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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman Mosaics + Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood + +Author: Hugh Macmillan + +Release Date: July 2, 2005 [EBook #16180] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN MOSAICS *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Suzanne Lybarger, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>ROMAN MOSAICS</h1> + +<h4>OR</h4> + +<h2>STUDIES IN ROME AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD</h2> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>HUGH MACMILLAN</h2> + +<h4>D.D., LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.S.A. Scot.</h4> + +<h5>AUTHOR OF</h5> + +<h5>'BIBLE TEACHINGS IN NATURE,' 'FIRST FORMS OF VEGETATION,' +'HOLIDAYS IN HIGH LANDS,' 'THE RIVIERA,' ETC.</h5> + +<h6>London<br /> +MACMILLAN AND CO.<br /> +AND NEW YORK</h6> + +<h5>1888</h5> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>The title of this book may seem fanciful. It may even be regarded as +misleading, creating the idea that it is a treatise like that of Mr. +Digby Wyatt on those peculiar works of art which decorate the old +palaces and churches of Rome. But notwithstanding these objections, no +title can more adequately describe the nature of the book. It is +applicable on account of the miscellaneous character of the chapters, +which have already appeared in some of our leading magazines and +reviews, and are now, with considerable changes and additions, +gathered together into a volume. There is a further suitableness in +the title, owing to the fact that most of the contents have no claim +to originality. As a Roman Mosaic is made up of small coloured cubes +joined together in such a manner as to form a picture, so my book may +be said to be made up of old facts gathered from many sources and +harmonised into a significant unity. So many thousands of volumes +have been written about Rome that it is impossible to say anything new +regarding it. Every feature of its topography and every incident of +its history have been described. Every sentiment appropriate to the +subject has been expressed. But Rome can be regarded from countless +points of view, and studied for endless objects. Each visitor's mind +is a different prism with angles of thought that break up the subject +into its own colours. And as is the case in a mosaic, old materials +can be brought into new combinations, and a new picture constructed +out of them. It is on this ground that I venture to add another book +to the bewildering pile of literature on Rome.</p> + +<p>But I have another reason to offer. While the great mass of the +materials of the book is old and familiar, not a few things are +introduced that are comparatively novel. The late Dean Alford made the +remark how difficult it is to obtain in Rome those details of interest +which can be so easily got in other cities. Guide-books contain a vast +amount of information, but there are many points interesting to the +antiquarian and the historian which they overlook altogether. There is +no English book, for instance, like Ruffini's <i>Dizionario +Etimologico-Storico delle Strade, Piazze, Borghi e Vicoli della Città +di Roma</i>, to tell one of the origin of the strange and bizarre names +of the streets of Rome, many of which involve most interesting +historical facts and most romantic associations of the past. There is +no English book on the ancient marbles of Rome like Corsi's <i>Pietre +Antiche</i>, which describes the mineralogy and source of the building +materials of the imperial city, and traces their history from the law +courts and temples of which they first formed part to the churches and +palaces in which they may now be seen. Every nook in London, with its +memories and points of interest, has been chronicled in a form that is +accessible to every one. But there is an immense amount of most +interesting antiquarian lore regarding out-of-the-way things in Rome +which is buried in the transactions of learned societies or in special +Italian monographs, and is therefore altogether beyond the reach of +the ordinary visitor. Science has lately shed its vivid light upon the +physical history of the Roman plain; and the researches of the +archæologist have brought into the daylight of modern knowledge, and +by a wider comparison and induction have invested with a new +significance, the prehistoric objects, customs, and traditions which +make primeval Rome and the surrounding sites so fascinating to the +imagination. But these results are not to be found in the books which +the English visitor usually consults. In the following chapters I have +endeavoured to supply some of that curious knowledge; and it is to be +hoped that what is given—for it is no more than a slight sample out +of an almost boundless store—will create an interest in such +subjects, and induce the reader to go in search of fuller information.</p> + +<p>Many of the points touched upon have provoked endless disputations +which are not likely soon to be settled. Indeed there is hardly any +line of study one can take up in connection with Rome which does not +bristle with controversies; and a feeling of perplexity and +uncertainty continually haunts one in regard to most of the subjects. +It is not only in the vague field of the early traditions of the city, +and of the medieval traditions of the Church, that this feeling +oppresses one; it exists everywhere, even in the more solid and +assured world of Roman art, literature, and history. Where it is so +difficult to arrive at settled convictions, I may be pardoned if I +have expressed views that are open to reconsideration.</p> + +<p>I am aware of the disadvantages connected with thus collecting +together a number of separate papers, instead of writing a uniform +treatise upon one continuous subject. The picture formed by their +union must necessarily have much of the artificiality and clumsiness +of the mosaic as compared with the oil or water-colour painting. But +only in this form could I have brought together such a great variety +of important things. And though I cannot hope that the inherent defect +of the mosaic will be compensated by its permanence—for books of this +kind do not last—yet it will surely serve some good purpose to have +such a collocation of facts regarding a place whose interest is ever +varying and never dying.</p> + +<p>The personal element is almost entirely confined to the first chapter, +which deals on that account with more familiar incidents than the +others. Twelve years have elapsed since my memorable sojourn in Rome; +and many changes have occurred in the Eternal City since then. I have +had no opportunity to repeat my visit and to add to or correct my +first impressions, desirable as it might be to have had such a +revision for the sake of this book. I duly drank of the water of Trevi +the night before I left; but the spell has been in abeyance all these +years. I live, however, in the hope that it has not altogether lost +its mystic power; and that some day, not too far off, I may be +privileged to go over the old scenes with other and larger eyes than +those with which I first reverently gazed upon them. It needs two +visits at least to form any true conception of Rome: a first visit to +acquire the personal interest in the city which will lead at home to +the eager search for knowledge regarding it from every source; and +then the second visit to bring the mind thus quickened and richly +stored with information to bear with new comprehension and increased +interest upon the study of its antiquities on the spot.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">HUGH MACMILLAN.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="toc"> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> + +<h4>A WALK TO CHURCH IN ROME</h4> + + +<p>A Walk to Church in Country—In the Town—Residence in Capo le +Case—Church of San Guiseppe—Propaganda—Pillar of Immaculate +Conception—Piazza di Spagna—Staircase—Models—Beggars—Church of +Trinita dei Monti—Flowers—Via Babuino—Piazza del Popolo—Flaminian +Obelisk—Pincian Hill—Porta del Popolo—Church of Santa Maria del +Popolo—Monastery of St. Augustine—Presbyterian Church—Villa +Borghese—Ponte Molle, <a href="#Page_1">Pages 1-33</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> + +<h4>THE APPIAN WAY</h4> + +<p>Formation of Appian Way—Tombs on Roman Roads—Loneliness of Country +outside Rome—Porta Capena—Restoration of Appian Way—Grove and +Fountain of Egeria—Baths of Caracalla—Church of Sts. Nereus and +Achilles—Tomb of Scipios—Columbaria—Arch of Drusus—Gate of St. +Sebastian—Almo—Tomb of Geta—Plants in Valley of Almo—Catacombs +of St. Calixtus—Catacomb of Pretextatus—Catacomb of Sts. Nereus +and Achilles—Church of St. Sebastian—Circus of Romulus—Tomb of +Cæcilia Metella—Sadness of Appian Way—Imagines Clipeatæ—Profusion +of Plant and Animal Life—Solitude—Villa of Seneca—Mounds of +Horatii and Curiatii—Villa of Quintilii—Tomb of Atticus—Casale +Rotondo—Frattocchie—Bovillæ—Albano—St. Paul's Entrance into +Rome by Appian Way, <a href="#Page_34">34-87</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> + +<h4>THE CUMÆAN SIBYL</h4> + +<p>Promontory of Carmel—Westmost Point of Italy—Mode of reaching +Cumæ—Few Relics of Ancient City—Uncertainty about Sibyl's +Cave—Loneliness of Site—Roman Legend of Sibylline Books—Mode +of Keeping Them—Sortes Sibyllinæ—Different Sibyls—Apocalyptic +Literature—Existing Remains of Sibylline Books—Reverence paid +to Sibyl by Christian Writers—Church of Ara Coeli—Roof of Sistine +Chapel—Prospective Attitude of Sibyl—Retrospective Characteristic +of Greek and Roman Religion—Connection between Hebrew and Pagan +Prophecy—Pagan Oracles superseded by Living Oracles of the Gospel, <a href="#Page_88">88-108</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3> + +<h4>FOOTPRINTS IN ROME</h4> + +<p>Footprints of our Lord in Church of Domine quo Vadis—Slabs +with Footprints in Kircherian Museum—St. Christina's Footprints +at Bolsena—Significance of Footmarks—Votive Offerings—Footprint +of Mahomet at Jerusalem—Footprint of Christ on Mount of +Olives—Footprints of Abraham at Mecca—Drusic Footprints—Phrabat, +or Sacred Foot of Buddha—Famous Footprint on Summit of Adam's Peak +in Ceylon—Footprints at Gayá—Footprints of Vishnu—Jain +Temples—Prehistoric Footprints—Tanist Stones—Dun Add in +Argyleshire—Mary's Step in Wales—Footmarks in Ireland, Norway, +Denmark, and Brittany—Classical Examples—Footprints in America +and Africa—Connection with Primitive Worship, <a href="#Page_109">109-136</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER V</h3> + +<h4>THE ROMAN FORUM</h4> + +<p>Geological History—Volcanic Origin—Early Legends—Cloaca +Maxima—Work of Excavation—Ærarium—Capitol—Temple of Concord—Temple +of Jupiter—Arch of Septimius Severus—Milliarium Aureum—Mamertine +Prison—Pillar of Phocas—Suovetaurilia—Curia Hostilia—Comitium—Curia +of Diocletian—Basilica Julia—Vicus Tuscus—Temple of Castor and +Pollux—Atrium Vestæ—Temple of Vesta—Temple of Antoninus Pius +and Faustina—Church of SS. Cosma e Damiano—Colosseum—Conflagration +in Forum, <a href="#Page_137">137-178</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3> + +<h4>THE EGYPTIAN OBELISKS</h4> + +<p>Number of Obelisks in Rome—Sun Worship—Symbolism of Obelisk—Obelisk +of Nebuchadnezzar—Original position of Obelisks—Egyptian +Propylons—Changes connected with Obelisks in Egypt—Transportation +of Obelisks to Rome and other places—Obelisk of Heliopolis—Obelisk +of Luxor—Karnac—Lateran Obelisk—Obelisk in Square of St. +Peter's—Obelisk of Piazza del Popolo—Association of Fountains with +Obelisks—Obelisk of Monte Citorio—Esquiline and Quirinal +Obelisks—Obelisk of Trinita dei Monti—Pamphilian Obelisk—Obelisks +near Pantheon—Superiority of Oldest Obelisks—Obelisk of +Paris—Cleopatra's Needles in London and New York—Religious Devotion +of Ancient Egyptians, <a href="#Page_179">179-211</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3> + +<h4>THE PAINTED TOMB AT VEII</h4> + +<p>Excursions in neighbourhood of Rome—History of Veii—Uncertainty +of its Site—Journey to Isola Farnese—Village of Isola—Romantic +Scenery—Desolate Downs—Roman Municipium—Old Gateway—Ponte +Sodo—Necropolis of Veii—Painted Tomb—Archaic Frescoes—Objects in +Inner Chamber—Etruscan Tombs imitative of Homes of the Living—Worship +of the Dead—Cellæ Memoriæ—Antiquity of Tomb at Veii—Mysterious +character of Etruscan Language and History, <a href="#Page_212">212-236</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3> + +<h4>HOLED STONES AND MARTYR WEIGHTS</h4> + +<p>Bocca della Verita—Primitive Worship of Clefts in Rocks and +Holes in Stones—Cromlechs—Passing through beneath Cromlechs and +Gates—Tigillum Sororium—Pillars in Aksa Mosque at Jerusalem—"Threading +the Needle" in Ripon Cathedral—Standing Stones of Stennis and Oath +of Odin—Cremave—Jewish Covenant—Martyr Stones—Originally Roman +Measures of Weight—Made of Jade or Nephrite—Remarkable History of +Jade—Prehistoric Glimpses—Relics of Stone Age in Rome—Conservation +of things connected with Religion, <a href="#Page_237">237-252</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3> + +<h4>ST. ONOFRIO AND TASSO</h4> + +<p>Church of St. Onofrio—Monastery—Garden—Tasso's Oak—Grand View of +Rome and Neighbourhood—Tasso's Birthplace at Sorrento—Remarkable +Epoch—Bernardo Tasso—Prince of Salerno—Youth of Tasso—Visit +to Rome—Sojourn at Venice—Student of Law at Padua—First Poem +<i>Rinaldo</i>—University of Bologna—House of Este—Leonora—Composition +of <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>—Death of Tasso's Father—Visit to +France—<i>Aminta</i> and Pastoral Drama—Publication of <i>Gerusalemme +Liberata</i>—Della Cruscan Academy—Ariosto—Cold Treatment of Tasso +by Alfonso—Confinement in Hospital of St. Anne—Story of Hapless +Love—Alleged Madness—Hospital of St. Anne—<i>Torrismondo</i>—Release +of Tasso—Pilgrimage to Loretto—Residence at Naples—Connection with +Milton—<i>Gerusalemme Conquistata</i>—Universal Recognition of Poet—Better +Days—Closing Scenes of Life at St. Onofrio—Proposed Coronation at +Capitol—Too Late—Death—Estimate of Life and Work, <a href="#Page_253">253-310</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER X</h3> + +<h4>THE MARBLES OF ANCIENT ROME</h4> + +<p>Pleasures of Marble Hunting in Rome and Neighbourhood—Artistic +and Educational Uses of Marble Fragments—Geological Formation of +Rome—Building Materials of Ancient Rome—Marbles of Conquered +Countries introduced into Rome—Christian Churches made up of Remains +of Pagan Temples—Parian Marble—Porine and Pentelic Marbles—Hymettian +Marble—Thasian, Lesbian and Tyrian Marbles—Marble of Carrara—Apollo +Belvedere—Colouring of Ancient Statues and Buildings—Gibson's +Colour-creed—Time's Hues on Dying Gladiator—Cipollino—Giallo +Antico—Africano—Porta Santa—Fior di Persico—Pavonazzetto—Rosso +Antico—Sedia Forata—Faun—Black Marbles—Lumachella Marbles—Column of +Trajan—Breccias—Alabasters—Verde Antique—Subterranean Church of San +Clemente—Ophite and Opus Alexandrinum—Jaspers—Murrhine Cups—Lapis +Lazuli—Church of Jesuits—Abundance of Marbles in Ancient Rome, <a href="#Page_311">311-359</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3> + +<h4>THE VATICAN CODEX</h4> + +<p>Vatican Library—Origin and History—Monastery of Bobbio—Splendour +and Charm of Library—Contents of two Principal Cabinets—Letters +of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn—Vatican Codex—Freshness of +Appearance—Continuity of Writing—Vacant Space at end of St. Mark's +Gospel—A Palimpsest—Origin of Vatican Codex—Sinaitic and Alexandrine +Codices—History of Vatican Codex—Edition of Cardinal Mai—Edition +of Tischendorf—Disappearance of all Previous Manuscripts—Faults and +Deficiencies of Vatican Codex—Vatican Codex used in Revised Version +of New Testament—Formation of Sacred Canon, <a href="#Page_360">360-379</a></p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XII</h3> + +<h4>ST. PAUL AT PUTEOLI</h4> + +<p>Landing of St. Paul in Ship <i>Castor and Pollux</i> at Puteoli—Loveliness of +Bay of Naples—Crowded Population and Splendour of Villas—Dissoluteness +of Inhabitants—Worship of Roman Emperors—St. Paul's Grief and +Anxiety—Encouragement from Brethren—Christians in Tyrian Quarter at +Puteoli and at Pompeii—Southern Italy Greek in Blood and Language—Quay +at Puteoli—Temples of Neptune and Serapis—Changes of Level in Sea and +Land—Monte Nuovo—Destruction of Village of Tripergola—Filling up of +Leucrine Lake—Lake of Avernus—Sibyl's Cave—Lough Dearg and Purgatory +of St. Patrick—Death Quarter among Prehistoric People in the +West—Phlegræan Fields—Scene of Wars of Gods and Giants—Elysian +Fields—Pagan Heaven and Hell—Via Cumana and St. Paul—Amphitheatre +of Nero—Solfatara—Relics of Volcanic Fires and Ancient Civilisation +mixed together—Volcanic Fires and Landscape Beauty—Completion of Gospel +in St. Paul's Journey from Jerusalem to Rome, <a href="#Page_380">380-397</a></p> + +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>A WALK TO CHURCH IN ROME</h3> + + +<p>I know nothing more delightful than a walk to a country church on a +fine day at the end of summer. All the lovely promises of spring have +been fulfilled; the woods are clothed with their darkest foliage, and +not another leaflet is to come anywhere. The lingering plumes of the +meadow-sweet in the fields, and the golden trumpets of the wild +honeysuckle in the hedges, make the warm air a luxury to breathe; and +the presence of a few tufts of bluebells by the wayside gives the +landscape the last finishing touch of perfection, which is suggestive +of decay, and has such an indescribable pathos about it. Nature pauses +to admire her own handiwork; she ceases from her labours, and enjoys +an interval of rest. It is the sabbath of the year. At such a time +every object is associated with its spiritual idea, as it is with its +natural shadow. The beauty of nature suggests thoughts of the beauty +of holiness; and the calm rest of creation speaks to us of the deeper +rest of the soul in God. On the shadowed path that leads up to the +house of prayer, with mind and senses quickened to perceive the +loveliness and significance of the smallest object, the fern on the +bank and the lichen on the wall, we feel indeed that heaven is not so +much a yonder, towards which we are to move, as a here and a now, +which we are to realise.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span></p> + +<p>A walk to church in town is a different thing. Man's works are all +around us, and God's excluded; all but the strip of blue sky that +looks down between the tall houses, and suggests thoughts of heaven to +those who work and weep; all but the stunted trees and the green grass +that struggle to grow in the hard streets and squares, and whisper of +the far-off scenes of the country, where life is natural and simple. +But even in town a walk to church is pleasant, especially when the +streets are quiet, before the crowd of worshippers have begun to +assemble, and there is nothing to distract the thoughts. If we can say +of the country walk, "This is holy ground," seeing that every bush and +tree are aflame with God, we can say of the walk through the city, +"Surely the Lord hath been here, this is a dreadful place." And as the +rude rough stones lying on the mountain top shaped themselves in the +patriarch's dream into a staircase leading up to God, so the streets +and houses around become to the musing spirit suggestive of the +Father's many mansions, and the glories of the City whose streets are +of pure gold, in which man's hopes and aspirations after a city of +rest, which are baffled here, will be realised. I have many pleasing +associations connected with walks to church in town. Many precious +thoughts have come to me then, which would not have occurred at other +times; glimpses of the wonder of life, and revelations of inscrutable +mysteries covered by the dream-woven tissue of this visible world. The +subjects with which my mind was filled found new illustrations in the +most unexpected quarters; and every familiar sight and sound furnished +the most appropriate examples. During that half-hour of meditation, +with my blood quickened by the exercise, and my mind inspired by the +thoughts of the service in which I was about to engage, I have lived +an intenser life and enjoyed a keener happiness than during all the +rest of the week. It was the hour of insight that struck the keynote +of all the others.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span></p> + +<p>But far above even these precious memories, I must rank my walks to +church in Rome. What one feels elsewhere is deepened there; and the +wonderful associations of the place give a more vivid interest to all +one's experiences. I lived in the Capo le Case, a steep street on the +slope between the Pincian and Quirinal hills, situated about +three-quarters of a mile from the church outside the Porta del Popolo. +This distance I had to traverse every Sunday morning; and I love +frequently to shut my eyes and picture the streets through which I +passed, and the old well-known look of the houses and monuments. There +is not a more delightful walk in the world than that; and I know not +where within such a narrow compass could be found so many objects of +the most thrilling interest. For three months, from the beginning of +February to the end of April, twice, and sometimes four times, every +Sunday, I passed that way, going to or returning from church, until I +became perfectly familiar with every object; and associations of my +own moods of mind and heart mingled with the grander associations +which every stone recalled, and are now inextricably bound up with +them. With one solitary exception, when the weather in its chill winds +and gloomy clouds reminded me of my native climate, all the Sundays +were beautiful, the sun shining down with genial warmth, and the sky +overhead exhibiting the deep violet hue which belongs especially to +Italy. The house in which I lived had on either side of the entrance a +picture-shop; and this was always closed, as well as most of the other +places of business along the route. The streets were remarkably quiet; +and all the circumstances were most favourable for a meditative walk +amid such magnificent memories. The inhabitants of Rome pay respect to +the Sunday so far as abstaining from labour is concerned; but they +make up for this by throwing open their museums and places of interest +on that day, which indeed is the only day in which they are free to +the public; and they take a large amount of recreation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span> for doing a +small amount of penance in the interests of religion. Still there is +very little bustle or traffic in the streets, especially in the +morning; and one meets with no more disagreeable and incongruous +interruptions on the way to church in the Eternal City than he does at +home. At the head of the Capo le Case is a small church, beside an old +ruinous-looking wall of tufa, covered with shaggy pellitory and other +plants, which might well have been one of the ramparts of ancient +Rome. It is called San Guiseppe, and has a faded fresco painting on +the gable, representing the Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, +supposed to be by Frederico Zuccari, whose own house—similarly +decorated on the outside with frescoes—was in the immediate vicinity. +From the windows of my rooms, I could see at the foot of the street +the fantastic cupola and bell-turret of the church of St. Andrea delle +Fratte, which belonged to the Scottish Catholics before the +Reformation, and is now frequented by our Catholic countrymen during +Lent, when sermons are preached to them in English. It is the parish +church of the Piazza di Spagna, and the so-called English quarter. The +present edifice was only built at the end of the sixteenth century, +and, strange to say, with the proceeds of the sale of Cardinal +Gonsalvi's valuable collection of snuff-boxes; but its name, derived +from the Italian word <i>Fratta</i>, "thorn-bush," would seem to imply that +the church is of much greater antiquity, going back to a far-off time +when the ground on which it stands was an uncultivated waste. A +miracle is said to have happened in one of the side chapels in 1842, +which received the sanction of the Pope. A young French Jew of the +name of Alfonse Ratisbonne was discovered in an ecstasy before the +altar; which he accounted for by saying, when he revived, that the +Virgin Mary had actually appeared to him, and saluted him in this +place, while he was wandering aimlessly, and with a smile of +incredulity, through the church. This supernatural vision led to his +conver<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span>sion, and he was publicly baptized and presented to the Pope by +his godfather, the general of the Jesuits; receiving on the occasion, +in commemoration of the miracle, a crucifix, to which special +indulgences were attached.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the Capo le Case is the College of the Propaganda, +whose vast size and plain massive architecture, as well as its +historical associations, powerfully impress the imagination. It was +begun by Gregory XV., in 1622, and completed by his successor, Urban +VIII., and his brother, Cardinal Antonio Barberini, from the plans +partly of Bernini and Borromini. On the most prominent parts of the +edifice are sculptured bees, which are the well-known armorial +bearings of the Barberini family. The Propaganda used to divide with +the Vatican the administration of the whole Roman Catholic world. It +was compared by the Abbé Raynal to a sword, of which the handle +remains in Rome, and the point reaches everywhere. The Vatican takes +cognisance of what may be called the domestic affairs of the Church +throughout Europe; the College of the Propaganda superintends the +foreign policy of the Church, and makes its influence felt in the +remotest regions of the earth. It is essentially, as its name implies, +a missionary institution, founded for the promotion and guidance of +missions throughout the world. Nearly two hundred youths from various +countries are constantly educated here, in order that they may go back +as ordained priests to their native land, and diffuse the Roman +Catholic faith among their countrymen. The average number ordained +every year is about fifty. No one is admitted who is over twenty years +of age; and they all wear a uniform dress, consisting of a long black +cassock, edged with red, and bound with a red girdle, with two bands, +representing leading-strings, hanging from the shoulders behind. The +cost of their education and support while in Rome, and the expenses of +their journey from their native land and back again, are defrayed by +the institution. Every visitor to Rome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span> must be familiar with the +appearance of the students, as they walk through the streets in groups +of three or four, eagerly conversing with each other, with many +expressive gesticulations. For the most part they are a fine set of +young men, of whom any Church might well be proud, full of zeal and +energy, and well fitted to encounter, by their physical as well as +their mental training, the hard-ships of an isolated life, frequently +among savage races.</p> + +<p>An annual exhibition is held in a large hall attached to the college +in honour of the holy Magi, about the beginning of January, when +students deliver speeches in different languages, and take part in +musical performances, the score of which is usually composed by the +professor of music in the college. The places of honour nearest the +stage are occupied by several cardinals, whose scarlet dresses and +silver locks contrast strikingly with the black garments of the +majority of the assemblage. The strange costumes and countenances of +the speakers, coloured with every hue known to the human family, the +novel sounds of the different languages, and the personal +peculiarities of each speaker in manner and intonation, make the +exhibition in the highest degree interesting. Its great popularity is +evinced by the crowds that usually attend, filling the hall to +overflowing; and though a religious affair, it is pervaded by a lively +spirit of fun, in which even the great dignitaries of the Church join +heartily.</p> + +<p>The jurisdiction of the Propaganda is independent. The "congregation" +of the college is composed of twenty-five cardinals, sixteen of whom +are resident in Rome. One of their number is appointed prefect, and +has a prelate for his secretary. They meet statedly, once a month, for +the transaction of business, in a magnificent hall in the college. +Previous to 1851, the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church in England +were administered by the Propaganda; our country being included among +heretical or heathen lands to which missionaries were sent. But after +that memorable year<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span> they were transferred to the ordinary +jurisdiction of the See of Rome. This movement was the first distinct +act of papal aggression, and provoked fierce hostility among all +classes of the Protestant community. However some of us may regret +that such powerful and well-organised machinery is employed to +propagate to the ends of the earth a faith to which we cannot +subscribe, yet no one can read the proud inscription upon the front of +the edifice, "Collegio di Propagandâ Fide," and reflect upon the grand +way in which the purpose therein defined has been carried out, without +a sentiment of admiration. At a time when Protestant Churches were +selfishly devoted to their own narrow interests, and utterly unmindful +of the Saviour's commission to preach the gospel to every creature, +this college was sending forth to different countries, only partially +explored, bands of young priests who carried their lives in their +hands, and endured untold sufferings so that they might impart to the +heathen the blessings of Christian civilisation. There is not a region +from China and Japan to Mexico and the South Sea Islands, and from +Africa to Siberia, which has not been taken possession of by members +of this college, and cultivated for the Church. Names that are as +worthy of being canonised as those of any saint in the Roman calendar, +on account of their heroic achievements, their holy lives, or their +martyr deaths, belong to the rôle of the Propaganda. And while +sedulously spreading their faith, they were at the same time adding to +the sum of human knowledge; many of the most valuable and important +contributions to ethnology, geography, philology, and natural science +having been made by the students of this college. Pope Pius IX. in his +early days, after he had renounced his military career and become a +priest, was sent out by the Propaganda, as secretary to a +politico-religious mission which Pius VII. organised and despatched to +Chili; and in that country his missionary career of two years +exhibited all the devotion of a saint.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span></p> + +<p>I had the pleasure of going through the various rooms of this famous +institution in the appropriate company of one of the most +distinguished Free Church missionaries in India; and was shown by the +rector of the college, with the utmost courtesy and kindness, all that +was most remarkable about the place. The library is extensive, and +contains some rare works on theology and canon law; and in the Borgian +Museum annexed to it there is a rich collection of Oriental MSS., +heathen idols, and natural curiosities sent by missionaries from +various parts of the world. We were especially struck with the +magnificent "Codex Mexicanus," a loosely-bound, bulky MS. on white +leather, found among the treasures of the royal palace at the conquest +of Mexico by Cortes. It is full of coloured hieroglyphics and +pictures, and is known in this country through the splendid +reproduction of Lord Kingsborough.</p> + +<p>But the most interesting of all the sights to the visitor is the +printing establishment, which at one time was the first in the world, +and had the means of publishing books in upwards of thirty different +languages. At the present day it is furnished with all the recent +appliances; and from this press has issued works distinguished as much +for their typographical beauty as for the area they cover in the +mission field. Its font of Oriental types is specially rich. We were +shown specimens of the Paternoster in all the known languages; and my +friend had an opportunity of inspecting some theological works in the +obscure dialects of India. The productions of the Propaganda press are +very widely diffused. There is a bookseller's shop connected with the +establishment, where all the publications of the institution, +including the papal bulls, and the principal documents of the State, +may be procured. Altogether the college has taken a prominent part in +the education of the world. Its influence is specially felt in +America, from which a large number of its students come; the young +priest who conducted us through the library and the Borgian Museum<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> +being an American, very intelligent and affable. The Roman Catholic +religion flourishes in that country because it keeps clear of all +political questions, and manifests itself, not as a government, in +which character it is peculiarly uncompromising and despotic, but as a +religion, in which aspect it has a wonderful power of adaptation to +the habits and tastes of the people. The Propaganda rules Roman +Catholic America very much in the spirit of its own institutions; and +one of the most remarkable social phenomena of that country is the +absolute subserviency which the political spirit of unbridled +democracy yields to its decrees. The bees of the Barberini carved upon +its architectural ornaments are no inapt symbol of the spirit and +method of working of this busy theological hive, which sends its +annual swarms all over the world to gather ecclesiastical honey from +every flower of opportunity.</p> + +<p>Passing beyond the Propaganda, we come to a lofty pillar of the +Corinthian order, situated at the commencement of the Piazza di +Spagna. It is composed of a kind of gray Carystian marble called +<i>cipollino</i>, distinguished by veins of pale green rippling through it, +like the layers of a vegetable bulb, on account of which it is +popularly known as the onion stone. It is one of the largest known +monoliths, being forty-two feet in height and nearly five feet in +diameter. It looks as fresh as though it were only yesterday carved +out of the quarry; but it must be nearly two thousand years old, +having been found about a hundred years ago when digging among the +ruins of the amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus, constructed in the +reign of Cæsar Augustus on the site now called, from a corruption of +the old name, Monte Citorio, and occupied by the Houses of Parliament. +When discovered the pillar was unfinished, a circumstance which would +indicate that it had never been erected. It was left to Pope Pius IX., +after all these centuries of neglect and obscurity, to find a use for +it. Crowning its capital by a bronze statue of the Virgin Mary, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> +disfiguring its shaft by a fantastic bronze network extending up +two-fifths of its height, he erected it where it now stands in 1854, +to commemorate the establishment by papal bull of the dogma of the +Immaculate Conception. It was during his exile at Gaeta, at a time +when Italy was torn with civil dissensions, and his own dominions were +afflicted with the most grievous calamities, which he could have +easily averted or remedied if he wished, that this dogma engrossed the +mind of the holy father and his ecclesiastical court. The +constitutionalists at Rome were anxiously expecting some conciliatory +manifesto which should precede the Pope's return and restore peace and +prosperity; and they were mortified beyond measure by receiving only +the letter in which this theological fiction was announced by his +Holiness. The people cried for the bread of constitutional liberty, +and the holy father gave them the stone of a religious dogma to which +they were wholly indifferent; thus demonstrating the incompatibility +of the functions of a temporal and spiritual sovereign.</p> + +<p>The pillar of the Immaculate Conception is embellished by statues of +Moses, David, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, with texts from Scripture, and very +inferior bronze bas-reliefs of the incidents connected with the +publication of the dogma. As a work of art, it is heavy and graceless, +with hard mechanical lines; and the figure of the Virgin at the top is +utterly destitute of merit. The whole monument is a characteristic +specimen of the modern Roman school of sculpture. For ages Rome has +been considered the foster mother of art, and residence in it +essential to the education of the art-faculty. But this is a delusion. +Its atmosphere has never been really favourable to the development of +genius. There is a moral malaria of the place as fatal to the +versatile life of the imagination as the physical miasma is to health. +Roman Catholicism has petrified the heart and the fancy; and a petty +round of ceremonies, feasts, and social parties dissipates energy and +distracts the powers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> of those who are not under the influence of the +Church. The decadence of art has kept pace with the growing corruption +of religion. Descending from the purer spiritual conceptions of former +times to grosser and more superstitious ideas, it has given outward +expression to these in baser forms. Even St. Peter's, though +extravagantly praised by so many visitors, is but the visible +embodiment of the vulgar splendour of later Catholicism. The pillar of +the Immaculate Conception is not only a monument of religious +superstition, but also of what must strike every thoughtful observer +in Rome—the decadence of art in modern times as compared with the +glorious earlier days of a purer Church. And the art of the sculptor +is only in keeping with that of the painter in connection with this +dogma. For the large frescoes of Podesti, which occupy a conspicuous +place in the great hall of the Vatican, preceding the stanze of +Raphael, and depict the persons and incidents connected with the +proclamation of the Immaculate Conception, are worthless as works of +art, and present a melancholy contrast to the works of the immortal +genius in the adjoining halls, who wrought under the inspiration of a +nobler faith. No Titian or Raphael, no Michael Angelo or Bramante, was +found in the degenerate days of Pio Nono to immortalise what he called +the greatest event of his reign.</p> + +<p>The square in which the pillar of the Immaculate Conception is +situated, along with the surrounding streets, is called the "Ghetto +Inglese," for here the English and Americans most do congregate. At +almost every step one encounters the fresh open countenances, blue +eyes, and fair hair, which one is accustomed to associate with darker +skies and ruder buildings. The Piazza di Spagna, so called from the +palace of the Spanish ambassador situated in a corner of it, is one of +the finest squares of Rome, being paved throughout, and surrounded on +every side by lofty and picturesque buildings. In the centre is a +quaint old boat-shaped fountain, called Fontana<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> della Barcaccia, its +brown slippery sides being tinted with mosses, confervæ, and other +growths of wet surfaces. It was designed by Bernini to commemorate the +stranding of a boat on the spot after the retiring of the great flood +of 1598, which overwhelmed most of Rome. On the site of the Piazza di +Spagna, there was, in the days of Domitian, an artificial lake, on +which naval battles took place, witnessed by immense audiences seated +in a kind of amphitheatre on the borders of the lake. As an object of +taste the boat-shaped fountain is condemned by many; but Bernini +adopted the form not only because of the associations of the spot, but +also because the head of water was not sufficient for a jet of any +considerable height. Quaint, or even ugly, as some might call it, it +was to me an object of peculiar interest. Its water is of the purest +and sweetest; and in the stillness of the hot noon its bright sparkle +and dreamy murmur were delightfully refreshing. No city in the world +is so abundantly supplied with water as Rome. You hear the lulling +sound and see the bright gleam of water in almost every square. A +river falls in a series of sparkling cascades from the Fountain of +Trevi and the Fontana Paolina into deep, immense basins; and even into +the marble sarcophagi of ancient kings, with their gracefully +sculptured sides, telling some story of Arcadian times, whose nymphs +and naiads are in beautiful harmony with the rustic murmur of the +stream, is falling a gush of living water in many a palace courtyard. +This sound of many waters is, indeed, a luxury in such a climate; and +some of the pleasantest moments are those in which the visitor lingers +beside one of the fountains, when the blaze and bustle of the day are +over, and the balmy softness of the evening produce a dreamy mood, to +which the music of the waters is irresistibly fascinating.</p> + +<p>The most distinguishing feature of the Piazza di Spagna is the wide +staircase which leads up from one side of it to the church of the +Trinita dei Monti, with its twin towers, through whose belfry arches +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> blue sky appears. This lofty staircase comprises one hundred and +thirty steps, and the ascent is so gradual, and the landing-places so +broad and commodious, that it is quite a pleasure, even for the most +infirm persons, to mount it. The travertine of which it is composed is +polished into the smoothness of marble by constant use. It is the +favourite haunt of all the painters' models; and there one meets at +certain hours of the day with beautiful peasant girls from the +neighbouring mountains, in the picturesque costumes of the contadini, +and old men with grizzled beards and locks, dressed in ragged cloaks, +the originals of many a saint and Madonna in some sacred pictures, +talking and laughing, or basking with half-shut eyes in the full glare +of the sun. These models come usually from Cervaro and Saracinesco; +the latter an extraordinary Moorish town situated at a great height +among the Sabine hills, whose inhabitants have preserved intact since +the middle ages their Arabic names and Oriental features and customs.</p> + +<p>On this staircase used to congregate the largest number of the beggars +of Rome, whose hideous deformities were made the excuse for extorting +money from the soft-hearted forestieri. Happily this plague has now +greatly abated, and one may ascend or descend the magnificent stair +without being revolted by the sight of human degradation, or +persecuted by the importunate outcries of those who are lost to shame. +The Government has done a good thing in diminishing this frightful +mendicancy. But it is to be feared that whilst there are many who beg +without any necessity, sturdy knaves who are up to all kinds of petty +larceny, there are not a few who have no other means of livelihood, +and without the alms of the charitable would die of starvation. The +visitor sees only the gay side of such a place as Rome; but there are +many tragedies behind the scenes. Centuries of misrule under the papal +government had pauperised the people; and the sudden transition to the +new state of things has deprived many of the old employments, without +furnish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span>ing any substitutes, while there is no longer the dole at the +convent door to provide for their wants. The whole social organisation +of Italy, with its frequent saints' days, during which no work is +done, and its numerous holy fraternities living on alms, and its +sanctification of mendicancy in the name of religion, has tended to +pauperise the nation, and give it those unthrifty improvident habits +which have destroyed independence and self-respect. Although, +therefore, the Government has publicly forbidden begging throughout +the country, it has in some measure tacitly connived at it, as a +compromise between an inefficient poor-law and the widespread misery +arising from the improvidence of so many of its subjects; the amount +of the harvest reaped by the beggars from the visitors to Rome being +so much saved to the public purse. And though one does not meet so +many unscrupulous beggars as formerly in the main thoroughfares of +Rome, one is often annoyed by them on the steps of the churches, where +they seem to have the right of sanctuary, and to levy toll upon all +for whom they needlessly lift the heavy leathern curtain that hangs at +the door. We must remember that mendicancy is a very ancient +institution in Italy, and that it will die hard, if it ever dies at +all.</p> + +<p>The church of the Trinita dei Monti, built in 1494 by Charles VIII. of +France, occupies a most commanding position on the terrace above the +Spanish Square, and is seen as a most conspicuous feature in all the +views of Rome from the neighbourhood. An Egyptian obelisk with +hieroglyphics, of the age of the Ptolemies, which once adorned the +so-called circus in the gardens of Sallust on the Quirinal, now +elevated on a lofty pedestal, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and +surmounted by a cross, stands in front of the church, and gives an air +of antiquity to it which its own four hundred years could hardly +impart, as well as forms an appropriate termination to the splendid +flight of steps which leads up to it. The church is celebrated for the +possession of the "Descent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> from the Cross," a fresco by Ricciarelli, +commonly known by the name of Daniel of Volterra, said to be one of +the three finest pictures in the world. But the chapel which it adorns +is badly lighted, and the painting has been greatly injured by the +French, who attempted to remove it in 1817. It does not produce a very +pleasing impression, being dark and oily-looking; and the cross-lights +in the place interfere with the expression of the figures. We can +recognise much of the force and graphic power of Michael Angelo, whom +the painter sedulously imitated, in various parts of the composition; +but it seems to me greatly inferior as a whole to the better-known +picture of Rubens. In another chapel of this church was interred the +celebrated painter Claude Lorraine, who lived for many years in a +house not far off; but the French transferred the remains of their +countryman to the monument raised to him in their native church in the +Via della Scrofa.</p> + +<p>Adjoining the church is the convent of the Sacred Heart, which +formerly belonged to French monks, minims of the order of St. Francis. +It suffered severely from the wantonness of the French soldiers who +were quartered in it during the French occupation of Rome in the first +Revolution. Since 1827 the Convent has been in possession of French +nuns, who are all ladies of rank. They each endow the Convent at their +initiation with a dowry of £1000; the rest of their property going to +their nearest relatives as if they were dead. They spend their time in +devotional exercises, in superintending the education of a number of +young girls in the higher branches, and in giving advice to those who +are allowed to visit them for this purpose every afternoon. The +Trinita dei Monti is the only church in Rome where female voices are +to be heard chanting the religious services; and on account of this +peculiarity, and the fresh sweet voices of the nuns and their pupils, +many people flock to hear them singing the Ave Maria at sunset, on +Sundays and on great festivals, the singers themselves being +invisible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> behind a curtain in the organ gallery. Mendelssohn found +their vespers charming, though his critical ear detected many +blemishes in the playing and singing. I visited the church one day. As +it is shut after matins, I was admitted at a side door by one of the +nuns, who previously inspected me through the wicket, and was left +alone, the door being locked behind me. The interior is severely +simple and grand, preserving the original pointed architecture +inclining to Gothic, and is exquisitely clean and white, as women +alone could keep it; in this respect forming a remarkable contrast to +the grand but dirty church of the Capuchin monks. I had ample leisure +to study the very interesting pictures in the chapels. The solitude +was only disturbed by a kneeling figure in black, motionless as a +statue behind the iron railing in front of the high altar, or by the +occasional presence of a nun, who moved across the transept with slow +and measured steps, her face hid by a long white veil which gave her a +spirit-like appearance. In the heart of one of the busiest parts of +the city, no mountain cloister could be more quiet and lonely. One +felt the soothing stillness, lifted above the world, while yet +retaining the closest connection with it. It is sweet to leave the +busy crowd of various nationalities below, intent only upon pleasure, +and, climbing up the lofty staircase, enter this secluded shrine, and +be alone with God.</p> + +<p>In the Piazza di Spagna some shops are always open on Sundays, +especially those which minister to the wants and luxuries of +strangers. Rows of cabs are ranged in the centre, waiting to be hired, +and groups of flower-sellers stand near the shops, who thrust their +beautiful bouquets almost into the face of every passer-by. If Rome is +celebrated for its fountains, it is equally celebrated for its +flowers. Whether it is owing to the soil, or the climate, or the mode +of cultivation, or all combined, certain it is that nowhere else does +one see flowers of such brilliant colours, perfect forms, and +delicious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> fragrance; and the quantities as well as varieties of them +are perfectly wonderful. Delicate pink and straw-coloured tea-roses, +camellias, and jonquils mingled their high-born beauties with the more +homely charms of wild-flowers that grew under the shadow of the great +solemn stone-pines on the heights around, or twined their fresh +garlands over the sad ruins of the Campagna. In the hand of every +little boy and girl were bunches for sale of wild cyclamens, blue +anemones, and sweet-scented violets, surrounded by their own leaves, +and neatly tied up with thread. They had been gathered in the princely +grounds of the Doria Pamphili and Borghese villas in the neighbourhood +of Rome, which are freely opened to all, and where for many days in +February and March groups of men, women, and children may be seen +gathering vast quantities of those first-born children of the sun. The +violets, especially in these grounds, are abundant and luxuriant, +making every space of sward shadowed by the trees purple with their +loveliness, like a reflection of the violet sky that had broken in +through the lattice-work of boughs, and scenting all the air with +their delicious perfume. They brought into the hot hard streets the +witchery of the woodlands; and no one could inhale for a moment, in +passing by, the sweet wafture of their fragrance without being +transported in imagination to far-off scenes endeared to memory, and +without a thrill of nameless tenderness at the heart. Some of the +bunches of violets I was asked to buy were of a much paler purple than +the others, and I was at no loss to explain this peculiarity. The +plants with the deep violet petals and dark crimson eye had single +blossoms, whereas those whose petals were lilac, and whose eye was of +a paler red colour, were double. Cultivation had increased the number +of petals, but it had diminished the richness of the colouring. This +is an interesting example of the impartial balancing of nature. No +object possesses every endowment. Defect in one direction is made up +by excess in another. The rose pays for its mass of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> beautiful petals +by its sterility; and the single violet has a lovelier hue, and is +perfectly fertile, whereas the double one is pale and cannot +perpetuate itself. And the moral lesson of this parable of nature is +not difficult to read. Leanness of soul often accompanies the +fulfilment of our earthly desires; and outward abundance often +produces selfishness and covetousness. The peculiar evil of prosperity +is discontent, dissatisfaction with present gain and a longing for +more, and a spirit of repining at the little ills and disappointments +of life. Humble, fragrant, useful contentment belongs to the soul that +has the single eye, and "the one thing needful;" and the more we seek +to double our possessions and enjoyments in the spirit of selfishness, +the less beautiful and fragrant are we in the sight of God and man, +and the less good we do in the world.</p> + +<p>From the Piazza di Spagna I passed onward through a long street called +the Via Babuino, from an antique statue of a satyr mutilated into the +likeness of a baboon, that used to adorn a fountain about the middle +of it, now removed. More business is done on Sunday in this street +than in any other quarter, with the exception of the Corso. Here a +shop full of bright and beautiful flowers, roses, magnolias, +hyacinths, and lilies of the valley, perfumed all the air; there a +jeweller's shop displayed its tempting imitations of Etruscan +ornaments, and beads of Roman pearls, coral, lapis lazuli, and +malachite; while yonder a marble-cutter wrought diligently at his +laths, converting some fragment of rare marble—picked up by a tourist +among the ruins of ancient Rome—into a cup or letter-weight to be +carried home as a souvenir.</p> + +<p>The Via Babuino opens upon the Piazza del Popolo, the finest and +largest square in Rome. In the centre is a magnificent Egyptian +obelisk of red Syene granite, about eighty feet in height, carved with +hieroglyphics, with four marble Egyptian lions at each corner of the +platform upon which it stands, pouring from their mouths<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> copious +streams of water into large basins, with a refreshing sound. Perhaps +the eyes of Abraham rested upon this obelisk when he went down into +Egypt, the first recorded traveller who visited the valley of the +Nile; and the familiarity of the sight to the Israelites during their +bondage in the neighbourhood may have suggested the wonderful vision +of the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night which regulated +their wanderings in the wilderness. God does not paint His revelations +on the empty air, but weaves them into the web of history, or pours +them into the mould of common earthly objects and ordinary human +experiences. Many of the rites and institutions of the Mosaic economy +were borrowed from those of the Egyptian priesthood; the tabernacle +and its furniture were composed of the gold and jewels of which the +Israelites had spoiled the Egyptians; and its form, a tent moved from +place to place, accommodated itself to the wandering camp-life of the +Israelites. It is not unreasonable, therefore, to suppose that He who +appeared to Moses at Horeb, not in some unknown supernatural blaze of +glory altogether detached from earth, but in the common fire of a +shepherd in the common dry vegetation of the desert, and who made use +of the common shepherd's rod which Moses carried in his hand to +perform the wonderful miracles before Pharaoh, would also make use of +the obelisk of Heliopolis, one of the most familiar objects which met +their eye during their captivity, as the pattern of the Shechinah +cloud which guided His people in their journey to the land of Canaan. +The symbol of the sun that shone upon their weary toil as slaves in +the clay-pits beside the Nile, now protected and illumined them in +their march as freemen through the desert. What they had probably +joined their oppressors in worshipping as an idol, they now beheld +with awe and reverence as the token of the overshadowing and +overshining presence of the living and true God. That flame-shaped +obelisk was the link between Egypt and the Holy Land. The divine +effigy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> of it in the sky of the desert—like the manna as the link +between the corn of Egypt and the corn of Canaan—marked the +transition from the false to the true, from the old world of dark +pagan thought, to the new world of religious light. I need not say +with what profound interest such a thought invested the obelisk in the +Piazza del Popolo. I was never weary of looking up at its fair +proportions, and trying to decipher its strange hieroglyphics—figures +of birds and beasts in intaglio, cut clear and deep into the hard +granite, and all as bright in colour and carving as though it had been +only yesterday cut out of the quarry instead of four thousand years +ago. It was my first glimpse into the mysterious East. It made the +wonderful story of Joseph and Moses not a mere narrative in a book, +but a living reality standing out from the far past like a view in a +stereoscope. Every time I passed it—and I did so at all hours—I +paused to enter into this reverie of the olden time. The daylight +changed it into a pillar of cloud, casting the shadow of the great +thoughts connected with it over my mind; the moonlight shining upon +its rosy hue changed it into a pillar of fire, illumining all the +inner chambers of my soul. Every Sunday it was the cynosure guiding me +on my way to church, and suggesting thoughts and memories in unison +with the character of the day and the nature of my work. No other +object in Rome remains so indelibly pictured in my mind.</p> + +<p>From the Piazza del Popolo, three long narrow streets run, like three +fingers from the palm of the hand; the Via Babuino, which leads to the +English quarter; the famous Corso, which leads to the Capitol and the +Forum; and the Ripetta, which leads to St. Peter's and the Vatican. +These approaches are guarded by two churches, S. Maria di Monte Santo +and S. Maria dei Miracoli, similar in appearance, with oval domes and +tetrastyle porticoes that look like ecclesiastical porters' lodges. +The name of the Piazza del Popolo is derived, not from the people, as +is generally supposed, but from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> the extensive grove of poplar-trees +that surrounded the Mausoleum of Augustus, and long formed the most +conspicuous feature in the neighbourhood. The crescent-shaped sides of +the square are bounded on the left by a wall, with a bright fountain +and appropriate statuary in the middle of it, and a fringe of tall +cypress-trees, and on the right by a similar wall, adorned with marble +trophies and two columns rough with the projecting prows of ships +taken from the ancient temple of Venice and Rome, and rising in a +series of terraced walks to the upper platform of the Pincio. At the +foot of this <i>Collis Hortulorum</i>, "Hill of Gardens," which was a +favourite resort of the ancient Romans, Nero was buried; and in +earlier republican times it was the site of the famous Villa of +Lucullus, who had accumulated an enormous fortune when general of the +Roman army in Asia, and spent it on his retirement from active life in +the most sumptuous entertainments and the most prodigal luxuries. Here +he gave his celebrated feast to Cicero and Pompey. From Lucullus, the +magnificent grounds passed into the possession of Valerius Asiaticus; +and while his property they became the scene of a tragedy which +reminds one of the story of Ahab and Jezebel and the vineyard of +Naboth. The infamous Messalina, the wife of the Emperor Claudius, +coveted the grounds of Asiaticus. With the unscrupulous spirit of +Jezebel, she procured the condemnation to death of the owner for +crimes that he had never committed; a fate which he avoided by +committing suicide. As soon as this obstacle was removed out of her +way, she appropriated the villa; and in the beautiful grounds +abandoned herself to the most shameless orgies in the absence of her +husband at Ostia. But her pleasure and triumph were short-lived. The +emperor was informed of her enormities, and hastened home to take +vengeance. Having vainly tried all means of conciliation, and +attempted without effect to kill herself, she was slain in a paroxysm +of terror and anguish, by a blow of the executioner's falchion; and +the death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> of Asiaticus was avenged on the very spot where it +happened.</p> + +<p>The gardens of the Pincio are small, but a fairer spot it would be +hard to find anywhere. The grounds are most beautifully laid out, and +so skilfully arranged that they seem of far larger extent than they +really are. Splendid palm-trees, aloes, and cactuses give a tropical +charm to the walks; rare exotics and bloom-laden trees of genial +climes, flashing fountains, and all manner of cultivated beauty, +enliven the scene; while the air blows fresh and invigorating from the +distant hills. From the lofty parapet of the city-wall which bounds it +on one side, you gaze into the green meadows and rich wooded solitudes +of the Borghese grounds, that look like some rural retreat a score of +miles from the city; and from the stone balustrade on the other side +you see all Rome at your feet with its sea of brown houses, and beyond +the picturesque roofs and the hidden river rising up the great mass of +the Vatican buildings and the mighty dome of St. Peter's, which +catches like a mountain peak the last level gold of the sunset, and +flashes it back like an illumination, while all the intermediate view +is in shadow. No wonder that the Pincian Hill is the favourite +promenade of Rome, and that on week-days and Sunday afternoons you see +multitudes of people showing every phase of Roman life, and hundreds +of carriages containing the flower of the Roman aristocracy, with +beautiful horses, and footmen in rich liveries, crowding the piazza +below, ascending the winding road, and driving or walking round +between the palms and the pines, over the garden-paths, to the sound +of band music. And thus they continue to amuse themselves till the sun +has set, and the first sound of the bells of Ave Maria is heard from +the churches; and then they wind their way homewards.</p> + +<p>We pass out from the Piazza through the Porta del Popolo, the only way +by which strangers used to approach Rome from the north. It was indeed +a more suitable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> entrance into the Eternal City than the present one; +for no human being, with a spark of imagination, would care to obtain +his first view of the city of his dreams from the outside of a great +bustling railway station. But the Porta del Popolo had annoyances of +its own that seemed hardly less incongruous. One had to run the +gauntlet of the custom-house here, and to practise unheard-of +briberies upon the venal douaniers of the Pope before being allowed to +pass on to his hotel. And the first glimpse of the city from this +point did not come up to one's expectations, being very much like that +of any commonplace modern capital, without a ruin visible, or any sign +or suggestion of the mistress of the world. The Porta del Popolo +almost marks the position of the old Flaminian gate, through which +passed the great northern road of Italy, constructed by the Roman +censor, C. Flaminius, two hundred and twenty years before Christ, +extending as far as Rimini, a distance of two hundred and ten miles. +Through that old gate, and along that old road, the Roman cohorts +passed to conquer Britain, then a small isle inhabited by savage +tribes. Hardly any path save that to Jerusalem has been trodden by so +many human feet as this old Flaminian road. The present gate is said +to have been designed by Michael Angelo; but it shows no signs of his +genius. On the inner side, above the keystone of the arch, is a lofty +brick wall in the shape of a horse-shoe, built exclusively for the +purpose of displaying in colossal size, emblazoned in stucco, the city +arms, the sun rising above three or four pyramidal mountains arranged +above each other. The external façade consists of two pairs of Doric +columns of granite and marble flanking the arch, whose colour and +beauty have entirely disappeared through exposure to the weather. In +the spaces between the columns are two statues, one of St. Peter, and +the other of St. Paul, of inferior merit, and very much stained and +weather-worn. The inscription above the arch, "To a happy and +prosperous entrance," seemed a mockery in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> old douanier days, when +delays and extortions vexed the soul of the visitor, and produced a +mood anything but favourable to the enjoyment of the Eternal City. But +now the grievances are over. The occupation of the place is gone. The +barracks on the left for the papal guards are converted to other +purposes; no custom-house officer now meets one at the gate, and all +are free to come and go without passport, or bribe, or hindrance. +Since I was in Rome this old gateway being found too narrow has been +considerably widened by the addition of a wing on each side of the +large central arch, containing each a smaller arch in which the same +style of architecture is carried out.</p> + +<p>On the right as you go out is the remarkable church of Santa Maria del +Popolo. It is built in the usual Romanesque style; but its external +appearance is very unpretending, and owing to its situation in a +corner overshadowed by the wall it is apt to be overlooked. It is an +old fabric, eight hundred years having passed away since Pope Paschal +II. founded it on the spot where Nero was said to have been buried. +From the tomb of the infamous tyrant grew a gigantic walnut-tree, the +roosting-place of innumerable crows, supposed to be demons that +haunted the evil place. The erection of the church completely +exorcised these foul spirits, consecrated the locality, and dispelled +the superstitious fears of the people. Reconstructed in the reign of +Sixtus IV., about the year 1480, this church has not the picturesque +antiquity in this dry climate and clear atmosphere which our Gothic +churches in moist England present. Not more widely did the external +aspect of the tabernacle in the wilderness, with its dark goat-skin +coverings, differ from the interior of the Holy of holies, with its +golden furniture, than does the commonplace look of the outside of the +church of Santa Maria del Popolo differ from its magnificent interior. +It is a perfect museum of sculpture and painting. Splendid tombs of +eminent cardinals of the best period of the Renaissance, rare marbles +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> precious stones in lavish profusion adorn the altars and walls of +the chapels; while they are further enriched by beautiful frescoes of +sacred subjects from the pencils of Penturicchio and Annibale Caracci. +Above the high altar is an ancient picture of the Madonna, with an +exceedingly swarthy eastern complexion, which is one among several +others in Rome attributed to the pencil of St. Luke the Evangelist, +and which is supposed to possess the power of working miracles. One +especially magnificent chapel arrests the attention, and leaves a +lasting impression—that of the Chigi family, built by Fabio Chigi, +better known as Pope Alexander VII. The architecture was planned by +Raphael. The design of the strange fresco on the ceiling of the dome, +representing the creation of the heavenly bodies, was sketched by him; +and he modelled the beautiful statue of Jonah, sitting upon a +whale—said to have been carved from a block that fell from one of the +temples in the Forum—and sculptured the figure of Elijah, which are +among the most conspicuous ornaments of the chapel. This is the only +place in which Raphael appears in the character of an architect and +sculptor. Like Michael Angelo, the genius of this wonderfully-gifted +artist was capable of varied expression; and it seemed a mere accident +whether his ideals were represented in stone, or colour, or words. On +his single head God seemed to have poured all His gifts; beauty of +person, and beauty of soul, and the power to perceive and embody the +beauty and the wonder of the world; the eye of light and the heart of +fire; "the angel nature in the angel name." And yet amid his fadeless +art he faded away; and at the deathless shrines which he left behind +the admirer of his genius is left to lament his early death.</p> + +<p>Such thoughts receive a still more mournful hue from a touching +tomb—touching even though its taste be execrable—which records a +husband's sorrow on account of the death of his young wife—a princess +of both the distinguished houses of Chigi and Odescalchi—who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> passed +away at the age of twenty, in the saddest of all ways—in childbirth. +It goes to one's heart to think of the desolate home and the bereaved +husband left, as he says, "in solitude and grief." And though the +weeper has gone with the wept, and the sore wound which death +inflicted has been healed by his own hand nearly a hundred years ago, +we feel a wondrous sympathy with that old domestic tragedy. It is a +touch of nature that affects one more than all the blazonry and +sculpture around. In this weird church of Santa Maria del Popolo, +which seems more a mausoleum of the dead than a place of worship for +the living, the level rays of the afternoon sun come through the +richly-painted windows of the choir; and the warm glory rests first +upon a strange monument of the sixteenth century at the entrance, +where a ghastly human skeleton sculptured in yellow marble looks +through a grating, and then upon a medallion on a tomb, representing a +butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, illumining the inscription, "Ut +Phoenix multicabo dies." And this old expressive symbol speaks to us +of death as the Christian's true birth, in which the spirit bursts its +earthly shell, and soars on immortal wings to God. And the church +straightway to the inner eye becomes full of a transfiguration glory +which no darkness of the tomb can quench, and which makes all earthly +love immortal.</p> + +<p>A venerable monastery, tenanted by monks of the order of St. +Augustine, is attached to this church, upon whose brown-tiled roofs, +covered with gray and yellow lichens, and walls and windows of extreme +simplicity, the eye of the visitor gazes with deepest interest. For +this was the residence of Luther during his famous visit to Rome. He +came to this place in the fervour of youthful enthusiasm; his heart +was filled with pious emotions. He knelt down on the pavement when he +passed through the Porta del Popolo, and cried, "I salute thee, O holy +Rome; Rome venerable through the blood and the tombs of the martyrs!" +Immediately on his arrival he went to the convent of his own order, +and celebrated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> mass with feelings of great excitement. But, alas! he +was soon to be disenchanted. He had not been many days in Rome when he +saw that the city of the saints and martyrs was wholly given up to +idolatry and social corruption, and was as different as possible from +the city of his dreams. He cared not for the fine arts which covered +this pollution with a deceitful iridescence of refinement; and the +ruins of pagan Rome had no power to move his heart, preoccupied as it +was with horror at the monstrous wickedness which made desolate the +very sanctuary of God. When he ascended on his knees the famous Scala +Santa, the holy staircase near the Lateran Palace—supposed to have +belonged to Pilate's house in Jerusalem, down whose marble steps our +Saviour walked, wearing the crown of thorns and the emblems of mock +royalty which the soldiers had put upon him—he seemed to hear a voice +whispering to him the words, "The just shall live by faith." Instantly +the scales fell from his eyes, and he saw the miserable folly of the +whole proceeding; and like a man suddenly freed from fetters, he rose +from his knees, and walked firm and erect to the foot of the stairs. +He could not remain another day in the city. Returning to his +monastery, he there celebrated mass for the last time, and departed on +the morrow with the bitter words, "Adieu, O city, where everything is +permitted but to be a good man!" Ten years later he burnt the Bull of +the Pope in the public square of Wittemberg, and all Europe rang with +the tocsin of the Reformation. I never passed that venerable monastery +without thinking of the austere German monk and his glorious work; and +the old well-known motto of the Reformation which had been his +battle-cry in many a good fight of faith received new power and +meaning from the associations of the place. To the enlightenment +received there, paving the way for religious and political liberty +throughout Christendom, I owed the privilege of preaching in Rome.</p> + +<p>The Presbyterian church—I speak of the past, for since my visit the +church has been removed to a more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> suitable site within the walls—is +a little distance farther on, on the opposite side of the street. You +enter by a gateway, and find yourself in an open space surrounded with +luxuriant hedges in full bloom, and large flowering shrubs, and +commanding a fine view of Monte Mario and the open country in that +direction, including the meadows where the noble Arnold of Brescia was +burnt to death, and his ashes cast into the Tiber. The church is a +square, flat-roofed eastern-looking building, in the inside tastefully +painted in imitation of panels of Cipollino marble; and on the neat +pulpit is carved the symbol of the Scotch Church, the burning bush and +its motto, nowhere surely more appropriate than in the place where the +Christian faith has been subjected to the flames of pagan and papal +persecution for eighteen hundred years, and has emerged purer and +stronger. In that simple church I had the privilege of preaching to a +large but fluctuating congregation, each day differently composed of +persons belonging to various nationalities and denominations, but +united by one common bond of faith and love. At stated intervals we +celebrated together the touching feast that commemorates our Saviour's +dying love, and the oneness of Christians in Him. The wonderful +associations of the place lent to such occasions a special interest +and solemnity. Surrounded by the ruins of man's glory, we felt deeply +how unchanging was the word of God. In a city of gorgeous ceremonials +that had changed Christianity into a kind of baptized paganism, we +felt it indescribably refreshing to partake, in the beautiful +simplicity of our own worship, of the symbols of the broken body and +shed blood of our Lord. We seemed to be compassed about with a great +cloud of witnesses, apostles, martyrs, and saints, who in the early +ages of the Church in this city overcame the world by the blood of the +Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and loved not their lives +unto the death. More vividly than anywhere else, we seemed in this +place to come to the general assembly and church of the first-born, +which are written in heaven,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> and to the spirits of just men made +perfect, and to realise that we were built upon the foundation of the +apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief +cornerstone.</p> + +<p>On the opposite side of the road is the classic portico that leads to +the Borghese Villa. The gate is almost always open; and every person +is free to wander at will through the magnificent grounds, upwards of +three miles in circuit, and hold picnics in the sunny glades, and pull +the wild flowers that star the grass in myriads. On Sunday afternoons +multitudes come and go, and a long line of carriages, filled with the +Roman nobility and with foreign visitors, in almost endless +succession, make the circuit of the drives. The Porta del Popolo +becomes too strait for the seething mass of carriages and human beings +that pass through it; and it is with difficulty, and some danger to +life and limb, that one can force a passage through the gay +pleasure-loving crowd. At the Carnival time the ordinary dangers and +difficulties are increased tenfold; and the scene presents anything +but a Sabbath-like appearance. Nor are the danger and difficulty over +when the gate is passed; for the Piazza del Popolo and the streets +that lead from it are crowded with carriages and pedestrians going to +or returning from the favourite promenade on the Pincian Hill. One +runs the gauntlet all the way; meditation is impossible; and the +return from church in the afternoon is as different as possible from +the morning walk to it. What pleasure can these people derive from the +beautiful walks and drives in the Borghese grounds, except perhaps +that of seeing and being seen in a crowd? There is no seclusion of +nature, no opportunity of quiet thought.</p> + +<p>On week-days, at certain hours, one may enjoy the place thoroughly +without any distraction, and feel amid the lonely vistas of the woods +as if buried in the loneliest solitude of the Apennines. And truly on +such occasions I know no place so fascinating, so like an earthly +Eden! The whole scene thrills one like lovely music. All the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> charms +of nature and art are there focussed in brightest perfection. The +grounds are gay with starry anemones, and billowy acacias crested with +odorous wreaths of yellow foam, dark and mysterious with tall ilexes, +cypresses, and stone-pines, enlivened by graceful palms and tender +deciduous trees, musical with falling and glancing waters, and haunted +by the statues of Greek divinities that filled men's minds with +immortal thoughts in the youth of the world—dimly visible amid the +recesses of the foliage. The path leads to a casino in which sculpture +and painting have done their utmost to enrich and adorn the +apartments. But the result of all this prodigal display of wealth and +refinement is exceedingly melancholy. It would be death to inhabit +these sumptuous marble rooms when their coolness would be most +agreeable; and the witchery of the shadowy wood paths and bowers in +their summer perfection can be enjoyed only at the risk of catching +fever. Man has made a paradise for himself, but the malaria drives him +out of it, and all its costly beauty is almost thrown away. Only +during the desolation of winter, or the fair promise and +half-developments of spring, can one wander safely through the place. +The sting of the serpent is in this Eden. Cursed is the ground for +man's sake in the fairest scene that his industry, and genius, and +virtue can make for himself; but cursed with a double curse is the +ground that he makes a wilderness by his selfishness and wickedness. +And this double curse, this fatal Circean spell, has come upon these +beautiful grounds in common with all the neighbourhood of Rome because +of ages of human waste and wrong-doing. How striking a picture do they +present of all earth's beauties and possessions, which promise what +they cannot fully accomplish, which give no rest for the head or home +for the heart, and in which, when disposed to place our trust, we hear +ever and anon the warning cry, "Arise and depart, for this is not your +rest, for it is polluted, for it will destroy you with a sore +destruction." And not without significance is the circumstance that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> +such a lesson on the vanity of all earthly things should be suggested +by what one sees over against the house of prayer. It illustrates and +emphasises the precept which bids the worshipper set his affections on +things above, so that the house of God may become to him the very gate +of heaven.</p> + +<p>From the entrance of the church, through a long suburb, you trace the +old Flaminian road till it crosses the Tiber at the Ponte Molle, the +famous Milvian Bridge. It is strange to think of this hoary road of +many memories being now laid down with modern tramway rails, along +which cars like those in any of our great manufacturing towns +continually run. This is one of the many striking instances in which +the past and the present are incongruously united in Rome. You see on +the right side of the road a picturesque ridge of cliffs clothed with +shaggy ilexes and underwood, overhanging at intervals the walls and +buildings. It was formed by lava ejected from some ancient volcano in +the neighbourhood; and over it was deposited, by the action of +acidulated waters rising through the volcanic rock, a stratum of +travertine or fresh-water limestone. Not far off is a mineral spring +called Acqua Acetosa, much frequented by the inhabitants on summer +mornings, which may be considered one of the expiring efforts of +volcanic action in the neighbourhood. The Milvian Bridge is associated +with most interesting and important historical events. The Roman +citizens, two hundred years before Christ, met here the messengers who +announced the defeat of Asdrubal on the Metaurus at the end of the +second Punic war. Here the ambassadors of the Allobroges implicated in +Catiline's conspiracy were arrested by order of Cicero. And from the +parapets of the bridge the body of Maxentius, the rival pagan emperor, +was hurled into the Tiber, after his defeat by Constantine in the +great battle of Saxa Rubra, which took place a little distance off. +Visitors to the Vatican will remember the spirited representation of +this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> battle on the walls of Raphael's Stanze, designed by the +immortal master, and executed by Giulio Romano, the largest historical +subject ever painted. By the tragic details of this battle, men and +horses being entangled in the eddies of the river, the Christians were +reminded of the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, +and the consequent deliverance of Israel. The victory on the side of +Constantine led to the total overthrow of paganism, and put an end to +the age of religious persecution. On this memorable day the +seven-branched golden candlestick which Titus had taken from the +temple of Jerusalem, according to tradition, was thrown into the +Tiber, where it lies under a vast accumulation of mud in the bed of +the river. It would thus seem as if the Jewish religion, too, of which +the golden candlestick was the most expressive symbol, had come +finally to an end in this triumph of Christianity. Of the monuments by +which the great battle was commemorated one still survives near the +Colosseum, the well-known triumphal arch of Constantine, which is at +once a satire upon the decay of art at the time, and the halting of +the new emperor between the two religions, containing, as it does, +pagan figures and inscriptions mixed up incongruously with Christian +ones.</p> + +<p>We gaze with deep interest upon the serene violet sky which broods +over the Milvian Bridge, and which still seems to the fancy to glow +with the consciousness of the ancient legend, when we remember that it +was in that sky, while on his march to the battle, Constantine saw, +surmounting and outshining the noonday sun, the wondrous vision of the +flaming cross, with the words "In this conquer," which assured him not +only of victory in the approaching engagement, but of the subsequent +universal ascendancy of Christianity throughout the world. This +vision, which in all probability was only a parhelion, exaggerated by +a superstitious and excited imagination, produced a crisis in the life +of Constantine. He adopted the Christian faith immediately +afterwards,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> and introduced the cross as the standard of his army; and +in the faith of the visionary cross he marched from victory to +victory, until at last he reigned alone as head of the Church and +Emperor of the world, and brought about relations between Church and +State which seemed to the historian Eusebius to be no less than the +fulfilment of the apocalyptic vision of the New Jerusalem. Beyond this +scene stretches to the faint far-off horizon the desert Campagna; a +dim, misty, homeless land, where the moan of the wind sounds ever like +the voice of the past, and the pathos of a vanished people breathes +over all the scene; with here and there a gray nameless ruin, a +desolate bluff, or a grassy mound, marking the site of some mysterious +Etruscan or Sabine city that had perished ages before Romulus had laid +the foundations of Rome. From the contemplation of these wide +cheerless wastes beyond the confines of history, peopled with shadowy +forms, with whose long-buried hopes and sorrows no mortal heart can +now sympathise, I turn back to the fresh, warm, human interests that +await me in the Rome of to-day; feeling to the full that from home to +church I have passed through scenes and associations sufficient to +make a Sabbath in Rome a day standing out from all other days, never +to be forgotten!</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE APPIAN WAY</h3> + + +<p>It was the proud boast of the ancient Romans that all roads led to +their city. Rome was the centre and mistress of the world; and as the +loneliest rill that rises in the bosom of the far-off mountain leads, +if followed, to the ocean, so every path in the remotest corner of the +vast empire conducted to the great gilded column in the Roman Forum, +upon which all distances without the walls were marked. To the Romans +the world is indebted for opening up communications with different +countries. They were the great engineers and road-makers of antiquity. +This seems to have been the work assigned to them in the household of +nations. Rome broke down the barriers that separated one nation from +another, and fused all distinctions of race and language and religion +into one great commonwealth. And for the cohesion of all the elements +of this huge political fabric nothing could have been more effectual +than the magnificent roads, by which constant communication was kept +up between all parts of the empire, and armies could be transported to +quell a rising rebellion in some outlying province with the smallest +expenditure of time and strength. In this way the genius of this +wonderful people was providentially made subservient to the interests +of Christianity. At the very time that our Lord commissioned, with His +parting breath, the apostles to preach the gospel to every creature, +the way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> was prepared for the fulfilment of that commission. The +crooked places had been made straight, and the rough places smooth. +Along the roads which the Romans made throughout the world for the +march of their armies and the consolidation of their government, the +apostles, the soldiers of the Prince of Peace, marched to grander and +more enduring victories.</p> + +<p>Of all the roads of ancient Rome the Via Appia was the oldest and most +renowned. It was called by the Romans themselves the <i>regina viarum</i>, +the "queen of roads." It was constructed by Appius Claudius the Blind, +during the Samnite War, when he was Censor, three hundred and thirteen +years before Christ, and led from Rome to Capua, being carried over +the Pontine Marshes on an embankment. It was afterwards extended to +Brindisi, the ancient seaport of Rome on the Adriatic, and became the +great highway for travellers from Rome to Greece and all the eastern +provinces of the Roman Empire. A curious link of connection may be +traced between the modern Italian expression, when drinking to a +person's health on leaving home, "far Brindisi," and the distant +termination of the Appian Way, suggestive, as of old, of farewell +wishes for a prosperous journey and a speedy return to the parting +guest. The way was paved throughout with broad hexagonal slabs of hard +lava, exactly fitted to each other; and here and there along its +course may still be seen important remains of it, which prove its +excellent workmanship. This method of constructing roads was borrowed +by the Romans from the Carthaginians, and was tried for the first time +on the Appian Way, all previous roads having been formed of sand and +gravel. The greatest breadth of the road was about twenty-six feet +between the curbstones; and on both sides were placed, at intervals of +forty feet, low columns, as seats for the travel-worn, and as helps in +mounting on horseback. Distances of five thousand feet were marked by +milestones, which were in the form of columnar shafts, elevated on +pedestals with appropriate inscriptions. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> physical wants of the +traveller were provided for at inns judiciously disposed along the +route; while his religious wants were gratified by frequent statues of +Mercury, Apollo, Diana, Ceres, Hercules, and other deities, who +presided over highways and journeys, casting their sacred shadow over +his path. Some of the stones of the pavement still show the ruts of +the old chariot-wheels, and others are a good deal cracked and worn; +but they are sound enough, probably, to outlast the modern little +cubes which have replaced them in some parts. A road formed in this +most substantial manner for about two hundred miles, involving +cuttings through rocks, filling up of hollows, bridging of ravines, +and embanking of swamps, must have been an arduous and costly feat of +engineering. Appius Claudius is said to have exhausted the Roman +treasury in defraying the expenses of its construction. It was +frequently repaired, owing to the heavy traffic upon it, by Julius, by +Augustus, Vespasian, Domitian, Nerva, and very thoroughly by the +Emperor Trajan. In some parts, where the soft ground had subsided, a +second pavement was laid over the first; and in the Pontine Marshes we +observe traces of no less than three pavements superimposed above each +other to preserve the proper level.</p> + +<p>For a considerable distance outside the Porta Capena, where it +commenced, the Appian Way was lined on both sides with tombs belonging +to patrician families. This was the case, indeed, with all the other +roads of Rome that were converted into avenues of death owing to the +strenuous law which prohibited all interments within the walls; but +the Appian Way was specially distinguished for the number and +magnificence of its tombs. The most illustrious names of ancient Rome +were interred beside it. At first the sepulchres of the heroes of the +early ages were the only ones; but under the Cæsars these were +eclipsed by the funereal pomp of the freedmen, the parasites and +sycophants of the emperors. At first the tombs were built of volcanic +stone, the only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> building material found in the neighbourhood; but as +Rome became mistress of the world, and gathered the marbles and +precious stones of the conquered countries into its own bosom, and as +wealth and luxury increased, the tombs were constructed altogether of +or cased on the outside with these valuable materials. And this +circumstance gives us a clue to the age of the different monuments.</p> + +<p>The custom of bordering the main approaches of the city with +sepulchral monuments was, in all likelihood, derived from the +Etruscans, to whom the Romans owed many of their institutions. These +monuments were usually structures of great beauty and elegance. Some +of them were fashioned as conical mounds, on the slopes of which trees +and parterres of flowers were planted; others were built after the +model of graceful Grecian temples; others were huge circular masses of +masonry; and others were simple sarcophagi with lids, resting on +square elevated pedestals. Most of them were adorned with busts and +statues of the departed, with altars, columns, and carvings. What +these tombs were in their prime, it is difficult for us to picture; +but even their remains at the present day produce the conviction that +no grander mode of approach to a great city could have been devised.</p> + +<p>It would seem to us altogether incongruous to line our public roads +with tombs, and to transact the business and pursue the pleasures of +the living among the dead. All our ideas of propriety would be shocked +by seeing a circus for athletic games beside a cemetery. But the +ancient Romans had no such feeling. They buried their dead, not in +lonely spots and obscure churchyards as we do, but where the life of +the city was gayest. One of the grandest of their sepulchral monuments +was placed beside one of the most frequented of their circuses. The +last objects which a Roman beheld when he left the city, and the first +that greeted him on his coming back, were the tombs of his ancestors +and friends; and their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> silent admonition did not deepen the sadness +of farewell, or cast a shadow upon the joy of return. Many of the +marble sarcophagi were ornamented with beautiful bas-reliefs of +mythical incidents, utterly inconsistent, we should suppose, with the +purpose for which they were designed. Nuptials, bacchanalian fêtes, +games, and dances, are crowded upon their sculptured sides, in seeming +mockery of the pitiable relics of humanity within. They treated death +lightly and playfully, these ancient Romans, and tried to hide his +terror with a mask of smiles, and to cover his dart with a wreath of +flowers.</p> + +<p>Why is it that we Christians look upon death with feelings so widely +different? Why, when life and immortality have been brought to light +in the gospel, are the mementoes of mortality more painful and +saddening to us than they were to these pagans who had no hopes of a +resurrection? It seems a paradox, but the Christianity which has +brought the greatest hope into the world has also brought the greatest +fear. By increasing the value of life, our religion has increased the +fear of death. By quickening the conscience, it has quickened the +imagination; and that death which to the man conscious only of a +physical existence is the mere natural termination of life, to the +nature convinced of sin is a violent breach of the beautiful order of +the world, and the gate to final retribution. The ancient Roman was +but a child in spiritual apprehension, and therefore as a child he +surrendered his happy pagan life as thoughtlessly as the weary child +falls asleep at the end of its play. No terrors of futurity darkened +his last hours; he had his own turn at the feast of life, and as a +satisfied guest he was content to depart and make room for others. As +cheerfully as he had formerly begun his ordinary journeys from Rome +through a street of tombs, so now he took the last journey, he knew +not whither, through the valley of the shadow of death, and feared no +evil; not because a greater Power was with him to defend him, but +because for him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> no evil except the common pangs of dissolution +existed. All that he cared for in death was that he should not be +altogether separated from the presence and the enjoyments of human +life, from the haunts where he had been so happy. He wished to have +his tomb on the public thoroughfare, that he might "feel, as it were, +the tide of life as it flowed past his monument, and that his mute +existence might be prolonged in the remembrance of his friends." I may +observe that the Roman custom of bordering the public roads with tombs +gives a significance to the inscriptions which some of them +bore,—such as, <i>Siste, viator</i>—<i>Aspice, viator</i>, "Stop, +traveller"—"Look, traveller"; a significance which is altogether lost +when the same inscriptions are carved, as we have often seen them, on +tombstones in secluded country churchyards where no traveller ever +passes by, and hardly even friends come to weep.</p> + +<p>Modern Rome is unlike all other European cities in this respect, that +a short distance beyond its gates you plunge at once into a desert. +There is no gradual subsidence of the busy life of the gay metropolis, +through suburban houses, villages, and farms, into the quiet seclusion +of the country. You pass abruptly from the seat of the most refined +arts into the most primitive solitude, where the pulse of life hardly +beats. The desolation of the Campagna, that green motionless sea of +silence, comes up to and almost washes the walls of the city. You know +that you are in the immediate neighbourhood of a teeming population; +but you might as well be a hundred miles away in the heart of the +Apennines, for any signs of human culture or habitation that you +perceive within the horizon. There is no traffic on the road; and only +at rare intervals do you meet with a solitary peasant, looking like a +satyr in shaggy goat-skin breeches, and glaring wildly at you from his +great black eyes as he crosses the waste. Far as the eye can see there +is nothing but a melancholy plain, studded here and there with a ruin, +and populous only with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> visionary forms of the past; and its +tragic beauty prepares your mind for passing into the solemn shadow of +the great Niobe of cities. But it was not thus in the brilliant days +of the Empire. For fifteen miles beyond the walls the Appian Way +stretched to the beautiful blue Alban hills, through a continuous +suburb of the city, adorned with all the charms of nature and art, +palatial villas and pleasure-gardens, groves and vineyards, temples +and far-extending aqueducts. These homes and fashionable haunts of the +living were interspersed in strange association with the tombs of the +dead. Through the gate a constant stream of human life passed in and +out; and crowds of chariots and horsemen and wayfarers thronged the +road from morning to night.</p> + +<p>It is only seventeen years since the true point of commencement of the +Appian Way was discovered. For a long time the Porta Capena by which +it left Rome was supposed to be situated outside of the present walls, +in the valley of the Almo. But Dr. Parker, at the period indicated, +making some excavations in the narrowest part of the valley between +the Coelian and Aventine hills, came upon some massive remains of the +original wall of Servius Tullius, and in these he found the true site +of the Porta Capena. This discovery, confirming the supposition of +Ampère and others, cleared up much that was inexplicable in the +topography of this part of Rome, and enabled antiquarians to fix the +relative position of all the historical spots. The Via Appia is thus +shown to have extended upwards of three-quarters of a mile within the +present area of the city, over the space between the wall of Servius +Tullius and the wall of Aurelian. And this is still further confirmed +by the discovery, three hundred years ago, of the first milestone of +the Appian Way in a vineyard, a short distance beyond the modern gate +of St. Sebastian, marking exactly a Roman mile from that point to the +site of Dr. Parker's discovery. This milestone now forms one of the +ornaments on the balustrade at the head of the stairs of the Capitol.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span></p> + +<p>The Appian Way shared in the vicissitudes of the city. After the fall +of the Western Empire, about the beginning of the sixth century, when +it was finally repaired by Theodoric, it fell into desuetude. The +people, owing to the unsettled state of the country, were afraid to +move from home. A grievous apathy took possession of all classes; +agriculture was neglected, and the drains being stopped up, the line +of route was inundated, and the road, especially on the low levels, +became quite impassable. For centuries it continued in this state, +until it was overgrown with a marshy vegetation in the wet places, and +covered with turf in the dry. About a hundred years ago Pope Pius VI. +drained the Pontine Marshes, and restored other parts of the road, and +made it available as the ordinary land-route from Rome to Naples. But +it was left to Pio Nono to uncover the road between Rome and Albano, +which had previously been confounded with the Campagna, and was only +indicated by the double line of ruined tombs. After three years of +hard work, and an expenditure of £3000, the part most interesting to +the archæologist—namely, from the third to the eleventh +milestone—was laid bare, its monuments identified as far as possible, +and a wall of loose stones built on both sides, to protect it from the +encroachments of the neighbouring landowners. And now the modern +traveller can walk or ride or drive comfortably over the very pavement +which Horace and Virgil, Augustus and Paul traversed, and gaze upon +the ruins of the very objects that met their eyes.</p> + +<p>Taking our departure from the site of the Porta Capena, we are +reminded that it was at the Porta Capena that the survivor of the +Horatii met his sister, who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, +and who, when she saw her brother carrying the cloak of her dead +lover, which she had wrought with her own hand, upbraided him in a +passion of tears for his cruelty. Enraged at the sight of her grief, +Horatius drew his sword and stabbed her to the heart, crying, "So +perish the Roman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> maiden that shall weep for her country's enemy!" The +tomb of the hapless maiden long stood on the spot. It was at the Porta +Capena also that the senate and people of Rome gave to Cicero a +splendid ovation on his return from banishment. Numerous historical +buildings clustered round this gate—a temple of Mars, of Hercules, of +Honour and Virtue, and a fountain dedicated to Mercury, described by +Ovid; but not a trace of these now remains.</p> + +<p>On the left, at the back of the Coelian Hill, is a valley covered with +verdure, wonderfully quiet and rural-looking, though within the walls +of a city. In this valley once stood the famous grove where Numa +Pompilius had his mysterious interviews with the nymph Egeria. A +spring still bubbles forth beside a cluster of farm-buildings, which +is said to be the veritable Fountain of Egeria. The temple of the +Muses, who were Egeria's counsellors, was close by; and the name of +the gate of the city, <i>Porta Capena</i>, was in all likelihood a +corruption of Camena, the Latin name for Muse, and was not derived, as +some suppose, from the city of Capua. The spot outside the present +walls, formerly visited as the haunt of the fabled nymph, before the +discovery of the site of the Capena gate fixed its true +position—beautiful and romantic as it is—was only the nymphæum of +some Roman villa, used as a place of retirement and coolness in the +oppressive heat of summer. Of all the legends of Rome's earliest days, +none is more poetical than that which speaks of the visits of Numa to +this mysterious being, whose counsels in these sacred shades were of +such value to him in the management of his kingdom, and who dictated +to him the whole religious institutions and civil legislation of Rome. +Whatever historical basis it may have, the legend has at least a core +of moral truth. It illustrates the necessity of solitude and communion +with Higher Powers as a preparation for the solemn duties of life. All +who have influenced men permanently for good have drawn their +inspiration from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> lonely haunts sacred to meditation—ever since Moses +saw the burning bush in the desert, and Elijah bowed his strong soul +to the majesty of the still small voice at Horeb.</p> + +<p>The romance of the grove of Egeria was, however, dispelled when the +valley was turned into a place of imprisonment for the Jews. Domitian +drove them out of the Ghetto, and shut them up here, with only a +basket and a wisp of hay for each person, to undergo unheard-of +privations and miseries. The Horticultural Gardens, where the shrubs +and plants are grown that ornament the public squares and terraces of +the city, now occupy the site of the celebrated grove. The shrill +scream of the railway whistle outside the gate, and the smell of the +gas-works near at hand—these veritable things of the present +century—are fatal to all enchantments, and effectually dissipate the +spell of the muses and the mystic fragrance of the Egerian solitude. +But wonderful is the persistence of a spring in a spot. Continually +changing, it is the most changeless of all things. For ever passing +away, it is yet the most steadfast and enduring. Derived from the +fleeting vapour—the emblem of inconstancy—it outlasts the most solid +structure of man, and continues to well up its waters even when the +rock beside it has weathered into dust. The Fountain of Egeria flows +to-day in the hollow of the Coelian Hill as it flowed nigh three +thousand years ago, although the muses have fled, and the deities +Picus and Faunus, which Numa entrapped in the wood of the Aventine, +have gone back to their native skies with Jupiter; and Mammon and +Philosophy have exorcised that unseen world which once presented so +many beauties and wonders to the imagination of man.</p> + +<p>A little farther on to the right, a side path, called the Via +Antonina, leads up to the stupendous ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, +a mile in circumference, and covering a space of 2,625,000 square +yards. The walls, arches, and domes of massive brickwork hanging up in +the sky,—the fragments of sculpture and splendid mosaic pavements +belonging to these baths,—produced a deeper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> impression upon my mind +than even the ruins of the Colosseum. With the form and majesty of the +Colosseum, owing to its compactness and unity, pictures and other +representations have made us familiar from infancy, so that it excites +no surprise when we actually visit it; but the Baths of Caracalla +cannot be pictorially represented as a whole, on account of their vast +variety and extent, and therefore we come to the spectacle wholly +unprepared, and are at once startled into awe and astonishment. +Notwithstanding the wholesale pillage of centuries, enough in the way +of chambers and baths, marble statues, pillars, and works of art, +still remains in this mountainous mass of masonry to witness to the +unparalleled luxury by which the strength of the Roman youth was +enervated, and the foundations of the empire sapped. Shelley wrote on +the summit of one of the arches his "Prometheus Unbound;" and +certainly a fitter place in which to seek inspiration for such a theme +could not be found.