[7] A Frenchman in the late war, commanded the Castle of St Angelo; the
Neapolitan troops summoned him to capitulate; he answered that the
fortress should be surrendered when the Angel of Bronze should sheathe
his sword.
[8] These facts are to be found in the _History of the Italian Republics
of the Middle Ages_, by M. Simonde, of Geneva. This history will
certainly be considered as an authority; for we perceive, in reading it,
that its author is a man of profound sagacity, as conscientious as he is
energetic in his manner of relating and describing.
[9]
"Eine Welt zwar bist du o Rom; doch ohne die Liebe,
Wäre die Welt nicht die Welt, wäre denn Rom auch nicht Rom."
These two verses are from Goëthe, the German poet, the philosopher, the
man of letters, whose originality and imagination are most remarkable.
[10] The Church of St Peter is said to be one of the chief causes of the
Reformation, inasmuch as it cost the Popes so much money that they had
recourse to the multiplication of indulgences in order to build it.
Chapter iv.
The next day Oswald and Corinne set out with more confidence and
serenity. They were friends travelling together;--they began to say
_we_. Ah! how touching is that _we_ when pronounced by love! How
timidly, yet how vividly expressed, is the declaration which it
contains! "We will go to the Capitol then," said Corinne. "Yes, we will
go there," replied Oswald. Simplicity was in his words--softness and
tenderness in his accent. "From the height of the Capitol, such as it is
now," said Corinne, "we can easily perceive the seven hills; we will
survey them all, one after another; there is not one of them which does
not preserve in it some traces of history."
Corinne and Lord Nelville took what was formerly called the _Via Sacra_
or Triumphal Way. "'Tis this way that your car passed," said Oswald to
Corinne. "Yes," answered she; "this ancient dust might be astonished at
bearing such a car; but since the Roman republic, so many criminal
traces have been imprinted on it that the sentiment of respect which it
inspires is much weakened." They then arrived at the foot of the steps
of the present Capitol. The entrance to the ancient Capitol was through
the Forum. "I could wish," said Corinne, "that these steps were the same
that Scipio mounted, when, repelling calumny by glory, he entered the
temple to return thanks to the gods for the victories which he had
gained. But these new steps, this new Capitol, has been built upon the
ruins of the old, in order to receive the peaceable magistrate who bears
in himself alone the immense title of Roman Senator, formerly an object
of respect to the whole universe. Here we have no longer any thing but
names; yet their harmony, their ancient dignity, inspire us with a
pleasing sensation, mingled with regret. I asked a poor woman, whom I
met the other day, where she lived? '_At the Tarpeian Rock_,' answered
she. This word, however stripped of the ideas which formerly attached to
it, still vibrates upon the imagination."
Oswald and Corinne stopped to contemplate the two lions of basalt at the
foot of the steps[11]. They came from Egypt. The Egyptian sculptors were
more happy in seizing the figure of animals than that of man. These
lions of the Capitol are nobly peaceful, and their physiognomy is the
true image of tranquillity in strength.
"A guisa di leon, quando si posa."
DANTE.
"_In the manner of the lion, when he reposes._"
Not far from these lions is a statue of Rome, mutilated, which the
modern Romans have placed there, without thinking that they were thus
giving the most perfect emblem of their city as it now is. This statue
has neither head nor feet, but the body and the drapery which still
remain have something of their ancient beauty. At the top of the steps
are two colossal figures which represent as it is believed Castor and
Pollux; then the trophies of Marius; then two milliary columns which
served for the admeasurement of the Roman universe; and the equestrian
statue of Marcus Aurelius, noble and calm in the midst of these several
recollections. Thus, the whole Roman history is here emblematically
represented: The heroic age by the Dioscuri; the republic by the lions;
the civil wars by Marius; and the golden age of the emperors by Marcus
Aurelius.
