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DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ANTIQUITIES 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER CURIOSITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 ROME. 
 
t 
 
DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ANTIQUITIES 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER CURIOSITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 ROME. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. EDWARD BURTON, M A 
 
 STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH. 
 
 Et quae tanta fuit Romam tibi causa videndi ? 
 What cause so urgent turn'd your steps to Rome ? 
 
 Virg. Bucol. i. 21\ 
 
 OXFORD, 
 
 FOR JOSEPH PARKER j 
 AND JOHN MURRAY, LONDON, 
 1821. 
 
t 
 
 BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD. 
 
 THE GET?/ CENTER 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE visit to Rome, which gave rise to the 
 publication of the following pages, was made 
 in the end of the year )818 and the begin- 
 ning of 1819. The writer passed on the 
 whole four months in Rome, a period, which 
 will be found quite sufficient for seeing all 
 the curiosities of the place, if a person is in- 
 clined to be active. The time which has 
 elapsed since returning to England has been 
 partly employed in reading the accounts of 
 modern travellers, and the more laborious 
 compositions of Italian antiquaries. 
 
 Some objection may be anticipated to the 
 design of this work, as not sufficiently fol- 
 lowing any particular system, but being de- 
 sultory and irregular. In the first place, I 
 must disclaim ever having entertained the 
 idea of publishing a book of travels ; not but 
 what many, which have appeared lately, are 
 extremely entertaining, and have afforded 
 me much information : but it was precisely 
 because they were already so numerous, that 
 
V 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I did not wish or presume to add one more 
 to the number. 
 
 Still however some work was wanting, 
 which, besides barely describing the objects 
 seen, might throw some light upon their 
 history. The antiquities, the churches, the 
 works of art, the religious customs, and 
 many other points connected with Rome, 
 will bear to be treated of much more at 
 length, than by merely conveying to the 
 reader the impressions which passed at the 
 time in the mind of the traveller who viewed 
 them. 
 
 It was with this design that I have di- 
 rected my attention to publications of an 
 older date than the amusing descriptions of 
 modern travellers. It was my wish to com- 
 pose a work, which might be of some use to 
 my countrymen who visit Rome, while it 
 was not without entertainment to those who 
 are satisfied with reading accounts of it at 
 home. Whether this object has been in any 
 way attained, others must decide. 
 
 Many things are omitted, which a journal 
 of a residence in Rome might be expected 
 to notice; but they are purposely left out, 
 from the desire of describing nothing which 
 I had not myself seen. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 It has been my aim in every instance to 
 point out the sources, to which I have been 
 indebted for any information or remark. 
 But those who have been accustomed to 
 note down many references, and to transcribe 
 their papers after they have received various 
 corrections and additions, will make allow- 
 ances for the occasional omission of such 
 acknowledgments. 
 
 In the quotations from ancient authors, a 
 translation will generally be found : where 
 the original words were important, they have 
 been transcribed at length. If it should be 
 said, that this has in some instances been 
 done from my not exactly understanding the 
 passage, the remark may perhaps not be 
 wholly unfounded. But I expect this charge 
 not to be brought against me in any specific 
 instance, without the objector obliging my 
 readers and myself with a translation of the 
 passage in question. 
 
 In giving the dimensions of buildings, no 
 uniform scale has been adopted : but re- 
 ference has been made indifferently to the 
 English, French, or Italian measures. Where 
 the design is to give the relative proportion 
 of two objects, this plan will of course cause 
 no inconvenience : and in copying from any 
 traveller, 1 have thought it best to give the 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 measure which he used, (always marking 
 the country in which it prevailed,) without 
 reducing them all to the English or any 
 other standard. 
 
 Much of what is in the text would by 
 many modern writers be thrown into the 
 notes : but the other plan has been preferred, 
 both for the sake of diversifying what might 
 otherwise be a dry and uninteresting detail, 
 and because many readers consider it per- 
 fectly lawful to pass over the small letters 
 which are crowded in at the bottom of the 
 page. 
 
A 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ANTIQUITIES AND OTHER CURIOSITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 ROME. 
 
 Et quae tanta fuit Romam tibi causa videndi ? 
 
 Viro. Bucol. I. 9.1. 
 
 THE motto prefixed to this work contains a 
 question, which every person visiting Rome per- 
 haps has not put to himself. That there is some- 
 thing in the past and present state of Rome, 
 which excites a peculiar interest, we might 
 perhaps say a peculiar enthusiasm, in those who 
 read any account of it, seems unquestionably 
 true. Even those who have not read at all, 
 know perhaps more of the Romans than of any 
 other nation which has figured in the world. If 
 we prefer modern history to ancient, we still find 
 Rome in every page ; and if we look with com- 
 posure upon an event so antiquated as the fall of 
 the Roman empire, we cannot, as Englishmen or 
 as Protestants, contemplate with indifference the 
 second empire, which Rome erected over the 
 
 B 
 
4 
 
 APPROACH 
 
 have entered Rome, suffering more from disap- 
 pointment than from rapture. This is a case in 
 which writers in giving their descriptions must 
 communicate the first impression. In saying 
 that I was disappointed in entering Rome by the 
 Florence road, so far from acknowledging a want 
 of enthusiasm or an indifference to ancient times, 
 it was because I had suffered my mind to an- 
 ticipate so much, that I was mortified at not find- 
 ing those anticipations realised. Those, who are 
 not struck with admiration at the first view, ge- 
 nerally suffer not from the want of feeling in 
 themselves, but from the exuberance of it in 
 others. So it is with respect to the descriptions 
 of Rome, and the impression actually raised by 
 it. 
 
 Most people picture to themselves a certain 
 spot, from whence the towers and domes of the 
 Eternal City burst upon their view. St. Peter's, 
 with its cupola, the immense rains of the Colos- 
 seum, the Pillar of Trajan, and such well-known 
 objects, are all crowded into the ideal scene; and 
 the imagination is raised to the utmost pitch in 
 expectation of every moment unfolding this glo- 
 rious prospect. The traveller, after feasting upon 
 this hope, and using it to console himself for the 
 barrenness of the Campagna and the uninteresting 
 uniformity of the view, approaches nearer and 
 nearer without reaching the expected spot. His 
 tour-book tells him, that near the Post of Bac- 
 cano, fourteen miles from Rome, the dome of 
 St. Peter's is first visible. This will be the com- 
 
TO ROME. 
 
 5 
 
 mencement of his delight. But he still disre- 
 gards this speck in the horizon, anxiously look- 
 ing for the happier moment, when the whole city 
 is discovered. This moment unfortunately never 
 arrives. Where that place is to be found in the 
 approach from Florence, which affords such a 
 feast to the eye and to the imagination, I never 
 could discover. The view of Rome from the 
 Monte Mario, a hill near this road, is perhaps 
 one of the noblest and the most affecting which 
 the world could produce. I suspect that some 
 writers, full of the gratification which this prospect 
 afforded, have transferred it in description to their 
 first entrance. But the road itself discloses the 
 city by degrees. Scarcely any of it is seen till 
 within a small distance, and then, with the ex- 
 ception of St. Peter's, there are few buildings of 
 interest. The antiquities lie all on the other side, 
 and are not seen at all. The suburbs themselves 
 are not picturesque ; and the traveller finds him- 
 self actually in Rome, before he had given up the 
 hopes of enjoying the distant prospect of it. 
 
 Had he entered the city from Naples, his feel- 
 ings might have been very different. This is the 
 direction from which Rome ought to be entered, 
 if we wish our classical enthusiasm to be raised 
 by the first view. The Campagna is here even 
 more desolate, and to a greater extent, than it is 
 on the side of Florence. For several miles the 
 ground is strewed with ruins; some presenting 
 considerable fragments, others only discernible 
 by the inequality of the surface. It seems as 
 
 b 3 
 
6 
 
 APPROACH 
 
 if the cultivators of the soil had not dared to 
 profane the relics of their ancestors: and from 
 the sea on the left to the Apennines on the right 
 the eye meets with nothing but desolation and 
 decay of grandeur. The Aquaducts rise above 
 the other fragments, and seem purposely placed 
 here to carry us back to the time of the Republic. 
 The long lines of these structures stretch out in 
 various directions ; the arches are sometimes 
 broken down, but the effect is heightened by 
 these interruptions. In short, in travelling the 
 last twelve miles on this road, the mind may 
 indulge in every reflection upon Roman great- 
 ness, and find the surrounding scenery perfectly 
 in unison. From this road too the whole city 
 is actually surveyed. The domes and cupolas 
 are more numerous than from any other quarter, 
 besides which some of the ancient edifices them- 
 selves are added to the picture. After entering 
 the walls, we pass the Colosseum, catch a view 
 of the Forum, the Capitol, and other antiquities, 
 which were familiar to us from ancient authors. 
 
 Such is the entrance to Rome from the side 
 of Naples; the sublimity of which exceeds any 
 thing that Italy can produce, and of which no 
 description can be exaggerated. The entrance 
 from Florence is in every way inferior. There 
 are a few tombs by the road side, but only asso- 
 ciation can make them interesting; whereas the 
 Aquaducts on the other road are in themselves 
 noble objects. After crossing the Tiber by the 
 Ponte Molle, the suburbs of Rome may be said 
 
TO ROME. 
 
 7 
 
 to commence: and the road not being very 
 broad, the houses themselves intercept a prospect 
 of the city. The traveller, if he came to Rome 
 by Perugia, will have seen the Tiber before, hav- 
 ing crossed it not far from the latter town, and 
 again between Otricoli and Borghetto over a 
 bridge built by Augustus. The Ponte Molle, 
 anciently Pons iEmilius and Mulvius, is a hand- 
 some flat bridge of four arches, with a modern 
 archway upon it, under which carriages pass. 
 This spot is rendered celebrated by the battle 
 between Constantine and Maxentius, A. D. 312, 
 not far from the bridge. 
 
 The walls of Rome have a venerable and im- 
 posing appearance, fit to form the introduction to 
 such a city. On either side of the Porta del 
 Popolo they have been repaired at various times, 
 and particularly in the sixth century by Belisa- 
 rius: but probably much of his work does not 
 remain. The Porta del Popolo is altogether a 
 modern structure, having been erected by Pius 
 IV. about 1560. The ancient entrance to Rome 
 on this side was by the Via Flaminia and under 
 the Porta Flaminia, which was built by Aurelian, 
 and stood a little to the east of the present gate. 
 This leads into an irregular open space, which 
 from being the first part of Rome actually seen 
 attracts more attention than it would otherwise 
 obtain. Three streets branch off from it; the 
 middle one of which is the Corso, the principal 
 street in Rome. It runs in the same direction as 
 the ancient Via Lata, but is too narrow to pro 
 
 b 4 
 
8 DESTRUCTION 
 
 duce any effect. The traveller will soon be called 
 off from the pleasing reveries, in which he has 
 been indulging upon finding himself really in 
 Rome, by a demand for his passport, and by an 
 order to proceed to the custom-house. The latter 
 inconvenience may be dispensed with by pro- 
 curing a permission to pass unexamined by a 
 Lascia passare, which it is not difficult to obtain. 
 The road to the custom-house leads by the 
 column of M. Aurelius ; and the custom-house 
 itself presents a noble remnant of antiquity, hav- 
 ing been the temple of Antoninus Pius. 
 
 Having thus landed the traveller in Rome, I 
 shall pause for a while to give him some notion 
 of what he is to expect. The Curiosities of Rome 
 may be divided into the Antiquities, the Churches, 
 and the Palaces ; an order of classification which 
 will partly be observed in the following descrip- 
 tions. The Antiquities, as forming the more pe- 
 culiar attraction in this city, deserve the first 
 place. If a person expects to find here such 
 magnificent remains as he has read of at Athens, 
 he will be grievously disappointed. It is highly 
 necessary to know, that whatever exists here, as 
 a monument of ancient times, has suffered from 
 various calamities. There is much truth in the 
 remark of Pope, 
 
 Some felt the silent stroke of mould'ring age, 
 Some hostile fury, some religious rage : 
 Barbarian blindness, Christian zeal conspire, 
 And Papal piety, and Gothic fire. 
 
 Epistle to Addison. 
 
OF ROME. 
 
 Nor were physical causes wholly unemployed in 
 completing the destruction. Gregory*, after men- 
 tioning Totila's threat of utterly destroying Rome, 
 adds, " To whom the man of the Lord replied, 
 " Rome shall not be exterminated by barbarians, 
 " but shall consume away internally, exhausted 
 " by tempests, lightning, whirlwinds, and earth- 
 " quakes. The mysteries of which prophecy are 
 " now revealed to us clearer than light; for we 
 " see the walls dissolved, houses overthrown, 
 " churches destroyed by whirlwinds, and the 
 " buildings sinking from age." 
 
 Muratori b endeavours to free the Goths from 
 the charge of destroying all the monuments of 
 Roman greatness ; and certainly Theodoric does 
 not appear to have had any such view ; but on 
 the contrary several buildings in Rome were 
 repaired by him, as we learn from the work of his 
 minister Cassiodorus c . With respect to the pil- 
 lage, which the different invaders committed, per- 
 haps some exaggerated notions are entertained. 
 A dissertation has been written expressly by 
 Bargaeus, which is inserted in the fourth volume 
 of Grsevius' Thesaurus, to prove, that the Goths 
 and Vandals contributed little or nothing towards 
 the demolition of Rome. This perhaps is going 
 somewhat too far on the other side. We must 
 recollect, that the principal object of the barba- 
 rians, as they were then styled by the degenerate 
 
 a Dialog, lib. ii. c. 15. 
 
 b Diss, sopra le Antichita Ital. torn. i. diss. 23, 24. 
 
 c Lib. i. Var. Epist. 25, 28. lib. ii. ep. 7, 34. lib. iii. ep. 29, 31. 
 
10 
 
 ALARIC. 
 
 Romans, was to collect money. Th£y bore no 
 professed hostility to the works of art, and a 
 bronze statue was destroyed by them, not from 
 want of taste, but because it could be melted into 
 a more useful form. In the confusion of a mid- 
 night attack, and with the exasperation, which 
 naturally follows resistance, some parts of the 
 city would probably be consumed by fire. The 
 accounts of the historians, who were contem- 
 porary, or wrote shortly after, are very contradic- 
 tory ; and it is difficult to elicit from them a true 
 notion of the mischief that was really committed. 
 The remark however made above will be of use, 
 while we are consulting these authors, that move- 
 able plunder, not a wanton destruction of build- 
 ings, was the object, which actuated the victo- 
 rious enemy. 
 
 A brief review of the events, which accom- 
 panied each successive pillage under the Goths 
 and Vandals, will perhaps be necessary to en- 
 able us to judge of the injury inflicted. Since 
 the burning of Rome by the Gauls in U. C. 
 365 or A. C. 388, no enemy had ever set 
 foot within the sacred city. Alaric broke the 
 charm, when he entered it with his army of 
 Goths in 410. This was the third time that 
 he had laid siege to it. In 409 he had been 
 bribed to remove, and upon the promise of receiv- 
 ing five thousand pounds of gold and thirty thou- 
 sand pounds of silver, besides other valuables, 
 he engaged to raise the siege. Great difficulty 
 was found in collecting the stipulated sum; 
 
ALARIC. 
 
 11 
 
 and it is stated that some treasures, which had 
 been taken in former wars and turned to sa- 
 cred purposes, were employed to pacify the 
 invader d . The second siege was also in 409, 
 but nothing of importance resulted from it e . In 
 410 he entered Rome, as was stated, by the 
 Porta Salara. His troops remained in it six 
 days. Cassiodorus asserts, that they committed 
 great havoc there, and that many of the won- 
 ders of the city were burnt f ; and in another 
 place he speaks of the great booty which was 
 collected g . Against this we have the statement 
 of Jornandes h , that they only plundered, but did 
 not set fire to any building, or suffer any sacred 
 property to be injured. Cassiodorus himself con- 
 firms the latter part of this account, so that we 
 may fairly conclude, that the invaders felt some 
 religious scruples in their pillage. We can how- 
 ever scarcely doubt that much injury was com- 
 mitted by fire. That Alaric entered by the Porta 
 Salara is well known, and the account of his 
 burning the houses in the neighbourhood is con- 
 firmed by the assertion of Procopius, that the 
 house of Sallust remained a heap of ruins in his 
 days 1 . 
 
 d For the events of the first siege, vid. Zosimus, lib. v. p. 
 350 — 4. Sozomen. lib. ix. c. 6. Olympiod. apud Phot. p. 180. 
 Philostorg. lib. xii. c. 3. 
 
 e Vid. Zosimus, lib. v. p. 368. 
 
 f Hist. Eccles. lib. xi. c. 9. 
 
 « Lib. xii. Var. Epist. 20. 
 
 h C. 30. 
 
 ' Vid. Procop. de Bello Vand. lib. i. c. 2. Orosius, lib. vii. 
 c. 39. Sozomen. lib. ix. c. 10. Philostorg. lib. xii. c. 3. 
 
12 
 
 GENSERIC. 
 
 The ' next siege was in 455, when Genseric 
 entered the city at the head of the Vandal army. 
 Here again we have conflicting statements. It 
 seems clear from all hands, that several ships 
 were loaded with spoil, and sent to Africa. 
 Procopius k mentions statues and medals; and 
 adds, that nothing which was beautiful in the 
 city escaped him. The bronze tiles, which co- 
 vered the Capitol, and the Jewish spoils, which 
 had been brought to Rome by Titus, are ex- 
 pressly mentioned. It would seem that the 
 former could only have been taken for their in- 
 trinsic value; and we might fancy the same of 
 the Jewish vessels, if we did not know that they 
 were in existence several years after : so that the 
 conqueror appears to have had some affection 
 for the works of art, and would probably not 
 have encouraged their wanton destruction upon 
 the spot. One writer 1 , besides mentioning the 
 general pillage, adds, that the most remarkable 
 buildings were burnt. While another says ge- 
 nerally" 1 that the city was burnt. On the other 
 hand we are told 11 that Genseric withheld both fire 
 and sword at the intercession of St. Leo. That 
 the Pope gained some favourable terms seems 
 probable : and the truth perhaps is, that though 
 Genseric did not authorize any general conflagra- 
 tion, yet his lawless soldiers occasionally violated 
 
 k De Bello Vand. lib. i. c. 4, 5. lib. ii. c. 9. 
 1 Nicephorus, lib. xv. c. 11. 
 m Evagrius, lib. ii. c. 7- 
 n Paulus Diaconus, lib. xv. 
 
TOTILA. 
 
 13 
 
 his orders, either from carelessness or revenge. 
 The pillage certainly lasted fourteen days. 
 
 Between the sieges by Genseric and Totila, 
 Rome probably suffered as much from its own 
 inhabitants, as from any of its invaders ; though 
 the damage is in this instance partly to be 
 ascribed to the tokens, that the latter had left be- 
 hind them of their visit. We have a decree of 
 the Emperor Majorian 0 , issued shortly after the 
 retreat of Genseric, by which he puts a check to 
 the system then very generally practised of de- 
 molishing the ancient edifices. It is probable, 
 that the citizens, as soon as the Vandal army had 
 retired, found that they had much to do in re- 
 pairing the damages which they had inflicted; 
 and for this purpose the ancient buildings, some 
 of which were already in decay, were very un- 
 sparingly devoted to patch up the private houses. 
 
 In 546 another Gothic army entered Rome 
 under Totila : a third part of the walls was 
 thrown down, and there seems little doubt as to 
 what were the conqueror's intentions, when he 
 threatened to level the city with the ground and 
 turn it into pasture ; fortunately however the re- 
 monstrance of Belisarius made an impression 
 upon his mind ; and even a Gothic general 
 thought it more glorious for posterity to allow 
 him the power to have destroyed Rome, than to 
 execrate him for having actually done so. He 
 appears to have confined his devastation to the 
 
 0 Novell. Maj. Tit. vi. p. 35. 
 
14 
 
 DESTRUCTION 
 
 destruction already mentioned of the walls. Per- 
 haps he afterwards repented of his clemency, and 
 his attention to posthumous fame. For as soon 
 as he quitted the city, Belisarius entered it ; and 
 in 549 he was again induced to besiege it, and 
 again became master of it. But it seems certain, 
 that at this time he inflicted no injury upon the 
 inhabitants or the buildings. The Goths began 
 to see, that they were as likely to keep possession 
 of Rome as their degenerate enemies; and though 
 their dominion ceased very shortly after the death 
 of Totila, yet he could not foresee such a cata- 
 strophe, when he last occupied Rome; and in 
 sparing the city, he conceived that he was doing 
 a service not to the inhabitants, but to his own 
 people. 
 
 Though the superabundant zeal of the Popes 
 has been charged with the destruction of Pagan 
 monuments, they have also had their defenders ; 
 and Tiraboschi labours, apparently with much 
 reason, to rescue Gregory the Great from this 
 imputation p . The Greeks of Constantinople must 
 also bear their share of being taxed with the 
 spoliation of Rome. According to Paulus Dia- 
 conus^, and Anastasius r , the Emperor Constans 
 carried off from Rome in the year 663 all the 
 bronze statues and ornaments which he could 
 find. This was by no means uncommon with 
 the Greek Emperors : and we can scarcely help 
 
 p Storia Letteraria d' Italia, torn, iii. part i. p. 121, &c. 
 4 Hist. Lang. lib. v. c. 11. 
 r In Vita S. Vitaliani. 
 
OF ROME. 
 
 15 
 
 reflecting upon the singular vicissitudes of the 
 works of art, as connected with Roman history. 
 Greece, when she submitted to Rome, yielded up 
 to the conqueror all her treasures of art ; and the 
 Romans really fancied, that they had some taste, 
 because their galleries were ornamented with 
 works of Grecian sculpture. After the Empire 
 was divided, and both branches of it were in 
 decay, the Eastern, which was longer in falling, 
 exercised its power in despoiling Rome: and 
 probably many statues travelled to Constanti- 
 nople, which had crossed the sea some centuries 
 before in their voyage to Italy. Even those, 
 which Genseric had carried off to Africa, found 
 their way to Constantinople, when the Vandals 
 were in turn conquered by Belisarius. We know, 
 that many of the most beautiful statues and 
 other curiosities were destroyed by a fire, which 
 consumed the Lausian palace at Constantinople . 
 about the year 475 s . Some of them again re- 
 traced their steps, when Constantinople was 
 sacked by the Venetians in 1204. 
 
 From these several causes, to which Rome has 
 been more exposed than any other city, nothing 
 here is perfect. If we except the Pantheon, (and 
 that has suffered dreadful spoliation on the out- 
 side,) the ancient remains have been so mutilated 
 and destroyed, that even the name is in many 
 cases doubtful. No small portion of classical 
 recollection is necessary to supply the deficiency : 
 
 s Zonar. Aanal, lib. xiv. p. 52. 
 
16 
 
 ANTIQUITIES, 
 
 and he, who visits Rome destitute of this, will 
 probably form a low estimate of the interest ex- 
 cited by the Antiquities. As a place of resi- 
 dence, Rome is certainly not gay or cheerful : 
 the Palaces, though splendid in their exterior, are 
 dirty and neglected : the works of the fine arts 
 are the only objects, which it is impossible not to 
 admire and be satisfied with : so that whoever 
 leaves Rome with an impression of disappoint- 
 ment, it may be inferred, that his reading had not 
 supplied him with a sufficient store of classical 
 knowledge to enable him to fill up the ravages 
 which time had made. Rome compared with 
 Athens, is like the collection of the Elgin Mar- 
 bles compared with the sculptures in the Vatican. 
 In the latter collection, besides the usual prepos- 
 session in favour of every thing ancient, we have 
 positive beauty and symmetry in the objects them- 
 selves : in the British Museum we have rather a 
 record, how far time may go in ruining the works 
 of art, and yet not destroy the admiration which 
 they excite. But still some taste for antiquities, 
 and some classical reminiscences, are necessary, 
 before we can enjoy such mutilated fragments. 
 So it is with Rome. No other city is so calcu- 
 lated to raise and keep up the finer feelings of the 
 mind : no other can present to us so forcibly and 
 so tangibly the histories which we have read 
 with so much delight, or make us sympathize so 
 strongly with the catastrophes of patriots and 
 heroes. Much however of all this enthusiasm is 
 to be brought into Rome, in addition to what is 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 17 
 
 inspired on the spot. Perhaps the best way to 
 view the city, if we wish to preserve our admira- 
 tion, is to take a hasty survey of all the Antiqui- 
 ties, and then to pass on. A long residence there 
 is certainly calculated to diminish the interest 
 which they excited : recollection may supply 
 many a deficiency at the first view, and may per- 
 haps increase our enjoyment, by contrasting the 
 ancient with the present state. But recollection 
 is not a source from which we should draw too 
 often : to enable us constantly to admire, some- 
 thing intrinsically excellent is required ; and in 
 advising a short residence at Rome, it is not that 
 I undervalue the Antiquities myself, but I am 
 anxious that others should not undervalue them. 
 
 One complaint is made by many travellers, and 
 deserves to be noticed. It is, that there are few 
 or no monuments of the time of the Republic. 
 The remark is one which is likely to be made; 
 and the interest which we take in the Antiquities 
 would certainly be heightened, if there were less 
 foundation for such a complaint. It must not 
 however be asserted, that there are no monu- 
 ments of the time of the Republic. If any per- 
 son came expecting to find perfect remains of 
 beautiful buildings, which were prior to the age 
 of Augustus, he would undoubtedly be disap- 
 pointed : but I question, whether in expressing 
 this disappointment, he does not also betray his 
 own ignorance of history. The works of the 
 Romans in the early ages of their nation were 
 wonderful for their solidity and strength, but 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 WORKS OF THE 
 
 there seems no reason to suppose that much 
 taste or elegance was displayed. 
 
 When the Gauls burnt Rome, U. C. 365, it may 
 be concluded that few edifices escaped : so that 
 in looking for any works of the Republic, we 
 must confine our research between the years 365 
 and 723, when the Republic terminated. We 
 might mention four successive periods, in each 
 of which the city must have assumed a different 
 appearance from what it did in the age succeed- 
 ing: 1. From the foundation to the burning of 
 Rome by the Gauls, U. C. 365. 2. From 365 to 
 723, when the reign of Augustus commenced. 
 3. From 723 to 817, (or A. D. 64,) when the city 
 was burnt in the time of Nero ; when out of the 
 fourteen regions into which it was divided, only 
 four remained untouched, three were entirely con- 
 sumed, and seven survived in part. 4. From A. D. 
 64 to 546, (U. C. 1300,) when Totila entered it, as 
 Alaric and Genseric had done before him. That 
 a great alteration took place in the appearance of 
 Rome during these periods, cannot be denied ; 
 but, on the other hand, we must not conclude, 
 that no buildings survived each successive shock, 
 or that nothing still remains to present us a mo- 
 nument even of the first period. 
 
 Li vy tells us*, that when the city was rebuilt 
 after the expulsion of the Gauls, it was laid out 
 in a very irregular manner. " The city was be- 
 M gun to be built without any order. The pub- 
 " lie furnished tiles .... the great haste made 
 
 1 Lib. v. c. ult. 
 
REPUBLIC. 
 
 19 
 
 'f them careless of forming the streets in straight 
 " lines, while without deciding what belonged to 
 " themselves or their neighbours, they built on 
 " the empty spaces. This is the reason, that the 
 " old sewers {cloacae), which at first were carried 
 " through the public way, now pass under private 
 " houses in every direction; and the plan of the 
 " city more resembles one, which had been sud- 
 <c denly seized, than one, which had been regu- 
 " larly parcelled out." He says in another place 11 , 
 that the new city was built in a year. Tacitus 
 also x talks of the houses being built in no order 
 and at random, and of the streets being exces- 
 sively winding and irregular. Suetonius 7 com- 
 plains of the " deformity of the buildings, and 
 " the narrowness and windings of the streets." 
 In confirmation of which remark other authorities 
 might be quoted. This however might only 
 apply to the streets and houses : the temples and 
 public buildings may at the same time have been 
 magnificent, but there is not the least evidence 
 that they were so. In the second year after the 
 destruction, " the Capitol was underbuilt with 
 " square stones," as we learn from Livy z ; and he 
 adds, that it was a remarkable work, even in the 
 magnificence of his own day. But this was 
 rather a work of defence than of ornament. As 
 to private buildings, the house of Lepidus is said 
 by Pliny a to have been the handsomest in Rome 
 in the year 676 U. C. ; and in another place b he 
 
 u Lib. vi. c. 4. x Annal. lib. xv. c. 43. y Vita Neronis 
 c. 38. 2 Lib. vi. c. 4. a Lib. xxxvi. c. 24. b Ibid. c. 8. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 WORKS OF THE 
 
 tells us, that the ornaments consisted of Numi- 
 dian marble, which was used in large blocks, but 
 not for columns. But the orator Crassus had 
 a magnificent house a few years before this, 
 U. C. 662, as we learn from the same Pliny c , and 
 Valerius Maximus d ; " He had erected four 
 " columns of Hymettian (Athenian) marble in his 
 a hall, when as yet there were no marble pillars 
 " in any public building." As early however as 
 U. C. 607, Q. C. Metellus had built a temple 
 of marble, as we learn from Velleius c , though 
 perhaps there were no pillars of marble in it. 
 The same Metellus built a portico, which was 
 afterwards the portico of Octavia, and must have 
 given a new impulse to taste and luxury by the 
 vast collection of statues, which he brought from 
 Greece. Scipio Nasica built a portico in the 
 Capitol, about U. C. 594, and Cn. Octavius did 
 the same in the Circus; after which, as Velleius 
 says f , " private luxury soon followed public mag- 
 " nificence." The first instance of a gilded roof 
 was in the Capitol, when Mummius was censor, 
 U. C. 612, after the destruction of Carthage s. 
 
 The Romans certainly were not naturally a 
 people of taste. They never excelled in the fine 
 arts ; indeed scarcely the name of any Roman 
 sculptor or painter of celebrity has been handed 
 down to us. Their own writers invariably allow, 
 that they were indebted to Greece for every 
 
 e Lib. xvii. c. 1. d Lib. ix. c. 1. e Lib. i. f Lib. ii. 
 * Lib. xxxiii. c. 1 8. 
 
REPUBLIC 
 
 21 
 
 thing which was elegant in the arts. In archi- 
 tecture, the only order which has any preten- 
 sions to claim a Roman origin is the Composite, 
 which is certainly less pleasing than the others : 
 and of this the earliest specimen in Rome is on the 
 arch of Titus. We know, that Greek marble was 
 not used in their buildings till the close of the 
 Republic : and as the connection with Greece 
 began as early as the second Punic war, and the 
 triumphs of Flamininus and Mummius, in 559 
 and 608, made the Romans acquainted with the 
 productions of Grecian taste, it is natural, that 
 they should also have imported their marble 
 from thence, if they had been engaged in build- 
 ings of any particular magnificence. Pliny says h , 
 that the custom of sawing marble was not intro- 
 duced into Italy before the time of Augustus. 
 Though we can scarcely credit this statement, 
 and we have certainly some proofs to the con- 
 trary, we are bound to believe, that it had not 
 been long practised in Rome. The same author 
 tells us \ that the quarries at Luna, (now Carara,) 
 which he decides to produce a finer marble 
 than that of Paros, were not opened long before 
 his time. We must however give a little latitude 
 to this_ expression : for he himself tells us k , that 
 in the time of J. Caesar, Mamurra had ornamented 
 his house with marble from Luna. The boast of 
 Augustus, that he had found Rome of brick, and 
 left it of marble, is of course to be taken in some 
 
 b Lib. xxxvi. c. 8. ' Lib. xxxvi. c. 4. k Ibid. c. 7. 
 
 c3 
 
22 
 
 CLOACA MAXIMA. 
 
 respects as an imperial hyperbole : but the alter- 
 ation, which took place in his reign, must have 
 been very perceptible, or he would not have 
 hazarded a comparison with the times of repub- 
 lican liberty, when he had so many safer grounds 
 for boasting. 
 
 The monuments, which remain to us of an age 
 prior to the Augustan, are, as was observed, of 
 great solidity and strength. The Cloaca Maxima 
 is one of the most wonderful works, which any 
 people ever constructed. It seems indeed al- 
 most incredible, that in the time of Tarquinius 
 Priscus, only 150 years from the foundation of 
 the city, such a work could have been performed. 
 If we follow the opinion of some chronologists, 
 who shorten the reigns of the kings, the city had 
 not existed nearly so many years, when this 
 Cloaca was begun. But there is great mystery 
 and confusion in the early history of Rome, par- 
 ticularly in that of the kings. I have sometimes 
 been inclined to think, that there was a city here 
 before the time of Romulus, and that his subjects 
 did not actually begin from nothing. Virgil might 
 perhaps be quoted as countenancing this opinion: 
 when Evander is shewing his city to iEneas, he 
 says, 
 
 Haec duo praeterea disjectis oppida muris 
 Reliquias vetcrumque vides monumenta virorum : 
 Hanc Janus pater, hanc Saturnus condidit Urbera, 
 Janiculum huic, i 1 1 1 fuerat Saturnia nomen. 
 
 7En. viii. 355. 
 
CLOACA MAXJMA. 
 
 23 
 
 The Romans and the Tuscans do not claim a 
 common origin, and yet there is a great re- 
 semblance in the strength and solidity of their 
 works. Veii, which was a Tuscan town, was 
 only ten miles from Rome : and it is not likely, 
 that this warlike and highly civilized people (for 
 we must allow them to have been so) would have 
 taken no advantage of the seven hills, which 
 were so near to their territory, if not in it. Great 
 dissension is to be found amongst the Roman 
 writers themselves, as to the date of the founda- 
 tion of Rome: none however ascribe it to the 
 Tuscans, unless we take the Aborigines to be 
 Tuscans, which is not improbable. We must 
 bear in mind, that history mentions two migra- 
 tions of Greek colonies into Italy, the first of 
 which took place about 600 years before the 
 second. By the first I mean that of the Pelasgi, 
 who came from Arcadia and from Attica \ and 
 the Pelasgi are called Tyrrhenians, that is, Tus- 
 cans, by several writers 111 . The second migra- 
 tion was that mentioned by Herodotus n , as tak- 
 ing place in the days of Lycurgus and Thales ; 
 so that we have good reason to carry back the 
 civilization of the Tuscans to a remote period. 
 We should also recollect, that while Greece was 
 convulsed with constant wars, the Tuscans seem 
 
 1 Vide Dion. Hal. lib. i. c. 11, 13, 16, &c. 
 m Thucyd. lib. iv. c. 109. Plutarch de Virt. Mul. Dion. 
 Hal. Antiq. lib. i. et xiii. 
 ■ Lib. i. c. OA 
 
 c 4 
 
24 
 
 CLOACA MAXIMA. 
 
 to have enjoyed long continued periods of peace. 
 Of their progress in the arts we have not so 
 many specimens, as is sometimes supposed : for 
 the vases, which are so generally called Etruscan, 
 are undoubtedly Grecian, and come almost all 
 from the kingdom of Naples. If the conjecture 
 of Father Paoli be true, that the temples at Pae- 
 stum are the work of Tuscans at a period long 
 antecedent to the edifices of Greece, we have in- 
 deed a noble monument of their magnificence, 
 though perhaps not of the elegance of their taste. 
 The walls of Cortona also present a specimen* of 
 solidity, which seems to defy the lapse of ages 0 . 
 
 Many make iEneas himself to have founded a 
 city on the Palatine hill ; and chronologists lay 
 down four hundred and thirty-two years between 
 iEneas and Romulus p . We must not however 
 indulge in unfounded conjecture ; nor is it fair to 
 ascribe such a work as the Cloaca Maxima to the 
 Tuscans, when history unequivocally represents 
 it as the work of Tarquinius Priscus. Pliny q 
 speaks of its prodigious strength, and of the 
 wonder of its having lasted seven hundred years. 
 How much more ought we to be surprised, when 
 we can add nearly eighteen hundred years more to 
 its duration ! The stones employed in the arch are 
 
 • A friend informs me, that he found the walls of Volterra to 
 be composed of hewn masses from three to six tons weight, 
 piled one upon another without cement. 
 
 p These opinions may be seen in the third volume of Grae- 
 vius* Thesaurus. 
 
 q Lib. xxxvi. c. 24. 
 
CLOACA MAXIMA. 
 
 25 
 
 of an enormous size, and placed together without 
 any cement. There are three concentric rows, 
 one above the other. The height is said to have 
 been sufficient for a boat loaded with hay to pass 
 under it : it is reckoned now at eighteen Roman 
 palms, and the width is the same. Marlianus says 
 that he measured it, and found the width sixteen 
 feet. According to Livy r , the original object of the 
 Cloaca Maxima was to carry off the overflowings 
 of the Tiber and other smaller streams : " As the 
 44 places near the Forum and other valleys be- 
 44 tween the hills did not easily carry off the 
 " water from the level ground, he drained them 
 " by carrying sewers from a higher level into the 
 44 Tiber." Dionysius of Halicarnassus says the 
 same thing ; and to give an idea of the immensity 
 of the work, he adds, that the Cloacae having been 
 neglected for some time, it required one thousand 
 talents to clear them. After the burning of Rome 
 by the Gauls, the streets were rebuilt without re- 
 gard to the direction of the Cloacae; so that many 
 of the houses were over them, as Livy tells us in 
 the passage already quoted, p. 19. Theodoric un- 
 dertook the repair of the Cloacae, and the de- 
 scription of them in the barbarous Latin of Cas- 
 siodorus is worth recording 8 . 44 Quae tantum 
 44 visentibus conferunt stuporem, ut aliarum civi- 
 44 tatum possint miracula superare. Videas illic 
 " fluvios quasi montibus concavis clausos per in- 
 44 gentia ligna* decurrere. Videas structis navi- 
 
 r Lib. i. c. 38. ■ Lib. iii. Var. Epist. SO. 
 
 1 This word is evidently corrupt. 
 
26 
 
 CLOACA MAXIMA. 
 
 " bus per aquas rapidas non minima sollicitudine 
 " navigari, ne praecipitato torrenti marina possint 
 " naufragia sustinere. Hinc, Roma, singularis 
 " quanta in te sit potest colligi magnitudo ! Quae 
 " enim urbium audeat tuis culminibus conten- 
 " dere, quando nec ima tua possunt similitudi- 
 " nem reperire?" It is now upwards of two thou- 
 sand years since this work was constructed ; in 
 which interval Rome has been rebuilt several 
 times, and a vast accumulation of soil formed : it 
 still however exists, and is to all appearance as 
 firm as on the first day of its foundation. A view 
 may be obtained of it at its mouth, where it flows 
 into the Tiber, a little below the Ponte Rotto ; 
 and another portion of it may be seen near the 
 Arch of Janus. 
 
 Another instance of the durability of Roman 
 works may be seen in the Mamertine Prisons, on 
 the descent of the Capitol towards the Forum. 
 These are of great antiquity, and built like the 
 Cloacee of large uncemented stones. The founder 
 was Ancus Martius, as we learn from Livy u , who 
 speaking of that king says, " he made a prison in 
 " the middle of the city, overlooking the Forum." 
 Servius Tullius increased them, whence they were 
 sometimes called Tullian. Varro says x , that the 
 part added by this latter king was under ground : 
 and from two passages in Livy we may perhaps 
 collect the same thing. Speaking of Pleminius, 
 who was accused of high crimes, both civil and 
 
 u Lib. i. c. 33. 
 
 x De Ling. Lat. 1. iv. 
 
MAMERTINE PRISONS. 
 
 27 
 
 religious, he tells us y , that he and his companions 
 were thrown into prison ; and at the same time 
 he adduces the authority of Clodius Licinius, as 
 stating that he was afterwards put into the Tulli- 
 anum. This was U. C. 549. Livy seems after- 
 wards to have forgotten, that he had thus antici- 
 pated the history of Pleminius upon the authority 
 of Licinius ; for he repeats the same story over 
 again 2 , where he informs us that Pleminius, being 
 farther accused of a conspiracy to set fire to the 
 city, was put into the lower prison, and Jkilled. 
 This was U.C. 559. These two passages clearly 
 identify the lower prison with the Tullianum. 
 Near the entrance were the Scalae Gemonise, by 
 which the culprits were dragged to the prison, or 
 out of it to execution. A more horrible place for 
 the confinement of a human being can scarcely 
 be imagined. There are two apartments, one 
 above the other, to which there was no entrance, 
 except by a small aperture in the upper roof; and 
 a similar hole in the upper floor led to the cell 
 below. There was no staircase to either. The 
 upper prison is twenty-seven feet long by twenty 
 wide ; the lower, which is elliptical, is twenty by 
 ten. The height of the former is fourteen feet, 
 of the latter seven. These served as the state 
 prisons ; and only persons of distinction had the 
 privilege of occupying them. Jugurtha was among 
 the number. Sallust a describes the place thus: 
 " In the prison, called Tullian, when you have 
 
 y Lib. xxix. c. 22. 2 Lib. xxxiv. c. 44. a De Bello Cat. 
 
28 MAMERTINE PRISONS. 
 
 44 ascended a little, there is a place on the left, 
 " sunk about twenty feet : it is surrounded by 
 44 walls on all sides; and above is a room vaulted 
 " with stone, but from uncleanliness, darkness, 
 44 and a foul smell, the appearance of it is dis- 
 " gusting and terrific." 
 
 Some however, and particularly Baronius b , 
 have raised a doubt, whether the place now 
 shewn at the foot of the Capitol is really the 
 prison which was constructed by Ancus Mar- 
 tius, and called Tullian. The strongest evidence 
 in their favour is a passage from Pliny c , where he 
 says, 44 that the Temple of Piety was built in that 
 44 part of the prison (in ea carceris sede) where is 
 44 now the Theatre of Marcellus." The whole force 
 of these words lies in the assumption, that there 
 was only one prison in Rome, and that Pliny 
 must therefore be speaking of the Tullian prison. 
 Juvenal certainly says, in the style of a patriotic 
 antiquary, 
 
 Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas 
 
 Saecula, qui quondam sub regibus atque Tribunis 
 
 Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam. 
 
 Sat. iii. 312. 
 
 But how long one prison was found sufficient for 
 the number of criminals does not appear ; and it 
 may well be doubted, whether in the year of 
 Rome 604, (of which Pliny is speaking,) there 
 were not many more candidates for imprison- 
 
 b Vid. Martyrolog. ad 14 Mart. p. 103, &c. 
 c Lib. vii. c. 36. 
 
MAMERTINE PRISONS. 29 
 
 ment, out of a population of more than four hun- 
 dred thousand souls c , than what one jail would 
 contain. It has been already stated, that the 
 Tullian prison was only used for state criminals : 
 but the person, whose story Pliny is telling, was 
 an humble and obscure plebeian woman (humilis 
 in plebe ideoque ignota): and from the way in 
 which she was treated, her offence seems to have 
 been a common one. I conclude, therefore, that 
 he was speaking of another prison, which was 
 afterwards destroyed. Appius Claudius the de- 
 cemvir had a prison constructed on purpose for 
 plebeian offenders ; but the restriction was vio- 
 lated in his own person, as he was confined in it 
 himself. Tradition makes the Church of S. Ni- 
 cola in Carcere to stand upon the site of this 
 prison ; and as this is not far from the Theatre of 
 Marcellus, it is not improbable that this is the 
 one of which Pliny speaks. Some ancient co- 
 lumns may still be seen in this church, and anti- 
 quaries make out that there were three temples 
 within or close to it. We have another proof that 
 Pliny was speaking of the prison of Claudius, and 
 not of the Tullian, as Publius Victor, in describ- 
 ing the ninth region of the city, mentions the 
 Theatre of Marcellus and the Prison of Claudius 
 close together. At all events the passage in Livy 
 is much more decisive, where he says, that Ancus' 
 prison was " in the middle of the city, overlook- 
 ing the Forum." And if we cannot say that 
 
 c The census of 683 returned 450,000. 
 
30 MAMERTINE PRISONS. 
 
 the building now shewn is near the Theatre of 
 Marcellus, still more difficult would it be to prove 
 that a prison near that theatre would overlook 
 the Forum. Another argument adduced by the 
 opposite party is an inscription upon the front of 
 what is shewn as the Mamertine Prison : we there 
 read, c. vibivs. c. f. rvfinvs. m. cocceiv . . . 
 cos. ex. s. c. These persons were consuls, U. C. 
 775, in the time of Tiberius. But surely this in- 
 scription cannot prove, that Vibius and Cocceius 
 (Nerva) were the original contrivers of this build- 
 ing : the slightest inspection of it will convince 
 us that it was much older than their time, and 
 that the consuls mentioned only made some alter- 
 ation or addition to it. 
 
 The origin of the name Mamertine is not cer- 
 tain : nor can 1 find any ancient author who uses 
 it. In the acts of the early martyrs the prison is 
 frequently mentioned under this title, as may be 
 seen in Baronius. Pancirolli deduces it from the 
 family Mamertia, which, according to Plutarch, 
 traced itself up to Numa. That king was said to 
 have had four sons, from whom four illustrious 
 families were descended, Pomponia, Pinacia, 
 Calpurnia, and Mamercia. In process of time 
 the name of Mamercus was changed to Mamer- 
 tinus; and under the emperors we find several 
 persons of this name high in office, such as con- 
 suls, praetors, &c. It is possible that one of these 
 persons may have repaired the prison, and given 
 it his name ; as P. Victor and Sextus Rufus 
 mention a Schola Mamertina and baths of the 
 
MAMERTINE PRISONS. 
 
 31 
 
 same name. Had the name occurred in ancient 
 authors, I should rather have derived it from the 
 Mamertines, a people of Campania. We are told d 
 that they were so called from Mamers,which in their 
 language signified Mars : and this might lead us to 
 imagine, that the founder Ancus Martius, or Ma- 
 mertius, had left them this name. But 1 allude to the 
 history of Polybius e , where he tells us, that some 
 Mamertine soldiers, who were in garrison at Mes- 
 sana in Sicily, took illegal possession of the town. 
 Shortly after, the Roman garrison in Rhegium 
 followed their example, and called in some of 
 the Mamertines from Messana to support them. 
 When the first Punic war was over, the Romans 
 besieged Rhegium, took it, and carried more than 
 three hundred prisoners to Rome. Polybius adds, 
 that they were publicly executed in the Forum ; 
 but it is not improbable, that while they treated 
 the Roman soldiers thus, to give a proof of their 
 justice, they kept the Mamertines in prison, as a 
 warning to the other people of Italy, how to con- 
 duct themselves under similar circumstances. 
 
 Tradition says, that St. Peter was confined 
 here; which, considering the accusation against 
 him, is not very likely. The pillar is shewn to 
 which he was fastened, and also a well of water, 
 which appeared miraculously for the baptism of 
 his gaolers, Processus and Martinianus, and forty- 
 seven companions. The prison itself, with a small 
 
 d Vid. Diod. Sic. lib. xxi. c. 13. and Festus, voce Mamers. 
 e Lib. i. c. 7- 
 
32 
 
 TABULARIUM. 
 
 chapel in front, is now consecrated to him ; and 
 over it is the Church of S. Guiseppe de' Falegnami, 
 built in 1539 f . 
 
 Not far from these prisons, on the other side 
 of the steps leading to the Forum, some portion 
 of the ancient Tabularium, or Record -office, may 
 be seen. This now serves as a foundation to the 
 Palazzo Senatorio ; and in an enumeration of the 
 more ancient remains, such an inconsiderable 
 fragment would seem hardly worthy of notice. 
 I mention it only as another example of that 
 massy style of architecture which the Romans 
 adopted, and because every thing connected with 
 the ancient Capitol is interesting. It is however 
 of great antiquity, this part having been built 
 U. C. 367, as foundations for the Capitol. Livy 
 mentions its, and says, that it was a remarkable 
 work, even in the magnificence of his day. Five 
 rows of stone still remain, many of which are five 
 and a half palms long. In the interior there is a 
 chamber vaulted with several arches and a Doric 
 frieze. An inscription was found near here, and 
 is still preserved in the palace, which commemo- 
 rates the founder of the whole building : 
 
 Q. LVTATIVS. Q. F. CATVLVS. COS. SVBSTRVCTION EM 
 ET. TAB VLARIVM. S. S. FACIENDVM 
 COERAVIT 
 
 f The Abate Cancellieri published a work upon these prisons 
 in 1788. 
 
 * Lib. vi. c. 4. 
 
ROMAN STONE. 
 
 33 
 
 These three works, the Cloaca Maxima, the 
 Prison, and the Tabularium, are all built of that 
 stone which the Romans call Peperino, pro- 
 bably from the town of Piperno, (Privernum,) 
 where it is found in great abundance. The an- 
 cients called it Alban stone h , because they got 
 it from the neighbourhood of Alba; and it seems, 
 that all their early buildings were made of it. 
 Afterwards two other kinds of stone came to be 
 used, Travertine and Tufo. The former has its 
 name from the Teverone or Anio, near which 
 it is formed. I use this expression, because the 
 calcarious deposit from the water is constantly 
 indurating, and forms incrustations round any 
 object which is left in it. An instance of this 
 may be seen at Tivoli, where there is the evident 
 trace of a wheel, the wood of which is decayed, 
 but a hard mass of stone is formed round it. 
 The ancients called this stone Tiburtine. The 
 outside of the Colosseum is built of it. The third 
 kind of stone is Tufo. Vitruvius mentions it" 1 , 
 and calls it tophus, of which he describes red, 
 black, and white varieties. This is the softest 
 of all stones used for building, and seems evi- 
 dently to be of volcanic origin, of which all 
 the country round Albano, and Rome itself, 
 bears evident trace. Some showers of stones, 
 which Livy mentions as falling near Albano, 
 seem to allude to phcenomena connected with 
 
 h Vid. Vitruvius, lib. ii. c. 7. Plin, lib. xxxvi. c. 48. 
 1 Lib, ii. c. 7. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 WALLS AND BRIDGES. 
 
 volcanos k . He mentions also 1 , that a great gulph 
 or chasm opened near Albano" 1 . Vitruvius says, 
 that tophus was used for the interior of build- 
 ings, which was not exposed to the air. We find 
 the inside of the Colosseum composed of it. 
 
 The walls of Rome, as they now stand, can in 
 no part claim a greater antiquity than the time of 
 Aurelian; so that we look in vain here for any 
 work of the Republic. There is reason however 
 to believe, that a fragment of a wall in the Villa 
 Mattei, on the Caelian hill, is part of the ancient 
 circuit ; and if so, we may find in it a monument 
 of the age of Servius Tullius. The appearance 
 of the masonry is certainly not hostile to such a 
 supposition. In the gardens of Sallust, now 
 those of the Villa JBarberini, there is another 
 portion of wall, which is also said to have be- 
 longed to the ancient circuit. 
 
 Of the Bridges, the only one, which can claim 
 a date prior to the age of Augustus, is the Ponte 
 Rotto. But this has been so often repaired after 
 inundations, that we cannot easily decide how 
 much of it is ancient. It was begun by M. Ful- 
 vius, and finished by Scipio Africanus and 
 L. Mummius. The next to this in antiquity is 
 the Ponte di 4 Capi, anciently Pons Fabricius, 
 which leads into the island. This however was 
 built under the reign of Augustus ; though it may 
 
 k Lib. i. c. 31. 1. xxv. c. 7. &c. 
 1 Lib. xl. 
 
 1,1 Pliny mentions a shower in Lucania of matter resembling 
 sponges. Lib. ii. c. 57. 
 
AQUADUCTS. 
 
 35 
 
 be doubted, whether it was not rather repaired, 
 than reconstructed at that time. Donatus makes 
 it to have been built in 612. The Pons Sublicius 
 was the most ancient in Rome : but if it be true, 
 that the island was formed at the time of the 
 expulsion of the Tarquins, it is probable, that a 
 bridge was built very early, to form a communi- 
 cation with it. Unfortunately for our classical 
 curiosity, the Sublician bridge itself, on which 
 Horatius Codes stood, as the bulwark of infant 
 Rome, has entirely been washed away. 
 
 Both within and without the walls we may see 
 some works of great antiquity in the Aquaducts. 
 Several fragments of these astonishing efforts of 
 human industry stretch across the Campagna in 
 various directions. It is difficult to ascertain the 
 precise date of some of them : they evidently 
 have been repaired at different times, but many 
 parts of them bespeak the solid and massy 
 architecture of the early ages of Rome. We have 
 a detailed account of the state of the Aquaducts 
 during the reign of Nerva, written by Frontinus, 
 who was engineer under that emperor. He says 
 that nine different waters came into Rome; but 
 as some of these were united, the Aquaducts 
 that entered the city were not so numerous. 
 Sextus Rufus, who wrote in the time of Diocle- 
 tian, makes the number nineteen ; and Procopius, 
 who lived in the sixth century, says that there 
 were fourteen. A minute account of these several 
 works would not be very interesting. To trace 
 all of them, or indeed any of them, through the 
 
 d 2 
 
3G 
 
 AQUADUCTS. 
 
 whole of their course, would perhaps be impossi- 
 ble. Procopius tells us, that Vitiges broke them 
 down to deprive the city of water; and as in 
 many of them the arches did not begin at a great 
 distance from the walls, we may despair of ascer- 
 taining their course under ground. The work of 
 Frontinus will supply the names of the places 
 where each Aquaduct began, and the length of 
 its course. I shall content myself with enume- 
 rating a few of them, and endeavouring to point 
 out here and there some remains of the ancient 
 arches. 
 
 Till the year of Rome 441, the city was sup- 
 plied with water from the Tiber only. In that 
 year Appius Claudius the censor brought a stream 
 from a distance of seven miles, which was called 
 from him Aqua Appia. It began to the left of 
 the Via Praenestina, and Frontinus says, that its 
 whole course, except sixty paces near the Porta 
 Collina, was under ground. If these few arches 
 existed, they would be considerably within the 
 modern circuit of the walls ; but I know no trace 
 of them, and only mention the Aquaduct, because 
 a long line of arches may be seen to the right 
 and left of the Via Praenestina, extending with 
 occasional interruptions for a length of some 
 miles. It is said to be a remnant of the Aqua- 
 duct, which Spartianus mentions as being built 
 by Alexander Severus. 
 
 Near the Porta S. Lorenzo we may see an 
 Aquaduct with three water- courses in it, one 
 above the other. These conveyed the Aquae 
 
AQUADUCTS. 
 
 37 
 
 Martia, Tepula, and Julia, which were brought to 
 Rome successively in the years 608, 627, 719. 
 We must conclude, that the union was not ef- 
 fected till the last period ; and if the arches con- 
 veying all the three waters were only constructed 
 then 1 , the work now remaining can scarcely be 
 classed amongst those of the Republic. 
 
 The Aqua Virgo was introduced a few years 
 after the last; and parts of the Aquaduct may be 
 traced, crossing the three roads, which lead re- 
 spectively from the gates of S. Lorenzo, Pia, and 
 Salara. This is probably the one, which Proco- 
 pius mentions as being near the Porta Pinciana, 
 by which Vitiges attempted to enter Rome. It 
 commenced about eight miles off on the Via 
 Collatina. 
 
 The Claudian Aquaduct was truly an imperial 
 work, and therefore ought not perhaps to be men- 
 tioned here. It was begun by Caligula, and 
 finished by Claudius. Two streams were united, 
 both of which came from near the Via Subla- 
 censis, a road which follows the valley of the 
 Anio above Tivoli. One came forty miles off, 
 and was carried upon arches immediately after 
 quitting its source for a distance of three miles. 
 The other, the Anio novus, also began on arches, 
 which continued for twelve miles, 800 paces. 
 After this, both went under ground, and at a dis- 
 
 * This is not a necessary consequence, because the Aqua Julia 
 ran in the highest of the three channels, and the Tepula was 
 higher than the Martia. These three waters will be mentioned 
 more in detail bye and bye. 
 
 D 3 
 
38 
 
 AQUADUCTS. 
 
 tance of six miles, 491 paces from the city, they 
 joined, and were carried upon arches all the rest 
 of the way. This is the most perfect of all the 
 ancient Aquaducts ; and it has been repaired, so 
 as to convey the Acqua Felice, which is one of the 
 three streams 0 that now supply Rome. Parallel 
 to it there may be observed for a considerable 
 distance the ruins of another Aquaduct, which 
 must necessarily have been older than that of 
 Claudius, and presents an appearance of great 
 antiquity. It is built of large stones, whereas the 
 later ones are of brick. The Claudian Aquaduct 
 entered the city by the Porta Maggiore, where 
 we may still see a great portion of it, and observe 
 the two channels, one above the other, for the 
 different streams. The Anio novus was the high- 
 est. The arches may be traced from hence to St. 
 John Lateran, over parts of the Caelian hill, and 
 so to Mount Aventine. 
 
 These works, so frequent in all Roman colo- 
 nies, have been cited as a proof, that the Romans 
 were ignorant of that principle in hydrostatics, 
 that water will always rise to the level of its 
 source; and their patient industry has been ridi- 
 culed in taking so much trouble to convey upon 
 arches of brick or stone, what might have been 
 brought in pipes under ground. How far or how 
 
 0 These three are the Acqua Vergine, restored by Nicolas V, 
 which comes to the fountain of Trevi ; L'Acqua Felice, brought 
 by Sextus V, to the fountain of Termini ; and L'Acqua Saba- 
 tina, which supplies the Janiculum, and was brought to the 
 Fountain Paolina by Paul V. 
 
AQUADUCTS. 
 
 39 
 
 long the Romans were really ignorant of this 
 principle, I cannot pretend to say : perhaps when 
 they first erected arches for this purpose, they 
 were not aware that the labour might have been 
 saved ; but it is difficult to deny, that many Ro- 
 man Aquaducts were constructed in this manner 
 after the principle was known. The Meta Su- 
 dans p, a fragment of which still exists near the 
 Colosseum, is said to have been a fountain ; and 
 it is evident, that the water which supplied it 
 was not raised by mere mechanical means. 
 Pliny mentions one hundred and five fountains 
 (salientes) in Rome : and from the Latin term for 
 a fountain it appears certain, that they resembled 
 those of modern times, and that the water was 
 thrown up merely by its own pressure. But an- 
 other passage of Pliny is more decisive, and 
 ought to set the question at rest, as to the science 
 of his days. He says r , " The water which is 
 * wanted to rise to any height, should come out 
 " of lead. It rises to the height of its source." 
 In another place he observes, " The ancients 
 " carried their streams in a lower course, either 
 
 p We find mention of it in Seneca's Epistles to Lucillus; 
 " Essedas transcurrentes porro et fabrum inquilinum et ferrarium 
 " vicinum, aut hunc, qui ad Metam Sudantem tubas experitur 
 «' et tibias, neque cantat, sed exclamat." There is a coin of 
 Titus, on the reverse of which is a figure of the Meta Sudans, 
 which was probably repaired by him. 
 
 i Lib. xxxvi. c. 24. Agrippa .... lacus septingentos fecit, 
 praeterea salientes centum quinque, castella centum triginta. 
 
 r Lib. xxxi. c. SI. 
 
 D 4 
 
40 
 
 AQUADUCTS. 
 
 " because they were not yet acquainted with the 
 " exact principle of keeping a level, or because 
 " they purposely sunk them under ground, that 
 " they might not easily be interrupted by the 
 " enemy." We may add a passage from Fronti- 
 nus% "There are five different levels to the 
 " streams, two of which are raised to every part 
 " of the city ; but of the rest some are forced by 
 " greater some by less pressure." 
 
 In the colonies, which were planted in Spain or 
 Gaul, these works were probably constructed for 
 political reasons. A number of people were em- 
 ployed by these means, and the cities were orna- 
 mented and supplied with the conveniences of 
 life, to induce the hardy natives to reside in them. 
 As soon as the Gauls or Spaniards inclosed 
 themselves within walls and adopted Roman 
 manners, the protection of Rome was necessary 
 to them ; so that there were good reasons for 
 constructing these enormous works, although if 
 the only object had been to supply the city with 
 water, it might have been done on much cheaper 
 terms. The needless labour bestowed upon these 
 Aquaducts may be seen very remarkably at 
 Lyons, where some fragments of arches still 
 exists The water was conveyed in this manner 
 
 8 Lib. i. 
 
 1 The part, which remains, is about seventy yards long, and 
 contains the ruins of nine arches. The building is narrow, but 
 as the ground is here on a decline, part of it is raised to a great 
 height, and if it crossed the adjoining valley, it must have been 
 several times as high. 
 
TOMBS. 
 
 for two leagues, and yet the hill, at which it ter- 
 minated, and on which the ancient Lugdunum 
 stood, contains several springs of excellent water. 
 Even the magnificent work still existing under 
 the name of Pont du Gard ", and which supplied 
 Nismes (Nemausus) with water, might have been 
 spared, as there is in that city a most copious 
 spring, which is quite a natural curiosity. It is 
 evident therefore, that here even ignorance of 
 the hydrostatical principle would not have urged 
 them to such a laborious undertaking, and some 
 other motive must have caused the work. We 
 must recollect too, that the expence of labour 
 was scarcely any thing, as the conquered inha- 
 bitants might have been had in thousands. 
 
 In quoting the tombs, as remains antecedent 
 to the Augustan age, the tomb of the Scipio fa- 
 mily, which is the most ancient, perhaps hardly 
 comes under our enquiry ; the tomb itself being 
 nothing but a subterraneous vault, on which no 
 labour of architecture was bestowed. I was un- 
 willing however to pass it over, as we have here 
 specimens of the art of sculpture at Rome as far 
 back as U. C. 456. The pyramid in memory of 
 C. Cestius near the Porta S. Paolo, is probably 
 prior to the time of Augustus, though not much 
 
 u This stupendous Aquaduct, which far exceeds any thing of 
 the kind in Italy, consists of three rows of arches, one above 
 the other. The first tier contains six arches, the second eleven, 
 the third thirty-five. The whole height is 182 feet: the chan- 
 nel, in which the water ran, is three feet high. It lies be- 
 tween Avignon and Nismes. 
 
42 
 
 TEMPLES. 
 
 so : and as to the tomb of Bibulus, nothing is 
 known as to its date, but we may probably fix it 
 a little earlier than that of Cestius. The tomb 
 of Crecilia Metella is also of the time of the Re- 
 public, but evidently not long before the close of 
 it. We may judge of this from the marble used 
 in it; but certainly Pliny's remark, quoted at 
 p. 20, is borne out by this specimen : for the 
 blocks have not been sawed, and the same may 
 be said of the pyramid of C. Cestius x . 
 
 Of the temples, but a poor catalogue can be 
 made out, as exhibiting any monuments of the 
 Republic. It will be attempted to be shewn in 
 another place, that the Church of St. Theodore, 
 near the Forum, was not the temple of Romulus. 
 
 The temple of Vesta too, though said by some 
 to be older than the age of Augustus, has not 
 much evidence to support its pretensions. It 
 stands between the Arch of Janus and the river. 
 It is circular, with a portico all round it, of 
 twenty Corinthian pillars, fluted ; one of which 
 is wanting. The cornice also and the ancient 
 roof have disappeared, otherwise it is tolerably 
 perfect, and forms a very interesting and elegant 
 object. The walls within the portico are all of 
 white marble, much of which still remains, and 
 the pieces of it were put together, so as to have 
 the appearance of one uninterrupted mass. 
 The pillars are thirty-five feet high; the whole 
 circumference of the building is 170 feet, and the 
 
 x All these tombs will be described afterwards in detail. 
 
TEMPLE OF VESTA. 
 
 43 
 
 diameter of the temple within the portico is 28. 
 The question still remains unanswered, what is 
 the date of this building? Sextus Pompeius tells 
 us, that Numa dedicated a temple to Vesta, and 
 that it was round y . Horace also mentions one ; 
 and it might be thought vain to search for Nu- 
 ma's building after the catastrophe which he 
 describes. But his words do not absolutely im- 
 ply that it was thrown down ; it may only have 
 been endangered : 
 
 Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis 
 Littore Etrusco violenter undis, 
 Ire dejectum monumenta Regis 
 
 Templaque Vesta?. Od. lib. i. % 15. 
 
 The present edifice is however far too elegant for 
 the age of Numa. It is conjectured, that it was 
 burnt in Nero's fire, and repaired by Vespasian, 
 or Domitian, as it appears on the coins of those 
 emperors. It was burnt again in 191, under 
 Commodus, and Julia Pia, wife of Septimius Se- 
 verus, restored it. This is probably the building 
 still in existence ; and the proportion of the co- 
 lumns seems to shew, that it must have been 
 
 y Festus " rotunda cedes'' There is a beautiful round temple 
 at Tivoli, which is also supposed to have been dedicated to 
 Vesta, though it has always been called the Temple of the 
 Sibyl. That this last title is wrong, seems to be agreed by all 
 the antiquaries of the present day. Andrea Fulvio, who wrote 
 in the sixteenth century, calls it the Temple of the Goddess 
 Albunea, without mentioning any other opinion. Albunea was 
 the fountain, from which the river Albula flowed. It is men- 
 tioned by Virgil. JEn. vii. 83. 
 
44 TEMPLE OF FORTUNA VIRILIS. 
 
 erected in an age, when architecture was on the 
 decline : for though the height of Corinthian co- 
 lumns ought to equal nine diameters, these con- 
 tain eleven. It was consecrated, as a Christian 
 Church, to St. Stephen, and is known by the name 
 of S. Stefano delle Carrozze, and La Madonna 
 del Sole. An inscription says, " Sextus III1 
 " Pont. Max. iEdem hanc Beati Stephani Pro- 
 " tomartyris din incultam et incognitam instau- 
 " ravit Anno Jubilaei" [1475]. The spaces be- 
 tween the pillars were all blocked up with brick- 
 work till very lately, when every thing was 
 cleared away, and the building restored to its 
 original appearance. 
 
 The Temple of Fortuna Virilis, near the Ponte 
 Rotto, (now the church of Santa Maria Egiziaca,) 
 is said by some to have been built by Servius 
 Tullius : but this cannot claim such antiquity, as 
 Dionysius tells us 2 , that Servius' Temple was 
 burnt, on which occasion his statue, which was of 
 wood gilt, was the only thing saved. The pre- 
 sent building may perhaps stand upon the same 
 site. Some have wished to call it the Basilica of 
 C. Lucius, but Palladio is positive that it was a 
 temple. Very erroneous accounts are given of 
 its original plan, and of the remains still existing ; 
 but Desgodetz has published a very accurate 
 survey and engraving of it. The front consisted 
 of four pillars, which still remain : there were 
 seven on each side, reckoning the angular ones 3 
 
 ■ Antiq. lib. iv. c. 33. 
 
OTHER WORKS. 
 
 45 
 
 but the five last were only half pillars. Those at 
 the other end, corresponding to the front, were 
 also half pillars. Of the lateral ones, I could only 
 make but six on one side ; the other is blocked 
 up by buildings. The pillars are Ionic, and the 
 cornice is handsomely ornamented with festoons, 
 bulls' heads, children, and candelabra. The soil 
 has accumulated up to the base of the columns ; 
 and there were anciently several steps leading up 
 to the front. Andrea Fulvio mentions, that there 
 was formerly an inscription, which was become 
 perfectly illegible in his time. 
 
 The Church of SS. Cosmo and Damiano in the 
 Forum, besides being itself a building of the 6th 
 century, has an ancient Temple of Remus for its 
 vestibule. There is not much to lead us to any 
 particular conclusion as to its date ; but it is pro- 
 bably prior to the Augustan age, and I should 
 think considerably so. There will be occasion to 
 mention it more hereafter. 
 
 The Arch of Janus is considered to be older 
 than the time of Augustus, though it could not be 
 much so, on account of the Greek marble of 
 which it is built; which, as already stated, was 
 not used at Rome till towards the decline of the 
 Republic. 
 
 What is the date of the Basilica of Paulus 
 iEmilius, which now forms part of the Church of 
 S. Adriano in Foro, and of the Baths of P. 
 iEmilius near the Column of Trajan, I have not 
 been able to discover. 
 
 Such are the buildings, which claim attention 
 
46 
 
 ARCHITECTURE 
 
 in Rome, on the grounds of the greatest anti- 
 quity. The list will be considered a scanty one; 
 and of those which have been enumerated, some 
 are doubtful, and many have only the claim of a 
 few years to be called the works of the Republic. 
 The Cloaca Maxima, the Mamertine Prisons, the 
 Aquaducts, and perhaps the Bridges, are all which 
 can really carry us back to the venerable and 
 sacred times of Roman Liberty". Poggio, who 
 wrote in the beginning of the fifteenth century, 
 says, in his work on the mutability of fortune, that 
 he could discern nothing of the age of the Re- 
 public, except a bridge, (meaning the Pons Fa- 
 bricius,) an arch, a sepulchre, the pyramid of C. 
 Cestius, and a double row of vaults in the salt- 
 office of the Capitol. But this catalogue is cer- 
 tainly too small ; and the philosopher has cast 
 too melancholy a view upon the ages that were 
 past. It seems however, that we can scarcely 
 fail coming to this conclusion, that architecture 
 was at a very low ebb in Rome, when it was at 
 its height in Greece, and the Grecian colonies. 
 The remains at Athens, such as the Parthenon, 
 the Temple of Theseus, and the Propykea, carry 
 us back to the time of Pericles, which answers to 
 the year of Rome 302. In Sicily, the Temples of 
 
 u In these clays the word Liberty may be objected to, as used 
 here, because the Cloaca and the Prisons were formed by two of 
 the kings. But the state of Rome under the Kings and under 
 the Emperors was as different, as the government of England 
 compared with that of Turkey. This is not the country, in 
 which the union of Liberty with Monarchy is to be objected to. 
 
OF ROME. 
 
 47 
 
 Egesta and Girgenti remind us of the ravages 
 which the Carthaginians had inflicted upon the 
 island, before the Romans had a navy in their 
 ports to contend with them. If we come still 
 nearer to them in Magna Graecia, we have the 
 temples at Paestum, over whose history a veil of 
 mystery is spread, through which we endeavour 
 to look into those times, which are prior to exist- 
 ing records. But at Rome there seems to have 
 been no national genius, which could strike out 
 such magnificent works, and for many years no 
 national taste, which would care to imitate them. 
 A patriot in the days of Augustus, if taunted 
 upon this defect, would probably have made the 
 rudeness and inelegance of his ancestors a topic 
 of admiration ; but in comparing the Romans 
 with the Athenians, we cannot deny, that the 
 latter were the most polished nation of the two : 
 and as a dictator taken from the plough, or a 
 Capitol built of brick, does not excite in us any 
 patriotic feeling, we may perhaps be allowed to 
 sympathize more with the fate of Athens, than of 
 Rome. But in the latter city, if we wish to con- 
 fine ourselves to the Republic, there is surely no 
 need of monuments of brick and stone, to awaken 
 our recollection of such a period. If we must 
 have visible objects, on which to fix our atten- 
 tion, we have the ground itself, on which the 
 Romans trod : we have the seven hills, we have 
 the Campus Martius, the Forum, all places fa- 
 miliar to us from history, and in which we can 
 assign the precise spot, where some memorable 
 
48 
 
 PALATINE HILL. 
 
 action was performed. Those who feel a grati- 
 fication in placing their footsteps where Cicero or 
 Caesar did before them, in the consciousness of 
 standing upon the same hill which Manlius de- 
 fended, and in all those associations which bring 
 the actors themselves upon the scene, may have 
 all their enthusiasm satisfied, and need not com- 
 plain that there are no monuments of the time 
 of the Republic. Rome is indeed a melancholy 
 wreck of what it once was ; but the circuit of 
 the walls being the same at this moment, as in 
 the time of the Emperor Aurelian, we have so 
 far a point of connection between former times 
 and our own ; and what is wanting in many an- 
 cient cities, we can positively identif the limits 
 which it occupied. But in Rome we can do 
 more : from the records of history we can trace 
 the gradual increase of the city from the time 
 when Romulus had his cottage on the Capitol, 
 to the final extension of the walls by Aurelian. 
 
 The traveller would do well to study this his- 
 tory, and observe upon the spot the successive 
 limits which the rising city occupied. He would 
 first place himself upon the Palatine hill, and 
 would fancy all the subjects of Romulus settled 
 on it. The other hills were then probably un- 
 cultivated, and overgrown with trees, while the 
 plain at the foot of them was marshy from the 
 inundations of the Tiber. It was on this hill 
 that Nero built his Golden House, which co- 
 vered nearly the whole of it. Caligula united it 
 with the Capitol by a bridge across the Forum, 
 
PALATINE HILL. 
 
 49 
 
 These enormous buildings necessarily swallowed 
 up every other, and it is therefore vain to expect 
 any antiquity on the Palatine, prior to the time 
 of Nero. The thatched cottage of Romulus was 
 not on this hill, as some have asserted, but on 
 the Capitol. The palace of Nero has followed 
 the fate of this cottage : nothing now remains of 
 the splendid and extensive superstructure : but 
 amongst the gardens, which occupy the ground, 
 some fragments of masonry may here and there 
 be seen, and some subterraneous apartments may 
 be entered, where a few paintings are still vi- 
 sible. 
 
 Romulus seems to have surrounded his city 
 with a \ .11, though, if the story of Remus be 
 true, it was not a very formidable one. Perhaps 
 it was not made of stone a . Livy is express in 
 saying, that Romulus first surrounded the Pala- 
 tine hill b ; but his words do not contradict what 
 is said by other authors, that the Capitoline and 
 the Forum were taken in during his reign. Ta- 
 citus says c , that the Capitol was believed to have 
 been added to the city by Tatius ; and we may 
 
 a It may be left to the antiquaries to dispute, whether the 
 form of the city was round or square. The latter is generally 
 asserted ; but the notion rests in part upon a mistaken passage 
 in Plutarch, where he says, that Romulus founded Roma Qua- 
 drata, which does not mean the whole city, but a place on the 
 Palatine hill, which served as a centre, from which the walls 
 were drawn. Plutarch in another place expressly calls it 
 round, and such seems most probably to be the truth. 
 
 b Lib. i. c. 6. 
 
 c An. lib. xii. c. 24. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 ANCIENT AND 
 
 collect, that Romulus had fortifications on the 
 Capitoline, Cselian, Esquiline, Aventine, and 
 Quirinal hills, but they were not included within 
 the walls d . Tullus Hostilius, after destroying 
 Alba, and doubling the population of his subjects 
 by removing the Alban citizens, added the Cae- 
 lian hill e . Ancus Martius gave Mount Aven- 
 tine to the people, but it was not included within 
 the pomcerium, though it seems to have been sur- 
 rounded with a wall of its own f . He afterwards 
 joined the Janiculum to the city by the Sublician 
 bridge. Servius Tullius took in also the Viminal, 
 Quirinal, and Esquiline, and inclosed the whole 
 six with a wall. During these periods, the po- 
 pulation must wonderfully have increased. We 
 must not however suppose, that all this ground 
 was built upon : probably great part was culti- 
 vated, as is the case with the modern city ; and 
 in those times, when a war was an annual event, 
 and the hostile nations lived within a few miles 
 of the gates it was necessary, that a great por- 
 tion of the food, requisite for the inhabitants, 
 should be grown within the walls. 
 
 Whoever wishes to take a survey of the seven 
 hills at one view, must ascend to the top of the 
 Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitol. He will here 
 command a prospect, which surpasses in interest 
 
 d A. Gellius makes this distinction : f< the most ancient po- 
 <c mceriam, which was instituted by Romulus, was bounded by 
 <f the roots of the Palatine hill." Lib. xiii. c. 14. 
 
 e Liv. lib. i. 6. 30. 
 
 f Dion. Hal, A. Cell. lib. xiii. c. 14. 
 
MODERN ROME. 
 
 51 
 
 any thing that the world can furnish. The na- 
 tural features of the country are themselves beau- 
 tiful ; and if nothing was known of the history of 
 Rome, the ruins would still rivet his attention. 
 The seven hills are distinctly discernible ; but 
 their boundaries are not so marked now, as they 
 were formerly, from the accumulation of soil, 
 which has taken place in the valleys. From this 
 spot it will be observed, that modern Rome does 
 not occupy exactly the same ground which it did 
 formerly. It has in fact travelled northward, 
 and the Campus Martius, which in the time of 
 Augustus was an open space, forms now the 
 principal part of the city. Of the seven hills, 
 the Capitoline, the Caelian, the Viminal, and Qui- 
 rinal, are still in part built upon : the Palatine, 
 Esquiline, and Aventine are mostly covered with 
 gardens, and contain but few houses. 
 
 The most populous part of modern Rome 
 stands, as was said, in the Campus Martius, 
 which from the time of Servius Tullius to that of 
 Aurelian was without the walls. The whole 
 plain may be said to have been bounded by the 
 Tiber on the west, on the south by the Capi- 
 toline and Quirinal hills, and towards the north 
 it probably extended as far as the Ponte Molle. 
 It was divided into the greater and the less, of 
 which we find notice in Catullus, 
 
 Te campo qusesivimus minore, 
 
 Te in Circo, te in omnibus libellis. LV. 3. 
 
 The greater was a sort of suburb to Rome, and 
 
 e 2 
 
52 MONTE P1NCIO, CITORIO, 
 
 contained several houses and buildings, of which 
 the Mausoleum of Augustus may be considered 
 the northern limit : the other division was not 
 built upon, and was devoted to martial exercises. 
 Strabo s after having mentioned the latter says, 
 " Next to this and joining on to it is another 
 " plain, with innumerable porticos all about, 
 " wooded gardens, three theatres, an amphi- 
 " theatre, and very magnificent temples conti- 
 <c guous to each other." 
 
 Besides the seven hills, the wall, as subse- 
 quently increased, inclosed the Mons Pincius, 
 or Collis Hortulorum, which still retains the 
 name of Monte Pincio. Collis Hortulorum is 
 the term used by Suetonius h , probably from the 
 neighbouring gardens of Sallust. Mons Pincius 
 was a name given to it subsequently from the 
 Pincian family, which was of eminence in the 
 time of Constantine. This is a considerable 
 eminence, but as it was not within the walls of 
 S. Tullius, it has not acquired so much celebrity 
 as the seven others. A public walk is now con- 
 structed upon it, and it commands an admirable 
 view of Rome and the surrounding country. 
 
 Another hill may be observed behind the 
 Piazza Colonna, which is called the Monte Ci- 
 torio. There is reason to think, that there was 
 no hill here formerly, but that the inequality was 
 formed by the rubbish removed from the old 
 buildings, and perhaps more particularly from 
 
 > Lib. v. 
 
 h Nero, c. 50. 
 
AND TESTACCIO. 
 
 53 
 
 the amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus. Such is 
 partly the opinion of L. Fauno, though he sub- 
 stitutes the amphitheatre of Claudius for that of 
 Taurus. He gives it as the opinion of some per- 
 sons, that the hill was formed from the soil, 
 which was dug out, when Antoninus' pillar was 
 erected. Venuti thinks, that the name is de- 
 rived from this being the place in the Campus 
 Martius, where the people were cited to give 
 their votes. Fauno writes the name Acitorio, 
 but agrees with him in his etymology. 
 
 The Monte Testaccio seems hardly worth men- 
 tioning, except as being an eminence within the 
 walls : it is however remarkable, if the story of 
 its origin be true, as having been entirely raised 
 by art. It stands at the south-west corner of 
 Rome, near the Tiber, and measures 160 feet in 
 height, and a third of a mile in circumference 
 It is said to be entirely composed of fragments 
 of pottery, which were deposited here. An ex- 
 amination of the hill itself fully confirms this 
 notion; and it should be remembered, that the 
 principal potteries were established in this part 
 of the town by Tarquinius Priscus, when he was 
 building the Circus Maximus k . This is the case 
 at the present day, and the Church of S. Fran- 
 cesco a ripa on the opposite side of the river has 
 
 ' This is from Venuti. In Spence's Anecdotes, p. 243, it is 
 stated, that the whole rise from the Villa of the Cavalier Corra- 
 dini to the cross on the top is upwards of 800 feet. 
 
 k This too is on the authority of Venuti, who does not tell us 
 where he found this circumstance related. 
 
 E 3 
 
54 
 
 MONTE TESTACCIO. 
 
 been found to be built upon the same fragments. 
 When we consider the abundant use of earthen- 
 ware which prevailed in Rome, that all the oil and 
 wine was preserved in vessels of this kind, when 
 we find them in the sepulchres and the walls of 
 buildings, not to mention the tiles which co- 
 vered the houses, the prodigious number of lamps 
 and ornamental vases, &c. &c, we perhaps need 
 not be surprised that this hill was formed. So 
 early as the reign of Numa, a college of potters 
 was instituted ; and if we believe Marlianus, 
 there was an order of the Senate in later times, 
 which prohibited the throwing any fragments of 
 pottery into the river, lest it should dam up the 
 water, and overflow the city. P.Victor mentions 
 a hill, called Doliolus, which is thought to be 
 the same as the Monte Testaccio, but it is not 
 mentioned by any older author. This was also 
 without the walls of S. Tullius l . A very cold 
 wind is observed to proceed from the lower part 
 of this hill in summer, and cellars have accord- 
 ingly been constructed in it for sake of keeping 
 the wine cool. 
 
 To enlarge the circuit of the walls was 
 called Pomcerium proferre. Pomcerium, which 
 Livy tells us m signifies post mcerium> behind the 
 walls, was a space within and without the 
 walls, which was consecrated at the first found- 
 
 1 In the lease of a vineyard, A. D. 1256, published by Ne- 
 rini, (De Templo S. Alexii, p. 438.) the Monte Testaccio is 
 called Mons de Palio. 
 
 m Lib. i. c. 44. 
 
LIMITS OF ROME, 
 
 55 
 
 ation, and was not allowed to be built upon. 
 Those only were permitted to extend the pomce- 
 rium, who had taken some land from the enemy. 
 And yet every extension of the walls was not 
 necessarily an extension of the pomcerium; for 
 Vopiscus speaking of Aurelian says, 44 that he 
 44 extended the walls of the city, and yet did not 
 44 add to the pomcerium then, but afterwards." 
 Some religious ceremony seems to have been 
 necessary for the extension of the pomcerium, dis- 
 tinct from the mere removal of the stones. Thus 
 Mount Aventine was inclosed with a wall, and 
 probably joined to the city wall from the time of 
 Ancus Martius, but was not included within the 
 pomcerium till the time of Claudius. 
 
 For 430 years the limits of Rome continued 
 the same. Servius Tullius inclosed a space so 
 much larger than was necessary for the popula- 
 tion of his day, that nobody thought of enlarging 
 the circuit of the walls till the time of Sylla. 
 Tacitus remarks", that no Roman generals, 
 although powerful nations were subdued, exer- 
 cised the right of extending the walls, except 
 L. Sulla and Augustus. A. Gellius also 0 and 
 Seneca p speak of the enlargement of the walls by 
 Sylla. This was U. C. 674. It is thought, that 
 he took in that part which lies towards the gar- 
 dens of Sallust, and probably altered the position 
 of the Portae Collina and Viminalis. Dio Cas- 
 
 n Ann. lib. xii. c. 23. 0 Lib. xiii. c. 14. P De Brev, 
 Vitae, 14. 
 
 E 4 
 
56 
 
 LIMITS OF ROME. 
 
 sius q and A. Gellius r assert also, that J. Caesar 
 made a farther extension. Cicero hints the same 
 thing \ This was about U. C. 720. The above 
 quotation from Tacitus also shews Augustus to 
 have imitated them, which was about the year 
 746. These two last extensions probably were in 
 that part which lies between the Porta? Collina 
 and Capena. Tacitus says expressly 1 that Clau- 
 dius extended the walls, and A. Gellius tells us u 
 that he took in Mount Aventine, which had 
 been before walled in, but not included in the 
 circuit of the city. Nero and Trajan made ad- 
 ditions according to Vopiscus x , but what precise 
 space was added cannot be ascertained. The 
 last and greatest increase was made by Aurelian, 
 since which time the circuit has remained the 
 same to our days, with the exception of a few 
 alterations caused by repairs after different sieges. 
 The annexed plan will afford some idea of the 
 original wall as drawn by S. Tullius, and of the 
 more extended one raised by Aurelian. It has 
 been supposed, from the appearance of the walls, 
 that he ran them up in a great hurry. We can- 
 not come to this conclusion from the materials, 
 of which they are composed, because so much of 
 them has been rebuilt : but he seems in some in- 
 stances to have taken advantage of buildings al- 
 ready in existence, and to have made them con- 
 
 q Lib. xliii. r Lib. xiii. c. 14. 8 Epist. ad Att. lib. xiii. 
 1 Lib. xii. c. 24. " Lib. xiii. c. 14. x Vita Aureliani, 
 
 c. 21. 
 
Ps6. 
 
POPULATION. 
 
 57 
 
 tinue on his new line. The wall built by S. Tul- 
 lius was of stone, but that of Aurelian was pro- 
 bably all or mostly of brick, as it is now. 
 
 Few questions connected with Roman history 
 are so puzzling as the population of the city 
 during these intervals. Livy tells us that in 
 the time of Servius Tullius, who first instituted 
 the census, the numbers amounted to 80000. 
 But the difficulty in this and all the succeeding 
 enumerations is to know what description of 
 persons the census comprehended. Livy him- 
 self considers this as a point not decided : he 
 quotes Fabius Pictor, as saying, that this first 
 census only included those who were capable 
 of bearing arms. But a passage in Dionysius 
 seems to shew, that this was not always the 
 meaning of the census. Speaking of that which 
 was the fifth from the first institution, he says, 
 that the whole number was 150700, and that 
 after the return was given, a separation was 
 made of those who were of the age for military 
 service from those who were older. All the inha- 
 bitants of Rome were evidently not numbered : 
 it must also be supposed, that slaves were not; 
 and, if we judge from the object for which the 
 custom was established, women and children 
 would also have been excluded. Livy 2 , stating 
 the census in 289 at 124214, expressly says, that 
 widows and widowers were excepted, from 
 which it might be argued, that all women were 
 not excluded. Dionysius remarks a , that the 
 
 y Lib. i. c. 44. 1 Lib. iii. c. 3. a Lib. ix. 
 
58 
 
 POPULATION 
 
 people not reckoned in the census, such as wo- 
 men, children, slaves, tradesmen, mechanics, &c. 
 were three times as numerous as those who 
 were included. This author always uses the 
 expression, " those who were of age b ," which 
 seems clearly to prove, that children were not 
 reckoned. A passage in Pliny is perhaps im- 
 portant upon this question : speaking of the in- 
 habitants of Rome in the year 365, when it was 
 burnt by the Gauls, he says, that the census 
 gave a return of 152573 freemen. 
 
 In the fourth year of the second Punic war, 
 Livy states the numbers to have been 270213. 
 In the tenth year of the same war they were 
 137108. The diminution may naturally be ac- 
 counted for by the long and destructive war 
 which was then raging. In the year 549 U. C. 
 which was four years afterwards, the return was 
 214000; but then, as we learn from Livy c , the 
 censors went to the armies, which were in the 
 various provinces, and besides the natural born 
 citizens, many of the Latin allies were included 
 in the census. It appears, that these were men, 
 who had been made citizens, and had conse- 
 quently settled in Rome : for shortly after we 
 find the allies complaining of this migration, and 
 accordingly 12000 naturalized allies were sent 
 away from Rome : and a decree was afterwards 
 made, that the names of such persons should not 
 be taken in the Roman census, but in their re- 
 
 c Lib. xxix. ci 37- 
 
OF ROME. 59 
 
 spective cities. From the close of the Punic 
 war to the year 667, they went on progressively 
 increasing, at least with few and small exceptions. 
 In the year 667, according to the Chronicle of 
 Eusebius, they were 464000, or according to 
 some copies 483000. Soon after this succeeded 
 the civil wars of Marius and Sylla, which greatly 
 diminished the number of citizens. In 683, the 
 numbers were 450000, as we learn from the 
 Epitome of Livy, lib. xcviii. But at the end of 
 the civil war, U. C. 707, Plutarch says d , that the 
 return was only 150000, instead of 320000, which 
 was the number at the beginning of the war, 
 making a diminution of 170000. But Brotier 6 
 says, that Plutarch has made a mistake, and 
 other authors after him, as Caesar's object was 
 only to ascertain the number of people, who were 
 to have an allowance of corn from the public ; 
 and this number, not that of the whole popula- 
 tion, was 150000. The Epitome of Livy f agrees 
 with Plutarch ; which, if Bro tier's opinion be 
 correct, is an additional argument, that these 
 Epitomes are by another hand, for Livy himself 
 could hardly have made such a mistake. 
 
 If we go from hence to the time of Claudius, 
 we find an increase, which exceeds all calcula- 
 tion, and which it is impossible to reconcile with 
 the limits of Rome. Tacitus » states, that in the 
 
 d In Vita Caesaris. 
 
 e In his Annotation upon Tacitus, An. lib. xi. c. 25. 
 
 f Lib. cxv. 
 
 e An. lib. xi. c. 25. 
 
60 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 reign of Claudius the inhabitants amounted to 
 5984072. In this enumeration the suburbs and 
 in fact great part of the Campagna must have 
 been taken into the account; for it is demon- 
 strable, that Rome within the walls could never 
 have contained six millions. Nor will the num- 
 bers contained at former periods allow us to 
 conceive such a prodigious increase to have 
 taken place, even if the walls would have con- 
 tained them. We must therefore either suppose 
 the passage in Tacitus to be corrupt, or that he 
 took into his calculation not only the citizens 
 residing in Rome, but all that were called out 
 of Italy by business, or any other cause; and 
 that such were occasionally included in the cen- 
 sus, is shewn by Sigonius h , out of Livy and 
 Dionysius. Another explanation is given by 
 some writers 1 , who say, that during the Re- 
 public the census was only held within the walls 
 of Rome, whereas Augustus extended it to the 
 provinces : and certainly the increase in the time 
 of Augustus is greater than could have been 
 produced by the mere progress of population 
 within the walls. We have an account of three 
 census held by him. According to an inscrip- 
 tion found at Ancyra\ the numbers in 725 were 
 4063000. In 745 they were 4203000: and in 
 766 they were 4137000. It should be men- 
 
 h De Jure Civ. Rom. lib. i. c. 14. 
 1 Vide J. Vossius de Magnit. Roma?. 
 k Vide Chishull Antiq. Asiat. p. 173. 
 
CENSUS. 
 
 61 
 
 tioned, that Eusebius makes the numbers upon 
 the last occasion 9300000, and in the time of 
 Claudius 6944000, instead of 5984072, as given 
 by Tacitus. But though this seems an incredible 
 number for the inhabitants of Rome, on the 
 other hand it is far too small, if all the provinces 
 were taken into the account; and Suidas must 
 evidently be wrong, when he says, that Augustus, 
 wishing to ascertain the number of citizens 
 throughout the empire, found it to be 4101017, a 
 number far too small. His enumeration however 
 is probably correct, as it agrees so nearly with 
 the inscription at Ancyra, and there is nothing 
 improbable in supposing, that he included all 
 Italy in his survey, and that all the citizens were 
 numbered. We might at least suppose the 
 suburbs to be included, and even in that case 
 the numbers would hardly be extravagant; for 
 we may safely extend them in some directions to 
 a distance of forty miles. 
 
 After stating these facts with respect to the 
 census, it may be expected, that some inference 
 would be drawn from them, as to the real method 
 of making that enumeration ; and perhaps an 
 easy explanation may be found, which will ac- 
 count for all the circumstances above stated. In 
 the first place we will collect from these data 
 what descriptions of people were not included, 
 and that may enable us to come to some under- 
 standing of who were. 
 
 Minors, slaves, and mechanics, although re- 
 
62 
 
 CENSUS. 
 
 siding in Rome, were not reckoned l . The citi- 
 zens who were absent on military service were 
 not always reckoned, or else Livy would not 
 have mentioned it, as an extraordinary circum- 
 stance, that they were so in 549 m . As to the 
 allies, the senate and people had the power of 
 admitting them into the census, or excluding 
 them from it, although they possessed the free- 
 dom of the city. From these data we are 
 authorized in collecting, that citizenship and re- 
 sidence in Rome were two of the qualifications 
 for the census, as ordinarily held. If then the 
 question be asked, what description of people 
 did the census enumerate ? we answer generally, 
 Roman citizens. The above data are sufficient 
 to shew, that none but Roman citizens were in- 
 cluded ; but it is equally true, that all those, who 
 were citizens, were not regularly enrolled. This 
 does not really present any difficulty, but might 
 naturally be expected from considering the ob- 
 ject of Servius Tullius. The census was insti- 
 tuted for two purposes : one was, to ascertain 
 what portion of the free population was capable 
 of bearing arms : the other was, to know the 
 property possessed by each citizen, and conse- 
 quently how much he could contribute to sup- 
 port the state. The census was not intended, 
 according as we now use the team, to ascertain 
 the numbers of the whole population. We shall 
 
 1 Dion. Hal. lib. ix. 
 
 m Vide lib. xxix. c. 37- 
 
CENSUS. 
 
 63 
 
 therefore be at no loss to see, why on some oc- 
 casions all the Roman citizens were not in- 
 cluded in it ; and this will lead us to an expla- 
 nation of all the circumstances mentioned above. 
 Widows and widowers were exempt from paying 
 any thing to the public treasury n ; consequently 
 there was no necessity to enumerate them ; and 
 according to Livy they did not in 289. But we 
 may fairly infer, that heiresses possessing any 
 property 0 would be rated according to the value 
 of it ; and that the daughters of citizens married 
 to strangers would also be rated. Hence also 
 the soldiers on foreign service were not enume- 
 rated ; because one object of the census, the 
 ascertaining how many were capable of bearing 
 arms, was already obtained, as far as they were 
 concerned : and as they did not pay any thing to 
 the state while on duty, there was no reason to 
 take their names at all. But in U. C. 549, when 
 the senate was anxious to make the return as 
 large as possible, we find, that the censors sent 
 to the different provinces, where the armies were, 
 and took a census of the soldiers. The reason of 
 this measure is very evident. At this time, which 
 
 n Servius Tullius laid a tax of 2000 pounds of brass upon the 
 widows, to maintain the horses of the knights. (Liv. lib. i. 
 c. 43.) But this very fact proves them to have been exempt 
 from other taxes. 
 
 ° There was a law passed. Lex Voconia, in 384 U. C. by 
 which no female was able to inherit property. (Cic. in Ver. 
 i. 4<2.) But the law was eluded, and became obsolete. (A. 
 Gell. lib. xx. c. 1.) 
 
64 
 
 CENSUS. 
 
 was during the second Punic war, great numbers 
 of the allies had been admitted into the army : 
 but these were not all citizens, and consequently 
 not all to be depended upon ; and as the object of 
 the senate was to ascertain what was the mi- 
 litary strength in the citizens, who could be 
 compelled to serve, they naturally extended their 
 investigation beyond the limits of Rome. We 
 may conclude therefore, that a diminution or 
 increase in the numbers of the census does not 
 necessarily prove, as is generally supposed, that 
 the whole population was increased or di- 
 minished since the former return ; but the cen- 
 sors were more or less strict in their office ac- 
 cording to the exigence of the times. 
 
 To be a citizen of Rome, that is, to have a vote 
 in the Comitia, three things were necessary ; that 
 the person should be domiciled, that he should 
 belong to one of the thirty-five tribes, and that 
 he should be capable of filling the public offices. 
 The Jus Latii and the Jus Italiae, which were 
 privileges granted to the allies, were short of 
 actual citizenship, and did not make a person a 
 full citizen, or cause his name to be taken in the 
 Roman census. Sigonius says, that the very act 
 of being enrolled upon the censor's list conferred 
 all the rights of citizenship ; and slaves with the 
 consent of their masters sometimes entered their 
 names, and thus became free citizens. But no 
 persons could vote in the Comitia, nor could they 
 be taxed for the relief of the state, unless they 
 resided in Rome; so that it was optional with 
 
CENSUS. 
 
 65 
 
 the censors to take the provinces into their sur- 
 vey, or not. After the extraordinary census in 
 549, we have seen that 12000 of the allies were 
 ordered to quit Rome, although their names had 
 been admitted with the rest: for the cities, to 
 which they belonged, complained of their ab- 
 sence; and the only way, by which the Romans 
 could exclude them from the census, was by 
 making them cease to reside in Rome. Another 
 decree followed, that their names should in fu- 
 ture be taken in their respective cities; and these 
 numbers were sometimes transmitted to the Ro- 
 man censors, though not taken into the general 
 account p. 
 
 As the citizens of Rome came to be dispersed 
 in various provinces, the numbers returned by 
 the census naturally fluctuated, because there 
 was no fixed rule as to what constituted resi- 
 dence. In U. C. 658, the Licinia Mucia Lex 
 was passed, which ordered all the inhabitants of 
 Italy, who were Roman citizens, to be enrolled 
 in their respective cities q ; but no mention is 
 made of the provinces out of Italy. In 662, by 
 the Lex Julia, all the inhabitants of Italy were 
 made to belong to some tribe, and became full 
 citizens. This will fully account for the vast 
 increase, w hich we find in the reign of Augustus, 
 compared with former returns. A census was 
 held in the different towns, and transmitted to 
 
 p Vide Liv. lib. xxix. c. 37. 
 
 q Vide Cicero de Officiis, lib. iii. et pro Balbo, 21, 24, 
 
 F 
 
GG 
 
 CENSUS. 
 
 Rome: some authors have added these to the 
 Roman census, and some have not ; which may 
 account for the different enumerations of the 
 same return : and we are therefore authorized in 
 concluding from the whole, that at first the cen- 
 sus only included the citizens resident in Rome, 
 but was extended, if required, to citizens in 
 foreign service : in later times all the free inha- 
 bitants of Italy were numbered in their respec- 
 tive cities, and the census transmitted to Rome. 
 
 It would be interesting to trace the population 
 of the city from ancient times to the present, but 
 I am not aware of any authorities being in ex- 
 istence, which would enable us to do it. We 
 can form some estimate as to the numbers in the 
 time of Theodosius, as P. Victor states the 
 houses to have been altogether 48382. From 
 this statement, Gibbon 1 estimates the population 
 at 1200000. Brotier says 1128162. In the four- 
 teenth century it was 33000 : under Leo X. 
 85000 s . In 1709 the inhabitants were 138568, 
 without reckoning the Jews*. In 1740 they had 
 increased to 146080. In 1765 Gibbon states 
 them at 161899. In 1819 1 was informed, that 
 they were about 120000, of which nearly a tenth 
 were ecclesiastics. 
 
 The circumference of Rome is another ques- 
 
 r Decline and Fall, c. 31. 
 
 8 Lancisi, de Romani coeli qualitatibus. Jovius, vita Leonis 
 X. lib. iv. p. 83 : but in his own time, i. e. after the pillage by 
 the Spanish army, they were reduced to 3£000. 
 
 1 Labat. Voyage, torn. iii. p. 217. 
 
CIRCUMFERENCE OF ROME. 67 
 
 tion, which contains some difficulties ; but they 
 are difficulties, which must arise either from cor- 
 ruptions in the text of the ancient authors, or 
 from gross inaccuracies in the writers themselves. 
 What is the real measurement of the walls we 
 may know for certain, because they still exist: 
 we know also, that any writers, who have no- 
 ticed the size of Rome since the time of Aure- 
 lian, ought to give the same dimensions, which 
 we find now to be true ; and those who spoke 
 of them before that period, ought to make them 
 much less. But this is not the case. Diony- 
 sius u , speaking of the city in the year 291 from 
 its foundation, says, that in that time the walls 
 were not more extensive than those of Athens. 
 The circuit of the latter is estimated at a day's 
 journey by Aristides, in his Panathenaica. Strabo 
 allows 250 or 300 stadia for a day's journey : 
 Procopius only 210 : Dicaearchus and others 
 lessen it still farther to 200 stadia, about twenty- 
 five miles. Dio Chrysostom also makes the 
 circuit of Athens 200 stadia \ Pliny states the 
 circumference at thirteen Roman miles and 200 
 paces y , which, as he wrote nearly 200 years be- 
 fore the time of Aurelian, seems an exaggerated 
 statement. Gibbon says, in his concise way, 
 
 " Lib. viii. 
 
 x Orat. de Tyrannide. 
 
 y Some copies have it thirty miles. Andrea Fulvio quotes 
 Pliny, as if he said twenty miles, and in another place thirteen. 
 The passage is in lib. iii. c. 5., " Mcenia ejus collegere ambitu 
 iC Imperatoribus Censoribusque Vespasianis anno conditae 
 " dcccxxvi pass, xiii . mcc." 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 CIRCUMFERENCE 
 
 " Pliny's old measure of thirteen must be re- 
 " duced to eight miles. It is easier to alter a 
 " text, than to remove hills or buildings." Cer- 
 tainly vin may easily have been corrupted into 
 xin. There is also another difficulty attending 
 these accounts ; for if it was intended, that there 
 was a length of wall for twenty-five or thirteen 
 miles, the circumference of the whole city was 
 much greater, for on the side of the Tiber 
 there were no walls. Vopiscus, who wrote under 
 Constantine Chlorus, says, that Aurelian in- 
 creased the walls of the city, so that their circuit 
 measured nearly fifty miles ; an expression, 
 which is utterly irreconcileable with the modern 
 circuit. Eutropius indeed, contemporary with 
 Valens, tells us, that Aurelian surrounded the 
 city with stronger and weaker walls ; which ex- 
 pression may perhaps allude to a second circumfe- 
 rence, which took in a much larger space, and may 
 well have been fifty miles, or much more. Olym- 
 piodorus z says, that the wall was measured by 
 Amnion, a geometrician, at the time of the first 
 invasion by the Goths, and was twenty-one miles 
 in circuit. Procopius however, who was present 
 at the third Gothic war, gives a description, 
 which agrees very closely with the present ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 In these statements, if the authors' words have 
 not been altered by transcribers, it was not in- 
 tended in giving the dimensions of the city to 
 
 * Ap. Phot. p. 197. 
 
OF ROME. 
 
 69 
 
 take the mere circuit of the walls, but to include 
 some of the suburbs also, it is evident indeed, 
 that ancient Rome, like modern London, ex- 
 tended a great way into the country, or Aurelian 
 would not have thought it necessary to enlarge 
 the walls. Some writers indeed, among whom 
 is Isaac Vossius, suppose, that the walls were 
 much more extensive in the time of the Republic, 
 than afterwards : they accordingly carry them a 
 great way out into the country, beyond the Anio, 
 and nearly as far as Gabii, Tusculum, and Ostia, 
 making a circuit of seventy miles and upwards. 
 Their opinion however will probably not con- 
 vince many. 
 
 We may form some idea of the extent of the 
 suburbs, when it is stated, that from Ocriculum 
 (Otricoli) to Rome, a distance of nearly forty 
 miles, the road was covered with buildings; and 
 the same is said of the road from Rome to Ostia. 
 Dionysius says a , " Whoever wishes to ascertain 
 " the size of Rome, will be led into error, and 
 " have no certain mark to decide how far the 
 " city reaches, or where it begins not to be 
 " city ; the country is so connected with the 
 u town, and gives those who see it an idea of a 
 " city infinitely extended. But if one wished to 
 u measure it by the wall, which is scarcely to be 
 " traced on account of the structures surround- 
 " ing it on all sides, but which in many places 
 " preserves traces of the ancient building, the cir- 
 
 Lib. iv. 
 F 3 
 
70 CIRCUMFERENCE OF ROME. 
 
 u cuit is not much greater than that of Athens." 
 If this remark was true in the time of Augustus, 
 it must have been much more so in the days of 
 Aurelian. Pliny also says b , " exspatiantia tecta 
 " multas addidere urbes ;" meaning probably, 
 that with little or no intermission there were 
 houses connecting Rome with Gabii, Tibur, 
 Ostia, Aricia, &c. &c. Aristides, deceived pro- 
 bably by this circumstance, thought that Rome 
 was without walls. He lived in the time of 
 Adrian. Present accounts state the circum- 
 ference to be sixteen Roman miles. Mr. Hob- 
 house walked round them in three hours, thirty- 
 three minutes and a quarter. I did it myself in 
 three hours and ten minutes c , which would lead 
 me to conclude, that it was not more than thir- 
 teen English miles. Marlianus, one of the 
 earliest Roman antiquaries, says scarcely thirteen. 
 G. Fabricius, who wrote in 1550, says also 
 thirteen. Panvinus, writing in 1558, scarcely 
 fourteen miles. In this statement, the city on 
 each side of the Tiber is included. Poggio makes 
 it ten miles, and reckons 379 turrets. 
 
 At present there are sixteen gates, but only 
 twelve are open ; the Pinciana and Latina on 
 the east, and the Fabrica and Castello on the 
 west of the Tiber, being shut up. In the wall of 
 
 b Lib. iii. c. 5. 
 
 c In order to complete this work, it is necessary to cross the 
 river in a boat: this causes considerable delay; but I have 
 reckoned only the time, which it would take to cross it by a 
 bridge on foot. 
 
GATES. 
 
 71 
 
 Romulus, Pliny says d , that there were three 
 gates, or according to some, four. Antiquaries 
 are divided as to the position of these gates, and 
 the names of them. For as we find notice of 
 more than four in ancient authors, we must con- 
 clude that some of the gates had more than one 
 name. We read of the Porta Carmentalis, or 
 Scelerata, Pandana, or Saturnia, Romana, or 
 Romanula, Mugionis, or Mugonia, Trigonia, and 
 Janualis. 
 
 In Servius Tullius' wall there were seven gates, 
 and in the part which Aurelian added on the 
 other side of the river there were three. To 
 ascertain the precise number of gates before and 
 after the time of Aurelian is difficult, if not im- 
 possible. Great confusion arises from different 
 names being given to the same gate. The names 
 of more than forty have been collected by some 
 writers. Pliny says, that there were twenty-four, 
 or according to some copies thirty-seven, in his 
 time, i. e. in the reign of Vespasian : but these 
 were probably not all in the outer wall, and some 
 of them may have been in interior walls, which 
 surrounded some of the seven hills. P. Victor, 
 who wrote in the reign of Valentinian, mentions 
 thirty-seven gates. Procopius e says, that in his 
 time there were fourteen, and some other smaller 
 ones ; which latter expression makes his testi- 
 mony of little use. 
 
 An inscription states, that Benedict XIV. re- 
 
 d Lib. iii. c. 5. 
 
 b 4 
 
 c Lib. iii, 
 
72 
 
 WALLS. 
 
 paired the whole circuit of the walls in 1749. 
 Several other inscriptions recount what former 
 popes had done ; and these repairs have been so 
 frequent, and at such different times, that it is 
 difficult to say how much of the original build- 
 ing now exists. We learn from Cassiodorus f , 
 that Theodoric allowed the inhabitants to make 
 use of the stones of an amphitheatre, to repair 
 the walls, which had suffered by the invasion of 
 the Visigoths, and partly by age?. But Rome 
 suffered most from the invasions of Vitiges and 
 Totila. Procopius 11 tells us, that when Belisa- 
 ritis entered Rome upon the departure of Vitiges, 
 he found that the walls had in many places 
 fallen down. He repaired them, and erected 
 towers higher than the former ones. Procopius 
 also mentions ditches round the walls. This was 
 in the year 537. Speaking of the third Gothic 
 war, he tells us, that Totila at first determined to 
 level Rome with the ground, to set fire to the 
 finest and most magnificent buildings, and to 
 turn the whole city into pasture. Fortunately 
 he did not execute his purpose ; and during the 
 residence of his army in Rome, about a third 
 part of the wall was thrown down in different 
 places. Shortly after he adds, " Belisarius 
 " marched to Rome, the walls of which had 
 " been thrown down by the Goths. As he could 
 
 f Var. Epist. lib. i. 25. 
 
 g This was probably the remainder of the amphitheatre of 
 Statilius Taurus, which had been burnt in the reign of Nero. 
 " Lib. iii. 
 