</p> + +<p>Beyond the Baths, on the same side of the road, is the most +interesting little church of the two saints Nereus and Achilles, +Christian slaves who suffered martyrdom in the reign of Diocletian. It +is supposed that the Nereus whose body reposes in this ancient church +is the person referred to by St. Paul in his greetings to the Roman +saints at the close of his Epistle—"Salute Nereus, and his sister, +and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them." Bolland, in his +<i>Acts of the Saints</i>, mentions that he was a servant in the household +of Flavia Domitilla, niece of the celebrated Christian lady of the +same name, whose mother was the sister of the Emperor Domitian, and +whose two sons were intended to succeed to the imperial throne. This +younger Domitilla, although so nearly related to the imperial family, +was banished to the island of Pontia, because of her refusal to +sacrifice to idols. Her two Christian servants, Nereus and Achilles, +accompanied her in her exile, and were afterwards burned alive, along<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span> +with their mistress, at Terracina, and their ashes deposited in the +same resting-place. It is a remarkable circumstance that this church +and the catacomb where they were buried at first, should have borne +the names of the lowly slaves instead of the name of their illustrious +mistress, who was as distinguished by her Christian faith as by her +rank. Time brought to these noble martyrs a worthy revenge for their +ignoble fate; for when their ashes were taken from the catacomb to +this church in the year 524, they were first carried in triumph to the +Capitol, and made to pass under the imperial arches, on which was +affixed the inscriptions "The Senate and the Roman people to Santa +Flavia Domitilla, for having brought more honour to Rome by her death +than her illustrious relations by their works." "To Santa Flavia +Domitilla, and to the saints Nereus and Achilles, the excellent +citizens who gained peace for the Christian republic at the price of +their blood." Jeremy Taylor, in his splendid sermon on the +"Marriage-ring," has a touching reference to the legendary history of +Nereus. The church dedicated to the honour of these Christian slaves +has many interesting associations. It stands upon the site of a +primitive Christian oratory, called Fasciola, because St. Peter was +said to have dropped there one of the bandages of his wounds on the +way to execution. And its last reconstruction, retaining all the +features of the old architecture with the utmost care, was the pious +work of its titular cardinal, Cæsar Baronius, the celebrated librarian +of the Vatican, whose Ecclesiastical Annals may be called the earliest +systematic work on Church History. The church has an enclosed choir, +with two ambones or reading-desks in it, surrounding the altar, as was +the custom in the older Christian churches. The mosaics on the tribune +representing the "Transfiguration" and "Annunciation" are more than a +thousand years old, and are interesting besides as the first +embodiments in art of these sacred subjects. Behind the high altar is +the pontifical chair, supported by lions, with a Gothic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> gable, on +which Gregory the Great was seated when he delivered his twenty-eighth +Homily, a few sentences of which are engraved on the marble.</p> + +<p>Beyond the church of Sts. Nereus and Achilles, on the opposite side, +where the ground rises thirty or forty feet above the level of the +road, there is a rude inscription above the door of a vineyard, +intimating that the Tomb of the Scipios is here. This is by far the +most interesting of all the monuments on the Appian Way. It was the +mausoleum of a long line of the most illustrious names in Roman +history—patriots and heroes, whose virtues and honours were +hereditary. Originally the sepulchre stood above ground, and the +entrance to it was by a solid arch of peperino, facing a cross-road +leading from the Appian to the Latin Way; but the soil in the course +of ages accumulated over it, and buried it out of sight. It was +accidentally discovered in 1780, in consequence of a peasant digging +in the vineyard to make a cellar, and breaking through a part of the +vaulted roof of the tomb. Then was brought suddenly to light the +celebrated sarcophagus of plain peperino stone, which contained the +remains of the Roman consul, Lucius Scipio Barbatus, after having been +undisturbed for nearly twenty-two centuries. Several other sarcophagi +belonging to members of the family were found at the same time, along +with two busts, one of which is supposed to be that of the poet +Ennius, the friend and companion of Scipio Africanus, whose last +request on his deathbed was that he might be buried by his side. Pliny +remarks that the Scipios had the singular custom of burying instead of +burning their dead; and this is confirmed by the discovery of these +sarcophagi. I found the mausoleum to consist of a series of chambers +and approaches to them, excavated in the solid tufa rock, not unlike +the labyrinthine recesses of the catacombs. The darkness was feebly +dispelled by the light of wax tapers carried by the guide and myself; +and the aspect of the narrow, low-browed passages and chambers was +gloomy in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> extreme. Here and there were Latin inscriptions +attached to the different recesses where the dead had lain; but they +were only copies, the originals having been removed to the Vatican, +where the sarcophagus of Lucius Scipio Barbatus and the bust of the +poet Ennius may now be seen. The very bones of the illustrious dead +have been carried off, and after a series of adventures they are now +deposited in a beautiful little monument in the grounds of a nobleman +near Padua. The gold signet-ring of Scipio Africanus, with a victory +in intaglio on a cornelian stone, found in the tomb of his son, who +was buried here, is now in the possession of Lord Beverley. It must be +remembered, however, that Scipio Africanus, the most illustrious of +his family, and the noblest of all the Roman names, was not interred +in this mausoleum. A strange mystery hung over the manner of his death +and the place of his burial even in Livy's time. Some said that he +died at Rome, and others at Liternum. A fragment of an inscription was +found near the little lake at the latter place, beside which he +resided during the dignified exile of his later years, which contained +only the words—"... ta Patria ... ne ..." Antiquarians have filled +out this sentence into the touching epigraph recorded by Livy, which +Scipio himself wished to be put upon his tomb: "Ingrata Patria, ne +ossa quidem, mea habes," "My ungrateful country, thou hast not even my +bones." Empty as the tomb of the Scipios looks, no one can behold it +without feelings of profound veneration. The history of the most +heroic period of ancient Rome is linked with this tomb; and all the +romance of the Punic Wars, of Hannibal and Hasdrubal, pass before the +mind's eye, as one gazes upon the desecrated chambers where the son +and relatives of the great conqueror had reposed in death.</p> + +<p>Within a short distance of the tomb of the Scipios are the most +celebrated of all the Columbaria of Rome. Previous to the fifth +century of Rome, the bodies of the dead were buried entire, and +deposited in sarcophagi;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> but after that period cremation became the +universal custom. The ashes and calcined bones were preserved in +<i>ollæ</i>, or little jars like common garden flower-pots, made of the +same kind of coarse red earthenware, with a lid attached. These jars +were deposited in rows of little niches sunk in the brickwork all +round the walls of the tomb, resembling the nests in a pigeon-house; +hence the origin of the name. One tomb was thus capable of containing +the remains of a large number of persons; no less than six thousand of +the freedmen of Augustus being deposited in the Columbarium which +bears their name. The entrance to these sepulchral chambers was from +the top, descending by an internal stair; and the passages and walls +were usually decorated with frescoes and arabesques, illustrating some +mythical or historical subject. The names of the dead were carved on +marble tablets fixed above the pigeon-holes containing the ashes. +Columbaria being only used for dependents and slaves, were generally +erected near the tombs of their masters; and hence all along the +Appian Way we see numerous traces of them side by side with the +gigantic monuments of the patrician families. The Columbaria near the +tomb of the Scipios are three in number, and contain the cinerary urns +of persons attached to the household of the emperors from the reign of +Augustus up to the period of the Antonines, when the system of burying +the bodies entire was again introduced. The last discovered +Columbarium is the most interesting of the group. Being only +thirty-three years exposed, the paintings on the walls and the vases +are remarkably well preserved. This tomb contains the ashes of the +dependents of Tiberius, the contemporary of our Lord. One pigeon-hole +is filled with the calcined bones of the court buffoon, a poor deaf +and dumb slave who had wonderful powers of mimicry, and used to amuse +his morose master by imitating the gesticulations of the advocates +pleading in the Forum. Another pigeon-hole contains the remains of the +keeper of the library of Apollo in the imperial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> palace on the +Palatine. A most pathetic lamentation in verse is made by one Julia +Prima over the ashes of her husband; and an inscription, along with a +portrait of the animal, records that beneath are the remains of a +favourite dog that was the pet of the whole household—a little touch +of nature that links the ages and the zones, and makes the whole world +kin. The whole of this region, called Monte d'Oro, for what reason I +know not, seems to have been a vast necropolis, in which not only +Columbaria for their slaves and freedmen were built by the great +patrician families, but also family vaults for the wealthier middle +classes were constructed and sold by speculators, just as in our +modern town cemeteries.</p> + +<p>Very near the modern gate of the city the road passes under the +so-called Arch of Drusus. It consists of a single arch, whose keystone +projects on each side about two feet and a half beyond the plane of +the frontage; and is built of huge solid blocks of travertine, with +cornices of white marble, and two composite columns of African marble +on each side, much soiled and defaced, which are so inferior in style +to the rest of the architecture that they are manifestly later +additions. The whole monument is much worn and injured; but it is made +exceedingly picturesque by a crown of verdure upon the thick mass of +soil accumulated there by small increments blown up from the highway +in the course of so many centuries. It was long supposed that +Caracalla had barbarously taken advantage of the arch to carry across +the highway at this point the aqueduct which supplied his baths with +water. But the more recent authorities maintain that the arch itself, +so far from being the monument of Drusus, was only one of the arches +built by Caracalla in a more ornamental way than the rest, as was +commonly done when an aqueduct crossed a public road. This theory does +away at one fell stroke with the idea so long fondly cherished that +St. Paul must have passed under this very arch on his way to Rome, and +that his eye must have rested on these very stones<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> upon which we gaze +now. It is hard to give up the belief that the stern old arch, severe +in its sturdiness and simplicity as the character of the apostle +himself, did actually cast its haunted shadow over him on the +memorable day when, a prisoner in chains in charge of a Roman soldier, +he passed over this part of the Appian Way, and it signalised a far +grander triumph than that for which it was originally erected. We +should greatly prefer to retain the old idea that under that arch +Christianity, as represented by St. Paul, passed to its conquest of +the whole Roman world; and passed too in character, the religion of +the cross, joy in sorrow, liberty in bonds, strength in weakness, +proclaiming itself best from the midst of the sufferings which it +overcame.</p> + +<p>Immediately beyond the Arch of Drusus is the Gate of St. Sebastian, +the Porta Appia of the Aurelian wall, protected on either side by two +semicircular towers, which from their great height and massiveness +have a most imposing appearance. They are composed of the beautiful +glowing brick of the ancient Roman structures, and rest upon a +foundation of white marble blocks, evidently taken from the Temple of +Mars, which once stood close by, and at which the armies entering Rome +in triumph used to halt. The gateway was greatly injured in the sixth +century during the Gothic War, but was repaired by Belisarius; or, as +some say, by Narses. The most remarkable incident connected with it +since that period was the triumphal entry into the city of Marco +Antonio Colonna, after the victory of Lepanto over the Turks and +African corsairs in 1571. This famous battle, one of the few great +decisive battles of the world, belongs equally to civil and +ecclesiastical history, having checked the spread of Mohammedanism in +Eastern Europe, and thus altered the fortunes of the Church and the +world. The famous Spanish poet Cervantes lost an arm in this battle. +The ovation given to Colonna by the Romans in connection with it may +be said to be the last of the long series of triumphal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> processions +which entered the Eternal City; and in point of splendour and ceremony +it vied with the grandest of them,—prisoners and their families, +along with the spoil taken from the enemy, figuring in it as of old. A +short distance outside the gate, the viaduct of the railway from +Civita Vecchia spans the Appian Way, and brings the ancient "queen of +roads" and the modern iron-way into strange contrast,—or rather, I +should say, into fitting contact; for there is a resemblance between +the great works of ancient and modern engineering skill in their +mighty enterprise and boundless command of physical resources, which +we do not find in the works of the intermediate ages.</p> + +<p>Beyond the viaduct the road descends into a valley, at the bottom of +which runs the classic Almo. It is little better than a ditch, with +artificial banks overgrown with weeds, great glossy-leaved arums, and +milky-veined thistles, and with a little dirty water in it from the +drainings of the surrounding vineyards. And yet this disenchanted +brook figures largely in ancient mythical story. Ovid sang of it, and +Cicero's letters mention it honourably. It was renowned for its +medicinal properties, and diseased cattle were brought to its banks to +be healed. The famous <i>simulacrum</i>, called the image of Cybele,—a +black meteoric stone which fell from the sky at Phrygia, and was +brought to Rome during the Second Punic War, according to the +Sybilline instructions,—was washed every spring in the waters of the +Almo by the priests of the goddess. So persistent was this pagan +custom, even amid the altered circumstances of Christianity, that, +until the commencement of the nineteenth century, an image of our +Saviour was annually brought from the Church of Santa Martina in the +Forum and washed in this stream. In the valley of the Almo the poet +Terence possessed a little farm of twenty acres, given to him by his +friend Scipio Æmilianus.</p> + +<p>After crossing the Almo, two huge shapeless masses of ruins may be +seen above the vineyard walls: that on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> the left is said to be the +tomb of Geta, the son of the Emperor Severus, who was put to death in +his mother's arms by order of his unnatural brother. Geta's children +and friends, to the number, it is said, of twenty thousand persons, +were also put to death on the false accusation of conspiracy; among +whom was the celebrated jurist Papinian, who, when required to compose +a defence of the murder—as Seneca was asked by Nero to apologise for +his crime—nobly replied that "it was easier to commit than to justify +fratricide." But so capricious was Caracalla that he soon afterwards +executed the accomplices of his unnatural deed, and caused his +murdered brother to be placed among the gods, and divine honours to be +paid to him. It was in this more humane mood that the tomb whose ruins +we see on the Appian Way was ordered to be built. The tomb on the +right-hand side of the road is a most incongruous structure as it +appears at present, having a circular medieval tower on the top of it, +and a common osteria or wine-shop in front; but the old niches in +which statues or busts used to stand still remain. It was long +supposed to be the mausoleum of the Scipios; but it is now ascertained +to be the sepulchre of Priscilla, the wife of Abascantius, the +favourite freedman of Domitian, celebrated for his conjugal affection +by the poet Statius. Covered with ivy and mural plants, the monument +has a very picturesque appearance.</p> + +<p>The road beyond this rises from the valley of the Almo, and passes +over a kind of plateau. It is hemmed in on either side by high ugly +walls, shaggy with a profusion of plants which affect such situations. +The wild mignonette hangs out its pale yellow spikes of blossoms, but +without the fragrance for which its garden sister is so remarkable; +and the common pellitory, a near ally of the nettle, which haunts all +old ruins, clings in great masses to the crevices, its leaves and +ignoble blossoms white with the dust of the road. Here and there a +tall straggling plant of purple lithospermum has found a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> footing, and +flourishes aloft its dark violet tiara of blossoms; while bright tufts +of wall-flower send up their tongues of flame from an old tomb peering +above the wall, as if from a funeral pyre. The St. Mary thistle grows +at the foot of the walls in knots of large, spreading, crinkled +leaves, beautifully scalloped at the edges; the glazed surface +reticulated with lacteal veins, retaining the milk that, according to +the legend, flowed from the Virgin's breast, and, forming the Milky +Way in mid-heaven, fell down to earth upon this wayside thistle. Huge +columns of cactuses and monster aloes may be seen rising above the top +of the walls, like relics of a geologic flora contemporaneous with the +age of the extinct volcanoes around. But the most curious of all the +plants that adorn the walls is a kind of ivy which, instead of the +usual dark-greenish or black berries, bears yellow ones. This species +is rare, but here it occurs in profusion, and is as beautiful in +foliage as it is singular in fruit. The walls themselves, apart from +their floral adorning, are very remarkable, and deserving of the most +careful and leisurely study. They are built up evidently of the +remains of tombs; and numerous fragments of marble sarcophagi, +pillars, inscriptions, and rich sculpture are imbedded in them, +suggestive of a whole volume of antiquarian lore, so that he who runs +may read.</p> + +<p>On the right of the road, in a vineyard, are several Columbaria +belonging to the family of Cæcilius, an obscure Latin poet, who was a +predecessor of Terence, and died one hundred and sixty-eight years +before Christ; and on the left are the Columbaria of the freedmen of +Augustus and Livia, divided into three chambers. These last when +discovered excited the utmost interest among antiquarians; but they +are now stripped of all their contents and characteristic decorations, +and the inscriptions, about three hundred in number, are preserved in +the museums of the Capitol and Vatican. On the same side of the road, +in a vineyard, a Colum<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span>barium was discovered in 1825 belonging to the +Volusian family, who flourished in the reign of Nero; one of whose +members, Lucius Volusius, who lived to the age of ninety-three, was +extolled on account of his exemplary life by Tacitus.</p> + +<p>On the same plateau is the entrance to the celebrated Catacombs of St. +Calixtus. It is on the right-hand side of the road, about a mile and a +quarter from the present gate, and near where stood the second +milestone on the ancient Appian Way. A marble tablet over the door of +a vineyard shaded with cypresses points it out to the visitor. The +rock out of which this and all the Roman Catacombs were hewn seems as +if created specially for the purpose. Recent geological observations +have traced in the Campagna volcanic matter produced at different +periods, when the entire area of Rome and its vicinity was the seat of +active plutonic agency. This material is of varying degrees of +hardness. The lowest and oldest is so firm and compact that it still +furnishes, as it used to do, materials for building; the foundations +of the city, the wall of Romulus, and the massive blocks on which the +Capitol rests, being formed of this substance. Over this a later +stratum was deposited called <i>tufa granolare</i>, consisting of a similar +mechanical conglomerate of scoriæ, ashes, and other volcanic products, +but more porous and friable in texture. It is in this last formation, +which is so soft that it can be easily hollowed out, and yet so solid +that it does not crumble, that the Catacombs are invariably found. +There is something that appeals strongly to the imagination in the +fact that the early Christians should have formed the homes of their +dead and the haunts of their faith in the deposit of the terrible +volcano and the stormy sea! The outbursts of the Alban volcanoes were +correlated in God's scheme of providence with the outbursts of human +fury long ages afterwards; and the one was prepared as a means of +defence from the other, by Him who maketh His ministers a flaming +fire.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span></p> + +<p>The Catacombs were specially excavated for Christian burial,—tombs +beneath the tombs of the Appian Way. Unlike the pagans, who burned the +bodies of their dead, and deposited, as we have seen, the ashes in +cinerary urns which took up but little space, the Christians buried +the bodies of their departed friends in rock-hewn sepulchres. They +must have derived this custom from the Jewish mode of interment; and +they would wish to follow in this the example of their Lord, who was +laid in an excavated tomb. Besides, it was abhorrent to their feelings +to burn their dead. Their religion had taught them to value the body, +which is an integral part of human nature, and has its own share in +the redemption of man. Their mode of sepulture therefore required +larger space; and as the Christians grew and multiplied, and more +burials took place, they extended the subterranean passages and +galleries in every direction. It is computed that upwards of six +millions of the bodies of the early Christians were deposited in the +Catacombs. The name which these rock-hewn sepulchres first received +was <i>cemeteries</i>, places of sleep; for the Christians looked upon +their dead as only asleep, to be awakened by the trump of the +archangel at the resurrection. And being used as burial-places, the +Catacombs became the inalienable property of the Christians; for, +according to Roman law, land which had once been used for interment +became <i>religiosus</i>, and could not be transferred for any other +purpose. It was long supposed that the Catacombs were subsequently +made use of as places of abode, when persecution drove the Christians +to seek the loneliest spots; but this idea has been dispelled by a +more careful examination of them. There can be no doubt, however, that +they were employed as places of religious meeting. Numerous +inscriptions found in them touchingly record that no Christian worship +could be performed in the imperial city without the risk of discovery +and death; and therefore the members of the Christian flock were +obliged to meet for worship in these dreary vaults.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> The passages in +some places were expanded into large chambers, and there divine +service was performed; not only for the benefit of those who came to +bury their dead, but also for those who resided in the city, and were +Christians in secret.</p> + +<p>Passing from the roughly-paved road into the vineyard where the +Catacombs of St. Calixtus are situated, the first objects that caught +my eye were the dark, gaunt ruins of a tomb and a chapel of the third +century, now wreathed and garlanded with luxuriant ivy. Beside these +ruins I descended into the Catacombs by an ancient staircase, at the +foot of which my guide provided me with a long twisted wax taper, +calculated to last out my visit. A short distance from the entrance, I +came to a vestibule surrounded with loculi or rock-hewn graves. The +walls were plastered, and covered with rude inscriptions, scratched +with a pointed iron instrument. These were done by pilgrims and +devotees in later ages, who had come here—many of them from distant +lands—to pay their respects at the graves of the saints and martyrs. +Two of these pilgrims, from the diocese of Salzburg, visited these +Catacombs in the eighth century, and left behind an account of their +visit, which has afforded a valuable clue to Cavaliere de Rossi in his +identification of the chambers and graves. Passing from this open +space, I soon reached a sepulchral chapel, lined with the graves of +the earliest popes—many of them martyrs—who were buried here for +about a century, from the year 200 to the year 296 of our era. The +gravestones of four of them have been found, with inscriptions in +Greek. A beautiful marble tablet by Pope Damasus, who died in 384, +stands where the altar of the chapel originally stood, and records the +praises of the martyrs whose remains lay in the neighbouring chambers; +ending with a wish that he himself might be buried beside them, only +he feared that he was unworthy of the honour. This good Pope, like an +older "Old Mortality," made it a labour of love, to which he +consecrated his life, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> rediscover and adorn the tombs which had +been hidden under an accumulation of earth and rubbish during the +fearful persecution of Diocletian.</p> + +<p>From this chapel of the Popes I came through a narrow passage to a +wider crypt, where the body of St. Cæcilia was laid after her +martyrdom in her own house in Rome, in the year 224. There is a rude +painting of this saint on the wall, clothed with rich raiment, and +adorned with the jewels befitting a Roman lady of high station. And at +the back of a niche, where a lamp used to burn before the shrine of +the saint, is painted a large head of our Saviour, with rays of glory +around it shaped like a Greek cross. This is said to be the oldest +representation of our Lord in existence, and from it all our +conventional portraits have been taken. Doubts have, however, been +thrown upon this by others, who assert that all the paintings in this +chamber are not older than the seventh century. After this, I wandered +on after my guide through innumerable narrow galleries hewn out of the +soft reddish-brown rock, and opening in all directions; all lined with +horizontal cavities for corpses, tier above tier, in which once were +crowded together old and young,—soldiers, martyrs, rich and poor +mingling their dust together, as in life they had shared all things in +common. Here social distinctions were abolished; side by side with the +obscure and unknown slave were some of the most illustrious names of +ancient Rome. These shelves are now empty, for nearly all the bones +and relics of the dead have been removed to different churches +throughout Europe. Even the inscriptions that were placed above each +grave—on marble tablets—have been taken away, and now line the walls +of the museums of St. John Lateran and the Vatican. A few, however, +remain in their place; and I know nothing more affecting than the +study of these. For the most part, they are very short, containing +only the name and date; sometimes only an initial letter or a +rudely-drawn cross, indicating that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span> was a time of sore trial, when +such hurried obsequies were all that the imminent danger allowed. +Sometimes I came upon a larger record—such as, "Thou sleepest sweetly +in God;" "In the sleep of peace."</p> + +<p>But the most touching of all the inscriptions were those which were +scratched rudely in a few places on the walls by visitors to the tombs +of their fellow-Christians. The survivors came often to weep over the +relics of the dead. Here a husband records the virtues of a beloved +wife; there, a son invokes the precious memory of a pious father or +mother; and all of them express their calm resignation and unshaken +hope. One inscription especially struck me. It was very rude, and +almost obliterated, for seventeen hundred years had passed over it. It +was a husband's lamentation over a dead wife: "O Sophronia! dear +Sophronia! thou <i>mayest</i> live?—Thou <i>shalt</i> live!" How eloquently did +that rough, faded scrawl, over a long-forgotten grave, speak of the +human fear that perhaps his wife was lost to him for ever—"Thou +mayest live?" and of the noble faith that triumphed over it—"Thou +<i>shalt</i> live!" Nothing affects and astonishes one more in these +inscriptions than this calm, assured confidence that death was but a +profound sleep,—a rest unspeakably grateful after such a weary life +of awful suffering,—and that they should see their beloved ones +again. It was a literal realisation of the words of the Epistle to the +Hebrews: "And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that +they might obtain a better resurrection." They surrendered all that +life holds dear, and life itself, from loyalty to the God of truth, +knowing whom they had believed, and persuaded that He would keep that +which they had committed to Him against the great day. They made their +family ties so loyal and sacred, that their human love, in the higher +love of Christ Jesus, endured for evermore. In many of the crypts, the +emblems of martyrdom are roughly denoted by a sword, an axe, or by +faggots and fire. What sorrowful scenes must have taken place in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span> +these dreary passages, as the mangled forms of parent, child, brother, +or friend were stealthily brought in from the bloody games in the +Flavian amphitheatre, or from the cruel tortures of the prison-house, +to their last dark, narrow home along the very path I was now +treading!</p> + +<p>A number of rude paintings ornament the walls of the chapels, which +repeat over and over again the simple symbols of the Christian faith, +and the touching stories of the Bible. The ark of Noah; Daniel in the +lions' den; the miracle of Cana; the raising of Lazarus—are among the +most common of these frescoes. And they are deeply interesting, as +showing that down in these dim and dreary vaults, which presented such +a remarkable contrast to the lovely violet sky and the grand +architectural magnificence above ground, among men who cared little +for the things of time and sense, because life itself had not a +moment's security, were nevertheless nourished thoughts of ideal +beauty and unearthly grandeur, which afterwards yielded such glorious +fruit in the Christian art of Italy. The frescoes of the Catacombs are +the feeble beginnings of an artistic inspiration which culminated in +the "Last Supper" of Leonardo da Vinci, and the "Transfiguration" of +Raphael.</p> + +<p>The anchor of hope, the olive-branch of peace, and the palm-branch as +the sign of victory and martyrdom, were seen everywhere. The fish, +whose Greek name is formed by the initial letters of the titles of our +Lord, was carved on the marble tablets and sarcophagi as the anagram +of the Saviour; and an Orante, or female figure praying, was +represented as the symbol of the Church. The most common of all the +figures, however, was that of the Good Shepherd carrying the lost +sheep on His shoulders, or leaning on His staff while the sheep were +feeding around Him. And a most touching figure it is, when we think of +the circumstances of those who carved or painted it in these gloomy +aisles. It was into no green pastures, and beside no still waters, +that the Good Shepherd led His flock in those awful days, but into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> +waste and howling wildernesses, where their feet were bruised by the +hard stones, and their flesh torn by the sharp thorns, and all the +storms of the world beat fiercely upon them. But still He was their +Good Shepherd, and in the wilderness He spread a table for them, and +in the valley of the shadow of death they feared no evil, for He was +with them, and His rod and staff comforted them.</p> + +<p>I wish I could express adequately the emotions which filled my breast +while wandering through these Catacombs. Save for the feeble glimmer +of my own and the guide's lamp, I was in total darkness,—a darkness +that might be felt. Not a sound broke the awful silence except the +echo of our footsteps in the hollow passages. Not a trace or a +recollection of life recalled me from the thought of absolute +impenetrable death around. Each passage seemed so like the other, and +the ramifications were so endless and bewildering, that but for the +presence of my guide I should inevitably have lost myself. Horrible +stories of persons who had gone astray in the inextricable maze, and +wandering about in the empty gloom till they perished of exhaustion +and starvation, recurred to my mind; and my imagination, intensified +by the silence and darkness, vividly realised their sufferings. There +is indeed no chill or damp in these labyrinths, and the atmosphere is +mild and pleasant, but still the gloom was most oppressive. And yet a +deep gratitude fills the soul; for the light there shone in darkness, +and it was this very darkness that preserved our religion, when it ran +the risk of being extinguished. These fearful subterranean passages +were the furrows in which were planted the first germs of the +Christian religion,—in which they were long guarded in persecution as +the seed-corn under the frost-bound earth in winter, to spring up +afterwards when summer smiled upon the world, and yield a glorious +harvest to all nations.</p> + +<p>On the opposite side of the Appian Way, in a vineyard, is the Catacomb +of Pretextatus, which is almost as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> extensive as that of St. Calixtus, +and hardly less interesting. It is especially remarkable for a large +square crypt, inlaid with brick and plaster, and covered with very +fine frescoes and arabesques of birds and foliage. The bodies of St. +Januarius, Agapetus, and Felicissimus, who suffered martyrdom in the +year 162, were interred in this Catacomb; and two churches, at a +subsequent period, were erected over it in honour of the three saints +who suffered martyrdom with St. Cæcilia. Recent explorations have +brought to light, in a separate part of this Catacomb, curious +paintings and inscriptions which have been referred to the mysteries +of Mithras—an Oriental worship of the Sun—introduced into Rome about +a century before Christ, and which was celebrated in caves. When +Christianity became popular, and was threatening the overthrow of +polytheism, an attempt was made to counteract its influence in the +reign of Alexander Severus, who himself came from the East, by +organising this worship. The two systems of religion became, +therefore, mixed up together for a while; and hence it is not uncommon +to find in pagan sepulchres symbols and arrangements of a Christian +character, and in Christian Catacombs Mithraic features. The funeral +monuments of those who were converted to Christianity in the earliest +ages of the Church indicated the transition between the two religions. +We find upon their tombs pagan symbols, which ceased to be identified +with pagan worship, and became mere conventional ornaments. We have +other evidences along the Appian Way of the eclectic revival of +paganism at this time. When alluding to the classic stream of the +Almo, I spoke of the associations of the worship of Cybele. This +naturalistic cult was introduced from Phrygia, and its orgiastic rites +and nameless infamies had a horrible fascination for an age of +decaying faith. And not far from the mounds of the Horatii and +Curiatii there is a monument, probably of the age of Trajan, with a +bas-relief portrait, dedicated to the memory of one <i>Usia Prima</i>, a +priestess of Isis; this worship, with its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> painful initiations and +splendid ritual, being imported from Egypt in the second century. But +although this Neo-paganism appealed more to the passions of men than +the sunny humanistic worship of older times, and for a time inspired +the most frenzied enthusiasm, it failed utterly to resuscitate the +decaying corpse of the old religion. Great Pan was hopelessly dead!</p> + +<p>At a short distance on the same side of the road is the Catacomb of +Sts. Nereus and Achilles, which contained the remains of these saints, +and are interesting to us as the most ancient Christian cemetery in +the world. The masonry of the vestibule is in the best style of Roman +brickwork; and the frescoes on its walls, representing Christ and His +apostles, the Good Shepherd, Orpheus, Elijah, etc., indicate a period +of high artistic taste. This Catacomb contains the oldest +representation extant of the Virgin and Child receiving the homage of +the Wise men from the East, supposed to date from the end of the +second century, and was often made use of in support of Roman +Mariolatry. Several days might be profitably spent by the antiquarian +in investigating the contents of the different tiers of galleries; +while the geologist would find matter for interesting speculation in +the partial intrusion of the older lithoid tufa here and there into +the softer and more recent volcanic deposits in which the passages are +excavated, and in which numerous decomposing crystals of leucite may +be observed. On the same side of the way, farther on, is the Jewish +Catacomb, the tombs of which bear Jewish symbols, especially the +seven-branched golden candlestick, and are inscribed, not with the +secular names and occupations of the occupants, but with their sacred +names, as office-bearers of the synagogue, rulers, scribes, etc. The +inscriptions are not in Hebrew, but in Greek letters. It is supposed +that in this Catacomb were interred the bodies of the Jews who were +banished to the valley of Egeria by Domitian.</p> + +<p>About a quarter of a mile beyond the Catacombs you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> come to a descent, +where there is a wide open space with a pillar in the centre, and +behind it the natural rock of a peculiarly glowing red colour, +overgrown with masses of ivy, wall-flower, and hawthorn just coming +into blossom. Below the road, on the right, is a kind of piazza, +shaded by a grove of funereal cypresses; and here is the church of St. +Sebastian, one of the seven great basilicas which pilgrims visited to +obtain the remission of their sins. It was founded by Constantine, on +the site of the house and garden of the pious widow Lucina, who buried +there the body of St. Sebastian after his martyrdom. This saint was a +Gaulish soldier in the Roman army, who, professing Christianity, was +put to death by order of Diocletian. The body of the saint is said to +repose under one of the altars, marked by a marble statue of him lying +dead, pierced with silver arrows, designed by Bernini. The present +edifice was entirely rebuilt by Cardinal Scipio Borghese; and nothing +remains of the ancient basilica save the six granite columns of the +portico, which were in all likelihood taken from some old pagan +temple. It was from the nave of this church that the only Catacomb +which used to be visited by pilgrims was entered; all the other +Catacombs which have since been opened being at that time blocked up +and unknown. Indeed it was to the subterranean galleries under this +church that the name of Catacomb was originally applied.</p> + +<p>In the valley beneath St. Sebastian, on the left, is a large +enclosure, covered with the greenest turf, and reminding one more, by +its softness and compactness, of an English park than anything I had +seen about Rome. Here are the magnificent ruins of what was long known +as the Circus of Caracalla; but later investigations have proved that +the circus was erected in honour of Romulus, the son of the Emperor +Maxentius, in the year 311. It is the best preserved of all the +ancient Roman circuses, and affords an excellent clue to the +arrangements of such places for chariot races and the accommodation of +the spectators. The external walls run<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span> on unbroken for about a +quarter of a mile. In many places the vaults supporting the seats +still remain. The spina in the centre marking the course of the races, +on either end of which stood the two Egyptian obelisks which now adorn +the Piazza Navona and the Piazza del Popolo, though grass-grown, can +be easily defined; and the towers flanking the extremities, where the +judges sat, and the triumphal gate through which the victors passed, +are almost entire. It would not be difficult, with such aids to the +imagination, to conjure up the splendid games that used to take place +within that vast enclosure; the chariots of green, blue, white, and +red driving furiously seven times round the course, the emperor and +all his nobles sitting in the places of honour, looking on with +enthusiasm, and the victor coming in at the goal, and the shouts and +exclamations of the excited multitude. On the elevated ground behind +the circus is a fringe of olive-trees, with a line of feathery elms +beyond; and rising over all, the purple background of the Sabine and +Alban hills. It is a lonely enough spot now; and the gentle hand of +spring clothes the naked walls with a perfect garden of wild flowers, +and softens with the greenest and tenderest turf the spots trodden by +the feet of so many thousands. In the immediate vicinity of the circus +are extensive ruins, visible and prominent objects from the road, +consisting of large fragments of walls and apses, dispersed among the +vineyards and enclosures.</p> + +<p>By far the best-known monument on the Appian Way is the Tomb of +Cæcilia Metella. It is a conspicuous landmark in the wide waste, and +catches the eye at a long distance from many points of view. It is as +familiar a feature in paintings of the Campagna almost as the Claudian +Aqueduct. This celebrity it owes to its immense size, its wonderful +state of preservation, and above all to the genius of Lord Byron, who +has made it the theme of some of the most elegant and touching stanzas +in <i>Childe Harold</i>. Nothing can be finer than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> the appearance of this +circular tower in the afternoon, when the red level light of sunset, +striking full upon it, brings out the rich warm glow of its yellow +travertine stones in striking relief against the monotonous green of +the Campagna. It is built on a portion of rising ground caused by a +current of lava which descended from the Alban volcano during some +prehistoric eruption, and stopped short here, forming the quarries on +the left side of the road which supply most of the paving-stone of +modern Rome. The Appian Way was here lowered several feet below the +original level, in order to diminish the acclivity; and the mausoleum +was consequently raised upon a substructure of unequal height +corresponding with the inclination of the plane of ascent. It was +originally cased with marble slabs, but these were stripped off during +the middle ages for making lime; and Pope Clement XII. completed the +devastation by removing large blocks which formed the basement, in +order to construct the picturesque fountain of Trevi. A large portion +of the Doric marble frieze, however, still remains, on which are +sculptured bas-reliefs of rams' heads, festooned with garlands of +flowers. Usually the bas-reliefs are supposed to represent bulls' +heads; and the name of Capo de Bove (the "head of the ox"), by which +the monument has long been known to the common people, is said to be +derived from these ornaments. But a careful examination will convince +any one that they are in reality rams' heads; and the vulgar name of +the tomb was obviously borrowed from the armorial bearings of the +Gaetani family, consisting of an ox's head, affixed prominently upon +it when it served them as a fortress in the thirteenth century. Pope +Boniface VIII., a member of this family, added the curious battlements +at the top, which seem so slight and airy in comparison with the +severe solidity of the rest of the structure, and are but a poor +substitute for the massive conical roof which originally covered the +tomb. Nature has done her utmost for nigh two thousand years to bring +back this monument to her own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> bosom, but she has been foiled in all +her attempts,—the travertine blocks of its exterior, though fitted to +each other without cement, being as smooth and even in their courses +of masonry as when first constructed, and almost as free from +weather-stains as if they had newly been taken from the quarry. Only +on the broad summit, where medieval Vandals broke down the noble pile +and desecrated it by their own inferior workmanship, has nature been +able to effect a lodgment; and in the breaches of this fortress, which +is but a thing of yesterday as compared with the monument, and yet is +far more ruinous, she has planted bushes, trees, and thick festoons of +ivy, as if laying her quiet finger upon the angry passions of man, and +obliterating the memory of his evil deeds by her own fair and smiling +growth.</p> + +<p>The sepulchral vault in the interior was not opened till the time of +Paul III., about 1540, when a beautiful marble sarcophagus, adorned +with bas-reliefs of the chase, was found in it, which is supposed to +be that which stands at the present day in the court of the Palazzo +Farnese. This is likely to be true, for it is well known that this +Pope, who was a member of the Farnese family, unscrupulously despoiled +ancient Rome of many of its finest works of art in order to build and +adorn his new palace. A golden urn containing ashes is said to have +been discovered at the same time; but if so, it has long since +disappeared. On a marble panel below the frieze an inscription in bold +letters informs us that this is the tomb of Cæcilia Metella, daughter +of Quintus Metellus,—who obtained the sobriquet of <i>Creticus</i> for his +conquest of Crete,—and wife of Crassus. She belonged to one of the +most haughty aristocratic families of ancient Rome, whose members at +successive intervals occupied the highest positions in the state, and +several of whom were decreed triumphs by the senate on account of +their success in war. Her husband was surnamed <i>Dives</i> on account of +his enormous wealth. He is said to have possessed a fortune equal to a +million and a half pounds sterling;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> and to have given an +entertainment to the whole Roman people in a time of scarcity, besides +distributing to each family a quantity of corn sufficient to last +three months. Along with Julius Cæsar and Pompey, he formed the famous +first Triumvirate. While the richest, he seems, notwithstanding the +above-mentioned act of munificence, to have been one of the meanest of +the Romans. He had no steady political principle; he was actuated by +bitter jealousy towards his colleagues and rivals; and that +unsuccessful expedition which he undertook against the Parthians, in +flagrant violation of a treaty made with them by Sulla and renewed by +Pompey, and which has stamped his memory with incapacity and shame, +was prompted by an insatiable greed for the riches of the East. On the +field he occupied himself entirely in amassing fresh treasures, while +his troops were neglected. The manner of his death, after the defeat +and loss of the greater part of his army, was characteristic of his +ruling passion. Tempted to seek an interview with the Parthian general +by the offer of the present of a horse with splendid trappings, he was +cut down when in the act of mounting into the saddle. His body was +contemptuously buried in some obscure spot by the enemy, and his hands +and head were sent to the king, who received the ghastly trophies +while seated at the nuptial feast of his daughter, and ordered in +savage irony molten gold to be poured down the severed throat, +exclaiming, "Sate thyself now with the metal of which in life thou +wert so fond."</p> + +<p>There is one incident connected with this most disastrous campaign +upon which the imagination loves to dwell. Publius, the younger son of +Crassus, born of the woman who lay in this tomb before us, after +earning great distinction in Gaul as Cæsar's legate, accompanied his +father to the East, and was much beloved on account of his noble +qualities and his feats of bravery against the enemy. While +endeavouring to repulse the last fierce charge of the Parthians, he +was wounded severely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> by an arrow, and finding himself unable to +extricate his troops, rather than desert them he ordered his +sword-bearer to slay him. When the news of his son's fall reached the +aged father, the old Roman spirit blazed up for a moment in him, and +he exhorted his soldiers "not to be disheartened by a loss that +concerned himself only." In this last triumph of a nobler nature he +disappears from our view; and he who built this magnificent monument +to the mother of his gallant son had himself no monument. More +fortunate than her husband, whose evil manners live in brass,—less +fortunate than her son, whose virtues have been handed down for the +admiration of posterity,—Cæcilia Metella has left no record of her +existence beyond her name. All else has been swallowed up by the +oblivion of ages. Whether her husband raised this colossal trophy of +the dust to commemorate his own pride of wealth, or his devoted love +for her, we know not. He achieved his object; but he has given to his +wife only the mockery of immortality. The substance has gone beyond +recall, and but the shadow, the mere empty name, remains.</p> + +<p>Built up against this monument are the remains of the castle in which +the Gaetani family long maintained their feudal warfare, with +fragments of marble sculpture taken from the tomb incorporated into +the plain brick walls. And on the other side of the road, in a +beautiful meadow, covered with soft green grass, are the ruins of a +roofless Gothic chapel, showing little more than a few bare walls and +gables built of dark lava stones, with traces of pointed windows in +them, and the spring of the groined arches of the roof. Like the +fortress, the chapel has few or no architectural features of interest. +It is very unlike any other church in Italy, and reminds one of the +country churches of England. What led the Gaetanis to adopt this +foreign style of ecclesiastical architecture is a circumstance +unexplained. Altogether it is a most incongruous group of objects that +are here clustered together—a tomb, a fortress, and a church—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span>and +affords a curious illustration of the bizarre condition of society at +the time. An extraordinary echo repeats here every sound entrusted to +it with the utmost distinctness. It doubtless multiplied the wailings +of the mourners who brought to this spot two thousand years ago the +ashes of the dead; it sent back the rude sounds of warfare which +disturbed the peace of the tomb in the middle ages; and now it haunts +the spot like the voice of the past, "informing the solitude," and +giving a response to each new-comer according to his mood.</p> + +<p>Beyond the tomb of Cæcilia Metella the Appian Way becomes more +interesting and beautiful. The high walls which previously shut in the +road on either side now disappear, and nothing separates it from the +Campagna but a low dyke of loose stones. The traveller obtains an +uninterrupted view of the immense melancholy plain, which stretches +away to the horizon with hardly a single tree to relieve the +desolation. Here and there on the waste surface are fragments of ruins +which speak to the heart, by their very muteness, more suggestively +than if their historical associations were fully known. The mystic +light from a sky which over this place seems ever to brood with a sad +smile more touching than tears, falls upon the endless arches of the +Claudian Aqueduct that remind one, as Ruskin has finely said, of a +funeral procession departing from a nation's grave. The afternoon sun +paints them with ruby splendours, and gleams vividly upon the +picturesque vegetation which a thousand springs have sown upon their +crumbling sides. They lead the eye on to the Alban Hills, which form +on the horizon a fitting frame to the great picture, tender-toned, +with delicate pearly and purple shadows clothing every cliff and +hollow, like "harmonies of music turned to shape."</p> + +<p>I shall never forget my first walk over this enchanted ground. The day +was warm and bright, though a little breeze, like the murmur of a +child's sleep, occasionally stirred the languid calm. April had just +come in; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> in this Southern clime spring, having no storms or +frosts to fear, lingers in a strange way and unfolds, with slow, +patient tenderness, her beauties; not like our Northern spring, which +rushes to verdure and bloom as soon as the winter snows have +disappeared. And hence, though the few trees along the road had only +put forth their first leaves, tender and flaccid as butterfly's wings, +the grass was ready to be cut down and was thickly starred with wild +flowers. Horace of old said that one could not travel rapidly along +the Appian Way, on account of the number and variety of its objects of +interest; and the same remark holds good at the present day. It would +take months to go over in detail all its wonderful relics of the past. +At every step you are arrested by something that opens up a +fascinating vista into the old family life of the imperial city. At +every step you "set your foot upon some reverend history." From +morning to sunset I lingered on this haunted path, and tried to enter +into sympathy with old-world sorrows that have left behind no +chronicles save these silent stones. It is indeed a path sacred to +meditation! One has there an overpowering sense of waste—a depressing +feeling of vanity. On every side are innumerable tokens of a vast +expenditure of human toil, and love, and sorrow; and it seems as if it +had been all thrown away. For two miles and a half from the tomb of +Cæcilia Metella I counted fifty-three tombs on the right and +forty-eight on the left. The margin of the road on either side is +strewn with fragments of hewn marble, travertine, and peperino. Broken +tablets, retaining a few letters of the epitaphs of the dead; +mutilated statues and alto-relievos; drums and capitals of pillars; a +hand or a foot, or a fold of marble drapery,—every form and variety +of sculpture, the mere crumbs that had fallen from a profuse feast of +artistic beauty, which nobody considers it worth while to pick up, lie +mouldering among the grass. At frequent intervals, facing the road, +you see with mournful interest the exposed interiors of tombs, showing +that beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> and curious <i>opus reticulatum</i>, or reticulated +arrangement of bricks or tufa blocks, which is so characteristic of +the imperial period, and rows upon rows of neat pigeon-holes in the +brickwork, which contained the cinerary urns, all robbed of their +treasures, their tear-bottles, and even their bones. Ruthless popes +and princes have done their best during all the intervening ages to +destroy the monuments by taking away for their own uses the marble and +hewn stone which encased them, leaving behind only the inner core of +brick and small stones imbedded in mortar which was never meant to be +seen. Pitying hands have lately endeavoured to atone for this +desecration by lifting here and there out of the rubbish heap on which +they were thrown some affecting group of family portraits, some choice +specimens of delicate architecture, some mutilated panel on which the +stern hard features of a Roman senator look out upon you, and placing +them in a prominent position to attract attention. But though they +have endeavoured to build up the fragments of the tombs into some +semblance of their former appearance, the resuscitation is even more +melancholy than was the former ruin. Their efforts at restoration are +only the very graves of graves. In some places a side path leading off +the main road to a tomb has been uncovered, paved with the original +lava-blocks as fresh as when the last mourner retired from it, casting +"a lingering look behind;" but it leads now only to a shapeless heap +of brick, or to the empty site of a monument that has been razed to +the very foundations.</p> + +<p>One piece of marble sculpture especially arrests the eye, and awakens +a chord of feeling in the most callous heart. It represents one of +those <i>Imagines Clipeatæ</i> which the ancient Romans were so fond of +sculpturing in their temples or upon their tombs; a clam shell or +shield with the bust of a man and a woman carved in relief within it, +the hand of the one fondly embracing the neck of the other. Below is a +long Latin inscription,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> telling that this is the tomb of a brother +and sister who were devotedly attached to each other. Who this soror +and frater were, there is no record to tell. All subsidiary details of +their lives have been allowed to pass away with the other decorations +of the tomb, leaving behind this beautiful expression of household +affection in full and lasting relief. I felt drawn more closely to the +distant ages by this little carving than by anything else. The huge +monuments around weighed down my spirit to the earth. The very effort +to secure immortality by the massiveness of these tombs defeated its +own object. They spoke only of dust to dust and ashes to ashes; but +that little glimpse into the simple love of simple hearts in the +far-off past lifted me above all the decays of the sepulchre. It +assured me that our deepest heart-affections are the helpers of our +highest hopes, and the instinctive guarantees of a life to come. Love +creates its own immortality; for "love is love for evermore."</p> + +<p>Along this avenue of death nothing can be more striking than the +profusion of life. It seems as if all the vitality of the many buried +generations had there passed into the fuller life of nature. You can +trace the street of tombs into the far distance, not only by the ruins +that line it on both sides, but also by its borders of grass of a +darker green and greater luxuriance than the pale, short, sickly +verdure of the Campagna; just as you can trace the course of a +moorland stream along the heather by the brighter vegetation which its +own waters have created. Myriads of flowers gleam in their own +atmosphere of living light, like jewels among the rich herbage, so +that the feet can hardly be set down without crushing scores of them: +the <i>Orchis rubra</i> with its splendid spike of crimson blossoms, the +bee and spider orchises in great variety, whose flowers mimic the +insects after whom they are named, sweet-scented alyssum, golden +buttercups and hawkweeds, Roman daisies, larger and taller than the +English ones, with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> bold wide-eyed gaze you see in the Roman +peasant-girls, scarlet poppies glowing in a sunshine of their own, +like flames in the heart of a furnace, vetches bright azure and pale +yellow, dark blue hyacinths, pink geraniums, and "moonlit spires of +asphodel," suggestive of the flowery fields of the immortals. My +footsteps along the dusty road continually disturbed serpents that +wriggled away in long ripples of motion among the tall spears of the +grass; while green and golden lizards, sunning themselves on the hot +stones, disappeared into their holes with a quick rustling sound at my +approach. The air was musical with a perfect chorus of larks, whose +jubilant song soared above all sorrow and death to heaven's own gate; +and now and then a tawny hawk sailed swiftly across the horizon. Huge +plants of gray mullein towered here and there above the sward, whose +flannel-like leaves afforded a snug shelter to great quantities of +wasps just recovering from their winter torpor. On the very tombs +themselves there was a lavish adornment of vegetable life: snow-white +drifts of hawthorn and honeysuckle wreaths waved on the summits of +those on which a sufficient depth of soil had lodged; the wild +dog-rose spread its thorny bushes and passionate-coloured crimson +blooms as a fence around others; and even on the barest of them +nothing could exceed the wealth of orange lichens that redeemed their +poverty and gilded their nakedness with frescoes of fadeless beauty. +On some of the rugged masses of masonry grew large hoary tufts of the +strange roccella or orchil-weed, which yields the famous purple +dye—with which, in all likelihood, the robes of the Cæsars were +coloured—and which gave wealth, rank, and name to one princely +Italian family, the Rucellai. Over the desolate tombs of those who +wore the imperial purple, this humble lichen, that yielded the +splendid hue, spread its gray hoar-frost of vegetation.</p> + +<p>I have already spoken of the solitude of the Campagna; but this part +of the Appian Way, leading through it, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> exceptionally lonely. It +might as well have led over an American prairie or Asiatic steppe on +which the foot of man had never intruded. You see along the white +reaches of the road at a little distance what looks like a cluster of +houses overshadowed by some tall umbrella pine, with all the signs of +human life apparently about them; but, as you come near, the sight +resolves itself into a mere mass of ruins. The mirage of life turns +out to be a tomb—nay, the ruin of a tomb! A carriage full of visitors +may, perhaps, be seen at long intervals, their spirits sobered by the +melancholy that broods over the scene; or a lumbering cart, laden with +wine-casks from Ariccia or Albano, drawn by the soft-eyed +mouse-coloured oxen of the Campagna, startles the echoes, and betrays +its course by the clouds of dust which it raises. There are no sights +or sounds of rural toil in the fields on either side of the way. Only +a solitary shepherd, with his picturesque cloak, accompanied by two or +three vicious-looking dogs, meets you; or, perhaps, you come +unexpectedly upon an artist seated on a tomb and busy sketching the +landscape. For hours you may have the scene all to yourself. Even +Rome, from this distance, looks like a city of dreams! Its walls and +domes have disappeared behind the misty green veil of the horizon; and +only the colossal statues of the apostles on the top of the church of +S. John Lateran stand out in a halo of golden light, and seem to +stretch forth their hands to welcome the approaching pilgrim.</p> + +<p>It is well known to historians that the villa of Seneca, in which he +put himself to death by command of Nero, stood near the fourth +milestone on the Appian Way. The circumstances of his death are +exceedingly sad. Wishing to get rid of his former tutor, who had +become obnoxious to him, the bloodthirsty emperor first attempted to +poison him; and when this failed, he accused him, along with his +nephew the poet Lucan and several others, of being concerned in a +conspiracy against his life. This accusation was false; but it served +the purpose of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> bringing Seneca within reach of his vengeance, under a +colour of justice. A tribune with a cohort of soldiers was sent to +intimate his fate to the philosopher; allowing him to execute the +sentence of death upon himself by whatever means he preferred. Seneca +was at supper with his wife Paulina and two friends when the fatal +message came. Without any sign of alarm he rose and opened the veins +of his arms and legs, having bade farewell to his friends and embraced +his wife; and while the blood, impoverished by old age, ebbed slowly +from him, he continued to comfort his friends and exhort them to a +life of integrity. The last words of one so justly renowned were taken +down, and in the time of Tacitus the record was still extant. We +should value much these interesting memorials; but they are now +irrecoverably lost. His wife, refusing to live without him, also +endeavoured to bleed herself to death; but she was recovered by order +of Nero almost at the last moment. She remained pale and emaciated +ever after from having followed her husband more than half-way on the +road to death.</p> + +<p>No trace of the villa where this pathetic tragedy took place can now +be seen; but near the spot where it must have stood, close beside the +road, is a marble bas-relief of the death of Atys, the son of Croesus, +killed in the chase by Adrastus, placed upon a modern pedestal; and +this is supposed to have formed part of the tomb of Seneca. There is +no inscription; probably none would be allowed during the lifetime of +Nero; and we know that his body was burned privately without any of +the usual ceremonies. But if this fragment of sculpture be genuine, +the well-known classic story which it tells was an appropriate +memorial of one who perished in the midst of the greatest prosperity. +No one who is familiar with the history of this "seeker after God," +this philosopher who was a pagan John the Baptist in the severity and +purity of his mode of life, and in the position which he occupied on +the border-line between paganism and Christianity, and who left behind +him some of the noblest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span> utterances of antiquity, can gaze upon this +interesting bas-relief without being deeply moved. It speaks +eloquently of the little dependence to be placed upon the favour of +princes; and it points a powerful moral that has been repeatedly +enforced in sacred as well as profane history, that he who becomes the +accomplice of another in crime, strikes, by that complicity, the +death-blow of friendship, and makes himself more hated than even the +victim of the crime had been. When Seneca sanctioned, and then +defended on political grounds, the matricide of Nero, from that moment +his own doom was sealed. Over the former "guide, philosopher, and +friend," the shadow of this guilty secret rested, and it deepened and +darkened until the pupil embrued his hands in the blood of his +teacher. This touching fragment of sculpture is all that now remains +of the earthly pomp of one who at one time stood on the very highest +summit of human wisdom. There is no likelihood that he ever met the +Apostle Paul during his residence in the imperial city, or learned +from him any of those precepts that are so wonderfully Christian in +their spirit and even words; although an early Christian forger +thought it worth while to fabricate a supposititious correspondence +between them. The only link of connection between them was the +problematical one that St. Paul, with his wide sympathies, may have +gazed with interest upon Seneca's villa, as it was pointed out to him +on his journey to Rome; and that he was on one occasion dragged as a +prisoner into the presence of Seneca's elder brother, that Gallio who +dismissed the charge and the accusers with contempt.</p> + +<p>Passing two massive fragments of a wall, which are supposed to have +formed part of a small temple of Jupiter, beside which numerous +Christians suffered martyrdom, we come, at the fifth milestone, to a +spot associated with one of those poetical legends which occur in the +early annals of all nations, and whose hold upon the minds of men is +itself an historic truth. Here was the boundary between the territory +of Rome and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> that of Alba. Here was situated the entrenchment called +the Cluilian Dyke, where Hannibal encamped, and where previously the +Roman and Alban armies were drawn up in battle array, when it was +agreed that the quarrel between them should be settled by three +champions chosen from each side. Every one knows the story of the +Horatii and the Curiatii: how these hapless brothers and cousins +fought in sight of both armies with a bravery worthy of the stake; and +how, at length, when two of the Roman heroes were slain, and all the +Albans were wounded, the third Roman, who was unhurt, feigned to fly, +and thus separating his enemies, who followed him as well as their +failing strength would permit, easily despatched them one after the +other, and thus gained the victory for the Roman cause. This terrible +tragedy, which terminated the independent existence of the Alban +power, took place in the fields around here; and on the right-hand +side of the road are three huge circular mounds, overgrown with long +rich grass, planted with tall cypress and ilex trees, and surrounded +at the foot with a wall of huge peperino blocks, which antiquarians +have determined to be the tombs of the five slaughtered +combatants—the farther mound being that of the two Horatii, the +second that of one of the Curiatii, and the third that of the other +two Curiatii. These tombs are situated exactly where we should have +expected to find them from the description of Livy; and they are +evidently of far older date than any of the neighbouring tombs of the +imperial period. Their form and construction carry us back in +imagination to the earliest days of Rome, when Etruscan architecture +was universally adopted as a model. For more than twenty-five +centuries the huge tent-like mounds have stood, so strikingly +different in character from all the other sepulchral monuments of the +Appian Way; preserved by the reverential care of successive +generations. The modern Romans have not been behind the ancient in the +pride with which they have regarded these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> monuments. They have +planted them with the splendid cypress-trees which now add so much to +their picturesqueness, and annually repair the ravages of time. I +climbed up the steep sides through the long slippery grass to the +summits of two of the mounds, and had a grand view of the whole scene +of the tragic story, bathed in the dim misty light which always broods +over the melancholy Campagna like the spectral presence of the past. +The sunshine strove in vain to gild the dark shadows which the +cypresses threw over the mound at my feet, and the lonely wind wailed +wildly through their closely-huddled shivering branches around me.</p> + +<p>On the opposite side of the road, beyond the earthen mounds of the +Horatii and Curiatii, a large mass of picturesque ruins covers the +Campagna for a considerable distance. The peasants persist in calling +this spot <i>Roma Vecchia</i>, under the idea that ancient Rome stood +there, and that these ruins are the remains of the city. Antiquarians, +however, are agreed that the ruins belong to the large suburban villa +of the Quintilii, one of the noblest and most virtuous families of +ancient Rome. One member, the celebrated rhetorician Quintilian, was +the first who enjoyed the regular salary allotted by Vespasian to +those who provided a solid education for the upper classes. In the +time of the Emperor Commodus the villa was owned by two brothers of +the Quintilian family, Maximus and Condianus, whose fraternal love is +as well known almost as the friendship of Damon and Pythias. They were +inseparable in all their pursuits and pleasures; they shared this +villa and the surrounding property together; they composed a treatise +in common, some fragments of which still survive. They were raised +together to the consular dignity by Marcus Aurelius, who greatly +valued their virtue and their mutual attachment, and were entrusted +together with the civil government of Greece. They were both falsely +accused of taking part in a plot against the emperor's life; and +Commodus, who coveted their property, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> them both put to death +together. The tyrant then took possession of their villa, which became +as notorious for the evil deeds done in it as it was famous before for +the virtuous life of its owners. Here Commodus, the base son of a +heroic father, practised those lusts and brutalities which have +branded his name as that of one of the most unmitigated monsters that +ever stained the pages of history. It was here that the +people—exasperated by their sufferings through fire and famine, by +the open sale of justice and all public offices, and by the blood shed +in the streets by the prætorian cavalry—surrounded the villa, and +demanded the head of Cleander, a Phrygian slave whom Commodus had +placed at the helm of state because he pandered to his master's vices, +and gratified him with rich presents obtained by the vilest means. At +the entreaties of his sister and his favourite concubine, the emperor +sacrificed his minister, who was with him at the time, sharing in his +guilty pleasures; and threw out, from one of the windows of the villa, +the bloody head among the crowd, who gratified their vengeance by +tossing it about like a football. Here, too, the wretched emperor +himself was first poisoned by a cup of wine given to him by his +favourite mistress Marcia, on his return weary and thirsty from the +Colosseum; and then, as the poison operated too slowly, was strangled +in his heavy drugged sleep by his favourite gladiator Narcissus. One +could not look upon the bare masses of ruins around without thinking +of the terrible orgies that took place there, and of the shout of +enthusiastic joy when the news reached Rome that the detested tyrant +was no more, and the empire was free to breathe again. The fate of +Ahab, who coveted the vineyard of Naboth, overtook him; and but for +the interference of his successor, the maddened populace would have +dragged his corpse through the streets and flung it into the Tiber.</p> + +<p>A very extraordinary tomb arrests the attention near the ruins of this +villa. It looks like an inverted pyra<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span>mid, or a huge architectural +mushroom. This appearance has been given to the monument by the +removal of the large blocks of stone which formed the basement, +leaving the massive superincumbent weight to be supported on a very +narrow stalk of conglomerate masonry. It is a striking proof of the +extraordinary solidity and tenacity of Roman architecture, defying the +laws of gravitation. It is called the sepulchre of the Metelli, the +family of Cæcilia Metella; but this is a mere guess, as there is no +record or inscription to identify it. Next to this singular monument +are the remains of a tomb which must be exceedingly interesting to +every classical scholar. The inscription indicates that it is the tomb +of Quintus Cæcilius, whose nephew and adopted son, Titus Pomponius +Atticus, as Cornelius Nepos tells us, was buried in it. This +celebrated Roman knight was descended in a direct line from Numa +Pompilius. Withdrawing from the civil discords of Rome, he took up his +abode in Athens, where he devoted himself to literary and philosophic +pursuits and acquired a knowledge of the Greek language so perfect +that he could not be distinguished from a native. At the Greek +capital, the then university of the world, he secured the devoted +friendship of his fellow-student Cicero, whose brother was afterwards +married to his sister; and to this intimacy we owe the largest portion +of Cicero's unrivalled letters, in which he describes his inmost +feelings, as well as the events going on around him. The uncle of +Atticus, the brother of his mother, whose family tomb we are now +examining, left him at his death an enormous fortune, which he had +amassed by usury. Atticus added greatly to it by acting as a kind of +publisher to the authors of the day—that is, by employing his +numerous slaves in copying and multiplying their manuscripts. He kept +himself free from all the political factions of the times, and thus +managed to preserve the mutual regard of parties who were hostile to +each other,—such as Cæsar and Pompey, Brutus and Antony. He reached +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span> age of seventy-seven years without having had a day's illness; +and when at last stricken with an incurable disease, in the spirit of +the Epicurean philosophy, since he could enjoy life no longer he +starved himself to death, and was interred in his uncle's tomb on the +Appian Way. Almost side by side with this ruin is the sepulchre of the +family of Cicero's wife, the Terentii, who were related to Pomponius +Atticus by the mother's side. In all likelihood Terentia herself, +Cicero's brave and devoted but ill-used wife, was interred here with +her own friends, for her husband had divorced her in order to marry a +beautiful and rich young heiress, whose guardian he had been.</p> + +<p>Passing on the same side of the road two or three tombs of obscure +persons whose names alone are known, we come at the sixth milestone to +one of the most extraordinary sepulchral monuments of the Appian Way, +called the <i>Casale Rotondo</i>. This monument marks the limit to which +most visitors extend their explorations. It is circular, like the tomb +of Cæcilia Metella; but it is of far larger dimensions, being nearly +three hundred and fifty feet in diameter. In the fifteenth century +this colossal ruin was converted into a fortress by the Orsini family; +and of the remains of this fortification a farmhouse and other +buildings were constructed, and these now stand on the summit, +surrounded by a tolerably-sized oliveyard and garden, with a sloping +grass-grown stair leading up to them on the outside. Notwithstanding +their dislike of death and their horror of dead bodies, the modern +Romans have no more repugnance to the proximity of tombs than their +ancestors had. Shepherds fold their sheep and goats in the interior of +the old tombs, whose walls are blackened with the smoke of the fires, +and retain an odour of human and animal occupancy more disagreeable +than any which the original tenants could have exhaled; and it is by +no means unfrequent to find a wine-shop, with a noisy company of +wayfarers regaling themselves, in a sepulchre that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> happens to be +conveniently situated by the wayside. So far as can be ascertained, +the original appearance of the <i>Casale Rotondo</i> seems to have been +that of an enormous circular tower, cased with large blocks of +travertine, covered with a pyramidal roof of the same material carved +into the semblance of tiles, and surmounted with appropriate +sculpture. It was surrounded with a wall of peperino, supporting at +intervals vases and statues; and on the outside were semicircular +stone seats for the benefit of weary wayfarers. This wall is now grown +over with turf, but it can be distinctly traced all round; and the +hollow space between it and the tomb is covered with thick grass, and +is sometimes filled with water like a fosse. Numerous altars, +pedestals, and fine specimens of sculpture in marble and peperino, +have been disinterred in this spot, and they are now arranged to +advantage at the foot of the huge pile fronting the road. Some of +these bear inscriptions which would indicate that the tomb was erected +to Messalla Corvinus, the friend of Horace and Augustus, and himself a +distinguished historian and poet as well as one of the most +influential senators of Rome, by his son Marcus Aurelius Corvinus +Cotta, who was consul some years after his father's death. Corvinus +died in the eleventh year of our era, so that the tomb has stood for +upwards of eighteen centuries and a half; and it is as likely to stand +as many more, for what remains of it is as firm and enduring as a +rock. In the farmhouse built on its massive platform several +generations have lived and died. They have eaten and drunk, they have +married and been given in marriage, they have cultivated their vines +and olives and consumed their products. And all the time their home +and their field of labour have been on a tomb! I did not see the +tenants of this curious dwelling during my visit; but if the skeleton +at the Egyptian feast was a useful reminder of human mortality to the +revellers, one would suppose that the thought of the peculiar +character of their home would be sufficient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span> to impart a soberer hue +to their lives. What is our earth itself but, on a vaster scale, a +<i>Casale Rotondo</i>—a garden in a sepulchre—where the dust we tread on +was once alive; and we reap our daily bread from human mould—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Earth builds on the earth castles and towers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Earth says to the earth—All shall be ours."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>At a distance of about seven minutes' walk is an enormous circular +tomb, with a medieval tower of lava stones erected upon it, called the +<i>Torre di Selce</i>; but there is nothing to indicate who was interred in +it, though it must have been a person of some celebrity at the time. +An inscription upon a tomb beside it naively tells the passer-by to +respect the last resting-place of one who had a shop on the <i>Via +Sacra</i>, where he sold jewellery and millinery, and was held in much +estimation by his customers. Beyond this point there is nothing of any +special interest to arrest our attention, till we come to a +considerable mass of ruins, consisting of broken Doric columns of +peperino, part of a rough mosaic floor and brick pavement, and +fragments of walls lined with tufa squares in the <i>opus reticulatum</i> +pattern. These remains are supposed to mark the spot on which stood +the Temple of Hercules, erected by Domitian, and alluded to in one of +the epigrams of the poet Martial. Near this spot are the tomb of the +consul Quintus Veranius, who died in Britain in the year 55 of our +era; a lofty circular tomb, to some one unknown, with a rude +shepherd's hut on the top of it, to which the peasants have given the +name of Torraccio; and the tomb of a marble contractor. It may be +remarked, in connection with this last mentioned tomb, that a Roman +statuary had his workshops for the manufacture of sepulchral monuments +and sarcophagi on the Appian Way, which were of great extent, judging +from the quantity of sculpture, finished and unfinished, found on the +spot. All the sculpture was manifestly copied from Greek originals, +for it is hardly conceivable that such groupings and expressions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> as +we see in these bad copies could have been first executed by such +inferior artists. In this neighbourhood were the villa and farm of the +poet Persius, and portions of the wall are still standing. At the +ninth milestone are the tomb and the remains of the villa of the +Emperor Gallienus, slain by a conspiracy among his officers at the +siege of Milan in the year 268. This emperor has left nothing behind +but the memory of his luxury and his vices. When the site of the villa +was excavated by an English artist, Gavin Hamilton, at the end of last +century, the famous statue of the Discobolus and several other +specimens of ancient sculpture were discovered, which are now in the +Vatican Gallery. The ground hereabouts produces a whitish +efflorescence, and emits a most offensive sulphurous smell. It +exhibits the same evidences of recent volcanic activity as the +neighbourhood of Lakes Tartarus and Solfatara on the way to Tivoli.</p> + +<p>The road after this descends into a valley, through which the stream +of the Ponticello flows, passing a most massive circular tomb, +reminding one of the mounds of the Horatii and Curiatii; and as it +ascends gradually on the opposite side, two huge sepulchres of the +Imperial period—one on the right hand and the other on the +left—attract notice, and are the last on this part of the route. The +railway to Naples passes across the road at the eleventh milestone, +and disturbs the solemn silence three or four times a day by its +incongruous noise. Beyond this is the osteria and village of +Frattocchie, where the old Appian Way merges into the new, and ascends +continuously to Albano. This neighbourhood is full of historical +associations. It was at Frattocchie that the body of Clodius was left +lying on the road after his fatal encounter with Milo. This fray +furnished the occasion for one of Cicero's most eloquent +speeches,—that in defence of Milo,—which was written, but owing to +the disturbances in the Forum at the time was not delivered. On the +left of the village, near a railway bridge and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span> several quarries of +very old hard lava, is the site of Appiolæ, one of the cities of the +Latin League, destroyed by Tarquinius Priscus. All the male population +were killed, and the women and children transferred to Rome; and with +the spoils the Capitolium was completed. The remains of the old city +are very slight, consisting of a wall, a few vestiges of a temple, and +some foundations on a cliff surrounded by a stream, which could be +dammed up and flooded so as to form a fosse. On the right of +Frattocchie are the ruins of <i>Bovillæ</i>, taken and plundered by +Coriolanus, and deserted in the time of Cicero. Some arches of the +corridor of an amphitheatre, a reservoir for water, tolerably perfect, +and a circus, are still visible. There are also the ruins of a forum. +The view, looking back from this elevated position upon the long +course of the Appian Way, is exceedingly striking. One feels, when +gazing on the long perspective of rugged and mouldering sepulchres, +the full force of the name <i>Strada del Diavolo</i> which the peasants +give to this street of tombs; and can sympathise with the sentiment +that made Charles Dickens say, when standing here at sunset, after +having walked all the way from Rome, "I almost felt as if the sun +would never rise again, but look its last that night upon a ruined +world."</p> + +<p>We can picture St. Paul's memorable journey from Puteoli to Rome by +this route. The thought that the eye of the great apostle must have +rested upon the same features of the landscape, and many of the same +objects, though now in ruins, that we still behold, invests them with +an indescribable charm. From beyond the gates of Albano, near which +stood the lofty tomb of Pompey, whose ashes had only recently been +brought from the scene of his murder in Egypt, by his devoted wife +Cornelia, he would obtain his first glimpse of Rome. And if now it is +the most thrilling moment in a man's life to see Rome in its ruin, +what must it have been to see it then in its glory! We can imagine +that, with the profound emotion of his Master when gazing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> upon the +splendour of Jerusalem from the slope of Olivet, St. Paul would look +down from that spot on the capital of the world, and see before him +the signs of a magnificence never before or since equalled; but alas! +as he knew well, a magnificence that was only the iridescence of +social and spiritual corruption, as the pomp of the sepulchres of the +Appian Way was but the shroud of death. Doubtless with a sad and +pitying heart, he would be led by the cohort of soldiers along the +street of tombs, then the most crowded approach to a city of nearly +two millions of souls; tombs whose massiveness and solidity were but a +vain craving for immortality, and whose epitaphs were the most deeply +touching of all epitaphs, on account of the profound despair with +which they bade their eternal farewell. Entering into Rome through the +Porta Capena; and winding through the valley between the Coelian and +Aventine hills, crowded with temples and palaces, he would be brought +to the Forum, then a scene of indescribable grandeur; and from thence +he would be finally transferred to the charge of Burrus, the prefect +of the imperial guards, at the prætorium of Nero's palace, on the +Palatine. And here he disappears from our view. We only know of a +certainty that for two whole years "he dwelt in his own hired house, +and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, +and teaching those things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all +confidence, no man forbidding him."</p> + +<p>Of all the splendid associations of the Appian Way, along which +history may be said to have marched exclusively for nigh six hundred +years, the most splendid by far is its connection with this +ever-memorable journey of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. We can +trace the influence of the scenes and objects along the route in all +his subsequent writings. He had a deeper yearning for the Gentiles, +because he thus beheld with his own eyes the places associated with +the darkest aspects of paganism; the scenes that gave rise to the +pagan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> ideas of heaven and hell; the splendid temples in which the +human soul had debased itself to objects beneath the dignity of its +own nature, and thus prepared itself for all moral corruption; and the +massive sepulchral monuments in which the hopeless despair of +heathenism had, as it were, become petrified by the Gorgon gaze of +death. That Appian Way should be to us the most interesting of all the +roads of the world; for by it came to us our civilisation and +Christianity—the divine principles and hopes that redeem the soul, +retrieve the vanity of existence, open up the path of life through the +dark valley of death, and disclose the glorious vista of immortality +beyond the tomb. And as we gaze upon the remains of that road, and +feel how much we owe to it as the material channel of God's grace to +us who were far off, we can say with deepest gratitude of those +apostles and martyrs who once walked on this lava pavement, but are +now standing on the sea of glass before the throne, "How beautiful are +the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad +tidings of good things!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE CUMÆAN SIBYL</h3> + + +<p>A part of the monotonous coast-line of Palestine extends into the +Mediterranean considerably beyond the rest at Carmel. In this bluff +promontory the Holy Land reaches out, as it were, towards the Western +World; and like a tie-stone that projects from the gable of the first +of a row of houses, indicating that other buildings are to be added, +it shows that the inheritance of Israel was not meant to be always +exclusive, but was destined to comprehend all the countries which its +faith should annex. The remarkable geographical position of this long +projecting ridge by the sea—itself a symbol and prophecy—and its +peculiar physical features, differing from those of the rest of +Palestine, and approximating to a European type of scenery, early +marked it out as a religious spot. It was held sacred from time +immemorial; an altar existed there long before Elijah's discomfiture +of the priests of Baal; the people were accustomed to resort to the +sanctuary of its "high place" during new moons and Sabbaths; and to +its haunted strand came pilgrims from distant regions, to which the +fame of its sanctity had spread. One of the great schools of the +prophets of Israel, superintended by Elisha, was planted on one of its +mountain prominences. The solitary Elijah found a refuge in its bosom, +and came and went from it to the haunts of men like one of its own +sudden storms; and in its rocky dells and dense thickets of oaks and +ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span>greens were uttered prophecies of a larger history and a grander +salvation, which transcended the narrow circle of Jewish ideas as much +as the excellency of Carmel transcended the other landscapes of +Palestine.</p> + +<p>To this instance of striking correspondence between the peculiar +nature of a spot and its peculiar religious history in Asia, a +parallel may be found in Europe. A part of the long uniform western +coast-line of Italy stretches out into the Mediterranean at Cumæ, near +the city of Naples. Early colonists from Greece, in search of a new +home, found in its bays, islands, and promontories a touching +resemblance to the intricate coast scenery of their own country. On a +solitary rock overlooking the sea they built their citadel and +established their worship. In this rock was the traditional cave of +the Cumæan Sibyl, where she gave utterance to the inspirations of +pagan prophecy a thousand years before St. John received the visions +of the Apocalypse on the lone heights of the Ægean isle. The +promontory of Cumæ, like that of Carmel, typified the onward course of +history and religion—a great advance in men's ideas upon those of the +past. The western sea-board is the historic side of Italy. All its +great cities and renowned sites are on the western side of the +Apennines; the other side, looking eastward, with the exception of +Venice and Ravenna, containing hardly any place that stands out +prominently in the history of the world. And at Cumæ this western +tendency of Italy was most pronounced. On this westmost promontory of +the beautiful land—the farthest point reached by the oldest +civilisation of Egypt and Greece—the Sibyl stood on her watch-tower, +and gazed with prophetic eye upon the distant horizon, seeing beyond +the light of the setting sun and "the baths of all the western stars" +the dawn of a more wonderful future, and dreamt of a—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Vast brotherhood of hearts and hands,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Choir of a world in perfect tune."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Cumæ is only five miles distant from Puteoli, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> about thirteen west +of Naples. But it lies so much out of the way that it is difficult to +combine it with the other famous localities in this classic +neighbourhood in one day's excursion, and hence it is very often +omitted. It amply, however, repays a special visit, not so much by +what it reveals as by what it suggests. There are two ways by which it +can be approached, either by the <i>Via Cumana</i>, which gradually ascends +from Puteoli along the ridge of the low volcanic hills on the western +side of Lake Avernus, and passes under the Arco Felice, a huge brick +arch, evidently a fragment of an ancient Roman aqueduct, spanning a +ravine at a great height; or directly from the western shore of Lake +Avernus, by an ancient road paved with blocks of lava, and leading +through an enormous tunnel, called the <i>Grotta de Pietro Pace</i>, about +three-quarters of a mile long, lighted at intervals by shafts from +above, said to have been excavated by Agrippa. Both ways are deeply +interesting; but the latter is perhaps preferable because of the +saving of time and trouble which it effects.</p> + +<p>The first glimpse of Cumæ, though very impressive to the imagination, +is not equally so to the eye. Crossing some cultivated fields, a bold +eminence of trachytic tufa, covered with scanty grass and tufts of +brushwood, rises between you and the sea, forming part of a range of +low hills, which evidently mark the ancient coast-line. On this +elevated plateau, commanding a most splendid view of the blue, sunlit +Mediterranean as far as Gaeta and the Ponza Islands, stood the almost +mythical city; and crowning its highest point, where a rocky +escarpment, broken down on every side except on the south, by which it +can be ascended, the massive foundations of the walls of the Acropolis +may still be traced throughout their whole extent. Very few relics of +the original Greek colony survive; and these have to be sought chiefly +underneath the remains of Roman-Gothic and medieval dynasties, which +successively occupied the place, and partially obliterated each other, +like the different layers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> of writing in a palimpsest. Time and the +passions of man have dealt more ruthlessly with this than with almost +any other of the renowned spots of Italy. Some fragments of the +ancient fortifications, a confused and scattered heap of ruins within +the line of the city walls, and a portion of a fluted column, and a +single Doric capital of the grand old style, supposed to belong to the +temple of Apollo, on the summit of the Acropolis, are all that meet +the eye to remind us of this home of ancient faith and prophecy. In +the plain at the foot of the rock is the Necropolis of Cumæ, the most +ancient burial-place in Italy, from whose rifled Greek graves a most +valuable collection of archaic vases and personal ornaments were +obtained and transferred to the museums of Naples, Paris, and St. +Petersburg; but the tombs themselves have now been destroyed, and only +a few marble fragments of Roman sepulchral decoration scattered around +indicate the spot. And not far off, partially concealed by earth and +underwood, may be seen the ruins of the amphitheatre, with its +twenty-one tiers of seats leading down to the arena.</p> + +<p>You look in vain for any trace of the sanctuary of the most celebrated +of the Sibyls. Her tomb is pointed out as a vague ruin a short +distance from the Necropolis, among the tombs which line the Via +Domitiana; and Justin Martyr and Pausanias both describe a round +cinerary urn found in this spot which was said to have contained her +ashes. The tufa rock of the Acropolis is pierced with numerous dark +caverns and labyrinthine passages, the work of prehistoric +inhabitants, which have only been partially explored on account of the +difficulty and danger, and any one of which might have been the abode +of the prophetess. A larger excavation in the side of the hill facing +the sea, with a flight of steps leading up from it into another +smaller recess, and numerous lateral openings and subterranean +passages, supposed to penetrate into the very heart of the mountain, +and even to communicate with Lake Fusaro, is pointed out by the local<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span> +guides as the Sibyl's Cave, which, as Virgil tells us, had a hundred +entrances and issues, from whence as many resounding voices echoed +forth the oracles of the inspired priestess. But we are confused in +our efforts at identification; for another cavern bore this name in +former ages, which was destroyed by the explosion of the combustible +materials with which Narses filled it in undermining the citadel. +This, we have reason to believe, was the cave which Justin Martyr +visited more than seventeen hundred years ago, and of which he has +left behind a most interesting account. "We saw," he says, "when we +were in Cumæ, a place where a sanctuary is hollowed in the rock—a +thing really wonderful and worthy of all admiration. Here the Sibyl +delivered her oracles, we were told by those who had received them +from their ancestors, and who kept them even as their patrimony. Also, +in the middle of the sanctuary, they showed us three receptacles cut +in the same rock, and in which, they being filled with water, she +bathed, as they said, and when she resumed her garments, she retired +into the inner part of the sanctuary, likewise cut in the same rock, +and there being seated on a high place in the centre, she prophesied." +But after all you do not care to fasten your attention upon any +particular spot, for you feel that the whole place is overshadowed by +the presence of this mysterious being; and rock, and hill, and bush +are invested with an air of solemn majesty, and with the memory of an +ancient sanctity.</p> + +<p>Nature has taken back the ruins of Cumæ so completely to her own +bosom, that it is difficult to believe that on this desolate spot once +stood one of the most powerful cities of antiquity, which colonised a +large part of Southern Italy. A sad, lonely, fateful place it is, +haunted for ever by the gods of old, the dreams of men. A silence, +almost painful in its intensity, broods over its deserted fields; +hardly a living thing disturbs the solitude; and the traces of man's +occupancy are few and faint. The air seems heavy with the breath of +the malaria; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> no one would care to run the risk of fever by +lingering on the spot to watch the sunset gilding the gloom of the +Acropolis with a halo of kindred radiance. Every breeze that stirs the +tall grasses and the leaves of the brushwood of the dismantled citadel +has a wail in it; the long-drawn murmur of the peaceful sea at the +foot of the hill comes up with a melancholy cadence to the ear; and +even on the beautiful cyclamens and veronicas that strive to enliven +the ruins of the temples of Apollo and Serapis, emblems of the +immortal youth and signs of the renewing power of Nature as they are, +has fallen the gray shadow of the past. Each pathetic bit of ruin has +about it the consciousness of an almost fabulous antiquity, and by its +very vagueness appeals more powerfully to the imagination than any +historical associations. "Time here seems to have folded its wings." +In the immemorial calm that is in the air a thousand years seem as one +day. Through all the dim ages no feature of its rugged face has +changed; and all the potent spell of summer noons can only win from it +a languid smile of faintest verdure. The sight of the scanty walls and +scattered bits of Greek sculpture here take you back to the speechless +ages that have left no other memorials of their activity. What is fact +and what is fable it were difficult to tell in this far-away +borderland where they seem to blend. And I do not envy the man who is +not deeply moved at the thought of the simple, old-world piety that +placed a holy presence in this solitary spot, and of the tender awe +with which the mysterious divinity of Cumæ was worshipped by +generations of like passions and sorrows with ourselves—whose very +graves under the shadow of this romantic hill had vanished long ages +before our history had begun.</p> + +<p>Every schoolboy is familiar with the picturesque Roman legend of the +Sibyl. It is variously told in connection with the elder and the later +Tarquin, the two Etruscan kings of Rome; and the scene of it is laid +by some in Cumæ—where Tarquinius Superbus spent the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> last years of +his life in exile—and by others in Rome. But the majority of writers +associate it with the building of the great temple of Jupiter on the +Capitoline Hill. Several prodigies, significant of the future fate of +Rome and of the reigning dynasty, occurred when the foundations of +this temple were dug and the walls of it built. A fresh human head, +dripping gore, was found deep down beneath the earth, which implied +that this spot was destined to become the head of the whole world; and +hence the old name of the "Saturnine Hill" was changed to the +"Capitoline." All the gods who had been worshipped from time +immemorial on this hill, when consulted by auguries, gave permission +for the removal of their shrines and altars in order that room might +be provided for the gigantic temple of the great Ruler of the gods, +save Terminus and Youth, who refused to abandon the sacred spot, and +whose obstinacy was therefore regarded as a sign that the boundaries +of the city should never be removed, and that her youth would be +perpetually renewed. But a still more wonderful sign of the future of +Rome was given on this occasion. A mysterious woman, endowed with +preternatural longevity—believed to be no other than Deiphobe, the +Cumæan Sibyl herself, the daughter of Circe and Gnostus, who had been +the guide of Æneas into the world of the dead—appeared before Tarquin +and offered him for a certain price nine books, which contained her +prophecies in mystic rhyme. Tarquin, ignorant of the value of the +books, refused to buy them. The Sibyl departed, and burned three of +them. Coming back immediately, she offered the remaining six at the +same price that she had asked for the nine. Tarquin again refused; +whereupon the Sibyl burned three more volumes, and returning the third +time, made the same demand for the reduced remnant. Struck with the +singularity of the proceeding, the king consulted the augurs; and +learning from them the inestimable preciousness of the books, he +bought them, and the Sibyl forthwith vanished as mysteriously as she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> +had appeared. This legend reads like a moral apothegm on the +increasing value of life as it passes away.</p> + +<p>Whatever credence we may attach to this account of their origin—or +rather, whatever sediment of historical truth may have been +precipitated in the fable—there can be no doubt that the so-called +Sibylline books of Rome did actually exist, and that for a very long +period they were held in the highest veneration. They were concealed +in a stone chest, buried under the ground, in the temple of Jupiter, +on the Capitol. Two officers of the highest rank were appointed to +guard them, whose punishment, if found unfaithful to their trust, was +to be sewed up alive in a sack and thrown into the sea. The number of +guardians was afterwards increased, at first to ten and then to +fifteen, whose priesthood was for life, and who in consequence were +exempted from the obligation of serving in the army and from other +public offices in the city. Being regarded as the priests of Apollo, +they had each in front of his house a brazen tripod, similar to that +on which the priestess of Delphi sat.</p> + +<p>The contents of the Sibylline books, being supposed to contain the +fate of the Roman Empire, were kept a profound secret, and only on +occasions of public danger or calamity, and by special order of the +senate, were they allowed to be consulted. When the Capitol was burned +in the Marsic war, eighty-two years before Christ, they perished in +the flames: but so seriously was the loss regarded that ambassadors +were sent to Greece, Asia Minor, and Cumæ, wherever Sibylline +inspiration was supposed to exist, to collect the prophetic oracles, +and thus make up as far as possible for what had been lost. In Cumæ +nothing was discovered; but at Erythræa and Samos a large number of +mystic verses, said to have been composed by the Sibyl, were found. +Some of them were collected into a volume, after having been purged +from all spurious or suspected elements; and the volume was brought to +Rome, and deposited in two gilt cases at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span> the base of the statue of +Apollo, in the temple of that god on the Palatine.