anima
     sua!"--_Madame de Staël._

     "The hog was the representative of the demon of sensuality and
     gluttony, which Anthony is supposed to have vanquished by the
     exercise of piety and by the divine aid. The ancient custom of
     placing in all his effigies a black pig at his feet, or under his
     feet, gave rise to the superstition, that this unclean animal was
     especially dedicated to him and under his protection. The monks of
     the Order of St. Anthony kept herds of consecrated pigs, which were
     allowed to feed at the public charge, and which it was a
     profanation to steal or kill; hence the proverb about the fatness
     of a 'Tantony pig.'"--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 750.

We now enter the Piazza of Sta. Maria Maggiore, in front of which stands
a beautiful Corinthian column, now called _Colonna della Vergine_. This
is the last remaining column of the Basilica of Constantine, and is
forty-seven feet high without its base and capital. It was brought
hither by Paul V. in 1613. The figure of the Virgin on the top is by
Bertelot.

The _Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore_, frequently named from its founder
the _Liberian Basilica_, was founded A.D. 352, by Pope Liberius, and
John,[273] a Roman patrician, to commemorate a miraculous fall of snow,
which covered this spot of ground and no other, on the 5th of August,
when the Virgin appearing in a vision, showed them that she had thus
appropriated the site of a new temple.[274] This legend is commemorated
every year on the 5th of August, the festa of La Madonna della Neve,
when, during a solemn high mass in the Borghese chapel, showers of white
rose-leaves are thrown down constantly through two holes in the ceiling,
"like a leafy mist between the priests and worshippers."

This church, in spite of many alterations, is in some respects
internally the most beautiful and harmonious building in Rome, and
retains much of the character which it received when rebuilt between 432
and 440, by Sixtus III., who dedicated it to Sta. Maria Mater Dei, and
established it as one of the four patriarchal basilicas, whence it is
provided with the "porta santa," only opened by the pope, with great
solemnity, four times in a century.

The west front was added under Benedict XIV. (Lambertini) in 1741, by
Ferdinando Fuga, destroying a portico of the time of Eugenius III., of
which the only remnant is an architrave, inserted into which is an
inscription, quoted by its defenders in proof of the existence of
Mariolatry in the twelfth century:--

    "Tertius Eugenius Romanus Papa benignus
      Obtulit hoc munus, Virgo Maria, tibi,
    Quæ Mater Christi fieri merito meruisti,
      Salva perpetua Virginitate tibi.
    Es Via, Vita, Salus, totius Gloria Mundi,
      Da veniam culpis, Virginitatis Honos."

In this portico is a statue of Philip IV. of Spain by _Lucenti_. In the
upper story are preserved the mosaics which once decorated the old
façade, some of them representing the miracle which led to the
foundation of the church.

     "To 1300 belong the mosaics on the upper part of the façade of Sta.
     Maria Maggiore (now inserted in the loggia), in which, in two rows,
     framed in architectural decorations, may be seen Christ in the act
     of benediction, and several saints above, and the legend of the
     founding of the church below--both well-arranged compositions. An
     inscription gives the name of the otherwise unknown master,
     'Philippus Rusuti.' This work was formerly attributed to the
     Florentine mosaicist Gaddo Gaddi, who died 1312."--_Kugler._

Five doors, if we include the walled-up Porta Santa, lead into the
magnificent nave (280 feet long, 60 broad), lined by an avenue of white
marble columns, surmounted by a frieze of mosaic pictures from the Old
Testament, of A.D. 440--unbroken, except where six of the subjects have
been cut away to make room for arches in front of the two great side
chapels. The mosaics increase in splendour as they approach the tribune,
in front of which is a grand baldacchino by Fuga, erected by Benedict
XIV., supported by four porphyry columns wreathed with gilt leaves, and
surmounted by four marble angels by Pietro Bracci. The pavement is of
the most glorious opus-alexandrinum, and its crimson and violet hues
temper the white and gold on the walls. The flat roof (by Sangallo),
panelled and carved, is gilt with the first gold brought to Spain from
South America, and presented to Alexander VI. by Ferdinand and Isabella.

     "The mosaics above the chancel arch are valuable for the
     illustration of Christian doctrine: the throne of the Lamb as
     described in the Apocalypse, SS. Peter and Paul beside it (the
     earliest instance of their being thus represented); and the four
     symbols of the Evangelists above; the Annunciation; the Angel
     appearing to Zacharias; the Massacre of the Innocents; the
     Presentation in the Temple; the Adoration of the Magi; Herod
     receiving the head of St. John the Baptist; and, below these
     groups, a flock of sheep, type of the faithful, issuing from the
     mystic cities, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We see here one curious
     example of the nimbus, round the head of Herod, as a symbol of
     power, apart from sanctity. In certain details these mosaics have
     been altered, with a view to adapting them to modern devotional
     bias, in a manner that deserves reprobation; but Ciampini
     (Monumenta Vetera) shows us in engraving what the originals were
     before this alteration, effected under Benedict XIV. In the group
     of the Adoration the child _alone_ occupied the throne, while
     opposite (in the original work) was seated, on another chair, an
     elderly person in a long blue mantle veiling the head--concluded by
     Ciampini to be the senior among the Magi; the two others, younger,
     and both in the usual Oriental dress, with trousers and Phrygian
     caps, being seen to approach at the same side, whilst the mother
     _stood_ beside the throne of the child,--her figure recognisable
     from its resemblance to others in scenes where she appears in the
     same series. As this group is now before us, the erect figure is
     left out; the seated one is converted into that of Mary, with a
     halo round the head, though in the original even such attribute
     (alike given to the Saviour and to all the angels introduced) is
     _not_ assigned to her."--_Hemans' Ancient Christian Art._

The vault of the tribune is covered with mosaics by Jacopo da Turrita,
the same who executed those at the Lateran basilica.

     "A general affinity with the style of Cimabue is observable in some
     mosaics executed by contemporary artists. Those in Sta. Maria
     Maggiore are inscribed with the name of Jacobus Torriti, and
     executed between 1287 and 1292. They are surpassed by no
     contemporary work in dignity, grace, and decorative beauty of
     arrangement. In a blue, gold-starred circle is seen Christ
     enthroned with the Virgin; on each side are adoring angels,
     kneeling and flying, on a gold ground, with St. Peter and St. Paul,
     the two St. Johns, St. Francis, and St. Anthony (the same in size
     and position as at St. J. Lateran), advancing devoutly along. The
     upper part is filled with graceful vine-branches, with symbolical
     animals among them. Below is Jordan, with small river gods, boats,
     and figures of men and animals. Further below are scenes from the
     life of Christ in animated arrangement. The group in the centre of
     the circle, of Christ enthroned with the Virgin, is especially
     fine: while the Saviour is placing the crown on His mother's head,
     she lifts up her hands with the expression both of admiration and
     of modest remonstrance.[275] The forms are very pure and noble; the
     execution careful, and very different from the Roman mosaics of the
     twelfth century."--_Kugler._

In front of and beneath the high altar Pius IX. has lately been
preparing his own monument, by constructing a splendid chamber
approached by staircases, and lined with the most precious alabaster and
marbles.

On the right of the western entrance is the tomb of the Rospigliosi
pope, Clement IX. (1667--69), the work of Ercole Ferrata, a pupil of
Bernini. His body rests before the high altar, surrounded by a number of
the members of his family. Left of the entrance is the tomb of Nicholas
IV., Masci (1288-92), erected to his memory three hundred years after
his death by Sixtus V. while still a cardinal. He is represented giving
benediction, between two allegorical figures of Justice and Religion,--a
fine work of Leonardo da Sarzana.

     "It is well to know that this pope, a mere upstart from the dust,
     sought to support himself through the mighty family of Colonna, by
     raising them too high. His friend, the Cardinal Giacomo Colonna,
     contributed with him to the renewal of the mosaics which are in the
     tribune of Sta. Maria Maggiore, and one can see their two figures
     there to this day. It was in this reign that Ptolemais, the last
     possession of the Christians in Asia, fell into the hands of the
     Mohammedans; thus ended the era of the Crusades."--_Gregorovius._

Behind this tomb, near the walled-up Porta Santa, is a good tomb of two
bishops, brothers, of the fifteenth century, and in the same aisle are
many other monuments of the sixteenth century, some of them fine in
their way.

Nearly on a line with the baldacchino is the entrance of the _Borghese
Chapel_, built by Flaminio Ponzio for Paul V. in 1608, gorgeous with
precious marbles and alabasters. Over its altar is preserved one of the
pictures attributed to St. Luke (and announced to be such in a papal
bull attached to the walls!), much revered from the belief that it
stayed the plague which decimated the city during the reign of Pelagius
II., and that (after its intercession had been sought by a procession by
order of Innocent VIII.) it brought about the overthrow of the Moorish
dominion in Spain.

     "On conserve à Sainte Marie Majeure une des images de la Madonne
     peintes par St. Luc, et plusieurs fois on a trouvé les anges
     chantant les litanies autour de ce tableau."--_Stendhal._

     The "Scheme of decorations in this gorgeous chapel is so
     remarkable, as testifying to the development which the theological
     idea of the Virgin, as the Sposa or personified Church, had
     attained in the time of Paul V.--the same pope who in 1615
     promulgated the famous bull relative to the Immaculate
     Conception"--that the insertion of the whole passage of Mrs.
     Jameson on this subject will not be considered too much.

     "First, and elevated above all, we have the 'Madonna della
     Concezione,' 'Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception,' in a glory of
     light, sustained and surrounded by angels, having the crescent
     under her feet, according to the approved treatment. Beneath, round
     the dome, we read in conspicuous letters the text from the
     Revelation:--SIGNUM. MAGNUM. APPARAVIT. IN. CŒLO. MULIER.
     AMICTA. SOLE. ET. LUNA. SUB. PEDIBUS. EJUS. ET. IN. CAPITE. EJUS.
     CORONA. STELLARUM. DUODECIM. Lower down is a second inscription
     expressing the dedication. MARIÆ. CHRISTI. MATRI. SEMPER. VIRGINI.
     PAULUS. QUINTUS. P.M. The decorations beneath the cornice consist
     of eighteen large frescoes, and six statues in marble, above life
     size. We have the subjects arranged in the following order:--

     "1. The four great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel,
     in their usual place in the four pendatives of the dome.

     "2. Two large frescoes. In the first the Vision of St. Gregory
     Thaumaturgus, and Heretics bitten by Serpents. In the second, St.
     John Damascene and S. Ildefonso miraculously rewarded for defending
     the majesty of the Virgin.

     "3. A large fresco, representing the four Doctors of the Church who
     had especially written in honour of the Virgin: viz., Irenæus and
     Cyprian, Ignatius and Theophilus, grouped two and two.

     "4. St. Luke, who painted the Virgin, and whose gospel contains the
     best account of her.

     "5. As spiritual conquerors in the name of the Virgin, St. Dominic
     and St. Francis, each attended by two companions of his Order.

     "6. As military conquerors in the name of the Virgin, the Emperor
     Heraclius, and Narses, the general against the Arians.

     "7. A group of three female figures, representing the three famous
     saintly princesses, who in marriage preserved their virginity,
     Pulcheria, Edeltruda (our famous Queen Ethelreda), and Cunegunda.

     "8. A group of three learned Bishops, who had especially defended
     the immaculate purity of the Virgin, St. Cyril, St. Anselm, and St.
     Denis (?).

     "9. The miserable ends of those who were opposed to the honour of
     the Virgin. 1. The death of Julian the Apostate, very oddly
     represented; he lies on an altar, transfixed by an arrow, as a
     victim; St. Mercurius in the air. 2. The death of Leo IV., who
     destroyed the effigies of the Virgin. 3. The death of Constantine
     IV., also a famous iconoclast.

     "The statues which are placed in niches are--

     "1--2. St. Joseph, as the nominal husband, and St. John the
     Evangelist, as the nominal son, of the Virgin; the latter, also, as
     prophet and poet, with reference to the passage in the Revelation,
     xii. i.

     "3--4. Aaron, as priestly ancestor (because his wand blossomed),
     and David, as kingly ancestor, of the Virgin.

     "5--6. St. Dionysius the Areopagite, who was present at the death
     of the Virgin, and St. Bernard, who composed the famous 'Salve
     Regina' in her honour.

     "Such is this grand systematic scheme of decoration, which, to
     those who regard it cursorily, is merely a sumptuous confusion of
     colours and forms, or at best a 'fine example of the Guido school
     and Bernini.' It is altogether a very complete and magnificent
     specimen of the prevalent style of art, and a very comprehensive
     and suggestive expression of the prevalent tendency of thought in
     the Roman Catholic Church from the beginning of the seventeenth
     century. In no description of this chapel have I seen the names and
     subjects accurately given: the style of art belongs to the
     _decadence_, and the taste being worse than questionable, the
     prevailing _doctrinal_ idea has been neglected, or never
     understood."--_Legends of the Madonna_, lxxi.

On the right is the tomb of Clement VIII. (1592--1605), the Florentine
Ippolito Aldobrandini, the builder of the new palace of the Vatican, and
the cruel torturer and executioner of the Cenci. He is represented in
the act of benediction. The bas-reliefs on his monument commemorate the
principal events of his reign,--the conclusion of peace between France
and Spain, and the taking of Ferrara, which he seized from the heirs of
Alphonso II.

On the left is the tomb of Paul V. (1605-1621), Camillo Borghese,--in
whose reign St. Peter's was finished, as every traveller learns from the
gigantic inscription over its portico,--who founded the great Borghese
family, and left to his nephew, Cardinal Scipio Borghese, a fortune
which enabled him to buy the Borghese Palace and to build the Borghese
Villa.

     "It is a truly herculean figure, with a grandly developed head,
     while in his thick neck, pride, violence, and sensuality seem to be
     united. He is the first pope who wore the beard of a cavalier, like
     that of Henry IV., which recalls the Thirty-years' War, which he
     lived through; as far as the battle of the White Mountain. In this
     round, domineering, pride-swollen countenance, appears the
     violent, imperious spirit of Paul, which aimed at an absolute
     power. Who does not remember his famous quarrel with Venice, and
     the rôle which his far superior adversary Paolo Sarpi played with
     such invincible courage? The bas-reliefs of his tomb represent the
     reception given by the pope to the envoys of Congo and Japan, the
     building of the citadel of Ferrara, the sending of auxiliary troops
     to Hungary to the assistance of Rudolph II., and the canonization
     of Sta. Francesca Romana and S. Carlo Borromeo."--_Gregorovius._

The frescoes in the cupola are by _Cigoli_; those around the altar by
the Cav. D'Arpino; those above the tombs and on the arches by _Guido_,
except the Madonna, which is by _Lanfranco_. The late beloved Princess
Borghese, _née_ Lady Gwendoline Talbot, was buried in front of the
altar, all Rome following her to the grave.

     The funeral of Princess Borghese proved the feeling with which she
     was regarded. Her body lay upon a car which was drawn by forty
     young Romans, and was followed by all the poor of Rome, the
     procession swelling like a river in every street and piazza it
     passed through, while from all the windows as it passed flowers
     were showered down. In funeral ceremonies of great personages at
     Rome an ancient custom is observed by which, when the body is
     lowered into the grave, a chamberlain, coming out to the church
     door, announces to the coachman, who is waiting with the family
     carriage, that his master or mistress has no longer need of his
     services; and the coachman thereupon breaks his staff of office and
     drives mournfully away. When this formality was fulfilled at the
     funeral of Princess Borghese, the whole of the vast crowd waiting
     outside the basilica broke into tears and sobs, and kneeling by a
     common impulse, prayed aloud for the soul of their benefactress.

The chapel has been lately the scene of a miraculous story, with
reference to a visionary appearance of the Princess Borghese, which has
obtained great credit among the people, by whom she is already looked
upon as a saint.

The first chapel in the right aisle is that of the Patrizi family, and
close by is the sepulchral stone of their noble ancestor, Giovanni
Patricino, whose bones were found beneath the high altar, and deposited
here in 1700. A little further is the chapel of the Santa Croce, with
ten porphyry columns. Then comes the _Chapel of the Holy Sacrament_,
built by Fontana for Sixtus V. while still Cardinal of Montalto. Gregory
XIII., who was then on the throne, visited this gorgeous chapel when it
was nearly completed, and immediately decided that one who could build
such a splendid temple was sufficiently rich, and suppressed the
cardinal's pension. Fontana advanced a thousand scudi for the completion
of the work, and had the delicacy never to allow the cardinal to imagine
that he was indebted to him. The chapel, restored 1870, is adorned with
statues by Giobattista Pozzo, Cesare Nebbia, and others. Under the altar
is a presepio--one of the best works of Bernini, and opposite to it, in
the confession, a beautiful statue of S. Gaetano (founder of the
Theatines, who died 1547[276]), with two little children. On the right
is the splendid tomb of Pius V., Michaele Ghislieri (1566--72), the
barefooted, bareheaded Dominican monk of Sta. Sabina, who in his short
six years' reign beheld amongst other events the victory of Lepanto, the
fall of the Huguenots in France, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
events which were celebrated at Rome with _fêtes_ and thanksgivings. The
figure of the pope, a monk wasted to a skeleton (by Leonardo de
Sarzana), sits in the central niche, between statues of St. Dominic and
St. Peter Martyr. A number of bas-reliefs by different sculptors
represent the events of his life. Some are by the Flemish artists
Nicolas d'Arras and Egidius.

On the left, is the tomb of Sixtus V. (1585-90), Felice Perretti, who
as a boy kept his father's pigs at Montalto; who as a young man was a
Franciscan monk preaching in the Apostoli, and attracting crowds by his
eloquence; and who then rose to be bishop of Fermo, soon after to be
cardinal, and was lastly raised to the papal throne, which he occupied
only five years, a time which sufficed for the prince of the Church who
loved building the most, to renew Rome entirely.

     "If anything can still the spectator to silence, and awaken him to
     great recollections, it is the monument of this astonishing man,
     who, as child, herded swine, and as an old man commanded people and
     kings, and who filled Rome with so many works, that from every side
     his name, like an echo, rings in the traveller's ear. We never
     cease to be amazed at the wonderful luck which raised Napoleon from
     the dust to the throne of the world, as if it were a romance or a
     fairy story. But if in the history of kings these astonishing
     changes are extraordinary accidents, they seem quite natural in the
     history of the popes, they belong to the very essence of
     Christendom, which does not appeal to the person, but to the
     spirit; and while the one history is full of ordinary men, who,
     without the prerogative of their crown, would have sunk into
     eternal oblivion, the other is rich in great men, who, placed in a
     different sphere, would have been equally worthy of
     renown."--_Gregorovius._

In a little chapel on the left of the entrance of this--which is as it
were a transept of the church--is a fine picture of St. Jerome by
_Spagnuoletto_, and in the chapel opposite a sarcophagus of two early
Christian consuls, richly wrought in the Roman imperial style, but with
Christian subjects,--Daniel in the den of lions, Zaccheus in the
sycamore-tree, Martha at the raising of Lazarus, &c.

At the east end of the right aisle, near the door, is perhaps the finest
gothic monument in Rome,--the tomb of Cardinal Gonsalvi, bishop of
Albano, _c._ 1299.

     "A recumbent statue, in pontifical vestments, rests on a
     sarcophagus, and two angels draw aside curtains as if to show us
     the dead; in the background is a mosaic of Mary enthroned, with
     the Child, the apostle Matthias, St. Jerome, and a smaller kneeling
     figure of Gonsalvi, in pontifical robes; at the apex is a
     tabernacle with cusped arch, and below the epitaph 'Hoc opus fecit
     Joannes Magister Cosmæ civis Romanus,' the artist's record of
     himself. In the hands of St. Matthias and St. Jerome are scrolls;
     on that held by the apostle, the words, 'Me tenet ara prior'; on
     St. Jerome's,'Recubo presepis ad antrum', these epigraphs
     confirming the tradition that the bodies of St. Matthias and St.
     Jerome repose in this church, while indicating the sites of their
     tombs. Popular regards have distinguished this tomb; no doubt in
     intended honour to the Blessed Virgin, lamps are kept ever burning,
     and vases of flowers ranged, before her mosaic image."--_Hemans'
     Mediæval Christian Art._

At the west end of the right aisle is the entrance of the _Baptistery_,
which has a vast porphyry vase as a font. Hence we reach the _Sacristy_,
in the inner chamber of which are some exceedingly beautiful bas-reliefs
by _Mino da Fiesole_.

One of the greatest of the Christmas ceremonies is the procession at 5
A.M., in honour of the great relic of the church--the Santa
Culla--_i.e._, the cradle in which our Saviour was carried into Egypt,
not, as is frequently imagined, the manger, which is allowed to have
been of stone, and of which a single stone only is supposed to have
found its way to Rome, and to be preserved in the altar of the Blessed
Sacrament. The "Santa Culla" is preserved in a magnificent reliquary,
six feet high, adorned with bas-reliefs and statuettes in silver. On the
afternoon of Christmas eve the public can visit the relic at an altar in
a little chapel near the sacristy. On the afternoon of Christmas Day it
is also exposed, but upon the high altar, where it is less easily seen.

     "Le Seigneur Jésus a voulu naître dans une étable; mais les hommes
     ont apporté précieusement le petit berceau qui a reçu le salut du
     monde, dans la reine des cités, et ils l'ont enchâssé dans l'or.

     "C'est bien ici que nous devons accourir avec joie et redire ce
     chant triomphant de l'Église: _Adeste, fideles, læti triumphantes;
     venite, venite in Bethleem_."--_Une Chrétienne à Rome._

Among the many other relics preserved here are two little bags of the
brains of St. Thomas à Becket.

It was in this church that Pope St. Martin I. was celebrating mass in
the seventh century, when a guard sent by the Exarch Olympius appeared
on the threshold with orders to seize and put him to death. At the sight
of the pontiff the soldier was stricken with blindness, a miracle which
led to the conversion of Olympius and many other persons.

Platina, the historian of the popes, was buried here, with the epitaph:
"Quisquis es, si pius, Platynam et sua ne vexes, anguste jacent et soli
volunt esse."

Sta. Maria Maggiore was the scene of the seizure of Hildebrand by
Cencius:

     "On Christmas Eve, 1075, the city of Rome was visited by a dreadful
     tempest. Darkness brooded over the land, and the trembling
     spectators believed that the day of final judgment was about to
     dawn. In this war of the elements, however, two processions were
     seen advancing to the Church of Sta. Maria Maggiore. At the head of
     one was the aged Hildebrand, conducting a few priests to worship at
     the shrine of the Virgo Deipara. The other was preceded by Cencius,
     a Roman noble. At each pause in the tempest might be heard the
     hallelujahs of the worshippers, or the voice of the pontiff,
     pouring out benedictions on the little flock which knelt before
     him--when Cencius grasped his person, and some yet more daring
     ruffian inflicted a wound on his forehead. Bound with cords,
     stripped of his sacred vestments, beaten, and subjected to the
     basest indignities, the venerable minister of Christ was carried to
     a fortified mansion within the walls of the city, again to be
     removed at daybreak to exile or death. Women were there, with
     women's sympathy and kindly offices, but they were rudely put
     aside; and a drawn sword was already aimed at the pontiff's bosom,
     when the cries of a fierce multitude, threatening to burn or batter
     down the house, arrested the aim of the assassin. An arrow,
     discharged from below, reached and slew him. The walls rocked
     beneath the strokes of the maddened populace, and Cencius, falling
     at his prisoner's feet, became himself a suppliant for pardon and
     for life.... In profound silence, and with undisturbed serenity,
     Hildebrand had thus far submitted to these atrocious indignities.
     The occasional raising of his eyes towards heaven alone indicated
     his consciousness of them. But to the supplication of his prostrate
     enemy he returned an instant and a calm assurance of forgiveness.
     He rescued Cencius from the exasperated besiegers, dismissed him in
     safety and in peace, and returned, amidst the acclamations of the
     whole Roman people, to complete the interrupted solemnities of Sta.
     Maria Maggiore."--_Stephens' Lectures on Eccles. Hist._

Leaving the church by the door behind the tribune, we find ourselves at
the top of the steep slope of the Esquiline and in front of an _Obelisk_
erected here by Fontana for Sixtus V.,--brought from Egypt by Claudius,
and one of two which were used to guard the entrance to the mausoleum of
Augustus. The inscriptions on three of its sides are worth
notice:--"Christi Dei in æternum viventis cunabula lætissime colo, qui
mortui sepulchro Augusti tristis serviebam."--"Quem Augustus de vergine
nasciturum vivens adoravit, sed deinceps dominum dici noluit,
adoro."--"Christus per invictam crucem populo pacem præbeat, qui Augusti
pace in præsepe nasci voluit."




CHAPTER XIII.

THE BASILICAS OF THE LATERAN, SANTA CROCE, AND S. LORENZO.

     Via S. Giovanni--The Obelisk and Baptistery--Basilica and
     Cloisters--Mosaic of the Triclinium--Santa Scala--Palace of the
     Lateran--Villa Massimo Arsole--SS. Pietro e Marcellino--Villa
     Wolkonski--(Porta Furba--Tombs of the Via Latina--Basilica of S.
     Stefano)--Santa Croce in Gerusalemme--Amphitheatrum
     Castrense--Porta Maggiore--(Tomb of Sta. Helena--Torre dei
     Schiavi--Cervaletto--Cerbara)--Porta and Basilica of S.
     Lorenzo--Catacomb of S. Hippolytus.


Behind the Coliseum the Via S. Giovanni ascends the slope of the
Esquiline. In mediæval times this road was always avoided by the popes,
on account (as most authorities state) of the scandal attaching to the
more than doubtful legend of Joan, the famous papessa, who is said to
have horrified her attendants by giving birth to a child on this spot,
during a procession from the Lateran, and to have died of shame and
terror immediately afterwards. Joan is stated to have been educated at
Athens, to have skilfully obtained her election to the papal throne,
disguised as a man, between the reign of Leo IV. and that of Benedict
III. (855), and to have taken the name of John VIII. In the cathedral of
Siena the heads of all the popes in terra-cotta (down to Alexander
III.) decorate the frieze above the arches of the nave, and among them
was that of Pope Joan, inscribed "Johannes VIII. Femina de Anglia," till
1600, when it was changed into a head of Pope Zacharias by the Grand
Duke, at the request of Pope Clement VIII.

On the left of this street is S. Clemente (described Ch. VII.). On the
right, a long wall flooded by a cascade of Banksia roses in spring, and
a villa inlaid with terra-cotta ornaments, are those of the favourite
residence of the well-known Marchese Campana, the learned archæologist
of Etruria, and the chief benefactor of the Etruscan museum at the
Vatican, cruelly imprisoned and exiled by the papal government in 1858,
upon an accusation of having tampered with the revenues of Monte di
Pietà.

Beyond the turn of the road leading to S. Stefano Rotondo (Ch. VII.),
bas-reliefs of Our Saviour's Head (from the Acheirotopeton in the Sancta
Sanctorum) between two candelabra--upon the different buildings,
announce the property of the Lateran chapter.

The _Piazza di San Giovanni_ is surrounded by a remarkable group of
buildings. In front are the Baptistery and Basilica of the Lateran. On
the right is a Hospital for women, capable of containing 600 patients;
on the left, beyond the modern palace, are seen the buildings which
enclose the Santa Scala, and some broken arches of the Aqua Marcia. In
the centre of the piazza is the _Obelisk of the Lateran_, 150 feet high,
the oldest object in Rome, being referred by translators of
hieroglyphics to the year 1740 B.C., when it was raised in memory of the
Pharaoh Thothmes IV. It was brought, from the temple of the Sun at
Heliopolis, to Alexandria by Constantine, and removed thence by his son
Constantius to Rome, where it was used, together with the obelisk now in
the Piazza del Popolo, to ornament the Circus Maximus. Hence it was
moved to its present site in 1588, by Fontana, for Sixtus V. The obelisk
was then broken into three pieces, and in order to piece them together,
some part had to be cut off, but it is still the tallest in the city.
One of the inscriptions on the basement is false, as it narrates that
Constantine received at the Lateran the baptism which he did not receive
till he was dying at Nicomedia.

An octagon building of mean and miserable exterior is that of the
_Baptistery of the Lateran_, sometimes called S. Giovanni in Fonte,
built, not by Constantine, to whom it is falsely ascribed, but by Sixtus
III. (430-40). Of his time are the two porphyry columns at the entrance
on the side nearest the church, and the eight which form a colonnade
round the interior, supporting a cornice from which rise the eight small
columns of white marble, which sustain the dome. In the centre is the
font of green basalt in which Rienzi bathed on the night of August 1,
1347, before his public appearance as a knight, when he summoned Clement
VI. and other sovereigns of Europe to appear before him for judgment.
The cupola is decorated with scenes from the life of John the Baptist by
_Andrea Sacchi_. On the walls are frescoes pourtraying the life of
Constantine by _Gimignano_, _Carlo Maratta_, and _Andrea Camassei_.

On the right is the _Chapel of St. John the Baptist_, built by Pope
Hilary (461-67). Between two serpentine columns is a figure of St. John
Baptist by _L. Valadico_ after Donatello.

On the left is the _Chapel of St. John the Evangelist_, also built by
Hilary, who presented its bronze doors (said to have once belonged to
the Baths of Caracalla) in remembrance of his delivery from the fury of
fanatical monks at the Second Council of Ephesus, where he appeared as
the legate of Leo I.,--a fact commemorated by the inscription:
"Liberatori suo B. Joanni Evangelistæ Hilarius Episcopus famulus
Christi." The vault is covered with mosaics representing the Spotless
Lamb in Paradise. Here is a statue of St. John by _Landini_.

Close by is the entrance to the _Oratory of S. Venanzio_,[277] built in
640 by John IV., and dedicated to St. Venantius, from a filial feeling
to his father, who bore the same name. Nothing, however, remains of this
time but the mosaics. Those in the apse represent the Saviour in the act
of benediction with angels, and below him the Virgin (an aged woman) in
adoration,[278] with St. Peter and St. John Baptist, St. Paul and St.
John the Evangelist, St. Venantius and St. Domnus--and another figure
unnamed, probably John IV., holding the model of a church. Outside the
chancel arch are eight saints, with their names (Palmianus, Julius,
Asterius, Anastasius, Maurus, Septimius, Antiochianus, Cajanus), the
symbols of the evangelists, and the cities Bethlehem and Jerusalem; also
the verses:--

    "Martyribus Christi Domini pia vota Johannes
    Reddidit antistes sanctificante Deo.
    Ac sacri fontis simile fulgente metallo,
    Providus instanter hoc copulavit opus:
    Quo quisque gradiens et Christum pronus adorans,
    Effusasque preces impetrat ille suas."

The next chapel, called the _Capella Borgia_, and used as the
burial-place of that family, was once an open portico, but this
character was destroyed by the building up of the intercolumniations. On
its façade are a number of fragments of ancient friezes, &c. Over the
inner door is a bas-relief of the Crucifixion, of 1494.

The piteous modernization of this ancient group of chapels is chiefly
due to the folly of Urban VIII. The baptistery is used on Easter Eve for
the ceremony of adult baptism, the recipients being called Jews.

The _Lateran_ derives its name from a rich patrician family, whose
estates were confiscated by Nero, when their head, Plautius Lateranus,
was put to death for taking part in the conspiracy of Piso.[279] It
afterwards became an imperial residence, and a portion of it being given
by Maximianus to his daughter Fausta, second wife of Constantine,
received the name of "Domus Faustæ." It was this which was given by
Constantine to Pope Melchiades in 312,--a donation which was confirmed
to St. Sylvester, in whose reign the first basilica was built here, and
consecrated on November 9, 324, Constantine having laboured with his own
hands at the work. This basilica was overthrown by an earthquake in 896,
but was rebuilt by Sergius III. (904--11), being then dedicated to St.
John the Baptist. This second basilica, whose glories are alluded to by
Dante,--

           ----"Quando Laterano
    Alle cose mortale andò di sopra."

    _Paradiso_, xxxi.

was of the greatest interest, but was almost entirely destroyed by fire
in 1308. It was rebuilt, only to be again burnt down in 1360, when it
remained for four years in utter ruin, in which state it was seen and
mourned over by Petrarch. The fourth restoration of the basilica was due
to Urban V. (1362-70), but it has since undergone a series of
mutilations and modernizations, which have deplorably injured it. The
west front still retains the inscription "Sacrosancta Lateranensis
ecclesia, Omnium urbis et orbis Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput;" the Chapter
of the Lateran still takes precedence even over that of St. Peter's; and
every newly elected pope comes hither for his coronation.

     "St. J. Lateran est regardé comme le siége du patriarchal romain. À
     St. Pierre le pape est souverain pontife. À St. J. Lateran il est
     évêque de Rome. Quand le pape est élu, il vient à St. J. Lateran
     prendre possession de son siége comme évêque de Rome."--_A. Du
     Pays._

The west end of the basilica is in part a remnant of the building of the
tenth century, and has two quaint towers (rebuilt by Sixtus IV.) at the
end of the transept, and a rich frieze of terra-cotta. The church is
entered from the transept by a portico, ending in a gloomy chapel which
contains a statue of Henry IV., by _Niccolo Cordieri_. The
_transept_--rich in colour from its basement of varied marbles, and its
upper frescoes of the legendary history of Constantine--is by far the
finest part of the basilica, which, as a whole, is infinitely inferior
to Sta. Maria Maggiore. The nave, consisting of five aisles, is of grand
proportions, but has been hideously modernized under _Borromini_, who
has enclosed all its ancient columns, except two near the tribune, in
tawdry plaster piers, in front of which are huge statues of the
apostles; the roof is gilt and gaudy, the tabernacle ugly and
ill-proportioned,--only the ancient pavement of opus-alexandrinum is
fine. Confessionals for different languages are placed here as in St.
Peter's. The _Tabernacle_ was erected by Urban V. in the fourteenth
century. Four granite columns support a gothic canopy, decorated at its
angles with canopied statuettes. Between these, on either side, are
three much restored frescoes by _Berni da Siena_, those in central
panels representing the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, the Coronation of
the Virgin, and the Saviour as a shepherd (very beautifully treated)
feeding his flock with corn. The skulls of SS. Peter and Paul are said
to be preserved here. The altar encloses the greater part of the famous
wooden table, saved at great risk of life from the conflagration of
1308, upon which St. Peter is supposed to have celebrated mass in the
house of Pudens.[280] The steps of the altar (at the top of which the
pope is installed) have an allegorical enamelled border with emblems of
an asp, a dragon, a lion, and basilisk, in allusion to Psalm xci.

In the confession, in front of the altar, is the bronze tomb of Martin
V., Oddone Colonna (1417--24), the wise and just pope who was elected at
the Council of Constance to put an end to the schism which had long
divided the papacy, and which had almost reduced the capital of the
Church to ruins. A bronze slab bears his figure, in low-relief, and is a
fine work of _Antonio Filarete_, author of the bronze doors at St.
Peter's. It bears the appropriate surname which was given to this
justly-loved pope--"Temporum suorum felicitas."

The tribune is of the time of Nicholas IV. (1287--1292). Above the arch
is a grand mosaic head of the Saviour, attributed to the time of
Constantine, and evidently of the fourth century,--of great interest on
this spot, as commemorating the vision of the Redeemer, who is said to
have appeared here on the day of the consecration of the church by
Sylvester and Constantine, looking down upon the people, and solemnly
hallowing the work with his visible presence. The head, which is grand
and sad in expression, is surrounded by six-winged seraphim. Below is an
ornamented cross, above which hovers a dove--from whose beak, running
down the cross, flow the waters which supply the four rivers of
Paradise. The disciples, as harts (panting for the water-brooks) and
sheep, flock to drink of the waters of life. In the distance is the New
Jerusalem, within which the Phœnix, the bird of eternity, is seated
upon the tree of Life, guarded by an angel with a two-edged sword.
Beside the cross stand, on the left, the Virgin with her hand resting on
the head of the kneeling pope, Nicholas IV.; St. Peter with a scroll
inscribed, "Tu es Christus filius Dei vivi;" St. Paul with a scroll
inscribed, "Salvatorem expectamus Dominum Jesum." On the right St. John
the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, St. Andrew (all with their names).
Between the first and second of these figures are others, on a smaller
scale, of St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua. All these persons are
represented as walking in a flowery Paradise, in which the souls of the
blessed are besporting, and in front of which flows the Jordan. Below,
between the windows, are figures of prophets, and (very small) of two
Franciscans, who were the artists of the lower portion of the mosaic, as
is shown by the inscriptions, "Jacobus Turriti, pictor, hoc opus
fecit;"--"Fra Jacobus de Camerino socius magistri."

Behind the tribune, is all that remains internally of the architecture
of the tenth century, in the vaulted passage called "Portico Leonino,"
from its founder, Leo I. It is supported on low marble and granite
columns with Ionic and Corinthian capitals. Here are collected a variety
of relics of the ancient basilica. On either side of the entrance are
mosaic tablets, which relate to the building of the church. Then, on the
right, is a curious kneeling statue of Pope Nicholas IV., Masci
(1287--92). On the left, in the centre, is an altar, above which is an
ancient crucifix, and on either side tenth century statues of SS. Peter
and Paul.

On the right is the entrance to the sacristy (whose inner bronze doors
date from 1196), which contains an Annunciation by _Sebastian del
Piombo_, and a sketch by _Raphael_ for the Madonna, called "Della Casa
d'Alba," now at St. Petersburg; also an ancient bas-relief, which
represents the old and humble basilica of Pope Sergius. On the left, at
the end of the passage, is a very handsome cinquecento ciborium, and
near it the "Tabula Magna Lateranensis," containing the list of relics
belonging to the church.

Near this, opening from the transept, is the _Capella del Coro_, with
handsome wooden stallwork. It contains a portrait of Martin V., by
_Scipione Gaetani_.

The altar of the Sacrament, which closes the transept, has four fluted
bronze columns, said to have been brought from Jerusalem by Titus, and
to be hollow and filled with earth from Palestine.[281] The last chapel
in the left aisle is the _Corsini Chapel_, erected in 1729 in honour of
St. Andrea Corsini, from designs of Alessandro Galilei. It is in the
form of a Greek cross, and ranks next to the Borghese Chapel in the
richness of its marble decoration. The mosaic altar-piece, representing
S. Andrea Corsini, is a copy from _Guido_. The founder of the chapel,
Clement XII., Lorenzo Corsini (1730--40), is buried in a splendid
porphyry sarcophagus which he plundered from the Pantheon. Above it is a
bronze statue of the pope.[282] Opposite is the tomb of Cardinal Neri
Corsini, with a number of statues of the Bernini school.

Beneath the chapel is a vault lined with sarcophagi of the Corsini. Its
altar is surmounted by a magnificent Pietà--in whose beautiful and
impressive figures it is difficult to recognise a work of the usually
coarse and theatrical artist _Bernini_.

     Of the many tombs of mediæval popes which formerly existed in this
     basilica,[283] none remain, except the memorial slab and epitaph of
     Sylvester II., Gerbert (999--1003). This pope is said (by the
     chronicler Martin Polonus de Corenza) to have been a kind of
     magician, who obtained first the archbishopric of Rheims, then that
     of Ravenna, and then the papacy, by the aid of the devil, to whom,
     in return, he promised to belong after death. When he ascended the
     throne, he asked the devil how long he could reign, and the devil,
     as is his custom, answered by a double-entendre, "If you never
     enter Jerusalem, you will reign a long time." He occupied the
     throne for four years, one month, and ten days, when, one day, as
     he was officiating in the basilica of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme, he
     saw that he had passed the fatal threshold, and that his death was
     impending. Overwhelmed with repentance, he confessed his
     backslidings before the people, and exhorted them to lay aside
     pride, to resist the temptations of the devil, and to lead a good
     life. After this he begged of his attendants to cut his body in
     pieces after he was dead, as he deserved, and to place it on a
     common cart, and bury it wherever the horses stopped of their own
     accord. Then was manifested the will of the Divine Providence, that
     repentant sinners should learn that their God preserves for them a
     place of pardon even in this life,--for the horses went of their
     own accord to St. John Lateran, where he was buried. "Since then,"
     says Platina, "the rattling of his bones, and the sweat, or rather
     the damp, with which his tomb becomes covered, has always been the
     infallible sign and forerunner of the death of a pope"!

Against the second pillar of the right aisle, counting from the west
door, is a very interesting fresco of _Giotto_, originally one of many
paintings executed by him for the loggia of the adjoining papal palace,
whence the benediction and "plenary indulgence" were given in the
jubilee year. It represents Boniface VIII. (Benedetto Gaetani,
1294--1303), the founder of the jubilee, between two priests.

     "On y voit Boniface annonçant au peuple le jubilé. Le portrait du
     pape doit être ressemblant. J'ai reconnu dans cette physiognomie,
     où il y a plus de finesse que de force, la statue que j'avais vue
     couchée sur le tombeau de ce pape, dans les souterrains du
     Vatican."--_Ampère, Voyage Dantesque._

Opening from this aisle are several chapels. The second is that of the
newly established and rich family of Torlonia, which contains a marble
Pietà, by Tenerani, and some handsome modern monuments. The third is
that of the Massimi (designed by Giacomo della Porta), which has, as an
altar-piece, the Crucifixion by _Sermoneta_. Beyond this, in the right
aisle, are several remarkable tombs of cardinals, among which is the
tomb of Cardinal Guissano, who died in 1287. The painters Cav. d'Arpino
and Andrea Sacchi are buried in this church.

Entered from the last chapel in the left aisle (by a door which the
sacristan will open) is the beautiful twelfth century _Cloister of the
Monastery_, surrounded by low arches supported on exquisite inlaid and
twisted columns, above which is a lovely frieze of coloured marbles. The
court thus enclosed is a garden of roses; in the centre is a well
(adorned with crosses) of the tenth century, called the "Well of the
Woman of Samaria." In the cloister is a collection of architectural and
traditional relics, including a beautiful old white marble throne,
inlaid with mosaics, a candelabrum resting on a lion, and several other
exquisitely wrought details from the old basilica; also a porphyry slab
upon which the soldiers are said to have cast lots for the seamless
robe; columns which were rent by the earthquake of the Crucifixion; a
slab, resting on pillars, shown as a measure of the height of Our
Saviour,[284] and a smaller slab, also on pillars, of which it is said
that it was once an altar, at which the officiating priest doubted of
the Real Presence, when the wafer fell from his hand through the stone,
leaving a round hole which still remains.

Five General Councils have been held at the Lateran, viz.:--

     I.--March 19, 1123, under Calixtus II., with regard to the
     Investiture.

     II.--April 18, 1139, under Innocent II., to condemn the doctrines
     of Arnold of Brescia and Peter de Bruys, and to oppose the
     anti-pope Anacletus II.

     III.--March 5, 1179, under Alexander III., to condemn the
     doctrines of Waldenses and Albigenses, and to end the schism
     caused by Frederick Barbarossa.

     IV.--Nov. 11, 1215, at which 400 bishops assembled under Innocent
     III., to condemn the Albigenses, and the heresies of the Abbot
     Joachim.

     V.--May 3, 1512, under Julius II. and Leo X., at which the
     Pragmatic Sanction was abolished, and a Concordat concluded between
     the Pope and Francis I. for the destruction of the liberties of the
     Gallican Church.

It is in the basilica of the Lateran that the Church places the first
meeting between St. Francis and St Dominic.

     "Une nuit, pendant que Dominique dormait, il lui sembla voir
     Jésus-Christ se préparant à exterminer les superbes, les
     voluptueux, les avares, lorsque tout-à-coup la Vierge l'apaisa en
     lui présentant deux hommes: l'un d'eux lui-même; quant à l'autre,
     il ne le connaissait pas; mais le lendemain, la première personne
     qu'il aperçut, en entrant au Latran, fut l'inconnu qui lui était
     apparu en songe. Il était couvert de haillons et priait avec
     ferveur. Dominique se précipita dans ses bras, et l'embrassant avec
     effusion: 'Tu es mon compagnon,' lui dit-il; 'nous courons la même
     carrière, demeurons ensemble, et aucun ennemi ne prévaudra contre
     nous.' Et, à partir de ce moment, dit la légende, ils n'eurent plus
     qu'un cœur et qu'une âme dans le Seigneur. Ce pauvre, ce
     mendiant, était saint François d'Assise."--_Gournerie, Rome
     Chrétienne._

Issuing from the west door of the basilica, we find ourselves in a wide
portico, one of whose five doors is a Porta Santa. At the end, is
appropriately placed an ancient marble statue of Constantine, who is in
the dress of a Roman warrior, bearing the _labarum_, or standard of the
cross, which is here represented as a lance surmounted by the monogram
of Christ. From this portico we look down upon one of the most beautiful
and characteristic views in Rome. On one side are the Alban Hills, blue
in morning, or purple in evening light, sprinkled with white villages of
historic interest--Albano, Rocca di Papa, Marino, Frescati, Colonna; on
the other side are the Sabine Mountains, tipped with snow; in the
middle distance the long, golden-hued lines of aqueducts stretch away
over the plain, till they are lost in the pink haze, and nearer still
are the desolate basilica of Santa Croce, the fruit gardens of the Villa
Wolkonski, interspersed with rugged fragments of massive brickwork, and
the glorious old walls of the city itself. The road at our feet is the
Via Appia Nuova, which leads to Naples, and which immediately passes
through the modern gate of Rome, known as the Porta _San Giovanni_
(built in the sixteenth century by Gregory XIII.). Nearer to us, on the
right, is an ancient gateway, the finest on the Aurelian wall, bricked
up by Ladislaus, king of Naples, in 1408. By this gate, known as the
_Porta Asinaria_, from the family of the Asinarii, Belisarius entered
Rome in 505, and Totila, through the treachery of the Isaurian Guard, in
546. Here also, in 1084, Henry IV. entered Rome against Hildebrand with
his anti-pope Guibert; and, a few years after, the name of the gate
itself was changed to Porta Perusta, in consequence of the injuries it
received from Robert Guiscard, who came to the rescue of the lawful
pontiff.

The broad open space which we see beneath the steps was the favourite
walk of the mediæval popes.

     "The splendid palace of the Lateran reflected the rays of the
     evening sun, as Francis of Assisi with two or three of his
     disciples approached it to obtain the papal sanction for the rules
     of his new Order. A group of churchmen in sumptuous apparel were
     traversing with slow and measured steps its lofty terrace, then
     called 'the Mirror,' as if afraid to overtake him who preceded
     them, in a dress studiously simple, and with a countenance wrapped
     in earnest meditation. Unruffled by passion, and yet elate with
     conscious power, that eagle eye, and those capacious brows,
     announced him the lord of a dominion which might have satisfied the
     pride of Diogenes, and the ambition of Alexander. Since the
     Tugurium was built on the Capitoline, no greater monarch had ever
     called the seven hills his own. But, in his pontificate, no era had
     occurred more arduous than that in which Innocent III. saw the
     mendicants of Assisi prostrate at his feet. The interruption was as
     unwelcome as it was abrupt; as he gazed at the squalid dress and
     faces of his suitors, and observed their bare and unwashed feet,
     his lip curled with disdain, and sternly commanding them to
     withdraw, he seemed again to retire from the outer world into some
     of the deep recesses of that capacious mind. Francis and his
     companions betook themselves to prayer; Innocent to his couch.
     There (says the legend) he dreamed that a palm-tree sprouted up
     from the ground beneath his feet, and, swiftly shooting up into the
     heavens, cast her boughs on every side, a shelter from the heat,
     and a refreshment to the weary. The vision of the night dictated
     the policy of the morning, and assured Innocent that, under his
     fostering care, the Franciscan palm would strike deep her roots,
     and expand her foliage on every side, in the vineyard of the
     Church."--_Stephens' St. Francis of Assisi._

The western façade of the basilica, built by Alessandro Galilei in 1734,
has a fine effect at a distance, but the statues of Christ and the
apostles which line its parapet are too large for its proportions.

_The ancient Palace of the Lateran_ was the residence of the popes for
nearly 1000 years. Almost all the events affecting the private lives of
a vast line of ecclesiastical sovereigns happened within its walls.
Plundered in each successive invasion, stricken with malaria during the
autumn months, and often partially burnt, it was finally destroyed by
the great enemy of Roman antiquities, Sixtus V. Among the scenes which
occurred within its walls, perhaps the most terrible was that when John
X., the completer of the Lateran basilica, was invaded here by Marozia,
who was beginning to seize the chief power in Rome, and who carried the
pope off prisoner to St. Angelo, after he had seen his brother Peter
murdered before his eyes in the hall of the pontifical palace.

The only remnants preserved of this famous building are the private
chapel of the popes, and the end wall of their dining-hall, known as the
_Triclinium_, which contains a copy, erected by Benedict XIV., of the
ancient mosaic of the time of Leo III. which formerly existed here, and
the remains of which are preserved in the Vatican.

     "In this mosaic, Hallam (Middle Ages) sees proof that the authority
     of the Greek Emperor was not entirely abrogated at Rome till long
     after the period of papal aggrandisement by Pepin and his son, but
     he is warranted by no probabilities in concluding that Constantine
     V., whose reign began A.D. 780, is intended by the emperor kneeling
     with St. Peter or Pope Sylvester."--_Hemans' Ancient Christian
     Art._

Professor Bryce finds two paintings in which the theory of the mediæval
empire is unmistakeably set forth; one of them in Rome, the other in
Florence, (a fresco in the chapter-house of S. M. Novella).

     "The first of these is the famous mosaic of the Lateran triclinium,
     constructed by Pope Leo III., about A.D. 800, and an exact copy of
     which, made by the order of Sixtus V., may still be seen over
     against the facade of St. John Lateran. Originally meant to adorn
     the state banqueting-hall of the popes, it is now placed in the
     open air, in the finest situation in Rome, looking from the brow of
     a hill across the green ridges of the Campagna to the olive groves
     of Tivoli and the glistering crags and snow-capped summits of the
     Umbrian and Sabine Apennine. It represents in the centre Christ
     surrounded by the apostles, whom He is sending forth to preach the
     gospel; one hand is extended to bless, the other holds a book with
     the words 'Pax vobis.' Below and to the right Christ is depicted
     again, and this time sitting: on His right hand kneels Pope
     Sylvester, on His left the Emperor Constantine; to the one He gives
     the keys of heaven and hell, to the other a banner surmounted by a
     cross. In the group on the opposite, that is, on the left side of
     the arch, we see the Apostle Peter seated, before whom in like
     manner kneel Pope Leo III. and Charles the Emperor; the latter
     wearing, like Constantine, his crown. Peter, himself grasping the
     keys, gives to Leo the pallium of an archbishop, to Charles the
     banner of the Christian army. The inscription is 'Beatus Petrus
     dona vitam Leoni P. Pet victoriam Carulo regi dona;' while round
     the arch is written, 'Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax
     omnibus bonæ voluntatis.'

     "The order and nature of the ideas here symbolized is sufficiently
     clear. First comes the revelation of the gospel, and the divine
     commission to gather all men into its fold. Next, the institution,
     at the memorable era of Constantine's conversion, of the two powers
     by which the Christian people is to be respectively taught and
     governed. Thirdly, we are shown the permanent Vicar of God, the
     apostle who keeps the keys of heaven and hell, re-establishing
     these same powers on a new and firmer basis. The badge of
     ecclesiastical supremacy he gives to Leo as the spiritual head of
     the faithful on earth, the banner of the Church militant to
     Charles, who is to maintain her cause against heretics and
     infidels."--_J. Bryce_, _Holy Roman Empire_, ch. vii. pp. 117, 118,
     3rd ed., 1871.

In the building behind the Triclinium, attached to a convent of
Passionist monks, and erected by Fontana for Sixtus V., is preserved
_the Santa Scala_. This famous staircase, supposed to be that of the
house of Pilate, ascended and descended by our Saviour, is said to have
been brought from Jerusalem by Helena, mother of Constantine the Great,
and has been regarded with especial reverence by the Roman Church for
1500 years. In 897 it was injured and partially thrown down by an
earthquake, but was re-erected in the old Lateran palace, whence it was
removed to its present site on the demolition of that venerable
building. Clement XII. caused the steps to be covered by a wooden
casing, which has since been repeatedly worn out by the knees of
ascending pilgrims. Apertures are left, through which the marble steps
can be seen; two of them are said to be stained with the blood of the
Saviour!

At the foot of the stairs, within the atrium, are fine sculptures of
_Giacometti_, representing the "Ecce Homo,"--and the "Kiss of Judas,"
purchased and placed here by Pius IX.

Between these statues the pilgrims kneel to commence the ascent of the
Santa Scala. The effect of the staircase (especially on Fridays in Lent,
and most of all on Good Friday), with the figures ascending on their
knees in the dim light, and the dark vaulted ceiling covered with faded
frescoes, is exceedingly picturesque.

     "Reason may condemn, but feeling cannot resist the claim to
     reverential sympathy in the spectacle daily presented by the Santa
     Scala. Numerous indulgences have been granted by different popes to
     those who ascend it with prayer at each step. Whilst kneeling upon
     these stairs public penance used to be performed in the days of the
     Church's more rigorous discipline; as the saintly matron Fabiola
     there appeared a penitent before the public gaze, in sackcloth and
     ashes, A.D. 390.... There is no day on which worshippers may not be
     seen slowly ascending those stairs; but it is during Holy Week the
     concourse is at its height; and on Good Friday I have seen this
     structure completely covered by the multitude, like a swarm of bees
     settling on flowers!"--_Hemans' Ancient Sacred Art._

     "Brother Martin Luther went to accomplish the ascent of the Santa
     Scala--the Holy Staircase--which once, they say, formed part of
     Pilate's house. He slowly mounted step after step of the hard
     stone, worn into hollows by the knees of penitents and pilgrims. An
     indulgence for a thousand years--indulgence from penance--is
     attached to this act of devotion. Patiently he crept half-way up
     the staircase, when he suddenly stood erect, lifted his face
     heavenward, and, in another moment, turned and walked slowly down
     again.

     "He said that, as he was toiling up, a voice as if from heaven,
     seemed to whisper to him the old, well-known words, which had been
     his battle-cry in so many a victorious combat,--'The just shall
     live by faith.'

     "He seemed awakened, as if from a nightmare, and restored to
     himself. He dared not creep up another step; but, rising from his
     knees, he stood upright, like a man suddenly loosed from bonds and
     fetters, and with the firm step of a freeman, he descended the
     staircase, and walked from the place."--_Schönberg-Cotta
     Chronicles._

     "Did the feet of the Saviour actually tread these steps? Are these
     reliques really portions of his cross, crown of thorns, &c., or is
     all this fictitious? To me it is all one.

     "'He is not here, he is risen!' said the angel at the tomb. The
     worship of the bodily covering which the spirit has cast off
     belongs to the soul still in the larva condition; and the ascending
     of the Scala Santa on the knees is too convenient a mode for
     obtaining the forgiveness of sins, and at the same time a hindrance
     upon the only true way."--_Frederika Bremer._

Ascending one of the lateral staircases--no _foot_ must touch the Santa
Scala--we reach the outside of the _Sancta Sanctorum_, a chapel held so
intensely sacred that none but the pope can officiate at its altar, and
that it is _never_ open to others, except on the morning before Palm
Sunday, when the canons of the Lateran come hither to worship, in solemn
procession, with torches and a veiled crucifix, and, even then, none but
the clergy are allowed to pass its threshold. The origin of the
sanctuary is lost in antiquity, but it was the private chapel of the
mediæval popes in the old palace, and is known to have existed already,
dedicated to St. Laurence, in the time of Pelagius I. (578--590), who
deposited here some relics of St. Andrew and St. Luke. It was restored
by Honorius III. in 1216, and almost rebuilt by Nicholas III. in 1277.

It is permitted to gaze through a grating upon the picturesque glories
of the interior, which are chiefly of the thirteenth century. The altar
is in a recess, supported by two porphyry columns. Above it a beautiful
silver tabernacle, presented by Innocent III. (1198-1216), to contain
the great relic, which invests the chapel with its peculiar sanctity,--a
portrait of our Saviour (placed here by Stephen III. in 752), held by
the Roman Church as authentic,--to have been begun by St. Luke and
finished by an angel, whence the name by which it is known,
"Acheirotopeton," or, the "picture made without hands."

     "The different theories as to the acheirotopeton picture, and the
     manner in which it reached this city, are stated with naïveté by
     Maroni--_i.e._, that the apostles and the Madonna, meeting after
     the ascension, resolved to order a portrait of the Crucified, for
     satisfying the desire of the faithful, and commissioned St. Luke to
     execute the task; that after three days' prayer and fasting, such a
     portrait was drawn in outline by that artist, but, before he had
     begun to colour, the tints were found to have been filled in by
     invisible hands; that this picture was brought from Jerusalem to
     Rome, either by St. Peter, or by Titus (together with the sacred
     spoils of the temple); or else expedited hither in a miraculous
     voyage of only twenty-four hours by S. Germanus, patriarch of
     Constantinople, who desired thus to save such a treasure from the
     outrages of the Iconoclasts; and that, about A.D. 726, Pope Gregory
     II., apprised of its arrival at the mouth of the Tiber by
     revelation, proceeded to carry it thence, with due escort, to Rome;
     since which advent it has remained in the Sancta
     Sanctorum."--_Hemans' Mediæval Christian Art._

Above the altar is, in gilt letters, the inscription, "non est in tota
sanctior urbe locus." Higher up, under gothic arches, and between
twisted columns, are pictures of sainted popes and martyrs, but these
have been so much retouched as to have lost their interest. The gratings
here are those of the relic chamber, which contains the reputed sandals
of Our Saviour, fragments of the true cross, &c. On the ceiling is a
grand mosaic,--a head of Our Saviour within a nimbus, sustained by
six-winged seraphim--ascribed to the eighth century. The sill in front
of the screen is covered with money, thrown in as offerings by the
pilgrims.

The chapel was once much larger. Its architect was probably Deodatus
Cosmati. An inscription near the door tells us, "Magister Cosmatus fecit
hoc opus."

Here, in the time when the Lateran palace was inhabited, the feet of
twelve sub-deacons were annually washed by the pope on Holy Thursday. On
the Feast of the Assumption the sacred picture used to be borne in
triumph through the city, halting in the Forum, where the feet of the
pope were washed in perfumed waters on the steps of Sta. Maria Nuova,
and the "Kyrie Eleison" was chaunted a hundred times. This custom was
abolished by Pius V. in 1566.

The _Modern Palace of the Lateran_ was built from designs of Fontana by
Sixtus V. In 1693 Innocent XII. turned it into a hospital,--in 1438
Gregory XVI. appropriated it as a museum. The entrance faces the obelisk
in the Piazza di San Giovanni. The palace is always shown, but the
terrible cold which pervades it makes it a dangerous place except in the
late spring months, and a visit to it is often productive of fever.

The ground floor is the principal receptacle for antiquities, found at
Rome within the last few years. It contains a number of very beautiful
sarcophagi and bas-reliefs.

Entering under the corridor on the right, the most remarkable objects
are:--

     _1st Room._--

     LEFT WALL:

     Relief of the Abduction of Helen.

     RIGHT WALL:

     High relief of two pugilists, 'Dares and Entellus.'

     Grand relief of Trajan followed by senators, from the Forum of
     Trajan.

     The sacred oak of Jupiter, with figures.

     Bust of Marcus Aurelius.

     _2nd Room._--

     Beautiful architectural fragments, chiefly from the Forum of
     Trajan.

     _3rd Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Statue of Æsculapius.

     RIGHT WALL:

     Statue of Antinous, called the Braschi, found at Palestrina.

     Bought from the Braschi family by Gregory XVI for 12,000 scudi.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Sarcophagus of a child, with a relief representing pugilists.

     _4th Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Greek relief of Medea and the daughters of Peleus.

     Above (one of a number of busts), 762. Beautiful head of a Dryad.

     Statue of Germanicus.

     RIGHT WALL:

     Statue of Mars.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Copy of the Faun of Praxiteles.

     IN THE CENTRE:

     A fine vase of Lumachella.

A passage is crossed to the

     _5th Room._--

     IN THE CENTRE:

    1. Sacrifice of Mithras.
    2. A stag of basalt.
    3. A cow.

     RIGHT WALL:

     Sepulchral urn, with a curious relief representing children and
     cock-fighting.

     _6th Room._--

     An interesting collection of statues, from Cervetri (Cære),
     including those of Tiberius and Claudius; between them Agrippina,
     sixth wife of Claudius,--and others less certain.

     BETWEEN THE WINDOWS:

     Drusilla, sister of Claudius, and, on the wall, part of her
     epitaph.

     _7th Room._--

     RIGHT WALL:

     Faun dancing,--found near Sta. Lucia in Selce.

     FACING THE ENTRANCE:

     _A grand statue of Sophocles_ (the gem of the collection), found at
     Terracina, 1838. Given by the Antonelli family.

     "Sophocle, dans une pose aisée et fière, un pied en avant, un bras
     enveloppé dans son manteau qu'il serre contre son corps, contemple
     avec une majestueuse sérénité la nature humaine et la domine d'un
     regard sûr et tranquille."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 573.

     _8th Room._--

     Statue of Neptune, from Porto--the legs and arms restored.

     _9th Room._--

     Architectural fragments from the Via Appia and Forum.

     _10th Room._--

     A series of interesting reliefs, found 1848, at the tomb of the
     Aterii at Centocellæ, representing the preparations for the funeral
     solemnities of a great Roman lady.

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     The building of the sepulchre. A curious machine for raising heavy
     stones is introduced.

     RIGHT WALL:

     The body of the dead surrounded by burning torches, the mourners
     tearing their hair and beating their breasts.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Showing several Roman buildings which the funeral procession would
     pass,--among them the Coliseum and the Arch of Titus--inscribed,
     "Arcus in sacra via summa."

     Signor Rosa has considered this last relief of great importance, as
     indicating by the different monuments the route which a
     well-ordered funeral procession ought to pursue.

A second passage is crossed to the

     _11th Room._--

     Containing several fine sarcophagi.

     _12th Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Sarcophagus, with the story of Orestes.

     RIGHT WALL:

     Sarcophagus decorated with Cupids bearing garlands, and supporting
     a head of Augustus.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Sarcophagus representing the destruction of the children of Niobe.

     _13th Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Statue of C. Lælius Saturninus.

     IN THE CENTRE:

     Sarcophagus of P. Cæcilius Vallianus, representing a funeral
     banquet.

     LEFT WALL:

     Unfinished statue of a captive barbarian, with sculptor's marks
     remaining, to guide the workman's chisel.

     _15th Room._--

     This and the next room are devoted to objects recently found in the
     excavations at Ostia.

     LEFT WALL:

     Mosaic in a niche.

     _16th Room._--

     IN THE CENTRE:

     Reclining statue of Atys.

     RIGHT WALL:

     Frescoes of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, from a tomb at
     Ostia.

The _Christian Museum_, founded by Pius IX., and arranged by Padre
Marchi and the Cavaliere Rossi, is of great interest. In the first hall
is a statue of Christ by _Sosnowsky_, and in the wall behind it three
mosaics,--two from the catacombs, that in the centre--of Christ with SS.
Peter and Paul--from the old St. Peter's. Hence we ascend a staircase
lined with Christian sarcophagi. At the foot are two statues of the Good
Shepherd.

     "Une des compositions de Calamis ne doit pas être oubliée à Rome,
     car ce sujet païen a été adopté par l'art chrétien des premiers
     temps. Les représentations du _Bon Pasteur rapportant la brebis_,
     expressions touchante de la miséricorde divine, ont leur origine
     dans le _Mercure porte-bélier_ (Criophore). Quelquefois c'est un
     _berger_ qui porte un bélier, une brebis ou un agneau; l'on se
     rapproche ainsi a l'idée du _bon pasteur_. En général, le bon
     pasteur, dans les monuments chrétiens, porte une _brebis_, la
     brebis égarée de l'Évangile; mais quelquefois aussi il porte _un
     bélier_; et alors le souvenir de l'original païen dans la
     composition chrétienne est manifeste."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii.
     256.

The sarcophagus on the left, which tells the story of Jonah, is
especially fine. The corridor above is also lined with sarcophagi. The
best are on the left; of these the most remarkable are, the 1st, the
marriage at Cana; 4th, the Good Shepherd repeated several times among
vines, with cherubs gathering the grapes; 7th, a sarcophagus with a
canopy supported by two pavonazzetto columns, and on the wall behind,
frescoes of the Good Shepherd, &c. At the raised end of the corridor is
the seated statue of Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto in the third century
(the upper part a restoration), found in the Catacomb of Sta. Cyriaca,
and moved hither from the Vatican Library; upon the chair is engraved
the celebrated Paschal Calendar, which is supposed to settle the
unorthodoxy of those early Christians who kept Easter at the same time
as the Jews.

Hence, three rooms lined with drawings from the paintings in the
different catacombs, lead to,--


THE PICTURE GALLERY.

     _1st Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Cartoon of stoning of Stephen: _Giulio Romano_.

     Below this is the celebrated mosaic called _Asarotos_, representing
     an unswept floor after a banquet. It is inscribed with the name of
     its artist, _Heraclitus_, but is a copy from one of the two famous
     mosaics of Sosus of Pergamus (the other is "Pliny's Doves"). It was
     found on the Aventine in 1833 in the gardens of Servilius, and
     "probably adorned a dining-room where Cæsar may have supped with
     Servilia, the sister of Cato, and mother of Brutus." A similar
     pavement is alluded to by Statius:--

                "Varias ubi picta per artes
    Gaudet humus superare novis asarota figuris."

    _Sylv._ i. 3, 55.

     LEFT WALL:

     Christ and St Thomas--a cartoon: _Camuccini_.

     WINDOW WALL:

     The first sketch for the famous fresco of the Descent from the
     Cross at the Trinità de' Monti: _Daniele da Volterra_.

On the right is the entrance of the

     _2nd Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Annunciation: _Cav. d' Arpino_.

     RIGHT WALL:

     George IV. of England (most strangely out of place): _Lawrence_.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Assumption of the Virgin: _After Guercino_.

From the corner of this room, on the right, a staircase leads to a
gallery, whence one may look down upon the huge and hideous mosaic
pavement--with portraits of twenty-eight athletes--found in the Baths of
Caracalla in 1822.

     "Les gladiateurs de la mosaïque de Saint Jean de Latran ont reçu la
     forte alimentation qu'on donnait à leurs pareils; ils ont bien cet
     air de résolution brutale que devaient avoir ceux qui prononçaient
     ce féroce serment que nous a conservé Pétrone: 'Nous jurons d'obéir
     à nôtre maître Eumolpe, qu'il nous ordonne de nous laisser brûler,
     enchaîner, frapper, tuer par le fer ou autrement; et comme vrais
     gladiateurs, nous dévouons à notre maître nos corps et nos
     vies.'"--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv. 33.

On the left of 1st room is the

     _3rd Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Madonna with SS. Peter, Dominic, and Anthony on the right, and SS.
     John Baptist, Laurence, and Francis on the left: _Marco Palmezzano
     di Forli_, 1537.

     IN THE LEFT CORNER:

     Madonna and Saints: _Carlo Crivelli_, 1482.

     LEFT WALL:

     St. Thomas receiving the girdle of the Virgin (the Sacra Cintola of
     Prato)--with a predella: _Benozzo Gozzoli_.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Madonna with St. John Baptist and St. Jerome: _Palmezzano_.

     _4th Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Sixtus V. as Cardinal: _Sassoferrato_.

     Madonna: _Carlo Crivelli_, 1482--very highly finished.

     LEFT WALL:

     Sixtus V. as Pope: _Domenichino_(?).

     Two Gobelins from pictures of Fra Bartolommeo at the Quirinal.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Christ with the Tribute Money: _Caravaggio_.

     _5th Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Entombment: _Venetian School_.

     LEFT WALL:

     Greek Baptism: _Pietro Nocchi_, 1840.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Holy Family: _Andrea del Sarto_.

     _6th Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Baptism of Christ: _Cesare da Sesto_.

     LEFT WALL:

     SS. Agnes and Emerentiana: _Luca Signorelli_; Annunciation: _F.
     Francia_; SS. Laurence and Benedict (very peculiar, as scarcely
     showing their faces at all, but magnificent in colour): _Luca
     Signorelli_.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Coronation of the Virgin, with wings, of saints, angels, and doves:
     _F. Filippo Lippi_.

     BETWEEN THE WINDOWS: S. Jerome, in tempera: _Giovanni Sanzio,
     father of Raphael_.

     _7th Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Pagan sacrifice: _Caravaggio_ (?).

     LEFT WALL:

     _Altar-piece by Antonio da Murano_, 1464.

     WALL OF EGRESS:

     Christ at Emmaus: _Caravaggio_.

     _8th Room._--

     An oil copy of the fresco of the Flagellation of St. Andrew by
     Domenichino, at S. Gregorio.

     _9th Room._--

     A set of beautiful terracotta busts and reliefs by _Pettrich_,
     illustrative of North American Indian life. This room is called the
     Hall of Council, and is surrounded by fresco portraits of popes,
     and pictures allegorical of their arms, &c.

The walls of the open galleries on this floor of the palace have been
covered with early Christian inscriptions from the catacombs, which have
been thus arranged in arches:--

    1--3. Epitaphs of martyrs and others of temp. Damasus I. (366 to 384).
    4--7. Dated inscriptions from 238 to 557.
    8--9. Inscriptions relating to doctrine.
    10.--Inscriptions relating to popes, presbyters, and deacons.
    11--12. Inscriptions relating to simple ecclesiastics.
    13.--Inscriptions of affection to relations and friends.
    14--16. Symbolical.
    17.--Simple epitaphs from different catacombs.

On the third floor of the palace are casts from the bas-reliefs on the
column of Trajan.

Before leaving the Lateran altogether, we must notice amongst its early
institutions, the famous school of music which existed here throughout
the middle ages.

     "Gregory the Great, whose object it seems to have been to render
     religion a thing of the senses, was the founder of the music of the
     Church. He instituted the school for it in the Lateran, whence the
     Carlovingian monarchs obtained teachers of singing and
     organ-playing. The Frankish monks were sent thither for
     instruction."--_Dyer's Hist. of the City of Rome._

Opposite the palace is the entrance of the _Villa Massimo Arsoli_, to
which admission may be obtained by a permesso given at the Palazzo
Massimo alle Colonne. There is little to see here, however, except a
casino beautifully decorated with scenes taken from the great Italian
poets by the modern German artists, Schnorr, Kock, Ph. Veit, Overbeck,
and Führich.

     "Les sujets sont tirés de Dante, de l'Arioste, et du Tasse. Dante a
     été confide à Cornélius, l'Arioste à Schnorr, le Tasse à Overbeck,
     les trois plus célèbres noms de cette école qui croit pouvoir
     remonter par une imitation savante à la naïveté du XVe.
     siècle."--_Ampère, Voyage Dantesque._

Leading from the Piazza di San Giovanni to Sta. Maria Maggiore is the
Via Immerulana, where, in the hollow, is the strange-looking _Church of
SS. Pietro e Marcellino_, in which is preserved a miraculous painting of
the Crucifixion; the figure upon the cross is supposed to move the eyes,
when regarded by the faithful. This picture, a small replica of the
magnificent Guido at S. Lorenzo in Lucina, is shown, behind a grille, by
a nun of Sta. Theresa, veiled from head to foot in blue, like an
immovable pillar of blue drapery.

     "SS. Pietro e Marcellino stands in the valley behind the Esquiline,
     in the long, lonely road between Sta. Maria Maggiore and the
     Lateran. SS. Peter Exorcista and Marcellinus are always represented
     together in priestly habits, bearing their palms. Their legend
     relates, that in the persecution under Diocletian they were cast
     into prison. Artemius, keeper of the dungeon, had a daughter named
     Paulina, and she fell sick; and St. Peter offered to restore her
     to health, if her father would believe in the true God. And the
     jailer mocked him, saying, 'If I put thee into the deepest dungeon,
     and load thee with heavier chains, will thy God deliver thee? If he
     doth, I will believe in him.' And Peter answered, 'Be it so, not
     out of regard to thee; for it matters little to our God whether
     such an one as thou believe in him or not, but that the name of
     Christ may be glorified, and thyself confounded.'

     "And in the middle of the night Peter and Marcellinus, in white
     shining garments, entered the chamber of Artemius as he lay asleep,
     who, being struck with awe, fell down and worshipped the name of
     Christ; and he, his wife, daughter, and three hundred others, were
     baptized. After this the two holy men were condemned to die for the
     faith, and the executioner was ordered to lead them to a forest
     three miles from Rome, that the Christians might not discover their
     place of sepulture. And when he had brought them to a solitary
     thicket overgrown with brambles and thorns, he declared to them
     that they were to die, upon which they cheerfully fell to work and
     cleared away a space fit for the purpose, and dug the grave in
     which they were to be laid. Then they were beheaded (June 2), and
     died encouraging each other.

     "The fame of SS. Pietro e Marcellino is not confined to Rome. In
     the reign of Charlemagne they were venerated as martyrs throughout
     Italy and Gaul; and Eginhard, the secretary of Charlemagne who
     married his daughter Emma, is said to have held them in particular
     honour. Every one, I believe, knows the beautiful story of Eginhard
     and Emma,--and the connection of these saints with them, as their
     chosen protectors, lends an interest to their solitary deserted
     church. In the Roma Sotterranea of Bosio, p. 126, there is an
     ancient fragment found in the catacombs, which represents St. Peter
     Exorcista, St. Marcellinus, and Paulina, standing together."--_Mrs.
     Jameson._

Behind the Santa Scala, a narrow lane leads to the _Villa Wolkonski_ (a
"permesso" may be obtained through your banker), a most beautiful
garden, running along the edge of the hill, intersected by the broken
arches of the Aqua Claudia, and possessing exquisite views over the
Campagna, with its lines of aqueducts to the Alban and Sabine mountains.
_No one should omit to visit this villa._

     "Where the aqueducts, just about to enter the city, most nearly
     converge, and looking across the Campagna--which their arches only
     seem able to span--towards Albano and the hills, stands the Villa.
     Embosomed in olive and in ilex trees, it is rich in hoar cypresses,
     in urns, and in those pathetic fragments of old workmanship which
     an undergrowth of violets and acanthus half hides, and half
     reveals."--_Vera._

       *       *       *       *       *

About a mile beyond the Porta S. Giovanni, a road branches off on the
left to the _Porta Furba_, an arch of the Aqua Felice, founded on the
line of the Claudian and Marcian aqueducts. Artists may find a
picturesque subject here in a pretty fountain, with a portion of the
decaying aqueduct. Beyond the arch is the mound called _Monte del
Grano_, which has been imagined to be the burial-place of Alexander
Severus. Beyond this, the road (to Frescati) passes on the left the vast
ruins, called _Sette Bassi_.

The direct road--which leads to Albano--reaches, about two miles from
the gate, a queer building, called the Casa del Diavolo, on the outside
of which some rude frescoes testify to the popular belief as to its
owner. Just beyond this a field track on the left leads to the _Via
Latina_, of which a certain portion, paved with huge polygonal blocks of
lava, is now laid bare. Here are some exceedingly interesting and
well-preserved tombs, richly ornamented with painting and stucco. The
view, looking back upon Rome, or forward to the long line of broken
arches of the Claudian aqueduct, seen between these ruined sepulchres,
is most striking and beautiful.

Close by have been discovered remains of a villa of the Servilii, which
afterwards belonged to the Asinarii. Here also, in 1858 (on the left of
the Via Latina), Signor Fortunati discovered the long buried and
forgotten _Basilica of S. Stefano_. It is recorded by Anastasius that
this basilica was founded in the time of Leo I. (440--461) by Demetria,
a lady who escaped from the siege by the Goths, with her mother, to
Carthage, where she became a nun. It was restored by Leo III. at the end
of the eighth century. The remains are interesting, though they do
little more than show perfectly the substruction and plan of the ancient
building. An inscription relating to the foundation of the church by
Demetria has been found among the ruins.

Not far from this is the _Catacomb of the Santi-Quattro_.

Three and a half miles from Rome is the Osteria of _Tavolato_, near
which is one of the most striking and picturesque portions of the
Claudian Aqueduct. It is on the rising ground between this aqueduct and
the road, that the _Temple of Fortuna Muliebris_ is believed to have
stood. This was the temple which Valeria, the sister of Publicola, and
Volumnia, the mother of Coriolanus, claimed to erect at their own
expense, when the senate asked them to choose their recompense for
having preserved Rome by their entreaties.

     "As Valeria, sister of Publicola, was sitting in the temple, as a
     suppliant before the image of Jupiter, Jupiter himself seemed to
     inspire her with a sudden thought, and she immediately rose, and
     called upon all the other noble ladies who were with her, to arise
     also, and she led them to the house of Volumnia, the mother of
     Caius (Coriolanus). There she found Virgilia, the wife of Caius,
     with his mother, and also his little children. Valeria then
     addressed Volumnia and Virgilia, and said, 'Our coming here to you
     is our own doing; neither the senate nor any mortal man have sent
     us; but the god in whose temple we were sitting as suppliants put
     it into our hearts, that we should come and ask you to join with
     us, women with women, without any aid of men, to win for our
     country a great deliverance, and for ourselves a name, glorious
     above all women, even above those Sabine wives in the old time, who
     stopped the battle between their husbands and their fathers. Come,
     then, with us to the camp of Caius, and let us pray to him to show
     us mercy.' Volumnia said, 'We will go with you:' and Virgilia took
     her young children with her, and they all went to the camp of the
     enemy.

     "It was a sad and solemn sight to see this train of noble ladies,
     and the very Volscian soldiers stood in silence as they passed by,
     and pitied them and honoured them. They found Caius sitting on the
     general's seat, in the midst of the camp, and the Volscian chiefs
     were standing round him. When he first saw them he wondered what it
     could be; but presently he knew his mother, who was walking at the
     head of the train, and then he could not contain himself, but leapt
     down from his seat, and ran to meet her, and was going to kiss her.
     But she stopped him, and said, 'Ere thou kiss me, let me know
     whether I am speaking to an enemy or to my son; whether I stand in
     thy camp as thy prisoner or thy mother?' Caius could not answer
     her; and then she went on and said, 'Must it be, then, that had I
     never borne a son, Rome never would have seen the camp of an enemy;
     that had I remained childless, I should have died a free woman in a
     free city? But I am too old to bear much longer either thy shame or
     my misery. Rather look to thy wife and children, whom, if thou
     persistest, thou art dooming to an untimely death, or a long life
     of bondage.' Then Virgilia and his children came up to him and
     kissed him, and all the noble ladies wept, and bemoaned their own
     fate and the fate of their country. At last Caius cried out, 'O
     mother, what hast thou done to me?' and he wrung her hand
     vehemently, and said, 'Mother, thine is the victory; a happy
     victory for thee and for Rome, but shame and ruin to thy son.' Then
     he fell on her neck and embraced her, and he embraced his wife and
     his children, and sent them back to Rome; and led away the army of
     the Volscians, and never afterwards attacked Rome any more. The
     Romans, as was right, honoured Volumnia and Valeria for their deed,
     and a temple was built and dedicated to 'Woman's Fortune' just on
     the spot where Caius had yielded to his mother's words; and the
     first priestess of the temple was Valeria, into whose heart Jupiter
     had first put the thought to go to Volumnia, and to call upon her
     to go out to the enemy's camp and entreat her son."--_Arnold's
     Hist. of Rome_, vol. i.

     "Il y a peu de scènes dans l'histoire plus émouvantes que celle-là,
     et elle ne perd rien à la décoration du théâtre; en se plaçant sur
     un tertre à quatre milles de Rome, près de la voie Latine, dans un
     lieu où il n'y a aujourd'hui que des tombeaux et des ruines, on
     peut se figurer le camp des Volsques, dont les armes et les tentes
     étincellent au soleil. Les montagnes s'élèvent à l'horizon. A
     travers la plaine ardente et poudreuse défile une foule voilée dont
     les gémissements retentissent dans le silence de la campagne
     romaine. Bientôt Coriolan est entouré de cette multitude suppliante
     dont les plaintes, les cris, devaient avoir la vivacité des
     démonstrations passionées des Romaines de nos jours. Coriolan eût
     ré sisté à tout ce bruit, il eût peut-être résisté aux larmes de
     sa femme et aux caresses de ses enfants; il ne résista pas à la
     sévérité de sa mère.

     "Le soir, par un glorieux coucher du soleil de Rome qui éclaire
     leur joie, la procession triomphante s'éloigne en adressant un
     chant de reconnaissance aux dieux, et lui se retire dans sa tente,
     étonné d'avoir pu céder."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 402.

The return drive to Rome may be varied by turning to the right about a
mile beyond this, into a lane which leads past the so-called temple of
Bacchus to the Via Appia Vecchia.

       *       *       *       *       *

We may now follow the lines of white mulberry-trees across the open
space in front of St. John Lateran, which is a continuation of the
ancient papal promenade of "the Mirror," to Sta. Croce. The sister
basilicas look at each other, and at Sta. Maria Maggiore, down avenues
of trees. On the left are the walls of Rome, upon which run the arches
of the Aqua Marcia.

     "Few Roman churches are set within so impressive a picture as Santa
     Croce, approached on every side through these solitudes of
     vineyards and gardens, quiet roads, and long avenues of trees, that
     occupy such immense extent within the walls of Rome. The scene from
     the Lateran, looking towards this basilica across the level common,
     between lines of trees, with the distance of Campagna and
     mountains, the castellated walls, the arcades of the Claudian
     aqueduct, amid gardens and groves, is more than beautiful, full of
     memory and association. The other approach, by the unfrequented Via
     di Sta. Croce, presents the finest distances, seen through a
     foliage beyond the dusky towers of the Honorian walls, and a wide
     extent of slopes covered with vineyards, amid which stand at
     intervals some of those forlorn cottage farms, grey and
     dilapidated, that form characteristic features in Roman scenery.
     The majestic ruins of Minerva-Medica, the so-called temple of Venus
     and Cupid, the fragments of the Baths of St. Helena, the Castrense
     Amphitheatre, the arches of the aqueduct, half concealed in cypress
     and ivy, are objects which must increase the attractions of a walk
     to this sanctuary of the cross. But the exterior of the church is
     disappointing and inappropriate, retaining nothing antique except
     the square Lombardic tower of the twelfth century, in storeys of
     narrow-arched windows, its brickwork ornamented with disks of
     coloured marble, and a canopy, with columns, near the summit, for a
     statue no longer in its place."--_Hemans' Catholic Italy_, vol. i.

The site of the _Basilica of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme_ was once
occupied by the garden of Heliogabalus, and afterwards by the palace of
the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, whose residence here was
known as the Palatium Sessorianum, whence the name of Sessorian,
sometimes given to the basilica.

The church was probably once a hall in the palace of Helena, to which an
apse was added by Constantine, in whose reign it was consecrated by Pope
Sylvester. It was repaired by Gregory II. early in the eighth century;
the monastery was added by Benedict VII. about 975, and the whole was
rebuilt by Lucius II. in 1144. The church was completely modernized by
Benedict XIV. in the last century, and scarcely anything, except the
tower, now remains externally, which is even as old as the twelfth
century. The fine columns of granite and bigio-lumachellato, which now
adorn the façade, were plundered from the neighbouring temple in 1744.

The interior of the church is devoid of beauty, owing to modernizations.
Four out of twelve fine granite columns, which divided its nave and
aisles, are boxed up in senseless plaster piers. The high altar is
adorned with an urn of green basalt, sculptured with lions' heads, which
contains the bodies of SS. Anastasius and Cæsarius. Two of the pillars
of the baldacchino are of breccia-corallina. The fine frescoes of the
tribune by _Pinturicchio_ have been much retouched. They were executed
under Alexander VI., on a commission from Cardinal Carvajal, who is
himself represented as kneeling before the cross, which is held by the
Empress Helena.

     "The very important frescoes of the choir apsis of Sta. Croce (now
     much over-painted) are of Pinturicchio's better time. They
     represent the finding of the Cross, with a colossal Christ in a
     nimbus among angels above,--a figure full of wild
     grandeur."--_Kugler._

     "Near the entrance of the church is a valuable monument of the
     papal history of the tenth century, in a metrical epitaph to
     Benedict VII., recording his foundation of the adjoining monastery
     for monks, who were to sing day and night the praises of the Deity;
     his charities to the poor; and the deeds of the anti-pope Franco,
     called by Baronius (with play upon his assumed name Boniface)
     Malefacius, who usurped the Holy See, imprisoned and strangled the
     lawful pope, Benedict VI., and pillaged the treasury of St.
     Peter's, but in one month was turned out and excommunicated, when
     he fled to Constantinople. The chronology of this epitaph is by the
     ancient system of Indictions, the death of the pope dated XII.
     Indiction, corresponding to the year 984: and the Latin style of
     the tenth century is curiously exemplified in lines relating to the
     anti-pope:

    'Hic primus repulit Franconis spurca superbi
    Culmina qui invasit sedis apostolicæ
    Qui dominumque suum captum in castro habebat
    Carceris interea auctis constrictus in uno
    Strangulatus ubi exuerat hominem.'"

    _Hemans' Catholic Italy._


The consecration of the Golden Rose, formerly sent to foreign princes,
used to take place in this church. The principal observances here now
are connected with the exhibition of the relics, of which the principal
is the Title of the True Cross.

     "In 1492, when some repairs were ordered by Cardinal Mendoza, a
     niche was discovered near the summit of the apse, enclosed by a
     brick front, inscribed 'Titulus Crucis.' In it was a leaden coffer,
     containing an imperfect plank of wood, 2 inches thick, 1½ palm
     long, 1 palm broad. On this, in letters more or less perfect, was
     the inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, _Jesus Nazarene King_.
     It was venerated by Innocent VIII., with the college of cardinals,
     and enclosed by Mendoza in the silver shrine, where it is exposed
     three times a year from the balcony. The relics are exposed on the
     4th Sunday in Lent. On Good Friday the rites are more impressive
     here than in any other church, the procession of white-robed monks,
     and the deep toll of the bell announcing the display of the relics
     by the mitred abbot, are very solemn, and it is surprising, that
     while crowds of strangers submit to be crushed in the Sistine,
     scarcely one visits this ancient basilica on that day."--_Hemans'
     Catholic Italy._

     "The list of relics on the right of the apsis of Sta. Croce
     includes, the finger of St. Thomas Apostle, with which he touched
     the most holy side of our Lord Jesus Christ; one of the pieces of
     money with which the Jews paid the treachery of Judas; great part
     of the veil and of the hair of the most blessed Virgin; a mass of
     cinders and charcoal, united in the form of a loaf, with the fat of
     St. Lawrence, martyr; one bottle of the most precious blood of our
     Lord Jesus Christ; another of the milk of the most blessed Virgin;
     a little piece of the stone where Christ was born; a little piece
     of the stone where our Lord sate when he pardoned Mary Magdalen; of
     the stone where our Lord wrote the law, given to Moses on Mount
     Sinai; of the stone where reposed SS. Peter and Paul; of the cotton
     which collected the blood of Christ; of the manna which fed the
     Israelites; of the rod of Aaron, which flourished in the desert; of
     the relics of the eleven prophets!"--_Percy's Romanism._

Two staircases near the tribune lead to the subterranean church, which
has an altar with a pietà, and statues of SS. Peter and Paul of the
twelfth century. Hence opens the chapel of Sta. Helena,[285] which women
(by a perversion especially strange in this case) are never allowed to
enter except on the festival of the saint, August 18. It is built upon a
soil composed of earth brought by the empress from Palestine. Her statue
is over the altar. The vault has mosaics (originally erected under
Valentinian III., but restored by _Zucchi_ in 1593) representing, in
ovals, a half-length figure of the Saviour; the Evangelists and their
symbols; the Finding of the True Cross; SS. Peter and Paul; St.
Sylvester, the conservator of the church; and Sta. Helena, with Cardinal
Carvajal kneeling before her.

Here the feast of the "Invention of the True Cross" (May 3) is
celebrated with great solemnity, when the hymns "Pange Lingua" and
"Vexilla Regis" are sung, and the antiphon:--

     "O Cross, more glorious than the stars, world famous, beauteous of
     aspect, holiest of things, which alone wast worthy to sustain the
     weight of the world: dear wood, dear nails, dear burden, bearing;
     save those present assembled in thy praise to-day. Alleluia."

And the collect:--

     "O God, who by the glorious uplifting of the salvation-bearing
     cross, hast displayed the miracles of thy passion, grant that by
     the merit of that life-giving wood, we may attain the suffrages of
     eternal life, &c."

The adjoining _Monastery_ belongs to the Cistercians. Only part of one
wing is ancient. The library formerly contained many curious MSS., but
most of these were lost to the basilica, when the collection was removed
to the Vatican during the French occupation and the exile of Pius VII.

The garden of the monastery contains the ruin generally known as the
_Temple of Venus and Cupid_, but considered by Dr. Braun to be the
Sessorian Basilica or law-court, where the causes of slaves (who were
allowed to appeal to no other court) were wont to be heard. Behind the
monastery is the _Amphitheatrum Castrense_, attributed to the time of
Nero, when it is supposed to have been erected for the games of two
cohorts of soldiers, quartered near here. It is ingrafted into the line
of the Honorian walls, and is best seen from the outside of the city.
Its arches and pillars, with Corinthian capitals, are all of brick.

(On the left of the Via Sta. Croce, which leads hence to Sta. Maria
Maggiore, is the gate of the _Villa Altieri_, chiefly remarkable for its
grand umbrella pine, the finest in the city. Further, on the right, is a
tomb of unknown origin, now used as a farm-house and a wine-shop.)

Turning to the right from the basilica, we follow a lane which leads
beneath some fine brick arches of an aqueduct of the time of Nero, cited
by Ampère,[286] as exemplifying the perfection to which architecture
attained in the reign of this emperor, "by the quality of the bricks,
and the excellence and small quantity of the cement." These ruins are
popularly called the Baths of Sta. Helena.

Passing these arches we find ourselves facing the _Porta Maggiore_,
formed by two arches of the Claudian Aqueduct, formerly known as the
Porta Labicana, and Porta Prenestina, of which the former was closed in
the time of Honorius, and has never been re-opened. Three inscriptions
remain, the first relating to the building of the aqueduct by the
Emperor Tiberius Claudius;--the second and third to its restoration by
Vespasian and Titus. Above the Aqua Claudia flowed a second stream, the
Anio Novus.

Outside the gate, only lately disclosed, upon the removal of
constructions of the time of Honorius (the fragments of those worth
preserving are placed on the opposite wall), is the _Tomb of the Baker
Eurysaces_, who was also one of the inspectors of aqueducts. The tomb is
attributed to the early years of the Empire. Its first storey is
surmounted by the inscription: "EST HOC MONUMENTUM MARCEI VERGILEI
EVRYSACES PISTORIS REDEMPTORIS APPARET." Its second storey is composed
of rows of the mortars used in baking, placed sideways, and supporting
a frieze with bas-reliefs telling the story of a baker's work, from the
bringing of the corn into the mill to its distribution as bread. In the
front of the tomb was formerly a relief of the baker and his wife, with
a sarcophagus, and the inscription: "FUIT ATISTIA UXOR MIHEI--FEMINA
OPTVMA VEIXSIT--QUOIVS CORPORIS RELIQUIÆ--QUOD SUPERANT SUNT IN--HOC
PANARIO." This has been foolishly removed, and is now to be seen upon
the opposite wall.

       *       *       *       *       *

From this gate many pleasant excursions may be taken. The direct road
leads to Palestrina by Zagarolo, and at 1½ mile from the gate passes,
on the left, _Torre Pignatarra_, the tomb of Sta. Helena, whence the
magnificent porphyry sarcophagus, now in the Vatican, was removed. The
name is derived from the _pignatte_, or earthen pots, used in the
building. Beneath it is a catacomb, now closed. The adjoining _Catacomb
of SS. Pietro e Marcellino_ contains some well preserved paintings; the
most interesting is that of the Divine Lamb on a mound (from which four
rivers flow as in the mosaics of the ancient basilicas), with figures of
Petrus, Gorgonius, Marcellinus, and Tiburtius. At three miles from the
gate the road reaches _Centocellæ_, whence, near the desolate tower
called _Torre Pernice_, there is a most picturesque view of the aqueduct
_Aqua Alexandrina_, built by Alexander Severus, with a double line of
arches crossing the hollow. At five miles, on the right, is the Borghese
farm of Torre Nuova, with a fine group of old stone pines.

The road which turns left from the gate leads by the _Aqua Bollicante_,
where the Arvales sang their hymn, to the picturesque ruins of the
_Torre dei Schiavi_, the palace of the Emperors Gordian (A.D. 238),
adjoining which are the remains of a round temple of Apollo. This is,
perhaps, one of the most striking scenes in the Campagna and--backed by
the violet mountains above Tivoli--is a favourite subject with artists.

     "Les Gordiens, très-grands personnages, furent de très-petits
     empereurs. Ils montrent ce qu'était devenu l'aristocratie romaine
     dégénérée. Le premier, honnête et pusillanime, comme le prouvent
     son élection et sa mort, était un peu replet et avait dans l'air du
     visage quelque chose de solennel et de théâtral (_pompali vultu_).
     Il aimait et cultivait les lettres. Son fils également se fit
     quelque réputation en ce genre, grâce surtout à sa bibliothèque de
     soixante mille volumes; mais il avait d'autres goûts encore que
     celui des livres: on lui donne jusqu'à vingt-deux concubines en
     titre, et de chacune d'elles, il eut trois ou quatre enfants. Il
     menait une vie épicurienne dans ses jardins et sous des ombrages
     délicieux: c'étaient les jardins et les ombrages d'une villa
     magnifique que les Gordiens avaient sur la voie Prénestine, et dont
     Capitolin, au temps duquel elle existait encore, nous a laissé une
     description détaillée. Le péristyle était formé de deux cents
     colonnes des marbres les plus précieux, le cipollin, le
     pavonazetto, le jaune et le rouge antiques. La villa renfermait
     trois basiliques et les thermes que ceux de Rome surpassaient à
     peine. Telle était l'opulence d'une habitation privée vers le
     milieu du troisième siècle de l'empire."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 328.

The road which continues in a straight line from hence passes, on the
left, the Torre Tre Teste. The eighth mile-stone is of historic
interest, being described by Livy (v. 49) as the spot where the dictator
Camillus overtook and exterminated the army of Gauls who were retreating
from Rome with the spoils of the Capitol.

At the ninth mile is the _Ponte di Nono_, a magnificent old bridge with
seven lofty arches of lapis-gabinus. This leads (twelve miles from Rome)
to the dried-up lake and the ruins of Gabii (Castiglione), including
that of the temple of Juno Gabina.

                      "Quique arva Gabinæ
    Junonis, gelidumque Anienem, et roscida rivis
    Hernica saxa colunt."

    _Virgil, Æn._ vii. 682.

The road which branches off on the left leads (twelve miles from Rome)
to _Lunghezza_, the fine old castle of the Strozzi family, situated on
the little river Osa. Hence a beautiful walk through a wood leads to
Castello del Osa, the ruins of the ancient _Collatia_, so celebrated
from the tragedy of Lucretia. Two miles beyond the Torre dei Schiavi, on
the left, is the fine castellated farm of _Cervaletto_, a property of
the Borghese. A field road of a mile and half, passing in front of this
(practicable for carriages), leads to another fine old castellated farm
(five miles from Rome), close to which are the extraordinary _Grottoes
of Cerbara_,--a succession of romantic caves of great size, in the tufa
rocks, from which the material of the Coliseum was excavated. Here the
"Festa degli Artisti" is held in May, which is well worth seeing,--the
artists in costume riding in procession, and holding games, amid these
miniature Petra-like ravines. Beyond Cerbara are remains of a villa of
Lucius Verus, and, on the bank of the Anio, the romantically-situated
castle of _Rustica_.

From the Porta Maggiore we may follow a lane along the inside of the
wall, crossing the railway--whence there is a picturesque view of the
temple of Minerva Medica--to _The Porta S. Lorenzo_, anciently called
the Porta Tiburtina (the road to Tivoli passes through it), built in
402, by the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, on the advice of Stilicho,
as we learn from an inscription over the archway of the Marcian,
Tepulan, and Julian Aqueducts, now half buried within the later brick
gateway.

The road just beyond the gate is connected with the story of the
favourite saint of the Roman people.

     "When Sta. Francesca Romana had no resource but to beg for the sick
     under her care, she went to the basilica of _S. Lorenzo fuori_
     Mura, where was the station of the day, and seated herself amongst
     the crowd of beggars, who, according to custom, were there
     assembled. From the rising of the sun to the ringing of the
     vesper-bell, she sate there, side by side with the lame, the
     deformed, and the blind. She held out her hand as they did, gladly
     enduring, not the semblance, but the reality, of that deep
     humiliation. When she had received enough wherewith to feed the
     poor at home, she rose, and entering the old basilica, adored the
     Blessed Sacrament, and then walked back the long and weary way,
     blessing God all the while."--_Lady G. Fullerton._

A quarter of a mile beyond the gate we come in sight of the church and
monastery, but the effect is much spoilt by the hideous modern cemetery,
formed since the following description was written:--

     "S. Lorenzo is as perfect a picture of a basilica externally, as S.
     Clemente is internally. Viewing it from a little distance, the
     whole pile--in its grey reverend dignity--the row of stones
     indicating the atrium, with an ancient cross in the centre--the
     portico overshadowing faded frescoes--the shelving roof, the
     body-wall bulging out and lapping over, like an Egyptian
     temple--the detached Lombard steeple--with the magic of sun and
     shadow, and the background of the Campagna, bounded by the blue
     mountains of Tivoli--together with the stillness, the repose,
     interrupted only by the chirp of the grasshopper, and the distant
     intermitted song of the Contadino--it forms altogether such a scene
     as painters love to sketch, and poets to re-people with the shadows
     of past ages; and I open a wider heaven for either fraternity to
     fly their fancies in, when I add that it was there the ill-fated
     Peter de Courtenay was crowned Emperor of the East."--_Lord
     Lindsay, Christian Art._

     "To St. Laurence was given a crown of glory in heaven, and upon
     earth eternal and universal praise and fame; for there is scarcely
     a city or town in all Christendom which does not contain a church
     or altar dedicated to his honour. The first of these was built by
     Constantine outside the gates of Rome, on the spot where he was
     buried; and another was built on the summit of the hill, where he
     was martyred; besides these, there are at Rome four others; and in
     Spain the Escurial, and at Genoa the Cathedral."--_Mrs. Jameson._

We have already followed St. Laurence to the various spots in Rome
connected with his story,--to the green space at the Navicella, where he
distributed his alms before the house of St. Cyriaca (in whose catacomb
he was first buried); to the basilica in the Palace of the Cæsars, where
he was tried and condemned; to S. Lorenzo in Fonte, where he was
imprisoned; to S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, where he died; to S. Lorenzo in
Lucina, where his supposed gridiron is preserved; and now we come to his
grave, where a grand basilica has arisen around the little oratory,
erected by Constantine, which marked his first burial-place in the
Catacombs.

