CHAPTER III.

THE CAPITOLINE.

The Story of the Hill--Piazza del Campidoglio--Palace of the

Senator--View from the Capitol Tower--The Tabularium--The Museo

Capitolino--Gallery of Statues--Palace of the Conservators--Gallery

of Pictures--Palazzo Caffarelli--Tarpeian Rock--Convent and Church

of Ara-Cœli--Mamertine Prisons.

The Capitoline was the hill of the kings and the republic, as the

Palatine was of the empire.

Entirely composed of tufa, its sides, now concealed by buildings or by

the accumulated rubbish of ages, were abrupt and precipitous, as are

still the sides of the neighbouring citadels of Corneto and Cervetri. It

was united to the Quirinal by an isthmus of land cut away by Trajan, but

in every other direction was isolated by its perpendicular cliffs:--

"Arduus in valles et fora clivus erat."

_Ovid, Fast._ i. 264.

Up to the time of the Tarquins, it bore the name of Mons Saturnus,[19]

from the mythical king Saturn, who is reported to have come to Italy in

the reign of Janus, and to have made a settlement here. His name was

derived from sowing, and he was looked upon as the introducer of

civilization and social order, both of which are inseparably connected

with agriculture. His reign here was thus considered to be the golden

age of Italy. His wife was Ops, the representative of plenty.[20]

"C'est la tradition d'un âge de paix représenté par le règne

paisible de Saturne; avant qu'il y eut une _Roma_, ville de la

force, il y eut une _Saturnia_, ville de la paix."--_Ampère, Hist.

Rom._ i. 86.

Virgil represents Evander, the mythical king of the Palatine, as

exhibiting Saturnia, already in ruins, to Æneas.

"Hæc duo præterea disjectis oppida muris,

Reliquias veterumque vides monumenta virorum.

Hanc Janus pater, hanc Saturnus condidit arcem:

Janiculum huic, illi fuerat Saturnia nomen."

_Æn._ viii. 356.

When Romulus had fixed his settlement upon the Palatine, he opened an

asylum for fugitive slaves upon the then deserted Saturnus, and here, at

a sacred oak, he is said to have offered up the spoils of the

Cæcinenses, and their king Acron, who had made a war of reprisal upon

him, after the rape of their women in the Campus Martius; here also he

vowed to build a temple to Jupiter Feretrius, where spoils should always

be offered. But in the mean time, the Sabines, under Titius Tatus,

besieged and took the hill, having a gate of its fortress (said to have

been on the ascent above the spot where the arch of Severus now stands)

opened to them by Tarpeia, who gazed with longing upon the golden

bracelets of the warriors, and, obtaining a promise to receive that

which they wore upon their arms, was crushed by their shields as they

entered. Some authorities, however, maintain that she asked and obtained

the hand of king Tatius. From this time the hill was completely occupied

by the Sabines, and its name became partially merged in that of _Mons

Tarpeia_, which its southern side has always retained. Niebuhr states

that it is a popular superstition that the beautiful Tarpeia still sits,

sparkling with gold and jewels, enchanted and motionless, in a cave in

the centre of the hill.

After the death of Tatius, the Capitoline again fell under the

government of Romulus, and his successor, Numa Pompilius, founded here a

Temple of Fides Publica, in which the flamens were always to sacrifice

with a fillet on their right hands, in sign of fidelity. To Numa also is

attributed the worship of the god Terminus, who had a temple here in

very early ages.

Under Tarquinius Superbus, B.C. 535, the magnificent _Temple of Jupiter

Capitolinus_, which had been vowed by his father, was built with money

taken from the Volscians in war. In digging its foundations, the head of

a man was found, still bloody, an omen which was interpreted by an

Etruscan augur to portend that Rome would become the head of Italy. In

consequence of this, the name of the hill was once more changed, and has

ever since been _Mons Capitolinus_, or Capitolium.

The site of this temple has always been one of the vexed questions of

history. At the time it was built, as now, the hill consisted of two

peaks, with a level space between them. Niebuhr and Gregorovius place

the temple on the south-eastern height, but Canina and other

authorities, with more probability, incline to the north-eastern

eminence, the present site of Ara-Cœli, because, among many other

reasons, the temple faced the south, and also the Forum, which it could

not have done upon the south-eastern summit; and also because the

citadel is always represented as having been nearer to the Tiber than

the temple: for when Herdonius, and the Gauls, arriving by the river,

scaled the heights of the Capitol, it was the _citadel_ which barred

their path, and in which, in the latter case, Manlius was awakened by

the noise of the sacred geese of Juno.

The temple of Jupiter occupied a lofty platform, the summit of the rock

being levelled to receive it. Its façade was decorated with three ranges

of columns, and its sides by a single colonnade. It was nearly square,

being 200 Roman feet in length, and 185 in width.[21] The interior was

divided into three cells; the figure of Jupiter occupied that in the

centre, Minerva was on his right, and Juno on his left. The figure of

Jupiter was the work of an artist of the Volscian city of Fregellæ,[22]

and was formed of terra-cotta, painted like the statues which we may

still see in the Etruscan museum at the Vatican, and clothed with the

tunica palmata, and the toga picta, the costume of victorious generals.

In his right hand was a thunder-bolt, and in his left a spear.

"Jupiter angusta vix totus stabat in Æde;

Inque Jovis dextra fictile fulmen erat."

_Ovid, Fast._ i. 202.

At a later period the statue was formed of gold, but this figure had

ceased to exist in the time of Pliny.[23] When Martial wrote, the

statues of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, were all gilt.

"Scriptus es æterno nunc primum, Jupiter, auro,

Et soror, et summi filia tota patris."

_Martial,_ xi. _Ep._ 5.

In the wall adjoining the cella of Minerva, a nail was fastened every

year, to mark the lapse of time.[24] In the centre of the temple was the

statue of Terminus.

"The sumptuous fane of Jupiter Capitolinus had peculiar claims on

the veneration of the Roman citizens; for not only the great lord

of the earth was worshipped in it, but the conservative principle

of property itself found therein its appropriate symbol. While the

statue of Jupiter occupied the usual place of the divinity in the

furthest recess of the building, an image of the god Terminus was

also placed in the centre of the nave, which was open to the

heavens. A venerable legend affirmed, that when, in the time of the

kings, it was requisite to clear a space on the Capitoline to erect

on it a temple to the great father of the gods, and the shrines of

the lesser divinities were to be removed for the purpose, Terminus

alone, the patron of boundaries, refused to quit his place, and

demanded to be included in the walls of the new edifice. Thus

propitiated he was understood to declare that henceforth the bounds

of the republic should never be removed; and the pledge was more

than fulfilled by the ever increasing circuit of her

dominion."--_Merivale, Romans Under the Empire._

The gates of the temple were of gilt bronze, and its pavement of

mosaic;[25] in a vault beneath were preserved the Sibylline books placed

there by Tarquin. The building of Tarquin lasted 400 years, and was

burnt down in the civil wars, B.C. 83. It was rebuilt very soon

afterwards by Sylla, and adorned with columns of Pentelic marble, which

he had brought from the temple of Jupiter Olympus at Athens.[26] Sylla,

however, did not live to rededicate it, and it was finished by Q.

Lutatius Catulus, B.C. 62. This temple lasted till it was burnt to the

ground by the soldiers of Vitellius, who set fire to it by throwing

torches upon the portico, A.D. 69, and dragging forth Sabinus, the

brother of Vespasian, murdered him at the foot of the Capitol, near the

Mamertine Prisons.[27] Domitian, the younger son of Vespasian, was, at

that time, in the temple with his uncle, and escaped in the dress of a

priest; in commemoration of which, he erected a chapel to Jupiter

Conservator, close to the temple, with an altar upon which his adventure

was sculptured. The temple was rebuilt by Vespasian, who took so great

an interest in the work, that he carried away some of the rubbish on his

own shoulders; but his temple was the exact likeness of its predecessor,

only higher, as the aruspices said that the gods would not allow it to

be altered.[28] In this building Titus and Vespasian celebrated their

triumph for the fall of Jerusalem. The ruin of the temple began in A.D.

404, during the short visit of the youthful Emperor Honorius to Rome,

when the plates of gold which lined its doors were stripped off by

Stilicho.[29] It was finally plundered by the Vandals, in A.D. 455, when

its statues were carried off to adorn the African palace of Genseric,

and half its roof was stripped of the gilt bronze tiles which covered

it; but it is not known precisely when it ceased to exist,--the early

fathers of the Christian Church speak of having seen it. The story that

the bronze statue of Jupiter, belonging to this temple, was transformed

by Leo I. into the famous image of St. Peter, is very doubtful.

Close beside this, the queen of Roman temples, stood the _Temple of

Fides_, said to have been founded by Numa, where the senate were

assembled at the time of the murder of Tiberius Gracchus, B.C. 133, who

fell in front of the temple of Jupiter, at the foot of the statues of

the kings: his blood being the first spilt in Rome in a civil war.[30]

Near this, also, were the twin _Temples of Mars and Venus Erycina_,

vowed after the battle of Thrasymene, and consecrated, B.C. 215, by the

consuls Q. Fabius Maximus and T. Otacilius Crassus. Near the top of the

Clivus was the _Temple of Jupiter Tonans_, built by Augustus, in

consequence of a vow which he made in an expedition against the Cantabri

when his litter was struck, and the slave who preceded him was killed by

lightning. This temple was so near, that it was considered as a porch to

that of Jupiter Capitolinus, and in token of that character, Augustus

hung some bells upon its pediment.

On the Arx, or opposite height of the Capitol, was the _Temple of Honour

and Virtue_, built B.C. 103, by Marius, with the spoils taken in the

Cimbric wars. This temple was of sufficient size to allow of the senate

meeting there, to pass the decree for Cicero's recall.[31] Here Nardini

places the ancient _Temple of Jupiter Feretrius_, in which Romulus

dedicated the first spolia opima. Here, on the site of the house of

Manlius, was built the _Temple of Juno Moneta_, B.C. 345, in accordance

with a vow of L. Furius Camillus.[32] On this height, also, was the

_Altar of Jupiter Pistor_, which commemorated the stratagem of the

Romans, who threw down loaves into the camp of the besieging Gauls, to

deceive them as to the state of their supplies.[33]

"Nomine, quam pretio celebratior, arce Tonantis,

Dicam Pistoris quid velit ara Jovis."

_Ovid, Fast._ vi. 349.

It was probably also on this side of the hill that the gigantic _Statue

of Jupiter_ stood, which was formed out of the armour taken from the

Samnites, B.C. 293, and which is stated by Pliny to have been of such a

size that it was visible from the top of Monte Cavo.

Two cliffs are now rival claimants to be considered as the Tarpeian

Rock; but it is most probable that the whole of the hill on this side of

the Intermontium was called the Mons Tarpeia, and was celebrated under

that name by the poets.

"In summo custos Tarpeiæ Manlius arcis

Stabat pro templo, et Capitolia celsa tenebat:

Romuleoque recens horrebat regia culmo.

Atque hic auratis volitans argenteus anser

Porticibus, Gallos in limine adesse canebat."

