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Iirri.ISHED   BY  OUVBiL  VBITin.  EDTNBURSH 


ITALY 

AND 

THE   ITALIAN   ISLANDS. 

VOL.  I. 


PETKR'b,  AND  CAsTLE  AND  BlUrGE  OK  S.  ANGELO. 


OLIVER  &  BOYD,  EDINBURGH. 


ITALY 


ITALIAN    ISLANDS, 


THE  EARLIEST  AGES  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


By  WILLIAM  SPALDING,  Esq. 

Professor  of  Rhetoric  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 


WITH  ENGRAVINGS  ON  WOOD  BY  JACKSON,  AND  ILLUSTRATIVE  MAPS 
AND  PLANS  ON  STEEL. 


IN  THREE  VOLUMES. 
VOL.    I. 


EDINBURGH 


OLIVER  &  BOYD,  TVVEEDDALE  COURT; 

AND 

SIMPKIN,  MARSHALL,  &  CO.,  LONDON. 


ENTERED  IN  STATIONERS'  HALL, 


Printed  by  Oliver  &  Boyd, 
Tweeddale  Court,  High  Street,  Edinburgh. 


PREFACE 


The  plan  of  this  work  is  founded  upon  that  of  its 
predecessors  belonging  to  the  same  department  of  the 
Edinburgh  Cabinet  Library.  The  history  of  the  re- 
volutions, political,  social,  and  intellectual,  through 
which  the  Italians  have  passed,  in  ancient  as  well  as 
modern  times,  is  combined  with  a  description  of  the  an- 
tiquities, the  scenery,  and  the  physical  peculiarities  of 
the  interesting  region  which  they  inhabit. 

Although  several  particulars  of  this  design  have  been 
admirably  handled  by  others,  yet,  in  our  language  at 
least,  there  does  not  exist  any  popular  survey  of  Italy, 
embracing,  like  that  which  has  here  been  attempted,  all 
its  most  important  relations.  If  the  results  of  such  a 
survey  are  clearly  arranged,  and  set  forth  with  suffi- 
cient fulness,  they  surely  promise  both  to  aid  the  re- 
searches conducted  by  the  young  student  in  his  closet, 
and  to  facilitate  the  observations  of  those  who  become 
pilgrims  to  the  distant  south. 

It  is  for  others,  who  may  favour  these  volumes  with  an 
intelligent  perusal,  to  pronounce  a  judgment  as  to  the 
writer's  qualifications  for  his  task.  He  may  venture  to 
say,  however,  that  it  is  one  for  which,  upon  undertak- 
ing it,  he  was  not  altogether  unprepared.  He  had  re- 
sided in  Italy  for  a  considerable  time,  in  the  years  1833 
and  1834: ;  and,  not  only  during  that  visit,  but  before  and 
after  it,  his  attention  had  been  earnestly  directed  to  the 
literature  and  art  of  the  nation,  to  its  social  economy  and 
political  vicissitudes.  The  composition  of  the  work, — at 
once  recalling  speculations  and  images  from  many  de- 
lightful hours  of  reading  and  of  travel,  and  affording  a 
motive  for  the  systematic  study  of  topics  previously 


6  PREFACE. 

mastered  but  in  part, — has  been  throughout  its  whole 
progress  a  genuine  labour  of  love. 

A  specification  of  all  the  authorities  that  have  been  con- 
sulted would  be  cumbrous  in  the  extreme.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  book  of  this  kind  wants  half  its  utility,  if  it  does 
not  guide  the  student  to  the  principal  works  iu  which 
he  will  find  more  elaborate  narratives,  proofs,  and  rea- 
sonings. These  considerations  have  dictated  a  rule  for 
the  references  contained  in  the  notes.  Even  when  origi- 
nal sources  have  been  most  industriously  studied,  the 
secondary  authorities  alone  are  indicated,  if  these  appear 
to  furnish  the  reader  with  adequate  assistance. 

Literature,  art,  and  topography — the  themes  most 
generally  attractive — occupy  more  than  one-third  of  the 
whole  space.  Nearly  two-thirds  are  assigned  to  the 
history  of  the  people,  recounting  their  diversified  poli- 
tical changes,  and  describing  the  aspects  successively 
assumed  by  society  and  national  character.  In  the 
discussion  of  all  these  topics,  decided  prominence  is  given 
to  the  practical  and  useful ;  a  rule  suggested  equally  by 
the  nature  of  the  series  with  which  the  work  is  connect- 
ed, and  by  the  deficiencies  which  are  most  perceptible 
in  the  popular  books  regarding  Italy. 

As  to  literature,  indeed,  efforts  in  poetry  and  its 
kindred  walks  of  thought  are,  with  few  exceptions,  the 
only  specimens  on  which  it  seemed  expedient  to  be- 
stow a  critical  analysis ;  but  all  departments  of  mental 
cultivation  have  been  considered  as  entitled  to  some 
attention. 

The  development  of  the  fine  arts  is  traced  in  historical 
order,  with  due  regard  to  recent  theories  and  disco- 
veries ;  and  the  point  chiefly  kept  in  sight  has  been  the 
illustration  of  the  tastes  from  which  those  pursuits  take 
their  rise,  as  phenomena  in  the  intellectual  progress  of 
the  nation.  Of  the  innumerable  monuments,  however, 
which  fall  within  the  sphere  of  such  a  review, — from 
the  castles  of  the  primitive  barbarians,  and  the  temples 
or  idols  of  the  Greeks  and  their  Roman  scholars,  down 
to  the  pictures,  the  sculptures,  the  churches,  and  the 


PREFACE.  7 

palaces  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, — 
very  many  are  here  pointed  out,  while  not  a  few  are 
minutely  examined.  In  almost  every  instance  where 
allusion  is  made  to  works  of  painting  or  statuary,  their 
late  or  present  place  is  specified. 

The  classical  topography  derives  variety  and  relief 
from  its  union  with  sketches  of  natural  scenery  ;  and, 
although  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  numerous  omissions, 
not  only  has  the  selection  been  carefully  conducted,  but 
the  present  appearance  of  the  most  celebrated  spots  is 
either  slightly  noticed  or  fully  described.  Repetition 
has  been  prevented  by  limiting  the  illustrations  of  mo- 
dern topography  almost  entirely  to  the  cities. 

In  the  sections  appropriated  to  national  character  and 
habits,  inquiries  are  instituted  into  the  statistical  position 
of  the  people,  both  in  the  classical  and  in  more  recent 
times  ;  while  fair  scope  is  also  sought  to  be  afforded  for 
those  dramatic  elements  which  impart  life  and  energy 
to  such  a  picture. 

In  the  historical  chapters,  traversing  rapidly  a  field 
of  vast  extent,  selection  is  an  imperative  duty,  in  the 
performance  of  which  it  is  not  difficult  to  find  a  rule  of 
preference.  Wars,  and  conquests,  and  all  those  other 
external  causes  which  produce  revolutions  in  states,  must 
be  related  for  the  sake  of  the  consequences  to  which 
they  lead  :  some  minuteness  of  biographical  detail  is 
necessary  for  awakening  an  interest  in  the  fate  of  illus- 
trious personages.  For  one  period  of  Italian  history,  and 
for  one  only,  it  has  here  been  thought  advisable  to  refuse 
to  such  themes  the  ample  room  which  is  usually  allow- 
ed to  them.  In  regard  to  the  whole  duration  of  the  ancient 
Roman  world,  both  republican  and  imperial,  all  facts  of 
this  class  are  detailed  in  popular  books,  and  must  be 
familiar,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  to  most  readers. 
A  general  knowledge  of  such  particulars  is  accordingly 
taken  for  granted ;  and  the  outline  of  them  is  de- 
signed merely  for  correcting  incidental  faithlessness  of 
the  memory.  In  the  narrative  of  the  events  which 
distinguish  all  other  periods,  both  the  external  causes  of 


8  PREFACE. 

change,  and  the  personal  characters  of  the  actors,  are 
treated  with  as  much  minuteness  as  the  limits  and  gen- 
eral purpose  of  the  work  permit.  But  Italy,  which  has 
twice  become  the  teacher  of  wisdom  to  the  nations,  pre- 
sents, in  her  chronicles  of  tw^enty-four  centuries,  topics 
possessing  infinitely  greater  importance,  and  illustrated 
at  every  step  by  materials  which,  in  our  own  day,  have 
received  invaluable  accessions.  On  quitting  the  times 
through  which  we  accompany  the  bold  theories  of  Nie- 
buhr  and  his  disciples,  we  reach  others  for  which  a 
clue  is  furnished  by  the  masterly  generalizations  of 
Savigny  ;  and  to  the  tempestuous  scenes  which  next 
rise  upon  our  view,  picturesque  animation  is  imparted 
by  the  fervour  of  Sismondi,  and  consistent  clearness  by 
the  sagacity  and  the  philosophical  eloquence  of  Hallam. 
To  inquiries  like  theirs, — to  the  elucidation  of  political 
institutions  in  their  growth,  their  maturity,  and  their  de- 
cay,— the  most  prominent  place  has  been  allotted  in  all 
the  chapters  belonging  to  this  class.  Throughout  those 
chapters,  however,  endeavours  have  been  used  to  recon- 
cile that  fulness  of  information  which  systematic  students 
are  entitled  to  expect,  with  other  qualities  wdiich  may 
awaken  sympathy  for  the  incidents  of  the  story. 

Thus  much  may  suffice  as  to  the  principles  which 
have  governed  the  choice  of  topics,  and  the  manner  of 
dealing  with  them.  It  will  be  useful  to  add  some  expla- 
nations in  regard  to  the  arrangement. 

The  work  is  divided  into  Three  Parts,  devoted  respec- 
tively to  the  three  great  stages  in  the  past  fortunes  of 
mankind, — the  Classical  Times,  the  Dark  and  Middle 
Ages,  the  recent  centuries  which  are  assigned  to  Modern 
History. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  First  Volume  is  placed  an  In- 
troductory Chapter,  which  briefly  describes  the  circum- 
stances marking  most  distinctively  the  annals  of  the 
Italians,  both  in  politics  and  in  intellectual  exertion, 
together  with  the  principal  features  in  the  geography 
and  landscapes  of  their  country.  The  remauider  of  the 
volume  belongs  to  the  First  Part  of  the  work.     It  treats 


PREFACE.  9 

successively  the  history  of  the  Roman  republic  and  em- 
pire, the  literature,  art,  and  topography  of  those  times, 
and  the  character  and  habits  of  the  heathen  nation. 

The  Second  Volume  opens  with  the  concluding  chap- 
ter of  the  First  Part,  which  traces  the  Christian  antiqui- 
ties of  Italy  till  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire.  The 
Second  Part  comprehends  the  thousand  years  which 
elapsed  between  the  usurpation  of  Odoacer  and  the  conso- 
lidation of  modern  polity  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  A  connected  survey  of  all  the  most  remark- 
able characteristics  which  developed  themselves  during 
the  Dark  Ages,  introduces  a  more  circumstantial  repre- 
sentation of  Italian  vicissitudes  daring  the  eventful  times 
that  followed.  For  each  of  the  two  eras  into  which  it 
has  been  found  convenient  to  divide  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  historical  narrative  is  united  with  a  sketch  of  the 
state  of  society  and  manners  ;  after  which  literature  and 
art  are  treated  separately.  The  volume  then  enters 
upon  the  Third  Part.  The  first  chapter  of  this  divi- 
sion continues  the  history  of  political  changes  to  the 
French  Revolution  of  1789  ;  and  the  fate  of  literature 
and  art  during  the  same  period  is  afterwards  traced. 
Melancholy  lessons  abound  in  the  public  events  of  those 
three  hundred  years,  during  which  the  records  of  the 
nation  that  once  ruled  the  world  present  but  one  un- 
varied tale  of  foreign  and  enfeebling  servitude.  The 
magnificence  of  speculative  and  imaginative  achievement 
which  immortalized  the  sixteenth  century,  contrasting 
so  painfully  with  the  wretchedness  of  active  life  in  all 
its  relations,  calls  for  exact  inspection  and  detail. 

The  historical  portions  of  the  Third  Volume  are  en- 
tirely confined  to  the  events  which  have  occurred  since 
the  French  Revolution.  The  proportional  magnitude 
of  the  space  allotted  to  so  short  a  period,  seemed  to  be 
justified  not  only  by  the  nearness  of  the  facts  to  our 
own  times,  but  by  their  permanent  interest  and  import- 
ance. The  three  chapters  thus  appropriated  embrace, 
in  succession,  the  revolutionar}'-  era  till  the  fall  of  the 
French  republic,  the  ten  years  of  Napoleon's  empire. 


10  PREFACE. 

and  the  generation  which  has  followed  the  reinstate- 
ment of  the  ancient  dynasties.  An  analysis  of  modem 
topography  holds  the  next  place  ;  an  outline  of  Italian 
literature  and  art  in  the  nineteenth  centur}'-  occupies  a 
short  chapter ;  and  a  very  long  one  illustrates  the  charac- 
ter and  habits  of  the  modern  nation.  To  this  survey 
succeeds  a  sketch  of  the  natural  history  and  resources 
of  Italy  and  its  islands.  In  the  treatment  of  this  sub- 
ject, the  writer  entertains  no  aim  more  ambitious  than 
that  of  presenting,  in  a  familiar  shape,  selections  from 
the  materials  already  collected  by  men  of  science  ;  and 
the  facts  which  their  research  has  unfolded  are  con- 
sidered, at  every  step,  with  a  view  to  their  influence  on 
national  industry.  The  last  chapter  is  exclusively  sta- 
tistical. It  contains  numerical  results  under  many  heads, 
which,  in  preceding  places,  were  considered  historically ; 
and  to  these  it  adds  other  particulars  which  could  not  be 
previously  introduced,  on  account  of  their  nature  or  their 
want  of  connexion  with  public  events.  This  chapter 
is  calculated  merely  for  reference  ;  but  those  who  may 
think  proper  to  use  it  in  that  way  will  find,  it  is  hoped, 
no  inconsiderable  amount  of  practical  information. 

To  the  Third  Volume  is  subjoined  a  copious  Index 
for  the  whole  work. 

With  the  exception  of  the  three  vignette  titles,  the 
engravings  are  maps  and  plans,  the  subjects  of  which 
have  been  chosen,  not  for  show,  but  on  account  of  their 
real  usefulness. 

Edinburgh,  February  1841. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

The  Italians — In  Ancient  Times — In  the  Middle  Ages — In 
Modern  Times — The  Three  Illustrious  Periods  of  their  History 
— The  Four  Second-ary  Periods — Inquiry  as  to  their  Present 
Condition  and  National  Character — Prejudices  to  be  overcome — 
Italy — Political  Geography — The  Ancient  Provinces — The 
Modern  Sovereignties — Coincidences  and  Discrepancies  of  the 
Two  Divisions — The  Italian  Islands — Scenery — Outlines  and 
Vegetation — Buildings — Living  Groups — Prominent  Physical 
Features — The  Alpine  Chain — The  Apennines — The  Volcanic 
Mountains — The  Rivers  and  Lakes  of  Upper  Italy — The  Rivers 
of  Middle  and  Lower  Italy — The  Rivers  in  the  Islands — Phy- 
sical Advantages  and  Deficiencies — The  Fate  of  Italy,.... Page  17 

PART  I. 

ANCIENT  ITALY. 

CHAPTEIl  I. 

IHE   POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY  TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN 

REPUBLIC. 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TILL  A.  U.  722,  OR  B.  C.  32. 

First  Age  :  The  Primitive  Italian  Tribes — The  Kings  of  Rome 
— The  Greeks  in  Italy  and  Sicily.  Second  Age  :  Rome  a 
Republic — Its  External  History — The  Greek  Colonies — The 
Constitutional  History  of  Rome — The  Early  Constitution — Clas- 
sification of  the  Citizens — The  Senate — The  Two  Conventions 
— Constitutional  Pecuharities — Commencement  of  the  Plebeian 
Struggle — Institution  of  the  Tribunes — Rise  of  a  Third  Conven- 
tion— Prosecution  of  Struggle— The  Twelve  Tables — The  Lici- 
nian  Laws — The  Publihan  Laws — The  Democracy  perfected. 
Third  Age  :  The  Character  of  the  Times — The  New  Aristo- 
cracy— The  Populace — The  External  History — The  Roman 
Dominions  in  Magna  Graecia — In  Sicily — Abroad — The  Punic 
"Wars  —  The    Constitutional   History  —  Three    Stages  :  —  1 . 


12  cox  TENTS. 

Changes  on  the  Senate — On  the  Conventions— 2.  The  Gracchi — 
The  ItaUan  Allies— The  Ballot— The  Army  and  Marius— 3. 
— Sylla's  Reign  and  Policy — The  last  Republican  Times — Pom- 
peyjCeesar,  Cicero,  Cato — CsesarKing — His  Assassination — Oc- 
tavius  Emperor — The  Repuhlican  Administration  and  Finance 
— The  Italian  Provinces — The  Municipalities — The  State  Ex. 
penditure — The  Revenues, Page  41 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY  UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

A.u.  722— A.  u.  1229  ;  or  b.  c.  32— a.  d.  476. 
Fourth  Age  :  Tlte  Heathen  Empire — List  of  Emperors — Their 
personal  Characters— Tenure  of  the  Empire — The  Political 
Franchise  lost — The  jNIilitary  Force — The  Financial  System — 
New  Taxes  and  Burdens — j\Iode  of  Collection — The  IVIunicipa- 
lities — Their  Prosperity — The  general  Decay  — The  Last  Age 
of  Heathenism.  Fifth  Age  :  The  Chnstian  Empire — List  of 
Emperors— Disastrous  External  History — The  Fall  of  the  Em- 
pire in  Italy — State  of  Public  Feeling — Constantine's  Admini- 
strative System — The  Land  and  Poll  Taxes — Singular  State  of 
the  Municipalities, 94 

CHAPTER  III. 

the  literature  of  heathen  ITALY. 
PERIOD  ENDING  A.  U.   1059,   OR  A.  D.  306. 

Grecian  Literature  in  Magna  Graecia  and  Sicily — Its  Four 
Centuries — Its  Decay  after  the  Roman  Conquest.  Roman 
Literature  :  First  Age  :  The  Infancy  of  Literature — Its 
Subsequent  Progress.  Second  Age  :  The  Formed  Literature 
of  the  RepuUic:  The  Sixth  Century  of  the  City— Plautus,  Te- 
rence, and  Cato — The  Seventh  Century — Lucretius — Catullus — 
Sallust — Cffisar — Cicero's  Works  and  Influence.  Third  Age: 
Literature  at  the  Court  of  Augustus:  Poetry — Patronage — 
Foreign  Taste — Toleration— Livy — Propertius  and  Tibullus — 
Ovid — Horace's  Works — The  Character  of  Virgil's  Genius — 
The  Georgics — The  Politics  of  the  iEneid — Its  Antiquarianism, 
Topography,  and  Poetry.  Y  o\z-R.Tn  Agy.:  Literature  from  Au- 
gustus to  the  Times  of  the  Antonines :  The  Character  assumed 
by  Literature — The  Elder  Pliny — Seneca— Lucan's  Life  and 
Poem — Statins- Persius,  Juvenal,  and  Tacitus.  Fifth  Age  : 
Literature  from  Commodus  till  the  Accession  of  Constantine : 
No  Native  Literature — The  Greeks, 116 


CONTENTS.  13 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ART    IN    ITALr    AND    SICILY    BEFORE    THE    CONQUEST    OF   GREECE 
BY  THE  ROMANS. 

PERIOD  ENDING  A.  U.  608  ;    OR  B.  C.   146. 

The  Connexion  of  Italian  with  Grecian  Art — Art  in  the  Greco- 
Italian  Colonies.  The  Infancy  of  Art  in  Greece  and  the 
Colonies— The  Temples — Existing  Monuments  of  Architecture 
and  Sculpture  in  Magna  Graecia  and  Sicily — The  Selinuntine 
Marbles — Grecian  Art  after  its  Complete  Development 
— Painting  and  Architecture — Extant  Decorative  Paintings  and 
Mosaics — The  Greek  Architectural  Orders — Ruins  in  Magna 
Graecia  and  Sicily — ScnljJture  in  Two  Eras  : — I.  The  Era  of 
Great  Names— Its  Two  Ages— (1).  The  Age  of  Phidias,  Poly- 
cletus,  and  Myron — Existing  Copies  or  Imitations  of  their  Works 
— The  Amazons— The  Jupiter-busts — The  Pallas-statues — The 
Colossi  of  the  Quirinal  Mount — (2).  The  Age  of  Scopas,  Praxi- 
teles, and  Lysippus — The  Niobe  and  her  Children — The  Fauns 
— The  Cupids — The  Venus-statues — The  Figures  of  Hercules — 
II.  The  Era  of  Great  Works — Existing  Sculptures  of  this  Time 
— The  Venus  and  Apollo  de'  Medici — The  Borghese  Gladiator — 
The  Farnese  Hercules — The  Germanicus  and  Cincinnatus.  Art 
IN  Etruria  and  Rome — Recent  Elucidations  of  Etruscan  Art 

—  Its  Character  Grecian  —  Etruscan  Fortresses  —  Temples 

Tombs — Painted  Vases — Sculpture  and  Castings — The  She-wolf 
— The  Decline  and  Revival  of  Art  in  Rome, Page  148 

CHAPTER  V. 

art  in  italy  from  the  conquest  of  greece  till  the 
accession  of  constantine, 

A.  u.  608—1059  :  or  b.  c.  146— a.  d.  306. 
The  Fate  of  Grecian  Art  under  the  Romans.  Roman  Archi- 
tecture— Gradual  Innovations  on  the  Greek  Style — Eminent 
Architects — Illustrations  from  Existing  Ruins  in  Rome — Tombs 
— Domestic  Architecture— Its  Rules  Illustrated— A  Heathen 
Dwelling-house  and  Christian  Monastery.  Ro:\ian  Painting 
— Vases  and  Wall-paintings — Herculaneum  and  Pompeii— Fres- 
coes—  INIosaics.  Roman  Sculpture  —  Its  History  till  the 
Times  of  the  Antonines — The  Stages  of  its  Progress — Illustra- 
tive Specimens — The   Apollo   Belvedere — The   Laocoon — The 


14  CONTENTS. 

Antinous-statues — The  Torso  Belvedere — The  Pallas-statues — 
The  Diana — The  Siibjects  of  Sculpttire  during  the  same  Period 
— Selection  of  Classified  Specimens — Roman  and  Greek  Portraits 
— IVIythological  Subjects — The  Twelve  Gods — Venus-statues — 
Apollo-groups  —  The  Bacchic  Legends — The  Ariadne — The 
Dancing  Faun — The  Barberini  Faun — The  Fable  of  Eros — The 
Borghese  Centaur — The  Heroic  Legends — The  Meleager — The 
Farnese  Bull — The  Portland  and  Medicean  Vases — The  Iliac 
Table — Menelaus  as  Pasquin — Doubtful  Subjects — The  Paetus 
and  Arria — The  Papirius — The  Dying  Gladiator — The  Imitativ^e 
Styles — The  Archaic — The  Egyptian — Sculpture  after  the  An- 
tonines — Its  Monuments — Chiefly  Reliefs  on  Sarcophagi — Sym- 
bols— Love  and  Psyche — Ariadne — Endymion — The  Genius  of 
Mortality — Orientalism.  The  Topography  of  Ancient  Art 
IN  Italy  and  Sicily — Architecture — Painting  and  Sculp- 
ture,  Page  179 


CHAPTER  VI. 

the  ancient  topography  of  ROME  AND  LATIUM. 

Ancient  Rome  :  Position  and  Aspect — General  View  of 
the  City  —  Monuments  of  the  Kings  —  The  Rampart  — 
The  Tunnel — The  Dungeon — Monuments  of  the  Republic 
— Tombs — The  Circus— The  Capitoline  Rock — The  Roman 
Forum  and  Sacred  IVay — Ruins  covering  the  Republican  Forum 
— Its  probable  Position — The  Palatine  Mount — The  Sacred 
Way — Monuments  of  the  Empire — The  Augustan  Period 
— Ruins  on  the  Palatine — On  the  Campus  Martius — Tombs — 
The  Pantheon — The  Hill  of  Gardens — Nero — His  Conflagra- 
tion and  New  City— Lafer  Emperors— Ihe  Baths  of  Titus — 
The  Colosseum — Trajan's  Forum — Hadrian's  Bridge  and  Tomb 
— Monuments  of  the  Decline — Population  of  Rome. — II.  An- 
cient Latium  :  Aspect — Monuments  near  Rome — Aqueducts 
— Highways — IMonuments  of  the  Kings — Latian  Scenes  of  the 
j^neid—The  Tiber  Banks—Ostia— The  Island— The  Port- 
Ruins  in  the  Forest — Laurentum — Lavinium — The  Stream 
Numicus— Ardea — The  Folscian  Coas?— Antium— Astura — 
The  Isle  of  Circe— Anxur — The  Pontine  Marshes— The  Hills 
— The  Ausonian  District — The  Csecuban  Hills— Towns — The 
Folscian  Frontier — Arpinum — TheHernician  District — Cyclo- 
pean Ruins — The  Alhan  Mountains — Tusculum — The  Mounts 
—  The  Lakes  —  The  Prcenestine  Mountains  —  Praeneste  — 
Tibur, 219 


CONTENTS.  15 

CHAPTER  Vir. 

THE    ANCIENT   TOPOGRAPHr    OF   ETRURIA,    THE    CENTRAL 
APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALT. 

Etruria  :  The  Plain — Its  ruined  Cities  and  Tombs— Recent 
Excavations — The  Inland  Region — Veii — Soracte — The  Thrasi- 
mene  Lake — Cortona — The  River-springs — Faesulse — The  Val 
d'  Arno — The  Sabellian  Apennines  :  Sabines — Reate — 
Primeval  Ruins — Scenes  near  Rome — The  Valley  of  the  Anio 
— Marsians — The  Lake  Fucinus — Its  Scenery  and  Tunnel — 
Pelignians — Sulmo — Vestinians — The  Vale  of  the  Aternus — 
Samnites — The  Caudine  Defile — Beneventum — Lake  Amsanctus 
— Umbria  and  Picenum  :  Umhria — The  Adriatic  Coast — 
The  Mountains — The  Valley  of  the  Clitumnus — Spoletium — 
Interamna  and  the  Cataract — Ocriculum — Picenum — Ancona 
— Asculum— Passes  and  Summits  of  the  Great  Rock  of  Italy 
— Upper  Italy  —  Liguria  —  Genua — Mount  Vesulus — Segu- 
sium — Cisalpine  Gaul — The  River  Po — The  Alpine  Lakes — 
Mantua — Verona — Battlefields — Insubrian  Towns — Tovrns  on 
the  iEmilian  Highway — The  Disinterment  of  Velleia — Towns 
on  the  Eastern  Coast — The  Rubicon — Venetia — Patavium — 
The  Baths— /sm'« — Aquileia — Pola, Page  271 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  ancient  topography  OF  LOWER  ITALY    AND    THE    ITALIAN 
ISLANDS. 

Campania— Capua— The  City  and  Bay  of  Naples — The  Phle- 
graean  Fields  —  Virgil's  Tomb — Scenery  of  his  Hades — The 
Phlegraean  Isles — The  disinterred  Cities  —  Herculaneum — 
The  excavated  Parts  of  Pompeii — Tombs — The  Forum — Temples 
— Theatres  and  Amphitheatre — Apulia,  Lucania,  and  Brut- 
tium:  Description — Apulia — Cannae — Mount  Vultur — Brun- 
dusium — Rui7is  in  Magna  Grcecia  Proper — The  Gulf  of  Taren- 
tum — The  Scylletic  Gulf— iJwms  on  the  Western  Coast—  The 
Rock  of  Scylla — Charybdis — Elea — The  Temples  at  Psestum — 
The  Inland  Region  —  Consentia — The  Forest  of  Sila — Sicily 
— Aspect — Mountains — Interior — The  Hill-fort  of  Enna — Eaat- 
ernCoast — JNIessana — Taorminium— Catana — Syracuse — South- 
em  Coast — Troglodyte  Town — Ruins  of  Agrigentum — Selinus 
—  IVestern  Coast — Mount  Eryx — Northern  Coast — ^geste — 
Panorraus — Corsica  and  Sardinia — Roman  Colonies — Sar- 
dinian Round  Towers — The  Isle  of  Ilva — The  Imperial  Pro- 
vinces OF  Italy — Augustus — Constantine — The  Connexion 
between  the  Ancient  Provinces  and  the  Modern,.. 293 


16  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE    CHARACTER,    HABITS,    COMMERCE,  AND 
PRODUCTIVE  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS. 

