64 with vines, form the most striking portion of the prospect of the old city, seen from the eminences beyond the Tiber. They are so thickly strewn, and so massive, that it is not surprising the inhabitants of the rising town chose to seek for other sites rather than to attempt to clear them away. But they are not without their use, for the flagging vapours of the malaria are supposed to settle round their summits, as well as those of the Coliseum, and thus to spare the modern city. Where all repair had been hopeless, the descendants of those who reared these mighty fabrics have converted the desolation of the ancient city to the purposes of other havoc. They scrape the old walls of the Palatine, as well as those of the Baths of Titus, for saltpetre, of which a manufacture has been established in both those positions; and thus, if the phrase may be used, ruin begets ruin, destruction propagates destruction." THE FARNESE VILLA AND GARDENS. 46 IN the earlier half of the sixteenth century, when Paul the Third filled the Papal throne, the Farnese family, of which he was a member, were ambitious of a summerhouse in the imperial precincts. They levelled, they built, and they planted," says Sir John Hobhouse; "Michael Angelo designed, Raffael painted, and the master-pieces of ancient sculpture, statues, reliefs, and coloured marbles, were drawn out from beneath the ruins of Caracalla's Baths, and of the Flavian Amphitheatre, for the embellishment of the rising villa. Following antiquaries used to remark, that these peopled gardens had succeeded to the solitude of the long-neglected hill. The extinction or aggrandisement of the Farnese dukes, stripped this retreat, as well as the palace of the family, of all its treasures. Naples was again fated to be enriched by the plunder of Rome. The Palatine villa was abandoned, and in less than half a century has fallen to the ground. The naked fountain and twisted steps of Michael Angelo, and the cockle-shell incrusted walls, form a singular contrast with the lofty arcades on the Cæsarean side." Under the name of the Villa Farnese, one-half of the surface of the Palatine is now comprised. Its circuit comprises the whole of the north-western side, overlooking the site of the ancient Forum, and about half of the two sides contiguous, overlooking respectively the Sacred Way and the Circus Maximus. The fourth boundary is the public road, which begins at the Arch of Titus. This villa, the property of the King of Naples," says Mr. Burgess, writing in 1831, "is let and cultivated as a kitchen-garden. The summer-houses and fountains built by the Farnese family, are daily falling into ruins." The principal gate is said to have been designed by Michael Angelo; it is, however, generally closed. Adjoining this villa, and running along the west side of the hill, which overlooks the Circus, is the Villa Spada, which is supposed to stand over the ruins of the House of Augustus; in the year 1831, it was the property of an English gentleman. ·་ The ruins of a structure erected by the Farnese family. may be seen above those which are assigned to the Emperor Nero. The palace of the Pope, built scarcely three centuries ago, like the palace of the Cæsar, which was built within seventy years of the birth of Christ, is fast crumbling into ruins; and the gradual decay of both must insensibly lead their proud masses to the fate in which the lowly cottage of Romulus has long since been overwhelmed. "Their very ruins," says Simond, are disappearing under the luxuriant vegetation of evergreen oaks, laurels, and aloes; and this residence of the masters of the world, whence, as from a common centre, activity was communicated to the most distant parts of the empire, seems at present the very abode of idleness. An old gardener watching his poultry, which, he said, were all carried away by foxes, (within the walls of Rome!) and a few beggarlylooking men employed in making ropes, under the shelter of an old wall, were the only human creatures not asleep that we saw during a ramble of several hours. The Arcadian Academy, one of the literary societies of Rome, formerly held their meetings here, under a grove of evergreen oaks, still flourishing; but these Arcadians, also, have long since deserted the desert; and some fragments of Corinthian capitals, marble pedestals, and highlywrought friezes,-which served them as tables and chairs a hundred years ago,-now lie in classical disorder on a level spot of green turf, browzed short by a few goats." From the northern and eastern angles of the Farnese Villa, the traveller is accustomed to enjoy a prospect strikingly impressive. From the latter he looks down upon the valley through which ran the Sacred Way, and which is still adorned with the remains of splendid buildings; if he turns to the right, the Coliseum meets his view; and beyond it, remains of the old city, both within and without the walls, and among them, the long lines of aqueducts, stretching across the bare Campagna,—" the arms of the fallen giant." From the northern angle, he has the ruins on the Sacred Way upon his right; on his left, he surveys at a short distance the hill of the Capitol, no longer shining with the golden roofs of its temple and as his eye sinks from the modern buildings on its summit, to the ancient fragments at its base, it