Walks in Rome

ncord-Temple of Vespasian-Temple of Saturn-Arch of Septimius Severus-Temple of Castor and Pollux-Pillar of Phocas-Temple of Antoninus and Faustina-Basilica of Constantine-(Sta. Martina-S. Ad

ents the appearance of a ravine between the Capitoline and Quirinal, but is an artificial hollow, excavated to facilitate the circulation of life within the city. An inscription over the door of the column, which overtops the other ruins, shows that it was raised in order

previous achievement of the kind. He swept away every building on the site, levelled the spot on which they had stood, and laid out a vast area of columnar galleries, connecting halls and chambers for public use and recreation. The new forum was adorned with two libraries, one for Greek, the other for Roman volumes, and it was bounded on the west by a basilica of magnificent dimensions. Beyond this basilica, and within the limits of the Campus, the same architect (Apollodorus) erected a temple for the worship of Trajan himself; but this work probably belonged to the reign of Trajan's successor, and no doubt the Ulpian forum, with all its adjuncts, occupied many years in building. The area wa

the top, so that it preserves throughout the same proportion when seen from below. It was formerly crowned by a statue of Trajan, holding a gilt globe, which latter is still preserved in the Hall of Bronzes in the Capitol. This statue had fallen from

tolic sta

ial urn, whose ash

Harol

d prayed earnestly for the salvation of the heathen emperor. He was told that the soul of Trajan should be saved, but that to ensure this he must either himself undergo the pains of purgatory for three days, or s

eenth century, but excavated in its present form by the French in 1812

y, as it were a corpse, and he the sexton; so that, in eighteen centuries, the soil over its grave has g

the base to the capital, must be an ugly spectacle for his ghostly eyes, if he considers that this huge, storied shaft must be laid before the judgment seat, as a piece of the evidence of what he did in the flesh). In the area before the column stands a grove of stone, consisting of the

eye; and no study of history, nor force of thought, nor magic of song, can so vitally assure us that Rome once existed, as this sturdy specimen of what its rulers and people

di Sangallo, c. 1506. It contains a statue of Sta. Susanna (not the Susanna of the Elders) by Fiammingo (Fran?ois de Quesnoy), which is justly considered the chef-d'?uvre of the Bernini School. The com

the left, discloses several beautiful pillars, which, after having borne various names, are now declared to be the remains of the Temple of Mars Ultor, b

he victory by which, agreeably to his vo

satia scelerato

r causa pro

me victore, voca

ding the mansiones of these priests. Like the priesthood in general, they appear to have been fond of good living, and there is a well-known anecdote of the Emperor Claudius having been lured by the steams of their banquet from his judicial functions in the adjacent forum, to come a

he had saved from overthrow and ruin; and the aid he had lent in bringing the murderers of C?sar to justice, was signalised by the title of Avenger, by which he was now specially addressed.... The te

ommage à Mars Vengeur de leur couronne et de leur sceptre; que les drapeaux pris à l'ennemi y fussent conservés; que les chefs de la cavalerie exécutassent des jeux en avant des marches de ce temple; enf

e prétendue troyenne de César; deux cent soixante lions furent égorgés dans la cirque, c'était leur place; deux troupes de gladiateurs combattirent dans les Septa ou se faisaient les élec

ments were statues of Augustus triumphant and of the subdued provinces-with inscriptions illustrative of the great deeds he had accomplished there; also a picture by Apelles representing War with her hands bound behind her, seated upon a pile of arms. Part of the boundary wall exists, enclosing on two sides the remains of the

n de Sans-Souci, qui du re

ance d'Auguste gauchir à dessein devant les intérêts particuliers, seule puissance avec laquelle il reste à compter quand tout intérêt général a disparu. L'obliquité de la politique d'Auguste est visible d

el Grillo, commemorates the approach to the castle of the great medi?val fa

dedicated in the short reign of Nerva, and hence generally called the Forum of Nerva, on account of the execration with which the memory of Domitian was regarded. Up to the seventeenth century seven magnificent columns of the temple of Mi

que Domitien avait placé à Albano, près du temple de cette déesse, un collège de prêtres qui imitaient la parure et les m?urs de femmes, on es

dway in the accumulation of the soil, that rises over dead Rome like a flood-tide. Within this edifice of antique sanctity a baker's shop is now established, wit

trafficked with his court interest, to be suffocated with smoke, a

een more beautiful than the Forum Romanum. It was ornamented with a Temple of Venus Genetrix-from whom Julius C?sar claimed to be descended-which contained a statue of the goddess by Archesilaus, a statue of C?sar himself, and a group of Ajax and Med

ti? qui, contra

de Fori. Quem t

pa Duci, mox

cervice

, Silv.