FIRST  PERIOD:  Latino-Etruscan  :  Religion—Education— 
Agriculture — Mechanical  Arts — Trade — INIagna  Grsecia  and  the 
Islands  — Illustrative  Examples  —  Money-making  —  MoraUty — 
Miscellaneous  Habits.  SECOND  PERIOD:  Italo-Gre- 
ciAN  :  Religion — State  of  Belief  —  Superstitions  —  Ghosts — 
Witches — Morality — Mixed  Character  of  the  Republican  States- 
men— Crimes  of  the  Imperial  Court — Meanness  of  the  Imperial 
Senators — jMorality  of  the  People — Ancient  Brigands — Illustra- 
tions of  Imperial  Epicureanism  and  Reverses — Intellectual  Cul- 
tivation— Course  of  Education — Endowed  Schools — Libraries — 
Booksellers  —  Newspapers  and  their  Contents —  Classes  of 
Society — ^Haughtinessof  the  Nobles — No  Middle  Class — INIai'kets 
for  Slaves — Their  Occupations  and  Treatment — Their  Rebellions 
— Freedmen — Amusements — TheTheatre  and  Improvised  Drama 
— The  Circus — Gladiators— Wild  Beasts — Marine  Theatres  — 
Fondness  for  Spectacles — Aristocratic  Amusements — Readings 
— Iraprovvisatori — Court  Pageants — Industry  and  Commerce — 
Rural  Economy — The  Roman  Corn-laws — Vicissitudes  of  Agri- 
culture— Grazing — Tillage  —  Labourers  and  Leases — Crops — 
Gardens— Orchards — Mechanical  Arts  and  Trade — Stages  of 
Luxury— Native  Manufactures — Obstacles  to  Commerce — Italian 
Exports  —  Imports  from  Europe  —  From  Asia — From  Africa. 
THIRD  PERIOD :  Greco-Oriental  :  Pagan  Religion- 
Education — The  College  of  Rome  and  its  Statutes — Spectacles 
—Illustrations  of  Character — Foreign  Trade — Guilds  and  Manu- 
factures— Agricultural  Serfs — Misery  and  Depopulation  of  Italy 
— Universal  Hopelessness, Page  323 


ENGRAVINGS  IN  VOL.  I. 

Map  of  a  Part  of  the  Carapagna  of  Rome,...  To /ace  the  Vignette. 

Vignette — S.  Peter's,  and  Castle  and  Bridge  of  S.  Angelo. 

An  Ancient  Dwelling-house  and  JModern  Convent,  To  face  page  187 

Plan  of  Ancient  Rome, To  face  page  221 

Plan  of  the  Roman  Forum  and  its  Vicinity, To  face  page  231 


ITALY 

AND 

THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS, 


Introductory  Chapter. 

The  Italians — In  Ancient  Times — In  the  Middle  Ages — In 
Modern  Times — The  Three  Illustrious  Periods  of  their  History 
— The  Four  Secondary  Periods — Inquiry  as  to  their  Present 
Condition  and  National  Character — Prejudices  to  be  overcome — 
Italy — Political  Geography — The  Ancient  Provinces — The 
Modern  Sovereignties — Coincidences  and  Discrepancies  of  the 
TvFo  Divisions — The  Italian  Islands — Scenery — Outlines  and 
Vegetation — Buildings — Living  Gtom^s— Prominent  Physical 
Features — The  Alpine  Chain — The  Apennines — The  Volcanic 
Mountains — The  Rivers  and  Lakes  of  Upper  Italy — The  Rivers 
of  Middle  and  Lower  Italy — The  Rivers  in  the  Islands — Phy- 
sical Advantages  and  Deficiencies-^The  Fate  of  Italy. 

It  has  been  the  destiny  of  the  Italians,  and  of  no  other 
European  people,  to  be  illustrious  in  each  of  the  tliree 
periods  of  human  history.  Ancient  Italy,  Italy  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  the  Italy  of  Modem  Times,  have  suc- 
cessively, each  in  its  own  sphere,  outshone  the  glory  of 
all  contemporary  nations. 

Ancient  Italy  has  bequeathed  to  us  magnificent  me- 
morials of  literature  and  art.  Its  true  fame,  however, 
lies  in  the  events  of  its  political  annals.  Art,  so  far  as  it 
was  in  any  sense  national,  was  introduced  by  the  Greeks, 
a  race  of  settlers  sprung  from  foreign  blood,  and  unlike 
the  older  inhabitants  both  in  maimers  and  intellect.  In 
literature,  and  even  in  some  departments  of  philosophy, 

VOL.  I.  A 


18  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

the  ancient  Italians  were  more  active  ;  but  there  also 
they  were  pupils  of  the  Greeks  ;  and  few,  even  of  their 
best  writers,  did  more  than  repeat  eloquently  the  les- 
sons which  they  had  learned.  The  political  history 
presents  a  picture  quite  dissimilar.  In  its  scenes,  the 
most  imposing  which  have  ever  been  displayed,  we  see 
the  nation  obeymg  its  own  impulses,  and  drawing  from 
its  own  character  and  deeds  both  its  rise  and  its  decay. 
The  Romans,  at  first  the  burghers  of  a  single  town, 
and  afterwards  no  more  than  one  brave  tribe  among 
others  equally  brave,  gradually  conquered  all  the  petty 
states  of  the  peninsula,  and  stamped  on  the  whole 
country  their  strong  character  and  their  name.  Their 
power  then  crossed  the  Alps  and  the  sea  ;  and  the 
whole  known  world  was  proud  to  serve  Rome,  and  to 
be  called  Roman.  But  their  republican  period,  extend- 
ing to  nearly  five  centuries,  witnessed  the  infancy,  the 
bloom,  and  the  decline,  of  their  genuine  political  great- 
ness. For  two  centuries  more,  we  linger  over  the  history 
of  Italy,  to  watch  the  farther  development  of  literature 
and  art,  which  grew  under  the  empire  like  exotic  plants 
beneath  an  artificial  shelter.  The  ancient  period  of  Ro- 
man greatness  begins  with  the  republic,  and  ends  about 
the  year  of  our  Lord  180. 

The  Dark  and  Middle  Ages,  which  together  make  up 
the  second  great  chronological  stage  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  embrace  for  Italy  ten  centuries,  commencing  in 
the  year  of  grace  476,  and  ending  about  the  year  1600. 
Their  last  five  hundred  years,  from  1000  to  1500,  may 
be  described  as  the  Middle  Ages  of  Italy,  a  period  of  acti- 
vity and  transition,  very  unlike  the  five  dark  centuries 
which  had  preceded.  For  the  Italians,  the  Middle  Ages 
were  an  era  of  such  grandeur  as  even  their  ancient 
history  had  not  paralleled.  The  vicissitudes  of  those 
wild  times,  and  the  events  which  have  followed  them, 
resemble  one  of  those  gigantic  processes,  by  which 
nature,  the  instrument  of  the  Maker,  formed  in  the 
beginning  vast  tracts  of  land  in  the  peninsula  itself. 
Amidst  earthquakes,  darkness,  and  lurid  bursts  of  fire. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  19 

an  island  rises  from  the  sea.  The  seasons  decompose  its 
cliffs  ;  the  winds  and  the  birds  clothe  its  volcanic  soil 
with  vegetation  ;  and  the  mariner,  whose  father  saw  the 
rock  emerging  from  the  waters,  wanders  through  its  vine- 
yards, and  over  its  grassy  hills.  From  the  cunvnlsions 
which  followed  the  dark  ages,  modem  Europe  has  derived 
the  elements  of  political  freedom,  of  literature,  and  of 
art ;  and  those  convulsions  had  in  Italy  their  earliest  and 
most  powerful  focus.  The  passions  of  the  people  were 
then  nearly  as  undisciplined,  their  vices  were  almost  as 
revolting,  as  in  the  palmy  days  of  heathen  Rome  ;  but 
heroism  and  virtue  were  seen  in  frequent  glimpses,  and 
Christianity,  ill  understood  and  ill  practised,  sometimes 
lifted  its  voice  like  music  through  the  storm.  The 
main  political  event  of  the  middle  ages  was  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Italian  republics,  which,  successively  flourish- 
ing and  withering,  transmitted  the  inheritance  of  liberty 
during  more  than  four  hundred  years,  and  did  not,  till 
late  in  the  fifteenth  century,  allow  it  to  be  entirely  lost. 
Nominally  indeed  it  survived  yet  longer.  Those  were 
the  earliest  free  states  of  Christendom  ;  and  they  teach 
us  inestunable  truths  by  their  defects  and  crimes,  as 
well  as  by  their  glory.  In  literature  and  art,  the 
Italians  were  infinitely  stronger  in  that  period  than 
they  had  been  in  the  classical  times.  They  no  longer 
copied  foreign  cultivation,  or  plundered  its  monuments. 
They  were  inventors  ;  and  their  inventions  became  the 
models  of  all  Europe.  Their  literature,  which  at  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  century  was  only  in  its  infancy,  in 
the  fourteenth  stood  forth  more  vigorous  and  original  than 
in  any  age  preceding  or  following.  Their  art  struggled 
against  obstructions  for  four  hundred  years  ;  but  before 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  had  completely 
imfolded  its  principles,  and  nobly  exemplified  them. 

Modem  Italy  is  a  name  which  awakens  regrets,  but 
also  inspires,  in  the  mind  of  the  nation,  a  well-founded 
pride.  The  period  to  which  the  term  refers,  commencing 
in  the  year  1500,  has  now  endured  nearly  three  cen- 
turies and  a  half,  a  period  during  which  the  country, 


20  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

sunk  in  unredeemed  political  servitude,  has  been  por- 
tioned out  by  foreign  sovereigns  like  a  slave  plantation. 
But  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  first  of  the  modern  cycle, 
Italy  was  intellectually  groat.  Her  literature  attained  its 
highest  point  of  cultivation,  and  produced  its  third  series  of 
splendid  works.  Her  art  stood  higher  still ;  for  in  sculp- 
ture, in  architecture,  and  yet  more  decidedly  in  painting, 
her  names  at  that  period  were  the  most  illustrious  of 
Christian  Europe.  Even  the  seventeenth  century  was 
not  altogether  dark  ;  but  its  brightness  was  the  reflected 
light  of  evening.  Indeed,  in  the  sixteenth  century  itself, 
no  new  path  was  opened  ;  for  the  spirit  of  its  literature 
and  art  was  directly  prompted  by  that  which  had  ruled 
in  the  later  middle  ages.  In  this  want  of  essential  origi- 
nality, and  yet  more  strikingly  in  the  harvest  of  fame 
which  it  gathered  on  the  ruins  of  liberty  and  national 
character,  it  formed  a  close  parallel  to  the  Augustan  age. 

The  points  of  eminence,  intellectual  and  political, 
which  have  been  now  marked  out,  constitute  the  true 
greatness  of  Italy ;  and  on  them  our  attention  must 
be  steadily  fixed.  They  are  all  contained  in  what  we 
may  call  The  Three  Illustrious  Periods  of  Italian 
history.  These  comprehend  one  section  in  each  of 
the  three  great  chronological  divisions  which  are  re- 
cognised in  the  history  of  the  world.  The  Illustrious 
Period  in  Ancient  Times  (b.  c.  510 — a.  d.  180)  em- 
braces seven  centuries :  that  which  extends  over  the 
Middle  Ages  (a.  d.  1000— a.  d.  1500)  includes  five 
centuries:  and  that  of  Modern  Times  (a.  d.  1500 — 
A.  D.  1600),  endured  for  one  century,  and  no  more.  If 
all  records  but  those  which  belong  to  these  three  periods, 
and  all  other  monuments,  should  cease  to  exist,  Italy 
would  still  be  reverenced  as  the  birthplace  of  political 
wisdom,  and  the  cradle  of  literature  and  art. 

But,  like  other  countries,  Italy  has  periods  of  history 
which  must  be  carefully  studied,  although  they  reflect 
little  honour  either  on  her  political  character,  on  her 
morals,  or  on  her  intellect.      The  poet  may  content 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  21 

himself  with  looking  up  at  the  star  when  it  culminates ; 
but  the  astronomer  must  calculate  its  rising  and  setting. 
It  is  our  duty,  and  the  performance  of  the  duty  will 
bring  its  reward,  to  trace  the  greatness  of  the  nation 
back  to  its  sources,  and  to  accompany  it  hastily  through 
its  phases  of  decay. 

These  subordinate  stages  are  included  in  Four  Periods, 
which  may  be  called  The  Secondary  Periods  of  Italian 
history.  The  first  two  of  the  Secondary  Periods  belong 
to  Ancient  Italy.  The  First,  the  primeval  age,  precedes 
tlie  Ancient  Illustrious  Period,  and  ends  at  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Roman  republic  (b.  c.  510).  The  Second 
(a.  d.  180 — A.  D.  476)  succeeds  the  Ancient  Illustrious 
Period,  and  ends,  after  an  endurance  of  three  centuries, 
with  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  West,  Avhich 
closes  the  history  of  the  ancient  world.  The  Third 
Secondary  Period  (a.  d.  476 — a.  d.  1000)  belongs  to  the 
second  great  division  of  liistory.  It  comprehends  the 
Dark  Ages,  which  intervene  between  the  close  of  the 
Ancient  History  and  the  Illustrious  Period  embracing 
the  Middle  Ages.  The  Fourth  Secondary  Period  belongs 
to  Modern  Italy.  It  succeeds  the  Modern  Illustrious 
Period,  and  extends  from  1600  to  the  present  day. 

The  Fu'st  Secondary  Period  is  fruitful  beyond  mea- 
sure in  matters  of  curious  antiquarian  speculation,  but, 
being  barren  in  facts  and  lessons,  it  may  be  passed  over 
very  rapidly. — In  the  Second  Secondary  Period  the 
political  annals  embrace  the  decline  and  fall  of  the 
Western  empire.  During  that  time  the  Christian  faith 
silently  diffused  itself,  like  a  healing  odour,  through  the 
pestilential  atmosphere,  and  was  at  length  established  as 
the  religion  of  the  state.  A  history  of  early  Christianity 
in  Italy  would  be  an  undertaking  quite  foreign  to  the 
purpose  of  these  pages  ;  but  the  subject  might  be  fully 
illustrated,  from  the  apostolic  times  down  to  the  corrupt- 
ed age  of  the  Lower  Empire,  by  monuments  and  scenes 
which  can  be  still  identified.  To  these,  and  to  the  infant 
Christian  literature  of  the  country,  our  attention  will  be 
willingly  accorded. — The  Third  Secondary  Period,  that 


22  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

of  the  dark  ages,  was  a  time  of  almost  unmixed  misery 
and  ignorance  ;  but  it  has  left  in  Italy  numerous  records 
and  monuments,  which  strikingly  illustrate  the  religion, 
politics,  and  arts,  of  the  ages  which  succeeded.  It  is 
especially  memorable  as  having  witnessed  the  foundation 
of  the  papal  sovereignty,  temporal  and  ecclesiastical. — 
The  Fourth  Secondary  Period  would  extend,  if  historical 
events  were  to  be  its  measure,  from  the  year  1500  to 
the  present  time.  "We  have  already,  however,  upon 
other  grounds,  excepted  from  it  the  sixteenth  century ; 
and  therefore  it  will  include  only  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  with  the  portion  which  has  already 
elapsed  of  the  nineteenth.  This  period  is  not  barren 
either  in  art  or  literature  ;  but  it  derives  its  chief  im- 
portance from  the  facts  in  it  which  illustrate  the  pre- 
sent political  state  of  the  country,  and  the  character  of  its 
society.  Its  latest  public  events,  commencing  with  the 
French  revolution  in  1789,  will  claim  minute  attention.* 

*  In  the  subjoined  chronological  table  of  the  periods  of  Italian 
history,  the  divisions  anticipate  some  points  which  will  call  for  sub- 
sequent explanation ;  but  the  table  may  not  be  without  its  use 
as  an  introductory  clue. 

I.  Fiii;t  Secondary  Period — Ancient— Ending  in  the  year  b.  c. 
510. 

II.  First  Illustrious  Period — Ancient — From  e.  c.  510  to 
A,  D.  180 — Seven  centuries. 

Pohtical  greatness — The  Roman  republic — b.  c.  510  to  B   c. 

32 — Five  centuries. 
Greatness  in  art — b.  o.  460  to  a.  d.  180 — Six  centuries. 
Greatness  in  literature— b.c.  204  to  a.d.  180 — Four  centuries. 

III.  Second  Secondary  Period — Ancient — From  a.  d.  180  to 
A.  n.  476  —  Three  centuries. 

IV.  Third  Secondary  Period — The  Dark  Ages — From  a.  d. 
476  to  A.n.  1000— F/i-e  centuries. 

V.  Second  Illustrious  Period — The  Middle  Ages— From 
A.  d,  1000  to  A.D.  1500— -F/re  centuries. 

Political  greatness — The  republics — A.  d.  1000  to  a.  d.  1500 — 

Five  centuries. 
Greatness  in  literature — a.d.  1300  to  a.d.  1400 — One  century. 
Greatness  in  art— a.  d.  1400  to  a.  d.  IoOO  — One  century. 

VI.  Third  Illustrious  Period — Modern — From  a.  v.  1500 
to  A.D.  1600 — One  century. 

Greatness  in  literature  and  art— One  century. 

VII.  Fourth  Secondary  Period — Modern — From  a.  d.  1600— 
Two  centuries  and  a  half. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  23 

We  cannot  but  feel  a  lively  sympathy  in  the  fate  of  a 
nation  which  has  done  and  suffered  so  much.  We  must 
therefore  attempt  to  analyze,  so  far  as  our  materials 
will  allow  us,  the  political  institutions,  the  state  of 
the  church,  and  of  education,  religion,  and  morality, 
the  prevailing  habits  and  character,  and  every  other 
element  which  may  enable  us  to  form  an  accurate  no- 
tion of  the  present  condition  of  the  Italians,  or  to 
speculate  on  their  future  prospects.  Many  causes  con- 
cur in  obstructing  the  progress  of  such  an  inquiry  ;  but 
its  interest  rewards  all  exertions  ;  and  even  imperfect 
results  will  be  excused,  where  complete  knowledge  is  so 
difficult  of  acquisition.  Nothing  should  be  considered  as 
unworthy  of  notice,  which  promises  to  throw  even  a 
transitory  ray  of  light  on  the  subject.  The  lowest  of 
the  people  will  be  the  class  among  Avhom  our  investiga- 
tion will  be  most  successful ;  and,  from  their  deepest 
superstitions  to  their  gayest  diversions, — from  the  kindest 
effusions  of  their  warm-heartedness  to  their  crimes  and 
the  punishment  of  them, — from  the  legends  and  jests 
of  their  leisure  to  their  labours  in  the  cottage  or  the 
field, — every  new  feature  of  which  we  can  catch  a 
glimpse  will  aid  in  filling  up  the  picture.  Even  dry 
statistical  details  will  here  possess  importance ;  and  it 
will  be  desirable  to  trace  as  minutely  as  possible 
the  results  of  productive  industry,  their  effects  on  the 
condition  of  the  various  States  mto  which  the  peninsula 
is  divided,  and  the  commercial  relations  which  connect 
the  various  sections  of  Italy  with  the  transalpine 
nations.  This  last  subject  of  inquiry  is  particularly 
interesting  to  us,  from  the  close  relations  in  trade 
which  subsist  between  our  own  country  and  that  which 
we  are  examining. 

It  is  the  more  necessary  to  attempt  doing  justice  to 
the  character  of  the  modern  Italians,  because  no  people 
in  Europe  are  so  little  understood  among  us.  If  we  hear 
the  subject  mentioned,  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  contrast- 
ing modem  degeneracy  with  ancient  greatness.  There 
is  truth  even  in  our  mistake.     The  melancholy  song 


24  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

which  the  shepherds  chant  m  the  plams  of  Rome,  tells  us 
that  the  Eternal  City  is  not  what  she  was.*  It  is  no  less 
true,  that  the  national  character  is  sadly  changed,  clianged 
as  much  by  the  long  absence  of  freedom,  as  by  the  mis- 
government  of  despotic  rulers.  Even  if  it  be  decreed 
that  Italy  shall  not  again  rise  from  the  dust,  the  guilt  of 
her  degradation  will  not  on  that  account  lie  the  less  heavy 
on  the  heads  of  those  who  have  been  the  instruments  of 
Heaven's  displeasure.  But  in  our  floating  notions  of 
Italian  character,  we  grievously  exaggerate  the  extent  of 
its  deterioration.  Our  ignorance  can  alone  account  for  the 
inaccuracy  of  our  judgment,  but  several  causes  unite  in 
creating  the  wrong  impression.  One  of  these  is  oui* 
Protestantism,  and  our  consequent  want  of  experience 
in  the  practical  effects  which  are  produced  by  the  form 
of  religion  in  Italy.  Another  cause  is  our  dislike  of 
absolutism  in  government,  which  tempts  us  to  over- 
charge all  its  evils.  We  are  still  farther  misled  by 
our  o^vn  deeply  marked  character  and  customs,  which 
spring  partly  from  our  political  condition,  partly  from  our 
climate,  and  partly  from  our  Teutonic  blood  ;  and  which, 
unless  strong  correctives  are  administered,  disqualify 
us  for  fully  comprehending  the  temper  and  habits  of  a 
nation  deprived  of  freedom,  descended  from  a  southern 
race,  and  inhabiting  a  Mediterranean  country.  According 
to  the  feeling  which  happens  to  rule  at  the  moment,  we 
charge  the  Italians  in  the  mass,  with  superstition,  igno- 
rance, indolence,  voluptuousness,  revengefulness,  or  dis- 
honesty ;  or,  if  our  knowledge  be  very  small  and  our  fancy 
very  active,  we  combine  all  these  features  of  different 
classes,  times,  and  provinces,  into  one  monstrous  carica- 
ture. The  special  heads  of  our  accusation,  like  the  general 
charge,  have  a  little  truth  amidst  much  error.  This  is 
not  the  place  for  details  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  refrain 
from  protesting  at  the  outset  against  all  unjust  pre- 
judices. The  upper  ranks  of  the  community,  the  few 
who  can  be  said  to  belong  to  the  middle  order,  the  work- 

*  Roma  !  Roina  !  Roma  ! 
Roma  non  e  piu  come  era  prima  I 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  25 

ing-people  in  the  towns,  and  the  inliabitants  of  the  rural 
districts,  form  four  distinct  classes,  each  of  which  has 
its  own  characteristics.  Even  the  first  three  classes, 
though  very  flir  indeed  from  being  stainless,  are  more 
like  the  same  orders  among  ourselves  than  we  are  apt  to 
believe  ;  and  the  peasantry,  a  very  noble  race,  have  been 
grossly  slandered. 


The  study  of  the  country  itself  is  not  much  less  valu- 
able, and  not  at  all  less  inviting,  than  that  of  its  inha- 
bitants. It  abounds  with  spots  which  are  consecrated  by 
historical  recollections,  with  buildings  which  are  the 
models  of  architecture,  with  collections  of  statues  which 
are  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  art,  and  with  paintings 
which  are  the  finest  works  of  modern  genius.  Its  land- 
scapes are  at  once  lovely  and  peculiar  ;  its  botany,  its 
zoology,  the  phenomena  of  its  climate,  and  its  singular 
mineralogical  structure,  open  a  rich  field  for  the  specu- 
lations of  the  man  of  science  ;  and  its  natural  productions 
possess  both  interest  and  importance  for  those  who  in- 
quire into  the  history  of  the  nation.  A  short  description 
of  its  political  divisions,  the  aspect  of  its  scenery,  and  its 
most  prominent  physical  features,  will  be  useful  here  as 
an  introduction  to  the  details  of  the  following  chapters. 

The  names  of  the  leading  political  divisions  of  Italy 
and  its  dependencies  will  furnish  us  with  a  vocabulary 
for  describing  the  scenery  and  physical  geography.  The 
most  common  of  the  ancient  systems  of  classification, 
and  the  divisions  which  at  present  prevail,  will  answer 
that  purpose.  The  geography  of  the  middle  ages  is  both 
too  complex  and  too  fluctuating,  to  be  of  any  use  for 
such  an  end. 

After  the  Romans  had  completed  the  conquest  of  the 
peninsula,  the  northern  frontier  of  Italy  wound  along 
the  southern  brow  of  the  Alps ;  and  the  differences  be- 
tween that  line  and  the  one  at  present  adopted,  are  not 
of  such  consequence  as  to  call  for  notice.  The  ancient 
boundary  was  terminated  on  the  east  by  the  river  Arsia, 


26  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

near  the  modem  Fiume  ;  and  it  thus  included  as  Italian 
provinces  Carnia  and  Istria.  These  now  constitute  part 
of  the  Austrian  kingdom  of  Illyria ;  and  the  present 
Italian  border  on  the  east  just  shuts  out  the  town  of 
Aquileia.  At  the  western  extremity,  the  maritime  Alps 
at  first  terminated  the  Roman  frontier  of  Italy  ;  but  the 
country  was  afterwards  considered  as  extending  to  the 
river  Var,  which  now  separates  the  Italian  district  of 
Nice  from  Provence.  In  all  quarters  except  those  which 
have  been  just  named,  Italy  is  surrounded  by  the  sea, 
forming  a  long  and  irregular  peninsula. 

The  ancient  geographical  classification  usually  adopted, 
takes  as  its  basis  the  territories  of  the  primitive  nations, 
and  may  be  considered  as  dividing  Italy  into  the  fol- 
lowing thirteen  provinces  : — 1.  Venetia  (with  Carnia 
and  Istria)  ;  2.  Cisalpine  Gaul ;  3.  Liguria  ;  4.  Etruria ; 
6.  Umbria,  with  Picenum  ;  6.  The  region  of  the  central 
Apennines,  including  the  lands  of  the  Sabini,  JEqui, 
Marsi,  Peligni,  Vestini,  and  Marrucini ;  7.  The  City  of 
Rome  ;  8.  Latium  ;  9.  Campania ;  10.  Samnium,  and 
the  territory  of  the  Frentani ;  11.  Apulia;  12.  Luca- 
nia  ;  18.  The  territory  of  the  Bruttii. 

Italy  is  at  present  formed  into  eight  sovereignties  : — 
1.  The  Lombardo- Venetian  Kingdom,  of  which  the  Em- 
peror of  Austria  is  kmg ;  2.  The  states  of  the  King  of 
Sardinia  (except  Savoy,  which  is  not  Italian)  ;  3.  The 
Duchy  of  Parma ;  4.  The  Duchy  of  Modena ;  5.  The 
Duchy  of  Lucca  (soon  to  be  suppressed)  ;  6.  The  Grand- 
duchy  of  Tuscany  ;  7.  The  Papal  States  ;  8,  The  King- 
dom of  the  Two  Sicilies,  including  the  Neapolitan  pro- 
vinces and  Sicily.  Two  other  petty  states  are  nominally 
independent ;  the  Principality  of  Monaco,  in  the  Sar- 
dinian county  of  Nice  ;  and  the  Republic  of  San  Marino, 
in  the  eastern  division  of  the  Papal  States. 

The  first  three  of  the  ancient  provinces  include  (with 
immaterial  deviations)  the  Lombardo- Venetian  Kingdom, 
the  continental  Italian  possessions  of  the  Sardinian  mo- 
narchy, the  duchies  of  Parma  and  Modena,  and  the  north- 
eastern comer  of  the  Papal  States,  ending  at  Rimini. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  27 

This  region  lies  wholly  between  the  Alps  and  the  northern 
side  of  the  Apennines,  excepting  that  part  of  the  Sar- 
dinian territories  composed  of  the  county  of  Nice  and 
duchy  of  Genoa,  which  form  a  long  narrow  strip  between 
the  southern  side  of  the  mountains  and  the  sea.  In  the 
dark  ages,  a  small  portion  of  this  district,  extending  from 
Rimini  northward  to  beyond  Ravenna,  and  westward 
to  the  ridge  of  the  Apennines,  received  the  name  of 
Romagna,  from  its  occupation  by  the  exarchs  of  the 
titular  Roman  empu*e.  The  remainder  of  the  great  valley 
between  the  Alps  and  Apennines,  derived  from  its  con- 
querors in  the  sixth  century  the  name  of  Lombardy  ; 
and  the  term  is  generally  used  in  this  sense  by  writers  on 
the  history  of  the  middle  ages.  But  after  the  sovereignty 
of  Piedmont  had  reached  its  utmost  limit  tovrards  the 
east,  and  the  Venetian  provinces  had  been  stopped  in 
their  growth  westward,  the  intervening  space,  compos- 
ing the  duchy  of  Milan  and  the  marquisate  of  Mantua, 
fell  first  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  and  afterwards 
into  those  of  the  Austrians ;  and  to  this  intermediate 
territory  the  name  of  Lombardy  is  now  most  usually  con- 
fined. The  Austrians,  by  their  latest  arrangements,  ex- 
tend the  designation  to  the  eastward,  so  as  to  take  in 
Bergamo  and  Brescia,  which  were  formerly  Venetian 
provinces.  The  whole  region  described  in  this  paragraph 
may  be  considered  as  Northern  or  Upper  Italy. 