gradually rests upon "the narrow space just underneath," where "A thousand years of silenced factions sleep," in what was once the Roman Forum. TEMPLE OF PEACE, OR BASILICA OF CONSTANTINE. In the valley which bounds the Palatine Hill on the north east, or through which ran the Sacred Way, stand those remarkable remains which have been commonly described as stood in this neighbourhood. "Good reasons, however," a fragment of the very celebrated "Temple of Peace," which says Dr. Burton, "are given for making us believe that this name has been wrongly applied." We know from the ancient writers, that the Emperor Vespasian, after terminating the Jewish war, erected near the Forum a temple which he consecrated to Peace*. This is related to have been one of the most magnificent in Rome; it was encrusted with a coating of gilt bronze, and adorned with stupendous columns of white marble; it was also enriched with some of the finest sculptures and paintings of which the ancient world could boast. Among the former, was a colossal statue of the Nile, surrounded by sixteen children, cut out of one block of basalt; among the latter, was the famous picture of Jalysus, painted by Protogenes of Rhodest. Here, too, were deposited the candlestick, and some other of the spoils, which Titus brought from Jerusalem. There was also a curious library attached to the edifice. This temple was burnt in the reign of Commodus, or towards the close of the second century of the Christian æra; and Procopius, a writer of the sixth century, tells us that the ruins were lying on the ground in his time. It is not likely that it was rebuilt after that age; so that we can hardly imagine the remains which have so long gone by the name of the "Temple of Peace," to be a part of the building erected by Vespasian. Some think, too, that they do not belong to any temple at all. "Every man," "who examines this ruin with attention, will says Vasi, be forced to admit that it is not a temple, because it has not the form of one; that it is not the Temple of Peace, because there is no authority for believing it to be such, because the style of construction has no resemblance to that of the age of Vespasian, because the stuccoes and fragments of sculpture which we see in it are far from exhibiting the delicacy of that age, and because we recognise in it at a glance the style of the age of Constantine. It must also be remarked, that it is wrong to believe what is commonly said, that the inscription which begins Paci Æternæ, &c., (To Eternal Peace) was found in this vicinity; it was discovered in 1547 near the arch of Septimius. Whatever, then, may have been the destination of this immense building, it is certain that it is not the Temple of Peace." It is, however, much easier to say what it is not, than what it is. Nibby calls it the Basilica of Constantine; and as basilicas have been very much in fashion among the Roman antiquaries of late years, that denomination is the prevailing one at the present day. The disposition of of the whole edifice, certainly justify the supposition that the existing remains, and the plan which has been traced they belong rather to a basilica than to a temple. "They See Saturday Magazine, Vol. II., p. 29. Protogenes was a celebrated Greek painter, who flourished about the same time as Apelles, and, therefore, in the latter half of the fourth century before the Christian æra. The picture in question specimens of ancient art. was one of his master-pieces, and, indeed, one of the most famous A part of it represented a hound panting, and with froth upon his mouth. Pliny relates that the artist was for a long time unable to satisfy himself in the execution of this froth, that he exerted his utmost skill in numerous attempts, without success, when at last, in a fit of anger, he threw the sponge which he used to wipe off his colours, upon the painting, and thus accidentally produced the required effect. The picture was destroyed when the temple was burnt. are in bad taste," says Dr. Burton, "and not unlike the other edifices of the age of Constantine. A small portion only of the original building remains; but the parts of it are on a prodigious scale. It consists of three very large arches, each about seventy-five feet across. We should consider these in the present day as a side aisle, or as three lateral chapels. The rest of the building has disappeared; but the plan may be made out, and it seems to have consisted of a nave, with an aisle on each side; these were divided from each other by eight pillars of white marble, four of which stood against the piers which divide these arches. One of them may still be seen in Rome, it being that very beautiful pillar which stands in front of Sta. Maria Maggiore. It was removed from its original place by Paul the Fifth, and measures sixty-four palms (forty-seven feet) in height. Nothing gives us a greater idea of the splendour of the structure, than the vast and elegant proportions of this column: and if we are really to assign the building to the days of Constantine, we must suppose that the eight pillars came from some edifice which had been erected at an earlier period. The middle arch of the three is recessed further back, and each of the others has two rows of windows, with three in cach row. The ceiling of them all was ornamented with