"It is characteristic of the noblest natures and the finest imaginations," says an elegant writer[262], "to love to explore the vestiges of antiquity, and to dwell in times that are no more. The first is the domain of the imaginative affections alone; we can carry none of our baser passions with us thither. The antiquary is often spoken of as being of a peculiar construction of intellect, which makes him think and feel differently from other people. But, in truth, the spirit of antiquarianism is one of the most universal of human tendencies. There is, perhaps, scarcely any person, for example, not utterly stupid or sophisticated, who would not feel a strange thrill come over him in the wonderful scenes these volumes describe. Looking round upon the long ruined city, who would not, for the moment, utterly forget the seventeen centuries that had revolved since Herculaneum and Pompeii were part and parcel of the world, moving to and fro along its streets! It would not be deemed a mere fever of curiosity that would occupy the mind,—an impatience to pry into every hole and corner of a scene at once so old and so new. Besides all that, there would be a sense of the actual presence of those past times, almost like the illusion of a dream. There is, in fact, perhaps no spot of interest on the globe, which would be found to strike so deep an impression into so many minds."

Herculaneum is an ancient city of Italy, situated in the Bay of Naples, and supposed to have been founded by Hercules, or in honour of him, 1250 years before the Christian era.[263] "This city," says Strabo, "and its next neighbour, Pompeii, on the river Sarnus, were originally held by the Osci, then by the Tyrrhenians and Pelasgians, then by the Samnites, who, in their turn, took possession of it, and retained it ever after."

The adjacent country[264] was distinguished in all ages for its romantic loveliness and beauty. The whole coast, as far as Naples, was studded with villas, and Vesuvius, whose fires had been long quiescent, was itself covered with them. Villages were also scattered along the shores, and the scene presented the appearance of one vast city, cut into a number of sections by the luxuriant vegetation of the paradise in which it was embosomed.

The following epigram of Martial gives an animated view of the scene, previous to the dreadful catastrophe, which so blasted this fair page of Nature's book:—

Here verdant vines o'erspread Vesuvius' sides;
The generous grape here pour'd her purple tides.
This Bacchus loved beyond his native scene;
Here dancing satyrs joy'd to trip the green.
Far more than Sparta this in Venus' grace;
And great Alcides once renown'd the place;
Now flaming embers spread dire waste around,
And gods regret that gods can so confound.

The scene of luxurious beauty[265] and tranquillity above described was doomed to cease, and the subterranean fire which had been from time immemorial extinct in this quarter, again resumed its former channel of escape. The long period of rest, which had preceded this event, seems to have augmented the energies of the volcano, and prepared it for the terrible explosion. The first intimation of this was the occurrence of an earthquake, in the year 63 after Christ, which threw down a considerable portion of Pompeii, and also did great damage to Herculaneum. In the year following, another severe shock was felt, which extended to Naples, where the Roman emperor Nero was at the time exhibiting as a vocalist. The building in which he performed was destroyed, but unfortunately the musician had left it. These presages of the approaching catastrophe were frequently repeated, until, in A.D. 79 (Aug. 24), they ended in the great eruption. Fortunately we are in possession of a narrative of the awful scene, by an eye-witness;—Pliny the younger, who was at the time at Misenum, with the Roman fleet, commanded by his uncle, Pliny the elder. The latter, in order to obtain a nearer view of the phenomena, ventured too far, and was suffocated by the vapours. His nephew remained at Misenum, and describes the appalling spectacle in a very lively manner.

"You ask me the particulars of my uncle's death," says he, in a letter to Tacitus, "in order to transmit it, you say, with all its circumstances, to posterity. I thank you for your intention. Undoubtedly the eternal remembrance of a calamity, by which my uncle perished with nations, promised immortality to his name; undoubtedly his works also flattered him with the same. But a line of Tacitus ensures it. Happy the man to whom the gods have granted to perform things worthy of being written, or to write what is worthy of being read. Happier still is he who at once obtains from them both these favours. Such was my uncle's good fortune. I willingly therefore obey your orders, which I should have solicited. My uncle was at Misenum, where he commanded the fleet. On the 23d of August, at one in the afternoon, as he was on his bed, employed in studying, after having, according to his custom, slept a moment in the sun and drunk a glass of cold water, my mother went up into his chamber. She informed him that a cloud of an extraordinary shape and magnitude was rising in the heavens. My uncle got up and examined the prodigy; but without being able to distinguish, on account of the distance, that this cloud proceeded from Vesuvius. It resembled a large pine-tree: it had its top and its branches. It appeared sometimes white, sometimes black, and at intervals of various colours, according as it was more or less loaded with stones or cinders.