re some courses of huge square blocks of

by the Accademia di San Luca, founded in 1595, Federigo Zuccaro being its first director. The collections a

nd Ariadn

Paul V

d the Nymp

Lucretia: Gu

ne: G

XI.: Ve

and the Phar

sco of a chi

the Virgin: Attr

Luke, ascribed to Raphael. Here St. Luke, kneeling on a footstool before an easel, is busied painting the Virgin with the Child in

be that of Raphael, but his true skull has s

les phrénologistes auront prononcé de vains oracles, devant lequel on aura bien profondément rêvé

Luca, we enter t

traveller interested in history will find here is all but inexhaustible; and, after the disputes of centuries, the different sites seem now to be verified with tolerable certainty. The study of the Roman Forum is complicated by the succession of public edifices by which it has been occupied, each period of Roman history having a different s

cknowledged that this very difference of level is a terrible obstacle to the powers of imagination; again, the uncertainties of arch?ologists are discouraging to curiosity and the desire of illusion. For more than three centuries learning has been at work upon this field of ruins, without being able even to agree upon its bearings; some describing it as extending from north to south, others from east to west. The origin of the Forum goes back to the alliance of the Romans and Sabines. It was a space surrounded by marshes, which extended between the Palatine and the Capitol, occupied by the two colonies, and ser

d part of the edifices with which it had been embellished. This was an opportunity for isolating the Forum, and basilicas and temples were raised in succession along its si

, insisted on its being immediately filled up again, instead of extending it, as might easily have been done, to join the excavation which had long existed on the Clivus Capitolinus. Lately the excavations have been considerably increased, but were the roads leading to the Forum to be closed, and a large body of efficient labourers set to work, the whole of the Roma

, and turn towards the Capitol, we look upon the Clivus Capitolinus,

eperino placed long-and cross-ways alternately. It was formerly composed of two stages called Camellaria. Only the lower now remains. It contained the tables of the laws.

of Octavius was affixed by Marius, and the head and hand of Cicero by Antony, and where Fulvia, the widow of Clodius, spat in his dead face, and p

f the people. Here, also, was the trophied pillar which bore the arms of the Curiatii. In the area of the Comitium grew the famous fig-tree which was always preserved

lus and Tatius used to meet on intermediate ground and transact affairs common to both; and where Brutus was seated, when, without any change of countenance, he saw

, immediately after the murder of Caius Gracchus. Here Cicero pronounced his orations against Catiline before the senate. A pavement of coloured marbles remains. At its base ar

they were disinterred during the first French occupation. The space was so limited in this part of Rome, that in order to prevent encroaching upon the street Clivus Capitolinus, which descends the hill between this temple and that of Saturn, the temple of Vespasian was raised

ed represents the building called the School of Xanthus, chambers, for the use of the scribes and persons in

o, et ea voce ut me exaudire possis." Here the tribune Metellus flung himself before the door and vainly attempted to defend the treasure of the ?rarium in this temple against Julius C?sar. The present remains are those of an indifferent and late renovation of an earlier temple, being comp

h of Tiberius, erected, according to Tacitus, upon the re

walls were inscribed upon the Milliarium Aureum, as distances within the walls were upon the pyramid (from which in this case they were also measured) which bore the name of Umbilicus R

ved in the inscription, where we may still discern the erasure made by Caracalla after he had put his brother Geta to death in A.D. 213, for the sake of obliterating his memory. The added words are OPTIMIS FORTISSIMISQVE PRINCIPIBUS-but the ancient inscription P. SEPT. LVC. FIL. GET?. NOBILISS. C?SARI, has been made out by painstaking

rtistes. Cette inscription est doublement historique; elle rappelle les campagnes de Sévère et la tragédie domestique qui après lui ensanglanta sa famille, le meurtre d'un de ses fils immolé par l'autre, et l'acharnement de celui-ci à poursuivre la mémoire du frère qu'il avait fait assassiner. Le nom de Géta a été visiblement effacé par Caracalla. La même cho

o the public on the same days as the Pal

ervilius, a basin which probably derived its name from Servilius Ahala (who slew the philanthropist Sp. M?lius with a dagger near this very spot), and which was encircled with a ghastly row of heads in the massacres under Sylla. This fountain was adorned by M. Aggrippa with a figure of a hydra. The right side of the Forum is now occupied for a c

ntumque viri, d

fanti Julia t

l, vi.