A  second  historical  region,  called  Middle  Italy,  may  be 
regarded  as  stretching  from  the  borders  of  Upper  Italy  to 
the  southern  slopes  of  the  central  Apennines.  In  this 
section,  the  greater  part  of  the  ancient  Etruria  is  found 
under  the  name  of  the  modern  Tuscany  ;  but  the  an- 
cient province,  as  its  frontier  on  the  south-east  and  south 
was  formed  by  the  Tiber  from  its  source,  comprehends 
also  the  north-western  portion  of  the  Papal  States. 
Umbria  and  Picenum,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Apen- 
nines, are  almost  entirely  in  the  Domains  of  the  Church  ; 
a  small  portion  only  lying  within  the  Neapolitan  frontier. 
The  land  of  the  Sabines,  included  in  the  sixth  ancient 
province,  lies  in  the  Papal  States  ;  and  the  other  moun- 


28  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

tain  districts  of  the  same  province  are  in  the  Ahnizzo 
Ultra  within  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  The  name  of 
Latium,  originally  confined  to  the  plain  around  Rome, 
shut  in  between  the  Tiber,  the  nearest  mountains,  and 
the  sea,  spread  farther  and  farther  south  till  it  touched 
Campania  at,  and  afterwards  beyond,  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Liris  or  Garigliano.  In  this  region,  according  to 
the  geography  of  the  middle  ages,  the  Etrurian  portion 
of  the  Papal  State  was  called  the  Patrimony  of  St 
Peter  ;  and  the  March  of  Ancona  nearly  corresponds  to 
the  ancient  Picenum. 

Lower  Italy,  the  third  region,  lies  wholly  in  the  king- 
dom of  Naples,  in  which,  however,  two  small  territories 
belonging  to  the  Papal  See  are  isolated.  None  of  its 
ancient  districts  comcides  exactly  with  any  of  the  mo- 
dern provinces  ;  but  Campania  may  be  considered  to  be 
substantially  represented  by  the  Terra  di  Lavoro  ;  Sam- 
nium  and  the  lands  of  the  Frentani  by  the  Principato 
Ultra  and  the  Abi-uzzo  Citra  ;  Apulia  by  the  Capitanata, 
the  Terra  di  Bari,  and  the  Terra  di  Otranto  ;  Lucaniaby 
the  Principato  Citra  and  the  Basilicata ;  and  Bruttium 
by  the  Two  Calabrias.  Apulia,  under  its  name  of 
Puglia,  is  important  in  the  history  of  the  middle  ages. 

Several  islands  are  geographically  connected  with  Italy. 
In  the  Adriatic  are  no  large  ones  on  the  Italian  shore. 
The  only  clusters  are  two  ;  the  Tremiti  isles,  oflF  the 
Neapolitan  coast ;  and  the  line  of  shoals  at  the  head  of 
the  gulf,  having  the  city  of  Venice  for  their  centre,  and 
belonging  wholly  to  the  Austrian  province  which  bears 
the  same  name.  The  islands  on  the  western  side  of  the 
peninsula  are  the  largest  in  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  all 
of  them  belong  to  Italy,  politically  as  well  as  physically  ; 
except  Corsica,  which  has  been  subject  to  France  for 
nearly  a  century  ;  and  Malta,  which  in  1800  was  trans- 
ferred from  its  famous  order  of  knights  to  the  British 
empire.  Of  the  two  main  groups  of  these  western 
Italian  islands,  the  more  northerly  is  composed  of 
Corsica  and  Sardinia,  with  a  few  islets  attached  to  the 
latter,  and  that  cluster  between  Corsica  and  Tuscany,  of 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  29 

wliich  Elba  is  the  largest.  The  second  group  consists  of 
Sicily,  and  the  islands  which  surround  it,  the  only  con- 
sideralDle  ones  being  the  Lipari  isles  on  the  north,  and  on 
the  south  Pantellaria,  with  ]\Ialta  and  its  dependent  isle 
of  Gozo.  The  whole  of  this  group,  except  the  two  last 
mentioned,  belongs  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies, 
as  do  Ischia,  Capri,  and  the  other  islets  about  the  mouth 
of  the  Bay  of  Naples. 

When  we  first  tread  the  soil  of  Italy,  the  loveliness 
of  the  landscape  absorbs  our  whole  attention.  Associa- 
tion, indeed,  does  much  to  strengthen  the  spell  which  the 
scenery  throws  over  us  ;  and  the  force  of  the  attraction 
is  greatly  increased  by  the  southern  sky,  with  its  balmy 
repose,  its  magical  colouring,  and  its  harmonious  combi- 
nations of  light  and  shadow.  All  the  features  of  the 
picture,  however,  are  in  themselves  both  novel  and 
beautiful.  The  climate  and  its  productions  do  not,  it  is 
true,  unfold  their  full  luxuriance  till  we  reach  Sicily ; 
but  to  the  native  of  northern  Europe,  the  face  of  the 
country  is  new  from  the  very  foot  of  the  Alps. 

Italy  is  divided  by  nature  into  two  very  dissimilar 
regions.  The  first  is  Lombardy,  or  Upper  Italy,  bound- 
ed, as  w^e  have  seen,  on  the  north  by  the  Alps,  and  on 
the  south  by  the  Apennines.  This  tract  commences,  on 
the  north  and  west,  among  Alpine  heights  and  glens, 
whose  aspect  is  that  of  Switzerland.  The.  mountains 
then  subside  into  broad  meadow-plains,  watered  by  large 
rivers,  and  crossed  m  every  field  by  rows  of  poplars  sup- 
porting vines  ;  while  the  olive-groves  on  the  lower  emi- 
nences both  of  the  Alpine  and  Apennine  chains,  and 
the  scattered  cypresses  and  pines,  impart  the  first  charac- 
teristic images  of  the  Italian  landscape. 

Southward  of  the  ridge  of  the  Apennines  is  the  second 
region,  the  strictly  peninsular  portion  of  Italy.  On 
crossing  the  mountains  wdiich  bound  it  on  the  north, 
we  immediately  lose  the  broad  plains  and  full  rivers 
of  Lombai'dy.  The  Apennine  accompanies  us  to  the 
extremity  of  the  peninsula,  dividing  it  lengthwise,  nar- 


30  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

rowing  its  flats,  and  forming  deep  hollows  by  the  pro- 
montories which  it  every  where  sends  out.  The  moun- 
tains, though  in  many  districts  lofty,  are  rounded  in 
shape ;  and  the  undulating  hills,  which  cluster  about  their 
sides,  sink  down  into  flat  alluvial  valleys,  like  the  de- 
serted beds  of  lakes.  Woods  of  olive-trees,  not  unlike 
in  character  to  the  birch,  cover  the  rising  grounds  with 
their  gray  foliage.  Towns  and  villages  on  the  plains,  or 
oftener  perched  like  castles  on  the  hills,  peer  out  from 
amidst  vineyards,  or  clumps  of  the  dark  flat-topped  pine, 
and  the  tall  pillar-like  cypress ;  and  the  most  unculti- 
vated and  lonely  of  the  vales  are  clothed  with  a  pic- 
turesque and  almost  tropical  prodigality  of  vegetation, 
in  the  wild  trees  and  shrubs,  the  broad  leafy  masses  of 
the  glossy  ilex,  the  rich  forms  and  colours  of  the 
arbutus,  and  the  graceful  outline  of  the  fragrant  myrtle. 
Tliis  aspect  of  the  landscape,  which  prevails  in  Middle 
Italy,  suffers  some  changes  as  we  advance  farther  south. 
The  date-palm  is  now  seen  in  sheltered  nooks  ;  in  some 
districts  the  orange  and  lemon  groves  give  odour  to 
the  air  ;  and  the  aloe  and  cactus  grow  wild  upon  the 
rocks.  These  features  are  caught  in  glimpses,  even  on 
the  northern  side  of  the  Apennines  ;  they  are  more  and 
more  frequent  as  we  proceed  towards  Lower  Italy,  in 
which  they  are  not  indeed  the  prevailing  features,  but 
in  several  quarters  assume  prominence  in  the  scene  ; 
and  in  Sicily  the  picture  unites  oriental  vegetation  with 
that  of  the  Italian  valleys.  The  panorama  of  the  low 
country,  too,  has  every  where  a  back  ground  in  the  moun- 
tains, among  which,  as  we  climb  their  sides,  the  wide 
woods  of  chestnut,  intermingled  with  oak  and  beech, 
give  way  to  the  hardier  species  of  the  pine  and  other 
vigorous  plants,  and  these  to  the  green  pastures  which 
rise  to  the  very  summits  of  the  Apennines. 

The  landscapes  of  Italy  are  excelled  by  those  of  nor- 
thern Europe  in  several  respects,  and  most  of  all  in  ex- 
tent and  gi-andeur  of  forest  scenery  ;  but  every  defect  is 
redeemed  by  the  lucid  atmosphere,  the  characteristic 
luxuriance  of  the  vegetation,  the  singular  beauty  of  form 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  31 

in  hill  and  vale,  and  tlie  brilliant  pictures  of  rural  and  even 
woodland  loveliness  which  we  discover  in  so  many  spots. 

Italian  scenery  receives  another  charm  from  its  build- 
ings, which  in  themselves  are  singularly  pictui'esque 
and  add  much  to  the  historical  and  poetical  recollections 
they  so  often  recall.  Throughout  the  whole  country  are 
scattered  the  architectural  monuments  of  the  Romans, 
and  in  Lower  Italy  and  Sicily  many  of  the  finest  edi- 
fices of  the  Greeks ;  most  of  them  now  huge  piles  of 
ruins,  with  shrubs  and  weeds  mantling  their  walls  and 
twining  round  their  broken  columns.  The  perfection  of 
this  species  of  landscape  is  to  be  found  in  the  tract  which, 
solitary  though  within  the  walls  of  a  modern  city,  is 
covered  by  the  ruins  of  Ancient  Rome.  The  middle  ages 
liave,  in  the  rural  districts,  left  scanty  relics  ;  a  few  dark 
towers,  a  very  few  castles  on  the  hills,  and  in  Middle  Italy 
some  of  those  villages,  whose  spacious  mansions,  falling 
into  decay,  attest  the  former  wealth  and  the  present  po- 
verty of  the  agricultural  population.  Over  the  whole 
peninsula,  however,  the  churches,  convents,  and  habita- 
tions which  rise  amidst  the  vmeyards  or  olive-grounds, 
are  striking  features  in  the  scene.  From  the  mean 
dwellings  of  the  Lombard  peasants,  or  the  few  comfort- 
able homesteads  of  the  fanners,  to  the  thickly  crowded  and 
neat  houses  of  the  Genoese  and  Tuscan  valleys,  and  thence 
again  to  the  ruinous  and  cheerlessbuildingsof  the  southern 
provinces,  all  is  characteristic.  The  most  curious  fact  is 
the  almost  total  want  of  what  we  should  call  cottages. 
Scarcely  any  where  do  we  discover  habitations  which 
might  not  be  classed  under  one  of  two  lieads  :  wretched 
huts,  fortunately  rare,  built  perhaps  of  reeds  or  logs ; 
and  tall  houses  bearing  a  resemblance  to  those  in  our 
small  country  towns,  not  unfrequently  ruinous,  and 
always  inhabited  by  a  population  which  we  should  ex- 
pect to  find  in  far  humbler  dwellings.  These  facts  re- 
ceive their  explanation  from  the  history  of  the  people. 

We  meet,  in  most  districts,  with  comparatively  few 
villas  of  the  opulent  classes,  those  wliich  we  do  find  being 
commonly  grouped  together  in  particular  spots.     The 


32  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

outline  of  their  architecture,  which  we  see  successfully 
caught  by  many  painters,  is  at  once  peculiar  and 
beautiful.  The  long  horizontal  lines  indicate  the  linger- 
ing influence  of  the  ancient  monuments  ;  the  flattened 
roofs,  scarcely  visible,  and  in  Southern  Italy  quite  level, 
contrast  strongly  with  the  buildings  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Alps  ;  balconies  and  terraces  open  from  the  sides  of 
the  mansions  ;  and  above  the  Avhole  rise  one  or  more  of 
those  rectangular  towers,  which,  solid  in  their  lowest 
division  and  ending  at  top  in  an  open  story,  are  covered 
with  a  low  roof,  supported  by  four  square  pillars,  or  by 
an  arcade.  The  monasteries,  which  crown  so  strikingly 
the  brow  of  many  eminences,  have  the  general  outline 
of  the  villas,  but  with  less  ornament,  and  a  more  gloomy 
aspect,  derived  from  their  fortress-like  compactness,  and 
their  great  extent  of  dead  wall,  pierced  by  a  few  diminu- 
tive windows.  The  interior  of  these  edifices,  forming  ranges 
which  enclose  courts  or  cloisters,  at  once  reminds  us  of 
the  ancient  domestic  dwellings,  and  gives  us  the  prototype 
of  the  aristocratic  residences  in  the  Italian  towns  ;  for  no 
palazzo  receives  the  name  unless  it  has  its  inner  court, 
entered  by  a  gateway,  and  surrounded  by  the  buildings 
which  form  the  mansion.  Architecture  in  the  cities  has 
all  the  features  which  distinguish  it  in  the  country  ;  and 
there  are  many  towns  which  contain  edifices  of  all  ages, 
from  the  primeval  fortifications  of  the  Pelasgians  to  the 
villa  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  groups  which  animate  the  landscapes  of  Italy 
are  as  picturesque  in  their  aspect  as  they  are  inter- 
esting in  a  more  philosophical  light.  Amidst  many 
shades  of  difference,  the  people  have  in  common  the 
physiognomy  and  person  of  their  ancestors  and  their 
southern  climate  ;  and  the  dark  fiery  eye  and  marked 
features  of  the  Neapolitan  fisherman,  or  the  deep  rich 
complexion,  the  full  tall  figure,  and  the  noble  classical 
profile  of  the  Roman  female  of  the  western  suburbs,  are 
only  more  distinctive  instances  of  a  physical  character, 
which  has  equally  fine  examples  elsewhere.  The 
costumes  of  the  peasantry  complete  the  eff^ect  which 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  33 

their  figures,  faces,  air,  and  gestures,  produce  on  the 
minds  of  foreigners.  It  is  ti-ue  that  all  the  rustic  dresses 
are  not  graceful,  and  that  some  are  decidedly  ugly  ;  for  no 
one  can  admire  either  the  boots  of  the  females  in  Eastern 
Lomhardy,  or  the  felt- hats  which  disfigure  the  beautiful 
countenances  of  the  Tuscan  women.  In  many  provinces, 
however,  the  attire  of  both  sexes  is  remarkably  pictur- 
esque ;  and  the  figures  of  the  ecclesiastics  are  to  us  even 
more  striking  than  those  of  the  country  people.  The  habit 
of  the  secular  clergy,  though  distinguishing,  is  not  by 
any  means  remarkable  ;  but  the  monks  and  friars,  with 
their  shaven  cro^^Tls  and  long  cinctured  robes,  lead  the 
fancy  back  to  the  most  animating  scenes  of  history  and 
poetry.  ]\Iodern  Rome  owes  its  peculiarity  of  aspect  in 
no  small  degree  to  its  multitude  of  monastic  churchmen. 

When  we  turn  to  the  details  of  tlie  physical  geography, 
the  mountains  first  attract  our  notice.  The  crescent  of 
the  Alps  embraces  the  northern  bounds  in  a  curve  of 
perhaps  five  hundred  miles  ;  and  the  deepest  of  the  val- 
leys are  from  5000  to  8000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
ocean.  Of  the  stupendous  peaks  which  tower  between 
these  picturesque  passes,  the  greaternumber  stand,  accord- 
ing to  political  divisions,  beyond  the  frontier  of  Italy  ; 
the  interest  which  belongs  to  them  is  not  Italian ;  and  we 
but  rarely  catch  a  glimpse  of  some  of  the  loftiest  sum- 
mits closing  in  the  head  of  the  distant  ravines. 

At  the  eastern  end  of  the  great  chain,  on  the  con- 
fines of  Austrian  Germany,  two  successive  groups, 
the  Julian  or  Carnic,  and  the  Tyrolese  Alps,  rear 
their  highest  peaks  far  from  the  Itahan  territories. 
But  to  the  latter  range  may  be  assigned  the  mountains 
of  the  Valtelline  (now  within  the  Italian  boundary), 
among  the  most  elevated  of  which  we  have,  on  the  line 
of  division,  the  Oertler  Spitz,  and  the  Monte  d'  Oro. 
The  same  range  sends  down  on  the  grand  lake  of  Garda 
the  Monte  Baldo,  which  protects  its  Veronese  or  eastern 
bank  ;  and  in  the  Bergamasc  territory,  the  principal 
oflFshoots  are  the  ]\Ionte  Adamello  on  the  edge  of  the  Val 

VOL.  I.  B 


3-4  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

Camonica,  and  the  Monte  Presolana  in  the  Val  Seriana. 
The  next  great  group,  the  Rhgetian  Alps,  which  form 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  frontier  with  Switzerland,  have 
also  huge  promontories,  whose  peaks  surround  the  Lakes 
of  Como  and  Lugano,  and  the  Lago  Maggiore.  Among 
these  are  Monte  Legnone  in  the  district  of  Como,  and 
Monte  Generoso,  which  stands  between  the  Val  di 
Maggia  and  the  Lake  of  Lugano.  Passing  into  Piedmont 
we  find,  just  within  the  borders,  the  Monte  Rosa,  the 
second  highest  of  the  Alps,  which  may  be  regarded  as  asso- 
ciated in  its  structure  with  the  Pennine  Alp  or  Great  St 
Bernard,  with  which  the  Swiss  frontier  ends.  The  Savoy- 
ard marches,  after  passing  over  the  central  summits  of 
Mont  Blanc,  proceed  along  the  Graian  Alps,  including 
the  lofty  Mont  Iseran.  The  Cottian  Alp  commences 
with  Mont  Cenis,  which  completes  the  junction  with 
Savoy ;  and  the  rest  of  the  range,  between  Italy  and 
France,  includes  the  Monte  Viso.  The  Maritune  Alps, 
sweeping  round  till  they  dip  into  the  sea  in  the  Gulf  of 
Genoa,  are  comparatively  low,  rising  nowhere  much 
higher  than  their  fine  pass  of  the  Col  di  Tenda. 

The  Apennines,  which  are  regarded  as  commencing 
about  Savona,  continue  the  chain  of  the  Maritime  Alps, 
and  trend  nearly  west  and  east  till  they  have  almost  cross- 
ed the  peninsula,  forming  thus  far  the  southern  bank  of 
the  great  valley  of  Upper  Italy.  Though  more  elevat- 
ed than  the  range  from  which  they  directly  spring, 
they  are  every  where  far  lower  than  the  great  Alpine 
chain.  In  the  portion  of  them  just  described,  the  highest 
point  is  the  Cimone  di  Fanano,  which  stands  almost  in- 
sulated in  the  Duchy  of  Modena  ;  and  the  Monte  Radi- 
coso,  the  highest  pass  between  Bologna  and  Florence,  is 
less  than  8000  feet  above  the  sea.  Before  reaching  the 
Adriatic,  the  Apennine  bends  round,  and  from  that  point 
forms  a  ridge  running  south-east,  through  the  middle  of 
the  peninsula,  to  its  extremity.  Nor  does  it  terminate 
there  ;  for  a  chain  of  mountains,  which,  according  to  the 
inferences  of  mineralogical  science,  forms  a  continuation 
of  the  range,  rises  in  Sicily.     Far  north  in  Tuscany,  a 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.  35 

branch  is  sent  off  towards  the  west,  which,  dipping  into 
the  sea,  reappears  successively  in  Elba,  Corsica,  and  Sar- 
dinia. Several  others  project  from  both  declivities  of  the 
central  chain,  the  longest  being  one  on  the  east  side,  which 
ends  at  the  Cape  of  Leuca. 

The  principal  heights  of  the  Apennmes,  in  most  dis- 
tricts, stand  between  8000  and  5000  feet  above  the  sea  ; 
a  few  mountains  of  the  range  have  an  elevation  consider- 
ably exceeding  5000  feet ;  but  none  of  them  reaches 
10,000.  Their  highest  cluster  of  peaks,  save  one,  is 
in  the  island-chain  which  shoots  off  from  Tuscany. 
Among  these,  Corsica  has  the  Monte  Rotondo,  and  the 
Monte  d'  Oro  ;  and  Sardinia,  whose  hills  generally  rise 
from  1000  to  3000  feet,  has  two  much  more  elevated,  the 
Monte  Genargentu,  and  the  Monte  Limbarra.  The  central 
range,  too,  begins  to  rise  higher  opposite  those  islands.  It 
presents,  among  the  mountains  of  U rhino,  the  Monte 
Catria,  near  Cagli,  and  in  Umbria  the  picturesque  Nor- 
cian  group,  where  the  peak  of  the  Leonessa,  so  conspicu- 
ous from  the  plain  of  Rome,  is  overtopped  by  the  lofty 
Mount  of  the  Sibyl.  The  range  thence  shoots  up  into 
its  greatest  heights,  in  the  hilly  region  of  the  Abruzzo  Ul- 
tra. The  highest  of  the  Abruzzese  mountains  is  the  huge 
IMonte  Como,  called  also  the  Gran  Sasso  or  Great  Rock 
of  Italy,  which  spreads  over  a  wide  district  of  upland 
glens,  and  has  its  finest  summits  near  the  town  of  Aquila. 
The  most  remarkable,  and  probably  the  loftiest,  of  the 
other  members  of  the  same  group,  are  the  conical  Monte 
Vellno,and  the  round  shapeless  mass  of  the  Majella,  crested 
with  a  knot  of  castle-like  rocks.  Both  of  these  overhang 
the  banks  of  the  beautiful  Fucine  Lake,  or  Lake  of  Celano. 
The  Apennines  preserve  an  imposing  height  in  the  eastern 
quarter  of  the  Neapolitan  Ten-a  di  Lavoro,  in  which  are 
the  Monte  Meta,  and  the  Monte  Miletto  near  Alife.  The 
southern  members  of  the  chara  are  less  lofty.  Among 
the  most  elevated  are,  the  Monte  Sant'  Angelo  (the 
ancient  IMount  Garganus),  an  offset  of  the  range,  skirting 
the  Gulf  of  Manfredonia  ;  and  Monte  Sirmo,  in  the  Basi- 
licata.     The  medium  height  of  the  Calabrian  branch 


36  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

seems  to  be  from  4000  to  5000  feet.  From  the  Col  di 
Tenda  to  the  Capo  dell'  Armi,  the  total  length  of  the 
Apennmes  is  reckoned  at  640  geographical  miles. 

The  mountains  of  Sicily,  if  we  except  the  volcanic 
Etna,  are  much  lower  than  the  peninsular  Apennines, 
and  nowhere  rise  to  4000  feet.  The  mountain  of  Dina- 
mare,  above  Messina,  is  one  of  the  highest ;  the  Neptunian 
or  Pelorian  range,  which  runs  southwest  from  Messina, 
reaches  its  greatest  elevation  in  Monte  Scuderi,  northward 
from  Taormina ;  in  the  same  chain,  and  in  the  centre  o! 
the  island,  stands  the  rock  of  Castro  Giovanni,  which  is 
the  poetical  Enna  ;  in  the  Madonia  range  is  the  Monte 
Cuccio,  near  Palermo  ;  and  the  loftiest  summit  of  the 
island,  except  Etna,  is  a  peak  in  the  Calatabellotta 
range,  near  Castro  Nuovo. 

From  the  banks  of  the  river  Ombrone  in  Tuscany  to 
the  south  side  of  the  Bay  of  Naples  an  interrupted  chain 
of  extinct  volcanoes  runs  side  by  side  with  the  Apen- 
nines. The  first  lofty  eminence  among  these  is  the  Monte 
Amiata,  at  Radicofani  on  the  Tuscan  frontier,  which  is 
followed  by  the  Monte  Soriano  near  Viterbo,  the  highest 
of  the  ancient  Ciminian  liills.  The  next  is  Somma,  the 
old  crater  of  Vesuvius,  opposite  to  which  is  Ischia,  crested 
by  Mount  Epopeus  or  San  Nicola.  The  volcanic  zone 
reappears  in  the  Lipari  isles,  in  which  the  loftiest  are 
Stromboli  and  Felicudi.  It  next  crowns  SicUy  with  the 
renowned  Mount  Etna  ;  and  we  trace  it  once  more  in  the 
islet  of  Pantellaria,  half-way  between  Sicily  and  Africa.* 

The  Po  is  the  only  Italian  river  which  can  be  com- 
pared with  those  of  transalpine  Europe.  It  rises  in  the 
Monte  Viso,  flows  through  Piedmont  and  the  Lombardo- 
Venetian  territories,  and  discharges  itself  into  the  Adriatic 

•  The  following  table,  taken  from  the  most  approved  authorities, 
gives  the  heights,  calculated  in  English  feet,  to  which  the  principal 
mountains  of  Italy  rise  from  the  sea.  They  are  arranged  in  four 
groups,  as  they  are  described  in  the  text: — 1.  Those  mountains 
among  the  Alps  which,  as  being  either  in  Italy  or  closely  bordering 
on  it,  may  all,  without  much  impropriety,  be  called  Italian  ;  2.  The 
Apeniiines,   including  their  offshoots  in  Corsica  and   Sardinia; 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 


37 


by  several  mouths,  after  a  slow  course  of  nearly  300  geo- 
grapliical  miles.  In  its  whole  progress  through  the  Aus- 
trian territories,  which  extends  to  136  of  those  miles, 
it  is  navigable  for  boats,  excepting  in  unusually  dry 
weather,  when  they  are  sometimes  stopped  at  Cremona. 
The  Po  has  for  its  basin  the  whole  of  the  great  valley 
between  the  Alps  and  Apennines.  The  tributary  streams 
which  descend  to  it  from  the  latter  are  comparatively 
small :  but  the  Trebbia,  one  of  their  number,  has  a  classi- 
cal reputation  on  account  of  Hannibal  and  its  monastery 
of  Bobbio  ;  the  Secchia  is  navigable  for  boats  from  Mo- 
dena  downwards  ;  the  Panaro  presents  the  same  conve- 
nience to  the  extent  of  thirty  miles  ;  and  the  Reno  feeds 
a  canal  which  communicates  between  Bologna  and  the 
Po.  From  the  Alps  this  river  receives  several  large  ac- 
cessions. In  Piedmont  its  principal  tributaries  are,  on 
the  right,  the  Tanaro,  on  the  left  the  Dora-Riparia,  the 


3.  The  prolongation  of  the  Apennines  in  Sicily ; 
mountains  in  Italy  and  the  islands. 

I. — The  Italian  Alps,         |  Monte  Sirmo, 
Mont  Blanc,         .         .     15,744  Monte  Catria, 


4.  The  volcanic 


Monte  Rosa,     . 
Mont  Iseran, 
The  Oertler  Spitz, 
Monte  Viso, 
Mont  Cenis, 
Monte  Adamello, 
Monte  d  Oro, 
Monte  Legnone, 
Monte  Presolana, 
Monte  Baldo, 
Monte  Generoso, 


Monte  Velino^ 

Monte  d'  Oro  (Corsica), 

La  Majella, 

Monte  della  Sibilla, 

Monte  JMeta, 

II  Cimone  di  Fanano,     . 

Monte  Miletto, 


5,992 
6,582 
5,276 
4,720 
3,686 
2,895 


1 5, 150 1  Genargentu  ( Sardinia), 
13,275  I  Monte  Sant'  Angelo,     . 
12,852  I  Linibarra  (Sardinia), 
12,600  j  Monte  Radicoso  Pass, 
11,460 1      ,      „ 
1 0  980  ■        —  Apennines 

10545'  LONGED  IN   SlCIL-V 

8*594  '^^^  Calatabellotta  Peak, 
8  198  Monte  Cuccio, 
7  207   Monte  Scuderi, 
6^282  ^I^"te  di  Dinamare, 

Col  di  Tenda  (Marit.  Alps)  5',884  Castro  Giovanni, 

11- — The  Apennines.         ;  IV.— The    Volcanic    Moun- 

The  Gran  Sasso  d'  Italia,  9,460  tains. 

Monte  Rotondo  (Corsica),  9,061   INIount  Etna  (Sicily), 

^^     '     "'  "  8,943   Monte  Soriano, 

8,697   La  Sorama  di  Vesuvio, 

7,998  Monte  Amiata, 

7,495  Felicudi  (Isle),     . 

7,271   Monte  San  Nicoh  (Ischia),2,605 

6,971   Pantellaria  (Isle),       .        2,213 

6,742  StromboU  (Isle),     .       .    2,171 


3,690 
3,329 
3,190 
3,112 

2,880 


10,874 
4,183 
3,979 
3,054 
3,041 


38  INTRODrCTORY  CHAPTER. 

Dora-Baltea,  and  the  Sesia.  In  Austrian  Lombardy  the 
largest  rivers  which  disgorge  themselves  into  it  issue 
from  the  Lakes.  The  Lago  Maggiore,  forty-eight  miles 
long,  from  four  to  seven  miles  broad,  and  generally 
more  than  twenty  feet  deep,  receives  the  waters  of 
the  Ticino  and  twenty-six  other  streams,  all  of  which, 
after  passing  through  the  lake,  are  discharged  into  the  Po. 
The  Lake  of  Como,  thirty-seven  miles  in  its  greatest 
length,  and  varying  in  breadth  from  one  mile  to  four,  is 
traversed  by  the  Adda,  which  thence  flows  across  the 
plain  to  join  the  same  river.  The  Oglio  passes  through 
the  Lake  of  Iseo,  and  the  classical  Mincio  issues  from 
the  fine  Lake  of  Garda,  thirty-seven  miles  long  and  from 
four  to  fourteen  miles  broad.  The  Adige,  which  ranks 
next  to  the  Po,  emerges  from  the  Tyrolese  defiles  a  little 
above  Verona,  and  flows  a  very  short  way  through  the 
plain.  The  Bacchiglione,  Brenta,  and  others  of  smaller 
dimensions,  are  geographically  unimportant. 

