"Cette mosaïque fort curieuse nous offre et les combats des gladiateurs entre eux et leurs luttes avec les animaux féroces. Cette mosaïque est d'un dessin aussi barbare que les scènes représentées; tout est en harmonie, le sujet et le tableau. Le sentiment de répulsion qu'inspire la cruauté romaine n'en est que plus complet; celle-ci n'est point adoucie par l'art et paraît dans toute sa laideur.
"On voit les gladiateurs poursuivre, s'attaquer, se massacrer, couverts d'armures qui ressemblent à celle des chevaliers: vous diriez une odieuse parodie du moyen âge. Dans le corps de l'un des combattants un glaive est enfoncé. Des cadavres sont gisant parmi les flaques de sang; à côté d'eux est le Θ fatal, initiale du mot grec Θἁνατος—à laquelle leur juge impitoyable, le peuple, les a condamnés; du grec partout. Le maître excite ses élèves on leur montrant le fouet et la palme; les vainqueurs élèvent leurs épées, et sans doute la foule applaudit. Ils ont un air de triomphe. Ce sont des acteurs renommés. Auprès de chacun son nom est écrit; ces noms barbares ou étranges: l'un s'appelle Buccibus, un autre Cupidor, un autre Licentiosus, avis effronté aux dames romaines."—Ampère, iv. 31.
The collection in this villa contains no exceedingly important statues. In the vestibule are some reliefs from the arch of Claudius in the Corso, destroyed in 1527. Leaving the great hall to the left we may notice:
1st Room.—
In the Centre:
Juno Pronuba, from Monte Calvi.
2nd Room.—
In the Centre:
A Fighting Amazon, on horseback.
3rd Room.—
4. Daphne changed into a Laurel.
13. Anacreon, seated.
"La statue d'Anacréon est très-remarquable, elle ressemble à la figure du poëte sur une médaille de Téos. Le style est simple et grandiose, l'expression énergique plutôt que gracieuse, la draperie est rude, la statue respire l'enthousiasme; ce n'est pas le faux Anacréon que nous connaissons et dont les poésies sont postérieures au moins en grande partie à la date du véritable; c'est le vieil et primitif Anacréon; cet Anacréon-là ne vit plus que dans cet énergique portrait, seule image de son inspiration véritable, dont les produits authentiques ont presque entièrement disparu."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. iii. 567.
4th Room.—
A handsome gallery with paintings by Marchetti and De Angelis, adorned with porphyry busts of the twelve Cæsars.
32. Bronze statue of a boy.
6th Room.—
In the Centre:
A Greek poet, probably Alcæus.
7. The Hermaphrodite; found near Sta. Maria Vittoria.
7th Room.—
In the Centre:
Boy on a Dolphin.
"D'autres statues peuvent dériver de la grande composition maritime de Scopas. Tel est la Palémon, assis sur un dauphin, de la villa Borghese, d'après lequel a été évidemment conçu le Jonas de l'église de Sainte-Marie du Peuple, qu'on attribue à Raphaël."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. iii. 284.
8th Room.—
1. Dancing Satyr.
The Upper Story, reached by a winding staircase from the Galleria, contains:
1st Room.—Three fine works by Bernini.
David with the sling: executed in his 18th year.
Apollo and Daphne.
Æneas carrying off Anchises: executed when the sculptor was only 15 years old.
2nd Room.—
Filled with a collection of portraits, for the most part unknown.
Worthy of attention are the portraits of Paul V. by Caravaggio, and of his father Marc-Antonio Borghese, attributed to Guido; also the busts of Paul V. and of Cardinal Scipio Borghese, who built the villa, by Bernini.
5th Room.—
Statue of Princess Pauline Borghese, sister of Napoleon I., by Canova, as Venus Victrix.
"Canova esteemed his statue of the Princess Borghese as one of his best works. No one else could have an opportunity of judging of it, for the prince, who certainly was not jealous of his wife's person, was so jealous of her statue, that he kept it locked up in a room in the Borghese Palace, of which he kept the key, and not a human being, not even Canova himself, could get access to it."—Eaton's Rome.
Canova took Chantrey to see this statue by night, wishing, as was his wont, to show it by the light of a single taper. Chantrey, wishing to do honour to the artist, insisted upon holding the taper for the best light himself, which gave rise to Moore's lines:
In the upper part of the grounds, not far from the walls of Rome, stood the Villa Olgiati, once the Villa of Raphael. It contained three rooms ornamented with frescoes from the hand of the great master. The best of these are now preserved in a room at the end of the gallery in the Borghese Palace. The villa was destroyed during the siege of Rome in 1849, when many of the fine old trees were cut down on this side of the grounds.