</p> + +<p>More than two thousand prophetic books, pretending to be Sibylline +oracles, were found by Augustus in the possession of private persons; +and these were condemned to be burned, and in future no private person +was allowed to keep any writings of the kind. But in spite of every +attempt to authenticate the books that were publicly accepted, the new +collection was never regarded with the same veneration as the original +volumes of Tarquin which it replaced. A certain suspicion of +spuriousness continued to cling to it, and greatly diminished its +authority. It was seldom consulted. The Roman emperors after +Tiberius—who still further sifted it—utterly neglected the +received collection; and not till shortly before the fatal battle of +the Milvian Bridge, which overthrew paganism, was it again brought +out, by Maxentius, for the purpose of indicating the fate of the +enterprise. Julian the Apostate, in his attempt to galvanise the dead +pagan religion into the semblance of life, sought to revive an +interest in the Sibylline oracles, which were so closely identified +with the political and religious fortunes of Rome. But his effort was +vain: they fell into greater oblivion than before; and at last they +were publicly burned by Stilicho, the father-in-law of the Emperor +Honorius—called the Defender of Italy—whose own execution as a +traitor at Ravenna shortly afterwards was considered by the pagan +zealots as the just vengeance of the gods on his dreadful sacrilege.</p> + +<p>Unlike the Jewish and Indian faiths, the Greek and Roman religions had +no authoritative writings, and were not embodied in a system of +elaborate dogmas. The Sibylline oracles may therefore be said to have +formed their sacred scriptures, and to have served the purpose of a +common religious creed in securing national unity. The original books +of the Cumæan Sibyl were written in Greek, which was the language of +the whole of the south of Italy at that time. The oracles were +inscribed upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> palm leaves; to which circumstance Virgil alludes in +his description of the sayings of the Cumæan Sibyl being written upon +the leaves of the forest. They were in the form of acrostic verses; +the letters of the first verse of each oracle containing in regular +sequence the initial letters of all the subsequent verses. They were +full of enigmas and mysterious analogies, founded upon the numerical +value of the initial letters of certain names. It is supposed that +they contained not so much predictions of future events, as directions +regarding the means by which the wrath of the gods, as revealed by +prodigies and calamities, might be appeased. They seemed to have been +consulted in the same way as Eastern nations consult the Koran and +Hafiz. There was no attempt made to find a passage suitable to the +occasion, but one of the palm leaves after being shuffled was selected +at random. To this custom of drawing fateful leaves from the Sibylline +books—called in consequence <i>sortes sibyllinæ</i>—there is frequent +allusion by classic authors. We know that the writings of Homer and +Virgil were thus treated. The elevation of Septimius Severus to the +throne of the Roman Empire was supposed to have been foretold by the +circumstance that he opened by chance the writings of Lampridius at +the verse, "Remember, Roman, with imperial sway to rule the people." +The Bible itself was used by the early Christians for such purposes of +divination. St. Augustine, though he condemned the practice as an +abuse of the Divine Word, yet preferred that men should have recourse +to the Gospels rather than to heathen works. Heraclius is reported by +Cedrenus to have asked counsel of the New Testament, and to have been +thereby persuaded to winter in Albania. Nicephorus Gregoras frequently +opened his Psalter at random in order that there he might find support +in the trial under which he laboured. And even in these enlightened +days, it is by no means rare to find superstitious men and women using +the sacred Scriptures as the old Greeks and Romans used the Sibylline<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> +oracles—dipping into them by chance for indications of the Divine +Will.</p> + +<p>The Cumæan Sibyl was not the only prophetess of the kind. There were +no less than ten females, endowed with the gift of prevision, and held +in high repute, to whom the name of Sibyl was given. We read of the +Persian Sibyl, the Libyan, the Delphic, the Erythræan, the +Hellespontine, the Phrygian, and the Tiburtine. With the name of the +last-mentioned Sibyl tourists make acquaintance at Tivoli. Two ancient +temples in tolerable preservation are still standing on the very edge +of the deep rocky ravine through which the Anio pours its foaming +flood. The one is a small circular building, with ten pillars +surrounding the broken-down cella, whose familiar appearance is often +represented in plaster models and bronze and marble ornamental +articles, taken home as souvenirs by travellers; and the other stands +close by, and has been transformed into the present church of St. +Giorgio. This latter temple is supposed, from a bas-relief found in +it, representing the Sibyl sitting in the act of delivering an oracle, +to be the ancient shrine of the Sibyl Albunea mentioned by Horace, +Tibullus, and Lactantius. The earliest bronze statues at Rome were +those of the three Sibyls, placed near the Rostra, in the middle of +the Forum. No specimens of the literature of Rome precede the +Sibylline books, except the rude hymn known as the Litany of the Arval +Brothers, dating from the time of Romulus himself, which is simply an +address to Mars, the Lares, and the Semones, praying for fair weather +and for protection to the flocks. And it is thus most interesting to +notice that the two compositions which lay at the foundation of all +the splendid Latin literature of later ages were of an eminently +religious character.</p> + +<p>One of the most remarkable things connected with the pagan Sibyls were +the apocryphal Jewish and Christian prophecies to which they gave +rise. When the sacred oak of Dodona perished down to the ground, out +of its roots sprang up a fresh growth of fictitious prophetic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> +literature. This literature emanated from different nationalities and +different schools of thought. It combined classical story and +Scripture tradition. Most of it was the product of pre-Christian +Judaism, and seemed to have been composed in times of great national +excitement. The misery of the present, the prospect still more gloomy +beyond, impelled its authors to anxious inquiries into the future. The +books were written, like the genuine Sibylline books, in the metrical +form, which the old Greek tradition had consecrated to religious use; +and their style so closely resembled that of the Apocalypse and the +Old Testament prophecies, that some pagan writers who accepted them as +genuine did not hesitate to say that the writers of the Bible had +plagiarised parts of their prophecies from the oracles of the Sibyls.</p> + +<p>Few fragments of the genuine Sibylline books remain to us, and these +are to be found chiefly in the writings of Ovid and Virgil, whose +"Golden Age" and well-known "Fourth Eclogue" were greatly indebted for +their materials to them. But we possess a large collection of the +Judæo-Christian oracles, which were probably gathered together by some +unknown editor in the seventh century. Originally there were fourteen +books of unequal antiquity and value, but some of them have been lost. +Cardinal Angelo Mai discovered in the Ambrosian Library at Milan a +manuscript which contained the eleventh book entire, besides a portion +of the sixth and eighth books; and a few years later, among the secret +stores of the Vatican Library, he found two other manuscripts which +contained entire the last four books of the collection. These were +published in Rome in 1828. The best edition of all the extant books is +that which M. Alexandre issued in Paris, under the name of <i>Oracula +Sibyllina</i>. This editor exaggerates the extent of the Christian +element in the Sibylline prophecies; but his dissertation on the +origin and value of the several portions of the books is exceedingly +interesting. The oldest book is undoubtedly the third, part of which +is preserved in the writings of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> Theophilus of Antioch, and originally +consisted of one thousand verses, most of which we possess. It was +probably composed at the beginning of the Maccabean period, about 146 +B.C., when Ptolemy VII. (Physcon) had become king of Egypt, and the +bitter enemy of the Jews in Alexandria, and when the Jewish nation in +Palestine had been rejoicing in their independence, through the +overthrow of the empire of the Seleucidæ by the usurper Tryphon. The +fourth book was written soon after the eruption of Vesuvius in the +year of our era 79, and is a most interesting record of Jewish +Essenism. It contains the first anticipation of the return of Nero, +but in a Jewish form, without Nero's death and resuscitation. The last +of the Sibylline books seems to have been written about the beginning +of the seventh century, and was directed against the new creed of +Islam, which had suddenly sprung up, and in its fierce fanaticism was +carrying everything before it. In this apocalyptic literature—the +last growth of Judaism—the voice of paganism itself was employed to +witness for the supremacy of the Jewish religion. It embraces all +history in one great theocratic view, and completes the picture of the +Jewish triumph by the prophecy of a great Deliverer, who shall +establish the Jewish law as the rule of the whole earth, and shall +destroy with a fiery flood all that is corrupt and perishable. In +these respects the Jewish Sibylline oracles have an interesting +connection with other apocryphal Jewish writings, such as the Fourth +Book of Esdras, the Apocalypse of Henoch, and the Book of Jubilees; +and they may all be regarded as attempts to carry down the spirit of +prophecy beyond the canonical Scriptures, and to furnish a supplement +to them.</p> + +<p>So highly prized was this group of apocryphal Jewish oracles by the +primitive Christians, that several new ones were added to them by +Christian hands which have not come down to us in their original +state. They were regarded as genuine productions, possessing an +independent authority which, if not divine, was certainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> +supernatural; and some did not hesitate even to place them by the side +of the Old Testament prophecies. In the very earliest controversies +between Christians and the advocates of paganism, they were appealed +to frequently as authorities which both recognised. Christian +apologists of the second century, such as Tatian, Athenagoras, and +very specially Justin Martyr, implicitly relied upon them as +indisputable. Even the oracles of the pagan Sibyl were regarded by +Christian writers with an awe and reverence little short of that which +they inspired in the minds of the heathen themselves. Clement of +Alexandria does not scruple to call the Cumæan Sibyl a true +prophetess, and her oracles saving canticles. And St. Augustine +includes her among the number of those who belong to the "City of +God." And this idea of the Sibyl's sacredness continued to a late age +in the Christian Church. She had a place in the prophetic order beside +the patriarchs and prophets of old, and joined in the great procession +of the witnesses for the faith from Seth and Enoch down to the last +Christian saint and martyr. In one of the grandest hymns of the Roman +Catholic Church, composed by Tommaso di Celano at the beginning of the +fourteenth century, there is an allusion to her, taken from the +well-known acrostic in the last judgment scene in the eighth book of +the <i>Oracula Sibyllina</i>—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Dies iræ, dies illa,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Solvet sæclum in favilla,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Teste David cum <i>Sibylla</i>."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The strange Italian mystic of the fifteenth century, Pico della +Mirandola, who sought to reconcile the Christian sentiment with the +imagery and legends of pagan religion, rehabilitated the Sibyl, and +consecrated her as the servant of the Lord Jesus. And he was but a +specimen of the many <i>humanists</i> of that age who believed that no +oracle that had once spoken to living men and women could ever wholly +lose its vitality. Like the Delphic Pythia, old, but clothed as a +maiden, the ancient Sibyl appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> to them in the garments of +immortal youth, with the charm of her early prime.</p> + +<p>The dim old church of Ara Coeli in Rome, which occupies the site of +the celebrated temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, and in which Gibbon +conceived the idea of his great work on the <i>Decline and Fall of the +Roman Empire</i>, is said to have derived its name from an altar bearing +the inscription, "Ara Primogeniti Dei," erected in this place by +Augustus, to commemorate the Sibylline prophecy of the coming of our +Saviour. She was a favourite subject of Christian art in the middle +ages, and was introduced by almost every celebrated painter, along +with the prophets and apostles, into the cyclical decorations of the +Church. Every visitor to Rome knows the fine picture of the Sibyls by +Pinturicchio, on the tribune behind the high altar of the Church of +St. Onofrio, where Tasso was buried; and also the still grander head +of the Cumæan Sibyl, with its flowing turban by Domenichino, in the +great picture gallery of the Borghese Palace. But the highest honour +ever conferred upon the Sibyls was that which Michael Angelo bestowed +when he painted them on the spandrils of the wonderful roof of the +Sistine Chapel. These mysterious beings formed most congenial subjects +for the mystic pencil of the great Florentine, and therefore they are +more characteristic of his genius than almost any other of his works. +He has painted them along with the greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, +Ezekiel, Daniel, Jonah, in throne-like niches surrounding the +different incidents of the creation. They look like presiding deities, +remote from all human weaknesses, and wearing on their faces an air of +profound mystery. They are invested, not with the calm, superficial, +unconscious beauty of pagan art, but with the solemn earnestness and +travail of soul characteristic of the Christian creed, wrinkled and +saddened with thought and worn out with vigils; and are striking +examples of the truth, that while each human being can bear his own +burden, the burden of the world's mystery and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span> pain crushes us to the +earth. The Persian Sibyl, the oldest of the weird sisterhood, to whom +the sunset of life had given mystical lore, holds a book close to her +eyes, as if from dimness of vision; the Libyan Sibyl lifts a massive +volume above her head on to her knees; the Cumæan Sibyl intently reads +her book at a distance from her dilated eyes; the Erythræan Sibyl, +bareheaded, is about to turn over the page of her book; while the +Delphic Sibyl, like Cassandra the youngest and most human-looking of +them all, holds a scroll in her hand, and gazes with a dreamy +mournfulness into the far futurity. These splendid creations would +abundantly reward the minute study of many days. They show how +thoroughly the great painter had entered into the history and spirit +of these mysterious prophetesses, who, while they bore the sins and +sorrows of a corrupt world, had power to look for consolation into the +secrets of the future.</p> + +<p>Very beautiful was this reverence paid to the Sibyl amid all the +idolatries of paganism and the corruptions of later Judaism. We may +regard it as a relic of the early piety of the world. One who could +pass over the interests and distractions of her own time, and fix her +gaze upon the distant future, must have seemed far removed from the +common order of mankind, who live exclusively in the present, and can +imagine no other or higher state of things than they see around them. +Standing as the heirs of all the ages on this elevated vantage-ground +and looking back upon the long course of the centuries—upon the +eventful future of the Sibyl, which is the past to us—it seems a +matter of course that the world should have spun down the ringing +grooves of change as it has done; and we fancy that this must have +been obvious to the world's gray fathers. But though the age of the +Sibyl seemed the very threshold of time, there was nothing to indicate +this to her, nothing to show that she lived in the youth of the world, +and that it was destined to ripen and expand with the process of the +suns. The same horizon that bounds us in these last days, bound<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> her +view in these early days; and things seemed as fully developed and +stereotyped then as now, and to-morrow promised to be only a +repetition of to-day. To realise, therefore, that the world had a +future, and to take the trouble of thinking what would happen a +thousand years off, indicated no common habit of mind.</p> + +<p>And we are the more impressed by it when we consider the spots +bewitched by the spell of Circe where it was exercised. That persons +dwelling in lonely, northern isles, where the long wash of the waves +upon the shore, and the wild wail of the wind in mountain corries +stimulated the imagination, and seemed like voices from another world, +should see visions and dream dreams, does not surprise us. The power +of second sight may seem natural to spots where nature is mysterious +and solemn, and full of change and sudden transitions from storm to +calm and from sunshine to gloom. But at Cumæ there is a perpetual +peace, an unchanging monotony. The same cloudless sky overarches the +earth day after day, and dyes to celestial blue the same placid sea +that sleeps beside its shore. The fields are drowsy at noon with the +same stagnant sunshine; and the same purple glory lies at sunset on +the entranced hills; and the olive and the myrtle bloom through the +even months with no fading or brightening tint on leaf or stem; and +each day is the twin of that which has gone before. Nature in such a +region is transparent. No mist, or cloud, or shadow hides her secrets. +There is no subtle joy of despair and hope, of decay and growth, +connected with the passing of the seasons. In this Arcadian clime we +should expect Nature to lull the soul into the sleep of contentment on +her lap; and in its perpetual summer happy shepherds might sing +eclogues for ever, and, satisfied with the present, have no hope or +wish for the future. How wonderful, then, that in such a charmed +lotus-land we should meet with the mysterious unrest of soul, and the +fixed onward look of the Sibyl to times widely different from her +own.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span></p> + +<p>And not only is this forward-looking gaze of the Sibyl contrary to +what we should have expected in such a changeless land of beauty and +ease; it is also contrary to what we should have expected from the +paganism of the people. It is characteristic of the Greek religion, as +indeed of all heathen religions, that its golden age should be in the +past. It instinctively clings to the memory of a former happier time, +and shrinks from the unknown future. Its piety ever looks backward, +and aspires to present safety or enjoyment by a faithful imitation of +an imaginary past. It is always "returning on the old well-worn path +to the paradise of its childhood," and contrasting the gloom that +overhangs the present with the radiance that shone on the morning +lands. In every crisis of terror or disaster it turns with unutterable +yearnings to the tradition of the happy age. Or, if it does look +forward to the future, it always pictures "the restoration of the old +Saturnian reign"; it has no standard of future excellence or future +blessedness to attain to, and no yearnings for consummation and +perfection hereafter. The very name given to the south of Italy was +Hesperia, the "Land of the Evening Star," as if in token of its +exhausted history; and it was regarded as the scene of the fabled +golden age from which Saturn and the ancient deities had been expelled +by Jupiter. But contrary to this pagan instinct, the Cumæan Sibyl +stretched forward to a distant heaven of her aspirations and hopes—to +a nobler future of the world, not sentimental and idyllic, but epic +and heroic. She pictured the blessing or restoration of this earth +itself as distinct from an invisible world of happiness. And in this +respect she is more in sympathy with the Jewish and Christian +religions than with her own. The golden age of the Hebrews was in the +future, and was connected with the coming of the Messiah, who should +restore the kingdom again unto Israel. And the characteristic of the +Christian religion is hope, the expectation of the times of the +restitution of all things, and the realisation of the "one far-off +divine event to which the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span> creation moves." It is this hopeful +element pervading them that gives to the lively oracles of Holy +Scripture the triumphant tone which distinguishes them so markedly +from the desponding spirit of all false religions, ancient and modern.</p> + +<p>The subject of the Sibyl brings us to the vexed question of the +connection between pagan and Hebrew prophecy. How are we to regard the +vaticinations of the heathen oracle? That the great mass of the +Sibylline books is spurious is glaringly obvious. But there is a +primitive residuum which seems to remind us that the spirit of early +prophecy still retained its hold over human nature amid all the +corruptions of heathendom, and secured for the Sibyl a sacred rank and +authority. We have seen with what reverence the greatest fathers of +the Christian Church regarded her. While there was undoubtedly much +delusion and deception, conscious or unconscious, mixed up with it, we +are constrained at the same time to acknowledge that there was some +reality in this prophetic element of paganism, which cannot be +explained away as the result of mere political or intellectual +foresight or accidental coincidence. It was not all imposture. As a +ray of light is contained in all that shines, so a ray of God's truth +was reflected in what was best in this pagan prophecy. The fulfilment +of many of the ancient oracles cannot be denied without a perversion +of all history. There was no doubt an immense difference between the +Hebrew prophets and the pagan Sibyl. The predictions of the Sibyl were +accompanied by strange fantastic circumstances, and wore the +appearance of a blind caprice or arbitrary fate; whereas the +announcements of the Hebrew prophets, founded upon the denunciation of +moral evil and the reign of sacred and peremptory principles of +righteousness in the world, were calm, dignified, and self-consistent. +But we cannot, notwithstanding, deny to pagan prophecy some share in +the higher influence which inspired and moulded Hebrew prophecy. The +apostle of the Gentiles took this view when he called<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> Epimenides the +Cretan a prophet. The Bible recognises the existence of true prophets +outside the pale of the Jewish Church. Balaam, the son of Beor, was a +heathen living in the mountains beyond the Euphrates; and yet the form +as well as the substance of his prophecy was cast into the same mould +as that of the Hebrew prophets. He is called in the Book of Numbers +"the man whose eyes are open;" and God used this power as His organ of +intercourse with and influence upon the world. The grand record of his +vision is the first example of prophetic utterance respecting the +destinies of the world at large; and we see how the base and +grovelling nature of the man was overpowered by the irresistible force +of the prophetic impulse within him, so that he was constrained to +bless the enemies he was hired to curse. And in this respect he +represents the purest of the ancient heathen oracles; and his answer +to Balak breathes the very essence of prophetic inspiration, and is +far in advance of the spirit and thought of the time, reminding us of +the noble rebuke of the Cumæan Sibyl to Aristodicus, and of the oracle +of Delphi to Glaucus.</p> + +<p>God did not leave the Gentile nations without some glimpses of the +truth which He had revealed so fully and brightly to His own chosen +people. While He was the <i>glory</i> of His people Israel, we must not +forget that He was a light to lighten the Gentiles. He gave to them +oracles and sibyls, who had the "open eye," and saw the vision of the +years, and witnessed to a light shining in the darkness, and brought +God nearer to a faithless world. Beneath the gross external polytheism +of the multitude there were deep, primitive springs of godliness, pure +and undefiled, working out their manifestation in noble lives; and +those who have ears to hear can listen to the sound of these ancient +streams as they flow into the river of life that makes glad the city +of our God. We gain immensely by considering the prophetical spirit of +Israel as a typical endowment, and the training of the Jews in the +household of God, and under His own im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span>mediate eye, as the key to the +right apprehension of the training of Greece and Rome. The unconscious +prophecies of heathendom pointed in their own way, as well as the +articulate divine prophecies of Israel, to the coming of Him who is +the Desire of all nations, and the true Light that lighteth every man +that cometh into the world. The wise men of Greece saw the sign of the +Son of Man in some such way as the Magi saw the star in the East. They +were, according to Hegel's beautiful comparison, "Memnons waiting for +the day." And not without deep significance did the female soothsayer +from the oracle of Dionysius, the prophet-god of the Macedonians, whom +Paul and Silas met when they first landed on European soil, greet them +with the words, "These men are the servants of the most high God, +which show unto us the way of salvation." In that wonderful confession +we recognise the last utterance of the oracle of Delphi and the Sibyl +of Cumæ, as they were cast out by a higher and truer faith. Their +mission was accomplished and their shrine deserted when God's way was +known upon the earth, and His saving health among all nations.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And now another Canaan yields<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To thine all-conquering ark;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fly from the 'old poetic fields,'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ye Paynim shadows dark!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Immortal Greece, dear land of glorious lays,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lo! here the unknown God of thine unconscious praise.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The olive wreath, the ivied wand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'The sword in myrtles drest,'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Each legend of the shadowy strand<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now wakes a vision blest;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As little children lisp, and tell of heaven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So thoughts beyond their thoughts to those high bards were given."<br /></span></div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>FOOTPRINTS IN ROME</h3> + + +<p>In the fork where a cross-road called the Via Ardeatina branches off +from the Appian Way, is a little homely church with the strange name +of "Domine quo Vadis." It is associated with one of the most beautiful +legends of the early Christian Church touchingly told by St. Ambrose. +The Apostle Peter, fleeing from the persecution under Nero that arose +after the burning of Rome, came to this spot; and there he saw a +vision of the Saviour bearing His cross with His face steadfastly set +to go to the city. Filled with wonder and awe, the Apostle exclaimed, +"Domine quo Vadis," Lord, whither goest thou? To which the Saviour +replied, turning upon Peter the old look of mournful pity when he +denied Him in the High Priest's palace at Jerusalem, "Venio Roman +iterum crucifigi," I go to Rome to be crucified a second time—and +then disappeared. Peter regarding this vision as an indication of his +Lord's mind, that he ought not to separate himself from the fortunes +of his fellow-Christians, immediately turned back to the city, and met +with unflinching courage the martyr's death on the yellow sands of +Montorio; being crucified with his head downwards, for he said he was +not worthy to die in the same way as his Master. This legend has been +made the subject of artistic treatment by Michael Angelo, whose famous +statue of our Lord as He appeared in the incident to St. Peter is in +the church of Santa Maria<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> sopra Minerva, and was for many years a +favourite object of worship, until superseded by the predominant +worship of Mary. A cast of this statue stands on the floor in front of +the altar in the church of Domine quo Vadis. It represents our Lord in +the character of a pilgrim, with a long cross in His hand, and an +eager onward look in His face and attitude. It is very simple and +impressive, and tells the story very effectually. Besides this plaster +statue of the Saviour, a circular stone is placed about the centre of +the building, surrounded by a low wooden railing, containing the +prints of two feet side by side, impressed upon its surface, as if a +person had stopped short on a journey. These are said to be the +miraculous prints of the Saviour's feet on the pavement of the road +when He appeared to Peter; but like the copy of Michael Angelo's +statue, this slab is a facsimile, the original stone being preserved +among the relics of the neighbouring basilica of St. Sebastian. +Unwilling as one is to disturb a legend so beautiful, and with so +touching a moral, there can be no doubt that it was an after-thought +to account for the footprints; for the material on which they are +impressed being white marble, proves conclusively that the slab could +never have formed part of the pavement of the Appian Way, which it is +well known was composed of an unusually hard lava, found in a quarry +near the tomb of Cæcilia Metella; and the distinct marks of the chisel +which the impressions bear—for I examined the original footprints +very carefully some years ago—indicate a very earthly origin indeed. +The traditional relic in all probability belonged to the early +subterranean cemetery—leading by a door out of the left aisle of the +church of St. Sebastian, to which the name of Catacomb was originally +applied.</p> + +<p>Slabs with footprints carved upon them are by no means rare in Rome. +In the Kircherian Museum, in the room devoted to early Christian +antiquities, there is a square slab of white marble with two pairs of +footprints<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> elegantly incised upon it, pointed in opposite directions, +as if produced by a person going and returning, or by two persons +crossing each other. There is no record from what catacomb this +sepulchral slab was taken. We have descriptions of other relics of the +same kind from the Roman Catacombs,—such as a marble slab bearing +upon it the mark of the sole of a foot, with the words "In Deo" +incised upon it at the one end, and at the other an inscription in +Greek meaning "Januaria in God"; and a slab with a pair of footprints +carved on it covered with sandals, well executed, which was placed by +a devoted husband over the loculus or tomb of his wife. Impressions of +feet shod with shoes or sandals are much rarer than those of bare +feet; and a pair of feet is a more customary representation than a +single foot, which, when carved, is usually in profile. In a dark, +half-subterranean chapel, green with damp, belonging to the church of +St. Christina in the town of Bolsena, on the great Volscian Mere of +Macaulay, there is a stone let into the front of the altar, and +protected by an iron grating, on which is rudely impressed a pair of +misshapen feet very like those in the church of St. Sebastian at Rome. +In the lower church at Assisi there is a duplicate of these +footprints. The legend connected with them says that they were +produced by the feet of a Christian lady named Christina, living in +the neighbourhood in pagan times, who was thrown into the adjoining +lake by her persecutors, with a large flat stone attached to her body. +Instead of sinking her, the stone formed a raft which floated her in a +standing attitude safely to the opposite shore, where she +landed—leaving the prints of her feet upon the stone as an +incontestable proof of the reality of the miracle. The altar with +which the slab is engrafted—with a stone <i>baldacchino</i> over it—I may +mention, was the scene of the famous miracle of Bolsena, when a +Bohemian priest, officiating here in 1263, was cured of his sceptical +doubts regarding the reality of transubstantiation by the sudden +appearance of drops of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> blood on the Host which he had just +consecrated—an incident which formed the subject of Raphael's +well-known picture in the Vatican, and in connection with which Pope +Urban IV. instituted the festival of Corpus Christi. On the Lucanian +coast, near the little fishing town of Agrapoli, not far from Pæstum, +there is shown on the limestone rock the print of a foot which is said +by the inhabitants to have been made by the Apostle Paul, who lingered +here on his way to Rome. In the famous church of Radegonde at +Poitiers, dedicated to the queen of Clothaire I.—who afterwards took +the veil, and was distinguished for her piety—there is shown on a +white marble slab a well-defined footmark, which is called "Le pas de +Dieu," and is said to indicate the spot where the Saviour appeared to +the tutelary saint of the place. Near the altar of the church of St. +Genaro de Poveri in Naples, Mary's foot is shown suspended in a glazed +frame. In the middle of the footprint there is an oval figure with the +old initials of mother, water, matter. The footprint of Mary is very +common in churches in Italy and Spain, where it is highly venerated.</p> + +<p>The significance of these footmarks has been the subject of much +controversy. Some have regarded them as symbols of possession—the +word "possession" being supposed to be etymologically derived from the +Latin words <i>pedis positio</i>, and meaning literally the position of the +foot. The adage of the ancient jurists was, "Quicquid pes tuus +calcaverit tuum erit." The symbol of a foot was carved on the marble +slab that closed the <i>loculus</i> or tomb, to indicate that it was the +purchased property of the person who reposed in it. This view, +however, has not been generally received with favour by the most +competent authorities. A more plausible theory is that which regards +the sepulchral footmarks in the Catacombs as votive offerings of +gratitude, ordered by Christians to be made in commemoration of the +completion of their earthly pilgrimage. It was a common pagan custom +for persons who had recovered from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> disease or injury, to hang up as +thankofferings in the shrines of the gods who were supposed to have +healed them, images or representations, moulded in metal, clay, or +wood, of the part that had been affected. In Italy, votive tablets +were dedicated to Iris and Hygiea on which footmarks were engraved; +and Hygiea received on one occasion tributes of this kind which +recorded the gratitude of some Roman soldiers who escaped the +amputation which was inflicted upon their comrades by Hannibal. This +custom survived in the early Christian Church, and is still kept up, +as any one who visits a modern shrine of pilgrimage in Roman Catholic +countries can testify. Among such votive offerings, models and carved +and painted representations of feet in stone, or wood, or metal, are +frequently suspended before the image of the Madonna, in gratitude for +recovery from some disease of the feet. We may suppose that as the +ancient Romans, when they returned safely from some long and dangerous +or difficult journey undertaken for business or health, dedicated in +gratitude a representation of their feet to their favourite god—so +the early Christians, who in their original condition were pagans, and +still cherished many of their old customs, ordered these peculiar +footmarks to be made upon their graves, in token of thankfulness that +for them the pilgrimage of life was over, and the endless rest begun. +There can be little doubt that the slab with the so-called footprints +of St. Christina on it at Bolsena, already alluded to, was a pagan +ex-votive offering; for the altar on which it is engrafted occupies +the site of one anciently dedicated to Apollo, and the legend of St. +Christina gradually crystallised around it. And the footprint in the +church of Radegonde at Poitiers was more likely pagan than Christian, +for Poitiers had a Roman origin, and numerous Roman remains have been +found in the town and neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>A long and curious list might be made of the miraculous impressions +said to have been left by our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> Saviour's feet on the places where He +stood. In the centre of the platform at Jerusalem on which the Temple +of Solomon stood, covered by the dome of the Sakrah Mosque, a portion +of the rough natural limestone rock rises several feet above the +marble pavement, and is the principal object of veneration in the +place. It has an excavated chamber in one corner, with an aperture +through the rocky roof, which has given to the rock the name of "lapis +pertusus," or perforated stone. On this rock there are natural or +artificial marks, which the successors of the Caliph Omar believed to +be the prints of the angel Gabriel's fingers, and the mark of +Mohammed's foot, and that of his camel, which performed the whole +journey from Mecca to Jerusalem in four bounds. The stone, it is said, +originally fell from heaven, and was used as a seat by the venerable +prophets of Jerusalem. So long as they enjoyed the gift of prophecy, +the stone remained steady under them; but when the gift was withdrawn, +and the persecuted seers were compelled to flee for safety to other +lands, the stone rose to accompany them: whereupon the angel Gabriel +interposed, and prevented the departure of the prophetical chair, +leaving on it indelibly the marks of his fingers. It was then +supernaturally nailed to its rocky bed by seven brass nails. When any +great crisis in the world's fortunes happens, the head of one of these +nails disappears; and when they are all gone, the day of judgment will +come. There are now only three left, and therefore the Mohammedans +believe that the end of all things is not far off. When the Crusaders +took possession of the sacred city, they altered the Mohammedan +legend, and attributed the mysterious footprint to our Lord when He +went out of the Temple to escape the fury of the Jews. There can be no +doubt that the marks on the rock are prehistoric, and belong to the +primitive worship of Mount Moriah, long before the august associations +of Biblical history gathered around it. To this spot the Jews used to +come in the fourth century and wail over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> the rock, and <i>anoint it +with oil</i>, as if carrying out some dim tradition of former primitive +libations.</p> + +<p>In the Octagon Chapel of the Church of the Ascension on the top of the +Mount of Olives, so well known for the magnificent view which it +commands of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, is shown the native rock which +forms the summit of the hill from which our Lord ascended into heaven. +On this rock, it is said by tradition, He left the mark of His +footsteps. Arculf, who visited Palestine about the year 700, says: "On +the ground in the midst of the church are to be seen the last prints +in the dust of our Lord's feet, and the roof appears above where He +ascended; and although the earth is daily carried away by believers, +yet still it remains as before, and retains the same impression of the +feet." Jerome mentions that in his time the same custom was observed, +followed by the same singular result. Later writers, however, asserted +that the impressions were made, not in the ground, or in the dust, but +on the solid rock; and that originally there were two, one of them +having been stolen long ago by the Mohammedans, who broke off the +fragment of stone on which it was stamped. Sir John Mandeville +describes the appearance of the surviving footmark as it looked in his +day, 1322: "From that mount our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven +on Ascension Day, and yet there appears the impress of His left foot +in the stone." What is now seen in the place is a simple rude cavity +in the natural rock, which bears but the slightest resemblance to the +human foot. It may have been artificially sculptured, or it may be +only one of those curious hollows into which limestone rocks are +frequently weathered. In either case it naturally lent itself to the +sacred legend that has gathered around it.</p> + +<p>In the Kaaba, the most ancient and remarkable building of the great +Mosque at Mecca, is preserved a miraculous stone with the print of +Abraham's feet impressed upon it. It is said, by Mohammedan +tradi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span>tion, to be the identical stone which served the patriarch as a +scaffold when he helped Ishmael to rebuild the Kaaba, which had been +originally constructed by Seth, and was afterwards destroyed by the +Deluge. While Abraham stood upon this stone, it rose and sank with him +as he built the walls of the sacred edifice. The relic is said to be a +fragment of the same gray Mecca stone of which the whole building is +constructed,—in this respect differing from the famous black stone +brought to Abraham and Ishmael by the angel Gabriel, and built into +the north-east corner of the exterior wall of the Kaaba, which is said +by scientific men to be either a meteorite or fragment of volcanic +basalt. It is popularly supposed to have been originally a jacinth of +dazzling whiteness, but to have been made black as ink by the touch of +sinful man, and that it can only recover its original purity and +brilliancy at the day of judgment. The millions of kisses and touches +impressed by the faithful have worn the surface considerably; but in +addition to this, traces of cup-shaped hollows have been observed on +it. There can be no doubt that both these relics associated with +Abraham are of high antiquity, and may have belonged to the +prehistoric worship which marked Mecca as a sacred site, long before +the followers of the Prophet had set up their shrine there. In the +sacred Mosque of Hebron, built over the cave of Machpelah, is pointed +out a footprint of the ordinary size on a slab of stone, variously +called that of Adam or of Mohammed. It is said to have been brought +from Mecca some six hundred years ago, and is enclosed in a recess at +the back of the shrine of Abraham, where it is placed on a sort of +shelf about three feet above the floor. On the margin of the tank, in +the court of the ruined mosque at Baalbec, there are shown four giant +footmarks, which are supposed to have been impressed by some patriarch +or prophet, but are more likely to have been connected with the +ancient religion of Canaan, which lingered here to the latest days of +Roman paganism. In the great Druse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span> shrine of Neby Schaib near Hattin +there is a square block of limestone in the centre of which is a piece +of alabaster containing the imprint of a human foot of natural size, +with the toes very clearly defined. The Druses reverently kiss this +impression, asserting that the rock exudes moisture, and that it is +never dry. There is a split in the rock across the centre of the +footprint, which they account for by saying that when the prophet +stepped here he split the rock with his tread. In Damascus there was +at one time a sacred building called the Mosque of the Holy Foot, in +which there was a stone having upon it the print of the feet of Moses. +Ibn Batuta saw this curious relic early in the fourteenth century; but +both the mosque and the stone have since disappeared. On the eastern +side of the Jordan a Bedouin tribe, called the Adwân, worship the +print left on a stone by the roadside by a prophetess while mounting +her camel, in order to proceed on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Kadriyeh +dervishes of Egypt adore a gigantic shoe, as an emblem of the sacred +foot of the founder of their sect; and near Madura, a large leather +shoe is offered in worship to a deity that, like Diana, presides over +the chase.</p> + +<p>To the student of comparative religion the Phrabat, or Sacred Foot of +Buddha, opens up a most interesting field of investigation. In the +East, impressions of the feet of this wonderful person are as common +as those of Christ and the Virgin Mary in the West. Buddhists are +continually increasing the number by copies of the originals; and +native painters of Siam who are ambitious of distinction often present +these sacred objects to the king, adorned with the highest skill of +their art, as the most acceptable gift they can offer. The sacred +footprint enters into the very essence of the Buddhist religion; it +claims from the Indo-Chinese nations a degree of veneration scarcely +yielding to that which they pay to Buddha himself. It is very ancient, +and was framed to embody in one grand symbol a complete system of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span> +theology and theogony, which has been gradually forgotten or perverted +by succeeding ages to the purposes of a ridiculous superstition. It is +elaborately carved and painted with numerous symbols, each of which +has a profound significance. The liturgy of the Siamese connected with +it consists of fifty measured lines of eight syllables each, and +contains the names of a hundred and eight distinct symbolical +objects,—such as the lion, the elephant, the sun and moon in their +cars drawn by oxen, the horse, the serpents, the spiral building, the +tree, the six spheres, the five lakes, and the altar—all of which are +represented on the foot. This list of symbolical allusions is recited +by the priests, and forms an essential part of the ritual of worship. +The Siamese priests say that any mortal about to arrive at the +threshold of Nivána has his feet emblazoned spontaneously with all the +symbols to be seen on the Phrabat.</p> + +<p>The Siamese acknowledge only five genuine Phrabats made by the actual +feet of Buddha. They are called the Five Impressions of the Divine +Foot. The first is on a rock on the coast of the peninsula of Malacca, +where, beside the mark of Buddha's foot, there is also one of a dog's +foot, which is much venerated by the natives. The second Phrabat is on +the Golden Mountain, the hill with the holy footstep of Buddha, in +Siam, which Buddha visited on one occasion. The impression is that of +the right foot, and is covered with a maradop, a pyramidal canopy +supported by gilded pilasters. The hollow of the footstep is generally +filled with water, which the devotee sprinkles over his body to wash +away the stain of his sin. The third Phrabat is on a hill on the banks +of the Jumna, in the midst of an extensive and deep forest, which +spreads over broken ranges of hills. The Phrabat is on a raised +terrace, like that on which most of the Buddhist temples are built. +The pyramidal structure which shelters it is of hewn stone ninety feet +high, and is like the <i>baldacchino</i> of a Roman Catholic church. There +are four impressions on different terraces,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span> each rising above the +other, corresponding to the four descents of the deity. The fourth +Phrabat is also on the banks of the Jumna. But the fifth and most +celebrated of all is the print of the sacred foot on the top of the +Amala Sri Pada, or Adam's Peak, in Ceylon. On the highest point of +this hill there is a pagoda-like building, supported on slender +pillars, and open on every side to the winds. Underneath this canopy, +in the centre of a huge mass of gneiss and hornblende, forming the +living rock, there is the rude outline of a gigantic foot about five +feet long, and of proportionate breadth.</p> + +<p>Sir Emerson Tennent, who has given a full and interesting account of +this last Phrabat in his work on Ceylon, supposes that it was +originally a natural hollow in the rock, afterwards artificially +enlarged and shaped into its present appearance; but whatever may have +been its origin at first, its present shape is undoubtedly of great, +perhaps prehistoric, antiquity. In the sacred books of the Buddhists +it is referred to, upwards of three hundred years before Christ, as +the impression left of Buddha's foot when he visited the earth after +the Deluge, with gifts and blessings for his worshippers; and in the +first century of the Christian era it is recorded that a king of +Cashmere went on a pilgrimage to Ceylon for the express purpose of +adoring this <i>Sri-pada</i>, or Sacred Footprint. The Gnostics of the +first Christian centuries attributed it to Ieu, the first man; and in +one of the oldest manuscripts in existence, now in the British +Museum—the Coptic version of the "Faithful Wisdom," said to have been +written by the great Gnostic philosopher Valentinus in the fourth +century—there is mention made of this venerable relic, the Saviour +being said to inform the Virgin Mary that He has appointed the Spirit +Kalapataraoth as guardian over it. From the Gnostics the Mohammedans +received the tradition; for they believe that when Adam was expelled +from Paradise he lived many years on this mountain alone, before he +was reunited to Eve on Mount Arafath, which overhangs Mecca. The early +Portuguese<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> settlers in the island attributed the sacred footprint to +St. Thomas, who is said by tradition to have preached the Gospel, +after the ascension of Christ, in Persia and India, and to have +suffered martyrdom at Malabar, where he founded the Christian Church, +which still goes by the name of the Christians of St. Thomas; and they +believed that all the trees on the mountain, and for half a league +round about its base, bent their crowns in the direction of this +sacred object—a mark of respect which they affirmed could only be +offered to the footstep of an apostle. The Brahmins have appropriated +the sacred mark as the footprint of their goddess Siva. At the present +day the Buddhists are the guardians of the shrine; but the worshippers +of other creeds are not prevented from paying their homage at it, and +they meet in peace and goodwill around the object of their common +adoration. By this circumstance the Christian visitor is reminded of +the sacred footprint, already alluded to, on the rock of the Church of +the Ascension on the Mount of Olives, which is part of a mosque, and +has five altars for the Greek, Latin, Armenian, Syrian, and Coptic +Churches, all of whom climb the hill on Ascension Day to celebrate the +festival; the Mohammedans, too, coming in and offering their prayers +at the same shrine. The worship paid on the mountain of the sacred +foot in Ceylon consists of offerings of the crimson flowers of the +rhododendron, which grow freely among the crags around, accompanied by +various genuflections and shoutings, and concluding with the striking +of an ancient bell, and a draught from the sacred well which springs +up a little below the summit. These ceremonies point to a very +primitive mode of worship; and it is probable that, as Adam's Peak was +venerated from a remote antiquity by the aborigines of Ceylon, being +connected by them with the worship of the sun, the sacred footprint +may belong to this prehistoric cult. Models of the footprint are shown +in various temples in Ceylon.</p> + +<p>Besides these five great Phrabats, there are others of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> inferior +celebrity in the East. In the P'hra Pathom of the Siamese, Buddha is +said to have left impressions of his feet at Lauca and Chakravan. At +Ava there is a Phrabat near Prome which is supposed to be a type of +the creation. Another is seen in the same country on a large rock +lying amidst the hills a day's journey west of Meinbu. Dr. Leyden says +that it is in the country of the Lan that all the celebrated founders +of the religion of Buddha are reported to have left their most +remarkable vestiges. The traces of the sacred foot are sparingly +scattered over Pegu, Ava, and Arracan. But among the Lan they are +concentrated; and thither devotees repair to worship at the sacred +steps of Pra Kukuson, Pra Konnakan, Pra Puttakatsop, and Pra +Samutacadam.</p> + +<p>The footsteps of Vishnu are also frequent in India. Sir William Jones +tells us that in the Puranas mention is made of a white mountain on +which King Sravana sat meditating on the divine foot of Vishnu at the +station Trevirana. When the Hindoos entered into possession of +Gayá—one of the four most sacred places of Buddhism—they found the +popular feeling in favour of the sacred footprint there so strong that +they were obliged to incorporate the relic into their own religious +system, and to attribute it to Vishnu. Thousands of Hindoo pilgrims +from all parts of India now visit the shrine every year. Indeed to the +worshippers of Vishnu the Temple of Vishnupad at Gayá is one of the +most holy in all India; and as we are informed in the great work of +Dr. Mitra, the later religious books earnestly enjoin that no one +should fail, at least once in his lifetime, to visit the spot. They +commend the wish for numerous offspring on the ground that, out of the +many, one son might visit Gayá, and by performing the rites prescribed +in connection with the holy footstep, rescue his father from eternal +destruction. The stone is a large hemispherical block of granite, with +an uneven top, bearing the carvings of two human feet. The frequent +washings which it daily undergoes have worn out the peculiar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> +sectorial marks which the feet contain, and even the outlines of the +feet themselves are but dimly perceptible. English architects are now +engaged in preserving the ruins of the splendid temple associated with +this footprint, where the ministry of India's great teacher—the +"Light of Asia"—began. In the Indian Museum at Calcutta there is a +large slab of white marble bearing the figure of a human foot +surrounded by two dragons. It was brought from a temple in Burmah, +where it used to be worshipped as a representation of Buddha's foot. +It is seven inches long and three inches broad, and is divided into a +hundred and eight compartments, each of which contains a different +mystical mark.</p> + +<p>At Gangautri, on the banks of the Ganges, is a wooden temple +containing a footprint of Ganga on a black stone. In a strange +subterranean temple, inside the great fort at Allahabad, there are two +footprints of Vishnu, along with footprints of Rama, and of his wife +Sita. In India the "kaddam rassul," or supposed impression of +Mohammed's foot in clay, which is kept moist, and enclosed in a sort +of cage, is not unfrequently placed at the head of the gravestones of +the followers of Islam. On the summit of a mountain one hundred and +thirty-six miles south of Bhagalpur is one of the principal places of +Jain worship in India. On the table-land are twenty small Jain temples +on different craggy heights, which resemble an extinguisher in shape. +In each of them is to be found the Vasu Padukas—a sacred foot similar +to that which is seen in the Jain temple at Champanagar. The sect of +the Jain in South Bihar has two places of pilgrimage. One is a tank +choked with weeds and lotus-flowers, which has a small island in the +centre containing a temple, with two stones in the interior, on one of +which is an inscription and the impression of the two feet of +Gautama—the most common object of worship of the Jains in this +district. The other is the place in the same part of the country where +the body of Mahavira, one of the twenty-four lawgivers, was burnt +about six centuries before Christ. It resembles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span> the other temple, and +is situated in an island in a tank. The island is terraced round, and +in the cavity of the beehive-like top there is the representation of +Mahavira's feet, to which crowds of pilgrims are continually flocking. +In the centre of the Jain temple at Puri, where this remarkable man +died, there are also three representations of his feet, and one +impression of the feet of each of his eleven disciples.</p> + +<p>But the subject of footprints carries us farther back than the ages of +the great historic founders of religion. In almost every part of the +earth footprints have been found, cut in the solid rock or impressed +upon boulders and other stones. These artificial tracks, like the +strange human footprint which Robinson Crusoe discovered on the beach +of his lonely island, excite the imagination by their mystery, and +open up a vista into a hitherto unexplored world of infinite +suggestion. They seem the natural successors of those tracks of birds +and reptiles on sandstone and other slabs which form one of the most +interesting features in every geological museum; the material on which +they are impressed having allowed the substantial forms of the +creatures themselves to disappear, while it has carefully preserved +the more shadowy and incidental memorials of their life. The +naturalist can tell us from the ephemeral impressions on the soft +primeval mud, not only what was the true nature of the obscure +creatures that produced them untold ages ago, but also the direction +in which they were moving along the shore, and the state of the tide +and the weather, and the appearance of the country at the time. But +regarding those literal human "footprints on the sands of time," which +have been left behind by our prehistoric ancestors, we can make no +such accurate scientific inductions. They have given rise to much +speculation, being considered by many persons to be real impressions +of human feet, dating from a time when the material on which they were +stamped was still in a state of softness. Superstition has invested +them with a sacred veneration, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span> legends of a wild and mystical +character have gathered around them. The slightest acquaintance with +the results of geological research has sufficed to dispel this +delusion, and to show that these mysterious marks could not have been +produced by human beings while the rocks were in a state of fusion; +and consequently no intelligent observer now holds this theory of +their origin. But superstition dies hard; and there are persons who, +though confronted with the clearest evidences of science, still refuse +to abandon their old obscurantist ideas. They prefer a supernatural +theory that allows free scope to their fancy and religious instinct, +to one that offers a more prosaic explanation. There is a charm in the +mystery connected with these dim imaginings which they would not wish +dispelled by the clear daylight of scientific knowledge. In our own +country, footmarks on rocks and stones are by no means of unfrequent +occurrence. Some of them, indeed, although associated with myths and +fairy tales, have doubtless been produced by natural causes, being the +mere chance effects of weathering, without any meaning except to a +geologist. But there are others that have been unmistakably produced +by artificial means, and have a human history and significance.</p> + +<p>In Scotland Tanist stones—so called from the Gaelic word <i>tanaiste</i>, +a chief, or the next heir to an estate—have been frequently found. +These stones were used in connection with the coronation of a king or +the inauguration of a chief. The custom dates from the remotest +antiquity. We see traces of it in the Bible,—as when it is mentioned +that "Abimelech was made king by the oak of the pillar that was in +Shechem"; and "Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the +stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren +the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants"; and +that when Joash was anointed king by Jehoiada, "the king stood by a +pillar, as the manner was"; and again, King Josiah "stood by a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span> +pillar" to make a covenant, "and all the people stood to the +covenant." The stone connected with the ceremony was regarded as the +most sacred attestation of the engagement entered into between the +newly-elected king or chief and his people. It was placed in some +conspicuous position, upon the top of a "moot-hill," or the open-air +place of assembly. Upon it was usually carved an impression of a human +foot; and into this impression, during the ceremony of inauguration, +the king or chief placed his own right foot, in token that he was +installed by right into the possessions of his predecessors, and that +he would walk in their footsteps. It may be said literally, that in +this way the king or chief came to an understanding with his people; +and perhaps the common saying of "stepping into a dead man's shoes" +may have originated from this primitive custom.</p> + +<p>The most famous of the Tanist stones is the Coronation-stone in +Westminster Abbey—the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny—on which the +ancient kings of Scotland sat or stood when crowned, and which forms a +singular link of connection between the primitive rites that entered +into the election of a king by the people, and the gorgeous ceremonies +by which the hereditary sovereigns of England are installed into their +high office. There is no footmark, however, on this stone. It may be +mentioned that before the arrival of the Scottish stone there had been +for ages a similar stone at Westminster Hall, which gave the name to +and was the original place of sitting for the Court of King's Bench. +It was no doubt a relic of the primitive Folkmoot of Westminster, +which has developed into the Parliament of England. In the +neighbourhood of Upsala is the Mora stone, celebrated in Swedish +history as the spot where the kings were publicly elected and received +the homage of their subjects.</p> + +<p>A more characteristic specimen of a Tanist stone may be seen on the +top of Dun Add, a rocky isolated hill about two hundred feet high, in +Argyleshire, not far from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> Ardrishaig. On a smooth flat piece of rock +which protrudes above the surface there is carved the mark of a right +foot, covered with the old <i>cuaran</i> or thick stocking, eleven inches +long and four inches and a half broad at the widest part, the heel +being an inch less. It is sunk about half an inch in the rock, and is +very little weather-worn—the reason being, perhaps, that it has been +protected for ages by the turf that has grown over it, and has only +recently been exposed. Quite close to it is a smooth polished basin, +eleven inches in diameter and eight deep, also scooped out of the +rock. With these two curious sculptures is associated a local myth. +Ossian, who lived for a time in the neighbourhood, was one day hunting +on the mountain above Loch Fyne. A stag which his dogs had brought to +bay charged him, and he fled precipitately. Coming to the hill above +Kilmichael, he strode in one step across the valley to the top of +Rudal Hill, from whence he took a gigantic leap to the summit of Dun +Add. But when he alighted he was somewhat exhausted by his great +effort, and fell on his knee, and stretched out his hands to prevent +him from falling backwards. He thereupon left on the rocky top of Dun +Add the enduring impression of his feet and knee which we see at the +present day. This myth is of comparatively recent date, and is +interesting as showing that all recollection of the original use of +the footmark and basin had died away for many ages in the district. +There can be no doubt that the footmark indicates the spot to have +been at one time the scene of the inauguration of the kings or chiefs +of the region; and the basin was in all probability one of those +primitive mortars which were in use for grinding corn long before the +invention of the quern. Dun Add is one of the oldest sites in +Scotland. It has the hoary ruins of a nameless fort, and a well which +is traditionally said to ebb and flow with the tide. It was here that +the Dalriadic Scots first settled; and Captain Thomas, who is an +authority on this subject, supposes that the remarkable relic on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> Dun +Add was made for the inauguration of Fergus More Mac Erca, the first +king of Dalriada, who died in Scotland at the beginning of the sixth +century, and to have been the exact measure of his foot.</p> + +<p>King in his <i>Munimenta Antiqua</i> mentions that in the island of Islay +there was on a mound or hill where the high court of judicature sat, a +large stone fixed, about seven feet square, in which there was a +cavity or deep impression made to receive the feet of Macdonald, who +was crowned King of the Isles standing on this stone, and swore that +he would continue his vassals in the possession of their lands, and do +impartial justice to all his subjects. His father's sword was then put +into his hand, and the Bishop of Argyle and seven priests anointed him +king in presence of all the heads of the tribes in the Isles and +mainland, and at the same time an orator rehearsed a catalogue of his +ancestors. In the year 1831, when a mound locally known as the "Fairy +Knowe," in the parish of Carmylie, Forfarshire, was levelled in the +course of some agricultural improvements in the place, there was +found, besides stone cists and a bronze ring, a rude boulder almost +two tons in weight, on the under side of which was sculptured the mark +of a human foot. The mound or tumulus was in all likelihood a +moot-hill, where justice was dispensed and the chieftains of the +district were elected. In the same county, in the wild recesses of +Glenesk, near Lord Dalhousie's shooting-lodge of Milldam, there is a +rough granite boulder, on the upper surface of which a small human +foot is scooped out with considerable accuracy, showing traces even of +the toes. It is known in the glen as the "Fairy's Footmark." There can +be no doubt that this stone was once used in connection with the +ceremonial of inaugurating a chief.</p> + +<p>A similar stone, carved with a representation of two feet, on which +the primitive chiefs stood when publicly invested with the insignia of +office, is still, or was lately, in existence in Ladykirk, at Burwick, +South Ronaldshay,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> Orkney. A local tradition, that originated long +after the Pictish chiefs passed away, and a new Norse race, ignorant +of the customs of their predecessors, came in, says that the stone in +question was used by St. Magnus as a boat to ferry him over the +Pentland Firth; while an earlier tradition looked upon it as a +miraculous whale which opportunely appeared at the prayer of the saint +when about to be overwhelmed by a storm, and carried him on its back +safely to the shore, where it was converted into a stone, as a +perpetual memorial of the marvellous occurrence. In North Yell, +Shetland, there is a rude stone lying on the hillside, on which is +sculptured with considerable skill the mark of a human foot. It is +known in the district as the "Giant's Step"; another of the same kind, +it is said, being over in Unst. It is undoubtedly the stone on which, +in Celtic times, the native kings of this part were crowned. About a +mile from Keill, near Campbeltown, a very old site, closely connected +with the early ecclesiastical history of Scotland, may be seen on a +rock what is locally called the "Footprint of St. Columba," which he +made when he landed on this shore on one occasion from Iona. It is +very rude and much effaced; but it carries the imagination much +farther back than the days of St. Columba,—when a pagan chief or king +was inaugurated here to rule over the district.</p> + +<p>In England and Wales there are several interesting examples of +footprints on boulders and rocks. A remarkable Tanist stone—which, +however, has no carving upon it, I believe—stands, among a number of +other and smaller boulders, on the top of a hill near the village of +Long Compton, in Cumberland. It is called "The King"; and the popular +rhyme of the country people—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"If Long Compton thou canst see,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then king of England thou shalt be"—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>points to the fact that the stone must have been once used as a +coronation-stone. Not far from the top of a hill near Barmouth in +Wales, in the middle of a rough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> path, may be seen a flat stone, in +which there is a footmark about the natural size, locally known as +"Llan Maria," or Mary's step, because the Virgin Mary once, it is +supposed, put her foot on this rock, and then walked down the hill to +a lower height covered with roots of oak-trees. This impression on the +stone is associated with several stone circles and cromlechs—one of +which bears upon it the reputed marks of Arthur's fingers, and is +called Arthur's Quoit—and with a spring of water and a grove, as the +path leading to the hill is still known by a Welsh name which means +Grove Lane; and these associations undoubtedly indicate that the spot +was once a moot-hill or prehistoric sanctuary, where religious and +inauguration rites were performed. At Smithhill's Hall, near +Bolton-le-Moors, there is still to be seen an object of curiosity to a +large number of visitors—the print of a man's foot in the flagstone. +It is said to have been produced by George Marsh, who suffered +martyrdom during the persecutions of Queen Mary in 1555. When on one +occasion the truth of his words was called in question by his enemies, +he stamped his foot upon the stone on which he stood, which ever after +bore the ineffaceable impression as a miraculous testimony to his +veracity. This story must have been an after-thought, to account for +what we may suppose to have been a prehistoric Tanist stone.</p> + +<p>In Ireland footmarks are very numerous, and are attributed by the +peasantry to different saints. Mr. and Mrs. S.C. Hall, in their +account of Ireland, refer to several curious examples which are +regarded by the people with superstitious reverence, and are the +occasions of religious pilgrimage. Near the chapel of Glenfinlough, in +King's County, there is a ridge with a boulder on it called the +Fairy's Stone or the Horseman's Stone, which presents on its flat +surface, besides cup-like hollows, crosses, and other markings, +rudely-carved representations of the human foot. On a stone near +Parsonstown, called Fin's Seat, there are similar impressions—also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span> +associated with crosses and cup-shaped hollows which are traditionally +said to be the marks of Fin Mac Coul's thumb and fingers. On an +exposed and smooth surface of rock on the northern slope of the Clare +Hills, in the townland of Dromandoora, there is the engraved +impression of a foot clothed with a sandal; and near it is sculptured +on the rock a figure resembling the caduceus of Mercury, while there +are two cromlechs in the immediate vicinity. The inauguration-stone of +the Macmahons still exists on the hill of Lech—formerly called +Mullach Leaght, or "hill of the stone"—three miles south of Meaghan; +but the impression of the foot was unfortunately effaced by the owner +of the farm about the year 1809. In the garden of Belmont on the +Greencastle road, about a mile from Londonderry, there is the +famous stone of St. Columba, held in great veneration as the +inauguration-stone of the ancient kings of Aileach, and which St. +Patrick is said to have consecrated with his blessing. On this +remarkable stone, which is about seven feet square, composed of a hard +gneiss, and quite undressed by the chisel, are sculptured two feet, +right and left, about ten inches long each. Boullaye le Gouze mentions +that in 1644 the print of St. Fin Bar's foot might be seen on a stone +in the cemetery of the Cathedral of Cork; it has long since +disappeared.</p> + +<p>In the Killarney region is the promontory of Coleman's Eye—so called +after a legendary person who leapt across the stream, and left his +footprints impressed in the solid rock on the other side. These +impressions are considered Druidic, and are pointed out as such to the +curious stranger by the guides. Near an old church situated on the +southern slope of Knockpatrick, in the parish of Graney in Leinster, +there is a large flat granite rock with the impression of two feet +clearly defined on its surface. Local tradition assigns these +footprints to St. Patrick, who addressed the people on this spot, and +left behind these enduring signs of his presence. Allusion is made to +them in St. Fiaca's Hymn to St. Patrick—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span>"He pressed his foot on the +stone; its traces remain, it wears not." Footprints in connection with +St. Patrick are to be found in many localities in Ireland, as, for +instance, on the seashore south of Skerries, County Dublin, where the +apostle landed; and at Skerries, County Antrim, there are marks which +are believed to be the footprints of the angel who appeared to St. +Patrick. In Ossory two localities are noted as possessing St. +Patrick's footprints.</p> + +<p>So common are the curious sculptures under consideration in Norway and +Sweden, that they are known by the distinct name of <i>Fotsulor</i>, or +Footsoles. They are marks of either naked feet, or of feet shod with +primitive sandals. On a rock at Brygdæa in Westerbotten, in Norway, +there are no less than thirty footmarks carved on a rock at an equal +distance from each other. In other parts of Norway these footprints +are mixed up with rude outlines of ships, wheels, and other +<i>hällristningar</i>, or rock-sculptures. Holmberg has figured many of +them in his interesting work entitled <i>Scandinaviens Hällristningar</i>. +At Lökeberg Bohnslau, Sweden, there is a group of ten pairs of +footmarks, associated with cup-shaped hollows and ship-carvings; and +at Backa, in the same district, several pairs of feet, or rather +shoe-marks, are engraved upon a rock. In Denmark not a few examples of +artificial foot-tracks have been observed and described by Dr. +Petersen. One was found on a slab belonging to the covering of a +gallery in the inside of a tomb in the island of Seeland, and another +on one of the blocks of stone surrounding a tumulus in the island of +Laaland. In both cases the soles of the feet are represented as being +covered; and in all probability they belong to the late stone or +earlier bronze age. With these sepulchral marks are associated curious +Danish legends, which refer them to real impressions of human feet. +The islands of Denmark were supposed to have been made by enchanters, +who wished for greater facilities for going to and fro, and dropped +them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> in the sea as stations or stepping-stones on their way; and +hence, in a region where the popular imagination poetises the +commonest material objects, and is saturated with stories of elves and +giants, with magic swords, and treasures guarded by dragons, it was +not difficult to conclude that these mysterious foot-sculptures were +made by the tread of supernatural beings. Near the station of Sens, in +France, there is a curious dolmen, on one of whose upright stones or +props are carved two human feet. And farther north, in Brittany, upon +a block of stone in the barrow or tumulus of Petit Mont at Arzon, may +be seen carved an outline of the soles of two human feet, right and +left, with the impressions of the toes very distinctly cut, like the +marks left by a person walking on the soft sandy shore of the sea. +They are surrounded by a number of waving circular and serpentine +lines exceedingly curious. On Calais pier may be seen a footprint +where Louis XVIII. landed in 1814; and on the rocks of Magdesprung, a +village in the Hartz Mountains, a couple of hundred feet apart, are +two immense footprints, which tradition ascribes to a leap made by a +huge giantess from the clouds for the purpose of rescuing one of her +maidens from the violence of an ancient baron.</p> + +<p>In not a few places in our own country and on the Continent, rough +misshapen marks on rocks and stones, bearing a fanciful resemblance to +the outline of the human foot, have been supposed by popular +superstition to have been made by Satan. Every classical student is +familiar with the account which Herodotus gives of the print of +Hercules shown by the Scythians in his day upon a rock near the river +Tyras, the modern Dnieper. It was said to resemble the footstep of a +man, only that it was two cubits long. He will also recall the +description given by the same gossipy writer of the Temple of Perseus +in the Thebaic district of Egypt, in which a sandal worn by the god, +two cubits in length, occasionally made its appearance as a token of +the visit of Perseus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span> to the earth, and a sign of prosperity to the +land. Pythagoras measured similar footprints at Olympia, and +calculated "ex pede Herculem"! Still more famous was the mark on the +volcanic rock on the shore of Lake Regillus—the scene of the +memorable battle in which the Romans, under the dictator Posthumius, +defeated the powerful confederation of the Latin tribes under the +Tarquins. According to tradition, the Roman forces were assisted by +Castor and Pollux, who helped them to achieve their signal victory. +The mark was supposed to have been left by the horse of one of the +great twins "who fought so well for Rome," as Macaulay says in his +spirited ballad. On the way to the famous convent of Monte Casino, +very near the door, there is a cross in the middle of the road. In +front of it a grating covers the mark of a knee, which is said to have +been left in the rock by St. Benedict, when he knelt there to ask a +blessing from heaven before laying the foundation-stone of his +convent. As the site of the monastery was previously occupied by a +temple of Apollo, and a grove sacred to Venus, where the inhabitants +of the surrounding locality worshipped as late as the sixth +century,—to which circumstance Dante alludes,—it is probable that +the sacred mark on the rock may have belonged to the old pagan +idolatry, and have been a cup-marked stone connected with sacrificial +libations.</p> + +<p>On many rocks of the United States of America may be seen human +footprints, either isolated or connected with other designs belonging +to the pictorial system of the Aborigines, and commemorating incidents +which they thought worthy of being preserved. In the collection of the +Smithsonian Museum are three large stone slabs having impressions of +the human foot. On two slabs of sandstone, carefully cut from rocks on +the banks of the Missouri, may be seen respectively two impressions of +feet, carved apparently with moccasins, such as are worn at the +present day by the Sioux and other Indians. The other specimen is a +flat boulder of white quartz,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> obtained in Gasconade County, Missouri, +which bears on one of its sides the mark of a naked foot, each toe +being distinctly scooped out and indicated. The footmark is surrounded +by a number of cup-shaped depressions. In many parts of Dacotah, where +the route is difficult to find, rocks occur with human footprints +carved upon them which were probably meant to serve as geographical +landmarks—as they invariably indicate the best route to some Indian +encampment or to the shallow parts of some deep river. Among other +places these footprints have been met with on the Blue Mountains +between Georgia and North Carolina, and also on the Kenawha River. +Some stir was made two years ago by the reported discovery of the +prints of human feet in a stone quarry on the coast of Lake Managua in +Nicaragua. The footprints are remarkably sharp and distinct; one seems +that of a little child. The stone in which they are impressed is a +spongy volcanic tuff, and the layer superimposed upon them in the +quarry was of similar material. These prehistoric footprints were +doubtless accidentally impressed upon the volcanic stone, and would +seem to throw back the age of man on the earth to a most remote +antiquity. In Equatorial Africa footprints have also been found, and +are associated with the folklore of the country. Stanley, in his <i>Dark +Continent</i>, tells us that in the legendary history of Uganda, Kimera, +the third in descent from Ham, was so large and heavy that he made +marks in the rocks wherever he trod. The impression of one of his feet +is shown at Uganda on a rock near the capital, Ulagolla. It was made +by one of his feet slipping while he was in the act of hurling his +spear at an elephant. In the South Sea Islands department of the +British Museum is an impression of a gigantic footstep five feet in +length.</p> + +<p>The connection of prehistoric footprints with sacred sites and places +of sepulture would indicate that they had a religious significance—an +idea still further strengthened by the fact of their being frequently +associated with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span> holy wells and groves, and with cup-shaped marks on +cromlechs or sacrificial altars, which are supposed to have been used +for the purpose of receiving libations; while their universal +distribution points to a hoary antiquity, when a primitive natural +cultus spread over the whole earth, traces of which are found in every +land, behind the more elaborate and systematic faith which afterwards +took its place. They are probably among the oldest stone-carvings that +have been left to us, and were executed by rude races with rude +implements either in the later stone or early bronze age. Their +subsequent dedication to holy persons in Christian times was in all +likelihood only a survival of their original sacred use long ages +after the memory of the particular rites and ceremonies connected with +them passed away. A considerable proportion of the sacred marks are +said to be impressions of the female foot, attributed to the Virgin +Mary; and in this circumstance we may perhaps trace a connection with +the worship of the receptive element in nature, which was also a +distinctive feature of primitive religion.</p> + +<p>It is strange how traces of this primitive worship of footprints +survive, not merely in the mythical stories and superstitious +practices connected with the objects themselves, but also in curious +rites and customs that at first sight might seem to have had no +connection with them. The throwing of the shoe after a newly-married +couple is said to refer to the primitive mode of marriage by capture; +but there is equal plausibility in referring it to the prehistoric +worship of the footprint as a symbol of the powers of nature. To the +same original source we may perhaps attribute the custom connected +with the Levirate law in the Bible, when the woman took off the shoe +of the kinsman who refused to marry her, whose name should be +afterwards called in Israel "the house of him that hath his shoe +loosed."</p> + +<p>In regard to the general subject, it may be said that we can discern +in the primitive adoration of footprints a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span> somewhat advanced stage in +the religious thoughts of man. He has got beyond total unconsciousness +of God, and beyond totemism or the mere worship of natural +objects—trees, streams, stones, animals, etc. He has reached the +conception of a deity who is of a different nature from the objects +around him, and whose place of abode is elsewhere. He worships the +impression of the foot for the sake of the being who left it; and the +impression helps him to realise the presence and to form a picture of +his deity. That deity is not a part of nature, because he can make +nature plastic to his tread, and leave his footmark on the hard rock +as if it were soft mud. He thinks of him as the author and controller +of nature, and for the first time rises to the conception of a +supernatural being.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE ROMAN FORUM</h3> + + +<p>No spot on earth has a grander name or a more imposing history than +the Roman Forum. Its origin takes us far back to geological ages—to a +period modern indeed in the inarticulate annals of the earth, but +compared with which even those great periods which mark the rise and +fall of empires are but as the running of the sands in an hour-glass. +It opens up a wonderful chapter in the earth's stony book. Everywhere +on the site and in the neighbourhood of Rome striking indications of +ancient volcanoes abound. The whole region is as certainly of igneous +origin, and was the centre of as violent fiery action, as the vicinity +of Naples. The volcanic energy of Italy seems to have begun first in +this district, and when exhausted there, to have passed gradually to +the south, where Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli witness to the great +furnace that is still burning fiercely under the beautiful land. No +spectacle could have been more sublime than that which the Roman +Campagna presented at this period, when no less than ten volcanoes +were in full or intermittent action, and poured their clouds of smoke +and flame into the lurid sky all around the horizon. Up to the foot of +the mountains the sea covered the vast plain; and the action of these +waves of fire and steaming floods forms a natural epic of the grandest +order. Prodigious quantities of ashes and cinders were discharged from +the craters; and these,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span> deposited and hardened by long pressure under +water, formed the reddish-brown earthy rock called tufa, of which the +seven hills of Rome are composed.</p> + +<p>When the sea retired, or rather when the land rose suddenly or +gradually, and the volcanoes became extinct, the streams which +descended from the mountains and watered the recovered land spread +themselves out in numerous fresh-water lakes, which stood an hundred +and fifty feet higher than the present bed of the Tiber. In these +lakes were formed two kinds of fresh-water strata—the first composed +of sand and marl; and the second, where mineral springs gushed forth +through the volcanic rock, of travertine—a peculiar reddish-brown or +yellow calcareous rock, of which St. Peter's and many of the buildings +of modern Rome are composed. We find lacustrine marls on the sides of +the Esquiline Hill where it slopes down into the Forum, and +fresh-water bivalve and univalve shells in the ground under the +equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitol; while on the face +of the Aventine Hill, overhanging the Tiber at a height of ninety +feet, is a cliff of travertine, which is half a mile long. The lakes +which formed these deposits must have covered their sites for many +ages. At last, by some new change of level, the lakes retired, and the +Tiber scooped out for itself its present channel to the sea.</p> + +<p>When man came upon the scene we have no definite information; but +numerous flints and stone-weapons have been found among the black +pumice breccias of the Campagna mixed with remains of the primitive +bison, the elephant, and the rhinoceros. Human eyes must therefore +have gazed upon the volcanoes of the Roman plain. Human beings, +occupying the outposts of the Sabine Hills, must have seen that plain +broken up by the sea into a complicated archipelago, and beheld in the +very act of formation that wonderful region destined long ages +afterwards to be the scene of some of the greatest events in human +history. The Alban Hills,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span> whose present quiet beauty, adorned with +white gem-like towns, and softened with the purple hues of heaven, +strikes every visitor with admiration, were active volcanoes pouring +streams of lava down into the plain even after the foundation of the +Eternal City. Livy mentions that under the third king of Rome, a +shower of stones, accompanied by a loud noise, was thrown up from the +Alban Mount—a prodigy which gave rise to a nine days' festival +annually celebrated long after by the people of Latium. The remarkable +funereal urns found buried under a bed of volcanic matter between +Marino and Castel Gandolfo on the Alban Hills are an incontrovertible +proof that showers of volcanic ashes must have been ejected from the +neighbouring volcano when the country was inhabited by human beings; +nay, when the inhabitants were far advanced in civilisation, for among +the objects contained in the funereal urns were implements of writing. +At the close of the skirmish between the Romans and Etruscans, near +Albano, in which Aruns, the son of Lars Porsenna, was slain, whose +tomb may still be seen on the spot, a noise like that which Livy +mentions was heard among the surrounding hills.</p> + +<p>But the most extraordinary of all the volcanic phenomena within the +historical period was the sudden rising on two memorable occasions of +the waters of the Alban Lake, which now lie deep down within the basin +of an extinct crater. The first swallowed up the royal palace of Alba, +and was so sudden and violent that neither the king nor any of his +household had time to escape. The other occurred during the romantic +siege of the Etruscan city of Veii, near Rome, by Camillus, four +hundred years before Christ. The waters on that occasion rose two +hundred and forty feet in the crater almost to the very edge, and +threatened to overflow and inundate the surrounding country, when they +were withdrawn by a subterranean canal cut in the rock, and poured +into the Tiber by a connecting stream. This emissary, which may still +be seen, was constructed owing to a hint given by an Etruscan +soothsayer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> that the city of Veii would not be captured till the +Alban Lake was emptied into the sea. The deep winding cavern on the +face of the Aventine Hill, said to have been inhabited by the +monstrous giant Cacus, the son of Vulcan, who vomited fire, and was +the terror of the surrounding inhabitants, was evidently of volcanic +origin; and the local tradition from which Virgil concocted his fable +was undoubtedly derived from a vivid recollection of the active +operations of a volcano. When Evander, as described in the eighth +<i>Æneid</i>, conducted his distinguished guest to the top of the Tarpeian +Rock, in after ages so famous as the place of public execution, and +composed of very hard lava, he assured him that an awful terror +possessed the place, and that some unknown god had his abode there. +The shepherds said it was Jupiter, and that they had often seen him +kindling his lightnings and hurling his thunderbolts from thence. +Evander then pointed to the ruined cities of Saturnia and Janiculum, +on either side of the Tiber, whose destruction had been caused by the +wrath of the god. There can be no doubt that this fable clothed with +supernatural colouring some volcanic phenomena which had taken place +on this spot during the human period. Even as late as three hundred +and ninety years after the foundation of Rome, a chasm opened in the +Forum, and emitted flames and pestilential vapours. An oracle declared +that this chasm would not close until what constituted the glory of +Rome should be cast into it. Marcus Curtius asked if anything in Rome +was more precious than arms and valour; and arraying himself in his +armour, and mounting on a horse splendidly equipped, he leapt in the +presence of the Roman people into the abyss, when it instantly closed +for ever. We thus see that the geology of the Roman plain throws no +inconsiderable light upon the early history and traditions of the +Eternal City, and brings within the cycle of natural phenomena what +were long supposed to be purely fabulous incidents, the inventions of +a poetic imagination. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span> have dwelt upon these geological incidents so +fully, because nowhere does one realise the striking contrast between +the shortness of man's existence on earth, as in places like the Roman +plain, where the traces of cosmical energy have been greatest and most +enduring.</p> + +<p>The volcanic origin of the Roman Forum suggests the curious idea of +the intimate connection of some of the greatest events of history with +volcanic centres. Where the strife of nature has been fiercest, there +by a strange coincidence the storm of human passion has been greatest. +The geological history of a region is most frequently typical of its +human history. We can predicate of a scene where the cosmical +disturbance has been great,—where fire and flood have contended for +the mastery, leaving the effects of their strife in deepening valleys +and ascending hills,—that there man has had a strangely varied and +eventful career. The strongholds and citadels of the earth, where the +great battles of freedom and civilisation have been fought, were all +untold ages previously the centres of violent plutonic disturbances. +Edinburgh Castle, enthroned on its trap-rock, once the centre of a +volcano, is associated with the most stirring and important events in +the history of Scotland; Stirling Castle rises on its trap-rock +erupted by volcanic action above a vast plain, across which a hundred +battles have swept; Dumbarton Castle, crowning its trappean +promontory, has represented in its civil history the protracted +periods of earthquake and eruption concerned in the formation of its +site; while standing in solitude amid the stormy waters of the Firth +of Forth, the Bass Rock, once a scene of fiery confusion, of roaring +waves and heaving earthquakes, has formed alternately the prison where +religious liberty has been strangled, and the fortress where +patriotism has taken its last stand against the forces of the invader. +Palestine, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and Scotland, the countries +that have had the most remarkable history, and have done most to +advance the human race, are distinguished above other countries for +their geological<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> convulsions and revolutions. The Roman Forum is thus +but one specimen among numerous others of a law of Providence which +has associated the strife of nature with the strife of man, and caused +the ravages of the most terrible elements to prepare the way for the +highest development of the human race.</p> + +<p>Between the Roman Forum and the valley beneath Edinburgh Castle we can +trace a striking resemblance, not only in their volcanic origin and +the connection between their geological history and their analogous +civil history, but also in the fact that they were both filled with +small lakes. Between the ridges of the old and new town of Edinburgh, +where the railway runs through Princes Street Gardens, there was in +the memory of many now living a considerable collection of water +called the North Loch. In like manner, in the hollow of the Roman +Forum there was originally a small lake, a relic of the numerous lakes +of the Campagna, which remained after the last elevation of the land, +and which existed pretty far on into the human period. It was fed by +three streams flowing from the Palatine, the Capitoline, and the +Esquiline Hills, which now run underground and meet at this point.</p> + +<p>Let us picture to ourselves the appearance of this lake embosomed in +the hollow of its hills in the far-off pastoral times, when the +mountains and the high table-lands of Italy were the chosen territory +of those tribes whose property consisted chiefly in their flocks. The +hills of Rome, whose elevation was far more conspicuous in ancient +times than it is now, presented a precipitous front of dark volcanic +rock to the lake. Their slopes were covered with grass and with +natural copse-wood, intermixed with tall ilex trees, or umbrella +pines; while on their summits were little villages surrounded with +Cyclopean walls perched there not only for security, but also for the +healthier air, just as we see at the present day all over Italy. On +the summit of the Capitoline and Esquiline Hills were Sabine +settlements, whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> origin is lost in the mists of antiquity. To the +green wooded slopes of the Palatine, according to a beautiful +tradition, sixty years before the destruction of Troy, came Evander +and his Arcadians from Greece, and settled there with their flocks and +herds, and led a quiet idyllic life. According to another tradition, +Æneas, after the destruction of Troy, came to this spot, and marrying +the daughter of a neighbouring king, became the ancestor of the twins +Romulus and Remus, the popular founders of Rome, whose romantic +exposure and nourishment by a she-wolf are known to every schoolboy. +Romulus, after slaying his brother, built a stronghold on the +Palatine, which he opened as an asylum for outlaws and runaway slaves, +who supported themselves chiefly by plunder. The community of this +robber-city consisting almost entirely of males, they provided +themselves with wives by the famous stratagem known as the "Rape of +the Sabine women." Seizing the daughters of their neighbours, the +Sabines of the Capitoline and Esquiline Hills, on a festive occasion, +they carried them away with them to their fortress. A number of +sanguinary fights took place in consequence of this rape around the +swampy margin of the lake. In the last of these engagements the +combatants were separated by the Sabine women suddenly rushing in with +their children between their fathers and brothers and the men who had +become their husbands. A mutual reconciliation then ensued, and the +two communities contracted a firm and close alliance. The Palatine, +Capitoline, and Esquiline villages became henceforth one city, to +which from time to time by conquest new accessions were made, until at +last all the different settlements on the seven hills of Rome were +brought under one rule, and surrounded by a common wall of defence. +Mommsen, Niebuhr, Sir George Cornewall Lewis, and other critics, have +made sad havoc with these romantic stories of the origin of Rome. But +although much of the fabulous undoubtedly mingles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span> with them—for the +early history of Rome was not written till it had become a powerful +state, and then the historian had no records of days long past save +what were embodied in popular tradition and poetry—there has recently +been a reaction in favour of them, and they must ever be interesting +on account of their own intrinsic charm, the element of truth which +they contain, and the indelible associations of schoolboy life.</p> + +<p>When a joint city was thus compacted and called Rome—possibly its old +Pelasgic appellation—the first effort of the confederated settlements +was to drain the geological lake in the centre of the city into the +Tiber, a quarter of a mile distant. This they did by means of the +celebrated Cloaca Maxima, a part of which may be seen open at the +present day under the pavement of the Roman Forum, near the Temple of +Castor and Pollux. This common sewer of Rome is one of its oldest and +greatest relics. It was built by the first Tarquin, the fifth king of +Rome, a century and a half after the foundation of the city; and +although two thousand five hundred years have passed away since the +architect formed without cement its massive archway of huge volcanic +stones found on the spot, and during all the time it has been +subjected to the shock of numerous earthquakes, inundations of the +Tiber, and the crash of falling ruins, it still serves its original +purpose as effectually as ever, and promises to stand for as many ages +in the future as it has stood in the past. It is commonly said that we +owe the invention of the arch to the Romans; and this work of +undoubted Etruscan architecture is usually considered as among the +very first applications of the principle. But the arched drains and +doorways discovered by Layard at Nineveh prove that the Assyrians +employed the arch centuries before Rome was founded. It had however +only a subordinate place and a very limited application in the ancient +architecture of the East; and it was left to the Romans to give it due +prominence in crossing wide spaces, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> make it "the bow of promise," +the bridge over which they passed to the dominion of the world. The +Cloaca Maxima is a tunnel roofed with two concentric rings of enormous +stones, the innermost having an interior diameter of nearly fourteen +feet, the height being about twelve feet. So capacious was it that +Strabo mentions that a waggon loaded with hay might find room in it; +and it is recorded that the Consul Agrippa passed through it in a +boat. The mouth of the Cloaca opens into the Tiber, near the little +round temple of Hercules in the Forum Boarium; but it is often +invisible owing to the flooding of the river; and even when the Tiber +is low, so much has its bed been silted up that only about three feet +below the keystone of the sewer can be seen. Subsequently all the +sewers of Rome were connected with it; and at the present day the nose +gives infallible proof that it carries off a very large portion of the +pollution of the modern city.</p> + +<p>By the Cloaca Maxima, the valley between the Capitoline and Palatine +Hills was for the first time made dry land; all indeed, except a small +swamp which remained in one corner of it to a later age, and which the +great sewer was not deep enough to drain entirely. Reeds grew around +its margin, and boats were employed to cross it, as Ovid tells us. The +name Velabrum—from an Etruscan root, signifying water, occurring in +some other Italian names such as Velletri, Velino—still given to this +locality, where a church stood in the middle ages called S. Silvestro +in Lacu, commemorates the existence of the primeval lake; while the +legend of the casting ashore of Romulus and Remus on the slope of the +Palatine points to the gradual desiccation of the spot. On the level +ground, recovered in this way from the waters, was formed the Roman +Forum; the word Forum meaning simply an open space, surrounded by +buildings and porticoes, which served the purpose of a market-place, a +court of justice, or an exchange; for the Romans transacted more of +their public and private<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span> business out of doors than the severe +climate of our northern latitudes will permit us to do. On this common +ground representatives of the separate communities located on the +different hills of Rome, and comprehended and confederated within the +walls of Servius Tullius, met together for the settlement of affairs +that concerned them all. As Rome grew in importance, so did this +central representative part of it grow with it, until at last, in the +time of the Cæsars, it became the heart of the mighty empire, where +its pulse beat loudest. There the fate of the world was discussed. +There Cicero spoke, and Cæsar ruled, and Horace meditated. If the +Temple of Jerusalem was the shrine of religion, the Forum of Rome was +the shrine of law; and from thence has emanated that unrivalled system +of jurisprudence which has formed the model of every nation since. +Being thus the centre of the political power of the empire, the Roman +Forum became also the focus of its architectural and civic splendour. +It was crowded with marble temples, state buildings, and courts of law +to such an extent that we wonder how there was room for them all +within such a narrow area. Monuments of great men, statues of Greek +sculpture, colonnades, and porticoes, rich with the spoils of subject +kingdoms, adorned its sides. The whole region was resplendent with all +the pomp and luxury of paganism in its proudest hour; the word +"ambition," which came ultimately to signify all strivings for +eminence, resolving itself into the elementary meaning of a walk round +the Roman Forum, canvassing for votes at municipal elections.</p> + +<p>Thus the Forum continued until the decay of the empire, when hordes of +invaders buried its magnificence in ruins. At the beginning of the +seventh century it must have been open and comparatively free from +<i>débris</i>, as is proved by the fact that the column of Phocas, erected, +at that time, stood on the original pavement. Virgil says, in his +account of the romantic interview of Evander with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span> Æneas on the spot +which was to be afterwards Rome—then a quiet pastoral scene, green +with grass, and covered with bushes—that they saw herds of cattle +wandering over the Forum, and browsing on the rich pasture around the +shores of its blue lake. Strange, the law of circularity, after the +lapse of two thousand years, brought round the same state of things in +that storied spot. During the middle ages the Roman Forum was known +only as the Campo Vaccino, the field of cattle. It was a forlorn +waste, with a few ruins scattered over it, and two formal rows of +poplar-trees running down the middle of it, and wild-eyed buffaloes +and mouse-coloured oxen from the Campagna wandering over the solitude, +and cropping the grass and green weeds that grew in the very heart of +old Rome. When Gibbon conceived the idea of the <i>Decline and Fall of +the Roman Empire</i>, listening to the vespers of the Franciscan friars +in the dim church of Ara Coeli in the neighbourhood, the Forum was an +unsightly piece of ground, covered with rubbish-heaps, with only a +pillar or two emerging from the general filth. When Byron stood beside +the "nameless column with the buried base," commemorated in <i>Childe +Harold</i>, he little dreamt what a rich collection of the relics of +imperial times lay under his feet, as completely buried by the wrecks +of ages as Pompeii and Herculaneum under the ashes and lava of +Vesuvius. From fifteen to twenty feet of soil had accumulated over +them.