ple of Mars outside the Porta Capena. The entablature which the three columns support is of great richness, and the whole fragment is considered to be one of the finest existing specimens of the Corinthian order. None of the Roman ruins have given rise to more discussion than this. It has perpetually changed its name. Bunsen and many other authorities considered it to belong to the temple of Minerva Chalcidica; but a

ertumnus, the god of Etruria, and patron of the quarter. The long trough-shaped fountain here, at which such picturesque groups of oxen and buffaloes are constantly standing, is a memori

ras pr?cedit

d?is templa

deis fratres

rn? compos

Fast.

a vestal. It was burnt down in the fire of Nero, rebuilt and again burnt down under Commodus, and probably restored for the last time by Heliogabalus. Here, during the consulate of the young Marius, the high priest Sc?vola was murdered, splashing the image of Vesta with his blood,-and here (A.D. 68) Piso, the adopted son of Galba, was murdered in the sanctuary whither he had fled for refuge, and his head, being cut off,

dicam, vicinum

st?, virgine

eranda petes p

l, i.

est?, qui Pallad

tiqui regia

ist. iii

uus, qui sustin

ntonsi regi

li, quae nunc ma

orm? causa pr

t Terra; subest vi

sedem terra

milis, nullo

o tam grave

a suspensus i

immensi parva

ummis, tantum

t fiat, forma

pli: nullus pr

uvio vindicat

Fast.

, Lares, et quo

ygius, nullique

ruso pignus mem

, ix.

nd wife admitted her lover Clodius in the disguise of a woman to the mysteries of the Bona Dea-whence C?sar went

s that the quagmire afterwards became a gulf, which an oracle declared would never close until that which was most important to the Roman people was sacrificed to it. Then the young Marcus Curtius, equipped in full armour, leapt his horse i

fora sunt, ud?

tis fossa ma

cus, siccas qui

tellus, sed la

Fast.

the name of Lacus Curtius must have existed on this site t

e Forum. At last, the bearers of the emperor's litter overturned it at the Curtian pool beneath the Capitol. In a few moments enemies swarmed around his body. A few words he muttered, which have been diversely reported: some said that they were abject and unbecoming; others affirmed that he presented his neck to the assassin's sword, a

at Forum and the Forum of Julius C?sar, and near the ascent to the Porta Janualis, by which Tarpeia admitted the Sabines to the Capitol. P

Jani; cur stas

foris templa

Fast.

eace and war, closed by Augustus for the third time

vacuum

ni clausit,

vaganti fr?

eci

, Ode

hes, whose sites are unknown, dedicated

Janus sum

doc

Ep. i.

the resort of brokers

am omnis re

um frac

at. ii

he Tabern? Nov?, where Virginia was stabbed by her father with a butcher's knife, which he had seized from one of the stalls, saying, "Thi

s, built with part of 1500 talents which C?sar had sent from Gaul to win him over to

ntiment vrai des antiquités romaines, nous montre tel qu'il était dans l'origine, se rassemblant au son de la tro

" The Curia was destroyed by fire, which it caught from the funeral pyre of Clodius. Around the Curia stood many statues of Romans who had rendered especial service to the state. The Curia Julia occupied the site of the Curia Hostilia in the

Forum, is the Column of Phocas, raised to that

column with

ng been laid bare by the Duchess of Devonshire in 1813, and bearing

ith a statue of Phocas in gilt bronze. It has so little the appearance of a monumental column, that for a long while it was thought to belong to some ruined building, till, in 1813, the inscription was discovered. The name of Phocas had, indeed, been erased; but that it must have been dedicated to h

r ses laches ménagements envers les Barbares, imagine de voler une colonne à un beau temple, au temple d'un empereur de quelque mérite, pour la dédier à un exécrable tyran monté sur le tr?ne par des assassinats, au meurtrier de l'empereur Maurice, à l'ignoble Phocas, que tout le monde conna?t, grace à Corneille, qui l'a encore trop ménagé. Et le plat dr?le ose appeler très-clément celui qui fit égorger sous les yeux d

red here in bold relief. On the side towards the Capitol a number of figures are represented, amongst them a woman presenting a child to the emperor, in reference to Trajan's

the famous statue of Domitian has be

stos, cujus s

us nomen memor

. i.

