were enlarged in the time of Aurelian. (9) The Baths, or more properly the ruins of the palace of Titus, supposed to have been constructed upon the foundations, and with the materials of Nero's golden house, and the residence of Mæcenas, exhibiting fine specimens of the opus reticulatus, or reticulated brickwork of the Romans. We saw here a succession of chambers long and narrow, but of great height, for the complete clearing out of which we are indebted to the labours of the French. In several of them the frescoes on the ceiling are still fresh and perfect, exhibiting male and female figures, birds, fruits, flowers, intermixed with lively arabesques, executed in a good and elegant style. Also the scrawl alluded to by Matthews, the chief wonder of which is that such a denunciation should have been judged necessary within the precincts of an imperial palace. In one of the rooms the bath itself remains: a large circular basin of about twenty-four feet in diameter. These chambers were first excavated in the time of Raphael, and it is said by some that he ordered them to be closed up again from selfish motives, after he had copied from them his Arabesque in the Vatican; a charge as unworthy of this great artist, as inconsistent with the known liberality of his character, and his profound veneration for the remains of antiquity. Many of these chambers we observed had no apertures for windows, and had evidently always been lighted by lamps, from which we may conclude that the art of making window glass was unknown to the ancients, though this is at variance with the frequent discoveries of glass vessels of every description made at Pompeii, and also some found at Velleia, near Parma. And it is also evident from some letters of Pliny, that rooms were sometimes so constructed for the purpose of preserving them fresh and cool in the heat of summer; and being brilliantly lighted up by "the golden lamps," the paintings, statuary, marbles, and richly gilt and decorated furniture, would have even a more magnificent and imposing effect than when seen by the light of day. In such a chamber was found, during the pontificate of Julius II., the famous statue of the Laocoon, the beauties of which are most discernible by torchlight; and there is good reason to believe it was originally sculptured with reference to such a display. At no great distance from these ruins are the Setti Sale (so called, though there are now nine of them); most probably a reservoir for supplying the baths with water. The manner in which the openings from room to room are placed is curious, and the cement or deposit on the walls extremely hard. SECTION III. Containing a continuation of the antiquities, palaces, churches, and other curiosities of Rome and its vicinity—an excursion to Frascati and Tivoli -the journey from that city to Naples; and an attempt to render the same in a versified form: and some account of the latter city, of the Studio, and its treasures-the Villa Reale, and its general aspect-and a visit to the Grotto del Cane, and the Lago d'Agnano. 1824. 11th mo., 17th. Saw the Church of St. Carlo-in-Corso, which on account of some festival was richly hung with crimson damask; it has some paintings, but nothing very remarkable, except the general structure, which is elegant, and the exterior, which is particularly noble and imposing. We next visited the pillar of Marcus Aurelius, in the Place Colonna, which was erected by the Senate to his honour, and is of white marble, covered with bas-reliefs, which surround it in a spiral form, and describe the exploits of this Emperor. It is about one hundred and forty feet high, and from the balcony, to which we ascended by a good staircase, there is a fine panoramic view over that part of the city which was formerly the Campus Martius. We next proceeded to the Pillar of Trajan, which we also ascended by one hundred and eighty-four marble steps, and which, though older, is in yet better preservation than that of Aurelius. It is adorned with bas-reliefs, which go round the whole from the bottom to the top, in twenty-three spirals, representing the exploits of this Emperor in his Dacian expeditions, and are tolerably sharp and perfect; it is about the same height as that of Aurelius. Part of what constituted the magnificent Forum of Trajan, in which this column stood, has been uncovered by the French, and the plan of it in some measure developed. Fragments, more or less mutilated, of noble ranges of granite columns are now exposed, which probably constituted part of the celebrated Ulpian Basilica; also the ancient floor covered with marbles, over which are scattered many pieces of fine columns, capitals, fragments of statues, and other relics. These two pillars were formerly surmounted by statues of gilt bronze, representing their respective Emperors, which have now given way to those of the Apostles Peter and Paul. "Whose arch or pillar meets me in the face, Titus or Trajan's? No: 'tis that of Time! To crush the imperial urn, whose ashes slept sublime." We now directed our course to the Capitoline Hill, called the Campidoglio, to which we ascended by a noble flight of stairs. The top of it is covered with the remains of antiquity: viz., two colossal statues, called Castor and Pollux, standing by their horses, found in the quarter of the Jews; two trophies, called those of Marius, over the Cimbre; statues of Constantine Cæsar and Constantine Augustus; also the first milestone on the Appian Way, called the Milliarum Aureum; and in the centre of the square above is a noble equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, in bronze gilt, which stood originally in the forum, and is the only equestrian bronze statue remaining of ancient Rome. Some critics have attempted to find fault with it, but not, I think, justly; for, as Forsyth well observes, "the spirit and fire of the general figure would seduce the most practised eye." In front of the stairs is the Palazzo Senetario, built on the ruins of the ancient tabularium, of which there are some remains still visible in the forum; and on each side are two buildings of rather a graceful form, erected by Michael Angelo, in which are