</p> + +<p>The work of excavation was begun seventy-five years ago by the Duchess +of Devonshire, who spent the last years of her life in Rome, and +formed the centre of its brilliant society. Napoleon III., the late +Emperor of the French, carried on the task thus auspiciously +commenced, for the purpose of shedding light upon the parts of Roman +history connected with Julius Cæsar, the hero of his book. In spite of +much opposition from the Papal Government, the work of exhumation was +continued in fits and starts after the French emperor had given it up; +and ever since the Italian Government have taken the matter in hand,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span> +gangs of labourers under the directorship of the accomplished Signor +Rosa have been more or less continually employed, with the result that +almost the whole area has been laid bare from the Capitol to the Arch +of Titus. The British Archæological Society of Rome has given valuable +aid according to the funds in its possession, and the contributions +sent from this country for the purpose. When first commenced, the +changes caused by these excavations were regarded with no favourable +eye by either the artists or the people of Rome. The trees were cut +down, the mantle of verdure that for centuries had covered the +spot—Nature's appropriate pall for the decay of art—was ruthlessly +torn up, and great unsightly holes and heaps of <i>débris</i> utterly +destroyed the picturesque beauty of the scene. But the loss to romance +was a gain to knowledge; and now that the greatest part of the Forum +has been cleared down to the ancient pavement, we are able to form a +much more vivid and accurate conception of what the place must have +been in the days of the empire, and are in a position to identify +buildings which previously had been a theme for endless and violent +disputes. It is a very interesting and suggestive coincidence that the +Forum of Rome should have been thus disentombed at the very time that +Italy rose from its grave of ages, and under a free and enlightened +government, having its centre once more in the Eternal City, proved +that it had inherited no small share of the spirit of the heroic past.</p> + +<p>Let us go over in brief detail the various objects of interest that +may now be seen in the centre of Roman greatness. Numerous sources of +information exist which enable us to identify these monuments, and to +form some idea of what they were in their prime. Among these may be +mentioned coins and medals of the emperors, with representations upon +them of buildings and sculptures in the Forum; a marble stone found at +Ancyra, now Angouri in Phrygia, on which is a long inscription +regarding the acts and achievements of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> Augustus, which is of the +greatest value in determining the topography of the city; the +bas-reliefs on the Arch of Constantine, and on the marble screens of +Trajan, recently excavated in the Forum itself, giving a view of its +north-western and south-eastern ends; and the remains of the antique +marble plan of Rome, now preserved in the Capitoline Museum, +originally affixed to the wall of the superb Temple of Rome, and +discovered in fragments in 1867 in the garden of the monastery of SS. +Cosma e Damiano. We also get most valuable help in the work of +identification from the Itineraries of the middle ages—especially +from that of the celebrated pilgrim from Einsiedlen, Zwingli's town in +Switzerland—who visited Rome in the eighth century, and left his +manuscript to his own abbey, where it may still be seen. A vast +apparatus of learning has been accumulated from the works of ancient +classic authors by the great scholars who have written on the +historical localities and buildings of the Forum, from Donati to +Becker. Nibby, Canina, Ampère, Bunsen, Plattner, and Uhrlich, in their +magnificent works have supplied a mine of wealth from which most +subsequent writers on the Forum have enriched their descriptions.</p> + +<p>The direction of the Forum is nearly from north to south, trending a +little from north-east to south-west. It is surprisingly small to have +contained such a large number of buildings, and to have bulked so +prominently in the eye of the world; its greatest length being only +six hundred and seventy-one feet, and its greatest breadth about two +hundred and two feet. Beginning at the north end, we see before us the +vast mass of the ancient Capitol, the proudest symbol of the majesty +of Rome, crowned with the great staring medieval structures of the +Roman municipality, rising up into the campanile of Michael Angelo. +Until of late years, this renowned building was completely buried +beneath a huge mound of rubbish. Now that it has been removed, the +venerable fabric stands out distinctly to view, and we behold the +massive walls of the Treasury,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span> the Record Office, and the Senate +House. The lowest part, constructed of huge blocks of volcanic stones, +was the Ærarium or Public Treasury, and is supposed to have been +formed out of the original wall of the city of the Sabines, which +surrounded the hill of Saturn, as the Capitoline Mount was originally +called, long before Romulus laid the foundation of Rome. As the Roman +army was paid in coppers, spacious cellars were required for storing +the coin, and these were provided in the underground vaults of the +Treasury, partially cut out of the volcanic rock of the Capitol, on +which the building rests. Above the Treasury, on the second floor, we +see the remains of the Doric portico of the Tabularium or Public +Record Office, where the records of Rome, engraved upon bronze +tablets, were kept. The place is now converted into an architectural +museum, where all the most interesting sculptured fragments found in +the Forum are preserved, and are exhibited by gaslight owing to the +darkness. These buildings, it must be remembered, form the back of the +Capitol fronting the Forum. Strictly speaking, they do not belong to +the Forum, which should be traced only from their verge.</p> + +<p>The view on the other side of the Capitol, where a gently-inclined +staircase leads up from the streets to the piazza at the top, +surrounded by the modern municipal buildings, raised upon the ancient +substructures above described, is quite different. But the present +aspect of the Capitol is quite disappointing to one who comes to it +seeking for evidences of its former grandeur. There is no trace of the +Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, to which the triumphal processions of +the Roman armies led up, gorgeous with all the attractions of marble +architecture, and the richest spoils of the world, the most splendid +monument of human pride which the world then contained. Probably its +remains were used up in the construction of the gloomy old church of +the <i>Ara Coeli</i>, which is supposed by most archæologists to stand upon +its site. The Capitol, it may be remarked, was pre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span>cisely similar to +the moot-hill, or open-air court, which existed in our own country in +primitive times, and where justice was administered at regular +intervals. The tradition of this original use of it still clings to +the place as a shadow from the past. The hill has always been +appropriated for political purposes. It has continued from the +earliest days to be a centre of secular as opposed to ecclesiastical +authority. The Popes ceded it to the magistracy, whose municipal +buildings now cover it, and placed the church of Ara Coeli—the only +one ever built on the Capitoline Hill—under their protection. The +place of execution was chosen conveniently near to this moot-hill, or +seat of justice; and the criminal, when condemned, was speedily +executed, by being hurled over the rock, just outside of the eastern +rampart, which surrounded the settlement. We can thus easily +understand the association of the Tarpeian Rock with the Capitoline +Hill. They were as closely correlated as the moot-hill and the Gallow +hill in our own country. The primitive method of execution derived a +sanctity from its antiquity, and was continued far on into the most +civilised times of the empire.</p> + +<p>So densely crowded were the historical buildings and remarkable sites +in that part of the Forum which lay immediately behind the Capitol, +that it is almost impossible now to identify their position or +remains. This spot forms the great battle-ground of the antiquaries, +whose conclusions in many instances are mere guess-work. Below the +medieval tower of the Capitol is a wide space paved with fragments of +coloured marbles, and with indications of the ground-plan of a +building. This is supposed to mark the site of the Temple of Concord, +erected by the great general Camillus, after the expulsion of the +Gauls, to perpetuate the concord between the plebeians and patricians +on the vexed question of the election of consuls. It was placed beside +the old meeting-place of the privileged families. From the charred +state of some of its sculptures discovered on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span> spot, it is +supposed to have been destroyed by fire. It was restored and enlarged +a hundred and twenty years before Christ by the Consul Opimius +immediately after the murder of Caius Gracchus. To the classical +student it is specially interesting as the place where Cicero convoked +the senate after the discovery of the Catiline conspiracy, for the +purpose of fixing the punishment due to one of the greatest of crimes. +Among the senators present on that memorable occasion were men of the +highest political and philosophical renown, including Cæsar, Cato, and +Cicero. They came to the conclusion that there was no such thing as +retribution beyond the grave, no future state of consciousness, no +immortality of the soul; consequently death was considered too mild a +punishment for the impious treason of the conspirators; and a penalty, +which should keep alive instead of extinguishing suffering, was +advocated. We learn from this extraordinary argument, as Merivale well +says, how utter was the religious scepticism among the brightest +intellects of Rome only thirty-seven years before the coming of +Christ. The very name of the temple itself, dedicated not to a divine +being as in a more pious age, but to a mere political abstraction, a +mere symbol of a compact effected between two discordant parties in +the state, indicated how greatly the Romans had declined from their +primitive faith.</p> + +<p>But the most conspicuous of the ancient remains in this quarter, and +the first to attract the notice of every visitor, is the Ionic portico +of eight columns, called at first the Temple of Jupiter, and then of +Vespasian, but now definitely determined to be the Temple of Saturn, +for it is closely connected with the Ærarium, and the Ærarium is said +by several ancient authors to have led into the podium of the temple +by a doorway in its wall still visible. This temple is supposed to be +of very early origin, and to have marked the site of an ancient Sabine +altar to the oldest of the gods of Italy long before the arrival of +the Romans. It was nearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span> entire so late as the fifteenth century; +but its cella was ruthlessly destroyed shortly afterwards, and its +marble ornaments used for making lime. The present group of pillars +was so clumsily restored by the French at the beginning of this +century that they are seen to differ from each other in diameter, and +the frieze is composed of fragments that do not harmonise.</p> + +<p>But the most remarkable monument of antiquity in this part is the +marble triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus, which stands in front of +the ruins of the Temple of Concord. It invaded the site of the +republican Græcostasis, where foreign ambassadors waited for an +audience of the senate, and occupied part of the area of the Comitium, +whose original character was thereby destroyed; for it was erected at +a time when men ceased to care for the venerable associations +connected with the early history of their city. One gazes upon this +monument of Roman power and pride with deep respect, for it has stood +nearly seventeen centuries; and though rusty and sorely battered, and +its sculptures much mutilated, it is still one of the most solid and +perfect relics of imperial times. It was raised to commemorate the +wars of Septimius Severus in Parthia and Arabia; and represents among +its carvings the goddess Rome receiving the homage of the Eastern +nations. It exhibits on its panels many scenes connected with his +campaigns, the memory of which no humane man would have liked to +perpetuate. On the upper part of the Arch is a large inscription in +honour of the emperor and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta. The name +of Geta, however, was afterwards erased by his brother when he had +murdered him, and other words substituted. Marks of the erasure may +still be seen perfectly distinct after all these centuries, and +vividly recall the terrible associations of the incident. The dislike +which Caracalla and Geta had for each other was so virulent that their +father took them both with him to Britain, in order that they might +forget their mutual animosity while engaged in active warfare. +Septimius<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span> Severus died during this campaign at York, and his sons +returned to Rome to work out soon after the domestic tragedy of which +this Arch reminds us. On the top of the Arch there was originally a +bronze group of a chariot and four horses, with the emperor and his +sons driving it. But this was removed at an early date; and in the +middle ages the summit of the Arch supported the campanile of the +church of St. Sergius and Bacchus that was built up against its sides. +A little to the left, the road passing under the Arch joins the Clivus +Capitolinus which wound through the Forum, and led up to the great +Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. The pavement of this ancient road, +which still exists, is formed of broad hexagonal slabs of lava, and is +as smooth and as finely jointed at this day as when the triumphal +processions of the victorious Roman generals used to pass over it.</p> + +<p>At the western corner of the Arch of Severus are the scanty remains of +a tall conical pyramid, about fifteen feet in diameter, which is +identified as the Umbilicus Romæ, placed in the exact centre of old +Rome. Not far from it stood the Milliarium Aureum, or Golden +Milestone, on which were inscribed all the distances of roads without +the walls. The Roman roads throughout the empire terminated at this +point. With this central milestone was connected that admirable system +of roads which the Romans constructed in our distant island; and it is +a remarkable circumstance that the principal railway lines in England +are identical with the general direction of the old Roman roads. The +Antonine Way is now the Great Western Railway, and the Roman Watling +Street, which ran diagonally across the country from Chester in the +north-west to Dover in the south-east, is now replaced by the Dover, +London, Birmingham, Grand Junction, Chester, and Crewe Railways. The +reason of this union of ancient and modern lines of communication is +obvious. The Romans formed their roads for the purpose of transporting +their armies from place to place, and at certain distances along the +roads<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span> a series of military stations were established. In course of +time these stations became villages, towns, and cities such as +Chester, Leicester, Lancaster, Manchester. Thus, strange as it may +appear, the Milliarium Aureum of the Roman Forum has had much to do +with the origin of our most ancient and important towns, and with the +formation of the great lines of railway that now carry on the enormous +traffic between them.</p> + +<p>The exposed vaults immediately behind the Arch of Severus, bounding +the Forum in this direction, are richly draped with the long, delicate +fronds of the maidenhair fern. Shaded from the sun, it grows here in +the crevices of the old walls in greater luxuriance and profusion than +elsewhere in the city. There is something almost pathetic in this +association of the frailest of Nature's productions with the ruins of +the most enduring of man's works. Strength that is crumbling to dust +and ashes, and tender beauty that ever clings to the skirts of time, +as she steps over the sepulchres of power, have here in their +combination a deep significance. The growth of the soft fern on the +mouldering old stones seems like the sad, sweet smile of Nature over a +decay with which she sympathises, but which she cannot share. The same +feeling took possession of me when, wandering over the ruins of the +Palaces of the Cæsars on a sunny February afternoon, I saw above the +hoary masses of stone the rose-tinted bloom of almond-trees. Out of +the gray relics of man's highest hour of pride, the leafless +almond-rod blossomed as of old in the holy place of the Hebrew +Tabernacle; and its miracle of colour and tenderness was like the +crimson glow that lingers at sunset upon Alpine heights, telling of a +glory that had long vanished from the spot.</p> + +<p>Beneath these fern-draped vaults is the oldest prison in the world. +The celebrated Mamertine Prison takes us back to the very foundation +of the city. It was regarded in the time of the Cæsars as one of the +most ancient relics of Rome, and was invested with peculiar interest +because of its venerable associations. It consists<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> of a series of +vaults excavated out of the solid tufa rock, where it slopes down from +the Capitoline Hill into the Forum, each lined with massive blocks of +red volcanic stone. For a long time these vaults have been used as +cellars under a row of tall squalid-looking houses built over them +between the Via di Marforio and the Vicolo del Ghettarello; and the +sense of smell gives convincing proof that where prisoners of state +used to be confined, provisions of wine, cheese, and oil have been +stored. The prison has recently passed into the possession of the +British and American Archæological Society of Rome, which pays a +certain rent to the Italian Government for its use. By this society it +is illuminated and shown every Monday afternoon during the season. One +of the members conducts the party through the upper and lower prisons, +and explains everything of interest connected with them. Dr. Parker, +whose labours have done so much to elucidate this part of ancient +Rome, was the guide on the occasion of my visit; and as the party was +unusually small, we had a better opportunity of seeing what was to be +seen, and hearing the guide's observations.</p> + +<p>The uppermost vault is still below the level of the surrounding soil, +and the entrance to it is by the church of San Giuseppe di Falegnami, +the patron of the Roman joiners, built over it. Beneath is a +subterranean chapel, forming a sort of crypt to the upper church, +called San Pietro in Carcere, containing a curious ancient crucifix, +an object of great veneration, and hung round with blazing lamps and +rusty daggers, pistols, and other deadly instruments, the votive +offerings of bandits and assassins who sought at this shrine of the +chief of the apostles to make their peace with heaven. Descending from +the chapel by a flight of steps we come through a modern door, opened +through the wall for the convenience of the pilgrims who annually +visit the sacred spot in crowds, to the ancient vestibule, or grand +chamber of the prison, commonly called the Prison of St. Peter from +the church<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> tradition which asserts that the great apostle was +confined here by order of Nero before his martyrdom. The pillar to +which he was bound is still pointed out in the cell; and Dr. Parker, +lifting up its cover, showed us a well in the pavement of the floor, +which is said to have sprung up miraculously to furnish water for the +baptism of the jailors Processus and Martinianus whom he had +converted, though, unfortunately for this tradition, the fountain is +described by Plutarch as existing in the time of Jugurtha's +imprisonment. Indeed there is every reason to believe that this +chamber was originally a well-house or a subterranean cistern for +collecting water at the foot of the Capitol, from which circumstance +it derived its name of Tullianum, from <i>tullius</i>, the old Etruscan +word for <i>spring</i>, and not from Servius Tullius, who was erroneously +supposed to have built it. The whole chamber in primitive times was +filled with water, and the hole in the roof was used for drawing it +out. Dr. Parker gave us a little of the water in a goblet, but, +notwithstanding its sacred reputation, it tasted very much like +ordinary water, being very cool and fresh, with a slight medicinal +taste. He also pointed our attention to a rugged hollow in the wall of +the staircase, and told us that this was the print of St. Peter's head +in the hard stone, said to have been produced as he stumbled and fell +against it, coming down the stair a chained prisoner. It requires no +small amount of devotional credulity to recognise the likeness or to +believe the story.</p> + +<p>But there is no need for having recourse to such ecclesiastical +legends in order to produce a solemn impression in this chamber. Its +classical associations are sufficient of themselves to powerfully +affect the imagination. There is no reason to doubt the common belief +that this is the identical cell in which the famous Jugurtha was +starved to death. The romantic history of this African king is +familiar to all readers of Sallust, who gives a masterly account of +the Jugurthine war. When finally defeated, after having long defied +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span> Roman army, his person was taken possession of by treachery and +carried in chains to Rome, where he adorned the triumphal procession +of his conqueror Marius, and was finally cast into this cell, +perishing there of cold and hunger. What a terrible ending to the +career of a fierce, free soldier, who had spent his life on horseback +in the boundless sultry deserts of Western Africa! The temperature of +the place is exceedingly damp and chill. Jugurtha himself, when +stripped of his clothes by the executioners, and let down into it from +the hole in the roof, exclaimed with grim humour, "By Hercules, how +cold your bath is!" A more hideous and heart-breaking dungeon it is +impossible to imagine. Not a ray of light can penetrate the profound +darkness of this living tomb. Sallust spoke of the appearance of it in +his day, from the filth, the gloom, and the smell, as simply terrific. +The height of the vault is about sixteen feet, its length thirty feet, +and its breadth twenty-two feet. It is cased with huge masses of +volcanic stone, arranged in courses, converging towards the roof, not +on the principle of the arch, but extending horizontally to a centre, +as we see in some of the Etruscan tombs. This peculiar style of +construction proves the very high antiquity of the chamber.</p> + +<p>This cell played the same part in Roman history which the Tower of +London has done in our own. Here, by the orders of Cicero, were +strangled Lentulus, Cethegus, and one or two more of the accomplices +of Catiline, in his famous conspiracy. Here was murdered, under +circumstances of great baseness, Vercingetorix, the young and gallant +chief of the Gauls, whose bravery called forth the highest qualities +of Julius Cæsar's military genius, and who, when success abandoned his +arms, boldly gave himself up as an offering to appease the anger of +the Romans. Here perished Sejanus, the minister and son-in-law of +Tiberius, who was detected in a conspiracy against the emperor, and +richly deserved his fate on account of his cruelty and treachery. +Here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span> also was put to death Simon Bar-Gioras, the governor of the +revolted Jews during the last dreadful siege of Jerusalem, who was +taken prisoner, and after gracing the triumph of the emperor Titus at +Rome, shared the fate which usually happened to captives after such an +exhibition.</p> + +<p>From the Tullianum or Prison of St. Peter, we were led through a +tortuous subterranean passage of Etruscan character, a hundred yards +long, cut out of the rock. It was so low that we had to stoop all the +way, and in some places almost to creep, and so narrow that a very +stout person would have some difficulty in forcing himself through. +The floor was here and there wet with the overflowing of neighbouring +drains, which exhaled a noisome smell; and we had to pick our steps +carefully through thick greasy mud, which on the slopes was very +slippery and disagreeable. We followed each other in Indian file, +stooping low, each with a wax taper burning dimly in the damp +atmosphere, and presenting a most picturesque appearance. This passage +was discovered only a few years ago. Numerous passages of a similar +nature are said to penetrate the volcanic rock on which the Capitol +stands, in every direction, like the galleries of an ant's nest. Some +of these have been exposed, and others walled up. They connect the +Prison with the <i>Cloaca</i>, and doubtless furnished means by which the +bodies of criminals who had been executed might be secretly disposed +of. The passage in question brought us to four other chambers, each +darker and more dismal than the other, and partially filled with heaps +of rubbish and masses of stone that had fallen from their roofs and +sides. At the top of each vault there was a man-hole for letting a +prisoner down with cords into it. A visit to these six vaults of the +Mamertine Prison gives one an idea that can never be forgotten of the +cruelty and tyranny which underlay all the gorgeous despotism of Rome, +alike in the kingly, republican, and imperial periods. Some of the +remains may still be seen of the <i>Scalæ Gemoniæ</i>, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> "steps of +sighs," down which the bodies of those who were executed were thrown, +to be exposed to the insults of the populace. The only circumstance +that relieves the intolerable gloom of the associations of the Prison +is, that Nævius is said to have written two of his plays while he was +confined in it for his attacks on the aristocracy; a circumstance +which links it to the Tower of London, which has also its literary +reminiscences. After having been immured so long in such disagreeable +physical darkness—appropriate emblem of the deeds of horror committed +in it—we were truly glad to catch at last a faint glimmer of daylight +shimmering into the uppermost passage, and to emerge into the open +sunshine, from beneath a house at the farther end of the Vicolo del +Ghettarello.</p> + +<p>A modern carriage-road used to pass along this way, leading up to the +Piazza del Campidoglio in front of the Capitol, and cutting the Forum +into two parts, concealing a considerable portion of it. This +obstruction has now been swept away, and the Forum is fully exposed +from end to end. Below this old road we observe the "nameless column" +of <i>Childe Harold</i>, which long stood with its base buried, and was +taken for the ruins of a temple. When excavated in 1813 it was found +to stand on an isolated pedestal, with an inscription recording that +it was erected by the exarch Smaragdus to the emperor Phocas; and the +mode in which the offering was made was worthy of the infamous subject +and the venal dedicator. Nothing can be clearer from the style of the +monument than that it was stolen from the Temple of Vespasian +adjoining; for it is an exact fellow of the three graceful Corinthian +pillars still standing in front of the Ærarium. It was near this +pillar, a few years after it was raised, that Gregory the Great, +before he became Pope, saw the young Saxon captives exposed to be sold +as slaves, and was so struck with their innocent looks and hopeless +fate that he asked about their nationality and religion. Being told +that they were Angli, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span> said, "<i>Non Angli, sed Angeli</i>." The +impression made upon him led to a mission for converting the natives +of Britain, which set out from Rome under St. Augustine in 596. Thus +does the column of the infamous usurper Phocas link itself on the +historic page with the conversion of Britain to Christianity.</p> + +<p>Beside the Pillar of Phocas are two large marble screens or parapets, +with magnificent bas-reliefs sculptured on both sides. They were +discovered about sixteen years ago <i>in situ</i>, and are among the most +interesting and important objects that have been brought to light by +the recent excavations in the Forum. Their peculiar form has given +rise to much controversy; some antiquarians regarding them as an +avenue along which voters went up to the poll at the popular elections +of consuls, designed either to preserve the voters from the pressure +of the mob, or to prevent any but properly qualified persons from +getting admission; while others believe that the passage between the +double screen led to an altar. This latter opinion seems the more +plausible one, for the sculptures on one side represent the +<i>suovetaurilia</i>—a bull, a ram, and a boar, adorned with ribbons and +vittæ, walking in file, which were usually sacrificed for the +purification of Rome at the Lustrum, as the census taken every five +years was called. The other sculptures on the marble screens consist +of a number of human figures in greater or less relief; one of them +being supposed to commemorate the provision made by Trajan for the +children of poor or deceased citizens in the orphanage which he was +the first to found in Rome; and the other, the burning of the deeds +which contained the evidence of the public debt of the Roman citizens, +which the emperor generously cancelled. But the chief significance of +the sculptures lies in their background of architectural and other +objects indicating the locality of the scenes represented. They place +before us a view of the Forum as it appeared in the time of Trajan, +and enable us to identify the various objects which then crowded it, +and to fix their relative<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> position. The topographical importance of +these reliefs has been well discussed by Signor Brizio and Professor +Henzen in the <i>Proceedings of the Roman Archæological Institute</i>; and +also in a paper read by Mr. Nichols before the Society of Antiquaries +in London in 1875. By translating into perspective their somewhat +conventional representations of temples, basilicas, and arches, Mr. +Nichols has given us in his monograph on the subject two very +effective pictorial restorations of the Forum as it was in the days of +Trajan. Both the screens exhibit, very distinctly sculptured, a +fig-tree and a statue on a pedestal, which are interesting from their +classical associations. The tree is not the famous Ruminal fig-tree +originally of the Palatine and then of the Comitium, but, as Pliny +tells us, a self-sown tree which grew in the mid Forum on the site of +the Lake of Curtius, which in Ovid's time, as we learn from himself, +was a dry space of natural ground marked off by a low fence, and +including an altar. This fig-tree, along with a vine and an olive, +which grew associated with it, was much prized on account of the shade +which it afforded. The figure under the fig-tree, carrying a vine stem +on its left shoulder, and uplifting its right arm, has been recognised +as that of Marsyas, whose statue was often put in market-places as an +emblem of plenty and indulgence. Martial, Horace, Seneca, and Pliny +all alluded to this statue in the Forum, which stood near the edge of +the Lake of Curtius, and was crowned with garlands by Julia, the +daughter of Augustus, during her disgraceful assignations beside it +with her lovers at night.</p> + +<p>On the east side of the Forum the excavations have been stopped in the +meantime, as the modern level of the ground is occupied by valuable +houses, and two very interesting old churches, Santa Martina and Sta. +Adriano. Under the part not yet exhumed lie the remains of the +earliest of all the Basilicas, the Basilica of Porcia, built by the +elder Cato in the immediate vicinity of the Curia, and also those of +the famous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span> Basilica Æmilia, which probably extended along the greater +part of the east side of the Forum. Some of the most important +monuments of ancient Rome, known to us only by the writings of classic +authors, doubtless lie buried in this locality. Under the church of +Sta. Adriano, the famous Curia Hostilia or Senate House, attributed to +Tullus Hostilius, stood. The original building was destroyed by fire +at the funeral of Clodius, through the carelessness of the populace, +who insisted upon burning his body within it; but it was replaced by +the Curia Julia, which was rebuilt by Augustus, who added to it an +important structure, called in the Ancyran inscription Chalcidicum, +for the convenience of the senators. Around it stood the statues of +men who had rendered important services to the state; and not far off +was an altar and statue of Victory, which formed the last +rallying-ground of expiring paganism against the dominating +Christianity of the empire. In the year 382 the Christian party had +removed this altar and statue; and when their restoration was demanded +by Symmachus, the request was refused by Ambrose, as opposed to the +conscience of the Christian senators; and this decision being ratified +by the votes of the assembly, the doom of paganism, as the national +religion, was in consequence sealed. The Curia Julia ceased to serve +its original purpose at the death of Caligula, when the consuls +convoked the senate in the Capitol instead, to mark their aversion to +the rule of the Cæsars; and the building was probably burnt down and +finally rebuilt in the time of Diocletian. One of the most curious +uses to which it was put, was to mark the <i>Suprema tempestas</i>, which +closed the hours of legal business, by means of its shadow projected +on the pavement; a primitive mode of reckoning time which existed +before the first Punic war, and was afterwards superseded by a +sun-dial and a clepsydra or water-clock erected in the Forum.</p> + +<p>Near the Curia under the present roadway must lie the site of the +Comitium, or meeting-place of the Roman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span> burgesses. This was far the +most important spot in the Forum in the days of the Republic. It was +not a covered building, but a templum or a consecrated space open to +the air. In its area grew a fig-tree, in commemoration of the sacred +tree which sheltered Romulus and Remus in their infancy; and we read +of drops of blood and milk falling upon it as omens from the sky. One +of the stones on its pavement, from its extraordinary blackness, was +called the tombstone of Romulus, and a number of statues adorned its +sides, including the three Sibyls, which gave the name of "In Tria +Fata" down to medieval times to this part of the Forum. From its +rostra, or stone platform, addresses were delivered by political +agitators to open-air assemblies of the people. The Comitium reminds +us very strikingly of the municipal origin of the Roman empire. In +primitive times that mode of government was admirably adapted to the +necessities of the city; but when Rome became mistress of the world it +was found unfitted to discharge imperial functions. The establishment +of the monarchical form of Government overthrew the Comitium, and with +it the very life of the Roman city.</p> + +<p>In front of the church of S. Adriano—said to be no other than the +actual Curia of Diocletian, though greatly altered and partly rebuilt +by Pope Honorius I. in the year 630—are some fragments of the +Basilica Æmilia. This court was erected on the site of the Basilica +Fulvia, and superseded by a more splendid building called the Basilica +Pauli, which was the Bourse or Exchange of ancient Rome. The building +of this last Basilica was interrupted for a long time by the disorders +consequent on the assassination of Cæsar. When finished, it was +considered to be one of the most magnificent buildings in the world; +and was especially admired on account of its beautiful columns of +Phrygian marble. These were afterwards removed to decorate the church +of St. Paul outside the gate, where some of them that survived the +burning of the old edifice may be seen behind the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> high altar of the +new. Between the Curia and the Basilica Æmilia is supposed to have +stood the celebrated Temple of Janus, built according to Livy by Numa +Pompilius, the closing or opening of which was the signal of peace or +war. It was probably at first one of the ancient gates in a line of +fortifications uniting the Capitol with the Palatine; and afterwards +comprised, besides a passage-way through which a great part of the +traffic of Rome passed, a diminutive bronze temple containing a bronze +statue of the venerable deity of the Sabines, whose one face looked to +the east, and the other to the west. The bronze gates of the temple +were closed by Augustus for the third time after the battle of Actium, +and finally shut when Christianity became the religion of the empire. +Procopius saw the temple still standing in the sixth century; and he +tells us that, during the siege of the city by the Goths, when it was +defended by Belisarius, some of the adherents of the old pagan +superstition made a secret attempt to open the shrine and set the god +at liberty.</p> + +<p>One gazes at the wall of earth and rubbish, fifteen feet deep, marking +the present limit of the excavations in this direction, with a +profound longing that the obstruction could be removed at once, and +the rich antiquarian treasures lying hid underneath brought to light. +Few things in Rome appealed more powerfully to my curiosity than this +huge bank of <i>débris</i>, behind and beneath which imagination was free +to picture all kinds of possibilities. On the part that has been +uncovered, we see a row of brick bases on which had stood monuments of +gilt bronze to some of the distinguished men of Rome; the remains of a +line of shops of the third century demolished during the excavations; +the pedestal of what is said by some to have been Domitian's and by +others Constantine's gigantic equestrian statue; and farther down, +rude heaps of masonry, belonging to the substructures of the Rostra +and Temple of Julius Cæsar. Part of the curved wall of the Rostra<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span> may +still be seen built of large blocks of travertine; and in front is a +fixed platform, where a large number of people could stand and listen +to the speaker. This Rostra is specially interesting because it was +constructed in the year of Cæsar's death, and was intended to mark the +design of the great triumvir to destroy the memory of the old +oligarchy by separating the rostra or "hustings" from their former +connection with the senate and comitia, and make them entirely popular +institutions. The front of it was afterwards adorned by Augustus with +the beaks of ships taken at Actium. The small Heroön or Temple of +Cæsar behind the Rostra was erected on the spot where the body of +Cæsar was burned before the house which he had so long inhabited, and +in a part of the Forum especially associated with his greatest +political triumphs. It superseded an altar and lofty column of +Numidian marble, at which the people had previously offered sacrifices +to the memory of their idol, the first mortal in Rome raised to the +rank of the gods; an honour justified, they imagined, not only by his +great deeds, but also by his alleged descent from Venus Anadyomene.</p> + +<p>Running down the middle of the Forum is a rough, ancient causeway, +with its blocks of lava still in their original position, but so +disjointed that it is no easy task walking over them. On the other +side is the raised platform of the Basilica Julia of Augustus, +extending from north to south, the whole length of the Forum, with +steps leading up to it from the paved street. This stupendous law +court, the grandest in Rome where Trajan sat to administer justice, +and from whose roof Caligula day after day lavishly threw down money +to the people, has, by its own identity being established beyond +dispute, more than any other discovery helped to determine the +topography of the Roman Forum. It was begun by Julius Cæsar on the +site of the older Basilica Sempronia, which had previously partially +replaced the <i>Veteres Tabernæ</i> or shops of early times required for +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span> trades carried on in a market-place, and also the schools for +children where Appius Claudius had first seen Virginia reading. Having +been partially destroyed by fire, Augustus afterwards completed and +greatly enlarged the building. It was used as the place of meeting of +the <i>Centumviri</i>, a court which we learn from the younger Pliny, who +himself practised before it, had a hundred and eight judges sitting in +four separate tribunals, within sight and hearing of one another, like +the old courts in Westminster Hall. The Basilica is not yet entirely +excavated, a large part of its breadth being still under modern +buildings. It consisted of a series of plain, massive arches built of +travertine. The pavement is wonderfully perfect, being composed of a +mosaic pattern of valuable marbles, doubtless saved from destruction +or removal to build some church or palace by the fortunate +circumstance that the ruins of the Basilica covered and concealed them +at an early period. On this pavement and on the steps leading up to it +are incised numerous squares and circles which are supposed to have +been tabulæ lusoriæ, or gaming-tables. A few have inscriptions near +them alluding to their use. Cicero mentions the dice-players of the +Forum with reprobation; and the fact that such sports should have +intruded into the courts of justice shows that the Romans had lost at +this time their early veneration for the law. The rows of brick arches +seen on the platform are mere modern restorations, placed there by +Cavaliere Rosa to indicate the supposed original plan of the building. +At the south end of it an opening in the pavement shows a part of the +Cloaca Maxima, with the sewerage passing through it underneath.</p> + +<p>The ancient street between the Basilica Julia and the Temple of Castor +and Pollux, is undoubtedly the famous <i>Vicus Tuscus</i>, so called after +the Etruscan soldiers who belonged to the army of Porsenna, and, being +defeated at Ariccia, took refuge in this part of Rome. This street, so +often mentioned by classic writers, led to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span> Circus Maximus, and is +now identified with the Via dei Fienili; the point of departure from +the Forum being marked by a statue of Vertumnus, the Etruscan god, the +ruined pedestal of which, in all likelihood, is that which has lately +been unveiled on the steps at the north-east corner of the Basilica +Julia. It was considered almost as sacred as the Via Sacra itself, +being the route taken by the great procession of the Circensian games, +in which the statues of the gods were carried in cars from the Capitol +through the Forum to the circus. In front of the Basilica Julia, and +on the opposite side of the way, so numerous were the statues which +Julius Cæsar contrived to crowd together, that the Emperor +Constantine, during his famous visit to Rome, is said to have been +almost stupefied with amazement. Some such feeling is produced in our +own minds when we reflect that the bewildering array of sculptures in +the Roman galleries, admired by a concourse of pilgrims from every +country, are but chance discoveries, unnoticed by history, and of no +account in their own time. What must have been the feast of splendour +of which these are but the crumbs!</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most beautiful of the ruins of the Forum are the three +marble columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux near the Basilica +Julia. They are the only prominent objects on the south-west side of +the Forum, and at once arrest the eye by their matchless symmetry and +grace. Time has dealt very hardly with them, battering their shapely +columns and rich Corinthian capitals, and discolouring their pure +white Pentelic marble. But it has not succeeded in destroying their +wonderful beauty; and the russet hues with which they have been +stained by the long lapse of the ages have rather added to them the +charm of antique picturesqueness. They rest upon a huge mound of +broken masonry, in the interstices of which Nature has sown her seeds +of minute life, which spread over it a tender pall of bright +vegetation. The three columns are bound together by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span> iron rods, and +still further kept in position by the fragments of architrave and +cornice supported by them. They are forty-eight feet in height and +nearly five feet in diameter, while their flutings are nine inches +across. Around the basement a large quantity of broken columns, +capitals, and pedestals has been disinterred, some of which have +acquired an historic renown on account of the purposes which they have +served in the fine arts. Michael Angelo converted one huge fragment +into the pedestal of the celebrated bronze equestrian statue of Marcus +Aurelius, which he transferred from its original site in front of the +Arch of Septimius Severus, where it had stood for thirteen or fourteen +centuries, to the front of the Capitol; while out of another fragment +Raphael carved the well-known statue of Jonah sitting on a whale, to +be seen in the Chigi Chapel of Sta. Maria del Popolo, the only piece +of sculpture executed by the immortal painter. The Italian Government +has entirely excavated the ruins, and thus set at rest the numerous +controversies among antiquaries regarding its true name.</p> + +<p>The temple of Castor and Pollux probably dates as far back as the year +487 before Christ, when the dictator Postumius vowed to build a +monument in commemoration of his victory at the great battle of Lake +Regillus, with which the mythical history of Rome closes. It recalls +the well-known romantic legend of the mysterious interference of the +Dioscuri in that memorable struggle which Macaulay has woven into one +of the most spirited of his Lays. The temple is supposed to have been +erected on the spot where the divine Twins announced the victory to +the people in the Forum at the close of the day. About twenty feet +from the eastern corner of the temple are slight remains of a shallow +oval basin, which has been identified as the lake or fountain of +Juturna, the wife of Janus, the Sabine war-god, where the Dioscuri +washed their armour and horses from the blood and dust of the fray. It +was probably at first a natural spring gushing out of the tufa rock of +the Palatine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span> Hill, but being dried up, it became in later times a +<i>lacus</i> or basin artificially supplied with water. For long ages +afterwards the anniversary of the great battle was celebrated every +year on the fifteenth of July by a splendid pageant worthy of the +greatness of the empire. The Roman knights, clothed in purple robes, +and crowned with olive wreaths, and bearing their trophies, first +offered sacrifice in the shrine of Castor and Pollux, and then formed +a procession, in which five thousand persons sometimes took part, +which filed in front of the temple and marched through the city.</p> + +<p>The original building having stood for nearly five hundred years, it +began to exhibit signs of decay, and accordingly it was rebuilt upon +the old foundations by Augustus, and dedicated by Tiberius. The podium +or mass of rubble masonry therefore which we see beneath the three +columns at the present day belongs to the time of the kings, while the +columns themselves belong to the imperial period. Caligula used the +temple as a vestibule to his palace on the Palatine Hill immediately +behind. On the brow of that hill, separated only by the pavement of +the modern street, projects a labyrinth of vaults, arches, and broken +walls, a mighty maze of desolation without a plan, so interspersed +with verdure and foliage that "it looks as much a landscape as a +ruin." This is supposed to be the palace of Caligula; and its remains +abundantly attest the extraordinary magnificence of this imperial +domain, which contained all that was rich and rare from the golden +East, from beyond the snowy Alps, and from Greece, the home of art. +The substructions of this mighty ruin are truly astonishing; they are +so vast, so massive, so enduring, that they seem as if built by +giants. Concealed by modern houses built up against the foot of the +palace, some of the remains of the famous bridge which Caligula threw +obliquely over the Forum can be made out; two of the tall brick piers +are visible above the houses, and in the gable of the outer house the +spring of one of the arches can be distinctly seen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span> The bridge was +constructed by Caligula for the purpose of connecting his palace with +the Capitol, on the summit of which stood the magnificent Temple of +Jupiter, so that, as he said himself, he might be able to converse +conveniently with his colleague, the greatest of the gods! It is +probable that it served more than one purpose; that it was used both +as an aqueduct and a road for horses and chariots from the Palatine to +the Capitol. Be this as it may, it must have been a stupendous +structure, nearly a quarter of a mile long, and about a hundred feet +high, striding over the whole diagonal of the Forum, with a double or +triple tier of arches, like the remains of the Claudian aqueduct that +spans the Campagna.</p> + +<p>The immediate vicinity of the Temple of Castor and Pollux is full of +interest to the classical student. To the right of it are the remains +of the Regia or Royal Palace, the official residence of the early +kings of Rome, and afterwards, during the whole period of the +Republic, of the Pontifex Maximus, as the real head of the State as +well as the Church. Numa Pompilius resided here in the hope that, by +occupying neutral ground, he might conciliate the Latins of the +Palatine and the Sabines of the Capitoline Hills. It was also the home +of Julius Cæsar during the greater part of his life, where Calpurnia, +his wife, dreamed that the pediment of the house had fallen down, and +the sacred weapons in the Sacrarium were stirred by a supernatural +power; an omen that was but too truly fulfilled when Cæsar went forth +to the Forum on the fatal Ides of March, and was carried back a bloody +corpse from the Curia of Pompey. It ceased to become the residence of +the Pontifex when Augustus bought the house of Hortensius on the +Palatine, and elected to dwell there instead; and was therefore given +over to the Vestal Virgins to increase their scanty accommodation. The +<i>Atrium Vestæ</i>, or convent of the Vestal Virgins, adjoined the Regia, +and behind it, along the lower slope of the Palatine, stretched the +sacred grove<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span> of Vesta, which seems to have been used as a place of +privileged interment for the sisterhood, as a number of gravestones +with the names of vestal virgins upon them were found in digging the +foundations of the church of Sta. Maria Liberatrice in the +seventeenth century. The residence of the Pontifex Maximus and of the +Vestal Virgins, who were regarded as the highest and holiest +personages in the State, gave an air of great respectability to this +neighbourhood, and it became in consequence the fashionable quarter of +Rome. Close beside the house of the Vestal Virgins was the far-famed +Temple of Vesta, in which they ministered, whose podium or basement, +which is a mere circular mound of rough masonry, may be seen on the +spot.</p> + +<p>The worship of Vesta, the goddess of the household fire, was one of +the most primitive forms of religion. It doubtless arose from the +great difficulty in prehistoric times of producing fire by rubbing two +sticks against one another. Such a flame once procured would be +carefully guarded against extinction in some central spot by the +unmarried women of the household, who had nothing else to do. And from +this central fire all the household fires of the settlement would be +obtained. A relic of this prehistoric custom existed in the rule that +if the sacred vestal fire was ever allowed to go out it could only be +kindled anew by the primitive process of friction. The worship of +Vesta survived an old world of exhausted craters and extinct +volcanoes, with which was buried a world of lost nations. The +Pelasgians brought to Italy the stone of the domestic hearth, the +foundation of the family, and the tombstone, the boundary of the +fields divided after the death of the head of the family, the +foundation of property; and upon this double base arose the great +distinctive edifice of the Roman Law, the special gift of Rome to the +civilisation of the world. Rhea Sylvia, mother of Romulus, was a +Vestal Virgin of Alba, which shows that the worship of Vesta existed +in this region long before the foundation of Rome. The origin of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span> +first temple and of the institutions of Vestal Virgins for its service +was attributed to Numa Pompilius. The first building, as Ovid tells +us, was constructed with wattled walls and a thatched roof like the +primitive huts of the inhabitants. It was little more than a covered +fireplace. It was the public hearth of the new city, round which were +gathered all the private ones. On it burned continually the sacred +fire, the symbol of the life of the state, which was believed to have +been brought from Troy, and the continuance of which was connected by +superstition with the fortunes of Rome. In the secret penetralia of +the temple, where no man was allowed to enter, was kept with +scrupulous care, for its preservation was equally bound up with the +safety of the empire, the Palladium, or image of Pallas, saved from +the destruction of Troy, and which was supposed to have originally +fallen from heaven. The circular form and the domed roof of the temple +were survivals of the prehistoric huts of the Aborigines, which were +invariably round, as the traces of their foundations show. With the +exception of the Palladium, which remained invisible during all the +ages to ordinary mortal eyes until the destructive fire in the Forum, +in the reign of Commodus, compelled the Vestal Virgins to expose it in +removing it for safety to the imperial court, there was in primitive +times no statue or material representation of the goddess except the +sacred fire in the mysterious shrine of the temple. Indeed the Romans, +as Plutarch tells us, raised no statue to the gods until the year of +Rome 170. In this respect the religion of the Romans, whose divinities +had no participation in the life and passions of men, and had nothing +to do with the human form, differed widely from the religion of the +Greeks, which, inspired by the sentiment of the beautiful in man and +nature, gave birth to art.</p> + +<p>The Temple of Vesta, as might have been expected, shared in all the +wonderful changes of Roman history. It was abandoned when the Gauls +entered Rome, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span> Vestal Virgins took the sacred fire and the +Palladium to Cære in Etruria for safety. It was destroyed two hundred +and forty-one years before Christ, when L. Metellus, the Pontifex +Maximus at the time, saved the Palladium with the loss of his +eyesight, and consequently of his priesthood, for which a statue was +erected to him in the Capitol. It was consumed in the great fire of +Nero, and rebuilt by Vespasian, on some of whose coins it is +represented. It was finally burnt down in the fire of Commodus, which +destroyed at the same time many important buildings in the Forum. The +worship of Vesta was prohibited by Gratianus in the year 382 of our +era, and the public maintenance of the Vestal Virgins abandoned, in +spite of the protestations of Symmachus and the forlorn hope of the +pagan party. Great as was the reverence paid to the shrine of Vesta, +not being a temple in the proper sense of the term, as it was not +consecrated by augury, it had not the right of sanctuary. Mucius +Scævola, the unfortunate Pontifex Maximus, was murdered beside the +altar by order of Marius, and his blood sprinkled the image of the +goddess; and Piso Licinianus, the adopted son of Galba, after the +assassination of that emperor beside the Curtian Lake in the Forum, +was dragged out from the innermost shrine of the temple, to which he +had fled for refuge, and barbarously massacred at the door. But it is +impossible to dwell upon all the remarkable events with which this +haunted shrine of Rome's earliest and most beautiful worship is +associated. Certainly no greater object of interest has been exhumed +among all the antiquities of the Eternal City than the little round +mass of shapeless masonry which has been identified beyond all +reasonable doubt as the basement of the world-renowned temple, the +household hearth of old Rome.</p> + +<p>Opposite the Temple of Vesta, at the north-east corner of the Forum, +where it ends, is the magnificent façade of the Temple of Antoninus +Pius and Faustina, the most perfect of all the Roman temples. There +are six splendid Corinthian columns in front and two at the sides, +each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span> composed of a single block of green ripple-marked Cipollino +marble, about forty-six feet in height and five feet in diameter, with +bases and capitals of marble, originally white, but now rusty and +discoloured by age; all beautifully proportioned and carved in the +finest style of ancient art. These columns were buried to half their +height in medieval times; and houses were built up against and between +them, the marks of whose roofs are still visible in indentations near +their summits. These houses were removed, and the ground excavated +down to the bases of the columns in the sixteenth century by Palladio, +revealing a grand flight of marble steps, twenty-one in number, +leading up to the temple from the street. The excavations at that time +were made for the purpose of finding marbles and building materials +for the Church of St. Peter's. Two sides of the cella of the temple +still remain, formed by large massive blocks of peperino, probably +taken from the second wall of Rome, which must have passed very near +to the east end of this temple; for the ancient Roman architects were +as unscrupulous in appropriating the relics of former ages as their +successors. The roughness of these walls was hidden by an outer casing +of marble, ornamented with pilasters, of which only the small capitals +now remain. Both the cella and the portico still retain a large +portion of their magnificent marble entablature; and the frieze and +cornice are richly covered with carvings of vases and candelabra, +guarded by griffins, exquisite in design and execution. The marble +slabs that covered the whole outside of the temple had been burnt for +lime in a kiln that stood in front of the portico in the sixteenth +century, and in this lime-kiln were found fragments of statues, +bas-reliefs, and inscriptions, which were about to be destroyed in +that barbarous fashion.</p> + +<p>The temple was originally begun by Antoninus Pius to the memory of his +unworthy wife Faustina in the year 142 of our era, but being +unfinished at his death, it was dedicated by the senate to both their +names. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> see it represented in all its magnificence on some of the +coins of this emperor. In the year 1430 Pope Martin V. built over its +remains a church called S. Lorenzo in Miranda, whose singular ugliness +was in striking contrast to the grandeur of the venerable ruin which +embraced it. The floor of this church was ten feet above the original +level of the temple, and its roof was carried twenty feet above its +cornice. It contained several tombs of the Roman apothecaries, to +whose Corporation it belonged. No one will regret that it has been +removed; the excavations in front of it having reduced the level of +the ground far below its doorway, and thus cut off the approach. It is +strange to think of the two different kinds of worship carried on at +such widely separated intervals within this remarkable building, first +a pagan temple and then a Christian church—worship so different in +name and yet so like in reality; for the divine honours paid to a +mortal emperor and his wife were transferred in after ages to frail +mortals such as Saint Laurence and the Virgin Mary. We are reminded by +the inscription above the portico of the temple, "Divo Antonino et +Divæ Faustina," that the government of the Cæsars had become an +earthly omnipotence in the estimation of the Romans and the subject +nations. They looked alone to Cæsar for all their good, and from him +they feared their chiefest evil. He had become to them their +providence or their fate. The adoration offered to him was not a mere +act of homage or sign of fealty, but was most truly and in the highest +sense a worship as to a divine being.</p> + +<p>The view in this part of the Forum, looking down from the Antonine +Temple, is most striking and suggestive. It reveals some of the +grandest objects of ancient Rome. Immediately beyond is the hoary old +church of SS. Cosma e Damiano, with mosaics of the sixth century on +its tribune, built out of three ancient temples, as Dr. Parker has +clearly proved—the round Temple of Romulus Maxentius, the Temple of +Venus, and the Temple of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span> Rome. The south wall of this last-mentioned +temple, built of huge square blocks of tufa, to which the marble plan +of Rome was fastened by metal hooks, may still be seen in the church; +and it is interesting as being the last pagan temple which remained in +use in Rome. Here was the last struggle of paganism with the unbelief +which itself inspired. The gods of the Pantheon had lost all +significance. The worship of abstract qualities, such as Concord and +Victory, or of the personification of a local providence in the city +of Rome itself, could not satisfy the longing of the human soul. As +religion decayed the worship of the gods was superseded by the worship +of the emperor. Their statues were decapitated and the head of the +emperor was placed upon them. On the statue of Olympic Jove appeared +the bust of the contemptible Caligula; and this incongruous adaptation +represented the change of the popular faith from its former heavenly +idealisations to the most grovelling fetish worship of the time. This +deification of the emperors avenged its terrible blasphemy by the +sublime wickedness of those who were so raised above humanity. Here, +in this last pagan temple of Rome, converted into one of the earliest +Christian churches, we see the darkness and despair of the heathen +world preparing for that joyful morning light of Christianity which +has transferred the faith of mankind to foundations which can never +more be shaken. Immediately beyond in the background are the huge +gloomy arches of the Basilica of Constantine, fretted with coffers, +suspended in mid-air for upwards of sixteen centuries, in defiance of +the laws of gravity and the ravages of time and of human destroyers, +taken as a model for churches by Roman architects, though built +originally for a law court. In front is the Arch of Titus, with its +well-known sculptures of the spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem, +spanning the highest point of the Via Sacra. And closing up the view +is the grandest ruin in the world, the stupendous broken circle of the +Colosseum, rising tier above tier into the blue sky, burnt deep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span> brown +by the suns of ages, holding the spectator breathless with wonder, and +thrilling the mind with the awful associations connected with it.</p> + +<p>The Forum lies like an open sepulchre in the heart of old Rome. All is +death there; the death of nature and the death of a race whose long +history has done more to shape the destiny of the world than any +other. The soil beneath our feet is formed by the ashes of an extinct +fire, and by the dust of a vanished empire. Everywhere the ruins of +time and of man are mingled with the relics of an older creation; and +the sculptured marbles of the temples and law courts, where Cæsar +worshipped and Cicero pled, lie scattered amid the tufa-blocks, the +cinders of the long quiescent volcanoes of the Campagna. Nature and +man have both accomplished their work in this spot; and the relics +they have left behind are only the exuviæ of the chrysalis out of +which the butterfly has emerged, or the empty wave-worn shells left +high and dry upon an ancient coast-line. It is a remarkable +circumstance that the way in which the Forum originated was the very +way in which it was destroyed. The cradle of Roman greatness became +its tomb. The Forum originated in the volcanic fires of earth; it +passed away in the incendiary fires of man. In the month of May 1084 +the Norman leader, Robert Guiscard, came with his troops to rescue +Gregory VII. from the German army which besieged Rome. Then broke +out—whether by accident or design is not known—the terrible +conflagration which extended from the Capitol to the Coelian Hill, but +raged with the greatest intensity in the Forum. In that catastrophe +classical Rome passed away, and from the ashes of the fire arose the +Phoenix of modern Rome. The greatest of physical empires was wrecked +on this spot, and out of the wreck was constructed the greatest +spiritual empire the world has ever known. For the Roman Pontificate, +to use the famous saying of Hobbes, was but the ghost of the deceased +Roman Empire sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE EGYPTIAN OBELISKS</h3> + + +<p>Among the first objects that arrest the attention and powerfully +excite the curiosity of the visitor in Rome are the Egyptian obelisks. +They remind him impressively that the oldest things in this city of +ages are but as of yesterday in comparison with these imperishable +relics of the earliest civilisation. At one time it is said that there +were no less than forty-eight obelisks erected in Rome,—six of the +largest size and forty-two of the smaller,—all conveyed at enormous +cost and with almost incredible labour from the banks of the Nile to +the banks of the Tiber. Upwards of thirty of them have perished +without leaving any trace behind. They are doubtless buried deep under +the ruins of ancient Rome, but the chance of their disinterment is +very problematical. One obelisk, indeed, was exposed a hundred and +forty years ago in the square of the principal church of the Jesuits, +near the Pantheon; but being found to be broken, and also to underlie +a corner of the church and the greater part of an adjoining palace, so +that it could not be extracted without seriously injuring these +buildings, it was covered up again, and was thus lost to the world. As +it is, we find in Rome the largest collection of obelisks that exists +at the present day in the world, and the best field for studying them.</p> + +<p>Obelisks were dedicated to the sun, which was the central object of +worship, and occupied the most con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span>spicuous position in the religious +system of the oldest nations. Sun-worship, that which waited upon some +hill-top to catch the first beams of the morning that created a new +day, is the oldest and the most natural of all kinds of worship. He +was adored as the source of all the life and motion and force in the +world by the most primitive people; and we find numerous traces of +this ancient sun-worship in the rude stone monuments, with their +cup-shaped symbols, that have survived on our moors, in many of the +old customs which still linger in our Christianity, and in the name by +which the most sacred day of the week is commonly known among us. All +the benefits conferred upon our world by the sun must have been +strikingly apparent to the ancient Egyptians, dwelling in a land +exposed to the sun's vertical rays, and clothed with almost tropical +beauty and luxuriance. When they watched the ebbing of the overflowing +waters of the Nile, and saw the moist earth on which the sun's rays +fell, quickened at once into a marvellous profusion of plant and +animal life, they naturally regarded the sun as the Creator, and so +deified him in that capacity. The origin of all life, vegetable and +animal, to those who stood, as it were, by its cradle, when the world +was young and haunted by heaven, seemed a greater mystery and wonder +than it is to us in these later faithless ages. Long familiarity with +it in its full-grown proportions has made it commonplace to us.</p> + +<p>Both the obelisk and the pyramid were solar symbols, the obelisk being +the symbol of the rising sun, and the pyramid of the setting. The +fundamental idea of the obelisk was that of creation by light; that of +the pyramid, death through the extinction of light. And this +symbolical difference between the two objects was practically +expressed by the different situations in which they were placed; the +obelisks being all located on the eastern side of the Nile, that being +the region of the rising sun, and of the dawn of life; while the +pyramids are all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span> found on the western bank of the river, the region +of the sunset, with its awfully sterile hills and silent untravelled +desert of sand from which no tidings had ever come to living man, +where the dead were buried under the shades of night, in their +rock-cut cemeteries. It might thus seem, that by placing obelisks in +our churchyards in association with the dead, we were violating their +original significance, and guilty of adding another to the many +incongruities which have arisen from adopting pagan symbols in +Christian burying-places. But in reality we find a deeper reason for +the association. In some of the oldest sculptures in Egypt, an obelisk +is represented as standing on the top of a pyramid; and by this +combination it was meant to signify the power of life triumphing over +death. And hence the obelisk is the most suitable of all forms to +indicate in our cemeteries the glorious truth of the resurrection, +life rising victorious out of the transitory condition of death.</p> + +<p>And how admirably did the obelisk lend itself to its symbolical +purposes! There was a most wonderful harmony between the idea and the +object which expressed it. Being composed of the most durable of all +materials, the hard indestructible granite, the eternal sun was thus +fittingly represented by an object that lifts its stern finger in +unchangeable defiance of the vicissitudes of the seasons and the ages. +Its highly polished surface and rich rosy red colour, its sharply +defined lines and narrow proportions, combined with its immense +height, suggested the brilliancy and hue and form of a pencil of +light. Its tall red column flashing in the strong morning radiance, +like a tongue of flame mounting up to its source in the solar fire, or +like a ray of the halo that rises up on the low horizon of the Libyan +desert, when the dawn has crimsoned all the eastern heavens, might +thus well be selected as the most suitable object to bring the +invisible sun-god within the ken of human vision and the range of +human worship. The poetical imagination may detect a significance even +in the difference between the material<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> used in the construction of +the obelisk, and that used in the construction of the pyramid, though +this may not have been designed by the makers. The obelisks are all +formed of granite, the foundation-stone of the globe, belonging to the +oldest azoic formation, which laid down the first basis for the +appearing of life. The pyramids were nearly all made of nummulitic +limestone composed of the remains of organic life; a material which +belonged to the latest geologic ages, when whole generations and +different platforms of life had come and gone. Thus significantly does +the obelisk of granite suggest by its material as by its form the +origin of life, as the pyramid suggests by its material and form the +extinction of life.</p> + +<p>But not only was the obelisk raised in connection with the worship of +the sun,—it was also intended to honour the reigning monarch who +erected it, and whose name and titles were engraved upon it along with +the name of the sun. For it was a fundamental idea of the Egyptian +religion that the king was not only the son of the solar god, but also +the visible human representative of his glory. This was a favourite +conception of the ancients. The Incas of Peru regarded themselves as +direct descendants of the sun; and the monarchs of the burning Asiatic +lands, where the sun rules and dominates everything, assume the name +and title of his sons, and clothe themselves with his splendour. The +obelisks were thus the symbols of the two great correlative +conceptions of the sun in the heavens, and his satellite and +representative on the earth—god and the king. This Egyptian faith, as +attested by the obelisks, the oldest of all the creeds, antecedent to +the theologies of India, Greece, and Rome, ceased not to be venerated +till the advent of Christianity swept all material worship away. It +awed, as Mr. Cooper has well observed, the mixed multitude in +Alexandria under the Cæsars, as it had done the primitive Egyptians +under the oldest Pharaohs. It extended over a space of more than three +thousand years. During all that long period the obelisk was "the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span> +emblem at once of the vivifying power of the sun and of the divine +nature of the king, a witness for the divine claim of the sun to be +worshipped, and of the right divine of the king to rule." Where is +there in all the world, in its most ancient cities, in its loneliest +deserts, any class of objects which has been held continuously sacred +for so long a time? The description of the sun itself by Ossian +applies almost equally well to his worship as thus represented.</p> + +<p>Obelisks as symbols of the sun and of the creative power of nature, +were not confined to Egypt. They belonged to the mythology of all +ancient nations. There are modifications of them in India, in +prehistoric America, and among the archæological remains of our own +country. They were common objects in connection with the Assyrian, +Persian and Phoenician religions. And it has been conjectured with +much plausibility that the image of gold, whose height was threescore +cubits, and the breadth six, the usual proportions of an obelisk, +which Nebuchadnezzar set up in the plain of Dura, in the province of +Babylon, and commanded Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to adore, was +in reality an obelisk after the Egyptian pattern. Such an obelisk was +often gilded, and was associated with the worship of the king as its +material purpose, and with the creation and origin of life as its +symbolic meaning. And if this was the case, there was an unusual +aggravation in this idolatry; for the Egyptian obelisks themselves +were never worshipped, but were always regarded as the signs of the +higher powers whose glory they expressed.</p> + +<p>The question is naturally asked, Where were the obelisks originally +placed? At the present day we find those of them that remain in Egypt, +solitary objects without anything near them, and those that have been +carried to other lands have been set up in great open squares, or on +river embankments in the heart of the largest cities. Fortunately, +there is no doubt at all on this point. They stood in pairs at the +doors of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span> great temples, one on each side, where they served the +same purpose which the campanile of the Italian church or the spire of +a cathedral serves at the present day. Indeed, architects are of +opinion that church towers and steeples are mere survivals of the old +Egyptian obelisks, which furnished the original conception. The tower +corresponded to the shaft of the obelisk, and the steeple to the sharp +pyramidal part in which the summit of the obelisk terminated. And +though there is usually only one spire or tower now in connection with +our churches, there used to be two, as many old examples still extant +testify, one standing on each side of the principal entrance after the +manner of the Egyptian obelisks. The slender round towers of Brechin +and Abernethy, and of Devenish and other places in Ireland, capped by +a conical stone roof terminating in a single stone, which were for a +long time a puzzle to the antiquary, are now ascertained to be simply +steeples connected with Christian churches of the tenth and eleventh +centuries. And just as these towers are now left isolated and solitary +without a trace of the buildings with which they were associated, so +the Egyptian temples have passed away, and the obelisks are left alone +in the desert. But we can reconstruct in imagination the massive and +lofty buildings in front of which they stood, and where they showed to +the greatest advantage. Instead of being dwarfed by the enormous +masses of the propylons, their height gained by the near comparison. +The obelisks in our squares and vast open spaces have their effect +destroyed by the buildings being at a distance from them. There is no +scale near at hand to assist the eye in estimating the height; +consequently they seem much smaller than they really are. But when +seen in the narrow precincts of a temple court, from whose floor they +shot up into the blue sky overhead, surrounded by great columns and +lofty gates, breaking the monotony of the heavy masses of masonry of +which the Egyptian temples were composed, and acting the part which +campanili and spires perform in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span> modern churches, a standard of +comparison was thus furnished which greatly enhanced their magnitude.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be grander than the objects associated with the obelisks +where they stood. The temple was approached by an avenue of huge +sphinxes, in some cases a mile and a half long. Drawing nearer, the +worshipper saw two lofty obelisks towering up a hundred feet in +height, on the right and left. Behind these he would observe with awe +four or six gigantic statues seated with their hands on their knees. +And at the back of the statues he would gaze with astonishment upon +two massive towers or pylons, broader at the base than at the summit, +two hundred feet wide and a hundred and twenty feet high, crowned by a +gigantic cornice, with their whole surface covered with coloured +sculptures, representing one of the great dramas in the reign of a +victorious monarch. Above them would rise the tall masts of coloured +cedar-wood, inserted in sinkings chased into the wall, surmounted by +the expanded banners of the king, or the heraldic bearings of the +temple floating in the breeze. Between the huge propylons opened up +the great gateway of the temple, sixty feet high, which led into a +vast court, surrounded by columns and open to the sky. Beyond were +walls whose roofs were supported by a forest of enormous pillars, +which seemed to have been raised by giants. Each hall diminished in +size, but increased in sacredness, until the inmost sanctuary was +reached; small, dark, and awful in its obscurity. Here was the holy +shrine in the shape of a boat or ark, having in it a kind of chest +partially veiled, in which was hid the mystic symbol of the god. Like +the tabernacle of Israel, the common people were not allowed to go +farther than the outer court beyond the obelisks; only kings and +priests being permitted to penetrate into the interior recesses, there +to observe the ritual ceremonies of the mysterious Egyptian worship. +On the plan of the Egyptian temple were modelled the sacred buildings +of the Jews; and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> famous pillars of burnished brass, wonderful for +their workmanship and their costly material, which Solomon erected in +the court of his temple, called Jachin and Boaz, had their prototypes +in the obelisks of the Nile.</p> + +<p>The obelisk belongs essentially to a level country; and there is no +habitable region in the world so uniformly flat and unbroken by any +elevations or depressions of surface as the valley of the Nile. There +it produces its greatest effect; its size is not dwarfed by +surrounding heights, and comes out by contrast with the small objects +that diversify the plain. It forms a conspicuous landmark, a salient +point on which the eye may rest with relief as it takes in the wide +featureless horizon. In an artificial landscape, where there is no +wild unmixed nature, where every inch of ground is cultivated, it is +the appropriate culmination of that triumph of human art which is +visible everywhere. It was a sense of this harmony of relation that +induced the builders of the great cathedrals and temples of the world +to place them, not amid varied and rugged scenery, where they might be +brought into comparison with nature's work, but uniformly on level +expanses of land. There they form the crowning symbol of man's loving +care and painstaking endeavour, and give to the artificial landscape, +which man has entirely subdued for his own uses, the finishing touch +of power.</p> + +<p>Obelisks are the most enduring monuments of antiquity, and yet no +class of objects has undergone such extraordinary vicissitudes. The +history of the changes to which they have been subjected reads like a +romance. At a remote age, not long after they were erected, most of +them were cast down during some political catastrophe, which shook the +whole country to its foundations. Under a subsequent dynasty the +obelisks seem to have been lifted up to their former places, and +regarded with the old veneration. After the lapse of nearly a thousand +years, the land was again convulsed by a terrible revolution, the +nature of which is still wrapped up in almost impenetrable mystery. A +warlike migratory race came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span> from the north-east, and subdued the +whole country. This is known as the Hyksos invasion, or the invasion +of the Shepherd Kings, and produced the same effects in Egypt as the +Norman invasion produced in England. Previous to this period the horse +seemed to have been altogether unknown; but after this date it +uniformly appears in Egyptian paintings and sculptures. The Hyksos +must therefore have been a pastoral race, in all likelihood belonging +to the plains of Tartary; and, mounted on horses, they would find +little difficulty in overcoming the foot soldiery of Egypt. When they +had obtained possession of the country, they burnt down the cities, +demolished the temples, and overthrew the obelisks. This disaster, the +most dreadful which Egypt had ever known, followed suddenly upon a +period of extraordinary prosperity, when new cities were built, and +old cities enlarged; works of great public utility were constructed, a +mercantile intercourse established with the surrounding nations, and +the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture, favoured by the +long peace and the abundant resources of the country, reached their +highest excellence. The reversal of all these signs of prosperity was +so overwhelming, that the Egyptians of subsequent ages looked back +upon this period of subjection under a foreign yoke which lay upon +them for five hundred years, with bitter resentment. When the hated +dynasty was at an end, the Egyptians obliterated, as far as they +could, every sign of its supremacy, chiselled out the names of its +kings on their monuments, and destroyed their records, so that few +traces of this revolution remain to dispel the strange mystery in +which it is involved. They could never bear to hear the detested names +of the Shepherd Kings; and this circumstance throws light upon the +passage in Genesis which says that the occupation of a shepherd was an +abomination to the Egyptians. Under the patronage of the new dynasty +the arts which had been destroyed were again restored, the monuments +of the suppressed religion were freed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span> from their indignities, and +once more reinstated with the old honours, and the whole country was +reconstructed. But, while the temples were re-erected, and the old +worship established with even greater splendour, there can be no doubt +that many of the earlier obelisks, owing to their smaller size, as +compared with the other gigantic monuments of Egypt, had been +destroyed past all reconstruction; and some of them remain in the land +at the present day on the sites where, and in the exact manner in +which, they were overturned by the Shepherd Kings.</p> + +<p>But greater changes still happened to the Egyptian obelisks after +this. Previously they had been devastated and overturned on their own +soil. But now they excited the cupidity of the foreign invaders of +Egypt, and were carried away to distant lands as trophies of their +victories. The first obelisks that were removed in this way were two +of the principal ones that adorned one of the temples of Thebes. After +the capture of Thebes by Assurbanipal, the Assyrian king, the famous +Sardanapalus of the Greeks, they were transported to the conqueror's +palace at Nineveh, and were afterwards lost for ever in the +destruction of that city, about sixty years later, or about six +hundred years before Christ. The transportation of these enormous +masses of stone across the country to the seashore, down the Red Sea, +over the Indian Ocean, up the Persian Gulf, and the river Tigris, to +their destination in the palace of Nineveh, nearly two thousand miles, +must have been a feat of engineering skill at that early period of the +world's history, far more wonderful in regard to the difficulties +overcome, without any precedent to guide, and considering the rudeness +of the means of transport, than anything that has ever been attempted +since in the same line. The example of the Assyrian tyrant was +followed, after a long interval, by the Romans, who sought to magnify +and commemorate their conquests in Egypt by spoiling the land of its +characteristic monuments. The Cæsars, one after another, for more than +a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span> hundred years, took advantage of their victories and the ruin of +the unhappy land of Egypt to convey its beautiful obelisks to their +own capital to permanently adorn one or other of the various places of +public resort. They seem to have set almost the same high value upon +these singular monuments which their inventors did. Pliny and +Suetonius describe the almost incredible magnitude of the vessels in +which these gigantic masses of stone were conveyed to Ostia, the +harbour town, and from thence up the Tiber to Rome. The huge triremes +were propelled by the force of hundreds of rowers across the waters of +the Mediterranean. From the quay at Rome they were dragged and pushed, +by the brute force of thousands in the old Egyptian manner, on low +carts supported on rollers instead of wheels, to their destination, +where they were set upright by a complicated machinery of ropes and +huge upright beams.</p> + +<p>How many obelisks of Egyptian origin existed at one time in the world +we do not know. They were undoubtedly very numerous; but many of them +were broken up for building materials. The famous column called +Pompey's Pillar stands upon a fragment of an ancient obelisk; and +tradition asserts that there are many similar fragments of greater or +less antiquity under the ruins of the older houses of Alexandria. At +present forty-two obelisks are known to be in existence in different +parts of the world. Of these, seventeen remain in Egypt on their +original sites, of which no less than eleven are prostrate on the +ground, having been overturned by some political or religious +revolution, by the force of an earthquake, or by the slow undermining +of the infiltrated waters of the Nile. No less than twelve of the +oldest and grandest are still to be seen standing erect in Rome, where +they constitute by far the most striking and memorable monuments. The +others are distributed in various places wide apart. One is in Paris, +two are in Constantinople, a fourth, the famous Cleopatra's Needle, is +on the Thames Embankment, in the heart of London; a fifth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span> its old +companion in Alexandria, is now in one of the public squares of New +York. And there are several diminutive ones, from eight feet in height +downwards, in the British Museum, in the Florentine Museum in +Florence, in Benevento in Italy, and in the town of Alnwick in +Northumberland.</p> + +<p>The oldest of all the obelisks is the beautiful one of rosy granite +which stands alone among the green fields on the banks of the Nile not +far from Cairo. It is the gravestone of a great ancient city which has +vanished and left only this relic behind. That city was the +Bethshemesh of Scripture, the famous On, which is memorable to all +Bible readers as the residence of the priest Potipherah whose daughter +Asenath Joseph married. The Greeks called it Heliopolis, the city of +the sun, because there the worship of the sun had its chief centre and +its most sacred shrines. It was the seat of the most ancient +university in the world, to which youthful students came from all +parts of the world, to learn the occult wisdom which the priests of On +alone could teach. Thales, Solon, Eudoxus, Pythagoras, and Plato, all +studied there, perhaps Moses too. It was also the birthplace of the +sacred literature of Egypt, where were written on papyrus leaves the +original chapters of the oldest book in the world, generally known as +the "Book of the Dead," giving a most striking account of the +conflicts and triumphs of the life after death; a whole copy or +fragment of which every Egyptian, rich or poor, wished to have buried +with him in his coffin, and portions of which are found inscribed on +every mummy case and on the walls of every tomb. In front of one of +the principal temples of the sun, in this magnificent city, stood +along with a companion, long since destroyed, the solitary obelisk +which we now behold on the spot. It alone, as I have said, has +survived the wreck of all the glory of the place, as if to assure us +that what is given to God, however ignorantly and superstitiously, +endures, while all the other works of man perish. It was constructed +by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span> Usirtesen I., who is supposed to have reigned two thousand eight +hundred years before Christ, and has outlasted all the dynastic +changes of the land, and still stands where it originally stood nearly +forty-seven centuries ago. What appears of its shaft above ground is +sixty-eight feet in height, but its base is buried in the mud of the +Nile; and year after year the inundation of the river deposits its +film of soil around its foot, and buries it still deeper in its sacred +grave. Down the centre of each of its four faces runs a line of +deeply-cut hieroglyphics, in whose cavities the wild mason-bees +construct their mud-cells and store their honey. Nothing can exceed +the beauty and distinctness of these carvings. The pictures of birds +and beasts, chiselled in the hard polished granite, have a purity of +form and line, a directness of expression and intention, which is most +impressive. Its top is somewhat damaged, having been originally +protected, as was the case with many of the obelisks which were not +finely finished to a point, with a capping of gilded bronze that +remained intact till the thirteen century. The inscription on its +sides contains nothing of historic value. It is simply a dedication to +Usirtesen, who constructed it, under the title of Horus, or the rising +sun, which was borne, as I have said, by the kings of Egypt on account +of their supposed origin as an incarnation of the sun.</p> + +<p>At Luxor, a single obelisk, the property of the English, still +maintains its ancient position. It is very beautiful, formed of red +granite, and covered with elegantly carved inscriptions, running up +each of the four faces. The hieroglyphics are cut to an unusual depth, +and are remarkably clear and well-formed, indicating that the monument +was raised in honour of Rameses the Great, the most illustrious of all +the Egyptian monarchs, and the most magnificent and prolific architect +the world has ever seen. The top of the obelisk was originally left in +a rough unfinished state, the roughness having been concealed by a +capping of bronze; but this having been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span> removed long ago, the surface +has become very much eroded by exposure, which somewhat detracts from +the elegance of the shaft. It has also the peculiarity that its two +inner faces are sensibly curved—a peculiarity which it is supposed +was designed to make the sunlight fall with softer effect, so as to +make the shadows less crude, and the angles less sharp. The shaft, +which is eighty-two feet high by eight feet in diameter at the base, +is elevated upon a pedestal, which is adorned by statues in high +relief of dog-headed monkeys standing in an attitude of adoration at +the corners worshipping the sun, and also by standing figures of the +god of the Nile presenting offerings, incised in the stone like the +hieroglyphics of the shaft. The surroundings of this obelisk are far +grander than those of any other obelisk in the world. At present the +extent and dimensions of the ruins of Thebes produce an overwhelming +effect upon the visitor. But it is almost impossible for us to imagine +its magnificence when its temples and obelisks were in their full +perfection, and the great Rameses was carried on the shoulders of his +officers through the ranks of adoring slaves to behold the completion +of the works which had been designed to perpetuate his glory. The +ancient city, divided in the middle by the Nile, as London is by the +Thames or Glasgow by the Clyde, covered the vast plain, with great +houses in the outskirts standing in richly cultivated gardens, each +temple surrounded by its own little sacred lake, over which the bodies +of the dead were carried by the priests before burial, and the +beautiful Mokattam Hills bounding the view, wearing the soft lilac hue +of distance. Only two or three places on earth can rival the +overwhelming interest which the city possesses. But the colossal +associated temples of Karnac and Luxor are absolutely unique. There is +nothing on earth to equal them. They are man's greatest achievements +in religious architecture. Long rows of stupendous pillars, covered +from base to top with coloured pictures and hieroglyphics, containing +a whole library of actually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span> written and pictured history and +religion, look "like a Brobdingnagian forest turned into stone," in +the midst of which the visitor feels himself an insignificant insect. +A sense of superhuman awfulness, of personal nothingness and +irresistible power, is what these stupendous structures inspire in +even the most callous spectator. A confused mass of broken columns and +heaps of huge sculptured stones present an appearance as if the old +giants had been at war on the spot, hurling rocks at each other. +Between Luxor and Karnac extended an avenue of sphinxes, two miles +long, numbering more than four thousand pieces of sculpture, now +represented by mutilated formless blocks of stone. We see in these +vast temples, which were raised by a people inspired with the +sentiment that they were the greatest of all nations, to be the chief +shrines of the religion of the country, the fruits of the plunder and +the tribute of Asia and Africa. The funds necessary to build them had +been procured by robbing other nations; and most of the work was done +by captives taken in war. Many a fair province had been desolated of +its inhabitants, many a splendid city spoiled of its riches, in order +to construct these awful halls. Unfortunately, the annual overflow of +the inundation of the Nile covers the ground to the depth of a foot or +two, staining and eating away the bases of the columns, and +overthrowing their enormous drums and architraves. The destruction +cannot be prevented, for the water infiltrates through the soil; and +some day, ere long, the remaining columns will be hurled down, and the +pride of Karnac will lie prone in the dust.</p> + +<p>Passing westward to Rome, the largest obelisk not only in the Eternal +City but in the whole world is that which now adorns the square of St. +John Lateran. It is, as usual, of red granite much darkened and +corroded by time, and stands with its pedestal and cross one hundred +and forty-one feet high; the shaft alone being one hundred and eight +feet seven inches in height, with faces about nine feet and a half +wide at the base; the whole mass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span> weighing upwards of four hundred and +sixty tons. It was found among the ruins of the Circus Maximus broken +into three pieces, and was dug up by order of Pope Sixtus V., conveyed +to its present site, and re-erected by the celebrated architect +Fontana in 1588. The lower end had been so much injured by its fall, +that in order to enable it to stand, it was found necessary to cut off +about two feet and a half to obtain a level base. On the top of it +Fontana added by way of ornament four bronze lions, surmounted by +three mountain peaks, out of which sprung the cross, as the armorial +bearings of the Popes. Thus crowned with the cross, and consecrated to +the honour of Christianity, this noble relic of antiquity acquires an +additional interest from its nearness to the great Basilica of the +Lateran, which is the representative cathedral of the Papacy and the +mother church of Christendom, and to the Lateran Palace, for a +thousand years the residence of the Popes of Rome.</p> + +<p>The history of the Lateran obelisk is unusually varied. It was +originally constructed by Thothmes III., and set up by him before the +great temple of Amen at Heliopolis. But being an old man at the time, +he left his successor to complete it by adding most of the +hieroglyphics. It took thirty-six years to carve these sculptures; the +four sides from top to bottom being covered with inscriptions in the +purest style of Egyptian art. From one of these inscriptions we learn +that the obelisk was thrown down in Egypt probably during the invasion +of the Shepherd Kings, and was re-erected by the great Rameses, who +did not, contrary to the usual custom, arrogate to himself the honours +of his predecessor. These sculptures tell us of monarchs who had +reigned, and conquered, and died long before the mythic times, when +the "pious Æneas," as Virgil tells us, landed on the Italian shore, +and Romulus ploughed his significant furrow round the Palatine Hill. A +thousand years before the foundation of Rome, and two thousand years +before the Christian era, it had been excavated from the quarries<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span> of +Syene and worshipped at Heliopolis. It was as old to the Cæsars as the +days of the Cæsars are to us. Pliny tells us that the work of +quarrying, conveying, and setting it up employed twenty thousand men; +and there is a dim tradition that so anxious was the king for its +safety, when it was erected, that in order to ensure this he bound his +own son to the top of it. A close examination of the hieroglyphics +reveals the curious fact that the name of the god Amen wherever it +occurs, is more deeply carved than the other figures, in order to +obliterate the name of some other deity which had previously occupied +its place. It is supposed that this circumstance indicates a +theological revolution which happened in the history of Egypt when +Amenhotep III., the Memnon of the Greek historian, married an Arabian +wife of the name of Taia, who introduced her own religion into her +adopted country, as Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, introduced the worship +of Baal into Israel. When this dynasty was overthrown, in the course +of about fifty years, the old faith was restored, and the names of the +old gods substituted for those which had usurped their place on the +religious monuments. It is supposed that the Lateran obelisk was the +one before which Cambyses, the great Persian conqueror, stood lost in +admiration, arrested in his semi-religious course of destroying the +popular monuments of Egypt. Augustus intended to have removed it to +Rome, but was deterred by the difficulty of the undertaking, and also +by superstitious scruples, because it had been specially dedicated to +the sun, and fixed immovably in his temple. Constantine the Great had +no such scruples, believing, as he said, that "he did no injury to +religion if he removed a wonder from one temple, and again consecrated +it in Rome, the temple of the whole world." He died, however, before +he had completed his design, having succeeded only in transporting the +obelisk to Alexandria, from whence his son and successor Constantius +transferred it to Rome, and placed it on the Spina of the Great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> +Circus. So clumsily, however, was it erected in this place, that +several deep holes had to be drilled in the upper part of it, in order +that ropes for hauling it up might be put through them; a defect in +engineering skill which has disfigured the obelisk, and contrasts +strikingly with the resources of the ancient Egyptians, who were able +to raise the stone to its position without such a device. The obelisk +is thus an enduring monument of three great rulers—Thothmes, who +first constructed it in Heliopolis; Constantine, who removed it to +Rome; and Pope Sixtus V., who conveyed it from the Circus Maximus, and +re-erected it where it now stands.</p> + +<p>Next in point of height to the Lateran obelisk is the one that stands +in the great square of St. Peter's, between two beautiful fountains +that are continually showering high in the air their radiant sunlit +spray. It is meant to serve as the gnomon of a gigantic dial, traced +in lines of white marble in the pavement of the square. Its rosy +surface glistening in the rays of the sun, and its long shadow cast +before it on the ground, make it a very impressive object. Its origin +is involved in mystery, for there is no inscription on it to tell who +erected it, or where it came from. This absence of hieroglyphics +points to its having been an unfinished work—something having +prevented its constructor from recording on it the purpose of its +erection, as was usually the case. But as the vacant shadow of the +dial and the blank empty lines of the spectrum are more suggestive +than any sunlit spaces, so the blank unwritten sides of this obelisk +give rise to more speculations than if they had been carved from head +to foot with hieroglyphics. On account of this peculiarity, some +authors have not hesitated to consider it a mere imitation obelisk, +constructed by the Romans at a comparatively late period. This idea, +however, is refuted by the evidence of Pliny, who regarded it as a +genuine Egyptian relic, and tells us that it was cut from the quarry +of Syene, and dedicated to the sun by the son of Sesores, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span> +obedience to an oracle, after his recovery from blindness. It is +generally believed that it first stood before one of the temples of +Heliopolis, was then removed to Alexandria, and finally transported to +Rome by Caligula. This emperor constructed a special vessel for the +purpose, of greater dimensions than had ever been seen before; and +after it had brought the obelisk to the banks of the Tiber, he +commanded it to be filled with stones, and sunk as a caisson in the +harbour of Ostia, which he was constructing at the time. On arriving +at Rome the obelisk was set up on the Spina of the Circus of Nero, +which is now occupied by the sacristy of St. Peter's Church. For +fifteen centuries the obelisk remained undisturbed on its site, the +only one in the city that escaped being overthrown. At last its +foundation giving way, so that it leaned dangerously towards the old +Basilica of St. Peter's, Sixtus V. formed the design of removing it to +where it now stands, a very short distance from the original spot. The +record of its re-erection, the first in papal Rome, by Fontana—a work +of extreme difficulty and imposing ceremonial magnificence, which was +richly rewarded by the grateful Pope—is exceedingly interesting. A +curious legend is usually related in connection with it. A papal edict +was proclaimed threatening death to any one who should utter a loud +word while the operation of lifting and settling the obelisk was going +on. As the "huge crystallisation of Egyptian sweat" rose on its basis +there was a sudden stoppage, the hempen cables refused to do their +work, and the hanging mass of stone threatened to fall and destroy +itself. Suddenly from out the breathless crowd rose a loud, clear +voice, "Wet the ropes." There was inspiration in the suggestion; the +architect acted upon it, and the obelisk at once took its stand on its +base, where it has firmly remained ever since. Not only was the sailor +Bresca pardoned for transgressing the papal command, but he was +rewarded, and the district of Bordighera, from which he came, received +the privilege<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span> of supplying the palm leaves for the use of Rome on +Palm Sunday—a privilege which it still possesses, and which forms the +principal trade of the place.