iscovered the base of the small Temple of Julius C?sar (?des Divi Julii),[59] which was surrounded with a colonnade of closely-pl

ilis, quos proxi

celsa Juliu

ont. El

um, and hence obtained the name of Rostra Julia. He also placed here the statue of Venus Anadyomene of Apelles, because C?sar had claimed descent from that goddess. Here, in A.D. 14,

and the inscription, which still remains on the portico, is "Divo antonino et div? faustin?. ex. s. c." The front of the temple is adorned with eight columns of cipolino, forty-three feet high, supporting a frieze ornamented with griffins and candelabra. The effect of these remains would be magnificent if the modern road were re

us. Ampère has since proved that this temple never existed, and that the remains are those of a Temple of the Penates, rebuilt by

que le peuple, dès qu'il était le ma?tre, se hatait de démolir. Valerius n'attendit pas qu'on se portat à cette extrémité, et il vint habiter au pied de

inthian columns, of which one, remaining here till the time of Paul V., was removed by him to the piazza of Sta. Maria Maggiore, where it still stands. This site was previously occupied by the Temple of Peace, burnt down in the time of Commodus. This temple was the great museum of Rome under the empire, and contained the

conqueror of the Allobroges,-the then inhabitants of Savoy. Close to this portion of the Via Sacra also

other buildings and statues which were once crowded into this narrow space; but a

s now known, is supposed by some antiquaries to be der

sur le Palatin; c'était un homme considérable dans son pays et même à Rome. Ils demandèrent et obtinrent grace. Privernum fut pris, et Vitruvius Vacca, qui s'y était réfugié, conduit à Rome, enfermé dans le prison Mam

he groups of meek-faced oxen of the Campagna, which are always to be seen lyin

ro et lautis m

ortant de la Rome de son temps à la Rome ancienne d'Evandre, ne trouvait pas d'image plus frappante du changement produit par les siècles, que la présence d'un troupeau de b?ufs dans le lieu destiné à être le Forum. Eh bien, le

icéron, César, et où devait les ramener la plus grande vicissitude de l'historie, la destruction de l'empire romain per les barbares. Ce que Virgile trouvait si étrange dans le passé n'éton

a heap

f Ruin in a

tmost. Here an

ow his handy-

umn, a half

e great templ

centre of th

nce a mandate

s of the earth.

ery step much

we tread stirs

h but from the

of human

.

ged; and here,

lent, dreary

save the herdsm

or they that

earnedly; or t

any who have cro

give the hours

ften saving t

the Roma

rs'

ne of desolation, from the massy foundation-stones of the Capitoline Temple, which were laid by Tarquinius the Proud, to a single pillar erected in honour of Phocas, the eastern emperor, in the fifth century. What the fragments of pillars belonged to, perhaps we can never know; but that I think matters l

hillock (for it is little more) now rose abruptly above them. The ponderous masonry, with which the hillside is built up, is as old as Rome itself, and looks likely to endure while the world retains any substance or permanence. It once sustained the Capitol, and now bears up the great pile whic

nd. We forget that a chasm extends between it and ourselves, in which lie all those dark, rude, unlettered centuries, around the birthtime of Christianity, as well as the age of chivalry and romance, the feudal system, and the infancy of a better civilization than tha

rum, nor any other Roman ruin, be it as dilapidated as it may, ever give the impression of venerable antiquity which we gather, along with the ivy, from the grey walls of an Engl

agréable, où le corps trouve ses plaisirs et l'esprit les siens, où l'on est à la source des belles choses. Rome est cause que vous n'êtes plus barbares, elle vous a appris la civilité et la religion.... Il est certain que je ne monte jamais au Palatin ni au Capitole que je n'

to its medi?val remains, and examine the very interesti

th the high altar. The subterranean church is well worth visiting. An ante-chapel adorned with statues of four virgin martyrs leads to a chapel erected at the cost and from the designs of Pietro da Cortona, whose tomb stands near its entrance, with a fine bust by Bernini. In the centre of the inner chapel lamps are burning round the magnificent bronze altar which

ale, whose severed head reposed in a separate casket. These remains were very naturally supposed to be those of the saint who had been so long venerated on that spot. The discovery was hailed with the utmost exultation, not by the people only, but by those who led the minds and consciences of the people. The pope himself, Urban VIII., composed hymns in her praise; and Cardinal Francesco Barberini undertook to rebuild her church. Amongst those who shared the general enthusiasm was the painter, Pietro da Cortona, who was at Rome at the time, who very earnestly dedicated himself and his powers to the glorification of Sta. Martina. Her church had already been given to the Academy of Painters, and consecrated to St. Luke,