The first basilica erected here was built in the end of the sixth
century, by Pope Pelagius II., but this was repeatedly enlarged and
beautified by succeeding popes, and at length was so much altered in
1216, by Honorius III., that the old basilica became merely the choir or
tribune of a larger and more important church. So many other changes
have since taken place, that Bunsen remarks upon S. Lorenzo as more
difficult of explanation than any other of the Roman churches.

In front of the basilica stands a bronze statue of St. Laurence, upon a
tall granite pillar.

The portico is supported by six Ionic columns, four of them spiral.
Above these is a mosaic frieze of the thirteenth century. In the centre
is the Spotless Lamb, having, on the right, St. Laurence, Honorius III.,
and another figure; and on the left three heads, two of whom are
supposed to be the virgin martyr Sta. Cyriaca, and her mother
Tryphœna, buried in the adjoining cemetery. Above this is a very
richly decorated marble frieze, boldly relieved with lions' heads. The
gable of the church is faced with modern mosaics of saints. Within the
portico are four splendid sarcophagi; that on the left of the entrance
is adorned with reliefs representing a vintage, with cupids as the
vine-gatherers, and contains the remains of Pope Damasus II., who died
in 1049, after a reign of only twenty-three days. At the sides of the
door are two marble lions. The walls of the portico are covered with a
very curious series of frescoes, lately repainted. They represent four
consecutive stories.

On the right:--

     A holy hermit, living a life of solitude and prayer, heard a
     rushing noise, and, looking out of his window, saw a troop of
     demons, who told him that the Emperor Henry II. had just expired,
     and that they were hurrying to lay claim to his soul. The hermit
     trembled, and besought them to let him know as they returned how
     they had succeeded. Some days after, they came back and narrated
     that when the Archangel was weighing the good and evil deeds of the
     emperor in his balance, the weight was falling in their
     favour--when suddenly the roasted St. Laurence appeared, bearing a
     golden chalice, which the emperor, shortly before his death, had
     bestowed upon the Church, and cast it into the scale of good deeds,
     and so turned the balance the other way, but that in revenge they
     had broken off one of the golden handles of the chalice. And when
     the hermit heard these things he rejoiced greatly; and the soul of
     the emperor was saved and he became a canonized saint,--and the
     devils departed blaspheming.

The order of the frescoes representing this legend is:--

    1, 2. Scenes in the life of Henry II.
    3. The Emperor offers the golden chalice.
    4. A banquet scene.
    5. The hermit discourses with the devils.
    6. The death of Henry II.--1024.
    7. The dispute for the soul of the Emperor.
    8. It is saved by St. Laurence.

The second series represents the whole story of the acts, trial,
martyrdom, and burial of St. Laurence; one or two frescoes in this were
entirely effaced, and have been added by the restorer. Of the old series
were:--

    1. The investiture of St. Laurence as deacon.
    2. St. Laurence washes the feet of poor Christians.
    3. He heals Sta. Cyriaca.
    4. He distributes alms on the Cœlian.
    5. He meets St. Sixtus led to death, and receives his blessing.
    6. He is led before the prefect.
    7. He restores sight to Lucillus.
    8. He is scourged.
    9. He baptizes St. Hippolytus.
    11. He refuses to give up the treasures of the Church.
    13, 14, 15. His burial by St. Hippolytus.

The third series represents the story of St. Stephen, followed by that
of the translation of his relics to this basilica.

     The relics of St. Stephen were preserved at Constantinople, whither
     they had been transported from Jerusalem by the Empress Eudoxia,
     wife of Theodosius II. Hearing that her daughter Eudoxia, wife of
     Valentinian II., Emperor of the West, was afflicted with a devil,
     she begged her to come to Constantinople that her demon might be
     driven out by the touch of the relics. The younger Eudoxia wished
     to comply,--but the devil refused to leave her, unless St. Stephen
     was brought to Rome. An agreement was therefore made that the
     relics of St. Stephen should be exchanged for those of St.
     Laurence. St. Stephen arrived, and the empress was immediately
     relieved of her devil, but when the persons who had brought the
     relics of St. Stephen from Constantinople were about to take those
     of St. Laurence back with them, they all fell down dead! Pope
     Pelagius prayed for their restoration to life, which was granted
     for a short time, to prove the efficacy of prayer, but they all
     died again ten days after! Thus the Romans knew that it would be
     criminal to fulfil their promise, and part with the relics of St.
     Laurence, and the bodies of the two martyrs were laid in the same
     sarcophagus.

The frescoes in the left wall represent a separate story:--

     A holy sacristan arose before the dawn to enjoy solitary prayers
     before the altars of this church. Once when he was thus employed,
     he found that he was not alone, and beheld three persons, a priest,
     a deacon, and sub-deacon, officiating at the altar, and the church
     around him filled with worshippers, whose faces bore no mortal
     impress. Tremblingly he drew near to him whom he dreaded the least,
     and inquired of the deacon, who this company might be. 'The priest
     whom thou seest is the blessed apostle Peter,' answered the spirit,
     'and I am Laurence who suffered cruel torments for the love of my
     master Christ, upon a Wednesday, which was the day of his betrayal;
     and in remembrance of my martyrdom we are come to-day to celebrate
     here the mysteries of the Church; and the sub-deacon who is with us
     is the first martyr, St. Stephen,--and the worshippers are the
     apostles, the martyrs, and virgins who have passed with me into
     Paradise, and have come back hither to do me honour; and of this
     solemn service thou art chosen as the witness. When it is day,
     therefore, go to the pope and tell what thou hast seen, and bid
     him, in my name, to come hither and to celebrate a solemn mass with
     all his clergy, and to grant indulgences to the faithful.' But the
     sacristan trembled and said, 'If I go to the pope he will not
     believe me: give me some visible sign, then, which will show what I
     have seen.' And St. Laurence ungirt his robe, and giving his girdle
     to the sacristan, bade him show it in proof of what he told. In the
     morning the old man related what he had seen to the abbot of the
     monastery, who bore the girdle to the then pope, Alexander II. The
     pope accompanied him back to the basilica,--and on their way they
     were met by a funeral procession, when, to test the powers of the
     girdle, the pope laid it on the bier, and at once the dead arose
     and walked. Then all men knew that the sacristan had told what was
     true, and the pope celebrated mass as he had been bidden, and
     promised an indulgence of forty years to all who should visit on a
     Wednesday any church dedicated to St. Laurence.

This story is told in eight pictures:--

     1. The sacristan sees the holy ones.

     2. The Phantom Mass.

     3. The sacristan tells the abbot.

     4. The abbot tells the pope.

     5. The pope consults his cardinals.

     6. The dead is raised by the girdle.

     7. Mass is celebrated at St. Lorenzo, and souls are freed from
     purgatory by the intercession of the saint.

     8. Prayer is made at the shrine of St. Laurence.

The nave--which is the basilica of Honorius III.--is divided from its
side aisles by twenty-two Ionic columns of granite and cipollino. The
sixth column on the right has a lizard and a frog amongst the
decorations of its capital, which led Winckelmann to the supposition
that these columns were brought hither from the Portico of Octavia,
because Pliny describes that the architects of the Portico of Metellus,
which formerly occupied that site, were two Spartans, named Sauros and
Batrachus, who implored permission to carve their names upon their work;
and that when leave was refused, they introduced them under this
form,--Batrachus signifying a frog, and Sauros a lizard.

Above the architrave are frescoes by _Fracassini_, of the lives and
martyrdoms of SS. Stephen and Laurence. Higher up are saints connected
with the history of the basilica. The roof is painted in patterns. The
splendid opus-alexandrinum pavement is of the tenth century. On the left
of the entrance is a baptismal font, above which are more frescoes
relating to the story of St. Laurence. On the right, beneath a mediæval
canopy, is a very fine sarcophagus, sculptured with a wedding
scene,--adapted as the tomb of Cardinal Fieschi, nephew of Innocent IV.,
who died in 1256. Inside the canopy, is a fresco of Christ throned, to
whom St. Laurence presents the cardinal, and St. Stephen Innocent IV.
Behind stand St. Eustace and St. Hippolytus. The west end of the church
is closed by the inscription, "Hi sunt qui venerunt de tribulatione
magna, et laverunt stolas suas in sanguine agni."

The splendid ambones in the nave, inlaid with serpentine and porphyry,
are of the twelfth century. That on the right, with a candelabrum for
the Easter candle, was for the gospel; that on the left for the epistle.

At the end of the left aisle, a passage leads down to a subterranean
chapel, used for prayer for the souls in purgatory. Here is the entrance
to the _Catacombs of Sta. Ciriaca_, which are said to extend as far as
Sant' Agnese, but which have been much and wantonly injured in the works
for the new cemetery. Here the body of St. Laurence is related to have
been found. Over the entrance is inscribed:--

     "Hæc est tumba illa toto orbe terrarum celeberrima ex cimeterio S.
     Cyriacæ Matronæ ubi sacrum si quis fecerit pro defunctis eorum
     animas e purgatorii pœnis divi Laurentii meritis evocabit."[287]

Passing the triumphal arch, we enter the early basilica of Pope Pelagius
II. (572--590), which is on a lower level than that of the nave. Here
are twelve splendid columns of pavonazzetto, of which the two first bear
trophies carved above the acanthus leaves of their capitals. These
support an entablature formed from various antique fragments, put
together without uniformity,--and a triforium, divided by twelve small
columns.

On the inside, which was formerly the outside, of the triumphal arch, is
a restored mosaic of the time of Pelagius, representing the Saviour
seated upon the world, having on the right St. Peter, St. Laurence, and
St. Pelagius, and on the left St. Paul and St. Stephen, and with them,
in a warrior's dress, St. Hippolytus, the soldier who was appointed to
guard St. Laurence in prison, and who, being converted by him, was
dragged to death by wild horses, after seeing nineteen of his family
suffer before his eyes. He is the patron saint of horses. Here also are
the mystic cities, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

A long poetical inscription is known to have once existed here; only two
lines remain round the arch:--

    "Martyrium flaminis olim Levita subisti
    Jure tuis templis lux veneranda redit."

The high altar, with a baldacchino, supported by four porphyry columns,
covers the remains of SS. Laurence and Stephen, enclosed in a silver
shrine by Pelagius II., a pope so munificent that he had given up his
own house as a hospital for aged poor. St. Justin is also buried here.

     "No one knew what had become of the body of St. Stephen for 400
     years, when Lucian, a priest of Carsamagala, in Palestine, was
     visited in a dream by Gamaliel, the doctor of the law at whose feet
     Paul was brought up in all the learning of the Jews; and Gamaliel
     revealed to him that after the death of Stephen he had carried away
     the body of the saint, and had buried it in his own sepulchre, and
     had also deposited near it the body of Nicodemus and other saints;
     and this dream having been repeated three times, Lucian went with
     others deputed by the bishop, and dug with mattocks and spades in
     the spot which had been indicated,--a sepulchre in a garden,--and
     found what they supposed to be the remains of St. Stephen, their
     peculiar sanctity being proved by many miracles. These relics were
     first deposited in Jerusalem, in the church of Sion, and afterwards
     by the younger Theodosius carried to Constantinople, whence they
     were taken to Rome, and placed by Pope Pelagius in the same tomb
     with St. Laurence. It is related that when they opened the
     sarcophagus, and lowered into it the body of St. Stephen, St.
     Laurence moved on one side, giving the place of honour on the right
     hand to St. Stephen: hence the common people of Rome have conferred
     on St. Laurence the title of 'Il cortese Spagnuolo'--the courteous
     Spaniard."--_Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art._

Behind the altar is a mosaic screen, with panels of porphyry and
serpentine, and an ancient episcopal throne.

The lower church was filled up with soil till 1864, when restorations
were ordered here. These were entrusted to Count Vespignani, and have
been better carried out than most church alterations in Rome; but an
interesting portico, with mosaics by one of the famous Cosmati family,
has been destroyed to make room for some miserable arrangements
connected with the modern cemetery.

It was in this basilica that Peter Courtenay, Count of Auxerre, with
Yolande his wife, received the imperial crown of Constantinople from
Honorius III. in 1217.

Adjoining the church is the very picturesque _Cloister of the
Monastery_, built in 1190, for Cistercian monks, but assigned as a
residence for any Patriarchs of Jerusalem who might visit Rome. Here are
preserved many ancient inscriptions, and other fragments from the
neighbouring catacombs.

The basilica is now almost engulfed in the Cemetery of S. Lorenzo, the
great modern burial-ground of Rome. It was opened in 1837, but has been
much enlarged in the last ten years. Hither wend the numerous funerals
which are seen passing through the streets after Ave-Maria, with a
procession of monks bearing candles. A frightful gate, with a laudatory
inscription to Pius IX., and a hideous modern chapel, have been erected.
There are very few fine monuments. The best are those in imitation of
the cinque-cento tombs of which there are so many in the Roman churches.
That by Podesti, the painter, to his wife, in the right corridor of the
cloister, is touching. The higher ground to the left, behind the church,
is occupied by the tombs of the rich. Those of the poor are
indiscriminately scattered over a wide plain. A range of cliffs on the
left were perforated by the catacombs of Sta. Cyriaca, which, with the
bad taste so constantly displayed in Rome, have been wantonly and
shamefully broken up. Those who do not wish to descend into a catacomb,
may here see (from without) all their arrangements--in the passages
lined with sepulchres, and even some small chapels, lined with rude
frescoes, laid open to the air, where the cliff has been cut away.

A Roman funeral is a most sad sight, and strikes one with an unutterable
sense of desolation.

     "After a death the body is entirely abandoned to the priests, who
     take possession of it, watch over it, and prepare it for burial;
     while the family, if they can find refuge anywhere else, abandon
     the house and remain away a week.... The body is not ordinarily
     allowed to remain in the house more than twelve hours, except on
     condition that it is sealed up in lead or zinc. At nightfall a sad
     procession of _becchini_ and _frati_ may be seen coming down the
     street, and stopping before the house of the dead. The _becchini_
     are taken from the lowest classes of the people, and hired to carry
     the corpse on the bier and to accompany it to the church and
     cemetery. They are dressed in shabby black _cappe_, covering their
     head and face as well as their body, and having two large holes cut
     in front of the eyes to enable them to see. These _cappe_ are
     girdled round the waist, and the dirty trousers and worn-out shoes
     are miserably manifest under the skirts of their dress--showing
     plainly that their duty is occasional. All the _frati_ and
     _becchini_, except the four who carry the bier, are furnished with
     wax candles, for no one is buried in Rome without a candle. You may
     know the rank of the person to be buried by the lateness of the
     hour and the number of the _frati_. If it be the funeral of a
     person of wealth or a noble, it takes place at a late hour, the
     procession of _frati_ is long, and the bier elegant. If it be a
     state-funeral, as of a prince, carriages accompany it in mourning,
     the coachman and lackeys are bedizened in their richest liveries,
     and the state hammer-cloths are spread on the boxes, with the
     family arms embossed on them in gold. But if it be a pauper's
     funeral, there are only _becchini_ enough to carry the bier to the
     grave, and two _frati_, each with a little candle; and the sunshine
     is yet on the streets when they come to take away the corpse.

     "You will see this procession stop before the house where the
     corpse is lying. Some of the _becchini_ go up-stairs, and some keep
     guard below. Scores of shabby men and boys are gathered round the
     _frati_; some attracted simply by curiosity, and some for the
     purpose of catching the wax, which gutters down from the candles as
     they are blown by the wind. The latter may be known by the great
     horns of paper which they carry in their hands. While this crowd
     waits for the corpse, the _frati_ light their candles, and talk,
     laugh, and take snuff together. Finally comes the body, borne down
     by four of the _becchini_. It is in a common rough deal coffin,
     more like an ill-made packing-case than anything else. No care or
     expense has been laid out upon it to make it elegant, for it is
     only to be seen for a moment. Then it is slid upon the bier, and
     over it is drawn the black velvet pall with golden trimmings, on
     which a cross, death's head, and bones are embroidered. Four of the
     _becchini_ hoist it on their shoulders, the _frati_ break forth
     into their hoarse chaunt, and the procession sets out for the
     church. Little and big boys and shabby men follow along, holding up
     their paper horns against the sloping candles to catch the dripping
     wax. Every one takes off his hat, or makes the sign of the cross,
     or mutters a prayer, as the body passes; and with a dull, sad,
     monotonous chaunt, the candles gleaming and flaring, and casting
     around them a yellow flickering glow, the funeral winds along
     through the narrow streets, and under the sombre palaces and
     buildings, where the shadows of night are deepening every moment.
     The spectacle seen from a distance, and especially when looked down
     upon from a window, is very effective; but it loses much of its
     solemnity as you approach it; for the _frati_ are so vulgar, dirty,
     and stupid, and seem so utterly indifferent and heartless, as they
     mechanically croak out their psalms, that all other emotions yield
     to a feeling of disgust."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

     "Ces rapprochements soudains de l'antiquité et des temps modernes,
     provoqués par la vue d'un monument dont la destinée se lie à l'une
     et aux autres, sont très-fréquents à Rome. L'histoire poétique
     d'Énée aurait pu m'en fournir plusieurs. Ainsi dans l'Énéide, aux
     funérailles de Pallas, une longue procession s'avance, portant des
     flambeaux funèbres, suivant l'usage antique, dit Virgile. En effet,
     on se souvient que l'usage des cierges remontait à l'abolition des
     sacrifices humains, accompli dans les temps héroïques par le dieu
     pélasgique Hercule. La description que fait Virgile des funérailles
     de Pallas pourrait convenir à un de ces enterrements romains où
     l'on voit de longues files de capucins marchant processionnellement
     en portant des cierges.

    ... 'Lucet via longo
    Ordine flammarum.'"

    _Æn._ xi. 143.

    --_Ampère_, i. 217.


On the other side of the road from S. Lorenzo is the _Catacomb of St.
Hippolytus_, interesting as described by the Christian poet Prudentius,
who wrote at the end of the fourth century.

     "Not far from the city walls, among the well-trimmed orchards,
     there lies a crypt buried in darksome pits. Into its secret
     recesses a steep path in the winding stairs directs one, even
     though the turnings shut out the light. The light of day, indeed,
     comes in through the doorway, as far as the surface of the opening,
     and illuminates the threshold of the portico; and when, as you
     advance further, the darkness as of night seems to get more and
     more obscure throughout the mazes of the cavern, there occur at
     intervals apertures cut in the roof which convey the bright rays of
     the sun upon the cave. Although the recesses, twisting at random
     this way and that, form narrow chambers with darksome galleries,
     yet a considerable quantity of light finds its way through the
     pierced vaulting down into the hollow bowels of the mountain. And
     thus throughout the subterranean crypt it is possible to perceive
     the brightness and enjoy the light of the absent sun. To such
     secret places is the body of Hippolytus conveyed, near to the spot
     where now stands the altar dedicated to God. That same altar-slab
     (mensa) gives the sacrament, and is the faithful guardian of its
     martyrs' bones, which it keeps laid up there in expectation of the
     Eternal Judge, while it feeds the dwellers by the Tiber with holy
     food. Wondrous is the sanctity of the place! The altar is at hand
     for those who pray, and it assists the hopes of men by mercifully
     granting what they need. Here have I, when sick with ills both of
     soul and body, oftentimes prostrated myself in prayer and found
     relief.... Early in the morning men come to salute (Hippolytus):
     all the youth of the place worship here: they come and go until the
     setting of the sun. Love of religion collects together into one
     dense crowd both Latins and foreigners; they imprint their kisses
     on the shining silver; they pour out their sweet balsams; they
     bedew their faces with tears."--See _Roma Sotterranea_, p. 98.




CHAPTER XIV.

IN THE CAMPUS MARTIUS.

     S. Antonio dei Portoguesi--Torre della Scimia--S. Agostino--S.
     Apollinare--Palazzo Altemps--Sta. Maria dell' Anima--Sta. Maria
     della Pace--Palazzo del Governo Vecchio--Monte Giordano and Palazzo
     Gabrielli--Sta. Maria Nuova--Sta. Maria di Monserrato--S. Girolamo
     della Carità--Sta. Brigitta--S. Tommaso degl' Inglese--Palazzo
     Farnese--Sta. Maria della Morte--Palazzo Falconieri--Campo di
     Fiore--Palazzo Cancelleria--SS. Lorenzo e Damaso--Palazzo
     Linote--Palazzo Spada--Trinità dei Pellegrini--Sta. Maria in
     Monticelli--Palazzo Santa Croce--S. Carlo a Catinari--Theatre of
     Pompey--S. Andrea della Valle--Palazzo Vidoni--Palazzo Massimo alle
     Colonne--S. Pantaleone--Palazzo Braschi--Statue of Pasquin--Sant'
     Agnese--Piazza Navona--Palazzo Pamfili--S. Giacomo degli
     Spagnuoli--Palazzo Madama--S. Luigi dei Francesi--The Sapienza--S.
     Eustachio--Pantheon--Sta. Maria sopra Minerva--Il Piè die Marmo.


The Campus Martius, now an intricate labyrinth of streets, occupying the
wide space between the Corso and the Tiber, was not included within the
walls of ancient Rome, but even to late imperial times continued to be
covered with gardens and pleasure-grounds, interspersed with open
spaces, which were used for the public exercises and amusements of the
Roman youth.

    "Tunc ego me memini ludos in gramine Campi
    Aspicere, et didici, lubrice Tibri, tuos."

    _Ovid_, _Fast._ vi. 237.

    "Tot jam abiere dies, cum me, nec cura theatri,
    Nec tetigit Campi, nec mea musa juvat."

    _Propert._ ii. _El._ 13.

The vicinity of the Tiber afforded opportunities for practice in
swimming.

    "Quamvis non alius flectere equum sciens
    Æque conspicitur gramine Martio."

    _Hor._ iii. _Od._ 7.

    "Altera gramineo spectabis Equiria campo,
    Quem Tiberis curvis in latus urget aquis."

    _Ovid_, _Fast._ iii. 519.

        "Once, upon a raw and gusty day,
    The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
    Cæsar said to me, 'Dar'st thou, Cassius, now
    Leap in with me into this angry flood,
    And swim to yonder point?' Upon the word,
    Accoutred as I was, I plunged in,
    And bade him follow,--so, indeed, he did:
    The torrent roared; and we did buffet it
    With lusty sinews; throwing it aside,
    And stemming it with hearts of controversy."

    _Shakspeare_, _Julius Cæsar_.

It was only near the foot of the Capitol that any buildings were erected
under the republic, and these only public offices; under the empire a
few magnificent edifices were scattered here and there over the plain.
In the time of Cicero, the Campus was quite uninhabited; it is supposed
that the population were first attracted here when the aqueducts were
cut during the Lombard invasion, which drove the inhabitants from the
hills, and obliged them to seek a site where they could avail themselves
of the Tiber.

The hills, which were crowded by a dense population in ancient Rome, are
now for the most part deserted; the plain, which was deserted in
ancient Rome, is now thickly covered with inhabitants.

The plain was bounded on two sides by the Quirinal and Capitoline hills,
which were both in the hands of the Sabines, but it had no connection
with the Latin hill of the Palatine. Thus it was dedicated to the Sabine
god, Mamers or Mars, either before the time of Servius Tullius, as is
implied by Dionysius, or after the time of the Tarquins, as stated by
Livy.

Tarquinius Superbus had appropriated the Campus Martius to his own use,
and planted it with corn. After he was expelled, and his crops cut down
and thrown into the Tiber, the land was restored to the people. Here the
tribunes used to hold the assemblies of the plebs in the Prata Flaminia
at the foot of the Capitol, before any buildings were erected as their
meeting-place.

The earliest building in the Campus Martius of which there is any
record, is the Temple of Apollo, built by the consul C. Julius, in B.C.
430. Under the censor C. Flaminius, in B.C. 220, a group of important
edifices arose on a site which is ascertained to be nearly that occupied
by the Palazzo Caetani, Palazzo Mattei, and Sta. Caterina dei Funari.
The most important was the Circus Flaminius, where the plebeian games
were celebrated under the care of the plebeian ædiles, and which in
later times was flooded by Augustus, when thirty-six crocodiles were
killed there for the amusement of the people.[288]

Close to this Circus was the _Villa Publica_, erected B.C. 438, for
taking the census, levying troops, and such other public business as
could not be transacted within the city.

Here, also, foreign ambassadors were received before their entrance into
the city, as afterwards at the Villa Papa Giulio, and here victorious
generals awaited the decree which allowed them a triumph.[289] It was in
the Villa Publica that Sylla cruelly massacred three thousand partisans
of Marius, after he had promised them their lives.

    "Tunc flos Hesperiæ, Latii jam sola juventus,
    Concidit, et miseræ maculavit ovilia Romæ."

    _Lucan_, ii. 196.

The cries of these dying men were heard by the senate who were assembled
at the time in the _Temple of Bellona_ (restored by Appius Claudius
Cæcus in the Samnite War), which stood hard by, and in front of which at
the extremity of the Circus Flaminius, where the Piazza Paganica now is,
stood the _Columna Bellica_, where the Ferialis, when war was declared,
flung a lance into a piece of ground, supposed to represent the enemy's
country, when it was not possible to do it at the hostile frontier
itself. Julius Cæsar flung the spear here when war was declared against
Cleopatra.[290]

    "Prospicit a templo summum brevis area Circum.
      Est ibi non parvæ parva columna notæ.
    Hinc solet hasta manu, belli prænuncia, mitti;
      In regem et gentes, cum placet arma capi."

    _Ovid_, _Fast._ vi. 205.

Almost adjoining the Villa Publica was the Septa, where the Comitia
Centuriata of the plebs assembled for the election of their tribunes.
The other name of this place of assembly, Ovilia, or the sheepfolds,
bears witness to its primitive construction, when it was surrounded by a
wooden barrier. In later times the Ovilia was more richly adorned;
Pliny describes it as containing two groups of sculpture--Pan and the
young Olympus, and Chiron and the young Achilles--for which the keepers
were responsible with their lives;[291] and under the empire it was
enclosed in magnificent buildings.

In B.C. 189 the _Temple of Hercules Musagetes_ was built by the censor
Fulvius Nobilior. It occupied a site on the north-west of the portico of
Octavia.[292] Sylla restored it:--

    "Altera pars Circi custode sub Hercule tuta est;
      Quod Deus Euboico carmine munus habet.
    Muneris est tempus, qui Nonas Lucifer ante est:
      Si titulos quæris; Sulla probavit opus."

    _Ovid_, _Fast._ vi. 209.

This temple was rebuilt by L. Marcius Philippus, stepfather of Augustus,
and surrounded by a portico called after him Porticus Philippi.[293]

    "Vites censeo porticum Philippi,
    Si te viderit Hercules, peristi."

    _Martial_, v. _Ep._ 50.[294]

The _Portico of Octavia_ itself was originally built by the prætor, Cn.
Octavius, in B.C. 167, and rebuilt by Augustus, who re-dedicated it in
memory of his sister. Close adjoining was the _Porticus Metelli_, built
B.C. 146, by Cæcilius Metellus.[295] It contained two _Temples of Juno
and Jupiter_.[296] Another _Temple of Juno_ stood between this and the
theatre of Pompey, having been erected by M. Æmilius Lepidus in B.C.
170, together with a _Temple of Diana_.[297] Near the same spot was a
_Temple of Fortuna Equestris_, erected in consequence of a vow of Q.
Fulvius Flaccus when fighting against the Celtiberians in B.C. 176; a
_Temple of Isis and Serapis_; and a _Temple of Mars_, erected by D.
Junius Brutus, for his victories over the Gallicians in B.C. 136;[298]
at this last-named temple the people, assembled in their centuries,
voted the war against Philip of Macedon. In the same neighbourhood was
the _Theatre of Balbus_, a general under Julius Cæsar, occupying the
site of the Piazza della Scuola.

The munificence of Pompey extended the public buildings much further
into the Campus. He built, after his triumph, a _Temple of Minerva_ on
the site now occupied by the Church of Sta. Maria sopra Minerva, on
which the beautiful statue called "the Giustiniani Minerva" was found,
and the _Theatre of Pompey_, surrounded by pillared porticoes and walks
shaded with plane-trees.

    "Scilicet umbrosis sordet Pompeia columnis
      Porticus aulæis nobilis Attalicis:
    Et creber pariter platanis surgentibus ordo,
      Flumina sopito quæque Marone cadunt."

    _Propertius_, ii. _El._ 32.

    "Tu modo Pompeia lentus spatiare sub umbra,
      Cum Sol Herculei terga leonis adit."

    _Ovid_, _de Art. Am._ i. 67.

    "Inde petit centum pendentia tecta columnis,
      Illinc Pompeii dona, nemusque duplex."

    _Martial_, ii. _Ep._ 14.

Under the empire important buildings began to rise up further from the
city. The _Amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus_, whose ruins are supposed
to be the foundation of the Monte-Citorio, was built by a general under
Augustus; the magnificent _Pantheon_, the _Baths of Agrippa_, and the
_Diribitorium_--where the soldiers received their pay--whose huge and
unsupported roof was one of the wonders of the city,[299] were due to
his son-in-law. Agrippa also brought the _Aqua Virgo_ into the city to
supply his baths, conveying it on pillars across the Flaminian Way, the
future Corso.

    "Qua vicina pluit Vipsanis porta columnis,
      Et madet assiduo lubricus imbre lapis,
    In jugulum pueri, qui roscida templa subibat,
      Decidit hiberno prægravis unda gelu."

    _Martial_, iv. _Ep._ 18.

Near this aqueduct was a temple of Juturna;

    "Te quoque lux eadem, Turni soror, æde recepit;
    Hic ubi Virginea campus obitur aqua."

    _Ovid_, _Fast._ i. 463.

and another of Isis.

    "A Meroë portabit aquas, ut spargat in æde
    Isidis, antiquo quæ proxima surgit ovili."

    _Juvenal_, _Sat._ vi. 528.

These were followed by the erection of the _Temple of Neptune_--by some
ascribed to Agrippa, who is said to have built it in honour of his naval
victories, by others to the time of the Antonines; by the great
_Imperial Mausoleum_, then far out in the country; and by the _Baths of
Nero_, on the site now occupied by S. Luigi and the neighbouring
buildings.

            " ... Quid Nerone pejus?
    Quid thermis melius Neronianis?"

    _Martial_, vii. _Ep._ 33.

          " ... Fas sit componere magnis
    Parva, Neronea nec qui modo totus in unda
    Hic iterum sudare negat."

    _Statius_, _Silv._ i. 5.

Besides these were an _Arch of Tiberius_, erected by Claudius; a _Temple
of Hadrian_ and _Basilica of Matidia_, built by Antoninus Pius, in
honour of his predecessors; the _Temple and Arch of Marcus Aurelius_,
near the site of the present Palazzo Chigi; and an _Arch of Gratian,
Valentinian II., and Theodosius_.

Of all these various buildings nothing remains except the Pantheon, a
single arch of the Baths of Agrippa, some disfigured fragments of the
Mausoleum, a range of columns belonging to the temple of Neptune, and a
portion of the Portico of Octavia. The interest of the Campus Martius is
almost entirely mediæval or modern, and the objects worth visiting are
scattered amid such a maze of dirty and intricate streets, that they are
seldom sought out except by those who make a long stay in Rome, and care
for everything connected with its history and architecture.

       *       *       *       *       *

Following the line of streets which leads from the Piazza di Spagna to
St. Peter's (Via Condotti, Via Fontanella Borghese), beyond the Borghese
Palace, let us turn to the left by the Via della Scrofa,[300] at the
entrance of which is the _Palazzo Galitzin_ on the right, and the
_Palazzo Cardelli_ on the left.

Passing, on the right, _St. Ivo of Brittany_, the national church of the
Bretons, the second turn on the right, Via S. Antonio dei Portoguesi,
shows a church dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua, and the fine mediæval
tower called _Torre della Scimia_.

In this tower once lived a man who had a favourite ape. One day this
creature seized upon a baby, and rushing to the summit, was seen from
below, by the agonized parents, perched upon the battlements, and
balancing their child to and fro over the abyss. They made a vow in
their terror that if the baby were restored in safety, they would make
provision that a lamp should burn nightly for ever before an image of
the Virgin on the summit. The monkey, without relaxing its hold of the
infant, slid down the wall, and bounding and grimacing, laid the child
at its mother's feet. Thus a lamp always burns upon the battlements
before an image of the Madonna.

This building is better known, however, as "Hilda's Tower," a fictitious
name which it has received from Hawthorne's mysterious novel.

     "Taking her way through some of the intricacies of the city, Miriam
     entered what might be called either a widening of a street or a
     small piazza. The neighbourhood comprised a baker's oven, emitting
     the usual fragrance of sour bread; a shoe shop; a linendraper's
     shop; a pipe and cigar shop; a lottery office; a station for French
     soldiers, with a sentinel pacing in front; and a fruit stand, at
     which a Roman matron was selling the dried kernels of chesnuts,
     wretched little figs, and some bouquets of yesterday. A church, of
     course, was near at hand, the façade of which ascended into lofty
     pinnacles, whereon were perched two or three winged figures of
     stone, either angelic or allegorical, blowing stone trumpets in
     close vicinity to the upper windows of an old and shabby palace.
     This palace was distinguished by a feature not very common in the
     architecture of Roman edifices; that is to say, a mediæval tower,
     square, massive, lofty, and battlemented and machicolated at the
     summit.

     "At one of the angles of the battlements stood a shrine of the
     Virgin, such as we see everywhere at the street-corners of Rome,
     but seldom or never, except in this solitary instance, at a height
     above the ordinary level of men's views and aspirations. Connected
     with this old tower and its lofty shrine, there is a legend; and
     for centuries a lamp has been burning before the Virgin's image at
     noon, at midnight, at all hours of the twenty-four, and must be
     kept burning for ever, as long as the tower shall stand; or else
     the tower itself, the palace, and whatever estate belongs to it,
     shall pass from its hereditary possessor, in accordance with an
     ancient vow, and become the property of the Church.

     "As Miriam approached, she looked upward, and saw--not, indeed, the
     flame of the never-dying lamp, which was swallowed up in the broad
     sunlight that brightened the shrine--but a flock of white doves,
     shining, fluttering, and wheeling above the topmost height of the
     tower, their silver wings flashing in the pure transparency of the
     air. Several of them sat on the ledge of the upper window, pushing
     one another off by their eager struggle for this favourite station,
     and all tapping their beaks and flapping their wings tumultuously
     against the panes; some had alighted in the street, far below, but
     flew hastily upward, at the sound of the window being thrust ajar,
     and opening in the middle, on rusty hinges, as Roman windows
     do."--_Transformation._

The next street, on the right, leads to the _Church of S. Agostino_,
built originally by Bacio Pintelli, in 1483, for Cardinal
d'Estouteville, archbishop of Rouen and Legate in France (the vindicator
of Joan of Arc), but altered in 1740 by Vanvitelli. The delicate work of
the front, built of travertine robbed from the Coliseum, is much admired
by those who do not seek for strength of light and shadow. This
church--dedicated to her son--contains the remains of Sta. Monica,
brought hither from Ostia, where she died. The chapel of St. Augustin,
in the right transept, contains a gloomy picture by _Guercino_ of St.
Augustin between St. John Baptist and St. Paul the Hermit. The high
altar, by Bernini, has an image of the Madonna brought from Sta. Sophia
at Constantinople, and attributed to St. Luke. The second chapel in the
left aisle has a group of the Virgin and Child with St. Anna, by
_Andrea Sansovino_, 1512.

On the third pilaster, to the left of the nave, is a fresco of Isaiah by
_Raphael_, painted in 1512, but retouched by Daniele de Volterra in the
reign of Paul IV. The prophet holds a scroll with words from Isaiah
xxvi. 2. Few will agree with the stricture of Kugler:--

     "In a fresco, representing the prophet Isaiah and two angels, who
     hold a tablet, the comparison is unfavourable to Raphael. An effort
     to rival the powerful style of Michael-Angelo is very visible in
     this picture; an effort which, notwithstanding the excellence of
     the execution in parts, has produced only an exaggerated and
     affected figure."--_Kugler_, ii. 371.

The church overflows with silver hearts and other votive offerings,
which are all addressed to the Madonna and Child of _Andrea Sansovino_,
close to the west entrance, which is really a fine piece of
sculpture--for an object of Roman Catholic idolatry.

     "On the pedestal of the image is inscribed--'N. S. Pio VII. concede
     in perpetuo 100 giorni d'indulgenza da lucrarsi una volta al giorno
     da tutte quelle che divotamente toccheranno il piede di questa S.
     Immagine recitando un Ave Maria per il bisogno di S. Chiesa. 7
     Giug. MD.CCCXXII."

Around this statue are, or were a short time ago, a whole array of
assassins' daggers hung up, strange instances of trespass-offering.

     "The Church of S. Agostino is the Methodist meeting-house, so to
     speak, of Rome, where the extravagance of the enthusiasm of the
     lower orders is allowed the freest scope. Its Virgin and Child are
     covered, smothered, with jewels, votive offerings of those whose
     prayers the image had heard and answered. All round the image the
     walls are covered with votive offerings likewise; some of a similar
     kind--jewels, watches, valuables of different descriptions. Some
     offerings again consist of pictures, representing, generally in
     the rudest way, some sickness or accident, cured or averted by the
     appearance in the clouds of the Madonna, as seen in the image.
     Almost the whole side of the church is covered, from pavement to
     roof, with these curious productions."--_Alford's Letters from
     Abroad._

     "It is not long since the report was spread, that one day when a
     poor woman called upon this image of the Madonna for help, it began
     to speak, and replied, 'If I had only something, then I could help
     thee, but I myself am so poor!'

     "This story was circulated, and very soon throngs of credulous
     people hastened hither to kiss the foot of the Madonna, and to
     present her with all kinds of gifts. The image of the Virgin, a
     beautiful figure in brown marble, now sits shining with ornaments
     of gold and precious stones. Candles and lamps burn around, and
     people pour in, rich and poor, great and small, to kiss, some of
     them two or three times--the Madonna's foot, a gilt foot, to which
     the forehead also is devotionally pressed. The marble foot is
     already worn away with kissing, the Madonna is now rich.... Below
     the altar it is inscribed in golden letters that Pius VII. promised
     two hundred days' absolution to all such as should kiss the
     Madonna's foot, and pray with the whole heart _Ave
     Maria_."--_Frederika Bremer._

Passing the arch, just beyond this, is the _Church of S. Apollinare_,
built originally by Adrian I. (772--795), but modernized under Benedict
XIV. by Fuga. It contains a number of relics of saints brought from the
East by Basilian monks. Over the altar, on the left, in the inner
vestibule, is a Madonna by _Perugino_. The church now belongs to the
German college.

     S. Apollinare is said to have accompanied St. Peter from Antioch to
     Rome, and to have remained here as his companion and assistant
     (whence the church dedicated to him here). He was afterwards sent
     to preach the faith in Ravenna, where he became the first Christian
     bishop, and suffered martyrdom outside the Rimini gate, July 23,
     A.D. 79.

Adjoining this church is the _Seminario Romano_, founded by Pius IV., on
a system drawn up by his nephew, S. Carlo Borromeo. Eight hundred young
boys are annually educated here. In order to gain admittance, it is
necessary to be of Roman birth, to be acquainted with grammar, and to
wish to take orders. Pupils are held to their first intention of
entering the priesthood, by being compelled to refund all the expenses
of their education, if they renounce it.

Nearly opposite the church is the _Palazzo Altemps_, built 1580, by
Martino Lunghi. Its courtyard, due, like all the best palace work in
Rome, to Baldassare Peruzzi, is exceedingly graceful and picturesque.
Ancient statues and flowering shrubs occupy the spaces between the
arches of the ground-floor, and on the first-floor is a loggia, richly
decorated with delicate arabesques in the style of Giovanni da Udine.
Near this loggia is a chapel of exceedingly beautiful proportions, and
delicately worked detail. It has several good frescoes, especially the
Flight into Egypt, and Sta. Cecilia singing to the Virgin and the Child.
At the west end is a small gracefully proportioned music-gallery, in
various coloured marbles; in an inner chapel is a fine bronze crucifix.
The palace, of which the most interesting parts are shown on request, is
now the property of the Duke of Gallese, to whom it came by the marriage
of Jules Hardouin, Duke of Gallese, with Donna Lucrezia d'Altemps.

Following the Via S. Agostino by the mediæval _Torre Sanguinea_, whose
name bears witness to the mediæval frays of popes and anti-popes, we
reach the German national church of _Sta. Maria dell' Anima_, which
derives its name from a marble group of the Madonna invoked by two souls
in purgatory, found among the foundations, and now inserted in the
tympanum of the portal. It was originally built _c._ 1440, with funds
bequeathed by "un certo Giovanni Pietro," but enlarged in 1514; the
façade is by Giuliano da Sangallo. The door-frames, of delicate
workmanship, are by Antonio Giamberti.

The front entrance is generally closed, but one can always gain
admittance from behind, through the courtyard of the German hospital.

The interior is peculiar, from its great height and width in comparison
with its length. It is divided into three almost equal aisles. Over the
high altar is a damaged picture of the Holy Family with saints, by
_Giulio Romano_. On the right is the fine tomb of Pope Adrian VI.,
Adrian Florent (1522--23), designed by Baldassare Peruzzi, and carried
out by Michelangelo Sanese and Niccolo Tribolo. This pope, the son of a
ship-builder at Utrecht, was professor at the university of Louvain, and
tutor of Charles V. After the witty, brilliant age of Julius II. and Leo
X., he ushered in a period of penitence and devotion. He drove from the
papal court the throng of artists and philosophers who had hitherto
surrounded it, and he put a stop to the various great buildings which
were in progress, saying, "I do not wish to adorn priests with churches,
but churches with priests." Still he found the times so much too
frivolous for him, that he only survived a year. In his epitaph we
read:--

     "Hadrianus hic situs est, qui nihil sibi infelicius in vita quam
     quod imperaret, duxit."[301]

and--

    "Proh dolor! quantum refert in quæ tempora vel optimi.
    .... Cujusque virtus incidat!"

The tomb was erected at the expense of Cardinal William of Enkenfort,
the only prelate to whom he had time to give a hat.

     "It is an irony, that Adrian, who despised all the arts on
     principle, and looked upon Greek statues as idolatrous, had a more
     artistic monument than Leo X. of the house of Medici. Baldassare
     Peruzzi made the design, its sculptures were carried out by
     Michelangelo Sanese and Tribolo, and they merit the highest
     acknowledgment. Here, as is so often the case, the architecture is,
     as it were, a frontispiece; but the way in which the pope is
     represented, resembles, in conformity with his character, the type
     of the middle ages. He is stretched upon a simple marble
     sarcophagus, and slumbers with his head supported by his hand. His
     countenance (Adrian was very handsome) is deeply marked and
     sorrowful. In the lunette above, following the ancient type,
     appears Mary with the Child between St. Peter and St. Paul. Below,
     in the niches, stand the figures of the four cardinal virtues:
     Temperance holds a chain; Courage a branch of a tree, while a lion
     stands by her side; Justice has an ostrich by her side; Wisdom
     carries a mirror and a serpent. These figures are executed with
     great care. Lastly, under the sarcophagus is a large bas-relief
     representing the entry of the pope to Rome. He sits on horseback in
     the dress of a cardinal; behind him follow cardinals and monks; the
     senator of Rome renders homage on his knees, while from the gate
     the eternal Rome comes forth to meet him. This Cypria, so well
     adorned by his predecessors, seems ill-pleased to do homage to this
     cross old man. With secret pleasure one sees a pagan idea carried
     out in the corner: the Tiber is represented as a river god with his
     horn of abundance; and thus the devout pope could not defend
     himself against the heathen spirit of the time, which has at least
     attached itself to his tomb."--_Gregorovius, Grabmäler der Päpste._

Opposite the pope, on the left of the choir, is the fine tomb of a Duke
of Cleves, who died 1575, by Egidius of Riviere and Nicolaus of Arras.

The body of the church has several good pictures. In the 1st chapel of
the right aisle is St. Bruno receiving the keys of the cathedral of
Miessen in Saxony from a fisherman, who had found them in the inside of
a fish, by _Carlo Saraceni_; in the 2nd chapel, the monument of
Cardinal Slusius; in the 3rd chapel, an indifferent copy of the Pietà of
Michael Angelo, by _Nanni di Bacio Bigio_. In the 1st chapel of the left
aisle is the martyrdom of St. Lambert, _C. Saraceni_.

     The two pictures in this church are cited by Lanzi as the best
     works of this comparatively rare artist, sometimes called Carlo
     Veneziano, 1585--1625. He sought to follow in the steps of
     Caravaggio; many will think that he surpassed him, when they look
     upon the richness of colour and grand effect of light and shadow
     which is displayed here.

In the 3rd chapel (del Christo Morto), frescoes from the life of Sta.
Barbara, _Mich. Coxcie_, altar-piece (the entombment) and frescoes by
_Salviati_.

On the left of the west door is the tomb of Cardinal Andrea of Austria,
nephew of Ferdinand II., who died 1650; on the right that of Cardinal
Enckenovirt, died 1500. In the passage towards the sacristy is a fine
bas-relief, representing Gregory XIII. giving a sword to the Duke of
Cleves.

Close to this church is that of _Sta. Maria della Pace_, built in 1487,
by Baccio Pintelli, to fulfil a curious _ex-voto_ made by Sixtus IV.
Formerly there stood here a little chapel dedicated to St. Andrew, in
whose portico was an image of the Virgin. One day a drunken soldier
pierced the bosom of this Madonna with his sword, when blood
miraculously spirted forth. Sixtus IV. (Francesco della Rovere,
1471--84) visited the spot with his cardinals, and vowed to compensate
the Virgin by building her a church, if she would grant peace to Europe
and the Church, then afflicted by a cruel war with the Turks. Peace was
restored, and the Church of "St. Mary of Peace" was erected by the
grateful pope. Pietro da Cortona added the peculiar semicircular
portico under Alexander VII. The interior has only a short nave ending
under an octagonal cupola.

Above the 1st chapel on the right (that of the Chigi family) are the
_Four Sibyls of Raphael_.

     "This is one of Raphael's most perfect works: great mastery is
     shown in the mode of filling and taking advantage of the apparently
     unfavourable space. The angels who hold the tablets to be written
     on, or read by the Sibyls, create a spirited variety in the severe
     symmetrical arrangement of the whole. Grace in the attitudes and
     movements, with a peculiar harmony of form and colour, pervade the
     whole picture; but important restorations have unfortunately become
     necessary in several parts. An interesting comparison may be
     instituted between this work and the Sibyls of Michael Angelo. In
     each we find the peculiar excellence of the great masters; for
     while Michael Angelo's figures are grand, sublime, profound, the
     fresco of the Pace bears the impress of Raphael's severe and
     ingenious grace. The four Prophets, on the wall over the Sibyls,
     were executed by Timoteo della Vite, after drawings by
     Raphael."--_Kugler._

     "The Sibyls have suffered much from time, and more, it is said,
     from restoration; yet the forms of Raphael, in all their
     loveliness, all their sweetness, are still before us; they breathe
     all the soul, the sentiment, the chaste expression, and purity of
     design that characterize his works. The dictating angels hover over
     the heads of the gifted maids, one of whom writes with rapid pen
     the irreversible decrees of Fate. The countenances and musing
     attitudes of her sister Sibyls express those feelings of habitual
     thoughtfulness and pensive sadness natural to those who are cursed
     with the knowledge of futurity, and all its coming
     evils."--_Eaton's Rome._

     "The Sibyls are simply beautiful women of antique form, to whom,
     with the aid of books, scrolls, and inscriptions, the Sibyllic idea
     has been given, but who would equally pass for the abstract
     personifications of virtues or cities. They are four in
     number,--the Cumana, Phrygia, Persica, and Tiburtina; all, with the
     exception of the last, in the fulness of youth and beauty, and
     occupied, apparently, with no higher aim than that of displaying
     both. Indeed, the Tiburtina matches ill with the rest, either in
     character or action. She is aged, has an open book on her lap, but
     turns with a strange and rigid action as if suddenly called. The
     very comparison with her tends to divest the others of the
     Sibylline character. In this, the angels who float above, and
     obviously inspire them, also help, for while adding to the charm of
     the composition, which is one of the most exquisite as to mere
     art, they interfere with that inwardly inspired expression which
     all other art has given to these women.

     "The inscription on the scroll of the Cumæan Sibyl gives in Greek
     the words, 'The Resurrection of the Dead.' The Persica is writing
     on the scroll held by the angel, 'He will have the lot of Death.'
     The beautiful Phrygia is presented with a scroll, 'The heavens
     surround the sphere of the earth;' and the Tiburtina has under her
     the inscription, 'I will open and arise.' The fourth angel floats
     above, holding the seventh line of Virgil's Eclogue, 'Jam nova
     progenies.'"--_Lady Eastlake's 'History of Our Lord.'_

The 1st chapel on the left has monuments of the Ponzetti family. The 2nd
chapel on the left has an altar-piece of the Virgin between St. Bridget
and St. Catherine, by _Baldassare Peruzzi_; in the front of the picture
kneels the donor, Cardinal Ponzetti. The 1st altar on the right has the
Adoration of the Shepherds by _Sermoneta_. The 2nd chapel, the
burial-place of the Santa Croce family, has rich carved work of the
sixteenth century. The high altar, designed by Carlo Maderno, has an
ancient (miracle-working) Madonna. Of the four paintings of the cupola,
the Nativity of the Virgin is by _Francesco Vanni_; the Visitation,
_Carlo Maratta_; the Presentation in the Temple, _Baldassare Peruzzi_;
the Death of the Virgin, _Morandi_.

Newly-married couples have the touching custom of attending their first
mass here, and invoking "St. Mary of Peace" to rule the course of their
new life.

The _Cloister of the Convent_, entered on the left under the dome, was
designed by _Bramante_ for Cardinal Caraffa in 1504.

From the portico of the church the Via in Parione leads to the _Via del
Governo Vecchio_. Here, on the right, is the _Palazzo del Governo
Vecchio_, with a richly-sculptured door-*way, and ancient cloistered
court.

Proceeding as far as the Piazza del Orologio, we see on the right an
eminence known as _Monte Giordano_, supposed to be artificial, and to
have arisen from the ruins of ancient buildings.

     Its name is derived from Giordano Orsini, a noble of one of the
     oldest Roman families, who built the palace there, which is now
     known as the _Palazzo Gabrielli_, and which has rather a handsome
     fountain. It was probably in consequence of the name Jordan, that
     this hillock was chosen in mediæval times as the place where the
     Jews in Rome received the newly-elected pope on his way to the
     Lateran, and where their elders, covered with veils, presented him,
     on their knees, with a copy of the Pentateuch bound in gold. Then
     the Jews spoke in Hebrew, saying, "Most holy Father, we Hebrew men
     beseech your Holiness, in the name of our synagogue, to vouchsafe
     to us that the Mosaic Law, given on Mount Sinai by the Almighty God
     to Moses our priest, may be confirmed and approved, as also other
     eminent popes, the predecessors of your Holiness, have approved and
     confirmed it". And the pope replied, "We confirm the Law, but we
     condemn your faith and interpretation thereof, because He who you
     say is to come, the Lord Jesus Christ, is come already, as our
     Church teaches and preaches."

Turning to the left, we enter a piazza, one side of which is occupied by
the convent of the Oratorians, and the vast _Church of Santa Maria in
Valicella, or the Chiesa Nuova_, built by Martino Lunghi for Gregory
XIII. and S. Filippo Neri. The façade is by Rughesi. The decorations of
the magnificently-ugly interior are partly due to Pietro da Cortona, who
painted the roof and cupola.

On the left of the tribune is the gorgeous _Chapel of S. Filippo Neri_,
containing the shrine of the saint, rich in lapis-lazuli and gold,
surmounted by a mosaic copy of the picture by _Guido_ in the adjoining
convent.

On the right, in the 1st chapel, is the Crucifixion, by _Scipione
Gaetani_; in the 3rd chapel, the Ascension, _Maziano_. On the left, in
the 2nd chapel, is the Adoration of the Magi, _Cesare Nebbia_; in the
3rd chapel, the Nativity, _Durante Alberti_; in the 4th chapel, the
Visitation, _Baroccio_. In the left transept are statues of SS. Peter
and Paul, by _Valsoldo_, and the Presentation in the Temple, by
_Baroccio_. When S. Filippo Neri saw this picture, he said to the
painter "Ma come avete ben fatto!--Che vera somiglianza!--E così che mi
ha apparato tante volte la Santa Vergine."

The high altar has four columns of porta-santa. Its pictures are by
_Rubens_ in his youth;--that in the centre represents the Virgin in a
glory of angels; on the right are St. Gregory, S. Mauro, and St. Papias;
on the left St. Domitilla, St. Nereus, and St. Achilleus.

_The Sacristy_, entered from the left transept, is by Marucelli. It has
a grand statue of S. Filippo Neri, by _Algardi_. The ceiling is painted
by _Pietro da Cortona_--the subject is an angel bearing the instruments
of the passion to heaven.

The _Monastery_, built by Borromini, contains the magnificent library
founded by S. Filippo. The cell of the saint is accessible, even to
ladies. It retains his confessional, chair, shoes, rope-girdle,--and
also a cast taken from his face after death, and some pictures which
belonged to him, including one of Sta. Francesca Romana, and the
portrait of an archbishop of Florence. In the private chapel adjoining,
is the altar at which he daily said mass, over which is a picture of his
time. Here also are the crucifix which was in his hands when he died,
his candlesticks, and some sacred pictures on tablets which he carried
to the sick. The door of the cell is the same, and the little bell by
which he summoned his attendant. In a room below is the carved coffin in
which he lay in state, a picture of him lying dead, and the portrait by
_Guercino_ from which the mosaic in the church is taken. A curious
picture in this chamber represents an earthquake at Beneventum, in which
Pope Gregory XIV. believed that his life was saved by an image of S.
Filippo. When S. Filippo Nero died,--as in the case of S. Antonio,--the
Catholic world exclaimed intuitively, "Il Santo è morto!"

    "Let the world flaunt her glories! each glittering prize,
    Though tempting to others, is naught in my eyes.
    A child of St. Philip, my master and guide,
    I would live as he lived, and would die as he died.

    "If scanty my fare, yet how was he fed?
    On olives and herbs and a small roll of bread.
    Are my joints and bones sore with aches and with pains?
    Philip scourged his young flesh with fine iron chains.

    "A closet his home, where he, year after year,
    Bore heat or cold greater than heat or cold here;
    A rope stretch'd across it, and o'er it he spread
    His small stock of clothes; and the floor was his bed.

    "One lodging besides; God's temple he chose,
    And he slept in its porch his few hours of repose;
    Or studied by light which the altar-lamp gave,
    Or knelt at the martyr's victorious grave."

    _J. H. Newman_, 1857.

The church of the Chiesa Nuova belongs exclusively to the Oratorian
Fathers. Pope Leo XII. wished to turn it into a parish church.

     "It was said that the superior of the house took, and showed, to
     the Holy Father, an autograph memorial of the founder St. Philip
     Neri to the pope of his day, petitioning that his church should
     never be a parish. And below it was written that pope's promise,
     also in his own hand, that it never should. This pope was St. Pius
     V. Leo bowed to such authorities, said that he could not contend
     against two saints, and altered his plans."--_Wiseman's Life of Leo
     XII._

     "S. Filippo Neri was good-humoured, witty, strict in essentials,
     indulgent in trifles. He never commanded; he advised, or perhaps
     requested: he did not discourse, he conversed: and he possessed, in
     a remarkable degree, the acuteness necessary to distinguish the
     peculiar merit of every character."--_Ranke._

     "S. Filippo Neri laid the foundation of the Congregation of
     Oratorians in 1551. Several priests and young ecclesiastics
     associating themselves with him, began to assist him in his
     conferences, and in reading prayers and meditations to the people
     in the Church of the Holy Trinity. They were called Oratorians,
     because at certain hours every morning and afternoon, by ringing a
     bell, they called the people to the church to prayers and
     meditations. In 1564, when the saint had formed his congregation
     into a regular community, he preferred several of his young
     ecclesiastics to holy orders; one of whom was the eminent Cæsar
     Baronius, whom, for his sanctity, Benedict XIV., by a decree dated
     on the 12th of January, 1745, honoured with the title of 'Venerable
     Servant of God.' At the same time he formed his disciples into a
     community, using one common purse and table, and he gave them rules
     and statutes. He forbade any of them to bind themselves to this
     state by vow or oath, that all might live together joined only by
     the bands of fervour and holy charity; labouring with all their
     strength to establish the kingdom of Christ in themselves by the
     most perfect sanctification of their own souls, and to propagate
     the same in the souls of others, by preaching, instructing the
     ignorant, and teaching the Christian doctrine."--_Alban Butler._

     "S. Filippo Neri exacted from his scholars and associates various
     undignified outward acts. He required from a young Roman prince,
     who wished to enjoy the distinction of being a member of his Order,
     that he should walk through Rome with a fox's tail fastened on
     behind: and when the prince declined to submit to this, he was
     declined admission to the Order. Another was made to go through the
     city without a coat; and another, with torn and tattered sleeves. A
     nobleman took compassion on the last, and offered him a new pair of
     sleeves: the youth declined, but afterwards, by command of the
     master, was obliged gratefully to fetch and wear them. During the
     building of the new church, he compelled his disciples to bring up
     the materials like day labourers, and to lay their hands to the
     work."--_Goethe, Romische Briefe._

It was in the piazza in front of this church that (during the reign of
Clement XIV.) a beautiful boy was wont to improvise wonderful verses to
the admiration of the crowds who surrounded him. This boy was named
Trapassi, and was the son of a grocer in the neighbourhood. The
Arcadian Academy changed his name into Greek, and called him
"Metastasio."

From the corner of the piazza in front of the Chiesa Nuova, the Via
Calabraga leads into the Via Monserrato, which it enters between Sta.
Lucia del Gonfalone on the right, and S. Stefano in Piscinula on the
left;--then, passing on the right S. Giacomo in Aino--behind which, and
the Palazzo Ricci, is Santo Spirito dei Napolitani, a much frequented
and popular little church--we reach _Sta. Maria di Monserrato_, built by
Sangallo, in 1495, where St. Ignatius Loyola was wont to preach and
catechise.

Here, behind the altar, under a stone unmarked by any epitaph, repose at
last the remains of Pope Alexander VI., Rodrigo Borgia
(1492--1503),--the infamous father of the beautiful and wicked Cæsar and
Lucretia Borgia, who is believed to have died from accidentally drinking
in a vineyard-banquet the poison which he had prepared for one of his
own cardinals. When exhumed and turned out of the pontifical vaults of
St Peter's by Julius II., he found a refuge here in his national church.
The bones of his uncle Calixtus III., Alfonso Borgia (1455--58), rest in
the same grave.

A little further, on the left, is the _Church of S. Tommaso degli
Inglesi_, rebuilt 1870, on the site of a church founded by Offa, king of
the East Saxons in 775, but destroyed by fire in 817. It was rebuilt,
and was dedicated by Alexander III. (1159) to St. Thomas à Becket, who
had lodged in the adjoining hospital when he was in Rome. Gregory XIII.,
in 1575, united the hospital which existed here with one for English
sailors on the Ripa Grande, dedicated to St. Edmund the Martyr, and
converted them into a college for English missionaries.

     "Nothing like a hospice for English pilgrims existed till the first
     great Jubilee, when John Shepherd and his wife Alice, seeing this
     want, settled in Rome, and devoted their substance to the support
     of poor palmers from their own country. This small beginning grew
     into sufficient importance for it to become a royal charity; the
     King of England became its patron, and named its rector, often a
     person of high consideration. Among the fragments of old monuments
     scattered about the house by the revolution, and now collected and
     arranged in a corridor of the college, is a shield surmounted by a
     crown, and carved with the ancient arms of England, lions or
     lionceaux, and fleur-de-lis, quarterly. This used formerly to be
     outside the house, and under it was inscribed:

        'Hæc conjuncta duo,
          Successus debita legi,
        Anglia dant, regi
          Francia signa suo.
    Laurentius Chance me fecit M.CCC.XII.'"

    _Cardinal Wiseman._


In the hall of the college are preserved portraits of Roman Catholics
who suffered for their faith in England under Henry VIII. and Elizabeth.

The small cloister has a beautiful tomb of Christopher Bainbrigg,
archbishop of York, British envoy to Julius II., who died at Rome 1514,
and a monument of Sir Thomas Dereham, ob. 1739. Against the wall is the
monument of Martha Swinburne, a prodigy of nine years old, inscribed:

     "Memoriæ Marthæ, Henrici et Marthæ Swinburne. Nat. Angliæ. ex.
     Antiqua. et. Nobili. Familia. Caphæton. Northumbriæ. Parentes.
     Mœstiss. Filiæ. Carissimæ. Pr. Quæ. Ingenio. Excellenti. Forma.
     Eximia. Incredibili. Doctrina. Moribus. Suavissimis. Vix. Ann.
     viii. Men. xi. Tantum. Prærepta. Romæ. v. ID. SEPT. AN. MDCCLXVIII.

     "Martha Swinburne, born Oct. X. MDCCLVIII. Died Sept. VIII.
     MDCCLXVII. Her years were few, but her life was long and full. She
     spoke English, French, and Italian, and had made some progress in
     the Latin tongue; knew the English and Roman histories, arithmetic,
     and geography; sang the most difficult music at sight with one of
     the finest voices in the world, was a great proficient on the
     harpsichord, wrote well, and danced many sorts of dances with
     strength and elegance. Her face was beautiful and majestic, her
     body a perfect model, and all her motions graceful. Her docility in
     doing everything to make her parents happy, could only be equalled
     by her sense and aptitude. With so many perfections, amidst the
     praises of all persons, from the sovereign down to the beggar in
     the street, her heart was incapable of vanity; affectation and
     arrogance were unknown to her. Her beauty and accomplishments made
     her the admiration of all beholders, the love of all that enjoyed
     her company. Think, then, what the pangs of her wretched parents
     must be on so cruel a separation. Their only comfort is in the
     certitude of her being completely happy beyond the reach of pain,
     and for ever freed from the miseries of this life. She can never
     feel the torments they endure for the loss of a beloved child.
     Blame them not for indulging an innocent pride in transmitting her
     memory to posterity as an honour to her family and to her native
     country England. Let this plain character, penned by her
     disconsolate father, draw a tear of pity from every eye that
     peruses it."

The arm of St. Thomas à Becket is the chief "relic" preserved here.

At the end of the street are two exceedingly ugly little churches--very
interesting from their associations. On the right is _St. Girolamo della
Carità_, founded on the site of the house of Sta. Paula, where she
received St Jerome upon his being called to Rome from the Thebaid by
Pope Damasus in 392. Here he remained for three years, till, embittered
by the scandal excited by his residence in the house of the widow, he
returned to his solitude.

In 1519 S. Filippo Neri founded here a _Confraternity_ for the
distribution of dowries to poor girls, for the assistance of debtors,
and for the maintenance of fourteen priests for the visitation and
confession of the sick.

     "Lorsque St. Philippe de Neri fut prêtre, il alla se loger à
     Saint-Jerôme _della Carità_, où il demeura trente-cinq ans, dans la
     société des pieux ecclésiastiques qui administraient les
     sacrements dans cette paroisse. Chaque soir, Philippe ouvrait, dans
     sa chambre qui existe encore, des conférences sur tous les points
     du dogme catholique; les jeunes gens affluaient à ces saintes
     réunions: on y voyait Baronius; Bordini, qui fut archevêque;
     Salviati, frère du cardinal; Tarugia, neveu du pape Jules III. Un
     désir ardent d'exercer ensemble le ministère de la prédication et
     les devoirs de la charité porta ces pieux jeunes gens à vivre en
     commun, sous la discipline du vertueux prêtre, dont le parole était
     si puissante sur leurs cœurs."--_Gournerie._

The masterpiece of Domenichino, the Last Communion of St. Jerome, in
which Sta. Paula is introduced kissing the hand of the dying saint, hung
in this church till carried off to Paris by the French.

Opposite this is the _Church of Sta. Brigitta_, on the site of the
dwelling of the saint, a daughter of the house of Brahé, and wife of
Walfon, duke of Nericia, who came hither in her widowhood, to pass her
declining years near the Tomb of the Apostles. With her, lived her
daughter St. Catherine of Sweden, who was so excessively beautiful, and
met with so many importunities in that wild time (1350), that she made a
vow never to leave her own roof except to visit the churches. The
crucifix, prayer-book, and black mantle of St. Bridget are preserved
here.[302]

     "St. Bridget exercised a reformatory influence as well upon the
     higher class of the priesthood in Rome as in Naples. For she did
     not alone satisfy herself with praying at the graves of the
     martyrs, she earnestly exhorted bishops and cardinals, nay, even
     the pope himself, to a life of the true worship of God and of good
     works, from which they had almost universally fallen, to devote
     themselves to worldly ambition. She awoke the consciences of many,
     as well by her prayers and remonstrances, as by her example. For
     she herself, of a rich and noble race, that of a Brahé, one of the
     nobles in Sweden, yet lived here in Rome, and laboured like a truly
     humble servant of Christ. 'We must walk barefoot over pride, if we
     would overcome it,' said she, and Brigitta Brahé did so; and, in so
     doing, overcame those proud hearts, and won them to
     God."--_Frederika Bremer._

We now reach the _Palazzo Farnese_,--the most magnificent of all the
Roman palaces,--begun by Paul III., Alessandro Farnese (1534--50), and
finished by his nephew, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Its architects were
Antonio di Sangallo, Michael Angelo, and Giacomo della Porta, who
finished the façade towards the Tiber. The materials were plundered
partly from the Coliseum and partly from the theatre of Marcellus; the
granite basons of the fountains in front are from the baths of
Caracalla. The immense size of the blocks of travertine used in the
building give it a solid grandeur.

This palace was inherited by the Bourbon kings of Naples by descent from
Elizabetta Farnese, who was the last of her line, and it has for the
last few years been the residence of the Neapolitan Court, who have
lived here in the utmost seclusion since their exile. For this reason
the palace is now very seldom shown. Its vast halls are painted with the
masterpieces of Annibale Caracci--huge mythological subjects,--and a few
frescoes by Guido, Domenichino, Daniele da Volterra, Taddeo Zucchero,
and others; but there has not been much to see since the dispersion of
the Farnese gallery of sculpture, of which the best pieces (the Bull,
Hercules, Flora, &c.) are in the museum at Naples. In the courtyard is
the sarcophagus which is said once to have held the remains of Cecilia
Metella.

     "The painting the gallery at the Farnese Palace is supposed to have
     partly caused the death of Caracci. Without fixing any price he set
     about it, and employed both himself and all his best pupils nearly
     seven years in perfecting the work, never doubting that the Farnese
     family, who had employed him, would settle a pension upon him, or
     keep him in their service. When his work was finished they paid him
     as you would pay a house-painter, and this ill-usage so deeply
     affected him, that he took to drinking, and never painted anything
     great afterwards."--_Miss Berry's Journals._

Behind the Palazzo Farnese runs the _Via Giulia_, which contains the
ugly fountain of the Mascherone. Close to the arch which leads to the
Farnese gardens is the church of _Sta. Maria della Morte_, or _Dell'
Orazione_, built by Fuga. It is in the hands of a pious confraternity
who devote themselves to the burial of the dead.

     "L'église de la _Bonne-Mort_ a son caveau, décoré dans le style
     funèbre comme le couvent des Capucins. On y conserve aussi
     élégamment que possible les os des noyés, asphyxiés et autres
     victimes des accidents. La confrérie de la _Bonne-Mort_ va chercher
     les cadavres; un sacristain assez adroit les dessèche et les
     dispose en ornements. J'ai causé quelque temps avec cet artiste:
     'Monsieur,' me disait-il, 'je ne suis heureux qu'ici, au milieu de
     mon œuvre. Ce n'est pas pour les quelques écus que je gagne tous
     les jours en montrant la chapelle aux étrangers; non; mais ce
     monument que j'entretiens, que j'embellie, que j'égaye par mon
     talent, est devenu l'orgueil et la joie de ma vie.' Il me montra
     ses matériaux, c'est-à-dire quelques poignées d'ossements jetés en
     tas dans un coin, fit l'éloge de la pouzzolane, et témoigna de son
     mépris pour la chaux. 'La chaux brûle les os,' me dit-il, 'elle les
     fait tomber en poussière. On ne peut faire rien de bon avec les os
     qui ont été dans la chaux. C'est de la drogue
     (_robbaccia_).'"--_About._

Beyond the arch is the _Palazzo Falconieri_ (with falcons at the
corners), built by Borromini about 1650. There is something rather
handsome in its tall three-arched loggia, as seen from the back of the
courtyard, which overhangs the Tiber opposite the Farnesina. Cardinal
Fesch (uncle of Napoleon I.) lived here, and here formed his fine
gallery of pictures.

     "The whole of Cardinal Fesch's collection was dispersed at his
     death, having been vainly offered by him, during the last years of
     his life, for sale to the English government, for an annuity of
     4000_l._ per annum."--_Eaton's Rome._

Further on are the _Carceri Nuove_, prisons established by Innocent X.
(appropriately reached by the Via del Malpasso), and then the _Palazzo
Sacchetti_, built by Antonio da Sangallo for his own residence, and
adorned by him with the arms of his patron, Paul III., and the grateful
inscription, "Tu mihi quodcumque hoc rerum est." The collection of
statues which was formed here by Cardinal Ricci, was removed to the
Capitol by Benedict XIV., and became the foundation of the present
Capitoline collection.

In front of the Palazzo Farnese, beyond its own piazza, is that known as
the _Campo di Fiore_, a centre of commerce among the working classes.
Here the most terrible of the Autos da Fé were held by the Dominicans,
in which many Jews and other heretics were burnt alive.

     One of the most remarkable sufferers here was Giordano Bruno, who
     was born at Nola, A.D. 1550. His chief heresy was ardent advocacy
     of the Copernican system,--the author of which had died ten years
     before his birth. He was also strongly opposed to the philosophy of
     Aristotle, and gave great offence by setting forth views of his
     own, which strongly tended to pantheism. He visited Paris, England,
     and Germany, and everywhere excited hostility by the uncompromising
     expression of his opinions. It was at Venice that he first came
     into the power of his ecclesiastical enemies. After six years of
     imprisonment in that city, he was brought to Rome to be put to
     death. His execution took place in the Campo di Fiore on the 17th
     of February, 1600, in the presence of an immense concourse. It was
     noted that when the monks offered him the crucifix as he was led to
     the stake, he turned away and refused to kiss it. This put the
     finishing touch to his career, in the estimation of all beholders.
     Scioppus, the Latinist, who was present at the execution, with a
     sarcastic allusion to one of Bruno's heresies, the infinity of
     worlds, wrote, "The flames carried him to those worlds which he had
     imagined."[303]

On the left of this piazza is the gigantic _Palace of the Cancelleria_,
begun by Cardinal Mezzarota, and finished in 1494 by Cardinal Riario,
from designs of Bramante. The huge blocks of travertine of which it is
built were taken from the Coliseum. The colonnades have forty-four
granite pillars, said to have belonged to the theatre of Pompey. The
roses with which their (added) capitals are adorned are in reference to
the arms of Cardinal Riario, nephew of Sixtus IV.

This palace was the seat of the Tribunal of the Cancelleria Apostolica.
In June, 1848, the Roman Parliament, summoned by Pius IX., was held
here. In July, while the deputies were seated here, the mob burst into
the council-chamber, and demanded the instant declaration of war against
Austria. On the 16th of November, its staircase was the scene of the
murder of Count Rossi.

     "C'était le 16 Novembre, 1848, le ministre de Pie IX., voué dès
     longtemps à la mort, dont la presse séditieuse disait: 'Si la
     victime condamnée parvient à s'échapper, elle sera poursuivie sans
     relâche, en tout lieu, le coupable sera frappé par une main
     invisible, se fût-il réfugié sur le sein de sa mère ou dans le
     tabernacle du Christ.'

     "Dans la nuit du 14 au 15 Novembre, de jeunes étudiants, réunis
     dans cette pensée, s'exercent sans frémir sur un cadavre apporté à
     prix d'or au théâtre Capranica, et quand leurs mains infâmes furent
     devenues assez sûres pour le crime, quand ils sont certains
     d'atteindre au premier coup la veine jugulaire, chacun se rend à
     son poste--'Gardez-vous d'aller au Palais Législatif, la mort vous
     y attend,' fait dire au ministre une Française alors à Rome, Madame
     la Comtesse de Menon: 'Ne sortez pas, ou vous serez assassiné!' lui
     écrit de son côté la Duchesse de Rignano. Mais l'intrépide Rossi,
     n'écoutant que sa conscience, arrive au Quirinal. A son tour le
     pape le conjure d'être prudent, de ne point s'exposer, afin, lui
     dit-il, 'd'éviter à nos ennemis un grand crime, et à moi une
     immense douleur.'--'Ils sont trop lâches, ils n'oseront pas.' Pie
     IX. le bénit et il continue de se diriger vers la chancellerie....

     " ... Sa voiture s'arrête, il descend au milieu d'hommes sinistres,
     leur lance un regard de dédain, et continuant sans crainte ni
     peur, il commence à mouter; la foule le presse en sifflant, l'un le
     frappe sur l'épaule gauche, d'un mouvement instinctif, il retourne
     la tête, découvrant la veine fatale, il tombe, se relève, monte
     quelques marches, et retombe inondé de sang."--_M. de Bellevue._

Entered from the courtyard of the palace is the _Church of SS. Lorenzo e
Damaso_, removed by Cardinal Riario in 1495, from another site, where it
had been founded in 560 by the sainted pope Damasus. It consists of a
short nave and aisles, and is almost square, with an apse and chapels.
The doors are by Vignola. At the end of the left aisle is a curious
black virgin, much revered. Opening from the right aisle is the chapel
of the Massimi, with several tombs; a good modern monument of Princess
Gabrielli, &c. Against the last pilaster is a seated statue of S.
Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto, taken from that at the Lateran. His relics
are preserved here, with those of S. Giovanni Calabita, and many other
saints. The tomb of Count Rossi is also here, inscribed "Optimam mihi
causam tuendam assumpsi, miserebitur Deus." The story of his death is
told in the words: "Impiorum consilio meditata cæde occubuit." He was
embalmed and buried on the very night of his murder, for fear of further
outrage. St Francis Xavier used to preach in this church in the
sixteenth century.

Standing a little back from the street, in the Via de' Baullari, is a
pretty little palace, carefully finished in all its details, and
attributed to Baldassare Peruzzi. It is sometimes called _Palazzetto
Farnese_, sometimes _Palazzo Linote_, and is now almost in a state of
ruin.

Turning to the left, in front of the Palazzo Farnese, we reach the
Piazza Capo di Ferro, one side of which is occupied by the _Palazzo
Spada alla Regola_, built in 1564, by Cardinal Capodifero, but
afterwards altered and adorned by Borromini. The courtyard is very rich
in sculptured ornament The palace is always visible, but has a rude and
extortionate porter.

In a picturesque and dimly-lighted hall on the first-floor, partially
hung with faded tapestries, is the famous statue believed to be that of
Pompey, at the foot of which Julius Cæsar fell. Suetonius narrates that
it was removed by Augustus from the Curia, and placed upon a marble
Janus in front of the basilica. Exactly on that spot was the existing
statue found, lying under the partition-wall of two houses, whose
proprietors intended to evade disputes by dividing it, when Cardinal
Capodifero interfered, and in return received it as a gift from Pope
Julius III., who bought it for 500 gold crowns.

    "And them, dread statue! yet existent in
    The austerest form of naked majesty,--
    Thou who beheldest 'mid the assassins' din,
    At thy bathed base the bloody Cæsar lie,
    Folding his robe in dying dignity,
    An offering to thine altar from the queen
    Of gods and men, great Nemesis! did he die,
    And thou, too, perish, Pompey? have ye been
    Victors of countless kings, or puppets of a scene?"

    _Byron, Childe Harold._

     "I saw in the Palazzo Spada, the statue of Pompey: the statue at
     whose base Cæsar fell. A stem, tremendous figure! I imagined one of
     greater finish: of the last refinement: full of delicate touches:
     losing its distinctness in the giddy eyes of one whose blood was
     ebbing before it, and settling into some such rigid majesty as
     this, as Death came creeping over the upturned face."--_Dickens._

     "Cæsar was persuaded at first by the entreaties of his wife
     Calpurnia, who had received secret warning of the plot, to send an
     excuse to the senate; but afterwards, being ridiculed by Brutus for
     not going, was carried thither in a litter.... At the moment when
     Cæsar descended from his litter at the door of the hall, Popilius
     Læna approached him, and was observed to enter into earnest
     conversation with him. The conspirators regarded one another, and
     mutually revealed their despair with a glance. Cassius and others
     were grasping their daggers beneath their robes; the last resource
     was to despatch themselves. But Brutus, observing that the manner
     of Popilius was that of one supplicating rather than warning,
     restored his companions' confidence with a smile. Caesar entered;
     his enemies closed in a dense mass around him, and while they led
     him to his chair kept off all intruders. Trebonius was specially
     charged to detain Antonius in conversation at the door. Scarcely
     was the victim seated, when Tillius Cimber approached with a
     petition for his brother's pardon. The others, as was concerted,
     joined in the supplication, grasping his hands, and embracing his
     neck. Cæsar at first put them gently aside, but, as they became
     more importunate, repelled them with main force. Tillius seized his
     toga with both hands, and pulled it violently over his arms. Then
     P. Casca, who was behind, drew a weapon, and grazed his shoulder
     with an ill-directed stroke. Cæsar disengaged one hand, and
     snatched at the hilt, shouting, 'Cursed Casca, what means
     this?'--'Help,' cried Casca to his brother Lucius, and at the same
     moment the others aimed each his dagger at the devoted object.
     Cæsar for an instant defended himself, and even wounded one of his
     assailants with his stylus; but when he distinguished Brutus in the
     press, and saw the steel flashing in his hand also, 'What, thou
     too, Brutus!' he exclaimed, let go his hold of Casca, and drawing
     his robe over his face, made no further resistance. The assassins
     stabbed him through and through, for they had pledged themselves,
     one and all, to bathe their daggers in his blood. Brutus himself
     received a wound in their eagerness and trepidation. The victim
     reeled a few paces, propped by the blows he received on every side,
     till he fell dead at the foot of Pompeius' statue."--_Merivale_,
     ch. xxi.

The collection of pictures in this palace is little worth seeing. Among
its other sculptures are eight grand reliefs, which, till 1620, were
turned upside down, and used as a pavement in Sant' Agnese fuori Mura;
and a fine statue of Aristotle.

     "Aristote est à Rome, vous pouvons l'aller voir au palais Spada,
     tel que le peignent ses biographes et des vers de Christodore sur
     une statue qui était à Constantinople, les jambes grêles, les joues
     maigres, le bras hors du manteau, _exserto brachio_, comme dit
     Sidoine Apollinaire d'une autre statue qui était à Rome. Le
     philosophe est ici sans barbe aussi bien que sur plusieurs pierres
     gravées; on attribuait à Aristote l'habitude de se raser, rare
     parmi les philosophes et convenable à un sage qui vivait à la cour.
     Du reste, c'est bien là _le maître de ceux qui savent_, selon
     l'expression de Dante, corps usé par l'étude, tête petite mais qui
     enferme et comprend tout."--_Ampère_, _Hist. Rom._ iii. 547.

A little further, on the right, is the _Church of the Trinità dei
Pellegrini_, built in 1614; the façade designed by Francesco de'
Sanctis. It contains a picture of the Trinity by _Guido_.

The hospital attached to this church was founded by S. Filippo Neri for
receiving and nourishing pilgrims of pious intention, who had come from
more than sixty miles' distance, for a space of from three to seven
days. It is divided into two parts, for males and females. Here, during
the Holy Week, the feet of the pilgrims are publicly washed, those of
the men by princes, cardinals, &c., those of the women by queens,
princesses, and other ladies of rank. In this case the washing is a
reality, the feet not having been "prepared beforehand," as for the
Lavanda at St Peter's.

An authentic portrait of S. Filippo Neri is preserved here, said to have
been painted surreptitiously by an artist who happened to be one of the
inmates of the hospital. When S. Filippo saw it, he said, "You should
not have stolen me unawares."

The building in front of this church is the _Monte di Pietà_, founded by
the Padre Calvo, in the fifteenth century, to preserve the people from
suffering under the usury of the Jews. It is a government establishment,
where money is lent at the rate of five per cent. to every class of
person. Poor people, especially "Donne di facenda," who have no work in
the summer, thankfully avail themselves of this and pawn their
necklaces and earrings, which they are able to redeem when the means of
subsistence come back with the return of the forestieri. Many Roman
servants go through this process annually, and though the Monte di Pietà
is often a scene of great suffering when unredeemed goods are sold for
the benefit of the establishment, it probably in the main serves to
avert much evil from the poorer classes.

A short distance further, following the Via dei Specchi, surrounded by
miserable houses (in one of which is a beautiful double gothic window,
divided by a twisted column), is the small _Church of Sta. Maria in
Monticelli_, which has a fine low campanile of 1110. Admission may
always be obtained through the sacristy to visit the famous
"miracle-working" picture called "Gesù Nazareno," a modern half-length
of Our Saviour, with the eyelids drooping and half-closed. By an
illusion of the painting, the eyes, if watched steadily, appear to open
and then slowly to close again as if falling asleep,--in the same way
that many English family portraits appear to follow the living
bystanders with their eyes; but the effect is very curious. In the case
of this picture, the pope turned Protestant, and disapproving of the
attention it excited, caused its secret removal. Remonstrance was made,
that the picture had been a "regalo" to the church, and ought not to be
taken away, and when it was believed to be sufficiently forgotten, it
was sent back by night. The mosaics in the apse of this obscure church
are for the most part quite modern, but enclose a very grand and
expressive head of the Saviour of the World, which dates from 1099, when
it was ordered by Pope Paschal II.

A little to the left of this church is the _Palazzo Santa Croce_. This
palace will bring to mind the murder of the Marchesa Costanza Santa
Croce, by her two sons (because she would not name them her heirs), on
the day when the fate of Beatrice Cenci was trembling in the balance,
which brought about her condemnation--the then pope, Clement VIII.,
determining to make her terrible punishment "an example to all
parricides."

Prince Santa Croce claims to be a direct descendant of Valerius
Publicola, the "friend of the people," who is commemorated in the name
of a neighbouring church, "Sancta Maria de Publicolis."

This is one of the few haunted houses in Rome: it is said that by night
two statues of Santa Croce cardinals descend from their pedestals, and
rattle their marble trains about its long galleries.

Hence a narrow street leads to the _Church of S. Carlo a Catinari_,
built in the seventeenth century, from designs of Rosati and Soria. It
is in the form of a Greek cross. The very lofty cupola is adorned with
frescoes of the cardinal virtues by _Domenichino_, and a fresco of S.
Carlo, by _Guido_, once on the façade of the church, is now preserved in
the choir. Over the high altar is a large picture by _Pietro da
Cortona_, of S. Carlo in a procession during the plague at Milan. In the
first chapel on the right, is the Annunciation, by _Lanfranco_; in the
second chapel, on the left, the Death of St. Anna, by _Andrea Sacchi_.
On the pilaster of the last chapel on the right is a good modern tomb,
with delicate detail. The cord which S. Carlo Borromeo wore round his
neck in the penitential procession during the plague at Milan, is
preserved as a relic here. The Catinari, from whom this church is named,
were makers of wooden dishes, who had stalls in the adjoining piazza,
or sold their wares on its steps. The street opening from hence (Via de
Giubbonari) contains on its right the Palazzo Pio; at the back of which
are the principal remains of _The Theatre of Pompey_, which was once of
great magnificence. In the portico (of a hundred columns) attached to
this theatre, Brutus sate as prætor, on the morning of the murder of
Julius Cæsar, and close by was the Curia, or senate-house, where:

    ----"In his mantle muffling up his face,
    Even at the base of Pompey's statue,
    Which all the while ran blood, great Cæsar fell."[304]

Behind the remains of the theatre, perhaps on the very site of the
Curia, rises the fine modern _Church of S. Andrea della Valle_,[305]
begun in 1591, by Olivieri, and finished by Carlo Maderno. The façade is
by Carlo Rainaldi. The cupola is covered with frescoes by _Lanfranco_,
those of the four Evangelists at the angles being by _Domenichino_, who
also painted the flagellation and glorification of St. Andrew in the
tribune. Beneath the latter are frescoes of events in the life of St.
Andrew by _Calabrese_.

     "In the fresco of the Flagellation, the apostle is bound by his
     hands and feet to four short posts set firmly in the ground; one of
     the executioners, in tightening a cord, breaks it, and falls back;
     three men prepare to scourge him with thongs: in the foreground we
     have the usual group of the mother and her frightened children.
     This is a composition full of dramatic life and movement, but
     unpleasing."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 229.

In the second chapel on the left is the tomb of Giovanni della Casa,
archbishop of Beneventum, 1556.

The last piers of the nave are occupied by the tombs of Pius II., Eneas
Sylvius Piccolomini (1458--64), and Pius III., Todeschini (1503),
removed from the old basilica of St. Peter's. The tombs are hideous
erections in four stages, by Niccolo della Guardia and Pietro da Todi.
The epitaph of the famous Eneas Sylvius is as good as a biography.

     "Pius II., sovereign pontiff, a Tuscan by nation, by birth a native
     of Siena, of the family of the Piccolomini, reigned for six years.
     His pontificate was short, but his glory was great. He reunited a
     Christian Council (Basle) in the interests of the faith. He
     resisted the enemies of the holy Roman see, both in Italy and
     abroad. He placed Catherine of Siena amongst the saints of Christ.
     He abolished the Pragmatic Sanction in France. He re-established
     Ferdinand of Arragon in the kingdom of Sicily. He increased the
     power of the Church. He established the alum mines which were
     discovered near Talpha. Zealous for religion and justice, he was
     also remarkable for his eloquence. As he was setting out for the
     war which he had declared against the Turks, he died at Ancona.
     There he had already his fleet prepared, and the doge of Venice,
     with his senate, as companions in arms for Christ. Brought to Rome
     by a decree of the fathers, he was laid in this spot, where he had
     ordered the head of St. Andrew, which had been brought him from the
     Peloponnese, to be placed. He lived fifty-eight years, nine months,
     and twenty-seven days. Francis, cardinal of Siena, raised this to
     the memory of his revered uncle. MCDLXIV."

Pius III., who was the son of a sister of Eneas Sylvius, only reigned
for twenty-six days. His tomb was the last to be placed in the old St.
Peter's, which was pulled down by his successor.

To the right, from S. Andrea della Valle runs the Via della Valle, on
the right of which is the _Palazzo Vidoni_ (formerly called Caffarelli,
and Stoppani), the lower portion of which was designed by Raphael, in
1513, the upper floor being a later addition. There are a few
antiquities preserved here, among them the "Calendarium Prænestinum" of
Verrius Flaccus, being five months of a Roman calendar found by Cardinal
Stoppani at Palestrina. At the foot of the stairs is a statue of Marcus
Aurelius. At one corner of the palace on the exterior is the mutilated
statue familiarly known as the _Abbate Luigi_, which was made to carry
on witty conversation with the Madama Lucrezia near S. Marco, as Pasquin
did with Marforio.

To the left from St. Andrea della Valle runs the _Via S. Pantaleone_, on
the right of which, cleverly fitting into an angle of the street, is the
gloomy but handsome _Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne_, built _c._ 1526 by
Baldassare Peruzzi. The semi-*circular portico has six Doric columns.
The staircase and fountain are peculiar and picturesque. In the loggia
is a fine antique lion.

The palace is not often shown, but is a good specimen of one of the
smaller Roman princely houses. In the drawing-*room, well placed, is the
famous _Statue of the Discobolus_, a copy of the bronze statue of Myron,
found in 1761, upon the Esquiline, near the ruined nymphæum known as the
Trophies of Marius. This is more beautiful and better preserved than the
Discobolus of the Vatican, of which the head is modern.

     "Le tête du discobole Massimi se retourne vers le bras qui lance le
     disque, απεστραμμἱνον εἱς τἡν δισκοφὁρον. Cette tête est admirable, ce
     qui est encore une resemblance avec Myron, qui excellait dans les
     têtes comme Polyclète dans les poitrines et Praxitèle dans les
     bras."--_Ampère_, iii. 271.

The entrance-hall has its distinctive dais and canopy adorned with the
motto of the family "Cunctando Restituit," in allusion to the descent
which they claim from the great dictator Fabius Maximus, who is
described by Ennius as having "saved the republic by delaying."

     "Napoléon interpella un Massimo avec cette brusquerie qui
     intimidait tant de gens: 'Est il vrai,' lui dit-il, 'que vous
     descendiez de Fabius-Maximus?'

     "'--Je ne saurais le prouver,' répondit le noble romain, 'mais
     c'est un bruit qui court depuis plus de mille ans dans notre
     famille.'"--_About._

On the second floor is a chapel in memory of the temporary resuscitation
to life by S. Filippo Neri of Paul Massimo, a youth of fourteen, who had
died of a fever, March 16th, 1584.

     "S. Filippo Neri was the spiritual director of the Massimo family;
     it is in his honour that the Palazzo Massimo is dressed up in
     festal guise every 16th of March. The annals of the family narrate,
     that the son and heir of Prince Fabrizio Massimo died of a fever at
     the age of fourteen, and that St. Philip, coming into the room amid
     the lamentations of the father, mother, and sisters, laid his hand
     upon the brow of the youth, and called him by his name, on which he
     revived, opened his eyes, and sate up--'Art thou unwilling to die?'
     asked the saint. 'No,' sighed the youth. 'Art thou resigned to
     yield thy soul to God?' 'I am.' 'Then go,' said Philip. 'Va, che
     sii benedetto, e prega Dio per noi.'--The boy sank back on his
     pillow with a heavenly smile on his face and expired."--_Jameson's
     Monastic Orders._

The back of the palace towards the Piazza Navona is covered with curious
frescoes in distemper by _Daniele di Volterra._

In buildings belonging to this palace, Pannartz and Schweinheim
established the first printing-office in Rome in 1455. The rare editions
of this time bear in addition to the name of the printers, the
inscription, "In ædibus Petri de Maximis."

     "Conrad Sweynheim et Arnold Pannartz s'établirent près de Subiaco,
     au monastère de Sainte-Scholastique, qui était occupé par les
     Bénédictins de leur nation, et publièrent successivement, avec le
     concours des moines, les _Œuvres de Lactance_, la _Cité de Dieu_
     de saint Augustin, et le traité _de Oratore_ de Cicéron. En 1467,
     ils se transportèrent à Rome, au palais Massimi, où ils
     s'associèrent Jean André de Bussi, évêque d'Aleria, qui avait
     étudié sous Victorin de Feltre, et dont la science leur fut d'une
     haute utilité pour la correction de leurs textes. Le savant évêque
     leur donnait son temps, ses veilles:--'Malheureux métier,'
     disait-il, 'qui consiste non pas à chercher des perles dans le
     fumier, mais du fumier parmi les perles!'--Et cependant il s'y
     adonnait avec passion, sans même y trouver l'aisance. Les livres,
     en effet, se vendirent d'abord si mal que Jean-André de Bussi
     n'avait pas toujours de quoi se faire faire la barbe. Les premiers
     livres qu'il publia chez Conrad et Arnold furent la _Grammaire de
     Donatus_, à trois cents exemplaires, et les _Épitres familières de
     Cicéron_, à cinq cent cinquante."--_Gournerie_, _Rome Chrétienne_,
     ii. 79, 1.

Further, on the right, is the modernized _Church of S. Pantaleone_,
built originally in 1216 by Honorius III., and given by Gregory XV., in
1641, to S. Giuseppe Calasanza, founder of the Order of the Scolopians,
and of the institution of the Scuola Pia. He died in 1648, and is buried
here in a porphyry sarcophagus.

Adjoining this, is the very handsome _Palazzo Braschi_, the last result
of papal nepotism in Rome,--built at the end of the last century by
Morelli, for the Duke Braschi, nephew of Pius VI. The staircase, which
is, perhaps, the finest in Rome, is adorned with sixteen columns of red
oriental granite. Annual subscription balls for charities are held in
this palace.

At the further corner of the Braschi palace stands the mutilated but
famous statue called Pasquino, from a witty tailor, who once kept a shop
opposite, and who used to entertain his customers with all the clever
scandal of the day. After the tailor's death his name was transferred to
the statue, on whose pedestal were appended witty criticisms on passing
events, sometimes in the form of dialogues which Pasquino was supposed
to hold with his friend Marforio, another statue at the foot of the
Capitol. From the repartees appended to this statue the term Pasquinade
is derived.

Pasquin has naturally been regarded as a mortal enemy by the popes, who,
on several occasions, have made vain attempts to silence him. The
bigoted Adrian VI. wished to have the statue burnt and then thrown into
the Tiber, but it was saved by the suggestion of Ludovico Suessano, that
his ashes would turn into frogs, who would croak louder than he had
done. When Marforio, in the hope of stopping the dialogues, was shut up
in the Capitoline museum, the pope attempted to incarcerate Pasquino
also, but he was defended by his proprietor, Duke Braschi. Among
offensive Pasquinades which have been placed here are:

    "Venditur hic Christus, venduntur dogmata Petri,
    Descendam infernum ne quoque vendar ego."

Among the earliest Pasquinades were those against the venality and evil
life of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia, 1492--1503):

    "Vendit Alexander claves, altaria, Christum:
    Emerat ille prius, vendere jure potest."

and,

    "Sextus Tarquinius, Sextus Nero--Sextus et iste;
    Semper sub Sextis perdita Roma fuit."

and, upon the body of his son Giovanni, murdered by his brother Cæsar
Borgia, being fished up on the following day from the Tiber:

    "Piscatorem hominum re te non, Sexte, putemus,
    Piscaris natum retibus ecce tuum."

In the reign of the warlike Julius II. (1503--13), of whom it is said
that he threw the keys of Peter into the Tiber, while marching his army
out of Rome, declaring that the sword of Paul was more useful to him:

    "Cum Petri nihil efficiant ad prælia claves,
    Auxilio Pauli forsitan ensis erit."

and, in allusion to his warlike beard:

    "Huc barbam Pauli, gladium Pauli, omnia Pauli:
    Claviger ille nihil ad mea vota Petrus."

At a moment of great unpopularity:

    "Julius est Romæ, quid abest? Date, numina, Brutum.
    Nam quoties Romæ est Julius, ilia perit."

In reference to the sale of indulgences and benefices by Leo X.:

    "Dona date, astantes; versus ne reddite; sola
    Imperat æthereis alma Moneta deis."

and to his love of buffoons:

    "Cur non te fingi scurram, Pasquille, rogasti?
    Cum Romæ scurris omnia jam licent."

and with reference to the death of Leo, suddenly, under suspicion of
poison, and without the sacrament:

    "Sacra sub extrema, si forte requiritis, horâ
    Cur Leo non potuit sumere: vendiderat."

On the death of Clement VII. (1534), attributed to the mismanagement of
his physician, Matteo Curzio:

    "Curtius occidit Clementem--Curtius auro
    Donandus, per quem publica parta salus."

To Paul III. (1534--50) who attempted to silence him, Pasquin replied:

    "Ut canerent data multa olim sunt vatibus æra;
    Ut taceam, quantum tu mihi, Paule, dabis."

Upon the spoliation of ancient Rome by Urban VIII.:

    "Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini."

Upon the passion of Innocent X. (1644--55) for his sister-in-law,
Olympia Maldacchini:

    "Magis amat Olympiam quam Olympum."

Upon Christina of Sweden, who died at Rome, in 1689:

    "Regina senza Regno,
    Christiana senza Fede,
    E Donna senza Vergogna."

In reference to the severities of the Inquisition during the reign of
Innocent XI. (1676--89):

     "Se parliamo, in galera; se scriviamo, impiccati; se stiamo in
     quiete, al santo uffizio. Eh!--che bisogna fare?"

To Francis of Austria, on his visit to Rome:

    "Gaudium urbis,--fletus provinciarum,--risus mundi."

After an awful storm, and the plunder of the works of art by Napoleon
occurring together:

    "L'Altissimo in sù, ci manda la tempesta,
    L'Altissimo qua giù, ci toglia quel che resta,
        E fra le Due Altissimi,
        Stiamo noi malissimi."

During the stay of the French in Rome:

    "I Francesi son tutti ladri."

           *       *       *       *       *

    "Non tutti--ma Buona parte."

Against the vain-glorious follies of Pius VI., Pasquin was especially
bitter. Pius finished the sacristry of St. Peter's, and inscribed over
its entrance, "Quod ad Templi Vaticani ornamentum publico vota
flagitabant, Pius VI. fecit." The next day Pasquin retorted:

    "Publica! mentiris! Non publica vota fuere,
    Sed tumidi ingenii vota fuere tui."

Upon his nepotism, when building the Braschi palace:

    "Tres habuit fauces, et terno Cerberus ore
    Latratus intra Tartara nigra dabat.
    Et tibi plena fame tria sunt vel quatuor ora
    Quæ nulli latrant, quemque sed illa vocant."

And in allusion to the self-laudatory inscriptions of this pope upon all
his buildings, at a time when the two-baiocchi loaf of the common people
was greatly reduced in size; one of these tiny loaves was exhibited
here, with the satirical notice, "Munificentia Pii Sexti."

