RAMBLE IV.

Here youth offered to old age the food,The milk of his own gift."

Here youth offered to old age the food,

The milk of his own gift."

Byron visited the chambers under S. Nicola in Carcere, when he was moved to compose his beautiful lines. He had before him the scene, though not the site; his words are more applicable to these dungeons, and we may say with him,—

There is a dungeon, in whose dim, drear lightWhat do I gaze on?—Nothing."

There is a dungeon, in whose dim, drear light

What do I gaze on?—Nothing."

Passing the Theatre, a narrow lane on the left leads to the remains of

Dedicated to Octavia by her brother Augustus (Suetonius, "Aug." xxix.). The principal portion still existing belonged to the great portal leading to the open space surrounded by corridors which gave the people shelter during rain. In this stood two temples, the one dedicated to Jupiter, the other to Juno. Pillars belonging to the latter may be seen in a house in the Via Pescheria, and remains of the Portico of Octavia at No. 12 Via Teatro di Marcello. The inscription on the architrave states that the building was restored by Septimius Severus and Caracalla.

On the removal of two of the columns on which the pediment rested, their place was supplied by an arch of brickwork, thus preventing the building from falling in.

Four columns and two piers are still standing of the inner row; of the outside only two columns remain, in addition to the two piers. The capitals are ornamented with eagles bearing thunderbolts. A flight of steps led up to this vestibule.

The stumps of columns built into the walls of several houses in the vicinity in all probability belonged to the same edifice, which must originally have presented a most magnificent appearance.

The Portico was ornamented with many statues; and besides the two temples, there were libraries. It was originally erected by Metellus,B.C.146 (Paterculus, i. 11). The temples were built by Mr. Lizard and Mr. Frog; but the senate would not allow them to put their names on the buildings, and so to hand down their work they sculptured on the spirals of the columns lizards and frogs (Pliny, xxxvi. 4). This can still be seen in the Church of S. Lorenzo on theroad to Tivoli, the columns being taken there from here. The same authority (xxxiv. 15) gives particulars of the many statues; and amongst others one to Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, the base of which was found here in 1878, and is now in the courtyard of the new Museum of the Capitol. Pliny also tells us that when they dedicated the temples they by mistake carried the god into the goddess's temple, and so they let them remain as the will of the gods.

On the rightis theChurch of S. Angelo in Pescheria. Here Rienzi, on May 20, 1347, held his meeting for the re-establishment of "the good estate;" and here he exhibited his allegorical picture, and thence marched to the Church of S. George to fix up the proclamation.

From the right-hand corner of this square a little alley leads to the Via Rua, the principal street of

or Jews' Quarter. The word "Ghetto" comes from the Hebrew wordchat, broken or dispersed. The Jews first settled here in the time of Pompey the Great; but it was not till 1556 that the Ghetto was enclosed by Pope Paul IV. putting gates across the streets. The Jews were not allowed to be out after sunset or before sunrise, and he compelled the men to wear yellow hats and the women yellow veils. The old inhabitants, who were not Jews, were turned out, and obliged to give up their houses to the Jews on perpetual copy-hold leases, which are handed down in the families to the present day. Pius IX. abolished the gates, but it was not till the Italian troops entered Rome that the Jews obtained full liberty like their fellow-citizens. The lower part of the houses in the Ghetto are of Roman construction, and there is very little accumulation of soil there. There are about four thousand Jews in Rome, and notwithstanding the closeness with which they are packed and the dirt in which they live, the district is entirely free from fever.

Proceeding alongthe Via Rua, we enter the Piazza di S. Maria del Pianto, the Square of Tears. On the right are several old Roman houses, with the upper part rebuilt, and the following medieval inscription, put up in the two thousand two hundred and twenty-first year of Rome, recording that here was the Forum Judæorum:—

VRBE . ROMA . INPRISTINAM . FORMA ENASCENTE . LAVR . MANLIVS . RARITAE . ERC . A . PATRI EDIS SV . NOMNE . MAN II AN . AS . PRO PORT AR . MEDIOCRITAE . AD . FOR . IVDEOR SIBI . POSTERISQ . AB . VRB . CON . M. M. CCXXI . L. AN . M. III . D. PRI . CAL. AVG.

A short alley on the left leads to the Piazza Scuole. On the right is

(Palazzo Cenci,)

the scene of the persecution of Beatrice, which led to her execution through the murder of her father at Petrella.

"The story is, that an old man having spent his life in debauchery and wickedness, conceived at length an implacable hatred towards his children, which showed itself towards one daughter under the form of an incestuous passion, aggravated by every circumstance of cruelty and violence. This daughter, after long and vain attempts to escape from what she considered a perpetual contamination both of body and mind, at length plotted with her mother-in-law and brother to murder their common tyrant" (Shelley).

"The Cenci Palace is of great extent; and though in part modernized, there yet remains a vast and gloomy pile of feudal architecture, in the same state as during the dreadful scenes which are the subject of this tragedy—'The Cenci.' The palace is situated in an obscure corner of Rome, near the quarter of the Jews, and from the upper windows you see the immense ruins of Mount Palatine, half hidden beneath the profuse undergrowth of trees. There is a court in one part of the palace (perhaps that in which Cenci built the chapel to S. Thomas) supported by granite columns, and adorned with antique friezes of fine workmanship, and built up, according to the ancient Italian fashion, with balcony over balcony of open work. One of the gates of the palace, formed of immense stones, and leading through a passage dark and lofty, and opening into gloomy subterranean chambers, struck me particularly" (Shelley).

From an old manuscript recently brought to light, and the reports of the trial which have been recently published, the story of Beatrice Cenci appears divested of the fiction of a historical novel; and these papers prove her to have been anything but the innocent victim she is represented in the romantic stories we have all read.