The  rivers  of  Middle  and  Lower  Italy  are  more  im- 
portant in  history  than  in  geography  or  commerce. 
They  flow  from  no  large  lakes,  for  of  these  the  only 
considerable  one,  the  Lake  of  Celano,  which  is  reckoned 
thirty -five  miles  in  circuit,  has  no  visible  outlet.  On  the 
side  of  the  Adriatic,  the  largest  streams  are  the  Metauro 
and  the  Tronto  in  the  Papal  States,  and  the  Neapolitan 
Pescara,  Ofanto,  and  Bradano.  On  the  other  side,  the 
Magra  and  the  Serchio,  the  Neapolitan  Garigliano,  Vol- 
tumo,  and  Sele,  are  all  historical  names  ;  but  except  the 
Arno  and  the  Tiber  none  require  to  be  more  than  mention- 
ed. These  rise  within  ten  miles  of  each  other,  in  the  moun- 
tainous district  of  Tuscany  called  the  Casentino.  The 
former,  receiving  several  beautiful  streams,  and  winding 
extensively  in  the  upper  part  of  its  course,  flows  in  all 
about  150  geographical  miles.  Its  lower  valley  (Val 
d' Arno  Inferiore)  one  of  the  most  lovely  scenes  in  Italy, 
has  Florence  near  its  head,  and  the  river  is  passable 
for  boats  from  that  city  to  the  Mediterranean,  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  sixty  miles.  The  course  of  the  Tiber 
is  about  190  geographical  miles,  and  its  direction  is 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTERi  39 

southerly,  till,  after  it  has  received  several  considerable 
streams,  the  Ncra  bemg  the  latest  and  largest,  the 
Apennines  near  Tivoli  force  it  westward  across  the 
plain.  A  little  before  entering  Rome  it  receives  the 
Teverone,  the  ancient  Anio  ;  and  from  the  Roman 
wharfs  downwards  it  is  navigable  for  small  coasting 
barks.  Within  the  city,  beside  the  Tomb  of  Augustus, 
its  breadth  is  197  English  feet,  its  depth  twenty-one,  its 
medium  surface  twenty-one  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  and  the  distance  from  its  mouth  fifteen  geographical 
miles. 

In  none  of  the  Italian  islands  are  the  rivers  geogra- 
phically important.  In  Sicily,  the  chief  ones  are  the 
Giarretta  and  the  Fiume  Salso  ;  in  Sardinia,  the  Tyrso 
and  the  Flumendosa. 

The  mountains  which  have  been  enumerated  yield  few 
valuable  minerals.  The  rivers  are  nearly  useless  for 
commercial  navigation,  owing  to  the  want  of  tides  in  the 
seas  into  which  they  flow.  Having  hardly  any  deep  in- 
dentations, the  coast  affords  few  facilities  for  the  forma- 
tion of  harbours ;  and  the  position  of  the  peninsula  in 
the  Mediterranean,  which,  as  long  as  eastern  commerce 
was  conducted  overland  to  the  Levant,  favoured  its  com- 
munication with  the  great  mart  of  Asiatic  merchandise, 
has  had  the  very  opposite  effect  since  the  discovery  of 
the  passage  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Italy  is  natur- 
ally an  agricultural  country,  with  a  fertility  of  soil  and 
mildness  of  climate  which  bestow  a  plentiful  increase 
even  on  careless  cultivation,  and  would  perhaps,  under 
better  laws  and  better  management,  make  it,  as  Sicily  once 
was,  the  granary  of  Europe.  The  geographical  situation  of 
this  fine  peninsula,  open  so  extensively  to  the  sea,  exposes 
it  to  attack  on  almost  every  point ;  and  its  seeming  ram- 
parts the  Alps,  which  have  never  stopped  the  march  of 
any  brave  invader,  are  now  traversed  by  military  roads  in 
all  directions.  Its  clmiate,  except  in  a  few  spots,  is 
healthy  ;  and,  if  we  are  told  that  it  is  a  cause  of  degene- 
racy or  effeminacy,  we  may  answer  that  it  is  unchanged, 


40  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

since  the  period  when  its  air  was  breathed  in  Upper  Italy 
by  the  Insubrian  Gauls,  in  I\Iiddle  Italy  by  the  Romans, 
in  Lower  Italy  by  the  fierce  Bruttians,  and  in  Sicily  by 
the  Syracusan  Greeks  who  humbled  Athens. 

In  the  last  few  sentences  are  stated  some  of  the 
facts  which  have  most  strongly  influenced  the  fate 
of  Italy,  and  will  continue  to  aid  m  determinmg  her 
place  among  the  nations.  The  details  of  her  physical 
structure  and  aspect,  as  well  as  of  her  history,  political, 
moral,  and  intellectual,  will  open  themselves  to  us  as  we 
proceed  ;  while  the  adventures,  the  characters,  and  the 
monuments,  which  are  to  pass  in  review  before  us,  will 
constantly  suggest  interestmg  speculations.  The  thought 
which  first  arises  in  the  mind,  is  that  wliich  will  also 
the  most  frequently  recur,  in  innumerable  shapes  and 
combinations.  .  Italy  stands  unexampled  m  Europe, 
— indeed  unexampled  upon  earth.  She  alone  of  all  the 
ancient  nations,  after  slumbering  through  the  darkness 
which  for  centuries  covered  the  world,  awoke  stronger 
than  before.  The  changes  of  character  which  distinguish 
the  modern  people  from  the  ancient,  as  well  as  the 
numerous  points  of  identity,  present  the  most  curious 
subjects  of  inquiry.  A  yet  more  momentous  problem 
respects  their  final  destiny.  The  Italians  were  fallen 
in  the  dark  ages,  and  they  rose  again.  They  are  fallen 
now  :  is  there  yet  a  second  redemption  for  them  I 


PART  I. 
ANCIENT  ITALY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Political  History  of  Italy  till  the  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Republic. 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TILL  A.  U,  722,  OR  B.  C.  32. 

First  Age  (ending  a.  u.  244)  : — The  Primitive  Italian  Tribes — 
The  Pelasgi — The  Etruscans — The  Latins — The  Kings  of  Rome 
— The  Greeks  in  Italy  and  Sicily.  Second  Age  (a.  u.  244 — 
A.  u.  468)  : — Rome  a  Repubhc — Its  External  History — Con- 
quests— The  Greek  Colonies — The  Constitutional  History  of 
Rome — The  Early  Constitution — Classification  of  the  Citizens — 
The  Hereditary  Nobility — Their  Vassals — The  Free  Commoners 
— The  Senate — The  Two  Conventions — Constitutional  Peculi- 
arities— Commencement  of  the  Plebeian  Struggle — Institution  of 
the  Tribunes — Rise  of  a  Third  Convention — Prosecution  of  the 
Struggle— The  Twelve  Tables — The  Licinian  Laws — The  Pub- 
lilian  Laws — The  Democracy  perfected.  Third  Age  (  a.  u.  468 
—A.  u.  722)  :— The  Character  of  the  Times— The  New  Aristo- 
cracy— The  Populace — The  External  History — The  Roman 
Dominions  in  Magna  Graecia — In  Sicily — Abroad — The  Punic 
Wars — Tlie  Constitutional  History — Three  Stages: — ].  (a.  u. 
468 — A.  u.  620) — Changes  on  the  Senate — On  the  Conventions 
—2.  (a.  u.  620— A.  u.  671)— The  Gracchi— The  Italian  Allies 
—The  Ballot— The  Army  and  Marius— 3.  (a.  u.  671- a.  u.  722) 
— Sylla's  Reign  and  Pohcy — The  last  Republican  Times — Pom- 
pey,  Caesar,  Cicero,  Cato — Caesar  King — His  Assassination — 
Octavius  Emperor —  The  Republican  Administration  and 
Finance  —  The  Italian  Provinces  —  The  Municipalities  —  The 
State  Expenditure — The  Revenues — Description  of  the  Taxes — 
The  Administration  of  the  Revenues. 

The  liistorical  outline  wliich  is  here  presented  will 
chiefly  invite  the  reader's  attention  to  two  sections  in 


42  THE  POLITICAL  HISTOHr  OF  ITALY 

the  annals  of  the  Romans  ;  namely,  the  growth  of  their 
sovereignty  over  Italy,  and  the  principles  and  progress 
of  their  political  constitution.  The  chronicles  of  their 
wars  abound  beyond  all  similar  records  in  vigorous 
characters  and  heroic  adventures  ;  but  the  incidents  are 
familiar  to  every  one,  and  neither  our  purpose  nor  our 
limits  allow  us  to  dwell  long  on  spectacles  of  bloodshed. 
The  constitution  of  the  republic  deserves  for  many  rea- 
sons to  be  more  closely  examined.  It  is  the  department 
in  which  the  revolutions  of  that  extraordinary  people 
possess  the  highest  value  as  lessons,  and  in  w4iich  also 
our  popular  works  on  their  history  offer  least  infonna- 
tion. 

This  chapter  and  the  next  will  delineate  the  skeleton 
of  the  political  institutions  in  the  commonwealth  and 
the  empire ;  and  subsequent  portions  of  the  volume  will 
attempt  to  exhibit  the  most  interesting  of  those  other 
features  which,  when  grouped  together,  complete  in 
the  imagination  a  picture  of  the  ancient  Roman  world. 
The  vicissitudes  and  remains  of  literature  and  the  fine 
arts  will  successively  come  into  view ;  those  scenes  will 
be  described  Avhich  have  become  places  of  pilgrimage  for 
the  classical  student ;  and  our  inquiry  into  the  state  of 
Heathen  Italy  will  not  close  till  we  have  surveyed  the 
most  characteristic  details  of  private  life  and  manners, 
with  one  or  two  branches  of  the  national  statistics. 

The  times  preceding  the  foundation  of  the  empire 
class  themselves  chronologically  in  three  divisions.  The 
first  is  that  legendary  age  which  we  have  called  the 
First  Secondary  Period.  Of  the  other  two,  compre- 
hending together  the  five  republican  centuries  of  the 
Ancient  Illustrious  Period,  the  earlier  ends  with  the 
complete  development  of  the  democracy,  while  the  later 
embraces  the  decline  and  overthrow  of  freedom. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        43 


FIRST  AGE. 

ITALY  TILL  THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC  : 
ENDING   A.  U.  244,   OR  B.C.  610.* 

The  Primitive  Inhabitants  of  Italy. \ — Amidst  the  tra- 
ditional obscurity  which  covers  the  remotest  times  of 
Italian  history,  the  principal  fact  which  may  be  re- 
garded as  certain  is  this  ;  that,  besides  the  race  or  races 
which  originally  occupied  the  peninsula,  the  greater  por- 
tion of  it  was  at  one  period,  before  the  foundation  of  Rome, 
possessed  by  that  smgular  tribe  which,  commonly  knoAvn 
by  the  name  of  Pelasgi,  united  with  the  Hellenes  to 
form  the  ancient  Greek  nation.  We  discover  the  Pelasgi 
through  the  disguise  of  poetical  fable,  in  the  legends 
both  of  Grecian  and  Roman  writers.  We  trace  them 
again  in  those  massive  architectural  remains  which  are 
still  scattered  over  the  country,  from  the  northern  ex- 
tremities of  Tuscany  to  the  southern  slopes  of  the 
central  Apennmes.  Lastly,  we  recognise  their  influence 
and  fix  them  down  as  having  inhabited  Latium,  when 
we  perceive  the  Hellenic  element  which  is  so  copiously 
infused  into  the  Latin  language,  and  which,  it  is  demon- 
strable, must  have  formed  part  of  it  in  its  earliest  stages. 

The  older  Italian  nations,  on  whom  the  Pelasgians  in- 
truded, and  by  whom  they  appear  to  have  been  m  turn 
subdued,  could  not  be  very  briefly  classified,  nor  even 
enumerated.  It  is  enough  to  allude  to  the  Ligurians, 
with  those  other  northern  tribes  whom  the  Gauls  soon 
invaded;  and  to  those  rude  hordes  of  the  south  who 
were  speedily  hemmed  in  by  the  Greek  colonies.     The 

*  By  the  common  reckonintr  (after  Varro),  which  is  here  adopt- 
ed, the  foundation  of  Rome  is  placed  in  the  year  before  Christ  76S. 

t  The  most  authoritative  writers  of  the  present  age,  on  the 
early  antiquities  of  Italy,  are  Niebuhr,  in  his  History  of  Rome ; 
Miiller,  in  his  work  on  the  Etruscans ;  and  Micali,  in  his  Italia 
avanti  il  Dominio  de'  Romani,  4  vols,  1810,  or  in  his  Antichi 
Popoli  d'ltalia,  3  vols,  1832,  which  is  an  improved  and  enlarged  edi- 
tion of  the  former.  Among  the  older  works,  the  most  interesting 
is  Lanzi's  Saggio  di  Lingua  Etrusca,  1789.  The  view  in  the  text 
is  in  substance  Niebuhr's. 


44  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

inhabitants  of  the  intermediate  space  require  more  minute 
notice.  The  Umbrians  are  said  to  have  been  the  abori- 
gines of  Italy,  and  to  have  once  possessed  a  very  wide 
territory.  The  Sabines,  a  mountain-tribe,  were  also 
believed  to  be  extremely  ancient, — perhaps  Umbrians, — 
and  were  certainly  the  nucleus  of  several  greater  nations. 
Their  settlements  extended  westward  as  far  as  Rome, 
and  eastward  over  Picenum  :  to  the  south  they  seem  to 
have  sent  out  the  Hernicians,  Marsians,  Pelignians,  and 
other  tribes  of  the  central  Apennines  ;  and  still  farther 
south  was  the  powerful  people  of  the  Samnites,  the 
greatest  of  their  colonies.  These  southern  swarms  of 
the  Sabines  partially  dispossessed  the  Opicians  or  Oscans, 
a  race  whose  name  disappeared  early,  but  to  whose 
blood  belonged  the  Auruncians,  and  perhaps  the  -^quans 
and  Volscians.  The  origin  of  these  various  races  is  a 
question  to  be  solved  on  the  narrowest  grounds ;  but 
certainly  none  of  them  were  Pelasgians.  These  last, 
however,  evidently  intermixed  with  them  at  different 
points  over  nearly  the  whole  peninsula,  and  were 
gradually  lost  in  the  union. 

These  Italian  tribes  do  not  emerge  from  obscurity  till 
they  successively  appear  as  contending  with  Rome,  and 
defeated  by  her.  In  the  period  immediately  preceding 
their  fall,  they  were  distinguished  for  little  except  that 
military  courage  and  talent,  of  which  all  gave  proofs  so 
deadly.  In  the  infancy  of  the  great  city,  however,  the 
Etruscans,  a  separate  race,  whose  origin  is  still  quite 
uncertain,  were  in  a  situation  remarkably  different. 
They  were  a  powerful,  though  declining  nation ;  they 
were  active  by  sea  in  commerce  and  in  piracy ;  they 
were  wealthy,  and  had  used  their  riches,  and  their  in- 
tercourse with  the  Greek  colonies  and  other  foreign 
states,  for  the  acquisition  of  a  singular  proficiency  in  archi- 
tecture, painting,  and  sculpture.  At  one  time,  their  rule, 
and  perhaps  their  population,  extended  from  the  Alps 
to  Latium  or  Campania,  and  across  the  whole  breadth  of 
Italy  ;  but  at  the  commencement  of  their  struggle  against 
Rome,  their  dominion  was  nearly  restricted  to  Etruria 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        45 

Proper.  This  province  was  not  then  united  into  one  state ; 
hut  its  different  cantons  had  formed  themselves  into  a 
federal  league,  the  cohesion  of  which  had  hecome  very 
slight.  Their  confederation  is  said  to  have  always  con- 
sisted of  twelve  towns,  with  the  district  attached  to  each ; 
and  their  governments  were  oligarchical,  with  hut  few- 
exceptions,  such  as  Veil,  and  perhaps  Clusium,  which 
were  ruled  by  kings.  The  mass  of  the  people  are  stated 
to  have  been  serfs  in  the  hands  of  the  nobilit}^  (the  Lucu- 
mones)  ;  and  if  it  be  true  that  this  race  invaded  the 
Pelasgians,  and  reduced  them  to  bondage,  the  fact  would 
account  for  the  Greek  character,  which  pervades  much 
even  of  the  earliest  Etruscan  works  of  art,  and  also  for 
the  Pelasgic  style  of  their  antique  fortresses.'"  The 
priesthood  of  Etniria  composed  no  separate  class,  but  its 
functions  were,  exclusively  m  the  hands  of  the  nobles, 
who  enveloped  their  gloomy  superstition  in  a  thick  veil 
of  ritual  observances,  and  skilfully  used  these  rites  and 
their  pretences  to  the  gift  of  divination,  to  form  the 
groundwork  of  an  immense  power  in  the  state.  The 
Roman  chiefs  borrowed  from  the  Etruscans  both  their 
religious  ceremonies  and  their  political  application  of 
them ;  and  the  nation  at  large  owed  to  this  singular 
people  the  first  steps  of  their  civilisation. 

The  Latins,  and  the  Origin  of  Rome. — The  Romans 
traced  their  immediate  descent  to  the  Latins,  a  powerful 
tribe,  different  from  any  of  those  now  enumerated  ;  but 
their  national  pride  and  Greek  learning  have  wrapt  up 
the  history  of  these  ancestors  in  a  cloud  of  fable.  The 
most  probable  account  of  their  origin  sets  out  from  the 
fact,  that  the  Pelasgians  at  one  time  occupied  the  plains 
of  Latium,  either  as  first  settlers,  or  by  subduing  earlier 
inhabitants.  They  were  attacked  by  a  race  whom  the 
Sabines  had  dislodged  from  the  mountains,  and  whom, 
on  a  comparison  of  the  non-Grecian  part  of  the  Latin 
language  with  extant  inscriptions,  we  are  warranted  in 
pronouncing  to  have  been  Oscans.     The  Pelasgians  and 

*  See  a  paper  on  Etruscan  Antiquities,  by  Mr  Millingen  : 
Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  vol.  ii.  1834. 


46  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

that  people  coalesced,  and  formed  the  Latin  league  and 
the  older  Latin  tongue.  Virgil's  fable,  and  some  historical 
facts,  indicate  that  they  were  at  one  time  divided  into  two 
confederations,  the  southern  having  its  seat  at  Ardea,  the 
northern  at  Lavinium  or  Laurentum.  The  former  dis- 
appeared early,  probably  on  being  conquered  by  the 
Volscians.  The  latter  continued  to  exist ;  but  Alba  be- 
came its  principal  town,  and  attained  a  power  which  is 
attested  by  its  public  works,  if  it  be  true  (and  it  is  more 
than  probable)  that  the  extraordinary  tunnel  of  the 
Alban  Lake,  the  merit  of  which  is  claimed  by  the  Ro- 
mans, was  really  executed  before  they  conquered  Alba. 
The  Latin  league  is  said  to  have  always  consisted  of 
thirty  towns,  each  of  which  had  a  senate,  and  an  elective 
chief  magistrate,  called  a  dictator. 

From  the  conflicting  accounts  of  the  foundation  of 
Rome  by  Romulus  we  may  collect  at  least  a  plausible 
theory  of  its  origin.  The  first  and  most  important 
body  of  its  inhabitants,  who,  it  is  agreed,  had  their  seat 
on  the  Palatine  Hill,  consisted  of  Latins  belonging  to  the 
mixed  race  of  Oscans  and  Pelasgians.  The  spot  on  which 
they  fixed  themselves  had  clearly  been  occupied  before 
the  events  with  which  tradition  associates  the  name  of 
the  founder.  If  the  poetical  fables  have  any  historical 
basis,  the  older  town  or  \Tllage  of  the  Palatine  must  have 
been  built  by  the  Pelasgians  before  they  merged  in  the 
Latin  race.  At  the  formation  of  the  town  of  Romulus, 
the  Sabines,  as  it  is  with  much  probability  conjectured, 
had  a  settlement  covering  the  Capitoline  and  Quiriual 
Hills  ;  and  the  Roman  legend  intimates  that  this  town 
and  that  on  the  Palatine  were  formed  into  one,  and  their 
citizens  into  one  community,  in  which  the  Latin 
language  and  influence  continued  to  rule.  The  original 
constitution  of  the  dimmutive  state  thus  composed,  is 
represented  to  have  been  an  elective  and  limited  mo- 
narchy,* which  was  forcibly  abolished  on  the  misconduct 


*   Livii  Histor.  lib.  i.   cap.  49.     Dionys.  Halicarn.   Antiquit 
Roman,  lib.  ii.  cap.  14 ;  lib.  iv.  cap.  80. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        47 

of  its  seventh  king.*  The  history  of  these  chiefs,  and 
even  the  names  and  existence  of  some  of  them,  are  matter 
of  great  doubt,  wliile  the  period  assigned  to  tlieir  dynasty 
is  manifestly  erroneous.  There  are  strong  indications 
also,  that  before  the  expulsion  of  the  kings  the  dominion 
of  Rome  extended  much  farther  than  the  received  ac- 
count, reaching  northward  into  Etruria  and  southward  as 
far  as  Terracina.  The  new  republic  lost  for  a  time  the 
greater  part  of  this  territory,  and  therefore  the  historians 
concealed  the  fact  that  it  had  ever  been  acquued.  Before 
the  revolution  the  militaiy  spirit  of  the  Romans  was 
formed  and  the  outline  of  their  political  constitution 
developed. 

The  Greek  Colonies  in  Italy  and  Sicily. — While  Rome 
was  gradually  becoming  the  head  of  a  powerful  state  in 
Central  Italy,  the  southern  coasts  received  a  succession 
of  foreign  settlers,  possessing  an  amount  of  wealth,  of 
commercial  activity,  of  skill  in  the  arts,  and  of  literary 
and  philosophical  cultivation,  which  even  the  Etrus- 
cans had  never  approached,  and  to  which  all  the  other 
Italians  were  still  total  strangers.  These  colonists  were 
the  foi^nders  of  the  Greek  republican  cities,  lining  the 
portion  of  the  mainland  which  was  called  from  them 
Magna  Grsecia,  and  occupying  many  points  on  the  coasts 
of  SicUy.  Almost  all  of  these  were  established  before 
the  Roman  revolution,  but  no  considerable  intercourse 
subsisted  between  them  and  Rome  tUl  they  submitted  to 
her  armies  late  in  the  fifth  century  of  the  city.  It  is  neces- 
sary, however,  to  remark  the  existence  of  these  polished 
communities  of  foreigners  at  a  time  when  the  natives  were 
so  utterly  uncultivated.  Tradition  carried  back  the 
origin  of  Cumse,  a  colony  of  Ionic  Greeks,  to  the  year  b.  c. 
1030 ;  and  this  town,  besides  giving  birth  to  Neapolis, 
founded  Zancle,  afterwards  called  Messana,  the  earliest 
Grecian  settlement  in  Sicily.     The  aristocratic  govern- 

•  A.  u.  L  Romulus.  a.  u.  137.  Tarquinius  Priscus. 
37.  Numa  Pompilius.  176.  Servius  Tullius. 

80.  T'illus  Hostilius.  220.  Tarquinius    Superbus 

114.  Ancus  Martius.  expelled  in  244. 


48  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

ment  of  Cumse  was  temporarily  subverted  by  Aristode- 
mus,  who  appears  in  the  liistory  of  the  new  Roman  repub- 
lic. Rhegium  was  another  Ionic  commonwealth.  The 
Doric  Tarentum,  planted  about  the  year  b.  c.  707,  became 
at  length  the  wealthiest  of  the  seaports  belongmg  to  the 
Italiot  Greeks.  Croton,  and  the  powerful  and  luxurious 
colony  of  Sybaris,  were  Achaean.  Locri,  for  which  Zaleucus 
legislated  about  660  b.  c,  was  another  eminent  commu- 
nity ;  and  settlers  from  these  to\ATis  were  spread  over  the 
whole  southern  coast  of  Ital}^  The  territory  of  the  cities 
in  no  instance  extended  far  into  the  interior  of  the  country  ; 
and  their  ruin  was  prepared  by  the  frequent  attacks  of 
the  natives,  and  by  the  disunion  of  the  several  republics 
among  themselves. 

Down  to  the  time  of  the  Roman  revolution,  the  Greek 
colonies  in  Sicily  were  rapidly  increasing  in  strength  and 
numbers.  The  Doric  Syracuse,  the  most  poweiful  of 
them,  planted  by  Corinthians  in  the  year  b.  c.  757,  was 
still  republican.  Gela,  also  Doric,  and  dating  from  b.  c. 
7lo,  had  sent  out  emigrants  to  Agrigentum  ;  and,  besides 
several  smaller  cities  of  the  same  race,  there  already  ex- 
isted Naxos,  Catana,  Taurominium,  and  other  flourishing 
Ionic  settlements.  The  Carthaginians,  whose  capital  lay 
within  a  day's  sail  of  Sicily,  had  already  made  establish- 
ments on  its  nearest  shores,  and  were  about  to  enter  on  that 
attempt  to  subjugate  the  whole  island  which  at  last  em- 
broiled them  with  the  Romans.  The  native  inhabitants, 
who  evidently  belonged  to  some  one  or  more  of  the  tribes 
composing  the  oldest  Italian  population,  appear  for  a 
time  in  the  history  of  the  country  as  useful  auxiliaries  to 
their  Greek,  Punic,  or  Roman  masters,  but  were  finally 
lost  among  the  foreign  settlers.  Sardinia,  in  which  the 
Greeks  at  an  early  epoch  had  planted  two  colonies, 
Caralis  and  Oibia,  was  now  entirely  subject  to  Carthage  ; 
and  tills  state  had  also  made  itself  master  of  one  or 
two  havens  in  Corsica,  founded  b}"  the  Etruscans. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        49 


SECOND  AGE. 

THE  ROMAN   REPUBLIC  TILL  THE  COMPLETE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF 

THE  democracy: 
A.  u.  244-^68,  or  s.  c.  510—286. 

The  External  Histoiv/  of  Borne. — During  this  age  the 
foreign  relations  of  the  new  republican  state  underwent 
some  remarkable  vicissitudes,  the  earlier  details  of  which 
have  not  reached  us  without  much  obscurity  and  evident 
distortion.  Besides  acquiring,  before  the  revolution,  the 
absolute  dominion  of  a  considerable  territory,  the  Romans 
had  contrived  not  only  to  obtain  a  place  in  the  federative 
league  of  the  Latin  towns,  but  to  arrogate  the  presidency 
of  the  confederation.  On  this  prerogative  they  speedily 
grounded  extravagant  claims  of  superiority.  Their  en- 
croachments, and  the  intrigues  of  their  banished  princes, 
immediately  mvolved  the  republic  in  wars  both  with  the 
Latins  and  with  several  other  neighbouring  nations.  The 
earliest  of  the  great  military  names  of  the  time  was  that 
of  Quinctius  Cincirmatus,  who  was  succeeded  in  his  cele- 
brity by  Marcus  Furius  Camillas.  In  the  Etruscan  war, 
headed  by  Porsena,  prince  of  Clusium,  to  which  belong 
the  stories  of  Codes  and  Mucins  Scsevola,  with  so  many 
others  of  the  heroic  Roman  legends,  it  is  quite  clear  that 
the  city  was  actually  taken,  and  the  commonwealth  com- 
pelled to  surrender  a  large  portion  of  her  territory.  Her 
next  war  with  the  same  tribes,  in  wliich  Camillus  was  the 
hero  and  Veii  the  principal  enemy,  was  more  successful. 
It  ended  by  bringing  back  the  ceded  districts  with 
large  additions,  while  it  nearly  annihilated  the  Etruscan 
league.  A  few  years  later  Rome  was  on  the  brink  of  ruin. 
Colonies  of  Gauls  had  previously  crossed  the  Alps  and 
established  themselves  in  the  north  of  Italy  ;  and  now 
either  these  settlers  alone,  or  more  probably  a  new  horde 
aided  by  them,  invaded  Etruria  and  Latium,  and  (a.  u. 
365,  B.  c.  389)  took  and  burned  Rome.  The  Romans 
purchased,  by  a  heavy  ransom,  the  departure  of  those 
barbarians,  who  probably  retired  upon  Cisalpine  Gaul. 