But perhaps the most remarkable of all Pasquin's productions is his
famous Antithesis Christi:

    "Christus regna fugit--Sed vi Papa subjugat urbem.
    Spinosam Christus--Triplicem gerit ille coronam.
    Abluit ille pedes--Reges his oscula præbent.
    Vectigal solvit--Sed clerum hic eximit omnem.
    Pavit oves Christus--Luxum hic sectatur inertem.
    Pauper erat Christus--Regna hic petit omnia mundi.
    Bajulat ille crucem--Hic servis portatur avaris.
    Spernit opes Christus--Auri hic ardore tabescit.
    Vendentes pepulit templo--Quos suscipit iste.
    Pace venit Christus--Venit hic radiantibus armis.
    Christus mansuetus venit--Venit ille superbus.
    Quas leges dedit hic--Præsul dissolvit iniquus.
    Ascendit Christus--Descendit ad infera Præsul."

The statue called Pasquin is said to represent Menelaus with the body of
Patroclus, and to be the same as two groups which still exist at
Florence, but so little remains of either of these heroes, that it could
only have been when overpowered by "L'esprit de contradiction," that
Bernini protested that this was "the finest piece of ancient sculpture
in Rome."

     "A l'angle que forment deux rues de Rome se voit encore il
     Pasquino, nom donné par le peuple à un des plus beaux restes de la
     sculpture antique. Bernin, qui exagérait, disait le plus beau;
     cette assertion fut sur le point d'attirer un duel à celui qui se
     l'était permise. Tout homme qui s'avise d'avoir une opinion sur les
     monuments de Rome s'applaudira pour son compte, en le regrettant
     peut-être, qu'on ne prenne plus si à cœur les questions
     archéologiques."--_Ampère, Hist. Rome_, iii. 440.

     "Jan. 16, 1870: The public opinion of Rome has only one traditional
     organ. It is that mutilated block of marble called Pasquin's statue
     ... on which are mysteriously affixed by unknown hands the frequent
     squibs of Roman mother-wit on the events of the day. That organ has
     now uttered its cutting joke on the Fathers in Council. Some
     mornings ago there was found pasted in big letters on this defaced
     and truncated stump of a once choice statue the inscription,
     'Libero come il Concilio.' The sarcasm is admirably to the
     point."--_Times._

Following the Via dell' Anima from hence, on the right, opposite the
mediæval _Torre Mellina_, is the _Church of Sant' Agnese_. It was built
in 1642 by Girolamo Rainaldi, in the form of a Greek cross, upon the
site of the scaffold where St. Agnes, in her fourteenth year, was
compelled to be burnt alive.[306] When

     "The blessed Agnes, with her hands extended in the midst of the
     flames, prayed thus: 'It is to thee that I appeal, to thee, the
     all-powerful, adorable, perfect, terrible God. O my Father, it is
     through thy most blessed Son that I have escaped from the menaces
     of a sacrilegious tyrant, and have passed unblemished through
     shameful abominations. And thus I come to thee, to thee whom I have
     loved, to thee whom I have sought, and whom I have always
     chosen."--_Roman Breviary._

Then the flames, miraculously changed into a heavenly shower, refreshed
instead of burning her, and dividing in two, and leaving her uninjured,
consumed her executioners, and the virgin saint cried:--

     "I bless Thee, O Father of my God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who, by
     the power of this thy well-beloved Son, commanded the fire to
     respect me."

     "At this age, a young girl trembles at an angry look from her
     mother; the prick of a needle draws tears as easily as a wound. Yet
     fearless under the bloody hands of her executioners, Agnes is
     immoveable under the heavy chains which weigh her down; ignorant of
     death, but ready to die, she presents her body to the point of the
     sword of a savage soldier. Dragged against her will to the altar,
     she holds forth her arms to Christ through the fires of the
     sacrifice; and her hand forms even in those blasphemous flames the
     sign which is the trophy of a victorious Saviour. She presents her
     neck and her two hands to the fetters which they bring for her, but
     it is impossible to find any small enough to encircle her delicate
     limbs."--_St. Ambrose._

The statue of St. Sebastian in this church is an antique, altered by
_Maini_, that of St. Agnes is by _Ercole Ferrata_; the bas-relief of St.
Cecilia is by _Antonio Raggi_. Over the entrance is the half-length
figure and tomb of Innocent X. (Gio. Battista Pamfili, 1644--55), an
amiable but feeble pope, who was entirely governed by his strong-minded
and avaricious sister-in-law, Olympia Maldacchini, who deserted him on
his death-bed, making off with the accumulated spoils of his ten years'
papacy, which enabled her son, Don Camillo, to build the Palazzo Doria
Pamfili, in the Corso, and the beautiful Villa Doria Pamfili.[307]

     "After the three days during which the body of Innocent remained
     exposed at St. Peter's, say the memoirs of the time, no one could
     be found who would undertake his burial. They sent to tell Donna
     Olympia to prepare for him a coffin, and an escutcheon, but she
     answered that she was a poor widow. Of all his other relations and
     nephews, not one gave any sign of life; so that at length the body
     was carried away into a chamber where the masons kept their tools.
     Some one, out of pity, placed a lighted tallow-candle near the
     head; and some one else having mentioned that the room was full of
     rats, and that they might eat the corpse, a person was found who
     was willing to pay for a watcher. And after another day had
     elapsed, Monsignor Scotti, the majordomo, had pity upon him, and
     prepared him a coffin of poplar-wood, and Monsignor Segni, Canon of
     St. Peter's, who had been his majordomo, and whom he had dismissed,
     returned him good for evil, and expended five crowns for his
     burial."--_Gregorovius._

Beneath the church are vaulted chambers, said to be part of the house of
infamy where St. Agnes was publicly exposed[308] before her execution.

     "As neither temptation nor the fear of death could prevail with
     Agnes, Sempronius thought of other means to vanquish her
     resistance; he ordered her to be carried by force to a place of
     infamy, and exposed to the most degrading outrages. The soldiers,
     who dragged her thither, stripped her of her garments; and when she
     saw herself thus exposed, she bent down her head in meek shame and
     prayed; and immediately her hair, which was already long and
     abundant, became like a veil, covering her whole person from head
     to foot; and those who looked upon her were seized with awe and
     fear as of something sacred, and dared not lift their eyes. So they
     shut her up in a chamber, and she prayed that the limbs which had
     been consecrated to Jesus Christ should not be dishonoured, and
     suddenly she saw before her a white and shining garment, with which
     she clothed herself joyfully, praising God, and saying, 'I thank
     thee, O Lord, that I am found worthy to put on the garment of thine
     elect!' and the whole place was filled with miraculous light,
     brighter than the sun at noon-day.

            *       *       *       *       *

     "The chamber, which, for her preservation, was filled with heavenly
     light, has become, from the change of level all over Rome, as well
     as from the position of the church, a subterranean cell, and is now
     a chapel of peculiar sanctity, into which you descend by
     torchlight. The floor retains the old mosaic, and over the altar is
     a bas-relief, representing St. Agnes, with clasped hands, and
     covered only by her long tresses, while two ferocious soldiers
     drive her before them. The upper church, as a piece of
     architecture, is beautiful, and rich in precious marbles and
     antique columns. The works of art are all mediocre, and of the 17th
     century, but the statue over her altar has considerable elegance.
     Often have I seen the steps of this church, and the church itself,
     so crowded with kneeling worshippers at matins and vespers, that I
     could not make my way among them;--principally the women of the
     lower orders, with their distaffs and market baskets, who had come
     thither to pray, through the intercession of the patron saint, for
     the gifts of meekness and chastity,--gifts not abounding in these
     regions."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

Yorkshire maidens, anxious to know who their future spouse is to be,
still consult St. Agnes on St Agnes' Eve, after 24 hours' abstinence
from everything but pure spring water, in the distich:

    "St. Agnes, be a friend to me,
    In the boon I ask of thee;
    Let me this night my husband see."

Here, on the festival of St. Agnes, the papal choir sing the antiphons
of the virgin saint, and the hymn "Jesu Corona Virginum."

The front of Sant' Agnese opens upon the _Piazza Navona_, a vast oblong
square on the site of the ancient Circus Agonalis, decorated with three
fountains. That in the centre, by Bernini, supports an obelisk brought
from the Circus of Maxentius, where it was erected in honour of
Domitian. Around the mass of rock which supports the obelisk are figures
of the gods of the four largest rivers (Danube, Nile, Ganges, Rio de la
Plata). That of the Nile veiled his face, said Bernini, that he might
not be shocked by the façade which was added by Borromini to the Church
of St Agnes.

     "Bernin s'ingéra de creuser un des fameux piliers de St. Pierre
     pour y pratiquer un petit escalier montant à la tribune; aussitôt
     le dôme prit coup et se fendit. On fut obligé de le relier tout
     entier avec un cercle de fer. Ce n'est point raillerie, le cercle y
     est encore; le mal n'a pas augmenté depuis. Par malheur pour le
     pauvre cavalier, on trouva dans les Mémoires de Michel-Ange qu'il
     avait recommandé, _sub pœnâ capitis_, de ne jamais toucher aux
     quatre piliers massifs faits pour supporter le dôme, sachant de
     quelle masse épouvantable il allait les charger; le pape voulait
     faire pendre Bernin, qui, pour se rédimer, inventa la fontaine
     Navone."--_De Brosses._

The lower fountain, also by Bernini, is adorned with tritons and the
figure of a Moor. The great palace to the right of the church is the
_Palazzo Pamfili_, built by Rainaldi for Innocent X. in 1650. It
possesses a ceiling painted by _Pietro di Cortona_ with the adventures
of Eneas. Its music-hall is still occasionally used for public
concerts.

It was in this palace that the notorious Olympia Maldacchini, foundress
of the Pamfili fortunes, besported herself during the reign of her
brother-in-law, Innocent X.

     "The great object of Donna Olympia was to keep at a distance from
     Innocent every person and every influence that could either lessen
     her own, or go shares in the profits to be extracted from it. For
     this, after all, was the great and ultimate scope of her exertions.
     To secure the profits of the papacy in hard cash; this was the
     problem. No appointment to office of any kind was made, except in
     consideration of a proportionable sum paid down into her own
     coffers. This often amounted to three or four years' revenue of the
     place to be granted. Bishoprics and benefices were sold as fast as
     they became vacant. One story is told of an unlucky disciple of
     Simon, who on treating with the popess, for a very valuable see,
     just fallen vacant, and hearing from her a price, at which it might
     be his, far exceeding all he could command, persuaded the members
     of his family to sell all they had for the purpose of making this
     profitable investment. The price was paid, and the bishopric was
     given to him, but with a fearful resemblance to the case of
     Ananias, he died within the year; and his ruined family saw the see
     a second time sold by the insatiable and incorrigible Olympia....
     During the last year of Innocent's life, Olympia literally hardly
     ever quitted him. Once a week, we read, she left the Vatican,
     secretly by night, accompanied by several porters carrying sacks of
     coin, the proceeds of the week's extortions and sales, to her own
     palace. And, during these short absences, she used to lock the pope
     into his chamber, and take the key with her!"--_Trollope's Life of
     Olympia Pamfili._

On the opposite side of the piazza, some architectural fragments denote
the half-ruined _Church of S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli_ of the fifteenth
century. It possesses a gothic rose window, which is almost unique in
Rome. There is a handsome door on the other side towards the Via della
Sediola. The lower end of the square near this is occupied by the
_Palazzo Lancellotti_, built by Pirro Ligorio, behind which is the
frescoed front of Palazzo Massimo, mentioned above. The Piazza Navona
has been used as a market ever since 1447. In the hot months, the
singular custom prevails of occasionally stopping the escape of water
from the fountains, and so turning the square into a lake, through which
the rich splash about in carriages, and eat ices and drink coffee in the
water, while the poor look on from raised galleries. It is supposed that
this practice is a remnant of the pleasures of the Naumachia, once
annually exhibited almost on this very spot, formerly the Circus
Agonalis.

Vitale Mascardi gives an extraordinary account of the magnificent
tournament held here in 1634 in honour of the visit of Prince Alexander
of Poland, when the piazza was hung with draperies of gold and silver,
and Donna Anna Colonna and Donna Costanza Barberini awarded gorgeous
prizes of diamonds to noble and princely competitors.

Nearly opposite Sant' Agnese, a short street leads (passing on the left,
Arvotti's, the famous Roman-scarf shop) to the front of the _Palazzo
Madama_, which is sometimes said to derive its name from Margaret of
Parma, daughter of Charles V., who once occupied it, and sometimes from
Catherine de' Medici, who also lived here, and under whom it was altered
in its present form by Paolo Marucelli. The balcony towards the piazza
is the scene every Saturday at noon of the drawing of the Roman lottery.

     "In the middle of the balcony, on the rail, is fixed a glass
     barrel, with a handle to turn it round. Behind it stand three or
     four officials, who have been just now ushered in with a blast from
     two trumpeters, also stationed in the balcony. Immediately behind
     the glass barrel itself stands a boy of some twelve or thirteen
     years, dressed in the white uniform of one of the orphan
     establishments, with a huge white shovel hat. Some time is occupied
     by the folding, and putting into the barrel, pieces of paper,
     inscribed with the numbers, from one onwards. Each of these is
     proclaimed, as folded and put in, by one of the officials who acts
     as spokesman or crier. At last, after eighty-seven, eighty-eight,
     and eighty-nine have been given out, he raises his voice to a
     chant, and sings forth, _Numero novanta_, 'number ninety,' this
     completing the number put in.

     "And now, or before this, appears on the balcony another
     character--no less a person than a Monsignore, who appears, not in
     his ordinary, but in his more solemn official costume; and this
     connects the ceremonial directly with the spiritual authority of
     the realm. And now commences the drawing. The barrel having been
     for some time turned rapidly round to shuffle the numbers, the
     orphan takes off his hat, makes the sign of the cross, and having
     waved his open hand in the air to show that it is empty, inserts it
     into the barrel, and draws out a number, giving it to the
     Monsignore, who opens it and hands it to the crier. This latter
     then proclaims it--'_Prima-estratta, numero venti cinque_.' Then
     the trumpets blow their blast, and the same is repeated four times
     more: the proclamation varying each time, _Seconda estratta_,
     _Terza_, _Quatra_, _Quinta_, etc., five numbers being thus the
     whole drawn, out of ninety put in. This done, with various
     expressions of surprise, delight, or disappointment from the crowd
     below, the officials disappear, the square empties itself, and all
     is as usual till the next Saturday at the same time....

     "In almost every street in Rome are shops devoted to the purchase
     of lottery tickets. Two numbers purchased with the double chance of
     these two numbers turning up are called an _ambo_, and three
     purchased with the treble chance of those three turning up, are
     called a _terno_, and, of course, the higher and more perilous the
     stake, the richer the prize, if obtained."--_Alford's Letters from
     Abroad._

     "Les étrangers qui viennent à Rome commencent par blâmer sévèrement
     la loterie. Au bout de quelque temps, l'esprit de tolérance qui est
     dans l'air pénètre peu-à-peu jusqu'au fond de leur cerveau; ils
     excusent un jeu philanthropique qui fournit au pauvre peuple six
     jours d'espérances pour cinq sous. Bientôt, pour se rendre compte
     du mécanisme de la loterie, ils entrent euxmêmes dans un bureau, en
     évitant de se laisser voir. Trois mois après, ils poursuivent
     ouvertement une combinaison savante; ils ont une théorie
     mathématique qu'ils signeraient volontiers de leur nom; ils donnent
     des leçons aux nouveaux arrivés; ils érigent le jeu en principe et
     jurent qu'un homme est impardonnable s'il ne laisse pas une porte
     ouverte à la Fortune."--_About, Rome Contemporaine._

The court at the back of the palazzo is now occupied by the General Post
Office.

Close by is the _Church of S. Luigi dei Francesi_, rebuilt 1589, with a
façade by Giacomo della Porta. It contains a number of tombs of eminent
Frenchmen who have died in Rome, and some good pictures.

Following the right aisle, the second chapel has frescoes from the life
of Sta. Cecilia, by _Domenichino_ (she gives clothes to the poor,--is
crowned by an angel with her husband Valerian,--refuses to sacrifice to
idols,--suffers martyrdom,--enters into heaven).

     "Domenichino is often cold and studied in the principal subject,
     while the subordinate persons have much grace, and a noble
     character of beauty. Of this the two frescoes in S. Luigi at Rome,
     from the life of Sta. Cecilia, are striking examples. It is not the
     saint herself, bestowing her goods from a balcony, who contributes
     the chief subject, but the masterly group of poor people struggling
     for them below. The same may be said of the death of the saint,
     where the admiration and grief of the bystanders are
     inimitable."--_Kugler._

     "Reclining on a couch, in the centre of the picture, her hand
     pressed on her bosom, her dying eyes raised to heaven, the saint is
     breathing her last; while female forms, of exquisite beauty and
     innocence, are kneeling around, or bending over her. The noble
     figure of an old man, whose clasped hands and bent brow seem to
     bespeak a father's affection, appears on one side; and lovely
     children, in all the playful graces of unconscious infancy, as
     usual in Domenichino's paintings, by contrast heighten, yet
     relieve, the deep pathos of the scene. From above, an angel--such
     an angel as Domenichino alone knew how to paint, a cherub form of
     light and loveliness--is descending on rapid wing, bearing to the
     expiring saint the crown and palm of glory."--_Eaton's Rome._

The copy of Raphael's Sta. Cecilia over the altar is by _Guido_. The
fourth chapel has on the right frescoes by _Girolamo Sicciolante_, on
the left by _Pellegrino da Bologna_, the altar-piece is by _Giacomo del
Conte_. The fifth chapel has on the right the monument of Agincourt (ob.
1814), the famous archæologist, on the left that of Guerin the painter.

The high altar has an Assumption by _Bassano_.

The first chapel in the left aisle has a St. Sebastian by _Massei_. In
the fifth chapel, of St. Matthew, three pictures by _Caravaggio_
represent the vocation and martyrdom of that saint.

     "The paintings of Caravaggio at S. Luigi belong to his most
     comprehensive works. The Martyrdom of St Matthew, with the angel
     with a palm branch squatting upon a cloud, and a boy running away,
     screaming, though highly animated, is an offensive production. On
     the other hand, the Calling of the Apostle may be considered as a
     _genre_ picture of grand characteristic figures; for instance,
     those of the money-changers and publican at the table; some of them
     counting money, others looking up astonished at the entrance of the
     Saviour."--_Kugler._

     "Over the altar is St. Matthew writing his Gospel; he looks up at
     the attendant angel, who is behind with outspread wings, and in the
     act of dictating. On the left is the Calling of St. Matthew: the
     saint, who has been counting money, rises with one hand on his
     breast, and turns to follow the Saviour: an old man, with
     spectacles on his nose, examines with curiosity the personage whose
     summons has had such a miraculous effect: a boy is slyly
     appropriating the money which the apostle has thrown down. The
     third picture is the martyrdom of the saint, who, in the sacerdotal
     habit, lies extended on a block; while a half-naked executioner
     raises the sword, and several spectators shrink back with horror.
     There is nothing dignified or poetical in these representations;
     and though painted with all that power of effect which
     characterized Caravaggio, then at the height of his reputation,
     they have also his coarseness of feeling and execution: the priests
     were (not without reason) dissatisfied; and it required all the
     influence of his patron, Cardinal Giustiniani, to induce them to
     retain the pictures in the church where we now see
     them."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 146.

Amongst the monuments scattered over this church are those of Cardinal
d'Ossat, ambassador of Henry IV.; Cardinal de la Grange d'Arquien,
father-in-law of Sobieski, who died at the age of 105; Cardinal de la
Trémouille, ambassador of Louis XIV.; Madame de Montmorin, with an
epitaph by Chateaubriand; and Claude Lorraine, who is buried at the
Trinità di Monti.

The pillars which separate the nave and aisles are of splendid Sicilian
jasper. They were intended for S. Ignazio, but when the Order of the
Jesuits was dissolved by Clement XIV., he presented them to S. Luigi.

The site of this church, the Palazzo Madama, and their adjoining
buildings, was once occupied by the baths of Nero. They are commemorated
by the name of the small church "S. Salvatore in Thermis."

In front of S. Luigi are the _Palaces Patrizi and Giustiniani_, and,
following--to the right--the Via della Sediola, on the left is the
entrance to the _University of the Sapienza_, founded by Innocent IV. in
1244 as a law school. Its buildings were begun by Pius III. and Julius
II., and extended by Leo X. on plans of Michael Angelo. The portico was
built under Gregory XIII. by Giacomo della Porta. The northern façade
was erected by Borromini, with the ridiculous church (S. Ivo), built in
the form of a bee to flatter Urban VIII., that insect being his device.
The building is called the Sapienza, from the motto, "Initium Sapientiæ
timor Domini," engraved over the window above the principal entrance.
Forty professors teach here all the different branches of law, medicine,
theology, philosophy, and philology.

Behind the Sapienza is the small _Piazza di S. Eustachio_, containing on
three sides the Giustiniani, Lante, and Maccarini palaces, and
celebrated for the festival of the Befana,[309] which takes place here.

     "The Piazza and all the adjacent streets are lined with booths
     covered with every kind of plaything for children. These booths are
     gaily illuminated with rows of candles and the three-wick'd brass
     _lucerne_ of Rome; and at intervals, painted posts are set into the
     pavement, crowned with pans of grease, with a wisp of tow for
     wick, from which flames blaze and flare about. Besides these,
     numbers of torches carried about by hand lend a wavering and
     picturesque light to the scene. By eight o'clock in the evening
     crowds begin to fill the piazza and the adjacent streets. Long
     before one arrives the squeak of penny-trumpets is heard at
     intervals; but in the piazza itself the mirth is wild and furious,
     and the din that salutes one's ears on entering is almost
     deafening. The object of every one is to make as much noise as
     possible, and every kind of instrument for this purpose is sold at
     the booths. There are drums beating, _tamburelli_ thumping and
     jingling, pipes squeaking, watchman's rattles clacking,
     penny-trumpets and tin-horns shrilling, the sharpest whistles
     shrieking,--and mingling with these is heard the din of voices,
     screams of laughter, and the confused burr and buzz of a great
     crowd. On all sides you are saluted by the strangest noises.
     Instead of being spoken to, you are whistled at. Companies of
     people are marching together in platoons, or piercing through the
     crowd in long files, and dancing and blowing like mad on their
     instruments. It is a perfect witches' Sabbath. Here, huge dolls
     dressed as Polichinello or Pantaloon are borne about for sale,--or
     over the heads of the crowd great black-faced jumping-jacks, lifted
     on a stick, twitch themselves in fantastic fits,--or, what is more
     Roman than all, long poles are carried about strung with rings of
     hundreds of _Giambelli_ (a light cake, called jumble in English),
     which are screamed for sale at a _mezzo baiocco_ each. There is no
     alternative but to get a drum, whistle, or trumpet, and join in the
     racket,--and to fill one's pocket with toys for the children, and
     absurd presents for one's older friends. The moment you are once in
     for it, and making as much noise as you can, you begin to relish
     the jest. The toys are very odd, particularly the Roman whistles;
     some of these are made of pewter, with a little wheel that whirls
     as you blow; others are of terra-cotta, very rudely modelled into
     every shape of bird, beast, or human deformity, each with a whistle
     in its head, breast, or tail, which it is no joke to hear, when
     blown close to your ears by a stout pair of lungs. The scene is
     extremely picturesque. Above, the dark vault of night, with its far
     stars, the blazing and flaring of lights below, and the great, dark
     walls of the Sapienza and church looking down grimly upon the
     mirth."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

The _Church of S. Eustachio_ commemorates one, who, first a brave
soldier of the army of Titus in Palestine, became master of the horse
under Trajan, and general under Hadrian, and who suffered martyrdom for
refusing to sacrifice to idols, by being roasted alive in a brazen bull
before the Coliseum, with his wife Theophista, and his sons, Agapetus
and Theophistus. The relics of these saints repose in a porphyry
sarcophagus under the high altar. The stags' heads on the portico and on
the apex of the gable refer to the legend of the conversion of St.
Eustace.

     "One day, while hunting in the forest, he saw before him a white
     stag, of marvellous beauty, and he pursued it eagerly, and the stag
     fled before him, and ascended a high rock. Then Placidus (Eustace
     was called Placidus before his conversion), looking up, beheld,
     between the horns of the stag, a cross of radiant light, and on it
     the image of the crucified Redeemer; and being astonished and
     dazzled by this vision, he fell on his knees, and a voice which
     seemed to come from the crucifix cried to him, and said, 'Placidus!
     why dost thou pursue me? I am Christ, whom thou hast hitherto
     served without knowing me. Dost thou now believe?' And Placidus
     fell with his face to the earth, and said, 'Lord, I believe!' And
     the voice answered, saying, 'Thou shall suffer many tribulations
     for my sake, and shalt be tried by many temptations; but be strong
     and of good courage, and I will not forsake thee.' To which
     Placidus replied, 'Lord, I am content. Do thou give me patience to
     suffer!' And when he looked up again the glorious vision had
     departed."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 792.

A similar story is told of St. Hubert, St. Julian, and St. Felix.

A fresco of St. Peter, by _Pierino del Vaga_, in this church, was much
admired by Vasari, who dilates upon the boldness of its design, the
simple folds of its drapery, its careful drawing and judicious
treatment.

Two streets lead from the Piazza S. Eustachio to--

_The Pantheon_, the most perfect pagan building in the city, built B.C.
27, by Marcus Agrippa, the bosom friend of Augustus Cæsar, and the
second husband of his daughter Julia. The inscription in huge letters,
perfectly legible from beneath, "M. AGRIPPA. L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT,"
records its construction. Another inscription on the architrave, now
almost illegible, records its restoration under Septimius Severus and
his son Caracalla, _c._ 202, who, "Pantheum vetustate corruptum cum omni
cultu restitverunt." Some authorities have maintained that the Pantheon
was originally only a vast hall in the baths of Agrippa, acknowledged
remains of which exist at no great distance; but the name "Pantheum" was
in use as early as A.D. 59.

In A.D. 399 the Pantheon was closed as a temple in obedience to a decree
of the Emperor Honorius, and in 608 was consecrated as a Christian
church by Pope Boniface IV., with the permission of the Emperor Phocas,
under the title of _Sta. Maria ad Martyres_. To this dedication we owe
the preservation of the main features of the building, though it had
been terribly maltreated. In 663 the Emperor Constans, who had come to
Rome with great pretence of devotion to its shrines and relics, and who
only staid there twelve days, did not scruple, in spite of its religious
dedication, to strip off the tiles of gilt bronze with which the roof
was covered, and carry them off with him to Syracuse, where, upon his
murder, a few years after, they fell into the hands of the Saracens. In
1087 it was used by the anti-pope Guibert as a fortress, whence he made
incursions upon the lawful pope, Victor III., and his protector, the
Countess Matilda. In 1101, another anti-pope, Sylvester IV., was elected
here. Pope Martin V., after the return from Avignon, attempted the
restoration of the Pantheon by clearing away the mass of miserable
buildings in which it was encrusted, and his efforts were continued by
Eugenius IV., but Urban VIII. (1623--44), though he spent 15,000 scudi
upon the Pantheon, and added the two ugly campaniles, called in
derision "the asses' ears," of their architect, Bernini, did not
hesitate to plunder the gilt bronze ceiling of the portico, 450,250 lbs.
in weight, to make the baldacchino of St. Peter's, and cannons for the
Castle of S. Angelo. Benedict XIV. (1740--58) further despoiled the
building by tearing away all the precious marbles which lined the attic,
to ornament other buildings.

The Pantheon was not originally, as now, below the level of the piazza,
but was approached by a flight of five steps. The portico, which is 110
feet long and 44 feet deep, is supported by sixteen grand Corinthian
columns of oriental granite, 36 feet in height. The ancient bronze doors
remain. On either side are niches, once occupied by colossal statues of
Augustus and Agrippa.

     "Agrippa wished to dedicate the Pantheon to Augustus, but he
     refused, and only allowed his statue to occupy a niche on the right
     of the peristyle, while that of Agrippa occupied the niche on the
     left."--_Merivale._

The _Interior_ is a rotunda, 143 feet in diameter, covered by a dome. It
is only lighted by an aperture in the centre, 28 feet in diameter. Seven
great niches around the walls once contained statues of different gods
and goddesses, that of Jupiter being the central figure. All the
surrounding columns are of giallo-antico, except four, which are of
pavonazzetto, painted yellow. It is a proof of the great value and
rarity of giallo-antico, that it was always impossible to obtain more to
complete the set.

     "L'intérieur du Panthéon, comme l'extérieur, est parfaitement
     conservé, et les édicules, placés dans le pourtour du temple
     forment les chapelles de l'église. Jamais la simplicité ne fut
     alliée à la grandeur dans une plus heureuse harmonie. Le jour,
     tombant d'en haut et glissant le long des colonnes et des parois de
     marbre, porte dans l'âme un sentiment de tranquillité sublime, et
     donne à tous les objets, dit Serlio, un air de beauté. Vue du
     dehors, la coupole de plomb qui a remplacé l'ancienne coupole de
     bronze couverte de tuiles dorées, fait bien comprendre l'expression
     de Virgile, lequel l'avait sous les yeux et peut-être en vue, quand
     il écrivait:

    ... 'Media testudine templi.'

     En effet, cette coupole surbaissée ressemble tout à fait à la
     carapace d'une tortue."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 342.

     "Being deep in talk, it so happened that they found themselves near
     the majestic, pillared portico and huge black rotundity of the
     Pantheon. It stands almost at the central point of the labyrinthine
     intricacies of the modern city, and often presents itself before
     the bewildered stranger when he is in search of other objects.
     Hilda, looking up, proposed that they should enter.

     "They went in, accordingly, and stood in the free space of that
     great circle, around which are ranged the arched recesses and
     stately altars, formerly dedicated to heathen gods, but
     Christianized through twelve centuries gone by. The world has
     nothing else like the Pantheon. So grand it is, that the pasteboard
     statues over the lofty cornice do not disturb the effect, any more
     than the tin crowns and hearts, the dusty artificial flowers, and
     all manner of trumpery gewgaws, hanging at the saintly shrines. The
     rust and dinginess that have dimmed the precious marble on the
     walls; the pavement, with its great squares and rounds of porphyry
     and granite, cracked crosswise and in a hundred directions, showing
     how roughly the troublesome ages have trampled here; the grey dome
     above, with its opening to the sky, as if heaven were looking down
     into the interior of this place of worship, left unimpeded for
     prayers to ascend the more freely: all these things make an
     impression of solemnity, which St. Peter's itself fails to produce.

     "'I think,' said Kenyon, 'it is to the aperture in the dome--that
     great eye, gazing heavenward--that the Pantheon owes the
     peculiarity of its effect. It is so heathenish, as it were--so
     unlike all the snugness of our modern civilization! Look, too, at
     the pavement directly beneath the open space! So much rain has
     fallen there, in the last two thousand years, that it is green with
     small, fine moss, such as grows over tombstones in damp English
     churchyards.'

     "'I like better,' replied Hilda, 'to look at the bright, blue sky,
     roofing the edifice where the builders left it open. It is very
     delightful, in a breezy day, to see the masses of white cloud float
     over the opening, and then the sunshine fall through it again,
     fitfully, as it does now. Would it be any wonder if we were to see
     angels hovering there, partly in and partly out, with genial,
     heavenly faces, not intercepting the light, but transmuting it into
     beautiful colours? Look at that broad, golden beam--a sloping
     cataract of sunlight--which comes down from the aperture, and rests
     upon the shrine, at the right hand of the entrance.'"--_Hawthorne._

     ... "'Entrons dans le temple,' dit Corinne: 'vous le voyez, il
     reste découvert presque comme il l'était autrefois. On dit que
     cette lumière qui venait d'en haut était l'emblème de la divinité
     supérieure à toutes les divinités. Les païens ont toujours aimé les
     images symboliques. Il semble en effet que ce langage convient
     mieux à la religion que la parole. La pluie tombe souvent sur ces
     parvis de marbre; mais aussi les rayons du soleil viennent éclairer
     les prières. Quelle sérénité; quel air de fête on remarque dans cet
     édifice! Les païens ont divinisé la vie, et les chrétiens ont
     divinisé la mort: tel est l'esprit des deux cultes.'"--_Mad. de
     Staël._

     "In the ancient Pantheon, when the music of Christian chaunts rises
     among the shadowy forms of the old vanished gods painted on the
     walls, and the light streams down, not from painted windows in the
     walls, but from the glowing heavens above, every note of the
     service echoes like a peal of triumph, and fills my heart with
     thankfulness."--_Mrs. Charles._

     "'Where,' asked Redschid Pasha, on his visit to the Pantheon, 'are
     the statues of the heathen gods?' 'Of course they were removed when
     the temple was Christianized,' was the natural answer. 'No,' he
     replied, 'I would have left them standing to show how the true God
     had triumphed over them in their own house."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

    "No, great Dome of Agrippa, thou art not Christian! canst not,
    Strip and replaster and daub and do what they will with thee, be so!
    Here underneath the great porch of colossal Corinthian columns,
    Here as I walk, do I dream of the Christian belfries above them;
    Or, on a bench as I sit and abide for long hours, till thy whole vast
    Round grows dim as in dreams to my eyes, I repeople thy niches,
    Not with the martyrs, and saints, and confessors, and virgins,
     and children,
    But with the mightier forms of an older, austerer worship;
    And I recite to myself, how
                                'eager for battle here
                Stood Vulcan, here matronal Juno,
                  And, with the bow to his shoulder faithful,
              He who with pure dew laveth of Castaly
              His flowing locks, who holdeth of Lycia
              The oak forest and the wood that bore him,
                  Delos' and Patara's own Apollo.'"

    _A. H. Clough._

Some antiquarians have supposed that the aperture at the top of the
Pantheon was originally closed by a huge "Pigna," or pine-cone of
bronze, like that which crowned the summit of the mausoleum of Hadrian,
and this belief has been encouraged by the name of a neighbouring church
being S. Giovanni della Pigna.

The Pantheon has become the burial-place of painters. Raphael, Annibale
Caracci, Taddeo Zucchero, Baldassare Peruzzi, Pierino del Vaga, and
Giovanni da Udine, are all buried here.

The third chapel on the left contains the _tomb of Raphael_ (born April
6, 1483; died April 6, 1520). From the pen of Cardinal Bembo is the
epigram:

    "Ille hic est Raphael, timuit quo sospite vinci
    Rerum magna parens, et moriente mori"[310]

     "Raphael mourut à l'âge de 37 ans. Son corps resta exposé pendant
     trois jours. Au moment où l'on s'apprêtait à le descendre dans sa
     dernière demeure, on vit arriver le pape (Leon X.) qui se
     prosterna, pria quelques instants, bénit Raphael, et lui prit pour
     la dernière fois la main, qu'il arrosa de ses larmes (si prostrò
     innanzi l'estinto Rafaello et baciogli quella mano, tra le
     lagrime). On lui fit de magnifiques funérailles, auxquelles
     assistèrent les cardinaux, les artistes, &c."--_A. Du Pays._

                      "When Raphael went,
    His heavenly face the mirror of his mind,
    His mind a temple for all lovely things
    To flock to and inhabit--when He went,
    Wrapt in his sable cloak, the cloak he wore,
    To sleep beneath the venerable Dome,
    By those attended, who in life had loved,
    Had worshipped, following in his steps to Fame,
    ('Twas on an April-day, when Nature smiles,)
    All Rome was there. But, ere the march began,
    Ere to receive their charge the bearers came,
    Who had not sought him? And when all beheld
    Him, where he lay, how changed from yesterday,
    Him in that hour cut off, and at his head
    His last great work;[311] when, entering in, they looked
    Now on the dead, then on that masterpiece,
    Now on his face, lifeless and colourless,
    Then on those forms divine that lived and breathed,
    And would live on for ages--all were moved;
    And sighs burst forth, and loudest lamentations."

    _Rogers._

Taddeo Zucchero and Annibale Caracci are buried on either side of
Raphael. Near the high altar is a monument to Cardinal Gonsalvi
(1757--1824), the faithful secretary and minister of Pius VII., by
_Thorwaldsen_. This, however, is only a cenotaph, marking the spot where
his heart is preserved. His body rests with that of his beloved brother
Andrew in the church of S. Marcello.

During the middle ages the pope always officiated here on the day of
Pentecost, when, in honour of the descent of the Holy Spirit, showers of
white rose-leaves were continually sent down through the aperture during
service.

     "Though plundered of all its brass, except the ring which was
     necessary to preserve the aperture above; though exposed to
     repeated fire; though sometimes flooded by the river, and always
     open to the rain, no monument of equal antiquity is so well
     preserved as this rotunda. It passed with little alteration from
     the pagan into the present worship; and so convenient were its
     niches for the Christian altar, that Michael Angelo, ever studious
     of ancient beauty, introduced their design as a model in the
     Catholic church."--_Forsyth._

    "Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime--
    Shrine of all saints and temple of all gods,
    From Jove to Jesus--spared and bless'd by time,
    Looking tranquillity, while falls or nods
    Arch, empire, each thing round thee, and man plods
    His way through thorns to ashes--glorious dome!
    Shalt thou not last? Time's scythe and tyrant's rods
    Shiver upon thee--sanctuary and home
    Of art and piety--Pantheon! pride of Rome!"

    _Byron, Childe Harold._

In the Piazza della Rotonda is a small _Obelisk_ found in the Campus
Martius.

     "At a few paces from the streets where meat is sold, you will find
     gathered round the fountain in the Piazza della Rotonda, a number
     of bird-fanciers, surrounded by cages in which are multitudes of
     living birds for sale. Here are Java sparrows, parrots and
     parroquets, grey thrushes and nightingales, red-breasts (_petti
     rossi_), yellow canary-birds, beautiful sweet-singing little
     _cardellini_, and gentle ringdoves, all chattering, singing, and
     cooing together, to the constant splashing of the fountain. Among
     them, perched on stands, and glaring wisely out of their great
     yellow eyes, may be seen all sorts of owls, from the great solemn
     _barbigiani_, and white-tufted owl, to the curious little
     _civetta_, which gives its name to all sharp-witted heartless
     flirts, and the _aziola_, which Shelley has celebrated in one of
     his minor poems."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

(Following the Via della Rotonda from hence, in the third street on the
left is the small semicircular ruin called, from a fancied resemblance
to the favourite cake of the people, _Arco di Ciambella_. This is the
only remaining fragment of the baths of Agrippa, unless the Pantheon
itself was connected with them.)

Behind the Pantheon, is the _Piazza della Minerva_, where a small
_Obelisk_ was erected 1667 by Bernini, on the back of an elephant. It is
exactly similar to the obelisk in front of the Pantheon, and they were
both found near this site, where they formed part of the decorations of
the Campus Martius. The hieroglyphics show that it dates from Hophres,
a king of the 25th dynasty. On the pedestal is the inscription:

    "Sapientis Ægypti insculptas obelisco figuras
    Ab elephanto belluarum fortissimo gestari
      Quisquis hic vides, documentum intellige
    Robustæ mentis esse solidam sapientiam sustinere."

One side of the piazza is occupied by the mean ugly front of the _Church
of Sta. Maria sopra Minerva_, built in 1370 upon the ruins of a temple
of Minerva founded by Pompey. It is the only gothic church in Rome of
importance. In 1848--55 it was redecorated with tawdry imitation
marbles, which have only a good effect when there is not sufficient
light to see them. In spite of this, the interior is very interesting,
and its chapels are a perfect museum of relics of art or history. The
services, too, in this church were, under the papal government,
exceedingly imposing, especially the procession on the night before
Christmas, the mass of St. Thomas Aquinas, and that of "the white mule
day." Some celebrated divine generally preaches here at 11 A.M. every
morning in Lent.

Hither, on the feast of the Annunciation, comes the famous "Procession
of the White Mule," when the host is borne by the grand almoner riding
on the papal mule, followed by the pope in his glass coach, and a long
train of cardinals and other dignitaries. Up to the time of Pius VI., it
was the pope himself who rode upon the white mule, but Pius VII. was too
infirm, and since his time they have given it up. But this procession
has continued to be one of the finest _spectacles_ of the kind, and has
been an opportunity for a loyal demonstration, balconies being hung with
scarlet draperies, and flowers showered down upon the papal coach,
while the pope, on arriving and departing, has usually been received
with tumultuous "evivas."

On the right of the entrance is the tomb of Diotisalvi, a Florentine
knight, ob. 1482. Beginning the circuit of the church by the right
aisle, the first chapel has a picture of S. Ludovico Bertrando, by
_Baciccio_, the paintings on the pilasters being by _Muziano_. In the
second, the Colonna Chapel, is the tomb of the late Princess Colonna
(Donna Isabella Alvaria of Toledo) and her child, who both died at
Albano in the cholera of 1867. The third chapel is that of the Gabrielli
family. The fourth is that of the Annunciation. Over its altar is a most
interesting picture, shown as a work of Fra Angelico, but more probably
that of _Benozzo Gozzoli_. It represents Monsignore Torquemada attended
by an angel, presenting three young girls to the Virgin, who gives them
dowries: the Almighty is seen in the clouds. Torquemada was a Dominican
Cardinal, who founded the association of the Santissima-Annunziata,
which holds its meetings in this chapel, and which annually gives
dowries to a number of poor girls, who receive them from the pope when
he comes here in state on the 25th of March. On this occasion, the girls
who are to receive the dowries are drawn up in two lines in front of the
church. Some are distinguished by white wreaths. They are those who are
going to "enter into religion," and who consequently receive double the
dowry of the others, on the plea that "money placed in the hands of
religion bears interest for the poor."

Torquemada is himself buried in this chapel, opposite the tomb, by
Ambrogio Buonvicino, of his friend Urban VII., Giov. Battista Castagna,
1590,--who was pope only for eleven days.

The fifth chapel is the burial-place of the Aldobrandini family. It
contains a faded Last Supper, by _Baroccio_.

     "The Cenacolo of Baroccio, painted by order of Clement VIII.
     (1594), is remarkable for an anecdote relating to it. Baroccio, who
     was not eminent for a correct taste, had in his first sketch
     reverted to the ancient fashion of placing Satan close behind
     Judas, whispering in his ear, and tempting him to betray his
     master. The pope expressed his dissatisfaction,--'che non gli
     piaceva il demonio se dimesticasse tanto con Gesù Christo,'--and
     ordered him to remove the offensive figure."--_Jameson's Sacred
     Art_, p. 277.

Here are the fine tombs erected by Clement VIII. (Ippolito Aldobrandini)
as soon as he obtained the papacy, to his father and mother. Their
architecture is by _Giacomo della Porta_, but the figures are by
_Cordieri_, the sculptor of Sta. Silvia's statue. At the sides of the
mother's tomb are figures emblematical of Charity, by that of the
father, figures of Humility and Vanity. Beyond his mother's tomb is a
fine statue of Clement VIII. himself (who is buried at Sta. Maria
Maggiore), by _Ippolito Buzi_.

     "Hippolyte Aldobrandini, qui prit le nom de Clément VIII., était le
     cinquième fils du célèbre jurisconsulte Silvestro Aldobrandini,
     qui, après avoir professé à Pise et joui d'une haute autorité à
     Florence, avait été condamné à l'exil par le retour au pouvoir des
     Médicis ses ennemis. La vie de Silvestre devint alors pénible et
     calamiteuse. Dépouillé de ses biens, il fut, du moins, toujours
     ennoblir son malheur par la dignité de son caractère. Sa famille
     présentait un rare assemblage de douces vertus et de jeunes talents
     qu'une forte éducation développait chaque jour avec puissance.
     Appelé à Rome par Paul III., qui le nomma avocat consistorial,
     Silvester s'y transporta avec son épouse, la pieuse Leta Deti, qui,
     pendant trente-sept ans, fut pour lui comme son bon ange, et avec
     tous ses enfants, Jean, qui devait être un jour cardinal; Bernard,
     qui devint un vaillant guerrier; Thomas, qui préparait déjà
     peut-être sa traduction de Diogène-Laërce; Pierre, qui voulut être
     jurisconsulte comme son père; et le jeune Hippolyte, un enfant
     alors, dont les saillies inquiétaient le vieillard, car il ne
     savait comment pourvoir à son éducation et utiliser cette vivacité
     de génie qui déjà brillait dans son regard. Hippolyte fut élevé
     aux frais du cardinal Farnèse; puis, tous les emplois, toutes les
     dignités vinrent successivement au-devant de lui, sans qu'il les
     cherchât autrement qu'en s'en rendant digne."--_Gournerie, Rome
     Chrétienne_, ii. 238.

The sixth chapel contains two fine cinque-cento tombs; on the left,
Benedetto Superanzio, bishop of Nicosa, ob. 1495; on the right, a
Spanish bishop, Giovanni da Coca, with frescoes. Close to the former
tomb, on the floor, is the grave of (archdeacon) Robert Wilberforce, who
died at Albano in 1857.

Here we enter the right transept. On the right is a small dark chapel
containing a fine Crucifix, attributed to Giotto. The central, or
Caraffa Chapel, is dedicated to St. Thomas Aquinas, and is covered with
well-preserved frescoes. On the right, St. Thomas Aquinas is represented
surrounded by allegorical figures, by _Filippino Lippi_. Over the altar
is a beautiful Annunciation, in which a portrait of the donor, Cardinal
Olivieri Caraffa, is introduced. Above is the Assumption of the Virgin.
On the ceiling are the four Sibyls, by _Raffaelino del Garbo_.

Against the left wall is the tomb of Paul IV., Gio. Pietro Caraffa
(1555--59), the great supporter of the Inquisition, the patron of the
Jesuits, the persecutor of the Jews (whom he shut up with walls in the
Ghetto),--a pope so terrible to look upon, that even Alva, who feared no
man, trembled at his awful aspect Such he is represented upon his tomb,
with deeply-sunken eyes and strongly-marked features, with one hand
raised in blessing--or cursing, and the keys of St. Peter in the other.
The tomb was designed by Pirro Ligorio; the statue is the work of
Giacomo and Tommaso Casignuola, and being made in marble of different
pieces and colours, is cited by Vasari as an instance of a sculptor's
ingenuity in imitating painting with his materials. The epitaph runs:

     "To Jesus Christ, the hope and the life of the faithful; to Paul
     IV. Caraffa, sovereign pontiff, distinguished amongst all by his
     eloquence, his learning, and his wisdom; illustrious by his
     innocence, by his liberality, and by his greatness of soul; to the
     most ardent champion of the catholic faith, Pius V., sovereign
     pontiff, has raised this monument of his gratitude and of his
     piety. He lived eighty-three years, one month, and twenty days, and
     died the 14th August, 1559, the fifth year of his
     pontificate."[312]

On the transept wall, just outside this chapel, is the beautiful gothic
tomb of Guillaume Durandus, bishop of Mende,[313] with a recumbent
figure guarded by two angels, the background being occupied by a mosaic
of the Virgin and Child, by _Giovanni Cosmati_.

The first chapel on a line with the choir--the burial-place of the
Altieri family--has an altar-piece, by _Carlo Maratta_, representing
five saints canonized by Clement X., presented to the Virgin by St.
Peter. On the floor is the incised monument of a bishop of Sutri.

The second chapel--which contains a fine cinque-cento tomb--is that of
the Rosary. Its ceiling, representing the Mysteries of the Rosary, is by
_Marcello Venusti_; the history of St. Catherine of Siena is by
_Giovanni de' Vecchi_; the large and beautiful Madonna with the Child
over the altar is attributed to _Fra Angelico_. Here is the tomb of
Cardinal Capranica of 1470.

Beneath the high altar, with lamps always burning before it, is a marble
sarcophagus with a beautiful figure, enclosing the body of St.
Catherine of Siena. In it her relics were deposited in 1461, by
Antoninus, archbishop of Florence. On the last pillar to the right is an
inscription stating that, "all the indulgences and privileges in every
church, of all the religious orders, mendicant or not mendicant, in
every part of the world, are granted especially to this church, where is
the body of St. Catherine of Siena."

     "St. Catherine was one of twenty-five children born in wedlock to
     Jacopo and Lupa Benincasa, citizens of Siena. Her father exercised
     the trade of dyer and fuller. In the year of her birth, 1347, Siena
     reached the climax of its power and splendour. It was then that the
     plague of Bocaccio began to rage, which swept off 80,000 citizens,
     and interrupted the building of the great Duomo. In the midst of so
     large a family and during these troubled times, Catherine grew
     almost unnoticed, but it was not long before she manifested her
     peculiar disposition. At six years old she already saw visions and
     longed for a monastic life: about the same time she used to collect
     her childish companions together and preach to them. As she grew
     her wishes became stronger; she refused the proposals which her
     parents made that she should marry, and so vexed them by her
     obstinacy that they imposed on her the most servile duties in their
     household. These she patiently fulfilled, at the same time pursuing
     her own vocation with unwearied ardour. She scarcely slept at all,
     and ate no food but vegetables and a little bread, scourged
     herself, wore sackcloth, and became emaciated, weak, and half
     delirious. At length the firmness of her character and the force of
     her hallucination won the day. Her parents consented to her
     assuming the Dominican robe, and at the age of thirteen she entered
     the monastic life. From this moment till her death we see in her
     the ecstatic, the philanthropist, and the politician combined to a
     remarkable degree. For three whole years she never left her cell
     except to go to church, maintaining an almost unbroken silence.
     Yet, when she returned to the world, convinced at length of having
     won by prayer and pain the favour of her Lord, it was to preach to
     infuriated mobs, to toil among men dying of the plague, to execute
     diplomatic negotiations, to harangue the republic of Florence, to
     correspond with queens, and to interpose between kings and popes.
     In the midst of this varied and distracting career she continued to
     see visions, and to fast and scourge herself. The domestic virtues
     and the personal wants and wishes of a woman were annihilated in
     her; she lived for the Church, for the poor, and for Christ, whom
     she imagined to be constantly supporting her. At length she died
     (at Rome, on the 29th of April, 1380, in her 33rd year) worn out by
     inward conflicts, by the tension of a half-delirious ecstasy, by
     want of food and sleep, and by the excitement of political
     life."--_Cornhill Mag._ Sept. 1866.

On the right of the high altar is a statue of St. John, by _Obicci_,--on
the left is the famous statue of Christ, by _Michael Angelo_. This is
one of the sculptures which Francis I. tried hard to obtain for Paris.
Its effect is marred by the bronze drapery.

Behind, in the choir, are the tombs of two Medici popes. On the left is
Leo X., Giovanni de Medici (1513--21). This great pope, son of Lorenzo
the Magnificent, was destined to the papacy from his cradle. He was
ordained at seven years old, was made a cardinal at seventeen, and pope
at thirty-eight, and at the installation procession to the Lateran, rode
upon the same white horse, upon which he had fought and had been taken
prisoner at the battle of Ravenna. His reign was one of fêtes and
pleasures. He was the great patron of artists and poets, and Raphael and
Ariosto rose into eminence under his protection. His tomb is from a
design of Antonio di Sangallo, but the figure of the pope is by
Raffaello da Montelupo.

Near the foot of Leo X.'s tomb is the flat monumental stone of Cardinal
Bembo, his friend, and the friend of Raphael, who died 1547. His epitaph
has been changed. The original inscription, half-pagan, half-Christian,
ran:

    "Hic Bembus jacet Aonidum laus maxima Phœbi
      Cum sole, et luna vix periturus honos.
    Hic et fama jacet, spes, et suprema galeri
      Quam non ulla queat restituisse dies.
    Hic jacet exemplar vitæ omni fraude carentis,
      Summa jacet, summa hic cum pietate fides."

On the right of the choir is the tomb, by Sangallo, of Clement VII.,
Giulio de Medici (1523--34), son of the Giulio who fell in the
conspiracy of the Pazzi,--who in his unhappy reign saw the sack of Rome
(1527) under the Constable de Bourbon, and the beginning of the
separation from England under Henry VIII. The figure of the pope is by
_Baccio Bandinelli_. Among other graves here is that of the English
Cardinal Howard, ob. 1694. Just beyond the choir is a passage leading to
a door into the Via S. Ignazio. Immediately on the left is the slab tomb
of Fra Angelico da Fiesole. It is inscribed:

    "Hic jacet Vene Pictor Fl. Jo. de Florentia Ordinis
               prædicatorum, 1404.

    "Non mihi sit laudi quod eram velut alter Apelles,
      Sed quod lucra tuis omnia, Christe, dabam.
    Altera nam terris opera exstant, altero cœlo.
      Urbs me Johannem flos tulit Etruriæ."[314]

     "Fra Angelico was simple and most holy in his manners,--and let
     this serve for a token of his simplicity, that Pope Nicholas one
     morning offering him refreshment, he scrupled to eat flesh without
     the licence of his superior, forgetful for the moment of the
     dispensing authority of the pontiff. He shunned altogether the
     commerce of the world, and living in holiness and in purity, was as
     loving towards the poor on earth as I think his soul must be now in
     heaven. He worked incessantly at his art, nor would he ever paint
     other than sacred subjects. He might have been rich, but cared not
     to be so, saying that true riches consisted rather in being content
     with little. He might have ruled over many, but willed it not,
     saying there was less trouble and hazard of sin in obeying others.
     Dignity and authority were within his grasp, but he disregarded
     them, affirming that he sought no other advancement than to escape
     hell and draw nigh to Paradise. He was most meek and temperate, and
     by a chaste life loosened himself from the snares of the world,
     ofttimes saying that the student of painting hath need of quiet and
     to live without anxiety, and that the dealers in the things of
     Christ ought to live habitually with Christ. Never was he seen in
     anger with the brethren, which appears to me a thing most
     marvellous, and all but incredible; his admonitions to his friends
     were simple and always softened by a smile. Whoever sought to
     employ him, he answered with the utmost courtesy, that he would do
     his part willingly so the prior were content.--In sum, this never
     sufficiently to be lauded father was most humble and modest in all
     his words and deeds, and in his paintings graceful and devout; and
     the saints which he painted have more of the air and aspect of
     saints than those of any other artist. He was wont never to retouch
     or amend any of his paintings, but left them always as they had
     come from his hand at first, believing, as he said, that such was
     the will of God. Some say that he never took up his pencil without
     previous prayer. He never painted a crucifix without tears bathing
     his cheeks; and throughout his works, in the countenance and
     attitude of all his figures, the correspondent impress of his
     sincere and exalted appreciation of the Christian religion is
     recognisable. Such was this verily Angelic father, who spent the
     whole time of his life in the service of God and in doing good to
     the world and to his neighbour. And truly a gift like his could not
     descend on any but a man of most saintly life, for a painter must
     be holy himself before he can depict holiness."--_Lord Lindsay,
     from Vasari._

In the same passage are tombs of Cardinal Alessandrino, by Giacomo della
Porta; of Cardinal Pimentel, by Bernini; and of Cardinal Bonelli, by
Carlo Rainaldi.

Beyond this, in the left transept, is the Chapel of S. Domenico, with
eight black columns, appropriate to the colour of the Order, and an
interesting picture of the saint. Here is the tomb of Benedict XIII.,
Vincenzo-Maria Orsini (1724--30), by Pietro Bracci. This pope, who had
been a Dominican monk, laboured hard in his short reign for the
reformation of the Church, and the morals of the clergy.

Over a door leading to the Sacristy are frescoes representing the
election of Eugenius IV. in 1431, and of Nicholas V. in 1447, which both
took place in this church. The altar of the sacristy has a Crucifixion,
by Andrea Sacchi.

Returning down the left aisle, the second chapel, counting from this
end, is that of the Lante family, which contains the fine tomb of the
Duchess Lante, ob. 1840, by _Tenerani_, with the Angel of the
Resurrection, a sublime upward-gazing figure seated upon the
sarcophagus. Here is a picture of St. James, by _Baroccio_.

The third chapel is that of S. Vincenzo Ferreri, apostle of the Order of
Preachers, with a miracle-working picture, by _Bernardo Castelli_. The
fourth chapel--of the Grazioli family--has on the right a statue of St.
Sebastian, by _Mino da Fiesole_, and over the altar a lovely head of our
Saviour, by _Perugino_. This chapel was purchased by the Grazioli from
the old family of Maffei, of which there are some fine tombs. The fifth
chapel--of the Patrizi family--contains the famous miraculous picture
called "La Madonna Consolatrice degli afflitti," in honour of which Pope
Gregory XVI. conceded so many indulgences, as we read by the
inscription.

     "La santità di N. S. Gregorio Papa XVI. con breve in data 17 Sept.
     1836. Ho accordato l'indulgenzia plenaria a chiunque confessato e
     communicato visiterà divotamente questa santa imagine della B.
     Vergine sotto il titolo di consolatrice degli afflitti nella
     seconda dominica di Luglio e suo ottavo di ciascun anno: concede
     altresi la parziale indulgenza di 200 giorni in qualunque giorno
     dell' anno a chiunque almeno contrito visiterà la detta S.
     Immagine: le dette indulgenze poi sono pure applicabili alle
     benedette anime del purgatorio."

The last chapel, belonging to a Spanish nobleman, contains the picture
of the Crucifixion, which is said to have conversed with Sta. Rosa di
Lima.

Near the entrance is the tomb of Cardinal Giacomo Tebaldi, ob. 1466, and
beneath it that of Francesco Tornabuoni, by _Mino da Fiesole_. It was
for the tomb of the wife of this Tornabuoni, who died in childbirth,
that the wonderful relief of Verocchio, now in the Uffizi at Florence,
was executed. In the pavement is the gravestone of Paulus Manutius, the
printer, son of the famous Aldus Manutius of Venice, with the
inscription, "Paulo Manutio Aldi Filio. Obiit CIƆIƆLXXIV."

The great _Dominican Convent of the Minerva_, lately suppressed, was the
residence of the General of the Order. It contains the _Bibliotheca
Casanatensis_ (so called from its founder, Cardinal Casanata), the
largest library in Rome after that of the Vatican, comprising 120,000
printed volumes and 4500 MSS. It is open from 8 to 11 A.M., and 1½ to
3½ P.M. This convent has always been connected with the history of
the Inquisition. Here, on June 22, 1633, Galileo was tried before its
tribunal for the "heresy" of saying that the earth went round the sun,
instead of the sun round the earth, and was forced to recant upon his
knees, this "accursed, heretical, and detestable doctrine." As he rose
from his humiliation, he is said to have consoled himself by adding, in
an undertone, "E pur si muove." When the "Palace of the Holy Office" was
stormed by the mob in the revolution of 1848, it was feared that the
Dominican convent would have been burnt down.

The very beautiful cloister of the convent, which has a vaulted roof
richly painted in arabesques, contains grand fifteenth century
tombs,--of Cardinal Tiraso, ob. 1502, and of Cardinal Astorgius, ob.
1503. S. Antonino, archbishop of Florence, who lived in the reigns of
Eugenius IV. and Nicholas V., was prior of this convent.

From the Minerva, the _Via del Piè di Marmo_, so called from a gigantic
marble foot which stands on one side of it, leads to the Corso.[315]




CHAPTER XV.

THE BORGO AND ST. PETER'S.

     Via Tordinona--S. Salvatore in Lauro--House of Raphael--S. Giovanni
     de' Fiorentini--Bridge and Castle of S. Angelo--Sta. Maria
     Traspontina--Palazzo Giraud--Piazza Scossa-Cavalli--Hospital of
     Santo Spirito--Piazza and Obelisk of the Vatican--S. Peter's; its
     portico, tombs, crypts, dome, and sacristy--Churches of S. Stefano
     and Sta. Marta--Il Cimeterio dei Tedeschi--Palazzo del
     Santo-Uffizio--S. Salvatore in Torrione--S. Michaele in Sassia.


Continuing in a direct course from the Piazza Borghese, we pass through
a series of narrow dirty streets quite devoid of interest, but bordering
on one side upon the Tiber, of which--with its bridge, S. Angelo and St.
Peter's--beautiful views may be obtained from little courts and narrow
strips of shore, at the back of the houses.

A short distance after passing (on left) the Locanda dell' Orso, where
Montaigne used to stay when he was in Rome, and beneath which are some
curious vaulted chambers of _c._ A.D. 1500, the street, which repeatedly
changes its name, is called _Via Tordinona_, from the Tor di Nona, which
once stood here, but was destroyed in 1690. It was used as a prison, as
is shown by the verse of Regnier:

    "Qu'un barisel vous mit dedans la tour de Nonne."

One of the narrow streets on the left of the Via Tordinona debouches
into the Via dei Coronari, close to the _Church of S. Salvatore in
Lauro_, built on the site of a laurel-grove, which flourished near the
portico of Europa. It contains a picture of the Nativity, by _Pietro da
Cortona_, and a modern work of _Gagliardi_, representing S. Emidio, S.
Nicolo da Tolentino, and S. Giacomo della Marina, the three protectors
of Ancona. In a side chapel, opening out of the cloisters, is the rich
tomb of Pope Eugenius IV. (Gabriele Condolmieri, ob. 1439), with his
recumbent figure by Isaia da Pisa. Francesco Salviati painted a portrait
of this pope for the adjoining convent, to which he had belonged, as
well as a fine fresco of the Marriage of Cana.[316]

(There are several other fine monuments in the same chapel with the
tomb, which in 1867 was given up as a barrack to the Flemish zouaves, at
the great risk of injury to its delicate carvings.)

Passing the _Apollo Theatre_, the Via Tordinona emerges upon the quay of
the Tiber, opposite S. Angelo. Hence several streets diverge into the
heart of the city.

(At the corner of the Via di Banchi is a house with a frieze, richly
sculptured with lions' heads, &c. On the left is the _Church of San
Celso in Banchi_, in front of which Lorenzo Colonna, the protonotary,
was murdered by the Orsini and Santa Croce, immediately after the death
of Sixtus IV. (1484); and where his mother, finding his head cut off,
and seizing it by the hair, shrieked forth her curses upon his enemies.
On the right, further down the street, is the _Church of Sta. Caterina
da Siena_, which contains an interesting altar-piece by _Girolamo
Genga_, representing the return of Gregory XI. from Avignon, which was
due to her influence.)

The house joining the Ponte S. Angelo is said to have been that of the
"Violinista," the friend of Raphael, who is familiar to us from his
portrait in the Sciarra Palace. Some say that Raphael died while he was
on a visit to him. But the best authorities maintain that he died in a
house built for him by Bramante, in the Piazza Rusticucci, which was
pulled down to enlarge the Piazza of St. Peter's. No. 124, Via Coronari,
not far from the Ponte S. Angelo, is shown as the house in which the
great painter lived previously to this, and is that which he bequeathed
to the chapel in the Pantheon in which he is buried. It was partly
rebuilt in 1705, when Carlo Maderno painted on its façade a portrait of
Raphael in _chiaro-scuro_, now almost obliterated. The house at present
belongs to the canons of Sta. Maria Maggiore.

(The Via _S. Giovanni de' Fiorentini_ leads to the _Church_ of that
name, abutting picturesquely into the angle of the Tiber. This is the
national church of the Tuscans, and was built at the expense of the city
of Florence. In the tribune are tombs of the Falconieri family. Here are
several fine pictures; a St. Jerome writing, by _Cigoli_, who is buried
in this church; St. Jerome praying before a crucifix, _Tito Santi_[317]
(1538--1603); St. Francis, _Tito Santi_; SS. Cosmo and Damian condemned
to martyrdom by fire,--a grand work of _Salvator Rosa_.

     "Some of the altar-pieces of Salvator-Rosa (1615-1673), are well
     conceived and full of effect, especially when they represent a
     horrible subject, like the martyrdom in S. Giovanni de'
     Fiorentini."--Lanzi, ii. 165.

The Chapel of the Crucifix is painted by _Lanfranco_: the third chapel
on the right has frescoes by _Tempesta_ on the roof, relating to the
history of S. Lorenzo.

The building of this church was begun in the reign of Leo X. by
Sansovino, who, for want of space, laid its foundations, at enormous
expense, in the bed of the Tiber. While overlooking this, he fell from a
scaffold, and being dangerously hurt, was obliged to give up his place
to Antonio da Sangallo.[318] Soon after Pope Leo died, and the work,
with many others, was suspended during the reign of Adrian VI. Under
Clement VII. Sansovino returned, but was driven away, robbed of all his
possessions in the sack of Rome, under the Constable de Bourbon. The
church was finished by Giacomo della Porta in 1588, but Alessandro
Galileo added the façade in 1725.

     "En 1488, une affreuse épidémie décimait les malheureux habitants
     des environs de Rome; les mourants étaient abandonnés, les cadavres
     restaient sans sépulture. Aussitôt quelques Florentins forment une
     confrérie sous le titre de _la Pitié_, pour rendre aux pestiférés
     les derniers devoirs de la charité chrétienne: c'est à cette
     confrérie qu'on doit la belle église de Saint-Jean des Florentins,
     à Strada Giulia."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne._

The _Ponte S. Angelo_ is the Pons Elius of Hadrian, built as an approach
to his mausoleum, and only intended for this, as another public bridge
existed close by, at the time of its construction. It is almost entirely
ancient, except the parapets. The statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, at
the extremity, were erected by Clement VII., in the place of two
chapels, in 1530, and the angels, by Clement IX., in 1688. The pedestal
of the third angel on the right is a relic of the siege of Rome in 1849,
and bears the impress of a cannon-ball.

These angels, which have been called the "breezy maniacs" of Bernini,
are only from his designs. The two angels which he executed himself, and
intended for this bridge, are now at S. Andrea delle Fratte. The idea of
Clement IX. was a fine one, that "an avenue of the heavenly host should
be assembled to welcome the pilgrim to the shrine of the great apostle."

Dante saw the bridge of S. Angelo divided lengthways by barriers to
facilitate the movement of the crowds going to and from St Peter's on
the occasion of the first jubilee, 1300.

      "Come i Romani per l'esercito molto,
    L'anno del giubbileo, su per lo ponte
    Hanno a passar la gente modo tolto;
      Che dall' un lato tutti hanno la fronte
    Verso 'l castello, e vanno a Santo Pietro,
    Dall' altra sponda vanno verso 'l monte."

    _Inferno_, xviii. 29.

From the Ponte S. Angelo, when the Tiber is low, are visible the remains
of the bridge by which the ancient _Via Triumphalis_ crossed the river.
Close by, where Santo Spirito now stands, was the Porta Triumphalis, by
which victors entered the city in triumph.

Facing the bridge, is the famous _Castle of S. Angelo_, built by the
Emperor Hadrian as his family tomb, because the last niche in the
imperial mausoleum of Augustus was filled when the ashes of Nerva were
laid there. The first funeral here was that of Elius Verus, the first
adopted son of Hadrian, who died before him. The emperor himself died at
Baiæ, but his remains were transported hither from a temporary tomb at
Pozzuoli by his successor Antoninus Pius, by whom the mausoleum was
completed in A.D. 140. Here, also, were buried, Antoninus Pius, A.D.
161; Marcus Aurelius, 180; Commodus, 192; and Septimius Severus, in an
urn of gold, enclosed in one of alabaster, A.D. 211; Caracalla, in 217,
was the last emperor interred here. The well-known lines of Byron:

    "Turn to the mole which Hadrian rear'd on high,
    Imperial mimic of old Egypt's piles,
    Colossal copyist of deformity,
    Whose travell'd phantasy from the far Nile's
    Enormous model, doom'd the artist's toils
    To build for giants, and for his vain earth,
    His shrunken ashes, raise this dome! How smiles
    The gazer's eye with philosophic mirth,
    To view the huge design which sprung from such a birth."

seem rather applicable to the _Pyramid_ of Caius Cestius than to this
mausoleum.

The castle, as it now appears, is but the skeleton of the magnificent
tomb of the emperors. Procopius, writing in the sixth century, describes
its appearance in his time. "It is built," he says, "of Parian marble;
the square blocks fit closely to each other without any cement. It has
four equal sides, each a stone's throw in length. In height it rises
above the walls of the city. On the summit are statues of men and
horses, of admirable workmanship, in Parian marble." Canina, in his
"Architectura Romana," gives a restoration of the mausoleum, which shows
how it consisted of three storeys: 1, a quadrangular basement, the upper
part intersected with Doric pillars, between which were spaces for
epitaphs of the dead within, and surmounted at the corners by marble
equestrian statues; 2, a circular storey, with fluted Ionic colonnades:
3, a circular storey, surrounded by Corinthian columns, between which
were statues. The whole was surmounted by a pyramidal roof, ending in a
bronze fir-cone.

     "The mausoleum which Hadrian erected for himself on the further
     bank of the Tiber far outshone the tomb of Augustus, which it
     nearly confronted. Of the size and dignity which characterized this
     work of Egyptian massiveness, we may gain a conception from the
     existing remains; but it requires an effort of imagination to
     transform the scarred and shapeless bulk before us, into the
     graceful pile which rose column upon column, surmounted by a gilded
     dome of span almost unrivalled." _Merivale_, ch. lxvi.

The history of the Mausoleum, in the middle ages, is almost the history
of Rome. It was probably first turned into a fortress by Honorius, A.D.
423. From Theodoric it derives the name of "Carcer Theodorici." In 537,
it was besieged by Vitiges, when the defending garrison, reduced to the
last extremity, hurled down all the magnificent statues which decorated
the cornice, upon the besiegers. In A.D. 498 Pope Symmachus removed the
bronze fir-cone at the apex of the roof to the court of St. Peter's,
whence it was afterwards transferred to the Vatican garden, where it is
still to be seen between two bronze peacocks, which probably stood on
either side of the entrance.

Belisarius defended the castle against Totila, whose Gothic troops
captured and held it for three years, after which it was taken by
Narses.

It was in 530 that the event occurred which gave the building its
present name. Pope Gregory the Great was leading a penitential
procession to St. Peter's, in order to offer up prayers for the staying
of the great pestilence which followed the inundation of 589; when, as
he was crossing the bridge, even while the people were falling dead
around him, he looked up at the mausoleum, and saw an angel on its
summit, sheathing a bloody sword,[319] while a choir of angels around
chaunted with celestial voices, the anthem, since adopted by the Church
in her vesper service--"_Regina cœli, lætare--quia quem meruisti
portare--resurrexit, sicut dixit, Alleluja_"--To which the earthly voice
of the pope solemnly responded, "_Ora pro nobis Deum, Alleluja_."[320]

In the tenth century the fortress was occupied by the infamous Marozia,
who, in turn, brought her three husbands (Alberic, Count of Tusculum;
Guido, Marquis of Tuscany; and Hugo, King of Italy) thither, to
tyrannise with her over Rome. It was within the walls of this building
that Alberic, her son by her first husband, waiting upon his royal
stepfather at table, threw a bowl of water over him, when Hugo retorted
by a blow, which was the signal for an insurrection, the people taking
part with Alberic, putting the king to flight, and imprisoning Marozia.
Shut up within these walls, Pope John XI. (931-936), son of Marozia by
her first husband, ruled under the guidance of his stronger-minded
brother Alberic; here, also, Octavian, son of Alberic, and grandson of
Marozia, succeeded in forcing his election as John XII. (being the
first pope who took a new name), and scandalised Christendom by a life
of murder, robbery, adultery, and incest.

In 974 the castle was seized by Cencio (Crescenzio Nomentano), the
consul, who raised up an anti-pope (Boniface VII.) here, with the
determination of destroying the temporal power of the popes, and
imprisoned and murdered two popes, Benedict VI. (972), and John XIV.
(984), within these walls. In 996 another lawful pope, Gregory V.,
calling in the emperor Otho to his assistance, took the castle, and
beheaded Cencio, though he had promised him life if he would surrender.
From this governor the fortress long held the name of Castello de
Crescenzio, or Turris Crescentii, by which it is described in mediæval
writings. A second Cencio supported another anti-pope, Cadolaus, here in
1063, against Pope Alexander II. A third Cencio imprisoned Gregory VII.
here in 1084. From this time the possession of the castle was a constant
point of contest between popes and anti-popes. In 1313 Arlotto degli
Stefaneschi, having demolished most of the other towers in the city,
arranged the same fate for S. Angelo, but it was saved by cession to the
Orsini. It was from hence, on December 15, 1347, that Rienzi fled to
Bohemia, at the end of his first period of power, his wife having
previously made her escape disguised as a friar.

"The cause of final ruin to this monument" is described by Nibby to have
been the resentment of the citizens against a French governor who
espoused the cause of the anti-pope (Clement VII.) against Urban VI. in
1378. It was then that the marble casings were all torn from the walls
and used as street pavements.

A drawing of Sangallo of 1465 shows the "upper part of the fortress
crowned with high square towers and turreted buildings; a cincture of
bastions and massive square towers girding the whole; two square-built
bulwarks flanking the extremity of the bridge, which was then so
connected with these outworks that passengers would have immediately
found themselves inside the fortress after crossing the river.
Marlianus, 1588, describes its double cincture of fortifications--a
large round tower at the inner extremity of the bridge; two towers with
high pinnacles, and the cross on their summits, the river flowing all
around."[321]

The castle began to assume its present aspect under Boniface IX. in
1395. John XXIII., 1411, commenced the covered way to the Vatican, which
was finished by Alexander VI.; and roofed by Urban VIII., in 1630. By
the last-named pope the great outworks of the fortress were built under
Bernini, and furnished with cannon made from the bronze roof of the
Pantheon. Under Paul III. the interior was decorated with frescoes, and
a colossal marble angel erected on the summit, in the place of a chapel
(S. Angelo inter Nubes), built by Boniface IV. The marble angel was
exchanged by Benedict XIV. for the existing angel of bronze, by a Dutch
artist, Verschaffelt.

     "Paul III. voulant justifier le nom donné à cette forteresse, fit
     placer au sommet de l'édifice une statue de marbre, représentant un
     ange tenant à la main une épée nue. Cet ouvrage de Raphaël de
     Montelupo a été remplacé, du temps de Benoit XIV., par une statue
     de bronze qui fournit cette belle réponse à un officier français
     assiégé dans le fort. 'Je me rendrai quand l'ange remettra son épée
     dans le fourreau.'

     " ... Cet ange a l'air naïf d'une jeune fille de dix-huit ans, et
     ne cherche qu'à bien remettre son épée dans le
     fourreau."--_Stendhal_, i. 33.

     "I suppose no one ever looked at this statue critically--at least,
     for myself, I never could; nor can I remember now whether, as a
     work of art, it is above or below criticism; perhaps both. With its
     vast wings, poised in air, as seen against the deep blue skies of
     Rome, or lighted up by the golden sunset, to me it was ever like
     what it was intended to represent--like a vision."--_Jameson's
     Sacred Art_, p. 98.

Of the castle, as we now see it externally, only the quadrangular
basement is of the time of Hadrian; the round tower is of that of Urban
VIII., its top added by Paul III. The four round towers of the outworks,
called after the four Evangelists, are of Nicholas V., 1447.

The _interior_ of the fortress can be visited by an order. Excavations
made in 1825 have laid open the sepulchral chamber in the midst of the
basement. Here stood, in the centre, the porphyry sarcophagus of
Hadrian, which was stolen by Pope Innocent II. to be used as his own
tomb in the Lateran, where it was destroyed by the fire of 1360, the
cover alone escaping, which was used for the tomb of Otho II., in the
atrium of St. Peter's, and which, after filling this office for seven
centuries, is now the baptismal font of that basilica. A spiral passage,
thirty feet high, and eleven wide, up which a chariot could be driven,
gradually ascends through the solid mass of masonry. There is
wonderfully little to be seen. A saloon of the time of Paul III. is
adorned with frescoes of the life of Alexander the Great, by _Pierino
del Vaga_. This room would be used by the pope in case of his having to
take refuge in S. Angelo. An adjoining room, adorned with a stucco
frieze of Tritons and Nereids, is that in which Cardinal Caraffa was
strangled (1561) under Pius IV., for alleged abuses of authority under
his uncle, Paul IV.--his brother, the Marquis Caraffa, being beheaded in
the castle the same night. The reputed prison of Beatrice Cenci is
shown, but it is very uncertain that she was ever confined here,--also
the prison of Cagliostro, and that of Benvenuto Cellini, who escaped,
and broke his leg in trying to let himself down by a rope from the
ramparts. The statue of the angel by _Montelupo_ is to be seen stowed
away in a dark corner. Several horrible _trabocchette_ (oubliettes) are
shown.

On the roof, from which there is a beautiful view, are many modern
prisons, where prisoners suffer terribly from the summer sun beating
upon their flat roofs.

Among the sculptures found here were the Barberini Faun, now at Munich,
the Dancing Faun, at Florence, and the Bust of Hadrian at the Vatican.
The sepulchral inscriptions of the Antonines existed till 1572, when
they were cut up by Gregory XIII. (Buoncompagni), and the marble used to
decorate a chapel in St Peter's! The magnificent Easter display of
fireworks (from an idea of Michael Angelo, carried out by Bernini),
called the girandola, used to be exhibited here, but now takes place at
S. Pietro in Montorio, or from the Pincio. From 1849 to 1870, the castle
was occupied by French troops, and their banner floated here, except on
great festivals, when it was exchanged for that of the pope.

Running behind, and crossing the back streets of the Borgo, is the
covered passage intended for the escape of the popes to the castle. It
was used by Alexander VI. when invaded by Charles VIII. in 1494, and
twice by Clement VII. (Giulio di Medici), who fled, in 1527, from
Moncada, viceroy of Naples, and in May, 1527, during the terrible sack
of Rome by the troops of the Constable de Bourbon.

     "Pendant que l'on se battait, Clement VII. était en prières devant
     l'autel de sa chapelle au Vatican, détail singulier chez un homme
     qui avait commencé sa carrière par être militaire. Lorsque les cris
     des mourants lui annoncèrent la prise de la ville, il s'enfuit du
     Vatican au château St. Ange par le long corridor qui s'élève
     au-dessus des plus hautes maisons. L'historien Paul-Jove, qui
     suivait Clement VII., relevait sa longue robe pour qu'il pût
     marcher plus vîte, et lorsque le pape fut arrivé au pont qui le
     laissait à découvert pour un instant, Paul-Jove le couvrit de son
     manteau et de son chapeau violet, de peur qu'il ne fût reconnu à
     son rochet blanc et ajusté par quelque soldat bon tireur.

     "Pendant cette longue fuite le long du corridor, Clement VII.
     apercevait au-dessous de lui, par les petites fenêtres, ses sujets
     poursuivis par les soldats vainqueurs qui déjà se répandaient dans
     les rues. Ils ne faisaient aucun quartier à personne, et tuaient à
     coups de pique tout ce qu'ils pouvaient atteindre."--_Stendhal_, i.
     388.

"The Escape" consists of two passages; the upper open like a loggia, the
lower covered, and only lighted by loop-holes. The keys of both are kept
by the pope himself.

S. Angelo is at the entrance of _the Borgo_, promised at the Italian
invasion of September, 1870, as the sanctuary of the papacy, the tiny
sovereignty where the temporal sway of the popes should remain
undisturbed,--the sole relic left to them of all their ancient
dominions. The Borgo, or _Leonine City_, is surrounded by walls of its
own, which were begun in A.D. 846, by Pope Leo IV., for the better
defence of St. Peter's from the Saracens, who had been carrying their
devastations up to the very walls of Rome. These walls, 10,800 feet in
circumference, were completed in four years by labourers summoned from
every town and monastery of the Roman states. Pope Leo himself daily
encouraged their exertions by his presence. In 852 the walls were
solemnly consecrated by a vast procession of the whole Roman clergy
barefooted, their heads strewn with ashes, who sprinkled them with holy
water, while the pope offered a prayer composed by himself,[322] at each
of the three gates.

The adjoining Piazza Pia is decorated with a fountain erected by Pius
IX. The principal of the streets which meet here is the Via del Borgo
Nuovo, the main artery to St. Peter's. On its left is the _Church of
Sta. Maria Traspontina_, built 1566, containing two columns which bear
inscriptions, stating that they were those to which St. Peter and St.
Paul were respectively attached, when they suffered flagellation by
order of Nero!

This church occupies the site of a Pyramid supposed to have been erected
to Scipio Africanus, who died at Liternum, B.C. 183, and which was
regarded in the middle ages as the tomb of Romulus. Its sides were once
coated with marble, which was stripped off by Donus I. This pyramid is
represented on the bronze doors of St Peter's.

A little further is the _Palazzo Giraud_, belonging to Prince Torlonia.
It was built, 1506, by Bramante, for Cardinal Adriano da Corneto,[323]
who gave it to Henry VIII., by whom it was given to Cardinal Campeggio.
Thus it was for a short time the residence of the English ambassador
before the Reformation. Innocent XII. converted it into a college for
priests, by whom it was sold to the Marquis Giraud.

Facing this palace is the _Piazza Scossa Cavalli_, with a pretty
fountain. Its name bears witness to a curious legend, which tells how
when St. Helena returned from Palestine, bringing with her the stone on
which Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, and that on which the Virgin
Mary sate down at the time of the presentation of the Saviour in the
Temple, the horses drawing these precious relics stood still at this
spot, and refused every effort to make them move. Then Christian people,
"recognising the finger of God," erected a church on this spot (S.
Giacomo Scossa Cavalli), where the stones are still to be seen.

The Strada del Borgo Sto. Spirito contains the immense _Hospital of
Santo Spirito_, running along the bank of the Tiber. This establishment
was founded in 1198 by Innocent III. Sixtus IV., in 1471, ordered it to
be rebuilt by Bacio Pintelli, who added a hall 376 feet long by 44 high
and 37 wide. Under Benedict XIV., Ferdinando Fuga built another great
hall. The altar in the midst of the great hall is the only work of
Andrea Palladio in Rome. The church was designed by Bacio Pintelli, but
built by Antonio di San Gallo under Paul III. Under Gregory XIII.,
Ottaviano Mascherino built the palace of the governor, which unites the
hospital with the church.

The institution comprises a hospital for every kind of disease,
containing in ordinary times 1620 beds, a number which can be almost
doubled in time of necessity; a lunatic asylum containing an average of
450 inmates; and a foundling hospital, where children are received from
all parts of the papal states, and even from the Neapolitan towns.
Upwards of 3000 foundlings pass through the hospital annually, but the
mortality is very great,--in the return of 1846, as much as fifty-seven
per cent. The person who wishes to deposit an infant rings a bell, when
a little bed is turned towards the grille near the door, in which the
baby is deposited. Close to this is another grille, without any apparent
use. "What is that for?" you ask. "Because, when nurses come in from the
country, they might be tempted to take the children for money, and yet
not feel any natural tenderness towards them, but by looking through the
second grille, they can see the child, and discover if it is
_simpatico_, and if not, they can go away and leave it."

At the end of the street one enters the Piazza Rusticucci (where Raphael
died), from which open the magnificent colonnades of Bernini, which lead
the eye up to the façade of St. Peter's, while the middle distance is
broken by the silvery spray of its glittering fountains.

The _Colonnades_ have 284 columns, are sixty-one feet wide, and
sixty-four high; they enclose an area of 777 English feet; they were
built by Bernini for Alexander VII., 1657-67. In the centre is the
famous red granite _Obelisk of the Vatican_, brought to Rome from
Heliopolis by Caligula, in a ship which Pliny describes as being "nearly
as long as the left side of the port of Ostia." It was used to adorn the
circus of Nero, and was brought from a position near the present
sacristy of St. Peter's by Sixtus V. in 1586. Here it was elevated by
Domenico Fontana, who estimated its weight at 963,537 Roman pounds; and
employed 800 men, 150 horses, and 46 cranes in its removal.

The obelisk was first exorcised as a pagan idol, and then dedicated to
the Cross. Its removal was preceded by high mass in St. Peter's, after
which Pope Sixtus bestowed a solemn benediction upon Fontana and his
workmen, and ordained that none should speak, upon pain of death, during
the raising of the obelisk. The immense mass was slowly rising upon its
base, when suddenly it ceased to move, and it was evident that the ropes
were giving way. An awful moment of suspense ensued, when the breathless
silence was broken by a cry of "Acqua alle funi!"--_throw water on the
ropes_, and the workmen, acting on the advice so unexpectedly received,
again saw the monster move, and gradually settle on its base. The man
who saved the obelisk was Bresca, a sailor of Bordighiera, a village of
the Riviera di Ponente, and Sixtus V., in his gratitude, promised him
that his native village should ever henceforth have the privilege of
furnishing the Easter palms to St. Peter's. A vessel laden with
palm-branches, which abound in Bordighiera, is still annually sent to
the Tiber in the week before Palm Sunday, and the palms, after being
prepared and plaited by the nuns of S. Antonio Abbate, are used in the
ceremonial in St. Peter's.

The height of the whole obelisk is 132 feet, that of the shaft,
eighty-three feet. Upon the shaft is the inscription to Augustus and
Tiberius: "DIVO. CÆS. DIVI. JULII. F. AUGUSTO.--TI. CÆSARI. DIVI. AUG.
F.--AUGUSTA. SACRUM." The inscriptions on the base show its modern
dedication to the Cross[324]--"Ecce Crux Domini--Fugite partes
adversæ--Vicit Leo de tribu Juda."

     "Sixte-quint s'applaudissait du succès, comme de l'œuvre la plus
     gigantesque des temps modernes; des médailles furent frappées;
     Fontana fut créé, noble romain, chevalier de l'Éperon d'or, et
     reçut une gratification de 5,000 écus, indépendamment des matériaux
     qui avaient servi à l'entreprise, et dont la valeur s'élevait à
     20,000 écus (108,000 fr.); enfin des poëmes, dans toutes les
     langues, sur ce nouveau triomphe de la croix, furent adressés aux
     différents souverains de l'Europe."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne_,
     ii. 232.

     "In summer the great square basks in unalluring magnificence in the
     midday sun. Its tall obelisk sends but a slim shadow to travel
     round the oval plane, like the gnomon of a huge dial; its fountains
     murmur with a delicious dreaminess, sending up massive jets like
     blocks of crystal into the hot sunshine, and receiving back a
     broken spray, on which sits serene an unbroken iris, but present no
     'cool grot,' where one may enjoy their freshness; and in spite of
     the shorter path, the pilgrim looks with dismay at the dazzling
     pavement and long flight of unsheltered steps between him and the
     church, and prudently plunges into the forest of columns at either
     side of the piazza, and threads his way through their uniting
     shadows, intended, as an inscription[325] tells him, for this
     express purpose."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

     "Un jour Pie V. traversait, avec l'ambassadeur de Pologne, cette
     place du Vatican. Pris d'enthousiasme au souvenir du courage des
     martyrs qui l'ont arrosée de leurs larmes, et fertilisée par leur
     sang, il se baisse, et saisissant dans sa main une poignée de
     poussière: 'Tenez,' dit-il au représentant de cette noble nation,
     'prenez cette poussière formée de la cendre des saints, et
     imprégnée du sang des martyrs.'

     "L'ambassadeur ne portait pas dans son cœur la foi d'un pape, ni
     dans son âme les illuminations d'un saint; il reçut pourtant avec
     respect cette rélique étrange à ses yeux: mais revenu en son
     palais, retirant, d'une main indifférente peut-être, le linge qui
     la contenait, il le trouva ensanglanté.

     "La poussière avait disparu. La foi du pontife avait évoqué le sang
     des martyrs, et ce sang généreux reparaissait à cet appel pour
     attester, en face de l'hérésie, que l'Église romaine, au XVIe
     siècle, était toujours celle pour laquelle ces héros avaient donné
     leur vie sous Néron."--_Une Chrétienne à Rome._

No one can look upon the Piazza of St. Peter's without associating it
with the great religious ceremonies with which it is connected,
especially that of the Easter Benediction.

     "Out over the great balcony stretches a white awning, where priests
     and attendants are collected, and where the pope will soon be seen.
     Below, the piazza is alive with moving masses. In the centre are
     drawn up long lines of soldiery, with yellow and red pompons, and
     glittering helmets and bayonets. These are surrounded by crowds on
     foot, and at the outer rim are packed carriages filled and overrun
     with people, mounted on the seats and boxes. What a sight it
     is!--above us the great dome of St. Peter's, and below, the grand
     embracing colonnade, and the vast space, in the centre of which
     rises the solemn obelisk thronged with masses of living beings.
     Peasants from the Campagna and the mountains are moving about
     everywhere. Pilgrims in oil-cloth cape and with iron staff demand
     charity. On the steps are rows of purple, blue, and brown
     umbrellas, for there the sun blazes fiercely. Everywhere crop forth
     the white hoods of Sisters of Charity, collected in groups, and
     showing, among the parti-coloured dresses, like beds of
     chrysanthemums in a garden. One side of the massive colonnade casts
     a grateful shadow over the crowd beneath, that fill up the
     intervals of its columns; but elsewhere the sun burns down and
     flashes everywhere. Mounted on the colonnade are crowds of people
     leaning over, beside the colossal statues. Through all the heat is
     heard the constant plash of the sun-lit fountains, that wave to and
     fro their veils of white spray. At last the clock strikes. In the
     far balcony are seen the two great showy peacock fans, and between
     them a figure clad in white, that rises from a golden chair, and
     spreads his great sleeves like wings as he raises his arms in
     benediction. That is the pope, Pius the Ninth. All is dead silence,
     and a musical voice, sweet and penetrating, is heard chanting from
     the balcony;--the people bend and kneel; with a cold gray flash,
     all the bayonets gleam as the soldiers drop to their knees, and
     rise to salute as the voice dies away, and the two white wings are
     again waved;--then thunder the cannon,--the bells clash and
     peal,--a few white papers, like huge snow-flakes, drop wavering
     from the balcony;--these are Indulgences, and there is an eager
     struggle for them below;--then the pope again rises, again gives
     his benediction,[326] waving to and fro his right hand, three
     fingers open, and making the sign of the cross,--and the peacock
     fans retire, and he between them is borne away,--and Lent is
     over."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

The first church which existed on or near the site of the present
building, was the oratory founded in A.D. 90, by Anacletus, bishop of
Rome, who is said to have been ordained by St. Peter himself, and who
thus marked the spot where many Christian martyrs had suffered in the
circus of Nero, and where St. Peter was buried after his crucifixion.

In 306 Constantine the Great yielded to the request of Pope Sylvester,
and began the erection of a basilica on this spot, labouring with his
own hands at the work, and himself carrying away twelve loads of earth,
in honour of the twelve apostles.[327] Anastasius describes how the body
of the great apostle was exhumed at this time, and re-interred in a
shrine of silver, enclosed in a sarcophagus of gilt bronze. The early
basilica measured 395 feet in length by 212 in width. Its nave and
aisles were divided by eighty-six marble pillars of different sizes, in
great part brought from the Septizonium of Severus, and it had an
atrium, and a _paradisus_, or quadrangular portico, along its
front.[328] Though only half the size of the present cathedral, still it
covered a greater space than any mediæval cathedral except those of
Milan and Seville, with which it ranked in size.[329]

The old basilica suffered severely in the Saracenic invasion of 846,
when some authorities maintain that even the tomb of the great apostle
was rifled of its contents, but it was restored by Leo IV., who raised
the fortifications of the Borgo for its defence.

Among the most remarkable of its early _pilgrims_ were, Theodosius, who
came to pray for a victory over Eugenius; Valentinian, emperor of the
East, with his wife Eudoxia, and his mother Galla-Placidia; Belisarius,
the great general under Justinian; Totila; Cedwalla, king of the West
Saxons, who came for baptism; Concred, king of the Mercians, who came to
remain as a monk, having cut off and consecrated his long hair at the
tomb of St. Peter; Luitprand, king of the Lombards; Ina of Wessex, who
founded a church here in honour of the Virgin, that Anglo-Saxons might
have a place of prayer, and those who died, a grave; Carloman of France,
who came for absolution and remained as a monk, first at S. Oreste
(Soracte), then at Monte Casino; Richard of England; Bertrade, wife of
Pepin, and mother of Charlemagne; Offa, the Saxon, who made his kingdom
tributary to St. Peter; Charlemagne (four times), who was crowned here
by Leo III.; Lothaire, crowned by Paschal I.; and, in the last year of
the reign of Leo IV., Ethelwolf, king of the Anglo-Saxons, who was
crowned here, remained a year, and who brought with him his boy of six
years old, afterwards the great Alfred.

Of the old basilica, the crypt is now the only remnant, and there are
collected the few relics preserved of the endless works of art with
which it was filled, and which for the most part were lost or wilfully
destroyed, when it was pulled down. Its destruction was first planned by
Nicholas V. (1450), but was not carried out till the time of Julius
II., who in 1506 began the new St. Peter's from designs of Bramante. The
four great piers and their arches above were completed, before the
deaths of both Bramante and Pope Julius interrupted the work. The next
pope, Leo X., obtained a design for a church in the form of a Latin
cross from Raphael, which was changed, after his death (on account of
expense) to a Greek cross, by Baldassare Peruzzi, who only lived to
complete the tribune. Paul III. (1534) employed Antonio di Sangallo as
an architect, who returned to the design of a Latin cross, but died
before he could carry out any of his intentions. Giulio Romano succeeded
him and died also. Then the pope, "being inspired by God," says Vasari,
sent for Michael Angelo, then in his seventy-second year, who continued
the work under Julius III., returning to the plan of a Greek cross,
enlarging the tribune and transepts, and beginning the dome on a new
plan, which he said would "raise the Pantheon in the air." The dome
designed by Michael Angelo, however, was very different to that which we
now admire, being much lower, flatter, and heavier. The present dome is
due to Giacomo della Porta, who brought the great work to a conclusion
in 1590, under Sixtus V., who devoted 100,000 gold crowns annually to
the building. In 1605 Paul V. destroyed all that remained of the old
basilica, and employed Carlo Maderno as his architect, who once more
returned to the plan of the Latin cross, and completed the present ugly
façade in 1614. The church was dedicated by Urban VIII., November 18th,
1626; the colonnade added by Alexander VII., 1667, the sacristy by Pius
VI., in 1780. The building of the present St. Peter's extended
altogether over 176 years, and its expenses were so great that Julius
II. and Leo X. were obliged to meet them by the sale of indulgences,
which led to the Reformation. The expense of the main building alone has
been estimated at 10,000,000_l._ The annual expense of repairs is
6300_l._

     "St. Pierre est une sorte de ville à part dans Rome, ayant son
     climat, sa température propre, sa lumière trop vive pour être
     religieuse, tantôt deserte, tantôt traversée par des sociétés de
     voyageurs, ou remplie d'une foule attirée par les cérémonies
     religieuses (à l'époque des jubilés le nombre des pélerins s'est
     parfois élevé à Rome, jusqu'à 400,000). Elle a ses reservoirs
     d'eau; sa fontaine coulant perpetuellement au pied de la grande
     coupole, dans un bassin de plomb, pour la commodité des travaux;
     ses rampes, par lesquelles les bêtes de somme peuvent monter; sa
     population fixe, habitant ses terrasses. Les San Pietriné, ouvriers
     chargés de tous les travaux qu'exige la conservation d'un aussi
     précieux edifice, s'y succèdent de père en fils, et forment une
     corporation qui a ses lois et sa police."--_A. Du Pays._

The façade of St. Peter's is 357 feet long and 144 feet high. It is
surmounted by a balustrade six feet in height, bearing statues of the
Saviour and the Twelve Apostles. Over the central entrance is the loggia
where the pope is crowned, and whence he gives the Easter benediction.
The huge inscription runs--"In. Honorem. Principis. Apost. Paulus V.
Burghesius. Romanus. Pont. Max. A. MDCXII. Pont. VII."

     "I don't like to say the façade of the church is ugly and
     obtrusive. As long as the dome overawes, that façade is
     supportable. You advance towards it--through, O such a noble court!
     with fountains flashing up to meet the sunbeams; and right and left
     of you two sweeping half-crescents of great columns; but you pass
     by the courtiers and up to the steps of the throne, and the dome
     seems to disappear behind it. It is as if the throne was upset, and
     the king had toppled over."--_Thackeray, The Newcomes._

A wide flight of steps, at the foot of which are statues of St. Peter
by _De Fabris_, and St. Paul by _Tadolini_, lead by fine entrances to
the _Vestibule_, which is 468 feet long, 66 feet high, and 50 feet wide.
Closing it on the right is a statue of Constantine by _Bernini_--on the
left that of Charlemagne by _Cornacchini_. Over the principal entrance
(facing the door of the church) is the celebrated _Mosaic of the
Navicella_, executed 1298, by _Giotto_, and his pupil, _Pietro
Cavallini_.

     "For the ancient basilica of St. Peter, Giotto executed his
     celebrated mosaic of the Navicella, which has an allegorical
     foundation. It represents a ship, with the disciples, on an
     agitated sea; the winds, personified as demons, storm against it;
     above appear the Fathers of the Old Testament speaking comfort to
     the sufferers. According to the early Christian symbolization, the
     ship denoted the Church. Nearer, and on the right, in a firm
     attitude, stands Christ, the Rock of the Church, raising Peter from
     the waves. Opposite sits a fisherman in tranquil expectation,
     denoting the hope of the believer. The mosaic has frequently
     changed its place, and has undergone so many restorations, that the
     composition alone can be attributed to Giotto. The fisherman and
     the figures hovering in the air are, in their present form, the
     work of Marcello Provenzale."--_Kugler_, i. 127.

     "This mosaic is ill placed and ill seen for an especial reason.
     Early converts from paganism retained the heathen custom of turning
     round to venerate the sun before entering a church, so that in the
     old basilica, as here, the mosaic was thus placed to give a fitting
     object of worship. The learned Cardinal Baronius never, for a
     single day, during the space of thirty years, failed to bow before
     this symbol of the primitive Church, tossed on the stormy sea of
     persecution and of sin, saying, 'Lord, save me from the waves of
     sin as thou didst Peter from the waves of the sea.' "--_Mrs.
     Elliot's Historical Pictures._

The magnificent central door of bronze is a remnant from the old
basilica, and was made in the time of Eugenius IV., 1431--39, by Antonio
Filarete, and Simone, brother of Donatello. The bas-reliefs of the
compartments represent the martyrdoms of SS. Peter and Paul, and the
principal events in the reign of Eugenius,--the Council of Florence,
the Coronation of Sigismund, emperor of Germany, &c. The bas-reliefs of
the framework are entirely mythological; Ganymede, Leda and her Swan,
&c., are to be distinguished.