WALLS. 
 
 73 
 
 " not possibly build up in a short time that part 
 ff of the walls, which Totila had thrown down, 
 " he piled the stones up which were lying near, 
 " and put them together without any order; nor 
 " had he mortar or any other kind of cement to 
 " mix with them ; but his only object was to give 
 a it on the outside the appearance of a building. 
 M On the inside, to support this mass of stones, 
 " he fixed a great number of poles in the 
 " ground. Besides this, he attended to the 
 " ditches round the walls, and dug them deeper. 
 " In short, by the incredible activity of the 
 *f whole army working together, all that Totila 
 " had destroyed was repaired in fifteen days." 
 This hasty work was strong enough to resist an- 
 other siege, which was immediately commenced 
 by Totila. Again, " Which walls, when Narses 
 -* put an end to the Gothic war, were subse- 
 " quently arranged and strengthened, Narses 
 u himself supplying mortar and lime to the parts 
 M which Belisarius had run up." I have given 
 these passages at length, because they may ac- 
 count in some measure for the motly appearance 
 oi the present walls. We must suppose, how- 
 ever, that some of the original building still 
 exists. 
 
 Between the Porta Pia and S. Lorenzo there 
 will be found a quadrangular projection, which 
 is even older than the time of Aurelian. It was 
 built by Tiberius for the Praetorian guards, and 
 called the Castrum Prcetorium. It was then out 
 of the walls, but near to them, as we learn from 
 
74 CASTRUM PRiETORIUM. 
 
 Pliny 1 , Herodian b , and J. Capitolinus 1 . In stat- 
 ing this to be the work of Tiberius, I do not 
 mean that every part of it is actually of that age. 
 We know that it continued a square inclosure 
 with barracks for the soldiers till the time of 
 Constantine, who, according to Zosimus" 1 , dis- 
 missed the Prsetorian guards, and pulled down 
 their camp, when he took Rome upon the defeat 
 and death of Maxentius. This projection was 
 formerly supposed to have been the Vivarium, 
 which Procopius tells us was near this place, and 
 which seems to have formed part of the city 
 walls. But the antiquaries are now agreed, that 
 the space in question belonged to the Pratorian 
 camp. The greatest part is well-built of brick ; 
 but some has been rebuilt in a very rough man- 
 ner, apparently of the old materials, and some 
 large stones. This latter part may have been 
 the work of Belisarius, and some oddly-shaped 
 towers are ascribed to him : but we can hardly 
 suppose that the Goths threw down the whole 
 of it, because then the repair would naturally 
 have been carried on in a straight line, and the 
 quadrangular form no longer preserved. Con- 
 sequently much of the brick work is likely to be 
 as old as the time of Tiberius. 
 
 Between the Porta del Popolo and Pinciana 
 there is likewise a part which is very old. It is 
 that which is under the Pincian hill, and seems 
 
 ' Lib. iii. c. 5. k Lib. vii. 1 Vitac Maximi et Balbini. 
 
 1,1 Hist. lib. ii. 
 
MURO TORTO. 
 
 75 
 
 to have been intended to keep up the bank. It 
 is built in arches with deep recesses, and some- 
 times there are two rows of arches, one above 
 the other. It is mostly of the opus reticulatum, 
 which is a term used by Vitruvius" to express a 
 particular kind of building, which is composed 
 of small stones, not set horizontally, but upon 
 one of their angles, so as to have the appearance 
 of net work. There is an idea now at Rome, 
 that this is always a sign of great antiquity : but 
 Vitruvius, by calling it very fashionable in his 
 day, seems to indicate, that it had not been long 
 introduced : and what is stronger, he expressly 
 opposes it to the ancient method. He considers 
 it as a perishable mode of building, and says, 
 that several walls, where it was used, had tum- 
 bled clown. But we have several instances 
 where it still exists, and apparently in great 
 strength : and this very portion of the Roman 
 walls might be cited as one, unless indeed we 
 attribute the inclination of the Muro Torto to 
 this cause. That which is called the Muro 
 Torto is a great mass of wall, considerably out 
 of the perpendicular, and is supposed to have 
 been so in the time of Aurelian. Procopius, 
 who wrote in the sixth century, gives an exact 
 description of it 0 . 44 Near the Pincian gate there 
 44 is a part of the wall which is rent, the stones 
 44 having been separated for a long time: and 
 
 n Lib. ii. c. 8. Pliny also mentions it, lib. xxxvi. c. 22. 
 ° Lib. iii. 
 
76 
 
 MURO TORTO. 
 
 " this rent does not only begin from the middle, 
 44 but goes from the bottom to the top, and makes 
 " the wall incline so much, yet without falling, 
 " that it seems both to lean out and to be re- 
 44 cessed back, owing to the rent and breach in 
 " it. Belisarius wished at this time to pull down 
 44 the part which inclined, and rebuild it; but the 
 44 Romans hindered him, saying, that they knew 
 44 for certain that St. Peter had promised to 
 44 guard that place. This turned out as they 
 " had declared, for neither on that day, when 
 44 the Goths attacked nearly the whole circuit of 
 " the walls, nor during the whole time of the 
 44 siege, did the enemy ever come to this spot, 
 44 nor was there any alarm there. I am certainly 
 44 very much surprised, that during so long a 
 44 siege neither the enemy nor the Romans re- 
 44 garded this place ; and the affair having since 
 44 been deemed a miracle, no one has ventured 
 44 to repair this breach or build it anew : but this 
 44 rent may be seen to the present day." 
 
 Another portion, which is undoubtedly as old 
 as the time of Aurelian, if not older, is to be seen 
 near the Porta Maggiore. It served for an aqua- 
 duct, with open arches at the top ; and from the 
 abrupt angles which the wall makes, where the 
 aquaduct begins and terminates, it would rather 
 seem that Aurelian took advantage of a building 
 already existing, than that it was applied to the 
 purpose of conveying water after it was built. 
 This would give it a date considerably older 
 than the time of Aurelian, and probably assign 
 
WALLS. 
 
 77 
 
 it to the reign of Claudius, who formed this 
 aquaduct. 
 
 The Amphitheatrum Castrense, between the 
 Porta Maggiore and S. Giovanni, is another un- 
 doubted relict of the ancient walls : and like the 
 Castrum Praetorium, it probably existed before, 
 and was taken into the line. The date of this 
 cannot be accurately known. It is all of brick, 
 even the Corinthian pillars, and seems to have 
 been but a rude structure, sufficient for the 
 amusement of the soldiers, for whom it was 
 built. 
 
 Between this and the Porta S. Giovanni the 
 wall again serves for an aquaduct, and the 
 foundations are the natural rock. Many other 
 portions of the wall may probably be as old as 
 Aurelian, but those which I have mentioned un- 
 questionably are so, if not older; and it would 
 seem from what has been said of them, that the 
 emperor was in a considerable hurry when he 
 enlarged the circuit, and took advantage of any 
 thing which was already standing and could 
 serve his purpose. Or we may perhaps suppose, 
 that it was in the time of Belisarius that these 
 buildings were taken in, and the walls assumed 
 their present motly appearance. 
 
 On the other side of the river there does not 
 seem to have been much inclosure before the 
 time of Aurelian, though the hill of the Janicu- 
 lum must always have been in some measure 
 fortified. We learn indeed from Procopius, that 
 a wall had been raised round " the little hill of 
 
78 
 
 JANICULUM. 
 
 " the Janiculum," to protect the mills which 
 were constructed in that quarter : and he adds, 
 that after the bridge was built, which connected 
 this hill with the city, several houses were erected 
 there, so that the Tiber might thenceforward be 
 said to pass through the middle of Rome. This 
 bridge must have been the Ponte Sisto, which 
 was called the Pons Janiculensis. We must re- 
 member, however, that the Vatican was not in- 
 cluded in that part of the Janiculum which was 
 fortified so early. The Janiculum itself extended 
 much farther ; and the name seems to have been 
 applied to all that rising ground which reaches 
 as far as the Ponte Molle. Livy tells us p, that 
 Ancus Martius first joined the Janiculum to the 
 city, not because he wanted room for his sub- 
 jects, but that an invading enemy might not be 
 able to annoy the city from so commanding a 
 position. The Pons Sublicius was also built in 
 his time. Aurelian inclosed the portion which 
 is now at the south-west angle of the city. The 
 southern extremity of this wall met the river op- 
 posite to the wall on the other side, but a little 
 higher up. The northern end of it was nearly 
 opposite to the northern end of the wall of S. 
 Tullius. In this there were three gates ; the 
 Porta Portuensis close to the river, called also 
 Porta Navalis ; the Porta Pancratiana, leading 
 into the country; and Porta Septimiana, also by 
 the river. This is thought to have its name from 
 
 p Lib. i. c. 33. 
 
VATICAN. 
 
 79 
 
 the emperor Septimius Severus, from a passage 
 in iElius Spartianus, who says, that Septimius 
 built baths in the Janiculum, at the gate called 
 after his name. Some think it to have been also 
 called Fontinalis, mentioned by Livy^ and Sex- 
 tus Pompeius. 
 
 Till the time of Leo IV. the Vatican was not 
 inclosed with a wall. Before the days of Con- 
 stantine there were probably few houses in this 
 neighbourhood. Tacitus r and Lampridius speak 
 of the air being extremely unwholesome, and of 
 it being fuller of tombs than houses. But after 
 Constantine built the Basilica of St. Peter, a new 
 town arose ; and the space between the tomb of 
 Adrian and the Basilica was appropriated to the 
 numerous strangers who flocked from all parts 
 to visit this holy place. Anastasius, in his Life 
 of Pascal I. who reigned A.D. 817-24, says, that 
 during his pontificate, " owing to the neglect of 
 44 some English, (Angli,) all the space inhabited 
 44 by them, which in their language is called 
 4 4 JBurgus, was burnt to the ground, so that not 
 44 even a trace of the former buildings could be 
 44 found." The fire extended so far, that nearly 
 the whole of the Portico, which led to the Basi- 
 lica, was consumed 8 . In another place Ana- 
 stasius calls this suburb Saxonum Vicus'; and 
 the name, which he says was given to it by these 
 
 * Lib. xxxv. c. 10. 
 r Hist. lib. ii. c. 93. 
 
 6 The fire, which happened in this suburb in the time of St. 
 Leo, is the subject of one of RafFael's paintings in the Vatican. 
 
80 
 
 LEONINE CITY. 
 
 foreigners, is still preserved in the term Borgo. 
 During this time the Basilica of St. Peter was 
 out of the city ; and the church itself, as well as 
 the neighbouring houses, were exposed to the 
 frequent depredations of the Saracens. Leo IV. 
 in the year 849 began to inclose the whole space 
 with a wall : in which work he was assisted with 
 money by the Emperor Lothaire, grandson of 
 Charlemagne; and in four years it was finished. 
 From hence this suburb acquired the name of 
 the Leonine city. The wall which inclosed it 
 was not connected with the more southern wall ; 
 so that on the west side of the Tiber there were 
 two distinct fortifications. 
 
 In Leo's wall there were six gates, Porta S. 
 Spirito, Turionis, Fabbrica, Pertusa, Pellegrini, 
 and S. Pietro. The latter seems to have existed 
 more anciently, and to have been called Porta 
 Cornelia and Aurelia : for though it has been 
 stated, that this wall was not raised till the time 
 of Leo IV. yet there was a fortification round 
 the tomb of Adrian much earlier, as we learn 
 from Procopius, and Leo may have taken ad- 
 vantage of one of the gates in it. The Via 
 Aurelia went out of it, which passed by Pisa 
 and Genoa to A relates (Aries.) Urban VIII. in 
 J 643 connected the two fortifications, and in 
 fact rebuilt the walls for the whole way ; so that 
 two of the gates, Septimiana and S. Spirito, be- 
 came useless. They are still existing as gate- 
 ways. Urban also rebuilt the Porta Portuensis, 
 but not quite in the same place: it is now called 
 
LEONINE CITY. 
 
 84 
 
 Porta Portese. The ancient and modern names 
 were taken from the port on the Tiber, which 
 was not far off. The next gate was perhaps an- 
 ciently called Janicnlensis, but as far back as 
 Procopius' time, Pancratiana. Some have thought 
 it to be the same with the Porta Aurelia ; but 
 Procopius talks of the tomb of Adrian as being 
 just without the Porta Aurelia, and says ex- 
 pressly that the Porta Aurelia was called also 
 S. Petri, from its vicinity to the Basilica. The 
 Via Vitellia went out of this gate. The old wall 
 of the Leonine City may still be seen in great 
 part within the wall built by Urban VIII. It 
 was of stone, and had large round towers. There 
 are now only two open gates in this part, the 
 Porta Cavalleggieri, formerly Turionis, and P. 
 Angelica, formerly Pellegrini K The wall of the 
 Leonine City has been repaired by several popes. 
 In that part of the old or inner wall, which is 
 between St. Peter's and the Castle of St. Angelo, 
 there are eight gates, all opened by Pius IV. in 
 1564. Besides these some antiquaries have 
 placed in this quarter the Porta Triumphalis, 
 which is supposed to have been near the bridge 
 of the same name. 
 
 On the left bank of the Tiber, the first gate on 
 the north is the Porta del Popolo, of which some 
 mention has already been made, where it was 
 stated, that this gate serves instead of the Porta 
 
 1 Over this gate may be seen the head of a noted robber. 
 
82 
 
 PORTA DEL POPOLO, 
 
 Flaminia, built by Aurelian, which stood a little 
 more to the east. The modern name is said to 
 be derived either from some poplar trees, which 
 grew round the Mausoleum of Augustus, or more 
 probably from the great crowd of people, who 
 enter by it. In the wall of S. Tullius there was 
 also a Porta Flaminia upon the same road. This 
 stood a good deal to the south-west, and near to 
 the river, probably opposite to the north-wall of 
 the Janiculum, and not far from the Farnese 
 palace. It was also called Flumentana, and so 
 Andrea Fulvio styles it, who wrote early in the 
 sixteenth century. The present gate was erected 
 by Pius IV., and partly with the materials of the 
 former one. The exterior was after the designs 
 of Michel Angelo, and some of the marble was 
 furnished by the foundation of a pyramid found 
 not far off. The inner front was finished by 
 Alexander VII., upon the entrance of Christina, 
 Queen of Sweden in 1655. The Via Flaminia 
 began from this gate, which was paved in the 
 censorship of C. Flaminius, and L. Paulus, 
 U. C. 533. It went by Otriculum (Ocricoli), In- 
 teramna (Terni), Forum Fortunae (Fano), to 
 Ariminum (Rimini). Here the Via iEmilia be- 
 gan, which was constructed, U. C. 567. when 
 M. iEmilius Lepidus was consul. It passed by 
 Bononia (Bologna), Parma, Placentia, Medio- 
 lanum (Milan), Brixia (Brescia), Verona, Pata- 
 vium (Padua), to Aquileia. This also was some- 
 times called the Via Flaminia. Other roads fell 
 
PINCIANA, SALARA, PIA. 
 
 83 
 
 into it at different places, such as the Cassia, 
 Aurelia, Annia, Claudia, Augusta, Cimina, Ame- 
 rina, Sempronia, and Postumia. 
 
 The next gate is the Porta Pinciana, now shut 
 up. It was also called Collatina : but the name 
 of Pinciana is as old as the time of Procopius. 
 The gateway is of stone, and ancient : probably 
 such as it was at first ; but two round towers of 
 brick seem much more modern. 
 
 The Porta Salara was so called from the cir- 
 cumstance of the Sabines coming for salt, which 
 gave name to the road also u . It was called 
 Quirinalis, Agonalis, or Agonensis, and Collina. 
 It was repaired by Belisarius, and has two round 
 towers. Alaric entered by it, and the destruc- 
 tion of all the buildings in the gardens of Sallust 
 was probably effected then. 
 
 The Porta Pia was anciently called No- 
 mentana, from the Sabine town of Momen- 
 tum. This also gave name to the Via Nomen- 
 tana, which began originally from the Porta Vi- 
 minalis, and afterwards from this gate. It joined 
 the Via Salaria at Heretum, a town upon the 
 Tiber. This road was also called Ficulnensis x . 
 The gate had its present name from Pius IV, 
 who rebuilt it in 1559 with the designs of Buo- 
 narotti; but it was never finished. It had also 
 the name of Agnese. It is a double gate. Be- 
 fore the walls were enlarged, the Porta Collina 
 held the place of the three last gates ; and it was 
 through this that the Gauls entered Rome. They 
 
 u Vide Plin. lib. xxxi. c. 41. x Liv. lib. iii. c. 52. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 PORTA S. LORENZO, 
 
 marched along the Via Salaria ; and the battle of 
 the Allia was fought near the fourteenth mile 
 from Rome, according to Vibius, or the eleventh 
 according to Livy. Annibal also came near to 
 the Porta Collina, to take a view of the city, 
 when his army was encamped within three miles 
 of it upon the Anio. He rode with two thousand 
 horse as far as the Temple of Hercules K Pliny 
 tells us z , that he threw a spear within the walls. 
 
 We next come to the Porta S. Lorenzo, hav- 
 ing first passed by two gateways, which are 
 blocked up. One of these is perhaps the Porta 
 Querquetulana, which Pliny % Varro, P. Victor, 
 and Sex. Rufus, seem to place on the Viminal 
 hill. Sex. Pompeius calls it Querquetularia. 
 The ancient name of the Porta S. Lorenzo was 
 Tiburtina, from its leading to Tibur or Tivoli ; 
 and it answered to the Porta Viminalis of 
 S. Tullius' wall. Some suppose it to be the 
 same with the Porta Gabina, or Gabiusa. The 
 Via Tiburtina certainly began from the Porta 
 Tiburtina; and as P. Victor says, that the Vise 
 Tiburtina and Gabia were the same, it is pro- 
 bable, that the gate also bore both names. The 
 ground is raised about the gate almost to the 
 very spring of the arch : so that we may infer it 
 to be the original gate, or at least very ancient ; 
 the two angular towers seem to be modern. 
 
 y Liv. lib. xxvi. c. 10. Plin. lib. xv. c. 20. 
 z Lib. xxxiv. c. 15. 
 a Lib. xvi. c. 10. 
 
MAGGIORE, S. GIOVANNI. 85 
 
 Some have given this gate the name of Inter Ag- 
 geres; others think it the same as what Pliny 
 calls Querquetulana. 
 
 The Porta Maggiore is a very large work : it 
 was originally a kind of triumphal arch, built as 
 an ornament to the Claudian Aquaduct, and 
 stood between the Viae Praenestina, and Labi- 
 cana. Aurelian or Belisarins took it into the 
 new line, and placed the Porta Praenestina on 
 one side of it, and the P. Labicana on the other. 
 The latter was afterwards stopped up, and the 
 P. Praenestina has taken the name of Porta Mag- 
 giore. There are three ancient inscriptions on 
 it; one stating it to be the work of Tiberius 
 Claudius ; another mentioning the repair of it by 
 Vespasian, and another by Titus. Before the 
 new wall was built, the Viae Praenestina and 
 Labicana passed out of the P. Esquilina, or Mae- 
 cia; the former on the left, the Labicana on 
 the right. Both fell into the Via Latina. We 
 might partly ascertain the position of the ancient 
 Porta Esquilina, because Frontinus says b , that 
 the water, called Anio tiovus, entered the city by 
 that gate. 
 
 We next come to the Porta S. Giovanni. 
 This gate is modern, having been built by Gre- 
 gory XII. on which occasion the ancient Porta 
 Asinaria close to it was shut up. This was 
 called Caelimontana, and juxta Lateranos. But 
 there was a P. Caelimontana before Aurelian's 
 
 b Lib, I 
 g 3 
 
86 
 
 PORTA LATINA, 
 
 time, as Livy mentions it being struck with light- 
 ning, U. C. 559. It has two round towers. To- 
 tila entered by it the first time. 
 
 After passing a gate, which is blocked up, 
 and known by the name of Porta di Metrodio, 
 we come to the Porta Latina, which is also shut 
 up, and is probably the same with that, which 
 Plutarch calls Ferentina. Two round towers 
 are attached to it, and a groove may be observed, 
 as if for a port-cullice. Whether the ancients 
 used any defence of this kind may be doubted. 
 I am not aware of any mention of it, but there 
 seems to have been something in this gate of a 
 similar nature. According to Muratori c , this as 
 well as the Barbican (or ante-rampart to impede 
 the approach of engines) was borrowed from the 
 Saracens. It was near this spot that tradition 
 makes St. John to have been put into the vessel 
 of boiling oil, by order of Domitian ; and a little 
 chapel, now quite neglected, commemorates the 
 event. It is not necessary to give an opinion as 
 to the authenticity of this story, but there is at 
 least respectable evidence for it, as it is men- 
 tioned by Tertullian d , and S. Jerom e . 
 
 We next come to the Porta S. Sebastiano, 
 called formerly Capena and Appia. The base 
 of the gateway and of the tower is formed of 
 large blocks of marble, and is probably as old as 
 
 °Antiq. Ital. Diss. 26. 
 d De Praescr. c. 36. 
 
 c In Jovin. lib. i. et comm. in Matt. c. c 20. 
 
S. SEBASTIANO. 
 
 87 
 
 any part of the walls. Before the time of Aure- 
 lian, one gate, the Porta Capena, answered the 
 purpose of the two last mentioned, the Latina, 
 and S. Sebastiano. Two roads then branched 
 off from it : the Via Appia, going to the right, 
 the Via Latina to the left. But when the walls 
 were enlarged, two new gates were formed, and 
 the roads commenced respectively from them. 
 Perhaps we shall nearly ascertain the position of 
 the ancient Porta Capena, by placing it between 
 the churches of Nereo, and Cesareo, where at 
 present two roads branch off. As the Via Appia 
 was the most celebrated of all the Roman roads, 
 this opportunity may be taken of describing its 
 course more at length, and the nature of these 
 works generally. It was made by Appius Clau- 
 dius Caecus, who was censor U. C. 441. In 
 his time it went as far as Capua, but was after- 
 wards carried on to Brundusium. It passed by 
 Aricia (La Riccia), Algidum (Rocca del Papa), 
 Terracina, Fundi (Fondi), Formiae (Mola), Min- 
 turnaB (Garigliano), Capua, Naples, Nuceria (No- 
 cera), Salernum (Salerno), Brundusium. The 
 whole length was reckoned at 350 miles. Tra- 
 jan did a good deal to repair it, (whence part of 
 it was sometimes called Via Trajana,) as did An- 
 toninus Pius. One great cause of its being out of 
 order arose from the Pontine marshes f . The 
 
 f Perhaps the word should be written Pomptine. In the 
 Greek of Dion. Hal. it is Pomentina ; and Suessa Pometia,, a 
 city of the Volsci, seems to have given the name. 
 
 G 4 
 
88 
 
 PONTINE MARSHES. 
 
 land occupied by them was inundated by the 
 sea U. C. 440, according to Pliny, and he quotes 
 Mucianus g , as saying, that thirty-three cities 
 formerly stood there : previous to which time we 
 may suppose, that the land was particularly fer- 
 tile, as we read of Rome looking to a supply of 
 corn from thence, and in 372 it was divided 
 amongst the people \ One hundred and fifty- 
 two years after the work of Appius, Corn. Ce- 
 thegus Cos. again drained them, U. C. 593. In 
 the time of J. Caesar they were again marshy, and 
 he was prevented from draining them by death. 
 Augustus also did not succeed, though he un- 
 dertook the work ; so that the words of Horace 
 were not quite true, or at least premature, 
 
 sterilisve diu palus aptaque remis 
 Vicinas urbes alit, et grave sentit aratrum. 
 
 Ars Poet. 65. 
 
 That there was no carriage road through the 
 marshes, we learn from Horace himself, who in 
 his journey to Brundusium passed them in a 
 boat 1 . Trajan carried the road through the 
 marshes for a distance of nineteen miles. Theo- 
 dosius and his two sons, Arcadius and Hono- 
 rius, also repaired the road. In spite of all these 
 successive labours, the marshes still remain. 
 Pius VI. has perhaps effected as much as any of 
 his predecessors, and a noble road has been con- 
 structed in a perfectly straight line for upwards 
 
 2 Lib. iii. c. 9. h Li v. lib. vi. c. 21. * Sat. lib. i. 5. 
 
APPIAN WAY. 
 
 89 
 
 of twenty miles. This road still remains good : 
 but the pope's sanguine hopes of turning the 
 marshes into fields, and inducing people to settle 
 there, have totally failed. In order to provide 
 his new settlers with religious comforts, he built 
 a convent for some Capucins, and a church : but 
 the former is now turned into a miserable inn, 
 and the latter into a stable. 
 
 Procopius gives an excellent description of the 
 Appian road k . " An active man might travel 
 " the whole length of the Appian way in five 
 " days. It goes from Rome to Capua ; and is 
 
 of sufficient breadth to allow two carriages to 
 u pass with ease 1 . This road is more worthy of 
 " observation than any other: for Appius had 
 " stones cut from a different district, and I 
 " should think at some distance off; a kind of 
 
 flinty and excessively hard stone, which he 
 a had carried to this road. These, when they 
 " had been levelled and made smooth, and 
 " squared by cutting, he put down alternately, 
 " without any metal or any thing else to fasten 
 " them : and though they have been travelled 
 " for such a length of time by so many carriages 
 " and animals, yet we do not perceive that they 
 " have become disunited, or broken, or that they 
 " have lost any thing of their polish." It should 
 be remembered, that this road had then existed 
 
 k Lib - * 
 
 1 In some of the streets of Pompeii, the marks of the carriage- 
 wheels remain. They measure four feet three inches. 
 
90 
 
 PORTA S. PAOLO. 
 
 nine centuries. Soon after leaving the gate of 
 S. Sebastian, the road branches into two; that 
 on the right is the Via Ardeatina, the Via Appia 
 continues to the left. Several other roads joined 
 the Via Appia, such as Setiana, Domitiana, &c. 
 Horace tells us m , that another road led to Brun- 
 dusium, called Via Numicia, or Minucia. The 
 modern road to Naples is different from the Ap- 
 pian for a little way, leaving it to the right. It 
 goes out at the Porta S. Giovanni, and joins the 
 Via Appia at Bovillae, not far from Albano. 
 The Via Latina went to Beneventum, through 
 Anagnia (Anagni), Ferentinum (Ferenti), Aqui- 
 num (Aquino), and Cassinum (Monte Cassino). 
 
 It was by the Porta Capena that Totila en- 
 tered the second time. Close to it is another 
 gate, blocked up ; and before we come to the 
 Porta S. Paolo, we may observe another door- 
 way also closed. 
 
 The Porta S.Paolo was anciently called Osti- 
 ensis, and the one, which we see at present was 
 rebuilt by Belisarius. It is a double gate, and 
 succeeded to the Porta Trigemina of the ancient 
 circuit. The Porta Naevia was also between the 
 Porta Capena and the river. 
 
 This detail will explain the names of the gates 
 now existing, and some of the ancient ones, 
 which are best known. But as many other 
 names are to be found in ancient authors, I will 
 subjoin an alphabetical list of all which I have 
 
 ra Epist. lib. i. 18, 20. 
 
GATES. 
 
 9i 
 
 been able to discover, and as far as I am able 
 give some account of them. 
 
 Agonalis, or Agonensis : the modern P. Salara. 
 
 S. Angelo : in the Leonine city. 
 
 Appia: same as Capena. 
 
 Ardeatina : either Latina or S. Sebastiano. 
 
 Aurelia : in the Leonine city. 
 
 Capena : vide above. 
 
 Carmen talis: one of the four gates of Romulus. 
 
 Catularia : same as P. Pia. 
 
 Caelimontana : same as P. S. Giovanni. 
 
 Collatina : same as Pinciana. 
 
 Collina : vide above. 
 
 Esquilina : same as P. Maggiore. 
 
 Fenestralis. 
 
 Ferentina : same as P. Latina. 
 Ficulnensis : same as Viminalis. 
 Flaminia : same as P. del Popolo. 
 Flumentana: same as Flaminia. 
 Fontinalis: same as P. Septimiana. 
 Gabina, or Gabiusa : same as S. Lorenzo. 
 Janiculensis : same as S. Pancrazio. 
 Janualis : one of the four gates of Romulus. 
 Julia : in the Leonine city. 
 Labicana : close to P. Maggiore. 
 Lavernalis : same as Viminalis. 
 Libitinensis : same as S. Lorenzo. 
 Maecia : same as Esquilina. 
 Mugiona : on the Palatine hill. 
 Munutia, or Minutia. 
 Mutionis, or Mugiona. 
 Naevia : vide above. 
 Navalis : same as P. Portese. 
 Nomentana : same as P. Pia. 
 
92 
 
 GATES. 
 
 Ostiensis : same as P. S. Paolo. 
 
 Palatii : in the Leonine city. 
 
 Pandana : one of the four gates of Romulus. 
 
 Peregrini : in the Leonine city. 
 
 Pertusa: ditto. 
 
 S. Petri: ditto. 
 
 Piacularis: same as Latina. 
 
 Portuensis : same as P. Portese. 
 
 Posterula : same as Turionis. 
 
 Pramestina : same as P. Maggiore. 
 
 Querquetulana : near the P. Viminalis. 
 
 Quirinalis : same as P. Salara. 
 
 Ratumana : the first P. Flaminia. 
 
 Rauduscula : same as P. Esquilina. 
 
 Romana. ) 0 neof the four gates of Romulus. 
 Romanula: ^ & 
 
 Saginalis, or Sanqualis. 
 
 Salaria : vide above. 
 
 Salutaris : same as P. Collin a. 
 
 Saturnia : same as Pandana. 
 
 Scelerata : same as Carmentalis. 
 
 S. Spirito : vide above. 
 
 Stercoraria : ancient gate on the Capitol. 
 
 Tarpeia : same as Carmentalis. 
 
 Tiburtina : same as S. Lorenzo. 
 
 Trigemina : vide above. 
 
 Trigonia: vide Mutionis. 
 
 Triumphalis : near the Pons Triumphalis. 
 
 Turionis : in the Leonine City. 
 
 Valeria : same as P. Latina. 
 
 Veientana. 
 
 Viminalis : vide above. 
 Vinaria ; same as Portuensis. 
 Viridaria : in the Leonine City. 
 
PALATINE HILL. 93 
 
 This account of the gates, though tedious, will 
 perhaps interest those who are fond of ancient 
 topography. We may however proceed to a 
 point, which is likely to be the first in engaging 
 the attention of those who visit Rome. The 
 seven hills will be among the earliest objects 
 which they seek out. If we followed the gradual 
 progress which Rome made in arriving at its 
 present extent, we should begin with the Pala- 
 tine hill, where Evander resided when iEneas 
 first landed, and where Romulus afterwards 
 established his infant settlement. Of this how- 
 ever little remains to be said, besides what has 
 been mentioned already. A belief that it was 
 the first spot occupied by their ancestors, was 
 sufficient to endear it to the Romans ; and tra- 
 dition increased this feeling by making it the 
 place where Romulus and Remus were depo- 
 sited by the Tiber. The Ficus Ruminalis, under 
 which the wolf was found suckling them, was 
 preserved and shewn for ages after. Tacitus de- 
 scribes it n as having died down and revived 
 again in his time. Pliny also mentions it as still 
 existing 0 . It was here also that fable repre- 
 sented the cave of Cacus to have been. It has 
 been observed already, that few or no remains 
 exist now on this hill, except those of the Palace 
 of Nero ; and what Virgil says of the Capitoline 
 hill may be applied to the modern state of the 
 
 n Annal. xiii. 58. 
 
 0 Plin. 1. xv. c. 18. Rumen signifies the same as Mamma, 
 
94 
 
 PALACE OF 
 
 Palatine, though unfortunately we must reverse 
 the expression : 
 
 Aurea nunc, olim sylvestribus horrida dumis. 
 
 Mix. viii. 348. 
 
 Of the remains of Nero's Golden House I shall 
 not attempt a description, as they consist only of 
 irregular fragments of building dispersed over a 
 very large space, and of some subterraneous 
 chambers ornamented with paintings. They are 
 very interesting to see, but a short time will 
 suffice for exploring them. The most consider- 
 able remains are those which look down upon 
 the Circus Maximus. 
 
 Augustus lived in a house which formerly be- 
 longed to the orator Hortensius, and which was 
 by no means conspicuous for splendor. Sue- 
 tonius tells us? that "he lived near the Roman 
 " Forum, in a house which had belonged to the 
 " orator Calvus ; afterwards on the Palatine 
 " hill, but still in the moderately-sized house 
 " of Hortensius, which was remarkable neither 
 "for extent nor ornament: it had narrow por- 
 " ticos of Alban columns, and rooms without 
 " any marble or remarkable pavement. He oc- 
 " cupied the same chamber in winter and summer 
 " for more than forty years." It was burnt dur- 
 ing the reign of Augustus, and he rebuilt it. 
 Dionysius tells us q , that when the palace was 
 accidentally destroyed by fire, Augustus ordered 
 
 p Cap. 72. q Lib. lv. 
 
THE CiESARS. 
 
 95 
 
 the whole df the house, as soon as it was finished, 
 to be opened to the public ; either because the 
 people had contributed money towards the build- 
 ing of it, or that being Pontifex Maximus he might 
 live in a building which was at once public and 
 private. Tiberius made some additions ; and 
 Caligula extended it even to the Forum, by 
 means of a kind of bridge : the Temple of Cas- 
 tor and Pollux was transformed into a vestibule 
 to the palace r , and porticos of great extent were 
 attached to it. Claudius restored the temple to 
 its former office % so that he probably destroyed 
 the bridge above mentioned. But all these ad- 
 ditions and all this splendor sunk into nothing, 
 when compared with the Golden House which 
 Nero built when the former palace was burnt 
 down. Some idea of its splendor and extent 
 may be formed from the account of Tacitus 1 , 
 who tells us, that besides the usual costly de- 
 corations of a palace, there were within the pre- 
 cincts of it fields and woods and pools of water. 
 It reached from the Palatine to the Esquiline 
 hill, covering all the intermediate space, where 
 the Colosseum now stands. When it was 
 finished, the emperor is said to have exclaimed, 
 that now he could live like a man u ! Domitian 
 still farther increased the size and splendor of 
 the building x . It was burnt a third time, in the 
 reign of Commodus, and rebuilt by that emperor. 
 
 r Sueton. c. 22. 8 Dion. Hal. lib. lx. 1 Annal. 1. xv. c. 42. 
 u Suet. c. 31. * Suet. Domit. c. 15. 
 
<)6 
 
 CAPITOL. 
 
 In the time of Theodoric it was in a state of 
 decay, and he undertook the repairing of it y. 
 
 CAPITOL. 
 
 To most persons the Capitoline hill will be 
 even more interesting than the Palatine. The 
 earliest history of Rome makes us acquainted 
 with the latter, but the Capitol is conspicuous 
 through every stage of its grandeur. When it 
 first became part of the city is not so well ascer- 
 tained, but it is generally supposed that it was 
 taken in when Tatius was admitted to a partner- 
 ship in the throne with Romulus. The origin of 
 its name, from the head of Tolus being found 
 here in digging for the foundations, and the ora- 
 cle which predicted universal empire to those 
 who occupied it, are well known 2 . From whence 
 the story arose it is impossible to discover; but 
 the invention of the prophecy was at least po- 
 litic : and it is singular how early the Romans 
 seem to have talked of the extended empire 
 which their descendants were one day to hold. 
 It may however be objected, that several expres- 
 sions, which Livy puts into the mouths of his 
 speakers, were purposely used by him without 
 reference to the feelings of those times. The 
 thatched cottage of Romulus stood on this hill, 
 and was preserved till a late period, never having 
 been repaired in a more costly form. It is men- 
 tioned by Lactantius, who wrote about A. D. 
 
 y Cassiodor. Var. Epist. lib. vii. c. 5. 
 1 Vid. Li v. lib. i. c. 55. 
 
CAPITOL. 
 
 97 
 
 320, and by Macrobius, who lived at the end of 
 the same century. 
 
 The Capitoline hill seems more anciently to 
 have been called Saturnius and Tarpeius. The 
 name is now corrupted into Campidoglio. This, 
 like the other hills, was much more marked 
 formerly, as a steep and precipitous eminence, 
 than it is at present. The top has been levelled, 
 and the ground at the bottom has been raised, 
 but still the ascent is extremely steep. The cir- 
 cuit of the hill may be reckoned about a mile 
 at the base ; but it is probably less extensive 
 now than formerly, as much of the soft rock has 
 been cut away, and some has fallen of itself. 
 The ascent from the side of the Campus Martius 
 is by an inclined plain : and from the same point 
 at the bottom commences another ascent of one 
 hundred and twenty-four marble steps, leading 
 to the Church of Ara Caeli. The two summits of 
 this hill are still very perceptible : they were dis- 
 tinguished formerly by the terms Arx and Capi- 
 tolium. The former was on the southern side, 
 and the highest of the two, facing the river, the 
 Theatre of Marcellus, and Mount Aventine. The 
 Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus stood upon it. 
 That which was more peculiarly styled Capito- 
 lium, and faced the north, contained a more 
 ample space than the other. The principal tem- 
 ple upon it was that of Jupiter Feretrius, nearly 
 on the site of which is the Church of Ara Caeli. 
 
 The Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was the 
 most splendid in Rome, having been first begun 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 TEMPLE OF 
 
 by Tarquinius Priscus, who only lived to finish 
 the foundations, or rather to make preparations 
 for them, by levelling the summit of the hill. For 
 we learn from Livy a , that Tarquinius Superbus, 
 who resumed and completed the work, spent a 
 large sum upon the foundations only. Fabius 
 Pictor stated it at 40 talents, which had been 
 the estimate for finishing the whole edifice. Dio- 
 nysius says 400 talents; and Calpurnius Piso, 
 with whom Plutarch agrees b , names 40000 
 pounds weight of silver. The Temple was de- 
 dicated by M. Horatius Pul villus, who was 
 consul the first year after the expulsion of the 
 kings: his name was inscribed upon it c . Dio- 
 nysius, speaking of it d , says, "The temple stands 
 " upon a lofty foundation, with a circumference 
 " of eight plethra, (about eight hundred feet,) and 
 44 nearly two hundred feet on each side ; there 
 44 being scarcely a difference of fifteen feet be- 
 " tween the length and the breadth. The front 
 44 looks towards the south. It has a portico with 
 44 a triple row of pillars: on the sides there is a 
 44 double row. Three equal chapels (tr^xoi) are 
 44 included within the walls, having common 
 44 sides: that of Jupiter is in the middle; on one 
 44 side that of Juno, on the other that of Minerva, 
 44 all under the same roof." I have quoted his 
 words in this place, although Dionysius was de- 
 scribing the temple as it was in his days, i. e. in 
 
 a Lib. i. c. 55. b In Poplicola. c Dion. Hal. lib. v. 
 
 d Lib. iii. 
 
JUPITER CAPITOLINUS. 99 
 
 the time of Augustus ; but the dimensions of it 
 always continued the same, and there were from 
 the first three chapels to Jupiter, Juno, and Mi- 
 nerva. The thresholds of the original building 
 were of brass e , but not made so till U. C. 458. 
 The pillars, which supported the roof, were of 
 brick white-washed : at least we might be led to 
 suppose that they were not of stone, as Livy 
 mentions f that M. iEmilius Lepidus had them 
 made smooth and plaistered, (poliendas albo lo~ 
 cavisse.) Shields and other military trophies 
 were affixed to these pillars, all which were re- 
 moved by the same Lepidus. Asdrubal's shield, 
 which was of silver, and weighed 138 pounds, 
 together with a statue of him, was suspended 
 over the doors, and remained there till the first 
 fire&. The roof of the interior was made of tim- 
 ber, and gilt after the destruction of Carthage, 
 U.C. 612 h . At the same time the pavement in 
 the interior was laid down in Mosaic. On the 
 top of it was a car drawn by four horses, and the 
 god Summanus in it, all made of baked clay 1 . 
 Summanus is supposed to be Pluto; yet Ovid 
 seems doubtful what deity bore that title ; and 
 Livy k mentions a car of Jupiter being placed on 
 the top in 456, but this was of bronze. There 
 
 e Liv. lib. x. c. 23. f Lib. xl. c. 51. * Liv. lib. xxv. 
 c. 39. Plin. lib. xxxv. c. 4. h Plin. lib. xxxiii. c. 18. i Plin. 
 lib. xxix. c. 35. Plutarch. Poplic. Cicero de Divin. lib. i. 
 k Lib. x. c. 23. 
 
 H 2 
 
TEMPLE OF 
 
 was a portico placed in front of this temple, U.C. 
 578 \ and another in 594 by Scipio Nasica™. 
 
 The Temple was burnt U. C. 670, in the wars 
 of Marius and Sylla, and restored by the latter 
 upon the same foundations, with pillars of a va- 
 riegated marble from the Temple of Jupiter 
 Olympius at Athens". The man who had im- 
 brued his hands so deeply in his country's blood, 
 was not permitted to consecrate the national 
 sanctuary. Sylla died before the dedication, 
 and that ceremony was performed by Q. Catulus, 
 whose name was inscribed upon it 0 : and we may 
 still read in an apartment, which has been used 
 for keeping salt, 
 
 Q. LVTATIVS.Q. F. CATVLVS. COS. SVBSTRVCTIONEM 
 ET. TABVLARIVM. S. S. FACIENDVM 
 COERAVIT 
 
 He had also the bronze tiles upon the roof gilt, 
 which some of his contemporaries censured in 
 him, as an act of extravagance p . 
 
 It was again burnt in the time of Vitellius, 
 A. D. 69, and rebuilt on a loftier scale, but not 
 of greater extent, by Vespasian 0 *, who laboured 
 with his own hands to make a commencement 
 of the work r . Again under Titus, and was re- 
 stored by Domitian. The former Athenian pil- 
 
 1 Liv. lib. xli. c. 27- m Velleius, lib. ii. c. 1. n Plin. 
 
 lib. xxxv. c. 6. and lib. xxxvi. c. 6. 0 Plin. lib. xix. c. 1 . 
 
 p Plin. lib. xxxiii. c. 18. Tacit. Hist. lib. iv. c. 53. r Sue- 
 tonius. 
 
JUPITER CAPITOLINUS. 
 
 101 
 
 lars being destroyed, he brought others of Pen- 
 telic marble from Athens ; but, according to 
 Plutarch 8 , by smoothing and polishing them too 
 much, he made them too slender, and hurt their 
 proportions. In the bas-reliefs on the pillar of 
 Trajan a temple is represented, where that em- 
 peror is sacrificing after his first Dacian war. 
 This ought to be the Temple of Jupiter Capito- 
 linus, as rebuilt by Domitian : but we cannot 
 depend much upon the accuracy of the deline- 
 ation, and the building is extremely inelegant 1 . 
 Domitian gilded the outside of the roof, as Ca- 
 tulus had done to the second temple ; and Plu- 
 tarch tells us u , that more than 12000 talents 
 were expended upon the work. Claudian x men- 
 tions the carved doors, and some winged figures, 
 probably victories, on the top of the temple. It 
 seems to have suffered partially from fire in the 
 reign of Commodus 7 . 
 
 We have no information at all from ancient 
 authors as to what order of architecture was 
 adopted in any of these successive buildings. 
 We might rather conjecture it to have been 
 Doric ; and the pillars brought from Athens, first 
 by Sylla and afterwards by Domitian, probably 
 were so. The statue of Jupiter in the first tem- 
 
 8 Poplic. 
 
 1 In the engravings which have been published of Trajan's 
 Column by Ciacono, this is the seventy-sixth plate. 
 u Poplic. 
 
 x Panegyr. in Honorium. 
 y Paul. Oros. Euseb. Chron. 
 
 H 3 
 
102 
 
 TEMPLE OF 
 
 pie was of baked clay, and according to some 
 readings painted red 7 \ A work even so rude as 
 this was more than the Romans themselves could 
 effect in those days ; and an artist was hired 
 from Tuscany to produce even an earthen 
 statue for the Capitol. Juvenal says, 
 
 Hanc rebus Latiis curam praestare solebat 
 Fictilis, et nullo violatus Jupiter auro. 
 
 Sat. xi. 116. 
 
 Ovid also, 
 
 Jupiter exigua vix notus stabat in Mde, 
 Inque Jovis dextra fictile fulmen erat. 
 
 Fasti, lib. i. 
 
 Plutarch says expressly*, that the statue of Ju- 
 piter Capitolinus was destroyed by the fire in 
 Sylla's time. But whether this was the original 
 one of clay, or another of more valuable materials 
 had succeeded to it, is not certain. The latter 
 is probably the fact, as a golden thunderbolt, 
 weighing fifty pounds, was placed in his hand, 
 U. C. 535 b . It is the opinion of Ryck c , that 
 there was a statue of ivory d . The beard was 
 certainly of gold, as we learn from Suetonius 6 . 
 Pliny however tells us £ , that the whole statue 
 
 z Plin. lib. xxxv. c. 12. 
 a De Iside et Osiride. 
 
 Liv. lib. xxii. c. 1. 
 c He wrote a Latin Treatise, in 1 2mo. upon the Capitol and 
 its ornaments. 
 
 d Cf. Plin. lib. xii. c. 1. Amobius, lib. vi. 
 e Calig. c. 52. 
 
 ' Lib. vii. c. 39. Lib. xxxiii. c. 55. 
 
JUPITER CAPITOL1NUS. 
 
 103 
 
 had been made of gold, but that it did not exist 
 in his time, having been destroyed by the fire : 
 and it appears & that he spoke of the fire which 
 took place in the time of Vitellius. Indeed the 
 third fire, in the time of Titus, did not take place 
 till after the publication of his history. It was 
 the work of Mentor, who acquired great celebrity 
 by working in gold. Trajan was the first who 
 made the three statues of Jupiter, Juno, and Mi- 
 nerva, of gold : at least we have this epigram in 
 Martial, 
 
 Scriptus es aeterno nunc primum, Jupiter, auro 
 Et soror, et summi filia tota patris. XL 5, 3. 
 
 Ryck would read sculptus for scriptus, because 
 he thinks that the statues were of solid gold. But 
 scriptus auro can only mean gilt : and as Mar- 
 tinus Polonus, in his description of Rome, says, 
 that there wats a golden statue of Jupiter upon a 
 golden throne, it is probable that so large a mass 
 was made of some less precious metal, and gilded. 
 If the tradition be true, that St. Leo, who was 
 pope from 440 to 461, had the statue of St. Peter 
 made out of the bronze of Jupiter Capitolinus, 
 the question is decided. 
 
 Towards the end of the fourth century, Stilicho 
 took away the plates of gold from the great 
 doors \ Procopius says', that Genseric plun- 
 
 * Lib. xxxiv. c. 1 7- 
 
 h Zosimus, lib. v. Rutil. Numat. Itin. 
 
 * Lib. i. 
 
 H 4 
 
104 
 
 TEMPLE OF 
 
 dered it in 455, and carried off half of the tiles, 
 which were of bronze gilt. Platina also tells us, 
 that Pope Honorius removed the bronze tiles 
 from the Capitol, and roofed the Basilica of St. 
 Peter's with them. But as Anastasius says, that 
 he took them from the Temple of Venus and 
 Rome, the fact must be considered uncertain. 
 Totila appears to have burnt part of it, and The- 
 odoric undertook to repair it. Insensibly how- 
 ever as Christianity gained ground, the Pagan 
 temples, and this among the rest, lost their vota- 
 ries. Prudentius, who wrote about A. D. 400, 
 says, 
 
 Jamque ruit, paucis Tarpeia in rupe relictis, 
 Ad sincera virum penetralia Nazareorum, 
 Atcpe ad Apostolicos Evandria Curia fontes. 
 
 Contra Sym. lib. i. 549. 
 
 The words of Jerom, who wrote about the same 
 time, may also be quoted : " Auratum squalet 
 " Capitolium, fuligine et aranearum telis omnia 
 " Romse templa cooperta sunt. Movetur Urbs 
 " sedibus suis, et inundans populus ante delubra 
 " semiruta currit ad Martyrum tumulos." S. 
 Ambrose, Augustin, and Arnobius, might be 
 cited to the same purpose. 
 
 The Intermontium, or space between the two 
 summits, was where Romulus opened the Asy- 
 lum. It is now occupied by the Piazza del 
 Campidoglio, a large open space, the buildings 
 of which were raised upon the designs of Michel 
 Angelo ; but the effect of them is not pleasing. 
 
JUPITER CAPITOLINUS. 
 
 105 
 
 These buildings form three sides of a square : in 
 front is the Palazzo Senatorio, built upon the 
 ruins of the ancient Tabularium, or Record- 
 office; and in descending to the Forum a con- 
 siderable part of the old foundations may be 
 seen. The present building was erected by Bo- 
 niface IX. and has its name from courts of jus- 
 tice being held there, at which the senator pre- 
 sides. It seems ridiculous to talk of the senator 
 in the singular number : but such is the case ; 
 the name of that venerable body being now pre- 
 served only in the office of one man, who is ap- 
 pointed by the pope. We still find the initials 
 s. p. q. r. affixed over public buildings, and car- 
 ried in processions : the Romans say also, that 
 the senator represents the people. But consider- 
 ing the mode of his appointment, the high rank 
 from which he is always chosen, and the neces- 
 sity of his being a foreigner, we cannot conclude 
 that the democratical part of the Roman govern- 
 ment is very powerful. He has control over 
 the city-guard ; and throughout the whole office 
 we find an evident resemblance to that of Po- 
 destd, which prevailed in nearly all the Italian 
 cities in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 
 
 In the buildings, which form the two other 
 sides of this square, the Museum Capitolinum is 
 contained. The ascent from the plain, and the 
 square above, are full of remains of antiquity. 
 On the balustrade at the bottom are two 
 Egyptian lionesses, spouting out water. They 
 came from the Church of S. Stefano del Cacco, 
 
106 
 
 ASCENT OF 
 
 which is thought to have been built over a tem- 
 ple of Isis, which might account for these Egyp- 
 tian antiquities being found there. Pliny men- 
 tions the material of which these animals are 
 made, and calls it JBasaltes*. According to him 
 the Egyptians brought it from Ethiopia, and 
 in their language the name expressed its ferrugi- 
 nous colour and hardness. 
 
 On the top are two colossal statues of marble, 
 said to be Castor and Pollux, standing by their 
 horses. Some have wished to identify them with 
 two similar figures mentioned by Pliny 1 , as the 
 work of Hegesias, and which stood in front of the 
 temple of Jupiter Tonans. Winkelmann rather 
 leans to this opinion" 1 ; and adds, that they were 
 found under the hill of the Capitol. But the fact 
 is undoubtedly otherwise. They were found in 
 the Jews' quarter": and Pliny says explicitly, 
 that the figures made by Hegesias were in 
 bronze. 
 
 By the side of them are two large trophies in 
 marble, generally called the trophies of Marius. 
 They came from the Castello dell' Acqua Givlia; 
 but were originally dug up near the church of 
 S. Eusebio ; and as the part near this church has 
 always been called J Cimbri, it has been 
 thought, that some memorial of Marius' victory 
 
 k Lib. xxxvi. c. 11 . 
 ' Lib. xxxiv. c. 19. 
 m Lib. vi. c. 1. §. 25. 
 
 n Vide Montfaucon Diarium Ital. p. 267. "who quotes Fla* 
 minius Vacca. 
 
THE CAPITOL. 
 
 107 
 
 over the Cimbri existed here. It is certain, that 
 Marius erected some trophies for his victories 
 over Jugurtha, the Cimbri, and Teutones, which 
 were thrown down by Sylla and restored by 
 J. Caesar, as we learn from Suetonius 0 . Some 
 have thought them to relate to Domitian, among 
 whom is Winkelmann; and he says, that there 
 was an inscription under them to that effect, be- 
 fore they were removed p . Others ascribe them 
 to Trajan. 
 
 Near to them are two statues of Constantine 
 Caesar, and Constantine Augustus, found in the 
 baths upon the Quirinal hill. The names are 
 inscribed upon them ; but both are considered to 
 belong to the Emperor Constantine. Eusebius 
 mentions, that after that emperor's victory over 
 Maxentius, a statue was erected to him with a 
 cross attached to it. At the back of that, which 
 has constantinvs avg on it, there is a fragment 
 resembling the handle of a spear, which has 
 been thought to have been part of this cross. 
 
 Lastly, there is erected in the same row the 
 first milestone upon the Appian way. The in- 
 scription is wonderfully perfect, and the wretched 
 distich, which is now placed under it, is worth 
 copying; 
 
 Quae peregrina diu steteram Mensura viarum, 
 Nunc Capitolini Culminis lncola Sum. 
 
 It was found in the Vigna Naro, a little on the 
 
 •J. Caes. cv 11. 
 
 p Lib. vi. c. 6. §. 60. 
 
108 
 
 STATUE OF 
 
 right, out of the Porta S. Sebastiano, and marked 
 the first mile from Rome. The antiquaries are 
 not agreed as to where this measurement com- 
 menced from. Some place it at the ancient Porta 
 Capena; but Dio tells us q , that Augustus placed 
 a milestone in the Forum, which was called 
 Milliarium Aureum: and Plutarch says r , that 
 all the roads in Italy terminated at this mile- 
 stone, which would seem to decide the point. 
 The place, where this stone was found, is not 
 above a mile from the Forum. 
 
 In the middle of the square is an equestrian 
 statue of M. Aurelius, of bronze. It stood ori- 
 ginally in the Forum, from whence it was re- 
 moved to St. John Lateran in 1187; and in 
 1538, Paul III. had it placed here. A bunch of 
 flowers is presented every year to the chapter of 
 St. John Lateran, as an acknowledgment that 
 the statue belongs to them : and till lately there 
 was an officer, called Custode del Cavallo, who 
 received ten crowns per month for taking care 
 of this horse. It is the only bronze equestrian 
 statue remaining of ancient Rome; and was 
 formerly called the statue of Constantine, L. 
 Verus, or Sept. Severus. Some persons have 
 fancied, that they observed an owl in the main, 
 and have concluded from thence, that the artist, 
 who made the statue, was an Athenian 5 . It is 
 
 * Lib. liv. 
 1 Galba, c. 31. 
 
 & Vide Montfaucon Diar. Ital. c. 22. 
 
M. AURELIUS. 
 
 109 
 
 certain, that this statue was originally gilt; of 
 which some traces still remain. Hence, as Win- 
 kelmann observes 1 , we may conclude, that the 
 gold was laid on by the ancients in very thick 
 leaves. That this was the method of gilding 
 metal, we learn from Pliny", who explains the 
 whole process. He tells us, however x , that it had 
 not been long practised, and doubts whether Rome 
 had the merit of first introducing it. Statues in 
 bronze were frequently gilt, as we may see in 
 a Hercules in the Capitol, where much of the 
 gold remains, in the horses at Venice, and in the 
 fragments of four horses and a chariot found at 
 Herculaneum. This perhaps is the reason why 
 copper was sometimes used instead of bronze, as 
 the latter was too valuable to cover with gilding. 
 The Venetian horses are of copper, but the statue 
 of M. Aurelius is of bronze. Montfaucon y erro- 
 neously says, that it was made by the hammer ; 
 but it certainly was cast. In the life of Cola di 
 Rienzo z , (that extraordinary character, who in 
 1347 revived the office of Tribune at Rome, but 
 was unable to maintain it,) we read, that during 
 the rejoicings upon that occasion, wine was made 
 to run out of one nostril of the horse, and water 
 out of the other. It would seem from the same 
 
 'Lib. iv. c.7. §. 41. 
 u Lib. xxxiii. c. 20. 
 x Lib. xxxiv. c. 9. 
 y Diar. Ital. p. 169. 
 
 z Written in Italian, by Fortifiocca, and in French, by Cer- 
 ceau. 
 
no 
 
 TARPE1AN 
 
 account, that the figure of M. Aurelius had not 
 then been discovered, as mention is only made 
 of the horse, and it is called that of Constan- 
 tine. 
 
 Where this statue now stands, were formerly 
 two colossal figures; one of Apollo, thirty cubits 
 high ; the other of Jupiter Capitolinus, which was 
 so lofty, that it could be seen from the Mons La- 
 tialis, near Albano, a distance of twenty miles. 
 It was made by Sp. Carvilius, out of the armour 
 taken from the Samnites, when they were van- 
 quished, U. C. 455 a . 
 
 On the southern summit of this hill, which is 
 more peculiarly styled the Capitol, there is no 
 remnant of any ancient building. The Tarpeian 
 Rock may still be discovered, though it is sur- 
 rounded by buildings. The part, which is shewn 
 in a garden, is in fact more a wall than a rock ; 
 though as the stones and bricks are of course only 
 a facing to it, it cannot be proved that this is not 
 the place from which criminals were thrown 
 down: and a classical experimentalist might 
 perhaps even now satisfy himself of the fact by 
 submitting to a fall. This seems to be the high- 
 est part, and the perpendicular depth may be 
 fifty feet : but as the soil has accumulated ex- 
 ceedingly at the bottom, it may have been nearly 
 double that height. Ficoroni b says, that he 
 measured it, and found it sixty feet, exclusive of 
 
 a Plin. lib. xxxiv. c. IS. 
 
 b Vide Spence's Anecdotes, p. 93. 
 
ROCK. 
 
 ill 
 
 the building that had been added upon it. It 
 may be interesting to read a description of the 
 Rock, as given by an ancient author. Seneca, 
 or rather Arell. Fuscius, as recorded by him, 
 says of it, 44 Stat moles abscissa in profundum, 
 44 frequentibus exasperata saxis, quae aut elidant 
 41 corpus, aut de integro gravius impellant. In- 
 44 horrent scopulis enascentibus latera, et im- 
 44 mensae altitudinis tristis aspectus : electus po- 
 44 tissimum locus, ne damnati ssepius dejician- 
 44 tur." In another place he says, 44 Secure etiam 
 " despicientibus esset horrenda." Walking under 
 the Capitol on this same side, I observed another 
 part of the bare rock, which is quite perpendi- 
 cular, and almost high enough to kill a person, 
 who fell from it. 
 
 Between the Palazzo Senatorio and the Mu- 
 seum on its right, is the principal modern descent 
 to the Forum, nearly in the direction of the an- 
 cient Clivus Asyli, which was one of the three 
 ascents to the Capitol from the Forum, and by 
 which the commanders passed in triumph. In 
 1817 the original pavement of this road was dis- 
 covered, when the Arch of Septimius Severus was 
 cleared out, under which the road passed : and 
 it would appear from the work of Barthol. Mar- 
 lianus, (who lived in the time of Sextus IV.) that 
 the same pavement had been discerned shortly 
 before his time. He says it was seven feet wide. 
 The same is related by L. Fauno, who wrote in 
 the reign of Julius III. : and they both probably 
 speak of the time when the Temple of Concord 
 
112 TRIUMPHAL PROCESSIONS. 
 
 was destroyed to make lime. This road was 
 paved by order of the censors, U. C. 579 c . The 
 three ascents were, 1, That of the Tarpeian Rock, 
 which went by a flight of one hundred steps 
 from the western extremity of the Forum d . 
 
 2. The Clivus Capitolinus, which had two 
 branches : one passed under the Arch of Tibe- 
 rius towards the Hospital della Consolazione : 
 the other near the Arch of Sept. Severus, and 
 between the Temples of Fortune and Jupiter To- 
 nans. These two branches united behind the 
 Temple of Fortune ; and from thence the Clivus 
 Capitolinus led straight to the Intermontium. 
 
 3. The Clivus Asyli passed under the Arch of 
 S. Severus, and, going a little to the left of the 
 present ascent, conducted also to the Intermon- 
 tium. 
 
 The triumphal processions passed, as has been 
 observed, by the Clivus Asyli. The line of their 
 march was different, according to which side of 
 the Tiber the victorious army returned from. If 
 the battle had been fought on the north or west 
 of Rome, the general waited on the right side of 
 the river, till the senate had granted him permis- 
 sion to celebrate his triumph. When this was 
 obtained, he passed over the Pons Triumphalis, 
 
 c Liv. lib. xli. c. 27. 
 
 d Diversos Capitolii aditus invadunt, juxta lucum Asyli, et 
 qua Tarpeia rupes centum gradibus aditur. (Tacit. Hist. lib. iii. 
 c. 71.) Cicero uses the expression " Gradibus Concordiae," 
 (7 Pilipp.) when speaking of these steps, because a Temple of 
 Concord overhung them. 
 
MUSEUM CAPITOLINUM. 
 
 IIS 
 
 and went along the Via Recta, now Strada Gin- 
 lia, to the Circus Maximus, where he received 
 the applause of the assembled people. He then 
 wound round the Palatine hill, passed by the 
 spot where the Arch of Constantine now stands, 
 and so reached the Forum by the Via Sacra. 
 The procession then ascended the Capitol, hav- 
 ing gone under the Arch of S. Severus. Some 
 of the buildings here mentioned were of late date: 
 but the processions seem always to have taken 
 the same course, before the several Arches were 
 erected. If the victory was achieved on the 
 other side of Rome, the general waited outside 
 of the Porta Flaminia, or the Porta Capena : and 
 as soon as the senate had granted him leave, he 
 commenced his triumphal procession. Having 
 passed through the Circus Flaminius, which be- 
 fore the time of Aurelian was without the walls, 
 and there received applause, he went under the 
 Porta Triumphalis, which seems to have been 
 only open on these solemnities. He then went 
 by the Theatre of Marcellus, through the Vela- 
 brum, and Forum Boarium, into the Circus Maxi- 
 mus. From thence his course was, as in the pre- 
 ceding case. 
 
 MUSEUM CAPITOLINUM. 
 Before we quit the Capitol, some account will 
 be expected of the antiquities contained in the 
 Museum. It is not however the object of these 
 pages to give a catalogue of the works of art. 
 To mention them in detail would require a se- 
 
 i 
 
114 
 
 PASQUINO. 
 
 parate volume or volumes ; and a mere enume- 
 ration of them would not satisfy 6 . I shall there- 
 fore select a few of the most striking objects, 
 and occasionally throw in any illustration of 
 them, which I may chance to have found. 
 
 The Museum is contained in the two build- 
 ings which stand on each side of the Palazzo 
 Senatorio. That which is on the right hand is 
 almost exclusively filled with antiquities. In the 
 court is the celebrated statue of Marforio, which 
 is thought by some to have represented the 
 ocean, by others the Rhine. It probably derives 
 its present name from the Forum of Mars, near 
 which it was found. Marforio owes his celebrity 
 to having been fixed upon as the answerer of all 
 those satirical sayings which were affixed upon 
 Pasquino. This latter figure stands at the corner 
 of the Via di S. Pantaleo, towards the Piazza 
 Navona. It was found in the sixteenth century, 
 and placed over against the shop of one Pas- 
 quino, a tailor, where all persons used to meet 
 who wished to abuse their neighbour. It has 
 been thought to represent Menelaus supporting 
 the body of Patroclus; but it is sadly mutilated. 
 MafTei, in his Collection of Statues, No. 42, calls 
 it Ajax supported by his brother. It nearly re- 
 sembles that which stood formerly by the Ponte 
 Vecchio, at Florence. Bernini seems to have 
 
 c A work was published in 1750, by Bottari, in two volumes 
 folio, called Museum Capitolinum , in which are engravings of 
 most of the busts and statues. There is also the Museo Capito- 
 lino, by P. Giorgi. 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 115 
 
 considered this mutilated statue as one of the 
 finest remains of antiquity f . The same pope 
 who placed Marforio in the Capitol, wished to 
 confine Pasquino there also : but the Marquis, to 
 whom he belonged, prevented it. His descend- 
 ant is still obliged to pay a fine, if any scandal is 
 found affixed to it g . 
 
 The first room, which claims attention here, 
 is appropriately called Canopus, being devoted to 
 Egyptian sculpture. Many of the figures how- 
 ever are not the production of Egypt, having been 
 purposely executed in imitation of the Egyptian 
 style for Adrian's Villa, at Tivoli h . This may 
 be thought bad taste in the Emperor ; but mo- 
 dern times afford many examples of similar par- 
 tiality for the grotesque : and if these specimens 
 were correctly copied, they furnished an interest- 
 ing illustration of Egyptian manners and worship. 
 Adrian had a temple built in his Villa at Tivoli, 
 which he called Canopus, and ornamented with 
 figures carved in the Egyptian style. In some 
 the ancient models were strictly copied ; in 
 others an attempt was made to unite the Egyptian 
 and Grecian styles together. The Antinous pre- 
 
 f Bandinucci, Vita di Bernini, p. 72. Bernini, V. di Caval. 
 Bernini, p. 13. 
 
 s Vide Spence!s Anecdotes, p. 1 13. 
 
 h We may find some account of the construction of this Villa 
 in Spartian. It contained within its precincts several tem- 
 ples, two theatres, copies of the most magnificent buildings in 
 Greece, &c. &c. ; and the ruins of it embrace a circuit of 
 nearly ten Italian miles. 
 
 i 2 
 
116 
 
 EGYPTIAN 
 
 served in the Capitol is a specimen of the latter 
 taste. Winkelmann also has a remark upon this 
 statue 1 , which illustrates a curious fact in the 
 history of Egyptian sculpture. Diodorus Sicu- 
 lus tells us k , that after the stone was hewn into the 
 proper proportions, it was cut into two, and each 
 part was given to a different sculptor to finish. 
 Winkelmann adds, that the Antinous of the 
 Capitol, though only an imitation, bears marks of 
 having been thus divided and rejoined. 
 
 Sculpture never attained any excellence in 
 Egypt. Plato remarks l 9 that the statues exe- 
 cuted there in his time did not differ in form or 
 in any other respect from those which had been 
 made 10000 years before. This seems to be the 
 true character of the Egyptian sculptors. They 
 made no progressive improvement from their 
 first rude attempts. The deficiency was in de- 
 sign; and the human form in particular seems 
 never to have been sufficiently studied, with a 
 view to representing it in sculpture m . This may 
 perhaps lead us to infer, that the great excellence 
 of the art in Greece was partly owing to the dei- 
 fication of their heroes. If a god was to be exe- 
 
 4 Lib. ii. c. 2. §. 2. 
 
 k Lib. i. ad fin. 
 
 1 De Leg. ii. p. 522. * 
 
 m It is remarked by Ficoroni, that the two best Egyptian 
 statues in Rome were the Hercules with a lion's skin over his 
 head, in the Capitol ; and the richer Zingara at the Villa Borg- 
 hese [now in the Louvre]. He adds, that they might be 
 known to be Egyptian by that fulness about their mouths. 
 Vide Spence's Anecdotes, p. 85. 
 
SCULPTURE. 
 
 117 
 
 outed in marble, he was to bear the human form : 
 he was in every respect to be a man. But in 
 Egypt* where beasts and monsters were selected 
 as divinities, there was not the same chance of 
 the human form being well modelled : the ima- 
 gination there was not elevated and refined by 
 contemplating the creation of a god : and even 
 the same wish of perpetuating the likeness of a 
 mortal did not exist, when the bodies themselves 
 were preserved for centuries in the form of mum- 
 mies. The great excellence of the Italian paint- 
 ers at the time of the revival of the arts may 
 also be attributed to the great demand for re- 
 ligious subjects. The Virgin Mary may at least 
 be called the patron of painters : and Catholics 
 might say, that she had revenged herself upon 
 the Protestants by not assisting them in this 
 art. We may add to these causes the fact, which 
 seems undoubtedly true, that the Egyptians were 
 not so finely formed as the Greeks ; that artists 
 were held in no estimation amongst them ; and 
 anatomy, a knowledge of which is so essential 
 to a sculptor, was strictly prohibited in Egypt. 
 
 One of their deities is however represented 
 under the form of a man. This is Serapis, of 
 whom there is a statue in this Museum. Some 
 obscurity hangs over the history of this deity. 
 He is said to answer to the Jupiter, Dis, and 
 Pluto, of Grecian worship : but it is not certain 
 at what time he found a place in the Egyptian 
 Calendar. Augustin tells us n , that Apis king of 
 
 11 Civ, Dei, lib. xviii, c. 5. 
 I 3 
 
118 
 
 SISTRUM. 
 
 Argos came to Egypt, and upon his death be- 
 came Serapis. Eusebius says, that Apis was 
 their third king ; and the invention of the plough 
 and of vineyards is attributed to him°. An or- 
 nament will be observed on his head, the mean- 
 ing of which is differently interpreted. It was 
 called in Latin, Modius or Calathus. Isidorus p 
 describes it as a light utensil, made of reeds or 
 rushes, in which the daily work was put, or 
 flowers were gathered. It also denotes fertility 
 and abundance. Ruffinus f i takes it to signify, 
 that everything is directed by rule and measure; 
 (in which he gives the meaning of Modius;) or 
 that life is granted to mortals by a liberal allow- 
 ance of the fruits of the earth. It may be ob- 
 served, that iEsculapius is also drawn with the 
 Modius of fecundity on his head ; and by some 
 he is considered to be the same with Osiris. 
 
 Isis is represented with a plume of feathers on 
 her head r : and another figure of the same deity 
 has cavities for eyes of some other material. 
 
 Other figures will be found in this room, hold- 
 ing a sistrum in their hands. This, which was an 
 instrument of music, or rather of noise, derived 
 its name from a Greek word signifying to shake. 
 Apuleius 8 describes it as a brazen rattle, which 
 was carved so as to resemble the form of a 
 
 ° Vide Tibull. lib. i. e. 7. 
 p Grig. lib. xix. c. 29. 
 f| Hist. Ecclcs. lib. ii. c. 23. 
 r Vide Bott.iri, torn, iii. pi. 76, 
 Mctrim. lib. ii. 
 
ICHNOGRAPHY OF ROME. 119 
 
 noose, through which a few rods were passed, 
 and when it was shaken in the hand three times 
 it gave a shrill sound. This description will be 
 found to answer to the instrument sculptured in 
 this room. The rods are three or four in number. 
 We must remember however a remark made by 
 Winkelmann *, that the Sistrum is not found in 
 the hand of any ancient Egyptian statue in 
 Rome. It is in each case a modern addition: 
 and the same author observes, that he knows of 
 no representation of it on any ancient monument, 
 except it be on the lsiac Table, at Turin. There 
 is also a coin of Trajan which represents it u . 
 
 Of the animals represented in this room there 
 are Sphinxes both male and female. 
 
 In the next apartment, which is called Stanza 
 Lapidaria, the exact measure of a Roman foot 
 may be observed on three of the tombs. It is 
 more than eleven inches English, but not equal 
 to twelve. 
 
 On the walls of the staircase leading to the 
 upper rooms, some very curious fragments of the 
 plan of ancient Rome may be seen. They are 
 in twenty-six compartments, and have been 
 edited with engravings, and a Commentary, by 
 Bellori x , who supposes them to have been made 
 in the reign of Septimius Severus, and to have 
 
 1 Lib. ii. c. 1. §. 22. 
 
 " A treatise has been written upon the Sistrum, by Bacchini. 
 
 x Twenty of them were illustrated by Bellori, the other six 
 by Amaduzzi. This Commentary is also published in the 
 Collection of Graevius. 
 
 i 4 
 
120 
 
 DIANA. 
 
 served as a floor to some temple. They were 
 found in the Church of SS. Cosmo, and Da- 
 miano, anciently a Temple of Romulus and Re- 
 mus, and were first placed in the Farnese Palace. 
 Unfortunately they have been so broken, and 
 the fragments are so small, that little or no in- 
 formation has been gained from them. Many 
 places had the names written over them, but 
 these have likewise been much defaced, and do 
 not help us. Part of the Theatre of Marcellus 
 and of the Portico of Octavia may be identified, 
 and will be mentioned hereafter. 
 
 Up stairs the Stanza del Vaso contains many 
 curiosities, particularly a brazen vase, given by 
 Mithridates, King of Pontus, to the College of 
 Gymnasiarchs. There is an inscription on it to 
 that effect. A figure of Diana Triformis deserves 
 attention. She appears under the three cha- 
 racters of Luna, Diana, and Hecate. This was 
 not an uncommon way of representing her ; 
 and she is generally made to carry a torch, 
 some sort of weapon, and a key. The torch 
 represents her in heaven, as Luna ; the weapon 
 alludes to her character on earth, as Diana ; and 
 the key denotes her power in hell, as Hecate. 
 She is also attended by a serpent, and at her feet 
 are ropes to denote the punishments of the infer- 
 nal regions. 
 
 The Ephesian Diana Multimammia will also 
 be found here. She was worshipped in this 
 form, because she was considered the Nurse of 
 all living things. There was however consider- 
 
ILIAD. 
 
 121 
 
 able mystery in the adoration paid to her, and 
 the different attributes of Ceres, Isis, and Cybele, 
 were in some way united in her. Hence she 
 has on her head the turreted Crown of Cybele ; 
 and Macrobius seems to identify her with Isis, 
 when he says y , " Isis is worshipped in every re- 
 " ligion, being either the earth, or universal na- 
 " ture, under the influence of the sun. For this 
 " reason the whole body of the goddess is co- 
 " vered with breasts, because the universe is 
 " nourished by the earth or nature." Such also 
 is the interpretation given by S. Jerom 2 . This 
 figure is not uncommon, but occasional varieties 
 may be seen. Besides the Crown of Cybele, 
 she generally wears the veil of Isis : a Crab re- 
 presents the Moon, (which is one of Diana's cha- 
 racters) : the Victories and Breasts denote the 
 Ephesian Diana ; Stags and Bees, the Sicilian 
 Diana : the Lions of Magna Mater also accom- 
 pany her, the Oxen and Dragons of Eleusinian 
 Ceres, the Sphinx of Minerva, and the Acorns 
 and Fruits of the Earth. 
 
 A Bas-relief in white plaister representing 
 scenes out of the Iliad, with explanations in 
 Greek, may be considered curious. Fabretti has 
 published an engraving of it, with a Dissertation 
 at the end of his work upon Trajan's column. 
 He thinks, that it was made subsequent to the 
 time of Virgil, and probably in the reign of 
 Nero. 
 
 y Saturn, lib. i. c. 20. 
 
 1 Comm. in Epist. ad Eph, Praefat. 
 
122 MOSAIC. 
 
 There is here an ancient Mosaic in the great- 
 est preservation, representing four doves drink- 
 ing, with a beautiful border round it. This 
 Mosaic has excited considerable controversy. 
 Pliny, in lib. xxxv. c. 25., where he is mention- 
 ing the perfection to which the art of Mosaic 
 had been carried, describes a specimen of it, as 
 being peculiarly excellent, which bears some re- 
 semblance to this. Many however do not allow 
 it to be the same ; and certainly the resemblance 
 is not sufficient to convince. His words are 
 these, " Mirabilis ibi (Pergamis) columba bibens, 
 " et aquam umbra capitis infuscans. Aprican- 
 " tur aliae scabentes sese in canthari labro." If 
 this were really the one mentioned by Pliny, we 
 might at least learn one fact, that the moderns 
 excel the ancients in the art of Mosaic. I shall 
 have occasion to recur to this subject, when 
 treating of the Mosaic pictures in St. Peters. 
 This was found in 1737, in the ruins of Adrian's 
 Villa at Tivoli, and is known by the name of 
 Le Colombe di Furietti, from the first pos- 
 sessor, who published upon the subject. It was 
 purchased for the Capitol by Clement XIII. 
 
 Some ancient stone weights are preserved 
 here, which from their appearance cannot have 
 lost much of their original weight. 
 
 At the end of the long gallery is the Stanza 
 degli Imperadori, so called from a collection of 
 busts of the Roman Emperors and their families, 
 to the number of seventy-six, from J. Caesar to 
 Julian. In the middle of the room is Agrippina, 
 
SUN-DIAL. 
 
 123 
 
 Nero's mother, seated ; a most excellent piece 
 of sculpture; but the head does not belong to 
 the statue. 
 
 Outside of the window is an ancient sun-dial, 
 placed in its proper position. The surface, on 
 which the lines are drawn to mark the hours, is 
 concave. Previous to the year of Rome 460, or 
 thereabouts, there was no such thing as a sun- 
 dial in Rome, or any definite manner of marking 
 the hours. Pliny himself tells us a , that no far- 
 ther observation of time was noticed in the 
 twelve tables, than the rising and setting of the 
 sun. A contrivance was subsequently adopted 
 for one of the consul's officers to make procla- 
 mation when the middle of the day was arrived, 
 which he ascertained by watching, when he could 
 see the sun from the senate-house between the 
 Rostra and the Grcecostasis* . By a similar ob- 
 servation he proclaimed the end of the day. L. 
 Papirius Cursor erected the first dial in Rome, 
 U. C. 460, on the Temple of Quirinus. Pliny 
 relates this on the authority of Fabius Vestalis ; 
 but he tells us at the same time, that, according 
 to Varro, M. Valerius Messala was the first in- 
 troducer of sun-dials ; he having brought one to 
 Rome from Catania, and placed it on a column 
 in the Forum near the Rostra, U. C. 491. The 
 Romans were not sufficient astronomers at that 
 day to be aware, that a dial set for the meridian 
 
 a Lib. vii. c. 60. 
 
 b This was a building near the Curia, where foreign ambas- 
 sadors were lodged, 
 
\2* HARPOCRATES. 
 
 of Catania would not mark the hours accurately 
 at Rome c . For ninety-nine years no correction 
 or alteration was made ; but in 590, Q. Marcius 
 Philippus, who was then censor, had a proper 
 one constructed, and placed near the other. The 
 ancient sun-dial may be seen very perfectly on 
 the tower of Cyrrhestes at Athens, and in the 
 engravings of it by Stewart. Water-clocks were 
 not introduced till 595, by Scipio Nasica. 
 
 Of the Stanza de' Filosofi, where there are 
 seventy-nine busts of ancient philosophers, be- 
 sides a great many which are unknown, there is 
 nothing particular to remark. 
 
 In the next room is a collection of statues, 
 many of which have great merit. Amongst them 
 will be observed a figure of Harpocrates, the 
 god of silence, with his finger on his mouth. It 
 was found in Adrian's Villa in 1744. These sta- 
 tues were very common in the ancient temples, 
 as we learn from Augustin d , where he says, 
 " Since in almost every temple where Isis and 
 " Sera pis were worshipped, there was also an 
 " image which seemed to command silence by 
 " the finger being pressed upon the lips, Varro 
 " conceived this to signify, that the fact of their 
 " having been men should be kept silent." We 
 
 c We canrut accuse Lord Elgin of similar ignorance in mov- 
 ing the sun-dial from Athens, which is now to be seen in the 
 British Museum , But surely great part of the interest and all 
 the value of this piece of antiquity is lost, by its being taken 
 from its proper situation. 
 
 f De Civ. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 5. 
 
ROSSO ANTICO. 
 
 125 
 
 learn from other writers the connection between 
 Harpocrates and the Egyptian rites. Plutarch, 
 in his treatise de hide et Osiride, expressly says, 
 that he was son of Isis and Osiris. Ovid alludes 
 to the attitude in which Harpocrates is drawn, 
 
 Quique premit vocem digitoque silentia suadet 
 
 Met. ix. 691. 
 
 Sometimes he was represented with a pear on 
 his head, which was considered a type of silence 
 and truth, from the resemblance which the core 
 of it bears to a heart, and the leaf to the tongue. 
 
 In the next room is the statue of a Faun in 
 Rosso Antico. This is among the marbles, which 
 are only known from the ancient specimens, and 
 of which there is no quarry now worked. It 
 seems to be the same with what Pliny calls Por- 
 phyrites* ; for he is here treating of marbles, and 
 as he mentions a variety of it, which from con- 
 taining a few white spots was called Leptopse- 
 phos, he cannot mean Porphry, which is invariably 
 spotted, and not always red, as Pliny says of 
 this. He tells us, that the quarries of it were in 
 Egypt, and afforded blocks of almost any size. 
 Statues were made of it and brought to Rome in 
 the time of Claudius, but not much approved of, 
 nor was the example followed. So that we pro- 
 bably learn from this passage the date of the 
 Faun now mentioned. 
 
 In the last room is the celebrated statue of 
 
 e Lib. xxx vi. c. 1 1 . 
 
126 
 
 DYING 
 
 the Dying Gladiator, as it is generally called, but 
 probably incorrectly. The person, whoever he 
 is, seems on the very point of death. He is 
 naked, with a cord clasped round his neck : he 
 lies on a shield, upon which there is also some- 
 thing like a horn, with a string to suspend it : 
 the horn is represented as broken : his sword is 
 on the ground, and the sheath and belt by it. 
 The whole appearance of the statue is contrary 
 to the appearance of its being a gladiator : nor 
 were the Greeks sufficiently addicted to spec- 
 tacles of that kind, to suggest a dying gladiator 
 as a subject for a sculptor. There is a passage 
 in Pliny f where some such statue as this is de- 
 scribed. He tells us, that Ctesilas (who was 
 contemporary with Phidias) made the statue of 
 a person who was wounded and is just sinking, 
 in which you could see exactly how much life 
 was remaining in him. Some persons have been 
 caught by these words, and concluded that we 
 have in the Capitol a work of Ctesilas. But 
 Pliny is speaking of a bronze statue, so that this 
 cannot be the work described by him, or at least 
 it could be only a copy. The question then re- 
 mains, what did the sculptor intend to represent? 
 The cord and the horn are the only peculiarities 
 to guide us in our conjectures. Winkelmann^ 
 thinks that it was intended for a herald : and he 
 certainly brings a remarkable testimony in favour 
 of his opinion, in the inscription over the statue 
 
 Lib. xxxiv. c. 19- 
 
 * Lib, vi. c. 2. §. 24, 8zc, 
 
GLADIATOR. 
 
 127 
 
 of a man who had been victorious at the Olympic 
 games, and was himself a herald. The words 
 are, 
 
 ou& virb (rotKifiyyonVy out* avo&siypctT e^a;v h . 
 
 The meaning of which is, that he fulfilled his 
 office without either horn or cord. Hesychius 
 gives this explanation of dvaSe'iyfAura,, by calling 
 it 7)/tocg iti^i r^ay/ikovgy a bridle or cord about the 
 neck: and it appears that heralds were accus- 
 tomed to fasten a cord round their throats, that 
 they might not injure themselves in speaking or 
 blowing the horn 1 . This inscription therefore 
 would imply, that the herald in question had 
 made himself audible at the games by his voice 
 alone, without either cord or horn. The con- 
 jecture is ingenious, and perhaps it would be im- 
 possible to prove that it is not the true one. No 
 other hypothesis accounts for the horn and cord 
 being added : but still, if it was not for the Greek 
 inscription, no one would have thought of guess- 
 ing it to be an herald. I once conceived that it 
 might be intended for a person who had killed 
 himself : and in seeking for a name, I should re- 
 commend an investigation of those characters of 
 antiquity who distinguished themselves by sui- 
 cide. The statue was found at Antium, by Car- 
 dinal Albani, about 1770, and belonged for some 
 time to the Ludovisi family. The right hand is 
 
 h Vid. Poll. Onom. lib. iv. §. 92. 
 1 Vid. Martial, lib, iv. ep. 41. 
 
128 
 
 VENUS. 
 
 modern, and so is part of the base. Some say 
 that they were added by Michel Angelo. 
 
 The Venus of the Capitol, as it is generally 
 styled, is also in this room. She is supposed to 
 be coming out of the bath, and bears some re- 
 semblance to the Venus de' Medici. The attitude 
 of this latter statue was a favourite one with the 
 sculptors. Several like it are to be seen in the 
 gallery at Florence, and Ovid mentions it in the 
 following verse : 
 
 Ipsa Venus puberem, quoties velamina ponit, 
 Protegitur laeva semireducta manu. 
 
 Art. Am. lib. ii. 613. 
 
 Much controversy has arisen, whether the Venus 
 de' Medici is the famous Venus of Cnidos, the 
 chef-d'oeuvre of Praxiteles. This was at Cnidos 
 in the time of Arcadius and Honorius, and was 
 exhibited in a small temple, open on all sides. 
 Pliny says k , that Cnidos owed to this statue its 
 celebrity and concourse of strangers. From 
 thence it was removed to Constantinople ; and 
 Cedronus tells us, that it stood in the Palace of 
 the Lausi. The same author describes the atti- 
 tude of the statue, ' Afgodlr?j iti XiSov Xivarigy 
 yvfAvrj, povYiv rqv ttj yj^i^i ftegio'reXXovo'u, Igyov 
 rov Kvidiou Ylgu^ireXovg. From these words the 
 Venus de' Medici might be the same with that 
 at Cnidos : but we have no history of its removal 
 from Constantinople to Rome, and there seem 
 
 h Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
OF THE CAPITOL. 
 
 129 
 
 good reasons for thinking that the posture of the 
 right arm is different in the statue at Florence 
 from that of Praxiteles. For we may reasonably 
 suppose, that the coin struck at Cnidos repre- 
 sents the real statue which made the city so fa- 
 mous ; and this agrees with the Medicean, ex- 
 cept that one arm is extended, and holds some 
 drapery over a vase. It must be remembered, 
 however, that the two arms of the Venus de' 
 Medici are modern. From Lucian 1 it might be 
 argued, that the Venus of Praxiteles was quite 
 naked, without any drapery. If Cedrenus be 
 correct in saying that the statue stood in the 
 Palace of the Lausi, it was probably destroyed 
 in the great fire, which consumed three quarters 
 of Constantinople, in 462, and amongst other build- 
 ings, the Palace of the Lausi m . If the identity 
 of the Venus de' Medici with that of Cnidos be 
 given up, this statue in the Capitol may perhaps 
 claim it, as it nearly agrees with the represent- 
 ation on the coin. It was found on the Pincian 
 hill. 
 
 On the base of one of the statues in this room 
 is the following inscription, which may be thought 
 worth copying, from the beauty of some of the 
 sentiments. On one side we read, 
 
 Si pensare animas sinerent crudelia fata, 
 Et posset redimi morte aliena salus, 
 
 1 Amor. xiii. 
 
 m Vid. Cedrenus Hist. Comp. 348. Zonar. Ann. xiv. p. 50. 
 Evagr. Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. 
 
130 
 
 CAPITOL. 
 
 Quantulacunque meae debentur tempora vitae, 
 
 Pensassem pro te, cara Homonaea, libens. 
 At nunc, quod possum, fugiam lucemque Deosque, 
 
 Ut te matura per Styga morte sequar. 
 Parce tuam, conjux, fletu quassare juventam, 
 
 Fataque mcerendo sollicitare mea. 
 Nil prosunt lacrymae, nec possunt fata moveri : 
 
 Viximus hie omnes exitus unus habet. 
 
 Parce ita — non unquam similem experiare dolorem, 
 
 Et faveant votis numina cuncta tuis. 
 Quodque mihi efipuit mors immatura juventae, 
 
 Id tibi victuro proroget ulterius. 
 
 On the other side is, 
 
 Tu, qui secura procedis mente, parumper 
 
 Siste gradum, quaeso, verbaque pauca lege. 
 Ilia ego, quae Claris fueram praelata puellis, 
 
 Hoc Homonaea brevi condita sum tumulo, 
 Cui formam Paphiae Charites tribuere decoram, 
 
 Quam Pallas cunctis artibus erudiit. 
 Nondum bis denos aetas mea viderat annos, 
 
 Injecere manus invida fata mihi. 
 Nec pro me queror hoc, morte est mihi tristior ipsa 
 
 Mceror Atimeti conjugis ille mei. 
 Sit tibi terra levis, mulier dignissima vita, 
 
 Quaeque tuis olim perfruerere" bonis. 
 
 The continuation of the Museum is in the 
 building opposite, called Palazzo de' Conserva- 
 tori. In the court are several fragments of co- 
 lossal statues ; among them a head of Commo- 
 dus, in bronze, which is said to be the same 
 which that emperor placed upon a colossal sta- 
 
 * This word is written thus upon the stone. 
 
DUIL1AN COLUMN. 
 
 131 
 
 tue of Nero in the Temple of Peace 0 . Winkel- 
 mann, however, seems to doubt it being the head 
 of CommodusP. There is also a head of Domi- 
 tian in marble. A colossal foot belonged to a 
 statue in the Temple of Peace. 
 
 The Duilian Column is here, at least that 
 which is called so, though there is little proba- 
 bility that it is the same with that which was 
 erected by C. Duilius after his first naval victory 
 over the Carthaginians, U. C. 493. It is a plain 
 column of marble in bas-relief, with three prows 
 of ships on each side, and part of an inscription. 
 It was dug up several years ago in the Forum, 
 not far from the Arch of S. Severus, and has 
 been illustrated with a commentary by P. Ciac- 
 conius q . Pliny mentions such a column r ; 4 4 a 
 44 more ancient memorial is by erecting pillars, 
 44 as that to C. Msenius, who conquered the old 
 " Latins; also to C. Duilius, [some MSS. read 
 44 Vilius,] who was the first that celebrated a 
 44 naval triumph over the Carthaginians, which 
 44 still stands in the Forum." Servius also, in 
 his commentary upon Virgil, Georg. iii. 29, et 
 navali surgentes aere columns, says, 44 Vilius 
 44 [some MSS. falsely read Julius Caesar] erected 
 44 naval columns for his victory over the Cartha- 
 44 ginians by sea ; one of which we see at the 
 44 Rostra, another in front of the Circus." Quin- 
 tilian also remarks 8 , 44 that the early Latins added 
 44 the letter d to the ends of words, as we may 
 
 ° Vid. Dio Cass. Lampridius. p Lib. iv. c. 7. §. 48. 
 
 q Published in the collection of Graevius, vol. iv. p. 1811 
 r Lib. xxxiv. c. 11, 6 Lib. i. c. 7. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 DUILIAN 
 
 4< observe in the naval column erected to Duilius 
 " in the Forum." These passages certainly make 
 the original pillar to have stood in the Forum ; 
 and as much of the inscription as remains agrees 
 with Quintilian's observation about the addition 
 of the letter d. Ciacconius however, in his dis- 
 sertation, thinks that it certainly is not that 
 which was erected in the time of Duilius, as the 
 carving of the letters is too good for those rude 
 times, and the orthography of some of the words 
 is too modern. He has supplied what is want- 
 ing in the inscription, which I shall copy, as a 
 specimen of early Latin. That which is within 
 the line is what remains ; the rest is supplied by 
 conjecture. [See the Plate.] 
 
 The inscription, in more modern orthography, 
 would be this : 
 
 C. DVILIVS. M. F. COS. ADVERSVS. CARTHAGINIENSES. IN. SICILIA 
 REM.GERENS.EGESTANOS.COGNATOS.POPVLI.ROMANI. ARCTISSIMA 
 OBSIDIONE. EXEMIT. LEGIONES. CARTHAGINIENSES. OMNES 
 MAXIMOSOVE. MAGISTRATES. ELEPHANTIS. RELICTIS 
 NOVEM. CASTRIS. EFFVGER VNT. MACELLAM. MVNITAM. VRBEM 
 PVGNANDO. CEP1T. INOVE. EODEM. MAGISTRATV. PROSPERE 
 REM. NAVIBVS. MARI. CONSVL. PRIMVS. CESSIT. REMIGESOVE 
 CLASSESQVE. NAVALES. PRIMVS. ORNAVIT. PARAVITOVE. DIEBVS.LX 
 CVMQVE. us. NAVIBVS. CLASSES. PVNICAS. OMNES. PARATASQVE 
 SVMMAS. COPIAS. CARTHAGINIENSES. PRAESENTE. MAXIMO 
 DICTATORE. ILLORVM. IN. ALTO. MARI. PVGNANDO. VICIT 
 XXXQVE. NAVES. CEPIT. CVM. SOCIIS. SEPTIREMEMOVE. DVCIS 
 OVINQVEREMEMOVE. TRIREMESOVE. NAVES. XX. DEPRESSIT 
 AVRVM. CAPTVM. NVMMI. III. M. DCC 
 ARGENTVM. CAPTVM. PRAEDA. NVMMI. CM. C 
 GRAVE. CAPTVM. AES. XXI. CM. PONDO 
 TRIVMPHOOVE. NAVALI. PRAEDA. POPVLVM. ROMANVM. DONAVIT 
 CAPTIVOS. CARTHAGINIENSES. INGENVOS. DVXIT. ANTE. CVRRVM 
 PRIMVSOVE. CONSVL. DE. SICVLIS. CLASSEOVE. CARTHAGINIENSIVM 
 TRIVMPHAVIT.EARVM.RERVM.ERGO.S.P.Cj.R.EI.HANCE-COLVMNAM.P 
 
To face, Thge- 132.. 
 
 C. BILIOS. M.F. COS. ADVORSOM. CARTACINLEXSEIS . EX. SICELIAD 
 HEM. CERE^S. ECE^^S^\S^COCNATOS. POPLI. ROMANI. ARTISYMAD 
 OBSEDEO^E^V^^EMET. LECI0^\EIS. CARTA CIS IF/NSEIS . OMTTCIS 
 M/AXTMolsgYE. MACISTRATOS . LY^AES. BOVEBOS. RELIC TEIS 
 NOSVEM. CASTREIS. EXFOCIOXT. MACELIaM. MOEX1TAM. TRREM 
 pjvC]NAOT)OD. CEPET. ETJOYE. EODEM. MACfcSTRATOD. PROSPERE 
 REM. ^AYEBOS. MARId. CCOTSOE. PRTMOS. ^ESET. RESMECOSOYE 
 CLASESOYE. ItfAYALES. PRIMOS. ORKAYET. PANBAYETOYE. DIEBOS. EX 
 CYMQYE. EIS. MYEBYS. CEASEIS. POEOTCASr^MjmS. PARATASOVE 
 SYMAS. COPIAS. CARTACLNTEXSlS . PRAE SElfTE^P . MAXYMOD 
 [CTATORED^OjLOR^^M. EN. ALTOD. MARID. PTCjNANDOD. YTICET 
 XXX^YE^NA^EIS. CEP^fT. CYM. SOC1EIS. SEP TE^MRE SMOMOYE . DYCIS 
 OYT^RESM)0^)YE7~ TJ3TRESMOSOYE. IVAYEIS. X\X. DEPRESET 
 
 ATROM". CAP TOM. NYMEI. (DCDCD DCC 
 
 ARCEWOM. CAPTOM. PRAEDA. INYMEI CCCI333 C 
 
 QLAYeJcAPTOM AES C C CI) >3 Ccd33JC C cl313CCCl333CCCl333CC Cl33 ) 
 ^ CCCL) 3 J C CCl 333 C Ccl333 CC CI333 C C Cl333 CC c IdDD CC c l331 CCC L333, 
 
 ^cccjbpp cccIddo cccIdoo cccIddo ccclboo cccI^jd^jcccIodd/p^dod 
 
 TRlOMPlOOTE. XAYALED. PRAE DAD. POPLOM. fROMANOM. DOXAYET 
 CAPTTYO^^CAR/TAC^^ . CYROM 
 
 PRIMOS 9 YE . CONSOL. DE. SICE^^ .CLASE$^\^^^^cmiENSY.OM. 
 TRIOMPAYET. EAROM. REROM. ERCO. S. P. £ . R. EL HANCE . COLVMNAM. P 
 
COLUMN. 
 
 133 
 
 With respect to the numbers expressed in this 
 description, it may be observed, that cd stood for 
 one thousand : which explains why d, which is 
 half of that figure, should stand for five hundred. 
 And we may observe the repetition of this figure 
 three times to express three thousand. Perhaps 
 some more figures are lost in this line ; but the 
 numbers, as they stand at present, amount to 
 3700. In the next line also some figures are 
 evidently lost at the end, as we may perceive 
 from the c still remaining. cccIood stood for an 
 hundred thousand, as we learn from Priscian : 
 and Fulvius Ursinus has engraved a Roman 
 abacus, in which the numbers from one to a 
 million are expressed thus : Ixl. cccIoaD. ccIod. 
 oo. c. x. i. But when this pillar was erected, 
 there was no notation for any number beyond an 
 hundred thousand. Pliny himself tells us this* : 
 " Non erat antiquis numerus ultra centum millia; 
 " itaque et hodie multiplicantur hsec, ut decies 
 " centena millia, aut saepius dicantur." Conse- 
 quently in this inscription we find ccclaD3 
 repeated twenty-one times, which was the only 
 method then known of expressing 2100000. 
 
 With respect to the money mentioned in this 
 inscription, we may observe, that at this time 
 there was no gold coin at Rome. The compu- 
 tation was made by so many pounds weight of 
 brass, which was called 2Es grave. Pliny tells 
 us u , that brass money was first coined in the 
 
 1 Lib. xxxii, c. 47. " Lib. xxxiii. c. 13. 
 K 3 
 
134 
 
 ROMAN MONEY. 
 
 reign of Servius Tullius ; before which time the 
 metal was used in its rude state. He tells us 
 afterwards, that some writers made Numa to 
 have coined money v . The As at first weighed 
 exactly a pound, and was divided into twelve 
 ounces. The other coins were Semissis, or six 
 ounces ; Triens, four ounces ; Quadrans or Te- 
 runcius, three ounces ; and Sextans, two ounces, 
 all in copper. As long as the value and weight 
 continued the same, all sums were reckoned in 
 pounds, or fractions of pounds, of JEs grave. 
 The terms Expensum, Impendia, &c. prove the 
 original custom of calculating by weight. So 
 also the expressions JErarium, Tribuni JErarii, 
 Oboerati, and JEra Militum, shew, that at first 
 no money was used but brass w . In the year of 
 Rome 485, five years before the first Punic war, 
 silver was coined. The largest piece was the 
 Denarius, equal to ten asses, or ten lbs. of brass ; 
 Quinarius, five lbs.; Sestertium, i.e. semis ter- 
 tium, two lbs. and a half. Still the computation 
 by JEs grave continued, because the pound weight 
 of brass was the common standard. But in the 
 course of the first Punic war a great alteration 
 was made: the As was diminished five-sixths, 
 the pound being divided into six Asses, each of 
 which only equalled two ounces. In the second 
 Punic war the As was farther reduced to one 
 ounce ; and afterwards by the Lex Papiria to 
 only half an ounce. Gold coin was not struck 
 
 v Lib. xxxiv. c. 1. w Vid. Plin. lib. xxxiv. c. 1. 
 
WOLF. 135 
 
 till the year 547, which was the thirteenth of the 
 second Pnnic war. 
 
 On the walls of the staircase is an old bas-re- 
 lief of Curtius leaping into the gulf. An inscrip- 
 tion in verse also states, that the Caroccio taken 
 by Frederic II. from the Milanese is preserved 
 here ; but I could not hear any thing of it. The 
 Caroccio was a kind of waggon, painted red, and 
 carried along with the armies in those times, the 
 national standard being displayed upon it. That 
 of Milan required four pairs of oxen to draw it x . 
 
 The Picture Gallery is in this collection, and 
 almost equals that of the Vatican in excellence. 
 In number it greatly exceeds it. 
 
 In an adjoining room is the celebrated bronze 
 wolf, with two children sucking. The children 
 are allowed to be modern, but great contro- 
 versies have arisen as to the identity of the wolf 
 with that which Cicero mentions to have been 
 struck with lightning. He says?, " Romulus 
 4 6 the founder of this city was also struck, which 
 " you recollect was a small figure in the Ca- 
 " pitol, gilt, sucking the teats of a wolf." Dio 
 Cassius also mentions the circumstance 2 , and 
 makes it to have happened in the year of Rome 
 689. The fractures in the hind legs of this have 
 been brought to prove the identity : and Venuti 
 asserts, that it was preserved in the Church of 
 
 x Vid. Muratori Antiq. Ital. Diss. xxvi. 
 y 3 in Cat. c. 8. He mentions it also de Divin. lib. i. c. 1*2. 
 and lib. ii. c. 20. 
 2 Lib. xxxvii. 
 
 K 4 
 
136 
 
 WOLF. 
 
 St. Theodore till the sixteenth century. Fulvio 
 also says this. Flaminius Vacca says generally, 
 *' in the Forum." Pancirolli, who wrote in 1625, 
 says, that the wolf had been removed to the Ca- 
 pitol from this church not many years before his 
 time. This calls to mind the words of Diony- 
 sius a , who, speaking of the Lupercal, says, " It is 
 " pointed out near the street leading to the Cir- 
 u cus, and a Temple of Romulus near to it, in 
 ' 6 which is a wolf suckling two children, an an- 
 <c cient work in brass." Livy also b mentions 
 that such a figure was placed near the Ficus ru- 
 minalis, U. C. 458 ; and Pliny says the same 
 thing 0 . As tradition makes the Church of St. 
 Theodore to have been the Temple of Romulus, 
 some little support is given to the opinion of its 
 antiquity by the fact of its having been preserved 
 there so late as the sixteenth century. Winkel- 
 mann is inclined to support its identity with that 
 mentioned by Cicero : and as Dionysius calls it 
 an ancient work, he attributes it to the Tuscans' 1 . 
 Nardini 6 and Ficoroni f also lean to the same 
 side. It should be remembered, however, that 
 the passages quoted do not exactly agree. Dio- 
 nysius says, that the figure stood in a Temple of 
 Romulus at the foot of the Palatine hill. Cicero 
 and Dio Cassius place it in the Capitol. To 
 which may be added, that Cicero certainly speaks 
 of it as if it was no longer in existence ; "fu- 
 
 a Antiq. lib. i. c 79- b Lib. x. c. 23. c Lib. xv. c. 18. 
 d Lib. iii. c. 2. § 34. " Lib. v, c. 4, f Lib. i, c. ]0. 
 
FASTI CONSULARES. 
 
 3 37 
 
 " isse meministis," and (de Divin.) " Hie syl- 
 " vestris erat Romani nominis altrix." Nor do 
 the fractures in the hind legs sufficiently answer 
 to Cicero's description. 
 
 Quae turn cum pueris flammato fulminis ictu 
 Concidit, atque avulsa pedum vestigia liquit. 
 
 Which words seem to imply, that the feet were 
 broken off. I conceive Winkelmann to be cer- 
 tainly wrong in one point; that he makes the 
 wolf mentioned by Dionysius and Livy to be the 
 same with that which was struck with lightning 
 in Cicero's time. There seem certainly to have 
 been two such figures. 
 
 Among the greatest curiosities preserved here 
 are the Capitoline Marbles, or Fasti Consulares, 
 containing a list of the consuls and all public 
 officers from Romulus to U. C. 724. After the 
 year 610, the account is not kept so accurate as 
 before : only one tribune of the people is named 
 out of the ten, and several other offices are 
 omitted. They were found in 1545 in the Fo- 
 rum, not far from the Church of S. Maria Libe- 
 ratrice. They are in several fragments, and 
 sadly mutilated, but the inscriptions are very le- 
 gible. Another portion was found in 1819, which 
 supplies some names, which were not before 
 known. In the fire, which consumed the Ca- 
 pitol in the time of Vitellius, all the records pre- 
 served there were burnt. Vespasian, who rebuilt 
 the Temple, had the loss repaired by copies from 
 
138 ESQUILINE, VIMINAL, QUIRINAL. 
 
 the most authentic documents : and it is not 
 improbable, that these fragments are of this 
 date. 
 
 ESQUILINE AND VIMINAL HILLS. 
 
 The Esquiline and Viminal hills contain 
 scarcely any ruins, except the Baths of Titus on 
 the former, and the Baths of Diocletian on the 
 latter. They will both be mentioned, when we 
 come to the subject of the Baths. The Viminal 
 hill is small, and mostly occupied by gardens : 
 it is indeed rather difficult to ascertain its limits ; 
 the Baths of Diocletian stand partly upon the 
 Quirinal hill, as the two eminences come to a 
 junction in this place. In walking from the Tri- 
 nity de' Monte to S. Maria Maggiore, and thence 
 to S. John Lateran, the ascent of all the four 
 hills, the Quirinal, the Viminal, the Esquiline, 
 and the Caelian, is evident. 
 
 QUIRINAL HILL. 
 
 The Quirinal Hill is now known by the name 
 of Monte Cavallo, from the two horses on the top 
 of it. These were found in the Baths of Con- 
 stantine, and stand in the middle of a large open 
 space, on either side of an Egyptian obelisk. 
 They were placed here by Sextus V., who also 
 began the Palace on this hill. With each horse 
 is the colossal figure of a man in marble, and 
 one groupe is said to be the work of Phidias, the 
 
HORSES. 
 
 139 
 
 other of Praxiteles. But this is very uncertain, 
 as is the subject which they were intended to 
 represent. Some call them Castor and Pollux ; 
 others, Alexander taming; Bucephalus. This lat- 
 ter conjecture cannot be true : at least, if it is so, 
 we must give up the idea of their being the work 
 of Phidias and Praxiteles : for Phidias, accord- 
 ing to Pliny s, flourished in the eighty-third 
 Olympiad : but Alexander was born in the one 
 hundred and sixth, ninety-two years after. Ac- 
 cording to the same author, Praxiteles flourished 
 in the one hundred and fourth Olympiad, eight 
 years before the birth of Alexander : so that we 
 can scarcely suppose that he lived to execute a 
 statue of Alexander. The former conjecture, 
 that the two figures were intended for Castor 
 and Pollux, seems more probable, from a coin of 
 Maxentius, on the reverse of which are two 
 figures with horses, exactly in this attitude, with 
 the legend aeternitas. But it is not at all 
 likely, that they are really the works of those 
 great artists : for they lived at the distance of 
 about one hundred years from each other, whereas 
 the two figures seem evidently to have been ex- 
 ecuted together. Besides which the words opvs 
 phidtae and opvs praxitelis shew them to 
 be of later date ; for though Greek artists fre- 
 quently wrote their names upon their works in 
 Latin, yet it was not till about the time of Au- 
 gustus. Some antiquaries say, that these names 
 
 2 Lib. xxxiv. c. 8. 
 
140 
 
 HORSES. 
 
 were affixed by the people of Alexandria, from 
 whence the horses were brought to Rome 11 . 
 There are two statues on the Capitol very like 
 them. 
 
 The Abbe Dubos found fault with the horses 
 on the Quirinal hill, as being defective in execu- 
 tion. But Winkelmann defends them 1 , and 
 contends, that whatever is ancient in them is 
 good. The four horses lately mentioned, and 
 two at Naples, with figures of Nonius Balbus 
 and his son upon them, which were found at 
 Herculaneum, are nearly the only ancient spe- 
 cimens that we have of this kind in stone. In 
 metal there is the statue of M. Aurelius on the 
 Capitol, and the four horses at Venice. The 
 Abbe Dubos and other writers have ventured to 
 accuse the Greeks of not being successful in 
 their representation of the horse. Winkelmann 
 on the other hand thinks, that they have shewn 
 themselves perfectly masters of their subject, and 
 that the specimens, which remain to us, are the 
 finest that could be desired. As far as the exe- 
 cution is concerned, I should not presume to 
 question such an authority as Winkelmann : but 
 if the Venetian horses are to be the test, he must 
 at least allow me to conclude, that the breed of 
 horses in Greece was far inferior to what the 
 moderns admire ; and that the beau-ideal of the 
 Greeks with respect to that animal was any thing 
 but elegant. 
 
 h Vide Spence's Anecdotes, p. 94. 
 * Lib. iv. c. 4. §. 56. 
 
HORSES. 
 
 141 
 
 Another difference of opinion has existed, as 
 to whether the ancients understood the manner 
 in which a horse lifts his feet in walking. It is 
 generally said, that they were ignorant of the 
 true gait, and always made the two legs of the 
 same side quit the ground at once. This is not 
 a true statement. The four horses at Venice, 
 those of Castor and Pollux on the Capitol, and 
 of Nonius Balbus at Naples, certainly have their 
 legs raised in that way. But the horse of M. 
 Aurelius lifts them diagonally, and so do four 
 horses represented in a bas-relief, as attached to 
 a chariot of the same Emperor, also in the Capi- 
 tol. This seems to be the natural and real mo- 
 tion. But if the ancients were divided upon this 
 point, the moderns are so likewise : at least we 
 have a treatise by Boul k , where he asserts, that 
 horses lift up the two feet of the same side at 
 once, and Baldinucci in his Lives of the Paint- 
 ers 1 says the same thing. The other side of the 
 question is maintained by Magalotti m . 
 
