Walks in Rome :: CHAPTER III. THE CAPITOLINE.

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-Coeli—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-Coeli, 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 coelo."
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-Coeli, 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-Coeli 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-Coeli 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'oeil 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 Coelian.

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 Cheroea (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.

48. Pescennius Niger,
49. Clodius Albinus,

—rival candidates (after murder of Didius
Julianus, A.D. 193) for the Empire, which
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 Moesa, who was sister of Julia Pia. Murdered.
58. Annia Faustina, third wife of Heliogabalus, great-granddaughter of Marcus Aurelius.
59. Julia Moesa, 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 Moesa. Murdered at the age of 30.
61. Julia Mammea, daughter of Julia Moesa, 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,
67. Balbinus, Imp. 238,

reigned together for four months and then
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.	48.	Cneius Domitius Corbulo, general under Claudius and Nero.
9.	Aristides, the orator.	49.	Scipio Africanus.
10.	Seneca (?).	52.	Cato Minor.
16.	Marcus Agrippa.	54.	Aspasia(?).
19.	Theophrastus.	55.	Cleopatra (?).
23.	Thales.	60.	Thucydides (?).
25.	Theon.	61.	Æschines.
27.	Pythagoras.	62, 64.	Epicurus.
28.	Alexander the Great(?).	63.	Epicurus and Metrodorus.
30.	Aristophanes.	68, 69.	Masinissa.
31.	Demosthenes.	71.	Antisthenes.
38.	Aratus.	72, 73.	Julian the Apostate.
39, 40.	Democritus of Aldera.	75.	Cicero.
42, 43.	Euripides.	76.	Terence.
44, 45, 46.	Homer.	82.	Æschylus (?).
47.	Eumenides.

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 Boeufs, 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 oeuvre 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'oeuvre 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 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-Coeli 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 Aurocoelio." 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-Coeli, 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-Coeli, 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-Coeli 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-Coeli, 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-Coeli, 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-Coeli. 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 Coeli 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-Coeli 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-Coeli. 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-Coeli, 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 Coeli 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 foemina 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-Coeli is very curious during Epiphany.

"If any one visit the Ara-Coeli 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-Coeli 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-Coeli 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-Coeli 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.

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