"The Casino of Raphael was unfurnished, except with casks of wine, and uninhabited, except by a contadina. The chamber which was the bedroom of Raphael was entirely adorned with the work of his own hands. It was a small pleasant apartment, looking out on a little green lawn, fenced in with trees irregularly planted. The walls were covered with arabesques, in various whimsical and beautiful designs—such as the sports of children; Loves balancing themselves on poles, or mounted on horseback, full of glee and mirth; Fauns and Satyrs; Mercury and Minerva; flowers and curling tendrils, and every beautiful composition that could suggest itself to a classic imagination in its most sportive mood. The cornice was supported by painted Caryatides. The coved roof was adorned with four medallions, containing portraits of his mistress, the Fornarina—it seemed as if he took pleasure in multiplying that beloved object, so that wherever his eyes turned her image might meet them. There were three other paintings, one representing a Terminus with a target before it, and a troop of men shooting at it with bows and arrows which they had stolen from unsuspecting Cupid, lying asleep on the ground. The second represented a figure, apparently a god, seated at the foot of a couch, with an altar before him, in a temple or rotunda, and from the gardens which appeared in perspective through its open intercolumniations, were seen advancing a troop of gay young nymphs, bearing vases full of roses upon their heads.[369] ... The last and best of these paintings represented the nuptials of Alexander the Great and Roxana."—Eaton's Rome.
Just outside the Porta del Popolo, a small gate on the left of the Villa Borghese leads to the Villa Esmeade,—the property of an Englishman,—of considerable extent, and possessing beautiful views of Rome and the Sabine mountains from its heights, which are adorned with a few ancient statues and vases.
Unpleasantly situated near the gate of the Villa Borghese is the Pig-market. Fortunately the manner of pig-killing at Rome is not so noisy as that in northern countries. The throats of the animals are not cut, but they are pierced under the left shoulder with a long pointed bodkin, which kills them almost instantly—no blood flowing. In a very few minutes a whole pen-full of pigs can be stilettoed in this manner—indeed, for any one interested in farming matters, the slaughter of the Roman pigs is a sight worth seeing.
We now enter upon the ugly dusty road which leads in a straight line to the Milvian Bridge. By this road the last triumphal procession entered Rome—that of the Emperor Honorius and Stilicho (described by the poet Claudian) in A.D. 403—a whole century having then elapsed since the Romans had beheld their last triumph—that of Diocletian.
Under the line of hills (Monte Parioli) on the right of the road are the Catacombs of St. Valentine. On the other side, the same hills are undermined by the Catacombs of SS. Gianutus and Basilla.
Half a mile from the gate, rises conspicuously on the right of the road the Casino of Papa Giulio, with picturesque overhanging cornices and sculptured fountain. The courtyard has a quaint cloister. This is the "Villino," and, far behind, but formerly connected with it by a long corridor, is the Villa of Papa Giulio, containing several rooms with very richly decorated ceilings, painted by Taddeo Zucchero. Michael Angelo was consulted by the pope as to the building of this villa, and Vasari made drawings for it, but "the actual architect was Vignola, a modest genius, who had to suffer severely, together with all his fellow-workmen, from the tracasseries of the pope's favourite, the bishop Aliotti, whom the less-enduring Michael Angelo was wont to nickname Monsignor Tante Cose."
"The villa of Papa Giulio is still visited by the stranger. Restored to the presence of those times, he ascends the spacious steps to the gallery, whence he overlooks the whole extent of Rome, from Monte Mario, with all the windings of the Tiber. The building of this palace, the laying out of its gardens, were the daily occupation of Pope Julius III. The place was designed by himself, but was never completed: every day brought with it some new suggestion or caprice, which the architects must at once set themselves to realize. This pontiff desired to forward the interests of his family; but he was not inclined to involve himself in dangerous perplexities on their account. The pleasant blameless life of his villa was that which was best suited to him. He gave entertainments, which he enlivened with proverbial and other modes of expression, that sometimes mingled blushes with the smiles of his guests. In the important affairs of the Church and State, he took no other share than was absolutely inevitable. This Pope Julius died March 23, 1555."—Ranke's Hist. of the Popes.