 The men attached to these horses are 18^ feet 
 high, and considered fine specimens of sculp- 
 ture. 
 
 The pope now always resides in the Palace on 
 the Monte Cavallo, and the Vatican has for some 
 years been deserted. Upon descending the hill 
 towards Trajan's Forum, we see a lofty square 
 tower of brick, very perfect, which is sometimes 
 
 k De Motu Animal, p. i. c. 20. 
 
 1 Tom. ii. p. 59- 
 
 m Lettere Famil. p. 666. 
 
H2 
 
 C^LIAN HILL. 
 
 said to have been built by Augustus or Trajan 
 for the soldiers, and therefore called Torre delle 
 Milizie. But it is supposed not to be older than 
 the time of Innocent III. When Trajans Co- 
 lumn was erected, a great change was made in 
 the appearance of the Quirinal hill. The in- 
 scription on the pillar is mutilated at the bottom, 
 and it is difficult to make out exactly what is 
 meant to be expressed : but we must certainly 
 understand from it, that the height of the Column 
 equals the height of the ground, which was cut 
 away to make the Forum level. This seems al- 
 most incredible, if we suppose it to mean, that 
 the Quirinal hill extended thus far, and that the 
 whole side of it was cut away : nor can we well 
 suppose a separate hill to have existed here, 
 which was removed to make room for the Co- 
 lumn. 
 
 CjELIAN hill. 
 
 The Caelian hill contains little, except some 
 fragments of Aquaducts, and vestiges of ancient 
 building near the Church of St. John and St. 
 Paul. These two saints were brothers, and 
 eunuchs in the Court of Constantia, daughter of 
 Constantine. They were put to death by order 
 of Julian the apostate, and a Church was built 
 upon the spot by Pammachus, a friend of St. 
 Jerom, who died A. D. 410. Venuti considers 
 the ruins, which join on to this church, to have 
 been Vivaria, or places for the wild beasts in- 
 
S. STEPHEN. 
 
 143 
 
 tended for the amphitheatres. But by many 
 they are supposed to be remains of the Curia 
 Hostilia, which Livy places upon this hill n . It 
 may be remarked, that there is a very fine palm- 
 tree in the garden of this Convent, the only one, 
 I believe, certainly the largest, in Rome. 
 
 The Church of St. Stephen is also on this hill, 
 which is curious for its round form, and for hav- 
 ing been built A. D. 483, or thereabouts, by Pope 
 Simplicius, if it is not much older. Some an- 
 tiquaries say, that it was anciently a Temple of 
 Bacchus. It was repaired and considerably 
 altered by Nicholas V. It is round, with two 
 concentric rows of Ionic pillars. In the inner 
 row there are twenty, besides two Corinthian 
 pilasters, and in the area, which they inclose, 
 are two other Corinthian pillars, higher than the 
 rest, and supporting arches. The exterior row 
 consists of thirty-four pillars, besides eight square 
 piles, disposed at regular intervals, apparently for 
 greater strength ; eight of these pillars are Co- 
 rinthian, and higher than the rest. Most of the 
 pillars are of granite : some are of marble, as are 
 the bases and capitals of all. The walls are of 
 brick. L. Fauno is inclined to consider it the 
 Temple of Vesta, which was built by Numa, or 
 to stand upon the same site. It is engraved by 
 Desgodetz, who calls it a Temple of Faunus, 
 and adds, without expressing any doubt, that it 
 was built by the Emperor Claudius. According 
 
 n Lib. i. c. 30. 
 
144 
 
 S. STEPHEN. 
 
 to him, Pope Simplicius only consecrated it to 
 Christian purposes, and Nicholas V. repaired it. 
 What is his evidence for making Claudius the 
 builder of it, does not appear. There is more 
 reason on the side of those persons, who say, 
 that Claudius was the deity, to whom it was de- 
 dicated : for Suetonius tells us°, that a temple 
 was erected to Claudius in the reign of Vespa- 
 sian on the Caelian hill. I shall have occasion 
 to allude to this temple again ; and if we could 
 be certain that it was built in the reign of Clau- 
 dius, it might afford some important evidence in 
 the history of architecture. It is now difficult 
 to get access to this church, as service is never 
 performed here, except on the festival of the 
 saint. The whole hill is indeed almost deserted, 
 and, excepting near the Church of St. John Late- 
 ran, there are very few houses upon it. The Cae- 
 liolus is probably the level ground between the 
 Colosseum, the church of St. Clement, and the 
 Esquiline hill. 
 
 AVENT1NE HILL. 
 
 The Caelian and Aventine hills seem more to 
 belong to a country, which has been deserted by 
 its inhabitants, than to be inclosed within the 
 walls of a populous city. There is reason to be- 
 lieve, that Mount Aventine was never much built 
 upon: it was given to the Latins U. C. 119, and 
 
 ° In Vespas. c. 9- 
 
MOUNT AVENTINE. 
 
 14.5 
 
 probably was always turned to use by cultiva- 
 tion. Pliny speaks of it in the plural p, Nemo 
 saeros Aventinosque montes et irata plebis se- 
 cessus circumspexerit, &c. but this is probably 
 owing to its being intersected by a road, which 
 may be called a valley dividing it into two hills. 
 It is now occupied by gardens, with here and 
 there a solitary church built out of the fragments 
 of ancient edifices. Of these S. Sabina and S. 
 Maria are worthy of observation. The principal 
 ruins upon it are the baths of Caracal la, which 
 will be described hereafter. The tomb of the 
 Scipios is also interesting ; of which some notice 
 will be given, when we have occasion to mention 
 the tombs. 
 
 From this hasty sketch of the seven hills, it 
 may be seen, that modern Rome can scarcely be 
 said to rest upon that base, which the poets of 
 old were so fond of celebrating. By far the 
 greater part of it is in the Campus Martius ; and 
 it perhaps would not be a rash assertion to say r 
 that two thirds of the space within the walls are 
 not built upon. Besides this difference of posi- 
 tion between the habitable part of ancient and 
 modern Rome, another remarkable change has 
 taken place in the level of the ground. From 
 the frequent demolitions of buildings, either by 
 violence or in the natural progress of time, the 
 soil has accumulated in some places to an in- 
 credible height. This, as might be expected, is 
 
 p Lib. xix. c. 4>. 
 L 
 
146 
 
 ANCIENT AND 
 
 most apparent in the valleys between the hills. 
 The pillar of Trajan was buried even above the 
 pedestal, and this measures fifteen feet. The 
 arches of S. Severns and of Constantine had suf- 
 fered in the same way; and in some parts of the 
 Forum the fact is still more remarkable. There 
 is reason to believe, that if a town were to be 
 overthrown and entirely deserted, the natural 
 process of vegetation and decay would in the 
 course of ages cover up many of the fragments. 
 In the Campagna of Rome, which is so thickly 
 covered with ruins, this has undoubtedly been 
 the case; as by excavating, we arrive at the 
 foundation of buildings, over which no later edi- 
 fice has been raised, but which are merely covered 
 with a vegetable mould. In the remains of Ro- 
 man settlements and villas in our own country, 
 the process has been the same. But Rome, 
 though frequently overthrown, has never been 
 deserted. It stands as a link in the chain, which 
 connects ancient and modern history ; and in 
 this part the continuity has never been broken. 
 Even if contemporary accounts were silent, we 
 might learn from recent excavations how over- 
 whelming were the calamities which befel this 
 unhappy city. Near the pillar of Trajan, we 
 find whole rows of columns still standing on their 
 bases, but broken off some feet from the bottom. 
 If the research were to be continued, it would 
 probably be found, that all this part of modern 
 Rome is raised a great height above the ancient 
 level ; and that the buildings which were thrown 
 
MODERN CITY. 147 
 
 down, instead of being restored, or employed in 
 the works which succeeded them, were permitted 
 to lie prostrate, and formed into one mass to re- 
 ceive the new structures. As the city suffered 
 so frequently from invaders, we need not be sur- 
 prised at the greatness of this accumulation. I 
 do not mean to deny, that in some parts, parti- 
 cularly in the Forum, much has been done by 
 the mere progress of time ; but that the raising of 
 the level has mostly been caused by the demoli- 
 tion of buildings, seems evident from a compari- 
 son of the pillar of Trajan with that of Antonine. 
 Venuti remarks the singular fact of so much of 
 the former being buried, while the latter is unco- 
 vered to the very bottom of the pedestal. He 
 does not however give a reason for this difference, 
 which seems very obvious. The pillar of Anto- 
 nine stood in the Campus Martius, where there 
 were scarcely any houses ; whereas that of Tra- 
 jan was erected in a part which had always 
 been built upon. Consequently when the work 
 of pillage was completed, the whole area round 
 the pillar of Trajan was a mass of ruins, while 
 that of Antonine still stood in the open plain, 
 and having itself escaped the destroyers, was not 
 buried in any succeeding buildings. It is easy 
 to understand, why, after the universal destruc- 
 tion of a city, the inhabitants should rather build 
 upon the ruins as they lay, than commence the 
 laborious process of clearing them away. But 
 in the Campus Martius there were few houses to 
 throw down ; and the public buildings which 
 
 l2 
 
148 
 
 CAMPUS MARTIUS. 
 
 remain are not nearly so much buried, as those 
 in the neighbourhood of the Forum. The Por- 
 tico of the Pantheon was formerly ascended by 
 seven steps; two only now remain above the 
 surface: but the difference of five steps is no- 
 thing, when compared with the accumulation of 
 soil at the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, 
 in the Forum. At the Temple of Antoninus 
 Pius, (the modern custom-house,) we have the 
 bases of the pillars still above the ground : and 
 though in the Mausoleum of Augustus the area is 
 considerably raised, this is evidently effected by 
 the upper part of the building having fallen in. 
 
 PANTHEON. 
 
 We are now led naturally to consider the 
 buildings in the Campus Martius q , and we can- 
 not do better, than begin with that, which is the 
 most perfect of all the remains of ancient Rome, 
 the Pantheon of Agrippa. It is indeed the only 
 one of the Pagan temples, which preserves any 
 thing of its original appearance ; and we may 
 rather be surprised that this has escaped so 
 well, than that more have not come down to us ; 
 for after Christianity was established in the Ro- 
 man empire by Constantine, the zeal of the 
 Christians was so excessive, that they com- 
 
 q This name is still preserved in the Piazza di Campo Marzo, 
 and in one of the fourteen Rioni, into which modern Rome is 
 divided, 
 
PANTHEON. 
 
 149 
 
 menced a general destruction of all buildings 
 which had been consecrated to heathen rites. 
 According to S. Jerom, there were in his time 
 two hundred and eight temples in Rome, all of 
 which seem to have suffered spoliation ; and in 
 399, Honorius issued a special decree to protect 
 the ancient edifices from the furious zeal of the 
 new religion. 
 
 The Pantheon is now known by the name of 
 S. Maria ad Martyres, and more commonly La 
 Rotonda, having been dedicated to the Virgin 
 by Pope Boniface IV., who received it from the 
 Emperor Phocas, A. D. 607 : and as he re- 
 moved to this place the remains of saints and 
 martyrs from the different cemeteries, enough to 
 fill twenty-eight waggons, it received the addi- 
 tional title of ad Martyres. It was erected by 
 Agrippa, twenty-six years before Christ, in me- 
 mory of Augustus' victory over Antony, and de- 
 dicated to Jupiter Ultor, and all the gods. It 
 would seem however from Dio r , that the origin 
 of the term Pantheon was not quite ascertained. 
 He says, " It is perhaps called so, because in the 
 " statues of Mars and Venus, it received the 
 " images of several deities. But as it appears to 
 " me, it has its name from the convex form of its 
 " roof, giving a representation of the heavens." 
 It suffered from fire in the time of Titus, and was 
 repaired by Domitian. It was also injured by 
 lightning in the twelfth year of Trajan, when it 
 
 r Lib. liii. 
 L 3 
 
150 
 
 PANTHEON 
 
 was repaired by Adrian ; and again by S. Seve- 
 rus and M. Aur. Antonius, as the inscription on 
 the architrave informs us. 
 
 The first view of this building will disappoint 
 most persons. The round part may be pro- 
 nounced decidedly ugly ; and a Corinthian por- 
 tico is certainly not so striking, when centuries 
 have passed over it and disfigured it, as one of 
 the Doric order. The situation of the building is 
 also very bad, it being in a dirty part of the city, 
 and closely surrounded with houses. The body 
 of the church, or round part, is of brick : but this 
 was not its original appearance, as it was at first 
 covered entirely with marble. All this has been 
 carried away, and the exterior surface, as it now 
 stands, is, as was observed, extremely ugly. 
 The arches which appear in the second and third 
 stories, are the continuation of the vaulting of the 
 roofs, which cover the chapels and the cavities, 
 which will be mentioned shortly, as cut out of 
 the thickness of the wall. 
 
 The Portico however is a most majestic struc- 
 ture. The most inexperienced eye would ob- 
 serve a want of agreement between this and the 
 body of the building. The cornice of the one 
 does not accord with that of the other : and a 
 singular effect is produced by there being a pedi- 
 ment on the temple, which rises above that of 
 the portico ; so that in fact there are two pedi- 
 ments. This has caused some controversy among 
 the antiquaries. But it is now generally sup- 
 posed that Agrippa built the whole, though 
 
PORTICO. 
 
 151 
 
 perhaps at different times, and the portico may 
 have been an afterthought. The inscription, 
 which ascribes the building to Agrippa, stands 
 over the portico. 
 
 M. AGRIPPA. L. F. COS. TERTI VM. S FECIT 
 
 And as we can neither suppose that the portico 
 was built first, or that this inscription was placed 
 before the dedication, or that any other person 
 who added such an ornament would have suf- 
 fered Agrippa' s name to supplant his own, we 
 must conclude, that the whole was the work of 
 Agrippa. Julius Capitolinus says expressly, that 
 Agrippa built the portico also : and it might be 
 argued, that Dio implies the same thing 1 , when 
 he tells us, that Agrippa placed statues of Au- 
 
 8 Between the third consulship of Pompey, and the third of 
 Agrippa. the grammarians of Rome, had probably made up 
 their minds as to the propriety of writing tertium and not tertio. 
 For when Pompey was going to dedicate his theatre, and a 
 temple to Venus Victrix, he asked the learned of Rome, whether 
 he should express his third Consulship by cos. tertivm or 
 tertio : they were much divided in their answers, and Cicero 
 was applied to : with that caution peculiar to his character, 
 he would not commit himself by opposing any other opinion, 
 and advised the first part teri being only written, which was 
 done. When the building was repaired some time after, the 
 difficulty was avoided by writing cos. hi. Aulus Gellius, who 
 gives us this anecdote, (x. 1.) adds, that Varro made this dis- 
 tinction between the two forms. " Aliud est quarto praetorem 
 te fieri et quartum: quod quarto locum adsigniticat ac tres ante 
 " factos: quartum tempus adsignificat et ter ante factum." 
 Varro would have written tertium. 
 1 Lib. liii. 
 
 L 4 
 
152 
 
 PANTHEON 
 
 gustus and himself in the Pronaos : for as the 
 temple is circular, nothing can be intended by 
 the term Pronaos, but the present or a preceding 
 portico. The evidence of coins is sometimes of 
 importance, when applied to Roman buildings : 
 but in the present case little assistance is af- 
 forded, and that little is not free from suspicion. 
 In a work published by Du Choul, " Discours 
 " sur la Religion des anciens Romains," an en- 
 graving is given, at p. 7, of a brass coin, hav- 
 ing on one side the head of Agrippa, with 
 m. agrippa. l. f. cos. in. and on the reverse a 
 round building resembling the Pantheon, with 
 a portico of six columns. The number of co- 
 lumns certainly does not agree; but if the coin 
 were genuine, we must attribute this to accident, 
 because both the inscriptions agree as to the 
 date, ascribing it to the third consulship of 
 Agrippa. There are also some windows repre- 
 sented on the coin as over the portico, which do 
 not exist at present. The evidence, imperfect as 
 it is, is also suspicious, as the learned have de- 
 cided that the coin is spurious. In another work, 
 published by Oiselius, (Thesaurus Numismatum,) 
 there is an engraving, at p. 158, of a coin, which 
 the editor considers as representing the Pantheon. 
 He only gives one side of it, on which is iovi. 
 vltori. p. m. tr. in. and a portico of six columns, 
 with a great space between the middle ones, in 
 which is a figure of Jupiter. The whole is backed 
 by a building, like a pyramid, with steps leading 
 up to the portico. Scaliger certainly hints the 
 
PORTICO. 
 
 153 
 
 probability of there having been more than one 
 building called Pantheon, but he does not bring 
 any evidence to that effect". 
 
 The portico is 110 feet long by 44 deep, sup- 
 ported by sixteen columns of the Corinthian 
 order, disposed in two rows of eight each. Each 
 is of one piece of oriental granite, 42 feet high, 
 without the bases and capitals, which are of 
 white marble. The opening between the two 
 middle pillars is larger than the openings be- 
 tween the others, which is the case also with 
 those of the Temples of Concord, and of Anto- 
 ninus and Faustina : but the difference is scarcely 
 to be perceived without measuring them. Vitru- 
 vius leads us to expect this in the best built tem- 
 ples ; for he tells us x , that the intercolumniations 
 in a portico should equal two diameters and one 
 fourth ; but that the middle intercolumniation 
 should equal three diameters. A temple so con- 
 structed he calls Eustylos. He adds, that they 
 had no example of that kind in Rome ; which, 
 as the Pantheon was built A. C. 26, and Vitru- 
 vius published his work late in the reign of Au- 
 gustus, might be brought as a proof that the 
 portico was a subsequent addition. I have not 
 seen this passage adduced in argument, nor do 
 I know whether there is much weight in it : for 
 Vitruvius is speaking of temples surrounded on 
 all sides by a colonnade ; in both fronts of which 
 this excess of the middle intercolumniation ought 
 
 u In Euseb. Chron. an. 2126, x Lib. Hi. c. 2. 
 
154 
 
 PANTHEON 
 
 to prevail. So that it may be said that he took 
 no notice of the Pantheon, because there was 
 only a single portico to it. According to the 
 plan of Desgodetz, neither the diameters of the 
 columns nor the intercolumniations are uniform. 
 L. Fauno, who wrote in 1548, says, " the roof 
 " was formerly supported by sixteen immense 
 " pillars, but now by thirteen, for one is wanting, 
 " and two have been destroyed by fire. The 
 " same portico is supported by brazen beams 
 " gilt." I cannot exactly ascertain who restored 
 the three pillars which were wanting, for they 
 are now all complete. Desgodetz says, that 
 Urban VIII. in 1627 had two of the pillars 
 brought back, which had been removed to an- 
 other place, and restored the capitals which were 
 wanting. He remarks, that the two angular pil- 
 lars were thicker than the rest, according to the 
 rule given by Vitruvius : and the two which were 
 removed were that at the right hand angle and 
 the one immediately behind it. When they were 
 replaced, the architect was not aware of this dif- 
 ference in their diameters, and has placed the 
 thickest behind the other. Eugenius IV. con- 
 tributed very much to the improvement of this 
 portico, by clearing away some shops which were 
 placed within it ; and early in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury the space in front was freed from many in- 
 cumbrances and intrusions. 
 
 The roof of the portico and of the temple itself 
 was formerly covered with plates of brass, which 
 were taken away by Urban VIII. to form the 
 
ROOF. 
 
 U5 
 
 four pillars round the grand altar in St. Peter's. 
 This story is so confidently related, and the de- 
 tail is so minute, that there seems no reason to 
 doubt it ; yet Fea, in his description of the Va- 
 tican, denies it, and says, that the brass employed 
 by Urban VIII. came from Venice, and was re- 
 gularly paid for. I am afraid that he exculpates 
 the papal theft at the expence of truth. Indeed 
 if what Donatus says be true, it is impossible to 
 deny it. He says, that several cannons and 
 military engines were also made out of the 
 metal, and carried to the Castle of S. Angelo. 
 One of the latter, formed out of the nails which 
 kept the plates together, bore, according to Do- 
 natus, this inscription : " Ex clavis trabalibus 
 " Porticus Agrippae." He says also, that the 
 following inscription was placed over the door 
 of the temple. 
 
 VRBANVS. VIII. PONT. MAX 
 VETVSTAS. ATHENEI. LACVNARIS 
 RELIQVIAS 
 IN. VATICANAS. COLVMNAS. ET 
 BELLICA. TORMENTA. CONFLAVIT 
 
 VT. DECORA. INVTILIA 
 ET. IPSI. PROPE. FAMAE. IGNOTA 
 FIERENT 
 IN. VATICANO. TEMPLO 
 APOSTOLICI. SEPVCHRI. ORNAMENTA 
 IN. HADRIAN A. ARCE 
 INSTRVMENTA. PVBLICAE. SECVRITATIS 
 ANNO. DOMINI. MDCXXXII. PONTIF. IX 
 
 I did not see this inscription ; but it seems 
 ridiculous to question the account of Donatus, 
 
156 
 
 PANTHEON 
 
 who dedicated his work to this very pope. The 
 whole mass of metal weighed 450250 pounds : 
 the nails alone weighed 9374 pounds. As it 
 is stated by Anastasius y , that Constantine took 
 some brazen tiles from this roof and carried 
 them into Sicily, and that Gregory III. covered 
 the roof with plates of brass, the tiles carried 
 away by Urban VIII. must have been those 
 placed there by Gregory. 
 
 There is supposed to have been a bas-relief in 
 the pediment, and, from the appearance of nails 
 to fasten it, it was probably of bronze. The 
 ascent to the portico was formerly by seven steps, 
 but now only by two. These are of stone, but 
 they are said formerly to have been of brass. L. 
 Fauno, who wrote in 1548, says, that in his time 
 the entrance was by a descent of many steps; 
 which was owing to the accumulation of soil 
 from the ruin of neighbouring buildings. It was 
 Alexander VII. who cleared this away, and made 
 the entrance as it is at present. 
 
 The bronze doors, which lead into the church, 
 are of considerable antiquity. It is asserted by 
 Ficoroni 2 , that the original doors were amongst 
 the spoil carried oft' by Genseric, and shipwrecked 
 in the Mediterranean. He is followed in this 
 story by other writers : but no authority has 
 been produced, and Procopius, who mentions 
 the pillage committed by Genseric, does not say 
 a word about the doors of the Pantheon. At 
 the upper part of the present doors we may ob- 
 
 >' Vita S. Vitaliani. 1 Lib. i. c. 20. 
 
INTERIOR. 
 
 157 
 
 serve a kind of grating, which was probably in- 
 tended to let in light. L. Faimo partly confirms 
 the assertion of Ficoroni, by remarking, that the 
 doors evidently did not belong originally to this 
 temple, but came from some other building. He 
 says, that they do not fit the aperture, and that 
 in order to remedy this defect some other ancient 
 ornaments have been annexed. The floor is so 
 much raised, as to hide all the pedestals of the 
 columns in the inside. 
 
 Of the original decorations of the interior, we 
 learn something from Pliny. He tells us% 
 44 There are some Syracusan capitals of columns 
 44 in the Pantheon, placed there by M. Agrippa." 
 And again b , " Diogenes of Athens ornamented 
 44 the Pantheon of Agrippa. The Caryatides 
 " pass for some of the finest works known, on 
 44 account of the statues at the top ; but these from 
 44 their height are less celebrated." When the 
 building was repaired after the fire, great changes 
 took place in the interior. The bronze capitals 
 were perhaps destroyed. The Caryatides also 
 seem to have been removed, which stood in the 
 present attic. The cornice over the lower pillars 
 is scarcely wide enough to have supported them, 
 but this may have been another of the changes 
 made, when the Caryatides were removed. Pi- 
 lasters were then placed in the attic, and these 
 have very strangely been taken away not many 
 years ago. Ficoroni states, but I do not know 
 
 a Lib. xxxiv. c. 5. 
 
 b Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
158 
 
 PANTHEON 
 
 upon what authority, that these Caryatides were fi- 
 gures emblematical of the provinces conquered by 
 the Romans. Winkelmann thinks, that one of them 
 may still be seen. It is at Naples, having been 
 removed thither from the Farnese Palace at 
 Rome. It is the upper half of the figure of a 
 man, apparently a Persian, naked and without 
 arms, upon whose head is a kind of basket, 
 which seems to be surrounded with the leaves of 
 the Acanthus. It was from accidentally seeing a 
 basket encircled in this manner, that Callima- 
 chus first took his idea of the Corinthian capi- 
 tal c . This mutilated figure with the basket is 
 ten palms and a half high, and the height of the 
 attic is nineteen ; so that the proportions will 
 agree very well. As the figure at Naples is that 
 of a man, we should properly call it a Telamo 
 or Atlas: for such, Yitruvius informs us d , were 
 the terms used to imply male figures placed as 
 columns. Female figures of the same kind were 
 called Caryatides : and the same writer gives us 
 the following etymology of the term 6 . At the 
 time of the Persian invasion, Carya, a city of 
 Peloponnesus, took the part of the enemy. When 
 the Greeks were victorious, they turned their 
 arms against the traitorous Carya, and levelled 
 it with the ground, and put all the males to the 
 sword. The women, though condemned to 
 slavery, were forced to retain their robes and 
 ornaments of matrons, as a perpetual memorial 
 
 c Vitruv. lib. iv. c. 1. d Lib. vi. c. 10. e Lib. i. c, 1. 
 
CARYATIDES. 
 
 159 
 
 of their infamy. The architects from this cause 
 took to represent female figures in the attitude of 
 supporting a great burthen ; so that the name and 
 the position might hand down the story of Ga- 
 ry a to the latest posterity. 
 
 Atlas was the Greek term for the male figures, 
 taken, as Vitruvius says, from the fable of Atlas 
 supporting the world. He confesses himself ig- 
 norant of the etymology of the Latin term Te~ 
 lamo. But if Winkelmann is right in calling this 
 a Persian figure, we have in it a confirmation of 
 another remark of Vitruvius ; for he proceeds to 
 tell us, that after the defeat of the Persians at 
 Plataese, the Greeks began to support the roofs 
 of their houses with figures of prisoners dressed 
 in the Persian costume, and hence came the 
 custom of making statues of Persians support 
 the epistyles and their ornaments. 
 
 The height of the whole building is one hun- 
 dred and forty -four feet, and the diameter the 
 same. From the floor to the base of the attic is 
 forty feet two inches (French). Desgodetz says, 
 that the second story is not properly an attic. 
 There are fourteen windows in it ; but they do 
 not open to the outward air, and only give light 
 from the interior of the building to the chapels 
 below, over which they are placed. The pro- 
 jecting part is broad enough for a person to walk 
 round the cupola, and an inscription may be 
 seen in it, which seems to relate to that L. Albi- 
 nus, who took the Vestal Virgins in his carriage, 
 when the Gauls entered Rome, and conveyed 
 
160 
 
 PANTHEON 
 
 them to Caere. It is much mutilated, but if an- 
 cient is certainly curious. 
 
 ADERENT. CAPITOLIV 
 TALES. CAERE. DEDVXIT 
 QVAE. RITVS. SOLEMNES. NE 
 RENTVR. CVRAI. SIBI. HABVIT 
 ERATA. SACRA. ET. VIRGINES 
 XIT. 
 
 Pomponius Lsetus says, that the roof was co- 
 vered with plates of silver : which, he adds, were 
 carried away by Constans, grandson of Hera- 
 clius, when he came to Rome in 663. Paul us 
 Diaconus f and Anastasius^ relate the same cir- 
 cumstance; but they make the tiles to have 
 been of bronze, which seems more probable. 
 They add, that he sent these and other treasures, 
 which he had collected at Rome, to Syracuse, 
 where he established his court, and that after 
 his death they came into the hands of the Sara- 
 cens. Winkelmann thinks, that some of these 
 works of art may still be seen in Sicily b . 
 
 The church is lighted by a circular aperture in 
 the roof, nor is there any other window. The 
 rain of course comes into the interior ; and when 
 Urban VIII. was making a large drain into the 
 Tiber, a circular reservoir was found fifteen palms 
 below the pavement of the church to carry off 
 the water. This was necessary not only for the 
 rain, but on account of the floods, which not un- 
 
 ( Hist. Long. lib. v. c. 11. * Vita S. Vitalmni. h Lib. vi. 
 c. 8. §. S£. 
 
PANTHEON. 
 
 161 
 
 frequently rise so high as to come into the 
 church. 
 
 In the circuit of the wall there are seven cha- 
 pels recessed back and cut out of the thickness 
 of it. Six of them have two pillars in front of 
 each, but the seventh, which is opposite to the 
 entrance, is open. Some have thought, that this 
 one is not so old as the rest, but has been formed 
 since the building was consecrated to Christian 
 worship. The ornaments however are equally 
 well executed, and agree with the rest, except 
 that there is a difference in the fluting of the la- 
 teral pillars, and in the entablature over them. 
 But this may have been an intentional variety in 
 the chapel, which faced the entrance. Between 
 each of these chapels two pillars project from the 
 wall, and behind them is a hollow space taken 
 out of the thickness of it, to which there is no 
 entrance but from without. There are three 
 rows of these cavities, one above the other, eight 
 in each row, and the only use of them seems to 
 have been to lighten the building. 
 
 TEMPLE OF ANTONINUS PIUS. 
 
 Next to the Pantheon, the most considerable 
 ruin we come to in the Campus Martius is the 
 Temple of Antoninus Pius, now the Custom-house. 
 The name of the place where this stands is the 
 Piazza di Pietra, which seems to indicate, that 
 numerous fragments of marble have been found 
 here. The part which is now standing be- 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 BASILICA OF A. PIUS. 
 
 longed to one of the sides of the portico which 
 surrounded the temple, and consists of eleven 
 columns. It would seem to have been more per- 
 fect in the time of L. Fauno, as he makes out 
 that there were formerly forty-two pillars round 
 the temple, and eighteen in the interior support- 
 ing the cella. Palladio also gives a plan of the 
 whole, and conceives that there were originally 
 fifteen pillars on the side: others say thirteen. 
 They have suffered very much from time, and 
 fire is said to have contributed to their deface- 
 ment. The bases and capitals are almost en- 
 tirely worn away. They are of Greek marble, 
 thirty-nine feet high, and four in diameter. The 
 spaces between them are filled up with brick- 
 work, so that the whole presents a sad union of 
 magnificence and decay. The brickwork is per- 
 haps necessary to prop up the building. Part of 
 the vast cornice, which they supported, is still 
 tolerably perfect on the outside. When viewed 
 from the court within, it looks more like part of 
 a great stone-quarry, than a building, from the 
 enormous masses of stone, which are now broken 
 and uneven. A good deal of it was of brick. 
 No part of the temple itself remains. Some call 
 it a Temple of Mars, built by Antoninus Pius ; 
 while others think it a Basilica. P. Victor cer- 
 tainly places a Basilica of Antoninus near to his 
 column. 
 
PORTICO OF OCTAVIA. 163 
 
 PORTICO OF OCTAVIA. 
 
 Few remains of ancient Rome can be identi- 
 fied with more certainty than the fragments of 
 the Portico of Octavia, near S. Angelo in Pesche- 
 ria. Another church near it is called S. Maria 
 in Porticu. Unfortunately it is a mere fragment, 
 and that only of the portico, without any portion 
 of the two temples, which it inclosed. We know, 
 that Augustus, after he had erected the Theatre 
 of Marcellus, inclosed the two temples of Jupiter 
 and Juno, which were very near, with a covered 
 portico or colonnade, dedicating it to his sister 
 Octavia. This served at once as an ornament to 
 the temples, and as a place for the people to walk 
 under and find shelter in going to or returning 
 from the Theatre. The porticos were also used for 
 more serious purposes in Rome. A Library was 
 attached to this of Octavia 1 : and sometimes the 
 senate was held in them, causes were tried, am- 
 bassadors received, marriage-contracts settled, 
 &c. &c. Many articles also were exposed in 
 them for sale. Accordingly we find notices of 
 several porticos, such as that of Nasica, Pom- 
 pey, Livius ; the Portico of Concord, of Quiri- 
 nus, of Hercules, &c. &c. There is a passage 
 in Ovid, where allusion is made to this portico, 
 and to that near the Theatre of Pompey. 
 
 Tu modo Pompeia tectus spatiare sub umbra, 
 Cum Sol Herculei terga Leonis adit: 
 
 iDio, lib. lxvi. 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 PORTICO 
 
 Aut ubi muneribus nati sua munera mater 
 Addidit, externo marmore dives opus. 
 
 Artis Amator. i. 67. 
 
 The row of pillars was double all the way round, 
 and consisted of two hundred and seventy in 
 all. Of these nothing remains but two pillars 
 and two pilasters in one row supporting a pedi- 
 ment ; and parallel to them two other pillars and 
 one pilaster, of which the ground-plan would be 
 this i 
 
 Q O O 
 
 a o o a 
 
 More of them probably exist, but blocked up 
 with buildings, as is partly the case with these. 
 They are Corinthian, of white marble, fluted, and 
 seem to have formed the principal entrance to 
 the temples. On the capital of the pilaster is an 
 eagle with thunder. Vitruvius recommends, that 
 a portico, such as this, with a double row of pil- 
 lars, should have the outer ones Doric, and the 
 inner Ionic or Corinthian. In the present case 
 both are Corinthian. 
 
 From a passage in Velleius Paterculus k it 
 appears, that these temples were surrounded 
 with a portico before the one which Augustus 
 built. He is speaking of Metellus, and says, 
 " This was Metellus Macedonicus, who erected 
 " the porticos which surrounded the two tem- 
 
 k Lib. i. 
 
CVS OCT AT I AE E T HE 
 
 AD IS IOYIS 
 
 AEDIS IYNO^IS 
 
 rn 
 
 c 
 q 
 c 
 
 □J 
 
 □ 
 
 □ 
 
 □ 
 
 □ □ 
 
 □ □ 
 
 □ a 
 □ 
 
 □ □ 
 
OF OCTAVIA. 
 
 165 
 
 " pies without inscriptions, which are now en- 
 " compassed by the porticos of Octavia." Arrian 
 also tells us 1 , that Metellus brought from the 
 town of Dius the twenty-one equestrian statues, 
 which Lysippus had cast in bronze to those 
 guards of Alexander, who had fallen at the battle 
 of the Granicus, and placed them in his portico. 
 Harduin, in his notes upon Pliny m , mentions a 
 silver coin, on which this portico is represented 
 with the inscription q. metellvs pivs. 
 
 A curious illustration of this antiquity is found 
 in those fragments of the ichnography of Rome, 
 which are now in the Museum of the Capitol. 
 The names are fortunately preserved, and the 
 whole is sufficiently entire to give us the relative 
 position of the temples with respect to the por- 
 tico, and the construction of the temples them- 
 selves. I made a rough copy of this fragment 
 myself, and have since found it engraved in the 
 work published by Bellori. It is from his book 
 that the adjoined plate is copied, but with a few 
 trifling alterations, which certainly make it more 
 like the original. The pillars, which still remain, 
 are probably some of those twelve, which are 
 made larger than the rest in the plan, and which 
 formed the entrance to the temples. 
 
 Pliny" alludes to the two temples within the 
 portico. His words are these, " In the temple 
 u of Juno, within the Portico of Octavia, Poly- 
 " cles and Dionysius made the statue of the god- 
 
 1 Lib. i. c. 17- m Lib. xxxiv. c. 14. n Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
 M 3 
 
166 
 
 PORTICO 
 
 " dess : that of Jupiter, which is in the adjoining 
 " temple, was made by the sons of Timarchi- 
 " des." He also tells us, that the two temples 
 were built by Saurus and Batrachus, architects 
 of Sparta, who not being* allowed to inscribe 
 their names upon the building, handed them down 
 to posterity, by placing a lizard and a frog (the 
 signification of their names) in the folds of the 
 pillars, (in columnarum spirts.) Winkelmann in- 
 terprets this to mean the volutes 0 ; and thinks, 
 that he has discovered one of the actual pillars in 
 the Basilica of S. Lorenzo, from which he infers, 
 that these temples were of the Ionic order. Vi- 
 truvius does not agree with Pliny in making 
 Saurus and Batrachus the builders of both tem- 
 ples; but makes that of Jupiter to have been 
 built by Hermodorus, if his text is not corrupt. 
 Perhaps the two Spartans mentioned by Pliny 
 were employed upon the Temple of Juno. Vi- 
 truvius also tells us, that the Temple of Jupiter 
 Stator (for he adds this epithet) was what is 
 called Peripteros, that is, it had an open colon- 
 nade all round it, and the number of pillars on 
 the two fronts and on the sides were in the pro- 
 portion of six to eleven. The plan of it pre- 
 served in the Capitol does not represent it as 
 such. 
 
 We learn from an inscription, which is still 
 extant upon the frieze, that the building suf- 
 fered by tire, and was restored by S. Severus 
 
 0 Vol. ii. p. 590. 
 
OF OCTAVIA. 
 
 167 
 
 and his son Caracalla. This probably was the 
 second fire which had injured it, as Dio p men- 
 tions it among the buildings which suffered from 
 a great fire in the reign of Titus : and an ancient 
 inscription was found not far off, importing that 
 Adrian had repaired the temples which had suf- 
 fered by fire. 
 
 PILLAR OF TRAJAN. 
 
 This pillar was erected about the year of our 
 Lord 115, in commemoration of Trajan's two 
 Dacian campaigns. Dio Cassius says, that it 
 was erected by Trajan himself before he went to 
 the Parthian war : but according to the inscrip- 
 tion it was the work of the senate and people of 
 Rome, and when Trajan had the Tribunitian 
 power for the seventeenth time, which is equiva- 
 lent to the seventeenth year of his reign ; and in 
 this year Trajan was absent in the Parthian and 
 Armenian wars. The words of Dio are, " that 
 " he built libraries, and placed a lofty column in 
 " his Forum, partly as a burial-place for himself, 
 " and partly to shew to posterity the works which 
 " he had constructed round the Forum." We 
 may perhaps reconcile the seeming contradiction, 
 by supposing that Trajan had intended to erect 
 such a column, and made a beginning, but the 
 senate finished it. There is a coin extant, on 
 one side of which is a head of Trajan, with this 
 
 p Lib. lxvi. 
 M 4 
 
168 
 
 PILLAR 
 
 inscription; imp. caes. nervae. traiano. avg. 
 germ. dac. p. m. tr. p. cos. vi. p.p. On the re- 
 verse is the pillar, with a figure on the top of it, 
 and s. p. q. r. Optimo, principi. s. c. In the 
 course of this expedition he died at Seleucia of 
 a dysenteric fever, so that he never saw the co- 
 lumn which was erected in honour of him. His 
 ashes were brought home, and placed in a golden 
 ball at the top of the pillar, which was a singular 
 honour, on account of the custom which pro- 
 hibited any burials within the walls. Some ac- 
 counts place this golden ball in the hand of the 
 statue which was at the top of the pillar : others 
 say that it was deposited at the bottom q . 
 
 A story is told by the Catholics, that Gregory 
 the Great having read an anecdote of this em- 
 peror's humanity, went to the column, and from 
 thence entered a neighbouring church, where he 
 prayed for Trajan's soul. An angel appeared to 
 him, and assured him, that the emperor's soul 
 was secure in the care of his Creator; but to 
 satisfy the Divine justice, Gregory himself was to 
 suffer penance for it, either in this world or in 
 the next. Gregory preferred the present life, 
 and submitted to much penance for the soul of 
 the Pagan emperor. Dante alludes to this in 
 his Purg. x. 73. 
 
 Quivi era storiata l'alta Gloria 
 
 Del Roman Prince, lo cui gran valore 
 Mosse Gregorio all sua gran Vittoria. 
 
 <i Vid. Cassioclor. Chron. 
 
OF TRAJAN. 
 
 169 
 
 The anecdote which urged Gregory to this pious 
 act is also told here; and more may be found 
 of the efficacy of his penance in Parad. xx. 45, 
 &c. It may be mentioned, that the story rests 
 principally upon the authority of an Englishman, 
 John of Salisbury, who wrote in the twelfth cen- 
 tury. But we may learn from Tiraboschi r , that 
 the reality of the vision is not an article of faith 
 with the Catholics, as he ridicules it extremely. 
 
 The pillar stood in a magnificent Forum, which 
 was also called after the name of Trajan. Apol- 
 lodorus designed it, and within the circuit of it 
 there was a palace, gymnasium, library, tri- 
 umphal arch, porticos, &c. many of which were 
 ornamented on the top with equestrian statues 
 and military ensigns gilt 8 . Gold coins are in 
 existence, on the reverse of which this Forum is 
 represented. Alexander Severus ornamented it 
 with the statues of illustrious men*; and the 
 same custom was continued in the time of Ar- 
 cadius and Honorius. These have all been de- 
 stroyed, and nothing now remains but the pillar 
 itself. Till the time of Sextus V. the accumu- 
 lation of soil about it was so great, that it rose 
 even above the pedestal. An excavation was 
 then made, and at present there is an area of an 
 oval form round the pillar to a considerable ex- 
 tent. This was sunk to the level of the ancient 
 Forum, and the whole seems formerly to have 
 
 r Tom. iii. par. 1. p. 1 IS, &q. 
 
 • Vid. A. Gell. lib. xiii. c. 24. Pausan. lib. v. c. 12. 
 1 Lamprid. 
 
170 
 
 PILLAR 
 
 been flagged with marble. Four rows of granite 
 columns have also been brought to light, all of 
 which are broken off about eight feet from the 
 base. These probably belonged to the Ulpian 
 Basilica, or Library, which was of great celebrity. 
 In the middle of the square was an equestrian 
 statue of Trajan, in bronze gilt. Ammianus 
 Marcellinus tells us u , that when the Emperor 
 Constans entered Rome, A.D. 356, 44 and came 
 " to the Forum of Trajan, a structure which I 
 44 conceive to be unique in the world, and de- 
 44 serving the admiration even of celestial beings, 
 " he was struck with astonishment, casting his 
 44 thoughts over its gigantic edifices, which it is 
 44 impossible to describe, or for any mortals to 
 44 imitate. Giving up therefore all hopes of at- 
 " tempting any thing similar, he said, that the 
 44 only thing which he would or could imitate 
 44 was the horse on which the emperor sat. 
 <4 Upon which Hormisdas, of the royal family 
 44 of Persia, who was near him, said, 4 First 
 4 order a stable to be built similar to this, if you 
 4 have the means : may the horse, which you pur- 
 4 pose forming, have as extensive success as that 
 1 which we are looking at." The destruction of 
 this beautiful Forum certainly did not take place 
 under Alaric or Genseric : for Cassiodorus, who 
 wrote about the year 500, or a little after, says 
 of it x , 44 The Forum of Trajan is a perfect mira- 
 44 cle, if we inspect it even with the utmost mi- 
 
 u Lib. xvi. c. 10. x Var. lib. vii. form. 6. 
 
OF TRAJAN. 
 
 171 
 
 " nuteness :" and he is here speaking of the most 
 remarkable objects to be seen in the city. 
 
 The same architect Apollodorus also built the 
 column. Eutropius and Cassiodorus call it one 
 hundred and forty feet high ; but P. Victor says 
 one hundred and twenty-eight, which agrees with 
 the measurement in modern Roman feet. P. 
 Victor is however wrong in the number of the 
 steps and windows, making one hundred and 
 eighty-five of the former and forty-five of the 
 latter; whereas there are one hundred and eighty- 
 four steps, and forty-three windows or apertures 
 for light. The base measures twenty feet on 
 each side, it is covered with trophies, and at 
 each corner is an eagle holding in his talons a 
 wreath of oak, which extends from one to the 
 other. A laurel wreath surrounds the bottom of 
 the shaft as a Torus. 
 
 The shaft itself is covered with bas-reliefs, 
 which go round the whole from the bottom to 
 the top in twenty-three spirals. They represent 
 the exploits of Trajan in both his Dacian expedi- 
 tions. There are about two thousand five hun- 
 dred figures in all, and that of Trajan is repeated 
 more than fifty times. The figures are about 
 two feet high in the lower part of the column, 
 but towards the top they increase in size, that 
 they may appear the same from below. The 
 highest figures have nearly double the height of 
 the lower ones, as have the spirals themselves. 
 Only thirty-three separate pieces of marble are 
 used in the whole work, of which eight are in the 
 
172 
 
 PILLAR 
 
 base, twenty-three in the shaft, one in the capital, 
 and one above it. There is a spiral staircase 
 within, which winds twelve times round, and 
 contains, as stated above, one hundred and 
 eighty-four steps. 
 
 A statue of Trajan formerly surmounted the 
 whole, as may be proved from coins still extant. 
 The head was also found in the rubbish at the 
 bottom, and came into the possession of the Car- 
 dinal delta Valle y . The feet were standing in 
 the time of Sextus V. It is conjectured, that the 
 height of the statue was twenty-one feet. Bellori 
 says eighteen. Sextus V. erected one in gilt 
 bronze to St. Peter in 1587. 
 
 The inscription on the base is as follows : 
 
 SENATVS. POPVLVSQVE. ROMAN VS 
 IMP. CAES. DIVI. NERVAE. F 
 TRAIANO. AVG. GERM. DACICO. PONT 
 MAXIMO. TRIB. POT. XVII. IMP. VI. COS. VI. PP. 
 AD. DECLARARANDVM. QVANTAE. ALTITVDINIS 
 MONS.ET.LOCVS.TANJ^C-O^^BVS. SIT. EGESTVS 
 
 In the last line some of the letters have been 
 defaced by buildings erected against the pillar in 
 the middle ages, tantis. operibvs is the gene- 
 ral conjecture ; some have proposed rvderibvs, 
 others ex. collibvs, others opibvs. Fabretti 
 argues, that we must read operibvs, as there is 
 only room to supply three letters. He is opposed 
 
 y Note of C. Fea to Winkelmann, lib. vi. c. 7. 
 
OF TRAJAN. 
 
 173 
 
 by Lipsius*, Gruterus a , and others, who propose 
 rvderibvs : but they probably never examined 
 the pillar, as Fabretti did, to see the actual space 
 which is defaced. This argument is perhaps 
 most decisive ; but Mabillon in his Analecta, 
 p. 360, publishes a Manuscript of the ninth cen- 
 tury, from the convent at Einsidlen, in which, 
 among many other inscriptions on Roman build- 
 ings, this is given, and operibvs is distinctly 
 read. Whatever the true reading may be, enough 
 remains to prove the extraordinary fact, that as 
 much soil was cut away to form this Forum as 
 equalled the height of the pillar. We learn this 
 also from Dio Cassius, who says, that he dug 
 through as much of the hill as equals the height 
 of the column, and by that means made a level 
 for his Forum. 
 
 The bas-reliefs have been engraved on a large 
 scale, and published with a short description by 
 F. Alfonso Ciacono, Rome 1616. This is a very 
 interesting work, and enables us to have a near 
 inspection of the whole series of figures. The 
 editor entitles it, An History of both the Dacian 
 Wars ; and by comparing the accounts given by 
 historians with the sculptures on the pillar, he is 
 able to illustrate both. Another work was pub- 
 lished by Fabretti at Rome, 1683, entitled, 
 Syntagma de Columna Trajani, which is a sort 
 of criticism upon the work of Ciacono, and filled 
 with learned remarks upon a great variety of 
 
 1 De Magnitudine Roma, lib. iii. c. 7. * P. 237. 
 
174. 
 
 PILLAR 
 
 subjects. He also published at the end of it the 
 historical illustrations of his predecessor. We 
 may see drawings of the whole series by the 
 hand of Giulio Romano, now in the Ducal 
 Palace at Modena. 
 
 Trajan undertook his first expedition into Da- 
 cia in the third year of his reign, A. D. 101. It 
 lasted three years ; and in the following year he 
 celebrated his triumph, which is described in the 
 bas-reliefs. The effect of the campaign was to 
 make the enemy sue for peace. In the second 
 expedition Trajan gained many victories, and 
 Dacia was made a Roman province. King De- 
 cebalus killed himself, which is represented in 
 the bas-reliefs, as is the bringing of his head and 
 hands to Trajan. The year of the second tri- 
 umph is not certain. 
 
 The Roman dress and manners may receive 
 considerable light from these bas-reliefs. We 
 find the soldiers constantly carrying their swords 
 on the right side. On a march they are generally 
 bare-headed : some have no helmets at all, others 
 wear them suspended to their right shoulder. 
 Some of them have lions' heads by way of a cap, 
 with the mane hanging down behind. Each of 
 them carry a stick over the left shoulder, which 
 seems to have been for the purpose of conveying 
 their provisions. We may observe a wallet, a 
 vessel for wine, a machine for dressing meat, &c. 
 We know, from other accounts, that they some- 
 times carried sixty pounds, and food for seven- 
 teen days : they never carried less than enough 
 
OF TRAJAN. 
 
 175 
 
 for three days. Their shields are oblong, with 
 different devices upon them. The standards are 
 of various kinds; such as a hand within a wreath 
 of laurel, which was considered a sign of con- 
 cord. Pictures also were used, which were por- 
 traits of gods or heroes. The soldiers wear upon 
 their legs a kind of tight pantaloon, reaching a 
 little below the knee, and not buttoned. The 
 Dacians have loose pantaloons, reaching to the 
 ancle and shoes : they also carry curved swords. 
 The Sarmatian cavalry, allies of Decebalus, wear 
 plait-armour, covering the men and horses. These 
 we learn from Ammianus b were called Cata- 
 phracti, or Clibanarii. His description exactly 
 answers the representation on the column : 
 " Quos laminarum circuli tenues apti corporis 
 " flexibus ambiebant, per omnia membra de- 
 " ducti: ut quocumque artus necessitas commo- 
 " visset, vestitus congrueret junctura cohaerenter 
 " aptata." Some Roman soldiers have also plait- 
 armour; but they are archers. The horses have 
 saddles, or rather cloths, which are fastened by 
 cords round the breast and under the tail. The 
 Dacian horses are without this covering ; and 
 the Germans, or some other allies, have neither 
 saddles nor bridles to their horses. 
 
 We might observe several other particulars, 
 such as a bridge of boats over a river, and that 
 the boats every where are without a rudder, but 
 are guided by an oar fastened with a thong on 
 
 b Lib. xvi. c. 10. 
 
PILLAR OF TRAJAN. 
 
 one side of the stern. The wall of the camp has 
 battlements, and the heads of the Dacians are 
 stuck upon it. The Dacian women are repre- 
 sented burning the Roman prisoners. We may 
 also see the Testudo, formed by soldiers putting 
 their shields together in a compact mass over 
 their backs : also the sacrifice, called Suovetau- 
 rilia. Victory is represented as writing with a 
 pen upon a shield. 
 
 PILLAR OF M. AURELIUS. 
 
 This is generally called the Pillar of Antonine ; 
 and if we followed the inscription upon the base, 
 we should believe it to have been erected in ho- 
 nour of Antoninus Pius. But this inscription is 
 modern and erroneous, having been placed there 
 by Sextus V. who repaired the whole column, 
 and particularly the base. It is now universally 
 agreed, that the pillar was erected to M. Aurelius 
 by the senate, and the bas-reliefs are entirely 
 devoted to the exploits of that emperor. These 
 surround the pillar in a spiral form, like that of 
 Trajan. 
 
 It is one hundred and seventy-five feet high ; 
 but different writers vary as to the number of the 
 steps and windows. Many make two hundred 
 and six steps and fifty-six windows : but Jos. 
 Castalio, who published a special account of it c , 
 says, that he found one hundred and ninety steps 
 
 c Vid. Graevii Thes. vol. iv. p. 1940. 
 
PILLAR OF M. AURELIUS. 177 
 
 and forty-one windows. At the beginning of the 
 seventeenth century, the whole column was in 
 such a state of decay, that the staircase could 
 not be ascended, which may account for the va- 
 riation ; but Castalio's enumeration is probably 
 the true one. The staircase is now accessible. 
 Sextus V. besides repairing the base, placed on 
 the top a statue of St. Paul, fourteen palms 
 (10i feet) high. It is supposed that there was a 
 statue here formerly, and some make it eighteen 
 palms (1 3f feet) high : but the coin, which is 
 quoted in proof of there having been a statue, 
 represents another column, which was erected 
 by M. Au reikis and L. Verus to Antoninus 
 Pius, and is often confounded with this. Be- 
 sides the injury inflicted upon the pillar by 
 time, it has suffered by lightning. This befel 
 it in the time of Innocent XI. but not for the 
 first time. 
 
 The bas-reliefs upon this column have been 
 engraved by Bartoli, and published by Dom. de 
 Rubeis. They are not so well executed as those 
 on the Pillar of Trajan. The object most wor- 
 thy of observation in them is the figure of Jupiter 
 Pluvius, in commemoration of the shower of rain, 
 which came suddenly to the relief of the Roman 
 army in their war with the Quadi, A. D. 174. 
 The dispute which has arisen upon this story is 
 well known. I shall therefore only mention in 
 the notes the names of those authors who ascribe 
 the miracle to the prayers of the Christians, and 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 FORUM. 
 
 of those who simply mention the fact, without 
 alluding to the Christians' 1 . 
 
 THE FORUM. 
 
 The Forum is perhaps the most melancholy 
 object which Rome contains within its walls. 
 We may lament the ruin of a temple or a palace; 
 but our interest in the fragments remaining is 
 frequently diminished, by our either not knowing 
 with certainty to what building they belonged, 
 or because history has not stamped them with 
 any peculiar recollections. But standing upon 
 the hill of the Capitol, and looking down upon 
 the Roman Forum, we contemplate a scene 
 with which we fancy ourselves familiar, and 
 we seem suddenly to have quitted the habi- 
 tations of living men. Not only is its former 
 grandeur utterly annihilated, but the ground has 
 not been applied to any other purpose. When 
 we descend into it, we find that many of the 
 ancient buildings are buried under irregular 
 heaps of soil; and a warm imagination might 
 fancy that some spell hung over the spot, for- 
 
 d Tertullian. in Apologetico, c. 5 ; et ad Scapulam, c. 4. 
 Euseb. Chron. et Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c, 5. Nicephorus, lib. iv. 
 c. 12. Paulus Orosius, lib. vii. c. 9. Gregor. Nyss. de Quadr. 
 Mart. Or. ii. Letter of Antoninus at the end of Justin Mart. 
 Ap. i. These mention the prayers of the Christians. The fol- 
 lowing only detail the simple fact: Dio, lib. lxxi. Jul. Capitol, 
 in M. Aur. c. 24. Ml. Lamprid. in Heliogab. c. 9. Themist. 
 Or. 15. Claudian. de Sexto Cons. Honorii, 340. 
 
FORUM. 
 
 179 
 
 bidding it to be profaned by the ordinary occu- 
 pation of inhabited cities. 
 
 What Virgil says of its appearance before the 
 Trojan settlers arrived, is singularly true at the 
 present moment, 
 
 passim armenta videres 
 Romanoque foro et lautis mugire carinis. 
 
 jEn. viii. 360. 
 
 Where the Roman people saw temples erected to 
 perpetuate their exploits, and where the Roman 
 nobles vied with each other in the magnificence 
 of their dwellings, we now see a few insulated 
 pillars standing amidst some broken arches : or, 
 if the curiosity of foreigners has investigated 
 what the natives neither think nor care about, we 
 may perhaps see the remnant of a statue or a 
 column extracted from the rubbish. Where the 
 Comitia were held, where Cicero harangued, and 
 where the triumphal processions passed, we have 
 now no animated beings, except strangers at- 
 tracted by curiosity, the convicts, who are em- 
 ployed in excavating as a punishment, and those 
 more harmless animals already alluded to, who 
 find a scanty pasture, and a shelter from the sun 
 under a grove of trees. The Roman Forum is 
 now called the Campo Vaccino. 
 
 If we look to the boundaries of this desolation, 
 the prospect is equally mournful. At one end 
 we have the hill of the Capitol, on the summit of 
 which, instead of the Temple of Jupiter, the 
 wonder of the world, we have the palace of the 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 FORUM. 
 
 solitary senator. If we wish to ascend this emi- 
 nence, we have on one side the most ancient 
 structure in Rome, and that a prison : on the 
 other the ruins of a temple, which seems to have 
 been among the finest in Rome, the name of 
 which is not known. If we turn from the Capi- 
 tol, we have on our right the Palatine hill, which 
 once contained the whole Roman people, which 
 was afterwards insufficient for the house of one 
 emperor, and is now occupied by a few gardens 
 and a convent. On the left there is a range of 
 churches, formed out of ancient temples ; and in 
 front we discover, at a considerable distance, 
 through the branches of trees and the ruins of 
 buildings, the mouldering arches of the Colos- 
 seum. 
 
 If ever we could wish to meditate, and might 
 be allowed to moralize, upon the vicissitudes of 
 human greatness, it would be here. I could well 
 pardon the weakness of that mind, if it must be 
 called weakness, which feels sorrow at such a 
 scene. But I could neither envy the philosophy, 
 nor pardon the selfishness of him, who, because 
 nature has denied him a heart susceptible of such 
 impressions, would extend the prohibition to all 
 around him. When Marcellus wept as Syracuse 
 was about to fall, and Marius surveyed the ruins 
 of Carthage with the eye not of a hero, but of a 
 man, we surely do not think that human nature 
 was degraded : but the sorrow of the one must 
 have been increased by the thought, that so 
 much splendor must shortly fall a sacrifice to his 
 
FORUM. 
 
 181 
 
 own glory : and when Marius saw his country's 
 ancient rival in the dust, he must have felt that 
 the same cause which sent him as an exile to the 
 shores of Africa, might shortly level his own city 
 to the fate of Carthage. Yet are we accustomed 
 to admire the feelings both of Marcellus and of 
 Marius. May we not then be allowed to sym- 
 pathize with the mighty names which once 
 graced the Roman Forum ? May we not see in 
 it a memorial, that whatever is great may be 
 overthrown? and, what is more mortifying to 
 human pride, that much which is overthrown 
 may be forgotten ? Posthumous fame has such 
 charms for some men, that they would consent 
 to be overwhelmed, if they were certain that they 
 would be talked about some thousand years after. 
 But ambition would find but poor encouragement 
 in the ruins of the Forum, where so much great- 
 ness lies doubly buried ; and though some frag- 
 ments may occasionally be brought to light from 
 the soil which covers them, yet the revolution of 
 ages has consigned them to oblivion, and they 
 serve only to excite the ingenuity or the jealousy 
 of antiquaries. 
 
 But we must turn from these meditations to a 
 detail of the melancholy scene. If a line be 
 drawn in one direction from the Arch of S. Se- 
 verus to the Church of St. Theodore, and from 
 the same arch to the Temple of Antoninus and 
 Faustina, or from the Temple of Jupiter Tonans 
 to that of Jupiter Stator, we shall have some 
 notion of the length and breadth of the Forum. 
 
 n 3 
 
182 FORUM. 
 
 Vifruvius tells us e , that the Roman plan was 
 different from that of the Greeks. With the 
 latter the Forum was in the form of a square ; 
 with the Romans it was an oblong, the breadth 
 being about two-thirds of the length. Within 
 the walls of Rome there were many open spaces, 
 which obtained the name of Forum, such as the 
 Boarium, that of Caesar, Nerva, Trajan, &c. 
 But the Forum Romanum obtained the name in 
 a more particular manner, and when we speak 
 simply of the Forum, it is this which we would 
 be understood to mean. 
 
 If we wish to know what buildings or other ob- 
 jects the area of it contained, we must look to 
 history. The place itself will afford us little in- 
 formation. Some light may perhaps be thrown 
 upon the subject, if the excavations are conti- 
 nued ; but the surface is at present only made 
 more unsightly by the hillocks of soil, which are 
 thrown up in all directions, and suffered to re- 
 main. We must naturally suppose, that much 
 open space was left for public meetings, and the 
 ordinary occupation of a market-place : but there 
 were also buildings of various descriptions, both 
 for use and ornament. Besides temples, co- 
 lumns, and arches, we read of shops and por- 
 ticos, which seem to have surrounded the whole. 
 The first care of Romulus and Tatius was to 
 make it level, removing the trees which grew 
 there, and draining off the water, which flowed 
 
 c Lib. v. c. 1. 
 
VIA SACRA. 
 
 183 
 
 into it as a general receptacle from the surround- 
 ing eminences f . Tarquinius Priscus parcelled 
 out certain portions of it, where private indivi- 
 duals might build ; and during his reign shops 
 and porticos were constructed. We learn from 
 Vitruvius, that by the term portico, we are not to 
 understand a mere open colonnade for the 
 purpose of walking under, but places in which 
 there were shops, (he mentions particularly those 
 of silversmiths or bankers, [argentarii]) and that 
 there were apartments over thems. Perhaps the 
 Palais Royal at Paris, or St. Mark's place at 
 Venice, may give us a good notion how the 
 walks and shops were constructed on the sides. 
 The middle of it was by no means free from 
 buildings, as we read of streets passing through 
 it, which would imply, that part of it was co- 
 vered with houses, leaving a passage for the 
 people to pass. The Via Sacra entered the Fo- 
 rum near the Temple of Antoninus and Fau- 
 stina, passing, as is supposed, under an arch, 
 called that of Fabius. The name however does 
 not seem to have been lost, when it reached the 
 Forum : and perhaps the Via Sacra was rather an 
 expression for the whole line of streets, through 
 which the triumphal processions passed from the 
 Arch of Constantine to the Capitol, than any 
 one particular street which bore that name. It 
 certainly was not in a straight line; but after it 
 had passed under the Arch of Titus, it went in a 
 
 f Dion. Hal. lib. ii. g Lib. v. c. 1. 
 
 n4 
 
184 
 
 FORUM. 
 
 slanting direction towards the Temple of Peace, 
 and from thence to the Arch of Fabius. Whether 
 there were more streets than this in the Forum, 
 or whether the greater part of it was an open 
 space, we find, that sometimes the extraordinary 
 luxury was practised of covering it with awnings. 
 Caesar spread them over the whole of the Forum 
 and the whole of the Via Sacra, from his own 
 house to the Clivus Capitolinus h . This was 
 during his dictatorship, and when he wished to 
 amuse the people with games. Marcellus did 
 so, when no spectacles were being exhibited, 
 and merely with a view to make it more whole- 
 some for those, who were engaged in law-suits H 
 We learn from Dio\ that the awning was some- 
 times made of silk. 
 
 It is not my intention to extract from ancient 
 writers a description of buildings, which once 
 ornamented the Forum, but are now no longer 
 in existence. We read of Temples to Caesar, to 
 Augustus, to Castor and Pollux, to Vesta, and 
 other divinities ; but an enquiry into the situa- 
 tion which they probably held, or into the num- 
 ber and height of their columns, would be any 
 thing but interesting, and never can lead to cer- 
 tainty. The position of the Rostra, the Comi- 
 tium, as well as of many other objects, is equally 
 uncertain ; and though much might be said as to 
 the use which was made of them, and the facts 
 connected with their history, yet in treating of 
 
 h Plia. lib. xix. c. 6'. 
 
 1 Ibid. 
 
 k Lib. xliii. 
 
TEMPLE OF JUPITER STATOR. 185 
 
 the monuments still existing in Rome we must 
 omit such subjects, as not forming part of our 
 plan. 
 
 We have very little remaining within the actual 
 verge of the Forum. The three pillars, which 
 stand at the foot of the Palatine hill, are com- 
 monly ascribed to the Temple of Jupiter Stator, 
 others have called them the Temple of Vulcan, 
 and some persons of late have been inclined to 
 see in them a part of the Comitium. Though 
 only three columns remain, supporting a small 
 portion of the frieze and cornice, yet there is no- 
 thing in Rome so much calculated to inspire us 
 with an idea of the magnificence of ancient archi- 
 tecture. They are of white marble, of the Co- 
 rinthian order, and are the largest fluted columns 
 in Rome. Desgodetz gives their height in the 
 French measure as forty-five feet three inches, 
 and seven lines. The flutings are one Roman 
 palm across, about 8f inches, English 1 . It 
 might be conjectured, that considerable force 
 had been used to destroy this temple : for it may 
 be observed, that some of the blocks, of which 
 the shafts are composed, have received a vio- 
 lent wrench, so as actually to force them out of 
 their places, and destroy the continuity of the 
 fluting. The part, which remains, probably be- 
 longed to one of the sides, as there is no trace 
 
 1 The flutings of the Temple of Jupiter Olympius at Gir- 
 genti (Agrigentum) are two palms (17-g- inches) across, which 
 confirms the remark of Diodorus Siculus, (lib. xiii.) that a man 
 could stand in the flutings. 
 
186 TEMPLE OF ANTONINUS. 
 
 of a pediment, which it would have had at either 
 of the fronts. 
 
 The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina is 
 now converted into the Church of S. Lorenzo in 
 Miranda. This formed nearly the north-east 
 angle of the Forum. It was erected, A. D. 178, 
 by M. Aurelius, in honour of his predecessor 
 Antoninus, and his own wife Faustina, who was 
 daughter of Antoninus. Julius Capitolinus men- 
 tions the building of it ; and the inscription upon 
 the frieze still remains : 
 
 DIVO. ANTONINO. ET 
 DIVAE. FAVSTINAE. EX. S. C 
 
 A considerable portion of the ancient building 
 is preserved : but the principal part is the por- 
 tico of ten columns, six in front and two on 
 each side. They are Corinthian, and of the 
 marble called Cipollino, anciently Lapis Phry- 
 gius : the bases and capitals are of white marble. 
 Their whole height is sixty-three palms. The 
 form of the temple was oblong ; and it was not 
 peripteros, or surrounded with an open colon- 
 nade, so that there probably never were more 
 than these ten pillars, unless there were some at 
 the other end. All the cornice of the front has 
 disappeared, as have the shafts of the pilasters 
 at the sides : but some ornaments in the frieze, 
 consisting of griffins and candelabra, are still 
 tolerably perfect. The portico was buried to 
 more than half the height of the pillars ; but they 
 are now laid open to the bases, so that the whole 
 
PILLAR OF PHOCAS. 18? 
 
 may be seen ; but they do not present any great 
 appearance of beauty, as the marble, of which 
 they are formed, is a very indifferent sort. 
 
 To speak correctly, these are all the ancient 
 remains which belonged to the Forum : but 
 there are other buildings not far off, which may 
 properly be mentioned in this place. Before we 
 quit the verge of the Forum, we ought however 
 to say something of the pillar of Phocas, which 
 undoubtedly stood within it. It is only within 
 a very few years, that any thing was known for 
 certain respecting this column. The whole of 
 the base and part of the shaft was buried ; and 
 the ingenuity of antiquaries was greatly exercised 
 to give it a name. L. Fauno conjectures it to 
 have been that of Duilius ; and others had 
 ascribed it to the Temple of Jupiter Custos; 
 others to the Bridge of Caligula. The Duchess 
 of Devonshire has the merit of having an ex- 
 cavation made round it in 1816, at which time an 
 inscription was discovered upon the base, from 
 which we learn, that a gilt statue was placed on 
 the top of it in 608, to the Emperor Phocas, by 
 Smaragdus, Exarch of Italy. As the inscription 
 cannot yet have made its way into many books 
 of travels, I will give it at length : but not hav- 
 ing made any transcript of it myself, I am obliged 
 to copy it from the Itinerary of Vasi, which I 
 should fear is not very correct. It is singular, 
 that the name of Phocas himself has been erased, 
 probably by his successor Heraclius, who de- 
 posed and murdered Phocas, A. D. 610. Other 
 
188 PILLAR OF PHOCAS. 
 
 words also are obliterated, which I have marked 
 by a line under them. 
 
 f OPTIMO CLEMENTIS. FELICISSIMOQVE 
 PRINCIPI DOMINO N. PHOC AE IMPERATORI 
 PERPETVO ADO CORONATO TRI VMPHATORI 
 
 SEMPER AVGVSTO 
 SMARAGDVS EX PRAEPOS SACRI PA LATH 
 AC PATRICIVS ET EXARCHVS ITALIAE 
 DEVOTVS EIVS CLEMENTIAE 
 PRO INN VMERABILIBVS PIETATIS EIVS 
 BENEFICIIS ET PRO QVIETE 
 PROCVRATA ITAL. AC CONSERVATA LIBERTATE 
 HANC STATVAM PIETATIS EIVS 
 AVRI SPLENDORE MICANTEM HVIC 
 SVBLIMI COLVMNAE AD PERENNEM 
 IPSIVS GLORIAM IMPOSVIT AC DED1CAVIT 
 DIE PRIMA MENSIS AVGVST. INDICT. VND 
 PC PIETATIS EIVS ANNO QVINTO 
 
 We may be surprised to read so flattering a tri- 
 bute to so execrable a tyrant. Gregory the 
 Great, who was then pope, has also made ho- 
 nourable mention of him in his Epistles, which 
 gives Gibbon occasion to say m , that 44 the joyful 
 44 applause, with which he salutes the fortune of 
 44 the assassin, has sullied with indelible disgrace 
 44 the character of the saint." But we should 
 remember, (which Gibbon does not mention,) that 
 his enormities had been confined to the eastern 
 empire, whereas Italy seems to have been fa- 
 
 m Decline and Fall, c. 46. 
 
TEMPLE OP JUPITER TONANS. 189 
 
 voured by him. He wrote to Gregory, proposing 
 an orthodox confession of faith, acknowledged the 
 supremacy of the Romish see, was very liberal 
 to the Roman churches, and allowed the Pan- 
 theon to be converted to Christian purposes. All 
 which must have been extremely gratifying to a 
 pope in the seventh century, and perhaps we 
 ought to make some allowance for his feelings in 
 the nineteenth. 
 
 Marlianus, who wrote in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, says, that some letters were visible in his 
 time on one side of the plinth, but were so worn 
 by age, that nothing could be made out. The 
 pillar is Corinthian, of Greek marble, and fluted, 
 sixty- three palms (forty-six feet two inches) high. 
 It stands upon a high pyramid of steps, and is 
 probably much older than the time of Phocas. 
 
 On the declivity of the Capitol, and not far 
 from this column, are three pillars, which are 
 said to have belonged to the Temple of Jupiter 
 Tonans. It is known from Suetonius, that Au- 
 gustus erected such a temple at the foot of the 
 Capitol, upon occasion of one of the servants, 
 who was preceding his litter, being struck with 
 lightning; but what is the evidence for identify- 
 ing it with these remains, I do not know. 
 Augustus' building was restored by S. Severus 
 and Caracalla; and as we still read estitver 
 upon the frieze, this certainly may be the same. 
 The pillars were till lately buried almost up to 
 the capitals, but are now laid open to the bottom. 
 They are of great size, being six palms (four feet 
 
190 TEMPLE OF JUPITER TONANS. 
 
 four inches) in diameter, of white marble, Corin- 
 thian and fluted. Upon the lateral frieze there 
 are several ornaments connected with sacrifices, 
 such as the Albogalerus, or cap, which the Fla- 
 men Dialis wore : the Secespita, or iron knife, 
 with an ivory handle, used by the same priest : 
 the Capedunculus, or dish : an axe, a hammer, 
 the aquiminarium or jug; the aspersorium, or in- 
 strument for sprinkling the lustral water, all of 
 them used in the rights of Jupiter™, which may 
 be another argument, that these remains are 
 rightly named. There is a coin of Augustus, on 
 the reverse of which is a portico with six pillars. 
 The two middle ones are wider apart than the 
 rest ; and between them is a figure of Jupiter 
 with the letters iov. ton. Vitruvius says, that 
 the Temple of Jupiter Tonans had a portico of 
 thirty columns. 
 
 Not far from these remains are eight other 
 pillars, which are commonly said to belong to 
 the Temple of Concord. Six of them are in 
 front ; the other two behind. On the architrave 
 we read, 
 
 SENATVS. POPVLVSQVE. ROMANVS 
 INCENDIO. CONSVMPTVM. RESTITVIT 
 
 Scarcely any thing remains above the architrave: 
 all that exists is of brick ; and there are arches 
 
 in it over the intercolumniations. We may re- 
 
 oj flu J?ioffil>i ti5)riiHi v{ji|>A i Ii I ^.'i/hIki *fru.' 
 
 " There is a coin, which has on one side an elephant and 
 caesar ; on the reverse four of these sacred instruments. 
 
TEMPLE OF CONCORD. 
 
 191 
 
 gret the destruction of this temple more particu- 
 larly, because at no very distant period it was 
 nearly perfect, and was wantonly destroyed. 
 Poggio, who wrote in the beginning of the fif- 
 teenth century, tells us, that the whole of the 
 temple, with part of the portico, was burnt to 
 make lime ; and that the pillars were thrown 
 down since he came to Rome. Andrea Fulvio 
 relates the same story ; and this may perhaps 
 furnish us with too true an insight into the cause 
 of so many majestic edifices having entirely dis- 
 appeared. When this temple was restored, after 
 the fire, it was probably done in haste, and ma- 
 terials were employed in it which belonged to 
 different buildings : for it has been observed, 
 that neither the diameters of the pillars nor the 
 intercolumniations are equal. The two angular 
 columns alone have plinths, and the capitals are 
 composed of Doric and Ionic mixed. They are 
 of granite, and all of one piece, fifty-nine palms 
 (forty-three feet three inches) high : the bases 
 and capitals are of white marble. 
 
 Now that it is so muqh the fashion with the 
 Roman antiquaries to call into dispute the names 
 which have been given to ancient buildings, the 
 Temple of Concord has been obliged to change 
 its title, and it is conjectured to have been a 
 Temple of Fortune. This goddess was certainly 
 worshipped near this spot, as appears from some 
 verses at Praeneste : 
 
 Tu quoque Tarpeio coleris vicina Tonanti, 
 Votorum vindex semper Fortuna meorum. 
 
192 TEMPLE OF REMUS. 
 
 We know also from Zosimus, that the Temple of 
 Fortune was burnt in the time of Maxentius ; 
 and any repair made after his time would be 
 likely to be in bad taste, as this certainly was. 
 So that it is by no means improbable that we 
 should be justified in altering the appellation of 
 these remains. 
 
 Part of the Church of SS. Cosmo and Da- 
 miano is ancient. It was perhaps not actually 
 in the verge of the Forum, but near to it. The 
 round vestibule is generally said to have belonged 
 to a Temple of Remus, but others have called it 
 a Temple of Quirinus. Livy mentions one hav- 
 ing been erected by Papirius in 460 U. C.° and 
 this may have been the Temple of Quirinus, which 
 was burnt in 703, and restored by Augustus : but 
 it is stated to have had seventy-six columns at- 
 tached to it, which presents a greater idea of 
 magnificence than seems to have belonged to 
 this small Vestibule. It was converted to the 
 purpose of a Christian church by St. Felix III. 
 in 530; repaired in 689 by Sergius I.; and again 
 in 780 by Adrian I. who added the bronze doors. 
 Its present appearance however is very different 
 from what it was during those periods : for the 
 church being found extremely damp, on account 
 of the great accumulation of soil outside, Urban 
 VIII. raised the level of it ; so that the present 
 floor is about twenty feet higher than that of the 
 ancient temple ; and its doors of bronze, with 
 the two pillars of porphyry, were formerly much 
 
 ° Lib. x. c. 46. 
 
TEMPLE OF PEACE. 
 
 193 
 
 lower down than they are now. The original 
 level may be seen by descending some steps near 
 the altar. There is a curious echo in the vesti- 
 bule. 
 
 Close to this church are some of the most re- 
 markable remains in Rome, which till lately were 
 always said to have belonged to the Temple of 
 Peace. Good reasons, however, are given for 
 making us believe that this name has been 
 wrongly applied. It is certain, from Suetonius 
 and from Josephus, that Vespasian erected a 
 magnificent temple near the Forum, and conse* 
 crated it to Peace. But we also learn from He- 
 rodian, that the whole of it was consumed by fire 
 in the reign of Commodus. Procopius tells us, 
 that the ruins were lying on the ground in his 
 time ; nor is it likely that it was rebuilt subse- 
 quently : so that we can hardly imagine the pre- 
 sent remains to belong to the building erected by 
 Vespasian. It is more difficult to decide what 
 we ought to call it. Vasi thinks that it is the 
 Basilica of Constantine ; but I have not found 
 any other authority for this idea. A small portion 
 only of the original building remains; but the 
 parts of it are on a prodigious scale. It consists 
 of three very large arches, each about seventy- 
 five feet across. We should consider these in 
 the present day as a side aisle, or as three lateral 
 chapels. The rest of the building has disap- 
 peared ; but the plan may be made out, and it 
 seems to have consisted of a nave, with an aisle 
 on each side : these were divided from each other 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 TEMPLE OF PEACE. 
 
 by eight pillars, four of which stood against the 
 piers which divide these arches. One of them 
 may still be seen in Rome, it being that very 
 beautiful pillar which stands in front of St. Maria 
 Maggiore. It was removed from its original 
 place by Paul V. and measures sixty-four palms 
 (forty-seven feet) in height. Nothing gives us a 
 greater idea of the splendor of the structure, than 
 the vast and elegant proportions of this column : 
 and if we are really to assign the building to the 
 days of Constantine, we must suppose, that the 
 eight pillars came from some edifice which had 
 been erected at an earlier period. The middle 
 arch of the three is recessed farther back ; and each 
 of the others has two rows of windows, with three 
 in each row. The ceiling of all of them was or- 
 namented with stucco, much of which still re- 
 mains. It is calculated that the whole length of 
 the temple was 326 feet, and the width 220. 
 The entrance is supposed to have been at the 
 side facing the Colosseum. 
 
 Beyond this are the ruins of the Temple of 
 Venus and Rome. We see here two chapels, 
 joining each other by the semicircular tribunes ; 
 and this is all that now remains, though when 
 the building was entire it was extremely magni- 
 ficent. This temple had the singular honour of 
 having an emperor for its architect ; as Adrian 
 himself, who was fond of this study, drew out a 
 plan of it, and submitted it to Apollodorus, who 
 had distinguished himself so much in the reign 
 of Trajan, by building the Forum of that em- 
 
TEMPLE OF VENUS AND ROME. 195 
 
 peror, and the bridge over the Danube. Adrian 
 was fond of all the fine arts, and fancied himself 
 a great proficient in them. We know that he 
 amused himself with painting and sculpture ; 
 and Anrelius Victor is complaisant enough to 
 compare him to Polycletus and Euphranor. 
 Apollodorus had reason to lament his having an 
 emperor for a rival ; for as he was not so good a 
 courtier as Aurelius Victor, he did not much 
 praise his master s taste in the plan of this tem- 
 ple; and having offended him by a former ex- 
 pression of his opinion, he was punished with 
 death. Dio gives us the account of this temple; 
 from whom it appears that it was surrounded by 
 a portico, and the whole length was 730 palms, 
 (535 feet,) the width 437 palms, (321 feet.) Pru- 
 dentius also mentions it : 
 
 ante 
 
 Delubrum Romae (colitur nam sanguine et ipsa 
 More Deae, nomenque loci ceu numen habetur : 
 Atque Urbis Venerisque pari se culmine tollunt 
 Templa:) simul geminis adolentur thura Deabus. 
 
 Contr. Sym. i. 218. 
 
 The people of Smyrna were the first who erected 
 a Temple to Rome, U. C. 559 p. 
 
 Between the Forum Romanum and that of 
 Trajan there were two others, that of Augustus, 
 and that of Nerva. The latter was begun by 
 Domitian, and finished by Nerva ; and from its 
 communicating with the two others was called 
 Transitorium, or Pervium. Part of the wall 
 
 ' ; p Tac. An. lib. iv. c. 56. 
 
 O 2 
 
196 TEMPLE OF NERVA. 
 
 which bounded this still remains, of a great 
 height, and about 144 paces long. It is com- 
 posed of square masses of freestone, very large, 
 without any cement, and it is extraordinary, that 
 it is not carried in a straight line, but makes three 
 or four angles,. as if some buildings had interfered 
 with its direction. There is an arch in it called 
 L'Arco de' Pantani, and this also is irregularly 
 built, as the sides of it are not at right angles, but 
 oblique. It seems to be at least half buried by 
 the accumulation of soil. 
 
 Close to this arch are some remains of the 
 temple erected in honour of Nerva, by Trajan. 
 Others have called it the temple erected to Mars 
 Ultor by Augustus, in consequence of a vow, 
 which he made in the campaign against Brutus 
 and Cassius. Venuti says that there was for- 
 merly this inscription on the architrave : 
 
 IMP. NERVA. CAESAR. AVG, PONTIF 
 MAX. TRIB. POT. II. IMP. II. PROCOS. 
 
 Pliny mentions a temple to Nerva in his Pa- 
 negyric, and it is said to have been one of the 
 most magnificent in Rome. At present nothing 
 remains but three pillars and a pilaster of the 
 Portico, which looked towards the Forum Ro- 
 manum. These pillars are Corinthian, of Parian 
 marble, fifty-four feet and a half high. The ar- 
 chitrave, which is supported by them, is hand- 
 somely ornamented. The monastery of the Nun- 
 ziatina is built immediately behind these pillars, 
 
TEMPLE OF MINERVA. 
 
 197 
 
 and a high brick tower belonging to it rises over 
 them. 
 
 Not far from this, and still nearer to the Forum 
 Romanum, is a still more beautiful fragment, con- 
 sisting of two columns supporting a magnificent 
 architrave, which are supposed to have be- 
 longed to a Temple of Minerva. The pillars are 
 Corinthian, eleven feet in circumference, and 
 calculated to be thirty-one in height, but more 
 than half of them is buried. The frieze is very 
 rich, containing bas-reliefs characteristic of Mi- 
 nerva, of very good workmanship. Above this 
 is an attic story, which has suffered considerably, 
 but a figure of Minerva in the middle of it is 
 tolerably perfect. This may be the temple men- 
 tioned by Pliny % " when the Forum was dedi- 
 " cated, which is called Pervium, in which a 
 " loftier and more magnificent temple is erected 
 " to Minerva." 
 
 TRIUMPHAL ARCHES. 
 
 Pliny calls the Triumphal Arch a new inven- 
 tion : not that they were unknown before the 
 time of Vespasian, but because they were of 
 much meaner materials and unornamented. Ro- 
 mulus is said to have had one of brick ; and 
 Blondus, an antiquary of the fifteenth century, 
 says, that the remains of it fell down in his time. 
 Camillus had one of stone, which was not far 
 
 1 Lib. vii. c. 26. 
 o 3 
 
198 
 
 ARCH OF 
 
 from S. Maria sopra Minerva. All those which 
 still remain, or of which the situations are known, 
 were placed in the way, along which the trium- 
 phal processions passed to the Capitol. It seems 
 probable, however, that sometimes temporary 
 arches were erected during the triumph, and the 
 more durable ones afterwards. 
 
 ARCH OF JANUS. 
 
 This, which is the most ancient now remain- 
 ing, was probably not a Triumphal Arch. It is 
 the only one of the kind in Rome. This name 
 was given to all those Arches which had passages 
 through them both ways ; that is, where there 
 were two arches cutting each other at right 
 angles. Such Arches were called simply 
 Jajii; as Suetonius says of Domitian, " He 
 " erected a great many Jani and Arches with 
 " cars and triumphal insignia in different quar- 
 " ters of the city." The Temple of Janus itself 
 was probably on this plan. The first was built 
 by Numa r . Plutarch calls it vtag vgog, a two- 
 gated temple: and Servius has the following pas- 
 sage, at JEn. vii. 607. " Nuraa Pompilius 
 " erected this sanctuary, (the Temple of Janus,) 
 " near the bottom of the Argiletus, by the The- 
 " atre of Marcellus: it consisted of two very 
 " small temples. There were two, on account of 
 " Janus having two faces. Afterwards when 
 
 ' Liv. lib, i.e. 19. 
 
JANUS. 
 
 199 
 
 44 Falerii, a Tuscan city, was taken, an image of 
 44 Janus with four fronts was found : in conse- 
 44 quence of which, that which Numa had finished 
 44 was removed to the Forum Transitorium, and 
 44 one temple was built with four gates." The 
 words of Servius seem to shew, that the building 
 erected by Numa was not far from the present 
 Arch of Janus. It is ornamented with twelve 
 niches on each side ; and on the east and west 
 they are all deep enough to have contained sta- 
 tues. On the other sides only four are of that 
 depth. Varro s says, that Janus had twelve altars 
 dedicated to him, one for each month of the year. 
 Some have imagined, that the. twelve niches on 
 each side of this arch relate to this custom ; and 
 appeal to the etymology of Janus, which they 
 say is synonimous with Tempus. 
 
 Not much is known as to the date or purpose 
 of this Arch. There is reason to believe, that it 
 was made use of by the bankers and money- 
 changers ; and Horace alludes to this, or a simi- 
 lar building, when he says, 
 
 postquam omnis res mea Janum 
 Ad medium fracta est. Sat. ii. 3, 18. 
 
 And, 
 
 Virtus post nummos. Haec Janus summus ab imo 
 Perdocet. Epist. i. 1, 54. 
 
 The Greek marble, of which it is built, brings the 
 date down to the end of the Republic, as that ma- 
 
 8 Lib. iv. 
 O 4 
 
200 
 
 ARCH OF JANUS. 
 
 terial did not begin to be used till that time. 
 Each side is seventy-seven feet long. The lower 
 part has only been lately brought to light from 
 the soil, which had accumulated round it. The 
 brickwork at the top is the work of the middle 
 ages, when it was fortified by the Frangipani 
 family. Much of the demolition of the ancient 
 buildings in Rome is to be attributed to the dis- 
 sensions of great families, on which occasions 
 these relics were seized upon, as places of de- 
 fence. During the residence of the Popes at 
 Avignon in the fourteenth century, the Colonna 
 and Orsini families contributed not a little to this 
 destruction. 
 
 The spot, on which the Arch stands, forcibly 
 reminds us of former times : no where in Rome 
 is there a greater appearance of desolation and 
 decay. The ground points out by its irregular 
 surface that many buildings are buried under it: 
 the Cloaca Maxima may be seen close by, pass- 
 ing under the stupendous Arch, which covers it: 
 other water flows into it, which occasionally 
 inundates the Arch itself, and which probably 
 formed the Lake of Juturna. Even the ancient 
 name of Velabrum is preserved in the Church of 
 S. Georgio in Velabro, which is not far off. 
 That there was always water in this neighbour- 
 hood we learn from several passages in ancient 
 authors. Tibullus, lib. ii. el. 5. 
 
 At qua Velabri regio patet, ire solebat 
 Exiguus pulsa per vada linter aqua. 
 
ARCH OF TITUS. 
 
 «201 
 
 Ovid, Fasti, 6, 10. 
 
 Qua Velabra solent in Circum ducere pompas., 
 Nil praeter salices crassaque canna fuit : 
 
 Hie, ubi nunc fora sunt, lintres errare videres, 
 Quaque jacent valles, maxime Circe, tuae. 
 
 ARCH OF TITUS. 
 
 This stands at the foot of the Palatine hill, 
 on the road leading from the Colosseum to the 
 Forum. It is reckoned one of the most beauti- 
 ful models of architecture which remain, though 
 it has suffered more than some of the other Arches; 
 nor was it so large, consisting only of one arch- 
 way. The white marble, of which the whole is 
 composed, is become quite black with age. It 
 is generally quoted, as being the most ancient 
 building, in which the Composite order is found : 
 but Pocock in his travels 1 mentions a temple at 
 Melasso (anciently Mylasa) in Caria, where the 
 six pillars of the portico are Composite. His en- 
 graving clearly represents them as such ; and as 
 the temple was built in honour of Augustus and 
 Rome, as is proved by the inscription still re- 
 maining, we have here an earlier specimen than 
 the Arch of Titus by upwards of half a cen- 
 tury. If the Composite is rightly called the Ro- 
 man order, it is singular that the earliest known 
 specimen of it should be in a Greek city ; and 
 we may remark as a singular circumstance its 
 
 4 Vol. ii. p. 61. 
 
202 
 
 ARCH OF 
 
 not being found in the Colosseum, also built by 
 Titus, which consists of four stories, and where 
 the three first are successively Doric, Ionic, and 
 Corinthian. It might have been expected, that 
 the fourth would have been Composite, in order 
 to continue the variety, but this also is Corin- 
 thian, as well as the one below it. It should be 
 mentioned, however, that when we speak of the 
 Composite order, we are using a term not re- 
 cognized by the ancients. Vitruvius does not 
 make a fifth order of it, and only notices the va- 
 riety in the capital, which he says is composed 
 of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The shaft 
 and other parts are not characterized by him, as 
 having any thing peculiar ; and in the same way 
 he considers the Corinthian capital as made up 
 of the Doric and Ionic. Serlio is the first writer 
 who treats of the Composite as a fifth order ; and 
 he founds his remarks upon this Arch, the two of 
 Septimius Severus, the Baths of Diocletian, Tem- 
 ple of Bacchus, &c. 
 
 This Arch was erected by the senate and 
 people of Rome to commemorate the triumph, 
 which followed the taking of Jerusalem by Ti- 
 tus. The inscription is briefly this, 
 
 SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMAN VS 
 DIVO TITO DIVI VESPASIANI F 
 VESPASIANO AVGVSTO 
 
 And from the epithet of Divus applied to Titus 
 we learn, that it was not erected till after his 
 
TITUS. 
 
 203 
 
 death. This inscription is on the side facing the 
 Colosseum. On the opposite front, the attic and 
 cornice are completely defaced ; and the base of 
 one of the pillars is the only ornament remaining 
 on that side. Some of the vessels, which be- 
 longed to the temple at Jerusalem, and which 
 were carried in the triumphal procession, appear 
 in the bas-reliefs on the interior sides of the Arch. 
 There is also the emperor himself in a car, drawn 
 by four horses, attended by senators, crowned 
 with laurel. 
 
 A Dissertation was written upon these bas- 
 reliefs by Reland, intitled, " De Spoliis Templi 
 4 6 Hierosolymitani in Arcu Titiano, Traj. ad 
 " Rhen. 1716," in which are given engravings of 
 the Arch, and the figures carved upon it. The 
 treatise is full of Rabbinical learning, and may 
 be interesting to the admirers of that study : but 
 I shall only select from it a few remarks, which 
 relate immediately to the sculptures upon the 
 Arch. 
 
 Josephus n says, that the golden table, golden 
 candlestick, the book of the law, and other 
 spoils, were carried in the triumph. Those, 
 which can be recognized upon the Arch are the 
 candlestick, the table, the vessel of incense, and 
 two trumpets. Reland tells us, that he employed 
 Anthony Twyman, an Englishman, to measure 
 the bas-reliefs for him, and that the candlestick, 
 including the base, was two feet nine inches 
 
 11 De Bello Jutl. e. 17- 
 
204 
 
 ARCH OF 
 
 (English) in height. The breadth of the base 
 and of the branches at top is exactly the same, 
 each being two feet. This however can of course 
 give us no measure of the height of the can- 
 dlestick itself. We may observe, that all the 
 branches rise to the same height, so as to form a 
 straight line at top; and the two exterior branches 
 are not similar in their ornaments. With respect 
 to these ornaments, and the form of the candle- 
 stick itself, descriptions are to be found in Rab- 
 binical writings : it is also represented in some 
 ancient gems and upon a lamp, engravings of 
 which may be seen in Reland's work. 
 
 The account, with which we are most familiar, 
 is that given in Exodus xxv. 31 — 36. We there 
 find mention of three different ornaments, bowls, 
 knops, and flowers. Josephus x describes them 
 thus, mwolrjrcci S\ cQciigia, zoci ng'iva, crvv po'ifftcoig kou 
 xgoLTfigtiioig' zS$o{a?ix,ov7cc, h\ tfdvTct. In this pas- 
 sage, the zgim are what our translators have 
 called flowers ; and in the Septuagint they are 
 also called xgivu. The xgurfjgiiiu are the cups, 
 or bowls, and the poitrzoi are the knops. Reland 
 calls the latter mala, apples ; and supposes, that 
 they were intended for the mala punica, or pome- 
 granates. From the Greek term used by Jose- 
 phus and the Seventy we might be led to 
 imagine, that the flowers were meant for lilies ; 
 but Reland conjectures them to be the flowers 
 
 * Antiq. lib. iii. 
 
 / 
 
TITUS. 
 
 205 
 
 of the pomegranate. In the bas-reliefs the three 
 ornaments always join each other, the apple in 
 the middle, and the cup and the flower sur- 
 rounding the top and bottom of it; so that we 
 may naturally suppose the flower to have be- 
 longed to the fruit. Maimonides informs us, 
 that the cups were like Alexandrian cups, nar- 
 row at the bottom and broad at the mouth ; in 
 short, like modern saucers, and so they appear 
 upon the Arch. The same author says, that the 
 knops were like Cretan apples, in shape like an 
 egg, and broad from each extremity. The flowers 
 he compares to those in the capitals of pillars, or 
 to a dish, the lips of which are bent outwards. 
 
 The table represented on the arch does not 
 answer so well to the descriptions, which we 
 have of it. The account is to be found in 
 Exodus xxv. 23, &c. At verse 26, mention 
 is made of rings at the feet for the purpose 
 of carrying it : these are not in the figure. Jose- 
 phus y says, that the legs were finished exactly, 
 (rzhkuc, uwyigrurp'tvoiy) for the lower half ; and that 
 the upper half of them was square. This does 
 not appear from the bas-reliefs, but it is possible, 
 that the edges have been rounded off by time. 
 There are two vessels upon the table. 
 
 According to the Book of Numbers, x. 2, 
 there were to be two trumpets made of silver, of 
 which a farther description may be seen in Jo~ 
 
 y Antiq. lib. iii. c. 6. 
 
206 
 
 ARCH OF 
 
 sephus 2 . Two trumpets appear upon the Arch ; 
 and this is all which is worthy of notice, as to 
 the form of the different vessels. 
 
 The fate of these spoils, after they were carried 
 in triumph, is rather interesting. We can trace 
 their history down to a late period, but what 
 finally became of them can perhaps never be as- 
 certained. Josephus says a , that the veil and 
 books of the law were placed in the Palace at 
 Rome, and the candlestick and other spoils were 
 kept in the Temple of Peace. Mention is made 
 of the golden fillet being seen in the time of 
 Adrian. When the Temple of Peace was burnt, 
 in the reign of Commodus, these treasures were 
 not destroyed ; for Anastasius, where he relates 
 that Genseric entered Rome on the third day 
 after the flight of Maximus, and carried off a 
 great deal of treasure to Africa, says, that 
 amongst the spoil were the Hebrew vessels, 
 which Titus had brought to Jerusalem 5 . He 
 states farther, that Belisarius, after conquering 
 the Vandals, returned to Constantinople with 
 great treasures, among which were the Jewish 
 vessels which Titus had brought to Rome, and 
 Genseric had carried to Africa. This was in the 
 year 520. Procopius confirms this account c , 
 
 z Lib. iii. c. 2. 
 
 a De Bello Jud. lib. vii. c. 24. 
 
 b I give this on the authority of Reland, but I have not 
 myself been able to find the passage in Anastasius. Nice- 
 phorus mentions it, lib. xv. c. 11. 
 
 c Lib. ii. e. p,. 
 
TITUS. 
 
 207 
 
 and adds, that a Jew, who saw them, told 
 an acquaintance of the emperor, that it would 
 not be advisable to carry them to the Palace at 
 Constantinople, as they could not remain any 
 where else but where Solomon had placed them. 
 This he said was the reason why Genseric had 
 taken the Palace at Rome, and the Roman army 
 had in turn taken that of the Vandals. When 
 this was reported to the emperor, he was alarmed, 
 and sent the whole of them immediately to the 
 Christian churches at Jerusalem. 
 
 We have mention of some more of the Jewish 
 spoils in another passage of Procopius, where he 
 says, that the Franks carried on the siege of Car- 
 cassio with great eagerness, because they under- 
 stood that the royal treasure was there which 
 Alaric had carried off when he plundered Rome; 
 among which were the treasures of King Solo- 
 mon, and the spoil taken by the Romans from 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Besides these bas-reliefs, there are others in 
 the frieze, which represent the procession of a 
 sacrifice. Over the Arch there is a hollow 
 chamber, which does not seem to have had any 
 particular use, except to lighten the building. 
 Till the time of Sextus IV. the bas-reliefs were 
 not visible, so much had the soil accumulated, 
 and buried the Arch. That pope ordered it to 
 be excavated ; and there is now a clear passage 
 under the Arch at the level of the ancient pave- 
 ment, if not upon the ancient pavement itself. 
 
 I have seen it stated, but cannot vouch for the 
 
ARCH OF 
 
 truth of the story, that no Jew will pass under 
 this Arch ; but that if they want to go that road, 
 they walk by the side of it d . 
 
 ARCH OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, 
 
 (In the Forum.) 
 
 This Arch stands at the foot of the Capitol, 
 and was at the north-west angle of the ancient 
 Forum. It is of white marble, and consists of 
 one large arch, with a smaller one on each side, 
 with a lateral communication from one to the 
 other. Besides the bas-reliefs on each front, it 
 is ornamented with eight fluted Composite pil- 
 lars ; and it may be observed, that here, as in 
 most ancient buildings, the roses upon the in- 
 terior of the arch are all different. It appears 
 that formerly there was a chariot on the top : for 
 coins exist, on one side of which is a head of 
 Caracalla, with antoninvs pivs avg pont tr p 
 vii, and on the other is an arch, with the inscrip- 
 tion, arcvs avgg sc. On the top of the Arch is 
 a car, with two persons in it, drawn by six 
 horses: on each side is a figure on horseback, 
 followed by one on foot. On another coin we 
 have a singular mixture of Greek and Latin in 
 the inscription, which is thus, ayt. k. m. avp. 
 cevh. antqneinoc. Avr. On the reverse there 
 is an arch, and arcvs avgg sc as before. In 
 
 d The only authority which I recollect at present is Mad. de 
 Stael, in her Novel of Corinne. 
 
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. 
 
 209 
 
 one of the sides is a staircase of fifty steps, lead- 
 ing to the top. 
 
 The Arch was erected in honour of Septimius 
 Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, 
 to commemorate two triumphs over the Par- 
 thians. According to Baronius it was built 
 A. D. 203, or 205, which was the time of the 
 second triumph. Some antiquaries have raised 
 doubts as to this emperor triumphing at all, or 
 have confused the two together. Spartian makes 
 him refuse the honour, because he could not 
 enter his chariot owing to the gout. But it seems 
 extraordinary, if he could make such a success- 
 ful campaign, and such a long journey back 
 again to Rome, why his gout should hinder him 
 from being drawn through the streets for a few 
 hours. Even Herodian seems to confound the 
 two triumphs, though he mentions the applause, 
 sacrifices, games, &c. Tertullian 6 says, that he 
 was in Rome when Severus triumphed over the 
 Parthians; and we know from history that he 
 made two expeditions into the East ; the first in 
 195, when he conquered King Vologeses ; the 
 second in 199, when he took Ctesiphon, and 
 the treasures of King Artabanus. The circum- 
 stance of his being twice styled parthicvs in 
 the inscription, seems to point out two expe- 
 ditions and two triumphs. The same inscrip- 
 tion occurs on each front. 
 
 It has been mentioned, that the Arch was erected 
 
 e De Habitu Mulieb. c. 7. 
 P 
 
210 
 
 ARCH OF 
 
 to the emperor's two sons, as well as to himself; 
 but it will be observed, that the name of Cara- 
 calla alone occurs in the inscription. The fact is, 
 that the name of Geta has evidently been erased, 
 which was done when he was put to death by 
 order of his brother Caracalla. The usual me- 
 thod of affixing these inscriptions was, first, to cut 
 the letters in the stone, and then to fasten in 
 other letters, which were cast in metal. The 
 metallic letters have been carried off from this in- 
 scription, as from almost every other; but from 
 this very circumstance we are able to make out 
 the fact, that in the seventh line there were once 
 different words from what now appear. The 
 inscription in this line is now optimis. fortissi- 
 misq. principibvs i but the marble is depressed 
 along the whole line, which shews, that some- 
 thing had been cut away, and the holes, in which 
 the first metallic letters were fixed, still remain. 
 By tracing these holes, it is conjectured, that the 
 original inscription in this line was et. p. septi- 
 
 MIO. GETAE. NOBILISSIMO. CAESARI. OPT. The 
 
 naval ornaments denote the means taken by Se- 
 verus to transport his men down the Euphrates, 
 Tigris, and rivers of Adiabene. 
 
 Descriptions of this arch may be found in 
 Winkelmann, and Serlio f : but the fullest account 
 is by Joseph Maria Suaresius, (Romae 1676,) 
 from whose work I have extracted a few obser- 
 vations to illustrate the bas-reliefs. 
 
 f Lib. iii. de Architect. 
 
SEPTIMUS SEVERUS. 
 
 211 
 
 I will suppose a person to approach the Arch 
 from the Colosseum ; and that he first looks at 
 the bas-reliefs on his left hand. These relate to 
 the first expedition of Severus, A.D. 195; in the 
 course of which he routed King Vologeses, took 
 Carrha, and went against the Adiabeni or Osrhoeni . 
 On the top Severus harangues his soldiers ; below 
 him the Romans are slaying the Parthians, and 
 at the bottom the city of Carrha is taken. On 
 the right the siege of Nisibis is raised, and Volo- 
 geses flies on horseback. 
 
 The bas-reliefs on the right relate to the year 
 196, when Severus was still in the East. At the 
 top of the compartment are represented Severus, 
 and the King of Armenia, who is admitted to his 
 friendship. In the middle, Abgarus, King of the 
 Adiabeni or Osrhoeni, offers the assistance of 
 troops ; and at the bottom the Romans apply the 
 battering ram to the capital of the Atreni. 
 
 On the other side of the Arch (facing the Ca- 
 pitol) the bas-reliefs on a person's right hand re- 
 late to the emperor s second expedition in 199. 
 At the top he is haranguing his men, and send- 
 ing out commanders. At the bottom he again 
 besieges Atra, and the inhabitants are holding 
 out their hands to him. In the corner is a ma- 
 chine, called Catarrhacta, for letting out water, 
 which is described by Caesar^. 
 
 The remaining compartment contains the af- 
 fairs of the year 201. In the top row the Eu- 
 
 b De Bello Civili, lib. ii. 
 
 p2 
 
212 
 
 ARCH OF 
 
 phrates is crossed, and Ctesiphon taken. In the 
 second two chiefs kneel down before the empe- 
 ror, which denotes the submission of Arabia. At 
 the bottom, the Tigris is crossed, Seleucia is 
 taken, and Artabanus flies. 
 
 The bas-reliefs, which are under these several 
 compartments, represent the treasures and cap- 
 tives led in triumph. The whole series is in an 
 indifferent style of sculpture, and presents but a 
 poor idea of the state of the arts at that time. 
 
 This Arch was formerly buried for nearly half 
 its height. Leo X. ordered some excavations under 
 the direction of M. Angelo. They were again 
 undertaken in 1563, but soon filled up again, 
 and the present pope laid it open to the bottom 
 in 1804, at which time the pavement of the an- 
 cient Clivus Asyli was discovered. 
 
 ARCH OF S. SEVERUS, 
 
 (in Foro Boario.) 
 
 This stands very near to the Arch of Janus, 
 and one side of it joins on to the ancient Church 
 of S. Georgio in Velabro ; so that many of the 
 ornaments cannot now be seen, being buried in 
 the wall of the Church. It is small, and was 
 erected, as the inscription states, by the mer- 
 chants and bankers of the Forum Boarium, to S. 
 Severus, his wife Julia, and his son Caracalla. 
 The existence of this Arch probably points out 
 where the triumphal processions passed, as we 
 know that they went through this Forum on 
 
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. 
 
 213 
 
 their way to the Circus Maximus ; and these 
 Arches were generally erected on the line of their 
 march. We may observe here, as in the larger 
 Arch to the same emperor, that the name of Geta 
 has been erased from the inscription. It occurred 
 in the fifth and eighth lines. In the fifth, where 
 we now read fortissimo, felicissimoqve. 
 principi. et. p. p. procos, we may conjecture, 
 that there was formerly et. p. septimio. getae. 
 nobilissimo. caesari : and in the eighth, instead 
 of ET. P. septimii. getae. nobilissimi. caesa- 
 ris, there has been substituted parthici. maximi. 
 brittanici. maximi. Independent of the mar- 
 ble bearing marks of the alteration, we may de- 
 monstrate, that the latter line must have been a 
 subsequent addition, as Caracalla did not assume 
 the name of parthicvs till long after his fathers 
 death h . From the expression trib. pot. xii. 
 this Arch seems to have been built in the year fol- 
 lowing the other, where we read trib. pot. xi. 
 
 Some bas-reliefs may be observed upon the 
 Arch, and every part of it is loaded with orna- 
 
 h In Belzoni's Travels, p. 106, there is this inscription, taken 
 from a granate quarry in Egypt. 
 
 IMP. P. SEVERI. ET 
 ANTONINI PTISSIMORVM. AVGG 
 ET. GET ISSI 
 
 where the letters with a line under them are dotted; by which, 
 I presume, that we are to understand, that they have been 
 partly erased. The governor of Egypt in the days of Caracalla 
 was doubtless too good a courtier, not to follow the example, 
 which the emperor himself had set. 
 
 p 3 
 
2H 
 
 ARCH OF GALLIENUS. 
 
 ments in a very rich style. The capitals of the 
 pilasters are Composite. In front is a sacrifice, 
 in which are the figures of Severus and Caracalla: 
 that of Geta has been defaced. Under the arch- 
 way the same thing may be observed. On the 
 side facing the Arch of Janus is a plough drawn 
 by a bull and a cow, which is known to indicate 
 the founding of a colony, and perhaps alluded to 
 the tradition of Romulus having begun to trace 
 out his infant city from this spot. It is engraved 
 in Gravius, vol. iii. p. 609, and by Desgodetz. 
 
 ARCH OF GALLIENUS. 
 
 This is a small Arch, and scarcely worth men- 
 tioning. The remains of it are not far from S. 
 Maria Maggiore, a little to the right of the road 
 leading to S. Croce. It is of freestone and of 
 indifferent workmanship, without any sculpture 
 or other decoration to attract attention. We 
 learn from the inscription, that it was raised to 
 the Emperor Gallienus and his wife Salonina by 
 M. Aurelius Victor, which would give it the date 
 of about A.D. 200. 
 
 GALLIENO. CLEMENTISSIMO. PRINCIPI 
 CVIVS. INVICTA. VIRTVS 
 SOLA. PIETATE. S VP E RATA. EST 
 ET. SALONINAE. SANCTISSIMAE. AVG 
 M. AVRELIVS. VICTOR 
 DEDICATISSIMVS 
 NVMINI. MAIESTATICLVE 
 EORVM 
 
ARCH OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 215 
 
 A chain still hangs from the middle of this Arch, 
 to which were suspended the keys of the Porta 
 Salsicchia in Viterbo, which city was taken by 
 the Romans, A.D. J 200. 
 