n. 30, with much solemnity. Then in all the R

lebri plaud

lei, plaud

entis dici

dicite m

spicuis ort

cias, inte

ebras, diti

munerib

ciens comm

mino, et mu

peribus dis

pr?mia

bigas lub

rtyribus d

e

: tuis da fa

s animos b

he fourth century. On this site, it is said, dwelt in a cave, a terrible dragon who had slain three hundred persons with the poison of his breath. Into this cave, instructed thereto by St. Peter, and entrusting himself to the care of the Virgin, descended St. Silvester the Pope, attended by two acolytes bearing torches, and here, having pr

pporting a richly sculptured cornice, were probably set up in their present position when the temple was turned into a church. The bronze doors were brought from Perugia. If, as is now supposed, the temple on this

time of Nero are said to have been precipitated. The tomb of the martyrs Cosmo and Damian is beneath the altar, which is formed of beautiful transparent marble. Under a side altar is the grave of Felix IV. The third and lowest church (the original crypt) which is very small, is said to have been a place of refuge during the early Christian persecutions. Here is shown the altar at which Felix IV. celebrated mass while his converts were hiding here-the grave in which the body of the pope was afterwards discovered-and a miraculo

mi saluti mentre passando eri solito salutarmi?' Il santo domandò perdona e concesse a quelli che celebrano in

nscriptio

sanctorum Cosm? et Damiani mille annos de indulgentia, et in die stationis ej

na ampulla lactis Beat? Mari? Virginis"; "De Domo Sanc

ntion is the grand mosaic of Chri

figure. Two palm-trees, sparkling with gold, above one of which appears the emblem of eternity, the ph?nix-with a star-shaped nimbus, close the composition on each side. Further below, indicated by water-plants, sparkling also with gold, is the river Jordan. The figure of Christ may be regarded as one of the most marvellous specimens of the art of the middle ages. Countenance, attitude, and drapery combine to give him an expression of quiet majesty, which, for many centuries after, is not found again in equal beauty and freedom. The drapery, especially, is disposed in noble folds, and only in its somewhat too ornate details is a further departure from the antique observable. The saints are not as yet arranged in stiff parallel forms, but are advancing forward, so that their figures appear somewhat distorted, while we already remark something constrained and inanimate in their step. The apostles Peter and Paul wear the usual ideal costume. SS. Cosmo and Damiano are attired in the late Roman dress: violet mantles, in gold stuff, with red

bound to crosses and stoned, but the stones either fell harmless or rebounded on their executioners and killed them, so then the pro-consul Lycias, believing them to be sorcerers, commanded that they should be beheaded, and thus they died." SS. Cosmo and Damian were the patron saints of t

ed a box of ointments, and the other a sharp knife. And one said, 'What shall we do to replace this diseased leg when we have cut it off?' And the other replied, 'There is a Moor who has been buried just now at St. Pietro in Vincoli; let us take his leg for the purpose.' So they brought the leg of the dead man, and with it they replaced the leg of the sick man;

esided in the adjoining monastery during his pontificate. An ancient picture attributed to St. Luke, brought from Troy in 1100, was the only object in this church which was preserved when the building was totally destroyed by fire in 1216, after which the church, then called Sta. Maria Nuova, was

d down in the succeeding pontificate. Gregory XI., Paul II., and C?sar Borgia, were cardinals of Sta. Maria Novella. In 1440 the name was changed to that of Sta. Francesca Romana, when that saint, Francesca de' Ponziani, foundress

perity; and the astonished bystanders gazed with wonder and awe at her unearthly loveliness. Many of them carried away particles from her clothes, and employed them for the cure of several persons who had been considered beyond the possibility of recovery. In the course of the day the c

th, it seemed to float in the air, to be borne aloft by the grateful enthusiasm of a whole people, who had seen her walk to that church by her mother's side in her holy childhood; who had seen her kneel at that altar in the grave beauty of womanhoo

ept was a fine Perugino (removed 1867); in the right transept is the tomb of Pope Gregory XI., by Pietro Paolo Olivieri, erected by the senate in gratitude for his having restored the papal court to Rome from Avignon. A bas-relief represents his triumphal entry, with St. Catherine of Siena, by whose entreaties h

rn, and by his presence to dispel the evils which disgraced Italy, in consequence of the absence of the popes. Thus it is not to be wondered at, that those writers, who rightly und

c) knees of St. Peter, when he knelt to pray that Simon Magus might be dropped by the demons he h

