"On entering the Ghetto, we see Israel before its tents, in full restless labour and activity. The people sit in their doorways, or outside in the streets, which receive hardly more light than the damp and gloomy chambers, and grub amid their old trumpery, or patch and sew diligently. It is inexpressible what a chaos of shreds and patches (called Cenci in Italian) is here accumulated. The whole world seems to be lying about in countless rags and scraps, as Jewish plunder. The fragments lie in heaps before the doors, they are of every kind and colour,—gold fringes, scraps of silk brocade, bits of velvet, red patches, blue patches, orange, yellow, black and white, torn, old, slashed and tattered pieces, large and small. I never saw such varied rubbish. The Jews might mend up all creation with it, and patch the whole world as gaily as harlequin's coat. There they sit and grub in their sea of rags, as though seeking for treasures, at least for a lost gold brocade. For they are as good antiquarians as any of those in Rome, who grovel amongst the ruins to bring to light the stump of a column, a fragment of a relief, an ancient inscription, a coin, or such matters. Each Hebrew Winckelmann in the Ghetto lays out his rags for sale with a certain pride, as does the dealer in marble fragments. The latter boasts a piece of giallo-antico, the Jew can match it with an excellent fragment of yellow silk; porphyry here is represented by a piece of dark red damask, verde-antico by a handsome patch of ancient green velvet. And there is neither jasper nor alabaster, black marble, or white, or parti-coloured, which the Ghetto antiquarian is not able to match. The history of every fashion from Herod the Great to the invention of paletôts, and of every mode of the highest as well as of the lower classes may be collected from these fragments, some of which are really historical, and may once have adorned the persons of Romulus, Scipio Africanus, Hannibal, Cornelia, Augustus, Charlemagne, Pericles, Cleopatra, Barbarossa, Gregory VII., Columbus, and so forth.
"Here sit the daughters of Zion on these heaps and sew all that is capable of being sewn. Great is their boasted skill in all work of mending, darning, and fine-drawing, and it is said that even the most formidable rent in any old drapery or garment whatsoever, becomes invisible under the hands of these Arachnes. It is chiefly in the Fiumara, the street lying lowest and nearest to the river, and in the street corners (one of which is called Argumille, i.e. of unleavened bread), that this business is carried on. I have often seen with a feeling of pain the pale, stooping, starving figures, laboriously plying the needle,—men as well as women, girls, and children. Misery stares forth from the tangled hair, and complains silently in the yellow-brown faces, and no beauty of feature recalls the countenance of Rachel, Leah, or Miriam,—only sometimes a glance from a deep-sunk, piercing black eye, that looks up from its needle and rags, and seems to say—'From the daughter of Zion, all her beauty is departed—she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. Judah is gone into captivity, because of affliction, and because of great servitude; she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest; all her persecutors overtook her between the straits. How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger!"—Gregorovius, Wanderjahre.
The narrow street which is a continuation of the Pescheria, emerges upon the small square called Piazza della Giudecca. In the houses on the left may be seen some columns and part of an architrave, being the only visible remains of the Theatre of Balbus, erected by C. Cornelius Balbus, a general who triumphed in the time of Augustus, with the spoils taken from the Garamantes, a people of Africa. It was opened in the same year as the Theatre of Marcellus, and though very much smaller, was capable of containing as many as 11,600 spectators.
To the right, still partly on the site of the ancient theatre, and extending along one side of the Piazza delle Scuole, is the vast Palazzo Cenci, the ancient residence of the famous Cenci family (now represented by Count Cenci-Bolognetti), and the scene of many of the terrible crimes and tragedies which stain its annals.
"The Cenci Palace is of great extent: and, though in part modernized, there yet remains a vast and gloomy pile of feudal architecture in the same state as during the dreadful scenes which it once witnessed. The palace is situated in an obscure corner of Rome, near the quarter of the Jews, and from the upper windows you see the immense ruins of Mount Palatine, half hidden under the profuse undergrowth of trees. There is a court in one part of the palace supported by columns, and adorned with antique friezes of fine workmanship, and built up, after the Italian fashion, with balcony over balcony of open work. One of the gates of the palace, formed of immense stones, and leading through a passage dark and lofty, and opening into gloomy subterranean chambers, struck me particularly."—Shelley's Preface to "The Cenci."
Opposite the further entrance of the Palace, is the tiny Church of S. Tommaso del Cenci, founded 1113 by Cencio, bishop of Sabina; granted by Julius II. to Rocco Cenci;—and rebuilt in 1575 by the wicked Count Cenci.