"C'est uniquement comme protecteur des arts et comme prince magnifique que nous pouvons envisager Jules III. Sa mauvaise santé lui faisait rechercher le repos et les douceurs d'une vie grande et libre. Aussi avait-il fait édifier avec une sorte de tendresse paternelle cette belle villa, qui est célèbre, dans l'histoire de l'art, sous le nom de Vigne de pape Jules. Michel-Ange, Vasari, Vignole en avaient dessiné les profils; les nymphées et les fontaines étaient d'Ammanati; les peintures de Taddeo Zuccari. Du haut d'une galerie élégante on découvrait les sept collines, et d'ombreuses allées, tracées par Jules III., égaraient les pas du vieillard dans ce dédale de tertres et de vallées qui sépare le pont où périt Maxence de la ville éternelle."—Gournerie, Rome Chrétienne, ii. 172.
Pope Julius used to come hither, with all his court, from the Vatican by water. The richly-decorated barge, filled with venerable ecclesiastics, gliding between the osier-fringed banks of the yellow Tiber, with its distant line of churches and palaces, would make a fine subject for a picture.
Nearly opposite the Casino Papa Giulio, on the further bank of the Tiber, is the picturesque classic Villa of Claude Lorraine, whither he was wont to retire during the summer months, residing in the winter in the Tempietto at the head of the Trinità steps. This villa is best seen from the walk by the river-side, which is reached by turning at once to the left on coming out of the Porta del Popolo. Hence it makes a good foreground to the view of the city and distant heights of the Janiculan.
"This road is called 'Poussin's Walk,' because the great painter used to go along it from Rome to his villa near Ponte Molle. One sees here an horizon such as one often finds in Poussin's pictures."—Frederika Bremer.
Close to the Villa Papa Giulio is the tunnel called Arco Oscuro, passing which, a steep lane with a beautiful view towards St. Peter's, ascends between the hillsides of the Monte Parione, and descends on the other side (following the turn to the right) to the Tiber bank, about two miles from Rome, where is situated the Acqua Acetosa, a refreshing mineral spring like seltzer water, enclosed in a fountain erected by Bernini for Alexander VII. There is a lovely view from hence across the Campagna in the direction of Fidenæ (Castel Giubeleo) and the Tor di Quinto.
"A green hill, one of those bare table-lands so common in the Campagna, rises on the right. Ascend it to where a broad furrow in the slope seems to mark the site of an ancient road. You are on a plateau, almost quadrangular in form, rising steeply to the height of nearly two hundred feet above the Tiber, and isolated, save at one angle, where it is united to other high ground by a narrow isthmus. Not a tree—not a shrub on its turf-grown surface—not a house—not a ruin—not one stone upon another, to tell you that the site had been inhabited. Yet here once stood Antemnæ, the city of many towers,[370] one of the most ancient of Italy![371] Not a trace remains above ground. Even the broken pottery, that infallible indicator of bygone civilisation, which marks the site and determines the limits of habitation on many a now desolate spot of classic ground, is here so overgrown with herbage that the eye of an antiquary would alone detect it. It is a site strong by nature, and well adapted for a city, as cities then were; for it is scarcely larger than the Palatine Hill, which, though at first it embraced the whole of Rome, was afterwards too small for a single palace. It has a peculiar interest as one of the three cities of Sabina,[372] whose daughters, ravished by the followers of Romulus, became the mothers of the Roman race. Antemnæ was the nearest city to Rome—only three miles distant—and therefore must have suffered most from the inhospitable violence of the Romans."—Dennis' Cities of Etruria, ch. iii.
There is a walk—rather dangerous for carriages—by the river, from hence, to the Ponte Molle. Here Miss Bathurst was drowned by being thrown from her horse into the Tiber.
The river bank presents a series of picturesque views, though the yellow Tiber in no way reminds us of Virgil's description:
Continuing to follow the main road, on the left is the round Church of St. Andrew, with a Doric portico, built by Vignola, in 1527, to commemorate the deliverance of Clement VII. from the Germans.
Further, on the right, is another Chapel in honour of St. Andrew's Head.
"One of the most curious instances of relique worship occurred here in the reign of Æneas Sylvius, Pope Pius II. The head of St. Andrew was brought in stately procession from the fortress of Narni, whither, as the Turks invaded the Morea, it had been brought for safety from Patras. It was intended that the most glorious heads of St. Peter and St. Paul should go forth to meet that of their brother apostle. But the mass of gold which enshrined, the cumbrous iron which protected these reliques, was too heavy to be moved; so, without them, the pope, the cardinals, the whole population of Rome, thronged forth to the meadows near the Milvian Bridge. The pope made an eloquent address to the head, a hymn was sung entreating the saint's aid in the discomfiture of the Turks. It rested that day on the altar of Santa Maria del Popolo, and was then conveyed through the city, decorated with all splendour, to St. Peter's. Cardinal Bessarion preached a sermon, and the head was deposited with those of his brother apostles under the high-altar."—Milman's Latin Christianity.