On the left of the Piazzais the Jewish Synagogue, once a Christian church, dedicated to S. Lorenzo in Damaso, and sold to the Jews by Pope Sixtus V. when he was in need of money.

The Cenci Palace stands upon the substructions of

ErectedB.C.12, as a compliment to Augustus, by L. Cornelius Balbus (Suetonius, "Aug." xxix.), being the third permanent theatre erected in Rome. It held twelve thousand spectators. Pliny(xxxiv. 12) says: "Cornelius Balbus erected four small pillars of onyx in his theatre as something marvellous." At No. 23 Via Calderari,to the right of the Cenci Palace, some remains can be seen of thePorticoof the Theatre of Balbus, which was two stories high. Built into the house are two Doric columns of travertine stone, supporting an architrave, which is interspersed with brickwork repairs, by Septimius Severus, after a fire. Opposite are three pilasters supporting a vault.

In the lane opposite, the Palace of the Cenci can best be seen; this part has not been restored.Passing under the archway, on our left, is the gateway spoken of by Shelley.

The first turning on the right, in the Via Calderari, leads to the Via Catinari; turn to the left, follow the second street on the right past the church, then take the first turning on the left.It will be noticed that the fronts of the houses and the street are circular; they are built on the ruins of the circular part of

"Pompey also built that magnificent theatre, which is standing at this day, at whose dedication five hundred lions were killed in five days, and eighteen elephants having fought against armed men, part of them died upon the place, and the rest soon after" (Dion Cassius, "Cæsar"). Plutarch relates the same. The same author, in his "Life of Nero," speaking of the reception of Tiridates, says: "There was a great assembly in the Theatre of Pompey by order of the senate. Not only the scene, but all the inside of the theatre, and everybody that came into it, were covered with gold, which made that day be named Golden Day. The covering which was spread over it to defend the spectators from the heat of the sun, was of rich stuff, the colour of purple, representing the heavens, in the midst of which was Nero driving a chariot." (See Pliny, xxxiii. 16.) "Tiberius undertook to restore the Theatre of Pompey" (Suetonius, "Tiberius," xlvii.). "Tiberius undertook to rebuild the Theatre of Pompey, which was accidentally burned, because none of the family was equal to the charge; still, however, to be called by the name of Pompey" (Tacitus, "Ann." iii. 72). "Caligula completed it" (Suetonius, "Caligula," xxi.). It was burned; and again rebuilt by Caracalla, as we learn from an inscription found at Ostia in 1881. "In the games which Claudius presented at the dedication of Pompey's theatre, which had been burned down, and was rebuilt by him, he presided upon a tribunal erected for him in the orchestra; having first paidhis devotions in the temple above, and then coming down through the centre of the circle, while all the people kept their seats in profound silence" (Suetonius, "Claudius," xxi.). It accommodated forty thousand (Pliny, xxxvi. 24). It was builtB.C.55, "in his second consulship" (Vel. Paterculus, ii. 48); but afraid of the criticism of the people, he erected at the top of the seats a temple to Venus.

In the neighbourhood of his theatre Pompey built a house for himself (Plutarch); and from the back of the stage a portico (Vitruvius), which, according to Propertius (ii. 32), must have been a beautiful place.

"Pompey's portico, I suppose, with its shady columns, and magnificently ornamented with purple curtains, palls upon you; and the thickly-planted, even line of plane-trees, and the waters that fall from a sleeping Maro, and in streams lightly bubbling all over." In the centre of this portico Pompey erected a large hall, which he presented to the Roman people for the use of the senate. At the time of Cæsar's assassination the senate house on the Forum was being rebuilt. Suetonius ("Cæsar," lxxx.), says: "Public notice had been given, by proclamation, for the senate to assemble upon the ides of March (15th) in the senate house built by Pompey: the conspirators approved both time and place as most fitting for their purpose." "They killed him in the hall of Pompey, giving him twenty-three wounds" (Livy, "Ep." cxvi.). "The conspirators having surrounded him in Pompey's senate house, fell upon him all together, and killed him with several strokes" (Dion Cassius, "Cæsar." See Suetonius, "Cæsar," lxxxii.).

"The place, too, where the senate was to meet seemed providentially favourable for their purpose. It was a portico adjoining the theatre; and in the midst of a saloon, furnished with benches, stood a statue of Pompey, which had been erected to him by the commonwealth when he adorned that part of the city with those buildings. The senate being assembled, and Cæsar entering, the conspirators got close about Cæsar's chair. Cassius turned his face to Pompey's statue, and invoked it, as if it had been sensible of his prayers" (Plutarch. See Florus, iv. 2).

"The senate house in which he was slain was ordered to be shut up, and a decree was made that the ides of March should be called parricidal, and that the senate should never more assemble on that day" (Suetonius, "Cæsar," lxxxviii.).

After making the circuit of the seats of the theatre, the Via Chiavari leads to theChurch of S. Andrea delle Valle, built on the site of Pompey's senate house.

On the marble plan of Rome, in the Capitoline Museum, a fragment shows Pompey's theatre, portico, and senate house. With the given remains of the theatre and the plan it is easy to find the site of the Curia, which is shown on the plan in the form of a basilica: this will bring the curve exactly at the apse of the Church of S. Andrew. Now, we are told that Cæsar was seated in the chair where in the morning Brutus dispensed justice, so he was, no doubt, seated on the tribunal; and as the tribunal of the church and curia exactly correspond,

HERE CÆSAR FELL!

The cupola of the church is one of the finest in Rome; the four evangelists, at the angles, are by Domenichino.