</p> + +<p>To me the most familiar and interesting of all the Roman obelisks is +that which stands in the centre of the Piazza del Popolo, the finest +and largest square in Rome. It is about eighty feet high, carved with +hieroglyphics, with four marble Egyptian lions, one at each corner of +the platform on which it stands, pouring from their mouths copious +streams of water into large basins, with a refreshing sound. Lions in +Egypt were regarded as symbols of the sun when passing through the +zodiacal sign of Leo, the time when the annual inundation of the Nile +occurred. They had thus a deep significance in connection with water. +The obelisk was originally erected in front of the Temple of the Sun +at Heliopolis, by the great Rameses, the Sesostris of the Greeks, +whose personal character and wide conquests fill a larger space in the +history of ancient Egypt than those of any other monarch. From +Heliopolis it was removed to Rome, after the battle of Actium, by +Augustus, and placed on the Spina of the Circus Maximus, the sports of +which were under the special protection of Apollo, the sun-god, by +whose favour it was supposed that the Egyptian victory had been +achieved. For four hundred years it acted as a gnomon, regulating by +the length and direction of its shadow the hours of the public games +of the circus; and then it was overturned during those troublous days +in which the empire was rent asunder. Twelve centuries of decay and +wreck had buried it from the eyes of men, until it was dug up and +placed where it now stands, in 1587, by Pope Sixtus V., to whom modern +Rome is indebted for the restoration of many of her ancient monuments, +and the construction of many of her public buildings and streets. With +the cross planted on its summit, this noble monument was long the +first object which met the traveller's eye as he entered Rome from the +north by the old Flaminian way. Brought to com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span>memorate the overthrow +of the land from whence it came, it has witnessed the overthrow of the +conquerors in turn; and now re-erected in the modern capital, it will +endure when its glory too has passed away. And out of the ruins of the +city of the Popes, as out of the ruins of the city of the Cæsars, some +future architect will dig it up to grace the triumph of a brighter and +freer resuscitation of the Eternal City than the world has yet seen.</p> + +<p>The association of fountains at its base with this obelisk seems at +first sight as incongruous as the crowning of its apex with a metal +cross, for the Christian emblem can never alter the nature of the +pagan monument. There is no natural harmony in the association, for +there are no fountains or streams of running water in the desert. The +obelisk belongs essentially to the dry and parched east; the fountain +is the birth of the happier west, bright with the sparkle and musical +with the sound of many waters. The obelisk relieves the monotony of +immeasurable plains over which a sky of serene unstained blue arches +itself in infinite altitude, the image of eternal purity, and the sun +rises day after day with the same unsullied brilliance, and sets with +the same unmitigable glory. The fountain, on the other hand, is the +child of lands whose mountains kiss the clouds and gleam with the +purity of everlasting snows, and where each day brings out new +beauties, and each season reveals a fresh and ever-varying charm. But +although there is no geographical reason why these two objects should +be associated, there is a poetical fitness. The obelisk is the symbol +of the perpetual past, holding in its changeless unity, as on its +carved sides, the memories of former ages; the fountain is the symbol +of the perpetual present, ever changing, ever new. The one speaks to +us of a petrified old age; the other of an immortal youth. And thus it +is in life, each passing moment flowing on with all its changes beside +the stern, hard, enduring monument of the irrevocable past on which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span> +what is written is changelessly written. How different too are the +bright sparkling fountains that leap with ever-varying beauty at the +foot of the Flaminian obelisk now, from the dull, sleepy monotonous +river that, like a Lethe flood, flowed past it in the old days at +Heliopolis! Are they not both symbolical of the new and the old world, +of the Christian faith, with its progressive thought and varied +expanding life, and the stagnant pagan creed, which impressed the soul +with the sense of human helplessness in the face of an unchangeable +iron order alike of nature and of society?</p> + +<p>Another of the great obelisks of Rome is that which stands on Monte +Citorio, in front of the present Parliament House. It was brought to +Rome by Augustus, who dedicated it anew to the sun, and placed it as +the gnomon of a meridian in the midst of the Campus Martius. +Originally it had been erected at Heliopolis in honour of Psammeticus +I., who reigned about seven hundred years before Christ. This monarch +lived during a time when the national religion had become corrupted, +and the whole land had come under the influence of Greek thought and +Greek customs. But the obelisk which he erected is worthy of the best +period of Egyptian art. It is universally admired for the remarkable +beauty of its hieroglyphics. The anonymous pilgrim of Einsiedlen +mentions that this obelisk was still erect when he visited Rome about +the beginning of the ninth century. It seems, however, to have fallen +and to have been broken in pieces, nearly three hundred years later, +during the terrible conflagration caused by the Norman troops of +Robert Guiscard. Several fragments of it were dug up, one after +another, during the sixteenth century. The principal part of the shaft +was discovered in 1748, among the ruins beneath the choir of the +Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina. These portions were damaged in such a +way as to show clearly the action of fire, proving that the obelisk +had been destroyed in the great fire of 1084. Pope Pius VI.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span> gathered +together the fragments, and with the aid of granite pieces taken from +the ruined column of Antoninus Pius, which stood in the neighbourhood, +he formed of these a whole shaft, which represents, as nearly as +possible, the original obelisk. It is seventy-two feet high, and is +surmounted by a globe and a small pyramid of bronze, which, along with +its pedestal, increases its height to one hundred and thirty-four +feet. A portion of the lines of the celebrated sun-dial, whose gnomon +it formed, was brought to light under the sacristy of San Lorenzo in +Lucina in 1463.</p> + +<p>All the other obelisks in Rome belong to comparatively recent periods, +to the decadence of Egypt. None of them are of any great significance +to the student of archæology. Several of them were executed in Egypt +by order of the Roman emperors, and are therefore not genuine but +imitation obelisks. Of this kind may be mentioned the Esquiline and +Quirinal obelisks, which were brought to Rome by the emperor Claudius, +and placed in the old Egyptian manner, one on each side of the +entrance to the great mausoleum of Augustus in the Campus Martius. +They are both destitute of hieroglyphics and are broken into several +pieces. One now stands on Monte Cavallo, in front of the great +Quirinal Palace, betwixt the two well-known gigantic groups of men and +horses, statues of Greek origin, supposed to be those of Castor and +Pollux, executed by Pheidias and Praxiteles; and the other in the +large open space in front of the great Basilica of Santa Maria +Maggiore. Another of these bastard obelisks occupies a commanding +position at the top of the Spanish Stairs, in front of the Church of +Trinita dei Monti. It stood originally on the spina of the circus of +Sallust, in his gardens, and is covered with hieroglyphics of the +rudest workmanship, which sufficiently proclaim their origin, as a +Roman forgery probably of the period of the Antonine emperors. In the +midst of the public gardens, on the Pincian Hill, there is another +Roman obelisk about thirty feet high,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span> excavated from the quarries of +Syene, and set up by Hadrian originally at Antinopolis in Egypt in +front of a temple dedicated to the deified Antinous, the lamented +favourite of the emperor. It was afterwards transferred to the +imperial villa at Tivoli, near Rome, and subsequently to the grounds +of the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, from whence it was +finally taken to its present site. This obelisk has a special interest +because it commemorates one of the most beautiful and touching +examples of self-sacrifice which the annals of paganism afford. We are +apt to judge of Antinous from the languid beauty of the statue of him +in the Roman galleries, as simply the pampered sycophant of a court. +But behind his sensual beauty and softness there was an unselfish +devotion which the caresses of royalty and the favours of fortune +could not spoil. When the oracle declared that the happiness of +Hadrian, who was afflicted with a profound melancholy, could only be +secured by the sacrifice of what was most dear to him, Antinous went +at once and drowned himself in the Nile, and thus gave his life for +his imperial friend, who, instead of being made better by the +sacrifice, was left altogether inconsolable. The magnificent city +founded to perpetuate his memory is now a heap of ruined mounds, and +the obelisk that bore his name in Egypt now stands far away in Rome; +but time cannot quench the glow of sympathy that kindles in the heart +of every one who remembers his story of noble self-sacrificing love.</p> + +<p>There are three or four obelisks that mark the introduction of the +Egyptian worship of Isis into the imperial city of the later emperors. +At one time everything Egyptian was fashionable in Rome, and the +goddess of Egypt was domesticated in the Roman Pantheon, and temples +in her honour were erected in several parts of the city and throughout +the empire. Obelisks, fashioned in Egypt by command of the Romans, +were often placed in front of the temples. But these spurious obelisks +have little dignity or significance, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span> suffer wofully when brought +into comparison with specimens of the genuine work of old Egypt. The +largest and most imposing of these monuments of the new faith of the +city is the one that now stands in the Piazza Navona, formerly called +the Pamphilian Obelisk, in honour of the family name of Pope Innocent +X., who placed it there. It is forty feet high, of red granite, broken +into five pieces, and covered with hieroglyphics, the whole style and +execution of which are so inferior that Winkelman long ago, although +he knew nothing of their import, detected the fact of the obelisk +being a mere imitation. It was cut and engraved at Syene by order of +the emperor Domitian, who designed it to adorn his villa on the Lake +of Albano. From thence it was removed by the usurper Maxentius to the +circus on the Appian Way, founded by him, and named after his son +Romulus. It is now on the site of the old Circus Agonalis, whose form +and boundaries are marked out by the houses of the Piazza Navona. +Surmounted by the Pope's device of a dove with an olive branch, a vain +substitute of heraldry for sacred symbolism, and standing on an +artificial rock-work about forty feet high, composed of figures of +Tritons and nymphs, disporting themselves amid plashing fountains and +marble foliage, the whole subject is incongruous and utterly opposed +to the simplicity and majesty of the ancient monuments.</p> + +<p>Near the Pantheon there is a pair of obelisks which were brought from +the East, and stood together before the temple of Isis and Serapis, +which is supposed to have been situated on the site of the Dominican +Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. They were found when digging the +foundations of the church in 1667, along with an altar of Isis, now in +the Capitoline Museum. One of these obelisks was erected by Clement +XI. in 1711, in front of the Pantheon, in the midst of the fountain of +the Piazza. Its height is only about seventeen feet, and the +hieroglyphics on it indicate that it was constructed by Psammeticus +II., the supposed Hophra of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span> Hebrew history. This same monarch also +constructed its twin-fellow which now stands in the Piazza Minerva in +the near neighbourhood. The celebrated sculptor Bernini, when +re-erecting it at the command of Pope Alexander VII. in 1660, had the +exceedingly bad taste to balance it on the back of a marble elephant, +the work of his pupil Ferrata; on account of which absurd incongruity +Bernini received from the satirical Roman populace the nickname of +"The Elephant." Only one obelisk in Rome was not restored or +re-erected by any Pope, viz. that which stands in the beautiful +grounds of the Villa Mattei in the Coelian Hill. It was found near the +Capitol on the site of an ancient temple of Isis, and was presented by +the magistrates to the owner of the villa, a great collector of +antiquities. It is said that when it was raised in 1563, on its red +granite pedestal, the mason who superintended the work incautiously +rested his hand on the block, when the shaft suddenly slid down and +crushed it, the bones of the imprisoned member being still held +between the two stones.</p> + +<p>The foregoing were the last obelisks erected in Rome by the emperors. +After them no more were constructed either in the imperial city or in +their native land of Egypt. The language inscribed upon them had come +to be superseded by the universal use of the Greek tongue; there was +no use therefore in making monuments for the reception of hieroglyphic +records which nobody could understand or interpret. The sudden craze +for the Egyptian idolatry passed away as suddenly as it sprang up, and +Christianity established itself as the religion of the civilised +world. The temples in Egypt and Rome were closed, the altars +overthrown, and the objects connected with the material symbolism of +paganism were destroyed, and objects connected with the spiritual +symbolism of Christianity set up in their place. And thus the obelisk, +the oldest of all religious symbols, which was constructed at the very +dawn of human existence, to mark the worship of the material luminary, +fell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span> into disuse and oblivion, when "the Sun of Righteousness" rose +above the horizon of the world, with healing in His wings, dispelling +all the mists and delusions of error. The art of constructing obelisks +followed the usual stages in the history of all human art. Its best +period was that which indicated the greatest faith; its worst that +which marked the decay of faith. The oldest specimens are invariably +the most perfect and beautiful; the most recent exhibit too marked +signs of the decrepitude of skill that had come over their makers. +Between the oldest specimens and their surroundings there was a +harmony and an appropriateness which solemnised the scene and excited +feelings of adoration and awe. Between the latest specimens and their +surroundings there was an incongruity which proved them to be aliens +and strangers on the scene, and was fatal to all reverence; an +incongruity which the modern Romans have only intensified by raising +them on pedestals of most uncongenial forms, and crowning them with +hideous masses of metal, representing the insignia of popes or other +objects equally unsuitable. We see in the oldest obelisks a wonderful +ease and an exquisite finish of execution, a maturity of thought and +skill which none of the later obelisks reached, and which indicate the +high-water mark of man's achievement in that line. There is also "a +bloom of youth and of the earth's morning" about them which is quite +indescribable, and which doubtless came to them because of the power +and reality of faith. They were the fresh natural originals in which a +deep primitive spontaneous adoration that dominated the whole nature +of man expressed itself; while the specimens that were executed +afterwards were slavish imitations, expressing a worship and a creed +which had become fixed and formal.</p> + +<p>One of the most valuable results of the expedition of the great +Napoleon to Egypt, ostensibly for scientific and antiquarian purposes, +but really for military glory, was the acquisition of the Rosetta +stone now in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> British Museum—which afforded the key to the +decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphics—and of the obelisk of +Luxor which now adorns the noble Place de la Concord in Paris. The +history of the engineering difficulties overcome in bringing this +obelisk to France is extremely interesting. Indeed, the story of the +transportation of the obelisks from their native home, from time to +time, to other lands, is no less romantic and worthy of study than the +artistic, religious, or antiquarian phases of the subject. It forms a +special literature of its own to which Commander Gorringe of the +United States Navy, in his elaborate and magnificent work on Egyptian +obelisks, has done the amplest justice. It cost upwards of £100,000 to +bring the Luxor Obelisk to Paris, owing to the inexperience of the +engineers and the imperfection of their method. But it was worthy of +this vast expenditure of toil and money; for standing in an open +circus unimpeded by narrow streets, and unspoiled by the tawdry +ornaments which disfigure the Roman obelisks, it adds to the +magnificent modern city the charm of antique majesty. It stands +seventy-six feet and a half in height, with its apex left rough and +unfinished, destitute of the gilded cap which formerly completed and +protected it. Each of its four sides contains three vertical lines of +well-executed hieroglyphics, which show that it was raised in honour +of Rameses II., to adorn the stupendous temple of Luxor at Thebes +which he constructed. When it lay on its original site, previous to +its being transported, it was found to have been cracked at the time +of its first erection, and repaired by means of two dove-tailed wedges +of wood which had perished long ago. But this defect is not now +noticeable. The companion of this obelisk is still standing at Luxor, +and has already been described. Both of them show a peculiarity in +their lines, which could only be noticed effectually when the pair +stood together. This peculiarity is a convexity, or <i>entasis</i>, as it +is called, on the inner faces. Even to the untrained eye its sides +seem not of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> equal dimensions; and actual measurement shows the +irregularity more clearly. This is said, however, to be exceptional to +the general rule, and to be foreign to the design of an obelisk in the +best period of the Pharaonic art. Still, several magnificent +specimens, such as the Luxor and Flaminian obelisks, exhibit it. And +they are an illustration of what was a marked characteristic of all +classic architecture, which shows a slight curvature or entasis in its +long lines.</p> + +<p>It was early found out that mathematical exactness and beauty were not +the same. By making its two sides geometrically equal, the living +expression of the most beautiful marble statue is destroyed, and it +becomes simply a piece of architecture. It is well known that the two +sides of the human face are not precisely the same; the irregularity +of the one modifies the irregularity of the other, and thus a higher +symmetry and harmony is the result. The two sides of the leaf of the +begonia are unequal, and if folded together will not correspond. The +same is true of the leaf of the elm and the lime. But when the mass of +the foliage is seen together, this irregularity gives an added charm +to the whole. Every object in nature has some imperfection, which +indicates that it has a relation to some other object, and is but a +part of a greater whole. The intentional irregularity of the windows +in the Doge's Palace at Venice enhances the effect of the marvellous +façade. By comparing the Parthenon at Athens, with its curves and +inclinations, with the Madeleine at Paris, we see how far short the +copy comes of the original in beauty and expressiveness, because of +the exact formality of its right angles. The ancient Egyptians +understood this well; and in their architecture they sought to rise to +a higher symmetry through irregularity; and we can see in their +frequent departure from upright and parallel lines in the construction +of their temples, an effort to escape from formal exactness, and a +longing for the nobler unity which is realised to the full in the rich +variety of the Gothic.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span> We may be sure that "every attempt in art that +seeks a theoretical completeness, in so doing sinks from the natural +into the artificial, from the living and the divine into the +mechanical and commonplace." The Egyptian obelisk is thus but a type +of a great law of nature. In this simplest and most primitive specimen +of architecture we have an illustration of the principle which gives +its expressiveness to the human face, beauty to the flowers of the +field, and grandeur to the highest triumphs of human art.</p> + +<p>The obelisks that remain to be described are the two which to us are +the most interesting; the pair of "Cleopatra's Needles" which so long +stood side by side at Alexandria, and are now separated by the +Atlantic Ocean; one standing on the Thames Embankment in London, and +the other in Central Park, New York. They were both set up in front of +the great temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, about fifteen centuries +before Christ, by Thothmes III., and engraved by Rameses II., the two +mightiest of the kings of Egypt. After standing on their original site +for fourteen centuries, witnessing the rise and fall of many native +dynasties, and the establishment of the Greek dominion under the +Ptolemies, they were, when Egypt became a province of Imperial Rome, +transferred by Cæsar Augustus to Alexandria. There they adorned the +Cæsareum or palace of the Cæsars, which stood by the side of the +harbour, was surrounded with a sacred grove, and was the greatest +building in the city. What Thebes and Heliopolis were in the time of +the Pharaohs, Alexandria became in the time of the Ptolemies. And +though, being a parasitical growth, it could not originate works of +genius, like its ancient prototypes, it could appropriate those which +Heliopolis and Thebes had created. The tragic death of Cleopatra, the +last of the dynasty of the Ptolemies, had taken place seven years +before the setting up of these obelisks at Alexandria; so that she had +in reality nothing to do with them personally. For about fifteen +centuries the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span> obelisks stood in their new position before the +Cæsareum. They saw the gradual overthrow, by time's resistless hand, +of the magnificent palace which they adorned; and they themselves felt +the slow undermining of the sea as it encroached upon the land, until +at last one of them fell to the ground about three hundred years ago, +and got partially covered over with sand, leaving the other to stand +alone. Then came the French invasion of Egypt, and the victories of +Nelson and Abercromby, when Mahomet Ali, the ruler of the land, +offered the prostrate obelisk to the British nation as a token of +gratitude. The offer, however, was not taken advantage of, for various +reasons. At last the patriotism and enterprise of a private +individual, the late Sir Erasmus Wilson, came to the rescue, when the +stone was about to be broken up into building material by the +proprietor of the ground on which it lay. An iron water-tight cylinder +was constructed for its transport, in which, with much toil, the +obelisk was encased and floated. It was taken in tow by a steam-tug, +which encountered a fearful storm in the Bay of Biscay. This led to +the abandonment of the pontoon cylinder, which floated about for three +days, and was at last picked up by a passing steamer, and towed to the +coast of Spain; from whence it was brought to England, and set up +where it now stands on the Thames Embankment. Its transport cost +altogether about £13,000, and was a work of great anxiety and +difficulty. Standing seventy feet high on its present site, it forms +one of the noblest and most appropriate monuments of the greatest city +in the world; awakening the curiosity of every passer-by regarding the +mysteries revealed in its enigmatical sculptures.</p> + +<p>The companion obelisk which had been left standing at Alexandria, +after having suffered much from neglect, in the midst of its mean and +filthy surroundings, was presented to the American Government by the +Khedive of Egypt. But that Government acted in the same supine spirit +in which our own had acted; and it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span> left to the ability of Captain +Corringe as engineer, and to the liberality of the millionaire +Vanderbilt, who paid the expenses incurred, amounting to £20,000, to +bring the obelisk in the hold of a chartered steamer across the +Atlantic, and set it up in the midst of New York city. And if the one +obelisk is a remarkable sight in London, the other is a still more +remarkable sight in New York. There, amid the latest inventions of the +West, surrounded by the most recent civilisation of the world, rises +up serenely, unchanged to heaven, the earliest monument of the East, +surrounded by the most ancient civilisation of the world. "Westward +the course of empire takes its way;" and as the old obelisk of +Heliopolis witnessed the ending of the four first dramas of human +history, so shall it close the fifth and last. The sun in the East +rose over its birth; the sun in the West shall set over its death.</p> + +<p>It is possible that when all the stores of coal and other fuel which +form the source of the mechanical power and commercial greatness of +northern and western nations shall have been exhausted, a method of +directly utilising solar radiation may be discovered. And if so, then +the seat of empire will be transferred to parts of the earth that are +now burnt up by the intense heat of the sun, but which then will be +the most valuable of all possessions. The vast solar radiance now +wasted on the furnace-like shores of the Red Sea will be stored up as +a source of mechanical power. The commerce of the West will once more +return to the East where it began; and the whole region will be +repeopled with the life that swarmed there in the best days of old +Egypt. But under that new civilisation there will be no return of the +old religion of the obelisks; for men will no longer worship the sun +as a god, but will use him for the common purposes of life, as a +slave.</p> + +<p>After having thus passed in review so many noble obelisks, a mere +tithe of what once existed, the conviction is deepened in our minds +that no nation had ever devoted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span> so much time, treasure, and skill to +the service of religion as the Egyptian. While the Jews had only one +tabernacle and one temple, every city in Egypt—and no country had so +many great cities—had its magnificent temple and its hosts of +obelisks. The spoils of the whole world were devoted to their +construction; a third of the produce of the whole land of Egypt was +spent in their maintenance. The daily life of the people was moulded +entirely upon the religion of these temples and obelisks; their art +and their literature were inspired by it. It organised their society; +it built up their empire; and it was the salt which for more than +three thousand years conserved a civilisation which has been the +marvel and the mystery of every succeeding age. Surely the Light which +lighteth every man that cometh into the world, shone on those who were +thus fervently stretching the tendrils of their souls to its dawning +in the East, who raised these obelisks as symbols of the glorious and +beneficent sunlight of the world.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE PAINTED TOMB AT VEII</h3> + + +<p>Rome after a season becomes oppressive. Your capacity of enjoyment is +exhausted. The atmosphere of excitement in which you live, owing to +the number, variety, and transcendent interest of the sights that have +to be seen, wears out the nervous system, and you have an ardent +desire for a little respite and change of scene. I remember that after +the first month I had a deep longing to get away into the heart of an +old wood, or into a lonely glen among the mountains, where I should +see no trace of man's handiwork, and recover the tone of my spirit +amid the wildness of nature. For this inevitable reaction of +sight-seeing in the city, a remedy may be found by retiring for a day +or two to some one or other of the numerous beautiful scenes in the +neighbourhood. There is no city in the world more favourably situated +for this purpose than Rome. Some of the most charming excursions may +be made from it as a centre, starting in the morning and returning at +night. Every tourist who stays but a fortnight in the city makes a +point of seeing the idyllic waterfalls of Tivoli, the extensive ruins +of Hadrian's Villa, the picturesque olive-clad slopes of Frascati and +Tusculum, and the lovely environs of Albano on the edge of its +richly-wooded lake. But there are spots that are less known at no +greater distance, which yet do not yield in beauty or interest to +these familiar resorts. Chief among these is Veii, whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span> very name +has in it a far-off old-world sound. When the Campagna has quickened +under the breath of the Italian spring into a tender greenness, and is +starred with orchids and sweet-scented narcissuses, I know nothing +more pleasant than a visit to this renowned spot.</p> + +<p>Veii was the greatest city of the Etruscan confederacy. When Rome was +in its infancy it was in the height of its grandeur. After a ten +years' siege it was captured by Camillus; and so stately were its +buildings, so beautiful was the scenery around it, and so strong its +natural defences, that it was seriously proposed to abandon Rome and +transfer the population to it, and thus save the rebuilding of the +houses and temples that had been destroyed during the invasion of the +Gauls. It was only by a small majority that this project was set +aside. Veii never recovered from its overthrow. In vain the Romans +attempted to make it one of their own cities by colonising it. Many +families established themselves there, but they were afterwards +recalled by a decree of the senate, which made it an offence +punishable with death for any Roman to remain at Veii beyond a +prescribed period. By degrees it dwindled away, until in the days of +Propertius its site was converted into pastures; and the shepherd +roamed over it with his flocks, unconscious that one of the most +famous cities of Italy once stood on the spot. So long ago as the +reign of the emperor Hadrian its very locality was forgotten, and its +former existence regarded by many with incredulity as a myth of early +times. It was left to the enlightened antiquarian skill of our own +times, so fruitful in similar discoveries and resuscitations, to find +out among the fastnesses of the wilderness around Rome its true +position. And although all the difficult problems connected with its +citadel and the circuit of its walls have not yet been solved, there +can be no doubt that the city stood in the very place which modern +archæologists have determined. This place is a little village called +Isola Farnese, about eleven miles north-west of Rome. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span> way that +leads to it branches off by a side path for about three miles from the +old diligence road between Florence and Rome at La Storta—the last +post station where horses were changed about eight miles from the +city. It is situated amid ground so broken into heights and hollows +that you see no indications of it until you come abruptly upon it, hid +in a fold of the undulating Campagna. And the loneliness of the +district and of all the paths leading to it is hardly relieved by the +appearance of the village itself.</p> + +<p>I shall not soon forget my visit to this romantic spot, and the +delightful day I spent there with a congenial friend. We left Rome in +an open one-horse carriage early one morning about the end of April. +Passing out at the Porta del Popolo, we quickly traversed the squalid +suburb and crossed the Ponte Molle—the famous old Milvian Bridge. We +proceeded as far as the Via Cassia on the old Flaminian Way. At the +junction of these roads the villa and gardens of Ovid were situated; +but their site is now occupied by a humble osteria or wayside tavern. +The road passes over an undulating country entirely uncultivated, +diversified here and there with copses and thickets of wild figs +intermixed with hawthorn, rose-bushes, and broom. A few ilexes and +stone-pines arched their evergreen foliage over the road; and the +succulent milky stems of the wild fig-trees were covered with the +small green fruit, while the downy leaves were just beginning to peep +from their sheaths. It was one of those quiet gray days that give a +mystic tone to a landscape. The cloudy sky was in harmony with the dim +Campagna, that looked under the sunless smoky light unutterably sad +and forlorn. Wreaths of mist lingered in the hollows like the shadowy +forms of the past; the lark was silent in the sky; and on the desolate +bluffs and headlands, where once stood populous cities, were a few +hoary tombs whose very names had perished ages ago. But inexpressibly +sad as the landscape looked it was relieved by the grand background of +the Sabine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span> range capped with snow. The village of La Storta, that +flourished in the old posting days, had fallen into decay when the +railway diverted the traffic from it; and its inn, with a rude model +of St. Peter's carved in wood projecting above its door, was silent +and deserted. Passing down a narrow glen, fringed with wood for three +miles from this point, we came in sight of the village of Isola. Its +situation is romantic, perched on the summit of a steep cliff, with +deep richly-wooded ravines around it, and long swelling downs rising +beyond. It is surrounded by two streams which unite and fall along +with the Formello into the river called La Valca, which has been +identified with the fatal Cremera that was dyed red with the blood of +the three hundred Fabii.</p> + +<p>The rock of Isola is most interesting to the geologist, consisting of +large fragments of black pumice cemented together by volcanic ashes +deposited under water. It is literally a huge heap of cinders thrown +out by the rapidly intermittent action of some neighbouring volcano, +probably the crater of Baccano, or that which is now filled with the +blue waters of Lake Bracciano. The whole mass is very friable, and in +every direction the soft rock is hollowed out into sepulchral caves. +By many this isolated rock is considered the arx or citadel of Veii; +but the existence of so many sepulchral caves in it is, as Mr. Dennis +says, conclusive of the fact that it was the Necropolis of the ancient +city, which must therefore, according to Etruscan and Roman usage +regarding the interment of the dead, have been outside the walls. The +tombs have all been rifled and destroyed, and many of the sepulchral +caves have been turned to the basest uses for stalling goats and +cattle. An air of profound melancholy breathes around the whole spot. +It seems to be more connected with the dead than with the living +world. And the hamlet which now occupies the commanding site is of the +most wretched description. All its houses, which date from the +fifteenth century, are ruinous, and are among the worst in Italy; and +the baronial castle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span> which crowns the highest point,—built nearly a +thousand years ago, the scene of many a conflict between the Colonnas +and the Orsinis, and captured on one occasion after a twelve days' +siege by Cæsar Borgia,—has been converted into a barn. The +inhabitants of the village do not exceed a hundred in number, and +present a haggard and sallow appearance—the effect of the dreadful +malaria which haunts the spot. It is strange to contrast this blighted +and fever-stricken aspect of the place with the description of +Dionysius, who praised its air as in his time exceedingly pure and +healthy, and its territory as smiling and fruitful. In the little +square of the village are several fragments of marble and other relics +of Roman domination; and the church, about four or five hundred years +old, dedicated to St. Pancrazio, is in a state of great decay. The +walls are damp and mouldy, and all the pictures and ornaments are of +the rudest description, with the exception of a faded fresco of the +coronation of the Virgin, which is a fair specimen of the art of the +fifteenth century. The service of the church is supplied by some +distant priest or friar in orders.</p> + +<p>We left our conveyance in the piazza, and took our lunch in one of the +houses. We brought our provisions with us from Rome, but we got a +coarse but palatable wine from the people, and a rude but clean room +in which to enjoy our repast. This inn—if it may be called, so—had +at one time a very evil reputation. But nothing could be more +simple-hearted than the landlord and his wife, with their group of +timid children who clung to their mother's skirts in dread of the +strangers. They told us that the poverty of the place was deplorable. +Nearly all the people were laid down during the heats of summer with +fever; and they were so poor that they could not afford to keep a +doctor. Many deaths occurred, and the survivors, emaciated by the +disease, were left to drag on a weary existence embittered by numerous +privations. At a distance the village on its lofty rock, surrounded by +its richly-wooded ravines, looked like a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span> picture of Arcadia; but near +at hand the sad reality dispelled the idyllic dream.</p> + +<p>Taking with us from Isola a guide, originally a big burly man, but now +a sad victim to malaria, we set out to visit the site of the ancient +city and the few relics which survive. It takes about four hours to +complete the circuit of the walls; but there are four objects of +special interest, the Arx, the Columbarium, the Ponte Sodo, and the +Painted Tomb, which may be visited in less than three. The extent of +the city is surprising to those who have been in the habit of thinking +that all the ancient towns in the neighbourhood of Rome were mere +villages. Dionysius says that it was equal in size to Athens. Veii was +indeed fully larger, and was about the dimensions of the city of Rome, +included within the walls of Servius Tullius. It occupied the whole +extent of the platform on which it was situated; and as the area was +bounded on every side by deep ravines, its size was thus absolutely +circumscribed. Built for security and not for the comfort and progress +of its inhabitants, its confined and inaccessible situation would have +unfitted it to become the capital of a great nation, as was at one +time proposed. Passing down a richly-wooded glen by a path overhanging +a stream, we came to a molino or polenta mill, most romantically +situated. Here a fine cascade, about eighty feet high, plunges over +the volcanic rock into a deep gulley overshadowed by bushy ilexes. The +scenery is very picturesque, and differs widely from that of the rest +of the Campagna. In its profusion of broom and hawthorn bushes, whose +golden and snowy blossoms contrasted beautifully with the dark hues of +the evergreen oaks, and in the snowy gleam of its falling waters, and +the hoary gray of its lichen-clad cliffs, it presented features of +resemblance to Scottish scenery. It had indeed a peculiar home look +about it which produced a very pleasing impression upon our minds. +Crossing the stream above the cascade by stepping-stones, between +which the water rushed with a strong current, we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span> entered the wide +down upon which Veii stood. No one would have supposed that this was +the site of one of the most important ancient cities, which held at +bay for ten long years the Roman army, and yielded at last to +stratagem and not to force. Not a vestige of a ruin could be seen. In +the heart of the city the grass was growing in all the soft green +transparency of spring, and a few fields of corn were marked out and +showed the tender braird above the soil. The relics of the walls that +crowned the cliffs have almost entirely disappeared. No Etruscan site +has so few remains; and yet its interest is intensified by the extreme +desolation. It is more suggestive to the imagination because of the +paucity of its objects to appeal to the eye. Legend and history haunt +the spot with nothing to distract the mind or dispel its musing +melancholy. All trace of human passion has disappeared, and only the +eternal calm of nature broods over the spot; the calm that was before +man came upon the scene, and that shall be after all his labour is +over.</p> + +<p>On a part of these downs overgrown with briars was situated the Roman +Municipium, a colony founded after the subjugation of Veii. It did not +cover more than a third of the area of the ancient city. Several +excavations were made here, which resulted in the discovery, among +other interesting relics of the imperial period, of the colossal heads +of Augustus and Tiberius and the mutilated statue of Germanicus now in +the Vatican Gallery. On this spot were also found the twelve Ionic +columns of white marble which now form the portico of the post-office +in the Piazza Colonna at Rome, and also a few of the pillars which +adorn the magnificent Basilica of St. Paul's on the Ostian Road. No +one looking at these grand columns, so stainless in hue and so perfect +in form, would have supposed that they had formed part of the Roman +Forum of Veii more than two thousand years ago. Those in front of the +post-office look newer than the rest of the building, which is not +more than sixty years old. They owed their perfect preservation +doubtless to the fact that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span> they were buried deep under the dry +volcanic soil for most of the intervening period. It seems strange to +think of these ancient columns, that looked down upon the legal +transactions of Roman Veii, now standing in one of the busiest squares +of modern Rome, associated with one of the most characteristic and +important of our modern institutions, of which ancient Rome had not +even the germ.</p> + +<p>Passing through a beautiful copse wood, where cyclamens grew in lavish +profusion, forming little rosy clusters about the oak-stools and +diffusing a faint spicy smell through the warm air, we came out at one +of the gates of the city into open ground. This gate is simply a gap +in a shapeless mound, with traces of an ancient roadway passing +through it and fragments of walls on either side. Where the stones can +be seen projecting through the turf embankment they are smaller than +usual in Etruscan cities. Sir William Gell found hereabouts a portion +of the wall composed of enormous blocks of tufa—three or four yards +long and more than five feet in height—based upon three courses of +thin bricks three feet in length, that rested upon the naked rock. +Such a mode of wall construction has no resemblance to anything +remaining in Rome or in any Etruscan city. It indicates a still higher +antiquity; while the brick foundations remind us of the fame which the +Etruscans and particularly the people of Veii had acquired on account +of their skill in works of terra cotta. The famous Quadriga or brick +chariot which adorned the pediment of the great temple of Jupiter on +the Capitol at Rome was made at Veii, and was a remarkable proof of +the superiority of its people in this species of art. Indeed the name +of Veii is supposed to have been derived from its skill in the +manufacture of terra cotta chariots. The old gateway through which we +passed out of the wood was probably the principal entrance into the +city, and the one over which Tolumnius King of Veii appeared, standing +on the wall, during the famous siege when he was challenged to mortal +combat by Cornelius Cossus, as graphically described by Livy.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span></p> + +<p>Beneath this gate there is a remarkable tunnel called the Ponte Sodo, +bored in the volcanic rock for the passage of the river. It is not, +however, visible from this point. You require to descend the steep +banks of the river to see it; and a very extraordinary excavation it +is, two hundred and forty feet long, sixteen feet wide, and twenty +feet high. It was doubtless made to prevent the evil effects of winter +floods by the inhabitants of Veii, who had considerable skill in such +engineering works. The river sometimes fills the tunnel to the very +roof, leaving behind trunks and branches of trees firmly wedged in the +clefts of the rock in the inside. It was extremely interesting to +stand on this spot and see before me this wonderful Etruscan work, and +to lave my hands in the waters of the Formello, which, under the +classical name of the Cremera, was prominently associated with early +Roman history. It would be difficult to find a lovelier dimple in the +fair face of mother earth than the valley through which the Formello +flows. Precipitous cliffs rose from the bed of the river opposite to +me, enriched with all the hues that volcanic rock assumes under the +influences of the weather and the garniture of moss and lichen. A +perfect tangle of vegetation crowned their tops and fringed their +sides; the dark unchanging verdure of the evergreen oak and ivy +contrasting beautifully with the tender autumn-like tints in which the +varied spring foliage of the brushwood appeared. Bright flowers and +gay blossoms grew in every crevice and nook. The shallow river flowed +at my feet through ruts of dark volcanic sand, and amid masses of rock +fallen from the cliffs, and stones whose artificial appearance showed +that they had formed part of the ramparts that once ran round the +whole circuit of the heights. The sunshine sparkled on the gray-green +waters, and followed them in bright coruscations for a short distance +into the mouth of the tunnel, the other end of which, diminished by +the distance, opened into the daylight like the eye-piece of an +inverted telescope. I found in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span> the bed of the river fragments of +marble and porphyry, cut and polished, that had doubtless come from +the pavement of some palace or temple, and attested the truth of the +report that has come down to us, that the buildings of Veii were +stately and magnificent. To me there is something peculiarly +impressive in the presence of a stream in a scene of vanished human +greatness. Its eternal sameness contrasts with the momentous changes +that have taken place; its motion with the death around; its sunny +sparkle with the gloom; while its murmur seems the very requiem of the +past. In this giant sepulchre, into which, like the Gulf of Curtius in +the Forum, all the greatness of Etruscan and Roman Veii had gone down, +the abundance of life was most remarkable. The vegetation sprang up +with a rank luxuriance unknown in northern latitudes; lizards darted +through the long grass; one snake of considerable length and girth +uncoiled itself before me and crawled leisurely away; and the air, as +bright and warm as it is in July with us, was murmurous with the hum +of insects that danced in the April sunshine.</p> + +<p>Beyond the Ponte Sodo the precipices disappear and the ground slopes +down gently to the edge of the river. Here the valley of the Formello +opens up—a quiet green pastoral spot rising on the right hand into +bare swelling downs, without a tree, or a bush, or a rock to diversify +their surface. On the sloping banks of the river the rock has been cut +into a number of basins filled with water, where Sir William Gell +supposes that the nymphs of Veii, like those of Troy, "washed their +white garments in the days of peace;" but they were in all likelihood +only holes caused by the quarrying of the blocks of stone used in the +construction of the walls and buildings of the city. The slopes of +this valley seem to have formed the principal Necropolis of Veii. +Numerous tombs were discovered in it; but after having been rifled of +their contents they were filled up again, and all traces of them have +disappeared. Only one sepulchre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span> now remains open in the Necropolis, +half way up the slope of a mound called the <i>Poggio Reale</i>. It is +commonly known as "The Painted Tomb," or <i>La Grotta Campana</i>—after +its discoverer, the Marchese Campana of Rome—who got permission +forty-five years ago from the Queen of Sardinia, to whom the property +then belonged, to dig in this locality for jewels and other relics of +antiquity. Instead of closing the tomb, as was done in the other +cases, this accomplished antiquarian, with the good taste for which he +was distinguished, left it in the exact condition in which he had +found it, so that it might be an object of interest to future +visitors. Ascending the slope, we entered a long narrow passage about +six feet wide and about fourteen feet deep cut through the tufa rock. +This was the original entrance to the tomb; and the discoverer had +cleared it out by removing the earth that had accumulated in the +course of ages. A solitary crouching lion, carved in a species of +volcanic stone, guarded the entrance of the passage. Its companion had +been removed some distance, and lay neglected on the slope of the +hill. The sculpture is exceedingly uncouth and primitive. At the inner +end of the passage a couple of similar lions crouch, one on each side +of the door of the tomb. They were placed there in all likelihood as +symbols of avenging wrath to inspire fear, and thus prevent the +desecration of the dead. Originally the tomb was closed by a great +slab of volcanic stone: but this having been broken to pieces and +carried away to build the first sheepfold or the nearest peasant's +hut, it has been replaced by an iron gate. The walls around were damp +and covered with moss and weeds, and the bars of the gate were rusty. +Our guide applied the key he had brought with him, and the gate opened +with a creaking sound. Lighting a candle, he preceded us into the +tomb. I cannot describe the strange mixture of feelings which took +possession of me,—wonder, curiosity, and awe. This was my first visit +to an Etruscan tomb. In Rome I had been familiar with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span> the monuments +of a remote past; I had gazed with interest upon objects over which +twenty centuries had passed. But here I was to behold one of the +mysterious relics of the world's childhood. I had previously read with +deep interest the graphic account of this tomb, which Mr. Dennis gives +in his <i>Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria</i>, and was therefore prepared +in large measure for what I was about to see.</p> + +<p>I found myself when I entered in a gloomy chamber hewn out of a brown +arenaceous clay. The floor was a loose mud, somewhat slippery; and on +it I noticed a number of vases, large and small, and of various forms. +They were not like the exquisite painted vases which we are accustomed +to associate with the name of Etruscan, but of the simplest and most +archaic shapes, formed out of the coarsest clay. Some of them had a +curious squat appearance, with rude figures painted on them; while +others of them were about three feet high, of dark-brown earthenware, +and were ornamented with some simple device in neutral tints or in +very low relief. They were empty now; but when found they contained +ashes and fragments of calcined bones. Just within the door there were +two stone benches, on each of which, when the tomb was opened, was +stretched a skeleton, which rapidly crumbled under the pressure of the +air into a cloud of dust. That on the left was supposed to have been a +female; and her companion on the right had doubtless been a warrior, +judging from the bronze helmet and breastplate, both much corroded, +that were left lying on the bench. He had evidently come by a violent +death, for at the back of the helmet was an ugly hole, whose ragged +side was outwards, showing that the fierce thrust of the spear had +crashed through the face, and protruded beyond the casque. The +combination of cinerary urns containing ashes, and of stone couches on +which dead bodies were extended in the same tomb, is curious, showing +that both modes of sepulture were practised at this period. The +skeletons found entire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span> were evidently those of the master and +mistress of the household, persons of consideration; and the ashes in +the jars were probably the remains of the servants and dependants. On +the benches beside the skeletons were a bronze laver and mirror, a +simple candlestick, and a brazier used for burning perfumes. The vases +were exceedingly interesting, as the first rude attempts of the +Etruscans in an art in which afterwards they attained to such +marvellous perfection, and the only relics now remaining of the +fictile statuary for which Veil was so celebrated.</p> + +<p>But my interest in these objects was speedily transferred to a far +more wonderful sight, which the candle of the guide disclosed to me. +On the inner wall, which divided the tomb into two chambers, and on +the right and left of the door leading from the one to the other, was +a most extraordinary fresco. Seen in the dim light of the candle +passing over the different parts, it had a singularly weird and +grotesque appearance. The colours were as fresh as if they had been +laid on yesterday; and the thought at first flashed across my mind +that I was gazing not upon a painting which had been sealed up for +nearly thirty centuries, but upon the rude attempts at art of some +modern shepherd or rustic belonging to the village of Isola, who +sought thus to amuse his leisure moments. But such a thought was +dismissed at once as absurd. No one after a few moments' inspection +could doubt the genuineness of the painting. It is difficult to +describe it, for it is altogether unlike anything to be seen elsewhere +in Egyptian or Assyrian, in Greek or Roman tombs. On the right side of +the door the upper half of the wall was panelled off by a band of +colour, and represented one scene or picture. In the centre was a +large horse, that reminded me of a child's wooden toy-horse, such as +one sees at a country fair. Its legs were unnaturally long and thin; +and the slenderness of its barrel was utterly disproportioned to the +breadth of its chest. It was coloured in the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span> curious fashion: +the head, hind-quarters, and near-leg being black; the tail and mane +and off-legs yellow; and the rest of the body red, with round yellow +spots. It was led by a tall groom; a diminutive youth was mounted upon +its back; and a proud, dignified-looking personage, having a +double-headed axe or hammer on his shoulder, strode in front. These +human figures were all naked, and painted of a deep-red colour. In the +same picture I noticed two strange-looking nondescript animals, very +rudely drawn, and party-coloured like the horse. One probably +represented a cat without a tail, like the Manx breed, half-lying upon +the back of the horse, and laying its paw on the shoulder of the youth +mounted before it; and the other looked like a dog, with open mouth, +apparently barking with all his might, running among the feet of the +horse. Interspersed with these figures were most uncouth drawings of +flowers, growing up from the ground, and forming fantastic wreaths +round the picture, all party-coloured in the same way as the animals.</p> + +<p>This extraordinary fresco seemed like the scene which presented itself +to the apostle, when one of the seals of the Apocalyptic book was +opened. I wished that I had beside me some authoritative interpreter +who could read for me "this mystic handwriting on the wall." It has +been suggested that the silent scene before me represented the passage +of a soul to the world of the dead. The lean and starved-looking horse +symbolised death; and its red and yellow spots indicated corruption. +It may have been the ghost of the horse that was burned with the body +of his dead master; for we know that the tribes, from which the +Etruscans were supposed to be descended, if not the Etruscans +themselves, not only burned their dead, but offered along with them +the wives, slaves, horses, and other property of the dead upon their +funeral pyre. The horse in this remarkable fresco may therefore have +been the death-horse, which is well-known in Eastern and European +folklore. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span> diminutive figure which it carried on its back was the +soul of the dead person buried in this tomb; and its small size and +the fact of its being on horseback might have been suggested by the +thought of the long way it had to go, and its last appearance to the +mortal eyes that had anxiously watched it from the extreme verge of +this world as it vanished in the dim distance of the world beyond. The +groom that led the horse and his rider was the Thanatis or Fate that +had inflicted the death-blow; and the figure with the hammer was +probably intended for the Mantus—the Etruscan Dispater—who led the +way to another state of existence. The deep-red colour of the human +figures indicated not only that they belonged to the male sex, but +also that they were in a state of glorification. This is further +confirmed by the flowers, which looked like those of the lotus, +universally regarded amongst the ancients as symbols of immortality. +It is difficult to say what part the domestic animals were meant to +play in this scene of apotheosis. Painted with the same hues as those +of the steed, they were doubtless sacrificed at the death of their +master, in order that they might share his fortunes and accompany him +into the unseen world; their affection for him, and the reluctance +with which they parted from him, being indicated by the cat putting +its paw upon his shoulder as if to pull him back, and the dog barking +furiously at the heels of the horse. But all this is merely +conjectural. And yet I caught such a glimpse of the general +significance of the picture, of the spirit that prompted it, as deeply +impressed me. It seemed as if my own searching dimly with a candle in +the inside of a dark sepulchral cave into the meaning of this fresco +of death was emblematical of the groping of the ancient Etruscans, by +such feeble light of nature as they possessed, in the midst of the +profound, terrible darkness of death, for the great truths of +immortality. They had not heard of One who alone with returning +footsteps had broken the eternal silence of the tomb, and brought the +hope of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span> immortal life to the sleeping dead around. These Etruscan +sleepers had been laid to rest in their narrow cell ages before the +Son of Man had rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, +and carried captivity captive; but He whom they ignorantly worshipped +had partially lifted the veil and given them faint glimpses of the +things unseen and eternal. And these were doubtless sufficient to +redeem their life from its vanity and their death from its fear.</p> + +<p>Below the fresco which I have thus minutely described is another about +the same size, representing a sphinx, with a nondescript animal, which +may be either an ass or a young deer standing below it, and a panther +or leopard sitting behind in a rampant attitude, with one paw on the +haunch of the sphinx, and the other on the tail, and its face turned +towards the spectator. The face of the sphinx is painted red. The +figure bears some resemblance to the Egyptian type of that chimera in +its straight black hair depending behind, and its oblique eyes; but in +other respects it diverges widely. On Egyptian monuments the sphinx +never appears standing as in this fresco, but crouching in the +attitude of reposeful observation. Its form also was always fuller and +more rounded than the long-legged, attenuated spectre before us, and +it was invariably wingless; whereas the Etruscan sphinx had short +wings with curling points, spotted and barred with stripes of black, +red, and yellow. This strange mixture of the human and the brutal +might be regarded as a symbol of the religious state of the people. We +see in it higher conceptions of religion struggling out of lower. In +the recumbent wingless sphinx of Egypt we see anthropomorphic ideas of +religion emerging out of the gross animal-worship of more primitive +times. In the standing and winged Etruscan Sphinx we see these ideas +assuming a more predominant form; while in the Greek mythology the +emancipation of the human from the brutal was complete, and the gods +appeared wholly in the likeness of men.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span></p> + +<p>On the wall on the opposite side of the door were two other frescoes, +somewhat similar in general appearance to those already described. On +the upper panel was a horse with a boy on his back, and a panther +sitting on the ground behind him; while on the lower panel there was a +huge standing panther or leopard, with his long tongue hanging out of +his mouth, and a couple of dogs beneath him, one lifting up its paw, +and the other trying to catch the protruded tongue of the panther. All +the figures in the four frescoes were painted in the same bizarre +style of red, yellow, and black characteristic of the first fresco +described; and they had all the same Oriental border of lotus flowers. +They had evidently all the same symbolic import; for the sphinx +guarded the gate of the unseen world, and leopards or panthers were +frequently introduced into the paintings of Etruscan tombs as +guardians of the dead.</p> + +<p>Passing through the doorway I entered an inner and smaller chamber, +whose only decoration was six small round discs on the opposite wall, +each about fifteen inches in diameter, painted in little segments of +various colours,—black, blue, red, yellow, and gray. What they were +meant to represent no one has satisfactorily explained. Above them I +observed a number of rusty nails fixed in the wall, and traces of +others that had fallen out around the doorway. On these nails were +originally suspended various articles of household economy or of +personal ornament; for the Etruscan sepulchres were always furnished +with such things as the tenants took delight in when living. For a +proof of this nothing could be more satisfactory than a thorough study +of Inghirami's voluminous work. Indeed, all ancient nations buried +their dead not only with their weapons and armour, but also with their +most precious possessions; and in proportion to the rank and wealth of +the deceased were the number and value of the offerings deposited with +him in his tomb. We are amazed at the variety and preciousness of the +golden ornaments found by Dr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span> Schliemann in the tombs at Mycenæ; and +every Etruscan cemetery that has been opened has yielded an immense +number of most precious articles, which the devotion of the survivors +sacrificed to the manes of their departed friends. It is to this +propensity that we owe all our knowledge of this mysterious race. But +the fact, as Mr. Dennis says, that the nails in the interior of this +tomb were empty, and that no fragments of the objects suspended were +found at the foot of the wall, indicated either that the articles had +decayed, being of a perishable nature, or that they had been carried +off on account of their superior value. This last is the more probable +supposition. The Marchese Campana, who opened the tomb, was late in +the field, and had in all likelihood been anticipated by some previous +explorer. The work of plundering Etruscan tombs was begun, we have +reason to believe, in the time of the early Romans, who were +attracted, not merely by the precious metals which they contained, but +also by the reputation of their vases, which in the days of the Empire +were held in as high esteem as now. Many tombs have doubtless been +repeatedly searched. The very architects employed in their +construction, as Signor Avolta conjectures, may have preserved the +secret of the concealed entrance, and used it for the purpose of +spoliation afterwards. Indeed, an unviolated tomb is a very rare +exception. No modern excavations were made till about sixty years ago; +and yet during that short interval many tombs that were opened and +filled up again have been forgotten; and now they are being dug afresh +by persons ignorant of this, who spend their labour only to be +disappointed. There is little reason, therefore, to believe that the +Painted Tomb of Veii was so fortunate as to escape all notice until +the Marchese Campana had discovered it. Former visitors had robbed it +in all likelihood of any objects of intrinsic value it may have +contained, and left only the bronze utensils and armour and the rude +archaic vases.</p> + +<p>On the roughly-hewn roof of this inner chamber of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span> the tomb were +carved in high relief two beams in imitation of the rafters of a +house; and round the walls at the foot ran a low ledge formed out of +the rock, like a family couch, on which stood three very curious boxes +of earthenware, about a foot and a half long and a foot high, covered +with a projecting lid on which was moulded a human head. These were +sepulchral urns of a most primitive form, intermediate between the +so-called hut-urns found under the lava in the Necropolis of Alba +Longa, and supposed to represent the tents in which the Etruscans +lived at the time of their arrival in Italy, and the round vases of a +later period. On the same ledge were several vases painted in bands of +red and yellow, with a row of uncouth animals executed in relief upon +the rim. The form and contents of this chamber afforded striking proof +of the fact that the Etruscan tombs were imitations of the homes of +the living. These tombs were constructed upon two types: one rising in +the form of a tumulus or conical mound above the ground when the +situation was a level table-land, and the other consisting of one or +two chambers excavated out of the rock when the tomb was situated on +the precipitous face of a hill. Dr. Isaac Taylor, in his admirable +<i>Etruscan Researches</i>, says that the former type recalled the tent, +and the latter the cave, which were the original habitations of men. +The ancestors of the Etruscans are supposed by him to have been a +nomadic race, wandering over the steppes of Asia, and to have dwelt +either in caves or tents. At the present day the yourts or permanent +houses in Siberia and Tartary are modelled on the plan of both kinds +of habitation—the upper part being above the ground, representing the +tent; and the lower part being subterranean, representing the cave. +And so the descendants of this Asiatic horde, having migrated at a +remote period to Italy, preserved the burial traditions of their +remote ancestors, and formed their tombs after the model of the tent +or cave, according as they were constructed on the level plateau or +in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span> the rocky brow of a hill. In further illustration of this theory +he says that in olden times when a member of the Tartar tribe died, +the tent in which he breathed his last, with all its contents intact, +was converted into a tomb by simply covering it with a conical mound +of earth or stones, in order to preserve it from the ravages of wolves +and other beasts of prey. Even the row of stones that surrounded the +outside of the tent and kept down the skins that covered it from being +blown away by the storms of the steppe, was introduced into the +structure of the tomb, and continued to surround the base of the +funeral mound. He finds traces of this circle of stones in the podium +or low wall of masonry which encircled every Etruscan tumulus or +outside tomb, and a remarkable example in the mounds of the Horatii +and Curiatii on the Appian Way at Rome.</p> + +<p>This theory, however, it is only fair to state, is disputed by other +writers, who assert that there was no intentional imitation of tents +in Etruscan tombs; for if this had been the design there would have +been a correspondence between the conical outside and the conical +interior, and no Etruscan tomb has been found with a bell-shaped +chamber. The tent-like tumulus, say they, was but the mere rude mound +of earth heaped over the dead in an uncultured age; and the mound +would be made higher and larger according to the dignity of the +deceased; and the podium or row of stones around its foot was simply +the retaining wall necessary to give it stability and shape. The tomb +at Veii had a narrow entrance-passage; and we find this a marked +feature in all Etruscan tombs, which are approached by a vaulted +passage of masonry, varying from twelve to a hundred feet in length. +This also, according to Dr. Taylor, was but a survival of the low +entrance-passage through which the ancient Siberians crept into their +subterranean habitations, and which the modern Laplanders and +Esquimaux still construct before their snow-huts and underground +dwellings, to serve the purpose of a door in keeping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span> out the wind and +maintaining the temperature of the interior.</p> + +<p>The other, or cave type of Etruscan tomb, is that which we see at +Veii, and of which there are hundreds of examples all over Central +Italy, wherever there are deep valleys bounded by low cliffs. This, +too, was modelled after the pattern of the house. There were usually +two chambers, an outer and an inner one. The outer was the place of +meeting between the living and the dead; the surviving friends feasted +there during their annual visit to the tomb, while the dead were laid +in the inner chamber in the midst of familiar objects. Here everything +was designed to keep up the delusion that the dead were still living +in their own homes. The roof of the chamber was carved in imitation of +the roof-tree, the rafters, and even the tiles of the house; the rock +around was hewn into couches, with cushions and footstools like those +on which they reposed when living; on the floor were the wine-jars, +the vases, and utensils, consecrated by long use; on the various +projections were suspended the mirrors, arms, and golden ornaments +that were most prized; while the walls were painted with gay frescoes, +representing scenes of festivity in which eating and drinking, music +and dancing, played a prominent part. And as the ordinary habitation +contained the family, the grandparents, the parents, and the children, +all living under the same roof, so the Etruscan tombs were all family +abodes—the dead of a whole generation being deposited in the same +inner chamber.</p> + +<p>To the outer chamber, as I have said, came the surviving members of +the family at least once a year to hold a funeral feast, and pay their +devotions to their departed friends. The tombs of this people were +thus at the same time also their temples—the sacred places where they +came to perform the rites of their religion, which consisted in +worshipping the lares and penates of their beloved dead, and making +offerings to them. And by this striking link of the cultus of the dead +the ancient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span> Etruscans were connected with the present inhabitants of +Northern Asia, the Finns, Laplanders, Tartars, Mongols, and Chinese, +who have no temples or places of special honour for their idols, but +assemble once a year or oftener at the graves of their ancestors to +worship the dead. But after all there is no great difference in this +respect between the races, ancient and modern; for the churchyard and +the church, the burial vaults and monuments within the cathedral and +chapel, show how universal is the instinct that associates the dead +with the shrine of religion, and makes the tomb the most appropriate +place for giving expression to those blessed hopes of immortality upon +which all religion is founded. The sanctuary of the Holy Land derived +its sacredness, as well as the charter of its inheritance, from the +cave of Machpelah. Around that patriarchal tomb clustered all the +grand religious hopes of the covenant people. The early Christians +adopted and purified the Etruscan custom which they found in Rome, and +erected over the tombs of the martyrs and other illustrious persons +<i>Cellæ Memoriæ</i>, or memorial chapels, in which on anniversary +occasions the friends and brethren assembled to partake of a funeral +feast in honour of the dead. The primitive Agapæ, or love-feasts, were +often nothing more than such banquets in the memorial cells at the +tombs of the faithful. And in our own country, many of our most +important churches, towns, and villages took their origin and name +from the grave of some saint, who in far-off times hallowed the spot +and made it a shrine of worship.</p> + +<p>There are numerous indications that this Painted Tomb at Veii is of +very great antiquity, and may be considered as probably the oldest +tomb in Europe. No inscription of any kind has been found on its walls +or any of its contents; and this circumstance, which is almost +singular so far as all Etruscan tombs yet discovered are concerned, of +itself indicates a very remote date, when the art of letters if known +at all was only known to a privileged few, and confined to public and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span> +sacred monuments. No clue remains to inform us who the Veientine +warrior was who met his death in so tragic a manner, and who lay down +with his wife and dependants in this tomb, and took the last long +sleep without a thought of posterity or the conclusions they might +form regarding him. And the argument of hoary antiquity derived from +this speechless silence of the tomb is still further strengthened by +architectural evidence. The outer wall as seen from the inside is +built of rough uncemented blocks of the earliest polygonal +construction, such as we see in a few of the oldest Cyclopean cities +of Central Italy; and the doorway is formed by the gradual convergence +of stones laid in horizontal courses, instead of being arched by +regular wedges of stone held together. Now, as the perfect arch was +known and constructed in Etruria at a very early period, this +pseudo-vault, which indicates complete ignorance of the principle, +must belong to a very remote age indeed—to the period of the +Cyclopean gateways of Italy and Greece, whose origin is lost in the +mist of a far-off antiquity. There are two limits within which the +date of the tomb may probably be placed. While its style and +decorations are genuinely national and characteristic of the primitive +Etruscan tomb, there can be no doubt that several Egyptian features in +it, such as the sphinx and the lotus, and in some respects the +colouring and physiognomy of the human figures, indicate some +acquaintance with the land of the Nile. Now an inscription has been +found at Karnac which records that Egypt was invaded by a +confederation of Libyans, Etruscans, and other races, and was only +saved after a desperate struggle by the valour of Menephtah I. of the +Nineteenth Dynasty. The allied forces occupied the country for a time, +and took away with them when they departed large spoils, consisting +among other things of bronze knives and armour. This happened in the +fourteenth or fifteenth century before Christ. There can be no doubt, +therefore, that the civilisation of Egypt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span> must at this period have +been spread by commerce or war among the Western nations, and produced +a powerful influence upon the Etruscans. The imitation of Egyptian +models is not so decided in this tomb as it is in the painted tombs of +Tarquinii and other Etruscan cities of later date; and this +circumstance would indicate that it was constructed at the very +commencement of the intercourse of Etruria with Egypt. If we take this +historic fact as the limit in one direction, the tomb cannot be older +than three thousand three hundred years. On the other hand, we know +that Veii was destroyed about four hundred years before Christ, and +remained uninhabited and desolate till the commencement of the Empire; +we have, therefore, the surest ground for fixing the date of the tomb +prior to that event. Somewhere between the invasion of Egypt by the +Etruscan confederacy and the fall of Veii—that is, somewhere between +the fourteenth and the fourth century before Christ—this sepulchre +was hewn in the rock and its tenants interred in it.</p> + +<p>Carlo Avolta of Corneto on one occasion, opening an Etruscan tomb at +Tarquinii, saw a most wonderful sight. From an aperture which he had +made above the door of the sepulchre he looked in, and for fully five +minutes "gazed upon an Etruscan monarch lying on his stone bier, +crowned with gold, clothed in armour, with a shield, spear, and arrows +by his side." But as he gazed the figure collapsed, and finally +disappeared; and by the time an entrance was made all that remained +was the golden crown, some fragments of armour, and a handful of gray +dust. Like that Etruscan tomb has been the fate of the Etruscan +confederacy. This mighty people left traces of their civilisation +"inferior in grandeur perhaps to the monuments of Egypt, in beauty to +those of Greece, but with these exceptions surpassing in both the +relics of any other nation of remote antiquity." At the period of +their highest power they lived in close neighbourhood and connection +with a people who got<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span> its laws, its rulers, its arts, its religion +from them—and might therefore if only in gratitude have preserved +their history. But their fate was that of the similar civilisation of +Mexico and Peru, which its selfish Spanish conquerors instead of +preserving sought studiously to obliterate. The comprehensive history +of Etruria written in twenty volumes by the emperor Claudius—who, +though very feeble in other things, was yet a scholar, and could have +given us much interesting information—perished. Their language, which +survived their absorption by Rome, almost as late as the time of the +Cæsars, finally disappeared; and though thousands of inscriptions in +tombs and on works of art remain—which we are able to read from the +close resemblance of the alphabet to the Greek—the key to the +interpretation of the language is gone beyond recall. In an age that +has unravelled the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the cuneiform +characters of Assyria, and the runic inscriptions of Northern Europe, +the Etruscan language presents almost the only philological problem +that refuses to be solved. Thus when the air and the light of modern +investigation penetrated into the mystery which surrounded this +strange people, all that was most important had vanished; and only the +few ornaments of the tomb remained to tell us of a lost world of art, +literature, and human life which had perished not by internal +exhaustion, but had fallen before the arms of Rome in the full +maturity of its civilisation.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>HOLED STONES AND MARTYR WEIGHTS</h3> + + +<p>In the porch of the interesting old church of Sta. Maria in Cosmedin +near the Tiber is preserved a huge circular stone like a millstone. It +is composed of white marble, upwards of five feet in diameter, and is +finished after the model of the dramatic mask used in the ancient +theatres. In the centre is a round hole perforating the mass right +through, forming the mouth of the mask. It is called the Bocca della +Verita, and has given its name to the irregular piazza in which the +church is situated. It is so called from the use to which it has been +put from time immemorial, as an ordeal for testing the guilt or +innocence of an accused person. If the suspected individual on making +an affirmation thrust his hand through the hole and was able to draw +it back again, he was pronounced innocent; but if, on the contrary, +the hand remained fixed in the marble jaws, the person was declared to +have sworn falsely and was pronounced guilty. The marble mouth was +supposed by the superstitious to contract or expand itself according +to the moral character of the arraigned person. No reason has been +given why this singular marble mask should have been placed in this +church, nor is anything known of its previous history. Some have +conjectured that it served as an impluvium or mouth of a drain in the +centre of a court to let the water run off; and others regard it as +having been an ornament for a fountain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span> like the colossal mask of +marble out of the mouth of which a jet of water falls into a fountain +in the Via de Mascherone, called after it, near the Farnese Palace, +and the marble mask which belongs to a small fountain on the opposite +side of the river near the Palazzo Salviati. But the question arises, +Why should the Bocca della Verita, if such was its origin, have been +used for the superstitious purpose connected with it? Our answer to +this question must lead us back to the Temple of Ceres and Proserpine +which originally stood on the site of the church of Sta. Maria in +Cosmedin, and of the materials of which the Christian edifice was +largely built.</p> + +<p>In primitive times the worship of clefts in rocks, holes in the earth, +or stones having a natural or artificial perforation, appears to have +been almost universal. We find traces of it in almost every country, +and amongst almost every people. These sacred chasms or holes were +regarded as emblems of the celestial mother, and persons went into +them and came out again, so as to be born anew, or squeezed themselves +through the holes in order to obtain the remission of their sins. In +ancient Palestine this form of idolatry was known as the worship of +Baal-perazim, or Baal of the clefts or breaches. David obtained a +signal victory over the Philistines at one of the shrines of this god, +and burnt there the images peculiar to this mode of worship which the +enemy had left behind in its flight. About two miles from Bombay there +is a rock on the promontory of the Malabar Hill, which has a natural +crevice, communicating with a cavity below, and opening upon the sea. +This crevice is too narrow for corpulent persons to squeeze through, +but it is constantly resorted to for purposes of moral purification. +Through natural or artificial caverns in India pilgrims enter at the +south side, and make their exit at the northern, as was anciently the +custom in the Mithraic mysteries. Those who pass through such caves +are considered to receive by this action a new birth of the soul. +According to the same idea the rulers of Travancore, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span> are Nairs by +caste, are made into Brahmins when they ascend the throne by passing +through a hole in a large golden image of a cow or lotus flower, which +then becomes the property of the Brahmin priests. It is possible that +there may be an allusion to this primitive custom in the rule of the +Jewish Temple, mentioned by Ezekiel,—"He that entereth in by the way +of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south +gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth +by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the +gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it." This +arrangement may have been made not as a mere matter of convenience, +but as a survival of the old practice of "passing through" a sacred +cave or crevice for the forgiveness of sins;—a survival purified and +ennobled in the service of God.</p> + +<p>The oldest of all religious monuments of which we have any existing +trace are cromlechs, found mostly in waste, uncultivated places. These +are of various forms, but they are mostly tripods, consisting of a +copestone poised upon three other stones, two at the head and one at +the foot. The supports are rough boulders, the largest masses of stone +that could be found or moved; and the copestone is an enormous flat +square block, often with cup-shaped hollows carved upon its surface. +Under this copestone there was a vacant space, varying in size from a +foot or two to the height of a man on horseback. Through this vacant +space persons used to pass; and the narrower the space, the more +difficult the feat of crawling through, the more meritorious was the +act. In our own country there are numerous relics of this primitive +custom. In Cornwall there are two holed stones, one called Tolven, +situated near St. Buryan, and the other called Men-an-tol, near +Madron, which have been used within living memory for curing infirm +children by passing them through the aperture. In the parish of +Minchin Hampton, Gloucestershire, is a stone called Long Stone, seven +or eight feet in height, having near the bottom of it a large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span> +perforation, through which, not many years since, children brought +from a considerable distance were passed for the cure of measles and +whooping-cough. On the west side of the Island of Tyree in Scotland is +a rock with a crevice in it through which children were put when +suffering from various infantile diseases. In connection with the +ancient ruined church of St. Molaisse on the Island of Devenish in +Loch Erne in Ireland, there is an artificially perforated stone, +through which persons still pass, when the opening will admit, in +order to be regenerated. If the hole be too small, they put the hand +or the foot through it, and the effect is thus limited. Examples of +such holed stones are to be found in some of the old churches of +Ireland, such as Castledermot, County Kildare; Kilmalkedar, County +Kerry; Kilbarry, near Tarmon Barry, on the Shannon. In Madras, +diseased children are passed under the lintels of doorways; and in +rural parts of England they used to be passed through a cleft ash +tree. At Maryhill, in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, about a year ago, +when an epidemic of measles and whooping-cough was prevalent, two +mothers took advantage, for the carrying out of this superstition, of +the presence in the village of an ass which drew the cart of a +travelling rag-gatherer. They stood one on each side of the animal. +One woman then took one of the children and passed it face downward +through below the ass's belly to the other woman, who in turn handed +it back with its face this time turned towards the sky. The process +having been repeated three times, the child was taken away to the +house, and then the second child was similarly treated. The mothers +were thoroughly satisfied that their children were the better of the +magic process.</p> + +<p>A mysterious virtue was supposed to be connected with passing under +the ancient gate of Mycenæ by the primitive race who constructed it. +Jacob's words at Bethel, "This is the gate of heaven," may have an +allusion to the prehistoric custom of the place; for we have reason +to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span> believe that a dolmen existed there, consecrated to solar worship, +the original name of Bethel being Beth-on, the house of the sun. The +hollow space beneath the dolmen was considered the altar-gate leading +to paradise, so that whosoever passed through it was certain to obtain +new life or immortality. It was an old superstition that the dead +required to be brought out of the house not by the ordinary door of +the living, but by a breach made specially in the wall, in order that +they might thus pass through a species of purgatory. We find an +exceedingly interesting example of this primitive superstition in the +punishment that was imposed upon the survivor in the famous combat +between the Horatii and Curiatii, when he murdered his sister, on +account of her unpatriotic devotion to her slain lover. The father of +Horatius, after making a piacular sacrifice, erected a beam across the +street leading from the Vicus Cyprius to the Carinæ, with an altar on +each side—the one dedicated to Juno Sororia and the other to Janus +Curiatius—and under this yoke he made his son pass with his head +veiled. This beam long survived under the name of Tigillum Sororium or +Sister's Beam, and was constantly repaired at the public expense.</p> + +<p>In modern times there are two most remarkable survivals of the same +kind. One of them is in the corridor of the mosque of Aksa at +Jerusalem. In this place are two pillars, standing close together, and +like those in the mosque of Omar at Cairo, they are used as a test of +character. It is said that whosoever can squeeze himself between them +is certain of paradise, and must be a good Moslem. The pillars have +been worn thin by the friction of countless devotees. An iron bar has +now, however, been placed between the pillars by the present +enlightened Pasha of Jerusalem to prevent the practice in future. The +other instance is what is popularly known as "threading the needle" in +the Cathedral of Ripon. Beneath the central tower of this minster +there is a small crypt or vaulted cell entered from the nave by a +narrow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span> passage. At the north side of this crypt there is an opening +thirteen inches by eighteen, called St. Wilfred's needle. This passage +was formerly used as a test of character; for only an honest man, one +new-born, could pass through it. "They pricked their credits who could +not thread the needle," was the quaint remark of old Fuller in +reference to the original use of the opening. It may be remarked that +the well-known boys' game of "Through the needle's e'e, boys," had its +origin in all likelihood in the old superstition. Thus we can trace +the use made of the Bocca della Verita in Rome to the primitive +idolatry associated perhaps with the Temple of Ceres that formerly +stood on the spot.</p> + +<p>Some other superstitious practices of a closely allied nature may be +traced to the same source. In the Orkney Islands, not far from the +famous Standing Stones of Stennis, there is a single monolith with a +large hole through it, which has become celebrated, owing to the +allusion to it of Sir Walter Scott in his novel of the <i>Pirate</i>. It is +called Odin's Stone; and till a very recent period it was the local +custom to take an oath by joining hands through the hole in it; and +this oath was considered even by the regular courts of Orkney as +peculiarly solemn and binding; the person who violated it being +accounted infamous and excluded from society. In the old churchyard of +the ruined monastery of Saints Island in the Shannon, there is an +ancient black marble flagstone called the "Cremave" or "swearing +stone." The saints are said to have made it a revealer of truth. Any +one suspected of falsehood is brought here, and if the accused swears +falsely the stone has the power to set a mark upon him and his family +for several generations. But if no mark appears he is known to be +innocent. Many other equally interesting instances might be quoted all +akin to the superstition in Rome. It is not too fanciful to suppose +that even the Jewish mode of making a covenant had something to do +with this primitive custom. The animal offered in sacrifice was +divided into two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span> pieces, and so arranged that a space was left +between them. Through this space, between the parts, the contracting +persons passed in order to ratify the covenant. We have a striking +account of this ceremony in the case of Abraham; and it is in allusion +to it that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says that we have +boldness to enter into the holiest "by a new and living way, which he +hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh."</p> + +<p>The superstitious practices connected with clefts and holed stones +were denounced by councils of the Christian Church, which subjected +transgressors to various penalties. Consequently this mode of worship +came into evil repute; and what was formerly considered a meritorious +action, securing the cure of disease or future happiness, became a +deed of evil, to be followed by some calamity. For this reason the +primitive symbolism was reversed in many cases, such as "passing under +a ladder," which is now considered unlucky; or in Eastern lands going +between a wall and a pole, between two women or two dogs, which the +Talmud forbids as an omen of evil.</p> + +<p>Passing from the subject of holed stones I proceed to consider another +class of interesting prehistoric objects that survive in the more +primitive churches of Rome. In the same church of Sta. Maria in +Cosmedin—where the Bocca della Verita which I have described +occurs—there is a curious crypt called the chapel of St. Cyril, who +undertook a mission about the year eight hundred and sixty to convert +the Slavs in Bulgaria to Christianity, and suffered martyrdom in the +attempt. Beside an ancient altar of primitive construction on one side +is preserved a large slab of granite on which St. Cyril is said to +have knelt when he was put to death; and half-sunk in the wall +opposite are two large, smooth, dark-coloured stones, in shape not +unlike curling stones—or an orange from which a portion has been +sliced off horizontally. They cannot fail to be seen when attention is +directed to them.</p> + +<p>Such stones, often made level at the top and bottom,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span> and with a ring +inserted in the upper surface, are not uncommon in the older churches +of Rome, although they are very seldom noticed, as their significance +is only known to a few experts. One is placed in the centre of the +middle nave of Santa Sabina, on the Aventine, on the top of a short +spirally-fluted column of white marble, which marks the spot where St. +Dominic, the founder of the order of the Dominicans, used to kneel +down and pray. It has received the name of Pietra di Paragone, or the +Touchstone. Another may be seen at the entrance of the church of Santa +Pudenziana, on the Esquiline, supposed to have been built on the site +of the house of the Roman senator Pudens, whose daughter, Pudentiana, +St. Peter is said to have converted to Christianity. A third exists +among the extensive collection of relics belonging to the ten thousand +three hundred martyrs whose remains, according to tradition, were +deposited in the church of S. Prassede, at the beginning of the ninth +century, by Paschal I. Two stones may be observed upon the gable wall +immediately above the basins of holy water in the interior of the +church of S. Nicolo in Carcere, near the Ghetto. Two others are +inserted in the wall of the Baptistery of St. John Lateran, between +the vestibule and the octagonal area containing the so-called gigantic +font in which Constantine was baptized. A very interesting stone hangs +suspended from the gilded iron grating which protects the crypt or +confessional of St. Laurence, immediately underneath the high altar of +the great Basilica of San Lorenzo beyond the Gate. A stone still more +remarkable, guarded by a strong iron grating, projects half its bulk +from the wall on the right-hand side of the arch which divides the +transept from the middle nave in the venerable church of Santa Maria +in Trastevere. Two other stones may be seen in the quaint old church +of SS. Cosma e Damiano at the south-eastern angle of the Roman Forum, +composed of portions of three pagan temples. They are inserted in the +plain whitewashed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span> walls on both sides of the circular arch through +which you pass from the round vestibule into the interior of the +church. I have noticed similar stones in no less than twenty places +besides those I have mentioned; and I am assured that they may be seen +in many more churches.</p> + +<p>It is very difficult to obtain any accurate or satisfactory +information regarding these curious stones. They go by the name of +<i>Lapides Martyrum</i>, or Martyr-stones. During the persecutions of the +early Christians in Rome they are said to have been hung round the +necks of those who were condemned to be drowned in the Tiber. In the +reign of the emperor Diocletian many martyrs perished in this way, and +the stones by which they were sunk beneath the fatal waters, according +to the popular idea, were afterwards found, and carefully preserved as +holy relics in the churches in which they are now to be seen. Beyond +doubt they are genuine remains of antiquity, and some of them at least +may have been used for the purpose alleged; although we cannot be +sure, in any case, that the story connected with particular stones is +authentic. St. Sabine desired that the stone which was to be tied to +him when thrown in the river should be buried with his body, and this +might have been done in the case of other martyrs. The stones in the +church of SS. Cosma e Damiano are supposed to have been the very ones +that were fastened to the necks of these devoted Christians when they +were thrown into the Tiber in the reign of Maximian. But as the place +and manner of their martyrdom are involved in hopeless obscurity, the +various accounts given of both being contradictory, the ecclesiastical +legend has no weight. Cosma and Damian were Arabian doctors who were +converted to Christianity, and belonged to the class called +"silverless martyrs"—that is, physicians who took no fee from those +whom they cured, but only stipulated that they should believe in +Christ the Great Physician. They occupied in Christian hagiology the +same place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span> as the ancient myth of Esculapius occupied in pagan +mythology.</p> + +<p>Around the stone in the church of Santa Sabina a curious legend has +gathered. The sacristan, a Dominican friar of the neighbouring +convent, is in the habit of telling the visitors that the devil one +day, while St. Dominic was kneeling on the pavement as usual, hurled +the huge stone in question, with his utmost force, against the head of +the saint; but, strange to say, it either missed him altogether or +failed to do him any injury, the saint going calmly on with his +devotions as if nothing had happened. On the stone in the church of +Santa Maria in Trastevere there is an inscription in Latin, informing +us that it was fastened round the neck of St. Calixtus, the Bishop of +Rome, who, after having been scourged during an outbreak of pagan +hostility, was thrown out of a window in his house in the Trastevere, +and flung into a well. The stone in the Basilica of S. Lorenzo is +connected with the sufferings and death either of St. Justinian or of +St. Stephen, the proto-martyr, who was stoned to death in Palestine, +and whose remains, miraculously recovered, are supposed to rest in the +crypt below, along with those of St. Laurence. All these relics are +devoutly worshipped, and they are believed to cure diseases, and to +protect against evil those who touch them.</p> + +<p>Examining the martyr-stones more closely, we find abundant evidence to +confirm the account which is usually given of their origin, viz. that +they were first used as Roman measures of weight. Several of them have +inscribed upon their upper surface the names of the quæstors or +prefects who issued them, as well as the number of pounds and ounces +which they represented; the pounds being distinguished by figures, and +the ounces expressed by dots or small circles. Numbers of such ancient +Roman weights of stone, similarly inscribed, may be seen in the +Kircherian Museum in the Collegio Romano. One specimen bears an +inscription which signifies that, by the authority of Augustus, the +weight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span> was preserved in the temple of the goddess Ops, the wife of +Saturn, and one of the most ancient deities of Italy, where the public +money was deposited. Montfaucon, in the third volume of his learned +and elaborate work on Antiquity, has a plate illustrating a number of +characteristic specimens of these weights from the cabinet of St. +Germain's. This previous use would lead us to suspect that all the +stones in the Roman churches did not figure in scenes of martyrdom. +Some of them, indeed, were found in the <i>loculi</i> or graves of the +Catacombs; but this circumstance of itself does not prove that the +body interred therein had been that of a martyr, and that the stone +had been employed in his execution. We know that the early Christians +were in the habit of depositing in the graves of their friends the +articles that were most valued by them during life. And hence, in the +Catacombs, a singular variety of objects have been found. Stone +weights, therefore, may have been put into the graves of Christians, +not as instruments of suffering but as objects typical of the +occupation of the departed in this life, in accordance with the habit +of their pagan forefathers, which the Roman Christians had adopted. +Some, however, of the stones, as I have said, may have been used +according to the popular legend for the drowning of martyrs; and these +weights were conveniently at hand in places of public resort, and lent +themselves readily, by the rings inserted in many of them, to the +persecutor's purpose.</p> + +<p>The material of which they are composed is in nearly all cases the +same. It is a stone of extreme hardness and of various shades of +colour, from a light green to a dark olive, with a degree of +transparency equal to that of wax and susceptible of a fine polish. By +some writers it is called a black stone; but this colour may have been +given to it by frequent handling when in use, and by the grime of age +since. It was called by the Romans, from the use made of it in +fabricating measures of weight, <i>lapis æquipondus</i>, and from its +supposed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span> efficacy in the cure of diseases of the kidneys <i>lapis +nephriticus</i>. Fabreti says that it got the name of <i>lapis Lydius</i> from +the locality from which it was believed to have come. It is a kind of +nephrite or jade, a mineral which usually occurs in talcose or +magnesian rocks. At one time it was supposed to exist only on the +river Kara-Kash, in the Kuen Luen mountains north of Cashmere, and for +thousands of years the mines of that locality were the only known +worked ones of pure jade. It has since, however, been found in New +Zealand and in India; while the discoverers of South America obtained +specimens of it in its natural state from the natives of Peru, who +used it for making axes and arrow-heads, and gave it the name of +<i>piedra de yjada</i>, from which comes our common word <i>jade</i>, on account +of its use as a supposed cure for the iliac passion. It may be +mentioned that there is a mineral closely allied to jade called +"Saussurite," discovered by the great geologist whose name it bears +near Monte Rosa, and since found on the borders of the Lake of Geneva, +near Genoa, and in Corsica. It is possible that the martyr-stones may +be made of this mineral, for they have not been analysed. But if they +are, as it is supposed, made of true jade, the fact opens up many +important questions.</p> + +<p>No stone has a more remarkable history. It is an object of interest +alike to the geologist and the antiquarian; and in spite of the most +patient inquiry its antecedents are surrounded with a mystery which +cannot be satisfactorily solved. Its antiquity is beyond doubt. In the +most ancient books of China it is noticed as one of the articles of +tribute paid to the emperor. Dr. Schliemann found it among the ruins +of Troy. But its history stretches into the misty past far anterior in +time to all ordinary records, to Cyclopean constructions, or to +pictured and sculptured stones. One of the most curious things brought +to light in connection with the prehistoric annals of our race is the +wide diffusion of this mineral in regions as far apart as China and +Britain. Owing to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span> its extreme hardness and susceptibility to polish, +it was highly prized by the neolithic races for the manufacture of +stone axes and hammers. In nearly every European country implements of +jade belonging to the primitive inhabitants have been discovered. Some +of the most beautiful belonged to one of the latest settlements of the +stone age at Gerlafingen, in the Lake of Bienne, and were mixed with +bronze celts of primitive type, indicating that the people of these +lake-dwellings lived during the transition period between stone and +bronze.