A mile and a half from the gate, the Tiber is crossed by the Ponte Molle, built by Pius VII. in 1815, on the site and foundations of the Pons Milvius, which was erected B.C. 109 by the Censor M. Æmilius Scaurus. It was here that, on the night of December 3, B.C. 63, Cicero captured the emissaries of the Allobrogi, who were engaged in the conspiracy of Catiline. Hence, on October 27, A.D. 312, Maxentius was thrown into the river and drowned after his defeat by Constantine at the Saxa Rubra. It was on this occasion that the seven-branched candlestick of Jerusalem was dropped into the river, where it has probably ever since been embedded. The statues of Our Saviour and John the Baptist, at the further entrance of the bridge, are by Mochi.
Here are a number of taverns and Trattorie, much frequented by the lower ranks of the Roman people, and for which especial open omnibuses run from the Porta del Popolo. Similar places of public amusement seem to have existed here from imperial times. Ovid describes the people coming out hither in troops by the Via Flaminia to celebrate the fête of Anna Perenna, an old woman who supplied the plebs with cakes during the retreat to the Mons Sacer, but who afterwards, from a similitude of names, was confounded with Anna, sister of Dido.
Here three roads meet. That on the right is the old Via Flaminia, begun B.C. 220 by C. Flaminius the censor. This was the great northern road of Italy, which, issuing from the city by the Porta Ratumena, which was close to the tomb of Bibulus, followed a line a little east of the modern Corso, and passed the Aurelian wall by the Porta Flaminia, near the present Porta del Popolo. It extended to Ariminum (Rimini), a distance of 210 miles.[373]
(Following this road for about 1½ mile, on the left are the ruins called Tor di Quinto. A little further on the right of the road are some tufa-rocks, with an injured tomb of the Nasones. Following the valley under these rocks to the left we reach (1½ mile) the fine Castle of Crescenza, now a farmhouse, picturesquely situated on a rocky knoll,—once inhabited by Poussin, and reproduced in the background of many of his pictures. In the interior are some remains of ancient frescoes.
On this road, seven miles from Rome, is Prima Porta, where are the ruins of the Villa of Livia, wife of Augustus, and mother of Tiberius. When first opened, several small rooms in the villa, supposed to be baths, were covered with frescoes and arabesques in a state of the most marvellous beauty and preservation, but they are now greatly injured by damp and exposure. From the character of the paintings, a trellis-work of fruit and flowers, amid which birds and insects are sporting, it is supposed that they are the work of Ludius, described in Pliny, who "divi Augusti ætate primus instituit amœnissimam parietum picturam, villas et porticus ac topiaria opera, lucos, nemora ... blandissimo aspectu minimoque impendio." It was here that the magnificent statue of Augustus, now in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican, was discovered in 1863.
"What Augustus's affection for Livia was, is well known. 'Preserve the remembrance of a husband who has loved you very tenderly,' were the last words of the emperor, as he lay on his death-bed. And when asked how she contrived to retain his affection, Dion Cassius tells us that she replied, 'My secret is very simple: I have made it the study of my life to please him, and I have never manifested any indiscreet curiosity with regard to his public or private affairs.'"—Weld.
Just beyond this, the Tiber receives the little river Valca, considered to be identical with the Crimera. Hither the devoted clan of the Fabii, 4000 in number, retired from Rome, having offered to sustain, at their own cost and risk, the war which Rome was then carrying on against Veii. Here, because they felt a position within the city untenable on account of the animosity of their fellow-patricians, which had been excited by their advocacy of the agrarian law, and their popularity with the plebeians, they established themselves on a hillock overhanging the river, which they fortified, and where they dwelt for three years. At the end of that time the Veiientines, by letting loose herds of cattle like the Vaccine, which one still sees wandering in that part of the Campagna, drew them into an ambuscade, and they were all cut off to a man. According to Dionysius, a portion of the little army remained to guard the fort, and the rest fled to another hill, perhaps that now known as Vaccareccia. These were the last to be exterminated.
"They fought from dawn to sunset. The enemy slain by their hand formed heaps of corpses which barred their passage."—They were summoned to surrender, but they preferred to die.—"The people of Veii showered arrows and stones upon them from a distance, not daring to approach them again. The arrows fell like thick snow. The Fabii, with swords blunted by force of striking, with bucklers broken, continued to fight, snatching fresh swords from the hands of the enemy, and rushing upon them with the ferocity of wild beasts."—Dionysius, ix. 21.