From here we retrace our steps down the Via Chiavari, crossing the Via Giubbonari, passing, on our left, theMonte di Pietà(Uncle to Rome);turn to left Via Pettinari; the first turning on the right leads to the Piazza Capo di Ferri.On the left, decorated with statues, is the Spada Palace. In the vestibule of the law court, upstairs, is

at whose feet great Cæsar fell.

"There was a statue of Pompey, and it was a work which Pompey had consecrated for an ornament to his theatre."

"Either by accident, or pushed hither by the conspirators, he expired at the pedestal of Pompey's statue, and dyed it with his blood" (Plutarch).

"Augustus removed the statue of Pompey from the senate house, in which Julius Cæsar had been killed, and placed it under a marble arch, fronting the curia attached to Pompey's theatre" (Suetonius, "Aug." xxxi.).

The statue is eleven feet high, and was found in 1553 in the Vicolo di Lentari; it was under two houses, and the proprietors could not agree as to whom it should belong, when Pope Julius II. gave them five hundred gold dollars for it, and presented it to Cardinal Capodifero. In 1798–99 the French carried this statue to the Colosseum, where they performed Voltaire's "Tragedy of Brutus" to the original statue. To facilitate moving it, they cut off the extended arm; hence the join.

Open every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday; fee, half lira each to Museum and Gallery.

N.B.—The vestibule where the statue of Pompey stands is public, and is open all day. Resist the demands of the porter, who is generally very rude.

TheMuseumon the ground-floor contains a good seated statue of Aristotle, and nine reliefs formerly used, reversed, as the pavement of S. Agnese outside the walls. 1. Paris on Mount Ida; 2. Bellerophon watering Pegasus; 3. Amphion and Zethus; 4. Ulysses and Diomedes robbing the Temple of Minerva; 5. Paris and Œnone; 6. Perseus and Andromeda; 7. Adonis; 8. Adrastus and Hypsipyla finding the body of Archemorus; 9. Pasiphæ and Dædalus.

TheGalleryupstairs contains few good pictures. Catalogues in each room.

First Room.—32. Lanfranco's Cain and Abel; 45. Guercino's David.

Second Room.—9. Guido's Judith; 19. Poussin's Joseph and Brethren; 17. Leonardo da Vinci's Dispute with the Doctors; 32. S. John; 33. S. Lucia, by Guercino.

Third Room.—20. Rape of Helen, by Guido; 33. Vandyck; 48. Death of Dido, by Guercino.

Court Room.—Frescoes by Luzio Romano.

In coming out of the Palace, turn to the right, keep straight on down theVia S. Paola alla Regola. Some little way down is the church of that name, on the right, said to have been built on the site where S. Paul had a school.Just beyond, on the right, is the Via degli Strengari; the house on the left, No. 2, is pointed out by Jewish tradition as

"Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.""Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him."Here, "Paul called the chief of the Jews together.""When they had appointed him a day, there came many to him intohislodging."

"Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him."

"Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him."

Here, "Paul called the chief of the Jews together."

"When they had appointed him a day, there came many to him intohislodging."

The construction of the lower part of the house is brick-work of the early empire. This agrees with the Jewish tradition, and we can well understand that S. Paul would lodge somewhere near his kinsmen the Jews. The doorway has one of its columns still; but it has been turned from a round headway into a square one. One of the windows on the left has still a round head; above this the house is medieval. The lower part of the other houses here are Roman.

To the leftof the house, take theVia di S. Bartolomeo dei Vaccinari. On the right, some remains of the columns of the Theatre of Balbus have been built into a house, and remains exist under the houses all round. In this street Rienzi was born; the exact house is not known.

Keeping straight on, theVia della Fiumarais one of the dirtiest in the Ghetto.At its extremity, on the right, is the

now called Ponte dei Quattro Capi, from the four-headed Janus upon its balustrades. From the inscription, and from Dion Cassius (xxxvii. 45), we learn that it was erected,B.C.61, by L. Fabricius, Curator Viarum. Horace (S. ii. 3) says that "Stertinius advised the would-be suicide Damasippus to return cheerfully from the Fabrician Bridge." It has two arches. The bridge leads to

"The Tarquins had sacrilegiously converted the best part of the Campus Martius to their own use. When they were expelled, it happened to be harvest time, and the sheaves then lay upon the ground; but as it was consecrated, the people could not make use of it. A great number of hands, therefore, took it up in baskets and threw it into the river. The trees were also cut down and thrown in after it, and the ground left entirely without fruit or produce for the service of the god. A great quantity of different sorts of things being thus thrown in together, they were not carried far by the current, but only to the shallows, where the first heaps had stopped. Finding no further passage, everything settled there, and the whole was bound still firmer by the river; for that washed down to it a deal of mud, which not only added to the mass, but served as a cement to it, and the current, far from dissolving it, by its gentle pressure gave it the greater firmness. The bulk and solidity of this mass received continual additions, most of what was brought down by the Tiber settling there. It was now an island sacred to religious uses. Several temples and porticoes have been built upon it; and it is called in Latininter duos pontes—the island between the two bridges" (Plutarch, in "Publicola").

The island in the Tiber is an alluvial formation, and thus far the legend is correct in ascribing its origin to the accumulation of rubbish and drifted sand. In remembrance of the vessel which bore the statue of Æsculapius from Epidaurus to Rome, the entire island wasfaced with stone, and made to assume the form of a ship, in which was placed the temple of the god.

Some of the immense blocks of travertine composing the facing, and representing the hull of the ship, may still be seen in the monastery garden of the Church of S. Bartolomeo in Isola.Ladies are not admitted to the monastery.

"In the island of the Tiber, just prior to the death of Otho, the statue of Julius Cæsar turned from west to east, a circumstance said likewise to have happened when Vespasian took on him the empire" (Plutarch).