_Virgil, Æn._ viii. 652.

"Aurea Tarpeia ponet Capitolia rupe,

Et junget nostro templorum culmina cœlo."

_Sil. Ital._ iii. 623.

... "juvat inter tecta Tonantis,

Cernere Tarpeia pendentes rupe Gigantes."

_Claud._ vi. _Cons. Hon._ 44.

Among the buildings upon the _Intermontium_, or space between the two

heights, were the Tabularium, or Record Office, part of which still

remains; a portico, built by Scipio Nasica,[34] and an arch which Nero

built here to his own honour, the erection of which upon the sacred

hill, hitherto devoted to the gods, was regarded even by the subservient

senate as an unparalleled act of presumption.[35]

In mediæval times the revolutionary government of Arnold of Brescia

established itself on this hill (1144), and Pope Lucius II., in

attempting to regain his temporal power, was slain with a stone in

attacking it. Here Petrarch received his laurel crown (1341); and here

the tribune Rienzi promulgated the laws of the "good estate." At this

time nothing existed on the Capitol but the church and convent of

Ara-Cœli, and a few ruins. Yet the cry of the people at the

coronation of Petrarch, "Long life to _the Capitol_ and the poet!" shows

that the scene itself was then still more present to their minds than

the principal actor upon it. But, when the popes returned from Avignon,

the very memory of the Capitol seemed effaced, and the spot was only

known as the Goat's Hill,--_Monte Caprino_. Pope Boniface IX. (1389--94)

was the first to erect on the Capitol, on the ruins of the Tabularium, a

residence for the senator and his assessors, Paul III. (1544--50)

employed Michael Angelo to lay out the Piazza del Campidoglio; when he

designed the Capitoline Museum and the Palace of the Conservators. Pius

IV., Gregory XIII., and Sixtus V. added the sculptures and other

monuments which now adorn the steps and balustrade.[36]

* * * * *

Just beyond the end of the Corso, the _Via della Pedacchia_ turns to the

right, under a quaint archway in the secret passage constructed as a

means of escape for the Franciscan Generals of Ara-Cœli to the

Palazzo Venezia, as that in the Borgo is for the escape of the popes to

S. Angelo. In this street is a house decorated with simple but elegant

Doric details, and bearing an inscription over the door which shows that

it was that of Pietro da Cortona.

The street ends in the sunny open space at the foot of the Capitol, with

Ara-Cœli on its left, approached by an immense flight of steps,

removed hither from the Temple of the Sun, on the Quirinal, but marking

the site of the famous staircase to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus,

which Julius Cæsar descended on his knees, after his triumph for his

Gallic victories.[37]

The grand staircase, "_La Cordonnata_," was opened in its present form

on the occasion of the entry of Charles V., in 1536.[38] At its foot are

two lions of Egyptian porphyry, which were removed hither from the

Church of S. Stefano in Cacco, by Pius IV. It was down the staircase

which originally existed on this site, that Rienzi the tribune fled in

his last moments, and close to the spot where the left-hand lion stands,

that he fell, covered with wounds, his wife witnessing his death from a

window of the burning palace above. A small space between the two

staircases has lately been transformed into a garden, through which

access may be obtained to four vaulted brick chambers, remnants of the

substructions of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. A living wolf is

kept here in commemoration of the nurse of Romulus and Remus.

At the head of the stairs are colossal statues of the twin heroes,

Castor and Pollux (brought hither from the Ghetto), commemorating the

victory of the Lake Regillus, after which they rode before the army to

Rome, to announce the joyful news, watered their horses at the Aqua

Argentina, and then passed away from the gaze of the multitude into

celestial spheres. Beyond these, on either side, are two trophies of

imperial times discovered in the ruin on the Esquiline, misnamed the

Trophies of Marius. Next come statues of Constantine the Great and his

son Constantine II., from their baths on the Quirinal. The two ends of

the parapet are occupied by ancient Milliaria, being the first and

seventh milestones of the Appian Way. The first milestone was found in

_situ_, and showed that the miles counted from the gates of Rome, and

not, as was formerly supposed, from the Milliarium Aureum, at the foot

of the Capitol.

We now find ourselves in the _Piazza del Campidoglio_, occupying the

Intermontium, where Brutus harangued the people after the murder of

Julius Cæsar. In the centre of the square is the famous _Statue of

Marcus Aurelius_, the only perfect ancient equestrian statue in

existence. It was originally gilt, as may still be seen from marks of

gilding upon the figure, and stood in front of the arch of

Septimius-Severus. Hence it was removed by Sergius III. to the front of

the Lateran, where, not long after, it was put to a singular use by John

XIII., who hung a refractory prefect of the city from it by his

hair.[39] During the rejoicings consequent upon the elevation of Rienzi

to the tribuneship in 1347, one of its nostrils was made to flow with

water and the other with wine. From its vicinity to the Lateran, so

intimately connected with the history of Constantine, it was supposed

during the middle ages to represent that Christian emperor, and this

fortunate error alone preserved it from the destruction which befell so

many other ancient imperial statues. Michael Angelo, when he designed

the buildings of the Capitoline Piazza, wished to remove the statue to

its present site, but the canons of the Lateran were unwilling to part

with their treasure, and only consented to its removal upon an annual

acknowledgment of their proprietorship, for which a bunch of flowers is

still presented once a year by the senators to the chapter of the

Lateran. Michael Angelo, standing in fixed admiration before this

statue, is said to have bidden the horse "Cammina." Even until late

years an especial guardian has been appointed to take care of it, with

an annual stipend of ten scudi a year, and the title of "Il custode del

Cavallo."

"They stood awhile to contemplate the bronze equestrian statue of

Marcus Aurelius. The moonlight glistened upon traces of the gilding

which had once covered both rider and steed; these were almost

gone, but the aspect of dignity was still perfect, clothing the

figure as it were with an imperial robe of light. It is the most

majestic representation of the kingly character that ever the world

has seen. A sight of the old heathen emperor is enough to create an

evanescent sentiment of loyalty even in a democratic bosom, so

august does he look, so fit to rule, so worthy of man's profoundest

homage and obedience, so inevitably attractive of his love. He

stretches forth his hand with an air of proud magnificence and

unlimited authority, as if uttering a decree from which no appeal

was permissible, but in which the obedient subject would find his

highest interests consulted: a command that was in itself a

benediction."--_Hawthorne._

"I often ascend the Capitoline Hill to look at Marcus Aurelius and

his horse, and have not been able to refrain from caressing the

lions of basalt. You cannot stand on the Aventine or the Palatine

without grave thoughts, but standing on the spot brings me very

little nearer the image of past ages."--_Niebuhr's Letters._

"La statue équestre de Marc-Aurèle a aussi sa légende, et celle-là

n'est pas du moyen âge, mais elle a été recueillie il y a peu

d'années de la bouche d'un jeune Romain. La dorure, en partie

détruite, se voit encore en quelques endroits. A en croire le jeune

Romain, cependant, la dorure, au lieu d'aller s'effaçant toujours

davantage, était en voie de progrès. 'Voyez, disait-il, la statue

de bronze commence à se dorer, et quand elle le sera entièrement,

le monde finira.'--C'est toujours, sous une forme absurde, la

vieille idée romaine, que les destinées et l'existence de Rome sont

liées aux destinées et à l'existence du monde. C'est ce qui faisait

dire au septième siècle; ainsi que les pèlerins saxons l'avaient

entendu et le répétaient; 'Quand le Colisée tombera, Rome et le

monde finiront.'"--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 228.

The building at the back of the piazza is _The Palace of the Senator_,

originally built by Boniface IX. (1389), but altered by Michael Angelo

to correspond with his buildings on either side. The fountain at the

foot of the double staircase was erected by Sixtus V., and is adorned

with statues of river gods found in the Colonna Gardens, and a curious

porphyry figure of Minerva--adapted as Rome. The body of this statue

was found at Cori, but the head and arms are modern additions.

"Rome personnifiée, cette déesse à laquelle on érigea des temples,

voulut d'abord être une Amazone, ce qui se conçoit, car elle était

guerrière avant tout. C'est sous la forme de Minerve que Rome est

assise sur la place du Capitole."--_Ampère, Hist. Romaine_, iii.

242.

In the interior of this building the Hall of the Senators contains some

papal statues, and that of Charles of Anjou, who was made senator of

Rome in the thirteenth century.

The _Tower of the Capitol_ contains the great bell of Viterbo, carried

off from that town during the wars of the middle ages, which is never

rung except to announce the death of a pope, or the opening of the

carnival. During the closing years of the temporal power of the popes,

it has been difficult to obtain admission to the tower, but the ascent

is well repaid by the view from the summit, which embraces not only the

seven hills of Rome, but the various towns and villages of the

neighbouring plain and mountains which successively fell under its

dominion.

"Pour suivre les vicissitudes des luttes extérieures des Romains

contre les peuples qui les entourent et les pressent de tous côtés,

nous n'aurons qu'à regarder à l'horizon la sublime campagne romaine

et ces montagnes qui l'encadrent si admirablement. Elles sont

encore plus belles et l'œil prend encore plus de plaisir à les

contempler quand on songe à ce qu'elles ont vu d'efforts et de

courage dans les premiers temps de la république. Il n'est presque

pas un point de cette campagne qui n'ait été témoin de quelque

rencontre glorieuse; il n'est presque un rocher de ces montagnes

qui n'est été pris et repris vingt fois.

"Toutes ces nations sabelliques qui dominaient la ville du Tibre et

semblaient placées là sur des hauteurs disposées en demi-cercle

pour l'envelopper et l'écraser, toutes ces nations sont devant nous

et à la portée du regard.

"Voici de côté de la mer les montagnes des Volsques; plus à l'est

sont les Herniques et les Æques; au nord, les Sabins; à l'ouest,

d'autres ennemis, les Etrusques, dont le mont Ciminus est le

rempart.

"Au sud, la plaine se prolonge jusqu'à la mer. Ici sont les Latins,

qui, n'ayant pas des montagnes pour leur servir de citadelle et de

refuge, commenceront par être des alliés.

"Nous pouvons donc embrasser le panorama historique des premiers

combats qu'eurent à soutenir et que soutinrent si vaillamment les

Romains affranchis."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 373.

Beneath the Palace of the Senator (entered by a door in the street on

the right), are the gigantic remains of the _Tabularium_, consisting of

huge rectangular blocks of peperino supporting a Doric colonnade, which

is shown by an inscription still preserved to have been that of the

public Record Office, where the Tabulæ, engraved plates bearing

important decrees of the Senate, were preserved, having been placed

there by Q. Lutatius Catulus in B.C. 79. A gallery in the interior of

the Tabularium has been fitted up as a museum of architectural

antiquities collected from the neighbouring temples. This building is as

it were the boundary between inhabited Rome and that Rome which is a

city of ruins.