A little beyond this, ten miles from Rome, is the stream Scannabecchi, which descends from the Crustuminian Hills, and is identical with the Allia, "infaustum Allia nomen," where the Romans were (B.C. 390) entirely defeated with great slaughter by the Gauls, before the capture of the city, in which the aged senators were massacred at the doors of their houses.
It was in the lands lying between the villa of Livia and the Tiber that Saxa Rubra[374] was situated, where Constantine (A.D. 312) gained his decisive victory over Maxentius, who, while attempting to escape over the Milvian Bridge, was pushed by the throng of fugitives into the Tiber, and perished, engulfed in the mud. The scene is depicted in the famous fresco of Giulio Romano, in the stanze of the Vatican.
On the opposite side of the river, Castel Giubeleo, on the site of the Etruscan Fidenæ, is a conspicuous object.)
(The direct road from the Ponte Molle is the ancient Via Cassia, which must be followed for some distance by those who make the interesting excursions to Veii, Galera, and Bracciano, each easily within the compass of a day's expedition. On the left of this road, three miles from Rome, is the fine sarcophagus of Publius Vibius Maximus and his wife Regina Maxima, popularly known as "Nero's Tomb.")
Following the road to the left of the Ponte Molle, we turn up a steep incline to the deserted Villa Madama, built by Giulio Romano, from designs of Raphael for Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, afterwards Clement VII. It derives its name from Margaret of Austria, daughter of Charles V., and wife, first of Alessandro de' Medici, and then of Ottavio Farnese, duke of Parma; from this second marriage, it descended through Elisabetta Farnese, to the Bourbon kings of Naples. The neglected halls contain some fresco decorations by Giulio Romano and Giovanni da Udine.
"They consist of a series of beautiful little pictures, representing the sports of Satyrs and Loves; Juno, attended by her peacocks; Jupiter and Ganymede; and various subjects of mythology and fable. The paintings in the portico have been of first-rate excellence; and I cannot but regret, that designs so beautiful should not be engraved before their last traces disappear for ever. A deep fringe on one of the deserted chambers, representing angels, flowers, Caryatides, &c., by Giulio Romano; and also a fine fresco on a ceiling, by Giovanni da Udine, of Phœbus driving his heavenly steeds, are in somewhat better preservation.
"It was in the groves that surrounded Villa Madama, that the Pastor Fido of Guarini was represented for the first time before a brilliant circle of princes and nobles, such as these scenes will see no more, and Italy itself could not now produce."—Eaton's Rome.
The frescoes and arabesques executed here by Giovanni da Udine were considered at the time as among the most successful of his works. Vasari says that in these he "wished to be supreme, and to excel himself." Cardinal de' Medici was so delighted with them that he not only heaped benefits on all the relations of the painter, but rewarded him with a rich canonry, which he was allowed to transfer to his brother.
One can scarcely doubt from the description of Martial that this villa occupies the site of that in which the poet came to visit his friend and namesake.
The Villa Madama is situated on one of the slopes of Monte Mario, which is ascended by a winding carriage-road from near the Porta Angelica. This hill, in ancient times called Clivus Cinnæ, was in the middle ages Monte Malo, and is thus spoken of by Dante (Paradiso, xv. 109). Its name changed to Mario, through Mario Mellini, its possessor in the time of Sixtus V. Passing the two churches of Sta. Maria del Rosario and Sta. Croce di Monte Mario,[375] we reach a gate with an old pine-tree. This is the Villa Mellini (for which an order is supposed to be necessary, though a franc will usually cause the gates to fly open), which possesses a magnificent view over Rome, from its terraces, lined with ilexes and cypresses.
"The Monte Mario, like Cooper's Hill, is the highest, boldest, and most prominent part of the line; it is about the height and steepness too of Cooper's Hill, and has the Tiber at the foot of it, like the Thames at Anchorwick. To keep up the resemblance, there is a sort of terrace at the top of the Monte Mario, planted with cypresses, and a villa, though dilapidated, crowns the summit, as well as at our old friend above Egham. Here we stood, on a most delicious evening, the ilex and the gum-cistus in great profusion about us, the slope below full of vines and olives, the cypresses above our heads, and before our eyes all that one has read of in Roman History—the course of the Tiber between the hills that bound it, coming down from Fidenæ and receiving the Allia and the Anio; beyond, the Apennines, the distant and higher summits still quite white with snow; in front, the Alban Hills; on the right, the Campagna to the sea; and just beneath us the whole length of Rome, ancient and modern—St. Peter's and the Coliseum, rising as the representatives of each—the Pantheon, the Aventine, the Quirinal, all the well-known objects distinctly laid before us. One may safely say that the world cannot contain many views of such mingled beauty and interest as this."—Dr. Arnold.