"In 1585, Francesco Cenci was the head of the family, a man of passions so ungovernable and heart so depraved, that he hesitated at no species of crime. His first wife was a Princess Santa Croce, whom he is believed to have poisoned in order to marry the beautiful Lucrezia Petroni. His domestic cruelties to his children, especially to his three elder sons, Giacomo, Christoforo, and Rocco, were so terrible, that they petitioned the reigning Pope Clement VIII. to interfere in their behalf, but he abruptly dismissed them as rebels against the paternal authority; one daughter, Marguerita, alone escaped from her miserable home, being given in marriage by the pope to a Signor Gabrielli.
"The escape of this daughter made Francesco the more embittered against the remainder of his family. His youngest child, Beatrice, he immured in a solitary chamber, to which no one but himself was admitted, and where he constantly starved and beat her severely. When he received the news that his sons Christoforo and Rocco were assassinated in the neighbourhood of Rome by an unknown hand, he expressed the utmost joy, declaring that no money of his should purchase masses for the repose of their souls, and that he could have no peace until his wife and every child he had were in their graves.
"Lucrezia, believing that the monster whom she had espoused was possessed, in spite of his cruelty, by a criminal passion for his own daughter, attempted secretly to save her, by presenting a memorial to the pope imploring him to give her in marriage to a Signor Guerra, who had long been attached to her. But this petition was intercepted by Francesco, who then carried off Lucrezia and his two youngest children, Beatrice and Bernardo, to Petrella, a vast and desolate castle in the Apennines. Guerra, and Giacomo the eldest remaining brother of Beatrice, hired a band of banditti in the Sabine hills who were to attack the party on the way, and to carry off Francesco for a ransom, liberating the women;—but the rescue arrived too late.
"When they reached Petrella, Beatrice was incarcerated in a subterranean dungeon, where she was persuaded that her lover Guerra had been murdered, and was treated with such awful cruelty by her father, that, for a time, she was deprived of her reason. One day a servant, Marzio, whose betrothed had previously been seduced and murdered by Francesco, roused by the shrieks of Beatrice, burst into the room, and rushing upon his master dealt a terrible thrust with a dagger on his neck, exclaiming, 'I murder thee, assassin of thy own blood.' But Cenci arose uninjured, to the horror of Marzio, who imagined that only a demon could avert such a blow, and who was ignorant that he wore under his vestments, even in bed, a coat of mail which covered his entire body.
"At length Beatrice contrived to communicate with her brother Giacomo, who united with Guerra in hiring the services of Marzio and of Olympio, another servant, who was inspired with an equal thirst for vengeance upon Count Cenci. All felt that the death of Francesco was the only hope for his unhappy family. The assassins communicated with Lucrezia, who administered an opiate to her husband, and then stole from him some keys which enabled her after midnight to liberate Bernardo and Beatrice. The latter she found in a state of stupefaction, and vainly endeavoured to rouse her, signifying that the moment of escape had arrived. Beatrice showed no symptom of surprise at the announcement, or at the visit of her stepmother at that strange hour; she asked not how they had opened her door, or how her liberty had been acquired. When they were all assembled in the hall, Lucrezia told them the project, and asked their aid. Bernardo at first hesitated, but Lucrezia roused him by every argument she could urge and obtained his consent. Beatrice made no reply.
" ... Francesco Cenci was murdered in his sleep. Marzio placed a large nail or iron bolt on his right eye, which Olympio, with one blow of a hammer, drove straight into the brain. The deed thus accomplished, Marzio and Olympio wrapped the dead body in a sheet, and carried it to a small pavilion built at the end of a terrace-walk, overlooking an orchard. From this height they cast it down on an old gnarled elder-tree, in order that when the body should be found the next morning, it might appear that whilst walking on the terrace, the foot of the count had slipped, and that he had fallen head-foremost on one of the stunted branches of the tree, which, piercing through his eye to the brain, had caused his death. Returning to the hall, they received from Lucrezia a purse of gold; Marzio, carrying with him a valuable cloak trimmed with gold lace, turned towards Beatrice (who still stood leaning against the table), and saying, 'I shall keep this as a memorial of you,' departed with Olympio. The report of Francesco's death was not spread through the castle until the next morning. Lucrezia then rushed through the house uttering cries. In a day or two the funeral took place, and immediately after the family returned to Rome. Giacomo took possession of the Cenci palace, and Beatrice daily improved in health of body and mind.