"I came to the Capitol, and looked down on the other side. There

before my eyes opened an immense grave, and out of the grave rose a

city of monuments in ruins, columns, triumphal arches, temples, and

palaces, broken, ruinous, but still beautiful and grand,--with a

solemn mournful beauty! It was the giant apparition of ancient

Rome."--_Frederika Bremer._

The traces of an ancient staircase still exist, which led down from the

Tabularium to the Forum. This is believed by many to have been the path

by which the besiegers under Vitellius, A.D. 69, attacked the Capitol.

The east side of the piazza--on the left as one stands at the head of

the steps--is the _Museo Capitolino_ (open daily from 9 to 4, for a

fee; and on Mondays and Thursdays gratis, from 2½ to 4½).

Above the fountain in the court, opposite the entrance, reclines the

colossal statue of a river-god, called Marforio, removed hither from the

end of the Via di Marforio (Forum Martis?) near the arch of Severus.

This figure, according to Roman fancy, was the friend and gossip of

Pasquin (at the Palazzo Braschi), and lively dialogues, merciless to the

follies of the government and the times, used to appear with early

morning, placarded on their respective pedestals, as passing between the

two. Thus, when Clement XI. mulcted Rome of numerous sums to send to his

native Urbino, Marforio asked, "What is Pasquino doing?" The next

morning Pasquin answered, "I am taking care of Rome, that it does not go

away to Urbino." In the desire of putting an end to such inconvenient

remarks, the government ordered the removal of one of the statues to the

Capitol, and, since Marforio has been shut up, Pasquino has lost his

spirits.

From the corridor on the ground floor open several rooms devoted to

ancient inscriptions and sarcophagi with bas-reliefs. The first room on

the left has some bronzes--in the centre a mutilated horse, found, 1849,

in the Trastevere.

"Calamis, venu un peu avant Phidias, n'eut point de rival pour les

chevaux. Calamis, qui fut fondeur en bronze, serait-il l'auteur du

cheval de bronze du Capitole, qui, en effet, semble plutôt un peu

antérieur que postérieur à Phidias?"--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii.

234.

At the foot of the staircase is a colossal statue of the Emperor

Hadrian, found on the Cœlian.

The _Staircase_ is lined with the fragments of the _Pianta Capitolina_,

a series of marble slabs of imperial date (found in the sixteenth

century under SS. Cosmo and Damian), inscribed with ground plans of

Rome, and exceedingly important from the light they throw upon the

ancient topography of the city.

The upper _Corridor_ is lined with statues and busts. Here and elsewhere

we will only notice those especially remarkable for beauty or historic

interest.[40]

L. 12. Satyr playing on a flute.

R. 13. Cupid bending his bow.

R. 20. Old woman intoxicated.

"Tout le monde a remarqué dans le musée du Capitole une vieille

femme serrant des deux mains une bouteille, la bouche entr'ouverte,

les yeux mourants tournés vers le ciel, comme si, dans la

jubilation de l'ivresse, elle savourait le vin qu'elle vient de

boire. Comment ne pas voir dans cette caricature en marbre une

reproduction de _la Vielle Femme ivre_ de Myron, qui passait pour

une des curiosités de Smyrne."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 272.

L. 26. The infant Hercules strangling a serpent.

L. 28. Grand Sarcophagus--the Rape of Proserpine.

R. 33. Satyr playing on a flute.

(In the wall on the left inscriptions from the columbarium of Livia.)

R. 43. Head of Ariadne.

L. 48. Sarcophagus--the birth and childhood of Bacchus.

L. 56. Statue, draped.

R. 64. Jupiter, on a cippus with a curious relief of Claudia drawing

the boat with the image of the Magna Mater up the Tiber.

L. 69. Bust of Caligula.

R. 70. Marcus Aurelius, as a boy--a very beautiful bust.

R. 70. Statue of Minerva from Velletri. The same as that in the

Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican.

R. 72. Trajan.

76. In the window, a magnificent vase, found near the tomb

of Cecilia Metella, standing on a puteal adorned with reliefs of the

twelve principal gods and goddesses.

From the right of this corridor open two chambers. The first is named

the _Room of the Doves_, from the famous mosaic found in the ruins of

Hadrian's villa near Tivoli, and generally called _Pliny's Doves_,

because Pliny, when speaking of the perfection to which the mosaic art

had attained, describes a wonderful mosaic of Sosus of Pergamos, in

which one dove is seen drinking and casting her shadow on the water,

while others are pluming themselves on the edge of the vase. As a

pendant to this is another _Mosaic, of a Tragic and Comic Mask_. In the

farther window is the _Iliac Tablet_, an interesting relief in the soft

marble called palombino, relating to the story of the destruction of

Troy, and the flight of Æneas, and found at Bovillæ.

"L'ensemble de la guerre contre Troie est contenu dans un abrégé

figuré qu'on appelle la Table Iliaque, petit bas-relief destiné à

offrir un résumé visible de cette guerre aux jeunes Romains, et à

servir dans les écoles soit pour l'_Iliade_, soit pour les poëmes

cycliques comme d'un _Index parlant_.

"La Table Iliaque est un ouvrage romain fait à Rome. Tout ce qui

touche aux origines troyennes de cette ville, inconnues à Homère et

célébrées surtout par Stésichore avant de l'être par Virgile, tient

dans ce bas-relief une place importante et domine dans sa

composition."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 431.

In the centre of the room is a pretty statuette of a girl shielding a

dove.

The second chamber, known as _The Reserved Cabinet_, contains the famous

_Venus of the Capitol_--a Greek statue, found immured in a wall upon the

Quirinal.

"La vérité et la complaisance avec lesquelles la nature est rendue

dans la Vénus du Capitole faisaient de cette belle statue,--qui

pourtant n'a rien d'indécent bien que par une pruderie peu chaste

on l'ait reléguée dans un cabinet réservé,--faisaient de cette

belle statue un sujet de scandale pour l'austérité des premiers

chrétiens. C'était sans doute afin de la soustraire à leurs

mutilations qu'on l'avait enfouie avec soin, ce qui l'a conservée

dans son intégrité; ainsi son danger l'a sauvée. Comme on l'a

trouvée dans le quartier suspect de la Suburra, on peut supposer

qu'elle ornait l'atrium élégant de quelque riche

courtisane."--_Ampère_, iii. 318.

The two smaller sculptures of Leda and the Swan, and Cupid and

Psyche--two lovely children embracing (most needlessly secluded here),

were found on the Aventine.

From the end of the gallery we enter

_The Hall of the Emperors._ In the centre is the beautiful seated statue

of Agrippina (grand-daughter of Augustus--wife of Germanicus--and mother

of Caligula).

"On s'arrête avec respect devant la première Agrippine, assise avec

une si noble simplicité et dont le visage exprime si bien la

fermeté virile."--_Ampère_, iv.

"Ici nous la contemplons telle que nous pouvons nous la figurer

après la mort de Germanicus. Elle semble mise aux fers par le

destin, mais sans pouvoir encore renoncer aux pensées superbes dont

son âme était remplie aux jours de son bonheur."--_Braun._

Round the room are ranged 83 busts of Roman emperors, empresses, and

their near relations, forming perhaps the most interesting portrait

gallery in the world. Even viewed as works of art, many of them are of

the utmost importance. They are--

1. Julius Cæsar, nat. B.C. 100; ob. B.C. 44.

2. Augustus, Imp. B.C. 12--A.D. 14.

3. Marcellus, his nephew and son-in-law, son

of Octavia, ob. B.C. 23, aged 20.

4, 5. Tiberius, Imp. A.D. 14-37.

6. Drusus, his brother, son of Livia and Claudius Nero, ob. B.C. 10.

7. Drusus, son of Tiberius and Vipsania, ob. A.D. 23.

8. Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia, wife of the elder

Drusus, mother of Germanicus and Claudius.

9. Germanicus, son of Drusus and Antonia, ob. A.D. 19.

10. Agrippina, daughter of Julia and Agrippa, granddaughter of

Augustus, wife of Germanicus. Died of starvation under Tiberius, A.D. 33.

11. Caligula, Imp. A.D. 37-41, son of Germanicus and

Agrippina. Murdered by the tribune Cherœa (in basalt).

12. Claudius, Imp. A.D. 41-54, younger son of Drusus and Antonia.

Poisoned by Agrippina.

13. Messalina, third wife of Claudius. Put

to death by Claudius, A.D. 48.

"Une grosse commère sensuelle, aux traits bouffis, à l'air assez

commun, mais qui pouvait plaire à Claude."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 32.

14. Agrippina the younger, sixth wife of Claudius, daughter of Germanicus

and Agrippina the elder, great-granddaughter of Augustus. Murdered by

her son Nero, A.D. 60.

"Ce buste la montre avec cette beauté plus grande que celle de sa

mère, et qui était pour elle un moyen. Agrippine a les yeux levés

vers le ciel, on dirait qu'elle craint, et qu'elle attend."--_Emp._

ii. 34.

15, 16. Nero, Imp. A.D. 54-69, son of Agrippina the younger by her first

husband, Ahenobarbus. Died by his own hand.

17. Poppæa Sabina (?), second wife of Nero. Killed by a kick from

her husband, A.D. 62.

"Ce visage a la délicatesse presque enfantine que pouvait offrir

celui de cette femme, dont les molles recherches et les soins

curieux de toilette étaient célèbres, et dont Diderot a dit avec

vérité, bien qu'avec un peu d'emphase, 'C'était une furie sous le

visage des grâces.'"--_Emp._ ii. 38.

18. Galba, Imp. A.D. 69. Murdered in the Forum.

19. Otho, Imp. A.D. 69. Died by his own hand.

20. Vitellius (?), Imp. A.D. 69. Murdered at the Scalæ Gemoniæ.

21. Vespasian, Imp. A.D. 70-79.

22. Titus, Imp. A.D. 79-81. Supposed to have been poisoned by Domitian.

23. Julia, daughter of Titus.

24. Domitian, Imp. A.D. 81-96, son of Vespasian. Murdered

in the Palace of the Cæsars.

"Domitien est sans comparaison le plus beau des trois Flaviens:

mais c'est une beauté formidable, avec un air farouche et

faux."--_Emp._ ii. 12.

25. Longina (?).

26. Nerva (?), Imp. A.D. 96.

27. Trajan, Imp. A.D. 98-118.

28. Plotina, wife of Trajan.

29. Marciana, sister of Trajan.

30. Matidia, daughter of Marciana, niece of Trajan.

31, 32. Hadrian, Imp. A.D. 118-138, adopted son of Trajan.

33. Julia Sabina, wife of Hadrian, daughter of Matidia.

34. Elius Verus, first adopted son of Hadrian.

35. Antoninus Pius, Imp. A.D. 138-161, second adopted son of Hadrian.

36. Faustina the elder, wife of Antoninus Pius and sister of Elius Verus.

37. Marcus Aurelius, Imp. A.D. 161-180, son of Servianus by Paulina, sister

of Hadrian, adopted by Antoninus Pius, as a boy.

38. Marcus Aurelius, in later life.

39. Annia Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius, daughter of Antoninus Pius

and Faustina the elder.