Advancing towards the modern Capitol, we see to the right and to the
left two churches, built on the ruins of the temples of the Feretrian
and Capitoline Jupiter. Before the vestibule is a fountain, over which
preside two rivers, the Nile and the Tiber, with the she-wolf of
Romulus. The name of the Tiber is not pronounced like that of inglorious
rivers; it is one of the pleasures of the Romans, to say, "_Conduct me
to the borders of the Tiber; let us cross the Tiber._" In pronouncing
these words they seem to invoke history and to re-animate the dead. In
going to the Capitol, by way of the Forum, we find, to the right, the
Mamertine prisons.--These prisons were at first constructed by Ancus
Martius, and were then employed for ordinary criminals. But Servius
Tullius caused more horrid ones to be dug under ground for state
criminals, as if such prisoners were not those who deserve most
consideration, since their errors might be united with sincerity.
Jugurtha and the accomplices of Cataline perished in these prisons. It
is also said that St Peter and St Paul have been incarcerated in them.
On the other side of the Capitol is the Tarpeian Rock, and at the foot
of this rock we find at the present time a hospital, called The Hospital
of Consolation. It seems that thus in Rome the severe spirit of
antiquity and the mildness of Christianity meet each other throughout
the ages, and present themselves to our sight as well as to our
reflection.
When Oswald and Corinne had reached the top of the tower of the Capitol,
she showed him the Seven Hills; the city of Rome bounded at first by
Mount Palatine, then by the walls of Servius Tullius, which enclose the
Seven Hills; lastly by the walls of Aurelian, which still serve as an
enclosure to the greatest part of Rome. Corinne recalled to mind the
verses of Tibullus and Propertius[12], who are proud of the weak
beginnings whence has sprung the mistress of the world. Mount Palatine
was in itself the whole of Rome for some time, but afterwards the palace
of the Emperors filled the space which had before sufficed for a nation.
A poet, in the time of Nero, made the following epigram upon this
occasion.[13] _Rome will soon be only a palace. Go to Veii Romans, if
this palace does not now occupy Veii itself._
The Seven Hills are infinitely less elevated than formerly when they
deserved the name of the Steep Mountains. Modern Rome is raised forty
feet above the ancient city. The valleys which separated the hills are
almost filled up by time with the ruins of edifices; but what is more
singular yet, a heap of broken vases has raised two new hills;[14] and
we almost discover an image of modern times, in this progress, or rather
this wreck of civilisation, levelling mountains with valleys, effacing
in the moral as well as the physical world all those beautiful
inequalities produced by nature.
Three other hills,[15] not comprised in the seven famous ones, give
something picturesque to the city of Rome, which perhaps is the only
city that of itself, and in its own boundaries, offers the most
magnificent points of observation. It presents such a remarkable mixture
of ruins, edifices, fields and deserts, that we may contemplate Rome on
all sides, and always find a striking picture in the opposite
perspective.
Oswald could never feel tired of viewing the traces of ancient Rome from
the elevated point of the Capitol to which Corinne had conducted him.
The reading of history, and the reflections which it excites, produce a
less powerful effect upon the soul than those heaps of stones, those
ruins mingled with new habitations. So strongly do our eyes carry
conviction to the mind, that after having beheld these ruins of Rome we
believe the history of the ancient Romans as if we had been cotemporary
with them. The recollections of the mind are acquired by study; the
recollections of the imagination are born of a more immediate and
intimate impression, which gives body to thought, and renders us, if I
may so express it, witnesses of what we have learnt. Undoubtedly one is
vexed sometimes at those modern buildings which intrude themselves among
the venerable spoils of antiquity. But a portico by the side of a humble
cottage, pillars, between which appear the little windows of a church, a
tomb affording an asylum to a whole rustic family, produce an
indescribable mixture of great and simple ideas, a newly-discovered
pleasure which inspires a continual interest. The greater part of our
European cities have externally a common and prosaic appearance; and
Rome, oftener than any other, presents the melancholy aspect of misery
and degradation; but all of a sudden a broken column, a bas-relief
half-destroyed, stones knit together in the indestructible manner of the
ancient architects, remind us that there is in man an eternal power, a
divine spark, which he must never cease to excite in himself and revive
in others.