tative God, on his appearance. For when Simon declared that he would ascend aloft into heaven, the servants of God cast him headlong to the earth, and though this occurrence was wonderful in itself, it was

ter, standing in the midst, said, 'O Lord Jesus, show him that his arts are in vain.' Hardly had the words been uttered, when the wings which Simon had made use of became entangled,

entertained by the most famous heretics of the early ages, the Gnostics. Iren?us calls this Simon the father of all heretics. 'All those,' he says, 'who in any way corrupt the truth, or mar the preaching of the Church, are disciples and successors of Simon, the Samaritan magician.' Simon gav

tribune is cove

e a composition; the artists accordingly separated the Madonna on the throne, and the four saints with uplifted hands, by graceful arcades. The ground is gold, the nimbuses blue. The faces consist only of feeble lines-the cheeks are only red blotches; the folds merely dark strokes; nevertheless a certain flow

hurch was the abode of Tasso d

site previously occupied by the atrium of Nero's Golden House. Little remains standing except a cella facing the Coliseum, and another in the cloisters of the adjoining convent (these, perhaps, being restorations by Maxentius, c. 307, after a fire had destroyed most of the building of Hadrian), but the surrounding grassy height is positively littered with fragments of the gre

sonare viam m

colitur nam s

nque loci, ceu

nerisque pari s

eminis adolentu

contr. Sy

odorus. The creator of the Trajan column remarked with a sneer that the deities, if they rose from their seats, must thrust their heads through the ceiling. The emp

the foundation prepared by Hadrian for the Colossal Statue of Nero, executed in bronze by Zenodorus. This statue was twice moved, first by Vespasian, in A.D. 75, that it might face the chief entrance of his amphitheatr

us propius vide

media pegmat

ri radiabant

ota stabat i

pect

further north, by Hadrian, when he built his temple of Venus and Rom

face of which had been altered into a Sol. He does not seem to have accomplished

narum) from the bas-relief of the candlestick, concerning which Gregorovius remarks, that the fantastic figures carved upon it prove that it was not an exact likeness of that which came from Jerusalem. The bas-reliefs are now greatly mutilated, but they are shown in their perfect state in a drawing of Giuliano di Sangallo. On the frieze is the sacred river Jordan, as an aged man, borne on a bier. The arch, which was in a very ruinous condition, had been engrafted in the middle a

stimable spoil, a Roman triumph, that most gorgeous pageant of earthly pride, has streamed and flaunted in hundred-fold succession over these same flagstones, and through this yet stalwart archway. It is politic, however, to make few allusions to such a past; nor is it wise to suggest how Cicero's feet may have stepped on yonder stone, or how Horace was wont to stroll near

to the hands of the heathen for the sins of His nominal worshippers, has taken to Him His great power, and has gotten Him glory by destroying the idols of Rome as He had done the idols of Babylon; and the golden candlestick burns a

itus is borne to heaven by an eagle. It may be conjectured that these ornaments to his glory were designed after the death of Vespasian, and completed after his own.... These witnesses to the truth of history are scanned at this day by Chr

held together, as well as crushed, the marble arch; so that on freeing it from its rude buttresses there was fear of its collapsing, and it had first to be well bound together by props and bracing beams, a process in which the Roman architects are unrivalled. The simple expedient was then adopted by the architect

eside the arch of Titus while a Jew presented a copy of the Pentateuch, with a humble oath of f

r buildings, which, though situated on the Palatine, are tot

, and pierced with arrows. The finest of these are the Domenichino, in Sta. Maria degli Angeli, and the Sodoma at Florence. He is sometimes represented as bound to an orange tree, and sometimes, as in the Guido at Bologna, to a cypress, like those we still see on this spot. Here was an important Benedictine Convent, where Pope Boniface IV. was a monk before his election to the papacy, and where the famous abbots of Monte Casino had their Roman residence. Here, in 11

y 14, 1274), who in childhood was raised from the point of death (1221) by the prayers of St. Francis, who was so surprised when he came

or having prophesied the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The crucifix and the picture of the Madonna which he carried with him in his missions, are preserved in niches on either side of the tribune, and many other rel

t when we die, our faults will not have exceeded our penances.' Nevill, as he entered, stumbled over a trap, and asked its purpose. 'It is through that we are interred,' answered one of the youngest, already a prey to the bad air. The natives of the south fear death so much that it is wondrous to fi

hich the victorious generals passed in their triumphant processions to the temple of Jupiter. Between the arch of Titus and the Coliseum, the ancient pa

a Sacra, sicut

tans nugarum, et

. i

the favourite resort of

acram metie

ter ulna

tat huc et

ma indi

e, Ep

been unearthed on the right of the road. Ovid alludes frequently to the purchases which might be

ager, dum rami

alatho rusti

o poteris tib

acra sint lic

t. Aman.