"My uncle was astonished; he thought such a phenomenon worthy of a nearer examination. He ordered a galley to be immediately made ready, and invited me to follow him; but I rather chose to stay at home and continue my studies. My uncle therefore departed alone.

"In the interim I continued at my studies. I went to the bath; I lay down, but I could not sleep. The earthquake, which for several days had repeatedly shaken all the small towns, and even cities in the neighbourhood, was increasing every moment. I rose to go and awake my mother, and met her hastily entering my apartment to awaken me.

"We descended into the court, and sat down there. Not to lose time, I sent for my Livy. I read, meditated, and made extracts, as I would have done in my chamber. Was this firmness, or was it imprudence? I know not now; but I was then very young![266] At the same instant one of my uncle's friends, just arrived from Spain, came to visit him. He reproached my mother with her security, and me with my audacity. The houses, however, were shaking in so violent a manner, that we resolved to quit Misenum. The people followed us in consternation.

"As soon as we had got out of the town we stopped. Here we found new prodigies and new terrors. The shore, which was continually extending itself, and covered with fishes left dry on it, was heaving every moment, and repelling to a great distance the enraged sea which fell back upon itself; whilst before us, from the limits of the horizon, advanced a black cloud, loaded with dull fires, which were incessantly rending it, and darting forth large flashes of lightning. The cloud descended and enveloped all the sea, it was impossible any longer to discern either the isle of Caprea, or the promontory of Misenum. 'Save yourself, my dear son,' cried my mother; 'save yourself; it is your duty; for you can, and you are young: but as for me, bulky as I am, and enfeebled with years, provided I am not the cause of thy death, I die contented.'—'Mother, there is no safety for me but with you.'—I took my mother by the hand, and drew her along.—'O my son,' said she in tears, 'I delay thy flight.'

"Already the ashes began to fall; I turned my head; a thick cloud was rushing precipitately towards us.—'Mother,' said I, 'let us quit the high road; the crowd will stifle us in that darkness which is pursuing us.' Scarcely had we left the high road before it was night, the blackest night. Then nothing was to be heard but the lamentations of women, the groans of children, and the cries of men. We could distinguish, through the confused sobs and the various accents of grief, the words, my father!—my son!—my wife!—there was no knowing each other but by the voice. One was lamenting his destiny; another the fate of his relations: some were imploring the gods; others denying their existence; many were invoking death to defend them from death. Some said that they were now about to be buried with the world, in that concluding night which was to be eternal:—and amidst all this, what dreadful reports! Fear exaggerated and believed everything.

"In the mean time a glimmering penetrated the darkness; this was the conflagration which was approaching; but it stopped and extinguished; the night grew more intensely dark, and the shower of cinders and stones more thick and heavy. We were obliged to rise from time to time to shake our clothes. Shall I say it? Not a single complaint escaped me. I consoled myself, amid the fears of death, with the reflection that the world was about to expire with me.

"At length this thick and black vapour gradually vanished. The day revived, and even the sun appeared, but dull and yellowish, such as he usually shows himself in an eclipse. What a spectacle now offered itself to our yet troubled and uncertain eyes! The whole country was buried beneath the ashes, as in winter under the snow. The road was no longer to be discerned. We sought for Misenum, and again found it; we returned and took possession; for we had in some measure abandoned it. Soon after, we received news of my uncle. Alas! we had but too good reason to be uneasy for him.

"I have told you, that, after quitting Misenum, he went on board a galley. He directed his course towards Retina, and the other towns which were threatened. Every one was flying from it; he however entered it, and, amidst the general confusion, remarked all the phenomena, and dictated as he observed. But already a cloud of burning ashes beat down on his galley; already were stones falling all around, and the shore covered with large pieces of the mountain. My uncle hesitated whether he should return from whence he came, or put out to sea. Fortune favours courage (exclaimed he), let us turn towards Pomponianus. Pomponianus was at StabiÆ. My uncle found him all trembling: embraced and encouraged him, and to comfort him by his security, asked for a bath, then sat down to table and supped cheerfully; or, at least, which does not show less fortitude, with all the appearance of cheerfulness.