40. Galerius Antoninus, son of Antoninus Pius.

41. Lucius Verus, son-in-law of Marcus Aurelius.

42. Lucilla, wife of Lucius Verus, daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina

the younger. Put to death at Capri for a plot against her husband.

43. Commodus, Imp. A.D. 180-193, son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina.

Murdered in the Palace of the Cæsars.

44. Crispina, wife of Commodus. Put to death by her husband at Capri.

45. Pertinax, Imp. A.D. 193, successor of Commodus, reigned three months.

Murdered in the Palace of the Cæsars.

46. Didius Julianus, Imp. A.D. 193, successor of Pertinax. Murdered in

the Palace of the Cæsars.

47. Manlia Scantilla (?), wife of Didius Julianus.

{rival candidates (after murder of Didius

48. Pescennius Niger,{Julianus, A.D. 193) for the Empire, which

49. Clodius Albinus, {they failed to obtain, and were both put to

{death.

50, 51. Septimius Severus, Imp. A.D. 193-211, successor of Didius Julianus.

52. Julia Pia, wife of Septimius Severus.

53. Caracalla, Imp. A.D. 211-217, son of Sept. Severus and Julia Pia.

Murdered.

54. Geta, brother of Caracalla, by whose order he was murdered in the

arms of Julia Pia.

55. Macrinus, Imp. A.D. 217, murderer and successor of Caracalla. Murdered.

56. Diadumenianus, son of Macrinus. Murdered with his father.

57. Heliogabalus, Imp. A.D. 218--222, son of Julia Soemis, daughter of

Julia Mœsa, who was sister of Julia Pia. Murdered.

58. Annia Faustina, third wife of Heliogabalus, great-granddaughter of

Marcus Aurelius.

59. Julia Mœsa, sister-in-law of Septimius Severus, aunt of Caracalla,

and grandmother of Alexander Severus.

60. Alexander Severus, Imp., son of Julia Mammea, second daughter of Julia

Mœsa. Murdered at the age of 30.

61. Julia Mammea, daughter of Julia Mœsa, and mother of Alexander

Severus. Murdered with her son.

62. Julius Maximinus, Imp. 235--238; elected by the army. Murdered.

63. Maximus. Murdered with his father, at the age of 18.

64. Gordianus Africanus, Imp. 238; a descendant of Trajan. Died by his

own hand.

65. (Antoninus) Gordianus, Junior, Imp. 238, son of Gordianus Africanus and

Fabia Orestella, great-granddaughter of Antoninus Pius. Died in battle.

66. Pupienus, Imp. 238, {reigned together for four months and then

67. Balbinus, Imp. 238, {were murdered.

68. Gordianus Pius, Imp. 238, grandson, through his mother, of Gordianus

Africanus. Murdered.

69. Philip II., Imp. 244, son of, and co-emperor with Philip I. Murdered.

70. Decius(?), Imp. 249--251. Forcibly elected by the army. Killed in

battle.

71. Quintus Herennius Etruscus, son of Decius and Herennia Etruscilla.

Killed in battle with his father.

72. Hostilianus, son or son-in-law of Decius, Imp. 251, with Treb. Gallus.

Murdered.

73. Trebonianus Gallus, Imp. 251--254. Murdered.

74, 75. Volusianus, son of Trebonianus Gallus. Murdered.

76. Gallienus, Imp. 261--268. Murdered.

77. Salonina, wife of Gallienus.

78. Saloninus, son of Gallienus and Salonina. Put to death by Postumus, A.D.

259, at the age of 17.

79. Marcus Aurelius Carinus, Imp. 283, son of the Emperor Carus. Murdered.

80. Diocletian, Imp. 284-305; elected by the army.

81. Constantinus Chlorus, Imp. 305-306, son of Eutropius and Claudia, niece

of the Emperor Claudius and Quintilius, father of Constantine the Great.

82. Julian the Apostate, Imp. 361-363, son of Julius Constantius and nephew

of Constantine the Great. Died in battle.

83. Magnus Decentius, brother of the Emperor Magnentius. Strangled

himself, 353.

"In their busts the lips of the Roman emperors are generally

closed, indicating reserve and dignity, free from human passions

and emotions."--_Winckelmann._

"At Rome the emperors become as familiar as the popes. Who does not

know the curly-headed Marcus Aurelius, with his lifted brow and

projecting eyes--from the full round beauty of his youth to the

more haggard look of his latest years? Are there any modern

portraits more familiar than the severe wedge-like head of

Augustus, with his sharp cut lips and nose,--or the dull phiz of

Hadrian, with his hair combed down over his low forehead,--or the

vain, perking face of Lucius Verus, with his thin nose, low brow,

and profusion of curls,--or the brutal bull head of Caracalla,--or

the bestial, bloated features of Vitellius?

"These men, who were but lay figures to us at school, mere pegs of

names to hang historic robes upon, thus interpreted by the living

history of their portraits, the incidental illustrations of the

places where they lived and moved and died, and the buildings and

monuments they erected, become like men of yesterday. Art has made

them our contemporaries. They are as near to us as Pius VII. and

Napoleon."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

"Nerva est le premier des bons, et Trajan le premier des grands

empereurs romains; après lui il y en eut deux autres, les deux

Antonins. Trois sur soixante-dix, tel est à Rome le bilan des

gloires morales de l'empire."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ liii.

Among the reliefs round the upper walls of this room are two,--of

Endymion sleeping, and of Perseus delivering Andromeda, which belong to

the set in the Palazzo Spada, and are exceedingly beautiful.

* * * * *

_The Hall of Illustrious Men_ contains a seated statue of M. Claudius

Marcellus (?), the conqueror of Syracuse, B.C. 212. Round the room are

ranged 93 busts of ancient philosophers, statesmen, and warriors. Among

the more important are:--

4, 5, 6. Socrates.

9. Aristides, the orator.

10. Seneca (?).

16. Marcus Agrippa.

19. Theophrastus.

23. Thales.

25. Theon.

27. Pythagoras.

28. Alexander the Great(?).

30. Aristophanes.

31. Demosthenes.

38. Aratus.

39, 40. Democritus of Aldera.

42, 43. Euripides.

44, 45, 46. Homer.

47. Eumenides.

48. Cneius Domitius Corbulo, general under Claudius and Nero.

49. Scipio Africanus.

52. Cato Minor.

54. Aspasia(?).

55. Cleopatra (?).

60. Thucydides (?).

61. Æschines.

62, 64. Epicurus.

63. Epicurus and Metrodorus.

68, 69. Masinissa.

71. Antisthenes.

72, 73. Julian the Apostate.

75. Cicero.

76. Terence.

82. Æschylus (?).

Among the interesting bas-reliefs in this room is one of a Roman

interior with a lady trying to persuade her cat to dance to a lyre--the

cat, meanwhile, snapping, on its hind legs, at two ducks; the detail of

the room is given--even to the slippers under the bed.

_The Saloon_ contains, down the centre,

1. Jupiter (in nero-antico), from Porto d'Anzio, on an altar with

figures of Mercury, Apollo, and Diana.

2, 4. Centaurs (in bigio-morato), by _Aristeas_ and _Papias_ (their

names are on the bases), from Hadrian's villa.

3. The young Hercules, found on the Aventine. It stands on an altar

of Jupiter.

"On voit au Capitole une statue d'Hercule très-jeune, en basalte,

qui frappe assez désagréablement, d'abord, par le contraste,

habilement exprimé toutefois, des formes molles de l'enfance et de

la vigueur caractéristique du héros. L'imitation de la Grèce se

montre même dans la matière que l'artiste a choisie; c'est un

basalt verdâtre, de couleur sombre. Tisagoras et Alcon avaient fait

un Hercule en fer, pour exprimer la force, et, comme dit Pline,

pour signifier l'énergie persévérante de dieu."--_Ampère, Hist.

Rom._ iii. 406.

5. Æsculapius (in nero-antico), on an altar, representing a

sacrifice.

Among the statues and busts round the room the more important are:--

9. Marcus Aurelius.

14. A Satyr.

21. Hadrian, as Mars, from Ceprano.

24. Hercules, in gilt bronze, found in the Forum-Boarium (the

columns on either side come from the tomb of Cecilia Metella).

"On cite de Myron trois Hercules, dont deux à Rome; l'un de ces

derniers a probablement servi de modèle à l'Hercule en bronze doré

du Capitole. Cette statue a été trouvée dans le marché aux

Bœufs, non loin du grand cirque. L'Hercule de Myron était dans

un temple élevé par Pompée et situé près du grand cirque; mais la

statue du Capitole, dont le geste est maniéré, quel que soit son

mérite, n'est pas assez parfaite qu'on puisse y reconnaître une

œuvre de Myron. Peut-être Pompée n'avait placé dans son temple

qu'une copie de l'un des deux Hercules de Myron et la donnait pour

l'original; peut-être aussi Pline y a-t-il été trompé. La vanité

que l'un montre dans tous les actes de sa vie et le peu de

sentiment vrai que trahit si souvent la vaste composition de

l'autre s'accordent également avec cette supposition et la rendent

assez vraisemblable."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 273.

28. Hecuba.

"Nous avons le personnage même d'Hécube dans la Pleureuse du

Capitole. Cette prétendué pleureuse est une Hécube furieuse et une

Hécube en scène, car elle porte le costume, elle a le geste et la

vivacité du théâtre, je dirais volontiers de la pantomime.... Son

regard est tourné vers le ciel, sa bouche lance des imprécations;

on voit qu'elle pourra faire entendre ces hurlements, ces

aboiements de la douleur effrénée que l'antiquité voulut exprimer

en supposant que la malheureuse Hécube avait été métamorphosée en

chienne, une chienne à laquelle on a arraché ses petits."--_Ampère,

Hist. Rom._ iii. 468.

31. Colossal bust of Antoninus Pius.

* * * * *

_The Hall of the Faun_ derives its name from the famous Faun of

rosso-antico, holding a bunch of grapes to his mouth, found in Hadrian's

Villa. It stands on an altar dedicated to Serapis. Against the right

wall is a magnificent sarcophagus, whose reliefs (much studied by

Flaxman) represent the battle of Theseus and the Amazons. The opposite

sarcophagus has a relief of Diana and Endymion. We should also notice--

15. A boy with a mask.

21. A boy with a goose (found near the Lateran).

Let into the wall is a black tablet--the Lex Regia, or

Senatus-Consultum, conferring imperial powers upon Vespasian, being the

very table upon which Rienzi declaimed in favour of the rights of the

people.

* * * * *

_The Hall of the Dying Gladiator_ contains the three gems of the

collection--"the Gladiator," "the Antinous of the Capitol," and the

"Faun of Praxiteles." Besides these, we should notice--2. Apollo with

the lyre, and 9. a bust of M. Junius Brutus, the assassin of Julius

Cæsar.

In the centre of the room is the grand statue of the wounded Gaul,

generally known as the Dying Gladiator.

"I see before me the gladiator lie:

He leans upon his hand--his manly brow

Consents to death, but conquers agony,

And his drooped head sinks gradually low,--

And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow

From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,

Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now

The arena swims around him--he is gone,

Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won.