In the Piazza is a monument to SS. John, Francis, Bartholomew, and Paulinus. The interior of the church is embellished with fourteen ancient columns, and in the choir are the remains of an early mosaic.

The island on the farther side is connected with the mainland by

now called Ponte S. Bartolomeo. It was erected,B.C.45, by the Prætor Lucius Cestius; the inscription records its restoration,A.D.367, by the Emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian. It consists of a single arch. Over the bridge isTrastevere, the inhabitants of which claim to be descended from the ancient Romans: their manners and customs are somewhat distinct from those of the inhabitants of the other side of the river.

From the bridge(retracing our steps)a street leads into the Piazza Montanara; turn to the right up the Via Montanara; on the right is theChurch of S. Nicolo in Carcere, built over three temples.

Entrance to see the substructions through the sacristy.

Three temples of the time of the republic, situated in one front, and forming a group. Not only many columns, but also considerable remains of the substructions have been preserved. The latter have been rendered accessible by the recent excavations.

The largest of these temples, Piety, situated in the middle, is of Ionic architecture. It is surrounded by a corridor, and is probably the same erected to Piety by the son of M. Acilius Glabrio ten years after the event, in fulfilment of a vow made by his father at the battle of Thermopylæ,A.U.C.562, erected 572 (Livy, xl. 34). Theleft handtemple is that of Juno Sospita (to keep in health), founded by Cethægus,B.C.195 (Livy, xxxii. 30, xxxiv. 53). The Temple ofHope ison the right. It was erected by Atilius Calatinus during the first Punic War,B.C.248 (Livy xxi. 62, xxv. 7).

These temples were situated in the Forum Olitorium, the great vegetable market of Rome, and outside the Servian wall. The custodian shows a cell which he points out as the scene of the "Caritas Romana." Visitor! "beware, beware! he's fooling thee." This is not that Temple of Piety erected on the site of the house of the Roman matron, or, according to some authorities, on the site of the Decemviral Prisons; for Pliny and Solinus tell us that the sites of the temple and prison were occupied by the Theatre of Marcellus. According to Valerius Maximus (v. 4) and Pliny ("Natural History," vii. 36), it was a daughter who thus saved her mother's life, and "they were henceforth provided for by the state." Festus says it was her father.

Turn to the right, in coming out of the temple; a short distance on the right the Via di Ponte Rotto turns out to the right. A little way up on the right is

""The Roman of Rome's least mortal mind;"The friend of Petrarch and liberty,Who died for Rome and Italy.Rienzi! the patriotic Roman,Close by whose house doth windThe Tiber, subservient to the will of no man.

""The Roman of Rome's least mortal mind;"

The friend of Petrarch and liberty,

Who died for Rome and Italy.

Rienzi! the patriotic Roman,

Close by whose house doth wind

The Tiber, subservient to the will of no man.

It was built from the remains of one of those medieval towers used by the Romans as fortresses, and, as such, bore the name of the Torre di Monzone. It was demolished by Arlotto degli Stefaneschi, in the year 1313, in order to diminish the power of the Orsini, in whose possession it was. An inscription on the ruin states the founder to have been a certain Nicolas, the son of Crescentius and Theodora. Hence it has been supposed that the Crescentius here mentioned is identical with the celebrated consul who ruled over RomeA.D.998; an opinion strengthened by the fact of his wife having really borne the name of Theodora. Rienzi is said to have been descended from them. Pope Leo XIII. was descended through his mother from Rienzi.

OLD RHYMING VERSE ON THE HOUSE OF RIENZI.

"First of the foremost, Nicolas, great from a low estate,Raised (this) to revive the glory of his fathers.There is placed the name of his father and mother, Crescentius and Theodora.This renowned roof, bore from (a) dear pledge:The father who displayed it assigned it to David."

"First of the foremost, Nicolas, great from a low estate,

Raised (this) to revive the glory of his fathers.

There is placed the name of his father and mother, Crescentius and Theodora.

This renowned roof, bore from (a) dear pledge:

The father who displayed it assigned it to David."

Another line says,—

"In fair places ever remember the grave."

The neighbouring people call this ruin the Casa di Pilato, and the appellation of the Casa di Cola di Rienzi has been added since the last century. Rienzi died in 1354A.D.A step or two lead to

anciently the Pons Æmilius. This bridge, intended to unite the nearer bank of the river with Trastevere, but rendered impassable by the fall of several arches in 1598, whence its name of the Ponte Rotto, was commenced in the censorship of M. Æmilius Lepidus and M. Fulvius Nobilior, in the year of the city 573, and was completed by P. Scipio Africanus and L. Mummius. From the first of these it took its name. "Marcus Fulvius made contracts for piers for a bridge over the Tiber; on which piers Publius Scipio Africanus and Lucius Mummius, censors many years afterwards, caused the arches to be raised" (Livy, xl. 51). It is the same from which the body of Elagabalus was thrown with a stone attached to it, after having been dragged through the Circus.

In January 1886, to the eternal disgrace of the acting mayor, Duke Torlonia, and the municipal authorities of Rome, the remaining half of the oldest bridge over the Tiber was wantonly and unnecessarily destroyed in the works going on for the embankment of the river, the city fathers leaving one arch in the centre of the river as a monument of their folly. From this arch a suspension bridge is to be thrown to the Trastevere side. The Cloaca Maxima has been diverted into the Tiber below S. Paul's, in order to prevent the back-wash into the city.A little lower down was

in front of which Horatius displayed his valour. It was first erected,A.U.C.114, by Ancus Martius. By appointment of the oracle it was built only of timber fastened with wooden pins; "for the Romans considered it as an execrable impiety to demolish the wooden bridge, which, we are told, was built without iron, and put together with pins of wood only, by the direction of some oracle. The stone bridge was built many ages after, when Æmilius was quæstor. Some, however, inform us that the wooden bridge was not constructed in the time of Numa, having the last hand put to it by Ancus Martius" (Plutarch, in "Numa").