"In the mean time Vesuvius was taking fire on every side, amid the thick darkness. 'It is the villages which have been abandoned that are burning,' said my uncle to the crowd about him, to endeavour to quiet them. He then went to bed, and fell asleep. He was in the profoundest sleep, when the court of the house began to fill with cinders; and all the passages were nearly closed up. They run to him; and were obliged to awaken him. He rises, joins Pomponianus, and deliberates with him and his attendants what is best to be done, whether it would be safest to remain in the house or fly into the country. They chose the latter measure.

"They departed instantly therefore from the town, and the only precaution they could take was to cover their heads with pillows. The day was reviving everywhere else; but there it continued night; horrible night! the fire from the cloud alone enlightened it. My uncle wished to gain the shore, notwithstanding the sea was still tremendous. He descended, drank some water, had a sheet spread, and lay down on it. On a sudden, violent flames, preceded by a sulphureous odour, shot forth with a prodigious brightness, and made every one take to flight. My uncle, supported by two slaves, arose; but suddenly, suffocated by the vapour, he fell[267],—and Pliny was no more[268]."

If this visitation affected Misenum in so terrible a manner, what must have been the situation of the unfortunate inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum, so near its focus? The emperor Titus here found an opportunity for the exercise of his humanity. He hastened to the scene of affliction, appointed curatores[269], persons of consular dignity, to set up the ruined buildings, and take charge of the effects. He personally encouraged the desponding, and alleviated the misery of the sufferers; whilst a calamity of an equally melancholy description recalled him to Rome; where a most destructive fire, laying waste nearly half the city, and raging three days without interruption, was succeeded by a pestilence, which for some time carried off ten thousand persons every day!

Herculaneum and Pompeii rose again from their ruins in the reign of Titus; and they still existed with some remains of splendour under Hadrian[270]. The beautiful characters of the inscription, traced out on the base of the equestrian statue of Marcus Nonius Balbus, son of Marcus, are an evident proof of its existence at that period. They were found under the reign of the Antonines. In the geographical monument, known under the name of Peutinger's chart, which is of a date posterior to the reign of Constantine, that is to say in the commencement of the 4th century, Herculaneum and Pompeii were still standing, and then inhabited; but in the Itinerary, improperly ascribed to Antoninus, neither of these two cities is noticed; from which it may be conjectured, that their entire ruin must have taken place in the interval between the time when Peutinger's chart was constructed, and that when the above Itinerary was composed.

The eruption, which took place in 471, occasioned the most dreadful ravages. It is very probable that the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii disappeared at that period, and that no more traces of them were left.

It appears, by the observation of Sir W. Hamilton[271], that the matter, which covers the ancient town of Herculaneum, is not the produce of one eruption only; but there are evident marks that the matter of six eruptions has taken its course over that which lie immediately above the town; and which was the cause of its destruction. These strata are either of lava or burnt matter, with veins of good soil between them. The stratum of erupted matter that immediately covers the town, and with which the theatre and most of the houses were filled, is not of that sort of vitrified matter, called lava, but of a sort of soft stone composed of pumice, ashes, and burnt matter. It is exactly of the same nature with what is called the Naples stone. The Italians call it tufa; and it is in general use for building.

Herculaneum was covered with lava; Pompeii with pumice stone; yet the houses of the latter were built of lava; the product of former eruptions.

All memorials of the devoted cities were lost[272]; and discussions, over the places they had once occupied, were excited only by some obscure passages in the classical authors. Six successive eruptions contributed to lay them still deeper under the surface. But after that period had elapsed, a peasant digging a well beside his cottage in 1711, obtained some fragments of coloured marble, which attracted attention. Regular excavations were made, under the superintendence of Stendardo, an architect of Naples; and a statue of Hercules, of Greek workmanship, and also a mutilated one of Cleopatra, were drawn from what proved to be a temple in the centre of the ancient Herculaneum.

It may be well conceived with what interest the intelligence was received, that a Roman city had been discovered, which, safely entombed under-ground, had thus escaped the barbarian Goths and Vandals, who ravaged Italy, or the sacrilegious hands of modern pillagers.

