The period of highest glory for the ancient capital of the world
vanished with the Republic and the majestic simplicity of the republican
system; for after the battle of Zama, in which Hannibal was defeated
by Scipio, the Romans had no longer any powerful enemies. It therefore
became easy to conquer other nations, and, enriched by the spoils of the
conquered, the Romans gave themselves up to internal contentions, and
to every kind of luxury. In this way they were dragged down to the
last stage of degradation, and became the slaves of those whom they had
enslaved. And right well it befitted them that God should pay them
in the same coin which they counted out. The last generation of the
Republic, however, had truly a sunset grandeur about it, and splendid
names. Before passing away it presented to history some men at whom one
can not but marvel Sartorius, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar, were men
of such stature that one alone would suffice to illustrate the valor
of a warlike nation. If perfection in a military ruler were possible,
Caesar, with his superb qualities as a general, needed only to possess
the abnegation of Sulla to have been a perfect type of the class. Less
sanguinary than the Proscriber he possessed more ambition, and desired
to decorate his forehead with a crown, for which he fell a victim,
stabbed to the heart by the daggers of the Roman republicans. Sulla
was also a great general, and a reformer; he struggled hard to wean the
Romans from their vices, and even resorted to terrible means, slaying
at one time eight thousand persons with this view. Subsequently, wearied
with the ineffectual struggle against the tide of the time, he
assembled the people in the Forum, and, after reproaching them for their
incorrigible vices, declared, that as his power as Dictator had failed
to regenerate them, he would no longer retain that dignity, but before
he laid it aside he challenged the city to require from him an account
of his actions. Silence ensued, no man demanding redress, though there
were many present whose relatives and friends he had sacrificed. With an
austere mien he then descended from the tribunal, and mingled with the
crowd as a simple citizen.
The Empire rose on the ruins of the Republic. And here it may be
remarked that no Republic can exist unless its citizens are virtuous.
This form of government demands moral education and elevation. It was
the vice and degradation to which the Romans had sunk that inaugurated
the Empire.
Among the emperors there were some less deplorable than others--such as
Trajan, Antonine, and Marcus Aurelius. The greater part, however, were
monsters, who, not satisfied with the enormous wealth they possessed,
and with their lofty position, set themselves to plunder the substance
of others. They sought every pretext for robbing the wealthy citizens.
Many of those, therefore, possessing wealth, retired from Rome--many
sought refuge in foreign lands, others in far distant parts of the
country, where they were safe from molestation. Among the latter, a
descendant of Lucullus, in the reign of Nero, built the original walls
of the antique castle where we left Clelia and her companions.
Peradventure, some of the enormous oaks by which it was surrounded had
sprung in but few removes from the acorns of the trees which shaded the
courtier of Nero. However this may be, the architecture of the castle
is certainly wonderful, and wonderfully preserved. The outbuildings are
covered with ivy, which age has rendered of extraordinary growth.
The interior had been completely modernized by mediaeval owners, and
although not adorned with all the luxuries of the nineteenth century,
it contains several dry-roofed and spacious apartments. Uninhabited
for some time, die castle had been almost buried out of sight by the
surrounding trees, which circumstance made it all the more suitable for
Orazio and his proscribed comrades. Built in dark and troublous times,
this castle, like all those of the same kind, possesses immense dungeons
and subterranean passages spreading over a large space in the bowels of
the earth. Superstition also guarded the lonely tower. Travellers making
inquiries about the neighborhood of the shepherds who tend their flocks
in the forest openings, had heard, and duly related, that somewhere in
this district was an ancient castle haunted by phantoms; that no one
ever dared to enter it, and that those unhappy beings who summoned up
courage to approach its gateway were never seen again. Moreover, was
there not a story told that the beautiful daughter of the wealthy Prince
T------, when staying with her family at Porto d'Anzo for the benefit of
sea-bathing, had one day wandered with her maids into the woods, where
the affrighted and helpless women saw their mistress carried up into the
air by spirits, and although every nook of the forest was searched by
the command of her distressed father, no traces of the young princess
were ever afterwards discovered.
To this haunt of marvels Orazio then conducted our travellers, as we
have before described.