</p> + +<p>The presence of such celts made of jade obviously points to a +connection at a very early period with the East, from whence the stone +must have been brought, for it has never been found in a natural state +west of the Caspian. An interesting controversy upon this subject was +created about eight years ago by the finding in the bed of the Rhone +of a jade strigil, an instrument curved and hollowed like a spoon used +to scrape the skin while bathing. Various conjectures were formed as +to how this isolated object could have found its way from its distant +quarry in the East to this obscure spot among the Alps. Professor Max +Müller, and those who along with him advocate the Oriental origin of +the first settlers in Europe, are of opinion that this strigil and the +various jade implements found in the Swiss lake-dwellings, are relics +of this Western migration from the primitive cradle of the Aryan race +on the plateaus of Central Asia. The implements could only have come +from the East, for the other sources of jade supply in New Zealand and +America—since discovered—were altogether unknown in those primitive +times. And this conclusion is supported by an imposing array of +concurrent philological evidence, based upon the resemblances between +the Aryan languages of Europe, so strangely akin to each other, and +the ancient dialects of India and Persia. But plausible as this +argument looks, the more probable explanation is that the inhabitants +of Europe obtained the material which they laboriously fashioned into +tools<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span> from the East, according to a system of barter similar to that +which still exists amongst tribes more rude and savage than the Swiss +lake-dwellers. Numerous facts of a like tendency are on record, such +as the finding in the mounds of the Mississippi valley, side by side, +obsidian from Mexico and mica from the Alleghanies, and in the mounds +around the great northern lakes large tropical shells two thousand +miles from their native habitat. The ancient inhabitants of China and +India found at a very early period that they possessed in their jade +rocks a very valuable material, in exchange for which they could get +what they wanted from the Western races; while these Western races had +at least one article which they could barter for the much-prized jade +implements, viz. linen cloth, the weaving of which was practised in +the oldest settlements, hanks of unspun flax and thread, nets and +cloth of the same material having been found not unfrequently in the +lake dwellings.</p> + +<p>What an interesting glimpse into the far-off past does this link of +connection between the East and the West give us! It indicates a +degree of civilisation which we are not accustomed to associate with +these primeval times. Archæologists are of opinion that the race who +inhabited Central Europe during the earlier part of the stone age were +akin to the modern Laplanders. The people of the lake dwellings, +however, and especially those who used jade implements, who replaced +them, were a superior and more civilised race. The evidence of the +articles which they used, with the exception of jade itself, points +not to an Asiatic origin, but rather to a connection with the shores +on both sides of the Mediterranean. When they migrated northwards they +brought with them the flax and the cereals of Egypt, and introduced +with them the southern weeds which grew among these cultivated plants. +The seeds of the catch-fly of Crete, which does not grow in +Switzerland or Germany, have been found among the relics of the +earliest of the lake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span> dwellings; while the familiar corn blue-bottle +of our autumn fields was first brought from its native Sicily by this +lacustrine people in whose cultivated fields it grew as a weed, and by +them spread over all Western and Northern Europe. Such are the +interesting associations and profound problems connected with the +material of the martyr weights. And it is unique in this respect, that +it meets us as far back as the first traces of neolithic man in +Central Europe—nay, farther back still, in the palæolithic flints +found in the caves near Mentone; and that it is still used in the +countries where it is found for a great variety of useful and +ornamental purposes, idols being carved out of it, and altars adorned +with its semi-transparent olive-green slabs. The inhabitants of the +South Sea Islands until recently used it for their stone implements in +the same way that the ancient lake dwellers did; and the Mogul +emperors of Delhi set such a high value upon it on account of its +superstitious virtues that they had it cut, jewelled, and enamelled +into the most exquisite forms.</p> + +<p>In Rome the martyr weights, as relics of the stone age, afford a +curious example of a very primitive epoch projecting far into a +highly-civilised one. Stone weights continued in use long after bronze +and iron implements were constructed, on account of the sacred +associations connected with them. Weights and measures were regarded +by the Romans as invested with a peculiar religious significance; the +stone of which the weights were composed was called from that +circumstance, or because of the occult qualities attributed to it, +<i>lapis divinus</i>; and therefore there was a deep-seated prejudice, +which reached down to the days of the highest splendour of the Empire, +against the introduction of a new substance. This was the case with +all articles used in religious ceremonies. As late as the period of +St. Paul's residence in Rome, and at the time of the first persecution +of the Christians, ancient pagan rites were celebrated in the Forum, +in which the use of metal was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a>[252]</span> forbidden; and only stone hatchets +could be employed in slaughtering animals, and only earthen vessels +used in carrying the significant parts of the sacrifices into the +temples. Treaties were also ratified by striking the victim offered on +the occasion with a flint hatchet. The ancient Egyptians, although +using iron and bronze for other objects, invariably used stone knives +in preparing bodies for the process of embalming. The sacrifices which +the Mexicans offered to their idols at the time of the Spanish +conquest were cut up by means of knives of obsidian, which they +obtained from the lavas of their volcanoes. In the Bible we have +several traces of the same universal custom. The Jews seem to have +performed the rite of circumcision with flint implements, for we read +in Exodus that Zipporah, the wife of Moses, took a sharp stone for +that purpose; and the phrase translated "sharp knives" in Joshua v. +2—"At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, +and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time"—should +be translated, as in the marginal reference, <i>knives of flint</i>. To the +same ancient widespread habit may doubtless be referred the +prohibition, mentioned in Exodus and Deuteronomy, against making an +altar in any special place where God recorded His name, of hewn stone, +or polluting it by lifting up any iron tool upon it. So strong is the +conservative instinct in religion that to this very day the +enlightened Brahmin of India will not use ordinary fire for sacred +purposes, will not procure a fresh spark even from flint and steel, +but reverts to, or rather continues the primitive way of obtaining it +by friction with a wooden drill. Everywhere innovations in religious +worship are resisted with more or less reason or prejudice. The +instinct is universal, and has its good and its evil side.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>ST. ONOFRIO AND TASSO</h3> + + +<p>One of the most romantic shrines of pilgrimage in Rome is the church +of St. Onofrio. It is situated in the Trastevere, that portion of the +city beyond the Tiber whose inhabitants boast of their pure descent +from the ancient Romans. A steep ascent on the slope of the Janiculum, +through a somewhat squalid but picturesque street, and terminating in +a series of broad steps, leads up to it from the Porta di San Spirito, +not far from the Vatican. The ground here is open and stretches away, +free from buildings, to the walls of the city. The church has a simple +old-fashioned appearance; its roof, walls, and small campanile are +painted with the rusty gold of lichens that have sprung from the +kisses of four centuries of rain and sun. It was erected in the reign +of Pope Eugenius IV. by Nicolo da Forca Palena, an ancestor of that +Conte di Palena who was a great friend of Torquato Tasso at Naples. It +was dedicated to the Egyptian hermit Honuphrius, who for sixty years +lived in a cave in the desert of Thebes, without seeing a human being +or speaking a word, consorting with birds and beasts, and living upon +roots and wild herbs. A subtle harmony is felt between the history of +the hermit and the character of this building raised in his honour. A +spot more drowsy and secluded, more steeped in the dreams of the older +ages, is not to be found in the whole city. In front of the church +there is a long, narrow portico, sup<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span>ported by eight antique columns +of the simplest construction, in all likelihood borrowed from some old +pagan temple. Under this portico is a beautiful fresco of the Madonna +and Child by Domenichino. To the right are three lunettes, which +contain paintings by the same great master, representing the Baptism, +Temptation, and Flagellation of St. Jerome. On the left of the arcade +are portraits of the most prominent saints of the Hieronomyte order. +Exposed to the weather at first, these invaluable frescoes had faded +into mere spectres of pictures; but they are now protected from +further injury by glass.</p> + +<p>Usually the church is closed, except in the early morning, and +visitors are admitted by the custode on ringing a door bell under the +portico. The interior is dark and solemn, with much less gilding and +meretricious ornament than is usual in Roman churches. It contains, in +the side chapels, many objects of interest; frescoes and altar-pieces +by Annibale Caracci, Pinturicchio, and Peruzzi; and splendid +sepulchral monuments. Of the last the most conspicuous are the marble +tomb of Alessandro Guidi, the Italian lyric poet, who died in 1712; +and the simple cenotaph in the last chapel on the left of one of the +titular cardinals of the church, who died in 1849, the celebrated +linguist Mezzofante. But the tomb upon which the visitor will gaze +with deepest interest is that of Torquato Tasso, who died in the +adjacent monastery in 1595. The chapel of St. Jerome, in which it is +situated, the first on the left as you enter, was restored by public +subscription in 1857, in a manner which does not reflect much credit +upon the artistic taste of modern Rome. Previous to this the remains +of the poet reposed for two hundred years in an obscure part of the +church close to the door, indicated by a tablet. Above this spot there +is a portrait of the time, which from an artistic point of view is +very poor, but is said to be a good likeness. Removed on the +anniversary of his death, about thirty years ago, to the chapel of St. +Jerome, the poet's remains are now covered by a huge marble monument<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span> +in the cinque-cento style, adorned by a bas-relief of his funeral and +a statue of him by Fabris. Whatever may be said regarding the artistic +merits of this monument, no one who has read the poet's immortal epic, +and is conversant with the sad incidents of his life, can stand on the +spot without being deeply moved.</p> + +<p>Connected with the church is a monastery dedicated to St. Jerome. In +one of the upper corridors is a beautiful arched fresco of the Madonna +and Child, by Leonardo da Vinci, with the donor of the picture in +profile kneeling before her. The picture is surrounded by a frame of +fruit and flowers on an enamelled ground. The soft, tender features of +the infant Jesus, and the quiet dignity and grace of the smiling +Madonna, are so characteristic of the style of Leonardo da Vinci that +the picture would be at once referred to him by one who did not know +its origin. The chamber where Tasso spent the last days of his life is +on the upper floor, and is the most conveniently situated in the whole +building. It is left very much in the same state as when he lived in +it. The walls and ceiling are bare and whitewashed, without any +decoration. Here and there are several pale marks, indicating the +places of objects that had been removed. In one part is painted on the +plaster a false door partially open, behind which is seen the figure +of Tasso about to enter; but every person of good taste must condemn +the melodramatic exhibition, and wish that he could obliterate it with +a daub of whitewash. The custode directed my attention to it with an +air of great admiration, and could not understand the scowl with which +I turned away my face. There are several most interesting relics of +Tasso preserved in this chamber—his table, with an inkstand of wood; +his great chair covered with Cordova leather, very aged and +worn-looking; the belt which he wore; a small German cabinet; a large +China bowl, evidently an heirloom; a metal crucifix of singular +workmanship, given to him by Pope Clement VIII., which soothed his +dying moments; several of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span> letters, and an autograph copy of +verses. In one corner is the leaden coffin, much corroded, in which +his remains were originally deposited. On the table is a mask in +reddish wax moulded from the dead face of the poet, and placed upon a +plaster bust—a most fantastic combination. From this mask, which is +an undoubted original, numerous copies have been taken, which are +scattered throughout Europe. It is in consequence somewhat effaced, +but it still shows the characteristic features of the poet—the purity +of the profile, the fineness of the mouth, and the spiritual beauty +and fascinating expression of the whole face. But the incoherence of +the adaptation makes it painful to think that this is the best +representation of the poet we possess.</p> + +<p>The extensive garden behind the convent combines a considerable +variety of natural features. The monks grow large quantities of +lettuce and fennochio; and interspersed among the beds of vegetables +are orange and other fruit trees, and little trellises of cane, +wreathed with vines. A large tank is supplied with water from a spring +whose murmur gives a feeling of animation to the spot. The garden +rises at the end into broken elevated ground showing the native rock +through its grassy sides. A row of tall old cypresses crowns the +ridge—their fluted trunks gray with lichen-stains, and their deep +green spires of foliage forming harp-strings on which the evening +winds discourse solemn music, as if the spirit of the poet haunted +them still. On one side are the picturesque ruins of a shrine +overarching a fountain, now dry and choked up with weeds, and fringed +with ferns. Cyclamens—called by the Italians <i>viola pazze</i>, "mad +violets"—grow on its margin in glowing masses; sweet-scented violets +in profusion perfume all the air; and a few Judas-trees, loaded with +crimson blossoms, without a single leaf to relieve the gorgeous +colour, serve as an admirable background, almost blending with the +clouds on the low horizon. On the other side the hill slopes down in a +series of terraces to the crowded streets of the Trastevere, forming +a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a>[257]</span> spacious out-door amphitheatre, in which the Arcadian Academy of +Rome used to hold its meetings during the summer months, and where St. +Filippo Neri was wont to give those half-dramatic musical +entertainments which, originating in the oratory of the religious +community established by him, are now known throughout the world as +oratorios. Between these two objects still stands the large torso of a +tree which bears the name of "Tasso's oak," because the poet's +favourite seat was under its shadow. It suffered much from the +violence of a thunderstorm in 1842, but numerous branches have since +sprouted from the old trunk, and it now affords a capacious shade from +the noonday heat. It is a variety of the Valonia oak, with delicate, +downy, pale-green leaves, much serrated, and contrasts beautifully +with the dark green spires of the cypresses behind. The leaves at the +time of my visit had but recently unfolded, and exhibited all the +delicacy of tint and perfection of outline so characteristic of young +foliage. The garden was in the first fresh flush of spring—that +idyllic season which, in Italy more than in any other land, realises +the glowing descriptions of the poets. Plucking a leafy twig from the +branches and a gray lichen from the trunk as mementoes of the place, I +sat down on the mossy hole, and tried to bring back in imagination the +haunted past. Nature was renewing her old life; the same flowers still +covered the earth with their divine frescoes; but where was he whose +spirit informed all the beauty and translated its mystic language into +human words? The permanency of nature and the vanity of human life +seemed here to acquire new significance.</p> + +<p>The spot on which I sat commands one of the finest views of Rome and +the surrounding country. Down below to the left is the enormous group +of buildings connected with St Peter's and the Vatican, whose yellow +travertine glows in the afternoon sun like dead gold. Beyond rise the +steep green slopes of Monte Mario, with vineyards and olive-groves +nestling in its warm folds, crowned with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a>[258]</span> the Villa Mellini beside the +"Turner pine," a familiar object in many of the great artist's +pictures. Stretching away in the direction of the old diligence road +from Florence is a succession of gentle ridges and bluffs of volcanic +rock covered with brushwood, among which you can trace the bold +headland of the citadel of Fidenæ, and the green lonely site of +Antemnæ, and the plateau on which are the scanty remains of the almost +mythical Etruscan city of Veii, the Troy of Italy. The view in this +direction is bounded by the advanced guard of the Sabine range, the +blue peak of Soracte looking, as Lord Byron graphically says, like the +crest of a billow about to break. In front, at your feet, is the city, +broken up into the most picturesque masses by the irregularity of the +ground; here and there a brighter light glistening on some stately +campanile or cupola, and flashing back from the graceful columns of +Trajan and Antonine. The Tiber flows between you and that wilderness +of reddish-brown roofs cleaving the city in twain. For a brief space +you see it on both sides of the Bridge of Hadrian, overlooked by the +gloomy mass of the Castle of St. Angelo, and then it hides itself +under the shadow of the Aventine Hill, and at last emerges beyond the +walls, to pursue its desolate way to the sea through one of the +saddest tracts of country in all the world. Away to the right, where +the mass of modern buildings ceases, the great shattered circle of the +Colosseum stands up against the sky, indicating by its presence where +lie, unseen from this point of view, the ruins of the palaces of the +Cæsars and the Forum. Beyond the city stretches away the undulating +bosom of the Campagna, bathed in a misty azure light; bridged over by +the weird, endless arches of the Claudian aqueduct, throwing long +shadows before them in the westering sun. Worthy framework for such a +picture, the noble semicircle of the Sabine Hills rises on the horizon +to the left, terminating in the grand rugged peak of Monte Gennaro, +whose every cliff and scar are distinctly visible, and concealing in +its bosom the romantic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>[259]</span> waterfalls of Tivoli and the lone ancestral +farm of Horace. On the right the crested Alban heights form the +boundary, crowned on the summit with the white convent of Monte +Cavo—the ancient temple of Jupiter Latialis, up to which the Roman +consuls came to triumph when the Latin States were merged in the Roman +Commonwealth—and bearing on their shoulders the sparkling, gem-like +towns of Frascati and Albano, with their thrilling memories of Cicero +and Pompey; the whole range melting away into the blue vault of heaven +in delicate gradations of pale pink and purple. In the wide gap +between these ranges of hills—beyond the stone pines and ilex groves +of Præneste—the far perspective is closed by a glorious vision of the +snow-crowned mountains of the Abruzzi, giving an air of alpine +grandeur to the view. And all this vast and varied landscape, +comprehending all glories of nature and art, all zones and climates, +from the tropical aloes and palms of the Pincian Hill to the arctic +snows of the Apennines, is seen through air that acts upon the spirits +like wine, and gives the ideal beauty of a picture to the meanest +things.</p> + +<p>Italian poets share in the wonderful charm that belongs to everything +connected with their lovely land. They are seen, like the early Tuscan +paintings, against a golden background of romance. Petrarch, Dante, +Ariosto, invested with this magic light, are themselves more +attractive even than their poetic creations. But Torquato Tasso, +perhaps, more than them all, appeals to our deepest feelings. No +sadder or more romantic life than his can be found in the annals of +literature. He was one of those "infanti perduti" to whom life was one +long avenue of darkened days. In his temperament, in the character of +his genius, and in the story of his life, we can discern striking +features of resemblance between him and the wayward, sorrowful +Rousseau. Hercules, according to the old fable, "was afflicted with +madness as a punishment for his being so near the gods;" and the +imaginativeness of a brain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260"></a>[260]</span> which had in it a fibre of insanity, near +which genius often perilously lies, may be supposed to account for +much that is strange and sad in his career. The place of his birth was +a fit cradle for a poet. On the edge of a bold cliff, overlooking the +sea at Sorrento, is the Hotel Tasso, known to every traveller in that +region. Here, according to the voice of tradition, the immortal poet +was born on the 11th of March 1544, eleven years after the death of +Ariosto. It is said that the identical chamber in which the event took +place has since disappeared, owing to the portion of rock on which it +stood having been undermined by the sea; and, as if to give +countenance to this, some of the existing apartments are perilously +propped up on the very edge of the cliff by buttresses, which, giving +way, would hurl the superstructure into the abyss. The original +building stood on the site of an ancient temple; and it is probable +that, with the exception of one of the bedrooms, which is said to have +been Tasso's cabinet, the edifice retains none of the features which +it possessed in the days of the poet.</p> + +<p>But whatever changes may have taken place in the human habitation, the +scenes of Nature around, from which he drew the inspirations of his +youthful genius, remain unchanged. Every feature of landscape +loveliness is focussed in that matchless panorama. Behind is a range +of wild mountains, whose many-shaped peaks and crags, clad with pine +and olive, assume, as the day wears on, the golden and purple hues of +the sky—sloping down into the midst of vineyards and groves of +orange, myrtle, and all the luxuriant verdure which the warm sun of +the South calls forth, out of which gleam at frequent intervals +picturesque villages and farms, which seem more the creation of Nature +than of Art. In front is a glorious view of the Bay of Naples, with +the enchanted isles of Capri and Ischia sleeping on its bosom, and the +reflected images of domes and palaces all along its curving shores +"charming its blue waters;"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261"></a>[261]</span> while dominating the whole horizon are +the snowy mountains of Campania, broken by the dark purple mass of +Vesuvius, rising up with gradual slope to its rounded cone, over which +rests continually a column of flame or smoke, "stimulating the +imagination by its mystery and terror." Apart from its associations, +that landscape would have been one to gaze on entranced, and to dream +of for years afterwards. But with its countless memories of all that +is greatest and saddest in human history clinging to almost every +object, it is indeed one of the most impressive in the world. The land +is the land of Magna Græcia. The sea is the sea of Homer and Pindar. +Near at hand are the Isles of the Sirens, who allured Ulysses with +their magic song; away in the dim distance are the wonderful Doric +temples of Pæstum, which go back to the mythical times of Jason and +the Argonauts. On the opposite shore is the tomb of Virgil, on the +threshold of the scenes which he loved to describe,—the Holy Land of +Paganism, the Phlegræan Fields, with the terrible Avernus and the Cave +of the Sibyl, and all the spots associated with the Pagan heaven and +hell; and in the near neighbourhood Baiæ, with its awful memories of +Roman luxury and cruelty, and Puteoli, with its inspiring associations +of the Apostle Paul's visit, and the introduction of Christianity into +Italy. Meet nurse for any poetic child, the place of his birth was +peculiarly so for such a child as Tasso; and we can detect in the +subjects of his Muse in after years, the very themes which such a +region would naturally have suggested and inspired.</p> + +<p>The age in which he was born was also eminently favourable for the +development of the poetic faculty. By the wonderful discoveries of the +starry Galileo, man's intellectual vision was infinitely extended, and +the great fundamental idea of modern astronomy—infinite space peopled +with worlds like our own—was for the first time realised. It was an +era of maritime enterprise; the world was circumnavigated, and new +ideas streamed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a>[262]</span> from each newly-visited region. It was +pre-eminently the period of art. Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael had +just passed away, but Michael Angelo, Titian, Tintoretto, and Paul +Veronese were still living, freeing men's spirits by the productions +of their pencil from formal fancies and conventional fetters, and +sending them back to the fresh teaching of Nature. The art of printing +was giving a new birth to letters, and the reformation of religion a +new growth to human thought. A new power had descended into the +stagnant waters of European life, and imparted to them a wonderful +energy. Along with the revival of classical learning and the general +quickening of men's minds, there was blended in the South of Europe a +lingering love of romance and chivalry, and a strong religious +feeling, which had arisen out of the vigorous reaction of Roman +Catholicism. Italy was at this time the acknowledged parent both of +the poetry and the general literature of Europe; and the immortal +works of Dante, Petrarch, and Ariosto had formed an almost perfect +vernacular language in which the creations of genius could find +fittest expression.</p> + +<p>But Tasso was not only born in a poetic region and in a poetic age: he +was also the son of a poet. He inherited the divine faculty; he was +cradled in poetry. His father, Bernardo, though he has been put into +the shade by his more gifted son, has claims of his own to be +remembered by posterity. He occupies a high place in the well-defined +group of the chivalric poets of Italy. His principal poem, the +<i>Amadigi</i>, which was composed about the time of his son's birth, +though not published for sixteen years afterwards, treats in a hundred +cantos the romantic history of Amadis of Gaul, and deals in giants, +enchanted swords, prodigious wounds, and miraculous cures. Various +estimates of this long poem have been formed by critics from the +favourable analysis of Ginguéné to the severe censure of Sismondi. But +in spite of its lack of dramatic power, and the monotony of its +imagery, the heat of his genius crystallising only a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263"></a>[263]</span> part of the +substance of his work, there can be no question that the poem is +distinguished by a certain gravity and elevation of sentiment, which +places it high above the romances of the older school, and brings it +near to the dignity of epic poetry. In this respect the <i>Amadigi</i> may +be said to form an interesting transition from the irregular romance +of Ariosto to the symmetrical epic of his own son. The son's poetic +path was thus prepared, and the mould in which his immortal work was +cast was formed by his father. The fortunes of the two poets read +remarkably alike. They are marked by the same extraordinary +vicissitudes, and the same general sadness and gloom.</p> + +<p>The family of Tasso belonged to Bergamo, in the north of Italy, a +region which has given birth to several eminent men, among others to +Tiraboschi, the historian of Italian literature. It was originally +noble, and had large territorial possessions. One ancestor, Omodeo, +who lived in the year 1290, is worthy of special mention as the +inventor of the system of postal communication, to which the world +owes so much; and hence the family arms of a courier's horn and a +badger's skin—tasso being the Italian for badger—which the +post-horses, down to within fifty years ago, wore upon their harness. +In the time of Bernardo, however, the fortunes of the family had +decayed, and the early days of the poet were passed in poverty. +Adopted after the death of his parents by his father's brother, the +Bishop of Recanati, he was placed at school, where he soon acquired a +wonderful familiarity with the Greek and Latin authors, then newly +restored to Europe. Highly cultivated, refined, and possessed of great +personal beauty, while manifesting at the same time a peculiar talent +for diplomacy, Bernardo speedily won his way to distinction. His first +work, which was a collection principally of love-poems, celebrating +his passion for the beautiful Genevra Malatesta, who belonged to the +same family as the ill-fated Parasina of Byron, attracted the +attention of the reigning Prince<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264"></a>[264]</span> of Salerno, Ferrante Sanseverino, +one of the chief patrons of literature in Italy, who thereupon engaged +him as his private secretary. At the court of this prince he met +Porzia de' Rossi, a lady of noble birth, who was beautiful and +accomplished, and possessed what was considered in those days a large +fortune. After his marriage with this lady Bernardo and his bride +retired to a villa which he had purchased at Sorrento, where he +enjoyed for several years an exceptional share of domestic felicity, +his wife having proved a most devoted helpmeet to him.</p> + +<p>In these propitious circumstances the infant that was destined +afterwards to confer the greatest lustre upon the family name was +born. His father was absent at the time with the Prince of Salerno, +who had joined the Spanish army in the new war that had arisen between +Charles V. and Francis I.; a war whose chivalrous and inspiring acts +the Marquis d'Azeglio made use of in 1866 in his romance of history, +<i>Fieramosca</i>, to rouse again a spirit of independence in his +countrymen. A friend of his father, therefore, held the child at the +baptismal font, in the cathedral of Sorrento, where he received the +name of Torquato—a name which his elder brother, who lived only a few +days, had previously borne. The treaty of Crepi, which concluded the +war between Charles V. and Francis I., in which the former was +victorious, allowed Bernardo Tasso to return home with his patron ten +months after the birth of his son. By this treaty the French king, who +had previously assumed the title of King of Naples, resigned all +claims upon that State, and the inhabitants were henceforth subjected +entirely to the dominion of the Spanish sovereigns of the house of +Austria. The emperor, Charles V., appointed the Marquis de +Villafranca, better known as Don Pedro de Toledo, to be Viceroy of +Naples, who, like his despotic master, carried out his so-called +reforms with a high hand, and interfered with the personal and +domestic affairs of the inhabitants, so that he speedily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a>[265]</span> roused their +resentment. Against the establishment of the Inquisition, which he set +about under the mask of zeal for religion, but in reality for the +intimidation of the nobles, the whole city rose up in violent +opposition. After having exhausted itself in a vain struggle with the +viceroy, it resolved to petition the emperor, and commissioned the +Prince of Salerno to plead its cause at the Court of Nuremberg. But in +consequence of being forestalled by the cunning Don Pedro, the prince, +when he arrived, found the case prejudged, and all his arguments and +pleadings were of no avail. Disgusted with the failure of his errand, +with the coldness of his reception, and with other indignities which +he received at the hands of the emperor and his viceroy, he determined +to abandon altogether the cause of Austria. Repairing to Venice, he +publicly gave effect to his decision; whereupon Don Pedro, too glad to +have an opportunity of oppressing his personal enemy, declared the +prince a rebel, confiscated his estates, and seized all his personal +property. In the misfortunes of his patron Bernardo Tasso shared. He +too was proscribed as a rebel; his property at Salerno was seized, and +his wife and children were transferred by the viceroy's orders to +Naples, where her family resided, and where, under their cruel +treatment, instigated by the viceroy, she was deprived of her fortune, +and virtually held a prisoner to the day of her death.</p> + +<p>Such were the dark clouds that, after a brief gleam of the brightest +prosperity, hung over the early years of Torquato Tasso. Deprived of +the care of a father who followed from court to court the varied +fortunes of his benefactor, and in the company of a mother worse than +widowed, dependent upon the cold and niggardly charity of friends who +were either too timid or superstitious to oppose the patron of the +Inquisition, the child grew up in melancholy solitude, like an +etiolated plant that has been deprived of the sunshine. The original +sadness and sensitiveness of his disposition was much increased by the +family misfortunes. In his seventh year<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a>[266]</span> he was sent to a school in +the neighbourhood, opened by the Jesuits, who were at this time +beginning to exert a powerful influence upon society, principally on +account of their zeal in the cause of education. At this school he +remained for three years, acquiring a wonderful knowledge of Latin and +Greek, and manifesting such enthusiasm in his studies that he rose +long before day-break, and was so impatient to get to school that his +mother was often obliged to send him away in the dark with a lantern. +Here he showed the first symptoms of his genius for poetry and +rhetoric, and gave public testimony to the deep religious feeling +which he inherited from his parents, and which had been so carefully +cultivated by his ecclesiastical masters, by joining the communion of +the Church. In his tenth year his father left the court of Henry III. +of France, and settled in Rome, where he had apartments assigned him +in the immense palace of Cardinal Hippolito of the house of Ferrara. +These apartments were furnished as handsomely as his impoverished +resources allowed, in the hope that he might have his wife and +children to live with him. But in spite of all his efforts and +entreaties his wife was not allowed by her brothers to rejoin him; +while his own position as an outlaw made it impossible for him to +enter the kingdom of Naples to rescue her. The only concession he +could get from the authorities was permission for her to enter with +her daughter Cornelia as pensioners among the nuns in the convent of +San Festo; and no sooner was this step taken than her friends openly +seized her dowry, on the plea that it would otherwise belong to the +convent, as her husband's outlawry cancelled his claims to it. Her +boy, of course, could not enter the convent with her; he was therefore +sent to his father in Rome. The separation between mother and son, we +are told, was most affecting. To her it was the climax of her trials; +and, bowed down beneath the weight of her accumulated sufferings, she +fell an easy victim to an attack of fever, which, in the short space +of twenty-four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267"></a>[267]</span> hours, ended her wretched life. Upon Tasso the parting +from a mother whom he was never to see again, and whose personal +qualities and grievous trials had greatly endeared her to him, +produced an impression which even the great troubles of his after life +could never efface.</p> + +<p>With a mind richly stored, notwithstanding his youthful age, with +classic lore, and quickened and made sensitive by a varied and +sorrowful career, Torquato Tasso came to Rome. The first occasion of +seeing the imperial city must have been exciting and awakening in a +high degree to such a boy. He was leaving behind the passive +simplicity of the child, and had already a keen interest in the things +ennobled by history and cared for by grown-up men. This dawn of a +higher consciousness found a congenial sphere in the city of the soul. +With what absorbing eagerness his young mind would be drawn to the +study of the immortal deeds, which were the inheritance of his race, +on the very spot where they were done. He would behold with his eyes +the glorious things of which he had heard. There would be much that +would shock and disappoint him when he came to be familiar with it. +Many of the ancient monuments had been destroyed; and many of the +ancient sites, especially the Forum and the Palatine, were deserted +wastes which had not yet yielded up their buried treasures of art to +the pick and spade of the antiquarian. The ravages inflicted by the +ferocious hordes of the Constable Bourbon in 1527 had not yet been +obliterated by the restorations and repairs undertaken by Pope Paul +III. The city had lost much of its ancient glory, and had not yet +exchanged its gloomy medieval aspect for that of modern civilisation. +But, in spite of every drawback, he could not sufficiently admire the +buildings and the sites which bore witness of all that was grandest in +human history. Along with a young relative, Christopher Tasso, he +pursued his classical studies in the midst of all these stimulating +associations under the tutorship of Maurizio Cattaneo,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268"></a>[268]</span> the most +learned master in Italy. The companionship of a youth of his own age +did him a great deal of good. It satisfied his affections, it saved +him from the loneliness to which his father's ill-health at the time +would otherwise have consigned him, and it spurred him on to a +healthful exercise of his mental powers. For a short time he led a +comparatively happy life in Rome. His father's prospects had somewhat +improved. Cardinal Caraffa, who was a personal friend of his, ascended +the pontifical throne under the name of Paul IV.; and as they were on +the same political side, he hoped that his fortunes would now be +retrieved. But this gleam of prosperity speedily vanished. The +imperial enmity, which had been the cause of all his previous +misfortunes, continued to pursue him like a relentless fate. Philip +II. of Spain and the Pope having quarrelled, the formidable Duke of +Alba, the new Viceroy of Naples, invaded the Papal States, took Ostia +and Tivoli, and threatened Rome itself. With extreme difficulty +Bernardo Tasso managed to make his escape to Ravenna, with nothing +left him but the manuscript of his <i>Amadigi</i>. In the meantime his son +was taken to his relatives at Bergamo. In this city, under the shadow +of the Alps, Torquato remained for a year in the home of his Roman +schoolfellow. The inhabitants have ever since cherished with pride the +connection of the Tassos with their town, and have erected a splendid +monument to Torquato in the market-place. The exquisite scenery in the +neighbourhood had a wonderful effect upon the mind of the youthful +poet. It put the finishing touch to his varied education. The snows of +the North and the fires of the South, the wild grandeur of the +mountains and the soft beauty of the sea, the solitudes of Nature +where only the effects of storm and sunshine are chronicled, and the +crowded scenes of the most inspiring events in human history, had +their share in moulding his temperament and colouring his poetry.</p> + +<p>From Bergamo Torquato was summoned to Pesaro,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269"></a>[269]</span> since known as the +birthplace of Rossini, hence called the "Swan of Pesaro." His father +had found a home with the Duke of Urbino, who treated him with the +utmost kindness. In the Villa Barachetto, on the shores of the +Adriatic, surrounded by the most beautiful scenery and by the finest +treasures of art, which have long since been transferred to Paris and +Rome, Bernardo Tasso at last completed his <i>Amadigi</i>; while, +captivated by his grace and intelligence, the duke made Torquato the +companion of his son, Francesco Maria, in all his studies and +amusements. For two years father and son enjoyed in this place a +grateful repose from the buffetings of fortune. But, fired by +ambition, Bernardo left Pesaro for Venice, in order to see his poem +through the press of Aldus Manutius; and being not only welcomed with +open arms by his literary friends in that city, but also appointed +secretary of the great Venetian Academy "Della Fama," with a handsome +salary, he sent for his son, took a house in a good situation, and +resolved to settle down in the place. There was much to captivate the +imagination of the youthful Torquato in this wonderful city of the +sea, then in the zenith of its fame, surpassing all the capitals of +transalpine Europe in the extent of its commerce, in refinement of +manners, and in the cultivation of learning and the arts. Its romantic +situation, its weird history, its splendid palaces, its silent +water-ways, its stirring commerce, its inspiring arts, must have +kindled all the enthusiasm of his nature. But he did not yield himself +up to the siren attractions of the place, and muse in idleness upon +its varied charms. On the contrary, the time that he spent in Venice +was the busiest of his life. He was absorbed in the study of Dante and +Petrarch; and the results of his devotion may still be seen in the +numerous annotations in his handwriting in the copies of these poets +which belonged to him, now preserved in the Vatican Library in Rome +and the Laurentian Library in Florence. He was also employed by his +father in transcribing for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a>[270]</span> the press considerable portions of his +poetical works; and these studies and exercises were of much use to +him in enabling him to form a graphic and elegant literary style. His +own compositions, both in prose and verse, were by this time pretty +numerous, though nothing of his had found its way into print as yet.</p> + +<p>His father saw with much concern the development of his son's genius. +Anxious to save him from the trials which he himself had experienced +in his literary career, he sent him to the University of Padua to +study law, which he thought would be a surer provision for his future +life than a devotion to the Muses. One great branch of law, that which +relates to ecclesiastical jurisprudence, has always been much esteemed +in Italy, and the study of it, in many instances, has paved the way to +high honours. Almost all the eminent poets of Italy, Petrarch, +Ariosto, Marino, Metastasio, spent their earlier years in this +pursuit; but, like Ovid and our own Milton, their nature rebelled +against the bondage. They took greater pleasure in the study of the +laws for rhyme than in the study of the Pandects of Justinian or the +Decretals of Isidore. It was so with Tasso. He attended faithfully the +lectures of Guido Panciroli, although these were not compulsory, and +waited patiently at the University during the three years of residence +which is required for a law degree. But all the time his mind was +occupied with other thoughts than those connected with his law +studies. Still, uncongenial as they must have been to him, he could +not have attended for three years to such studies without +unconsciously deriving much benefit from them. They must have +impressed upon him those ideas of order and logical arrangement which +he afterwards carried out in his writings, and which separate them so +markedly from the confused, inconsistent license of the older +literature of Italy; and he could not have resided in the birthplace +of Livy, in constant association with the highest minds of the time, +as a member of a University then the most famous in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271"></a>[271]</span> Europe, numbering +no less than ten thousand students from all parts of the world, +without his intellectual life being greatly quickened.</p> + +<p>During ten months of enthusiastic work he produced his first great +poem, which, considering his age—for he was then only in his +eighteenth year—and the short time occupied in its composition, is +one of the most remarkable efforts of genius. He called his poem +<i>Rinaldo</i>, after the name of the knight whose romantic adventures it +celebrates—not the Rinaldo of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, but the +Paladin of whom so much is said in the poems of Boiardo and +Ariosto,—and dedicated it to Cardinal Lewis of Este, then one of the +most distinguished patrons of literature in Italy. It contains a +beautiful allusion to his father's genius as the source of his own +inspiration. It abounds in the supernatural incidents and personified +abstractions characteristic of the romantic school of poetry; and +though Galileo said of it that it reminded him of a picture formed of +inlaid work, rather than of a painting in oil, it has nevertheless a +unity of plot, a sustained interest, and a uniform elevation of style, +which distinguishes it from all the poetry of the period. Our own +Spenser has imbibed the spirit of some of its most beautiful passages; +and several striking coincidences between his <i>Faerie Queen</i> and the +<i>Rinaldo</i> can be traced, particularly in the account of the lion tamed +by Clarillo, and the well-known incident of Una and the lion in +Spenser. The poem of <i>Rinaldo</i> will always be read with interest, as +it strikes the keynote of Tasso's great epic, the <i>Gerusalemme +Liberata</i>, many of the finest fictions of which were adopted with very +little modification from the earlier work. His letter asking his +father's permission to publish it came at a very inopportune moment. +Bernardo was smarting just then under the disappointments connected +with the reception of his own poem, the <i>Amadigi</i>. It produced little +impression upon the general public; the copies which he distributed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272"></a>[272]</span> +among the Italian nobles procured him nothing but conventional thanks +and polite praise; while the magnificent edition which he prepared +specially for presentation to Philip II. of Spain, in the hope that he +might thereby be induced to interest himself in the restoration of his +wife's property at Naples, was not even acknowledged. Wounded thus in +his deepest sensibilities, and bewailing the misfortunes of his +literary career, we need not wonder that he should have sent a reply +peremptorily commanding his son to give up poetry and stick to the +law. The young poet in his distress sought the intervention of some of +his father's literary friends, and through their mediation the destiny +of Torquato Tasso and of Italian poetry was accomplished, and the poem +of <i>Rinaldo</i> was given to the world through the renowned press of the +Franceschi of Venice. No sooner was it published than it achieved an +extraordinary success, for Cervantes had not yet made this class of +fiction for ever ridiculous.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding that the public were surfeited with romantic poetry, +the merits of this new work, constructed upon different principles and +carried out in an original style, were such that the literary schools +were carried by storm, and the young Tasso, or Tassino, as he was now +called to distinguish him from his father, at once leapt into fame. So +great was his reputation, that the newly-restored University of +Bologna invited him to reside there, so that it might share in the +distinction conferred by his name. In this magnificent seat of +learning he remained, enjoying the advantage of literary intercourse +with the great scholars who then occupied the chairs of the +University, until the publication of some anonymous pasquinades, +reflecting severely upon the leading inhabitants, of which he was +falsely supposed to be the author. In his absence the Government +officials visited his rooms and seized his papers. The sensitive poet +regarded this suspicion as a stain upon his honour, and the outrage he +never forgave. Shaking the dust from his shoes, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273"></a>[273]</span> departed from +Bologna, and for some time led an unsettled life, enjoying the +generous hospitality of the nobles whose names he had celebrated in +his <i>Rinaldo</i>. Returning at length to Padua, where he engaged in the +study of Aristotle and Plato, and delivered three discourses on Heroic +Poetry in the Academia degli Eterei, or the Ethereals—in which he +developed the whole theory of his poetical design—which were +afterwards published, the office of Laureate at the court of Ferrara +was offered to him by Cardinal Lewis of Este, to whom, as I have said, +he had dedicated his <i>Rinaldo</i>.</p> + +<p>Torquato Tasso was now in the full bloom of opening manhood. He was +distinguished, like his father, for his personal beauty and grace, +with a high, noble forehead, deep gray melancholy eyes, regular +well-cut features, and hair of a light brown. He had the advantage of +all the culture of his time. His manners were refined by familiar +intercourse with the highest nobles of the land, and his mind richly +furnished, not only with the stores of classic literature, but also +with the literary treasures of his own country; while a residence, +more or less prolonged, in the most famous towns, and among the most +romantic scenes of Italy, had widened his mental horizon and expanded +his sympathies. He had already mounted almost to the highest step of +the literary ladder. Nothing could exceed the tokens of respect with +which he was everywhere received. But, in spite of all these +advantages, Tasso was now beginning to realise the shadows that +accompany even the most splendid literary career. His own experience +was now confirming to him the truth of what his father had often +sought to impress upon his mind,—that the favour of princes was +capricious, and that a life of dependence at a court was of all others +the most unsatisfactory. Constitutionally disposed to melancholy, +irritable and sensitive to the last degree, he brooded over the +fancied wrongs and slights which he had received; and at first he was +disposed to accept the advice of his father's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span> friend, the well-known +Sperone, who strongly dissuaded him from going to the court of +Ferrara, painting the nature of the life he would lead there in the +most forbidding colours. It would have been well had he listened to +this wise counsel, strengthened as it was by his own better judgment; +for in that case he might have been spared the mortifications which +made the whole of his after life one continued martyrdom. But +recovering from a protracted illness, into which the agitation of his +spirits threw him, when on a visit to his father at the court of the +Duke of Mantua, he passed from the depths of despondency to the +opposite extreme of eagerness, and, fired by ambition, he resolved to +enter upon the path to distinction which now opened before him. And +here we come to the crisis of his life.</p> + +<p>In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries a state of things existed in +Italy somewhat similar to that which existed in the Highlands of +Scotland in earlier times. Each Highland chief maintained an +independent court, and among his personal retainers a bard who should +celebrate his deeds was considered indispensable. So was it with the +princes of Italy. In their train was always found a man of letters +whose poetic Muse was dedicated to laureate duties, and was valued in +proportion as it recorded the triumphs of the protecting court. For +this patronage of art and letters no court was more distinguished than +that of Ferrara.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Whoe'er in Italy is known to fame,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This lordly home as frequent guest can claim."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The family of Este was the most ancient and illustrious in Italy. The +house of Brunswick, from which our own royal family is descended, was +a shoot from this parent stock. It intermarried with the principal +reigning families of Europe. Leibnitz, Muratori, and our own great +historian, Gibbon, have traced the lineage and chronicled the family +incidents of this ducal house. Lucrezia Borgia and the Parasina of +Byron were members of it. For several generations the men and women +were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a>[275]</span> remarkable for the curious contrasts of a violent character and +the pursuits of the arts of peace which they displayed. Poisonings, +assassinations, adulteries, imprisonments for life, conspiracies, were +by no means uncommon incidents in their tragical history. And yet +under their government Ferrara became the first really modern city in +Europe, with well-built streets, a large population, and flourishing +trade, attracting wealthy settlers from all parts of Italy. Nearly all +the members of the reigning house were distinguished for their +personal attractions and their mental capacities. They were also +notorious for their love of display. We have books, such as the +<i>Antiquities of the House of Este</i> by Muratori, the <i>Chivalries of +Ferrara</i>, the <i>Borseid</i>, and the <i>Hecatommiti</i> of Giraldi, which were +written almost to order for the purpose of gratifying this vanity. +Borso, the first duke, caused his portrait to be painted in a series +of historical representations in one of his principal palaces; +Hercules I. kept the anniversary of his accession to the throne by a +splendid procession, which was compared to the festival of Corpus +Christi; an Order, which had nothing in common with medieval chivalry, +called the Order of the Golden Spur, was instituted by his court, and +conferred upon those who reflected lustre by their deeds or their +literary gifts upon the house of Este; while, to crown all, we read at +this day on the tower of the cathedral of Ferrara the dedicatory +inscription beginning with "To the god Hercules II.," which the +complaisant inhabitants had put there,—an apotheosis which reminds us +of the worst slavery of imperial Rome under Caligula and Domitian. +Some of the greatest names of Italy, such as Petrarch, Boiardo, +Ariosto, the wonderful prodigy Olympia Morata, and the celebrated +poetess Vittoria Colonna—the friend of Michael Angelo—were connected +with this brilliant court. The well-known French poet Clement Marot +fled to it to escape persecution in his native country. Calvin found a +refuge there for some months under the assumed name of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a>[276]</span> Charles +d'Heppeville, during which he converted the duchess to the reformed +faith. The father of Tasso visited it when it was at the height of its +splendour and renown. Hercules II., the then reigning prince, son of +Lucrezia Borgia, had earned a great reputation for his literary works +and patronage of the fine arts; and his wife, the friend of Calvin, +the youngest daughter of Louis XII. of France, was even more +remarkable for her talents, being equally skilled in the Latin and +Greek languages. This renowned couple drew around them a circle of the +most accomplished men and women in Europe, in whose congenial society +Bernardo Tasso spent a few months of great enjoyment, delighting all +by his wit and social qualities.</p> + +<p>But notwithstanding all this magnificence and love of learning, the +house of Este, among its other contradictory qualities, was +distinguished for capriciousness and meanness. Even Muratori, their +ardent panegyrist, does not attempt to conceal this blemish. We must +deduct a good deal from the high-sounding praise which the courtly +writers of Italy bestowed upon this house for its splendid patronage +of literature, when we remember that Ariosto, who passed his life in +its service, was treated with niggardliness and contempt. He had a +place assigned him among the musicians and jugglers, and was regarded +as one of the common domestics of the establishment. Guarini, the +well-known author of the <i>Pastor Fido</i>, contemporary with Tasso, met +with much indignity in the service of Alphonso II.; while Panigarola +and several other distinguished men were compelled to leave the +service of the ducal family by persecution. Benvenuto Cellini, who +resided at the court of Ferrara twenty-five years before Tasso, gives +a very unfavourable account of the avarice and rapacity which +characterised it; and Serassi, the biographer of Tasso, remarks that +the court seems to have been extremely dangerous, especially to +literary men. It was not therefore, we may suppose, without other +reasons than his being merely a Guelph,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277"></a>[277]</span> that Dante in his <i>Inferno</i> +placed one of the scions of the house in hell, and uniformly regarded +the family with dislike. Tasso himself was destined to experience both +the favour and the hostility, the generosity and the neglect, of this +capricious house.</p> + +<p>Ferrara is now a dull sleepy city of less than thirty thousand +inhabitants. It is a place that continues to exist not because of its +vitality, but by the mere force of habit. Its broad deserted streets +and decaying palaces lie silent and sad in the drowsy noon sunshine, +like the aisles of a September forest. But in the days of Tasso it was +one of the gayest cities of Italy, which looked upon itself as the +centre of the world, and all beyond as mere margin. It was always +<i>festa</i>, always carnival, in Ferrara; and when the poet came to it in +his twentieth year, on the last day of October 1565, he found it one +brilliant theatre. The reigning duke, Alphonso II., had just been +married to the daughter of Ferdinand I., Emperor of Austria; and this +splendid alliance was celebrated by tournaments, balls, feasts, and +other pageantry, which transcended everything of the kind that had +previously been seen in Italy, with the exception, perhaps, of the +fêtes connected with the marriage of Lucrezia Borgia to his +grandfather. The ardent mind of the poet, it need hardly be said, was +completely fascinated. He saw himself surrounded daily with all the +splendours of chivalry, and lived in the midst of scenes such as haunt +the dreams of poets and inspire the pages of romance. Goethe, in his +<i>Torquato Tasso</i>, an exquisite poem, it may be said, but wanting in +dramatic action, gives a vivid picture of the poet's life at the court +of Ferrara, which bore some resemblance to his own at the court of +Weimar.</p> + +<p>Two sisters of the reigning prince lived in the palace, and by their +beauty and accomplishments imparted to the court an air of great +refinement. The younger, the famous Leonora of Este, was about thirty +years of age at this time, and therefore considerably older than +Tasso. A severe and protracted illness had shut her out from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"></a>[278]</span> +festivities connected with her brother's marriage, and communicated to +her mind a touch of sadness, and to her features a spiritual delicacy +which greatly increased her attractiveness. The numerous writers by +whom she is mentioned talk with rapture, not only of her beauty and +genius, but also of her saintly goodness, which was so great that a +single prayer of hers on one occasion was said to have rescued Ferrara +from the wrath of Heaven evinced in the inundation of the Po. In the +society of these ladies Tasso spent a great deal of his time; and +perhaps his intercourse with them, unconstrained by court +conventionalities, was not altogether free from those tender feelings +which the charms of a lovely and accomplished woman, whatever her +rank, might readily excite in a poetic temperament. The author of the +<i>Sorrows of Werther</i> did not, therefore, perhaps draw exclusively upon +his imagination in picturing the rise and struggle of an unhappy +passion for Leonora d'Este in the bosom of the young poet. Whatever +may be said regarding this passion, however, there can be no doubt +that his heart was at this time enslaved by younger and humbler +beauties. He had much of the temperament of his father, who, although +exemplary in his single and married life, was distinguished for his +Platonic gallantry, and cherished a poetic attachment, according to +the fashion of the day, for various ladies throughout his career, such +as Genevra Malatesta, the beautiful Tullia of Arragon, and Marguerite +de Valois, sister of Henry III. These follies were but the froth of +his genius, however; and in this respect his son followed his example. +Lucrezia Bendidio, a young lady at court gifted with singular beauty +and musical talent, reigned for a while supreme over his affections. +But she had other suitors, including the author of the <i>Pastor Fido</i>, +and the poet Pigna, who was the secretary and favourite of the +reigning duke. The Princess Leonora tried to cure Tasso of this +passion by persuading him to illustrate the verses of his rival Pigna. +Nothing came of this first love, therefore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279"></a>[279]</span> and the object of it soon +after married into the house of Machiavelli.</p> + +<p>In the congenial atmosphere of the court of Ferrara, surrounded by the +flower of beauty and chivalry, stimulated by the associations of his +master Ariosto, which every object around recalled, and encouraged by +the praises of the sweetest lips in the palace, Tasso set himself +diligently to the composition of the great work of his life, the +<i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, the plan of which he had formed before he left +the University of Padua. Among the treasures of the Vatican Library I +have seen a sketch in the poet's own handwriting of the first three +cantos. This sketch he now modified and enlarged, and in the space of +a few months completed five entire cantos. He read the poem as it +proceeded to the fair sisters of his patron, and received the benefit +of their criticisms. This work, which is "the great epic poem in the +strict sense of modern times," occupied altogether eighteen years of +the author's life. It was begun in extreme youth, and finished in +middle age, and is a most remarkable example of a young man's devotion +to one absorbing object. The opening chapters were written amid the +bright dreams of youth, and in the happiest circumstances; the closing +ones were composed amid the dark clouds of a morbid melancholy, and +during an imprisonment tyrannical in all its features. Placed side by +side with Homer and Virgil, it may be said with Voltaire that Tasso +was more fortunate than either of these immortals in the choice of his +subject. It was based, not upon tradition, but upon true history. It +appealed not merely to the passions of love and ambition, but to the +deepest feelings of the soul, to faith in the unseen and eternal. To +humanity at large the wars of the Cross must be more interesting than +the wrath of Achilles, and the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre than the +siege of Troy. No theme could be more susceptible of poetic treatment +than the Crusades. They were full of stirring incident, of continually +changing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280"></a>[280]</span> objects and images. The strife took place amid scenes from +which the most familiar stories of our childhood have come, and around +which have gathered the most sacred associations of the heart. And +Tasso's mind was one that was peculiarly adapted to reflect all the +special characteristics of the theme. It was deeply religious in its +tone, and therefore could enter into the struggle with all the +sympathy of real conviction. His luxuriant imagination was chastened +by his classical culture; while the pervading melancholy of his +temperament gave to the scenes which he described an effect such as a +thin veil of mist that comes and goes gives to a mountain landscape. +The gorgeous Oriental world of the palm tree and the camel, seen +through this sad poetic haze, has all the shadows of the deep northern +forests and the tender gloom of the western hills. The rigid outlines +of history fade in it to the indefiniteness of fable, and fact becomes +as flexible as fancy.</p> + +<p>The circumstances of the times were also peculiarly favourable for the +composition of such a poem. He was at the proper focal distance to +appreciate the full interest of the Crusades, not too near to be +absorbed in observation and engrossed in the immediate results; not +too far off to lose the sympathy for the religious chivalry which +inspired the Holy War. Earlier, in the intensely prosaic period that +immediately succeeded, the romance of the Crusades was gone; later, +Europe was girding itself for the sterner task of reformation. Before +the time of Tasso, Peter the Hermit would have been deemed a foolish +enthusiast; later, he would have been sent to a lunatic asylum. But +just at the time when Tasso wrote there was much, especially in Italy, +of that spirit which roused and quickened Europe in the eleventh +century, much that appealed to the natural poetry in the human heart. +The recent victory of the Christian forces at the famous battle of +Lepanto checked the spread of Mohammedanism in Eastern Europe, and +turned men's thoughts back into the old channel of the Crusades; so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a>[281]</span> +that Gregory XIII., who ascended the pontifical throne about the time +that Tasso had resumed the writing of his <i>Gerusalemme</i>, had actually +planned an expedition to the Holy Land, like that which his +predecessor, Urban II., had sent out. And one of the principal events +which the poet witnessed after his arrival at Ferrara, when the +marriage rejoicings were over, was the departure of the reigning duke +with a company of three hundred gentlemen of his court, arrayed in all +the pomp and splendour of the famous Paladins of the first Crusade, to +assist the Emperor of Austria in repelling an invasion of the Turks +into Hungary. Many of the noble houses of Europe at this time were +extremely anxious to trace their origin to the Crusades; and the +vanity of the house of Este required that Tasso should make the great +hero of his epic—the brave and chivalrous Rinaldo—an ancestor of +their family. The scenes and associations, too, in the midst of which +his daily life was spent, helped him to realise vividly the pageantry +connected with the heroes of his epic.</p> + +<p>Thus happy in the choice of a subject, and favoured by the spirit of +the time and the circumstances in which he was placed, Tasso gave +himself up to the composition of his poem with a most absorbing +devotion. Like Virgil, he first sketched out his work in prose, and on +this groundwork elaborated the charms of colouring and harmony which +distinguish the poem. So carefully did he study the military art of +his day that all his battles and contests are scientifically +described, and are in entire accordance with the most rigorous rules +of war; and so thoroughly did he make himself acquainted with the +topography of the Holy Land by the aid of books, that Chateaubriand, +who read the <i>Gerusalemme</i> under the walls of Jerusalem, was struck +with the fidelity of the local descriptions. Tasso occasionally sought +relief from his great task by the composition of sonnets and lyrics, +which were published in the Rime of the Paduan Academy, and +contributed to make him still more popu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a>[282]</span>lar all over Italy. He also +took part in those literary disputations in public which were +characteristic of the age; and for three days in the Academy of +Ferrara, in the presence of the court, defended against both sexes +fifty "Amorous Conclusions" which he had drawn up—a form of +controversy which seems to have been a relic of the courts or +parliaments of love, very popular in the twelfth and thirteenth +centuries. One of the ladies of the court impugned with success his +twenty-first conclusion "that man loves more intensely and with more +stability than woman;" but whether this success was the result of the +goodness of her cause, and not rather of her own ability or of Tasso's +gallantry, may be left an open question. He afterwards published the +whole series of the "Amorous Conclusions," and dedicated them to +Genevra Malatesta, who now, as an old married woman, was greatly +touched by receiving such a compliment from the son of her former +lover.</p> + +<p>Tasso's father was now dying at Ostiglia, a small place on the Po, of +which the Duke of Mantua had made him governor. With talents +unimpaired, at the age of seventy-six, and while preparing a new poem +upon the episode of Floridante in the <i>Amadigi</i>, he was seized with +his last illness. His son, full of filial anxiety, hastened to see +him, and found the house in wretched disorder; the servants having +taken advantage of the helplessness of their master to neglect their +duties and steal any valuable property they could lay their hands +upon, so that Tasso had not only to take charge of the household +affairs, but also to defray out of his own scanty resources the +domestic expenditure. After a month's severe struggle his father died +in his arms, to the regret of all Italy, and his remains were interred +with great pomp by the Duke of Mantua in a marble cenotaph in the +principal church of his capital, and were afterwards transferred by +Tasso to the church of St. Paul in Ferrara, where they now lie. Thus +passed away one of the most conspicuous and unfortunate persons of his +age, of whom it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span> has been said that he was "a politician, unlucky in +the choice of his party; a client, unlucky in the choice of his +patrons; and a poet, unlucky in the choice of his theme."</p> + +<p>The fatigue and sorrow connected with this bereavement brought on a +severe illness, from which Torquato recovered with a sense of +loneliness and depression which only deepened as the years went on. +From this melancholy he enjoyed, however, a temporary respite by a +visit to Paris. The house of Este by frequent intermarriages was +connected with the French court, in consequence of which they had a +right to use the golden lilies of France in their armorial bearings; +and many of the ecclesiastics of the family held rich benefices in +that country as well as in their own. Cardinal Lewis, the brother of +the reigning duke, resolved to inspect the abbeys that belonged to him +in France, and to strengthen the Roman Catholic cause, which had +received a severe blow from the Reformation; and among the gentlemen +of his train he took with him Tasso, in order to introduce him to his +cousin Charles IX., who himself dabbled in poetry and had a fine +literary taste. From the French monarch the poet obtained a gracious +reception; and by the whole court he was warmly welcomed as one who +had worthily commemorated the gallant deeds of the Paladins of France +at the siege of Jerusalem. For nearly a year he resided in different +parts of France, and notwithstanding the numerous distractions of such +a novel mode of life, he added many admirable stanzas to his great +epic, inspired by the very scenes among which his hero, Godfrey, and +his knights had lived. He left just in time to escape the dreadful +massacre of St. Bartholomew; but he may be said to have suffered +indirectly on account of it. Though treated with distinction by the +French court, his personal wants were left unsupplied, and his patron, +Cardinal Lewis, did not make up for this meanness. Voltaire, +therefore, had reason to indulge in a cynical sneer at the glowing +accounts of his visit given by Italian writers; and Balzac's statement +that Tasso left France<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284"></a>[284]</span> in the same suit of clothes that he brought +with him, after having worn it for a year, is not without foundation. +This shabby treatment, however, was part of a wider State policy. The +year of Tasso's residence in France was one of preparation for the +massacre of St. Bartholomew; but in order to avert the suspicions of +the intended victims, the Huguenots were treated with such +extraordinary favour by the authorities that the Pope himself was +incensed, and remonstrated with the King. Tasso, ignorant of the +dreadful secret, spoke candidly and vehemently against the reformed +doctrines and those who professed them. His patron therefore simulated +deep indignation on account of this imprudence; and as the step fell +in both with his personal avarice and his State policy, he broke off +the cordial relations that formerly existed between them.</p> + +<p>On the return of Tasso to Ferrara he occupied himself for about two +months with the composition of a pastoral drama called the <i>Aminta</i>. +This species of poem, which originated with Theocritus, who +represented the shepherds of Sicily nearly as they were, and was +imitated by Virgil, who idealised the shepherd life, was revived at +the court of Ferrara; and some years before a local poet wrote a +pastoral describing a romantic Arcadia, which was acted at the palace, +and seems to have inspired Tasso with the idea of writing one too. But +all previous pastorals—the <i>Sacrifizio</i> of Beccari, the <i>Aretusa</i> of +Lollio, the <i>Sfortunato</i> of Argenti—were rough and incongruous +medleys compared with the finished production of Tasso, which may be +said to mark an era in the history of dramatic poetry. Although Tasso +himself did not think much of it, and did not take any steps to +publish it, the judgment of his contemporaries and of posterity has +placed it next in point of merit to the <i>Gerusalemme</i>; and by Italians +it is especially admired for its graceful elegance of diction. Leigh +Hunt executed a very good translation of it, which he dedicated to +Keats. Its choruses, which are so many "lyrical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285"></a>[285]</span> voices floating in +the air," are very beautiful. It was designed for the theatre, and was +acted with great splendour at the court of Ferrara, and a few years +later at Mantua, when the well-known artist and architect Buontalenti +painted the scenery. This fact, however, shows how primitive was the +state of the theatre at this time; and how the spectators, little +accustomed to histrionic representations, were content to witness +dramas that had no plot or action, and to follow the progress of a +beautiful poem rather than a dramatic development. The <i>Aminta</i> long +retained its popularity as an acted poem in Italy. It was often +represented in open-air theatres, like the ancient Greek plays, in +gardens or in woods, where Nature supplied the scenery, and the +<i>scalinata</i> or stage was only some rising piece of ground. Traces of +one of these sylvan theatres may still be seen in the grounds of the +Villa Madama, on the eastern slopes of Monte Mario near Rome; and one +cannot help thinking that a poem so redolent of the open air, so full +of Nature and still natural life, which Tasso himself called Favola +Boschereccia, or a Sylvan Fable, was better adapted for such a stage +than for the heated air and artificial surroundings of the Italian +theatres. Such a pastoral was in entire keeping with the manners of +the Italian peasants; and the scenes of Arcadia which it represented +might be seen almost everywhere in the beautiful valleys and +chestnut-covered hills of their native land. The exquisite loveliness +of the climate, and the simplicity and indolence of the people, lent +themselves naturally to such ideal dreams. And Tasso in his <i>Aminta</i> +only gave expression to the same happy thoughts which the same scenery +and the same people had ages before inspired in the mind of Virgil +when he wrote his Eclogues.</p> + +<p>After a few months' quiet sojourn with Lucrezia d'Este, now Duchess of +Urbino, at that court, he was appointed secretary to the Duke of +Ferrara, in room of his rival Pigna, who for this reason became his +mortal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a>[286]</span> enemy, and stirred up against him the persecution which +embittered his whole subsequent life. But standing high, as he did, in +the favour of the duke, he enjoyed for a while a season of calm +repose, during which he finished the great epic poem, which was +eagerly looked for throughout Italy. Anxious to make this cherished +work of his genius as perfect as possible, he unfortunately was +imprudent enough to submit portions of his work to all his learned +friends for their opinion. Besides in this way getting the most +contradictory advices, sacrificing his own independent judgment, and +imposing an unworthy yoke upon his genius, the result was that the +fragments of the poem passed from hand to hand, and so got into the +possession of the printers, who, eager to profit by the public +curiosity, pieced them together, and clandestinely printed them. Even +in this fragmentary form, the cantos that appeared in various cities +of Italy were received with unbounded applause. The author, as may be +imagined, was intensely annoyed at this wrong that had been done to +him, and wrote to the Pope, to the Republic of Genoa, and to all the +Italian princes who had any authority in the case, to put a stop to +the publication of a work which had been circulated without his +sanction, but in vain. Even the first complete edition, which was +issued in 1581, seems to have been without his consent; for the author +complains that he was compelled, by the surreptitious publication of +parts of his poem, to finish the work in haste, and he wished for more +time to elaborate the plot and polish the style. In the later +editions, no less than seven of which appeared the same year, Tasso +seems to have been to some extent consulted; but it may be said that +the great epic was given to the world in the form in which we now have +it, without the author's imprimatur, and without the benefit of his +finishing touches. But in spite of this disadvantage it took the whole +country at once by storm. Two thousand copies were sold in two days. +Throughout literary circles nothing else was spoken of. The exquisite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287"></a>[287]</span> +stanzas, full of the true chivalric spirit, touched a responsive chord +in every Italian bosom. Not only in the academies of the learned was +the poem discussed, not only was it recited before princes amid the +splendours of courts, but priests mused over it in the solitude of the +cloister, and peasants chanted its sonorous strains as they worked in +the fields. Quotations from it, we are told, might be heard from the +gondolier on the Grand Canal of Venice, as he greeted his neighbour in +passing by, and from the brigand on the far heights of the Abruzzi, as +he lay in wait for the unsuspecting traveller; and "a portion of the +Crusader's Litany was a favourite chant of the galley-slaves of +Leghorn, as, chained together, they dragged their weary steps along +the shore."</p> + +<p>There is no book which it is easier to find fault with than the +<i>Gerusalemme</i> when estimated by the satiated critical spirit of modern +times, which insists upon brevity, and demands in each line a certain +poetic excellence; especially if the poem is known only through the +medium of a translation, which, however faithful, is but the turning +of the wrong side of a piece of tapestry. We may object to the want of +originality in the leading characters, to the occasional inflated +style, and the conceits and plays upon words now and then introduced, +to the apparently disproportionate influence of love upon the action +of the poem, as Hallam has remarked, giving it an effeminate tone, +and, above all, to the introduction of so much supernatural machinery +in the form of magic and demons; for such supernaturalism is out of +keeping altogether with our vaster knowledge of the universe, and our +more solemn ideas of Him who pervades it. But it is not by an analysis +of particular parts, or a criticism of special peculiarities, that the +<i>Gerusalemme</i> should be judged. It is by its effect as a whole, as a +highly finished work of art. A single campaign of the first +crusade—that of 1099—embraces the whole action of the poem; but the +numerous episodes form each a perfect picture,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a>[288]</span> that, like a flower +floating on a stream, and illumined by a special gleam of sunlight, +does not interrupt the continuous flow of the narrative. In a state of +society characterised by much corruption, the sentiments are uniformly +pure; and in an artificial age, when Nature was regarded as only the +background of human action, the descriptions of the objects of Nature +are wonderfully accurate; and the mind of the poet towards the flowers +and trees, the woods and hills and streams, was in a childlike state, +and had all the freshness and joyousness of childhood. The student is +not to be envied who can read without emotion the enthusiastic +description of the Crusader's first sight of Jerusalem, the touching +pathos of Clorinda's death, and the sublime account of the ruins of +Carthage. It would indeed refresh many a mind, surfeited by the vast +mass of our modern literature, to go back to the green pastures and +still waters of this grand old poem.</p> + +<p>Every visitor to Florence knows the venerable monastery of San Marco, +with its hallowed relics of Savonarola, and its beautiful frescoes of +Fra Angelico. In a large apartment of this monastery, which was +formerly the library of the monks, are now held the meetings of the +famous Della Cruscan Academy, instituted in 1582 for the purpose of +purifying the national language. At that time every town of the least +importance in Italy had its academy with some strange fantastic name, +which was an important element in the intellectual life of the people, +and exercised a critical control over the literature of the day. Up to +the year 1814 the Della Cruscans assembled in the Palazzo Riccardi, +the ancient palace of the Medici; but that stately building being +required for Government purposes, the members have since been +accommodated in San Marco, where they have sunk into obscurity, many +of the inhabitants of Florence being altogether ignorant of the +existence of such an institution in their city. I had considerable +difficulty in finding out the locality. The furniture of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"></a>[289]</span> the +apartment is exceedingly curious, and is meant to indicate the object +of the Academy, which—as its name literally translated, <i>of the</i> bran +or <i>chaff</i>, signifies—is to sift the fine flour of the language from +the corrupt bran that has gathered around it. The chairs are made in +imitation of a baker's basket, turned bottom upwards and painted red. +On the wall behind each chair is suspended a shovel, with the name of +its owner painted upon it, along with a group of flowers in allusion +to the famous motto of the Academy, "Il più bel fior ne coglie," "It +plucks the fairest flower." On the table, during my visit, there was a +model of a flour-dressing machine and some meal sacks; while several +printed sheets of a new edition of the Italian Dictionary, which the +members were engaged in publishing at the time, with manuscript +corrections, were scattered about. At present the Academy, besides +doing this important work, occasionally holds public sessions; but it +is an effete institution, that has little more than an archæological +interest. It was very different, however, in the sixteenth century. +Then, in point of numbers and reputation, it was the outstanding +literary academy of Italy, and occupied the commanding position from +which the all-powerful humanists of the previous age had been driven +by the counter reformation. It is chiefly, however, by its attacks +upon Tasso that it is now known to fame.</p> + +<p>No sooner was the <i>Gerusalemme</i> published than comparisons began to be +instituted between it and the <i>Orlando Furioso</i> of Ariosto. This +latter poem was then in the zenith of its reputation; it was regarded +as the supreme standard of literary excellence, and it was slavishly +imitated by all the inferior poets of Italy. It was inevitable, +therefore, that the two works should be compared together. But as well +might the <i>Æneid</i> of Virgil be compared with the <i>Metamorphoses</i> of +Ovid. The <i>Orlando Furioso</i> is a romantic poem in the manner of Ovid, +whereas the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i> is an epic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290"></a>[290]</span> poem in the manner of +Homer and Virgil. No Italian poet previous to Tasso had written an +epic; and Tasso himself distinctly avowed that he had chosen that form +of poetry deliberately; not only as being more congenial to his own +mind, but also that he might avoid following in the steps of Ariosto, +whose work he regarded as, in its own department, incapable of being +excelled, or even equalled. In reply to the generous letter of +Ariosto's nephew, who wrote him a letter of congratulation, he said, +"The crown you would honour me with already adorns the head of the +poet to whom you are related, from whence it would be as easy to +snatch it as to wrest the club from the hand of Hercules. I would no +more receive it from your hand than I would snatch it myself."</p> + +<p>But in spite of the altogether different nature of the two poems, and +in spite of the distinct disavowals of Tasso, the critics persisted in +accusing him of the presumption of entering the lists with Ariosto. +And in this idea they were strengthened by the injudicious praises of +Camillo Pellegrini, who in a dialogue entitled <i>Caraffa</i> or <i>Epic +Poetry</i>, likened the <i>Orlando Furioso</i> to a palace, the plan of which +is defective, but which contains superb rooms splendidly adorned, and +is therefore very captivating to the simple and ignorant; while the +<i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i> resembles a smaller palace, whose architecture +is perfect, and whose rooms are suitable and elegant without being +gaudy, delighting the true masters of art. This squib was published in +Florence, and at once aroused the hostility of the Della Cruscans. +They were already prejudiced against Tasso on account of his +connection with the court of Ferrara, between which and the court of +Florence there was a bitter rivalry; and that offence was intensified +by the unguarded way in which he spoke of the Florentines as being +under the yoke of the Medici, whom he denounced as tyrants. The +Academy, which at the time enjoyed the patronage of the Grand Duke of +Tuscany, was therefore too glad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291"></a>[291]</span> to seize upon Pellegrini's squib as a +pretext for a vehement attack upon Tasso's epic. Ariosto was dead, had +passed among the immortals, and was therefore beyond all envy; but +here was a <i>living</i> poet, who belonged to a court which had cruelly +treated the daughter of their ruler, Lucrezia de Medici, the first +wife of Alfonso of Ferrara, and was a mere youth, who was guilty of +the sacrilege of seeking to dethrone their favourite. Ariosto had +greatly admired Florence, and celebrated its beauties in one of his +finest poems; and was it to be borne that this young upstart, who had +presumed to speak disparagingly of their city, should be preferred to +him? It would be a useless waste of time to go over in detail the +absurd criticisms by which they attempted to throw ridicule upon the +<i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>. They would have passed into utter oblivion had +not Tasso himself, by condescending to reply to them, given to them an +immortality of shame. Not contented with abusing his poem and himself, +they also attacked his father, asserting that his <i>Amadigi</i> was a most +miserable work, and was pillaged wholesale from the writings of +others, and thus wounded the poet in the most tender part.</p> + +<p>By this combination of critical cavils against him, Tasso was thrown +back from the land of poetical vision into a dreary mental wilderness. +The effect upon one of his most sensitive nature, predisposed by +temperament and the vicissitudes of his life to profound melancholy, +was most disastrous. We can trace to this cause the commencement of +those mental disorders which, if they never reached actual insanity, +bordered upon it, and darkened the rest of his life. His overwrought +mind gave way to all kinds of morbid fancies. His body became +enfeebled by the agitation of his mind; and the powerful medicines +which he was prevailed upon to take to cure his troubles only +increased them. Like Rousseau during his sad visit to England, he +became suspicious of every one, and lost faith even in himself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a>[292]</span> +Religious doubts commenced to agitate his mind. Distracted by this +worst of all evils, he put himself into the hands of the Holy +Fraternity at Bologna; and though the inquisitors had sense enough to +see that what he considered atheistical doubts were only the illusions +of hypochondria, and tried to reassure him as to their belief in the +soundness of his faith, he was not satisfied with the absolution which +they had given to him.</p> + +<p>The court of Ferrara was full of unscrupulous intriguers. Tasso's +wonderful success could not be forgiven by some of the petty aspirants +after literary fame who haunted the ducal precincts. Pigna, whose +place as secretary he had usurped, stirred up the jealousy of the +other courtiers into open persecution. Leonardo Salvinati, the leader +of the Della Cruscan Academy, wishing to ingratiate himself with the +court, joined in the hostility. Tasso's papers were stolen, and his +letters intercepted and read, and a false construction was put upon +everything he did. At first the duke refused to hear the various +accusations that were brought against him, and continued to show him +every mark of esteem. He had the privilege, in that ceremonious age a +very high one, of dining daily with the prince at his own private +table. He accompanied the princesses to their country retreats at +Urbino, Belriguarda, or Consandoli, where in healthy country pursuits +he forgot for a time his troubles. At Urbino he wrote the unfinished +canzone to the river Metauro, one of the most touching of his +compositions, in which he laments the wounds which fortune had +inflicted upon him through the whole of his hapless life.</p> + +<p>But the tenure of princely favour at Italian courts, amid so many +ambitious patrons and anxious suitors, was very precarious. It was +uncommonly so at Ferrara. After a while a sudden change passed over +the mind of the duke towards Tasso. Whether tired of the poet's +incessant complaints, irritated at his incautious conduct—going the +length on two occasions of drawing his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293"></a>[293]</span> sword, when provoked, upon +members of the ducal household,—or whether his suspicions were +aroused regarding the relations between him and his sister Leonora, is +not known, but from this time he began to treat Tasso as if he were a +madman. He was placed under the charge of the ducal physicians and +servants, who reported to their employer every careless word. Removed +from Belriguarda, he was ordered to be confined in the Ferrarese +convent of San Francisco; and two friars were appointed to watch over +him continually. Such a life was unendurable to the proud poet, who +disliked the nauseous medicines of the convent as much as its +restraint; and taking advantage of a <i>festa</i>, when his keepers were +unusually negligent, he made his escape by a window. In the disguise +of a shepherd he travelled on foot over the mountains of the Abruzzi, +getting a morsel of bread and a lodging from the peasants by the way, +to his sister's house at Sorrento, now the Vigna Sersale. There he +remained during the whole summer, soothed by his sister's affectionate +kindness. The monotony of the life, however, began to pall upon him, +and he longed to get back to his old scenes of excitement. Undeterred +by an evasive reply which the duke sent to an urgent letter of his, he +set out for Ferrara; and on his arrival, meeting with a cold +reception, he was obliged again to leave the place where he had once +been so happy. For a year and a half he wandered over almost the whole +of Northern Italy, visiting in turn Venice, Urbino, Mantua, Padua, +Rome, and Turin. At the last place he arrived without a passport, and +in such a miserable condition that the guards at the gates of the city +would not have admitted him had he not been recognised by a Venetian +printer who happened to be present. His startled looks, his nervous +manner, and his perpetual restlessness, confirmed wherever he went the +rumour of his madness; and, even if he were not mad, the object of +Alfonso of Este's anger might be a dangerous associate. During all +this time he was in the greatest poverty, being obliged to sell for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a>[294]</span> +bread the splendid ruby and collar of gold which the Duchess of Urbino +had presented to him when he recited to her at her own court his +pastoral poem of <i>Aminta</i>.</p> + +<p>From the Duke of Urbino and Prince Charles Emanuel of Savoy, however, +he received generous treatment; but a fatal spell carried him back a +third time to Ferrara. His arrival by an unfortunate coincidence +happened to be on the very day that Margaret Gonzaga, daughter of the +Duke of Mantua, was to come home as the third bride of Alfonso. The +duke, preoccupied with the stately ceremonies connected with his +nuptials, took no notice of him; and many of the courtiers from whom +he expected an affectionate welcome, taking their cue from their +master, turned their backs upon him. What a contrast to his first +reception at that court fourteen years before, when he stood among the +noble spectators of Alfonso's marriage with his first wife, the +Archduchess of Austria, as one of the most honoured of the guests! He +now gazed upon the splendours of this third marriage ceremony, by far +the greatest poet of his age, but a homeless vagrant, a reputed +maniac, treated with neglect or contumely on every side! No wonder +that his cup of misery, which had previously been filled to the brim, +overflowed with this last and crowning insult; and, scarce knowing +what he did, he broke forth into the most vehement denunciations of +the duke and his whole court, declaring that they were all "a gang of +poltroons, ingrates, and scoundrels." These fiery reproaches, which +his misery had wrung from the poor poet, were carried by his enemies +to the ear of the Duke, and Tasso was immediately seized and +imprisoned as a lunatic in the hospital of Santa Anna in Ferrara—in +the same year and the same month, it may be mentioned, in which +another of the great epic poets of the world, Camoens, the author of +the <i>Lusiad</i>, finished as a pauper in an hospital his miserable +career.</p> + +<p>While madness was alleged as the ostensible reason, the real motives +of this step are involved in as deep a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a>[295]</span> mystery as the cause of Ovid's +banishment to Tomi, on the Euxine. Muratori, the author of the +<i>Antiquities of the House of Este</i>, says that he was confined +principally in order that he might be cured; while the Abbate Serassi, +who wrote a life of the poet, attributes his imprisonment to his +insolence to the duke and his court, and to his desire, repeatedly +expressed and acted upon, to leave his patron's service. But both +these writers considered the interests of the house of Este more +sacred than those of truth. The cause generally accepted is Tasso's +supposed attachment to Leonora, the sister of the duke. For a long +time he is said to have cherished this passion in secret, concealing +it even from the object of it, although evidences of it may be found +in some marked form or playful allusion in nearly all his poetical +writings; the episode of Olinda and Sophronia in the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, +which he was urged in vain by his friends to withdraw on the ground of +its irrelevancy, being intended to represent his own ill-fated love. +On one occasion, however, in a confiding mood, he told the secret to +one of the courtiers of Ferrara, whom he believed to be his devoted +friend. But what was thus whispered in the closet was proclaimed upon +the house-top; and a duel was the result, in which Tasso, as expert in +the use of the sword as of the pen, put to flight the cowardly traitor +and his two brothers, whom he had brought with him to attack the poet. +This adventure, and the cause of it, reached the ears of the duke, +whose resentment was kindled by the audacity of a poor poet and +dependant of his court in falling in love with a lady of royal birth. +On the strength of this suspicion his papers were seized, and all the +sonnets, madrigals, and canzones that were supposed to give +countenance to it, confiscated. The manuscript of the <i>Gerusalemme</i> +itself was retained, and a deaf ear was turned to the poet's +entreaties for its restoration. Gibbon, in his <i>Antiquities of the +House of Brunswick</i>, relates that one day at court, when the duke and +his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a>[296]</span> sister Leonora were present, Tasso was so struck with the beauty +of the princess, that, in a transport of passion, he approached and +kissed her before all the assembly; whereupon the duke, gravely +turning to his courtiers, expressed his regret that so great a man +should have been thus suddenly bereft of reason, and made the +circumstance the pretext for shutting him up in the madhouse of St. +Anne. An abortive attempt was made to prove the attachment, about +fifty years ago, by a certain Count Alberti, who published a +manuscript correspondence purporting to be between Tasso and Leonora, +which he discovered in the library of the Falconieri Palace at Rome. +The alleged discovery excited an immense amount of interest in this +country and on the Continent; but ere the edition was completed the +author was accused of having forged the manuscripts in question, and +was condemned to the galleys.</p> + +<p>The story of this hapless love is so romantic in itself, and has been +made the theme of so much pathetic poetry, that it would be almost a +pity to destroy by proof any foundation upon which it may rest. And +yet it is difficult to agree with Professor Rosini, who has ably +treated the whole question in a work entitled <i>Amore de Tasso</i>, and +has come to the conclusion, after carefully weighing all the evidence, +that this was the rock upon which Tasso's life made shipwreck. On this +theory several circumstances are altogether inexplicable. We may +dismiss at once the famous kiss as certainly a myth. Besides the +disparity of age, the ill-health, severe piety, and exalted rank of +Leonora were formidable barriers in the way of Tasso's contracting a +passion for her; and it is well known that the poet, who could not +have forgotten so soon a devoted love, did not offer a single tribute +of regret to her memory when she died a few years afterwards. It is +also but too certain that Leonora left her supposed lover to languish +in a dungeon without any reply to his pathetic complaints. The force +of gravitation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297"></a>[297]</span> is a mutual thing; and just as the great sun himself +cannot but bend a little in turn to the smallest orb that wheels +around him, so the august Princess of Este could not but have regarded +with womanly interest a devoted admirer, however humble. The poetical +gallantry of the day will account for all Tasso's lyrical effusions in +praise of Leonora. They were in most instances simply the tributes +that were expected from the laureate of a court, especially a laureate +who was accused, with some show of reason, by the courtiers of +Ferrara, of an enthusiastic devotion to women, and of wasting his life +with the day-dreams of love and chivalry.</p> + +<p>Regarding the question of his madness, which was, as I have said, the +ostensible cause of his imprisonment, we are left in almost equal +uncertainty. His morbid sensibility, irritated by the treatment which +he received alike from his friends and foes, his repeated complaints +and occasional violences and extravagances of conduct, may have seemed +to a selfish prince to border closely upon mental derangement. But his +whole conduct during his imprisonment, the nature of the numerous +writings which he produced during that dark period, forbid us to +suppose that his intellect ever crossed the line which separates +reason from insanity. From out the gloom that surrounds the whole case +two points stand out clear and indisputable, that no indiscretion of +conduct or aberration of mind on the part of Tasso can possibly have +merited the sufferings to which he was subjected, and that whatever +may have been Alfonso's suspicions, his fiendish vengeance is one of +history's darkest crimes, and covers the tyrant with everlasting +disgrace.</p> + +<p>Three objects attract the steps of the modern pilgrim in desolate +grass-grown Ferrara; the house, distinguished by a tablet, in which +Ariosto was born; the ancient castle in the centre of the town, in +whose courtyard Ugo and Parasina, whom Byron has immortalised, were +beheaded; and next door to the chief hotel—the Europa—and beside the +post-office, the huge hospital of St. Anne, in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298"></a>[298]</span> Tasso was +confined. This last object is by far the most interesting. The sight +of it is not needed to sadden one more than the deserted streets +themselves do. The dungeon, indicated by a long inscription over the +door, is below the ground-floor of the hospital; it is twelve feet +long, nine feet wide, and seven feet high, and the light penetrates +through its grated windows from a small yard. By several authors, +including Goethe, considerable doubts have been expressed regarding +the authenticity of this cell; and certainly the present features of +the place are not confirmatory of the tradition. This doubt, however, +has not prevented relic-hunters—among whom Shelley may be +included—from carrying off in small fragments the whole of the +bedstead that once stood there, as well as cutting off large pieces +from the door which still survives. Lamartine wrote in pencil some +poetical lines upon the wall; and Byron, with his intense realism, +caused himself to be locked for an hour in it, that he might be able +to form some idea of the sufferings which he recorded in his <i>Lament +of Tasso</i>.</p> + +<p>Less than sixty years ago the insane were treated with the utmost +inhumanity as accursed of God; and the asylums in which they were shut +up were dismal prisons, where the unfortunate inmates were left in a +state of the utmost filth, or were chained and lashed at the caprice +of savage keepers. The madhouse which Hogarth drew will aid us in +forming a conception of an Italian asylum in the sixteenth century, +which was much worse than anything known in our country. The other +inmates of the hospital of St. Anne suffered much doubtless; but they +were really mad, and were therefore unconscious of their misery. But +that alleviation was wanting in the case of Tasso. He was sane and +conscious, and his sanity intensified the horror of his situation, +"enabling him to gauge with fearful accuracy the depths of the abyss +into which he had fallen." One glimpse of him is given to us by +Montaigne, who visited the cell, where it seems the unfortunate inmate +was made a show of to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299"></a>[299]</span> all whom curiosity or pity attracted to the +hospital. "I had even more indignation than compassion when I saw him +at Ferrara in so piteous a state—a living shadow of himself." His +jailer was Agostino Mosti, who, although he was himself a man of +letters, and therefore should have sympathised with Tasso, on the +contrary carried out to the utmost the cruel commands of his prince, +and by his harsh language and unceasing vigilance immensely aggravated +the sufferings of his victim. This inhuman persecution was caused by +Mosti's jealously of Tasso as the rival of his beloved master Ariosto, +to whom at his own cost he had erected a monument in the church of the +Benedictines at Ferrara.</p> + +<p>For a whole year Tasso endured all the horrors of the sordid cell in +which he was immured. After a while he was removed to a larger +apartment, in which he could walk about; and permission was granted to +him sometimes to leave the hospital for part of a day. But whatever +alleviations he might thus have occasionally enjoyed, he was for seven +long years a prisoner in the asylum, tantalised by continual +expectations held out to him of approaching release. One person +only—the nephew of his churlish jailer—acted the part of the Good +Samaritan towards him, cheered his solitude, wrote for him, and +transmitted the letters of complaint or entreaty which he addressed to +his friends, and which would otherwise have been suppressed or +forwarded to his relentless enemy. His sufferings increased as the +slow weary months passed on, so that we need not wonder that the last +years of his captivity should sometimes have been overclouded by +visions of a tormenting demon, of flames and frightful noises, with an +apparition of the Virgin and Child sent to comfort him. That he should +have been able to preserve the general balance of his mind at all in +circumstances sufficient to unseat the reason of most men, is a +convincing proof of the stability of his intellect, and his unshaken +trust in the God of the sorrowful. While we think of this protracted +cruelty of the author of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300"></a>[300]</span> imprisonment, it is some consolation to +know that he met with what we may well call a merited retribution. +Alfonso, as Sir John Hobhouse tells us, in spite of his haughty +splendour, led an unhappy life, and was deserted in the hour of death +by his courtiers, who suffered his body to be interred without even +the ceremonies that were paid to the meanest of his subjects. His last +wishes were neglected; his will was cancelled. He was succeeded by the +descendant of a natural son of Alfonso I., the husband of Lucrezia +Borgia; and he, falling under the displeasure of the Vatican, was +excommunicated; and Ferrara, having been claimed by Pope Clement VIII. +as a vacant fief, passed away for ever from the house of Este.