The remains of several public buildings have been discovered[273], which have possibly suffered from subsequent convulsions. Among these are two temples; one of them one hundred and fifty feet by sixty, in which was found a statue of Jupiter. A more extensive edifice stood opposite to them; forming a rectangle of two hundred and twenty-eight feet by one hundred and thirty-two, supposed to have been appropriated for the courts of justice. The arches of a portico surrounding it were supported by columns; within, it was paved with marble; the walls were painted in fresco; and bronze statues stood between forty columns under the roof. A theatre was found nearly entire; very little had been displaced; and we see in it one of the best specimens extant of the architecture of the ancients. The greatest diameter of the theatre is two hundred and thirty-four feet, whence it is computed, that it could contain ten thousand persons, which proves the great population of the city.

This theatre was rich in antiquities[274], independent of the ornamental part. Statues, occupying niches, represented the Muses; scenic masks were imitated on the entablatures; and inscriptions were engraven on different places. Analogous to the last were several large alphabetical Roman characters in bronze; and a number of smaller size, which had probably been connected in some conspicuous situation. A metallic car was found, with four bronze horses attached to it, nearly of the natural size; but all in such a state of decay, that only one, and the spokes of the wheels, also in metal, could be preserved. A beautiful white marble statue of Venus, only eighteen inches high, in the same attitude as the famous Venus de Medicis, was recovered; and either here, or in the immediate vicinity, was found a colossal bronze statue of Vespasian, filled with lead, which twelve men were unable to move.

Besides many objects entire, there were numerous fragments of others, extremely interesting; which had been originally impaired, or were injured by attempts to remove them.

When we reflect, that sixteen hundred years have elapsed since the destruction of this city[275], an interval which has been marked by numerous revolutions, both in the political and mental state of Europe, a high degree of interest must be experienced in contemplating the venerable remains, recovered from the subterraneous city of Herculaneum. Pliny, the younger, in his letters, brings the Romans, their occupations, manners, and customs, before us. He pictures in feeling terms the death of his uncle, who perished in the same eruption as the city we now describe; and that event is brought to our immediate notice by those very things which it was the means of preserving. Among these we see the various articles which administered to the necessities and the pleasures of the inhabitants, the emblems of their religious sentiments, and the very manners and customs of domestic life.

These curiosities consist not only of statues, busts, altars, inscriptions, and other ornamental appendages of Grecian opulence and luxury; but also comprehend an entire assortment of the domestic, musical, and surgical instruments; tripods of elegant form and exquisite execution; lamps in endless variety; vases and basins of noble dimensions; chandeliers of the most beautiful shapes, looking-glasses of polished metal; coloured glass, so hard, clear, and well stained, as to appear like emeralds, sapphires, and other precious stones; a kitchen completely fitted up with copper pans lined with silver, kettles, cisterns for heating water, and every utensil necessary for culinary purposes; also specimens of various sorts of combustibles, retaining their form though burnt to a cinder. By an inscription, too, we learn that Herculaneum contained no less than nine hundred houses of entertainment, such as we call taverns. Articles of glass, artificial gems, vases, tripods, candelabra, lamps, urns, dice, and dice-boxes; various articles of dress and ornaments; surgical instruments, weights and measures, carpenters' and masons' tools; but no musical instruments except the sistrum, cymbals, and flutes of bone and ivory.

Fragments of columns of various coloured marble and beautiful mosaic pavements were also found disseminated among the ruins; and numerous sacrificial implements, such as paterÆ, tripods, cups, and vases, were recovered in excellent preservation, and even some of the knives with which the victims are conjectured to have been slaughtered.

The ancient pictures of Herculaneum[276] are of the utmost interest; not only from the freshness and colour, but from the nature of the subjects they represent. All are executed in fresco; they are exclusively on the walls, and generally on a black or red ground. Some are of animated beings large as life; but the majority are in miniature. Every different subject of antiquity is depicted here; deities, human figures, animals, landscapes, foreign and domestic, and a variety of grotesque beings; sports and pastimes, theatrical performances, sacrifices, all enter the catalogue.

In regard to the statues found[277], some are colossal, some of the natural size, and some in miniature; and the materials of their formation are either clay, marble, or bronze. They represent all different objects, divinities, heroes, or distinguished persons; and in the same substances, especially bronze, there are the figures of many animals.

It is not probable that the best paintings of ancient Greece and Italy[278] were deposited in Herculaneum or Pompeii, which were towns of the second order, and unlikely to possess the master-pieces of the chief artists, which were usually destined to adorn the more celebrated temples or the palaces of kings and emperors. Their best statues are correct in their proportions, and elegant in their forms; but their paintings are not correct in their proportions, and are, comparatively, inelegant in their forms.