50  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

Rome,  with  that  elastic  strength  which  so  finely  distin- 
guishes her  republican  history,  quickly  recovered  from 
the  shock,  and  pursued  vigorously  her  plan,  already 
matured,  for  the  entire  subjugation  of  Italy.  Before 
tlie  end  of  her  fourth  century,  in  spite  of  internal  dis- 
cord and  foreign  enemies,  she  had  again  reduced  the 
greater  part  of  Latium  to  a  precarious  subjection,  and 
had  engaged  in  wars  with  more  distant  tribes,  including 
the  Volscians,  ^Equans,  and  Auruncans. 

The  first  half  of  her  fifth  century  was  chiefly  occupied 
by  the  heroic  Samnite  war,  carried  on  resolutely,  and 
with  complete  success,  against  the  bravest  of  her  Italian 
rivals.  She  was  soon  able  to  strengthen  her  dominion 
over  almost  all  the  provinces  from  Samnium  to  the  frontier 
of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  and  only  waited  for  a  pretence  to 
attack  the  Greek  colonies  and  Carthage. 

The  half  century  just  named  abounds  more  than  any 
other  period  of  the  repubKcan  history  in  deeds  of  military 
prowess,  and  there  are  no  Roman  heroes  whose  characters 
we  can  admire  so  unliesitatingly  as  those  who  figure  in 
this  series  of  wars.  If  we  examine  deeply  into  the  con- 
duct of  the  most  prominent  persons  who  flourished  in 
the  preceding  age,  we  shall  detect  in  them  bad  citizens 
and  bad  men,  oppressors  of  the  people,  and  unscru- 
pulous avengers  of  attacks  on  their  own  privileged 
order.  This,  which  was  the  character  of  Cincinnatus, 
was  also,  with  the  addition  of  avarice  and  dishonesty, 
that  of  the  vaunted  Camillus.  But  in  the  Samnite 
period,  as  we  shall  see,  the  two  orders  of  the  state  had 
been  just  amalgamated  into  one : — the  fierce  quarrels 
between  the  noble  and  the  commoner  were  transmuted 
into  a  generous  emulation,  and  the  patriotic  enthusiasm 
burnt  for  a  time  with  a  flame  so  warm  and  radiant  as 
had  never  yet  shone  on  Rome,  and  never  afterwards  visit- 
ed her.  The  devotion  to  country  indeed  was  in  such 
excess,  that  self-love  and  the  domestic  affections  were 
equally  weak  against  its  pressure.  The  patrician  Manlius, 
a  descendant  of  the  unfortunate  Marcus,  first  became  ce- 
lebrated for  his  filial  piety,  and  then  for  his  single  combat 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.       51 

with  the  Ganl  on  the  Salarian  Bridge  over  the  Aiiio, 
where  he  gained  the  chain  which  gave  him  his  name  of 
Torquatus.  A  few  years  later,  a  similar  conflict  Avith 
another  Gaul  in  the  Pontine  Flats,  earned  the  surname 
of  Corvus  for  the  excellent  Marcus  Valerius.  In  the 
same  generation,  during  a  war  against  the  Latins,  Torqua- 
tus, then  consul,  performed  near  Capua  that  teiTible  act 
of  rigour  which  is  so  famous,  by  executing  his  own  valiant 
son  for  a  breach  of  discipline  ;  and  a  few  days  afterwards 
his  plebeian  colleague  Decius  Mus,  who  had  on  a  pre- 
vious occasion  chivalrously  saved  a  consular  army  in 
Campania,  crowTied  a  worthy  life  by  devoting  himself  to 
death  for  the  state  in  conformity  with  a  national  super- 
stition. The  self-sacrifice  of  Decius,  inspiring  courage 
and  revenge  in  his  soldiers,  procured  the  victory  for 
Rome  ;  and  on  another  such  emergency,  in  a  battle 
with  the  Gauls  and  Samnites  in  Etruria,  his  son  pur- 
chased a  second  victory  at  a  similar  price. 

The  Greek  Colonies. — The  Greek  cities  in  Italy  and 
Sicily,  like  the  mother-country,  point  to  this  period  as 
the  zenith  of  their  glory  and  the  commencement  of  their 
decay.  In  Greece  this  era  embraces  the  most  splendid 
portion  of  the  republican  historj^  extending  from  the  Per- 
sian war  to  Philip  of  Macedon ;  and  it  closes  with  the  for- 
mation and  partition  (a.  u.  430)  of  Alexander's  empire. 
To  this  age  belong,  in  art,  Phidias  and  his  successors,  and 
in  philosophy,  literature,  and  oratory,  that  illustrious 
an-ay  of  names  which  begins  with  Herodotus  and  ends 
vi-ith  Aristotle.  The  progi'ess  of  the  Greco-Italians 
kept  pace  with  that  of  then-  parent-land,  with  which 
they  were  in  constant  communication.  About  the  time 
of  the  Roman  revolution  Sybaris  was  destroyed,  and,  a 
few  years  after  the  death  of  Virginia,  Thiu'ii  was  found- 
ed on  its  mins.  Tarentum,  the  most  flourishing  city 
of  Magna  Graecia,  was  at  the  summit  of  its  prosperity 
from  the  expulsion  of  Tarquin  till  the  sack  of  Rome  by 
the  Gauls,  and  Arch}'tas  was  latterly  the  president  of 
its  republic.  Cumse  was  subdued  by  the  native  Campa- 
nians,  and  remained  under  their  dominion;   and  the 


52  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

Syracusans,  repeatedly  attacking  Magna  Graecia,  took 
Croton  more  than  once,  and  destroyed  Rhegium,  which, 
however,  was  rebnilt. 

Sicily  underwent  various  vicissitudes.  The  Cartha- 
ginians were  actively  striving  to  convert  their  few  colo- 
nies on  the  western  coast  into  a  sovereignty  over  the  whole 
island ;  and  they  came  into  direct  communication  with 
Rome  by  commercial  treaties,  the  first  of  which,  if 
genuine,  is  dated  a.u.  246.  The  history  of  the  smaller 
Greek  to%^Tis  in  that  island  is  dependent  on  the  annals  of 
Agrigentum  and  Sp'acuse.*  The  first  of  these  was  for 
some  time  subject  to  princes,  among  whom  was  Theron,  at 
whose  court  Pindar  appeared,  and  it  then  obtained  a 
democratical  constitution,  which  subsisted  little  more 
than  half  a  centuiy.  During  this  short  period  the  splen- 
dour of  the  city,  and  its  trade  with  Africa  and  Gaul, 
were  at  their  height.  It  was  subdued  by  Syracuse,  and 
being  afterwards  (a.  u.  840)  destroyed  by  the  Carthagi- 
nians, never  recovered  its  former  greatness.  Syracuse, 
in  like  manner,  presents  in  this  age  its  liighest  glory 
and  its  decline.  Its  history  contains  fii*st,  from  a.  u.  270 
to  287,  the  reigns  of  the  good  Gelo,  of  Hiero,  Pindar's 
patron,  and  of  Tlirasybulus.  The  expulsion  of  the  last 
of  these  rulers  was  followed  by  a  democracy  of  sixty-one 
years,  raising  the  state  to  the  greatest  power  it  ever  at- 
tained. During  this  free  period  it  subdued  Agrigentum, 
and  repulsed  the  famous  Athenian  invasion  under  jN'icias 
and  Alcibiades.  The  -wars  witli  Carthage  followed,  and, 
aided  by  the  dangerous  increase  of  the  popular  ascend- 
ency, enabled  the  elder  Dionysius  to  possess  himself  first 
of  the  army  and  then  of  the  throne,  which  he  held  thirty- 
eight  years,  when  liis  life  was  brought  to  a  close  by  poison. 
In  his  constant  wars  against  the  Carthaginians  his  success 
varied,  but,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  that  people  possessed 
by  treaty  the  whole  Avestern  half  of  the  island  from  the 
river  Halycus.     This  struggle  prevented  him  from  fully 


*  For  the  political  institutions  of  these  two  cities,  see  Miiller's 
Dorians,  book  iii.  chap.  9  (English  Translation,  2  vols,  1830). 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        53 

executing  his  favourite  project, — the  conquest  of  Southern 
Italy.  His  weak  son,  the  younger  Dionysius,  was  first 
dispossessed  by  the  noble  Dion,  Plato's  friend,  and,  after 
the  murder  of  that  patriot,  was  ejected  a  second  time 
by  the  Corinthians  under  the  stern  Timoleon.  A  short 
period  of  republicanism  ensued  all  over  Sicily,  ending 
when  the  sovereignty  of  Syracuse  was  usurped  by  Aga- 
thocles,  who,  for  twenty-eight  years,  prosecuted  unsuc- 
cessfully the  old  designs  of  expelling  the  African  invaders 
and  reducing  Magna  Graecia. 

The  Constitutional  History  of  Rome. — This  age  is  the 
most  important  of  any  in  the  history  of  the  political  con- 
stitution of  the  Roman  commonwealth.  Its  commence- 
ment exliibits  an  hereditary  nobility,  possessing  the 
executive  powers  of  the  government  to  the  entire  exclu- 
sion of  the  commons,  and  practically  exercising  an  undue 
influence  over  the  legislature,  the  functions  of  which 
were  by  the  theory  of  the  constitution  vested  in  the 
nation  at  large.  At  the  end  of  this  period  the  distinc- 
tions between  the  two  orders  are  completely  destroyed, 
the  legislative  power  of  the  people  is  quite  uncontrolled, 
and  their  influence  on  the  executive  begins  to  be  excessive 
and  consequently  dangerous. 

The  framework  of  the  Roman  constitution  was  con- 
structed before  the  establishment  of  the  republic.  It 
recognised  two  classes  of  citizens, — the  Plebeians  or  com- 
monalty, and  tlie  Patricians,  an  hereditary  nobility,  whose 
privileges  belonged  to  none  but  persons  of  pure  patri- 
cian blood.  j\Iany  of  the  first  class,  however,  formed  in 
truth  a  third  order,  that  of  the  Clients,  or  hereditaiy 
vassals  of  the  patricians  ;  a  body  of  men  who,  while  their 
political  rights  were  not  aff'ected  by  their  vassalship,  were 
individually  protected  by  their  respective  patrons  even 
against  the  laws  of  the  state,  while,  in  return,  they  were 
legally  and  hereditarily  bound  to  yield  service  to  their  pro- 
tectors. The  notion  that  every  plebeian  was  indi\4dually 
attached  as  a  client  to  some  patrician  is  quite  en-oneous, 
and  originates  in  a  misapprehension  of  the  historian  Dio- 
nysius, caused  by  the  altered  position  of  tilings  in  the  last 


54  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

days  of  the  republic,  when  a  voluntary  and  personal 
clientship,  quite  different  from  the  hereditary  relation  of 
the  older  vassals,  had  become  very  general.  In  the  early 
ages  of  the  commonwealth,  a  large  proportion  of  the  ple- 
beians were  not  clients ;  and  it  is  this  free  body  of 
commoners  that  we  find  asserting  the  claims  of  their 
order  against  the  nobility,  while  the  clients  invariably 
supported  the  prerogatives  of  their  lords. 

Under  the  kings  the  Senate  was  formed,  and  consisted 
of  three  hundred  patricians,  vacancies  in  the  number 
being  filled  up  by  the  prince.  The  IS'ational  Assemblies 
of  the  people,  embracing  eveiy  individual  possessing  the 
political  franchise,  whether  patrician,  free  plebeian,  or 
client,  w^ere  of  two  kinds.  The  older  foim,  the  intro- 
duction of  which  is  ascribed  to  Romulus,  was  the  con- 
vention called  the  Comitia  Curiata.  The  whole  body  of 
the  citizens  was  divided  into  thirty  curia;  every  citizen 
possessed  one  vote  in  his  o^^^l  curia,  and  eveiy  curia  pos- 
sessed one  vote  in  the  convention.  The  second  form  was 
that  said  to  have  been  established  by  King  Servius 
Tullius,  called  the  Comitia  Centuriata,  which,  even 
before  the  origin  of  the  republic,  had  nearly  superseded 
the  other.  For  the  purposes  of  this  new  assembly  the 
citizens  were  divided  into  centuries  or  hundreds,  in  which 
each  person  possessed  one  vote,  while  each  century  had  a 
vote  in  the  general  meeting.  But  the  centuries  were  so 
arranged  as  to  throw  the  power  of  the  assembly  altogether 
into  the  hands  of  the  richer  men.  The  w^hole  body  of  the 
citizens  was  arranged  in  six  Classes.  The  first  of  these 
was  composed  of  such  persons  as  possessed  the  largest 
amount  of  taxable  property  ;  the  qualification  dimin- 
ished in  each  succeeding  class ;  and  the  sixth,  which, 
perhaps,  was  not  strictly  tei-med  a  class,  consisted  of 
those  who  were  not  rated  in  the  rolls  as  possessing  any 
taxable  property  at  all,  and  neither  paid  taxes  on  that 
ground  nor  rendered  military  service  in  the  legions.  The 
whole  number  of  centuries  may  be  stated  at  about  193. 
The  sixth  class,  probably  a  very-  numerous  one,  contained 
only  one  century,  and  consequently  had  only  one  vote  ; 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        DO 

while  the  first  class,  which  cannot  originally  have  con- 
tained many  individuals,  was  divided  into  at  least  ninety- 
eight  centuries, — eighty  being  rated  for  military  service 
in  the  infantry,  and  eighteen,  composing  the  equestrian 
order  or  knights  (among  whom  the  patricians  were  pro- 
bably included),  for  service  in  the  cavalry.  Besides 
this,  the  votes  of  the  first  class  were  always  taken  first. 
If  its  centuries  were  unanimous,  the  question  before  the 
convention  was  of  course  already  decided  :  if  their  votes 
did  not  form  a  majority,  the  second  class  was  applied  to, 
and  the  voting  scarcely  ever  went  much  lower.  The 
amount  of  taxation  and  of  military  service  levied  on 
each  of  the  first  five  classes  was  proportional  to  its  valua- 
tion in  the  roll,  with  this  exception,  that  military  servic? 
was  not  exacted  from  the  clients.* 

*  The  account  here  given  is  substantially  that  which  is  com- 
monly received.  But  an  entirely  new  theory  of  the  original  consti- 
tution of  Rome  has  been  propounded  by  a  great  historian  of  the 
present  age.  Every  student  of  ancient  history  is  Niebuhr's  debtor, 
and  is  bound  thankfully  and  admiringly  to  acknowledge  the 
obligation,  however  difficult  it  may  be  to  acquiesce  in  his  leading 
hypothesis. 

Niebuhr's  interesting  theory  is  briefly  the  following  : — The  ori- 
ginal population  of  Rome  consisted  exclusively  of  patricians  and 
their  clients  ;  but  the  populus,  or  body  of  citizens  possessing  the 
political  franchise,  comprehended  only  the  patricians.  The  patri- 
cians exercised  the  franchise  in  the  convention  of  the  curice. 
Gradually,  however,  there  arose  a  third  class,— the  plebeians, — 
who,  though  not  clients,  did  not  possess  the  political  franchise. 
This  new  body  may  have  been  composed  of  various  sorts  of  men  ; 
— of  clients  emancipated  by  the  extinction  of  the  families  of  their 
patrons ;  of  the  children  of  marriages  between  patricians  and  non- 
patricians  ;  of  the  inhabitants  of  conquered  towns ;  and  of  indivi- 
duals immigrating.  The  constitution  of  Servius  Tulllus  communi- 
cated the  franchise  to  the  plebeians  and  the  clients,  allowing  them, 
along  wath  the  patricians,  to  exercise  it  in  the  convention  of  the 
centuries — The  chief  points  in  which  this  theory  touches  the 
constitutional  vicissitudes  of  the  repiiblic  will  be  noticed  as  they 
occur.  For  a  minute  exposition  of  Niebuhr's  system  see  his  His- 
tory of  Rome,  vol.  i.  pp.  301-331,  398-424  (Hare  and  Thirlwall's 
Translation,  edition  1831),  vol.  ii.  p.  129-164  (Translation,  edit. 
1832),  and  both  volumes  passim.  Part  of  it  is  illustrated  ably  in 
Maldon's  uncompleted  History  of  Rome  in  the  Library  of  Useful 
Knowledge.  Arnold's  learned  History  of  Rome  (vol.  i.  To  the 
taking  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls,  1838),  adopts  the  outline  of  the  theory. 
In  the  following  sketch  much  use  has  also  been  made  of  the 


56  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

In  passing  to  the  political  changes  of  the  republic,  cer- 
tain particulars  may  be  noted,  in  which  the  Roman  con- 
stitution was  opposed  to  modern  opinions,  and  which  are 
therefore  liable  to  be  misunderstood. 

1.  Their  system  of  government,  like  every  other  in 
the  ancient  world,  wanted  altogether  the  modem  prin- 
ciple of  a  representation  of  the  people.  Every  individual 
possessing  the  civic  franchise,  was  held  entitled  to  exer- 
cise it  personally  by  his  vote  in  all  proceedings  of  the 
national  conventions.  2.  The  legislative,  executive,  and 
judicial  functions,  were  not  separated  with  sufficient 
nicety,  and  this  defect  produced  much  of  the  internal 
discord  tliat  prevailed.  The  legislative  power,  theoreti- 
cally vested  in  the  people,  the  sovereign  of  the  common- 
wealth, was  long  practically  intruded  on  by  the  senate  ; 
the  executive  was  loosely  shared  between  the  latter  body 
and  the  officers  of  state  ;  and  the  judicial  power  was  long 
in  still  greater  confusion,  at  least  in  criminal  matters. 
The  military  character  of  the  republic  produced  a  similar 
anomaly  in  the  union  of  civil  and  military  authority  in 
the  person  of  the  consul,  and  afterwards  of  some  of  the 
lower  political  functionaries.  S.  The  initiative  or  right 
of  proposing  measures  was  jealously  confined.  There  were 
frequtnt  contests  between  the  senate  and  the  national  as- 
semblies on  this  head  ;  but  it  was  an  admitted  i-ule  tliat,  in 
all  legislative  meetings  of  the  conventions,  the  initiative 


"  Early  Roman  History"  of  Waclismuth,  an  opponent  of  Niebuhr 
(Aeltere  Geschichte  des  Romischen  Staates,  Halle,  1819),  and 
of  the  excellent  treatise  "  On  the  Roman  National  Assemblies" 
by  Schulze,  a  convert  to  Niebuhr's  doctrine  (Von  den  Volksver- 
saramlun<ren  der  Rbmer,  Gotha,  1815),  Of  older  foreign  works, 
Beaufort's  "  Republique  Romaine"  is  exceedingly  useful;  and 
much  matter  may  be  gleaned  from  several  of  the  treatises  in  the 
Thesaurus  Antiquitatum  Romanarum  of  Graevius.  In  English, 
Hooke  and  Ferguson  must  of  course  be  consulted ;  but  our 
earliest  attempt  at  a  systematic  theory  of  the  Roman  constitu- 
tion is  Brodie's  very  original  History  of  the  Roman  Government 
(1810). 

Of  the  numerous  ancient  sources  of  information  on  the  subject, 
by  far  the  most  valuable  are  Livy's  Roman  Histories,  and  the 
Roman  Antiquities  of  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus. 


TILL  XnE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.   57 

belonged  to  the  president  alone,  who  also,  in  various 
ways,  exercised  over  their  deliberations  a  control  which 
to  modern  observers  seems  extremely  unconstitutional. 
4.  The  most  important  and  dignified  places  in  the  priest- 
hood, instead  of  being  held  by  men  specially  set  apai-t 
for  perfumiing  the  offices  of  religion,  were  considered  as 
steps  in  civil  raiik,  and  filled  by  persons  taking  an  active 
share  in  political  business.  5.  During  the  whole  period 
of  the  republic,  every  sitting  of  the  senate,  and  of  all  the 
national  assemblies  (except,  as  we  shall  see,  the  new 
convention  of  the  tribes),  had  to  be  constituted  by  a 
preliminaiy  religious  ceremony,  namely,  that  of  the 
auspices,  which  consisted  in  an  inquiry  by  divination, 
whether  the  gods  were  favourable  to  the  purpose  of  the 
meeting.  The  people  continued  to  be  superstitious 
long  after  they  had  ceased  to  be  truly  pious  ;  and  they 
scarcely  ever  refused  to  adjourn  when  an  evil  omen  was 
announced.  The  laic  priesthood,  who  conducted  these 
ceremonies,  could  not  only  prevent  the  members  from 
entering  on  business,  but  even,  after  their  deliberations 
were  over,  could  declare  their  proceedings  null.  In  this 
way  they  possessed  a  most  dangerous  power,  and  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  the  sacerdotal  colleges  was  the  very  last 
privilege  which  the  aristocracy  gave  up.  6.  The  right  of 
iniposmg  taxes  on  the  communit}',  which  has  been  the 
usual  cause  of  revolutions  in  modem  Europe,  was  never 
claimed  by  the  Roman  people,  who,  even  in  their  most 
democratic  times,  contentedly  left  that  all-important 
prerogative  in  the  hands  of  the  senate  ;  sometimes,  in- 
deed, munnuring  against  particular  burdens,  but  never 
questioning  the  general  law. 

These  preliminary  remarks  may  save  some  confusion, 
and  not  a  little  repetition,  in  the  narrative  of  constitu- 
tional changes  on  which  we  now  enter. 

After  the  aiTangements  of  the  new  commonwealth  were 
completed,  we  find  the  Patrician  Senate  and  the  Conven- 
tions of  the  Curiae  and  Centuries  still  subsisting.  The 
first  magistracy  of  the  state  was  intrusted  to  two  Consuls, 
annually  elected  in  the  convention  of  the  centuries,  who. 


OO  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

while  they  were  officially  the  presidents  of  the  senate 
and  of  the  national  assemblies,  possessed  with  reference 
to  the  people  powers  very  extensive  and  ill  defined,  but 
checked  by  their  personal  responsibility  on  the  termi- 
nation of  their  year  in  office.  The  convention  of  the 
curiae  seldom  appears ;  and  there  are  obvious  reasons 
why  that  of  the  centuries  should  be  considered,  as  it 
was,  the  genuine  council  of  the  nation. 

The  convention  of  the  centuries  had  no  power  to  ori- 
ginate any  law,  but  only  to  approve  or  reject  resolutions 
prepared  by  the  senate,  and  moved  by  the  consuls  ;  and 
neither  these  measures  although  so  approved, nor  the  elec- 
tions of  the  consuls,  were  valid  until  a  subsequent  decree 
of  the  senate  had  confirmed  them.*  The  senators,  at  this 
time,  also  possessed,  besides  the  right  of  imposmg  taxes, 
the  privileges  of  managmg  the  treasury,  of  ordering  out 
the  citizens  as  soldiery  of  the  state,  of  disposing  of  the 
conquered  lands  and  treasure,  and  even  of  declaring  war 
and  concluding  peace  ;  and  they  also  had  the  supreme 
superintendence  of  religion,  and  of  the  laws  and  their 
administration.  Farther,  in  all  ages  of  the  republic,  they 
claimed  and  enforced  a  right  of  temporarily  suspending 
the  constitution  on  great  emergencies,  concerning  the 
urgency  of  which  they  alone  were  to  judge.  This  pre- 
rogative was  at  first  exercised,  usually  in  times  of  popular 
discontent,  by  the  nomination  of  a  Dictator,  who  was 
entitled  to  hold  office  for  six  months,  and  possessed,  in 
reference  to  the  purposes  specially  declared  in  his  appoint- 
ment, an  unlimited  power,  against  which,  even  in  matters 
of  life  and  death,  no  appeal  lay  to  the  people.  At  a  later 
period,  the  senate  exercised  the  same  dangerous  autho- 
rity, in  a  less  offensive  but  really  more  absolute  form, 
by  addressing  to  the  consuls  for  the  time  a  general  man- 


*  According  to  Niebuhr,  the  resolutions  were  prepared  by  the 
senate;  but  the  approval  of  them,  after  they  had  passed  the  centu- 
ries, was  by  the  whole  body  of  patricians  in  the  curiae.  The  dis- 
cussion mainly  hinges  on  the  word  "  Patres,"  which  the  older 
historians  translate  "  Senators,"  and  I'.'iebuhr  "  Patricians." 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        OV 

date,*  which  as  it  were  put  the  state  under  martial  law. 
Both  these  extreme  exertions  of  prerogative  were  prac- 
tised often  enough  to  make  them  strong  as  precedents  ; 
but,  down  to  the  veiy  end  of  the  republic,  they  were 
never  used  without  having  their  legality  fiercely  ques- 
tioned.t 

The  power  thus  vested  in  the  senate  truly  belonged  to 
the  patrician  order ;  because  the  senate  was  originally  com- 
posed entirely  of  that  class,  and  in  the  whole  period  now 
under  review,  no  admixture  of  plebeians  took  place  wliich 
at  all  lessened  its  aristocratic  character  or  feeling.;}:  In 
the  executive,  as  exercised  by  the  officers  of  state,  the  com- 
moners had  no  share  whatever :  they  were,  in  fact,  in- 
eligible to  all  public  offices.  From  all  functions  of  the 
priesthood  they  were  also  strictly  excluded ;  for  the  pedi- 
gree of  the  sacrificing  priest  was  required  to  be  as  spotless 
as  the  colour  of  the  \'ictira.  In  the  convention  of  the 
centuries,  likewise,  the  patricians  long  exercised  great 
influence  by  their  strength  of  votes,  founded  on  their 
wealth  and  that  of  their  clients,  though  this  power  gra- 
dually diminished.  The  mass  of  the  plebeians  were  long 
kept  poor  by  the  early  laws  of  the  state,  which,  adopt- 
ing a  policy  admirably  calculated  to  form  a  vigorous 
army,  confined  its  soldier-citizens  to  war  and  agriculture, 
openly  discouraging  all  trade  and  manufactures.  This 
rule,  however,  was  not  held  applicable  to  the  clients. 
Hence  the  few  commercial  speculations  which  became 
necessary,   especially  the  transactions  in  money,    fell 


*  The  well-known  formula,  "  Ut  consules  operam  darent,  ne 
quid  respublica  detrimenti  caperet." 

t  The  latest  case  was  the  execution  of  Catiline's  accomplices  by 
Cicero. 

+  The  addition  of  the  "  Conscripti"  to  the  senate  by  the  first 
consuls  is  a  knotty  point ;  but  if  these  were  plebeians,  it  is  clear 
that  the  revolutionary  precedent  was  not  followed  to  anv  farther 
extent  than  this ;  that,  previously  to  the  Licinian  law,  a  few  ple- 
beians may  have  been  enrolled  to  fill  up  blanks,  the  persons  chosen 
being  partisans  of  the  aristocracy.  The  only  recorded  exceptions 
to  the  unanimity  of  the  old  senate  in  opposing  the  popular  demands, 
were  men  of  pure  patrician  blood. 


60  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

into  tlieir  hands  ;  and  many  of  their  lords,  whose  political 
privileges  had  largely  augmented  their  fortunes,  lent 
sums  at  usurious  interest,  commonly  sheltering  them- 
selves under  the  names  of  their  vassals. 

The  early  commonalty  of  Rome*  must  not  he  con- 
founded with  the  paupers  and  hirelings  who  formed  the 
populace  of  Cicero's  times.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the 
early  conquered  to^vns  necessarily  entered  the  class  of 
the  plebeians,  though  many  of  them,  the  nobles  of  those 
states,  could  boast  a  lineage  older  and  more  honourable 
than  that  of  the  proudest  Roman.  Nor  were  the  plebeians 
exclusively  indigent ;  for,  though  their  order  embraced 
most  of  the  poor,  it  contained  also  a  good  many  belonging 
to  the  wealthier  classes.  The  history  of  their  struggle  of 
two  hundred  years  for  equality  of  political  rights,  is,  not- 
Avithstanding  some  excesses,  a  distinguished  example  of 
spirit  guided  by  forbearance,  and  presents  a  humiliating 
contrast  to  the  conduct  of  the  same  order  in  the  later 
times  of  the  commonwealth. 