"He heard it, but he heeded not--his eyes

Were with his heart, and that was far away;

He reck'd not of the life he lost, nor prize,

But where his rude hut by the Danube lay

There were his young barbarians all at play,

There was their Dacian mother--he, their sire,

Butchered to make a Roman holiday.

All this rushed with his blood--shall he expire,

And unavenged? Arise, ye Goths, and glut your ire!"

_Byron, Childe Harold._

It is delightful to read in this room the description in

_Transformation_:--

"It was that room in the centre of which reclines the noble and

most pathetic figure of the dying gladiator, just sinking into his

death-swoon. Around the walls stand the Antinous, the Amazon, the

Lycian Apollo, the Juno; all famous productions of antique

sculpture, and still shining in the undiminished majesty and beauty

of their ideal life, although the marble that embodies them is

yellow with time, and perhaps corroded by the damp earth in which

they lay buried for centuries. Here, likewise, is seen a symbol (as

apt at this moment as it was two thousand years ago) of the Human

Soul, with its choice of Innocence or Evil close at hand, in the

pretty figure of a child, clasping a dove to her bosom, but

assaulted by a snake.

"From one of the windows of this saloon, we may see a broad flight

of stone steps, descending alongside the antique and massive

foundation of the Capitol, towards the battered triumphal arch of

Septimius Severus, right below. Farther on, the eye skirts along

the edge of the desolate Forum (where Roman washerwomen hang out

their linen to the sun), passing over a shapeless confusion of

modern edifices, piled rudely up with ancient brick and stone, and

over the domes of Christian churches, built on the old pavements

of heathen temples, and supported by the very pillars that once

upheld them. At a distance beyond--yet but a little way,

considering how much history is heaped into the intervening

space--rises the great sweep of the Coliseum, with the blue sky

brightening through its upper tier of arches. Far off, the view is

shut in by the Alban mountains, looking just the same, amid all

this decay and change, as when Romulus gazed thitherward over his

half-finished wall.

"In this chamber is the Faun of Praxiteles. It is the marble image

of a young man, leaning his right arm on the trunk or stump of a

tree: one hand hangs carelessly by his side, in the other he holds

a fragment of a pipe, or some such sylvan instrument of music. His

only garment, a lion's skin with the claws upon the shoulder, falls

half-way down his back, leaving his limbs and entire front of the

figure nude. The form, thus displayed, is marvellously graceful,

but has a fuller and more rounded outline, more flesh, and less of

heroic muscle, than the old sculptors were wont to assign to their

types of masculine beauty. The character of the face corresponds

with the figure; it is most agreeable in outline and feature, but

rounded and somewhat voluptuously developed, especially about the

throat and chin; the nose is almost straight, but very slightly

curves inward, thereby acquiring an indescribable charm of

geniality and humour. The mouth, with its full yet delicate lips,

seems so really to smile outright, that it calls forth a responsive

smile. The whole statue--unlike anything else that ever was wrought

in the severe material of marble--conveys the idea of an amiable

and sensual creature, easy, mirthful, apt for jollity, yet not

incapable of being touched by pathos. It is impossible to gaze long

at this stone image, without conceiving a kindly sentiment towards

it, as if its substance were warm to the touch, and imbued with

actual life. It comes very near to some of our pleasantest

sympathies."--_Hawthorne._

"Praxitèle avait dit à Phryné de choisir entre ses ouvrages celui

qu'elle aimerait le mieux. Pour savoir lequel de ses

chefs-d'œuvre l'artiste préférait, elle lui fit annoncer que le

feu avait pris à son atelier. 'Sauvez, s'écria-t-il, mon Satyre et

mon Amour!'"--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 309.

The west or right side of the Capitoline Piazza is occupied by _the

Palace of the Conservators_, which contains the Protomoteca, the Picture

Gallery, and various other treasures.

The little court at the entrance is full of historical relics, including

remains of two gigantic statues of Apollo; a colossal head of Domitian;

and the marble pedestal, which once in the mausoleum of Augustus

supported the cinerary urn of Agrippina, wife of Germanicus, with a very

perfect inscription. In the opposite loggia are a statue of Rome

Triumphant, and a group of a lion attacking a horse, found in the bed of

the Almo. In the portico on the right is the only authentic statue of

Julius Cæsar; on the left, a statue of Augustus, leaning against the

rostrum of a galley, in allusion to the battle of Actium.

_The Protomoteca_, a suite of eight rooms on the ground floor, contains

a collection of busts of eminent Italians, with a few foreigners

considered as naturalised by a long residence in Rome. Those in the

second room, representing artists of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and

fifteenth centuries, were entirely executed at the expense of Canova.

At the foot of the staircase is a restoration by Michael Angelo of the

column of Caius Duilius. On the upper flight of the staircase is a

bas-relief of Curtius leaping into the gulf, here represented as a

marsh.

"Un bas-relief d'un travail ancien, dont le style ressemble à celui

des figures peintes sur les vases dits archaïques, représente

Curtius engagé dans son marais; le cheval baisse la tête et flaire

le marécage, qui est indiqué par des roseaux. Le guerrier penché en

avant, presse sa monture. On a vivement, en présence de cette

curieuse sculpture, le sentiment d'un incident héroïque

probablement réel, et en même temps de l'aspect primitif du lieu

qui en fut témoin."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 321._

On the first and second landings are magnificent reliefs, representing

events in the life of Marcus Aurelius, Imp., belonging to the arch

dedicated to him, which was wantonly destroyed, in order to widen the

Corso, by Alexander VII.

"Jusqu'au lègne de Commode Rome est représentée par une Amazone;

dans l'escalier du palais des Conservateurs, Rome, en tunique

courte d'Amazone et le globe à la main, reçoit Marc Aurèle; le

globe dans la main de Rome date de César."--_Ampère_, iii. 242.

_The Halls of the Conservators_ consist of eight rooms. The 1st, painted

in fresco from the history of the Roman kings, by the _Cavaliere

d'Arpino_, contains statues of Urban VIII., by Bernini; Leo X., by the

Sicilian Giacomo della Duca;[41] and Innocent X., in bronze, by Algardi.

The 2nd room, adorned with subjects from republican history by

_Lauretti_, has statues of modern Roman generals--Marc Antonio Colonna,

Tommaso Rospigliosi, Francesco Aldobrandini, Carlo Barberini, brother of

Urban VIII., and Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma. The 3rd room,

painted by _Daniele di Volterra_, with subjects from the wars with the

Cimbri, contains the famous _Bronze Wolf of the Capitol_, one of the

most interesting relics in the city. The figure of the wolf is of

unknown antiquity; those of Romulus and Remus are modern. It has been

doubted whether this is the wolf described by Dionysius as "an ancient

work of brass" standing in the temple of Romulus under the Palatine, or

the wolf described by Cicero, who speaks of a little gilt figure of the

founder of the city sucking the teats of a wolf. The Ciceronian wolf was

struck by lightning in the time of the great orator, and a fracture in

the existing figure, attributed to lightning, is adduced in proof of its

identity with it.

"Geminos huic ubera circum

Ludere pendentes pueros, et lambere matrem

Impavidos: illam tereti cervice reflexam

Mulcere alternos, et corpora fingere lingua."

_Virgil, Æn._ viii. 632.

"And thou, the thunder-stricken nurse of Rome!

She-wolf! whose brazen-imaged dugs impart

The milk of conquest yet within the dome

Where, as a monument of antique art,

Thou standest:--mother of the mighty heart,

Which the great founder sucked from thy wild teat,

Scorch'd by the Roman Jove's ethereal dart,

And thy limbs black with lightning--dost thou yet

Guard thy immortal cubs, nor thy fond charge forget?"

_Byron, Childe Harold._

Standing near the wolf is the well-known and beautiful figure of a boy

extracting a thorn from his foot, called the Shepherd Martius.

"La ressemblance du type si fin de l'Apollon au lézard et du

charmant bronze du Capitole _le tíreur d'épine_ est trop frappante

pour qu'on puisse se refuser à voir dans celui-ci une inspiration

de Praxitèle ou de son école. C'est tout simplement un enfant

arrachant de son pied une épine qui l'a blessé, sujet naïf et

champêtre analogue au Satyre se faisant rendre ce service par un

autre Satyre. On a voulu y voir un athlète blessé par une épine

pendant sa course et qui n'en est pas moins arrivé au but; mais la

figure est trop jeune et n'a rien d'athlétique. Le moyen âge avait

donné aussi son explication et inventé sa legende. On raccontait

qu'un jeune berger, envoyé à la découverte de l'ennemi, était

revenu sans s'arrêter et ne s'était permis qu'alors d'arracher une

épine qui lui blessait le pied. Le moyen âge avait senti le charme

de cette composition qu'il interprétait à sa manière, car elle est

sculptée sur un arceau de la cathédrale de Zurich qui date du

siècle de Charlemagne."--_Ampère_, iii. 315.

Forming part of the decorations of this room are two fine pictures, a

dead Christ with a monk praying, and Sta. Francesca Romana, by

_Romanelli_. Near the door of exit is a bust said to be that of Junius

Brutus.

"Il est permis de voir dans le buste du Capitole un vrai portrait

de Brutus; il est difficile d'en douter en le contemplant. Voilà

bien le visage farouche, la barbe _hirsute_, les cheveux roides

collés si rudement sur le front, la physiognomie inculte et

terrible du prémier consul romain; la bouche serrée respire la

détermination et l'énergie; les yeux, formés d'une matière

jaunâtre, se détachent en clair sur le bronze noirci par les

siècles et vous jettent un regard fixe et farouche. Tout près est

la louve de bronze. Brutus est de la même famille. On sent qu'il y

a du lait de cette louve dans les veines du second fondateur de

Rome, comme dans les veines du premier, et que lui aussi, pareil au

Romulus de la légende, marchera vers son but à travers le sang des

siens.

"Le buste de Brutus est placé sur un piédestal qui le met à la

hauteur du regard. Là, dans un coin sombre, j'ai passé bien des

moments face à face avec l'impitoyable fondateur de la liberté

romaine."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 270.

The 4th Room contains the _Fasti Consulares_, tables found near the

temple of Minerva Chalcidica, and inscribed with the names of public

officers from Romulus to Augustus. The 5th Room contains two bronze

ducks (formerly shown as the sacred geese of the Capitol) and a female

head--found in the gardens of Sallust, a bust of Medusa, by _Bernini_,

and many others. The 6th, or Throne Room, hung with faded tapestry, has

a frieze in fresco, by _Annibale Caracci_, representing the triumphs of

Scipio Africanus. The 7th Room is painted by _Daniele da Volterra_(?)

with the history of the Punic Wars. The 8th Room (now used as a passage)

is a chapel, containing a lovely fresco, by _Pinturicchio_, of the

Madonna and Child with Angels.

"The Madonna is seated enthroned, fronting the spectator; her large

mantle forms a grand cast of drapery; the child on her lap sleeps

in the loveliest attitude; she folds her hands and looks down,

quiet, serious, and beautiful: in the clouds are two adoring

angels."--_Kugler._

The four Evangelists are by _Caravaggio_; the pictures of Roman saints

(Cecilia, Alexis, Eustachio, Francesca-Romana), by _Romanelli_.