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The link<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou formest in his fortunes bids us think<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of thy poor malice, naming thee with scorn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Alfonso! How thy ducal pageants shrink<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From thee! if in another station born,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Scarce fit to be the slave of him thou mad'st to mourn."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>At no period of his life was the mind of Tasso more active than during +his imprisonment. In the absence of all nourishment from the bright +world of Nature which he loved so passionately, his fancy could grow +and keep itself leafy, like the cress-seed, which germinates and +produces its anti-scorbutic foliage on a bit of flannel moistened with +water, without any contact with soil or sunlight, in the long Arctic +night of the ice-bound ship. With the ravings of madmen ringing in his +ears, he composed some of the most beautiful of his writings, both in +prose and verse. Among the manuscripts of the British Museum are +preserved some of these writings, whose withered vellum pages we turn +over with profound pity, as we think of the sad circumstances in which +they were composed. The most valuable of these is the manuscript of +the <i>Torrismondo</i>, in Tasso's own handwriting, and in the original +parchment binding. This work was begun before his imprisonment, and it +was not finished until the year after his liberation; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301"></a>[301]</span> the greater +part of it was composed in the wretchedness of his cell at Ferrara. +The story upon which it is founded is a very harrowing one, a king of +the Ostrogoths marrying his own sister, mistaking her for a foreign +princess; but it is treated with very inadequate tragic power, and, +like the <i>Aminta</i>, displays no real action. Its beauty chiefly +consists in its choral odes on the vanity of all earthly things, which +are exquisitely sad and touching. We hear in them the wild wail of the +poet over his own misfortunes, and the vanishing of the dreams of +glory which haloed his life. The chorus with which the tragedy winds +up—"Ahi! lagrime; Ahi! dolore"—the words appropriately carved upon +his tombstone at St. Onofrio—is unspeakably pathetic. It is his own +dirge, the cry of a heart whose strings are about to break. It is as +untranslatable as the sigh of the wind in a pine forest. If the words +are changed, the spell is lost, and the way to the heart is missed.</p> + +<p>At last the solicitations of the most powerful princes of Italy on +Tasso's behalf overcame the tenacity of Alfonso's will, and the victim +was released; but not till he had become so weak and ill that, if the +imprisonment had continued a little longer, death would inevitably +have opened the door for him. When the order for his liberation had +been obtained, his friends made known to him by slow degrees the glad +tidings, lest a too sudden shock should prove fatal. He was now free +to go wherever he pleased, and to behold the beauties of Nature, which +had been the mirage of his prison dreams; but the elasticity of his +spirits was gone for ever; the bow had been too long bent to recover +its original spring, and the memory of his sufferings haunted him +continually, and cast a dark shadow over everything. He could not +altogether shake off the fear that he was still in Alfonso's power, +and wherever he went he fancied that an officer was in pursuit of him +to drag him back to the foul prison in St. Anne's. A modern Italian +poet, Aleardo Aleardi, has graphically described the feelings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"></a>[302]</span> of the +gentle poet-knight, roaming, pale and dishevelled, as a mendicant from +door to door. But the sufferings that had thus maimed him bodily and +mentally had spiritually ennobled him; and there is not a more +touching incident in all history than his entreaty to be allowed to +kiss the hand of the cruel tyrant, as a last favour before leaving +Ferrara for ever, in token of his gratitude for the benefits conferred +upon him in happier days,—a favour which Alfonso, to his eternal +disgrace, refused to grant.</p> + +<p>At first Tasso took up his abode at the court of the Duke of Mantua, +whose son, Vincenzo Gonzaga, had been the principal instrument in his +release, on the occasion of his marriage with the sister of Alfonso of +Ferrara. This Vincenzo Gonzaga is shown by the light of history in two +opposite characters: as the generous friend and patron of Tasso, and +as the pupil of the Admirable Crichton, who in a midnight brawl slew +his tutor in circumstances of the utmost baseness and treachery. For a +while Tasso was treated with great kindness at Mantua, but, the father +dying, the son no sooner ascended the ducal throne than, with the +capriciousness peculiar to Italian princes, he turned his back upon +the poet whom he had formerly befriended. The incident I have +mentioned would have prepared us for this dastardly conduct; the evil +side of his nature, which was kept in abeyance during his political +pupilage, assuming the predominance on his accession to power. Tasso's +proud spirit could not endure the neglect of his once ardent friend, +and he set out again into the cold inhospitable world, imploring in +his great poverty from a former patron the loan of ten scudi, to pay +the expenses of his journey to Rome. On the way he turned aside to +make a pilgrimage to Loretto, in order to satisfy that earnest +religious feeling which had been the inspiration of his genius, but +the bane of his life. The searching scrutinies and the solemn +acquittals of the inquisitors of Bologna, Ferrara, and the great +tribunal of Rome itself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303"></a>[303]</span> had not satisfied his morbid mind. And he +thought that he might get that peace of conscience which nothing else +could give by a visit to the Casa Santa—the house of the Virgin Mary +at Loretto. Worn out by the long journey, which he made in the old +fashion on foot, he knelt in prayer before the magnificent shrine; and +thus, admitted as it were within the domestic enclosure of the holy +household, he felt that the Blessed Virgin had given him that calmness +and repose of heart which he had not known since he had prayed as a +boy beside his mother's knee. Strengthened by the successful +accomplishment of his vow, he went on to Rome; but the stern Sixtus +V., who was now upon the Papal throne, was too much occupied with the +architectural reconstruction of Rome, and with the suppression of +brigandage in the Papal States, to bestow any attention upon +literature; and Tasso had lost whatever energy he once possessed to +assert his claims to recognition among the multitude of sycophants at +the Vatican.</p> + +<p>Sick at heart, he left the imperial city, and directed his steps to +Naples, in the hope that on the spot he might succeed in recovering +his father's possession and his mother's dowry. But here, too, the +same ill-fortune that had hitherto dogged his steps attended him. The +lawsuit which he instituted, though it promised well at first, proved +a will-o'-the-wisp, which lured him into the bog of absolute penury. +His sister was dead; his mother's relatives, formerly hostile, were +now, because of the lawsuit, doubly embittered against him. In his +distress he sought refuge in the Benedictine monastery of Monte +Oliveto, which is now occupied by the offices of the Municipality of +Naples, and the monastery garden converted into a market-place. Here, +in one of the finest situations in Naples, commanding one of the +loveliest views in the world, and in the congenial society of the +monks, his shattered health was recruited, and his mind tranquillised +by the beauties of Nature and the exercises of religion. He repaid the +kindness of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a>[304]</span> hosts by writing a poem on the origin of their Order, +and by addressing to them one of his best sonnets. Among the visitors +who sought him out in this retreat was John Battista Manso, Marquis of +Villa, who afterwards became his biographer. This accomplished +nobleman, "whose name the friendship and Latin hexameters of Milton +have rendered at once familiar and musical to English ears," was by +far the kindest and most consistent patron that Tasso ever met with. +He loaded him with presents, and showed him the most delicate and +thoughtful attentions during Tasso's visit at his beautiful villa on +the seashore near Naples. He took him with him to his tower of +Bisaccio, where he remained all October and November, spending his +days, with great advantage to his health, in hunting, and his nights +in music and dancing, taking special delight in the marvellous +performances of the improvisatori. Milton's acquaintance with Manso +may be regarded as one of the most fortunate incidents of his foreign +travels, inasmuch as his conversations about Tasso are supposed to +have suggested to him the design of writing an epic work like the +<i>Gerusalemme</i>; and indeed Milton is supposed to have borrowed some of +his ideas for <i>Paradise Lost</i> from the <i>Sette Giornate, or Seven Days +of Creation</i>, a fragmentary poem in blank verse, which Tasso began +under the roof of his friend at Naples. This work is now very little +known, but it is worthy of being read, if only for the lofty dignity +of its style, and the beauty of some of its descriptive parts, +particularly the creation of light on the first day, and of the +firmament on the second, and the episode of the Phoenix on the fifth. +Its association with Milton's far grander work, as literary twins laid +for a while in the same cradle, will always invest it with deep +interest to the student.</p> + +<p>Tasso occupied himself at the same time with an altered version of his +great poem, which he called the <i>Gerusalemme Conquistata</i>. He was +induced to undertake this work in order to triumph over his truculent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305"></a>[305]</span> +critics, the Della Cruscans, who had condemned the former version. In +the Imperial Library at Vienna is preserved the manuscript of this +version, with its numerous alterations and erasures, showing how +laborious the task of remodelling must have been. He suppressed the +touching incident of Olinda and Sophronia. He changed the name of +Rinaldo to Riccardo; and ruthlessly swept his pen through all the +flatteries, direct and indirect, which he had originally bestowed upon +the house of Este. There is hardly a single stanza that is not +changed. But in the process of revision he deprived his poem of all +life. Religious mysticism has been substituted for the refined +chivalry of the Crusades, and poetry and romance have been sacrificed +for classical regularity and religious orthodoxy. To any one familiar +with the original, the <i>Conquistata</i> must be regarded as the most +melancholy book in any language; a sad monument of a noble genius +robbed of its power and depressed by calamity. And it is all the more +melancholy that the author himself was utterly unconscious of its +defects, and got so enamoured of what he considered his improvements, +that he wrote and published a discourse called the <i>Giudizio</i>—a cold +pedantic work, in which he explained the principles upon which he made +his alterations. In vain, however, did the author thus commit literary +suicide. His immortal poem had passed beyond the reach of revision, +and stamped itself too deeply upon the minds and hearts of his +countrymen to be effaced by any after version. And now the +<i>Conquistata</i> has sunk into well-merited oblivion, while the +<i>Liberata</i>—"his youthful poetical sin," as he himself called it—is +everywhere admired as one of the great classics of the world.</p> + +<p>For nine years Tasso lived after his imprisonment. But his free life +was only a little less burdensome than his prison one. With impaired +health and extinguished hope, and only the wreck of his great +intellect, he wandered a homeless pilgrim from court to court, drawn +like a moth to the brilliant flame that had wrought his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306"></a>[306]</span> ruin. Well +would it have been for him had he settled down to some quiet +independent pursuit that would have taken him away from the atmosphere +of court life altogether, such as the Professorship of Poetry and +Ethics which had been offered to him by the Genoese Academy. But the +habits of a whole lifetime could not now be given up. His education +and training had fitted him for no other mode of life. Without the +patronage of the great, literature in those days had not a chance of +success; and a thousand incidents in the life of Tasso serve to show +that "genius was considered the property, not of the individual, but +of his patron"; and with petty meanness was the reward allotted for +this appropriation dealt out. His experience of the favour of princes +at this period was only a repetition of his own earlier one, and that +of his father. His patrons, one after another, got tired of him; and +yet he persisted in soliciting their favour. From the door of his +former friend, Cardinal Gonzaga, at Rome, he was turned away; and as a +fever-stricken mendicant he sought refuge in the Bergamese Hospital of +that city, founded by a relative of his own, who little thought that +it would one day afford an asylum to the most illustrious of his name.</p> + +<p>But fate had now discharged its last evil arrow, and began to relent +during the two remaining years of his life. The sun that was all day +obscured, as it struggled with dark clouds, emerged at last, and made +the western sky ablaze with splendour. All over the country nothing +was to be heard but the echoes of Tasso's praises. From the fountains +of the Adige to the Straits of Messina, in the valleys of Savoy, and +in the capitals of Spain and France, his immortal epic was read or +recited by the highest and the lowest. Fortunes were made by its sale. +The famous bandit Sciarra, who with his troop of robbers had terrified +the whole of Southern Italy, hearing that Tasso was at Gaeta, on his +journey from Naples to Rome, sent to compliment him, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307"></a>[307]</span> offer him, +not only a free passage, but protection by the way. At Florence, +whither he went at the invitation of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the +whole literary society of the place, even including many of the Della +Cruscans, showered honours upon him. While at Rome Pope Clement VIII. +gave him the most flattering reception, assigned to him an apartment +in the Vatican, and an annual income of two hundred scudi. From the +representatives of his mother's friends at Naples he was also offered +an annuity of two hundred ducats, and a considerable sum in hand, on +condition of stopping the lawsuit. Thus furnished with what he had +vainly looked for all his life, the means of a comfortable +subsistence, his closing days promised a happiness to which he had +hitherto been a stranger. But the gifts of fortune were brought to him +with sad auguries, like the soft sunny smiles of September skies, +which gild the fading leaves with a mockery of May. Tasso came to Rome +in November. But the state of his health was so deplorable that he +could not remain with safety in the room assigned to him in the +Vatican. It was thought, therefore, that the elevated position and +salubrious air, as well as the quiet life of the monastery of St. +Onofrio, not far off on the same side of the Tiber, would be more +suitable for his restoration. Accordingly, Cardinal Cynthio +Aldobrandini, nephew of Clement VIII., who had befriended him on many +occasions, brought him to St. Onofrio in his own carriage. And as his +weary steps crossed the threshold, he said to the monks, who received +him with pitying looks, "I come to die among you."</p> + +<p>Whenever he was able to go out, he spent the last days of his life in +the garden of the monastery. There he sat under the shadow of the aged +oak that has since become historical; and as he watched the sunset of +his life, he would gaze upon the mighty ruins and the glorious view +stretching before him with that inspired vision which creates half the +beauty it beholds, and with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308"></a>[308]</span> that enhanced appreciation caused by the +prospect of the coming darkness which would hide it for ever from his +sight. We love to think of the poet in this quiet resting-place, where +the noises of the great world reached him only in subdued murmurs. +Heaven was above him, and the world beneath. The memory of his wrongs +and his ambitions alike vanished in the shadow cast before by his +approaching death. Alfonso and Ferrara faded away upon the horizon of +eternity; even the fame of his <i>Gerusalemme</i>, the great object for +which he had lived, had become utterly indifferent to him. In the +monastery of St. Onofrio, a bent, sorrow-stricken man, old before his +time, joining with the monks in the duties of religion, Tasso appeals +more powerfully to our feelings than when in the full flush of youth +and happiness he shone the brightest star in the royal court of +Alfonso.</p> + +<p>Awakening to the sense of the great loss that Italy was about to +sustain in his death, his friends and admirers proposed that the Pope +should confer upon him at the Capitol the laurel wreath that had +crowned the brow of Petrarch. But the weather during the winter proved +singularly unpropitious for such a ceremony. Rain fell almost every +day, and constant sirocco winds depressed the spirits of the people +and prevented all outdoor enjoyments. And thus the season wore on till +April dawned with the promise of brighter skies, and the day was +fixed, and all the <i>élite</i> of Rome and of the chief cities of Italy +were invited to attend the coronation. Extensive preparations were +made; the whole city was in a flutter of excitement, and the people +looked forward to a holiday such as Rome had not seen since the days +of the Cæsars. But by this time the poet was dying, fever-wasted, in +his lonely cell. He could see from his window, as he lay propped up +with pillows on his narrow couch, across the river and its broad +valley crowded with houses, the slender campanile of Michael Angelo +ascending from the Capitoline Hill, marking the spot where at the +moment the people were busy preparing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309"></a>[309]</span> for the magnificent ceremony of +the morrow. But not for him was the triumph; it came too late. +"Tomorrow," he said, "I shall be beyond the reach of all earthly +honour." He received the last rites of the Church from the hands of +the diocesan, and passed quietly away with the unfinished sentence +upon his lips, "Into thy hands, O Lord," while the concluding strains +of the vesper hymn were chanted by the monks. And they who came on the +morrow, to summon him to his coronation, found him in the sleep of +death. The laurel wreath that was meant for his brow was laid upon his +coffin, as it was carried on the very day of his intended coronation, +with great pomp, cardinals and princes bearing up the pall, and +deposited in the neighbouring church of the monastery. Ever since, the +anniversary of his death has been religiously kept by the monks of St. +Onofrio. They throw open on that day, the 25th of April, the monastery +and garden to the general public; ladies are freely admitted, and a +festival is observed, during which portions of the poet's writings are +read, his relics exhibited, and his tomb wreathed with flowers.</p> + +<p>Tasso died, like Virgil his model, in his fifty-first year. Short and +chequered and full of trouble as was his life, it is amazing what an +immense amount of literary work he accomplished. Since the publication +of his <i>Rinaldo</i>, in his seventeenth year, he never ceased writing, +even in the most unfavourable circumstances. Of his prose and poetical +works no less than twenty-five volumes remain to us. These works are +all rich in biographical materials. They show an ideal tenderness of +feeling, an intense love for everything beautiful, and a deep piety, +not only of sentiment but of duty. They are specially interesting to +us as links connecting the ancient world with the modern. We can trace +the influence of Tasso's genius in very varied quarters. He not only +gave a new impulse to the literature of his own country, but even +inspired the artistic productions of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310"></a>[310]</span> the day. The most beautiful +passages of Spenser's <i>Faerie Queen</i> were suggested by his pastoral +poetry; while his chivalrous epic was to Milton at once the incentive +and the model of his own immortal work. It is probable that the <i>New +Heloïse</i> of Rousseau, and the tragedy of <i>Zaire</i> by Voltaire, would +not have been written had not Tasso invested the subject of romantic +love and of the Crusades with such a deep interest to the authors. We +of this age may miss in Tasso's poetical works the dramatic force to +which we are accustomed in such productions; but we acknowledge the +spell which the lyrical element that pervades them all, and towards +which Tasso's genius was most strongly bent, casts over us. His own +personal history strikingly illustrates the vanity of a life spent in +dependence upon princes. But fortunately the lesson is no longer +needed; for a wide and intelligent constituency of readers all over +the world now afford the patronage to literature which was formerly +the special privilege of single individuals favoured by rank or +fortune. Both to authors and readers this emancipation has been +productive of the happiest results.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311"></a>[311]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE MARBLES OF ANCIENT ROME</h3> + + +<p>Marble-hunting is one of the regular pursuits of the visitor in Rome. +The ground in almost every part of the ancient city is strewn with +fragments of historical monuments. The largest and most valuable +pieces have long since been removed by builders and sculptors, to +fashion some Papal palace, or to adorn some pretentious church; and at +the present day, in almost every stone-mason's shed, blocks of marble +belonging to ancient edifices may be seen in process of conversion +into articles of modern furniture. Many bits of the rarest kinds, +however, still remain, which not unfrequently bear traces of the +richest carving. For ages such spots have been quarries to visitors +from all parts of the world, who wished to bring home some memorial of +their sojourn in the Eternal City, and the supply is still far from +being exhausted. That so much material should have survived the +wholesale conversion, during the middle ages, of columns and statues +into lime, in kilns erected where the temples and palaces were most +crowded, and the vast exportation of objects of antiquity to other +countries, is a striking proof of the prodigious quantity of marble +that must have existed in ancient Rome. Now, however, such relics are +more carefully preserved; and as the places where they are found in +greatest quantity have been taken under the charge of the Government, +and soldiers are constantly on the watch,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312"></a>[312]</span> it is not so easy as it +used to be to abstract a fragment that has taken one's fancy.</p> + +<p>Marble fragments are so eagerly sought after because they make most +suitable and convenient souvenirs. Their own beauty and rarity, apart +from all historical associations, are a great attraction. Many of them +will form, when cut and polished by the lapidary, pretty tazzas and +paper-weights, and even the smallest bits can be put together in a +mosaic pattern, so as to make extremely beautiful table-tops. Whole +rows of lapidary shops in the English quarter of the city, especially +in the Via Babuino and the Via Sistina, are maintained by this curious +traffic. In the Forum and Colosseum great quantities of marble and +alabaster used to be found; but these localities have been so much +ransacked that they now afford very scanty gleanings. The Baths of +Caracalla and Titus, the recent excavations on the Esquiline, the +ruins of the palaces of the Cæsars on the Palatine, and the open space +marked out for new squares and streets between Sta. Maria Maggiore and +St. John Lateran, are the best situations within the walls of the +city. Outside the supply is almost as large as ever. All over the vast +Campagna the foot of the wayfarer strikes against some precious or +beautiful relic; and along the Appian and Latin Ways broken pieces of +different kinds may be found in such profusion that such spots look +like the rubbish-heap around a marble quarry. In the vast grounds over +which the imposing ruins of Hadrian's Villa spread, heaps of fragments +of marble flooring or casing may be seen in almost every neglected +corner, from which it is easy to obtain some lovely bit of giallo +antico or pavonazzetto or green porphyry. Beside the ancient quay of +Rome, leading to the ruins of the Emporium or Custom-house—at a spot +called in modern phrase "La Marmorata," because marble vessels still +discharge their cargoes there—immense quantities of marble, +alabaster, and porphyry are piled up, that were unshipped untold ages +ago for Roman use; and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313"></a>[313]</span> vineyard a short way off, on the slope of +the Aventine, is much frequented by collectors on account of the +richness of its finds.</p> + +<p>But it is not as a mere amusement, or as a means of collecting pretty +souvenirs of travel, that such marble-hunting expeditions are to be +recommended. They may have a much higher value. The different kinds of +marble collected are peculiarly interesting owing to their association +with the different epochs of the history of the city and empire; and +as the specimens which the geologist obtains throw light upon the +formation of the rocky strata of the earth, so the small marble +fragments which the student finds in Rome afford a clue to the various +stages of its existence. Indeed, a competent knowledge of the marbles +of Rome is indispensable to a clear understanding of the age of its +ancient monuments. An immense amount of controversy has raged round +some remarkable building or statue, which would have been prevented +had the nature and origin of the marble of which it was composed been +first investigated. The famous statue of the Apollo Belvedere in the +Vatican, for instance, was long regarded as an original production +either of Pheidias himself or of his school. But the discovery that +the marble of which it is wrought is Lunar or Carrara marble—which +was unknown until the time of Julius Cæsar, who first introduced it +into Rome—is of itself a proof that it is not a genuine work of Greek +art of the best period, but a monument of the decadence, or a copy of +an original, wrought in imperial times for the adornment of a summer +palace in Italy. In numberless other cases, ancient monuments have +been identified by the mineral character and history of their marble +materials. The first thing, therefore, which the student during his +visit to the city ought to do, is to make himself acquainted with the +different varieties of marble that have been found within the walls or +in the neighbourhood. For this purpose the Museum in the Collegio +della Sapienza or University of Rome will afford invalu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314"></a>[314]</span>able aid. In +this institution, conveniently arranged in glass cases, are no less +than 607 specimens of various marbles and alabasters used by the +ancient Romans in the building or decoration of their houses and +public monuments. The collection was made by the late Signor +Sanginetti, Professor of Mineralogy in the University, and is quite +unique. A great deal of instruction may also be obtained from the +mineralogical study of the thousands of marble columns still standing +in the older churches and palaces of Rome, most of which have been +derived from the ruins of ancient temples and basilicas. Several +excellent books may also be consulted with advantage—especially +Faustino Corsi's Treatise on the Stones of Antiquity, <i>Trattato delle +Pietre Antiche</i>, which is the most approved Italian work on the +subject, and from which much of the information contained in the +following pages has been obtained.</p> + +<p>No marble quarries exist in the vicinity of Rome. The Sabine Hills are +indeed of limestone formation, and large masses of travertine, a +fresh-water limestone of igneous origin, occur here and there, but no +mineral approaching marble in texture and appearance is found within a +very considerable radius of the city. The nearest source of supply is +at Cesi, near the celebrated "Falls of Terni," about forty-five miles +from Rome, where "Cotanella," the red marble of the Roman States, is +found, of which the great columns supporting the arches of the side +aisles of St. Peter's are formed. The hills and rocks of Rome are all +volcanic, and only the different varieties of eruptive rock were first +employed for building purposes. The oldest monuments of the kingly +period, such as the Cloaca Maxima, the Mamertine Prison, the Walls of +Servius Tullius, and some of the earliest substructures on the +Palatine Hill, were all built of the brown volcanic tufa found on or +near their sites. This is the material of which the famous Tarpeian +Rock and the lower part of most of the Seven Hills is composed. It is +the oldest of the igneous deposits of Rome,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315"></a>[315]</span> and seems to have been +formed by a conglomerate of ashes and fragments of pumice ejected from +submarine volcanoes whose craters have been completely obliterated. It +reposes upon marine tertiary deposits, and over it, near the Church of +Sta. Agnese, where it is still quarried for building stone, rests a +quaternary deposit, in which numerous remains of primeval elephants +have been found. Though the Consular or Republican period was a very +stormy one, and the reconstruction of the city, after its partial +demolition by the Gauls, seems to have been too hurried to allow much +attention to be paid to the materials and designs of architecture, yet +there are numerous indications in the existing remains of that period +that there was a decided advance in these respects upon the ruder art +of a former age. Finer and more ornamental varieties of volcanic stone +were introduced from a distance, such as the <i>peperino</i> or +grayish-green tufa of the Alban Hills, the <i>Lapis Albanus</i> of the +ancients, with its glittering particles of mica interspersed +throughout its mass; the hard basaltine lava from a quarry near the +tomb of Cæcilia Metella, on the Appian Way, and from the bed of the +Lago della Colonna, once the celebrated Lake Regillus, to which the +name of <i>Lapis Tusculanus</i> or <i>Selce</i> was given; and the <i>Lapis +Gabinus</i> or <i>Sperone</i>, a compact volcanic concrete found in the +neighbourhood of the ancient Gabii on the road to Tivoli, extensively +used in the construction of the earliest monuments, particularly the +Tabularium and the huge Arco de Pantani. Brick was also largely +employed in the construction of the foundations and inner walls of +public buildings, being arranged at a later date into ornamental +patterns, to which the names of <i>opus incertum</i> and <i>opus reticulatum</i> +were given; and in the manufacture of this substance, which they were +probably at first taught by the Etruscan artificers of Veii in the +neighbourhood, the Romans reached a high degree of perfection. The +earliest tombs along the Appian Way were constructed of these +different varieties of building<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316"></a>[316]</span> materials. The sarcophagi of the +Scipios were hollowed out of simple blocks of peperino stone; and the +sculptor's art and the material in which he wrought were worthy of the +severe simplicity of the heroic age.</p> + +<p>But towards the close of the Republican period, Rome began to be +distinguished for the magnificence of its public monuments. As its +area of conquest spread, so did its luxury increase. New divinities +were introduced from foreign countries, and domesticated in the +Capitol; and these required more sumptuous fanes than those with which +the native deities had been contented. The brown tufa of the Tarpeian +Rock sufficed for the rude sanctuary of Vesta, the primitive +hearth-stone of ancient Rome; but in the reconstruction of the +sumptuous temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which marked the grandest +period of Roman history, the most precious stones of Asia and Africa +were employed. Statues were imported wholesale from Greece to adorn +temples and theatres, constructed after the models of Greek +architecture, with pillars, friezes, and floors of precious Pentelic +and Sicilian marble. During the last century of the Republic marble +became a common building-stone. The tomb of Cæcilia Metella, and the +temples of Ceres, Juno Sospita, and Castor and Pollux, indicate the +introduction of this precious and beautiful material. But it was +reserved for the period of the Empire to complete the architectural +glories of the city. Travertine, usually called <i>Lapis Tiburtinus</i>, a +straw-coloured volcanic limestone excavated in the plain below Tivoli, +which has the useful property of hardening on exposure, was now used +as the principal building-stone instead of the former lavas and tufas; +and the Colosseum, entirely constructed of travertine, which was +treated in the middle ages as a quarry, out of which were built many +of the palaces and churches of Rome, attests to this day the beauty +and durability of this material. Quarries of crystalline marbles, +admirably adapted for the purposes of the sculptor and architect, were +opened in the range of the Apennines overlooking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317"></a>[317]</span> the beautiful Bay of +Spezia, in the vicinity of Carrara, Massa, and Seravezza, and largely +worked in the time of Augustus. This emperor could boast that he had +found Rome of brick, and left it of marble. The marbles of each new +territory annexed to the Empire were brought at enormous expense into +the Imperial City. A quay, to which reference has already been made, +was constructed at the broadest part of the Tiber, where the vessels +that transported marbles from Africa, and from the most distant parts +of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, landed their cargoes. Here +numerous blocks of marble were lately found, one of which was +identified as that sent to Nero from a quarry in Carinthia; and +another, a column of even more colossal dimensions, weighing about +thirty-four tons of valuable African marble, was meant to serve as a +memorial pillar of the Council of 1870 on the Janiculum, but the +intention was never carried out. So abundant was marble during the +first two centuries of the Empire, that it was nothing accounted of. +Every temple, palace, and public edifice was built of it either in +whole or in part. The tombs that lined the Appian Way on either side +for fifteen miles had their brick cores covered with marble slabs; and +their magnificence must have impressed every visitor who entered the +Imperial City through this avenue of architectural glory shrouding the +decays of death. It is obvious, then, that by studying the history of +the conquests of Rome, the student can ascertain at what period a +particular kind of marble was introduced from its native country, and +the proximate date of the building in which this marble had been used.</p> + +<p>It was a fortunate circumstance for the preservation of the precious +marbles of Rome that Christianity laid its cuckoo egg in the nest of +the Pagan city. When the capture of Rome by Alaric gave the final blow +to heathen worship, by the overthrow of the ruling classes, who alone +cherished the proud memories of the ancient faith, the greater number +of the temples were still standing without any one to look after the +edifices or maintain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318"></a>[318]</span> the religious services. The Christians were +therefore free to take possession of the deserted shrines; and they +speedily transferred to their own churches the columns and marble +decorations that adorned the temples of the gods. Many of the precious +stones that once beautified the palaces of emperors and senators were +employed to form the altars and the mosaic flooring of the memorial +chapels. Almost all the early churches were constructed on or near the +sites of the temples, so that the materials of the one might be +transported to the other with the least difficulty and expense, just +as the settler in the back-woods of America erects his log-house in +the immediate vicinity of the trees that are most suitable for his +purpose. And the striking contrast between the plain, mean exteriors +of the oldest Roman churches—rough, time-stained, and unfinished +since their erection—and their gorgeous interiors, with their forests +of columns separating the aisles, and the series of richly-sculptured +and brilliantly-frescoed chapels, all blazing with gold and marble,—a +contrast that reminds us of the surprising difference between the +outside of a common clumsy geode lying in the mud, and the sparkling +crystals in the drusic cavity at the heart of it,—would lead us to +infer that the outer walls were raised in haste to secure the valuable +materials on the spot, before they could be otherwise appropriated. +Marangoni, a learned Roman archæologist, mentions thirty-five churches +in Rome as all raised upon the sites and out of the remains of ancient +temples; and no less than six hundred and eighty-eight large columns +of marble, granite, porphyry, and other valuable stones, as among the +relics of heathen fanes transferred to sacred ground within the city, +when the bronze Jupiter was metamorphosed into the Jew Peter,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And Pan to Moses lent his pagan horn."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Many of these relics can be traced and identified, for it may be +generally presumed, for the reason already given, that none are very +far removed from their original situation.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319"></a>[319]</span></p> + +<p>I know no more interesting pursuit in Rome than such an investigation; +the objects, when their history is ascertained, acquiring a charm from +association, over and above their own intrinsic beauty and interest. +Most of the materials with which the three hundred and sixty-five +churches of modern Rome have been constructed have been derived from +the ruins of the ancient city. With the exception of a few +comparatively insignificant portions brought from the modern quarries +of Carrara, Siena, and Sicily, to complete subordinate details and to +give a finish to the work, no marbles, it is said, have been used in +ecclesiastical and palatial architecture for the last fifteen hundred +years, save those found conveniently on the spot; and hardly a brick +has been made or a stone of travertine or tufa hewn out for domestic +buildings within the same period. The construction of St. Peter's +itself involved more destruction of classical monuments than all the +appropriations of previous and subsequent Vandals put together. Much +has been lost on account of this extraordinary transmutation and +reconsecration, whose loss we can never cease to deplore; but we must +not forget at the same time that much has been conserved which would +otherwise have wasted away under the slow ravages of time, been +consigned to the lime-kiln, or disappeared in obscure and ignoble use. +Enough remains to overwhelm us with astonishment, and furnish +materials for the study of years.</p> + +<p>The white marbles of Greece were the first introduced into Rome. Paros +supplied the earliest specimens, and long held a monopoly of the +trade. <i>Marmor Parium</i>, or Marmo Greco duro, as it is called by the +modern Italians, is the very flower and consummation of the rocks. +This material seems to have been created specially for the use of the +sculptor—as that in which he can express most clearly and beautifully +his ideal conceptions; and the surpassing excellence of ancient Greek +sculpture was largely due to the suitability for high art of the +marble of the country, which was so stainlessly pure,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320"></a>[320]</span> delicate, and +uniform—as Ruskin remarks, so soft as to allow the sculptor to work +it without force, and trace on it his finest lines, and yet so hard as +never to betray the touch or moulder away beneath the chisel. Parian +marble is by far the most beautiful of the Greek marbles. It is a +nearly pure carbonate of lime of creamy whiteness, with a finely +crystalline granular structure, and is nearly translucent. It may be +readily distinguished from all other white marbles by the peculiarly +sparkling light that shines from its crystalline facets on being +freshly broken; and this peculiarity enables the expert at once to +determine the origin of any fragment of Greek or Roman statuary. The +ancient quarries in the island of Paros are still wrought, though very +little marble from this source is exported to other countries. In the +entablature around the tomb of Cæcilia Metella, which is composed of +Parian marble, we see the first example in Rome of the use of +ornaments in marble upon the outside of a building; an example that +was afterwards extensively followed, for all the tombs of a later age +on the Appian Way had their exteriors sheathed with a veneer of +marble. The beautiful sarcophagus which contained the remains of the +noble lady for whom this gigantic pile was erected, and which is now +in the Farnese Palace, was also formed of this material. Most +beautiful examples of Parian marble may be seen in the three elegant +columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum, +belonging to the best period of Græco-Roman architecture; and in the +nineteen fluted Corinthian pillars which form the little circular +temple of Hercules on the banks of the Tiber, long supposed to be the +Temple of Vesta. By far the largest mass of this marble in Rome is the +colossal fragment in front of the Colosseum that belonged to the +Temple of Venus and Rome; and it helps to give one an idea of the +extraordinary grandeur and magnificence of this building in its prime, +whose fluted columns, six feet in diameter, and the sheathing of whose +outside walls of great thickness, were all made of Parian marble.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321"></a>[321]</span></p> + +<p>More extensively employed in Greek and Roman statuary and architecture +was the <i>Marmor Pentelicum</i>, or Marmo Greco fino of the modern +Italians. The quarries which yielded inexhaustible materials for the +public buildings and statues of Greece, and for the great monuments of +Rome, were situated on the slopes of Mount Pentelicus, near Athens; +and after having been closed for ages, have recently been reopened for +the restoration of some of the buildings in the Greek capital. The +marble is dazzlingly white and fine-grained, but it sometimes contains +little pieces of quartz or flint, which give some trouble to the +workmen. The Parthenon, crowning like a perfect capital of human art +the summit of Nature's rough workmanship in the Acropolis, was built +of this marble; and the immortal sculpture of Pheidias on the metopes, +the frieze of the cella, and the tympana of the pediments of the +temple, known as the Elgin Marbles, were carved out of a material +worthy of their incomparable beauty. Innumerable specimens at one time +existed in Rome. The arch of Septimius Severus and the Arch of Titus +are built of it, although the rusty and weather-beaten hue of these +venerable monuments hides the nature of the material. Domitian, who +restored the celebrated Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, procured +columns of Pentelic marble for the purpose from Athens; two of these +are now in the nave of the church of Ara Coeli, built upon the site of +the temple; and portions of the others, and of the marble decorations, +were presented by the magistrates to the Franciscan friars of the +neighbouring convent, and by them were wrought in 1348 into the +conspicuous staircase leading to the façade of the church, which pious +Catholics used to mount on their knees in the manner of the ancient +worshippers of Jupiter. Among the statues wrought of this marble may +be mentioned the famous group of the Laocoon found in the Baths of +Titus; the beautiful Venus de Medici, discovered in the Villa of +Hadrian, near Tivoli, and now in the Uffizi Gallery in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322"></a>[322]</span> Florence; and +the well-known "Farnese Bull," sculptured out of a single block of +huge dimensions, unearthed out of the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, +and now in the Museum of Naples. Massimo d'Azeglio, in his +<i>Recollections</i>, gives an interesting instance of the value set upon +this marble by modern Roman sculptors. Pacetti having purchased an +ancient Greek statue of the best period in Pentelic marble, greatly +mutilated, and wishing to repair it, could find nothing among the best +products of the Carrara quarries to match the marble in purity and +fineness of texture, and was therefore obliged to destroy another +Greek statue of inferior merit in order to get materials for the +restoration. From this combination he succeeded in producing the +sleeping figure known as the Barberini Faun, whose forcible abduction +by the Pontifical Government on the eve of its being sold to a German +prince, so preyed upon the mind of the cruelly-wronged sculptor, that +he took to his bed and died.</p> + +<p>Very like Pentelic marble, but easily distinguishable, is the Marmor +Porinum, the Marmo Grechetto duro of the Italians. It is intermediate +in the quality of its grain between Parian and Pentelic marble, being +finer than the former and not so fine as the latter. The column in +front of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, removed by Paul V. in +1614 from the Basilica of Constantine, is composed of this species; as +well as the celebrated Torso Belvedere of the Vatican, found near the +site of the Theatre of Pompey, to which Michael Angelo traced much of +his inspiration, and which, as we learn from a Greek Inscription at +the base, was the work of the Rhodian sculptor Apollonios, who carved +the group of the "Farnese Bull."</p> + +<p>Not unlike this Porine marble was the <i>Marmor Hymettium</i> of the +ancients; but it was never a great favourite in Rome on account of its +large grain and dingy white colour, slightly tinged with green and +marked by long parallel dark gray veins of unequal breadth. The +metamorphic action was not sufficiently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323"></a>[323]</span> energetic to destroy the last +traces of organic matter and the original stratification of the rock; +and the crystallising force was not sufficiently exercised to allow of +the entire rearrangement of the whole of the particles so as to expel +the included impurities. This marble was not therefore fitted for +sculpture; but it could be used for certain architectural purposes and +for ornamentation. It used to be quarried extensively on Hymettus, the +well-known mountain of Attica, celebrated for the quantity and +excellence of its honey. The rock on which the aromatic flowers grew +in such profusion for the bees, did not, however, partake of the same +delightful quality. In working it a peculiar fetid odour of +sulphuretted hydrogen, somewhat like that of a stale onion, was +emitted, which gave rise to its modern Italian name—Marmo Cipolla. +This repulsive quality, however, disappeared quickly on exposure. The +finest specimens of this marble in Rome are the forty-six columns in +the Church of St. Paul's, outside the gate, which belonged originally +to the Basilica Æmilia in the Forum, founded about forty-five years +before Christ, and were transferred to the new building when the +venerable old church, in which they had stood for fifteen hundred +years, was destroyed by fire. Nothing too can be finer than the two +rows of Ionic columns of Hymettian marble which divide the immense +nave of Santa Maria Maggiore from the side aisles. There are eighteen +on either side, each upwards of eight feet in circumference, and are +supposed to have been taken from the Temple of Juno Lucina, whose site +is assigned by antiquaries to the immediate vicinity. Similar rows of +fluted Doric columns of the same marble, ten on each side, adorn the +Church of St. Pietro in Vincoli. They are ancient, and belonged to +some temple or basilica of the Forum. There are also five ancient +pillars of Hymettian marble in the upper Church of San Clemente, taken +from the same prolific source. The wall which surrounds the unique +choir or presbytery of this most interesting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324"></a>[324]</span> old church is also +composed of great slabs of Hymettian marble, taken from the original +subterranean church and hastily put together. Some of the ancient +pillars of Hymettian marble belonging to the peristyle of the temple +of Ceres and Proserpine, still as widely spaced as they used to be, +adorn the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, built on the foundation +of that shrine; while twenty-four remarkably fine fluted Corinthian +columns of the same material divide the triple nave of Santa Sabina on +the Aventine, and are supposed to have belonged to the ancient Temple +of Juno Regina, erected by Camillus after the destruction of the +Etruscan city of Veii. Hymettian marble was one of the first—if not +actually the first—species introduced into Rome. In the year of Rome +662, Lucius Crassus the orator brought to the city six columns of it, +each twelve feet in height, with which he adorned his house on the +Palatine Hill, receiving, on account of this circumstance, from Marcus +Brutus the nickname of the Palatine Venus. At the present day the +marble is used for corner-stones in the ordinary houses of Athens.</p> + +<p>Another livid white marble, somewhat resembling the Hymettian, is that +which is known to the Italians as Marmo Greco livido. It was called by +the ancients <i>Marmor Thasium</i>, from Thasos, now Thapso, an island in +the north of the Ægean Sea, off the coast of Thrace. The marble dug +from the rocky sides of Mount Ipsario—a romantic hill thickly covered +with fir trees, and rising three thousand four hundred and +twenty-eight feet above the sea—enjoyed considerable reputation among +the ancients. In Rome it must have been very common, if the name of +Thasian is to be given to all the fragments of nondescript dusky white +marble which are found among the ruins. Seneca says that the +fish-ponds in his day were formed of that Thasian marble, with which +at one time it was rare to adorn even temples. It was considered the +least valuable of the white Greek marbles, and was used for the more +ordinary purposes; Statius<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325"></a>[325]</span> mentioning, in order to show the +surpassing splendour of a particular building, that Thasian marble was +not admitted into it. But there are not many well-defined monuments of +it remaining in Rome. The chief are the bust of Euripides in the +Vatican, and the outside casing of the pyramid of Caius Cestius, near +the Protestant cemetery, now so weather-beaten and stained with dusky +lichens that it is difficult to identify the material of which it is +composed.</p> + +<p>From this marble, by a slight tinge of yellow and a little darker +shade, the livid white marble of Lesbos, the <i>Marmor Lesbium</i>, or +Marmo Greco Giallognolo, may be distinguished. It is not a beautiful +material; and yet, strange to say, the statues of some of the most +beautiful women of antiquity, such as those of Julia Pia in the +Vatican, and of the Capitoline Venus in the Museum of the Capitol, +were made of this marble, obtained from the birthplace of Sappho. More +beautiful is the kind known as the <i>Marmor Tyrium</i>, or the +Greco-Turchinicchio, which has a light bluish tinge. It was shipped by +the ancients at the port of Tyre from some unknown quarry in Mount +Lebanon, which supplied the marble used without stint in the building +and decoration of Solomon's Temple and Palace. In this quarry every +block was shaped and polished before it was sent to be inserted in its +place in the Temple wall, which therefore, as Heber beautifully says, +sprang up like some tall palm in majestic silence. In Rome this marble +was very rare. The doors in the great piers which support the dome of +St. Peter's are each flanked by a pair of spirally-fluted columns of +Tyrian marble, supposed to have been brought to Rome by Titus from the +Temple of Jerusalem. They originally decorated the confessional of the +old Basilica. The twenty-eight steps of the Scala Santa at the +Lateran, said by ecclesiastical tradition to have belonged to Pilate's +house in Jerusalem, and to have been the identical ones which our +Saviour descended when He left the judgment-hall, are made of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326"></a>[326]</span> +marble; so that, whatever we may think of the tradition itself, there +is a feature of verisimilitude in the material.</p> + +<p>The chief supply of pure white marble in Rome was derived from the +quarries in the mountains at Luna, an old Etruscan town near the Bay +of Spezia, which fell to decay under the later Roman emperors. This +ancient <i>Marmor Lunense</i> is called by the Italians Marmo di Carrara, +because it is identical with the famous modern Carrara marble, and +belongs to the same range of strata; the ruins of the ancient Luna +being only a few miles from the flourishing town of Carrara, the +metropolis of the marble trade. From Parian and Pentelic marble, Lunar +marble, as already mentioned, can be easily distinguished by the less +brilliant sparkle of its crystal facets, as shown by a fresh surface, +and also by its more soapy-white colour. It is simply an ordinary +Jurassic limestone altered by subsequent metamorphic action. The +mountains which contain the quarries are highly picturesque, rising +with serried outline to a height of upwards of five thousand feet, +their flanks scarred by deep gorges and torrent-beds, and their lower +slopes clothed with olive groves, vineyards, and forest trees. Lunar +marble was first brought to Rome in the time of Julius Cæsar; and +Mamurra, so bitterly reviled by Catullus, the commander of the +artificers in Cæsar's army in Gaul, lined with great slabs of this +marble the outside and inside of his house on the Coelian Hill—the +first recorded instance of veneering or incrusting walls with marble. +The discovery of this method of cutting marble into thin slices, and +decorating structures of ordinary materials with them, was stigmatised +by Pliny as an unreasonable mode of extending luxury. The use of Lunar +marble, on account of its easy accessibility, speedily extended to +every kind of building, public and private. So vast were the +quantities sent to Rome, that Ovid expressed his fear lest the +mountains themselves should disappear through the digging out of this +marble; and Pliny anticipated that dreadful consequences would be +produced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327"></a>[327]</span> by the removal in this way of the great barriers erected by +Nature.</p> + +<p>Many fine specimens still survive the ravages of ages, among which may +be mentioned the eleven massive Corinthian columns, upwards of +forty-two feet high, and four and a half feet in diameter, which form +the peristyle of the Temple of Neptune in the Piazza di Pietra, well +known as the old Custom-house. These pillars suffered severely from +the action of fire, and are much worn and defaced, but there is a +grandeur about them still which deeply impresses the spectator; and +the blocks of marble which form the inner part of the architrave and +entablature, as seen from the inner side of the court, are so +stupendous that the ruins "overhang like a beetling rock of marble on +a mountain peak." Grander still is the majestic column of Lunar marble +dedicated to Marcus Aurelius, in the Piazza Colonna, which rears aloft +its shaft one hundred and twenty-two feet in the air, wreathed around +with spiral bands of historic reliefs, illustrating the Roman +conquests over the German tribes north of the Danube. Very splendid +specimens of the same marble may be seen in the three fluted +Corinthian columns and a pilaster belonging to the Temple of Mars +Ultor erected by Augustus in his Forum after the battle of Actium, +which are the largest columns of any kind of marble in Rome, being +eighteen feet in circumference, and upwards of fifty-four feet high. +The two well-known pillars of the portico of the Temple of Minerva, +called Le Colonnacce, belonging to the adjoining Forum of Nerva, are +also composed of the same material; as also the three deeply-fluted +Corinthian columns that remain of the Temple of Vespasian in the Roman +Forum, which still retain some traces of the purple colour with which +they appear to have been painted. By far the largest single masses of +Lunar marble are the two portions of a gigantic frieze and +entablature, highly ornamented with sculpture, one measuring one +thousand four hundred and ninety cubic feet, and weighing upwards of +one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328"></a>[328]</span> hundred tons, lying in the Colonna gardens on the slope of the +Quirinal. These relics are supposed to have belonged to the splendid +Temple of the Sun, which Aurelian erected after the conquest of +Palmyra, and in which he deposited the rich spoils of that city. They +are associated therefore with romantic memories of the famous Queen +Zenobia, who spent her last days near Tivoli, after having been led +captive in fetters of gold to grace the triumphal procession of her +conqueror.</p> + +<p>For statuary purposes Lunar marble was extensively used in ancient +Rome. It formed the material out of which the sculptor produced some +of the noblest creations of his genius. Of these the Apollo Belvedere +in the Vatican collection is one of the most remarkable. The evidence +of its own material, as already mentioned, has dispelled the old idea +that it is one of the masterpieces of the Greek school; and Canova's +conjecture, based upon some peculiarities of its drapery, is in all +likelihood true, viz. that it was a copy of a bronze original, made, +probably at the order of Nero, for one of the baths of the imperial +villa at Antium, in whose ruins it was found in the fifteenth century. +From the time of the Romans, the white marble of the Montes Lunenses +has been used for decorative purposes in many of the churches and +public buildings of Italy. It formed the material out of which Michael +Angelo, Canova, and Thorwaldsen chiselled their immortal works. Its +quality and composition, however, vary very considerably, and small +crystals of perfectly limpid quartz, called <i>Carrara diamonds</i>, and +iron pyrites, occasionally occur, to the annoyance of the sculptor. It +becomes soon discoloured when exposed even to the pure air of Italy, +but it is capable of resisting decay for very long periods. The +opinion current in Paris, that the marbles of Carrara are unable to +withstand the effects of the climate of that city, is due to the +frequent use of inferior qualities, which are known to artists as +<i>Saloni</i> and <i>Ravaccioni</i>, and whose particles have but a feeble +cohesion, and consequently slight durability.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329"></a>[329]</span></p> + +<p>All the white marbles which I have thus described were used in Rome +principally for external architecture; and beautiful as a city largely +built of them may have looked, it must have had, nevertheless, a +garishness and artificiality which would offend the artistic eye. When +newly constructed, the Roman temples in the time of the emperors must +have been oppressive, reflecting the hot sunshine from their snowy +cellæ and pillared porticoes with an insufferable glare. +Marble—unlike sandstones, clay-slates, and basalts, which are kindred +to the earth and the elements, and find themselves at home in any +situation, all things making friends with them, mosses, lichens, +ivies—is a dead, cold material, and does not harmonise with +surrounding circumstances. Like the snow, which hides the familiar +brown soil from us, with its unearthly and uncongenial whiteness, its +perpetual snow chills and repels human sympathies. Nature, for a +similar reason, introduces white flowers very sparingly into the +landscape; and their dazzling whiteness is toned down by the greenery +around them, and the balancing of coloured objects near at hand, so +that they do not in reality attract more notice than other flowers. +The ancient Greeks themselves, keenly sensitive as they were to all +external influences, had a fine instinct for this want of harmony +between white marble and the tones of nature and the feelings of man; +and therefore, in many instances, they coloured not only the marble +buildings exposed to view outside, but even the marble statues +carefully secluded in the niches within. The Parthenon was thus tinted +with vermilion, blue, and gold, which seems to us, who now see only +the golden hue with which the suns of ages have dyed its pure Pentelic +marble, a barbarous superfluity, but which, to the people of the time, +was necessary on account of the dazzling brightness of its material, +concealing the exquisite beauty of the workmanship, and the finished +grace of its proportions. Colour was used with perfect taste to +relieve the sculptured details of the exterior, to articulate and +orna<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330"></a>[330]</span>ment mouldings, and to harmonise the pure white temple with the +dark blue sky of Greece and the rich warm tones of her landscape. The +magnificent sarcophagi of white marble recently discovered at Sidon, +belonging to the best type of Greek art, are most effectively adorned +with different tints and gradations of red and purple, gold being +sparingly applied. We see many traces of bright colouring on the +columns and other parts of the buildings in the Roman Forum. The +bas-reliefs on the Lumachella marble of Trajan's Column were +originally picked out with profuse gilding and vivid colours; the egg +and arrow moulding of the capital being tinted green, red and yellow, +the abacus blue and red, the spirals yellow, the prominent figures +gilt against backgrounds of different hues, and the water of the +various rivers blue. Statues of the deities in Rome were nearly all +coloured; and they received a fresh coat of vermilion—which, although +it was the hue of divinity, was extremely fugacious—on anniversary +occasions or in times of great national rejoicing.</p> + +<p>All this pleads powerfully in behalf of Gibson's colour-creed, which +has had so much prejudice to overcome. The beauty and expression of +ancient sculpture, whether for outside or inside decoration, were +greatly heightened by this tinting. In cases where it was not +employed, Nature herself became the artist, and has burnt into the +marble statue or the marble pillar the warm hue of life; and the +rusty, withered look of the ruins, over which ages of change have +passed, touches us more than the pure white marble structure could +have done in the pride of its splendour, and appeals to the tenderest +sympathies of beings who see in themselves, and in all around them, +the tokens of death and decay. The graceful Corinthian pillars of the +Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Forum, the three surviving +witnesses of its former grandeur, are all the more suggestive to us by +reason of the russet hues with which time has stained the snowy purity +of their Parian marble; and it is difficult to say,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331"></a>[331]</span> as some one has +shrewdly remarked, how much of the touching effect which the drooping +figure of the Dying Gladiator of the Capitol produces upon us may be +attributed to its discoloration, and to the absence of the dainty +spotlessness of the original Greek marble. That grime of ages "lends a +sort of warmth, and suggests flesh and blood," so that the suffering +is not a cold and frosty incrustation, with which we have nothing to +do, but a real tragedy going on before our eyes, by which our +sympathies are most deeply moved. In a dry, hot climate, like that of +Rome, there are no tender tones of vegetable colouring, no moss or +lichen touches of gold or gray or green to relieve the bare cold +surface, and the rigid formal outlines of the marble; but out of the +sky itself the marble gathers the soft shadows and the rich brown hues +that reconcile its strange, unnatural whiteness with the homely ways +of the familiar earth. That wonderful violet sky of Rome would glorify +the meanest object. The common red brick glows in its translucent +atmosphere like a ruby; and the russet defaced column, as it comes out +against its vivid light, becomes luminous like a pillar of gold. Brick +and marble are of equal æsthetic value in this magic city, in which +the uncomely parts and materials have a more abundant comeliness by +reason of the medium through which they are seen. Over all things +lingers permanently the transfiguring glow that comes to northern +lands only in the afternoon. In that land it is always afternoon; the +ruins bathe as it were in a perpetual sunset. The air is constantly +flooded with a radiance which seems to transfuse itself through every +part of the city, making all its ruinous and hoary age bright and +living, forming pictures and harmonies indescribable of the humblest +objects.</p> + +<p>The white marbles hitherto described were principally for exterior +use. But as Roman wealth and luxury increased coloured marbles were +employed for internal decoration; and the effects which the Greeks +obtained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332"></a>[332]</span> by the application of pigments, the Romans obtained by the +rich hues of precious marbles incrusting their buildings, and durable +as these buildings themselves. At first these rare materials were used +with a degree of moderation, chiefly in the form of mosaics of small +discs or cubes for the pavements of halls and courts. But at length +massive pillars were constructed of them, and the vast inside brick +surfaces of imperial baths and palaces were crusted over and concealed +by slabs of rare and splendid marbles, the lines of which had no +necessary connection with the mass behind or beneath. Carthage from +the spoils of its temples supplied Rome with many of its rarest +columns; and it is probable that not a few of these survive in the +Christian basilicas that occupy the sites and were built out of the +materials of the old Pagan structures. With the decay of the Roman +Empire the use of coloured marbles in art increased, so that even +busts and statues had their faces and necks cut in white and the +drapery in coloured marble. It attained its fullest development in the +Byzantine style, of which, as it appeals to the senses more by colour +than by form, it is a predominant characteristic, necessary to its +vitality and expression. The early Christian builders contemplated +this mode of decoration for their interiors only. Very rarely had they +the means to apply it to the outside surface, as in St. Mark's in +Venice, which is the great type of the Byzantine church, coloured +within and without with the rich hues of marbles and mosaics. Our +great Gothic cathedrals, as an eminent architect has said, were the +creation of one thought, and hence they were complete when the workmen +of the architects left them, and their whole effect is dominated by +one idea or one set of ideas; but the early Roman churches were the +results of a general co-operation of associated art, and the large and +plain surfaces of the interiors were regarded by the sculptor as a +framework for the exhibition of his decorative art. Colour was +lavished in veneers of rare marbles, and costly mosaics<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333"></a>[333]</span> and frescoes +covering the walls. There was thus "less unity of purely architectural +design, but a greater amount of general artistic wealth."</p> + +<p>Intermediate between the white marbles used for external architecture +and the coloured marbles used for internal decoration, and forming the +link between them, is the variety called by the Italians cipollino, or +onion-stone. Its classical name is <i>Marmor Carystium</i>, from Carystos, +a town of Euboea, mentioned by Homer, situated on the south coast of +the island at the foot of Mount Oche. This town was chiefly celebrated +for its marble, which was in great request at Rome, and also for its +large quantities of valuable asbestos, which received the name of +Carystian stone, and was manufactured by the Romans into incombustible +cloth for the preservation of the ashes of the dead in the process of +cremation. The asbestos occurs in the same quarries with this marble, +just as this mineral is usually associated with talc schist, in which +chlorite and mica are often present. Strabo places the quarries of +cipollino at Marmorium, a place upon the coast near Carystos; but Mr. +Hawkins mentions in Walpole's <i>Travels</i> that he found the ancient +works upon Mount Oche at a distance of three miles from the sea, the +place being indicated by some old half-worked columns, lying +apparently on the spot where they had been quarried. This marble is +very peculiar, and is at once recognised by its gray-green ground +colour and the streaks of darker green running through the calcareous +substance like the coats of an onion, hence its name. These streaks +belong to a different mineral formation. They are micaceous strata; +and thus the true cipollino is a mixture of talcose schist with white +saccharoidal marble, and may be said to form a transition link between +marble and common stone. It belongs to the Dolomitic group of rocks, +which forms so large a part of the romantic scenery of South-Eastern +Europe, and yields all over the world some of the best and most +ornamental building-stones.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334"></a>[334]</span> In this group calc-spar or dolomite +wholly replaces the quartz and films of argillaceous matter, of which, +especially in Scotland, micaceous schist is usually composed. There +are many varieties of cipollino, the most common being the typical +marble, a gray-green stone, sometimes more or less white, with veins +of a darker green, forming waves rippling over it like those of the +sea. It occurs so often among the ruins that it must have been perhaps +more frequently used in Rome than any other marble. It was also one of +the first introduced, for Mamurra lined the walls of his house on the +Coelian with it, as well as with Lunar marble, in the time of Julius +Cæsar; but Statius mentions that it was not very highly esteemed, +especially in later times, when more valuable marbles came into use.</p> + +<p>One remarkably fine variety called <i>Cipollino marino</i> is distinguished +by its minute curling veins of light green on a ground of clear white. +Four very large columns in the Braccio Nuova of the Vatican, which may +have belonged originally, like the two large columns of <i>giallo +antico</i> in the same apartment, to some sumptuous tomb on the Appian +Way, are formed of this variety, and are unique among all the other +pillars of cipollino marble to be seen in Rome for the brightness of +their colour and the exquisite beauty of their venation. Nothing can +be more striking and beautiful than the rich wavelike ripples of green +on the cipollino marbles that encase the Baptistery of St. Mark's in +Venice, as if the breakers on the Lido shore had been frost-bound +before they fell, and the sea-nymphs had sculptured them into the +walls of this "ecclesiastical sea-cave." Indeed all the outside and +inside walls of the glorious old church are cased with this marble—in +the interior up to the height of the capitals of the columns; while +above that, every part of the vaults and domes is incrusted with a +truly Byzantine profusion of gold mosaics—fit image, as Ruskin +beautifully says, of the sea on which, like a halcyon's nest, Venice +rests, and of the glowing golden sky that shines<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335"></a>[335]</span> above it. Line after +line of pleasant undulation ripples on the smooth polished marble as +the sea ebbs and flows through the narrow streets of the city. In the +churches and palaces of Rome specimens of all the varieties of +cipollino may be found, taken from the old ruins, for the marble is +not now worked in the ancient quarries. The largest masses of the +common kind in Rome are the eight grand old Corinthian columns which +form the portico of the Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina in the +Forum. The height of each shaft, which is composed of a single block, +is forty-six feet, and the circumference fifteen feet. The pillars +look very rusty and weather-worn, and are much battered with the +ill-usage which they have received.</p> + +<p>One of the most beautiful and highly-prized marbles of ancient Rome +was the species which is familiar to every visitor under the name of +<i>Giallo antico</i>. It must have existed in immense quantities in the +time of the emperors, for fragments of it are found almost everywhere, +and it is the variety that is most frequently picked up and converted +into ornamental articles. It is easily recognised by its deep +brownish-yellow colour, resembling somewhat the yellow marbles of +Siena and Verona, though invariably richer and brighter. All the +varieties are traversed more or less by veins and blotches of a darker +yellow or brownish hue, which give them a charming variety. The +texture is remarkably fine and close-grained. In this respect <i>giallo +antico</i> can be distinguished from every other marble by the touch. +When polished it is exquisitely smooth and soft, looking like ivory +that has become yellow with age. No fitter material could be employed +for the internal pavements or pillars of old temples, presenting a +venerable appearance, as if the suns of many centuries had stained it +with their own golden hue. From the fact that it was called by the +Romans <i>Marmor Numidicum</i>, we are led to infer that this marble was +quarried in Numidia, and was brought into Rome when the region was +made a Roman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336"></a>[336]</span> province by Julius Cæsar. It was probably known to the +Romans in the time of Jugurtha; but the age of luxury had not then +begun, and Marius and Sulla were more intent upon the glories of war +than upon the arts of peace. The quarries on the slopes of the Atlas, +worked for three hundred years to supply the enormous demand made by +the luxury of the masters of the world, were at last supposed to be +exhausted; and the idea has long prevailed that the marble could only +be found among the ruins of the Imperial City. But four or five years +ago, the sources from which the Romans obtained some of their most +precious varieties of this material have been rediscovered in the +range of mountains called Djebel Orousse, north-east of Oran in +Algeria. All over an extensive rocky plateau in this place numerous +shallow depressions plainly indicate the existence of very ancient +quarries. A large company has been formed to work and export the +marble, which may now be had in illimitable quantity. The largest +specimens of <i>giallo antico</i> existing in Rome are the eight fluted +Corinthian pillars, thirty feet high and eleven feet in circumference, +with capitals and bases of white marble, which stand in pairs within +the niches of the Pantheon. In consequence of the fires of former +generations, the marble has here and there a tinge of red on the +surface. In the Church of St. John Lateran there is a splendid pair of +fluted columns of <i>giallo antico</i>, which support the entablature over +a portal at the northern extremity of the transept. They are thirty +feet in height and nine feet in circumference, and were found in +Trajan's Forum. In the Arch of Constantine are several magnificent +<i>giallo antico</i> columns and pilasters, which are supposed to have +belonged to the triumphal arch of Trajan. They are so damaged in +appearance, and so discoloured by the weather, that it is not easy, +without close inspection, to tell the material of which they are +composed. For pavements and the sheathing of interior walls <i>giallo +antico</i> was used more frequently than almost any other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337"></a>[337]</span> kind of +marble; hence it is mostly found in fragments of thin slabs, with the +old polish still glistening upon them.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to describe, so as to identify it, the species of +marble known as <i>Africano</i>. It has a great variety of tints, ranging +from the clearest white to the deepest black, through yellow and +purple. Its texture is very compact and hard, frequently containing +veins of quartz, which render it difficult to work. Its ancient name +is <i>Marmor Chium</i>, for it was brought to Rome from a quarry on Mount +Elias, the highest summit in the island of Chios—the modern +Scio—which contested the honour of being the birthplace of Homer. It +received its modern name of Africano, not from any connection with +Africa, but from its dark colour. It enters pretty frequently into the +decoration of the Roman churches, though it is rare to see it in large +masses. It seems to have been much in fashion for pavements, of which +many fragments may be seen among the ruins of Trajan's Forum. The side +wall of the second chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Pace in +the Piazza Navona is sheathed with large slabs of remarkably fine +Africano, "with edges bevelled like a rusticated basement." In the +Belvedere Cortile in the Vatican is a portion of an ancient column of +this marble, which is the most beautiful specimen in Rome; and the +principal portal of the portico of St. Peter's is flanked by a pair of +fluted Roman Ionic columns of Africano, which are the largest in the +city.</p> + +<p>Closely allied to this marble is an ancient species which puzzles most +visitors by its Protean appearance. Its tints are always neutral, but +they vary in depth from the lightest to the darkest shade, and are +never mixed but in juxtaposition. Dirty yellows, cloudy reds, dim +blues and purples, occur in the ground or in the round or waved +blotches or crooked veins. It has a fine grain and a dull fracture. +This variety of Africano is known by the familiar name of <i>Porta +Santa</i>, from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338"></a>[338]</span> circumstance that the jambs and lintel of the first +Porta Santa—a Holy Door annexed by Boniface VIII. to St. Peter's in +the year 1300—were constructed of this marble. The Porta Santa, it +may be mentioned, was instituted in connection with a centenary +jubilee, but afterwards the period of formally opening it was reduced +to fifty years, and now it is shortened to twenty-five. On the +occasion of the jubilee, on Christmas Eve, the Pope knocks three times +with a silver hammer against the masonry with which it is filled up, +which is then demolished, and the Holy Door remains open for a whole +twelvemonth, and on the Christmas Eve of the succeeding year is closed +up in the same manner as before. A similar solemnity is performed by +proxy at the Lateran, the Liberian, and the Pauline Basilicas. In all +these great churches, as in St. Peter's, the jambs and Lintel of the +Holy Door are of Porta Santa marble. This beautiful material was +brought from the mountains in the neighbourhood of Jassus—a +celebrated fishing town of Caria, situated on a small island close to +the north coast of the Jassian Bay. From this circumstance it was +called by the ancient Romans <i>Marmor Jassense</i>. Near the quarries was +a sanctuary of Hestia, with a statue of the goddess, which, though +unprotected in the open air, was believed never to be touched by rain. +The marble, the most highly-prized variety of which was of a blood-red +and livid white colour, was used in Greece chiefly for internal +decoration. It was introduced in large quantity into Rome, and there +are few churches in which the relics of it that existed in older +buildings have not been adapted for ornamental purposes. Among the +larger and finer masses of Porta Santa may be enumerated two columns +and pilasters which belong to the monument of Clement IX., in the +Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, and which are remarkable for their +exceedingly fine texture and the unusual predominance of white among +the other hues; four splendid Corinthian pillars, considered the +finest in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339"></a>[339]</span> Rome, in the nave of Sta. Agnese; the pair of half columns +which support the pediment of the altar in the Capella della +Presentazione in St. Peter's; and the basin of the handsome fountain +in front of the Pillar of Marcus Aurelius in the Piazza Colonna, +constructed by the architect Giacoma della Porta out of an enormous +mass of Porta Santa found lying on the ancient wharf.</p> + +<p>Frequent specimens of a beautiful marble known as <i>Fior di Persico</i>, +from the resemblance of the colour of its bright purple veins on a +white ground to that of the blossom of the peach, may be found in the +Roman churches. It was much used for mouldings, sheathings, and +pedestals, and also for floors. In the Villa of Hadrian large +fragments of slabs of this marble may be found, which lined the walls +and floors of what are called the Greek and Latin Libraries. The +Portuguese Church in Rome has several columns of Fior di Persico +supporting the pediments of altars in the different chapels; +especially four pairs of fluted ones which adorn the two altars at the +extremity of the nave, which are among the largest and finest in Rome. +But the most splendid specimens of all are a pair of columns in the +Palazzo Rospigliosi. The dado, eight feet in height, in the gorgeous +Corsini chapel in the Church of St. John Lateran, is formed of large +tablets of highly-polished Fior di Persico, and the frieze that +surrounds the whole chapel is composed of the same beautiful material, +whose predominance over every other marble is the peculiarity of this +sanctuary. The ancient name of this marble was <i>Marmor Molossium</i>, +from a region in Epirus—now Albania—which was a Roman province in +the time of Pompey. It is associated with the celebrated campaigns in +Italy of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, in which Greece was for the first +time brought into contact with Rome. The region in which the quarries +existed was the most ancient seat of Pelasgic religion.</p> + +<p>The infinite hues and markings of the coloured marbles have all been +painted by Nature with one material only,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340"></a>[340]</span> variously proportioned and +applied—the oxide of iron. The varieties of marble are mainly caused +by the different degrees in which this substance has pervaded them. +They are variable mixtures of the metamorphous carbonates of protoxide +of iron and lime. And it is an interesting fact that there is a +distinct relation between deposits of magnetic iron ore and the +metamorphoses of limestones into marbles; so that this substance not +only gives to the marbles their colouring, but also their texture. +Even the whitest saccharoidal or statuary marble, which it has not +coloured, it has created by the crystallisation of the limestone +associated with it. And the marbles of the entire province of the +Apuan Alps owe their existence to the large quantities of iron ore +disseminated throughout them, which have exercised a great influence +on the molecular modification they have undergone. The same changes +have been produced on the limestones of Greece and Asia Minor by veins +containing iron ore running through them.</p> + +<p>And of the marbles thus produced, one of the most beautiful is that +which is known in Rome by the name of Pavonazzetto, from its +peacock-like markings. The ground is a clear white, with numerous +veins of a dark red or violet colour, while the grain is fine, with +large shining scales. It resembles alabaster in the form and character +of its veins, and in its transparent quality. It is a Phrygian marble, +and was known to the ancients under the name of <i>Marmor Docimenum</i>. +The poet Statius notices the legend that it was stained with the blood +of Atys. It was a favourite marble of the emperor Hadrian, who +employed it to decorate his tomb. It was brought to Rome when Phrygia +became a Roman province, after the establishment of Christianity in +Asia Minor. At first the quarry yielded only small pieces of the +marble, but when it came into the possession of the Romans they +developed its resources to the utmost; numerous large monolithic +columns being wrought on the spot, and conveyed at great expense and +labour to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341"></a>[341]</span> coast. Colonel Leake supposes that the extensive +quarries on the road from Khoorukun and Bulwudun are those of the +ancient Docimenum. Hamilton, in his <i>Researches</i>, says that he saw +numerous blocks of marble and columns in a rough state, and others +beautifully worked, lying in this locality. In an open space beside a +mosque lay neglected a beautifully-finished marble bath, once +intended, perhaps, for a Roman villa; and in the wall of the mosque, +and of the cemetery beside it, were numerous friezes and cornices, +whose elaborately-finished sculptures of the Ionic and Corinthian +orders proved that they were never designed for any building on the +spot, but were in all probability worked near the quarries for the +purpose of easier transportation, as is done in the quarries of +Carrara at the present day. Pavonazzetto is thus associated in an +interesting manner with the Phrygian cities of Laodicea and Colosse. +When St. Paul was preaching the Gospel through this part of Asia +Minor, the architects of Rome were conveying this splendid marble from +the quarries of the Cadmus, to adorn the palatial buildings of the +Imperial City. No marble was so highly esteemed as this, and no other +species is so frequently referred to by the Latin poets.</p> + +<p>The high altar of the subterranean church, under which the relics of +St. Ignatius and St. Clement are supposed to lie, is covered by a +canopy supported by elegant columns of pavonazzetto marble; while the +high altar of the upper church is similarly surmounted by a double +entablature of Hymettian marble, supported by four columns of +pavonazzetto. The extra-mural church of St. Paul's had several +splendid pillars of Phrygian marble, taken by the emperor Theodosius +from the grandest of the law courts of the Republic; but these were +unfortunately destroyed during the burning of the old basilica about +sixty years ago. We see in the flat pilasters of this purple-veined +marble, now erect against the transepts of the restored church, the +vestiges of the magnificent Æmilian Basilica in the Forum, of whose +celebrated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342"></a>[342]</span> columns Pliny spoke in the highest terms. Specimens of +pavonazzetto are to be seen in almost every church in Rome. In the +interesting old Church of Sta. Agnese there are two columns of this +marble, the flutings of which are remarkable for their cabled +divisions. The gallery above is supported on small columns, most of +which are of pavonazzetto spirally fluted. In the Church of Santa +Maria degli Angeli there is also a remarkably fine specimen; while +there is a grand pair of columns in the vestibule of St. Peter's +between the transept and the sacristy. Fourteen fluted columns of +Phrygian marble have been dug up from the site of the Augustan Palace +on the Palatine; while the one hundred and twenty employed by the +emperor Hadrian, in the Temple of Juno and Jupiter erected by him, +have been distributed among several of the Roman churches. The side +walls of the splendid staircase of the Bracchi Palace are sheathed +with a very rare and beautiful variety, remarkable for the delicacy of +its veins and its brilliant polish. The veneer was produced by slicing +down two ancient columns discovered near the Temple of Romulus +Maxentius in the Forum, converted into the Church of SS. Cosma e +Damiano. But the finest of all the pavonazzetto columns of Rome are +the ten large ones in the Church of San Lorenzo outside the walls. In +the volute of the capital of one of them a frog has been carved, which +identifies it as having formerly belonged to the Temple of Jupiter or +Juno, within the area of the Portico of Octavia. Pliny tells us that +both temples were built at their own expense by two wealthy +Lacedæmonian artists, named Sauros and Batrakos; and, having been +refused the only recompense they asked—the right to place an +inscription upon the buildings,—they introduced into the capitals of +the pillars, surreptitiously, the symbols of their respective names, a +lizard and a frog.</p> + +<p>The most precious of the old marbles of Rome is the <i>Rosso antico</i>. +Its classical name has been lost,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343"></a>[343]</span> unless it be identical, as Corsi +conjectures, with the Marmor Alabandicum, described by Pliny as black +inclining much to purple. For a long time it was uncertain where it +was found, but recently quarries of it have been discovered near the +sea at Skantari, a village in the district of Teftion, which show +traces of having been worked by the ancients. From these quarries the +marble can only be extracted in slabs and in small fragments. This is +the case, too, with all the red marbles of Italy, which, in spite of +their compact character, scale off very readily, and are friable, +vitreous, and full of cleavage planes, in addition to which they are +usually only found in thin beds, which prevents their being used for +other purposes than table-tops and flooring-slabs. The predominance of +magnetic iron ore, to which they owe their vivid colour, has thus +seriously affected the molecular arrangement of the rocks. It is +probable that <i>rosso antico</i>, like the Italian red marbles, belongs to +one or other of the Liassic formations, which, in Italy as well as in +Greece and Asia Minor, constitutes a well-marked geological horizon by +its regular stratification and its characteristic ammonite fossils. +The quantity found among the Roman ruins of this marble is very large; +many of the shops in Rome carving their models of classical buildings +in this material. But the fragments are comparatively small. When used +in architecture they have been employed to ornament subordinate +features in some of the grander churches. The largest specimens to be +seen in Rome are the double-branched flight of seven very broad steps, +leading from the nave to the high altar of Santa Prassede. Napoleon +Bonaparte, a few months before his fall, had ordered these slabs of +<i>rosso antico</i> to be sent to Paris to ornament his throne; but +fortunately the order came too late to be executed. The cornice of the +present choir is also formed of this very rare marble; while large +fragments of the old cornice of the same material, which ran round the +whole church, are preserved in the Belvedere Cortile of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344"></a>[344]</span> Vatican. +Tradition asserts that the pieces which have been converted to these +sacred uses in the church once belonged to the house of Pudens, the +father of its titular saint, in which St. Peter is supposed to have +dwelt when in Rome. The entrance to the chamber of the Rospigliosi +Palace, which contains the far-famed "Aurora" of Guido Reni on the +ceiling, is flanked by a pair of Roman Ionic columns of <i>rosso +antico</i>, fourteen feet high, which are the largest in Rome, although +the quality of the marble is much injured by its lighter colour, and +by a white streak which runs up each shaft nearly from top to bottom. +In the sixth room of the Casino of the Villa Borghese the jambs of the +mantelpiece are composed of <i>rosso antico</i> in the form of caryatides +supporting a broad frieze of the same material wrought in bas-relief.</p> + +<p>This marble seems to have been the favourite material in which to +execute statues of the Faun; for every one who has visited the Vatican +Sculpture Gallery and the Museum of the Capitol will remember well the +beautiful statues of this mythic being in <i>rosso antico</i>, which are +among their chief treasures, and once adorned the luxurious Villa of +Hadrian at Tivoli. This marble is admirably adapted for such +sculpture, for it gives to the ideal of the artist the warm vividness +of life. And it seems a fit colour, as Nathaniel Hawthorne has said, +in which to express the rich, sensuous, earthy side of nature, the +happy characteristics of all wild natural things which meet and mingle +in the human form and in the human soul; the Adam, the red man formed +out of the red clay, in which the life of the animals and the life of +the gods coalesce. In the Gabinetto of the Vatican, along with a large +square tazza of <i>rosso antico</i>, is kept a most curious arm-chair of +this marble, called <i>sedia forata</i>, found near the Church of St. John +Lateran, upon which, in the middle ages, the Popes were obliged to sit +at their installation in the presence of the Cardinals. This custom, +which was practised as late as the coronation of Julius II. in 1503, +arose from a desire to secure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345"></a>[345]</span> the throne of St. Peter from being +intruded upon by a second Pope Joan—whether there ever really was +such a personage, or whatever gave rise to the curious myth. The chair +is like an ordinary library chair, with solid back and sides, +sculptured out of a single block, and perforated in the seat with a +circular aperture. <i>Rosso antico</i> is not what might strictly be called +a beautiful marble. Its colour is dusky and opaque, resembling that of +a bullock's liver, marked with numerous black reticulations, so minute +and faint as to be hardly visible. But the grain is extremely fine, +admitting of the highest polish.</p> + +<p>Of black marbles—in the formation of which both the animal and +vegetable kingdoms have taken part, their substance being composed of +the finely-ground remains of foraminifera, corals, and shells, and +their colour produced by the carbonaceous deposits of ancient +forests—few kinds seem to have been used by the ancient Romans. The +<i>nero antico</i> was the species most esteemed, on account of its compact +texture, fine grain, and deep black colour, marked occasionally with +minute white short straight lines, always broken and interrupted. It +is the <i>Marmor Tænarium</i> of the ancients, quarried in the Tænarian +peninsula, which forms the most southerly point in Europe, now called +Cape Matapan. The celebrated quarries which Pliny eloquently +describes, but for which Colonel Leake inquired in vain, were under +the protection of Poseidon, whose temple was at the extremity of the +peninsula. They attracted, on account of the sanctuary which the +temple afforded, large numbers of criminals who fled from the pursuit +of justice, and who readily found work in them. Very fine specimens of +this marble may be seen in a pair of columns in the obscure Church of +Santa Maria Regini Coeli, near the Convent of St. Onofrio, on the +other side of the Tiber; in a pair in the church of Ara Coeli; and +also in a pair in the third room of the Villa Pamphili Doria, which +are extremely fine, and are probably as large as any to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346"></a>[346]</span> be met with. +In consequence of the quantity used in the inscriptional tablets of +monuments, for which this seems to be the favourite material, <i>nero +antico</i> is extremely scarce in modern Rome. The <i>bigio antico</i> is a +grayish marble, composed of white and black, sometimes in distinct +stripes or waves, and sometimes mingled confusedly together. It was +the <i>Marmor Batthium</i> of the ancients, and two of the large columns in +the principal portal of the Church of Santa Croce in Jerusalemme are +remarkably fine specimens of it, probably taken from the Villa of +Heliogabalus, in whose gardens, called the Horti Variani, the church +was built.</p> + +<p>Another species is the <i>bianco e nero antico</i>, the <i>Marmor +Proconnesium</i> of antiquity, obtained from the celebrated quarries of +Proconnesos, an island in the western part of the Propontis. Many of +the towns of Greece were decorated with this marble. The internal part +of the famous sepulchre erected by Artemisia, the widow of Mausolus, +king of Caria, to her husband, and after whom all grand tombs ever +since have received the name of mausoleum, was built of this marble. +So celebrated were the quarries of Proconnesos that the ancient name +of the island was changed to Marmora, and the whole of the Propontis +is now called the Sea of Marmora. Although so highly esteemed in +Greece, this marble does not seem to have been extensively used in +Rome; the finest relics being the four columns supporting the marble +canopy, in the form of a Gothic temple, which surmounts the high altar +of St. Cæcilia, which is among the most ancient of all the churches of +Rome. They were probably derived from some old Roman palace, and are +remarkable for the clearness and brilliancy of the white blotches on a +black ground. There are different varieties of this marble: one kind +in which the blotches or veins are pure black on a pure white ground, +and another in which the blotches or veins are pure white on a black +ground. In these varieties, however, the black and the white are more +confused together,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347"></a>[347]</span> but remain notwithstanding distinct and separate, +so that if the veins are white the ground is sure to be black, and +<i>vice versâ</i>. The ancient <i>Marmor Rhodium</i>, or the <i>giallo e nero</i>, +had golden-coloured veins on a black ground, and, owing to its compact +texture, was capable of receiving a high polish. It is very like the +celebrated marble of Portovenere, a modern Italian species obtained +from the western hills of the Gulf of Spezia, where the formation +passes into that of the ammonitiferous limestones of the Lias and of +the palæozoic rocks. A beautiful highly-polished specimen of Rhodian +marble exists in the mask in front of the tomb of Paul III. in the +tribune of St. Peter's, sculptured by Della Porta in 1547, long +previous to the discovery of the quarries of Portovenere. It may be +remarked that the grain of the latter species is such that it will not +keep its polish without extreme care; a circumstance which +distinguishes it from the Rhodian marble, whose tenacity in this +respect renders it eminently adapted for the more costly class of +decorative works.</p> + +<p>The marbles we have been hitherto considering belong to the older +calcareous formations of Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt, and go +down to the upper triassic and muschel-kalk limestones, and perhaps +even to those of an older period. But there is a class of ancient +marbles in Rome of much more recent geological origin—belonging +indeed to the Miocene epoch—which are called Lumachella, from the +Italian word signifying snail, on account of the presence in all the +species of fossil shells. They vary in colour from the palest straw to +the deepest purple. Some of them are exceedingly beautiful and +valuable, and they are nearly all more or less rare, being found +chiefly in small fragments of ancient pavements. Their substance is +formed of the shells of the common oyster in bluish gray and black +particles on a white ground, as in the Lumachella d' Egitto; of the +cardium or cockle, assuming a lighter or deeper shade of yellow, as in +the Lumachella d' Astra<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348"></a>[348]</span>cane; of the ammonite, as in the L. Corno d' +Ammone; of the Anomia ampulla in the L. occhio di Pavone, so called +from the circular form of the fossils whichever way the section is +made; of encrinites, belemnites, and starfish, showing white or red on +a violet ground, as in the L. pavonazza; and "of broken shells, hardly +discernible, together with very shining and saccharoid particles of +carbonate of lime," as in the <i>Marmor Schiston</i> of the ancients—the +<i>brocatello antico</i> of the Italians, so named from its various shades +of yellow and purple, resembling silk brocade. The most important +specimens of Lumachella marbles are the pair of very fine large +columns of L. rosea on the ground-floor of the Schiarra Palace, the +balustrade of the high altar of St. Andrea della Valle, two columns in +the garden of the Corsini Palace of L. d' Astracane, and a pair of +large pillars which support one of the arches of the Vatican Library, +formed of L. occhio di pavone. Specimens of brocatello may be found in +several churches and palaces, forming mouldings, sheathings, and +pedestals.</p> + +<p>The most interesting of the Lumachella marbles is the <i>bianca antica</i>, +the Marmor Megarense of the ancients, composed of shells so small as +to be scarcely discernible, and so closely compacted that the +substance takes a good polish. The well-known Column of Trajan—the +first monument (<i>columna cochlæa</i>) of this description ever raised in +Rome, and far superior to the Antonine Column—is composed of +Lumachella marble from Megara. It presents, in twenty-three spiral +bands of bas-reliefs, winding round thirty-four blocks of stone, the +history of the victories of Trajan over the Dacians, and, without +reckoning horses, implements of war, and walls of cities, is said to +consist of no less than two thousand five hundred figures, each about +two feet two inches high. It is a strikingly suggestive thought, that +this majestic pillar—which produced so deep an impression upon the +minds of posterity that, according to the beautiful legend, Pope +Gregory the Great was moved to supplicate, by means<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349"></a>[349]</span> of masses in +several of the Roman churches, for the liberation of him whom it +commemorated from purgatory—should be composed of the relics of +sea-shells.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Memorial pillar! 'mid the wreck of Time,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Preserve thy charge with confidence sublime,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>said Wordsworth; but this sublime charge is committed to frail +keeping. It is itself a sepulchre of the dead; and the tragedies of +the Dacian war are inscribed upon tragedies that took place long ages +before there was any human eye to witness them. The historic +sculptures that so deeply move our pity for a conquered people, are +based upon the immemorial sculptures of creatures whose sacrifice in +whole hecatombs touches us not, because it is part of the order of the +world by which life forms the foundation of and minister to life. It +is strange how many of the grandest monuments are wrought out of the +creations of primeval molluscs. The enduring pyramids themselves are +formed of the nummulitic limestone studded with its "Pharaoh's beans," +the exuviæ of shell-fish that perished ages before the Nile had +created Egypt.</p> + +<p>Of the breccias there is a great variety among the relics of ancient +Rome. A breccia is a rock made up of angular pebbles or fragments of +other rocks. When the pebbles are rounded the conglomerate is a +pudding-stone. Marble breccias are formed of angular pieces of highly +crystalline limestone, united together by a siliceo-calcareous cement, +containing usually an admixture of a hornblendic substance, and which +is due to a particular action of adjacent masses or veins of iron ore. +The hornblendic cement, with its iron or manganese base, produces the +variegated appearance which may be seen in specimens from different +localities. As may be imagined from their composition, these rocks are +as a rule extremely unalterable by ordinary atmospheric agencies, and +are susceptible of a high degree of polish, which they retain with the +utmost tenacity. They were favourite materials with the ancient Roman +decorators; but they do not occur in large masses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350"></a>[350]</span> in the city. A +beautiful pair of Roman Ionic columns under the pediment of the altar +of the third chapel in the Church of Ara Coeli are made of a valuable +breccia called Breccia dorata, distinguished by its small light-golden +fragments on a ground of various shades of purple. The high altar of +Santa Prisca on the Aventine is supported by one column of Breccia +corallina of remarkably fine quality, in which the fragments are white +on a ground of light coral-red. In the second chapel of St. Andrea +della Valle there are two Corinthian columns of Breccia gialla e nera, +which is an aggregate mass of yellow and black fragments: the yellow +in its brilliant golden hue surpassing that of all other marbles, and +forming a striking contrast to the long irregular black fragments +interspersed throughout it. In the first chapel of the same church +there are four fluted Corinthian columns of breccia gialla, containing +small and regular blotches, of which the prevailing tint is orange, +each fragment edged with a rim of deeper yellow that surrounds it like +a shadow. A most beautiful variety of Breccia gialla e nera forms the +basin of holy water at the entrance of the Church of St. Carlo di +Catinari, in which "the colours resemble a golden network spread upon +a ground of black"; and an exceedingly lovely urn is seen underneath +the altar in one of the chapels of the Portuguese Church, in which +white fragments are imbedded in a purple ground which shines through +their soft transparency.