"Soon, however, the suspicious circumstances of Count Cenci's death excited attention; the body was exhumed and examined, and the inhabitants of Petrella placed under arrest, when a washerwoman deposed to having received bloody sheets from one of the inhabitants of the castle—she thought from Beatrice—the day after the murder. On hearing this, the fear that he would turn against them, induced Signor Guerra to hire assassins to pursue Olympio, whom they despatched at Terni; but Marzio was arrested, and confessed the circumstances of the murder, though when confronted with Beatrice, he proclaimed her innocence of it, and declared her incapable of crime.
"Guerra made good his escape, but the whole Cenci family were thrown into prison and put to the torture. Giacomo, Bernardo, and Lucrezia, unable to endure the sufferings of the rack, confessed at once.
"Such, however, was not the case with the young and beautiful Beatrice. Full of spirit and courage, neither the persuasions nor threats of Moscati the judge could extort from her the smallest confession. She endured the torture of the cord with all the firmness which the purity of her heart inspired. The judge failed to extort from her lips a single word which could throw a shade over her innocence, and at length, believing it useless to pursue the torture further, he suspended the proceedings, and reported them to the pope. But Clement VIII, suspecting that the unwillingness of Moscati to believe Beatrice guilty was induced by her extreme beauty, only replied by consigning the prosecution to another judge, and Beatrice was left in the hands of Luciani, 'a man whose heart was a stranger to every feeling of humanity.' Upon her renewed protestations of innocence, he ordered the torture of the Vigilia.
"The torture of the Vigilia was as follows:—Upon a high joint-stool, the seat about a span large, and instead of being flat, cut in the form of pointed diamonds, the victim was seated: the legs were fastened together and without support; the hands bound behind the back, and with a running knot attached to a cord descending from the ceiling: the body was loosely attached to the back of the chair, cut also into angular points. A wretch stood near, pushing the victim from side to side, and now and then, by pulling the rope from the ceiling, gave the arms most painful jerks. In this horrible position the sufferer remained forty hours, the assistants being changed every fifth hour. At the expiration of this time, Beatrice was carried into the prison more dead than alive. The judge was annoyed at the account he received of the fortitude of Beatrice, and, in a rage, he exclaimed, 'Never shall it be said that a weak girl can escape from my hands, while not one of those condemned have been able to resist my power!'
"On the third day the examination was renewed, and Beatrice was condemned to the tortura capillorum. 'At a given signal, the satellites of the tribunal carried Beatrice under a rope suspended from the ceiling, and twisting into a cord her long and beautiful hair, they attached it, with diabolical art, to the rope, so that the whole body could by this means be raised from the ground. The frightful preparations over, and her protestations of innocence again disregarded, she was elevated from the ground by the hair of her head; at the same time was added another torture, consisting of a mesh of small cords twined about the fingers, twisting them nearly out of joint and dragging the hand almost from the bone of the arm. The wretched girl screamed with agony, while the judge stood by, commanding the suspended rope to be tightened, and raising the body by the hair from the ground gave it a sudden jerk, exhorting her to confess. She cried out in a convulsion for water, rolling her eyes in agony, and exclaiming, 'I am innocent.' The torture being repeated with still greater cruelty, and the fortitude of the young girl remaining unshaken, the judge, believing it impossible that a young female could resist such torments, concluded, with the superstition of the times, that she carried about with her some witchcraft; he ordered her to be examined, and finding no cause of suspicion, was about to have her hair cut off, when it was suggested the torment of the tortura capillorum could not then be renewed; her hair was again fastened to the rope, and for a whole hour she was subjected to such a succession of cruelties as the heart shrinks from narrating: but not a word escaped from her lips, that could compromise her innocence.
"In the mean time Lucrezia, Giacomo, and Bernardo were taken into the hall Erculeo, and in their presence a repetition of the torture was ordered, to so awful an extent, that she fainted and lay senseless. A new cruelty was devised—the taxilla,—her feet were bared, and to the soles was applied a block of heated wood, prepared in such a way as to retain the scorching heat; then did the unhappy girl utter piercing shrieks, and remained some minutes apparently dead. These accumulated tortures were repeated, until her relations, who were handcuffed lest they should render her any assistance, began to implore her with heart-rending tears and entreaties to yield. To this the judge mingled threats and the application of further torments, and enforced them with such rigour, that the victim shrieked in agony, and exclaimed, 'Oh! cease this martyrdom, and I will confess anything.'