     "Corinne fit remarquer à Lord Nelvil que sur les portes étaient
     représentées en bas-relief les métamorphoses d'Ovide. On ne se
     scandalise point à Rome, lui dit-elle, des images du paganisme,
     quand les beaux-arts les ont consacrées. Les merveilles du génie
     portent toujours à l'âme une impression religieuse, et nous faisons
     hommage au culte chrétien de tous les chefs-d'œuvre que les
     autres cultes ont inspirés."--_Mad. de Staël._

Let into the wall between the doors are three remarkable inscriptions:
1. Commemorating the donation made to the church by Gregory II., of
certain olive-grounds to provide oil for the lamps; 2. The bull of
Boniface VIII., 1300, granting the indulgence proclaimed at every
jubilee; 3. In the centre, the Latin epitaph of Adrian I. (Colonna,
772-95), by Charlemagne,[330] one of the most ancient memorials of the
papacy:

    "The father of the Church, the ornament of Rome, the famous writer Adrian,
      the blessed pope, rests in peace:
    God was his life, love was his law, Christ was his glory;
    He was the apostolic shepherd, always ready to do that which was right.
    Of noble birth, and descended from an ancient race,
    He received a still greater nobility from his virtues.
    The pious soul of this good shepherd was always bent
    Upon ornamenting the temples consecrated to God.
    He gave gifts to the churches, and sacred dogmas to the people;
    And showed us all the way to heaven.
    Liberal to the poor, his charity was second to none,
    And he always watched over his people in prayer.
    By his teachings, his treasures, and his buildings, he raised,
    O illustrious Rome, thy monuments, to be the honour of the town
     and of the world.
    Death could not injure him, for its sting was taken away by the
      death of Christ;
      It opened for him the gate of the better life.
    I, Charles, have written these verses, while weeping for my father;
      O my father, my beloved one, how lasting is my grief for thee.
    Dost thou think upon me, as I follow thee constantly in spirit;
    Now reign blessed with Christ in the heavenly kingdom.
    The clergy and people have loved you with a heart-love,
    Thou wert truly the love of the world, O excellent priest.
    O most illustrious, I unite our two names and titles,
    Adrian and Charles, the king and the father.
    O thou who readest these verses, say with pious heart the prayer;
    O merciful God, have pity upon them both.
    Sweetly slumbering, O friend, may thy earthly body rest in the grave,
    And thy spirit wander in bliss with the saints of the Lord
    Till the last trumpet sounds in thine ears,
    Then arise with Peter to the contemplation of God.
    Yes, I know that thou wilt hear the voice of the merciful judge
    Bid thee to enter the paradise of thy Saviour.
    Then, O great father, think upon thy son,
    And ask, that with the father the son may enter into joy.
    Go, blessed father, enter into the kingdom of Christ,
    And thence, as an intercessor, help thy people with thy prayers.
    Even so long as the sun rolls upon its fiery axis,
    Shall thy glory, O heavenly father, remain in the world.

     Adrian the pope, of blessed memory, reigned for three-and-twenty
     years, ten months, and seventeen days, and died on the 25th of
     December."

The walled-up door on the right is the _Porta Santa_, only opened for
the jubilee, which has taken place every twenty-fifth year (except 1850)
since the time of Sixtus IV. The pope himself gives the signal for the
destruction of the wall on the Christmas-eve before the sacred year.

     "After preliminary prayers from Scripture singularly apt, the pope
     goes down from his throne, and, armed with a silver hammer, strikes
     the wall in the doorway, which, having been cut round from its
     jambs and lintel, falls at once inwards, and is cleared away in a
     moment by the San Pietrini. The pope, then, bare-headed and torch
     in hand, first enters the door, and is followed by his cardinals
     and his other attendants to the high altar, where the first vespers
     of Christmas Day are chaunted as usual. The other doors of the
     church are then flung open, and the great queen of churches is
     filled."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

     "Arrêtez-vous un moment ici, dit Corinne à Lord Nelvil, comme il
     était déjà sous le portique de l'église; arrêtez-vous, avant de
     soulever le rideau qui couvre la porte du temple; votre cœur ne
     bat-il pas à l'approche de ce sanctuaire? Et ne ressentez-vous pas,
     au moment d'entrer, tout ce que ferait éprouver l'attente d'un
     évènement solennel?"--_Mad. de Staël._

We now push aside the heavy double curtain and enter the Basilica.

     "Hilda had not always been adequately impressed by the grandeur of
     this mighty cathedral. When she first lifted the heavy leathern
     curtains, at one of the doors, a shadowy edifice in her imagination
     had been dazzled out of sight by the reality."--_Hawthorne._

     "The ulterior burst upon our astonished gaze, resplendent in light,
     magnificence, and beauty, beyond all that imagination can conceive.
     Its apparent smallness of size, however, mingled some degree of
     surprise, and even disappointment, with my admiration; but as I
     walked slowly up its long nave, empanelled with the rarest and
     richest marbles, and adorned with every art of sculpture and taste,
     and caught through the lofty arches opening views of chapels, and
     tombs, and altars of surpassing splendour, I felt that it was,
     indeed, unparalleled in beauty, in magnitude, and magnificence, and
     one of the noblest and most wonderful of the works of
     man."--_Eaton's Rome._

     "St Peter's, that glorious temple--the largest and most beautiful,
     it is said, in the world, produced upon me the impression rather of
     a Christian pantheon, than of a Christian church. The æsthetic
     intellect is edified more than the God-loving or God-seeking soul.
     The exterior and interior of the building appear to me more like an
     apotheosis of the popedom than a glorification of Christianity and
     its doctrine. Monuments to the popes occupy too much space. One
     sees all round the walls angels flying upwards with papal
     portraits, sometimes merely with papal tiaras."--_Frederika
     Bremer._

     "L'Architecture de St. Pierre est une musique fixée."--_Madame de
     Staël._

     "The building of St. Peter's surpasses all powers of description.
     It appears to me like some great work of nature, a forest, a mass
     of rocks, or something similar; for I never can realise the idea
     that it is the work of man. You strive to distinguish the ceiling
     as little as the canopy of heaven. You lose your way in St.
     Peter's, you take a walk in it, and ramble till you are quite
     tired; when divine service is performed and chaunted there, you are
     not aware of it till you come quite close. The angels in the
     Baptistery are enormous giants; the doves, colossal birds of prey;
     you lose all sense of measurement with the eye, or proportion; and
     yet who does not feel his heart expand, when standing under the
     dome, and gazing up at it."--_Mendelssohn's Letters._

    "But thou, of temples old, or altars new,
    Standest alone--with nothing like to thee--
    Worthiest of God, the holy and the true.
    Since Zion's desolation, when that He
    Forsook His former city, what could be
    Of earthly structures, in His honour piled,
    Of a sublimer aspect? Majesty,
    Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty,--all are aisled
    In this eternal ark of worship undefiled.

    "Enter: its grandeur overwhelms thee not;
    And why? it is not lessen'd; but thy mind,
    Expanded by the genius of the spot,
    Has grown colossal, and can only find
    A fit abode wherein appear enshrined
    Thy hopes of immortality; and thou
    Shalt one day, if found worthy, so defined,
    See thy God face to face, as thou dost now
    His Holy of Holies, nor be blasted by His brow."

    _Byron, Childe Harold._

     "On pousse avec peine une grosse portière de cuir, et nous voici
     dans Saint-Pierre. On ne peut qu'adorer la religion qui produit de
     telles choses. Rien du monde ne peut être comparé à l'intérieur de
     Saint Pierre. Après un an de séjour à Rome, j'y allais encore
     passer des heures entières avec plaisir."--_Fontana, Tempio
     Vaticano Illustrato._

     "Tandis que, dans les églises gothiques, l'impression est de
     s'agenouiller, de joindre les mains avec un sentiment d'humble
     prière et de profond regret; dans Saint-Pierre au contraire, le
     mouvement involontaire serait d'ouvrir les bras en signe de joie,
     de relever la tête avec bonheur et épanouissement. Il semble, que
     là, le péché n'accable plus; le sentiment vif du pardon par le
     triomphe de la résurrection remplit seul le cœur."--_Eugénie de
     la Ferronays._

     "The temperature of St. Peter's seems, like the happy islands, to
     experience no change. In the coldest weather it is like summer to
     your feelings, and in the most oppressive heats it strikes you with
     a delightful sensation of cold--a luxury not to be estimated but in
     a climate such as this."--_Eaton's Rome._

On each side of the nave are four pillars with Corinthian pilasters, and
a rich entablature supporting the arches. The roof is vaulted, coffered,
and gilded. The pavement is of coloured marble, inlaid from designs of
Giacomo della Porta and Bernini. In the centre of the floor, immediately
within the chief entrance, is a round slab of porphyry, upon which the
emperors were crowned.

The enormous size of the statues and ornaments in St. Peter's do away
with the impression of its vast size, and it is only by observing the
living, moving figures, that one can form any idea of its colossal
proportions. A line in the pavement is marked with the comparative size
of the other great Christian churches. According to this the length of
St Peter's is 613½ feet; of St. Paul's, London, 520½ feet; Milan
Cathedral, 443 feet; St. Sophia, Constantinople, 360½ feet. The
height of the dome in the interior is 405 feet; on the exterior, 448
feet. The height of the baldacchino is 94½ feet.

The first impulse will be to go up to the shrine, around which a circle
of eighty-six gold lamps is always burning, and to look down into the
Confessional, where there is a beautiful kneeling statue of Pope Pius
VI. (Braschi, 1785--1800) by _Canova_. Hence one can gaze up into the
dome, with its huge letters in purple-blue mosaic upon a gold ground
(each six feet long).[331] "Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram
ædificabo ecclesiam meam, et tibi dabo claves regni cœlorum." Above
this are four colossal mosaics of the Evangelists from designs of the
Cav. d'Arpino; the pen of St. Luke is seven feet in length.

     "The cupola is glorious, viewed in its design, its altitude, or
     even its decorations; viewed either as a whole or as a part, it
     enchants the eye, it satisfies the taste, it expands the soul. The
     very air seems to eat up all that is harsh or colossal, and leaves
     us nothing but the sublime to feast on:--a sublime peculiar as the
     genius of the immortal architect, and comprehensible only on the
     spot."--_Forsyth._

     "Ce dôme, en le considérant même d'en bas, fait éprouver une sorte
     de terreur; on croit voir des abîmes suspendus sur sa
     tête."--_Madame de Staël._

_The Baldacchino_, designed by Bernini in 1633, is of bronze, with gilt
ornaments, and was made chiefly with bronze taken from the roof of the
Pantheon. It covers the high altar, which is only used on the most
solemn occasions. Only the pope can celebrate mass there, or a cardinal
who is authorised by a papal brief.

     "Without a sovereign priest officiating before and for his people,
     St. Peter's is but a grand aggregation of splendid churches,
     chapels, tombs, and works of art. With him, it becomes a whole, a
     single, peerless temple, such as the world never saw before. That
     central pile, with its canopy of bronze as lofty as the Farnese
     Palace, with its deep-diving stairs leading to a court walled and
     paved with precious stones, that yet seems only a vestibule to some
     cavern or catacomb, with its simple altar that disdains ornament in
     the presence of what is beyond the reach of human price,--that
     which in truth forms the heart of the great body, placed just where
     the heart should be, is then animated, and surrounded by living and
     moving sumptuousness. The immense cupola above it, ceases to be a
     dome over a sepulchre, and becomes a canopy over an altar; the
     quiet tomb beneath is changed into the shrine of relics below the
     place of sacrifice--the saints under the altar;--the quiet spot at
     which a few devout worshippers at most times may be found, bowing
     under the hundred lamps, is crowded by rising groups, beginning
     from the lowest step, increasing in dignity and in richness of
     sacred robes, till, at the summit and in the centre, stands supreme
     the pontiff himself, on the very spot which becomes him, the one
     living link in a chain, the first ring of which is rivetted to the
     shrine of the Apostles below.... St. Peter's is only itself when
     the pope is at the high altar, and hence only by, or for, him it is
     used."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

The four huge piers which support the dome are used as shrines for the
four great relics of the church, viz., 1. The lance of S. Longinus, the
soldier who pierced the side of our Saviour, presented to Innocent
VIII., by Pierre d'Aubusson, grandmaster of the Knights of Rhodes, who
had received it from the Sultan Bajazet;[332] 2. The head of St. Andrew,
said to have been brought from Achaia in 1460, when its arrival was
celebrated by Pius II.; 3. A portion of the true cross, brought by Sta.
Helena; 4. The napkin of Sta. Veronica, said, doubtless from the
affinity of names, to bear the impression--vera-icon--of our Saviour's
face.

     "The 'Volto-Santo,' said to be the impress of the countenance of
     our Saviour on the handkerchief of Sta. Veronica, or Berenice,
     which wiped his brow on the way to Calvary, was placed in the
     Vatican by John VII., in 707, and afterwards transferred to the
     Church of Santo Spirito, where six Roman noblemen had the care of
     it, each taking charge of one of the keys with which it was locked
     up. Among the privileges enjoyed for this office, was that of
     receiving, every year, from the hospital of Santo Spirito at the
     feast of Pentecost, two cows, whose flesh, an ancient chronicle
     says, 'si mangiavano lì, con gran festa.' In 1440, this picture was
     carried back to St. Peter's, whence it has not since been moved.
     When I examined the head on the Veronica handkerchief, it struck me
     as undoubtedly a work of early Byzantine art, perhaps of the
     seventh or eighth century, painted on linen. It is with implicit
     acceptance of its claims that Petrarch alludes to it--'verendam
     populis Salvatoris Imaginem.' Ep. ix., lib. 2. During the
     republican domination in 1849, it was rumoured that about Easter,
     the canons of St. Peter saw the Volto-Santo turn pale, and
     ominously change colour while they gazed upon it."--_Hemans'
     Catholic Italy_, vol. i.

The ceremony of exhibiting the relics from the balcony above the statue
of Sta. Veronica takes place on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter
Day, but the height is so great that nothing can really be
distinguished.

     "To-day we gazed on the Veronica--the holy impression left by our
     Saviour's face on the cloth Sta. Veronica presented to him to wipe
     his brow, bowed under the weight of the Cross. We had looked
     forward to this sight for days, for seven thousand years of
     indulgence from penance are attached to it.

     "But when the moment came we could see nothing but a black board
     hung with a cloth, before which another white cloth was held. In a
     few minutes this was withdrawn, and the great moment was over, the
     glimpse of the sacred thing on which hung the fate of seven
     thousand years."--_Schönberg-Cotta Chronicles._

The niches in the piers are occupied by four statues, of Longinus, St.
Andrew, Sta. Helena, and Sta. Veronica, holding the napkin or
"sudarium," "flourishing a marble pocket-handkerchief."[333]

     "Malheureusement toutes ces statues pèchent par le goût. Le rococo,
     mis à la mode par le Bernin, est surtout exécrable dans le genre
     colossale. Mais la présence du génie de Bramante et de Michel-Ange
     se fait tellement sentir, que les choses ridicules ne le sont plus
     ici; elles ne sont qu' insignifiantes. Les statues colossales des
     piliers représentent: St. André, par François Quesnoy (Fiammingo),
     elle excita la jalousie du Bernin; St. Veronique par M. Mochi, dont
     il blamait les draperies volantes (dans un endroit clos). Un
     plaisant lui répondait que leur agitation provenait du vent qui
     soufflait par les crevasses de la coupole, depuis qu'il avait
     affaibli les piliers par des niches et tribunes: St. Hélène par A.
     Bolgi, St. Longin par Bernin."--_A. Du Pays._

Not very far from the confessional, against the last pier on the right
of the nave, stands the statue of St. Peter, said to have been cast by
Leo the Great, from the old statue of Jupiter Capitolinus. It is of very
rude workmanship. Its extended foot is eagerly kissed by Roman Catholic
devotees, who then rub their foreheads against its toes. Protestants
wonder at the feeling which this figure excites. Gregory II. wrote of it
to Leo the Isaurian: "Christ is my witness, that when I enter the temple
of the prince of the Apostles, and contemplate his image, I am filled
with such emotion, that tears roll down my cheeks like the rain from
heaven." On high festivals the statue is dressed up in full pontificals.
On the day of the jubilee of Pius IX. (June 16, 1871), it was attired in
a lace alb, stole, and gold-embroidered cope, fastened at the breast by
a clasp of diamonds; and its foot was kissed by upwards of 20,000
persons during the day.

     "La coutume antique chez les Grecs d'habiller et de parer les
     statues sacrées s'était conservée à Rome et s'y conserve encore.
     Tout le monde a vu la statue de saint Pierre revêtir dans les
     grandes solennités ses magnifiques habits de pape. On lavait les
     statues des dieux, on les frottait, on les frisait comme des
     poupées. Les divinités du Capitole avaient un nombreux domestique
     attaché à leur personne et qui était chargé de ce soin. L'usage
     romain a subsisté chez les populations latines de l'Espagne et
     elles l'ont porté jusqu'au Mexique où j'ai vu, à Puebla, la veille
     d'une fête, une femme de chambre faire une toilette en règle à une
     statue de la Vierge."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv. 91.

Along the piers of the nave and transepts are ranged statues of the
different Founders, male and female, of religious Orders.

Returning to the main entrance, we will now make the tour of the
basilica. Those who expect to find monuments of great historical
interest will, however, be totally disappointed. Scarcely anything
remains above-ground which is earlier than the sixteenth century. Of the
tombs of the eighty-seven popes who were buried in the old basilica, the
greater part were totally lost at its destruction,--a few were removed
to other churches (those of the Piccolomini to S. Andrea della Valle,
&c.), and some fragments are still to be seen in the crypt. Only two
monuments were replaced in the new basilica, those of the two popes who
lived in the time and excited the indignation of Savonarola--"Sixtus
IV., with whose cordial concurrence the assassination of Lorenzo di
Medici was attempted--and Innocent VIII., the main object of whose
policy was to secure place and power for his illegitimate children."

     "The side-chapels are splendid, and so large that they might serve
     for independent churches. The monuments and statues are numerous,
     but all are subordinate, or unite harmoniously with the large and
     beautiful proportions of the chief temple. Everything there is
     harmony, light, beauty--an image of the church-triumphant, but a
     very worldly, earthly image; and whilst the mind enjoys its
     splendour, the soul cannot, in the higher sense, be edified by its
     symbolism."--_Frederika Bremer._

The first chapel on the right derives its name from the _Pietà of
Michael Angelo_, representing the dead Saviour upon the knees of the
Madonna, a work of the great artist in his twenty-fourth year, upon an
order from the French ambassador, Cardinal Jean de Villiers, abbot of
St. Denis. The sculptor has inscribed his name (the only instance in
which he has done so) upon the girdle of the Virgin. Francis I.
attempted to obtain this group from Michael Angelo in 1507, together
with the statue of Christ at the Minerva, "comme de choses que l'on m'a
assuré estre des plus exquises et excellentes en votre art." Opening
from this chapel are two smaller ones. That on the right has a Crucifix
by _Pietro Cavallini_; the mosaic, representing St. Nicholas of Bari, is
by _Christofari_. That on the left is called _Cappella della Colonna
Santa_, from a column, said to have been brought from Jerusalem, and to
have been that against which our Saviour leant, when he prayed and
taught in the temple. It is inscribed:

     "Hæc est illa columna in qua DNS Nr Jesus XPS appodiatus dum
     populo prædicabat et Deo p[=n]o preces in templo effundebat
     adhærendo, stabatque una cum aliis undeci hic circumstantibus de
     Salomonis templo in triumphum. Hujus Basilicæ hic locata fuit
     demones expellit et immundis spiritibus vexatos liberos reddit et
     multa miracula cotidie facit. P. reverendissimum pre[=m] et Dominum
     Dominus. Card. de Ursinis. A.D. MDCCCXXXVIII."

A more interesting object in this chapel is the sarcophagus (once used
as a font) of Anicius Probus, a prefect of Rome in the fourth century,
of the great family of the Anicii, to which St. Gregory the Great
belonged. Its five compartments have bas-reliefs, representing Christ
and the Apostles.

Returning to the aisle, on the right, is the tomb of Leo XII., Annibale
della Genga (1823--29) by _Fabris_; on the left is the tomb of Christina
of Sweden, daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, who died at Rome, 1689, by
_Carlo Fontana_, with a bas-relief by Teudon, representing her
abjuration of Protestantism in 1655, in the cathedral of Innspruck.

On the right is the altar of St. Sebastian, with a mosaic copy of
Domenichino's picture at Sta. Maria degli Angeli; beyond which is the
tomb of Innocent XII., Antonio Pignatelli (1691--1700). This was the
last pope who wore the martial beard and moustache, which we see
represented in his statue. Pignatella is Italian for a little cream-jug;
in allusion to this we may see three little cream-jugs in the upper
decorations of this monument, which is by _Filippo Valle_. On the left
is the tomb, by _Bernini_, of the Countess Matilda, foundress of the
temporal power of the popes, who died in 1115, was buried in a monastery
near Mantua, and transported hither by Urban VIII. in 1635. The
bas-relief represents the absolution of Henry IV. of Germany, by
Hildebrand, which took place at her intercession and in her presence.

We now reach, on the right, the large _Chapel of the Santissimo
Sacramento_, decorated with a fresco altar-piece, representing the
Trinity, by _Pietro da Cortona_, and a tabernacle of lapis-lazuli and
gilt bronze, copied from Bramante's little temple at S. Pietro in
Montorio. Here is the magnificent tomb of Sixtus IV., Francesco della
Rovere (1471--81), removed from the choir of the old St. Peter's, where
it was erected by his nephew, Cardinal Giulio della Rovere, afterwards
Pope Julius II. This pope's reign was entirely occupied with politics,
and he was secretly involved in the conspiracy of the Pazzi at Florence;
he was the first pope who carried nepotism to such an extent as to found
a principality (Imola and Forli) for his nephew Girolamo Riario. The
tomb is a beautiful work of the Florentine artist, _Antonio Pollajuola_,
in 1493. The figure of the pope reposes upon a bronze couch, surrounded,
in memory of his having taught successively in the six great
universities of Italy, with allegorical bas-reliefs of Arithmetic,
Astrology, Philology, Rhetoric, Grammar, Perspective, Music, Geography,
Philosophy, and Theology, which last is represented like a pagan Diana,
with a quiver of arrows on her shoulders. Close to this monument of his
uncle, a flat stone in the pavement marks the grave of Julius II., for
whom the grand tomb at S. Pietro in Vincoli was intended.

Returning to the aisle, we see on the right the tomb of Gregory XIII.,
Ugo Buoncompagni (1572--85), during whose reign the new calendar was
invented, an event commemorated in a bas-relief upon the monument,
which was not erected till 1723, and is by _Camillo Rusconi_. The figure
of the pope (he died aged eighty-four) is in the attitude of
benediction: beneath are Wisdom, represented as Minerva, and Faith,
holding a tablet inscribed, "Novi opera hujus et fidem." Opposite this
is the paltry tomb of Gregory XIV., Nicolo Sfrondati (1590--91).

     "Le tombeau de Gregoire XIII., que le massacre de Saint Barthélemy
     réjouit si fort, est de marbre. Le tombeau de stuc ou d'abord il
     avait été placé, a été accordé, après son départ, au cendres de
     Grégoire XIV."--_Stendhal._

On the left, against the great pier, is a mosaic copy of Domenichino's
Communion of St. Jerome. On the right is the chapel of the Madonna,
founded by Gregory XIII., and built by Giacomo della Porta. The cupola
has mosaics by Girolamo Muziano. Beneath the altar is buried St. Gregory
Nazianzen, removed hither from the convent of Sta. Maria in the Campo
Marzo by Gregory XIII.

     St. Gregory Nazianzen (or St. Gregory Theologos) was son of St.
     Gregory and St. Nonna, and brother of St. Gorgonia and St. Cesarea.
     He was born _c._ A.D. 328. In his childhood he was influenced by a
     vision of the two virgins, Temperance and Chastity, summoning him
     to pursue them to the joys of Paradise. Being educated at Athens
     (together with Julian the Apostate), he formed there a great
     friendship with St. Basil. He became first the coadjutor,
     afterwards the successor, of his father, in the bishopric of
     Nazianzen, but removed thence to Constantinople, where he preached
     against the Arians. By the influence of Theodosius, he was ordained
     Bishop of Constantinople, but was so worn out by the cabals and
     schisms in the Church, that he resigned his office, and retired to
     his paternal estate, where he passed the remainder of his life in
     the composition of Greek hymns and poems. He died May 9, A.D. 390.

On the right is the tomb of Benedict XIV., Prospero Lambertini
(1740--58), by _Pietro Bracci_, a huge and ugly monument. On the left
is the tomb of Gregory XVI., Mauro-Cappellari (1831--46), by _Amici_,
erected in 1855 by the cardinals he had created.

Turning into the right transept, used as a council-chamber (for which
purpose it proved thoroughly unsatisfactory), 1869--70, we find several
fine mosaics from pictures, viz.: The Martyrdom of SS. Processus and
Martinianus from the Valentin at the Vatican; the Martyrdom of St.
Erasmus from Poussin; St. Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, from Caroselli;
Our Saviour walking on the sea to the boat of St. Peter, from Lanfranco.

Opposite to the last-named mosaic is the famous monument of Clement
XIII., Carlo Rezzonico (1758--69), in whose reign the Order of Jesuits
was attacked by all the sovereigns of the house of Bourbon, and expelled
from Portugal, France, Spain, Naples, and Parma. The pope, who had long
defended them, was about to yield to the pressure put upon him and had
called a consistory for their suppression, but died suddenly on the
evening before its assembling. This tomb, the greatest work of Canova,
was uncovered April 4, 1795, in the presence of an immense crowd, with
whom the sculptor mingled, disguised as an abbé, to hear their opinion.
The pope (aged 75) is represented in prayer, upon a pedestal, beneath
which is the entrance to a vault, guarded by two grand marble lions. On
the right is Religion, standing erect with a cross; on the left the
Genius of Death, holding a torch reversed. The beauty of this work of
Canova is only felt when it is compared with the monuments of the
seventeenth century in St. Peter's; "then it seems as if they were
separated by an abyss of centuries."[334]

Beyond this are mosaics from the St. Michael of Guido at the Cappuccini,
and from the Martyrdom of St. Petronilla, of Guercino, at the Capitol.
Each of these large mosaics has cost about 150,000 francs.

Now, on the right, is the tomb of Clement X., Gio. Baptista Altieri
(1670--76), by _Rossi_, the statue by _Ercole Ferrata_; and on the left,
is a mosaic of St. Peter raising Tabitha from the dead, by Costanzi.

Ascending into the tribune, we see at the end of the church, beneath the
very ugly window of yellow glass, the "Cathedra Petri" of _Bernini_,
supported by figures of the four Fathers of the Church, Augustine,
Ambrose, Chrysostom, and Athanasius. Enclosed in this, is a very ancient
wooden senatorial chair, encrusted with ivory, which is believed to have
been the episcopal throne of St. Peter and his immediate successors.
Late Roman Catholic authorities (Mgr. Gerbet, &c.) consider that it may
perhaps have been originally the chair of the senator Pudens, with whom
the apostle lodged. A magnificent festival in honour of St. Peter's
chair (Natale Petri de Cathedra) has been annually celebrated here from
the earliest times, and is mentioned in a calendar of Pope Liberius of
A.D. 354. It was said that if any pope were to reign longer than the
traditional years of the government of St. Peter (Pius IX. is the first
pope who has done so), St. Peter's chair would be again brought into
use.

On the right of the chair is the tomb of Urban VIII., Matteo Barberini
(1623--44), who was chiefly remarkable from his passion for building,
and who is perpetually brought to mind through the immense number of his
erections which still exist. The tomb is by _Bernini_, the architect of
his endless fountains and public buildings, and has the usual fault of
this sculptor in overloading his figures (except in that of Urban
himself, which is very fine,[335]) with meaningless drapery. Figures of
Charity and Justice stand by the black marble sarcophagus of the pope,
and a gilt skeleton is occupied in inscribing the name of Urban on the
list of Death. The whole monument is alive with the bees of the
Barberini. The pendant tomb on the left is that of Paul III., Alessandro
Farnese (1534--50), in whose reign the Order of the Jesuits was founded.
This pope (the first Roman who had occupied the throne for 103
years--since Martin V.) was learned, brilliant, and witty. He was adored
by his people, in spite of his intense nepotism, which induced him to
form Parma into a duchy for his natural son Pierluigi, to build the
Farnese Palace, and to marry his grandson Ottavio to Marguerite, natural
daughter of Charles V., to whom he gave the Palazzo Madama and the Villa
Madama as a dowry. His tomb, by _Guglielmo della Porta_, perhaps the
finest in St. Peter's, cost 24,000 Roman crowns; it was erected in the
old basilica just before its destruction in 1562,--and in 1574 was
transferred to this church, where its position was the source of a
quarrel between the sculptor and Michael Angelo, by whose interest he
had obtained his commission.[336] It was first placed on the site where
the Veronica now stands, whence it was moved to its present position in
1629. The figure of the pope is in bronze. In its former place four
marble statues adorned the pedestal; two are now removed to the Farnese
Palace; those which remain, of Prudence and Justice, were once entirely
nude, but were draped by Bernini. The statue of Prudence is said to
represent Giovanna Gaetani da Sermoneta, the mother of the pope, and
that of Justice his famous sister-in-law, Giulia.

     "On a dit de ces figures que c'était le Rubens en sculpture."--_A.
     Du Pays._

Near the steps of the tribune are two marble slabs, on which Pius IX.
has immortalised the names of the cardinals and bishops who, on December
8, 1854, accepted, on this spot, his dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Turning towards the left transept;--on the left is a mosaic of St. Peter
healing the lame man, from _Mancini_. On the right is the tomb of
Alexander VIII., Pietro Ottobuoni (1689--91), by _Giuseppe Verlosi_ and
_Angelo Rossi_, gorgeous in its richness of bronze, marbles, and
alabasters. Beyond this is the altar of Leo the Great, over which is a
huge bas-relief, by _Algardi_, representing S. Leo calling down the
assistance of SS. Peter and Paul against the invasion of Attila.

     "The king of the Huns, terrified by the apparition of the two
     apostles in the air, turns his back and flies. We have here a
     picture in marble, with all the faults of taste and style which
     prevailed at that time, but the workmanship is excellent; it is,
     perhaps, the largest bas-relief in existence, excepting the rock
     sculpture of the Indians and Egyptians--at least fifteen feet in
     height."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 685.

Next to this is the Cappella della Colonna, possessing a much revered
Madonna from a pillar of the old basilica, and beneath it an ancient
Christian sarcophagus containing the remains of Leo II. (ob. 683), Leo
III. (ob. 816), and Leo IV. (ob. 855). In the pavement near these two
altars is the slab tomb of Leo XII. (ob. 1828), with an epitaph
illustrating Invocation of Saints, but touching in its humility.

     "Commending myself, a suppliant, to my great celestial patron Leo,
     I, Leo XII., his humble client, unworthy of so great a name, have
     chosen a place of sepulture, near his holy ashes."

Over the door known as the Porta Sta. Marta (from the church in the
square behind St. Peter's, to which it leads), is the tomb of Alexander
VII., Fabio Chigi (1655--67), the last work of _Bernini_, who had built
for this pope the Scala-Regia and the Colonnade of St. Peter's. This is,
perhaps, the worst of all the papal monuments--a hideous figure of Death
is pushing aside an alabaster curtain and exhibiting his hour-glass to
the kneeling pope.

Opposite to this tomb is an oil painting on slate, by _Francesco Vanni_,
of the Fall of Simon Magus. The south transept has a series of mosaic
pictures; The Incredulity of St. Thomas from Camuccini, the Crucifixion
of St. Peter and a St. Francis from Guido, and, on the pier of the
Cupola, Ananias and Sapphira from the Roncalli at Sta. Maria degli
Angeli, and the Transfiguration from Raphael.[337]

Opposite the mosaic of Ananias and Sapphira is the last tomb erected in
St. Peter's, that of Pius VIII., Francesco Castiglione (1829--31), by
_Tenerani_. It represents the pope kneeling, and above him the Saviour
in benediction, with SS. Peter and Paul. It is of no great merit.

The Cappella Clementina has the Miracle of St. Gregory the Great from
the Andrea Sacchi at the Vatican. Close to this is the fine tomb of Pius
VII., Gregorio Chiaramonte (1800--23), who crowned Napoleon,--who
suffered exile for seven years for refusing to abdicate the temporal
power,--and who returned in triumph to die at the Quirinal, after having
re-established the Order of the Jesuits. His monument is the work of
_Thorwaldsen_, graceful and simple, though perhaps too small to be in
proportion to the neighbouring tombs. The figure of the pope, a gentle
old man (he died at the age of eighty-one, having reigned twenty-three
years), is seated in a chair; figures of Courage and Faith adorn the
pedestal. The tomb was erected by Cardinal Gonsalvi, the faithful friend
and minister of this pope (who died very poor, having spent all his
wealth in charity), at an expense of 27,000 scudi.

Turning into the left aisle,--on the right is the tomb of Leo XI.,
Alessandro de Medici (1605), to which one is inclined to grudge so much
space, considering that the pope it commemorates only reigned twenty-six
days. The tomb, in allusion to this short life, is sculptured with
flowers, and bears the motto, _Sic Florui_. It is the work of _Algardi_.
The figures of Wisdom and Abundance, which adorn the pedestal, are fine
specimens of this allegorical type.

Opposite, is the tomb of Innocent XI., Benedetto Odescalchi (1676--89),
by _Etienne Monot_, with a bas-relief representing the raising of the
siege of Vienna by King John Sobieski.

Near this, is the entrance to the Cappella del Coro, the very
inconvenient chapel (decorated with gilding and stucco by Giacomo della
Porta), in which the vesper services are held. The altar-piece is a
mosaic copy of the Conception by Pietro Bianchi at the Angeli. In the
pavement is the gravestone of Clement XI., Giov. Francesco Albani
(1700--21).

Under the next arch of the aisle, on the left, is the interesting tomb
of Innocent VIII., Gio. Battista Cibò (1484--92), by Pietro and Antonio
Pollajuolo. The pope is represented asleep upon his sarcophagus, and a
second time above, seated on a throne, his right hand extended in
benediction, and his left holding the sacred lance of Longinus (said to
have been that which pierced the side of our Saviour), sent to him by
the sultan Bajazet. It is supposed that it was owing to the
representation of this relic, that this tomb alone (except that of
Sixtus IV., uncle of the destroyer), was replaced after the destruction
of the old basilica. Upon the sarcophagus of the pope is inscribed, in
allusion to the name of Innocent, the 11th verse of the 26th Psalm, "In
innocentiâ meâ ingressus sum, redime me Domine et miserere mei."
Opposite, is a tomb which is a kind of Memento Mori to the living pope,
which always bears the name of his predecessor, and in which his corpse
will be deposited, till his real tomb is prepared. "This tomb is now
empty, and awaits its prey, Pius IX."[338]

Passing the Cappella della Presentazione, which contains a mosaic from
the "Presentation of the Virgin," by _Romanelli_, we reach the last
arch, which contains the tombs of the Stuarts. On the right is the
monument, by _Filippo Barigioni_, of Maria Clementina Sobieski, wife of
James III., called in the inscription "Queen of Great Britain, France,
and Ireland"; on the left is that by Canova to the three Stuart princes,
James III. and his sons, Charles Edward, and Henry--Cardinal York. It
bears this inscription:

                  "JACOBO III.
      JACOBI II., MAGNÆ BRIT. REGIS FILIO
                KAROLO EDOARDO
          ET HENRICO, DECANO PATRUM
                  CARDINALIUM,
              JACOBI III. FILIIS,
      REGLÆ STIRPIS STVARDIÆ POSTREMIS
                ANNO MDCCCXIX
    BEATI MORTUI QUI IN DOMINO MORIUNTUR."

     "George IV., fidèle à sa réputation du _gentleman_ le plus accompli
     des trois royaumes, a voulu honorer la cendre des princes
     malheureux que de leur vivant il eût envoyés à l'échafaud s'ils
     fussent tombés en son pouvoir."--_Stendhal._

     "Beneath the unrivalled dome of St. Peter's, lie mouldering the
     remains of what was once a brave and gallant heart; and a stately
     monument from the chisel of Canova, and at the charge, as I
     believe, of the house of Hanover, has since arisen to the memory of
     _James the Third, Charles the Third, and Henry the Ninth, Kings of
     England_,--names which an Englishman can scarcely read without a
     smile or a sigh! Often at the present day does the British
     traveller turn from the sunny crest of the Pincian, or the carnival
     throng of the Corso, to gaze, in thoughtful silence, on that
     mockery of human greatness, and that last record of ruined hopes!
     The tomb before him is of a race justly expelled; the magnificent
     temple that enshrines it is of a faith wisely reformed; yet who at
     such a moment would harshly remember the errors of either, and
     might not join in the prayer even of that erring Church for the
     departed, 'Requiescant in pace.'"--_Lord Mahon._

The last chapel is the Baptistery, and contains, as a font, the ancient
porphyry cover of the sarcophagus of Hadrian, which was afterwards used
for the tomb of the Emperor Otho II. The mosaic of the Baptism of our
Saviour is from Carlo Maratta.

Distributed around the whole basilica are confessionals for every
Christian tongue.

     "Au milieu de toutes les créations hardies et splendides de l'art
     dans le basilique de St. Pierre, il est une impression morale qui
     saisit l'esprit, à la vue des confessionaux des diverses langues.
     Il y a là encore une autre espèce de grandeur."--_A. Du Pays._

_The Crypt of St. Peter's_ can always be visited by gentlemen, on
application in the sacristy; but by ladies only with a special
permission. The entrance is near the statue of Sta. Veronica. The
visitor is terribly hurried in his inspection of this, the most
historically interesting part of the basilica, and the works of art it
contains are so ill-arranged, as to be difficult to investigate or
remember. The crypt is divided into two portions, the _Grotte Nuove_,
occupying the area beneath the dome, and opening into some ancient
lateral chapels,--and the _Grotte Vecchie_, which extended under the
whole nave of the old basilica, and reaches as far as the Cappella del
Coro of the present edifice.

The first portion entered is a corridor in the Grotte Nuove. Hence open,
on the right, two ancient chapels. The first, _Sta. Maria in Portico_,
derives its name from a picture of the Virgin, attributed to _Simone
Memmi_, which stood in the portico of the old basilica; it contains,
besides several statues from the magnificent monument of Nicholas V.,
which perished with the old church, a statue of St. Peter which stood in
the portico, and the cross which crowned its summit. The second chapel,
_Sta. Maria delle Partorienti_, has a mosaic of our Saviour in
benediction, from the tomb of Otho II.; a mosaic of the Virgin, of the
eighth century; several ancient inscriptions; and, at the entrance,
statues of the two apostles James, from the tomb of Nicholas V. Behind
this chapel were preserved the remains of Leo II., III., and IX., till
they were removed to the upper church by Leo XII.

Entering the _Grotte Vecchie_, we find a nave and aisles separated by
pilasters with low arches. Following the south aisle we are first
arrested by the marble inscription relating to the donation of lands
made by the Countess Matilda to the church in 1102. Near this is the
small _Cappella del Salvatore_, containing a bas-relief of the Virgin
and Child by _Arnolfo_, which once decorated the tomb of Boniface
VIII.,--and the grave of Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus, who died in 1487.
Near this are the sepulchral urns of the three Stuart princes,
commemorated in the upper church. At the end of this aisle is the tomb
of the Emperor Otho II., who died at Rome in A.D. 983; this formerly
stood in the portico of the basilica.

Here is the empty tomb of Alexander VI., Rodrigo Borgia (1492--1503),
the wicked and avaricious father of Cæsar and Lucretia, who is believed
to have died of the poison which he intended for one of his cardinals.
The body of this pope was not allowed to rest in peace. Julius II., the
bitter enemy of the Borgias, turned it out of its tomb, and had it
carried to S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, whence, when that church was
pulled down, it was taken to Sta. Maria di Monserrato. The empty
sarcophagus is surmounted by the figure of Alexander, who was himself a
handsome old man, and in whose features may be traced the lineaments of
the splendid Cæsar Borgia, known to us from the picture in the Borghese
Palace.

At the end of the central nave is the sarcophagus of Christina of
Sweden, who has a monument in the upper church.

The first tomb in the south aisle, beginning from the west, is that of
Boniface VIII., Benedetto Gaetani (1294--1303).

     "The last prince of the Church, who understood the papacy in the
     sense of universal dominion, in the spirit of Gregory VII., of
     Alexander and Innocent III. Two kings held the bridle of his
     palfrey as he rode from St Peter's to the Lateran after his
     election. He received Dante as the ambassador of Florence; in 1300
     he instituted the jubilee; and his reign--filled with contests with
     Philip le Bel of France and the Colonnas--ended in his being taken
     prisoner in his palace at Anagni by Sciarra Colonna and William of
     Nogaret, and subjected to the most cruel indignities. He was
     rescued by his fellow-citizens and conducted to Rome by the Orsini,
     but he died thirty seven days after of grief and mortification. The
     Ghibelline story relates that he sate alone silently gnawing the
     top of his staff, and at length dashed out his brains against the
     wall, or smothered himself with his own pillows. But the
     contemporary verse of the Cardinal St. George describes him as
     dying quietly in the midst of his cardinals, at peace with the
     world, and having received all the consolations of the
     Church."--_See Milman's Latin Christianity_, vol. V.

The character of Boniface has ever been one of the battlefields of
history. He was scarcely dead when the epitaph, "He came in like a fox,
he ruled like a lion, he died like a dog," was proclaimed to
Christendom. He was consigned by Dante to the lowest circle of Hell; yet
even Dante expressed the universal shock with which Christendom beheld
"the Fleur de lis enter Anagni, and Christ again captive in his
Vicar,--the mockery, the gall and vinegar, the crucifixion between
living robbers, the cruelty of the second Pilate." In later times,
Tosti, Drumann, and lastly, Cardinal Wiseman, have engaged in his
defence.

Boniface VIII. was buried with the utmost magnificence in a splendid
chapel, which he had built himself, and adorned with mosaics, and where
a grand tomb was erected to him. Of this nothing remains now, but the
sarcophagus, which bears a majestic figure of the pope by _Arnolfo del
Cambio_.

     "The head is unusually beautiful, severe and noble in its form, and
     corresponds perfectly with the portrait which we have (at the
     Lateran) from the hand of Giotto, which represents his face as
     beardless and of the most perfect oval. His head is covered by a
     long, pointed mitre, like a sugar-loaf, decked with two crowns.
     This proud man was indeed the first who wore the double crown,--all
     his predecessors having been content with a simple crowned mitre.
     This new custom existed till the tune of Urban V., by whom the
     third crown was added."--_Gregorovius, Grabmäler der Päpste._

Close to that of Boniface are the sarcophagi of Pius II., Æneas Sylvius
Piccolomini (1458--64) and Pius III., Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini
(1503), whose monuments are removed to S. Andrea della Valle.

Next beyond Boniface is the tomb of Adrian IV. (Nicholas Breakspeare,
1154--59), the only Englishman who ever occupied the papal throne.[339]
He is buried in a pagan sarcophagus of red granite, adorned with Medusa
heads in relief, and without any inscription.

Opposite this, is a sarcophagus bearing the figure of Nicholas V.,
Tomaso di Sarzana(1447--55), being nearly all that has been preserved of
the glorious tomb of that pope, who founded the Vatican library,
collected around him a court of savants and poets, and "with whom opened
the age of papacy to which belonged the times of Julius II. and Leo X."
His epitaph, attributed to Pius II., is by his secretary Mafeo Vegio.

    "The bones of Nicholas V. rest in this grave,
    Who gave to thee, O Rome! thy golden age.
    Famous in council, more famous in shining virtue,
    He honoured wise men, who was himself the wisest of all.
    He gave healing to the world, long wounded with schism,
    And renewed at once its manners and customs, and the buildings
     and temples of the city.
    He gave an altar to St. Bernardino of Siena
    When he celebrated the holy year of jubilee.
    He crowned with gold the forehead of Frederick and his wife,
    And gave order to the affairs of Italy by the treaty which he made.
    He translated many Greek writings into the Latin tongue;--
    Then offer incense to-day at his holy grave."

Next comes a remnant of the tomb of Paul II., Pietro Barbo (1464--71),
chiefly remarkable for his personal beauty, of which he was so vain,
that when he issued from the conclave as pope, he wished to take the
name of Formosus. This pontiff built the Palazzo S. Marco, and gave a
name to the Corso, by establishing the races there. He also prepared for
himself one of the most splendid tombs in the old basilica, for which he
obtained Mino da Fiesole as an architect It was his wish to lie in the
porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Costanza, which he stole from her church
for this purpose; hence the simplicity of the existing sarcophagus,
which bears his effigy. Beyond this, are sarcophagi of Julius III., Gio.
Maria Ciocchi del Monte (1550--55), builder of the Villa Papa Giulio;
and Nicholas III., Orsini (1277--81), who made a treaty with Rudolph of
Hapsburg, and obtained from him a ratification of the donation of the
Countess Matilda. Then comes the sarcophagus of Urban VI., Bartolomeo
Prignani (1378--87), the sole relic of a most magnificent tomb of this
cruel pope, who is believed to have died of poison. It bears his figure,
and in the front, a bas-relief of him receiving the keys from St. Peter.
His epitaph runs:

    "Here rests the just, wise, and noble prince,
    Urban VI., a native of Naples.
    He, full of zeal, gave a safe refuge to the teachers of the faith.
    That gained for him, noble one, a fatal poison cup at the close
     of the repast.
    Great was the schism, but great was his courage in opposing it,
    And in the presence of this mighty pope Simony sate dumb.
    But it is needless to reiterate his praises upon earth,
    While heaven is shining with his immortal glory."

     "Sepelitur in beati Petri Basilica, paucis admodum ejus mortem,
     utpote hominis rustici et inexorabilis, flentibus. Hujus autem
     sepulchrum adhuc visitur cum epitaphio satis rustico et
     inepto."--_Platina._

Next come the sarcophagi of Innocent VII., Cosmato de Miliorati
(1404--6), bearing his figure; of Marcellus II., Marcello Cervini
(1555), who only reigned twenty-five days; and of Innocent IX., Giov.
Antonio Facchinetti (1591--92), who reigned only sixty.

Near these is the urn of Agnese Gaetani Colonna, the only lady not of
royal birth buried in the basilica.

Hence we return to the corridor of the Grotte Nuove, containing a number
of mosaics and statues detached from different papal tombs, the best
being those from that of Nicholas V. and that of Paul II., by _Mino da
Fiesole_ (a figure of Charity is especially beautiful), and a bas-relief
of the Virgin and Child, by _Arnolfo_, from the tomb of Benedict VIII.

Here also are a half-length statue of Boniface VIII., ascribed to
_Andrea Pisano_; a half-length of Benedict XII., by _Paolo di Siena_;
and a figure of St. Peter seated on a gothic throne which once supported
a statue of Benedict XII.

The _Chapel of St. Longinus_ has a mosaic from a picture by Andrea
Sacchi. Near the entrance of the shrine are marble reliefs of the
martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul. Opposite to the entrance of the
shrine is the magnificent sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, Christian
prefect of Rome, who died A.D. 359. It was discovered near its present
site in 1595. It is adorned with admirable sculptures from the Old and
New Testament.

Opening from the centre of the circular passage is the _Confession or
Shrine of SS. Peter and Paul_, which contains the sarcophagus brought
from the Catacomb near S. Sebastiano in 257, and which the Roman
Catholic Church has always revered as that of St. Peter. On the altar,
consecrated in 1122, are two ancient pictures of St. Peter and St.
Paul. Only half the bodies of the saints are held to be preserved here,
the other portion of that of St. Peter being at the Lateran, and of St.
Paul at S. Paolo fuori Mura.

To the Roman Catholic mind this is naturally one of the most sacred
spots in the world, since it holds literally the words of St. Ambrose,
that: "Where Peter is, there is the Church,--and where the Church is,
there is no death, but life eternal."[340]

     "From this place Peter, from this place Paul, shall be caught up in
     the resurrection. Oh consider with trembling that which Rome will
     behold, when Paul suddenly rises with Peter from this sepulchre,
     and is carried up into the air to meet the Lord."--_St. John
     Chrysostom, Homily on the Ep. to the Romans._

     "Among the cemeteries ascribed by tradition to apostolic times, the
     crypts of the Vatican would have the first claim on our attention,
     had they not been almost destroyed by the foundations of the vast
     basilica which guards the tomb of St. Peter.... The _Liber
     Pontificalis_ says that Anacletus, the successor of Clement in the
     Apostolic See, '_built_ and adorned the sepulchral monument
     (_construxit memoriam_) of blessed Peter, since he had been
     ordained priest by St. Peter, and other burial-places where the
     bishops might be laid.' It is added that he himself was buried
     there; and the same is recorded of Linus and Cletus, and of
     Evaristus, Sixtus I., Telesphorus, Hyginus, Pius I., Eleutherius,
     and Victor, the last of whom was buried A.D. 203; and after St.
     Victor, no other pontiff is recorded to have been buried at the
     Vatican until Leo the Great was laid in St. Peter's, A.D. 461. The
     idea conveyed by the words _construxit memoriam_ is that of a
     monument above-ground according to the usual Roman custom; and we
     have seen that such a monument, even though it covered the tomb of
     Christian bishops, would not be likely to be disturbed at any time
     during the first or second century. For the reason we have already
     stated, it is impossible to confront these ancient notices with any
     existing monuments. It is worth mentioning, however, that De Rossi
     believes that the sepulchre of St. Linus was discovered in this
     very place early in the seventeenth century, bearing simply the
     name of Linus."--_Northcote and Brownlow, Roma Setterranea._

To ascend the _Dome of St. Peter's_ requires a special order. The
entrance is from the first door in the left aisle, near the tomb of
Maria-Clementina Sobieski. The ascent is by an easy staircase _à
cordoni_, the walls of which bear memorial tablets of all the royal
personages who have ascended it. The aspect of the roof is exceedingly
curious from the number of small domes and houses of workmen with which
it is studded,--quite a little village in themselves. A chamber in one
of the pillars which support the dome contains a model of the ancient
throne of St. Peter, and a model of the church, by Michael Angelo and
his predecessor, Antonio di Sangallo. The dome is 300 feet above the
roof, and 613½ feet in circumference. An iron staircase leads thence
to the ball, which is capable of containing sixteen persons.

     "Cette hauteur fait frémir," dit Beyle, "quand on songe aux
     tremblements de terre qui agitent fréquemment l'Italie, et qu'un
     instant peut vous priver du plus beau monument qui existe.
     Certainement jamais il ne serait relevé: nous sommes trop
     _raisonables_."

     "De Brosse raconte que deux moines espagnoles, qui se trouvaient
     dons la boule de St. Pierre lors de la secousse de 1730, eurent une
     telle peur, que l'un d'eux mourut sur la place."--_A. Du Pays._

_The Sacristy of St. Peter's_, which is entered by a grey marble door on
the left, before turning into the south transept, was built by Pius VI.,
in 1755, from designs of _Carlo Marchione_. It consists of three halls,
with a corridor adorned with columns and inscriptions from the old
church, and with statues of SS. Peter and Paul, which stood in front of
it. The central hall, _Sagrestia Commune_, is adorned with eight fluted
pillars of grey marble (bigio) from Hadrian's Villa. On the left is the
_Sagrestia dei Canonici_, with the Cappella dei Canonici, which has two
pictures, the Madonna and Saints (Anna, Peter, and Paul), by _Francesco
Penni_, and the Madonna and Child, _Giulio Romano_. Hence opens the
_Stanza Capitolare_, containing an interesting remnant of the many works
of Giotto in the old basilica under Boniface VIII. (for which he
received 3020 gold florins), in three panel pictures belonging to the
ciborium for the high altar ordered by Cardinal Stefaneschi, and
representing,--Christ with that Cardinal,--the Crucifixion of St.
Peter,--the Execution of St. Peter,--and on the back of the same panel,
another picture, in which Cardinal Stefaneschi is offering his ciborium
to St. Peter.

     "The fragments which are preserved of the painting which Giotto
     executed for the Church of St. Peter cannot fail to make us regret
     its loss. The fragments are treated with a grandeur of style which
     has led Rumohr to suspect that the susceptible imagination of
     Giotto was unable to resist the impression which the ancient
     mosaics of the Christian basilicas must have produced upon
     him."--_Rio. Poetry of Christian Art._

Here also are several fragments of the frescoes (of angels and
apostles), by _Melozzo da Forlì_, which existed in the former dome of
the SS. Apostoli, and of which the finest portion is now at the Quirinal
Palace. On the right is the _Sagrestia dei Benefiziati_, which contains
a picture of the Saviour giving the keys to St. Peter, by _Muziano_, and
an image called La Madonna della Febbre, which stood in the old
Sacristy. Opening hence is the _Treasury of St. Peter's_, containing
some ancient jewels, crucifixes, and candelabra, by Benvenuto Cellini
and Michael Angelo, and, among other relics, the famous sacerdotal robe
called the _Dalmatica di Papa San Leone_, "said to have been embroidered
at Constantinople for the coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor of the
West, but fixed by German criticism as a production of the twelfth, or
the early part of the thirteenth century. The emperors, at least, have
worn it ever since, while serving as deacons at the pope's altar during
their coronation-mass."

     "It is a large robe of stiff brocade, falling in broad and unbroken
     folds in front and behind,--broad and deep enough for the
     Goliath-like stature and the Herculean chest of Charlemagne
     himself. On the breast the Saviour is represented in glory, on the
     back the Transfiguration, and on the two shoulders Christ
     administering the Eucharist to the Apostles. In each of these last
     compositions, our Saviour, a stiff but majestic figure, stands
     behind the altar, on which are deposited a chalice and a paten or
     basket containing crossed wafers. He gives, in the one case, the
     cup to St. Paul, in the other the bread to St. Peter,--they do not
     kneel, but bend reverently to receive it; five other disciples
     await their turn in each instance,--all are standing.

     "I do not apprehend your being disappointed with the Dalmatica di
     San Leone, or your dissenting from my conclusion, that a master, a
     Michael-Angelo I would almost say, then flourished at Byzantium.

     "It was in this Dalmatica--then _semée_ all over with pearls and
     glittering in freshness--that Cola di Rienzi robed himself over his
     armour in the sacristy of St. Peter's and thence ascended to the
     Palace of the Popes, after the manner of the Cæsars, with sounding
     trumpets and his horsemen following him--his truncheon in his hand
     and his crown on his head--'terribile e fantastico,' as his
     biographer describes him--to wait upon the Legate."--_Lord
     Lindsay's Christian Art_, i. 137.

Above the Sacristy are the _Archives of St. Peter's_, containing, among
many other ancient MSS., a life of St. George, with miniatures, by
_Giotto_. The entrance to the Archivio, at the end of the corridor, is
adorned with fragments of the chains of the ports of Smyrna and Tunis.
Here, also, is a statue of Pius VI., by _Agostino Penna_.

It is quite worth while to leave St. Peter's by the Porta Sta. Marta
beneath the tomb of Alexander VII., in order to examine the exterior of
the church from behind, where it completely dwarfs all the surrounding
buildings. Among these are the _Church of S. Stefano_, with a fine door
composed of antique fragments, and the dismal _Church of Sta. Marta_,
which contains several of the Roman weights known as "Pietra di
Paragone," said to have been used in the martyrdoms. Beyond the Sacristy
is the pretty little _Cimeterio dei Tedeschi_, the oldest of Christian
burial-grounds, said to have been set apart by Constantine, and filled
with earth from Calvary. It was granted to the Germans in 1779, by Pius
VI. Close by is the _Church of Sta. Maria della Pietà in Campo Santo_.

Not far from hence (in a street behind the nearest colonnade) is the
_Palazzo del Santo Uffizio--or of the Inquisition_. This body, for some
time past, suppressed everywhere except in the States of the Pope, was
established here in 1536 by Paul III., acting on the advice of Cardinal
Caraffa, afterwards Paul IV., for inquiry into cases of heresy, and the
punishment of ecclesiastical offences. It was by the authority of the
"Holy Office" that the "Index" of prohibited books was first drawn up.
Paul IV., on his deathbed, summoned the cardinals to his side, and
recommended to them this "Santissimo Tribunale," as he called it, and
succeeding popes have protected and encouraged it. The character of the
Inquisition has been much changed from that which it bore three hundred
years ago; but even in late years, many cases of extreme severity have
been reported,--especially one of a French bishop cruelly imprisoned for
sixteen years in one of its dungeons (merely because he had received his
consecration from a French constitutional prelate), and who was only
released when its doors were opened in the revolution of 1848.

     "Within these walls has been confined for many years a very
     extraordinary person--the archbishop of Memphis.... Pope Leo XII.
     received a letter from the Pacha of Egypt informing his Holiness,
     that he and a large portion of his subjects desired to be received
     into the bosom of the Church of Rome; and announcing that he and
     they were willing to conform, provided the pope would send out an
     archbishop, with a suitable train of ecclesiastics, and requesting
     that his Holiness would do him the favour of appointing a certain
     young student whom he named, the first archbishop of Memphis, and
     despatch him to Egypt. No doubt was entertained as to the truth of
     this communication, but an objection presented itself in the youth
     of the ecclesiastical student whom the Pacha wished to have as his
     archbishop. The pope consulted his cardinals, who advised him not
     to make the dangerous precedent of raising a novice to so high a
     rank in the Church, but his Holiness, tempted by the desire of
     converting a kingdom to Christianity, resolved to conform to the
     wishes of the Pacha, and did consecrate the youth archbishop of
     Memphis. The archbishop was sent out attended by a train of priests
     to Egypt. When the ship arrived, the authorities in Egypt declared
     the affair was an imposition. His Grace confessed the fraud, was
     arrested, and reconducted to Rome. He was the author of the letter
     which imposed on the pope--his original intention having been to
     confess to the pope as a priest, after his consecration, the
     imposition he had practised; and as the pope could not betray a
     secret imparted to him at the confessional, the offender might have
     obtained absolution, and escaped punishment. Whether this would
     have been practicable I know not; but it was not accomplished, and
     as the youth had the rank of archbishop indelibly imprinted on him,
     nothing remained but to confine his Grace for the remainder of his
     life; and accordingly he was confined to this prison near the
     Vatican, whence he may find it difficult to escape."--_Whiteside's
     Italy_, 1860.

The tribunal of the Inquisition was formally abolished by the Roman
Assembly in February, 1849, but was re-established by Pius IX. in the
following June. Its meetings, however, now take place in the Vatican,
and the old palace of the Holy Office was long used as a barrack for
French soldiers.

In the interior of the building is a lofty hall, with gloomy frescoes of
Dominican saints,--and many terrible dungeons and cells in which the
victim is unable to stand upright, having their vaulted ceilings lined
with reeds, to deaden sound,--but all this is seldom seen. When the
people rushed into the Inquisition at the revolution, a number of human
bones were found in these vaults, which so excited the popular fury,
that an attack on the Dominican convent at the Minerva was anticipated.
Ardent defenders of the papacy maintain that these bones had been
previously transported to the Inquisition from a cemetery, to get up a
sensation.[341]

Built up into the back of this palace is the tribune of the _Church of
S. Salvatore in Torrione or in Macello_, whose foundation is ascribed to
Charlemagne (797). Senerano (Sette Chiese) supposes that the French had
here their schola or special centre for worship and assemblage. The
windows of this building are among the few examples of gothic in Rome,
and there are good terra-cotta mouldings. It may best be seen from the
_Porta Cavalleggieri_, which was designed by Sangallo, and derives its
name from the cavalry barracks close by.

A short distance from the lower end of the Colonnade is the _Church of
S. Michaele in Sassia_, whose handsome tower is a relic of the church
founded by Leo IV., who built the walls of the Borgo, especially for
funeral masses for the souls of those who fell in its defence against
the Saracens. Raphael Mengs is buried in the modern church.

The name of this church commemorates the Saxon settlement "called Burgus
Saxonum, Vicus Saxonum, Schola Saxonum, and simply Saxia or
Sassia,"[342] founded _c._ 727 by Ina, king of Wessex, and enlarged in
794 by Offa, king of Mercia, when he made a pilgrimage to Rome in
penance for the murder of Ethelbert, king of East-Anglia. Ina founded
here a church, "Sta. Maria quæ vocatur Schola Saxorum," which is
mentioned as late as 854. Dyer (Hist. of the City of Rome) says that
"when Leo IV. enclosed this part of the city, it obtained the name of
Borgo, from the Burgus Saxonum, and one of the gates was called Saxonum
Posterula. The 'Schola Francorum' was also in the Borgo."




CHAPTER XVI.

THE VATICAN.

     History of the Vatican Quarter and of the Palace--Scala
     Regia--Pauline Chapel--Sistine Chapel--Sala Ducale--Court of St.
     Damasus--Galleria Lapidaria--Braccio Nuovo--Museo Chiaramonti--The
     Belvedere--Gallery of Statues--Hall of Busts--Sala delle Muse--Sala
     Rotonda--Sala a Croce Greca--Galleria dei Candelabri--Galleria
     degli Arazzi--Library--Appartamenti Borgia--Etruscan
     Museum--Egyptian Museum--Gardens--Villa Pia--Loggie--Stanze--Chapel
     of S. Lorenzo--Gallery of Pictures.


The hollow of the Janiculum between S. Onofrio and the Monte Mario is
believed to have been a site of Etruscan divination.

    "Fauni vatesque canebant."

    _Ennius._

Hence the name, which is now only used in regard to the papal palace and
the basilica of St. Peter, but which was once applied to the whole
district between the foot of the hill and the Tiber near S. Angelo.

        " ... ut paterni
    Fluminis ripæ, simul et jocosa
    Redderet laudes tibi Vaticani
        Montis imago."

    _Horace_, i. _Od._ 20.

Tacitus speaks of the unwholesome air of this quarter. In this district
was the Circus of Caligula, adjoining the gardens of his mother
Agrippina, decorated by the obelisk which now stands in the front of St.
Peter's.[343] Here Seneca describes that while Caligula was walking by
torchlight, he amused himself by the slaughter of a number of
distinguished persons--senators and Roman ladies. Afterwards it became
the Circus of Nero, who from his adjoining gardens used to watch the
martyrdom of the Christians[344]--mentioned by Suetonius as "a race
given up to a new and evil superstition"--and who used their living
bodies, covered with pitch and set on fire, as torches for his nocturnal
promenades.

The first residence of the popes at the Vatican was erected by St.
Symmachus (A.D. 498--514) near the forecourt of the old St. Peter's, and
here Charlemagne is believed to have resided on the occasion of his
several visits to Rome during the reigns of Adrian I. (772--795) and Leo
III. (795--816). This ancient palace having fallen into decay during the
twelfth century, it was rebuilt in the thirteenth by Innocent III. It
was greatly enlarged by Nicholas III. (1277--1281), but the Lateran
continued to be the papal residence, and the Vatican palace was only
used on state occasions, and for the reception of any foreign sovereigns
visiting Rome. After the return of the popes from Avignon, the Lateran
palace had fallen into decay, and for the sake of the greater security
afforded by the vicinity of S. Angelo, it was determined to make the
pontifical residence at the Vatican, and the first conclave was held
there in 1378. In order to increase its security, John XXIII.
constructed the covered passage to S. Angelo in 1410. Nicholas V.
(1447--1455) had the idea of making it the most magnificent palace in
the world, and of uniting in it all the government offices and dwellings
of the cardinals, but died before he could do more than begin the work.
The building which he commenced was finished by Alexander VI., and still
exists under the name of Tor di Borgia. In 1473 Sixtus IV. built the
Sistine Chapel, and in 1490 "the Belvedere" was erected as a separate
garden-house by Innocent VIII. from designs of Antonio da Pollajuolo.
Julius II., with the aid of Bramante, united this villa to the palace by
means of one vast courtyard, and erected the Loggie around the Court of
St. Damasus; he also laid the foundation of the Vatican Museum in the
gardens of the Belvedere. The Loggie were completed by Leo X.; the Sala
Regia and the Pauline Chapel were built by Paul III. Sixtus V. divided
the great court of Bramante into two by the erection of the library, and
began the present residence of the popes, which was finished by Clement
VIII. (1592--1605). Urban VIII. built the Scala Regia; Clement XIV. and
Pius VII., the Museo Pio-Clementino; Pius VII., the Braccio Nuovo; Leo
XII., the picture-gallery; Gregory XVI., the Etruscan Museum; and Pius
IX., the handsome staircase leading to the court of Bramante.

The length of the Vatican palace is 1151 English feet; its breadth, 767.
It has eight grand staircases, twenty courts, and is said to contain
11,000 chambers of different sizes.

     (The collections in the Vatican may be visited daily with an order
     and at fixed hours, except on Sundays and high festivals.
     Permission to make drawings must be obtained from the maggiordomo.)

       *       *       *       *       *

The principal entrance of the Vatican is at the end of the right
colonnade of St. Peter's. Hence a door on the right opens upon the
staircase leading to the Cortile di S. Damaso, and is the nearest way to
the collections of statues and pictures.

Following the great corridor, and passing on the left the entrance to
the portico of St. Peter's, we reach the _Scala Regia_, a magnificent
work of Bernini, formerly guarded by the picturesque Swiss soldiers.
Hence we enter the _Sala Regia_, built in the reign of Paul III. by
Antonio di Sangallo, and used as a hall of audience for ambassadors. It
is decorated with frescoes illustrative of the history of the popes.

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     Alliance of the Venetians with Paul V. against the Turks, and
     Battle of Lepanto, 1571: _Vasari_.

     RIGHT WALL:

     Absolution of the Emperor Henry IV., by Gregory VII.: _Federigo_
     and _Taddeo Zucchero_.

     LEFT WALL:

     Massacre of St. Bartholomew: _Vasari_.

     OPPOSITE WALL, towards the Sala Regia:

     Return of Gregory XI. from Avignon.

     Benediction of Frederick Barbarossa by Alexander III., in the
     Piazza of S. Marco: _Giuseppe Porta_.

On the right is the entrance of the _Pauline Chapel_ (Cappella Paolina),
also built (1540) by Antonio di Sangallo for Paul III. Its decorations
are chiefly the work of _Sabbatini_ and _F. Zucchero_, but it contains
two frescoes by _Michael Angelo_.

     "Two excellent frescoes, executed by Michael Angelo on the side
     walls of the Pauline Chapel, are little cared for, and are so much
     blackened by the smoke of lamps that they are seldom mentioned. The
     Crucifixion of St. Peter, under the large window, is in a most
     unfavourable light, but is distinguished for its grand, severe
     composition. That on the opposite wall--the Conversion of St.
     Paul--is still tolerably distinct. The long train of his soldiers
     is seen ascending in the background. Christ, surrounded by a host
     of angels, bursts upon his sight from the storm-flash. Paul lies
     stretched on the ground--a noble and finely-developed form. His
     followers fly on all sides, or are struck motionless by the
     thunder. The arrangement of the groups is excellent, and some of
     the single figures are very dignified; the composition has,
     moreover, a principle of order and repose, which, in comparison
     with the Last Judgment, places this picture in a very favourable
     light. If there are any traces of old age to be found in these
     works, they are at most discoverable in the execution of
     details."--_Kugler_, p. 308.

On the left of the approach from the Scala Regia is the _Sistine Chapel_
(Cappella Sistina), built by Bacio Pintelli in 1473 for Sixtus IV. The
lower part of the walls of this wonderful chapel was formerly hung on
festivals with the tapestries executed from the cartoons of Raphael; the
upper portion is decorated in fresco by the great Florentine masters of
the fifteenth century.

     "It was intended to represent scenes from the life of Moses on one
     side of the chapel, and from the life of Christ on the other, so
     that the old law might be confronted by the new,--the type by the
     typified."--_Lanzi._

The following is the order of the frescoes, type and anti-*type
together:

     Over the altar--now destroyed to make way for the Last Judgment:

    1. Moses in the Bulrushes:         | 1. Christ in the Manger:
    _Perugino_.                        | _Perugino_.

     (Between these was the Assumption of the Virgin, in which Pope
     Sixtus IV. was introduced, kneeling: _Perugino_.)

    On the left wall, still existing:  | On the right wall, still existing:
                                       |
    2. Moses and Zipporah on the way   | 2. The Baptism of Christ:
    to Egypt, and the circumcision     | _Perugino_.
    of their son: _Luca Signorelli_.   |
                                       |
    3. Moses killing the Egyptian, and | 3. The Temptation of Christ:
    driving away the shepherds from    | _Sandro Botticelli_.
    the well: _Sandro Botticelli_.     |
                                       |
    4. Moses and the Israelites,       | 4. The calling of the Apostles
    after the passage of the Red Sea:  | on the Lake of Gennesareth:
    _Cosimo Rosselli_.                 | _Domenico Ghirlandajo_.
                                       |
    5. Moses giving the Law            | 5. Christ's Sermon on the
    from the Mount: _Cosimo Rosselli_. | Mount: _Cosimo Rosselli_.
                                       |
    6. The punishment of Korah,        | 6. The institution of the
    Dathan, and Abiram, who aspired    | Christian Priesthood. Christ
    uncalled to the priesthood:        | giving the keys to Peter:
    _Sandro Botticelli_.               | _Perugino_.
                                       |
    7. The last interview of Moses     | 7. The Last Supper: _Cosimo_
    and Joshua: _Luca Signorelli_.     | _Rosselli_.

     On the entrance wall:

    8. Michael bears away the          | 8. The Resurrection: _Domenico
    body of Moses (Jude 9):            | Ghirlandajo_, restored by
    _Cecchino Salviati_.               | _Arrigo Fiamingo_.

On the pillars between the windows are the figures of twenty-eight
popes, by _Sandro Botticelli_.

     "Vasari says that the two works of Luca Signorelli surpass in
     beauty all those which surround them,--an assertion which is at
     least questionable as far as regards the frescoes of Perugino; but
     with respect to all the rest, the superiority of Signorelli is
     evident, even to the most inexperienced eye. The subject of the
     first picture is the journey of Moses and Zipporah into Egypt: the
     landscape is charming, although evidently ideal; there is great
     depth in the aërial perspective; and in the various groups
     scattered over the different parts of the picture there are female
     forms of such beauty, that they may have afforded models to
     Raphael. The same graceful treatment is also perceptible in the
     representation of the death of Moses, the mournful details of
     which have given scope to the poetical imagination of the artist.
     The varied group to whom Moses has just read the Law for the last
     time, the sorrow of Joshua, who is kneeling before the man of God,
     the charming landscape, with the river Jordan threading its way
     between the mountains, which are made singularly beautiful, as if
     to explain the regrets of Moses when the angel announces to him
     that he will not enter into the promised land--all form a series of
     melancholy scenes perfectly in harmony with one another, the only
     defect being that the whole is crowded into too small a
     space."--_Rio. Poetry of Christian Art._

The avenue of pictures is a preparation for the surpassing grandeur of
the ceiling:

     "The _ceiling_ of the Sistine Chapel contains the most perfect
     works done by _Michael Angelo_ in his long and active life. Here
     his great spirit appears in its noblest dignity, in its highest
     purity; here the attention is not disturbed by that arbitrary
     display to which his great power not unfrequently seduced him in
     other works. The ceiling forms a flattened arch in its section; the
     central portion, which is a plain surface, contains a series of
     large and small pictures, representing the most important events
     recorded in the book of Genesis--the Creation and Fall of Man, with
     its immediate consequences. In the large triangular compartments at
     the springing of the vault, are sitting figures of the prophets and
     sibyls, as the foretellers of the coming of the Saviour. In the
     soffits of the recesses between these compartments, and in the
     arches underneath, immediately above the windows, are the ancestors
     of the Virgin, the series leading the mind directly to the Saviour.
     The external connection of these numerous representations is formed
     by an architectural framework of peculiar composition, which
     encloses the single subjects, tends to make the principal masses
     conspicuous, and gives to the whole an appearance of that solidity
     and support so necessary, but so seldom attended to, in soffit
     decorations, which may be considered as if suspended. A great
     number of figures are also connected with the framework; those in
     unimportant situations are executed in the colour of stone or
     bronze; in the more important, in natural colours. These serve to
     support the architectural forms, to fill up and to connect the
     whole. They may be best described as the living and embodied
     _genii_ of architecture. It required the unlimited power of an
     architect, sculptor, and painter, to conceive a structural whole of
     so much grandeur, to design the decorative figures with the
     significant repose required by the sculpturesque character, and
     yet to preserve their subordination to the principal subjects, and
     to keep the latter in the proportions and relations best adapted to
     the space to be filled."--_Kugler_, p. 301.

The pictures from the Old Testament, beginning from the altar, are:

    1. The Separation of Light and Darkness.
    2. The Creation of the Sun and Moon.
    3. The Creation of Trees and Plants.
    4. The Creation of Adam.
    5. The Creation of Eve.
    6. The Fall and the Expulsion from Paradise.
    7. The Sacrifice of Noah.
    8. The Deluge.
    9. The Intoxication of Noah.

     "The scenes from Genesis are the most sublime representations of
     these subjects;--the Creating Spirit is unveiled before us. The
     peculiar type which the painter has here given of the form of the
     Almighty Father has been frequently imitated by his followers, and
     even by Raphael, but has been surpassed by none. Michael Angelo has
     represented him in majestic flight, sweeping through the air,
     surrounded by _genii_, partly supporting, partly borne along with
     him, covered by his floating drapery; they are the distinct
     syllables, the separate virtues of his creating word. In the first
     (large) compartment we see him with extended hands, assigning to
     the sun and moon their respective paths. In the second, he awakens
     the first man to life. Adam lies stretched on the verge of the
     earth, in the act of raising himself; the Creator touches him with
     the point of his finger, and appears thus to endow him with feeling
     and life. This picture displays a wonderful depth of thought in the
     composition, and the utmost elevation and majesty in the general
     treatment and execution. The third subject is not less important,
     representing the Fall of Man and his Expulsion from Paradise. The
     tree of knowledge stands in the midst, the serpent (the upper part
     of the body being that of a woman) is twined around the stem; she
     bends down towards the guilty pair, who are in the act of plucking
     the forbidden fruit. The figures are nobly graceful, particularly
     that of Eve. Close to the serpent hovers the angel with the sword,
     ready to drive the fallen beings out of Paradise. In this double
     action, this union of two separate moments, there is something
     peculiarly poetic and significant: it is guilt and punishment in
     one picture. The sudden and lightning-like appearance of the
     avenging angel behind the demon of darkness has a most impressive
     effect."--_Kugler_, p. 304.

     "It was the seed of Eve that was to bruise the serpent's head.
     Hence it is that Michael Angelo made the Creation of Eve the
     central subject on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He had the
     good taste to suggest, and yet to avoid, that literal rendering of
     the biblical story which in the ruder representations borders on
     the grotesque, and which Milton, with all his pomp of words, could
     scarcely idealise."--_Mrs. Jameson, Hist. of Our Lord._

The lower portion of the ceiling is divided into triangles occupied by
the Prophets and Sibyls in solemn contemplation, accompanied by angels
and genii. Beginning from the left of the entrance, their order is,--

                     1. Jonah.
    2. Jeremiah.         |  7. Sibylla Libyca.
    3. Sibylla Persica.  |  8. Daniel.
    4. Ezekiel.          |  9. Sibylla Cumæa.
    5. Sibylla Erythræa. | 10. Isaiah.
    6. Joel.             | 11. Sibylla Delphica.
                   12. Zachariah.

     "The prophets and sibyls in the triangular compartments of the
     curved portion of the ceiling are the largest figures in the whole
     work; these, too, are among the most wonderful forms that modern
     art has called into life. They are all represented seated, employed
     with books or rolled manuscripts; genii stand near, or behind them.
     These mighty beings sit before us pensive, meditative, inquiring,
     or looking upwards with inspired countenances. Their forms and
     movements, indicated by the grand lines and masses of the drapery,
     are majestic and dignified. We see in them beings, who, while they
     feel and bear the sorrows of a corrupt and sinful world, have power
     to look for consolation into the secrets of the future. Yet the
     greatest variety prevails in the attitudes and expression--each
     figure is full of individuality. Zacharias is an aged man, busied
     in calm and circumspect investigation; Jeremiah is bowed down
     absorbed in thought--the thought of deep and bitter grief; Ezekiel
     turns with hasty movement to the genius next to him, who points
     upwards, with joyful expectation, &c. The sibyls are equally
     characteristic: the Persian--a lofty, majestic woman, very aged;
     the Erythræan--full of power, like the warrior goddess of wisdom;
     the Delphic--like Cassandra, youthfully soft and graceful, but
     with strength to bear the awful seriousness of
     revelation."--_Kugler_, p. 304.

     "The belief of the Roman Catholic Church in the testimony of the
     Sibyl is shown by the well-known hymn, said to have been composed
     by Pope Innocent III. at the close of the thirteenth century,
     beginning with the verse:--

    'Dies iræ, dies illa,
    Solvet sæclum in favilla,
    Teste David cum Sibylla.'

     It may be inferred that this hymn, admitted into the liturgy of the
     Roman Church, gave sanction to the adoption of the Sibyls into
     Christian art. They are seen from this time accompanying the
     prophets and apostles in the cyclical decorations of the church....
     But the highest honour that art has rendered to the Sibyls has been
     by the hand of Michael Angelo, on the ceiling of the Sistine
     Chapel. Here, in the conception of a mysterious order of women,
     placed above and without all considerations of the graceful or the
     individual, the great master was peculiarly in his element. They
     exactly fitted his standard of art, not always sympathetic, nor
     comprehensible to the average human mind, of which the grand in
     form and the abstract in expression, were the first and last
     conditions. In this respect, the Sibyls on the Sistine Chapel
     ceiling are more Michael Angelesque than their companions the
     Prophets. For these, while types of the highest monumental
     treatment, are yet men, while the Sibyls belong to a distinct class
     of beings, who convey the impression of the very obscurity in which
     their history is wrapt--creatures who have lived far from the
     abodes of men, who are alike devoid of the expression of feminine
     sweetness, human sympathy, or sacramental beauty; who are neither
     Christians nor Jewesses, Witches nor Graces, yet living, grand,
     beautiful, and true, according to laws revealed to the great
     Florentine genius only. Thus their figures may be said to be
     unique, as the offspring of a peculiar sympathy between the
     master's mind and his subject. To this sympathy may be ascribed the
     prominence and size given them--both Prophets and Sibyls--as
     compared to their usual relation to the subjects they environ. They
     sit here in twelve throne-like niches, more like presiding deities,
     each wrapt in self-contemplation, than as tributary witnesses to
     the truth and omnipotence of Him they are intended to announce.
     Thus they form a gigantic framework round the subjects of the
     Creation, of which the birth of Eve, as the type of the Nativity,
     is the intentional centre. For some reason, the twelve figures are
     not Prophets and Sibyls alternately--there being only five Sibyls
     to seven Prophets--so that the Prophets come together at one
     angle. Books and scrolls are given indiscriminately to them.

     "The Sibylla Persica, supposed to be the oldest of the sisterhood,
     holds the book close to her eyes, as if from dimness of sight,
     which fact, contradicted as it is by a frame of obviously Herculean
     strength, gives a mysterious intentness to the action.

     "The Sibylla Libyca, of equally powerful proportions, but less
     closely draped, is grandly wringing herself to lift a massive
     volume from a height above her head on to her knees.

     "The Sibylla Cumana, also aged, and with her head covered, is
     reading with her volume at a distance from her eyes.

     "The Sibylla Delphica, with waving hair escaping from her turban,
     is a beautiful young being--the most human of all--gazing into
     vacancy or futurity. She holds a scroll.

     "The Sibylla Erythræa, grand bare-headed creature, sits reading
     intently with crossed legs, about to turn over her book.

     "The Prophets are equally grand in structure, and though, as we
     have said, not more than men, yet they are the only men that could
     well bear the juxtaposition with their stupendous female
     colleagues. Ezekiel, between Erythræa and Persica, has a scroll in
     his hand that hangs by his side, just cast down, as he turns
     eagerly to listen to some voice.

     "Jeremiah, a magnificent figure, sits with elbow on knee, and head
     on hand, wrapt in the meditation appropriate to one called to utter
     lamentation and woe. He has neither book nor scroll.

     "Jonah is also without either. His position is strained and
     ungraceful--looking upwards, and apparently remonstrating with the
     Almighty upon the destruction of the gourd, a few leaves of which
     are seen above him. His hands are placed together with a strange
     and trivial action, supposed to denote the counting on his fingers
     the number of days he was in the fish's belly. A formless marine
     monster is seen at his side.

     "Daniel has a book on his lap, with one hand on it. He is young,
     and a piece of lion's skin seems to allude to his history."--_Lady
     Eastlake, Hist. of Our Lord_, i. 248.

In the recesses between the prophets and sibyls are a series of lovely
family groups representing the Genealogy of the Virgin, and expressive
of calm expectation of the future. The four corners of the ceiling
contain groups illustrative of the power of the Lord displayed in the
especial deliverances of his chosen people.

Near the altar are:

    _Right._--The deliverance of the Israelites by the brazen serpent.
    _Left._--The execution of Haman.

Near the entrance are:

    _Right._--Judith and Holofernes.
    _Left._--David and Goliath.

It was when Michael Angelo was already in his sixtieth year that Clement
VII. formed the idea of effacing the three pictures of Perugino at the
end of the chapel, and employing him to paint the vast fresco of _The
Last Judgment_ in their place. It occupied the artist for seven years,
and was finished in 1541 when Paul III. was on the throne. To induce him
to pursue his work with application, Paul III. went himself to his house
attended by ten cardinals; "an honour," says Lanzi, "unique in the
annals of art." The pope wished that the picture should be painted in
oil, to which he was persuaded by Sebastian del Piombo, but Michael
Angelo refused to employ anything but fresco, saying that oil-painting
was work for women and for idle and lazy persons.

     "In the upper half of the picture we see the Judge of the world,
     surrounded by the apostles and patriarchs; beyond these, on one
     side, are the martyrs; on the other, the saints, and a numerous
     host of the blessed. Above, under the two arches of the vault, two
     groups of angels bear the instruments of the passion. Below the
     Saviour another group of angels holding the book of life sound the
     trumpets to awaken the dead. On the right is represented the
     resurrection; and higher, the ascension of the blessed. On the
     left, hell, and the fall of the condemned, who audaciously strive
     to press to heaven.

     "The day of wrath ('dies iræ') is before us--the day, of which the
     old hymn says,--

    'Quantus tremor est futurus,
    Quando judex est venturus
    Cuncta stricte discussurus.'

     The Judge turns in wrath towards the condemned and raises his right
     hand, with an expression of rejection and condemnation; beside him
     the Virgin veils herself with her drapery, and turns, with a
     countenance full of anguish, toward the blessed. The martyrs, on
     the left, hold up the instruments and proofs of their martyrdom, in
     accusation of those who had occasioned their temporal death: these
     the avenging angels drive from the gates of heaven, and fulfil the
     sentence pronounced against them. Trembling and anxious, the dead
     rise slowly, as if still fettered by the weight of an earthly
     nature; the pardoned ascend to the blessed; a mysterious horror
     pervades even their hosts--no joy, nor peace, nor blessedness, are
     to be found here.

     "It must be admitted that the artist has laid a stress on this view
     of his subject, and this has produced an unfavourable effect upon
     the upper half of his picture. We look in vain for the glory of
     heaven, for beings who bear the stamp of divine holiness, and
     renunciation of human weakness; everywhere we meet with the
     expression of human passion, of human efforts. We see no choir of
     solemn, tranquil forms, no harmonious unity of clear, grand lines,
     produced by ideal draperies; instead of these, we find a confused
     crowd of the most varied movements, naked bodies in violent
     attitudes, unaccompanied by any of the characteristics made sacred
     by holy tradition. Christ, the principal figure of the whole, wants
     every attribute but that of the Judge: no expression of divine
     majesty reminds us that it is the Saviour who exercises this
     office. The upper part of the composition is in many parts heavy,
     notwithstanding the masterly boldness of the drawing; confused, in
     spite of the separation of the principal and accessory groups;
     capricious, notwithstanding a grand arrangement of the whole. But,
     granting for a moment that these defects exist, still this upper
     portion, as a whole, has a very impressive effect, and, at the
     great distance from which it is seen, some of the defects alluded
     to are less offensive to the eye. The lower half deserves the
     highest praise. In these groups, from the languid resuscitation and
     upraising of the pardoned, to the despair of the condemned, every
     variety of expression, anxiety, anguish, rage, and despair, is
     powerfully delineated. In the convulsive struggles of the condemned
     with the evil demons, the most passionate energy displays itself,
     and the extraordinary skill of the artist here finds its most
     appropriate exercise. A peculiar tragic grandeur pervades alike the
     beings who are given up to despair and their hellish tormentors.
     The representation of all that is fearful, far from being
     repulsive, is thus invested with that true moral dignity which is
     so essential a condition in the higher aims of art."--_Kugler_, p.
     308.

     "The Last Judgment is now more valuable as a school of design than
     as a fine painting, and it will be sought more for the study of the
     artist, than the delight of the amateur. Beautiful it is not--but
     it is sublime;--sublime in conception, and astonishing in
     execution. Still, I believe, there are few who do not feel that it
     is a labour rather than a pleasure to look at it. Its blackened
     surface--its dark and dingy sameness of colouring--the obscurity
     which hangs over it--the confusion and multitude of naked figures
     which compose it--their unnatural position, suspended in the air,
     and the sameness of form and attitude, confound and bewilder the
     senses. These were, perhaps, defects inseparable from the subject,
     although it was one admirably calculated to call forth the powers
     of Michael Angelo. To merit in colouring it has confessedly no
     pretensions, and I think it is also deficient in expression--that
     in the conflicting passions, hopes, fears, remorse, despair, and
     transport, that must agitate the breasts of so many thousands in
     that awful moment, there was room for powerful expression which we
     do not see here. But it is faded and defaced; the touches of
     immortal genius are lost for ever; and from what it is, we can form
     but a faint idea of what it was. Its defects daily become more
     glaring--its beauties vanish; and, could the spirit of its great
     author behold the mighty work upon which he spent the unremitting
     labour of seven years, with what grief and mortification would he
     gaze upon it now.

     "It may be fanciful, but it seems to me that in this, and in every
     other of Michael Angelo's works, you may see that the ideas,
     beauties, and peculiar excellences of statuary, were ever present
     to his mind; that they are the conceptions of a sculptor embodied
     in painting.

     " ...St. Catharine, in a green gown, and somebody else in a blue
     one, are supremely hideous. Paul IV., in an unfortunate fit of
     prudery, was seized with the resolution of whitewashing over the
     whole of the Last Judgment, in order to cover the scandal of a few
     naked female figures. With difficulty was he prevented from utterly
     destroying the grandest painting in the world, but he could not be
     dissuaded from ordering these poor women to be clothed in this
     unbecoming drapery. Daniele da Volterra, whom he employed in this
     office (in the lifetime of Michael Angelo), received, in
     consequence, the name of Il Braghettone (the
     breeches-maker)."--_Eaton's Rome._

Michael Angelo avenged himself upon Messer Biagio da Cesena, master of
the ceremonies, who first suggested the indelicacy of the naked figures
to the pope, by introducing him in hell, as Midas, with ass's ears. When
Cesena begged Paul IV. to cause this figure to be obliterated, the pope
sarcastically replied, "I might have released you from purgatory, but
over hell I have no power."

     "Michel-Ange est extraordinaire, tandis qu'Orcagna[345] est
     religieux. Leurs compositions se résument dans les deux Christs qui
     jugent. L'un est un bourreau qui foudroie, l'autre est un monarque
     qui condamne en montrant la plaie sacrée de son côté pour justifier
     sa sentence."--_Cartier, Vie du Père Angelico._

     "The Apostles in Michael Angelo's Last Judgment stand on each side
     of the Saviour, who is not, here, Saviour and Redeemer, but
     inexorable Judge. They are grandly and artificially grouped, all
     without any drapery whatever, with forms and attitudes which recall
     an assemblage of Titans holding a council of war, rather than the
     glorified companions of Christ."--_Jameson's Sacred and Legendary
     Art_, i. 179.

The Sistine Chapel is associated in the minds of all Roman sojourners
with the great ceremonies of the Church, but especially with the
Miserere of Passion Week.

     "On Wednesday afternoon began the Miserere in the Sistine
     Chapel.... The old cardinals entered in their magnificent
     violet-coloured velvet cloaks, with their white ermine capes; and
     seated themselves side by side, in a great half-circle, within the
     barrier, whilst the priests who had carried their trains seated
     themselves at their feet. By the little side door of the altar the
     holy father now entered in his purple mantle and silver tiara. He
     ascended his throne. Bishops swung the vessels of incense around
     him, whilst young priests, in scarlet vestments, knelt, with
     lighted torches in their hands, before him and the high altar.

     "The reading of the lessons began.[346] But it was impossible to
     keep the eyes fixed on the lifeless letters of the missal--they
     raised themselves, with the thoughts, to the vast universe which
     Michael Angelo had breathed forth in colours upon the ceiling and
     the walls. I contemplated his mighty sibyls and wondrously glorious
     prophets, every one of them a subject for a painting. My eyes drank
     in the magnificent processions, the beautiful groups of angels;
     they were not to me painted pictures, all stood living before me.
     The rich tree of knowledge, from which Eve gave the fruit to Adam:
     the Almighty God, who floated over the waters, not borne up by
     angels, as the older masters had represented him--no, the company
     of angels rested upon him and his fluttering garments. It is true I
     had seen these pictures before, but never as now had they seized
     upon me. My excited state of mind, the crowd of people, perhaps
     even the lyric of my thoughts, made me wonderfully alive to
     poetical impressions; and many a poet's heart has felt as mine did!

     "The bold foreshortenings, the determinate force with which every
     figure steps forward, is amazing, and carries one quite away! It is
     a spiritual Sermon on the Mount in colour and form. Like Raphael,
     we stand in astonishment before the power of Michael Angelo. Every
     prophet is a Moses like that which he formed in marble. What giant
     forms are those which seize upon our eye and our thoughts as we
     enter! But, when intoxicated with this view, let us turn our eyes
     to the background of the chapel, whose whole wall is a high altar
     of art and thought. The great chaotic picture, from the floor to
     the roof, shows itself there like a jewel, of which all the rest is
     only the setting. We see there the Last Judgment.

     "Christ stands in judgment upon the clouds, and the apostles and
     his mother stretch forth their hands beseeching for the poor human
     race. The dead raise the gravestones under which they have lain;
     blessed spirits float upwards, adoring, to God, whilst the abyss
     seizes its victims. Here one of the ascending spirits seeks to save
     his condemned brother, whom the abyss already embraces in its snaky
     folds. The children of despair strike their clenched fists upon
     their brows and sink into the depths! In bold foreshortening, float
     and tumble whole legions between heaven and earth. The sympathy of
     the angels; the expression of lovers who meet; the child that, at
     the sound of the trumpet, clings to the mother's breast, is so
     natural and beautiful, that one believes oneself to be among those
     who are waiting for judgment. Michael Angelo has expressed in
     colours what Dante saw and has sung to the generations of the
     earth.

     "The descending sun, at that moment, threw his last beams in
     through the uppermost windows. Christ, and the blessed around him,
     were strongly lighted up; whilst the lower part, where the dead
     arose, and the demons thrust their boat, laden with damned, from
     shore, were almost in darkness.

     "Just as the sun went down the last Psalm was ended, and the last
     light which now remained was extinguished, and the whole
     picture-world vanished in the gloom from before me; but, in that
     same moment, burst forth music and singing. That which colour had
     bodily revealed arose now in sound: the day of judgment, with its
     despair and its exultation, resounded above us.

     "The father of the Church, stripped of his papal pomp, stood before
     the altar, and prayed to the holy cross; and upon the wings of the
     trumpet resounded the trembling quire, 'Populus meus, quid feci
     tibi!' Soft angel notes rose above the deep song, tones which
     ascended not from a human breast: it was not a man's nor a woman's:
     it belonged to the world of spirits: it was like the weeping of
     angels dissolved in melody."'--_Anderson's Improvisatore._

            *       *       *       *       *

     "Le _Miserere_, c'est-à-dire, _ayez pitié de nous_, est un psaume
     composé de versets qui se chantent alternativement d'une manière
     très-différente. Tour-à-tour une musique céleste se fait entendre,
     et le verset suivant, dit en récitatif, et murmuré d'un ton sourd
     et presque rauque, on dirait que c'est la réponse des caractères
     durs aux cœurs sensibles, que c'est le réel de la vie qui vient
     flétrir et repousser les vœux des âmes généreuses; et quand le
     chœur si doux reprend, on renaît à l'espérance; mais lorsque le
     verset récité recommence, une sensation de froid saisit de nouveau;
     ce n'est pas la terreur qui la cause, mais le découragement de
     l'enthousiasme. Enfin le dernier morceau, plus noble et plus
     touchant encore que tous les autres, laisse au fond de l'âme une
     impression douce et pure: Dieu nous accorde cette même impression
     avant de mourir.

     "On éteint les flambeaux; la nuit s'avance; les figures des
     prophètes et des sibylles apparaissent comme des fantômes
     enveloppés du crépuscule. Le silence est profond, la parole ferait
     un mal insupportable dans cet état de l'âme, où tout est intime et
     intérieur; et quand le dernier son s'éteint, chacun s'en va
     lentement et sans bruit; chacun semble craindre de rentrer dans les
     intérêts vulgaires de ce monde."--_Mad. de Staël._

Opposite the Sistine Chapel is the entrance of the _Sala Ducale_, in
which the popes formerly gave audience to foreign princes, and which is
now used for the consistories for the admission of cardinals to the
sacred college. Its decorations were chiefly executed by Bernini for
Alexander VII. The landscapes are by _Brill_. This hall is used as a
passage to the Loggie of Bramante.

       *       *       *       *       *

The small portion of the Vatican inhabited by the pope is never seen
except by those who are admitted to a special audience. The rooms of
the aged pontiff are furnished with a simplicity which would be
inconceivable in the abode of any other sovereign prince. It is a lonely
life, as the dread of an accusation of nepotism has prevented any of the
later popes from having any of their family with them, and etiquette
always obliges them to dine, &c., alone. No one, whatever the difference
of creed, can look upon this building inhabited by the venerable old men
who have borne so important a part in the history of Christianity and of
Europe, without the deepest interest.

    "Je la vois cette Rome, où d'augustes vieillards,
    Héritiers d'un apôtre et vainqueurs des Césars,
    Souverains sans armée et conquérants sans guerre,
    A leur triple couronne ont asservi la terre."

    _Racine._

Two hundred and fifty-five popes are reckoned from St Peter to Pio IX.
inclusive. A famous prophecy of S. Malachi, first printed in 1595, is
contained in a series of mottoes, one for each of the whole line of
pontiffs until the end of time. Following this it will be seen that only
eleven more popes are needed to exhaust the mottoes, and to close the
destinies of Rome, and of the world. The later ones run thus:--

        "Pius VII. Aquila Rapax.
        Leo XII. Canis et coluber.
        Pius VIII. Vir religiosus.
        Gregory XVI. de Balneis Etruriæ.
        Pius IX. Crux de cruce.
         . . .   Lumen in cœlo.
         . . .   Ignis ardens.
         . . .   Religio depopulata.
         . . .   Fides intrepida.
         . . .   Pastor angelicus.
         . . .   Pastor et nauta.
         . . .   Flos florum.
         . . .   De medietate lunæ.
         . . .   De labore solis.
         . . .   Gloria olivæ.

    In persecutione extrema sacra Romanæ Ecclesiæ sedebit PETRUS
    Romanus, qui pascet oves in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis,
    civitas septicollis diruetur, et JUDEX tremendus judicabit populum."

The Cardinal Secretary of State has rooms above the pontifical
apartments. His collection of antique gems is of European celebrity.

     "Antonelli loge au Vatican, sur la tête du pape. Les Romains
     demandent, en manière du calembour, lequel est le plus haut, du
     pape ou d'Antonelli."--_About, Question Romaine._

       *       *       *       *       *

The entrance to the Museum of Statues (for those who do not come from
the Sala Regia) is by the central door on the left of the Cortile S.
Damaso, whence you ascend a staircase and follow the loggia on the first
floor, covered with stuccoes and arabesques by _Giovanni da Udine_, to
the door of

The _Galleria Lapidaria_, a corridor 2131 feet in length. Its sides are
covered on the right with Pagan, on the left with Early Christian
inscriptions. Ranged along the walls are a series of sarcophagi, cippi,
and funeral altars, some of them very fine. The last door on the left of
this gallery is the entrance to the Library.

Separated from this by an iron gate, which is locked, except on Mondays,
but opened by a custode (fee 50 c.), is the Museo Chiaramonti; but the
visitors should first enter, on the left,

The _Braccio-Nuovo_, built under Pius VII. in 1817, by Raphael Stern, a
fine hall, 250 feet long, filled with gems of sculpture. Perhaps most
worth attention are (the _chefs d'œuvre_ being marked with an
asterisk):

     _Right._--

     5. *Caryatide.

     This statue was admirably restored by Thorwaldsen. Its Greek origin
     is undoubted, and it is supposed to be the missing figure from the
     Erechtheum at Athens.

     "Quand une fille des premières familles n'avait pour vêtement,
     comme celle-ci, qu'une chemise et par-dessus une demi-chemise;
     quand elle avait l'habitude de porter des vases sur sa tête, et par
     suite de se tenir droite; quand pour toute toilette elle
     retroussait ses cheveux ou les laissait tomber en boucles; quand le
     visage n'était pas plissé par les mille petites grâces et les mille
     petites préoccupations bourgeoises, une femme pouvait avoir la
     tranquille attitude de cette statue. Aujourd'hui il en reste un
     débris dans les paysannes des environs qui portent leurs corbeilles
     sur la tête, mais elles sont gâtées par le travail et les haillons.
     Le sein paraît sous la chemise; la tunique colle et visiblement
     n'est qu'un linge; on voit la forme de la jambe qui casse l'étoffe
     au genou; les pieds apparaissent nus dans les sandales. Rien ne
     peut rendre le sérieux naturel du visage. Certainement, si on
     pouvait revoir la personne réelle avec ses bras blancs, ses cheveux
     noirs, sous la lumière du soleil, les genoux plieraient, comme
     devant une déesse, de respect et de plaisir."--_Taine, Voyage en
     Italie._

     8. Commodus.

     "La statue de Commode est très curieuse par le costume. Il tient à
     la main une lance, il a des espèces de bottes: tout cela est du
     chasseur, enfin il porte la tunique à manches dont parle Dion
     Cassius, et qui était son costume d'amphithéâtre."--_Ampère, Emp._
     ii. 246.

