Walks in Rome, Augustus J.C. Hare

WALKS IN ROME

TWO VOLS.

Volume I. Contents Volume I. Volume II. Contents Volume II. Index.

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 VOLUME I.

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—

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:—

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.

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.

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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:

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:—

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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 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.

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.

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).

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."

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.

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.

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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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 1000l., 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.

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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.

Behind this street is the Via Margutta, almost entirely inhabited by artists and sculptors.

In this street also is situated the Costume Academy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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:—

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.

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.'

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.*

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.

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.

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.

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,—

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

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

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.

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. 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.

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.

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:—

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.

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.*

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

7. St. Mark: Guercino.
8. Daughter of Herodias: Guercino.
12. Conjugal Love: Agostino Caracci.
16. The Gamblers: Caravaggio.*

17. Modesty and Vanity: Leonardo da Vinci.*

19. Magdalen: Guido Reni.
24. Family Portrait: Titian.
25. Portrait: Bronzino.
26. St. Sebastian: Perugino.
29. Bella Donna: Titian.*

31. Death of the Virgin: Albert Durer.
32. Maddalena della Radice: Guido Reni.*

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.

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.

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

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—

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.)

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).

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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 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:—

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]

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

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.

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.

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 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]

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

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.

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.

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).

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—

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:—

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,

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

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—

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.

It is delightful to read in this room the description in Transformation:—

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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—

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:—

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

CHAPTER IV.

THE FORUMS AND THE 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

(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.

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.

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:—

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.

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.

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.

(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:

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.

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.

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]

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.

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.

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]

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

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

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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—

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—

Another inscription narrates—

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

The vault of the tribune is covered with mosaics.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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

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]

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.

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.

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 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.

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]

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.

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.

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:—

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.

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

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

CHAPTER V.

THE VELABRUM AND THE GHETTO.

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:

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.

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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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On the other side of the portico is the tomb of Cardinal Alfanus, ob. 1150.

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:—

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.

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:—

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.

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.

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—

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—

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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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.

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,

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.

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.

Though what the Jews really said, on thus being driven to church, was rather to this effect:—

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?"

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."

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.

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.

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.

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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:

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.

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 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.

How different is this description to that of Claudian (de Sexto Consulat. Honorii).

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.

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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.

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]

The temple of Jupiter Stator has an especial interest from its connection with the story of Cicero and Catiline.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In the hut of Romulus were preserved several objects venerated as relics of him.

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]

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 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.

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]

This temple, after its second destruction by fire, was entirely rebuilt by Augustus in A.D. 2.

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.

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.

Thus Apollo and Vesta became as it were the household gods of Augustus:

Other temples on the Palatine were that of Juno Sospita:

of Minerva:

a temple of Moonlight mentioned by Varro (iv. 10) and a shrine of Vesta.

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 130,000l., 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 30,000l., 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]

The indemnity which Cicero received from the state in order to rebuild his house on the Palatine, amounted to about 16,000l. 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.

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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.)

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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.

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.

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.

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.

It was in this palace that the murder of Domitian took place:

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]

CHAPTER VII.

THE CŒLIAN.

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.

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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.

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]

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:

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

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.:

Under Nero—	St. Peter, crucified. St. Paul, beheaded. St. Vitale, buried alive. St. Thecla, tossed by a bull. 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.
Under Domitian—	St. John, boiled in oil (which he survived) at the Porta Latina. St. Cletus, Pope, beheaded. St. Denis, beheaded (and carrying his head). St. Domitilla, roasted alive. SS. Nereus and Achilles, beheaded.
Under Trajan—	St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, eaten by lions in the Coliseum. St. Clement, Pope, tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. St. Simon, Bishop of Jerusalem, crucified.
Under Hadrian—	St. Eustachio, his wife Theophista, and his children Agapita and Theophista, burnt in a brazen bull before the Coliseum. St. Alexander, Pope, beheaded.
Under Antoninus-Pius and Marcus Aurelius—	St. Sinforosa, drowned, and her seven sons martyred in various ways. St. Pius, Pope, beheaded. St. Felicitas and her seven sons martyred in various ways. St. Justus, beheaded. St. Margaret, stretched on a rack, and torn to pieces with iron forks.
Under Antoninus and Verus—	St. Blandina, tossed by a bull, in a net. St. Attalus, roasted on red-hot chair. St. Pothicus and others, burnt alive.
Under Septimius Severus and Caracalla—	SS. Perpetua and Felicitas, torn to pieces by lions in the Coliseum. SS. Victor and Zephyrinus, Leonida and Basil, beheaded. St. Alexandrina, covered with boiling pitch.
Under Alexander Severus—	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. St. Martina, torn with iron forks. St. Cecilia, who, failing to be suffocated with hot water, was stabbed in the throat. St. Urban the Pope, Tibertius, Valerianus, and Maximus, beheaded.
Under Valerianus and Gallienus—	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 out. 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.
Under Claudius II.—	Three hundred Christians, burnt in a furnace. St. Tertullian, burnt with hot irons. St. Nemesius, beheaded. St. Sempronius, Olympius, and Theodulus, burnt. St. Marius, hung, with a huge weight tied to his feet. St. Martha, and her children, martyred in different ways. SS. Cyprian and Justinian, boiled. St. Valentine, killed with the sword.
Under Aurelian and Numerianus—	St. Agapitus (aged 15), hung head downwards over a pan of burning charcoal. Inscribed above are these words from Wisdom, 'Properavit ut educeret illum a seductionibus et iniquitatibus gentis suæ.' St. Christina, transfixed through the heart. St. Columba, burnt. SS. Chrysanthus and Daria, buried alive.
Under Diocletian and Maximianus—	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 different ways. 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.
Under Maxentius—	St. Catherine of Alexandria, and others, broken on the wheel. SS. Faustina and Porfirius, burnt with a company of soldiers. St. Marcellus, Pope, died worn out by persecution.
Under Maximinus and Licinius—	St. Simon and 1600 citizens cut into fragments. St. Peter, Bishop of Alexandra, and forty soldiers, left to die, up to their waists in a frozen lake.
Under Julian the Apostate—º	SS. John and Paul, beheaded. St. Artemius, crushed between two stones. St. Pigmenius, drowned in the Tiber. 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."