By the same staircase, passing on the left a wonderful relief of the

apotheosis of the wicked Faustina, we may arrive at the _Picture Gallery

of the Capitol_ (which can also be approached by a separate staircase,

entered from an alley at the back of the building), reached by two rooms

inscribed with the names of the Roman Conservators from the middle of

the sixteenth century. This gallery contains very few first-rate

pictures, but has a beautiful St. Sebastian, by Guido, and several fine

works of _Guercino_. The most noticeable pictures are--

_1st Room._--

2. Disembodied Spirit (unfinished): _Guido Reni_.

13. St. John Baptist: _Guercino_.

16. Mary Magdalene: _Guido Reni_.

20. The Cumæan Sibyl: _Domenichino_.

26. Mary Magdalene: _Tintoretto_.

27. Presentation in the Temple: _Fra. Bartolomeo_.

30. Holy Family: _Garofalo_.

52. Madonna and Saints: _Botticelli?_

61. Portrait of himself: _Guido Reni_.

78. Madonna and Saints: _F. Francia_, 1513.

80. Portrait: _Velasquez_.

87. St. Augustine: _Giovanni Bellini_.

89. Romulus and Remus: _Rubens_.

_2nd Room._--

100. Two male portraits: _Vandyke_.

104. Adoration of the Shepherds: _Mazzolino_.

106. Two Portraits: _Vandyke_.

116. St. Sebastian: _Guido Reni_.

117. Cleopatra and Augustus: _Guercino_.

119. St. Sebastian: _Lud. Caracci_.

128. Gipsy telling a fortune: _Caravaggio_.

132. Portrait: _Giovanni Bellini_.

134. Portrait of Michael Angelo: _M. Venusti?_

136. Petrarch: _Gio. Bellini?_

142. Nativity of the Virgin: _Albani_.

143. Sta. Petronilla: _Guercino_. An enormous picture, brought hither

from St. Peter's, where it has been replaced by a mosaic copy. The

composition is divided into two parts. The lower represents the

burial of Sta. Petronilla, the upper the ascension of her spirit.

"The Apostle Peter had a daughter, born in lawful wedlock, who

accompanied him in his journey from the East. Petronilla was wonderfully

fair; and Valerius Flaccus, a young and noble Roman, who was a heathen,

became enamoured of her beauty, and sought her for his wife; and he,

being very powerful, she feared to refuse him; she therefore desired him

to return in three days, and promised that he should then carry her

home. But she prayed earnestly to be delivered from this peril; and when

Flaccus returned in three days, with great pomp, to celebrate the

marriage, he found her dead. The company of nobles who attended him,

carried her to the grave, in which they laid her, crowned with roses;

and Flaccus lamented greatly."--_Mrs. Jameson, from the Perfetto

Legendario._

199. Death and Assumption of the Virgin: _Cola della Matrice_.

"Here the death of the Virgin is treated at once in a mystical and

dramatic style. Enveloped in a dark blue mantle, spangled with golden

stars, she lies extended on a couch; St. Peter, in a splendid scarlet

cope as bishop, reads the service; St. John, holding the palm, weeps

bitterly. In front, and kneeling before the couch or bier, appear the

three great Dominican saints as witnesses of the religious mystery; in

the centre St. Dominic; on the left, St. Catherine of Siena; and on the

right, St. Thomas Aquinas. In a compartment above is the

Assumption."--_Jameson's Legends of the Madonna_, p. 315.

123. Virgin and Angels: _Paul Veronese_.

124. Rape of Europa: _Paul Veronese_.

At the head of the Capitol steps, to the right of the terrace, is the

entrance to the _Palazzo Caffarelli_, the residence of the Prussian

minister. It has a small but beautiful garden, and the view from the

windows is magnificent.

"After dinner, Bunsen called for us, and took us first to his house

on the Capitol, the different windows of which command the

different views of ancient and modern Rome. Never shall I forget

the view of the former; we looked down on the Forum, and just

opposite were the Palatine and the Aventine, with the ruins of the

Palace of the Cæsars on the one, and houses intermixed with gardens

on the other. The mass of the Coliseum rose beyond the Forum, and

beyond all, the wide plain of the Campagna to the sea. On the left

rose the Alban hills, bright in the setting sun, which played full

upon Frescati and Albano, and the trees which edge the lake, and

further away in the distance, it lit up the old town of

Labicum."--_Arnold's Letters._

From the further end of the courtyard of the Caffarelli Palace one can

look down upon part of the bare cliff of the Rupe Tarpeia. Here there

existed till 1868 a small court, which is represented as the scene of

the murder in Hawthorne's Marble Faun, or "Transformation." The door,

the niche in the wall, and all other details mentioned in the novel,

were realities. The character of the place is now changed by the removal

of the boundary-wall. The part of the rock seen from here is that

usually visited from below by the Via Tor de' Specchi.

To reach the principal portion of the south-eastern height of the

Capitol, we must ascend the staircase beyond the Palace of the

Conservators, on the right. Here we shall find ourselves upon the

highest part of

"The Tarpeian rock, the citadel

Of great and glorious Rome, queen of the earth,

So far renown'd, and with the spoils enriched

Of nations."

_Paradise Regained._

"The steep

Tarpeian, fittest goal of treason's race,

The promontory whence the traitor's leap

Cured all ambition."

_Childe Harold._

The dirty lane, with its shabby houses, and grass-grown spaces, and

filthy children, has little to remind one of the appearance of the hill

as seen by Virgil and Propertius, who speak of the change in their time

from an earlier aspect.

"Hinc ad Tarpeiam sedem, et Capitolia ducit,

Aurea nunc, olim, silvestribus horrida dumis,

Jam tum religio pavidos terrebat agrestes

Dira loci; jam tum silvam saxumque tremebant."

_Virgil, Æn._ viii. 347.

"Hoc quodcumque vides, hospes, qua maxima Roma est,

Ante Phrygem Aeneam collis et herba fuit."

_Propertius_, iv. eleg. I.

It was on this side that the different attacks were made upon the

Capitol. The first was by the Sabine Herdonius at the head of a band of

slaves, who scaled the heights and surprised the garrison, in B.C. 460,

and from the heights of the citadel proclaimed freedom to all slaves who

should join him, with abolition of debts, and defence of the plebs from

their oppressors; but his offers were disregarded, and on the fourth day

the Capitol was re-taken, and he was slain with nearly all his

followers. The second attack was by the Gauls, who, according to the

well-known story, climbed the rock near the Porta Carmentale, and had

nearly reached the summit unobserved--for the dogs neglected to

bark--when the cries of the sacred geese of Juno aroused an officer

named Manlius, who rushed to the defence, and hurled over the precipice

the first assailant, who dragged down others in his fall, and thus the

Capitol was saved. In remembrance of this incident, a goose was

annually carried in triumph, and a dog annually crucified upon the

Capitol, between the temple of Summanus and that of Youth.[42] This was

the same Manlius, the friend of the people, who was afterwards condemned

by the patricians on pretext that he wished to make himself king, and

thrown from the Tarpeian rock, on the same spot, in sight of the Forum,

where Spurius Cassius, an ex-consul, had been thrown down before. To

visit the part of the rock from which these executions must have taken

place, it is necessary to enter a little garden near the German

Hospital, whence there is a beautiful view of the river and the

Aventine.

"Quand on veut visiter la roche Tarpéienne, on sonne à une porte de

peu d'apparence, sur laquelle sont écrits ces mots: _Rocca

Tarpeia_. Une pauvre femme arrive et vous mène dans un carré de

choux. C'est de là qu'on précipita Manlius. Je serais desolé que le

carré de choux manquât."--_Ampère, Portraits de Rome._

This side of the Intermontium is now generally known as _Monte Caprino_,

a name which Ampère derives from the fact that Vejovis, the Etruscan

ideal of Jupiter, was always represented with a goat.[43] On this side

of the hill, the viaduct from the Palatine, built by Caligula (who

affected to require it to facilitate communication with his friend

Jupiter), joined the Capitoline.

We have still to examine the north-eastern height, the site of the most

interesting of pagan temples, now occupied by one of the most

interesting of Christian churches. The name of the famous _Church of

Ara-Cœli_ is generally attributed to an altar erected by Augustus to

commemorate the Delphic oracle respecting the coming of our Saviour,

which is still recognised in the well-known hymn of the Church:

Teste David cum Sibylla.[44]

The altar bore the inscription "Ara Primogeniti Dei." Those who seek a

more humble origin for the church, say that the name merely dates from

mediæval times, when it was called "Sta, Maria in Aurocœlio." It

originally belonged to the Benedictine Order, but was transferred to the

Franciscans by Innocent IV. in 1252, since which time its convent has

occupied an important position as the residence of the General of the

Minor Franciscans (Grey-friars), and is the centre of religious life in

that Order.

The staircase on the left of the Senators' palace, which leads to the

side entrance of Ara-Cœli, is in itself full of historical

associations. It was at its head that Valerius the consul was killed in

the conflict with Herdonius for the possession of the Capitol. It was

down the ancient steps on this site that Annius, the envoy of the

Latins, fell (B.C. 340), and was nearly killed, after his audacious

proposition in the temple of Jupiter, that the Latins and Romans should

become one nation, and have a common senate and consuls. Here also,[45]

in B.C. 133, Tiberius Gracchus was knocked down with the leg of a chair,

and killed in front of the temple of Jupiter.

It is at the top of these steps, that the monks of Ara-Cœli, who are

celebrated as dentists, perform their hideous, but useful and gratuitous

operations, which may be witnessed here every morning!

Over the side entrance of Ara-Cœli is a beautiful mosaic of the

Virgin and Child. This, with the ancient brick arches above, framing

fragments of deep blue sky--and the worn steps below--forms a subject

dear to Roman artists, and is often introduced as a background to groups

of monks and peasants. The interior of the church is vast, solemn, and

highly picturesque. It was here, as Gibbon himself tells us, that on the

15th of October, 1764, as he sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol,

while the bare-footed friars were singing vespers, the idea of writing

the "Decline and Fall" of the city first started to his mind.

"As we lift the great curtain and push into the church, a faint

perfume of incense salutes the nostrils. The golden sunset bursts

in as the curtain of the (west) door sways forward, illuminates the

mosaic floor, catches on the rich golden ceiling, and flashes here

and there over the crowd (gathered in Epiphany), on some brilliant

costume or closely shaven head. All sorts of people are thronging

there, some kneeling before the shrine of the Madonna, which gleams

with its hundreds of silver votive hearts, legs, and arms, some

listening to the preaching, some crowding round the chapel of the

_Presepio_. Old women, haggard and wrinkled, come tottering along

with their _scaldini_ of coals, drop down on their knees to pray,

and, as you pass, interpolate in their prayers a parenthesis of

begging. The church is not architecturally handsome, but it is

eminently picturesque, with its relics of centuries, its mosaic

pulpits and floors, its frescoes of Pinturicchio and Pesaro, its

antique columns, its rich golden ceiling, its gothic mausoleum to

the Savelli, and its mediæval tombs. A dim, dingy look is over

all--but it is the dimness of faded splendour; and one cannot stand

there, knowing the history of the church, its great antiquity, and

the varied fortunes it has known, without a peculiar sense of

interest and pleasure.