"The tortures were at once suspended and restoratives applied, while her family on their knees implored Beatrice to adhere to her promise, urging that the unnatural cruelties of her father would be a just defence for the crime imputed to her, and that by agreeing to their deposition, she might give them a hope of common liberation. The unhappy girl replied, 'Be it as you wish. I am content to die if I can preserve you'—and to each interrogatory of the judge she replied, 'E vero,' until asked whether she did not urge the assassins to kill her father, and, on their refusal, propose to commit the crime herself, when she involuntarily exclaimed, 'Impossible, impossible! a tiger could not do it; how much less a daughter!' Threatened anew with the torture, she answered not, but, raising her eyes to Heaven, and moving her lips in prayer, she said, 'Oh my God, Thou knowest if this be true!' Thus did the judge force from Beatrice an assent to a deed at which her very nature revolted.
"Luciani hastened to the pope with the news that Beatrice had confessed. Clement VIII. was seized with one of those fits of anger to which he was subject, and exclaimed—'Let them all be immediately bound to the tails of wild horses, and dragged through the streets until life is extinct.' The horror evinced by all classes at this sentence induced him to grant a respite of twenty-five days, at the end of which a trial took place, and the advocate Farinacci boldly pleaded the defence of the prisoners. But while their fate was hanging in the balance, the Marchesa Santa-Croce was murdered by her own son, which caused Clement to order the immediate execution of the whole Cenci family, and the entreaties of their friends only induced him to spare the life of Bernardo, with the horrible proviso that he was to remain upon the scaffold and witness the execution of his relations.
" ... During the fearful and protracted transit to the scaffold, it was the custom of the satellites of the inquisition, at regular intervals, to tear from the body pieces of flesh with heated pincers, but in this instance the pope dispensed with this torture, but ordered that Giacomo should be beaten to death and then quartered. As the procession passed the piazza of the Palazzo Cenci, Giacomo, who had appeared resigned, became dreadfully agitated, and uttered heart-rending cries of, 'My children! my children!' The people shouted, 'Dogs, give him his children!' The procession was proceeding, when the multitude assumed such a threatening aspect, that two of the Compagnia dei Confortati thought themselves authorised to pause, the unhappy man imploring them in accents of despair, to suffer him once more to behold his children. The crowd became pacified on seeing Giacomo descend from the cart and conducted to the vestibule of his palace, where they brought to him his children and his wife. The latter fainted on the last step.
"The scene that followed was the most affecting and painful that the imagination can picture. His three children clung around his legs, uttering cries that rent the hearts of all present The unhappy man embraced them, telling them that in Bernardo they would find a father; then, fixing his eyes on his unconscious wife, he said, 'Let us go!' Reascending the cart, the procession stopped before the prison of the Corte Savella.
"Here Beatrice and Lucrezia appeared before the gates, conducted by the Confortati. They knelt down and prayed for some time before the crucifix, and then walked on foot behind the carriage. Lucrezia wore a robe of black, and a long black veil covered her head and shoulders; Beatrice in a dark robe and veil, a handkerchief of cloth of silver on her head, and slippers of white velvet, ornamented with crimson sandals and rosettes, followed.... Twice during the passage, an attempt was made to rescue Beatrice, but each failed, and she reached the chapel, where all the condemned were to receive the blessing of the Sacrament before execution.
"The first brought out to ascend the scaffold was Bernardo, who, according to the conditions of his reprieve, was to witness the death of his relatives. The poor boy, before he had reached the summit, fell down in a swoon, and was obliged to be supported to his seat of torture. Preceded by the standard and the brethren of the Misericordia, the executioner next entered the chapel to convey Lucrezia. Binding her hands behind her back, and removing the veil that covered her head and shoulders, he led her to the foot of the scaffold. Here she stopped, prayed devoutly, kissed the crucifix, and taking off her shoes, mounted the ladder barefoot. From confusion and terror, she with difficulty ascended, crying out, 'Oh, my God! oh, holy brethren, pray for my soul, oh, God, pardon me!' The principal executioner beckoned to her to place herself on the block; the unhappy woman, from her unwieldy figure, being unable to do so, some violence was used, the executioner raised his axe, and with one stroke severed the head from the body! Catching it by the hair, he exposed it, still quivering, to the gaze of the populace; then wrapping it in the veil, he laid it on a bier in the corner of the scaffold, the body falling into a coffin placed underneath. The violence used towards the sufferer had so excited the multitude, that a universal uproar commenced. Forty young men rushed forward to the chapel to rescue Beatrice, but were again defeated, after a short struggle....
"Meanwhile Beatrice, kneeling in the chapel absorbed in prayer, heeded not the uproar that surrounded her. She rose, as the standard appeared to precede her to the block, and with eagerness demanded, 'Is my mother then really dead?'—Answered in the affirmative, she prayed with fervour; then raising her voice, she said, 'Lord, thou hast called me, and I obey the summons willingly, as I hope for mercy!' Approaching her brother, she bade him farewell, and with a smile of love, said, 'Grieve not for me. We shall be happy in heaven, I have forgiven thee.' Giacomo fainted; his sister, turning round, said, 'Let us proceed!' The executioner appeared with a cord, but seemed afraid to fasten it round her body. She saw this, and with a sad smile said, 'Bind this body; but hasten to release the soul, which pants for immortality!'