The first chapel on the left, dedicated to SS. Primus and Felicianus, contains some delicate small mosaics.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 mosaics in the tribune are well worth examination.

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.

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.

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:

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—

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.

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.

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.

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.

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—

and Martial—

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.

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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.

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—

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:—

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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:

It is probably in allusion to this temple that Propertius says:

Martial alludes to a little temple of Hercules near this:

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:

It was at the Porta Capena that the survivor of the Horatii met his sister.

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.

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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:

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 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."

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:

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.

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—

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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.

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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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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]

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:—

At the top and bottom of the tablet is the following title:—

and on either side a single file of letters which hands down to us the name of the sculptor who executed the Damasine inscriptions.

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:—

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:—

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.

Other biblical subjects are:—from the Old Testament (those of Noah, Moses, Daniel, and Jonah being the only ones at all common)—

Subjects from the New Testament are:

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 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:

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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."

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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 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:

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

Close to the tomb are the ruins of a Gothic church of the Caëtani.

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.

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.

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.

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:—

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.

CHAPTER X.

THE QUIRINAL AND VIMINAL.

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:

Hard by was a temple of Fortuna Publica,

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.

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.

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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.

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:—

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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 6s. 3d. 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.

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.

It is in the Quirinal Palace that the later conclaves have always met for the election of the popes.

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]

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.

Marriage of S. Catherine: Battoni.
St. Peter and St. Paul: Fra Bartolomeo.

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.

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.

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:—

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 (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:—

The tomb of John Lascaris (a refugee from Constantinople when taken by the Turks) has—in Greek—the inscription:—

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:

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.)

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,

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]

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.

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.

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.

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.

The following account of the family of Pudens is received as the legacy of Pastor to the Christian Church.

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.

WALKS IN ROME

TWO VOLS. —II.

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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 VOLUME II.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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);

—the Statue of Mars seated (I), with a Cupid at his feet, found in the portico of Octavia, and restored by Bernini;

—and No. 28;

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.

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."

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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.

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:

Inferior only to this, is another bas-relief, also over a chimney-piece,—the parting of Orpheus and Eurydice.

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.

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:—

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:—

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.

It is hoped that very interesting relics may still be discovered in this Catacomb.

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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:—

The place was considered very unhealthy until its purification by Mæcenas.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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,"

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:

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—

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.

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—

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:

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:—

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."

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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.

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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.

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:—

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In the chapel of S. Antonio is a very ancient mosaic, representing a tiger tearing a bull.

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,—

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:—

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.

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 vault of the tribune is covered with mosaics by Jacopo da Turrita, the same who executed those at the Lateran basilica.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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:—

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,—

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.

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.

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.

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.:—

It is in the basilica of the Lateran that the Church places the first meeting between St. Francis and St Dominic.

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 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.

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).

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.

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."

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:—

A passage is crossed to the

A second passage is crossed to the

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.

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.

On the right is the entrance of the

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.

On the left of 1st room is the

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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 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.

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:—

And the collect:—

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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:—

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:—

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 frescoes in the left wall represent a separate story:—

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:—

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:—

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.

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.

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.

CHAPTER XIV.

IN THE CAMPUS MARTIUS.

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.

The vicinity of the Tiber afforded opportunities for practice in swimming.