     9. Colossal head of a Dacian, from the Forum of Trajan.

     11. Silenus and the infant Bacchus.

     This is a copy from the Greek, of which there were several
     replicas. One, formerly in the Villa Borghese, is now at Paris. The
     original group is described by Pliny, who says that the name of the
     sculptor was lost even in his time. The greater portion of the
     child, the left arm and hand of Silenus, and the ivy-leaves, are
     restorations.

     "Je pense que ce chef-d'œuvre est une imitation modifiée du
     _Mercure nourricier de Bacchus_, par Céphisodote, fils de
     Praxitèle."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 332.

     14. *Augustus, found 1863, in the villa of Livia at Prima-Porta.

     "This is, without exception, the finest portrait statue of this
     class in the whole collection.... The cuirass is covered with small
     figures, in basso-relievo, which, as works of art, are even finer
     than the statue itself, and merit the most careful examination.
     These small figures are, in their way, marvels of art, for the
     wonderful boldness of execution and minuteness of detail shown in
     them. They are almost like cameos, and yet, with all the delicacy
     of finish displayed, there is no mere smoothness of surface. The
     central group is supposed to represent the restoration to Augustus
     by King Phraates of the eagles taken from Crassus and Antony.
     Considerable traces of colour were found on this statue and are
     still discernible. Close examination will also show that the face
     and eyes were coloured."--_Shakspere Wood._

     17. Æsculapius.

     20. Nerva? Head modern.

     23. *Pudicitia. From the Villa Mattei. Head modern.

     "The portrait of a noble Roman lady, much disfigured by
     restorations. This statue shows the neglect, by a sculptor of great
     ability, of that thoroughness of execution which was such a
     characteristic of Greek art. Compare the great beauty of the lower
     portion of the drapery, seen from the front, with the poverty of
     execution at the back."--_Shakspere Wood._

     "Qu'on regarde une statue toute voilée, par exemple celle de la
     Pudicité: il est evident que le vêtement antique n'altère pas la
     forme du corps, que les plis collants ou mouvants reçoivent du
     corps leurs formes et leurs changements, qu'on suit sans peine à
     travers les plis l'équilibre de toute la charpente, la rondeur de
     l'épaule ou de la hanche, le creux du dos."--_Taine._

     26. Titus. Found 1828, near the Lateran (with his daughter Julia).

     27, 40, 92. Colossal busts of Medusa, from the temple of Venus at
     Rome.

     32, 33. Fauns, sitting, from the villa of Quintilius at Tivoli.

     38. Ganymede, found at Ostia; on the tree against which he leans is
     engraved the name of Phædimus.

     39. Vase of black basalt, found on the Quirinal. It stands on a
     mosaic, from the Tor Marancia.

     41. Faun playing on a flute, from the villa of Lucullus.

     44. Wounded Amazon (both arms and legs are restorations).

     "Les trois Amazones blessées de Rome ne peuvent être que des copies
     de la célèbre Amazone de Crésilas.... Ce Crésilas fut l'auteur du
     guerrier grec mourant qui selon toute apparence a inspiré le
     prétendu Gladiateur mourant auquel s'applique merveilleusement bien
     ce que dit Pline du premier."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 263.

     47. Caryatide.

     48. Bust of Trajan.

     50. *Diana contemplating the sleeping Endymion.

     53. Euripides.

     "Le plus remarquable portrait d'Euripide est une belle statue au
     Vatican. Cette statue donne une haute idée de la sublimité de l'art
     tragique en Grèce.... Regardez ce poëte, combien toute sa personne
     a de gravité et de grandeur, rien n'avertit qu'on a devant les
     yeux celui qui aux yeux des juges sévères, affaiblissait l'art et
     le corrompait; l'attitude est simple, le visage sérieux, comme il
     convient à un poëte philosophe. Ce serait la plus belle statue de
     poëte tragique si la statue de Sophocle n'existait pas."--_Ampère_,
     iii. 572.

     62. *Demosthenes, found near Frescati.

     "Both hands were wanting, and the restorer has replaced them
     holding a roll.... They were originally placed with the fingers
     clasped together, and the proofs are these. An anecdote is related
     of an Athenian soldier, who had hidden some stolen money in the
     clasped hands of a statue of Demosthenes; and if you observe the
     lines formed by the fore-arms, from the elbows to half-way down the
     wrists, where the restoration commences, you will find that,
     continued on, they would bring the wrists very much nearer to each
     other than they now are in the restoration. It is possible that
     this is the identical statue spoken of."--_Shakspere Wood._

     67. *Apoxyomenos. An Athlete scraping his arm with a strigil; found
     1849 in the Vicolo delle Palure in the Trastevere.

     This is a replica of the celebrated bronze statue of Lysippus, and
     is described by Pliny, who narrates that it was brought from Greece
     by Agrippa to adorn the baths which he built for the people, and
     that Tiberius so admired it, that he carried it off to his palace,
     but was forced to restore it by the outcries of the populace, the
     next time he appeared in public.

     _Left._--

     71. Amazon. (Arms and feet restorations by Thorwaldsen.)

     77. Antonia, from Tusculum.

     81. Bust of Hadrian.

     83. Juno? (head, a restoration) from Hadrian's villa.

     86. Fortune with a cornucopia, from Ostia.

     92. Venus Anadyomena.

     "La gracieuse Vénus Anadyomène, que chacun connaît, a le mérite de
     nous rendre une peinture perdue d'Apelles; elle en a un autre
     encore, c'est de nous conserver dans ce portrait--qui n'est point
     en buste--quelques traits de la beauté de Campaspe, d'après
     laquelle Apelles, dit-on, peignit sa Venus Anadyomène."--_Ampère_,
     iii. 324.

     96. Bust of Marc Antony, from the Tor Sapienza.

     109. *Colossal group of the Nile, found, temp. Leo X., near Sta.
     Maria sopra Minerva.

     A Greek statue. The sixteen children clambering over it are
     restorations, and allude to the sixteen cubits' depth with which
     the river annually irrigates the country. On the plinth, the
     accompaniments of the river,--the ibis, crocodile, hippopotamus,
     &c., are represented.

     111. Julia, daughter of Titus, found near the Lateran.

     "Cette princesse, de la nouvelle et bourgeoise race des Flaviens,
     n'offre rien du noble profil et de la fière beauté des Agrippines:
     elle a un nez écrasé et l'air commun. La coiffure de Julie achève
     de la rendre disgracieuse: c'est une manière de pouf assez
     semblable à une éponge. Comparé aux coiffures du siècle d'Auguste,
     le tour de cheveux ridicule de Julie montre la décadence du goût,
     plus rapide dans la toilette que dans l'art."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii.
     120.

     112. Bust of Juno, called the Juno Pentini.

     114. *Minerva Medica, found in the temple so called; formerly in
     the Giustiniani collection.

     A most beautiful Greek statue, much injured by restoration.

     "In the Giustiniani palace is a statue of Minerva which fills me
     with admiration. Winckelmann scarcely thinks anything of it, or at
     any rate does not give it its proper position; but I cannot praise
     it sufficiently. While we were gazing upon the statue, and standing
     a long time beside it, the wife of the custode told us that it was
     once a sacred image, and that the English, who are of that
     religion, still held it in veneration, being in the habit of
     kissing one of its hands, which was certainly quite white, while
     the rest of the statue was of a brownish colour. She added, that a
     lady of this religion had been there a short time before, had
     thrown herself on her knees, and worshipped the statue. Such a
     wonderful action she, as a Christian, could not behold without
     laughter, and fled from the room, for fear of
     exploding."--_Goethe._

     117. Claudius.

     120. A replica of the Faun of Praxiteles, inferior to that at the
     Capitol.

     "Le jeune Satyre qui tient une flûte est trop semblable à celui du
     Capitole pour n'être pas de même une reproduction de l'un des deux
     Satyres isolés de Praxitèle, son Satyre d'Athènes ou son Satyre de
     Mégare; on pourrait croire aussi que le Satyre à la flûte a eu pour
     original le Satyre de Protogène qui, bien que peint dans Rhodes
     assiégée, exprimait le calme le plus profond et qu'on appelait
     _celui qui se repose_ (_anapauomenos_); on pourrait le croire, car
     la statue a toujours une jambe croisée sur l'autre, attitude qui,
     dans le langage de la sculpture antique, désigne le repos. Il ne
     serait pas impossible non plus que Protogène se fût inspiré de
     Praxitèle; mais en ce cas il n'en avait pas reproduit complétement
     le charme, car Apelles, tout en admirant une autre figure de
     Protogène, lui reprochait de manquer de grâce. Or, le Satyre à la
     flûte est très-gracieux; ce qui me porte à croire qu'il vient
     directement de Praxitèle plutôt que de Praxitèle par
     Protogène."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 308.

     123. L. Verus. Naked statue.

     126. Athlete; the discus a restoration.

     129. Domitian, from the Giustiniani collection.

     132. Mercury (the head a restoration by Canova), from the Villa
     Negroni.

     Here we re-enter the _Museo Chiaramonti_, lined with sculptures,
     chiefly of inferior interest. They are arranged in thirty
     compartments. We may notice:

     I. 6, 13. Autumn and Winter, two sarcophagi from Ostia, the latter
     bearing the name of Publius Elius Verus.

     VIII. r. 176. A beautiful mutilated fragment, supposed to be one of
     the daughters of Niobe.

     r. 197. Head of Roma, from Laurentum.

     XIV. r. 352. Venus Anadyomena.

     XVI. r. 400. Tiberius, seated, found at Veii in 1811.

     r. 401. Augustus, from Veii.

     XVII. r. 417. *Bust of the young Augustus, found at Ostia, 1808.

     XX. r. 494. Seated statue of Tiberius, from Piperno.

     r. 495. Cupid bending his bow, a copy of a statue by Lysippus.

     XXI. r. 550, 512. Two busts of Cato.

     XXIV. r. 589. Mercury, found near the Monte di Pietà.

     XXV. r. 606. Head of Neptune, from Ostia.

     XXX. r. 732. Recumbent Hercules, from Hadrian's Villa.

At the end of this gallery is the entrance to the Giardino della Pigna
(described under the Vatican Gardens). Admittance may probably be
obtained from hence for a fee of 50 c. At the top of the short
staircase, on the left, is the entrance of the Egyptian Museum. Here we
enter the _Museo Pio-Clementino_, founded under Clement XIV., but
chiefly due to the liberality and taste of Pius VI., in whose reign,
however, most of the best statues were carried off to Paris, though they
were restored to Pius VII.

In the centre of _1st Vestibule_ is the *Torso Belvidere, found in the
baths of Caracalla, and sculptured, as is told by a Greek inscription on
its base, by Apollonius, son of Nestor of Athens. It was to this statue
that Michael-Angelo declared that he owed his power of representing the
human form, and in his blind old age he used to be led up to it, that he
might pass his hands over it, and still enjoy, through touch, the
grandeur of its lines.

    "And dost thou still, thou mass of breathing stone
    (Thy giant limbs to night and chaos hurled),
    Still sit as on the fragment of a world,
    Surviving all, majestic and alone?
    What tho' the Spirits of the North, that swept
    Rome from the earth when in her pomp she slept,
    Smote thee with fury, and thy headless trunk
    Deep in the dust 'mid tower and temple sunk;
    Soon to subdue mankind 'twas thine to rise,
    Still, still unquelled thy glorious energies!
    Aspiring minds, with thee conversing, caught
    Bright revelations of the good they sought;
    By thee that long-lost spell in secret given,
    To draw down gods, and lift the soul to Heaven."

    _Rogers._

     "Quelle a été l'original du torse d'Hercule, ce chef-d'œuvre que
     palpait de ses mains intelligentes Michel-Ange aveugle et réduit à
     ne plus voir que par elles? Heyne a pensé que ce pouvait être une
     copie en grand de l'Hercule _Epitrapezios_ de Lysippe, mais par le
     style cette statue me semble antérieure à Lysippe. Cependant on lit
     sur le torse le nom d'Apollonios d'Athènes, fils de Nestor, et la
     forme des lettres ne permet pas de placer cette inscription plus
     haut que le dernier siècle de la République.

     "Comment admettre que cette statue, aussi admirée par Winckelmann
     que par Michel-Ange, ce débris auquel on revient après
     l'éblouissement de l'Apollon du Belvidère, pour retrouver une
     sculpture plus mâle et plus simple, un style plus fort et plus
     grand; comment admettre qu'une telle statue soit l'œuvre d'un
     sculpteur inconnu dont Pline ne parle point, ni personne autre dans
     l'antiquité, et qu'elle date d'un temps si éloigné de la grande
     époque de Phidias, quand elle semble y tenir de si près?

     " ... Pourquoi le torse du Vatican ne serait-il pas d'Alcamène, ou,
     si l'on veut, d'après Alcamène, par Apollonius?"--_Ampère, Hist.
     Rome_, iii. p. 360, 363.

Close by, in a niche, is the celebrated peperino *Tomb of L. Cornelius
Scipio Barbatus, consul B.C. 297. It supports a bust, supposed, upon
slight foundation, to be that of the poet Ennius. Inscriptions from
other tombs of the Scipios are inserted in the neighbouring wall.[347]

     "L'épitaphe de Scipion le Barbu semble le résumé d'une oraison
     funèbre; elle s'adresse aux spectateurs: 'Cornélius Scipion
     Barbatus, né d'un père vaillant, homme courageux et prudent, dont
     la beauté égalait la vertu. Il a été parmi vous consul, censeur,
     édile; il a pris Taurasia, Cisauna, le Samnium. Ayant soumis toute
     la Lucanie, il en a emmené des otages.'

     "Y a-t-il rien de plus grand? Il a pris le Samnium et la Lucanie.
     Voilà tout.

     "Ce sarcophage est un des plus curieux monuments de Rome. Par la
     matière, par la forme des lettres et le style de l'inscription, il
     vous représente la rudesse des Romains au sixième siècle. Le goût
     très-pur de l'architecture et des ornements vous montre l'avènement
     de l'art grec tombant, pour ainsi dire, en pleine sauvagerie
     romaine. Le tombeau de Scipion le Barbu est en pépérin, ce tuf
     rugueux, grisâtre, semé de taches noires. Les caractères sont
     irréguliers, les lignes sont loin d'être droites, le latin est
     antique et barbare, mais la forme et les ornements du tombeau sont
     grecs. Il y a là des volutes, des triglyphes, des denticules; on ne
     saurait rien imaginer qui fasse mieux voir la culture grecque
     venant surprendre et saisir la rudesse latine."--_Ampère, Hist.
     Rom._ iii. 132.

The _Round Vestibule_ contains a fine vase of pavonazzetto.

The adjoining balcony contains a curious Wind Indicator, found (1779)
near the Coliseum. Hence there is a lovely view over the city. In the
garden beneath is a fountain with a curious bronze ship floating in its
bason (see Vatican Gardens).

At the end of the _3rd Vestibule_ stands the *Statue of Meleager, with a
boar's head and a dog, supposed to have been begun in Greece by some
famous sculptor, and finished in Rome (the dog, &c.) by an inferior
workman.

     "Meleager is represented in a position of repose, leaning on his
     spear, the mark of the junction of which, with the plinth, is still
     to be seen. The want of the spear gives the statue the appearance
     of leaning too much to one side, but if you can imagine it
     replaced, you will see that the pose is perfectly and truthfully
     rendered. This statue was found at the commencement of the
     sixteenth century, outside the Porta Portese, in a vineyard close
     to the Tiber."--_Shakspere Wood._

     "Ce Méléagre du Vatican respire une grâce tranquille, et, placé
     entre le sublime _Torse_ et les merveilles du Belvédère, semble
     être là pour attendre et pour accueillir de son air aimable et un
     peu mélancolique, où l'on a cru voir le signe d'une destinée qui
     devait être courte, l'enthousiasme du voyageur."--_Ampère, Hist.
     Rom._ iii. 515.

From the central vestibule we enter the _Cortile del Belvidere_, an
octagonal court built by _Bramante_, having a fountain in the centre,
and decorated with fine sarcophagi and vases, &c. From this opens,
beginning from the right, the--

_First Cabinet_, containing the Perseus, and the two Boxers--Kreugas and
Damoxenus, by _Canova_.

_The Second Cabinet_, containing *the Antinous (now called Mercury),
perhaps the most beautiful statue in the world. It was found on the
Esquiline near S. Martino al Monte. It has never been injured by
restoration, but was broken across the ankles when found, and has been
unskilfully put together.

     "Je suis bien tenté de rapporter à un original de Polyclète, qui
     aimait les formes carrées, le Mercure du Belvédère, qui n'est pas
     très-svelte pour un Mercure. On a cru reconnaître que les
     proportions de cette statue se rapprochaient beaucoup des
     proportions préscrites par Polyclète. Poussin, comme Polyclète, ami
     des formes carrées, déclarait le Mercure, qu'on appelait alors sans
     motif un Antinoüs, le modèle le plus parfait des proportions du
     corps humain; il pourrait à ce titre remplacer jusqu'à un certain
     point la statue de Polyclète, appelée _la règle_, parcequ'elle
     passait pour offrir ce modèle parfait, et _faisait règle_ à cet
     égard. De plus, on sait qu'un Mercure de Polyclète avait été
     apporté à Rome."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 267.

_Third Cabinet_, of *the Laocoon. This wonderful group was discovered
near the Sette Sale on the Esquiline in 1506, while Michael-Angelo was
at Rome. The right arm of the father is a terra-cotta restoration, and
is said by Winckelmann to be the work of Bernini; the arms of the sons
are additions by Agostino Cornacchini of Pistoia. There is now no doubt
that the Laocoon is the group described by Pliny.

     "The fame of many sculptors is less diffused, because the number
     employed upon great works prevented their celebrity; for there is
     no one artist to receive the honour of the work, and where there
     are more than one they cannot all obtain an equal fame. Of this the
     Laocoon is an example, which stands in the palace of the emperor
     Titus,--a work which may be considered superior to all others both
     in painting and statuary. The whole group,--the father, the boys,
     and the awful folds of the serpents,--were formed out of a single
     block, in accordance with a vote of the senate, by Agesander,
     Polydorus, and Athenodorus, Rhodian sculptors of the highest
     merit."--_Pliny_, lib. xxxvi. c. 4.

     "Les trois sculpteurs rhodiens qui travaillèrent ensemble au
     Laocoon étaient probablement un père et ses deux fils, qui
     exécutèrent l'un la statue du père, et les autres celles des deux
     fils, touchante analogie entre les auteurs et l'ouvrage.

     "Les auteurs du Laocoon étaient Rhodiens, ce peuple auquel, dit
     Pindare, Minerve a donné de l'emporter sur tous les mortels par le
     travail habile de leurs mains, et dont les rues étaient garnies de
     figures vivantes qui semblaient marcher. Or, le grand éclat, la
     grande puissance de Rhodes, appartiennent surtout à l'époque qui
     suivit la mort d'Alexandre. Après qu'elle se fût délivrée du joug
     macédonien, presque toujours alliée de Rome, Rhodes fut florissante
     par le commerce, les armes et la liberté, jusqu'au jour on elle
     eut embrassé le parti de César; Cassius prit d'assaut la capitale
     de l'île et dépouilla ses temples de tous leurs ornements. Le coup
     fut mortel à la république de Rhodes, qui depuis ne s'en releva
     plus.

     "C'est avant cette fatale époque, dans l'époque de la prospérité
     rhodienne, entre Alexandre et César, que se place le grand
     développement de l'art comme de la puissance des Rhodiens, et qu'on
     est conduit naturellement à placer la création d'un chef-d'œuvre
     tel que le Laocoon.

     "Pline dit que les trois statues dont se compose le groupe étaient
     d'un seul morceau, et ce groupe est formé de plusieurs, on en a
     compté jusqu'à six. Ceci semblerait faire croire que nous n'avons
     qu'une copie, mais j'avoue ne pas attacher une grande importance à
     cette indication de Pline, compilateur plus érudit qu'observateur
     attentif. Michel-Ange, dit-on, remarqua le premier que le Laocoon
     n'était pas d'un seul morceau; Pline a très-bien pu ne pas s'en
     apercevoir plus que nous et répéter de confiance une assertion
     inexacte."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 382, 385, 387.

    ... "Turning to the Vatican, go see
    Laocoon's torture dignifying pain--
    A father's love and mortal's agony
    With an immortal's patience blending, vain
    The struggle; vain against the coiling strain
    And gripe, and deepening of the dragon's grasp,
    The old man's clench; the long envenom'd chain
    Rivets the living links,--the enormous asp
    Enforces pang on pang, and stifles gasp on gasp."

    _Childe Harold._

     "The circumstance of the two sons being so much smaller than the
     father, has been criticised by some, but this seems to have been
     necessary to the harmony of the composition. The same apparent
     disproportion exists between Niobe and her children, in the
     celebrated group at Florence, supposed to be by Scopas. The raised
     arms of the three figures are all restorations, as are some
     portions of the serpents. Originally, the raised hands of the old
     man rested on his head, and the traces of the junction are clearly
     discernible. For this we have also the evidence of an antique gem,
     on which it is thus engraved. This work was found in the baths (?)
     of Titus, in the reign of Julius II., by a certain Felix de Fredis,
     who received half the revenue of the gabella of the Porta San
     Giovanni as a reward, and whose epitaph, in the church of Ara
     Cœli, records the fact."--_Shakspere Wood._

     "Il y avait dans la vie, au seizième siècle, je ne sais qu'elle
     excitation fébrile, quelle aspiration vers le beau, vers l'inconnu,
     qui disposait les esprits à l'enthousiasme.... Félix de Frédis fut
     gratifié d'une part dans les revenus de la porte de Saint Jean de
     Latran, pour avoir trouvé le groupe du Laocoon, et, lorsque l'ordre
     fut donné de transporter au Belvédère le Laocoon, l'Apollon, la
     Vénus, Rome entière s'émut, on jetait des fleurs au marbre, on
     battait des mains; depuis les thermes de Titus jusqu'au Vatican, le
     Laocoon fut porté en triomphe; et Sadolet chantait sur le mode
     virgilien que durent reconnaître les échos de l'Esquilin et du
     palais d'Auguste."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne._

     "I felt the Laocoon very powerfully, though very quietly; an
     immortal agony, with a strange calmness diffused through it, so
     that it resembles the vast rage of the sea, calm on account of its
     immensity; or the tumult of Niagara, which does not seem to be
     tumult, because it keeps pouring on for ever and ever."

     "It is a type of human beings, struggling with an inexplicable
     trouble, and entangled in a complication which they cannot free
     themselves from by their own efforts, and out of which Heaven alone
     can help them."--_Hawthorne, Notes on Italy._

_The Fourth Cabinet_ contains *the Apollo Belvedere, found in the
sixteenth century at Porto d'Anzio (Antium), and purchased by Julius II.
for the Belvedere Palace, which was at that time a garden pavilion
separated from the rest of the Vatican, and used as a museum of
sculpture. It is now decided that this statue, beautiful as it is, is
not the original work of a Greek sculptor, but a copy, probably from the
bronze of Calamides, which represented Apollo, as the defender of the
city, and which was erected at Athens after the cessation of a great
plague. Four famous statues of Apollo are mentioned by Pliny as existing
at Rome in his time, but this is not one of them.

    "Or view the Lord of the unerring bow,
    The God of life, and poesy, and light--
    The Sun in human limbs array'd, and brow
    All radiant from his triumph in the fight;
    The shaft hath just been shot--the arrow bright
    With an immortal's vengeance; in his eye
    And nostril beautiful disdain, and might,
    And majesty flash their full lightnings by,
    Developing in that one glance the Deity."

    _Childe Harold._

      "Bright kindling with a conqueror's stem delight,
    His keen eye tracks the arrow's fateful flight:
    Burns his indignant cheek with vengeful fire,
    And his lip quivers with insulting ire:
    Firm fix'd his tread, yet light, as when on high
    He walks th' impalpable and pathless sky:
    The rich luxuriance of his hair, confined
    In graceful ringlets, wantons on the wind,
    That lifts in sport his mantle's drooping fold,
    Proud to display that form of faultless mould.
       Mighty Ephesian! with an eagle's flight
    Thy proud soul mounted through the fields of light,
    View'd the bright conclave of Heaven's blest abode,
    And the cold marble leapt to life a god:
    Contagious awe through breathless myriads ran,
    And nations bow'd before the work of man.
    For mild he seem'd, as in Elysian bowers,
    Wasting in careless ease the joyous hours;
    Haughty, as bards have sung, with princely sway
    Curbing the fierce flame-breathing steeds of day;
    Beauteous as vision seen in dreamy sleep
    By holy maid on Delphi's haunted steep,
    Mid the dim twilight of the laurel grove,
    Too fair to worship, too divine to love."

    _Henry Hart Milman._

In the second portico, between Canova's statues and the Antinous, is
(No. 43) a Venus and Cupid,--interesting because the Venus is a portrait
of Sallustia Barbia Orbiana, wife of Alexander Severus. It was
discovered in the fifteenth century, in the ruin near Sta. Croce in
Gerusalemme, to which it has given a name. In the third portico, between
the Antinous and the Laocoon, are two beautiful dogs. Between these we
enter:

The _Sala degli Animali_, containing a number of representations of
animals in marble and alabaster. Perhaps the best is No. 116--two
greyhounds playing. The statue of Commodus on horseback (No. 139) served
as a model to Bernini for his figure of Constantine in the portico of
St. Peter's.

     "La Salle des Animaux au Vatican est comme un musée de l'école de
     Myron; le naturel parfait qu'il donna à ses représentations
     d'animaux y éclate partout. C'est une sorte de ménagerie de l'art,
     et elle mérite de s'appeler, comme celle du Jardin des Plantes, une
     ménagerie _d'animaux vivants_.

     "Ces animaux sont pourtant d'un mérite inégal: parmi les meilleurs
     morceaux on compte des chiens qui jouent ensemble avec beaucoup de
     vérité, un cygne dont le duvet, un mouton tué dont la toison sont
     très-bien rendus, une tête d'âne très-vraie et portant une couronne
     de lierre, allusion au rôle de l'âne de Silène dans les mystères
     bacchiques."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 276.

On the right we enter:

The _Galleria delle Statue_, once a summer-house of Innocent VIII., but
arranged as a statue-gallery under Pius VI. In its lunettes are remains
of frescoes by _Pinturicchio_. Beginning on the right, are:

     248. An armed statue of Claudius Albinus standing on a cippus which
     marked the spot where the body of Caius Cæsar was burnt, inscribed
     C. CÆSAR GERMANICI CÆSARIS HIC CREMATUS EST.

     250. The *Statue called "The Genius of the Vatican," supposed to be
     a copy from a Cupid of Praxiteles which existed in the Portico of
     Octavia in the time of Pliny. On the back are the holes for the
     metal pins which supported the wings.

     251. Athlete.

     253. Triton, from Tivoli.

     255. Paris.

     Le Vatican possède une statue de Pâris jugeant les déesses. Cette
     statue est-elle, comme on le pense généralement, une copie du Pâris
     d'Euphranor?

     "Euphranor avait-il choisi le moment où Pâris juge les déesses? Les
     expressions de Pline pourraient en faire douter: il ne l'affirme
     point; il dit que dans la statue d'Euphranor on eût pu reconnaître
     le juge des trois déesses, l'amant d'Hélène et le vainqueur
     d'Achille.

            *       *       *       *       *

     "La statue du Vatican est de beaucoup la plus remarquable des
     statues de Pâris. On y sent, malgré ses imperfections, la présence
     d'un original fameux; de plus, son attitude est celle de Pâris sur
     plusieurs vases peints et sur plusieurs bas-reliefs, et nous
     verrons que les bas-reliefs reproduisaient très-souvent une statue
     célèbre. Il m'est impossible, il est vrai, de voir dans le Pâris du
     Vatican tout ce que Pline dit du Pâris d'Euphranor. Je ne puis y
     voir que le juge des déesses. L'expression de son visage montre
     qu'il a contemplé la beauté de Vénus, et que le prix va être donné.
     Rien n'annonce l'amant d'Hélène, ni surtout le vainqueur d'Achille;
     mais ce qui était dans l'original aurait pu disparaître de la
     copie."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 300.

     256. Young Hercules.

     259. Figure probably intended for Apollo, restored as Minerva.

     260. A Greek relief, from a tomb.

     261. Penelope, on a pedestal, with a relief of Bacchus and Ariadne.

     "L'attente de Pénélope nous est présente, et, pour ainsi dire, dure
     encore pour nous dans cette expressive Pénélope, dont le torse nous
     a montré un spécimen de l'art grec sous la forme la plus
     ancienne."--_Ampère, Hist. Rome_, iii. p. 452.

     264. *Apollo Sauroctonos (killing a lizard), found on the Palatine
     in 1777--a copy of a work of Praxiteles. Several other copies are
     in existence, one in bronze, in the Villa Albani, inferior to this.
     The right arm and the legs above the knees are restorations, well
     executed.

     "Apollon presque enfant épie un lézard qui se glisse le long d'un
     arbre. On sait, à n'en pouvoir douter, d'après la description de
     Pline et de Martial, que cet Apollon, souvent répété, est une
     imitation de celui de Praxitèle, et quand on ne le saurait pas, on
     l'eût deviné."--_Ampère_, iii. 313.

     265. Amazon, found in thé Villa Mattei, the finest of the three
     Amazons in the Vatican, which are all supposed to be copies from
     the fifty statues of Amazons, which decorated the temple of Diana
     at Ephesus.

     267. Drunken Satyr.

     268. Juno, from Otricoli.

     271, 390. Posidippus and Menander, very fine statues, perfectly
     preserved, owing to their having been kept through the middle ages
     in the church of S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, where they were
     worshipped under the belief that they were statues of saints, a
     belief which arose from their having metal discs over their heads,
     a practice which prevailed with many Greek statues intended for the
     open air. The marks of the metal pins for these discs may still be
     seen, as well as those for a bronze protection for the feet, to
     prevent their being worn away by the kisses of the faithful,--as on
     the statue of St. Peter at St Peter's.

Between these statues we enter:

The _Hall of Busts_. Perhaps the best are:

     278. Augustus, with a wreath of corn.

     289. Julia Mammæa, mother of Alexander Severus.

     299. Jupiter-Serapis, in basalt.

     325. Jupiter.

     357. Antinous.

     388. *Roman Senator and his wife, from a tomb. (These busts, having
     been much admired by the great historian, were copied for the
     monument of Niebuhr at Bonn, erected, by his former pupil the King
     of Prussia, to his memory--with that of his loving wife Gretchen,
     who only survived him nine days.)

     "Les têtes de deux époux, représentés au devant de leur tombeau
     d'où ils semblent sortir à mi-corps et se tenant par le main, sont
     surtout d'une simplicité et d'une vérité inexprimable. La femme est
     assez jeune et assez belle, l'époux est vieux et très-laid; mais ce
     groupe a un air honnête et digne qui répond pour tous deux d'une
     vie de sérénité et de vertu. Nul récit ne pourrait aussi bien que
     ces deux figures transporter au sein des mœurs domestiques de
     Rome; en leur présence on se sent pénétré soi-même d'honnêteté, de
     pudeur et de respect, comme si on était assis au chaste foyer de
     Lucrèce."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv. 103.

Re-entering the Gallery of Statues, and following the left wall, are:

     392. Septimius Severus.

     393. Girl at a spring?

     394. Neptune.

     395. Apollo Citharœdus.

     396. Wounded Adonis.

     397. Bacchus, from Hadrian's Villa.

     398. Macrinus (Imp. 217).

     399. Æsculapius and Hygeia, from Palestrina.

     400. Euterpe.

     401. Mutilated group from the Niobides, found near Porta San Paolo.

     405. Danaide.

     406. Copy of the Faun of Praxiteles, very beautiful, but inferior
     to that at the Capitol.

     422. Head of a fountain, with Bacchanalian Procession.

(Here is the entrance of the _Gabinetto delle Maschere_, which contains
works of small importance. It is named from the mosaic upon the floor,
of masks from Hadrian's Villa. It is seldom shown, probably because it
contains a chair of rosso-antico, called "Sedia forata," found near the
Lateran, and supposed to be the famous "Sella Stercoraria" used at the
installation of the mediæval popes, and associated with the legend of
Pope Joan.

     "Le Pape élu (Célestine III. 1191) se prosterne devant l'autel
     pendant que l'on chante le Te Deum: puis les Cardinaux Evêques le
     conduisent à son siége derrière l'autel: là ils viennent à ses
     pieds, et il leur donne le baiser de paix. On le mène ensuite à une
     chaise posée devant la portique de la Basilique du Sauveur de
     Latran. Cette chaise était nommée dès lors '_Stercoraria_,'
     parceque elle est percée au fond: mais l'ouverture est petite, et
     les antiquaires jugent que c'étoit pour égouter l'eau, et que cette
     chaise servait à quelque bain."--_Fleury, Histoire Ecclésiastique_,
     xv. p. 525.)

462. Cinerary Urn of Alabaster.

414. *Sleeping Ariadne, found _c._ 1503--formerly supposed to represent
Cleopatra.

     "The effect of sleep, so remarkable in this statue, and which could
     not have been rendered by merely closing the lids over the eyes, is
     produced by giving positive form to the eyelashes; a distinct
     ridge, being raised at right angles to the surface of the lids,
     with a slight indented line along the edge to show the
     division."--_Shakspere Wood._

     "La figure est certainement idéale et n'est point un portrait; mais
     ce qui ne laisse aucun doute sur le nom à lui donner, c'est un
     bas-relief, un peu refait, il est vrai, qu'on a eu la très-heureuse
     idée de placer auprès d'elle.

     "On y voit une femme endormie dont l'attitude est tout à fait
     pareille à celle de la statue, Thésée qui va s'embarquer pendant le
     sommeil d'Ariane, et Bacchus qui arrive pour la consoler. C'est
     exactement ce que l'on voyait peint dans le temple de Bacchus à
     Athènes.

     "Cette statue, belle sans doute, mais peut-être trop vantée, doit
     être postérieure à l'époque d'Alexandre. Sa pose gracieuse est
     presque maniérée: on dirait qu'elle se regarde dormir. La
     disposition de la draperie est compliquée et un peu embrouillée, à
     tel point que les uns prennent pour une couverture ce que d'autres
     regardent comme un manteau."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 534.

     Beneath this figure is a fine sarcophagus, representing the Battle
     of the Giants.

     412, 413. "The Barberini Candelabra" from Hadrian's Villa.

     416. Ariadne.

     417. Mercury.

     420. Lucius Verus--on a pedestal which supported the ashes of
     Drusus in the Mausoleum of Augustus.

From the centre of the Sala degli Animali we now enter:

The _Sala delle Muse_, adorned with sixteen Corinthian columns from
Hadrian's Villa. It is chiefly filled with statues and busts from the
villa of Cassius at Tivoli. The statues of the Muses and that called
Apollo Musagetes (No. 516) are generally attributed to the time of the
Antonines.

     "Nous savons que l'Apollon Citharède de Scopas était dans le temple
     d'Apollon Palatin, élevé par Auguste; les médailles, Properce et
     Tibulle, nous apprennent que le dieu s'y voyait revêtu d'une longue
     robe.

    'Ima videbatur talis illudere palla.'

    _Tib._ iii. 4, 35.

    'Pythius in longa carmina veste sonat.'

    _Prop._ ii. 31, 16.

     "Nous ne pouvons donc hésiter à admettre que l'Apollon de la salle
     des Muses au Vatican a eu pour premier original l'Apollon de
     Scopas.

     "Nous savons aussi qu'un Apollon de Philiscus et un Apollon de
     Timarchide (celui-ci tenant la lyre), sculpteurs grecs moins
     anciens que Scopas, étaient dans un autre temple d'Apollon, près du
     portique d'Octavie, en compagnie des Muses, comme l'Apollon
     Citharède du Vatican a été trouvé avec celles qui l'entourent
     aujourd'hui dans la salle des Muses. Il est donc vraisemblable que
     cet Apollon est d'après Philiscus ou Timarchide, qui eux-mêmes
     avaient sans doute copié l'Apollon _à la lyre_ de Scopas et
     l'avaient placé au milieu des Muses.

     "Apollon est là, ainsi que plus anciennement il avait été
     représenté sur le coffre de Cypsélus, avec cette inscription qui
     conviendrait à la statue du Vatican: 'Alentour est le chœur
     gracieux des Muses, auquel il préside;' et, comme dit Pindare, 'au
     milieu du beau chœur des Muses, Apollon frappe du plectrum d'or
     la lyre aux sept voix."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 292.

Here we reach the _Sala Rotonda_, built by Pius VI., paved with a mosaic
found in 1780 in the baths of Otricoli, and containing in its centre a
grand porphyry vase from the baths of Titus. On either side of the
entrance are colossal heads of Tragedy and Comedy, from Hadrian's Villa.
Beginning from the right are:

     539. *Bust of Jupiter from Otricoli--the finest extant.

     540. Antinous, from Hadrian's Villa. All the drapery (probably once
     of bronze) is a restoration.

     "Antinous was drowned in the Nile, A.D. 131. Some accounts assert
     that he drowned himself in obedience to an oracle, which demanded
     for the life of the emperor Hadrian the sacrifice of the object
     dearest to him. However this may be, Hadrian lamented his death
     with extravagant weakness, proclaimed his divinity to the jeering
     Egyptians, and consecrated a temple in his honour. He gave the name
     of Besantinopolis to a city in which he was worshipped in
     conjunction with an obscure divinity named Besa."--_Merivale_,
     lxvi.

     541. Faustina the elder, wife of Antoninus Pius.

     542. Augustus, veiled.

     543. *Hadrian, found in his mausoleum.

     544. *Colossal Hercules, in gilt bronze, found (1864) near the
     Theatre of Pompey. The feet and ankles are restorations by
     Tenerani.

     546. *Bust of Antinous.

     547. Sea-god, from Pozzuoli.

     548. *Nerva.

     "Among the treasures of antiquity preserved in modern Rome, none
     surpasses,--none perhaps equals,--in force and dignity, the sitting
     statue of Nerva, which draws all eyes in the rotunda of the
     Vatican, embodying the highest ideal of the Roman magnate, the
     finished warrior, statesman, and gentleman of an age of varied
     training and wide practical experience."--_Merivale_, ch. xliii.

     549. Jupiter Serapis.

     550. *The Barberini Juno.

     551. Claudius.

     552. Juno Sospita, from Lanuvium. This is the only statue in the
     Vatican of which we can be certain that it was a worshipped idol;
     the sandals of the Tyrrhenian Juno turn up at the end,--no other
     Juno wears these sandals.

     553. Plotina, wife of Trajan.

     554. Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus.

     556. Pertinax.

The _Sala a Croce Greca_ contains:

     _On the right._--The porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Constantia,
     daughter of Constantine the Great, adorned with sculptures of a
     vintage, brought hither most inappropriately, from her church near
     St'Agnese.

     _On the left._--The porphyry sarcophagus of Sta. Helena, mother of
     Constantine the Great, carried off from her tomb (now called Torre
     Pignatarra) by Anastasius IV., and placed in the Lateran, whence it
     was brought hither by Pius VI. The restoration of its reliefs,
     representing battle scenes of the time of Constantine, cost
     £20,000.

At the end of the hall on the right is a recumbent river-god, said to
have been restored by Michael Angelo. The stairs, adorned with twenty
ancient columns from Palestrina, lead to:

The _Sala della Biga_, so called from a white marble chariot, drawn by
two horses. Only the body of the chariot (which long served as an
episcopal throne in the church of S. Marco) and part of the horse on
the right, are ancient; the remainder is restoration. Among the
sculptures here, are:

     608. Bearded Bacchus.

     609. An interesting sarcophagus representing a chariot-race. The
     chariots are driven by Amorini, who are not attending to what they
     are about, and drive over one another. The eggs and dolphins on the
     winning-posts indicated the number of times they had gone round;
     each time they passed another egg and dolphin were put up.

     610. Bacchus, as a woman.

     611. Alcibiades?

     612. Veiled priest, from the Giustiniani collection.

     614. Apollo Citharædus.

     615. Discobolus, copy of a bronze statue by Naubides.

     616. *Phocion, very remarkable and beautiful from the extreme
     simplicity of the drapery.

     618. Discobolus, copy of the bronze statue of Myron--inferior to
     that at the Palazzo Massimo.

     "Il n'y a pas une statue dont l'original soit connu avec plus de
     certitude que le Discobole. Cet original fut l'athlète lançant le
     disque de Myron.

     "C'est bien la statue se contournant avec effort dont parle
     Quintilien; en effet, la statue, penchée en avant et dans
     l'attitude du jet, porte le corps sur une jambe, tandis que l'autre
     est traînante derrière lui. Ce n'est pas la main, c'est la personne
     tout entière qui va lancer le disque."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii.
     270.

     619. Charioteer.

Proceeding in a straight line from the top of the stairs, we enter:

The _Galleria dei Candelabri_, 300 feet long, filled with small pieces
of sculpture. Among these we may notice in the centre, on the right,
Bacchus and Silenus, found near the Sancta-Sanctorum, also:

     194. Boy with a goose.

     224. Nemesis.

     'Une petite statue da Vatican rappelle une curieuse anecdote dont
     le héros est Agoracrite. Alcamène et lui avaient fait chacun une
     statue de Vénus. Celle d'Alcamène fut jugée la meilleure par les
     Athéniens. Agoracrite, indigné de ce qui lui semblait une
     injustice, transforma la sienne en Némésis, déesse vengeresse de
     l'équité violée, et le rendit aux habitants du bourg de Rhamnus, à
     condition qu'elle ne serait jamais exposée à Athènes. Ceci montre
     combien sa Vénus avait gardé la sévérité du type primitif. Ce n'est
     pas de la Vénus du Capitole ou de la Vénus de Médicis, qu'on aurait
     pu faire une Némésis. Némésis avait pour emblème la coudée, signe
     de la _mesure_ que Némésis ne permet point de dépasser, et
     l'avant-bras était la figure de la _coudée_, par suite, de la
     mesure. C'est pourquoi quand on représentait Némésis on plaçait
     toujours l'avant-bras de manière d'attirer sur lui l'attention.
     Dans la Némésis du Vatican la donnée sévère est devenue un motif
     aimable. Cet avant-bras, qu'il fallait montrer pour rappeller une
     loi terrible, Némésis le montre en effet, mais elle s'en sert avec
     grâce pour rattacher son vêtement."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 260.

     253. Statuette of Ceres, the head from some other statue.

Hence we enter:

The _Galleria degli Arazzi_ (open gratis on Mondays), hung with
tapestries from the New Testament History, executed for the lower walls
of the Sistine Chapel, in 1515--16, for Leo X., from the cartoons of
_Raphael_, of which seven were purchased in Flanders by Charles I., and
are now at Hampton Court. The tapestries are ill arranged. According to
their present order, beginning on the left wall, they are:

     1. St. Peter receiving the keys. (On the border, the flight of
     Cardinal de' Medici from Florence in 1494, disguised as a
     Franciscan Monk.)

     2. The Miraculous draught of Fishes.

     3. The Sacrifice at Lystra.

     4. St. Paul preaching at Athens.

     5. The Saviour and Mary Magdalene.

     6. The Supper at Emmaus.

     7. The Presentation in the Temple.

     8. The Adoration of the Shepherds.

     9. The Ascension.

     10. The Adoration of the Magi.

     11. The Resurrection.

     12. The Day of Pentecost.

Returning, on the right wall, are:

     1. An Allegorical Composition of the Triumph of Religion (by _Van
     Orley_ and other pupils of Raphael).

     2. The Stoning of Stephen (on the border the return of the Cardinal
     de' Medici to Florence as Legate).

     3. Elymas the Sorcerer (?--removed 1869--70).

     4, 5, 6. Massacre of the Innocents.

     7. (Smaller than the others.) Christ falling under the Cross.

     8. Christ appearing to his disciples on the shore of the Lake of
     Galilee.

     9. Peter and John healing the lame man.

     10. The Conversion of St. Paul.

The Arazzi were long used as church decorations on high festivals.

     "On Corpus-Christi Day I learnt the true destination of the
     Tapestries, when they transformed colonnades and open spaces into
     handsome halls and corridors: and while they placed before us the
     power of the most gifted of men, they gave us at the same time the
     happiest example of art and handicraft, each in its highest
     perfection, meeting for mutual completion."--_Goethe._

       *       *       *       *       *

The _Library of the Vatican_ is shown from 12 to 3, except on Sundays
and festivals, but the visitor is hurried through in a crowd by a
custode, and there is no time for examination of the individual objects.
The entrance is by a door on the left at the end of the Galleria
Lapidaria, which leads to the museum of statues. The Papal Library was
founded by the early popes at the Lateran. The Public Library was begun
by Nicholas V., and greatly increased under Sixtus IV. (1475) and Sixtus
V. (1588), who built the present halls for the collection. In 1623 the
library was increased by the gift of the "Bibliotheca Palatina" of
Heidelberg, captured by Tilly from Maximilian of Bavaria; in 1657 by the
"Bibliotheca Urbinas," founded by Federigo da Montefeltro; in 1690 by
the "Bibliotheca Reginensis," or "Alexandrina," which belonged to
Christina of Sweden; in 1746 by the Bibliotheca Ottoboniana, purchased
by the Ottobuoni pope, Alexander VIII. The number of Greek, Latin, and
Oriental MSS. in the collection has been reckoned at 23,580.

The ante-chambers are hung with portraits of the Librarians;--among
them, in the first room, is that of Cardinal Mezzofanti. In this room
are facsimiles of the columns found in the Triopium of Herodes Atticus
(see the account of the Valle Caffarelli), of which the originals are at
Naples. From the second ante-chamber we enter the _Great Hall_, 220 feet
long, decorated with frescoes by _Scipione Gaetani_, _Cesare Nebbia_,
and others,--unimportant in themselves, but producing a rich general
effect of colour. No books or MSS. are visible; they are all enclosed in
painted cupboards, so that of a _library_ there is no appearance
whatever, and it is only disappointing to be told that in one cupboard
are the MSS. of the Greek Testament of the fifth century, Virgil of the
fifth, and Terence of the fourth centuries, and that another contains a
Dante, with miniatures by _Giulio Clovio_,[348] &c. Ranged along the
middle of the hall are some of the handsome presents made to Pius IX. by
different foreign potentates, including the Sèvres font, in which the
Prince Imperial was baptized, presented by Napoleon III., and some
candelabra given by Napoleon I. to Pius VII. At the end of the hall,
long corridors open out on either side. Turning to the left, the second
room has two interesting frescoes--one representing St. Peter's as
designed by Michael Angelo, the other the erection of the obelisk in the
Piazza S. Pietro under Fontana. At the end of the third room are two
ancient statues, said to represent Aristides, and Hippolytus Bishop of
Porto. The fourth room is a museum of Christian antiquities, and
contains, on the left, a collection of lamps and other small objects
from the Catacombs; on the right, some fine ivories by _Guido da
Spoleto_, and a Deposition from the Cross attributed to _Michael
Angelo_. The room beyond this, painted by _Raphael Mengs_, is called the
Stanza dei Papiri, and is adorned with papyri of the fifth, sixth, and
seventh centuries. The next room has an interesting collection of
pictures, by early masters of the schools of _Giotto_, _Giottino_,
_Cimabue_, and _Fra Angelico_. Here is a Prie Dieu, of carved oak and
ivory, presented to Pius IX. by the four bishops of the province of
Tours.

At the end of this room, not generally shown, is the _Chapel of St. Pius
V._

The _Appartamenti Borgia_, which are reached from hence, are only shown
by a special permission, difficult to obtain. They consist of four
rooms, which were built by Alexander VI., though their beautiful
decorations were chiefly added by Leo X. The _first room_ is painted by
_Giovanni da Udine_ and _Pierino del Vaga_, and represents the course of
the planets,--Jupiter drawn by eagles, Venus by doves, Diana (the moon)
by nymphs, Mars by wolves, Mercury by cocks, Apollo (the sun) by horses,
Saturn by dragons. These frescoes, executed at the time Michael Angelo
was painting the Last Judgment, are interesting as the last revival
under Clement VII. of the pagan art so popular in the papal palace under
Leo X.

The second room, painted by _Pinturicchio_, has beautiful lunettes of
the Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, Resurrection, Ascension,
Descent of the Holy Ghost, and Assumption of the Virgin. The ceiling of
the _third room_ has paintings by _Pinturicchio_ of the Martyrdom of St
Sebastian; the Visitation of St Elizabeth; the Meeting of St Anthony
with St. Paul, the first hermit; St. Catherine before Maximian; the
Flight of St. Barbara; St. Julian of Nicomedia; and, over the door, the
Virgin and Child. This last picture is of curious historical interest,
as a relic of the libertinism of the court of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo
Borgia), the "figure of the Virgin being a faithful representation of
Giulia Farnese, the too celebrated Vanozza," mistress of the pope, and
mother of his children, Cæsar and Lucrezia. "She held upon her knees the
infant Jesus, and Alexander knelt at her feet."

The fourth room, also painted by _Pinturicchio_, is adorned with
allegorical figures of the Arts and Sciences, and of the Cardinal
Virtues.

     "On the accession of the infamous Alexander VI., Pinturicchio was
     employed by him to paint the Appartamento Borgia, and a great
     number of rooms, both in the castle of S. Angelo and in the
     pontifical palace. The patronage of this pope was still more fatal
     to the arts than that of the Medici at Florence. The subjects
     represented in the castle of S. Angelo were drawn from the life of
     Alexander himself, and the portraits of his relations and friends
     were introduced there,--amongst others, those of his brothers,
     sisters, and that of the infamous Cæsar Borgia. To all acquainted
     with the scandalous history of this family, this representation
     appeared a commemoration of their various crimes, and it was
     impossible to regard it in any other light, when, in addition to
     the publicity they affected to give to these scandalous excesses,
     they appeared desirous of making art itself their accomplice; and
     by an excess of profanation hitherto unexampled in the Catholic
     world, Alexander VI. caused himself to be represented, in a room in
     the Vatican, in the costume of one of the Magi, kneeling before the
     holy Virgin, whose head was no other than the portrait of the
     beautiful Giulia Farnese ('Vanozza'), whose adventures are
     unfortunately too well known. We may indeed say that the walls have
     in this case made up for the silence of the courtiers: for on them
     was traced, for the benefit of contemporaries and posterity, an
     undeniable proof of the depravity of the age.

     "At the sight of that Appartamento Borgia, which is entirely
     painted by Pinturicchio, we shall experience a sort of satisfaction
     in discovering the inferiority of this purely mercenary work, as
     compared with the other productions of the same artist, and we
     cannot but rejoice that it is so unworthy of him. Such an ignoble
     task was not adapted to an artist of the Umbrian school, and there
     is good reason to believe that, after this act of servility,
     Pinturicchio became disgusted with Rome, and returned to the
     mountains of Umbria, in search of nobler inspirations."--_Rio.
     Poetry of Christian Art._

A door on the right of the room with the old pictures opens into a room
containing a very interesting collection of ancient frescoes. On the
right wall is the celebrated "_Nozze Aldobrandini_," found in 1606[349]
in some ruins belonging to the baths of Titus near the arch of Gallienus
on the Esquiline, and considered to be the finest specimen of ancient
pictorial art in Rome. It was purchased at first by the Aldobrandini
family, whence its name. It represents an ancient Greek ceremony,
possibly the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis. There is a fine copy by
Nicholas Poussin in the Doria Palace.

     "S'il fait allusion à un sujet mythologique, le réel y est à côté
     de l'idéal, et la mythologie y est appliquée à la représentation
     d'un mariage ordinaire. Tout porte à y voir une peinture romaine,
     mais l'auteur s'était inspiré des Grecs, comme on s'en inspirait
     presque toujours à Rome. La nouvelle mariée, assise sur le lit
     nuptial et attendant son époux, a cette expression de pudeur
     virginale, d'embarras modeste, qui avait rendu célèbre un tableau
     dont le sujet était le mariage de Roxane et l'auteur Ætion, peintre
     grec."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iv. 127.

Opposite to this is a Race of the Cupids, from Ostia. The other frescoes
in this room were found in the ruins on the Esquiline and at the Torre
di Marancia.

       *       *       *       *       *

The _Etruscan Museum_ can be visited on application to the custode,
every day except Monday, from 10 to 2. It is reached by the staircase
which passes the entrance to the Gallery of Candelabra: after which one
must ring at a closed door on the right.

     "This magnificent collection is principally the fruit of the
     excavating partnership established, some twelve or fifteen years
     since, between the Papal government and the Campanari of
     Toscanella; and will render the memory of Gregory XVI., who
     forwarded its formation with more zeal than he ordinarily
     displayed, ever honoured by all interested in antiquarian science.
     As the excavations were made in the neighbourhood of Vulci, most of
     the articles are from that necropolis; yet the collection has been
     considerably enlarged by the addition of others previously in the
     possession of the government, and still more by recent acquisitions
     from the Etruscan cemeteries of Cervetri, Corneto, Bomarzo, Orte,
     Toscanella, and other sites within the Papal dominions."--_Dennis._

_The 1st Room_--

     Contains three sarcophagi of terra-cotta from Toscanella, with
     three life-size figures reposing upon them. Their extreme length is
     remarkable. The figure on the left wears a fillet, indicating
     priesthood. The head of the family was almost always priest or
     priestess. Most of the objects in terra-cotta, which have been
     discovered, come from Toscanella. The two horses' heads in this
     room, in nenfro, i.e. volcanic tufa, were found at the entrance of
     a tomb at Vulci.

_The 2nd Room_--

     Is a corridor filled with cinerary urns, chiefly from Volterra,
     bearing recumbent figures, ludicrously stunted. The large
     sarcophagus on the left supports the bearded figure of a man, and
     is adorned with reliefs of a figure in a chariot and musicians
     painted red. The urns in this room are of alabaster, which is the
     characteristic of Volterra.

_The 3rd Room_--

     Has in the centre a large sarcophagus of nenfro, found at
     Tarquinii, in 1834, supporting a reclining figure of a Lucumo, with
     a scroll in his hand, "recalling the monuments of the middle ages."
     At the sides are reliefs representing the story of Clytemnestra and
     Ægisthus,--the Theban brothers,--the sacrifice of
     Clytemnestra,--and Pyrrhus slaying the infant Astyanax. In this
     room is a slab with a bilingual inscription, in Latin and Umbrian,
     from Todi. In the comers are some curious cinerary urns shaped like
     houses.

_The 4th Room_--

     Is the Chamber of Terra-cottas. In the centre is a most beautiful
     statue of Mercury found at Tivoli. At the sides are fragments of
     female figures from Vulci,--and an interesting terra-cotta urn from
     Toscanella, with a youth lying on a couch. "From the gash in his
     thigh, and the hound at his bed-side, he is usually called Adonis;
     but it may be merely the effigy of some young Etruscan, who met his
     death in the wild-boar chase."

_The 5th Room_--

     This and the three following rooms are occupied by Vases. The vases
     in the 5th room are mostly small amphoræ, in the second or Archaic
     style, with black figures on the ground of the clay. On a column,
     near the window, is a _Crater_, or mixing-vase, from Vulci, with
     parti-coloured figures on a very pale ground, and in the most
     beautiful style of Greek art. It represents Mercury presenting the
     infant Bacchus to Silenus. To the left of the window is a humorous
     representation of the visit of Jupiter and Mercury to Alcmena, who
     is looking at them out of a window. In the cabinets are objects in
     crystal from Palestrina.

_The 6th Room_--

     In the centre of this room are five magnificent vases. The central,
     from Cervetri, "is of the rare form called _Holmos_--a large
     globe-shaped bowl on a tall stand, like an enormous cup and ball;"
     its paintings are of wild animals. Nearest the entrance is, with
     three handles, "a _Calpis_, of the third or perfect style," from
     Vulci, with paintings of Apollo and six Muses. Behind this, from
     Vulci, is "a large _Amphora_ of the second or Archaic style," in
     which hardness and severity of design are combined with most
     conscientious execution of detail. It represents Achilles
     ("Achilleos") and Ajax ("Aiantos") playing at dice, or _astralagi_.
     Achilles cries "Four!" and Ajax "Three!"--the said words, in choice
     Attic, issuing from their mouths. The maker's name, "Echsekias," is
     recorded, as well as that of "the brave Onetorides" to whom it was
     presented. On the other side of the vase is a family scene of
     "Kastor" with his horse, and "Poludeukes" playing with his dog,
     "Tyndareos" and "Leda" standing by. 4th, is an _Amphora_ from Cære,
     representing the body of Achilles borne to Peleus and Thetis. 5th,
     is a _Calpis_ from Vulci, representing the death of Hector in the
     arms of Minerva.

     The 6th vase on the shelf of the entrance wall is the kind of
     amphora called a _Pelice_, from Cære. "Two men are represented
     sitting under an olive-tree, each with an amphora at his feet," and
     one who is measuring the oil exclaims, "O father Jupiter, would
     that I were rich!" On the reverse of the vase is the same pair, at
     a subsequent period, when the prayer has been heard, and the
     oil-dealer cries, "Verily, yea, verily, it hath been filled to
     overflowing." By the window is a _Calpis_, representing a boy with
     a hoop in one hand, and a stolen cock in the other, for which his
     tutor is reproving him.

_The 7th Room_--

     Is an arched corridor. In the second niche, is a _Hydria_ with
     Minerva and Hercules, from Vulci. Sixth on the line, is an
     _Amphora_ from Vulci; "'Ekabe' (Hecuba) presents a goblet to her
     son, 'the brave Hector,'--and regards him with such intense
     interest, that she spills the wine as she pours it out to him.
     'Priamos' stands by, leaning on his staff, looking mournfully at
     his son, as if presaging his fate." Many other vases in this room
     are of great beauty.

_The 8th Room_--

     "Contains _Cylices_ or _Pateræ_, which are more rare than the
     upright vases, and not inferior in beauty."

_The 9th Room_--

     Entered from the 6th room, is the jewel room. Among the bronzes on
     the right, is a warrior in armour found at Todi in 1835 and a
     bronze couch with a raised place for the head, found in the
     Regulini Galassi tomb at Cervetri, where it bore the corpse of a
     high priest. A boy with a bulla, sitting, from Tarquinii, is
     "supposed to represent Tages, the mysterious boy-god, who sprung
     from the furrows of that site."

     At the opposite end of the room is a biga or war-chariot, not
     Etruscan, but Roman, found in the villa of the Quintilii, near the
     Via Appia. Near this are some colossal fragments of bronze
     statues, found near Civita Vecchia. A beautiful oval _Cista_, with
     a handle formed by two swans bearing a boy and a girl, is from
     Vulci; and so are the braziers or censers retaining the tongs,
     shovel, and rake, found with them:--"the tongs are on wheels, and
     terminate in serpents' heads; the shovel handle ends in a swan's
     neck; and the rake in a human hand." Among the smaller relics are a
     curious bottle from Cære, with an Etruscan alphabet and spelling
     lesson (!) scratched upon it, and a pair of Etruscan clogs found in
     a tomb at Vulci.

     In the centre of the room is the jewel-case of glass. The whole of
     the upper division and one compartment of the lower are devoted to
     Cervetri (Cære). All these objects are from the Regulini Galassi
     tomb, for all the other tombs had been rifled at an early period,
     except one, whence the objects were taken by Campana. The
     magnificent oak-wreath with the small ornaments and the large
     ear-rings were worn by a lady, over whom was written in Etruscan
     characters, "Me Larthia,"--I, the Great Lady,--evidently because at
     the time of her death, 3000 years ago, it was supposed that she was
     so very great that the memory of her name could never by any
     possibility perish, and that therefore it was quite unnecessary to
     record it. The tomb was divided, and she was walled up with
     precious spices (showing what the commerce of Etruria must have
     been) in one half of it. It was several hundred years before any
     one was found of sufficient dignity to occupy the other half of the
     great lady's tomb. Then the high priest of Etruria died, and was
     buried there with all his ornaments. His were the large bracelets,
     the fillets for the head, with the plate of gold covering the head,
     and a second plate of gold which covered the forehead--worn only on
     the most solemn occasions. This may be considered to have been the
     headdress of Aaron. His also was the broad plate of gold, covering
     the breast, reminding of the Urim and Thummim. The bronze bed on
     which he lay (and on which the ornaments were found lying where the
     body had mouldered) is preserved in another part of the room, and
     the great incense burner filled with precious spices which was
     found by his side. The three large bollas on his breast were filled
     with incense, whose perfume was still so strong when the tomb was
     opened, that those who burnt it could not remain in the room.

     The ivy leaves on the ornaments denote the worship of Bacchus, a
     late period in Etruria: laurel denotes a victor in battle or the
     games.

_The 10th Room_--

     (Entrance on right of the jewel-room), is a passage containing a
     number of Roman water-pipes of lead, and the bronze figure of a boy
     with a bird and an Etruscan inscription on his leg, from Perugia.

_The 11th Room_--

     Is hung with paintings on canvas copied from the principal tombs of
     Vulci and Tarquinii. Beginning from the right, on entering, they
     take the following order:

    From the Camera del Morto: Tarquinii.
    From the Grotta delle Bighe, or Grotta Stackelberg: Tarquinii.
    From the Grotta Querciola: Tarquinii
    From the Grotta della Iscrizioni: Tarquinii.
    From the Grotta del Triclinio, or Grotta Marzi: Tarquinii.
    From the Grotta del Barone, or Grotta del Ministro: Tarquinii.
    From the painted tomb at Vulci.

     "All the paintings from Tarquinii are still to be seen on that
     site, though not in so perfect a state as they are here
     represented. But the tomb at Vulci is utterly destroyed."

     Each of the paintings is most interesting. That of the death-bed
     scene proves that the Etruscans believed in the immortality of the
     soul. In the upper division a daughter is mounting on a stool to
     reach the high bed and give a last kiss to her dying father, while
     the son is wailing and lamenting in the background. Below, is the
     rejoicing spirit, freed from the trammels of the flesh.

     In the scenes representing the games, the horses are painted bright
     red and bright blue, or black and red. These may be considered to
     have been the different colours of the rival parties. A number of
     jars for oil and wine are arranged in this room. All the black
     pottery is from Northern Etruria.

_The 12th Room_ (entered from the left of the jewel room) is a very
meagre and most inefficient facsimile of an ordinary Etruscan tomb. It
is guarded by two lions in nenfro, found at Vulci.[350]

       *       *       *       *       *

_The Egyptian Museum_ is entered by a door on the left of the entrance
of the Museo Pio-Clementino. It is open gratis on Mondays from 12 to 3.
The collection is chiefly due to Pius VII. and Gregory XVI. The greater
part is of no especial importance.

_The 6th Room_ contains eight statues of the goddess Pasht from Carnac.

_The 8th Room_ is occupied by Roman imitations of Egyptian statues, from
the Villa Adriana.

     "Ces statues sont toutes des traductions de l'art égyptien en art
     grec. L'alliance, la fusion de la sculpture égyptienne et de la
     sculpture gréco-romaine est un des traits les plus saillantes de
     cosmopolitisme si étranger à d'anciennes traditions nationales, et
     dont Adrien, par ses voyages, ses goûts, ces monuments, fut la plus
     éclatante manifestation.

     "Sauf l'Antinoüs, les produits de cette sculpture d'imitation bien
     que datant d'une époque encore brillante de l'art romain, ne
     sauraient le disputer à leurs modèles. Pour s'en convaincre, il
     suffit de les comparer aux statues vraiment égyptiennes qui
     remplissent une salle voisine. Dans celles-ci, la réalité du détail
     est méprisée et sacrifiée; mais les traits fondamentaux, les
     linéaments essentiels de la forme sont rendus admirablement. De là
     un grand style, car employer l'expression la plus générale, c'est
     le secret de la grandeur du style, comme a dit Buffon. Cette
     élévation, cette sobriété du génie égyptien ne se retrouvent plus
     dans les imitations bâtardes du temps d'Adrien."--_Ampère, Emp._
     ii. 197, 202.

On the right is the Nile in black marble; opposite the entrance is a
colossal statue of Antinous, the favourite of Hadrian, in white marble.

     "Il est naturel qu'Antinoüs, qui s'était, disait-on, précipité dans
     le Nil, ait été représenté sous les traits d'un dieu égyptien ...
     La physiognomie triste d'Antinoüs sied bien à un dieu d'Egypte, et
     le style grec emprunte au reflet du style égyptien une grandeur
     sombre."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii 196.

_The 9th Room_ contains colossal Egyptian statues. On the right is the
figure of the mother of Rhamses II. (Sesostris) between two lions of
basalt, which were found in the Baths of Agrippa, and which long
decorated the Fontana dei Termini. Upon the base of these lions is
inscribed the name of the Egyptian king Nectanebo.

     "Dans cette sculpture bien égyptienne, on sent déjà le souffle de
     l'art grec. La pose de ces lions est la pose roide et monumentale
     des lions à tête humaine de Louqsor; la crinière est encore de
     convention, mais la vie est exprimée, les muscles sont accusés avec
     un soin et un relief que la sculpture purement égyptienne n'a pas
     connus."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 198.

     "Ces lions ont une expression remarquable de force et de repos; il
     y a quelque chose dans leur physiognomie qui n'appartient ni à
     l'animal ni à l'homme: ils semblent une puissance de la nature, et
     l'on conçoit, en les voyant, comment les dieux du paganisme
     pouvaient être représentés sous cet emblème."--_Mad. de Staël._

In the centre of the entrance-wall are, Ptolemy-Philadelphus, and, on
his left, his queen Arsinoë, of red granite. These were found in the
gardens of Sallust, and were formerly preserved in the Senator's Palace.

     "There is a fine collection of Egyptian antiquities in the Vatican;
     and the ceilings of the rooms in which they are arranged, are
     painted to represent a starlight sky in the desert. It may seem an
     odd idea, but it is very effective. The grim, half-human monsters
     from the temples, look more grim and monstrous underneath the deep
     dark blue; it sheds a strange uncertain gloomy air on everything--a
     mystery adapted to the objects; and you leave them, as you find
     them, shrouded in a solemn night."--_Dickens._

The Egyptian Gallery has an egress into the Sala a Croce Greca.

       *       *       *       *       *

The windows of the Egyptian Museum look upon the inner _Garden of the
Vatican_, which may be reached by a door at the end of the long gallery
of the Museo Chiaramonti, before ascending to the Torso. The garden
which is thus entered, called _Giardino della Pigna_, is in fact merely
the second great quadrangle of the Vatican, planted with shrubs and
flowers. Several interesting relics are preserved here. In the centre
is the _Pedestal of the Column of Antoninus Pius_, found in 1709 on the
Monte Citorio. The column was a simple memorial pillar of granite,
erected by the two adopted sons of the emperor, Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus. It was broken up to mend the obelisk of Psammeticus I. at
the Monte Citorio. Among the reliefs of the pedestal is one of a winged
genius guiding Antoninus and Faustina to Olympus. In the great
semicircular niche of Bramante, at the end of the court-garden, is the
famous _Pigna_, a gigantic fir-cone, which once crowned the summit of
the Mausoleum of Hadrian. Thence it was first removed to the front of
the old basilica of St. Peter's. In the fresco of the old St. Peter's at
S. Martino al Monte, the pigna is introduced, but it is there placed in
the centre of the nave, a position it never occupied. Dante saw it at
St. Peter's, and compares it to a giant's head (it is eleven feet high)
which he saw through the mist in the last circle of hell.

    "La faccia mi parea lunga e grossa
    Come la pina di S. Pietro in Roma."

On either side of the pigna are two bronze peacocks, which are said to
have stood on either side the entrance of Hadrian's Mausoleum.

     "Je pense qu'ils y avaient été placés en l'honneur des impératrices
     dont les cendres devaient s'y trouver. La paon consacré à Junon
     était le symbole de l'apothéose des impératrices, comme l'oiseau
     dédié à Jupiter celui de l'apothéose des empereurs, car le mausolée
     d'Adrien n'était pas pour lui seul, mais, comme avaient été le
     mausolée d'Auguste et le temple des Flaviens, pour toute la famille
     impériale."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 212.

A flight of steps leads from this court to the narrow _Terrace of the
Navicella_, in front of the palace, so called from a bronze ship with
which its fountain is decorated. The visitor should beware of the
tricksome water-works upon this terrace.

Beyond the courtyard is the entrance to the larger garden, which may be
reached in a carriage by those who do not wish to visit the palace on
the way, by driving round through the courts at the back of St. Peter's.
Formerly it was always open till 2 P.M., after which hour the pope went
there to walk, or to ride upon his white mule. It is a most delightful
retreat for the hot days of May and June, and before that time its woods
are carpeted with wild violets and anemones. No one who has not visited
them can form any idea of the beauty of these ancient groves,
interspersed with fountains and statues, but otherwise left to nature,
and forming a fragment of sylvan scenery quite unassociated with the
English idea of a garden. They are backed by the walls of the Borgo, and
a fine old tower of the time of Leo IV. The _Casino del Papa_, or Villa
Pia,[351] built by Pius IV. in the lower and more cultivated portion of
the ground, is the chef-d'œuvre of the architect, Pirro Ligorio, and
is decorated with paintings by _Baroccio_, _Zucchero_, and _Santi di
Tito_, and a set of terra-cotta reliefs collected by Agincourt and
Canova. The shell decorations are pretty and curious.

During the hours which he spent daily in this villa, its founder Pius
IV. enjoyed that easy and simple life for which he was far better fitted
by nature than for the affairs of government; but here also he received
the counsels of his nephew S. Carlo Borromeo, who, summoned to Rome in
1560, became for several succeeding years the real ruler of the state.
Here he assembled around him all those who were distinguished by their
virtue or talents, and held many of the meetings which received the
name of _Notte Vaticane_--at first employed in the pursuit of philosophy
and poetry, but--after the necessity of Church reform became apparent
both to the pope and to S. Carlo--entirely devoted to the discussion of
sacred subjects. In this villa the late popes, Pius VIII. and Gregory
XVI., used frequently to give their audiences.

The sixteenth century was the golden age for the Vatican. Then the
splendid court of Leo X. was the centre of artistic and literary life,
and the witty and pleasure-loving pope made these gardens the scene of
his banquets and concerts; and, in a circle to which ladies were
admitted, as in a secular court, listened to the recitations of the
poets who sprang up under his protection, beneath the shadow of its
woods.

     "Le Vatican était encombré, sous Leon X., d'historiens, de savants,
     de poëtes surtout. 'La tourbe importune des poëtes,' s'écrie
     Valérianus, 'le poursuit de porte en porte, tantôt sous les
     portiques, tantôt à la promenade, tantôt au palais, tantôt à la
     chambre, _penetralibus in imis_; elle ne respecte ni son repos, ni
     les graves affaires qui l'occupent aujourd'hui que l'incendie
     ravage le monde.' On remarquait dans cette foule: Berni, le poëte
     burlesque; Flaminio, le poëte élégiaque; Molza, l'enfant de
     Pétrarque, et Postumo, Maroni, Carteromachus, Fedra Inghirami, le
     savant bibliothécaire, et _la grande lumière d'Arezzo_, comme dit
     l'Arioste, _l'unique Accolti_. Accolti jouit pendant toute la durée
     du seizième siècle d'une réputation que la postérité n'a pas
     confirmée. On l'appelait le _céleste_. Lorsqu'il devait réciter ses
     vers, les magasins étaient fermés comme en un jour de fête, et
     chacun accourait pour l'entendre. Il était entouré de prélats de la
     première distinction; un corps de troupes suisses l'accompagnait,
     et l'auditoire était éclairé par des flambeaux. Un jour qu'Accolti
     entrait chez le pape:--Ouvrez toutes les portes, s'écria Léon, et
     laissez entrer la foule. Accolti récita un _ternale_ à la Vierge,
     et, quand il eut fini, mille acclamations retentirent: _Vive le
     poëte divin, vive l'incomparable Accolti!_ Léon était le premier à
     applaudir, et le duché de Nessi devenait la récompense du poëte.

     "Une autre fois, c'était Paul Jove, l'homme aux _ouï-dires_, comme
     l'appelle Rabelais, qui venait lire des fragments de son histoire,
     et que Léon X. saluait du titre de Tite-Live italien. Il y avait
     dans ces éloges, dans ces encouragements donnés avec entraînement,
     mais avec tact, je ne sais quel souffle de vie pour l'intelligence,
     qui l'activait et qui lui faisait rendre au centuple les dons
     qu'elle avait reçus du ciel. Rome entière était devenue un musée,
     une académie; partout des chants, partout la science, la poésie,
     les beaux-arts, une sorte de volupté dans l'étude. Ici, c'est
     Calcagnini, qui a déjà déviné la rotation de la terre; là, Ambrogio
     de Pise, qui parle chaldéen et arabe; plus loin, Valérianus, que la
     philologie, l'archéologie, la jurisprudence revendiquent à la fois,
     et qui se distrait de ses doctes travaux par des poésies dignes
     d'Horace."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne_, ii. 114.

       *       *       *       *       *

The _Loggie of Raphael_ are reached, except on Mondays, by the staircase
on the left of the fountain in the Cortile S. Damaso. Two sides of the
corridors on the second floor (formerly open) are decorated in stucco by
_Marco da Faenza_ and _Paul Schnorr_ and painted by _Sicciolante da
Sermoneta_, _Tempesta_, _Sabbatini_, and others. The third corridor,
entered on the right (opened by a custode), contains the celebrated
frescoes, executed by Raphael, or from the designs of Raphael, by Giulio
Romano, Pierino del Vaga, Pellegrino da Modena, Francesco Penni, and
Rafaello da Colle. Of the fifty-two subjects represented, forty-eight
are from the Old Testament, only the four last being from the Gospel
History, as an appropriate introduction to the pictures which celebrate
the foundation and triumphs of the Church, in the adjoining stanze. The
stucco decorations of the gallery are of exquisite beauty; especially
remarkable, perhaps, are those of the windows in the first arcade, where
Raphael is represented drawing,--his pupils working from his
designs,--and Fame celebrating his work. The frescoes are arranged in
the following order:

_1st Arcade._

    1. Creation of Light.[352]      }
    2. Creation of Dry Land.        }
    3. Creation of the Sun and Moon.} _Raphael._
    4. Creation of Animals.         }

_2nd Arcade._

    1. Creation of Eve.   _Raphael._
    2. The Fall.                   }
    3. The Exile from Eden.        } _Giulio Romano._
    4. The Consequence of the Fall.}

_3rd Arcade._

    1. Noah builds the Ark.          }
    2. The Deluge.                   }
    3. The Coming forth from the Ark.} _Giulio Romano._
    4. The Sacrifice of Noah.        }

_4th Arcade._

    1. Abraham and Melchizedek.         }
    2. The Covenant of God with Abraham.}
    3. Abraham and the three Angels.    } _Francesco Penni._
    4. Lot's flight from Sodom.         }

_5th Arcade._

    1. God appears to Isaac.             }
    2. Abimelech sees Isaac with Rebecca.}
    3. Isaac gives Jacob the blessing.   } _Francesco Penni._
    4. Isaac blesses Esau also.          }

_6th Arcade._

    1. Jacob's Ladder.      }
    2. Jacob meets Rachel.  } _Pellegrino da Modena._
    3. Jacob upbraids Laban.}
    4. The journey of Jacob.}

_7th Arcade._

    1. Joseph tells his dream.           }
    2. Joseph sold into Egypt.           }
    3. Joseph and Potiphar's wife.       } _Giulio Romano._
    4. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream.}

_8th Arcade._

    1. The Finding of Moses.      }
    2. Moses and the Burning Bush.}
    3. The Destruction of Pharaoh.} _Giulio Romano._
    4. Moses striking the rock.   }

_9th Arcade._

    1. Moses receives the Tables of the Law.   }
    2. The Worship of the Golden Calf.         } _Raffaello da Colle._
    3. Moses breaks the Tables.                }
    4. Moses kneels before the Pillar of Cloud.}

_10th Arcade._

    1. The Israelites cross the Jordan.            }
    2. The Fall of Jericho.                        }
    3. Joshua stays the course of the Sun.         } _Pierino del Vaga._
    4. Joshua and Eleazer divide the Promised Land.}

_11th Arcade._

    1. Samuel anoints David.}
    2. David and Goliath.   }
    3. The Triumph of David.} _Pierino del Vaga._
    4. David sees Bathsheba.}

_12th Arcade._

    1. Zadok anoints Solomon.           }
    2. The Judgment of Solomon.         } _Pellegrino da Modena._
    3. The Coming of the Queen of Sheba.}
    4. The Building of the Temple.      }

_13th Arcade._

    1. The Adoration of the Shepherds.}
    2. The Coming of the Magi.        }
    3. The Baptism of Christ.         } _Giulio Romano._
    4. The Last Supper.               }

     "From the Sistine Chapel we went to Raphael's Loggie, and I hardly
     venture to say that we could scarcely bear to look at them. The eye
     was so educated and so enlarged by those grand forms and the
     glorious completeness of all their parts, that it could take no
     pleasure in the imaginative play of arabesques, and the scenes from
     Scripture, beautiful as they are, had lost their charm. To see
     these works _often_ alternately and to compare them at leisure and
     without prejudice, must be a great pleasure, but all sympathy is at
     first one-sided."--_Goethe, Romische Briefe._

Close to the entrance of the Loggie is that of

_The Stanze_, three rooms decorated under Julius II. and Leo X. with
frescoes by Raphael, for each of which he received 1200 ducats. These
rooms are approached through,--

The _Sala di Constantino_, decorated under Clement VII. (Giulio di
Medici) in 1523--34, after the death of Raphael, who however had
prepared drawings for the frescoes, and had already executed in oil the
two figures of Justice and Urbanity. The rest of the compositions,
completed by his pupils, are in fresco.

     "Raphaël se multiplie, il se prodigue, avec une fécondité de toutes
     les heures. De jeunes disciples, admirateurs de son beau génie, le
     servent avec amour, et sont déjà admis à l'honneur d'attacher leurs
     noms à quelques parties de ses magnifiques travaux. Le maître leur
     distribue leur tâche: à Jules Romain, le brillant coloris des
     vêtements et peut-*être même le dessin de quelques figures; au
     Fattore, à Jean d'Udine, les arabesques; à frère Jean de Vérone les
     clairs-obscurs des portes et des lambris qui doivent compléter la
     décoration de ces spendides appartements. Et lui, que se
     réserve-t-il?--la pensée qui anime tout, le génie qui enfante et
     qui dirige."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne._

     _Entrance Wall._--The Address of Constantine to his troops and the
     vision of the Fiery Cross: _Giulio Romano_. On the left, St Peter
     between the Church and Eternity,--on the right, Clement I. (the
     martyr) between Moderation and Gentleness.

     _Right Wall._--The Battle of the Ponte Molle and the Defeat of
     Maxentius by Constantine, designed by Raphael, and executed by
     _Giulio Romano_. On the left is Sylvester I. between Faith and
     Religion, on the right Urban I. (the friend of Cecilia) between
     Justice and Charity.

     _Left Wall._--The donation of Rome by Constantine to Sylvester I.
     (A.D. 325), _Raffaello da Colle_. (The head of Sylvester was a
     portrait of Clement VII., the reigning pope; Count Castiglione the
     friend of Raphael, and Giulio Romano, are introduced amongst the
     attendants.) On the left, Sylvester I. with Fortitude; on the
     right, Gregory VII. with Strength. _Wall of Egress._--The
     supposititious Baptism of Constantine, interesting as pourtraying
     the interior of the Lateran baptistery in the 15th century, by
     _Francesco Penni_, who has introduced his own portrait in a black
     dress and velvet cap. On left, is Damasus I. (A.D. 366--384),
     between Prudence and Peace; on right, Leo I. (A.D. 440--462),
     between Innocence and Truth. The paintings on the socles represent
     scenes in the life of Constantine by _Giulio Romano_.

The _Stanza d'Eliodoro_, painted in 1511--1514, shows the Church
triumphant over her enemies, and the miracles by which its power has
been attested. On the roof are four subjects from the Old
Testament,--the Covenant with Abraham; the Sacrifice of Isaac; Jacob's
dream; Moses at the burning bush.

     _Entrance Wall._--Heliodorus driven out of the Temple (Maccabees
     iii.). In the background Onias the priest is represented praying
     for divine interposition;--in the foreground Heliodorus, pursued by
     two avenging angels, is endeavouring to bear away the treasures of
     the Temple. Amid the group on the left is seen Julius II. in his
     chair of state, attended by his secretaries. One of the bearers in
     front is Marc-Antonio Raimondi, the engraver of Raphael's designs.
     The man with the inscription, 'Jo. Petro de Folicariis Cremonen,'
     was secretary of briefs to Pope Julius.

     "Here you may almost fancy you hear the thundering approach of the
     heavenly warrior and the neighing of his steed; while in the
     different groups who are plundering the treasures of the Temple,
     and in those who gaze intently on the sudden consternation of
     Heliodorus, without being able to divine its cause, we see the
     expression of terror, amazement, joy, humility, and every passion
     to which human nature is exposed."--_Lanzi._

     _Left Wall._--The Miracle of Bolsena. A priest at Bolsena, who
     refused to believe in the doctrine of transubstantiation, is
     convinced by the bleeding of the host. On the right kneels Julius
     II., with Cardinal Riario, founder of the Cancelleria. This was the
     last fresco executed by Raphael under Julius II.

     _Right Wall._--Peter delivered from prison. A fresco by Pietro
     della Francesca was destroyed to make room for this picture, which
     is said to have allusion to the liberation of Leo X., while Legate
     in Spain, after his capture at the battle of Ravenna. This fresco
     is considered especially remarkable for its four lights, those from
     the double representation of the angel, from the torch of the
     soldier, and from the moon.

     _Wall of Egress._--The Flight of Attila. Leo I. (with the features
     of Leo X.) is represented on his white mule, with his cardinals,
     calling upon SS. Peter and Paul, who appear in the clouds, for aid
     against Attila. The Coliseum is seen in the background.

The _Stanza della Segnatura_ is so called from a judicial assembly once
held here. The frescoes in this chamber are illustrative of the Virtues
of Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence, who are represented
on the ceiling by _Raphael_, in the midst of arabesques by _Sodoma_. The
square pictures by Raphael refer:--the Fall of Man to Theology; the
Study of the Globe to Philosophy; the Flaying of Marsyas to Poetry; and
the Judgment of Solomon to Jurisprudence.

     _Entrance Wall._--"The School of Athens." Raphael consulted Ariosto
     as to the arrangement of its 52 figures. In the centre, on the
     steps of a portico, are seen Plato and Aristotle, Plato pointing to
     heaven, and Aristotle to earth. On the left is Socrates conversing
     with his pupils, amongst whom is a young warrior, probably
     Alcibiades. Lying upon the steps in front is Diogenes. To his left
     Pythagoras is writing on his knee, and near him, with ink and pen,
     is Empedocles. The youth in the white mantle is Francesco Maria
     della Rovere, nephew of Julius II. On the right, is Archimedes,
     drawing a geometrical problem upon the floor. The young man near
     him with uplifted hands is Federigo II., Duke of Mantua. Behind
     these are Zoroaster and Ptolemy, one with a terrestrial, the other
     with a celestial globe, addressing two figures which represent
     Raphael and his master Perugino. The drawing in brown upon the
     socle beneath this fresco, is by _Pierino del Vaga_, and represents
     the death of Archimedes.

     _Right Wall._--"Parnassus," Apollo surrounded by the Muses, on his
     right Homer, Virgil, and Dante. Below, on the right, Sappho,
     supposed to be addressing Corinna, Petrarch, Propertius, and
     Anacreon; on the left, Pindar and Horace, Sannazzaro, Boccaccio,
     and others. Beneath this, in grisaille, are,--Alexander placing the
     poems of Homer in the tomb of Achilles,--and Augustus preventing
     the burning of Virgil's Eneid.

     _Left Wall._--Above the window are Prudence, Fortitude, and
     Temperance. On the left, Justinian delivers the Pandects to
     Tribonian. On the right, Gregory IX. (with the features of Julius
     II.) delivers the Decretals to a jurist;--Cardinal de' Medici,
     afterwards Leo X., Cardinal Farnese, afterwards Paul III., and
     Cardinal del Monte, are represented near the pope. In the socle
     beneath is Solon addressing the people of Athens.

     _Wall of Egress_.--"The Disputa," so called from an impression that
     it represents a Dispute upon the Sacrament. In the upper part of
     the composition the heavenly host are present;--Christ between the
     Virgin and St. John Baptist;--On the left, St. Peter, Adam, St.
     John, David, St. Stephen, and another;--On the right, St. Paul,
     Abraham, St. James, Moses, St. Laurence, and St. George. Below is
     an altar surrounded by the Latin fathers, Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose,
     and Augustine. Near St. Augustine stand St. Thomas Aquinas, St.
     Anacletus with the palm of a martyr, and Cardinal Buonaventura
     reading. Those in front are Innocent III., and in the background
     Dante, near whom a monk in a black hood is pointed out as
     Savonarola. The Dominican on the extreme left is supposed to be Fra
     Angelico. The other figures are uncertain.

     "Raphaël a bien jugé Dante en plaçant parmi les Théologiens, dans
     la _Dispute du Saint Sacrement_, celui pour la tombe duquel a été
     écrit ce vers, aussi vrai qu'il est plat:

    'Theologus Dantes, nullius dogmatis expers.'"

    _Ampère, Voyage Dantesque._

     The chiaro-scuros on the socle beneath this fresco are by _Pierino
     del Vaga_ (added under Paul III.) and represent, 1, A heathen
     sacrifice; 2, St. Augustine finding a child attempting to drain the
     sea; 3, The Cumæ Sibyl and Augustus.

     "Raphael commenced his work in the Vatican by painting the ceiling
     and the four walls of the room called _della Segnatura_, on the
     surface of which he had to represent four great compositions, which
     embraced the principal divisions of the encyclopædia of that
     period; namely, Theology, Philosophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence.

     "It will be conceived, that to an artist imbued with the traditions
     of the Umbrian school, the first of these subjects was an
     unparalleled piece of good fortune; and Raphael, long familiar with
     the allegorical treatment of religious compositions, turned it here
     to the most admirable account; and, not content with the
     suggestions of his own genius, he availed himself of all the
     instruction he could derive from the intelligence of others. From
     these combined inspirations resulted, to the eternal glory of the
     Catholic faith and of Christian art, a composition without a rival
     in the history of painting, and we may also add without a name; for
     to call it lyric or epic is not enough, unless, indeed, we mean, by
     using these expressions, to compare it with the allegorical epic
     of Dante, alone worthy to be ranked with this marvellous
     production of the pencil of Raphael.

     "And let no one consider this praise as idle and groundless, for it
     is Raphael himself who forces the comparison upon us, by placing
     the figure of Dante among the favourite sons of the Muses; and,
     what is still more striking, by draping the allegorical figure of
     Theology in the very colours in which Dante has represented
     Beatrice; namely, the white veil, the red tunic, and the green
     mantle, while on her head he has placed the olive crown.

     "Of the four allegorical figures which occupy the compartments of
     the ceiling, and which were all painted immediately after Raphael's
     arrival in Rome, Theology and Poetry are incontestably the most
     remarkable. The latter would be easily distinguished by the calm
     inspiration of her glance, even were she without her wings, her
     starry crown, and her azure robe, all having allusion to the
     elevated region towards which it is her privilege to soar. The
     figure of Theology is quite as admirably suited to the subject she
     personifies; she points to the upper part of the grand composition,
     which takes its name from her, and in which the artist has provided
     inexhaustible food for the sagacity and enthusiasm of the
     spectator.

     "This work consists of two grand divisions,--Heaven and
     Earth,--which are united to one another by that mystical bond, the
     Sacrament of the Eucharist. The personages whom the Church has most
     honoured for learning and holiness are ranged in picturesque and
     animated groups on either side of the altar, on which the
     consecrated wafer is exposed. St. Augustine dictates his thoughts
     to one of his disciples; St. Gregory, in his pontifical robes,
     seems absorbed in the contemplation of celestial glory; St.
     Ambrose, in a slightly different attitude, appears to be chaunting
     the Te Deum; while St. Jerome, seated, rests his hands on a large
     book, which he holds on his knees. Pietro Lombardo, Duns Scotus,
     St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Anacletus, St. Buonaventura, and Innocent
     III. are no less happily characterised; while, behind all these
     illustrious men, whom the Church and succeeding generations have
     agreed to honour, Raphael has ventured to introduce Dante with his
     laurel crown, and, with still greater boldness, the monk
     Savonarola, publicly burnt ten years before as a heretic.

     "In the glory, which forms the upper part of the picture, the Three
     Persons of the Trinity are represented, surrounded by patriarchs,
     apostles, and saints: it may, in fact, be considered in some sort
     as a _resumé_ of all the favourite compositions produced during the
     last hundred years by the Umbrian school. A great number of the
     types, and particularly those of Christ and the Virgin, are to be
     found in the earlier works of Raphael himself. The Umbrian
     artists, from having so long exclusively employed themselves on
     mystical subjects, had certainly attained to a marvellous
     perfection in the representation of celestial beatitude, and of
     those ineffable things of which it has been said that the heart of
     man cannot conceive them, far less, therefore, the pencil of man
     pourtray; and Raphael, surpassing them in all, and even in this
     instance while surpassing himself, appears to have fixed the
     limits, beyond which Christian art, properly so called, has never
     since been able to advance."--_Rio. Poetry of Christian Art._

The _Stanza of the Incendio del Borgo_ is decorated with frescoes
illustrative of the triumphs of the Church from events in the reigns of
Leo III. and Leo IV. The roof has four frescoes by _Perugino_
illustrative of the Saviour in glory.

     _Entrance Wall._--The Victory of Leo IV. over the Saracens at
     Ostia, by _Giovanni da Udine_, from designs of Raphael. The pope is
     represented with the features of Leo X.; behind him are Cardinal
     Giulio de' Medici (Clement VII.), Cardinal Bibbiena, and others.
     The castle of Ostia is seen in the background. Beneath are
     Ferdinand the Catholic and the Emperor Lothaire, by _Polidoro da
     Caravaggio_.

     _Left Wall._--The "Incendio del Borgo," a fire in the Leonine City
     in 847. In the background Leo IV. is seen in the portico of the old
     St. Peter's arresting with a cross the progress of the flames, on
     their approach to the basilica. In the foreground is a group of
     fugitives, by _Giulio Romano_, resembling Æneas escaping from Troy
     with Anchises, followed by Ascanius and Creusa. Beneath are Godfrey
     de Bouillon and Astulf (Ethelwolf), the latter with the
     inscription: "Astulphus Rex sub Leone IV. Pont. Britanniam Beato
     Petro vectigalem fecit."

     _Right Wall._--The Justification of Leo III. before Charlemagne, by
     _Pierino del Vaga_. The pope is a portrait of Leo X., the emperor
     of Francis I.

     _Wall of Egress._--The Coronation of Charlemagne in the old St.
     Peter's. Leo X. is again represented as Leo III., and Francis I. as
     Charlemagne. This fresco is partly by _Raphael_, partly by _Pierino
     del Vaga_. On the socle is Charlemagne, by _Polidoro da
     Caravaggio_.

_A Fifth Chamber_ has been decorated under Pius IX. with frescoes by
_Fracassini_, in honour of the recent dogma of the Immaculate
Conception. The Proclamation of the Dogma; the Adoration of the image
of the Virgin; and the Reception of the news by the Virgin in heaven,
from an angelic messenger, are duly represented!

From the corner of the Sala del Constantino, a custode, if requested,
will give access to the

_Cappella di San Lorenzo_, a tiny chapel covered with frescoes executed
by Fra Angelico for Nicholas V. in 1447. The upper series represents
events in the life of St. Stephen.

     1. His Ordination by St. Peter.
     2. His Almsgiving.
     4. He is brought before the Council at Jerusalem ("his accuser has the
        dress and shaven crown of a monk").
     5. He is dragged to Execution.
     6. He is Stoned. Saul is among the spectators.

     "Angelico has represented St. Stephen as a young man, beardless,
     and with a most mild and candid expression. His dress is the
     deacon's habit, of a vivid blue."--_Mrs. Jameson._

The lower series represents the life of St Laurence.

     1. He is ordained by Sixtus II. (with the features of Nicholas V.).
     2. Sixtus II. delivers the treasures of the Church to him for
        distribution among the poor.
     3. He Distributes them in Alms.
     4. He is carried before Decius the Prefect.
     5. He suffers  Martyrdom A.D. 253.

Introduced in the side arches, are the figures of St. Jerome, St.
Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. John Chrysostom, St.
Athanasius, St. Leo--as the protector of Rome, and St. Thomas
Aquinas--as painted by the Dominican Angelico, and for a Dominican pope
Nicholas V.

     "The Consecration of St. Stephen, the Distribution of Alms, and,
     above all, his Preaching, are three pictures as perfect of their
     kind as any that have been produced by the greatest masters, and it
     would be difficult to imagine a group more happily conceived as to
     arrangement, or more graceful in form and attitude, than that of
     the seated females listening to the holy preacher; and if the
     furious fanaticism of the executioners, who stone him to death, is
     not expressed with all the energy we could desire, this may be
     attributed to a glorious incapacity in this angelic imagination,
     too exclusively occupied with love and ecstasy to be ever able to
     familiarise itself with those dramatic scenes in which hateful and
     violent passions were to be represented."--_Rio. Poetry of
     Christian Art._

     "The soul of Angelico lives in perpetual peace. Not seclusion from
     the world. No shutting out of the world is needful for him. There
     is nothing to shut out. Envy, lust, contention, discourtesy, are to
     him as though they were not; and the cloister walls of Fiesole no
     penitential solitude, barred from the stir and joy of life, but a
     possessed land of tender blessing, guarded from the entrance of all
     but holiest sorrow. The little cell was as one of the houses of
     heaven prepared for him by his Master. What need had it to be
     elsewhere? Was not the Val d'Arno, with its olive woods in white
     blossom, paradise enough for a poor monk? Or could Christ be indeed
     in heaven more than here? Was He not always with him? Could he
     breathe or see, but that Christ breathed beside him, or looked into
     his eyes? Under every cypress avenue the angels walked; he had seen
     their white robes,--whiter than the dawn,--at his bedside, as he
     woke in early summer. They had sung with him, one on each side,
     when his voice failed for joy at sweet vesper and matin time; his
     eyes were blinded by their wings in the sunset, when it sank behind
     the hills of Luni."--_Ruskin's Modern Painters._

       *       *       *       *       *

The same staircase which is usually ascended to reach the Stanze (that
on the left of the fountain in the Cortile S. Damaso) will also lead, by
turning to the left in the loggia of the third floor, to:

_The Gallery of Pictures_, founded by Pius VII., who acted on the advice
of Cardinal Gonsalvi and of Canova, and formed the present collection
from the pictures which had been carried off by the French from the
Roman churches, upon their restoration. The pictures have, to a great
extent, been recently rearranged and are not all numbered. Each picture
is worthy of separate examination. They are contained in four rooms, and
according to their present position are:

_1st Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     1. St. Jerome: _Leonardo da Vinci_, painted in bistre.

     16. St. John Baptist: _Guercino_.

     4. The Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, and Presentation in the
     Temple: _Raphael_;--formerly a predella to the Coronation of the
     Virgin in the third room.

     5. The dead Christ and Mary Magdalen: _Andrea Mantegna_,--from the
     Aldrovandi gallery at Bologna.

     7. Madonna with the Child and St. John: _Fr. Francia._

     RIGHT WALL:

     The Story of St. Nicolo of Bari: _Fra Angelico da Fiesole_,--two
     out of the three predella pictures once in the sacristy of S.
     Domenico at Florence, whence they were carried off to Paris, where
     the third remains.

     (Above,) The Adoration of the Shepherds: _Murillo._

     The Virgin surrounded by Angels: _Fra Angelico._

     3. The Story of St. Hyacinth: _Benozzo Gozzoli._

     (Above,) The Marriage of St. Catherine: _Murillo._

     2. "I Tre Santi:" _Perugino._

     Part of a large predella in the church of S. Pietro Casinensi at
     Perugia. Several saints from this predella still remain in the
     sacristy of S. Pietro; two are at Lyons.

     "In the centre is St. Benedict, with his black cowl over his head
     and long parted beard, the book in one hand, and the asperge in the
     other. On one side, St. Placidus, young, and with a mild, candid
     expression, black habit and shaven crown. On the other side is St.
     Flavia (or St. Catherine?), crowned as a martyr, holding her palm,
     and gazing upward with a divine expression."--_Mrs. Jameson._

     (Above this) The Holy Family and Saints: _Bonifasio_.

     _Left Wall._--The Dead Christ, with the Virgin, St. John, and the
     Magdalen lamenting: _Carlo Crivelli_.

     _Wall of Egress._--Faith, Hope, and Charity, _Raphael_:--circular
     medallions in bistre, which once formed a predella for "the
     Entombment" in the Borghese gallery.


_2nd Room._--

     _Entrance Wall._--The Communion of St. Jerome: _Domenichino_. This
     is the master-piece of the master, and perhaps second only to the
     Transfiguration. It was painted for the monks of Ara Cœli, who
     quarrelled with the artist, and shut up the picture. Afterwards
     they commissioned Poussin to paint an altar-piece for their church,
     and, instead of supplying him with fresh canvas, produced the
     picture of Domenichino, and desired him to paint over it. Poussin
     indignantly threw up his engagement, and made known the existence
     of the picture, which was afterwards preserved in the church of S.
     Girolamo della Carità, whence it was carried off by the French. St.
     Jerome, dying at Bethlehem, is represented receiving the Last
     Sacraments from St. Ephraim of Syria, while St. Paula kneels by his
     side.