deposited the Museums of Antiquities, Paintings, etc., belonging to the capitol; while to the left the Church of Ara Coeli occupies, however unworthily, the site of the Temple of the Capitoline Jove. The Palace of the Senator has a lofty tower in the centre, from whence we obtained a noble prospect of the interesting ruins beneath, and perhaps the finest view both of ancient and modern Rome is obtained here. "Whoever wishes," says Burton, "to take a survey of the seven hills at once, must ascend this tower. He will here command a prospect which surpasses in interest anything that the world can furnish. The natural features of the country are themselves beautiful; and if nothing was known of the history of Rome, the ruins would still rivet his attention. The seven hills are distinctly discernible; but their boundaries are not so marked now as they were formerly, from the accumulation of soil which has taken place in the valleys. Of the seven hills, the Capitoline, the Cælian, the Viminal, and the Quirinal are still in part built upon; while the Palatine, Esquiline, and Aventine are mostly covered with gardens, and contain but few houses." We descended from hence to the Mamertine prisons, said to be the work of the two Kings, Ancus Martius and Servius Tullus, and consisting of two apartments, one above the other, composed of large masses of stone, apparently laid together without cement. They show on the side of the wall the miraculous impression of Peter's face when he was imprisoned here; and in the lower prison is a fountain of water, which they say sprang up at his command, and in which he baptized his gaolers and others. These forlorn dungeons appear to have had no light admitted to them, and as they were originally without stairs, the unhappy occupants, who were usually State prisoners, were probably let down into them by ropes. More horrible places for the confinement of human beings can scarcely be imagined; and yet there is reason to suppose that Lentulus, Jugurtha, Catiline, and his associates, and other illustrious prisoners were confined here. We next visited the Arch of Janus Quadrifons, supposed to be the most ancient arch in Rome,-a square building, with a large open portal on each side, surmounted with a turret of brick work, erected by the Frangipani family, when it was converted by them into a small fortress, in the middle ages. Antiquarians are divided in opinion as to the original object of this ruin. Near it, and adjoining to the Church of St. George-in-Velabro, is the Arch erected, as the inscription imparts, by the merchants and bankers of the Forum Boarium to the honour of Septimus Severus, his wife Julia, and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, though the name of the latter has been effaced, and other words substituted, most likely after his murder by his brother Caracalla. The same is also evident in the large Arch of St. Severus in the forum. Cloaca Maxima is at no great distance from these, built, it is said, by Tarquinius Priscus, only one hundred and fifty years from the foundation. of Rome; and like the prison, constructed of large blocks of tufa, put together without cement, and must be considered a very great undertaking for the age that produced it, which has raised well founded doubts. of the accuracy of our information on the more early history of this wonderful people. "It is," says Lumisden, in his very interesting and valuable "Researches into the Antiquities of Rome," which through the The kindness of a friend we had the pleasure to peruse on the spot, "one of the most ancient remains of Roman buildings; and it is surprising to find an infant State should have been able to carry on a work in which much art and great expense are so conspicuous, and which was reckoned, as Livy informs us, in the midst of the Roman grandeur, among the wonders of the world." Yet it is said by another traveller to have been constructed by a Prince whose territory did not extend in any direction sixteen miles, and must have been made to accommodate a city that was calculated chiefly for the reception of cattle herdsmen and banditti. Ferguson has some ingenious suggestions relative to the existence of a still more ancient city; but this is not reconcilable with the silence both of history and tradition on the subject, and we must therefore leave the question where we found it. Between these objects and the Tiber is found the Temple of Vesta,-a circular building, with a portico all round it, of fluted Corinthian columns. The cornice and the ancient roof have disappeared, and the latter is replaced by a modern covering, that corresponds but ill with the rest of the edifice, which is otherwise tolerably perfect, and forms an interesting and elegant object. It accords in shape with the ruin at Tivoli, with great propriety, I think, now called a Temple of Vesta; and antiquarians are generally agreed thus to designate this structure, though they are not agreed as to the period of its erection, nor whether it be the Temple of Vesta alluded to by Horace. Near it, and contiguous to the Ponte Rotto, or ancient Palatine Bridge, at present in ruins, is the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, now called Santa Maria Egiziaca, originally erected, it is said, by Servius Tullus; but evidently of too elegant a construction for that early period, as the remaining fluted Ionic columns and the richly ornamented cornice demonstrate. A few paces further is a building said to have been the house of the celebrated Cola di Rienzi: he flourished in the reign of Clement V., and rendered himself famous by his endeavours to reduce the lawless power of the Roman nobles, who had become insolent and oppressive, through the non-residence of the Popes. There is a barbarous inscription on the walls, which I could not decipher; but Lumisden says it is as early as the tenth century, and of course long before Cola di Rienzi, and that it describes the residence of Nicolas, son of Crescens and Theodora. I should, however, be sorry to have the illusion destroyed that would make it the house of Rienzi, who, whatever his faults and errors, was still vastly superior to the ignorant |