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.

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]

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:—

This temple was rebuilt by L. Marcius Philippus, stepfather of Augustus, and surrounded by a portico called after him Porticus Philippi.[293]

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.

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.

Near this aqueduct was a temple of Juturna;

and another of Isis.

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.

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.

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:—

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.

Around this statue are, or were a short time ago, a whole array of assassins' daggers hung up, strange instances of trespass-offering.

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.

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:—

and—

The tomb was erected at the expense of Cardinal William of Enkenfort, the only prelate to whom he had time to give a hat.

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.

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.

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.

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!"

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 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.

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:

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.

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]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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 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 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.

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."

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.

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."

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:

Among the earliest Pasquinades were those against the venality and evil life of Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia, 1492—1503):

and,

and, upon the body of his son Giovanni, murdered by his brother Cæsar Borgia, being fished up on the following day from the Tiber:

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:

and, in allusion to his warlike beard:

At a moment of great unpopularity:

In reference to the sale of indulgences and benefices by Leo X.:

and to his love of buffoons:

and with reference to the death of Leo, suddenly, under suspicion of poison, and without the sacrament:

On the death of Clement VII. (1534), attributed to the mismanagement of his physician, Matteo Curzio:

To Paul III. (1534—50) who attempted to silence him, Pasquin replied:

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:

Upon Christina of Sweden, who died at Rome, in 1689:

In reference to the severities of the Inquisition during the reign of Innocent XI. (1676—89):

To Francis of Austria, on his visit to Rome:

After an awful storm, and the plunder of the works of art by Napoleon occurring together:

During the stay of the French in Rome:

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:

Upon his nepotism, when building the Braschi palace:

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:

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."

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

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:—

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]

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

In the Piazza della Rotonda is a small Obelisk found in the Campus Martius.

(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:

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.

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.

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:

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."

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:

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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 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.

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.

"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."

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.

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 10,000,000l. The annual expense of repairs is 6300l.

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."

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.

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.

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 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.

We now push aside the heavy double curtain and enter the Basilica.

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 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.

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 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.

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]

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.

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 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:

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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 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.

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.

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:

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]

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

THE hollow of the Janiculum between S. Onofrio and the Monte Mario is believed to have been a site of Etruscan divination.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

The following is the order of the frescoes, type and anti-type together:

On the pillars between the windows are the figures of twenty-eight popes, by Sandro Botticelli.

The avenue of pictures is a preparation for the surpassing grandeur of the ceiling:

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,—

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.

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."

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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):

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]

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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:

Between these statues we enter:

The Hall of Busts. Perhaps the best are:

Re-entering the Gallery of Statues, and following the left wall, are:

(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.

462. Cinerary Urn of Alabaster.

414. *Sleeping Ariadne, found c. 1503—formerly supposed to represent Cleopatra.

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.

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:

The Sala a Croce Greca contains:

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:

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:

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:

Returning, on the right wall, are:

The Arazzi were long used as church decorations on high festivals.

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

The 1st Room—

The 2nd Room—

The 3rd Room—

The 4th Room—

The 5th Room—

The 6th Room—

The 7th Room—

The 8th Room—

The 9th Room—

The 10th Room—

The 11th Room—

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]

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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.

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.

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.

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.

The Egyptian Gallery has an egress into the Sala a Croce Greca.

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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.

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.

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.

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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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The lower series represents the life of St Laurence.

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.

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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:

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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.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE ISLAND AND THE TRASTEVERE.

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:

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:

On this island, anciently known as the Isola Tiberina, were three temples,—those, namely, of Æsculapius:

of Jupiter:

and of Faunus:

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:

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.

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.

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:—

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 the anthem:

It will be remembered that Cecilia is one of the chosen saints daily commemorated in the canon of the mass.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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.

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.).

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:

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.

The lane which leads to the Tre Fontane turns off to the left a little beyond S. Paolo.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

The other, especially interesting as the only inscription commemorating the great pope who defended Rome against Attila:

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.

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:

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.

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.

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:

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:

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.

IMMEDIATELY outside the Porta del Popolo, on the left, are the English and American churches.

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 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.

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:

The Upper Story, reached by a winding staircase from the Galleria, contains:

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.

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."

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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 farmhouse, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(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.

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:—

CHAPTER XX.

THE JANICULAN.

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:

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.

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.

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:

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.

In a passage on the first floor is a beautiful fresco of the Virgin and Child with the donor, by Leonardo da Vinci.

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:

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.

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:

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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In this catacomb is an early Portrait of Christ, much resembling that at SS. Nereo ed Achilleo.

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.

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.

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!

---

THE END.

Showing the more important streets and buildings. (right-side of map)]

INDEX.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Z

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. 478
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; 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 error 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

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