"Les maisons de campagne des grands seigneurs donnent l'idée de cette solitude, de cette indifférence des possesseurs au milieu des plus admirables séjours du monde. On se promène dans ces immenses jardins, sans se douter qu'ils aient un maître. L'herbe croît au milieu des allées; et, dans ces mêmes allées abandonnées, les arbres sont taillés artistement, selon l'ancien goût qui régnait en France; singulière bizarrerie que cette négligence du nécessaire, et cette affectation de l'inutile!"—Mad. de Staël.
(Behind the Monte Mario, about four miles from Rome, is the church of S. Onofrio in Campagna, with a curious ossuary.)
Just outside the Porta Angelica was the vineyard in which Alexander VI. died.
"This is the manner in which Pope Alexander VI. came to his death.
"The cardinal datary, Arian de Corneto, having received a gracious intimation that the pontiff, together with the Duke Valentinos, designed to come and sup with him at his vineyard, and that his Holiness would bring the supper with him, the cardinal suspected that this determination had been taken for the purpose of destroying his life by poison, to the end that the duke might have his riches and appointments, the rather as he knew that the pope had resolved to put him to death by some means, with a view to seizing his property as I have said,—which was very great. Considering of the means by which he might save himself, he could see but one hope of safety—he sent in good time to the pope's carver, with whom he had a certain intimacy, desiring that he would come to speak with him; who, when he had come to the said cardinal, was taken by him into a secret place, where, they two being retired, the cardinal showed the carver a sum, prepared beforehand, of 10,000 ducats, in gold, which the said cardinal persuaded the carver to accept as a gift and to keep for love of him, and after many words, they were at length accepted, the cardinal offering, moreover, all the rest of his wealth at his command—for he was a very rich cardinal, for he said that he could not keep the said riches by any other means than through the said carver's aid, and declared to him, 'You know of a certainty what the nature of the pope is, and I know that he has resolved, with the Duke Valentinos, to procure my life by poison, through your hand,'—wherefore he besought the carver to take pity on him, and to give him his life. And having said this, the carver declared to him the manner in which it was ordered that the poison should be given to him at the supper, but being moved to compassion he promised to preserve his life. Now the orders were that the carver should present three boxes of sweetmeats, in tablets or lozenges, after the supper, one to the pope, one to the said cardinal, and another to the duke, and in that for the cardinal there was poison: and thus being told, the said cardinal gave directions to the aforesaid carver in what manner he should serve them, so as to cause that the box of poisoned confect which was to be for the cardinal, should be placed before the pope, so that he might eat thereof, and so poison himself, and die. And the pope being come accordingly with the duke to supper on the day appointed, the cardinal threw himself at his feet, kissing them and embracing them closely; then he entreated his Holiness with most affectionate words, saying, he would never rise from those feet until his Holiness had granted him a favour. Being questioned by the pontiff what this favour was, and requested to rise up, he would first have the grace he demanded, and the promise of his Holiness to grant it. Now after much persuasion, the pope remained sufficiently astonished, seeing the perseverance of the cardinal, and that he would not rise, and promised to grant the favour. Then the cardinal rose up and said, 'Holy Father, it is not fitting that when the master comes to the house of his servant, the servant should eat with his master like an equal (confrezer parimente),' and therefore the grace he demanded was the just and honest one, that he, the servant, should wait at the table of his master; and this favour the pope granted him. Then having come to supper, and the time for serving the confectionery having arrived, the carver put the poisoned sweetmeats into the box, according to the first order given to him by the pope, and the cardinal being well informed as to which box had no poison, tasted of that one, and put the poisoned confect before the pope. Then his Holiness, trusting to his carver, and seeing the cardinal tasting, judged that no poison was there, and ate of it heartily; while of the other, which the pope thought was poisoned, but which was not, the cardinal ate. Now at the hour accustomed, according to the quality of that poison, his Holiness began to feel its effect, and so died thereof; but the cardinal, who was yet much afraid, having physicked himself and vomited, took no harm and escaped, though not without difficulty."—Sanuto, iv., Translation in Ranke's Hist. of the Popes.