"Scarcely had the victim arrived at the foot of the scaffold, when the square, filled with that vast multitude before so uproarious, suddenly assumed the silence of a desert. Each one bent forward to hear her speak; with every eye riveted on her, and lips apart, it seemed as if their very existence depended on any words she might utter. Beatrice ascended the stairs with a slow but firm step. In a moment she placed herself on the block, which had caused so much fear to Lucrezia. She did not allow the executioner to remove the veil, but laid it herself upon the table. In this dreadful situation she remained a few minutes, a universal cry of horror staying the arm of the executioner. But soon the head of his victim was held up separated from the trunk, which was violently agitated for a few seconds. The miserable Bernardo Cenci, forced to witness the fate of his sister, again swooned away; nor could he be restored to his senses for more than half an hour.
"Meanwhile the scaffold was made ready for the dreadful punishment destined for Giacomo. Having performed some religious ceremonies, he appeared dressed in a cloak and cap. Turning towards the people, he said in a clear voice, 'Although in the agonies of torture I accused my sister and brother of sharing in the crime for which I suffer, I accused them falsely. Now that I am about to render an account of my actions to God, I solemnly assert their entire innocence. Farewell, my friends. Oh, pray to God for me.'
"Saying these words, he knelt down; the executioner bound his legs to the block and bandaged his eyes. To particularise the details of this execution would be too dreadful; suffice it to say, he was beaten, beheaded, and quartered in the sight of that vast multitude, and by the side of a brother, who was sprinkled with his blood. All was now over.
"..... Near the statue of St. Paul, according to custom, were placed three biers, each with four lighted torches. In these were laid the bodies of the victims. A crown of flowers had been placed around the head of Beatrice, who seemed as though in sleep, so calm, so peaceful was that placid face, while a smile such as she wore in life still hovered on her lips. Many a tear was shed over that bier, many a flower was scattered around her, whose fate all mourned—whose innocence none questioned.
"On that night the bodies were interred. The corpse of Beatrice, clad in the dress she wore on the scaffold, was borne, covered with garlands of flowers, to the church of San Pietro in Montorio; and buried at the foot of the high altar, before Raffaelle's celebrated picture of the Transfiguration."[97]
Retracing our steps to the Piazza della Giudecca and turning left down a narrow alley, which is always busy with Jewish traffic, we reach the Piazza delle Tartarughe, so called from the tortoises which form part of the adornments of its lovely little fountain,—designed by Giacomo della Porta, the four figures of boys being by Taddeo Landini.
At this point we leave the Ghetto.
Forming one side of the Piazza delle Tartarughe is the Palazzo Costaguti, celebrated for its six splendid ceilings by great artists, viz.:—
| 1. | Albani: Hercules wounding the Centaur Nessus. |
| 2. | Domenichino: Apollo in his car, Time discovering truth, &c., much injured. |
| 3. | Guercino: Rinaldo and Armida in a chariot drawn by dragons. |
| 4. | Cav. d'Arpino: Juno nursing Hercules, Venus and Cupids. |
| 5. | Lanfranco: Justice and Peace. |
| 6. | Romanelli: Arion saved by the dolphin. |
In a corner of the piazza, is a well-known Lace-Shop, much frequented by English ladies, but great powers of bargaining are called for. Almost immediately behind this is one of the most picturesque mediæval courtyards in the city.
On the same line, at the end of the street, is the Palazzo Mattei, built by Carlo Maderno (1615) for Duke Asdrubal Mattei, on the site of the Circus of Flaminius. The small courtyard of this palace is well worth examining, and is one of the handsomest in Rome, being quite encrusted, as well as the staircase, with ancient bas-reliefs, busts, and other sculptures. It contained a gallery of pictures, the greater part of which have been dispersed. The rooms have frescoes by Pomerancio, Lanfranco, Pietro da Cortona, Domenichino, and Albani.
Behind this, facing the Via delle Botteghe Oscure, is the vast Palazzo Caëtani, now inhabited by the learned Don Michael-Angelo Caëtani (Duke of Sermoneta and Prince of Teano), whose family is one of the most distinguished in the mediæval history of Rome, and which gave Boniface VIII. to the church:
It claims descent from Anatolius, created Count of Gaieta by Pope Gregory II. in 730.