"Rome was in great danger of being taken, when Horatius Cocles,and with him two others of the first rank—Herminius and Spurius Lartius—stopped them at the bridge.... This man [Horatius], standing at the head of the bridge, defended it against the enemy till the Romans broke it down behind him. Then he plunged into the Tiber, armed as he was, and swam to the other side, but was wounded in the hip with a Tuscan spear" (Plutarch, in "Publicola"). Livy (ii. 10) gives his prayer before plunging in: "Holy father Tiber, I beseech thee to receive these arms, and this thy soldier, into thy propitious stream." And

"Still is the story toldHow well Horatius kept the bridgeIn the brave days of old."

"Still is the story told

How well Horatius kept the bridge

In the brave days of old."

Near this spot Clœlia swam across the Tiber on horseback, when escaping from Lars Porsena.

"While Cocles kept the bridge and stemmed the flood,The captive maids there tempt the raging tide,'Scaped from their chains, with Clœlia for their guide."—Virgil.

"While Cocles kept the bridge and stemmed the flood,

The captive maids there tempt the raging tide,

'Scaped from their chains, with Clœlia for their guide."—Virgil.

Returning from the bridge, turn to the right. On our left is

The Temple of Patrician Chastity stood inside the wall of Servius in the Forum of the Cattle-dealers. Livy (x. 23) says: "In the yearA.U.C.456, a quarrel broke out among the matrons in the Temple of Patrician Chastity, which stands in the cattle-market, near the Round Temple of Hercules."

It was converted in 880 into the Church ofS. Maria Egiziaca. It has four Ionic columns at the front, with four apparent columns at the end, and seven on one side. A frieze of stucco, representing heads of oxen, candelabra, and wreaths of flowers borne by children, is on the entablature; it is 100 feet long by 50 wide. When it was turned into a church the wall dividing the portico from the cella was pulled down, and the columns of the portico were filled in to make it longer for a church. It is the best specimen we have of a republican temple.

Going down by the side of the temple, we come to

This is the temple mentioned above by Livy, and we see the positions agree with his statements. It is formed of twenty beautiful Corinthian columns, only one of which, on the right side, is missing. Its circumference is only 156 feet, and that of the cella 26 feet, and theheight of the columns 32 feet. The walls within the portico are of white marble (much of which still remains), and the pieces of it were put together so as to have the appearance of one mass. The temple stands on a base of tufa, showing early construction, but is a restoration of the time of Vespasian.

ROUND TEMPLE OF HERCULES AND TEMPLE OF PATRICIAN CHASTITY.View larger image.

This was probably the Temple of Hercules which Vitruvius (iii. 3) says was erected by Pompey. Pliny (xxxiv. 19) says Myron made the statue of Hercules which is in the Ædes Herculis, built by Pompey the Great, near the Circus Maximus. Again (xxxv. 7) he speaks of "the paintings of the poet Pacuvius, in the Temple of Hercules, situated in the cattle-market."

There were other temples to Hercules in the Forum Boarium, of which we have some travertine remains behind the Church of S. Maria in Cosmedin opposite. "The Romans afterwards built a magnificent temple near the river Tiber, in honour of Hercules, and instituted sacrifices to him out of the tenths" (Diodorus, iv. 1). "InA.U.C.534 a supplication was ordered to be performed by individuals at the Temple of Hercules" (Livy, xxi. 62). This was destroyed by Pope Adrian I.,A.D.772–795. "By the infinite labour of the people, employed during a whole year, Adrian threw down an immense structure of Tiburtine stone to enlarge the Church of S. Maria in Cosmedin" (Anastasias).

is on the site of a temple to Ceres and Proserpine. "Spurius Cassius consecrated the Temple of Ceres, Bacchus, and Proserpine, which stands at the end of the great circus, and is built over the starting-places, and which Aulus Postumius, the dictator, had vowed when upon the point of engaging the Latins,"A.U.C.258 (Dionysius, vi. 94). "It was restored by Augustus, and consecrated by Tiberius" (Tacitus, "Annals," ii. 49). The temple fronted north, and in the left-hand aisle of the church are three of the columns of the porticoin situ; three of the side columns are in the portico of the church, and three others in the sacristy, where there is part of a mosaic from old S. Peter's,A.D.705.

In the portico is a large mask of stone called the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth). A suspected person, on making an affirmation, was required to put his hand in the mouth of this mask, in the belief that if he told an untruth the mouth would close upon hishand. Several columns of the old temple are immured in the walls, and the aisles are formed by twenty ancient marble columns; the pavement is of beautifulopus Alexandrinum.Behindthe altar is a fine bishop's chair, and a Greek picture of the Virgin and Child, also some old frescoing behind a panel on the left.Oppositethe church is a beautiful fountain of Tritons supporting a basin.

Resuming our ramble down theVia Marmorata,turn left coming out of the church, passing underan archway, the remains of the Porta Trigemina in the Servian Wall.The road runs for a short distance by the Tiber, on the opposite side of which is theRipa Grande,or quay. Taking the road to the right, past a stone-yard, Marmorata, by the river, brings us to

another important building of the time of the Republic, of which we have considerable remains. The exact date of its foundation is not recorded, but a porticus, or arcade, was made to it, and it was paved about the year 560 of Rome, or 193B.C.It was the great warehouse for the port of Rome for merchandise brought by vessels coming from the sea. There was another port at the Ripetta for provisions broughtdownthe river in boats.