stucco, much of which still remains. It is calculated that the whole length of the temple was 326 feet, and the width 220." Although these remains are now generally called the "Basilica of Constantine," they are still thought to point out the site of that Temple of Peace, which undoubtedly gave its name of Templum Pacis to the "region" in which they stand. The antiquaries suppose that the Basilica was erected by Maxentius, the unsuccessful rival of Constantine, out of the ruins of the Temple of Peace; the substitution of the name of the latter emperor for that of the former, dates, probably, from the transformation of the basilica into a Christian church (a common change), and is not at all surprising, since we know that several edifices raised at the expense of Maxentius were dedicated to the honour of Constantine. Mr. Woods, a high authority in such matters, tells us that he recognised the marks of a change of destination in this edifice, which led him to infer that it must have existed in its original form prior to the age of Constantine. He supposes the original plan to have been that of a room about 248 feet by 195, vaulted with three groined arches, having on each side three large recesses rising about as high as the springing of the principal arches, and occupying nearly their whole width. These groined vaults had the appearance of resting on the detached entablatures which surmounted eight Corinthian columns; and it is thought that the object of throwing the weight upon such slender and seemingly inefficient props, was to give the whole building an exaggerated appearance of lightness. The great hall in the Baths of Diocletian was built upon the same model. "It is impossible," observes Mr. Woods, "to deny the impressive effect produced by these ample spaces and this bold construction, or not to regret that it should have occasioned the entire disregard of all chaster beauty, both in the masses and in the details. In the Temple of Peace the great vault is gone. The stucco panelling of the side vaults is in a fine, free style: but the details are bad, and the execution poor. The backs of the two side recesses, each with two ranges of comparatively small arches, never could have had a pleasing appearance by any mode of finishing; and the circular recess is still worse in design; but the latter was a posterior addition made to convert the edifice into a Christian church. One end of the nave seems to have been finished in a manner similar to the ends of the two side recesses: the other has a large niche. We may, perhaps, trace in this arrangement, the first idea of the distribution of the Roman churches. The original entrance was at the end. The middle tribune on one side was opened at some period later than the conversion of Constantine, and a flight of steps was made up to it, while a semicircular extremity was added to the opposite tribune: so that what had been the nave or leading division of the hall, because the transept, although larger than the part which thus had the effect of a nave, as is the case at present in the church of the Baths of Diocletian." The engraving in p. 120 shows one of the side recesses as it appears from the back; the two other recesses extend to the left beyond the limit of our view. The modern church of Santa Francesca Romana stands contiguous to the ruin. Some small apartments have been discovered beneath the present surface of the soil, in the course of the excavations carried on in the present century; they are supposed to have been the receptacles of the Jewish spoils already mentioned as having been deposited in the temple by Vespasian. We may add that these spoils seem to have escaped destruction when the Temple was burnt in the reign of Commodus; for we read of the "Hebrew vessels which Titus had brought from Jerusalem," being among the treasures which Genseric, the Vandal king, carried off from Rome to Africa, and then again of their being recovered by Belisarius after his subjugation of the Vandals in the year 520. Procopius confirms this account," says Dr. Burton, "and adds that a Jew who saw them told an acquaintance of the emperor that it would not be advisable to carry them to the palace at Constanti. nople, as they could not remain anywhere else but where Solomon had placed them. This he said was the reason why Genseric had taken the palace at Rome, and the Roman army had in turn taken that of the Vandals. When this was reported to the Emperor, he was alarmed, and sent the whole of them immediately to the Christian churches at Jerusalem." Their subsequent history is lost in uncertainty. "The Ark of the Covenant is said to be preserved in St. John Lateran, but it does not appear from Josephus that it was ever carried to Rome." THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS AND OTHERS. CIRCUS, was the name which the Romans gave to a large enclosed space, adapted for the amusement of chariot-races, to which they were passionately attached. The figure was, however, very different from a circle, which the word circus might lead us to suppose that it resembled; it was a narrow oblong, with one end rounded, and the other slightly curved, or nearly straight. Rome possessed several of these circi; the largest was, as its name would imply, the Circus Maximus, or Great Circus, which occupied the valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills. This, too, was the earliest constructed; its origin is commonly referred to Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome; doubts have been entertained, whether there was any other authority than that of tradition, for saying that he built a circus at all. The Circus Maximus, of Julius Caesar's days, was enlarged by him; it was subsequently embellished by Augustus and Tiberius,-by the latter, after a portion of it had been burnt down. The great fire which happened in the reign of Nero, began in the Circus Maximus, and raged along the whole length of it. It was subsequently repaired by Domitian and by Trajan, the latter of whom enlarged it. In the reign of Antoninus Pius it had fallen partly into ruin, and was again repaired. Elagabalus decorated it with ornaments of gold, and with some beautiful columns; and under Constantine it was considerably improved and beautified. As the form of the Circus Maximus is marked out by the nature of the ground which it occupied, it can be still observed; but of the structure itself which surrounded the enclosure, all that can be now traced is a portion of the bottom of the wall, at the southern or curved end. Fortunately there still exists, about two miles from the walls of Rome, an ancient circus in a high state of preservation; and from this we are enabled to acquire a very good notion of the form and arrangement of such structures. We have already described the general figure of a circus. The chief entrance was an opening at the straight end; and on each side of it were six carceres, or startingplaces. At the rounded end, or that opposite to the carceres, was the Porta Triumphalis, or Triumphal Gate, by which the victor left the circus; the rest of the enclosed space were the seats for the spectators, raised in rows one above the other. Down the middle of the area, or, more properly speaking, rather nearer to one side than the other, ran a raised division,-a sort of thick dwarf wall, called the Spina; equal in length to about two-thirds of the area itself: at each end of this spina was a small meta, or goal, formed of three cones. The meta which approached the triumphal gate, was much nearer to it, than the other meta was to the carceres. The course which the chariots ran, was by the side of the spina and round the meta. All these different parts of the circus were variously ornamented; the spina especially, was highly decorated, having sometimes, in the middle, one of those lofty Egyptian obelisks, of which there are more to be seen at this day in Rome, than are assembled anywhere else. The games celebrated in the Circus Maximus were the Ludi Circenses, or Circensian games. They were exhibited on various occasions, both by public magistrates and by private citizens; sometimes they were a festival of rejoicing on account of successes obtained in war, at others, they assumed the nature of a religious ceremony, resorted to for appeasing the wrath of the gods. Before the games commenced, there was a grand procession from the Capitol to the Circus; the images of the gods were conveyed on carriages, and in frames, or on the shoulders of men, accompanied by a great train of attendants. After the performance of sacred rites, the games began. The raising of a rope or chain which stretched across the carceres, at which the horses stood, was a signal for the people to retire to their seats from the open area, in which they used to amuse themselves with conjurers, jugglers, fortune-tellers, and other professors of similar arts. The order in which the chariots were to stand was determined by lot; and the person who presided at the games, gave the signal from his seat over the entrance, by dropping a napkin or cloth. The chain was then dropped, the horses sprang forward, and after running seven times round the course, whoever came in first at the meta near the carceres, or rather at a white line traced with chalk upon the ground, across the circus near that meta, was the victor. That the people might know at any time during the race how often the chariots had gone round, an egg was placed upon one of the cones of the meta, as each successive circuit was accomplished. The name of the victor was proclaimed by a herald; he was crowned with a palm-wreath, and received a considerable sum of money. Of these races there were usually twenty-five in the course of the day. : There is nothing in the domestic history of the Romans more remarkable, than the extraordinary factions which sprung up from the colours of the drivers at these races, and agitated not only the Circus itself, but the whole city. "The race, in its first institution, was a simple contest of two chariots, whose drivers were distinguished by white and red liveries; two additional colours, a bright green, and a cœrulean blue, were afterwards introduced and as the races were repeated twenty-five times, one hundred chariots contributed in the same day to the pomp of the Circus. The four factions soon acquired a legal establishment, and a mysterious origin, and their fanciful colours were derived from the various appearances of nature, in the four seasons of the year; the red dog-star of Summer, the snows of Winter, the deep shades of Autumn, and the cheerful verdure of the Spring. Another interpretation preferred the elements to the seasons; and the struggle of the green and blue was supposed to represent the conflict of the earth and sea. Their respective victories announced, either a plentiful harvest, or a prosperous navigation, and the hostility of the husbandmen and mariners was somewhat less absurd than the blind ardour of the Roman people, who devoted their lives and fortunes to the colour which they had espoused. Such folly was disdained and indulged by the wisest princes; but the names of Caligula, Nero, Vitellius, Verus, Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus, were enrolled in the blue or green factions of the Circus: they frequented their stables, applauded their favourites, chastised their antagonists, and deserved the esteem of the populace, by the natural or affected imitation of their manners. The bloody and tumultuous contest continued to disturb the public festivity till the last age of the spectacles of Rome; and Theodoric, from a motive of justice or affection, interposed his authority, to protect the greens against the violence of a consul and a patrician, who were sionately addicted to the blue faction of the Circus." upon these occasions," says Dr. Burton, "is truly wonderful; and if the accounts were not well attested, we might be incredulous as to the possibility of so many being supplied." In the days of imperial splendour, nearly every rare animal that Western Asia or Northern Africa could produce, was commonly exhibited to the Roman people. In the year 252 B.C., one hundred and forty-two elephants, brought from Sicily, were exhibited in the Circus; whether they were put to death or not, is unknown. Cæsar, in his third dictatorship, showed a vast number of wild beasts, among which were four hundred lions, and a camelopard. The Emperor Gordian devised a novel kind of spectacle; he converted the Circus into a temporary wood, and turned into it two hundred stags, thirty wild horses, one hundred wild sheep, ten elks, one hundred Cyprian bulls, three hundred ostriches, thirty wild asses, one hundred and fifty wild boars, two hundred ibices, and two hundred deer. He then allowed the people to enter the wood, and take what they pleased. Forty years afterwards, the Emperor Probus imitated his example; "Large trees were pulled up by the roots," says an ancient writer, "and fastened to beams which were laid down crossing each other. Soil was then thrown upon them, and the whole circus planted like a wood." One thousand ostriches, one thousand stags, one thousand ibices, wild sheep, and other grazing animals, as many as could be fed or found, were turned in; and the people admitted as before. Of the trouble which was taken, even in the republican times, to procure rare animals for exhibition in Rome, we have a curious illustration in the letters of Cicero. The orator went out in the year 52 B.C., as governor of a province of Asia Minor; and while there, he was thus addressed by his friend Cœlius: "I have spoken to you, in almost all my letters, about the panthers. It will be disgraceful to you, that Patiscus has sent ten panthers to Curio, while you have scarcely sent a greater number to me. Curio has made me a present of these, and ten others from Africa. If you will only keep it in mind, and employ the people of Cybira, and also send letters into Pamphylia, (for I understand that the greatest number are taken there,) you will gain your object." To this the proconsul replies, “I have given particular orders abou the panthers to those who are in the habit of hunting them; but they are surprisingly scarce; and it is said, that those which are there, make a great complaint that there are no snares laid against any one in my province but themselves. It is accordingly supposed, that they are determined to quit my province, and go into Caria. However, I shall use all diligence, particularly with Patiscus." The passionate attachment of the Romans to the games of the Circus, was carried to a most extravagant pitch. Long after the inhuman combats of gladiators in the Amphitheatre had been suppressed, "the Roman people still considered the Circus as their home, their temple, and the seat of the republic. The impatient crowd rushed at the dawn of day to secure their places, and there were many who passed a sleepless and anxious night in the adjacent porticoes. From the morning to the evening, careless of the sun or of the rain, the spectators, who sometimes amounted to the number of four hundred thousand, remained in eager attention; their eyes fixed on the horses and charioteers, their minds agitated with hope and fear for the success of the colours which they espoused; and the happiness of Rome appeared to hang on the event of a race. The same pas-immoderate ardour inspired their clamours, and their ap plause, as often as they were entertained with the hunting of wild beasts, and the various modes of theatrical representation." Suetonius, in his life of Caligula, speaks of that emperor being so disturbed by the noise of those who occupied the "gratuitous seats," in the middle of the night, that he ordered them all to be driven out with sticks; and among those expelled, were more than twenty knights, as many matrons, besides an innumerable crowd. The chariot and horse-races formed the principal attraction of the games of the Circus; but there were other spectacula or shows exhibited, such as contests in the five exercises, of running, leaping, boxing, wrestling, and throwing the discus or quoit. There was also a Ludus Troja-a mock-fight performed by young noblemen on horseback; it was revived by Julius Cæsar, and frequently celebrated under the emperors. Naumachiæ, or sea-fights, were also represented in the Circus in the earlier tines; but Augustus dug a lake for the purpose, near the Tiber, and Domitian built a Naumachia, or sea-fight theatre. Next to the chariot-races, however, the most attractive part of the Circensian games was the venatio, or exhibition of wild beasts, who either fought with one another, or with men who were forced to the encounter by way of punish ment, as the primitive Christians often were, or induced to enter upon it by love of gain. When amphitheatres were introduced, the Circus was not so much used for this spectacle as before; but still we read of these combats in the Circus till a late period. "The number of beasts killed The avidity with which the amusements of the Circus were sought, increased with the decline of the empire and the corruption of morals. Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote in the fourth century of the Christian era, gives us the following description:-"The people spend all their earnings in drinking and gaming, in spectacles, amusements, and shows. The Circus Maximus is their temple, their dwelling-house, their public-meeting, and all their hopes. In the fora, the streets, and squares, multitudes assemble together and dispute, some defending one thing, and some another. The oldest take the privilege of their age, and cry out in the temples and fora, that the republic must fall, if, in the approaching games, the person whom they support does not win the prize, and first pass the goal. When the wished-for day of the equestrian games arrives, before sun-rise all run headlong to the spot, passing in swiftness the chariots that are to run; upon the success of which their wishes are so divided, that many pass the night without sleep." Lactantius confirms this account, and says, that the people often quarrelled and fought from their great eagerness. We have already mentioned the few remains which exist of the Circus Maximus. In ancient times, there were many others within the walls of Rome. Of the Circus Agonalis, supposed to nave been built by the emperor Alexander Severus, we may still trace the exact form, as well as the name, in the modern Piazza Navona. The piazza now forms a fine open space, surrounded by buildings, in which the round end of the circus is fully retained; its length is about 750 feet. The great church of St. Peter is built upon the site of the Circus of Nero. But that of which we have spoken as standing without the walls of Rome, about two miles from the Porta S. Sebastiano, near the Appian Way, is the only one in good preservation. It is commonly called the Circus of Caracalla, but the authority on which the name rests is fairly stated by Mr. Mathews. "There is a coin of Caracalla's, with a circus on the reverse side;-here is a circus that wants an owner; how easy the inference then, that it must have been Caracalla's." No proof has yet been obtained, from inscriptions or other sources, that this is the circus built by that emperor, and commemorated on his coins. The fortunate accident of being situated at a distance from the city, has, probably, saved it from ruin. The outer wall remains almost entire; as does the spina also. "The pavilion and tower," says Simond, "where the emperor sat, and the other tower opposite, probably occupied by the judges of the race, are still visible, as well as the spot on the spina where the Egyptian obelisk, now on the Piazza Navona, once stood... ... The turf of the fine and smooth area was browzed short by goats, long-haired and white, and innumerable birds fluttering among the ivy, which mantled over the old walls in hereditary luxuriance, sung the approach of Spring." The principal dimensions of this circus are as follows:the length 1630 feet, the breadth 320 feet, the length of the spina 908 feet, the distance from the carceres to the spina 505 feet. The width of the space between the spina and the inner walls of the circus, or, in other words, the width of the race-course,-varies, both because the two long sides of the circus are not quite parallel, and because the spina is always much nearer to the left wall than to the right one. Between the spina and the right wall the width gradually diminishes from 136 feet at the first goal, to 123 feet at the second goal; the course then sweeps round the second goal, and narrows between the spina and the left wall, from 109 feet at the second goal, to 98 feet at the place where it returns to the first goal. The seats, rising in rows one above the other, were supported by an arch; and in order to lighten the weight of the materials used in its construction, large amphora, or round earthen jars, have been employed in the crown of the arch. "Each pot might be considered a kind of arch supporting the masonry above; and they themselves being hollow, the entire mass supported by the arch below was less than if the whole were solid." LONDON: Published by JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND: and sold by all Booksellers. |