A few rare medals also have been found among these ruins, the most curious of which is a gold medallion of Augustus, struck in Sicily in the fifteenth year of his reign.

Nor must we omit one of the greatest curiosities, preserved at Portici[279]. This consists of a cement of cinders, which in one of the eruptions of Vesuvius surprised a woman, and totally enveloped her. This cement, compressed and hardened by time around her body, has become a complete mould of it, and in the pieces here preserved, we see a perfect impression of the different parts to which it adhered. One represents half a bosom, which is of exquisite beauty; another a shoulder, a third a portion of her shape, and all concur in revealing to us that this woman was young; that she was tall and well made, and even that she had escaped in her chemise, for some of the linen was still adhering to the ashes.

Though the city was destroyed[280] in the manner we have related, remarkably few skeletons have been found, though many were discovered in the streets of Pompeii; but one appears under the threshold of a door with a bag of money in his hand, as if in the attitude of escaping, leaving its impression in the surrounding volcanic matter.

These and other valuable antiquities are preserved in the museum at Portici, which occupies the site of ancient Herculaneum, and in the Museo Borbonico at Naples. For details in respect to which, we must refer to the numerous books that have described them.

One of the most interesting departments of this unique collection is that of the Papyri, or MSS., discovered in the excavation of Herculaneum. The ancients did not bind their books (which, of course, were all MSS.) like us, but rolled them up in scrolls. When those of Herculaneum were discovered, they presented, as they still do, the appearance of burnt bricks, or cylindrical pieces of charcoal, which they had acquired from the action of the heat contained in the lava, that buried the whole city. They seemed quite solid to the eye and touch; yet an ingenious monk discovered a process of detaching leaf from leaf, and unrolling them, by which they could be read without much difficulty. It is, nevertheless, to be regretted, that so little success has followed the labours of those who have attempted to unrol them. Some portions, however, have been unrolled, and the titles of about 400 of the least injured have been read. They are, for the most part, of little importance; but all entirely new, and chiefly relating to music, rhetoric, and cookery. The obliterations and corrections are numerous, so that there is a probability of their being original manuscripts. There are two volumes of Epicurus "on Virtue," and the rest are, for the most part, productions of the same school of writers. Only a very few are written in Latin, almost all being in Greek. All were found in the library of one individual, and in a quarter of the town where there was the least probability of finding anything of the kind.

The following is a list of the most important works that have been discovered:—

1. Philodemus, on the Influence of Music on the Human Constitution.
2. Epicurus upon Nature.
3. Philomedes on Rhetoric.
4. Id. on the Vices.
5. Id. on the Affinities of the Vices and the Virtues.
6. Id. on the Poets.
7. Id. some Philosophical Fragments.
8. Id. on Providence.
9. Democritus, some Geometrical Fragments.
10. Philostratus on Unreasonable Contempt.
11. Carnisirus on Friendship.
12. Cotothes on Plato's Dialogue of Isis.
13. Chrysippus on Providence.

We shall give the reader a specimen, in a fragment of a poem on the Actian war, copied from a manuscript taken from Herculaneum; supposed to be written by C. Rabirius:—

Col. I.

. . . XIM. . . . . . . AEL . . TIA· . . . . . . . . . . .
. . CESAR . FA . . AR . HAR . IAM. . . . . . G . . .
. . RT.·HIS·ILLE . . NATO . CVM . . . . . ELIAPOR . .
QVEM IVVENES; gRANdAeVOS·ERAT·pEr cVNcTA seguntus[281]
BELLA·FIDE·DEXTRAQVE POtENS·RERVMQuE·PER·Vsum
CALLIDVS·ADSIDVus traCTANDO·IN MVNERE martis
IMMINET oPSESSIS ITALuS·IAM·TVRRIBVS alTIS·
Adsiliens muriS·NEC·DEFVit IMPETVS·ILLIS.

Col. II.

funeraque adCEDVNT·PATRiis deforMIA·TerRIS
et foedA Illa mAGIS·QVAM·Si NOS geSTA LATEReNT
CVM cuPERet potIVS·PELVSIA mOENIA·CAESAR
vix ERAT·IMperIIS·ANIMOs COHlberE SVorVM;
QuID·cAPITIS Iam caPTA IACENt QVAE praemia belli?
SVBRVITIS·fERro meA·MOENIA QVONdAM·ERat hoSTlS.
HAEC·MIHI·CVM·domin A·PLEBES QVOQVE nunc sibi VICTRIX
VINDICAT hanc faMVLAM ROMANA POTEntia taNDEM.

Col. III.

fas et ALeXANDRO thAlaMOS iNtRaRE DEoRVM
DIco ETIAM·dOLVISSE·DEAM vIDISSe triuMphoS
AcTIACOS·CVM.cAVSa fORES Tu MaxIMA beLLI
PARS·ETIAM·IMperII·QVAE·FEMINA·TanTA·? VIrORuM
QVAE·SERIEs ANTIQVA fVIT·? NI GLORIA·MENDAX
MVLTA vetuStATIS·NIMIO·ConcEDAT·HONORI.

Col. IV.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SAEPE·Ego QVAE·VEteRIS CVraE·seRMoNIBVs angor
QVA fuGITVr lux, erro: TameN NVNC·QVAErere caVSAS,
EX·SiGVasque mORaS·VITAE·LIBET·EST·.MIHI·CONIuNX;
partHos quI·POSSET phARIIS·SVBIVNGERE REGnIS·
QVI SPreVIT·NOStraEQVE·MORI·PRO·NOMINE·GENTIS·
Hic iGItur pARTIS aniMVM DIDVctuS IN oMnIS
qVID·VELIT·INCERTVM·EST·TERriS qVIBVS·, AVT·
QVIBVS·VNDIS

Col. V.

delectVMQue foruM Quo noXIA TVRBA COiRET,
PRAEBERETQVE·SVAE·SPECTACVLA·TRisTIA·MORTIS.
QVALIS·AD INSTANTIS·ACIES CVM TELA·PAraNTVR
SIGNA·TVBAE·CLASSESQVE·SIMVL·TERRESTRibus ARMIS;
EST·FACIES·EA·VISA·LOCI·CV.M·SAEVA·COIRENt
INSTRVMENTA·NECIS varIO·CONGESTA·PARATV·
VNDiQVE·SIC·ILLVC·caMPo DEFORME·COactVM
OMNE·VAGABATVR·LETI·GENVS·OMNE·TIMORIS·

Col. VI.

hic cAdit absumtus fERRO·TumeT·IlLE·VENeno,
aVT·PEndenTe suIS·CERVICIBVS·ASPIDE·MOLLEM
LABITur iN SOMNVM·TRAHITVRQVE·LIBIDINE·MORTIS·
PERCulit adFLATV·BReVIS·HVNC·SINE·MORSIBVS·ANguis
voLNERE·SEV·TeNVI·PARS·INLiTA·PARVA·VenENI·
OCIus INTEREMiT·LAQVEIS·PArS·COGItVR·ARTIS·
INtERSAEPTAM·ANIMAM·PRESSIS·EFFVNDERE·VENIS·
ImMERSISQVE fretO·CLAVSERVNT·GVTTVRA·FAVCES·
hAS·INTeR·StRAGES·SOLIO·DESCENDIT·eT·INTER

Col. VII.

A . . . . . . . . . . . . LIA . . NO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SIC·ILLI·INTteR·Se mISERO·serMoNe fRVVNTVR·
HAEC·REGINA·GERIT·: PROCVL·HAnc OccultA·VIDEBAT·
ATROPOS·INRIDeNs inteR·DIVERSA·vagenteM
CONSILIA·INTErITVs, QVAM·iAM sua fatA MANeRENT
TER·FVERAT·REVOCATA·diES·CVM·PArte senATVS·
ET·PATRIAE·cOMItANTE·SVAE·CVM·MILite CAESAR·
GENTIS·ALEXANdrI·CupiENs AD·moEnia VENIT·
SIGNAQVE·CONSTITVIT·SIC·OMNis terROR IN·ARTVM.

Col. VIII.

obtereRE·adnisi PORtarVm clAVSTRa pEr VRBEM·,
OPSIDIONE·TAMEN·NeC·CORPORA·MOENIBVS·ArceNT·
CASTRAQVE·PRO·MVRIS·ATQVE·ARMA·PEDESTRIA·PONVNT·
HOS INTER COETVS·ALISQVE·AD·BELLA·PARATVS·
VTRAQUE·SOLLEMNIS·ITERVM·REVOCAVERAT·ORBES·
CONSILIIS·NOX·APTA·DVCVM·LVX·APTIOR·ARMIS.