The Emporium was to ancient Rome what the docks are to London and Liverpool. This great building formed three sides of a quadrangle, the fourth being open to the quay on the bank of the Tiber, with a zigzag path down the face of the cliff and surface of the quay. This was excavated by the Pontifical Government, under the direction of Baron Visconti. It was remarkably perfect; the walls against the cliff were faced withopus reticulatumof the time of Hadrian, and a large number of blocks of valuable marbles were found here. A little further up the river anamphorais cut in the wall of the quay, to indicate the place for landing wine and oil. The portion of the Emporium now remaining belongs to the portico or arcade. There are said to be extensive cellars under the other remains, forming a lower story of the buildings. A new quarter is in course of erection here.

The Emporium, and the quay by the side of it, called theMarmorata, or Marble Wharf, are situated at the lower end of the great Port of Rome for sea-going vessels, which port extended about half a mile up the river, with the Salaria, or Salt Wharf, near the middle of it. Above this, and nearly opposite the point where the Almo falls into the Tiber, a little below the Temple of Hercules, areseveral large stone corbels with holes through them, through which a pole was passed for the purpose of fastening a chain across the river for holding vessels against the force of the stream. There are similar corbels in the wall of the Marmorata for the same purpose, only these corbels are left plain; those at the upper end of the port are carved in the form of lions' heads of the early character called Etruscan. These corbels at the two ends mark the extent of the Port of Rome, made originally in the year 577 of Rome, and were discovered by Mr. J. H. Parker, C.B.

Regaining the main road, at a little distance we pass under an arch of the aqueduct which supplied the Emporium with water. It is called theArco di S. Lazaro.We next turn off to the right, and ascend

formed of fragments of earthenware, chiefly of amphoræ. We know from those remaining at Pompeii that the amphoræ which formed that branch of commerce were often six feet high. Great numbers of these got broken in landing, and all were thrown on this heap, as they were not allowed to be thrown into the Tiber. There is also said to have been a manufactory of amphoræ and other earthenware at this spot, many of the fragments found here being the refuse of a great manufactory. This is supposed to have been the great manufactory of earthenware for the city of Rome for several centuries; and this supposition may account for the enormous quantity of such refuse that has accumulated on the spot, so as to form a hill. Tombs proving its comparatively recent origin were discovered beneath it in the year 1696. It is 110 feet high, and surmounted by a cross. The view from the top is very fine.Close by is the

"The spirit of the spot shall leadThy footsteps to a slope of green access."

"The spirit of the spot shall lead

Thy footsteps to a slope of green access."

The cemetery is an open space among the ruins, covered in winter with violets and daisies. "It might make one in love with death, to think that one should be buried in so sweet a place." So wrote Shelley, whose heart is contained in a tomb at the top left-hand corner of the new ground, his body having been burned upon the shore at Lerici, where it was thrown up by the sea.Passing into the old ground, "in the romantic and lovely cemetery under the pyramid which is the tomb of Cestius, and the mossy walls andtowers, now mouldering and desolate, which formed the circuit of ancient Rome" (Shelley), here, on the right of the entrance, "lies one whose name was writ in water," Keats desiring this to be engraved upon his tomb. A fellow-poet says, "You feel an interest here, a sympathy you were not prepared for; you are yourself in a foreign land, and they are for the most part your countrymen, Englishmen."

In returning from the Cemetery, nearly opposite the exit, a lane, Via S. Maria, leads up to theAventine Hill. The square at the top is decorated with military trophies of the Knights of Malta.A door on the left leads totheir Priory; it contains a key-hole;—look through it, 'tis worth your while.

(Open Wednesday and Saturday.)

Built upon the site of the Temple of the Bona Dea, and where, according to some accounts, Remus took up his position to consult the flight of birds. On the right in entering is the tomb of Bishop Spinelli, an antique sarcophagus representing Minerva and the Muses. The church contains several tombs of the Knights of Malta, to whom it belonged, and who still exist and hold property in Rome, their encampment being in the Via Condotti; amongst others, there is a tomb erected to Brother Bartholomew Caraffa, Grand Master, died 1450.

Beyond, on the left, is the

on the site of the Armilustrum, where the Sabine king, Titus Tatius, was buried. In the left aisle are a well and staircase belonging to the house of S. Alexius's parents, which formerly stood by the side of the church, where, after his return from his pilgrimage, he was allowed to live unrecognized by them. There is a very interesting fresco of S. Alexius's life on the walls of the underground Church of S. Clemente. (Seepage 228.)

A little further, on the left, is the

on the site of the saint's house, and formerly of the Temple of Juno Regina founded by Camillus. The church has been much restored at different times.

In the chapel on the right of the high altar is Sassoferrato's Virgin, with the rosary. The Chapel of S. Catherine, painted byOdazzi, is worthy of note. In the convent garden is an orange-tree planted by S. Dominic.

Following on the road, we take the first turning to the right; some little way down, on the left, is the

supposed to occupy the site of the house, some remains of which can be seen in the crypt, in which she was baptized by S. Peter. Only open on January 18. Supposed to have been formerly the site of the Temple of Diana founded by Servius Tullius.

Down the hill, and up the opposite one, leads to the

built on the site of the house of Silvia, the mother of Gregory the Great, who used to send every day to her son on the Cœlian a silver basin containing soup. Uninteresting, and only open on the saint's day, December 5.

At the foot of the hill, on the left corner of the two roads, is the

a large stone quarry, intersected in all directions by aqueducts. Some of them are cut out of the solid tufa, others built in passages cut through the tufa; some are blocked up with mud deposit, others with stalactite; some run for a considerable distance, others being broken in, in extracting the tufa. They present altogether a curious and interesting study.