This Forum, whose enclosure is so narrow in compass, and which has
witnessed so many astonishing things, is a striking proof of the moral
greatness of man. When the universe, in the latter times of Rome, was
subjected to inglorious masters, we find whole centuries, of which
history has scarcely preserved any events; and this Forum, this little
space in the centre of a city, at that time very circumscribed, whose
inhabitants were fighting all around them for their territory, has it
not occupied by the memories which it recalls, the most sublime geniuses
of every age! Honour then, eternal honour, to nations, courageous and
free, since they thus captivate the admiration of posterity!
Corinne observed to Lord Nelville that there were very few remains of
the Republican age to be found at Rome. The aqueducts, the canals formed
under ground, for the distribution of water, were the only luxury of the
Republic and the kings who preceded it. They have only left us useful
edifices: tombs raised to the memory of their great men, and some
temples of brick, which still subsist. It was not until after the
conquest of Sicily that the Romans for the first time made use of marble
for their monuments; but it is sufficient to behold places where great
actions have occurred, to experience an indefinable emotion. It is to
this disposition of the soul that we must attribute the religious power
of pilgrimages. Celebrated countries of every kind, even when stripped
of their great men and of their monuments, preserve their effect upon
the imagination. What struck our sight no longer exists, but the charm
of recollection remains.
This Forum no longer presents us with any trace of that famous Tribune,
from which the Roman people were governed by eloquence. Three pillars
remain of a temple, raised by Augustus in honour of Jupiter Tonans, when
the thunderbolt fell at his feet without striking him, and an arch
which the senate raised to Septimus Severus in reward of his exploits.
The names of his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, were inscribed on the
fronton of the arch; but when Caracalla had assassinated Geta he caused
his name to be erased, and some traces of the cancelled letters are
still to be seen. At some distance is a temple to Faustina, a monument
of the blind weakness of Marcus Aurelius; a temple to Venus which, in
the time of the republic, was consecrated to Pallas--and farther on, the
ruins of a temple dedicated to the Sun and Moon, built by the Emperor
Adrian, who was jealous of Apollodorus, the famous Grecian architect,
and put him to death for having found fault with the proportions of his
edifice.
On the other side of the square we behold the ruins of some monuments
consecrated to nobler and purer aims. The pillars of a temple which is
believed to have been that of Jupiter Stator, who prevented the Romans
from ever flying before their enemies. A pillar remaining of the Temple
of Jupiter Guardian, placed, we are told, not far from the abyss into
which Curtius precipitated himself. Pillars also of a temple, raised,
some say, to Concord, others to Victory. Perhaps these two ideas are
confounded by conquering nations, who probably think no real peace can
exist till they have subdued the universe! At the extremity of Mount
Palatine is a beautiful triumphal arch, dedicated to Titus, for the
conquest of Jerusalem. We are informed that the Jews who are at Rome
never pass under this arch, and a little path is shewn which they take
to avoid it. It is to be wished, for the honour of the Jews, that this
anecdote may be true; long recollections suit long misfortunes.
Not far from thence is the arch of Constantine, embellished with some
bas-reliefs taken away from the forum of Trajan, by the Christians, who
wished to adorn the monument consecrated to the _founder of repose_; so
they called Constantine. The arts at this epoch were already on the
decline, and they stripped the past to honour new exploits. These
triumphal gates, which are seen at Rome, give perpetuity as much as man
can give it, to the honours paid to glory. There was a place upon their
summits destined for flute and trumpet players, in order that the victor
when passing might be intoxicated at the same time by music and praise,
and taste at the same moment all the most exalted emotions.