"It was here that Romulus in the grey dawning of Rome built the

temple of Jupiter Feretrius. Here the _spolia opima_ were

deposited. Here the triumphal processions of the emperors and

generals ended. Here the victors paused before making their vows,

until, from the Mamertine prisons below, the message came to

announce that their noblest prisoner and victim--while the clang of

their triumph and his defeat rose ringing in his ears, as the

procession ascended the steps--had expiated with death the crime of

being the enemy of Rome. On the steps of Ara-Cœli, nineteen

centuries ago, the first great Cæsar climbed on his knees after

his first triumph. At their base, Rienzi, the last of the Roman

tribunes, fell--and if the tradition of the Church is to be

trusted, it was on the site of the present high altar that Augustus

erected the 'Ara Primogeniti Dei,' to commemorate the Delphic

prophecy of the coming of our Saviour. Standing on a spot so

thronged with memories, the dullest imagination takes fire. The

forms and scenes of the past rise from their graves and pass before

us, and the actual and visionary are mingled together in strange

poetic confusion."--_Roba di Roma_, i. 73.

The floor of the church is of the ancient mosaic known as Opus

Alexandrinum. The nave is separated from the aisles by twenty-two

ancient columns, of which two are of cipollino, two of white marble, and

eighteen of Egyptian granite. They are of very different forms and

sizes, and have probably been collected from various pagan edifices. The

inscription "A Cubiculo Augustorum" upon the third column on the left of

the nave, shows that it was brought from the Palace of the Cæsars. The

windows in this church are amongst the few in Rome which show traces of

gothic. At the end of the nave, on either side, are two ambones, marking

the position of the choir before it was extended to its present site in

the sixteenth century.

The transepts are full of interesting monuments. That on the right is

the burial-place of the great family of Savelli, and contains--on the

left, the monument of Luca Savelli, 1266 (father of Pope Honorius IV.)

and his son Pandolfo,--an ancient and richly sculptured sarcophagus, to

which a gothic canopy was added by _Agostino_ and _Agnolo da Siena_ from

designs of Giotto. Opposite, is the tomb of the mother of Honorius, Vana

Aldobrandesca, upon which is the statue of the pope himself, removed

from his monument in the old St. Peter's by Paul III.

On the left of the high altar is the tomb of Cardinal Gianbattista

Savelli, ob. 1498, and near it--in the pavement, the half-effaced

gravestone of Sigismondo Conti, whose features are so familiar to us

from his portrait introduced into the famous picture of the Madonna di

Foligno, which was painted by Raphael at his order, and presented by him

to this church, where it remained over the high altar, till 1565, when

his great niece Anna became a nun at the convent of the Contesse at

Foligno, and was allowed to carry it away with her. In the east transept

is another fine gothic tomb, that of Cardinal Matteo di Acquasparta

(1302), a General of the Franciscans mentioned by Dante for his wise and

moderate rule.[46] The quaint chapel in the middle of this transept, now

dedicated to St. Helena, is supposed to occupy the site of the "Ara

Primogeniti Dei."

Upon the pier near the ambone of the gospel is the monument of Queen

Catherine of Bosnia, who died at Rome in 1478, bequeathing her states to

the Roman Church on condition of their reversion to her son, who had

embraced Mahommedanism, if he should return to the Catholic faith. Near

this, upon the transept wall, is the tomb of Felice de Fredis, ob. 1529,

upon which it is recorded that he was the finder of the Laocoon. The

Chapel of the Annunciation, opening from the west isle, has a tomb to G.

Crivelli, by Donatello, bearing his signature, "Opus Donatelli

Florentini." The Chapel of Santa Croce is the burial-place of the

Ponziani family, and was the scene of the celebrated ecstasy of the

favourite Roman saint Francesca Romana.

"The mortal remains of Vanozza Ponziani (sister-in-law of

Francesca) were laid in the church of Ara-Cœli, in the chapel of

Santa Croce. The Roman people resorted there in crowds to behold

once more their loved benefactress--the mother of the poor, the

consoler of the afflicted. All strove to carry away some little

memorial of one who had gone about among them doing good, and

during the three days which preceded the interment, the concourse

did not abate. On the day of the funeral Francesca knelt on one

side of the coffin, and, in sight of all the crowd, she was wrapped

in ecstasy. They saw her body lifted from the ground, and a

seraphic expression in her uplifted face. They heard her murmur

several times with an indescribable emphasis the word 'Quando?

Quando?' When all was over, she still remained immoveable; it

seemed as if her soul had risen on the wings of prayer, and

followed Vanozza's spirit into the realms of bliss. At last her

confessor ordered her to rise and go and attend on the sick. She

instantly complied, and walked away to the hospital which she had

founded, apparently unconscious of everything about her, and only

roused from her trance by the habit of obedience, which, in or out

of ecstasy, never forsook her."--_Lady Georgiana Fullerton's Life

of Sta. Fr. Romana._

There are several good pictures over the altars in the aisles of

Ara-Cœli. In the Chapel of St Margaret of Cortona are frescoes

illustrative of her life by _Filippo Evangelisti_,--in that of S.

Antonio, frescoes by _Nicola da Pesaro_;--but no one should omit

visiting the first chapel on the right of the west door, dedicated to S.

Bernardino of Siena, and painted by _Bernardino Pinturicchio_, who has

put forth his best powers to do honour to his patron saint with a series

of exquisite frescoes, representing his assuming the monastic habit, his

preaching, his vision of the Saviour, his penitence, death, and burial.

Almost opposite this--closed except during Epiphany--is the Chapel of

the _Presepio_, where the famous image of the _Santissimo Bambino d'Ara

Cœli_ is shown at that season lying in a manger.

"The simple meaning of the term _Presepio_ is a manger; but it is

also used in the Church to signify a representation of the birth of

Christ. In the Ara-Cœli the whole of one of the side-chapels is

devoted to this exhibition. In the foreground is a grotto, in which

is seated the Virgin Mary, with Joseph at her side and the

miraculous Bambino in her lap. Immediately behind are an ass and an

ox. On one side kneel the shepherds and kings in adoration; and

above, God the Father is seen surrounded by crowds of cherubs and

angels playing on instruments, as in the early pictures of Raphael.

In the background is a scenic representation of a pastoral

landscape, on which all the skill of the scene-painter is expended.

Shepherds guard their flocks far away, reposing under palm-trees or

standing on green slopes which glow in the sunshine. The distances

and perspective are admirable. In the middle ground is a crystal

fountain of glass, near which sheep, preternaturally white, and

made of real wool and cotton wool, are feeding, tended by figures

of shepherds carved in wood. Still nearer come women bearing great

baskets of real oranges and other fruits on their heads. All the

nearer figures are full-sized, carved in wood, painted, and dressed

in appropriate robes. The miraculous Bambino is a painted doll

swaddled in a white dress, which is crusted over with magnificent

diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. The Virgin also wears in her ears

superb diamond pendants. The general effect of the scenic show is

admirable, and crowds flock to it and press about it all day long.

"While this is taking place on one side of the church, on the other

is a very different and quite as singular an exhibition. Around one

of the antique columns a stage is erected, from which little

maidens are reciting, with every kind of pretty gesticulation,

sermons, dialogues, and little speeches, in explanation of the

_Presepio_ opposite. Sometimes two of them are engaged in alternate

questions and answers about the mysteries of the Incarnation and

the Redemption. Sometimes the recitation is a piteous description

of the agony of the Saviour and the sufferings of the Madonna, the

greatest stress being, however, always laid upon the latter. All

these little speeches have been written for them by their priest or

some religious friend, committed to memory, and practised with

appropriate gestures over and over again at home. Their little

piping voices are sometimes guilty of such comic breaks and

changes, that the crowd about them rustles into a murmurous

laughter. Sometimes, also, one of the little preachers has a

_dispetto_, pouts, shakes her shoulders, and refuses to go on with

her part; another, however, always stands ready on the platform to

supply the vacancy, until friends have coaxed, reasoned, or

threatened the little pouter into obedience. These children are

often very beautiful and graceful, and their comical little

gestures and intonations, their clasping of hands and rolling up of

eyes, have a very amusing and interesting effect."--_Story's Roba

di Roma._

At other times the Bambino dwells in the inner Sacristy, where it can be

visited by admiring pilgrims. It is a fresh-coloured doll, tightly

swathed in gold and silver tissue, crowned, and sparkling with jewels.

It has servants of its own, and a carriage in which it drives out with

its attendants, and goes to visit the sick. Devout peasants always kneel

as the blessed infant passes. Formerly it was taken to sick persons and

left on their beds for some hours, in the hope that it would work a

miracle. Now it is never left alone. In explanation of this, it is said

that an audacious woman formed the design of appropriating to herself

the holy image and its benefits. She had another doll prepared of the

same size and appearance as the "Santissimo," and having feigned

sickness, and obtained permission to have it left with her, she dressed

the false image in its clothes, and sent it back to Ara-Cœli. The

fraud was not discovered till night, when the Franciscan monks were

awakened by the most furious ringing of bells and by thundering knocks

at the west door of the church, and hastening thither could see nothing

but a wee naked pink foot peeping in from under the door; but when they

opened the door, without stood the little naked figure of the true

Bambino of Ara-Cœli, shivering in the wind and the rain,--so the

false baby was sent back in disgrace, and the real baby restored to its

home, never to be trusted away alone any more.

In the sacristy is the following inscription relating to the Bambino:--

"Ad hoc sacellum Ara Cœli a festo nativitatis domini usque ad

festum Epiphaniæ magna populi frequentia invisitur et colitur in

presepio Christi nati infantuli simulacrum ex oleæ ligno apud

montem olivarum Hierosolymis a quodam devoto Minorita sculptum eo

animo, ut ad hoc festum celebrandum deportaretur. De quo in primis

hoc accidit, quod deficiente colore inter barbaras gentes ad

plenam infantuli figurationem et formam, devotus et anxius artifex,

professione laicus, precibus et orationibus impetravit, ut sacrum

simulacrum divinitus carneo colore perfunctum reperiretur. Cumque

navi Italiam veheretur, facto naufragio apud Tusciæ oras, simulacri

capsa Liburnum appulit. Ex quo, recognita, expectabatur, enim a

Fratribus, et jam fama illius a Hierosolymis ad nostras familiæ

partes advenerat, ad destinatam sibi Capitolii sedem devenit.

Fertur etiam, quod aliquando ex nimia devotione à quadam devota

fœmina sublatum ad suas ædes miraculosè remeaverit. Quapropter

in maxima veneratione semper est habitum a Romanis civibus, et

universo populo donatum monilibus, et jocalibus pretiosis,

liberalioribusque in dies prosequitur oblationibus."

The outer Sacristy contains a fine picture of the Holy Family by _Giulio

Romano_.