The wine of the Vatican hill has had a bad reputation even from classical times. "If you like vinegar," wrote Martial, "drink the wine of the Vatican!"[376] and again, "To drink the wine of the Vatican is to drink poison."[377]
(Here, also, is the entrance of the Val d' Inferno, a pleasant winter walk, where, near the beginning of the Cork Woods, are some picturesque remains of an ancient nymphæum.)
The Porta Angelica, built by Pius IV. (1559—1566), leads into the Borgo, beneath the walls of the Vatican.
Those who return from hence to the English quarter in the evening, will realize the vividness of Miss Thackeray's description:—
"They passed groups standing round their doorways; a blacksmith hammering with great straight blows at a copper pot, shouting to a friend, a young baker, naked almost, except for a great sheet flung over his shoulders, and leaning against the door of his shop. The horses tramp on. Listen to the flow of fountains gleaming white against the dark marbles,—to the murmur of voices. An old lady, who has apparently hung all her wardrobe out of window, in petticoats and silk hankerchiefs, is looking out from beneath these banners at the passers in the streets. Little babies, tied up tight in swaddling-clothes, are being poised against their mother's hips; a child is trying to raise the great knocker of some feudal-looking arch, hidden in the corner of the street. Then they cross the bridge, and see the last sun's rays flaming from the angel's sacred sword. Driving on through the tranquil streets, populous and thronged with citizens, they see brown-faced, bronze-headed Torsos in balconies and window-frames; citizens sitting tranquilly, resting on the kerb-stones, with their feet in the gutters; grand-looking women resting against their doorways. Sibyls out of the Sistine were sitting on the steps of the churches. In one stone archway sat the Fates spinning their web. There was a holy family by a lemonade-shop, and a whole heaven of little Coreggio angels perching dark-eyed along the road. Then comes a fountain falling into a marble basin, at either end of which two little girls are clinging and climbing. Here is a little lighted May-altar to the Virgin, which the children have put up under the shrine by the street-corner. They don't beg clamorously, but stand leaning against the wall, waiting for a chance miraculous baioch?"—Bluebeard's Keys.
Gate of Sto. Spirito—Church, Convent, and Garden of S. Onofrio—The Lungara—Palazzo Salviati and the Botanic-Garden—S. Giovanni alla Lungara—Palazzo Corsini—The Farnesina—Porta Settimiana—S. Pietro in Montorio—Fontana Paolina—Villa Lante—Porta and Church of S. Pancrazio—Villa Doria-Pamfili—Chapel of St. Andrew's Head.
THE Janiculan is a steep crest of hill which rises abruptly on the west bank of the Tiber, and breaks imperceptibly away on the other side into the Campagna towards Civita Vecchia. Its lower formation is a marine clay abounding in fossils, but its upper surface is formed of the yellow sand which gave it the ancient name of Mons Aureus,—still commemorated in Montorio—S. Pietro in Montorio.
A tradition universally received in ancient times, and adopted by Virgil, derives the name of Janiculum from Janus, who was the sun-god, as Jana, or Diana, was the moon-goddess. On this hill Janus is believed to have founded a city, which is mentioned by Pliny under the name of Antinopolis. Ovid makes Janus speak for himself as to his property:
Fons, the supposed son of Janus, is known to have had an altar here in very early times.[379] Janus Quirinus was a war-god, "the sun armed with a lance." Thus, in time of peace, the gates of this temple were closed, both because his worship was then unnecessary, and from an idea of preventing war from going forth. It was probably in this character that he was honoured on a site which the Romans looked upon as "the key of Etruria," while other nations naturally regarded it as "the key of Rome."
Janus was represented as having a key in his hand.
"Ille tenens dextra baculum, clavemque sinistra."
"Par un hasard singulier, Janus, qu'on représentait une clef à la main, était le dieu du Janicule, voisin du Vatican, où est le tombeau de Saint Pierre, que l'on représente aussi tenant une clef. Janus, comme Saint Pierre, son futur voisin, était le portier céleste."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 229,
When the first Sabine king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, "like the darlings of the gods in the golden age, fell asleep, full of days,"[380] he was buried upon the sacred hill of his own people, and the books of his sacred laws and ordinances were buried near him in a separate tomb.[381] In the sixth century of the republic, a monument was discovered on the Janiculan, which was believed to be that of Numa, and certain books were dug up near it which were destroyed by the senate in the fear that they might give a too free-thinking explanation of the Roman mythology.[382]
Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome, connected the Janiculan with the rest of the city by building the Pons Sublicius, the first bridge over the Tiber; and erected a citadel on the crest of the hill as a bulwark against Etruria, with which he was constantly at war.[383] Some escarpments, supposed to belong to the fortifications of Ancus, have lately been found behind the Fontana Paolina. It was from this same ridge that his Etruscan successor, Tarquinius Priscus, coming from Tarquinii (Corneto), had his first view of the city over which he came to reign, and here the eagle, henceforth to be the emblem of Roman power, replaced upon his head the cap which it had snatched away as he was riding in his chariot. Hence, also, Lars Porsena, king of Etruria, looked upon Rome, when he came to the assistance of Tarquinius Superbus, and retired in fear of his life after he had seen specimens of Roman endurance, in Horatius Cocles, who kept the falling bridge; in Mutius, who burnt his hand in the charcoal; and in the hostage, Cœllia, who swam home across the Tiber,—all anecdotes connected with the Janiculan.