 ARCH OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 This stands at the foot of the Palatine hill, 
 very near the Colosseum, and was erected by the 
 senate in honour of Constantine's victory over 
 Maxentius. The battle was fought beyond the 
 Ponte Molle ; but as the triumphal procession, 
 after leaving the Circus Maximus, wound round 
 the Palatine hill, and so entered the Forum by 
 the Via Sacra, it passed by the spot where this 
 Arch stands. The inscription alludes to the de- 
 feat of the tyrant : but the words instinctv di- 
 vinitatis in the third line are supposed to have 
 been added afterwards; as the marble is there 
 rather sunk in, and the holes for the bronze let- 
 ters are confused. Besides the inscription, we 
 read on one side of the Arch votis x and votis 
 xx, on the other side sic x and sic xx. This was 
 meant to express the Vota decennalia and vicen- 
 nalia, or vows for ten and twenty years, which 
 were offered up for the preservation of the empe- 
 ror and the empire. The origin of this custom 
 we learn from Dio 1 ; " Augustus, in order to re- 
 " move from the Romans any suspicion of his 
 " looking to the kingly power, took upon him 
 
 1 Lib. liii. 
 f 4 
 
216 
 
 ARCH OF 
 
 4 ' the imperial office only for ten years. When 
 " this period had elapsed, another period of five 
 " years ; and when that was finished, still another 
 " of five ; after that a period of ten years, and 
 " still another after that were successively de- 
 " creed to him ; so that by a continuation of such 
 M decrees he held the imperial power for his 
 " whole life. For which reason the later em- 
 " perors also, although the power is conferred 
 " upon them not for any limited time, but for 
 " their whole life, celebrate a festival for its re- 
 " newal every ten years ; and that is the case at 
 '? present." (Dio wrote in the middle of the 
 third century.) We frequently find on coins 
 vot. x. xx. xxx. xxxx, and on one of Constan- 
 tine himself is vot. xx. 
 
 The building consists of one large arch, with 
 a smaller one on each side; and is ornamented 
 with eight Corinthian pillars of Giallo antico, 
 with a statue over each. There is a staircase 
 leading to the top; and the compartment, in 
 which it is constructed, is thicker than the cor- 
 responding one. It may be remarked also, that 
 the two smaller arches are not exactly of the 
 same width. A great difference will be perceived 
 in the workmanship of the bas-reliefs; which is 
 to be explained by this circumstance ; that many 
 of them came from an Arch of Trajan, which 
 stood in his Forum. That we may be able to 
 compare the state of the arts at the two different 
 periods, it will be well first to distinguish accu- 
 rately what parts belong to each. The eight pil- 
 
CONSTANTINE. 
 
 217 
 
 lars already mentioned, and the statues over 
 them, came from the Arch of Trajan ; so did 
 eighteen of the bas-reliefs ; viz. the ten, which 
 are in the attic story, and the eight round me- 
 dallions. All the rest are of the age of Constan- 
 tine ; and by comparing one set with the other, 
 we may perceive how greatly the arts had de- 
 teriorated since the time of Trajan. Indeed no 
 more convincing proof could be given of the de- 
 generacy of the arts in the time of Constantine, 
 than his being obliged to adopt the productions 
 of a former period : unless we suppose, that the 
 hurry was so great to finish the structure in time 
 for the triumph, that they could not wait for any 
 work to be executed on purpose. By thus 
 transferring the ornaments of one arch to the 
 other, we find the victories and actions of Trajan 
 ascribed to Constantine. But this is only a de- 
 fect, when the story is known ; and we have 
 gained this advantage by it, that whereas the 
 Arch of Trajan, and all the other ornaments of 
 his Forum, except the column, are destroyed, 
 these bas-reliefs still exist upon the Arch, to 
 which they were removed. It may also be re- 
 marked, that Trajan's buildings deserved to 
 meet with this spoliation more than those of any 
 other emperor, as he was famous for placing his 
 own name upon all public edifices, as if he had 
 been the founder of them ; which made the wits 
 of Rome call him Herba Parieiina, or a weed 
 upon the wall k . 
 
 k Ammian. Marcellinus, lib. xxvii. c. 3. 
 
91S 
 
 ARCH OF 
 
 Of the bas-reliefs, the four which are in the 
 attic story on the front facing the Colosseum, re- 
 present the triumphal entry of Trajan into Rome ; 
 the repair of the Appian way ; his measures to 
 supply Italy with provisions ; and Partomasires 
 imploring him to restore to him the kingdom of 
 Armenia, which had been taken from his father. 
 On the opposite front, and likewise in the attic 
 story, we find Trajan declaring Partenaspartes 
 king of Parthia ; the discovery of a conspiracy 
 formed against him by Decebalus, king of Dacia; 
 his harangue to the soldiers; and the sacrifice, 
 called Suovetaurilia, performed by him. On the 
 two sides there are also two bas-reliefs, which 
 are considered the finest of the whole, and ap- 
 pear originally to have formed only one compart- 
 ment. They represent the victory gained by 
 Trajan over Decebalus. The eight round me- 
 dallions on the two fronts relate to the sports of 
 the chace, of which we are informed, that Trajan 
 was fond ; and to sacrifices offered by him to 
 Mars, Apollo, Diana, &c. 
 
 The sculptures contemporary with the arch are 
 very inferior to the former. Those at the bottom 
 relate to the taking of Yerona, and the victory 
 over Maxentius. The line of bas-reliefs, which 
 goes all round the arch, contains military pro- 
 cessions, and such-like shews, of wretched work- 
 manship. There are two more round medallions, 
 one at each side, which contain chariots drawn 
 by two horses : these are meant for the sun and 
 moon, and are emblematical of the east and 
 
CONSTANTINE. 
 
 219 
 
 west. The four figures of Fame over the arch, 
 and the victories on the pedestals of the column, 
 will also shew the poor state of the arts in the 
 time of Constantine. Those on the interior sides 
 of the Arch are of the same date, but better 
 workmanship. 
 
 It has been already stated, that the eight co- 
 lumns of Giallo antico came from the Arch of 
 Trajan. To speak more properly, only seven of 
 the present columns came from thence ; for Cle- 
 ment VIII. took one of them away, to form a 
 companion to another, which stands under the 
 organ in the Lateran Basilica, where it may still 
 be seen. The marble now called Giallo antico, 
 is one of those varieties, which is only known 
 from the ancient specimens. It seems to re- 
 semble that which is mentioned by Pliny, where 
 he is treating of a marble, called onyx, or ala- 
 bastrites \ He says, that one variety in particu- 
 lar was admired, which was the colour of honey, 
 having wavy spots, and not transparent. The 
 faults in this sort were a horny appearance, and 
 too much white, and a resemblance to glass. It 
 was found in Egypt, India, and other places. 
 Each of the pillars is 40 palms (29J feet) high, 
 and the other was found in the Forum of Trajan. 
 Clement replaced the column, which he took 
 from this Arch, with one of white marble; but 
 they are all become so black from age, that the 
 difference is scarcely discernible. 
 
 1 Lib. xxxvi. c. 12. 
 
220 ARCH OF CONSTANTINE. 
 
 The statues, which are above the columns, like- 
 wise came from Trajan's Arch, and are of the 
 marble called Pavonazzetto. At least seven of 
 them are so ; and the eighth being of white mar- 
 ble was placed there by Clement XII. who had 
 heads put to all the statues, the original ones 
 having been carried off by Lorenzino de' Medici, 
 who assassinated the Grand Duke Alexander. 
 The hands were also mutilated. A fragment of 
 the original statue is preserved in the Capitol, 
 with the words ad arcvm on the base of it. 
 The statues are meant to represent Dacian pri- 
 soners. 
 
 The soil, which had accumulated round this 
 Arch, was removed by order of the present pope 
 in 1804 ; and part of the pavement of the Via 
 Triumphalis was then brought to light. 
 
 OTHER ARCHES. 
 
 The Arch of M. Aurelius existed in the Corso, 
 near the Church of S. Lorenzo in Lucina, till the 
 year 1665, when it was removed by Alexander 
 VII. to make more room in the street. Amongst 
 the ornaments were eight pillars of Verde antique, 
 two of which may be seen in the Corsini Chapel, 
 in the Lateran Basilica. Pliny mentions four 
 kinds of marble m which seem to have resembled 
 what we now call Verde antique. Properly speak- 
 
 m Lib. xxxvi. c. 1 1. 
 
ARCHES. 
 
 221 
 
 ing they were not marble, but serpentine; and 
 the ancients gave to one of them the name of 
 Ophites, from the veins in it resembling the spots 
 of a serpent. He tells us that there was a Lace- 
 daemonian marble, of a very valuable sort : it was 
 green, and more lively (Jiilarius) than any other. 
 Other sorts were afterwards found in Egypt, 
 during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, and 
 were called after those emperors. They both 
 differed from Ophites; for that resembled the 
 spots of a serpent, and had its name from that 
 circumstance; but the others were spotted in a 
 different manner : Augustus had wavy curls 
 coming to a point ; Tiberius had distinct spots 
 of green and white not intermixed. (Augustum 
 undatim crispum in vertices, Tiberium sparsum 
 non convoluta canitie.) Besides which there were 
 no blocks of Ophites to make columns from, ex- 
 cept very small ones. The specimens in Rome 
 must therefore have come from Egypt. Indeed it 
 appears from the same chapter, that the Ophites 
 also came from near Memphis in Egypt; at least 
 one variety of it did, which, from being of an ash 
 colour, was called Tephrias. The softest kind 
 of Ophites had more white in it ; the hard had 
 more of black. 
 
 There were four bas-reliefs upon the Arch of 
 M. Aurelius, two of which are in the Capitol, 
 one in the Orsini Palace ; and where the fourth 
 is is not known. It is asserted in Spence's Anec- 
 dotes n , that there are six compartments in the 
 
 u P. 92. 
 
222 
 
 ARCHES. 
 
 Capitol which came from this Arch : 1, M. Au- 
 relius pardoning the vanquished in his triumphal 
 car ; 2, sacrificing ; 3, receiving a globe from the 
 Genius of Rome ; 4, L. Verus haranguing ; 5, 
 Faustina ascending to heaven ; 6 °. 
 
 This Arch obtained the name of Arco di Tri- 
 poli, and di Portogallo. Some have thought 
 that it was erected in honour of Domitian ; but 
 as Suetonius tells us that every memorial of this 
 emperor was destroyed by order of the senate, 
 and as Dio p expressly includes the triumphal 
 Arches, it has been argued, that the name of 
 Domitian cannot be rightly applied to this Arch. 
 Accordingly some have given it to Drusus, step- 
 son of Augustus ; others to Antoninus and Faus- 
 tina. But as drawings taken of it while it existed 
 represent the upper part, in which the inscription 
 was, as entirely gone, it is possible that tradition 
 had rightly preserved the name of Domitian, and 
 that the Senate, content with destroying the in- 
 scription which recorded his name, suffered the 
 Arch itself to remain. 
 
 We have notice also of other Arches which 
 existed formerly. That of Trajan has been al- 
 ready mentioned, which must have been nearly, 
 if not entirely, destroyed in the time of Constan- 
 tine. The Arch of Fabius, who defeated the 
 Allobroges, stood in the Forum, opposite to that 
 of S. Severus: the Via Sacra passed under it. 
 
 ° Spence only names five compartments : perhaps one of the 
 subjects was extended through two of them. 
 p Lib. lxviii. 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 228 
 
 At the opposite angle to this stood the Arch of 
 Tiberius. Besides the Arch of M. Aurelius, there 
 was another in the Corso, that of Gordian, which 
 was taken down by order of Innocent VIII. when 
 he repaired the Church of S. Maria in Via Lata. 
 L. Fauno tells us, that there was written upon 
 this, as upon the Arch of Constantine, votis x 
 and xx. It appears from Poggio's book, on the 
 Mutability of Fortune, that several Arches were 
 existing in his time, that is, in the fourteenth 
 century, which have subsequently disappeared. 
 He mentions one which had the name of Au- 
 gustus upon it, between the Palatine hill and 
 the Tiber: another to Trajan, with an inscrip- 
 tion, near the Comitia ; and a third to Constan- 
 tine, in the Circus Maximus. Perhaps what he 
 says of the remains of the Temple of Concord, 
 and of the Colosseum, may explain the disap- 
 pearance of these Arches, that the materials of 
 them were taken away to burn for lime. 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 Few monuments, which the ingenuity or pride 
 of man have produced, have existed so long 
 as the Egyptian Obelisks in Rome. We are ac- 
 customed to regret, in exploring this city, that 
 there are so few remains of the Republic ; but 
 these Obelisks carry us back to a period far more 
 remote, to the age of Sesostris and Sothis, up- 
 wards of a thousand years before the birth of 
 Christ. Whether we consider the art which 
 
224 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 shaped and raised such enormous blocks from 
 the quarry, or the still more laborious exertions, 
 which transported them to Rome, our astonishment 
 must certainly be raised, and our curiosity excited 
 to learn their history. What is the evidence of 
 this history, we cannot now pretend to know very 
 accurately : we learn much from the evidence of 
 Pliny, who must have taken his statements from 
 the best authorities, not long after the Obelisks 
 themselves were removed, and when public cu- 
 riosity must have been raised concerning them. 
 He tells us% that the Kings of Egypt cut these 
 immense blocks in emulation of each other, out 
 of a quarry at Syene in the Thebaid. The stone 
 was called from the place Syenite; from its colour, 
 PyrrhopcBcilon, or spotted red. They were dedi- 
 cated to the Sun, as was expressed in their Egyp- 
 tian name. Mitres [or Mestres, who according 
 to Kircher is the same as Misraim] was the first 
 King who erected them; and Sothis r one of his 
 successors had four cut, which were forty-eight 
 cubits long. So far Pliny. An expression in 
 Ammianus might excite our astonishment still 
 more, where he says of the Obelisks 8 , that they 
 were cut out of quarries which were searched for in 
 the very extremity of the earth. But the accuracy 
 of this writer is not sufficient to persuade us, that 
 
 ' Lib. xxxvi. c. 14. 
 
 r Kircher makes Ammenephtes, or Memphis, the father of 
 Sothis, or Sochis, to have lived 1366 A. C. two hundred years 
 after the passage of the Red Sea. 
 
 6 Lib. xvii. c. 4, 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 225 
 
 the Egyptian kings went farther than their own 
 kingdom, when they had such fine quarries, as 
 those of Syene: or he may have intended the 
 southern inhabitants of Egypt itself, or more pro- 
 perly of Ethiopia, who with respect to Rome 
 were the inhabitants of the extremity of the 
 earth. 
 
 We may perhaps be allowed to be as cre- 
 dulous upon the antiquity of Egyptian works, 
 as upon any other. The date of the Pyramids 
 may not exactly be known, but few deny them 
 to be coeval with the early kings of Egypt. The 
 same antiquity is claimed for these Obelisks, 
 and apparently with as good reason. Some in- 
 deed have supposed the Obelisks to be much the 
 oldest*. Diodorus tells us, that some antiquaries 
 made them to be more than three thousand four 
 hundred years older than the time of Augustus ; 
 but he gives it as his own opinion that they were 
 erected about one thousand years before his own 
 time, that is, two hundred and forty-six years 
 before the foundation of Rome, or one thousand 
 years before Christ. After the Persian conquest 
 it would be difficult to assign any period when 
 that unfortunate country was likely to produce 
 such works. Indeed we know for certain, that 
 some of the Obelisks existed before the Persian 
 conquest. For when Cambyses took Thebes, 
 and set fire to it, he ordered the flames to be 
 extinguished as soon as they approached the 
 
 1 Vid. Bargaei Comment, de Obelisco ; Graevii Thes. vol. iv. 
 p. 1911. 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 foundation of an Obelisk ; so much was he struck 
 with the magnificence of the work. Strabo also u 
 mentions the existence of some Obelisks in Heli- 
 opolis, which still bore marks of the fire in the 
 time of Cambyses. 
 
 If the hieroglyphics, which are still perfect 
 upon them, could be deciphered, we should 
 perhaps find more certain information. An at- 
 tempt to interpret the characters upon one of 
 them was made by Father Kircher; and it has 
 been observed of his Dissertation, that though 
 there is scarcely any thing certain in it, it is one 
 of the greatest efforts of human imagination x . 
 But at the time of their removal to Rome, these 
 characters were legible; for Pliny, speaking of 
 those in the Circus Maximus and Campus Mar- 
 tins?, says, that both contain an explanation of 
 natural history according to the Egyptian philo- 
 sophy : and of one, which was erected by Mitres 
 in Heliopolis, he tells us z , " that he put it up in 
 " consequence of a dream ; and this was men- 
 tioned in the inscription upon it; for those 
 " sculptures and figures are the letters of the 
 " Egyptians." Diodorus also seems to have 
 known the meaning of the figures inscribed on 
 the Obelisk of Sesostris. If any of these in- 
 scriptions contained the history of the erection 
 of the Obelisks, the authority of Pliny cannot be 
 called in question. 
 
 u Lib. xvii. x Ramsay, in Spence's Anecdotes, p. 43. 
 
 y Lib. xxxvi. c. 9. 1 Lib. xxxvi. c. 8. 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 227 
 
 Augustus was the first who conceived the idea 
 of transporting these immense blocks to Rome : 
 he was imitated by Caligula, Constantine, and 
 others, and they were generally erected in some 
 Circus. They have all subsequently been re- 
 moved, and placed in conspicuous parts of the 
 city by different popes. Kircher reckons twelve 
 in all. 
 
 The loftiest is that in front of St. John Lateran. 
 It is 148 palms (109 feet) high* 1 , without the base 
 and pedestal; and 14 palms (11 feet) broad at 
 the bottom. It is of one solid piece of red gra- 
 nite, and covered with hieroglyphics. Ramises, 
 King of Egypt, erected it in Thebes ; and Pliny 
 says b that he lived at the taking of Troy, which 
 would give it an antiquity of three thousand 
 years. Kircher makes Ramises to have flou- 
 rished A. C. 1297. Ammianus writes the name 
 Rhamestes ; Tacitus c , Rhamses ; Diodorus d , 
 Remphis; Josephus, Ramphes; Herodotus e , 
 Rhampsinitus ; Eusebius, Ramises. After stat- 
 ing that Sothis had four Obelisks made, each 
 forty-eight cubits high, Pliny tells us, that Ra- 
 mises [his son] made four others, which were 
 forty cubits. These were erected in On, or He- 
 liopolis. Afterwards Ramises placed another in 
 Mnevis, which was ninety-nine feet high and four 
 cubits wide. In cutting this last, 120000 men 
 were employed. The Obelisk in front of St. 
 
 a Kircher. b Lib. xxxvi. c. 8. c An. lib. ii. c. 60. 
 
 d Lib. i. e Lib. ii. c. 121. 
 
 Q 2 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 John Lateran may have been one of these ; but 
 it was not removed in Pliny's time. Augustus 
 did not think it right to remove it, because it was 
 dedicated in a more special manner than the rest 
 to the Sun. In the year 357, Constantius un- 
 dertook what Augustus had declined. The flat- 
 terers of the emperor told him, that Augustus 
 had been deterred by the difficulty of the under- 
 taking. This was enough to excite his vanity ; 
 and he got over the religious scruples, by the 
 idea, that though he removed the Obelisk from 
 one temple, he should erect it in Rome, which 
 was the temple of the whole world. He had it 
 conveyed down the Nile from Thebes, and at 
 Alexandria it was placed on board a vessel of 
 three hundred oars. Considerable time was spent 
 in the preparation, and Constantius died before 
 the Obelisk left Alexandria, A. D. 361 . It how- 
 ever completed the voyage, and was rowed up 
 the Tiber within three miles of Rome; from 
 Whence it was carried by land to the Circus 
 Maximus. This account is taken from Ammi- 
 anus f ; and his description of the means used to 
 raise it in the Circus Maximus is curious. " Sola 
 " post haec restabat erectio, quae vix, aut ne vix 
 " quidem sperabatur posse compleri, erectisque 
 " usque ad periculum altis trabibus, ut machina- 
 " rum cerneres nemus ; innectuntur vasti funes 
 " et longi, ad speciem multiplicium liciorum cce- 
 " lum densitate nimia subtexentes, quibus colli- 
 
 Lib. xvii. c. 4. 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 229 
 
 " gatis mons ipse effigiatus scriptilibus dementis 
 " paulatimque id per arduum inane protentus, 
 " diuque pensilis hominum millibus multis tan- 
 " quam molendinarias rotantibus metas, cavea 
 " locatur in media, eique sphaera superponitur 
 " ahena aureis laminis nitens, qua confestim vi 
 " ignis divini contacta, ideoque sablata, facis 
 " imitamentum infigitur aereum, itidem auro im- 
 " bracteatum, velut abundanti flamma canden- 
 " tis." 
 
 Cassiodorus tells us^, that the hieroglyphics 
 upon it, which he calls Chaldaic signs, denoted 
 the religion of the ancients, " sacra priscorum 
 " Chaldaicis signis quasi literis indicari." Am- 
 mianus gives us the interpretation of part of these 
 characters, as explained by Hermapion, in Greek. 
 He only, however, gives those which were on the 
 south, and part of those on the east side. Three 
 perpendicular rows of hieroglyphics may be ob- 
 served on each side of the Obelisk ; and the ex- 
 planation given by Hermapion describes three 
 separate rows ; from which we may infer, that 
 they were read perpendicularly. Kircher en- 
 deavours to prove that Hermapion knew nothing 
 about hieroglyphics, and that his interpretation 
 is entirely wrong. But the learned father has 
 himself committed a great error. He considers 
 Hermapion's explanation to refer to the Obelisk 
 removed by Augustus, whereas it is evident from 
 Ammianus, that we are to apply it to that which 
 was removed by Constantius. 
 
 e Lib. iii. 
 Q 3 
 
230 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 When Sexttis V. had it transported to its present 
 situation in 1588, it was broken into three pieces, 
 and lay twenty-four palms under ground. Mon- 
 tana was the engineer who raised it. 
 
 That which now stands in the Piazza di Monte 
 Citorio, was erected in Heliopolis by Sesostris, 
 who, according to some chronologists, flourished 
 1157 years A.C. h Augustus brought it to Rome, 
 and placed it in the Campus Martius. The ship 
 which conveyed it from Egypt was preserved at 
 Puteoli as an astonishing work, and was after- 
 wards destroyed by fire. An account of the 
 Obelisk is to be found in Pliny K " Ei, qui est 
 " in campo, D. Augustus addidit mirabilem usum 
 " ad deprehendendas solis umbras, dierumque ac 
 " noctium magnitudines, strato lapide ad Obelisci 
 " magnitudinem, cui par fieret umbra, brumae 
 " confectae die, sexta hora, paulatimque per re- 
 " gulas, (qua? sunt ex sere inclusae) singulis die- 
 " bus decresceret, ac rursus augesceret. Manlius 
 " mathematicus apici auratam pilam addidit, 
 " cujus vertice umbra colligeretur in se ipsa." 
 From this passage it appears, that the Obelisk 
 was applied to an astronomical purpose: but 
 some have supposed the words to mean, that it 
 served for a gnomon, or meridian-line; while 
 others have interpreted it to mean a solar 
 
 h Bryant (vol. ii. p. 382.) says of Sesostris, u What credit 
 " can be given to the history of a man, the time of whose life 
 " cannot be ascertained within 1535 years ? For so great is the 
 " difference of the extremes in the numbers before given." 
 
 1 Lib. xxxv. c. 15. 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 231 
 
 clock, or sun-dial. Angelo Maria Bandini pub- 
 lished upon this subject in 1750, asserting it to 
 have been a gnomon. Antongiuseppe della 
 Torre di Rezzonico, in his Dissertation upon 
 Pliny, argues, that it was certainly a sun-dial \ 
 The former opinion seems to be most generally 
 adopted, and indeed Pliny expressly calls it a 
 gnomon. Another dispute has arisen from dif- 
 ferent copies of Pliny, whether the name of the 
 astronomer employed by Augustus was Manlius, 
 Manilius, or Facundinus. Another pillar of red 
 granite, found near here, (which was raised by 
 M. Aurelius and L. Verus to Antoninus Pius,) 
 was employed to repair the Obelisk, so that a 
 great part of it is now destitute of hierogly- 
 phics. 
 
 The Obelisk itself was dug up in 1748, under 
 the direction of Niccolo Zabaglia, but it was not 
 erected in its present situation till 1792, by 
 Pius VI. A considerable quantity of brass was 
 found not far from hence, which is supposed to 
 have been connected with the above-mentioned 
 meridian. A. Fulvio mentions a dial being dug 
 up near to S. Lorenzo in Lucina, with seven 
 lines upon it, of bronze gilt: the ground was 
 paved with square stones, and at the corners 
 were the names of the winds. The whole height 
 of the Obelisk is according to Kircher 100 palms 
 (73 feet 4 inches). Pliny calls it i 116 Roman 
 
 h Vide Tiraboschi, part 3. lib. iii. p. 312. 1 Lib. xxxvi. c. 9. 
 
 Q 4 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 feet. He also says k , that the characters upon it 
 contained an explanation of natural history, ac- 
 cording to the Egyptian philosophy. On the top 
 is a globe of bronze. 
 
 Diodorus tells us, that Sesostris erected two, 
 each 120 cubits high, on which he described the 
 extent of his empire, his revenue, and the nations 
 which he had conquered. Thus there is a differ- 
 ence of 112 palms between the accounts of Pliny 
 arid Diodorus ; and as Kircher found this Obe- 
 lisk to measure only 100 palms, whereas Pliny 
 states it at 116 feet, he conceives this last author 
 to have confounded the names of Sesostris and 
 Sothis ; and that the Obelisk placed in the Cam- 
 pus Martius by Augustus was raised originally 
 by Sothis. 
 
 Another stands in the middle of the area in 
 front of St. Peters, and its situation perhaps 
 gives it an advantage over all the rest. It is not 
 inscribed with hieroglyphics. Its first position in 
 Rome was not far from its present one, it having 
 stood in the Circus of Caligula, (afterwards called 
 the Circus of Nero,) close to the Basilica. Its 
 actual position was in the passage now leading 
 from the sacristy to the choir, and is marked by 
 a square stone. Its having been found in this 
 Circus identifies it with the Obelisk which Pliny 
 speaks of 1 , from whence we learn, that it was 
 
 k Lib. xxxvi. c. 8. 
 
 1 Lib. xxxv. c. 15. 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 233 
 
 erected in Heliopolis, by Nuncoreus™, son of Se- 
 sostris, being the only one of the Obelisks which 
 was broken. " Tertius Obeliscus Romae in 
 " Vaticano Caii et Neronis Principum Circo, ex 
 " omnibus unus omnino fractus est in moli- 
 M tione n ; quern fecerat Sesostridis filius Nunco- 
 '* reus. 
 
 Another passage of Pliny proves this to be one 
 of the two Obelisks, which Herodotus mentions 
 to have been erected by Phero, son of Sesostris, 
 when he recovered from his blindness, which 
 were one hundred cubits high and eight wide. For 
 Pliny adds, " ejusdem remanet et alius centum 
 " cubitorum, quem post caecitatem visu reddito 
 " ex oraculo Soli sacravit." Herodotus and 
 Pliny differ as to the name of the son of Sesos- 
 tris, but they evidently mean the same Obelisk. 
 Diodorus tells the same story as Herodotus. It 
 is true, that Herodotus makes both the Obelisks 
 to have been one hundred cubits high, whereas 
 Pliny says, that the first was only forty-eight ; 
 but as the latter author tells us, that it was 
 broken in being erected, this may account for 
 the difference. Eusebius and Diodorus make 
 Phero to have reigned 331 years after the taking 
 
 m Kircher calls this king Momphercur, and makes him to have 
 flourished A. C. 1102. 
 
 " Some would read factus est in imitatione ejus : but Kircher 
 prefers the former, and thinks, that there is evidence of this 
 having been broken ; because the proportion of the height to 
 the diameter at the base is not the same as in the others, i. e. 
 of ten to one. 
 
234. 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 of Troy. According to Aristotle, he lived long 
 before. This king, whether his name were Nun- 
 coreus or Phero, when the Obelisk was being 
 erected, fastened his own son to the top of it, 
 that the engineers might be more careful in rais- 
 ing it. 
 
 Caligula transported it to Rome, and dedi- 
 cated it to Augustus and Tiberius. Pliny relates 
 some curious particulars of its being conveyed to 
 Rome 0 . " A fir-tree of prodigious size was 
 " used in the vessel, which by the command of 
 " Caligula brought the Obelisk from Egypt which 
 " stands in the Vatican Circus, and four blocks 
 " of the same sort of stone to support it. No- 
 " thing certainly ever appeared on the sea more 
 " astonishing than this vessel: 120000 bushels of 
 " lentiles served for its ballast : the length of it 
 " nearly equalled all the left side of the Port of 
 ' 6 Ostia ; for it was sunk there by the. emperor 
 " Claudius. The thickness of the tree was as 
 " much as four men could embrace with their 
 " arms." Suetonius also tells us p , that this em- 
 peror " built the harbour at Ostia, by throwing 
 " out an arm on the right and left, and by clos- 
 " ing up the entrance with a pier at a great 
 " depth. In order to make the foundations of 
 " this pier stronger, he first sank the ship, in 
 " which the great Obelisk had been brought 
 "from Egypt: and after driving in piles, he 
 ff erected upon them a very lofty tower, in imi- 
 
 Lib. xvi. c. 76. 
 
 p In Claud, c. 20. 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 235 
 
 " tation of the Alexandrian Pharos, that ships 
 " might steer their course by fires to be burnt 
 M there at night." 
 
 Sextus V. had it removed to its present place 
 in 1586, under the direction of the celebrated 
 architect Fontana, at an expence of 40000 scudi, 
 about £9000. The operation has been described 
 by Fontana himself in a work written upon the 
 occasion, with engravings of the machinery ; and 
 subsequently by his relation Carlo Fontana, who 
 added more plates in a work published in 1694. 
 Previous to this removal it was still standing 
 upright, and not thrown down, as the biographer 
 of Sextus V. (Platina) states it to have been by 
 Totila. The soil had considerably accumulated 
 round the base, so that the inscription was co- 
 vered, which is now legible : 
 
 DIVO CAES. DIVI IVLII F. AVGVSTO TI. CAES. 
 DIVI AVG. F. SACRVM 
 
 Fontana conjectured, that the Obelisk weighed 
 993537 pounds. Forty-six cranes, 600 men, 
 and 140 horses were employed in removing it. 
 Amongst other rewards bestowed upon the ar- 
 chitect for his successful labours, Sextus gave 
 him all the timber, ropes, iron, &c. employed in 
 the work, which were valued at 20000 crowns. 
 
 So great was the interest excited by this un- 
 dertaking, and so much importance was attached 
 by the pope to the solemnity of its execution, 
 that during the elevation of the Obelisk r it was 
 
236 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 ordered, that no person should speak, under 
 pain of death. One of the Bresca family of the 
 ancient Republic of S. Remo being present at the 
 time, and seeing the ropes on the point of break- 
 ing from the great friction, violated the order for 
 silence by calling for water. The pope, instead 
 of inflicting the sentence upon him, asked him to 
 name his reward. He selected the privilege of 
 supplying palms for the Papal Chapel on Palm- 
 Sunday : a privilege, which is still claimed by 
 the Bresca family. A painting of the operation 
 of the removal is now in the Vatican Library, in 
 which the seizing of this man by the guards is 
 represented q . 
 
 It has been found, that this Obelisk does not 
 actually stand where the architect intended it. 
 For if a line be drawn from the centre of the 
 Dome of S. Peter's through the middle door, it 
 will not cut the Obelisk, but will pass about 
 eleven feet to the south of it. The error is 
 ascribed by some to Fontana himself ; by others, 
 to Maderno, the architect employed by Paul V. 
 who did not join on the new building in a right 
 line with that, which had been erected before by 
 Michael Angelo. The Obelisk is of red granite. 
 Fontana makes the whole height 180 palms 
 (132 feet), which includes the pedestal and all 
 the ornaments at the top. Without these it is 
 113 palms (84 feet). It now serves as the gno- 
 
 q Vide Angiolo Rocca, de Biblioth. Vat. 250. Taja, Descript. 
 del Palazzo Vat. 440. 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 237 
 
 mon to a meridian. There is a tradition, that 
 the ashes of J. Caesar were in a gilt ball at the 
 top of it. But Fontana says in his work, that 
 this is certainly a mistake. There was such a 
 ball, but nothing of any kind was found within 
 it. 
 
 The Obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo is 108 
 palms (80 feet) high with the pedestal. It was 
 brought to this spot from the Circus Maximus in 
 1589 by Sextus V. who had already moved an- 
 other from the same Circus, and one from the 
 Circus of Nero. This must be the one, which 
 Pliny r tells us was erected in the Circus Maxi- 
 mus by Augustus ; for the other was not brought 
 to Rome till the time of Constantius. From the 
 words trie. pot. xiv in the inscription we may 
 collect, that it was erected U. C. 753. But 
 though the inscription also says, 
 
 AEGVPTO. IN. POTESTATEM 
 POPVLI. ROMANI. REDACTA 
 
 we must not suppose that the erection of the Obe- 
 lisk immediately followed the conquest of Egypt. 
 For this event happened in the sixth Consulate of 
 Augustus, nineteen years before, as we may col- 
 lect from a coin published by F. Ursinus, con- 
 taining on one side imp. caesar. divi. f. cos. 
 vi ; and on the other aegvpto. capta. 
 
 r Lib. xxx vi. c. 14. 
 
238 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 Pliny states, that it was cut by King Semne- 
 sertes, and was 125| feet high without the base 8 . 
 This Semnesertes is supposed to be the same 
 with Psammis ; and Kircher thinks the name 
 should be written Psammirteus, whom he makes 
 to have flourished A. C. 807. It is singular, that 
 in one of the chambers lately opened by Belzoni, 
 which is supposed to have been connected with 
 the tomb of Psammis, there is a figure of that 
 king, with a square tablet suspended from his 
 breast, on which is an Obelisk. Pliny also tells 
 us, that the characters on it related to natural 
 history, according to the Egyptian philosophy. 
 It is of red granite like the rest, and a cross has 
 been erected on the top of it 1 . 
 
 In front of the Trinita de' Monti stands an- 
 other, which was brought from the gardens of 
 Sallust. The removal of it must have been a 
 work of great labour, when we consider the 
 height of its present situation. It had been be- 
 fore carried to the Lateran, by order of Cle- 
 ment XII. and was placed where it now stands 
 by Pius VI. in 1789. It is 65 palms (48 feet) 
 high without the pedestal. 
 
 In the great fountain of Bernini in the Piazza 
 Navona, is one 74 palms (54 feet) high, which 
 stands upon a rock, itself 60 palms (40 feet.) It 
 
 s P. Victor says, that it measured 88^ feet. 
 
 1 A Dissertation has been written upon the Dedication on 
 this Obelisk, by Joseph Castalio, and inserted in Graevius, vol. 
 iv. p. 1859, accompanied with an engraving. 
 
OBELISKS. 
 
 239 
 
 was transported to this place from the Circus 
 of Caracalla, about the year 1650. This is 
 the Obelisk, about which Kircher has written 
 his long and learned Dissertation, divided into 
 five books, and extending through 560 pages. 
 It was published at Rome in 1650, and he gives 
 to the Obelisk the title of Pamphylius, from In- 
 nocent X. who was of the Pamfili family, and 
 who had it transported to its present place. He 
 conceives it to be one of the four, which Pliny 
 tells us, as already quoted, were erected by 
 King Sothis in Heliopolis, each of which was 
 48 cubits high. He makes Caracalla to have 
 transported it from Egypt in 249 : but this must 
 be mere conjecture ; as it is not known for cer- 
 tain whether Caracalla was the builder of the 
 Circus in which the Obelisk stood. When 
 Bernini removed it in 1649, at the order of In- 
 nocent X. it was broken into five parts, and lying 
 on the ground. 
 
 In the square on the top of the Monte Cavallo 
 is one 66 palms (48 feet) high, without the pe- 
 destal. Pius VI. placed it here, it having for- 
 merly stood near to the Mausoleum of Augustus. 
 
 That which stands in front of S. Maria Mag- 
 giore, came from the same place. They were 
 both made in the reign of Smarres and Eraphius", 
 kings of Egypt, who lived A. C. 1028; and car- 
 ried to Rome in 57 by the Emperor Claudius. 
 Sextus V. erected this in its present situation in 
 
 "This name is also written Vaphrius and Apries. 
 
240 
 
 OBELISKS. 
 
 1587. It is the same height as the last. They 
 are both mentioned by P. Victor, who says, that 
 there were two Obelisks on the Mausoleum of 
 Augustus, which were each 42^ feet high. Pliny 
 also mentions them x , and calls them 48 cubits in 
 height. They are without hieroglyphics. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to mention the little 
 Obelisk in front of S. Maria sopra Minerva. 
 It stands upon the back of an elephant, but is 
 only a few feet in height. This, like the rest, is 
 covered with hieroglyphics. It was found in the 
 garden belonging to the convent, 15 palms under 
 ground. The elephant was made by Bernini. 
 
 This account may be concluded with the cata- 
 logue of the Obelisks furnished by P. Victor. 
 " Obelisci magni sex. Duo in Circo Maximo : 
 " major pedum 132, minor pedum 88i. Unus in 
 " Vaticano, pedum 72. Duo in Mausoleo Au- 
 " gusti pares, singuli pedum 42± ; Obelisci parvi 
 " 42 : in plerisque sunt notae Egyptiorum." 
 
 TOMBS. 
 
 In all the ancient towns of Italy, the place 
 appointed for tombs was generally by the side of 
 roads ; and though they were not allowed to be 
 constructed within the city, there was no re- 
 striction as to their approaching close to it. 
 Accordingly we find, that most of the roads lead- 
 ing out of ancient towns are lined with tombs : 
 
 x Lib. xxxv. c. 14. 
 
TOMBS. 
 
 and if such a spectacle can ever be said to form 
 a pleasing view, we have an instance of it at 
 Pompeii, where the street of the tombs is one of 
 the most interesting objects in that extraordinary 
 place. Near to Pozzuoli (Puteoli) on the Via 
 Campana we have an instance of the frequency 
 of tombs on the roads near to cities. Going 
 from Rome also through any of the gates at the 
 east of the town, we find ruins of similar edifices. 
 The rich went to a considerable expence in or- 
 namenting their sepulchres : and monuments 
 were frequently to be seen by the road-side, 
 which displayed the greatest taste and variety of 
 sculpture. 
 
 The custom of raising a tumulus or monument 
 over the graves of the dead was more generally 
 practised by the Romans than the Greeks. The 
 former also invariably added the name of the 
 deceased, which the Greeks did not always do in 
 their more simple method. In Greece, where 
 the bodies were always burned, the ashes were 
 put into an urn, and little trouble was requisite to 
 commit it to the ground. Recesses were fre- 
 quently cut in a rock, (not unlike the catacombs 
 beneath the Church of S. Sebastian;) and in 
 some Grecian towns, such as Syracuse and Agri- 
 gentum, we find a succession of these recesses, 
 one above the other, to a considerable number. 
 The urns were deposited in them, and they were 
 closed up. But in Rome, the custom of burn- 
 ing was not of primitive institution. Dead bodies 
 were generally laid in the earth : though there is 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 TOMBS. 
 
 evidence, that the funeral pile was not unknown 
 even in the reign of Numa War, and the mul- 
 titude of deaths caused by it, gradually made 
 the system of burning more general. Still many 
 families adhered to the ancient mode ; and in the 
 Cornelian family, the custom of burning was 
 first introduced by Sylla, who, fearing that his 
 body might be ill-treated after his death, left di- 
 rections that it should be committed to the 
 flames. After his time the funeral pile was only 
 partially used, many still adhering to the ancient 
 manner of laying out the dead body at full 
 length in a hollow tomb. 
 
 In those sepulchres which have been opened, 
 the skeleton is always found regularly disposed, 
 with the arms straight by the sides : a vase with 
 a narrow neck was placed upon the breast ; an- 
 other by each side of the head, one at the ex- 
 tremity of each hand, and one between the legs, 
 making six in all. That which was laid upon 
 the breast, is generally found to have fallen off, 
 as the body decayed. There is also always a 
 dish containing eatables, such as eggs, bread, 
 birds, &c. and a coin is found in the mouth to 
 discharge the demand of Charon. All these par- 
 ticulars might have been collected in ancient 
 authors ; but in the Royal Museum at Naples, 
 the actual reliques may be seen, and the different 
 modes of interment, as pursued by the Greeks 
 and Romans, is well illustrated by models. 
 
 y Vide Plin. lib. xiv. c. 14. Plutarch, in Numa. 
 
TOMBS. 
 
 243 
 
 Some skeletons have been found with a cuirass on, 
 and other armour by their side. 
 
 Both nations however agreed in prohibiting 
 burial within the walls. Cicero 25 quotes a law 
 of the Twelve Tables to this effect, Hominem mor- 
 tuum in Urbe ne sepelito neve urito. As to the 
 exceptions to this law, he supposes that they 
 were made in favour of families, who had merited 
 it by some distinguished conduct. Publicola 
 and Tubertus a (he says) had this honour, and 
 their descendants still claimed it. Others, as 
 C. Fabricius, had special leave given them, after 
 the law was made, and his family had the pri- 
 vilege of burying in the Forum. They however 
 only exercised it so far, as to shew their right; 
 and after carrying the body into the Forum, and 
 applying a torch to it, they carried it out of the 
 walls. The latter fact we learn from Plutarch b , 
 who states it as a general rule, that all who had 
 triumphed might be buried within the city. The 
 emperors and vestals, as persons who were not 
 bound by the laws, might be buried within the 
 city : and the vestals who had violated their 
 
 z De Leg. lib. ii. c. 23. 
 
 a I cannot make out satisfactorily who this Tubertus was. 
 Ernesti in his Index says, that he was P. Tubertus, of the 
 Postumian family, who was consul, first, with Valerius Publi- 
 cola, U. C. 249, and secondly with Menenius Agrippa, U. C. 
 251. Livy does not add the surname of Tubertus; but he 
 mentions A. Post. Tubertus, as being dictator U. C. 324, and 
 calls him severisissimi imperii vtrum. This is the only place in 
 which the name of Tubertus is mentioned by Livy. 
 
 b Probh Rom. Quaest. 79. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 TOMB OF 
 
 chastity, were buried alive in the Campus Scele- 
 ratus, which was also within the walls. A spot 
 is pointed out as the scene of this barbarous 
 punishment in the gardens of Sallust, but pro- 
 bably with little foundation. 
 
 The ashes of Trajan were deposited in some 
 part of his column, and Eutropius says, that he 
 was the only emperor buried within the walls. 
 
 A tomb also exists at the foot of the Capito- 
 line hill, to the memory of C. Poblicius Bibulus. 
 The inscription states, that it was given by the 
 senate ; but for what particular merit of Bibulus 
 the ancient law was violated in his favour, his- 
 tory does not inform us. Piranesi indeed asserts, 
 that before Trajan extended the circuit of the 
 walls in this quarter, to take in his own Forum, 
 the tomb of Bibulus was not within the city. 
 But this is not the general opinion. The inscrip- 
 tion is as follows : 
 
 C. POBLICIO. L. F. BIBVLO. AED. PL. HONORIS 
 VIRTVTISQVE. CAVSSA. SENATVS 
 CONSVLTO. POPVLIQVE. IVSSV. LOCVS 
 MONVMENTO. QVO. IPSE. POSTERIQVE 
 EIVS. INFERRENTVR. PVBLICE. DATVS. EST 
 
 We have no means of ascertaining the time at 
 which he lived, except from his being called Ple- 
 beian aedile on the inscription. But unfortu- 
 nately in the Capitoline marbles the names of those 
 officers cease to be given from the year 611 
 U. C. to the end, with but few exceptions. Up 
 
C. BIBULUS. 
 
 24,5 
 
 to that period, the two plebeian aediles are al- 
 ways named, and he is not found amongst them ; 
 so that the monument cannot be older than 611. 
 We find L. Poblicius Bibulus, as one of the tri- 
 bunes of the people in 535, who may have been 
 the father of the man in question. In 539, 
 C. Pobl. Bibulus was provincial quaestor : in 
 540 he was pro-quaestor : and in 541 he was 
 tribune of the people. This can hardly be the 
 man to whom the tomb was given, although the 
 prtenovnen agrees, because in the first place his 
 other titles would have been mentioned in the 
 inscription : secondly, he would have been 
 aedile before he was tribune of the people, and 
 then we should have found his name in the Fasti: 
 thirdly^ as we know that he was not sedile be- 
 fore 611, he must have been at least 90, if he en- 
 tered upon the office afterwards. It is probable, 
 however, that both these persons were of the 
 same family, as the nomen of each agrees with 
 those mentioned on the tomb. The latter was 
 most likely son of the former; and as the sons 
 generally took the praenomen of their grand- 
 fathers, not of their fathers, the person buried in 
 this place was probably grandson of the C. Pobl. 
 Bibulus who was tribune in 541. This would fix 
 the date of the monument somewhere about 630 ; 
 or perhaps it should be earlier, because as no 
 other title is mentioned in the inscription, he 
 probably died young. The aediles had the su- 
 perintendance of public buildings, such as tem- 
 ples, theatres, walls : the games, markets, tribu- 
 
 r 3 
 
246 TOMB OF C. BIBULUS. 
 
 nals of justice, matters of religion, and works 
 intended for publication, were under their in- 
 spection. 
 
 The remains of this building are very incon- 
 siderable, and much must be concealed under 
 ground. A house is now built over it, and a 
 kind of well of some depth may be seen within. 
 
 Suetonius informs us c , that the Claudian fa- 
 mily had a burial-place allowed them under the 
 Capitoline hill : and Piranesi gives a description 
 of some remains of it not far from this tomb of 
 Bibulus. Many ancient tombs may now 7 be ob- 
 served within the walls : but they were con- 
 structed before the extension of the limits by 
 Aurelian; and at the time of their being erected, 
 were out of the city. Of these the most con- 
 spicuous are the mausoleums of Augustus and 
 Adrian, the pyramid of C. Cestius, and the tomb 
 of the Scipio family. 
 
 The most ancient of all these is the tomb of 
 the Scipios, which was not discovered till 1780 : 
 previous to which time other tombs had had this 
 title bestowed upon them. No doubt however 
 any longer remains, as a multitude of inscriptions 
 has been found to the Scipio family, and some 
 Sarcophagi, which carry us back as far as the 
 year of Rome 456. The tomb is in a garden, 
 not far from the gate of S. Sebastian, to the left 
 of the Appian road. Scarcely any thing is left 
 in it at present, the inscriptions and monuments 
 
 c Tiberius, c. 1 . 
 
TOMB OF SCIPIOS. 
 
 247 
 
 having been carried to the Vatican, and copies 
 substituted in their room : consequently little 
 now remains to be seen but a series of damp 
 dark chambers by the help of a candle. There 
 are niches in the walls, where the tombs were 
 placed. The whole is cut out of Tufa, a soft 
 porous stone, which extends over great part of 
 this country. The most interesting monument is 
 the Sarcophagus of L. Scipio Barbatus, great- 
 grandfather of Scipio Africanus, which will be 
 described when we come to the Vatican. 
 
 No monument has been found to Scipio Afri- 
 canus himself, which confirms the idea always 
 entertained, that he ended his days at Liternum, 
 and was buried there. Livy d speaks of it being 
 doubtful in his days in what precise year he 
 died, and whether he was buried at Liternum or 
 Rome. He retired to Liternum in 565 U. C. 
 and lived there, as Livy says, without longing 
 for the city. Some accounts said that he died 
 there, and ordered a monument to be erected on 
 the spot, lest his funeral should be celebrated in 
 his ungrateful country e . Valerius Maximus con- 
 firms this f , and gives the inscription upon his 
 tomb, Ingrata P atria, ne ossa quidem mea habes. 
 Monuments were shewn both at Liternum s and 
 
 d Lib. xxxviii. e. 52. 
 e Ibid. c. 53. 
 f Lib. v. c. 3. 
 
 8 The place where Liternum stood goes now by the name of 
 Patria, from the fragment of an inscription found there .... 
 
 TA PATRIA NEC. 
 
 R 4 
 
248 
 
 TOMB OF THE 
 
 at Rome, claiming to be his. Livy mentions 
 one, from which a statue was blown down in his 
 time h . Pliny also says 5 , that there was a myrtle 
 of great size at Liternum, under which was a 
 cave; and stories said that a dragon guarded the 
 remains of Scipio Africanus. The weight of 
 evidence is certainly in favour of his being buried 
 at Liternum : so that we cannot pay much at- 
 tention to the assertion of Acron, in his com- 
 mentary upon Horace k , that in consequence of 
 an oracle ordering the tomb of Scipio to be so 
 placed, that it looked towards Africa, his remains 
 were taken from the pyramid in the Vatican, and 
 buried in a place between the town of Ostia and 
 the port. The pyramid which obtained this title 
 was not far from the Mole of Adrian, and con- 
 tinued in existence till the time of Alexander VI. 
 who had it removed to improve the approach to 
 the castle. 
 
 Livy adds, that there were three statues within 
 the tomb, which were said to be those of P. and 
 L. Scipio, and the poet Ennius. A close friend- 
 ship had existed between the great Scipio and 
 the poet Ennius: but neither this passage of 
 Livy, nor another of Cicero 1 , warrant the asser- 
 tion, which has been made by some, that his re- 
 mains were deposited in the tomb of the Scipios. 
 Valerius Maximus" and Pliny" repeat what Livy 
 has said, without expressing any doubt of the 
 
 h Lib, xxxviii. c. 56. 1 Lib. xvi. c. 44. k Epod. ix. 26. 
 1 Pro Archia Poeta, ix. U1 Lib. viii. c. 14, 1. ■ Lib. vii. c. 30. 
 
SCIPIOS. 
 
 249 
 
 statue being that of Ennius. A bust, crowned 
 with laurel, has been thought to be that of the 
 poet; but Livy expressly says, that it was a sta- 
 tue ; and it is most probable that the upper story, 
 of which scarcely any remains now exist, con- 
 tained the three statues in question. 
 
 In the year 1615 a stone was dug up near the 
 Porta Capena, which relates to L. Scipio, son of 
 Sc. Barbatus, and which probably came from the 
 tomb. An explanation of it may be found in the 
 Collection of Grsevius, vol. iv. p. 1835: and as 
 the epitaph of Sc. Barbatus will be given at 
 length when we treat of the Vatican, this also 
 may be inserted as a specimen of the Latin lan- 
 guage in the age immediately following. 
 
 «. &lp l*iV .ui/ €}€\\J^J JoJ .iUAHj jj 
 
 °HONC OINO. PLOIRVME. CONSENTIONT. R 
 DVONORO. OPTVMO. FVISE. VIRO 
 LVCIOM. SCIPIONE. FILIOS. BARBATI 
 CONSOL. CENSOR. AIDILIS. HIC. FVET. A 
 HEC CEPIT. CORSICA. ALERIAQVE. VRBE 
 DEDET. T E M PE STATE B VS. AIDE. MERITO 
 
 Which, according to the Augustan orthography, 
 would be, 
 
 HVNC VNVM PLVRIMI CONSENTIVNT ROM AE 
 BONORVM OPTIMVM FVISSE VIRVM 
 
 0 Cicero seems to have had this inscription in mind, when 
 he says of Calatinus, that there was written on his tomb, 
 
 Plurimce consentiunt Gentes, Popuii Primarhm fuisse virum. 
 (De Senectute xvii.) 
 
250 
 
 TOMB OF SCIPIOS. 
 
 LVCIVM SCIPIONEM. FILIVS BARBATI 
 CONSVL CENSOR jEDILIS HIC FVIT. 
 HIC CEPIT CORSICAM ALERIAMQVE VRBEM 
 DEDIT TEMPESTATIBVS jEDEM MERITO. 
 
 The victory in Corsica here mentioned happened 
 U. C. 494, when this Scipio was consul. The 
 Fasti Capitolini call him son of Lucius Scipio ; 
 and Livy gives to Barbatus the praenomen of 
 Publius : but the inscription must be believed in 
 preference to the Fasti, or the existing copies of 
 Livy. The mention of a temple built to the 
 winds illustrates a distich in Ovid : 
 
 Te quoque, Tempestas, meritam delubra fatemur, 
 Cum pcene est Corsis obruta classis aquis. 
 
 The commentators upon Ovid, not being aware 
 of this epitaph, have referred the building of the 
 temple to Claudius Nero, who was consul U. C. 
 551, to Marcellus, and to Metellus. 
 
 PYRAMID OF CAIUS CESTIUS?. 
 
 The tomb of C. Cestius is the only specimen 
 of a pyramid existing in Rome. It stands close 
 to the Porta S. Paolo, partly within the walls 
 and partly without, Aurelian having drawn the 
 new line of his walls exactly across it 3 and left it 
 
 p A Dissertation was written upon this tomb by Octavius 
 Falconierus., printed in Grsevius, vol. iv. The pyramid is en- 
 graved, and the paintings within it, by Bartoli, Antichi Sepo- 
 liri. 
 
PYRAMID OF C. CESTIUS. 251 
 
 standing. The height is 121 feet; the breadth 
 at the base 96. It is built entirely of white mar- 
 ble, which has become black with age. Upon 
 the walls within are some paintings, still in tole- 
 rable preservation. They consist of five figures 
 of women; two sitting, two standing, and the 
 one in the middle is a victory. The women pro- 
 bably relate to the office which Cestius held; 
 and one of them may be observed to hold two 
 long pipes in her hand. There are also vases 
 and candelabra. The room is 26 palms long, 18 
 broad, and 19 high. We learn from the inscrip- 
 tion, that it was finished in three hundred and 
 thirty days. There are two different inscriptions; 
 one which is repeated on the east and west 
 sides, 
 
 C. CESTIVS. L, P. POB. EPVLO. PR. TR. PL 
 VII VIR. EPVLONVM 
 
 The other is on the south-side, in much smaller 
 letters : 
 
 OPVS. ABSOLVTVM. EX. TESTAMENTO. DIEBVS. CCCXXX 
 ARBITRATV 
 
 PONTI. P. F. CLA. MELAE. HEREDIS. ET. POTHI. L 
 
 All that we know of this C. Cestius is from 
 this inscription : for he cannot be the same with 
 him who is mentioned by Tacitus ^ as Lipsius 
 thought, because he was consul, which would of 
 course have been expressed upon the tomb. It 
 
 !) An. lib. vi. c. 31. 
 
252 
 
 PYRAMID OF 
 
 might be expected that we should be able to as- 
 certain the time at which he lived from the Fasti 
 Consulares, where the names of the praetors and 
 tribunes of the people are given. But these lists 
 are very imperfect. The names of all the tri- 
 bunes of the people are given till the year 610 
 U. C. in which only one is named, and the other 
 nine are wanting. This is the case till the year 
 632, where the Fasti end. We therefore cannot 
 assign an earlier date to this tomb than 610, and 
 there are reasons for putting it later. The mar- 
 ble of which it is built was not used in Rome till 
 towards the end of the Republic. Three of the 
 persons mentioned in another inscription, to be 
 given presently, are found in the Capitoline mar- 
 bles : P. Rutilius Lupus, as praetor in 704 ; M. 
 Vips. Agrippa, as praetor in 713, and consul in 
 716; and M. V. M. Corvinus, as consul in 722. 
 We may reasonably conclude, that these are the 
 same persons mentioned in the inscription ; and 
 as they all survived C. Cestius, it is probable that 
 he held office a little before them ; so that we 
 might fix his death somewhere about the year 
 716, when Agrippa was consul. But we are 
 able to approach still nearer in our conjectures. 
 The Epulones were established in 556, when 
 they were three in number'. J. Caesar increased 
 them in 707 to ten. But we learn from other 
 documents, as well as from this inscription, that 
 the Epulones were before that time seven in 
 
 r Liv. lib. xxxiii. c. 42. 
 
C. CESTIUS. 
 
 253 
 
 number. At what period they were increased 
 from three to seven, we are not informed. Onu- 
 phrius gives reasons for thinking that it was done 
 by Sylla, which would be about the year 671. 
 So that (supposing Onuphrius to be right) we are 
 limited to the period between 671 and 707. 
 
 The Cestian family is known to have been of 
 some distinction; and the bridge, which leads 
 out of the island, was called Pons Cestius, pro- 
 bably from one of the same family. The inscrip- 
 tion states him to have been of the Poblician 
 tribe, praetor, tribune of the people, and one of 
 the seven Epulones. The term Epulo, which oc- 
 curs in the first line, is conjectured to have been 
 a surname, as the office would hardly have been 
 repeated twice. The business of the Epulones 
 was to prepare the banquets for the gods, upon 
 occasion of any public calamity or rejoicing. 
 This ceremony was called Lectislernium, and is 
 frequently mentioned by Livy. 
 
 The pyramidal form of building seems never 
 to have been fashionable with the Greeks or 
 Romans. The ancient Etruscans made use of 
 it, as we learn from Pliny, who tells us s , that the 
 tomb of Porsena was of this form ; or rather 
 square, with five pyramids rising from it ; which 
 is an exact description of the ruin at Albano, 
 which is called the Tomb of the Curiatii, but sup- 
 posed to be that of Pompey. We have already 
 seen from Acron, the scholiast upon Horace, that 
 
 s Lib. xxxvi. c. 13. 
 
254 
 
 PYRAMID OF 
 
 a pyramid was raised to the memory of Scipio : 
 and Fulvio says 1 , that traces of it existed near 
 the mausoleum of Adrian in the time of Alex- 
 ander VI. The marble which covered it had 
 been taken by Domnus 1. (who was pope 677-9,) 
 to pave the court of St. Peter's. We have, how- 
 ever, no other pyramid now remaining in Rome 
 but this of C. Cestius. And it may be observed, 
 that the circumstance of this being built as a 
 tomb, in some measure confirms the idea of the 
 Egyptian pyramids being erected for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 An ancient inscription, relating to the same 
 C. Cestius, may be seen in the court of the build- 
 ing containing the Museum Capitolinum. It was 
 found near the pyramid, and is as follows ; 
 
 M. VALERIVS. MESSALA. CORVINVS 
 
 P. RVTILIVS. LVPVS. L. IVNIVS. SJLANVS 
 
 L. PONTIVS. MELA. P. MARIVS 
 
 NIGER. HEREDES. C. CESTI. ET 
 
 L. CESTIVS. Q.VAE. EX. PARTE. AD 
 
 EVM. FRATRIS. HEREDITAS 
 
 M. AGRIPPAE. MVNERE. PER 
 
 VENIT. EX. EA. PECVNIA. CtVAM 
 
 PRO. SVIS. PARTIBVS. RECEPER 
 
 EX. VENDITIONE. ATTALICOR 
 
 QVAE. EIS. PER. EDICT VM 
 
 AEDILIS. IN. SEPVLCHRVM 
 
 C. CESTI. EX. TESTAMENTO 
 
 EIVS. INFERRE. NON. LICVIT 
 
 1 Lib. iv. e. 31 . 
 
C. CESTIUS. 
 
 255 
 
 Coupling this inscription with that upon the 
 tomb, we may learn that the five persons men- 
 tioned first in this last inscription were named 
 heirs by the will of C. Cestius : one of whom, 
 Pontius Claudius Mela, (or perhaps his son,) and 
 Pothus, a freed man of the deceased, superin- 
 tended the erection of the monument. L. Ces- 
 tius, brother of the deceased, seems not to have 
 been made heir by the will, but by the liberality 
 of M. Agrippa. Most probably C. Cestius 
 named Agrippa his heir, because he was a man 
 of rank, and because he knew, that he would 
 give up the property to the natural heir L. Ces- 
 tius. This was customary in Rome : and pro- 
 perty left iu this manner was called Fidei com- 
 missum. It also appears, that C. Cestius ordered 
 in his will, that some robes, which were called 
 Attalici (from King Attalus, who first invented 
 them 3 ,) should be burnt with his body. But an 
 edict of the aediles, intended to check the ex- 
 pence incurred at funerals, hindered his heirs 
 from doing this, and the robes were sold. 
 
 There is also a colossal foot in bronze, in the 
 Stanza del Vaso in the Capitol, which was found 
 at the same time near the pyramid. It was 
 standing upon a marble base ; and it is calcu- 
 lated, that the statue to which it belonged must 
 have been fifteen palms (eleven feet) high. These 
 were found when the pyramid was being restored 
 by order of Alexander VII. Part of it w as bu- 
 
 s Pliny, lib. xxxiii. c. 19. 
 
256 
 
 PYRAMID OF C. CESTIUS. 
 
 vied sixteen feet by the accumulation of soil. It 
 may be mentioned, as a singular instance of error 
 in so learned a man, and such a lover of antiqui- 
 ties, that Petrarch considered this pyramid to be 
 the tomb of Remus. The inscriptions were per- 
 haps not so legible in his days. 
 
 Close to this tomb is the burial-place for pro- 
 testants and heretics of all descriptions : the mo- 
 numents to the English are by far the most nu- 
 merous : and in the winter of 1819 a subscription 
 was set on foot among the English families, with 
 the concurrence of the Roman government, to 
 inclose the place. 
 
 MAUSOLEUM OF AUGUSTUS. 
 
 Of this once magnificent fabric considerable 
 remains still exist, but they are completely sur- 
 rounded by other buildings, and what is to be 
 seen exhibits no beauty or grandeur of architec- 
 ture. The body of Marcellus, the nephew of 
 Augustus, was the first deposited here : and 
 Virgil, who has so pathetically celebrated his 
 death, makes allusion also to this Mausoleum : 
 
 Quantos ille virum magnam Mavortis ad urbem 
 Campus aget gemitus, vel quae, Tiberine, videbis 
 Funera, cum tumulum prccterlabere recentem. 
 
 JEn. vi. 873. 
 
 J. Caesar, Augustus, and Germanicus, were also 
 buried here. It was of a circular form, 400 feet 
 in height, with a dome at the top, surmounted by 
 
MAUSOLEUM OF AUGUSTUS. 257 
 
 a statue of Augustus. The diameter of the larg- 
 est part was fifty paces 1 . The whole was covered 
 with marble. Tacitus" calls it the tomb of the Oc- 
 tavii: and Suetonius x says, that Augustus built 
 it in the year of his sixth consulate, and planted 
 trees about it for public walks. 
 
 The best account of the original appearance of 
 this building is given by Strabo y ; " What they 
 44 call the Mausoleum is particularly worthy of 
 " mention. It is built upon immense founda- 
 " tions of white marble, and covered with ever- 
 44 greens. On the top is a statue of Augustus in 
 44 bronze ; underneath are the vaults for himself, 
 44 his relations, and dependents. Behind is a 
 44 grove with admirable walks." He then pro- 
 ceeds to describe the place where the bodies 
 were burnt : 44 In the centre of the plain stands 
 44 the Tomb itself, finished in white marble, with 
 " iron palisades round it, and poplar trees 
 44 planted within. The inner circular wall still 
 44 exists with the opus reticulatum ; but formerly, 
 " as it seems, there were three walls at equal 
 44 distances, the intervals between which were 
 44 marked out into certain spaces, so as to pro- 
 44 duce a greater number of vaults, for the inter- 
 " ment of each person separately." Of all this 
 splendour little now remains but a circular mass 
 of brickwork of immense thickness : the dome is 
 entirely gone ; and this, as well as other parts, 
 
 1 Spence's Anecdotes, p. 88. u An. lib. iv. c. 44. * In 
 Augusto. y Lib. v. 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 MAUSOLEUM 
 
 having fallen in, has made such an accumulation 
 in the interior, that the present area is raised a 
 considerable height above the street. It has been 
 fitted up with rows of seats after the manner of 
 the ancient amphitheatres, and bull-fights are oc- 
 casionally performed in it. Several of the sepul- 
 chral chambers may still be seen in the wall, 
 which surrounds the whole 55 . 
 
 MAUSOLEUM OF ADRIAN. 
 
 This building is now called the Castle of S. 
 Angelo, from a bronze statue of the Archangel 
 Michael on the top of it. It seems to have been 
 erected in imitation and rivalry of the Mausoleum 
 of Augustus, which stood at no great distance 
 off on the other side of the Tiber. Perhaps 
 Adrian did not quite finish it, as Capitolinus 
 mentions something being done to it by Antoninus 
 Pius. Both structures were circular. This of 
 Adrian consisted of three stories, one above the 
 other, besides a square basement. From coins 
 and the description of Procopius we may col- 
 lect, that the two first stories were ornamented 
 with pillars and statues, and the third was sur- 
 mounted with a cupola and a statue of Adrian. 
 The passage in Procopius is this*: 44 The tomb 
 " of the Emperor Adrian stands without the 
 44 Porta Aurelia, at about a stone's throw from the 
 
 2 Engravings are given of this Mausoleum by Bartholi, in his 
 work upon ancient sepulchres. 
 a Lib. iii. 
 
OF ADRIAN. 
 
 259 
 
 46 walls, and is undoubtedly well worth seeing. 
 " For it is built of Parian marble : the square 
 " stones [of which the basement is built] are 
 "joined alternately to each other, without the 
 " admixture of any cement, and it is divided 
 " into four sides of equal dimensions ; each is 
 " of such a length, that a stone thrown from one 
 " angle would but just reach the other b . In 
 M height it surpasses the walls of the city. There 
 " are also statues on it of men and horses, 
 " finished with wonderful skill out of Parian 
 " marble. The inhabitants a long time ago, ob- 
 " serving it stand like a tower overlooking the 
 " city, carried out two arms from the walls to 
 " the tomb, and by building them into it so united 
 " it, that thenceforward it became part of the 
 " walls : for it has a very lofty appearance, like 
 " a tower, and overhangs the gate in that 
 " quarter." In the painting of the appearance of 
 the cross to Constantine, in the room, which is 
 called after that emperor, in the Vatican, the 
 Mausoleum of Adrian is introduced, as well as 
 that of Augustus, in what is supposed to have 
 been their ancient state : they were probably de- 
 signed by Raffael. 
 
 Besides the basement, the first circular story 
 now alone remains, 576 feet in circumference; 
 stripped of all its ornaments, and with modern 
 buildings on the top of it. The statues were 
 thrown down during the siege of Rome by the 
 
 b On Nolli's great plan, the sides measure 260 English feet. 
 
 s2 
 
260 
 
 MAUSOLEUM 
 
 Goths under Vitiges ; when the building served 
 for a citadel, and the besieged threw down the 
 statues upon their assailants. In the scheme for 
 dragging the Tiber in search of antiquities, which 
 was tried in the summer of 1819, great hopes 
 were entertained that some of these statues 
 would be found. The sanguine supporters of the 
 scheme seem to have forgotten, that marble 
 statues (probably of colossal size) could not 
 easily be used as weapons of offence, unless they 
 were first broken in pieces. Procopius, who 
 mentions the fact of the statues being thrown 
 down, expressly says, that they were so broken. 
 His words are, " having broken the statues, 
 " which were of marble and great size, they 
 66 threw down large stones made out of their 
 ' 6 fragments upon the heads of the enemy." It is 
 however asserted by Winkelmann c , that when 
 Urban VIII. repaired the ditch of this fortress, 
 two statues were found there : one of a sleeping 
 faun, the legs, thighs, and left arm of which were 
 wanting, and which is now in the Barberini gal- 
 lery. The other was of Septimius Severus. He 
 adds, that Alexander VI. discovered others, and 
 in this he is confirmed by Andrea Fulvio and JL. 
 Fauno, who say, that they had seen some heads 
 and other fragments dug up, when the ditches 
 were being made deeper. They perhaps were 
 dug up near this place, but whether they be- 
 longed to the series of statues which ornamented 
 
 c Tom. ii. p. 338. 
 
OF ADRIAN. 
 
 261 
 
 the Mausoleum, cannot surely be ascertained. 
 The Tiber has certainly given up no such trea- 
 sures hitherto, and the above-mentioned scheme 
 totally failed. 
 
 Some disputes have arisen as to a pine of me- 
 tal, which is now in the garden of Belvedere, and 
 which is said to have been on the top of this 
 building. It is often represented so in drawings. 
 But this is a mistake. Some authors have men- 
 tioned, that a statue of Adrian stood on the top ; 
 and Johannes Antiochenus says, that a car in 
 bronze formerly stood there. If this writer is to 
 be believed, the proportions of this car were so 
 immense, that a tall man could place himself in 
 the hollow of the horse's eyes! And yet the 
 height of this building was so prodigious, that the 
 car and the figure in it looked quite diminutive 
 from the ground d . Dante seems to allude to this 
 pine in the Inferno, xxxi. 58. 
 
 La faccia sua mi pare lunga e grossa, 
 Come la pina di San Pietro a Roma. 
 
 The commentators perpetuate the mistake of 
 placing this pine on the top of the Mausoleum : 
 others make the poet allude to the cupola of 
 S. Peters : but as the pine stood for a long time 
 in front of the old church of S. Peter, the words 
 in the passage quoted are very intelligible. It 
 stood in the centre of the Quadriporticus, or 
 
 d Jo. Antioch. De Archseologia, quoted by Salmas. not. in 
 Spart. p. 51. He lived about 560 A. D. 
 
 s 3 
 
262 
 
 MAUSOLEUM 
 
 quadrangular cloister, which was in front of the 
 old Basilica; and was covered by a canopy 
 supported by eight columns, on the top of which 
 were two peacocks and four dolphins, all gilt. 
 The whole is said by some antiquaries to have 
 been on the top of the Mausoleum. The pine 
 was J 5 palms high, and served as a fountain. 
 Flaminius Vacca e tells us, that it was found in 
 digging for the foundations of the old church of 
 Transpontina, which is at the foot of the Mau- 
 soleum of Adrian : and this probably gave rise 
 to the idea, that it formerly stood on the top of 
 that building. 
 
 It may also be found in some books, that the 
 beautiful Corinthian columns in the church of 
 St. Paul came from hence ; but the account is 
 not true. St. Paul's was built in 396, whereas 
 Procopius mentions the Mausoleum and its sta- 
 tues as being perfect in 536 ; besides which the 
 height of the pillars, which is 46 palms, is much 
 too great for them to have stood on this build- 
 ing. 
 
 At what time it was first used as a place of de- 
 fence, is not easy to ascertain. Procopius speaks 
 of it as an event which took place considerably 
 before his time. Perhaps we may assign it 
 to the first Gothic war, when Alaric invaded 
 Rome. In the second war, the statues were 
 broken and thrown down, as already stated. 
 Totila afterwards gained possession of the build- 
 
 < No. 61. 
 
OF ADRIAN. 
 
 265 
 
 ing, and, according to Procopius f , a very strong 
 fortress was made of it by the garrison, which 
 held it after Totila's death. They surrounded it 
 with walls, and connected their new work with 
 the walls of the city. In the twenty-sixth year 
 of the reign of Justinian, A. D. 553, the Goths 
 were forced to give it up, and after that it con- 
 tinued in the possession of the exarchs, who go- 
 verned Rome in the name of the Greek emperors. 
 The name of S. Angelo was given to it upon the 
 occasion of an angel appearing to Gregory the 
 Great, when he went in a grand procession of 
 clergy and people to S. Peter's, after the terrible 
 inundation in November, 589. His third suc- 
 cessor, Boniface IV. dedicated a chapel to S. 
 Michael at the top of the Mausoleum. Luit- 
 prandus gives the following account of it during 
 this period g . " In the entrance to the city of 
 " Rome there is a fortification of astonishing 
 " workmanship and astonishing strength : in 
 " front of the gate is a bridge of great conse- 
 " quence over the Tiber, which is the first in 
 " going in or out of Rome: nor is there any 
 " other way of passing except over this bridge. 
 " But this cannot be done, except by leave of 
 " those] who guard the fortress. The fortress 
 " itself is of so great a height, that a church, 
 l< which is built at the top of it in honour of the 
 " Archangel Michael, chief of the heavenly host, 
 " is called the Church of S. Angelo in the hea- 
 
 f Lib. iii. 
 
 * Lib. iii. c. 12. 
 
 S 4 
 
264 
 
 MAUSOLEUM 
 
 " vens, (usque ad ccelos)" There is still a figure 
 of an angel upon the top : but Andrea Fulvio, 
 who wrote in the sixteenth century, speaks of it 
 as a thing which had existed, but did not in his 
 days. 
 
 Different powerful families occupied it till the 
 time of John XII. who was the first pope that 
 possessed it, about 955. His successors were 
 sometimes masters of it, and sometimes driven 
 out of it. About the year 985, Crescenzio No- 
 mentano got possession of it, and added the for- 
 tifications. From him it got the name of Cas- 
 tello di Crescenzio h . After this time, a long pe- 
 riod of troubles succeeded between the pope and 
 the citizens of Rome ; during which time we 
 sometimes find the pope overawing the people 
 by means of this fortress, and sometimes besieged 
 in it by the turbulent citizens. It was disfigured 
 and reduced to its present shapeless form by the 
 fury of the Roman populace in 1378, at which 
 time it had been occupied by a garrison placed 
 there by the French cardinals, who opposed the 
 election of Urban VI. Boniface IX. repaired 
 the walls in 1392, and since his time, the popes 
 with little interruption have kept possession of 
 it*. Alexander VI. added some brickwork at 
 the top, and strengthened the fortifications in 
 general. Paul III. and Pius IV. also did much 
 towards ornamenting and fortifying it : and 
 
 h Vide Guicciardini, lib. i. p 121. 
 1 Vide Guicciardini, lib, iv. p. £22. . 
 
OF ADRIAN. 
 
 265 
 
 lastly Urban VIII. added more than any of his 
 predecessors. Since this time it has always been 
 used as the citadel of Rome, and now serves 
 also as a state prison. It has a secret commu- 
 nication with the Vatican. In the interior are 
 some paintings by Perino del Vaga, Giulio Ro- 
 mano, &c. The chamber in which the remains 
 of Adrian were laid may still be seen: but In- 
 nocent II. removed the urn of Porphry to the 
 Lateran, to serve for his own tomb. 
 
 TOMB OF CiECILIA METELLA. 
 
 While we are upon the subject of tombs, that 
 of Csecilia Metella must not be omitted. It 
 stands on the Appian way, and near to the 
 Circus of Caracalla. Nothing more is known of 
 this lady, than from the inscription on the out- 
 side, which allies her to a noble family. 
 
 CAECILIAE 
 Q. CRETICI. F 
 METELLAE 
 CRASSI 
 
 That the family of the Metelli had a burial-place 
 upon this road, we learn from Cicero s; " An tu 
 " egressus porta Capena cum Calatini, Scipi- 
 " onum, Serviliorum, Metellorum sepulchra vi- 
 " des, &c." Q. C. Metellus got the surname of 
 Creticus for his conquest of Crete, U. C. 687 h : 
 and we may fairly conclude, that this inscription 
 
 * Tusc. Disp. lib. i. c. 7. h Vid. Villcius, lib. ii. c. 40. 
 
266 
 
 TOMB OF 
 
 relates to his daughter, who married into the 
 family of Crassus. 
 
 The upper part of this monument is circular, 
 resting upon a square basement. This basement 
 is made of small irregular stones, with large 
 square ones at certain intervals. The circular 
 part is of freestone, and remarkable for the im- 
 mense size of the stones, which are in fact larger 
 than they appear to be ; for each block is divided 
 into two or three squares, and on account of the 
 arrangement of the squares, it is difficult to per- 
 ceive the joinings. The original entrance is 
 buried under the soil ; but an opening has been 
 made above, by which we see the interior. The 
 top of the roof is broken in, but enough remains 
 to prove it to have been of a conical shape ; that 
 is, the walls converged internally, though on the 
 outside they remained straight, so that they must 
 have been much thicker at top than they were at 
 bottom. The sarcophagus, which contained the 
 remains of the person buried here, was taken to 
 the Palazzo Farnese, where it may still be seen 
 in the court. Poggio says, that part of the tomb 
 was burnt to make lime. 
 
 The cornice is ornamented with festoons and 
 bulls' heads alternately, from whence the building 
 has acquired the name of Capo di Bove. This or- 
 nament of bulls' heads is frequently to be seen in 
 ancient buildings and sculptures. Livy mentions 
 it being first invented 1 : but the Greeks certainly 
 
 * I quote this from memory, not being able to find the pas- 
 sage. 
 
CiECILIA METELLA. 267 
 
 used it in connection with festoons, and probably 
 at a period prior to that mentioned by Livy. In 
 the British Museum some specimens may be seen 
 of it upon ancient altars k . The tomb was forti- 
 fied in the middle ages by the Gaetani family, to 
 which the buildings round it belonged. 
 
 Another tomb, resembling this in form, but 
 smaller, may be seen on the road to Tivoli, 
 close to the Ponte Lucano. It belonged to the 
 Plautian family. 
 
 BATHS. 
 
 The luxury in which the Roman emperors in- 
 dulged in the construction of their baths, is al- 
 most incredible. The expression of Thermce, 
 which is now applied to so many ruins, is cer- 
 tainly not wholly correct : but we have sufficient 
 evidence that immense buildings were raised 
 merely for this purpose. A. Marcellinus 1 com- 
 plains of their enormous size, " lavacra in modum 
 " provinciarum extract a." Some were intended 
 for the summer, others for the winter. First of 
 all, the emperors erected them for their own pri- 
 vate use, but subsequently public ones were con- 
 structed, which were open to all. Sextus Rufus 
 reckons eight hundred. 
 
 BATHS OF TITUS. 
 This name by no means answers to the im- 
 mensity of the building which once covered this 
 
 k See the room of the Elgin marbles, Nos. 91, 106. 
 1 Lib. xvi. c. 10. 
 
268 
 
 BATHS OF 
 
 part of the Esquiline hill, and should more pro- 
 perly be styled the Palace of Titus. This is in 
 fact the name which Pliny gives to it m . The 
 ground is now occupied by gardens to a great 
 extent, and several fragments still exist in various 
 parts of them, which all belonged to the same 
 edifice. Maecenas' house stood here before ; and 
 the Golden-house of Nero, on the Palatine hill, 
 also extended as far as this place. Titus made 
 use of both these buildings in constructing his 
 own palace : and the ruins seem to agree with 
 this account, by certain irregularities, and a want 
 of uniformity. A considerable excavation was 
 made in 1777; but the chief merit is due to the 
 French, who carried on the work much farther, 
 and arrived at the lower floor. The building 
 seems originally to have consisted of two stories ; 
 but of the upper one little remains to be seen. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that the ancients 
 built their houses with only a ground floor. At 
 Pompeii this certainly appears to have been the 
 case : nor am I aware, that in the excavations 
 made within the walls, there has as yet been 
 found any house of two stories. Outside the 
 walls there is a larger house, which has been 
 called that of M. Arrius Diomedes, which was 
 certainly of more than one story. The baths of 
 Titus, Caracalla, and Diocletian, were evidently 
 of this kind : and we know that private houses 
 were sometimes raised to a great height. The 
 
 ro Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
TITUS. 
 
 269 
 
 upper rooms were called Ccenacula, and Juvenal 
 frequently alludes to the uses which were made of 
 them. He tells us plainly", that Centronius had 
 villas at Tibur, Prseneste, and Caieta, which were 
 very lofty. The fact seems to be, that till the 
 population of Rome became so enormous, the 
 houses were only of one story. Vitruvius says as 
 much 0 ; and by the law, which did not allow a 
 wall to be more than a certain thickness, the 
 walls, which were built of brick, could not sup- 
 port an upper story. They therefore took to 
 build them of stone and stronger materials, by 
 which means they were able to carry up their 
 houses to a considerable height: and this, as 
 Vitruvius says, was merely on account of the 
 overflowing population. 
 
 The height of the rooms in the baths of Titus 
 is prodigious, and they are comparatively very 
 narrow. It is also remarkable, that in many of 
 the rooms there is no trace of any window. This 
 deficiency may frequently be observed in ancient 
 Roman buildings. Many houses in Pompeii have 
 no other aperture but the door, which leads into 
 the court : and in the baths of Caracalla even the 
 most perfect remains of chambers have no traces 
 of windows. Some houses however certainly 
 had them ; and the term fenestra, though it often 
 implied merely an open space in the wall, which 
 let in the air as well as the light, signified also a 
 kind of lattice-work, which was not uncommon 
 
 n Sat. xiv. 88. Vid. Sat. Hi. 195, &c. ° Lib. ii. c. 8. 
 
270 
 
 BATHS OF TITUS. 
 
 in dwelling houses. Virgil seems to allude to 
 something of this kind, where he says, 
 
 qua se 
 
 Plena per insertas fundebat Luna fenestras. 
 
 JEn. iii. 151. 
 
 Where glass was so little used and so imperfectly 
 formed, it must have been difficult in time of 
 winter to admit light and yet exclude the cold. 
 And the custom, which seems so barbarous to us, 
 of constructing rooms without windows, arose 
 probably from their ignorance of an art, which 
 now gives to every cottage in England an advan- 
 tage over the palaces of the Caesars. In Sicily, 
 and great part of the south of Italy, glass is still 
 rarely seen in the windows. The mildness of the 
 climate allows the free admission of air in the 
 day time, and at night the aperture is closed with 
 woodden shutters. It would seem, that this 
 luxury was of earlier introduction in the north 
 than in the south of Europe. iEneas Sylvius 
 (afterwards Pope Pius II.) in his treatise de mo- 
 ribus Germanorum, written in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, mentions of the houses in Vienna, that they 
 had all glass windows. " Verum his aestuaria 
 " sunt loco tricliniorum, quae ab his Stubae 
 i 6 (Stoves) vocitantur: nam hyemis asperitatem 
 " hoc domitant modo. Fenestra? undique vitreae 
 " perlucentP." The term vitrei, as signifying 
 glass windows, certainly occurs in very early 
 
 p Vid. Epist. 165. lib. i. 
 
GLASS. 
 
 271 
 
 writers. St. Jerom, who lived in the fourth cen- 
 tury, mentions' 1 glass being run into thin plates 
 for this purpose : and the use of it in churches 
 seems considerably to have preceded the general 
 admission of it into private houses. In our own 
 country, we are told by Stubbs r , that Wigfrid, 
 Bishop of Worcester, was the first who intro- 
 duced windows of stone and glass into England: 
 and Bede s has the following passage in one of 
 his works: 44 Misit legatarios in Galliam, qui 
 " Vitrificatores, artifices videlicet Britannis eate- 
 44 nus incognitos, ad cancellandas ecclesiae por- 
 44 ticuumque et ccenaculorum ejus fenestras ab- 
 44 ducerentV 
 
 Besides their ignorance of the art of making 
 glass windows, I doubt whether the Romans 
 did not designedly construct their houses in this 
 manner, to render them cool. During the sum- 
 mer months, when the heat is so excessive in 
 Italy, it is impossible, as in England, to retire to 
 a cool side of the house, and there avoid the in- 
 fluence of the sun : the whole atmosphere seems 
 to be scorched : and in the shade, as well as out 
 of it, by night as well as by day, no relaxation of 
 the heat is to be found. The ancient Romans, 
 I imagine, adopted a remedy in excluding the 
 outward air, and constructing their rooms, one 
 within the other; so that the inner apartments 
 
 q In Ezech. xl. 16. 
 
 r In Actis Pontificum Ebor. anno 726. 
 8 De Wiremuthensi Monast. c. 5. 
 1 Vid. Ducange, Vitrece. 
 
272 
 
 BATHS OF TITUS. 
 
 had the coolness of a cellar. I think we have 
 this custom clearly indicated in some letters of 
 Pliny. In describing one of his villas in Tus- 
 cany to his friend Apollinaris u , he says, " With 
 " the coolingroom (cella frigidaria) is connected 
 " a middle room, to which the sun is particularly 
 " goodnatured : it is still more so to the warm- 
 " ingroom (caldaria), for it projects forward. In 
 6 ' this are three descents : two are open to the 
 " sun ; the third is farther from the sun, but not 
 " farther from the light." What he here calls 
 cella frigidaria seems to be a room without win- 
 dows ; but as he has been speaking of baths, it 
 may be said, that such rooms might be used after 
 the operation of bathing, but not for living in. 
 In the same epistle however he describes a suite 
 of living rooms, and says, " At the end there is 
 " a chamber, which in summer is quite frosty from 
 " the cold shut up in it : it is contented with its 
 " own atmosphere, and neither desires nor ad- 
 " mits the external air." I by no means wish to 
 say, that the ancients had always very few win- 
 dows, or very small ones. I am well aware, that 
 Vitruvius x gives particular instructions for ad- 
 mitting sufficient light. Pliny himself, whose 
 letter I have quoted above, undoubtedly talks of 
 many of his rooms having several windows : and 
 it appears from a letter of Seneca y , that even in 
 the rooms where the baths were, very large win- 
 dows were then fashionable: and people were 
 
 Lib. v. epist. 6. * Lib. vi. c. 9- y Epist. 86. 
 
GLASS. 
 
 273 
 
 not contented, unless they could enjoy a pro- 
 spect of the country while they were in the 
 water. All that I mean to say is, that where 
 we see apartments in ancient buildings, such as 
 in these baths, and very generally in Pompeii, 
 where there was no aperture to the air but by 
 the door, it w as probably an intentional contriv- 
 ance to have some rooms in the house, which 
 were impervious to the heat of the sun. Vitru- 
 vitis 2 frequently distinguishes between summer 
 and winter rooms ; and the term hybernaculum, as 
 expressing a separate apartment contrived for 
 warmth in winter, is very common in the letters 
 of Pliny. 
 
 It must not however be supposed, that the 
 ancients were unacquainted with the use of glass. 
 Pliny tells us of the invention of it as early as 
 1000 A. C. And if we may believe his testimony, 
 they were by no means rude in the management 
 of it. For he tells us a , that in the time of Tibe- 
 rius a method was discovered of making glass 
 flexible. But he expresses some doubt as to the 
 fact himself ; and the story is evidently inadmis- 
 sible, though it is repeated by Dio Cassius, Pe- 
 tronius Arbiter, and Isidore of Seville, who pro- 
 bably merely copied from Pliny. Aristotle asks 
 two questions with respect to glass ; What is it 
 that makes it transparent? and, Why is it not 
 flexible? The Greeks undoubtedly made use of 
 it, and called it hyalum, a term which seems first 
 
 z Lib. vii. 
 
 a Lib. xxxvi. c. 26. 
 T 
 
27* 
 
 BATHS OF TITUS. 
 
 to have signified crystal, and perhaps rock-salt; 
 and which was afterwards transferred to glass, 
 from its resembling those substances in trans- 
 parency b . Pliny tells ns, that in Nero's time 
 vases and cups were made of white transparent 
 glass, so as to imitate rock-crystal. They came 
 from Alexandria, and cost a great price. We 
 know also, that they formed cinerary urns of it, 
 and even executed bas-reliefs in glass : so that 
 Winkelmann says 0 , that the ancients in general 
 made a greater use of glass than the moderns. 
 
 What brought them nearest to the modern ap- 
 plication of it to windows was a species of 
 luxury, which we learn from Vopiscus. He tells 
 us, that Firmus covered the walls of his house 
 with square pieces of glass, pitch and other pre- 
 parations being inserted between them, probably 
 to conceal the joinings. Still however we have 
 no direct evidence that glass was used by them 
 for those two purposes, which are so essential to 
 us at present, namely, for mirrors and for win- 
 dows. The former were metallic ; and some 
 specimens may be seen, now grown dull by age, 
 in the gallery at Florence. Pliny tells us d , that 
 the best were made in his day of silver, which 
 had been used for that purpose since the days of 
 Pompey. He mentions, that there was a con- 
 trivance for affixing gold to the back of the sil- 
 ver, which gave a better reflection. More an- 
 
 b Vid. Schol. in Aristoph. Nub. act. ii. sc. 1 . 
 e Lib. i. c. 2. s. 20. 
 d Lib. xxxiii. c. 45. 
 
GLASS. 
 
 275 
 
 ciently a mixture was used of tin and copper: 
 but in his days silver ones were so common, that 
 every maid-servant used them 6 . 
 
 There is some evidence, that glass was applied 
 to windows even by the ancients ; and in the 
 Museum at Parma some panes are preserved, 
 brought from the ruins of Velleia, which are said 
 to have been found in their original situation. 
 They are certainly dull and obscure, but perhaps 
 not more so than the best glass would be, after 
 lying buried for so many centuries. Similar 
 panes have also been found at Herculaneum. 
 Horace may be adduced as an evidence, that the 
 transparency of glass was brought to consider- 
 able perfection in his time, when he says of the 
 pure fountain of Bland usia, that it was more pel- 
 lucid than glass f . It is true, that he gives the 
 superiority to the fountain. It was natural that 
 he should do so, in extolling its clearness ; but 
 if glass in those days was always dull and 
 opaque, the compliment was not very great. St. 
 Paul, when he uses the expression, " Now we 
 " see through a glass darklyV seems to allude 
 to the use of glass for the admission of light ; and 
 at the same time to prove, that when applied to 
 that purpose, it was not transparent enough to 
 transmit the objects clearly. In the present day 
 his metaphor would not be applicable, as we can 
 now see as perfectly through glass, as when no 
 such medium intervenes. 
 
 •Lib. xxxiv. c. 48. f Od. iii. 13. 1. & 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 BATHS OF TITUS. 
 
 Before the Romans came to use glass for their 
 windows, two mineral substances, phengites and 
 lapis specularis, (probably Mica and Talc,) served 
 for the transmission of light. Seneca tells us, 
 when one of them was introduced " There are 
 " some arts which we know were not discovered 
 " till our days : such is the use of those glasses, 
 " (specularia,) made of transparent stones, (testce,) 
 " which leave a free passage for the light." Sue- 
 tonius mentions this substance being used for 
 mirrors h ; and Pliny tells us 1 , that bee-hives were 
 made of it, in order to shew the bees at work. 
 Some have thought that glass also was used for 
 windows at this time, from a passage in Philo, 
 where he is giving an account of the embassy to 
 Claudius. Speaking of the room of audience, he 
 says, " that the emperor walked about, and or- 
 " dered the windows every where to be closed 
 " with transparent stones, which resembled white 
 " hyalum" It is difficult to give an exact inter- 
 pretation to these words : but they are not deci- 
 sive as indicating the use of glass. We must 
 bear in mind, that the stone called phengites was 
 not the same with the lapis specularis. The 
 latter was known before the former. The pas- 
 sage quoted from Seneca shews, that phengites 
 was not known till about Nero's time, or a little 
 before. Pliny points out the distinction still 
 more clearly : describing the lapis specularis k , 
 
 e Epist. xci. h Domit. c. xiv. 1 Lib. xxi. c. 14. 
 
 k Lib xxxvi. c. 45. 
 
GLASS. 
 
 277 
 
 he tells us, that it was easily divided into thin 
 lamina?, and was sometimes found incorporated 
 in rocks, but was generally dug up by itself, and 
 only required cutting. It was found in Spain, 
 Cyprus, Cappadocia, Sicily, and Africa ; and the 
 laminae never exceeded five feet in length. This 
 description seems to answer to what we call 
 Talc, which is now found mostly in the Tyrol, 
 Saxony, and Silesia, connected with rocks of 
 serpentine. Having described the lapis specu- 
 lates, Pliny proceeds to say, that in Nero's time 
 a stone had been discovered which was as hard 
 as marble, white, and transparent, even where 
 there were yellow veins. " So that when the 
 " doors are closed, there is still the light of day 
 " within, but produced in a different manner 
 " from what it is by specularia, the light being 
 " as it were shut up in the room, not transmitted 
 " from without. Juba also writes, that there is 
 " a stone in Arabia, transparent like glass, which 
 " they use for specularia'' Still however we have 
 no express mention of panes of glass. I under- 
 stand specularia to mean glasses made of the 
 lapis specularis : as appears also from combining 
 two passages in Martial, which give us the ad- 
 ditional information, that the Romans had green- 
 houses, or hot-houses, constructed like our own. 
 We read, 
 
 Hibernis objecta Notis Specularia puros 
 Admittunt soles, et sine faece diem. 
 
 Lib. viii. ep. 14. 
 
 T 3 
 
278 
 
 BATHS 
 
 Condita perspicua vivit vindemia gemma, 
 Et tegitur felix, nec tamen uva latet. 
 
 Lib. viii. ep. 68. 
 
 The gemma in the last epigram is evidently the 
 same as specularia in the first ; and the term 
 gemma would hardly have been used to denote 
 an artificial substance like glass ; but was not 
 unappropriate to a natural production found im- 
 bedded in rocks. Another passage in Pliny 1 is 
 more to the point, because he is there expressly 
 treating of glass. After praising Sidon for its 
 manufacture of that article, he adds, " si quidem 
 " etiam specularia excogitaverat." If neither of 
 these two passages relate to windows of glass, 
 Lactantius is the earliest author who mentions 
 them™. " It is manifest, that it is the mind 
 44 which sees, by means of the eyes, those things 
 44 which are opposite to it, as if through windows 
 44 covered with glass, or lapis specularis" Lac- 
 tantius wrote A. D. 320". 
 
 In such rooms as these in the baths of Titus, 
 lamps must always have been used : and it may 
 be observed, that there is scarcely a passage in 
 an ancient author where mention is made of a 
 banquet, but " the golden lamps hanging from 
 44 the roofs" are always added. According to 
 
 1 Lib. xxxvi. c. 26. 
 
 m De Opific. Dei, torn. ii. c. 8. 
 
 B A good description of the lapis specularis may be seen in 
 St. Basil, (homil. 3.) 
 
OF TITUS. 
 
 279 
 
 the hours which the ancients observed for their 
 meals, (the ccena or last meal being at about three 
 o'clock,) there would have been no need of lights 
 had there been windows to the rooms : which af- 
 fords another proof that they were frequently 
 constructed without them. Indeed Grecian archi- 
 tecture seems to derive a peculiar character from 
 the absence of such apertures. If any objection 
 is to be made to the chaste and simple models 
 which ancient Greece has left us, it is, that there 
 is a heaviness and a want of relief in the vast 
 masses of solid masonry. The modern Italian 
 architects have gone into the contrary extreme: 
 their aim seems to have been to break every por- 
 tion of the building into as many parts as possi- 
 ble : and in the pediments of their windows they 
 have been particularly profuse in ornament. The 
 difference is probably to be traced to the fact of 
 the ancients having had few windows in their 
 buildings, and the moderns having many. That 
 circumstances, which seem of little importance, 
 can influence the architecture of a whole nation, 
 may be seen in the fact of windows in England 
 being much smaller than those on the continent. 
 The window-tax originally reduced the dimen- 
 sions of our windows : and so great is the force 
 of habit, that we should not perhaps adopt any 
 other proportions if the tax were to be taken off. 
 In such structures as the Palace of Titus, where 
 many ornaments both in painting and sculpture 
 were assembled, it might be thought that much 
 of the effect would be lost by their being never 
 
 t 4 
 
280 
 
 BATHS 
 
 seen except by the light of lamps. With respect 
 to sculpture, however, it is well known that there 
 is no greater test of the excellence of the work, 
 than to view it by torch-light : the rising of the 
 muscles, and all those delicate touches of the 
 chisel, which are scarcely observed on the smooth 
 surface of the white marble, are thrown into a 
 much stronger light and shade in this manner. 
 It is not uncommon for parties to visit the Va- 
 tican at night, and view the statues by torch- 
 light. The effect is certainly very good : and 
 some pretend to discover that the modern pro- 
 ductions appear greatly inferior to the ancient on 
 such occasions. We know that there were for- 
 merly some of the finest specimens of sculpture 
 in the baths of Titus, and the paintings on the 
 walls still remain. The Laocoon was found here 
 during the pontificate of Julius II. which Pliny 0 
 mentions as standing in this palace. 
 
 Notwithstanding the depth of soil which has 
 accumulated on the top of the building, and 
 which serves for gardens, there are paintings on 
 the ceiling which may be called extremely per- 
 fect. The damp seems to have had little or no 
 effect upon them, which is probably owing to the 
 excellence of the Roman brickwork. They con- 
 sist chiefly of arabesques, with all the figures very 
 small, forming little borders and patterns of birds, 
 beasts, &c. among which some green parrots may 
 be seen very distinctly. We know that this me- 
 
 0 Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
OF TITUS. 
 
 281 
 
 thod of ornamenting rooms was a late introduc- 
 tion ; and it was considered as a sign that the art 
 of painting was on the decline, when instead of 
 representing historical subjects upon the walls, 
 they took to draw fanciful objects, such as land- 
 scapes, ponds, sea pieces, and such like. Vitru- 
 vius makes a complaint of this kind ; and it may 
 perhaps be curious to see a description of ara- 
 besques in the original language of a writer of the 
 Augustan age. He says p , " Pinguntur tectoriis 
 " monstra potius quam ex rebus finitis imagines 
 " certae. Pro columnis enim statuuntur calami, 
 " pro fastigiis harpaginetuli striati cum crispis fo- 
 " liis et volutis. Item candelabra aadicularum 
 " sustinentia figuras supra fastigia earum surgen- 
 " tes ex radicibus, cum volutis coliculi teneri 
 " plures, habentes in se sine ratione sedentia si- 
 " gill a, alia humanis alia bestiarum capitibus 
 " similia. Hsec autem nec sunt, nec fieri pos- 
 " sunt, nec fuerunt. Ergo ita novi mores coe- 
 " gerunt, uti inertia mali judices conniveant ar- 
 4< tium virtutes." He seems to give the name of 
 lopiarium opus to this style of painting ^ The 
 term arabesque is said to have been applied, be- 
 cause the Arabs and other Mahometans use this 
 kind of ornaments; their religion forbidding them 
 to make any images or figures of men or other 
 animals. There are also some larger paintings, 
 but not in such good preservation. Mars and 
 Rhea Sylvia have been said to form the subject 
 
 p Lib. vii. c. 5. i Vide this same chapter, and lib. v. c. 8. 
 
282 
 
 BATHS 
 
 of one, and Coriolanus of the other : but Win- 
 kelmann is not of this opinion r . In his expli- 
 cation de Monumens de l'Antiquite he has pub- 
 lished four of these paintings, with a long and 
 learned description. The ground is generally a 
 rich dark red. At the end of one of the rooms 
 is a large painting of some building, in which 
 the perspective is correctly given. 
 
 The charge, which has been brought against 
 the ancient painters of not understanding the 
 rules of perspective, certainly cannot be main- 
 tained. It may be true, that in some of their 
 paintings, which have been preserved to us, these 
 rules are violated : but in a great number they 
 are strictly followed. There is no evidence, 
 that the collection of frescos at Portici, which 
 came from Pompeii and Herculaneum, were 
 executed by any other than common house- 
 painters. On the contrary it is reasonable to 
 suppose, that they are the work of such artists. 
 When it was as common to paint the walls of 
 houses with arabesques and figures, as it is now 
 to cover them with paper, the ordinary house- 
 painters were of course capable of the work : it 
 would therefore be almost as unfair to judge of 
 the knowledge of the ancient painters from these 
 remains at Pompeii, as to estimate the state of 
 the arts in England from the sign-posts. It 
 would be rather more reasonable to say, that if 
 the most ordinary workmen could do so well, 
 
 $ Lib. iv. c. 8. §. 9. 
 
OF TITUS. 
 
 283 
 
 the great masters must indeed have been excel- 
 lent. But without having recourse to this argu- 
 ment, many specimens may be seen at Portici, 
 where architectural subjects are treated with 
 every attention to perspective. Unfortunately 
 none of the works of their great masters have 
 come down to us : nor would I build much upon 
 the argument, that as they carried sculpture to 
 such perfection, the sister art must also have 
 attained equal excellence. But thus far it is rea- 
 sonable to conclude, that the people, who had 
 such models as the works of Grecian sculpture 
 to form their taste upon, would never have la- 
 vished such praises upon the productions of their 
 painters, if they also had not been really excel- 
 lent. I allow, that all praise is relative to the 
 age in which it is bestowed. In the thirteenth 
 century the Italians admired the works of Giotto 
 and Cimabue : nor was this unnatural, as nothing 
 better had ever been seen by them. The prin- 
 ciples of architecture were then rude and inde- 
 finite : sculpture was as unsuccessful in its efforts 
 as painting. But as the arts advanced, each 
 generation learnt to despise what their predeces- 
 sors had admired ; and in the sixteenth century, 
 when so many ancient statues were discovered, 
 we find, that painters only of real excellence 
 were esteemed. It would therefore not be rea- 
 sonable to suppose, that while the Greeks had 
 carried the art of sculpture to its highest perfec- 
 tion, they would bestow the same terms of praise 
 upon their paintings, merely because they were 
 
BATHS OF TITUS. 
 
 the best that they had seen. We must suppose 
 them to have been really and not relatively excel- 
 lent. How could a person, who had seen the 
 almost living forms which a Praxiteles or an 
 Agasias produced, talk of the illusion raised by 
 the works of Zeuxis or Apelles, if these painters 
 were ignorant of the first principles of the 
 art? 
 
 Yet they have been accused of not understand- 
 ing perspective, nor the theory of light and shade. 
 The charge has been brought by Perrault, in his 
 parallel of the ancients and the moderns, a book, 
 in which great malice is shewn against the an- 
 cients, together with excessive ignorance on the 
 part of the author. With respect to perspective, 
 he has been answered by Sallier s . The passages, 
 which he produces to refute Perrault are few, 
 but convincing. I shall borrow two of them, and 
 add some others, which appear to me decisive. 
 With respect to light and shade, the first passage 
 which I shall produce is from Pliny, where he 
 says of painting f , " The art at length became 
 " distinct, and invented light and shades ; a dif- 
 44 ference of colours alternately throwing out each 
 44 other." In the same book u he tells us, " that 
 44 Zeuxis, and Polygnotus, and Euphranor, un- 
 44 derstood how to express shades, and to make 
 64 their figures advance and retire." The younger 
 
 • Acad, des Inscript. vol. viii. p. 97. 
 1 Lib. xxxv. c. 5. 
 U C. 11. 
 
ANCIENT PAINTING. 285 
 
 Pliny also says x , " In a picture there is nothing 
 " which sets off light more than shade." 
 
 With respect to perspective, the knowledge 
 which the ancients had of it is clearly indicated 
 in the following passage; where Pliny tells us y , 
 " that Apelles admired Asclepiodorus in his 
 " symmetries .... he yielded to Asclepiodorus 
 " in proportion, (mensuris,) that is, in putting ob- 
 " jects at their proper distance, (quanto quid a 
 " quo distare deberet.)" The passage produced 
 by Sallier is still more satisfactory, as it shews 
 how early the theory of perspective was known. 
 It is from that Dialogue of Plato, which is called 
 the sophist, he says, " If painters and sculptors 
 u confined themselves to preserving the real pro- 
 " portions of objects, those which are situated 
 " at a certain point of elevation would appear to 
 " us too small ; and those which are placed 
 " lower would seem too large ; the one being 
 i( viewed near, the other at a distance. Our 
 " artists therefore at present abandon the truth, 
 " and give to their figures not the real pro- 
 <c portion of their model, but that which would 
 " convey to the eye an idea of beauty in the 
 " figures." We might perhaps be satisfied with 
 a single passage of Vitruvius, without having re- 
 course to any other. It is in his preface to his 
 seventh book ; he is there speaking of the deco- 
 rations of theatres, and says, " that Democritus 
 " and Anaxagoras had written to explain how 
 
 x Lib. iii. epist. 13. 
 
 y Lib. xxxv. c. 10. 
 
BATHS 
 
 44 by fixing a point in a certain place, we might 
 " make the lines coming from it meet the field of 
 * the eye, and the extension of rays according 
 " to nature : so that though ignorant of the prin- 
 " ciple, we may have definite forms of buildings 
 " represented to us on scenes ; and figures, which 
 44 are drawn upon straight and smooth surfaces, 
 a may appear some to recede, and some to ad- 
 44 vance." 
 
 I must produce one more passage from Pliny, 
 which most clearly expresses the foreshortening 
 of figures 2 . " Pausias was the first inventor of 
 44 a secret in painting, which many afterwards 
 44 imitated, but none equalled. Wishing to re- 
 44 present the whole length of an ox, he painted 
 44 it fronting the spectator, not sideways, and yet 
 <l the size of the animal was made perfectly in- 
 44 telligible. Again, painters in general make 
 44 the parts, which they wish to stand out, rather 
 44 light, and compose a colour out of a black 
 44 ground : but Pausias made the whole ox of a 
 44 black colour, and represented a body of shade 
 M rising out of shade, shewing with excessive 
 44 skill, that parts could stand out where all 
 44 seemed even, and that every part was firm and 
 44 distinct where all seemed confused." 
 
 As to the arabesques in the baths of Titus, it 
 is said, that Raffael took some hints from them 
 in his ornaments of the Vatican ; and he is ac- 
 cused of having had the rooms filled up again, 
 
 ■ Lib. xxxv. c. 11. 
 
OF TITUS. 
 
 287 
 
 that his thefts might not be discovered. They 
 were undoubtedly open in his time, as the 
 Laocoon was discovered in 1506, and Raffael 
 painted the Loggie in the Vatican in 1513-21. 
 It is also true, that they were subsequently filled 
 up, and the soil, which occupied them, was not 
 an accumulation merely effected by time. Many 
 of the rooms were full up to the very top, a 
 height perhaps of thirty feet; and the rubbish, 
 which has been dug out, consists of stones and 
 other ruins of buildings. The room, in which 
 the Laocoon was found, and which must have 
 been cleared at that time, is stated by the guides 
 to have been also choked up, when the French 
 began to dig. But we may ask, if the room was 
 full of soil from the time of Raffael to the time of 
 the late excavations, how was the tradition pre- 
 served, that this was the actual apartment where 
 the Laocoon was found ? It is a singular circum- 
 stance, that in almost all the rooms a round hole 
 has been broken in the ceiling, as if purposely to 
 throw in rubbish. So that it is perhaps not an 
 improbable conjecture, that the owners of the 
 land, wishing to clear it for cultivation, got rid 
 of sundry fragments, which projected above the 
 surface, by throwing them into this convenient 
 receptacle. At all events, we must not believe 
 the charge against Raffael without some satis- 
 factory evidence. He is known to have been an 
 eager searcher after antiquities, and to have made 
 a proposal to Leo X. for instituting a general ex- 
 amination. The Romans in his time were per- 
 
288 
 
 BATHS OF TITUS. 
 
 haps as enthusiastic in this pursuit, as they have 
 been during any subsequent period ; and we may 
 imagine, that when such a discovery was made, 
 as that of the chambers in the palace of Titus, 
 thousands would be led by curiosity to examine 
 them. Such indeed is the express testimony of 
 Gianbattista Armeni, a writer of that day, who 
 says, that all Rome ran in crowds to see the or- 
 naments of stucco and painting, which presented 
 such singular varieties. All these persons would 
 have seen the arabesques : they must have formed 
 the principal objects for the Ciceroni to point 
 out : owing to their great height, Raffael could 
 not have copied them without scaffolding and 
 without lights : so that it seems impossible that 
 he could have conceived the idea of transferring 
 these designs to the Vatican, and keeping the 
 originals unknown. Besides which it is certain, 
 from the work of Giulio Mancini upon painting, 
 that the baths were open in the time of Urban 
 VIII. who reigned in 1623 — 44. Where the 
 walls are bare, the brickwork has a most singu- 
 lar appearance of freshness : the stucco also is 
 very perfect in many parts ; but the marble, of 
 which there are evident traces on the walls and 
 floors, is gone. 
 
 These ruins extend, as I have mentioned, over a 
 great tract of ground : and in one of the adjoin- 
 ing gardens is a building connected with the 
 baths, and called Sette Sale di Vespasiano. . It 
 got this name, when seven rooms only had been 
 opened ; but there are in all nine, of the same 
 
SETTE SALE. 
 