The scene on the long flight of steps which leads to the west door of

Ara-Cœli is very curious during Epiphany.

"If any one visit the Ara-Cœli during an afternoon in Christmas

or Epiphany, the scene is very striking. The flight of one hundred

and twenty-four steps is then thronged by merchants of Madonna

wares, who spread them out over the steps and hang them against the

walls and balustrades. Here are to be seen all sorts of curious

little coloured prints of the Madonna and Child of the most

extraordinary quality, little bags, pewter medals, and crosses

stamped with the same figures and to be worn on the neck--all

offered at once for the sum of one _baiocco_. Here also are framed

pictures of the saints, of the Nativity, and in a word of all sorts

of religious subjects appertaining to the season. Little wax dolls,

clad in cotton-wool to represent the Saviour, and sheep made of the

same materials, are also sold by the basket-full. Children and

_Contadini_ are busy buying them, and there is a deafening roar all

up and down the steps, of 'Mezzo baiocco, bello colorito, mezzo

baiocco, la Santissima Concezione Incoronata,'--'Diario Romano,

Lunario Romano nuovo,'--'Ritratto colorito, medaglia e quadruccio,

un baiocco tutti, un baiocco tutti,'--'Bambinella di cera, un

baiocco.' None of the prices are higher than one baiocco, except to

strangers, and generally several articles are held up together,

enumerated, and proffered with a loud voice for this sum. Meanwhile

men, women, children, priests, beggars, soldiers, and _villani_ are

crowding up and down, and we crowd with them."--_Roba di Roma_, i.

72.

"On the sixth of January the lofty steps of Ara-Cœli looked like

an ant-hill, so thronged were they with people. Men and boys who

sold little books (legends and prayers), rosaries, pictures of

saints, medallions, chestnuts, oranges, and other things, shouted

and made a great noise. Little boys and girls were still preaching

zealously in the church, and people of all classes were crowding

thither. Processions advanced with the thundering cheerful music of

the fire-corps. Il Bambino, a painted image of wood, covered with

jewels, and with a yellow crown on its head, was carried by a monk

in white gloves, and exhibited to the people from a kind of

altar-like erection at the top of the Ara-Cœli steps. Everybody

dropped down upon their knees; Il Bambino was shown on all sides,

the music thundered, and the smoking censers were

swung."--_Frederika Bremer._

The _Convent of Ara-Cœli_ contains much that is picturesque and

interesting. S. Giovanni Capistrano was abbot here in the reign of

Eugenius IV.

Let us now descend from the Capitoline Piazza towards the Forum, by the

staircase on the left of the Palace of the Senator. Close to the foot of

this staircase is a church, very obscure-looking, with some rude

frescoes on the exterior. Yet every one must enter this building, for

here are the famous _Mamertine Prisons_, excavated from the solid rock

under the Capitol.

The prisons are entered through the low Church of S. Pietro in Carcere,

hung round with votive offerings and blazing with lamps.

"There is an upper chamber in the Mamertine Prisons, over what is

said to have been--and very possibly may have been--the dungeon of

St. Peter. The chamber is now fitted up as an oratory, dedicated to

that saint; and it lives, as a distinct and separate place, in my

recollection, too. It is very small and low-roofed; and the dread

and gloom of the ponderous, obdurate old prison are on it, as if

they had come up in a dark mist through the floor. Hanging on the

walls, among the clustered votive offerings, are objects, at once

strangely in keeping and strangely at variance with the

place--rusty daggers, knives, pistols, clubs, divers instruments of

violence and murder, brought here, fresh from use, and hung up to

propitiate offended Heaven; as if the blood upon them would drain

off in consecrated air, and have no voice to cry with. It is all so

silent and so close, and tomblike; and the dungeons below are so

black, and stealthy, and stagnant, and naked; that this little dark

spot becomes a dream within a dream: and in the vision of great

churches which come rolling past me like a sea, it is a small wave

by itself, that melts into no other wave, and does not flow on with

the rest."--_Dickens._

Enclosed in the church, near the entrance, may be observed the outer

frieze of the prison wall, with the inscription C. TIBIUS. C. F.

RUFINUS. M.. COCCEIUS. NERVA. COS. EX. S. C., recording the names of two

consuls of A.D. 22, who are supposed to have repaired the prison.

Juvenal's description of the time when one prison was sufficient for all

the criminals in Rome naturally refers to this building:

"Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas

Sæcula, quæ quondam sub regibus atque tribunis

Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam."

_Sat._ iii. 312.

A modern staircase leads to the horrible dungeon of Ancus Martius,

sixteen feet in height, thirty in length, and twenty-two in breadth.

Originally there was no staircase, and the prisoners were let down

there, and thence into the lower dungeon, through a hole in the middle

of the ceiling. The large door at the side is a modern innovation,

having been opened to admit the vast mass of pilgrims during the festa.

The whole prison is constructed of huge blocks of tufa without cement.

Some remains are shown of the _Scalæ Gemoniæ_, so called from the groans

of the prisoners--by which the bodies were dragged forth to be exposed

to the insults of the populace or to be thrown into the Tiber. It was by

this staircase that Cicero came forth and announced the execution of

the Catiline conspirators to the people in the Forum, by the single word

_Vixerunt_, "they have ceased to live." Close to the exit of these

stairs the Emperor Vitellius was murdered. On the wall by which you

descend to the lower dungeon is a mark, kissed by the faithful, as the

spot against which St. Peter's head rested. The lower prison, called

_Robur_, is constructed of huge blocks of tufa, fastened together by

cramps of iron and approaching horizontally to a common centre in the

roof. It has been attributed from early times to Servius Tullius; but

Ampère[47] argues against the idea that the lower prison was of later

origin than the upper, and suggests that it is Pelasgic, and older than

any other building in Rome. It is described by Livy, and by Sallust, who

depicts its horrors in his account of the execution of the Catiline

conspirators.[48] The spot is shown to which these victims were attached

and strangled in turn. In this dungeon, at an earlier period, Appius

Claudius and Oppius the decemvirs committed suicide (B.C. 449). Here

Jugurtha, king of Mauritania, was starved to death by Marius. Here

Julius Cæsar, during his triumph for the conquest of Gaul, caused his

gallant enemy Vercingetorix to be put to death. Here Sejanus, the friend

and minister of Tiberius, disgraced too late, was executed for the

murder of Drusus, son of the emperor, and for an intrigue with his

daughter-in-law, Livilla. Here, also, Simon Bar-Gioras, the last

defender of Jerusalem, suffered during the triumph of Titus.

The spot is more interesting to the Christian world as the prison of SS.

Peter and Paul, who are said to have been bound for nine months to a

pillar, which is shown here. A fountain of excellent water, beneath the

floor of the prison, is attributed to the prayers of St. Peter, that he

might have wherewith to baptize his gaolers, Processus and Martinianus;

but, unfortunately for this ecclesiastical tradition, the fountain is

described by Plutarch as having existed at the time of Jugurtha's

imprisonment This fountain probably gave the dungeon the name of

_Tullianum_, by which it was sometimes known, _tullius_ meaning a

spring.[49] This name probably gave rise to the idea of its connection

with Servius Tullius.

It is hence that the Roman Catholic Church believes that St. Peter and

St Paul addressed their farewells to the Christian world.

That of St. Peter:--

"Shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus

Christ hath showed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be

able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made

known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ....

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and

a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."--_2nd St. Peter._

That of St. Paul:--

"God hath not given us a spirit of fear.... Be not thou, therefore,

ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but

be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the

power of God.... I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds;

but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things,

for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which

is in Christ Jesus.... I charge thee by God and by the Lord Jesus

Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead ... preach the

word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort

with all long-suffering and doctrine; ... watch in all things,

endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof

of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of

my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have

finished my course, I have kept the faith."--_2nd Timothy._

On July 4, the prisons are the scene of a picturesque solemnity, when

they are visited at night by the religious confraternities, who first

kneel and then prostrate themselves in silent devotion.

Above the Church of S. Pietro in Carcere, is that of _S. Giuseppe del

Falegnami_, St. Joseph of the Carpenters.

"Pourquoi les guides et les antiquaires qui nous ont si souvent

montré la voie triomphale qui mène au Capitale et nous en ont tant

de fois énuméré les souvenirs; pourquoi aucun d'eux ne nous a-t-il

jamais parlé de ce qui survint le jour du triomphe de Titus,

là-bas, près des prisons Mamertines? Laisse-moi vous rappeler que

ce jour-là le triomphateur, au moment de monter au temple, devant

verser le sang d'une victime, s'arrêta à cette place, tandis que

l'on détachait de son cortége un captif de plus haute taille et

plus richement vêtu que les autres, et qu'on l'emmenait dans cette

prison pour y achever son supplice avec le lacet même qu'il portait

autour du cou. Ce ne fût qu'après cette immolation que le cortége

reprit sa marche et acheva de monter jusqu'au Capitole! Ce captif

dont on ne daigne nous parler, c'était Simon Bar-Gioras; c'était un

des trois derniers défenseurs de Jérusalem; c'était un de ceux qui

la défendirent jusqu'au bout, mais hélas! qui la défendirent comme

des démons maîtres d'une âme de laquelle ils ne veulent pas se

laisser chasser, et non point comme des champions héroïques d'une

cause sacrée et perdue. Aussi cette grandeur que la seule infortune

suffit souvent pour donner, elle manque à la calamité la plus

grande que le monde ait vue, et les noms attachés à cette immense

catastrophe ne demeurèrent pas même fameux! Jean de Giscala,

Eléazar, Simon Bar-Gioras; qui pense à eux aujourd'hui? L'univers

entier proclame et vénère les noms de deux pauvres juifs qui,

quatre ans auparavant, dans cette même prison, avaient eux aussi

attendu la supplice; mais le malheur, le courage, la mort tragique

des autres, ne leur ont point donné la gloire, et un dédaigneux

oubli les a effacés de la mémoire des hommes!"--_(Anne Severin)

Mrs. Augustus Craven._

"Along the sacred way

Hither the triumph came, and, winding round

With acclamation, and the martial clang

Of instruments, and cars laden with spoil,

Stopped at the sacred stair that then appeared,

Then thro' the darkness broke, ample, star-bright,

As tho' it led to heaven. 'Twas night; but now

A thousand torches, turning night to day,

Blazed, and the victor, springing from his seat,

Went up, and, kneeling as in fervent prayer,

Entered the Capitol. But what are they

Who at the foot withdraw, a mournful train

In fetters? And who, yet incredulous,

Now gazing wildly round, now on his sons,

On those so young, well pleased with all they see,

Staggers along, the last? They are the fallen,

Those who were spared to grace the chariot-wheels;

And there they parted, where the road divides,

The victor and the vanquished--there withdrew;

He to the festal board, and they to die.

"Well might the great, the mighty of the world,

They who were wont to fare deliciously

And war but for a kingdom more or less,

Shrink back, nor from their thrones endure to look,

To think that way! Well might they in their pomp

Humble themselves, and kneel and supplicate

To be delivered from a dream like this!"

_Rogers' Italy._