After the time of the kings this hill appears less frequently in history. But it was here that the consul Octavius, the friend of Sylla, was murdered by the partisans of Marius, while seated in his curule chair,—near the foot of the hill Julius Cæsar had his famous gardens, and on its summit the Emperor Galba was buried. The Christian associations of the hill will be noticed at the different points to which they belong.
From the Borgo (Chap. XV.) the unfinished gate called Porta Sto. Spirito, built by Antonio da San Gallo, leads into the Via Lungara, a street three-quarters of a mile long, formed by Sixtus V., and occupying the whole length of the valley between the Tiber and the Janiculan.
Immediately on the right, the steep "Salita di S. Onofrio" leads up the hillside to the Church of S. Onofrio, built in 1439 by Nicolo da Forca Palena, in honour of the Egyptian hermit, Honophrius.
"St. Onofrius was a monk of Thebes, who retired to the desert, far from the sight of men, and dwelt there in a cave for sixty years, and during all that time never beheld one human being, or uttered one word of his mother-tongue except in prayer. He was unclothed, except by some leaves twisted round his body, and his beard and hair had become like the face of a wild beast. In this state he was discovered by a holy man whose name was Paphnutius, who, seeing him crawling on the ground, knew not at first what live thing it might be."—Jameson's Sacred Art.
From the little platform in front of the convent is one of the loveliest views over the city. The church is approached by a portico, decorated with glazed frescoes by Domenichino. Those on either side of the door represent the saints of the Hieronomyte Order (the adjoining convent belongs to Hieronomytes), viz.: S. Jerome, Sta. Paula, St. Eustochium, S. Pietro Gambacorta of Pisa, St Augustine the hermit, S. Nicolo di Forca Palena, S. Onofrio and the Blessed Benedict of Sicily, Philip of St. Agatha, Paul of Venice, Bartholomew of Cesarea, Mark of Manuta, Philip of Fulgaria, and John of Catalonia. Over the door is a Madonna and Child. In the side arcade are three scenes in the life of St. Jerome. 1. Represents his baptism as a young man at Rome. 2. Refers to his vision of the Judgment (described in his letter to Eustochium), in which he heard the Judge of the World ask what he was, and he answered, "I am a Christian." But the Judge replied, "No, you lie, for you are a Ciceronian," and he was condemned to be scourged, but continued to protest that he was a Christian between every lash. 3. Is a scene alluded to in another letter to Eustochium, in which Jerome says, "O how often when alone in the desert with the wild beasts and scorpions, half dead with fasting and penance, have I fancied myself a spectator of the sins of Rome, and of the dances of its young women."
The church has a solemn and picturesque interior. It ends in a tribune richly adorned with frescoes, those of the upper part (the Coronation of the Virgin, and eight groups of saints and angels) being by Pinturicchio, those of the lower (the Virgin and Saints, Nativity, and Flight into Egypt) by Baldassare Peruzzi.
On the left of the entrance is the original monument of Tasso (with a portrait), erected after his death by Cardinal Bevilacqua. Greatly inferior in interest is a monument recently placed to his memory in the adjoining chapel, by subscription, the work of De Fabris. Near this is the grave of the poet, Alessandro Guidi, ob. 1712. In the third chapel on the left is the grave of the learned Cardinal Mezzofanti, born at Bologna, 1774, died at Rome, 1849.
The first chapel on the right, which is low and vaulted, with stumpy pillars, is covered with frescoes relating to S. Onofrio.
The second chapel on the right, which is very richly decorated, contains a Madonna crowned by Angels, by Annibale Caracci. Beyond this is the fine tomb of Archbishop Sacchi, ob. 1502. The beautiful lunette, of the Madonna teaching the Holy Child to read, is by Pinturicchio. The tomb is inscribed: