. .c’' *'r ' y' V: ' • . , > i'--- ..V.. ‘ - . ~ ‘ '.*' &!?■.- w:-. “ v.;-, v ' ’-:a, y =-.• ... c- ■' ^ ^ ^ .. .> 1 ’^ ^ i - '', 'S ' \ - 1 - - -/ T * ' V "V ,v . "" i ' - : v'^‘ ’ •‘=.' ■**’ . ^ • , " '" vA" =>' V* i #:''::i*v:r\v:^--V'i^-'V-;r -:yV#VV^'- -'^ ■vS'sji- ; * :v ' : ' ^"v ' ^ >' ^ ’v/-^ ^ - ■^r;vv:■- A va -a-; -V^- ^ •' , „ V* " “ ^ '‘V ‘ ^ t ^ J''' K - ) “V ^ ?/ r ^ I >■ :r - <- . ' "i.., _<' '. ' .'*• , ’ . - , -V A',.- , • . ,\ V, > MS ki- ■* REMARKS ON THE ANTIQUITIES OF ROME AND ITS ENVIRONS: BEING A CLASSICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE RUINS OF THAT CELEBRATED CITY. ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS. BY ANDREW LUMISDEN, ESQ,. MEMBER OF THE ROYAL AND ANTIQUARY SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH. “ Mill! pulclirura imprimis vldetur, non pati occidere quibus jeteriiitas debeatur.” Plinius Secundus, I. ep. 8. LONDON: PRINTED BY W. BULMER AND CO. AND SOLD BY G. NICOL, BOOKSELLER TO HIS MAJESTY, PALL-MALL. 1797 * Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/remarksonantiquiOOIunni THE ADVERTISEMENT. The Author of the following Remarks, who resided many years at Rome, committed them to writing for his own private amusement. But, having shown them to several of his friends, in whose taste and learning he has much confidence, he now ventures to present them to the Public. He pretends not to elegance of style ; accuracy of observation is his great object. He has pointed out the sources from whence knowledge of the Roman Antiquities is to be drawn. He has corrected many mistakes that various authors have fallen into, and carefully cited his authorities. Though he is far from thinking that he has exhausted his extensive and difficult subject,, yet he flatters himself that these Remarks, imperfect as they are, may prove useful to those who shall hereafter visit Rome, as well as to every lover of the fine arts^ and of classical learning ; and that they will not be unacceptable even to persons who have al- ready examined the Antiquities of that renowned city. These Remarks could easily have been lengthened out ; but, in a work of this kind, the Author preferred conciseness, and wished to say no more than what was necessary : at the same time he hopes his ideas will be found to be sufficiently clear. Such as they are, he submits them to the examination of the candid Public. IV THE ADVERTISEMENT. The Work might, no doubt, have admitted of an extensive number of engravings; which, however, would have greatly in- creased its price, and thereby rendered it, though more splen- did, less universally useful. The Author, therefore, has given only such, as were indispensably necessary for illustrating to the eye, what he could not do so clearly by words. They are all of them taken from accurate original drawings,^ excepting only those of the Pantheon and Vespasian's Amphitheatre, which are copied, the one from Desgodetz, and the other from Fon- tana. With regard to other engravings, which might have been, but are not here given, the curious reader is referred, at the proper places, to the different authors, by whom they have been published. In the course of the Work, the Author frequently uses the modern Roman measure called a palm, employed by their architects ; it is equal to 8,779 English inches. * Plates I. and III. are delineated by the ingenious Mr. John Myddelton, from maps, plans, and drawings in the Author’s collection. Perhaps by com- paring the Plan of Ancient Rome, Plate III. with one of Modern Rome, the reader will be enabled to find out more easily the situation of the Antiquities mentioned in these Remarks. The best Plan of Modern Rome is that by Giambattista Nolli. THE INTRODUCTION. The foundation of Rome, like that of most cities of great antiquity, is wrapt up in fable.* The Roman records were, in a great measure, destroyed by the Gauls, 120 years after the expulsion of their kings; and their oldest historian, Quintus Fahius Pictor, lived 164 years after this loss. Uncertainty, therefore, must necessarily attend many of the events, related in the first 500 years of their history. Rome,^ situated in the 4T 53' and 54" of north latitude, was, according to Varro, founded by Romulus, in the third year of the sixth Olympiad, that is, 431 years after the destruction of Troy, and 753 years before Christ. * “ Datur haec venia antiquitati, ut miscendo Humana divinis, primordia ur- bium augustiora faciat.” — T. Liv. 1. i. prjef. t Rome in the Greek, which was the same as the Pelagian language, sig- nified strength. — Plut. Life of Romulus. B Rome found- ed by Romu- lus. THE INTRODUCTION. Although Romulus may justly be called the founder of Rome, yet, before his time, it seems to have been inhabited, and was named Saturnia. A patre dicta meo quondam Saturnia Roma est."*"* The same is confirmed by Pliny-f — “ Saturnia ubi nunc Roma est/' But it appears that Rome had a concealed name, which superstitious and political reasons made unlawful to be re- vealed.;!; Anger ona is supposed to have been this name, and the secret divinity who presided over the fate of Rome. She was represented, like Harpocrate, with her finger on her mouth, the emblem of secrecy and mystery. § Could we give credit to the history of the beginning of this celebrated city, what a series of wonders does it present to us ! What an high idea must we have of the abilities of Romulus ! He civilized and reduced into a regular society, a set of men, drawn together by the love of novelty; many of whom had fled from the places of their birth, to escape the punishment due to their crimes ; who lived on pillage, and breathed no- thing but anarchy and unlimited liberty. How surprising is it that, from the union of such men, an empire should arise, the citizens of which were as illustrious by their virtues, as by their bravery and universal conquest ! * Ovid. Fast. 1 . 6. V. 31. + Plin. 1 . 3. c. 5. Ib. § “ Nam propterea ipsi Romani et deum, in cujus tutela urbs Roma est, ut ipsius urbis Latinum nomen ignotum esse voluerunt Sunt qui Ange- ronam quas digito ad os admoto silentium denuntiat.”—— Macrobius, 1. 3. c. 9. THE INTRODUCTION. Nor could the founder of Rome have fixed upon a more ad- vantageous situation for a great city. A cluster of small hills, contiguous to each other, rising out of an extensive and fer- tile plain, and washed by the Tyber,^ fourteen miles from the sea,'^ could not but render it healthful, strong, and com- modious. After the Gauls had retreated from Ro?ne, the people, be- holding the ruins of their city, desired to retire to Feii, and there fix the seat of empire. A situation, excellent as it was, still much inferior to that of Rome : but which the good sense and eloquence of Camillus happily prevented. J The government of Rome was regal for 244 years ; and seven kings only are said to have reigned during that period. § * The name of this river may be derived from the Celtic, viz. Ti in that language signifies and her or l>eir, water. The Tyber, no doubt, is the greatest river in that part of Italy. But in the Scotch and Irish Celtic, still preserved in these countries, Tibh'ir seems to signify, to spring up as a fountain. Vide Lhuyd’s Archasologia Britannica. t Pliny places Rome sixteen miles from the sea. “ Roma terrarum caput, XVI. m. pass, intervallo a marl.” L. 3. c. 5. Livy makes Camillus say — “ Non sine causa dii, hominesque hunc urbi condendo locum elegerunt, saluberrimos colles, flumen opportunum, quo ex mediterraneis locis fruges devehantur, quo maritimi commeatus accipiantur: mare vicinum ad commoditates, nec expositum nimia propinquitate ad pericula ■classium externarum : regionum Italias rnedium ad incrementum urbis natum unice locum.” Decad. i. 1 . 5. c. 54. — Such indeed is the situation of Rome! § Much critical learning has been employed for and against the length of these reigns: but it is foreign to my present subject to examine here that controversy. B 2 S Its situation. Epochs of Roman his- tory. 4 THE INTRODUCTION. Intention of these re- marks. Provoked at the misbehaviour of Tarquin, the people abo- lished the royalty, and the republic was governed by consuls and other magistrates, for the space of 462 years, till Julius Ccesar, under the name of perpetual dictator, overturned the commonwealth. From Julius Caesar, till Constantine removed the seat of em- pire to Byzantium, which he called Constantinople, A. D. 330, Rome was governed by the Emperors. Since that fatal period Rome has undergone many revolu- tions. It has felt all the miseries of civil wars, as well as the irruptions of barbarous nations. It has often been sacked and burnt. Before the Popes removed to Avignon, A. D. 1305, their power was often disputed at Rome. But since their return, A. D. 1377, they have been despotic masters of that noble city. I am not, however, to trace here the history of the revolu- tions of Rome : nor shall I attempt to give a description of it at any particular period. I purpose only to throw together a few remarks on the magnificent remains of antiquity, now to be seen in and about that city. I cannot, indeed, but sometimes mention classical situations, of which no monu- ments at present exist, but are still too remarkable to be passed over in silence. In the course of these remarks I shall have occasion to observe many of the Roman institutions THE INTRODUCTION. 5 and customs, whether civil, military, or religious ; as well as the progress of arts and luxury. Although these remains are only the skeleton of its former grandeur, they are of infinite use and value to the lovers of the fine arts, and of classical learning ; and they still charac- terize its ancient power and splendour. It is indeed to be re- gretted, that they are daily diminishing. But how much do we owe to the industry of many ingenious artists, who have measured and delineated these ruins, models of perfection in architecture, and by means of the graver, thus transmitted them down to posterity. When the Italians, after a long lethargy, opened their eyes, about the year 1400, they soon perceived the superior beauty of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. To restore that useful art, and to fix the pleasing proportions of its different orders, they measured the most elegant remains of antiquity in Rome. From Marcellus’ s theatre they took the Doric, from the temple of Fortima Virilis the Ionic, from the Pantheon the Corinthian, and from Titus’s triumphal arch the Composite. But the restorers of architecture did not find, among the ruins of Rome, any monument so entire, from which they could measure the exact proportions of the Tuscan order : its ancient proportions are therefore uncertain. They have called this order Rustic, and made it the strongest of all : yet, according to Pliny,* the Tuscan was lighter than the Doric ; for he gives seven diameters to the former, and only six to the latter. But * Hist. Nat. 1. 36. c. 23, Uss of the remains. Revival of architecture. 6 THE INTRODUCTION. Greek ar- chitecture used at Rome. this probably is an error, as observed by the learned M. Scipio Maffei,* of the transcribers of the text of Pliny, who, in place of VII. to the Doric f have taken away I. and added it to the Tuscan, Three of these orders are Greek, viz. the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian: the Tuscan and the Composite are Italian. Thus the Italians have invented the heaviest and the lightest of these orders: the one is the beginning, and the other the consummation of the art.-f Architecture, the child of necessity, and consequently the invention of every country, has always been classed among the fine arts. Slow indeed must have been its progress from the simple hut to the luxurious palace. Although it cannot be properly called an imitative art, yet the learned and inge- nious Greeks have reduced it to rules, which include both con- veniency and beauty. And such are their elegant proportions, that, it is remarkable, when artists, either from a love of no- velty, or the vanity of being thought inventors, have deviated from these rules, their works cease to please. It was from conquered Greece that the Romans acquired real taste in the fine arts. Even in the time of Augustus, they yielded the palm in literature, in science, and in the fine arts, to Greece. They thought that their superior political knowledge, and great martial achievements, afforded them sufficient honour. As a proof of this, I need only mention the well known verses of * Degli Anfiteatri, 1. 2. c. 2. t For the proportions of these different orders, as well as for the parts that accompanied them, and the terms used by architects, see Vitruvius, Palladio, Vignola, &c. THE INTRODUCTION. 7 Virgil : verses so elegant that they cannot be too often re- peated : “ Excudent alij spirantia mollius sera : Credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore vultus ; Orabunt causas melius, coelique meatus Describent radio ; et surgentia sidera dicent ; Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento : Hse tibi erunt artes ; pacisque imponere morem, Parum subjectis, et debellare superbos.""* The same truth is acknowledged by Cicero — “ Doctrina Grascia nos, et omni literarum genere superabat : in quo erat facile vincere non repugnantes."'-f The first artists who ornamented Rome were Tuscans. Rome first Solidity and even grandeur characterize their works : witness by Tuscan the foundations of the Capitol, and the remains of the Cloaca Maxima. Indeed the many Hetruscan monuments still pre- served are a proof of the taste of that ingenious people in the fine arts.;]; Their sculpture and painting were admired at Rome, in the time of Horace. § — Tyrrhena sigilla. — But when the Romans became acquainted with Greece, they could not but admire the superior taste of that country, from whence they brought artists to embellish their city. So that the magnifi- cent buildings erected at Rome, towards the end of the re- public and during the empire, were executed either by Greek * Mn. 6. V. 847. t Cic. Quasst. Tusc. l.T. c. i. X Vide “ Thomas Dempsteri de Etruria regali libri septem.” Florentias, 1723. § L. 2 . ep. 2. V. 180. 8 THE INTRODUCTION. Introduc- tion of Gre- cian arts. artists, or by their Roman scholars. What I say of Greek ar- chitecture may be extended to sculpture : hence I may con- clude, that many of the fine statues found at Rome were the works of Greek artists, although executed there. The dis- tinction, therefore, often made between Greek and Roman statues, seems to be ill founded. Indeed at that epoch, the lan- guage, philosophy, and arts of Greece, were the ardent study of every Roman, who wished to render himself conspicuous in the state. It is, however, probable that the Romans, long prior to this period, had picked up a little of the Pythagorean philosophy, from the school of Crotona, in that part of Italy called Magna Grsecia ; since we find that the republic erected a statue to Pythagoras, as the wisest of the Greek philo- sophers !* The first specimens of Grecian taste in the fine arts, brought to Rome, were found at Tarentiim, taken by Curius Dentatus in the year 481, U. C. and which he exhibited to public view in his triumph. In former times, Florus informs us, the vic- torious generals of Rome produced in their triumphs herds of sheep and cattle taken from the Sabines and the Volci, the cars of the Gauls, and the broken arms of the Samnites : but in that which was shown for the conquest of Tarentum, the procession was led by Molossian, Thessalian, Macedonian, Brutian, and Apulian captives, followed with carriages load- ed with gold, purple, pictures, statues, and other Tarentine luxuries.-f- * Plin. 1 . 34. c. 6. + “ Ante hunc diem nihil nisi pecora Volscorum, greges Sabinorum carpenta THE INTRODUCTION. 9 We are frequently told that the temples, and great buildings of ancient Rome were destroyed by the intemperate zeal of the Christians, after their religion had been established by law. But whoever impartially examines history, will find that it was not the Christians ; but that the barbarians, who invaded Italy, were the chief authors of these devastations. Even after Constantine im politically removed the seat of em- pire to Constantinople, Rome continued to be embellished by new buildings, down to the time of Honorius. Nor is it to be supposed that the Christians would wantonly destroy build- ings, which either ornamented their city, or were their pri- vate property. The Christians, no doubt, destroyed some of the statues, and overturned the altars of the pagan deities, but not their temples, many of which they converted into Chris- tian churches. Some of the temples still remaining are a convincing proof of it. Indeed St. Augustin says,'^ that they destroyed neither the temples, statues, n6r sacred groves, any more than the persons of the heathens, but converted and de- dicated them to Christian uses. The smallness in general of the Roman temples, which rendered them unfit for Christian worship, is no doubt the reason that so few of them were con- verted into churches ; hence they either perished for want of repairs, or were taken down for their precious materials, with Gallorum, fracta Samnitum arma vidisses: lum si captivos aspiceres, Molossi, Thessali, Macedones, Bruttius, Apulus, atque Lucanus : si pompas, aurum, purpura, signa, tabula, Tarentinxque delicias.” Flor. 1 i. c. i8. * Cum templa, idola, luci in honorem Dei convertuntur, hoc de illis ht quod de hominibus, cum ex sacrilegis et impiis in veram religlonem conver- tuntur. ” Aug. ad Publicol. ep. 47, Devasta- tions of Rome. c 1,0 THE INTRODUCTION. which other buildings were decorated. Alaric, Genseric, Ri- cimer, and Totila alternatively took Rome, in the course of one hundred and thirty-seven years : that is, from the year of Christ 409 to 546.' It was during these incursions that the city was so defaced. Totila was twice in possession of Rome, and was repulsed a third time by Belisarius. It was particu- larly in his second invasion that he committed the greatest ravages, and destroyed a considerable part of Aurelians walls, which Belisarius afterwards repaired. His intention seems to have been to have laid Rome level with the ground. It is true, that the Popes^ and powerful personages of Rome, during the middle age, and even in late times, blind to the elegance of Roman taste and Roman grandeur, in place of preserving what remained of buildings, much defaced either by the barbarians, or by the lapse of time, often destroyed the remainder, for the sake of the materials, which they employed in other works. Rome, no doubt, suffered much in the middle age from the civil wars of the Roman barons, as well as from foreign inva- sions. Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, marched to Rome with his Normands to relieve Gregory VII. called Hildebrand, elected Pope in the year 1072, besieged in Hadrian^s mauso- leum by Henry IV. Emperor of Germany. The Romans at- tached to the emperor, fortified themselves in the Capitol : after many bloody actions, Robert took the Capitol, and almost levelled it to the ground, as he had done most of the consi- derable buildings that then remained about the Forum, and as far as the Lateran palace, where he was encamped. See Pla- tina's Life of Gregory VH. Though these buildings had been THE INTRODUCTION. 11 already much defaced, yet such- excursions must haVe added greatly to the devastation. Besides, from this period, during a space of above goo years, the almost constant civil wars of the Roman barons, either with each other, or with the Popes, must have been fatal to the city. The powerful families took possession of the strongest buildings, which they used as forti- fications. Thus the Colonnas seized Augustus's mausoleum, and Constantine's baths — the Orsinis the mausoleum of Ha- drian, and Pompey's theatre — the Frangipani Titus's amphi- theatre, and the septizonium of Severus — the Savelli the theatre of Marcellus, &c. — The attack and defence must have been equally ruinous to these buildings. As the antiquities often throw much light on many passages of the Roman classics, so these authors serve reciprocally to explain the ruins. I shall, therefore, in this inquiry, freely make use of these elegant and sure guides. Great, indeed, as the pleasure is that they every where afford, yet on the spot we read them with an additional enthusiasm, when we see the scenes they either describe or allude to. So many quota- tions may perhaps appear, to some readers, an affectation of learning ; but in works of this kind they are indispensably necessary. If examining the very ruins of Rome gives us such pleasure, what must have been our admiration to have seen it in all its splendour : — to have seen its conscript fathers deliberating in the senate, or its factious and ambitious tribunes haranguing the people in the comitium : — to have seen the pomp of a C 2 Use of the classics in examining Rome. 13 THE INTRODUCTION. Progress of Rome. Its streets narrow, and houses high. triumph: — to have heard a Cicero, with his irresistible elo- quence, declaiming from the rostrum : — or a Virgil and a Ho- race reciting their immortal lays to Augustus ! We must not form to ourselves the same idea of Roma Quadrata,* founded by Romulus, consisting of a few huts, built of wood and reeds, and confined to the Palatine hill, and of Imperial Rome, the capital of the world under the emperors. Simple in its beginning, it became at last the first of cities. Rome, notwithstanding the magnificence of its buildings, was irregularly built. The streets were narrow and crooked, and the houses high. The ancients seem to have thought, that such a disposition of a city was a defence against violent winds, and great heat. Nero burnt Rome, from the vanity, perhaps, to rebuild it on a more regular plan — “ offensus de- formitate veterum tedificiorum.^'-f — He ordered the streets to be made straight and broad ; and the houses to be built of a proper height, ornamented with areas and porticos. But this alteration was not universally approved. “ Erant,"' says Tacitus, “ qui crederent, veterem illam formam salubritati magis conduxisse: quoniam angustise itinerum, et altitude tectorum non perinde solis vapore perrumperentur ; at nunc patulam latitudinem, et nulla umbra defensam, graviore eestu ardescere."' To prevent fire, Nero directed the houses to be constructed without beams to a certain height, with stones * Plutarch, in his life of Romulus, gives an account of the ceremonies he ob- served in tracing the walls of the city. t Suet. V. Neronis, c. 38. % Ann. 1. 15. n. 43. THE INTRODUCTION. from Gahium or Alhano, which were supposed to resist fire. « Quod is lapis ignibus impervius est.'"^ . Before the reign of Augustus, the houses in Rome seem to Height of have been raised to a great height, which rendered them in- secure, and sometimes occasioned disagreeable accidents, by their falling down. To remedy which, that emperor, by a laWj-f ordered that no building should exceed seventy feet. When Nero rebuilt Rome, we find he ordered the houses to be built to a proper height ; but what that height was, is not mentioned by Tacitus : perhaps it was the same as regulated by Augustus. But Trajan afterwards limited the height of houses to sixty feet — * ** statuens, ne domorum altitudo lx. superaret pedes.'" J The laws of the XII. Tables § ordered, that houses should Regulations not touch each other ; but that there should be an interval of two feet and an half between house and house. This distance was called ambitus. The civil law names this ambitus — spatium legitimum. || In the early period of^ome, and during a great part of the republic, as the houses were chiefly built of wood, this distance between them, not only served for a free passage, but prevented, in some measure, the progress of fire. Thus as the houses were not joined together by common walls, the great buildings were called insula. In these insula there were * Tacit. Ann. I. 15. n. 43. t Strabo, 1 . 5. X “ Aurelius Victor ad Vitam Trajani, sub finem.” ^ Tab. 8. lex i. j| Lex 13. Degest. de servitut. urban, prsd. THE INTRODUCTION. often small houses for the use of the lower citizens. Towards the end of the republic,, when Rome became more extensive, the number of these insula diminished, and the buildings came to join each other. Nero* seems to have restored the ancient method of building ; but in the reigns of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and Lucius Verus, the houses again came to touch. Several regulations were afterwards made with regard to building. Constantine -f ordered that private houses should be loo feet distant from the public granaries, and 15 feet from other buildings. Theodosius;! ordered that there should be a space of 15 feet between private houses and public granaries ; and that the meniana, i. e. the balconies or terraces of private houses, should be 10 feet distant from each other, and 15 feet from public buildings. Laws to regulate buildings in great cities may be highly necessary ; but a multiplicity of laws to direct the manners of a people,' are a proof of their degene- racy. Thus Rome, when governed by the short laws of the XII. Tables, was more virtuous than in the time of Justinian, when their code of laws was become so voluminous. Luxury in It was after the last Punic war, and the conquest of Greece, that luxury in building made such progress in Rome. Many expensive buildings had been erected towards the end of the republic. In the 676th year of Rome, the finest house there was that of M. Lepidus ; but in thirty-five years after, it was surpassed in beauty by many others, which, in their turn, were * Tacit. 1 . 15. Annal. c. 42. t Lex 4. and 46. Cod. Theod. de operibus publicis. X Lex 10. and ii. Cod. de asdificiis publicis. THE INTRODUCTION. 15 greatly eclipsed by those of the emperors. To embellish these buildings, pictures, statues, bas-relieves, and marble columns were brought from Greece, as well as granite obelisks from Egypt, and from every country where these elegant luxuries could be found. It is true that Augustus added considerably to the magnificence of the city ; insomuch that he boasted — “ marmoream se relinquere, quam lateritiam accepisset.^'* But M. Fortius Cato had justly foretold that Rome would decline, when it came to be built with marble in place of brick.-f This taste for building increased much under the emperors, and continued to do so till the time of Dioclesian. But architecture and sculpture seem to have been in their greatest perfection in the reigns of Trajan and Adrian. Pliny, in tracing the progress of the fine arts, mentions many of the pictures, statues, and bas-relieves, and the places in Rome where they were preserved : but, alas ! very few of these masterpieces of art now exist, J Indeed the philoso- phic historian expresses his surprise, that the censors, whilst they enacted sumptuary laws to regulate the expence of the table, should not have prevented the importation of these ex- pensive monuments of the fine arts.§ So fond were the Ro- mans of statues, that Cassiodorus, |1 who died in the 562, at the age of 106, says, there were as many statues at Rome as inhabitants of that city : but, though the number was no doubt very great, this was probably an exaggeration. * Suet. V. Augusti, c. 29. t Livy, 1 . 34. c. 4. X Plin. Nat. Hist. 1 . 1 . 34, 35, and 36. § Plin. ib. 1 . 36. c. I. j| Lib. 7, variarum. Pictures, statues, and bas-relieves. THE INTRODUCTION. l6 Statuas primum Tusci in Italia invenisse referuntur, quas amplexa posteritas, paene parem populum urbi dedit, quam natura procreavit.” Remains to The remains of ancient buildings, to be seen in and about Rome. Rome, are chiefly public works, viz. temples, theatres, amphi- theatres, triumphal arches, baths, aqueducts, sepulchres, &c. We find few remains of the houses of private persons ; and what we see are so defaced, that we can form no accurate ideas of them. Vitruvius and other authors have preserved to us the names of the different parts of these buildings, viz. vesti- bulum, atrium, cavcedium, triclinia, ccenationes, ccenacula, dicetc^, cuhicula, &c. The vestibulum was reckoned no part of the house, but the court between it and the street. The atrium was a sort of porch or hall. Cato tells us, that the frugal old Romans used to sup in their atrium on two dishes: — “ In atriis duobus ferculis epulabantur.’’"* The cavcedium and the Atrium. * It was in the alrimn that the Romans, who had acquired the jus imaginls, which was the satne as the jus noh'iUtatis, placed their own and their predeces- sors’ images, that they might be seen by the people. They seem to have been busts made of wax. “ Tota licet veteres exornent undique cerae Atria, nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus.” Juv. sat. 8. V. 19, Appius Claudius, in the year of Rome 259, was the first who dedicated, in temples and in public places, shields, on which were painted or engraved por- traits of his ancestors. Marcus iTmilius, in the 671 of Rome, placed not only in his own house, but likewise in the jTmilian basilic, the portraits of his fore- fathers. Pliny, approving of this custom, says — “ origo plena virtutis, facjem reddi in scuto cujusque, qui fuerit usus iilo. — Hist. Nat. 1 . 35. c. 3. These portraits produced useful effects, and were not placed for mere ostentation. THE INTRODUCTION. 17. atrium were not the same, although some authors have consi- dered lliem as synonymous. The atrium was the first hall or entry, whereas the cavcediiim seems to have been an hall or court, in the centre or interior part of the building, which led immediately to the different apartments. It was sometimes covered and sometimes open, and more or less ornamented according to the magnificence of the building. This distinc- tion between the atrium and the cavcsdium, is pointed out by the younger Pliny, in his description of his Laurentine Villa.* The triclinia, ccenationes, ccenacula, and dicetce, were all eat- ing rooms. The first had its name from the beds, on which three persons lay in recumbent postures at table, but which to us appears to have been very inconvenient : it was after their eastern conquests, that the Romans adopted this indolent, but which they thought luxurious custom. The second was the great eating hall. The third was a more private eating room, and was the term commonly used for the eating rooms of the lower kind of people. And the last seem to have been small eating rooms, resembling our parlours.-f The cubicula Thus Sallust [Bellum Jugurthinum, c. 4.] observes, that the Fabii, the Scipios, and other great men of the republic, declared that nothing elevated their minds more to virtue, than the sight of the portraits of their ancestors : for they recalled to their minds the great actions they had performed, and inflamed their breasts ■with a love of glory, -which nothing could extinguish, till they had equalled the justly acquired honours of their forefathers. * Lib. 2. ep. 17. + Supper was the principal meal of the Romans, which, in the time of the republican frugality, began at their ninth ho'cr of the day, as . they computed their time, which I shall afterwards examine ; but, when luxury increased, it began at their tenth hour. Martial, in transmit. ing some verses to Euphemus, D . i8 THE INTRODUCTION. were evidently bed-chambers. But the houses of the Romans, in the time of their splendour, seem to have been towns, ra- ther than the habitations of particular persons ; for they in- cluded in their precincts every thing subservient either to use or luxury. Luxury en- 111 the early period of the Roman republic, frugality and th^S^pe-^ patriotism went hand in hand. Modestly lodged themselves, they employed what riches they had to build temples and public works. The house did not then honour the master, but the master the house : in their huts dwelt justice, generosity, probity, faith, and honour. It was towards the end of the re- public that, enriched by conquest, luxury made such progress, and hastened its ruin. For luxury is the certain destroyer of commonwealths ; although, perhaps, it may be compatible, in some degree, with extensive monarchies : but eveii these luxury, like a canker-worm, will at last destn^y. Augustus and Tiberius, able politicians, who had overturned the com- monwealth, and were founding a monarchy, artfully evaded the enacting of sumptuary laws, or any reform of manners to be presented by him to the emperor when at supper, informs us how the Ro- mans employed themselves during the day. “ Prima salutantes atque altera continet hora ; Exercet raucos tertia caussidicos ; In quinctam varies extendit Roma la’’ ores ; Sexta quies lassis, septima finis erit ; Sufficit in nonam nitidis octava palasstris ; Imperat extructos frangere nona toros, Hora libellorum decima est, Eupheme, meorum^” L. 4. ep. 8. THE INTRODUCTION. 15 proposed to them by the senate. Tiberius said,* “ we were frugal when citizens of one town, but we now consume the riches of the world : we now make both masters and slaves work for us.'*'’ “ The examples of ancient severity were changed into a more agreeable manner of living."" “ Multa duritiei veterum melius et Isetius mutata."" The emperors therefore promoted and encouraged luxury and shows of every kind, well knowing that they had little to fear from men im- mersed in pleasure. “ Non his juventus orta parentibus Infecit sequor sanguine Punico, Pyrrhumque, et ingentem cecidit Antiochum, Hannibalemque dirum."" -f But, notwithstanding of Augustus"s political knowledge, a principal cause of the decline of the empire may be traced from him. Because, thinking it a security to his new govern- ment, he enervated the citizens, by indulging them in the love of pleasure and ease ; and thus he rendered them, who should have been the proper defenders of the empire, unfit for the fatigues of war. And, in place of the citizens, he employed mercenary soldiers to guard the cities ; and limited the bounds of the empire by rivers and great fosses, or by steep mountains, desert and impracticable passes, which he injudiciously thought would defend the empire. J * Tacitus, Ann. 1. 3. t Hor. 1 . 3. od. 6. X Herodian, 1. 2. art. 38. Da 20 THE INTRODUCTION. Chimneys. It has been a matter of dispute whether or not the ancients used chimneys, or only heated their rooms with coals on bra- siers, as is still common in most parts of Italy. They pro- bably made more use of brasiers than chimneys. But when they burnt wood, which Horace tells us they did, they must necessarily have had chimneys to carry off the smoke. ‘‘ Dissolve frigus, ligna super foco Large reponens."'^ That the Romans had chimneys may be inferred from Vir^ gil.f “ A?ite focum, si frigus erit, si messis, in umbra."' Here the bard, always accurate in expression, must have meant a chimney, and not a brasier ; which last was circular, placed in the middle of the room, and round which people sat : the preposition ante could not therefore, with propriety, be applied to it. Although among the ruins of Rome I observed no chimneys, yet that they were used there, as well as in Greece, seems to appear from passages in ancient authors. — Philocleon, in the comedy of the JVasps of Aristophanes, act i. sc. 2. hid him- self in a chimney. A slave hearing some noise, called out — “ what noise is that in the pipe of the chimney ?" — Philo- cleon, finding himself discovered, answered, “ that it was the smoke, which endeavoured to get out." — And the son of Phi- locleon, a little after, complains that they call him the son of * Hor. }. I. od. 9. t Eel. 5. V. 70. THE INTRODUCTION. a chimney-sweeper. And Appian, de Bell. Civ. 1. 4 . mention- ing the proscriptions of the triumvirates, tells us that many citizens hid in chimneys to conceal themselves from the mur- derers. We know, even at present, how uncertain it is to construct chimneys, so as to prevent smoke. And though the Romans may not have constructed theirs on mechanical or philosophical principles, yet they must, in general, have suc- ceeded to do so tolerably well ; otherwise Horace would not have complained so much of smoke, at one of his stages, in his journey to Brundisium. nisi nos vicina Trivici Villa recepisset, lacrimoso non sine fumo ; Udos cum foliis ramos urente camino."''^' It is true, the wood here used, being green and moist, would have occasioned more smoke. Cato-f indeed says, that wood, soaked in the lees of olive oil, burns well, and produces no smoke. The same observation is mentioned by Pliny | — “ Postremo ligna macerata amurca, nullius fumi teedio ar- dere."" Flues were used for heating the baths, as will appear when I come to that subject. The ingenious art of making glass is of great antiquity. The quantities found in Herculaneum, and elsewhere, are a proof of it. Indeed it has been doubted if the ancients em- ployed it in their windows ; but it is clear that they did so, from a glass window found in the ruins of Pompeia. Besides Glass win- dows. * Hor. 1 . I. sat. 5. v. 79. t De Re Rust. c. 131. X Hist. Nat. 1 . 15. c. 8. THE INTRODUCTION. many fragments of glass, proper only for windows, and some of them even polished like mirror, have been collected by the curious ; particularly by my worthy and learned friend James Lapis spe- Byres, Esq. But glass windows were probably rare : for the cuiaris. ancients, in place of glass, commonly used a transparent stone, lapis specularis, which they called speculum. Pliny* informs us, that these stones were first dug in Segobriga in Spain, but that they were afterwards got in Cyprus, in Africa, and in Sicily, It was either a talc, or gypsum, or a sort of alabaster. Talc is a concretion of mica attenuated by humidity. “f- It is found in many parts of the world. But the finest and largest sheets hitherto discovered, are on the banks of the river Witim, in Siberia. It is called Muscovia talc. The Russians generally make use of it in windows in place of glass, and par- ticularly in the windows of their ships ; because it is less brittle, and more pliable than glass, and resists better the shock of the rebound of cannon. But if the ancients, accord- ing to Pliny,* made their best lime from the lapis specularis^ it could not be talc, which is not calcinable,: it must there- * Lib, 36. c. 22. + “ Histoire naturelle des Mineraux, par M. de BulFon.” Tom, i, and 4. ed, in 410. Hist, Nat, 1 , 36, c, 24. where, treating of lime, he says, “ omnium autem optimum fieri compertum est e lapide speculari.” From Martial it appears that the Romans knew the use of hot-houses, to protect their plants from the cold, and which they covered with the lapis specu- laris, Hibernis objecta notis specuJarla puros Admittunt soles, et sine foece diem,” L. 8. ep. 14. THE INTRODUCTION. 23 fore have been gypsum, or a thin pellucid alabaster, which are calcareous substances. Ancient temples, generally small, seem rarely to have had windows. They were lighted either by lamps, or by light ad- mitted from the door. Indeed when the temples were circu- lar, they were sometimes lighted by an opening in the top, as is the Pantheon in the Campus Martins, and which, no doubt, is the best suited to show to advantage either pictures or statues. The private houses of the Romans had not many or large windows, and which seem to have been placed high above the level of the floor. This appears from bas-relieves, and from paintings in the Vatican Virgil. It is difficult to trace the various extensions of the walls of Rome, under the kings, the consuls, and the emperors. Its last and greatest extension was in the time of Aurelian. He reigned from the year of Christ 270 to the 275. He inclosed the Campus Martius within the walls, and considerably added to the extent of the whole city.* This extension of the walls is, nearly, marked by a dotted line on the map of Rome, plate HI. Indeed it appears that Julius Caesar intended to have added the Campus Martius to the city, and to have substituted the Campus Vaticanus in its place. For which purpose he was to have caused the bed of the Tyber to have been altered, and its course directed in a straight line by the foot of the Mons * Vopiscus in Vita^ Aureliani, c. 21. cum notis Salmasii. ed. Hackiani, 1671. Temples without win- dows. Extension of the walls by Aurelian, 34 THE INTRODUCTION. Extension of the walls by the Popes. Rome after the expul- sion of the kings. . Vaticanus. But his death prevented the execution of this project.* The Popes too have enlarged the city, by adding to it the Mons Vaticanus, which is known by the name of the Borgo, or Citta Leonina, from Pope Leo the IVth, who inclosed it about the year 850. The walls of Rome are therefore more exten- sive at present, than in the time of its ancient splendour. Their circumference, according to Nolli,-f is fifteen miles and an half, forty-two Cannes, and five palms, Roman measure. Pliny, J however, in the time of Titus, and consequently be- fore Aurelian, extended the walls, made them thirteen miles and two hundred paces. — “ Maenia ejus collegere ambitu, im- peratoribus censoribusque Vespasianis, anno conditae 826, pass. XIII. M. cc. complexa montes vii.” Rome, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, § was, in the forty-seventh year after the expulsion of the kings, about the same extent as Athens. A great part of the city was na- turally defended by the river, the hills, and rocks. The only part open to an attack was from the Esquiline to the Salarian gates. But this was fortified by a fosse of 30 feet deep, and about 100 feet broad : on the inside was a rampart or agger, which xhe fosse prevented from being attacked by warlike en- gines. To the north-east of Dioclesian's baths, vestiges of the * Cicer. Epist. ad Atticum. 1 . 13. ep. 33. t “ Pianta di Roma, di Giambattista Nolli.” — “ Roma del Vasi, 1 . i. in- dice I.” X Nat. Hist. 1 . 3. c. 5. § L. 9. c. 19. sect. 5. THE INTRODUCTION. 25 agger of Tarquinius are still to be traced. Pliny,* mention- ing this agger, says — clauditur ab oriente aggere Tarquinii superbi, inter prima opere mirabili ; namque eum muris eequa- vit, qua rhaxime patebat aditu piano ; caetero munita erat praecelsis muris, aut abruptis montibus.” If some authors have magnified the extent of ancient Rome, they must have been led to do so, by observing its environs so crowded with buildings, and which they considered as part of the city. Indeed the magnificent buildings along the sides of the highways, for a considerable distance, seemed to be a con- tinued city. This continuity of buildings made Dionysius of Halicarnassus -f say, that it was difficult to determine the ex- tent of Rome. But antiquaries have been chiefly induced to magnify the extent of the walls of Rome, from the evidently incorrect text of Vopiscus.J The numbers of the inhabitants of cities, as well as coun- tries, are commonly exaggerated. This has been particularly the case of Rome. Authors seem to have been misled, by considering Roma and urhs as synonymous. Roman was a generical name, given to every one who had a voice in elect- ing magistrates, or in enacting laws, although they did not reside in the city ; whereas urhanus, or citizen, was properly applied to those only who lived within the walls. |j But from * Hist. Nat. 1 . 3. c. 5. t Lib. 4. c. 4. X In Vita Aureliani. c. 39. j| Fabrettus de aquis et aquaeduct. p. 157. 11,292. — Vide Leg. 2. sect, de verb, signif. — “ Urbis appellatio muris, Romse autem continentibus jedificiis finitur, quod latius patet." E Number of inhabitants. THE INTRODUCTION. Walls and gates. not attending to this distinction, the numbers of the inha- bitants of Rome have been, perhaps, so exaggerated. Indeed if the inhabitants of the city, suburbs, and Campagnia are blended together, under the name of Romans, they may have amounted to some millions. Although I have not been able to ascertain the number of citizens, yet it is evident that Rome, at no period, could contain a million of inhabitants. A circuit of fifteen miles and an half, Roman, is too little to lodge such numbers : and the rather that the Campus Martins, which was of considerable extent, served only for places of exercise, and some public buildings ; and that the Mons Vaticanus was without the city ; and both are included in this circuit. Be- sides much ground must have been employed in gardens and pleasure: for Pliny tells us, — ‘‘jam quidem hortorum no- mine in ipsa urbe delicias, agros, villasque possident."^ The walls and the gates of the city were deemed sacred. -f And to extend its pomcrriumX was reckoned an act of reli- gion, which could only be done with the consent of the col- lege of augurs. Yet whoever extended the limits of the em- pire, might also extend the walls of the city. “ Et pomcerium urbis auxit C^sar, more prisco : quo iis, qui protulere impe- rium, etiam terminos urbis propagare datur."'§ The con- * Hist. Nat. 1 . 19. c. 4. t “ Sanctas quoque res veluti muri et portje civitatis.” Just. Instit. 1 . 2. De Rebus Div. X A. Gellius, 1 , 13. c. 14. The pomcerium seems to have been a conse- crated slip of ground on both sides of the walls. § Tacit. Ann. 1 . 12. c. 23. — And Vopiscus, Vita.Aureliani, c. 2i. says, “ Po- THE INTRODUCTION. 27 queror, perhaps, claimed this permission, in order to lodge such of the conquered as he brought with him, whose arts and industry might enrich the .city. The antiquaries, and even Nardini himself, are not much to be depended on, in their placing the walls and gates of Rome before Aurelians days. They have long and learnedly dis- puted this subject, without settling it. They have never been able to fix, with any kind of certainty, the limits of the agger of Tarquinius. Indeed the precise site of the gates must have been altered, at each extension of the walls ; so that it is now highly difficult to ascertain their exact situations. But could this be done, it would greatly contribute to fix the real situa- tion of many places in the neighbourhood of Rome, of which there are now little or no remains ; but whose names, and distances from thp gates, are often mentioned by ancient writers. The number of gates, before Aureliari enlarged the city, is uncertain. Pliny* makes them in his time thirty-seven. The critics, however, suppose that there is a mistake in this num- ber. It is not indeed probable that Aurelian, when he ex- tended the walls, diminished the number of the gates. The more frequented roads that led to the city had double gates. That is, one side was allotted for those who entered moerio autem nemini principum licet addere nisi ei qui agri barbarici aliqua parte Romanam Remp. iocupletaverit.” * Hist. Nat. 1 . 3. c. 5. Number of gates. Double gates. 8 THE INTRODUCTION. the city, and the other for these who went out. These twin gates were very useful, and often saved time to travellers. When Pliny wrote, there seems to have been twelve of them ; but which, in numbering the gates, he reckoned as single ones. For what other reasonable interpretation can we give to his words? “ad singulas portas qu^ sunt hodie numero xxxvii. ita ut XII. portce semel numerentur.^"^ Thus the ancient Carmentale gate was double, and from the right hand side marched out the Fabii. — “ Infelici via a dextro jano portae Carmentalis profecti Cremeram flumen perveniunt.'"-f — This jano was not the temple of the god Ja?iuSy but one of the double gates of the city.J Hence we learn, that those who went out of the city took the right hand gate. Nardini has given an example of these twin gates in that of the Porta Portese, erected by Stilico, in the time of Arcadius and Ho- norius, and removed by Urban the Vlllth in the 1643. Of the same kind is the gate of Verona, known by the name of Porta de' Borsari, which has been erroneously taken for a triumphal arch,§ * Hist. Nat. 1 . 3. c. 5. — This text of Pliny — “ ita ut duodecim portae semel numerentur ” — is no doubt obscure, and has perplexed the commentators. It has probably arisen from the carelessness of the transcribers. Pliny perhaps consi- dered the twin gates as two, and that 12 of them were equal to 24 single gates. But if we could suppose the text to have been originally ii. fduaj in place of XII. (duodecim) and that each two was reckoned as one; in that case there might have been 18 double gates, and a single one, which would complete Pliny’s number of thirty-seven. + Livius, 1 . 2. c. 49. 4 Nardini, Roma Antica, 1 . i. c. 9. § “Verona illustrata” dell* * * § Marchese Scipio Maffei. Part 3. c. 2.' — And “ Fabriche antiche e moderne di Verona, dell’ Valesi.” Tab. VI. THE INTRODUCTION, 29 At each gate a statue of brass, of some tutelar god, seems to have been placed ; whose right hand passengers kissed — “ boni ominis causa.” None of these now remain. Nor do I remember that this superstitious custom is taken notice of by any author but Lucretius. The philosophic poet, mentioning the imperceptible but real diminution of every thing by use, says that the right hands of these statues were worn, by being frequently kissed. — “ Turn portas propter ahena Signa manus dextras ostendunt attenuari Scepe salutantum tactu, preeterque meantum.”* - The trouble of guarding so many gates seems to have en- gaged the Romans of the middle age to have lessened their number. Thus the ancient gates of Prceneste and Lahicum were built up in the thirteenth century ; and between the two a new gate was formed out of one of the arches of the castellum of the Claudian aqueduct. It is called the Porta Maggiore. There are twelve gates in the walls, as extended by Aure- lian ; some of which, indeed, have been opened, and others of them rebuilt since his time. And there are four gates in the Citta Leonina, added by the Popes. * Lucr. 1 . I. V. 318. The same cause has produced the same effect in mo- dern Rome. Thus, among other examples, the foot of the elegant marble sta- tue of Christ, by Michel’ Angelo Buonaroti, at the Minerva, having been defaced, by devotees kissing and rubbing their foreheads on it, was afterwards covered with brass \ and which last is now very considerably worn. A statue at each gate. Number of gates lessen- ed. At present sixteen gates. 30 THE INTRODUCTION. Rome di- vided into tegiones. After what I, have said, perhaps it is unnecessary to observe, that the walls of Rome are partly built by Aurelian, partly re- built by Belisarius, on the same foundation, and partly by the Popes. But, from time to time, the whole have been re- paired. Rome was early divided into four quarters, or what were called regiones. These divisions were useful for regulating its police. But as the city had greatly increased, Augustus judged it necessary to divide it into fourteen regiones. Publius Victor and Sextus Rufus have described them ; and Panvinius has made some additions.^' But as Nardini,-f from these authors, and from the Notitia Imperii Romani, has published lists of them, and the various buildings and places each contained, with further additions of his own, I beg leave to refer to him. Nardini, indeed, has described Rome according to these re^ giones. But, as the city has undergone many and great changes, since that division was made by Augustus, I think it is now impossible to trace their contour with any degree of accuracy ; nor the streets of ancient Rome, several of whose names are mentioned by the Roman writers. Disputes about jurisdictions, and the police of the city, engaged Pope Benedict XIV, to divide modern Rome likewise into fourteen quar- ters, or what are now called rioni. But the contours of these rioni are not the same that Augustus gave to his regiones. \ * “ Onuphrii Panvinii reipublka^ Romanas commentariorum libri tres.” t “ Roma Antica.” :{; “ Descrizione del nuovo ripartimento de’ Rioni di Roma, del Conte Ber- nardino Bernardini.” THE INTRODUCTION. 31 To render this survey of Rome more clear, and to methodize Amnge- my remarks, I shall — ist, examine the gates, and the most re- markable antiquities to be seen on the roads which lead from them. I shall 2dly, enter the city, and examine — the seven hills, and afterwards the plains. To which I shall add, by way of Appendix, some letters and remarks, descriptive of some of the most renowned places and antiquities in the neighbourhood of Rome. I begin with the gates. ■ rg - ,. ■ .?ioIt^Tioo^^Ti^T'S^^T■■ '. ^ -sgnr-r.A 2Sifeo^di5>!^r o5 brsr* ,Ti39b' iof>n^)-i ^T^Sp^L'^ }^ arifmBxD 4et— IfHfb I havaa o-ff:r~~.9fdn';.r:xo' KA k t\i^h ’S^di 'lotip lyr.m^ds yd -Md :lkda I tbMw\>^T v.ariii5,Iq;9fb sb'ic^rrisM, bdjii^8rtW ''^^4 Ho -sr/iJqhoaob' '..bfiB, jfisiibl ififibaA. *xf bqaq'tf A-lo, *>rlt'ni ' jhii)|)ii^iji bnr> h'jmroa^i. s/fil lo- .aimo^^iP « , ' ■> - ■ , ^ ' . . '' '■ ' ■ " - ■' ■'•^' '■ '".ir w'; ANCIENT ROME. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. I. PORTA DEL POPOLO. Whether this gate has been named from the adjacent church of the Madonna del Popolo, or the church from the gate is uncertain.. Perhaps they were both thus named from a grove of poplars, which the Romans called popuU. Indeed Pliny ^ informs us, that different places or quarters of Rome were named from trees, or groves, that grew there. When Aurelian added the Campus Martins to the city, it is generally thought that he gave the name of Flaminia to this gate, as it stood on the via Flaminia. But the ancient Porta Flaminia, no doubt, stood much nearer to the Capitol. The outside of this gate was built by Vignola, and is an elegant piece of Doric architecture : the inside was ornamented by Bernini, when Christina, Queen of Sweden, A. D. 1655, made her en- try into Rome. This access to the city is magnificent.-f- This gate leads in a straight line to the Porite Molle, whicli is commonly reckoned the Pons Milvius, so often mentioned * Hist. Nat. 1 . 16. c. ro. t See Piranesi’s large view of it. F Ponte Molle, or Pons Mil- vius. 34 ANCIENT ROME. I. Porta del Popolo. by the Roman authors. It is near two miles from the gate. It was bujlt by M. ^Emilius Scaurus.^' It had been often re- paired, but always on the old foundations. Lactantius Firmia- nus-f tells us, that it was an ancient custom to throw a man from off this bridge into the Tyber, as a sacrifice to Saturn. It was here that the ambassadors of the Allobroges, in con- cert with Cicero, were stopped, and their papers seized, which fully discovered Lentulus, and all the persons engaged in Ca- tiline^s conspiracy. J At this bridge too there were houses, receptacles of nocturnal debauch, to which Nero used to go. § But Piranesi |j places the Pons Milvius above a mil^ higher up the river, opposite to the Tor di Quinto, and makes the via Flaminia to have passed through the Porta Pinciana, and from thence, by many turnings, to have reached his Pons Milvius. The reasons offered by Piranesi, to support his singular opi- nion, do not seem satisfactory. The Romans never made their consular roads ia winding lines, but in cases of absolute necessity, which cannot be pleaded here. But this question, I think, is decided by Suetonius,*! who tells us, that Augustus built his mausoleum, — “ inter Flaminiam viam ripamque Ty- beris."'’ Now, had the Flaminian road led to the Porta Pinciana, * Aurel. Victor, de Vir. illustr. t Lib. I. c. 21. De falsa religione — “ Saturnus in Latio eodem genere sa- crificii cultus est: non quidem ut homo ad aram immolaretur ; sed uti in Tybe- rim de Ponte Milvio mitterentur.” J Sallust, bel. Catilin. c. 45. § “ Pons Milvius in eo tempore, Celebris nocturnis inlecebris erat; ventita- batque illuc Nero, quo solutius, urbem extra, lasciviret.” Tacit. Ann. 1 . 13. c. 47. I Le Ant. Rom. tom. i. p. 6. ^ Vita Aug. c. 100. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 35 it must have passed by the south end of the college of the Pro- paganda Fide, and consequently the mausoleum could with no propriety be said to stand between it and the river : whereas if this road led to the Porta del Popolo, the historian's descrip- tion answers exactly ; for the remains of this monument are yet to be seen, near to the church of St. Roch. A little beyond the bridge the road separates. To the left hand is the via Cassia, and to the right is the via Flaminia. Three roads led from Rome to Lombardy: the Flaminian along the Adriatic ; the Aurelian along the Mediterranean ; and the Cassian between these two, through the interior part of the country. About three miles from the bridge, on the via Cassia, I saw a monument, which is commonly called Nero’s sepulchre. But by the inscription, although much defaced, it appears to have been erected to C. Vibius Marianus, and his wife. It is published by Gruter,^ who, by mistake, places it two miles from Rome. The siege of Veii, the ten years labour of the Romans, is recorded in their annals. It was protracted, perhaps, less by the strength of the place than by the unskilfulness of the be- siegers. At last M. Furius Camillus took it by stratagem .-f* He secretly carried on a mine, which terminated in the cita- del, under the temple of Juno, where, by several pits, which he caused to be opened at once, his soldiers entered the city, * Page 487. t Livius, 1 . 5. c. 21. F 2 I . Porta del Popolo. Via Cassia, — Flaminia, and — Aurelia. Monument of C. Vibius Marianus, Veii. ANCIENT ROME. 36 1. Porta del aiid thereby became masters of it. But where Veil stood has Popolo. much disputed by the antiquaries. Strange, that the si- tuation of a city, long the rival of Rome, and which has been compared to Athens for extent and riches, should be thus un- certain, A foolish vanity has placed it ?ilXivita Castellana, thirty-five miles from Rome, and where they have set up mo- dern inscriptions to assert it. Some, indeed, have placed it at Castelnuovo, the second post from Rome on the via Flaminia : others near to the Storta, about twelve miles from Rome, on the right hand of the via Cassia, between Isola and the Cre- mera; now called the Valca. But Zanchi,* I think, has at last discovered the real situation of Veii. He places it in the wood of Baccano and Montelupoli, eighteen miles from Rome, on the right hand of the via Cassia. This is the distance from Rome to Veii given by Eutropius,‘f and which exactly agrees with Peutinger's J accurate Itinerary. Livy too confirms this dis- tance, who makes Appius Claudius, complaining of the slow- ness of the siege, say — “ Nos intra vicesimum lapidem, in con- spectu prope urbis nostrse, annuam oppugnationem perferre piget.'' § The advantageous situation for a city, the hills and rocks, the distance from Rome, the via Cassia, the nearness of the Cremera, sufficiently point out Veii. But Zanchi gives us a further confirmation-of it. For, besides the remains of ancient walls, and the fields covered with broken bricks, pieces of columns, and fragments of buildings, he has traced here * See his learned dissertation, entitled, “ II Veio illustrate.” — Roma, 1768. 8vo. + Hist. Rom, 1 . I. X Tab. Peutingeriana — ed, Tratteniana, 1753, § Lib. 5. c. 4. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. Camillus's celebrated mine or cuniculus,* with the different pits, by which the soldiers entered the citadel. Livjj-f men- tioning this cuniculus, tells us— “ operum fuit omnium longe maximum ac laboriosissimum/’ But what greater remains can we expect of a city taken and destroyed 394 years before the birth of Christ .? “ Et Veii veteres Nunc intra muros pastoris buccina lenti Cantat, et in vestris ossibus arva metunt.'” J When we view the small remains of Veii, and call to mind the many formerly populous and flourishing cities reduced to ruins, some of whose sites are not now even known, we can- not but admire the philosophical idea which Servius Sulpicius addresses to Cicero, § to console him for the death of his daugh- ter Tullia. — “ Ex Asia rediens, cum ab iEgina Megaram ver- sus navigarem, coepi regiones circumcirca prospicere. Post me erat ^gina, ante Megara, dextra Piraeus, sinistra Co- rinthus : quae oppida quodam tempore florentissima fuerunt, nunc prostrata et diruta ante oculos jacent. Coepi egomet me- cum sic cogitare : hem ! nos homunculi indignamur, si quis nostrum interiit, aut occisus est, quorum vita brevior esse de- bet ; cum uno in loco tot oppidum cadavera projecta jaceant.” The via Cassia passed by Baccano, Sutri, Capranica, Forum * See a print of the cuniculus, in Zanchi’s “ Veio Illustrate. ” t Lib. 5. c. 19. J Proper. 1 . 4. elegia xi. v. 27. § Epist. ad Famil. lib, 4. ep. 5. 37 1. Porta del Popolo. ANCIENT ROME. I. Porta del Popolo. Aquae Pas- seris. Tor diQuiiu to. Battle of Constantine and Maxen- tius. Due Ponti. Cassii, which is between S. Maria and Vetralla : and leaving Viterbo to the right, it went to Aquee Passeris, “ fervidique Fluctus Passeris/^* where is to be seen the remains of an ancient bath, now called Bagno dello Serpe : from thence it went to Montejiascone, and so into Tuscany. I return back to the via Flaminia. The Tor di Quinto, to the right hand of the road, is supposed by some antiquaries to take its name from L. Quintius Cin- cinnatus, whose farm they place here. But, from an expression of Livy, I shall afterwards fix it opposite to the Ripetta.'\ Ve- nuti;|; is of opinion, that it is thus named because of its distance from Rome, ad V. lapidem. But whether I reckon from the gate, or from the Forum, I cannot make out that distance. The plains along the banks of the Tyber, and towards Ponte Molle, were the field of battle, where Constantine, after having seen the vision of the cross, — “ In hoc signo vinces,"^ — as mentioned by the ecclesiastical writers, defeated Maxentius, A. D. 312. A little beyond the Tor di Quinto, I crossed two bridges, which, * Martial, 1 . 6. ep. 42. t See Porta eii Castello. See his edition of Eschinardi’s Jgro Romano, page 197. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 39 from their nearness to each other, has occasioned this place to be called Due Ponti. Under the first bridge runs a rivulet named Aqua Traversa, and under the other the Valca or Cre- mera, on whose banks, according to Livy,^ fell the 306 Fahii. The castellum built by these generous patriots, to defend the Roman territories against the incursions of the Veientes, seems to have stood on that piece of ground where the torrent, which runs by the Osteria dell' Fosso, in the Isola, falls into the Cremera. It is about half a mile in circuit, defended by a deep foss6, and still called la piazza d'armL By some authors it has been supposed to be Veil. Two miles and a quarter from the Ponte Molle, brought me to the Nasonian sepulchre. It is cut out of the rock that over- looks the via Flaminia. But as I shall give an account of this curious monument in the Appendix, No. 1. 1 beg leave to refer to it. Many indeed were the sepulchres erected along the sides of this road, although few vestiges of them are now to be seen. Nor could I discover that of Paris, the celebrated comedian, Egyptian by birth, and freedman of Nero, whose epitaph, wrote by Martial, -f is preserved to us in the works of that agreeable poet. Quisquis Flaminiam teris, viator. Noli nobile prasterire marmor. I. Porta del Popolo. Castellum of the Fabii. Nasomian sepulchre. Sepulchre of Paris. * Lib. 2. c. 50. — See Dion. Hal. I. g. c. 5. t Lib. II. ep. 13. 40 ANCIENT ROME, I. Porta del Popolo. Grotta Ros- sa. Ergastulum. Urbis deliciae, salesque Nili, Ars et gratia, lusus et voluptas, Romani decus, et dolor theatri, Atque omnes Veneres, Cupidinesque, Hoc sunt condita, quo Paris, sepulcro.” About three miles from Ponte Molle is the Grotta Rossdj formerly saxa ruhra, often mentioned by the Roman classics. This continues to be a little dirty inn, as it probably was in the time of Cicero, who, in his second Philippic, upbraids Marc Antony for having loitered here a whole day, drinking hard. Near to the Grotta Rossa, cut out of the rock, are the re- mains of an Ergastulum. These were prisons or dungeons, un- der ground, where slaves, often in chains, were forced to work ; they were common in Italy; and are a lasting proof of the barbarity of those times, when slaves were treated rather like cattle than human creatures.^' What a difference between their situation and that of modern servants ! The improper use frequently made of these prisons engaged Hadrian to abo- lish them.'f And upon the whole, it is found by experience, that we are cheaper and better served by free servants, hired for a term, than by slaves, bought at a great price, apt to run away, not to mention the risk of their sickness or sudden death. * “ Nec tanquam hominibus quidem, sed tanquam jumentis abutimur.” Sc^ neca, epist. 47. t yidp — “ Lex Aquilia, de damno.” THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 41 At the first post the road divides. On the right hand road, towards the river, Augustus had a villa. It was called Ad gal- linas albas; because here an eagle let drop a white hen, holding in her bill a laurel branch full of berries, into Livia's bosom, of which Suetonius^ and Plinyf have transmitted us an ac- count ; and which I shall afterwards have occasion to mention, when I come to the baths of Paulus i^^milius. Faliscum, the capital of the Falisch stood, according to Stra- bo,J as corrected by Cluverius,§ on the left hand of the Fla- minian road, between Rome and Otriculum. It was to the schoolmaster of Faliscum, who conducted the children com- mitted to his care to the Roman camp, that Camillas, up- braiding him for his treachery, said — “ Ego Romanis artibus, virtute, opere, armis vincam.”H Such were the sentiments of that virtuous period of the republic ! He ordered the lictors to strip the villain, tie his hands behind him, and then furnish the youths with rods to whip him back again to the city. I return to the walls. About 1800 palms from the Porta del Popolo, towards the Porta Pinciana, there is a part of the city wall, which, declin- ing from the perpendicular, is called the muro torto.^ It seems to be the remains of some building, which probably Aurelian * Vit. Galbas. c. i. t Hist. Nat. 1 . 15. c. 30. X Lib. 5. § L. 2. c. 3. j] Livius, 1 . 5. c. 27. ^ Here are buried impenitent criminals, and licensed prostitutes, who have not renounced their infamous profession. G I. Porta del Popolo. Ad gallina* albas. Faliscura. Muro torto. ANCIENT ROME. 43 I. Porta del Popolo. caused to serve for part of the wall, when he extended the city. It is of that kind of construction which the Romans named opus reticulatum. Some antiquaries suppose that it was the sepulchre of the Domitian family, where the ashes of Nero were deposited, by his nurses Ecloge and Alexandra, and by his concubine Acte.^‘ Be that as it may, tradition pretends, that this is that very part of the city wall, of which Procopius-f gives a miraculous account. He gravely tells us, that Belisa- rius, when he defended Rome against the Goths, observing that this wall was in a tottering condition, proposed to fortify it ; but he was opposed by the citizens, who affirmed that it was unnecessary, because it was guarded and supported by St. Peter. How did they know that the good saint would coun- teract the general laws, by which God governs the material world, in order to save them > the trifling expence of rebuild- ing it.^ May we not apply Horace's theatrical rule to such miracles ? “ Nec dens intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus.";|] The Romans, at all times superstitious, had often recourse to miracles. They thought that the protection of their gods, unassisted by man, was a sufficient defence of their city, against hostile attacks. Thus their eloquent, but partial historian says, — “ deserta omnia, sine capite, sine viribus, dii prtesides ac fortuna urbis tutata est."§ * Suet. Vita Neronis, c. 50. X Ars poetica, v. 191. t Historla Gothica, 1 . i. § Livy; 1 3 - c. 7 - THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 43 II. PORTA PINGIANA. This gate, which stands on the Mons hortulorum, is thought to have taken its name from the palace of the Pincian family, which stood near it. And indeed the whole hill is often called Mo7is Pincius. The road from this gate leads into the via S alar a. A little without the gate, to the left hand, is the magnifi- cent villa Borghese, so richly ornamented with ancient statues, bas-relieves and inscriptions, of which Domenico Montelatici^ has given a particular description. * “ Villa Borghese, fuori di Porta Pinciana.” 8vo. Roma, per Buaghi, 1700. (3 2 Villa Bor- ghese. 44 ANCIENT ROME. VillaAlbani. III. PORTA SALARA, OR SALARIA. The etymology of this name is uncertain. In vain do we often attempt to trace the origin of ancient names. Cicero^ justly observes, that by changing a single letter, any word may be derived according to our fancy. Plinyf supposes that this gate was thus named, because by it the Sabines carried their salt from Rome. May it not have been named from the Salii^ the priests of Mars ? It is sometimes called Porta Collina, from the rising grounds in the neighbourhood : and sometimes the Qiiirinal gate, as it led directly to the Quirinal hill. It was likewise called Agonale, from the Agonale games having been celebrated here, when the Circus Agonalis was inundated by the Tyber. But as the city walls have been considerably extended on this side by Aurelian, the Circus Agonalis, and the temple of Venus Erycina, which stood with- out the ancient Porta Salara, are now within the city, and which I shall mention in my survey of the Qiiirinal hill. A little without the gate, on the right hand, is the elegant modern villa of Cardinal Alexander Albani. Surprising are the numbers of ancient monuments of the fine arts collected * “ Qiioniam Neptunum a nando appellatum putas, nullum erit nomen, quod non possis una littera explicare, unde ductum sit.” — De Natura Deorum, 1. 3. c. 24. t “ Magna (sal) apud antiq’uos auctoritate, sicut apparet ex nomine Salarla via, quoniam ilia salem in Sabinos portari convenerat.” Hist. Nat. 1. 31. c. 7. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 45 and preserved here. The statues, busts, bas-relieves, urns, inscriptions, columns, &c, would require volumes to describe them properly. Licinius, Augustus's barber, erected his sumptuous monu- ment about two miles from this gate, but of which I find no remains. Martial ironically says of him : “ Hie quoque magnus homo est."* It was on seeing this sepulchre that Varro, we are told, wrote this spirited distich. “ Marmoreo tumulo Licinus jacet, ac Cato parvo, Pompeius nullo, credimus esse deos About two miles and a half from the gate, I came to Ponte Salara. By the inscription I find that it had been destroyed by Totila, and afterwards repaired by Narses, in the time of Justinian. It was on the other side of this bridge that the Gauls en- camped when T. Manlius killed the gigantic Gaul, in single combat, and having taken from him his golden chain, torqiiis^ was thence called Torquatus.-f Thus we find that collars and * Lib. 2. ep. 32. t Livius, 1 . 7. c. 10. — From the eloquent historian it appears, that the Gaul was dressed versicolori veste ; that is, in the Highland plaid, worn at this day by the Scotch Flighlanders ; undoubtedly the descendants of the ancient Gauls. Here we observe likewise, that the Romans, sensible of the advantage of the 3. Porta Sa- lara, Sepulchre of Licinius. Ponte Sala- ra. Single com- bat of Man- lius Torqua- tus. 4® ANCIENT ROME. ^.PortaSa- ribands, decorations and badges of distinction, still so much admired, and eagerly desired, were early used by the Celtic nations. Hannibal’s Near to the bridge, on the banks of the Anio, three miles encamp- ment, from Rome, I viewed the field where Hannibal encamped. — Inter hcec Annibal ad Anienem fiavium tria millia passuum ab urbe castra admovit.^'* — Although there remains no monu- ment of this memorable event, I could not but recall to mind the history of it. The battle of Cannce, where so much Roman blood was spilt, was fought in the third year of the second Punic war. It was in the eighth year of the war that the Carthaginian hero appeared before the walls of Rome. Various were the motives that induced him to make this attempt. Straitened for provisions, and, unable to raise the siege of Ca- pua, he thought, by marching his army to Rome, that he short cut and thrust sword of the Spaniards, had early adopted its form. For the Roman champion was armed Hispano gladio, with which he rushed in on his adversary, and stabbed him in the belly ; whilst the Gaul, by his nearness to Man- lius, could make no use of his long sword. This perhaps was the sword still used by our Highlanders, which they call the Cly-more. — Polibius, (lib. 3. c. 24.) in his account of the battle of Cannse, says, that the Spaniards and Gauls used shields, but that their swords were very different : those of the first were proper to cut and thrust; whereas these of the latter \vere only proper to cut, and that at a distance.-: — The ingentes gladVi of the Caledonians, mentioned by Tacitus, (Agri- cola; Vita, c. 36.) were probably that unwieldy weapon, the two-handed swords, w'hich they used, and of which many are yet preserved. They w^ere generally twm inches broad, double-edged, the length of the blade three feet sev c inches, the handle one foot two inches, a plain transverse guard one foot ; and the w^eight six pounds and an half. — See Grose “ on ancient Armour.” * Livius, 1. 26. c. 10. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 47 would have drawn olF the Roman army from the siege, in s. Porta Sa- order to have defended their capital ; or that his unexpected march might have produced some lucky accident in his favour, by either giving him an opportunity to engage the Roman army with, advantage, or by surprising Rome. But how dif- ferent was the daring conduct of the Romans at this critical conjuncture ; far from being intimidated by his approach, they sold, by public auction, the very ground on which he was actually encamped, for its current and full price : they marched out, at an opposite gate, a body of troops to reinforce their le- gions in Spain : and they presented another formidable army to give him battle. Sensible, therefore, how little reason he had to expect to take Rome, and certain of the loss of men he must have sustained in the action, and which he could not easily recruit, Hannibal prudently retreated ; and thus tacitly confessed the invincible courage of the Romans. , In his march to Rome, Hannibal came through the country of the Samnites; but in his return he seems to have marched through the coun- try of the Volsci, hoping to have intercepted any forces sent from Capua to the relief of Rome. It was probably in this retreat that he encamped below the summit of mans Albanus, on the plain which from him is still called Hannibal’s camp. Going along the via Salara, a little more than two miles Fiden^. beyond the bridge, is the villa Spada ; and a little further on, is Castel Giubileo. Between these two places stood Fiden^c. Hetruria must not have been limited by the Tyber, since Livy^ calls the Fidenates Hetrurians. — “ Nam Fidenates * Livius, 1 . I. c. 15, 48 Porta Sd- lara. ANCIENT ROME. quoque Etrusci fuerunt.” — Although Fidence was destroyed by Mamercus ^Emilius, about the year of Rome 327, yet in the time of Tiberius it seems to have been in some measure re- built, since it had then an amphitheatre, by whose fall, ac- cording to Suetonius,* above 20000 persons were killed. Ta- citus-f indeed says, that as Tiberius discouraged public shows in Rome, one Atilius, the son of a freedman, erected this am- phitheatre, not from an ostentation of riches, or to procure the favour of the people, but in hope of gain. For as Fidence was so near Rome, every one went there to assist at the shows. But as the amphitheatre .was insufficiently built of wood, it gave way, and by its fall 50000 persons were either killed or wounded. It was after this melancholy accident, that the se- nate passed a decree, that no person should exhibit a show of gladiators, unless he was possessed of at least — “ quadringen- torum millium res"J — ^or to build an amphitheatre, except on a sure foundation. * Vit. Tiberii, c. 40. t Ann. 1 . 4. c. 62, 63. 400000 sestertii. A sestertius, according to Dr. Arbuthnot, was equal to one penny and 3f farthings English money. — See Tables of ancient coins. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 49 IV. PORTA PIA. This gate is so named from Pius IV. who caused it to be built from a design of Michael Angelo Buonaroti, in place of the Porta Nomentana, which he removed. The most ancient name of this gate was Figulense, or Ficulense, because it led to Ficulea, a place in babina ; in the same manner as it was af- terwards called Nomentana, because it led to Nomentum.^ From the church of S. Agnese, a mile from the gate, it is some- times called Porta di S. Agnese, Almost joining to this church there is an ancient building, commonly named the temple of Bacchus. It does not appear that he had any temple on the via Nomentana. What pro- bably led authors to ascribe this building to Bacchus, is the representation of a vintage on its roof, executed in mosaic, and a sarcophagus of porphyry, of an extraordinary size, pre- -served here, on which there is a bas-relief, likewise represent- ing a vintage. Ficoroni-f has published this sarcophagus, which, as well as some of the line columns in the church of S. Agnese, w^ere taken from the Moles HadriaJii. This build- ing seems to be of the age of Constantine, and perhaps was erected by him, for a sepulchre to his daughter Constanza ; and indeed her acts, preserved in the library of the Chiesa Nuova, afford a sort of proof of it.J It was converted into a * Cluverius, Ital. Antiq. 1 . ii. p, 660. i Le Vest, di Roma, 1. 1 . c, 27 . Mabillion, Iter Ital. p. %2. H Church of St. Constan- za, impro- perly taken for a temple of Bacchus. . ANCIENT ROME. $0 ^.PortaPia. An hippo- dromus. Pons No- montanus. Mons Saeer. church, and dedicated to S. Constanza, by Alexander IV. Nor need we be surprised to find here a representation of a vintage, since we know that in the age of Constantine, it was not un- common to mingle heathen with Christian rites. The co- lumns of this church are elegantly grouped : ^ but it appears evident that they had been taken from other buildings ; for their capitals and bases are different, which surely would not have been the case, had they been originally executed to or- nament this monument. — Here, and in the adjacent church of S. Agnese, are preserved five ancient candelabra^ of marble, of exquisite workmanship. Adjacent to this temple, there is the remain of an oblong building, which Piranesi calls a burying place. Most writers, however, reckon it an hippodrsomus, or a place in which they trained and exercised their horses. It was a sort of small circus. About a mile from this church is the Pons Nomentanus, by corruption now called Ponte Lamentana. It had been fortified by Belisarius against the Goths, an^ afterwards repaired by Narses. On the other side of this bridge, to the right hand, is the Mons Sacer, which forms a sort of amphitheatre on the banks of the river. To this the people, oppressed and enslaved by the Patricians, especially on account of their debts, retired, and * See Piranesi’s Plan [Ant. Rom. Tom. 2 . tav. 2i.] and perspective view of the inside of it. [Large views of Rome.] THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 5I fortified themselves; till Menenius Agrippa,* with his pru- ^,Por{aPia. dence and eloquence, conciliated the differences between them and the senate. This secession, A.R. 260, gave tribunes to the people : annual magistrates, taken from their own body, to protect them against the usurpations of the nobles, and whose persons were deemed sacred ; but whose factious and ambitious conduct hastened, in the sequel, the ruin of the re- public. On this classic spot, we were in a manner seized with the true spirit of liberty ; a liberty not licentious, but founded in order, and regulated by wise laws. Lamentajia, the ancient Nomentum, is about ten miles be- Nomentum, yond the bridge. It was built by the old kings of Alba, as Servius observes on this line of Virgil.*f “ Hi tibi Nomentum, et Gabios urbemque Fidenam."" Seneca J had a villa here, which he calls — “ Nomen tanum ineum."’' Columella § mentions the fertility of this villa, and district.— “ Nomentana regio, celeberrima fama, illustris, et prtecipue quam possidet Seneca, vir excellentis ingenii atque doctrinse, cujus in preediis vinearum jugera singula || culleos octonos reddidisse, plerumque compertum est.^' That is, each jugerum, on this estate, produced eight culei of wine, which make one hundred and sixty amphorce. And indeed Colu- * See Livy’s account of it, 1 . 2. c. 32. t Mn. 1 . 6. V. 773. 4 ^ Ep. 104. ad Lucilium. § Lib. 3. c. 3. Vide Plin. 1 . 14. c. 4. II According to which, an English acre would yield 29I hogsheads.'— See Ar- huthnot’s Tables of ancient Coins, &c. p. 6o. Hs 53 ANCIENT ROME. ^.FcrtaPia. Italian wines, an- cient and modern. mella observes, that vineyards, whose produce is less than three culei the jugerum, are not worth cultivating. Although French wines are now in the highest estimation;, for their generous social qualities, the vine was much earlier planted in Italy than in France. It was the love of wine that chiefly enticed the Gauls td* invade Italy. The Roman writers, particularly Horace, celebrate the qualities of their wines, as well as the length of time they preserved them. It is no doubt by comparison only that we can properly ascertain the quali- ties of different wines. It may therefore seem rash, at this distance of time, to contradict the opinions of such respectable authorities. But we know that the wines, whose age they boasted, were inspissated, or reduced to a thickness or con- sistence by force of heat. “ Aut dulcis musti Vulcano decoquit humorem.^"* Such wines might have been long kept, and could not be drank till diluted with warm water : they were sometimes used warm, and sometimes cooled in ice. The Romans seem even to have paid particular attention to the quality of the water they used for that purpose. Thus Horace says, that the Blan-' dusian fountain was worthy to dilute the richest wines.— “ Dulci digne mero.""‘f The aqua Martia had been esteemed for this purpose — “ Temperet aiinosum Martia lympha merum."";]; Virg. Georg. 1. 1. v. 295. Tibullus, 1. 3. il. 6. v. 26. t Lib. 3. od. 13. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. But can we suppose that wines in that state could retain the \.FortaPm high flavour and flattering taste, which we now justly admire in these of Burgundy and Champaign ? The most celebrated Italian wines were the Falernum, Massicum, Calenuniy Alba- num, Setinuniy and Surrentinum. The growths of these places are still known, and though esteemed by the modern Italians, yet how inferior are they to the fine wines of France. Of the Ccecuha we can say nothing, since the vines that produced it were become barren when Pliny writ. — Csecuba jam non gignuntur.”* — We find, towards the end of the republic, and during the empire, when luxury made such progress, that the Romans, sensible of the superior merit and great prices of some of the Greek wines, consumed immense quantities of them.-f At present Lament ana is a seat of the Borghese family, where few remains of antiquity are to be seen. These three gates, Pinciana, Salara, and Pia, lead to the country of the Sabines. Continuing my route round the walls, I came to the Cas- A gate built t7'U?n Pnetoriiim, which I shall afterwards examine. I shall only now observe, that, about the middle of the north side of which, there is a gate built up : it is marked B on the Plan of Rome, plate III. In the middle of the east side of the Castrum, I saw another Porta inter aggeres. * Hist. Nat. 1 . 23. c. I. t Ib. 1 . 14. c. 14. ANCIENT ROME. 54 ^ i^.PortaPia. gate which is built up: it is marked C on the same Plan. Some antiquaries reckon that this answered to the Viminal gate, before Aurelian extended the walls, and which, as it stood in the middle of the agger Tarquinii, was also called Porta inter aggeres. Porta Quer- Anciently the road to Tibur, or Tivoli, was by the Viminal quetulana. gate. But after Aurelian enlarged the precincts of the city, the road to Tivoli was by the Tiburtine gate. This seems to be the one built up at the south-west corner of the Castrum, marked D on the Plan, plate III. and which some writers call the Porta Querquetulana. But this gate having been built up in the middle age, people, went, and still continue to go to Tivoli by the gate of St. Laurence. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. V. PORTA DI SAN LORENZO. This is one of the arches of the Marcian, Tepulan, and Julian aqueduct, and was called by Aurelian, when he extended the walls. Porta Collatina. But when Collatium, celebrated for the adventure of Lticretia, was either destroyed, or reduced to a small village, it was known by the name of St. Laurence, whose church is about a mile without the gate. In my jaunt to Tivoli, I have mentioned this church, and the via Tibur- tina.^ Leandro Alberti, Lucio Fauno, and many of the antiquaries, Coiktium. copying one another, give the name of Collatina to the Porta Pinciana. But this is evidently a mistake ; for Collatium stood between Tibur and Pneneste. Where it precisely stood, I be- lieve, is uncertain. Ameti-f and Fabretti J mark Collatium in the plain, at a place called L’osteria dell’ Osa, or Castrum Oscv. But had they consulted Virgil, § they would probably have placed it on the mountains : Hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces/^ About eight miles on the via Collatina near to Salone,\\ is Salone, the source of the aqua virginis. Frontinus^ gives us the origi- * See Letter on Tivoli— Appendix, No. II. t Map of Latium. $ De aquis et aqusductibus, sect. 316. § JEn. 1 . 6. v. 774. I Salone was anciently called Solonus. This place and water had probably been sacred to the sun, for sol-on signifies the sun. f Art. 10. I. I. 5 ^ ANCIENT ROME. Porta di San Loren- zo. Aqua Virgi- nis. ' nal of the fountain, and the reason of its name. — Virgo ap- pellata est,quod quaerentibus aquam militibus, puellavirguncula venas quasdam monstravit, quas secuti qui foderant, ingentem aqu^ modum invenenint. ^$:dicula fonti apposita hanc vir- ginem pictura ostendit."' It was usual to build ^zdiculcs, or small temples, to the nymphs who presided over fountains. The one here mentioned was probably dedicated to the virgin, who pointed out the fountain to the soldiers, who considered her as a divinity, and placed in it her statue or portrait. This aqueduct, now called di Trevi, and whose water is ex- cellent, was brought to Rome by M. Agrippa. It is for it that the magnificent fountain, fontana di Trevi, at the foot of the Quirinal hill, which does so much honour to modern Rome, was built by the celebrated architect, Nicolas Salvi. The aqueduct, according to Frontinus, was, by its turnings, near fourteen miles long: by a passage underground, it was carried eleven miles nine hundred and sixty -five paces ; it then emerg- ed, and ran one thousand two hundred and forty paces above ground ; .afterwards five hundred and forty paces under ground. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS, 57 VI. PORTA MAGGIORE. I have already observed* that this gate is formed out of one of the arches of the castellum of the Claudian aqueduct. This castellum gives us a great idea of the magnificence of the Roman aqueducts.'f Although authors call this gate indiscriminately Porta Prce~ nestina. Porta Labicana, and Porta Esquilina ; yet it seems to be very difierent from these gates. Aurelian's Porta Prcenes- tina stood between those of St. Laurence and Maggiore, and is perhaps the gate shut up, marked E, on the Plan of Rome, plate III. The Labicana seems to have been on the other side of the MaggiorCi and is marked F, on the same Plan. And the Esquilina, which stood behind the Maggiore, became use- less after Aurelian extended the walls. Two roads branch off from this gate. The one to the left hand leads to the ancient via Prcenestina, which is now much broken ; and the right-hand road is the via Labicana. About half a mile from the Porta Maggiore, the Irish Domi- nicans have a vineyard called Torrione, from an ancient great sepulchral monument there to be seen, though much defaced : its form is round. To whom it belonged is not easy to decide, * Page 29. t See its elevation and inscription, in Sadder ’s Vesiigi di Roma, No. 23. I Via Prsnes- tina. Torrione. 58 ANCIENT ROME. 6. Porta Maggiore. Temple of Hope. for there is no inscription fixed on it, nor has tradition pre- served its name. I observed, indeed, an inscription placed on the east side of the modern house of this vineyard, which, as it has not been published, so far as I know, I shall here tran- scribe. D. M. M. AVRELIVS . SYNTOMVS . ET AVRELIA . MARCIANE . iEDIFICIVM CVM . CEPOTAFIO . ET . MEMORIAM A . SOLO . FECERVNT . SIBI . ET . FILIIS SVIS . AVRELIO . LEONTIO . ET . AVRELI AE . FRVCTOSAE . ET . LIB. LIBER. POSTERISQVE . EORUM. Who this M. Aurelius Syntomus was, I cannot discover. Nor is it certain that this inscription, which seems to be of the low empire, belonged to this monument ; a monument that must have been erected by a person remarkable either for power or riches. With pleasure I mention this place, since it recalls to my memory the hospitable manner in which I was there entertained by the good and worthy fathers, to whom it belongs. About three miles from the gate, on the via Prcbnesiinay I saw the remains of an ancient building called, by Ameti,* Tor Schiava ; and of which Ficoroni-f- has given a plan and perspective view. He would insinuate, but from no good au- thority, that this might have been the temple of Hope^ at * Map of Latiujn. t Vest, di Roma, 1 . i. c. 26. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 69 which the people sacrificed, before they went to Praneste* to consult the Sortes. To the left hand of the via Prcenestina, about twelve miles from the gate, is the lacus Gabinus, now called lago di Casti- glione, or Pantano ; perhaps formerly it was the crater of a volcano. A little further on, to the right hand of this road, I observed the ruins of the ancient city of Gahii, built by the Alban kings.-f Virgil, mentioning the inhabitants of this territory among the auxiliaries of Turnus — “ guique arva Gabinee Junonis^’ X — shows, that they were dispersed, and had not then built the city of Gabii. From the poet we find that they were under the protection of Juno. It was here that Romulus and Remus were educated. § It was from the Gabii that the Romans took their short dress, cinctus Gabinus, || which they used in war, or in travelling, so different from the long flowing toga, which- they wore in the city. But what remains can we expect to find of a town little inhabited in the time of Horace “ Scis,, Lebedos quid sit; Gabiis desertior, atque Fidenis vicus.""* * See my account of Prasneste, Appendix, No. IV. t Virg. yEn. 1. 6. v. 773. $ Mn. 7. v. 682. § Plutarch, Life of Romulus. j) Ferriarius de Re Vestiaria, f L. I. ep. II. 6. Porta Muggiore. Lacus Gabi- nus. Gabii. 6'o ancient ROME. 6. Porta Maggiore. Via Lablca- na. Mausoleum of Helen. Cento Celle. College of gladiators. Though Gabii was a deserted village in the time of Horace and Strabo, it must have been soon afterwards inhabited, and ornamented with remarkable villas. This appears from the many valuable statues, busts, inscriptions, &c. lately found here, in an excavation carried on by my celebrated and inge- nious friend Gavin Hamilton, Esq. of Murdieston, under the protection of Prince Borghese, proprietor of the ground. There were two Gabii. It is therefore necessary to distin- guish this Gabii from the other, which was in Sabina, about a mile south of the abbacy of Farfa. It is now called Torri, or Grotte di Torri.* About a mile and a half from the gate, on the via Labicana, are the remains of the mausoleum of Helen, the mother of Constantine. It is now called Torre Pignettara. The large porphyry sarcophagus, in which her body was deposited, was carried, by order of Pope Anastasius IV. to the cloister of St. John Lateral!. Piranesi has published this sepulchre, and the sarcophagus. •'I" Four miles from the gate, on the same road, near to the ruins called the Cento Celle, stood the college of the Sylvian- Aurelian gladiators. It was here that the two inscriptions, preserved at the villa Albani,[J; were found, in the year 1755, and not on the Aventine hill, as mentioned by Venuti, in his * Vide, “ Gabio antica citta di Sabina, &c. discorso di D. Pierluigi Galletti.’’ t “ Le Antichita Rom. Tom. 3. tav. i6, 17, 18 and 19. t See page 44- THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 6i dissertation on them.* The first inscription contains the names of thirty-two of the gladiators belonging to this col- lege, with their designations ; viz. Tbreces, Hoplomachi, Esse- dari, Retiarii, Murmillones, &c. By this inscription it appears that the gladiators were formed into societies or communities. These colleges, according to Varro, were composed of persons of the same art or profession. They resembled little republics, and made by-laws for their own regulation. Thus we find, in Gruter, decrees — “ Collegii Fabrorum et Centonariorum"' expressed in the style of a senatiis consultum. The second in- scription contains some flattering titles to the emperor Corn- modus, upon renewal of the college ; who, from his fondness for these exercises, called himself the Hercules Romams. To the left hand of the via Lahicana, and under Motite Fal- cone, about thirteen miles and a half from Rome, I saw the Lacus Regillus, now a small puddle, but celebrated for the victory obtained here by A. Posthumius over the sons of Tar- quin ; when Castor and Pollux are fabled to have appeared and fought in the Roman army.-f This gave rise to the yearly games instituted to them, and of which Dionysius of Halicar- nassus has given us an account. J * “ Venuti, Marmora Albano.” — See these inscriptions and the remains of the building, as published by Piranesi, Tom. 4. tav. 57. — See also, “ Francisci An- tonii Vitale, in binas veteres Inscriptiones L. Aurelii Commodi, Dissertatio.” Ro $, 1763. 4to. t “ Apud Regillum [lacum] bello Latinorum, cum A. Posthumius dictator cuin Octavio Mamilio Tusculano pr^lio dimicaret, in nostra acie Castor et Pol- lux ex equis pugnare visi sunt.” — Cicero de Nat. Deorum, 1 . 2. c. 2. — Vide Val. Max. 1 . I. c. 8 . sect. i. % Lib. 6 . c. 2. sect. 21, 22. 6. Porta Maggiore. Lacus Re- gillus. 62 ANCIENT ROME. 6. Porta Maggiore. Labicum- To fix the situation of ancient cities, although long since destroyed, is to enrich geography. Labicum, or Lavicum, or Lavicanum, situated on the via Labicana, gave name to that road, as well as to a gate of Rome, now built up.* Virgil names the Labicani, with their painted shields, among the auxiliaries of Tiirnus : “ Et picti secuta Labici-^'-f This city is often mentioned by the Roman historians. Here Julius Caesar had a villa, to which he used to retire, and where he wrote his testament. — “ Quod Idibus Septembribus proxi- mis in Lavicano suo fecerat.^';|] It seems, however, to have been destroyed during the civil wars, in the time of Augustus. But afterwards a new town was built near to it, out of its ruins, whose inhabitants were called Lavicani- Quint anensii. Quintinum was another village on the via Labicana, perhaps thus named from its distance from Rome, ad V. lapidem ; but having been likewise destroyed, its inhabitants had joined those of ancient Labicum, and formed a new settlement, de- nominated by their joint names. This new settlement is pro- bably now called Lugnano. Some antiquaries have placed La- bicum at Colonna, and others at Valmontone. But the diligent Ficoroni§ places it at Colie delli Quadri, on the via Labicana, about i5|- miles from the gate. This situation, though high, has a plain on its summit proper for a town. Strabo || says, that Labicum, stood on a height, a little more than 120 stadia * See page 57. t ^En. 7. v. 796. X Suetonius. Vita Jul. Cass. c. 83. § “ Le Memorie ritrovate nel territorio della prima e seconda citta di Labico.” ]j Strabo, 1 . 5. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. es from Rome. Indeed Ficoroni, who was born at Lugnano, and had property in that neighbourhood, pretends that, about the year 1650, the foundations of the walls and some grottos of Lahicum were traced at Colle delli Quadri ; but that most part of the materials had been formerly employed to build Lugnano and Valmontone, Proceeding along the walls, at the church called S. Croce in Geruselemme, I saw the remains of an amphitheatre built up in, and making part of the city walls. It stood, no doubt, without the walls, before they were extended by Aurelian. It is built of brick, and is of the Corinthian order.* A great part of it had been destroyed by the monks, for the materials to build their convent. Fauno, and some other of the antiquaries, call this the amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus, which he erected at the desire of Au- gustus.-f But this must be a mistake ; for Taurus^’s amphi- theatre, according to Dio Cassius,^ stood in the Campus Mar- tius, and was of marble. Nardini,§ with more probability, calls it the amphitheatrum castrense. Here the praetorian guards used to amuse themselves, and practise the gymnastic exer- cises; exercises which added strength to their bodies, activity to their limbs, and grace to their motions. And such was the avidity the Romans had for these exercises, that it was usual for the soldiers to form temporary amphitheatres, near their stations in the distant provinces. Many vestiges of this kind have been traced in Britain. They were not built of brick or * See a small view of it in Piranesi, Ant. Rom. Tom. i. tav. 9. fig. 2. + Sueton. Vit. Aug. c. 28. J Lib. 47. § Roma Ant. I. 4. c. 2. 6. Porta Maggiore. Amphithea* trum cas- trense. ANCIENT ROME. 64, 6. Porta Maggiore, Stone, but only hollow circular spots dug in the ground, round the top of which the spectators stood, or sat on the declivity, on seats covered with sod. “ In gradibus sedit populus de cespite factis."’* From their form they were named cavea, a term often given to amphitheatres in general. But this castrensian amphitheatre, as it belonged to the permanent praetorian camp, had been built in a solid manner, with seats, and all the necessary con- veniences. * Ovid, de Arte Amandi, 1. i. v. i2‘j. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. VII. PORTA D1 SAN GIOVANNI. This gate, so called from the neighbouring church of St. John of Lateran, was ornamented by Pope Gregory XIII.; perhaps from the spoils of the gate that stood a little to the right hand of it, now built up, and which is i-eckoned, by some of the antiquaries, to have been the Porta Asinaria, and by others Celimontana. At a little distance without the gate the road separates. The one to the right hand leads to Albano and Marino ; and the other to the left hand to Frascati. About two miles and an half from the gate, on the Frascati road, I saw the Monte del Grano. Covered with stones and earth, resembling a hillock, it was thus named, till digging, about the middle of the sixteenth century, it was discovered to be a sepulchral monument.* From Virgil we learn, that it had been an ancient custom, in Latium, to erect sepulchres in form of mounts : thus, in mentioning that of King Dercennus, he says — Monte del Grano. A sepulchre called that of Alexander Severus, but more pro- bably thatof his hither, Genesius Mardanus. “ Fuit ingens monte sub alto Regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere bustum Antiqui Laurentis, opacaque dice tectum. "’'•f * Vide “ Memoire di Flaminio Vacca,” sect. 36. t Ain. II. V. 849. The i/ex, or ever-green oak, was planted at sepulchral monuments, having been considered by the ancients as a symbol of melancholy : K 66 ANCIENT ROME. 7- Porta di San Gio- vanni. A sarcopha- gus. The poet's description is very applicable to the monument in question. The raising mounds, or tumuli, of loose stones over the graves of the dead, seems to have been an universal prac- tice among the ancients. These mounds are frequent in Bri- tain, particularly in Scotland, where they are, named cairns. Passengers thought that they did honour to the dead by add- ing stones to the cairn. Pietro Santi Bartoli* and Piranesi -f have given plans and sections of this sepulchre, as well as en- gravings of the noble sarcophagus found here, and now pre- served in the Capitol. From the time of its discovery, this monument has been reckoned to be that of Alexander Severus, and of his mother Julia Mammea. This opinion is founded on the resemblance that the two statues, which lie on the sarco- phagus, have to the medals of that emperor and his mother. Indeed the head and dress of the lady resemble her portrait on her medals ; but the man, who seems to be above fifty years of age, and even much older than she is, surely is too old to be her son, who was not twenty-seven when he was murdered in Germany. It is therefore more probably the sta- tue of Genesius Marcianus, the husband of Mammea, and the father of Alexander Severus : and, laying aside the difference of age, we observe a family likeness between the portrait of Alexander Severus, on his medals, and that of his father on it was therefore consecrated to Pluto, not only on account of the dull colour of its leaves, but because it produced no flowers. Hence Pliny, 1 . i6. c, 25. says — “ Non enim omnes [arbores] florent : et sunt iristcs qusedam, quaeque non sentiant gaudia annorum. Nam neque ilex, &c. ullo flore exhilarantur.” * “ Gli Antichi Sepulcri,” tav. 90, et seq. t “ Le Ant. Rom.” Tom. 2. tav. 31. et seq. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. this sarcophagus. The mausoleum, therefore, might more properly have been called that of Genesius Marcianus, and of Julia Mammea, than that of the son and mother. Besides, we are uncertain if the ashes of Alexander Severus were deposited here. Ancient monuments, that are not inscribed, may be, and often are, variously explained ; this has been particularly the fate of the sarcophagus I am now examining. Indeed it is generally reckoned a barbarism for sculptors or painters to inscribe the names of the personages they introduce in their works. But surely these artists might do so, without disfi- guring their compositions, or dishonouring their reputations ; and thus, without enigma or conjecture, transmit their real meaning to posterity. Neither need artists be ashamed to in- scribe their works, since the great painter Polygnotus did so, as recorded by Pausanias. — “ Polygnotus, the son of Thasus of Aglaophon, painted this picture, which represents the tak- ing of Troy."'^ Many antiquaries think, that the bas-relieves on the front and ends of this sarcophagus represent the peace concluded between Romulus and T. Tatius, after the rape of the Sabine women ; and that the back part, which is not so highly finished, exhibits Romulus's triumph over the Coenini. Pietro Santi Bartoli indeed supposes that the subject engraved on this monument relates to the history of Alexander Severus ; but of which I can perceive no traces. However, Venuti-f and Winckelmann ^ are of opinion that it represents the coun- cil of the Greeks, and the restoration of Chryseis to her father Chryses, the priest of Apollo ; and the back part, Priamus beg- * Pausanias, 1 . lo. c. 17. t “ Spiegazione de Bassirilievi,” &c. X “ Monumenti Antichi inediti,” c. 6. p. 166. K2 67 7. Porta di San Gio~ vanni. ANCIENT ROME. ging the body of Hector from Achilles. If their explanation is approved of, this urn expresses the beginning and the end of the Iliad. In this sarcophagus was found the elegant vase, long preserved in the Barberini palace at Rome, and known by the name of the Barberini vase. It came into the hands of Mr. Byres, who disposed of it to Sir William Hamilton, K. B. who sold it to the late Duchess of Portland, and it is now in the posses- sion of the Duke of Portland, from whom it is called the Port- land vase. It is about ten inches high, and six in diameter in the broadest part. It is one of the most beautiful specimens of Grecian taste, in sculpture, hitherto discovered ; and must have been executed when the fine arts were in their highest perfection in that country. It is not of stone, as was long sup- posed, but of an artificial composition, or what is called a paste vitrified. It is two bodies of paste, or glass, of different co- lours, so closely united together as to make two distinct strata, like a cameo (onyx). The stratum, a beautiful white, serves for the figures, which are in relief ; and the under one, a dark blue, forms the ground. It is difficult to conceive how these strata of glass could be so firmly joined, as not to break or fly off when the turning-wheel, or graver was applied to them. Pietro Santi Bartoli,"*^ by whom it was first published, thought that the subject engraved on this vase relates to the birth of Alexander the Great : but I can find no connection between this bas-relief, and the fabulous story of that hero's being the son of Jupiter Hammon. M. d'Hankerville'j- thinks that it represents the well-known fable of Orpheus's descent * See “ Gli Antichi Sepulcri,” plates 94, 95, and 96. t “ Recherches sur les Arts de la Grece,”&c. vol. 2. p. 133. et seq. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. into Elysium, to recover from thence his beloved Eurydice, so elegantly told by Virgil.* M. von Veltheim-f supposes, that the story of Admetus recovering his wife Alcestes from Ely- sium, is engraved on it. And the learned M, Ennio Quirino Visconti;!; reckons that it records the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. Subjects of the same kind are to be seen, on many sarcophagi: they probably all related to the fables of Ely- sium, and the state of the dead. But, of the many authors who have mentioned this celebrated vase, I think the philosophic poet, Dr. Darwin, § has given the most probable account of it. He is of opinion that the figures on this funereal urn do not represent the history of any particular family or event ; but that they express part of the ceremonies of the Eleusinian mysteries : he therefore divides this vase into two compart- ments, and reckons that the first is emblematical of mortal life ; expressed by a dying lady,, or Libitina, holding an inverted torch ; she sits on ruins, under a tree of deciduous leaf, at- tended by two persons, who seem to express the terror with which mankind look upon death : and that the second com- partment represents immortal life; expressed by a hero entering the gate of Elysium, conducted by divine love, and received by immortality, who is to present him to Pluto, the judge of what company he is fit to keep in Elysium. “ Or bid mortality rejoice or mourn. O’er the fine forms of Portland's mystic urn." * Georg. 1 . 4. t Gentleman’s Magazine, April, 1792. X “ II Museo Pio Clementino,” Tom. 6. p.' 71. § “ Botanic Garden,” canto 2. v. 321, and additional notes, note 22, p-SJ. 6g 7. Porta di San Gio- vanni. 70 ANCIENT ROME. 7. Porta di San Gio- vanni. Frascati. On the bottom of the vase, is the portrait of a woman, hold- ing her finger on her mouth, the emblem of secrecy, and who probably represents a priestess of these mysteries. Perhaps this vase, and the following passage of Horace,* ‘reciprocally explain each other. — “ Jam te premet nox fabulceque manes, Et domus exilis Plutonia."" Frascati, commonly reckoned the same as Tusculum, is twelve miles from the gate of St. John. It is the see of one of the six cardinal bishops ; and, of all the places in the neigh- bourhood of Rome, it is the most ornamented with magnifi- cent villas, belonging to the great modern Roman families. These beautiful villas, with their gardens and water-works, cannot but attract the curioshy of travellers : but, being fo- reign to the plan of this work, I shall not attempt to de- scribe them. The ancient city of Tusculum having been barbarously de- stroyed, by Pope Celestin the 1 1 Id, with the consent of the Emperor Henry the Vlth, in the year the inhabitants, who survived that misfortune, encamped below Tusculum, on * Lib. I. od. 4. The late Mr. Pichler, the celebrated gem-engraver, struck with the beauty of this vase, moulded it at Rome, before it came into the posses- sion of Sir William Hamilton ; and from this perfect mould, or fac simile, the ingenious M. Tassie, after having taken sixty fine casts, in plaster of Paris, prepared with gum, broke the mould. Some of these beautiful casts, I believe, are still to be had at his house, No. 20, Leicester-Fields, London. t Muratori Annali d’ltalia, Tom. 7. part. i. -page 95. ed. 8vd. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. the skirts of the plain, among the ruins of Lucullus' villa, where they founded the modern city of Frascati ; which was so named from the Italian y^ovdi fr as che, the branches of trees, with which they formed their first huts. The people of Latium were always fond to give fabulous accounts of the founders of their ancient cities. Thus Tuscu- lum is said to have been founded by Telegonus, the supposed son of Ulysses and Circe, who ignorantly killed his father. Horace,* in an invitation he gave to Maecenas to sup with him, alludes to this — “ Ne semper udum Tibur et .(Tsulae Declive contempleris arvum, et Telegoni juga parricidae.” However this was, Tusculum was one of the powerful cities of Latium, which long resisted the Roman arms ; but which af- terwards became an useful ally to Rome, and produced many great men, who there figured both in peace and war ; such as the Fabii, the Catos, &c. It continued long a municipium, and was governed by its own laws and magistrates. Its situation was strong, being placed, like many of the old cities of La- tium, on the summit of the hill. Its figure and fortifications may be seen on a medal of the Sulpician family, inscribed — TVscvL — on the reverse of which are the heads of Castor and Pollux. -f Many foundations and ruins of this city may yet be traced, from the summit of the hill down to the villa called Rufi- * Lib, 3. od. 29. V. 6. + This medal, from Ursini, is published by Volpius, in his Vetus Latium, Tom. 8. tab, 2. fig. 3. 71 7. Porta di San Gio- vanni. Tusculum. 7s ANCIENT ROME. 7. Porta di San Gio- vanni. L.Luciillus’ villa. Srotto Fer- rata, or the Tusculum of Cicero. nella, which belonged to the Jesuits of the Roman college, who discovered there some mosaic pavements and other antiquities. The fine air of Tusculum, its beautiful situation, its near- ness to Rome, and plenty of water, engaged many of the Ro- mans to build villas in that territory. But the most magnifi- cent, as well as the most extensive, of these villas was that of Lucullus ; who, after he retired from public business, and loaded with the riches he acquired in the Mithridatic war, spent much of his time there, in a learned and luxurious man- ner, as related by his historian Plutarch. Many of the ruins of this vast villa may be traced in and about Frascati, parti- cularly in the modern villa Ludovisi. The extensive and sin- gular ruin there to be seen is generally supposed to have been a part of Lucullus" library and. gallery, which was amply fur- nished with the best books, as well as ornamented with the finest Grecian sculpture and painting ; to the use of which he liberally invited the learned and the curious. Grotto Ferrata, little more than a mile south of Frascati, is an abbey of Basilian monks : but it is remarkable for having been the site where Cicero's Tusculum villa stood Although there are no remains of it, we cannot, without a certain enthusiasm, approach the spot v/here this celebrated statesman, orator, and philosopher composed many of his immortal works. This villa, which seems formerly to have belonged to Sylla, had no doubt been considerable before it was purchased by Cicero, who made many additions to it, particularly a library and gallery, which he called his academy, or gymnasium. It was THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 73 natural, for a person of Cicero's learning and taste, to collect a curious and extensive library, and to ornament it with sta- tues, and other works of the Grecian artists, — “ Sic literis sus- tentor et recreor ; maloque in ilia tua sedecula, quam habes sub imagine Aristotelis, sedere, quam in istorum sella curuli."^ — For this purpose we find him anxiously addressing himself, in many of his epistles, to his friend Atticus, who chiefly re- sided at Athens, the seat of the fine arts, to purchase for him books proper for his library, and statues to ornament his aca- demy.-f In this elegant academic retreat, I still, in imagina- tion, see the orator discoursing with the illustrious personages whom he has made the interlocutors in his Tusculan Questmis, and in his other inimitable philosophic dialogues. Though tradition has placed Cicero's Tusculum villa at Grotto Ferrata, yet father Zuzzeri, perhaps from the vanity to make the Je- suits possess this great man’s villa, contends that it was at the villa Rufinella, which I have just mentioned. j; But Don Car- donus,§ a Basilian monk, has, I think, pretty clearly ascer- tained that it was at Grotto Ferrata. Between the Porta di San Giovanni and Porta Latina, there is a gate built up, which seems to have corresponded to the ancient Porta Firentina, which led to Firentum. It is at this gate that the aqua Crabra, now called Marana, enters Rome. * Ad Atticum, 1 , 4. ep. 9. t “ Signa Megarica, et Hernias, de quibus ad me scripsisti, vehementer ex- pecto. Quidquid ejusdem generis habebis, dignum academia tibi quod videbitur, ne dubitaris mittere, et arc$ nostra confidito. Genus hoc est voluptatis meas ; qu£e yviJ-vas-iuh maxima sunt, ea quasro.” Ad Atticum, 1 . i. ep. 9. ^ + 71* § De Tusculano Ciceronis, nunc Crypta-Ferrata. L 7. Poria di Satt Gio- vanni- Porta Firen-^ tina. 74 ANCIENT ROME, Temple of Female for- tune. ' VIII. PORTA LATINA. This gate seems to have been built, in the low age, with materials taken from other buildings. Some authors, indeed, consider this and the Porta Firentina as the same. As the roads to Marino and Albano, now in repair, are by the gates of St. John and St. Sebastian, the Porta Latina serves only for the conveniency of the neighbouring viner yards. About three miles and an half from this gate, and near to where the via Latina unites with the modern Albano road, we find the remains of a small square building, published by Fi- coroni.* He reckons that this is the temple fortunce miilie- bris, erected by the senate, in honour of the ladies, on the spot where Veturia and Volumnia, attended by the Roman matrons, overcame by their pathetic eloquence the obstinacy of Coriolanus, and thereby saved their country. Dionysius of Halicarnassus,-f and Valerius Maximus, ;|; agree in the si- tuation of this temple. The latter, mentioning miraculous events in the Roman history, says — “ Fortunse etiam mulie- bris simulacrum, quod est via Latina ad quartum milliarium, eo tempore cum cede sua consecratum, quo Coriolanum ab ex- cidio urbis maternae preces repulerunt, non semel, sed bis lo- * Vest, di Roma, 1 . i. c. 24. t Lib. 8. c. 7. X Lib. I. c. 8. sect. 4 THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. C5;tum constitit, prius his verbis; rite me matrons vidistis: riteque dedicastis/' — If, indeed, the statue, supposed to be Coriolanus caressed by his wife Volumnia, preserved in the villa Borghese, was found here, as mentioned by father Scarfi,'*' it is not unreasonable to conclude, that this was the temple female fortune. It is built of brick, and ornamented with a pediment and Corinthian pilasters. It must, however, have been rebuilt during the empire, as appears from the taste of architecture. Ficoroni-f conjectures, that it may have been restored by Faustina the younger, because we see, on the reverse of her silver medals, a figure of Fortune, with this legend : FORTVNAE . MVLIEBRI. It was from the baths of Titus on the Esquiline-hill, that Annibal Caracci copied the picture, now much defaced, which is commonly reckoned to represent the story of Co- riolanus and his mother, so elegantly related by Livy.J It is published in the Admiranda Romanarum Antiquitatum,'^ No. 83. — But this picture conveys no just idea of this cele- brated history ; for the lady seems to be too young to be the mother of this imagined Coriolanus : besides the scene, here represented, passes within a building; whereas the meet- ing of the Roman hero and his mother was in the open fields. * “ Lettera sopra vari antichi monumenti,” p. 75. t See this medal, and Coriolanus and his wife, Vest, di Roma, 1 . i. c. 5. $ “ Ubi ad castra venutum est,” &c. 1 . 2. c. 40. L 2 75 8. Porta La- tina. 76 ANCIENT ROME. 2. Porla La- tina. Aqua Santa. Almost opposite to this temple, on the right hand of the via Latina^ is the Aqua Santa, formerly called Salutare. This mineral water is still used by the Romans, as well for drinking as bathing. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 11 IX. PORTA DI S. SEBASTIANO. It is so named from the church of S. Sebastian, which I shall soon visit. As this gate stands on the via Appia, it is often, by the antiquaries, called Capena. But the ancient Capena, before Aurelian extended the walls, stood below the villa Mat- tel, at the narrow part of the vale, between the Celian and Aventine hills. ^ Cicero, -f triumphantly returning from exile, writes to At- ticus, his friend and confident — “ Cum venissem ad portam Capenam, gradus templorum ab infinita plebe complecti erant.'' Of these temples I find no vestiges. Indeed since the exten- sion of the city walls, we must look for their situation within the present gate. The temple of Mars probably stood near to the church of S. S. Nereo and Archelleo.;]; Here the senate gave audience to their enemies' ambassadors, whom, perhaps from jealousy, or want of hospitality, they would not permit to enter the city. M. Marcellus,§ after the Sicilian conquest, intended to have built a temple to Honour and Virtue : but the Roman super- * Holdsworth’s Dissertations, p. 483. t Ad Att. 1 . 4. ep. i. 4: HoldsWorth, ib. p. 491. § Livius, 1 . 27. c. 25. — Val. Max. 1 . I. c. I. sect. 8. Temple of Mars. Temple of Honour and Virtue. ANCIENT- ROME.) 78 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- tto. Procession oftheRoman knights. stition would not allow him to lump them together. He therefore erected a temple to each, and placed them in such a manner, that no one could enter t ie temple of Honour but by that of Virtue. Wise and noble idea, worthy of that great man ! These ternples perhaps stood rppos e to that of Mars, and where now stands the convent of S. S. Domenico and Sisto, belonging to the Irish Dominicans.* They had been repaired by Vespasian, and painted by Cornelius Pinus and Accius Priscus.-f- I cannot but particularly regret the destruction of these twin temples, not only on account of the ingenuity of the idea, but because, according to Vitruvius,;}; they must have been classed among the finest buildings of the Romans. From the temple of Honour, the Roman knights annually, on the Ides of July, i. e. the 13th of the month, marched in procession to the Capitol, to be reviewed by the censor, seated in his curule-chair. They were mounted on the horses given them by the republic, dressed in their robes of ceremony, with olive crowns on their heads, and such other ornaments in their hands as they had received from their generals, as marks of their military achievements. If, after examina- tion, any knight was found to live a dissipated life, and had so diminished his fortune that he could not support the dignity * Holdsworth’s Dissertations, p. 491. t Plln. Hist. Nat. I. 35. c. 10. “ Sed etiam a Cajo Mutio, qui magna sclentia confisus asdes Honoris et Virtutis Marcellianas Celias, columnarumque et epistyliorum symmetrias legitimis artis institutis perfecit : id vero si marmoreurn fuiss'et, xit haberet, quemadmodum ab arte subtilitatem, sic a magnificentia, et impensls auctoritatem, in primis et summis operibus nominaretur.” — Vitruvius, 1 . 7. in prsfat. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 79 of his rank, or had not had sufficient care of his horse, the censor deprived him of it, and degraded him. But if this great magistrate was satisfied with the conduct of the knight, he desired him to march on.* Since I left Rome a sepulchre of the Cornelian family has been discovered in the year 1780. It stands on the left side of the via Appia, without the ancient Porta Capena, but within the present gate of S. Sebastian, in a vineyard belonging to Sig. Sassi. The vault of this sepulchre is dug in the tujo^ like the sand pits or catacombs ; in many places plastered over with a hard cement ; and the inscriptions, recording the names and honours of this illustrious family, are placed on the sides. The facing of the basement of the monument is of that volcanic stone, which the Romans call peperino, with a rustic cornice. The building above the vault seems to have been of a later period, and now serves for the foundation of the small house, and offices of the vineyard. The discovery of this sepulchre has thrown some new light on the genealogy and history of the Scipios, as well as on ancient geography . Aided with these inscriptions, and the Roman historians, the learned M. Dutens has given a genealogical tree of the family of the Scipios. -f* The Pope, Pius VI. I am informed, has caused the sarcophagi and inscriptions to be removed from the vault, where they, had remained untouched for so many centuries, to the museum of the Vatican. They are of peperino, before the luxury of marble had been introduced at Rome. The most remarkable * Vide, Cujas. Observat. 1 . 13. c. 29. and 1 . 21. c. 9. t “ CEuvres Melees de M. L. Dutens.” 9. Porta di S Sebastia- no. Cornelian sepulchre. 8o ANCIENT ROME. 9. Poria di S. Sebastia- no. of these monuments is that of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barba- tus, great-grandfather of Asiaticus and Africanus, who had been consul with Cneius Fulvius, in the year of Rome 455, i. e. thirty-five years before the first Punic war. It is an elegant piece of Doric architecture, which shows that Grecian taste was then known at Rome : and the inscription on it is the most ancient of any hitherto discovered. It is indeed more ancient than that of Duilius, preserved at the Capitol, who defeated the Carthaginians at sea, in the year 494. It shows the progress that the Latin language made from that pe- riod, which was about three hundred years, previous to its com- ing to its perfection in the time of Cicero. The difference of the orthography, as well as the termination of some words is curious. For example, we read — Gnaivod for Gnceo or Cn<20^ quoins for cujus, vlrtutei for virtuti, parisuma for parissima, aidilis for adilis, quei for qui ; the 771 in the accusative of Tau- rasiam, &c. is omitted. However, these inscriptions, ancient as they are, possess much force of expression and even ele- gancy. But as they are not, I believe, yet much known, per- haps it will not be disagreeable to the readers of these remarks to examine this ancient specimen of Roman writing ; I shall therefore here present them, copied by my learned, accurate, and ingenious friend Colin Morison, Esq. at Rome, who was so obliging as to communicate them to me. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 8l 9. Porta di S. Sebasiia- no. Inscriptions found in the Cornelian Sepulchre. I. This inscription is upon a sarcophagus of peperino, decorated with Doric ornaments. CORNELIVS LVCiVS SCIPIO BARBATVS GNAIVOD PATRE PROGNATVS FORTIS VIR SAPIENS gVE gVOIVS FORMA VIRTVTEI PARISVMA FVIT CONSOL CENSOR AIDILIS gVEI FVIT APUD VOS TAVRA SIA CISAVNA SAMNIO CEPIT SVBIGIT OMNE LOVCANA OPSIDES ^VE ABDOVCIT. i. e. Cornelius Lucius Scipio Barbatus Gnaeo patre prognatus, fortis vir sapiensque, cujus forma virtute parissima fuit ; Con- sul, Censor, ^^Idilis qui fuit apud vos : Taurasiam Cisaunam Samnio coepit: subegit omnem Lucaniam obsidesque abducit. U. In red letters, and not engraved on the stone. L. CORNELIO. L. F. SCIPIO AIDILES . COSOL . CESOR. i. e. Lucius Cornelius Lucii Filius Scipio ^dilis Consul Censor. M ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. About the beginning of the last century, another inscription was found in the same place, but engraved on the stone. It is at present in the library of the Barberini family. It was explained by Sirmond, and serves to correct some errors in Pighius and Panvinius. Scipio Maffei, in his Critica Lapida- ria, had declared it to be spurious. That of the Barberini is thus — HONC . OINO . PLOIRVME . CONSENTIONT . R. OVONORO . OPTVMO . FVISE . VIRO . LVCIOM . SCIPIONE . FILIOS . BARBATI . CONSOL . CENSOR . AIDILIS . HIC . FVIT . A . HIC . CEPET . CORSICA . ALERIA'^VE . VRBE . DEDET . TEMPESTATEBVS . AEDE . MERETO. i. e. Hunc unum plurimi consentiunt Romae bonorum opti- mum fuisse virum Lucium Scipionem filium Barbati, Consul, Censor, ^dilis hie fuit, atque hie cepit Corsicam, Aleriamque urbem ; dedit tempestatibus aedem, merito. III. AVLLA . CORNELIA . GN. F. HISP. i. e. Aulla Cornelia Cnaei filia Hispali. IV. In red characters engraved. L. CORNELIVS . CN. F. CN. N. SCIPIO . MAGNA . SAPIENTIA THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. MVLTASQVE . VIRTVTES . AETATE . ^VOM . PARVA POSIDET . HOC . SAXSVM . gVOI . El . VITA . DEFECIT NON HONOS . HONORE . IS . HIC . SITVS . gVEI . NVNQVAM VICTVS . EST . VIRTVTEI . ANNOS . GNATVS . XX . IS L ... IS . MANDATVS . NE . QVAIRATIS . HONORE gVEI . MINVS . SIT . MANDATVS. i. e. Lucius Cornelius Gnei filius Cnei Nepos Scipio mag- nam sapientiam multasque virtutes aetate cum parva possidet hoc saxum, quo (/. e. in quo) ei vita defecit non honos, honore (/. e. cum honore) is hie situs, qui numquam victus est vir- tute, annos natus viginti, is lausis (pro lausibus, i. e. exequies) mandatus, ne qu^eratis honorem qui minus sit mandatus. V. L. CORNELI. L. F. P. N. SCIPIO . gVAIST. TR. MIL. ANNOS GNATVS . XXXIII MORTVOS - PATER REGEM . ANTIOCO SVBEGIT. i. e. Lucius Cornelius Lucii filius, Publil Nepos Scipio, Quaestor Tribunus Militaris, annos natus 33, mortuus pater regem Antioch um subegit. 83 9. Forfa di S. Sebastia- no. ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. VI. Engraved in red letters. SCIPIO . ASIAGENVS COMATUS . ANNORV GNATVS . XVI. i. e. Cornelius Lucii filius, Lucii Nepos Scipio, Asiagenus comatus, annorum natus sexdecim. VII. gVEI . APICE . INSIGNE . DIALIS . FLAMINIS . GESISTi MORS . PERFECIT , TVA . VT . ESSENT , OMNIA BREVIA . HONOS . FAMA . VIRTVSQVE GLORIA . ATOVE , INGENIVM . gVIBVS . SEI IN . LONGA . LICVISET . TIBE . VTIER . VITA FACILE . FACTEIS . SVPERASES . GLORIAM MAIORVM . 2VA . RE . LVBENS . TE . IN . GREMIV SCIPIO . RECIPIT . TERRA . PVBLI PROGNATVM . PVBLIO . CORNELL i. e. Qui apicem insignem Dialis Flaminis gessisti, mors perfecit tua, ut essent omnia brevia ; honos, fama, yirtusque, gloria, atque ingen ium : quibus si in longa licuisset tibi utier vita, facile factis superasses gloriam majorum. Quare lubens te in gremium Scipio, recipit terra, Publi, Prognatum Public, Corneli. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. VIII. CN. CORNELIVS . CN. F. SCIPIO . HISPANVS PR. AID. CUR. g. TR. MIL. II. X. VIR. ST. IVDIX X. VIR. SACR. FAC. VIRTVTES . GENERIS . MIEIS . MORIBVS . ACCVMVLAVI PROGENIEM . GENVI . FACTA . PATRIS . PETIEI MAIORVM . OPTENVI . LAVDEM . VT . SIBEI . ME . ESSE . CREATVM LAETENTVR . STIRPEM . NOBILITAVIT . HONOR. IX. .... 10 . TACITO . . . ANNIS . DVOBVS . . NSIBVS . X , DIEBVS II . HORIS . X . FECIT LVCRETIA . TACITA MATER . FILIO . B. M. ET . SIBI . ET . SVIS . POS. TERISCJVE . EORVM. X. .... IS . . . IPIONEM. . . OAD . VEIXEI. Immediately within the present gate, are the remains of an arch, which is commonly reckoned the triumphal arch, de- creed by the senate to Drusus, on the Appian road.^ Piranesi, 9. Toria di S. Sebastia- no. Arch at the gate of St. Sebastian. Suetonius, v. Claud, c. i. S6 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Via Appia. however, makes it one of the arches of the aqua Antoniniana^ It might, indeed, have been an arch either of the aqua Mar^ tia, or aqua Appia. But, at any rate, it has more the appear- ance of an arch of an aqueduct, than of a triumphal one. The Romans, early sensible of the advantages arising from an easy and speedy communication with the different parts of their dominions, bestowed much attention on their highways, commonly called their consular or military roads. Particular officers were appointed for making and keeping them in repair. These roads were generally carried on in straight lines ; for which purpose mountains were sometimes levelled, vallies filled up, swamps drained, banks raised, and ditches dug against in- undations, and bridges built over rivers and hollows. Columns were erected at each mile, to point out the distance from Rome. The via Appia takes its name from Appius Claudius Ceecus, who caused it to be made during his censorship, which was from the year 44,1, to the 445 of Rome. He carried it only to Capua, It was after the Romans had conquered the Sam- nites, and became masters of the rest of the country, that they continued on this road from Capua, by Beneventum, to Brun- dusium, the port from whence they embarked for Greece. And whether we consider the greatness of the via Appia, or the many noble buildings, public and private, that ornamented it, no doubt it was the most remarkable of antiquity. “ Re- * Le Antichita Rora. Tom i. tav. 19. fig. i. t That the via Appia was executed by Appius Claudius Cascus, appears from many of the Roman writers, as well as from an inscription, published by Gruter, p. 389. No. 4. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 87 -gina viariim.'’'* What yet remains is a proof of it.^’-f Ho- race, in his entertaining journey to Brundusiura, mentions, with his usual wit, many of the places on this road ; and makes this general remark, Minus est gravis Appia tardis."" I know that this expression of the poet is always understood to mark the roughness of the road ; so that those who travelled slowly were the least jolted. But may I not be permitted to give a more favourable interpretation to it? viz. that the slower the traveller went, he would have the more time to contem- plate the beauties of the many magnificent monuments, with which this road was decorated. How many sepulchral monuments, sacred to the memory of illustrious personages, were erected on this road ! Cicero, to fortify the mind against the terrors of death, points out to us several of them. — “ An tu egressus porta Capena, cum Co- latini, Scipionum, Serviliorum, Metellorum sepulchra vides, miseros putas illos ?"'§ The very ruins of these monuments show their former magnificence. We have indeed lost the history of many of them ; some, however, still retain their former names, which I shall mention in the sequel. * P. Papinius Statius, Sylvarum, 1 . 2. villa Surentina. t Whoever desires to trace the via Appia from Rome to Brundusium, may see — “ Histoire des grands Chemins de I’Empire Romain, par Nicolas Bergier,” 2 Tom. 4to. — And “ La via Appia da Roma a Brindisi, per Francesco Maria Pratilli, Napoli, per Simone.” 1745. fol. $ Serm. 1 . i. sat. 5. § Tusc. i. c. 7. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Sepulchre*. 88 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. First mile- stone on the via Appia. The column, preserved at the Capitol, which indicated the first mile from Rome on the via Appia, was found at the vine- yard of Marquis Nari, about 512 palms from the present gate of St. Sebastian, and consequently a mile from the place where the porta Capena stood. From hence the exact situation of that ancient gate may be easily fixed. This column had been, erected by Vespasian, and restored by Nerva. It is published by Gruter.* To trace the ancient geography of Italy it is often necessary to know, whether the Romans reckoned their miles from the golden column in the Forum, or from the dif- ferent gates. This question has been much disputed by the antiquaries. Indeed, if Vespasian's column stood, as probably it did, at Nari's vineyard, it should of itself decide the contro- versy. But, I think, it appears evident, from the learned Ravillas' remarks on this subjeet,-f that the miles were reckon- ed from the gates, and not from the Forum. Had it been otherwise, the first mile-stone would often have been within the city gates : with what propriety therefore could they have used the expression, adopted by all the Roman writers — “ I. ab urbe lapidem — The milliarium aureum, in the Forum, had been considered only as a centre, or the umbilicus urbis, to which the streets from the different gates led. Or perhaps it served as a register for the distances of all the remarkable towns in Italy from Rome. * Page 154. No. 6. t “ Dissertazione del P. Abate Revillas, sopra la colonna dagli antiehi chia- mata milliarium aureum, nell’ gli saggi dell’ Accademia di Cortona.” Tom. i. parte 2. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. About one-third of a mile from the gate, I saw a small ri- vulet, now called Aquatacio, or il rio di Appio. It runs through the valley of Egeria, which I shall soon mention, and turning towards the left, it crosses the Appian and Ostian roads, and then loses itself in the Tiber. ‘‘ Est locus, in Tiberim qua lubricus influit Almo, Et nomen magno perdit ab amne minor.” This is the Almo, or aqua Mercurii, with which the Roman shopkeepers blessed their goods. Est aqua Mercurii portse vicina Capense, Sijuvat expertis credere; numen habet. Hue venit incinctus tunicas mercator ; et urna Purus suffita, quam ferat, haurit aquam.”-f This rivulet seems to have been particularly sacred to Cybele. For here the Galli, her priests, not only washed the statue of their goddess yearly, J but likewise purified themselves, and their instruments of sacrifice. “ Et lotam parvo revocant Almone Cybellem.” § And the modern Romans, imitating the superstition of their ancestors, used to wash in this rivulet the feet of the statue of * Ovid. Fast. 1 . 4. V. 337. t Ibid. 1 . 5. V. 673. et seq. ^ This was done on the 27th of March, [vide Am. Marcellinus, 1 . 23.] and not on the ist of April, as mentioned by Rosinus, [Ant. Rom. I. 4. c. 7.] The ceremony, according to St. Augustin, [de Civitate Dei, 1 . 2. c. 4.] was performed in a manner highly offensive to modesty. § Lucan. 1 . i. N 89 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no, Almo, or Aqua Mer- curii. 90 9- Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Sepulchre of Scipio Afri- canus. ANCIENT ROME. Christ. “ Hora ogni anno, il mese di Agosto, iavano in questo ruscello di Appio i piede a la imagine del Salvatore, quando il pqrtano in processione per la citta."'^ But this custom is now abolished. About half a mile from the gate, opposite to the little church, called Domine quo vadis, I observed the remains of the sepulchre commonly reckoned that of Scipio Africanus. It is published by Piranesi.'l' And although stripped of its ornaments, and much ruined, it still discovers its ancient greatness. Three statues, we are told, were placed here ; two of which were those of Publius and Lucius Scipio, and the third that of the poet Q. Ennius. The great Scipio thought it no dishonour to his il- lustrious family thus to associate with them the best poet of his age. J This mark of friendship to an eminent wit, who had been the delight of his society, has not escaped the pen of Ovid.§ “ Ennius emeruit, Calabris in montibus ortus, Contiguus poni, Scipio magne, tibi.'' And Cicero records the same, in his oration for the poet Archia, Cams fuit Africano superiori noster Ennius : itaque etiam in sepulchre Scipionum putatur in esse constitutus e mar- more."' II Indeed if this mausoleum was erected to Scipio Afri- * Lucio Fauno, delle Ant. di Roma, 1. 3. c. 13. — Andrea Fulvio, Ant. di Roma, 1. I. c. 22. t Ant. Rom. Tom. 2. tav. 27 and 28. X Plin. 1. 7. c. 30. § De Arte Amandi, 1. 3. v. 409. j] Cic, pro Archia poeta. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 91 canus, it must have been a v.zvoTOL(pm^ or honorary monu- ment in memory of this great man ; for he was buried at his villa of Liternum, in the Campagna Felix, where he died in voluntary exile — “ Vitam Literni egit sine desiderio urbis. Morientem rure eo ipso loco sepeliri se jussisse ferunt; monu- mentumque ibi cedificare, ne funus sibi in ingrata patria fie- ret.^^* I cannot but observe that in the sepulchre of the Cor- nelian family, lately discovered, -f no inscriptions have been found there placed, either to Publius Scipio Africanus, or to Lucius Scipio Asiaticus. Just beyond this monument there is a road goes off' from the right hand of the via Appia ; it is reckoned the via Ardeatina, which led to Ardea . — “ Et nunc magnum manet Ardea nomen J A few modern huts, where the capital of the Rutuli was, being only to be seen. Indeed we can still trace a considerable ex- tent of agger or fortification. Pliny mentions,§ with rapture, paintings that existed, in his time, in the temples of Ardea ; paintings older than the foundation of Rome : so early had the fine arts been cultivated by the Hetruscans. A little further on there is another branch goes off from the left hand of the via Appia, and which leads to the valley called Caffarella, formerly ad Camcenas : * Livius, 1 . 38. c. 53. — Vide c. 56. t Seepage 79. •, + Virg. lEn. 7. V. 412. § Hist. Nat. 1 . 35. c. 3. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Ardea. Fountain of .^geria. 9 ^ ANCIENT ROME. 9, Poria di S. Sebastia- ns. In vallem i^^geriae descendimus This is the famous valley of Egeria, where I saw the remains of the fountain sacred to this nymph and the Muses. The situation is very romantic. The opus reticulatum, the niches for the statues of the Muses, and the mutilated statue, perhaps of the fountain, still remaining, bespeak its antiquity. Here Numa, the celebrated legislator of Rome, in order to persuade the people of the divinity of his institutions, retired, and pre- tended to converse with his goddess. — “ Lucus erat, quern me- dium ex opaco specu fons perenni rigabat aqua. Quo quia se persaepe Numa sine arbitris, velut ad congressum Dese, infere- bat, Camoenis eum locum sacravit ; quod earum ibi concilia cum conjuge sua Egeria essent."'-f Egeria, and her fountain,, have not been left unsung by Ovid — Defluit incerto lapidosus murmure rivus : Saepe, sed exiguis haustibus, inde bibes : Egeria est, quse praebet aquas, Dea grata Camoenis : Ilia Num^e conjuj^ conciliumque fuit."' J In the infancy of civilization, before laws were reduced to a science, the wise legislators of antiquity, to engage the people to submit to their institutions, always held out to them the interposition of some deity. Every legislator had therefore recourse to his Egeria. And without such a pious fraud, how * Juvenal, sat. 3. v. 17. t Livius, 1 . I. c. 21. — See Holdsworth’s Dissertation on the Fountain of Egeria*! ^ % Fast. 1 . 3. V. 273. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 93 could a nation have been induced to embrace the laws given them by a single person On the height above the fountain, there is a church, dedi- cated to St. Urbano, formed out of an ancient temple, and whichj from the old name of this place, ad Camc^nas, may probably have been that of the Muses. From the remains of the building, and fragments of capitals and columns lying here, we may conclude its former beauty. These buildings, indeed, are too elegant for the age of Numa : they must have been rebuilt in much later times. In this church is preserved an altar to Bacchus, which had been dedicated to him by Apro- nianus, priest and interpreter of his mysteries. It serves for a base to support the bason of holy water. From it, perhaps^ some antiquaries have called this the temple of Bacchus. I know that it has been likewise reckoned the temple of Honour and Virtue, vowed by Marcellus, which I have already men- tioned. -f But I did not find here these twin temples, nor any real indication that this could have been one of them. Besides, LivyJ places them at or near where I have placed them, viz, immediately without the ancient porta Capena, and not at such a distance from it as the valley of Egeria. His words are — Videbantur enim ab externis ad portam Capenam dedi- * The modern Romans, of a lower class, go annually in great mimbers to the valley of Egeria, on. the first Sunday of May, where they eat and drink, and crown themselves with garlands of flowers ; and thus, dancing and singing to various musical instruments, they return to Rome in the evening like so many Bacchanals. This custom is, no doubt, a remainder of ancient superstition. t See p. 77. X Livius, 1. 25. c. 40, 9. Porta di S. Sebastia-‘ no. Temple of the Muses. 94 < ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Sepulchre of the liberti, &c. of Livia. cata a Marcello templa, propter excellentia ejus generis orna- menta, quorum perexigua pars comparet."^ I return back to the via Appia. About a mile from the gate, the new road to Albano goes off from the left of the via Appia, and, at the fourth mile, unites with the road from the gate of St. John. Near to where the Albano road separates from the Appian, viz. a mile and 800 feet from the gate, in the year 1726, was discovered, in the vineyard of Filippo Benci, the sepulchre of the liberti, servi, &c. of Livia, the wife of Augustus. This monument was soon robbed of its sarcophagi, urns, and orna- ments. One hundred and eighty-seven of the inscriptions, containing the names of Livia's servants, are now preserved in the Capitol. They were first published, with plans and views of the sepulchre, by the learned Bianchini, and have been since republished by Piranesi.^ Among these inscriptions (Tab. 32.) I find the name of Livia Lalage. May not this be that Lalage, whose pleasant humour, and agreeable manner, captivated Horace more than even beauty itself ? “ Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo, ' Dulce loquentem.""-^'- This was not the only monument built for depositing the ashes of Livia^s servants. Others have been discovered on the * Ant. Rom. Tom. 3. tav. 21. to tav. 37, inclusive. + Lib. I. od. 22. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 95 via Appia, and elsewhere. The number of the inscriptions, as well as the names of the different offices, cannot but give us an high idea of the magnificence of the imperial court. Indeed we meet with a certain Julia, whose only business was to or- nament the empress's ears — “ Julia Livice Aug. auriculcB orna- trix*’^ The liberti, &c. entered into societies for building these monuments, and deputed one or more of their number to oversee the work. Thus we find that the freedman Lucius, called Alexa, one of the curators deputed by a company to oversee the building of a sepulchre, executed his trust so much to the satisfaction of the company, that they allowed him to choose six places for himself, whilst the others drew lots for theirs. — “ Sine sorte primo ab sociis quas vellet ollee sex datee sunt."‘f The temple of Redicule was, according to Pliny, J two miles from Rome, to the right hand of the via Appia. It could not therefore be that ruin to the left hand of the road, before we arrive at Caracalla's circus, as mentioned by some of the an- tiquaries. Festus§ gives us the reason why the Romans built this singular temple, but of which I could find no remains.— Rediculi fanum extra portam Capenam fuit, quia accedens ad urbem Hannibal ex eo loco redierit quibusdam perterritus visis.” The church of St. Sebastian is about two miles from the gate. The portico is ornamented with some ancient pillars, * Pignorius, p. 199. t Fabrettus, Inscrip, p. 449. % Plin. 1. 10. c. 43. § Festus, v. Rediculi. ). Porta di S. Sebastia- Temple of Redicule. Church of St. Sebas- tian. ANCIENT ROME. 9 ^ 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Catacombs. of which there are vast numbers in and about Rome. The Romans were so fond of columns, that they considered them as articles of luxury ; and as such they laid taxes on them, as in Britain they do upon coaches.* But here we are particularly to view the Catacombs, or sub- terraneous Rome, where we may w^ander under ground an incredible distance, among the mansions of the dead. In tra- versing these dark passages, an association of ideas naturally throws a gloom on the mind of the curious inquirer. We find catacombs in many places round Rome, viz. at the churches of St. Laurence, St. Agnese, &c. ; but those of St. Sebastian are commonly visited by strangers. The entry to them is within the church. They are a kind of labyrinths, with many branches running off* in different directions, and there are even stories above stories of them. So that without torches and a good guide, it is unsafe to examine them : and it is dan- gerous to visit them in the summer season, as the cold in these grottos is so much greater than that of the external air. Bosio, Aringhi, and others, have described and published many mo- numents and inscriptions found in these catacombs. They generally pretend that they were made by the primitive Christians, to which they retired in time of persecution, and where they performed the rites of their religion. To sup- pose that the persecuted Christians could secretly execute such immense works, in which they might conceal themselves, is absurd. And would they not, in time of persecution, rea- dily search for them in these catacombs, known to all the * Csesar. de Bello Civ. 1 . 3. — Cic. ad Atticum, 1 . 13. ep. 6. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 97 world ? It is therefore, I think, more probable, that they were dug by the ancient Romans, and served for two purposes. First, the earth, pozzolana, and materials taken from them, served to carry on their vast buildings, without destroying the surface of th eground. And, secondly, these passages served for burying-places to the ordinary people and slaves, who had not particular sepulchres ; especially after the Campus Esqui- linus was given to Maecenas.* It is true, as many of the bo- dies of Christians and martyrs had been likewise buried in these places, it induced Christians to erect altars there, and pay a great devotion to them. The bodies of the dead are deposited along the sides of the catacombs, in rows, piled up, one above another, to a considerable height ; and they are shut up with bricks, or slabs of stone or marble. It is from hence that the monks, who have got possession of them, have produced so many holy bodies and relics. For wherever they find a cross cut upon a stone, and, with the body, a glass vial, or lachrymatory vessefi-f tinged with a reddish colour, * See EsqutUne-hill . — These catacombs, or grottos, were by the ancient Ro- mans called Arenaria. Thus Cicero, — “ Asinius autem brevi illo tempore, quasi inhortulos iret, in arenart as quasdam extra portam Exquiliniam perductus, occiditur.” — Pro Cluent. t The learned are divided in their opinions about the use of these glass vials, commonly called lachrymatory vessels. Some of them are of a considerable size, but the smallest of them would be, alas ! m.ore than sufficient to contain the tears of the most afflicted friends and relations of the deceased. The real use of these vessels seems to have been to contain perfumes and balsams, which they poured on the funeral piles of the dead, and which they afterwards placed in their sepulchral urns. As some of these drugs were of great value, they were generally put into very small vessels. The various colours, or iris, which wt o 9. Porta di S. Sebasfia- HO. Lachryma- tory vessels. ANCIENT ROME. 98 9 . Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Temple of Serapis and Isis. which they call blood, though perhaps it is nothing but rust, they conclude the body to be that of a saint or martyr, to which they are at no loss to give a name. Many mistakes of this kind have been discovered ; and even Mabillion* detects the story of St. Veronica. Neither does the emblem of the palm, or perhaps the cypress tree, often found on these sepulchral monuments, prove that the dead there buried were Christian martyrs ; for these symbols were used by the Heathens and Jews, as well as by the Christians, as appears from inscrip- tions.-f The pope makes presents of these bodies to princes, to ambassadors, and to great personages. The learned and diligent Muratori,;j; who has thrown so much light on the his^ tory of the middle age, mentioning the facility with which the people conferred the title of Saint, observes — “ Parte la pieta, parte Tinteresse entravano a moltiplicare i Santi, Ognun ne voleva ; e chi piu ne avea, si riputava piu felice degli altri.” Sextus Ruffus and Publius Victor mention temples erected to Serapis and Isis, in the first region, that is, on the via Appia ; but of which I find no remains. Near to the church of St. Sebastian was found the square altar, dedicated to Se- commonly observe on them, is what happens to bottles, especially when thin, long kept in cellars, or to window-glass exposed to the vapours of putrid animal substances, or to volatile alkali. But it does not appear that the Christians used these rites in their funerals. * Iter Italicum. p. 86. t See Muratori — Dissertazioni sopra le Antichita Italianc. — Diss. 58. ed. Rom. 1755. 8vo. i Ibid. •« t THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 99 rapis, now preserved in the Capitol ; and which probably had belonged to his temple here. On its front is this inscription. I. O. M. SOLI . SARAPIDI SCIPIO . ORPITVS . V. C. AVGVR VOTI . COMPOS . REDDITVS.* Almost opposite to the church of St. Sebastian, between the via Appia and the modern road to Albano, there is a circus, generally, reckoned that of Caracalla ; though some authors, particularly the learned Fabretti, call it that of Gallienus. The Romans, always fond of shows and games, were singu- larly attached to those of the circus. Their passion for them was such, that Juvenal says,§ “ Duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et circenses.” Fifteen circuses are supposed to have been in Rome and its environs. Many of them are entirely destroyed, and the others so defaced, that we observe little more than their situation. * Vide Museo Capitolino, Tom. 4. p. 351. t This article was communicated by the author to his learned friend the late Father Jacquier, at Rome ; who published ii, but not so fully, in the Gazette Littiraire de V Europe, Tom. 8. Paris, 1766. — Mention has been made of this article in two notes added to the third edition of “ Roma Antica di Famiano Nar- dini,” printed at Rome, 1771, pages 68 and 182. — It is likewise inserted in the article cirque, Tom. 2. of the Dictionary of Antiquities, of the new French Encydopedie Methodlque. :}: De Aquis, &c. p. 166. § Juvenal, sat. 10. v. 8r. O 2 9. Torla di S, Sebastia- no. Caracalla’s Circus. f 100 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Indeed this of Caracalla is the most entire; and there remains enough of it to give us a distinct idea of them. Here we see the metrey and trace the spina, in the middle of which stood the obelisk, covered with hieroglyphics, that is now placed on Bernini's elegant fountain in the piazza Nauona.^ There were rows of seats for the spectators, built along the sides of the circus, and under which were porticos, or galleries, to re- tire to, in case of rain.-f The emperor’s seat, or podium, seems to have been on the left side of the circus, opposite to the first nieta. It was from his podium that the emperor, or whoever presided at the shows, gave the signal to begin the race, by throwing up a napkin, used for that purpose, called mappa circensis. Panvinius, in his learned treatise — de Ludis Circensibus,X has given a plan and elevation of this circus, and likewise a view of its ruins. It is to be wished, however, that his plan had been a little more exact. He has placed the spina in the centre of the circus, that is, equally distant from the seats on each side ; whereas it was placed nearer to the left side of the circus than to the right. This was not done by accident, but by design. Because, as the horses and chariots ran first down the right side of the circus,, it was necessary, in the beginning of the course, to have a larger space, that they might the easier pass each other : * See Kircher’s Obeliscus Pamphilius. t Among the ruins I observed earthen pots, employed in the construc- tion of the circus, and which were common in the great buildings of the Ro- mans. The use of these pots was founded on mechanical principles. Their spherical form, like arches, diminished the perpendicular weight of the walls,, and contributed to strengthen the fabric. % Lib. I. c. 24. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 101 for by the time they had turned the farthest met a, to return towards the carceres, from which they started, many of the chariots would be left so far behind, that a less space to run in would suffice. The end of the circus, towards the east, is terminated by a semicircle. But the tneta, towards the west, is placed at a considerable distance from the carceres, that the horses and chariots might all enter the course with equal advantage. — ■ “ Fraus cursibus omnis abesto/^^ It is for this reason that the right side of the circus is longer than the left ; and the carceres are not placed in a straight line, as in Panvinius^s plan, but in the segment of a circle, whose centre is the middle point between the first meta and the right side of the circus ; as will more distinctly appear from the annexed figure and measures. Hence all the chariots had an equal space to run, which made Ovid-j- use the expres- sion cequus career. “ Maxima jam vacuo praetor spectacula circo Quadrijuges aequo carcere misit equos.” The spina was considerably raised above the level of the arena ^ that the chariots might not break in upon the obelisks, altars, statues, &c. that ornamented it. None of these ornaments now remain, but their forms are to be seen on medals, and other ancient monuments. J * P. Papinii Statii Thebaidos, 1 . 6. ■ t Amorum, I. 3. eleg. 2. v. 65. Vide Panvinius de Ludis Circen. ). Porta di >. Sehastia- log ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S, Sebastia- no. Ut cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae, Addunt se in spatia, et frustra retinacula tendens Fertur equis auriga, neque audit currus habenas/'^ The meta were a little broader than the spina. The address of the charioteer was to turn the metce as near as possible, without endangering his chariot; for, by this means, he shortened his course : Horace “f therefore says, — “ Metaque fervidis Evitata rotis/' Victory was pronounced in favour of the charioteer whose chariot first touched a line, marked with white chalk, J drawn between the first meta and the left side of the circus. In allu- sion to this, Horace § elegantly calls death the line that termi- nates life. “ Mors ultima linea rerum est."" The ordinary course was seven rounds of the circus. Along the sides of the circus, between the seats and the arena, there was a ditch full of water, called the Euripus, to prevent the chariots from approaching too near the spectators. The cha- rioteers were generally slaves or strangers : but during the empire, persons of family, even senators, and some emperors, did not blush to perform that mean office. They were divided into companies or factions, and distinguished by the colour of their dress. The green, the red,, the blue, and the white * Virg. Georg. 1 . i. v. 512. t Lib. i. ode i, f Plin. Hist. Nat. 1 . 36. c. 17. ad fin. § Ep. 1 . i. ep. 16. ad fin. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS, factions * These colours are supposed to have been an em- 9 blem of the different seasons of the year, viz. the green repre- sented the spring, the red the summer, the blue autumn, and the white winter. The people attached themselves with such violence to one or other of these factions, that it often produced much disturbance, and even seditions. With what fire does the Mantuan bard describe the chariot races ! when we read his verses, we fancy ourselves present in the circus : our eyes are fixed on the race.— “ Nonne vides ? cum prascipiti certamine campum Corripuere, ruuntque effusi carcere currus ; Cum spes arrectse juvenum, exsultantiaque haurit Corda pavor pulsans : illi instant verbere torto, Et proni dant lora ; volat vi fervidus axis. Jamque humiles, jamque elati sublime videntur Aera per vacuum ferri, atque assurgere in auras. Nec mora, nec requies : at fulvse nimbus arense Tollitur : humescunt spumis, flatuque sequentum. Tantus amor laudum, tantse est victoria cur2e.""-f There was a space of about twelve feet between the metce and spini. It served for a passage to go up the steps of the latter, and to enter the small cells under the former, where it is * Prasina, rtibea vel rosea, veneta et alba . — The ehaiioteers formed societies or colleges, as appears from an inscription published by Spon, [Recherches cu- rieuses d’Antiquite, Diss. 2.] in which we find — Colleg, Aurigariorum. IIIL FACT. t Virg. Georg. 1 . 3. v. 103. lOS I. Porta di ^ Sebastia- 104 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S, Sebastia- Sepulchre of Cfficilia Metella. thought the altars of Consus"^ were concealed. In the great area, between the first met a and car ceres, combats of gladiators and wild beasts were frequently exhibited ; and sometimes wa- ter was brought in, and those naval fights called naumachia were here represented. A little distance beyond the church of St. Sebastian, we cannot but admire the noble sepulchre of Ccecilia Metella, the daughter of Creticus, and wife of Crassus the triumvir. The inscription, which still remains, leaves no doubt to whom it was erected. CAECILIAE g. CRETICI . F. METELLAE . CRASSI . This mausoleum gives an high idea of the riches and grandeur of the person here interred. The lower part of it is square, and the upper part round. The walls are of a vast thickness, and incrusted with Tiburtine-stones of an immense size. An elegant frieze of marble runs round the whole, ornamented with rams' heads, joined together with festoons, above which 2LYQ patera and other decorations. The beautiful sarcophagus, in which lay the body of Cecilia, now stands in the court of the Farnese palace. Untouched by barbarous hands, this se- pulchre would have lasted whilst the earth remained : but in the low age, during the civil wars of the Roman barons, it * This Consus seems to mean the god of counsel : hence the Romans called a consultation consilium, and their chief magistrates consules, or counsellors. They therefore hid this altar under ground, because all counsels ought to be kept secret. — Plutarch’s Life of Romulus. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 105 was converted into a castle, and they built a parapet and port holes round its top. This seems to have been done by the Gsetani family, for we find their arms on the gate of a consi- derable fortification which remains here. Above these arms there is carved a bull's head, from which this place, probably, is now called Capo di BovL Piranesi* has not only published plates of this sepulchre, but has described the method by which the huge stones and marbles used in this building might have been raised. Three miles from the ancient porta Capena, stood the Trio^ pium, rpioTTiov, of Herodes Atticus — “ Vir et grseca faecundia et consulari honore prceditus."-f But no part of this monument remains. The rpioTnov seems to have been a temple where festivals were celebrated to Apollo Triopius. The victors, in the games called rpioTna, received tripods of brass, which they consecrated to this deity. Here were found the two Greek inscriptions, put up in honour of Herodes and his wife Regilla, which are to be seen at the villa Borghese; as well as the two pillars that formerly lay at the Farnese palace, known by the name of the Columncs Farnese ance ; but which the King of Naples has caused to be removed to his museum at Portici. In the inscriptions on these columns the learned Herodes has preserved, with great accuracy, the form of the most ancient Greek characters to be found in his time. Mr. Russel J has * Ant. Rom. Tom. 3. tav. 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, and 54, t A. Gellii Noct. Att. 1 . I. c. a. ;}: Russel’s Letters, Vol. i. let. 22. and Vol. 2. let. 51. — Sec also Memoirc sur la Vie dc Atticus, par M. Burigny, Mem. de I’Acad. des Inscrip. Tom. 51. in i2mo. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Capo di Bove. Trioplum of Herodes At- ticus. P io6 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. The public Ustrina. exactly copied and engraved them : his plates may be looked upon as fac similes : and my late very learned and worthy friend the Rev. Dr. WagstafF has accompanied these engrav- ings with some observations. They are the right-handed cha- racters ; that is, wrote from the right to the left hand. Though executed about the middle of the second century of the Chris- tian age, these characters are the same as those employed in Greece 700 years prior to that time. They have indeed been called Ionic; but they seem to be the same characters anciently used by the Pelasgians, the Athenians, and Greeks in general. Herodes pretended to be descended from Hersee, one of the daughters of Cecrops, first king of Athens, who lived before Cadmus came into Greece. He therefore used these characters to show the antiquity of his family, as well as the country from whence he came ; for which reason he was named Atticus. About two miles from the Capo di Bove, I saw a vast field of ruins. The country people call this place Roma vecchia* The names of these monuments have perished with the dead buried in them. Among these ruins, indeed, I observed, on the right hand of the road, a large oblong building, commonly reckoned the great public Ustrina, where the bodies of the dead were burnt. For, by the laws of the XII Tables, it was unlawful to burn them within the city. It was only the bodies of the * Besides this field thus named, there is another known, by the country people, by the same appellation. It lies on the right hand of the via Prenestina, a little beyond the third mile from the porta Maggiore. It was in this last that several ancient busts were found, in an excavation carried on by order of Pope Pius VI. and which are now preserved in the Museo Pio Clementino. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 107 emperors, and personages of singular merit, which were per- mitted to be burnt in the Campus Martins. Some particular persons, however, had places joining to their sepulchres for that purpose ; they were named busta. The walls of this building had been very high, and composed of large square stones. The several ruins joining to it served, perhaps,, for lodging the persons employed in this mournful office.* * * § Virgil, -f in the funeral of Misenus, has described the whole ceremony of burning the dead. From him we learn, that it was the duty of the nearest relation to set fire to the pile ; but, to show his reluctancy, he turned aside his face in the act of doing so. — > “ Triste ministerium, et subjectam more parentum Aversi tenuere facera.” To prevent the ashes from being scattered by the wind, or mixing with the wood or earth, the bodies were wrapped up in a cloth, made from a stone called amiantuSy or linum vivum, and on which the fire had no influence. This stone is likewise named asbestos. ^ One of these funeral cloths is preserved in the Vatican library. It is nine palms, Roman measure, long, and seven palms broad. Pliny,§ enumerating the various kinds * See the remains of the Ustrlna, published by Piranesi, Ant. Rom. Tom. 3. tav. 3, 4, 5, and 6. t JEr\. 6. v. 223. $ Although these stones are of the same kind, yet my learned and sagacious friend M. D’Aubenton distinguishes them thus : in filaments soft and flexible he calls them amiantus, and in filaments hard-^nd not flexible he calls them asbestos. The stories called mountain corky and mountain leather seem to be of the same nature. — See Tableau Methodique des Mineraux, page 10. § Hist. Nat. 1 . 19. c. I. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Amiantus, asbestos, or linum vivum io8 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. of lint known in his time, mentions the linum vivum. He says that it grew in the deserts, inhabited by serpents, and in those parts of India where it never rains ; and that the burning heat of the sun accustomed it to resist the fire. Though the cele- brated naturalist gives us this fabulous account of the amiantus, yet he has preserved to us facts of which he could not be igno- rant. He informs us, that he had seen table-cloths made of it, which, after having been soiled, were thrown into the fire, and taken out unconsumed, and cleaner than if washed with water. He tells us, that they made cloths of it for the funerals of kings, to prevent their ashes from mixing with the materials with which their bodies were burnt ; and that it was so rare, that its value was equal to that of the finest pearls. Hence we may justly conclude, that its use in funerals was not then general, but confined to the rich only.^ And, indeed, among the nu- merous sepulchral monuments opened in and about Rome, this cloth preserved in the Vatican library, seems to be the only entire one hitherto found. I saw the experiment made on it, viz. after having rubbed the cloth over with wax, they held a lighted torch under it, and when the inflammable matter was entirely consumed, the cloth was clean and unhurt. It is cer- tain that the amiantus, of which there are different kinds, though very refractory, will vitrify by the heat of a violent chemical furnace, or in the focus of a good burning-glass, without any additional matter. But it resists the heat of a funeral pile ; nor does the ashes of the wood serve for a dis- solvent to it. At present we know that the amiantus is a stone or mineral, consisting of threads or filaments, which may be separated from each other, and by art spun and wove into THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. log doth, Ciampini'^ and Mahudel-f have published methods by which it may be done. The amiantus^ rare, and only found in the East when Pliny wrote, is now got in many parts of Europe. It is commonly found on the sides, or at the foot of hills, composed of vitrifiable stones. In the Pyrenees they make garters, belts, purses, and other small works of it ; though course, they are soft and silky. It is of different co- lours, white, grey, greenish, and reddish. Its filaments have almost the lustre of silk : some of them are fourteen inches long, and so small that M. D’Aubenton found some, whose diameters were the 2000th part of a line. The naturalists dif- fer about the nature of this stone. It has been ascribed, in whole or in part, to calcareous earth, to gypsum, or to clay. Some have made it a sort of iron decomposed by fire, a mix- ture of iron and quartz. Others have advanced that it is of a vegetable nature.;]; It has likewise been considered as a de- composition of steatite, or of those stones called magnesiene.§ But my late illustrious friend, M. le Comte de Buffon, that * De incomb ustibili lino, sive lapide amianto. Roma, 1748. fol. t Memoires de I’Academie des Inscrip. Vol. 6. p. 409. ed. lamo.' $ Indeed such is its resemblance to wood, that, we are told, monks used to impose on the credulity of their devotees, by giving them small bits of it, as relics of the holy cross ; and, to prove their assertioa, showed them that the fire had no influence on this sacred matter. See Mahudel, ut supra, p. 414 . — See also Muratori— Dissertazioni sopra le Afitichita Italiane. Diss. 58. ed. Rom^ 1755. 8vo. § The chemical analysis which Bergman made of the ami ant us of Tarentum, renders, however, this opinion probable. He found in a quintal — 6 of earth vitriolized — 6-^g of lime — l8-A- of magnesia — 2 to clay— 64 of vitrifiable earth — and i-j^ of calx of iron. — See Bergman’s Manuel de Mineralogiste, traduit et augmente par M. Mongez le jeune. p. 117 and 118. i. Porta di >. Scbastia- 110 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Combat of the Horatii andCuriatii. sublime and eloquent philosopher, to whom Nature seems to have revealed all her secrets, was pleased to assure me, that the amiantus is a stalactite, or decomposition of mica and talc.^ Talc is a decomposition of mica, and as the former is softer and more attenuated than the latter, we may conclude that more talc enters into the composition of the amiantus, than into that of the asbestos. They are both composed of fila- ments, either longitudinal, as in the amiantus, or oblique and converging, as in the asbestos. The singularity of this stone, I hope, will apologize for the length of this article. The celebrated combat between the Horatii and Curiatii, which decided the fate of Alba, was near the Fosscb Cluilice, five miles from Rome, on the via Appia. The place was called Horatiorum campus sacer.-\ It is now called Casale Rotondo. Each of the five champions was buried where he fell, and a monument was erected for him ; but of these I found no ves- tige. It was at the porta Capena, that the victorious Horace met his sister, bewailing the death of one of the Curiatii, to whom she was betrothed, and killed her. — “ Abi hinc cum immature amore ad sponsum, inquit, oblita fratrum mortuo- rum vivique, oblita patriae. Sic eat, quaecumque Romana lu- gebit hostem." J Barbarous action! — but in the infancy of * See Histoire Naturelle des Mineraux. Vol. 4. in 410. — M. de BufFon com- municated to me his opinion of this stone, before he published this part of his work. t Martial, 1 . 3. ep. 17. Liv. 1 . I. c. 25 and 26. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. Ill Rome, a savage enthusiasm for the grandeur of the state, often divested its citizens of the strong ties, and gentle feelings of nature. I do not pretend that all the wonderful events we meet with in the Roman history are fabulous : but there is reason to be- lieve that some of them were stole by the Romans from the Grecians, in order to add more lustre to their ancestors. Thus we find the combat of the Horatii and Curiatii related, under different names, but with the same circumstances, by Demo- crates.* The action of Mutius Scoevola is given to Agesilaus, brother to Themistocles, by Agatharsides of Samos. -f And Curtius precipitating himself into the gulf is ascribed, by Callisthenes, to a son of king Midas. J From the Capo di Bove to the Frattocchie, a villa belonging to the Constable Colonna, three miles from Albano, the via Appia was so broken that it was quite impassable for carriages. If repaired it will abridge the road to Albano, for it runs in a straight line. About the Frattocchie stood the Sacrarium of the Dea Bona,^ before which Clodius received from Milo his mortal wound. Asconius,|| the ancient commentator of Cicero, says, that Clo- dius, being wounded, was carried into a tavern at the Bovill^. * Apud StobEeum, Serm. 157. t Ibid. Serm. 48. 4 - Ibid. § The Dea Bona, according to Macrobius [ 1 . i. c. 12.] was the same as Terra. jl Q: Asconius Pedianus, in Orat. Cic. pro A. Milone. 9. Foria di S. Sebastia- no. Frattocchie. Sacrarium of the Dea ^ Bona. 112 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastian no. Bovills. Sacrarium of the Julian family. Deification of Homer. The Iliad. This must therefore have been near to the Frattocchie, and not above a mile north-east from it, as placed by Ameti in his map of Latium. But the Bovillge, according to the ancient Itinerarium, stood ten miles from Rome, on the via Appia, which answers to the Frattocchie. At the Bovillce stood the Sacrarium of the Julian family, but of which I observed no ruins. When the dead body of Augustus was carried from Nola, where he died, to Rome to be interred, it was, by the way, deposited in this family mo- nument.* Here Tiberius placed a statue of Augustus and here Nero caused shows to be exhibited, on Poppaea's being delivered of a daughter. J Among many curious things dug up in this neighbourhood is the celebrated bas-relief repre- senting the deification of Homer, executed by Archelaus of Priene, the son of Apolonius, and which is to be seen in the Colonna palace at Rome.§ And the table, now preserved in the Capitol, containing a representation of the Iliad was like- wise found here. II Perhaps these two singular Homeric mo- * Suet. V. Aug. c. 100. t Tacit. Ann. 1 . 2. c. 41. J: Tacit. Ann. 1 . 15. c. 23. § This bas-relief has been often published. It has employed the pens of many learned antiquaries, who have given very different explanations of it: viz. Kircher, Falconieri, Spanheimius, Cuper, Gronovius, Weststain, Fabretti, Schott, Winkelmann, and Visconti. But the most satisfactory account I have seen of it is, that lately given by M. D’Hankerville, in his learned work intitled Recherches sur TOrigine, I’Esprit, et les Progres des Arts de la Grece, &cc, Tom. 2. p. 291 et seq. jl Vide Fabretti de Columna Trajani, p. 315. and Museo Capitolino, Vol. 4. P- 363* THE GATES AND ENVIRONS, iiumonts were placed in the' Sacrarium of the Julian family, as marks of their supposed Trojan descent.^ Although there are no remains of the Bovillce, it had for- merly been a considerable place. It was a municipium, and had a theatre and school of comedians, whose names are preserved in an inscription, found here, and now to be seen in the Co- lonna palace at Marino. I cannot but observe that the actors, histriones, of regular tragedy and comedy, were always re- spected by the ancient Romans. Indeed Cicero’s friendship for Roscius is a proof of the estimation in which a good actor was held.-j' On the contrary the minii and pantomimi were held in contempt, on account of their often indecent represen- tations. But even these last came to be honoured in the licen- tious times of the empire ; and some of them were promoted to dignities, as appears from inscriptions. Thus we find the Archiminus Lucius Acilius, of the Pontine tribe, a priest of Apollo, decorated with the office of Decurioy a magistrate, of Bovillce.§ Near to the Frattocchie was discovered, in the year 1758, among the ruins of an ancient villa, an hypocaustum^ for * Origo Jullse gentis j^^neas, See. Tacitus, An. 1 . 4. c. 9. + “ Quis nostrum animo tarn agresti ac duro fuit, ut pro Roscii morte nuper non commoveretur ? qui cum esset senex mortuus, tamen propter excellentem artem ac venustatem videbatur omnino mori non debuisse.” — Pro Archia poeta. X Vide Ficoroni, nel libro delle maschere sceniche, c. 5. — Gori, Inscrizione deir Etruria, Tom. 2. p. 176. — Gruter, p. 330. No. 3. — p. 331. — p. 363. § Vide Gruter, p. 1089. No. 6 . — He has likewise there published the list of this school of comedians. 113 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- A school of comedians. An hypo- caustum. 114 ANCIENT ROME. 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. A gate built up. Another gate built up. Pliny’s villa Laurentina. heating an apartment, of which Piranesi* has published a plate. Between the Frattocchie and Albano, many parts of the via Appia are very entire.-f In the Appendix, No. V. I shall give an account of Albano, and its environs. Having thus far strolled along the via Appia, let me now return back to the walls of Rome. Near to the gate of St. Sebastian there was another gate, but which is now built up. It is marked G on the Plan of Rome, plate III. A little farther on, I observed a gate, also built up, which seems to have belonged to some ancient building, because it is rather too low to have served for a gate to the city. It is marked H on the same Plan. But if this was a gate of the city, it will, I believe, answer to the via Laurentina, which lay between the Ardeatina and Ostiense. Pliny the younger J tells us, that he could go to his villa Laurentina, seventeen miles from Rome, either by the Laurentine or Ostian roads. — “ Aditur non una via ; nam et Laurentina et Ostiensis eodem ferunt, sed Laurentina a quarto decimo lapide, Ostiensis ab undecimo relinquenda est.” In the villa Sacchetti, towards , * Antichita d’ Albano, Tab. 26. t See Piranesi, ib. p. 25. and Tab. 25. % Lib. 2. epist. 17. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. IIK Ostia, I saw some of the foundations of Pliny's villa, of which he has left us so elegant and particular a description.* Although he says that this villa was commodious and not splendid — > ** villa usibus capax, non sumptuosa tutela”— -yet, from his own account, it appears to have been magnificent : but per- haps he considered it as small, compared with the extensive villas of the then luxurious Romans. It was intended for his winter retreat, for the coast was mild, and an agreeable situa- tion for that season. He informs us, that his triclinium was washed by the sea, when the wind blew from the south ; — ‘‘ mox triclinium satis pulchrum, quod in littus excurrit, ac si quando Africo mare impulsum est, fractis jam et novissimis fluctibus leviter alluitur. ' — But the land has gained so much from the water on this part of the coast since Pliny's time, that these ruins are now a considerable distance from the sea. The south wind beating violently on the coast has forced up much sand, and the great inundations of the Tiber, whose * See — the Villas of the Ancients illustrated, by Robert Castell : in which is an ingenious but imaginary plan of Pliny’s villa. Indeed a plan and elevation of a building cannot be exactly made out from description only. M. Felibien des Avaux, from Pliny’s description, has likewise given ideal plans of his villas of Laiirentinum and Tuscum. Cato, Varro, Columella, and Palladlus, ancient writers on husbandry, have mentioned the principal parts of the Roman farm houses. But the descriptions that Pliny the younger gives of his villas of Laurentinum and Tuscum, (lib. 5. cp. 6.) are the only detailed accounts preserved to us of the country seats of the Romans. Laurentinum, washed by the Mediterranean, was for his winter, and Tuscum for his summer residence. This last was in Tuscany, at the foot of the Apennines, near a town called Tifernum Tiberinuniy about 150 miles from Rome, and the Tiber ran through his estate. Laurentinum, so near Rome, and where his property was not extensive, may be considered as his villa suhurbana, while Tuscum, where he had a large estate, was his family seat. Qs ). Porta di ?. Sebastia- ANCIENT ROME. Il6‘ 9. Porta di S. Sebastia- no. Laurentiim. Lavinium. Numicus, waters spread far, and deposite much earth and mud, are the apparent causes which, in length of time, have produced this effect. Inundations of rivers, earthquakes, and volcanic ir- ruptions have, no doubt, produced great alterations on the face of our globe ; and which, by these means, is perpetually decomposing and recomposing. Laurentum, the capital of the ancient kings of Latium, is reckoned to have stood near to Torre Paterna. Lavinium, built by i$lneas, and so named from his wife La- vinia, probably stood where we now find Pratica : but when Laurentum was destroyed, its inhabitants joined those of La- vinium, and formed one city ; they were called Laurentes La- vinates. Virgil, when he conducts i^^neas to this coast, gives it the name of Lavinia — — ‘‘ Laviniaque venit Litora.'’"* . To the west of Pratica, I observed a rivulet, which is com- monly supposed to be the 'Numicus, in which Anna Perenna was drowned. “ Corniger hanc cupidis rapuisse Numicius undis Creditur, et stagnis occuluisse suis.”'j- Here, too, ^Tneas is said to have perished : but, had this rivu- let been as inconsiderable formerly as at present, it would have required art to have drowned any one in it. Virgil, however, mentions the Numicus, in his description of this part of the country, where he lands his hero. “ Heec fontis stagna Numici."'’ J iEn. 1 . I. V. 2. t Ovid Fast. 1 . 3. v. 647, % Mn. 1 . 7. v. 150. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS, X. PORTA DI S. PAOLO. This gate, called Ostiense by Aiirelian, is now known by the name of the Apostle of the Gentiles, whose church stands about a mile from it, on the Ostia road. Before Aurelian en- larged the city, the gate on the via Ostiense was called porta Trigemina, and probably stood between the Aventine hill and the river, a little below the prior ata di Malta. For monte Testaccio, which I shall afterwards examine, stood without the city. Almost joining to the gate, there is an elegant pyramid, which is built up in, and serves for part of the city wall. It had certainly stood without the city, before Aurelian extended the walls. This is the only pyramid remaining about Rome : but which conveys to us, though in miniature, an idea of those in Egypt !* It was built to perpetuate the name of C. Cestius, one of the septemvir Epulonum. But who this Cestius was, other than the title given him on this monument, is uncertain. The Epulones were a college of priests, of great dignity, who prepared these feasts to the gods, called Lectisternia, where their statues, laid on rich beds, were placed at table as the principal guests. One of those beds, of bronze curiously wrought, has been found in Herculaneum. These sumptu- ous entertainments were devoured by the seven noble gor- mandizing priests. It was to appease the gods, in time of a * Pliny, mentioning the pyramids of Egypt, justly calls them— “ regum pe- cuniae otiosa ac stulta ostentatio.” — Hist. Nat. 1 . 36. c. 12 . Cestius’s pyramid. iiS ancient ROME. 10. Porta di S. Paolo- plague, that the Romans first instituted these feasts, in the year of Rome 356.* As the ground about the pyramid is much raised, we have not so advantageous a sight of it as for- merly. It is 1643- palms high, all incrusted with white mar- ble, and rests on a base of Tiburtine stones, whose height is palms. The breadth of the square, on which it stands, is 130 palms. Agreeable to the testament of Cestius, this vast monument was built in 330 days. The sepulchral chamber had been finely painted ; it is now much defaced ; more per- haps from the smoke of the torches used in showing it, than from the humidity of the place. These figures and ornaments seem all to relate to the sacred ceremonies of the Epulones. The monument was judiciously repaired, without altering its form, by Pope Alexander VII. The workmen employed to do so discovered at each of its angles, which faced the via O5- tiensis, a marble pedestal, on one of which^as found a brazen foot ; a proof that there were formerly statues on them. It is probable that they represented Cestius himself. These pedes- tals, removed from hence, are now preserved in the Capitol. The names of Cestius's heirs are engraved on them : and the same inscription is repeated on each of these bases. Nor can the meaning of the inscription be made out, unless we sup- pose the letters S. F. C. viz. statuam faciundam curaverunty or some such words, to be understood. Perhaps the sculptor thought it unnecessary to inscribe these words, as the statue was in view, and spoke for itself. At the other two angles of the pyramid were found two marble pillars broken down ; but which have been repaired, and placed where they seem for- * Livius, 1. 5. c. 1.3. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 119 merly to have stood. These likewise had probably supported small statues. As M. Agrippa is mentioned in the inscriptions, we may conclude with certainty, that this is a work of the Augustan age, and which does no dishonour to it.^ The expence of building this pyramid must have greatly exceeded the sum allowed to be employed on sepulchral monuments by the sumptuary laws of the asdiles. Hence the executors of Cestius had been fined in a sum, which they paid by the sale of some rich furniture, as appears from the above inscrip- tions, and which I shall here transcribe. — M. VALERIVS . MESSALLA . CORVINVS . P. RVTILIVS . LVPVS L. IVNIVS . SOLANVS , L. PONTIVS . MELA . D. MARIVS . NIGER . HEREDES . C. CESTI . ET . L. CESTIVS . gVAE . EX . PARTE . AD . EVM . FRATRIS . HEREDITAS . M. AGRIPPAE . MVNERE . PER VENIT . EX . EA . PECVNIA . QVAM . PRO . SVIS . PARTIBVS . RECEPER . EX . VENDITIONE . ATTALICOR . gVAE . EIS . PER . EDICTVM . AEDILIS . IN . SEPVLCRVM . C. CESTI . EX . TESTAMENTO . EIVS . INFERRE . NON . LICVIT . * See M. Falconieri’s disseitation on this monument, which is added to Nar- Roma Antica . — See also Piranesi’s prints of it. Ant. Rom. Tom. 3. tav. 40 to 48 inclusive. In the middle age this monument was called Meta Romuli, as the equestrian statue of M. Aurelius, at the Capitol, was then named cahallus Constantini. Nerinius deTemplo S. Alexii, p. 397.— — Protestants, who die at Rome, are buried at the side of this pyramid. 10. Porta di S. Paolo. 120 ANCIENT ROME. lo. Porta dt S. Paolo. Church of St. Paul. Vanity led the Romans to erect magnificent monuments to perpetuate the names of their dead. In vain did the aediles enact laws to restrain this expence. Thus Cicero,* over- whelmed with affliction for the death of his beloved daughter Tullia, to elude the penalty of these sumptuary laws, meditated to build a temple to her, — “ fanum fieri v.olo'" — in place of a sepulchre : which, no doubt, would have don’e her still a greater honour, for this was a sort of deification, u7fo’^eo}(uv. But the confusion of the times had prevented Cicero from carrying this extravagant idea into execution. Indeed this mistaken fondness for the memory of the dead gave rise to much idola- try. “ For,” Solomon •'[" tells us, “ a father afflicted with un- timely mourning, when he had made an image of his child, soon taken away, now honoured him as a god, which was then a dead man, and delivered to those that were under him, ceremonies and sacrifices.” The church of St. Paul, a mile from the gate, on the via Ostiensis, is said to have been founded by Constantine. Be- fore the Reformation, the Kings of England were protectors of it, in the same manner as the Emperor of Germany is protector of St. Peter's, the King of France of St. John La- teral! 's, and the King of Spain of St. Maria Maggiore. Here we find a noble collection of elegant columns, of various mar- bles. The most remarkable, however, are the forty, which support the great nave. They are Corinthian fluted pillars, of pavonazzo, which were part of those that ornamented * Epist. ad Atticum. 1 . 12. ep. 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 35, and 36. t Book of Wisdom, ch. 14. v. 15. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 121 Adrian's mausoleum, or Moles Hadriani, now the Castel^Sant Angelo* A little further on, a road goes off from the left hand of the via Ostiensis, and leads to the Tre Fontanel anciently ad aquas Salvias, a mile from St. Paul's. . Here are three churches : but the church in which we find the three fountains, is said to be built on the spot where St. Paul suffered martyrdom. I was told that his head, when struck off, gave three leaps, and a miraculous fountain sprung up at each place where it lighted. These fountains, they pretend, have each a different taste ; but, after trial, I could discover no difference in them. About three miles from the gate there was a villa,, belong- ing to Alexander Severus.-f- Adjoining to it was a sepulchre, which, from inscriptions, seems to have belonged to the Atian family.;!; Here was found, according to Ficoroni,§ a most beautiful sarcophagus, now preserved in the Capitol. || On its front are the nine Muses in elegant attitudes. They are dis- * See Piranesi’s beautiful large view of the inside of this church. t Am. Marcellinus, 1 . 17. c. 4. ^ This family, originally plebeian, became celebrated by their connection with the Julian and Octavian families : from the first of which descended Julius Caesar, and from the second Augustus, Virgil alludes to this, when, in com- pliment to Augustus, he says — “ Alter Atys, genus unde Atti duxere Latini : Parvus Atys, pueroque puer dilectus lulo.” Mvl. 1 , 5. V. 568. § Ficoroni, Vest, di Rom. 1 . i. c. lo. p. 54. jj Museo Capitolino, Tom. 4. p. 141. tab. 26, 27, and 28. R 10. Porta di S, Paolo. Tre Fon- tane. Villa of Alexander Severus. 122 ANCIENT ROME. lo. Porta di S. Paolo. Ostia. tinguished by different attributes. Foggini, who published this volume of the Museo CapitoUno, arranges them thus : — 1. Calliope; 2. Melpomene; 3. Euterpe; 4. Terpsichore — 5, Erato; 6. Polyhymnia; 7. Clio; 8. Urania; and 9. Thalia. But the learned Visconti*' is of opinion, that the Muses on this fine monument are thus arranged : — 1. Clio ; 2. Thalia ; 3. Erato; 4,. Euterpe; 5. Polyhymnia; 6. Calliope; 7. Terp- sichore; 8. Urania; and 9. Melpomene. On the cover of this sarcophagus are six personages, in the action of feasting. On the right hand side we see Homer, to whom poetry, or per- haps Calliope, who was called his mother, presents a book. And on .the left hand side sits Socrates ; and philosophy, or Erato its muse, leaning on a base, reasons with him. The Romans, sensible of the importance of having an har- bour at the mouth of the Tiber, to secure its navigation, built and fortified Ostia-Tiberina, which was thus named from -the circumstance of its situation. All their historians agree that it was founded by Ancus Mafcius, the fourth king of Rome. Livy,-f in his account of this king, says — ‘‘ Nec urbs tantum hoc rege crevit, sed etiam ager finesque. Silva Maesia Vejen- tibus adempta : usque ad mare imperium prolatum, et in ore Tiberis Ostia urbs condita : salinceX circa factse.'”' Ostia, when * See Museo Pio Clementino, Tom. i. p. 98. t Hist. 1 . I. c. 33. :}: It is still at these sallncE, now called stagno, that the salt is prepared for the use of Rome and its neighbourhood. But as this operation is performed in the summer, by evaporation, from the heat of the sun ; and the air, at that sea- son, is so bad at Ostia, labourers could not be induced to remain there. It is THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 123 founded, was no doubt washed by the sea, and some pillars even remain, to which ships and boats seem to have been fastened. The land, however, has by alluvion gained here so much on the water, as I have already mentioned,* that Ostia is now about a mile and an half distant from the sea, and consequently rendered useless as an harbour. But Claudius, finding Ostia not sufficiently large and convenient for the increase of the shipping necessary for Rome, built the elegant harbour of Porto opposite to it, on the other side of the river, which, in the next article, I shall examine. Though Ostia, in its be- ginning, must have been a small place, it was at last greatly extended and embellished with villas and other buildings ; for remains of walls and ruins, for a considerable space to- wards Rome, are still to be seen. It has been so defaced, chiefly by the Goths and Saracens, and its temples and houses destroyed, that I can give no description of its former state. At present it is a mean place, though a bishoprick, and the see of the first cardinal-bishop, who is always dean of the sacred college ; but as its revenues are very small, the bi- shoprick of Veletri is annexed to it. The Tiber, near its mouth, is divided into two branches, which form an island, which projects into the sea, between for this reason that the Popes have made it an asylum for criminals of every kind, to vsrhich these unhappy wretches fly, and support themselves, by pre- paring the salt. But so pestiferous is the air that they seldom survive many years, * See page 115. R 2 10. Porta di S. Paolo. Isola Sacra, ANCIENT ROME. 124 10. Porta di S. Paolo. Ostia and Porto. It is called Isola Sacra. The branch of the river towards Ostia is now known by the name of Bocca de la Fiumara, and that towards Porto is called Fiumicino. It is by this last that vessels, going to Rome, enter the river. I cross the Tiber, and come tg THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 125 XI. PORTA PORTESE. When the walls of the Transtiberim, were renewed by Ur- ban VIII. this gate was placed further down the river than the ancient one.* It was begun by Urban, and finished by Innocent X. Though I observed no remains of the ancient road from this gate, yet, according to Leon Batista Alberti,-'|- it seems to have been the most spacious and commodious of all the high- ways about Rome, For, he says, it was so broad that a wall, little more than a foot high, divided it into two ; and, like the twin gates I formerly mentioned, those who went from Rome took one side of it, and those who came to the city the other. His words are — “ quando enim iTgypto, Africa, Lybia, Hispa- niis, Germania, Insulis, hominum ingens numerus, mercium maxima vis confluebat ; stratam effecere duplam ; et in medio, lapidum ordo eminens ut linea, extabat pedem, ut prodirent altera, redirent altera, vitata properantium offensione.'^ This road leads to, and the gate takes its name from, the mag- nificent harbour of Porto, built by Claudius, and not by Trajan, as some authors assert ; though it may have been enlarged by the latter. D"Anville,§ copying other authors, called it Partus Augusti. It is now, as well as Ostia, at a considerable distance * See page 28. t Lib. 4. c 5. Architect. ^ See page 28. § Mem. de I’Acad. des Inscrip. Tom. 52. p. 118. ed. in i2mo. Harbour of Porto. ANCIENT ROME. 126 II. Porta Portese. Gardens of Julius Cae- sar. from the sea, as the land here has encroached much on the wa- ter.* Although in ruins, and useless,, it remains a monument of Roman grandeur, and still deserves the attention of the cu- rious traveller. Entering from the sea, it stands on the left side, as Ostia stands on the right, of the mouth of the Tiber. Its form is preserved on a (brass) medal of Claudius.-f* There was here a lighthouse, like that of the famous Pharos of Alexandria, in Egypt.J The huge vessel, which Caligula caused to be constructed, to transport an obelisk from Egypt to Rome, was afterwards used as a cassoon, on which the lighthouse was built. An elevation of this haven was pub- lished by Stefano du Perach, in the 1^75, when it was, no doubt, more entire than at present; but surely less entire than he has given it. In the year 1743, Benedict XIV. caused a geometrical plan of its ruins to be published. M. Lucatelli has indeed wrote a dissertation on this harbour, with observa- tions on the manner the Romans built their sea-ports along the Mediterranean coast. § Though Porto is a bishoprick, and the see of the second cardinal-bishop, who is always subdean of the sacred col- lege, it now consists only of a church, the bishop's house, and a dirty inn. But to this bishoprick is annexed that of Sancta Ruffina, formerly called Sylva Candida. The gardens, which Julius Ccesar |1 bequeathed to the people * See pages 115 and 123. t Erizzo sopra le Medaglie, p. 166. Plin. Hist. Nat. 1 . 36. c. 12. § Saggi di Dissertazioni dell’ Academia di Cortona, Tom. 6. diss. i. — Here we find both Perach and Benedict’s Plans. }] Suet. Vit. J. Caesar, c. 83. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 127 of Rome, probably stood near to this gate, on the banks of the Tiber.* — . II. Porta Fortese. “ Trans Tiberim longe cubit is, prope Caesaris hortos."' But here I could find no remains of the temple which Ti- berius caused to be built to Fortune. — “ .T^des Fortis Fortunae Tiberim juxta in hortis, quos Caesar dictator populo Romano legaverat."' * * Hor. 1 . I. sat. 9. V. 18. t Tacit. Ann. 1 . 2. c. 41. 128 ANCIENT ROME. XII. PORTA D1 S. PANCRAZIO. It was rebuilt by Urban VIII, and takes its name from tbe church of that saint on the via Vitellia. This gate was, per- haps, formerly called Aurelia. It stands on the Mans Janicu- lus, named in the low ages Mans aureus, and now by corrup- tion Montorio. Sepulchral A little without the gate, on the left hand, is the villa Cor- monuments. , ° sini. About a century ago, in digging and levelling the ground of this villa, a great number of sepulchral monuments were discovered. Pietro Santi Bartoli* traced, designed, and pub- lished thirty-four of these funeral chambers, or columbarice. Many of them were elegantly ornamented with stucco and painting, and the floors enriched with mosaic work. I shall not, however, enter into a detail of them, but refer the reader to the plates of that ingenious artist, which will convey a clearer idea of these columbarice than the most accurate description of the pen can do. At the villa Corsini the road separates. The one to the left Via Vitellia. hand, called via Vitellia, joins the via Portuensis, near to the ponte Galera. This road, according to Suetonius, -f reached from the Mons Janiculus to the sea. The other, to the right hand, called via Aurelia, leads to Civita Vecchia, formerly * Gli Antichi Sepolcri, da Pietro Santi Bartoli, Vol. i. — In Roma, per de Rossi, 1696. fol. + Vita Vitel. c. i. THE GATES AN"D ENVIRONS. called Centumcellie, Cicero tells us, that it was by the via Aurelia that Catiline went to join Manlius at Fiesole. De- monstrabo iter ; Aurelia via profectus est.’’'* By this gate, Trajan's aqueduct enters Rome. It was brought from the other side of the lake Sahatinus, now Bracciano. Its course is thirty-five miles. It is at present called aqua Paolo, having been renewed and augmented by Pope Paul V. It is so copious that it suffices to turn mills. The inscription on its elegant fountain, at S. Pietro in Montorio, calls it aqure Alsie- which were brought by Augustus from the lake Alsietinus,'\ now Martignano ; and Piranesi, in his map of the aqueducts, marks it as such. But that this is a mistake appears evident from Fabretti;!; and Cassio.§ The aqua Alsietina, muddy and bad, was chiefly intended for the use of Augustus's naumachia; whereas the Sahatina, wholesome and good, served for all the uses of life. About three quarters of a mile from the gate, on the via Aurelia, we entered the villa Pamjili, called di bel respiro, from its fine and airy situation, of which Algarffi was archi- tect. And when we consider its extent and variety of ground, we may pronounce it the most magnificent of the modern Ro- man villas. Many ancient statues, bas-relieves, and inscrip- tions, are to be seen here. ♦ In L. Catilinam, a. t Ahiuni, which gave name to the lake, had stood near it. RuiFus Virginius, celebrated by Pliny the younger, had a villa here, which he used to call — “ Se- nectutis suje nidulum.” — Plin. 1 . 6. ep. lo. Fabretti de Aqused. No. 87. p. 49. § Corso dell’ aque, Tom. i. p. 353. s 12 ^ 12. Porta di S. Pancra- zio. Via Aurelia. Trajan’s aqueduct. Villa Pam- fili. ANCIENT ROME. I come now to the gates on the Mans Vaticams, added by the Popes.^ I. PORTA CAVALLEGGIERL It is so called from the stables of the Cavalleggieri guards, which stand near it. The road from it, named via Aurelia nuova, leads into the via Aurelia, at the villa Ferroni. II. PORTA FABBRIGA. This gate leads to, and probably takes its name from, the brick-kilns in the neighbourhood. III. PORTA ANGELICA. It was built by Pius IV. who was named Angelicus before he was Pope. It runs in a straight line to Ponte M0II6, where it communicates with the Cassian and Flaminian roads. via Trium- Near to this gate passed the via Triumphalis : it came down from the Clivus Cinnce, which was part of the Janiculum. Among the various honours decreed to Augustus after his death, the senate permitted his body to be brought into Rome by the triumphal road and gate. — “ Funus triuinphali porta ducendum."'-f — Had not this been a singularity, it would not have been noticed by the historians, * See p. 24. t Suet. Vit. Aug. c. too. The same is mentioned by Tacitus, Ann. 1 . 1. c. 8. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 131 This Clivus Cinnce is now called Monte Mario, probably from Marius Mellini, whose family is still in possession of a part of it. From their villa Mario, on the top of the hill, one enjoys a noble and extensive prospect of Rome and the Cam- pagnia. ' has described this 'beautiful situation. It seems to have been a farm belonging to his kinsman Julius Martialis. “ Hinc septem dominos videre monies, Et totam licet eestimare Romam, Albanos quoque, Tusculosque colies, Et quodcumque jacet sub urbe ffigus.” In the early ages of Rome, surrounded with jealous and hos- tile neighbours, it was necessary to keep constant guards at each gate. But when the people assembled for business in the Campus Martius, these guards were drawn off, that they might assist in the deliberations ; and for the security of the city, a small exploratory guard was placed on this very spot of the Mons Janiculus, from whence they had so full a view of the. Campagnia and Rome. Here they erected a standard, as a mark of safety, which they removed in case of an alarm. The moment that the people in the Campus Martius did not see this standard, there was an end to business, an immediate dis- solution of the assembly, and each man ran to his allotted sta- tion. This precaution, perhaps necessary in the infancy of Rome, continued long after the reason of it seems to have ceased : and towards the end of the republic, we find it some- times politically used. Thus when a faction observed that the * Lib. 4. epig. 63. S 2 3. Porta Angelica. Monte Ma- rio. Mons Jani- culus. ANCIENT ROME. 1$S 3. Porta, Jn^oUca. Ripetta. Adrian’s circus. Prata Quinctia, the farm of Cincinna- tus. assembly were going to decide any question disagreeable to their wishes, they engaged some confidants to run to the Ja- niculum, and take down the standard ; which put an effectual stop to all business. It was in this manner that the senate, in the time of Cicero, stopt the proceedings of the people against Rabirius.'^ IV. PORTA DI GASTELLO. It is so named from the CasteV sant Angelo, formerly the mausoleum of Adrian, in its neighbourhood, which I shall af- terwards examine. The road from this gate passes through the meadows and vineyards. To the left hand it joins the road from the porta Angelica, and to the right hand it leads to the passage-boat at the Ripetta, This Ripetta served formerly, as it does at present, as an harbour for the boats, which bring goods down the river. It was called Navalia. In the meadows, behind the castle, stood Adrians circus ; but of which I saw no remains. These meadows were of considerable extent, although the greatest part of them are now converted into vineyards. Here probably were xhe prata Quinctia, \n\\qvq L. Quinctius Cincin- natus, nobly poor, was, with his own hands, cultivating his little farm, of four ?LCYes, jug-£ra,-\ when he was saluted dictator, * Sueton. Vit. J. Cassaris, c. 12. t Columella de Re Rust. 1 . i. praef. THE GATES AND ENVIRONS. 133 by the deputies of the senate. How elegantly does Livy ^ paint this scene, and the simplicity of the manners of this great man ! What a contrast between these virtuous times, and the luxu- ries and extravagancies of the Romans at the end of the re- public, and during the empire ! when a senator thought himself narrowly lodged, if his house took up only as much ground as the whole arable estate of Cincinnatus. — “ Anguste se habitare nunc putat, cujus domus tantum patet, quantum Cincinnati rura patuerunt.’’-f — Ficoroni J places this venerable farm at Tor di Quinto, a ruin about a mile above the Ponte Molle.^ But the Navalia, mentioned by Livy, does not apply to that place, but to the meadows opposite to the Ripetta. Pliny indeed confirms this opinion, for he says that it was “ in agro Vaticano.'' || It is perhaps unnecessary to observe here, for every one knows, the honours that the Romans, those great masters of human prudence, annexed to agriculture. They brought their dictators and consuls from the plough to quell civil sedition, or to oppose foreign enemies. And after their wisdom and bravery had restored peace to the state, they thought it no dishonour to return back to their farms, and with their triumphant hands again manage the ploughshare. * Lib. 3. c. 26. t Val. Max. 1 . 4. c. 4. sect. 7. :j: Vest, di Roma, 1 . I. c. 28, ^here see a gem, which he supposes represents this subject. ^ Seepage 38. | Pliny, I. 18^ c. 3. 4. Porta di Gastello. I ANCIENT ROME. THE SEVEN HILLS. Having thus examined the gates and walls of Rome, and the antiquities to be seen in its environs, I shall now enter the city. Rome has always been distinguished by its seven hills.* It has been called Septi collis. ‘‘ En hujus, nate, auspiciis ilia inclyta Roma Imperium terris, animos sequabit Olympo, Septemque una sibi muro circumdabit arces, Felix prole virum.”-f The Romans, fond of multiplying festivals, from the cir- cumstance of the seven hills, instituted a religious ceremony which was called dies septimontium. It was celebrated in December; — “ dies septimontium nominatus ab his septem- montibus, in queis sita urbs est."^ J * It is remarkable that Constantinople, the capital of the eastern, like Rome, the capital of the western empire, should have been built on seven hills. See Pocock’s Description of the East, V. 2. part 2d. t Virg. Mn. 1 . 6. v. 782. ^ Varro, de Ling. Lat. lib. 5. 136 ANCIENT ROME. These hills are, 1. the Palatine, which was the Roma Qua- drata of Romulus ; 2. the Capitol, added by T. Tatius ; 3. the Ouirinal, added by Numa ; 4. the Celian, added by Tullus Hostilius ; 5. the Aventine, added by Ancus Martius ; 6 and 7. the Viminal and Esquinal, added by Servius Tullus. Such seems to have been the progress, in which these hills were in- cluded in the city. But in my survey, I shall examine them as they lie contiguous to each other: viz. 1. the Capitol ; 2. the Palatine ; 3. the Aventine ; 4. the Celian ; 5. the Esqui- line ; 6. the Viminal ; and 7. the Quirinal. The Mons Pincius was added to the city by Aurelian ; and the Mons Janiculus, as well as the Mons Vatica?ius, on the Hetruscan side of the river, were properly without the city. We can still trace the seven hills. It is true that they are not so conspicuous as formerly. This, no doubt, is owing to length of time, and to the many devastations Rome has under- gone. When the buildings on the hills were destroyed, either by hostile hands, or by accidental fire, the rubbish was re- moved down to the plains, which raised the latter, and conse- quently diminished the height of the former. Besides the rain, in the space of so many centuries, must have washed away much earth from the hills. The plains, in many places, are now raised eighteen or twenty feet, and in some parts much more, above their former level. Though I cannot de- termine the height of these hills, when Rome was in all its splendour ; yet the ingenious and accurate Sir George Shuck- THE SEVEN HILLS. burgh ^ has given us their present height, and that of some other remarkable parts of Rome, above the level of the Tiber, which I shall beg leave to subjoin. The level of this river, at Rome, according to Sir George's observations, is 33 feet above that of the Metiterranean. Above the Tiber. Feet. “ The top of the Janiculum near the Villa Spada - 260 Aventine hill, near the Priory of Malta - - 117 The Forum, near the arch of Severus, where the ground is raised 234- feet “ “ “ “ 34; Palatine hill, on the floor of the imperial palace - 133 Celian hill, near the Claudian aqueduct - - 125 Bottom of the canal of the Claudian aqueduct - 175 Esquiline hill, on the floor of St. Mary Major's church 154 Capitol hill, on the west end of the Tarpeian rock - 118 In the Strada dei Speccbi, in the convent of St. Clare 27 On the union of the Viminal and Quirinal hills, in the Carthusians' church, Dioclesian's baths - - 141 Pincian hill, in the garden of the Villa Medici - 165 Top of the cross of St. Peter's church - - 502 The base of the obelisk, in the centre of the peristyle 31" I shall first survey the hills, in the order in which they na- turally lie, and afterwards the plains. I begin with * “ Observations in order to ascertain the height of mountain's by means of the barometer.” Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 67. for the year 1777, part 2d, page 594. ANCIENT ROME. 138 I. THE CAPITOL HILL * The Capitol hill, so celebrated by the Roman writers, is surrounded by the Quirinal hill, the Campus Martius, the Ti- ber, and the Forum Romanum. It was fortified by Romulus, as well for a defence to his infant city, as for the asylum which he there opened. It was, however, after the Sabine war that it was made a part of the city by Titus Tatius. For this we have the authority of Tacitus. — “ Capitolium non a Romulo, sed a T. Tatio additum urbi credidere."'‘f Capitol re- Jn the year of Rome 367, after Camillus had taken Veil, paired, after i i i i i Rome was aiid Rome was sacked by the Gauls, the city was in a manner th?Gauis. rebuilt, and the Capitol was repaired with square stones ; a work, says Livy,;|; that may be admired even in the magnifi- cent times of Augustus. I observed, behind the stables of the Cafferelli palace, a wall which seems to be a part of the ancient fortifications. This remain is published by Ficoroni,§ and by Piranesi. || Its small ex- When we view the small extent of this hill, and at the same time call to mind the many temples and other buildings that formerly ornamented it, we are at a loss where to place them. But our wonder ceases, when we consider that these buildings * See Capitol hill, Plan of Rome, plate III. t Ann. 1 . I2. c. 24. X Lib. 6. c, 4. ad fin. § Vest. Rom. 1 . i. c. 10. || Magnif. ed archit. de Romani, Tab. i. THE SEVEN HILLS. 139 and temples, generally small, did not all exist at the same pe- riod. Because, as the Capitol had been frequently destroyed by fire, different names were perhaps given to the new build- ings erected on the ruins of the former. Indeed the Romans built so many temples on this hill, that it may be considered as the principal abode of their gods. As I find no delineation of the Capitol hill on ancient mo- numents, and as few of the foundations of the old buildings are now to be seen, it is impossible to give a plan of its former state. The buildings in which the conquerors of the world assembled, to decide the fate of mankind, are no more. In many of the descriptions of Rome we find plans and elevations of it ; but these are merely ideal, and all differ from each othen Although the whole hill was called Capitolinus, yet Livy and the ancient writers distinguish the Arx, or citadel, from the Capitolium. The former stood on the eminence towards the Tiber, and the latter on the eminence towards the Quirinal. Between these eminences was Romulus's political asylum. “ Romulus ut saxo lucum circumdedit alto ; Cuilibet, hue, inquit, confuge; tutus eris."* It was probably about the place where now stands the noble equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Livy-f says of Romulus — “ locum, qui nunc septus descendentibus inter duos lucos est, asylum aperit. Ex eo finitimis populis turba omnis, sine discrimine, liber an servus esset, avida novarum * Ovid. Fast. I. 3. V. 431. T 2 I. The Ca- pitol hilL No ancient delineations of it. Romulus’s asylum. See Capitol hill, plate III. No. 3. t Liv. 1. I. c. 8, ANCIENT ROME. 140 1. The Ca^ pitol hill. Temples of Jupiter. rerum perfugit."' — Asylums are of great antiquity. The Jews had six cities of refuge for manslayers, who had killed their neighbours unawares.^ But the temples of the Heathens, and afterwards the churches of the Christians, were refuges for criminals of every kind. Asylums, it is true, may occasionally give time to innocence to remove suspicions of guilt ; but in general they are hurtful, and serve to encourage and protect crimes. Of the many temples erected on this hill, the two dedicated to Jupiter, by the names of Feretrius and Capitolinus, were the most remarkable. Donatus-f places the former, where now stands the church of the Ara Coeli, and the latter behind the palace of the Conservatori. Nardini,^ on the other hand, places them just the reversed Both these celebrated antiquaries support their different opinions, by the same passage of Diony- sius of Halicarnassus. § The opinion indeed of Donatus is con- firmed by the learned Fabretti,[| who thinks he saw with his eyes the foundations of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, when the Cafferelli family caused the ground to be levelled between their palace and that of the Conservatori. He there- fore concludes, — “ Ex accurata igitur ea loci descriptione, quce hisce ruderibus optime convenit, controversiam inter P. Alexandrum Donatum et Famianum Nardinum de situ tem- pli subortam, jam facile negotio dijudicare possumus.'' — Had Fabretti measured these foundations, and given the plan of * Numbers, ch. 35. v. 6. + Roma Vetus, 1 . 2. c. 3. + Roma Ant. 1 . 5. c. 14. § Lib. 4. c. 13. sect. 8. (1 De columna Trajani, in addition. THE SEVEN HILLS. them, I should with more certainty have embraced his opi- nion. I shall, however, venture to place the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, being the first built in Rome, at the Ara Cceli. It was founded by Romulus, after he had defeated the Coeni- nenses, and killed Acron their king, whose arms, which he called opima spolia,"^ he consecrated to Jupiter Feretrius. Such was the first Roman triumph ; an honour which the Ro- mans in the sequel were so ambitious to obtain and which * This name, according to Livy, 1 . 4-. c. 2o. was only given to such spoils as the general of the Roman army had taken, with his own hands, from the general of the enemy’s troops. And in the course of the Roman history, I remember only three who had the glory to carry off such spoils : viz. Romulus, Cornelius Cossus, and M. Claudius Marcellus. C. Cossus was not, however, commander in chief when he killed Tolumnius. It has been even disputed whether he was then consul, or only military tribune. Livy thinks he was the former. But Varro says, that the spoils were called opima, though taken by a private soldier, provided he took them from the general of the enemy. Vide Festus, opima spolia. Plutarch has preserved to us Marcellus’s prayer, when he consecrated these trophies to Jupiter. — Life of Marcellus. t The honour of triumph was allowed only to those commanders who were, or had held the office of dictator, consul, or praetor. Thus a triumph was refused to L. Cornelius Lentulus, though worthy of it, because he had not bore any of these offices. — “ Res triumpho dignas esse censebat senatus; sed exemplum a majoribus non accepisse, ut qui neque dictator, neque consul, neque praetor res gessisset, triumpharet.” T. Liv. 1 . 31. c. 20. Pompey’s having therefore tri- umphed, before he had bore any of these offices, was particular. Plutarch’s Life of Pompey. Among the many marks of distinction which the Romans bestowed on their generals, who had obtained the triumphal honours, one was to allow them to 141 I . The Ca- pitol bill. Temple of Jupiter Fe- retrius. No. I. First Roman triumph. 142 ANCIENT ROME. I. The Ca- pitol hill. prove!?, ;to be one of the principal causes of the greatness of Rome. This temple originally was only ten feet long, and five feet broad. ^ “ Jupiter angusta vix totus stabat in 2ede."-f It had no doubt been rebuilt, and rendered more magnificent, as well as more extensive, in after ages, and particularly by Augustus. J But as no part of it now remains, I shall not in- quire into its form. Nardini§ reckons that the columns, which ornament the nave of this church, are the same which sup- ported the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. I should rather, ac- cording to Donatus, suppose them to be the columns of Jupiter Feretrius. But when I examined these columns, which are all of different marbles, heights, and diameters, some of them with, and others of them without bases, I was inclined to think that they had belonged to different buildings. One of these columns, which is the third on the left hand, entering by the great door, has this inscription, cut in large letters, near to the top of it. construct the doors of their houses so as to open into the street, and not into the house, as those of others did. — “ Ut domus eorum fores extra aperirentur, et janua in publicum rejiceretur. Hoc erat clarissimum insigne inter triumphales quoque domos.” Plin. Hist. Nat. 1 . 36. c. 15. — See also Plutarch’s Life of Poplicola. Thus every distinction, how trifling soever it may seem to be in itself, con- ferred by the state, was considered as a mark of honour. Indeed nothing was more political, or tended more to extend the Roman conquests, than the military honours they bestowed on every great action ; such as crowns, supplications, ovations, triumphs, medals, inscriptions, statues, &c. * Dion, Hal. 1 . 2, + Ovid. Fast. 1 . i. v. 201. X Liv. 1.4. c. 19. § P. 310. ed. 1704. 4to. THE SEVE^ HILLS. A CVBICVLO AVGUSTORVM . The Cuhicularii were officers that belonged to the imperial court, and seem to have been either valets des chambres, or those distinguished persons, in some modern courts, called chambellans. If this inscription is entire, which I shall not affirm, we may suppose that it marked out the station allotted to the Cubicularii in some public building. But if it is only a part of an inscription, perhaps it has been a column of a build- ing erected at the expence of some of these officers. The great staircase that leads to the church, from the side of the Campus Martius, consists of one hundred and twenty-four steps. The marble, with which this staircase is constructed, was taken from the temple of Jupiter Quirinus, on the Quirinal hill. Although there are no remains of the temple of Jupiter Ca- pitolinus, it is too remarkable to be passed over in silence. Tarquiiiius Priscus, in the Sabine war, vowed to build a temple to Jupiter on the Mons Tarpeius.^ Tradition pretends that, digging for its foundations, they found a human head entire.-f The augurs immediately pronounced this an happy omen, and gave the name of Capitolium to this place. The whole hill was afterwards called Mons Capitolinus. This temple, though begun by the elder, was only finished by the younger Tar- quin. But the honour of consecrating it was reserved to the * This hill was anciently called Saturnlus, and afterwards TarpeiuSy from the. virgin Tarpeia, who admitted the Sabines into the fortress. + Varro de Ling. Lat. lib. 4. sect. 7. HS 1. The Ca- pitol bill. The Cubi- cularii. Temple of Jupiter Ca- pitolinus. No. 2. ANCIENT ROME. H4< I . The Ca- pitol bill. consul Horatius Pulvillus,* * * § The riches got at taking Suessa Pometia, the capital of the Volsci, are said to have sufficed for building this temple. It was several times consumed by fire. First in the Marian war, and rebuilt by Sylla : — “ Curam [^Capitolii'} victor Sylla suscepit, neque tamen dedicavit : hoc solum felicitati ejus negatum — but not having been entirely finished at his death, it was completed, and afterwards dedi- cated by the consul Q. Lutatius Catulus, who had the honour to have his name inscribed on its front.]; Indeed Julius Cae- sar, then connected with and desirous to flatter Pompey, en- deavoured to have the dedication of this temple conferred on him, and his name inscribed on it, in place of that of Catulus : but Caesar failed in this invidious attempt. § After the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was thus rebuilt, it seems to have suf- fered from thunder, in the consulship of Cotta and Torquatus. For Cicero tells us that, at this time, the turrets of the Capitol, the statues of the gods, and the image of the infant Romulus sucking the wolf, were struck down by lightning. — Tac- tus est ille etiam, qui hanc urbem condidit, Romulus ; quern inauratum in Capitolio parvum atque lactantem, uberibus * Tacit. Hist. I. 3. c. 72. t Tacit, ib. ^ Vide Panvinius et Sigon, in Fast. Cons, ad ann. 675. CL. LVTATIVS , CL* F • CL- N . CATVLVS . COS . SVBSTRVCTIONEM . ET TAEVLARIVM . EXS . C . FACIVNDVM . CVRAV . This inscription, found in the ruins of the Capitol, was perhaps the original which Catulus put up, § Sueton. Vit. J. Cxsar. c. 15, THE SEVEN HILLS. H5 lupinis inhiaiitem fuisse memiiiistis.”* — In'the modern Capitol i- Ca- pitol hill. is preserved a brazen figure of Romulus and Remus sucking Romulus the wolf, which is generally supposed to be that mentioned sucking the by Cicero ; because on one of the legs of the wolf there are brags marks of liquifaction by a stroke of lightning. This statue, we are told, was found in the temple of Romulus, at the foot of the Palatine hill, now dedicated to St. Theodoro. It might probably have been removed thither from the Capitol. It is surely of great antiquity, and perhaps the work of an He- truscan artist. The- singular circumstance of its being da- maged by thunder, leaves little reason to doubt, but that it is the same statue mentioned by Cicero.-f It is not improbable that Virgil had this statue ip view, when he drew his elegant description : Geminos huic ubera circum Ludere pendentes pueros, et lambere matrem Impavidos : illam tereti cervice reflexam Mulcere alternos, et corpora fingere lingua."' J Secondly, this temple was destroyed in the Vitellian sedition, and rebuilt by Vespasian. And thirdly, at the end of his reign, it was again burnt down, and for the last time rebuilt by Domi- tian. Thus it stood till it was demolished and robbed by the barbarous Genseric, who, as Procopius tells.us,§ was invited to Rome by Eudoxia to destroy Maximus, who had killed her husband Valentinian. — “ Jovis Capitolini templum diripuit, ac mediam partem abstulit tecti, quod ex sere optimo ductum * In Catil. 3. t Divinat. 1 . 2. c. 20. + ^En. 1 . 8. 631. § Byzant. Hist. Script. Tom. i. p. 352. ed. Ven. U ANCIENT ROME. 146 I. The Ca- pitol hill. erat/" — The remainder of the brass seems to iiave been car- ried off by Pope Honorius I. to ornament the church of St. Peter. From the description given by Dionysius of Halicar- nassus,* Nardini-f has formed a plan of this temple : but we know how uncertain a plan must be, taken from description only. Perhaps we have an elevation of its portico, preserved in one of the basso-relievos, of Marcus Aurelius's triumphal arch, now placed in the staircase of the palace of the Conser- vatori. This building, delubrum, consisted of three temples, or shall I say of three chapels, under the same roof. The one in the middle was that of Jupiter, on the right hand was that of Minerva, and on the left that of Juno. These three were the — “ Di patrii indigetes" — of Virgil. Fabretti§ has pub- lished an ancient gem, on which these deities, sitting in chairs, are engraved in the same order. If was probably copied from their statues placed here. They were originally of baked clay ; but it appears from Martial, || that Trajan caused them to be executed in gold. “ SculptLis et ^terno nunc primum Jupiter auro." It was perhaps to preserve the memory of this magnificent present, that we find these statues on the reverse of that em- peror's medals.^ In the work entitled “ Lucernae fictiles mu- sei Passerii," there is a lamp, on which is represented the in- side of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. Here we see the * Lib. 3. + Roma Ant. 1. 5. c. 15. f Geor. 1. i. v. 498. § De Columna Trajani, in addition. || Lib. ii. epig. 4. ^ Havercamp. Num. Reginas Christinas, Tab, 12. No. 23. — Just. Rycqui de Capitol. Romano Comment, p. 52. THE SEVEN HILLS. H7 three deities in their niches ; Jupiter is in the centre, Juno is on the left, and Minerva on the right hand. Below is in- scribed — M . I . PH . cos . Ill . — 'Which is interpreted, Mar- cus Julius Philippus Cos. III. It may therefore have served in the festival given by that emperor, in celebrating the secular games. Incredible were the riches and ornaments of this temple, as described by ancient authors. Domitian expended twelve thousand talents in gilding it.^ Although often rebuilt, its precincts seem to have remained the same.-f The only difference was in the taste of architecture and ornaments. It was originally of the Tuscan order, and built by artists of that country. But when restored by Domitian it became Corin- thian, and was surely then in its greatest beauty, “ Et laudant Catuli vilia templa senes."" J Pliny informs us, that after the third Punic war, the pave- ment of this temple was engraved ; but he does not mention what it represented. We learn, however, from him, that it was the first of that kind of work introduced into Rome.§ It was into the wall of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, on the side next Minerva"s chapel, that the chief magistra:te drove a nail, annually, on the ides of September, whereby they * Plut. Life of Poplicola. t “ Curam restituendi Capitolii in L. Vestinum confert (Vespasianus.) Ab CO contracti haruspices, monuere, ut reliquiae prioris delubri in paludes arehe- rentur: templum iisdem vestigiis sisteretur : nolle deos mutari veteremformam.’' Tacit. Hist. 1 . 4. c. 53. ^ Mart. 1 . 5. epig. 10. § “ Rom;E scalpturatum in Jovis Capitolini aede primum factum est post tertium Punicum bellum initum.” Plin. Hist. Nat. 1 . 36. e, 25. U 2 I. The Ca- pitol bill- The annual nail. ANCIENT ROME. 148 I. The Ca- pitol bill. iEdes Fidei. The Tar- peian rock. reckoned the years of the state, by the number of nails. Livy*" calls this ceremony clavum pangere, ov clavum figere : and adds the reason of this method of preserving their chronology — ‘‘ quia rarse per ea tempora literae erant."^ The nail was called clavus annalis. I find this custom remaining in the 391 year of Rome, in the consulate of L. yEmilius Mamercinus, and of Cn. Genucius Aventinesis. The country people long continued to reckon their own and children's ages, by driving nails into the walls of their cottages. -f This operation was likewise believed to be an antidote against the plague : for this purpose L. Manlius, A. U. 390, was named Dictator to drive the nail. Cicero places the Mdes Fidei near to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, but of which there are no remains . — “ Oui jus jurandum violat, is Fidem violat, quam in Capitolio vicinam Jovis Opt. Max. majores nostri esse voluerunt.'";j; From the Tarpeian rock the Romans threw down many of their criminals. — “ Et horribilis de saxo jactus deorsum.'’"§ A mode of execution used by the Jews,|| and other ancient nations. But its situation, like that of many of the Roman antiquities, is disputed by the antiquaries. The precipice at * Lib. 7. c. .3. ‘ t Petron. Satyr, c. 59. J Cic. de Of- ficiis, 1 . 3. c. 29. § Lucretius, 1 . 3.' v. 1029. || 2 Chro- nicles, ch. 25. V. 12. — See Barrington’s Observations on the ancient Statutes, viz. 23 Henry VIII. THE SEVEN HILLS. 149 the corner of the CafFarelli palace, and which overlooks the i.TheCa- .pitol hill. convent of the Tor di Specchi, is commonly shown as such. No. 4. And, notwithstanding the quantity of rubbish with which it is filled up, its height is not so contemptible as represented by Bishop Burnet,'* who seems, unhappily, to have had a re- luctancy to tell truth, even when he had no interest to do otherwise. This precipice is still about sixty feet of perpen- dicular height ; and if we add to it twenty feet, which seems to be the height of the rubbish accumulated at the bot- tom above the modern street, and twenty feet more, the height of the latter above that of the ancient street ; the height of the whole was about an hundred feet. Others again have placed this rock on the side of the hill towards the Forum. No. 5. And, indeed, there is a considerable rock, on that part of the hill called Monte Capri no, which overlooks the piazza of the church della Consolazione, where formerly was the Forum Ro- manum. This rock, no doubt, might have served for this dis- mal purpose. But the former seems more probably to have been the Tarpeian rock, because from it the criminal was thrown properly out of the city, into the Campus Martins, which was, as I have already observed, only inclosed within the city walls by Aurelian. et Dionysius of Halicarnassus'^^ tells us, that Cassius, condemned for conspiring against the state, in the twenty-third year after the expulsion of the kings, was thrown down, in presence of the people, from the rock that overlooked the Foru.u. Although the Romans placed many of the tables of their Tabula- rium. * Travels, p. 231. ed. 1750. t Lib. 8. c. 12. sect. 4. 150 ANCIENT ROME. I. The Ca^ pitol bill. No, 6. Temple of Jupiter To- nans. No. 7. laws in the portico of the temple of Jupiter Capitolhius, and in the Atrium Libertatis, which seems to have stood on the Aventine hill ; yet they had a particular building for that purpose on the Capitol hill, called the Tahularium. The public laws, engraved on tables of brass, were fixed up in the porticos of this build- ing, for the immediate inspection of the people ; as within it the private deeds and other records were preserved. Vespasian undertook to restore three thousand of these tables, which were defaced by fire, in the Vitellian tumult, causing diligent search to be made for the truest copies to supply the loss. — ‘‘ Instrumentum Imperii pulcherrimum, ac vetustissimum con- fecit, quo continebantur pene ab exordio urbis senatus-consulta, plebiscita, de societate et foedere, ac privilegio cuicumque con- cessis.'"^ These laws thus restored by Vespasian, were again destroyed in a subsequent fife. And, in these different confla- grations, we may justly conclude, perished the most valuable vouchers of the Roman history. The senators’ palace is built on the ruins of the Tahularium ; and we still see a part of its Doric portico, towards the Forum, which serves for his stables.-f Immediately behind the Tahularium, on the declivity of the hill, but much covered with rubbish, are three columns, with part of the frieze and cornice of the temple of Jupiter Tonans. Of all the epithets given to Jupiter, none conveyed more ter- ror to superstitious man than that of the Thunderer. — “ Coelo tonantem credidimus Jovem Regnare.”! * Suet. Vit. Vespas. c. 8. t This remain is published by Ficoroni, Vest, di Roma, 1. i. c. 10 . X f 3* 5- THE SEVEN HILLS. Hence it was that Augustus caused this temple to be built, to celebrate an escape which was somewhat particular. For be- ing on an expedition in Cantabria, and travelling by night, a flash of lightning struck against his litter, and killed the ser- vant who carried the torch.* * * § It had been burnt down, pro- bably, along with the Tahularium, and afterwards restored, as appears from the letters . estitver . . .-f still to be seen on the frieze. This temple is Corinthian, the columns are white marble fluted, and the capitals and frieze are finely wrought. J On the side of the frieze remain some instruments of sacrifice elegantly cut in basso-relievo, viz. the prajiculum, the patera, the aspergillum, the securis, and culter. Here we see the al- bogaleriis, a cap exactly like a bishop's mitre, which no doubt had been worn by the priests of Jupiter, and from which the church has taken this ornament. Augustus has likewise trans- mitted to us the history of this event, on the reverse of one of his medals, where' we see this temple, with the inscription — lOVI TONANTI. It appears from Suetonius, § that the emperor often went to this temple; and that the people, copying his example, rarely paid their devotions to any other deity. The historian, there- * Suet. Vit. Aug. c. 28. t The first letter, viz. r is wanting, as are the last three, viz. vnt. See Piranesi’s view of it — Ant. di Roma, Tom. i. tab. 32. fig. 2. — See also “ Les Edifices de Rome, par Desgodctz,” c. ii, § “ Cum dedicatam in Capitolio asdem Tonanti Jovi assidue frequentaret, somniavit queri Capitolinum Jovem, cultores sibi abduci, seque respondisse ; Tonantem pro janitore ei appositum.” — Vit. August, c. gi. 151 I. The Ca- pitol bill. 152 ANCIENT ROME. I, The Ca- pitol hill. Modern Ca- pitol. Museum. Lex regia. fore, pleasantly tells us, that Jupiter Capitolinus appeared in a dream to Augustus, and complained that he had diminished the number of his votaries, to which he artfully answered, that he had only given him a porter in the person of Jupiter Tonans. And, indeed, this temple is so placed that it might have been called the porter s lodge of the Capitol. I cannot leave this hill without observing, that the modern Capitol was rebuilt, by order of Pope Paul III. from the de- signs of Michael Angelo Buonaroti. And the Museum and pa-- lace of the Conservatori are monuments of the fine taste of that great artist. The Museum contains the noble collection of marbles, busts, statues, basso-relievos, urns, 'inscriptions, &c. formed by Cle- ment XII. and Benedict XIV. To give a list of these curious monuments would require a particular work ; and such a one has been presented to the public, accompanied with prints and learned remarks, by Monsignor Bottari, and Signor Niccolo Fuggini.* And Marchese Lucatelli-f has given a descriptive catalogue of them. In the Museum I saw the plate of brass on which is engraved * “ Museo Capitolino, contenente le imagini degli uomini illustri, &c. colie osservazioni di Monsignor Gio. Bottari.” In Roma, nella Calcografia, 4 Tom. fol. t “ Museo Capitolino, o sia descrizione delle statue, &c. che si custodiscono nell palazzo alia dcstra del Senatorio,” &c. In Roma, nella Stamparia del Ber- nabo, 1750. 4to. THE SEVEN HILLS. 153 the celebrated decree called the Lex Regia. By this lasting monument of servility the senate divested themselves of all power, by authorizing Vespasian to make and repeal laws, de- clare peace and war, and to do every other act of sovereignty, without asking their advice or consent. This inscription, in- deed, proves that the emperors, as such, did not succeed to the unlimited power of the kings ; for the supreme power still re- mained in the people and senate, who conferred it on such, and not on all, of the emperors as they judged proper. Be- cause here we find that, before Vespasian, this exuberant au- thority had been given only to Augustus, to Tiberius, and to Claudius.^ In the palace of the Conservatori, among other ancient cu- rious monuments, are preserved the Fasti Consulares, found in the Forum, during the pontificate of Paul III. and given to the Capitol by Cardinal Alexander Farnese ; inscriptions well known, and which have thrown much light on chronology. In an adjacent building is the gallery of pictures, purchased by Pope Benedict XIV, for the use of the public, and where he established the academy of drawing. Let me now turn towards the Forum. The entries to the Capitol were formerly from that side, the rest being fortified. * This inscription has been published by several authors, particularly by Gruter, Gronovius, Gravina, Heineccius, and by Leopoldus Metastasius, in a dissertation intituled — De Lege Regia, seu tabula aenea Capitolina, notis animadversionibus illustrata per Leopoldum Metastasium, Petri fratrem. Romae, 1757- 4 to. X 1. The Ca- pitol bill. Conserva- tori. Fasti Con- sulares. Gallery of pictures. Entries to the Capitol. ANCIENT ROME. 154 1. The Ca- pitol bill. Tullianum. They seem to have been three. The clivus capitolinus proba- bly led from the side of the Tahularium towards the temple of Concord, and was terminated by Tiberius's triumphal arch, of which there is no remain,^ The second entry was from the other side of the Tabularium, and led to Septimius Severus's triumphal arch, which I shall afterwards mention. And the third entry led to the Forum of Mars, and is now called Salita di Marforio, a corruption of Martis Forum : this entry is just behind the church named St. Peter s prison, which is com- monly reckoned the ancient Tullianum.^ Though these three were the principal entries to the Capitol, yet it appears from Tacitus' J account of the Vitellian war, that a staircase of an * This arch was erected in memory of the standards, the eagles, lost by Varus in Germany, having been recovered by Germanicus, under the auspices of Tiberius. — Tacit. Ann. 1 . 2. c. 41. t The Tullianum, so called from Servius Tullus, who seems to have invented it, was,not the prison in general, but a dismal dungeon in it, where malefactors were privately strangled. To be sent to the Tullianum was the same as a sen- tence of death. As a terror to commit a crime, this prison was built in view of the Forum. The description which Sallust gives of the Tullianum conveys to us all the horrors of a prison. — “ Est locus in carcere, quod Tullianum adpellatur, ubi paullulum ascenderis ad laevam, circiter duodecim pedes humi depressus ; eum muniunt undique parietes, atque insuper camera, lapideis fornicibus vincta : sed incultu, tenebris, odore foeda atque terribilis ejus facies est.” Bel. Catilin. c. 55. — This description, I think, exactly answers to the appearance of the church called St. Peter's prison, though antiquaries are divided in their opinions on this head. (See Nardini, Rom. Ant. 1 . 5. c. ii.) The Tullianum was long the only prison in Rome. Juvenal considered this as a mark of the morals of the people. — “ Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas Secula, quae quondam sub regibus, atque tribunis Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam.” Sat. 3. v. 312. X Hist. 1 . 3. c. 71. THE SEVEN HILLS. m hundred steps led to the Capitol by the Tarpeian rock, — Turn diversos Capitolii aditus invadunt, juxta lucum asyli, et qua Tarpeia rupes centum gradibus aditur."' At the north-east side of this hill, at what is now called Ma- cel di Corvi, I observed the remains of the sepulchral monument of C. Poblicius Bibulus, which is thus inscribed-r— C. POBLICIO . L. F. BIBVLO . AED . PL. HONORIS VIRTVTISQVE . CAVSA . SENATVS CONSVLTO . POPVLIQVE . IVSSV . LOCVS MONVMENTO . qVO . IPSE . POSTEREIQVE EIVS . INFERRENTVR . PVBLICE . DATVS . EST. This monument, when erected, had been without the walls of the city, and was properly in the Campus Martius. Still it was a singular honour conferred on Bibulus, who seems to have lived in the time of the second Punic war, though I cannot with certainty trace his history. Indeed, I find a C. Poblicius Bibulus pro-qu£estor in the consulship of Q. Fabius Flaccus in the year of Rome 541, and tribune of the people in the consulship of Q. Fabius Maximus, in the year 544. This monument is no doubt of great antiquity, and the form of the characters of the inscription deserve the attention of the cu- rious. It is published by Piranesi.* * Ant. Rom. Tom. 2. tab. 4 and 5. X g I. ne Ca- pitol bill. Sepulchre of C. Poblicius Eibulus. 1^6 ANCIENT ROME, II. THE PALATINE HILL. The Palatine hill, which we may consider as the centre of the seven hills, was that on \vhich Romulus founded Rom« ^ it was the Roma Quadrata : but in the sequel it served only for the imperial palace. It is a trapezium, approaching to a parallelogram. The side AB fronts the Circus Maximus, BD the Forum Ro- manum, DC the via Sacra, and CA the Celian hill. lacrbegun Before the time of Augustus, many buildings, both public by Augm- and private stood on this hill. It was in Hortensius^s house nisLd by where Augustus first dwelt. But that having been consumed Domitian. THE SEVEN HILLS. by fire,* and perhaps thought too little for the imperial dig- nity, he seems to have formed a regular plan of an immense building. He executed, however, only that part of it towards the Celian hill. The other half, towards the Forum, was carried on by Tiberius, and completed by Caligula. But as the palace had suffered much from fire, at different times, the whole was restored and rendered more magnificent by Domi- tian. For which purpose he employed the architect Rabirius, whose talents are celebrated by Martial. ■f— “ Astra polumque tua cepisti mente, Rabiri : Parrhasiam mira qui struis arte domum.” This palace is most advantageously situated. It overlooks, in a manner the city, and is placed, according to Vitruvius,^ in the most healthful position. For he advises, in such a cli- mate as Italy, not to build a house to front any of the four cardinal points of the compass : and here we find this building flanked by them ; for the line SN lies south and north. Few of the magnificent buildings of the Romans have suf- fered more than the imperial palace, from length of time and barbarous hands. Indeed many remains of it are still to be seen, but so disjointed and defaced, that I cannot but think it almost impossible to make out with certainty a plan, and much more so an elevation of it. Such an undertaking, how- * Suet. Vit. Aug. c. 57. t Lib. 7. ep. 56. — Vide 1 . 10. ep. 71. t Lib. I. c. 6. 157 2. The Pala- tine hill. Its situation. Described by Bianchi- ni. 158 ANCIENT ROME. 2. The Pala- tine bill. See Palatine hill, pi. Ill, No.i.anda, No. 5. Gardens of Adonis. ever, has been attempted by the learned Monsignor Biancbini.* He died before his work was finished, and several articles be no doubt intended to have mentioned are wanting. It is true, he does not offer to give plans or elevations of the palace as it was left either by Augustus, or Tiberius, or Caligula, but only as it was restored and improved by Domitian. Although this work, which is full of ingenious remarks, does not give us, perhaps, the real plan of the imperial palace, yet it gives us such an one as is not unworthy of the Roman emperors, and may afford many useful and curious hints to architects. Bianchini divides this palace into two parts. The half which looks towards the Celian hill, he calls Domus Augustana, and many of its ruins are to be seen in the gardens of the English college, and convent of St. Bonaventura. The other half, which looks towards the Forum, he calls Domus Tiberiana, and we find its ruins in the Farnese gardens. Each of these buildings was divided into several courts and apartments. Between these two buildings were the gardens of Adonis. They stood on that part of the hill now belonging to the Spada family. They were laid out by Domitian in the Assy- rian manner, and seem to answer to the description given of those of Ahasuerus, in the book of Esther, ch. 1. Perhaps we have the plan of these gardens, and of the noble hall, or tricli- nium, that stood in their centre, still preserved, in one of the fragments of the marble plan of Rome, executed in the time * Dell’ Palazzo de Cesari, opera postuma di Monsignor Francesco Bianchini, Veronese. In Verona, per Berno, 1738. fol. THE SEVEN HILLS. of Septimius Severus, and which are now placed in the Capi- tol. This fragment is marked . . donaea . . , the first letter A having been broke off.* * * § Bellori,-f who first published these fragments, reckons adonaea the same as Adonidis Aula. It was here that Domitian, according to Philostratus,J gave au- dience to Apollonius Tyaneus, that celebrated impostor. The entry to the gardens seems to have been from the via Sacra. The end towards the circus was terminated by a theatre, which Panvinius,§ and from him Bianchini, calls theatrum Tauri. I am at a loss to know the reason of its being thus named. I remember no theatre built by Taurus. There was, indeed, an amphitheatre built by Statilius Tau- rus, which stood in the Campus Martius ; but which is quite different from the theatre on this hill. On each side of the gardens there was a gymnasium, or hyppodrom, for exercise. The palace was supplied with water from the Claudian aqueduct, which was brought over the Celian hill : and some of its arches are to be seen in the gardens of St. Bonaventura. It was on the Palatine hill that Augustus built the temple of Apollo. It stood, according to Bianchini, a little beyond Titus's triumphal arch, in the gardens formerly of Ronconi, and which are now part of the convent of St. Bonaventura. * See plate VII. + Fragmenta Vestigii veteris Romae. Tab. XI. — They have since been republished, in small, by Piranesi, Ant. Rom. Tom. i. Life of Apollonius Tyaneus, 1 . 7. c. 14. and 1 . 8. c. 2. § De ludis Circensibus. z. The Paid., tine bill. A theatre. No. 3. Claudian aqueduct. Temple of Apollo. 1^0 ANCIENT ROME. ^ On the reverse of a medal of Augustus, published by Ficoroni,* I observe a temple, which is reckoned the one in question. By this it appears to have been a rotondo, with an open portico, somewhat like the temple of Vesta, Bianchini places it in a square court ornamented with a peristyle. The statues of the fifty daughters of Danaus surrounded the portico ;-f and op- posite to them their husbands on horseback. In this temple were preserved some of the finest works, both of sculpture and painting of the celebrated Greek artists. Here, in pre- sence of Augustus, the Carmen Seculare of Horace was sung by twenty-seven noble youths, and as many virgins. And here the emperor, towards the end of his reign, often assem- bled the senate. J Libraries. Contiguous to this temple were the Greek and Latin libra- ries, formed by Augustus. In these were deposited the works of the most elegant writers. They were under the immediate protection of Apollo. Horace, § accusing Celsus of plagiarism, says he copies the works approved of by the Palatine Apollo. — Quid mihi Celsus agit? monitus, multumque monendus ; Privatas ut quierat opes, et tangere vitet Scripta, Palatinus qusecunque recepit Apollo.'’" Caius Julius Higinus, the freedman of Augustus, and an eminent grammarian, was librarian of the Palatine library. j| * Le Vest, dl Roma, I. i. c. 8. t Propertius, 1 . 2. eleg. 2i. 4 ; Suet. V. Aug. c. 29. § Lib. i. epist. 3. II Suetonius de illust. Gramm, c. 20. THE SEVEN HILLS. i6i In the year 1720, digging in the Farnese gardens, a most magnificent hall was discovered. It had been concealed by the roof which had broken down, and by the rubbish of the adjacent buildings which had been carried there. See its plan and elevation in Bianchini. It was 200 palms in length, and 132 in breadth. It was ornamented with columns of giallo antico, and other precious marbles. Here were found several colossial statues of basalte. And indeed the very fragments of capitals and friezes, still to be seen in the Farnese gardens, demonstrate the magnificence of this hall. No sooner was it fully discovered than the Farnese family robbed it of all its ornaments. Bianchini reckons that it was built by Domitian, and served for the great chamber of audience. Behind this hall I saw baths, which had been finely painted. A few of the paintings still remaining are a proof of it. These surely were not the baths mentioned by Cicero, in his oration for Sextus Roscius ; but perhaps they are those to which Ca- ligula endeavoured to escape, when he was murdered by the captain of the pretorian guard, in an unfrequented corridor that led to them, as related by the historian Josephus.* Bianchini places the temple of Augustus near to the great hall, on a line with that of Apollo. I am rather inclined to think, that the temple of Augustus stood on the side of the hill towards the Forum ; since it was over that temple that Caligula laid his bridge to join the palace to the Capitol.-f * De Bello Jud. 1 . 19. c. i. t Suet. V. Calig. c. 23. Y 2. The Pala- tine hill. A magnifi*- cent hall. Baths. Temple of Augustus. ANCIENT ROME. 162 2. TJbe Pala- tine hill. Front of the palace. No. 4. This temple was destroyed by fire, before the time of Pliny the elder. The part of the palace towards the Forum was extended by Caligula.* He so contrived it, that the temple of Castor and Pollux seemed to be no more than a portico to his imperial mansion. He thus honoured these heroical divinities, by making them his porters. Here he used to sit, in his mad fits, to be seen amidst his brother deities, and to be adored by those who came to him about business. There were, no doubt, entries to the palace from each side ; but the principal front was towards the via Sacra. Bianchini flatters himself that he has discovered the elevation of its por- tico. For Servius, the ancient commentator of Virgil, says that the poet,-f under the name of the palace of Latinus, really described that of Augustus on the Palatine hill. — Tectum augustum, ingens, centum sublime columnis, Urbe fuit summa,” &c. Now, at these verses, we find a painting, preserved among the fragments of the Vatican. Virgil, J of a portico, with eight fluted Corinthian columns, not unlike that of the Pantheon. This Bianchini supposes to have been copied from Augustuses palace, as that building probably existed when these paintings * Suet. V. Calig. c. 23. t Mn. 7. v. 170. See Sancto Bartoli’s print of it, in “ Antiquissimi Virgiliani Codicis frag- menta, et picturae ex bibliotheca Vaticana.” THE SEVEN HILLS. were executed ; which Mabillion* reckons to be prior to the time of Constantine. To render the ascent to the palace, from the via Sacra, more easy, there were steps, probably extended in a semicircular form, before the portico, but so low that even horses and carriages could go up. It was such as the Italians call scala a cordonata. When Plotina, the virtuous wife of Tr^'an, first entered the imperial palace, she stopped on the staircase, and, turning to the people, said, that she hoped to return from the palace as innocent as she now entered it.*'!” In the Theodosian code;|; we find several laws, of Valentinian and Valens, — “ de annonis civicis, et de pane gradili”— which ordered the bread, their liberality gave to the people, to be publicly distributed on the staircase. It is reasonable to believe that it was done on the steps of the palace, under their own eyes. The extent, the variety, the beauty and riches of the impe-= rial palace pronounced it the habitation of the masters of the world. I cannot conclude this article, without mentioning the tem- ple of the goddess Viriplaca, which anciently stood on the Pa- latine hill.§ When any dispute arose between husband and wife, they repaired to this temple, and after exposing their complaints before the goddess, all their differences were im- * Iter Italicum, p. 6i. t Dion. Cassius, inTrajano, c. 15. L. 14. tit. 17. § Val. Max. 1 . 2. c. i. Ys 2, The V ala- tine MU. Principal entry. Temple of Viriplaca. ANCIENT ROME. i6^ ^'Inehui^' mediately reconciled, and they returned home in friendship. Pity it is that there are not every where temples that can pro- duce such happy effects ! Mr. Gibbon^ says, that the epithet Viriplaca, appeaaer of husbands, too clearly indicates on which side submission and repentance were always expected.” The celebrated historian seems to have taken this idea from the learned Ludovicus Vives.-f But the persuasive eloquence of the fair sex will, no doubt, easily vindicate their own rights ; nor need they the assistance of my rough voice to do so. * Roman Empire, Vol. 4. p. 379. 410. t Treatise on the duties of husbands to their wives, 1 . 2. THE SEVEN HILLS. III. THE AVENTINE HILL. Behind the Circus Maximus lies the Aventine hill. It is sur- rounded by the circus, the Tiber, the city walls, and Cara- calla's baths. Here Remus wished to build the new city, but was prevented by an unpropitious augury. This hill was therefore long considered as unfortunate. And though it was inclosed by walls, and thus added to Rome by Ancus Martius, yet it was not reckoned properly within the pomcerium till the reign of Claudius. On the Aventine hill were many temples and other build- ings, of which Nardini^ has given us a list : but as there are now no remains of them, I shall not give myself much trouble to fix their precise situations. At present a few churches and vineyards are only to be seen here. Of these temples" that of Diana -f was the most celebrated. It was built by Servius Tullius at the expence, and for the common use, of the people of Latium and Sabina. Here they annually assembled, and, after sacrificing to the goddess, any disputes that had arisen between the different cities were ami- cably adjusted. The treaty of alliance, and the rules to be observed at these meetings, were engraved on a pillar in the * Roma Ant. 1 . 7. c. 7. t Diana was the same as Luna : hence Ovid says — • “ Luna regit menses, hujus quoque.tempora mensis Finit Aventino Luna colenda jugo.” Fast. 1 . 3. v. 883. 165 See Aven- tine hill, plate III. Temple of Diana. i66 ANeiENt ROME» ^.Tbe Aven- tine bill. No. 1. No. 2. Temple of Juno. Temple of Hercules. No. 3. Armilus- trum. temple.* This political institution resembled that of Ephesus, dedicated by the Asiatic Greeks to the same deity. Where this temple stood is quite uncertain. Some antiquaries have placed it where now stands the church of St. Sabina, and others where we see that of St. Prisca ; but Bufalini, in his map of Romej-f places it almost on the centre of the hill. Another remarkable temple that stood on this hill was that of Juno, vowed to her by Camillus at the siege of Veii. Her statue, which was carried in solemn procession from that un- fortunate city, was preserved here. “ Nec gens ulla tuos seque celebravit honores.^' The situation of this temple is equally uncertain. I find, in- deed, that some antiquaries place it at St. Sabina. The twenty-four elegant Corinthian columns, of white marble, fluted, which support the nave of this church, may have or- namented some of the temples that stood in this neighbour- hood. Near to this church is that of St. Alexius, lately rebuilt at the expence of Cardinal Ouirini.§ The temple of Hercules is by some writers placed here : for near to it was found the sta- tue of young Hercules, of basalte, preserved in the Capitol. Others reckon that this had been the situation of the armilus'- trum, from an inscription likewise found here. * Dion. Hal. 1 . 4. c. 7. sect. 5. t Republished by Nolli. X Virg. iEn. 1 . 12. V. 840. § D. Felix Nerinius, de Tempi© €t Ccenobio S. S. Bonifacii et Alexii. THE SEVEN HILLS» SACRVM . MAG . VICI . ARMILVSTRI The armilustrum'\ was an annual feast, J at which the sol- diers, in armour, were purified. They sacrificed and danced round an altar, perhaps in honour of Hercules. It was pro- bably here that the Romans deposited their arms ; for they were not allowed to wear them but in time of war. The po- lished Romans, as well as the Greeks, thought it incompatible with civil government to wear arms in time of peace. If dis- putes arose between man and man, they were to be decided by the magistrate. To be armed in time of peace, and to deter- mine our private quarrels with the sword, are customs we in- herit from our Gothic and Celtic ancestors. The Germans were always armed. — “ Nihil autem neque publicae neque pri- vatas rei, nisi armati agunt,^"§ — The absurd and barbarous method of deciding questions of property by duel, seems to have been early practised by the Celtic nations. Thus we find in Spain, about the 546th year of Rome, two noblemen, cousin-germans, deciding by the sword a claim for the prin- cipality of the city of Ibis. And though Scipio desired to settle their dispute amicably, they refused to do so, saying — > “ Nec alium deorum hominumve, quara Martem, se judicem habituros esse.” |1 The cave of Cacus, that famous robber, is supposed to have stood between the temple of Hercules and the river. Accord- * Lucio Fauno. 1 . 3. c. i. t Var. Ling. Lat, 5. 3. + It was on the xiv. cal. Novem. ' § Tacit, de Moribus German, c. 13. )| T. Liv, 1 . 28. c. 21. 167 3. TbeAven- tine hill. Cave of Ca- cus. i68 ANCIENT ROME. 5. TbeAven tine hill. Priorato of Malta. No. 4. Temple of the Dea Bo- na. Temple of Isis. ' ing to Livy^ he was a shepherd : — “ Pastor accola ejiis loci, nomine Cacus, ferox viribus."' — And Virgil']' makes him the son of Vulcan' or the god of fire. Huic monstro Vulcanus erat pater."" But, stripped of his poetical appellation, perhaps Cacus was a blacksmith, who had a forge on the side of the Aventine hill. Joining to the convent of St. Alexius, I saw the church of St. Mary, belonging to the knights of Malta ; which, with its little beautiful villa, is known by the name of the Priorato. From hence we enjoyed a most advantageous view both of Rome and of the Campagnia. The temple of the Dea Bona is reckoned to have stood here : it was consecrated by the vestal Claudia, and afterwards restored by Livia, the wife of Au- gustus. Publius Victor mentions the temple of Isis on the Aventine hill. The curious table of basalte, covered with Egyptian hieroglyphics, found here A. D. 1709, and published by Fi- coroni, had no doubt belonged to this temple. Apuleius§ has given a description of the feasts of Isis, as performed at Rome, and which the Romans had copied from the Egyptians, when they introduced her worship into Italy. These ceremonies were so indecent that her priests and votaries were, for some time, banished from Rome. Juvenal, || with his usual energy, represents the temples of Isis as places of prostitution. — * T. Liv. 1. I. c. 7. t iEn. 8. v. 198. $ Vest, di Roma, 1. I. c. 12. § Lib. ii. || Satyr. 6. v. 488, THE SEVEN HILLS. 1 % ‘‘ Jamque expectatur in hortis, Aut apud Isiac£6 potius sacraria lenae.” In a vineyard, formerly belonging to the Jesuits, near to the church of St. Prisca, I observed some ancient walls, orna- mented with niches, which some antiquaries reckon to have been part of the Atrium Libert atis. I shall now examine the ground to the west of the hill. Below the Aventine hill, along the side of the river, were the salt works, public granaries and magazines of different kinds. Some vestiges of these buildings still remain . Perhaps they were some of those magazines erected by Alexander Severus, where creditors might safely deposite the pledges of their debtors. For by so doing, if any accident happened to the pledge, the loss fell on the debtor, and the creditor had still his personal action against him for the value.'^ This appears to have been the port where ships unloaded their cargoes ; for many columns and fragments of precious marbles have been found here : in- somuch that the modern Romans call it la marmorata.\ Behind these buildings, on the plain, is Monte Testaccio, or * This is clearly pointed out, Cod. 1 . 4. tit. 24. sect. 9. — “ Pignus in bonis debitoris permanere, ideoque ipsi perire in dubium non venit. Cum igitur adse- veras in horreis pignora deposita, consequens est, secundum jus perpetuum pigno- ribus debitori pereuntibus (si tamen in horreis, quibus et alii solebant publice uti, res depositae sint)personalem actionem debiti reposcendi causa integram te habere.” t Ficoroai, Vest, di Roma, 1. i. c. 22. z j. The Aven- tine bill. Atrium Li- bertatis. No. 5. Magazines and grana- ries. No. 6, Monte Tes- taccio. ANCIENT ROME. 3. TheAven- tine hill. Cellars re- markably cold. Mans Testaceus, or Doliolum. This is a very extraordinary ar- tificial hill, made up of broken pots, bricks, and all sorts of potters' ware. It is about two hundred palms high ; its great- est breadth is two hundred and forty palms ; and its circum- ference five hundred and ninety paces. I find no mention made of this hill by ancient authors.* The antiquaries have assigned different reasons how it came to be formed. The most probable one is, that it had been the potters' field, whose broken pots, &c. have, in process of time, formed a great part of this hill ; and which has been increased by the rubbish brought from the buildings in the neighbourhood. Cellars, surprisingly cold, have been cut out of this hill, wliere the Romans keep large quantities of wine. Some have ascribed this great cold to the wind playing through the vacuities or crevices of the potsr-f and' others to particular salts in this ground, with which it is impregnated : salts, perhaps, not pe- culiar to this spot, but distilled from the pots, bricks, &c. This curious subject surely deserves to be attentively exa- mined by the naturalists. In the mean time I shall beg leave to subjoin some thermometrical observations, made in one of these cellars, which may throw some light on this subject. * In a lease of a vineyard, A. D. 1256, published by Nerini (de*Templo S- Alexii, p. 438.) this hill is called Mans de Palio. Because the races, named Corsa del Palloy were run here, till Paul 2d built the palace of St. Mark, from which time these diversions have been exhibited, during the last eight days of the Carnival, in the street from thence called il Corso. t M. de Saussure ascribes this cold to a current of air, like that which issues from the grottos at Cesi, called bocche del venii. Letter to Sir William Hamil- ton, K. B. published in the Journal de Physique, Janvier, 1776. THE SEVEN HILLS. 171 August 26th, 1762. A thermometer, divided according to the scale of M. de Reaumure, being taken into one of the cellars, under Monte Testaccio, the mercury, in the several stations, to which it was removed, stood at the underwritten degrees. Degrees above the freezing point. The thermometer being placed at the entrance of the cellar, within the arch, and resting on the ground, the mercury stood at - - - - -12 In the same place, the thermometer being suspended about four feet from the ground, it was at - - 13 In the same place, but suspended from the top of the arch, it marked - - - - ~ 15 The thermometer being placed within the vault, about half way from the door- way to the farther extremity, and suspended about seven feet high, the mercury stood at 15 In the same place, on the ground - - 11 The thermometer being removed to the farthest ex- tremity of the cave, and suspended as before - 13 In the same place, on the ground - - 10 N. B. This is the temperature of the cave of the observatory at Paris. The mercury, when the thermometer was carried into the open air, but in the shade, was at - - 21 And when placed in the sun, but exposed to a brisk wind, it was at - - - _ 2^ The mean heat of Rome is about le*" 5 Paris - 91 London - 86 Z 2 ^.TheAven- tine hid. 172 ANCIENT ROME. 3. The Avert- tine hill. From these several observations it appears, first, that the greatest degree of cold in the cellar is nearest the ground. And, edly. That the cold diminishes the nearer you approach to the entrance. From hence it seems natural to conclude, First, that the cold in the cellar does not proceed from any cold air being introduced, or filtered through innumerable cre- vices, as has been imagined ; because in that case the cold would certainly be more sensible at the first discharge from them, that is at the top of the vault, whereas it is indeed there in a less degree than belowv Secondly, that the cold, proceeding only from an exclusion of the warmer air, is greater at the farther distance from the door, because some warmer air must enter there, and loses its degree of warmth as it advances into the cellar. Thirdly, that the sensible stream of cold, which is so re- markable at the entrance of the cellar, and even at some dis- tance from it, does not proceed from any current of air pass- ing through the cellar, from the interstices abovementioned, but is really no more than the volume of cold air, which was in the cellar, forcing its way from thence b}^ the bottom of the opening of the door, and driving before it the warmer ex- terior air, which being lighter, must yield to its effort : whilst THE SEVEN HILLS. 173 on the contrary this latter, to replace the vacuum, which would z TheAven- tine bill. Otherwise remain in the cellar, flows into it, by the upper part of the opening. That these two currents are real, seems natural to imagine, both from the difference of the temperature of the air, in the several heights, as mentioned in the observations made at the door ; and even from the sensation of an observer, standing there, who will feel the cold far more sharp on his legs than upwards. And that two such currents of the same fluid, in the same opening, may subsist, is demonstrable to any one who will make the experiment, by placing a lighted candle in the door- way between the two rooms, where the air is warmed in dif- fer^t degrees. The flame will be seen to incline towards the warmer room, when placed at the bottom of the door-way ; and, on the contrary, will tend to the cooler, when placed to- wards the top ; which can proceed from nothing else but the force of the stream of air, which carries the flame with it : that from the colder room, being heavier, takes the lower part, whilst the lighter floats at the top, and passes into the roo.m which the other has abandoned. And this effect will continue to be observable till the temperature of the two rooms become equal, which it will in some little time do ; the warm and cold air mixing, in the nature of all fluids, and forming a degree of temperature equal to half the sum of the two when separate. Thus supposing the warmer room to be heated to forty de- grees, and the colder to twenty only ; the two being laid ANCIENT ROME. i74< 3. TheAven- tine hill. Caracalla’s baths. General re- marks on bathing. Introduc- tion of baths. together, the temperature will appear, after some reasonable time, to be thirty degrees. On the plain below the Aventine, and opposite to the Ce- lian hills, are the remains of Antoninus Caracalla^s baths. Bathing was long practised by all the eastern nations. They considered it as an act of religion, as well as tending to the preservation of health. They reckoned it a profanation to sacrifice to their gods till they had purified themselves by bathing. The introduction of the Christian religion seems to have discouraged the use of public bathing : because it did not admit the ablution of the body as a means to purify the soul. Besides, continency having become a virtue, Christianity pro- scribed every thing offensive to it. Nor do I find that any public baths were built at Rome, from the time that Christia- nity became the established religion of the empire. Such was the light in which the primitive Christians considered promis- cuous bathing. Before Asiatic luxury was known at Rome, the Romans had no other baths than the Tiber, which served to wash off* the dust and sweat they contracted in their manly exercises, in the Campus Martins. Baths were long confined to the rich. It was only in the time of the emperors that these magnificent buildings, called thernue, were erected for public use. Vitru- vius, who wrote under Augustus, did not live to see these thenyiiC, and has therefore only described to us the Grecian paloistrce, or gymnasia : whereas the former seem to have THE SEVEN HILLS. been an improvement on the latter, and were calculated as well, for pleasure as use, and for the exercises of the mind as well as of the body. The therma, besides the different baths properly so called, contained not only places necessary for the pentathlic games,, viz. leaping, running, throwing the disk, darting, wrestling, and boxing ; ^ but likewise for the more gentle exercises of the bail, and walking, whether in the sun or shade. Here too the learned found books, and convenient buildings in which they assembled, to read their compositions, harangue, dispute, and instruct the youth. Horace, -f indeed, who never recited his works but to his friends, and that even with reluctancy,. condemns the vanity of those poets, who used to repeat theirs in the public forum and baths. — Non recito cuiquam, nisi amicis, idque coactus ; Non ubivis, coramve quibuslibet, in medio qui Scripta foro recitent, sunt multi; quique lavantes:. Suave locus voci resonat conclusus.'" Although bathing was prescribed by physicians for medi- cinal purposes, yet the principal use of the baths was to clean the body,, after exercise and before supper; which was the * Besides the simple pentathlic games, the ancients had two others more vio- lent formed out of them, viz. the pancratium, which was composed of wrestling and boxing, and the pentathlon, in which the whole of these exercises were, united. These two were a severe study, and were commonly practised by pro- fessed gladiators. t L. I. sat. 4. v. 74.. ^75 3. The At en- title bill. The Roman thermae. ANCIENT ROME. 176 3. The Aven- tine hill. Expence of bathing. Time of bathing. more necessary, as the old Romans made little use of linen next their skin. Besides, bathing removed lassitude from the body, and disposed the mind to enjoy the pleasures of their convivial entertainments. The common expence of bathing seems to have been a quadrans, the fourth of an as, which is about our halfpenny. Hence the lowest of the people could easily afford this ex- pence. In the time of mourning only, whether private or public, they abstained from the pleasure of bathing : the words squalor and sordes were therefore used for mourning. Boys, till the age of puberty, seem to have been bathed gratis. Nec pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum acre lavantur.”* The rich, indeed, had their baths tinged with saffron and odoriferous herbs ; and after bathing, had their bodies rubbed with oils and ointments of an incredible value. These oils no doubt softened the skin, and made it firmer, as well as more pliable. When the baths were sufficiently heated, which was done at a particular hour in the evening, a bell was rung to adver- tise those who intended to use them ; otherwise they could have cold water only. “ Redde pilam ; sonat aes thermarum. Ludere pergis.^ Virgine vis sola lotus abire domuni.""ffi Juven. Sat. 2. v. 152. t Mart. 1 . 14, ep. 163. THE SEVEN HILLS. 177 The baths were under the inspection of officers, authorized by the magistrates to regulate their police. They had ser- vants under them, called halnearii servi, to whom various of- fices were assigned. Some had the care of the furnaces, others of the dressing room, the bathing rooms, &c. If bathers em- ployed any of these public servants, to rub them down in the bath with the instrument, named strigilis, to anoint them with oil, or to give them any other assistance, they rewarded them for it ; because those who paid the quadrans only were entitled to no service. Modesty did not permit the two sexes to bathe together. Hence one side of the baths was allotted to the men, and the other to the women. However, we find that Agrippina, the mother of Nero, caused baths to be built solely for the use of women.* And such was the regard the Romans, during the republic, paid to modesty, that a father did not bathe with his son, when he came to the age of puberty, nor a father-in- law with his son-in-law.-f Indeed in the licentious times of the empire, men and women seem to have bathed promis- cuously together. But this indecency was always forbid by the good emperors, particularly by Marcus Aurelius Anto- ninus, under the penalty of divorce, and confiscation of their portions. * See Viminal hill. t “ Nostro quidem more cum parentibus puberes filii, cum soceris generi non lavantur. Retinenda est igitur hujus generis verecundia, prassertim natura ipsa magistra etduce.” Cic. de Offic. 1 . i. c. 35. — Vide Val. Max, 1 . 2. c. i, sect. 7. A a 5. TbeAven- tine bill. Police ot the baths. Baths for the different sexes. ANCIENT ROME. 178 3. The Aven~ tine bill. The struc- ture ol baths to be after- wards exa- mined. Magtiifi- cerue of these baths. The Far- nese Her- cules. As the Roman baths resembled each other in their princi- pal parts, I shall not enter into a detail of these of Caracalla, as I intend to examine particularly those of Dioclesian, whose remains are the most considerable, and which I flatter myself will give a distinct idea of this curious subject. The baths of Caracalla were reckoned amongst the most magnificent of these buildings. According to Eusebius, they were built in the fourth year of his reign, and in the 217th of the Christian 2era. He did not, however, build the porticos: these were begun by Decius, and finished by Alexander Se- verus. Although now in ruins, they still demonstrate their former grandeur. We are told, that there were one thousand six hundred marble seats, besides the labra, or bathing tubs of granite and porphyry, for the use of those who bathed here. Two of these labra, of granite, serve for the fountains in the piazza Farnese. Many of the fine pieces of sculpture, preserved in the Far- nese palace,^ had ornamented Caracalla's baths : particularly the celebrated Hercules. This statue is well known by the name of the Farnesian Hercules. It is the work of Glycon, the Athenian, h and is justly reckoned a model of mascuiine strength. Horace J might have alluded to this statue, when, he says — “ Invicti membra Glyconis." * These noble works of art, I am informed, are now carried to Naples, by order of his Sicilian majesty. -t It is inscribed— FATKON A0HNAIO2 EHOIHIH Epist. i. v. 30 - THE SEVEN HILLS. Hercules is here resting from one of his labours. Whether the sculptor could have represented strength better in action, than he has done at rest, as remarked by a very ingenious and eloquent writer,* I shall not decide. Strength is here won- derfully expressed : and perhaps it shows more genius in the artist to have done so at rest than in action. Permit me only to observe, that this statue was not intended to have been placed, as it now is, on the ground, and consequently level with the eye. It should have been placed in an open gallery, perhaps thirty or thirty-five feet high, and seen from the street, or from a court. This is evident from the muscles of the breast and belly being so much swelled ; but which would appear in their just proportion were they thus viewed : whereas the muscles of the back part of the statue, which were to be seen near, by those who passed along the gallery, are in their natural state, and not exaggerated like those in front. The position of the head, bending forward, adds weight to this observation. Had a modern but inaccurate traveller-f ad- verted to this circumstance, he might, without blaming the great artist, have easily accounted for the disproportion of the muscles, of the back and fore parts, of this noble statue. Few of the ancient statues are preserved entire. Thus the legs of this Hercules are restored by Guglielmo della Porta : and though the real ones were afterwards found, and which, it is said, are now at the villa Borghese, the modern were so well proportioned and executed, that Michael Angelo Buonaroti * Dr. Moore’s View of Manners in Italy, Vol. 2. p. il. t Sharp’s Letters from Italy. Letter 15. A a 2 179 ^.TheAven- tine bill. i8o ANCIENT ROME. 3. TheAven- tine bill- The Toro, advised not to change them ; in order to show, perhaps, the merit of modern artists.* Here too stood the surprising group, now at the Farnese pa- lace, cut out of one piece of marble, called the Toro, which was brought from Rhodes, and is the work of Apollonius and Tauriscus, renowned sculptors.-f It had belonged to Asinius Pollio. It represents Amphion and Zethus, the sons of Lycus king of Thebes, tying Dirce to the horns of a furious bull, in order to precipitate her into the sea ; in revenge for having enticed their father to marry her, and to divorce their mother Antiopa. This vast group has indeed been repaired by Gio- vannf Battista Bianchi ; and many parts of it are modern : viz, the head and arms of Dirc6 ; the head and arms of An- tiopa ; the statues of Amphion and Zethus, except the bodies and one leg ; and the legs and cord of the bull. But it is easy to distinguish the superior merit of what is antique, from the modern additions, in this wonderful monument. * Before this statue was carried to Naples, the modern legs were taken away,, and replaced by its own ancient ones; which being of uniform style of sculpture with the whole, adds, I am told, to its beauty, and does not justify the partial opinion of the great modern artist. t Plin. 1 . 36. c. 5.—“ Zethus et Amphion ac Dirce et taurus, vificuliimque., ex eodem lapide, Rhodo advecta, opera Ayiollonii et Taurisci. Parentum ii cer- tamen de se fecere : Menecratem videri professii, sed esse naturalem Artemi- dorum.” — That is, they were brothers, the sons of Artemidorus, and scholars ol Menecrates, THE SEVEN HILLS, i8i ly. THE CELIAN HILL. The Celian hill is long and narrow. It extends from the south side of the Colosseo to the gate of St. John. It is bounded on the north by the valley that separates it from the Esquiiine hill ; on the west, south, and east, by the valley that lies be-^ tween it and the Aventine hill and the city walls. This hill was formerly called Qiierquetul anus, from the num- ber of oaks {quercus) that grew here. But it was afterwards named Calius, from Caeles Vibenna, an Hetruscan leader, who settled on it with his men, whom he brought to assist the Ro- mans. A fire that happened on this hill, in the time of Tibe- rius, had almost given it the name of Augustus : because a statue of Tiberius, placed in the house of Junius, a senator, was respected by the flames, when every thing else was coni- sumed.^ The road up to the Celian hill, from the side opposite to the Palatine, is perhaps the same as formerly. It was called Clivus Scauri,. On the right hand of this road, the Anician family had a house, in which Gregory, named the Great, son of Gordianus Anicius and St. Silvia, was born. -f He converted this house into a convent, about the year 573 of the Christian asra, and See Celian hill, pi. III. Clivus Scau- ^*’No. I. Anician fa- mily. No. 2. St. Gregory, '* Tacitus, Ann. 1 . 4. c. 64, 65. t Vita di S. Silvia, per Alberto Cassio, i 82 ANCIENT ROME. 4 . The Ce. Han bill. St. John and Paul. No. 3. A remark- able portico. No. 4. dedicated it to St. Andrew. The monks, however, of the middle age, changed its name, and gave it that of its founder St. Gregory. On the left hand of the same road, is the church dedicated to the two brothers John and Paul, which is said to have been their own house, in which they were put to death, by order of Julian the Apostate. Under the steeple of this convent, and running along the garden towards the Colosseo, I saw the re- main of a noble portico. This is commonly called the Curia of Tullus Hostilius. We have only to observe -the Doric and Corinthian architecture with which it is ornamented, to pro- nounce that it is not a work of the kings, who knew only the simple Tuscan. The antiquaries would have gained more cre- dit had they made it the house of Vectilianus, to which Com- modus retired, and where he was suffocated by the gladiator Narcissus.^ Alberto CassiOj-f having carefully examined this portico, is of opinion that it is one side of a parallelogram, which had been a reservoir of water, erected by Vespasian for the use of his amphitheatre. He even gives us a calculation of the quantity of water it could have contained. The amphi- theatre, no doubt, was often used as a naumachia : much wa- ter was therefore necessary for that purpose. Titus, who finished the amphitheatre begun by his father, among the shows he exhibited there, gave naval combats. ;|; On the con- trary, Piranesi calls this ruin the Nympheum of Nero ; and, from his inventive genius, he has traced a very elegant plan * Larapredius in Commod. t Corso dell’ acque, part. 2 . ^ Dion. Cas., 1. 66 . THE SEVEN HILLS. 183 of it.* Such is the uncertainty that often attends the study 4 - Ce- '' lian bill. of the Roman antiquities ! On the Celian hill many remains of aqueducts are to be Aqueducts,, seen. Before the time of Nero, this hill was watered by the Martian, Julian, and Tepulan aqueducts. But, in order to supply h\?> golden- house more plentifully with water, he brought the aqua Claudia along this hill. The aqueducts, near to the church of St. Stephen, are no doubt part of this work of Nero. They had been repaired by different emperors, particularly by Septimius Severus and Caracalla, as appears from inscrip- tions. It is probable, indeed, that Caracalla continued a branch of this aqueduct, from the church of St. Stephen, where Nero's arches ended, to his baths below the Aventine hill. Of the antiquities to be seen on this hill, the church of St. Temple of Claudius. Stephen, from its figure called in rotondo, is the mo$t remark- No. 6. able. This ancient building seems to have been conyerted into a Christian church by Pope Simplicius, who reigned from A. D. 464 to 483. Many of the antiquaries, without exami- nation, copying one another, call this the temple of Faunus, the same as the Grecian Pan. It is not probable that so large a building should have been erected to a rustic deity. Fron- tinus,-f describing the aqueduct brought along this hill by Ne- ro, says — “ sed postquam Nero imperator Claudiam, opere arcuato altius exceptam, usque ad templum Divi Claudii per- * Ant. Rom. Tome i. tav. 41. + De aquaeductibus, art. 76. p. 145. ed. Poleni, 172Z. 4to.. ANCIENT ROME. 184 4. The Ce- lian bill. Macellum magnum. duxit, ut inde distribueretur, priores non ampliatse, Tthe Mar- tian and Julian^ sed omissae sunt: nulla enim castella adjecit, sed iisdem usus est, quorum, quamvis mutata aqua, vetus ap- pellatio mansit.’’" — Now, as it is found, upon an accurate sur- vey, that these arches extended exactly to the church of St. Stephen, notwithstanding Nardini's assertion to the contrary, we may, with some degree of certainty, conclude that this was the temple of Claudius ; a temple which was begun by Agrippina, but destroyed by Nero, and afterwards rebuilt by Vespasian. It has been often repaired and altered, whereby its ancient form is much disfigured; but still the columns that support it are a proof of its former magnificence. Publius Victor places the Macellum magnum"^ on the Celian hill. The church of St. Stephen has been taken, by some an- tiquaries, for this building. I observe the Macellum on the reverse of a medal (brass) of Nero. It is a tholus, surrounded with a square portico, in which is the statue of that emperor. I likewise see a building, inscribed Macellum, on the ancient marble plan of Rome.-f- But the figure of this building, as well on the medal as on the plan, seems very different from * The Macellum seems not to have been limited to a butchery, but a general market for every thing necessary for the table. Hence Terence makes Gnatho say — “ Dum base loquimur, interea loci ad macellum ubi advenimus ; Concurrunt lasti mi obviam cupedinarii omnes, Cetarii, lanii, coqui, fartores, piscatores, aucupes.” — Eunuchus, Act 5 i. se. 2. t Tab. XI. THE SEVEN HILLS. 185 St. Stephen in rotondo. Perhaps the Macellum stood at the side of the Celian opposite to the Palatine hill. The villa Mattel, a little to the west of this church, is sup- posed to have been the castrum peregrinorwn. It seems to have been here that Domitian built his celebrated cenaculum^ called the mica aurea. Martial,* perhaps entertained in it by the emperor, has described its situation as well as its luxuries. Mica vocor ; quid sim cernis : coenatio parva : Ex me Ccesareum prospicis, ecce, tholum. Frange toros : pete vina ; rosas cape : tingere nardo : Ipse jubet mortis te meminisse Deus.” This description of a Roman luxurious entertainment, re- sembles that of the ungodly given by Solomon. -f — “ Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments : let no flower of the spring pass by us : let us crown ourselves with rose buds, before they are withered. — The tholus here mentioned is no doubt the temple of Claudius, as that emperor is likewise the Deus. The commentators of Martial, who suppose this tholus to have been the mausoleum of Augustus in the Campus Martius, are certainly mistaken, as that building could not be seen from hence. Although no part of the mica remains, a church, however, has been built on its foundations, dedicated to the Madonna, called S. Maria in Dommica, which is surely an abbreviation of Dotnitiani mica: but in later times it has been thus corrupted — in Domica, in Domnica, and in Dominica. * Lib. 2. ep. 59. t Wisdom, ch. 2. v. 7 and 8. B b 4. The Ce-. lian hill. Domitian’s mica aurea. No. 7. i86 ANCIENT ROME. 4. The Ce- lian hill. Navicella. Lateran pa- lace. No. 8. This church is likewise called S. Maria della Navicella, from a galley, of marble, that is placed before its portico. Ficoroni* supposes this galley to have been a votive offering of some of the foreign soldiers. But the antiquity of this monument may be justly doubted, because we observe modern arms cut on it in basso-relievo. The situation of the Lateran palace is preserved to us in the name of the church of St. John in Later ano. Plautius Late- ranus, consul elect, having engaged with Seneca and others in the great conspiracy against Nero, lost his life on that oc- casion. The love of his country, and no personal resentment against the monster, seems to have induced this virtuous man to associate himself in so dangerous an attempt. — “ Lateranum, consulem designatum, nulla injuria, sed amor reipublicae socia- vit.^'-f — Hence his palace, having been confiscated, probably remained in possession of the emperors, till Constantine made a donation of it to the church, and built here the basilic of St. John, which is properly the pope's cathedral ; for the basilic of St. Peter is only the cathedral of the diocese of Rome. This is the meaning of the pompous inscription we read on the front of the Lateran church. — “ Omnium in urbe atque in orbe ecclesiarum mater atque caput." The epithet egregias, used by Ju venal, J when he mentions the Lateran palace, is a proof that it had been magnificent. — * Vest, di Roma, 1 . i. c. 14. t Tacit. Ann. 1 . 15. c. 49. X Sat. 10. V. 15. THE SEVEN HILLS. a- “ Jussuque Neronis Longinum, et magnos Senecas prasdivitis hortos Clausit, et egregias Lateranorum obsidet «des Tota cohors."' Near to the Lateran palace stood the house of Annius Verus, in which his grandson Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was born and educated. — “ Educatus est in eo loco in quo natus est, et in domo avi sui Veri juxta sedes Laterani."'^ As the elegant equestrian brazen statue of that good emperor and philosopher was found near the Scala Santa, we may conclude that his house was situated there. This statue lay long neglected, till Sextus IV. about the year 1470, caused it to be raised on a pedestal, and placed before the Lateran church. Here it re- mained till the pontificate of Paul III. who, about the 1538, ordered it to be removed to the square of the Capitol, where it now stands ; and had it placed on a new pedestal, executed by Michael Angelo Buonaroti. It is unnecessary for me to say any thing of this magnificent and spirited statue, which is so universally known and so justly admired. Many, no doubt, must have been the statues and busts of this truly great per- sonage ; because, as Capitolinus-f tells us — “ Sacrilegus judi- catus est, qui ejus (M. Aurelii) imaginera in sua domo non habuit, qui per fortunam vel potuit habere vel debuit.'" — These statues and busts, as well as his medals, which all re- semble each other, convey to us an idea of his external ap- pearance ; whilst his sublime meditations, which are happily * Capitolinus in Vit. M. A. Anton, c. r. Bb 2 187 4. The Ce- lian bill. House of Annius Ve- rus. No. 10. Equestrian statue of Marcus Au- relius. t Ib. c. 18. i88 ANCIENT ROME. 4. The Ce~ lian hill. Mons Celio- lus. Martyrdom of St. John. The Subur- ra. preserved, give us the true picture of his virtuous and philo- sophic mind. But I shall waste no more time in investigating the situation of the other buildings that stood on this hill, of which there are now no remains. There is a narrow branch runs off from the Celian hill, from that part of the walls, where the rivulet Crabra, now named Mar ana, enters Rome, and extends to the Porta Latina. This is known by the name of the Mons Celiolus. Here we find a chapel erected to St. John, on the spot*, ante portam Latinam, where he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, by order of Domitian ; and near to it is a church dedicated to him. From the ancient columns that support this church, and the frag- ments of marbles to be seen about it, we may conclude that some noble building had formerly stood here. But whether this was the sacellum of Diana, mentioned by Cicero,-f I shall leave to others to determine. The ground that lay between the Celian and Esquiline hills, and which extended from Titus's amphitheatre to the gate of St. John, was called the Suhurra. It was one of the most fre- quented quarters of Rome, and is often mentioned by the Ro- man writers. — “ Famee non nimium bonae puellam, Quales in media sedent Suburra, Vendebat modo pr^co Gellianus.";j; * This was without the gate, till Aurelia^ extended the walls. t De Aruspicum responsis, c. 29. % Martial, 1 . 6. epig. 66. THE SEVEN HILLS, Besides the prostitutes, many of the great men of Rome had their houses here, though I could not discover any remains of them. Thus Julius Csesar, before he was the high-priest, had a house in the Suburra. — “ Habitavit primo in Suburra modicis gedibus : post autem pontificatum maximum, in sacra via do- mo publica/' 389 4. The Cc« hail bilL Suet. V. Jul. Caesar, c. 46, ANCIENT ROME. V. THE ESQUILINE HILL. To the north of the Celian, and to the south of the Viminal, lies the Esquiline It is of considerable extent, and many were the buildings, both public and private, that ornamented it. Few of these, however, now remain, and the whole of the ground is so altered, that it is impossible to give an accurate account of its former state. I shall therefore only offer some remarks on the ruins still to be seen. Let me begin with that part of th^ hill next to the amphitheatre. Titus, having finished and dedicated the amphitheatre be- gun by Vespasian, built, with great speed, his baths hard by it.* They stand on the Esquiline hill, and many of their ruins are still extant in the vineyards of the convent of St. Peter in Vincula, Laureti, and Gualtieri. From these remains archi- tects have endeavoured to make out the general plan of this great work : Serlio-f in particular had done so, prior to Pira- nesi J andBarbault;§ how then could Abbot RidolphinoVenuti|| say, that Piranesi was the first who gave a plan of these baths ? Inaccurate, however, as their plans may be, they all agree in making this a regular building, nearly resembling the other baths. But as I intend to give a detailed account of the va- rious parts of the baths, when I come to treat of those of Dioclesian, I shall not now anticipate the subject. Some au- * Sueton. Vit. Tit. t Lib. 3. page 92. X Piranesi, Ant. Rom. Tom. i. tav. 27. § Barbault, Monu. de Rome, pi. 38. (I Descrizione delle Antichita di Roma, Vol. i. p. 116. THE SEVEN HILLS. thors have ascribed these baths to Domitian, and others to Trajan. To reconcile these accounts, we may reasonably sup- pose that these emperors had repaired or added to the baths of Titus. Here were found the two large labray or bathing-tubs, of granite, preserved in the villa Medici. A little to the east of the baths, there is a ruin commonly called the sette sale. It should rather be called the nove sale^ as it consists of nine galleries, though seven of them are only open ; the other two being filled up with rubbish. These gal- leries all communicate with each other, by means of doors or arches placed in a transversal line, which affords an agreeable prospect. They are built with great solidity, and the walls are incrusted with a cement of an extraordinary hardness. This building, which is entirely out of the plan of the baths, has no doubt served for a reservoir of water, and not for the tepidariuniy as mentioned by Piranesi. Adjoining to the baths,* there are some very considerable ruins, which the antiquaries call the palace of Titus. As a proof, we are told, that the famous group of Laocoon and his sons, preserved in the Belvedere of the Vatican, was found here, in the time of Leo X. by Felix de Fredis; a fortunate discovery, which is recorded in his epitaph, in the church of the Ara-celi. For Pliny -f assures us that this statue, so much admired when he wrote, stood in Tituses palace — “ Sicut in Laocoonte, qui est in Titi imperatoris domo, opus omnibus et picturae et statuariae artis anteferendum : ex uno lapide eum * In the vineyard of Gualtieri. t Lib. 36. c. 5. 191 5. The Es- quiline bill. The sette sale. No. 2. Titus’s pa- lace. No. 3. Group of Laocoon and his sons. ANCIENT ROME. 192 5. The Es- quiline bill. et liberos draconumque mirabiles nexus de consilii sententia fecere summi artifices Agesander et Polidorus et Athenoclorus Rodii."' — How pathetically has Virgil related the story of Laocoon ! He was the son of Priamus and Hecuba, and priest of Neptune. In the act of sacrificing to Neptune, he and his two sons were strangled by two monstrous serpents, in revenge for having sacrilegiously thrust a spear into the fatal wooden horse, consecrated to Minerva, and left by the Greeks ; but in which the destruction of Troy was artfully concealed. — “ Scelus expendisse merentem Laocoonta ferunt ; sacrum qui cuspide robur L^serit, et tergo sceleratam intorserit hastam.”* It has been doubted, whether the statue was taken from the poePs description, or the description from the statue. The latter is evident, since the artists who executed it lived some centuries before Virgil. For we are informed by Pliny ,-f that Athenodorus was a scholar of Polycletus, who flourished about the 87th olympiad, that is, near the 320th year of Rome. The poet has not servilely copied the statue ; he has given us progressively the whole action. We see the serpents ad- vance gradually : they first seize the sons and then the father : whereas the statuaries, confined to a single point of time, were obliged to make the serpents kill father and sons together. Such is the advantage the poet has over the statuary and * jEn. 2. V. 229. t Lib. 34. c. 8. THE SEVEN HILLS. m painter! It is impossible to look upon this group without horror aiiJ compassion ; we seem to hear their dying shrieks, ‘‘ Clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit.”'^' Near to the church of St, Martino, on this hill, was found, in the time of Leo X.-f the elegant statue, long preserved in the Belvidere of the Vatidan, commonly reckoned to represent Antinous, but which the learned Visconti makes a Mercury. J Scrambling among these ruins, I observed the remains of some ancient paintings. § Indeed, sixteen rooms, or cryptce, long concealed by earth and rubbish, have been lately disco- vered ; and which were ornamented with paintings of various kinds. But I shall not enter into a detail of them, because they are now published by Mirri. || Whether Titus’s baths were erected in the gardens of Mae- cenas, as Piranesi supposes, or whether these gardens, and his celebrated tower, lay farther east on the hill, I shall not ven- ture to determine. I cannot, however, but observe, that Mae- cenas’s gardens stood in the campus Esquilinus, which W'as given him by Augustus, as, well to beautify the city, as to free it from the stench of the bodies of the slaves and low people buried there. When employed as burying ground, this field * A^n. 2. V, 222. t Nardini, Roma An. 1 . 3. c. 10. ^ Museo Pio Clementine, Tom. i. p. 9 and 10. § See Porta Latina, p. '75. II “ Le Antiche camere delle Terme di Tito, e le loro pitture, restituite all publico da Ludovico Mirri, e descritte dall’ Abate Guiseppe Carletti.” In Ro- ma, per Salomoni, 1776. fol. C c 5. The Es^ quiline bill'. Statue of Mercury. Paintings. Maecenas’s gardens. 194 ANCIENT ROME. 5. The Es- quilim hill. Aldobrandi- iii marriage. was without the walls of the city. — “ Puticulus, quo nunc ca- davera projice solent, extra portam Esquilinam/"'^ — Now this field is generally reckoned to have lain towards the agger of Servius, and the high ground in the villa Negroni. But is it probable that Maecenas's gardens took up the whole Length of the hill ^ The height of the tower, as well as its situation, made Horace say — 'j' ‘‘ Molem propinquam nubibus arduis." It was from hence that Nero had the cruel pleasure to behold Rome in flames ; and, in his actor’s habit, to sing the tragedy of the destruction of Troy.;j; Among the ruins of Maecenas’s gardens was found, about two hundred years ago, a picture, probably part of a cornice, reprejsenting the bedding of a new married pair. It is pre- served in the villa Aldobrandini, and from that circumstance is known by the name of the Aldobrandini marriage. It is supposed to express the marriage of Thetis and Peleus.§ Be this as it may, it is, no doubt, the work of an able artist. The figures are elegant, and painted with much freedom i when seen at a proper distance, they produce a great effect. Struck with the beauty of this picture, Poussin made a fine copy of it, which is to be seen in the Pamphili palace. It is likewise engraved by Pietro Santi Bartoli, and published in the “ Admiranda Romanarum Antiquitatum,” No. 61. — Bellori calls this picture — “ unicum veteris artis exemplar et mira- culum.” * Festus. t Lib. 3. od. 29. ^ Suet. V. Nero. c. 38. § Winkelmann, Monument! inediti, p. 60. THE SEVEN HILLS. Horace^ mentions burying the low and contemptible people on this hill ; but which, in his time, was rendered habitable, beautiful, and wholesome. — “ Hue prius angustis ejecta cadavera cellis Conservus vili portanda locabat in area : Hoc miserse plebi stabat commune sepulcrum, Pantolabo scurrse, Nomentanoque nepoti. Mille pedes in fronte, trecentos cippus in agrum Hie dabat ; hceredes monumentum ne sequeretur. Nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus, atque Aggere in aprico spatiari ; quo modo tristes Albis informera spectabant ossibus agrum.'’^ The ancients often engraved these letters on sepulchral mo- numents, viz. H. M. H. N. s. which they explained — Hoc monumentum hseredes non sequatur.” — That is, these monu- ments, and the ground on which they stood, should, in ho- nour of the founder, remain always unalienable. But how fruitless was their precaution 1 The churches of St. Lucia in Selce, and St. Martino d monte are built on the ruins of Trajan’s baths, or more properly Do- mitian’s ; for these baths were begun by the latter and finished by the form.er, and continued to be known by the name of the founder. In the year of Christ 320, an ecclesiastic council met in these baths. — Venerunt omnes presbyter! et diaconi omnes 284, intra thermas Domitianas, quee nunc Trajanas, et sedet in sede sua in eodem ioco.'’-j' * Lib. I. sat. 8. V. 8. t Synod. Roman. 2. sub Sylvestro. C C 2 Wo 5. Tbe Es- quiline bill. Burj'ing ground. Trajan or Domitian’s baths. No. 4. ANCIENT ROME. 5. The Es- qiiUine hill. Temple of Juno., No. 5. Sacred grove of Juno. Temple of Diana. No. 6. The elegant church of St. Maria maggiore is reckoned to he built on the ruins of a temple of Juno. When Benedict XIV. caused this church to be repaired, the workmen found, about eight palms below the present pavement, a mosaic one of black and white marble, which perhaps belonged to the an- cient temple, as well as the beautiful Ionic columns that ornament this church. On the plain joining to this temple, probably towards the entry to the villa Negroni, there was a grove sacred to Juno. “ Monte suh Esquilio multis incasduus annis Junonis magnse nomine lucus erat/’* In the convent of St. Anthony, Abbot, there is a square build- ing, which the monks have converted into a granary. Many of the antiquaries call it a temple of Diana. Their reason for doing so is, because the walls were incrusted with mosaic- work, representing huntings, animals, and landscapes. Little of this mosaic now remains. Two large pieces, however, are preserved in the chapel of St. Anthony, viz. two tigers de- stroying two bulls ; but they seem to be executed in a bad taste. -f * Ovid. Fast. I. 2. V. 435. t It is to this church that the horses and asses of Rome, and the neighbourhood, are annually brought, on the festival of St. Anthony, the 17th of January, to be, blessed, by a priest besprinkling them with holy water, as mentioned by Dr. Middleton, in his letter from Rome, p. 141, &c. edition 1742; and which I have seen performed. THE SEVEN HILLS. 197 Opposite to this church, I could not but observe the cross erected for the conversion of Henry IV. of France. It is fixed on a granite pillar, cut into the form of a cannon, round the belt of which is engraved — in . hoc . signo . vinces. Near to the church of St. Vito, I examined the Doric arch of Gallienus. . It shows the decline of architecture at that time. It does not appear to have been a triumphal arch ; but only a private one, erected in honour of that emperor and his em- press, by M. Aurelius Victor, as a mark of gratitude for favours received from them. It is thus inscribed — GALLIENO . CLEMENTISSIMO . PRINCIPI CVIVS . INVICTA . VIRTVS. SOLA . PIETATE . SVPERATA . EST ET . SALONINAE . SANCTISSIMAE . AVG. M. AVRELIVS . VICTOR DEDICATISSIMVS NVMINI . MAIESTATI^VE EORVM. This flattering inscription, the reverse of the real character of Gallienus, may be considered rather as a satire than a pane- gyric on him. Five aqueducts passed through this quarter of the city, viz. the Marcian, the Tepulan, the Julia7i, the Claiidian, and the Anio Novus. Many vestiges of them are still to be seen. Near to the church of St. Eusebio, there is a considerable ruin of a castellum of one of these aqueducts. It has been called by some 5. The Es- quiline hill. Cross for the conversion of Hen. IV. Arch of Gal- lienus. No. 7. Aqueducts. No. a. ANCIENT ROME. 198 5. The F.s- quiline bill. The two tro- phies now at the Capitol. Ludus mag- nus. No. 9. Temple, commonly called Mi- nerva Medi- ca. No. 10. writers the Marcian, by others the Claiidian, or the Julian aqueduct. To settle therefore this controversy, Piranesi* has taken its level, with the remains of the different aqueducts here. He finds that it exactly answers to the Julian, of which he traces the course from the gate of St. Laurence. It was from this castellum that the two noble trophies, preserved at the Capitol, were taken. They have been supposed, by many antiquaries, to be the trophies erected to Marius, on his Cim- brian victory, which Sylla pulled down, and Julius Caesar re- stored. Some have ascribed them to Domitian, and others to Trajan. But as this reservoir was built in the time of Augus- tus, Piranesi reckons them to be monuments of that Emperor. It is, however, difficult to say, whether they apply to his vic- tory of Actium, or to some of his northern conquests. The sculpture on them is not unworthy of the Augustan age. In the villa Palombara there are some ruins, which Pira- nesi, I know not on what authority, supposes to have belonged to the Ludus magnus. In the ancient marble plan of Rome, there is a fragment marked lvdvs MAGNVS.-f But it is un- certain where this building stood. In the villa Magnani, behind the church of St. Bibiana, I saw the ruin of a large temple, which is commonly called that of Minerva Medica. It is round without, but decagon within. It is much defaced, and a great part of the roof is fallen in. There is a wall joining to it, which perhaps may have been a * Deir CasteUo dell’ aqua Giulia. t Tab. XI. THE SEVEN HILLS. portico. Here was found the statue of Minerva with the ser- pent, preserved in the Justiniani gallery. Probably it is from this circumstance, that many antiquaries have given the name of Minerva Medica to this temple. Some, indeed, have sup- posed that this was the temple of Hercules Callaicus, built by Decius Junius Brutus, in gratitude for his victory obtained over the Callaicians, a people of Spain: their reason for doing so is, because of the name Galluzzo, or Gallucio, given by the moderns to this quarter, which they reckon a corruption of Callaicus. But Pliny ^ places the temple of Brutus in the Flaminian circus in the Campus Martius ; Rufus and Victor do the same : whereas they place that of Minerva Medica on the Esquiline hill. From the name Gallucio, others pretend, that it was the basilic of Caius and Lucius, built to them by their grandfather Augustus. But we have only to compare this building with the description Vitruvius-f gives of basilics, to conclude that it did not serve for that use. In the same vineyard, near to this temple, is the sepulchral chamber of the Aruntian family, erected by Lucius Aruntius,;|; for himself, his family, and freedmen. It was discovered in the year 1736. Here I particularly examined the columbaria, and the ollul^e, or pots, in which the ashes of the dead were preserved. Many of the inscriptions still remain. This se- pulchre had been much ornamented with painting and stucco. But it is unnecessary to enter into a particular description of * Lib. 36. G. 5. t Lib. 5. c. I. X He lived under Tiberius : see his death in Tacitus, Ann. L 6. 199 5. The Es- quiline hilL Aruntian sc= piilchre. 200 ANCIENT ROME. 5. The Es- quiline bill. Plebeian se- pulchre. Temple of Venus and Cupid. No. II. Altar of bad fortune. it, because it has already been done by Russel* and by Piranesi .-f Another sepulchral chamber, near to that of the Aruntian family, is to be seen here. From the inscriptions it seems to have served for the burying place of some plebeians. It is likewise published by Piranesi. ;|i To the right of the church of St. Croce in Gerusalemme, in the garden of the monks, I observed a ruin, which is com- monly reckoned the temple of Venus and Cupid. The only reason for thus naming it, seems to be, that a statue of these amorous deities, preserved in the Belvidere of the Vatican, was found here. On its base is this inscription — VENERI . FELICI . SACRVM . SALLVSTIA . ELPIDVS . D. D. Indeed there remains very little of this building, the monks having taken the greatest part of its materials to rebuild their convent. To the left of the church is the amphitheatrum castrense^ which I have already examined, in my survey of the city walls. § On this hill there was an altar consecrated to bad fortune , — * Vol. I. let. 26. + Ant. Rom. Vol. 2. tav. 7, 8, 9, 10, ii, 12, 13, 14, and 15. 4: Ib. tav. 16, 17, 18, and 19. § Seepage 63. THE SEVEN HILLS. 201 ‘‘ Aram mal^e Fortunse Esquiliis consecratam videmus.”* So far did the Romans carry their superstition ! But I know not on what particular spot of the hill it stood. Many of the illustrious Romans had their houses on this hill, though we cannot now, with any degree of certainty, fix their situations. Thus Pliny the younger informs us, that he lived on the Esquiline hill ; when he mentions the flatter- ing verses addressed to him by Martial, — ‘‘ Alloquitur musam, mandat ut domum meam Esquiliis quaerat, adeat reverentur.”-f The poet, not to interrupt the magistrate when engaged in business, or in his studies, makes his muse wait on him in the evening, at his hours of recreation, when feasting and enjoy- ing the conversation of his friends. — Seras tutior ibis ad lucernas, Haec hora est tua : dum furit Lyaeus, Cum regnat rosa, cum madent capilli. Tunc me vel rigidi legant Catones.^' J 5. The Es- quiline hill. House of Pliny the younger. * Cicero de Nat. Deor. 1 . 3. c, 25 : — and see Pliny, 1 . 2. c. t Lib. 3. ep. 21. X bib- ^pig- 2oa ANCIENT ROME. Baths of Olympias. See Viminal hill, pi. III. No. i. VI. THE VIMINAL HILL. The Viminal hill, towards the west, begins at the church called La Madonna de Monti, and extends east to Dioclesian's baths. It lies between the Esquiline and Quirinal hills ; viz. to the north of the former, and to the south of the latter. It is separated from these hills by vallies, which, though now much filled up, had formerly been very conspicuous. The levellings occasioned by the new roads, buildings, and gardens, in this quarter of the city, render it more difficult to trace the out- line of this, than of any other of the seven hills. Many buildings, both public and private, had no doubt for- merly stood on this hill : but the most remarkable seem to have been baths. At present nothing remains but a few foundations ; nor is it possible to trace any plan of them. The baths of Olympias had been of considerable extent, as we may conclude from their vestiges, still to be seen in the gardens of the convent of St. Laurence, and the places adja- cent. It is uncertain who this Olympias was ; but, from the remarks of Cassio,* it appears she was a woman. The eccle- siastical writers inform us, that St. Laurence was martyred in her baths. He was broiled on a gridiron. But the venera- tion which the Christians had for this saint, engaged them to Casslo, corso dell’ acque, Tom. 2. No. 25. p. 251. THE SEVEN HILLS. 203 erect a church to him in these baths. It is called S. Lorenzo in pane e p^rna. The Lavacrum of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, is reckon- ed to have stood behind Olympias's baths, on the declivity of of the Viminal towards the Quirinal hill. But as I perceived no remains of this building, it is unnecessary to enlarge on this subject. To the east of the baths of Olympias, is the church dedicated to the two sisters Prassede and Pudentiana. Pope Pius I. is said to have caused it to be built to them, in the baths of their brother Novatus. It is to this Novatus* that Seneca ad- dresses his books de ira. And indeed this church retains many marks of its antiquity. So many baths, and so near each other, cannot be supposed to have been public, but only private ones. I shall now proceed to examine the baths of Tiioclesian, and the Prcetorian camp. *■ Novatus is reckoned, by some writers, to have been the elder brother of Seneca: he was afterwards known by the name of Junius Gallio, having been adopted by a celebrated lawyer of that name : he was a senator and proconsul of Achaia. 6. The Vimi- nal hill. Lavacrum of Agrippina.- No. 2. BathsofNo- vatus. No. 3. Dd 2 204 ancient ROME. DIOCLESIAN’S BATHS. On the east end of the ground, from whence the Quirinal and Viminal hills seem to take their rise, Dioclesian built his baths. Although greatly defaced, there remains as much of them as to enable artists to make out a plan, but not an eleva- tion, of this magnificent building. Indeed from these ruins we find that taste in architecture had not, at this period, de- clined so much as taste in sculpture had done. To give a general idea of the extent of these baths, I shall only observe, that on their ruins now stand the elegant church, convent, and garden of the monks of St. Bernard ; the magni- ficent church, convent, and garden of the Carthusians ; the extensive public granaries ; and a large space called Piazza di Termini, which is a corruption of the word thermce. ' Dioclesian^s baths were not finished when he abdicated the empire the ist of May, 305. They seem to have been after- wards extended, and rendered more complete, probably by Valerius Severus, and consecrated by the different emperors and Csesars, whom Dioclesian had associated with him in the empire, to their generous benefactor, and dedicated by them to the use of the Romans. This appears from the following inscription, published by Gruter . — * D. D. N. N. DIOCLETIANVS . ET MAXIMIANVS . INVICTI . SENIORES AVGVSTI . PATRES . IMPERATORVM . ET * Page 178. No. 7. THE SEVEN HILLS. 205 CAESARVM . CONSTANTIVS . ET . MAXIMIA NVS . INVICTI . AVGG . ET . SEVERVS . ET . MAXI MIANVS . NOBILISS . CAESARES . THERMAS FELICES . DIOCLETIANI . AVG . FRATRIS . SVI NOMINE . CONSECRAV . COEPTIS . AEDI FICUS . PRO . TANTI . OPERIS . MAGNITV DINE . OMNI . CVLTV . PERFECTAS ROMANIS . SVIS . DEDICAV. But whether this inscription is genuine, or exactly copied, I do not pretend to decide ; as I know not where the original is now to be found. Ecclesiastical historians^ tell us, that these baths were erected during the tenth general persecution of the Christians. The soldiers who had embraced that religion were condemned to work here ; and, after having supported that fatigue for the space of seven years, many of them were cruelly put to death. Little did these poor martyrs dream that they were then pre- paring buildings for two splendid Christian churches. The names and uses of the different parts of the baths are often mentioned by Cornelius Celsus, Galenus, Vitruvius, and other ancient authors. But as their descriptions are general, and not accompanied with plans of any of the baths, it is not surprising that Baccius, and other modern writers, who have given plans of Dioclesian's baths, should differ in the uses they assign to the various parts still remaining of this wonderful building. Indeed every one who examines them, will natu- * Baronii Ann. Eccles. Vol. 2. ex Act. P. Marcelli. Dioclesian’s baths. 2o6 ANCIENT ROME. Dioclesian's baths. rally apply the ancient names, according as his own fancy, or sagacity suggests to him. In my remarks on Caracalla^s baths, I gave some general observations on the Thernue of the Romans, and to which I now beg leave to refer.* To give, however, a just idea of Dioclesian's baths I shall present the reader with a plan of them, executed with great exactness, and communicated to me by my ingenious and ex- cellent friend James Byres, of Tonley, Esq. to whom I can- not sufficiently express my gratitude for the many favours he has conferred on me. Having often examined these baths on the spot, and reflected on the uses of their diflerent parts, I shall now attempt to de- scribe them, as they appeared to me. It is obvious that Dioclesian's baths formed a great and regu- lar building ; and from what remains, it is not difficult to make out the whole. On this plan, therefore, the parts still existing are marked with a deep, and those destroyed with a faint tint. The sides of the square of this building did not front any of the four cardinal points of the compass, but were nearly inter- sected by them.-f Thus the principal entry seems to have been towards the north east, and not far from the agger of Tarquinius. The buildings along the sides BC, DE, and EB, were either * See page 174. t See Palatine hill, p. 157. .-'-I i FlaZew. Dii? ei^^siAJVS B^^ths, THE SEVEN HILLS. 