</p> + +<p>Not the least attractive objects in the chamber of the Dying Gladiator +in the Museum of the Capitol area portion of a large column of very +beautiful and extremely valuable Breccia tracagnina, in which +golden-yellow, white, red, and blue fragments occur in very nearly +equal proportions, and two large pedestals of Breccia di +Sete-Bassi—so called from the discovery of the first specimens near +the ruins of the Villa of Septimus Bassus on the Appian +Way—containing very small purple fragments of an oblong shape, which +is the characteristic peculiarity of all the varieties of this species +of marble. Probably the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351"></a>[351]</span> most beautiful of all the ancient breccias is +that called Breccia della Villa Adriana, from its occasional +occurrence in the ruins of Hadrian's Villa, and also Breccia +Quintilina, from its having been found in the grounds of the +magnificent Villa of Quintilius Varus, commemorated by Horace, at +Tivoli, now occupied by the Church of the Madonna di Quintigliolo. The +prevailing colour of the fragments is that of a dark brown intermixed +with others of smaller size, of red, green, blue, white, purple, +bright yellow, and sometimes black, all harmonising together most +beautifully. The comparatively small pieces found at Tivoli now adorn +the Churches of St. Andrea della Valle, famous for its rich varieties +of breccias, St. Domenico e Sisto and Santa Pudenziana, where they +appear among the marble sheathing of the walls. In the chapel of the +Gaetani in the last-mentioned church, the wall is incrusted with the +richest marbles, especially Lumachella and Brocatello, and large +tablets of Hadrian's breccia setting off the splendid sarcophagus of +Breccia nera e gialla dedicated to Cardinal Gaetani.</p> + +<p>Along with the breccias which I have thus incidentally noticed, but to +which a whole essay might be devoted on account of their beauty, rich +variety, and great value and rarity, should be classified a kind of +"breccia dure," called Breccia d' Egitto. It is not, however, a true +breccia, but a pudding-stone, composed, not of calcareous but of +siliceous fragments; and these fragments are not angular, as in the +true breccias, but rounded, indicating that they had been carried by +water and consequently rounded by attrition. The connected pebbles +must have been broken from rocks of great hardness to have withstood +the effects of constant abrasion. In the Egyptian breccia are found +very fine pebbles of red granite, porphyry of a darker or lighter +green, and yellow quartz, held together by a cement of compact +felspar. It has a special geological interest, inasmuch as it +represents an ancient sea-beach flanking the crystalline rocks of +Upper Egypt, where the cretaceous and nummulitic limestones end. The +pebbles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352"></a>[352]</span> were derived from the central nucleus of granite from beyond +Assouan to the upper end of the Red Sea, round which are folded +successive zones of gneiss and schist pierced by intrusive masses of +porphyry and serpentine. The pair of beautiful Grecian Ionic columns, +and the large green tazza—eighteen feet in circumference—the finest +specimen of Egyptian breccia to be seen in Rome, both in the Villa +Albani, and the vase of the same material in the chamber of Candelabra +in the Vatican, in which the prevailing green colour is crossed by +several stripes of pure white quartz, may thus have been sculptured +out of a portion of littoral deposit formed from the ruins of the +crystalline rocks of the mountain group of Sinai. There is something +extremely interesting and suggestive to the imagination in the twofold +origin of these conglomerate ornaments of the palaces of Rome. Around +them gather the wonderful associations of ancient human history, and +the still more awe-inspiring associations of geological history. They +speak to us of the conquests of Rome in the desolate tracts of Nubia +and Arabia, from which the spoils that enriched its palaces and +temples were derived; and of the existence of coast-lines, when Egypt +was a gulf stretching from the Mediterranean to the Mountains of the +Moon, which became silted up by slow accumulations. Their language, in +both relations, is that of ruin. They are survivors both of the ruins +of Nature and of Man, and are made up of the wrecks of both. Older far +than the marbles which keep them company in the sculptor's halls and +churches of Rome, and whose human history is equally eventful, their +materials were deposited along the shore of a vanished sea, when the +mountains that yielded these marbles lay as calcareous mud in its +depths.</p> + +<p>Alabasters, of which there are numerous varieties, from pure +diaphanous white to the deepest black, were favourite decorative +materials with the ancient Romans. The different kinds were used for +the walls of baths, vases, busts, pillars, and sepulchral lamps, in +which the light<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353"></a>[353]</span> shining through the transparent sides had an +agreeable softness. Cornelius Nepos, as quoted by Pliny, speaks of +having seen columns of alabaster thirty-two feet in length; and Pliny +says that he himself had seen thirty huge pillars in the dining-hall +of Callistus, the freedman of Claudius. One such column still exists +in the Villa Albani, which is twenty-two and a half feet in height. +The ancients obtained large blocks of alabaster from quarries in +Thebes in Egypt, in the neighbourhood of Damascus, and on Mount +Taurus. They imported some kinds also from Cyprus, Spain, and Northern +Africa. They obtained varieties nearer home, in different parts of +Italy, such as the beautiful Alabastro di Tivoli, employed by Hadrian +in his villa, and which appears to have been brought from Terni, where +it still exists in abundance. From the quarry near Volterra the +Etruscans obtained the alabaster for their cinerary urns. The European +alabasters are accumulated masses of stalactite and stalagmite, formed +by the slow dropping of water charged with sulphate of lime, to which +circumstance they owe the parallel stripes or concentric circles with +which they are marked, while the rich and delicate varieties of +colouring are produced by the oxides of iron which the water carries +with it in its infiltration through the intervening strata. They are +very soft and perishable, and consequently are very rarely found among +the ruins of ancient Rome. The Oriental alabasters, on the other hand, +which are distinguished from the European by their superior hardness +and durability, are in reality not sulphates, but carbonates of lime. +Their hardness is quite equal to that of the best statuary marbles. +The ancient quarries on the hill—the modern Mount St. Anthony—near +the town of Alabastron, in Middle Egypt, from which the material got +its name, have only recently been re-opened, but blocks of large size +and perfect beauty have been obtained. Owing to the facility with +which alabaster can be reduced by fire to lime, very few large +examples of it in Rome have escaped the ruthless kilns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354"></a>[354]</span> of the middle +ages. The most interesting specimens of ancient alabaster are the very +beautiful vase of Alabastro cotognino, prolate in form, and in colour +white, streaked with very light pink, which contained the ashes of +Augustus, found in the ruins of his mausoleum, and now in the Vatican; +the bust of Julius Cæsar, made of the variety <i>tartaruga</i>, from the +resemblance of its brownish-yellow markings to tortoise-shell, in the +Museum of the Capitol; and the two large blocks of <i>alabastro a +pecorella</i>, brought from the Villa of Hadrian, in the fourth portico +of the Vatican, the largest and most beautiful specimens of this very +rare alabaster in Rome, distinguished by white circular blotches, like +a flock of sheep huddled together, on a deep blood-red ground. In the +churches there are numerous specimens of all the varieties, forming +the columns and sheathings of altars, memorial chapels, and monuments; +the incrustations of alabaster on the walls of the Borghese chapel, in +Santa Maria Maggiore, being conspicuous for their splendid effect. The +baldacchino above the high altar of St. Paul's is supported by four +splendid columns of Oriental alabaster presented to Gregory XVI. by +Mehemet Ali, the viceroy of Egypt. An interesting collection of +beautiful and valuable varieties of alabasters may be made in +connection with the building operations still carried on in the +unfinished façade of the basilica fronting the Tiber.</p> + +<p>The well-known <i>Verde antico</i> is not a marble, but a mixture of the +green precious serpentine of mineralogists and white granular +limestone. It may also be called a breccia, for it is composed of +black fragments, larger or smaller, derived from other rocks, whose +angular shape indicates that they have not travelled far from the +spots where they occur. The ancient Romans called it <i>Lapis Atracius</i>, +from Atrax, a town in Thessaly, in the vicinity of which it was found. +It can hardly be distinguished, except by experts, from the modern +green marbles of Vasallo in Sardinia, and Luca in Piedmont. It occurs +somewhat abundantly in Rome, having been a favourite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355"></a>[355]</span> material with +the old Romans for sheathing walls and tables. Magnificent columns of +it were introduced into the temples and triumphal arches. We find +relics of these in the older churches. Four splendid fluted Corinthian +columns of Verde antico, with gilded capitals, support the pediment of +the high altar in Sta. Agnese, in the Piazza Navone, which formerly +belonged to the Arch of Marcus Aurelius in the Corso. A pair of very +fine columns of this precious stone flank each of the niches, +containing statues of the twelve apostles, in the piers which divide +the middle nave from the side ones in the Church of St. John Lateran. +These twenty-four columns are remarkable for the clearness of the +white, green, and black colours that occur in them. They are supposed +to have been taken from the Baths of Diocletian. Two of the splendid +composite columns which support the pediment of the altar in the +Corsini chapel of this church are of this marble, and were also taken +from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius in the Corso. One most magnificent +column of Verde antico has been found, along with seven others of +different marbles, in the wall of the narthex of the subterranean +Church of San Clemente. A small portion of it is polished to show the +beauty of the material, while the rest is dimmed and incrusted with +the grime of age.</p> + +<p>Very different from this is the ancient serpentine or ophite of Sparta +called the <i>Lapis Lacedæmonius</i>, found in different hills near Krokee, +or in Mount Taygetus in Lacedæmon, where the old quarry has recently +been opened. It has a base of dark green with angular crystals of +felspar of a lighter green imbedded in it. It is a truly eruptive +rock, occurring in intrusive bosses, or in beds interstratified with +gneiss and mica-schist, and owes its various shades of green to the +presence of copper. Owing to its extraordinary hardness, this stone +was seldom used for architectural purposes; and the lapidary will +charge three times as much for working a fragment of this material +into a letter-weight as for making it of any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356"></a>[356]</span> other stone. A pair of +fluted Roman Ionic columns, supporting the pediment of the altar of +the chapel of St. John the Baptist, in the Baptistery of St. John +Lateran, are the only examples of ophite pillars in Rome. Next to +these the largest masses are a circular tablet, forming part of the +splendid sheathing of one of the ambones in the Church of San Lorenzo; +and two elliptical tablets, still larger, engrafted upon the pilasters +in front of the high altar of St. Paul's.</p> + +<p>The principal use to which this stone was devoted in Rome was the +construction of mosaic pavements. The emperor Alexander Severus +introduced into his palaces and public buildings a kind of flooring +composed of small squares of green serpentine and red porphyry, +wrought into elegant patterns, which became very fashionable, and was +called after himself <i>Opus Alexandrinum</i>. The infamous Heliogabalus +had previously paved some of the courts of the Palatine with such +intarsio work, but his cousin Alexander Severus, following his +example, adorned with it all the terraces and walks around, and the +pavements within, the isolated villas called Diætæ, dedicated to his +mother Mammæa, which he added to the Palatine buildings. We have +examples of this beautiful kind of tesselated pavement in some of the +chambers of the Baths of Caracalla; and it is highly probable that the +<i>Opus Alexandrinum</i> in the transept and middle nave of the Church of +Santa Maria in Trastevere is in part at least contemporaneous with +Alexander Severus, who conceded the ground on which the original +oratory stood to Pope Calixtus I. in 222, for the special use of the +Christians. If this be so, we have in this first place of Christian +worship established in Rome the first instance of the application of +<i>Opus Alexandrinum</i> to the decoration of a church. In the middle ages +the fashion was beautifully imitated by artists of the Cosmati family +and their school; and the mosaic pavements of this kind in the +medieval churches of Rome are no older than this period. But we have +reason to believe that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357"></a>[357]</span> <i>Opus Alexandrinum</i> in two of the chapels +of Santa Maria degli Angeli was taken from the Baths of Diocletian; +while the splendid pavement of the whole church, naves, transept, and +choir of Santa Croce in Jerusalemme, formed originally part of the +decorations of the Sessorian Palace of Sextus Varius, the father of +Heliogabalus, after whom the church is sometimes called the Sessorian +Basilica. The flooring of the whole upper church of San Clemente was +transferred from the older subterranean church, which derived its +pavement from some of the ruins of the Palatine or the Forum; and the +serpentine fragments, which enter very largely into the composition of +the curious old mosaic floor of Ara Coeli must have had a similar +origin as far back as the time of its founder, Gregory the Great. The +<i>Lapis Lacedæmonius</i> must have been very abundant in Rome during the +time of Alexander Severus—judging from the quantities that are made +up into mosaics in the churches, and the heaps of broken fragments +that are found on the Palatine and at the Marmorata. The circular +space around the obelisk in the Piazza of St. Peter's to a +considerable extent is paved with it; and specimens of it frequently +occur among the ordinary road-metal in the city and neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>Sicilian jaspers, so called, though really marbles, and purely +calcareous, because of their resemblance in colour and form of the +blotches to jasper, were wrought in great variety in the quarries in +the neighbourhood of the celebrated Taormina, and were transported in +the form of columns to Rome. Siliceous jaspers, obtained from the +crystalline rocks of Asia Minor, Egypt, and Northern Italy, were also +used for columns; and their brilliant red, green, and yellow hues, +highly polished, contrasted beautifully with the white marbles of the +interiors of the palaces. An even more sumptuous material called +<i>Murrha</i> was employed, which has been identified with fluor-spar, a +translucent crystalline stone marked with blue, red, and purple, +similar to the beautiful substance found near Matlock in Derbyshire. +Of this fluor-spar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358"></a>[358]</span> were formed the celebrated murrhine cups which +were in use in Rome in the days of Pliny among the richest people, and +for which fabulous prices were paid. Several blocks of this material +were found some years ago at the Marmorata which had been originally +imported from Parthia in the reign of Hadrian. One of them was +employed by the Jesuits, when cut up into thin slices, in ornamenting +the principal altar in the church of Il Gesu. One of the chambers in +the Baths of Titus was paved with slabs of the finest lapis +lazula—the <i>Lapis Cyanus</i> of the ancients—derived from the spoils of +the Golden House of Nero, and originally procured by order of the +luxurious tyrant from Persia and the neighbourhood of Lake Baikal. We +can trace fragments of this exquisite pavement in the decoration of +the chapel of St. Ignatius in the Church of the Jesuits. The globe, +three feet in diameter, over the altar, beneath which repose the +remains of Ignatius Loyola, is sheathed with this most precious stone, +whose brilliant blue, contrasting with the white marble of the group +of the Trinity—one of whose members holds it in His hands—has a +splendid effect. The rare and costly marbles with which the Church of +Il Gesu is profusely adorned were mostly taken from the ruins of the +Baths of Titus by Cardinal Farnese in 1568. From the same source came +also the magnificent sarcophagus, sheathed with lapis lazula, under +the altar of St. Ignazio, which holds the body of St. Luigi Gonzaga.</p> + +<p>But it is impossible, within the limits of this chapter, to describe +fully the relics of other precious and beautiful stones which may be +found among the ruins of ancient Rome, or among the churches to which +they have been transferred. Profuse as were the ancient Romans in +their general expenditure, upon no objects did they lavish their +wealth so extravagantly as upon their favourite marbles and precious +stones for the decoration of their public buildings and their private +houses. No effort was spared that Rome might be adorned with the +richest treasures of the mineral kingdom from all parts of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359"></a>[359]</span> world. +Slaves and criminals were made to minister to this luxury in the +various quarries of the Roman dominions, which were the penal +settlements of antiquity. The antiquary Ficoroni counted the columns +in Rome in the year 1700, and he found no less than eight thousand +existing entire; and yet these were but a very small proportion of the +number that must once have been there. The palaces and modern churches +of Rome owe, as I have said, all their ornaments to this passion of +the ancients. There is not a doorstep nor a guardstone at the corner +of the meanest court in Rome which is not of marble, granite, or +porphyry from some ancient building. Almost all the houses, as Raphael +said, have been built with lime made of the costly old marbles. The +very streets in the newly-formed parts of the city are macadamised +with the fragments of costly baths and pillars. I took up one day, out +of curiosity, some of the road-metal near the Church of Santa Maria +Maggiore, and I identified in the handful no less than a dozen +varieties of the most beautiful marbles and porphyries from Greece, +Africa, and Asia. And when we remember that all these foreign stones +were brought into Rome during the interval between the end of the +Republic and the time of Constantine—a period of between three +hundred and four hundred years—we can form some idea of the +extraordinary wealth and luxury of the Imperial City when it was in +its prime.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360"></a>[360]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE VATICAN CODEX</h3> + + +<p>Among the numberless objects of interest to be seen in Rome, a very +high place must be assigned to the Codex Vaticanus, probably the +oldest vellum manuscript in existence, and the richest treasure of the +great Vatican Library. This famous manuscript, which Biblical scholars +designate by the letter B, contains the oldest copy of the Septuagint, +and the first Greek version of the New Testament. In addition to the +profound interest which its own intrinsic value has inspired, it has +been invested with a halo of romance seldom associated with dry +palæographical studies—on account of the unreasonable jealousy and +capricious conduct of its guardians. For a long time it was altogether +inaccessible for study to Biblical scholars, and few were allowed even +to see it. These restrictions, however, have now happily to a +considerable extent been removed; and provided with an order, easily +obtained from the Vatican librarian, or from the Prefect of the sacred +palaces, in reply to a polite note, any respectable person is +permitted to inspect it.</p> + +<p>The first feeling which one has in the Vatican Library is that of +surprise. You might walk through the Great Hall and adjoining +galleries without suspecting the place to be a library at all; for the +bookcases that line the lower portion of the walls are closed with +panelled doors, painted in arabesque on a ground of white and slate +colour, and surrounded by gilded mouldings, and not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361"></a>[361]</span> a single book is +visible. The vaulted ceiling of the rooms is glowing with gold and +ultramarine; the walls are adorned with beautiful frescoes +representing the different Councils of the Church; and magnificent +tables of polished Oriental granite, and of various precious marbles, +vases of porphyry, malachite, and alabaster, and priceless candelabra +of Sevres china—the gifts of kings and emperors—occupy the spaces +between the pillars and pilasters, and cast their rich shadows on the +gleaming marble pavement. A vast variety of objects of rare beauty, +artistic value, and antique interest arrest the attention, and would +amply reward the study of weeks.</p> + +<p>The nucleus of the present magnificent collection of books and +manuscripts was formed in the Lateran Palace in the year 465 by Bishop +Hilary; and, augmented by succeeding pontiffs, the accumulated stores +were transferred in 1450 by Pope Nicholas V., the founder of Glasgow +University, to the Vatican. What Nicholas began was completed by +Sixtus IV. The library was classified according to subjects and +writers, and Demetrius Lucensis, under the direction of Platina, made +a catalogue of it which is still in existence. During this period +Vatican MSS. were lent out to students, as attested by authentic +registers containing the autographs of those who enjoyed the +privilege. A little later the celebrated Vatican printing press was +annexed to the library; and the office of correctors or readers for +the accurate printing of ancient books which were wanting in the +library was instituted. Pope Sixtus V. erected the present splendid +edifice, and used every effort to increase the great collection. +Several valuable accessions were made to it after this date, including +the library of the Elector Palatine of Germany, the library of the +Dukes of Urbino, the libraries of Christina, Queen of Sweden, of the +Ottoboni, commenced by Pope Alexander VIII., and of the Marquis +Capponi, and the MSS. taken from the convent of S. Basilio at Grotta +Ferrata. Under Innocent XIII. in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362"></a>[362]</span> 1721 an attempt was made to prepare +for the press a full catalogue of all the MSS. in every language. It +was edited by Joseph Simon Assemani and Stephen Evodius, and three +volumes were published. But the task was found too great for any one's +strength, and was given up finally on account of the political +disturbances of the time.</p> + +<p>The library is a vast unexplored mine of wealth. Unknown literary +treasures are contained in the closed cabinets. Among the thirty +thousand manuscripts may be hid some of the ancient classical and +early Christian treatises, which have been lost for ages, and whose +recovery would excite the profoundest interest throughout the +civilised world. A large number of these manuscripts had once belonged +to the library of the famous Monastery of Bobbio, in the north of +Italy, founded in the year 614 by the Irish St. Columbanus. The Irish +and Scotch monks who inhabited this monastery were in the dark ages +the most zealous collectors of manuscripts in Europe. At the close of +the fifteenth century the convent was impoverished and deserted by its +lawful occupants; and the Benedictine monks who succeeded them gave +away their literary treasures partly to the Ambrosian Library at Milan +and partly to the Vatican Library. Cardinal Angelo Mai, who discovered +more lost works and transcribed more ancient manuscripts than any one +else, found among these treasures in Milan and Rome several most +interesting treatises that had long passed into utter oblivion.</p> + +<p>But though permission is freely granted to duly accredited visitors +who may be desirous of consulting manuscripts, the labour of searching +among the huge bewildering piles would be overwhelming, and the +thought of it would at once paralyse effort. There is no proper +catalogue of the printed books; and the list of manuscripts is so +deficient as to be altogether worthless. During six months, from +November till June, the library is open for study every day, except +Thursday<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363"></a>[363]</span> and the numerous saints' days, whose recurrence can be +easily ascertained beforehand so as to prevent disappointment. I +cannot imagine a greater privilege to a student. It is the highest +luxury of learning to explore the literary wealth of these princely +apartments, that seem to have a climate of their own, like the great +Basilica close at hand—the climate of eternal spring—and whose +atmosphere breathes the associations of much that is grandest and most +memorable in human history. To the charms of some of the noblest +productions of human genius working by pen, or pencil, or +chisel—adorning roof, and wall, and floor—and vanishing down the +long vista in a bright perspective of beauty—Nature adds her crown of +perfection. For nothing can exceed the loveliness of the views from +the windows of the Papal gardens outside, with their gay flowery +parterres, sparkling fountains, depths of shadowy glades and +half-hidden sculptured forms of rarest beauty; and, beyond, a purple +mountain range, summits old in story, closing up the enchanted vista +through the ruddy stems and deep green foliage of tall stone-pines; +the whole glowing in the brilliant sunshine and the exquisite violet +transparency of the Roman sky. How delightful to spend whole days +there and forget the commonplace present in converse with the master +minds of the ages, and in dreams of the heroic past; the half-closed +shutters and drawn curtains producing a cool and drowsy atmosphere, in +delicious contrast with the broiling sun without! Learning, however, +would be too apt to fall asleep, and be shorn of its strength on the +Delilah lap of such splendid luxury.</p> + +<p>A few of the most interesting books and manuscripts are now contained +in two handsome cabinets placed in the centre of the Great Hall of the +library. These cabinets have two cases, an outer and an inner one, and +are carefully double-locked. The librarian opened them for me, and +displayed their contents, which are usually seen only through a thick +plate of protecting glass. In the one cabinet were a manuscript of the +Latin poet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364"></a>[364]</span> Terence, of the fourth and fifth century; the celebrated +palimpsest of Cicero de Republica, concealed under a version of St. +Augustine's Commentary on the Psalms, the oldest Latin manuscript in +existence; the famous Virgil of the fifth century, with the well-known +portrait of Virgil; the Homilies of St. Gregory of Nazianzum; the +folio Hebrew Bible, which was the only thing that Duke Frederico of +Urbino reserved for himself of the spoil at the capture of Volterra in +1472, and for which the Jews in Venice offered its weight in gold; a +sketch of the first three cantos of the Gerusalemme Liberata in the +handwriting of Tasso; a copy of Dante in the handwriting of Boccaccio; +and several of Petrarch's autograph sonnets. In the other cabinet is +the great gem and glory of the Library—the Codex Vaticanus, in +strange association with a number of the love-letters of Henry +VIII. and Anne Boleyn, in French and English. This curious +correspondence—which, after all that subsequently happened between +the English monarch and the Papal Court, we are very much surprised to +see in such a place—is in wonderful preservation. But though +perfectly legible, the archaic form of the characters and the numerous +abbreviations make it extremely difficult to decipher them. The tragic +ending of this most inauspicious love-making invests with a deep +pathos these faded yellow records of it that seem like the cold, gray +ashes of a once glowing fire. In the same cabinet is seen another and +altogether different production of this royal author—namely, the +dedication copy of the "Assertio Septem Sacramentorum adversus +Martinum Luther," written in Latin by Henry VIII. in defence of the +seven Roman Catholic Sacraments against Luther, and sent to Leo X., +with the original presentation address and royal autograph. The book +is a good thick octavo volume, printed in London, in clear type, on +vellum, with a broad margin. Only two copies are in existence, one in +the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and the other in the Vatican. For this +theological dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365"></a>[365]</span>sertation Henry VIII. received from the Pope the title +of "Defender of the Faith," which has descended to the Protestant +monarchs of England ever since, and is now inscribed on our coinage. +Luther, several of whose manuscripts are in the Library, published a +vigorous reply, in which he treated his royal opponent with scant +ceremony. The author himself had no scruple in setting it aside when +his personal passions were aroused. And Rome has put this inconsistent +book beside the letters to Anne Boleyn, as it were in the pillory here +for the condemnation of the world.</p> + +<p>But deeply interesting as were these literary curiosities, I soon +turned from them and became engrossed with the priceless manuscript of +the Greek Scriptures. I had very little time to inspect it, for I was +afraid to exhaust the patience of the librarian. In appearance the +manuscript is a quarto volume bound in red morocco; each of the pages +being about eleven inches long, and the same in breadth. This is the +usual size of the greater number of ancient manuscripts, very few +being in folio or octavo, and in this particular resembling printed +books. Each page has three columns, containing seventeen or eighteen +letters in a line. It is supposed that this arrangement of the writing +was borrowed directly from the most primitive scrolls, whose leaves +were joined together lengthwise, so that their contents always +appeared in parallel columns, as we see in the papyrus rolls that have +recently been discovered. This peculiarity in the two or three +manuscripts which possess it, is regarded as a proof of their very +high antiquity. The writing on almost every page is so clear and +distinct that it can be read with the greatest ease.</p> + +<p>What astonishes one most is the admirable preservation of this Codex, +notwithstanding that it must be nearly sixteen hundred years old. It +has quite a fresh and recent look; indeed many manuscripts not fifty +years old look much more ancient. No one, looking at the faded +handwriting of Tasso, Petrarch, and Henry VIII., beside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366"></a>[366]</span> it, would +imagine that they were newer by upwards of twelve hundred years. This +peculiarity it shares in common with the architectural remains of +imperial Rome, which time has dealt so tenderly with that they appear +far more recent than the picturesque ruins of our medieval castles and +abbeys. This singular look of freshness in the Vatican manuscript is +owing to three causes. In the first place, the vellum upon which it is +written is exceedingly fine and close-grained in texture, and +therefore has resisted the dust and discoloration of centuries, just +as the thin and close-grained Roman brick has withstood the ravages of +time. Every one is struck with the wonderful beauty of this vellum, +composed of the delicate skins of very young calves. And this feature +is a further proof of the high antiquity of the Codex, for the oldest +manuscripts are invariably written on the thinnest and whitest vellum, +while those of later ages are written on thick and rough parchment +which speedily became discoloured. In the second place, we have reason +to believe that the manuscript was for many ages almost hermetically +sealed in some forgotten recess of the Lateran and Vatican Libraries, +and thus unconsciously guarded from the attacks of time. In the third +place, a careful scrutiny of the individual lines reveals the curious +fact that the whole manuscript, six or seven centuries after it had +been written, was gone over by a writer, who, finding the letters +faint and yellow, had touched them up with a blacker and more +permanent ink.</p> + +<p>It is a strange circumstance that none of the facsimile +representations of the pages of the manuscript that have been +published give a correct idea of the original, with the exception of +that of Dean Burgon in 1871. Not only do the number of lines in a +given space in all the so-called facsimiles differ from that of the +manuscript, but the general character of the letters is widely +different. The importance of seeing the original, therefore, for +purposes of study, is apparent. The uncial letters are very small and +neat, upright and regular, and their breadth is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367"></a>[367]</span> nearly equal to their +height. They are very like those in the manuscript rolls of +Herculaneum. Originally the manuscript had no ornamental initial +letters, marks of punctuation, or accents; a small interval of the +breadth of a letter at the end of particular sections serving as a +simple mode of punctuation. The number of such divisions into sections +is very considerable,—one hundred and seventy occurring in St. +Matthew; sixty-one in St. Mark; one hundred and fifty-two in St. Luke; +and eighty in St. John,—and in this respect the Vatican Codex is +unique. Where these divisions do not occur, the writing is continuous +for several consecutive pages. Thus, while each of the beatitudes, +each of the parables, and each of the series of generations in the +genealogies of our Lord, are marked off into separate paragraphs by +the small empty spaces referred to, there is no break in the text from +the twenty-fourth verse of the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of +St. Matthew to the seventeenth verse of the twentieth chapter. So much +has space been economised, that when the writer finished one book he +began another at the top of the very next column; and throughout the +manuscript there are very few breaks, and only one entire column left +blank. This empty space is very significant; it occurs at the end of +the eighth verse of the sixteenth chapter of St. Mark's Gospel,—thus +omitting altogether the last twelve verses with which we are familiar. +That this was done purposely is evident, for it involved a departure +from the writer's usual method of continuous writing. The blank column +testifies that he knew of the existence of this gap at the end of the +Gospel, but did not know of any thoroughly trustworthy material with +which to fill it up. And acting upon this authority our Revisers have +printed the passage that has been supplied as an appendix, and not as +a portion of the original Gospel of St. Mark. The only attempt at +ornamentation in the Vatican manuscript is found at the end of +Lamentations, Ezekiel, St. John's Gospel, and the Acts of the +Apostles, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368"></a>[368]</span> "an arabesque column of crossed lines, with dots in +the intersections at the edge," and surmounted by the well-known +monogram of Christ, so frequent in the inscriptions of the Catacombs, +composed of the letter P in a cruciform shape, has been delicately and +skilfully executed by the pen of the scribe. Most of the books have +also brief titles and subscriptions.</p> + +<p>Such was the original state of the Codex, but the critic of the ninth +or tenth century already referred to introduced a great many changes. +Not only did he deepen the colour of the ink; he, as Dean Burgon tells +us, also accentuated the words carefully throughout, marking all the +initial vowels with their proper breathings. He also placed instead of +the small initial letter of each book an illuminated capital six times +the size of the original uncial, painted in bright red and blue +colours which have still retained nearly all their old brilliancy. At +the top of the column, whenever a new book commenced, he also placed a +broad bar painted in green, with three little red crosses above it. +Nor was this all; he exercised his critical judgment in revising the +text, and marking his approval or disapproval by certain significant +indications. "What he approved of he touched up anew with ink, and +added the proper accents; what he condemned he left in the faded brown +caligraphy of the original and without accentuation." In this way the +Codex may be called a kind of palimpsest, in which we have some +portions of the original manuscript, and the rest overlaid with the +later revision. We must discriminate carefully between these two +elements; for it is obvious that it is the oldest portion that is most +interesting and suggestive.</p> + +<p>The Codex consists of upwards of one thousand five hundred pages, of +which two hundred and eighty-four are assigned to the New Testament. +Originally it contained the whole Bible, and also the Apocrypha and +the Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians; which last was so much +esteemed by the early Christians that it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369"></a>[369]</span> regularly read in the +churches, and bound up with the Scriptures—to which circumstance, +indeed, we are indebted for its preservation to our own time. At +present the greater part of Genesis and a part of the Psalms are +missing from the old Testament; while, in the New Testament, the +Epistle to Philemon, the three Pastoral Epistles, the latter part of +the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Apocalypse, in the original +handwriting, are lost; their place having been supplied, it is said, +in the fifteenth century, from a manuscript belonging to Cardinal +Bessarion. From the evidence of its materials—arrangement and style +of writing—the very high antiquity of this Codex may be inferred. It +is generally supposed to have been written in the beginning of the +fourth century. Vercellone, who edited Cardinal Mai's version of it, +argues, from the remarkable correspondence of its text with that used +by Cyril of Alexandria in his Commentary on St. John, that it must +have been written at Alexandria, where there was a band of remarkably +skilful caligraphists. He believes that it was one of the fifty +manuscript copies of the Holy Scriptures which Eusebius, by order of +the emperor Constantine the Great, got prepared in the year 332 for +the use of the Christian Church in the newly-formed capital of +Constantinople. And a circumstance that seems to corroborate this +opinion is, that the Vatican Codex does not contain, as has already +been mentioned, the last twelve verses of St. Mark's Gospel, a +peculiarity which Eusebius says belongs to the best manuscripts of the +Gospels. On this supposition, the Vatican Codex would be the very +first edition of the Bible that had the seal of a sovereign authority.</p> + +<p>But it may be of even older date than the time of Constantine, for its +marginal references do not correspond with the Eusebian canons; and +this fact would seem to imply that it belonged to the third century. +Its only rival in point of antiquity is the famous Sinaitic Codex, +known by the Hebrew letter [Hebrew: alef], discovered in a most +romantic way by Tischendorf in the Convent of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370"></a>[370]</span> St. Catherine on Mount +Sinai. Tischendorf has pronounced a decided opinion, not only that +this manuscript is of the same age as the Vatican one, but that the +Vatican manuscript was written by one of the four writers who, he +infers from internal evidence, must have been employed upon the +Sinaitic Codex. This opinion, however, has been disputed by other +scholars; and it seems improbable, for the Sinaitic Codex has four +columns to the page, whereas the Vatican Codex has only three. Its +uncial letters are also much larger and plainer than those of the +Vatican manuscript; and it has the Ammonian sections and Eusebian +canons written in all probability by the original hand.</p> + +<p>There can be little doubt that the Vatican manuscript goes, if not +farther, at least as far back in date as the Council of Nice, and is +the oldest and most valuable of extant monuments of sacred antiquity. +It may have been transcribed directly from some Egyptian papyrus, or +through the medium of only one intervening prototype. Perhaps it was a +single copy saved from the fate of many surrendered to be burned by +the class of Christian renegades called <i>traditores</i>, who averted the +martyr's death in the great Diocletian persecution by giving up the +sacred books of their religion to their enemies. For this pagan +emperor endeavoured not only to deprive the Christian Church of its +teachers, like his predecessors, but also to destroy the sacred +writings upon which the faith of the Church was founded, and whose +character and claims were beginning at this time to be generally +recognised. The Alexandrine Codex—which is placed first on the list +of uncial manuscripts, and therefore distinguished by the letter +A—belongs undoubtedly to a more recent time. It is said by tradition +to have been written by a noble Egyptian martyr named Thecla about the +beginning of the fifth century, and was sent as a present to Charles +I. by Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Constantinople, who brought it +from Alexandria. It is now one of the greatest treasures of the +British Museum.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371"></a>[371]</span> The voice of tradition is confirmed by internal +evidence, for it has only two columns in a page, while capital letters +of different sizes abound, and vermilion is frequently introduced—all +marks of the period indicated.</p> + +<p>How or when the Codex Vaticanus was brought to the Vatican Library is +a matter that is altogether involved in obscurity. It probably formed +part of the library in the Lateran Palace, which goes nearly as far +back as the time of Constantine, and was transferred along with the +other contents of that library to the Vatican in 1450 by Pope Nicholas +V. We first hear of it distinctly in a letter written to Erasmus in +1533 by Sepulveda; although there is a somewhat obscure reference to +it a few years earlier in the correspondence of the Papal librarian +Bombasius with Erasmus. A Roman edition of the Septuagint portion +based upon the Vatican MS. appeared in 1587. After that period to 1780 +it was several times collated; among others, by Bartolocci, the +Vatican librarian; by Bentley, who employed for the purpose the Abbate +Mico and Rulotta; and by Birch of Copenhagen, who travelled under the +auspices of the King of Denmark. Along with many of the best +sculptures and most valuable art-treasures of the Vatican, the +precious Codex was taken to Paris in 1810 by order of Napoleon +Buonaparte, that unscrupulous robber of foreign palaces and churches +for the aggrandisement of his own capital; and while there it was +carefully examined by the celebrated critic, J.L. Hug, who was the +first to determine, from the nature of its materials and its internal +evidence, its very great antiquity. When it was restored, along with +the other spoils of the great Roman Palace, it was sealed up by its +jealous possessors, and could no longer be consulted for critical +purposes. In 1843 Tischendorf could only see it for two days of +three hours each. Tregelles, who went to Rome in 1845 for the +special purpose of consulting the Codex, provided with a +strongly-recommendatory letter of introduction from Cardinal Wiseman, +was only permitted to see it, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372"></a>[372]</span> not to transcribe any of its +readings. His pockets, as he himself tells us, were searched, and his +pen, ink, and paper taken away, before he was allowed to open it; and +if he looked at a passage too long the manuscript was snatched rudely +from his hands by the two prelates in watchful attendance. When Dean +Alford, in 1861, made use of the manuscript for four days, his labours +of collation were carried on in the face of much opposition from the +librarian, who insisted that the order of Antonelli permitted him only +to see the manuscript, but not to verify passages in it.</p> + +<p>The reason alleged to the scholars of Europe for this childish +jealousy was that the authorities of the Vatican were themselves +preparing to publish a thorough collation, and they did not wish the +glory of the achievement to pass away from Rome. Cardinal Mai began, +indeed, to prepare an edition for publication in 1828; but it did not +appear till 1857, three years after the cardinal's death, under the +learned editorship of Vercellone. There was a rumour copied into the +<i>Edinburgh Review</i> from Sir Charles Lyell's work on the United States, +that the cardinal was prevented from publishing his work by Pope +Gregory XVI., on account of its variations from the Vulgate, which had +been solemnly sanctioned by the decrees of the Council of Trent and +the Church's claims to infallibility. It was further asserted that he +finally obtained permission to publish his edition on condition that +he inserted within brackets the celebrated text 1 John v. 7, which was +wanting in the manuscript. Whether this was true or not, it is certain +that what the learned cardinal gave to the world was more an edition, +a critical recension of the text, than a faithful transcript of the +Vatican Codex. Although he had the MS. with him at his residence in +the Palazzo Altieri—a circumstance which gave rise to the belief at +the time that it had disappeared during the French occupation of +Rome—he could only bestow upon the arduous task the scanty leisure +available from more engrossing duties. The work<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373"></a>[373]</span> was therefore so +imperfectly done that the cardinal himself was reluctant to publish +it; and the learned and honest Barnabite under whose editorial +auspices it appeared was obliged to append a formidable list of +errata, and to make a gentle apology in his preface for his friend's +inaccuracies. But, with all its defects, the five quarto volumes of +the cardinal's reprint has added largely to our critical knowledge of +the Codex; and it derives a special interest from the circumstance +that it was the first time the Greek Scriptures had ever been +published in Rome.</p> + +<p>Since then Tischendorf, during his second visit to the Eternal City, +had an audience of Pope Pius IX., and offered to bring out at his own +expense an edition of the Vatican Codex similar to that which he had +prepared, under the auspices of the Russian emperor, of the Sinaitic +Codex. This request the Pope refused, under the old pretext that he +wished to publish such an edition himself. Tischendorf, however, was +allowed to use the manuscript more freely than on the former occasion; +though several times it was taken away from him, and his labours +interrupted, because of alleged breaches of faith on his part. The +result of this unusual privilege was that the great Textuary has +issued by far the most accurate and satisfactory edition which we +possess at present. Pius IX. carried out his intention of publishing a +Roman edition in five volumes, printed by the famous press of the +Propaganda. The New Testament instalment appeared under the editorship +of Vercellone and Cozza in 1868; but Vercellone dying soon after, the +subsequent volumes were prepared under less able supervision. The +famous manuscript therefore labours under the disadvantage of +uncertainty, there being no guarantee that any reading is really that +of the original. And while the Alexandrine Codex has been reproduced +by photography, and the Sinaitic Codex has been faithfully published, +the exact palæography, or the genuine text as it stands, of the +Vatican Codex is still a desideratum among scholars.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374"></a>[374]</span></p> + +<p>The total disappearance of all manuscripts previous to the Vatican +Codex is a matter of surprise, for it has been calculated on +sufficient evidence that many thousands of copies of the Gospels were +circulated among Christians at the end of the second century. The loss +may be attributed to the fact that the older manuscripts were written +on less enduring materials. Previous to the second century the +principal writing material was paper made of papyrus, a plant found at +one time not only in Egypt, but also in the north of Palestine and +various parts of southern Italy and Sicily, although now almost +extirpated; and we have reason to believe, from one or two incidental +notices in St. John's writings, that it was the material employed by +the apostles themselves. This papyrus paper was of a very perishable +nature, and manuscripts written on it, apart from the wear and tear of +continual use, would succumb to the process of decay in a +comparatively short period. We are indebted for the preservation of +all the papyrus manuscripts that have come down to us from a remote +antiquity to the fact of their having been kept in exceptionally +favourable circumstances, as in the hermetically-sealed interiors of +Egyptian tombs. Those exposed to the air have all disappeared ages +ago. In the second century parchment was brought into common use as a +writing material, and papyrus paper gradually fell into disuse. And +with the change of material the shape of manuscripts was changed; the +ancient form of the papyrus-roll giving place, in manuscripts written +on parchment, to the form of books with leaves. How we should value +the original rolls which contained the handwriting of the evangelists +and apostles! With what profound interest should we gaze upon the +signature and salutation of St. Paul affixed to the Epistles which he +dictated to an amanuensis on account of his defective eyesight! How we +should prize the apostolic autograph of the Epistle to the Galatians, +of which the writer says, "Ye see how large a letter I have written +unto you with mine own hand."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375"></a>[375]</span> What a thrill would pass through us at +the sight of those two pastoral Epistles, at the close of which St. +John says,—"I had many things to write, but I will not with pen and +ink write unto thee"! Our legitimate veneration, however, would be apt +to pass over into idolatrous superstition. We should worship such +precious documents as the early Christians worshipped the relics of +the saints. It was, therefore, a wise providential arrangement that +such a temptation should have been taken out of the way. All the +original manuscripts of the sacred writings disappeared, on account of +the fragile character of their materials, probably in a few years +after the death of the writers, no special care having been taken to +preserve them; and, as Dr. Westcott has remarked, not a single +authentic appeal is made to them in the religious disputes regarding +the exact words of certain passages in the Gospels and Epistles in the +writings of the second century.</p> + +<p>But though the Vatican Codex is the oldest manuscript of the New +Testament in existence, it does not follow from that circumstance that +it is the most reliable. Widely different views of its critical value +are entertained by scholars. By some it has been accepted as the most +authoritative of all versions, while others have regarded it as one of +the most corrupt and imperfect. Indeed the conjecture has been +hazarded that the very circumstance of its continued preservation +during so many centuries is a proof that it was an unreliable copy +long laid aside, and therefore exempt from the wear and tear under +which genuine copies of the same date have long ago perished. These +extreme views, however, are unjust. While it is not free from many +gross inaccuracies and faults, it presents upon the whole a very fair +idea of the Greek Vulgate of the early Church, and is worthy of as +much respect at least as any single document in existence. The chief +peculiarity of the Codex is the large number of important omissions in +it; so that, as Dr. Dobbin says, it presents an abbreviated text of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376"></a>[376]</span> +the New Testament. A few of these omissions were wilfully made, while +the large majority were no doubt caused by the carelessness of the +writer in transcribing from the copy before him; for there are several +instances of his having written the same words and clauses twice over. +On the supposition of the MS. being one of the fifty prepared at +Constantine's order, the extreme haste with which such a task would be +executed would account for the multitude of clerical errors. Besides +the last verses of the Gospel of St. Mark already alluded to, and no +less than three hundred and sixty-four other omissions in the same +Gospel of greater or less moment, the doxology at the end of the +Lord's Prayer, in Matthew vi. 13, is wanting; as also the description +of the agony of the Saviour and the help of the angel in Luke xxii. +43, 44; the important clause, "For he was before me," in John i. 27; +the miraculous troubling of the water in the Pool of Bethesda in John +v. 3, 4; the narrative of the adulterous woman in John vii. 53 to +viii. 11; the question of Philip and the answer of the Ethiopian +eunuch in Acts viii. 37; the significant and affecting incidents in +Paul's conversion mentioned in Acts ix. 5, 6; and the well-known +disputed text of the <i>Three witnesses in Heaven</i>, in 1 John v. 7. +These omitted passages, which, from internal evidence, apart from the +external testimony of the largest number of critical documents, we +must acknowledge to be genuine, are the most serious of the lacunæ, +amounting altogether to the extraordinary number of two thousand four +hundred and fifty-six. They give the document a very distinctive +character; while even the less striking disappearances from the text, +which can only be apprehended on a close collation, more or less +affect the sense. German critics have stamped several of these +omissions with their approbation, especially those referring to the +supernatural, owing to their well-known repugnance to the miraculous +element in Scripture.</p> + +<p>There are other peculiarities of the Codex which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377"></a>[377]</span> greatly interested me; +but the discussion of them would require me to go too much into critical +details. I must mention, however, the occasional use in the manuscript +of a Latinised orthography. The name of Silvanus, for instance, +mentioned in 1 Peter v. 12, is rendered into the Latinised Greek +<i>Silbanou</i>, instead of Silouanou, the common Greek form; and in 2 Peter +iii. 10, instead of the last word of the verse, <i>katakaêsetai</i>, "shall +be burned up," occurs the singular word <i>eurethesetai</i>,—which means, +"shall be found." The Syriac and one Egyptian version have the reading +"shall not be found"; and either the "not" was accidentally omitted when +the Vatican Codex was copied from an earlier exemplar that had that +reading, or the writer had some confused idea of the Latin word +<i>urerentur</i>, "shall be burnt up," in his mind, and adopted the word +<i>eurethesetai</i> from its resemblance to it—as a Latin root with a Greek +inflection. Some curious examples of Latin forms and constructions might +be given; and this circumstance has led to the hypothesis that the +origin of the Vatican manuscript might, after all, have been Italian, +and not Alexandrian as is commonly supposed. The Codex has also been +accused of theological bias; for in John i. 18, "only begotten God" is +substituted for "only begotten Son." This is considered by some to be a +reference to the polemics of the fourth century regarding the Arian +doctrines; although this supposition would make it of later date. The +order of the books of the New Testament in the Codex is different from +that with which we are familiar. The Catholic Epistles from James to +Jude follow the Acts, according to the order of the ancient Greek +Church; then come the Pauline Epistles; and the Epistle to the Hebrews +comes in between the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians and First +Timothy. Its sections, however, are numbered as if it had originally +been placed between the Epistles to the Galatians and Ephesians; thus +showing that this was the arrangement in the older document from which +the Codex was copied. One<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378"></a>[378]</span> of the Moscow manuscripts, it may be +mentioned in connection with this novelty in location, places the +Epistle to the Hebrews in a position as abnormal as in the Vatican +manuscript—namely, before the Epistle to the Romans.</p> + +<p>In the formation of the Received Text of our New Testament, the +Vatican manuscript was not employed. The basis of the early printed +editions—the Elzevir and those of Robert Stephens the celebrated +Parisian printer—was the Greek New Testament of Erasmus, published in +1516, compiled with the aid of such manuscripts as he found at Basle, +and the Complutensian Polyglot—so called after Complutum, the modern +Alcala, in Spain, where it was printed in 1522, under the patronage of +Cardinal Ximenes, whose text was said to have been formed from +manuscripts sent from the Papal Library at Rome—the Vatican Codex +certainly not being among the number, as abundantly appears from +internal evidence. But though the Vatican manuscript was not employed +in the construction of our Authorised Version, it has recently been +used as the chief authority by the New Testament Revisers. Drs. +Westcott and Hort have built up their Greek text with special +deferential regard to it; and this exclusive devotion has been +severely condemned by several critics, such as Dean Burgon, who regard +it as an endeavour to balance a pyramid upon its apex. But apart from +the contradictory views of such textuaries, there can be no doubt that +the Vatican Codex has been of the greatest service in these later days +in correcting the Authorised Version, and helping to restore the +sacred text as nearly as possible to the purity of the original +autographs. And it has added its most valuable testimony to that of +the many other ancient manuscripts of the Sacred Writings in +existence, that, notwithstanding unimportant variations of readings +naturally caused by the great multiplication of copies, the sacred +text from the time when it first appeared to the present has been +preserved substantially uncorrupt; so that we have the same divine +truth pre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379"></a>[379]</span>sented to us that was presented to the Christians of the +ages immediately succeeding the time of the apostles.</p> + +<p>With all these remarkable associations and points of interest +connected with the Vatican manuscript, it is not to be wondered at +that I should gaze upon it with a species of veneration. It +transported me in imagination to a period when the canon of the New +Testament was as yet in a state of flux. The evidence of the +Muratorian fragment in the Ambrosian Library at Milan shows to us that +the separate books of the New Testament had indeed been collected into +one; and a belief in their Divine inspiration equally with the Old +Testament Scriptures had begun to be entertained. But there was as yet +no prevailing unanimity of opinion as to what books should be admitted +into the Canon and what books should be excluded. No formal attempt +had as yet been made to reconcile conflicting testimonies; or, if +made, the recensions undertaken did not meet with general acceptance. +Even a good many years afterwards, as late as at the Council of +Laodicea in 361, doubts were still expressed as to the claims of the +Apocalypse to canonicity. This book was not originally included in the +Vatican Codex; for the manuscript copy of it bound up in the volume is +of much later date, and in a different handwriting. And this +hesitation regarding the full recognition of certain books, proves the +great care that was exercised, and the deep sense of responsibility +that was felt, in the collection of the other books. The formation of +the sacred Canon was done gradually and imperceptibly; but the result +to every thoughtful mind is more suggestive of the inspiration of that +Spirit whose operation is like the wind that bloweth where it listeth, +and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it +cometh and whither it goeth—than if the process had been more formal +and conspicuous.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380"></a>[380]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>ST. PAUL AT PUTEOLI</h3> + + +<p>The Gospel first came to Europe in circumstances similar to those in +which it came into human history. Through poverty, shame, and +suffering—through the manger, the cross, and the sepulchre—did our +Saviour accomplish the salvation of the world; through stripes and +imprisonment, through the gloom of the inner dungeon and the pain and +shame of the stocks, did Paul and Silas declare at Philippi the glad +tidings of salvation. Out of the midnight darkness which enveloped the +apostles of the Cross, as they sang in the prison, came the marvellous +light that was destined to illumine all Europe. Out of the stocks +which held fast the feet that came to the shores of the West shod with +the preparation of the gospel of peace, to proclaim deliverance to the +captives, sprang that glorious liberty which has broken every fetter +that bound the bodies and souls of men throughout Christendom. After +the earthquake that shook the prison walls and released the prisoners +came the still, small voice of power, which overthrew the tyrannies +and superstitions of ages, and remade society from its very +foundations.</p> + +<p>Very similar were the circumstances in which the apostle landed at the +quay of Puteoli. A weary, worn-out prisoner, accused by his own +countrymen, on his way to be judged at the tribunal of the Roman +emperor, associated with a troop of malefactors, St. Paul +disem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381"></a>[381]</span>barked, on the 3d of May of the year 59, from the ship <i>Castor +and Pollux</i>, after having gone through storm and shipwreck, and first +touched the shore of the wonderful land destined afterwards to be the +scene of the mightiest triumphs of the Gospel, and the most +enlightened centre for its diffusion throughout the world. Like the +birth of Rome itself, whose obscure foundation, according to the +beautiful myth, was laid by the outcast son of a Vestal Virgin, the +kingdom of the despised virgin-born Jesus of Nazareth that cometh not +with observation, stole unawares, amid the meanest circumstances, into +the very heart of the Roman world. Momentous events were taking place +at the time throughout the Roman Empire, attracting all eyes, and +engaging the attention of all minds; but the unnoticed landing at +Puteoli of the humble Jewish prisoner, judging by its marvellous +results, was by far the most important. It marked a new era in the +history of the world. And there was something significant in the +coincidence that St. Paul should have come to the Italian shore in the +ship <i>Castor and Pollux</i>, the names not merely of the patrons of +sailors, but also of the saviours of Rome. The mighty empire which +human tyranny had established has crumbled to pieces, and we walk +to-day amid its ruins; but the kingdom of peace and righteousness +which Paul came to inaugurate has spread from that coign of vantage +over all the earth, and in a world of death and change has impressed +upon the minds of men with a new force the idea of the eternal and the +unchangeable.</p> + +<p>Earth holds no fairer scene than that which met the apostle's gaze as +he entered the bay of Puteoli. "See Naples, and die," is the cuckoo +cry of the modern tourist who visits this enchanted region; and such a +vision is indeed worthy to be the last imprinted upon a human retina. +It is called by the Italians themselves "Un pezzo di cielo caduto in +terra," a piece of heaven fallen upon earth. Shores that curve in +every line of beauty, holding out arm-like promontories, into whose +embrace the tide<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382"></a>[382]</span>less sea runs up; mountain-ranges whose tops in +winter are covered with snow, and whose sides are draped with the +luxuriant vegetation of the South; a large city rising in a series of +semicircular terraces from the deep azure of the sea to the deep azure +of the mountains, whose eastern architecture flushes to a vivid rosy +hue in the afternoon light like some fabled city of the poets; and +dominating the glorious horizon the double peak of Vesuvius forming +the centre in which all the features of landscape loveliness are +focussed—crowned by its pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. +Such is the picture upon which travellers crowd from the ends of the +earth to gaze.</p> + +<p>Nor was the view different in its most important elements in the days +of the apostle. The same great forms of the landscape met the eye; and +the same magic play of light and colour, the same jewel-points +flashing in the waters, the same gleams of purple and crimson +wandering over town, and vineyard, and wood, transfigured the scene +then, which gives it more than half its loveliness now. But its human +elements were different. Swarming with life as are these shores at the +present day, they were even more populous then. Where we now wander +through picturesque ruins and silent solitudes, prosperous towns and +villages stood; and temples, palaces, and summer houses of patrician +magnificence crowded upon each other to such an extent that the sea +itself was invaded, and an older Venice rose from the waters along the +curves of its bays. The shores of Baiæ were the very centre of Roman +splendour. The emperor and his court spent a large part of the year +there; and noble families, that elsewhere had domains miles in extent, +were there satisfied with the smallest space upon which they could +build a house and plant a garden. Pompeii and Herculaneum, in all +their reckless gaiety, lay, unconscious of danger, at the foot of +Vesuvius, then a grassy mountain wooded to the summit with oak and +chestnut, and known from time immemorial as a field of pasture for +flocks and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383"></a>[383]</span> herds. The Bay of Misenum, now so solitary that the scream +of the sea-fowl is almost the only sound that breaks the stillness, +was crowded with the vessels of the Roman fleet, commanded by Pliny; +and its waters were alive with the pleasure-boats of the patrician +youths, filling the air with the music of their laughter and song. +Puteoli, or, as it is now called, Pozzuoli, a dull and stagnant +fourth-rate town, was then the Liverpool of Italy, carrying on an +immense trade in corn between Egypt and the western provinces of the +Roman Empire. It rivalled Delos in magnificence, and was called the +Little Rome. It had a splendid forum and harbour, and was guarded by +fortifications which resisted the repeated attacks of Hannibal. In +this region almost every famous Roman of the later days of the +Republic and the earlier days of the Empire had his sea-side villa to +which he retired from the noise and bustle of the Imperial City. It +was the Brighton or more properly the Bath of Rome; for though it was +frequented during the burning heats of summer for the sake of its +comparative coolness, it was principally chosen as a winter retreat to +escape from the frosts and snows of the north. Lucullus carried here +the gorgeous luxury and extravagance of his city life; here Augustus +and Hadrian had their palaces erected on vast piers thrown out into +the sea, whose waters still murmur over their remains; while Cicero +built here his <i>Puteolanum</i>, delightfully situated on the coast, and +surrounded by a shady grove, which he called his Academy, in imitation +of Plato, and where he composed his "Academia" and "De Fato." Hardly +an inch of the soil but is full of fragments of mosaic pavements. The +common stones of the road are often rich marbles, that formed part of +imperial structures; and the very dust on which you tread, if +analysed, would be found to be a powder of gems and precious stones.</p> + +<p>But alas! in some of the fairest spots of earth man has been vilest; +and like the ancient Cities of the Plain, which stood in a region of +Edenic loveliness, the shores<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384"></a>[384]</span> of the Bay of Naples were inhabited by +a race corrupted with the worst vices of Roman civilisation. Some of +the most dreadful crimes that have disgraced humanity were committed +on that radiant shore. Yonder sleeps in the azure distance the +enchanted isle of Capri, haunted for ever by dreadful memories of the +unnameable atrocities with which the Emperor Tiberius had stained its +peaceful bowers. On the neighbouring heights of Posilipo are traces of +the villa of Vedius, and of the celebrated fish-ponds where he fed his +<i>murenæ</i> with the flesh of his disobedient slaves. On the shore of +Puteoli the apostle might have seen the remains of one of the maddest +freaks of imperial folly—the floating-bridge of Caligula, stretching +across the bay for nearly three miles, and decorated with the finest +mosaic pavements and sculpture. Over this useless bridge the insane +emperor drove in the chariot and armour of Alexander the Great, to +celebrate his triumph over the Parthians; and from it, on his return, +he ordered the crowd of inoffensive spectators to be hurled into the +sea. By withdrawing for the construction of this bridge the ships +employed in the harbour, the importation of corn was put a stop to, +and a grievous famine, felt even in Rome, was the result. And near at +hand was Bauli, where Nero—the very Cæsar to whom it is startling to +remember that St. Paul appealed, and before whom he was going to be +judged,—only two years before attempted the murder of his own mother, +Agrippina, which failed because of her discovery of the plot, but +which was most ruthlessly accomplished very soon afterwards. Here too +Marcellus was poisoned by Livia, that Tiberius might ascend the throne +of Augustus; and Domitian by Nero, that he might enjoy the wealth of +his aunt. Here Hadrian, a few days before his own miserable end, +compelled his beautiful and accomplished wife, Sabina, to put herself +to death, that she might not survive him in such a wretched world. And +in the cities at the foot of Vesuvius have been revealed to us, after +nature had kindly hidden them for eighteen centuries, tokens of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385"></a>[385]</span> +depravity so utter, that we cannot help looking upon the fiery deluge +from the mountain, that soon after St. Paul's visit swept them out of +existence, as a Divine judgment like that of Sodom and Gomorrha. And +darker even than these monstrosities of wickedness was the divine +worship paid on these shores to the Roman emperors. It was a pitiable +spectacle when the sailors of an Alexandrian ship, coming into the +harbour of Puteoli, gave thanks for their prosperous voyage to the +dying Augustus, whom they met cruising on the waters vainly in search +of health, and offered him divine honours, which the gratified emperor +accepted, and rewarded with gifts. But what shall we think of the +worship of the god Caligula and the god Nero? Surely a people who +could raise altars and offer sacrifices to such unmitigated monsters +must have lost the very conception of religion. Not only virtue, but +the very belief in any source of virtue, must have been utterly +extirpated in them. When Herod spoke, the people said it was the voice +of God; and he was smitten with worms because he gave not God the +glory. And surely the superhuman wickedness of the Cæsars may be +regarded as a punishment, equally significant, of the fearful +blasphemy of the worshipped and the worshippers.</p> + +<p>No wonder that the shores of Baiæ now present a picture of the saddest +desolation. Where man sins, there man suffers. The relation between +human crime and the barren wilderness is still as inflexibly +maintained as at the first. Until all recollection of the iniquities +of the place has passed away it is fitting that these silent shores +should remain the desert that they are. We should not wish the old +voluptuous magnificence revived; and these myrtle bowers can never +more regain the charm of virgin solitudes untainted by man. Italy, +like Palestine, has thus an accursed spot in its fairest region—a +visible monument to all ages, of the great truth that the tidal wave +of retribution will inevitably overwhelm every nation that forgets the +eternal distinctions of right and wrong.</p> + +<p>St. Paul was a man of keen sensibilities and strong<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386"></a>[386]</span> imagination. He +must therefore at Puteoli have been deeply impressed at once with the +loveliness of nature and the wickedness of man. The contrast would +present itself to him in a very painful manner. As at Athens—where +his spirit was moved within him when he saw the city wholly given up +to idolatry—so here he must have had that noble indignation against +the iniquities of the place—the outrages committed on the laws of +God, and the dishonour done to the nature of man made in the Divine +image—to which David and Jeremiah, and all the loftiest spirits of +mankind, have given such stern and yet patriotic utterance. What +others were callous to, filled him with keen shame and sorrow. He who +could have wished that himself were accursed from Christ for his +brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh, must have had a profound +pity for these wretched victims of profligacy, who were looking in +their ignorance for salvation to a brutal mortal worse than +themselves,—"the son of perdition, sitting in the temple of God, +showing that he was God." And to this feeling of indignation and +sorrow, because of the wickedness of the place, must have been added a +feeling of personal despondency. From the significant circumstance +that the apostle thanked God, and took courage, when he met the +Christian brethren at Apii Forum, we may infer that he had previously +great heaviness of spirit. He would be more or less than human, if on +setting his foot for the first time on the native soil of the +conquerors of his country, and the lords of the whole world, and +seeing on every side, even at this distance from the imperial city, +overwhelming evidences of the luxury and power of the empire, he did +not feel oppressed with a sense of personal insignificance. Evil had +throned itself there on the high places of the earth, and could mock +at the puny efforts of the followers of Jesus to cast it down. +Idolatry had so deeply rooted itself in the interests and passions of +men which were bound up in its continuance, that it seemed a foolish +dream to expect that it would be supplanted by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387"></a>[387]</span> the preaching of the +Cross, which to St. Paul's own people was a stumbling-block and to all +other nations foolishness. And who was he that he should undertake +such a mission—a weak and obscure member of a despised race, a +prisoner chained to a soldier, appealing to Cæsar against the +condemnation of his own countrymen. We can well believe, that +notwithstanding the sustaining grace that was given to him, the heart +of the apostle must have been very heavy when he stood in the midst of +the jostling crowd on the quay of Puteoli, and took the first step +there on Italian soil of his journey to Rome. He felt most keenly all +that a man can feel of the shame and offence of the Cross; but +nevertheless he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. And his +presence there on that Roman quay—a despised prisoner in bonds for +the sake of the Gospel—is a picture, that appeals to every heart, of +the triumph of Divine strength in the midst of human weakness; and a +most striking proof, moreover, that not by might, but by the Spirit of +love, does God bring down the strongholds of sin.</p> + +<p>But God furnished a providential cure for whatever despondency the +apostle may have felt. No sooner did he land than he found himself +surrounded by Christian brethren, who cordially welcomed him, and +persuaded him to remain with them seven days. Such brotherly kindness +must have greatly cheered him; and the week spent among these loyal +followers of the Lord Jesus must have been a time of bodily and +spiritual refreshment opportunely fitting him for the trying +experiences before him. Doubtless these brethren were Jewish converts +to the Christian faith; for that there were Jewish residents at +Puteoli, residing in the Tyrian quarter of the city, we are assured by +Josephus; and this we should have expected from the mercantile +importance of the place and its intimate commercial relations with the +East. How they came under the influence of the Gospel we know not; +they may have been among "the strangers of Rome" who came to Jerusalem +at Pentecost to keep the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388"></a>[388]</span> national feasts in obedience to the Mosaic +Law, and who were then brought to the knowledge of the truth by the +preaching of St. Peter; or perhaps they were converts of St Paul's own +making, in some of the numerous places which he visited on his +missionary tours, and who afterwards came to reside for business +purposes at this port. We see in the presence of the Jewish brethren +at Puteoli one of the most striking illustrations of the providential +pre-arrangements made for the diffusion of the Gospel throughout all +nations. The Jews had a more than ordinary attachment to their native +land. Patriotism in their case was not only a passion, but a part of +their religion; and their love of country was entwined with the +holiest feelings of their nature. In Jerusalem alone could God be +acceptably worshipped. And yet it was divinely ordered that those who +had been for ages the hermits of the human race should become all at +once the most cosmopolitan, when the time for imparting to the world +the benefits of their isolated religious training had come. And the +Jews thus scattered abroad preserved amid their alien circumstances +their national worship and customs, and thus became the natural links +of connection between the missionaries of the Cross and the Gentiles +whom they wished to reach. Through such Jewish channels the Gospel +speedily penetrated into remote localities, which otherwise it would +have taken a long time to reach. We are struck with distinct traces of +the Christian faith in the time of St. Paul in the most unexpected +places. For instance, in the National Museum at Naples I have seen +rings with Christian emblems engraved upon them, which were found at +Pompeii; proving beyond doubt that there had been followers of Jesus +even in that dissolute place, who, unlike Lot and his household, were +overwhelmed in the same destruction with those whose evil deeds must +have daily vexed their righteous souls. The same symbols which we find +in the Roman Catacombs,—the palm branch, the sacred fish the monogram +of Jesus, the dove, are unmistakably repre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389"></a>[389]</span>sented on these rings. Some +of them are double, indicating that they were used by married persons: +one has the palm branch twice repeated; another exhibits the palm and +anchor; a third has a dove with a twig in its bill; and one ring has +the Greek word <i>elpis</i>—hope—inscribed upon it.</p> + +<p>St. Paul at Puteoli may be said to have dwelt among his own people. +Not only was he with his own countrymen and fellow-disciples, but he +was in the midst of associations that forcibly recalled his home. The +apostle was a citizen of a Greek city, and the language in which he +spoke was Greek; and here, in the Bay of Naples, he was in the midst +of a Greek colony, where Roman influence had not been able to efface +the deep impression which Greece had made upon the place. The original +name of the splendid expanse of water before him was the Bay of Cumæ; +and Cumæ was absolutely the first Greek settlement in the western +seas. Neapolis or Parthenope was the beautiful Greek name of the city +of Naples, testifying to its Hellenic origin; and Dicæarchia was the +older Greek name of Puteoli, a name used to a late period in +preference to its Latin name, derived from the numerous mineral +springs in the neighbourhood. The whole lower part of Italy was wholly +Greek; its arts, its customs, its literature, were all Hellenic; and +its people belonged to the pure Ionic race whose keen imaginations and +vivid sensuousness seemed to have been created out of the fervid hues +and the pellucid air of their native land. Everywhere the subtle Greek +tongue might be heard; and all, so far as Greek influence was +concerned, was as unchanged in the days of the apostle as when +Pythagoras visited the region, and adopted the inhabitants as the +fittest agents in his great scheme of universal regeneration. St. Paul +therefore, at Puteoli, might have imagined himself standing on the +very soil of classic Hellas, and felt as much at home as in his own +native city of Tarsus. This wide diffusion of the Greek language +throughout the West as well as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390"></a>[390]</span> East at this time is another of +the remarkable providential pre-arrangements which prepared the way +for the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world. A Gentile +speech, by a series of wonderful events, was thus made ready over all +the world to receive and to communicate the glorious Gospel that was +to be preached to all nations.</p> + +<p>The remains of the ancient pier upon which St. Paul landed may still +be seen. Indeed, no Roman harbour has left behind such solid +memorials. No less than thirteen of the buttresses that supported its +arches are left, three lying under water; all constructed of brick +held together by that Roman cement called pozzolana, after the town of +Pozzuoli, whose extraordinary tenacity rivals that of the living rock. +You can plant your feet upon the very stones upon which the apostle +must have stood. And if you happen to be there on the 3d of May you +will see a solemn procession of the inhabitants of the decayed town, +headed by their priests, celebrating the anniversary of this memorable +incident. The first conspicuous object upon which the eye of the +apostle would rest on landing would be the Temple of Neptune, of which +a few pillars are still standing in the midst of the water. Here +Caligula, in his mad passage over his bridge of boats, paused to offer +propitiatory sacrifices. Here, too, Cæsar, before he sailed to Greece +to encounter the forces of Antony at Actium, sacrificed to Neptune; +and here the crew of every ship presented offerings, in order to +secure favouring winds and waves when outward bound, or in gratitude +when returning home from a successful voyage. Beyond this he would see +in all its splendour the famous bathing establishment built over a +thermal spring near the sea, which has since been known as the Temple +of Serapis, an Egyptian deity, whose worship had spread widely in +Italy. Three tall columns of cipollino marble, belonging to the +portico of this building, are still standing, with their bases under +water; and they have acquired a world-wide interest, especially to +geologists, as records of the successive elevations and depres<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391"></a>[391]</span>sions +of the coast-line during the historical period; these changes being +indicated on their shafts by the different watermarks and the +perforations of marine bivalves or boring-shells well known to be +living in the Mediterranean Sea. In the upper part of the town, on a +commanding height, he would behold the Temple of Augustus, built for +the worship of the deified founder of the Roman Empire. A Christian +cathedral dedicated to St. Proculus, who suffered martyrdom in the +same year with St. Januarius, containing the tomb of Pergolesi, the +celebrated musical composer, now occupies the site of the pagan +shrine, and has six of its Corinthian pillars, that looked down upon +the apostle as he landed, built into its walls. A temple of Diana and +a temple of the Nymphs also adorned the town, from which numerous +columns and sculptures have been recently recovered. On every side the +apostle would see mournful tokens that the city was wholly given up to +idolatry,—to the worship of mortal men and an ignoble crowd of gods +and goddesses borrowed from all nations; and yet he had equally sad +proofs that the idolatry was altogether a hollow and heartless +pretence,—that the superstitious creed publicly maintained by the +city had long ceased to command the respect of its recognised +defenders.</p> + +<p>I walked up from the town along the remains of the Via Campana, a +cross-road that led from Puteoli to Capua and there joined the famous +Appian Way. Along this road the apostle passed on his way to Rome; and +it is still paved with the original lava-blocks upon which his feet +had pressed. One of the principal objects on the way is the +amphitheatre of Nero, with its tiers of seats, its arena, and its +subterranean passages, in a wonderful state of preservation, richly +plumed with the delicate fronds of the maiden-hair fern, which drapes +with its living loveliness so many of the ruins of Greece and Italy. +It was here that Nero himself rehearsed the parts in which he wished +to act on the more public stage of Rome. The sands of the arena were +dyed with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392"></a>[392]</span> blood of St. Januarius, who was thrown to the wild +beasts by order of Diocletian, and whose blood is annually liquefied +by a supposititious miracle in Naples at the present day. Behind the +amphitheatre the apostle would get a glimpse of the famous Phlegræan +Fields so often referred to in the classic poets as the scene of the +wars of the gods and the giants.</p> + +<p>This is the Holy Land of Paganism. All the scenery of the eleventh +book of the <i>Odyssey</i> and of the sixth book of the <i>Æneid</i> spreads +beneath the eye. At every step you come upon some spot associated with +the romantic literature of antiquity. From thence the imaginative +shapes of Greek mythology passed into the poetry of Rome. There +everything takes us back far beyond the birth of Roman civilisation, +and reminds us of the legends of the older Hellenic days, which will +exercise an undying spell on the higher minds of the human race down +to the latest ages. It is the land of Virgil, whose own tomb is not +far off; and under the guidance of his genius we visit the ghostly +Cimmerian shores, now bathed in glowing sunshine, and stand on spots +that thrilled the hearts of Hercules and Ulysses with awe. There the +terrible Avernus, to which the descent was so easy, sleeps in its deep +basin, long ago divested by the axe of Agrippa of the impenetrable +gloom and mysterious dread which its dark forests had created; its +steep banks partly covered with natural copsewood bright with a living +mosaic of cyclamens and lilies, and partly formed of cultivated +fields. During my visit the delicious odour of the bean blossom +pervaded the fields, reminding me vividly of familiar rural scenes far +away. Yonder is the subterranean passage called by the common people +the Sibyl's Cave, where Æneas came and plucked the golden bough, and, +led by the melancholy priestess of Apollo, went down to the dreary +world of the dead. It was the general tradition of Pagan nations that +the point of departure from this world, as well as the entrance to the +next, was always in the west. We find the largest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393"></a>[393]</span> number of the +prehistoric relics of the dead on the western shores of our own +country. The cave of Loch Dearg—at first connected with primitive +pagan rites and subsequently the traditional entrance to the Purgatory +of St. Patrick—is situated in the west of Ireland, and corresponds to +the cave of the Sibyl and the Lake of Avernus in Italy. Indeed the +word Avernus itself bears such a close resemblance to the Gaelic word +Ifrinn—the name of the infernal regions, and to the name of Loch +Hourn, the Lake of Hell, on the north-west coast of Scotland—that it +has given rise to the supposition that it was the legacy of a +prehistoric Celtic people who at one time inhabited the Phlegræan +Fields. On the other side of Lake Avernus is the Mare Morto, the Lake +or Sea of the Dead, with its memories of Charon and his ghostly crew, +which now shines in the setting sun like a field of gold sparkling +with jewels; and beyond it are the Elysian Fields, the abodes of the +blessed, the rich life of whose soil breaks out at every pore into a +luxuriant maze of vines and orange trees, and all manner of lovely and +fruitful vegetation. Still farther behind is the Acherusian Marsh of +the poets, now called the Lake of Fusaro, because hemp and flax are +put to steep in it; and the river Styx itself, by which the gods dare +not swear in vain, reduced to an insignificant rill flowing into the +sea. It is most interesting to think of the apostle Paul being +associated with this enchanted region. His presence on the scene is +necessary to complete its charm, and to remind us that the vain dreams +of those blind old seekers after God were all fulfilled in Him who +opened a door for us in heaven, and brought life and immortality to +light in the Gospel.</p> + +<p>St. Paul must have noticed—though Scripture, intent only upon the +unfolding of the religious drama, makes no reference to it—the crater +of Solfatara, one of the most wonderful phenomena of this wonderful +region, for it lay directly in his path, and was only about a mile +distant from Puteoli. This was the famous Forum of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394"></a>[394]</span> Vulcan, where the +god fashioned his terrible tools, and shook the earth with the fierce +fires of his forge. On account of its gaseous fumaroles, and the +flames thrown out with a loud roaring noise from one gloomy cavern in +its side, this volcano may still be considered active. Its white +calcined crater is clothed in some places with green shrubs, +particularly with luxuriant sage, myrtle, and white heather; but an +eruption took place in it so late as 1198, during which a lava +current, a rare phenomenon in this district, flowed from its southern +edge to the sea, destroying the ancient cemetery on the Via Puteolana, +and forming the present promontory of Olibano. The ground sounds +hollow beneath a heavy tread, reminding one unpleasantly that but a +thin crust covers the fiery abyss which might break through at any +moment. With the exception of Vesuvius, this is the only surviving +remnant of the fierce elemental forces which have devastated this +coast in every direction. The whole region is one mass of craters of +various sizes and ages, some far older than Vesuvius, and others of +comparatively recent origin. They are all craters of eruption and not +of elevation; and in their formation they have interfered with and in +some cases almost obliterated pre-existing ones. Some of them are +filled with lakes, and others clothed with luxuriant vineyards, and +wild woods fit for the chase, or encircling cultivated fields. To one +looking upon it from a commanding position such as the heights of +Posilipo, the landscape presents a universally blistered appearance. +Hot mineral springs everywhere abound, often associated with the ruins +of old Roman baths; and the soil is a white felspathic ash, disposed +in layers of such fineness and regularity that they look as if they +had been stratified under water, the sea and the shore having +alternately given place to each other. Of the white earth abounding on +every side, which has given to the place the old name of Campi +Leucogæi, and is the result of the metamorphosis of the trachytic tufa +by the chemical action of the gases that rise up through the +fumaroles, a very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395"></a>[395]</span> fine variety of porcelain—known to collectors as +Capo di Monti—used to be made on the hill behind Naples, and it has +been supposed that the china clays of Cornwall and other places have +been produced from the felspars of the granites in a similar way. The +whole of the Solfatara crater has been enclosed for the purpose of +manufacturing alum from its soil. On the hillside to the north there +are several caverns, called <i>stufe</i>, from whence gas and hot steam +arise, and these are used by the inhabitants as admirable vapour +baths. So late as the year 1538 a terrible volcanic explosion, +accompanied with violent earthquakes, happened not far from Puteoli, +which threw up from the flat plain on which the village of Tripergola +stood, a mountain called Monte Nuovo, four hundred and forty feet high +and a mile and a half in circumference, consisting entirely of ashes +and cinders, obliterating a large part of the celebrated Leucrine +Lake, elevating the site of the temple of Serapis sixteen feet, and +then depressing it, and generally changing the old features of this +locality. This eruption gave relief to the throes of Lake Avernus, +which henceforth ceased to send forth its exhalations, and became the +cheerful garden scene which we now behold.</p> + +<p>Here on a small scale, in the very neighbourhood of man's busiest +haunts, occur the cosmical cataclysms which are usually seen only in +remote solitudes, and which during the unknown ages of geology have +left their indelible records on large portions of the earth's surface. +Here we are admitted into the very workshop of Nature, and are +privileged to witness her processes of creation. In the neighbourhood +of Rome the volcanoes are long extinct. Nature is dead, and there is +nothing left but her cold gray ashes. But here we see her in all her +vigour, changing and renewing and mingling the ruins of her works in +strange association with those of man—the ashes of her volcanoes with +the fragments of temples and baths and the houses of Roman senators +and poets. The whole region lies over a burning mystery, and one has +a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396"></a>[396]</span> constant feeling of insecurity lest the ground should open suddenly +and precipitate one into the very heart of it. Naples itself, strange +to say, a city of more than five hundred thousand inhabitants, is +built in great part within an old broken-down volcanic crater, and the +proximity of its awful neighbour shows that it stands perilously on +the brink of destruction, and may share at any time the fate of +Pompeii and Herculaneum. Were it not for the safety-valves of Vesuvius +and Solfatara, the whole intermediate region, with its towns and +villages and swarming population, would be blown into the air by the +vehement forces that are struggling beneath. It was this elemental +war—fiercer, we have reason to believe, in classic times than +now—that gave rise to the religious fables of the poets. The gloomy +shades of Avernus, the tremendous battles of the gods, the dark +pictures of Tartarus and the Stygian river, were the supernatural +suggestions of a fiery soil. To the fierce throes of volcanic action +we owe the weird mythology of the ancients, which has imparted such a +profound charm to the region, and also, strange as it may seem, the +surpassing loveliness of Nature herself. The fairest regions of the +earth are ever those where the awful power of fire has been at work, +giving to the landscape that passionate expression which lights up a +human face with its most impressive beauty.</p> + +<p>The visit of the apostle to Puteoli served many important purposes. He +who had sent his people Israel into Egypt and Babylon that they might +be benefited by coming into contact with other civilisations, sent St. +Paul to this famous region where Greece and Rome—which, +geographically and historically, were turned back to back, the face of +Greece looking eastward, the face of Italy looking westward—seemed to +meet and to blend into each other, in order that his sympathies might +be expanded by coming into contact with all that man could realise of +earthly glory or conceive of religion. We can trace the overruling +Hand that was shaping the destinies of the Church in the course which +he was led to take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397"></a>[397]</span> from Jerusalem to Damascus, and thence to Asia +Minor, Corinth, Athens, Philippi, Puteoli, and Rome; gathering as he +went along the fruits of all the wide diversity of experience and +culture characterising these places, to equip him more thoroughly for +his work for the Gentiles. And we see also how the doctrines of the +Gospel were becoming more clearly and fully unfolded by this method of +progression; how questions were settled and principles carried out +which have shown to us the exceeding riches of Divine grace in a way +that we could not otherwise have known. Like the lines and marks of +the chrysalis which appear on the body of the butterfly when it first +spreads out its wings to fly—like the folds of the bud which may be +seen in the newly-expanded leaf or flower—so Christianity at first +emerged from its Jewish sheath with the distinctive marks of Judaism +upon it. But as it passed westward from the Holy City, it slowly +extricated itself out of the spirit and the trammels of Judaism into +the self-restraining freedom which Christ gives to His people. The +teaching of the Gospel was fully developed, guarded from all possible +misinterpretation, and practically applied to all representative +circumstances of men, through its coming into contact with the events, +persons, and scenes associated with the wonderful missionary +journeyings of the apostle Paul, which began at Jerusalem and +terminated at Rome. When the Gospel reached the Imperial City, its +relations to Jews and Gentiles, bond and free, were fixed for ever, +its own form was perfected, and the conditions for its diffusion +matured; and its history henceforth, like that of Rome itself, was +synonymous with the history of the world.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Printed by</i> <span class="smcap">R. & R. Clark</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>WORKS BY THE REV. HUGH MACMILLAN, LL.D., F.R.S.E.</h2> + +<div class="toc"> +<p><b>BIBLE TEACHINGS IN NATURE.</b> Fifteenth Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth. 6s.</p> + +<p>"Ably and eloquently written. It is a thoughtful book, and one that is +prolific of thought."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Macmillan writes extremely well, and has produced a book which +may be fitly described as one of the happiest efforts for enlisting +physical science in the direct service of religion. Under his +treatment she becomes the willing handmaid of an instructed and +contemplative devotion."—<i>The Guardian</i>.</p> + +<p>"We part from Mr. Macmillan with exceeding gratitude. He has made the +world more beautiful to us, and unsealed our ears to voices of praise +and messages of love that might otherwise have been unheard. We +commend the volume not only as a valuable appendix to works of natural +theology, but as a series of prose idylls of unusual merit."—<i>British +Quarterly Review</i>.</p> + + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>SEQUEL TO "BIBLE TEACHINGS IN NATURE."</b></i></p> + +<p><b>THE SABBATH OF THE FIELDS.</b> Fifth Edition. Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>"This book is a worthy sequel to Mr. Macmillan's admirable 'Bible +Teachings in Nature.' In it there is the same intimate communion with +nature and the same kind of spiritual instruction as in its +predecessor."—<i>Standard</i>.</p> + +<p>"This volume, like all Dr. Macmillan's productions, is very delightful +reading, and of a special kind. Imagination, natural science, and +religious instruction are blended together in a very charming +way."—<i>British Quarterly Review</i>.</p> + + +<p><b>OUR LORD'S THREE RAISINGS FROM THE DEAD.</b> Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>"His narrative style is pleasant, and his reflections +sensible."—<i>Westminster Review</i>.</p> + + +<p><b>THE MINISTRY OF NATURE.</b> Seventh Edition. Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>"The author exhibits throughout his writings the happiest +characteristics of a God-fearing, and, withal, essentially liberal and +unprejudiced mind. Of the Essays themselves we cannot speak in terms +of too warm admiration."—<i>Standard</i>.</p> + +<p>"We can give unqualified praise to this most charming and suggestive +volume. As studies of nature they are new and striking in information, +beautiful in description, rich in spiritual thought, and especially +helpful and instructive to all religious teachers. If a preacher +desires to see how he can give freshness to his ministry, how he can +clothe old and familiar truths in new forms, and so invest them with +new attractions, how he can secure real beauty and interest without +straining after effect, he could not do better than study this +book."—<i>Nonconformist</i>.</p> + + +<p><b>THE TRUE VINE; OR, THE ANALOGIES OF OUR LORD'S ALLEGORY.</b> Fifth +Edition. Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>"The volume strikes us as being especially well suited for a book of +devotional reading."—<i>Spectator</i>.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Macmillan has thrown beautiful light upon many points of natural +symbolism. Readers and preachers who are unscientific will find many +of his illustrations as valuable as they are beautiful."—<i>British +Quarterly Review</i>.</p> + +<p>"It abounds in exquisite bits of description, and in striking facts +clearly stated."—<i>Nonconformist</i>.</p> + +<p><b>FIRST FORMS OF VEGETATION.</b> Second Edition. Corrected and Enlarged. +With Coloured Frontispiece and numerous Illustrations. Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>The first edition of this book was published under the name of +"Footnotes from the Page of Nature; or, First Forms of Vegetation." +Upwards of a hundred pages of new matter have been added to this new +edition, and eleven new illustrations.</p> + +<p>"Probably the best popular guide to the practical study of mosses, +lichens, and fungi ever written. Its practical value as a help to the +student and collector cannot be exaggerated, and it will be no less +useful in calling the attention of others to the wonders of nature in +the most modern products of the vegetable world."—<i>Manchester +Examiner</i>.</p> + + +<p><b>HOLIDAYS ON HIGH LANDS; OR, RAMBLES AND INCIDENTS IN SEARCH OF ALPINE +PLANTS.</b> Second Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>"A series of delightful lectures on the botany of some of the best +known mountain regions."—<i>Guardian</i>.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Macmillan's glowing pictures of Scandinavian nature are enough to +kindle in every tourist the desire to take the same interesting high +lands for the scenes of his own autumn holidays."—<i>Saturday Review</i>.</p> + + +<p><b>TWO WORLDS ARE OURS.</b> Third Edition. Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>"Any one of the chapters may be taken up separately and read with +pleasure and profit by those whose hours for helpful reading are +limited. The ease and grace of style common to all Dr. Macmillan's +writings are palpable in this volume. The miracles of the Old +Testament, as well as the teachings of nature, have interesting +elucidations in it, and readers have the benefit of scriptural studies +and extensive researches in nature and science, made by the author, to +add to their information and sustain their interest."—<i>The +Theological Quarterly</i>.</p> + + +<p><b>THE MARRIAGE IN CANA OF GALILEE.</b> Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Macmillan expounds the circumstances of this miracle with much +care, with a good sense and a sound judgment that are but rarely at +fault, and with some happy illustrations supplied by his knowledge of +natural precept."—<i>The Spectator</i>.</p> + + +<p><b>THE OLIVE LEAF.</b> Globe 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p>"Distinguished by felicity of style, delicate insight, and apt +application of the phenomena of nature to spiritual truths that have +rendered the author's previous writings popular. These fresh studies +of forest trees, foliage, and wild flowers are very pleasant +reading."—<i>Saturday Review</i>.</p> + +<h4>MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON.</h4> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Mosaics, by Hugh Macmillan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN MOSAICS *** + +***** This file should be named 16180-h.htm or 16180-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/1/8/16180/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Suzanne Lybarger, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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