This  contest  soon  commenced.  The  earliest  aristo- 
cratic leaders  of  the  republic,  with  Junius  Brutus  at 
their  head,  acted  with  impartiality  and  moderation  :  but 
in  a  very  few  years,  acts  of  personal  severity  or  injustice 
by  patricians  against  plebeians,  roused  an  indomitable 
spirit  of  resistance.  The  commons  at  first  claimed  no 
reform  of  the  constitution.  They  merely  demanded  re- 
dress of  specific  grievances  affecting  individuals,  and  of 
two  in  particular.  The  first  was  the  inhumanity  exer- 
cised under  the  sanction  of  the  existing  insolvency  law, 
which  was  extremely  harsh,  allowing  the  creditor  not 
only  to  demand  that  his  debtor  should  judicially  pledge 
his  person  in  security  of  the  debt,  but  also  to  apprehend 
him  on  failure,  to  treat  him  like  a  slave,  and  to  imprison 
and  scourge  him.t  The  wars  of  the  state  both  before 
and  after  the  revolution,  constantly  compelled  the  people 


*  Justissima  et  modestissima  plebs. — Cicero. 
t  On  the  bankrupt  laws  of  the  republic,  see  mebuhr  (Transl.), 
vol.  i.  pp.  601,  &c.  and  Arnold,  vol.  i.  chap.  8. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        61 

to  leave  their  fanns  to  serve  in  the  army,  which  received 
no  pay  till  the  siege  of  Veii ;  and  they  were  thus  laid 
under  the  necessity  of  borrowing,  for  the  support  of 
their  famihes,  money  which  they  could  seldom  repay. 
The  free  plebeians  alone  were  exposed  to  these  evils, 
the  clients  being  protected  both  from  the  military  ser- 
vice which  produced  the  debt,  and,  through  their  patrons, 
from  the  law  in  favour  of  the  creditor  ;  and,  as  there  is 
no  evidence  that  the  severity  of  the  provision  was  abused 
by  any  of  the  wealthier  commoners,  the  odium  rested 
solely  on  the  richer  nobles  and  their  vassals.  Instances 
of  cruelty  occurred  almost  immediately  after  the  change 
in  the  form  of  government ;  and  the  wars  aggravated  the 
evil,  till,  a  large  proportion  of  the  plebeians  being  involved 
in  debt,  many  of  them  had  been  repeatedly  imprison- 
ed and  grossly  maltreated.  The  lands  acquired  by  con- 
rjuest,  being  the  confiscated  portions  of  the  territory  of 
captured  towns,  which  became  the  Domain  of  the  State, 
might  have  been  applied  to  alleviate  the  general  distress  : 
but  the  fact  that  they  w^ere  not  so  applied  constituted 
the  second  of  the  plebeian  grievances.  The  occupation 
of  them  was  retained  exclusively  by  the  patricians  ;  for 
when  they  were  not  given  over  to  colonists,  nor  sold  for 
the  benefit  of  the  treasury,  nor  reserved,  as  parts  of  them 
were,  for  public  pasturages,  the  senate  allowed  individuals 
to  take  possession  of  them.  The  right  of  property  in 
the  land  so  held  was  never  legally  transferred  to  the 
occupants  ;  it  remained  with  the  state,  which  was  entitled 
at  a  moment's  warning  to  eject  them  ;  but  as  this  power 
was  exercised  very  seldom,  or  more  probably  never,  many 
persons  were  allowed  to  transmit  to  their  heirs  the  posses- 
sion of  immense  tracts  of  the  public  demesne.  The  ple- 
beians, who  constituted  the  strength  of  the  armies  which 
conquered  these  verylands,  were  strictly  excluded,  perhaps 
not  in  the  earlier  times,  but  certainly  after  the  expul- 
sion of  the  kings,  fi-om  all  such  acquisitions.  Nor  did 
the  abuse  stop  here  :  the  state  was  defrauded  as  well 
as  the  commons.  In  the  original  cession  of  these  estates, 
the  patrician  possessors  were  burdened  with  the  annual 


62  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

payment  to  the  treasury  of  a  fixed  proportion  of  the  pro- 
duce. This  tithe  or  rent  was  first  loosely  exacted,  and 
then  ceased  to  he  levied  at  all.* 

In  some  of  the  earliest  wars  of  the  new  repuhlic,  the 
exasperated  plebeians  refused  to  give  military  service, 
while  the  senate,  making  occasional  and  evasive  conces- 
sions, repeatedly  quelled  them  by  appomting  a  dictator. 
The  discontent  ended  in  the  famous  retreat  of  the  com- 
mons to  the  Sacred  Mount  (a.  u.  261),  the  result  of 
which  was  remarkable,  and  highly  honourable  to  the 
men  who  headed  their  oppressed  fellow-citizens.  The 
circumstance  of  the  revolters  being  all  plebeians  sug- 
gested the  idea  of  providing  for  the  protection  of  that 
class  in  future,  b}^  the  mterposition  of  authorized  dele- 
gates. Temporary  relief  was  obtained  for  the  insolvent 
debtors,  though  without  any  alteration  of  the  bankrupt 
law  :  and  the  privileged  order  agreed  to  the  permanent 
institution  of  Tribunes  of  the  Commons,  who  were  to 
be  plebeians,  elected  annually  in  the  convention  of 
the  curias,  and  confirmed  by  the  senate.t  The  mode  of 
election  was  most  unsatisfactory  ;  but  the  principle 
was  gained  ;  the  patricians  likewise  were  for  some  time 
afraid  to  use  their  advantage,  and  when  they  at  length 
made  an  attempt,  the  plebeians  extorted  an  alteration 
in  the  form  of  the  appointment. 

By  the  original  conception  of  the  office,  the  Tribunes 
appear  to  have  had  only  the  right  of  interposing  for 
the  immediate  protection  of  the  persons  of  commoners 
against  palpable  violations  of  the  law :  but  their  duties 
were  speedily  extended  so  as  to  comprehend  the  defence 


*  jViebuhr,  vol  ii.  p.  129-154.  According  to  Niebuhr's  theory, 
the  plebeians  had  in  strict  law  no  right  either  to  claim  individually 
possession  of  these  lands,  or  to  object  to  the  non-payment  of  the 
tithe  on  them.  The  lands  belonged  to  the  "  populus,"  i.  e.  to  the 
patricians  ;  and  the  profits  of  them  went  to  the  "populus,"  i. e.  not 
into  the  treasury  of  the  state,  but  into  the  common  chest  of  the 
patrician  body.  The  moral  iniquity  of  the  system  is  the  same  in 
either  view. 

t  Niebuhr  maintains  that  they  were  elected  by  the  centuries,  and 
confirmed  by  the-curiae  :   vol.  i.  p.  607. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        63 

of  their  whole  body  against  illegal  acts.  They  had  the 
right  of  putting,  by  their  veto,  a  temporary  stop  to  the 
proceedings,  either  of  any  magistrate,  or  of  any  council 
of  the  state.  Their  functions  were  shielded  by  a  strict 
personal  inviolability  :  an  attack  on  a  tribune,  or  mo- 
lestation offered  to  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty, 
was  treason  to  the  state,  involving  ipso  facto  outlawry. 
They  likewise  soon  claimed  and  exercised  the  right  of  in- 
troducing proposals  for  new  laws,  even  in  those  national 
meetings  of  which  they  were  not  presidents."' 

Within  three  years  after  the  institution  of  the  tri- 
bunate, the  plebeians  (a.  u.  263),  by  an  act  of  injustice 
and  revenge,  gained  a  prerogative  which  in  time  altered 
the  whole  constitution  of  Rome.  Coriolanus,  a  patrician, 
insulted  the  commons  in  his  place  in  the  senate.  The 
tribunes,  whose  office  entitled  them  to  be  present  in  that 
assembly,  though  not  as  yet  to  vote  or  speak,  witnessed 
the  affront,  and  summoned  the  offender  to  answer  before 
a  court  of  which  we  have  not  yet  made  mention, — 
the  Comitia  Tributa,  or  Convention  of  the  Tribes. 
Questions  of  some  difficulty  arise  regarding  it.  It  al- 
ways was  an  assembly  whose  members  were  arranged 
without  any  regard  to  property,  and  were  divided 
neither  into  curiae  nor  centuries,  but  into  tribes,  a  local 
division  like  parishes.  Every  person  had  a  vote  in 
his  tribe,  and  every  tribe  a  vote  in  the  convention, 
the  order  in  which  the  tribes  should  vote  being  deter- 
mmed  by  lot.  The  tribunes  of  the  commons  cited  the 
meeting,  and  were  officially  its  presidents  :  and  (a  most 


*  Niebuhr's  idea  of  the  tribunate  is  this  : — That  the  division  into 
tribes  by  Servius  Tullius  (which  has  not  yet  been  mentioned  in 
the  text),  was  a  division  of  the  plebeians  only,  not  of  the  whole 
people  ;  that,  as  indeed  older  writers  have  pointed  out,  each  plebeian 
tribe  had  its  elective  president,  called  a  tribune;  and  that  the  Tri- 
buni  Plebis  were  just  these  ancient  functionaries,  who  now  for  the 
first  time  received  the  right  of  appearance  as  officers  of  the  general 
body  politic.  He  also  maintains,  that  the  Comitia  Tributa,  which 
■we  shall  immediately  meet  with,  were  nothing  more  than  the  old 
ordinary  meetings  of  these  plebeian  tribes. — Niebuhr,  vol.  i. 
p.  398-424,  and  p.  601-609. 


64  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

important  feature)  it  did  not  require  the  religious  sanc- 
tion of  the  patrician  priests  to  constitute  it. 

On  these  points  there  is  no  dispute :  the  difficulty  oc- 
curs on  the  question  who  were  the  constituent  members.* 
It  is  clear,  that  on  this  occasion,  and  for  a  considerable 
time  afterwards,  the  assemblies  bearing  that  name  were 
composed  exclusively  of  plebeians,  and  probably  of  those 
only  who  were  not  clients.  The  truth  seems  to  be,  that 
the  step  taken  by  the  tribunes  was  in  itself  not  only  ille- 
gal, but  grossly  unfair.  They  knew  that  whether  they 
attempted  the  impeachment  in  the  curiae  or  in  the  cen- 
turies, the  auspices  as  well  as  the  prerogative  of  the  patri- 
cian presidents  would  be  turned  against  them,  and,  in  the 
centuries,  the  influence  of  wealth.  It  is  possible  that  they 
may  already  have  begun  to  assemble  their  constituents, 
of  course  without  any  consecration  or  formal  constitution 
of  the  meeting  :  and  they  now  proposed  to  try  the  proud 
senator  before  a  court  composed  in  this  way,  to  which 
they  gave  a  show  of  legality,  by  naming  and  dividing  it 
according  to  the  tribes,  the  only  recognised  classification 
of  the  people  distinct  from  those  of  the  other  assemblies. 
It  was  indeed  somewhat  startling,  that  the  plaintiffs  should 
propose  to  sit  as  judges  in  their  own  cause  :  and  perhaps 
the  tribunes  may  have  pretended  that  their  new  conven- 
tion was  to  comprehend  all  classes  of  the  citizens.  But  they 
were  perfectly  certain  that  it  would  in  fact  be  com- 
posed of  plebeians  only,  and  probably  of  none  who  were 
not  free.  The  patricians  durst  not  sit  in  the  ncAV  assem- 
bly, or  acknowledge  its  legality  as  a  national  institution, 
unless  they  chose  to  repudiate  the  principles  on  which 
their  political  supremacy  was  founded.  If  they  had 
consented  to  attend  its  meetings,  they  would  thus 
have  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  tribunes  to  impeach, 
which  was  an  unprecedented  and  dangerous  innovation  ; 
they  would  have  recognised  the  right  of  plebeians,  as  yet 
excluded  from  every  office  of  state,  to  summon  and  preside 


•  Compare   Wachsmuth,    p.   300-309,    and   Beaufort, 
p.  18b  (Ed.  1766),  with  Niebuhr,  vol.  i.  p.  307,  et  se^i. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.         65 

in  national  assemblies ;  and  they  would  have  admitted 
the  legality  of  sucli  meetings,  though  not  constituted  by 
those  religious  rites  which  were  so  powerful  an  engine 
of  their  own  political  monopoly.  They  resolved,  there- 
fore, to  sacritice  one  man  rather  than  the  privileges  of 
their  order,  or  the  convenient  insolvency  laws  :  and,  care- 
fully abstaining  from  taking  part  in  the  proceedings, 
they  allowed  the  2)lebeians  to  convene  their  irregular 
assembly,  and  pass  what  invalid  resolutions  or  sentence 
they  pleased. 

The  commons,  however,  held  their  own  act  a  prece- 
dent, and  followed  it.  A  law  of  the  consul  Spurius  Cassius 
(a.  u.  267),  for  remedying  the  abuses  in  the  occupation 
of  the  public  lands,  was  eluded,  and  its  mover  was  mur- 
dered by  his  fellow-nobles.  At  last  (a.  u.  281),  the 
tribune  Genucius  impeached  the  last  year's  consuls  before 
the  convention  of  the  tribes  for  not  enforcing  the  law  of 
Spurius.  This  double  danger  called  for  prompt  action  ; 
and  the  tribune  was  found  dead  in  his  bed  on  the  morn- 
ing m  which  the  trial  should  have  come  on.* 

The  very  next  3'ear,  the  tribune  Volero  moved,  in  the 
convention  of  the  centuries,  a  law  for  amending  the 
election  of  the  Tribunitial  College,  by  transferring  it  to 
the  convention  of  the  tribes.  The  patricians  violently 
resisted  the  attempt,  the  consequences  of  which  they 
clearly  saw.  It  was  evaded  till  the  year  after  (a.  u.  283), 
when  he  again  moved  the  law,  and  the  senate,  finding 
opposition  hopeless,  consented  to  it  in  terrified  silence.t 

Mention  is  made  of  another  very  important  statute,  also 
passed  in  Volero's  second  tribuneship,  declaring  that  the 
convention  of  the  tribes  had  a  right  to  deliberate  on  all 
matters  touching  the  common  weal.  The  terms  of  the 
enactment,  as  reported,  do  not  amount  to  an  assertion  of 
legislative  powers,  but  only  to  a  recognition  of  the  right 

*  Livy  says  (lib.  ii.  cap.  54)  that  the  senators  openly  boasted  of 
the  assassination,  and  that  it  was  reckoned  among  them  an  honour 
to  be  suspected  of  having  had  a  share  in  it. 

t  Patresad  ultimumdimicationis  rati  remventuram — Lex  silentio 
perfertur.   Liv.  lib.  ii.  cap.  56,  57. 

VOL.  I.  i> 


66  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

to  meet  and  pass  resolutions,  analogous  to  our  British 
privilege  of  petitioning  parliament  ;*  but  the  measure 
indicates  to  us,  and  ought  to  have  given  warning  to  the 
patricians,  that  the  plebeians  now  looked  far  beyond  the 
redress  of  personal  wrongs.  Indeed  these  two  laws  of 
Volero  placed  the  commons  in  a  most  advantageous  posi- 
tion. The  peculiar  form  in  which  their  meetings  were 
held  was  authoritatively  recognised  as  legal,  and  they  en- 
joyed a  free  election  of  their  bench  of  presidents.  It  is 
possible  that  from  this  time  the  patricians,  with  the  view 
of  weakening  the  strength  of  their  adversaries,  may 
have  allowed  their  clients  to  attend  in  the  electoral 
meetings  of  the  tribes,  though  they  did  not  as  yet  acknow- 
ledge the  legality  of  their  deliberative  proceedings. 

But  they  were  soon  compelled  to  recognise  these  also. 
In  the  year  of  the  city  298,  the  tribune  Icilius  carried  in 
the  tribes  a  resolution  for  assigning  the  ground  of  the 
Aventine  Hill  to  the  poor  plebeians.  This  vote  was  laid 
before  the  senate,  who  refused  to  entertain  it  even  as  a 
petition,  maintaining  that  the  second  law  of  Volero, 
though  it  allowed  the  commons  to  deliberate  on  questions 
of  public  policy,  did  not  compel  the  higher  council  to 
take  any  notice  of  their  resolutions.  After  a  bitter 
struggle,  the  senators  consented  to  take  the  vote  into 
consideration,  and  allowed  the  tribunes  to  speak  in  their 
house  in  support  of  it.  Both  concessions  were  held  to  be 
precedents. 

The  next  material  step  was  produced  by  a  motion 
v.'hich  had  already  been  introduced  by  the  tribune 
Terentillus  Arsa,  for  the  appointment  of  a  commission 
to  draw  up  a  set  of  rules  for  determining  the  powers 
of  the  consuls.  Violent  disputes  ensued,  and  the  pro- 
posal was  altered  into  that  of  a  general  revision  of  the 
whole  law,  both  public  and  private.  For  this  purpose, 
the  Ten  Commissioners  forming  the  First  Decemvirate, 
were  selected  (a.  u.  302)  exclusively  from  the  patrician 
order  :  and  as  they  had  not  completed  the  task  within 

*  Niebuhr,  voL  ii.  p.  217-  Wachsmuth,  p,  331-342.  Dionys. 
flalic.  lib.  ix.  cap.  43. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OP  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        67 

their  year,  a  new  Commission  was  elected,  half  patrician 
half  plebeian.  The  fruit  of  the  decemvirates  was  the  fa- 
mous Code  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  of  whose  contents,  so 
far  as  they  related  to  the  public  law,  we  know  almost 
nothing.  It  is  even  a  disputed  point  whether  any  of  their 
constitutional  enactments  survived  the  forcible  dissolution 
of  the  second  decemvirate.  The  whole  history  of  these 
commissions,  indeed,  is  extremely  perplexing  :  but  by  an 
anomaly  to  which  there  are  several  parallels  in  ancient 
times,  they  received,  besides  full  power  to  legislate,  an 
appointment  as  sole  magistrates  of  the  republic.  The 
second  body  of  commissioners,  headed  by  Appius  Clau- 
dius, forcibly  retained  office  after  then-  year  had  expked  : 
the  citizen-soldiers  took  their  favourite  revenge,  by  first 
refusing  to  enlist,  and  then  allowing  themselves  to  be 
beaten  :  the  murder  of  Siccius  Dentatus,  their  leader, 
was  followed  by  the  tragical  story  of  Virginia  :  the  ple- 
beians for  the  second  time  left  the  city  ;  and  the  consular 
government  was  restored. 

The  patrician  Valerius,  surnamed  Poplicola,  one  of  the 
consuls  for  the  next  year  (a.  u.  805),  besides  formally  re- 
cognising the  old  right  of  appeal  to  the  people  against  cri- 
minal sentences  pronounced  by  the  officers  of  state,  carried 
likewise  in  a  meeting  of  the  centuries  a  measure  as  to  the 
proceedings  of  the  tribes,  extending  the  effect  of  the  law  of 
283  and  the  precedent  of  298.  This  new  statute  declared 
resolutions  of  the  plebeians  in  the  tribes  to  be  of  equal 
force  with  those  of  the  whole  community  in  the  centu- 
ries ;  that  is,  it  declared  that  the  Convention  of  the  Tribes 
was  a  branch  of  the  legislature,  and  that  its  resolutions 
acquired  the  force  of  law  on  being  approved  by  the 
senate.*  The  patricians  reluctantly  agreed  to  this  new 
act ;  and  the  convention  of  the  tribes,  besides  the  distinct 
recognition  of  its  constitutional  status,  now  possessed, 
through  its  presidents,  the  tribunes,  the  important  pri- 
vilege of  the  initiative. 

*  Ut,  quod  tributim  plebs  jussisset,  populum  teneret.  Livii  His- 
toriar.  lib.  iii.  cap.  55.  There  is  much  reason  to  believe,  that  till 
416  this  law  was  frequently  evaded. 


DO  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

The  plebeians,  as  a  body,  had  now  hardly  any  farther 
political  right  to  demand  ;  but  personally  they  continued 
excluded  from  all  the  functions  of  the  executive,  because 
the  patricians  still  alleged  that  tbey  lay  under  a  religious 
disqualification  for  these  offices,  from  their  not  possessing 
the  Sacerdotal  character,  which  was  essential  to  the  dis- 
charge of  certain  duties  incumbent  on  the  principal  mem- 
bers of  the  government.  The  commons  were  already  re- 
solved to  extort  from  the  nobles  the  privilege  of  being 
eligible  to  office  ;  but  it  cost  them  a  struggle  of  nearly 
ninety  years.  The  tribunes  began  the  attack  (a.  u.  308), 
by  a  motion  in  the  senate,  for  a  law  to  have  one  of  the 
Consuls  elected  from  each  order  ;  and  by  another,  which 
they  had  better  have  let  alone,  for  giving  full  legal  effect 
to  marriages  between  patricians  and  plebeians.  The  aris- 
tocracy dreaded  the  proposal  as  to  the  consulship,  and  a 
compromise  was  effected.  The  office,  meantime,  was  su- 
perseded by  an  annual  board  called  Consular  Military 
Tribunes,  eligible  from  either  order,  and  possessing  the 
usual  powers  of  the  consuls,  but  not  their  rank  or  per- 
sonal privileges.  The  concession  seems  to  have  been 
understood  on  both  sides  as  only  temporary :  and  it  is 
likely  that  the  senate  retained  the  power  of  determining 
annually,  whether  the  magistrates  for  the  ensuing  year 
should  be  consuls  or  consular  tribunes  ;  while  the  lists 
show,  that  till  the  abolition  of  the  consular  tribunate,  this 
form  of  administration  was  only  chosen  on  occasions  of 
popular  excitement,  and  that  during  forty  years  after  its 
institution  the  commons  were  only  once  able  to  procure 
a  place  in  the  board  for  one  of  their  o^vn  order.  The 
influence  of  the  nobility  on  the  elections  was  strength- 
ened by  a  novel  expedient,  apparently  adopted  in  the 
hope  of  neutralizing  the  plebeian  efforts  ;  namely,  the 
appointment  of  patrician  Censors,  two  officers  elected 
by  the  centuries  for  a  fixed  period,  to  superintend  the 
national  revenues  and  works,  to  assess  the  public  burdens, 
and  to  prepare  the  rolls  both  for  the  payment  of  taxes  and 
for  admission  into  the  senate  and  centuries.  It  is  sus- 
pected, on  plausible  grounds,  that  the  judicial  powers  of 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        69 

the  consuls  were  also  for  a  time  transferred  to  the 
censors.* 

From  this  point  we  trace  no  efficient  attempt  of  the 
commons  to  gain  the  magistracies,  till  378,  when  the  tri- 
bune Licinius  Stolo  introduced  his  three  celebrated  mea- 
sures, wliich  he  was  not  able  to  carry  till  387.  By  his 
first  law  the  Consulate  was  permanently  re-established 
as  the  highest  office  of  the  state  ;  both  orders  of  citizens 
were  declared  eligible  ;  and,  with  a  very  necessary  pre- 
caution, it  was  provided,  that  one  of  the  Consuls  must 
always  be  a  Plebeian.  The  nobles  were  only  able  to 
get  the  judicial  functions  of  these  magistrates  finally 
separated  from  the  office,  and  committed  to  the  praetors, 
who  at  first  were  patricians.t 

The  other  two  statutes  of  Licinius  related  to  the  Bank- 
ruptcy Law  and  the  Public  Domain.  During  the  period 
which  has  been  last  considered,  the  grievances  of  the 
poorer  plebeians,  in  regard  to  both  of  these  matters,  were 
repeatedly  brought  forward,  and  excited  several  danger- 
ous commotions.  In  the  course  of  the  fourth  century  of 
Rome,  at  least  two  eminent  citizens  expiated  with  their 
lives  the  crime  of  defending  the  poor  against  oppression. 
Spurius  Mselius,  a  powerful  commoner,  was  the  first 
victim  ;  and  the  second  was  the  patrician  Marcus  ]\Ian- 
lius,  who,  after  having  saved  the  Capitol  from  the  Gauls, 
was  judicially  murdered,  on  a  pretence  of  his  aiming  at 
the  sovereignty,  but  truly  for  having  protested  for  years 
against  the  insolvency  laws  and  their  abuse.  The  his- 
torians of  the  republic,  and  especially  Li  vy,  the  strenuous 
partisan  of  the  aristocracy,  would  have  us  to  believe, 
that  both  suffered  deservedly  ;  and  their  fame  has  been 
overshadowed  by  that  of  their  celebrated  destroyers. 
For  the  dictator,  by  whose  command  Spurius  was  slain, 
was  the  venerable  Cincinnatus  ;  and  Manlius  was  killed, 
under  a  decree  of  the  senate,  "  ne  respublica,"  by  the 
consular  tribunes  for  the  year,  at  the  head  of  whom 


•  Niebuhr,  vol.  ii.  :  On  the  Censorship  and  Consular  Tribunes, 
t  Livii  Histor.  lib.  vi.  cap.  35-42;  lib.  vii.  cap.  I. 


70  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

was  Camillus.  We  cannot  now  determine  the  motives 
either  of  Spurius  or  Manlius ;  but  nothing  can  be  more 
certain  than  that  the  acts  for  which  they  died  were 
patriotic  and  just. 

Licinius  was  more  fortunate.  For  the  first  of  the  two 
evils  Avhich  he  endeavoured  to  remove,  it  was  indeed  dif- 
ficult to  find  a  remedy  ;  since  a  mere  prospective  altera- 
tion of  the  insolvency  law  would  not  have  satisfied  the 
wishes  of  the  complainers,  while  a  statute  to  extinguish 
all  existing  debts  would  have  involved  an  injustice  pal- 
pable even  to  the  Romans,  in  spite  of  their  characteristic 
hatred  of  usury.  His  temporary  law,  by  which  all  interest 
already  paid  to  creditors  was  imputed  towards  extinc- 
tion of  the  principal,  on  condition  that  the  balance  should 
be  paid  up  by  equal  instalments  in  three  years,  probably 
answered  its  immediate  purpose.  It  however  left  the 
sore  to  fester  in  the  heart  of  the  state,  notwithstanding 
the  successive  statutes  to  regulate  the  currency  ;  and 
the  distress  of  the  lower  classes  generated  a  reckless 
spirit  which  powerfully  contributed  to  the  deterioration 
of  the  national  character. 

The  Licinian  law  as  to  the  Public  Domain,  was  one  of 
those  which  from  their  subject  were  called  Agrarian,  a 
term  which  has  sometimes  been  misunderstood.*  None 
of  the  measures  brought  forward  at  Rome  under  this 
name  contemplated  any  interference  with  private  pro- 
perty, or  its  restriction  to  any  fixed  amount.  They 
referred  solely  to  the  Public  Domain,  and  to  no  portions 
even  of  that  except  such  as  were  occupied  by  indivi- 
duals on  sufferance,  in  the  manner  which  has  been 
already  explained.     As  new  districts  were  successively 

*  See  Heyne,  Leges  Agrariae  pestiferae  et  execrabiles  (Opus- 
eiila  Academica,  torn.  iv.  p.  350-373),  a  discourse  written  in  1793 
against  the  agrarian  propositions  brought  forward  in  the  French 
republic.  The  track  of  inquiry  which  Heyne  indicated  was  pro- 
secuted by  Heeren  in  1794,  in  his  Geschichte  der  Revolution  der 
Gracchen  (Kleine  Historische  Schriften,  vol.  i.  1803).  The 
difficulties  which  still  encumbered  the  subject  have  been  cleared 
up  by  Niebuhr,  in  his  Sections  (vol.  ii.)  on  the  Public  Lands,  the 
Early  Assignments,  and  the  Law  of  Spurius. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  TUE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        71 

conquered,  and  the  possession  of  them  by  the  patricians 
and  their  vassal  tenantry  grow  inveterate,  the  abuse  be- 
came more  glaring,  and,  at  the  same  time,  more  difficult 
of  redress.  The  law  of  Licinius,  aided  by  the  accom- 
panying reforms,  appears  for  some  time  to  have  greatly 
ameliorated  the  condition  of  the  poor.  It  had  reference 
both  to  the  public  lands  which  might  thereafter  be 
acquired  by  the  state,  and  to  those  which  it  had  already 
conquered.  In  regard  to  all  these,  it  enacted,  tliat  no  Ro- 
man should  be  allowed  to  possess  on  the  title  of  sufferance 
more  than  500  jugera,  or  about  280  English  acres  ;  that 
on  those  tracts  which  were  reserved  as  common  pastures, 
no  one  should  graze  more  than  a  fixed  number  of  cattle  ; 
that,  both  for  the  arable  ground  and  the  pasturages,  the 
customary  tithes  and  other  dues  should  be  strictly  levied ; 
and  that  the  revenue  thus  arising  t-o  the  exchequer  should 
be  publicly  farmed  out.  Of  the  territory  which  the 
state  had  already  acquired,  every  citizen  who  occupied 
any  portion  of  it  by  sufferance,  was  allowed  to  retain  500 
jugera,  but  all  he  possessed  beyond  that  extent  was 
to  be  taken  from  him  ;  and  the  land  so  seized  was  divided 
among  the  poorer  class,  in  allotments  of  seven  jugera, 
or  about  four  acres,  to  each."  We  know  that  the  ple- 
beians, or  some  of  them,  thenceforth  contrived  to  obtain 
large  portions  of  the  domain,  on  the  same  footing  on 
which  such  estates  were  formerly  monopolized  by  the 
patricians  :  for  Licinius  himself  was  in  a  few  years  con- 
victed of  violating  his  own  law,  by  possessing  more  than 
the  prescribed  amount. 

From  the  mstitution  of  the  tribunate  to  the  time  of 
this  inconsistent  reformer,  we  can  trace  no  constitutional 
change  unfavourable  to  the  commons,  except  the  dismem- 
berment of  the  consular  functions,  and  certain  alterations 
on  the  college  of  the  plebeian  tribunes.  This  board,  the 
original  number  of  which  is  uncertain,  was,  probably 
about  the  year  297,  increased  to   ten  members.     At 


•    Niebuhr,  vol.   iii.    (untranslated),    Romische    Geschichte ; 
Dritter  Theil ;  Berlin.  1832;  p.  13-23. 


72  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

first  a  majority  decided  on  all  steps  to  be  taken,  and 
neither  the  minority  nor  single  members  could  act  in 
contravention  of  the  resolutions  so  fixed.  There  was, 
however,  introduced,  between  the  years  839  and  860,'^  a 
dangerous  rule,  which  subsisted  till  the  dissolution  of  the 
republic ;  namely,  that  any  one  tribune  might,  by  his  veto, 
stop  the  proceedings  of  the  magistrates,  the  senate,  or 
national  conventions,  and  even  of  his  own  colleagues. 

But  the  hereditary  aristocracy  was  already  disarmed  by 
the  enactment  of  the  Licinian  laws  :  and  the  subsequent 
changes  of  the  constitution  proceeded  with  rapidity.  In 
401,  the  commoners  established  their  eligibility  to  the 
omnipotent  office  of  Dictator.  In  40C,  they  gained  ad- 
mission to  the  Censorship,  and,  ten  years  afterwards,  the 
exclusive  right  to  one  of  the  two  places  at  that  board. 
In  420  the  Prsetorship  followed  ;  and  as  the  Quaestor- 
ship  had  been  already  gained,  they  were  now  eligible  to 
all  places  of  civil  trust  a-nd  honour. 

In  416,  the  plebeian  dictator  Publilius  Philo,  whose 
office  enabled  him  to  overcome  the  resistance  of  the 
patricians,  carried  in  the  centuries,  and  forced  the  senate 
to  confimi,  two  remarkable  laws.  The  First  of  these  either 
simply  renewed  the  Valerian  law  of  805,  constituting  the 
Convention  of  the  Tribes  a  legislative  body,  or,  at  most, 
it  fortified  the  principle  of  that  measure  by  some  new 
arrangement.  But  the  Second  Publilian  law  amounted  to 
a  radical  change  in  the  constitution.  It  annihilated  at  a 
blow  the  whole  control  which  the  senate  had  held  over 
the  Legislative  functions  of  the  Convention  of  the  Centu- 
ries, leaving  to  it  nothing  but  its  veto  on  the  electoral 
votes  of  that  assembly.  Instead  of  preparing  the  legisla- 
tive resolutions,  and  at  pleasure  allowing  or  forbidding 
them  to  be  proposed  to  the  people,  the  senate  was  by  the 
new  statute  compelled,  whenever  such  a  resolution  waa 
regularly  laid  before  it,  to  pronounce,  as  matter  of  course, 
an  edict  permitting  it  to  be  moved  in  the  convention  ;  and 
instead  of  the  old  rule,  which  gave  the  senate  a  second 

*  Niebuhr,  vol.  ii.  p.  435. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.         7^ 

veto  on  all  such  measures  after  the  centuries  had  ap- 
proved of  them,  it  was  enacted  that  the  legislative  acts 
of  the  convention  should  have  tlie  force  of  law  without 
being-  sent  back  at  all  to  the  upper  house.* 

The  first  fruit  of  this  perilous  innovation  was  a  good 
measure,  the  Ptetelian  law  of  420,  which  abolished  im- 
prisonment and  bondage  for  debt.t 

In  454,  the  amalgamation  of  the  two  orders  was  com- 
pleted by  the  removal  of  the  religious  disqualifications  of 
the  plebeians,  who  were  now  admitted  into  the  two  great 
Collegesof  the  Priesthood,  thatof  the  Pontiffs,  the  supreme 
ecclesiastical  council,  and  that  of  the  Augurs,  in  whose 
hands  lay  the  auspices.  These  boards  were  at  this  stage 
equally  divided  between  the  two  classes  of  citizens, 
but  their  members  were  self-elected. [j]  The  plebeians,  of 
course,  entered  the  priestly  colleges  m  profound  ignorance 
of  the  mysteries  of  the  craft ;  but  they  seem  to  have  been 
apt  pupils  in  political  slight-of-hand,  for,  in  the  same  ge- 
neration, the  commoner  Titus  Coruncanius  was  the  great- 
est authority  in  the  laws  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil. § 

An  attempt  of  a  tribune  in  the  same  year  was  soon 
after  (though  the  precise  date  is  unknown)  confirmed  by 
the  law  of  Miienius,  which  extended  to  Elections  in  the 
Centuries  the  provision  of  the  second  Publilian  law  as  to 
the  legislative  functions  of  that  body.]]  Over  it  the  senate 
had  now  no  control. 

The  Publilian  and  Msenian  laws  furnished  the  tribunes 
with  a  hint  which  was  speedily  taken ;  and  indeed,  for 


*  Liv,  lib.  viii.  cap.  12.  Compare  Niebuhr  on  the  Publilian 
Laws  (vol.  iii.  p.  167-173),  and  Schulze,  p.  95,  with  Wachs- 
muth,  p.  441. 

t  Eo  anno  plebi  Romana;  velut  aliud  initium  libertatis  factum 
est,  quod  necti  desierunt.     Livii  Histor.  lib.  viii.  cap.  28. 

Ij:  Dionys.  Halic.  lib.  ii.  cap.  73.  Cicero  Ad  Familiares,  lib.  iii. 
ep.  10.  The  Pontifex  Maximus,  however,  was  always  nominated 
by  the  people.  By  the  Domitian  Law  of  650,  the  people  received, 
but  were  not  able  permanently  to  retain,  the  right  of  nominating 
to  all  the  priestly  offices.  Cic.  De  Lege  Agraria,  orat.  ii.  cap.  7. 
Velleius  Paterculus,  lib.  ii.  cap.  12.    Suetonius  in  Nerone,  cap.  2. 

5  Niebuhr,  vol.  iii.  p.  409-413  :  On  the  Ogulnian  Law. 

',  Ciceronis  Brutus,  cap.  14. 


74  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

the  preservation  of  consistency  and  order,  it  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  that,  if  these  laws  were  to  subsist,  their 
principle  should  be  extended  to  the  Convention  of  the 
Tribes.  Accordingly,  in  468,  the  Hortensian  Law  com- 
pleted irretrievably  the  defeat  of  the  patricians.  The 
senate  had  never  possessed  the  initiative  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Conventions  of  the  Tribes ;  but  it  exercised 
the  veto.  The  Hortensian  law  abolished  this  negative, 
not,  perhaps,  on  all  resolutions  of  the  tribes,  but  certainly 
on  all  questions  except  those  of  administration.* 

From  this  point  of  the  history,  the  Convention  of  the 
Tribes  must  be  considered  as  in  every  view  a  national  coun- 
cil, embracing  all  orders  of  the  state.  It  continues  to  be 
styled  an  assembly  of  the  plebeians,  and  its  resolutions  acts 
of  that  body  (plebiscita)  ;  but  the  plebs,  or  commonalty, 
which  in  the  subsequent  times  of  the  republic  the  tribes 
represented,  was  not  the  old  plebs  :  it  was,  in  fact,  com- 
posed simply  of  the  poorer  classes,  many  of  whom  might 
be, — and  some,  as  we  know,  were, — men  of  pure  patrician 
extraction ;  and  the  new  aristocracy,  who  kept  at  a  distance 
from  their  meetings,  and  affected  to  despise  them,  Avere 
themselves,  with  very  few  exceptions,  genuine  plebeians. 

*  Plinii  Histor.  Natur.  lib.  xvi.  cap.  10.  Auli  GelliiNoct.  Attic. 
lib.  sv.  cap.  27.  Livii,  epit.  lib.  xi.  Valer.  Maxim,  lib.  vi.  cap.  i. 
sect.  9.  The  terms  of  the  three  successive  laws  as  to  the  Conven- 
tion of  the  Tribes  (the  Valerian,  Publilian,  and  Hortensian),  have 
reached  us  imperfectly  :  and  we  are  left  to  interpret  their  real  mean- 
ing and  extent  by  the  practice  which  followed.  Niebuhr's  theory 
of  them,  which  depends  on  his  great  hypothesis,  is  the  following : — 
The  Valerian  law  enacted,  that  resolutions  of  the  tribes  should  be 
law,  on  receiving  the  approval  of  the  curicB.  The  Publilian  law  set 
aside  the  approval  of  the  curiae,  and  substituted  that  of  the  senate, 
to  be  given  either  beforehand  by  their  sending  down  a  resolution, 
or  after  a  vote  of  the  tribes,  by  their  adoption  of  it.  The  Horten- 
sian law  declared  the  resolutions  of  the  tribes  to  be  eflFectual, 
without  their  either  originating  in  the  senate,  or  being  subsequently 
approved  by  it : — '*  A  dangerous  absoluteness,  against  which  good 
sense  struggled  very  long  :"  Niebuhr,  vol.  ii.  p.  365 — "  In  the 
latter  centuries  of  the  republic,  enactments  touching  the  constitu- 
tion were  entirely  independent  of  the  senate  :  on  the  other  hand, 
no  decree  of  the  plebeians  affecting  the  administration  could  be 
promulgated  without  a  previous  ordinance  of  the  senate."  Niebuhr, 
vol.  ii.  p.  221. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        75 


THIRD  AGE. 

THE      ROMAN      REl'UBLIC     FROM     ITS      COMPLETE     DEVELOPMENT 
TILL  ITS  FALL  : 

A.  u.  468—722,  OR  b.  c.  286—32. 

The  Character  of  the  Times. — Although  this  is  not  the 
place  which  has  been  allotted  for  our  systematic  inquiry 
into  the  state  of  society  and  manners  in  Ancient  Italy, 
the  most  prominent  moral  and  statistical  features  of  the 
period  now  to  be  considered  must  not,  even  at  this  stage, 
be  passed  over  in  silence. 

The  military  success  of  Rome,  in  which  it  is  so  diffi- 
cult not  to  rejoice,  was  based  partly  on  her  political  in- 
stitutions, partly  on  the  personal  character  and  rural 
education  of  her  burgher-soldiery.  Trade  was  as  yet  con- 
fined to  the  vassals  and  to  strangers ;  literary  cultivation 
belonged  only  to  a  few,  and  to  these  in  no  high  degree  ; 
and  till  the  conquest  of  Southern  Italy  was  accomplished, 
simplicity,  or  rather  rudeness,  marked  the  life  and  man- 
ners of  the  whole  community.  Greece  and  her  colonies 
communicated  to  the  higher  classes  of  the  Romans  their 
literature,  their  philosophical  scepticism,  their  love  of  the 
arts,  and  their  luxury.  Riches  flowed  in  toiTents  into 
the  pubUc  treasury.  Individuals,  too,  became  wealthy, 
some  indeed  enormously  so,  by  commerce  and  money- 
lending,  by  easy  grants  of  the  national  lands,  b}^  pro- 
fitable leases  of  the  revenues,  and  by  monopolizing  and 
abusing  those  numerous  and  lucrative  offices  required 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  for  the  administration  of  a 
powerful  republic.  These  private  treasures  lay  in  the 
liands  of  comparatively  few,  but  patricians  and  ple- 
beians soon  shared  in  them  alike  ;  and  in  no  long  time, 
as  the  old  patrician  families  died  out,  the  wealth  and 
power  of  the  republic  belonged  almost  exclusively  to  the 
plebeians,  and  chiefly  to  the  equestrian  order  or  knights  ; 
a  subdivision  of  that  class  whose  status  in  the  latter 
times  of  the  commonwealth,  though  perhaps  not  entirely 
in  the  earlier,   depended   on  a   property  qualification, 


76  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

and  who  now  contrived  to  engross  trade  and  the  farming 
of  the  revenue.  The  aristocracy  of  hirth  speedily  became 
insigniiicant :  a  new  plebeian  aristocracy  arose,  founding 
its  nobility  on  the  possession  of  public  offices  and  seats  in 
the  senate,  either  by  the  individual  or  by  his  ancestors. 
These  new  senatorial,  consular,  and  equestrian  families, 
soon  taught  the  poorer  classes,  that  lands,  money,  and  of- 
fice, can  make  men  quite  as  tyrannical  as  old  pedigrees  can. 
At  the  fall  of  liberty,  there  existed  only  fifty  houses 
of  patrician  blood,  and  not  only  do  these  furnish  few 
of  the  characters  who  were  great  in  the  later  history  of 
the  republic,  but  the  few  illustrious  names  of  that  order 
belong  almost  exclusively  to  families  which  had  been 
obscure  in  the  earlier  times.  We  lose  sight  of  the  patrician 
families  of  the  Manlii,the  Claudii,the  Fabii,and  the  Furii. 
The  patrician  race  of  the  ^milii,  long  unkno\^^l  to  fame, 
gives  us  at  length  Paulus  jEmilius,  the  conqueror  of 
Macedon,  and  his  son  the  younger  Scipio  ;  and  the  Cor- 
nelian house,  the  most  distinguished  of  the  newer  patri- 
cian families,  gave  birth  in  succession  to  the  elder  Scipio 
and  to  the  dictator  Sylla.  But  in  the  century  imme- 
diately preceding  the  emph-e,  the  great  men  who  could 
boast  of  old  nobility  became  fewer  and  fcAver.  The  Julian 
house  itself,  the  patrician  nursery  of  the  Csesars,  was 
propped  by  the  plebeian  Aurelii,  to  whom  belonged  the 
mother  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  by  the  plebeian  Octavii, 
one  of  whom  was  the  father  of  Augustus,  the  first  emperor. 
Pompey  also  belonged  to  a  plebeian  race,  no  member  of 
which  was  consul  till  612  ;  the  Pisos  were  descended 
from  the  Calpurnii,  the  Metelli  from  the  Csecilii,  Brutus 
and  Cassius  from  the  Junii  and  Cassii  ;  all  of  these  being 
plebeian  families.*  Some  of  the  greatest  Roman  states- 
men, and  almost  all  the  eminent  men  of  letters,  were  not 
only  of  the  same  order,  but  foreigners,  being  natives  of 
the  other  Italian  districts.  Among  the  foreign  states- 
men, it  is  enough  to  name  Cato,  Marius,  and  Cicero. 

*  Augustinus  de  Familiis  RomaBorum,  and  Fulvius  Ursinus  de 
Familiis  Romanis  Nobilioribus  :  (both  treatises  in  Graevii  Thesaur. 
Antiquitat.  Roman,  torn,  vii.) 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        7/ 

The  moral  chtaracter  of  the  lower  classes  degenerated 
as  mpidly  as  that  of  the  upper  ranks,  while  their  penury 
and  indolence  exposed  them  to  temptations  not  felt  hy 
the  richer  citizens.  Early  in  the  seventh  century  of 
Rome,  the  mass  of  the  commonalty  in  the  city  were 
sunk  into  extreme  poverty  and  vice  ;  evils  which  spread 
during  the  next  hundred  years  like  a  pestilence.  The 
whole  agricultural  population  of  Italy  suffered  very 
severely  ;  and  the  starvmg  labourers,  flocking  to  the 
capital,  coalesced  with  its  degraded  populace.  For  half 
a  century  before  the  fall  of  the  republic,  an  immense 
proportion  of  the  people  consisted  of  paupers,  receiving 
the  bounty  of  the  state,  and  of  hirelings  who  subsisted 
by  selling  their  votes  and  their  blood  to  the  highest 
bidder. 

The  E.iternal  History  of  Rome. — The  history  of  the 
Italiot  and  Sicilian  Greeks  now  merges  in  that  of  Rome. 
Magna  Graecia  was  harassed  by  the  Syracusans,  and  by 
the  native  tribes,  who,  first  led  against  it  by  the  elder 
Dionysius,  did  not  forget  the  lesson.  These  barbarians 
reduced  several  districts  of  the  coast,  destroying  Psestum, 
Thurii,  IMetapontum,  and  other  towns.  Some  of  the 
Greeks  mcautiously  entreated  the  aid  of  the  Romans ; 
and  tills  caused  the  war  with  Pyrrhus  the  Epirote,  who 
had  in  like  mamier  been  invited  by  the  Sicilians.  In 
A.  u.  481  the  Romans  took  Tarentum,  and  made  Magna 
Graecia  one  of  their  provinces. 

The  neighbourhood  of  the  Carthaginians  in  Sicily 
produced,  in  the  year  490,  the  First  Punic  War,  which 
lasted  twenty-three  years  ;  and  its  scene  was  chiefly  in 
that  island,  on  the  coasts  of  which  the  Romans  trained 
their  new  navy.  By  the  final  treaty  the  Africans 
evacuated  all  their  Sicilian  possessions,  and  paid  the  costs 
of  the  war.  The  second  Hiero  had  by  this  time  become 
sovereign  of  Syracuse,  and  his  submission  to  Rome 
secured  for  his  country,  during  his  life,  a  peace  wliich 
was  truly  little  different  from  bondage. 

The  contest  with  Carthage  was  followed  by  a  compara- 
tively pacific  interval  of  nearly  twenty-four  years,  during 


78  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

which  the  Romans  forcibly  seized  Corsica  and  Sardinia, 
entered  into  friendly  communication  with  Greece  on 
subduing  the  Illyrian  pirates,  and  extended  their  Italian 
garrisons  to  the  north  of  the  Po. 

In  536,  Hannibal's  celebrated  passage  over  the  Alps 
transferred  to  the  very  heart  of  his  enemy's  territories 
the  seat  of  the  Second  Punic  War,  which  raged  for  seven- 
teen years,  in  Italy,  in  Spain,  in  Africa,  and  in  Sicily. 
This  war  was  a  game  in  which  the  world  was  the  stake  ; 
and  nobly  did  the  gamesters  play  it.  There  cannot  be  a 
more  glorious  proof  of  the  political  and  moral  strength  of 
Rome  during  this  period,  than  the  unconquerable  courage 
with  which  her  citizens  bore  up  against  the  most  fear- 
ful calamities.  Their  defeats  on  the  Ticinus  and  Trebia, 
were  followed  by  that  of  the  Thrasymene  Lake  and  the 
fatal  field  of  Cannte.  Nearly  all  Italy  revolted  ;  and  the 
Romans  stood  enclosed  like  hunted  beasts  of  prey.  But 
the  bark  of  their  destiny  was  steered  by  two  strong  spirits, 
the  angel  of  freedom  and  the  demon  of  ambition ;  and 
it  rode  proudly  through  the  stomi.  The  instrument  of 
their  deliverance  was  Scipio  Africanus  the  elder ;  and 
Rome  and  Scipio  found  in  Hannibal  a  worthy  foe.  By 
the  defeat  near  Zama  in  Africa  Carthage  was  ruined. 
She  surrendered  her  fleet,  that  is,  her  commerce  and  her 
warlike  strength.  Italy,  from  Rhegium  to  the  Alps, 
trembled  and  submitted  ;  and  Sicily,  already  conquered 
by  Marcellus,  who  took  Syracuse  in  541,  was  made 
formally  a  Roman  province. 

Rome,  without  a  year's  delay,  commenced  that  system 
of  interposition  in  foreign  affairs,  that  mock  protection 
of  liberty  against  tyranny,  and  of  small  states  against 
great  ones,  which  gave  her  a  pretence  for  invasions,  and 
enabled  her,  before  the  loss  of  her  o\vn  freedom,  to  form 
her  mighty  empire,  embracing  the  fairest  portion  of 
Europe,  some  parts  of  Asia,  and  the  neai'est  coast  of  Africa. 
Greece  was  first  attacked,  and,  by  a  humiliating  dissimu- 
lation of  its  conquerors,  was  proclaimed  a  free  state.  Syria 
was  next  subdued,  Macedonia  reduced,  and  declared  a  re- 
public, and  Carthage  destroyed  (a.  u.  608),  after  that 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        79 

desperate  struggle  of  three  years,  which  was  called  the 
Third  Punic  War,  and  which  gave  the  surname  of  Africa- 
nus  to  Cicero's  favourite  hero,  the  younger  Scipio.  In 
the  same  year  Corinth  was  taken,  and  both  Greece  and 
Macedonia  were  declared  provinces  of  Rome.  A  large  part 
of  Spain  was  reduced  ;  conquests  in  Asia  Minor  were 
begun  about  the  same  time  ;  and,  after  the  Social  War 
(ending  a.  u.  665),  successfully  prosecuted  by  the  Italians 
in  order  to  extort  the  franchise,  the  Roman  dominions 
abroad  were  extended  by  Marius,  Sylla,  and  the  soldiers 
of  the  last  days  of  liberty. 

The  Constitutional  History  of  Rome. — The  people  were 
now,  in  fact,  as  in  theor}^,  the  sovereigns  of  the  state  ;  and 
in  their  conventions,  the  meanest  citizen  acted,  and  felt 
that  he  acted,  as  a  legislator,  a  judge,  and  a  prince.  This 
erroneous  notion  as  to  the  nature  of  the  political  franchise, 
while  it  was  the  root  from  which  grew  up  the  haughty 
patriotism  of  Rome,  was  also  the  cause  of  its  speedy  de- 
cline. The  personal  exercise  of  the  legislative  power 
became  more  dangerous  with  every  accession  to  the  num- 
ber of  citizens,  and  with  every  step  which  individuals  made 
towards  the  acquisition  of  extraordinary  wealth.  Be- 
tween the  years  594  and  639,  we  have  eight  statements  of 
the  number  of  citizens  entered  on  the  censor's  roUs.  The 
smallest  return  is  313,823,  and  the  largest  894,336. 
In  A.  u.  725,  Augustus  took  a  census,  and  the  three  au- 
thorities which  give  us  the  returns  (Eusebius,  Suidas, 
and  the  iMonumentum  Ancyranum),  concur,  with  minor 
differences,  in  stating  the  numbers  at  more  than  four 
milhons.*-"  The  political  rights  vested  by  law  in  this 
immense  multitude  were  in  practice  exercised  for  the 
whole  mass,  by  the  few  thousands  that  tumultuously  filled 
the  place  of  meeting  in  the  city. 

The  unavoidable  ruin  of  the  republic  was  precipitated 
by  keeping  up  the  Tribunitial  College,  which  the  reforms 
in  the  constitution  had  rendered  worse  than  useless ; 
a  board  possessing,  in  the  veto  of  its  members,  a  power 

*  Beaufort ;  Republique  Romaine,  livre  iv.  chap.  4. 


80  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

which  ought  to  be  lodged  in  the  higher,  not  the  lower, 
orders  of  the  state,  and  which,  fortified  by  the  in- 
violability of  the  tribunes,  was  greatly  extended  by 
then-  additional  prerogative  of  presidency  in  the  convo- 
cation of  the  tribes.  The  people,  no  doubt,  required 
authorized  protectors ;  but  the  form  of  the  protection 
which  the  tribunate  afforded  them  was  altogether  defec- 
tive :  it  was  too  weak  in  good  and  too  strong  in  evil ; 
and  it  tended  not  immaterially  to  generate  that  ruinous 
spirit  of  antipathy  which  soon  prevailed  between  the 
upper  ranks  and  the  great  mass  of  the  population. 

During  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  which  pre- 
ceded the  fall  of  the  republic,  we  may  mark  distinctly 
three  Constitutional  Stages.  The  first,  occupying  a 
century  and  a  half,  was,  upon  the  whole,  one  of  order. 
The  second,  of  fifty-one  years,  commencing  with  the 
Gracchi,  and  closing  with  the  usurpation  of  Sylla,  was  a 
time  of  internal  struggles,  and  ended  in  the  temporary 
destruction  of  liberty.  In  the  third  era,  which  also  lasted 
fifty-one  years,  the  constitution  was  dormant  or  extinct, 
and  oligarchical  rule  alternated  with  civil  war. 

1 .  In  the  first  of  these  periods  two  important  changes 
took  place. 

The  earlier  of  the  two  completely  destroyed  the  here- 
ditary constitution  of  the  senate.  The  officers  of  state 
were  originally  entitled  to  a  place  in  that  body  during  their 
period  of  office  ;  and  they  soon  acquired  a  right,  after 
the  expiration  of  their  functions,  to  claim  from  the 
censors  enrolment  as  senators  for  life.  At  length,  but 
probably  not  till  after  the  time  of  the  Gracchi,  those 
officers,  whose  numbers  were  now  larger,  retained  their 
seats  without  any  formal  enrolment.  Military  service  in 
situations  of  responsibility  also  gave  a  claim  to  admis- 
sion on  the  roll ;  and  the  censors  filled  up  the  remain- 
ing vacancies  nearly  at  discretion,  giving  effect,  however, 
to  a  property  qualification. 

A  few  regulations  of  this  celebrated  council  may  be 
specified  before  we  trace  it  to  its  fall.  The  senate  could 
be  summoned  only  by  the  highest  magistrate  in  town, 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        81 

or  by  the  tribunes.  Its  regular  meetings  took  place 
three  times  a-month  ;  but  it  could  convene  daily,  and 
always  sat  within  consecrated  walls.  The  functionary 
who  had  called  the  meeting  (excepting  perhaps  the  tri- 
bunes), presided  in  it,  called  up  the  speakers,  and  collected 
the  votes  in  a  fixed  order.  A  certain  part  of  the  senators, 
those  probably,  in  later  times,  who  had  not  borne  office, 
possessed  votes  without  the  right  of  addressing  the  assem- 
bly. The  vote  was  taken  by  dividing  the  house.  There 
was  a  fixed  quorum,  perhaps  100  members  ;  and  if  the 
number  w^as  not  present,  any  member  could  have  the 
house  counted  out.* 

The  second  alteration  was  one  which  has  been  gene- 
rally overlooked,  but  which  clearly  took  place,  and  goes 
far  to  account  for  the  fact  that  we  read  of  no  collisions 
between  the  convention  of  the  centuries  and  that  of  the 
tribes,  though  in  the  age  of  the  republic  now  under 
review  the  two  were  really  quite  co-ordinate.  The 
former  retained  only  some  exclusive  privileges,  the  chief 
of  which  was  the  right  of  electing  all  officers  of  state, 
except  the  tribunes  and  other  plebeian  functionaries. 
The  important  change  now  to  be  described  annihilated 
or  materially  impaired  the  monopoly  of  influence  wliich 
the  richer  citizens  had  possessed  in  that  convention. 

The  division  into  Classes  was  retained,  but  the  number 
of  Centuries,  assigned  by  Servius  to  each  Class,  was 
altered.  Each  of  the  highest  five  classes,  excepting  the 
first,  now  received  an  equal  number  of  centuries  ;  pro- 
bably seventy,  as  we  learn  that  the  number  bore  relation 
to  that  of  the  tribes.  This  change  did  not  take  place  till 
after  the  year  of  the  city  .512,  when  the  number  of  the 
tribes  had  been  raised  to  thirty-five,  and  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  it  was  introduced  in  a.  u.  673.  The  gross 
majority  of  votes  seems  henceforth  to  have  been  possessed 
by  the  first,  second,  and  third  classes  together ;  and  as  we 
do  not  hear  of  any  rise  in  the  qualification,  a  large  num- 


•  Beaufort,  Republique  Romaine,  livre  ii.  chap.  1.     Middleton 
on  the  Roman  Senate,  part  ii. 