     "The Last Communion of St. Jerome is the subject of one of the most
     celebrated pictures in the world,--the St. Jerome of Domenichino,
     which has been thought worthy of being placed opposite to the
     Transfiguration of Raphael, in the Vatican. The aged
     saint,--feeble, emaciated, dying,--is borne in the arms of his
     disciples to the chapel of his monastery, and placed within the
     porch.[353] A young priest sustains him; St. Paula, kneeling,
     kisses one of his thin bony hands; the saint fixes his eager eyes
     on the countenance of the priest, who is about to administer the
     Sacrament,--a noble, dignified figure in a rich ecclesiastical
     dress; a deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book;
     the lion droops his head with an expression of grief;[354] the eyes
     and attention of all are on the dying saint, while four angels,
     hovering above, look down upon the scene."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

     "And Jerome's death (A.D. 420) drawing near, he commanded that he
     should be laid on the bare ground and covered with sackcloth, and
     calling the brethren around him, he spake sweetly to them, and
     exhorted them in many holy words, and appointed Eusebius to be
     their abbot in his room. And then, with tears, he received the
     blessed Eucharist, and sinking backwards again on the earth, his
     hands crossed on his heart, he sung the 'Nunc Dimittis,' which
     being finished, it being the hour of compline, suddenly a great
     light, as of the noonday sun, shone round about him, within which
     light angels innumerable were seen by the bystanders, in shifting
     motion, like sparks among the dry reeds. And the voice of the
     Saviour was heard, inviting him to heaven, and the holy Doctor
     answered that he was ready. And after an hour, that light departed,
     and Jerome's spirit with it."--_Lord Lindsay, from Peter de
     Natalibus._

     _Right Wall._--"The Madonna di Foligno," _Raphael_, ordered in 1511
     by Sigismondo Conti for the church of Ara Cœli (where he is
     buried), and removed in 1565 to Foligno, when his great-niece, Anna
     Conti, took the veil there at the convent of St' Anna. The angel in
     the foreground bears a tablet, with the names of the painter and
     donor, and the date 1512. The city of Foligno is seen in the
     background, with a falling bomb, from which one may believe that
     the picture was a votive offering from Sigismondo for an escape
     during a siege. The picture was originally on panel, and was
     transferred to canvas at Paris.

     "The Madonna di Foligno, however beautiful in the whole
     arrangement, however excellent in the execution of separate parts,
     appears to belong to a transition state of development. There is
     something of the ecstatic enthusiasm which has produced such
     peculiar conceptions and treatment of religious subjects in other
     artists--Correggio, for example--and which, so far from harmonizing
     with the unaffected serene grace of Raphael, has in this instance
     led to some serious defects. This remark is particularly applicable
     to the figures of St. John and St. Francis: the former looks out of
     the picture with a fantastic action, and the drawing of his arm is
     even considerably mannered. St. Francis has an expression of
     fanatical ecstasy, and his countenance is strikingly weak in the
     painting (composed of reddish, yellowish, and grey tones, which
     cannot be wholly ascribed to their restorer). Again, St. Jerome
     looks up with a sort of fretful expression, in which it is
     difficult to recognise, as some do, a mournful resignation; there
     is also an exaggerated style of drawing in the eyes, which
     sometimes gives a sharpness to the expression of Raphael's figures,
     and appears very marked in some of his other pictures. Lastly, the
     Madonna and the Child, who turn to the donor, are in attitudes
     which, however graceful, are not perhaps sufficiently tranquil for
     the majesty of the queen of heaven. The expression of the Madonna's
     countenance is extremely sweet, but with more of the character of a
     mere woman than of a glorified being. The figure of the donor, on
     the other hand, is excellent, with an expression of sincerity and
     truth; the angel with the tablet is of unspeakable intensity and
     exquisite beauty--one of the most marvellous figures that Raphael
     has created."--_Kugler._

     "In the upper part of the composition sits the Virgin in heavenly
     glory; by her side is the Infant Christ, partly sustained by his
     mother's veil, which is drawn round his body: both look down
     benignly on the votary, Sigismund Conti, who, kneeling below, gazes
     up with an expression of the most intense gratitude and devotion.
     It is a portrait from the life, and certainly one of the finest and
     most life-like that exist in painting. Behind him stands St.
     Jerome, who, placing his hand upon the head of the votary, seems to
     present him to his celestial protectress. On the other side, John
     the Baptist, the meagre wild-looking prophet of the desert, points
     upward to the Redeemer. More in front kneels St. Francis, who,
     while he looks up to heaven with trusting and imploring love,
     extends his right hand towards the worshippers supposed to be
     assembled in the church, recommending them also to the protecting
     grace of the Virgin. In the centre of the picture, dividing these
     two groups, stands a lovely angel-boy, holding in his hand a
     tablet, one of the most charming figures of this kind Raphael ever
     painted; the head, looking up, has that sublime, yet perfectly
     childish grace, which strikes one in those awful angel-boys in the
     'Madonna di San Sisto.' The background is a landscape, in which
     appears the city of Foligno at a distance; it is overshadowed by a
     storm-cloud, and a meteor is seen falling; but above these bends a
     rainbow, pledge of peace and safety. The whole picture glows
     throughout with life and beauty, hallowed by that profound
     religious sentiment which suggested the offering, and which the
     sympathetic artist seems to have caught from the grateful donor. It
     was dedicated in the church of the Ara Cœli at Rome, which
     belongs to the Franciscans, hence St. Francis is one of the
     principal figures. When I was asked, at Rome, why St. Jerome had
     been introduced into the picture, I thought it might be thus
     accounted for:--The patron saint of the donor, St. Sigismund, was a
     king and warrior, and Conti might possibly think it did not accord
     with his profession, as a humble ecclesiastic, to introduce him
     here. The most celebrated convent of the Jeronymites in Italy is
     that of St. Sigismund, near Cremona, placed under the special
     protection of St. Jerome, who is also in a general sense the patron
     of all ecclesiastics; hence, perhaps, he figures here as the
     protector of Sigismund Conti."--_Jameson's Legends of the Madonna_,
     p. 103.

     _Wall of Egress._--"The Transfiguration:" _Raphael_. The grandest
     picture in the world. It was originally painted by order of
     Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (afterwards Clement VII.) Archbishop of
     Narbonne, for that provincial cathedral. But it was scarcely
     finished when Raphael died, and it hung over his death-bed as he
     lay in state, and was carried in his funeral procession.

                      "And when all beheld
    Him where he lay, how changed from yesterday--
    Him in that hour cut off, and at his head
    His last great work; when, entering in, they look'd,
    Now on the dead, then on that masterpiece--
    Now on his face, lifeless and colourless,
    Then on those forms divine that lived and breathed,
    And would live on for ages--all were moved,
    And sighs burst forth and loudest lamentations."

    _Rogers._

     The three following quotations may perhaps represent the practical,
     æsthetical, and spiritual aspects of the picture.

     "It is somewhat strange to see the whole picture of the
     Transfiguration--including the three apostles, prostrate on the
     mount, shading their dazzled senses from the insufferable
     brightness--occupying only a small part of the top of the canvas,
     and the principal field filled with a totally distinct and
     certainly unequalled picture--that of the demoniac boy, whom our
     Saviour cured on coming down from the mount, after his
     transfiguration. This was done in compliance with the _orders_ of
     the monks of S. Pietro in Montorio, for which church it was
     painted. It was the universal custom of the age--the yet unbanished
     taste of Gothic days--to have two pictures, a celestial and a
     terrestrial one, wholly unconnected with each other; accordingly,
     we see few, even of the finest paintings, in which there is not a
     heavenly subject above and an earthly below--for the great masters
     of that day, like our own Shakspeare, were compelled to suit their
     works to the taste of their employers."--_Eaton's Rome._

     "It must ever be matter of wonder that any one can have doubted of
     the grand unity of such a conception as this. In the absence of the
     Lord, the disconsolate parents bring a possessed boy to the
     disciples of the Holy One. They seem to have been making attempts
     to cast out the Evil Spirit; one has opened a book, to see whether
     by chance any spell were contained in it which might be successful
     against this plague, but in vain. At this moment appears He who
     alone has the power, and appears transfigured in glory. They
     remember His former mighty deeds; they instantly point aloft to the
     vision as the only source of healing. How can the upper and lower
     parts be separated? Both are one; beneath is Suffering craving for
     Aid; above is active Power and helpful Grace. Both refer to one
     another; both work in one another. Those who, in our dispute over
     the picture, thought with me, confirmed their view by this
     consideration: Raffaelle, they said, was ever distinguished by the
     exquisite propriety of his conceptions. And is it likely that this
     painter, thus gifted by God, and everywhere recognisable by the
     excellence of this His gift, would in the full ripeness of his
     powers have thought and painted wrongly? Not so; he is, as nature
     is, ever right, and then most deeply and truly right when we least
     suspect it."--_Goethe's Werke_, iii. p. 33.

     "In looking at the Transfiguration we must bear in mind that it is
     not an historical but a devotional picture,--that the intention of
     the painter was not to represent a scene, but to excite religious
     feelings by expressing, so far as painting might do it, a very
     sublime idea.

     "If we remove to a certain distance from the picture, so that the
     forms shall become vague, indistinct, and only the masses of colour
     and the light and shade perfectly distinguishable, we shall see
     that the picture is indeed divided as if horizontally, the upper
     half being all light, and the lower half comparatively all dark. As
     we approach nearer, step by step, we behold above, the radiant
     figure of the Saviour floating in mid-air, with arms outspread,
     garments of transparent light, glorified visage upturned as if in
     rapture, and the hair lifted and scattered as I have seen it in
     persons under the influence of electricity. On the right, Moses; on
     the left, Elijah; representing respectively the old Law and the old
     Prophecies, which both testified of Him. The three disciples lie on
     the ground, terror-struck, dazzled. There is a sort of eminence or
     platform, but no perspective, no attempt at real locality, for the
     scene is revealed as in a vision, and the same soft transparent
     light envelopes the whole. This is the spiritual life, raised far
     above the earth, but not yet in heaven. Below is seen the earthly
     light, poor humanity struggling helplessly with pain, infirmity,
     and death. The father brings his son, the possessed, or as we
     should now say, the epileptic boy, who oftentimes falls into the
     water, or into the fire, or lies grovelling on the earth, foaming
     and gnashing his teeth; the boy struggles in his arms,--the rolling
     eyes, the distorted features, the spasmodic limbs, are at once
     terrible and pitiful to look on.

     "Such is the profound, the heart-moving significance of this
     wonderful picture. It is, in truth, a fearful approximation of the
     most opposite things; the mournful helplessness, suffering, and
     degradation of human nature, the unavailing pity, are placed in
     immediate contrast with spiritual light, life, hope,--nay, the very
     fruition of heavenly rapture.

     "It has been asked, who are the two figures, the two saintly
     deacons, who stand on each side of the upper group, and what have
     they to do with the mystery above, or the sorrow below? Their
     presence shows that the whole was conceived as a vision, or a poem.
     The two saints are St. Laurence and St. Julian, placed there at the
     request of the Cardinal de' Medici, for whom the picture was
     painted, to be offered by him as an act of devotion as well as
     munificence to his new bishopric; and these two figures commemorate
     in a poetical way, not unusual at the time, his father, Lorenzo,
     and his uncle, Giuliano de' Medici. They would be better away; but
     Raphael, in consenting to the wish of his patron that they should
     be introduced, left no doubt of the significance of the whole
     composition, that it is placed before worshippers as a revelation
     of the double life of earthly suffering and spiritual faith, as an
     excitement to religious contemplation and religious hope.

     "In the Gospel, the Transfiguration of Our Lord is first described,
     then the gathering of the people and the appeal of the father in
     behalf of his afflicted son. They appear to have been simultaneous;
     but painting only could have placed them before our eyes, at the
     same moment, in all their suggestive contrast. It will be said that
     in the brief record of the Evangelist, this contrast is nowhere
     indicated, but the painter found it there and was right to use
     it,--just the same as if a man should choose a text from which to
     preach a sermon, and, in doing so, should evolve from the inspired
     words many teachings, many deep reasonings, besides those most
     obvious and apparent.

     "But, after we have prepared ourselves to understand and to take
     into our heads all that this wonderful picture can suggest,
     considered as an emanation of the mind, we find that it has other
     interests for us, considered merely as a work of art. It was the
     last picture which came from Raphael's hand; he was painting on it
     when he was seized with his last illness. He had completed all the
     upper part of the composition, all the ethereal vision, but the
     lower part of it was still unfinished, and in this state the
     picture was hung over his bier; when, after his death, he was laid
     out in his painting-room, and all his pupils and friends, and the
     people of Rome, came to look upon him for the last time; and when
     those who stood round raised their eyes to the Transfiguration, and
     then bent them on the lifeless form extended beneath it, 'every
     heart was like to burst with grief (_faceva scoppiare l'anima di
     dolore a ognuno che quivi guardava_), as, indeed, well it might.

     "Two-thirds of the price of the picture, 655 'ducati di camera,'
     had already been paid by the Cardinal de' Medici, and, in the
     following year, that part of the picture which Raphael had left
     unfinished was completed by his pupil Giulio Romano, a powerful and
     gifted, but not a refined or elevated, genius. He supplied what was
     wanting in the colours and chiaroscuro according to Raphael's
     design, but not certainly as Raphael himself would have done it.
     The sum which Giulio received he bestowed as a dowry on his sister,
     when he gave her in marriage to Lorenzetto the sculptor, who had
     been a friend and pupil of Raphael. The cardinal did not send the
     picture to Narbonne, but, unwilling to deprive Rome of such a
     masterpiece, he presented it to the church of San Pietro in
     Montorio, and sent in its stead the Raising of Lazarus, by
     Sebastian del Piombo, now in our National Gallery. The French
     carried off the Transfiguration to Paris in 1797, and when
     restored, it was placed in the Vatican, where it now is."--_Mrs.
     Jameson's History of Our Lord_, vol. i.


_3rd Room._--

     _Entrance Wall._--Madonna and Saints: _Titian_.

     "Titian's altar-piece is a specimen of his pictures of this class.
     St. Nicholas, in full episcopal costume, is gazing upwards with an
     air of inspiration. St. Peter is looking over his shoulder at a
     book, and a beautiful St. Catherine is on the other side. Farther
     behind, are St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua; on the left St.
     Sebastian, whose figure recurs in almost all of these pictures.
     Above, in the clouds, with angels, is the Madonna, who looks
     cheerfully on, while the lovely Child holds a wreath, as if ready
     to crown a votary."--_Kugler._

     "In this picture there are three stages, or whatever they are
     called, the same as in the Transfiguration. Below, saints and
     martyrs are represented in suffering and abasement; on every face
     is depicted sadness, nay, almost impatience; one figure in rich
     episcopal robes looks upwards, with the most eager and agonized
     longing, as if weeping, but he cannot see all that is floating
     above his head, but which _we_ see, standing in front of the
     picture. Above, Mary and her Child are in a cloud, radiant with
     joy, and surrounded by angels, who have woven many garlands; the
     Holy Child holds one of these, and seems as if about to crown the
     saints beneath, but his Mother withholds his hand for the
     moment(?). The contrast between the pain and suffering below,
     whence St. Sebastian looks forth out of the picture with gloom and
     almost apathy, and the lofty unalloyed exultation in the clouds
     above, where crowns and palms are already awaiting him, is truly
     admirable. High above the group of Mary hovers the Holy Spirit,
     from whom emanates a bright streaming light, thus forming the apex
     of the whole composition. I have just remembered that Goethe, at
     the beginning of his first visit to Rome, describes and admires
     this picture; and he speaks of it in considerable detail. It was at
     that time in the Quirinal."--_Mendelssohn's Letters._

     Sta. Margherita da Cortona: _Guercino_. She is represented
     kneeling,--angels hovering above,--in the background is the Convent
     of Cortona.

     RIGHT WALL:

     Martyrdom of St. Laurence: _Spagnoletto_.

     22. The Magdalen, with angels bearing the instruments of the
     Passion: _Guercino_.

     23. The Coronation of the Virgin: _Pinturicchio_.

     24. The Resurrection: _Perugino_. The figures are sharply relieved
     against a bright green landscape and a perfectly green sky. The
     figure of the risen Saviour is in a raised gold nimbus surrounded
     by cherubs' heads, as in the fresco of Pinturicchio at the Ara
     Cœli. The escaping soldier is said to be a portrait of Perugino,
     introduced by Raphael,--the sleeping soldier that of Raphael, by
     Perugino.

     25. "La Madonna di Monte Luco," designed by Raphael: the upper part
     painted by _Giulio Romano_, the lower by _Francesco Penni_ (Il
     Fattore). The apostles looking into the tomb of the Virgin, find it
     blooming with heartsease and ixias. Above, the Virgin is crowned
     amid the angels. There is a lovely landscape seen through a dark
     cave, which ends awkwardly in the black clouds. This picture was
     painted for the convent of Monte Luco near Spoleto.

     26. The Nativity: _Giovanni Spagna_.

     27. The Coronation of the Virgin: _Raphael_. The predella in the
     first room belonged to this picture, which was painted for the
     Benedictines of Perugia.

     28. The Virgin and Child enthroned under an arcade--with S.
     Lorenzo, St. Louis, S. Ercolano, and S. Costanzo, standing: On the
     step of the throne is inscribed 'Hoc Petrus de Chastro Plebis
     Pinxit.'

     29. Virgin and Child: _Sassoferrato_. A fat mundane Infant and a
     coarse Virgin seated on a crescent moon. The Child holds a rosary.

     END WALL:

     The Entombment: _Caravaggio_.

     "Caravaggio's entombment of Christ is a picture wanting in all the
     characteristics of holy sublimity; but is nevertheless full of
     solemnity, only perhaps too like the funeral solemnity of a gipsy
     chief. A figure of such natural sorrow as the Virgin, who is
     represented as exhausted with weeping, with her trembling
     outstretched hands, has seldom been painted. Even as mother of a
     gipsy chief, she is dignified and touching."--_Kugler._

     LEFT WALL (RETURNING):

     31. Doge A. Gritti (_Titian_), half-length, in a yellow robe.

     Two very large pictures in many compartments, by _Niccolo Alunno_,
     of the Crucifixion and Saints. (Between them.)

     Sixtus IV. and his Court: _Melozzo da Forlì_. A fresco, removed
     from the Vatican library by Leo XII., which is a most interesting
     memorial of an important historical family. Near the figure of the
     pope, Sixtus IV., who is known to Roman travellers from his
     magnificent bronze tomb in the Chapel of the Sacrament at St.
     Peter's, stand two of his nephews, of whom one is Giuliano della
     Rovere, afterwards Julius II., and the other Pietro Riario, who,
     from the position of a humble Franciscan monk, was raised, in a few
     months, by his uncle, to be Bishop of Treviso, Cardinal-Archbishop
     of Seville, Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop of Valentia,
     and Archbishop of Florence, when his life changed, and he lived
     with such extravagance, and gave banquets so magnificent, that
     "never had pagan antiquity seen anything like it;"[355] but within
     two years "he died (not without suspicion of poison), to the great
     grief of Pope Sixtus, and to the infinite joy of the whole college
     of cardinals."[356] The kneeling figure represents Platina, the
     historian of the popes and prefect of the Vatican library. In the
     background stand two other nephews of the pope, Cardinal Giovanni
     della Rovere, and Girolamo Riario, who was married by his uncle (or
     father?), the pope, to the famous Caterina Sforza,--was suspected
     of being the originator of the conspiracy of the Pazzi,--was
     created Count of Forlì, and to whose aggrandisement Sixtus IV.
     sacrificed every principle of morality and justice: he was murdered
     at Forli, April 14th, 1488. Beneath is inscribed:

    "Templa domum expositis fora mœnia pontes:
      Virgineam Trivii quod repararis aquam
    Prisca licet nautis statuas dare commoda portus:
      Et Vaticanum cingere Sixte jugum:
    Plus tamen urbs debet: nam quæ squalore latebet.
      Germitur in celebri bibliotheca loco."


_4th Room._--

     ENTRANCE WALL:

     32. The Martyrdom of SS. Processus and Martinianus, the gaolers of
     St Peter: _Valentin_. It is stigmatised by Kugler as "an
     unimportant and bad picture," but, perhaps from the connection of
     the subject with the story of St Peter, has been thought worthy of
     being copied in mosaic in the basilica, whence this picture was
     brought.

     "This picture is terrible for dark and effective expression; it is
     just one of those subjects in which the Caravaggio school
     delighted."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

     33. Martyrdom of St. Peter: _Guido Reni_.

     "This has the heavy powerful forms of Caravaggio, but wants the
     passionate feeling which sustains such subjects,--it is a martyrdom
     and nothing more,--it might pass for an enormous and horrible genre
     picture."--_Kugler._

     34. Martyrdom of St. Erasmus: _N. Poussin_. A most horrible picture
     of the disembowelment of the saint upon a wheel. It was copied in
     mosaic in St Peter's when the picture was removed from thence.

     LEFT WALL:

     35. The Annunciation: _Baroccio_. From Sta. Maria di Loreto,
     detained in the Vatican in exchange for a mosaic, after it was sent
     back by the French.

     36. St. Gregory the Great--the miracle of the Brandeum: _Andrea
     Sacchi_.

     "The Empress Constantia sent to St. Gregory requesting some of the
     relics of St. Peter and St. Paul. He excused himself, saying that
     he dared not disturb their sacred remains for such a purpose,--but
     he sent her part of a consecrated cloth (Brandeum) which had
     enfolded the body of St. John the Evangelist. The empress rejected
     this gift with contempt: whereupon Gregory, to show that such
     things are hallowed not so much in themselves as by the faith of
     believers, laid the Brandeum on the altar, and after praying he
     took up a knife and pierced it, and blood flowed as from a living
     body."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 321.

     37. The Ecstasy of Sta. Michelina: _Baroccio_. This picture is
     mentioned by Lanzi as "Sta. Michelina estatica _sul Calvario_." The
     story appears to be lost.

     BETWEEN THE WINDOWS:

     The Madonna and Child with St. Jerome and St. Bartholomew: _Moretto
     da Brescia_ (_Buonvicino_).

     38. The Dream of Sta. Helena (of the finding of the true Cross):
     _Paolo Veronese_. Once in the Capitol collection.

     RIGHT WALL (RETURNING):

     39. Madonna with St. Thomas and St. Jerome: _Guido_. The St. Thomas
     is very grand.

     40. Madonna della Cintola with St. John and St. Augustin. Signed
     1521: _Cesare da Sesto_.

     41. Salvator Mundi. Christ seated on the rainbow: _Correggio?_

     42. St. Romualdo: _Andrea Sacchi_. The saint sees the vision of a
     ladder by which the friars of his Order ascend to heaven. The monks
     in white drapery are grand and noble figures.

     "It is recorded in the legend of St. Romualdo, that, a short time
     before his death, he fell asleep beside a fountain near his cell;
     and he dreamed, and in his dream he saw a ladder like that which
     the patriarch Jacob beheld in his vision, resting on the earth, and
     the top of it reaching to heaven; and he saw the brethren of his
     Order ascending by twos and by threes, all clothed in white. When
     Romualdo awoke from his dream, he changed the habit of his monks
     from black to white, which they have ever since worn in remembrance
     of this vision."--_Jameson's Monastic Orders_, p. 117.

       *       *       *       *       *

A door on the ground-floor of the Cortile di S. Damaso will admit
visitors (with an order) to visit the _Papal Manufactory of Mosaics_,
whence so many beautiful works have issued, and where others are always
in progress.

     "Ghirlandajo, who felt the utmost enthusiasm for the august remains
     of Roman grandeur, was still more deeply impressed by the sight of
     the ancient mosaics of the Christian basilicas, the image of which
     was still present to his mind when he said, at a more advanced age,
     that 'mosaic was the true painting for eternity.'"--_Rio._




CHAPTER XVII.

THE ISLAND AND THE TRASTEVERE.

     Ponte Quattro Capi--Gaetani Tower--S. Bartolomeo in Isola--Temple
     of Æsculapius--Hospital of the Benfratelli--Mills on the
     Tiber--Ponte Cestio--Fornarina's House--S. Benedetto a
     Piscinuola--Castle of the Alberteschi--S. Crispino--Palazzo
     Ponziani--Sta. Maria in Cappella--Sta. Cecilia--Hospital of S.
     Michele--Porta Portese--Sta. Maria del Orto--S. Francesco a
     Ripa--Castle of the Anquillara--S. Chrisogono--Hospital of S.
     Gallicane--Sta. Maria in Trastevere--S. Calisto--Convent of Sta.
     Anna--S. Cosimato--Porta Settimiana--Sta. Dorotea--Ponte Sisto.


Following the road which leads to the Temple of Vesta, &c., as far as
the Via Savelli, and then turning down past the gateway of the Orsini
palace, with its two bears,--we reach the _Ponte Quattro Capi_.

This was the ancient Pons Fabricius, built of stone in the place of a
wooden bridge, A.U.C. 733, by Fabricius, the Curator Viarum. It has two
arches, with a small ornamental one in the central pier. In the twelfth
century the greater part was faced with brickwork. An inscription, only
partly legible, remains. L. FABRICIUS. C. T. CUR. VIAR. FACIUNDUM.
CURAVIT. EIDEMQ. PROBAVIT.--Q. LEPIDUS. M. F. M. LOLLIUS. M. F. COS. EX.
S. C. PROBAVERUNT. From this inscription the inference has been drawn
that the senate always allowed forty years to elapse between the
completion of a public work, and the grant to it of their public
approval. This bridge, according to Horace, was a favourite spot with
those who wished to drown themselves; hence Damasippus would have leaped
into the Tiber, if it were not for the precepts of the stoic Stertinius:

                            "Unde ego mira
    Descripsi docilis præcepta hæc, tempore quo me
    Solatus jussit sapientem pascere barbam,
    Atque a Fabricio non tristem ponte reverti."

    _Horace, Sat._ ii. 3.

The name of the bridge changed with time to "Pons Tarpeius" and "Pons
Judæorum," from the neighbouring Ghetto. It is now called Ponte Quattro
Capi, from two busts of the four-headed Janus, which adorn its parapet,
and are supposed to have come from the temple of "Janus Geminus," which
stood in this neighbourhood.

On crossing this bridge, we are on the Island in the Tiber, the
formation of which is ascribed by tradition to the produce of the
corn-fields of the Tarquins (cast contemptuously upon the waters after
their expulsion), which accumulated here, till soil gathered around
them, and a solid piece of land was formed. Of this, Ampère says:

     "L'effet du courant rapide du fleuve est plutôt de détruire les
     îles que d'en former. C'est ainsi qu'une petite île a été entraînée
     par la violence des eaux en 1718."--_Histoire Romaine à Rome._

On this island, anciently known as the _Isola Tiberina_, were three
temples,--those, namely, of Æsculapius:

    "Unde Coroniden circumflua Tibridis alveo
    Insula Romuleæ sacris adsciverit urbis."

    _Ovid, Metam._ xv. 624.

    "Accepit Phœbo Nymphaque Coronide natum
    Insula, dividua quam premit amnis aqua."

    _Ovid, Fast._ i. 291.

of Jupiter:

    "Jupiter in parte est, cepit locus unus utrumque:
    Junctaque sunt magno templa nepotis avo."

    _Ovid, Fast._ i. 293.

and of Faunus:

    "Idibus agrestis fumant altaria Fauni,
    Hic ubi discretas insula rumpit aquas."

    _Ovid, Fast._ ii. 193.

Here also was an altar to the Sabine god Semo-Sancus, whose inscription,
legible in the early centuries of Christianity, led various
ecclesiastical authors into the error that the words "Semoni Sanco"
referred to Simon Magus.[357]

In imperial times the island was used as a prison: among remarkable
prisoners immured here was Arvandus, Prefect of Gaul, A.D. 468. In the
reign of Claudius sick slaves were exposed and left to die here,--that
emperor--by a strange contradiction in one who caused fallen gladiators
to be butchered "for the pleasure of seeing them die"--making a law that
any slave so exposed should receive his liberty if he recovered. In the
middle ages the island was under the jurisdiction of the Cardinal Bishop
of Porto, who lived in the Franciscan convent. Under Leo X. a fête was
held here in which Camillo Querno, the papal poet, was crowned with ivy,
laurel, and cabbage (!). In 1656 the whole island was appropriated as a
hospital for those stricken with the plague,--a singular coincidence for
the site of the temple of Æsculapius.

The first building on the left, after passing the bridge, is a fine
brick tower, of great historic interest, as the only relic of a castle,
built by the family of the Anicii, of which St. Gregory the Great was a
member, and two of whom were consuls together under Honorius:

    "Est in Romuleo procumbens insula Tibri,
    Qua medius geminas interfluit alveus urbes,
    Discretas subeunte freto, pariterque minantes
    Ardua turrigeræ surgunt in culmina ripæ.
    Hic stetit et subitum prospexit ab aggere votum.
    Unanimes fratres junctos stipante senatu
    Ire forum, strictasque procul radiare secures,
    Atque uno bijuges tolli de limine fasces."

    _Claudius, Paneg. in Prob. et Olyb. Cons._ 226.

From the Anicii the castle passed to the Gaetani. It was occupied as a
fortress by the Countess Matilda, after she had driven the faction of
the anti-pope Guibert out of the island, and was the refuge where two
successive popes, Victor III. and Urban II., lived under her
protection.[358]

The centre of the island is now occupied by the _Church and Convent of
S. Bartolomeo_, which gives it its present name.

The piazza in front of the church is occupied by a pillar, erected at
the private expense of Pius IX., to commemorate the opening of the
Vatican Council of 1869--70,--adorned with statues of St. Bartholomew,
St. Paulinus of Nola, St. Francis, and S. Giovanni di Dio. Here formerly
stood an ancient obelisk (the only one of unknown origin). A fragment of
it was long preserved at the Villa Albani, whence it is said to have
been removed to Urbino. The church, a basilica, was founded by Otho III.
_c._ 1000; its campanile dates from 1118. The nave and aisles are
divided by red granite columns, said to be relics of the ancient
temple,--as is a marble well-head under the stairs leading to the
tribune. This was restored in 1798, and dedicated to St. Adalbert of
Gnesen, who bestowed upon the church its great relic, the body of St.
Bartholomew, which he asserted to have brought from Beneventum, though
the inhabitants of that town profess that they still possess the _real_
body of the apostle, and sent that of St. Paulinus of Nola to Rome
instead. The dispute about the possession of this relic ran so high as
to lead to a siege of Beneventum in the middle ages. The convent belongs
to the Franciscans (Frati-Minori), who will admit male visitors into
their pretty little garden at the end of the island, to see the remains
of

The Temple of Æsculapius, built after the great plague in Rome, in B.C.
291, when, in accordance with the advice of the Sibylline books,
ambassadors were sent to Epidaurus to bring Æsculapius to Rome;--they
returned with a statue of the god, but as their vessel sailed up the
Tiber, a serpent, which had lain concealed during the voyage, glided
from it, and landed on this spot, hailed by the people under the belief
that Æsculapius himself had thus come to them. In consequence of this
story the form of a ship was given to this end of the island, and its
bow may still be seen at the end of the convent garden, with the famous
serpent of Æsculapius sculptured upon it in high relief.[359] The
curious remains still existing are not of sufficient size to bear out
the assertion often made that the whole island was enclosed in the
travertine form of a ship, of which the temple of Jupiter at the other
end afterwards formed the prow, and the obelisk the mast.

     "Pendant les guerres Samnites, Rome fut de nouveau frappée par une
     de ces maladies auxquelles elle était souvent en proie; celle-ci
     dura trois années. On eut recours aux livres Sibyllins. En cas
     pareil ils avaient prescrit de consacrer un temple à Apollon; cette
     fois ils prescrivirent d'aller à Epidaure chercher le fils
     d'Apollon, Esculape, et de l'amener à Rome. Esculape, sous la forme
     d'un serpent, fut transporté d'Epidaure dans l'île Tibérine, où on
     lui éleva un temple, et où ont été trouvés des _ex-voto_,
     représentant des bras, des jambes, diverses autres parties du corps
     humain, _ex-votos_ qu'on eût pu croire provenir d'une église de
     Rome, car le catholicisme romain a adopté cet usage païen sans y
     rien changer.

     "Pourquoi place-t-on le temple d'Esculape en cet endroit? On a vu
     que l'île Tibérine avait été très-anciennement consacrée au culte
     d'un dieu des Latins primitifs, Faunus; or ce dieu rendait ses
     oracles près des sources thermales; its devaient avoir souvent pour
     l'objet la guérison des malades qui venaient demander la santé à
     ces sources. De plus, les malades consultaient Esculape dans les
     songes par incubation, comme dans l'Ovide, Numa va consulter Faunus
     sur l'Aventin. Il n'est donc pas surprenant qu'on ait institué le
     culte du dieu grec de la santé, là où le dieu latin Faunus rendait
     ses oracles dans des songes, et où étaient probablement des sources
     d'eau chaude qui ont disparu comme les _lautulæ_ près du Forum
     romain.

     "On donna à l'île la forme d'un vaisseau, plus tard un obélisque
     figura le mât; en la regardant du Ponte Rotto, on reconnaît encore
     très bien cette forme, de ce côté, on voit sculpté sur le mur qui
     figure le vaisseau d'Esculape une image du dieu avec un serpent
     entortillé autour de son sceptre. La belle statue d'Esculape, venue
     des jardins Farnèse, passe pour avoir été celle de l'île Tibérine.
     Un temple de Jupiter touchait à ce temple d'Esculape.

     "Un jour que je visitais ce lieu, le sacristain de l'église de St.
     Barthélemy me dit, '_Al tempo d'Esculapio quando Giove regnava._'
     Phrase singulière, et qui montre encore vivante une sorte de foi au
     paganisme chez les Romains."--_Ampère_, iii. 42.

Opposite S. Bartolomeo, on the site of the temple of Faunus, is the
_Hospital of S. Giovanni Calabita_, also called _Benfratelli_, entirely
under the care of the brethren of S. Giovanni di Dio, who cook, nurse,
wash, and otherwise do all the work of those who pass under their care,
often to the number of 1200 in the course of the year, though the
hospital is very small.

     "C'est à Pie V. que les frères de l'ordre de la _Charité_, institué
     par saint Jean de Dieu, durent leur premier établissement à Rome.

     "Au milieu du cortége triomphal qui accompagnait don Juan
     d'Autriche (1571), lors de son retour de Lépante, on remarquait un
     pauvre homme misérablement vêtu et à l'attitude modeste. Il se
     nommait Sébastien Arias _des frères de Jean de Dieu_. Jean de Dieu
     était mort sans laisser d'autre règle à ses disciples que ces
     touchantes paroles qu'il répétait sans cesse, _faites le bien, mes
     frères_; et Sébastien d'Arias venait à Rome pour demander au pape
     l'autorisation de former des couvents et d'avoir des hospices où
     ils pussent suivre les exemples de dévouement que leur avait
     laissés Jean de Dieu. Or, Sébastien rencontra don Juan à Naples, et
     le vainqueur de Lépante le prit avec lui. Il se chargea même
     d'appuyer sa requête, et Pie V. s'empressa d'accorder aux frères
     non-seulement la bulle qu'ils désiraient, mais encore un monastère
     dans l'île du Tibre."--_Gournerie_, _Rome Chrétienne_, ii. 206.

A narrow lane near this leads to the other end of the island, where the
temple of Jupiter stood. It is worth while to go thither for the sake of
the view of the river and its bridges, which is to be obtained from a
little quay leading to one of the numerous water-mills which exist near
this. These floating _Mills_ (which bear sacred monograms upon their
gables) are interesting as having been invented by Belisarius in order
to supply the people and garrison with bread, during the siege of Rome
by Vitiges, when the Goths had cut the aqueducts, and thus rendered the
mills on the Janiculan useless.

The bridge, of one large and two smaller arches, which connects the
island with the Trastevere, is now called the _Ponte S. Bartolomeo_, but
was anciently the Pons Cestius, or Gratianus, built A.U.C. 708, by the
Prætor Lucius Cestius, who was probably father to the Caius Cestius
buried near the Porta S. Paolo. It was restored A.D. 370 by the emperors
Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, as is seen from the fragments of a
red letter inscription on the inside of the parapet, in which the title
"Pontifex Maximus" is ascribed to each--"a tide accepted without
hesitation," says Gibbon, "by seven Christian emperors, who were
invested with more absolute authority over the religion they had
deserted, than over that which they professed."

We now enter _the Trastevere_, the city "across the Tiber,"--the portion
of Rome which is most unaltered from mediæval times, and whose narrow
streets are still overlooked by many ancient towers, gothic windows, and
curious fragments of sculpture. The inhabitants on this side differ in
many respects from those on the other side of the Tiber. They pride
themselves upon being born "Trasteverini," profess to be the direct
descendants of the ancient Romans, seldom intermarry with their
neighbours, and speak a dialect peculiarly their own. It is said that in
their dispositions also they differ from the other Romans, that they are
a far more hasty, passionate, and revengeful, as they are a stronger and
more vigorous race. The proportion of murders (a crime far less common
in Rome than in England) is larger in this than in any other part of the
city. This, it is believed, is partly due to the extreme excitement
which the Trasteverini display in the pursuit of their national games,
especially that of Morrà:--

     "Morrà is played by the men, and merely consists in holding up, in
     rapid succession, any number of fingers they please, calling out at
     the same time the number their antagonist shows. Nothing,
     seemingly, can be more simple or less interesting. Yet, to see them
     play, so violent are their gestures, that you would imagine them
     possessed by some diabolical passion. The eagerness and rapidity
     with which they carry it on render it very liable to mistake and
     altercation; then frenzy fires them, and too often furious disputes
     arise at this trivial play that end in murder. Morrà seems to
     differ in no respect from the _Micare Digitis_ of the ancient
     Romans."--_Eaton's Rome._

A house with gothic windows on the right, soon after passing the bridge,
is pointed out as that once inhabited by the _Fornarina_, beloved of
Raphael, and so well known to us from his portrait of her in the Tribune
at Florence.

Crossing the Via Longarina, we find ourselves in the little piazza of
_S. Benedetto a Piscinuola_, where there is a tiny church, with a good
brick campanile intersected by terra-cotta mouldings, which occupies the
site of the house inhabited by St. Benedict before his retreat to
Subiaco. The exterior is uninviting, but the interior very curious; an
atrium with antique columns opens to a vaulted chapel (of the same
design as the Orto del Paradiso at Sta. Prassede), in which is a picture
of the Virgin and Child, revered as that before which St. Benedict was
wont to pray. Hence is entered the cell of the saint, of rough-hewn
stones. His stone pillow is shown.

The church has ancient pillars, and a rich opus-alexandrinum pavement.

     "Over the high altar is a picture--full-length--of St. Benedict,
     which Mabillon ('Iter Italicum') considers a genuine contemporary
     portrait--though Nibby and other critics suppose it less ancient.
     The figure on gold background is seated in a chair with gothic
     carvings, such as were in mediæval use; the black cowl is drawn
     over the head, the hair and beard are white; the aspect is serious
     and thoughtful, in one hand a crozier, in the other the book of
     rules drawn up by the Saint, displaying the words with which they
     begin: 'Ausculta fili precepta magistri."--_Hemans' Ancient Sacred
     Art._

Turning down the Via Longarina towards the river, we pass, on the left,
considerable remains of the old mediæval _Castle of the Alberteschi
Family_, consisting of a block of palatial buildings of handsome
masonry, with numerous antique fragments built into them, and a very
rich porch sculptured with egg and billet mouldings of _c._ A.D. 1150,
and beyond these, separated from them by a modern street, a high brick
tower of _c._ A.D. 1100. Above one of the windows of this tower, a head
of Jupiter is engrafted in the wall.

We now reach the entrance of the Ponte Rotto (described Chap. V.). Close
to this bridge is the Church of _S. Crispino al Ponte_ (the saint is
buried at S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna). The front is modernized, but the
east end displays rich terra-cotta cornices, and is very picturesque. On
the river bank below this are the colossal lions' heads mentioned in
Chap. V.

Turning up the Via dei Vascellari, we pass on the right, the ancient
_Palace of the Ponziani Family_, once magnificent, but now of humble and
rude exterior, and scarcely to be distinguished, except in March, during
the festa of Sta. Francesca Romana, when old tapestries are hung out
upon its white-washed walls, and the street in front is thickly strewn
with box-leaves.

     "The modern building that has been raised on the foundation of the
     old palace is the Casa dei Esercizii Pii, for the young men of the
     city. There the repentant sinner who longs to break the chain of
     sin, the youth beset by some strong temptation, one who has heard
     the inward voice summoning him to higher paths of virtue, another
     who is in doubt as to the particular line of life to which he is
     called, may come, and leave behind him for three, or five, or ten
     days, as it may be, the busy world, with all its distractions and
     its agitations, and, free for the time being from temporal cares,
     the wants of the body being provided for, and the mind at rest, may
     commune with God and their own souls.

     "Over the Casa dei Esercizii Pii the sweet spirit of Francesca
     seems still to preside. On the day of her festival its rooms are
     thrown open, every memorial of the gentle saint is exhibited,
     lights burn on numerous altars, flowers deck the passages, leaves
     are strewn in the chapel, on the stairs, in the entrance-court; gay
     carpets, figured tapestry, and crimson silks hang over the door,
     and crowds of people go in and out, and kneel before the relics or
     the pictures of the dear saint of Rome. It is a touching festival,
     which carries back the mind to the day when the young bride of
     Lorenzo Ponziano entered these walls for the first time, in all the
     sacred beauty of holiness and youth."--_Lady G. Fullerton._

In this house, also, Sta. Francesca Romana died, having come hither from
her convent to nurse her son who was ill, and having been then seized
with mortal illness herself.

     "Touching were the last words of the dying mother to her spiritual
     children: 'Love, love,' was the burden of her teaching, as it had
     been that of the beloved disciple. 'Love one another,' she said,
     'and be faithful unto death. Satan will assault you, as he has
     assaulted me, but be not afraid. You will overcome him through
     patience and obedience; and no trial will be too grievous, if you
     are united to Jesus; if you walk in His ways, He will be with you.'
     On the seventh day of her illness, as she had herself announced,
     her life came to a close. A sublime expression animated her face, a
     more ethereal beauty clothed her earthly form. Her confessor for
     the last time inquired what it was her enraptured eyes beheld, and
     she answered, 'The heavens open! the angels descend! the angel has
     finished his task. He stands before me. He beckons me to follow
     him.' These were the last words Francesca uttered."--_Lady G.
     Fullerton's Life of Sta. F. Romana._

Almost opposite the Ponziani Palace, an alley leads to the small chapel
of _Sta. Maria in Cappella_, which has a good brick campanile, dating
from 1090. This building is attached to a hospital for poor women ill of
incurable diseases, attended by sisters of charity, and entirely under
the patronage of the Doria family.

We now reach the front of the _Convent and Church of Sta. Cecilia_
(facing which is a picturesque mediæval house), in many ways one of the
most interesting buildings in the city.

Cecilia was a noble and rich Roman lady, who lived in the reign of
Alexander Severus. She was married at sixteen to Valerian, a heathen,
with whom she lived in perpetual virginity, telling him that her
guardian angel watched over her by day and night.

    "I have an angel which thus loveth me--
    That with great love, whether I wake or sleep,
    Is ready aye my body for to keep."

    _Chaucer._

At length Valerian and his brother Tiburtius were converted to
Christianity by her prayers, and the exhortations of Pope Urban I. The
husband and brother were beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to idols,
and Cecilia was shortly afterwards condemned by Almachius, prefect of
Rome, who was covetous of the great wealth she had inherited by their
deaths. She was first shut up in the _Sudatorium_ of her own baths, and
a blazing fire was lighted, that she might be destroyed by the hot
vapours. But when the bath was opened, she was found still living, "for
God," says the legend, "had sent a cooling shower, which had tempered
the heat of the fire, and preserved the life of the saint." Almachius,
then, who dreaded the consequences of bringing so noble and courageous a
victim to public execution, sent a lictor to behead her in her own
palace, but he executed his office so ill, that she still lived after
the third blow of his axe, after which the Roman law forbade that a
victim should be stricken again. "The Christians found her bathed in her
blood, and during three days she still preached and taught, like a
doctor of the Church, with such sweetness and eloquence, that four
hundred pagans were converted. On the third day she was visited by Pope
Urban, to whose care she tenderly committed the poor whom she nourished,
and to him she bequeathed the palace in which she had lived, that it
might be consecrated as a temple to the Saviour. Then, "thanking God
that he considered her, a humble woman, worthy to share the glory of his
heroes, and with her eyes apparently fixed upon the heavens opening
before her, she departed to her heavenly bridegroom, upon the 22nd
November, A.D. 280."

The foundation of the church dates from its consecration by Pope Urban
I., after the death of St. Cecilia, but it was rebuilt by Paschal I. in
821, and miserably modernized by Cardinal Doria in 1725. The exterior
retains its ancient campanile of 1120, and its atrium of marble pillars,
evidently collected from pagan edifices and surmounted by a frieze of
mosaic, in which medallion heads of Cecilia, Valerian, Tiburtius, Urban
I., and others are introduced. In the courtyard of the convent, which
belongs to Benedictine nuns, is a fine specimen of the Roman vase called
Cantharus, perhaps coeval with St. Cecilia's own residence here.

Right of the door, on entering, is the tomb of Adam of Hertford, Bishop
of London, who died 1398, the only one spared from a cruel death, of the
cardinals who conspired against Urban VI., and were taken prisoners at
Lucera--from fear of King John who was his friend. His sarcophagus is
adorned with the arms of England, then three leopards and fleurs-de-lis
quartered. On the opposite side of the entrance is the tomb of Cardinal
Fortiguerra, conspicuous in the contests of Pius II. and Paul II. with
the Malatestas and Savellis in the fifteenth century. The drapery is a
beautiful specimen of the delicate carving of detail during that period.

The altar canopy, which bears the name of its artist, Arnolphus, and the
date 1286, is a fine specimen of gothic work, and has statuettes of
Cecilia, Valerian, Tiburtius, and Urban. Beneath the altar is the famous
statue of St. Cecilia.

In the archives of the Vatican remains an account written by Pope
Paschal I. (A.D. 817--24) himself, describing how, "yielding to the
infirmity of the flesh," he fell asleep in his chair during the early
morning service at St. Peter's, with his mind pre-occupied with a
longing to find the burial-place of Cecilia, and discover her relics.
Then in a glorified vision the virgin-saint appeared before him, and
revealed the spot where she lay, with her husband and brother-in-law, in
the catacomb of Calixtus, and there they were found, and transported to
her church on the following day.

In the sixteenth century, Sfondrato, titular cardinal of the church,
opened the tomb of the martyr, when the embalmed body of Cecilia was
found, as it had been previously found by Paschal, robed in gold tissue,
with linen clothes steeped in blood at her feet, "not lying upon the
back, like a body in a tomb, but upon its right side, like a virgin in
her bed, with her knees modestly drawn together, and offering the
appearance of sleep." Pope Clement VIII. and all the people of Rome
rushed to look upon the saint, who was afterwards enclosed as she was
found, in a shrine of cypress wood cased in silver. But before she was
again hidden from sight, the greatest artist of the day, Stefano
Maderno, was called in by Sfondrato, to sculpture the marble portrait
which we now see lying upon her grave. Sfondrato (whose tomb is in this
church) also enriched her shrine with the ninety-six silver lamps which
burn constantly before it. In regarding this statue it will be
remembered that Cecilia was not beheaded, but wounded in the throat,--a
gold circlet conceals the wound.

     In the statue "the body lies on its side, the limbs a little drawn
     up; the hands are delicate and fine,--they are not locked, but
     crossed at the wrists: the arms are stretched out. The drapery is
     beautifully modelled, and modestly covers the limbs.... It is the
     statue of a lady, perfect in form, and affecting from the
     resemblance to reality in the drapery of white marble, and the
     unspotted appearance of the statue altogether. It lies as no living
     body could lie, and yet correctly, as the dead when left to
     expire,--I mean in the gravitation of the limbs."--_Sir C. Bell._

     The inscription says: "Behold the body of the most holy virgin
     Cecilia, whom I myself saw lying incorrupt in her tomb. I have in
     this marble expressed for thee the same saint in the very same
     posture of body."

The tribune is adorned with mosaics of the ninth century, erected in the
lifetime of Paschal I. (see his _square_ nimbus). The Saviour is seen in
the act of benediction, robed in gold: at his side are SS. Peter and
Paul, St. Cecilia and St. Valerian, St. Paschal I. carrying the model of
his church, and St. Agatha, whom he joined with Cecilia in its
dedication. The mystic palm-trees and the phœnix, the emblem of
eternity, are also represented, and, beneath, the four rivers, and the
twelve sheep, emblematical of the apostles, issuing from the gates of
Bethlehem and Jerusalem, to the adoration of the spotless Lamb. The
picture of St. Cecilia behind the altar is attributed to _Guido_.

At the end of the right aisle is an ancient fresco representing the
dream of Pope Paschal,--the (mitred) pope asleep upon his throne, and
the saint appearing before him in a rich robe adorned with gems. This is
the last of a series of frescoes which once existed in the portico of
the church. The rest were destroyed in the seventeenth century. There
are copies of them in the Barberini Library, viz.

    1. The marriage feast of Valerian and Cecilia.
    2. Cecilia persuades Valerian to seek for St. Urban.
    3. Valerian rides forth to seek for Urban.
    4. Valerian is baptized.
    5. An Angel crowns Cecilia and Valerian.
    6. Cecilia converts her executioners.
    7. Cecilia suffers in the bath.
    8. The Martyrdom of Cecilia.
    9. The Burial of Cecilia.
    10. The dream of Paschal.

Opening out of the same aisle are two chambers in the house of St.
Cecilia, one the sudatorium of her baths, in which she was immured,
actually retaining the pipes and calorifers of an ancient Roman bath.

The Festa of St. Cecilia is observed in this church on November 22nd,
when--

    --"rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted queen of harmony"--[360]

is honoured in beautiful music from the papal choir assembled here.
Visitors to Bologna will recollect the glorious figure of St. Cecilia by
Raphael, rapt in ecstasy, and surrounded by instruments of music. This
association with Cecilia probably arises from the tradition of the
church, which tells how Valerian, returning from baptism by Pope Urban,
found her singing hymns of triumph for his conversion, of which he had
supposed her to be ignorant, and that when the bath was opened after
her three days' imprisonment, she was again found singing the praises of
her Saviour.

It is said that "she sang with such ravishing sweetness, that even the
angels descended from heaven to listen to her, or to join their voices
with hers."

The antiphons sung upon her festival are:

     "And Cecilia, thy servant, serves thee, O Lord, even as the bee
     that is never idle.

     "I bless thee, O Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, for through thy
     Son the fire hath been quenched round about me.

     "I asked of the Lord a respite of three days, that I might
     consecrate my house as a church.

     "O Valerian, I have a secret to tell thee; I have for my lover an
     angel of God, who, with great jealousy, watches over my body.

     "The glorious virgin ever bore the Gospel of Christ in her bosom,
     and neither by day nor night ceased from conversing with God in
     prayer."

And the anthem:

     "While the instruments of music were playing, Cecilia sang unto the
     Lord, and said, Let my heart be undefiled, that I may never be
     confounded.

     "And Valerianus found Cecilia praying in her chamber with an
     angel."

It will be remembered that Cecilia is one of the chosen saints _daily_
commemorated in the canon of the mass.

     "Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis, de multitudine
     miserationum tuarum sperantibus, partem aliquam et societatem
     donare digneris cum tuis sanctis Apostolis et Martyribus: cum
     Joanne, Stephano, Matthia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellino,
     Petro, Felicitate, Perpetua, Agata, Lucia, Agnete, _Cæcilia_,
     Anastasia, et omnibus sanctis."

Just beyond St. Cecilia is the immense _Hospital of S. Michele_, founded
by Cardinal Odescalchi, nephew of Innocent XI., in 1693, as a refuge for
vagabond children, where they might be properly brought up and taught a
trade. Innocent XII. (Pignatelli) added to this foundation a hospital
for sick persons of both sexes, and each succeeding pope has increased
the buildings and their endowment. The establishment is now divided into
an asylum for old men and women, a school with ateliers for boys and
girls, and a penitentiary ("Casa delle Donne cattive"). A large church
was attached to the hospital by Leo XII. No old men are admitted who
have not inhabited Rome for five years; if they are still able to work a
small daily task is given to them. The old women, as long as they can
work, are obliged to mend and wash the linen of the establishment. The
boys, for the most part orphans, are received at the age of eleven. The
girls receive a dowry of 300 francs if they marry, but double that sum
if they consent to enter a convent. A printing press is attached to the
hospital.

S. Michele occupies the site of the sacred grove of the goddess Furina
(not of the Furies), where Caius Gracchus was killed, B.C. 123.
Protected by his friends, he escaped from the Aventine, where he had
first taken refuge, and crossed the Pons Sublicius. A single slave
reached the grove of Furina with him, who having in vain sought for a
horse to continue their flight, first slew his master and then himself.
One Septimuleius then cut off the head of Gracchus, and--a proclamation
having been issued that any one who brought the head of Caius Gracchus
should receive its weight in gold--first filled it with lead, and then
carried it on a spear to the consul Opimius, who paid him his
blood-money.

At the end of this street is the _Porta Portese_, built by Urban VIII.,
through which runs the road to Porto and Fiumicino.

Outside this gate was the site of the camp of Tarquin,--afterwards given
by the senate to Mutius-Scævola, for his bravery in the camp of Lars
Porsenna. The vineyards here have an interest to Roman Catholics as the
scene of one of the miracles attributed to Sta. Francesca Romana.

     "One fine sunny January day, Francesca and her companions had
     worked since dawn in the vineyards of the Porta Portese. They had
     worked hard for several hours, and then suddenly remembered that
     they had brought no provisions with them. They soon became faint
     and hungry, and, above all, very thirsty. Perna, the youngest of
     all the oblates, was particularly heated and tired, and asked
     permission of the Mother Superior to go to drink water at a
     fountain some way off on the public road.

     "'Be patient, my child,' Francesca answered, and they went on with
     their work; but Francesca withdrawing aside, knelt down, and said,
     'Lord Jesus, I have been thoughtless in forgetting to provide food
     for my sisters,--help us in our need.'

     "Perna, who had kept near the Mother Superior, said to herself,
     with some impatience, 'It would be more to the purpose to take us
     home at once.' Then Francesca, turning to her, said, 'My child, you
     do not trust in God; look up and see.' And Perna saw a vine
     entwined around a tree, whose dead and leafless branches were
     loaded with grapes. In speechless astonishment the oblates
     assembled around the tree, for they had all seen its bare and
     withered branches. Twenty times at least they had passed before it,
     and the season for grapes was gone by. There were exactly as many
     bunches as persons present.'--_See Lady G. Fullerton's Life of Sta.
     F. Romana._

From the back of S. Michele a cross street leads to the _Church of Sta.
Maria dell' Orto_, designed by Giulio Romano, _c._ 1530, except the
façade, which is by Martino Lunghi. The high altar is by Giacomo della
Porta. The church contains an Annunciation by _Taddeo Zucchero_.

     "Cette église appartient à plusieurs corporations; chacune a sa
     tombe devant sa propre chapelle, et sur le couvercle sont gravées
     ses armes particulières; un coq sur la tombe des marchands de
     volaille, une pantoufle sur celle des savetiers, des artichauts sur
     celle des jardiniers, &c."--_Robello._

Close to this, at the end of the street which runs parallel with S.
Michele, is the _Church of S. Francesco a Ripa_, the noviciate of the
Franciscans--"Frati Minori." The convent contains the room (approached
through the church) in which St. Francis lived, during his visits at
Rome, with many relics of him. His stone pillow and his crucifix are
shown, and a picture of him by G. de' Lettesoli. An altar in his chamber
supports a reliquary in which 18,000 relics are displayed!

The church was rebuilt soon after the death of St. Francis by the knight
Pandolfo d'Anquillara (his castle is in the Via Lungaretta), whose tomb
is in the church, with his figure, in the dress of a Franciscan monk,
which he assumed in the latter part of his life. It was again rebuilt by
Cardinal Pallavicini, from designs of Matteo Rossi. Among its pictures
are the Virgin and St. Anne by _Baciccio_, the Nativity by _Simon
Vouet_, and a dead Christ by _Annibale Caracci_. On the left of the
altar is the Altieri chapel, in which is a recumbent statue of the
blessed Luigi Albertoni, by _Bernini_. In the third chapel on the right
is a mummy, said to be that of the virgin martyr Sta. Semplicia. The
convent garden has some beautiful palm-trees.

Following the Via Morticelli we regain the Via Lungaretta near S.
Benedetto. This street, more than any other in Rome, retains remnants of
mediæval architecture. On the right (opposite the opening to the west
end of S. Chrisogono) is the entrance to the old _Castle of the
Anguillara Family_, of whom were Count Pandolfo d'Anguillara already
mentioned, and Everso, his grandson, celebrated for his highway
robberies between Rome and Viterbo in the fifteenth century; also Orso
d'Anguillara, senator of Rome, who crowned Petrarch at the Capitol on
Easter Day, 1341. "The family device, two crossed eels, surmounted by a
helmet, and a wild boar holding a serpent in his mouth, is believed to
refer to the story of the founder of their house, Malagrotta, a second
St. George, who slew a terrible serpent, which had devastated the
district round his abode, and received in recompense from the pope the
gift of as much land as he could walk round in one day."[361]

The existing remains consist of an arch, called "L'Arco dell'
Annunziata," and a brick tower, which is now in the possession of a
Signor Forti, who exhibits here, during Epiphany, a remarkably pretty
_Presepio_, in which the Holy Family and the Shepherds are seen backed
by the real landscape. For those who witness this sight it will be
interesting to turn to the origin of a Presepio.

     "St. Francis asked [of Pope Honorius III. 1223], with his usual
     simplicity, to be allowed to celebrate Christmas with certain
     unusual ceremonies which had suggested themselves to
     him--ceremonies which he must have thought likely to seize upon the
     popular imagination and impress the unlearned folk. He would not do
     it on his own authority, we are told, lest he should be accused of
     levity. When he made this petition, he was bound for the village of
     Grecia, a little place not far from Assisi, where he was to remain
     during that sacred season. In this village, when the eve of the
     nativity approached, Francis instructed a certain grave and worthy
     man, called Giovanni, to prepare an ox and an ass, along with a
     manger and all the common fittings of a stable, for his use, in the
     church. When the solemn night arrived, Francis and his brethren
     arranged all these things into a visible representation of the
     occurrences of the night at Bethlehem. The manger was filled with
     hay, the animals were led into their places; the scene was
     prepared as we see it now through all the churches of Southern
     Italy--a reproduction, so far as the people know how, in startling
     realistic detail of the surroundings of the first Christmas.... We
     are told that Francis stood by this, his simple theatrical (for
     such, indeed, it was--no shame to him) representation, all the
     night long, sighing for joy, and filled with an unspeakable
     sweetness."--_Mrs. Oliphant, St. Francis._

On the left, is the fine _Church of S. Chrisogono_, founded by Pope
Sylvester, but rebuilt in 731, and again by Cardinal Scipio Borghese
(who modernized so many of the old churches), in 1623. The tower is
mediæval (rebuilt?), but spoilt by whitewash; the portico has four
ancient granite columns. The interior is a basilica, the nave being
separated from the aisles by twenty-two granite columns, and the tribune
from the nave by two magnificent columns of porphyry. The baldacchino,
of graceful proportions, rests on pillars of yellow alabaster. Over the
tabernacle is a picture of the Virgin and Child by the _Cav. d'Arpino_.
The mosaic in the tribune, probably only the fragment of a larger
design, represents the Madonna and Child enthroned, between St. James
the Great and St. Chrisogonus. The stalls are good specimens of modern
wood-carving. Near the end of the right aisle is the modern tomb of Anna
Maria Taigi, lately beatified and likely to be canonized, though readers
of her life will find it difficult to imagine why,--the great point of
her character being that she was a good wife to her husband, though he
was "ruvido di maniere, e grossolano." Stephen Langton, Archbishop of
Canterbury, was titular cardinal of this church.

S. Chrisogono, represented in the mosaic as a young knight, stood by
Sta. Anastasia during her martyrdom, exhorting her to patient endurance.
He was afterwards himself beheaded under Diocletian, and his body
thrown into the sea.

In 1866 an _Excubitorium_ of the VIIth cohort of Vigiles (a station of
Roman firemen) was discovered near this church. Several chambers were
tolerably perfect.

On the left, we pass the _Hospital of S. Gallicano_, founded by Benedict
XIII. (Orsini), in 1725, as is told by the inscription over the
entrance, for the "neglectis rejectisque ab omnibus." The interior
contains two long halls opening into one another, the first containing
120 beds for men, the second 88 for women. Patients affected with
maladies of the skin are received here to the number of 100. The
principal treatment is by means of baths, which gives the negative,
within these walls, to the Italian saying that "an ancient Roman took as
many baths in a week as a modern Roman in all his life." The
establishment is at present under the management of the Benfratelli
("Fate bene fratelli"). S. Gallicano, to whom the hospital is dedicated,
was a Benfratello of the time of Constantine, who devoted his time and
his fortune to the poor.

At the upper end of the Via Lungaretta is a piazza with a very handsome
fountain, on one side of which is the _Church of Sta. Maria in
Trastevere_, supposed to be the first church in Rome dedicated to the
Virgin. It was founded by St. Calixtus in _A.D._ 224, on the site of the
Taberna-Meritoria, an asylum for old soldiers; where, according to Don
Cassius, a fountain of pure oil sprang up at the time of our Saviour's
birth, and flowed away in one day to the Tiber, a story which gave the
name of "Fons Olei" to the church in early times. It is said that
wine-sellers and tavern-keepers (popinarii) disputed with the early
Christian inhabitants for this site, upon which the latter had raised
some kind of humble oratory, and that they carried their complaint
before Alexander Severus, when the emperor awarded the site to the
Christians, saying, "I prefer that it should belong to those who honour
God, whatever be their form of worship."

     "Ce souvenir augmente encore l'intérêt qui s'attache à l'église de
     Santa Maria in Trastevere. Les colonnes antiques de granit égyptien
     de cette basilique et les belles mosaïques qui la décorent me
     touchent moins que la tradition d'après laquelle elle fut élevée là
     où de pauvres chrétiens se rassemblaient dans un cabaret purifié
     par leur piété, pour y célébrer le culte qui devait un jour étaler
     ses magnificences sous le dôme resplendissant de
     Saint-Pierre."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 318.

The church was rebuilt in 340 by Julius I., and after a series of
alterations was again almost entirely reconstructed in 1139 by Innocent
II., as a thanksgiving offering for the submission of the anti-pope.
Eugenius III. (1145--50) finished what was left uncompleted, but the new
basilica was not consecrated till the time of Innocent III.
(1198--1216). The tower, apse, tribune, and mosaics belong to the early
restoration; the rest is due to alterations made by Bernardino
Rossellini for Nicholas V.

The west façade is covered with mosaics; the upper part--representing
the Saviour throned between angels--and the lower--of palms, the twelve
sheep, and the mystic cities--are additions by Pius IX. in 1869. The
central frieze was begun in the twelfth century under Eugenius III., and
completed in the fourteenth by Pietro Cavallini. It represents the
Virgin and Child enthroned in the midst, and ten female figures,
generally described as the Ten Virgins,--but Hemans remarks:

     "It is evident that such subject cannot have been in the artist's
     thoughts, as each stately figure advances towards the throne with
     the same devout aspect and graceful serenity, the same faith and
     confidence; the sole observable distinctions being that the two
     with unlit lamps are somewhat more matronly, their costumes
     simpler, than is the case with the rest; and that instead of being
     crowned, as are the others, these two wear veils. Explanation of
     such attributes may be found in the mystic meaning--the light being
     appropriate to virgin saints, the oil taken to signify benevolence
     or almsgiving; and we may conclude that those without light
     represent wives or widows, the others virgin saints, in this group.
     Two other diminutive figures (the scale indicating humility), who
     kneel at the feet of Mary, are Innocent II. and Eugenius III., both
     vested in the pontifical mantle, but bareheaded. Originally the
     Mother and Child _alone_ had the nimbus around the head, as we see
     in a water-colour drawing from this original (now in the Barberini
     Library) dated 1640, made _before_ a renovation by which that halo
     has been given alike to all the female figures. Another much faded
     mosaic, the Madonna and Child, under an arched canopy, high up on
     the campanile, may perhaps be as ancient as those on the
     façade."--_Mediæval Christian Art._

The portico contains two frescoes of the Annunciation, one of them
ascribed to _Cavallini_. Its walls are occupied by early Christian and
pagan inscriptions. One, of the time of Trajan, is regarded with
peculiar interest: "MARCUS COCCEUS LIB. AUG. AMBROSIUS PRÆPOSITUS,
VESTIS ALBÆ, TRIUMPHALIS, FECIT, NICE CONJUGI SUÆ CUM QUA VIXIT ANNOS
XXXXV., DIEBUS XI., SINE ULLA QUERELA." Between the doors is preserved a
curious relic--the stone said to have been attached to St. Calixtus when
he was thrown into the well. The interior is that of a basilica. The
nave, paved with opus-alexandrinum, is divided from the aisles by
twenty-two ancient granite columns, whose Ionic capitals are in several
instances decorated with heads of pagan gods. They support a
richly-decorated architrave. The roof, in the centre of which is a
picture of the Assumption of the Virgin, is painted by _Domenichino_. On
the right of the entrance is a ciborium by Mino da Fiesole. The high
altar covers a confessional, beneath which are the remains of five
early popes, removed from the catacombs. Among the tombs are those of
the painters, Lanfranco and Ciro Ferri, and of Bastari, librarian of the
Vatican, editor of the dictionary of the Della Cruscan Academy, and
canon of this church, ob. 1775.

Pope Innocent II. is buried here without a tomb.

In the left transept is a beautiful gothic tabernacle over an altar,
erected by Cardinal d'Alençon, nephew of Charles de Valois, and brother
of Philippe le Bel. On one side is the tomb of that cardinal (the fresco
represents the martyrdom of his patron St. Philip, who is pourtrayed as
crucified with his head downwards like St. Peter); on the other is the
monument of Cardinal Stefaneschi, by _Paolo_, one of the first sculptors
of the fourteenth century. Opening from hence is a chapel, which has a
curious picture of the Council of Trent by _Taddeo Zucchero_. At the end
of the right aisle are several more fine tombs of the sixteenth century,
and the chapel of the Madonna di Strada Cupa, designed by _Domenichino_,
from whose hand is the figure of a child scattering flowers, sketched
out in one corner of the vaulting.

The upper part of the tribune is adorned with magnificent mosaics,
(restored in modern times by Camuccini,) of the time of Innocent II.

     "In the centre of the principal group on the vault is the Saviour,
     seated, with his Mother, crowned and robed like an Eastern Queen,
     beside him, both sharing the same gorgeous throne and footstool;
     while a hand extends from a fan-like glory with a jewelled crown
     held over his head; _she_ (a singular detail here) giving
     benediction with the usual action; He embracing her with the left
     arm, and in the right hand holding a tablet that displays the words
     'Veni, electa mea, et ponam in thronum meum;' to which corresponds
     the text, from the song of Solomon, on a tablet in her left hand,
     'Læva ejus sub capite meo et dextera illius amplexabitur me.' Below
     the heavenly throne stand, each with name inscribed in gold
     letters, Innocent II., holding a model of this church; St.
     Laurence, in deacon's vestments, with the Gospels and the jewelled
     cross; the sainted popes, Calixtus I., Cornelius, and Julius I.;
     St. Peter (in classic white vestments), and Calepodius, a martyr of
     the third century, here introduced because his body, together with
     those of the other saints in the same group, was brought from the
     catacombs to this church.

     "As to ecclesiastical costume, this work affords decisive evidence
     of its ancient splendour and varieties. We do not see the keys in
     the hands of St. Peter, but the large tonsure on his head; that
     ecclesiastical badge which he is said to have invented, and which
     is sometimes the sole peculiarity (besides the ever-recognisable
     type) given to this Apostle in art.

     "Above the archivolt we see a cross between the Alpha and Omega,
     and the winged emblems of the Evangelists; laterally, Jeremiah and
     Isaiah, each with a prophetic text on a scroll; along a frieze
     below, twelve sheep advancing from the holy cities, Jerusalem and
     Bethlehem, towards the Divine Lamb, who stands on a mount whence
     issue the four rivers of Paradise--or, according to perhaps juster
     interpretation, the four streams of gospel truth. Palms and a
     phœnix are seen beside the two prophets; also a less common
     symbol--caged birds, that signify the righteous soul incarcerated
     in the body, or (with highest reference) the Saviour in his assumed
     humanity; such accessory reminding of the ancient usage, in some
     countries, of releasing birds at funerals, and of that still kept
     up amidst the magnificent canonization-rites, of offering various
     kinds of birds, in cages, at the papal throne.

     "Remembering the date of the composition before us, about a century
     and a half before the time of Cimabue and Giotto, we may hail in
     it, if not an actual Renaissance, the dawn, at least, that heralds
     a brighter day for art, compared with the deep gloom
     previous."--_Hemans' Mediæval Christian Art._

Below these are another series of mosaics representing six scenes in the
life of the Virgin, the work of Pietro Cavallini, of the thirteenth
century, when they were ordered by Bertoldo Stefaneschi, who is himself
introduced in one of the subjects. In the centre of the tribune is an
ancient marble episcopal throne, raised by a flight of steps.

In the _Sacristy_ is a picture of the Virgin with S. Rocco and S.
Sebastiano, by _Perugino_. Here are preserved some beautiful fragments
of mosaics of birds, &c., from the catacombs.

Outside the right transept of Sta. Maria is a picturesque shrine, and
there are many points about this ancient church which are interesting to
the artist. The palace, which forms one side of the piazza at the west
end of the church, formerly _Palazzo Moroni_, is now used as the summer
residence of the Benedictine monks of S. Paolo, who are driven from
their convent by the malaria during the hot months. During the
revolutionary government of 1848--49, a number of priests suffered death
here, which has led to the monastery being regarded as "the Carmes of
Rome." The modern _Church of S. Calisto_ contains the well in which he
suffered martyrdom, A.D. 222. This well, now seen through a door near
the altar, was then in the open air, and the pope was thrown into it
from the window of a house in which he had been imprisoned and scourged,
and where he had converted the soldier who was appointed to guard him.
His festival is celebrated here with great splendour by the monks.

Opposite S. Calisto is the _Monastery of St. Anna_, in which were passed
the last days of the beautiful and learned Vittoria Colonna. As her
death approached she was removed to the neighbouring house of her
kinsman Giuliano Cesarini, and there she expired (February, 1547) in the
presence of her devoted friend, Michael Angelo, who always regretted
that he had not in that solemn moment ventured to press his lips for the
first and last time to her beautiful countenance. She was buried, by her
own desire, in the convent chapel, without any monument.

Hence a lane leads to the _Church of S. Cosimato_, in an open space
facing the hill of S. Rietro in Montorio (where stands of seats are
placed during the Girandola). A courtyard is entered through a low arch
supported by two ancient columns, having a high roof with rich
terra-cotta mouldings,--beautiful in colour. The court contains an
antique fountain, and is exceedingly picturesque. The church has
carefully sculptured details of cornice and moulding; the door is a good
specimen of mediæval wood-carving. The wall on the left of the altar is
occupied by a most beautiful fresco of _Pinturicchio_, representing St.
Francis and St. Clare standing on either side of the Virgin and Child.
Opening from the end of the left aisle is a very interesting chapel,
decorated with frescoes, and containing a most beautiful altar of the
fifteenth century, in honour of the saints Severa and Fortunata, with
statuettes of Faith, Justice, Charity, and Hope. Attached to the church
is a very large convent of Poor Clares, which produced two saints,
Theodora and Seraphina, in the fifteenth century.

Following the Via della Scala, on the south side of Sta. Maria in
Trastevere, we reach the _Porta Settimiana_, built by Alexander VI. on
the site of a gateway raised by Honorius, which marked the position of
an arch of Septimius Severus. This is the entrance of the Via Lungara,
containing the Corsini and Farnesina Palaces (see Chapter XX.). The
gateway has forked battlements, but is much spoilt by recent
plasterings. Near this is _Sta. Dorotea_, an ugly church, but important
in church history from its connection with the foundation of the Order
of the Theatins, which arose out of a revulsion from the sensuous age of
Leo X.; and as containing the tomb of their founder, Don Gaëtano di
Teatino, the friend of Paul IV.

     "Dès le règne de Léon X., quelques symptômes d'une réaction
     religieuse se manifestèrent dans les hautes classes de la société
     romaine. On vit un certain nombre d'hommes éminents s'affilier les
     uns aux autres, afin de trouver dans de saintes pratiques assez de
     force pour résister à l'atmosphère énervante qui les entourait. Ils
     prirent pour leur association le titre et les emblèmes de l'amour
     divin, et ils s'assemblèrent, à des jours déterminés, dans l'église
     de Sainte-Dorothée, près de la porte Settimiana. Parmi ces hommes
     de foi et d'avenir, on citait un archevêque, Caraffa; un
     protonotaire apostolique, Gaëtan de Thiène; un noble Vénitien aussi
     distingué par son caractére que par ses talents, Contarini; et
     cinquante autres dont les noms rappellaient tons, ou une
     illustration ou une haute position sociale, tels que Lippomano,
     Sadolet, Ghiberti.

     "Mais bientôt ces premiers essais de rupture avec la tendance
     générale des esprits enflammèrent le zèle de plusieurs des membres
     de la Congrégation de _l'Amour divin_. Caraffa surtout, dont l'âme
     ardente n'avait trouvé qu'anxiétés et fatigue dans les grandeurs,
     aspirait à une vie d'action qui lui permit de s'employer, de tous
     ses moyens, à la réforme du monde. Il trouva dans Gaëtan de Thiène
     des dispositions conformes à ce qu'il désirait. Gaëtan avait
     cependant un caractère très-différent du sien; doué d'une angélique
     douceur, craignant de se faire entendre, recherchant la méditation
     et la retraite, il eût voulu, lui aussi, réformer le monde, mais il
     n'eût pas voulu en être connu. Les qualités diverses de ces deux
     hommes rares se combinèrent heureusement dans l'exécution du projet
     qu'ils avaient conçu, c'était de former des ecclésiastiques voués,
     tout ensemble à la contemplation et à une vie austère, à la
     prédication et au soin des malades; des ecclésiastiques qui
     donnassent partout au clergé l'exemple de l'accomplissement des
     devoirs de sa sainte mission."--_Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne_, ii.
     157.

     "When Dorothea, the maiden of Cæsarea, was condemned to death by
     Sapritius, she replied, 'Be it so, then I shall the sooner stand in
     the presence of Christ, my spouse, in whose garden are the fruits
     of paradise, and roses that never fade.' As she was being led to
     execution, the young Theophilus mocking said, 'O maiden, goest thou
     to join thy bridegroom? send me then, I pray thee, of the fruits
     and flowers which grow in his garden.' And the maiden bowed her
     head and smiled, saying, 'Thy request is granted, O Theophilus,'
     whereat he laughed, and she went forward to death.

     "And behold, at the place of execution, a beautiful child, with
     hair like the sunbeam, stood beside her, and in his hand was a
     basket containing three fresh roses and three apples. And she said,
     'Take these to Theophilus, and tell him that Dorothea waits for him
     in the garden from whence they came.'

     "And the child sought Theophilus, and gave him the flowers and the
     fruits, saying, 'Dorothea sends thee these,' and vanished. And the
     heart of Theophilus melted, and he ate of the fruit from heaven,
     and was converted and professed himself one of Christ's servants,
     so that he also was martyred, and was translated into the heavenly
     garden."--_Legend._

This story is told in nearly all the pictures of Sta. Dorotea.

Hence we reach the _Ponte Sisto_, built 1473--75 by Sixtus IV. in the
place of the Pons Janiculensis, (or, according to Ampère, the Pons
Antoninus,) which Caracalla had erected to reach the garden in the
Trastevere, formerly belonging to his brother Geta,--but which was known
as the Pons Fractus after a flood had destroyed part of it in 792. The
Acts of Eusebius describe the many Christian martyrdoms which took place
from this bridge. S. Symphorosa under Hadrian, S. Sabas under Aurelian,
S. Calepodius under Alexander, and S. Anthimius under Diocletian, were
thrown into the Tiber from hence, with many others, whose bodies,
usually drifting to the island then called Lycaonia, were recovered
there by their faithful disciples.[362] An inscription upon the bridge
begs the prayers of the passengers for its papal founder.

Beautiful views may be obtained from this bridge,--on the one side, of
the island, of the temple of Vesta, and the Alban hills; on the other,
of St. Peter's, rising behind the Farnesina Gardens, and the grand mass
of the Farnese Palace, towering above the less important buildings.

     "They had reached the bridge and stopped to look at the view,
     perhaps the most beautiful of all those seen from the Roman
     bridges. Looking towards the hills, the Tiber was spanned by Ponte
     Rotto, under which the old black mills were turning ceaselessly,
     almost level with the tawny water; the sunshine fell full on the
     ruins of the Palatine, about the base of which had gathered a crowd
     of modern buildings; a brick campanile, of the middle ages, rose
     high above them against the blue sky, which was seen through its
     open arches; beyond were the Latin Hills; on the other hand, St.
     Peter's stood pre-eminent in the distance; nearer, a stack of
     picturesque old houses were half hidden by orange-trees, where
     golden fruit clustered thickly; women leant from the windows, long
     lines of flapping clothes hung out to dry; below, the ferry-boat
     was crossing the river, impelled by the current. Modern and ancient
     Rome all mingled together--everywhere were thrilling names
     connected with all that was most glorious in the past. The moderns
     are richer than their ancestors, the past is theirs as well as the
     present."--_Mademoiselle Mori._

Close to the further entrance of the bridge, opposite the Via Giulia, is
the _Fountain of the Ponte Sisto_, built by Paul V. from a design of
Fontana. The water, which falls in one body from a niche in the wall of
a palace, is discharged a second time from the mouths of two monsters
below.




CHAPTER XVIII.

THE TRE FONTANE AND S. PAOLO.

     The Marmorata--Arco di S. Lazzaro--Protestant Cemetery--Pyramid of
     Caius Cestius--Monte-Testaccio--Porta S. Paolo--Chapel of the
     Farewell--The Tre Fontane (SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio--Sta. Maria
     Scala Cœli--S. Paolo alle Tre Fontane)--Basilica and Monastery
     of S. Paolo.


Beyond the Piazza Bocca della Verità, the _Via della Marmorata_ is
spanned by an arch which nearly marks the site of the _Porta Trigemina_,
by which Marius fled to Ostia before Sylla in B.C. 88. Near this stood
the statue erected by public subscription to Minucius, whose jealousy
brought about the execution of the patriot Mælius, B.C. 440. Here also
was the temple of Jupiter Inventor, whose dedication was attributed to
the gratitude of Hercules for the restoration of his cattle, carried off
by Cacus to his cave on the neighbouring Aventine.

It was at the Porta Trigemina that Camillus (B.C. 391), sent into exile
to Ardea by the accusations of the plebs, stayed, and, stretching forth
his hands to the Capitol, prayed to the gods who reigned there that if
he was unjustly expelled, Rome might "one day have need of Camillus."

Passing the arch, the road skirts the wooded escarpment of the
Aventine, crowned by its three churches--Sta. Sabina, S. Alessio, and
the Priorato.

     "De ce côté, entre l'Aventin et le Tibre, hors de la porte
     Trigemina, étaient divers marchés, notamment le marché aux bois, le
     marché à la farine et au pain, les _horrea_, magasins de blés. Le
     voisinage de ces marchés, de ces magasins et de l'emporium,
     produisait un grand mouvement de transport et fournissait de
     l'occupation à beaucoup de portefaix. Plaute[363] fait allusion à
     ces porteurs de sacs de la porte Trigemina. On peut en voir encore
     tous les jours remplir le même office au même lieu."--_Ampère,
     Hist. Rom._ iv. 75.

From the landing-place for modern Carrara marble, a new road on the
right, planted with trees, leads along the river to the ancient
_Marmorata_, discovered 1867--68, when many magnificent blocks of
ancient marble were found buried in the mud of the Tiber. Recent
excavations have laid bare the inclined planes by which the marbles were
landed, and the projecting bars of stone with rings for mooring the
marble vessels.

In the neighbouring vineyard are the massive ruins of the _Emporium_, or
magazine for merchandise, founded by M. Æmilius Lepidus and L. Æmilius
Paulus, the ædiles in B.C. 186. Upon the ancient walls of this time is
engrafted a small and picturesque winepress of the fifteenth century.
The neighbouring vineyard is much frequented by marble collectors.

A short distance beyond the turn to the Marmorata the main road is
crossed by an ancient brick arch, called _Arco di S. Lazzaro_, or Arco
della Salara, by the side of which is a hermitage.

About half a mile beyond this we reach the _Porta S. Paolo_, built by
Belisarius on the site of the Ancient Porta Ostiensis.

It was here, just within the Ostian Gate, that the Emperor Claudius,
returning from Ostia to take vengeance upon Messalina, was met by their
two children, Octavia and Britannicus, accompanied by a vestal, who
insisted upon the rights of her Order, and imperiously demanded that the
empress should not be condemned undefended.

     "Totila entra par la porte Asinaria et une autre fois par la porte
     Ostiensis, aujourd'hui porte Saint-Paul; par la même porte,
     Genséric, que la mer apportait, et qui, en s'embarquant, avait dit
     à son pilote: 'Conduis-moi vers le rivage que menace la colère
     divine.'"--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 325.

Close to this, is the famous _Pyramid of Caius Cestius_. It is built of
brick, coated with marble, and is 125 feet high, and 100 feet wide at
its square basement. In the midst is a small sepulchral chamber, painted
with arabesques. Two inscriptions on the exterior show that the Caius
Cestius buried here was a prætor, a tribune of the people, and one of
the "Epulones" appointed to provide the sacrificial feasts of the gods.
He died about 30 B.C., leaving Agrippa as his executor, and desiring by
his will that his body might be buried, wrapped up in precious stuffs.
Agrippa, however, applied to him the law which forbade luxurious burial,
and spent the money, partly upon the pyramid and partly upon erecting
two colossal statues in honour of the deceased, of which the pedestals
have been found near the tomb. In the middle ages this was supposed to
be the sepulchre of Remus.

     "Cette pyramide, sauf les dimensions, est absolument semblable aux
     pyramides d'Égypte. Si l'on pouvait encore douter que celles-ci
     étaient des tombeaux, l'imitation des pyramides égyptiennes dans un
     tombeau romain serait un argument de plus pour prouver qu'elles
     avaient une destination funéraire. La chambre qu'on a trouvée dans
     le monument de Cestius était décorée de peintures dont quelques
     unes ne sont pas encore effacées. C'était la coutume des peuples
     anciens, notamment des Egyptiens et des Etrusques, de peindre
     l'intérieur des tombeaux, que l'on fermait ensuite soigneusement.
     Ces peintures, souvent très-considérables, n'étaient que pour le
     mort, et ne devaient jamais être vues par l'œil d'un vivant. Il
     en était certainement ainsi de celles qui décoraient la chambre
     sépulchrale de la pyramide de Cestius, car cette chambre n'avait
     aucune entrée. L'ouverture par laquelle on y pénètre aujourd'hui
     est moderne. On avait déposé le corps ou les cendres avant de
     terminer le monument, on acheva ensuite de la bâtir jusqu'au
     sommet."--_Ampère, Emp._ i. 347.

     "St. Paul was led to execution beyond the city walls, upon the road
     to Ostia. As he issued forth from the gate, his eyes must have
     rested for a moment on that sepulchral pyramid which stood beside
     the road, and still stands unshattered, amid the wreck of so many
     centuries, upon the same spot. That spot was then only the
     burial-place of a single Roman; it is now the burial-place of many
     Britons. The mausoleum of Caius Cestius rises conspicuously amongst
     humbler graves, and marks the site where Papal Rome suffers her
     Protestant sojourners to bury their dead. In England and in
     Germany, in Scandinavia and in America, there are hearts which turn
     to that lofty cenotaph as the sacred point of their whole horizon;
     even as the English villager turns to the grey church tower, which
     overlooks the grave-stones of his kindred. Among the works of man,
     that pyramid is the only surviving witness of the martyrdom of St.
     Paul; and we may thus regard it with yet deeper interest, as a
     monument unconsciously erected by a pagan to the memory of a
     martyr. Nor let us think they who lie beneath its shadow are indeed
     resting (as degenerate Italians fancy) in unconsecrated ground.
     Rather let us say, that a spot where the disciples of Paul's faith
     now sleep in Christ, so near the soil once watered by his blood, is
     doubly hallowed; and that their resting-place is most fitly
     identified with the last earthly journey, and the dying glance of
     their own patron saint, the apostle of the Gentiles."--_Conybeare
     and Howson._

At the foot of the Pyramid is the _Old Protestant Cemetery_, a lovely
spot, now closed. Here is the grave of Keats, with the inscription:

     "This grave contains all that was mortal of a young English poet,
     who, on his death-bed, in the bitterness of his heart at the
     malicious power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraven
     on his tombstone: 'Here lies one whose name was writ in water.'
     February 24, 1821."

    "Go thou to Rome--at once the paradise,
    The grave, the city, and the wilderness;
    And where its wrecks like shattered mountains rise,
    And flowering weeds, and fragrant copses dress
    The bones of desolation's nakedness,
    Pass, till the spirit of the spot shall lead
    Thy footsteps to a slope of green access,
    Where, like an infant's smile, over the dead,
    A light of laughing flowers along the grass is spread,

    "And grey walls moulder round, on which dull Time
    Feeds, like slow fire upon a hoary brand;
    And one keen pyramid, with wedge sublime,
    Pavilioning the dust of him who planned
    This refuge for his memory, doth stand
    Like flame transformed to marble; and beneath
    A field is spread, on which a newer band
    Have pitched in Heaven's smile their camp of death,
    Welcoming him we lose with scarce extinguished breath."

    _Shelley's Adonais._

Very near the grave of Keats is that of Augustus William Hare, the elder
of the two brothers who wrote the "Guesses at Truth," ob. 1834.

     "When I am inclined to be serious, I love to wander up and down
     before the tomb of Caius Cestius. The Protestant burial-ground is
     there, and most of the little monuments are erected to the
     young--young men of promise, cut off when on their travels full of
     enthusiasm, full of enjoyment; brides, in the bloom of their
     beauty, on their first journey; or children borne from home in
     search of health. This stone was placed by his fellow-travellers,
     young as himself, who will return to the house of his parents
     without him; that, by a husband or a father, now in his native
     country. His heart is buried in that grave.

     "It is a quiet and sheltered nook, covered in the winter with
     violets; and the pyramid, that overshadows it, gives it a classic
     and singularly solemn air. You feel an interest there, a sympathy
     you were not prepared for. You are yourself in a foreign land; and
     they are for the most part your countrymen. They call upon you in
     your mother tongue--in English--in words unknown to a native, known
     only to yourself: and the tomb of Cestius, that old majestic pile,
     has this also in common with them. It is itself a stranger among
     strangers. It has stood there till the language spoken round about
     it has changed; and the shepherd, born at the foot, can read the
     inscription no longer."--_Rogers._

The _New Burial Ground_ was opened in 1825. It extends for some distance
along the slope of the hill under the old Aurelian Wall, and is
beautifully shaded by cypresses, and carpeted with violets. Amid the
forest of tombs we may notice that which contains the heart of Shelley
(his body having been burnt upon the shore at Lerici, where it was
thrown up by the sea), inscribed:

     "Percy Bysshe Shelley, Cor Cordium. Natus IV. Aug. MDCCXCII. Obiit
     VIII. Jul. MDCCCXXII.

    'Nothing of him that doth fade,
    But doth suffer a sea change
    Into something rich and strange.'"

Another noticeable tomb is that of Gibson the sculptor, who died 1868.

From the fields in front of the cemetery (_Prati del Popolo Romano_)
rises the _Monte Testaccio_, only 160 feet in height, but worth
ascending for the sake of the splendid view it affords. The
extraordinary formation of this hill, which is entirely composed of
broken pieces of pottery, has long been an unexplained bewilderment.

     "Le Monte-Testaccio est pour moi des nombreux problèmes qu'offrent
     les antiquités romaines le plus difficile à résoudre. On ne peut
     s'arrêter à discuter sérieusement la tradition d'après laquelle il
     aurait été formé avec les débris des vases contenant les tributs
     qu'apportaient à Rome les peuples soumis par elle. C'est là
     évidemment une légende du moyen âge née du souvenir de la grandeur
     romaine et imaginée pour exprimer la haute idée qu'on s'en
     faisait, comme on avait imaginé ces statues de provinces placées au
     Capitole, et dont chacune portait au cou une cloche qui sonnait
     tout-à-coup d'elle-même, quand une province se soulevait, comme on
     a prétendu que le lit du Tibre était pavé en airain par les tributs
     apportés aux empereurs romains. Il faut donc chercher une autre
     explication."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 386.

Just outside the Porta S. Paolo is (on the right) a vineyard which
belonged to Sta. Francesca Romana (born 1384, canonized 1608 by Paul
V.).

     "Instead of entering into the pleasures to which her birth and
     riches entitled her, Sta. Francesca went every day, disguised in a
     coarse woollen garment, to her vineyard, and collected faggots,
     which she brought into the city on her head, and distributed to the
     poor. If the weight exceeded her womanly strength, she loaded
     therewith an ass, following after on foot in great
     humility."--_Mrs. Jameson's Monastic Orders._

A straight road a mile and a half long leads from the gate to the
basilica. Half way (on the left) is the humble chapel which commemorates
the farewell of St. Peter and St. Paul on their way to martyrdom,
inscribed:

     "In this place SS. Peter and Paul separated on their way to
     martyrdom.

     "And Paul said to Peter, 'Peace be with thee, Foundation of the
     Church, Shepherd of the flock of Christ.'

     "And Peter said to Paul, 'Go in peace, Preacher of good tidings,
     and Guide of the salvation of the just.'"[364]

Passing the basilica, which looks outside like a very ugly railway
station, let us visit the scene of the martyrdom, before entering the
grand church which arose in consequence.

The road we now traverse is the scene of the legend of Plautilla.

     "St. Paul was beheaded by the sword outside the Ostian gate, about
     two miles from Rome, at a place called the Aqua Salvias, now the
     'Tre Fontane.' The legend of his death relates that a certain Roman
     matron named Plautilla, one of the converts of St. Peter, placed
     herself on the road by which St. Paul passed to his martyrdom, to
     behold him for the last time; and when she saw him she wept
     greatly, and besought his blessing. The apostle then, seeing her
     faith, turned to her, and begged that she would give him her veil
     to blind his eyes when he should be beheaded, promising to return
     it to her after his death. The attendants mocked at such a promise,
     but Plautilla, with a woman's faith and charity, taking off her
     veil, presented it to him. After his martyrdom, St. Paul appeared
     to her, and restored the veil stained with his blood.

     "In the ancient representations of the martyrdom of St. Paul, the
     legend of Plautilla is seldom omitted. In the picture by Giotto in
     the sacristy of St. Peter's, Plautilla is seen on an eminence in
     the background, receiving the veil from the hands of St. Paul, who
     appears in the clouds above; the same representation, but little
     varied, is executed in bas-relief on the bronze doors of St.
     Peter's."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

The lane which leads to the Tre Fontane turns off to the left a little
beyond S. Paolo.

     "In all the melancholy vicinity of Rome, there is not a more
     melancholy spot than the Tre Fontane. A splendid monastery, rich
     with all the offerings of Christendom, once existed there: the
     ravages of that mysterious scourge of the Campagna, the malaria,
     have rendered it a desert; three ancient churches and some ruins
     still exist, and a few pale monks wander about the swampy dismal
     confines of the hollow in which they stand. In winter you approach
     them through a quagmire; in summer, you dare not breathe in their
     pestilential vicinity; and yet there is a sort of dead beauty about
     the place, something hallowed as well as sad, which seizes on the
     fancy."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

The convent was bestowed in 1867 by Pius IX. upon the French Trappists,
and twelve brethren of the Order went to reside there. Entering the
little enclosure, the first church on the right is _Sta. Maria Scala
Cœli_, supposed to occupy the site of the cemetery of S. Zeno, in
which the 12,000 Christians employed in building the Baths of Diocletian
were buried. The present edifice was the work of Vignola and Giacomo
della Porta in 1582. The name is derived from the legend that here St.
Bernard had a vision of a ladder which led to heaven, its foot resting
on this church, and of angels on the ladder leading upwards the souls
whom his prayers had redeemed from purgatory. The mosaics in the apse
were the work of _F. Zucchero_, in the sixteenth century, and are
perhaps the best of modern mosaics. They represent the saints Zeno,
Bernard, Vincenzo, and Anastasio, adored by Pope Clement VIII. and
Cardinal Aldobrandini, under whom the remodelling of the church took
place.

The second church is the basilica of _SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio_,
founded by Honorius I. (625), and restored by Honorius III. (1221), when
it was consecrated afresh. It is approached by an atrium with a
penthouse roof, supported by low columns, and adorned with decaying
frescoes, among which the figure of Honorius III. may be made out. The
interior, which reeks with damp, is almost entirely of the twelfth
century. The pillars are adorned with coarse frescoes of the apostles.

     "S. Vincenzo alle Tre Fontane so far deviates from the usual
     basilican arrangement as almost to deserve the appellation of
     gothic. It has the same defect as all the rest--its pier arches
     being too low, for which there is no excuse here; but both
     internally and externally it shows a uniformity of design, and a
     desire to make every part ornamental, that produces a very pleasing
     effect, although the whole is merely of brick, and ornament is so
     sparingly applied as only just to prevent the building sinking to
     the class of mere utilitarian erections."--_Fergusson's Handbook of
     Architecture,_ vol. ii.

     The two saints whose relics are said to repose here were in no wise
     connected in their lifetime. S. Vincenzo, who suffered A.D. 304,
     was a native of Saragossa, cruelly tortured to death at Valencia,
     under Dacian, by being racked on a slow fire over a gridiron, "of
     which the bars were framed like scythes." His story is told with
     horrible detail by Prudentius. Anastasius, who died A.D. 628, was a
     native of Persia, who had become a Christian and taken the monastic
     habit at a convent near Jerusalem. He was tortured and finally
     strangled, under Chosroes, at Barsaloe, in Assyria. He is not known
     to be represented anywhere in art, save in the almost obliterated
     frescoes in the atrium of this church.

The third church, _S. Paolo alle Tre Fontane_, was built by Giacomo
della Porta for Cardinal Aldobrandini in 1590. It contains the pillars
to which St. Paul is said to have been bound, the block of marble upon
which he is supposed to have been beheaded, and the three fountains
which sprang forth, wherever the severed head struck the earth during
three bounds which it made after decapitation. In proof of this story,
it is asserted that the water of the first of these fountains is still
warm, of the second tepid, of the third cold. Three modern altars above
the fountains are each decorated with a head of the apostle in
bas-relief.

     "A la première, l'âme vient à l'instant même de s'échapper du
     corps. Ce chef glorieux est plein de vie! A la seconde, les ombres
     de la mort couvrent déjà ses admirables traits; à la troisième, le
     sommeil éternel les a envahis, et, quoique demeurés tout rayonnants
     de beauté, ils disent, sans parler, que dans ce monde ces lèvres ne
     s'entr'ouvriront plus, et que ce regard d'aigle s'est voilé pour
     toujours."--_Une Chrétienne à Rome._[365]

The pavement is an ancient mosaic representing the Four Seasons, brought
from the excavations at Ostia. The interior of this church has been
beautified at the expense of a French nobleman, and the whole enclosure
of the Tre Fontane has been improved by Mgr. de Merode.

     "As the martyr and his executioners passed on (from the Ostian
     gate), their way was crowded with a motley multitude of goers and
     comers between the metropolis and its harbour--merchants hastening
     to superintend the unlading of their cargoes--sailors eager to
     squander the profits of their last voyage in the dissipations of
     the capital--officials of the government charged with the
     administration of the provinces, or the command of the legions on
     the Euphrates or the Rhine--Chaldean astrologers--Phrygian
     eunuchs--dancing-girls from Syria, with their painted
     turbans--mendicant priests from Egypt, howling for Osiris--Greek
     adventurers, eager to coin their national cunning into Roman
     gold--representatives of the avarice and ambition, the fraud and
     lust, the superstition and intelligence, of the Imperial world.
     Through the dust and tumult of that busy throng, the small troop of
     soldiers threaded their way silently, under the bright sky of an
     Italian midsummer. They were marching, though they knew it not, in
     a procession more really triumphal than any they had ever followed,
     in the train of general or emperor, along the Sacred Way. Their
     prisoner, now at last and for ever delivered from captivity,
     rejoiced to follow his Lord 'without the gate.' The place of
     execution was not far distant, and there the sword of the headsman
     ended his long course of sufferings, and released that heroic soul
     from that feeble body. Weeping friends took up his corpse, and
     carried it for burial to those subterranean labyrinths, where,
     through many ages of oppression, the persecuted Church found refuge
     for the living, and sepulchres for the dead.

     "Thus died the apostle, the prophet, and the martyr, bequeathing to
     the Church, in her government, and her discipline, the legacy of
     his apostolic labours; leaving his prophetic words to be her living
     oracles; pouring forth his blood to be the seed of a thousand
     martyrdoms. Thenceforth, among the glorious company of the
     apostles, among the goodly fellowship of the prophets, among the
     noble army of martyrs, his name has stood pre-eminent. And
     wheresoever the holy Church throughout all the world doth
     acknowledge God, there Paul of Tarsus is revered, as the great
     teacher of a universal redemption and a catholic religion--the
     herald of glad tidings to all mankind."--_Conybeare and Howson_.