Close to the Palazzo Mattei is the Church of Sta. Caterina de' Funari, built by Giacomo della Porta, in 1563, adjoining a convent of Augustinian nuns. The streets in this quarter are interesting as bearing witness in their names to the existence of the Circus Flaminius, the especial circus of the plebs, which once occupied all the ground near this. The Via delle Botteghe Oscure, commemorates the dark shops which in mediæval times occupied the lower part of the circus, as they do now that of the Theatre of Marcellus. The Via dei Funari, the ropemakers who took advantage for their work of the light and open space which the interior of the deserted circus afforded. The remains of the circus existed to the sixteenth century.
Near this, turning right, is the Piazza di Campitelli, which contains the Church of S. Maria in Campitelli, built by Rinaldi for Alexander VII. in 1659, upon the site of an oratory erected by Sta. Galla in the time of John I. (523-6), in honour of an image of the Virgin, which one day miraculously appeared imploring her charity, in company with the twelve poor women to whom she was daily in the habit of giving alms. The oratory of Sta. Galla was called Sta. Maria in Portico, from the neighbouring portico of Octavia, a name which is sometimes applied to the present church. The miraculous mendicant image is now enshrined in gold and lapis-lazuli over the high altar. Other relics supposed to be preserved here are the bodies of Sta. Cyrica, Sta. Victoria, and Sta. Vincenza, and half that of Sta. Barbara! The second chapel on the right has a picture of the Descent of the Holy Ghost by Luca Giordano; in the first chapel on the left is the tomb of Prince Altieri, inscribed "Umbra," and that of his wife, Donna Laura di Carpegna, inscribed "Nihil;" they rest on lions of rosso-antico. In the right transept is the tomb, by Pettrich, of Cardinal Pacca, who lived in the Palazzo Pacca, on the opposite side of the square, and was the faithful friend of Pius VII. in his exile. The bas-relief on the tomb, of St. Peter delivered by the angel, is in allusion to the deliverance from the French captivity.
The name Campitelli is probably derived from Campusteli, because in this neighbourhood (see Ch. XIV.) was the Columna Bellica, from which when war was declared a dart was thrown into a plot of ground, representing the hostile territory,—perhaps the very site of this church.
In the street behind this, leading into the Via di Ara Cœli, are the remains of the ancient Palazzo Margana, with a very richly-sculptured gateway of c. 1350.
Opening from hence upon the left is the Via Tor de' Specchi, whose name commemorates the legend of Virgil as a necromancer, and of his magic tower lined with mirrors, in which all the secrets of the city were reflected and brought to light.
Here is the famous Convent of the Tor de' Specchi, founded by Sta. Francesca Romana, and open to the public during the octave of the anniversary of her death (following the 9th of March). At this time the pavements are strewn with box, the halls and galleries are bright with fresh flowers, and Swiss guards are posted at the different turnings, to facilitate the circulation of visitors. It is a beautiful specimen of a Roman convent. The first hall is painted with ancient frescoes, representing scenes in the life of the saint. Here, on a table, is the large bowl in which Sta. Francesca prepared ointment for the poor. Other relics are her veil, shoes, &c. Passing a number of open cloisters, cheerful with flowers and orange-trees, we reach the chapel, where sermons or rather lectures are delivered at the anniversary upon the story of Sta. Francesca's life, and where her embalmed body may be seen beneath the altar. A staircase seldom seen, but especially used by Francesca, is only ascended by the nuns upon their knees. It leads to her cell and a small chapel, black with age, and preserved as when she used them. The picturesque dress of the Oblate sisters who are everywhere visible, adds to the interest of the scene.
"It is no gloomy abode, the Convent of the Tor di Specchi, even in the eyes of those who cannot understand the happiness of a nun. It is such a place as one loves to see children in; where religion is combined with everything that pleases the eye and recreates the mind. The beautiful chapel; the garden with its magnificent orange-trees; the open galleries, with their fanciful decorations and scenic recesses, where a holy picture or figure takes you by surprise, and meets you at every turn; the light airy rooms, where religious prints and ornaments, with flowers, birds, and ingenious toys, testify that innocent enjoyments are encouraged and smiled upon; while from every window may be caught a glimpse of the Eternal City, a spire, a ruined wall,—something that speaks of Rome and its thousand charms.
"It was on the 21st of March, the festival of St. Benedict, that Francesca herself entered the convent, not as the foundress, but as a humble suppliant for admission. At the foot of the stairs, having taken off her customary black gown, her veil, and her shoes, and placed a cord around her neck, she knelt down, kissed the ground, and, shedding an abundance of tears, made her general confession aloud in the presence of all the Oblates; she described herself as a miserable sinner, a grievous offender against God, and asked permission to dwell amongst them as the meanest of their servants; and to learn from them to amend her life, and enter upon a holier course. The spiritual daughters of Francesca hastened to raise and embrace her; and clothing her with their habit, they led the way to the chapel, where they all returned thanks to God. While she remained there in prayer, Agnese de Lellis, the superioress, assembled the sisters in the chapter-room, and declared to them, that now their true mother and foundress had come amongst them, it would be absurd for her to remain in her present office; that Francesca was their guide, their head, and that into her hands she should instantly resign her authority. They all applauded her decision, and gathering around the Saint, announced to her their wishes. As was to be expected, Francesca strenuously refused to accede to this proposal, and pleaded her inability for the duties of a superioress. The Oblates had recourse to Don Giovanni, the confessor of Francesca, who began by entreating, and finally commanded her acceptance of the charge. His order she never resisted; and accordingly, on the 25th of March, she was duly elected to that office."—Lady Georgina Fullerton's Life of Sta. Francesca Romana.
"Sta. Francesca Romana is represented in the dress of a Benedictine nun, a black robe and a white hood or veil; and her proper attribute is an angel, who holds in his hand the book of the Office of the Virgin, open at the words, 'Tenuisti manum dexteram meam, et in voluntate tua deduxisti me, et cum gloria suscepisti me' (Ps. lxxiii. 23, 24); which attribute is derived from an incident thus narrated in the acts of her canonisation. Though unwearied in her devotions, yet if, during her prayers, she was called away by her husband on any domestic duty, she would close her book, saying that 'a wife and a mother, when called upon, must quit her God at the altar, and find him in her household affairs.' Now it happened once, that, in reciting the Office of Our Lady, she was called away four times just as she was beginning the same verse, and, returning the fifth time, she found that verse written upon the page in letters of golden light by the hand of her guardian angel."—Jameson's Sacred Art, p. 151.
Almost opposite the convent is the Via del Monte Tarpeio, a narrow alley, leading up to the foot of the Tarpeian rock, beneath the Palazzo Caffarelli, and one of the points at which the rock is best seen. This spot is believed to have been the site of the house of Spurius Mælius, who tried to ingratiate himself with the people, by buying up corn and distributing it in a year of scarcity (B.C. 440), but who was in consequence put to death by the patricians. His house was razed to the ground, and its site, being always kept vacant, went by the name of Æquimælium.[98]
The Story of the Hill—Orti Farnesiani—The Via Nova—Roma Quadrata—The Houses of the early Kings—Temple of Jupiter Stator—Palace of Augustus—Palace of Vespasian—Crypto-Porticus—Temple of Jupiter-Victor—The Lupercal and the Hut of Faustulus—Palace of Tiberius—Palace of Caligula—Clivus Victoriæ—Ruins of the Kingly Period—Altar of the Genius Loci—House of Hortensius—Septizonium of Severus—Palace of Domitian.
"THE Palatine formed a trapezium of solid rock, two sides of which were about 300 yards in length, the others about 400: the area of its summit, to compare it with a familiar object, was nearly equal to the space between Pall-Mall and Piccadilly in London."[99]
The history of the Palatine is the history of the City of Rome. Here was the Roma Quadrata, the "oppidum," or fortress of the Pelasgi, of which the only remaining trace is the name Roma, signifying force. This is the fortress where the shepherd-king Evander is represented by Virgil as welcoming Æneas.
The Pelasgic fortress was enclosed by Romulus within the limits of this new city, which, "after the Etruscan fashion, he traced round the foot of the hill with a plough drawn by a bull and a heifer, the furrow being carefully made to fall inwards, and the heifer yoked to the near-side, to signify that strength and courage were required without, obedience and fertility within the city.... The locality thus enclosed was reserved for the temples of the gods and the residence of the ruling class, the class of patricians or burghers, as Niebuhr has taught us to entitle them, which predominated over the dependent commons, and only suffered them to crouch for security under the walls of Romulus. The Palatine was never occupied by the plebs. In the last age of the republic, long after the removal of this partition, or of the civil distinction between the great classes of the state, here was still the chosen site of the mansions of the highest nobility."[100]
In the time of the early kings the City of Rome was represented by the Palatine only. It was at first divided into two parts, one inhabited, and the other called Velia, and left for the grazing of cattle. It had two gates, the Porta Romana to the north, and the Porta Mugonia—so called from the lowing of the cattle—to the south, on the side of the Velia.
Augustus was born on the Palatine, and dwelt there in common with other patrician citizens in his youth. After he became emperor he still lived there, but simply, and in the house of Hortensius, till, on its destruction by fire, the people of Rome insisted upon building him a palace more worthy of their ruler. This building was the foundation-stone of "the Palace of the Cæsars," which in time overran the whole hill, and, under Nero, two of the neighbouring hills besides, and whose ruins are daily being disinterred and recognised, though much confusion still remains regarding their respective sites. In A.D. 663, part of the palace remained sufficiently perfect to be inhabited by the Emperor Constans, and its plan is believed to have been entire for a century after, but it never really recovered its sack by Genseric in A.D. 455, in which it was completely gutted, even of the commonest furniture; and as years passed on it became imbedded in the soil which has so marvellously enshrouded all the ancient buildings of Rome, so that till within the last ten years, only a few broken nameless walls were visible above ground.
How different is this description to that of Claudian (de Sexto Consulat. Honorii).
After the middle of the sixteenth century a great part of the Palatine became the property of the Farnese family, latterly represented by the Neapolitan Bourbons, who sold the "Orti Farnesiani," in 1861, to the Emperor Napoleon III., for £10,000. Up to that time this part of the Palatine was a vast kitchen-garden, broken here and there by picturesque groups of ilex trees and fragments of mouldering wall. In one corner was a casino of the Farnese (still standing) adorned in fresco by some of the pupils of Raphael. This and all the later buildings in the "Orti," are marked with the Farnese fleur-de-lis, and on the principal staircase of the garden is some really grand distemper ornament of their time. Since 1861 extensive excavations have been carried on here under the superintendence of Signor Rosa, which have resulted in the discovery of the palaces of some of the earlier emperors, and the substructions of several temples. After the revolution of 1870 the French portion of the Palatine was sold by the Ex-Emperor Napoleon to the Roman municipal government.
In visiting the Palace of the Cæsars, it will naturally be asked how it is known that the different buildings are what they are described to be. In a great measure this has been ascertained from the descriptions of Tacitus and other historians,—but the greatest assistance of all has been obtained from the Tristia of Ovid, who, while in exile, consoles himself by recalling the different buildings of his native city, which he mentions in describing the route taken by his book, which he had persuaded a friend to convey to the imperial library. He supposes the book to enter the Palatine by the Clivus Victoriæ behind the Temple of Vesta, and follows its course, remarking the different objects it passed on the right or the left.
If we enter the palace by the Farnese gateway, on the right of the Campo-Vaccino, opposite SS. Cosmo e Damiano, we had better only ascend the first division of the staircase and then turn to the left. Passing along the lower ridge of the Palatine, afterwards occupied by many of the great patrician houses, whose sites we shall return to and examine in detail, we reach that corner of the garden which is nearest to the Arch of Titus. Here a paved road of large blocks of lava has lately been laid bare, and is identified beyond a doubt as part of the Via Nova, which led from the Porta Mugonia of the Palatine along the base of the hill to the Velabrum. In the reign of Augustus it appears to have been made to communicate also with the Forum.
At this point the road was called Summa Via Nova.
Near this spot must have been the site of the house where Octavius lived with his wife Afra, the niece of Julius Cæsar (daughter of his eldest sister Julia), and where their son, Octavius, afterwards the Emperor Augustus, was born. This house afterwards passed into the possession of C. Lætorius, a patrician; but after the death of Augustus, part of it was turned into a chapel, and consecrated to him. It was situated at the top of a staircase—"supra scalas annularias"[101]—which probably led to the Forum, and is spoken of as "ad capita bubula," perhaps from bulls' heads, with which it may have been decorated.
Here we find ourselves, owing to the excavations, in a deep hollow between the two divisions of the hill. On the left is the Velia, upon which, near the Porta Mugonia, the Sabine king, Ancus Martius, had his palace. When Ancus died, he was succeeded by an Etruscan stranger, Lucius Tarquinius, who took the name of Tarquinius Priscus. This king also lived upon the Velia,[102] with Tanaquil his queen, and here he was murdered in a popular rising, caused by the sons of his predecessor. Here his brave wife Tanaquil closed the doors, concealed the death of the king, harangued the people from the windows,[103] and so gained time till Servius Tullius was prepared to take the dead king's place and avenge his murder.[104]
Keeping to the valley, on our right are now some huge blocks of tufa, of great interest as part of the ancient Roma Quadrata, anterior to Romulus. Beyond this, also on the right, are foundations of the Temple of Jupiter Stator, built by Romulus, who vowed that he would found a temple to Jupiter under that name, if he would arrest the flight of his Roman followers in their conflict with the superior forces of the Sabines.[105]