207 semicircles or squares. They were named exedrce or scholce. They were the halls where the youth were instructed — where men of learning and genius assembled to discourse and read their compositions — and where probably the officers and ser» vants, entrusted with the care of the baths were lodged. Each of the extremities of the side CD was terminated with a rotundo. The one at C, near the villa Negroni, now serves for a public granary, and the other at D is converted into a church, dedicated to St. Bernard. The interior of these ro- tundos had been elegantly ornamented, as well as the other parts of the baths, with statues and paintings, though none of them now remain. Baccius* calls them sphceristeria, a sort of tennis-courts, where they used to play at ball. But I think that they were too small for that exercise. Besides, a sphceris- terium took its name perhaps from the spherical form of the balls, and not from that of the building. Indeed a square or oblong seems to be a more proper form for a tennis-court. Some authors suppose that these rotundos were the laconica, or sweating rooms of the baths. But these, as well as the sphceristeria, I shall, in the sequel, place elsewhere. I am ra- ther inclined to believe that these rotundos were temples. Perhaps one of them was dedicated to Apollo, and the other to iEsculapius. In the centre of the side CD, I observe the theatridium, or open theatre, where people placed themselves in fine weathers, to see different shows, and wrestlers exercise. * De Thermis, 1. 7 . c. 6 . Diode f.ian's baths. 208 ANCIENT ROME. Dioclesian’s batbs. Between the theatridium and the temples were parallelogram buildings, which, in many of the plans of these baths, are marked atrium. They might have served for noble halls, to contain the famous Ulpian library, removed hither from Tra- jan's forum. Perhaps one of them was destined for Greek, and the other for Roman literature. Within the square stood the natatio, or piscina ; the sphce- risterium ; the xystum ; the apodyterium ; the hypocaustum — the different baths, viz. the frigidarium ; the tepidarium; the caldarium ; and the laconicum ; as well as some other buildings, whose situations I shall endeavour to point out. The natatio, where people swam in the open air, was of considerable extent. It was opposite to the principal entry A, and occupied what is now the cloister of the Carthusians. Three sides of it were bounded by porticos, which served for walking places, and for the swimmers to strip themselves. On each side of these porticos were basilics, or great halls, for public assemblies ; and dicetcc, or eating rooms, where sump- tuous entertainments were sometimes given. Joining to the basilica and diatce there was an oblong hall, which might have served properly for the sphceristerium, or place for playing at ball; which seems to have been a favou- rite exercise at Rome, both of the young and the old. ‘‘ Folle decet pueros ludere, folle senes."* * Martial, 1 . 14. ep. 47. THE SEVEN HILLS. 209 Immediately behind the natatio was the xystum. Here the gladiators and wrestlers performed their exercises, under cover, in bad weather. This spacious hall had been elegantly orna- mented ; eight granite columns of an immense size still support its roof. Pope Pius IV. having given this part of the baths to the Carthusians, they, assisted by the great artist Michael An- gelo Buonaroti, converted it into one of the most magnificent churches of Rome. It is dedicated to St. Mary and the An- gels. In the year 1701, Monsignor Bianchini, that learned prelate and eminent astronomer, traced the meridian line, which I saw in this church. It is, I believe, the greatest and most ornamented, with brass and marble, of any hitherto exe- cuted. Nor could he have chosen a more solid situation for such an operation, than what these walls, which have resisted the wasting effects of sixteen centuries, afforded him.. But it is foreign to my subject to attempt to describe it, or its uses. I shall therefore beg leave to refer the curious reader to Bian- chini's own account of it.* At each extremity of the xystum there was a cavcedium, or- namented with columns. Here people might walk or exercise, in the open air, protected from the wind. In many of the plans of the baths, it is called atrium.^ Let me now examine the baths properly so named. They * De Nummo et Gnomone Clementino,” published along with his work-~= “ De Kalendario et Cyclo Caesaris, ac de paschali canone S. Hippoliti martyris, dissertationes duae.” Romas, 1703. fol. t See Introduction, p. 16. Ee Dioclesian’s baths. 210 ANCIENT ROME. Dioclesian’s baths. extended in a straight line, opposite to the Theatridium and the Bibliotheca. The apodyterium, or great hall, where those who bathed undressed and dressed themselves, was placed in the centre of the baths, but projected beyond their line. There is reason to believe that it was richly ornamented ; but no part of it now re- mains. About the year 1 750, Cardinal Valenti Gonzaga caused this ground to be dug for materials for his villa, which he was then building, at the Porta Pia. Many bricks, and some frag- ments of granite columns were found. But it had, no doubt, been dug long prior to that period. What I chiefly remarked, for I was there at that time, were flues that had conveyed fire under this hall, to keep it in a proper degree of heat. On each side of the apodyterium were four halls for the baths. Whether these eight bathing rooms were all intended for the use of men, or that one side was allotted for men and the other for women, I do not pretend to decide. Indeed, it is probable that they were for men only ; because, before this time, baths, particularly those of Agrippina,* had been erected for the use of women. Authors, who have treated this subject, do not agree in their arrangement of the different baths. I shall, however, take the liberty to place them in the manner that appears, most reasonable to me. * See Viminal hill, p. 202,, THE SEVEN HILLS. fill The hall next to the apodyterium was, I think, Xhe frigida- rium, or cold bath ; the second was the tepidarium, or tepid bath ; the third was the caldarium, or hot bath ; and the fourth was the laconicum, or sweating room. Indeed the hall next the side DE, which is now one of the public granaries, bears evident marks that it was the laconicum. The same arrange- ment was repeated on the other side of the apodyterium. The cold bath seems to have been used to brace the fibres, and strengthen the body. The tepid bath for pleasure, and to clean the body. The hot bath to soften the skin, to relieve from fatigue, and to promote sleep. And the laconicum to produce a violent sweat. These different baths were used before supper, whilst the stomach was empty. Warm bath- ing, that is, water warmer than the external air, is a great luxury in hot climates, but in cold climates it is dangerous. The baths communicated, in this order, from one to the other. Each person stopped at the bath which he judged proper for himself. If he made use of the laconicum, he re- turned through the different baths, and thus cooled himself gradually before he reached the apodyterium. All the labra, or bathing tubs, which were used in Diocle- siaiVs baths, have been removed from thence. But several of them are still preserved as fountains and ornaments, in diffe- rent parts of Rome. DiodesiatCs baths. In the centre of the baths, between the apodyterium and the E e 2 212 ANCIENT RCME. Diochsiati^s baths. xystum was properly placed the hypocaustum. It was the great furnace from whence hot water was conveyed in pipes, and hot air in flues to the different baths. This part of the building is still preserved, but the furnaces are destroyed.* It serves for a sort of atrium to the church of the Carthusians. The furnaces had, no doubt, been much lower than the pre- sent level of the floor of the church. There was probably a particular hypocaustum under each laconicum. Some antiquaries are of opinion, that there were two stories of baths : if so, the under one is now entirely filled up with the rubbish of the demolished baths. The conisterium was probably on one side of the hypocaus- tum. It was here they preserved the sand, with which the wrestlers, after being anointed with oil, were rubbed before they exercised.'f Opposite to the conisterium was the elceothesium. it was a sort of an apothecary's shop, furnished with a variety of oils, ointments, and perfumes, for the use of the bathers. The Romans, who borrowed many of their luxuries from the Greeks and Asiatics, like them applied different ointments to different parts of the body. Atheneus J has preserved to us the verses of Antiphanus, in which these are enumerated. * Baccius, in his book De Thermis, 1 . y. c. 9. and in his book De Naturalt Finorum Historia, p. 178, has given a plate of a thermopollumy to show how the water was heated to different degrees. And Sir Edward Barry, in his “ Obser- vations on the Wines of the Ancients,” page 161, has republished this plate. i" Of the use wrestlers made of sand, see Lucian’s dialogue on gymnastic exercises. L. 15. Dipnosophiston. THE SEVEN HILLS. 213 Along the sides of the square, between the exedrce and the centre buildings, were broad shadowy walks, planted with plane-trees, which, like a stadium, served for exercise, whe- ther walking or running. In the villa Negroni, beyond the line of the square of the buildings, and opposite to the side BC, I observed the remains, pretty entire, of the great reservoir, which contained the wa- ter for the use of the baths. Thus have I given an idea of the Dioclesian baths, which is as much as their present disfigured state will permit. But, for the conveniency of the reader, I shall subjoin an index of the different parts, marked as on the plan, plate IV. INDEX. A. Principal entry. BE. Side towards the north- east. BC. Side towards the south- east. CD. Side towards the south- west. DE. Side towards the north- west. 1. Lodgings for officers and servants. 2. Exedrae. 3. Schola, or Ephebeum. 4. Temple of Apollo. 5. Temple of Esculapius, 6. B ibliotheca. 7. Theatridium. 8. Natatio. 9. Porticus natationis. 10. Basilica. 11. Diaeta. 12. Sphaeristerium. 13. Cavsedium. 14. Xystum. Dioclesian' s baths.'' 214 ANCIENT ROME. Dioclesian's baths. 15. Apodyteriiim. 16. Frigidarium. 17. Tepidarium. 18. Caldarium. 19. Laconicum. 20. Hypocaustum. 21. Conisterium. 22. Eloeothesium. 23. Ephebium for wrestlers. 24. Walks shaded with plane-trees. 25. Reservoir. THE SEVEN HILLS. 215 THE PRAETORIAN CAMP. On the plain behind the agger of Tarquinius, and to the east of the Viminal and Quirinal hills, there is a large vineyard, which belonged to the Jesuits. Here stood the Praetorian camp, and not on the broad summit of these hills, as mentioned by a celebrated historian.* It was Sejanus, to increase his own power, and to keep Rome in subjection, who advised Tiberius to establish this camp.'-f- It is unnecessary to say any thing of the Praetorian guards. The power of that body, their influence on government, and their even selling the imperial dignity, is recorded in the Roman annals. J The Prretorian camp, though small, had been fortified, and laid out in the manner generally practised by the Romans, of which Polybius, § in the time of Scipio Africanus, and Jose- phus, || in the reign of Vespasian, have left us descriptions. It seems to have been a parallelogram, and probably surrounded with a double agger, between which was a ditch. On each side of the parallelogram there was a gate, viz. the pratoria in the front, the decumana in the rear, the dextra and the sinistra on the sides ; as we observe in the Roman camps still * M. Gibbon’s Roman Empire, Vol. i. note 5. page 17 of his notes on c. 5. t Tacitus, Ann. 1 . 4.. X Thus Ctho, by means of two soldiers, bribed by money, dethroned Galba. = — “ Suscepere duo manipulates imperium populi Romani transferendum, et transtulerunt.” — Tacit. Hist. 1 . i. c. 25. § Lib, 6. c. 5. j] Lib. 3. c. 3,, 216 ANCIENT ROME. PrcBtorian camp. to be seen in Scotland and England* ; for no vestiges of their camps have hitherto been, so far as I know, traced in Italy. These camps, like regular cities, contained every thing proper to render the life of the soldier agreeable. And as the camp in question was intended to be permanent, we may reasonably suppose that these conveniences were here particularly studied. The Romans used to erect, in their stationary camps, small temples, probably dedicated to Mars, in which they deposited the vexilldi or ensigns, as well as the simulacra deum, and imagines principwn, which were all deemed sacred. This Praetorian camp of Sejanus was, no doubt, without the walls ; but whether it was afterwards added to the city by Aurelian, or by Constantine the Great after the defeat of Maxentius, seems uncertain^ It is indeed commonly thought, that it was inclosed within the city by the latter, who built that part of the walls, which projects in a square, beyond the line of those of Aurelian. Here Constantine, having dis- banded the Praetorian guards, erected barracks for his soldiers, which retained the name of Castrum Prcetoriimi, and of which some remains may be still traced. I come now to the Ouirinal hill ; but, the better to connect my survey, I shall proceed directly from hence to the west end of it. * See the “ mi'itary Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain, and particu- larly their ancient System of Castrametation, illustrated by Plans ; by the late Major General Koy.” This splendid work was published by the Antiquary Society of London, 1793. THE SEVEN HILLS. 217 TRAJAN’S FORUM AND COLUMN. Though Trajan's forum and column cannot properly be said to stand on the Quirinal hill, yet as he caused part of the west end of it to be cut down, in order to extend his celebrated buildings, as will afterwards appear, I shall here contemplate this classical spot, before I proceed in my survey of the Qui- rinal hill. Of the various forums, that of Trajan seems to have been the most elegant. It was built by the renowned architect Apollodorus. It stood between the Capitol and Quirinal hills and Nerva's forum. It was ornamented with sumptuous build- ings : a basilic, a gymnasium, the Ulpian library, an historical column, porticos, a triumphal arch, &c. Indeed this last was taken down, and its beautiful basso-relievos and rich materials employed to erect a triumphal arch to Constantine, and which I shall examine in the sequel. On the medals of Trajan we find represented— his forum — column — triumphal arch — and Ulpian basilic.* The grandeur of the buildings, that decorated t\ns forwn, may be estimated from the columns of Egyptian granite, dis- covered in laying the foundation of the new entry to the Bo- nelli palace, built on part of this forum. They are eight * Vide — “ Vaillant, Numismata Imperatorum Romanorum praestantiora.”— = Vide “ Havercampus, Nummophylacium Reginas Christinae.”— Vide “ l’His= toria Augusta, da Angeloni, V. Trajano,” Ff See Quirinal hill, pi. III. No. I. 2i8 ANCIENT ROME. Trajan's palms and a half, Roman, in diameter. A fragment of the ^ cornice of the architrave, which these columns supported, is preserved at the villa Albani, It is six palms high : hence the height of the whole architrave, of which the cornice used to be one-third, must have been about eighteen palms high. This fragment probably belonged to the Ulpian ba- silic, an elevation of which we observe on one of Trajan's medals. Although none of these buildings have escaped the rage of barbarous hands, and all-devouring time, yet the most re- markable monument of t\\\s forum still remains : viz. the his- torical column erected by the senate and people to the em- peror, after his Dacian conquests ; and on which the progress of both these wars are represented in basso-relievo. After many actions, and reduced to the last extremity, Decebalus, their king, put an end to his own life; and Trajan erected Dacia into a Roman province.* Over the door, in the pedestal, by which we enter into the column, we read the following inscription : =* Although the Getes were the people who inhabited the country, along the mouth of the Danube, yet the Greeks gave them the name of the Daces, that isj. the Transilvanians, the Valakians, and the Moldavians. They were conquered by Trajan ; in whose reign the Roman empire was in its greatest extent. To the north he added the country of the Dacii; and to the east he added Armenia,. Mesopotamia, and Assyria. He gave a king to Parthia, who acknowledged the, Roman power. THE SEVEN HILLS. 219 SENATVS . POPVLVSQVE . ROMANVS IMP . CAESARI . DIVI . NERVAE . F . NERVAE TRAIANO . AVG . GERM . DACICO . PONTIF MAXIMO . TRIE . POT . XVII . IMP . VI . COS . VI . P . P AD . DECLARANDVM . gVANTAE . ALTITVDINIS MONS . ET . LOCVS . TAN/W O^mBVS . SIT'. EGESTVS. This inscription shows, that Trajan had caused part of the Qiiirinal hill to be cut down to give more extent to his forum; and that the height of his column was the measure of that level. The ground, indeed, is now much raised here, the mo- dern pavement being about twenty feet above the ancient ; as appears from the excavation made to show the height of the column. This column stood in the centre of the forum, and was ter- minated with a statue of Trajan, as appears from a medal. Thus it served for a sepulchral monument to that great man ; for it is generally supposed that his ashes were put into a ball of metal, which he held in his hand.^ But Sixtus Quintus, in place of the statue of this respectable emperor, caused that of St. Peter to be erected on this imperial monument, and which can have no connection with the history of Trajan's wars, there represented. * The letters, tis and Operi, had been defaced in the barbarous ages, and are thus supplied. They had probably been cut out to fix a beam to support the roof of some hut or shop placed against the pedestal of the column. t Indeed some antiquaries reckon, that Trajan’s ashes were preserved in an urn, which was placed in the cell, in the pedestal of this column. Ff 2 Trajati’s forum. 220 ANCIENT ROME. Trajan's forum. The height of this monument is 115 feet 10 inches English — viz. the pedestal 20 feet 10 inches, and the shaft of the co- lumn 95 feet. Eutropius says, that this column is 144 feet high. To make up this measure in Roman feet, the historian probably included the height of the statue, and the base on which it stood. It is composed of thirty blocks of white statuary marble, which seems to be that of Carrara ; and each block forms the diameter of the column : viz. eight for the pedestal, nineteen for the pillar, and three for the base of the statue of St. Peter. There is a staircase, consisting of one hundred and eighty- four steps, which leads to the top of the column, and which is lighted by forty-three narrow slits or windows. This staircase is cut out of the blocks of marble, which form the diameter of the column. On the four square sides of the pedestal, I observed the shields and arms of the Daci, the Sarmati, and their allies. They had been copied from the originals, brought to Rome by the emperor, and which he had displayed in his triumph. They are elegantly executed : nor had the sculptor occasion to embellish them ; since Pausanias,* mentioning a Sarmate cuirass, preserved in the temple of .T^sculapius, informs us, that the Sarmati excelled in the fine arts, and in this respect might be compared with the Greeks themselves. * L. I. c, 21.. THE SEVEN HILLS. 221 It is commonly said, that the basso-relievos on this monu- ment increase in size as they approach towards the the top, in order to appear the same to the eye of the beholder from be- low. But that this is not so, is evident from the plaister casts of this column;* the general height of these figures being two feet and an inch English. That the eye might not be interrupted, in tracing the con- connectiofi of the sculpture, the column is carried up, from the bottom to the top, in a spiral line or screw. Hence it is called Columna Cochlis. Besides the elegancy of the sculpture, executed at the period when that art was in high perfection at Rome, we may con- sider this wonderful monument as a system of antiquities. For here we remark the manners, dress, discipline, arms, marches, forages, and encampments of the soldiers of that age; the Roman standards, as well as those of the enemy ; bridges, passing of rivers, and the form of their ships ; sieges, battles, victories, congresses, and peace ; adlocutions of the emperor, triumphs, sacrifices, libations, victims, altars, the dresses of the priests,, and various religious rites. To give a proper description of the different subjects, repre- sented on this column, would require a particular work. And * To be seen at the French academy of painting, in Rome. These moulds, I was told, were taken off by order of Louis XIV, with an intention to have them afterwards cast in metal ; and thus to have erected this surprising monu- ment of art,, in his gardens at Yersailles.. Trajan’s forum^ 223 ANCIENT ROME. Trajan’s forum. General Melville’s Roman or- der of battle. after all, it would be impossible to convey to the reader a dis- tinct idea of them, without engravings. I shall therefore beg leave to refer to the plates, of the celebrated engraver Pietro Santi Bartoli,* who has preserved to posterity so many va- luable works of antiquity. The various sculptures on this splendid monument, cannot but convey useful ideas to artists, as well as to antiquaries. Among the latter, my most worthy and respected friend Ge- neral Melville, whose happy genius embraces the whole circle of science, was pleased to assure me that, from an examination he made, when at Rome, in the year 1776, of the legionary arms of the Romans, cut on Trajan's column, he received the fullest confirmation of the ideas he had formed of their order of battle. The general was first led to investigate this curious subject, from seeing and handling, in different positions, a double-edged, sharp-pointed, short sword, said to be a Roman gladius, dug up in the area of one of their castella, remaining in Scotland. For he properly considered the gladius as the chief offensive weapon of the Romans, which, combined with the superiority of their defensive armour, enabled that warlike people to be the conquerors of the world. He therefore con- cluded, that the legionary order of battle must have been that which admitted the best use of its arms for offence and defence. From this principle followed, in the general's mind, a system of arrangement in full lines, consisting of three men in depth, placed in so many ranks, viz. the hastati, the principes, and tri- * See “ Colonna Trajano, intagliata da P.S. Bartoli, e spiegata daGio. Pietro Bellori.” Roma, per de Rossi, fol. THE SEVEN HILLS. arli, with sufficient intervals between man and man ; the whole Traj for Standing chequer-ways, or in a quincunx, so as to allow the necessary successon in fighting to. the best advantage, and without confusion. This arrangement was equally applicable to two, three, or more such lines, of which the order of battle might consist. The learned general found this order of battle was agreeable to an impartial interpretation of the passages, relative to it, in the Greek and Roman authors : but that it was altogether inapplicable to the several parts of what has been called the Lipsian system, from its author Justus Lipsius, who published above two hundred years ago, a work entitled Militia'' Romana. Lipsius, indeed, is accused by Joseph Scali- ger,'^' to have only copied a prior work, by Patrizi de Ferrara, viz. la Militia Romana, without naming him. But Patrizi hav- ing improperly interpreted the meaning of some expressions, in Polybius'’ description of Scipio’s order before the battle of Zama, has erected on them a fanciful and impracticable sys-t tern : a system, however, which, from the authority of Lipsius, has received a currency, and has been since adopted, with only a few insignificant alterations, by all authors, military or not military, who have wrote-on this subject. Many years ago. General Melville was pleased to communicate to me his rea- soned system on the Roman order of battle, in manuscript, with some plans and explanations, a work which highly de- serves to be published, and which cannot but give great satis- faction to every classical scholar, as well as to military gen- tlemen. * “ Lipsius libro de militia Romana, omnia cepit ex Francisco Patricio, qui Italice scripsit ea de re.” — Vide Scaligerana, art Lipsius, edit. Colonias, Agr'ip- piax, apud Scagen,. 1667. i2mo.. ANCIENT ROME. Trajan's forum. A building commonly called the baths of Paulus iEmilius. No. 2. At a little distance from Trajan's column, and near to the church of S. Maria in Campo Carleo, I observed the ruins of a circular portico, of brick, of considerable extent. The second, and a small part of the third stories of it, are only now to be seen : the first being buried in the ground, which is greatly raised here above its former level. What the use of this build- ing was, is a matter of dispute among the antiquaries. It is indeed commonly reckoned to have been part of the baths of Paulus Tlmilius : and, from this idea it is supposed, that the part of the Quirinal hill, immediately joining to it, has been named Monte Bagnanapoli, or Magnanapoli, a cor- ruption of Balnea Pauli. In the time of Paulus iTmilius, the luxury of bathing had not then made such progress at Rome, as to have produced a building for that purpose, so extensive as this seems to have been. Besides, it does not resemble any of the thermce, afterwards erected. Alberto Cassio*, having employed much learning on this article, concludes that it was a magnificent hen-house, exe- cuted by order of Livia, the wife of Augustus, in which were preserved the race of the white hen, which an eagle had let drop into her bosom, as I have already mentioned.-f For the empress having, on this occasion, consulted the augurs, they declared the progeny of this hen sacred, and that they ought to be preserved solely for their inspection. This superstition, of foretelling future events by the flight of birds, or their man- ner of eating, was of great antiquity, and connected with false religion and policy : it supposed that men could not be go * Corso deir acque, part. 2. No. 32. t See p. 41. THE SEVEN HILLS. verned but by deceit. But, so absurd was it, that even Cicero, himself an augur, makes the elder Cato say, “ that he wonders how two augurs could see each other without laughing."' * But Piranesi, -f in his ingenious though ideal survey of Tra- ]2LY\s forum, makes this circular building a chalcidicum,X which belonged to it ; and, on the opposite side of this splendid forum, he places another. * “ Vetus autem illud Catonis admodum scitum est, qui mirari se aiebat, quod non rideret haruspex, haruspicem cum vidisset.” — Cic. de Divinatione, 1 . 2. c. 4-0. t Ant. Rom. Tom. i. tab. 43. — See also an elevation of this ruin, ib. tab. 29. fig. i. X Vitruvius, 1. 5. c. i. 225 Trajan’s forum. Gg 226 ANCIENT ROME. VII. THE QUIRINAL HILL. I now come to the Quirinal, which completes the number of the seven hills. To the west it is bounded by the Campus Martins, to the south by the valley that separates it from the Viminal, to the east by the agger Tarquinius, and to the north by a valley that lies between it and the Mons Pincius. This hill was long, and of an irregular figure. Its surface was very uneven : it presented many points and eminences, to which the ancients gave different names ; but which are now much levelled. The whole, however, was called Mans Qiiiri- nalis, from the temple of Quirinus, which I shall afterwards, mention. “ Templa Deo fiunt : collis quoque dictus ab illo.”'^ But this hill, which was added to the city by Numa Pompi- lius,-f is now known by the name of Monte Cavallo, from the two marble horses, which I shall soon examine, placed in the square before the magnificent Papal palace, where the popes generally reside. Many great buildings, now destroyed, stood on this hilL We may, indeed, still trace fragments and foundations of build- ings ; biif it is often difficult to ascertain to which they be- longed. I shall, however, endeavour to point out some of the most remarkable of them, beginning at the west end of the hill. * Ovid. Fast. 1 . 2. v. 511. t Dion. Halic. 1 . 2. c. 16. sect. 2.. THE SEVEN HILLS. From Trajan's column I went, by a gradual ascent, to that part of the Quirinal hill called Monte Bagnanapoli, and came to the convent of Santa Caterina di Siena. In the garden of these nuns there is a considerable tower, known by the name of Torre delle Militie. Some of the antiquaries say, that this, as well as another tower of the same kind, a little below it on the plain, called Tor di Conti, served as watch-houses, in case of fire, to Trajan's and the other forums in this neighbour- hood. But these towers, though remarkable, seem only to be of the middle age ; and Nardini* is of opinion, that they were built by Innocent the 1 1 Id. or some other pope of the Conti family, whose palace was in this quarter, and is now possessed by the Duke of Grill! . The Colonna family have converted into a garden that part of this hill, which overlooked the Campus Martins, and lies be- tween the pope's stables and the Pilotta. By this operation they have destroyed the ancient buildings which ornamented it; though some fragments still remain. The antiquaries place here the Senacidum, where the Roman matrons some- times assembled, built for their use by Heliogabelus, as men- tioned by Lampridius,'f — “ Fecit et in colle Quirinali Senacu- lum, id est mulierum senatum, in quo ante fuerat conventus matronalis." — On the face of the hill, behind the Pilotta, I ob- , served the remains of a staircase, which seems to have led, from the Campus Martins, to this building. * Lib. 3. c. 15. — lib. 4. c. 6. — See also “ Vite de Pontifici da Platina,” Tom. 3. p. 60. ed. Ven. 1763, in 410. t Lamp. vit. Ant. Heliog. c. 4. ' Gg 2 227 7. The Qui- rinal hill. Torre delle Militie. No. 3. Senaculum of the Ro- man ma- trons. No. 4. 228 ANCIENT ROME. 7, The Qui- rinal hill. T^nple of the^Sun. No. 5. Vicode Cornelii. Constan- tine’s baths. No. 6. In these gardens I likewise observed some foundations of a building, which is reckoned to have been the temple of the Sun, erected by Aurelian. — “ Templum Solis magnificentis- simum constituit,” — says Vopiscus.^ A part of a frize of white marble, of an immense size, elegantly cut into foliages, and still remaining here, probably belonged to this temple, and is a proof of its magnificence. And we may infer its greatness from an entablature, likewise remaining in these gardens, by which it appears that the diameter of the columns that sup- ported it were seven feet English. Here too was found a votive table of marble, preserved in the Colonna palace, on which the worship of Mithras is represented. It is about four palms high, and eight palms long. As the worship of Mithras, brought to Rome from Persia, was connected with that of the sun, and as Mithras was even taken for the sun, such a votive offering was no doubt a proper ornament for this temple :-f* and it is at least an indication that the temple of the Sun stood here. The Colonna palace, which stands on the site of the ancient domus Cornelii, communicates with these gardens, by means of bridges thrown over the road, called mo de Cornelii, between it and the hill. In this vico were found the two river gods, now placed at the fountain on the square of the CapitoL Constantine's baths stood on that part of this hill, on which * Vopiscus in Vita Aureliani, c. 39. t It is published by Vignoli, in his dissertation — “ de Columa Antonini Pii’" — p. 174. THE SEVEN HILLS. 229 now stands the Rospigliosi palace and garden, and the great Papal building called the Consulta : perhaps they projected into the square of the Monte Cavallo. But as these baths are entirely destroyed, I can give no delineation of them. I may, however, conclude, from the ground they occupied, that they were extensive, and from fragments of painting and sculpture found here, and preserved in the Rospigliosi collection, that they were elegant. In these baths stood the two colosseah marble horses, each held by a man, which now gives name to this hill, as I have already mentioned. They are commonly supposed to repre- sent Alexander the Great training his horse Bucephalus. May they not be equally well applied to Castor and Pollux ? On the modern bases that support them, opus Phedia is inscribed on the one, and opus Praxitelis on the other. If these groups re- present Alexander and Bucephalus, they cannot be the works of those artists, since they lived prior to the time of that hero. And, wonderful and spirited as they are, they want that cor- rectness of design we expect to find in the works of those ce- lebrated sculptors. We must not, however, examine them too critically, because they have evidently suffered much from length of time, and the effects of the air, to which they are. exposed.* In these baths were likewise found the statue of Constan- tine, which I saw in the portico of the church of St. John of * I am informed that Pope Pius VI. has caused one of the obelisks, that for- merly ornamented Augustus’ mausoleum, to be erected between these two groups. 7. The Oui- rinal hill. Group, call- ed Alexan- der and Bu- cephalus. Statues of Connanrine' and sons. 230 ANCIENT ROME. 7. The Qui- Lataran, as well as the statues of two of his sons, preserved at rinal bill. the Capitol. Temple of Whether such personages as Romulus and Remus ever ex- isted, or whether their history was only an allegory, alluding to the course of the sun, invented by the Romans in after ages, as advanced by a learned but paradoxical modern writer,* I shall not now enquire. It sufficeth to my present purpose that the temple of Quirinus, the name given to Romulus after his death,-'|' stood on the Quirinal hill. Although there are no remains of this building, it stood, however, on that part of the hill, just be- hind where Bernini built the elegant little church for the no- viciate of the Jesuits. It overlooked the valley that lies be- tween the Quirinal and Viminal hills ; and the entry to it was in front of the Viminal. It was from hence that the marble , steps, which now serve for the great staircase at the Ara Cc^li, were taken.;]; The senators, weary of the despotism of Romu- lus, murdered him. But to prevent the resentment of the people they deified him, and engaged the time-serving Pro- culus Julius to attest that he saw him, as a god, ascend up into heaven. I cannot but transcribe the words which Livy§ puts into the mouth of Proculus — “ Romulus, inquit, Quirites, pa- rens urbis hujus, prima hodierna luce coelo repente delapsus, se mihi obvium dedit; quum perfusus horrore venerabundusque adstitissem, petens precibus, ut contra intueri fas esset ; abi, nuncia, inquit, Romanis, coelestes ita velle, ut mea Roma caput * M. Court de Gibelin — “monde premitif, Calendrier” — 1. 2. c. 5. sect. 2. t Cic. de natura Deorum, 1. 2. c. 24. X See page 143. § Lib. I c. 16. THE SEVEN HILLS. orbis terrarum sit : proinde rem militarem colant ; sciantque^ et ita posteris tradant, nullas opes humanasarmis Romanis re- sistere posse : hiec, inquit, locutus, sblimis abiit/’— The elo- quent historian tells us, that it was ad Caprcs paludem where this scene happened. Some authors place this spot in the Campus Martius, on the banks of the Tiber ; but tradition says, that it was behind the temple of Ouirinus, in the valley between the Quirinal and Viminal hills : and perhaps it was for this reason that his temple was built here. — Pliny, always fond to record the marvellous, mentions two myrtles planted before this temple ; he calls the one patrician, and the other plebeian : and says that these myrtles flourished or languished alternatively, in proportion as either of these political parties prevailed in the state.* The temple of Salus, Health, stood near to that of Ouirinus, and in the neighbourhood of the house of Atticus.-f I can- not, however, point out the exact spot : probably it stood op- posite to the temple of Quirinus, on the ground where we now see a part of the Papal palace. The Romans not only personified and deified the moral virtues, but even every thing that was useful. Thus they built a temple to the preservation of the empire, under the name of the goddess Salus. It was dedicated by the dictator C. Junius Bubulcus, on the 5th August, in the year of Rome 451. It had been painted by Fabius Pictor,§ the year before the dedication. This work, * Plin. Hist. Nat. 1 . 15, c. 29. t Cic. ad Atticum, 1 . 4.. ep. i. — et tu^ vicinse Salutis.” % Cic. ib. — T. Liv. D. r. 1 . 10. — Corn. Nepos, Vit., Att. § Plin. Hist. Nat. 1 . 35. c. 4. 7. The Qui- rinal hill. The Tem- ple of Health. No. 8. 252 ANCIENT ROME. 7. TheOui- rinal hill. Capitolium vetus. No. 9. A nyinphs- um. No. 10. executed by a noble Roman, remained entire till the temole was destroyed by fire, in the time of the Emper'.ar Ciau-*ius. It was from this Fabius that the illustriou.s family 01 the Fi.bii took the surname of Pictor. Such was the esteem then shown to that ingenious art. Numa is said to have built a temple to Jupiter, on that part of this hill called alta semita. It consisted, like that on the Capitol hill,^ of three chapels, viz. one to Jupiter, another to Juno, and a third to Minerva ; and was known by the name of Capitolium vetus. If this is the temple mentioned by Va- lerius Maximus-f — “ veteris Capitolii humilia tecta'^ — it had not been magnificent. It is generally supposed to have stood, either on that height in the pope's garden, that overlooks the Strada Rosella, or about where now stands the Barberini palace. In digging the foundations of the magnificent Barberini pa- lace, on this hill, the workmen found an ancient mosaic picture, which represents a nymphceum. It is published by Holstenius.;|; Antiquaries suppose that Dioclesian here built his nymphceum. ■But if this opinion is grounded only on this mosaic picture having been found here, it is too slight an indication of it. However, I shall embrace this opportunity to give an idea of these celebrated buildings. Of the ancient Nymphcea we find few remains. Imperfect therefore must be the accounts given of them by the anti- * See page 146. t Lib. 4. c.4. sect. ult. + Apud Grasyium, Ant. Rom. Tom. 4. p. 799. THE SEVEN HILLS. 233 quaries. That they were fountains, appears evident from a 7 law in the codex* They seem to have been of different kinds, and appropriated to various uses.-f The first nymphcea were probably only natural caves or grottos, found in the sides of hills or rising grounds, from which rushed streams of water, and where they adored the goddesses or nymphs of the fountains, who they reckoned de- lighted chiefly to reside there. Such is the grotto described by Virgil.J Fronte sub adversa scopulis pendentibus antrum : Intus aquae dulces, vivoque sedilia saxo; Nympharum domus/' sdly. The ancients erected artificial fountains, to imitate these natural ones, which they embellished with statues and rustic ornaments. Such a nymphceum seems to be represented in the Barberini mosaic. 3dly. The emperors sometimes erected magnificent foun- tains, to which they gave the same name. These imitated cascades rushing out of caves and rocks, falling into large basons, surrounded with seats, ornamented with marble co- lumns, and the statues of the nymphs. Here they used to sit, * L. II. tit. 4.2. sect. 6 , de aqujeduct. t The botanists give the name of nymphcea to a species of aquatic plants, in order perhaps to convey an idea of the nymphs, whom the ancients imagined presided over the fountains. iEn. i . v. 167. H h ■. TheQui- rinal hilL 234 ANCIENT ROME. 7. The Qui- rinal bilL and enjoy the cool air in the summer evenings, as people do now at the elegant Jontana di Trevi* And here too they sometimes supped, and gave sumptuous entertainments. 4thly. Large fountains and reservoirs of waters, but less or- namented, for the use of the people, were likewise called iiym-’ phcea. And, 5thly. After the Christian religion was established at Rome, it was usual to build, before churches, fountains, which were also named nymphcea ; and where the Christians washed their hands, before they entered the church to pray. An inscription, published by Boissard,-f may perhaps throw some light on this subject. NYMPHIS . LOCI . BIBE . LAVA . TACE . The following beautiful inscription, on a nymphceum, was engraved on the statue of a sleeping nymph. It was formerly at Rome, but where it now is I have not been able to trace. — Hujus nympha loci, sacri custodia fontis, Dormio, dum blandae sentio murmur aquae. Farce meum, quisquis tangis cava marmora, somnum Rumpere, sive bibas, sive lavere, tace."*' See page 56, t Boisard, Tom. 5. 98. THE SEVEN HILLS. 235 This inscription, which Mr. Pope justly admired, he has thus translated. — Nymph of the grot, these sacred springs I keep, And to the murmur of these waters sleep ; Ah spare my slumbers, gently tread the cave 1 And drink in silence, or in silence lave I * . Salust, the celebrated historian — “ Primus Romana Crispus in historia''-'j' — having been appointed proconsul of Africa, by Julius Csesar, returned to Rome loaded with riches, which he had extorted during his government. How different was his just theory from his rapacious practice ! What an advantage would it often be not to know the private lives of some renowned authors, whose works we should otherwise read with additional plea- sure and profit ! J The fine house Salust built, and the ele- gant gardens he laid out at Rome, were monuments of his guilt. Though no part of them now remain, yet, as they are often mentioned by the Roman writers, I cannot pass them over entirely in silence. It is true I cannot fix with certainty either their precise situation, or extent. Let me, however, remark, that the antiquaries have not properly distingushed SalusPs house and forum from his gardens : they have con- founded them : but it is evident they were not contiguous. His house, and what was called his forum, joining to it, stood * Pope’s letters to Blount, No. 14. t Martial, I. 14. ep. 191. $ See “ La vie de Salluste, par le President de Brosses.” Hh 2 7. The Qui- rinal hill. The house of C. Cris- pus Salus- tius. No, 8 1. ANCIENT ROME. 236 7. The Qui~ rinal bill. Campus Sceleratus. No. 12. on the 'Quirinal hill, near to the ancient Porta Salara, before that gate and the walls of the city were extended by Aurelian. It was probably on that part of the Quirinal hill, where now stands the beautiful church, convent, and garden of the Ma- donna della Victoria* Whereas his gardens, which stood on the Mons hortulorum^ were separated from his house by the valley between that rising ground and the Quirinal hill, and which I shall examine in the sequel. But though his gardens were without the then walls of the city, he might have had a view of them from his house. The Campus Sceleratus, where the vestal virgins, con- demned for incontinency, were shut up alive in a small vault, with a lamp, bed, a little bread, water, milk, and oil, was near the ancient Porta Salara. It was wuthin the city, on the side of the agger Tarquinius. Nor was it singular that vestals, thus condemned, were buried within the walls of the city : because, nothwithstanding their pollution, their bodies were still considered as sacred ; and therefore they were not put to death like other criminals, but allowed to perish for want. Although there are no remains of that remarkable vault, it seems to have been about the east end of the villa Mendosa, by which the agger probably ran. * The famous statue of the hermaphrodite, preserved at the villa Borghese, was found in digging the foundations of this church. We may therefore infer that it belonged to Salust. It is thought to be the work of Policies. See Win- kelmann, Monum. ant. ined. trat. prim, p. 84. t See Dion. Hal. 1 . 2. c. 17. sect, 7. — and Pint. Life of Numa. THE SEVEN HILLS. 237 I have already mentioned,^ that the temple of Venus Ery- cina, which was without the Porta Salara, before Aurelian extended the walls, came to be within the present gate, on the skirt of the Quirinal hill. In the villa Mendosa, at the extremity of Salust's circus, I observed the remains of a building, commonly called the temple of Venus. I shall not assert that this is the temple of Venus Erycina. In such enquiries it is safer to doubt than to decide. It is indeed a considerable ruin, and answers to the place where her temple seems to have stood. But whether the ancient temple of Venus Erycina had been inclosed in Salust's extensive gardens, or whether another temple, dedicated to Venus, had been built there, is uncertain. However, that there was a temple of Venus in these gardens, appears from the fol“ lowing inscriptions, published by Gruter. — . M . AVRELIVS . PACORVS M . COCCEIVS . STRATOCLES AEDITVII . VENERIS . HORTORVM SALLVSTIANORVM . BASEM . CVM PAVIMENTO . MARMORATO DEANAE D .