Opposite S. Prisca, in the vineyard of Prince Torlonia, are remains of the

built by the Latins under Ancus Martius, when he added the Aventine to the city.

The cliff has been scarped to the depth of 60 feet, and a terrace made on the ledge on which the wall stands, consisting of blocks of tufa. It was originally 12 feet thick, and in one part an arch is introduced for catapults, similar to those we have seen in ruins on the Palatine. The back of this part of the wall is a mass of concrete backing. At the foot of the wall was a trench, afterwards filled up, in which deep wells have been made for interments. Under the hill of S. Saba, below the cottage opposite, are traces of another early fortification formed of masses of concrete, originally faced with largeblocks of tufa. The road here ran through the Porta Randusculana, in the fortifications of the seven hills.

In this vineyard are also some remains of

cousin of Trajan. These remains have only been partly explored, and are of great extent.

On the opposite side of the road, in another vineyard, are some massive remains of the aqueduct and reservoir of these baths, from the top of which there is a most enjoyable view of the city in general and the Palatine in particular. "Sura, the neighbour of the Aventine Diana, beholds at less distance than others the contests of the great circus" (Martial, vi. 64).

In this vineyard are also some remains called the

It consists of some chambers of reticulated work and a well of the early empire; the latter extends under S. Prisca. "Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus.... Likewise greet the church that is in their house" (Rom. xvi. 3, 5).

From the vineyard turn to the right. Some little way down on the right is theentrance to the Jewish Cemetery. This hill was the ancient Clivus Publicus, a continuation of the Vicus Tuscus, and up which the sacred processions used to come to the Aventine.

In the valley below us was

"Tarquinius also built the great circus which lies between the Aventine and Palatine Hills. He was the first who erected covered seats round it; for till then the spectators stood on scaffolds supported by poles. And he divided the places between the thirty curiæ. He assigned to each curia a particular part, so that every spectator was seated in the place that belonged to him. This work also became in time one of the most beautiful and most admirable structures in Rome. The circus is 3½ stadia in length, and 400 feet in breadth. Round the two greater sides, and one of the lesser, runs a canal, 10 feet deep and as many broad, to receive the water; behind the canal, porticoes are erected three stories high, of which the lowest has stone seats, as in the theatres, raised a little above the level of the ground, and the two upper porticoes have wooden seats. The two larger porticoes are connected into one, and joined together by means of the lesser,and, meeting, form a semicircular figure; so that all three constitute one amphitheatral portico of 8 stadia, capable of receiving one hundred and fifty thousand persons. The other lesser side is left uncovered, and contains several arched starting-places for the horses, which are all opened at one signal. On the outside of the circus runs another portico of one story, which has shops in it, and habitations over them. In this portico are entrances and ascents for the spectators at every shop, contrived in such a manner that so many thousand persons may go in and out without any molestation" (Dionysius, iii. 69).

This description is evidently of the building as it stood in the days of Augustus. Founded by Tarquin, it was extended by Cæsar, and kept in repair and embellished by Augustus, Claudius, Domitian, Trajan, Constantine, and Theodoric. (See Suetonius, "Cæsar," xxxix.; Pliny, xxxv. 24, xxxvi. 15; Livy, vii. 20, i. 35.)

The valley in which it stood was originally called the Murzian Valley. Here Romulus gave the games when the Romans ran off with the Sabine women. The stream of the Almo runs through it: this branch of the Almo was taken from the main stream, about six miles from Rome, and made to pass through the Circus to supply with water the canal made by Cæsar which separated the spectators from the arena.

Remains of the curve can be seen at the Cœlian end, and some fragments of seats exist under the Palatine.

Crossing the site of the Circus, on our right, standing back, is the

underneath which is part of two massive tufa towers of the wall of the kings that surrounded the two hills; and part of the old street called after Julius Cæsar which passed by the side of the Circus, facing on to which are a row of shops, behind which are some remains of the seats of the Circus Maximus.

"was a grotto consecrated to Pan, the most ancient and the most honoured of all the Arcadian gods. It was surrounded by a wood, and is contiguous to the Palatine buildings, and is to be seen in the way that leads to the Circus. Near it stands a temple in which a statue is placed representing a wolf suckling two children,—they are in brass, and of ancient workmanship" (Dionysius, i. 76). This grotto, with the water still flowing out of the rock, still exists underthe street at the corner of the Via de Cerchi, but it is not at present accessible. It was discovered by Mr. J. H. Parker, C.B., in 1869; and he found remains of the work of Augustus, who says, in the "Mon. Ancyr.," "Lupercal ... feci." We have been into it, and it exactly answers the description of Dionysius.

From the church we follow theVia di S. Teodoro.A decline on the left leads to

a double arch of considerable magnitude, believed to be that of the four-headed Janus, the appearance of the structure involuntarily recalling the celebrated sanctuary of that god in the Forum, with which, however, it must not be confounded. There is no authority for calling it the Arch of Janus; we do not know what it was called by the Romans. In the sides of the piers which support the arch are twelve niches, apparently intended for the reception of statues. In one of these is a doorway leading up a narrow staircase to a chamber in the interior of the building, probably used as a place for business.

This singular building, which in its present condition has a somewhat quaint appearance, has evidently been intended for a place of sale. Being erected over the spot where the two roads intersecting the cattle-market met, it seems to have marked the central point of the traffic carried on in this space.

It is of white marble, old material re-used, and probably of the time of Constantine. Domitian erected several arches to Janus, but this is not good enough for his time.

By its side is

We are indebted to this inconsiderable little monument—stated in the inscription to have been raised by the silversmiths and cattle-dealers to the imperial family of Septimius Severus—for the important information that the Forum Boarium, mentioned in the legends of the foundation of Rome, was situated on this spot. The sculptures with which the arch is ornamented are much defaced, and hidden from view on one side by the Church of S. Giorgio. Those in the interior represent sacrifices offered by the emperor and his sons. On one of the side piers is the figure of Hercules, evidently having reference to this locality, which was consecrated to him, and in the neighbourhood of which he had actually erected the Ara Maxima. At the back is a representation of a ploughman with a yoke of oxen, alsoin allusion to the myths, the different threads of which all unite at this point.

On the insiderightare the effigies of Septimius and his wife Julia; and opposite them were Caracalla and Geta, but the latter has been cut out, leaving only his brother. On the pilasters, the capitals of which are Roman, we discover among various field-badges the portraits of the emperor, his wife, and one of his sons; that of Geta having been obliterated after his murder, by the order of Caracalla.

It is rather a misnomer to call this an arch, as it has a flat top.

Adjoining is the

founded in the fourth century. The architrave above the portico (of the thirteenth century) is where Rienzi affixed his proclamation announcing, "In a short time the Romans will return to their ancient good estate." It is seldom opened, except on its festival, January 20th. The aisles are formed by sixteen different columns, no doubt the plunder of some other building. It is dedicated to the patron saint of England, a piece of whose banner is preserved beneath the altar.

Proceeding down the low brick archway opposite brings us to

originally made by Tarquinius Superbus in the year 138 of Rome, or 530 years before Christ: part of the actual construction appears to be original and of that time. It is built of the larger blocks of tufa, and has a round-headed vault. The German theory is, that this great drain was originally open at the top, and not vaulted over till the time of Camillus, after the capture of Veii in the war with the Etruscans; but the construction does not agree with this. The additional branch of the Cloaca made by Agrippa to carry off the water from his thermæ near the Pantheon (to supply which the Aqua Virgo was made), is of brick, after the fashion of his time. This can be seen at the junction near the Church of S. Giorgio in Velabro or the Janus Quadrifrons. Several natural streams of water are collected in this great drain, and still run through it. One, from the Quirinal, runs straight between the Palatine and the Capitol; a second comes from the eastern side of the Palatine and the Arch of Titus; a third runs from the Capitol, the spring being in the lower chamber of the Prison of S. Peter. All these met near the Forum Romanum, and formed the Lake of Curtius, which was drained by the great Cloaca. But this drain is not so low down as the lake isdeep; consequently there is always a swamp there, even now, after much rain. Two other streams fall into it near the Janus,—one from the direction of the Pantheon; the other from the western side of the Palatine, coming out of the cave called the Lupercal, where the water gushes out from under the arch with great force. This is called the Aqua Argentina, or the Silvery Water, either from its beautiful clearness, or because it went through the silversmiths' quarter.

Regaining theVia S. Teodoro,turn left, under the Palatine. On the right is the

founded by Adrian I., 772–795, and rebuilt,A.D.1451, by Nicholas V. This church, from being round, has been called after all sorts of temples, but there is nothing whatever to show that it was once a pagan temple. It belongs to a burial fraternity. Over the altar is a mosaic, of the time of Adrian I., of our Saviour between SS. Peter and Paul. The Roman women bring their children here every Thursday morning to be blessed, after their recovery from sickness. It is a very ancient custom, and may have originated from the sick people who used to resort to the Fountain of Juturna to drink the waters.

VIA BABUINO—PIAZZA DI SPAGNA—TREVI FOUNTAIN—PIAZZA SS. APOSTOLI—COLONNA GALLERY—FORUM AND COLUMN OF TRAJAN—FORUM OF AUGUSTUS—TEMPLE OF MARS ULTOR—ACADEMIA DI S. LUCA—FORUM OF NERVA—ALTAR OF MINERVA—SITE OF THE HOUSE OF POMPEY—TORRE DI CONTI—HOUSE OF LUCREZIA BORGIA—S. PIETRO IN VINCOLI—THE GOLDEN HOUSE OF NERO AND THE BATHS OF HADRIAN—THE BASILICÆ OF S. CLEMENT—TEMPLE OF MITHRAS—EGYPTIAN OBELISK—THE BAPTISTERY—THE LATERAN MUSEUM AND GALLERY—S. JOHN LATERAN—SCALA SANTA—VILLA WOLKONSKY—THE AMPHITHEATRE—S. CROCE IN GERUSALEMME—THE SESSORIUM PALACE—S. STEFANO ROTONDO—NERO'S MEAT-MARKET—S. MARIA DELLA NAVICELLA—ARCH OF DOLABELLA—VILLA CŒLIMONTANA—SS. GIOVANNI AND PAOLO—TEMPLE OF CLAUDIUS—THE VIVARIUM AND SPOLIARIUM—RESERVOIR OF NERO—CHURCH OF S. GREGORIO.

UNDER THE EASTERN HILLS.

From the Piazza del Popolo we take the left-hand street, the Via Babuino.The new English church of All Saints is on the right side. At No. 89,on the left, lived Valadier.

We now reach

This square may be considered as the centre of the English and Americans in Rome. Here they come for most of their requirements, and here a great many live. At No. 1,the corner, is the well-known Piale's library and reading-room, the most extensive in Rome, where one may find any information that he requires as to what is going on in the city, and, through the newspapers, what is passing athome. Monti, the poet, lived at No. 9. Mr. Hooker's American Bank is No. 20. Shelley lived at No. 25; and Keats at No. 26, the right-hand corner house, by the steps, where an inscription has lately been put up. This square once formed part of "an artificial lake made by Domitian for the representation of naval fights. The fleets were as numerous as those employed in real engagements" (Suetonius, "Dom." 4).

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