 289 
 
 size, and supposed to have served as a reservoir 
 for water. There are two stories, the lower of 
 which is buried. Each chamber opens into the 
 next by means of an arch. These arches are 
 not placed opposite to each other ; but a person 
 placing himself in the first room may look 
 through all of them in a slanting direction. To 
 make myself understood, I have given a ground- 
 plan of the building ; and much ingenuity has 
 been exercised, to explain why the arches were 
 constructed in this manner. But if we examine 
 this plan, perhaps we shall conclude, that this 
 was not the effect which the architect had in 
 view. The plan is in fact extremely simple, and 
 the most natural of any for such a building. To 
 form a series of chambers communicating with 
 each other by arches, each partition was divided 
 into so many oblong portions, from which the 
 arches were to spring : and these portions were 
 not set [exactly one before the other, but the 
 space between each two corresponded with the 
 middle of the opposite pier : hence resulted the 
 effect of our being able to see through so many 
 arches at once, w hich is a natural consequence 
 of the plan of the building, but was not stu- 
 died purposely by the architect. The longest 
 of these rooms is 137 feet: the width of each 
 is 17i 
 
 The walls of the upper chambers, besides a 
 coat of very hard plaister, shew three distinct 
 deposits, one above the other, formed by a sedi- 
 ment from water. These are so extremely hard, 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 SETTE 
 
 that it is difficult to separate a small portion from 
 the wall to examine it. That water should leave 
 a deposit upon the wall, seems very natural : but 
 why there should be here three distinct coatings, 
 seems not so easy to explain. Such a pheno- 
 menon could scarcely have been produced, with- 
 out some intervals of time having passed, when 
 the water was temporarily withdrawn. Perhaps we 
 may be able to assign a cause, which will account 
 for the singular appearance. Of the five great 
 aquaducts, which brought water into Rome, the 
 Aqua Julia supplied the Esquiline and Palatine 
 hills. Consequently the baths of Titus were fed 
 from this stream, and the Sette Sale may have 
 formed the reservoir. Now it is known, that the 
 Aqua Julia was an union of three streams, the 
 Aqua Martia, brought to Rome U. C. 608 or 
 640, by Q. Martius Rex; the Aqua Tepula, 
 which was brought U. C. 627 ; and the Aqua 
 Julia, properly so called, which was introduced 
 U. C. 721, by M. Agrippa. Each stream origi- 
 nally entered the city by itself ; but as the others 
 were brought, they were successively turned into 
 the same aquaduct, and came on one course of 
 arches into Rome. Now it seems not impro- 
 bable, that the Aqua Martia or Tepula (which- 
 ever was the earliest) formed the first deposit. It 
 would seem also, by another stream being brought 
 in, that the first must have proved deficient, or 
 while the second work was going on, the water 
 might have been withdrawn, and thus we have 
 the first deposit. Then when the two streams 
 
SALE. 
 
 291 
 
 were let in, another deposit began to be formed, 
 which would not incorporate with the first, but 
 lie over it. Lastly, when the Aqua Julia was 
 being introduced, (after an interval of nearly a 
 century,) the same temporary withdrawing of 
 the water might have taken place, and thus the 
 second deposit would have hardened. After 
 this the third was formed by the three streams 
 united. To allow this we must assume, that the 
 Sette Sale were not built as a reservoir for the 
 baths of Titus, but long antecedent, which is not 
 at all contrary to the appearance of the building. 
 It is indeed natural to suppose, that when 
 Agrippa brought the aquaduct to the Esquiline 
 hill, there was a reservoir constructed for it. It 
 seems to have been the custom with most of the 
 aquaducts. The remains of a reservoir for the 
 Claudian aquaduct are still to be seen near the 
 Temple of Minerva Medica ; and what is called 
 the Castello delV Acqua Guilia, is always allowed 
 to have been a reservoir, though it is disputed 
 for what water. The Piscina Mirabile near 
 Baiae, and the Labyrinth near Pozzuoli, are also 
 instances of this custom prevailing. 
 
 BATHS OF CARACALLA. 
 
 These, which form the principal ruin on Mount 
 Aventine, were smaller than the baths of Diocle- 
 tian, and larger than those of Titus : but much 
 more is remaining of them, than of either of the 
 others. They look not unlike the ruins of some 
 
 u 2 
 
292 
 
 BATHS OF 
 
 of our old castles in England, and next to the 
 Colosseum present the greatest mass of ancient 
 building in Rome. The length of the whole is 
 said to be 1840 feet, the breadth 1476. The 
 outer wall may be traced in nearly its whole cir- 
 cuit, though it has lost something of its height. 
 The number of rooms in the interior, and the 
 dimensions of them, are most astonishing : one in 
 particular, called Cella Solearis, is 203 feet long 
 by 146 wide : the flat roof, which covered it, was 
 considered very surprising by the ancients. Spar- 
 tianus describes the baths thus : " Romae reliquit 
 " therm as sui nominis eximias : quarum cellam 
 " solearem architecti negant posse ulla alia ra- 
 " tione fieri, nisi qua facta est. Nam ex aere vei 
 " cupro cancelli superpositi esse dicuntur, quibus 
 " cameratio tota concredita est : et tantum est 
 *' spatii, ut id ipsum aliter fieri potuisse negent 
 " docti mechanici." Lampridius says, that they 
 were begun by Caracalla, and that Heliogabalus 
 annexed porticos, which were finished by Alex- 
 ander Severus. Olympiodorus tells us, that 1600 
 seats were made of polished marble for the use 
 of the persons bathing. The lower story, in 
 which the baths were constructed, is entirely 
 buried ; and the rooms of the upper story, which 
 are what we now see, are in complete ruin. 
 The roofs, where any portion of them remain, 
 consist half of pumice stone, for the sake of light- 
 ness in such large arches. The niches are very 
 perfect in some squares of it, but in the most per- 
 fect parts there is nothing to be seen of win- 
 
CARACALLA. 
 
 293 
 
 dows a . By means of a broken staircase a person 
 may climb up to the top of the building, and 
 ramble in various directions through a kind of 
 shrubbery, which has grown on the summit of the 
 walls. Perpendicular channels of tiles may be 
 observed on the outside, which seem to have 
 carried the water from the roof. 
 
 It is to be regretted, that excavations are not 
 carried on here at present on a more extensive 
 scale, as there is every reason to expect, that the 
 search would be repaid. Some of the finest 
 works, which the ancients have left us in sculp- 
 ture, have been found here. In 1540, during the 
 reign of Paul III. the Farnese Hercules was dis- 
 covered. At first the legs were wanting ; but they 
 were found in 1560, and came into the possession 
 of Prince Borghese, who refused for some time 
 to give them up. They are now however re- 
 joined to the body. In the mean time a fresh 
 pair of legs had been executed by Guglielmo 
 della Porta, under the direction of Michael An- 
 gelo, and these may now be seen in the Farnese 
 palace at Rome. The name of the sculptor 
 Glycon is upon the statue ; and it had struck 
 me, that Horace might allude to the enormous 
 bulk of this statue, and not to a Gladiator as is 
 commonly supposed, when he says, 
 
 Nec quia desperes invicti membra GJyconis. 
 
 Epist. i. 1, 30. 
 
 * Spence's Anecdotes p. 94. 
 u 3 
 
294 
 
 BATHS OF 
 
 But Sand by has anticipated me in this remark : and 
 Fea, the annotator of Winkelmann b , says, that he 
 is wrong, but does not add his reasons. The 
 Abbe Dubos c also thought, that this statue was 
 distinctly mentioned by Pliny: but in this he is 
 corrected by Winkelmann. The latter writer 
 places Glycon amongst the sculptors, who flou- 
 rished after the time of Alexander. 
 
 Paul III. being a Farnese, the Hercules be- 
 came the property of that family, and was pre- 
 served in their palace at Rome. But by the 
 marriage of Philip V. king of Spain with Eliza- 
 beth Farnese, the crown of Spain gained a claim 
 to the possessions of that family. By the Qua- 
 druple Alliance in 17*18, the Duchies of Parma 
 and Placentia d were adjudged to the Infant 
 Don Carlos, son of Philip V. upon the extinction 
 of the dukes of the Farnese family. Their line 
 terminated with Antonio Francesco, who died in 
 1731 without issue: upon which Don Carlos 
 succeeded. He gave them up to the emperor 
 by the treaty of Vienna in 1738 ; but in 1748, by 
 the peace of Aix la Chapelle, they were again 
 transferred to Don Philip, brother to Don Carlos. 
 Philip dying without issue in 1765, Don Carlos, 
 who was then king of Spain, took possession of 
 them, and left them to his son Ferdinand, who 
 became king of Naples in 1759, and still reigns. 
 
 h At 1. vi. c. 4. §. 53. 
 c Reflexions sur la Poesie et la Peinture. 
 * Paul III. in 1545 gave Parma and Placentia to his son, 
 Peter Louis Farnese, as Duke. 
 
CARACALLA. 
 
 295 
 
 It was then that all the Farnese property became 
 attached to the crown of Naples ; and all the re- 
 mains of antiquity, which were formerly in their 
 palace at Rome, were removed to Naples. 
 
 The Flora, which is also in the royal Neapo- 
 litan Gallery, was found here in the same year 
 with the Hercules, 1540. This seems certainly 
 to be improperly called a Flora, and the flowers 
 in the left hand, from which the name is taken, 
 are a modern addition, together with the whole 
 arm. The right arm also, the head, the legs and 
 feet, have been restored by a modern hand. The 
 figure is colossal, being nearly ten feet high. It 
 is more difficult to decide what it ought to be 
 called. Winkelmann (who appears never to 
 have seen the statue) calls it in one place 6 a 
 Terpsichore, in another f one of the Hours. 
 
 The famous Toro Farnese, which is also at 
 Naples, in the Villa Reale, was a produce of the 
 same excavation about the year 1546. This 
 groupe represents Dirce fastened by her hair to 
 a bull by Zethus and Amphion; but when the 
 bull is on the point of starting off, Antiope orders 
 them to release her, and they are stopping the 
 fury of the animal. Pliny mentions this piece of 
 sculptures, and tells us, that the artists were 
 Apollonius and Tauriscus. He adds also, that 
 it was formed of one block of marble. Of the 
 truth of this statement we cannot now judge, as 
 it has been greatly broken and restored by rao- 
 
 e Liv. iv. c. 2. §. 85. f Ibid. c. 5. §. 20. * Lib. xxxvi. 
 c.5. He says that it was in the collection of Pollio. 
 
 u 4 
 
296 
 
 BATHS OF CAR AC ALL A. 
 
 (lern hands. Baptista Bianchi of Milan was the 
 person employed to replace the parts which were 
 wanting. These parts are the head, breast, and 
 two arms of Dirce ; the head and arms of An- 
 tiope; both the figures of Amphion and Zethus, 
 except the two torsos and one leg. The legs of 
 the bull and the cord are also modern. Winkel- 
 mann h (from whom I have borrowed this detail) 
 condemns these restorations ; and assigns to the 
 original groupe a date subsequent to the age of 
 Alexander. 
 
 The Jesuits begged to have these baths for 
 their boys to play in, and have since sold a good 
 deal of the stone • . On the east side of this im- 
 mense fabric are considerable remains of the 
 portico, which was built by Heliogabalus and 
 Alexander Severus. Within the precincts is an 
 octagon building, which has been called a Tem- 
 ple of Hercules. There are four large niches in 
 it, apparently for statues. 
 
 BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN. 
 
 Of these baths, which were the largest in Rome, 
 little is to be said in description, although great 
 fragments of the ancient building remain. Maxi- 
 mianus, when he returned from Africa, A. D. 298, 
 began them, and employed seven years in the 
 work. He had distinguished himself very much 
 in persecuting the Christians, and accordingly he 
 ordered as many as he could find to work in the 
 
 h Liv. vi. c. 4. §. 17- 
 
 * Spence's Anecdotes, p. 94 
 
BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN. 
 
 297 
 
 building. Some say that forty thousand Chris- 
 tians worked here. " Hence," says one of the 
 antiquaries of Rome, " though all the other baths 
 " are destroyed, these, which were built by the 
 " hands of saints, are still preserved." He adds, 
 that some of the bricks have been found with a 
 cross marked upon them. At the time when he 
 wrote, which is about two centuries ago, the re- 
 mains of them were much greater ; and when 
 architecture was reviving in Italy, San Gallo, 
 Michael Angelo, and others, studied them more 
 than any other ancient specimens of building. 
 They undoubtedly have given rise to some in- 
 stances of bad taste, particularly in the super- 
 fluity of ornament, which we cannot be surprised 
 at finding in these baths, when we consider the 
 age in which they were built ; but we may regret, 
 that the great revivers of the art had recourse to 
 them, rather than to simpler and chaster models. 
 There are examples here of a series of columns, 
 not supporting any horizontal entablature, (as in 
 the more ancient Roman buildings,) but con- 
 nected by arches springing from one to the other, 
 as in our Saxon and Norman churches. The 
 same may be observed in the ruins of Diocle- 
 tian's palace at Spalatro. 
 
 The church of S. Maria degli Angeli occu- 
 pies the principal part of these baths ; and we 
 may learn something of their extent, by consider- 
 ing the church of S. Bernardo as one of four 
 round towers which stood at each angle. These 
 two buildings are all that remain in any thing 
 
298 BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN. 
 
 like a perfect state. The former is said to have 
 served for a picture gallery. Very considerable 
 fragments of brickwork may be seen behind it : 
 and it is remarkable, that in an excavation made 
 near this spot, so much lead was found, that the 
 cupola of S. Bernardo was covered with it. 
 
 These ruins stand both upon the Viminal and 
 Quirinal hills, which come to a junction in this 
 place. 
 
 BATHS OF PAULUS ^EMILIUS. 
 
 This name is given to some ruins which stand 
 south-east of Trajan's column : but they are in 
 such a mutilated state, and so blocked up by 
 houses, that little can be known about them. 
 All that remains is of brick : it was of a semi- 
 circular form, with a covered arcade going round 
 the interior of it. Winkelmann does not seem to 
 consider them as baths ; and Desgodetz sup- 
 poses them to be the remains of a theatre. 
 
 RIVER AND BRIDGES. 
 
 The Tiber is a stream of which classical recol- 
 lections are apt to raise too favourable antici- 
 pations. When we think of the fleets of the 
 capital of the world sailing up it, and pouring in 
 the treasures of tributary kingdoms, we are likely 
 to attach to it ideas of grandeur and magnificence. 
 But if we come to the Tiber with such expecta- 
 tions, our disappointment will be great. At the 
 
TIBER. 
 
 299 
 
 bridge of S. Angelo it is about 315 feet wide, and 
 where it is divided by the island, it may be 450. 
 Dionysius says of it, " The breadth is nearly four 
 " plethra [about 400 feet]: it is navigable for 
 " large ships; and the stream is rapid, and full 
 " of eddies." So that though its width is re- 
 spectable, it is by no means to be reckoned 
 among the large rivers. It was more anciently 
 called Albula, as Virgil tells us, 
 
 Turn Reges, asperque immani corpore Tibris, 
 A quo post Itali fluvium cognomine Tibrim 
 Diximus: amisit verum vetus Albula nomen. 
 
 viii. 330. 
 
 It receives forty-two other streams in its course. 
 The epithet of flavus, (yellow,) which is so con- 
 stantly attached to it by the ancients, is evidently 
 derived from the muddy colour which it always 
 bears. It is subject to very high floods, which 
 happen frequently ; and the water sometimes 
 comes as high as the Piazza di Spagna. In the 
 winter of 1819 the Pantheon was under water; 
 which is not uncommon, as it is near to the river; 
 and the drain, which carries off the rain falling 
 from the aperture at top, also lets in the water of 
 the river. A beautiful effect is produced by going 
 to the Pantheon on these occasions by night, and 
 seeing the reflection of the moon upon the water 
 through the opening of the dome. On the Porto 
 di Ripetta are two pillars, which mark the height 
 of the different floods for several years past: the 
 year and month is also recorded, from which it 
 
300 
 
 TIBER. 
 
 appears, that they have all happened between 
 the months of November and February. The 
 highest of all was in 1606. The following is the 
 list, though perhaps not complete. 
 
 Of the great floods which happened before this 
 account begins, we may collect the following 
 years, 15, 69, 589, 685, 715, 717, 780, 791, 797, 
 and 1345. 
 
 The frequency of these floods gave rise to se- 
 veral speculations among the ancients as to the 
 possibility of preventing them. Tacitus k men- 
 tions a project, which was debated in the senate, 
 A. D. 15, for diverting some of the streams which 
 run into the Tiber : but deputies from various 
 towns appeared, who, partly from local interests 
 and partly from superstition, entreated them not 
 to put their scheme into execution. The vast 
 accumulation of soil, by which the surface of 
 modern Rome is raised so many feet above the 
 ancient, must undoubtedly make it less liable to 
 suffer from floods now than formerly. 
 
 The Tiber is now crossed by four bridges, that 
 of S. Angelo, Ponte Sisto, and the two which 
 lead in and out of the island, all of which are 
 old. Besides these there are vestiges of three 
 
 1495 December. 
 1606 
 
 1686 November. 
 
 1687 
 
 1637 February. 
 1660 November. 
 1665 
 
 1702 December. 
 1750 
 
 1805 February. 
 
 k An. lib. i. c. 79- 
 
BRIDGES. 
 
 301 
 
 others, which existed in the time of the ancient 
 Romans. The one highest up the stream is the 
 Ponte S. Angelo, quite flat, of three arches all of 
 the same size, and two smaller ones. There 
 were formerly two other arches still smaller, as 
 is represented on a medal of Adrian. It was 
 built by that emperor, and from him called Pons 
 iElius,or Adriani. It had its present name from the 
 figure of the angel on the top of the Mausoleum 
 of Adrian, or Castle of S. Angelo. The appear- 
 ance of this bridge in the time of Leo X. may be 
 seen in a painting in the Trinita de' Monti, where 
 is a portrait of Leo himself, in the character of 
 Gregory, with an angel appearing to him. It 
 was widened and improved by Nicolas V. in 
 1450, and again repaired by Clement IX. in 
 1668, who erected the balustrade, and placed 
 ten figures of angels in marble upon it. These 
 figures will not attract much admiration, being 
 heavy and ill executed. Clement VII. put the 
 figures of St. Peter and St. Paul. 
 
 Next to this was the Pons Triumphalis, so 
 called, because the generals, who had conquered 
 on the north and west of Rome, passed over this 
 bridge in conducting the triumphs to the Capitol. 
 It is now entirely destroyed, but the piers of it 
 may be distinguished by the agitation of the 
 water. It was the longest of all the bridges, and 
 probably destroyed towards the end of the fourth 
 century, as Prudentius says, that in his time, 
 (A. D. 404,) the only approach to the Vatican 
 was by the Pons iElius. Julius II. and Alex- 
 
302 
 
 BRIDGES. 
 
 ander VII. had thoughts of repairing this bridge ; 
 but they never fulfilled their designs, and in 1812 
 many pieces of stone were taken from the re- 
 maining piers to improve the navigation of the 
 river. 
 
 Next to this is the Ponte Sisto of four arches, 
 the date of which is not known. Some ascribe 
 it to Trajan, some to Antoninus Pius. Nardini 
 gives an inscription, which mentions the repair 
 of it by Adrian. Its ancient name was Pons 
 Janiculensis ; and its modern one was derived 
 from Sextus IV. who repaired it in 1474. An- 
 drea Fulvio tells us, that it was also called Ponte 
 Aurelio, and Ponte Rotto, because it had been 
 broken down in some disturbances. The latter 
 name is now applied to the bridge below the 
 island, which had not suffered by inundations, so 
 as to deserve that title when Fulvio wrote. 
 
 The bridge, which leads into the island, is 
 now called Ponte di quattro Capi, from four 
 heads of Janus, which were formerly upon it. 
 Its ancient name was Pons Fabricius, from S. F. 
 who built it U. C. 733, (A. C. B1.)* as we learn 
 from this inscription. 
 
 L. FABRICIVS. C. F. CVR. VIAR 
 FACIVNDVM. COERAVIT. 
 
 But Nardini gives it at much greater length : 
 
 i It would seem from Dion. Hal. that it was built earlier, in 
 692. (lib. xxxvii.) 
 
BRIDGES. 
 
 303 
 
 L. FABRICIVS. C. F. CVR. VIAR. FACIVNDVM 
 COERAVIT. IDEMQ. PROBAVIT 
 Q. LEPIDVS. M. F. M. LOLLIVS. M. F. COS. 
 S. C. PROBAVERVNT. 
 
 The inscription must have been much more per- 
 fect in his time ; and if Venuti is correct in say- 
 ing, that he could read nothing but 
 
 IDEMQVE 
 PROBAVIT 
 
 the words which I have copied above, and which 
 certainly appear at present, must have been 
 added lately. Horace mentions this bridge m ; 
 
 Atque a Fabricio non tristem ponte reverti. 
 
 It was also called Tarpeius. It consists of two 
 large arches, and a smaller one between them, 
 through which the water only runs, when it is 
 very high. 
 
 The bridge, which leads out of the island to- 
 wards the Janiculum, is called Ponte di S. Bar- 
 tolomeo, from the neighbouring church, and an- 
 ciently Pons Cestius. Who this Cestius was is 
 not known. A. Fulvio and L. Fauno mention an 
 inscription dug up near the bridge of S. Angelo, 
 in which val. cestivs. cvrator. riparvm. et. 
 alvei. tiberis is named in the fourth year of 
 Vespasian. The only inscription on the bridge is, 
 
 Sat. ii. 3, 36. 
 
304. 
 
 BRIDGES. 
 
 PERENNES. INCHOARI. PERFICI. DEDICARIQ 
 
 It has also been called Pons Ferratus. It was 
 repaired by the emperors Valentinian, Valens, 
 and Gratian, as appears from two long- inscrip- 
 tions on each side. It consists of one large arch 
 and two smaller ones. 
 
 Next to this is the Ponte Rotto, or as it is 
 sometimes called Ponte S. Maria, (either from 
 the Church of S. Maria Egiziaca", or from an 
 image of the virgin, which was on the bridge.) 
 It was anciently called Pons Palatinus. M. 
 Fulvius began it U. C. 574, and it was finished 
 by Scipio Africanus and L. Mummius U. C. 61 1 °. 
 Some antiquaries have also called it Pons Sena- 
 torius. It was the first stone bridge built in 
 Rome, having suffered by a great inundation, it 
 was repaired in 1550 — 5 by Julius III. It was 
 again injured shortly after, and Gregory XIII. 
 restored it in 1575. But two arches being car- 
 ried away by an extraordinary rise of the waters 
 in 1598, it has never been repaired since. Hence 
 it has its present name. There remain now three 
 arches, and two smaller ones between them in 
 case of high floods. It is still passable on foot, 
 a continuation having been made of wood. 
 
 n This church was given by Pius V. to the Armenian Chris- 
 tians, and had its name from an Egyptian saint, who from being 
 a notorious sinner was miraculously converted at Jerusalem, 
 and passed the rest of her days in a desert beyond Jordan. 
 (Martyr. Rom. 2 April.) 
 
 ° Liv. xl. 51. 
 
BRIDGES. 
 
 305 
 
 Lower down than this, there was formerly the 
 Pons Sublicius, so called from the sublices, (said 
 to be a Volscian term,) or wooden piles, of 
 which it was made. This was the first bridge 
 ever constructed in Rome, unless ifre believe the 
 story preserved by Macrobius % that Hercules on 
 his return from Spain constructed a temporary 
 bridge nearly on this spot. Plutarch indeed q 
 says, that there was a bridge here even before 
 the time of Hercules. The Pons Sublicius was 
 the work of Ancus Martius, the fourth king. It 
 was here that Horatius Codes withstood the 
 army of Porsena, till the bridge was broken 
 down behind him. It was then repaired, but 
 still in wood, and without any nails, so that it 
 might be taken to pieces when required r . It 
 was also called Pons iEmilius s or Pons Lepidi, 
 from iEmilius Lepidus, the praetor, who rebuilt 
 it of stone U. C. 609. It was injured by a flood 
 in the reign of Tiberius, and that emperor re- 
 stored it. Tacitus tells us \ that in the time of 
 Otho it was destroyed by a sudden inundation, 
 A. D. 69. It seems to have remained in ruins 
 a long time : at least we have no account of its 
 being repaired till the time of Antoninus Pius, 
 who we learn from Julius Capitolinus had it re- 
 paired in marble. It afterwards went by the 
 name of Ponte Marmorato u . In 780 it was car- 
 
 p Lib. i. c. 2. q Probl. r Plin. lib. xxxvi. c. 23. 8 Ju- 
 venal, Sat. vi. 32. Though some take this for another bridge. 
 1 Hist. lib. i. c. 86. 0 A. Fulvio. 
 
 X 
 
306 
 
 BRIDGES. 
 
 ried away by a flood, and has never since been 
 rebuilt. In 1484 what remained of the piers was 
 taken away, as the navigation of the river was 
 impeded. 
 
 Higher up than all these, but two miles from 
 Rome, is the Ponte Molle, as it is now called ; 
 which seems to be a corruption from Pons Mil- 
 vius or Mulvius, which was the ancient name. 
 The present bridge is sometimes stated to have 
 been built by iEmilius Scaurus, who was censor, 
 U. C. 644. But Livy mentions x a Pons Mul- 
 vius in this place in the year 546. It was re- 
 paired by Augustus 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 The first games, of which we find any account 
 in the Roman history, are the Ludi Consuales, 
 which were given by Romulus, at the time that 
 the Sabine women were carried off. These were 
 probably in some part of the Campus Martius. 
 Similar games were exhibited by the other kings : 
 but Tarquinius Priscus improved greatly upon 
 them, and established an annual celebration of 
 what were called Ludi Romani, Magni, or Cir- 
 censes. Livy tells us, that they consisted of 
 equestrian and athletic exercises, (equi pugiles- 
 que,) the performers in which came mostly from 
 Etruria. The same king first formed the Circus 
 Maxim us in the valley called Murcia, between 
 
 Lib. xxvii. c. 51. 
 
 » Vide p. 7. 
 
CIRCUS MAXIMUS. 
 
 307 
 
 the Palatine and Aventine hills. Livy's account 
 of it is as follows 2 : 44 Separate places were 
 44 marked out for the senators and knights, 
 44 where each might see the games. These were 
 44 called fori. The spectators were on high seats, 
 44 twelve feet from the ground, supported by 
 44 wooden poles." Dionysius would lead us to 
 think, that Livy had rather represented Tar- 
 quin's Circus in too mean a light. He tells us a , 
 that Tarquin was the first who erected covered 
 seats, the spectators having formerly stood upon 
 wooden planks. He also divided the whole into 
 thirty curiae. The situation of the Circus Maxi- 
 mus is marked out by nature, otherwise scarcely 
 any thing remains. The curved end was to- 
 wards the south ; the straight end, where were 
 the Carceres, was towards the river. The walls, 
 which surrounded it, and along which were the 
 seats for the spectators, are entirely gone. All 
 that can now be traced is a portion of the bot- 
 tom of the wall at the curved end. 
 
 According to Dionysius, the Circus was 3| sta- 
 dia long, and 4 plethra (about 400 feet) wide. It 
 contained 150000 people. Pliny makes it only 3 
 stadia long, containing 260000. It is difficult to 
 reconcile these statements. It might be thought, 
 that the two authors were speaking of the build- 
 ing at different periods, and that the smaller 
 number of people was contained in the original 
 Circus, built by Tarquin. But Dionysius uses 
 
 e Lib. i. c. 35. a Lib. iii. c. 68. 
 
 x 2 
 
.308 CIRCUS MAXIMUS. 
 
 the present tense, as if he was describing the 
 building of his own time; and if it were other- 
 wise, the Circus of the greater length would be 
 made to contain the smaller number of people. 
 P. Victor says, that it contained room for 385000 
 persons. Dionysius proceeds to state, that round 
 three sides of it there was a stream of water, 
 called Euripus, 10 feet in depth and width. 
 Behind this was a triple portico : the lower seats 
 were of stone, the upper of wood. The circum- 
 ference of the whole measured eight stadia. 
 Round it on the outside there was another single 
 portico, with shops in it and rooms over them ; 
 through which there were passages and stair- 
 cases, leading to the seats of the Circus. 
 
 It was rebuilt by J. Caesar b . The part to- 
 wards Mount Aventine was burnt in the time of 
 Tiberius c . The sides also suffered by fire in the 
 reign of Domitian, who repaired them with 
 stone d . It was enlarged by Trajan, so as to 
 contain 5000 more persons e , and repaired by 
 Antoninus Pius f . Elagabalus ornamented it 
 with gold and some beautiful columns. He also 
 restored the pavement with chrysocolla. What 
 this was we learn from Pliny 8 ; and Suetonius 
 tells us h , that the Arena was strewed with it and 
 vermilion. »w gioifJue owJ vih iutli 
 
 By the help of the Circus of Caracalla, which 
 Ififli^ho 'Jfli iii bsfllfiJnoo aiiW afqosq to rxhnun 
 
 b Suet. c. 39. Plin. lib* xxxvi. c. 15. c Tacit. An. lib. vi. 
 c. 45. d Suet. c. 5. * Dio, lib. lxviii. f J. Capitolinus. 
 * Lib. xxxiii. c. 26. h Calig. c. 18. K . . 
 
2bface.Feye 30$ . 
 
 B . Spina,. 
 
 C . First Meta . 
 
 D . Second, JMefM . 
 !E . Car ceres . 
 F . Euripus. 
 
 G. Torta, Triump?ialLr . 
 I . Linea. 
 
CARCERES. 
 
 309 
 
 still remains in great part, we are enabled to form 
 a tolerably good idea of the ancient Circus, and 
 it is chiefly from this that the annexed sketch has 
 been made. From this figure it will be per- 
 ceived, that the Circus was of an oblong form, 
 straight at one end, and curved at the other, 
 the length being about three times the breadth, 
 or somewhat more. At the straight end were the 
 Carceres. There were here thirteen openings or 
 Ostia. That in the middle was larger than the 
 rest, by which the horsemen and their chariots 
 entered. On each side of this were six apertures, 
 called Carceres, where the chariots stood before 
 they started. We find various names given to 
 these places, such as Oppidum, Repagula, Al- 
 ba tinea, Cryptce, Claustra. They were called 
 Oppidum, because anciently there were turrets 
 and battlements upon them*. Livy says k , that 
 the Carceres were first placed in the Consulate of 
 L. Papirius Crassus and L. PI. Venno, U. C. 425, 
 by which he perhaps means, that the Repagula or 
 barriers were 6rst placed in that year. Originally 
 the Carceres were of wood or stone: Claudius 
 made them of marble 1 . The Repagula were not 
 lowered, so that the chariots passed over them ; 
 but they turned upon hinges, as we may learn 
 from Ovid, 
 
 Utque fores nondum versati cardinis acer 
 Nunc pede, nunc ipsa fronte lacessit equus. 
 
 Trist. v. 9, 29. 
 
 * Varro, lib. iv. k Lib. viii. c. 20. * Suet. c. 31. 
 
 x 3 
 
310 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 And from Manilius, 
 
 Ut cum laxato fugerunt cardine claustra. v. 76. 
 
 In an old bas-relief in the Farnese Palace, the 
 Repagula are represented exactly as folding 
 doors. Dionysius says, that they all opened at 
 once ; and we learn the same from Cassiodorus m , 
 " Bissena Ostia ad XII. signa posuerunt. Haec, 
 " ab Hermulis funibus demissis, subita aequalitate 
 " panduntur." In front of the Carceres, at each 
 extremity, was a figure of Mercury holding a 
 rope. Previous to the games commencing this 
 rope was loose, and lay upon the ground : the 
 people at first occupied the whole of the area, 
 consulting fortune-tellers, or engaged in other 
 amusements : the raising and tightening of the 
 rope was a signal for them to retire to their seats. 
 Ovid alludes to this, 
 
 Quid frustra refugis? cogit nos linea jungi: 
 Haec ex lege loci commoda Circus habet. 
 
 Amor. lib. iii. el. % 19. 
 
 When this rope was once more lowered, the Car- 
 ceres were opened and the chariots started. A 
 similar line was extended before the Carceres at 
 the Greek games. 
 
 The person, at whose expence the games were 
 given, sat over the middle entrance. It was 
 from hence that the signal was made for the 
 chariots to start. At first torches were used ; 
 
 m Lib. iii. Var. 
 
CIRCUS. 
 
 311 
 
 but afterwards a napkin or cloth was lowered. 
 It was the business of the consul to make the 
 signal, and in his absence the praetor gave it. 
 In the time of the emperors it was the praetor's 
 office : he let a napkin fall from the balcony ; 
 and it is said, that the custom arose from an 
 order of Nero, who was dining, and the people 
 became so impatient for the games to begin, that 
 he ordered his own napkin to be thrown down 
 as a signal. Hence Juvenal's expression, 
 
 Interea Megalesiacse spectacula mappce. 
 
 Sat. xi. 191. 
 
 A trumpet also sounded, as at the Olympic 
 
 games. 
 
 The drivers wore different colours, whence 
 arose the different factions, which divided not 
 only the Circus, but the whole city, and raged so 
 furiously afterwards in Constantinople. At first 
 there were only two colours, the white and the 
 red : two more were added, green and blue, 
 which gave the names of Albata, Russata, Pra- 
 sina, and Veneta, to the different factions. Do- 
 mitian added two more, Aurata and Purpurea. 
 One chariot started from each faction ; so that 
 only six chariots started at once, and before 
 Domitian's time only four. Cassiodorus also, 
 who wrote about A. D. 500, mentions only four 
 colours. It is difficult to explain why there 
 were twelve Carceres, if only six chariots started. 
 At the Greek races they set out from each side 
 
 x 4 
 
312 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 alternately n , and sometimes as many as ten cha- 
 riots entered the lists at once. It is probable, 
 that the Romans borrowed the number of the 
 Carceres from the Greeks, though they did not 
 imitate them in the use of them. For it is cer- 
 tain, that at Rome the same six Carceres were 
 always used, viz. those which had the middle 
 entrance, or Janua Magistratuum, at the left hand. 
 It is evident, from an inspection of the plan, that 
 these were the most advantageous places for 
 starting from, as the chariots ran, keeping the 
 Metae on their left. So also of the different Car- 
 ceres, that which was nearest to the Janua Ma- 
 gistratuum was the best, and was called the first. 
 It was also called A Pompd, because the proces- 
 sions entered by the Janua Magistratuum. The 
 others were numbered 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, begin- 
 ning from this. Lots were drawn for the places, 
 as at the Greek games. The praetor shook the 
 lots in an urn : and the chariot, which took the 
 first place, was called Summa, the sixth Ima. 
 An ancient inscription mentions this custom, dio- 
 
 CLES SVMMA QVADRIGA ET OSTIOQVARTO MISSVS 
 VICIT. 
 
 At the Olympic games the chariots ran twelve 
 times round the course. At Rome they went 
 only seven times round it: but as there was a 
 Meta at each extremity of the course, it has been 
 
 doubted whether each Meta was passed seven 
 
 f nw irn.MfA'j Try iTjTirmi* *r n .?ninmj > 
 
 a Pausan. Eliac. lib. ii. 
 
CIRCUS. 
 
 313 
 
 times, or whether seven Metce were to be passed 
 during the race. It seems probable, however, 
 that the chariots actually ran seven times round 
 the course ; and that which arrived first at the 
 Meta nearest to the Carceres won the race ; or 
 rather that which arrived first at a white line 
 traced in chalk upon the ground, and reaching 
 from one side of the Circus to the other. Cas- 
 siodorus describes this line 0 , " Alba linea non 
 " longe ab Ostiis in utrumque podium, quasi re- 
 fj gula directa, perducitur: ut quadrijugis progre- 
 " dientibus inde certamen oriretur, ne dum sem- 
 " per propere conantur elidere, spectandi volup- 
 " tatem viderentur populis abrogare." From 
 these words it is evident that the line was drawn 
 between the Carceres and the first Meta, and the 
 spectators considered the race to have begun not 
 so much when the chariots first started, as when 
 they reached this line. It served also, as already 
 stated, to mark the winning chariot ; for as they 
 began the race on one side of the Spina and 
 ended it on the other, the same line would natu- 
 rally serve each purpose. Both uses of this line 
 gave rise to proverbial expressions. A lined be- 
 came a common phrase for the commencement 
 of any thing : and the poets will supply us with 
 abundance of instances, where the ultima linea 
 rerum is alluded to. The terms Calx and Creta 
 also obtained the same significations, because the 
 line was marked with chalk, as Pliny tells us p , 
 
 0 Van lib. iii. epist. 51. p Lib. xxxv. c. 58. 
 
CIRCUS. 
 
 " Est et vilissima (Creta) qua Circum praeducere 
 " ad victoriae notam instituerunt majores." Hence 
 we may understand, why in the same passages 
 some manuscripts read Meta and others Creta ; 
 for though the chalk line was not actually the 
 same thing as the last goal, yet it was close to it, 
 and at the end of the race it was the goal at 
 which the contenders wished to arrive. Thus 
 we have in Seneca % " Hanc, quam nunc in Circo 
 " cretam vocamus calcem antiqui dicebant." 
 Some MSS. read Metam. It is the same with 
 Propertius T , " Haec spatiis ultima Creta meis:" 
 the common reading is Meta; but the former is 
 probably right, because it is much more likely 
 that a person not understanding the meaning of 
 Creta should alter it to Meta. We have the same 
 idea in Lucretius, (vi. 91.) 
 
 Tu mihi supremae prsescripta ad Candida calcis 
 Currenti spatium praemonstra, callida Musa. 
 
 Each race of six chariots was called Missus: 
 and of these there were twenty-five in the course 
 of the day. The last was called JErarius, be- 
 cause the expence was defrayed by subscription : 
 but it was afterwards left off, and there were 
 only twenty-four races in the course of the day. 
 Some emperors chose to give more than twenty- 
 five, in which case the chariots generally did not 
 go seven times round the course. To prevent 
 
 9 Epist. 108. r Lib. iv. el. 2. 58. 
 
CIRCUS. 
 
 315 
 
 mistakes, little pillars were erected near the 
 Metae, on which an egg was placed every time, 
 that the chariots had come to the end of the 
 course ; so that the people could always tell how 
 many times they had gone round. Dio says 8 , 
 that Agrippa first instituted this custom : but it 
 would seem from Livy 1 , thst it was much older. 
 
 The ground which the chariots occupied im- 
 mediately upon leaving the Carceres, and before 
 they reached the first Meta, seems to have been 
 called spatium. Tertullian says u , " lineam ex- 
 " tremam habet, si determinatur, quia spatiorwm 
 " initium et finis lineis notabatur." This may 
 illustrate a passage in Virgil, where the word 
 spatia occurs, 
 
 Ut cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae 
 Addunt se in spatia. 
 
 Georg. i. 512. 
 And in describing a foot race, he says, 
 
 signoque repente 
 Corripiunt spatia audito limenque relinquunt. 
 
 ^En. v. 315. 
 
 Limen is probably here put for lined,, as it is in 
 Statius, 
 
 Ut ruit, atque aequum summisit regula limen, 
 Corripuere leves spatium. 
 
 Thebaid. lib. vi. 
 
 s Lib. xlix. 1 Lib. xli. c. 27. u Adv. Hermog. c. 3. 
 
316 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 We are apt in English to confound the terms 
 Carceres and Meta, translating both by goal, 
 which is a great mistake. It is singular, that in 
 an ancient writer* we find the same confusion, 
 
 p , 8^jB8 oi(l , f>nnoi *>no^ b.6/1 y^fh BdCtliJ y/ifim 
 Sic cum frenatos astringit meta jugales 
 Ordineque emissos jussit deducere Praetor, 
 
 Ire volunt omnes primi. 
 
 -iru nsrqnooo BJonmlD lull il-wd// bnuoi^ hi\\ 
 
 The chariots were drawn by two, three, or four 
 horses, but generally by four. Augustus intro- 
 duced six, and some had seven. Nero drove as 
 many as ten, but this was at Olympiad We 
 find mention of elephants being yoked, and 
 camels, stags, dogs, tigers, lions, &c. z Some- 
 times also single horses ran ; and we read of equi 
 desultorily where the rider managed two horses, 
 and leaped from one to the other. In some ancient 
 bas-reliefs we may observe persons on horseback 
 accompanying the chariots as they ran; their 
 use seems to have been, to supply the drivers 
 with any thing which they might want. The 
 charioteers were at first slaves, freedmen, or 
 strangers : but afterwards the nobles amused them- 
 selves with driving publicly in the Circus, and 
 several emperors distinguished themselves by it. 
 
 The line which occupies the middle of the 
 Circus is the spina, round which the chariots 
 ran, keeping it always on the left hand. It was 
 a brick wall, four feet high, and at the end next 
 to the Carceres twelve feet broad : towards the 
 
 x Apol. Excid. Hierosol. lib. ii. y Suet. c. 24. ■ Suet, 
 in Nerone. Dio. Lamprid. in Elagab. 
 
SPINA. 317 
 
 other extremity it became narrower. At each 
 end was a meta, round which the chariots turned ; 
 and their object was to go as near as possible to 
 these without touching them. The melee were 
 originally of wood, and occasionally removed, 
 when the whole area of the Circus was wanted 
 for other purposes. Claudius had them made of 
 marble, and gilt. Their form was conical, or, as 
 Ovid says, like that of a cypress, " metas imi- 
 " tata cupressus a ." Ancient sculptures represent 
 them as divided into three, or rather like three 
 cones compressed together, so that there were 
 three distinct summits to each meta, with an 
 oval ornament at the top. The meta nearest to 
 the carceres was called murcia. Under this was 
 a circular temple, sacred to the god Consus, to 
 whom Romulus dedicated the games, at which 
 the Sabine women were carried off. He is sup- 
 posed to have been a God of Silence ; but some 
 make him the same as Neptune. From him the 
 games were called Ludi Consuales, till the time 
 of Tarquinius Priscus. 
 
 There were other appendages to the spina be- 
 sides the met(P. It has been already mentioned, 
 that there were little pillars, on which eggs were 
 placed, to mark the number of times the chariots 
 had gone round. Figures of dolphins were used 
 for the same purpose. Obelisks were also placed 
 upon the spina. In the Circus Maximus were 
 two, one dedicated to the sun, 132 feet high; 
 
 a Metamorph. x. 106; 
 
318 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 the other to the moon, 88 feet high. There was 
 also generally a figure of Cybele, drawn by lions. 
 When the race was finished, the victor ascended 
 the spina by some steps, and received his prize, 
 which consisted of money, or a crown, or palm- 
 branches. It appears from Cassiodorus, that a 
 palm was the prize for athletic contests b , and 
 for chariot races 0 . When the games were over, 
 he went out by the Porta Triumphalis, which 
 was at the curved end of the Circus. 
 
 It will be observed, that the spina is not so 
 near the carceres as it is to the Porta Trium- 
 phalis, nor does it stand in the middle of the 
 Circus. In that of Caracalla, which is still per- 
 fect, the spina is thirty-six feet nearer to one side 
 than it is to the other. The reason is this : as 
 the chariots started from the carceres, and were 
 to go round the course, leaving the spina to the 
 left, at the time they reached the first meta they 
 would be nearly all abreast ; it was therefore 
 more necessary that they should have room to 
 pass each other at this part of the course, than 
 during all the rest of the race. Consequently 
 the spina was not placed quite in the middle; 
 because by the time the chariots turned the se- 
 cond meta, some must have taken the lead so 
 decidedly, that the same space would not be re- 
 quired for them to run abreast, as at the begin- 
 ning. 
 
 The chariot race was by no means the only 
 
 b Var. lib. ii. epist. 28. f Var. lib. iii. epist. 51. 
 
WILD BEASTS. 
 
 319 
 
 amusement which the Circus afforded. We find 
 mention of seven others in ancient authors ; pro- 
 cessions, gymnastics, Ludus Trojae, chaces of 
 wild beasts, combats of horse and foot, Numa- 
 chiae, and sometimes stage-plays. Of these the 
 procession was the first amusement in the course 
 of the day, and was either sacred or military. 
 Next followed the chariot and foot races ; after 
 which were the gymnastic exhibitions. The pas- 
 sage in which Virgil describes the Ludus Trojce 6 , 
 is too well known to require insertion. The cus- 
 tom of celebrating it was revived by Caesar. The 
 sons of knights alone acted in it; and the leader 
 was called Princeps Juventutis. 
 
 The exhibition of wild beasts was one of the 
 most popular amusements at Rome. When am- 
 phitheatres were introduced, the Circus was not 
 so much used for this purpose as before : but still 
 there were hunts in the Circus till a late period. 
 The number of wild beasts killed upon these oc- 
 casions is truly wonderful; and if the accounts 
 were not well attested, we might be incredulous 
 as to the possibility of so many being supplied. 
 It was in the course of the second Punic war 
 that wild beasts were first exhibited at all, as be- 
 fore that time there was a decree of the senate, 
 prohibiting the importation of beasts from Africa. 
 At first they were only shewn to the people, and 
 not hunted or killed. The earliest account we 
 have of such an exhibition was U. C. 502, when 
 
 d Mn. v. 579—603. 
 
320 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 one hundred and forty-two elephants were pro- 
 duced, which were taken in Sicily. Pliny, who 
 gives us this information 6 , tells us, that he could 
 not ascertain whether they were put to death in 
 the Circus, or merely exhibited there. But these 
 animals had been seen in Rome twenty-three 
 years before, in the triumph of M. C. Dentatus 
 over Pyrrhus f . The same author says&, that 
 lions first appeared in any number U. C. 652: 
 but these probably were not turned loose. In 
 the year 661, Sylla brought forward one hun- 
 dred, when he was praetor. In the year 696, 
 besides lions, elephants, bears, &c. one hundred 
 and fifty panthers were shewn for the first time. 
 When Pompey dedicated his theatre, there was 
 the greatest exhibition of beasts ever known. 
 There were seventeen elephants, six hundred 
 lions, which were killed in the course of five 
 days; four hundred and ten panthers, &c. &c. 
 A rhinoceros also appeared for the first time ; a 
 strange beast, called chaus, or cepos, and a lupus 
 cervarius from Gaul. This was U. C. 701. The 
 art of taming these beasts was carried to such 
 perfection, that M. Antony actually yoked them 
 to his carriage' 1 . Caesar, in his third dictatorship, 
 U. C. 708, shewed a vast number of wild beasts, 
 among which were four hundred lions and a 
 cameleopard. The latter animal is thus de- 
 scribed by Pliny 1 : " The Ethiopians call it nabis: 
 
 e Lib. viii. c. 6. f Ibid. e C. 16. h Plin. lib. viii. 
 c. 21. Plutarch. 1 Lib. viii. c. 27. He is copied word for 
 word by Solinus, Polyhist. c. 32# 
 
WILD BEASTS. 
 
 321 
 
 44 in the neck it resembles a horse, in the feet 
 " and legs an ox, a camel in the head, and in 
 " colour it is red with white spots." Dio is still 
 more minute k ; " This animal resembles a camel, 
 " except that it has not the same proportion in 
 " its limbs : the hind parts are lower, and it rises 
 " gradually from the tail : the fore legs also serve 
 " to elevate the rest of the body, and its neck is 
 " peculiarly high. In colour it is spotted, like a 
 u leopard." A tiger was exhibited for the first 
 time at the dedication of the Theatre of Marcel - 
 lus, U. C. 743. It was kept in a cage. Clau- 
 dius afterwards shewed four together 1 . Titus 
 exhibited five thousand beasts of various kinds 
 in one day m . Adrian had one thousand beasts 
 slaughtered on his birth-day ; and Commodus 
 killed several thousands with his own hand". 
 The emperor Gordian, besides shewing one hun- 
 dred African beasts, and one thousand bears, in 
 one day, devised a spectacle of quite a new kind : 
 he had a temporary wood planted in the Circus, 
 and turned into it two hundred stags, (cervi pal- 
 mati,) thirty wild horses, one hundred wild sheep, 
 ten elks, one hundred Cyprian bulls, three hun- 
 dred ostriches, thirty wild asses, one hundred 
 and fifty wild boars, two hundred ibices, and 
 two hundred deer. He allowed all the people 
 to enter the wood, and take what they pleased 0 . 
 Probus imitated him in his idea of a wood. Vo- 
 
 k Lib. xliii. 1 Plin. lib. viii. c. 25. m Suet. c. 7. 
 
 H Lamprid. ° Jul. Capitolinus. 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 piscus describes it thus, " Arbores validee per 
 " milites radicitus vulsae connixis late longeque 
 M trabibus affixae sunt, terra deinde superinjecta." 
 There were turned in one thousand ostriches, 
 one thousand stags, one thousand boars, one 
 thousand deer, one thousand ibices, wild sheep, 
 and other grazing animals, as many as could be 
 fed or found. The people were then let in, and 
 took what they wished. I have selected those 
 instances which appear most remarkable, but 
 every reign would furnish us with incredible ac- 
 counts. We find mention in Pliny * of the boa 
 constrictor: he gives it the name of boa, and 
 tells us that Claudius had one killed in the Va- 
 tican Circus, in the inside of which a child was 
 found entire. Suetonius mentions another q , which 
 measured fifty cubits in length : but this was ex- 
 hibited in the Forum. Enough has been stated 
 to shew that the ancients had much greater ac- 
 quaintance with the wild beasts of Asia and 
 Africa than the moderns have. I will close this 
 account, which is already too long, with the cor- 
 respondence of Cicero and Caelius. When Cicero 
 went out proconsul of Cilicia, Caelius writes to 
 him, " Fere literis omnibus tibi de pantheris 
 " scripsi. Turpe tibi erit Patiscum Curioni de- 
 " cem Pantheras misisse, te non multis partibus 
 " plures : quas ipsas Curio mihi et alias Afri- 
 " canas decern donavit, ne putes ilium tantum 
 " praedia rustica dare scire. Tu, si modo memo- 
 
 r Lib. viii. c. 14. 
 
 i Vita Augusti. 
 
CIRCUS. 
 
 323 
 
 " ria teneres, et Cybiratas arcessieris, itemque in 
 " Pamphiliam literas miseris, (nam ibi plures 
 " capi aiunt,) quod voles efficies." To this the 
 proconsul replies', " De pantheris per eos, qui 
 " venari solent, agitur mandato meo diligenter, 
 " sed mira paucitas est, et eas, quae sunt, valde 
 " aiunt queri, quod nihil cuiquam insidiarum in 
 " mea provincia nisi sibi fiat. Itaque constituisse 
 " dicuntur in Cariam ex nostra provincia dece- 
 " dere. Sed tamen sedulo fit, et in primis a Pa- 
 " tisco." 
 
 The beasts were made to fight either with one 
 another, or with men. The latter were called 
 bestiariiy and occasionally fought without any 
 weapons. Pliny calls them noxii, culprits 8 . 
 Means were used to excite the fury of the wild 
 animals by applying fire, and lashing them with 
 whips. The elephants were intoxicated with 
 wine and incense ; but iElian says 1 , that it was 
 not wine from the grape, but a liquor made from 
 rice and reeds. Cloths were used to irritate the 
 lions and bears; and wild boars had a particular 
 objection to white cloths". Balls were also 
 thrown at them to provoke them. Round three 
 sides of the Circus was a stream of water, called 
 Euripus, the principal object of which was to 
 prevent the elephants and other beasts from 
 coming to the people. 
 
 Besides the battles in which wild beasts" were 
 engaged, there were other sanguinary spectacles, 
 
 r Epist. Famil. lib. ii. ep. 11. 6 Lib. xxxiii. c. 16. 'Lib. 
 xiii. ■ Vid. Seneca de Ira, lib. iii. c. 30. Plin. lib. viii. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 in which gladiators either contended in single 
 combat, or large bodies of horse and foot fought 
 with each other. It appears from the chronicle 
 of Cassiodorus, that athletic games were first ex- 
 hibited in the year of Rome 567 ; and Livy tells 
 us the same thing x ; but by the term athletce we 
 are not to understand simply gladiators, for the 
 same author tells us, that they were introduced 
 seventy-eight years before, U. C. 439 y . The 
 emperor Gordian had sometimes five hundred 
 pairs of gladiators exhibited in one day, and 
 never less than one hundred and fifty z . In Cae- 
 sar's games we find five hundred foot and three 
 hundred horse engaged together; and twenty 
 elephants were also introduced; upon which oc- 
 casion the metes were removed to give more 
 room. From these two examples we may see 
 in what number human victims were sacrificed, 
 that some great man might be popular, and the 
 Roman rabble amused. In the days of Nero or 
 Elagabalus, a lion or an elephant was surely a 
 much nobler animal than a Roman emperor; 
 and it may be doubted whether a gladiator was 
 not much fitter to govern a nation. Nero was 
 not satisfied with having slaves as gladiators, but 
 he made thirty knights destroy each other in that 
 capacity ; and at another time four hundred se- 
 nators and six hundred knights engaged by his 
 order. We read even of women fighting in the 
 Circus. 
 
 * Lib. xxxix. c. 22. y Epit. lib. 16". 2 Jul. Capitolinus. 
 
CIRCUS. 
 
 325 
 
 The naval engagements were sometimes ex- 
 hibited in the Circus Maximus, which could 
 easily be filled with water. Calpurnius, after al- 
 luding to the woods which I have already men- 
 tioned as being introduced into the Circus, says, 
 
 Nec solum nobis sylvestria cernere monstra 
 Contigit, aequoreos ego cum certantibus ursis 
 Spectavi vitulos, et equorum nomine dignum 
 Sed deforme pecus. 
 
 Some of the emperors erected buildings on pur- 
 pose, which were called Naumachice. Two of 
 the largest were built by Caesar and Augustus. 
 Suetonius, speaking of the former, says a , " a 
 " lake was dug in the form of a shell, in which 
 " JBiremes, Triremes, and Quadriremes, repre- 
 " senting the Tyrian and Egyptian fleets, en- 
 " gaged, with a vast number of men on board." 
 It was filled up after Caesar's death. The Nau- 
 machia of Augustus was on the other side of the 
 Tiber. Caligula constructed one b , as did Do- 
 mitian and others. That of Domitian was on 
 the site of the present Piazza di Spagna. Ela- 
 gabalus upon one occasion filled the Euripus 
 with wine, and had naval exhibitions performed 
 in it c . 
 
 Stage-plays were but seldom represented in 
 the Circus. That they were so occasionally, we 
 learn from Suetonius, who says, that Augustus 
 had them exhibited there d . 
 
 a C. 39. b Dio, lib. lix. f Spai tianus. d C. 4>3. 
 Y 3 
 
326 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 For many years the senators and common peo- 
 ple sat together without any order. Attilius 
 Serranus and L. Scribonius, who were iEdiles 
 U. C. 558, appointed particular seats for the se- 
 nators 6 . Augustus ordered the senators and 
 knights to sit separately f ; and Claudius appointed 
 a particular place for the senators, as Nero did 
 for the knights. Livy also says, that the people 
 had no accommodation for sitting till the time of 
 the Scipios : but it appears from Dionysius, that 
 they had it from the days of Tarquin. From a 
 passage in Suetonius it might be thought that 
 money was paid for admission to some of the 
 seats. His words are, " Inquietatus fremiti] gra- 
 " tuita in Circo loca de media nocte occupantium, 
 " omnes fustibus obegit." If gratuita loca mean 
 seats, for which nothing was paid, it would cer- 
 tainly follow, that there were some seats, which 
 were not of that description. But we should not 
 build too much upon a single expression, and 
 every other passage seems to speak of the Cir- 
 cus, as a place of free admission. The consuls, 
 prsetors, and all those officers, who were en- 
 titled to preside, had seats over the middle gate 
 of the Carceres, whence it was called Janua Ma- 
 gistratuum. Some magistrates also had seats 
 near the first meta. It appears from Cassio- 
 dorus h , that particular individuals had fixed 
 seats (like private boxes) belonging to them, 
 which in some cases descended to their children. 
 
 * Liv. lib. xxxiv. c. 54. Val. Max. lib. ii. c. 4. f Dio, lib. lv. 
 * Caligula. h Varr. lib, iv. Epist. 42. 
 
CIRCUS, 
 
 327 
 
 Nor were the magistrates the only persons pro- 
 vided with seats. Arnobius* speaking of the 
 general passion for these spectacles complains, 
 that the Priests, the Pontifex Maximus, the 
 Augurs, and even the Vestal Virgins, were in the 
 habit of attending. The eagerness with which 
 all parties flocked to the games, is almost incre- 
 dible. The passage just quoted from Suetonius 
 proves what it was in the time of Caligula ; and 
 Ammianus, who wrote in the fourth century, 
 gives the following lively description of it in his 
 days. " The people spend all their earnings in 
 44 drinking and gaming, in spectacles, amuse- 
 44 ments, and shews. The Circus Maximus is 
 44 their temple, their dwelling-house, their public 
 44 meeting, and all their hopes. In the Jbra, the 
 " streets, and the squares, multitudes assemble 
 4 4 together and dispute, some defending one thing 
 44 and some another. The oldest take the pri- 
 44 vilege of their age, and cry out in the temples 
 44 and fora, that the Republic must fall, if in the 
 44 approaching games the person whom they sup- 
 44 port does not win the prize, and first pass the 
 " goal. When the wished-for day of the eques- 
 44 trian games arrives, before sun- rise all run 
 44 headlong to the spot, passing in swiftness the 
 44 chariots that are to run ; upon the success of 
 44 which their wishes are so divided, that many 
 44 pass the night without sleep." Lactantius 
 confirms this account k , and says, that the people 
 
 1 Lib. iv. contra Gentes. k Lib. vi. 
 Y 4 
 
32S 
 
 CIRCUS OF 
 
 often quarrelled and fought from their great 
 eagerness. 
 
 These descriptions would be applicable to the 
 Roman people at any period, from the age of J. 
 Caesar to the time in which they were written. 
 It has been already stated, that Pliny makes the 
 Circus Maximus capable of containing 260000 
 persons, in which Sextus Rufus agrees with him. 
 Publius Victor estimates the number at 385000. 
 Juvenal says, Totam hodie Romam Circus capit 1 . 
 When the different amusements of the Circus 
 ceased, it would not be easy exactly to define. 
 There is no mention of processions or nauma- 
 chiae after the time of Constantine. We know, 
 that he forbade the combats of gladiators" 1 : but 
 the custom must have been afterwards revived, 
 as Honorius found it necessary to prohibit the 
 combats of gladiators by a special edict". This 
 was about the beginning of the fifth century. 
 The combats of men and beasts seem to have 
 lasted till Justinian's days : but Procopius, speak- 
 ing of a Circus near the Vatican 0 , mentions it as 
 a place then in disuse, in which he says, formerly 
 single combats were exhibited. This was about 
 the year 546. It is certain, that such bloody 
 spectacles existed in the time of Theodoric, 
 about 500 A. D. for we have in Cassiodorus p a 
 letter from that king to the consul Maximus, in 
 which he gives an interesting account of them, 
 while he reprobates the custom extremely. It is 
 
 1 Sat. xi. 195. m Cassiodor. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 9. 
 
 ■ Ibid. lib. x. c. 2. 0 Lib. iv. c. 1. r Var. lib. v. epist. Iff. 
 
CARACALLA. 
 
 329 
 
 probable, that the chariot and horse-races con- 
 tinued much longer: the Hippodrome at Con- 
 stantinople was certainly employed for this pur- 
 pose at the time the Venetians took it in 1204. 
 
 CIRCUS OF CARACALLA AND OTHERS. 
 
 The description given above of the different 
 parts of the Roman Circus is taken from ancient 
 authors, and from the actual appearance of what 
 still remains of a Circus out of the Porta S. Se- 
 bastiano. This is generally called the Circus of 
 Caracalla, though not upon any good authority. 
 The outer wall remains almost entire, but the 
 seats are gone, except that by having fallen in 
 they have left a kind of terrace along the whole 
 length of the walls. In walking along this terrace, 
 I observed a regular succession of round holes in 
 the rubbish at a distance of eight paces from each 
 other. There must have been something, that 
 broke the continuity of the seats, so that when 
 they fell in, they left a vacant space in these 
 places. They may have been the staircases, by 
 which the people ascended, and if they were 
 circular, they would exactly answer to the holes 
 which I have observed. If they were of stone, 
 which is most probable, the steps have all been 
 carried off, and that would explain still better 
 why a circular aperture should be left in the rub- 
 bish. There is also a curious thing to be ob- 
 served in the walls, where they have been broken; 
 
330 
 
 CIRCUS OF 
 
 which is, there are several large earthen vessels 
 inclosed within the brickwork. It has been 
 conjectured, that they were used to expedite the 
 building, or to lessen the expence ; neither of 
 which reasons seem adequate. Others have said, 
 that their purpose was to lighten the building. 
 Each pot might be considered a kind of arch 
 supporting the masonry above ; and they them- 
 selves being hollow, the entire mass supported 
 by the arch below was less than if the whole 
 were solid. Some support is given to this opi- 
 nion by the fact, that in the baths of Caracalla 
 the roofs which remain are partly composed of 
 pu mice-stone f >. Yet after all it seems quite cer- 
 tain, that hollow vessels were placed in the walls 
 of theatres for sake of the sound. Both the voice 
 of the actor, and the applause given by the au- 
 dience, was made louder by it. Vitruvius r ex- 
 pressly says, that bronze vessels were placed 
 under the seats, constructed upon mathematical 
 principles, to increase the sound of the voice 
 coming from the stage, and to carry it with a 
 clearer and sweeter tone to the audience. He 
 explains the whole theory of these metallic ves- 
 sels, but says at the same time, that he could not 
 produce any instance of their being so applied in 
 any theatre in Rome ; but in other cities of Italy 
 and in Greece they were common. According 
 to him 8 , earthen vessels were occasionally sub- 
 
 i Spence's Anecdotes, p. 94* r Lib. i. c. 1. • Lib. v. c. 5. 
 
CARACALLA. 
 
 331 
 
 stituted for those of metal, for sake of cheapness. 
 Aristotle 1 speaks of such earthen vessels; and 
 such probably is the meaning of the passage in 
 Juvenal, " Audiat ille Testarum crepitus"." In the 
 present instance they were underneath the seats, 
 on which the spectators sat, and above the co- 
 vered arcade, where the people walked. The 
 same thing may be observed in several ruins 
 about Rome. We may observe generally, that 
 the ancients paid great attention to the diffusion 
 of sound in constructing their theatres ; and by 
 combining the principles of music and mathe- 
 matics, as Vitruvius observes x , they contrived to 
 make the actors audible in very large theatres, 
 where there w as no covering. In the remains of 
 the theatre at Taormina (Taurominium)in Sicily, 
 I have stood on the upper seat of all, and not 
 only heard distinctly the sound of a voice speak- 
 ing from the stage, but even the tearing of a piece 
 of paper sounded as if quite near. 
 
 The length of the Circus of Caracalla is 1678 
 feet, the breadth 435. It is calculated, that it 
 could have contained 20000 spectators. The 
 Spina may be traced by the ground being con- 
 siderably raised, and it is about 36 feet nearer to 
 the left side of the Circus than to the right. An 
 eminence may be observed at each end, where 
 were the metae ; and under that, which is nearest 
 to the Carceres, are some remains of the temple 
 of Consus. The obelisk, which is now in the 
 
 1 Problem, lib. ii. p. 92. ad Sylburg. u Sat. xi. 170. 
 
 * Lib. v. c. 3. 
 
332 
 
 CIRCUS 
 
 Piazza Navona, stood formerly upon this Spina. 
 Nothing can be made out as to the plan of the 
 Carceres, but they seem to have gone rather in a 
 curved than in a straight line. My first impres- 
 sion upon observing this was, that the left ex- 
 tremity of them was advanced farther into the 
 Circus, because the chariots, which started from 
 that side, would otherwise have a great disad- 
 vantage. But as the writers upon this subject 
 decide, that the right hand side of the Carceres 
 was alone used, I have followed their opinion in 
 the above description, and perhaps the curved 
 appearance may have been from the ruined state 
 of the building. Fabretti however (in his work 
 upon Trajan's Column) asserts, that the Carceres 
 were in a curved line, in order to give all the 
 chariots an equal chance. At either extremity 
 of the Carceres are two towers, and in the side- 
 wall on the left hand is a similar eminence. On 
 the right hand there seems to have been very 
 little wall, which was owing to the ground being 
 much higher on that side, which was taken ad- 
 vantage of to form the seats y . What wall there 
 is here, is not straight. 
 
 The next Circus in point of antiquity to the 
 Circus Maximus was that of Flaminius, built by 
 the consul of that name, U. C. 531. But Livy 
 mentions a Circus called Apollinaris in the Prata 
 Flaminia much earlier, where he is treating of the 
 year 306 z . This probably was of wood, and that 
 
 * Pocock states this to be the case with the Circus at Ephesus, 
 * Lib. iii. 
 
FLAM INI US. 
 
 333 
 
 of the Consul Flaminius succeeded it. It is 
 however rather doubtful, who gave name to this 
 Circus. Plutarch says it was an older Flami- 
 nius, who left an estate to the people, to supply 
 the games. Varro only removes the difficulty 
 by saying, that the Circus took its name from the 
 Prata Flaminia. It stood in the Campus Mar- 
 tius, without the city, and no trace of it now re- 
 mains. By coupling a passage of Pliny with 
 one of Festus we may learn, that it was not far 
 from the Theatre of Pompey. The former says% 
 that Cn. Octavius about the year of Rome 590 
 erected a double portico (i. e. a colonnade, with 
 a double row of columns) at the Circus Flami- 
 nius, Festus, after describing the Portico of 
 Octavia, which was near to the Theatre of Mar- 
 cellus, says that there was another Portico near 
 the Theatre of Pompey, built by Cn. Octavius. 
 He adds, that it was burnt down, and rebuilt by 
 Augustus. L. Fauno gives the situation of the 
 Circus Flaminius with great precision. Accord- 
 ing to him, the length of it was from San. Salva- 
 tore in Palco to the Palazzo Mattei: the width 
 from the Torre delle Citrangole to the street called 
 Botteghe oscure. 
 
 In the Piazza Navona we may trace the exact 
 form of the Circus Agonalis, supposed to have 
 been built by the Emperor Alexander Pius. The 
 modern name also may easily be traced, as a 
 corruption from the ancient one. From Agona- 
 
 Lib. xxxiv. c. 7. 
 
33* CIRCUS OF FLORA. 
 
 Us or in Agone it came to be called Nagona, as 
 it is written by J. Laurus. From Nagona the 
 transition to Navona is not difficult. It now 
 forms a fine open space surrounded by build- 
 ings, in which the outline of the Circus is ob- 
 served, and even the round end is not lost. On 
 some occasions chariot-races are still performed 
 here in the ancient fashion: and on Saturdays 
 and Sundays in the month of August it is co- 
 vered with water, to provide a remedy against 
 the intense heat. In the middle of the area are 
 three fountains : that by Bernini is among the 
 finest in Rome. 
 
 Between the Quirinal and Pincian hills was 
 another Circus, that of Flora, in the gardens of 
 Sallust, of which nothing now is to be traced, 
 and the whole gardens form a melancholy as- 
 semblage of desolation. The Egyptian Obelisk, 
 which is placed in front of the Church of la Tri- 
 nita de Monti, stood in this Circus. As Alaric 
 entered Rome by the Porta Salara, the destruction 
 of all the buildings in this quarter is well ac- 
 counted for ; and it might be thought, that no- 
 thing had been done to repair the damage since 
 that time. A long line of wall of very ancient 
 appearance is to be seen above the valley ; 
 which from its being built with arches has the 
 look of being intended to support the soil, which 
 rises behind it to a considerable height. It is 
 said however to have formed part of the old 
 walls, which ran in this direction, before Aure- 
 lian extended the circuit of them. 
 
CIRCUS OF NERO. 
 
 335 
 
 The Circus of Nero stood partly on the site of 
 the Basilica of S. Peter, and was destroyed by 
 Constantine, when he built the old church, A. D. 
 324. A plan of the Circus, shewing its situa- 
 tion with respect to the ancient and modern 
 church, may be seen in a work of Bonanni b . 
 The curved end was towards the east, and 
 reached nearly to the steps leading* up to the 
 church. The Carceres nearly coincided with the 
 farthest end of the Tribune. One side of it 
 did not interfere with Constantine's building; 
 the other was entirely built over, so that about 
 half the area was occupied. Of the four pillars 
 supporting the cupola, that at the south-west 
 stands upon the site of the wall, where were the 
 seats of the spectators. The Obelisk, which is 
 now in front of S. Peter's, stood upon the Spina; 
 and its actual position is marked by a square 
 stone in the passage leading from the sacristy to 
 the choir. It was moved in 1586 by Sextus V. 
 Bonanni, after comparing several contradictory 
 statements, conjectures the whole length of the 
 Circus to have been 1240 palms. 
 
 There was another Circus in the neighbour- 
 hood of the Vatican, which may still be traced 
 from any spot commanding this view. It is pro- 
 bably this which Procopius speaks of, as quoted 
 above, where he mentions it as existing in his 
 time, but in disuse. It also seems to be that 
 which Andrea Fulvio notices, when after describ- 
 
 b Historia Templi Vaticani, c. 6. 
 
336 CIRCUS. 
 
 ing the Circus of Nero, lie adds, that not far 
 from the Mole of Adrian a small Circus could be 
 traced, of a black and hard stone, which was al- 
 most destroyed, and little known. 
 
 We read also of the Circus of Adrian, near his 
 tomb, and another out of the Porta Naevia. 
 
 AMPHITHEATRES. 
 
 The Amphitheatres and Theatres of Rome 
 were at first built only of wood, and frequently 
 taken to pieces after each representation. It was 
 not till the time of Pompey, that a permanent 
 theatre was built, as will be mentioned hereafter. 
 Nero, wanting to give an exhibition of games, 
 erected an enormous amphitheatre of wood in the 
 Campus Martius, which was finished in a year 0 . 
 But there was already one there of stone, and 
 J. Caesar had also erected one of wood d . The 
 first built within the city was by Statilius Tau- 
 rus, who was a great friend of Augustus. Dio 
 however says 6 , that this was in the Campus 
 Martius. It was burnt in the time of Nero. 
 Pliny mentions a most extraordinary contrivance 
 in the formation of an amphitheatre : he tells us f , 
 that Curio built two theatres close to each other, 
 but looking different ways; when the people had 
 taken their seats, both were moved round by 
 some machinery, and so formed one amphitheatre. 
 The original words are worth inserting: " Thea- 
 
 c Tacit. An. lib. xiii. c. 31. Suet. c. 12. d Dio, lib. xliii. 
 • Lib. li. f Lib. xxxvi. c. 15. 
 
AMPHITHEATRES. 
 
 337 
 
 " tra duo juxta fecit amplissima ex ligno, cardi- 
 u num singulorum versatili suspensa libramento: 
 44 in quibus utrisque, antemeridiano ludorum spec- 
 44 taculo edito, inter sese aversis, ne invicem 
 44 obstreperent scenae, et repente circumactis, ut 
 44 contra starent, postremo jam die, discedenti- 
 44 bus tabulis et cornibus inter se coeuntibus, fa- 
 44 ciebat amphitheatrum, et gladiatorum specta- 
 44 cula edebat, ipsum magis auctoratum populum 
 44 Roraanum circumferens." Caligula began an- 
 other amphitheatre within the city, but it was 
 not finished s. Trajan also built one in the 
 Campus Martins, but it was pulled down by 
 Adrian h . Of the Amphitheatrum Castrense men- 
 tion has been made already. All such buildings 
 however were far eclipsed in grandeur of dimen- 
 sions by the 
 
 COLOSSEUM. 
 
 This building is spelt sometimes Colosseum, 
 or Coloseum, and sometimes Coliseum. But the 
 former is adopted now as the correct mode, and 
 the Roman antiquaries tell us, that it is derived 
 from the immense size of the edifice, not from the 
 colossal statue of Nero, which was placed here 
 by Adrian, and dedicated to the sun. The latter 
 etymology is however given by Pomponius Laetus, 
 in his work de Antiquitatibus Urbis; and we find 
 the adjective collosseus used by Pliny 1 , where he 
 
 * Suet. c. 21. h Spartian. in Adriano. 1 Lib. xxxv. c. 33. 
 
 Z 
 
338 
 
 COLOSSEUM. 
 
 says, that Nero had himself painted of colossal 
 size. So also Suetonius k mentions one iEsius 
 Proculus, who from his prodigious size acquired 
 the name of Colosseus. But Maffei, in his Verona 
 Illustrata, argues against the notion, that the sta- 
 tue of Nero could have given the appellation to 
 the building. It was first placed in the vestibule 
 to Nero's golden house; and there is no evi- 
 dence that it ever stood in the amphitheatre. 
 Maffei also produces a passage where the am- 
 phitheatre of Capua is called Colossus ; and here 
 the epithet must certainly have been given from 
 the size of the building. It is altogether a name 
 of modern application, having been known for- 
 merly by the name of the Flavian amphitheatre, 
 in memory of Flavius Vespasian, who commenced 
 it A. D. 72, On the reverse of one of Vespasian's 
 coins, with this inscription, imp. caesar. Vespa- 
 sian, avg. cos. vin. p. p. there is a represent- 
 ation of the amphitheatre. 
 
 It was four years in building, and was com- 
 pleted by his son Titus, who had five thousand 
 wild beasts killed at the dedication of it 1 , and 
 exhibited games for nearly one hundred days. 
 Desgodetz says, that fifteen thousand men were 
 employed for ten years, and then there was all 
 the sculpture to finish. They erected it as a tri- 
 umphal commemoration of their success in the 
 Jewish war: and Venuti conjectures" 1 that the 
 architect's name was Gaudentius, who was put 
 
 k Calig. c. 35. 1 Eutropius, in Tito. ni Vol. i. p. 39. Evelyn 
 says, that it was built by 30000 captive Jews. Memoirs. 
 
COLOSSEUM. 
 
 339 
 
 to death for being a Christian. He grounds his 
 conjecture merely upon an inscription found in 
 the church of S. Martina. 
 
 SIC. PREMIA. SERVAS. VESPASIANE. DIREIPREMI 
 ATVS. ES. MORTE, GAVDENTI. LETAREI 
 CIVITAS. VBI. GLORIE. TVE. AVTORIIPROMISIT 
 ISTE. DAT. KRISTVS. OMNIA. TIBII 
 QVI. ALIVM. PAR A VIT. THEATRV. IN. CELO 
 
 If we compare the present appearance of the 
 building with what it must have been formerly, 
 it will be seen, that nearly two-thirds of the stone 
 which composed it are actually gone. It is said 
 to have suffered by earthquakes ; and for a long 
 while it served as a vast stone-quarry, out of 
 which modern Rome was ornamented. The Pa- 
 lazzo Farnese, (which was built by Paul III.) 
 that of Venice, and the Cancelleria, as well as 
 the Porto di Ripetta, are known to have been 
 built from it. Even the iron, which united one 
 block of stone to another, has been pillaged, as 
 may be seen by the holes made in them for that 
 purpose. This spoliation probably commenced 
 centuries ago : and there is a letter in Cassiodo- 
 rus n , in which Theodoric complains that no small 
 quantity of brass and lead had been taken away 
 from the ornaments of the city walls. He speaks 
 also of temples and public buildings having suf- 
 fered in this way. With respect to the holes 
 
 n Var. lib. iii. cpist. 3 1 . 
 
340 
 
 COLOSSEUM. 
 
 which are observed in the stories of the Colos- 
 seum, different opinions have been given as to 
 the origin of them. A dissertation has been 
 written upon the subject by Suaresius 0 , but he 
 does not come to much conclusion. He men- 
 tions several conjectures, among which that al- 
 ready given seems much the most probable. 
 Others have supposed that the holes were made 
 for the purpose of fastening in poles for the shops 
 and booths constructed in the interior. But little 
 or no evidence is produced of such a custom 
 having existed. The Abbe Barthelemi tells us, 
 that he examined the building with a view to see 
 if there were any of these cramps still existing, 
 and to ascertain whether they were of brass or 
 iron. He succeeded in finding some, and they 
 were all of iron. Ficoroni says, that he saw 
 some of brass. 
 
 But the paltry consideration of a few bits of 
 metal was not the only cause which urged the 
 Romans to destroy their noblest ornament. In 
 the fury of the civil contentions which agitated 
 Rome in the middle ages, the leaders of different 
 factions found in the massy structures of their 
 predecessors a number of strong fortresses. The 
 family of the Annibaldi fortified themselves in 
 the Colosseum ; and before them the Frangipani 
 had occupied it for the same purpose. We may 
 suppose that their soldiers had not much reve- 
 rence for the building, except so far as it afforded 
 
 0 Inserted in Sallengre's Thesaurus, vol. i. p. 318. 
 
COLOSSEUM. 
 
 341 
 
 them protection: and Barthelemi i> has produced 
 a document of the fourteenth century, in which 
 the contending parties agree to make the stones 
 of the Colosseum common property: " Et prae- 
 " terea, si omnes concordarent de faciendo Ti- 
 " burtinam, quod esset commune id, quod fode- 
 " retur." Poggio also, who lived in the four- 
 teenth and fifteenth centuries, lets us into another 
 most destructive cause of the ruin of the Colos- 
 seum. In his work upon the Mutability of For- 
 tune he tells us, that great part of it had been 
 burnt to make lime ; a custom which seems to 
 have been very general in those days ; so that 
 the ancient buildings were made to furnish both 
 the stone and the cement for modern edifices. 
 The numerous palaces which were built at that 
 time for the Roman nobles, and generally for the 
 nephews and relations of the popes, must bear 
 the infamy of this spoliation. 
 
 But in spite of all this ill-usage, it is still per- 
 haps the most wonderful monument remaining 
 of Roman magnificence : it seems scarcely to be 
 the ruin of one building only ; and its majestic 
 fragments are even magnified by the desolation 
 and solitude which now prevail round it. We 
 may insert here an expression used by our vene- 
 rable countryman Bede, in the eighth century. 
 Whether he ever visited Rome himself may be 
 doubted, though the place of his burial is shewn 
 there; but he may well have received the account 
 
 p Mem. Acad. vol. xxviii. p. 585, 
 z 3 
 
349 
 
 COLOSSEUM. 
 
 of this building from the Anglo-Saxon pilgrims. 
 He says of it, 44 As long as the Coliseum stands, 
 44 Rome shall stand : when the Coliseum falls, 
 44 Rome will fall : when Rome falls, the world 
 44 will fallV We may contrast with this the 
 words of Martial, who saw it in ail its splendour, 
 when first erected : 
 
 Barbara pyramidum sileat miracula Memphis 
 
 Assiduus jactet nec Babylona labor: 
 Aere nec vacuo pendentia Mausolea 
 
 Laudibus immodicis Cares in astra ferant : 
 Omnis Caesares cedat labor amphitheatro, 
 
 Unum pro cunctis fama loquatur opus. 
 
 De Spectac. 
 
 The pillage is at present stopped, and more par- 
 ticularly by a cross being erected in the middle 
 of the Arena, which holds out for every kiss an 
 indulgence of two hundred days. There are also 
 fourteen stations v placed round it, so that it is in 
 fact consecrated to Christian worship, 44 having 
 44 been purified from the Pagan superstitions" (as 
 an inscription states) 44 by the blood of the 
 44 martyrs who suffered here." The present pope 
 has erected an enormous buttress of brick at the 
 south-east side, by which means a great part of 
 
 q Vid. Ducange, Gloss, torn. ii. p. 407. 
 
 r In Catholic countries, the different events which happened 
 to our Saviour as he was going to the cross, are painted and 
 placed at some distance from each other, so that the devout 
 may stop and pray at each. These are called stations. 
 
COLOSSEUM. 
 
 the outer wall has been preserved from falling. 
 He has also employed workmen to repair the in- 
 terior, at least a part of it, with a view to shew 
 the ancient arrangement of the seats. 
 
 The amphitheatre is, as usual, elliptical. The 
 wall which surrounds the whole consisted of 
 three rows of arches, one above the other, with 
 half-pillars between each arch : still higher than 
 this was a fourth row of pilasters, with forty win- 
 dows, but without arches. The Doric, Ionic, 
 and Corinthian orders were successively em- 
 ployed in the three first rows ; and the pilasters 
 of the fourth or upper row are also Corinthian. 
 MafTei seems to think, that the upper story 
 should be called Composite, though he allows 
 with Scamozio and other writers upon architec- 
 ture that the capitals are Corinthian. It is only 
 on account of the ornaments in the frieze, that he 
 is inclined to the other opinion. Within this 
 outer wall were two other concentric ones, which 
 did not rise so high as the former. This may be 
 called the framework of the building; and the 
 three walls together formed a double row of 
 porticos running round the whole, which com- 
 municated with each other, and received light 
 from the outside. 
 
 The entrances were by eighty arches in the 
 outer wall, which opened into the first Portico ; 
 from thence the people might pass by as many 
 arches into the second, where they found at inter- 
 vals staircases leading to the seats. Besides these 
 staircases there were twenty other ascents to the 
 
 z 4 
 
COLOSSEUM. 
 
 upper seats immediately from the outer wall, 
 where there are traces of a staircase at every 
 fourth arch. So that the immense crowds which 
 frequented this amphitheatre could enter and 
 depart in a short time, and with little confusion. 
 The arches were all numbered on the outside 
 from i to lxxx ; but as more than half of this 
 outer wall is now entirely gone, the numbers can 
 only be seen from xxm to liv. Between 
 xxxviii and xxxix is an arch a little wider 
 than the rest, without a number, and with no cor- 
 nice over it ; which is supposed to have served 
 as the private entrance from the palace of Titus 
 on the Esquiline hill. This arch is about four- 
 teen feet eight inches wide, and it may be pre- 
 sumed, that there were four such in the whole 
 circuit of the building. On the coins which re- 
 present this building, of which there are not a 
 few 8 , we may observe a kind of projecting porch 
 on one side, which probably belonged to this 
 same entrance. 
 
 Not a single step is now remaining of all the 
 seats of stone, which rose in regular succession 
 from the Arena. In all the amphitheatres the 
 spectators sat upon the bare stone, except the 
 senators, and they were allowed by Caligula to 
 have cushions, as we learn from Dio 1 , " Cushions 
 " were then for the first time placed upon the se- 
 
 r Particularly in the reigns of Titus, Gordian, and Alexander 
 
 Severus. 
 1 Lib. lix. 
 
COLOSSEUM. 
 
 345 
 
 " nators' seats, that they might not sit upon the 
 " bare planks ; and they were allowed to bring 
 " Thessalian caps into the theatre, that they 
 " might not suffer from the sun." It appears 
 from Juvenal, that this privilege was afterwards 
 granted to the knights ; 
 
 exeat, inquit, 
 Si pudor est, et de pulvino surgat equestri, 
 Cujus res legi non sufficit. 
 
 Sat. iii. 154. 
 
 The seats only went as high as the top of the 
 second story. Above this were staircases lead- 
 ing to a gallery in the fourth story, where the 
 lower orders of people stood ; or there was pro- 
 bably another series of seats here made of wood. 
 It is certain, from the remains of the staircases, 
 that many spectators were accommodated here ; 
 and above them was an apparatus for covering 
 the amphitheatre in case of rain, as to the nature 
 of which the learned do not seem to be agreed. 
 
 This custom was first introduced in the thea- 
 tres by Q. Catulus, when he dedicated the Capi- 
 tol. He borrowed it from Campania". What 
 this covering was made of at first, does not ap- 
 pear. Pliny tells us x , that Lentulus Spinther 
 first introduced linen awnings at the Ludi Apol- 
 linares. This was U. C. 692. We learn from 
 Lucretius that they were coloured and Dio 
 mentions 2 a purple awning, in the middle of 
 
 u Plin. lib. xix. c. 6. Val. Max. lib. ii. c. 4. Aram. Marcell. 
 lib. xiv. c. 6. x Ibid. y iv. 7$. * Lib. lxiii. 
 
346 
 
 COLOSSEUM. 
 
 which was a figure of Nero driving his chariot, 
 and stars of gold placed round him. It seems 
 from Pliny a , that this was not in the Colosseum, 
 but in a temporary amphitheatre built by Nero ; 
 and that this was the first time in which amphi- 
 theatres had been so covered. Caligula used to 
 amuse himself with ordering these curtains to be 
 drawn back, when the sun was excessively 
 scorching, and hindering any person from going 
 out. If the wind was very high, this covering- 
 could not be drawn over so large a space : the 
 spectators then carried parasols, as we may col- 
 lect from these epigrams : 
 
 Accipe quae nimios vincant umbracula soles; 
 Sic licet et ventus, te tua vela tegent. 
 
 Mart. lib. xiv. ep. 28. 
 
 In Pompeiano tectus spectabo Theatro, 
 Nam populo ventus vela negare solet. 
 
 There are some projecting stones at the top of 
 the Colosseum, which probably were connected 
 with this contrivance. And in the upper story 
 on the outside there is a series of corbels all 
 round the building, three between each pilaster. 
 There are grooves in them, and directly over 
 them there are depressions in the cornice, appa- 
 rently to admit upright poles, which supported 
 the awning. 
 
 Different statements are given of the dimen- 
 * Lib. xix. c. 6 
 
COLOSSEUM. 
 
 347 
 
 sions of this amphitheatre : but many agree in 
 saying, that the circumference measures 1741 
 feet; the whole length 619; the whole width 
 513. The length of the Arena is 300 feet ; the 
 width of it 190. The height of the outer wall, 
 now that the soil has been cleared away, which 
 had risen twelve or thirteen feet, is stated at 179 
 feet; which is certainly very great, but hardly 
 sufficient to warrant the assertion of Ammianus, 
 " that the human eyesight can scarcely reach 
 " the top of it." 
 
 According to P. Victor, 87000 persons could 
 be accommodated in the seats ; and it seems pro- 
 bable, that 20000 more could have found places 
 above. This seems an almost incredible number; 
 but it is perhaps still more extraordinary, that 
 100000 persons should have been found so fre- 
 quently to fill it, when the spectacles exhibited 
 were a constant repetition of the same thing, and 
 attended with the most disgusting barbarities. 
 Yet we are told, that the eagerness to secure 
 good places was such, that multitudes would 
 flock to the Amphitheatre in the evening, and 
 continue there all night, to be present at the first 
 commencement of the games. To shew how 
 greatly the Flavian Amphitheatre exceeded all 
 others in size, I have brought into one view some 
 of the dimensions of those which still remain to 
 us. The numbers are probably not strictly ac- 
 curate, but they are not wide from the truth. 
 
 b Lib. xvi. e. 10, 
 
348 
 
 COLOSSEUM. 
 
 Colosseum 
 
 Verona 
 
 Nismes 
 
 Pompeii 
 
 Pola . 
 
 Paestum 
 
 o 
 
 to 
 
 a 
 
 CT5 
 
 619 
 464 
 438 
 
 370 
 
 o 
 
 367 
 343 
 
 300 
 
 a 
 
 513 300 
 
 233 
 
 174 
 
 160 
 
 Pi 
 
 o 
 
 > 
 
 i 
 
 190 
 
 136 
 
 98 
 
 a- 
 
 o 
 Hi 
 
 hfl 
 
 re 
 
 GO 
 
 107000 
 23484 
 17000 
 
 The space in the middle, where the shews 
 were exhibited, was called Arena, from the sand 
 which was strewed over it, on account of the 
 quantity of wild beasts that were slain there. 
 An epigram of Martial alludes to this : 
 
 Nam duo de tenera juvenilia corpora turba 
 Sanguineam rastris quae renovabat humum, 
 
 Saevus et infelix furiali dente peremit, 
 Martia non vidit majus Arena nefas. 
 
 Lib. ii. ep. 75. 
 
 Arena came afterwards to signify an Amphi- 
 theatre generally, and a person who fought in it 
 was called Arenarius. Nero and other emperors 
 occasionally covered it with more valuable ma- 
 terials, vermilion and chrysocolla, as Pliny ex- 
 presses it c . 
 
 € Lib. xxxiii. c. 27. Vide Suet. Calig, 
 
COLOSSEUM. 
 
 349 
 
 The wall, which surrounded the Arena suffi- 
 ciently high to prevent the wild beasts from leap- 
 ing over it, is still nearly entire. On the top of 
 this wall was a balustrade, called Podium. The 
 row of seats nearest to the Podium was occupied 
 by the first men of the senate, the consuls, prae- 
 tors, &c. and what seems more extraordinary, 
 the vestal virgins had particular places allotted 
 to them, opposite to the tribunal of the praetor d . 
 These all sat in the lowest rows of seats, and 
 looked through the balustrade. How many seats 
 they occupied is not certain. Lipsius (in his 
 Treatise de Amphitheatre) says four or five. 
 The whole place occupied by them was called 
 orchestra. Fourteen rows of seats above these 
 were allotted to the knights by Otho. Lipsius 
 supposes the wall and Podium to have been ori- 
 ginally ten or fifteen feet high. To secure the 
 spectators still farther from the wild beasts, 
 strong nets were placed all round, which were 
 made very splendid, as we learn from Calpur- 
 nius, (in Carino.) 
 
 auro quoque torta refulgent 
 Retia, quae totis in Arenam dentibus extant. 
 
 Pliny e mentions a still greater instance of cost- 
 liness in Nero, that the interstices of the nets 
 were filled with amber. ' 6 Tanta copia succini 
 66 invecta, ut retia arcendis feris podium prote- 
 " gentia succino nodarentur." Bars of wood, 
 
 cl Suet. Aug. c. 44. 
 
 e Lib. xxxvii. c. 11. 
 
350 
 
 COLOSSEUM. 
 
 which turned round were also placed tor this 
 purposed Pliny tells us, that on occasion of 
 the elephants having attempted to break out, 
 iron clatkri were erected ; and Caesar drew a 
 stream of water called Euripus round the Arena, 
 similar to that in the Circus Maximus. But this 
 must have been in some amphitheatre older than 
 the Colosseum. 
 
 The interior presents a most complete scene 
 of destruction. By means of broken staircases, 
 we may climb up a considerable height, and al- 
 most be lost in the labyrinth of ruins. It is from 
 such a view of these remains, that the best idea 
 of their vastness is formed : and if seen by 
 moonlight, when the shattered fragments of 
 stone, and the shrubs, which grow upon them, 
 are seen at a distance in alternations of light and 
 shade, the mind receives impressions of gratifi- 
 cation and of melancholy, which perhaps no 
 other prospect in the world could produce. In 
 exploring the ruins at night, it is absolutely ne- 
 cessary for a party to keep together, or they may 
 be lost in the different windings : the accounts 
 which we read of robbers lurking in parts of the 
 building are no longer to be feared : soldiers are 
 constantly stationed there, to prevent such oc- 
 currences, and to protect the fabric. These, to- 
 gether with a solitary friar, who had taken up 
 his abode there, and collected alms from the 
 faithful and the curious, were the only living- 
 beings which I met with. 
 
 1 Vide Ammian. lib. xix. et Calpurn. 
 
COLOSSEUM. 
 
 351 
 
 In the excavations, which were made not long- 
 ago, some subterranean passages were found, 
 and several compartments of building, which 
 puzzled the antiquaries exceedingly. The whole 
 was again covered up, and the Arena made 
 level ; so that these remains cannot now be seen ; 
 but an engraving was made of the appearance 
 which the Arena then exhibited, and a person, 
 who interests himself in the ruins of Rome, 
 would do well to purchase it. Some have con- 
 ceived these subterraneous passages to have 
 been formed to contain water for the naval com- 
 bats, which were sometimes exhibited here s . 
 In the account, which Lipsius published of this 
 Amphitheatre in 1598, there is a singular passage, 
 which seems to bear upon this subject. After 
 observing, on the authority of Prudentius, that 
 there was an altar in the Arena, he adds, " Under 
 " this altar were Cloacae : at least such is the 
 " assertion of Andreas Fulvius, (de Mirabilibus 
 " Urbis, lib. i.) who makes a great part of the 
 " building to be supported by them. Whether 
 " he saw them himself, or some one else did, I 
 " cannot tell : if the tradition were true, I should 
 " doubt whether they were really Cloacce for re- 
 " ceiving and carrying off the water, which was 
 " originally here ; or whether they were re- 
 " ceptacles for the wild beasts : or perhaps they 
 " served for the water, which was used in the 
 " Naumachia?." Such are the words of Lipsius. 
 
 * Dio, lib. lxii. c. 66. 
 
352 
 
 COLOSSEUM. 
 
 In the first of these three opinions he alludes to 
 a passage in Martial, from which we learn, that 
 there were pools of water here, before the Amphi- 
 theatre was built : 
 
 Hie ubi conspicui venerabilis Amphitheatri 
 Erigitur moles, stagna Neronis erant. 
 
 Spectac. ep. ii. 
 
 They were the pools belonging to the grounds 
 of Nero's golden house. Whatever may have 
 been the use of the Cloacae, the tradition pre- 
 served by Fulvius is clearly verified by the recent 
 excavations. 
 
 Two events in the history of this building were 
 also discovered, which are contained in the fol- 
 lowing inscriptions : 
 
 SALViS CONN THEODOSIO ET PLACIDO VALENTINIANO AVGG 
 RVFFS C^ECINA FELIX' LAMPADIVS VC ET IN L PRAEF VRBI 
 HAREN AM AMPHITE ATRIA NOVO VNA CVM VODIO ET PORTIS 
 POSTICISSEDETKEPARATIS SPECTACVLI GRAVIBVS RESTITVIT 
 
 The stone is broken, and the Italic letters have 
 been supplied by the Roman antiquaries. 
 
 DECIVS MARIVS. VENANTIVS 
 BASILIVS VC ET IN L. PRAEF 
 VRB PATRICIVS CONSVL 
 ORDINARIVS ARENAM ET 
 PODIVM QVAE ABOMI 
 NANDI TERRAEMO 
 TVS RVINA PROS 
 TRAVIT SVMPTV PRO 
 PRIO RESTITVIT. 
 
AMPHITHEATRES. 3SS 
 
 That the amphitheatre suffered by various ca- 
 lamities, we collect from different authors. Capi- 
 tolinus, in the life of Antoninus Pius, says, that 
 it was restored by that emperor. Lampridius 
 mentions another restoration of it after a fire by 
 Elagabalus. Eusebius in his Chronicle also tells 
 us, that it was burnt under Macrinns and Decius. 
 
 THEATRES. 
 
 The Romans cannot be said to have been a 
 people, who did not patronize the drama, though 
 they produced few dramatic writers of merit. In 
 the composition of tragedy we scarcely possess 
 any proofs of their genius : for the tragedies of 
 Seneca, independent of their being spurious, as 
 is commonly supposed, surely would not be 
 advanced in support of their claims. In comedy, 
 if we except Plautus and Terence, we have 
 nothing but fragments preserved to us, nor do 
 we read of many celebrated writers in that line. 
 Of Plautus and Terence it would be rashness to 
 speak except in praise : but our commendation 
 must certainly be qualified by the admission, 
 which it is impossible to withhold, that they 
 drew very largely and even translated whole 
 plays from Greek originals. Quintilian candidly 
 confesses, that in comedy the Romans had never 
 equalled the grace and elegance of the Greeks 11 : 
 he even allows, that the Roman language seemed 
 
 h Lib. x. c. 1. See also A. GcHius, lib. ii. c. 23. 
 a a 
 
354 
 
 THEATRES. 
 
 to him incapable of reaching that polished 
 humour, which the Attic writers had alone pos- 
 sessed, and which was denied even to the other 
 dialects of Greece. He asserts however, that 
 the Thyestes of Varius was worthy of being 
 compared with any tragedy which Greece had 
 produced : and as Tiraboschi well observes 1 , 
 since Quintilian has shewn himself so impartial, 
 when speaking of the Roman comedy, the opi- 
 nion deserves some attention, which he expresses 
 upon the Roman tragedy k . 
 
 That species of composition, which has ob- 
 tained the name of Satires, seems however to be 
 truly of Roman birth. Perhaps it might be more 
 safe to say generally, of Italian birth ; as other 
 people of Italy seem clearly to have given the 
 Romans a taste for satirical plays. Tiraboschi 1 
 has some judicious reflections upon the impro- 
 priety of saying, that Rome owed all her ad- 
 vancement in the arts and sciences to Greece, if 
 we mean the country which was properly called 
 Greece With much greater justice of expression 
 he makes the Romans indebted to the inhabitants 
 of Southern Italy, or Magna Grcecia. The entire 
 subjection of this part of Italy may be said to 
 have taken place about the year of Rome 487, 
 
 ' Storia Letteraria d' Italia, part iii. lib. 3. p. 209- 
 k It is worthy of remark,, that since the revival of letters Italy 
 has shone less in dramatic compositions, than in any other de- 
 partment of literature, and less than any other polished nation 
 of modern times. 
 1 Tart iii. lib. 1. 
 
THEATRES. 
 
 3.55 
 
 at which time there was little or no intercourse 
 between Rome and Greece proper : and Tirabos- 
 chi proves, that Livius Andronicus, Nevius, 
 Ennins, and Pacuvius, the earliest of the Roman 
 poets, came from Magna Grcecia. Livius intro- 
 duced regular plays in Rome for the first time, 
 about the year 513 U. C. but according to his 
 namesake the historian m , some kind of plays had 
 been introduced 124 years before from Tuscany. 
 The two exhibitions were probably of a totally 
 different kind : and if Livius Andronicus came 
 from Magna Grcecia, we need not suppose that 
 the one arose out of and was a refinement upon 
 the other. We may be incredulous as to the 
 cause, which Livy assigns for the introduction of 
 the Tuscan plays : but the fact is probably true, 
 that they appeared for the first time during a 
 great plague. It is possible, that the people 
 had recourse to these amusements, or that 
 the magistrates purposely introduced them, to 
 divert their thoughts from the great public cala- 
 mity : like as in Paris there were twenty theatres 
 open during the most horrid scenes of the Revo- 
 lution". The Romans, grave and sedate as they 
 were, seem to have felt a peculiar relish for these 
 exhibitions. If the farces, which were known by 
 the name of Atellan, Fescennine 0 , &c. were handed 
 
 m Lib. vii. c. 1. 
 
 n I owe this remark to Mrs. H. Moore, in her work upon St. 
 Paul, vol. i.. There is the same observation in Burke's Letters 
 on a Regicide Peace, vol. viii. p. 179. 
 
 * Atella was a town of the Osci. Fescenninum, of the 
 
 A a 2 
 
356 
 
 THEATRES. 
 
 down to us, our opinion of Roman gravity might 
 perhaps be lessened. Many probably never were 
 composed, but the actors were left to follow their 
 own invention, as to the jokes and indecencies 
 which they uttered. That the whole spectacle 
 was of the most indelicate kind, there seems 
 abundant reason to believe. The old comedy 
 of Athens, as we find it in the works of Aris- 
 tophanes, was sufficiently offensive in this way : 
 but in Rome the coarseness of the jest seems to 
 have prevailed without any elegance of expres- 
 sion. Fortunately the regular dramatic writers 
 of Rome, in looking to Greece as their model, 
 selected the new comedy. Plautus was born 
 U. C. 569, and we may suppose that his works 
 began to be acted before 600. This was a pro- 
 digious improvement upon the Tuscan farces, 
 and the Romans seem to have encouraged this 
 advancement in national taste. Terence wrote 
 his comedies between 587 and 593. In both 
 these writers we find abundance of indecency : 
 but it is mixed with a refinement of sentiment, 
 which bespeaks an audience capable of appre- 
 ciating true elegance. 
 
 Still however the Romans were never so fond 
 of exhibitions purely dramatical, as were the 
 more polished republicans of Athens. In the 
 time of Pericles, when his city, though conspicu- 
 ous for its love of the fine arts, was only rising 
 
 Sabines or of the Tuscans, where it was the custom to sing 
 marriage songb. 
 
THEATRES. 
 
 357 
 
 to political importance, the Athenian mob had 
 splendid theatres, to which they could daily re- 
 sort. In the time of Plautus there was no theatre 
 of stone in Rome ; perhaps none which was per- 
 manent, but only temporary stages, erected of 
 wood, on which the people were generally 
 obliged to stand. L. Mummius, when he cele- 
 brated his triumph, U.C. 608, is said to have 
 been the first who erected a theatre of wood 
 after the Greek fashion : and one at Fidenae hav- 
 ing fallen down, by which several people were 
 killed, a decree of the senate was passed to en- 
 sure the strength of such buildings. In the year 
 of Rome 601, L. Cassius began to build a theatre, 
 and had nearly finished it, but P. C. Scipio Na- 
 sica, who was then consul, got a decree of the 
 senate for its destruction, as being injurious to 
 public morals i\ Tacitus tells us, that it was 
 brought as an accusation against Pompey by the 
 older citizens, that he had built a permanent 
 theatre. For before his time a temporary stage 
 was erected with moveable seats. But it was a 
 motive of economy which advised the building 
 a permanent theatre, in preference to the enor- 
 mous expence of erecting and fitting up one of 
 wood every year. Some verses of Ausonius re- 
 late to this : 
 
 iEdilis olim scenam tabulatam dabat, 
 Subito excitatam, nulla mole saxea. 
 Muraena sic et G alii us (nota loquar) 
 
 p Liv, epit lib, xlviii. Appian. lib. i. 
 a a 3 
 
358 
 
 THEATRES. 
 
 Postquam potentes, nec verentes sumptuum 
 Nomen perenne crediderunt, si semel 
 Constructa moles saxeo fundamine 
 In omne tempus conderet ludis locum ; 
 Cuneata crevit haec theatri immanitas. 
 Pompeius hunc, et Balbus et Caesar dedit 
 Octavianus, concertantes sumptibus. 
 
 Prol. Sap. xiv. &c. 
 
 The expence at which some of these temporary 
 theatres were erected, is almost incredible. The 
 passage in Pliny, which describes it, deserves to 
 be given at lengths " M. Scaurus fecit in iEdi- 
 " litate sua opus omnium maximum, quae un- 
 " quam fuere humana manu facta, non tempo- 
 " raria mora, verum etiam aeternitatis destina- 
 " tione. Theatrum hoc fuit. Scena ei triplex, 
 " in altitudinem ccclx columnarum. Ima pars 
 " scenae e marmore fuit, media e vitro, inaudito 
 " etiam postea genere luxuriae. Summae tabulis 
 " inauratis columnae, ut diximus; imae duode- 
 " quadragenum pedum. Signa aerea inter co- 
 " lumnas, ut indicavimus, fuerunt tria millia 
 <f numero. Cavea ipsa cepit hominum lxxx 
 " millia, cum Pompeiani Theatri, toties multi- 
 4< plicata urbe, tantoque majore populo sufficiat 
 " large xl millibus. Sed et reliquus apparatus 
 M tantus, Attalica veste, tabulis pictis, caeteroque 
 " choragio fuit, ut in Tusculanam villam reporta- 
 '* tis quae superfuerant quotidiani usus deliciis, in- 
 " censa villa ab iratis servis, concremaretur ad 
 
 fl Lib. xxxvi. c. 24. 
 
THEATRES. 
 
 359 
 
 " hs. millies." In another place he says that it 
 only lasted one month. Scaurus was aedile U.C. 
 694 r . The double theatre mentioned by Pliny 8 , 
 and which has been described at length, p. 336, 
 was also temporary. Even after theatres of stone 
 were introduced, they were occasionally erected 
 of wood ; and Vitruvius (who wrote under Au- 
 gustus) speaks of several theatres being built an- 
 nually in Rome*. 
 
 In the course of their history we read but of 
 three theatres of stone which were of any par- 
 ticular note, those of Pompey, Marcellus, and 
 Balbus. The amphitheatre possessed more at- 
 traction for the conquerors of the world ; and 
 this species of building, together with the san- 
 guinary combats exhibited in it, were probably 
 inventions of their own. The reason which 
 Horace assigns for dramatic poetry being so neg- 
 lected at Rome, is probably true, though not the 
 only one. The people who frequented the thea- 
 tres went there to gratify their ears and eyes 
 more than their intellect, and were as impatient 
 of sitting out the representation of a long tragedy, 
 as they were incapable of appreciating its beau- 
 ties : they would frequently interrupt the repre- 
 sentation by demanding some brilliant spectacle, 
 or some sanguinary combat : and the poets were 
 
 r So that as Pompey's Theatre was built only five years after, 
 Pliny must have forgotten himself, when he talks of <( toties 
 " multiplicata urbe, tantoque majore populo." 
 
 % Lib xxxvi. c. 15. 
 
 t Lib. v. 5. 
 
 ,u4 
 
360 
 
 THEATRES. 
 
 little inclined to encounter this mortification, or 
 to submit their compositions to such irrational 
 judges : they wisely preferred private recitations 
 before an audience both able and willing to ap- 
 preciate their labours. 
 
 Saepe etiam audacem fugat hoc terretque poetam, 
 Quod numero plures, virtute ct honore minores, 
 Indocti stolidique, et depugnare parati, 
 Si discordet eques, media inter carmina poscunt 
 Aut urstim aut pugiles : his nam plebecula gaudet. 
 
 Epist. lib. ii. ep. 1, 182, 
 
 Before Vespasian commenced the Colosseum, 
 the Circus was used for these spectacles. So it 
 continued after the introduction of amphitheatres: 
 but in nearly all the towns, where traces of the 
 Romans remain, some vestiges of an amphithe- 
 atre are to be found u , whereas the theatres are 
 comparatively very few. 
 
 THEATRE OF POMPEY. 
 
 The first theatre of stone which was erected 
 in Rome was that of Pompey. It has been al- 
 ready mentioned, that he was censured by the 
 older and graver citizens for introducing such a 
 corruption of the public morals : and the means 
 which he took to obviate the charge are rather 
 
 11 Ruins of them may be seen at Pompeii, Capua, Pozzuoli, 
 Verona, Paestum, Cumse, Alba, Minturnae, Ocriculi, Lucca, 
 Arezzo, Nismes, Aries, Perigueux, Ligeris, Avenche, Hispalis, 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
THEATRE OF POMPEY. 
 
 361 
 
 curious, On the top of the building was a tem- 
 ple, so that the seats of the theatre appeared as 
 if they were steps leading up to the religious edi- 
 fice: and when the day of dedication arrived, 
 the people were invited not as to a theatre, but 
 as to a temple. Tertullian mentions this quibble, 
 and ends his relation of it with these words, 
 " ita damnatum et damnandum opus templi ti- 
 " tulo praetexerit." This writer calls the temple 
 that of Venus, which he probably did to make 
 the most of his story: for A. Gellius says x it 
 was consecrated to Victory. Perhaps Pliny gives 
 us the true account (and he lived much nearer to 
 the time) when he says?, that Venus Victrix was 
 the deity, with which account Plutarch agrees 2 . 
 The authors also differ as to the year: Pliny 
 makes it to have been Pompey's second consul- 
 ship; A. Gellius the third: and from the story 
 which this latter writer tells % there can be no 
 doubt that he is right as to the dedication of the 
 temple ; and according to Tertullian the theatre 
 and the temple were both dedicated by one act. 
 It is however generally said, that he built the 
 theatre after the conclusion of the Mithridatic 
 war, U. C. 698, in his second consulship 1 '. Ac- 
 cording to Plutarch it was a copy of that at Mi- 
 tylene, but on a more splendid scale. Pliny 
 
 x Lib. x. c. 1. y Lib. viii. c. 7- 1 In Poplic. 
 a This has been already mentioned at p. 151, note s, to 
 which the reader is requested to refer. 
 '* He was consul for the third time 70 L 
 
THEATRE OF 
 
 also speaks in high terms of the magnificence of 
 its ornaments 0 . Dio says, that it was not built 
 by Pompey, but by his freed man, Demetrius. 
 However it always went by the name of Pom- 
 pey ; and by the spoils of the Mithridatic war, 
 the general was more likely than his freed man to 
 have acquired funds for such a work. 
 