Let us now return to the grand Basilica which arose to commemorate the
martyrdom on this desolate site, and which is now itself standing alone
on the edge of the Campagna, entirely deserted except by a few monks
who linger in its monastery through the winter months, but take flight
to St. Calisto before the pestilential malaria of the summer,--though in
the middle ages it was not so, when S. Paolo was surrounded by the
flourishing fortified suburb of Joanopolis (so called from its founder,
John VIII.), whose possession was sharply contested in the wars between
the popes and anti-popes.[366]

The first church on this site was built in the time of Constantine, on
the site of the vineyard of the Roman matron Lucina, where she first
gave a burial-place to the apostle. This primal oratory was enlarged
into a basilica in 386 by the emperors Valentinian II. and Theodosius.
The church was restored by Leo III. (795--816), and every succeeding
century increased its beauty and magnificence. The sovereigns of
England, before the Reformation, were protectors of this basilica--as
those of France are of St. John Lateran, and of Spain of Sta. Maria
Maggiore--and the emblem of the Order of the Garter may still be seen
amongst its decorations.

     "The very abandonment of this huge pile, standing in solitary
     grandeur on the banks of the Tiber, was one source of its value.
     While it had been kept in perfect repair, little or nothing had
     been done to modernize it, and alter its primitive form and
     ornaments, excepting the later addition of some modern chapels
     above the transept; it stood naked and almost rude, but
     unencumbered with the lumpish and tasteless plaster encasement of
     the old basilica in a modern Berninesque church, which had
     disfigured the Lateran cathedral under pretence of supporting it.
     It remained genuine, though bare, as S. Apollinare in Classe, at
     Ravenna, the city eminently of unspoiled basilicas. No chapels,
     altars, or mural monuments softened the severity of its out-*lines;
     only the series of papal portraits, running round the upper line of
     the walls, redeemed this sternness. But the unbroken files of
     columns along each side, carried the eye forward to the great
     central object, the altar and its 'Confession;' while the secondary
     row of pillars, running behind the principal ones, gave depth and
     shadow, mass and solidity, to back up the noble avenue along which
     one glanced."--_Cardinal Wiseman._

On the 15th of July, 1823, this magnificent basilica was almost totally
destroyed by fire, on the night which preceded the death of Pope Pius
VII.

     "Quelque-chose de mystérieux s'est lié dans l'esprit des Romains à
     l'incendie de St. Paul, et les gens à l'imagination de ce peuple
     parlent avec ce sombre plaisir qui tient à la mélancolie, ce
     sentiment si rare en Italie, et si fréquent en Allemagne. Dans le
     grand nef, sur le mur, au dessus des colonnes, se trouvait la
     longue suite des portraits de tous les papes, et le peuple de Rome
     voyait avec inquiétude qu'il n'y avait plus de place pour le
     portrait du successeur de Pie VII. De là les fruits de la
     suppression du saint-siège. Le vénérable pontife, qui était presqu'
     un martyre aux yeux de ses sujets, touchait à ses derniers moments
     lorsqu'arriva l'incendie de Saint-Paul. Il eut lieu dans la nuit du
     15 au 16 Juillet, 1823; cette même nuit, le pape, presque mourant,
     fut agité par un songe, qui lui présentait sans cesse un grand
     malheur arrivé à l'église de Rome. Il s'éveilla en sursaut
     plusieurs fois, et demanda s'il n'était rien arrivé de nouveau. Le
     lendemain, pour ne pas aggraver son état, on lui cacha l'incendie,
     et il est mort après sans l'avoir jamais su."--_Stendhal_, ii. 94.

     "Not a word was said to the dying Pius VII. of the destruction of
     St. Paul. For at St. Paul's he had lived as a quiet monk, engaged
     in study and in teaching, and he loved the place with the force of
     an early attachment. It would have added a mental pang to his
     bodily sufferings to learn the total destruction of that venerable
     sanctuary, in which he had drawn down by prayer the blessings of
     heaven on his youthful labour."--_Wiseman, Life of Pius VII._

The restoration of the basilica was immediately begun, and a large
contribution levied for the purpose from all Roman Catholic countries.
In 1854 it was re-opened in its present form by Pius IX. Its exterior is
below contempt; its interior, supported by eighty granite columns, is
most striking and magnificent, but it is cold and uninteresting when
compared with the ancient structure, "rich with inestimable remains of
ancient art, and venerable from a thousand associations."[367]

If we approach the basilica by the door on the side of the monastery, we
enter, first, a portico, containing a fine statue of Gregory XVI., and
many fragments of the ancient mosaics, collected after the fire;--then,
a series of small chapels which were not burnt, from the last of which
ladies can look into the beautiful _cloister_ of the twelfth century,
which they are not permitted to enter, but which men may visit (through
the sacristy), and inspect its various architectural remains, and a fine
sarcophagus, adorned with reliefs of the story of Apollo and Marsyas.

The church is entered by the south end of the transept. Hence we look
down upon the nave (306 feet long and 222 wide) with its four ranges of
granite columns (quarried near the Lago Maggiore), surmounted by a
mosaic series of portraits of the popes, each five feet in
diameter,--most of them of course being imaginary. The grand triumphal
arch which separates the transept from the nave is a relic of the old
basilica, and was built by Galla-Placidia, sister of Honorius, in 440.
On the side towards the nave it is adorned with a mosaic of Christ
adored by the twenty-four elders, and the four beasts of the
Revelation;--on that towards the transept by the figure of the Saviour,
between St Peter and St. Paul.

It bears two inscriptions, the first:

    "Theodosius cœpit,--perfecit Honorius aulam
    Doctoris mundi sacratam corpore Pauli."

The other, especially interesting as the only inscription commemorating
the great pope who defended Rome against Attila:

    "Placidiæ pia mens operis decus homne (_sic_) paterni
    Gaudet pontificis studio splendere Leonis."

The mosaics of the tribune, also preserved from the fire, were designed
by _Cavallini_, a pupil of Giotto, in the thirteenth century, and were
erected by Honorius III. They represent the Saviour with St. Peter and
St Andrew on the right, and St Paul and St Luke on the left,--and
beneath these twelve apostles and two angels. The Holy Innocents
(supposed to be buried in this church!) are represented lying at the
feet of our Saviour.

     "In the mosaics of the old basilica of S. Paolo the Holy Innocents
     were represented by a group of small figures holding palms, and
     placed immediately beneath the altar or throne, sustaining the
     gospel, the cross, and the instruments of the passion of our Lord.
     Over these figures was the inscription, H. I. S.
     INNOCENTES."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

Beneath the triumphal arch stands the ugly modern baldacchino, which
encloses the ancient altar canopy, erected, as its inscription tells us,
by Arnolphus and his pupil Petrus, in 1285. In front is the
"Confession," where the Apostle of the Gentiles is believed to repose.
The baldacchino is inscribed:

    "Tu es vas electionis,
    Sancte Paule Apostole,
    Prædicator veritatis
    In universo mundo."

It is supported by four pillars of Oriental alabaster, presented by
Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt. The altars of malachite, at the ends of the
transepts, were given by the Emperor Nicholas of Russia.

     "Les schismatiques et les mussulmans eux-mêmes sont venus rendre
     hommage à ce souverain de la parole, qui entraînait les peuples au
     martyre et subjuguait toutes les nations."--_Une Chrétienne à
     Rome._

In a building so entirely modern, there are naturally few individual
objects of interest. Among those saved[368] from the old basilica, is
the magnificent paschal candlestick, covered with sculpture in
high-relief. The altar at the south end of the transept has an
altar-piece representing the Assumption, by _Agricola_, and statues of
St. Benedict, _Baini_, and Sta. Scholastica, by _Tenerani_. Of the two
chapels between this and the tribune, the first has a statue of St.
Benedict by _Tenerani_; the second, the Cappella del Coro, was saved
from the fire, and is by _Carlo Maderno_.

The altar at the north end of the transept is dedicated to St. Paul, and
has a picture of his conversion, by _Camuccini_. At the sides are
statues of St. Gregory by _Laboureur_ and of S. Romualdo by _Stocchi_.
Of the chapels between this and the tribune, the first, dedicated to St.
Stephen, has a statue of the saint, by _Rinaldi_; the second is
dedicated to St. Bridget (Brigitta Brahe), and contains the famous
crucifix of Pietro Cavallini, which is said to have spoken to her in
1370.

     "Not far from the chancel is a beautiful chapel, dedicated to St.
     Bridget, and ornamented with her statue in marble. During her
     residence in Rome, she frequently came to pray in this church; and
     here is preserved, as a holy relic, the cross from which, during
     her ecstatic devotion, she seemed to hear a voice
     proceeding."--_Frederika Bremer._

The upper walls of the nave are decorated with frescoes by _Galiardi_,
_Podesti_, and other modern artists.

The two great festivals of St. Paul are solemnly observed in this
basilica upon January 25 and June 30, and that of the Holy Innocents
upon December 28.

Very near S. Paolo, the main branch of the little river Almo, the
"cursuque brevissimus Almo" of Ovid, falls into the Tiber. This is the
spot where the priests of Cybele used to wash her statue and the sacred
vessels of her temple, and to raise their loud annual lamentation for
the death of her lover, the shepherd Atys:

    "Est locus, in Tiberim quo lubricus influit Almo,
      Et nomen magno perdit ab amne minor,
    Illic purpurea canus cum veste sacerdos,
      Almonis dominam sacraque lavit aquis."

    _Ovid, Fast._ iv. 337.

    "Phrygiæque matris Almo quà levat ferrum."

    _Martial, Ep._ iii. 472.

     "Un vieux prêtre de Cybèle, vêtu de pourpre, y lavait chaque année
     la pierre sacrée de Pessinunte, tandis que d'autres prêtres
     poussaient des hurlements, frappaient sur le tambour de basque
     qu'on place aux mains de Cybèle, soufflaient avec fureur dans les
     flûtes phrygiennes, et que l'on se donnait la discipline,--ni plus
     ni moins qu'on le fait encore dans l'église des _Caravite_,--avec
     des fouets garnis de petits cailloux ou d'osselets."--_Ampère,
     Hist. Rom._ iii. 145.

The Campagna on this side of Rome is perhaps more stricken by malaria
than any other part, and is in consequence more utterly deserted. That
this terrible scourge has followed upon the destruction of the villas
and gardens which once filled the suburbs of Rome, and that it did not
always exist here, is evident from the account of Pliny, who says:

     "Such is the happy and beautiful amenity of the Campagna that it
     seems to be the work of a rejoicing nature. For truly so it appears
     in the vital and perennial salubrity of its atmosphere (_vitalis ac
     perennis salubritatis cœli temperies_), in its fertile plains,
     sunny hills, healthy woods, thick groves, rich varieties of trees,
     breezy mountains, fertility in fruits, vines, and olives, its noble
     flocks of sheep, abundant herds of cattle, numerous lakes, and
     wealth of rivers and streams pouring in upon its many seaports, in
     whose lap the commerce of the world lies, and which run largely
     into the sea as it were to help mortals."

Under the emperors, the town of Ostia (founded by Ancus Martius) reached
such a degree of prosperity, that its suburbs are described as joining
those of Rome, so that one magnificent street almost united the two.
There is now, beyond S. Paolo, a road through a desert, only one human
habitation breaking the utter solitude.




CHAPTER XIX.

THE VILLAS BORGHESE, MADAMA, AND MELLINI.

     Protestant Churches--Villa Borghese--Raphael's Villa--Casino and
     Villa of Papa Giulio--(Claude's
     Villa--Arco-Oscuro--Acqua-Acetosa)--Chapel of St.
     Andrew--Ponte-Molle (Castle of Crescenza--Prima Porta--The
     Crimera--The Allia)--(The Via Cassia)--Villa Madama--Monte
     Mario--Villa Mellini--Porta Angelica.


Immediately outside the Porta del Popolo, on the left, are the English
and American churches.

     "As to the position selected for these buildings, it is to be
     observed that, although restricted by the regulations of the Roman
     Catholic hierarchy to a locality outside the walls, the greatest
     possible attention has been paid to the convenience of the English,
     the great majority of whose dwelling-houses are in this immediate
     quarter. The English church in Rome, therefore, though nominally
     outside the walls, is really, as regards centrality, in the very
     heart of the city. The greatest possible facilities are afforded by
     the authorities to our countrymen in all matters relating to the
     establishment; and though the general behaviour of the Roman
     inhabitants is such as to render the precaution almost unnecessary,
     the protection of the police and military is invariably afforded
     during the hours of divine service.... Whatever be the
     disagreements on points of religious faith between Protestant and
     Catholic, there is at least one point of feeling in common between
     both in this respect; for the streets are tranquil, the shops are
     shut, the demeanour of the people is decent and orderly, and,
     notwithstanding the distance from England, Sunday feels more like
     a Sunday at Rome than in any other town in Europe."--_Sir G. Head's
     "Tour in Rome."_

The papal government of Rome had more tolerance for a religion which was
not its own than that of the early emperors. Augustus refused to allow
the performance of Egyptian rites within a mile of the city walls.

On the right of the Gate is the handsome entrance of the beautiful
_Villa Borghese_, most liberally thrown open to the public on every day
except Monday, when the Villa Doria is open.

     "The entrance to the Villa Borghese is just outside the Porta del
     Popolo. Passing beneath that not very impressive specimen of
     Michael Angelo's architecture, a minute's walk will transport the
     visitor from the small uneasy lava stones of the Roman pavement,
     into broad, gravelled carriage drives, whence a little further
     stroll brings him to the soft turf of a beautiful seclusion. A
     seclusion, but seldom a solitude; for priest, noble, and populace,
     stranger and native, all who breathe the Roman air, find free
     admission, and come hither to taste the languid enjoyment of the
     day-dream which they call life.

     "The scenery is such as arrays itself to the imagination when we
     read the beautiful old myths, and fancy a brighter sky, a softer
     turf, a more picturesque arrangement of venerable trees, than we
     find in the rude and untrained landscapes of the western world. The
     ilex-trees, so ancient and time-honoured are they, seem to have
     lived for ages undisturbed, and to feel no dread of profanation by
     the axe anymore than overthrow by the thunder-stroke. It has
     already passed out of their dreamy old memories that only a few
     years ago they were grievously imperilled by the Gauls' last
     assault upon the walls of Rome. As if confident in the long peace
     of their lifetime, they assume attitudes of evident repose. They
     lean over the green turf in ponderous grace, throwing abroad their
     great branches without danger of interfering with other trees,
     though other majestic trees grow near enough for dignified society,
     but too distant for constraint. Never was there a more venerable
     quietude than that which sleeps among their sheltering boughs;
     never a sweeter sunshine than that which gladdens the gentle bloom
     which these leafy patriarchs strive to diffuse over the swelling
     and subsiding lawns.

     "In other portions of the grounds the stone pines lift their dense
     clumps of branches upon a slender length of stem, so high that they
     look like green islands in the air, flinging down a shadow upon the
     turf so far off that you scarcely know which tree has made it.

     "Again, there are avenues of cypress, resembling dark flames of
     huge funeral candles, which spread dusk and twilight round about
     them instead of cheerful radiance. The more open spots are all
     a-bloom, early in the season, with anemones of wondrous size, both
     white and rose-coloured, and violets that betray themselves by
     their rich fragrance, even if their blue eyes fail to meet your
     own. Daisies, too, are abundant, but larger than the modest little
     English flower, and therefore of small account.

     "These wooded and flowery lawns are more beautiful than the finest
     English park scenery, more touching, more impressive, through the
     neglect that leaves nature so much to her own ways and methods.
     Since man seldom interferes with her, she sets to work in her quiet
     way and makes herself at home. There is enough of human care, it is
     true, bestowed long ago, and still bestowed, to prevent wildness
     from growing into deformity; and the result is an ideal landscape,
     a woodland scene that seems to have been projected out of the
     poet's mind. If the ancient Faun were other than a mere creation of
     old poetry, and could reappear anywhere, it must be in such a scene
     as this.

     "In the openings of the wood there are fountains plashing into
     marble basons, the depths of which are shaggy with water-weeds; or
     they tumble like natural cascades from rock to rock, sending their
     murmur afar, to make the quiet and silence more appreciable.
     Scattered here and there with careless artifice, stand old altars,
     bearing Roman inscriptions. Statues, grey with the long corrosion
     of even that soft atmosphere, half hide and half reveal themselves,
     high on pedestals, or perhaps fallen and broken on the turf.
     Terminal figures, columns of marble or granite porticoes and
     arches, are seen in the vistas of the wood-paths, either veritable
     relics of antiquity, or with so exquisite a touch of artful ruin on
     them that they are better than if really antique. At all events,
     grass grows on the tops of the shattered pillars, and weeds and
     flowers root themselves in the chinks of the massive arches and
     fronts of temples, as if this were the thousandth summer since
     their winged seeds alighted there.

     "What a strange idea--what a needless labour--to construct
     artificial ruins in Rome, the native soil of ruin! But even these
     sportive imitations, wrought by man in emulation of what time has
     done to temples and palaces, are perhaps centuries old, and,
     beginning as illusions, have grown to be venerable in sober
     earnest. The result of all is a scene, such as is to be found
     nowhere save in these princely villa-residences in the
     neighbourhood of Rome; a scene that must have required generations
     and ages, during which growth, decay, and man's intelligence
     wrought kindly together, to render it so gently wild as we behold
     it now.

     "The final charm is bestowed by the malaria. There is a piercing,
     thrilling, delicious kind of regret in the idea of so much beauty
     being thrown away, or only enjoyable at its half-development, in
     winter and early spring, and never to be dwelt amongst, as the home
     scenery of any human being. For if you come hither in summer, and
     stray through these glades in the golden sunset, fever walks
     arm-in-arm with you, and death awaits you at the end of the dim
     vista. Thus the scene is like Eden in its loveliness; like Eden,
     too, in the fatal spell that removes it beyond the scope of man's
     actual possessions."--_Transformation_.

     "Oswald et Corinne terminèrent leur voyage de Rome par la
     Villa-Borghèse, celui de tous les jardins et de tous les palais
     romains où les splendeurs de la nature et des arts sont rassemblées
     avec le plus de goût et d'éclat. On y voit des arbres de toutes les
     espèces et des eaux magnifiques. Une réunion incroyable de statues,
     de vases, de sarcophages antiques, se mêlent avec la fraîcheur de
     la jeune nature du sud. La mythologie des anciens y semble ranimée.
     Les naïades sont placées sur le bord des ondes, les nymphes dans
     les bois dignes d'elles, les tombeaux sous les ombrages élyséens;
     la statue d'Esculape est au milieu d'une île; celle de Vénus semble
     sortir des ondes; Ovide et Virgile pourraient se promener dans ce
     beau lieu; et se croire encore au siècle d'Auguste. Les
     chefs-d'œuvre de sculpture que renferme le palais, lui donnent
     une magnificence à jamais nouvelle. On aperçoit de loin à travers
     les arbres, la ville de Rome et Saint-Pierre, et la campagne, et
     les longues arcades, débris des aqueducs qui transportaient les
     sources des montagnes dans l'ancienne Rome. Tout est là pour la
     pensée, pour l'imagination, pour la rêverie.

     "Les sensations les plus pures se confondent avec les plaisirs de
     l'âme, et donnent l'idée d'un bonheur parfait; mais quand on
     demande, pourquoi ce séjour ravissant n'est-il pas habité? l'on
     vous répond que le mauvais air (_la cattiva aria_) ne permet pas
     d'y vivre pendant l'été."--_Madame de Staël._

The _Casino_, at the further end of the villa, built by Cardinal Scipio
Borghese, the favourite nephew of Paul V., contains a collection of
sculpture. The first room entered is a great hall, with a ceiling
painted by _Mario Rossi_, and a floor paved with an ancient mosaic
discovered at the Torre Nuova (one of the principal Borghese farms) in
1835.

     "Cette mosaïque fort curieuse nous offre et les combats des
     gladiateurs entre eux et leurs luttes avec les animaux féroces.
     Cette mosaïque est d'un dessin aussi barbare que les scènes
     représentées; tout est en harmonie, le sujet et le tableau. Le
     sentiment de répulsion qu'inspire la cruauté romaine n'en est que
     plus complet; celle-ci n'est point adoucie par l'art et paraît dans
     toute sa laideur.

     "On voit les gladiateurs poursuivre, s'attaquer, se massacrer,
     couverts d'armures qui ressemblent à celle des chevaliers: vous
     diriez une odieuse parodie du moyen âge. Dans le corps de l'un des
     combattants un glaive est enfoncé. Des cadavres sont gisant parmi
     les flaques de sang; à côté d'eux est le Θ fatal, initiale du mot
     grec Θἁνατος--à laquelle leur juge impitoyable, le peuple, les a
     condamnés; du grec partout. Le maître excite ses élèves on leur
     montrant le fouet et la palme; les vainqueurs élèvent leurs épées,
     et sans doute la foule applaudit. Ils ont un air de triomphe. Ce
     sont des acteurs renommés. Auprès de chacun son nom est écrit; ces
     noms barbares ou étranges: l'un s'appelle Buccibus, un autre
     Cupidor, un autre Licentiosus, avis effronté aux dames
     romaines."--_Ampère_, iv. 31.

The collection in this villa contains no exceedingly important statues.
In the vestibule are some reliefs from the arch of Claudius in the
Corso, destroyed in 1527. Leaving the great hall to the left we may
notice:

     _1st Room._--

     IN THE CENTRE:

     Juno Pronuba, from Monte Calvi.

     _2nd Room._--

     IN THE CENTRE:

     A Fighting Amazon, on horseback.

     _3rd Room._--

     4. Daphne changed into a Laurel.

     13. Anacreon, seated.

     "La statue d'Anacréon est très-remarquable, elle ressemble à la
     figure du poëte sur une médaille de Téos. Le style est simple et
     grandiose, l'expression énergique plutôt que gracieuse, la draperie
     est rude, la statue respire l'enthousiasme; ce n'est pas le faux
     Anacréon que nous connaissons et dont les poésies sont postérieures
     au moins en grande partie à la date du véritable; c'est le vieil et
     primitif Anacréon; cet Anacréon-là ne vit plus que dans cet
     énergique portrait, seule image de son inspiration véritable, dont
     les produits authentiques ont presque entièrement
     disparu."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 567.

     _4th Room._--

     A handsome gallery with paintings by _Marchetti_ and _De Angelis_,
     adorned with porphyry busts of the twelve Cæsars.

     32. Bronze statue of a boy.

     _6th Room._--

     IN THE CENTRE:

     A Greek poet, probably Alcæus.

     7. The Hermaphrodite; found near Sta. Maria Vittoria.

     _7th Room._--

     IN THE CENTRE:

     Boy on a Dolphin.

     "D'autres statues peuvent dériver de la grande composition maritime
     de Scopas. Tel est la Palémon, assis sur un dauphin, de la villa
     Borghese, d'après lequel a été évidemment conçu le Jonas de
     l'église de Sainte-Marie du Peuple, qu'on attribue à
     Raphaël."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 284.

     _8th Room._--

     1. Dancing Satyr.

The _Upper Story_, reached by a winding staircase from the Galleria,
contains:

     _1st Room._--Three fine works by _Bernini_.

     David with the sling: executed in his 18th year.

     Apollo and Daphne.

     Æneas carrying off Anchises: executed when the sculptor was only 15
     years old.

     _2nd Room._--

     Filled with a collection of portraits, for the most part unknown.

     Worthy of attention are the portraits of Paul V. by _Caravaggio_,
     and of his father Marc-Antonio Borghese, attributed to _Guido_;
     also the busts of Paul V. and of Cardinal Scipio Borghese, who
     built the villa, by _Bernini_.

     _5th Room._--

     Statue of Princess Pauline Borghese, sister of Napoleon I., by
     _Canova_, as Venus Victrix.

     "Canova esteemed his statue of the Princess Borghese as one of his
     best works. No one else could have an opportunity of judging of it,
     for the prince, who certainly was not jealous of his wife's person,
     was so jealous of her statue, that he kept it locked up in a room
     in the Borghese Palace, of which he kept the key, and not a human
     being, not even Canova himself, could get access to it."--_Eaton's
     Rome._

     Canova took Chantrey to see this statue by night, wishing, as was
     his wont, to show it by the light of a single taper. Chantrey,
     wishing to do honour to the artist, insisted upon holding the taper
     for the best light himself, which gave rise to Moore's lines:

    "When he, thy peer in art and fame,
      Hung o'er the marble with delight;
    And while his ling'ring hand would steal
        O'er every grace the taper's rays,
    Gave thee, with all the generous zeal
    Such master-spirits only feel,
        The best of fame--a rival's praise!"

In the upper part of the grounds, not far from the walls of Rome, stood
the Villa Olgiati, once the _Villa of Raphael_. It contained three rooms
ornamented with frescoes from the hand of the great master. The best of
these are now preserved in a room at the end of the gallery in the
Borghese Palace. The villa was destroyed during the siege of Rome in
1849, when many of the fine old trees were cut down on this side of the
grounds.

     "The Casino of Raphael was unfurnished, except with casks of wine,
     and uninhabited, except by a _contadina_. The chamber which was the
     bedroom of Raphael was entirely adorned with the work of his own
     hands. It was a small pleasant apartment, looking out on a little
     green lawn, fenced in with trees irregularly planted. The walls
     were covered with arabesques, in various whimsical and beautiful
     designs--such as the sports of children; Loves balancing themselves
     on poles, or mounted on horseback, full of glee and mirth; Fauns
     and Satyrs; Mercury and Minerva; flowers and curling tendrils, and
     every beautiful composition that could suggest itself to a classic
     imagination in its most sportive mood. The cornice was supported by
     painted Caryatides. The coved roof was adorned with four
     medallions, containing portraits of his mistress, the Fornarina--it
     seemed as if he took pleasure in multiplying that beloved object,
     so that wherever his eyes turned her image might meet them. There
     were three other paintings, one representing a Terminus with a
     target before it, and a troop of men shooting at it with bows and
     arrows which they had stolen from unsuspecting Cupid, lying asleep
     on the ground. The second represented a figure, apparently a god,
     seated at the foot of a couch, with an altar before him, in a
     temple or rotunda, and from the gardens which appeared in
     perspective through its open intercolumniations, were seen
     advancing a troop of gay young nymphs, bearing vases full of roses
     upon their heads.[369] ... The last and best of these paintings
     represented the nuptials of Alexander the Great and
     Roxana."--_Eaton's Rome._

Just outside the Porta del Popolo, a small gate on the left of the Villa
Borghese leads to the _Villa Esmeade_,--the property of an
Englishman,--of considerable extent, and possessing beautiful views of
Rome and the Sabine mountains from its heights, which are adorned with a
few ancient statues and vases.

Unpleasantly situated near the gate of the Villa Borghese is the
Pig-market. Fortunately the manner of pig-killing at Rome is not so
noisy as that in northern countries. The throats of the animals are not
cut, but they are pierced under the left shoulder with a long pointed
bodkin, which kills them almost instantly--no blood flowing. In a very
few minutes a whole pen-full of pigs can be stilettoed in this
manner--indeed, for any one interested in farming matters, the slaughter
of the Roman pigs is a sight worth seeing.

We now enter upon the ugly dusty road which leads in a straight line to
the Milvian Bridge. By this road the last triumphal procession entered
Rome--that of the Emperor Honorius and Stilicho (described by the poet
Claudian) in A.D. 403--a whole century having then elapsed since the
Romans had beheld their last triumph--that of Diocletian.

Under the line of hills (Monte Parioli) on the right of the road are the
_Catacombs of St. Valentine_. On the other side, the same hills are
undermined by the _Catacombs of SS. Gianutus and Basilla_.

Half a mile from the gate, rises conspicuously on the right of the road
the _Casino of Papa Giulio_, with picturesque overhanging cornices and
sculptured fountain. The courtyard has a quaint cloister. This is the
"Villino," and, far behind, but formerly connected with it by a long
corridor, is the _Villa of Papa Giulio_, containing several rooms with
very richly decorated ceilings, painted by _Taddeo Zucchero_. Michael
Angelo was consulted by the pope as to the building of this villa, and
Vasari made drawings for it, but "the actual architect was Vignola, a
modest genius, who had to suffer severely, together with all his
fellow-workmen, from the tracasseries of the pope's favourite, the
bishop Aliotti, whom the less-enduring Michael Angelo was wont to
nickname Monsignor Tante Cose."

     "The villa of Papa Giulio is still visited by the stranger.
     Restored to the presence of those times, he ascends the spacious
     steps to the gallery, whence he overlooks the whole extent of Rome,
     from Monte Mario, with all the windings of the Tiber. The building
     of this palace, the laying out of its gardens, were the daily
     occupation of Pope Julius III. The place was designed by himself,
     but was never completed: every day brought with it some new
     suggestion or caprice, which the architects must at once set
     themselves to realize. This pontiff desired to forward the
     interests of his family; but he was not inclined to involve himself
     in dangerous perplexities on their account. The pleasant blameless
     life of his villa was that which was best suited to him. He gave
     entertainments, which he enlivened with proverbial and other modes
     of expression, that sometimes mingled blushes with the smiles of
     his guests. In the important affairs of the Church and State, he
     took no other share than was absolutely inevitable. This Pope
     Julius died March 23, 1555."--_Ranke's Hist. of the Popes._

     "C'est uniquement comme protecteur des arts et comme prince
     magnifique que nous pouvons envisager Jules III. Sa mauvaise santé
     lui faisait rechercher le repos et les douceurs d'une vie grande et
     libre. Aussi avait-il fait édifier avec une sorte de tendresse
     paternelle cette belle _villa_, qui est célèbre, dans l'histoire de
     l'art, sous le nom de Vigne de pape Jules. Michel-Ange, Vasari,
     Vignole en avaient dessiné les profils; les nymphées et les
     fontaines étaient d'Ammanati; les peintures de Taddeo Zuccari. Du
     haut d'une galerie élégante on découvrait les sept collines, et
     d'ombreuses allées, tracées par Jules III., égaraient les pas du
     vieillard dans ce dédale de tertres et de vallées qui sépare le
     pont où périt Maxence de la ville éternelle."--_Gournerie, Rome
     Chrétienne_, ii. 172.

Pope Julius used to come hither, with all his court, from the Vatican by
water. The richly-decorated barge, filled with venerable ecclesiastics,
gliding between the osier-fringed banks of the yellow Tiber, with its
distant line of churches and palaces, would make a fine subject for a
picture.

Nearly opposite the Casino Papa Giulio, on the further bank of the
Tiber, is the picturesque classic _Villa of Claude Lorraine_, whither he
was wont to retire during the summer months, residing in the winter in
the Tempietto at the head of the Trinità steps. This villa is best seen
from the walk by the river-side, which is reached by turning at once to
the left on coming out of the Porta del Popolo. Hence it makes a good
foreground to the view of the city and distant heights of the Janiculan.

     "This road is called 'Poussin's Walk,' because the great painter
     used to go along it from Rome to his villa near Ponte Molle. One
     sees here an horizon such as one often finds in Poussin's
     pictures."--_Frederika Bremer._

Close to the Villa Papa Giulio is the tunnel called _Arco Oscuro_,
passing which, a steep lane with a beautiful view towards St. Peter's,
ascends between the hillsides of the Monte Parione, and descends on the
other side (following the turn to the right) to the Tiber bank, about
two miles from Rome, where is situated the _Acqua Acetosa_, a refreshing
mineral spring like seltzer water, enclosed in a fountain erected by
Bernini for Alexander VII. There is a lovely view from hence across the
Campagna in the direction of Fidenæ (Castel Giubeleo) and the Tor di
Quinto.

     "A green hill, one of those bare table-lands so common in the
     Campagna, rises on the right. Ascend it to where a broad furrow in
     the slope seems to mark the site of an ancient road. You are on a
     plateau, almost quadrangular in form, rising steeply to the height
     of nearly two hundred feet above the Tiber, and isolated, save at
     one angle, where it is united to other high ground by a narrow
     isthmus. Not a tree--not a shrub on its turf-grown surface--not a
     house--not a ruin--not one stone upon another, to tell you that the
     site had been inhabited. Yet here once stood Antemnæ, the city of
     many towers,[370] one of the most ancient of Italy![371] Not a
     trace remains above ground. Even the broken pottery, that
     infallible indicator of bygone civilisation, which marks the site
     and determines the limits of habitation on many a now desolate spot
     of classic ground, is here so overgrown with herbage that the eye
     of an antiquary would alone detect it. It is a site strong by
     nature, and well adapted for a city, as cities then were; for it is
     scarcely larger than the Palatine Hill, which, though at first it
     embraced the whole of Rome, was afterwards too small for a single
     palace. It has a peculiar interest as one of the three cities of
     Sabina,[372] whose daughters, ravished by the followers of Romulus,
     became the mothers of the Roman race. Antemnæ was the nearest city
     to Rome--only three miles distant--and therefore must have suffered
     most from the inhospitable violence of the Romans."--_Dennis'
     Cities of Etruria_, ch. iii.

There is a walk--rather dangerous for carriages--by the river, from
hence, to the Ponte Molle. Here Miss Bathurst was drowned by being
thrown from her horse into the Tiber.

The river bank presents a series of picturesque views, though the yellow
Tiber in no way reminds us of Virgil's description:

    "Cæruleus Tybris cœlo gratissimus amnis."

    _Æn._ viii. 64.

Continuing to follow the main road, on the left is the round _Church of
St. Andrew_, with a Doric portico, built by Vignola, in 1527, to
commemorate the deliverance of Clement VII. from the Germans.

Further, on the right, is another _Chapel in honour of St. Andrew's
Head_.

     "One of the most curious instances of relique worship occurred here
     in the reign of Æneas Sylvius, Pope Pius II. The head of St. Andrew
     was brought in stately procession from the fortress of Narni,
     whither, as the Turks invaded the Morea, it had been brought for
     safety from Patras. It was intended that the most glorious heads of
     St. Peter and St. Paul should go forth to meet that of their
     brother apostle. But the mass of gold which enshrined, the cumbrous
     iron which protected these reliques, was too heavy to be moved; so,
     without them, the pope, the cardinals, the whole population of
     Rome, thronged forth to the meadows near the Milvian Bridge. The
     pope made an eloquent address to the head, a hymn was sung
     entreating the saint's aid in the discomfiture of the Turks. It
     rested that day on the altar of Santa Maria del Popolo, and was
     then conveyed through the city, decorated with all splendour, to
     St. Peter's. Cardinal Bessarion preached a sermon, and the head was
     deposited with those of his brother apostles under the
     high-altar_."--Milman's Latin Christianity._

A mile and a half from the gate, the Tiber is crossed by the _Ponte
Molle_, built by Pius VII. in 1815, on the site and foundations of the
Pons Milvius, which was erected B.C. 109 by the Censor M. Æmilius
Scaurus. It was here that, on the night of December 3, B.C. 63, Cicero
captured the emissaries of the Allobrogi, who were engaged in the
conspiracy of Catiline. Hence, on October 27, A.D. 312, Maxentius was
thrown into the river and drowned after his defeat by Constantine at the
Saxa Rubra. It was on this occasion that the seven-branched candlestick
of Jerusalem was dropped into the river, where it has probably ever
since been embedded. The statues of Our Saviour and John the Baptist, at
the further entrance of the bridge, are by _Mochi_.

Here are a number of taverns and _Trattorie_, much frequented by the
lower ranks of the Roman people, and for which especial open omnibuses
run from the Porta del Popolo. Similar places of public amusement seem
to have existed here from imperial times. Ovid describes the people
coming out hither in troops by the Via Flaminia to celebrate the fête of
Anna Perenna, an old woman who supplied the plebs with cakes during the
retreat to the Mons Sacer, but who afterwards, from a similitude of
names, was confounded with Anna, sister of Dido.

    "Idibus est Annæ festum geniale Perennæ,
      Haud procul a ripis, advena Tibri, tuis.
    Plebs venit, ac virides passim disjecta per herbas
      Potat; et accumbit cum pare quisque sua.
    Sub Jove pars durat; pauci tentoria ponunt;
      Sunt, quibus e ramo frondea facta casa est:
    Pars, ubi pro rigidis calamos statuere columnis,
      Desuper extentas imposuere togas.
    Sole tamen vinoque calent; annosque precantur,
      Quot sumant cyathos, ad numerumque bibunt.
    Inventes illic, qui Nestoris ebibat annos:
      Quæ sit per calices facta Sibylla suos.
    Illic et cantant, quidquid didicere theatris,
      Et jactant faciles ad sua verba manus:
    Et ducunt posito duras cratere choreas,
      Multaque diffusis saltat amica comis.
    Quum redeunt, titubant, et sunt spectacula vulgo,
      Et fortunatos obvia turba vocat.
    Occurri nuper. Visa est mihi digna relatu
      Pompa: senem potum pota trahebat anus."

    _Fast._ iii. 523.

Here three roads meet. That on the right is the old Via Flaminia, begun
B.C. 220 by C. Flaminius the censor. This was the great northern road of
Italy, which, issuing from the city by the Porta Ratumena, which was
close to the tomb of Bibulus, followed a line a little east of the
modern Corso, and passed the Aurelian wall by the Porta Flaminia, near
the present Porta del Popolo. It extended to Ariminum (Rimini), a
distance of 210 miles.[373]

(Following this road for about 1½ mile, on the left are the ruins
called _Tor di Quinto_. A little further on the right of the road are
some tufa-rocks, with an injured tomb of the Nasones. Following the
valley under these rocks to the left we reach (1½ mile) the fine
_Castle of Crescenza_, now a farm-*house, picturesquely situated on a
rocky knoll,--once inhabited by Poussin, and reproduced in the
background of many of his pictures. In the interior are some remains of
ancient frescoes.

On this road, seven miles from Rome, is Prima Porta, where are the ruins
of the _Villa of Livia_, wife of Augustus, and mother of Tiberius. When
first opened, several small rooms in the villa, supposed to be baths,
were covered with frescoes and arabesques in a state of the most
marvellous beauty and preservation, but they are now greatly injured by
damp and exposure. From the character of the paintings, a trellis-*work
of fruit and flowers, amid which birds and insects are sporting, it is
supposed that they are the work of Ludius, described in Pliny, who "divi
Augusti ætate primus instituit amœnissimam parietum picturam, villas
et porticus ac topiaria opera, lucos, nemora ... blandissimo aspectu
minimoque impendio." It was here that the magnificent statue of
Augustus, now in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican, was discovered in
1863.

     "What Augustus's affection for Livia was, is well known. 'Preserve
     the remembrance of a husband who has loved you very tenderly,' were
     the last words of the emperor, as he lay on his death-bed. And when
     asked how she contrived to retain his affection, Dion Cassius tells
     us that she replied, 'My secret is very simple: I have made it the
     study of my life to please him, and I have never manifested any
     indiscreet curiosity with regard to his public or private
     affairs.'"--_Weld._

Just beyond this, the Tiber receives the little river _Valca_,
considered to be identical with the Crimera. Hither the devoted clan of
the Fabii, 4000 in number, retired from Rome, having offered to sustain,
at their own cost and risk, the war which Rome was then carrying on
against Veii. Here, because they felt a position within the city
untenable on account of the animosity of their fellow-patricians, which
had been excited by their advocacy of the agrarian law, and their
popularity with the plebeians, they established themselves on a hillock
overhanging the river, which they fortified, and where they dwelt for
three years. At the end of that time the Veiientines, by letting loose
herds of cattle like the _Vaccine_, which one still sees wandering in
that part of the Campagna, drew them into an ambuscade, and they were
all cut off to a man. According to Dionysius, a portion of the little
army remained to guard the fort, and the rest fled to another hill,
perhaps that now known as Vaccareccia. These were the last to be
exterminated.

     "They fought from dawn to sunset. The enemy slain by their hand
     formed heaps of corpses which barred their passage."--They were
     summoned to surrender, but they preferred to die.--"The people of
     Veii showered arrows and stones upon them from a distance, not
     daring to approach them again. The arrows fell like thick snow. The
     Fabii, with swords blunted by force of striking, with bucklers
     broken, continued to fight, snatching fresh swords from the hands
     of the enemy, and rushing upon them with the ferocity of wild
     beasts."--_Dionysius_, ix. 21.

A little beyond this, ten miles from Rome, is the stream _Scannabecchi_,
which descends from the Crustuminian Hills, and is identical with the
Allia, "infaustum Allia nomen," where the Romans were (B.C. 390)
entirely defeated with great slaughter by the Gauls, before the capture
of the city, in which the aged senators were massacred at the doors of
their houses.

It was in the lands lying between the villa of Livia and the Tiber that
_Saxa Rubra_[374] was situated, where Constantine (A.D. 312) gained his
decisive victory over Maxentius, who, while attempting to escape over
the Milvian Bridge, was pushed by the throng of fugitives into the
Tiber, and perished, engulfed in the mud. The scene is depicted in the
famous fresco of Giulio Romano, in the stanze of the Vatican.

On the opposite side of the river, Castel Giubeleo, on the site of the
Etruscan Fidenæ, is a conspicuous object.)

(The direct road from the Ponte Molle is the ancient _Via Cassia_, which
must be followed for some distance by those who make the interesting
excursions to Veii, Galera, and Bracciano, each easily within the
compass of a day's expedition. On the left of this road, three miles
from Rome, is the fine sarcophagus of Publius Vibius Maximus and his
wife Regina Maxima, popularly known as "Nero's Tomb.")

Following the road to the left of the Ponte Molle, we turn up a steep
incline to the deserted _Villa Madama_, built by Giulio Romano, from
designs of Raphael for Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, afterwards Clement
VII. It derives its name from Margaret of Austria, daughter of Charles
V., and wife, first of Alessandro de' Medici, and then of Ottavio
Farnese, duke of Parma; from this second marriage, it descended through
Elisabetta Farnese, to the Bourbon kings of Naples. The neglected halls
contain some fresco decorations by _Giulio Romano_ and _Giovanni da
Udine_.

     "They consist of a series of beautiful little pictures,
     representing the sports of Satyrs and Loves; Juno, attended by her
     peacocks; Jupiter and Ganymede; and various subjects of mythology
     and fable. The paintings in the portico have been of first-rate
     excellence; and I cannot but regret, that designs so beautiful
     should not be engraved before their last traces disappear for ever.
     A deep fringe on one of the deserted chambers, representing angels,
     flowers, Caryatides, &c., by Giulio Romano; and also a fine fresco
     on a ceiling, by Giovanni da Udine, of Phœbus driving his
     heavenly steeds, are in somewhat better preservation.

     "It was in the groves that surrounded Villa Madama, that the Pastor
     Fido of Guarini was represented for the first time before a
     brilliant circle of princes and nobles, such as these scenes will
     see no more, and Italy itself could not now produce."--_Eaton's
     Rome._

The frescoes and arabesques executed here by Giovanni da Udine were
considered at the time as among the most successful of his works. Vasari
says that in these he "wished to be supreme, and to excel himself."
Cardinal de' Medici was so delighted with them that he not only heaped
benefits on all the relations of the painter, but rewarded him with a
rich canonry, which he was allowed to transfer to his brother.

One can scarcely doubt from the description of Martial that this villa
occupies the site of that in which the poet came to visit his friend and
namesake.

    "Juli jugera pauca Martialis,
    Hortis Hesperidum beatiora,
    Longo Janiculi jugo recumbunt.
    Lati collibus imminent recessus;
    Et planus modico tumore vertex
    Cœlo perfruitur sereniore:
    Et, curvas nebula tegente valles,
    Solus luce nitet peculiari:
    Puris leniter admoventur astris
    Celsæ culmina delicata villæ.
    Hinc septem dominos videre montes,
    Et totam licet sestimare Romam."

The Villa Madama is situated on one of the slopes of _Monte Mario_,
which is ascended by a winding carriage-road from near the Porta
Angelica. This hill, in ancient times called Clivus Cinnæ, was in the
middle ages Monte Malo, and is thus spoken of by Dante (Paradiso, xv.
109). Its name changed to Mario, through Mario Mellini, its possessor in
the time of Sixtus V. Passing the two churches of Sta. Maria del Rosario
and Sta. Croce di Monte Mario,[375] we reach a gate with an old
pine-tree. This is the _Villa Mellini_ (for which an order is supposed
to be necessary, though a franc will usually cause the gates to fly
open), which possesses a magnificent view over Rome, from its terraces,
lined with ilexes and cypresses.

     "The Monte Mario, like Cooper's Hill, is the highest, boldest, and
     most prominent part of the line; it is about the height and
     steepness too of Cooper's Hill, and has the Tiber at the foot of
     it, like the Thames at Anchorwick. To keep up the resemblance,
     there is a sort of terrace at the top of the Monte Mario, planted
     with cypresses, and a villa, though dilapidated, crowns the summit,
     as well as at our old friend above Egham. Here we stood, on a most
     delicious evening, the ilex and the gum-cistus in great profusion
     about us, the slope below full of vines and olives, the cypresses
     above our heads, and before our eyes all that one has read of in
     Roman History--the course of the Tiber between the hills that bound
     it, coming down from Fidenæ and receiving the Allia and the Anio;
     beyond, the Apennines, the distant and higher summits still quite
     white with snow; in front, the Alban Hills; on the right, the
     Campagna to the sea; and just beneath us the whole length of Rome,
     ancient and modern--St. Peter's and the Coliseum, rising as the
     representatives of each--the Pantheon, the Aventine, the Quirinal,
     all the well-known objects distinctly laid before us. One may
     safely say that the world cannot contain many views of such mingled
     beauty and interest as this."--_Dr. Arnold._

     "Les maisons de campagne des grands seigneurs donnent l'idée de
     cette solitude, de cette indifférence des possesseurs au milieu des
     plus admirables séjours du monde. On se promène dans ces immenses
     jardins, sans se douter qu'ils aient un maître. L'herbe croît au
     milieu des allées; et, dans ces mêmes allées abandonnées, les
     arbres sont taillés artistement, selon l'ancien goût qui régnait en
     France; singulière bizarrerie que cette négligence du nécessaire,
     et cette affectation de l'inutile!"--_Mad. de Staël._

(Behind the Monte Mario, about four miles from Rome, is the church of
_S. Onofrio in Campagna_, with a curious ossuary.)

Just outside the Porta Angelica was the vineyard in which Alexander VI.
died.

     "This is the manner in which Pope Alexander VI. came to his death.

     "The cardinal datary, Arian de Corneto, having received a gracious
     intimation that the pontiff, together with the Duke Valentinos,
     designed to come and sup with him at his vineyard, and that his
     Holiness would bring the supper with him, the cardinal suspected
     that this determination had been taken for the purpose of
     destroying his life by poison, to the end that the duke might have
     his riches and appointments, the rather as he knew that the pope
     had resolved to put him to death by some means, with a view to
     seizing his property as I have said,--which was very great.
     Considering of the means by which he might save himself, he could
     see but one hope of safety--he sent in good time to the pope's
     carver, with whom he had a certain intimacy, desiring that he would
     come to speak with him; who, when he had come to the said cardinal,
     was taken by him into a secret place, where, they two being
     retired, the cardinal showed the carver a sum, prepared beforehand,
     of 10,000 ducats, in gold, which the said cardinal persuaded the
     carver to accept as a gift and to keep for love of him, and after
     many words, they were at length accepted, the cardinal offering,
     moreover, all the rest of his wealth at his command--for he was a
     very rich cardinal, for he said that he could not keep the said
     riches by any other means than through the said carver's aid, and
     declared to him, 'You know of a certainty what the nature of the
     pope is, and I know that he has resolved, with the Duke Valentinos,
     to procure my life by poison, through your hand,'--wherefore he
     besought the carver to take pity on him, and to give him his life.
     And having said this, the carver declared to him the manner in
     which it was ordered that the poison should be given to him at the
     supper, but being moved to compassion he promised to preserve his
     life. Now the orders were that the carver should present three
     boxes of sweetmeats, in tablets or lozenges, after the supper, one
     to the pope, one to the said cardinal, and another to the duke, and
     in that for the cardinal there was poison: and thus being told, the
     said cardinal gave directions to the aforesaid carver in what
     manner he should serve them, so as to cause that the box of
     poisoned confect which was to be for the cardinal, should be placed
     before the pope, so that he might eat thereof, and so poison
     himself, and die. And the pope being come accordingly with the duke
     to supper on the day appointed, the cardinal threw himself at his
     feet, kissing them and embracing them closely; then he entreated
     his Holiness with most affectionate words, saying, he would never
     rise from those feet until his Holiness had granted him a favour.
     Being questioned by the pontiff what this favour was, and requested
     to rise up, he would first have the grace he demanded, and the
     promise of his Holiness to grant it. Now after much persuasion, the
     pope remained sufficiently astonished, seeing the perseverance of
     the cardinal, and that he would not rise, and promised to grant the
     favour. Then the cardinal rose up and said, 'Holy Father, it is not
     fitting that when the master comes to the house of his servant, the
     servant should eat with his master like an equal (confrezer
     parimente),' and therefore the grace he demanded was the just and
     honest one, that he, the servant, should wait at the table of his
     master; and this favour the pope granted him. Then having come to
     supper, and the time for serving the confectionery having arrived,
     the carver put the poisoned sweetmeats into the box, according to
     the first order given to him by the pope, and the cardinal being
     well informed as to which box had no poison, tasted of that one,
     and put the poisoned confect before the pope. Then his Holiness,
     trusting to his carver, and seeing the cardinal tasting, judged
     that no poison was there, and ate of it heartily; while of the
     other, which the pope thought was poisoned, but which was not, the
     cardinal ate. Now at the hour accustomed, according to the quality
     of that poison, his Holiness began to feel its effect, and so died
     thereof; but the cardinal, who was yet much afraid, having
     physicked himself and vomited, took no harm and escaped, though not
     without difficulty."--_Sanuto_, iv., _Translation in Ranke's Hist.
     of the Popes_.

The wine of the Vatican hill has had a bad reputation even from
classical times. "If you like vinegar," wrote Martial, "drink the wine
of the Vatican!"[376] and again, "To drink the wine of the Vatican is to
drink poison."[377]

(Here, also, is the entrance of the _Val d' Inferno_, a pleasant winter
walk, where, near the beginning of the Cork Woods, are some picturesque
remains of an ancient nymphæum.)

The _Porta Angelica_, built by Pius IV. (1559--1566), leads into the
Borgo, beneath the walls of the Vatican.

Those who return from hence to the English quarter in the evening, will
realize the vividness of Miss Thackeray's description:--

     "They passed groups standing round their doorways; a blacksmith
     hammering with great straight blows at a copper pot, shouting to a
     friend, a young baker, naked almost, except for a great sheet flung
     over his shoulders, and leaning against the door of his shop. The
     horses tramp on. Listen to the flow of fountains gleaming white
     against the dark marbles,--to the murmur of voices. An old lady,
     who has apparently hung all her wardrobe out of window, in
     petticoats and silk hankerchiefs, is looking out from beneath these
     banners at the passers in the streets. Little babies, tied up tight
     in swaddling-clothes, are being poised against their mother's hips;
     a child is trying to raise the great knocker of some feudal-looking
     arch, hidden in the corner of the street. Then they cross the
     bridge, and see the last sun's rays flaming from the angel's sacred
     sword. Driving on through the tranquil streets, populous and
     thronged with citizens, they see brown-faced, bronze-headed Torsos
     in balconies and window-frames; citizens sitting tranquilly,
     resting on the kerb-*stones, with their feet in the gutters;
     grand-looking women resting against their doorways. Sibyls out of
     the Sistine were sitting on the steps of the churches. In one stone
     archway sat the Fates spinning their web. There was a holy family
     by a lemonade-shop, and a whole heaven of little Coreggio angels
     perching dark-eyed along the road. Then comes a fountain falling
     into a marble basin, at either end of which two little girls are
     clinging and climbing. Here is a little lighted May-altar to the
     Virgin, which the children have put up under the shrine by the
     street-corner. They don't beg clamorously, but stand leaning
     against the wall, waiting for a chance miraculous
     baioch?"--_Bluebeard's Keys._




CHAPTER XX.

THE JANICULAN.

     Gate of Sto. Spirito--Church, Convent, and Garden of S.
     Onofrio--The Lungara--Palazzo Salviati and the Botanic-Garden--S.
     Giovanni alla Lungara--Palazzo Corsini--The Farnesina--Porta
     Settimiana--S. Pietro in Montorio--Fontana Paolina--Villa
     Lante--Porta and Church of S. Pancrazio--Villa
     Doria-Pamfili--Chapel of St. Andrew's Head.


The Janiculan is a steep crest of hill which rises abruptly on the west
bank of the Tiber, and breaks imperceptibly away on the other side into
the Campagna towards Civita Vecchia. Its lower formation is a marine
clay abounding in fossils, but its upper surface is formed of the yellow
sand which gave it the ancient name of Mons Aureus,--still commemorated
in Montorio--S. Pietro in Montorio.

A tradition universally received in ancient times, and adopted by
Virgil, derives the name of Janiculum from Janus, who was the sun-god,
as Jana, or Diana, was the moon-goddess. On this hill Janus is believed
to have founded a city, which is mentioned by Pliny under the name of
Antinopolis. Ovid makes Janus speak for himself as to his property:

    "Arx mea collis erat, quem cultrix nomine nostro
    Nuncupat hæc ætas, Janiculumque vocat."[378]

Fons, the supposed son of Janus, is known to have had an altar here in
very early times.[379] Janus Quirinus was a war-god, "the sun armed
with a lance." Thus, in time of peace, the gates of this temple were
closed, both because his worship was then unnecessary, and from an idea
of preventing war from going forth. It was probably in this character
that he was honoured on a site which the Romans looked upon as "the key
of Etruria," while other nations naturally regarded it as "the key of
Rome."

Janus was represented as having a key in his hand.

     "Ille tenens dextra baculum, clavemque sinistra."

     "Par un hasard singulier, Janus, qu'on représentait une clef à la
     main, était le dieu du Janicule, voisin du Vatican, où est le
     tombeau de Saint Pierre, que l'on représente aussi tenant une clef.
     Janus, comme Saint Pierre, son futur voisin, était le portier
     céleste."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ i. 229,

When the first Sabine king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, "like the darlings
of the gods in the golden age, fell asleep, full of days,"[380] he was
buried upon the sacred hill of his own people, and the books of his
sacred laws and ordinances were buried near him in a separate tomb.[381]
In the sixth century of the republic, a monument was discovered on the
Janiculan, which was believed to be that of Numa, and certain books were
dug up near it which were destroyed by the senate in the fear that they
might give a too free-*thinking explanation of the Roman mythology.[382]

Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome, connected the Janiculan with the
rest of the city by building the Pons Sublicius, the first bridge over
the Tiber; and erected a citadel on the crest of the hill as a bulwark
against Etruria, with which he was constantly at war.[383] Some
escarpments, supposed to belong to the fortifications of Ancus, have
lately been found behind the Fontana Paolina. It was from this same
ridge that his Etruscan successor, Tarquinius Priscus, coming from
Tarquinii (Corneto), had his first view of the city over which he came
to reign, and here the eagle, henceforth to be the emblem of Roman
power, replaced upon his head the cap which it had snatched away as he
was riding in his chariot. Hence, also, Lars Porsena, king of Etruria,
looked upon Rome, when he came to the assistance of Tarquinius Superbus,
and retired in fear of his life after he had seen specimens of Roman
endurance, in Horatius Cocles, who kept the falling bridge; in Mutius,
who burnt his hand in the charcoal; and in the hostage, Cœllia, who
swam home across the Tiber,--all anecdotes connected with the Janiculan.

After the time of the kings this hill appears less frequently in
history. But it was here that the consul Octavius, the friend of Sylla,
was murdered by the partisans of Marius, while seated in his curule
chair,--near the foot of the hill Julius Cæsar had his famous gardens,
and on its summit the Emperor Galba was buried. The Christian
associations of the hill will be noticed at the different points to
which they belong.

From the Borgo (Chap. XV.) the unfinished gate called _Porta Sto.
Spirito_, built by Antonio da San Gallo, leads into the Via Lungara, a
street three-quarters of a mile long, formed by Sixtus V., and occupying
the whole length of the valley between the Tiber and the Janiculan.

Immediately on the right, the steep "Salita di S. Onofrio" leads up the
hillside to the _Church of S. Onofrio_, built in 1439 by Nicolo da Forca
Palena, in honour of the Egyptian hermit, Honophrius.

     "St. Onofrius was a monk of Thebes, who retired to the desert, far
     from the sight of men, and dwelt there in a cave for sixty years,
     and during all that time never beheld one human being, or uttered
     one word of his mother-tongue except in prayer. He was unclothed,
     except by some leaves twisted round his body, and his beard and
     hair had become like the face of a wild beast. In this state he was
     discovered by a holy man whose name was Paphnutius, who, seeing him
     crawling on the ground, knew not at first what live thing it might
     be."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

From the little platform in front of the convent is one of the loveliest
views over the city. The church is approached by a portico, decorated
with glazed frescoes by _Domenichino_. Those on either side of the door
represent the saints of the Hieronomyte Order (the adjoining convent
belongs to Hieronomytes), viz.: S. Jerome, Sta. Paula, St. Eustochium,
S. Pietro Gambacorta of Pisa, St Augustine the hermit, S. Nicolo di
Forca Palena, S. Onofrio and the Blessed Benedict of Sicily, Philip of
St. Agatha, Paul of Venice, Bartholomew of Cesarea, Mark of Manuta,
Philip of Fulgaria, and John of Catalonia. Over the door is a Madonna
and Child. In the side arcade are three scenes in the life of St.
Jerome. 1. Represents his baptism as a young man at Rome. 2. Refers to
his vision of the Judgment (described in his letter to Eustochium), in
which he heard the Judge of the World ask what he was, and he answered,
"I am a Christian." But the Judge replied, "No, you lie, for you are a
Ciceronian," and he was condemned to be scourged, but continued to
protest that he was a Christian between every lash. 3. Is a scene
alluded to in another letter to Eustochium, in which Jerome says, "O how
often when alone in the desert with the wild beasts and scorpions, half
dead with fasting and penance, have I fancied myself a spectator of the
sins of Rome, and of the dances of its young women."

The church has a solemn and picturesque interior. It ends in a tribune
richly adorned with frescoes, those of the upper part (the Coronation of
the Virgin, and eight groups of saints and angels) being by
_Pinturicchio_, those of the lower (the Virgin and Saints, Nativity, and
Flight into Egypt) by _Baldassare Peruzzi_.

On the left of the entrance is the original monument of Tasso (with a
portrait), erected after his death by Cardinal Bevilacqua. Greatly
inferior in interest is a monument recently placed to his memory in the
adjoining chapel, by subscription, the work of _De Fabris_. Near this is
the grave of the poet, Alessandro Guidi, ob. 1712. In the third chapel
on the left is the grave of the learned Cardinal Mezzofanti, born at
Bologna, 1774, died at Rome, 1849.

The first chapel on the right, which is low and vaulted, with stumpy
pillars, is covered with frescoes relating to S. Onofrio.

The second chapel on the right, which is very richly decorated, contains
a Madonna crowned by Angels, by _Annibale Caracci_. Beyond this is the
fine tomb of Archbishop Sacchi, ob. 1502. The beautiful lunette, of the
Madonna teaching the Holy Child to read, is by _Pinturicchio_. The tomb
is inscribed:

    "Labor et gloria vita fuit,
      Mors requies."

Ladies are never admitted to visit the convent, except on April 25th,
the anniversary of the death of Tasso. It is approached by a cloister,
decorated with frescoes from the life of S. Onofrio.

     "S. Onofrio is represented as a meagre old man, with long hair and
     beard, grey and matted, a leafy branch twisted round his loins, a
     stick in his hand. The artist generally tries to make him look as
     haggard and inhuman as possible."--_Mrs. Jameson._

In a passage on the first floor is a beautiful fresco of the Virgin and
Child with the donor, by _Leonardo da Vinci_.

     "To 1513 belongs a Madonna, painted on the wall of the upper
     corridor of the convent of S. Onofrio. It is on a gold ground: the
     action of the Madonna is beautiful, displaying the noblest form,
     and the expression of the countenance is peculiarly sweet; but the
     Child, notwithstanding his graceful action, is somewhat hard and
     heavy, so as almost to warrant the conclusion that this picture
     belongs to an earlier period, which would suppose a previous visit
     to Rome."--_Kugler._

Torquato Tasso came to Rome in 1594, on the invitation of Clement VIII.,
that he might be crowned on the Capitol, but as he arrived in the month
of November, and the weather was then very bad, it was decided to
postpone the ceremony till late in the following spring. This delay was
a source of trouble to Tasso, who was in feeble health, and had a
presentiment that his death was near. Before the time for his crowning
arrived he had removed to S. Onofrio, saying to the monks who received
him at the entrance, "My fathers, I have come to die amongst you!" and
he wrote to one of his friends, "I am come to begin my conversation in
heaven in this elevated place, and in the society of these holy
fathers." During the fourteen days of his illness, he became perfectly
absorbed in the contemplation of divine subjects, and upon the last day
of his life, when he received the papal absolution, exclaimed, "I
believe that the crown which I looked for upon the Capitol is to be
changed for a better crown in heaven." Throughout the last night a monk
prayed by his side till the morning, when Tasso was heard to murmur, "In
manus tuas, Domine," and then he died. The room in which he expired,
April 25, 1595, contains his bust, crucifix, inkstand, autograph, a mask
taken from his face after death, and other relics. The archives of S.
Onofrio have this entry:

     "Torquato Tasso, illustrious from his genius, died thus in our
     monastery of S. Onofrio. In April, 1595, he caused himself to be
     brought here that he might prepare for death with greater devotion
     and security, as he felt his end approaching. He was received
     courteously by our fathers, and conducted to chambers in the
     loggia, where everything was ready for him. Soon afterwards he
     became dangerously ill, and desired to confess and receive the most
     Holy Sacrament from the prior. Being asked to write his will, he
     said that he wished to be buried at S. Onofrio, and he left to the
     convent his crucifix and fifty scudi for alms, that so many masses
     might be said for his soul, in the manner that is read in the book
     of legacies in our archives. Pope Clement VIII. was requested for
     his benediction, which he gave amply for the remission of sins. In
     his last days he received extreme unction, and then, with the
     crucifix in his hand, contemplating and kissing the sacred image,
     with Christian contrition and devotion, being surrounded by our
     fathers, he gave up his spirit to the Creator, on April 25, 1595,
     between the eleventh and twelfth hours (_i.e._, between 7 and 8
     A.M.), in the fiftieth year of his age. In the evening his body was
     interred with universal concourse in our church, near the steps of
     the high altar, the Cardinal Giulio Aldobrandini, under whose
     protection he had lived during the last years, being minded to
     erect to him, as soon as possible, a sumptuous sepulchre; which,
     however, was never carried into effect; but after the death of the
     latter, the Signor Cardinal Bevilacqua raised to his memory the
     monument which is seen on entering the church on the left side."

Ladies are admitted to the beautiful garden of the convent on ringing at
the first large gate on the left below the church.

This lovely plot of ground, fresh with running streams, possesses a
glorious view over the city, and the Campagna beyond S. Paolo. At the
further extremity, near a picturesque group of cypresses, are remains of
the oak planted by Tasso, the greater part of which was blown down in
1842. A young sapling is shooting up beside it. Beyond this is the
little amphitheatre, overgrown with grass and flowers, where S. Filippo
Neri used to teach children, and assemble them "for the half-dramatic
musical performances which were an original form of his oratorios. Here
every 25th of April a musical entertainment of the Accademia is held in
memory of Tasso,--his bust, crowned with laurel wreaths, and taken from
the cast after death, being placed in the centre of the
amphitheatre."[384]

Returning to the Lungara, on the left is a Lunatic Asylum, founded by
Pius IX., with a pompous inscription, and beyond it, a chain bridge to
S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini. On the right is the handsome _Palazzo
Salviati_, which formerly contained a fine collection of pictures,
removed to the Borghese Palace, when, upon the property falling into the
hands of Prince Borghese, he sold the palace to the government, who now
use it as a repository for the civil archives. The adjoining garden now
belongs to the Sapienza, and has been turned into a _Botanic Garden_.
The modernized church of S. _Giovanni alla Lungara_ dates from the time
of Leo IV. (845--857), and is now attached to a reformatory. On the
right is a large _Convent of the Buon Pastore_.

We now reach, on the right, the magnificent _Palazzo Corsini_, built
originally by the Riario family, from whom it was bought by Clement XII.
in 1729, for his nephew Cardinal Neri Corsini, for whom it was altered
to its present form by _Fuga_.

This palace was in turn the resort of Caterina Sforza, the brave duchess
of Imola; of the learned Poet Cardinal di S. Giorgio; of Michael Angelo,
who remained here more than a year on a visit to the cardinal, "who,"
says Vasari, "being of small understanding in art, gave him no
commission"; and of Erasmus, who always remembered the pleasant
conversations (confabulationes mellifluæ) of the "Riario Palace," as it
was then called. In the seventeenth century the palace became the
residence of Queen Christina of Sweden, who died here on April 19, 1689,
in a room which is distinguished by two columns of painted wood.

     "With her residence in Rome, the habits of Christina became more
     tranquil and better regulated. She obtained some mastery over
     herself, suffered certain considerations of what was due to others
     to prevail, and consented to acknowledge the necessities incident
     to the peculiarities of her chosen residence. She took a constantly
     increasing part in the splendour, the life, and the business of the
     Curia, becoming indeed eventually altogether identified with its
     interests. The collections she had brought with her from Sweden,
     she now enlarged by so liberal an expenditure, and with so much
     taste, judgment, and success, that she surpassed even the native
     families, and elevated the pursuit from a mere gratification of
     curiosity, to a higher and more significant importance both for
     learning and art. Men such as Spanheim and Havercamp thought the
     illustration of her coins and medals an object not unworthy of
     their labours, and Sante Bartolo devoted his practised hand to her
     cameos. The Coreggios of Christina's collection have always been
     the richest ornament of every gallery into which the changes of
     time have carried them. The MSS. of her choice have contributed in
     no small degree to maintain the reputation of the Vatican library,
     into which they were subsequently incorporated. Acquisitions and
     possessions of this kind filled up the hours of her daily life,
     with an enjoyment that was at least harmless. She also took
     interest and an active part in scientific pursuits; and it is much
     to her credit that she received the poor exiled Borelli, who was
     compelled to resort in his old age to teaching as a means of
     subsistence. The queen supported him with her utmost power, and
     caused his renowned and still unsurpassed work, on the mechanics of
     animal motion, by which physiological science has been so
     importantly influenced and advanced, to be printed at her own cost.
     Nay, I think we may even venture to affirm, that she herself, when
     her character and intellect had been improved and matured, exerted
     a powerfully efficient and enduring influence on the period, more
     particularly on Italian literature. In the year 1680, she founded
     an academy in her own residence for the discussion of literary and
     political subjects; and the first rule of this institution was,
     that its members should carefully abstain from the turgid style,
     overloaded with false ornament, which prevailed at the time, and be
     guided only by sound sense and the models of the Augustan and
     Medicean ages. From the queen's academy proceeded such men as
     Alessandro Guidi, who had previously been addicted to the style
     then used, but after some time passed in the society of Christina,
     he not only resolved to abandon it, but even formed a league with
     some of his friends for the purpose of labouring to abolish it
     altogether. The Arcadia, an academy to which the merit of
     completing this good work is attributed, arose out of the society
     which assembled around the Swedish queen. On the whole, it must
     needs be admitted, that in the midst of the various influences
     pressing around her, Christina preserved a noble independence of
     mind. To the necessity for evincing that ostentatious piety usually
     expected from converts, or which they impose on themselves, she
     would by no means subject herself. Entirely Catholic as she was,
     and though continually repeating her conviction of the pope's
     infallibility, and of the necessity for believing all doctrines
     enjoined either by himself or the Church, she had nevertheless an
     extreme detestation of bigots, and utterly abhorred the direction
     of father confessors, who were at that time the exclusive rulers of
     all social and domestic life. She would not be prevented from
     enjoying the amusements of the carnival, concerts, dramatic
     entertainments, or whatever else might be offered by the habits of
     life at Rome; above all, she refused to be withheld from the
     internal movement of an intellectual and animated society. She
     acknowledged a love of satires, and took pleasure in Pasquin. We
     find her constantly mingled in the intrigues of the court, the
     dissensions of the papal houses, and the factions of the
     cardinals.... She attached herself to the mode of life presented to
     her with a passionate love, and even thought it impossible to live
     if she did not breathe the atmosphere of Rome."--_Ranke's Hist. of
     the Popes._

In 1797 this palace was used as the French embassy, and on the 28th of
December was the scene of a terrible skirmish, when Joseph Buonaparte,
then ambassador, attempted to interfere between the French democratic
party and the papal dragoons, and when young General Duphot, who was
about to be married to Buonaparte's sister-in-law, was shot by his side
in a balcony. These events, after which Joseph Buonaparte immediately
demanded his passports and departed, were among the chief causes which
led to the invasion of Rome by Berthier, and the imprisonment of Pius
VII.[385]

The collections now in the palace have all been formed since the death
of Queen Christina. The _Picture Gallery_ is open to the public from
nine to twelve, every day except Sundays and holidays.

The following criticism, applicable to all the private galleries in
Rome, is perhaps especially so to this:

     "You may generally form a tolerably correct conjecture of what a
     gallery will contain, as to subject, before you enter it,--a
     certain quantity of Landscapes, a great many Holy Families, a few
     Crucifixions, two or three Pietàs, a reasonable proportion of St.
     Jeromes, a mixture of other Saints and Martyrdoms, and a large
     assortment of Madonnas and Magdalenes, make up the principal part
     of all the collections in Rome; which are generally comprised of
     quite as many bad as good paintings."--_Eaton's Rome._

     The 1st room is chiefly occupied by pretty but unimportant
     landscapes by _Orizzonti_ and _Vanvitelli_, and figure pieces by
     Locatelli. We may notice (the best pictures being marked with an
     asterisk):

     _1st Room._--

     24, 26. _Canaletti._

     _2nd Room._--

     12. Madonna and Child in glory: _Elis. Sirani_.

     11, 27. Fruit: _Mario di Fiori_.

     15. Landscape: _G. Poussin_.

     17, 19. Landscapes with Cattle: _Berghem_.

     20. Pietà: _Lod. Caracci_.

     41. S. Andrea Corsini: _Fr. Gessi_.

     _3rd Room._--

     1. Ecce Homo: _Guercino_.*

     9. Madonna and Child: _A. del Sarto_.

     13. Holy Family: _Barocci_.

     16, 20. Rock Scenes: _Salvator Rosa_.

     17. Madonna and Child: _Caravaggio_.

     23. Sunset: _Both_.*

     26. Holy Family: _Fra. Bartolomeo_.

     43. Two Martyrdoms: _Carlo Saraceni_.

     44. Julius II.: _after Raphael_.

     The portrait of Julius II. (della Rovere) is a replica or copy of
     that at the Pitti Palace. There are other duplicates in the
     Borghese Gallery, at the National Gallery in England, and at Leigh
     Court in Somersetshire. Julius II. ob. 1513.

     49. St. Appollonia: _Carlo Dolce_.

     50. Philip II. of Spain: _Titian_.

     52. Vanity: _Carlo Saraceni_.*

     88. Ecce Homo: _Carlo Dolce_.

     _4th Room._--

     1. Clement XII. (Lorenzo Corsini, 1730--40): _Benedetto Luti_.

     4. Cupid asleep: _Guido Reni_.

     11. Daughter of Herodias: _Guido Reni_.*

     16. Madonna: _Guido Reni_.

     22. Christ and the Magdalen: _Barocci_.

     27. Two Heads: _Lod. Caracci_.

     28. St. Jerome: _Titian_.

     40. Faustina Maratta--his daughter: _Carlo Maratta_.

     41. Fornarina: _Giulio Romano, after Raphael_,--replica of the
     picture at Florence.

     42. Old Man: _Guido_.

     44. A Hare: _Albert Durer_.*

     55. Death of Adonis: _Spagnoletto_.

     In this room is an ancient marble chair, found near the
     Lateran--and on a table "the Corsini Vase," in silver, with reliefs
     representing the judgment of Areopagus upon the matricide of
     Orestes.

_5th Room._--(In which Christina died, with a ceiling by the _Zuccari_.)

     2. Holy Family: _Pierino del Vaga_.

     12. St. Agnes: _Carlo Dolce_.*

     14. Madonna reading: _Sassoferrato_.

     20. Ulysses and Polyphemus: _Lanfranco_.

     23. Madonna and Child: _Albani_.

     26. Madonna and Child: _Sassoferrato_.

     37. Addolorata: _Guido Reni_.

     38. Ecce Homo: _Guido Reni_.

     39. St. John: _Guido Reni_.

     _6th Room._--

     19. Portrait: _Holbein_.

     20. Mgr. Ghiberti: _Titian_.

     21. Children of Charles V.: _Titian_.*

     22. Old Woman: _Rembrandt_.*

     23. Male Portrait: _Giorgione_.

     31. Caterina Bora, Wife of Luther: _Holbein_.*

     32. Male Portrait: _Vandyke_.

     34. Nativity of the Virgin. Miniature from _Durer_.

     40. Cardinal Divitius de Bibbiena: _Bronzino_.

     47. Portrait of Himself: _Rubens_.*

     48. A Doge of Venice: _Tintoret_.

     54. Cardinal Alessandro Farnese: _Titian_.*

     68. Cardinal Neri Corsini: _Baciccio_.

     _7th Room._--

     1. Madonna and Child: _Murillo_.*

     13. Landscape: _G. Poussin_.

     15. St. Sebastian: _Rubens_.

     18. Christ bearing the Cross: _Garofalo_.

     21. Christ among the Doctors: _Luca Giordano_.

     22. Descent of the Holy Spirit: _Fra Angelico_.

     23. Last Judgment: _Fra Angelico_.

     24. Ascension: _Fra Angelico_.

     "A Last Judgment by Angelico da Fiesole, with wings containing the
     Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Ghost, is in the Corsini
     Gallery. Here we perceive a great richness of expression and beauty
     of drapery; the rapture of the blessed is told, chiefly by their
     embraces and by their attitudes of prayer and praise. It is a
     remarkable feature, and one indicative of the master, that the
     ranks of the condemned are entirely filled by monks."--_Kugler._

     26. Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew: _Lod. Caracci_.

     30. Woman taken in Adultery: _Titian_.*

     35. Gonfaloniere of the Church: _Domenichino_.

     _8th Room._--

     8. Christ before Pilate: _Vandyke_.

     12. St. George: _Ercole Grandi_.

     13. Contemplation: _Guido Reni_.

     15. Landscape: _G. Poussin_.

     17. Judith and Head of Holofernes: _Gérard de la Nuit_.

     24. St. Jerome: _Guercino_.

     25. St. Jerome: _Spagnoletto_.

     43. Mosaic portrait of Clement XII. and his nephew Cardinal Neri
     Corsini.

     In this room are two modern family busts with touching
     inscriptions.

     CABINET:

     26. Madonna and Child: _Spagna_.*

     _9th Room._--

     2. Village Interior: _Teniers_.

     9. Innocent X.: _Velasquez_ (a replica of the Doria portrait).

     26. Female Portrait: _Bronzino_.

     28, 29. Battle-pieces: _Salvator Rosa_.

     30. Two Heads: _Giorgione_.

     40. Madonna Addolorata: _Cignani_.

     49. Madonna and Child: _Gherardesco da Siena_.

One of the gems of the collection, a highly finished Madonna and Child
of Carlo Dolce, is usually shown in a glass case in the first room.

The Corsini Library (open every day except Wednesdays) contains a
magnificent collection of MSS. and engravings, founded by Cardinal Neri
Corsini. It has also some beautiful original drawings by the old
masters. Behind the palace, on the slope of the Janiculan, are large and
beautiful _Gardens_ adorned with fountains, cypresses, and some grand
old plane-trees. There is a fine view from the Casino on the summit of
the hill.

     "A magnificent porter in cocked hat and grand livery conducted the
     visitors across the quadrangle, unlocked the ponderous iron gates
     of the gardens, and let them through, leaving them to their own
     devices, and closing and locking the gates with a crash. They now
     stood in a wide avenue of ilex, whose gloomy boughs, interlacing
     overhead, effectually excluded the sunlight; nearly a quarter of a
     mile further on, the ilexes were replaced by box and bay trees,
     beneath which the sun and shade divided the path between them,
     trembling and flickering on the ground and invading each other's
     dominions with every breath of wind. The strangers heard the splash
     of fountains as they walked onwards by banks precipitous as a
     hill-side, and covered with wild rank herbage and tall trees.
     Stooping to gather a flower, they almost started, as looking up,
     they saw, rising against a sky fabulously blue, the unfamiliar
     green ilex and dark cypress spire."--_Mademoiselle Mori_.

Opposite the Corsini Palace is the beautiful villa of _the Farnesina_
(open on Sundays from 10 to 3), built in 1506 by Baldassare Peruzzi for
the famous banker Agostino Chigi, who here gave his sumptuous and
extravagant entertainments to Leo X. and his court--banquets at which
three fish cost as much as 230 crowns, and after which the plate that
had been used, was all thrown into the Tiber.[386] This same Agostino
Chigi was one of the greatest of art patrons, and has handed down to us
not only the decorations of the Farnesina, but the Sibyls of Sta. Maria
della Pace, which he also ordered from Raphael.

     "Le jour où Leon X. alla prendre possession de la basilique de
     Latran, l'opulent Chigi se distingua. Le théâtre qui s'élevait
     devant son palais était rempli des envoyés de tous les peuples,
     blancs, cuivrés, et noirs; au milieu d'eux on distinguait les
     images de Vénus, de Mars, de Minerve, allusion singulière aux trois
     pontificats d'Alexander VI., de Jules II, et de Léon X. _Vénus a eu
     son temps_: disait l'inscription; _Mars a eu le sien; c'est
     aujourd'hui le règne de Minerve_. Antoine de San-Marino, qui
     demeurait près de Chigi, répondit aussitot en plaçant sur sa
     boutique la statue isolée de Vénus, avec ce peu de mots: Mars a
     régné, Minerve règne, Vénus régnera toujours."--_Gournerie, Rome
     Chrétienne_, ii. 109.

The Farnesina contains some of the most beautiful existing frescoes of
Raphael and his school. The principal hall was once open, but has now
been closed in to preserve the paintings. Its ceiling was designed by
_Raphael_ (1518--20), and painted by _Giulio Romano_ and _Francesco
Penni_, with twelve scenes from the story of Psyche as narrated by
Apuleius:

     A king had three daughters. The youngest was named Psyche, and was
     more lovely than the sunshine. Venus, the queen of beauty, was
     herself jealous of her, and bade her son Cupid to destroy her
     charms by inspiring her with an unworthy love (1). But Cupid, when
     he beheld Psyche, loved her himself, showed her to the Graces (2),
     and carried her off. He only visited her in the darkness of night,
     and bade her always to repress her curiosity as to his appearance.
     But while Cupid was sleeping, Psyche lighted a lamp, and looked
     upon him,--and a drop of the hot oil fell upon him and he awoke.
     Then he left her alone in grief and solitude. Venus in the mean
     time learnt that Cupid was faithless to her, and imprisoned him,
     and sought assistance from Juno and Ceres that she might find
     Psyche, but they refused to aid her (3). Then she drove to seek
     Jupiter in her chariot drawn by doves (4), and implored him to send
     Mercury to her assistance (5). Jupiter listened to her prayer, and
     Mercury was sent forth to seek for Psyche (6). Venus then showed
     her spite against Psyche, and imposed harsh tasks upon her which
     she was nevertheless enabled to perform. At length she was ordered
     to bring a casket from the infernal regions (7), and even this, to
     the amazement of Venus, she succeeded in effecting (8). Cupid,
     escaped from captivity, then implored Jupiter to restore Psyche to
     him. Jupiter embraced him (9), and bade Mercury summon the gods to
     a council on the subject (see the ceiling on the right). Psyche was
     then brought to Olympus (10), and became immortal, and the gods
     celebrated her nuptial banquet (ceiling painting on left).

     "On the flat of the ceiling are two large compositions, with
     numerous figures,--the Judgment of the Gods, who decide the dispute
     between Venus and Cupid, and the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche in
     the festal assembly of the gods. In the lunettes of the ceiling are
     _amorini_, with the attributes of those gods who have done homage
     to the power of Love. In the triangular compartments between the
     lunettes are different groups, illustrative of the incidents in the
     fable. They are of great beauty, and are examples of the most
     tasteful disposition in a given space. The picture of the three
     Graces, that in which Cupid stands in an imploring attitude before
     Jupiter; a third, where Psyche is borne away by Loves, are
     extremely graceful. Peevish critics have designated these
     representations as common and sensual, but the noble spirit visible
     in all Raphael's works prevails also in these: religious feeling
     could naturally find no place in them; but they are conceived in a
     spirit of the purest artlessness, always a proof of true moral
     feeling, and to which a narrow taste alone could object. In the
     execution, indeed, we recognise little of Raphael's fine feeling;
     the greatest part is by his scholars, after his cartoons,
     especially by G. Romano. The nearest of the three Graces, in the
     group before alluded to, appears to be by Raphael's own
     hand."--_Kugler_.

The paintings were injuriously retouched by _Carlo Maratta_. The
garlands round them are by _Giovanni da Udine_. The second room contains
the beautiful fresco of Galatea floating in a shell drawn by dolphins,
by _Raphael_ himself.

     "Raphael not only designed, but executed this fresco; and faded as
     is its colouring, the mind must be dead to the highest beauties of
     painting, that can contemplate it without admiration. The spirit
     and beauty of the composition, the pure and perfect design, the
     flowing outline, the soft and graceful contours, and the sentiment
     and sweetness of the expression, all remain unchanged; for time,
     till it totally obliterates, has no power to injure them.... The
     figures of the attendant Nereid, and of the triumphant Triton who
     embraces her, are beautiful beyond description."--_Eaton's Rome._

     "The fresco of Galatea was painted in 1514. The greater part of
     this is Raphael's own work, and the execution is consequently much
     superior to that of the others. It represents the goddess of the
     sea borne over the waves in her shell; tritons and sea-nymphs sport
     joyously around her; _amorini_, discharging their arrows, appear in
     the air like an angel-glory. The utmost sweetness, the most ardent
     sense of pleasure, breathe from this work; everything lives, feels,
     vibrates with enjoyment "--_Kugler._

The frescoes of the ceiling, representing Diana in her Car, and the
story of Medusa, are by _Baldassare Peruzzi_; the lunettes are by
_Sebastian del Piombo_ and _Daniele da Volterra_. Michael Angelo came
one day to visit the latter, and not finding him at his work, left the
colossal head, which remains in a lunette of the left wall, as a sign of
his visit.

In the upper story are two rooms; the first, adorned with a frieze of
subjects from Ovid's Metamorphoses, contains large architectural
paintings by _Baldassare Peruzzi_; the second has the Marriage of
Alexander and Roxana, and the family of Darius in the presence of
Alexander, by _Sodoma_.

The _Porta Settimiana_ at the end of the Lungara preserves in its name a
recollection of the gardens of Septimius Severus, which existed in this
quarter. From hence the Via delle Fornaci ascends the hill, and leads to
the broad new carriage-road, formed in 1867 under the superintendence
of the Cav. Trochi. A Via-Crucis with a staircase will conduct the
pedestrian by a shorter way to the platform on the hill-top.

The succession of beggars who infest this hill and stretch out their
maimed limbs or kiss their hands to the passers-by will call to mind the
lines of Juvenal:

    "Cæcus adulator, dirusque a ponte satelles,
    Dignus Aricinos qui mendicaret ad axes,
    Blandaque devexæ jactaret basia rhedæ."

    _Sat._ iv. 116.

_The Church of S. Pietro in Montorio_ was built by Ferdinand and
Isabella of Spain, from designs of Baccio Pintelli, on the site of an
oratory founded by Constantine upon the supposed spot of St. Peter's
crucifixion.

The first chapel on the right belongs to the Barberini, and contains
pictures by _Sebastian del Piombo_, (painted in oil upon stone, a
process which has caused them to be much blackened by time,) from
drawings of _Michael Angelo_. The central picture represents the
Scourging of Christ, a subject of which Sebastian was especially fond,
as it gave the opportunity of displaying his great anatomical power. On
the left is St. Peter, on the right St. Francis,--on the ceiling is the
Transfiguration,--outside the arch are a Prophet and a Sibyl. The second
chapel on the right has paintings by pupils of Perugino; the fifth
contains St. Paul healed by Ananias, by _Vasari_.

The fourth chapel on the right is of some interest in the history of
art. Julius III. had it greatly at heart to build and beautify this
chapel as a memorial to his family, to contain the tombs of his uncle
Cardinal Antonio di Monti, and of Fabiano, who first founded the
splendours of his house. The work was entrusted to Michael Angelo and
Vasari, who were at that time on terms of intimate friendship. They
disputed about their subordinates. Vasari wished to employ Simone Mosca
for the ornaments, and Raffaello da Montalupo for the statues; Michael
Angelo objected to having any ornamental work at all, saying that where
there were to be marble figures, there ought to be nothing else, and he
would have nothing to do with Montalupo because his figures for the tomb
of Julius II. had turned out so ill. When the chapel was finished
Michael Angelo confessed himself in the wrong for not having allowed
more ornament. The statues were entrusted to Bartolomeo Ammanati.

The first chapel on the left has St. Francis receiving the stigmata
attributed to _Giovanni de Vecchi_.

     "A barber of the Cardinal S. Giorgio was an artist, who painted
     very well in tempera, but had no idea of design. He made friends
     with Michael-Angelo, who made him a cartoon of a St. Francis
     receiving the stigmata, which the barber carefully carried out in
     colour, and his picture is now placed in the first chapel on the
     left of the entrance of S. Pietro in Montorio."--_Vasari_, vi.

The third chapel on the left contains a Virgin and Child with St. Anne,
of the school of Perugino; the fourth, a fine Entombment, by an unknown
hand; the fifth, the Baptism of Christ, said to be by _Daniele da
Volterra_.

The Transfiguration of Raphael was painted for this church, and remained
here till the French invasion. When it was returned from the Louvre it
was kept at the Vatican. Had it been restored to this church, it would
have been destroyed in the siege of 1849, when the tribune and
bell-tower were thrown down. Here, in front of the high altar, the
unhappy Beatrice Cenci was buried without any monument.

Irish travellers may be interested in the gravestones in the nave, of
Hugh O'Neil of Tyrone, Baron Dungannon, and O'Donnell of Tyrconnell
(1608). Near the door is the fine tomb, with the beautiful sleeping
figure of Julian, Archbishop of Ragusa, ob. 1510, inscribed "Bonis et
Mors et Vita dulcis est." An inscription below the steps in front of the
church commemorates the translation of a miraculous image of the Virgin
hither in 1714.

In the cloister is the _Tempietto_, a small domed building resting on
sixteen Doric columns, built by Bramante in 1502, on the spot where St.
Peter's cross is said to have stood. A few grains of the sacred sand
from the hole in the centre of the chapel are given to visitors by the
monks as a relic.

     "St. Peter, when he was come to the place of execution, requested
     of the officers that he might be crucified with his head downwards,
     alleging that he was not worthy to suffer in the same manner his
     divine Master had died before him. He had preached the cross of
     Christ, had borne it in his heart, and its marks in his body, by
     sufferings and mortification, and he had the happiness to end his
     life on the cross. The Lord was pleased not only that he should die
     for his love, but in the same manner himself had died for us, by
     expiring on the cross, which was the throne of his love. Only the
     apostle's humility made a difference, in desiring to be crucified
     with his head downward. His Master looked toward heaven, which by
     his death he opened to men; but he judged that a sinner formed from
     dust, and going to return to dust, ought rather in confusion to
     look on the earth, as unworthy to raise his eyes to heaven. St.
     Ambrose, St. Austin, and St. Prudentius ascribe this his petition
     partly to his humility, and partly to his desire of suffering more
     for Christ. Seneca mentions that the Romans sometimes crucified men
     with their heads downward; and Eusebius testifies that several
     martyrs were put to that cruel death. Accordingly, the executioners
     easily granted the apostle his extraordinary request. St.
     Chrysostom, St. Austin, and St. Austerius say that he was nailed to
     the cross; Tertullian mentions that he was tied with cords. He was
     probably both nailed and bound with ropes."--_Alban Butler._

The view from the front of the church is almost unrivalled.

Behind it is the famous _Fontana Paolina_, whose name, by a curious
coincidence, combines those of its architect, Fontana, and its
originator, Paul V. It was erected in 1611, and is supplied with water
from the Lake of Bracciano, by the aqueduct of the Aqua Trajana,
thirty-five miles in length. The red granite columns, which divide the
fountain, were brought from the temple of Minerva in the Forum
Transitorium.

     "The pleasant, natural sound of falling water, not unlike that of a
     distant cascade in the forest, may be heard in many of the Roman
     streets and piazzas, when the tumult of the city is hushed; for
     consuls, emperors, and popes, the great men of every age, have
     found no better way of immortalising their memories, than by the
     shifting, indestructible, ever new, yet unchanging, up-gush and
     down-fall of water. They have written their names in that unstable
     element, and proved it a more durable record than brass or
     marble."--_Hawthorne._

     "Il n'y a rien encore, dans quelque état que ce soit, à opposer aux
     magnifiques fontaines qu'on voit à Rome dans les places et les
     carrefours, ni à l'abondance des eaux qui ne cessent jamais de
     couler; magnificence d'autant plus louable que l'utilité publique y
     est jointe."--_Duclos._

A little beyond this fountain is the modern _Porta S. Pancrazio_, near
the site of the ancient Porta Aurelia, built by Pius IX. in 1857, to
replace a gate destroyed by the French under Oudinot in 1849. Many
buildings outside the gate, injured at the same time, still remain in
ruins.

The lane on the right, inside the gate, leads to the _Villa Lante_,
built in 1524 by Giulio Romano, for Bartolomeo da Pescia, secretary of
Clement VII. It still contains some frescoes of Giulio Romano, though
they are only lately uncovered, as the house was used, until the last
two years, as a succursale to the Convent of the Sacré Cœur at the
Trinità de' Monti.

Not far outside the gate are the _Church and Convent of S. Pancrazio_,
founded in the sixth century by Pope Symmachus, but modernized in 1609
by Cardinal Torres. Here Crescenzio Nomentano, the famous consul of Rome
in the tenth century, is buried; here Narses, after the defeat of
Totila, was met by the pope and cardinals, and conducted in triumph to
St. Peter's to return thanks for his victory; here, also, Peter II. of
Arragon was crowned by Innocent III., and Louis of Naples was received
by John XII.

A flight of steps leads from the church to the _Catacomb of Calepodius_,
where many of the early popes and martyrs were buried. It has no
especial characteristic to make it worth visiting. Another flight of
steps leads to the spot where S. Pancrazio was martyred. His body rests
with that of St. Victor beneath the altar. A parish church in London is
dedicated to St. Pancras, in whose name kings of France used to confirm
their treaties.

     "In the persecution under Diocletian, this young saint, who was
     only fourteen years of age, offered himself voluntarily as a
     martyr, defending boldly before the emperor the cause of the
     Christians. He was therefore beheaded by the sword, and his body
     was honourably buried by Christian women. His church, near the gate
     of S. Pancrazio, has existed since the year 500. St. Pancras was in
     the middle ages regarded as the protector against false oaths, and
     the avenger of perjury. It was believed that those who swore
     falsely by St. Pancras were immediately and visibly punished; hence
     his popularity."--_Jameson's Sacred Art._

Turning to the left from the gate, on the side of the hill between this
and the Porta Portese, is the _Catacomb of S. Ponziano_.

     "Here is the only perfect specimen still extant of a primitive
     subterranean baptistery. A small stream of water runs through this
     cemetery, and at this one place the channel has been deepened so as
     to form a kind of reservoir, in which a certain quantity of water
     is retained. We descend into it by a flight of steps, and the depth
     of water it contains varies with the height of the Tiber. When that
     river is swollen so as to block up the exit by which this stream
     usually empties itself, the waters are sometimes so dammed back as
     to inundate the adjacent galleries of the catacomb; at other times
     there are not above three or four feet of water. At the back of
     the font, and springing out of the water, is painted a beautiful
     Latin cross, from whose sides leaves and flowers are budding forth,
     and on the two arms rest ten candlesticks, with the letters Alpha
     and Omega suspended by a little chain below them. On the front of
     the arch over the font is the Baptism of our Lord in the river
     Jordan by St. John, whilst St. Abdon, St. Sennen, St. Miles, and
     other saints of the Oriental Church occupy the sides. These
     paintings are all of late date, perhaps of the seventh or eighth
     century: but there is no reason to doubt but that the baptistery
     had been so used from the earliest times. We have distinct evidence
     in the Acts of the Martyrs that the sacrament was not unfrequently
     administered in the cemeteries."--_The Roman Catacombs--Northcote._

In this catacomb is an early _Portrait of Christ_, much resembling that
at SS. Nereo ed Achilleo.

     "The figure is, however, draped, and the whole work has certain
     peculiarities which appear to mark a later period of art. Both
     these portraits agree, if not strictly, yet in general features,
     with the description in Lentulus's letter (to the Roman senate),
     and portraits and descriptions together serve to prove that the
     earliest Christian delineators of the person of the Saviour
     followed no arbitrary conception of their own, but were guided
     rather by a particular traditional type, differing materially from
     the Grecian ideal, and which they transmitted in a great measure to
     future ages."--_Kugler_, i. 16.

In this vicinity are the Catacombs of SS. Abdon and Sennen, of St.
Julius, and of Sta. Generosa.

Opposite the Porta S. Pancrazio is the entrance of the beautiful _Villa
Pamfili Doria_ (open to pedestrians and to _two-horse_ carriages after
12 o'clock on Mondays and Fridays), called by the Italians "Belrespiro."
The _Casino_ contains a few (not first-rate) ancient statues, and some
views of Venice in the seventeenth century by _Heintius_. The garden,
for which especial permission must be obtained, is full of beautiful
azaleas and camellias.

From the ilex-fringed terrace in front of the casino is one of the best
views of St. Peter's, which is here seen without the town,--backed by
the Campagna, the Sabine Mountains, and the blue peak of Soracte. The
road to the left leads through pine-shaded lawns and woods, and by some
modern ruins, to the lake, above which is a graceful fountain. A small
temple raised in 1851 commemorates the French who fell here during the
siege of Rome in 1849. The word "Mary" in large letters of clipped box
on the other side of the grounds is a memorial of the late beloved
Princess Doria (Lady Mary Talbot). Not far from this is a columbarium.

The site of the Villa Doria was once occupied by the gardens of Galba,
and here the murdered emperor is believed to have been buried.

     "Un certain Argius, autrefois esclave de Galba, ramassa son corps,
     qui avait subi mille outrages, et alla lui creuser une humble
     sépulture dans les jardins de son ancien maître; mais il fallut
     retrouver la tête: elle avait été mutilée et promenée par les
     goujats de l'armée. Enfin Argius la trouva le lendemain, et la
     réunit au corps déjà brûlé. Les jardins de Galba étaient sur le
     Janicule, près de la voie Aurélienne, et on croit que le lieu qui
     vit le dernier dénouement de cette affreuse tragédie est celui
     qu'occupe aujourd'hui la plus charmante promenade de Rome, là où
     inclinent avec tant de grâce sur les pentes semées d'anémones et où
     dessinent si délicatement sur l'azur du ciel et des montagnes leurs
     parasols élégants les pins de la villa Pamphili."--_Ampère, Emp._
     ii. 80.

The foundation of the Villa Pamfili Doria is due to the wealth extorted
by Olympia Maldacchini during the reign of her brother-in-law, Innocent
X.

     "Innocent X. fut, pour ainsi dire, contraint de fonder la maison
     Pamphili. Les casuistes et les jurisconsultes levèrent ses
     scrupules, car il en avait. Ils lui prouvèrent que le pape était en
     droit d'économiser sur les revenus du saint-siége pour assurer
     l'avenir de sa famille. Ils fixèrent, avec une modération qui nous
     fait dresser les cheveux sur la tête, le chiffre des libéralités
     permises à chaque pape. Suivant eux, le souverain pontife pouvait,
     sans abuser, établir un majorat de quatre mille francs de rente
     nette, fonder une seconde géniture en faveur de quelque parent
     moins avantagé, et donner neuf cent mille francs de dot à chacune
     de ses nièces. Le général des jésuites, R. P. Vitelleschi, approuva
     cette décision. Là-dessus, Innocent X. se mit à fonder la maison
     Pamphili, à construire le palais Pamphili, à créer la villa
     Pamphili, et à pamphiliser, tant qu'il put, les finances de
     l'église et de l'état."--_About, Rome Contemporaine._

There are two ways of returning to Rome from the Villa Doria--one, which
descends straight into the valley to the Porta Cavalleggieri, passing on
the left the Church of Sta. Maria delle Fornaci; the other, skirting the
walls of the city beneath the Villa Lante, which passes a _Chapel_,
where St. Andrew's head, lost one day by the canons of St. Peter's, was
miraculously re-discovered!

     "On ne voit pas que de nouveaux monuments religieux se rapportent
     aux deux apparitions de Pyrrhus en Italie; seulement les augures
     firent rétablir le temple du dieu des foudres nocturnes, le dieu
     étrusco-sabin Summanus, en expiation sans doute de ce que la tête
     de la statue de Summanus, placée sur le temple de Jupiter
     Capitolin, avait été détachée par la foudre, et, après qu'on l'eut
     cherchée en vain, retrouvée dans le Tibre.

     "Je ne compare pas, mais j'ai vu le long des murs de Rome, entre la
     porte Cavalleggieri et la porte Saint Pancrace, une petite chapelle
     élevée au lieu où l'on a retrouvé la tête de Saint André apportée
     solennellement de Constantinople à Rome au quinzième siècle, et qui
     s'était perdue."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 55.

       *       *       *       *       *

    "Therefore farewell, ye hills, and ye, ye envineyarded ruins!
      Therefore farewell, ye walls, palaces, pillars, and domes!
    Therefore farewell, far seen, ye peaks of the mythic Albano,
      Seen from Montorio's height, Tibur and Æsula's hills!
    Ah, could we once ere we go, could we stand, while, to ocean descending,
      Sinks o'er the yellow dark plain slowly the yellow broad sun,
    Stand from the forest emerging at sunset, at once in the champaign,
      Open, but studded with trees, chestnuts umbrageous and old,
    E'en in those fair open fields that incurve to thy beautiful hollow,
      Nemi imbedded in wood, Nemi inurn'd in the hill!--
    Therefore farewell, ye plains, and ye hills, and the City Eternal!
      Therefore farewell! we depart, but to behold you again!"