Sudans, where the gladiators used to wash. Seneca, who lived in this neighbourhood, complains (E

deeds of Constantine; but the upper, of fine workmanship, illustrate the life of Trajan, which has led some to imagine that the arch was originally erected in honour of Trajan, an

moins une, la seule dont la tête soit antique. Heureusement on a dans les musées, à Rome et ailleurs, bon nombre de ces statues de captifs barbares avec le même costume, c'est-à-dire le pantalon et le bonnet, souvent les mains liées, dans une attitude de soumission morne, quelque fois avec une expression de sombre fi

stis captivu

Emp. i

Corinthian columns to finish a chapel at the Lateran. They were formerly all of

a l'empereur parcequ'il a délivré la république d'un tyran (on dit encore la république!) par la grandeur de son ame et une inspiration de la Divinité, instinctu Divinitatis. Il parait même que ces mots ont été ajoutés après coup pour remplacer une formule peut-être plus explicitement pa?enne. Ce monumen

cing the Esquiline, where there is no cornice. Here there are remains of stucco decoration. On the opposite side was a similar entrance from the Palatine. Towards S. Gregorio has been discovered the subterranean passage in which the Emperor Commodus was near being assassinated. The numerous holes visible all over the exterior of the building were made in the middle ages, to extract the iron cramps, at that time of great value. The arena was surrounded by a wall sufficiently high to protect the spectators from the wild beasts, who were introduced by subterranean passages closed by huge gates, from the side towards the C?lian. The podium contained the places of honour reserved for the Emperor and his family, the Senate, and the

ion of the Church (founded on an inscription in the crypt of S. Martino al Monte), a

re almost wholly conventional, and the limits of design within which they were executed gave little room for the display of original taste and special character.... It is only in periods of eclecticism and renaissance, when the taste of the architect has wider scope, and may lead the eye instead of following it, that interest attaches to his personal merit. Th

fice was tested by the slaughter of five thousand animals in its circuit. The show was crowned with the immission of water into the arena, and with a sea-fight representing the contests of the Corinthians and Corcyreans, related by Thucydides.... When all was over, Titus himself was seen to weep, perhaps from fatigue, possibly from vexation and disgust; but his tears were interpreted as a p

many lionesses. One magical scene was the representation of forests, when the whole arena became planted with living trees, shrubs, and flowe

nding themselves with tridents in the right; the Secutores, whose special skill was in pursuit; the Laqueatores, who threw slings against their adversaries; the Dimach?, armed with a short sword in each hand; the Hoplomachi, armed at all points; the Myrmillones, so called from the figure of a fish at the crest of the Gallic helmet they wore; the Bustuarii, who fought at funeral games; the Bestiarii, who only assailed animals; other classes who fought on horseback, called Andabates; and those combating in chariots drawn by two horses, Essedarii. Gladiators were originally slaves, or prisoners of war; but the armies who contended on the Roman arena in later epochs, we

himself, and killed both gladiators and wild beasts, calling himself He

the child especially blessed by our Saviour-the disciple of John-and the companion of Polycarp-who was sent here from Antioch, where he was bishop. When brought into the arena, he knelt down, and exclaimed, "Romans who are present, know that I have not been brought into this place for any crime, but in order that by this means I

he introduced into the service of his church the practice of singing the praises of God in responses, as he had heard the choirs of angels answering each other.... His story and fate

ons and four bears, but on their refusing to attack them, were killed by the swords of the gladiators. In A.D. 259, Sempronius, Olympius, Theodulus, and Exuperia, were burnt at the entrance of the Coliseum, before the statue of the Sun. In A.D. 272, Sta. Prisca was vainly exposed here to a lion, then starved for three days, then stretched on a rack to have her flesh torn by iron hooks, then put into a fur

d to be, with thousands of eager faces staring down into the arena, and such a whirl of strife, and blood, and dust going on there, as no language can describe. Its solitude, its awful beauty, and its utter desolati

illed up with earth, and the peaceful cross planted in the centre; to climb into its upper halls, and look down on ruin, ruin, ruin, all about it; the triumphal arches of Constantine, Septimius Severus, and Titus, the Roman Forum, the Palace of the C?sars, the temples of the old religion, fallen down and gone; is to see the ghost of old Rome, wicked, wonderful old city

y of Rome, in the nature of the fierce and cruel Roman people. The Italian face changes as the visitor approaches the city; its beauty becomes devilish; and there

ich is observed here at 4 P.M. every Friday, when a confraternity clothed in grey, with only the eyes visible, is followed by a crowd of worshippers who chaunt and pray at each station in turn,-after which a Capuch

l'on parvient à ne pas écouter son mauvais sermon, on se sent ému par les divers objets dont il est entouré. La plupart de ses auditeurs sont de la confrérie des Camaldules; ils se revêtent, pendant les exercises religieux, d'une espèce de robe grise qui couvre entièrement la tête et le corps, et ne laisse que deux petites ouvertures pour les yeux; c'est ainsi que les ombres pourraient être représentées. Ces hommes, ainsi cachés sous leurs vêtements, se proste

'il y aura foule au Colisée, il vaudrait

je veux y aller. On m'a dit qu'il fallait le voir ainsi rem

vement, 'c'est un simple acte de dévo

Eveline, 'et pou

ison, vous ne l'ignorez pas, ce jour est demeuré consacré dans le m

oisit-on le Colisée pou

ur souvenir se mêle là plus qu'ailleurs à celui de la croix pour

my sermons of Gavazzi, who called the people to

r the entrance from the Forum will open a locked door for the purpose), as t

art, while the outside wall, with its top of gigantic stones, lifts itself high above, and seems like a mountain barrier of bare rock, enclosing a green and varied valley. I sat and gazed upon the scene with an intense and mingled feeling. The world could show nothing grander; it was one which for years I had longed to see, and I was now looking at it for the last time. When I last see the dome of St. Peter's

Aventine, the Capitoline, the C?lian, and the Ca

onlight will realize the truthfuln

er me, that

ndering,-upon

hin the Col

ef relics of

h grew along t

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the rents of r

bayed beyond

out the C?sar

g cry, and, i

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beyond the ti

rt the horizon,

hot where the

uneless birds o

ings through leve

roots with the

e laurel's pl

ator's bloody

k in ruinous

hambers, and th

rth in indis

shine, thou rol

cast a wide an

ed down the

solation, an

ew, the gaps

eautiful which

which was not,

on, and the h

orship of the

pter'd sovereign

ts from t

nf

ches! as it w

chief trophie

all her trium

stands; the m

natural torch

ght which stream

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tion; and th

ght, where the d

words, and spea

is vast and wo

rth its glory.

of earth, which

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n the ruine

palace of th

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de H

The Coliseum presents a vision of beauty. It is closed at night; a hermit lives inside in a little church, and beggars roost amid the ruined vaults. They had lighted a fire on the bare ground, and a gentle breeze drove the smoke across the arena. The lower portion of the ruin was lost, whil

onaldeschi) nobles of high rank took part and lost their lives. In 1381 the senate made over part of the ruins to the Canons of the Lateran, to be used as a hospital, and their occupation is still commemorated by the arms of the Chapter (our Saviour's head between two candelabra) sculptured in various parts of the building. From the fourteenth century it began to be looked upon as a stone-quarry, and the Palazzos Farnese, Barberini, S. Marco, and the Cancellaria, were built with materials plundered from its walls. It is said that the first of these destroyers, Cardinal Farnese, only extorted permission from his reluctant uncle, Paul III., to quarry as much stone as he could remove in twelve hours, and that he availed himself of this permission to let loose four thousand workmen upon the building. Sixtus V. endeavoured to utilize it by turning the arcades into shops, and establishing a woollen manufactory, and Clement XI. (1700-1721) by a manufactory of saltpetre, but both happily fail

andful of earth from the arena as a relic for their sovereigns, and upon their receiving the gift with disrespect, he pressed it, when bloo

confraternity of "Amanti di Gesù e Maria," for whom the Via Crucis was established here. Recently the ruins have been associated with the holy beggar, Benoit Joseph Labré (beatified by Pius IX

writings of the Venerable Bede, who qu

he Coliseum, Ro

e Coliseum, R

e falls, the

om its size; the amphitheatre of

ne cannot keep its true image in one's soul; one only remembers it on a smaller scal

very Roman winter the Coliseum i

référer comme illumination un radieux soleil on les douces lueurs de la lune. Cependant j'avoue que la première fois que le Colisée m'apparut ainsi, embrasé de