Facing these triumphal arches are the ruins of the temple of Peace built
by Vespasian; it was so decorated with brass and with gold, internally,
that when consumed by fire, the streams of burning metal that flowed
from it extended even to the Forum. Lastly, the Coliseum, the most
beautiful ruin of Rome, terminates this noble enclosure, which embraces
all history in its compass. This superb edifice, of which only the
stones remain, stript of the gold and the marble, served as an
amphitheatre for the combats of the gladiators, with wild beasts. It was
thus that the Roman people were amused and deceived by strong emotions,
when natural sentiments could no longer soar. The entrance to the
Coliseum is by two doors, one consecrated to the victors, and by the
other were carried out the dead: strange contempt for the human race,
which made the life or death of man dependent upon the pastime of a
public spectacle! Titus, the best of emperors, dedicated the Coliseum to
the Roman people,--and these admirable ruins bear such fine traits of
magnificence and genius, that we are led into an illusion on the subject
of true greatness, and tempted to grant that admiration to the
masterpieces of art, which is only the due of monuments consecrated to
generous institutions.
Oswald did not indulge in that admiration which Corinne felt in
contemplating these four galleries; these four edifices, rising one
upon another; this medley of pomp and barbarism, which at once inspires
respect and compassion. He beheld in these scenes nothing but the luxury
of the master, and the blood of the slaves, and felt indignant at the
arts which, regardless of their aim, lavish their gifts upon whatever
object they may be destined for. Corinne endeavoured to combat this
disposition:--"Do not," said she, to Lord Nelville, "carry the rigour of
your principles of morality and justice into the contemplation of the
Italian monuments; they, for the most part, recall, as I have told you,
rather the splendour, the elegance of taste of ancient forms, than the
glorious epoch of Roman virtue. But do you not find some traces of the
moral greatness possessed by the first ages, in the gigantic luxury of
the monuments which have succeeded them? Even the degradation of the
Roman people still commands respect: the mourning of her liberty covers
the world with wonders, and the genius of ideal beauty seeks to console
man for the true and real dignity which he has lost. Behold those
immense baths, open to all those who were willing to taste oriental
voluptuousness--those circuses destined for the elephants which were
brought there to combat with tigers, and those aqueducts which in a
moment converted the amphitheatre into a lake, where galleys too fought
in their turn, and crocodiles appeared where lions were seen
before:--such was the luxury of the Romans when luxury was their pride!
Those obelisks which were brought from Egypt, stolen from African
shades, in order to adorn the Roman sepulchres; that population of
statues which formerly existed in Rome cannot be looked upon in the same
light as the useless pageantry of the Asiatic despots: it is the Roman
genius which conquered the world, and to which the arts have given an
external form. There is something supernatural in this magnificence,
and its poetical splendour makes us forget its origin and its aim."
The eloquence of Corinne excited the admiration of Oswald without
convincing him; he sought for some moral sentiment in all this, without
which all the magic of the arts could not satisfy him. Corinne then
recollected that in this very amphitheatre the persecuted Christians
died victims of their perseverance, and showing Lord Nelville the altars
which are raised in honour of their ashes, as well as the path of the
cross, which is trodden by penitents, at the foot of the most
magnificent wrecks of worldly grandeur, asked him if the ashes of
martyrs conveyed no language to his heart? "Yes," cried he, "I deeply
admire the triumph of the soul and of the will over the pains of death.
A sacrifice, whatever it may be, is nobler and more difficult than all
the flights of the soul and of thought.--An exalted imagination may
produce miracles of genius, but it is only in devoting ourselves to our
opinion or to our sentiments that we are truly virtuous;--it is then
alone that a celestial power subdues the mortal man in us."
This language, so noble and so pure, yet gave uneasiness to Corinne. She
looked at Nelville--then cast down her eyes--and though, at that moment,
he took her hand and pressed it against his heart, she shuddered at the
idea that such a man could sacrifice others or himself to the worship of
opinions, of principles, or of duties, which he might have chosen.