    _A. H. Clough, Amours de Voyage._


THE END.

[Illustration: ROME.

Showing the more important streets and buildings. (left-side of map)]

[Illustration: ROME.

Showing the more important streets and buildings. (right-side of map)]




INDEX.


    A.

    Academy, French, in the Villa Medici, i. 49;
      Costume, i. 55;
      di S. Luca, i. 167

    Æsculapius, temple of, ii. 364

    Agger of Servius Tullius, ii. 38

    Agrippa, baths of, ii. 211

    Alberteschi family, Castle of the, ii. 368

    Aldobrandini family, palace of, i. 461;
      burial-place of, ii. 214

    Alexis, St., frescoes of the life of, i. 346;
      the story of, i. 362

    Almo, the, i. 373, 375, 413; ii. 408

    Altieri family, palace of, i. 107;
      burial-place of, ii. 216

    Amphitheatrum Castrense, ii. 131

    Angelico, Fra, pictures by, ii. 216, 324, 348, 444;
      tomb of, i. 219

    Angelo, St., Castle, ii. 227;
      Ponte, ii. 226

    Anicii, Castle of the, ii. 362

    Anio, the, ii. 31

    Antemnæ, site of, ii. 420

    Antinous, the, ii. 308

    Apollo, Temple of, i. 296; ii. 134
        Belvedere, ii. 311

    Appia, Via, i. 372

    Aqua Acetosa, ii. 420
      Alexandrina, ii. 133
      Argentina, i. 229
      Bollicante, ii. 133
      Claudia, ii. 113
      Felice, ii. 124
      Marcia, ii. 95

    Aqueduct, Claudian, ii. 125

    Arches--
      Arco dell' Annunziata, ii. 380
        di S. Lazzaro, ii. 393
        Oscuro, ii. 420
        dei Pantani, i. 165
      of Constantine, i. 206
      of Dolabella, i. 330
      of Drusus, i. 387
      of Gallienus, ii. 71
      of Janus, i. 229
      of Septimius Severus, i. 173;
        miniature, 232
      of Tiberius, i. 173
      of Titus, i. 200

    Arnolphus, ii. 373

    Arpino, Cav. d', grave of, ii. 105

    Artists, studios of, i. 30

    Atticus, Herodes, story of, i. 414, 415

    Augustus, Palace of, i. 280

    Aurelian, Wall, i. 385;
      Temple of the Sun built by, i. 436;
      favourite residence of, ii. 12

    Ave-Maria bell, i. 44

    Aventine, the, i. 348


    B.

    Babuino, the, i. 36

    Balconies, origin of, i. 61

    Bambino, Il Santissimo, i. 151

    Baptistery of the Lateran, ii. 96

    Barberini,
      Palazzo, i. 438
      Cardinal, ii. 9
      Casino of the, ii. 12
      Castle of the, ii. 34
      Garden of the, ii. 45

    Barcaccia, the, i. 57

    Basilicas (_pagan_)--
      of Æmilius Paulus, i. 181
      Constantine, i. 184; ii. 80
      Julia, i. 175
      in the Palace of the Cæsars, i. 282
      Porcia, i. 182

    Basilicas (_Christian_)--
      Sessorian, ii. 131
      S. Agnese fuori le Mura, ii. 26
      S. Alessandro, ii. 32
      S. Croce in Gerusalemme, ii. 128
      Eudoxian, ii. 54
      S. John Lateran, ii. 98
      S. Lorenzo, ii. 136
      S. Maria Maggiore, ii. 81
      S. Pietro, ii. 242
      S. Paolo fuori le Mura, ii. 402
      S. Sebastiano, i. 416
      S. Stefano, ii. 124

    Baths--
      of Agrippa, ii. 211
      of Caracalla, i. 376
      of Constantine, i. 436
      of Diocletian, ii. 36, 38
      of Livia, ii. 423
      of Nero, ii. 202
      of Titus, ii. 52

    Befana, festival of the, ii. 202

    Benedict, St., house inhabited by, ii. 368

    Bernini, Palazzo, i. 73

    Bocca della Verita, i. 233

    Borghese, Camillo, tomb of, ii. 87
      Cervaletto, farm at, ii. 85
      Palace, i. 65
      Piazza, i. 66
      Villa, ii. 411
      Casino, ii. 413
      Chapel of, ii. 85

    Borgia, family burial-place of, ii. 98
      Cæsar, ii. 325
      Lucrezia, ii. 62
      Rodrigo, Pope Alexander VI., grave of, ii. 170;
        empty tomb of, 269;
        representations of the life of, 325

    Borgo, the, ii. 235

    Boschetto, the, i. 50

    Bramante, ii. 244, 284, 308

    Burial-Ground,
      German, ii. 278
      Jewish, i. 355
      Protestant, ii. 397
      Roman, ii. 144


    C.

    Cæsars, Palace of the, i. 273

    Caius Gracchus, spot where he was killed, ii. 377

    Caligula, Palace of, i. 292;
      bridge of, 299;
      obelisk brought to Rome by, ii. 238;
      circus of, 283

    Cameos, i. 29

    Campaniles--
      S. Benedetto a Piscinuola, ii. 368
      S. Cecilia, ii. 372
      S. Giovanni a Porta Latina, i. 384
      S. Lorenzo in Lucina, i. 73
      S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, i. 468
      S. Maria in Cosmedin, i. 234
      S. Maria in Monticelli, ii. 182
      S. Prassede, ii. 71
      S. Pudenziana, i. 470
      S. Silvestro, i. 74
      S. Sisto, i. 382

    Campo--
      Militare, ii. 34
      di Fiori, ii. 176

    Campus Esquilinus, ii. 36

    Campus Martius, ii. 148

    Canova, i. 101; ii. 251, 266, 308, 347, 415

    Capena, Porta, site of, i. 373;
      historical interest of, 432

    Capitol, the, i. 109--158

    Cappuccini, piazza, ii. 7
      Cemetery, 10

    Caracci, Ann., tomb of, ii. 210

    Carinæ, the, ii. 47

    Caritas Romana, i. 241

    Casale dei Pazzi, ii. 32

    Castel Giubeleo, ii. 425

    Castles of--
      St. Angelo, ii. 227--234
      the Alberteschi, ii. 368
      the Anicii, ii. 368
      the Anguillara, ii. 379
      Crescenza, ii. 423
      Rustica, ii. 135.

    Catacombs--
      of S. Agnese, ii. 29
      of Calepodius, ii. 453
      of St. Calixtus, i. 390--405
      of S. Ciriaca, ii. 142--145
      of S. Felicitas, ii. 20
      of S. Felix, i. 49
      of SS. Gianutus and Basilla, ii. 418
      of S. Hippolytus, ii. 147
      Jewish, i. 407
      of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo, i. 408
      of SS. Pietro e Marcellino, ii. 133
      of S. Pretextatus, i. 405
      of S. Ponziano, ii. 453
      of S. Priscilla, ii. 20--24
      of the Santi Quattro, ii. 125
      of S. Sebastiano, i. 417
      of St. Valentine, ii. 418

    Cathedra Petri, ii. 261.

    Catherine, S., of Siena, Church of, i. 459;
      tomb of, ii. 217.

    Cecilia. S., relics and tomb of, ii. 373;
      house of, 375;
      grave of, i. 397

    Cemeteries--
      _See_ Burial-grounds

    Cenci, tragedy of the, i. 260--267;
      portraits of Lucrezia and Beatrice, i. 440;
      grave of Beatrice, ii. 450

    Centocellæ, ii. 133

    Chapels--
      of St. Andrew, i. 325;
      of St. Andrew's head, ii. 421

    Chapter House of S. Sisto, i. 382

    Churches of--
      S. Adriano, i. 190
      S. Agata dei Goti, i. 461
      S. Agnese, ii. 193
      S. Agnese fuori le Mura, ii. 26
      S. Agostino, ii. 157
      S. Alessio, i. 362
      S. Anastasia, i. 224
      S. Andrea a Monte Cavallo, i. 444
      S. Andrea delle Fratte, i. 75
      S. Andrea della Valle, ii. 184
      S. Angelo in Pescheria, i. 248
      S. Antonio Abbate, ii. 78
      S. Apollinare, ii. 159
      SS. Apostoli, i. 100
      Ara-Cœli, i. 117, 144
      S. Balbina, i. 370
      S. Bartolomeo, ii. 363
      S. Benedetto a Piscinuola, ii. 368
      S. Bernardo, ii. 39, 45
      S. Bibiana, ii. 74
      S. Brigitta, ii. 173
      S. Buonaventura, i. 204
      S. Caio, i. 443; ii. 45
      S. Calisto, ii. 387
      I. Cappuccini, ii. 7
      La Caravita, i. 85
      S. Carlo a Catinari, ii. 183
      S. Carlo in Corso, i. 64
      S. Carlo a Quattro Fontane, i. 43
      S. Caterina de' Funari, i. 268
      S. Caterina di Siena, i. 459; ii. 224
      S. Cecilia, ii. 370
      S. Celso in Banchi, ii. 224
      S. Cesareo, i. 382
      S. Claudio, i. 76
      S. Clemente, i. 342
      S. Cosimato, ii. 388
      SS. Cosmo e Damiano, i. 191
      S. Costanza, ii. 28
      S. Crisogono, ii. 381
      S. Crispino al Ponte, ii. 369
      S. Croce in Gerusalemme, ii. 128
      I Crociferi, i. 81
      SS. Domenico e Sisto, i. 461
      S. Dionisio, i. 474
      Domine Quo Vadis, i. 389
      S. Dorotea, ii. 388
      English and American, ii. 410
      S. Eusebio, ii. 77
      S. Eustachio, ii. 203
      S. Francesco di Paola, ii. 62
        a Ripa, ii. 379
      S. Francesca Romana, i. 195
      Gesù e Maria, i. 61
      S. Giacomo degli Incurabili, i. 61
      S. Giacomo Scossa Cavalli, ii. 237
      S. Giorgio in Velabro, i. 231
      S. Giovanni Decollato, i. 239
      S. Giovanni de' Fiorentini, ii. 225
      S. Giovanni alla Lungara, ii. 439
      SS. Giovanni e Paolo, i. 321, 327
      S. Giovanni della Pigna, ii. 209
      S. Giovanni a Porta Latina, i. 384
      S. Girolamo della Carità, ii. 172
      S. Girolamo degli Schiavoni, i. 60
      S. Giuseppe dei Falegnami, i. 157
      Greek, i. 54
      S. Gregorio, i. 319, 322
      S. Ignazio, i. 85
      Il Gesù, i. 106
      S. Isidoro, ii. 11
      S. Ivo of Brittany, ii. 155
      SS. Lorenzo e Damaso, ii. 178
      S. Lorenzo in Fonte, i. 468
        in Lucina, i. 73
        fuori le Mura, ii. 136
        Pane e Perna, i. 466
      S. Luigi dei Francesi, ii. 200
      S. Marcello, i. 87
      S. Marco, i. 105
      S. Maria degli Angeli, ii. 40
        dell' Anima, ii. 160
        in Aquiro, i. 79
        Aventina, i. 365
        in Campitelli, i. 269
        in Cappella, ii. 370
        della Concezione, ii. 7
        in Cosmedin, i. 232
        in Domenica, i. 332
        delle Fornaci, ii. 456
        Liberatrice, i. 190
        di Loreto, i. 162
        Maggiore, ii. 81
        sopra Minerva, ii. 212
        di Monserrato, ii. 170
        in Monticelli, ii. 182
        in Monti, i. 464
        dell' Orto, ii. 378
        della Pace, ii. 163
        della Pietà in Campo Santo, ii. 278
        del Popolo, i. 39
        Scala Cœli, ii. 399
        Traspontina, ii. 236
        in Trastevere, ii. 382
        in Trivia, i. 81
        in Valicella, ii. 166
        in Via Lata, i. 89
        di Vienna, i. 162
        della Vittoria, ii. 43
      S. Marta, ii. 278
      S. Martina, i. 188
      S. Martino al Monte, ii. 63
      S. Michaele in Sassia, ii. 280
      SS. Nereo ed Achilleo, i. 379
      S. Nicolo in Carcere, i. 240
        in Tolentino, ii. 12
      S. Onofrio, ii. 434
      S. Onofrio in Campagna, ii. 428
      dell' Orazione, ii. 175
      S. Pancrazio, ii. 452
      S. Pantaleone, ii. 188
      S. Paolo fuori le Mura, ii. 403
        Primo Eremita, i. 473
        allé Tre Fontane, ii. 401
      delle Perpetua Adoratrice del Divin Sacramento del Altare, i. 446
      S. Pietro in Carcere, i. 153
      SS. Pietro e Marcellino, ii. 122
      S. Pietro in Montorio, ii. 449
        in Vincoli, ii. 54
      S. Prassede, ii. 65
      S. Prisca, i. 367
      S. Pudenziana, i. 469
      SS. Quattro Incoronati, i. 340
      SS. Rocco e Martino, i. 60
      S. Sabba, i. 369
      S. Sabina, i. 356
      S. Salvatore in Lauro, ii. 224
      S. Salvatore in Torrione, ii. 280
      Il Santissimo Redentore, ii. 71
      S. Sebastiano, i. 416
        in Palatino, i. 203
      S. Silvestro a Monte Cavallo, i. 459
      S. Sisto, i. 381
      S. Stefano, ii. 278
      S. Stefano Rotondo, i. 333
      S. Susanna, ii. 44
      S. Sylvestro in Capite, i. 74
      S. Teodoro, i. 223
      S. Teresa, ii. 45
      S. Tomaso dei Cenci, i. 260
      S. Tomaso degli Inglesi, ii. 170
      Trinità de' Monti, i. 52
      Trinità dei Pellegrini, ii, 181
      S. Urbano, i. 413
      SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio, ii. 400
      S. Vitale, i. 474
      S. Vito, ii. 71

    Cicero, House of, i. 301;
      received at the Porta Capena, 375

    Cimeterio dei Tedeschi, oldest Christian burial-ground, ii. 278

    Circus--
      Agonalis, ii. 196
      of Caligula, ii. 283
      of Flaminius, site of, i. 268
      of Maxentius, i. 422
      Maximus, i. 288
      of Nero, ii. 283

    Clement, St., Church and house of. i. 342--347

    Clivus Capitolinus, i. 170, 172
      Martis, i. 388
      Victoriæ, i. 292

    Cloaca Maxima, i. 229

    Cloisters--
      of S. Alessio, i. 364
      of the Angeli, ii. 42
      of S. Gregorio, i. 322
      of the Lateran, ii. 105
      of S. Lorenzo, ii. 144
      of S. Paolo, ii. 405
      of S. Pietro in Vincoli, ii. 62

    Cœlian Hill, i. 316--342

    Coliseum, i. 207--220

    Collatia, ruins of, ii. 135

    College for English missionaries, ii. 171

    Collegio di Propaganda Fede, i. 58

    Collegio Romano, i. 87

    Colonna, Agnese Gaetani, funeral urn of, ii. 273
      Gardens, i. 458
      Lorenzo, murder of, ii. 224
      Oddone, tomb of, ii. 100
      Palazzo, i. 98
      Piazza, i. 77
      Princess, tomb of, ii. 213
      Vittoria, residence of, i. 75;
        death of, ii. 387

    Columbaria,--
      of the Arruntia family, ii. 77
      of the Freedmen of Octavia, i. 385

    Columna Lactaria, i, 242

    Columns--
      Colonna della Vergine, ii, 80
      of M. Antoninus, i. 77
      of Antoninus Pius, ii. 334
      of Piazza di Spagna, i. 57
      of Phocas, i. 179
      of S. Prassede, ii. 68
      of Trajan, i. 160
      of the Vatican Council, ii. 363

    Connell, Daniel O', monument of, i. 462

    Constantine, statue of, i. 118;
      basilica of, i. 184;
      arch of, i. 206;
      frescoes representing the conversion of, i. 341;
      baths of, i. 458;
      frescoes of legendary history of, ii. 99;
      erection of a basilica on the site of St. Peter's, by, ii. 242;
      Cimeterio del Tedeschi, set apart by, ii. 278;
      Saxa Rubra, site of decisive victory of, ii. 425

    Convents of--
      S. Agata in Suburra, i. 461
      S. Alessio, i. 362
      Ara-Cœli, i. 153
      S. Bartolomeo, ii. 363
      S. Bernardo, ii. 45
      the Buon Pastore, ii. 439
      S. Buenaventura, i. 204
      S. Caterina, i. 460
      S. Cecilia, ii. 370
      S. Eusebio, ii. 77
      S. Francesca Romana, i. 198
      S. Francesco a Rapa, ii. 379
      the Gesù, i. 107
      S. Gregorio, i. 326
      S. Maria degli Angeli, ii. 42
      the Minerva, ii. 222
      Monache Polacche, ii. 72
      the Noviciate of the order of Jesus, i. 445
      S. Onofrio, ii. 435
      the Oratorians, ii. 166
      S. Pancrazio, ii. 452
      S. Paolo, ii. 387
      S. Pietro in Vincoli, ii. 53
      Poor Clares, ii. 388
      the Pregatrici, ii. 12
      S. Sabina, i. 355
      the Sacré Cœur, i. 53
      Santi Quattro Incoronati, i. 340, 342
      Sepolte Vive, the, or Farnesiani nuns, i. 465
      S. Silvestro a Monte Cavallo, i. 459
      S. Sisto, i. 381
      S. Tomaso in Formis, i. 331
      Tor de Specchi, i. 270
      Ursuline nuns, i. 64,
      Visitandine nuns, i. 304

    Cordieri, Nicolo, statues by, i. 325, 326; ii. 99, 214

    Cordonnata, La, i. 118

    Corsini, Palazzo, ii. 439
      Chapel of the, ii. 103

    Corso, the, i. 60

    Crypts--
      of S. Alessio, i. 364
      of SS. Cosmo e Damiano, i. 191
      of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, ii. 130
      of S. Martina, i. 188
      of S. Martino al Monte, ii. 63
      of St. Peter's, ii. 267
      of S. Prassede, ii. 68

    Crypto-Porticus, i. 281

    Cybele, Temple of, i. 294;
      Sacred Stone of, 294;
      washing the statue of, ii. 408


    D.

    Dalmatica di Papa San Leone, in Treasury of St. Peter's, ii. 276

    Damasus, Pope St., inscriptions of, i. 396, 407, 418

    Diana, Temple of, i. 353

    Diavolo, Casa del, ii. 124

    Diocletian, Baths of, ii. 38

    Doctors in Rome, i. 28

    Domenichino, his most famous fresco, i. 325;
      his masterpiece, ii. 349

    Dominic, St., Convent of, i. 355;
      orange-tree of, 356;
      vision of, 358;
      legends of, 359, 360;
      first residence of, 381;
      Divine mission of, 382;
      place of first meeting with St. Francis, ii. 106

    Domitian. Palace of, i. 312;
      martyrs under, 334

    Doria, Palazzo, i. 93;
      Villa, ii. 454.

    Dorotea, Sta., legend of, ii. 390

    Drawing, materials, shops for, i. 29;
      list of subjects for, 34;
      best months for, in Rome, 35


    E.

    Easter benediction, ceremony of the, ii. 240, 241

    Egeria, Fountain of, i. 375;
      Grotto and grove of, 413

    Esquiline Hill, ii. 46--93

    Eustace, St., legend of the conversion of, ii. 204.


    F.

    Fabii, scene of the destruction of the, ii. 424

    Farnese, Palazzo, ii 174;
      Palazzetto, 178

    Faustulus, Hut of, i. 288

    Festa degli Artisti, ii. 135

    Filomena, Sta., ii. 22

    Fiori, Mario di, ii. 442

    Fontana, works of, ii. 89, 93, 96, 114, 238, 257, 391

    Fontana Paolina, ii. 451

    Forums--
      of Augustus, i. 164
      Boarium, i. 227
      of Nerva, i. 165
      Romanum, i. 168--185
      of Trajan, i. 159

    Fountains--
      of the Barcaccia, i. 57
      of Egeria, i. 375
      of S. Maria degli Angeli, ii. 42
      of S. Maria in Cosmedin, i. 235
      of S. Maria in Trastevere, ii. 382
      of the Mascherone, ii. 175
      of Palazzo Aldobrandini, i. 461
      in Palace of the Senator, i. 120
      in Piazza Navona, ii. 196
      in Piazza Pia, ii. 236
      of the Tantarughe, i. 267
      Paolina, ii. 451
      of the Piazza Montanara, i. 242
      of the Ponte Sisto, ii. 391
      attributed to the prayers of Peter and Paul in prison, i. 156
      of the Quirinal, i. 473
      of the Termini, ii. 42
      of the Tre Fontane, ii. 401
      of Trevi, i. 79

    Francis, St., relics of, ii. 379;
      celebration of Christmas by, 380

    Frangipani family, castle of the, i. 217;
      fortress of the, ii. 62


    G.

    Galileo, place of trial of, ii. 222

    Gardens--
      of Adonis, i. 305
      of Barberini Palace, i. 443
      Botanic, ii. 439
      Colonna, i. 458
      containing Columbaria, i. 386
      Corsini, ii. 445
      Government, i. 379
      of the Pincio, i. 46
      Priorato, i. 365
      of the Quirinal, i. 445
      Vatican, ii. 333
      of S. Silvia, i. 324
      of Sallust, ii. 12
      of Villa Medici, i. 49
      of Villa Massimo, ii. 122
      of Villa Negroni, ii. 35
      of Villa Wolkonski, ii. 123

    Germale, the, i. 279

    Gesù Nazareno, miracle-working picture of, ii. 182

    Ghetto, the, i. 250;
      burial-ground for, 355

    Giardino della Pigna, ii. 333

    Giotto, works of, ii. 104, 215, 246, 277, 324

    Græcostasis, i. 171

    Gregory, St., legends of, i. 322; ii. 229;
      Church of, i. 322;
      monastic cell of, 324;
      statue of, 326;
      family to which he belonged, 363

    Grottoes of Cerbara, ii. 135

    Guidi, antiquity vendor, i. 379

    Guido, important works of, i. 73, 325; ii. 7


    H.

    Heads of Lions, on bank of the Tiber, i. 239

    Horti Lamiana, ii. 76

    Hospitals--
      Sta. Galla, i. 239
      S. Gallicano, ii. 382
      of S. Giacomo degli Incurabili, i. 61
      German, ii. 161
      of S. Giovanni Calabrita, ii. 365
      of S. Giovanni Laterano, ii. 95
      in Mausoleum of Augustus, i. 64
      S. Michaele, ii. 376
      of Santa Maria in Capella, ii. 370
      of San Rocco, i. 60
      of Santo Spirito, ii. 237
      of the Trinità dei Pellegrini, ii. 181

    Houses--
      of Aquila and Priscilla, i. 368
        Cicero, i. 301
        Claude Lorraine, i. 54
        S. Clement, i. 347
        Clodius, i. 300
        Crassus, i. 301
        Drusus and Antonia, i. 292
        the Fornarina, ii. 368
        Hortensius, i. 304
        Lucrezia Borgia, ii. 62
        Mark Antony, i. 303
      Nero's Golden, ii. 52
      of Nicholas Poussin, i. 54
        Octavius and Afra, i. 277
        Palestrina, i. 339
        Pudens, i. 469
        Poets, ii. 50
        Pompey, ii. 48
        Pomponius Atticus, i. 435
        the Queen of Poland, i. 54
        Raphael, ii. 225
        Rienzi, i. 236
        S. Silvia, i. 321
        Spurius Mælius, i. 272
        the "Violinista," ii. 225


    I.

    Ignatius, S., rooms in which he lived, i. 107;
      his martyrdom, 211

    Inquisition, Palace of the, ii. 278

    Intermontium, the, i. 116

    Island in the Tiber, ii. 360-62


    J.

    Janiculan, the, ii. 432-434

    Jesuits, Order of the, established, ii. 262;
      re-established, 264

    Jews, quarter of the, i. 250;
      history of, in Rome, from early times, 250;
      persecution of, 251, 252;
      terms of occupation of houses by, 253;
      revocation of laws against, 254;
      population, government, and mortality, 255;
      synagogue of, 256;
      burial-ground of, 355;
      cupidity of, 355;
      catacomb of, 407;
      custom of, on the election of a pope, ii. 166

    Jupiter, Capitolinus, temples of, i. 111; ii. 366;
      --Tonans,--Feretrius,--Pistor, temples of, i. 115;
      statue of, 115;
      --Stator, temple of, 247, 278;
      --Inventor, temple of, ii. 392


    K.

    Kircherian Museum. i. 88


    L.

    La Madonna Consolatrice degli Afflitti, miraculous picture, ii. 221

    Lanfranco, tomb of, ii. 385

    Laocoon, the, ii. 309

    Lares, shrine of the, i. 382

    Lateran, obelisk of the, ii. 95;
      baptistery of, 96;
      cloisters of, 104;
      five General Councils held at, 105;
      ancient palace of, 108;
      modern palace of, 114;
      Christian Museum, 117;
      Picture Gallery, 118;
      School of Music, 121

    Libraries, i. 29
      Barberini, i. 437
      Bibliotheca Casanatensis, ii. 222
      of the Collegio Romano, i. 88
      Corsini, ii. 445
      of the Chiesa Nuova, ii. 167
      of Palazzo Chigi, i. 76
      of Santa Croce, ii. 131
      of the Vatican, ii. 322

    Locanda dell' Orso, ii. 223

    Loggie of Raphael, ii. 337

    Lorenzo, St., almsgiving of, i. 333;
      sketch of life of, ii. 137;
      trial of i. 283;
      martyrdom of, i. 446;
      burial-place of, 143;
      cemetery of, 144

    Lottery, Roman weekly drawing of the, ii. 198

    Loyola, Ignatius, residence of, i. 107;
      church where he was wont to preach, ii. 170

    Lunatic Asylum, ii. 439

    Lunghezza, ii. 135

    Lupercal, the, i. 290

    Luther, residence of, in Rome, i. 42


    M.

    Macellum Magnum, i. 334

    Maderno, Stefano, masterpiece of, ii. 373

    Malaria the, i. 21

    Maldacchini, Olympia, influence of, ii. 197;
      villa built by, 455

    Mamertine Prisons, i. 153

    Manufactory of Mosaics, ii. 359

    Maranna, i. 375

    Maratta, Carlo, monument of, ii. 40

    Marmorata, the, ii. 393

    Mars, temples of, i. 164, 373, 388

    Martyrdoms--
      best authenticated, i. 334--338
      of Christians, place of, ii. 390
      of S. Agata, i. 462
      of S. Agnes, ii. 27
      of S. Cecilia, ii. 371
      of S. Ignatius, i. 211
      of S. Gaudentius, i. 209
      of S. Lorenzo, i. 466
      of S. Martina, i. 212
      of St. Paul, ii. 401
      of St. Peter, ii. 451
      of S. Prisca, i. 212
      Pietra di Paragone, used in the, ii. 278

    Masaccio, frescoes by, i. 343

    Mausoleum of Augustus, i. 62;
      statues at entrance of, 474
      of Hadrian, ii. 227, 233

    Medici, Villa, i. 49;
      tombs of the Medici family, ii. 218, 219

    Melozzo da Forli, important pictures by, i. 453; ii. 276, 357

    Mentana, ii. 33

    Meta Sudans, i. 206

    Michael Angelo, works attributed to, i. 117, 119, 332, 334, 389;
      ii. 58, 60, 163, 174, 210, 218;
      the Moses of, ii. 58;
      design of, for St. Peter's, ii. 244;
      statue by, in St. Peter's, ii. 256;
      frescoes by, ii. 285;
      his most perfect work, ii. 388

    Milliarium Aureum, i. 173

    Mills of Belisarius, ii. 366

    Miserere, of Passion Week, ii. 296

    Monasteries--
      of S. Andrew, i. 321
      of S. Anna. ii. 387
      of the Chiesa Nuova, ii. 167
      of S. Croce, ii. 131
      of S. Eusebio, ii. 77
      of the Passionists, i. 329

    Mons Sacer, ii. 32

    Monte Caprino, i. 117
      Cavallo, i. 446
      Citorio, i. 78
      Giordano, ii. 166
      del Grano, ii. 124
      Mario, ii. 427
      di Pietà, ii. 181
      Rotondo, ii. 34
      Sacro (Mons Sacer), ii. 32
      Testaccio, ii. 397

    Morrà, national game of the Trasteverini, ii. 367

    Mosaics--
      in S. Cecilia, ii. 374
      in S. Cesareo, i. 383
      in S. Antonio, ii. 79
      in S. Croce, ii. 130
      in S. Clemente, i. 345
      at S. Tommaso in Formis, i. 351
      of SS. Cosmo and Damian, i. 192
      in Crypt of St. Peter's, ii. 268, 273
      in S. Francesca Romana, i. 198
      in Jewish Catacomb, i. 407
      in the Lateran, ii. 100
      in S. Lorenzo, ii. 138
      in Sta. Maria in Cosmedin, i. 233
        in Domenica, i. 333
        Maggiore, ii. 82, 83
        Scala Cœli, ii. 400
        in Trastevere, ii. 383, 385--387
      in S. Martino al Monte, ii. 64
      in the Navicella, i. 333
      in SS. Nereo ed Achilleo, i. 380
      in the Oratory of S. Venanzio, ii. 97
      in the Orto del Paradiso, ii. 67
      in S. Paolo fuori le Mura, ii. 405, 406
      Papal Manufactory of, ii. 359
      in St. Peter's, ii. 252, 256, 259, 260, 261, 263, 264
      in S. Pietro in Vincoli, ii. 57
      in S. Prassede, ii. 70
      in S. Pudenziana, i. 471
      in the Quirinal Palace, i. 454
      in S. Sabina, i. 357
      in the Sala Rotondo, ii. 318
      in the Sancta Sanctorum, ii. 113
      in S. Stefano Rotondo, i. 339
      in S. Teodoro, i. 223
      found at Torre Nuova, ii. 414
      in the Triclinium of the Palace of Lateran, ii. 109

    Muro-Torto, i. 46

    Museo, Chiaramonti, ii. 305
      Pio-Clementino, ii. 305

    Museums--
      Capitoline, i. 122
      Christian, of the Lateran, ii. 117
      Vatican, of Christian Antiquities, ii. 324
      Egyptian, ii 331
      Etruscan, ii. 327--331
      Kircherian, i. 88


    N.

    Navicella, the, i. 330;
      Mosaic of, ii. 246

    Navona, Piazza, ii. 196

    Naumachia, remnant of the pleasures of the, ii. 198

    Neri, S. Filippo, i. 418;
      chapel of, ii. 166;
      library founded by, ii. 167;
      foundation of Oratorians by, ii. 169;
      hospital founded by, ii. 181;
      portrait of, ii. 181;
      resuscitation to life by, ii. 187

    Nero, Grave of, i. 38;
      Statue of, i. 200;
      Palace of, i. 311;
      Aqueduct of, i. 330;
      Martyrs under, i. 335;
      Tower of, i. 459;
      death of, ii. 25;
      Golden House of, ii. 52;
      site of Baths of, ii. 202

    Notte Vaticane, ii. 336

    Nymphæum--
      of S. Urbano, i. 413
      of the Val d' Inferno, ii. 430


    O.

    Obelisk--
      of the Esquiline, ii. 93
      of the Villa Mattel, i. 332
      of the Lateran, ii. 95
      of the Minerva, ii. 211
      of the Monte Cavallo, i. 446
        Citorio, i. 78
      of the Pantheon, ii. 211
      of St. Peter's, ii. 238, 239
      of the Piazza Navona, ii. 196
      of the Pincio, i. 46
      of the Piazza del Popolo, i. 37
      of the Trinità de' Monti, i. 51

    Observatory of the Collegio Romano, i. 88

    Orti Farnesiani, i. 276

    Osa, the river, ii. 135

    Osteria delle Frattocchie, i. 429

    Ostia, ii. 409

    Ostian Gate, ii. 394, 399

    Overbeck, Studio of, ii. 45


    P.

    Palaces--
      Albani, i. 443
      Aldobrandini, i. 461
      Altemps, ii. 160
      Altieri, i. 107
      of Augustus, i. 280
      Barberini, i. 436
      Bernini, i. 73
      Borghese, i. 65;
        gallery in, 66
      Braschi, ii. 188
      Buonaparte, i. 103
      of the Cæsars, i. 250
      Caëtani, i. 268
      Caffarelli, i. 142
      of Caligula, i. 292
      of the Cancelleria, ii. 177
      Cardelli, ii. 155
      Cenci, i. 259
      Chigi, i. 76
      Colonna, gallery in, i. 98
      of the Conservators, i. 135
      of the Consulta, i. 448
      Corsini, ii. 439
      Costaguti, i. 267
      of Domitian, i. 312
      Doria, i. 93;
        gallery in, 94
      Falconieri, ii. 175
      Farnese, ii. 174
      Farnesina, ii. 388
      Gabrielli, ii. 166
      Galitzin, ii. 155
      Giraud, ii. 236
      Giustiniani, ii. 202
      del Governo Vecchio, ii. 165
      Lancellotti, ii. 197
      of the Lateran, ancient, ii. 108
      of the Lateran, modern, ii. 114
      Linote, ii. 178
      Madama, ii. 198
      Margana, i. 270
      Massimo alle Colonne, ii. 186
      Mattei, i. 268
      Moroni, ii. 387
      Muto-Savorelli, i. 103
      of Nero, i. 311
      Odescalchi, i. 98
      Orsini, ii. 360
      Pamfili, ii. 196
      Parisani, i. 76
      Patrizi, ii. 202
      Pio, ii. 184
      Poli, i. 81
      Ponziani, ii. 369
      of Pope Honorius III., i. 361
      of the Quirinal, i. 449
      della Regina di Polonia, i. 54
      Rospigliosi, i. 434, 456
      Ruspoli, i. 72
      Sacchetti, ii. 176
      Salviati, ii. 439
      Santa Croce, ii. 182
      Sciarra, i. 82
      of the Senator, i. 120
      Spada alla Regola, ii. 178
      di Spagna, i. 57
      of Tiberius, i. 291
      Torlonia, i. 104
      del Santo Uffizio, ii. 278
      Valentini, i. 98
      Venezia, i. 105
      of Vespasian, i. 281
      Vidoni, ii. 185

    Palatine, the, i. 273--315

    Pantheon, the, ii. 204--211

    Parco di San Gregorio, i. 319

    Pasquinades, ii. 188--192

    Pasquino, ii. 188

    Paul, St., house in which he lodged, i. 89;
      trial of, in Palace of the Cæsars, i. 284;
      prison of, i. 309;
      skull of, ii. 100;
      shrine of, ii. 273;
      parting of, with St. Peter, ii. 398;
      martyrdom of, ii. 399, 402;
      pillar to which he was bound, ii. 401;
      festivals of, ii. 408

    Perretti, Cardinal, his residence at the Villa Negroni, ii. 35

    Peruzzi, Baldassare, works of, ii. 160, 165, 178, 186;
      tomb of, in the Pantheon, ii. 209;
      design of, for St. Peter's, ii. 244;
      frescoes by, ii. 448

    Pescheria, the, i. 249

    Peter, St., dungeon occupied by, in Mamertine Prisons, i. 153;
      legend relating to, concerning Simon Magus, i. 197;
      tradition of, i. 379;
      legend relating to persecution of, ii. 389;
      burial-place of, ii. 274;
      preservation of his chains, ii. 54, 61;
      relics of, ii. 61, 100;
      statues of, ii. 226, 254;
      episcopal chair of, ii. 261;
      shrine and sarcophagus of, ii. 273;
      parting of, with St. Paul, ii. 398;
      crucifixion of, ii. 451

    Photographers, i. 29

    Pianta Capitolina, i. 123

    Piazzas--
      Barberini, i. 436
      Bocca della Verità, ii. 392
      Borghese, i. 66
      del Campidoglio, i. 119
      di Campitelli, i. 269
      Campo di Fiore, ii. 176
      Capo di Ferro, ii. 178
      of the Cappuccini, ii. 7
      Colonna, i. 76
      di S. Eustachio, ii. 202
      del Gesù, i. 108
      di S. Giovanni, ii. 95
      della Guidecca, i. 259
      of S. Maria Maggiore, ii. 80
        in Monti, i. 464
      della Minerva, ii. 211
      Montanara, i. 242
      of the Monte Cavallo, i. 446
      Monte Citorio, i. 78
      of the Navicella, i. 330
      Navona, ii. 196
      del Orologio, ii. 166
      of St. Peter's, ii. 238--240
      Pia, ii. 236
      del Popolo, i. 36
      della Rotonda, ii. 211
      Rusticucci, ii. 238
      Scossa Cavalli, ii. 236
      della Scuola, i. 256
      di Spagna, i. 56, 58
      delle Tartarughe, i. 267
      del Tritone, i. 436

    Picture Galleries--
      Palazzo Barberini, i. 439
      Borghese, i. 66
      Capitoline, i. 140
      Palace of the Lateran, ii. 118
        Quirinal, i. 455
      Palazzo Colonna, i. 99
        Corsini, ii. 442
        Doria, i. 94
        Mattei, i. 268
        Sciarra, i. 82
      the Vatican, ii. 347, 359

    Pierleoni, fortress of the, i. 245

    Pietà, in S. Croce, ii. 130
      in the Lateran, ii. 103, 104
      in S. Maria dell' Anima, ii. 163
      of S. Peter's, ii. 256

    Pietra di Paragone, ii. 278

    Pig-Market, Roman mode of killing pigs, ii. 417

    Pigna, in garden of the Vatican, ii. 334

    Pincio, the, i. 43, 44

    Piscina Publica, i. 383

    Plautilla, legend of, ii. 398, 399

    Pollajuolo, Antonio, tomb of, ii. 56

    Pompey, statue of, ii. 179;
      theatre of, ii. 184

    Ponte--
      S. Angelo, ii. 226
      S. Bartolomeo, ii. 366
      Molle, ii. 421
      Nomentana, ii. 31
      di Nono, ii. 134
      Quattro Capi, ii. 360
      Rotto, i. 237; ii. 369
      Salara, ii. 19
      Sisto, ii. 390
      Pontecello, stream of, i. 429

    Popolo, Piazza del, i. 36
      Prati del, ii. 397
      Porta del, i. 37; ii. 422
      Church of S. Maria del, i. 39

    Porta, Giacomo della, works of, ii. 174, 244, 251, 400, 401
      Guglielmo della, ii. 262

    Porta--
      Angelica, ii. 430
      Asinaria, ii. 107
      Capena, i. 373
      Carmentalis, i. 239
      Cavalleggieri, ii. 280
      Collina, ii. 16
      Furba, ii. 124
      S. Giovanni, ii. 107
      Latina, i. 384
      S. Lorenzo, ii. 135
      Maggiore, ii. 132
      Mugonia, i. 274
      Nomentana, ii. 24
      Ostiensis, ii. 394
      Palatii, i. 279
      S. Pancrazio, ii. 452
      S. Paolo, ii. 393
      Pia, ii. 24
      Pinciana, ii. 16
      del Popolo, ii. 410
      Portese, ii. 377
      Romana, i. 274
      Salara, ii. 16
      Salutaria, i. 435
      Santa, ii. 82;
        ceremony of the destruction of the wall of, 248
      S. Sebastiano, i. 387
      Settimiana, ii. 388, 448
      Sto. Spirito, ii. 434
      Trigemina, ii. 392

    Porticos--
      of Baths of Constantine, i. 458
      Leonino, ii. 102
      of Livia, i. 198
      of Octavia, i. 247
      of Pallas Minerva, i. 165
      of the Pantheon, ii. 206
      of Temple of Mars, i. 388
        of Quirinus, i. 435
      of Theatre of Pompey, ii. 184

    Poussin, Niccolas, i, 52;
      house of, 54;
      tomb of, 73

    Prata Quinctia, i. 59

    Presepio, origin of the, ii. 380

    Pretorian Camp, remains of, ii. 34

    Prima Porta, ii. 423

    Prisons--
      Carceri Nuove, ii. 176
      in Castle of St. Angelo, ii. 234
      the Island in the Tiber used as, in imperial times, ii. 362
      Mamertine, i. 153
      for Women, ii. 42

    Propaganda, the, i. 59

    Protestant Cemetery, ii. 395
      Churches, ii. 410

    Protomoteca, i. 136

    Pseudo-Aventine, i. 368

    Pyramid, of Caius Cestius, ii. 394
      of Scipio Africanus, ii. 236


    Q.

    Quattro Fontane, ii. 34, 45

    Quirinal, i. 433--455


    R.

    Railway Station, ii. 35

    Raphael, painter, sculptor, and architect, i. 41;
      Works of, 67, 83, 96, 167, 305, 439; ii. 102, 158, 164, 185;
      tomb of, in the Pantheon, 209;
      house of, 225;
      design of, for St. Peter's, 244;
      cartoons of, 321;
      Loggie of, 337;
      frescoes by, 338, 340--343, 345, 446, 448;
      pictures by, 348, 350, 356;
      his last work, ii. 351;
      Villa of, 416

    Regia, site of the, i. 178

    Relics--
      of S. Andrew, ii. 253, 421, 456
      Arm of St. Thomas à Becket, ii. 172
      Brains of St. Thomas à Becket, ii. 92
      Body of St. Bartholomew, ii. 364
      ait S.S. Cosmo and Damian, i. 192
      Chains of St. Peter, ii. 61
      Chair of St. Peter, ii. 261
      Column to which our Saviour is reputed to have been bound, ii. 68
      of S. Carlo Borromeo, ii. 69; ii. 167
      of S. Dominic, i. 360
      of S. Francesca Romana, i. 270
      of St. Francis, ii. 379
      of Ignatius Loyola, i. 107
      list of, in Lateran, ii. 102
      in S. Martino al Monte, ii. 64
      of St Peter's, exhibition of, ii. 253, 254
      in Sancta Sanctorum, ii. 112, 113
      Sancta Culla, ii. 91
      Santa Scala, ii. 110
      of Tasso, ii. 437
      Title of the True Cross, exhibition of, ii. 129
      in Treasury of St. Peter's, ii. 276

    Remus, temple of, i. 191

    Ripetta, the, i. 37;
      Quay of the, 59

    Ripresa dei Barberi, i. 105

    Roman Pearls, i. 29

    Romana, Sta. Francesca, favourite saint of the Romans, i. 148; ii. 136;
      her death, i. 195; ii. 370;
      miracle attributed to, ii. 378;
      vineyard of, ii. 398

    Rome, statue so called, ii. 35

    Romulus and Remus, legend of, i. 288;
      walls of, 305;
      connection with Aventine, 349;
      temple to, 434

    Rosa, Salvator, i. 94, 95;
      monument of, ii. 40

    Rospigliosi, Palazzo, i. 456

    Rupe Tarpeia, i. 142


    S.

    Sacchi, Andrea, grave of, ii. 105

    Sacer, Mons, ii. 32

    Sala degli Animali, ii. 313
      della Biga, ii. 319
      di Constantino, ii. 340
      a Croce Greca, ii. 319
      Ducale, ii. 298
      delle Muse, ii. 317

    Sala delle Regia, ii. 285
      Rotonda, ii. 318

    Salita di S. Onofrio, ii. 434

    Sancta Sanctorum, in Palace of Lateran, ii. 111

    Sangallo, Antonio di, works of, ii. 174, 244, 285

    Sansovino, Andrea, statue by, ii. 158

    Santa Scala, ii. 110

    Scannabecchi, stream of, ii. 425

    Schools--
      Castigliana, i. 256
      Catilana, i. 256
      for Music, in the Middle Ages, ii. 121
      Scuola Nuova, i. 256
      Siciliana, i. 256
      del Tempio, i. 256
      Sciarra, Palazzo, i. 82

    Scipios, Tomb of the, i. 385

    Sculptors, studios of, i. 31

    Sebastian, St., place of martyrdom of, i. 203;
      fresco, relating to legend of, ii. 56;
      statues of, i. 417; ii. 194

    Seminario Romano, ii. 159

    Septizonium of Severus, i. 312

    Seven Hills of Rome, i. 298

    Shops--
      for Antiquities, i. 29
      Arvotti's, the famous Roman-scarf shop, ii. 198
      Bookbinder's, i. 30
      Booksellers', i. 29
      for Bronzes, i. 29
      for Cameos, i. 29
      for Carpets and small house articles, i. 30
      for Drawing materials, i. 29
      English Grocer's, i. 30
      Engraver's, i. 30
      for Engravings, i. 29
      German Baker's, i. 30
      for Gloves, i. 30
      Italian Grocer and Wine-Merchant's, i. 30
      Jewellers', i. 29
      for Lace, well-known, i. 267
      for Ladies' dresses, i. 30
      for Mosaics, i. 29
      for Oil, Candles, and Wood, &c., i. 30
      for Roman Ribbons and Shawls, i. 30
      for Roman Pearls, i. 29
      Shoemakers', i. 30
      Tailors', i. 30

    St. Peter's, first sight of, i. 17;
      view of, from the Pincio, 44;
      distant view of, from Villa Medici, 51;
      "View of, through the Keyhole," 365;
      the approach to, ii. 238;
      early history of buildings on the site of, 242;
      the building of, 244;
      expenses of building, 245;
      façade, 245;
      vestibule, 246;
      entrance of the Cathedral, 249;
      nave, 251;
      dimensions of building, 251;
      cupola, 252;
      Baldacchino, 252;
      relics, 253;
      statues, 254, 255;
      chapels, 256--258;
      monuments, 259--266;
      tribune, 261;
      chair of, 261;
      confessionals, 267;
      crypt of, 267--274;
      sarcophagi, 270--274;
      dome of, 275;
      sacristy of, 275;
      treasury of, 276;
      archives of, 277;
      best view of, 454

    Stanze, d'Eliodoro, ii. 341
      of the Incendio del Borgo, ii. 345
      della Segnatura, ii. 342

    Statues of--
      Abbate Luigi, ii. 186
      S. Agnese, ii. 194
      Agrippa, ii. 206
      S. Anastasia, i. 224
      Antinous, the, ii. 308
      Aristotle, ii. 180
      Augustus, ii. 206, 424
      Barberini Palace, the, i. 438
      Benedict XIII., i. 303
      S. Bruno, ii. 40
      Calumny, i. 75
      Capitoline Gallery, the, 123--135
      Castor and Pollux, i. 118
      S. Cecilia, ii. 373
      Chapel of the Sacrament, the, ii. 89
      Christian Museum, the, ii. 117
      Clœlia, i. 199
      Collection of, in Palazzo Sacchetti, ii. 176
      Colossal, Minerva, ii. 35
      Constantine, ii. 106
      Corsini Chapel, the, ii. 103
      Discobolus, the, ii. 186
      Domitian, i. 179
      Drusus, i. 387
      Egyptian Museum, the, ii. 332
      S. Gregorio, i. 326
      Gregory XVI., ii. 405
      Hall of the Senators, the, i. 121
      Henry IV., ii. 99
      S. Jerome, i. 60
      S. John the Baptist, i. 344
      Julius II., on tomb, ii. 59, 60
      Juno, i. 112
      Jupiter, i. 112
      Justice, i. 378
      S. Lorenzo, ii. 137
      Marcus Aurelius, i. 119; ii. 186
      Mars, ii. 14
      S. Martina, i. 188
      Mausoleum of Augustus, the, i. 447
      Minerva, i. 112
      Moses, ii. 42, 59
      Nile, the, i. 184
      Orpheus, ii. 51
      Pasquino, ii. 188
      Peter and Paul, ii. 130
      S. Peter's, balustrade and steps of, ii. 245, 246;
        nave, 254;
        crypt of, 268, 273
      Philip IV. of Spain, ii. 82
      Pincio, the, i. 43
      Pompey, at the foot of which Cæsar fell, ii. 179
      Porta Pia, ii. 24
      Raphael, by, i. 41
      S. Sebastian, ii. 194, 221
      S. Silvia, i. 325
      Torso Belvidere, ii. 306
      Trajan, i. 161
      Vatican, the, ii. 300--322
      Vatican Library, the, ii. 324
      Villa Albani, the, ii. 18
      Villa Borghese, the, ii. 414--416
      Villa Pamfili Doria, the, ii. 454

    Stone, on which Abraham was about to offer Isaac, ii. 237
      Sacred, legend of, i. 294

    Streets--see Via

    Studios--
      Artists', i. 30
      of Overbeck, ii. 45
      Sculptors', i. 31

    Suburra, the, ii. 49

    Summa Via Nova, i. 277

    Sun, Aurelian's Temple of the, i. 436, 458

    Sylvester, ancient Chair and Mitre of, ii. 64


    T.

    Tarquin, site of camp of, ii. 378

    Tasso, Monument of, ii. 436;
      death of, 437;
      remains of oak planted by, 438;
      annual commemoration of, at the Accademia, 439

    Teatino, Don Gaëtano di, founder of the Order of the Theatins, ii. 388

    Tempesta, i. 334, 457; ii. 226, 337

    Tempietto, on the Pincio, i. 54;
      on site of St. Peter's crucifixion, ii. 451

    Temples--
      of Æsculapius, ii. 364
        Antoninus and Faustina, i. 182
        Apollo, i. 296; ii. 134
        the Aventine, i. 351--353
        Bacchus, i. 412
        Castor and Pollux, i. 175
        Ceres, i. 227
        Cybele, i. 294
        Fides, i. 114
        Fortuna Virilis, i. 235
          Muliebris, ii. 125
        Fortune, i. 228
        Health and Fever, i. 435
        Honour and Virtue, i. 115
      on the Island, ii. 363
      of Janus Quirinus, i. 180
        Julius Cæesar, i. 183
        Juno, i. 247
          Moneta, i. 115
          Sospita, i. 298
        Jupiter Capitolinus, i. 111--114
          Feretrius, i. 115
          Stator, i. 247, 278
          Tonans, i. 115
        Liber, i. 227
        Libera, i. 227
        Mars, i. 114
          Ultor, i. 163, 164
      in Memory of the French who fell in the siege of Rome, ii. 455
      of Minerva, i. 298
        Moonlight, i. 298
        Neptune, i. 79
        Peace, i. 184
        Piety, i. 241
        Remus, i. 191
        Romulus, i. 434
        Saturn, i. 172
        the Sun, i. 117
        Tellus, ii. 48
        Venus Erycina, i. 114
        Venus and Rome, last Pagan, in use, i. 199
        Vespasian, i. 171
        Vesta, i. 176, 235
        Victory, i. 294
    Tenerani, works of, ii. 221, 264, 407

    Termini, the, ii. 34

    Terraces of--
      the Pincio, i. 43
      the Villa Albani, view from. ii. 17
        Doria, ii. 454
        Medici, i. 49

    Theatres of--
      Apollo, the, ii. 224 (modern)
      Balbus, ii. 153
      Marcellus, i. 244
      Palace of the Cæsars, in, i. 288
      Pompey, ii. 153, 184

    Thorwaldsen, works of, i. 188, 455; ii. 210, 264, 300

    Tiber, inundations of the, i. 222;
      Island in the, ii. 361;
      picturesque views on the banks of, 421

    Tiberius, Arch of, i. 173;
      Palace of, 291

    Tigellum Sororis, ii. 49

    Titus, Arch of, i. 200;
      Baths of, ii. 52

    Tombs--
      of Adam of Hertford, Bishop of London, ii. 372
      in Ara-Cœli, i. 147, 148
      of the Baker Eurysaces, ii. 132
        Bastari, ii. 385
        Bernardino Capella, i. 339
        Bibulus, i. 105
        the Cæcilii, i. 395
        Caius Cestius, ii. 394
        Camillo Borghese, ii. 87
      in the Campus Esquilinus, ii. 36
      of Carlo Maratta, ii. 40
        Cardinal Adimari, i. 196
          d'Alençon, ii, 385
          Barberini, ii. 9
          Fortiguerra, ii. 372
          Gonsalvi, i. 87; ii. 90
          Guido di Balneo, i. 364
          Mai, i. 225
          Pacca, i. 269
          Rovarella, i. 344
          Vulcani, i. 196
          Zurla, i. 323
      Casale Rotondo, i. 428
      of Cecilia Metella, i. 422
      in Chapel of the Rosary, i. 359
      of Clement VII., ii. 219
          IX., ii. 84
          XIV., i. 101
        S. Constantia, ii. 28
        S. Cosmo and Damian, i. 191
      destruction of, in old Basilica of St. Peter's, ii. 257--266
      of Daniel O'Connell, i. 462
      Doric, relic of republican times, i. 105
      of Emmanuel IV., i. 444
        Francesca di Ponziani, i. 195
        eminent Frenchmen, ii. 200
        Geta, i. 388
        Gibson, the sculptor, ii. 397
        Gregory XI., i. 196
          XIV., i. 85
        S. Helena, ii. 133
        the Historian of the popes, ii. 92
        the Horatii and Curiatii, i. 427
        Imperia, i. 323
        John Lascaris, i. 463
        Julius II., ii. 59
        Knights of Malta, i. 365
        Lanfranco, ii. 385
        Leo X., ii. 218
      in S. Maria del Popolo, i. 39--42
      of Martha Swinburne, ii. 171
        Sta. Martina, i. 188
        Munoz de Zamora, i. 358
        Nero, i. 38
        Nicholas IV., ii. 84
        Nicholas Poussin, i. 73
        Painters, in the Pantheon, ii. 209, 210
        Paul IV., ii. 215
        Pius V., ii. 89
        Pompey, i. 429
        Pope St. Cornelius, i. 399
          Melchiades, i. 398
      in S. Prassede, ii. 69
      of Prince Altieri, i. 269
        Princess Colonna, ii. 213
      Ruins of, i. 426, 428, 429
      of Salvator Rosa, ii. 40
        the Scipios, i. 385
        Sixtus V., ii. 89
        Bishop Spinelli, i. 365
        the Stuarts, ii. 266
        Sylla, i. 37
      Temple of Divus Rediculus, i. 416
      of Torquemada, ii. 213

    Torre--
      degli Anicii, ii. 362
      di Babele, i. 460
      dei Conti, ii. 48, 54
      del Grillo, i. 460
      Marancia, i. 408
      Mellina, ii. 193
      Mezza Strada, mediæval fortress, i. 427
      delle Milizie, i. 460
      Nomentana, ii. 32
      di Nona, ii. 223
      Nuova, ii. 133, 414
      Pernice, ii. 133
      Pignatarra, ii. 133
      di Quinto, ii. 423
      Sanguinea, ii. 160
      dei Schiavi, ii. 133
      della Scimia (Hilda's Tower), ii. 156
      di Selce, i. 429
      Tre Teste, ii. 134

    Torretta del Palatino, view from, i. 298

    Towers--
      Capitol, of the, i. 121
      Frangipani, of the, ii. 62
      Mecænas, of, ii. 65
      Mediæval, of S. Lucia in Selce, ii. 65

    Trastevere, the, i. 237;
      its present condition, characteristics of its inhabitants,
      its national games, ii. 367

    Trattorie, resort of lower orders to, ii. 422

    Travellers, hurried, scheme for, in visiting Rome, i. 32;
      first lesson in Roman Geography for, 36;
      interesting excursions for, ii. 426;
      objects of interest for Irish, 450

    Tre Fontane, the, ii. 399

    Trevi, Fountain of, i. 79

    Trophies of Marius, ii. 74

    Turrita, Jacopo da, mosaics by, ii. 83


    U.

    Udine, Giovanni da, ii. 300, 324, 426, 448

    Umbilicus Romæ, i. 173

    University of the Sapienza, ii. 202


    V.

    Vaga, Pierino del, tomb of, ii. 209

    Val d'Inferno, ii. 430

    Valleys--
      of the Almo, i. 388
      Caffarelle, i. 390
      between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, i. 222

    Valley between Palatine and Aventine, i. 225, 365

    Vallis Quirinalis, site of, i. 464

    Vatican, the, i. 467;
      history of the quarter, and of the foundation of the Palace,
      ii. 282--284;
      Sala Regia, 285;
      Sistine Chapel, paintings of, 286--295;
      residence of the pope in, 298;
      Museum of Statues, 300;
      Braccio-Nuovo, 300;
      Cabinets of Sculpture, 308--311;
      Gabinetto delle Maschere, 316;
      Library of the, 271, 322;
      portraits of librarians, 323;
      Appartamenti Borgia, 324;
      inner Garden of the, 333;
      larger Garden, 335;
      Golden age of the, 336;
      Loggie of Raphael, 337;
      Stanze, frescoes in the, 340--345;
      Picture Gallery, 347;
      Wine of the, 430

    Velabrum, the, i. 222;
      derivation of name, 223

    Velia, the, i. 277

    Vespasian, Palace of, i. 281;
      favourite residence of, ii. 12

    Vesta, Temple of, i. 235;
      Shrine of, 298

    Via--
      S. Agostino, ii. 160
      Alessandrina, i. 163
      dell' Anima, ii. 193
      S. Antonio dei Portoguesi, ii. 156
      Appia, i. 372
      Appia Nuova, i. 412, 429; ii. 107
      Ardeatina, i. 389
      Babuino, i. 54
      di Banchi, ii. 224
      S. Basilio, ii. 12
      de' Baullari, ii. 178
      del Borgo Nuovo, ii. 236
      Borgo Sto. Spirito, ii. 237
      delle Botteghe Oscure, i. 268
      Calabraga, ii. 170
      della Caravita, i. 85
      Cassia, ii. 426
      S. Claudio, i. 76
      Clivus Capitolinus, i. 170, 172
      del Colosseo, ii. 47
      Condotti, i. 65
      della Consolazione, i. 174
      delle Convertite, i. 74
      dei Coronari, ii. 223
      del Corso, i. 36, 60
      della Croce Bianca, i. 165
      dei Crociferi, i. 464
      Crucis, ii. 449
      della Ferratelia, i. 382
      dei Fienili (Vicus Tuscus), i. 176, 221
      Flaminia, great Northern road of Italy, ii. 423
      delle Fornaci, ii. 449
      S. Giovanni, ii. 94
      Decollato, i. 239
      de' Fiorentini, ii. 225
      Giulia, ii. 175
      del Governo Vecchio, ii. 165
      Gregoriana, i. 54
      S. Gregorio, i. 375
      Immerulana, ii. 122
      Latina, ii. 124
      Longarina, ii. 368
      S. Lucia in Selci, ii. 65
      Lungara, ii. 434
      Lungaretta, ii. 379, 382
      de Macao, ii. 34
      Maganaopoli, i. 461
      Maggiore, ii. 72
      Margutta, i. 54
      della Marmorata, ii. 392
      Mazzarini, i. 461
      de Mercede, i. 75
      Monserrato, ii. 170
      del Monte Tarpeio, i. 272
      Morticelli, ii. 379
      S. Niccolo in Tolentino, ii. 12
      Nova, i. 307
      Ostiensis, ii. 409
      Pane e Perna, i. 466
      S. Pantaleone, ii. 186
      in Parione, ii. 165
      della Pedacchia, i. 117
      del Piè di Marmo, ii. 222
      de' Pontefici, i. 61
      della Porta Pia, ii. 43
      delle Quattro Fontane, i. 474
      del Quirinale, i. 444
      Ripetta, i. 37
      Sta. Sabina, i. 355
      Sacra, i. 205
      della Salita del Grillo, i. 165
      Savelli, ii. 360
      della Scala, ii. 388
      della Scrofa, ii. 154
      S. Sebastiano, i. 375
      della Sediola, ii. 197, 202
      dei Serpenti, i. 463
      Sistina, i. 54
      di San Sisto Vecchio, i. 375
      Sterrata, i. 443
      Tor de' Specchi, i. 270
      Tordinona, ii. 223
      Triumphalis, i. 206
      Urbana, i. 468
      della Vale, ii. 185
      dei Vascellari, ii. 369
      delle Vergine, i. 103
      S. Vitale, i. 435, 466
      della Vite, i. 74
      Vittoria, i. 64

    Vicus, Corneliorum, i. 436;
      Cyprius, ii. 49

    Vigna, Codini, i. 386
      dei Gesuiti, i. 368
      Marancia, i. 389

    Vignola, works of, ii. 418, 421

    Villas--
      Albani, ii. 17
      Altieri, ii. 132
      Borghese, ii. 411
      of Claude Lorraine, ii. 419
      of Commodus, i. 427
      Doria, ii. 454
      Esmeade, ii. 417
      Farnesina, ii. 446
      of the Gordians, ii. 133
      Lante, ii. 452
      Lezzani, ii. 25
      List of most important, i. 32
      of Livia, ii. 423
      of Lucius Verus, ii. 135
      Ludovisi, ii. 13
      Madama, ii. 426
      Massimo Arsoli, ii. 122
        Negroni, ii. 35
        Rignano, ii. 12
      Mattei, i. 332
      Medici, i. 49
      Mellini, ii. 427
      Mills, i. 304, 311
      Negroni, i. 473
      Olgiati, once of Raphael, ii. 416
      Palombara, ii. 74
      Pamfili Doria, ii. 454
      of Papa Giulio, ii. 418
      Patrizi, ii. 25
      of the Servilii, ii. 124
      Spada, ii. 20
      Torlonia, ii. 26
      Triopio, i. 414
      Wolkonski, ii. 123

    Viminal Hill, i. 433, 466

    Vinci, Leonardo da, remarkable works of, i. 83; ii. 437

    Virgin, one of the earliest representations of the, ii. 21;
      first church dedicated to, ii. 382

    Volterra, Daniele da, the masterpiece of, i. 52

    Vulcanal, site of the, i. 171


    W.

    Walls--
      Aurelian, i. 385
      of Romulus, i. 305
        Servius Tullius, 368

    Wine of the Vatican, ii. 430


    Z.

    Zucchero, T., tomb of, ii. 210


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       *       *       *       *       *

The following typographical errors were corrected by the etext
transcriber:

Palmegiani, 66 Piazzi di Spagna=>Palmegiani, 66 Piazza di Spagna

putatur is esse constitutus è marmore=>putatur is esse constitutus ex
marmore

with vaulted cielings and beautiful frescoes=>with vaulted ceilings and
beautiful frescoes

after his truimph for his=>after his triumph for his

la mémoire du frère quil avait=>la mémoire du frère qu'il avait

Madame de Stael=>Madame de Staël

cet egard du pauvre Capucin=>cet égard du pauvre Capucin

qui ne connâi de l'histoire des=>qui ne connâit de l'histoire des

dépuis les thermes de=>depuis les thermes de

Before he came to reside here he had been miracuously=>Before he came to
reside here he had been miraculously

St. Cyprian and Justinian=>SS. Cyprian and Justinian

The interior of S. Sabba is in the basilica form=>The interior of St.
Sabba is in the basilica form

Roma Sotteranea=>Roma Sotterranea

Il fut alors sollicite intérieurement=>Il fut alors sollicité
intérieurement

litanies autour de ce tableau."--Stendal.=>litanies autour de ce
tableau."--Stendhal.

se précipita dons ses bras,=>se précipita dans ses bras,

good terrra-cotta mouldings=>good terra-cotta mouldings

la visage sérieux=>le visage sérieux

On y voit une femme endormie dont l'attidude=>On y voit une femme
endormie dont l'attitude

eyes in the rotonda of the Vatican=>eyes in the rotunda of the Vatican

île a été entrainée par la violence=>île a été entraînée par la violence

construire le palais Pamphili, a créer la villa Pamphili, et a
pamphiliser=>construire le palais Pamphili, à créer la villa Pamphili,
et à pamphiliser

S. Pancrado, ii. 452=>S. Pancrazio, ii. 452

       *       *       *       *       *


FOOTNOTES:

[1] Dionysius, xii. 8.

[2] Livy, v. 13.

[3] _Observe._--Here and elsewhere the arms of the Della Rovere--an
oak-tree. Robur, an oak,--hence Rovere.

[4] The beautiful 15th century altar of four virgin saints at S.
Cosimato in Trastevere, is said to have been brought from this chapel.

[5] All authorities agree that this beautiful portrait is not the work
of Raphael. Kugler also denies that it is the likeness of Cæsar Borgia.

[6] See Kugler, ii. 449.

[7] Of the many Handbooks for Italy which have appeared, perhaps that of
Du Pays (in one volume) is the most comprehensive, and--as far as its
very condensed form allows--much the most interesting.

[8] See Trollope's Life of Vittoria Colonna.

[9] See "Un Figliuol' di Maria, ossia un Nuovo nostro Fratello," edited
by the Baron di Bussiere. 1842.

[10] It is more worth while to visit the Palazzo Chigi at Lariccia, near
Albano, which retains its stamped leather hangings, and much of its old
furniture. Here may be seen, assembled in one room, the portraits of the
twelve nieces of Alexander VII., who were so enchanted when their uncle
was made pope, that they all took the veil immediately to please him!

[11] This Gallery has been closed since the Sardinian occupation.

[12] So called from the Jesuit father of that name, who lived in the
17th century.

[13] Galat. ii. 7.

[14] Philipp. iv. 22.

[15] 2 Timothy i. 16

[16] Philemon 23.

[17] Philipp. ii. 22.

[18] Kugler.

[19] Varro, De Ling. Lat. v. 42.

[20] Smith's Roman Mythology.

[21] Vitruvius, iv. 7, 1.

[22] Pliny, xxxv. 12.

[23] Pliny, vii. 39.

[24] Livy, vii. 3.

[25] Pliny, xxxiii. 18.

[26] Pliny, xxxvi. 5.

[27] Tacitus, Hist. iii. 74.

[28] Tacitus, Hist. iv. 53.

[29] Zosimus, lib. v. c. 38.

[30] Valerius Maximus, ii. 3. 3.

[31] Vitruvius, iii. 2, 5; Propertius, iv. 11, 45; Cic. pro Planc. 32.

[32] Livy, vi. 20.

[33] Livy, v. 48.

[34] Velleius Paterc. ii. 3.

[35] See Merivale, Hist. of the Romans, vol. vi.

[36] Dyer's Rome, 407, 408, 409.

[37] Ampère, Emp. i. 22.

[38] When 400 houses and three or four churches were levelled to the
ground to make a road for his triumphal approach.--_Rabelais_, Lettre
viii. p. 21.

[39] Dyer's City of Rome, p. 379.

[40] R, right; L, left.

[41] The statue of Leo X. is interesting as having been erected to this
popular art-loving pope in his lifetime. It is inscribed--"Optimi
liberalissimique pontificis memoriæ."

[42] Plin. Nat Hist xxix. 14, I; Plut. Fort. Rom. 12.

[43] Hist. Rom. i. 382.

[44] The "Dies Iræ," by Tommaso di Celano, of the fourteenth century.

[45] "Per gradus qui sunt super Calpurnium fornicem."

[46] Paradiso, canto xii.

[47] Hist. Rome.

[48] "Est locus in carcere quod Tullianum appellatur, ubi paululum
descenderis ad lævam, circiter duodecim pedes humi depressus. Eum
muniunt undique parietes, atque insuper camera lapideis fornicibus
vincta; sed incultu, tenebris, odore fœda. atque terribilis ejus
facies."--_Sall. Catil._ lv.

[49] See Ampère, Hist. Rom. ii. 31.

[50] This story is most picturesquely told by Dante. Purg. x. 72.

[51] Ovid, Fasti, v. 575, 699.

[52] Statius, i. 6. Livy, vii. 6.

[53] Livy, vii. 6. Varr. iv. 32.

[54] Pliny, xv. 18.

[55] Suetonius, Aug. 22.

[56] Cicero de Off. ii. 25.

[57] Livy, iii. 48.

[58] Pliny, xv. 29.

[59] Vitruvius, iii.

[60] Ampère, Emp. ii. 233.

[61] Josephus, vii. 37.

[62] Pliny, xxxvi. 7.

[63] See Percy's Romanism.

[64] See the whole question of Simon Magus discussed in Waterworth's
"England and Rome."

[65] Prudentius contra Symmac. i. 1, 25.

[66] Dion Cassius, lxvi. 15.

[67] S. Buonaventura is perhaps best known to the existing Christian
world as the author of the beautiful hymn, "Recordare sanctæ crucis."

[68] Varro, de R. Rust i. 2, and iii. 16.

[69] See Poggio, De Vanitate Fortunæ.

[70] This inscription, found in the catacomb of S. Agnese, runs:

    "Sic præmia servas Vespasiane dire
    Premiatus es morte Gaudenti letare
    Civitatis ubi gloriæ tuæ autori,
    Promisit iste Kristus omnia tibi
    Quï alium paravit theatrum in cœlo."


[71] See Hemans' Catholic Italy.

[72] A work has been published by S. Deakin on the Flora of the
Coliseum. This was very remarkable, but has greatly suffered during the
so-called cleansing of the building by the Italian government in 1871.

[73] Quamdiu stat Colysæus, stabit et Roma; quando cadet Colysæus, cadet
Roma; quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus.

[74] See Ampère, Hist. Rom. ii. 289--292.

[75] "Quis a signo Vertumni in circum maximum venit, quin is unoquoque
gradu de avaritia tua commoneretur? quam tu viam tensarum atque pompæ
ejus modi exegisti, ut tu ipse ire non audeas."--_In Verrem_, i. 59.

[76] Varro, de Ling. Lat. v. 44. See Ampère, Hist. Rom. ii. 32.

[77] Varro, de Ling. Lat. iv. 8.

[78] "There is no doubt that many of the amusements, still more many of
the religious practices now popular in this capital, may be traced to
sources in Pagan antiquity. The game of _morra_, played with the fingers
(the _micare digitis_ of the ancients); the rural feasting before the
chapel of the _Madonna del divino Amore_ on Whit Monday; the revelry and
dancing _sub diu_ for the whole night on the Vigil of St. John, (a scene
on the Lateran piazza, riotous, grotesque, but not licentious); the
divining by dreams to obtain numbers for the lottery; hanging _ex voto_
pictures in churches to commemorate escapes from danger or recovery from
illness; the offering of jewels, watches, weapons, &c., to the Madonna;
the adorning and dressing of sacred images, sometimes for particular
days; throwing flowers on the Madonna's figure when borne in processions
(as used to be honoured the image, or stone, of Cybele); burning lights
before images on the highways; paying special honour to sacred pictures,
under the notion of their having moved their eyes; or to others, under
the idea of their supernatural origin--made without hands; wearing
effigies or symbols as amulets (thus Sylla wore, and used to invoke, a
little golden Apollo hung round his neck); suspending flowers to shrines
and tombs; besides other uses, in themselves blameless and beautiful,
nor, even if objectionable, to be regarded as the genuine reflex of what
is dogmatically taught by the Church. This enduring shadow thrown by
Pagan over Christian Rome is, however, a remarkable feature in the story
of that power whose eminence in ruling and influencing was so
wonderfully sustained, nor destined to become extinct after empire had
departed from the Seven Hills."--_Hemans' Monuments of Rome._

[79] Made to flow with wine under Heliogabalus.

[80] Pliny, xxxiv. 2.

[81] Livy, xxi. 62.

[82] Ampère, Hist. Rom. i.

[83] Dyer, 104.

[84] Livy, v. 40.

[85] Dion Cassius, lxiii. 21.

[86] Ampère, iii. 48.

[87] Vitruvius, iii. 3.

[88] Fasti, i. 515.

[89] Plin. H. N. vii. 36; Val. Max. v. 4--7; Festus, p. 609.

[90] Beatrice and Lucrezia Cenci were imprisoned in the Corte Savella,
and led thence to execution.

[91] See the account of the Basilica of St. Lorenzo fuori Mura.

[92] See Ch. IV.

[93] See Dyer's City of Rome.

[94] Sat. iii.

[95] Sat. xvi.

[96] See Dr. Philip's article on "The Jews in Rome."

[97] This account is much abridged from the interesting translation in
Whiteside's "Italy in the Nineteenth Century," from "_Beatrice Cenci
Romana, Storia del Secolo xvi. Raccontata dal D. A. A. Firenze_."

[98] Livy, iv. 16; xxxviii. 28.

[99] Merivale, Hist. of Romans under the Empire, chap. xl.

[100] Merivale, chap. xl.

[101] Sueton. _Aug._ 72.

[102] Livy, i. 41.

[103] Livy, i. 41.

[104] The palace of Numa was close to the Temple of Vesta; that of
Tullus Hostilius was on the Cœlian; those of Servius Tullius and
Tarquinius Superbus on the Esquiline.

[105] Dionysius, ii. 50; Livy, i. 12.

[106] Varr, iv. 8.

[107] Vell. Paterc. ii. 81.

[108] Tac. _Ann._ xi. 2.

[109] Dion Cassius mentions that the ceilings of Halls of Justice in the
Palatine were painted by Severus to represent the starry sky. The old
Roman practice was for the magistrate to sit under the open sky, which
probably suggested this kind of ceiling.

[110] Ann, iv. 54.

[111] Tac. _Ann._ xiii. 18; Suet. _Ner._ 33; Dion. lxi. 7.

[112] See Gibbon, i. 133.

[113] Tacitus, Hist. i. 77; Suet. Vitell. 15.

[114] Merivale, ch. xlv.

[115] Suet. Cal. 22.

[116] _Suet. Claud._ 10. "Prorepsit ad solarium proximum, interque
prætenta foribus vela se abdidit." The solarium was the external
terraced portico, and this still remains.

[117] Tac. _Ann._ xi. 37, 38; Dion. lx. 31; Suet. _Claud._ 39.

[118] Tac. _Ann._ xii. 67; Suet _Claud._ 44.

[119] Dionysius, i. 32; Livy, xxix. 14.

[120] Dyer's Hist. of the City of Rome.

[121] Ep. i. 70.

[122] Festus, 340, 348.

[123] Suet. Tib. 47; Cal. 21, 22; Tac. Ann. vi. 45.

[124] De re Rust, iii. 5.

[125] Pliny, xxxvi. 2.

[126] See Smith's Dict. of Roman Biography.

[127] Plin. H. N. xvii. 1.

[128] ix. 1, 4.

[129] Suet. _Nero_, 2.

[130] Smith's Dict. of Roman Biography.

[131] Tollam altius tectum, non ut ego te despiciam, sed ne tu aspicias
urbem eam, quam delere voluisti.--_De Harusp. Res._ 15.

[132] Cic. pro Dom. ad Pont. 42.

[133] See Ampère, Hist. Rom. iv. 528.

[134] Dion Cass. liiii. 27.

[135] Dyer, p. 143.

[136] Pro Quinet. 1, 2, 22, 24, 26.

[137] Pro Verr. i. 14, 39.

[138] Ad Att. vi. 6.

[139] Macrob. Saturn, ii. 9.

[140] Varr. R. R. iii. 17; Pliny, H. N. ix. 55.

[141] Suet. _Aug._ 72.

[142] Plut. _Romul._ xi.

[143] Tac. Ann. xii. 24.

[144] Prell. R. Myth. 456.

[145] Cic. de Div. i. 45; Livy, v. 32.

[146] Plut. _Rom. Sol._ 2.

[147] Cic. _Brut._ 34.

[148] Padre Garucci, S. J., has published an exhaustive monograph on
this now celebrated "Graffito Blasphemo." Roma, 1857.

[149] The Palace of Nero is described in Tacitus, Ann. xv. 42, and
Suetonius, _Ner._ 31.

[150] Septimius Severus was born A.D. 146, near Leptis in Africa.
Statius addresses a poem to one of his ancestors, Sept. Severus of
Leptis.

[151] Martial, xii. Ep. 75.

[152] Dion Cass. Commod.

[153] Lamprid. Elagab. 8.

[154] Cassiod. vii. 5.

[155] Dyer's Rome, p. 222.

[156] Ampère, Hist. Rom. iv. 460.

[157] Trebellius Pollio.

[158] Gibbon, v. 1.

[159] S. Filippo Neri.

[160] Mrs. Jameson.

[161] Montalembert, Moines d'Occident.

[162] Milman's Latin Christianity, vol. II.

[163] Rome possesses at least eight fine modern statues of
saints:--besides those of Sta. Silvia and St. Gregory, are the Sta.
Agnese of Algardi, the Sta. Bibiana of Bernini, the Sta. Cecilia of
Moderno, the Sta. Susanna of Quesnoy, the Sta. Martina of Menghino, and
the S. Bruno of Houdon.

[164] See Roma Sotterranea, p. 106.

[165] "Deus, qui sanctum Joannem confessorem tuum perfectæ suæ
abnegationis, et crucis amatorem eximium efficisti, concede; ut ejus
imitationi jugiter inhærentes, gloriam assequamur æternam."--_Collect of
St. John of the Cross, Roman Vesper-Book._

[166] A square nimbus indicates that a portrait was executed _before_, a
round _after_ the death of the person represented.

[167] See Emile Braun--the building of the Macellum is described by Dion
Cassius, xi. 18; Notitia, Reg. ii.

[168] Best known by his comic pictures in the Uffizi at Florence.

[169] Virg. Æn. viii. 104, 108, 216; Ov. Fast. i. 551.

[170] Ov. Fast. v. 149.

[171] Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 79.

[172] Varro, iv. 7.

[173] Livy, i, 20.

[174] Ovid, Fast. iii. 295.

[175] "Onions, hair, and pilchards."--See Plutarch's Life of Numa.

[176] Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 427.

[177] Dionysius, iii. 43.

[178] Ovid, Fast. v. 293.

[179] Fast. iii 883.

[180] Ovid, Trist. iii. 71.

[181] See the account of the Ch. of Sta. Francesca Romana, Chap. iv.

[182] Livy, v. 22.

[183] Ovid, Fast. vi. 727.

[184] Martial, x. Ep. 56.

[185] Propert. iv. El. 9.

[186] Mart. vi. Ep. 64.

[187] There is a beautiful picture of Sta. Sabina by Vivarini of Murano,
in St. Zacharia at Venice.

[188] Hemans' Monuments in Rome.

[189] Commemorated in the beautiful Memoir of "A Dominican Artist"
(Rivingtons, 1872).

[190] Some antiquaries attribute them to the wall of the Aventine, built
by Ancus Martius. The arch, of course, is an addition.

[191] Hemans' Story of Monuments in Rome, ii. 228.

[192] Livy, i. 10.

[193] Livy, xxvii. 25; xxix. 11.

[194] Hemans' Mediæval Sacred Art.

[195] This bust has been supposed to represent the poet Ennius, the
friend of Scipio Africanus, because his last request was that he might
be buried by his side. Even in the time of Cicero, Ennius was believed
to be buried in the tomb of the Scipios. "Carus fuit Africano superiori
noster Ennius: itaque etiam in sepulchro Scipionum putatur is esse
constitutus ex marmore."--_Cic. Orat. pro Arch. Poeta._

[196] Dyer's Hist. of the City of Rome.

[197] Coppi, Memorie Colonnesi, p. 342.

[198] See Dyer's Hist. of the City of Rome, p. 85.

[199] _Ibid._ p. 97.

[200] _Ibid._ p. 122.

[201] This story is told by St. Ambrose.

[202] This story is represented in one of the ancient tapestries in the
cathedral of Anagni.

[203] Amm. Marcell. lib. xxvii. c.

[204] Roma Sotterranea, p. 130.

[205] Roma Sotterranea, p. 177.

[206] Roma Sotterranea, p. 97.

[207] St. Melchiades, buried in another part of the catacomb, who lived
long in peace after the persecution had ceased.

[208] Hippolytus, Adrias, Marca, Neo, Paulina, and others.

[209] St. Damasus was buried in the chapel above the entrance.

[210] "A more striking commentary on the divine promise, 'The Lord
keepeth all the bones of his servants: He will not lose one of them'
(Ps. xxxiii. 24), it would be difficult to conceive."--_Roma
Sotterranea._

[211] Roma Sotterranea, p. 180.

[212] Alban Butler, viii. 204.

[213] Roma Sotterranea, p. 182.

[214] Roma Sotterranea, p. 242.

[215] Roma Sotterranea, p. 247.

[216] Lord Lindsay's Christian Art, i. 46.

[217] Alban Butler, viii. 148.

[218] Lib. Pont.

[219] Now Santa Maria, an island near Gaieta.

[220] Alban Butler, v. 205.

[221] Alban Butler, v. 205.

[222] For these and many other particulars, see an interesting lecture
by Mr. Shakespere Wood, on "The Fountain of Egeria," given before the
Roman Archæological Society.

[223] Ampère, Hist. Rom. iv. 402.

[224] Merivale, Romans under the Empire, ch. xi.

[225] Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 141

[226] Dionysius, ii. 63.

[227] Ovid, Met. xiv. 452, 453.

[228] Dyer's Rome, p. 95.

[229] Pliny, Hist. Nat. xv. 35, 2.

[230] Dion Cass. liv.

[231] "De Cæsare vicino scripseram ad te, quia cognoram ex tuis literis,
eum σὑνναον, Quirino malo, quam Saluti." Ad Att. xii. 45.

[232] Vespasian had a brother named Sabinus; his son's name recalls that
of Titus Tatius.

[233] "Deus, qui inter cætera sapientiæ tuæ miracula etiam in tenera
ætate maturæ sanctitatis gratiam contulisti; da, quæsumus, ut beati
Stanislai exemplo, tempus, instanter operando, redimentes, in æternam
ingredi requiem festinemus."--_Collect of St. S. Kostka, Roman
Vesper-Book._

[234] Cardinal Wiseman's Life of Pius VII.

[235] By this same master is the interesting fresco of Sixtus IV. and
his nephews--now in the Vatican gallery.

[236] The body of this saint is said to repose at S. Lorenzo fuori Mura;
his head is at the Quirinal; at S. Lorenzo in Lucina his gridiron and
chains are shown.

[237] Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art.

[238] Roma Christiana.

[239] Dyer, p. 94.

[240] "At Rome, Selvaggi made a Latin distich in honour of Milton, and
Salsilli a Latin tetrastich, celebrating him for his Greek, Latin, and
Italian poetry; and he in return presented to Salsilli in his sickness
those fine Scazons or Iambic verses having a spondee in the last foot,
which are inserted among his juvenile poems. From Rome he went to
Naples."--_Newton._

[241] A holy hermit of Scete, who died 391.

[242] See Roma Sotterranea, p. 174.

[243] Une Chrétienne à Rome.

[244] The reasons for this belief are given in "The Roman Catacombs of
Northcote," p. 78.

[245] The bodies were removed to Sta. Sabina in the fifth century by
Celestine I.

[246] Cramer's Ancient Italy, i. 389.

[247] Cic. Phil. ix. 7. See Dyer's Rome, p. 215.

[248] Sat i. 8, 15.

[249] See Hemans' Catholic Italy, Part I.

[250] Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 38.

[251] Varro, de Ling. Lat. iv. 8.

[252] Fest. _v._ Septimone.

[253] Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 65.

[254] Fest. p. 297.

[255] Cicero pro doma sua, 38; Dionysius, viii. 79; Livy, ii. 41.

[256] See Dyer's City of Rome, p. 65. The Acts of the Martyrs mention
that several Christians suffered "In tellure."

[257] See Ampère, Hist. Rom. iv. 421.

[258] See Ampère, Hist. Rom. iv. 431.

[259] Liv. i. 26; Dionysius, iii. 22.

[260] Merivale, Romans under the Empire, ch. liii.

[261] "Des huit figures ébauchées il y en a deux aujourd'hui au musée du
Louvre (les deux esclaves). Lorsque Michel-Ange eut renoncé à son plan
primitif il en fit don à Roberto Strozzi. Des mains de Strozzi elles
passèrent dans celles de François 1er, et puis dans celles du
connétable de Montmorency, qui les plaça à son château d'Ecouen, d'où
elles sont venues au Louvre. Quatre autres _prisonniers_ sont placés
dans la grotte de Buontalenti au jardin du Palais Pitti, à Florence. Un
groupe, représentant une figure virile en terrassant une seconde, se
voit aujourd'hui dans la grande salle del _Cinquecento_, au Palais vieux
de Florence, où elle fut placé par Côsme 1er."--_F. Sabatier._

[262] The wife of Oswy, king of Northumberland received a golden key
containing filings of the chains from Pope Vitalianus, in the sixth
century.

[263] Acts xii. II.

[264] Hist. Rom. i. 464.

[265] "Ciampini gives an engraving of this figure without the key: a
detail, therefore, to be ascribed to restorers:--surely neither
justifiable nor judicious."--_Hemans._

[266] With a square nimbus, denoting execution in his lifetime, as at
Sta. Cecilia and Sta. Maria in Navicella.

[267] See Hemans' Catholic Italy.

[268] Croiret, Vie des Saints.

[269] I. 26.

[270] Ampère, Hist. Rom. iii. 177.

[271] It was found in the gardens of the convent of Sta. Maria sopra
Minerva

[272] This pagan benediction of the animals is represented in a
bas-relief in the Vatican (Museo Pio-Clementino, 157). A peasant bearing
two ducks as his offering, brings his cow to be blessed by a priest at
the door of a chapel, and the priest delaying to come forth, a calf
drinks up the holy water. Ovid describes how he took part in the feast
of Pales, and sprinkled the cattle with a laurel bough. (_Fasti_, iv.
728.)

[273] His flat tombstone is in the centre of the nave.

[274] This story is the subject of two of Murillo's most beautiful
pictures in the Academy at Madrid. The first represents the vision of
the Virgin to John and his wife,--in the second they tell what they have
seen to Pope Liberius.

[275] This mosaic will bring to mind the beautiful lines of Dante:--

    "L'amor che mosse già l'eterno padre
    Per figlia aver di sua Deita trina
    Costei che fu del figlio suo poi madre
    Dell' universo qui fa la regina."


[276] See Sta. Dorothea, ch. xvii.

[277] St. Venantius was a child martyred at Camerino, under Decius, in
250. Pope Clement X., who had been bishop of Camerino, had a peculiar
veneration for this saint.

[278] This figure of the Virgin is of great interest, as introducing the
Greek classical type under which she is so often afterwards represented
in Latin art.

[279] It was near the Lateran, on the site of the gardens of Plautius
Lateranus, that the famous statues of the Niobedes, attributed to
Scopus, now at Florence, were found. The fine tomb of the Plautii is a
striking object on the road to Tivoli.

[280] See Sta. Pudenziana, ch. x.

[281] These columns are mentioned in the thirteenth century list of
Lateran relics, which says that _all_ the relics of the Temple at
Jerusalem brought by Titus, were preserved at the Lateran.

[282] There is a curious mosaic portrait of Clement XII. in the Palazzo
Corsini.

[283] Sergius III. ob. 911; Agapetus II. ob. 956; John XII. ob. 964;
Sylvester II. ob. 1003; John XVIII. ob. 1009; Alexander II. ob. 1073;
Pascal II. ob. 1118; Calixtus II. ob. 1124; Honorius II. ob. 1140;
Celestine II. ob. 1143; Lucius II. ob. 1145; Anastasius IV. ob. 1154;
Alexander III. ob. 1159; Clement III. ob. 1191; Celestine III. ob. 1198;
Innocent V. ob. 1276--were buried at St. John Lateran, besides those
later popes whose tombs still exist.

[284] "Ces monuments, consacrés par la tradition, n'ont pas été jugés
cependant assez authentiques pour être solennellement exposés a la
vénération des fidèles."--_Gournerie._

[285] Sta. Helena is claimed as an English saint, and all the best
authorities allow that she was born in England,--according to Gibbon, at
York--according to others, at Colchester, which town bears as its arms a
cross between three crowns, in allusion to this claim. Some say that she
was an innkeeper's daughter, others that her father was a powerful
British prince, Coilus or Coel.

[286] Emp. ii. 43.

[287] The existence of this inscription makes the destruction of this
catacomb under Pius IX. the more extraordinary.

[288] Dyer's Rome, 70.

[289] Ampère, Hist. ii. 10.

[290] Ampère, Emp. i. 184.

[291] Pliny, H. N. xxxv. 37, 2; and 49, 4.

[292] Dyer, 111.

[293] Dyer, 211.

[294] It was close to this temple of Hercules that the bodies of Sta.
Symphorosa and her seven sons, martyred under Hadrian ("the seven
Biothanati"), were buried by order of the emperor. Sta. Symphorosa
herself had been hung up here by her hair, before being drowned in the
Tiber.

[295] Dyer, 113, 115.

[296] Ampère, Hist. Rom. iii. 198.

[297] Dyer, 115.

[298] Dyer, 115, 116.

[299] Pliny, H. N. xxxvi. 15, 24.

[300] So called from a fountain adorned with the figure of a sow, which
once existed here.

[301] "Here rests Hadrian, who found his greatest misfortune in being
obliged to command."

[302] There is a chapel dedicated to St. Bridget in S. Paolo fuori Mura.
Sion House, in England, was a famous convent of the Brigittines.

[303] See Penny Cyclopædia, and Lewes's Hist. of Philosophy.

[304] Shakespeare, Julius Cæsar, act iii. sc. 2.

[305] So called from a slight hollow, scarcely now perceptible, left by
a reservoir made by Agrippa for the public benefit, and used by Nero in
his fêtes.

[306] The story of St. Agnes is told by St. Jerome.

[307] Donna Olympia soon after died of the plague at her villa near
Viterbo.

[308] "Les maisons de la Place Navone sont assises sur la base des
anciens gradins du cirque de Domitien. Sous ces gradins étaient les
voûtes habitées par des femmes perdues."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 137.

[309] A corruption of "Epiphania"--Epiphany.

[310]

    "Living, great nature feared he might outvie
    Her works; and, dying, fears herself to die."

    _Pope's Translation (without acknowledgment) in
    his Epitaph on Sir Godfrey Kneller._


[311] Raphael lay in state beneath his last great work, the
Transfiguration.

[312] See Gregorovius, Grabmāler der Pāpste.

[313] Author of the "Rationale Divinorum Officiorum"--"A treasure of
information on all points connected with the decorations and services of
the mediæval church. Durandus was born in Provence about 1220, and died
in 1290 at Rome."--_Lord Lindsay._

[314] It is no honour to me to be like another Apelles, but rather, O
Christ, that I gave all my gains to thy poor. One was a work for earth,
the other for heaven--a city, the flower of Etruria, bare me, John.

[315] That part of the ancient Campus Martius which contains the Theatre
of Marcellus and Portico of Octavia, is described in Chapter V.; that
which belongs to the Via Flaminia in Chapter II.

[316] Vasari, v.

[317] A scholar of Bronzino.

[318] See Vasari, vol. vii.

[319] It is interesting to observe that the same vision was seen under
the same circumstances in other periods of history.

"So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel, and there fell of Israel
seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it
... and David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand
between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand
stretched out over Jerusalem."--1 Chron. xxi. 14--16.

"Before the plague of London had begun (otherwise than in St. Giles's),
seeing a crowd of people in the street, I joined them to satisfy my
curiosity, and found them all staring up into the air, to see what a
woman told them appeared plain to her. This was an angel clothed in
white, with a fiery sword in his hand, waving it, or brandishing it over
his head: she described every part of the figure to the life, and showed
them the motion and the form."--_Defoe, Hist. of the Plague._

[320] The pictures at Ara Cœli and Sta. Maria Maggiore both claim to
be that carried by St. Gregory in this procession. The song of the
angels is annually commemorated on St. Mark's Day, when the clergy pass
by in procession to St. Peter's; and the Franciscans of Ara Cœli and
the canons of Sta. Maria Maggiore, halting here, chaunt the antiphon,
_Regina cœli, lætare_.

[321] Hemans' Story of Monuments in Rome.

[322] "Deus, qui apostolo tuo Petro collatis clavibus regni celestis
ligandi et solvendi pontificium tradidisti; concede ut intercessionis
ejus auxilio, a peccatorum nostrorum legibus liberemur: et hanc
civitatem, quam te adjuvante fundavimus, fac ab ira tua in perpetuum
permanere securam, et de hostibus, quorum causa constructa est, novos et
multiplicatos habere triumphos, per Dominum nostrum," &c.

[323] The same whom Alexander VI. had intended to poison, when he
poisoned himself instead.

[324] At the time of its erection Sixtus V. conceded an indulgence of
ten years to all who, passing beneath the obelisk, should adore the
cross on its summit, repeating a pater-noster.

[325] The inscription is from Isaiah iv. 6, "A tabernacle for a shadow
in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a
covert from storm and from rain."

[326] It may not be uninteresting to give the actual words of the
benediction:--

"May the holy apostles Peter and Paul, in whose power and dominion we
trust, pray for us to the Lord! Amen.

"Through the prayers and merits of the blessed, eternal Virgin Mary, of
the blessed archangel Michael, the blessed John the Baptist, the holy
apostles Peter and Paul, and all saints--may the Almighty God have mercy
upon you, may your sins be forgiven you, and may Jesus Christ lead you
to eternal life. Amen.

"Indulgence, absolution, and forgiveness of all sins--time for true
repentance, a continual penitent heart and amendment of life,--may the
Almighty and merciful God grant you these! Amen.

"And may the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
descend upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen."

[327] "Exuens se chlamyde, et accipiens bidentem, ipse primus terram
aperuit ad fundamenta basilicæ Sancti Petri continendam; deinde in
numero duodecim apostolorum duodecim cophinos plenos in humeris
superimpositos bajulano, de eo loco ubi fundamenta Basilicæ Apostoli
erant jacenda."--_Cod. Vat. 7. Sancta Cæcil._ 2.

[328] The façade of the old basilica is seen in Raphael's fresco of the
Incendio del Borgo, and its interior in that of the Coronation of
Charlemagne.

[329] See Fergusson's Handbook of Architecture, vol. ii.

[330] As in the portico of the temple of Mars were preserved the verses
of the poet Attius upon Junius Brutus.

[331] These letters are in real mosaic. Those in the nave and transepts
are in paper--to complete them in mosaic would have been too expensive.

[332] Innocent sent two bishops to receive it at Ancona, two cardinals
to receive it at Narni, and went himself, with all his court, to meet it
at the Porto del Popolo.

[333] Eaton's Rome.

[334] Gregorovius, Grabmäler der Päpste.

[335] There is a fine portrait of Urban VIII. by Pietro da Cortona, in
the Capitol gallery.

[336] See Vasari, vi. 265.

[337] This mosaic occupied ten men constantly for nine years, and cost
60,000 francs.

[338] Gregorovius.

[339] He had been bishop of St. Alban's, and a missionary for the
conversion of Norway.

[340] The principal authorities for the fact of St. Peter's being at
Rome--so often denied by ultra-protestants--are: St. Jerome, Catalogus
scriptorum ecclesiasticorum, in Petro; Tertullian, de Prescriptionibus,
c. xxxvi.; and Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. ii. cap. xxiv.

[341] See Hemans' Catholic Italy, vol. i.

[342] See Dyer's Hist. of the City of Rome, p. 358.

[343] Pliny, xxxv. 15.

[344] Tac. Ann. xv. 44.

[345] In the Campo-Santo of Pisa.

[346] Fifteen Psalms are sung before the Miserere begins, and one light
is extinguished for each--the Psalms being represented by fifteen
candles.

[347] See the account of the "Tombs of the Scipios" in Chapter IX.

[348] Who is buried by the altar of S. Pietro in Vincoli.

[349] Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne, ii. 62.

[350] For a detailed account of this collection, see Dennis' "Cities and
Cemeteries of Etruria," whence many of the quotations above are taken;
also Mrs. Hamilton Gray's "Sepulchres of Etruria."

[351] Vasari calls it Palazzo nel Bosco del Belvedere.

[352] "This is perhaps the grandest of the whole series. Here the
Almighty is seen rending like a thunderbolt the thick shroud of fiery
clouds, letting in that light under which his works were to spring into
life."--_Lady Eastlake._

[353] The candle is ingeniously made crooked in the socket, not to
interfere with the lines of the architecture, while the flame is
straight.

[354] "According to the 'Spiritual Meadow' of John Moschus, who died
A.D. 620, the lion is said to have pined away after Jerome's death, and
to have died at last on his grave."

[355] See Stefano Infessura, Rev. Ital. Script, tom. iii.

[356] Corio, 1st mil. p. 876.

[357] _Ampère_, i. 436.

[358] See Hemans' Monuments in Rome.

[359] Piranesi's engraving shows that a hundred years ago there existed,
in addition, a colossal bust, and a hand holding the serpent-twined rod
of Æsculapius.

[360] Wordsworth.

[361] Hemans' Monuments in Rome.

[362] See the Acts of the Martyrs St. Hippolytus and St. Adrian, and the
Acts of St. Calepodius, quoted by Canina, R. Aut. p. 584.

[363] Plautus, Capt. i. I, 22.

[364] See the Epistle of St Denis, the Areopagite, to Timothy.

[365] The accounts of the apostle's death vary greatly: "St. Prudentius
says that both St. Peter and St. Paul suffered together in the same
field, near a swampy ground, on the banks of the Tiber. Some say St.
Peter suffered on the same day of the month, but a year before St. Paul.
But Eusebius, St. Epiphanius, and most others, affirm that they suffered
the same year, and on the 29th of June."--_Alban Butler._

[366] It is under the shadow of S. Paolo that Cervantes ("Wanderings of
Persiles and Sigismunda") places the scene of the death of Periander.

[367] Mrs. Jameson.

[368] Among the most interesting of the objects lost in the fire were
the bronze gates ordered by Hildebrand (afterwards Gregory VII.) when
legate at Constantinople, for Pantaleone Castelli, in 1070, and adorned
with fifty-four scriptural compositions, wrought in silver thread.

[369] This picture is now called the Nuptials of Vertumnus and Pomona.

[370] Turrigeræ Antemnæ.--_Virg. Æn._ vii. 631.

[371]

             ---- Antemnaque prisco
    Crustumio prior.


[372] The other two were Cæcina and Crustumium.

[373] See Dyer's Hist. of the City of Rome.

[374] Masses of reddish rock of volcanic tufa are still to be seen here,
breaking through the soil of the Campagna.

[375] Built by Mario Mellini in the fifteenth century.

[376] Martial, Ep. x. 45, 5.

[377] Martial, Ep. vi. 92, 3.

[378] Fast. i. 246.

[379] Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 227.

[380] Niebuhr, i. 240.

[381] Arnold, Hist. vol. i.

[382] Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 389.

[383] Niebuhr, i. 353.

[384] Hemans.

[385] See Thiers' History of the French Revolution.

[386] It has been supposed that the beautiful silver vase which is shown
in the Corsini Palace, and which was picked up in the Tiber, belonged to
this plate.