 It suffered from fire, and Tiberius intended to 
 have repaired it; but Caligula finished it, as we 
 learn from Suetonius d . It was injured by fire 
 also in the reigns of Claudius, Titus, and Philip. 
 Nero covered it with gold during one day, to 
 shew it to Tiridates, king of Armenia 6 : and after 
 a lapse of five centuries and a half, Theodoric 
 again repaired it. We learn this from Cassiodo- 
 rus, who also describes the vast solidity of the 
 building. Having mentioned the repair, he adds, 
 " Quid non solvas, senectus, quae tarn robusta 
 " quassasti ? montes facilius cedere putarentur, 
 44 quam soliditas ilia, qua tenetur : quando mo- 
 44 les ipsa sic tota de cautibus fuit, ut prseter 
 44 artem additam, et ipsa quoque naturalis esse 
 44 crederetur. Hsec potuissemus forte negligere, 
 66 si nos contigisset talia non videre : caveas illas 
 44 saxis pendentibus apsidatas, ita juncturis ab- 
 44 sconditis in formas pulcherrimas convenisse, 
 44 ut cryptas magis excelsi montis crederes, quam 
 44 aliquid fabricatum esse judicares." At the end 
 he tells him, that he will pay the expence, whe- 
 
 c Lib. vii. c. 3. d Calig. c. 21. « Plin. lib. xxxiii. c. 10. 
 
POMPEY. 
 
 363 
 
 ther it required to be kept together by large but- 
 tresses, or to be rebuilt f . 
 
 It was large enough to contain forty thousand 
 persons. Of this theatre we can scarcely be said 
 to have any remains. The situation of it was 
 between the church of S. Andrea della Valle, 
 and the Ponte Sisto ; and some houses still pre- 
 serve a curved form, which is to be ascribed to 
 the ancient theatre. Vitruvius mentions * a por- 
 tico as attached to the Theatre of Pompey, like 
 as the portico of Octavia served for the theatre 
 of Marcellus. In the fragments of ancient Rome, 
 preserved in the Capitol, some portion of it may 
 be observed. From these and from conjecture 
 Bufalino, in his Ichnography of Rome, gives a 
 plan of the whole building. 
 
 I may take this opportunity of mentioning the 
 statue, supposed to be that of Pompey, at the 
 foot of which Caesar fell, and which is now in 
 the Spada palace. It was found in the Strada 
 de' Leutari, near the Cancelleria, in the time of 
 Julius II : and as the head lay under one house, 
 and the rest of the body under another, the two 
 proprietors were on the point of dividing the 
 statue, when the pope interposed and rescued it 
 from this misfortune \ It stood at first in the 
 place which Pompey had built near his theatre 
 for the senate to assemble in : but we know from 
 Suetonius 1 , that Augustus removed it to stand 
 
 f Theodoric to Symmachus, Epist. li. lib. 4. g Lib. v. c. 9* 
 !l Fl. Vacca, Mem. lvii. 1 Aug. c. xxxi. 
 
36* THEATRE OF MARCELLUS. 
 
 opposite the Basilica of Pompey. Winkelmann k 
 expresses some doubts whether it is really a sta- 
 tue of that unfortunate character. 
 
 THEATRE OF MARCELLUS. 
 
 The second theatre in Rome was that which 
 bears the name of Marcel I us, though it was built 
 by Augustus. It has been asserted that Vitru- 
 vius was the architect of it, but there seems no 
 good evidence to support such an opinion. It 
 was dedicated U. C. 743 l . The stage was re- 
 paired by Vespasian ; and it seems after that to 
 have suffered by fire or some other calamity, as 
 Lampridius mentions the intention of Alexander 
 Severus to repair it m . Considerable remains of 
 it are still to be seen in the Piazza Montanara. 
 It is the semicircular outer wall which has sur- 
 vived, and probably much more than is com- 
 monly seen is buried in the neighbouring houses. 
 The ruins of it have made quite a hill, on which 
 the Savelli palace is built. 
 
 It is said to have been formed originally of 
 four stories, but the two upper ones are entirely 
 gone, and the lower one is half buried. This last 
 is of the Doric order, and it may be observed 
 that the pillars have no bases : the story above 
 it is Ionic, and they are considered as a very 
 good specimen of the union of the two orders. 
 The third and fourth stories were probably Co- 
 
 k Lib. vi. c. 5. §. 27- 1 Plin. lib. viii. c. 25. m C. 44, 
 
B36S. 
 
THEATRE OF BALBUS. 
 
 365 
 
 rinthian, as in the Colosseum. The moderns do 
 not much admire this mixture of orders ; but we 
 have these two instances of it in periods when 
 taste certainly was not on the decline. There 
 were seats for thirty thousand spectators. 
 
 Some of the entrances may be seen, by which 
 the people passed into the theatre ; and from 
 plans of ancient Rome in the Capitol, part of the 
 stage and proscenium may be made out. In the 
 form of the stage little or no variation seems to 
 have prevailed in the Roman theatres, so that this 
 fragment possesses little value. I annex an en- 
 graving of it from the work of Bellori, compared 
 with my own sketch. Serlio, in his work upon 
 architecture, makes out a plan of the whole 
 theatre". 
 
 THEATRE OF BALBUS. 
 
 This had its name from L. Cornelius Balbus, 
 who built it at the exhortation of Augustus, U.C. 
 741°. He was possessed of so much wealth, 
 that he left by will twenty-five drachms to every 
 Roman. This theatre was calculated to contain 
 thirty thousand people. It was dedicated by 
 Claudius. According to Pliny p there were four 
 columns of onyx in it, which were considered 
 very remarkable. No remains of this theatre 
 now exist, and the situation of it is not known 
 
 ■ Lib. iii. 0 Suet. Aug. c. xxix, p Lib. xxxvi. c. 7, 
 
366 
 
 THEATRE OF BALBUS. 
 
 for certain; but it is supposed that it stood near 
 the Palazzo Cenci, and that the hill on which 
 that palace stands was formed by the ruins of 
 the theatre. 
 
CHURCHES OF ROME. 
 
 IT has been observed already, that the curio- 
 sities of Rome may be conveniently divided 
 into the Antiquities, the Churches, and the Pa- 
 laces. Having treated of the first of these di- 
 visions, we may now proceed to the second. 
 
 The Churches of Rome are in many respects 
 remarkable to a stranger, and perhaps to the 
 English stranger more particularly. In travelling 
 through any Catholic country, a Protestant must 
 necessarily be struck with the difference of orna- 
 ments and decorations in the places of public 
 worship. The Englishman, accustomed to great 
 simplicity in the forms and ceremonies of de- 
 votion at home, sees much which surprises and 
 shocks him in the churches of Catholic countries. 
 But in the Netherlands, in France, in Switzer- 
 land, and generally in those districts through 
 which he passes on his road to Italy, they are 
 the ceremonies of religion, which for the most 
 part seem to him so extraordinary. The exterior 
 of the churches themselves will frequently bring 
 
368 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 to his recollection those of his own country : 
 and the pointed style of architecture, as it exists 
 on the continent, is sufficiently allied to that which 
 is so much the boast of his native land, as to set 
 the difference between the several structures in no 
 very strong light. But in Rome the contrast is 
 in every way remarkable. There is something 
 in the interior of a Roman church which is wholly 
 at variance with the prevailing ecclesiastical archi- 
 tecture of England ; and at the same time much 
 superior in taste to the religious edifices of most 
 other Catholic countries. 
 
 In the first place, the total absence of the 
 Gothic or pointed style of architecture in the 
 Roman churches, can hardly fail to be noticed 
 by an English eye. I believe it may be asserted, 
 that not a single specimen of what is called (pro- 
 perly or improperly) Gothic architecture, is to be 
 found within the walls of Rome. The windows 
 of the north aisle of St. Paul's, without the walls, 
 are the only instances which 1 observed near to 
 Rome: these have certainly a close resemblance 
 to the windows of many of our own parish 
 churches, and are said to have been added in 
 the tenth century. In the tribune of St. John 
 Lateran are four pointed arches of the date of 
 1288: but the circumstance of their being pointed 
 is the only one which connects them with that 
 singular form of architecture, so prevalent in the 
 North and in England : they are wholly without 
 mullions, or any other ornament whatsoever pe- 
 culiar to that style. These are the only two 
 
POINTED ARCHITECTURE. 369 
 
 specimens in or near the walls of Rome, which I 
 could find ; and it may therefore be stated as a 
 singular fact in the history of Roman archi- 
 tecture, that though there are churches of every 
 age, and many contemporary with the intro- 
 duction of the pointed style into Italy and other 
 parts of Europe, yet the pointed arch and its at- 
 tending ornaments have not found their way into 
 the city of Rome. 
 
 The north -gate in the transept of the old 
 church of S. John Lateran appears however to 
 have been Gothic. It is engraved in the work 
 of Ciampini upon the buildings of Constantine a . 
 He states it to have been built by Gregory XI. 
 who reigned 1370-8. The same plate does not 
 shew any other part of the church to have been 
 in the same style. His view of part of the old 
 church of St. Peter also represents six windows, 
 which are themselves round at top, but the com- 
 partments of each have tracery and mullions like 
 those in our Gothic churches. All the windows 
 on the sides seem also to have been of the same 
 kind. 
 
 Much speculation might arise from the above 
 observation, and many conjectures might be 
 raised as to the cause of the absence of the 
 pointed style from Rome. The difficulty is not 
 diminished by this style being found in various 
 parts of the Roman states at no great distance 
 from the capital ; nor can the fact be explained 
 
 a Tab. v. 
 Bb 
 
370 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 by supposing this order to have travelled thus 
 far in a southward direction, and there to have 
 stopped : for in Naples there are not a few spe- 
 cimens in tolerably correct taste, though there is 
 a great mixture of Grecian in many churches, 
 which would otherwise be called Gothic. The 
 introduction of the pointed style into Naples 
 might perhaps be explained : at least if the 
 result of my observation be accurate, that 
 the cathedral is the oldest Gothic building in 
 that capital, the adoption of that style may be 
 attributed to Charles of Anjou being its founder 
 in 1280, and introducing the fashion which had 
 gained such firm footing in his own country. 
 But Naples is not the only city south of Rome 
 where this style is to be found : even in Sicily 
 there are many churches decidedly older than 
 the thirteenth century, which have the pointed 
 arch. So that the question still remains to be 
 answered, why there should be no churches of 
 Gothic or pointed architecture in Rome. 
 
 The traveller in his journey to this city from 
 the Alps will have observed two styles to be 
 mostly prevalent. In Lombardy, particularly in 
 the cities of Placentia, Parma, Reggio, Modena, 
 Bologna, &c. he will have recognized a great 
 resemblance to what is apt to be called Saxon 
 architecture in England ; which term I may 
 adopt for the sake of brevity, however incorrect 
 may have been its original application. The same 
 solidity in the columns, the invariable adoption 
 of the round arch without any mixture of the 
 
POINTED ARCHITECTURE. 371 
 
 pointed in the same building, that corrupt and 
 degenerate resemblance to Grecian models, par- 
 ticularly in the capitals, but not at all in the pro- 
 portions, those grotesque ornaments formed of 
 real or imaginary animals which characterize our 
 Saxon edifices, may all be observed in those 
 towns, which I have specified above. This order 
 of architecture seems mostly to be confined to 
 the plains of Lombardy, bounded to the south by 
 the Apennines. With some indeed it has ob- 
 tained the appellation of Lombard architecture. 
 
 Though it is not very material what terms we 
 use to describe any particular style, provided we 
 explain our use of them, yet it may be well to 
 observe, that the terms Gothic and Lombard, as 
 applied to architecture, may be demonstrated to 
 be incorrect with respect to Italy. For as the 
 Goths preceded the Lombards in their posses- 
 sion of that country, the mode of building intro- 
 duced by the former (if indeed they introduced 
 any) must have been prior to that of the latter : 
 but as the Lombard architecture is evidently 
 allied to our Saxon, and we know, that in the 
 north the Saxon was considerably more ancient 
 than the pointed style, we come to an opposite 
 conclusion as to their relative antiquity. We 
 should come to the same conclusion also from 
 examining the churches of Italy, as well as those 
 of the north of Europe. This may be added to 
 the many arguments, which shew, that the term 
 Gothic is incorrect, as we use it. For as both 
 the above conclusions cannot be true, and the 
 
 B b 2 
 
372 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 one which makes the Lombard architecture to 
 be most ancient is confirmed by observation, we 
 must infer, that the terms themselves are incor- 
 rectly used, and that the style, which is later 
 than that of the Lombards, cannot be referred to 
 the Goths, who preceded them. The Lombard 
 architecture, as already stated, prevails mostly in 
 the country now called Lombardy ; from which 
 it might be presumed, that the term was not 
 given without reason. The Lombards are said 
 to have come from Pannonia, (that is, the coun- 
 try which now goes by the name of Hungary,) 
 but whether that will throw any light upon the 
 history of our Saxon architecture, is a point 
 which I do not presume to meddle with. 
 
 Upon entering Tuscany the traveller will find 
 a new style of building, and one to which his 
 eye has been more familiar in the Gothic edi- 
 fices of his own country. If the distinction did 
 not seem fanciful, I should be inclined to say, 
 that at the time when the churches of Lombardy 
 and Tuscany were built, each of these styles 
 was known and followed ; but in Lombardy the 
 Saxon became the prevailing order, borrowing 
 some occasional ornaments from the Gothic ; 
 whereas in Tuscany the pointed became the 
 ruling form, with several admixtures of the more 
 heavy and solid Saxon. The Cathedral of Flo- 
 rence was begun in 1298, and the arches are all 
 pointed : that of Pisa is much older, having 
 certainly been built in 1063, if not earlier. The 
 style both within and without is not the pointed ; 
 
POINTED ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 373 
 
 but in the baptistery, a circular building close to 
 the west end of the cathedral, there is a row of 
 arches on the outside decidedly Gothic. This 
 building bears the date of 1152. 
 
 To assign a reason for the pointed style being 
 found in some parts of Italy and not in others, 
 is far beyond my pretensions ; as it would in- 
 volve in some measure the intricate question, 
 Whence is the origin of Gothic architecture? 
 To those who would give the merit of the in- 
 vention to the Italians, I never can subscribe. 
 At least it is singular, that the northern archi- 
 tects, who must in that case have imported it from 
 Italy, should have made such prodigious improve- 
 ments in the good taste and elegance of the order, 
 without imparting any of their rules to their former 
 masters. This I can at least venture to assert, 
 that any specimen of that light and majestic ar- 
 chitecture which prevails in our English ca- 
 thedrals, and of which the unfinished cathedral 
 of Cologne may be quoted as a noble instance 
 on the continent, will in vain be sought for in 
 Italy. The finest specimen of Gothic architecture 
 in Italy, and perhaps in one sense in the world, 
 is at Milan : but the cathedral there is not older 
 than the fourteenth century b ; and its florid de- 
 corations and admixture of Grecian orders clearly 
 shew the decline of Gothic architecture. 
 
 Another hypothesis, which would bring it from 
 the east, is also attended with considerable dif- 
 
 b It was built in 1386, 
 
 b b 3 
 
37* 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 Acuities. From descriptions, which we have of 
 oriental buildings, the notion certainly does not 
 appear to be without foundation : but if it was 
 imported into the west by means of the Crusades, 
 or any other early intercourse between the two 
 continents, should we not naturally find the 
 earliest specimens of it in Venice, Genoa, and 
 Pisa, those maritime Republics, which so long 
 monopolized the whole commerce of the east, 
 which transported the Crusaders to and from their 
 adventurous expeditions, and were the first to in- 
 troduce a spirit of luxury and refinement in their 
 public and private buildings ? Though a few spe- 
 cimens of the pointed style may be found in each 
 of these towns, yet surely they are neither fre- 
 quent nor pure enough to lead to the conclusion, 
 that they were the first examples seen in Europe, 
 after the order had been imported from the east. 
 There are Gothic buildings in the north of 
 Europe, which are older than any in Italy, and 
 at all events the style has been carried to a far 
 greater elegance and perfection on this side of 
 the Alps : so that an insuperable difficulty would 
 seem to attend that hypothesis, which would de- 
 rive the origin of it from Italy ; and one almost 
 equally great would be found in supposing it to 
 have been brought from the east in the commu- 
 nication, which took place between Europe and 
 Asia in the middle ages. 
 
 The Italians themselves, at least the Romans, 
 are very ignorant of what we mean by the term 
 Gothic, applying it indiscriminately to the pointed 
 
POINTED ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 375 
 
 and to the Saxon styles : they pretend to hold it 
 in great contempt ; and seem to think, that no 
 building in that taste can deserve any admiration 
 from a classical eye. The epithets, which they 
 apply to these styles, are such as Greco-barbaro, 
 Arabo-Tedesco, and such-like, from which little 
 can be proved as to the origin of the order. If 
 it prove any thing, it would tend to shew, that 
 what we call Gothic architecture came originally 
 from the east, and was first made known to the 
 Italians by the Germans. 
 
 The subject has been much discussed by the 
 Italian antiquaries ; amongst whom two of their 
 most learned writers, Muratori and Maffei, assign 
 a much later origin to this style of architecture. 
 Tiraboschi however seems inclined (or rather he 
 was so inclined in his first edition) to think, that 
 the Goths were the introducers of the pointed 
 style, or, according to his own phrase, that they 
 were the corrupters of architecture in Italy. 
 Mr. Eustace quotes a passage from Cassiodorus, 
 for which, I imagine, he is indebted to Tira- 
 boschi, who advances it in support of his theory. 
 The passage is this c : " Quid dicamus columna- 
 " rum junceam proceritatem ? moles illas subli- 
 " missimas fabricarum, quasi quibusdam erectis 
 " hastilibus contineri, et substantia? qualitate 
 (i concavis canalibus excavatas, ut magis ipsas 
 " aestimes fuisse transfusas ; alias seris judices 
 " factum, quod metallis durissimis videas expoli- 
 
 c Lib. vii. Var. form. 15. 
 B b 4 
 
• 
 
 376 CHURCHES. 
 
 " turn." 1 confess, that I cannot see much de- 
 scription of Gothic architecture here, and no 
 mention whatever of the pointed arch. The 
 Abbe Fea however d has entirely destroyed the 
 weight of this passage, by shewing, that Cassio- 
 dorus was speaking of the ancient Roman build- 
 ings, which existed in his time. This is quite 
 evident, and Tiraboschi gives up the passage, 
 which Eustace ought also to have done. Frisi, 
 a writer upon this subject, says, that one of the 
 first examples of a series of arches upon insulated 
 columns, instead of these columns being united, 
 as formerly, by horizontal architraves, is in the 
 church of S. Yitale in Ravenna, which was be- 
 gun in the time of Amalasuntha, Queen of the 
 Goths, about A. D. 530. But this can scarcely 
 be said to prove much as to the pointed style ; 
 and Tiraboschi himself allows, that in the Palace 
 of Diocletian at Spalatro, (which was built to- 
 wards the end of the third century,) there are 
 remains in the same manner of building. So 
 there are in the baths of this emperor at Rome. 
 To which may be added two other instances : 
 the church of S. Constantia, by some called a 
 temple of Bacchus, near to Rome, and out of 
 the Porta Pia. It is certainly as old as the time 
 of Constantine, and by some is thought to be 
 much older. The other is the church of S. Ste- 
 fano Rotondo on the Caelian hill. An engraving 
 of it may be seen in the work of Desgodetz, who 
 
 d Vide tVinkelmann, from. iii. p. 272. 
 
POINTED ARCHITECTURE. 377 
 
 affirms, without expressing any doubt, that it was 
 built in the reign of Claudius. It is a circular 
 building, with two concentric rows of pillars. 
 The exterior row supports a series of arches. 
 The windows also are curious, and might almost 
 be thought a step towards those, which are so 
 common in our Gothic churches. The work above 
 alluded to represents them thus. [See the Plated] 
 
 Certain it is, that the term Gothic has in Italy 
 been synonimous with German or Transalpine : 
 and if the taste of the Roman architects may be 
 considered as important in the question, it would 
 appear evident that the south of Italy had taken 
 no part in producing this style of architecture, 
 but that on the contrary it was held almost in 
 abhorrence, and considered a decided proof of 
 the bad taste of those nations, who had not drawn 
 their ideas from Italian models. This partly 
 leads me back to the former question, how the 
 absence of all Gothic architecture is to be ac- 
 counted for in Rome. And here I take the term 
 Gothic in the same extended sense as the Ro- 
 mans do : for neither the pointed style, nor that 
 which we call Saxon, and which is so common 
 in Lombard y, is to be found there. 
 
 Upon this subject I have little to add. One 
 remark however I shall venture to make, which 
 though it leave the origin of Gothic architecture 
 unexplained, or rather assumes it to be northern, 
 may perhaps afford a solution to the other ques- 
 tion, why no specimen of it is to be found in 
 Rome. Whatever may be the origin of our 
 
378 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 northern styles, the Italians call them both Ger- 
 man, and at Rome they apply the term Gothic 
 to one as much as to the other. Pisa seems to 
 have set the example to Florence. From these 
 several circumstances it appears not unreason- 
 able to suppose, that as Pisa steadily adhered to 
 the Ghibelline party, and Rome was the head of 
 the Guelphic, the cause of the northern styles 
 being adopted and united at Pisa may be ascribed 
 to the connexion of that city with Germany : 
 whereas the hatred between the Romans and 
 Germans will explain the opposite fact in Rome. 
 Whatever value may be attached to these re- 
 marks, the traveller, who has examined the 
 churches of Rome with this view, will agree, 
 that the pointed style is no where to be found 
 there. 
 
 The Roman architects have invariably studied 
 the Grecian models; and whatever fault may be 
 found in separate parts, it must be allowed, that 
 the churches of this city present some of the most 
 splendid specimens of architecture, which can be 
 found in modern times. The difference between 
 these churches and our own has been before ob- 
 served to be very considerable. The following 
 may be some of the principal points in which 
 they differ. In England we know but little of 
 Italian architects : I mean those of the school of 
 Palladio, Borromini, Sansovino San. Michele, 
 Fontana, &c. Some of our houses have been 
 constructed after their directions, but with very 
 few exceptions they have contributed nothing to 
 
ITALIAN ARCHltECTURE. 379 
 
 the designs of our churches. The whole number 
 indeed of churches built in England upon the 
 Grecian style is small : and most of them are of 
 late date, where the architects, however unsuc- 
 cessful they may have been, have endeavoured to 
 copy the remains of antiquity, and to adhere to 
 the simplicity of their originals more closely than 
 their predecessors in Italy. I am aware, that I 
 shall offend many by underrating the merits of 
 Palladio, and what may be called the Italian 
 school of architecture : for I deny, that it is to be 
 identified with the Grecian, nor can 1 conceive, 
 that the inventors of it meant that it should be 
 so. They undoubtedly intended to strike out a 
 variety of their own ; and as such, we may ven- 
 ture to criticise the Italian structures of the six- 
 teenth century, without being accused of calling 
 in question the established perfections of the 
 Grecian orders. Of these I profess to be a most 
 humble, but most unqualified admirer : and it is 
 my admiration of their simplicity, which leads 
 me to censure the innovations introduced by the 
 Italian architects. 
 
 The object of this school seems to have been 
 to break the simplicity of the Grecian orders into 
 numerous parts, and to overload them with or- 
 nament. The Doric may perhaps be heavy, but 
 the Italian variation of it is florid. The former 
 may present too great a mass of solid masonry, 
 but in the latter the eye finds nothing to dwell 
 upon : all is overloaded and broken into parts : 
 every column must be ornamented : every pedi- 
 
380 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 ment must be divided, and charged with some 
 device : nor can there be any space of a few feet 
 in dimensions, which is not filled up with niches, 
 urns, and statues. To these remarks there will 
 of course be many exceptions ; where the ancient 
 models have been strictly followed, they will 
 necessarily be inapplicable : but my meaning is, 
 that in many of those buildings which the Italians 
 admire, there is abundance of bad taste and me- 
 retricious ornament. This is particularly the 
 case in many of the Roman churches, which from 
 an English eye will not obtain that admiration, 
 which a lover of Grecian architecture in Italy 
 thinks them entitled to command. 
 
 After what has been said above, it would be 
 needless to mention the absence of any part of 
 Gothic architecture as another point of differ- 
 ence ; but few English travellers can have failed 
 to observe the total want of those spires and 
 towers, which they have been apt to class among 
 the greatest ornaments of their own towns. I say 
 total want ; because though there may be a few 
 towers rising above the other buildings, yet they 
 can hardly exceed half-a-dozen in number, are 
 generally of brick e , by no means high, and al- 
 together much more disfiguring than ornamental. 
 Of spires there is absolutely not a single speci- 
 men : the deficiency is made up in cupolas, of 
 which there is a prodigious number, but these do 
 
 * One disfigures S. Maria Maggiore, and another the church 
 built near the Temple of Nerva. 
 
CHURCHES. 
 
 381 
 
 not make much shew, particularly when viewed 
 from the streets, and the very form of them, as 
 connected with religious buildings, is itself a 
 rarity to the English eye. So much for the ex- 
 terior of the churches. 
 
 In the interior the English traveller will also 
 find many points of difference, when he compares 
 them with similar structures in his own country. 
 By the time he has reached Rome, he will have 
 become tolerably accustomed to the singular 
 appendages upon Catholic worship : at first he 
 may have thought these ornaments (for they are 
 intended to be such) in extremely bad taste, if 
 not irreverent : but in Rome it must be allowed 
 that a much better taste prevails. The interior 
 of the churches is frequently splendid, not to say 
 superfluously gorgeous : but even Protestant 
 scruples will find little to be offended with, 
 though much which might be altered or re- 
 trenched. Rome, formerly the mistress of the 
 world, and for some centuries the capital of a 
 new empire, that of superstition, still stands 
 preeminently distinguished amongst the countries 
 which acknowledge her supremacy, and in the 
 pomp and circumstances of religion far eclipses 
 them all. In entering a Roman church I have 
 felt an awe and a sense of the dignity of the 
 Catholic religion, to which I had been a stranger 
 in other parts of the continent. There are some 
 points indeed peculiar to Rome, and which not only 
 the sacred edifices of our own country, but even 
 those of the rest of Italy must necessarily want. 
 
382 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 In Rome we probably see churches of a greater 
 antiquity than any other country can boast : we 
 have there a kind of history and chronological 
 series of religious architecture and religious cus- 
 toms : we find churches, which if not originally 
 built for heathen temples at least preserve the 
 form of them, and may be considered as supply- 
 ing the connecting link between the Pagan and 
 Christian worship ; in those of a later date we 
 have some of the finest remains of antiquity con- 
 secrated to a better and holier purpose : we find 
 whole rows of columns, and marble of all de- 
 scriptions and sizes, taken from the ruins of an- 
 cient buildings, and serving as ornaments to 
 more modern temples ; and sometimes even the 
 actual statues, which had borne the names of 
 heathen deities, transformed, and as it were bap- 
 tized, to suit the equally numerous catalogue of 
 Christian saints. The astonishing quantity of 
 these remains may be conjectured from a cal- 
 culation made some time ago by an inhabitant of 
 Rome, that there were 14000 Granite columns in 
 the city, nearly all of which may be considered 
 ancient: and I find in Spence's Anecdotes f , that 
 the antique columns of marble amount to 6300. 
 
 The pictures, which are a striking feature in 
 all Catholic churches, when contrasted with 
 places of worship in Protestant countries, com- 
 mand peculiar attention in Rome. Some of the 
 finest works of the greatest masters were painted 
 
 r Page 96. 
 
CHURCHES. 
 
 383 
 
 for religious societies, and some of them still 
 preserve their original situations. But besides 
 the pictures, the ceilings are frequently painted, 
 and in no respect are the churches of this capital 
 more conspicuous, than for the frescos which 
 adorn their roofs. 
 
 The English traveller will also observe and 
 probably lament the absence of painted glass in 
 the Roman churches. Leo III. who reigned 
 about the year 800, is said to have put coloured 
 glass into S. John Lateran and St. Peter's 
 But there is none now in the whole of Rome, 
 and throughout Italy it is by no means so un- 
 common as in the north. The French say, that 
 the Italians learnt what they know of this art 
 from a painter of Marseilles, who worked at 
 Rome under Julius II. 
 
 Having premised these observations with re- 
 spect to the churches of Rome in general, we may 
 now proceed to make some remarks upon those, 
 which hold the principal rank for size, for beauty, 
 or for antiquity. It is right to begin first with 
 the Basil icae. These are a kind of metropolitan 
 churches, having other parishes subordinate to 
 them. The term Basilica among the ancient 
 Romans signified a building, where causes were 
 heard, ambassadors received, public business 
 transacted, &c. &c. Shops were erected round 
 them, in which various articles were sold. The 
 form was an oblong; the middle of which was 
 
 g Anastasius. 
 
BASILICA. 
 
 an open space to walk in, called Testudo, and 
 which we should now call the nave. On each 
 side of this was one or more rows of pillars, ac- 
 cording to the scale of the building, which formed 
 what we should call side aisles, and which the 
 ancients termed porticus. The end of the Tes- 
 tudo was finished in a curved form, and called 
 Tribunal, because causes were heard there 11 : 
 hence the term Tribune is applied to that end 
 of the Roman churches which is behind the high 
 altar, and which in the oldest churches generally 
 preserved the curved form. Thus we find in 
 Prudentius, 
 
 Fronte subadversa gradibus sublime Tribunal 
 Tollitur, Antistes praedicat unde Deum. 
 
 Hymn. S. Hippolyti. 
 
 The whole plan of the ancient Basilica may be 
 found in Vitruvius*. After having mentioned the 
 above particulars, he adds, " but if there shall 
 " be greater room in the length, Chalcidica may 
 " be added at the extremities." The meaning 
 of this term Chalcidica is not certain; but the 
 most probable interpretation seems to be, that 
 they answered to our term transepts, and the 
 custom of building them may have been brought 
 from Chalcis k . These transepts however seem 
 not so much to have produced the form of the 
 
 h Vid. Quintil. lib xii. c. 5. 
 1 Lib. v. c. 1 . 
 
 k It has been conjectured, that we should read Causidica* 
 
BASILICA. 
 
 385 
 
 Latin cross, but to have been added at the ex- 
 tremity of the building: for Baptista Albertus 
 says, " they joined these two [i. e. the Testudo 
 " and the Chalcidica] so as to form a resem- 
 " blance to the letter T." The old Basilica of 
 St. Peter was exactly of this form. The pro- 
 portions according to Vitruvius were such, that 
 the breadth equalled three-fifths of the length. 
 It is not improbable, that in the Christian Ba- 
 silica? the transepts were moved lower down in 
 the building, in order to assimilate them to the 
 form of the cross. The Italians always call the 
 transept Crociata, and those who write in Latin 
 call it Crux. 
 
 From what has been stated, it is not difficult 
 to see why the term Basilica was applied to 
 Christian churches. For of the sacred edifices 
 erected in Rome by Constantine, that of the 
 Lateran, the old St. Peter's, and St. Paul's, were 
 precisely of that form. Any Roman of that day 
 who saw them would naturally apply the term 
 to them : for they were in all respects the same 
 as the heathen Basilicae. As these were the first 
 churches upon a large scale, and legally acknow- 
 ledged in Rome, the term Basilica would become 
 identified with Christian temples; and though 
 the other churches erected by Constantine, viz. 
 S. Croce, S. Lorenzo, and S. Agnese, might not 
 be of the same form, they would all come to be 
 called Basilicae. At present the term is confined 
 to seven churches, as mentioned above ; it is not 
 so easy to give a reason for this : but their anti- 
 
 c c 
 
386 
 
 BASILICA. 
 
 quity, and the celebrity of their foundation, (five 
 of them being the work of Constantine,) may have 
 given them this distinction. 
 
 Pancirolli assigns the following reason for the 
 preference being given to these seven 1 . Upon a 
 certain occasion the four Patriarchs of Alexandria, 
 Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople, came 
 to Rome ; and four principal churches were as- 
 signed to them during their residence. These 
 were S. Paul's, S. Maria Maggiore, S. Lorenzo, 
 and S. Peter's. The Pope, who was superior to 
 them all, reserved for himself S. John Lateran, 
 which was then superior in rank to S. Peter's. 
 This gave a peculiar sanctity to the five churches, 
 and the faithful frequented them more than any 
 other. S. Sebastian, and S. Croce were subse- 
 quently added to the number, because in going 
 from S. Paul's to the Lateran it was necessary to 
 pass by S. Sebastian's nl : and in continuing the 
 visitation from the Lateran to S. Lorenzo, S. 
 Croce also came in the way. Such is the reason 
 assigned by an antiquary and dignitary of the 
 Romish church, which perhaps will not seem 
 very satisfactory. 
 
 Of these Basilicse, four are within the walls, S. 
 Peter's, S. Maria Maggiore, S. John Lateran, 
 and S. Croce in Gierusalemme; three are with- 
 out, S. Paul's, S. Lorenzo, and S. Sebastian's. 
 
 1 Tesori Nascosti dell' alma Citta di Roma. Roma 1625. 
 m This is not strictly true. 
 
S. PETER'S. 
 
 387 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 In attempting to describe the Basilica of S. 
 Peter, I feel at a loss for adequate terms of ad- 
 miration. We are so much in the habit of look- 
 ing with astonishment, if not with awe, upon those 
 stupendous monuments, which have come down 
 to us as the works of the ancients, that to some 
 it would seem the height of absurdity to compare 
 any modern building in magnitude or magnifi- 
 cence with those which existed in former ages. 
 But our enthusiasm must not carry us beyond 
 the bounds of truth : nor when we allow the 
 ancients to have far exceeded ourselves in the 
 generality of their public works, must we forget 
 or keep back those points, in which the moderns 
 may be allowed to have excelled. If we could 
 suppose any sudden calamity to overwhelm the 
 city of Rome, as it now stands, and to reduce 
 the buildings of modern construction to the 
 same indistinct and misshapen mass of ruins, 
 which the ancient structures present, the tra- 
 veller, who in some future age should explore 
 the scene of desolation, would find in the enor- 
 mous pile, which was once S. Peter's, a monu- 
 ment much more vast and more magnificent, than 
 any which Republican or Imperial Rome has 
 left. This observation will perhaps require to 
 be proved in detail. Of those temples, which 
 have left any trace behind them in Rome, there 
 is none fit to be compared with S. Peters in 
 dimensions : nor is there any building of any 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 kind, which can be considered on an equal scale 
 with it, except the Colosseum. But the two 
 structures are not really objects of comparison. 
 The Colosseum incloses an immense space of 
 ground, but being an uncovered building, and 
 without any architectural decorations in the 
 interior, it can hardly be considered equal to S. 
 Peter's either in design or in execution. Even 
 uncovered as it is, (and consequently no great 
 wonder of art, though a prodigious proof of the 
 magnificence of him who planned it,) its whole 
 length is very little, if at all, greater than that of 
 S. Peter's ; as they come so near to each other, 
 that the former measures 845 Roman palms in 
 length, the latter 830 ; so that the modern build- 
 ing approaches very near in size to the largest 
 structure which ancient Rome has left us, and 
 infinitely surpasses it in elegance of design and 
 splendor of decoration. 
 
 The largest temple of ancient Rome seems to 
 have been that of Jupiter on the Capitol: the 
 dimensions of which may be collected from an- 
 cient authors to have been only 200 feet in length 
 by 185 in width : which makes it quite con- 
 temptible, when compared with S. Peter's; and 
 scarcely on a par with the principal church in 
 most of our large towns. 
 
 At Athens the Parthenon measured only 230 
 feet in length, and 98 in width. The temple of 
 Theseus is 104 feet long; and these two seem to 
 have been the largest buildings, which Athenian 
 devotion and Athenian greatness ever reared. 
 
S. PETER'S. 
 
 389 
 
 The temple of Jupiter at Elis (which might be 
 called the Metropolitan church of Greece) was 
 230 feet long, and 95 wide". The temple of 
 Jupiter Olympius at Agrigentum was larger than 
 any of these, and, as Diodorus says°, might have 
 vied with any in the world : he calls the length 
 of it 340 feet, and modern observation makes it 
 345. His text is manifestly corrupt, where it 
 makes the width only 60 feet, it is really 165. 
 This however was not the largest, for the temple 
 of Diana at Ephesus was 425 feet long, and 220 
 broad p . Pocock makes it only 340 feet long, 
 and 190 wide**. 
 
 The platform upon which the temple at Jeru- 
 salem stood was a square of 620 feet : but the 
 temple itself must have been much smaller. 
 Prideaux says, only J 10 feet long. 
 
 From what has been stated the remark will be 
 confirmed, however repugnant it may be to our 
 ideas of ancient superiority, that modern times 
 have seen a building arise, which far eclipses in 
 proportions, and probably in decorations, any 
 which the most flourishing times of Greece and 
 Rome could boast. 
 
 If we extended the comparison to Babylon or 
 Egyptian Thebes, the balance would probably 
 be decidedly against the modern edifice. Dio- 
 
 n Pausan. lib. v. • Lib. xiii. p Plin. lib. xxxvi. c. 21. 
 
 q I do not pretend to have reduced all these measures to one 
 scale. Perhaps the Greek, the French, and the English foot 
 will be found to have been used. But this will make little dif- 
 ference. The English foot is JZL of an inch smaller than the 
 Greek, and of an inch smaller than the French foot. 
 
 c c 3 
 
390 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 dorus computes the circumference of a temple at 
 Thebes at a mile and a half : he states the height 
 to have been 45 cubits, and the walls 24 feet 
 thick. Pocock says, he found a temple which 
 was 1400 feet long, and 350 wide; the ruins of it 
 extended for half a mile. But as Greece and 
 Rome are the usual standards to which we ap- 
 peal for objects of grandeur and magnificence, 
 I was anxious to point out the fact, that their 
 utmost efforts had been surpassed by a people, 
 who are called their degenerate descendants, in 
 an age, which we look back upon as scarcely 
 emerged from barbarism, and under a govern- 
 ment, as destitute as possible of a spirit of liberty 
 or national exertion. 
 
 In the above statement of proportions I have 
 taken no notice of the height: but in this S. 
 Peter's stands even more preeminent. Its height 
 is perhaps the utmost limit to which the enter- 
 prise of man has ever yet carried any structure : 
 as there is reason to believe that no building of 
 ancient or modern date ever exceeded the height 
 of 485 French feet, which is that of S. Peter's. 
 The pyramid of Gyges reaches 448, that of 
 Chephren 398. I take these relative heights 
 from a German work upon the cathedral of 
 Cologne. It should be stated, that Greaves makes 
 the height of the largest pyramid 499 feet r . 
 Other accounts say 466, and scarcely any two 
 travellers agree as to the height, circumference, 
 
 1 Vicl. Focock, 
 
CUPOLA. 
 
 391 
 
 or (what seems still more extraordinary) the 
 number of steps. We therefore need not be 
 surprised, that Herodotus makes the circum- 
 ference of the largest pyramid 800 feet, Diodo- 
 rus 700, and Strabo less than 600. It may be 
 mentioned also, that the spire of old S. Paul's 
 (the height of which seems to have varied after 
 different repairs) was at one period 520 feet high. 
 But great part of this was of wood. 
 
 After one more remark on another point, in 
 which S. Peter's exceeds any other building, I 
 will proceed to its history. The cupola of this 
 church is the largest in the world : nor need we 
 here, as before, appeal to any edifice of the an- 
 cient Greeks or Romans, to institute a com- 
 parison: for it seems to be allowed, that the 
 cupola, such as is that of S. Peter's, is an inven- 
 tion of more modern date. It was the boast of 
 Michael Angelo, when he contemplated the idea 
 of the cupola of S. Peter's, that he would raise 
 the dome of the Pantheon aloft into the air. Nor 
 is this a bad description of the modern dome, 
 compared with the ancient. That of the Pan- 
 theon may be described as merely an elongation 
 of the walls, which instead of terminating ab- 
 ruptly, and supporting an angular or horizontal 
 roof, are continued in a curve, and form a con- 
 cave covering to the building. Such are all the 
 domes which the ancients seem to have thought 
 of constructing: but the cupola of S. Peter's, 
 supported as it is, not upon the walls of the 
 building, but upon four independent columns, is 
 
 c c 4 
 
392 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 surely a much greater effort of skill ; and the 
 architect who first conceived the idea deserves 
 assuredly a greater share of praise, than all those 
 who have merely copied the models of the an- 
 cients. 
 
 Pausanias mentions six temples with domes to 
 them in Greece; viz. at Athens, Epidaurus, 
 Sparta, Elis, Mantineia, and Orchomenus. Cir- 
 cular temples were by no means uncommon; 
 and if the term Tholus, which is what Pausanias 
 uses in describing that at Epidaurus, always meant 
 a round temple, we have accounts of the situ- 
 ation of several. But a circular temple with a 
 dome is evidently not the same thing as a church 
 surmounted by a cupola, like that of S. Peter's. 
 Round temples were perhaps more common with 
 the Romans than the Grecians : some of them 
 w ere angular on the outside, and circular within, 
 as is the case with the temple of Diana at Baise. 
 There are also two other round temples at Baiae, 
 one of which receives its light from above, like 
 the Pantheon. At Rome we have another spe- 
 cimen, in what is called the temple of Minerva 
 Medica, which is decagonal, and great part of 
 the dome remains r . 
 
 What comes nearest to the modern plan of 
 supporting a cupola is the church of S. Stefano 
 
 r Sextus Rufus mentions the Pantheon of Minerva Medica in 
 this quarter of the city. It has been called also the temple of 
 Hercules Callaicus, and the Basilica of Caius and Lucius. It 
 generally goes by the name of Galluccio, which is thought to 
 be a corruption from Caius and Lucius. 
 
CUPOLA. 
 
 393 
 
 Rotondo on the Ceelian hill, already alluded to 
 at p. 377 : but this very building furnishes a de- 
 cisive proof that the ancients were ignorant of the 
 mechanism employed by Brunelleschi and M. 
 Angelo. In this temple, supposed to be of the 
 age of Claudius, there is a circular row of thirty- 
 four pillars, with arches springing from one to 
 the other, and supporting the outer wall of the 
 building. This was certainly one step towards 
 the modern cupola: for if we suppose the num- 
 ber of these pillars to be diminished, and the 
 height of the arches increased, the principle of 
 construction would be nearly attained. But 
 Desgodetz, who surveyed the building accu- 
 rately, says, that he cannot make out what kind 
 of roof there was originally, as the walls are too 
 weak to support such a dome as would have 
 been required. And in the area in the interior 
 of these pillars, we have actually two columns 
 higher than the rest, supporting a cross-wall, 
 which must have been intended to support the 
 roof ; just as if a wall extended from the pillar 
 of S. Veronica to that of S. Longinus in S. Pe- 
 ter's, to support the vaulted cupola. 
 
 The church of S. Sophia at Constantinople 
 (built under Justinian in the sixth century) seems 
 to have been the first where a cupola was con- 
 structed on the principle of that at S. Peter's. 
 The architects were Anthemius and Isidorus, 
 whose names deserve to be recorded. The dia- 
 meter of it is 113 French feet: but the height 
 
S. PETER'S 
 
 from the ground is only 180 feet 8 . The art 
 seems to have been preserved during the ages 
 which we call barbarous ; and St. Mark's at 
 Venice, which was built about 973, and the ca- 
 thedral at Pisa, a work of the eleventh century, 
 contain similar domes. M. Angelo made his at- 
 tempt upon a dome, which was the largest of any 
 left to us by the ancients : but Bramante must 
 certainly claim the merit of having first designed 
 the cupola of S. Peter's : and Brunelleschi had 
 already executed one at the cathedral of Flo- 
 rence, which is only less than the other by thir- 
 teen feet in height, and fifteen in breadth. M. 
 Angelo is said to have entertained such an ad- 
 miration for this work of Brunelleschi at Florence, 
 that he expressed a wish to have his tomb in S. 
 Croce placed in such a situation, that the cupola 
 of the cathedral might be visible from it. The 
 oldest church in Rome with a cupola to it is said 
 to be that of S. Agostino, built in 1483. 
 
 That St. Peter (after his crucifixion on the site 
 of S. Pietro in Montorio) was interred on the spot 
 where now stands the Basilica, which bears his 
 name, has been a constant tradition of the Roman 
 church. An oratory is said to have been erected 
 over his remains by S. Anacletus, who was pope 
 from 83 to 96, and had received ordination from 
 St. Peter. The cathedral which preceded the 
 
 8 Plans and views of this church may be seen in the Travels 
 of Grelot. Paris, 1680. 
 
OLD CHURCH. 395 
 
 present structure, was erected by Constantine in 
 324, at the request of S. Sylvester, who was then 
 pope. Baronius mentions, that in pulling down 
 part of the old church some bricks were found 
 with this inscription, constantinvs. avg. d. n. 
 and on the tribune of the old church was this 
 distich : 
 
 Quod duce te Mundus surrexit in astra triumphans, 
 Hanc Constantinus Victor tibi condidit aulam. 
 
 Coins also have been found with the figure of our 
 Saviour on one side, and of Constantine and He- 
 lena on the other. In the order of time this was 
 not the first of Constantine's churches; as he 
 had before this built the Basilica at the Lateran 
 palace. According to ancient accounts, the em- 
 peror himself took up a spade to dig for the 
 foundations, and carried on his shoulders twelve 
 baskets full of soil, in honour of the twelve Apo- 
 stles. 
 
 A tolerable idea may be formed of the ele- 
 vation and the plan of this structure, from some 
 paintings, which still exist in the Grotte Vaticane, 
 immediately under the high altar of the present 
 building. They were executed by order of 
 Paul V. The front is also represented in the 
 fresco painting of Raffael in the Vatican, which 
 is known by the name of the fire of Borgo S. 
 Pietro. Some portion of the interior is also 
 given in the painting of the same series, which 
 represents the coronation of Charlemagne. There 
 was a kind of square building in front, which 
 
396 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 some writers call Quadriporticus, which was also 
 built by Constantine, and about the year 678 
 was flagged with large stones by pope Domnus, 
 having been paved in mosaic by Constantine. 
 It was called Quadriporticus because there was 
 a colonnade round each side of the square. The 
 dimensions of the sides were 280 palms by 256. 
 The ascent to it on the east side was by thirty- 
 five steps. This inclosure was sometimes called 
 Paradisus. The entrance to the portico from 
 the east was by three doors: that into the 
 church, at the other side of it, was by five. 
 
 The architecture seems to have been by no 
 means handsome, but in a rude and degenerate 
 Grecian style, which may be seen in some 
 churches of the same date still existing here. 
 Part of the original pavement may still be seen, 
 which is composed of very irregular fragments. 
 This portion of the ancient cathedral is said to 
 have been built over the burial-ground of the 
 Christians who suffered in the early persecutions, 
 and was accordingly preserved in building the 
 new fabric, which was raised twelve feet above 
 it. Copious plans and descriptions of the old 
 church may be seen in two works published at 
 Rome by Ciampini* and Bonanni". The whole 
 length to the end of the tribune was 528 palms : 
 the whole width 285 : the length of the transepts 
 was 390, the width of them 70. The greatest 
 
 1 Upon the buildings of Constantine. 
 
 " Numismata Summorum Pontificum Templi Vaticani fabri- 
 cam indicantia, Romse 16Q6. 
 
OLD CHURCH. 
 
 397 
 
 height was 170. The middle aisle was 106 palms 
 wide. The five aisles were divided by one hun- 
 dred pillars, in four parallel rows: those in the 
 nave were 40 palms high, the others were lower. 
 The capitals were Corinthian, and the marble 
 was of different kinds. It was all built of brick; 
 and the interior was entirely covered with mo- 
 saics and paintings. The roof was of wood, the 
 beams and rafters of which were exposed to view. 
 Great part of the materials came from the ad- 
 joining Circus, which Constantine destroyed. 
 
 It may be remarked, that the old church did 
 not stand east and west, as all the old churches 
 in our own country do ; and the entrance rather 
 faced the west. Other examples will be found 
 of this in Rome. The custom of making the 
 fronts of temples face the west, existed very ge- 
 nerally with the Pagans. Vitruvius mentions it 
 as desirable, if the situation would permit, so that 
 a person walking up to the altar may look to the 
 east. The contrary custom was also very an- 
 cient; and Porphyry x goes so far as to say, that 
 it was so with nearly all the ancient temples ; 
 and we know that it was so with that at Jerusa- 
 lem. The Christians seem at first to have made 
 their churches face the west; and some of the 
 Fathers notice an apostolical tradition which en- 
 joined such a custom. The eastern churches 
 follow the opposite plan, making them face the 
 east. There was a good reason for making St. 
 Peter's face the west, because the approach from 
 
 x De antro Nymph. 
 
398 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 the city naturally required the entrance to be on 
 that side ; otherwise a person would have had to 
 go round the church, before he could get into it. 
 S. Leo, in one of his sermons y , mentions with re- 
 gret, that people were accustomed, as soon as 
 they had ascended the steps of St. Peter's, to 
 turn round and bow towards the rising sun ; 
 which, he says, gave him great pain, as proceed- 
 ing partly from ignorance, and partly from a spirit 
 of paganism. 
 
 Gregory the First, or the Great, repaired the 
 roof in 602, and some accounts make him to have 
 procured timber for that purpose de Partibus 
 Britannorum. But Baronius clearly proves, that 
 Britain is erroneously said to have contributed 
 towards the repair of the sacred edifice, and that 
 we ought to read JBrutinoram, as the timber 
 came from Calabria. Anastasius in his Life of 
 Honorius 1. tells us, that that pope about 630 
 removed to the roof of S. Peter's some brazen 
 tiles, which were upon the temple of Venus and 
 Romulus. Platina says, that they came from the 
 temple of Jupiter Capitolinus : but the former 
 account is more probable. In 1341, Benedict 
 XII. put on an entirely new roof; on which oc- 
 casion a beam of extraordinary size is said to 
 have been taken down, which was put up by Con- 
 stantine. Birds had built their nests in it ; and 
 even foxes were found to have taken up their 
 abode in it ! 
 
 Pope Nicolas V. has the merit of having be- 
 
 y De Nativ. vii. c. 4, 
 
BRAMANTE. 
 
 399 
 
 gun the new structure in 1450, but he only fi- 
 nished part of the tribune, which at his death was 
 not raised more than 4i feet from the ground. 
 His architects were Bernardino Rosellini and 
 Leon Battista Alberti, both of Florence. Under 
 the two following popes the work does not ap- 
 pear to have been continued. His immediate 
 successor was Calictus III. who is said to have 
 repaired the windows, and to have strengthened 
 the left-hand wall, which was in a falling state. 
 But these expressions must relate to the old 
 church, and it does not appear that he furthered 
 the design of building a new one. Paul II. who 
 reigned from 1464 to 1471, went on with it. But 
 Julius II. contributed more than any of his pre- 
 decessors to the furtherance of this immortal 
 work. It is asserted by Vasari 2 , that he was 
 animated to the undertaking by the magnificent 
 design for his own tomb, which Michael Angelo 
 had just completed. 
 
 The celebrated Bramante Lazzari was his 
 architect, to whom the original idea of the cu- 
 pola is to be ascribed. He commenced his la- 
 bours in 1503, and half the old church was at 
 once pulled down to enable him to execute his 
 plans. It is said, that M. Angelo (who was then 
 29 years old, and employed upon the tomb, as 
 mentioned above) regretted the precipitancy 
 with which this demolition was carried on a . Ju- 
 
 z Vol. ii. p. 83. and vol. iii. p. 211. 
 
 ■ There is some difficulty as to the year when M. Angelo 
 
400 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 lius laid the first stone himself on the 18th of 
 April, 1506, and marked it with appropriate in- 
 scriptions. It was deposited under one of the 
 four pillars which support the cupola, where is 
 now the statue of S. Veronica. In the following 
 year two of the other pillars were begun upon ; 
 and Bramante lived to see all the four raised as 
 high as the cornice, and the arches completed, 
 which spring from one to the other. Each of 
 the pillars was 59 feet in diameter. It would 
 seem, however, that there was some defect in 
 Bramante's work ; for Serlio says of it, " It may 
 " be perceived, that Bramante in forming a de- 
 " sign was bolder than he was circumspect : be- 
 " cause so vast and massy a work should have 
 " an excellent foundation, on which it might stand 
 " secure, and not be built upon four bows or 
 " arches of such an height. In confirmation of 
 " my remark, the four pillars and also the arches, 
 " without any other weight upon them, have al- 
 " ready settled and sunk, and in some places 
 u even cracked." Serlio wrote his book about 
 1544, and it will be seen, that M. Angelo found 
 it necessary to strengthen these pillars. M. An- 
 gelo has also the credit of having supplied Bra- 
 first came to Rome. Condivi says, (p. 16.) that it was in 1503, 
 the first year of Julius' Pontificate. Roscoe, in his admirable life 
 of Leo X. vol. iv. p. 298. decides this to be wrong, but says, that 
 it certainly was not later than 1505. Yet if Bonanni (whom I 
 have followed) is right in saying that Bramante commenced in 
 1503, and if the two anecdotes mentioned of M. Angelo in the 
 text are also true, he must have been in Rome in 1503. 
 
BRAMANTE. 
 
 401 
 
 tnante with an improved plan for the wooden 
 machinery to support the arches, before they 
 were finished. 
 
 Bramante did not live to see the cupola com- 
 pleted according to his original design; but dying 
 in 1514, was buried with honourable solemnities 
 in part of the new building. Two coins were 
 struck, one of Julius II. the other of Leo X. on 
 the reverses of which the front of the Basilica is 
 represented according to the plan of Bramante. 
 There was to have been a projecting portico of 
 six columns, with a dome at the top of it. At 
 each extremity of the front there was a high nar- 
 row tower of four stories. He intended to have 
 adopted the form of the Latin cross : and in Ser- 
 lio's Book upon Architecture b may be seen the 
 ground plan of it, as designed by Raffael after 
 Bramante's death. The interior would have 
 consisted of a nave and two aisles, with two 
 semicircular projections in lieu of transepts. 
 
 Leo X. who succeeded Julius in 1513, inherited 
 his zeal for promoting the fine arts, and under 
 him the building of St. Peter's was continued 
 with increased energy. It is well known, that 
 both Julius and Leo carried to a much greater 
 length than any of their predecessors the sale of 
 indulgences. The justification of such a measure 
 was principally taken from the desire enter- 
 tained by the Roman pontiff for rebuilding the 
 
 b Lib. iii. c. 4. 
 Dd 
 
402 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 church of St. Peter : and as the Reformation is 
 certainly to be ascribed in a great degree to the 
 offence raised by this scandalous traffic, we may 
 say without aiming at a paradox, that the efforts 
 of the Catholics to beautify their Metropolitan 
 church contributed in some degree to produce 
 the Reformation 0 . 
 
 Leo's first architects were Giuliano da San- 
 Gallo and Giovanni da Verona: to whom was 
 added the celebrated painter, Raffael. That 
 this great man excelled in architecture, as well 
 as in his favourite study, is perhaps not generally 
 known. But at the revival of the art of painting, 
 and for some time after, there were few profes- 
 sors of it, who did not also employ themselves in 
 giving architectural designs. Raffael acquired 
 not a little fame in this department of art : and 
 the chapel of the Chigi family in the church of 
 S. Maria del Popolo, which was built upon his 
 designs, is considered a fine specimen of his ta- 
 lents that way. Leo X. among his other magni- 
 ficent projects, had thoughts of rebuilding Rome 
 upon a scale suitable to its former grandeur, and 
 Raffael was employed by him to collect designs d . 
 
 c Since writing this sentence, I find the same sentiment in the 
 History of the Council of Trent, written by Pallavicini, c. i. 
 p. 49. 
 
 d Vide a Letter from C. Calcagnini to J. Ziegler, which is 
 among some letters published together with the two Epistles of 
 Clement, London, 1687. From an expression in this Letter, 
 Raffael seems to have had the chief direction of the building of 
 St. Peter's. 
 
RAFFAEL. 
 
 403 
 
 A Letter or rather Report, addressed by Raffael 
 to the Pope upon this subject, is still extant e . 
 
 It was in the year 1515 that he was employed 
 by Leo in the building of St. Peter's, having been 
 immortalizing himself by his paintings in the Va- 
 tican since 1508. An original letter of his upon 
 the occasion of his receiving the appointment 
 being still preserved, I may perhaps be excused 
 in translating part of it f . " His Holiness in con- 
 " ferring an honour upon me has placed a great 
 " load upon my shoulders : this is the superin- 
 " tendance of the building of St. Peter's. I hope, 
 " that I shall not sink under it : and the more so, 
 " as the plan, which I have made for it, pleases 
 " his Holiness, and is commended by many men of 
 <c genius. But I raise my thoughts even higher. 
 " I could wish to reach the beautiful forms of 
 " the ancient buildings ; nor can I tell whether 
 " my flight will be like that of Icarus. Vitruvius 
 " affords me great lights, but not enough." Two 
 letters, addressed to him by Cardinal Bembo in 
 the name of Leo, are also extant g , from which it 
 appears, that Bramante on his death-bed pointed 
 him out as a fit successor; that he was to receive 
 
 e It is published in the Appendix to Roscoe's Life of Leo X. 
 No. ccxi. 
 
 f I take this from a Collection of original Letters from Paint- 
 ers, Sculptors, and Architects, published by Bottari, in seven 
 volumes : a very interesting work, and generally quoted under 
 the name of Lettere Pittoriche, vide vol. i. p. 84. 
 
 8 These are published by Roscoe, Appendix, No. ccix. and 
 ccx. from Bembi Epist. Pontif. lib. ix. epp. 13 et 51. 
 
 D d 2 
 
404 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 300 gold crowns (aurei) a year ; and any marble 
 dug up within ten miles of Rome was to be put at 
 his disposal. 
 
 From this and the other works, which were 
 more immediately suited to his genius, Raffael 
 was cut off by a premature death in 1520, at the 
 age of 37. San-Gallo had died three years be- 
 fore him, in 1517. Neither he nor his colleagues 
 did much more than strengthen the four pillars, 
 which had been raised by Bramante ; but the 
 plan which Raffael conceived may be seen in 
 the work of Serlio h . 
 
 After this, Leo committed the work to Baldas- 
 sar Peruzzi, who, despairing of money or time to 
 complete Bramante's plan, intended to adopt the 
 Greek cross. Peruzzi's plan is also engraved by 
 Serlio, and by Bonanni. It would have been a 
 perfect square : at each angle there was to be a 
 square tower ; and between each of these angles 
 was a semicircular projection. The diameter of 
 the cupola in its widest part was to be 188 palms. 
 Leo died in 1521, and for twelve years after his 
 death little or nothing was added to the work. 
 His successor Adrian VI. did not live two years 
 after his elevation; and Clement VII. saw the 
 city entered and pillaged by the German-Spanish 
 army, which supported the cause of Charles V. 
 Peruzzi however finished the tribune during his 
 reign. 
 
 Paul III. (a Farnese, who reigned from 1534 
 
 h Lib. iii. c. 4. 
 
A. SAN-GALLO. 
 
 405 
 
 to 1549,) employed Antonio San-Gallo, nephew 
 to Giuliano, who again changed the plan to a 
 Latin cross. His design may still be seen in the 
 church : but its rejection seems to have been 
 merited. The pillars were much too large and 
 the aisles too small to produce a pleasing effect. 
 The front was crowded to excess with columns 
 and windows. The two towers, which were to 
 rise from the extremities of it, were still more 
 overloaded ; and he seems to have been fond of 
 little pinnacles or pyramids, which concealed 
 the building behind, and could not in themselves 
 produce any effect of grandeur. Bramante's de- 
 sign for the cupola was much more simple; it 
 was to have been surrounded with one row of 
 Corinthian pillars at the lowest part of it, but the 
 rest of the curvature was to be plain. Antonio 
 had two tiers of pillars and arches, one above the 
 other, the lower Ionic, the upper Corinthian : at 
 the top of the cupola were two more successive 
 rows, and over all was a pyramid or cone ending 
 in a ball ; so that the simple majesty of the dome 
 was entirely lost. The length of the church was 
 to have been 1040 palms; the whole height 636. 
 Fortunately for the success of the edifice, San- 
 Gallo did not live long enough to execute his 
 plans. He strengthened the supports of the cu- 
 pola still farther, and died in 1546. He was 
 buried in the Basilica. 
 
 Upon his death the work was entrusted to the 
 immortal M. Angelo. He was now about 72 
 years of age. The brief, by which the pope en- 
 
 d d 3 
 
406 
 
 S. PETER'K 
 
 trusted M. Angelo witli the building, is still in 
 existence. The pope had been charmed with a 
 model, which that great architect had executed 
 for the Basilica, and in this letter he gives him 
 the fullest powers to alter and pull down what 
 his predecessors had done, to command and 
 control all the other persons employed, in short 
 to be entirely absolute in following his own de- 
 signs. In 1549 Paul III. died. His successor 
 was Julius III. who was soon assailed with com- 
 plaints from all sides, of the overbearing temper 
 of M. Angelo, and of his opposition to the plans 
 and labours of the most experienced artists. It 
 should be mentioned, that this great man was 
 working all the time without pay, having refused 
 the repeated offers of Paul 111. who would have 
 given him 100 gold crowns a month. Julius 
 however was sensible of the merits of the archi- 
 tect, and of the envious malignity of his calum- 
 niators. In January 1552 he sent him a new 
 diploma, confirming him in the entire and un- 
 controlled management of the fabric. Notwith- 
 standing this countenance given him by the sove- 
 reign pontiff, his enemies seem to have con- 
 tinued their clamours and impediments; and he 
 would willingly have retired to end his days at 
 Florence, where his presence was most eagerly 
 desired, if he had not postponed every consider- 
 ation of private peace and tranquillity to the im- 
 portance of the work, on which he was engaged. 
 
 Several of his letters to his friends are extant, 
 in which he speaks these sentiments. An extract 
 
M. ANGELO. 
 
 407 
 
 may be given from one of them, which seems to 
 have been written about the year 1556. It is to 
 G. Yasari, and begins with these words : 44 My 
 44 dear friend George, I call God to witness, that 
 44 I was engaged against my will and with very 
 " great reluctance by Pope Paul III. in the build- 
 44 ing of St. Peter's 10 years ago : and if the con- 
 44 struction of that building had been followed 
 " up to the present day in the manner it was 
 44 then, I should now be arrived at such a point 
 44 in the building, that 1 should turn to it with 
 44 delight : but from want of money it has pro- 
 44 ceeded and still proceeds very slowly, just as 
 44 it is come to the most laborious and difficult 
 4C parts ; so that by abandoning it now, the only 
 44 consequence would be, that with excessive 
 44 shame and impropriety I should lose the re- 
 44 ward of the fatigues, which I have endured 
 44 these ten years for the love of God." He con- 
 cludes, 44 To make you understand the conse- 
 4< quence of abandoning the said building, in the 
 44 first place, I should satisfy several scoundrels, 
 44 and I should be the occasion of its falling to 
 44 ruin, and perhaps of its being shut up for ever 1 ." 
 Vasari also in a letter to M. Angelo alludes to the 
 cruelties exercised upon the works of that great 
 man, and advises him to fly from the ungrateful 
 Babylon, which could not appreciate his merit k . 
 
 The sublimity of his genius is to be seen more 
 than the success of his execution in the designs 
 
 * Lettere Pittoriche, vol. i. p. 5. k Ibid. vol. iii. p. 50. 
 d d 4 
 
408 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 which he followed. These principally consisted 
 in alterations. He returned to Peruzzi's plan of 
 a Greek cross, widened the tribune and transepts, 
 and gave a much freer area than his predeces- 
 sors had projected. The cupola also was 
 erected by him on a design different from that 
 which had been intended by the former archi- 
 tects. It is not my intention to describe in 
 detail his execution of this wonderful work. 
 Bonanni's book may be consulted by those, who 
 interest themselves in such histories. The prin- 
 cipal difference consisted in his constructing two 
 domes, an inner and an outer one. The latter 
 gave a greater majesty to the fabric when viewed 
 from the exterior; and in the body of the church 
 the eye is more gratified with having the cupola 
 apparently nearer to it. With respect to the 
 elevation of the front, his plan was far more 
 simple than that of Antonio San-Gallo ; but still 
 it bears that striking characteristic of the Italian 
 architects, a multiplicity of ornaments alternately 
 advancing and receding. About two- thirds of it 
 project out from the rest; and from this there 
 was still another projection in a portico, which 
 was supported by four columns. The architec- 
 ture was Corinthian. In consequence of the 
 Greek cross being adopted, nearly the whole of 
 the dome would have been visible whenever the 
 front was examined. M. Angelo died in 1563, 
 at the advanced age of 89, having been employed 
 nearly 18 years in the building. He completed 
 what the Italians call the Tamburo of the dome, 
 
GREEK CROSS. 
 
 409 
 
 i. e. the cylindrical part, which rises from the 
 four pillars to the spring of the arch of the 
 dome. 
 
 Many persons still lament that his ideas were 
 ever departed from, and the Latin cross substi- 
 tuted for the Greek. It is difficult to deny, that 
 a greater idea of space and grandeur is raised by 
 the latter than by the former. When all the 
 four members of the cross are equal, a person 
 standing in the centre is likely to be more im- 
 pressed with the proportions of the building, 
 than when one limb being so much longer than 
 the rest, the others appear less than they really 
 are. The churches of S. Maria degli Angioli 
 and S. Agnese in Rome, and La Trinita Mag- 
 giore at Naples, may be mentioned as tine spe- 
 cimens of the Greek cross, but especially the 
 first 1 . 
 
 The four pillars supporting this enormous 
 cupola are stupendous masses of architecture; 
 but from the admirable proportion observed in 
 all the parts of this building, they are not so 
 much observed, as they otherwise would be. No 
 better notion can be conveyed of their prodigious 
 dimensions, than by stating, that there is a 
 church in the Via delle 4 Fontane, called S. 
 Carlo, which is exactly the same size as one of 
 
 1 Burke, in his Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful, (part ii. 
 §•9.) objects to the Greek cross, and indeed to any kind of 
 cross, because it breaks the extension of the building. But he 
 is speaking of the effect only from the outside. 
 
410 
 
 & PETER'S. 
 
 these pillars; nor does it appear particularly 
 small in the inside. It was built in 1640 by 
 Borromini m . By a rough measurement of one 
 of these pillars, they are near 240 feet in circum- 
 ference. M. Angelo insisted earnestly, that 
 nothing should be added or altered in his design. 
 Bernini afterwards undertook to make a staircase 
 within each of the columns. Just as they had 
 hollowed and prepared the inside of one of 
 them, (that in front of which the statue of S. 
 Veronica now stands,) the whole building gave a 
 crash, and the Italian tradition says, it was as 
 loud as thunder. They put up the stairs in that, 
 but would not attempt any more of them. Some 
 accounts say, however, that there existed origi- 
 nally a well for a staircase, and that Bernini only 
 put the steps in it n . 
 
 The work went on during the Pontificate of 
 S. Pius V. (1566-72) under Giacomo Barozzi da 
 Vignola and Pio Ligorio, who were charged by 
 the Pope to follow in every thing the designs of 
 Michael Angelo. Giacomo della Porta conti- 
 nued it under Gregory XIII. (1572-85,) and 
 under Sextus V. completed the cupola. Dome- 
 
 m This is the account of the Roman guides. Ramsay (in 
 Spence's Anecdotes, §. i. p. 41.) says, '* each of the four columns 
 " takes up as much ground as a little chapel and convent, (S. 
 " Silvestro by the 4 Fontane,) in which one of the architects 
 a employed in that work lived." This must be a mistake. 
 There is no church of S. Silvestro by the 4 Fontane, and the 
 church of S. Carlo was evidently built subsequently to the dome 
 of St. Peter's. 
 
 ■ This anecdote is from Spence. 
 
S. PETER'S. 
 
 411 
 
 nico Fontana was united with him in the work, 
 and the zeal of Sextus being as great if not 
 greater than that of any of his predecessors, 600 
 workmen were employed night and day, and the 
 money expended was at the rate of 100000 gold 
 crowns per annum. This incessant labour com- 
 pleted the cupola in the short space of twenty- 
 two months, it being finished by May 1590, all 
 except the outer covering of lead. It was cal- 
 culated, that 500 pounds weight of rope was used 
 in the finishing of this dome, and 30000 pounds 
 weight of iron. Above 1100 beams were em- 
 ployed in one story only of the dome, 100 of 
 which were so large that two men could not 
 embrace them. The architects traced their de- 
 sign on the floor of St. Paul's, part of which may 
 still be seen. 
 
 Paul V. (Borghese) ascended the papal throne 
 in 1605, and pursued the work with as much 
 eagerness as any of his predecessors. The most 
 astonishing part of the fabric, the cupola, was 
 now finished ; but great part of the original 
 church was still standing at the east end, or 
 near the entrance ; so that there w ere in a man- 
 ner two separate churches : one shewing the 
 taste of the fourth century, and the piety and 
 magnificence of Constantine : the other exhibit- 
 ing, by way of contrast, what was the state of 
 the arts, and what were the resources of the ca- 
 tholic church, thirteen hundred years afterwards. 
 Paul V. was animated with a desire of seeing 
 the new fabric completed in his reign; and being 
 
412 
 
 S. PETER'S COMPARED 
 
 assured from various quarters that the old walls 
 were in a most ruinous condition, he lost no time 
 in ordering their demolition. Carlo Maderno was 
 the principal architect employed : preparations 
 were made for erecting the front or grand en- 
 trance, and the Pope laid the first stone in per- 
 son the 18th of February, 1608. Maderno re- 
 turned to the original plan of the Latin cross, 
 and finished the whole in 1612. The portico 
 was completed in 1614. 
 
 The colonnade was added by Alexander VII. 
 (1655-67,) with the architecture of Bernini. Pius 
 VI. (1775-800) built the sacristy, and gilded the 
 ceiling of the interior. So that to bring St. Peter s 
 to its present form required three centuries and a 
 half; and up to 1694 it was calculated, that 
 forty-seven millions of scudi (upwards of ten and 
 a half millions sterling) had been expended upon 
 it. 
 
 I have said, that the front erected by Carlo 
 Maderno is the least successful part of the whole 
 fabric. This is a remark which is made by many, 
 indeed by most foreigners. All come to Rome 
 with their expectations raised to the highest pitch 
 from the accounts which they have read of St. 
 Peter's, and many are disappointed with the first 
 view. If the utmost stretch of imagination was 
 not far exceeded in the splendor of the interior, 
 I should perhaps dwell more upon this disap- 
 pointment in the first view of the exterior : but it 
 is surely not merely national prejudice, which 
 prefers the front of St. Paul's in London to that 
 
WITH S. PAUL'S. 
 
 413 
 
 of St. Peters. I speak merely of architectural 
 design ; for in dimensions it is well known that 
 our English cathedral is far inferior; though this 
 perhaps is not much thought of in viewing either 
 building, because the other cannot be compared 
 with it at the time. The black and dingy aspect 
 of St. Paul's, affords a melancholy contrast to 
 the whiteness of St. Peter's; but in noticing 
 some of the defects of the latter, it may perhaps 
 be allowed, that a decisive balance may be drawn 
 in favour of St. Paul's. It must again be re- 
 peated, that I am now only talking of the fronts 
 of the two buildings. As to the approach to each 
 of them, and the points of view from which they 
 are first seen, both labour under great disadvan- 
 tages : but the association of ideas is perhaps in 
 favour of our own cathedral. Both of them 
 want an open space, in which their beauty and 
 magnificence may have room to display them- 
 selves ; and the approach to both of them is by 
 narrow streets ; but in London it is merely the 
 closeness and narrowness of the way which is 
 disadvantageous: the approach to St. Paul's is 
 certainly close and crowded, but still in arriving 
 at it we have been led through a line of industry 
 and opulence, through a succession of objects 
 which attest our present greatness, to this monu- 
 ment of the wealth and zeal of our predecessors. 
 Whereas the approach to St. Peter's is not only 
 narrow, but mean: the metropolitan church of 
 Christendom not only stands in a remote and 
 dirty part of the city, but in one which peculiarly 
 
S. PETER'S 
 
 shews the poverty and wretchedness of the inha- 
 bitants. 
 
 The objections which 1 make to the front itself 
 are these. In the first place there is no project- 
 ing portico to break the long line of building 
 which this front presents ; and the multiplicity 
 of pilasters, windows, and recesses, which Italian 
 taste has so liberally bestowed, produces an ef- 
 fect by no means imposing. In the centre is the 
 balcony, from which the pope delivers his bene- 
 diction at Easter ; and many will perhaps agree, 
 that the faults here mentioned are principally 
 owing to the necessity of introducing such a re- 
 cess 0 . In fact, the front is not at all in the style 
 
 • Some persons may be gratified by seeing the form of this 
 Benediction. " S. S. Apostoli Petrus et Paulus, de quorum 
 " potestate et auctoritate confidimus, ipsi intercedant pro nobis 
 ({ ad Dominum. Amen. 
 
 <f Precibus et meritis Beatae Mariae semper Virginis, Beati 
 " Michaelis Archangeli, Beati Joannis Baptistae et S. S. Aposto- 
 " lorum Petri et Pauli, et omnium Sanctorum, misereatur vestri 
 " Omnipotens Deus, et dimissis omnibus peccatis vestris per- 
 " ducat vos Jesus Christus ad vitam aeternam. Amen. 
 
 u Indulgentiam, Absolutionem et Remissionem omnium pec- 
 " catorum vestrorum, spatium vera? et fructuosae pcenitentiae, 
 " cor semper pcenitens, et emendationem vitas, gratiam et con- 
 " solationem Sancti Spiritus, et finalem perseverantiam in bonis 
 " operibus tribuat vobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus. 
 " Amen. 
 
 " Et Benedictio Dei Omnipotentis, Patris, Filii, et Spiritus 
 (< Sancti descendat super vos, et maneat semper. Amen." 
 
 Not a syllable of this can be heard by the thousands below : 
 but as soon as it is delivered, a cardinal deacon reads two ple- 
 nary indulgences, one in Latin, the other in Italian, and the 
 
FRONT. 
 
 415 
 
 usually assigned to a religious building, but gives 
 more the idea of a palace. As there is no pro- 
 jecting portico, the pediment, which is over the 
 four centre pillars, is rather unmeaning ; and 
 being out-topped by the attic story, it is only a 
 triangle let into the wall, without forming a finish 
 to the whole, as a pediment is usually expected 
 to do. The general effect would perhaps be 
 much improved, if the whole of this attic were 
 away, by which means much more of the dome 
 would be seen. As the building is at present, 
 this, which is the most wonderful and majestic 
 part of the whole fabric, makes very little shew 
 from this point of view. Had the Greek cross 
 been adopted, more of it would probably have 
 been seen : and from these two causes, viz. the 
 length of the nave, and the height of the front, 
 the dome, which ought to astonish the spectator 
 at the first view, presents but a small portion to 
 the eye; and hence no doubt is great part of the 
 disappointment which is so generally complained 
 of. It should be mentioned, that the eight half- 
 pillars in this facade are nearly nine feet (English) 
 in diameter, which is greater than that of the 
 pillars in any modern building. Fragments be- 
 longing to the temple of Jupiter Olympius at 
 Girgenti, shew the half-pillars there to have been 
 eleven feet in diameter. 
 
 After having passed the long narrow street 
 
 papers containing them are thrown down and caught with the 
 greatest eagerness by the people. 
 
416 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 mentioned above, the spectator finds himself in 
 the Piazza de' Rusticucci, an irregular open 
 space, 246 feet long by 204 wide, which leads 
 him into another open space immediately in front 
 of St. Peter's, and almost inclosed by a colon- 
 nade, which stretches out in a curved line from 
 each extremity of the building. Objections may 
 be brought to the taste and to the design of this 
 colonnade; but we must be scrupulous indeed 
 to deny it the effect of grandeur. A semicircular 
 or rather a semielliptical colonnade on each side, 
 inclosing a space of 728 feet by 606, with four 
 rows of pillars, through the centre of which two 
 carriages may pass, and of which pillars there 
 are in all 256, besides 48 pilasters, surmounted on 
 the top with 192 statues of saints, each eleven 
 feet high, must at least produce the effect of 
 much magnificence. Nearly at the entrance of 
 the colonnade stood the house of Raffael, de- 
 signed by Bramante ; but this and several other 
 buildings were removed in 1660, to improve the 
 approach to St. Peters. 
 
 If the whole stood in an open unconfined 
 space, with an approach through a wide hand- 
 some street, the colonnade would perhaps be 
 more approved of than it is at present. It was 
 built by Bernini, as stated above, during the 
 pontificate of Alexander VII. He chose a mix- 
 ture of orders, which some critics may object to, 
 but it is as little offensive as any union of different 
 styles can be. The bases of the pillars are Tus- 
 can, the capitals are Doric, and the shafts and 
 
COLONNADE. 
 
 417 
 
 cornices Ionic. The curved colonnades do not 
 commence immediately from the cathedral, but 
 are a continuation of two straight lines of co- 
 lumns of equal breadth, which go off from each 
 extremity of the front, but not at right angles, for 
 a distance of 296 feet. The area within this co- 
 lonnade is the place from which the front of St. 
 Peter s must be examined ; not that the effect of 
 it from this spot is altogether happy, as has been 
 complained of above, but because from the nar- 
 rowness of the streets leading to it, no view can 
 be obtained of it before. The motley and in- 
 congruous buildings of the Vatican form also 
 another great eye-sore. In the centre of the area 
 is an Egyptian obelisk of granite, for an account 
 of which the reader is referred to page 232, where 
 was stated that it does not stand exactly in the 
 centre. On either side of it is a fountain of pe- 
 culiar elegance and simplicity. The whole width 
 of the front is 396 feet, the height 159. 
 
 There are five open entrances, which lead into 
 a covered portico, extending along the whole 
 front, and continued beyond it at either end ; so 
 that the whole length of the portico is 468 feet 
 by 40 wide. The true magnificence of St. Peter's 
 begins here. At either end is an equestrian sta- 
 tue ; that on the right is of Constantine, that on 
 the left of Charlemagne : the first the founder of 
 the old cathedral, the latter one of the greatest 
 benefactors of the holy see. There are five doors 
 leading into the church : the principal one in the 
 centre is not generally used, except on great ce- 
 
 e e 
 
418 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 remonies. The bronze doors belonged to the 
 old cathedral, and were executed in 1445, in the 
 pontificate of Eugenius IV. who employed An- 
 tonio Filarete, and Simone, brother of Donato. 
 The bas-reliefs represent the martyrdom of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul. Some circumstances at- 
 tending the Council of Florence, which was held 
 by this pope, are also introduced. Near the mar- 
 tyrdom of St. Peter are some old buildings, 
 which existed in the time of Eugenius. Some 
 profane subjects are also introduced. Honorius 
 L in 630, had placed silver doors here, but the 
 silver was carried off by the Saracens in 846. 
 Leo IV. replaced it. Three curious inscriptions 
 may be seen near this door-way : 1, the bull of 
 Boniface VIII. in 1300, granting an indulgence 
 for every year of jubilee: 2, elegiac verses, com- 
 posed by Charlemagne in 796, upon Pope Adrian 
 1. : and 3, the donation made by St. Gregory II. 
 of many estates to the Basilica. We may men- 
 tion here that there was a stone near the silver 
 gate of the old church, under which the venerable 
 Bede was said to be buried p. Bede died in 735, 
 but the tradition of his being buried here is pro- 
 bably false. The stone was afterwards used for 
 the pope to stand upon when he received the 
 horse, which was sent by the king of Naples. 
 
 Opposite to this entrance is a representation 
 in Mosaic of the Navicella, as it is called, painted 
 
 p Mallius in Vatic, p. 117- Honorius August, de Lumin. 
 Eccles. 
 
JUBILEE. 
 
 419 
 
 by Giotto in 1300; the original drawing for 
 which may be seen over the entrance door of the 
 church of the Capucins in the Piazza Barberini. 
 It was executed by the order of Cardinal Giacomo 
 Gaetano Stefaneschi, who paid 2200 gold florins 
 for it. It represents St. Peter walking upon the 
 sea, and Christ supporting him. This is one of 
 the ornaments which came from the old church, 
 having stood over the east entrance to the Qua- 
 driporticus. When this building was destroyed, 
 the Mosaic was removed, and it changed its 
 situation two or three times, till Cardinal Barbe- 
 rini had it fixed in its present situation. Giotto 
 was also employed by Benedict XII. in repairing 
 the Mosaics, which were upon the arch of the 
 tribune of the old Basilica. 
 
 Another of these five doors is called the Porta 
 Santa : it is blocked up with brickwork, and only 
 opened by the pope himself in the year of jubilee. 
 It was Boniface VIII. who first established a 
 year of jubilee in 1300, in imitation of an ima- 
 ginary precedent 100 years before; and it was 
 intended to have it celebrated every 100 years. 
 But after the expiration of the first half century, 
 Clement VI. celebrated it again in 1350; upon 
 which occasion Matteo Villani gives a curious 
 account of the throng in Rome. In 1380 Urban 
 VI. again celebrated it, and ordered it to be ob- 
 served every 30 years ; in 1475 Sextus IV. 
 changed it to every 25 years, which custom has 
 been observed ever since : the last solemnization 
 of it having been by Pius VI. in 1800. Upon 
 
 e e 2 
 
420 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 this occasion the Porta Santa is opened by the 
 Pope himself. On the eve of Christmas-day he 
 commences the operation of pulling down the 
 brickwork, by giving three blows with a silver 
 hammer. Over the door is a block of red and 
 white marble, which is rather rare, and from its 
 situation here this sort is known at Rome by the 
 name of Porta Santa. Three other Basilicae 
 have a Porta Santa, where the same custom of 
 opening it is observed ; the Lateran, S. Maria 
 Maggiore, and St. Paul's. The dates of the two 
 last Jubilees are always preserved over the door; 
 when a new one is put up, the oldest of the two 
 others is removed. 
 
 It is impossible to undertake a task of greater 
 difficulty, than to describe the interior of St. 
 Peter's : whatever disappointment may have been 
 felt upon the first view of the outside, every thing 
 within is transcendent and astonishing. It is 
 highly ornamented, without being gaudy: it is 
 vast, but yet the different parts can easily be 
 separated: every thing is grand, costly, and 
 magnificent. Nor can we ever sufficiently 
 wonder, that a building, which required three 
 centuries to finish it, and which must consequently 
 have fallen into the hands of so many Pontiffs 
 of different views, and so many architects of dif- 
 ferent tastes, should bear no marks of the pre- 
 cipitate vanity of the one, anxious to complete 
 the edifice in their own reign, nor of the dissimi- 
 lar and discordant designs of the other. This, 
 which is the greatest building of modern times, 
 
INTERIOR. 
 
 421 
 
 and greater than any temple which ancient 
 Greece or Rome could boast, does not appear at 
 the first sight to be so prodigious in its dimen- 
 sions. This is indeed the principal excellence of 
 the whole: it is the beautiful adaptations of the 
 proportions, which distinguishes this edifice from 
 every other. Accordingly there are many ob- 
 jects which seem small, or only of the common 
 size, which are really far above it. As an in- 
 stance of this, the two angels may be mentioned, 
 which support the fonts on the first pillars of the 
 nave ; they have the appearance of representing 
 children, but are really larger than the natural 
 size of a man. So also the dove with an olive 
 branch in its mouth, which occurs so frequently 
 in this cathedral, (being the arms of Innocent X. 
 Pamfili,) and forms an ornament on each of the 
 pillars of the nave, seems to be easily within 
 reach of every person, but can with difficulty be 
 reached by the hand of the tallest. 
 
 In the nave there are only three arches, and 
 only one in the tribune, but notwithstanding this, 
 the eye can scarcely distinguish what is at the 
 end of the church, so prodigious and at the same 
 time so correct are the proportions. The whole 
 length is 609 feet, the width of the nave 91 : the 
 length of the transepts is 445. Upon the floor, 
 which is composed of large blocks of marble of 
 singular beauty, and disposed in various devices, 
 are marked the lengths of some of the principal 
 churches in Europe : that of St. Paul's in London 
 comes next, being 521 feet long; then that of 
 
 e e 3 
 
422 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 Milan, 439; then that of St. Paul's at Rome, 
 and lastly that of S. Sophia at Constantinople, 
 which is only 357. 
 
 Nothing forms so striking an ornament in this 
 cathedral, as the profusion of marble, which is 
 introduced into every part ; much of this is an- 
 cient, and the varieties are of the greatest rarity 
 and beauty. This, together with the gilded roof, 
 the statues, the monuments, the Mosaic ceilings 
 and pictures, forms a display of brilliant and 
 unexampled magnificence, which requires weeks 
 and almost years to contemplate. The only 
 thing to be regretted is, that the great pilasters 
 between the arches of the nave are not in marble, 
 but stucco : this however is little perceptible to 
 the eye, and requires perhaps to be pointed out, 
 before it would be complained of. These pilas- 
 ters are 83 feet high, and in them are statues of 
 the founders of various religious orders, many of 
 them executed by great artists, and of singular 
 beauty : there are more of them in the transepts, 
 and the following is an alphabetical list of them, 
 with a short account of their lives. 
 
 iEMiLiANUS. Born in 14-81 at Venice. He was at 
 first a soldier, and established his order for the bene- 
 fit of orphans at Somasco, a village between Milan 
 and Bergamo, about the year 1.531. Augustins. 
 
 Benedictus. Born in 480, or, as some say, 452, at 
 Nursia, in the country of the Sabines. He first took 
 to a religious life at Sublacum (Subiaco) : he esta- 
 blished a monastery at Monte Cassino, where he died 
 March 21, 512, and was buried there. 
 
FOUNDERS OF ORDERS. 
 
 423 
 
 Bruno. Born in 1021 at Cologne. He founded the 
 Carthusian order in 1080. The name was taken 
 from a place called Chartreuse in Dauphine, to 
 which he retired. He died 1101, and was canonized 
 1514. Benedictines. 
 
 Camillus de Lellis. Born in 1550 at Bucchianico in 
 Abruzzo. He was at first a soldier, and having been 
 twice cured in an hospital, he founded his order for 
 relieving the sick in 1591. He died July 14, 1614, 
 at Rome. 
 
 Caietanus. Ordo Clericorum Regularium. 
 
 Calasanctius Joseph us. Ordo Scholarum Piarum. 
 
 Dominicus. Born in 1170 at Calaurega in Spain. 
 He encouraged the Crusades against the Albigenses, 
 and founded the Inquisition. He died August 5, 
 1223, at Bologna, and was canonized by Gregory IX. 
 Augustins. 
 
 Elias. The Carmelites say, that they were the first to 
 erect a chapel to the Virgin Mary, which they did 
 A. D. 53 on Mount Carmel, and claim the Prophet 
 Elias as founder of their society. They had no written 
 rules till 1122. 
 
 Falconieri. Born 1270 at Florence. In 1317 she 
 was elected superior of an order of Servites, and esta- 
 blished a new one, which was confirmed in 1424. 
 She died 1341. 
 
 Franciscus. Born 1182 at Assisum near Spoleto. 
 Innocent III. confirmed the order of Friars Minor in 
 1209. He died October 4, 1226, and was buried at 
 Assisum. Augustins. 
 
 Franciscus de Paola. Born 1416 at Paola near 
 Cosenza in Calabria. The order of Minims was con- 
 firmed in 1473. Louis XI. sent for him into France, 
 and his son Francis was called after him. He died 
 in 1507 at Tours. Augustins. 
 
 Ignatius Loyola. Born in 1492 at Loyola in Biscay: 
 e e 4 
 
424 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 established the order of Jesuits in 1540: died in 1556: 
 canonized in 1622. 
 
 Joannes de Deo. Born in 1495 at Monte Major in 
 Portugal : founded the order of Hospitality : died 
 1550. Augustins. 
 
 Neri Filippo. Born at Florence in 1515: founded 
 the Congregation of the Oratory : died at Rome in 
 1595: canonized in 1629. 
 
 Nolasco. Born at Lauraguais in Languedoc : formed 
 a society in Spain for the redemption of captives in 
 1218. He himself was a layman, and died in 1286: 
 canonized in 1628. Augustins. 
 
 Noiiberto. Born in 1082 near to Cleves : retired to 
 Premontre, in the Bishopric of Laon, and founded 
 the Praemonstratensian order in 1120: died in 1134: 
 canonized 1582. Augustins. 
 
 Petrus de Alcantara. Born in 1499 at Alcantara in 
 Estremailura. His reform was approved of in 1554 : 
 died in 1562: canonized in 1669. 
 
 Theresa. Born in 1515 at Avila in Spain. Though 
 a woman, she was at the head of an order of men, 
 which was confirmed in 1562, and called Nova Re- 
 format. Ordo Discalc. B. M. de Monte Carmele, 
 She died 1582. 
 
 Vincentius a Paulo. Congreg. Missionis, 
 
 The object, which commands most attention 
 from its situation as well as its costliness, is the 
 Bnldacchino or canopy, immediately under the 
 dome and over the high altar. It is entirely of 
 bronze, and the ornaments are mostly gilt: the 
 four pillars, which support it, are twisted, and in 
 other respects it is by no means in good taste, 
 nor in unison with the majestic simplicity of the 
 rest : but from its vast size and the richness of 
 
BALDACCHINO. 425 
 
 the work it can hardly fail to be admired. The 
 height of it is almost incredible : some accounts 
 making it 122 feet from the floor; and it is a 
 common saying, that it is as high as the Farnese 
 palace, which is one of the loftiest in Rome. 
 This is another proof of the admirable proportion 
 which prevails in all the parts : for, standing as 
 it does, in the centre of this stupendous edifice, 
 its height appears by no means extraordinary. 
 It was made in 1633 under the direction of Ber- 
 nini, and the Bees dispersed about in all di- 
 rections attest the pontificate of Urban VIII. of 
 the Barberini family, who bear this device. The 
 cost is estimated at 100000 scudi (£22727,) the 
 gilding alone cost 40000 (£9091.) It is generally 
 said, that it was made of the bronze taken from 
 the Pantheon by Urban VIII. but this is denied 
 by Fea, who relates, upon the authority of books 
 now existing, that all the metal was bought ill 
 Venice. This has been already alluded to at 
 p. 155. 
 
 Under this canopy is the high altar, which is 
 only used on the most solemn ceremonies, and 
 beneath it repose the bodies of St. Peter and St. 
 Paul. That of St. Peter lies in the place where 
 it was first buried. It is said that Pope Anacle- 
 tus, while he was only a priest, constructed a 
 chapel here in 106, which was called the Confes- 
 sional of St. Peter, and inclosed the body of the 
 apostle in a marble urn. Constantine is reported 
 to have covered the urn with metal, so that 
 it can never be seen. In the painting in the 
 
426 S. PETER'S 
 
 Hall of Constantine, which represents the do- 
 nation made by that emperor to Pope Sylvester 
 of the city of Rome, the Tribune of the old 
 church is introduced, and the Confessional over 
 the tomb of St. Peter, round which are twelve 
 spiral columns, eight of which are still preserved 
 in the great pillars supporting the cupola. The 
 descent to the shrine is by a double flight of 
 steps, and 112 lamps are kept constantly burn- 
 ing round it. At the bottom of the steps it is 
 intended to place the statue of Pius VI. which is 
 being executed by Canova. The Pope is to be 
 represented kneeling, and looking towards the 
 tomb of the apostle : an appropriate attitude for 
 a Roman pontiff: but considering the peculiar 
 sanctity of the place, it would perhaps have been 
 fitter that no other monument should occupy 
 the spot: at least there seems no reason why 
 Pius VI. should have an honour conferred upon 
 him, greater than any of his predecessors since 
 St. Peter himself. 
 
 Opposite to each arch of the nave is a chapel 
 recessed back from the side aisles. These chapels 
 are each of them well worthy of observation, from 
 the splendid decorations, which have been be- 
 stowed upon them. Mosaic- work and the rich- 
 est marbles are scattered about them with the 
 greatest profusion, and almost all of them con- 
 tain a specimen of that wonder of the art, 
 pictures executed in Mosaic. There are al- 
 together 29 altars in St. Peter's, over each of 
 which is one of these Mosaic pictures, of which 
 
MOSAICS. 
 
 427 
 
 some description may be here introduced. Se- 
 veral fine paintings were at different times exe- 
 cuted for this church by the greatest masters, 
 and for a time occupied the stations appointed 
 to them : but it being found, that the walls of the 
 church were too damp, it was very judiciously 
 determined to remove the paintings to a safer 
 place, and have copies taken of them in Mosaic. 
 Consequently there is only one painting of any 
 size or excellence in St. Peter's, and that is in 
 oils upon the wall. It represents the fall of Si- 
 mon Magus, painted by Francesco Vanni, and 
 as the story is not canonical, it was not ordered 
 to be copied in Mosaic. Such is the reason 
 given ; but if true, the government must after- 
 wards have become less scrupulous, as another 
 picture of the same subject by Battoni has been 
 copied : the Mosaic is now in St. Peters, and 
 the original painting is in the Certosa. Simon 
 Magus having gone to Rome before St. Peter 
 arrived there, preached very heretical and im- 
 moral doctrines. He pleased Nero exceedingly, 
 and gave out, that on a certain day he should 
 ascend into heaven. The confederate daemons 
 assisted him in rising from the earth, but at the 
 prayers of St. Peter, he fell to the ground, and 
 fractured his legs ; in consequence of which he 
 died in the year 66 or 67. So says tradition ! 
 The paintings that were removed are mostly to 
 be seen in the church of the Certosa, S. Maria 
 degli Angioli. Copies were also taken of the 
 
428 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 most celebrated paintings in other churches, and 
 all of them are now in St. Peter's. 
 
 The building where this Mosaic-work is car- 
 ried on is not far from the cathedral, and forms 
 part of that which was (and I am afraid is still) 
 used for the office of the Inquisition. The small 
 pieces, which when put together compose the 
 picture, are a vitrified substance called Smalte, 
 compounded of glass, lead, and tin ; and I was 
 assured, that there are 15000 different shades of 
 colour. When Urban VIII. first conceived the 
 idea of substituting Mosaics for the paintings, 
 the substance used was marble : and Gio. Bat- 
 tista Calendra of Vercelli copied the painting of 
 Michael the archangel by Arpina. It was found, 
 however, that there was too great a glare pro- 
 duced by the polish of the marble, and it ceased 
 to be used as a material for Mosaic. 
 
 Of the skill of the ancients in Mosaic we have 
 many proofs remaining, which have suffered but 
 little from time, besides the testimony of Pliny, 
 who mentions the excellence to which the art 
 had attained. But there is no evidence to in- 
 duce us to believe, that the ancients at all ap- 
 proached to the perfection which the moderns 
 may boast. The art seems never to have been 
 lost in Rome; and we have specimens remaining 
 of almost every period of the middle ages, when 
 painting can hardly be said to have existed. 
 Tiraboschi q shews, that under the Goths and 
 
 q Tom. iii. part 1. p. 80, 14p. 
 
MOSAICS. 429 
 
 Lombards Mosaic-work was not neglected : and 
 we may see a specimen of the eighth century at 
 the Scala Santa, near the Lateran. This at 
 least may be allowed to be one of the arts, in 
 which the moderns have excelled the ancients : 
 indeed it is impossible to conceive an adequate 
 idea of the effect produced, without seeing these 
 master-pieces in St. Peter's. At a distance and 
 in certain lights even an experienced eye might 
 fancy them to be paintings ; and as there is every 
 reason to suppose that the colours are as durable 
 as the substances themselves, after-ages will have 
 to appeal to these pictures as a proof of the con- 
 ception of a RafFael or a Domenichino, when 
 the originals of those great masters have been 
 totally obliterated. These Mosaic pictures cost 
 about 20000 crowns (£4546) apiece. The best is 
 said to be the martyrdom of S. Petronilla, the 
 original of which is now in the Capitol. The Mo- 
 saics, which ornament the cupolas of the several 
 chapels, and likewise the great cupola itself, 
 (the whole interior of which is covered with 
 them,) produce a most brilliant effect : but when 
 viewed near, they are found to be executed in 
 the roughest style, which is necessary for the 
 distance at which they are seen. 
 
 The chapel, where the mass is daily celebrated, 
 is on the left-hand upon entering the church. 
 There is nothing particular to make it observ- 
 able : the organ is a good one, and at vespers 
 on Sunday evening there is always a great con- 
 course of people, particularly of foreigners, to 
 
430 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 hear the music, which is generally extremely 
 beautiful. Sermons are preached here upon the 
 customary occasions. 
 
 In the first chapel on the right hand, called 
 that of the Crucifix, is a figure of the Virgin sup- 
 porting a dead Christ, which is called, as such 
 subjects always are, a Pieta. It is the work of 
 Michael Angel o, and is considered one of his 
 earliest performances, having been executed by 
 him at the age of twenty-four, at the expence of 
 John, Cardinal of S. Denis, ambassador from the 
 King of France. Souie have found fault with it, 
 because the son is represented as an older per- 
 son than his mother. Several copies of it may 
 be seen in Rome and elsewhere. Marini has 
 these lines upon it, which have been much ad- 
 mired r : 
 
 Sasso non e costei 
 Che Testinto figliol freddo qual ghiaccio 
 Sostien pietosa in braccio : 
 
 Sasso piu presto sei, 
 
 Tu, che non piangi alia pieta di lei. 
 Anzi sei piu che sasso, 
 Che suoP anco da' sassi il pianto uscire, 
 E i sassi si spezzaro al suo morire. 
 
 She is not stone, who bears 
 Her lifeless Son, with icy stiffness cold, 
 In her arms' tenderest fold : 
 But thou art stony grown, 
 
 r Madrigale, 158. 
 
STATUE OF S. PETER. 431 
 
 Thou, who at grief like this hast shed no tears : 
 Nay thou art more than stone, 
 For rocks will weep, and pour a trickling tide, 
 And rocks were rent in twain, when Jesus died. 
 
 A list of some of the relics preserved in this 
 chapel may be considered curious; such as some 
 wood of the true cross ; part of the cradle, the 
 hay, and the manger, connected with the nati- 
 vity; part of the veil of the Virgin Mary; some 
 of her hair ; part of Joseph's cloak and girdle ; 
 some ashes of John the Baptist ; one finger of 
 St. Peter; le antichissime imagini (whether in 
 painting or sculpture is not stated) of St. Peter 
 and St. Paul ; St. Luke's head ; one finger and 
 one shoulder of St. Stephen. The pillar also is 
 in this chapel, against which Christ leaned when 
 he preached to the people. It is one of the twelve 
 which will be mentioned presently, as having 
 stood round the high altar in the old church. 
 
 In mentioning the curiosities of this church, 
 the statue of St. Peter should not be omitted, 
 which stands against the last pillar of the nave, 
 near to the Baldacchino. A Roman antiquary* 
 informs us, that this was made by order of St. 
 Leo out of the bronze of a statue of Jupiter Capi- 
 tolinus ; and that it was intended as an offering 
 for St. Peter having liberated Rome from the 
 fury of Attila. There was a marble statue of St. 
 Peter outside of the old church over a gate in 
 
 s Turrigius de Crypt. Vat, p. 126. 
 
432 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 the portico, which was held in great veneration, 
 and is now in the Grotte Vaticane. The work- 
 manship of the present one is extremely rude ; 
 and though it is called a bronze statue, it has 
 much more the appearance of iron. It is the 
 figure which is so frequently kissed by the faith- 
 ful : no Catholic will pass it without going through 
 the ceremony ; and the usual form is to kiss the 
 foot two or three times, pressing the forehead 
 against it between each salutation : some will re- 
 peat each ceremony much oftener. The right 
 foot projects for this purpose, and great part of it 
 is worn away by the operation. 
 
 The tribune is extremely rich, but in bad taste, 
 from a large glory, which forms the principal 
 feature, and which is remarkable for being al- 
 most, if not absolutely, the only piece of stained 
 glass in Rome. The bronze, which is used so 
 plentifully in its decoration, is said to have come 
 from the Pantheon, as well as that of which the 
 Baldacchino is composed. Within a large chair 
 of bronze, raised a considerable height, is the 
 identical seat which St. Peter and many of his 
 successors used ; but it is completely cased in its 
 outer covering, which was made in 1667 ; and 
 this precious relic can only be seen by mounting 
 an internal staircase. It is reported to be of 
 wood, with ornaments of ivory and gold. It 
 would be the height of temerity to question the 
 genuineness of this chair after what Bonanni has 
 said upon the subject 1 . The reader may perhaps 
 
 1 C. xxiii. p. 131. 
 
CHAIR OF S. PETER. 
 
 433 
 
 wish to see the passage, but he must not expect 
 me to incur the penalties of it by attempting to 
 refute it. " This is the chair of St. Peter, which 
 44 he occupied as universal pastor, till he suffered 
 44 death for Christ's sake. This fact has been so 
 44 fully proved, that the few sectaries who deny 
 44 it must be most barefaced, or a set of children, 
 44 and silly children too, such as Velcinus, whom 
 44 Roflensis has refuted, Sebastian of France, and 
 " some obscure Englishmen to be found in Saun- 
 44 ders." Besides the danger of classing our- 
 selves amongst these our unfortunate country- 
 men, it would be lost labour to dispute the 
 question, after the arguments which are adduced 
 by Bonanni. In the first place, the miracles that 
 have been wrought by it fully attest its apostoli- 
 cal antiquity. Secondly, Calvin doubted, because 
 it was made of wood, so perishable a material. 
 44 But if this were a true ground for doubt," 
 says the honest Bonanni, "the true cross and the 
 " cradle of our Saviour are made of wood, as are 
 44 several statues of the saints, and nobody doubts 
 44 about them." 
 
 The chair is supported by two fathers of the 
 Latin Church, Augustin and Ambrose, and two 
 of the Greek, Chrysostom and Athanasius. St. 
 Augustin was born in 354, at Tagasta in Nu- 
 midia, and died in 430. St. Ambrose was born 
 in 333 or 340, at Treves, and died in 397. St. 
 Chrysostom was born at Antioch in 347, made 
 patriarch of Constantinople in 397, and died in 
 407. St. Athanasius was born about 294, in 
 
 Ff 
 
434. 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 Egypt; was made patriarch of Alexandria in 
 326, and after being several times expelled and 
 reinstated, died in 373. These men were worthy 
 of supporting the chair of St. Peter, and deserve 
 much ampler mention than this dry chronicle of 
 their births and deaths. It will be found in some 
 accounts, that all the four supporters are fathers 
 of the Latin Church, and that the two others are 
 St. Jerom, who was born in 340, at Stridon in 
 Dalmatia, and died in 420; and St. Gregory, 
 who was a Roman, and pope from 590 to his 
 death in 604. But the former account is the 
 true one. The steps which lead up to this 
 church are of porphyry, and served for the same 
 purpose in the old church. 
 
 Of the monuments, though much deserves to 
 be said, I cannot attempt a detailed description. 
 From the instances being so few where works of 
 this nature command general and unmixed ap- 
 probation, it would seem, that to design a good 
 monument is among the most difficult branches 
 of the art. Even where a tomb alone is to be 
 executed, without any figures real or allegorical, 
 success is but rarely obtained; and the difficulty 
 must be considerably increased, where figures or 
 groupes of figures are to be represented. The 
 ancients and the moderns seem to have had dif- 
 ferent ideas upon this subject. From the monu- 
 ments which remain to us of former times, it 
 would seem not to have been customary in an- 
 cient Greece or Rome to consider statues as part 
 of a sepulchral ornament : they were satisfied 
 
MONUMENTS. 
 
 435 
 
 with a sarcophagus, or some other tomb, sculp- 
 tured indeed occasionally with bas-reliefs or 
 busts, but very different from the modern taste, 
 which in all monuments to great characters re- 
 presents figures as large as life, and sometimes 
 nothing else but figures. Our own St. Paul's 
 and Westminster Abbey will serve to illustrate 
 this remark : and perhaps what has been said 
 above of the few successful specimens, will also 
 be borne out in these two collections. 
 
 Perhaps one cause of the dissatisfaction, which 
 so frequently arises in viewing these works, is to 
 be found in the want of any fixed rules and prin- 
 ciples of criticism to guide us in contemplating 
 them : and this comes immediately from the fact 
 mentioned above of the ancients having left no 
 models of this kind. In Grecian buildings of 
 modern erection we praise the architect not for 
 the originality of his genius, but for the correct- 
 ness of his taste ; and according as he has ad- 
 hered to or departed from the strict rules pre- 
 scribed to him from antiquity, is the degree of 
 praise which we bestow upon him. In painting 
 we have no ancient standards left by which we 
 can judge ; but who will deny, that in forming 
 our opinion of a modern picture we go back as 
 far as we can, and we always compare it with 
 the productions of the early masters? Even in 
 poetry, a wildness of imagination (which is only 
 originality under different forms) is censured as 
 a fault ; and all branches of composition, whether 
 epic, dramatic, or pastoral, are submitted to pre- 
 
 F f 2 
 
436 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 scribed laws and canons before judgment is 
 passed. Let it not be supposed, that I presume 
 to condemn what I allow is practised by all. It 
 is perhaps inherent in our nature to look up to au- 
 thority in forming an opinion: those who have no 
 taste of their own, either natural or acquired, 
 must adopt the sentiments of others, unless they 
 submit to being either silent upon such subjects, 
 or to expose themselves to constant ridicule : 
 and even those who are said to have the finest 
 taste, must have imbibed such notions before 
 they were capable of judging for themselves : so 
 that insensibly, and without being conscious of 
 it, they are speaking what they have learnt from 
 their predecessors, while they fancy that they are 
 uttering their own sentiments. In fact, taste may 
 be defined an habitual and extemporaneous 
 agreement with the majority of mankind upon 
 subjects which were at first arbitrary. 
 
 For sepulchral monuments no rules seem to 
 have been laid down, nor are any particular mo- 
 dels appealed to. In inscriptions there are cer- 
 tain turns of expression which are considered 
 classical ; and in these it is generally reckoned 
 better to follow precedent, than to adopt new 
 phrases : which again confirms the observation 
 made above, that, whenever we can, we form 
 our judgments upon the most ancient authority 
 which remains to us. But in the fashion of our 
 monuments we have adopted designs which the 
 ancients seem not to have countenanced ; and 
 as yet we are by no means agreed amongst 
 
MONUMENTS. 
 
 437 
 
 ourselves, as to what is to be held classical in 
 this way. 
 
 If these remarks contain any truth, they will 
 perhaps account for the different opinions which 
 are expressed as to the monuments in St. Peter's. 
 The finest are those erected to the popes. The 
 deceased pontiff is generally represented as large 
 as life ; and the attitude of benediction, which 
 is commonly assigned to them, as well as their 
 official robes, are by no means the best suited 
 for sculptural effect. The statue of Clement X. 
 by Ercole Ferrata, is an instance of this. He is 
 sitting, and the whole attitude is extremely 
 formal. The same may be said of Innocent 
 VIII. in bronze, by Ant. Pollajolo. That of 
 Gregory XIII. is much better, which was ex- 
 ecuted in plaister by Prospero of Brescia. Leo 
 XI. by Algardi is also sitting, and extremely like 
 Clement X. but his eyes not being turned in an 
 unmeaning way upon the spectator, or rather 
 upon nothing, the effect produced is not so 
 formal ; which shews how very little is sufficient 
 to give a character to a picture or a statue ; for 
 the two figures are in every way similar, and the 
 drapery equally inelegant. The figure of Alex- 
 ander VII. is kneeling, which might be thought 
 a becoming posture for a Christian monument : 
 but sculpture has more to do with grandeur and 
 animation, than with piety and humility. These 
 virtues are delightful when practised, but there is 
 nothing pleasing or edifying in immoveable and 
 inanimate devotion. Besides which, the mass of 
 
 f f 3 
 
438 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 drapery is far too heavy, and we want to see the 
 sculptor's skill displayed in something more than 
 the mere face and hands. 
 
 Figures of allegorical design are often intro- 
 duced. In the monument to the right of St. 
 Peter's chair, two figures will be observed at the 
 foot of the pope, Paul III. which represent Pru- 
 dence and Justice. The figure of Justice has 
 her drapery partly composed of bronze, which 
 accords extremely ill with the marble. The rea- 
 son of this incongruity arose from the delicate 
 scruples of one of the popes, who, being shocked at 
 the naked figure which Giacomo della Porta had 
 placed upon the tomb under the direction of 
 Michael Angelo, ordered it to be covered in the 
 way which we now see by Bernini. 
 
 The monument corresponding to this on the 
 other side of St. Peter's chair is to Urban VIII. 
 also by Bernini. The statue of the pope is in 
 bronze, and, like the others, not pleasing. Of 
 the allegorical figures below, Charity on the 
 right is beautifully designed and executed. I 
 should almost prefer it to those on the tomb of 
 Paul III. which are so much admired. There is 
 too much formality and study in these being 
 placed back to back, and turning round to look 
 at each other. The figure of Charity is perfect 
 nature. She seems wholly intent upon the two 
 children, without appearing to study an attitude 
 for the artist; which is what all painters and 
 sculptors should endeavour to avoid. Death is 
 represented, as inscribing Urban's name in a 
 
MONUMENTS. 
 
 439 
 
 book, upon which Cardinal Rapacciolio wrote 
 this epigram : 
 
 Bernin si vivo il grande Urbano ha finto, 
 E si ne' duri bronzi e Talma impressa, 
 Che per torgli la fe, la Morte stessa 
 
 Sta su'l Sepolcro, a dimostrarlo estinto. 
 
 Such life, such warmth, Bernini's touch can shed, 
 So stamp'd in bronze the very soul appears, 
 That o'er the tomb the grisly tyrant rears 
 
 His form, to tell us — that the soul is fled. 
 
 Amongst these monuments, which have em- 
 ployed some of the best sculptors in Italy, that 
 to Clement XIII. by Canova challenges a com- 
 parison with any. The genius of Death is one of 
 the finest conceptions of the art, and as finely 
 executed. A similar figure may be seen at 
 Vienna in the monument to the Archduchess 
 Christina, in the church of the Augustins, which 
 is also the work of Canova. The corresponding 
 figure, that of Religion, is certainly not so success- 
 ful, and may be called disproportioned and 
 clumsy. Two lions, however, one sleeping, the 
 other with a ferocious air, are sufficient of them- 
 selves to stamp the sculptor's fame : they are 
 amongst the finest specimens of sculpture which 
 Rome can boast. 
 
 Before we proceed to describe the dome, 
 something may be said of the subterraneous part, 
 or Grotte Vaticane, under the high altar. No 
 woman is allowed to enter this part of the 
 church, except on the second festival of Pente- 
 
 f f 4 
 
440 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 cost, and then the same prohibition is extended to 
 men. It has been already observed, that this is 
 part of the original church, and is said to be 
 that which was built over the burial-ground of 
 the Christians, who suffered in the early perse- 
 cutions. The old pavement is still preserved, 
 eleven feet below that of the present church, and 
 the antiquary will be interested with some paint- 
 ings, which represent views of the former Basi- 
 lica. The tombs of the early popes are curious, 
 as are some old bas-reliefs, and some very an- 
 cient statues of St. Peter. Upon a stone here 
 are the words of the grant, by which the 
 Countess Matilda bequeathed her possessions to 
 the papal see. It is dated 1102. Adrian IV. 
 the Irish pope, is buried here, and several charac- 
 ters distinguished in history. Amongst other 
 tombs are those of the Stuart family, with in- 
 scriptions to James III. Charles III. and Henry 
 IX. (Cardinal of York,) who are all styled kings 
 of Great Britain, France, and Ireland. In the 
 church above there is a handsome monument to 
 Maria Clementina, Queen of Charles III. erected 
 at the expence of the cathedral, which cost 4091 
 pounds. She is also presented with the crown 
 of France among her other titles. Opposite to 
 this a monument has lately been erected to the 
 memory of Cardinal York, which is executed by 
 Canova. The present King of England con- 
 tributed largely to the expence of it, but it is 
 represented as being no very successful specimen 
 of that great sculptor's talents. 
 
RELICS. 
 
 441 
 
 What principally makes St. Peter's the wonder 
 of the world is the cupola. The enormous size 
 of the four supports of it has been already men- 
 tioned. They are about 240 feet in circum- 
 ference, and 178 in height. Each of the four 
 has two niches in front, one above the other. In 
 the lower ones are statues of saints, and some of 
 the most precious relics are preserved in them. 
 S. Veronica has her veil or sudarium: S. Helena 
 has part of the true cross : S. Andrew (whose 
 statue is the best of the four, and is the work of 
 Fiammingo) takes charge of his own head : and 
 the fourth statue is that of S. Longinus, the 
 soldier, who pierced our Saviour's side. Some 
 remarks may be made upon these statues and 
 relics. 
 
 It is unfortunate, or at least suspicious, for this 
 sudarium of S. Veronica, that there are no less 
 than six rival ones shewn in different places, 
 viz. Turin, Milan, Cadoin in Perigort, Besancon, 
 Compeign, and Aix-la-Chapelle. That at Cadoin 
 has fourteen bulls to declare it genuine ; that at 
 Turin has only four 11 : what credentials the other 
 churches may be able to produce, I have not 
 learned. Perhaps however all our suspicions 
 may be removed by an explanation given to me 
 by a person at Rome, that the linen, which S. 
 Veronica applied, consisted of different folds ; 
 consequently the impression of the countenance 
 went through all of them, and each successive 
 
 u Misson's Travels. 
 
442 
 
 S. VERONICA. 
 
 fold must be as genuine as the other. There is 
 also another way of reconciling these conflicting 
 claims. The authentic accounts make three 
 folds in the original handkerchief ; but the cloth, 
 which was wrapped round our Saviour's head in 
 the sepulchre, received the same miraculous im- 
 pression of his features; and it is said, that this 
 is the treasure preserved at Turin. After all it 
 seems doubtful, whether we are to take Veronica 
 for the name of a woman, or of the sudarium 
 itself. Marianus Scotus, a writer of the eleventh 
 century, is the first who makes any mention of 
 such a person having existed. He tells us, upon the 
 authority of one Methodius, that Tiberius being 
 ill of a leprosy, and having heard much of the 
 miracles of Christ, sent ambassadors into Judea. 
 Accordingly a woman, named Berenice, came 
 to Rome, and cured the Emperor by an appli- 
 cation of the sudarium, which was in her posses- 
 sion. She had offered it to our Saviour as he 
 was going to be crucified, and was labouring 
 under the weight of the cross : his features re- 
 mained impressed upon it ; and engravings may 
 be bought in Rome, which are copied from this 
 relic. The fourth of February is sacred to this 
 saint ; and however the question may be decided 
 as to her real or fabulous existence, she receives 
 the prayers of her votaries as regularly as her 
 companions in the calendar. 
 
 The Volto Santo was placed in 707 by John 
 VII. in an altar erected by him within an oratory 
 of the old Basilica. After being removed sue- 
 
S. HELENA. 
 
 443 
 
 cessively to the church of S. Spirito in Sassia, 
 and to the Rotonda, it was finally deposited in 
 its present situation in 1605. It was formerly 
 kept under six keys, each of which was in the 
 custody of different families : it is now secured 
 by three keys, one of which is kept by the pope. 
 The frame was given by three Venetians in 1350. 
 I saw this precious relic exhibited at Easter; but 
 the height was so great, where the person stood 
 who displayed it, that nothing satisfactory could 
 be seen : it certainly had the figure of a human 
 countenance. 
 
 S. Helena, as is well known, was mother of 
 the Emperor Constantine, and, as some have 
 laboured to prove, of English birth. Among the 
 rest Baronius asserts this story, making Helena 
 to be daughter of Coel, a British Prince. But 
 Gibbon contradicts it x , and apparently with rea- 
 son. She was canonized for bringing the true 
 cross to Italy from Jerusalem : the history of 
 which event is this. The empress, having a great 
 wish to discover the true cross, made a journey 
 to Jerusalem for that purpose, where there seems 
 to have been a tradition that it had been buried, 
 and the spot was known. Nicephorus Callistns 
 says 7 , that she had a special revelation from 
 God as to the place of its concealment. But 
 according to the Roman breviary her success 
 was not so miraculously obtained. Having con- 
 vened a great number of Jews, and demanded of 
 
 x C. 14. » Lib. viii. c. 26. 
 
444 
 
 TRUE CROSS. 
 
 them the desired information, they refused to 
 impart it ; upon which she threatened to put them 
 to death ; and they at length confessed, that 
 Judas, one of their number, could disclose the 
 secret. He however was equally obstinate, until 
 he had passed several days without food in a 
 dry cistern, where the empress had placed him 
 to break his silence. Hunger at length prevailed 
 over religious obstinacy, and he led the impa- 
 tient empress to the spot. Search was imme- 
 diately made, and three crosses were dug up. 
 Still however they were at a loss to know 
 which was the cross that had borne our Saviour ; 
 for though the superscription was found, it was 
 not attached to any of them. The faith of the 
 empress soon hit upon an expedient. A woman, 
 who laboured under some sickness, was made to 
 touch successively each cross ; two of them pro- 
 duced no effect, but the third cured her. This 
 was of course the true cross. Part of it was 
 put in a silver chest, and left where it was found: 
 the rest with the nails and superscription was 
 sent to Constantine, who was at Rome. He 
 placed one of the nails in the helmet which he 
 wore in battle, and another in the frontlet of his 
 horse : the other came by some means into the 
 possession of the King of France. The dis- 
 covery was made on the third of May, 326, and 
 the event is still commemorated by the Romish 
 church on that day 2 . Fragments of this cross 
 
 1 Vid. Ruffinus, lib. i. c. 8 ; lib. x. c. 20. Socrates, lib. i. 
 c. 17. Sozom. lib. ii. c. 1. 
 
S. ANDREW. S. LONGINUS. 445 
 
 have been dispersed all over Christendom, at 
 least several churches pretend to have portions 
 of it. Indeed as it was said miraculously to 
 increase, to meet the demands of the faithful, we 
 need not be surprised at the multiplied speci- 
 mens of it. 
 
 The head of St. Andrew was sent from Greece 
 to Rome in the time of Pius V. His body 
 (whether headless or no I cannot learn) rests 
 under the choir of the cathedral at Amalphi, 
 which was dedicated to him in 1208, by Cardi- 
 nal Capuano, who brought his remains thither 
 from Constantinople. 
 
 The most extraordinary canonization is that 
 of Longinus, the soldier, who pierced our Sa- 
 viour's side a . Tradition says, that having been 
 baptized by the apostles, he became a monk, and 
 converted great numbers to Christianity in Cap- 
 padocia, where at length he suffered martyrdom 
 under Octavius. This happened at Csesarea. 
 His tongue was cut out and his teeth extracted, 
 notwithstanding which he held a long conference 
 with the Governor ; all which is preserved by 
 the Catholic historians. At length his head was 
 cut off. The inhabitants of Mantua tell a very 
 different story. They maintain, that he preached 
 there, and suffered martyrdom in the second year 
 after Christ's death. It certainly seems to be 
 
 a Perhaps that of the good thief would equal it: for he also 
 is in the catalogue of Romish saints. 
 
446 
 
 S. LONGINUS. 
 
 the orthodox opinion, that his body was found 
 near Mantua in the year 804, and with it a chest 
 containing some of our Saviour's blood. This 
 saint is confounded even by Catholic writers 
 with the Centurion, also christened Longinus, 
 who bore testimony to our Saviour's divinity at 
 the crucifixion. The latter has also been canon- 
 ized, together with two of his fellow-soldiers, who 
 refused the money, with which the chief-priests 
 bribed the guard at the sepulchre. 
 
 The sacred lance, which pierced our Saviour's 
 side, was formerly preserved with this statue, but 
 it is now kept in the general repository for relics 
 over the figure of S. Veronica. In the history of 
 the first crusade under Godfrey de Bouillon, we 
 read, that after the army had taken Antioch in 
 1098, a Provencal or a Lombard clerk, named 
 Peter Barthelemy, saw St. Andrew in a vision, 
 who carried him through the air to the church of 
 St. Peter, and shewed him the very lance which 
 had pierced the side of Christ. Raymond Count 
 of Tholouse embraced the story : search was 
 made under the direction of Barthelemy, and at 
 length he himself descending into the excavation 
 found the precious relic. The sacred lance was 
 carried before the army in battle, and the effect 
 it had upon the soldiers was really miraculous. 
 Still however many were incredulous ; and the 
 unfortunate Barthelemy actually fell a victim to 
 his enthusiasm, being consumed in a fire, to 
 which he voluntarily exposed himself as an or- 
 
SACRED LANCE. 
 
 447 
 
 deal. This event was probably fatal to the 
 lance b . 
 
 That which is preserved in St. Peter's rests 
 upon very different testimony. It is said, that 
 St. Helena, besides finding* the true cross at Je- 
 rusalem, discovered also the iron of the lance, 
 which was carried to Constantinople. It was 
 subsequently divided into two parts : the point 
 was kept in the imperial palace, the other di- 
 vision in the church of St. John of the rock. It 
 seems to be uncertain, whether the division was 
 made by Constantine II. who wished to give the 
 point to Charlemagne ; or whether Baldwin, 
 while he was king of Constantinople, pawned it 
 to the Venetians ; from whom it was recovered 
 by S. Louis, King of France. However in 1492, 
 Bajazet the Second, Sultan of Constantinople, 
 sent the part, which did not contain the point, as 
 a present to Pope Innocent VIII. to induce him 
 not to protect his brother Zizim, who disputed 
 the throne. The Pope sent a solemn embassy to 
 receive it, and for a long time it was preserved in 
 the Vatican. In 1500 it was placed in a magni- 
 ficent chapel, where was the statue of Longinus. 
 But when this chapel was destroyed by Julius II. 
 it was removed to the care of St. Veronica, 
 where it has remained ever since. Benedict XIV. 
 in one of his works c , assures us, that while he 
 was canon of this Basilica, he had the exact 
 
 b Vide Mill's History of the Crusades, vol. i. p. 211. 
 c De Beatific, et Canon iz. IV. p. 2. c. xxxi. n. 13. 
 
448 
 
 S. PETER'S. 
 
 measure of the point sent him from the Chapel 
 Royal at Paris; and that after comparing the 
 two together, they corresponded so exactly, that 
 no manner of doubt could remain as to the iden- 
 tity of the two relics. It should be mentioned, 
 that another lance is preserved in Nuremberg, 
 which makes similar pretensions : but the ortho- 
 dox give the preference to this in St. Peters. It 
 would be curious to trace the pedigree of the 
 Nuremberg lance up to that which was found at 
 Antioch, and for which poor Barthelemy was 
 burnt. 
 
 These relics are exhibited on Good -Friday 
 and other days. No one is allowed to visit the 
 place where they are kept, unless he has the rank 
 of a canon. And those sovereigns or illustrious 
 persons, who have sought this privilege, have 
 first the honorary dignity of canon conferred 
 upon them. 
 
 In each of the upper niches are two twisted 
 columns, apparently of white marble, which are 
 said to have been brought by Titus from the tem- 
 ple at Jerusalem, or, according to some d , from 
 the temple of Diana at Ephesus. Their antiquity 
 is probably considerable ; and Raffael seems to 
 have copied them in his cartoon of the healing 
 of the lame man in front of the temple. The 
 four pillars, which support the Baldacchino, are 
 also taken from them. There were twelve of 
 these twisted pillars in the old church, which 
 
 d Turrigius de Crypt. Vat. 
 
CUPOLA. 
 
 449 
 
 stood in front of the high altar. Two others 
 stand in the chapel of the Holy Sacrament : an- 
 other is in the chapel of the Crucifix, and the 
 twelfth was broken in the removal. Anastasius, 
 in his Life of Gregory III. mentions, that that 
 Pope, in 740, placed six volubiles (or volutiles) 
 columnas round the altar, and that he had them 
 from the exarch Eutychius. Six others were al- 
 ready there. It seems probable, that the pillars 
 in the present church are those mentioned by 
 Anastasius. 
 
 The concave part of the cupola is filled with 
 mosaics, executed in the time of Clement VIII. 
 and on the ceiling of the Lateran is another mo- 
 saic of God the Father. Some of the propor- 
 tions are as follow 6 . From the cornice imme- 
 diately above the pillars to the aperture of the 
 lantern, 170 feet: from thence to the top of the 
 cross 110; which added to the height of the 
 supporters (178) makes the whole distance from 
 the floor of the church to the top of the cross 
 458 feet. The internal diameter of the cupola is 
 140 feet, which is two feet less than that of the 
 dome of the Pantheon. But at St. Peter's there 
 is an inner and an outer wall to the cupola, be- 
 tween which is the staircase: so that the diame- 
 ter of the whole is 195 feet. 
 
 e The dimensions of all the parts of this building may be 
 seen at the foot of the staircase leading up to the cupola. This 
 is probably the most accurate account of all, and as such 1 have 
 followed it. 
 
 G g 
 
450 
 
 S. PETER'S 
 
 The ascent to the top is tolerably easy. It 
 commences by a succession of inclined plains 
 without any steps, up which it is said that a 
 carriage might be driven. From the roof of the 
 church, the cupolas (of which there are six oval 
 and four octangular, besides the great one) give 
 it more the appearance of a town than any thing 
 else, so astonishing is the size. A great crack 
 may be observed in the roof of the nave, which 
 probably took place in the original settling of the 
 building. From hence by different staircases, 
 and at length between the two walls of the cu- 
 pola, we come to the ball, which is said to con- 
 tain sixteen persons, and is 24 feet in circumfe- 
 rence. From the balustrade outside of the ball, 
 it is not difficult to mount to the bottom of the 
 cross by an iron ladder, which is in part quite 
 perpendicular, and perhaps formidable. The 
 cross is 13 feet high. 
 
 Alarm has frequently been felt for the strength 
 and safety of the cupola, and at different times 
 it has been asserted to be about to fall. Between 
 the inner and outer curves several bands of iron 
 may be observed : two of these were affixed 
 when the building was first raised, and the others 
 have been added subsequently. The Marquis 
 Poleni published a work upon the subject, and in 
 the Lettere Pittoriche are some original letters 
 of his, dated 1744. He states, that the bands of 
 iron, which were placed in his time, weighed 
 148407 pounds. The cupola of the Duomo at 
 Florence has cracked even worse than that of 
 
CUPOLA. 
 
 451 
 
 St. Peter's, but no bands of iron have been 
 used. It may be mentioned, that the lead in 
 the cupola is obliged to be considerably re- 
 paired, if not renewed, about every ten years, 
 from the corrosive effect of the Scirocco, which 
 the Greeks and Latins called Euronotus. The 
 heat of the sun is also said to be sometimes so 
 intense, that it almost melts the lead. I have 
 heard it mentioned, as an observation of the late 
 professor Playfair, that this immense building 
 absorbed so much heat during the summer, that 
 it never wholly discharged it throughout the 
 winter: and certainly the warm temperature of 
 this church during the cold weather at Rome is 
 very remarkable. 
 
 S. JOHN LATERAN. 
 
 This holds the second rank, as a Basilica, and 
 it is here that the popes are crowned. Its name 
 is said to be derived from its being built on the 
 site of the palace of Plautius Lateranus, who 
 was named for consul in 65, but was put to 
 death by Nero, for being privy to the conspiracy 
 of Piso f . It has also been called Aurea, from 
 the splendor of its decorations, ami Constanti- 
 niana, from its founder. The buildings to be 
 noticed are the Church itself with the Palace an- 
 nexed, the Baptistery, and the Scala Santa. Of 
 these the Baptistery is the oldest, and is said to 
 
 f Tacitus, An. xv. c. CO. 
 G g 2 
 
452 
 
 S. JOHN LATERAN. 
 
 have been erected by Constantine, when he was 
 baptized by St. Sylvester. 
 
 Guicciardini g , noticing the tradition of Con- 
 stantine having given to Pope Sylvester the city 
 of Rome and other towns and districts of Italy, 
 adds, that so far from this being generally be- 
 lieved, it was argued by some, that all the stories 
 about Constantine and Sylvester were untrue, 
 and that they lived at different times. We know 
 for certain (at least there is no reason to doubt 
 the ecclesiastical histories in this particular) that 
 Pope Sylvester reigned from 314 to 335; and it 
 is equally certain, that Constantine gained his 
 victory over Maxentius in 312, and reigned till 
 337, so that he undoubtedly might have been 
 baptized by Pope Sylvester. The remark of 
 Guicciardini would lead us to carry our scepti- 
 cism too far : and with respect to Constantine' s 
 celebrated donation to the papal see, the argu- 
 ment of the Protestants is surely weakened by 
 denying the two personages to have been con- 
 temporary. For if we can shew, that the em- 
 peror might have given the temporal sovereignty 
 of Rome to the Pope, and yet, notwithstanding 
 his great zeal for Christianity, he did not so be- 
 stow it, this surely makes more against the union 
 of the temporal and spiritual power, than if we 
 labour to prove by dates that they did not live 
 at the same time. With respect to this question, 
 which has excited so much controversy, thus 
 
 * Lib. iv. 
 
CONSTANTINE. 
 
 453 
 
 much is certain, that Constantine and Sylvester 
 were contemporaries : it is also now allowed on 
 all hands, that the pretended deed of donation is 
 spurious. Hincmar Bishop of Rheims is the 
 first to mention it, and he did not write till 850 ; 
 the style is excessively barbarous, and the date 
 is undoubtedly false ; for the year assigned is 
 315, and the deed makes mention of the bap- 
 tism of Constantine as having taken place then ; 
 which is certainly not correct. But what is 
 stronger than all, Rome for a long time after re- 
 mained subject to the Greek emperors, and the 
 popes acknowledged their sovereignty. 
 
 The baptism of Constantine was also once a 
 subject of controversy. Baronius positively 
 asserts, that he was baptized by Pope Sylvester, 
 assigns to it the year 324, and refutes all the ar- 
 guments of those who maintain the contrary. 
 Eusebius however h , who wrote in the following 
 reign, expressly says, that he was baptized for 
 the first time immediately before his death : and 
 this opinion is now entertained by all Protestant 
 writers, and by some Catholics 1 . There was a 
 mosaic in the old church, which represented the 
 circumstance, under which was written, 
 
 Rex baptizatur et leprae sorde lavatur. 
 
 We may now proceed to speak of the Bap- 
 tistery, which is said to have been built by Con- 
 stantine. It is octangular, and ornamented with 
 
 b Life of Constantine, lib. iv. c. 6l. 1 Vide Gibbon, c. 20. 
 G g 3 
 
S. JOHN LATERAN. 
 
 several ancient columns : two of porphyry with 
 the cornice over them are particularly observable 
 at the door, which leads to the Basilica. The 
 interior is certainly curious, and the architecture 
 bespeaks an age, when taste had sadly dege- 
 nerated : but it has not on the whole that appear- 
 ance of antiquity, which I had attached to a 
 building of the fourth century. I have since 
 discovered, that Palladio considered it to be 
 modern, and made of the spoils of ancient build- 
 ings 11 . The font is evidently intended for im- 
 mersion, and occupies a great proportion of the 
 building. Anastasius 1 describes the font as 
 being of porphyry, and covered entirely both 
 within and without with silver, of which the 
 weight was 3008 pounds. In the middle of the 
 font was a column of porphyry. It is only used 
 on the Saturday before Easter, for baptizing 
 Jews or other infidels, who have been converted 
 to Christianity. The custom of having a bap- 
 tistery distinct from the church is to be found in 
 many Italian towns. They are generally round. 
 At Florence and at Pisa baptisms could only be 
 performed in one public font. At Parma also 
 the Baptistery is detached from the Duomo. 
 
 The Basilica, as it now stands, is to be dated 
 from the time of Clement V. as the old church, 
 (said also to have been built by Constantine,) 
 was burnt in 1308. Nicephorus expressly says 1 ", 
 
 k Vide his work upon architecture, lib. iv. c. 16. * Vita 
 Sylvest. m Lib. vii. c. 34, 46. 
 
S. JOHN LATERAN. 
 
 455 
 
 that Constantine built it, and took the spade 
 into his own hands to turn up the soil for a be- 
 ginning. This is commemorated in the morning 
 prayers for the ninth of November. The found- 
 ation was probably about the year 323. Leo HI. 
 about 800 had added very much to the old church, 
 and Sergius III. in 903, almost rebuilt it, as it had 
 suffered by an earthquake ten years before. Se- 
 veral of the succeeding popes added to and orna- 
 mented the new church, which Clement V. began, 
 and the magnificent portico was added by Sextus 
 V. In this is a colossal statue of Constantine, found 
 in his baths. This perhaps should not be called 
 a portico, as there is no projection from the build- 
 ing: but I use the term rather in its ancient sense 
 of a colonnade, extending along the whole front, 
 and forming the entrance to the church. 
 
 Here, as at St. Peters, it might be thought de- 
 sirable, that there had been a projecting portico : 
 but the designs of the two buildings are consi- 
 derably different ; and if we complain of a want 
 of simplicity in St. Peter's, we shall do so much 
 more at the Lateran, where the fondness of the 
 Italian architects for overloading their buildings 
 with ornaments and breaking them into minute 
 parts has been most luxuriantly displayed. Here, 
 as at St. Peter's, some part of the bad effect may 
 be ascribed to the necessity of constructing a 
 balcony for the papal benediction : a recess of 
 this kind in the front of a building is not orna- 
 mental, and other similar niches have been added 
 for the sake of uniformity. On the top are fifteen 
 
 G g 4 
 
4.56 
 
 S. JOHN LATERAN. 
 
 statues of our Saviour and various saints. From 
 the colonnade there are five entrances into the 
 church ; in the middle one is a bronze door, 
 which came from what is called the Temple of 
 Peace in the Forum. That to the right of it is 
 the Porta Santa. 
 
 The interior is divided into five aisles, and in 
 the pillars of the nave are colossal statues of the 
 twelve Apostles, some of which are fine speci- 
 mens of sculpture. The high altar contains the 
 heads of St. Peter and St. Paul. At the altar of 
 the sacrament, in the north transept, are two 
 bronze columns, which are asserted to be the 
 same which Augustus had constructed after the 
 battle of Actium, from the beaks of the enemy's 
 ships, and which Virgil is supposed to allude to, 
 when he says, 
 
 navali surgentes aere columnse. Georg. iii. 29. 
 
 One of the richest chapels in Rome is in this 
 church, that of the Corsini family. The tomb of 
 Clement XII. who reposes here, is formed of a 
 noble antique urn of porphyry, brought from the 
 Pantheon". I have already had occasion to 
 mention, that in the Tribune there are four 
 pointed arches ; and an inscription states, that 
 this part of the church was erected by Nicolas 
 IV. who reigned from 1288 to 1292; so that this 
 must be a portion which escaped the fire in 1308, 
 
 " This is not the only instance of a Pagan sarcophagus being 
 consecrated to the remains of a pope. The tomb of Innocent 
 II. was formerly that of Adrian. 
 
SCALA SANTA. 
 
 457 
 
 and is the oldest part of the whole. Some mo- 
 saics in the concave part of the Tribune are cu- 
 rious from their antiquity, but otherwise ex- 
 tremely rude and ugly. 
 
 The adjoining palace was built by Constantine, 
 and for more than a thousand years the popes 
 made it their residence. Sextus V. rebuilt it in 
 its present magnificent form ; and in 1693 Inno- 
 cent XII. turned it into a hospital for the poor. 
 
 Very near to the Basilica is the Scala Santa. 
 Part of this belonged to the original church, and 
 escaped the fire of 1308. Sextus Y. added the 
 portico and five staircases. It is that in the 
 middle which gives the name to the building. 
 It is said to have been sent from Pilate's house 
 in Jerusalem to Helena, and people are allowed 
 to ascend it only on their knees. It is composed 
 of twenty-eight steps of marble; but they were 
 wearing away so fast from the devotion of the 
 faithful, that long ago they were cased with 
 wood. This covering has been twice renewed, 
 and the third already gives great proofs of the 
 effect of constant attrition. Whoever stops a few 
 minutes near this place may have abundant op- 
 portunities of seeing this operation performed : 
 people of all ranks and ages may be observed 
 ascending : and as it takes about three minutes 
 to complete the task, it must be extremely dis- 
 agreeable and fatiguing. They return by one 
 of the lateral staircases, which, not having the 
 same sanctity as the first, may be descended in 
 the ordinary way. I never passed by the place 
 
458 S. JOHN LATERAN. 
 
 without seeing some persons climbing on their 
 knees, and generally a considerable number. 
 To a Catholic no doubt there is merit in the act 
 itself ; but there is also at the top a very sacred 
 painting of our Saviour to attract his devotion, 
 and to encourage him in the task, besides several 
 relics of peculiar sanctity 0 . As this picture is 
 considered to have claims to being a correct re- 
 presentation of our Saviour, it may be mentioned, 
 that it is five feet eight inches high. It repre- 
 sents our Saviour at the age of twelve, and was 
 begun to be painted by St. Luke, but he found 
 it miraculously finished for him. 
 
 On one of the sides of this building is a cu- 
 rious mosaic, preserved since the time of Leo 
 III. or a little earlier, who commenced his reign 
 in 795. In design, as might be expected, it is 
 extremely rude; but it is valuable from its an- 
 tiquity, and as proving in some degree, if we may 
 argue from this art to that of painting, that in the 
 ninth century the latter art must have been in 
 some state of progress towards the perfection 
 which it afterwards attained. We are not wholly 
 without materials for tracing the history of paint- 
 ing through the darkest ages, and its existence 
 seems never wholly to have ceased. Anastasius 
 tells us, that Pope Symmachus ornamented St. 
 
 0 Of the relics preserved in the church, the most remarkable 
 are, part of the cradle, of the vest without seam, of the barley - 
 loaves and fishes, the table of the last supper, part of the 
 purple robe, and of the reed with which Christ was smitten, 
 
MOSAICS. 
 
 159 
 
 Peters with mosaics, and St. Paul's with paint- 
 ings : he reigned from 498 to 514. We have 
 mention of a painting of the Transfiguration, ex- 
 ecuted at Naples in the time of Justinian, (527- 
 65.) So that under the Goths the art was not 
 wholly extinct; and under their successors, the 
 Lombards, we have still some traces of it. The 
 same Anastasius mentions several churches being 
 ornamented with mosaic work in the seventh and 
 eighth centuries. He also supplies us with more 
 direct evidence as to painting : for, according to 
 him, John VII. (705) had several pictures exe- 
 cuted in the churches of Rome: Gregory 111. 
 (731) ornamented many churches in this manner; 
 and he makes particular mention of a painting in 
 the Lateran in the time of Pope Zacharias (741) 
 and Paul I. (757). Adrian I. (768) also em- 
 ployed painters, and he was the immediate pre- 
 decessor of Leo III. in whose time the mosaic at 
 the Scala Santa was executed. The portraits of 
 the popes in St. Paul's are some of the oldest 
 specimens of painting now existing in or near _ 
 Rome : but on a large scale there is nothing so 
 ancient as some frescos on the wall of a chapel, 
 which stands on the left of the Appian Way. It 
 is called by some a temple of Bacchus, and was 
 dedicated by Urban VIII. to St. Urban L Lanzi 
 thinks them as old as 1011. There is a consi- 
 derable degree of spirit in the designs. 
 
 This mosaic has also been cited with a very 
 different view by the authors of UArt de verifier 
 
4-60 
 
 S. JOHN LATERAN. 
 
 les Dates p y and Muratori k. It represents our 
 Saviour giving the* keys to St. Peter with one 
 hand, and with the other a standard to a 
 crowned prince, bearing the inscription, Con- 
 stantine V. : from which it has been argued, that 
 the authority of the Greek emperors over Rome 
 had not entirely ceased at that time. Constan- 
 tine V. began his reign in 780. 
 
 The Egyptian obelisk, which stands in front of 
 this Basilica, and is the highest in Rome, has 
 been already mentioned. 
 
 S. MARIA MAGGIORE 
 
 is so called, because it was the largest church 
 dedicated to the Virgin. It ranks third among 
 the Basilica?. It is also known by the name of 
 S. Maria ad Nives, from a vision which Pope 
 Liberius and John Patricius had of a miraculous 
 fall of snow, which extended as far as the limits 
 of the present church. This story is represented 
 in one of the chapels. 
 
 Those who express disappointment at the front 
 of St. Peters, and object to the architecture of 
 St. John Lateran, will probably be equally dis- 
 satisfied with S. Maria Maggiore. Without en- 
 tering into a detail of the building, or repeating 
 what perhaps has already been considered im- 
 pertinent in an account of Roman edifices, I 
 cannot help observing, that the whole effect pro- 
 
 p Tom. i. p. 262. q Annali d'ltalia, an. 798. 
 
S. MARIA MAGGIORE. 461 
 
 duced by this church is by no means proportion- 
 ate to the grandeur of its size and the labour of 
 the execution. A building of these dimensions 
 in stone must always command some degree of 
 admiration: but the great difference between the 
 simple architecture of ancient Greece, and the 
 overloaded alterations introduced by modern 
 Italy, is this, that the former does not always 
 forcibly strike the eye at the first view, and 
 sometimes even conveys an idea of heaviness ; 
 but every succeeding examination discloses new 
 beauties; the eye is never weary with contem- 
 plating it, and a perfect recollection of its parts 
 remains upon the memory. The case is very dif- 
 ferent with such buildings as S. Maria Maggiore: 
 at the first approach a great idea of grandeur is 
 raised by such a prodigious edifice : the multitude 
 of parts into which it is divided, and the variety 
 of ornaments, furnish the eye with such a rapid 
 succession of objects for a few minutes, that there 
 is no room for any feeling but that of admiration: 
 but this very abundance of ornaments soon de- 
 stroys the effect, which it had itself raised : for 
 impressions to be lasting, there must be an unity 
 and a distinctness in them ; whatever distracts 
 the attention, prevents the mind from enjoying 
 pleasure ; and whenever we have no definite idea 
 of an object which we have seen, it is impossible 
 that we can be anxious to repeat the contempla- 
 tion of it. Few persons, who have made a sin- 
 gle visit to Psestum, would be unable to give a 
 rough sketch of the temples : after residing some 
 
462 S. MARIA MAGGIORE. 
 
 months in Rome, who could draw from memory 
 the front of S. Maria Maggiore ? 
 
 It was this which made me dissatisfied with 
 this Basilica whenever I passed it, and deters 
 me at present from attempting a description of its 
 architecture. Whether the above remarks may 
 be allowed to be just or no, a narrow brick 
 tower, which rises above the whole, must by all 
 be considered extremely ugly. I should ima- 
 gine it to be a remnant of the former edifice ; but 
 as the whole has been built at various times, it is 
 difficult to assign a date to any particular part. 
 The church is said to be as old as 366, the pon- 
 tificate of Liberius, having been founded by 
 Joannes Patricius : but it has been restored and 
 ornamented by several succeeding popes. Sex- 
 tus III. rebuilt it in 432, and the form of the 
 interior has probably continued the same ever 
 since that time. Eugenius III. added the portico 
 in front, A. D. 1150; and Gregory XIII. repaired 
 it in 1575. Sextus V. and Paul V. contributed 
 much towards the ornaments of the exterior. 
 
 The interior has three aisles, and along the 
 middle one are 36 Ionic pillars of white marble, 
 which have a beautiful effect. They are un- 
 doubtedly ancient, and perhaps came from the 
 temple of Juno Lucina, which stood here. 
 There is a good opportunity at Rome of viewing 
 the three different orders of architecture in an- 
 cient columns appropriated to modern churches. 
 In the one, which we are now describing, we 
 have the Ionic; at St. Paul's there is a double 
 
S. LUKE. 
 
 463 
 
 row of Corinthian pillars, unrivalled in beauty 
 and proportion r ; and at S. Pietro in Vinculis, 
 though the pillars of the nave are not in so per- 
 fect a state as in the two former, we are enabled 
 to admire the simplicity of the Doric. At S. 
 Maria Maggiore the roof will probably be con- 
 sidered as too low, and the effect produced by 
 this double row of Ionic columns is diminished 
 from this cause. The roof itself deserves to be 
 mentioned, as being gilt in 1500 with the first 
 gold which came from Peru, and which was a 
 present from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to 
 the Pope. The mosaics which are over the pil- 
 lars of the nave, and in the tribune, are as old as 
 434. Among the chapels, that of the Borghese 
 family deserves to be examined for the richness 
 of its decorations. 
 
 Over the altar of the Virgin is one of those 
 numerous pictures, which are said to have been 
 the work of St. Luke ; and on the wall near to it 
 may be read a pope's bull, declaring it to be the 
 work of St. Luke the Evangelist, Notwith- 
 standing this high authority, and the notion pre- 
 valent in Italy of St. Luke having been a painter, 
 as well as a physician, it is not now considered a 
 matter of faith. It is allowed by all, who are 
 competent to judge, that the mistake arose from 
 confounding a painter of the twelfth century with 
 the Evangelist. Lanzi himself, an ecclesiastic of 
 
 1 Another series of Corinthian columns may be seen in the 
 church of Ara Cceli, but very inferior in elegance to those of St. 
 Paul's. 
 
464 S. MARIA MAGGIORE. 
 
 high rank, who has so ably written the history of 
 painting, asserts this as undeniable, and ridicules 
 the absurdity of those, who are credulous enough 
 to hold the other opinion. Lanzi had perhaps 
 never seen the pope's bull in Santa Maria Mag- 
 giore. In the church of SS. Domenico and Sisto 
 is another picture of the Virgin, also declared by 
 papal authority to be the work of Luke the 
 Evangelist. The popes are perhaps not infallible 
 as connoisseurs. Montfaucon says', that there 
 are seven paintings with these pretensions in 
 Rome. Dupin and Tillemont, the French eccle- 
 siastical historians, totally reject the notion : but 
 Cave seems inclined to attach some credit to an 
 inscription dug up near the church of S. Maria in 
 Via Lata, where were the words .... una e VII. 
 a B. Luca depictis. The first writer, who at all 
 alludes to St. Luke's professional talent, is Nice- 
 phorus Callisti*, who wrote in the fourteenth 
 century ; which alone is enough to invalidate the 
 notion, if we could otherwise have been so cre- 
 dulous as to entertain it. The academy of 
 painting at Rome is called that of St. Luke, and 
 was founded in 1478. 
 
 In front of this church is one of the handsomest 
 Corinthian pillars any where to be seen. It 
 came from the Temple of Peace in the Forum, and 
 was placed here by Paul V. in 1513. It is 47 
 feet high without the pedestal and capital. Not 
 far from this is another little pillar of very mean 
 
 • Dion. Ital. p. 106. 1 Lib. ii. c. 43. 
 
S. MARIA MAGGIORE. 
 
 465 
 
 architecture, surmounted by a cross, erected in 
 memory of the absolution given by Clement VIII. 
 to Henry IV. of France in 1595, upon his con- 
 version to the Romish religion. Henry IV. him- 
 self had the pillar erected, with this inscription 
 on the principal part of it, In hoc signo vinces. 
 This passed at first for very Catholic, until it was 
 observed, that the part, on which the inscription 
 was placed, is shaped in the form of a cannon ; 
 and that he had really attributed to his artil- 
 lery what they had taken to be addressed to 
 heaven q . 
 
 S. CROCE IN GIERUSALEMME, 
 
 though not the next Basilica in point of size, yet 
 comes next in order, as being within the walls. 
 A church was erected here by Constantine, and 
 in his time this part of Rome was undoubtedly 
 much more inhabited than it is at present. S. 
 Croce now stands quite alone, with no buildings 
 near it. That the case was different formerly is 
 evident from the ruins close to it, one of which 
 has been called the Sessorium, and the church 
 from this cause is styled Basilica Sessoriana. It 
 had its present name from a third part of the true 
 cross being deposited here by Helena. There 
 were also placed here two of the thorns, one of 
 the thirty pieces of silver, the superscription, and 
 part of the cross of the good thief. In the year 
 
 f i Spence's Anecdotes, p. 90. 
 H h 
 
466 
 
 S. CROCE. 
 
 1492 a little chest was found in one of the walls, 
 which contained the inscription : it was in red 
 letters, and much decayed, hiesvs nazarenvs 
 rex ivdaeor. The church was also called in 
 Gierusalemme, because some soil was brought 
 from the holy-land at the same time, part of 
 which was placed underneath the church, and 
 part over the roof. 
 
 It was repaired by Gregory II. who reigned 
 715-31, when it is stated to have been without a 
 roof, and in a great state of dilapidation. It was 
 rebuilt by Lucius II. in 1144, and the facade was 
 added by Benedict XIV. It is small, and in no 
 respect deserving of much attention ; nor should 
 I have mentioned it at all, if it did not bear the 
 rank of a Basilica. It was in this church that 
 the Pope used to consecrate the golden rose, 
 which he sent annually to some sovereign or 
 other great person. Some other relics preserved 
 here are curious ; such as, the finger, which 
 Thomas put into our Saviour's side ; part of the 
 sponge, on which the vinegar was put ; part of 
 the vest without seam ; part of the veil and hair 
 of the Virgin Mary ; some earth from Mount 
 Calvary, stained by Christ's blood ; part of the 
 stone, on which the angel stood when he saluted 
 Mary ; some of the manna; part of Aaron's rod, 
 which budded ; a tooth of St. Peter; part of the 
 stone, where Christ was born ; and some bones 
 of Thomas a Becket. 
 
S. PAUL'S. 
 
 467 
 
 S. PAUL'S. 
 
 The three remaining Basilicse are without the 
 walls. That of St. Paul is much the finest, and 
 would be among the handsomest of the Roman 
 churches, if it were in better condition. Before 
 the Reformation the King of England was pro- 
 tector of it, as the Emperor is of St. Peter's, the 
 King of France of St. John Lateran, and the 
 King of Spain of S. Maria Maggiore. It is about 
 1£ mile out of the Porta S. Paolo, and it is per- 
 haps owing to its situation that it has been so 
 much neglected. There was formerly a portico 
 from the gate to the church, which is now en- 
 tirely removed. Procopius mentions this portico 
 and other buildings contiguous to the church, 
 and says it was distant 13 stadia from Rome. 
 But the interior and exterior present a sad 
 appearance of inattention, and in the midst of 
 our admiration for such a magnificent structure, 
 we are disgusted with the damp and dirt which 
 disfigure it. 
 
 The first thing which struck me in approach- 
 ing it was a series of Gothic windows in the side 
 facing the city ; the only instance of the kind 
 which I had seen about Rome. These have al- 
 ready been mentioned, when it was stated, that 
 they were an addition of the tenth century. I 
 find mention of two periods, when the church 
 underwent considerable repair. Leo III. who 
 
 h h 2 
 
468 
 
 S. PAUL'S. 
 
 reigned from 795 to 816, restored the roof, which 
 had been thrown down by an earthquake, and 
 built the arch near the tribune. In 1138 Inno- 
 cent II. surrounded it with strong walls, as the 
 former ones were in a ruinous condition. In the 
 interior there is no appearance of these windows, 
 as they are completely blocked up, and those 
 which give light to the church are square, in 
 the spaces between the pointed ones. The two 
 exterior aisles are lower than the rest of the 
 church, and evidently of a later date. 
 
 The Basilica itself is in point of antiquity one 
 of the most curious in the neighbourhood of 
 Rome. It was begun by Theodosius in 386, and 
 finished by Honorius in 395 : but there was a 
 Basilica here before, built by Constantine. Ba- 
 ronius 1 quotes an original letter, as still existing, 
 which Valentinianus, Theodosius, and Arcadius 
 wrote to Sallustius, prefect of the city, exhort- 
 ing him to enlarge the church of St. Paul, which 
 had been built by Constantine, but was confined 
 in its dimensions by the road and the river. 
 Some verses of Prudentius deserve to be inserted 
 upon this subject. 
 
 Parte alia titulum Pauli via servat Ostiensis, 
 
 Qua stringit amnis cespitem sinistrum. 
 Regia pompa loci est. Princeps bonus has sacravit arces, 
 
 Clausitque magnis ambitum talentis. 
 
 r At the year 386. 
 
S. PAUL'S. 
 
 469 
 
 Bracteolas trabibus sublevit, ut omnis aurulenta 
 
 Lux esset intus, ceujubar sub ortu. 
 Subdidit et Parias fulvis laquearibus columnas, 
 
 Distinguit illic quas quaternus ordo. 
 Tunc camurus hyalo insigni varie cucurrit arcus : 
 
 Sic prata vernis floribus renident. 
 
 Usg) ^Ti<p. 12, 45. 
 
 The last couplet alludes to a mosaic over the 
 arch of the nave, which is still to be seen. We 
 can have no doubt, that this is the ancient edi- 
 fice, or at least great part of it, from the circum- 
 stance of the pillars in the nave, which I shall 
 shortly mention. The portico was erected by 
 Benedict XIII. and the bronze gate in the 
 middle was cast in 1070, at Constantinople. 
 This front is not made use of at present as an 
 entrance, and can with difficulty be seen. There 
 are some curious mosaics over it. 
 
 The view of the interior would be magnificent 
 beyond description, if it had not been so shame- 
 fully neglected. No church in Rome, except 
 St. Peter's, exceeds it in dimensions, this being 
 260 feet long without the tribune, and 136 wide: 
 and even St. Peter's can produce nothing equal 
 to the forty Corinthian pillars on each side of the 
 nave. These are all the work of ancient Rome, 
 though the antiquaries are not agreed as to the 
 building from whence they came. Some have 
 said, that it was the tomb of Adrian ; but this is 
 certainly not true. Others suppose it to have 
 been the Basilica ^Emilia in the Forum. The 
 
 h h 3 
 
470 
 
 S. PAUL'S. 
 
 pillars are not all of the same marble, and con- 
 sequently not of equal beauty ; but their heights 
 accord, being 52 palms, and as age has made a 
 great impression upon the colour of all of them, 
 the difference is not apparent on a general view. 
 Twenty-four of them are of the marble, called, 
 from its variegated colour, Pavonazzo ; the rest 
 are of Parian marble. Perhaps the marble 
 called Pavonazzo is what Pliny s calls Alabandi- 
 cus, from Alabanda in Caria, where it was found, 
 as well as at Miletus. He calls it black, or rather 
 approaching to purple. He adds, that it could 
 be liquified by fire, and run into glass. I should 
 not hesitate to pronounce these the finest as- 
 semblage of columns which Italy can boast. 
 The interior is divided into five aisles, which con- 
 tain in all eighty pillars, and the whole number, 
 which the church contains, is said to be 138, 
 most of which are ancient. 
 
 The pavement contains several fragments of 
 ancient inscriptions ; but it has evidently been 
 taken up at some time or other, and put down in 
 an irregular manner, without regard to the former 
 position of the stones. This must have been 
 since the time of Sextus V. for the architects 
 employed by him to build St. Peter's, Giacomo 
 della Porta and Fontana, made use of the floor 
 of this church to draw their designs for the cu- 
 pola, there being no other place so convenient 
 
 * Lib. xxxv. c. 13. 
 
POPES. 
 
 471 
 
 for tracing so vast a work. The antiquaries of 
 the present day say, that it was Michael Angelo 
 who made this use of the floor, in order to give 
 the people of Rome an idea of his plan ; but as 
 it is Fontana himself who gives the accounts 
 which have been stated above l , there can be little 
 doubt that the dates and persons have been con- 
 founded. Several curved lines are still to be 
 seen upon the stones, but so broken, and inter- 
 rupted by a subsequent alteration in their po- 
 sition, that little or nothing can be traced of the 
 general design. Over the arch of the nave is a 
 mosaic as old as 440. 
 
 Upon the top of the pillars are portraits of the 
 popes from St. Peter to Pius VII. Though we 
 may not agree with the Catholics as to the au- 
 thenticity of the earliest of this series, yet as being 
 nearly the oldest paintings extant, (I mean with 
 reference to the middle ages, and as preserving 
 likenesses of most if not all the popes since the 
 fifth century, they certainly may be considered 
 valuable. Leo L who began his reign in 461, 
 commenced the series, and had all his predeces- 
 sors up to his own time painted. These I am 
 afraid we must allow to have been works of ima- 
 gination ; but it is reasonable to suppose, that 
 after his time they would be continued by each 
 pontiff; though as it is stated, that S. Symma- 
 chus in 514, and Benedict XIV. in 1740, conti- 
 
 1 Lib. v. c. 16. 
 h h 4 
 
472 
 
 S. PAUL'S. 
 
 nued the work, there may perhaps have been oc- 
 casional interruptions. Perhaps they only re- 
 stored the paintings, which had suffered from 
 time. Many of them are now in a wretched con- 
 dition, and almost entirely defaced. It is sin- 
 gular, that with the predecessor of the present 
 pope the series had in a manner terminated, as it 
 had gone all round the church, and the place ap- 
 pointed for Pius VI. was immediately next to 
 that of St. Peter. It was a saying at Rome, in 
 consequence of this circumstance, that they were 
 to have no more popes: a prediction which seemed 
 at one time very likely to be accomplished. Pius 
 VII. has however recovered the pontifical throne, 
 and having placed his own portrait under that of 
 St. Peter, he has commenced a new series, which 
 may be continued to the same length as the 
 former. 
 
 It is perhaps not generally known, that the 
 Roman Catholics possess in anticipation a list 
 of all the popes who are to reign till the end of 
 the world. A countryman of our own has the 
 merit of having drawn up this prophetic cata- 
 logue. St. Malachy was born at Armagh in 
 1094, and became archbishop of that see in 1127: 
 he resigned his honours in 1135, and, after work- 
 ing many miracles, he died in 1 148 at Clairvaux 
 in France. It may be remarked, that he was the 
 first saint regularly canonized by the Romish 
 Church. Among other proofs of his superna- 
 tural powers, he left a list of all the popes from 
 
POPES. 
 
 473 
 
 Celestin II. 1143, to the end of time. The fact 
 is now pretty well ascertained, that this was an 
 invention of the cardinals assembled in conclave 
 to elect a pope upon the death of Urban VII. in 
 1590. The partisans of Cardinal Simoncelli, af- 
 terwards Gregory XIV. brought forward this list 
 as a prophecy of St. Malachy; and the words 
 which were considered indicative of his election 
 were, " de Antiquitate Urbis," as the Cardinal 
 was a native of Orvieto, the Latin name of which 
 was Urbs Vetus. No mention is made of the 
 existence of such a prophecy till 1600, when it 
 was published by Arnold de Wyon, a Benedic- 
 tine of Douay : and if we look to each prediction 
 and its completion before the time of Gregory 
 XIV. we shall see very clearly, that the framers 
 of it went upon good historical grounds; but 
 after his time the application of the prophecies 
 is extremely forced. To make this clear, I will 
 give the three popes who succeeded each other 
 immediately after the death of St. Malachy, and 
 then the three who followed Gregory XIV. 
 
 1143. Ex castris Tiberis. Celestin II. Born at a castle 
 
 on the Tiber. 
 
 1144. Inimicus expulsus. Lucius II. Of the family of 
 
 Caccianemici 
 in Bologna. 
 
 1 145. Exmagnitudinemontis. EugeniusIII. Of Grandimont 
 
 near Pisa. 
 
 In these cases the agreement is very evident: 
 
474 
 
 S. PAUL'S. 
 
 but in the three cases which immediately fol- 
 low Gregory XIV. there is a striking differ- 
 ence. 
 
 1591. Pia Civitas in Bello. Innocent IX. A native of Bo- 
 
 logna. 
 
 1592. Crux Rom ulea. Clement VIII. Of the Aldo- 
 
 brandini fa- 
 mily, said to 
 be descended 
 from the first 
 Roman Chris- 
 tian : they 
 bear a crossed 
 branch in 
 their arms. 
 
 1605. Undosus Vir. Leo XI. He was tossed, 
 
 as a wave, 
 only reigning 
 26 days. 
 
 The last pope, Pius VI. had the symbol Pere- 
 grinas Apostolicus, which of course was accom- 
 plished by his journey to Vienna. His Holiness 
 now reigning is designated by Aquila rapax ; 
 and though his own character would deserve a 
 much more amiable description, yet the rapacity 
 of the French Eagle has certainly made his his- 
 tory singular among that of all the successors of 
 St. Peter; and it is well if the rapacity of the 
 double eagle of Austria does not make it more 
 so. It is interesting to know, that our country- 
 man did not anticipate more than fourteen popes 
 
POPES. 
 
 475 
 
 from the present time, who are predicted under 
 the following emblems. 
 
 The concluding words of the prophecy are these: 
 " In the last persecution of the holy Roman 
 " Church, Peter of Rome shall be on the throne, 
 " who shall feed his flock in many tribulations. 
 " When these are past, the city upon seven hills 
 44 shall be destroyed, and the awful Judge shall 
 44 judge the people 11 ." 
 
 Under the high altar is preserved the body of 
 St. Paul, which Constantine inclosed in a case 
 of brass, as he had done that of St. Peter. It 
 may be observed, that the ornaments of this altar 
 are in the Gothic style. 
 
 A convent is annexed to the church ; and 
 though the cloisters present a sad spectacle of 
 dirt and neglect, they deserve to be examined 
 for their architecture, and several curious inscrip- 
 tions preserved upon the walls. I shall only 
 copy one of them, without pretending to decide 
 as to its genuineness ; but by the account of its 
 
 " A treatise has been written upon this prophetical catalogue 
 by Menestrier. 
 
 1. Can is et Coluber. 
 
 2. Vir Religiosus. 
 
 3. De Balneis Hetruriae. 
 
 4. Crux de Cruce. 
 
 5. Lumen in ccelo. 
 
 6. Ignis Ardens. 
 
 7. Religio depopulata. 
 
 8. Fides intrepida. 
 
 9. Pastor Angelicus. 
 
 10. Pastor et Nauta. 
 
 11. Flos Florum. 
 
 12. De medietate Luna?. 
 
 13. De Lahore Solis. 
 
 14. De Gloria Olivse. 
 
476 
 
 S. PAUL'S. 
 
 discovery, which is annexed, it would seem that 
 some had believed it to be authentic; and it illus- 
 trates a passage in Suetonius, which I shall also 
 produce. The inscription is this : 
 
 Hoc specus excepit post aurea tecta Neronem, 
 Nam vivum inferius se sepelire timet : 
 
 and under it is written, 6 ' Invent, prope Anienem, 
 " inter Vias Salariam et Nomentanam." Sue- 
 tonius tells us x , that when the emperor was 
 forced to fly from his palace, Phaon, one of his 
 freed men, invited him to his garden, and advised 
 him to hide himself in a cave, from which sand 
 had been dug : but Nero replied, that he would 
 not be buried alive. A place which answers this 
 description has gone by the name of Cisterna 
 Neronis, and is mentioned particularly by Rode- 
 vicus de Gestis Frederici II. 
 
 S. LORENZO. 
 
 About a mile beyond the gate of S. Lorenzo, 
 on the road to Tivoli, is the Basilica which 
 bears this name. Constantine, to whom so many 
 churches are ascribed in Rome, is said also to 
 have erected this in 330. It has also been re- 
 stored by several popes, and finally in 1647 ; so 
 that it is difficult to say how much of the original 
 edifice remains. Great part of it is however un- 
 doubtedly ancient ; and if it be true that there 
 
 * Nero, c. xlviii. 
 
S. LORENZO. 
 
 477 
 
 was a temple of Neptune here, I should be in- 
 clined to ascribe these remains to a period much 
 older than that of Constantine, and to suppose, 
 that instead of building a new church, he conse- 
 crated a Pagan temple. 
 
 The portico consists of six antique Ionic pil- 
 lars, four of which are twisted. These bespeak 
 a taste much inferior to that of the pillars in the 
 body of the church. The tribune is raised above 
 the rest ; and it is this part which I should think 
 the oldest : it contains twelve pillars different 
 from all the others, and for a considerable height 
 above their bases they are buried in the ground. 
 One of them has been dug round to shew the 
 height of the column. There are in all twenty- 
 two pillars, dividing the church into three aisles. 
 Many of these pillars certainly came from other 
 buildings, because their capitals are different. Win- 
 kelmann y thinks that he can trace one of them 
 to the Portico of Octavia, and his observation is 
 certainly ingenious. It is built upon a passage 
 in Pliny 2 , where he tells us, that Saurus and Ba- 
 trachus, two architects of Sparta, built the Por- 
 tico of Metellus, afterwards that of Octavia, and 
 not venturing to put their names upon it, they 
 carved a lizard and a frog in the volutes of the 
 columns. Winkelmann has observed these very 
 emblems in the volutes of one of these Ionic co- 
 lumns; which seems very nearly to demonstrate 
 his conjecture, or at least to prove them to have 
 
 " Vol. ii. p. 589. 2 Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
478 
 
 S. LORENZO. 
 
 been carved by the artists mentioned by Pliny. 
 On the capitals of two other pillars may be ob- 
 served victories at each corner, with trophies 
 between them, which were ornaments of late in- 
 troduction. 
 
 In the nave are two marble pulpits, or ambones, 
 which are only to be seen in the oldest churches 
 of Rome. These ambones are placed on each 
 side of the nave, and from that on the south side 
 the Epistle was read, from the other the Gospel. 
 Anciently the custom seems to have been for 
 there only to be one ambo, in which were two 
 steps : from the higher one the Gospel was read ; 
 from the lower one the Epistle a . Besides the 
 ambones in this church, two are to be seen in 
 St. Clement's, St. Pancrazio, and S. Maria in 
 Cosmedin. In Italy the different sides of the 
 church are frequently expressed by this distinc- 
 tion ; and instead of speaking of the north or 
 south side, they say the Epistle or the Gospel 
 side. Indeed the other mode of distinguishing 
 them could not always be used at Rome, from 
 the circumstance already mentioned of the 
 churches not always standing east and west. 
 
 Some paintings may be seen in this church as 
 old as the thirteenth century. Under the higli 
 altar are preserved the bodies of St. Stephen and 
 St. Laurence. There are also other relics, such 
 as part of our Saviour's tomb; part of the clothes 
 and of the tomb of the Virgin Mary ; and one 
 
 a Vid. Ducange, who derives the word from uyufiulva. 
 
S. LORENZO, 
 
 479 
 
 of the stones with which St. Stephen was 
 stoned. 
 
 The history of St. Laurence is as well attested 
 as that of any of the martyrs, and perhaps we 
 may be more inclined to believe it, because little 
 or nothing is related of his actions before the 
 time of his suffering. St. Ambrose, St. Augustin, 
 St. Isidore, Prudentius, &c. speak of him. He 
 was a native of Osca in Arragon, and went young 
 to Rome. Sextus II. made him an archdeacon; 
 and when that pope was being led to his martyr- 
 dom, he enjoined Laurence to distribute his pos- 
 sessions to the Christians. Being ordered to 
 produce these treasures, he refused ; and after 
 being suspended from the ground, and having 
 plates of hot iron applied to him, he was placed 
 upon a gridiron over a slow fire, which broiled 
 him to death. This happened on the 10th of 
 August, 256. The histories add, that he was 
 buried in some ground belonging to Cyriaca, a 
 widow, who lived on the road to Tibur. 
 
 S. SEBASTIAN. 
 
 The Basilica of S. Sebastian, about two miles 
 out of the gate of that name, is remarkable for 
 nothing but its antiquity and the Catacombs. 
 The father of S. Sebastian is said to have been a 
 native of Narbon, and his mother of Milan. He 
 was tribune of the guard under Diocletian, and 
 converted many to Christianity. That emperor 
 however sentenced him to be shot with arrows, 
 
480 
 
 S. SEBASTIAN'S. 
 
 as is represented in so many pictures. He re- 
 covered from these wounds, but venturing after- 
 wards to reprove the emperor for his crimes, he 
 was beaten to death. 
 
 The present church is not older than 1611. 
 Over the three doors are paintings by A. Ca- 
 racci. The Catacombs or Cemetery of S. Calixtus 
 are under this church, and extend a considerable 
 way. My guide was positive, that they reach as 
 far as Ostia, a distance of 16 miles. This and 
 many other stories told of these Catacombs throw 
 an air of suspicion over their history, and make 
 us inclined to disbelieve the traditions concern- 
 ing them. When it is asserted that 14 popes 
 and 170000 Christian martyrs were buried here, 
 we may reasonably ask, how were the numbers 
 ascertained with such accuracy. But this should 
 not make us doubt the story altogether, of the 
 Christians having first retired into these caves as 
 a place of refuge, and having subsequently used 
 them as cemeteries. The origin of the Cata- 
 combs here and at Naples was most probably 
 the same with those at Paris, which were un- 
 doubtedly excavations for the purpose of pro- 
 curing stone. The material here is much softer 
 than the freestone of Paris, and supplied the an- 
 cient Romans with the earth called Puzzolana. 
 This, which is so abundantly diffused over the 
 neighbourhood of Rome, is generally said to be 
 of Volcanic origin, and is used very largely for 
 making cement. It was known to the ancients, 
 and was called Pulvis Puteolanus, from the cir- 
 
CATACOMBS. 
 
 481 
 
 cumstance of its being found in great quantities 
 near Puteoli (Pozzuoli). Vitruvius mentions it b , 
 and it seems to be his opinion, as it is that of the 
 moderns, that the same cause which produces 
 volcanos, is instrumental in forming this earth 0 . 
 There are two kinds of it, black and red : only 
 the black is found near Naples, but both sorts 
 exist in the neighbourhood of Rome ; and in no 
 other parts of Italy are they found. Some beds 
 of it have been explored 80 palms deep, and 
 new discoveries are constantly being made of 
 ancient excavations. The Puzzolana makes the 
 best cement known, and it has the property of 
 hardening under water. In fact it becomes as 
 hard as the stone itself, if not harder. 
 
 There seems sufficient evidence to induce us 
 to believe, that these subterraneous excavations 
 were used by the Christians to hide themselves 
 in from their persecutors. Eusebius d , speaking 
 of the persecutions in Egypt, represents the go- 
 vernor iEmilianus as saying, that they should 
 not be allowed to hold meetings, nor to enter the 
 places they called Cemeteries. He mentions 
 also c the same prohibition as being ordered by 
 Maximinus. The Cemetery, of which we are 
 
 b Lib. ii. c. 6. 
 
 c We may quote Vitruvius, as preserving the tradition of Ve- 
 suvius having exploded in remote times ; because some have 
 asserted, that the great eruption in the time of Titus was the 
 first. Strabo also, lib. v. alludes to former eruptions. 
 
 d Lib. vii. c. 11. 
 
 * Lib. ix. c, 2. 
 
 i i 
 
482 
 
 S. SEBASTIAN'S. 
 
 now speaking, goes by the name of that of 
 Calixtus, it being constructed by that pope, as 
 we learn from his biographer Anastasius. The 
 same historian relates, that St. Fabian ordered 
 many buildings to be constructed in the Ceme- 
 teries ; and we know from St. Cyprian f , that 
 Sextus and Quartus suffered martyrdom in them. 
 The Christians appear never to have adopted the 
 Roman custom of burning the dead : Macrobius 
 indeed tells us ff , that in his time, i. e. at the end 
 of the fourth century, the custom of burning the 
 dead was entirely left off ; and as burial within 
 the walls was prohibited, they naturally had 
 recourse to those places, which had served as a 
 retreat and refuge for the living. For we have 
 evidence, that the bodies of Christians were 
 sometimes disturbed and disinterred by their 
 heathen enemies. This custom conferred an ad- 
 ditional sanctity upon the Catacombs ; and the 
 religious veneration paid to relics is to be traced 
 to this necessity of the living and the dead being 
 brought so closely into contact. 
 
 Jerom, in his commentary upon Ezekiel h , tells 
 us, that while he was pursuing his studies at 
 Rome, he was accustomed to go on Sundays 
 with others of the same age and pursuits to visit 
 the sepulchres of the apostles and martyrs. 
 They frequently entered the Crypts, which were 
 dug deep in the earth, and had on each side the 
 bodies of the dead laid in the walls, and there 
 
 1 Epist. 80. * Saturn, lib. vii. c. 7. 11 C. 40. 
 
CATACOMBS. 
 
 483 
 
 was seldom any light admitted from above to 
 mitigate the gloomy horror of the place. When 
 Christianity became the established religion, the 
 bodies of the martyrs came to be removed into 
 more dignified places, and hence arose the cus- 
 tom of burying within the walls of churches *• 
 Baronius mentions k the Cemetery of Priscilla 
 being discovered in his time near the Via Latina; 
 and his description may be applied to all the 
 rest. He says, " it was quite a subterraneous 
 " city : at the entrance was a principal street 
 " wider than the rest, and on each side were 
 " several other streets, which again branched off 
 " into lanes and allies. There were fora, as in 
 " cities, and more open spaces for religious meet- 
 " ings, which were ornamented with pictures of 
 " saints and apertures for light." Perhaps we 
 may also deduce from these Cemeteries the cus- 
 tom of having Crypts, or subterraneous churches, 
 under the others. In these places near Rome, 
 and wherever the early martyrs had suffered, it 
 was very natural that places of worship should 
 afterwards be erected over them ; and other 
 countries perhaps adopted the same form, and 
 ascribed a peculiar sanctity to the lower church, 
 in which their own dead were deposited. 
 
 That these Catacombs were used as burial- 
 places, we may prove by the evidence of our own 
 
 i A description of these Cemeteries may be seen in Prudentius' 
 Hymn. xi. 153. 
 k Ad An. 130. 
 
 I i 2 
 
484 
 
 S. SEBASTIAN'S. 
 
 eyes. The earth has been cut into a variety of 
 tombs, and several bones have been found. 
 There is also great proof, that service was per- 
 formed here by those unhappy men, who were 
 prohibited the open profession of their religion in 
 the face of day. This is more observable in the 
 Catacombs at Naples, where even some paintings 
 may be traced, which ornamented the chapels. 
 I do not wish to enquire into what particular 
 means the Catholics possess of ascertaining the 
 name of any saint discovered here, nor whether 
 Sebastian was or was not among the sufferers : 
 but surely we may pardon a little superstition in 
 others, and indulge a little veneration ourselves 
 for that spot, which preserved the early professors 
 of our religion, and perhaps our religion itself, 
 from destruction; and in treading the ground 
 which was stained by their blood, and which 
 preserves their remains even to our own days, we 
 may surely cherish their memory without a 
 crime ; and while we grieve for those, who 
 would pay them religious adoration, we may 
 perhaps feel a little compunction at the coldness 
 of our own faith, and animate our devotion by 
 their example. 
 
 In the church is shewn the measure of our 
 Saviour's two feet upon a stone, the history of 
 which is connected with the little church called 
 jDomine, quo vadis ? between this Basilica and 
 the city. It is said, that St. Peter, being on his 
 *way from Rome, met our Saviour at that spot, 
 and addressed him in these words, Domine, (juo 
 
CHURCHES. 
 
 485 
 
 vadis? Lord, whither art thou going? From 
 which circumstance a church was built with that 
 name ; and the outline of our Saviour's feet, as 
 he stood there, being taken, has been preserved 
 ever since in this Basilica. 
 
 With respect to the other churches, which 
 rank after the seven Basilica?, it is by no means 
 my intention to write an itinerary of Rome, nor 
 to notice every object which would interest a 
 stranger. I wish only to detail those points 
 which are more peculiarly worthy of his observa- 
 tion, and particularly where any thing in their 
 history is curious and entertaining. Many 
 churches command admiration from the splendor 
 of their decorations, but I shall not take up the 
 reader's time in describing these; nor must a 
 catalogue of the paintings and statues, which are 
 to be found in them, be expected from me. 
 Some of the works of art I shall occasionally 
 notice, but not merely to expatiate upon their 
 beauties. Having premised these remarks, I 
 shall proceed to select some of the churches, 
 which may be considered interesting from their 
 antiquity, or the objects contained in them. 
 
 It is perhaps impossible to say, which is the 
 oldest church in Rome. That the Christians had 
 places of worship very early within the city, 
 seems clearly proved ; and a century before the 
 time of Constantine, Calixtus L is said by his 
 biographer Anastasius to have built a Basilica* 
 to the Virgin, during the reign of Severus. 
 These places of worship would of course be more 
 
 i i 3 
 
486 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 or less public, according as the emperors were 
 inclined to persecution or toleration : but Nice- 
 phorus plainly indicates 1 , that large churches 
 were erected in great number ; and from another 
 passage" 1 , where he says, that Constantine, after 
 he defeated Maxentius, hastened to restore the 
 churches of God, and to enrich them with pre- 
 sents, it is evident that such buildings had 
 existed previous to the emperor's conversion to 
 Christianity. The same also appears from the 
 letter of Constantine to Eusebius, exhorting him 
 to further the enlarging or rebuilding of existing 
 churches". S. Felix is said to have erected a 
 Basilica in the Via Aurelia, and he died A. D. 
 274, in the time of Aurelian. Many pious peo- 
 ple also consecrated their houses to religious 
 purposes. 
 
 If in describing the churches of Rome, we 
 should proceed in the order of their age, those 
 should be mentioned first, which are actually 
 ancient buildings converted into churches. Of 
 these St. Theodore would claim our first atten- 
 tion, if we believe the story, that it is the temple 
 erected by Tatius to Romulus. This church 
 stands at the southern extremity of the Forum, 
 under the Palatine Hill, is of a round form, and 
 the brazen wolf, which is now in the Capitol, 
 was certainly preserved here till the sixteenth 
 century. But this last fact, though much in- 
 sisted on by Venuti, and perhaps sufficient to 
 
 1 Lib. vii. c. 2. m C. 30. 
 
 n This is proved by Ciampini Vet. Mon. part i. c. 17. 
 
S. THEODORE. 
 
 487 
 
 prove it of considerable antiquity, is surely of no 
 authority to demonstrate this to be the original 
 building. The roof is unquestionably modern, 
 nor is there any thing to a common eye which 
 bespeaks peculiar antiquity. In Spence's Anec- 
 dotes 0 we may find another argument in favour 
 of its antiquity : he says, that the Roman ma- 
 trons of old used to carry their children when ill 
 to the temple of Romulus ; and the women still 
 carry their children to S. Theodore on the same 
 occasions. He adds, that the priests very wisely 
 pray, that he would be so good as either to cure 
 him, or to take him to himself. The former part 
 of the story is confirmed by Pancirolli. The in- 
 terior is perfectly plain. On the outside by the 
 door is an old altar, on which an inscription 
 says, that profane incense once burned. It is 
 not known when it was converted into a church ; 
 Adrian I. in 774 repaired it ; and it is said by 
 Platina, that Nicolas V. entirely rebuilt it in 
 1450. 
 
 The front of S. Adriano in the Forum is an- 
 cient, and said to have been part of the Basilica 
 of Paulus iEmilius, which would carry us back 
 to the time of the Republic. S. Lorenzo in 
 Miranda, at the north-east angle of the Forum, 
 was formerly the temple of Antoninus and 
 Faustina. S. Bernardo was one of the round 
 buildings which formed the four corners of the 
 Baths of Diocletian. The Certosa, or S. Maria 
 
 9 P. 89- 
 i i 4 
 
488 
 
 S. CLEMENT. 
 
 degli Angioli, also belonged to the same baths. 
 S. Cosmo and Damiano near the Forum pre- 
 serves as a vestibule the ancient temple of 
 Remus. 
 
 These and other churches should be men- 
 tioned first, if we adhered strictly to the order of 
 time; but many of them come more properly 
 under the head of antiquities ; and when I speak 
 of the earliest Christian churches as being in- 
 teresting objects, I speak with reference to early 
 Christian customs, and not to the other antiquities, 
 which they have accidentally been the means 
 of preserving. 
 
 In the road from the Colosseum to the Lateran 
 may be seen one of the oldest churches in Rome, 
 S. Clement, and according to an inscription in it, 
 the only one which preserves the form of the 
 ancient Basilica. Many however are very like 
 it, except that there is an inclosure of marble 
 round the altar, (imitated from the Cella of the 
 Pagan temples,) and two marble ambones or 
 pulpits. In other respects it is much the same 
 with all the old churches in Rome ; that is, it is 
 divided into three aisles, and has a semicircular 
 tribune or recess behind the altar. Sixteen pil- 
 lars of different marbles seem all to have been 
 taken from some ancient building. On the stone 
 over the principal entrance (but not that which 
 is commonly used from the street) in the inside 
 is sar. divi. nervae. fil. The tesselated pave- 
 ment also seems extremely ancient. The frescos 
 by Masaccio, (who died in 1443,) in the Chapel 
 
S. MARIA IN COSMEDIN. 489 
 
 della Passione, are considered valuable as spe- 
 cimens of the art in that early age. They have 
 lately been retouched, which was perhaps neces- 
 sary to make them at all discernible, but has 
 considerably destroyed the interest raised by 
 them. Tradition says, that the house of Cle- 
 ment, the fellow-labourer of St. Paul, and third 
 pope, was on this spot : his body also is said to 
 repose under the altar. Whether he suffered 
 martyrdom or no is not certain. The fact is not 
 mentioned by Irenaeus; and Rufinus and Pope 
 Zosimus, who place him in the catalogue, lived 
 in the fifth century. He has however a place in 
 the calendar, and his day is observed on the 
 23d of November. He was pope for nine years 
 and a half, beginning from the year 67. Gregory 
 of Tours relates many stories of his life, which 
 are evidently false. 
 
 Another very good specimen of the ancient 
 church may be seen in S. Maria in Cosmedin. 
 It is also called S. M. a Scuola Greca, because a 
 school for teaching the Greek language was for- 
 merly kept here. Pancirolli derives its other 
 name of Cosmedin from the same circumstance, 
 as if it implied the good order which was pre- 
 served there. It was built by S. Dionysius, who 
 was pope in 261. Stephen II. in 752, first esta- 
 blished some Greeks here, who were driven from 
 the east by Constantine Copronimus for worship- 
 ping images and saints. Adrian 1. and Nicolas I. 
 added much to it. 
 
 It has still another name, Bocca della Verita, 
 
490 S. MARIA IN COSMEDIN. 
 
 from an old stone placed near the entrance, in 
 the middle of which is a mouth. This was an- 
 ciently used as a kind of ordeal : the suspected 
 person put his hand into the mouth, and if he 
 was able to draw it out again, he was innocent. 
 The church is said to stand upon the site of a 
 temple to Pudicitia Patricia. By ascending a 
 staircase some fine capitals may be seen of an- 
 cient columns, which were retained in the pre- 
 sent building, but completely inclosed in ma- 
 sonry. 
 
 The church of Ara Celi deserves particular 
 mention, from the venerable appearance of the 
 building itself, and from the edifice to which it 
 has succeeded. The Temple of Jupiter Fere- 
 trius, built by Romulus, is supposed to have 
 stood on the site of this church. It was here 
 that the Spolia Opima were deposited. Not a 
 vestige remains of this temple, except some of 
 the foundations, which cannot easily be distin- 
 guished from those of other buildings, and per- 
 haps some of the internal ornaments were appro- 
 priated to the modern edifice. Pancirolli ex- 
 plains the origin of the name of Ara Celi, but his 
 explanation has something of the fabulous in it. 
 He tells us, that Augustus, having asked of the 
 oracle at Delphi who would succeed him in the 
 empire, received this answer : 
 
 Me Puer Hebraeis Divos Deus ipse gubernans 
 Cederc sede jubet tristemquc redire sub Orcum ; 
 Aris ergo dchinc tacitus abscedito nostris. 
 
ARA CELL 
 
 491 
 
 A ugustus in consequence raised an altar on this hill, 
 with the inscription Ara primogenito Dei. Tra- 
 dition preserved the memory of the precise spot, 
 and placed it not far from the present high altar. 
 Anacletus, in 1130, (though he was antipope,) 
 surrounded it with four pillars; and in 1603 it 
 was farther ornamented, from whence this chapel 
 got the name of Ara Celi. The ascent to the 
 church is by a flight of 124 marble steps, con- 
 structed in 1348 by the alms of the faithful after 
 the great plague, which Boccaccio has so well 
 described as afflicting Florence in that year. 
 Pancirolli says, that they were placed here by a 
 senator of the name of Ottone of Milan, who 
 used the marble from an ancient temple of Ro- 
 mulus, near the Porta Salara. Some devout per- 
 sons ascend these steps on their knees, like those 
 of the Scala Santa at the Lateran ; and it is sin- 
 gular that Caesar and Claudius are both recorded 
 to have mounted to the capital on their knees, 
 when going to return thanks in the Temple of 
 Jupiter Capitolinus 0 . On the left of this ascent 
 are to be seen the foundations already mentioned, 
 part of which was destroyed in 1819, in pre- 
 paration for a fete given to the Emperor of 
 Austria. 
 
 The date of this church does not seem accu- 
 rately known, but it is evidently extremely old, 
 and wholly devoid of elegance or ornament on 
 
 0 Dio, lib. xliii. 
 
492 S. PIETRO IN VINCOLI. 
 
 the outside. The interior is exceedingly curious, 
 and presents little else but an assemblage of 
 fragments from various ancient edifices. The 
 floor is one mass of mosaic, apparently of the 
 rarest antique stones, and become exceedingly 
 uneven from age. The nave contains twenty-two 
 pillars, uniform only in their antiquity. Some are 
 of granite, others of different materials, and the 
 capitals, which have been gilt, by no means cor- 
 respond. On one of them is this inscription, 
 
 A CVBICVLO AVGVSTORVM. 
 
 S. Pietro in Vincoli is very old; at least part 
 of it is so. Tradition makes it to have been 
 founded by Eudoxia, wife of the Emperor Valen- 
 tinian, as stated below. An inscription in this 
 church makes it to have been repaired by S. Pe- 
 lagius in 555. There is a mosaic of S. Sebastian 
 in one of the side aisles, which was executed in 
 the seventh century. In the year 680 Pope 
 Agatho made use of this mosaic to avert a 
 dreadful pestilence, which had raged in Rome 
 for three months p . It is remarkable, that the face 
 of the saint is here represented as that of an old 
 man, contrary to the usual paintings. The pil- 
 lars of the nave are ancient, and of the Doric 
 order, but not very fine specimens of that simple 
 style. This church has its name from the chain 
 being preserved here with which St. Peter was 
 bound at Jerusalem. It was sent from thence 
 
 r Baronius, ad an. 680. 
 
MOSES. 
 
 493 
 
 to Eudoxia, the wife of Valentinian, by her mo- 
 ther Eudocia, who delivered it to Pope Leo ; 
 and soon by a special miracle it united itself to 
 another chain, which had bound the apostle at 
 Rome. Eudoxia in consequence founded this 
 church. Strangers will find it in vain to ask for 
 a sight of this precious relic. 
 
 The chief object of attraction here is the statue 
 of Moses, by Michael Angelo, which some have 
 exalted as the chef-d'ceuvre of that great sculptor, 
 while others have abused and ridiculed it. It 
 forms part of the tomb erected to Julius II. This 
 pontiff invited M. Angelo to Rome soon after 
 his succession in 1503. For some months the 
 great sculptor employed himself in meditating 
 the plan, without taking the chisel into his hands; 
 and when at length he submitted the magnificent 
 design to the Pope, he approved of it beyond 
 measure, and is said to have been instigated by 
 the grandeur of it to undertake the rebuilding of 
 St. Peters. Several statues and other ornaments 
 were to have formed appendages to the tomb; 
 but the figure of Moses was the first finished. 
 The impatient temper of Julius was provoked at 
 the delay, which so vast a work necessarily 
 caused ; and Michael Angelo finding the Pope 
 become colder towards him, and not having the 
 money or materials supplied so liberally as he 
 wished, he abruptly left the work, and went to 
 Florence. The Pope was now really mortified, 
 and even sent a letter to the magistrates of Flo- 
 rence, requesting them to pacify M. Angelo, and 
 
494. 
 
 S. PIETRO IN VINCOLI. 
 
 induce him to return. A letter, dated July 8th, 
 1506, is still extant q , and is as follows : 
 
 44 Julius P. P. II. Dilectis filiis Prioribus Li- 
 " bertatis, et Vexillifero Justitiae populi Floren- 
 44 tini. 
 
 u Dilecti filii, salutem et Apostolicam Bene- 
 44 dictionem. Michael Angelus Sculptor, qui a 
 44 nobis leviter et inconsulte decessit, redire, ut 
 <c accepimus, ad nos timet, cui nos non succen- 
 " semus; novimus hujusmodi hominum ingenia. 
 V Ut tamen omnem suspicionem deponat, devo- 
 " tionem vestram hortamur, velit ei nomine no- 
 44 stro promittere, quod si ad nos redierit, illsesus 
 44 inviolatusque erit, et in ea gratia Apostolica 
 44 nos habituros, qua habebatur ante decessum. 
 
 44 Datum Romae, 8 Julii 1506 : Pontificatus 
 44 nostri anno HI," 
 
 M. Angelo complied with this humble petition 
 of the sovereign pontiff : the reconciliation took 
 place at Bologna, and in 1508 he returned to 
 Rome. He then continued for a while the exe- 
 cution of the tomb, but Julius called him very 
 reluctantly from this work to decorate the Sistine 
 chapel. In 1513 Julius died, and Leo X. who 
 succeeded him, called M. Angelo off from his 
 favourite work of the tomb, to rebuild the church 
 of S. Lorenzo at Florence. The consequence of 
 this was, that during the pontificate of Leo, the 
 
 q Published in the Lettere Pittoriche, vol. iii. p. 320. 
 
MOSES. 
 
 495 
 
 monument of Julius remained almost untouched, 
 but upon that Pope's death it was again resumed. 
 The original design however was never executed ; 
 the statue of Moses was alone erected upon the 
 tomb, and it was not placed in the Basilica of 
 St. Peter, but in S. Pietro in Vincoli. 
 
 The question is very naturally asked, why such 
 a figure should be introduced at all. But this 
 ought not to interfere with the merits or de- 
 merits of the statue ; we may censure the sculp- 
 tor's taste for making it form part of a sepulchral 
 monument, but having done that, we should sub- 
 mit the execution alone to the test of criticism. 
 Opinions must be ever variable upon works of 
 art; and it is only with such a production as the 
 Apollo Belvedere, that persons should not ven- 
 ture to express any disappointment. But the 
 Moses of M. Angelo has been so often criticised 
 and so often abused, that there is no great pre- 
 sumption in stating some objections to it, or 
 rather in repeating them, for they have struck 
 thousands of persons before. In the first place, 
 he is sitting down, or, as some say, preparing to 
 rise, the effect of which is not dignified : he is 
 besides brought so near, that the colossal size 
 makes him look more like a savage than any 
 thing else. The prodigious quantity of drapery 
 adds to the heaviness, and his beard is quite a 
 caricature. The horns also have been introduced, 
 which even in painting seldom look well, and 
 amount almost to an absurdity in sculpture : 
 from the circumstance of the horns and the 
 
496 S. PIETRO IN VINCOLL 
 
 beard, the statue has by some been said to re- 
 semble Pan or a Satyr more than Moses. There 
 is however a fine expression in the whole, and 
 one thing at least would be allowed by all, that 
 it is the work of a great sculptor. No common 
 artist could ever have conceived such a work. 
 There is a celebrated sonnet composed by Gio- 
 vambattista Zappi upon this subject : 
 
 Chi e costui, che in dura pietra scolto 
 Siede gigante, e la piu illustre e conte 
 Prove delP arte avanza, e ha vive e pronte 
 
 Le labbia si, che le parole ascolto ? 
 
 Quest' e Mose : ben mel diceva il folto 
 
 Onor del mento, e'l doppio raggio in fronte ; 
 Quest* e Mose, quando scendea del monte, 
 
 E gran parte del Nume avea nel volto. 
 Tai era allor, che le sonante e vaste 
 
 Acque ei sospese a se d'intorno, e tale 
 
 Quando il mar chiuse, e ne fe tomba altrui. 
 E voi, sue turbe, un rio vitello alzaste ? 
 
 Alzate aveste imago a questo eguale ! 
 Ch'era men fallo Padorar costui. 
 
 What living form in solid marble bound 
 Sits here gigantic, while each stretch of art 
 Springs into being? — hark — there seems to start 
 
 Forth from those living lips no fancied sound : 
 
 *Tis He — his brow with forked radiance crown'd, 
 His beard's full flowing honours speak his name; 
 'Tis Moses — thus from off the mount of flame 
 With godlike light encircling him he came. 
 
 Such was his form, when huge and roaring waves 
 Stood self-supported round him ; thus he bade 
 The sea to close and form a nation's tomb. 
 
S. PUDENTIANA. 
 
 497 
 
 And did ye raise a molten calf, ye slaves ? 
 Had your vain idol been like this array'd, 
 
 To worship such were light, and lighter were your 
 doom. 
 
 The church of S. Pudentiana stands on the 
 site of the house of S. Prudentius, who was con- 
 verted to Christianity by St. Peter, with his 
 two sons Novatus and Timothy, and his two 
 daughters Pudentiana and Prassede. St. Peter 
 lived in this house from the second year of Clau- 
 dius to the ninth. He left it when the edict 
 was issued for all Jews to quit Rome, which is 
 mentioned in Acts xviii. 2. It was here that he 
 superintended the Gospel of St. Mark, and upon 
 going away he gave to his host a portrait of our 
 Saviour, which is still preserved in the church of 
 S. Prassede. When he returned to Rome with 
 St. Paul, A. D.63, he again lodged with Pudens; 
 and St. Paul mentions him in 2 Tim. iv. 21. 
 Some commentators make the third Satire of 
 Juvenal allude to the meetings held in this house. 
 A church was built here by S. Pius I. in 144, 
 but how much of the present building or whether 
 any of it be of that date, I could not learn. The 
 fourteen pillars, which divide it into three aisles, 
 are perhaps the same which were erected then, and 
 seem to have been taken from some older build- 
 ing. In the chapel to the right of the choir is 
 the very altar on which St. Peter celebrated the 
 mass. In the chapel of the Gaetani family is a 
 well, in which S. Pudentiana put the blood of 
 
 k k 
 
498 
 
 S. MARIA DEGLI ANG10LI. 
 
 the martyrs, who are buried in this church to the 
 number of 3000! A notice may be seen here, 
 that all persons who visit this church every day 
 have an indulgence of 3000 years, and a remis- 
 sion of half their sins. 
 
 In point of grandeur and beauty, few churches 
 have pleased me more than the Certosa, or S. 
 Maria degli Angioli. It was a vast room, by 
 some called a picture-gallery, in the baths of Dio- 
 cletian, and converted into a church in 1561 by 
 Pius IV. upon the designs of Michael Angelo : 
 he formed it into a Greek cross, a shape which 
 has been already praised as one particularly 
 adapted to give an idea of extent and magnifi- 
 cence of proportion. As the floor suffered from 
 damp, he raised it, by which means the eight 
 granite columns belonging to the ancient edifice 
 lost part of their height, and new bases were put 
 of marble. In 1749 it underwent a great change, 
 but the form of the Greek cross was still pre- 
 served, and eight pillars were added of brick to 
 resemble the others. The imitation is extremely 
 good. The original ones of granite are prodi- 
 giously fine, each being a solid mass of 46 feet 
 in height: the diameter of four of them is 4 feet 
 2 inches, (French :) of the other four, 4 feet 4 
 inches. The capitals of the former are Corin- 
 thian, of the latter Composite. The cross is 298 
 feet in length either way, and the height is 91. 
 The entrance is by a circular vestibule, likewise 
 belonging to the ancient baths, which as well as 
 the church of S. Bernardo was one of the round 
 
CHIESA NUOVA. 
 
 499 
 
 buildings which stood at each of the four 
 corners. Carlo Maratta and Salvator Rosa are 
 buried here. The pictures are some of the best 
 in Rome. Many of them, as has been already 
 mentioned, were painted for St. Peter's, and re- 
 moved hither. The Martyrdom of S. Sebastian 
 is one of the finest works of Domenichino, 
 The Baptism of Jesus Christ, by Carlo Maratta ; 
 the Conception of the Madonna, by P. Bianchi ; 
 the Fall of Simon Magus, by Pompeo Battoni ; 
 came from St. Peters, and are all excellent. In 
 1701 a meridian line was drawn on the floor by 
 M. Bianchini. 
 
 La Chiesa Nuova, or S. Maria in Vallicella, 
 deserves an early mention, as being one of the 
 largest and handsomest churches in Rome. It 
 was built in 1577, and has its name from an old 
 church, which stood here in a low situation. 
 Some of the pictures are good, but the light is 
 not favourable for seeing them. The ceiling and 
 cupola were painted by Pietro da Cortona. The 
 church was built by S. Filippo Neri, whose 
 house or a part of it is still shewn annexed to the 
 church : his confessional, his bed, and his shoes, 
 are among the objects shewn. S. Filippo Neri 
 is a saint of comparatively modern times ; it not 
 being above 225 years since he died. He was 
 born at Florence, July 23d, 1515, and sent to 
 Naples as a merchant ; but disliking his profes- 
 sion, he went to Rome, and at the age of 38 
 became priest. He was celebrated for devo- 
 tional exercises, and passed forty hours succes- 
 
 k k 2 
 
500 CHURCH OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 sively in prayer. The congregation of the Oratory 
 was founded by him ; and as music was particu- 
 larly used in their solemnities, the term oratorio 
 came to express compositions of sacred music. 
 Oratorios are still performed during Lent in this 
 church, at which no females can be present. 
 Neri also encouraged Baronius to write his cele- 
 brated Annals. He died in 1595, and was canon- 
 ized in 1622. 
 
 The church of the Holy Apostles in the Piazza 
 of that name is also a fine structure. Some fall- 
 ing angels on the ceiling over the tribune are 
 wonderfully painted. There is a fine tomb of 
 Clement XIV. by Canova. 1 saw also an in- 
 scription to Maria Clementina, Queen of England, 
 i. e. wife of the Pretender ; 
 
 Hie Clementina? remanent prsecordia, nam cor 
 Caelestis fecit, ne superesset, amor. 
 
 Her bothy reposes in St. Peter's. 
 
 S. Maria sopra Minerva is so called from being 
 built upon the ruins of the temple of Minerva, 
 which Pompey erected after his conquests in 
 Asia. Poggio, in his work upon the Mutability 
 of Fortune, tells us, that some pillars and other 
 remains of this temple were destroyed to make 
 lime not long before his time, that is, in the four- 
 teenth century. The church is unfinished on the 
 outside, but the interior is handsome. The most 
 celebrated work in it is the statue of our Saviour, 
 by Michael Angelo. It is not often that this 
 
S. MARIA SOPRA MINERVA. 501 
 
 subject has been treated in sculpture ; and per- 
 haps it were better if the representation of his 
 person were confined to painting. However there 
 is nothing irreverent in the effect produced by 
 M. Angelo in the work before us. It is de- 
 servedly reckoned amongst his finest and most 
 successful efforts. One foot is covered with 
 brass, that it may not be worn away by the kisses 
 of the faithful. Leo X. is buried here, behind 
 the altar. An Englishman also will observe, not 
 far off, the tomb of Ph. Th. Howard Cardinal, 
 " Magnae Britanniae Protector." He died May 
 21, 1694. The best library in Rome for printed 
 books belongs to the Dominican convent here : 
 it does not however seem to possess many of a 
 modern date. Any stranger may enter without 
 introduction, and ask for any book : a pleasing 
 instance of liberality, which is frequent on the 
 continent, and might be oftener imitated in our 
 own country. 
 
 S. Andrea della Valle has a handsome front* 
 and the interior is also extremely fine. The cu- 
 pola is painted by Lanfranco, and is reckoned 
 the most beautiful in Rome. At the four angles 
 of it are the Evangelists by Domenichino, which 
 surprised and pleased me as much as any paint- 
 ings I ever saw. It is curious to find so learned 
 a man as S. Jerom giving the following reason 
 for the four beasts mentioned by Ezekiel 1 being 
 represented together with the four Evangelists, as 
 
 'C. i. 5—10. 
 
 k k 3 
 
502 
 
 & ANDREA DELLA VALLE. 
 
 they are in this church. He says, that the face 
 of the man was given to St. Matthew, because he 
 begins his Gospel by writing of man, " Liber Ge- 
 " nerationis Jesus Christi, &c." The lion was 
 applied to St. Mark, because he begins with the 
 voice of a lion roaring in the wilderness. St. 
 Luke has the ox, because his Gospel commences 
 with mention of Zacharias the priest. The flying 
 eagle represents St. John, because he soars higher 
 than the other Evangelists, and discourses of the 
 word of God. The ceiling of the tribune, repre- 
 senting the call of Peter and Andrew, is also by 
 Domenichino, which is now much admired ; but 
 he himself could not bear to look at the work 
 when finished, as we learn from a letter in the 
 collection already noticed". The sentence is to 
 this effect: " Is not the tribune of S. Andrea 
 " della Valle one of the finest things existing in 
 H fresco ? and yet there was an idea of sending 
 " the masons with their hammers and pulling it 
 M down, so poor did it appear, when he threw it 
 " open to the public; and as he was passing by 
 " the church, he (Domenichino) stopped with 
 " his scholars to look at it, and shrugging up his 
 " shoulders he said to them, Well! I did not 
 " think that I had worked so ill as this." 
 
 In S. Carlo ai Catinari may be seen similar 
 paintings at the angles of the cupola, also by 
 Domenichino, but not equal to the former. This 
 church is dedicated to S. Charles Borromc o, and 
 
 " Lettere Pittoriche, vol. ii. p. 37. 
 
S. CARLO. 
 
 503 
 
 has its name from a manufacture of wooden 
 dishes, catini, being carried on in the Piazza in 
 front of it. It was built in 1612. There is a 
 painting of the saint behind the altar, by Guido. 
 S. Charles, who was of the noble family of Bor- 
 romeo at Milan, seems well deserving of the 
 praise bestowed upon him by Eustace. His 
 fame rests upon a far different foundation from 
 that of many of his brethren in the calendar; and 
 if ever a man deserved such reverence from his 
 fellow-men, it would be S. Charles Borromeo. 
 His family was one of illustrious rank at Milan, 
 and he himself was son of Count Gibert Borro- 
 meo, by Margaret de' Medici, sister of Pius IV. 
 He was made cardinal in 1560, and afterwards 
 archbishop of Milan. He turned his attention 
 particularly to establishing ecclesiastical semi- 
 naries, and reforming the religious orders. He 
 was particularly instrumental in bringing the 
 Council of Trent to a conclusion. His death 
 happened in 1584, and he was canonized in 
 1610. Lives of him have been written by Guis- 
 sano, Godeau, and others. 
 
 There are two churches celebrated for the 
 paintings of Raffael, S. Agostino and S. Maria 
 della Pace. It has been already mentioned, that 
 the cupola of S. Agostino is said to have been the 
 first constructed in Rome. The church was 
 built in 1483. Upon one of the pillars of the 
 nave is a painting of the prophet Isaiah, by Raf- 
 fael. The first impression upon seeing this paint- 
 ing is the difference in the style of it from that 
 
 k k 4 
 
504 
 
 S. AGOSTINO. 
 
 of all the other works of Raffael. The dispute, 
 whether this great master profited by having seen 
 the paintings of Michael Angelo in the Sistine 
 chapel, is generally known. The question has 
 been very ably handled in a letter from Luigi 
 Crespi, (private chaplain to Benedict XIV.) to 
 Bottari \ He rests principally upon the autho- 
 rity of Vasari, from whom it appears, that Raf- 
 fael twice got admission to the Sistine chapel, 
 while the work of M. Angelo was going on. M. 
 Angelo left Rome after he had worked about a 
 year in the chapel, on which occasion Bramante, 
 who had the keys of it, let in Raffael. The con- 
 sequence was, as Vasari asserts, that Raffael im- 
 mediately repainted the figure of Isaiah, which 
 he had already finished in S. Agostino. We 
 must remark upon this story, that Vasari himself 
 seems afterwards to have disbelieved it, and that 
 M. Angelo appears never to have quitted Rome 
 while he was engaged in this work f. The dates 
 also will not agree. 
 
 When the paintings were half finished, the 
 pope insisted upon their being opened to public 
 inspection ; upon which occasion Vasari says, 
 that all Rome ran to see them, and Raffael 
 among the rest. From this time, he adds, Raf- 
 fael suddenly changed his manner, and to shew 
 his powers, immediately executed the Prophets 
 
 x Lettere Pittoriche, vol. ii. p. 323 — 51. 
 y This is very satisfactorily made out by Roscoe, in his Life 
 of Leo X. vol. iv, p. 323. 
 
RAFFAEL AND M. ANGELO. 505 
 
 and Sibyls in the church of la Pace. Some of 
 these assertions perhaps can never be proved or 
 contradicted : but a simple statement of dates, 
 as far as we can ascertain them, may be satis- 
 factory. M. Angelo was first employed in the 
 Sistine chapel in 1508, and finished his work in 
 1512. RafFael was called to Rome, and began 
 the dispute upon the Sacrament in 1508. The 
 figure of Isaiah was painted according to Vasari 
 in 1511. RafFael finished the second room, in 
 which is the painting of Heliodorus, in 1512. 
 
 The fact seems hardly questionable, that he 
 might have seen the work of M. Angelo; and 
 there is considerably strong evidence, that he 
 actually did. The great admirers of RafFael in 
 anxiety for his fame strenuously deny the fact; 
 but they cannot deny, that he certainly made an 
 alteration in his style about this time. Tradition 
 says, that he painted this figure of Isaiah as a 
 rival to the Prophets of M. Angelo in the Sistine 
 chapel. The imitation is very apparent; and if 
 the story be true, we must naturally conclude, 
 that RafFael felt a jealousy for the fame, which 
 those works had gained for his great rival : he 
 must have studied them accurately to produce 
 an imitation; and consequently the question is 
 reduced to a very narrow limit, merely whether 
 he saw the Sistine chapel before 1511. That he 
 saw it afterwards, and studied the painting of 
 these Prophets in particular, is evident; and 
 surely it is a strange way of supporting the fame 
 of RafFael or any master to say, that he scruti- 
 
506 S. MARIA BELLA PACE. 
 
 nized the finest productions of the art, with an 
 eye even of jealous accuracy, and yet did not 
 profit by them. No person would accuse Raf- 
 fael of servilely imitating M. Angelo; perhaps he 
 was unconscious that he was imitating him at 
 all : but it is the characteristic of true genius to 
 cull from every quarter the excellencies which 
 present themselves, and to unite and identify 
 them with its own. 
 
 The other church, S. Maria della Pace, was so 
 called from the peace established among the 
 Christian Princes by Sextus IV. The paintings 
 in it are in fresco over the arches of the nave on 
 the south side. They represent the Cumaean, 
 Persian, Phrygian, and Tiburtine Sibyls x . There 
 can be little doubt, that these were painted as 
 rivals of M. Angelo's Sibyls in the Sistine chapel: 
 but here he has followed his own style, and ex- 
 tremely beautiful they are. In the former church 
 he was anxious to shew, that he also could adopt 
 the style so much admired in his great rival : 
 here he treated the same subject in his own 
 manner, and set the one fairly against the other. 
 Unfortunately the work of RafFael has suffered 
 much more from age, than that of M. Angelo ; 
 and all the figures have lately been retouched : it 
 may be added, that if they were half as much 
 
 * RafFael employed the assistance of one of his pupils for this 
 work, Timoteo da Urbino. In the Lettere Pittoriche, (vol. ii. 
 p. 90,) Sebastiano Resta says, that he had obtained the original 
 drawings of these Sibyls : one half came from Nuremberg, the 
 other half from Messina. 
 
S. AGNESE. 
 
 507 
 
 damaged as the frescos, which are near them, 
 they must have received a great deal of resto- 
 ration. 
 
 S. Agnese in the Piazza Navona is among the 
 finest churches in Rome, both in the exterior and 
 interior. It is in the form of a Greek cross, and 
 ornamented with good statues and paintings. 
 Among the former is S. Sebastian, altered from 
 an antique by Paolo Campi ; and a statue of S. 
 Agnese. Little is known of this saint, except 
 what is related by S. Ambrose » and Prudentius 2 . 
 They tell us, that at the age of twelve or thirteen 
 she suffered many tortures for her religion ; and 
 when the judge saw her disregard them, he or- 
 dered her to be publicly exposed ; but the first 
 person, who cast his eyes upon her, was struck 
 with blindness. Her body is supposed to lie in 
 the church dedicated to her in the Via Nomen- 
 tana, which was built by Constantine. Some 
 however say, that she was buried at Nomento, 
 but that her head is at St. John Lateran : others 
 again maintain, that her relics were conveyed to 
 Constantinople, from thence to France, and after 
 that to Manreza in Catalonia. They also pretend 
 to preserve them at Utrecht. 
 
 The church of the Trinity de' Monti, con- 
 spicuous from its situation on the top of the Pin- 
 cian hill, and the flight of 1.35 steps which lead 
 to it, was built in 1494 by Charles VIII. King of 
 France, when he was on his expedition to JNa- 
 
 v De Virginibus, lib. i. c. 2. 1 Hymn. xiv. 
 
508 TRINITA DE' MONTI. 
 
 pies, and is still considered as belonging to the 
 French nation. The Deposition from the Cross, 
 a celebrated work of Daniel da Volterra, and 
 painted under the direction of Michael Angelo, 
 is here. In 1819, I saw it in a separate part of 
 the building, where it had been placed to receive 
 some restorations, having been detached from the 
 wall by that extraordinary process, which is so 
 succesfully practised with fresco paintings at 
 Rome. This art was known to the ancients. 
 Vitruvius expressly says a , that some paintings 
 were taken from a wall at Sparta, the bricks 
 themselves having been cut through, and were 
 placed in wooden frames, after which they were 
 carried to Rome, and put up in the Comitium. 
 Pliny also b talks of 44 crustas parietum excisas, 
 44 tabulis marginatis inclusas." The Descent 
 from the Cross was first carried to the Capitol, 
 but is finally to resume its former station in the 
 church. There is another fine fresco by the 
 same master, the Murder of the Innocents, of 
 which there is an oil painting also by Daniel in 
 the tribune at Florence. We may observe of 
 these paintings, what is to be remarked in many 
 by the early masters, that nearly all the figures 
 have red hair. Considering the rarity of this 
 circumstance in Italy, and that almost every 
 native Italian is dark, it is difficult to explain 
 what induced the first painters to make this 
 alteration. I merely offer this remark, as one 
 
 a Lib. ii. c. 8. b Lib. xxxv. c. 45. 
 
CAPUCINS. 
 
 509 
 
 which may perhaps bear upon a very difficult 
 subject, the cause of the revival of the art of 
 painting in Italy. The earliest oil paintings now 
 preserved in that country are by Greeks: but 
 that will not furnish any explanation. The Ger- 
 mans, who dispute with the Italians the merit of 
 having taken the lead, would perhaps think 
 the circumstance of the red hair in their own 
 favour. 
 
 The church of the Capucins in the Piazza 
 Barberini must be visited for sake of the paint- 
 ing of Michael the Archangel by Guido. Op- 
 posite to it is St. Paul cured by Ananias, one of 
 the best paintings of Pietro da Cortona. Over 
 the door is the Cartoon of Giotto's Navicella, 
 which is executed in mosaic over the entrance to 
 St. Peter's. This is one of the largest convents 
 of the order of Capucins, and it is perhaps not 
 necessary to mention, that this is one of the most 
 numerous orders. Matthew di Baschi, a Friar 
 Minor or Franciscan of the convent of Monte 
 Falco in the Duchy of Urbino, gave out in 1525, 
 that God had enjoined him by a vision to more 
 rigorous poverty, and he retired into solitude. 
 Many joined him ; and after suffering persecu- 
 tion, Clement VII. in 1528, allowed them to 
 establish a society, and be called Friars Eremite 
 Minor. Their more common title of Capucins is 
 taken from the hood, which they wear. There 
 were once 500 convents of this order, and 25000 
 Capucins. Before the visit of the French there 
 were three or four hundred Friars in this convent, 
 
510 
 
 8. GREGORIO. 
 
 and there are apartments for 1000. In 1819, 
 there were not more than 80 or 90, but the num- 
 bers were increasing. The cemetery of the con- 
 vent deserves to be seen. It is in vaults under 
 the church, and the soil came from Jerusalem. 
 When a Friar dies, he is put into the oldest 
 grave, and the bones of the former occupant are 
 removed into a general receptacle. The ceiling 
 and walls are ornamented with skulls and bones 
 disposed in the most fanciful shapes ; all the 
 furniture, even the lamps, are made of these 
 materials. Some skeletons are dressed in the 
 robe of the order. 
 
 S. Gregorio, on the Cselian hill, stands where 
 St. Gregory, who was pope about A. D. 600, 
 had his house. He was of the Anician family. 
 The church is not remarkable ; but from the 
 terrace in front there is a most excellent view of 
 the ruins of Rome. In a chapel detached from it 
 are two superb frescos, painted as rival per- 
 formances : one by Guido, representing St. An- 
 drew led to crucifixion; and the other by Do- 
 menichino, of the flagellation of the same saint. 
 Annibal Caracci said of the two paintings, 
 " Guido's is the painting of the master," and 
 turning to that of Domenichino, " This is the 
 " painting of the scholar, but who knew more 
 " about it than the master 6 ;" In another chapel 
 is a marble table, on which S. Gregory every 
 morning fed twelve poor pilgrims. In a cloister 
 
 e Lettere Pittoriche, torn. iii. p. 383. 
 
S. CECILIA. 
 
 511 
 
 I saw a monument to Sir Edward Carne, Knt. a 
 lawyer, and ambassador to the Emperor and to 
 Rome. After Queen Mary's death he left Eng- 
 land. Galjridus Vachanus and Thomas Freman- 
 nus put up the monument. He died in 1561. 
 
 On the other side of the Tiber there are not 
 many churches of much interest. S. Cecilia's is 
 handsome. Part of the house where the saint 
 lived is shewn here, and she herself lies buried 
 under the high altar ; but the French carried off 
 the silver urn which contained her bones. There 
 is a recumbent statue of her in marble. Little 
 or nothing is known of this musical lady; nor 
 are the martyrologists agreed, whether she suf- 
 fered under Alexander Severus, M. Aurelius, 
 Commodus, or Diocletian. She has been ho- 
 noured as a saint since the fifth century ; and 
 there are accounts of her body being found in 
 the cemetery of S. Sixtus in the year 821 : but 
 that discovery was perhaps premature, as the 
 real body was found at the end of the sixteenth 
 century in her own church. The 22d of Novem- 
 ber is sacred to her. In the list of relics, the fol- 
 lowing struck me as curious : part of Christ's 
 vest ; two of the thorns ; part of the sponge ; 
 some milk of the Virgin Mary ; part of her veil 
 and of her chemise ; part of the vest and staff of 
 Joseph; two teeth of St. Peter; seven rings of 
 the chain by which he was bound ; one tooth of 
 St. Paul ; part of St. James's chin ; part of the 
 head and two fingers of St. Thomas ; and Mary 
 Magdalen's great toe. 
 
519 S. PIETRO IN MONTORIO. 
 
 S. Maria in Trastevere is a handsome church ; 
 and the twenty-two Ionic columns, which divide 
 it into three aisles, appear to have belonged to 
 some ancient building. The Assumption of the 
 Virgin is a very fine painting by Domenichino. 
 This is stated to have been the first church pub- 
 licly dedicated to God in Rome. It was in the 
 year 224, and the worship of the Virgin is said to 
 have been acknowledged in the title of it. In 
 340 it was entirely rebuilt by S. Julius. 
 
 S. Pietro in Montorio was formerly visited by 
 all strangers to see the wonderful painting of the 
 Transfiguration by Raffael. This is generally 
 called the finest picture in the world, though the 
 Communion of St. Jerom, by Domenichino, makes 
 the prize doubtful. The Transfiguration was one 
 of the last works of RafTael, and was executed 
 for the cathedral of Narbonne, by order of Car- 
 dinal Giulio de' Medici. Sebastian del Piombo 
 painted, as a rival to it, the Raising of Lazarus, 
 which is now in the possession of Mr. Anger- 
 stein. After the return of the Transfiguration 
 from the Louvre, it was put up in the Vatican, and 
 the church of S. Pietro in Montorio still enjoys 
 a pension in lieu of it. The present church was 
 built by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain ; and 
 is said to stand near the place where St. Peter 
 was crucified. Over the precise spot is a beau- 
 tiful little temple, built by Palladio. The origin 
 of the name of the hill on which it stands, Mons 
 Aureus or Montorio, is uncertain ; but as this is 
 said to be the spot where St. Peter was crucified, 
 
S. PETER. 
 
 513 
 
 the name of Golden Hill has been thought to al- 
 lude to the value imposed upon it by that event. 
 Andrea Fulvio says, with greater probability, that 
 it came from some sand of a yellow or golden 
 colour being dug up here. 
 
 We must remember, that St. Peter was cru- 
 cified on this hill, but was buried at the Vatican. 
 I should be inclined to believe the latter tra- 
 dition, and perhaps the former may be true also : 
 but the place of his interment is more likely 
 to have been kept in remembrance than that of 
 his suffering. Some Protestant writers have 
 thought it necessary to deny that St. Peter was 
 ever at Rome at all. I confess that I am utterly 
 at a loss to see what great advantage we give to 
 the Catholics by allowing their first pope to have 
 resided at Rome. But at all events, truth is to 
 be preferred to prejudice ; and the Protestant 
 cause is so great a gainer by the records of au- 
 thentic history, that it would be the height of in- 
 gratitude in us to endeavour to pervert its tes- 
 timony. After examining the evidence produced 
 by Baronius, the conclusion seems irresistible, 
 that St. Peter undoubtedly spent several years 
 at Rome, and suffered martyrdom there. Euse- 
 bius states in his Chronicle, that after founding a 
 church at Antioch, he came to Rome, and con- 
 tinued bishop of it for twenty-five years. The 
 accounts of other early writers are to the same 
 effect. I shall only mention below the names of 
 some of them, which I copy from Baronius, and 
 
 hi 
 
514 
 
 S. THOMAS. 
 
 leave the examination of their' authority to my 
 readers" 1 . 
 
 An Englishman may be allowed to notice the 
 church of St. Thomas, or S. Tomaso degl' Inglesi, 
 though it has no particular beauty to recommend 
 it. The Romans say, that previous to 630, Offa 
 had built or restored a church in this place, which 
 w r as dedicated to the holy Trinity, and was one 
 of the twenty privileged abbeys. Each of these 
 had a hospital for the reception of pilgrims who 
 visited Rome. Those from England were lodged 
 here. In 817 the building was burnt down, and 
 Egbert had it restored. A rich Englishman, 
 John Scopard, is also said to have left consider- 
 able property towards the maintenance of this 
 church. When Becket went to Rome, he lodged 
 here ; and when he was canonized by Alexander 
 III. two years after his death, the church took 
 the name of St. Thomas. One of his arms is 
 preserved in it, and there are several relics of 
 him in Rome. Gregory XIII. out of kindness 
 to the English nation, which he hoped to convert 
 from its lamentable heresy, established a semi- 
 nary here for English students, who were bound 
 to return to their native country, and endeavour 
 
 d Jerom. de Script. Eccl. in Petro. Irenaeus, lib. iii. c. 1. 
 Tertullian de prescript. Lactantius, lib. iv. c. 21. Ambrosius 
 in Natal. Apost. Augustin. Ser. vii. in Natal. Apost. Of Greek 
 writers we have Papias, apud Euseb. lib. ii. c. 13. Euseb. lib. 
 ii. c. 13, 14. Chrysost. de Petro et Paulo. Cyrillus Epist. ad 
 Gaelest. Sozom. lib. iv. c. 14. 
 
S. EDMUND. 
 
 515 
 
 to reestablish the Catholic religion, whenever it 
 should seem good to their superiors. The church 
 contains some paintings of the " martyrdoms suf- 
 " fered by many Catholics under the cruel reign 
 " of Elizabeth." This account is taken from 
 Pancirolli, who has written a description of all 
 the churches in Rome. It may not be unaccept- 
 able to the reader to give a short extract from 
 this work, in which he notices the secession of 
 the English Church. "The spirit of Henry II. 
 " seems to have been inherited by Henry VIII. 
 " who made himself head of the English Church 
 " in order to divorce himself from his legitimate 
 " consort, the sister of the King of Spain, and 
 " to marry a low woman, (malvagia,) so that 
 ' ' Paul III. was obliged to excommunicate him. 
 " From that time forward the affairs of religion 
 " in that kingdom have been constantly going 
 " from bad to worse; all his successors, as well 
 " male as female, having continued to make 
 <c themselves revered as vicars of Christ." 
 
 There is a church on the other side of the 
 Tiber which is dedicated to St. Edmund, and 
 applied to the same purpose as the last. Two 
 Edmunds, saints and kings of England, are re- 
 corded in the Romish calendar. The date of the 
 first is not known : the second was killed by the 
 Danes in 870. Considering the dubious claims 
 of some of the popish saints, it is but fair to our 
 countryman to state, that he really existed, and 
 was really killed by the Danes in the year men- 
 tioned. The reasons of his being admitted into 
 
 l12 
 
516 
 
 S. EDMUND. 
 
 the calendar are not so satisfactory. Matthew 
 of Westminster tells us, that after the defeat at 
 Thetford, he was obliged to surrender to the 
 Danish army at Heglesdune. Not satisfied with 
 simply putting him to death, the enemy fastened 
 him to a tree, and transfixed him with arrows, 
 till, as the honest chronicler expresses it, his 
 body resembled a hedge-hog. His head was 
 then severed from his body, and both were 
 thrown unburied into a neighbouring wood. 
 When the Danes quitted that part of the coun- 
 try, the inhabitants commenced a search after 
 their saint and king. They vociferated for a long 
 time, Where are you? when at length, to the sur- 
 prise and delight of all, the head replied, Here, 
 here, here ! Soon after a wolf was seen carrying 
 the head in his paws ; and it was interred, toge- 
 ther with the body, near the spot! St. Edmunds- 
 bury was called after this saint. 
 
 i 
 
PALACES. 
 
 HAVING mentioned the Churches of Rome, 
 we come next to the Palaces. An Englishman 
 travelling in Italy must divest himself of the idea 
 which he usually attaches to the word palace. 
 In our own country we understand by it the 
 residence of royalty; and affixing ideas of mag- 
 nificence to the term, we often complain of being 
 disappointed with the foreign palaces, whereas 
 in our own country it is the general observation, 
 that the royal palaces are inferior to private 
 houses. In Italy the residence of every noble- 
 man is called a palace. In Rome they are 
 abundantly frequent ; and if a concise descrip- 
 tion were demanded of them, it would not be far 
 from the truth to say, that with a splendid out- 
 side, they display a lamentable want of comfort 
 and inattention to cleanliness in the interior. 
 The plan is nearly the same in all of them : they 
 are built round a quadrangle, with a large stair- 
 case opening into the court : the rooms commu- 
 nicate with each other, sometimes round the 
 
 l I 3 
 
518 
 
 PALACES. 
 
 whole of the quadrangle, and form a suit of 
 apartments on each floor sufficient to constitute 
 a house. But with all this scale of splendor, 
 there is little or nothing in a Roman palace 
 worth seeing, except the works of art. Even 
 this attraction has been" diminished in latter 
 times, the poverty of the nobles having com- 
 pelled many of them to sell their pictures. That 
 splendor of furniture and decoration which cha- 
 racterizes the English houses, whether in town 
 or country, is unknown at Rome. The differ- 
 ence of climate probably made the taste of the 
 two countries originally different; and the great 
 contrast in national wealth, particularly in later 
 times, has made it more apparent now. An 
 Englishman, accustomed to a cold climate, has 
 recourse to every thing which ingenuity and re- 
 finement can devise to exclude the outward air. 
 That word of truly British growth, and which is 
 to be found neither in the feelings nor in the lan- 
 guage of any other country, comfort, makes va- 
 rious articles of domestic use indispensable in 
 England, which are little valued abroad. In 
 Rome the inhabitants are used to live a great 
 deal in the outward air, and they study accord- 
 ingly to preserve their dwelling- rooms cool. A 
 brick floor without a carpet is revolting to our 
 feelings, and still more so when seen in a palace: 
 a stove appears but a poor substitute for a fire- 
 place; and we are apt to condemn these re- 
 sidences of the Roman nobles, as a display of 
 
PALACES. 
 
 519 
 
 splendid misery. In former times they were un- 
 doubtedly much more brilliant than they are at 
 present. For now, independent of any difference 
 which might be caused by climate, the poverty 
 and dirtiness of the owner is in many instances 
 disgustingly apparent. 
 
 It is however not fair to condemn a Roman 
 noble because his palace is dirty on the ground 
 floor, or even on the first story. The quadrangle 
 at the bottom generally serves for a court or 
 stable-yard, with offices round it ; and the first 
 floor is not unfrequently let to tradesmen or other 
 occupiers, Many English families have of late 
 been accommodated in the Roman palaces : the 
 suits of rooms being so extensive, the owner 
 finds one floor sufficient for his own use, and is 
 glad to make money by letting the remainder. 
 All this is very discordant with our notions : but 
 if the Roman nobles are now become poor, we 
 should recollect, that at the time when their pa- 
 laces were built, they must have far exceeded 
 ourselves in ideas of magnificence. In some of 
 the quadrangles the whole house of a nobleman 
 in London might be placed : nor in point of style 
 can we at all compare the architecture of the two 
 countries. 
 
 Having made these general observations, it is 
 not my intention to describe each palace in par- 
 ticular, but I shall content myself with giving 
 some account of that in which the pope resides. 
 For upwards of a thousand years from the time 
 
 l14 
 
520 
 
 VATICAN. 
 
 of Constantine the popes lived in the Lateran 
 palace : but during their residence at Avignon 
 it fell into such decay, that Gregory XI. who 
 brought back the holy see to Rome, did not 
 think it suitable or safe, and removed to the 
 Vatican, which was rendered secure during those 
 turbulent times by its vicinity to the castle of 
 S. Angelo. The Lateran palace was rebuilt in 
 1586 by Sextus V. ; and in 1693 Innocent XII. 
 turned it into a hospital for the poor. It was in 
 this palace that the Lateran Councils were held, 
 of which eight are mentioned by the best autho- 
 rities, viz. in 313, 499, 500, 501, 745, 861, 993, 
 1065. For some time past the popes have re- 
 sided exclusively on the Quirinal hill, or Monte 
 Cavallo, leaving the Vatican merely for the cele- 
 bration of ceremonies. The Vatican however 
 being the most ancient, and by far the most 
 celebrated, I shall confine myself to that. 
 
 THE VATICAN. 
 
 The dimensions of this palace, and the num- 
 ber of rooms assigned to it, border upon the 
 marvellous. The whole pile of building, together 
 with the gardens, is said to comprise a circum- 
 ference of some miles : and while some accounts 
 make the number of apartments 4422, others 
 swell it to 13000 e ! The effect of all this mass of 
 
 • Bonanni does this, p. 225. 
 
VATICAN. 
 
 521 
 
 architecture is any thing but pleasing : from no 
 point of view does it present any extent of front 
 or magnificence of design ; while its proximity 
 to St. Peter's interferes most unfortunately with 
 the view of that building. It is in fact a col- 
 lection of apartments built by several popes. 
 When it was first begun is not clearly known. 
 There was certainly a palace here in the time of 
 S. Leo III. as Charlemagne resided in it A. D. 
 800. Celestin III. added to it in 1191-8, as did 
 Innocent III. 1198-216; and Nicolas III. in 1278. 
 Nicolas V. in 1447-55 built the rooms, which 
 were afterwards painted by RafFael. Leo X. 
 added the triple portico, the middle one of 
 which is also painted by RafFael, and is thence 
 called Le Loggie di Raffaello. Sextus V. added 
 an entirely new palace, and Pius VI. built what 
 is called the Museo Pio-Clementino. The paint- 
 ings and statues preserved in this building, to- 
 gether with its prodigious library, have de- 
 servedly raised the fame of the Vatican above 
 that of every other palace in the world. The 
 pictures are not numerous ; but those which are 
 here are all excellent, and the paintings in fresco 
 are some of the most wonderful productions 
 which exist. 
 
 The Sistine chapel deserves to be mentioned 
 first. It derives its name from Sextus IV. who 
 employed Baccio Pintelli to build it, and had the 
 walls of the two sides painted by several Floren- 
 tine artists about the year 1474. It is a very 
 large and lofty oblong room, with scarcely any 
 
SISTINE CHAPEL. 
 
 of the usual furniture of a chapel, and is used on 
 few occasions, except in the holy week, and the 
 first Sunday in Advent. The cardinals also 
 meet here in conclave to elect a new pope. 
 
 Not long after Michael Angelo returned to 
 Rome from Bologna in 1508, Julius II. employed 
 him very much against his will to paint the 
 ceiling. Previous to this time he had been very 
 little employed in painting, having acquired his 
 celebrity by sculpture. He had executed the 
 Bacchus and the David, which are now at Flo- 
 rence, and the Pieta, which is in St. Peter's. At 
 this very time also he was employed by the Pope 
 in executing a monument for himself, which has 
 become universally celebrated by the statue of 
 Moses f . Vasari tells us, that Julius was advised 
 both by San Gallo and Bramante, the two cele- 
 brated architects, to employ M. Angelo in paint- 
 ing the chapel. Bramante seems to have given 
 his advice partly from jealousy, and from a wish 
 to hinder the fame of M. Angelo and his favour 
 with the Pope from eclipsing that of his relation 
 RafTael. He therefore thought, that if M. An- 
 gelo was called away from his favourite pursuit 
 
 ' It is singular, that Phidias, who was one of the greatest 
 sculptors of antiquity, was also a painter, (Plin. lib.xxxv. c. 34.) 
 Michael Angelo's fame in this double capacity is celebrated by 
 Ariosto in his Orlando Furioso. Canto xxxiii. 2. 
 
 Duo Dossi, e quel, che a par sculpe e colora 
 Michel piu che mortal Angiol divino. 
 
 Ariosto and M. Angelo were born in the same year, 1474. 
 
M. ANGELO. 
 
 523 
 
 of sculpture, in which his fame was already so 
 great, and was employed in some work of paint- 
 ing, he would either fail, and so make the success 
 of RarTael still more conspicuous ; or it would at 
 least have the effect of keeping the attention of 
 Julius fixed upon works of painting, in which 
 case RafTael could not fail to share his notice 
 and applause^. He reluctantly undertook the 
 task ; and if we may believe Vasari, he even re- 
 commended RarTael to be employed. So anxious 
 was he for the success of the work, that he even 
 prepared the colours with his own hands, and 
 finished the whole with scarcely any assistance. 
 The agreement, which he made with the Pope, 
 through Bramante, was for 15000 ducats. He 
 constantly refused to admit any person into the 
 chapel while the work was going on: but in 
 1511, when about half of it was finished, the 
 Pope insisted upon it being thrown open to 
 public inspection. This was accordingly done. 
 The great artist was then urged more than ever 
 by the Pope to hasten its completion, and on 
 Nov. 1, 1512, the whole work was concluded, 
 and the public admitted without reserve. The 
 latter part was finished in about 20 months h . 
 
 g Lettere Pittoriche, vol. ii. p. 331, &c. 
 
 h A story is told by Vasari in the first edition, which he pub- 
 lished of his Lives of the Painters, that the Pope entered the 
 chapel by 9tealth to see the painting : and that M. Angelo, who 
 had pretended to quit Rome for a few days, received him with 
 a shower of rubbish from the scaffolding, in consequence of 
 which he left Rome. This anecdote has been repeated by later 
 
524 
 
 SISTINE CHAPEL. 
 
 He selected subjects from the Old Testament 
 for the ceiling ; among which may be observed 
 several circumstances attending the creation ? 
 treated in a most sublime manner, and with an 
 effect truly astonishing. He also painted some 
 prophets and sibyls over the windows, which 
 are among the finest works which he has left. 
 These sibyls are five in number, and are known 
 by the name of the Persian, Erythraean, Del- 
 phian, Cumaean, and Libyan. The introduction 
 of such figures at all into a Christian Church 
 may seem extraordinary, and a little digression 
 may be allowed to explain the cause. 
 
 The story of the conference between Tarqui- 
 nius Priscus and the Sibyl is too well known 
 to need insertion. He appointed two persons 
 to take care of the books, and U. C. 388 the 
 number was increased to ten. We frequently 
 read of the Sibylline books being consulted upon 
 any remarkable or calamitous event, and the 
 greatest secrecy was observed in the preservation 
 of them. In the year of Rome 671, or A. C. 83, 
 the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, in which they 
 were kept, was burnt, and the precious docu- 
 ments destroyed. In consequence of which three 
 ambassadors were dispatched to Erythrae, Sa- 
 
 writers, but is evidently false. Vasari omitted it in his subse- 
 quent edition ; and the quarrel between the painter and the 
 pope, which made the former retire to Florence, was while he 
 was engaged in executing the tomb, as I have already men- 
 tioned at }). 493. The date of the pope's letter, which is given 
 p. 494*, fully proves the mistake. 
 
SIBYLS. 
 
 525 
 
 mos, Ilium, and other places, to collect any pro- 
 phecies of the Sibyls which were known. They 
 brought back about 1000 verses 1 . The number 
 of curators was then increased to 15, and after- 
 wards to 40, but the name of Quindecemviri still 
 continued. Augustus removed the books to the 
 palace ; but whether they were destroyed by any 
 of the fires, which raged in that quarter, does 
 not appear. Mention is certainly made of the 
 Sibylline books to a late period. Ammianus no- 
 tices them, A. D. 363, and Claudius Numatianus 
 in 389. But from what has been stated, it might 
 be expected, that great confusion would arise as 
 to what were the original prophecies, and whe- 
 ther the subsequent additions were genuine or 
 no. The Christians took advantage of them at 
 an early period, forcing some into an interpreta- 
 tion favourable to their religion, and by a pious 
 fraud inventing others. A Treatise has been 
 written upon the subject by David Blondel, in 
 which he conjectures, that the forgery began 
 about the year 138, and he even accuses Hermas 
 of being accessary to it. The Gnostics pretended 
 to have some genuine works of Noahs wife : to 
 meet which formidable document, the orthodox 
 party produced the writings of Noah's daughter, 
 whom they called a Sibyl. As many as eight 
 books were circulated under the name of Sibyl- 
 line ; and nearly 20 persons from different coun- 
 tries are mentioned as Sibyls. Of these the five 
 
 1 Tacitus An. lib. vi. c. 12. Lactant. lib. ii. c. 6. 
 
526 
 
 SISTINE CHAPEL. 
 
 already named became the most celebrated ; and 
 some of the early fathers, pious and learned men, 
 believed that they really had prophesied of our 
 Saviour. It will be sufficient to mention Justin 
 Martyr and Clemens Alexandrinus ; the latter 
 of whom even quotes St. Paul as recommending 
 the study of these writings. The Catholics have 
 particularly appealed to them in support of some 
 of the doctrines, which are now rejected by the 
 Protestants : and this will sufficiently account 
 for their being joined in company with the pro- 
 phets in the Sistine chapel. 
 
 The paintings on the side-walls are also de- 
 serving of the greatest attention. They were ex- 
 ecuted by some of the most celebrated revivers 
 of the art, and would well justify a description 
 more in detail. 
 
 M. Angelo was not employed any more in this 
 chapel till the time of Paul III. nearly thirty 
 years after his first work there. This pope was 
 so anxious to have the benefit of his talents, and 
 yet found him so difficult to be prevailed upon, 
 that he went in person to his house with ten car- 
 dinals to beg him to execute a painting of the 
 last judgment. The great master complied, was 
 employed eight years upon the work, and 
 opened it to the public in Christmas 1542. This 
 end of the chapel was before occupied by three 
 paintings of Pietro Perugino. There is an ori- 
 ginal letter existing from M. Angelo to Pietro 
 Aretino the poet, from which we may ascertain 
 the fact, that the design was entirely his own. 
 
LAST JUDGMENT. 
 
 527 
 
 He says, " I was delighted and grieved by the 
 " receipt of your letter. I was delighted at its 
 " coming from you, whose merit is so remark- 
 " able; and I was also much grieved, because as 
 " 1 have finished great part of the story, I cannot 
 " execute your ideas, which are of such a cast, 
 " that if the day of judgment had taken place, 
 " and you had actually seen it, your words 
 " could not describe it better." At the end he 
 dissuades him from coming to Rome to see the 
 progress of the painting k . 
 
 The letter of Aretino is also preserved in the 
 same collection : and the contents of it will per- 
 haps excuse my translating that part of it, which 
 contains his ideas upon the subject, which M. 
 Angelo was to represent. It is dated Venice, 
 September 15, 1537. " In my opinion you 
 " ought to be satisfied with having surpassed 
 " every one else in your other works : but I per- 
 " ceive, that with the termination of the universe, 
 " which you are now employed in painting, you 
 " think to surpass the commencement of the 
 " world 1 , which you have already painted: that 
 " your works surpassed by themselves may give 
 " you a triumph over yourself. Who would not 
 " be dismayed in applying his pencil to such a 
 " terrific subject? I see Antichrist in the middle 
 " of the crowd with a semblance, which none 
 " but you could conceive. I see the terror in 
 
 k Vide Lettere Pittoriche, vol. ii. p. 17* 
 
 1 Alluding to the paintings on the ceiling, finished in 1512. 
 
528 
 
 SISTINE CHAPEL. 
 
 44 the countenances of the living : I see the 
 " symptoms of extinction in the sun, the moon, 
 44 and the stars. I see Fire, and Air, and Earth, 
 44 and Water, as it were, yielding up their spirit. 
 44 I see Nature at a distance confounded, con- 
 " centrating her barrenness in the decrepitude of 
 44 age : I see Time dried up and trembling, who 
 44 being come to his utmost limit is seated on a 
 " withered trunk ; and while I perceive the hearts 
 " in every breast agitated by the trumpets of the 
 44 angels, I see Life and Death overwhelmed by 
 44 the horrible confusion ; for the former is la- 
 4 bouring to resuscitate the dead, the latter is 
 ' preparing to overthrow the living. I see Hope 
 4 and Despair conducting the ranks of the good 
 4 and the crowds of the wicked : I see the 
 4 theatre of clouds coloured by the rays pro- 
 4 ceeding from the pure fires of heaven, upon 
 ' which Christ is seated amongst his hosts, sur- 
 * rounded by splendor and by terrors. I see 
 4 his face glitter; and darting out fiery sparks 
 4 of a light delightful and terrible ; he fills the 
 4 righteous with joy, the wicked with alarm. 
 4 Meanwhile I see the ministers of the abyss, 
 4 who with horrid look, with the glory of saints 
 4 and martyrs, make game of the Caesars and the 
 4 Alexanders, telling them how conquest over 
 self differs from conquest of the world. I see 
 Fame with her crowns and her palms under 
 foot, tossed aside amidst the wheels of her 
 chariots. Finally, I see the great sentence 
 issuing from the mouth of the Son of God. 1 
 
LAST JUDGMENT. 
 
 529 
 
 " see it in the form of two rays, one of salvation, 
 " and the other of damnation; and as I trace 
 H them flying downward, I perceive their fury 
 " impinge upon the elemental frame, and with 
 " tremendous thunderings dissipate and dissolve 
 "it. I see the lights of Paradise, and the 
 " furnaces of the abyss, dividing the darkness, 
 " which has fallen upon the face of the air ; so 
 " that the thought, which represents to my ima- 
 " gination the destruction of the last day, says 
 " to me, If we tremble and are afraid in con- 
 " templating the work of Buonarrotti, how shall 
 " we tremble and be afraid, when we shall be- 
 " hold ourselves judged by him, who ought to 
 "judge us ra !" The sublimity of conception, 
 which dictated these terrific images, will excuse 
 the introduction of this passage, and the in- 
 sufficiency of the translation. The last judg- 
 ment, impossible as it seems to be conceived by 
 mortal thought, has at least met with two mas- 
 ters, who have placed it sensibly before us, and 
 in some measure brought it down to the level of 
 our imaginations. 
 
 We may be allowed to pause a little upon this 
 painting, as it is perhaps the most wonderful 
 specimen of the art in the world. I mean, the 
 most surprising monument of genius and imagi- 
 nation: for unless we confound the ideas of the 
 beautiful and the sublime, and conceive, that the 
 former is always contained in the latter, it must 
 
 Lettere Pittoriche, vol. iii, p. 59. 
 
 m m 
 
530 
 
 SISTINE CHAPEL. 
 
 be acknowledged, that many other paintings are 
 more pleasing at the first view. But notwith- 
 standing the ridiculous way, in which some part 
 of the subject is treated, and the mixture of 
 sacred and profane history throughout, this work 
 of M. Angelo will surprise and please more and 
 more every time that it is examined. It will 
 perhaps be more admired when considered in 
 single groupes, than as a whole. 
 
 There is an amusing story told concerning a 
 figure, which was intended as a portrait of a cer- 
 tain master of the ceremonies, who had com- 
 plained to the pope of the indecency of the 
 painting". This was Biagio of Cesena: the 
 painting was not quite finished when he made 
 this complaint, and M. Angelo introduced his 
 portrait as a Demon with ass's ears, encircled 
 with a large serpent, and placed him in hell. 
 Biagio again complained, and the pope requested 
 the painter to release him. M. Angelo replied, 
 that had he been only in purgatory, it might have 
 been possible, but from hell there was no re- 
 demption. 
 
 Pius IV. being offended with so many of the 
 figures being naked, ordered Daniel da Volterra 
 to remove the objection, who from this circum- 
 stance was called Brachettone. Paul IV. had 
 mentioned the objection to M. Angelo himself, 
 but he would not make any alteration. Stefano 
 Pozzi completed the covering by order of 
 
 u Vid. Salvator Rosa, Sat. iii. p. 84. 
 
LAST JUDGMENT. 
 
 531 
 
 Clement XIII. It seems, that the Catholics were 
 alarmed, lest the Lutherans should make the 
 indecency of the paintings at Rome an objection 
 to the Roman tenets 0 . 
 
 After all, we see this sublime work in the most 
 disadvantageous manner: it is now more than 
 two centuries and a half since it was completed, 
 and the action of damp united with the smoke 
 from the incense and the candles has thrown a 
 great obscurity over the whole. In the present 
 age we may perhaps be allowed to regret, that 
 the great masters painted so much in fresco. 
 M. Angelo was accustomed to say, that painting 
 in oils was an occupation for women : so con- 
 vinced was he of the greater difficulty and merit 
 of executing works in fresco. He confirmed this 
 observation by his practice ; and though he un- 
 questionably amused himself occasionally with 
 oils, it is asserted upon the best authority p , that 
 there is not one undisputed oil-painting of his 
 in existence. Many are exhibited, as laying 
 claim to this honour, which perhaps were exe- 
 cuted by his pupils, and may have received some 
 touches from the master himself. Whatever may 
 be the comparative merits of the two arts, we 
 have evidently suffered by fresco painting being 
 preferred : for while we have pictures in oils by 
 Leonardo da Vinci, Raffael, and others con- 
 temporary with M. Angelo, the colours of which 
 
 ° Lettere Pittoriche, vol. iii. p. 57. 
 p Lanzi, vol, i. p. 140, &c. 
 
 m m 2 
 
532 
 
 PAULINE CHAPEL. 
 
 seem as fresh as when they were first laid on, 
 (and perhaps more pleasing in the effect,) those 
 which were painted upon the wall have in a 
 great part perished, and the rest are daily be- 
 coming more indistinct; so that unless this new 
 discovery of detaching frescos from the wall can 
 preserve such works, our descendants will be 
 enabled to judge of these great efforts only by 
 copies and engravings. It might be thought, 
 that the ancients mixed their colours for painting 
 upon plaister better than the moderns, at least 
 that they were more durable. Pliny ^ mentions 
 some paintings still existing at Ardea, Caere, and 
 Lanuvium, which were older than the foundation 
 of Rome ; and had received little or no injury, 
 though in a ruined building, and exposed to the 
 air. This would give them an antiquity of 800 
 years and upwards. 
 
 The Pauline chapel, which is near the Sistine, 
 was erected by Paul III. about 1540, with designs 
 of Antonio San Gallo. This also is used only 
 on great festivals. The holy Sacrament is always 
 kept there, and the popes were formerly created 
 in it : but that ceremony is now performed in the 
 Sistine chapel. The walls are painted in fresco; 
 and two of the subjects, the Conversion of St. 
 Paul, and the Crucifixion of St. Peter, are by 
 Michael Angelo : they were nearly his last works ; 
 but they have suffered so much, and there is so 
 
 i Lib. xxxv. c. 6. 
 
LOGGIE DI RAFFAELLO. 533 
 
 little light, that it is difficult to make out any 
 design at all. 
 
 These two chapels are connected by the Sala 
 Regia, which was built by Antonio San Gallo, 
 and painted first by Ferino del Vaga, and after- 
 wards by Vasari. These paintings may be in- 
 teresting to a zealous Catholic ; but a phlegmatic 
 Protestant, who prefers authentic history to tra- 
 ditions of the church, will look at them only with 
 a smile. They almost all relate to some circum- 
 stance which tended to exalt the holy see ; but 
 the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day might 
 surely as well have been omitted. It is painted 
 by Vasari. 
 
 The Loggie di Raffaello are, as I mentioned, 
 three open galleries, one above the other, which 
 go round three sides of a square court. The 
 building was finished upon the designs of Raf- 
 fael, having been begun by Bramante ; and in 
 the middle gallery the ceiling of one side is 
 painted entirely after designs of RafFael. He 
 employed in the work several of his pupils, 
 Giulio Romano, Pierin del Vaga, Polidoro, and 
 Maturino da Caravaggio, &c. &c. The ceiling is 
 divided into thirteen compartments, each of 
 which contains four paintings. All the subjects 
 are taken from the Old Testament, and some are 
 by Raffael himself. In the first compartment, 
 which contains the creation, God dividing light 
 from darkness is by him, and much admired. 
 But surely this is a subject too sublime for the 
 greatest human genius. Raffael probably chose 
 
 m m 3 
 
534. LOGGIE DI RAFFAELLO. 
 
 it, because Michael Angelo had represented the 
 same subject on the roof of the Sistine chapel. 
 
 The walls are covered with Arabesques, which 
 are also upon the designs of Raffael : and he is 
 said to have borrowed them from the baths of 
 Titus, which were excavated in his days. But 
 the story which is added, of his covering up the 
 excavations as soon as he had finished his copies, 
 in order that the imitation might be concealed, is 
 one which few would believe, except on the most 
 undeniable evidence. I have already attempted 
 to prove the falsehood of it in a former part of 
 this work : and it may be added, that it would 
 have been impossible for Raffael to have had the 
 praise of originality, even if he had wished it, as 
 similar paintings had been discovered in exca- 
 vations at Tivoli, Pozzuoli, and other places. 
 The Loggie were painted between the years 
 1513 and 1521. 
 
 The Camere di Rqffaello are a series of rooms, 
 mostly painted by that great master, and contain 
 some of the most valuable works which he has 
 left. These too are all in fresco, and have suffered 
 considerably from time. The subjects of them 
 are well known by the engravings of Volpato. 
 Julius II. commenced the ornamenting of these 
 rooms, and employed as painters Pietro della 
 Francesca, Bramantino da Milano, Luca da 
 Cortona, Pietro della Gatta, and Pietro Pe- 
 rugino. The latter, as is well known, was Raf- 
 fael's master: and by his recommendation, as 
 well as that of Bramante, who was related to 
 
RAFFAEL. 
 
 535 
 
 him. Raffael was called from Florence to Rome 
 in the year 1508, when he was 25 years of age. 
 Some make him not to have gone to Rome till 
 15lO r . He was first employed in the Camera 
 della Segnatura, and finished what is generally 
 called the Dispute upon the Sacrament. The 
 Pope was so astonished and delighted with this 
 effort, that he ordered all which was done by 
 the other artists to be destroyed, that all the 
 rooms might be painted by Raffael. It is said, 
 that he received for each large painting 1200 
 crowns of gold. He however spared the work 
 of his master Perugino, which is still to be seen 
 upon the ceiling of this apartment. 
 
 The first room is not painted by Raffael, as he 
 did not live to complete it. It is called the hall 
 of Constantine, from a large painting of the vic- 
 tory of that Emperor over Maxentius. Raffael 
 had finished the design, and prepared to paint it 
 upon the wall in oils, when he died. It was then 
 finished chiefly by Giulio Romano, who preferring 
 to work in fresco destroyed all that his master had 
 done, except two figures of Justice and Benig- 
 nity, which were already finished. The head of 
 S. Urban also, who is one of the eight popes 
 painted in this room, is by Raffael. The other 
 seven figures are S. Peter, S. Clement, S. Gre- 
 gory, S. Damasus, S. Leo I, S. Silvester, and S. 
 Alexander I. The painting of the Appearance of 
 the Cross to Constantine is also said to be by 
 
 r Vid. Lanzi, vol. ii. p. 53. 
 
 m m 4 
 
536 
 
 RAFFAEL. 
 
 Giulio Romano. The other two walls are 
 painted by celebrated artists. 
 
 The second room contains the story of Helio- 
 dorus, taken from the third chapter of the second 
 Book of Maccabees. The whole design is al- 
 lowed to be by Raffael ; but some say, that it 
 was painted wholly or in part by Giulio Romano. 
 Bellori however says, that it is all by Raffael. 
 The date of 1514 is upon it; and yet Fea, in his 
 description of the Vatican, says, that it was 
 executed previous to 1512; from whence he 
 argues, that it could hardly be the work of 
 Giulio Romano, who was not then twenty years 
 old. Julius II. is intended to be represented 
 by the figure of Onias, the high priest, who is 
 carried on a chair. This Pontiff boasted to be 
 the liberator of the church, and the restorer of 
 its property. The secretary in front, who is one 
 of the supporters, is Marc- Antonio Raimondi, a 
 pupil of Raffael and an engraver : following him 
 is another secretary, with this inscription, J. 
 Pietro de Foliariis Cremonens. 
 
 On the wall opposite to this is S. Leo I. going 
 out to meet Attila, and S. Peter and S. Paul 
 appearing in the sky. S. Leo is a portrait of 
 Leo X. the then reigning Pontiff, and allusion 
 was probably intended to his having dispossessed 
 Louis XII. of the states of Milan, and in fact 
 driven him out of Italy. Not far from the pope 
 are three officers on horseback : the one in red is 
 intended for Pietro Perugino. A building in the 
 back-ground looks like the Colosseum ; but as 
 
RAFFAEL. 
 
 537 
 
 this scene took place near the river Mincius, it 
 could hardly be meant for it; though the great 
 painters were not particularly scrupulous in com- 
 bining such incongruities. 
 
 On one of the other sides is the Miracle of 
 Bolsena, which consisted in a priest being con- 
 vinced of transubstantiation by drops of blood 
 appearing when he broke the wafer. It was 
 painted in 1512, and Julius II. is introduced 
 with some Cardinals. 
 
 Opposite to this is the Liberation of St. Peter 
 from prison. In this an allusion was intended 
 to the liberation of Leo X. then Cardinal, after 
 the battle of Ravenna. It is deserving of remark 
 in this painting, that there are four different 
 lights introduced. The date is 1514. The 
 ceiling of this room, which has suffered consi- 
 derably, is also by Raffael. 
 
 The third room, called La Camera della Seg- 
 natura, was painted entirely by Raffael. This 
 was the first apartment in which he was em- 
 ployed ; and the first painting is that which is 
 generally called the Dispute upon the Sacrament. 
 This title is probably erroneous : and as there 
 are on the ceiling figures of Theology, Philo- 
 sophy, Poetry, and Jurisprudence, and the paint- 
 ings under each correspond to these figures, it 
 would seem more appropriate to call this, which 
 was his first performance, Theology. The four 
 Doctors of the Latin Church, Gregory, Jerom, 
 Ambrose, and Augustin, are introduced in it, 
 together with other divines, an altar with the 
 
538 
 
 RAFFAEL. 
 
 Eucharist, and in the Heavens the Trinity and 
 various saints. This bears marks of Raffael's 
 early style, and will not please so much as the 
 others. Critics have discovered, that he began 
 on the right-hand side of the wall ; and they ob- 
 serve a manifest improvement in the style during 
 the progress of the painting. It is also interest- 
 ing from some portraits, which he has introduced. 
 In a groupe of three figures, that which is lean- 
 ing on a marble parapet, with his right hand 
 upon an open book, is Bramante. At the 
 right-hand corner are two figures, and several 
 heads behind them : one of these heads repre- 
 sents Dante in profile with a wreath of laurel, 
 and near him St. Thomas Aquinas, and Scotus. 
 Not far off is Savanarola, also in profile, and 
 dressed in black. 
 
 Opposite to Theology is Philosophy, or, as it 
 is generally called, the School of Athens. Vasari 
 erroneously styles it the Agreement of Philosophy 
 and Astronomy with Theology. This painting 
 has suffered like the rest; but it is still suffi- 
 ciently perfect to command universal admiration. 
 Archimedes, who is tracing with compasses on a 
 tablet, is Bramante : the young man near to him, 
 with one knee upon the ground, who is looking 
 back, and shewing the figure to his companion, 
 is Frederick II. Duke of Mantua. The two fi- 
 gures to the left of Zoroaster, who may be known 
 by the globe in his hand, are Raffael himself and 
 his master Perugino. A youth in a white mantle, 
 with his hand in his breast, by the side of Py- 
 
RAFFAEL. 
 
 539 
 
 thagoras, is Francesco Maria dell a Itovere, Duke 
 of Urbino, and great nephew to Julius II. The 
 original cartoon of this painting is in the Ambro- 
 sial Library at Milan. There is an old engraving 
 of it by Georgio Mantovano, which was re- 
 touched by Tomosino, and converted into St. 
 Paul preaching at Athens. Tomosino added a 
 glory and a diadem to Plato and Aristotle. It 
 was also engraved in 1524 by Agostino Vene- 
 ziano, who transformed Pythagoras into St. 
 Mark, and the youth, who is stooping down 
 with the tablet, into an Angel with the Saluta- 
 tion. 
 
 Poetry is represented by Mount Parnassus, on 
 which are Apollo, the Muses, and various poets. 
 Behind Homer is a portrait of Dante in profile : 
 he is following Virgil, dressed in a red mantle, 
 with a cap crowned with laurel. Another head 
 crowned with laurel near to Virgil is supposed to 
 be Raffael himself. Beneath these and in front 
 is Sappho, holding in her left hand a volume in- 
 scribed with her name. She is turning towards 
 a groupe of four figures, of which the woman 
 with flowing hair, in conversation with a man 
 and pointing to Homer, is intended for Corinna ; 
 and it is supposed, that the two figures are in- 
 tended for Petrarch and Laura. The figure in 
 front, dressed in yellow, whose face is not shewn, 
 is Ovid. On the left, corresponding with Sappho^ 
 is Pindar : in front of him is Horace. Another 
 with his finger on his mouth is probably Calli- 
 machus. Behind them is Sanazzaro without a 
 
540 
 
 RAFFAEL. 
 
 beard. Two figures crowned with laurel are 
 Tebaldeo and Boccaccio : the latter has no 
 beard, and his hands are hid in his dress. This 
 was painted in 1511. 
 
 To represent Jurisprudence, Justinian is drawn 
 giving the digests to Tribonian, and Gregory IX. 
 presenting the Decretals to a Consistory. The 
 Decretals were published in five books, by Rai- 
 mond de Pennafort, in 1234, at the command of 
 Gregory IX. and may be considered as the 
 foundation of that code of canon law, which the 
 Church of Rome has acted upon ever since. 
 They form a collection of the Decrees of Coun- 
 cils, and the Rescripts or Decretal Epistles of 
 Popes to questions propounded upon emergent 
 doubts relative to matters of discipline and 
 ecclesiastical ceremony s . The Pope himself is 
 a portrait of Julius II. near to him are John Car- 
 dinal de Medici, afterwards Leo X. Antonio 
 Cardinal del Monti, Alessandro Cardinal Far- 
 nese, afterwards Paul III. 
 
 The fourth room, which was painted about 
 1517, contains subjects taken from the lives of 
 those popes, who bore the same name with the 
 reigning pontiff. The principal painting is the 
 Fire of Borgo S. Pietro, which took place under 
 the pontificate of S. Leo IV. in the ninth century. 
 Borgo S. Pietro is that suburb of Rome which 
 lies near St. Peter's : the fire came near the Va- 
 tican, and Leo extinguished it miraculously with 
 
 5 Hallam's Middle Ages. 
 
RAFFAEL. 
 
 541 
 
 the sign of the cross. The front of old St. Peters 
 is introduced, with steps leading up to it, and 
 the balcony for the papal benediction. This 
 painting is by many admired as much as any of 
 the series : for delineation of feeling and ana- 
 tomical accuracy it certainly merits every atten- 
 tion. The latter excellence may be seen parti- 
 cularly in two figures, one of whom is clinging 
 by his hands to a wall, from which he is letting 
 himself down, the other is drawing himself up : 
 in both of which opposite exertions of the 
 muscles great accuracy of drawing is observed. 
 The groupe of the man carrying off his father is 
 by Giulio Romano. 
 
 Opposite to this is the Justification of S. Leo 
 III. before Charlemagne; in which the Pope is a 
 portrait of Leo X. and Charlemagne of Francis I. 
 King of France. On one of the other sides is 
 the Victory gained by Leo IV. over the Saracens 
 at Ostia, painted by Giovanni da Udine ; oppo- 
 site to which is the Coronation of Charlemagne, 
 by S. Leo III. in the old cathedral : this was 
 painted by Pierino del Vaga. The ceiling is by 
 Per u gin o. 
 
 Other parts of the room contain paintings of 
 those princes, who have been benefactors to the 
 holy see. Over one of them is written " Astul- 
 " phus Rex sub Leone IV. Pont. Britanniam 
 " Beato Petro vectigalem facit." S. Leo IV. 
 reigned from 847 to 855, during which time 
 Ethelwolf was King of England. Hume tells 
 
54.2 
 
 RAFFAEL. 
 
 us, that he made a journey to Rome, and gave 
 300 mancuses 1 a year to the see of Rome. One 
 third of this was to support the lamps of St. Pe- 
 ter's ; another third those of St. Paul's ; and the 
 remaining third was to go to the Pope himself". 
 Some writers say, that it was Ethel wolf who 
 agreed at this visit to pay the tribute to the see 
 of Rome, which was called Peter's Pence, and 
 which was continued till the time of Henry VIII. 
 The inscription in the Vatican seems to agree 
 with this: but others contend, that the payment 
 of Peter's Pence was established in the reign of 
 Ina in 740. Over another figure in this room is 
 " Dei non hominum est Episcopos judicare." 
 
 These figures are said to have suffered, when 
 Rome was pillaged in 1527. Carlo Maratta was 
 employed by Clement XI. to restore them, as 
 well as to clean all the rest. Some of the heads 
 were restored by Bastiano ; and an anecdote is 
 told of Titian, who, going to view these paintings 
 in company with Bastiano himself, asked him, 
 who that presumptuous and ignorant person 
 could be who had daubed over those faces \ 
 
 The rooms adjoining to these contain the ta- 
 pestries, for which Raffael painted the Cartoons, 
 now in Hampton Court : there are also other ta- 
 pestries, from designs by Raffael, the originals 
 of which are probably lost. Leo X. had them 
 
 * A mancus is about half- a- crown. u William of Malms- 
 bury, lib. ii. c. 2. * Lettere Pittoriche, vol. iii. p. 284. 
 
RAFFAEL. 
 
 543 
 
 executed at Arras in Flanders, from whence the 
 name is derived which this sort of work frequently 
 bears. They cost 70000 crowns of gold. They 
 were all carried off when Rome was plundered by 
 the Spanish army in 1527: but Montmorenci, the 
 French general, found them, and restored them 
 to the Pope. The one which represents Elymas 
 struck blind by St. Paul, returned much muti- 
 lated. They were carried away again at the end 
 of the last century, and the present Pope re- 
 purchased them. When the tapestries were ex- 
 ecuted at Arras, the Cartoons were suffered to 
 remain there, from whence they were purchased 
 by Charles I. The number was originally twelve, 
 but only seven are now in existence. 
 
 For the sake of regularity, I shall now quit 
 this part of the Vatican, and descend to the 
 apartments of the statues. The entrance is by a 
 long gallery, in the walls of which are let in a 
 variety of ancient inscriptions in Latin and Greek. 
 The length of this gallery is about 331 yards. 
 The inscriptions on the left hand are mostly re- 
 lating to the early Christians. Among those of 
 the ancient Romans, few points are more striking 
 than the gross mistakes in grammar and ortho- 
 graphy which are to be found in many of the 
 epitaphs. Some of those which are in verse bid 
 equal defiance to the laws of metre. A great 
 proportion of these epitaphs relate to freed men, 
 and such persons whose names prove them to 
 be of Greek origin ; and some of the mistakes 
 are such as a Greek, who had learnt the Latin 
 
544 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS IN 
 
 language imperfectly, would be likely to make. 
 A copy of some of these inscriptions may per- 
 haps afford amusement. 
 
 DIIS MANIBVS 
 
 CLAVDIAE. PISTES 
 
 PRIMVS. CONIVGI 
 
 OPT V MAE. SANCTAE 
 ET. PIAE. BENEMERITAE 
 NON. AEOVOS. PARCAE. STATVISTIS. STAMINA. VITAE 
 TAM. BENE. COMPOSITOS. POTVISTIS. SEDE. TENERE 
 AMISSA. EST. CONIVX. CVR. EGO. ET. IPSE. MOROR 
 SI. FELIX. ESSEM. PISTE. MEA. VIVERE. DEBVIT 
 TRISTIA. CONTIGERVN. gVI. AMISSO. CONIVGE. VIVO 
 NIL. EST. TAM. MISERVM. OVAM. TOTAM. PERDERE. VITAM 
 NEC.VITAE.NASCI-DVRA.PEREGISTIS.CRVDELIA.PENSA.SORORES 
 RVPTAQVE. DEFICIVNT. IN. PRIMO. MVNERE. FVSI 
 O. NIM1S. INIVSTAE. TER. DENOS. DARE. MVNVS. IN. ANNOS 
 DECEPTVS. GRAVIVS. FATVM. SIC. PRESS1T. EGESTAS 
 DVM. VITAM. TVLERO. PRIMVS. PISTES. LVOEA. CONIVGIVM 
 
 D. M. 
 
 OTTED1AE. ZMYRNAE. CONIVG. B. M. g. V. ANN. XVI 
 M. VIII. C. SALVIVS. ABASCANTVS. FECIT. ET. SIBI. ET 
 SVIS. POSTERISOVE. EORVM 
 HIC IACEO INFELIX ZMYRNA PVELLA TENEBRIS 
 OVAE ANNOS AETATIS AGENS SEX ET DECEMENSIBVS OCTO 
 AMISI LVCEM ANIMAM ET RAPVERVNT FATA INIQVA 
 CASTIOR VT PROBIOR SERVATIOR VLLA MAR1TO 
 TE PRECOR HOC QVI RELEGES SIPlKXS HABET VLL^OCVM y 
 SIC SIMILE TITVLVM AjXtIS NON SCRIBERET OSSIS 
 DISCEDENS DIC ZMYRNA t^E ITERVM TERET 
 IN NWO 
 
 y I presume this is meant for si pietas habet vlla locvm. 
 
THE VATICAN. 
 
 545 
 
 TV, NE. VELLIS. ALIENA. MEMBRA 
 INgVITARE. 1ACENTIS. DOLIES 
 
 COMPARABIT. SIBI. £VOD. SINO 
 CVERIS. NOCEBERIS. AB. ALIO 
 
 NOMEN QVI RETINES TV 
 
 MAGNVS ALEXANDER 
 PALLADOS I NVENTVM 
 MEDICINALEMQVE LABOREM 
 QVOT FECI STVDIO PRO 
 
 XIMVS IPSE MEO 
 TESTOR NVNC SVPEROS NON 
 HOC MERVISSE VI DEBAR 
 INVOLVENS CENORIS OVOT 
 
 SVBITO DECIDIMVS 
 INVNC ET DVBIAS FATORVM 
 
 NECLEGE CLADES 
 CONIVNX OVOD POTVIT TIBI 
 
 TVM MIHI REDDIDIT VNI 
 
 VITRIA. PHRYNE, VIXIT. TERSENOS. ANNOS 
 CARA. MEIS. VIX1. SVBITO. FATALE. R A PIN A 
 FLORENTEM. VITA. SVSTVLIT. ATRA. DIES 
 
 OC. TVMVLO. NVNC. SVM. CINERES. SIMVL. NAMQVE. SACRATI 
 
 PER. MATREM. CARAM. SVNT. POSITIVE. MEI 
 
 £VOS. PIVS. SAEPE. COLIT. FRATER. CONIVNXOVE. PVELLAE 
 
 ATaVE. OBITVM. NOSTRVM. FLETIBVS. VSOVE. LVGENT 
 
 DI. MANES ME VNVM RETINETE* VT. VIVERE. FOSSINT 
 
 OVOS. SEMPER. COLVI. VIVA. LIBENTE. ANIMO 
 
 VT. SINT. QVI. CINERES. NOSTROS. BENE. FLORIBVS. SERTI 
 
 SAEPE. ORNENT. D1CAT. SIT. MIHI. TERRA. LEVIS 
 
 n n 
 
546 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 CLAVDIAE LAIDI VXORI 
 
 CVM OVA VIXI ANN XXI II 
 CLAVDIAE STVRE HELENE 
 VXORICVM QVEM VIVO AB 
 INFANTIA SINE CONTVMELIAS 
 ANN XXXIII 
 
 TI CLAVDIVS 
 
 PANNYCH VS. CVM 
 INSCRIBE REM. ARAM 
 IIABVI ANN LXXXVI 
 
 From a stone containing the names of several 
 trades, I copied these : 
 
 EXONERATOR CALCARIVS. 
 HOLITOR. 
 
 MAGISTER ADARIARIVS A 
 
 MINERVA MEDICA. 
 CAESARIS PRAESIGNATOR. 
 PISTOR MAGNARIVS PEPSTANVS. 
 NEGOTIANTI VINARIO ITEM. 
 NAVICVLARIO CVR. CORPORIS 
 
 MARIS HADRIAT1CI. 
 IN VITATOR. 
 NVMVLARIVS. 
 LANIO. 
 
 MEDICVS IVMENTAR1VS. 
 MARMORARIVS. 
 
 A remover of rubbish : a 
 
 scavenger. 
 A green-grocer. 
 
 A wholesale baker. 
 A wine merchant. 
 Boatman, commissioner of 
 the Adriatic sea company. 
 
 Banker. 
 Butcher. 
 
 Farrier and cow-leech. 
 Stone-mason. 
 
 In the continuation of this gallery, which con- 
 tains several statues, &c. the one most deserving 
 of attention is Tiberius sitting, found at Piperno, 
 
TORSO DI BELVEDERE. 547 
 
 and very perfect. After entering the Museo 
 Pio-Clementino, the first object of much interest 
 is the tomb of C. L. Scipio Barbatus, which to- 
 gether with several others was brought here from 
 the tomb of the Scipios. This Scipio was great 
 grandfather of Sc. Africanus, and consul U. C. 
 456 z . The sarcophagus itself is of coarse stone, 
 but handsomely carved in the Doric style, with 
 roses between the triglyphs. The inscription is 
 very perfect, and is as follows : 
 
 CORNELIVS. LVCIVS. SCIPIO. BARBATVS. GNAIVOD. PATRE 
 PROGNATVS. FORTIS. VIR. SAPIENSQVE. QVOIVS. FORMA. VIRTVTEI. PARISVMA 
 FVIT. CONSOL. CENSOR. AIDILIS. QVEI. FVIT. APVD. VOS. TAVRASIA. CISAVNA 
 SAMNIO. CEPIT. SVBIGIT. OMNE. LOVCANA. OPSIDESQV. ABDOVCIT 
 
 In the same room is the Torso di Belvedere, 
 so much esteemed by Michael Angelo, and all 
 succeeding sculptors. Little more than the mere 
 trunk is remaining; but even without being a 
 sculptor, it is impossible not to admire the exe- 
 cution. It seems to have been a Hercules, and 
 the name of the sculptor, Apollonius, son of 
 Nestor, an Athenian, still remains. Winkelmann 
 is enthusiastic in its praise, and thinks that it 
 comes nearer to the sublime than the Apollo 
 Belvedere. He considers the figure to have been 
 sitting, with the right arm over the head, and in 
 a state of repose after labour. He places Apol- 
 lonius among the sculptors who lived after the 
 time of Alexander 11 . 
 
 The first statue we come to of any celebrity is 
 
 z VitL Liv. lib. x. c. 1 1. a Lib. vi. c. 4. §. 50. 
 
 n n 2 
 
548 
 
 WINDS. 
 
 a Meleager, formerly in the Palazzo Pighini. 
 The left hand is wanting, but otherwise it is 
 very perfect. On the right of the figure is a 
 dog, on the left a boars head. 
 
 Outside of the window is a stone with twelve 
 sides, on each of which the name of a wind is 
 written in Greek and Latin. It was found in the 
 Baths of Titus. There is one also at Gaeta : and 
 two others have been described by Paciardi b and 
 Foggini c : to which we may add the Temple of 
 the Winds at Athens, of which Stuart has given 
 many engravings in his first volume. Different 
 opinions were entertained by the ancients as to 
 the number and names of the winds. Some 
 made them only eight; but in general they were 
 considered to be twelve. It would appear from 
 the names, that the Greeks first raised the num- 
 ber to twelve, and that the Romans either trans- 
 lated some of them, or applied local names, which 
 in some cases has caused confusion. The an- 
 cient authors who have treated upon the subject, 
 and given us the names of the winds, are, Pliny d , 
 Seneca 6 , Aul. Gellius f , Vitruviuss, Vegetius 11 , 
 and Strabo 1 . Besides the testimony of these 
 writers, we have the tower of Cyrrhestes at 
 Athens still remaining, on the eight sides of 
 which the names of eight winds are engraved. 
 A. Gellius also gives the names of only eight 
 
 b Monum. Pclop. torn. i. §. 7, p. 215. c P. 173 and 408. 
 
 d Lib. ii. c. 46. c Nat. Quaest. lib. v. c. 16. f Lib. ii. c. 22. 
 s Lib. i. c. 6. " De Re Mil. lib. iv. c. 58. 1 Lib. i. 
 
WINDS. 
 
 549 
 
 winds, but he does not agree with the tower at 
 Athens, as may be seen by the following table: 
 
 ATHENS. A. GELLIUS. 
 
 N. . . Boreas^. . Septemtrio, Aparctias. 
 
 NE. . Ccecias. . . Aquilo, Boreas. 
 
 E. . . Apheliotes. Eu r us, S u bs ol an us, Apheltotes, 
 
 SE. . Eurus. . . Vulturnus, Euronotus. 
 
 S. . . Notus. . . Auster, Notus. 
 
 SW. . Lybs. . . . Africus, Lybs. 
 
 W. . . Zephyrus. Favonius, Zephyrus. 
 
 NW. . Scirofi. . . Caurus, Argestes. 
 
 Different countries undoubtedly used different 
 terms, or affixed different significations to the 
 same term ; and as Pliny tells us that Sciron was 
 a name known only at Athens, and that the wind 
 so called was very little different from the Ar- 
 gestes, we need not be surprised that the tower 
 at Athens and the Roman author do not exactly 
 agree. Vitruvius also only recognizes eight winds ; 
 but I have not included him in the above com- 
 parison, because he tells us, that he follows the 
 tower of Cyrrhestes, and the only difference is, 
 that he substitutes the Latin for the Greek names, 
 of which I shall take notice presently. 
 
 Pliny, Seneca, and Vegetius, all agree in mak- 
 ing twelve winds : they also agree in their man- 
 
 k In this account of the winds, I mean all those words which 
 are in Italics to stand for the Greek terms. 
 
 n n 3 
 
550 
 
 WINDS. 
 
 ner of dividing the heavens. They divide the 
 East and West each into three points, according 
 to the direction in which the sun rises and sets 
 in the summer and winter solstices, and at the 
 equinox. They also divide the North and South 
 each into three points, but do not give any name 
 to the two which are on either side of the North 
 and South. With respect to the names of the 
 winds that blow from each of these points, they 
 do not exactly agree. The annexed scheme re- 
 presents the circle divided according to their 
 system, to each of which divisions I have affixed 
 the name of the wind, with its Greek and Latin 
 term. Where the authors differ with one an- 
 other, I have followed the majority : but I have 
 taken no notice of Strabo, because he contradicts 
 all the rest, and must evidently be wrong. He 
 places JEurus at ENE; Apheliotes at ESE; Ze- 
 phyrus at WNW ; and Argestes at WSW. Nor 
 can we suppose his text to be corrupt, because 
 he mentions Aristotle, Timosthenes, and Bio, as 
 differing from him ; and the names which they 
 give are placed exactly as they are by the writers 
 quoted above. 
 
 We find other names of winds occurring in an- 
 cient authors, which were peculiar to certain 
 countries, such as 
 
 Altanus, to the W. of S. (Vitruvius.) 
 Atabulus. Apulia. (Seneca and Pliny.) 
 Carbas : nearly E. (Vitruvius.) 
 
P.530. 
 
 4 
 
WINDS. 
 
 551 
 
 Catagis. Pamphylia. (Seneca.) 
 
 Circius. Gaul. (Seneca, Pliny, A. Gellius.) Ve- 
 getius puts it at NWN. 
 
 Iapyx. Calabria. (Seneca.) Apulia. (A. Gel- 
 lius, who says that it is nearly the same as 
 Caurus.) Vegetius makes it WNW. as he 
 does Favonius. 
 
 Meses, between Boreas and Caecias. (Pliny.) 
 
 Olympias, nearly the same as Sciron. (Pliny.) 
 
 Sciron. Athens. (Tower of Cyrrhestes, Seneca. 
 Pliny tells us, that it is nearly the same as 
 Argestes: and so A. Gellius makes it.) 
 
 Subvesperus. S. of W. (Vitruvius.) 
 
 The room, which has caused this digression, 
 leads into an octagonal court, filled with statues, 
 bas-reliefs, marble pillars, immense baths of gra- 
 nite, porphyry, &c. which are all interesting, but 
 contain nothing peculiarly worth mentioning. In 
 some of the bas-reliefs the battle between The- 
 seus and the Amazons is described ; in which it 
 will be observed, that those warlike dames have 
 not submitted to the operation which is generally 
 said to have given them their name. The same 
 may be observed throughout the frieze containing 
 the same subject, amongst the Phigalian marbles 
 in the British Museum. Mitford, in his History 
 of Greece 1 , has a judicious note upon the story 
 of the Amazons : he says, " that Amazon was a 
 
 1 Vol. x. p. 400, 
 
 n n 4 
 
652 
 
 AMAZONS. 
 
 " Greek name signifying breaslless, appears to 
 " have been a late and an unfounded imagina- 
 4< tion." He also remarks, that Herodotus calls 
 these women Amazonids™, thus implying, that 
 he considered the name Amazon as applicable 
 to men equally as to women. This latter remark 
 however does not contain so much force as it 
 appears to do. For though Herodotus uses the 
 term Amazonids in this place, yet every where 
 else he calls them as usual Amazons, and evi- 
 dently considers them as women". 
 
 Out of this court are the rooms containing the 
 most celebrated statues. In the first are three 
 modern ones by Canova. They were placed 
 here while the ancient ones were at Paris ; and 
 since the restoration of the latter, they have not 
 been removed. Standing thus by the side of the 
 noblest works of ancient sculpture, they must 
 necessarily challenge a comparison. In the Per- 
 seus, which is the finest of the three, some imi- 
 tation of the Belvedere Apollo may perhaps be 
 observed. The other two are Creugas and Da- 
 moxenus, of whom the following story, as related 
 by Pausanias 0 , is perhaps necessary to under- 
 stand their attitudes. Creugas and Damoxenus, 
 two noted pugilists, the former of Dyrrachium, 
 the latter of Syracuse, had fought all day with- 
 out coming to any decision. They at length 
 agreed that each should stand to receive the 
 
 'Apcityvdccs, lib. ix. c. 27- n E- g- lib. iv. c. 1 10. 0 Lib. ii. 
 
CANOVA. 
 
 553 
 
 blow of the other, in whatever part it might 
 come. Creugas accordingly let his fist fall upon 
 the head of his antagonist. Damoxenus then 
 told him to keep his hand still ; and running at 
 him with the fingers of his own hand stretched 
 out, he thrust them into his side, and drew them 
 out again, followed by the bowels of his rival. 
 Creugas immediately died ; but the prize was 
 adjudged to him, and Damoxenus was ba- 
 nished. 
 
 In these two figures there is vast force of ex- 
 pression, but it is not pleasing, and the attitude 
 of one of them seems very unnatural. The 
 colour of these statues cannot fail to be observed: 
 it is noticed in all Canova's works, and he is 
 said to use some preparation, to take off from the 
 fresh appearance of the marble. The ancients 
 seem to have had some custom of this kind. Vi- 
 truvius tells us?, that a preparation of wax and 
 oil was laid upon the statues in a liquid state 
 with a brush : when the marble was thus co- 
 vered, fire was applied to it, and afterwards it 
 was rubbed with tallow (candela) and linen. But 
 he does not say, whether this was done, to give 
 a brightness to new statues, or to repolish old 
 ones. Pliny certainly says q , that when the sta- 
 tues were finished, they were rubbed over with 
 a stone called Nacvos, (because it was prepared at 
 Naxos in Crete, but it came from Cyprus.) Af- 
 
 p Lib. vii. c. 9. i Lib. xxxvi. c. J. 
 
554 
 
 ANTINOUS. 
 
 terwards emery and tripoli were used, and last of 
 all the instrument was passed over the whole of 
 them. 
 
 In the other room is the Belvedere Antinous, 
 though some have lately changed its name to 
 Mercury without much reason. The wings, the 
 Caduceus, and every other emblem of Mercury, 
 are wanting. The countenance also certainly 
 resembles that which is usually given to Anti- 
 nous. If this notion be correct, we may fairly 
 cite this statue, as a proof that the arts were 
 still flourishing, and that there were sculptors 
 almost equal to any of their predecessors in the 
 time of Adrian. In fact, we know that the arts, 
 which had languished and were fast approaching 
 to decay under the preceding emperors, expe- 
 rienced a temporary revival under Trajan and 
 Adrian. The latter in particular encouraged ar- 
 chitecture and sculpture through the whole of his 
 dominions. Athens was embellished by him 
 with splendid edifices, and sculpture once more 
 found a congenial soil in Greece. Though we 
 may ridicule or pity him for raising statues to 
 Antinous as a god, yet there is no doubt that 
 great encouragement must have been given to 
 talent, in attempting to please the emperor by 
 representations of his favourite. The Villa at 
 Tivoli and the Mausoleum at Rome were alone 
 enough to call forth genius : and the accounts 
 we have of them, as well as the actual remains, 
 shew that the call was obeyed. 
 
ANTINOUS. 
 
 555 
 
 With respect to Antinous, of whom so many 
 busts are in existence, we know that he was a 
 native of Bithynia. He died A. D. 129, being 
 drowned in the Nile, and it was believed, that he 
 offered himself a voluntary sacrifice for Adrian. 
 For that emperor having consulted the Augurs 
 was told, that he should learn his destiny in the 
 entrails of a victim, which was dearest to him. 
 Upon which Antinous offered himself, and was 
 drowned in the Nile. Adrian built a city on the 
 spot, and called it after the name of his favourite: 
 his statues and busts were spread in every 
 country, and divine honours were very generally 
 paid to him r . 
 
 The celebrated Visconti thought the statue to 
 be a Mercury. It has also been called Meleager, 
 and was found near the church of S. Martino, 
 upon the Esquiline hill, in the sixteenth century, 
 during the reign of Paul III. and not in the 
 Mausoleum of Adrian, as some have said. It is 
 a most beautiful statue, but the right arm and 
 left hand are wanting. 
 
 The Laocoon occupies another apartment. 
 This wonderful groupe astonishes more and 
 more upon every inspection ; and though not so 
 pleasing as the Apollo, it will perhaps be consi- 
 dered a more surprising effort in a sculptor to 
 
 r A Treatise has been written upon the worship of Antinous 
 by Riencourt, where all the places are mentioned, where it was 
 introduced, and the authors who make any mention of it. Vide 
 Dio, lib. lxix. Spartianus and Aurelius Victor. 
 
556 
 
 LAOCOON. 
 
 have produced the Laocoon. It was found in 
 the baths of Titus during the pontificate of Ju- 
 lius II. and some account of it may be seen in an 
 original letter still extant from Cesare Trivulzio 
 to Pomponio Trivulzio, dated July 1506 s . The 
 place of its discovery seems clearly to identify 
 it with that which is described by Pliny 1 . He 
 represents the whole groupe as being cut out of 
 one block, and gives it the preeminence over 
 every other work of sculpture. His words are 
 these: " Deinde multorum obscurior fama est, 
 " quorumdam claritati in operibus eximiis ob- 
 <e stante numero artificum, quoniam nec unus 
 " occupat gloriam, nec plures pariter nuncupari 
 <c possunt : sicut in Laocoonte, qui est in Titi 
 " Imperatoris domo, opus omnibus et picture et 
 " statuarise artis prreferendum. Ex uno lapide 
 " eum et liberos draconumque mirabiles nexus 
 " de consilii sententia fecere summi artifices 
 <4 Agesander et Polydorus et Athenodorus Rho- 
 " dii." Winkelmann supposes Agesander to 
 have been father of the other two, and to have 
 lived about the time of Alexander". A Roman 
 citizen, by name Felice de Fredis, (who has a 
 monument in the church of Ara Celi,) has the 
 honour of discovering this precious relic in the 
 
 8 Lettere Pittoriche, vol. iii. p. 321. 
 1 Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
 u Lib. vi. c. 3. §. 9- If so, it is by no means improbable, that 
 the three figures are portraits of the three sculptors. 
 
LAOCOON. 
 
 557 
 
 year 1500, and he refused to sell it to the Car- 
 dinal of S. Pietro in Vincoli for 600 scudi. The 
 Pope however was more successful, and erected 
 a kind of chapel for it in the grounds of Belve- 
 dere. Winkelmann informs us x , that Julius II. 
 had assigned a pension to Fredis and his son 
 upon the duties payable at the gate of St. John 
 Lateran. Leo X. restored these duties to the 
 church, and gave Fredis the office of apostolic 
 secretary. This was in 1517. 
 
 Michael Angelo denied Pliny's assertion of 
 its being cut out of one block. Giovangelo and 
 Michael Christofano, two celebrated sculptors, 
 agreed in this opinion, and pointed out three or 
 four joinings, but they were united so admirably, 
 that it would require a most experienced person 
 to discover them. Winkelmann, speaking of the 
 ancients joining different parts of their statues 
 together, says, that we may see a piece of iron 
 used for this purpose in the Laocoon, where it is 
 placed behind the base y . But his annotator Fea 
 says, that there is no such piece of iron to be dis- 
 covered in this groupe, except one, which con- 
 nects the left arm of the father with the right ai m 
 of one of his sons, where the marble had been 
 broken ; but this, he says, is not ancient. He 
 adds 2 , that three separate pieces can be clearly 
 made out: the figure of the eldest son, which is 
 
 x Lib. vi. c. 3. §. 10. Note, 
 to lib. vi. c. 3. §. 11. 
 
 » Lib. iv. c. 7. §• 29. 'Note 
 
558 
 
 LAOCOON. 
 
 on the left-hand, is one; the upper half of Lao- 
 coon himself, down to the knees, is another ; and 
 the rest of the groupe seems to be in one. The 
 left foot of the eldest son is longer than the 
 other. 
 
 Disputes have arisen as to the author of the 
 Restorations. There is a common report that 
 Michael Angelo began an arm in marble for the 
 larger figure, but left it unfinished, " Because, 
 "as he said, he found he could do nothing 
 "worthy of so admirable a piece a ." Winkel- 
 mann asserts this, and adds, that he had intended 
 to make the arm bend back, so as to come over 
 the head of the statue. It is certain, that an 
 arm of this kind formerly lay near the statue, 
 but whether it was the work of Michael Angelo 
 is at least doubtful. Winkelmann makes Ber- 
 nini to have formed the arm, which we now see 
 in Terra Cotta. Heyne b denies this, alleging for 
 his reason, that Bernini was not born till 1598 ; 
 but in the engraving of the groupe, published by 
 Marliani in 1544, the figure is represented as re- 
 stored. This however is no direct evidence 
 against Bernini, as the engraver may have sup- 
 plied the deficiency from his own imagination, 
 or Bernini's restoration may have succeeded to 
 a former one. We have however some certain 
 
 a Spence's Anecdotes, p. 86. 
 
 b In his Collection of Essays upon different subjects of an- 
 tiquity. 
 
LAOCOON. 
 
 559 
 
 evidence upon the subject. Vasari in his Life of 
 Baccio Bandinelli, tells us, that that sculptor 
 made an arm for the figure of Laocoon in wax in 
 the year 1525. He followed this in his own copy 
 of the groupe, which is now at Florence, and it 
 is the same as what Marliani engraved in 1544. 
 Vasari also tells us, that Giovangelo Montorsoli 
 restored the right arm in marble by order of 
 Clement VII. after 1532. This is the arm, of 
 which Winkelmann speaks, as not having been 
 finished, and lying near the statue. It may have 
 been attributed to Michael Angelo, from the si- 
 milarity of the name. The question still re- 
 mains, who formed the arm in terra cotta which 
 we now see upon the statue ? It may have been 
 Bandinelli himself ; or it may have been Bernini ; 
 but it is not mentioned in either of the lives 
 written of him by his son, and by Baldinucci. 
 We know, that the arms of the two children were 
 restored by Agostino Cornacchini of Pistoja, 
 but they are not much admired. He followed 
 the copy of Bandinelli, and an engraving on 
 wood made by Titian, in which he had turned 
 the figures into three apes, to ridicule Bandinelli, 
 who had boasted of producing a copy superior to 
 the original. 
 
 In the Camera Madama are two groupes of 
 the Laocoon : the smaller is of a different design 
 from the famous Laocoon ; but the larger groupe 
 is just like it. It has the arm, which is wanting 
 in the other ; and Bandinelli followed it in the 
 
560 
 
 LAOCOON. 
 
 copy, which he made of this groupe at the end 
 of the gallery at Florence 6 . There was also a 
 gem in the collection at Paris, where the groupe 
 very nearly resembled this ; and the right arm of 
 Laocoon is bent, as M. Angelo intended his 
 restoration to be d . 
 
 Many criticisms have been bestowed upon this 
 work : amongst which it is said, that the father 
 seems to be feeling his own sufferings more than 
 those of his sons ; a remark which does not 
 make the expression really less natural, though it 
 may not be so heroic. Winkelmann admires the 
 statue, for expressing the exact contrary of this. 
 It is however not unjust to say, that the bodies of 
 the father and his sons are relatively out of pro- 
 portion : for if the sons are viewed separately, 
 they by no means present the idea of boys, but 
 of men ; whereas the father is so much larger, 
 that either he must be a giant, or his sons dwarfs. 
 The height of the whole groupe is eight palms 
 nine inches. 
 
 The celebrated passage in Virgil certainly does 
 not apply to this groupe : 
 
 at primiim parva duorum 
 Corpora nalorum serpens amplexus uterquc 
 Implicat, et miseros morsu depascitur artus. 
 Post ipsum, auxilio subeuntem ac tela ferentem, 
 Corripiunt, spirisque ligant ingcntibus ; et jam 
 
 c Spence's Anecdotes, p. 227. 
 
 d It is engraved in the work of Marietti, torn. i'r. pi. 95. 
 
LAOCOON. 
 
 561 
 
 Bis medium amplexi, bis collo squamea circum 
 Terga dati, superant capite et cervicibus altis. 
 llle simul manibus tendit divellere nodos. 
 
 TEn. ii. 213. 
 
 Still less does a passage in Petronius Arbiter 
 agree with the work of the Rhodian sculptors. 
 It occurs in his Satyricon, c. 89. 
 
 infulis stabant sacri 
 Phrygioque cultu gemina nati pignora 
 Laocoonte, quos repente tergoribus ligant 
 Angues corusci : parvulas illi manus 
 Ad ora referunt; neuter auxilio sibi, 
 Uterque fratri transtulit pias vices, 
 Morsque ipsa miseros rnutuo perdit metu. 
 Accumulat ecce liberum funus parens, 
 Infirmus Auxiliator : invadunt virum 
 Jam morte pasti, mcmbraque ad terram trahunt. 
 Jacet sacerdos inter aras victima 
 Terramque plangit. 
 
 The preceding chapter contains a discourse 
 upon the decay of the art of painting ; and the 
 Poem, to which these verses belong, seems to be 
 descriptive of a picture, called The Taking of 
 Troy : from which we may infer, that the painter 
 certainly did not consult the work of the sculptor 
 for his ideas. Virgil seems in the same manner 
 to have drawn from his own imagination in de- 
 scribing the scene; or he may have followed 
 writers who preceded him : for Servius quotes 
 
 o o 
 
562 
 
 LAOCOON. 
 
 Bacchylides, as having mentioned the story ; and 
 adds, that Euphorion wrote a tragedy upon it. 
 We know also, that Sophocles wrote a tragedy, 
 called Laocoon 6 : and Lycophron, who was 
 much earlier than Virgil f , alludes to it&. In fact, 
 it seems to have been a favourite subject with 
 the ancients. Quintus Calaber has several verses 
 upon it h : and Hyginus \ even tells us, that the 
 names of his two sons were Antiphas and Thym- 
 braeus : but Servius calls them Ethron and Me- 
 lanthus. Hyginus makes Laocoon to have been 
 son of Acaetes and brother of Anchises, whereas 
 Tzetzes k calls him son of Antenor. What is 
 more extraordinary, even the snakes have 
 found names : for Lycophron calls one Porces, 
 and Tzetzes tells us, that the other's name w as 
 Charibaea. 
 
 In the last room of this series is the celebrated 
 Belvedere Apollo, of which so much has been 
 said, and every description fails in conveying an 
 adequate idea of its extraordinary beauty. It 
 was found at Antium towards the end of the 
 fifteenth century. The fingers of the right hand 
 are in plaister; and the left hand is a modern 
 restoration by Govanangelo Montorsoli : the 
 right arm and leg are ancient, but have been 
 badly joined on, so that the knee seems rather 
 
 6 Vide Harpocration in 'Ayviivs. f He flourished 304, A. C. 
 * Cassandra, v. 347. h 388—409- * Fab. 135. k Ad 
 Lycophron. 
 
BELVEDERE APOLLO. 563 
 
 turned in. Both ankles have been broken ; and 
 an accident, which happened to it in its journey 
 from Paris, has been clumsily repaired. 
 
 A variety of opinions has been expressed as to 
 the character in which Agasias meant to repre- 
 sent Apollo. Spence 1 conceived him to be a 
 hunter. Visconti recognizes a statue, made by 
 Calamis, and described by Pausanias 111 , which 
 the Athenians erected to Apollo in his medical 
 capacity after the great plague. Other opinions 
 are, that he has just defeated the giant Tityus ; 
 that he has just expended all his arrows against 
 the Achaeans ; that he has been slaying the 
 giants, Niobe, and her children, or the faithless 
 Coronis. Such are some of the conjectures, to 
 which this wonderful statue has given rise n . The 
 prevailing opinion however is, that he has just 
 slain the serpent Python, and this is the idea of 
 Winkelmann. He certainly appears to have just 
 discharged an arrow: the fragment of a bow is 
 in his left hand, (though this perhaps is modern :) 
 a quiver is on his back, and his feet are exactly 
 in the attitude of a person, who has drawn his 
 bow, and is watching the progress of his arrow. 
 A snake is twisted round the trunk, on which his 
 right arm rests. 
 
 Winkelmann is elevated into a strain of en- 
 thusiasm in describing this statue, which perhaps 
 nothing but the Apollo Belvedere would save 
 
 1 Polymetis, Dial. viii. p. 87- m Lib. i. c. 3. n Vid. 
 
 Winkelmann, lib. vi. c. 6. s. 51, &c. 
 
 O O 2 
 
564 
 
 BELVEDERE APOLLO. 
 
 frdm being called rhapsody. He thinks it pro- 
 bable, that it was one of the numerous statues, 
 which were brought from the temple at Delphi 
 by Nero. I have read somewhere, but cannot 
 remember the authority, that it has been sup- 
 posed to be the statue, which the Carthaginians 
 carried off from the temple of iEsculapius at 
 Agrigentum, and which was restored by Scipio. 
 
 After all these conjectures as to the design 
 and history of this unrivalled statue, it remains 
 that we should notice an opinion, which some 
 have ventured to entertain, that after all it is 
 merely a copy. They observe, that the marble 
 is from the quarries at Carrara, not from those of 
 Paros: and Pliny says°, that the quarries of 
 Luna (i. e. Carrara) had not been discovered long 
 before his time, but that the marble was much 
 whiter than that of Paros. It appears however 
 from his own work?, that they were open in the 
 time of Julius Ceesar. 
 
 The height of the Apollo is exactly nine 
 palms, eight oncie, or with the plinth nine palms, 
 eleven oncie. 
 
 Out of this court we pass into a larger apart- 
 ment, filled with various animals of Greek and 
 Roman sculpture. The floor is composed of 
 curious and handsome Mosaics, mostly found at 
 Palestrina, the ancient Praeneste. We know, 
 that the sculptors of Greece paid particular at- 
 tention to the study of animals, and some of 
 
 0 Lib. xxxvi. c. 4. 
 
 P Ibid. c. 7. 
 
MITHRAS. 
 
 565 
 
 them excelled particularly in this department. 
 Calamis was celebrated for representing horses 9 , 
 and Nicias for dogs 1 . We may find mention of 
 dogs particularly well executed in other passages 
 of Pliny 8 . The cow of Myron is well known 1 : 
 and Praxiteles had a living lion placed before 
 him for him to copy u . Out of Rome, we need 
 only mention the lion at Venice, which came 
 from the Piraeus at Athens, and the boar at the 
 entrance of the gallery at Florence. 
 
 Amongst the animals, one groupe is sure to be 
 observed, which is repeated more than once in 
 this collection, and is called Mithras. With 
 little variation they all consist of the following 
 figures. A man with his head turned back rests 
 his left knee upon a bull, while he places his left 
 hand upon the bull's nose, and with his right 
 plunges a sword into the bull's right shoulder : a 
 dog licks up the blood, which falls ; a serpent is 
 represented below and an eagle above. The 
 whole is a Persian allegory, and one of the in- 
 terpretations is as follows. Mithras was the title 
 of the sun. The bull is the earth, which Mithras 
 or the sun is fertilizing with heat, and pene- 
 trating with his influence in the sign of Taurus. 
 The dog denotes, that all things are nourished 
 by the sun's influence upon the earth, besides 
 which Cants is properly placed next to Taurus. 
 
 q Plin. lib. xxxiv. c. 8. r Ibid. lib. xxxv. c. 11. 8 Vid. 
 lib. xxxiv. c. 7, and lg. lib. xxxv. c. 10. 1 Vid. Plin. lib. xxxiv. 
 c. 8. " Ibid, lib. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
 o o 3 
 
566 
 
 MITHRAS. 
 
 The bulls tail terminates in ears of corn, to 
 denote fecundity. De la Chausse, who has de- 
 scribed this museum x , says of another part of 
 this groupe, " Virtus Solaris in Tauro invalescens 
 44 incipit deficere in Cancro, virtnsque genitalis 
 44 paulatim in illo comprimitur." Another writer 
 says, 44 Scorpium juxta Genitalia ad Solem in 
 44 Scorpio refert, mense scilicet Octobri, quo 
 44 semina remisso vigore propter frigus conclu- 
 44 duntur." 
 
 This room leads into a long gallery, filled with 
 statues and other antiquities, many of which are 
 much deserving of notice. Two sitting figures, 
 Posidippus and Menander, are perhaps most so. 
 The recumbent figure at the opposite end, which 
 has been called a Cleopatra and an Ariadne by 
 different critics, is also a chef-d'ceuvre. The 
 name of Cleopatra has been given to it, because 
 the bracelet has resemblance to a serpent. The 
 head is modern. 
 
 At one extremity is a great collection of busts, 
 some of which are known, but a great number 
 are not so. We need not be astonished at the 
 immense quantity of ancient busts which have 
 been discovered. Pliny tells us?, that in his 
 time it was a common custom to change the 
 heads of illustrious persons and fit on new ones : 
 so that the trade of making busts must have been 
 one which was in great request. Besides this, 
 even in the finest statues it was sometimes cus- 
 
 x Museum Romanum, 2 vol. Roma 1746. 
 y Lib. xxxv. c. 2. 
 
SOCRATES. 
 
 567 
 
 tomary to work the heads separate from the rest, 
 and join them on. This is the case in the statues 
 of Niobe and her children at Florence 2 . 
 
 The hall of the Muses contains much the best 
 collection of those ladies, which I have seen. 
 They were almost all found in Adrian's Villa l>y 
 Alexander VI. Besides them, there are several 
 busts of Philosophers, some of which, from hav- 
 ing their names and sayings under them, are 
 unquestionably authentic. These are Socrates, 
 Zeno, Periander, Pittacus, Bias, Pericles, Antis- 
 thenes, besides many which are mutilated. With 
 respect to the bust of Socrates, it may be curious 
 to shew the exact agreement, which his features 
 bear to the descriptions in ancient authors. 
 " Socrates was said to resemble Silenus in his 
 "looks; for he was flat-nosed and baldV 
 " Now do not be angry with me: he was not 
 " handsome, but he resembled you in the flatness 
 " of his nose, and in the exterior of his eyesV 
 " A person would be a fool, who was to put such 
 " a question as this, Whether any one had a 
 " flatter nose than Socrates 0 ?" 
 
 z Winkelmann, lib. iv. c. 7. s. 10. 
 a Schol. in Aristoph. Nub. 223. 
 b Plato, Theaet. 
 
 c Athenaeus, lib. v. c. 60. (ed. S weigh.) The same account 
 also is given by Plato, Sympos.; Lucian, Dial. Mort; Xenophon, 
 Sympos. ; and Synesius, Calvitii Encomium. From a passage in 
 Cicero, it would seem, that there were craniologists in those 
 days ; " Zopyrus et stupidum esse Socratem dixit et bardum, 
 " quod jugula concava non haberet ; obstructas eas partes et 
 '* obturatas esse dicebat." De Fato, c. 2. 
 
 O O 4 
 
568 
 
 S. CONSTANTIA. 
 
 In a circular room out of this, which is 61 feet 
 in diameter and extremely beautiful, is a mag- 
 nificent cup of porphyry, 46 feet in circumference, 
 found in the Baths of Titus. The sides of the 
 room are ornamented with very fine statues, and 
 the floor contains the largest ancient mosaic 
 extant. It was found at Otricoli, anciently 
 Ocriculum, on the road to Florence. 
 
 The next room to this is in the shape of a 
 Greek cross, and excessively rich in marbles. 
 Among its contents, the most striking are two 
 Sarcophagi of red porphyry, of a great size, and 
 ornamented with bas-reliefs, which are extremely 
 perfect, but ill executed. One contained the 
 ashes of S. Constantia, daughter of Constantine, 
 and was found in the mausoleum dedicated to 
 her by that emperor, near the church of S. Ag- 
 nese, without the walls. This is a very curious 
 building, being of a circular form, and orna- 
 mented with ancient mosaics. It is thought to 
 have been erected first as a baptistery to the 
 neighbouring church of S. Agnese, which was 
 also built by Constantine, and afterwards to have 
 been converted into a mausoleum to his daughter. 
 The Sarcophagus is probably much older than 
 the time of Constantine. Paul II. was removing 
 it to the Lateran, to serve for his own tomb, 
 when he died ; and his successor Sextus IV. 
 restored it to its original place, from whence it 
 was taken to the Vatican. It should be men- 
 tioned, however, that some consider the building 
 to be much older, and call it a temple of Bac- 
 
S. HELENA. 
 
 569 
 
 chus. The capitals of the columns d are certainly 
 in a style of elegance superior to the age of Con- 
 stantine. Constantia died in 354. 
 
 The other Sarcophagus contained the remains 
 of S. Helena, mother of Constantine, and came 
 from her mausoleum upon the road out of the 
 Porta Maggiore. This mausoleum is now called 
 Tor Pignalara. Anastasius IV. removed the 
 Sarcophagus to the Lateran, intending it for his 
 own tomb. Pius VI. moved it to its present 
 place. Some doubts have been raised whether 
 this can really be the Sarcophagus of Helena: 
 for Nicephorus says c , that she was buried in a 
 round temple, out of the city of Rome, in a 
 marble urn, which was removed two years after 
 to Constantinople. But as Helena died in 327, 
 and Nicephorus did not live till the fourteenth 
 century, later writers have preferred the tradition, 
 which makes this the Sarcophagus of the Empress 
 Saint. 
 
 There is an inscription in this room, behind 
 the tomb of Helena, which I have never yet seen 
 cited, but which, if genuine, is of some interest 
 in illustrating a fact, which was doubtful even in 
 the days of Livy. I say, if it be genuine: for 
 from the silence of antiquaries upon the subject, 
 and from the terms of the inscription itself, which 
 is not altogether in the style of ancient epitaphs, 
 1 cannot help having suspicions. However, I 
 have never seen the least evidence of its being 
 
 11 They are engraved by Desgodetz. c Lib. viii. c. 31. 
 
570 
 
 EPITAPH OF 
 
 forged, and it holds its place in the Vatican 
 among the most authentic remains. It purports 
 to be the epitaph of Syphax King of Numidia, 
 who was brought to Italy by Scipio Africanus to 
 grace his triumph : but Livy says f , that he was 
 saved this disgrace by dying at Tibur, whither 
 he had been sent by the Senate. He adds, how- 
 ever, that according to the account of Polybius 
 he actually was led in triumph. Livy's words 
 are these: " Morte subtractus spectaculo magis 
 " hominum, quam triumphantis gloriae Syphax 
 " est, Tibure haud ita multo ante mortuus, 
 " quo ab Alba traductus fuerat. Conspecta 
 " mors tamen ejus fuit, quia publico funere est 
 *f elatus. Hunc Regem in triumpho ductum 
 " Polybius, haudquaquam spernendus auctor, 
 " tradit." Polybius adds, that he died in prison. 
 The inscription touches upon this question ; and 
 I think that the following copy may be relied 
 upon as preserving the abbreviations and stops 
 exactly as they are in the original. 
 
 SyPHAX NVMIDIAE REX 
 A I SCpIONE. AFRC. IVR. BEL. CAVSA 
 ROM. IN HlVMPH. SVMORNV 
 CAPTIVS. PERDVCTVS 
 I NTIB VRTINO. TERRI. RELEGATV 
 SVAMQSERVIT-V-INANIREVOL. 
 
 SVPREM. £. CLAVSIT 
 ETATIS. ANN. XLVIII. M. VI. XI 
 
 CAPTIVITS. V. OBRVT 
 P. C. SCflO. COND1TOSEPVL 
 
 f Lib. xxx. c. ult. 
 
SYPHAX. 
 
 571 
 
 The abbreviations are perplexing, and not usual : 
 but perhaps some of them may be written at 
 length in the following manner. 
 
 SYPHAX. NVMIDIAE. REX 
 A. SCIPIONE. AFRICANO. IVRIS. BELLI. CAVSA 
 ROMAM. IN. TRIVMPHVM. SVVM. ORNANDVM 
 CAPTIVVS. PERDVCTVS 
 IN. TIBVRTINORVM. TERRIS. RELEGATVS g 
 SVAMQVE. SERVITVTEM. IN. ANIMO. REVOLVENS 
 SVPREMAM. DIEM. CLAVSIT 
 AETATIS. ANNO. XLVIII. MENSE. VI. DIE. XI 
 CAPTIVITATIS. VI. OBRVTVS 
 P. C. SCIPIONE. CONDITORE. SEPVLCRI 
 
 After all, the question between Polybius and 
 the other Roman historians is not satisfactorily 
 decided by this document, though 1 should 
 rather cite it on the side of Polybius. The age 
 of Syphax, which unfortunately is not of the 
 slightest importance, is perhaps the only fact 
 proved by it. It may be mentioned, that the 
 inscriptions from the tomb of the Scipios, which 
 are nearly contemporary with the supposed date 
 of this, contain scarcely any abbreviations ; and 
 in a list of the inscriptions found at Tivoli there 
 is no mention of this. 
 
 After ascending a very handsome staircase, 
 we come into a room called that of the chariot, 
 from an ancient one of marble, which is preserved 
 
 ? Or tibvrtino. TERRiTORfo. Territoriwn is a classical 
 word : vitL Cic. 'I. Philip. 40. and Plin. lib. xxix. c. 6'. 
 
572 
 
 CHARIOTEERS. 
 
 here. Two horses also in marble are yoked to 
 it, and the whole has the appearance of being 
 very perfect: but unfortunately only the car 
 itself, not the wheels, and the body of one of the 
 horses, are ancient ; all the rest are modern ad- 
 ditions, but well executed. In some bas-reliefs, 
 which represent the games of the Circus, there 
 are generally some figures lying prostrate under 
 the legs of the horses, which are running. The 
 antiquaries have made out the extraordinary ex- 
 planation, that they were people, who threw 
 themselves down in the way of the chariots, that 
 the drivers might shew their skill in passing over 
 them. The drivers will also be observed with the 
 reins lapped round their bodies in several folds, 
 a custom which prevailed in the games of the 
 Circus ; and which may explain the misfortune, 
 which would otherwise seem difficult to have 
 happened, in the account of the death of Orestes. 
 He is said to have been " rolled from the chariot, 
 s< and to have been entangled with the reins h ." 
 
 There is here also a Discobolus, which has the 
 name of Myron upon it : but it is not supposed 
 to be the work of that great artist, who flourished 
 in the eighty-seventh Olympiad, and worked 
 chiefly in bronze : it is probably a copy from one 
 of his statues ; and we know, that even with the 
 ancients it was a common trick to put the name 
 of some great sculptor upon ordinary statues. 
 Phaedrus tells us this' : 
 
 h Soph. Elect. 74S. 
 
 ' Lib. v. in prol. 
 
DISCOBOLUS OF MYRON. 573 
 
 Ut quidam artifices nostro faciunt saeculo, 
 Qui pretium operibus majus inveniunt, novo 
 Si marmori ascripserunt Praxitelem suo, 
 Myronem argento. Plus vetustati nam favet 
 Invidia mordax, quarn bonis prassentibus. 
 
 Pliny, when speaking of Myron's works in 
 bronze k , expressly mentions the Discobolus. 
 Lucian also, who describes it 1 , implies that it 
 was in bronze. It was placed in the vestibule of 
 a palace at Athens ; and as Lucian mentions hav- 
 ing seen it, it was in existence after the reign of 
 Trajan. There is reason to think, that a great 
 abundance of copies was made from it. There 
 is one at Florence, a torso in the Capitol, and 
 another in England. This in the Vatican, which 
 is antique with exception of part of the right leg, 
 was found in the Villa Palombaro on the Esqui- 
 line hill. The passage in Lucian alluded to 
 above may convince us, that this is really a copy 
 from the celebrated Discobolus of Myron, and 
 from no other; for it is that which Lucian is 
 describing. He makes him stooping down, like 
 one about to throw the quoit, turning his face 
 back towards the hand which holds it ; and 
 bending the left foot a little back, as if he was 
 going to rise with the cast. Quintilian also" 1 
 seems to allude to the strained attitude of this 
 statue. Some parts of this copy were either 
 not finished^ or have suffered by time, as the left 
 
 k Lib. xxxiv. c. 8. 1 Philopseud. s. 18. 1,1 Inst. lib. ii. c. 13. 
 
574 
 
 PIUS VI. 
 
 foot, the right knee, and part of the neck. When 
 it was found, there was a piece of marble at- 
 tached to the right thigh, which supported the 
 right arm : this has been removed. 
 
 This apartment is the termination of the 
 Museo Pio-Clementino, which it is impossible 
 to have passed through without admiring the 
 magnificence of the two pontiffs, who gave their 
 name to it. The fame of Clement XIV. has 
 however entirely merged in that of Pius VI. 
 who built the Museum, and whose name is 
 placed on almost every article preserved in it. 
 Munificentia Pii Sexti meets us at every turn, 
 as do the arms of Braschi, to which family the 
 pope belonged. This certainly exposes Pius VI. 
 to the charge of vanity ; and the Romans, who 
 are always given to sarcasm, used it on one oc- 
 casion as a reproof to their sovereign. In the 
 time of a scarcity, the bread, though it did not 
 rise in price, was greatly reduced in the size of 
 the loaves. The people thought, that part of 
 the revenue might have been better applied to 
 relieve their exigencies, than to ornament the 
 Vatican. Accordingly Pasquin appeared one 
 morning with a loaf in his hand of the smallest 
 dimensions; over which was written Munificentia 
 Pii Sexti. 
 
 Returning from the room of the Chariot, we 
 enter a gallery, the whole length of which is 
 1041 feet; but it is not properly one gallery, but 
 a series of rooms, which are open to each other. 
 
PIUS VI. 
 
 575 
 
 Four of them are filled with works of ancient 
 sculpture ; and then comes a gallery, 420 feet in 
 length, the walls of which are painted with 
 maps of different parts of Italy, executed by 
 Ignazio Danti in 1581. These are rudely done, 
 but are well worth examining, This gallery con- 
 nects with the rooms already described, in which 
 the tapestries of RafFael are hung. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Adrian, 194. 
 
 Adrian's Villa, 115. 
 S. Agnese, 507. 
 Alaric, 10. 
 Amazons, 551. 
 Ambones, 478. 
 Amphitheatres, 336. 
 Amphitheatrum Castrense, 77- 
 S. Andrew, 445. 
 Antinous, 554. 
 Apollo Belvedere, 562. 
 Apollodorus, 194. 
 Approach to Rome, 4. 
 Aquaducts, 35, 40, 290. 
 Aqua Appia, 36. 
 
 Felice, 38. 
 
 . Giulia, 37, 290. 
 
 Martia, ibid. 
 
 Tepula, ibid. 
 
 Virgo, 37. 
 
 Arabesques, 280. 
 
 Ara Celi, 490. 
 
 Arch of Constantine, 215. 
 
 Fabius, 222. 
 
 Gallienus, 214. 
 
 Gordian, 223. 
 
 Janus, 45, 198. 
 
 M. Aurelius, 220. 
 
 S. Severus, 208, 212. 
 
 Titus, 201. 
 
 — Trajan, 2 1 7. 
 
 Arco di Pantani, 196. 
 Aretino, 527. 
 Aventine Hill, 50, 144. 
 M. Aurelius, Statue of, 108. 
 
 Baldacchino, 424. 
 Baptistery, 454. 
 
 Basalt, 106. 
 Basilica, 383. 
 
 of P. ^milius, 45, 
 
 487- 
 Baths, 267. 
 
 of Caracalla, 291. 
 
 Diocletian, 296. 
 
 P. iEmilius, 298. 
 
 Titus, 267. 
 
 Bede, 418. 
 Benediction, 414. 
 Bernini, 438. 
 Bramante, 399. 
 Bridges, 34, 300. 
 Brunelleschi, 394. 
 
 Cselian Hill, 142. 
 Cameleopard, 321. 
 Campus Martius, 51. 
 Canova, 439, 552. 
 Capitol, 49, 50, 96, 105. 
 Carceres, 309, 332. 
 Caroccio, 135. 
 Carrara Marble, 21, 564. 
 Caryatides, 158. 
 Castor and Pollux, 106. 
 Castle of S. Angelo, 258. 
 Castrum Prsetorium, 13. 
 Catacombs, 480. 
 Census, 6l. 
 
 Chair of S. Peter, 432. 
 Charles Borromeo, 503. 
 Churches, 367- 
 Church of S. Adriano, 487- 
 
 Agnese, 507, 568. 
 
 Agostino, 503. 
 
 Andrea della Val- 
 
 Je, 501, 
 
 pp 
 
578 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Church of the Apostles, 500. 
 
 S. Bernardo, 297, 
 
 487. 
 
 the Capucins, 509. 
 
 — S. Carlo in Catinari, 
 
 502. 
 
 Cecilia, 511. 
 
 Clement, 488. 
 
 Constantia, 376. 
 
 Cosmo and Da- 
 
 miano, 45, 192. 
 
 Edmund, 515. 
 
 Gregorio, 510. 
 
 John Lateran, 451. 
 
 and S. Paul, 
 
 142. 
 
 > Lorenzo, 4/6. 
 
 in Mi- 
 randa, 487- 
 
 Maria degli An- 
 
 gioli, 498. 
 
 della Pace, 
 
 506. 
 
 ■ • Egiziaca, 
 
 44. 
 
 -' in Cosme- 
 
 din, 489- 
 Trastevere, 
 
 512. 
 
 in Valli- 
 
 cella, 499- 
 Maggiore, 
 
 460. 
 
 sopra Mi- 
 nerva, 500. 
 
 — Nicola in Carcere, 
 
 29. 
 
 Paul, 262, 467. 
 
 . Peter, 387. 
 
 Pietro in Monto- 
 
 rio, 512. 
 Vincoli, 
 
 492. 
 
 Pudentiana, 497- 
 
 Santa Croce, 465. 
 
 — _ . — Sebastian, 479- 
 
 Sophia, 393. 
 
 Church of S. Stefano Rotondo, 
 
 376, 393. 
 
 Theodore, 486. 
 
 Thomas, 514. 
 
 Trinita Maggiore, 
 
 507. 
 
 Circumference of Rome, 67- 
 Circus, 306, 572. 
 
 Agonalis, 333. 
 
 of Caracalla, 239, 329- 
 
 Flora, 334. 
 
 Flaminius, 332. 
 
 Maximus, 307. 
 
 of Nero, 335. 
 
 Claudian Aquaduct, 37. 
 Clement, 489- 
 Cleopatra, 566. 
 Cloaca Maxima, 22. 
 Colosseum, 337, 388. 
 Composite Order, 21, 201. 
 Constantia, Tomb of, 568. 
 Constantine, 107, 395, 452. 
 Constantinople, 14. 
 Corinthian Capital, 158. 
 Corso, 7- 
 
 Cottage of Romulus, 49, 96. 
 Creugas, 553. 
 Cupola, 391. 
 
 of S. Peter's, 449- 
 
 Damoxenus, 553. 
 Destruction of Rome, 8, 13. 
 Diana, 120. 
 Discobolus, 572. 
 Domenichino, 502, 510. 
 Doves in Mosaic, 122. 
 Duilian Column, 131. 
 Dying Gladiator, 125. 
 
 Egyptian Sculpture, 115. 
 Esquiline Hill, 138. 
 
 Farnese Hercules, 293. 
 Fasti Capitolini, 137- 
 Flora, 295. 
 Fountains, 39= 
 Forum, 178, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 579 
 
 Forum of Nerva, 195. 
 
 Trajan, 169. 
 
 Founders of Religious Orders, 
 
 422. 
 Frontinus, 35. 
 
 Gardens of Sallust, 34. 
 Gates, 70, 80, 91- 
 Gauls, 18. 
 Genseric, 12, 156. 
 Geta, 210. 
 Giallo Antico, 219- 
 Giotto, 419. 
 Gladiators, 324, 328. 
 Glass, use of, 270, 383. 
 Gothic Architecture, 369. 
 Goths, 10, 13, 371. 
 Grotte Vaticane, 439. 
 
 Harpocrates, 124. 
 S. Helena, 443. 
 
 Tomb of, 569- 
 
 Henry IV. of France, 465. 
 Horses, 139- ♦ 
 Houses of the Ancients, 268. 
 
 Ichnography, 119, 165. 
 Iliad, 121. 
 
 Intercolumniations, 153. 
 Intermontium, 104. 
 Isis, 118, 121. 
 
 Italian Architecture, 379, 461. 
 
 Janiculum, 50, 77. 
 Jewish Spoils, 203. 
 S. John, 86. 
 Jubilee, 419. 
 Julius II. 399, 493. 
 
 Laocoon, 287, 555. 
 Lapis Specularis, 276. 
 Lateran, 520. 
 S. Laurence, 479. 
 Leo X. 401. 
 Leonine City, 80. 
 Light and Shade, 284. 
 Limits of Rome, 49, 67. 
 
 Lombard Architecture, 370. 
 S. Longinus, 445. 
 S. Luke, 463. 
 Lyons, 40. 
 
 S. Malachy, 472. 
 Mamertine Prisons, 26. 
 Marforio, 114. 
 Mausoleum of Adrian, 258. 
 
 Augustus, 256. 
 
 Meleager, 548. 
 
 Meta, 313, 317- 
 
 Michael Angelo, 394, 399, 405, 
 
 430, 493, 504, 522, 581 . 
 Milestone, 107. 
 Mirrors, 274. 
 Mithras, 565. 
 Mons Pincius, 52. 
 Monte Citorio, 52. 
 
 Testaccio, 53. 
 
 Monuments in S. Peter's, 434. 
 
 Mosaics, 122, 427, 458. 
 
 Moses, 493. 
 
 Muro Torto, 74. 
 
 Museum Capitolinum, 113. 
 
 Myron, 572. 
 
 Naumachia, 325. 
 Neri, S. Filippo, 499. 
 Nero, 476. 
 Nismes, 40. 
 
 Obelisks, 223. 
 
 Opus Reticulatum, 75'. 
 
 Oratorio. 500. 
 
 Piestum, 2 5-. 
 Painting, Art of, 458. 
 
 of the Ancients, 282. 
 
 Palace of the Czesars, 49, 94*. 
 Palaces, 517. 
 Palatine Hill, 48, 93. 
 Pantheon, 148, 299, 39 J. 
 Parthenon, 388. 
 Pasquin, 114. 
 Paul V. 411. 
 S. Paul's, 413, 4(57. 
 P p2 
 
580 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Pavonazzo, 470. 
 Peperino Stone, 33. 
 Perspective, 282. 
 S. Peter, 31, 39*, 425, 497, 
 513. 
 
 Statue of, 431. 
 
 Phengites, 276. 
 
 Piazza Navona, 333. 
 
 Pillar of M. Aurelius, 147, 176. 
 
 Phocas, 187- 
 
 Trajan, 147, 167. 
 
 Pius VI. 574. 
 Pointed Architecture, 369. 
 Pomcerium, 54. 
 Pompey, Statue of, 363. 
 Pons Cestius, 303. 
 
 Sublicius, 35, 305. 
 
 Triumphalis, 301. 
 
 Pont du Gard, 41. 
 Ponte di 4 Capi, 34, 302. 
 
 Molle, 7, 306. 
 
 S. Angelo, 301. 
 
 Bartolomeo, 303. 
 
 Rotto, 34, 304. 
 
 Sisto, 78, 302. 
 
 Pontine Marshes, 88. 
 Popes, series of, 4/1. 
 Population of Rome, 57, 66. 
 Porta Aurelia, 81. 
 
 -del Popolo, 7, 81. 
 
 S. Giovanni, 85. 
 
 Latina, 86. 
 
 S. Lorenzo, 84. 
 
 Maggiore, 38, 76, 85. 
 
 Pancratiana, 81. 
 
 S. Paolo, 90. 
 
 Pia, 83. 
 
 Pinciana, 83. 
 
 Portese, 80. 
 
 Salara, 83. 
 
 ^anta, 41 9. 
 
 S. Sebastiano, 86. 
 
 Portico of Octavia, 163, 477. 
 
 Puzzolana, 480. 
 
 Pyramid of C. Cestius, 41, 250. 
 
 Quadriporticus, 396. 
 
 Quirinal Hill, 138. 
 
 Raffael, 286, 402, 504, 512,533. 
 Roman Money, 138. 
 
 Numerals, 138. 
 
 Rosso Antico, 125. 
 
 Satires, 354. 
 Scala Santa, 457. 
 S. Sebastian, 479- 
 Senator, 105. 
 Serapis, 117- 
 Sesostris, 230. 
 Sette Sale, 288. 
 Sibyls, 524. 
 Sieges of Rome, 10. 
 Sistine Chapel, 52 1 . 
 Sistrum, 118. 
 Socrates, 567. 
 Spina, 316. 
 
 Statue of M. Aurelius, 108. 
 
 Stuarts, 440. 
 
 Sun-dial, 123. 
 
 Syphax, Epitaph of, 5*0. 
 
 Tabularium, 32. 
 
 Tarpeian Rock, 1 10. 
 
 Temple of Antoninus and Fau- 
 stina, 186. 
 
 Pius, 8, 
 
 161. 
 
 Concord, 190. 
 
 Diana at Ephesus, 
 
 389, 448. 
 
 Fortuna Virilis, 44. 
 
 at Jerusalem, 389, 44S. 
 
 of Jupiter Capitolinus, 
 
 97, 388. 
 
 at Elis, 389. 
 
 Olympius, 
 
 389- 
 
 Stator, 185. 
 
 Tonans, 189, 
 
 Minerva, 197- 
 
 Medica,392. 
 
 Nerva, 196. 
 
 Peace, 193, 465. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 581 
 
 Temple of Remus, 45, 192. 
 
 Romulus, 486. 
 
 Theseus, 388. 
 
 Venus and Rome, 194. 
 
 Vesta, 42. 
 
 Tertium or Tertio, 151, note. 
 Theatres, 353. 
 Theatre of Ballius, 365. 
 
 Marcellus, 364. 
 
 Pompey, 360. 
 
 Thebes in Egypt, 390. 
 Theodoric, 9, 25. 
 Tiber, 7, 298. 
 Tombs, 41, 240. 
 Tomb of Bibulus, 42, 244. 
 
 C. Metella, 42, 265. 
 
 Constantia, 568. 
 
 Scipios, 41, 246, 547- 
 
 Toro Farnese, 295. 
 Torre delle Milizie, 142. 
 Torso di Belvedere, 547- 
 Totila, 13. 
 
 Transfiguration, 512. 
 Travertine Stone, 33. 
 Tribune, 384. 
 Triumphal Arches, 197. 
 Triumphs, 112. 
 
 Trophies of Marius, 106. 
 True Cross, 443. 
 Tufo, 33. 
 Tuscans, 23. 
 
 Vandals, 12. 
 Vatiqan, 79, 520. 
 Velabrum, 200. 
 Venus, 128. 
 Verde antico, 220. 
 S. Veronica, 441. 
 Via ./Emilia, 82. 
 
 Appia, 87. 
 
 Flaminia, 82. 
 
 Sacra, 183. 
 
 Vitellia, 81. 
 
 Viminal Hill, 138. 
 Vitiges, 260. 
 Volcanos, 34. 
 
 Walls, 34, 68, 72. 
 Wild Beasts, 319, 323. 
 Windows, 269, 275, 279- 
 Winds, 548. 
 
 Wolf of bronze, 135, 486. 
 Works of the Republic, 1 7. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Baxter, printer, oxford. 
 
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