VOL.  I.  R 


82  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

ber  of  the  citizens  must,  long  before  the  change,  have 
been  admissible  into  these,  through  the  inilux  of  wealth 
into  the  state,  and  the  depreciation  of  the  cun-ency.* 

2.  The  first  events  of  the  second  stage  were  the  com- 
motions excited  by  the  noble  but  incautious  Gracchi, 
the  grandsons  of  the  great  Scipio.     The  growth  of  the 

*  The  subject  is  curious,  and  has  received  little  attention.  The 
main  proof  is  to  be  found  in  Livy,  lib.  i.  cap.  43. — "  It  is  not 
surprising,"  says  he,  "that  the  present  number  of  the  centuries 
does  not  correspond  to  that  established  by  Servius  ;  for,  after  the 
number  of  the  tribes  had  been  made  up  to  thirty-five,  the  number 
of  the  centuries  was  so  arranged,  that  for  each  tribe"  (earum 
refers  to  trihus,  not  to  centuriis),  "there  were  now  two  centuries, 
a  senior  and  a  junior."  The  chief  difficulty  is,  the  reconciling  of 
this  statement  with  the  known  fact  that  the  classes  subsisted  to 
the  last.  An  obscure  hint,  contained  in  an  old  note  to  the  passage 
(Drakenborch's  Livy,  note  of  Fulvius  Ursinus,  derived  from  the 
monk  Pantagathus,  who  died  in  1494),  has  been  followed  out  by  the 
celebrated  Savigny,  in  a  paper  first  published  in  1805,  in  Professor 
Hugo's  Civil  Law  Magazine  :  (Civilistisches  Magazin,  Berlin, 
1812,  vol.  iii.  p.  307).  Savigny's  theory  is  the  following  :— He 
supposes  that  each  of  the  first  five  classes  was  divided  into  70 
centuries,  receiving  from  each  of  the  35  tribes  a  senior  and 
a  junior  century  ;  tliat,  in  addition  to  the  centuries  so  formed, 
the  equestrian  centuries  continued  to  belong  to  the  first  class,  and 
that  their  number  was  raised  also,  but  only  to  35,  not  to  70,  because 
these  centuries,  as  Savigny  holds  (founding  on  a  very  explicit 
passage,  Quinti  Ciceronis  De  Petit.  Consulat.  cap.  8),  were 
all  juniors,  composing  not  the  whole  equestrian  order,  but  a 
body  selected  from  it ;  and  that  the  sixth  class  continued  to  form 
only  one  century.  In  this  way,  the  first  class  would  contain  105 
centuries,  the  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  70  centuries  each, 
and  the  sixth  ]  ; — making  in  all  386.  (It  may  perhaps  be  remarked, 
that  there  is  no  clear  evidence  that  the  number  of  the  eques- 
trian centuries  was  at  all  increased  ;  and  Professor  Hugo  observes ; 
1st,  that  probably  no  citizens  of  the  first  class  were  taken  from 
any  of  the  four  Urban  tribes  ;  and,  2dly,  that  it  cannot  be  assumed 
as  certain  whether  the  subdivision  into  seniors  and  juniors  extended 
lower  than  the  first  three  classes.)  The  date  of  this  alteration  is 
fixed  with  much  probability  by  Professor  Schulze  (Volksversamm- 
lungen,  p.  75).  In  Livy's  history  (xl.  51  ;  a.  u.  573)  is  a  difficult 
passage,  describing  an  alteration  in  the  mode  of  voting  (sufFragia), 
which  has  been  usually  applied  to  the  convention  of  the  tribes, 
but  which  Schulze  refers  to  that  of  the-  centuries,  on  the  ground 
that  we  know  the  former  assembly  to  have  never  admitted  sub- 
divisions, while  the  latter  always  admitted  subdivisions  of  the  very 
kinds  which  Livy  here  mentions.  ( See  Cicero  De  Legibus,  lib. 
iii.  cap.  19.) 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.       83 

people's  collective  power,  and  that  of  their  personal 
%vretchedness,  had  of  late  kept  equal  pace.  The  exer- 
tions of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  as  tribune,  were  confined  to 
the  remedy  of  personal  misery.  His  first  measure, 
which  was  carried  and  allowed  to  fall  asleep,  was  a 
new  Agrarian  Law,  reviving  that  of  Licinius,  though  -wdth 
several  necessary  mitigations  :  his  second  was  an  un- 
successful attempt  to  procure  a  grant  from  the  treasury, 
for  enabling  the  poor  to  stock  the  famis  which  his 
other  act  was  to  give  them.*  Tiberius,  calumniated 
and  intrigued  against  by  the  body  of  the  patricians,  and 
weakly  aided  by  his  few  aristocratic  friends,  such  as 
Appius  Claudius,  Scaevola  the  lawyer,  and  the  orator 
Crassus,  was  at  length  (a.  u.  620)  deserted  by  the  un- 
grateful people,  and  murdered.  His  younger  brother, 
Caius,  stepped  into  the  breach,  fired  both  by  patriotism 
and  by  a  burning  thirst  for  revenge  ;  and  he  too  fell 
(a.  u.  632),  without  benefiting  the  indigent  more  than 
Tiberius  had  done.  He  procured,  indeed,  a  renewal  of 
his  brother's  agrarian  law,  and  also  caiTied  through  his 
other  measure  ;  but  both  enactments  were  cunningly 
eluded.  Another  law  of  Caius,  wliich  experienced  the 
same  fate,  was  one  for  forming  permanent  magazines  of 
grain,  and  delivering  their  contents  to  the  poor  at  a  price 
far  below  their  value  ;  a  proposition  forming  the  first  step 
towards  that  legalized  pauperism,  which,  unaccompanied 
by  political  disfranchisement  of  the  paupers,  soon  became 
systematic  in  Rome.  In  other  changes  which  he  ad- 
vocated, he  attacked  the  prerogatives  of  the  senate  and 
the  officers  of  state  ;  and,  by  giving  to  the  equestrian 
order  the  exclusive  right  of  serving  as  judices  or  jurymen, 
a  privilege  formerly  belonging  to  the  senators,  he  at- 
tempted to  unite  the  fonner  into  a  body  having  an  in- 
terest separate  from  that  of  the  senate. 

The  last  undertaking  of  Caius  which  requires  notice, 


*  Appianus  De  Bellis  Civilibus,  lib.  i.  cap.  9.  Plutarchus  in 
Tiberio  Graccbo,  cap.  8.  Heeren,  Kleine  Schriften,  vol.  i. 
p.  179,  et  seq.     Compare  Hooke,  book  vi.  chap.  7. 


84  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

was  likewise  intended  to  strengthen  the  anti-senatorial 
party.  He  proposed  that  aU  the  inhabitants  of  Middle 
and  Lower  Italy  should  receive  the  Roman  franchise. 
To  a  few  Italian  towns  and  districts  citizenship  had 
been  granted,  always  under  restrictions,  and  in  most 
cases  without  votes.  The  rest,  under  various  titles,  as 
colonies,  prefectures,  and  the  like,  were  refused  all  such 
rights,  and  treated  like  conquered  enemies:  they  paid 
heavy  taxes,  fi'om  which  all  Romans  were  exempted  ; 
they  had  to  support  expensive  establishments  of  Roman 
governors,  with  their  troops ;  and,  besides  the  various 
humiliations  to  which  they  were  subjected,  many  of 
them  were  plundered  and  oppressed  without  protection 
or  redress.  All  classes  suffered  alike  ;  and  the  noblest 
native  of  a  country  town,  himself  viewed  as  an  alien, 
might  every  day  see  a  wealthy  Roman  manumit  hundreds 
of  slaves,  and  thus  raise  them  into  the  rank  of  citizens. 
These  causes  of  discontent,  remaining  unremoved,  pro- 
voked, in  thirty  years  after  the  death  of  Caius,  a  general 
war  against  the  Romans,  in  which  there  fell  on  both 
sides  300,000  men.  In  the  year  666,  the  dominant  na- 
tion, at  leng-th  humbled,  passed  successive  laws,  con- 
ferring the  franchise  on  the  whole  Italian  population  as 
far  northward  as  the  Amo  and  the  Rubicon  ;  and  Julius 
Caesar  extended  the  citizenship  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Upper  Italy. 

Before  and  during  the  agitation  kept  up  by  the 
Gracchi,  the  Ballot*  was  gradually  introduced  into  every 
proceeding  of  the  National  Conventions.  The  ground 
assigned  for  the  measure  w^as  intimidation  on  the  part 
of  the  new  aristocracy  ;  and  that  body  yielded  to  the 
popular  demand,  considering  this  grievance  more  tolerable 
than  impeachments,  or  the  loss  of  the  public  lands.  The 
ballot  was  first  introduced,  in  a.  u.  614,  in  the  voting  at 
elections;  and  in  G16  it  was  extended  to  the  judicial 
votes  of  the  people  in  all  criminal  causes,  except  im- 


■  Tabellam — vindicem  tacitse  libertatis.   Cicero  De  Lege  Agraria, 
orat.  ii.  cap.  2. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        85 

peachments  for  treason.  In  625,  during  the  heat  of 
the  agrarian  agitation,  it  was  adopted  in  their  legisla- 
tive votes ;  and,  finally,  in  630,  it  was  applied  to 
trials  for  treason.*  We  know  that  the  degradation  of 
the  political  assemblies  proceeded  after  this  time  with 
tenfold  rapidity ;  that  intimidation  gave  place  to  bribery ; 
and  that  voting  became  a  profitable  and  easy  trade.  A 
new  coinage  of  words  became  necessary,  to  describe  the 
machmery  of  corruption.  The  "  Interpretes"  were  go- 
betweens,  who  closed  the  bargain  with  individuals,  or 
with  whole  tribes  or  guilds  ;  the  "  Sequestres"  were  the 
holders  of  the  cash,  employed  with  a  view  to  evade  the 
frequent  bribery-laws ;  the  "  Divisores"  handed  the 
money  to  the  party,  and  bore  the  same  name  with  the 
officials  who  delivered  the  ballots  before  the  vote.  The 
whole  class  of  such  agents  were  termed  "  Sodales"  (good 
fellows)  ;  and  they  and  those  they  bribed  were  included 
under  the  name  of  "  Operge  Campestres"  (political  ope- 
ratives). For  the  state  offence  of  which  the  bribers  were 
guilty,  the  laAvyers  invented  the  name  of  "  Decuriatio," 
or  "Descriptio  Populi."t  But  other  causes  of  deprava- 
tion were  also  at  work  :  the  constituency  of  that  place 
and  time  was  the  very  worst  subject  on  which  the  experi- 
ment could  have  been  tried,  even  in  its  application  to 
bodies  simply  electoral ;  and  the  extension  of  the  ballot 
to  legiskitive  and  judicial  votes, — a  vice  which  the  Roman 
constitution  borrowed  from  the  senates  and  tribunals  of 
the  Greek  commonwealths,  and  transmitted  to  the  Italian 
republics  of  the  Middle  Ages, — was  a  violation  of  prin- 
ciple which  corrupted  the  system  in  every  branch. 

The  political  ingredients  of  the  poison  which  de- 
stroyed liberty,  were  completed  by  the  moral  deteriora- 
tion of  the  army.  Caius  Marius,  on  whose  head  rests  the 
guilt  of  the  civil  wars,  being  made  consul  in  a.  u.  647, 
received  among  his  troops  the  lowest  class  of  citizens, 

•  Schulze,  p.  256.     Cicero  De  Legibus,  lib.  iii.  cap.  16. 

■f  Schulze,  p.  162-169  : — Beaufort,  Republique  Romaine, 
livre  iii.  chap.  6.  Cicero,  in  his  Third  Book  De  Legibus,  dis- 
cusses at  great  length  the  principle  and  operation  of  the  ballot. 


86  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

who  had  never  yet  been  allowed  (for  that  was  the  Roman 
word)  to  serve  as  soldiers  of  their  country.  The  precedent 
was  followed  by  all  the  parties  who  successively  possessed 
political  ascendency  ;  largesses  from  the  general  or  from 
the  treasury,  and  promised  grants  of  public  lands,  soon 
trained  up  a  mercenary  host,  no  longer  the  servants 
of  the  state,  but  the  hirelings  of  their  captain.  The  com- 
mander of  the  army  was  hencefoi-th  the  ruler  of  the 
commonwealth ;  and  if  laws  continued  to  be  enacted, 
touching  either  the  constitution  or  the  administration, 
they  were  enacted  for  show,  and  the  great  men's  obedi- 
ence to  them  was  purely  matter  of  condescension. 

3.  This  is  in  brief  the  character  of  the  last  half-cen- 
tury of  the  republic.  In  reference  to  the  constitutional 
history  of  the  commonwealth,  this  age  is  almost  use- 
less ;*  but  the  Campus  Martius  and  the  Forum  were 
never  more  interesting  ;  for  they  were  the  stage  on  which 
appeared  Cato,  Cicero,  Caesar,  and  Brutus. 

Sylla,  playing  off  the  selfish  alarms  of  the  rich  against 
the  wanton  wretchedness  of  the  poor,  became  by  war 
and  murder  king  of  Rome  for  three  years,  giving  to  his 
military  usurpation  the  old  name  of  the  Dictatorship, 
though  without  any  ground  of  analogy,  t  His  finn  hand 
protected  public  order  and  personal  freedom,  especially 
in  the  harassed  provinces  ;  and  he  promulgated  a  code 
of  constitutional  laws,  which  are  remarkable  as  a  bold 
medicine  applied  unsuccessfully  in  an  incurable  disease. 
He  anniliilated  the  democratic  principles  of  the  republic, 
and  made  the  senate  its  sovereigns.  He  strengthened  that 
council  by  enrolling  in  it  300  of  the  wealthiest  knights  ; 
he  completely  restored  its  judicial  functions,  and  its  ini- 
tiative and  veto  in  all  the  proceedings  of  the  conventions  ; 

*  Cicero  strikingly  characterizes  the  times  in  the  observation 
which  he  says  was  addressed  to  his  grandfather  by  the  consul  Scau- 
rus,  just  before  the  rise  of  Marius.  "  AVe  do  not  at  present  ac- 
knowledge any  laws  of  the  constitution  as  subsisting  :  we  are  either 
concocting  new  laws,  or  trying  to  reinstate  old  ones  which  we  have 
lost," — De  Legibus,  lib.  iii.  cap.  16. 

t  Machiavelli,  Discorsi  sopra  la  Prima  Deca  di  Livio,  lib.  i. 
cap.  34. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.         87 

and  he  enlarged  its  control  over  the  officers  of  the  execu- 
tive. He  re-established  the  Servian  constitution  of  the 
centuries,  and  abolished  the  assembly  of  the  tribes  alto- 
gether. He  deprived  the  plebeian  tribunes  of  every  pre- 
rogative except  the  veto,  which  he  restricted  to  certain 
cases,  probably  those  of  personal  aggression  ;  and  he  art- 
fully made  their  office  contemptible,  by  declaring  the 
holders  of  it  to  be  ever  afterwards  ineligible  to  any  public 
place.  He  lessened  the  power  and  influence  of  the  elec- 
tive dignities  of  state,  by  increasing  the  number  of  the  in- 
dividuals holding  them  ;  and  introduced  a  rule  (which 
subsisted  in  law,  if  not  always  in  practice,  till  the  end  of 
the  republic),  that  persons  should  rise  to  the  consulship 
through  the  inferior  offices  by  a  fixed  gradation,  and 
should  not  be  a  second  time  appointed  till  after  an 
interval  of  ten  years.  The  system  scarcely  survived  its 
projector,  who  voluntarily  abdicated  in  a.  u.  678.  In  a 
few  years  the  tribunes  recovered  their  wonted  influence, 
and  the  national  assemblies  were  placed  on  their  former 
footing.  The  senate,  however,  struggled  to  retain  their 
new  privileges,  and  in  most  particulars  succeeded. 

Every  one  is  familiar  with  the  events  which  followed, 
and  with  the  character  of  the  actors.  In  a.  u.  G87, 
Cneius  Pompeius,  misnamed  the  Great,  having  contrived 
to  render  the  populace  manageable  by  the  re-institution 
of  the  tribuneship,  obtained  powers  which  for  a  time  laid 
the  state  at  his  feet.  Three  years  afterwards,  Cicero, 
elected  to  the  consulship  by  Pompey's  interest,  crushed 
the  insurrection  of  Catiline,  with  a  firmness  which  his 
subsequent  political  conduct  wholly  wanted.  The  reso- 
lute and  high-piincipled  Cato  was  next,  through  the  same 
influence,  appointed  a  tribune  of  the  commons.  Julius 
Cjesar's  rise  followed  :  and  his  unjustifiable  league  with 
Pompey  and  Crassus,  called  the  First  Triumvirate,  no 
sooner  transpired  than  the  small  body  of  patriots  de- 
serted the  new  oligarchy.  Cicero  and  Cato  were  imme- 
diately punished  by  exile  ;  and  Pompey's  attempt  to 
degrade  his  rival  led  to  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  Cfesar 
at  the  head  of  his  devoted  troops.    The  battle  of  Phar- 


bo  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OP  ITALY 

salia  crushed  the  party  of  Pompey ;  and  Julius,  though  he 
never  received  the  royal  title,  was  truly  king  of  Rome 
during  the  four  years  which  closed  with  his  assassina- 
tion by  Brutus  and  the  other  republican  conspirators. 
His  reign  was  long  enough  for  the  refonn  of  much  that 
was  amiss  ;  but  his  usurpation  resembled  that  of  Sylla 
in  little  except  the  bloodshed  which  conducted  to  it,  and 
the  moderation  with  which  the  dominion,  when  once  at- 
tained, was  exercised.  Caesar  unequivocally  aimed  at 
the  establishment  of  a  military  monarchy  ;  and  while  he 
checked  the  power  of  the  people,  and  monopolized  the 
public  offices,  he  purposely  degraded  the  senate,  by  giving 
seats  to  his  o^^^l  dependents,  and  even  to  foreigners.* 

The  parties  which  had  been  recently  formed  for  main- 
taining the  cause  of  constitutional  liberty,  had  strength- 
ened themselves  by  siding  with  the  senatorial  aristocracy 
against  the  combined  forces  of  the  successive  oligarchies 
and  their  tools  the  populace.  The  slayers  of  Caesar, 
however,  appear  to  have  acted  without  a  fixed  plan,  and 
received  no  efficient  support  from  either  of  the  two  great 
factions.  In  truth  their  dream  of  freedom  for  Rome  was 
nothing  more  than  a  dream.  The  Romans  were  fallen  ; 
and  it  was  better  they  should  for  a  time  serve  one  master 
than  three  or  a  hundred.  This  was  exactly  the  opinion 
of  the  people  themselves.  The  commonalty  in  the  city,  by 
deserting  Brutus  and  his  associates,  significantly  declared 
themselves  unworthy  to  be  free.  The  rest  of  the  Italians 
were  equally  apathetic  ;  the  foreign  provincials  were  posi- 
tively hostile  to  the  revolution  ;  and  the  tyrannicides 
had  to  levy  forced  and  heavy  taxes  from  the  towns  within 
their  reach,  in  order  to  pay  the  hireling  soldiers  who 
composed  the  army  of  liberty .+  With  the  two  battles  of 
Philippi,  in  which  Brutus  and  Cassius  died,  the  repub- 

•  The  Romans  resented  the  intrusion  of  the  strangers,  and  ex- 
pressed their  anger  in  pasquinades  on  Caesar's  barbarian  senate, 
several  of  which  have  been  preserved.  One  placard  in  the  streets 
was  in  the  following  terras  : — '*  If  any  new  senator  asks  the  way  to 
the  senate-house,  it  is  particularly  requested  that  no  one  will  give 
him  the  information."     Suetonius  in  Julio,  cap.  80. 

t  Taciti  Annalium,  lib.  i.  cap.  2. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.         89 

lican  party  was  at  an  end  ;  a  struggle  of  eleven  years  fol- 
lowed between  Caesar's  kinsman,  Octavius,  and  his  weaker 
rivals  for  empire,  Antony  and  Lepidus,  who  had  formed 
with  him  the  Second  Triumvii-ate  ;  in  722,  the  battle  of 
Actium  destroyed  Antony,  the  last  competitor  ;  and  the 
conqueror  founded  the  imperial  power  in  Rome,  becom- 
ing its  first  emperor  under  the  title  of  Augustus. 

The  System  of  Administration  and  Finance. — During 
the  whole  republican  period,  the  interest  of  Italian  his- 
tory centres  in  the  capital.  But  the  system  pursued  by 
the  Romans  both  towards  their  dependent  provinces,  and 
towards  the  municipalities  which,  arranged  in  different 
classes,  abounded  in  Italy,  as  well  as  abroad,  opens  a 
field  of  inquiry  in  which  very  important  results  may  be 
gathered.  It  is,  however,  too  wide  to  be  fully  embraced 
in  a  sketch  like  the  present. 

At  the  end  of  the  republican  times,  we  have  to  con- 
sider the  Italian  peninsula  as  reduced,  for  the  purposes  of 
general  government,  into  one  united  province,  placed  im- 
mediately under  the  superintendence  of  the  supreme  rulers 
of  the  state.  Sicily  formed  a  second  province,  admini- 
stered by  a  governor  of  its  own,  and  subdivided  into  dis- 
tricts for  judicial  and  financial  purposes :  Sardinia  and 
Corsica  together  composed  a  third,  having  its  principal 
seat  of  authority  in  the  former  island.* 

The  municipal  system  in  Italy  was  still  complicated, 
since  those  towns  which  possessed  a  civic  constitution 
continued  to  be  classed  as  municipia,  colonies,  or  prefec- 
tures ;  distinctions  involving  differences  of  local  govern- 
ment and  right  which  are  not  altogether  well  ascertained. 
The  municipia,  however,  the  most  favoured  class,  pos- 
sessed their  own  curise  or  town-councils,  their  magis- 
tracies, and  their  funds,  separated  from  the  general  re- 
venue of  the  state,  and  appropriated  exclusively  to  the 
public  service  of  the  community.  The  municipalities 
will  present  themselves  more  prominently  to  our  notice, 
when  we  glance  at  the  polity  of  the  Lower  Empire. 

•  Sigonius  de  Antique  Jure  Provinciarum,  lib.  i.  cap.  3,  4  : 
(In  Graevii  Thesaur.  Antiquit.  Roman,  torn,  ii.) 


yO  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

The  financial  system  of  the  Romans  must  be  examined 
rather  more  closely.* 

The  national  religion  was  supported  by  lands  and  other 
funds  set  apart  for  the  purpose,  and  exempted  from  all 
public  burdens.  The  heaviest  expense  of  the  state  arose 
from  the  pay  of  the  army  and  the  necessary  charges  for  its 
support ;  besides  which,  there  were  the  allowances  to 
public  functionaries,  and  the  sums  required  for  the 
purchase  of  grain  in  the  frequent  seasons  of  scarcity. 

The  chief  sources  from  which  the  public  revenues 
flowed,  were  the  following  : — 

There  were,  in  the  first  place,  four  principal  sorts  of 
impositions  which  lay  primarily  and  originally  on  Italy, 
and  may  be  regarded  as  having  been  the  only  burdens 
directly  affecting  those  who  possessed  the  full  Roman 
franchise.  1.  From  the  reign  of  Servius  all  the  citizens 
were  long  subject  to  a  property-tax  (tributum),  which, 
though  not  exacted  every  year,  seldom  failed  to  be  so. 
Its  amount  was  determined  by  the  public  exigencies 
for  the  time,  and  it  was  assessed  in  conformity  to  the 
returns  made  in  the  census  last  preceding.  On  the 
conquest  of  Macedon  in  a.u.  586,  this  tax  ceased  to  be 
levied  ;  and  although  similar  impositions  were  sometimes 
laid  on  in  later  times,  commencing  with  one  exacted  by 
the  second  triumvirate  in  the  year  711,  we  may  consider 
the  old  property-tax  to  have  never  systematically  revived 
after  its  first  discontinuance.t     2.  In  all  the  seaports 

•  Consult,  for  details  on  this  head,  Burmannus  De  Vectigalibus 
Populi  Romani,  1734;  and  Hegewisch's  excellent  Historischer 
Versuch  iiber  die  Roinischen  Finanzen,  1804.  A  good  deal  may 
be  learned  also  from  Bnllengerus  De  Tributis  ac  Vectigalibus 
Populi  Romani  (in  Graevii  Thesaur.  torn.  viii. ) ;  and  from  Bosse ; 
GrundzUge  des  Finanzwesens  im  Rbmischen  Staate,  1804.  But 
the  principle  of  the  leading  taxes  is  distinctly  unfolded  nowhere, 
except  in  an  admirable  though  short  paper  by  Savignyon  the  Land- 
tax  and  Poll-tax  of  the  imperial  times,  in  the  Transactions  of  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Berlin  for  1822-1823  :  (p.  27-71  : 
Ueber  die  Romische  Steuerverfassung  unter  den  Kaisern). 

■f  ••  The  census  ceased  at  the  end  of  the  Macedonian  war. 
All  later  accounts  of  property-taxes  relate  merely  to  insulated, 
transitory  exactions,  and  to  no  systematic  or  permanent  regula- 
tion."— Savigny,  p.  56. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OP  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        91 

of  the  Roman  dominions,  there  were  collected  duties 
ad  valorem  on  merchandise  imported  and  exported. 
The  owners  of  the  goods  were  obliged  to  declare  their 
quantity  and  value  ;  undeclared  articles  were  forfeited  ; 
and  the  rules  as  to  the  officials  and  other  matters  were 
not  unlike  modem  custom-house  regulations.*  In  the 
year  of  the  city  693  these  customs  were,  on  the  instiga- 
tion of  Pompey,  abolished  in  the  Italian  ports,  and  were 
not  re-established  there  during  the  existence  of  the 
republic.  3.  From  the  year  398,  the  master  of  every 
manumitted  slave  paid  a  tax  of  5  per  cent,  on  his  value  ; 
and  this  imposition  seems  to  have  become  very  produc- 
tive. 4.  A  duty  was  early  imposed  on  salt,  which,  ac- 
cording to  a  system  adopted  by  some  modern  governments, 
was  next  converted  into  a  state-monopoly. 

A  second  class  of  permanent  revenues  was  derived 
from  foreign  conquests. 

For  imderstanding  the  provincial  taxation,  however, 
we  must  clear  the  way  by  putting  out  of  view  those 
conj&scated  lands,  usually  a  third  of  a  conquered  province, 
which  formed  the  Public  Domain.  The  early  abuses  of 
these  territories  in  Italy  have  been  described,  and  it  has 
only  to  be  added,  that  before  the  accession  of  Augustus 
the  whole  was  irrecoverably  alienated.  The  foreign  de- 
mesnes were  less  glaringly  misappropriated  ;  for,  if  arable, 
they  were  either  sold,  remaining  subject  to  a  perpetual 
ground-rent,  or  let  for  a  valuable  consideration,  or  assign- 
ed for  small  annual  payments,  to  the  soldiers  or  other 
poorer  citizens.  Pasture-lands,  and  forests  allowing  pas- 
turage, were  retained  by  the  government,  who  le%'ied 
a  fixed  sum  on  every  head  of  cattle  that  grazed  on  those 
tracts.  In  relation  to  the  domain,  in  short,  the  state 
was  in  the  position  of  a  landlord  or  proprietor  ;  and  this 
part  of  its  revenue  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from 
that  which  it  derived  from  the  provincial  territories  as 
a  sovereign. 

We  now  pass  to  this  second  part  of  the  revenue,  arising 

*  Burmann,  cap.  v.  p.  58,  et  seq. 


92  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

from  lands  which  continued  to  belong  in  property  to  the 
subjects  of  the  state.  After  all  the  Italians  bad  obtained 
the  rank  of  Roman  citizens,  the  rule  was  this,  that  all 
lands  in  Italy  were  free  from  taxation.  The  property- 
tax,  into  which  the  value  of  the  soil,  of  course,  entered, 
had  been  long  abolished  ;  and  therefore  the  Italian  land- 
holder paid  no  tax  on  account  of  his  estates,  and  no 
direct  tax  whatever  except  that  on  manumissions.  But 
the  rule  farther  bore,  that  all  provincial  lands  should 
pay  taxes ;  and  Cicero  tells  us  how  these  were  managed 
in  his  time.*  In  all  the  provinces,  except  Sicily,  the 
lands  were  subjected  either  to  a  fixed  tax  in  money,  or 
to  variable  impositions,  which  were  commonly  farmed 
out  in  Rome  by  the  censors.  We  know  from  other 
sources  that  these  variable  imposts,  or  the  chief  of  them, 
consisted  in  proportions  of  the  annual  fruits,  usually  a 
tenth  of  grain,  and  a  fifth  of  oil,  wine,  and  garden  produce. 
Cicero  goes  on  to  inform  us,  that  all  the  estates  in  Sicily 
were  in  one  or  another  of  three  positions.  1.  The 
greater  part  of  them,  including  indeed  all  except  those 
which  fall  under  the  second  or  third  heads,  paid  the  same 
proportions  of  fruits  (called  decumas  or  tithe),  with 
which  they  had  been  burdened  in  the  time  of  Hiero, 
and  the  imposition  was  administered  by  that  prince's 
rules.  It  was  farmed  out,  but  in  small  lots,  which  were 
set  up  to  lease  on  the  ground,  and  were  usually  taken 
by  the  tithe-payers  themselves,  at  a  very  moderate  rent 
or  composition.  2.  The  lands  of  a  few  to^vns  which  had 
been  reduced  after  resistance,  paid  the  same  sort  of  vari- 
able proportions  of  their  fruits ;  but  the  returns  from 
these  were  leased  out  by  the  censors  in  Rome  to  the  com- 
mon farmers  of  the  revenue.  In  short,  lands  of  this 
description  were  exactly  in  the  same  situation  as  most  of 
those  in  other  provinces.  3.  The  territories  attached  to 
seven  towns  which  had  aided  the  Romans  in  their  wars, 
were  exempted  from  all  land-taxes. 

*  Cicero  in  Verrem  ;  act.   ii.  lib.  iii.  cap.  6,  and  Savigny's  ex- 
planations. 


TILL  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  REPUBLIC.        03 

These  were  the  usual  rules  of  the  provincial  land-taxes, 
which  soon  became  the  principal  source  of  the  state- 
revenue.  INIines  and  minerals  were  taxed  separately  ; 
and  from  the  agricultural  provinces,  the  principal  of 
which  were  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Africa,  and  Macedon,  ex- 
traordinary supplies  of  corn  were  exacted,  when  scarcity 
prevailed  at  Rome.  Customs  on  merchandise  were  intro- 
duced in  all  the  ports  of  the  provinces,  on  the  same  system 
as  in  the  havens  of  Italy. 

It  has  been  stated  at  the  commencement,  that  the  senate 
always  possessed  the  prerogative  of  taxing  the  people ;  and 
it  had  also  the  whole  management  of  the  revenue  ;  for 
to  it  the  Qufestors  or  provincial  collectors  accounted 
directly,  without  dependence  on  the  proconsul  or  prae- 
tor who  was  the  local  governor.  The  more  weighty 
branches  of  the  revenue  were  farmed  on  leases  of  five 
years,  all  the  taxes  of  a  province  being  usually  con- 
tracted for  in  one  lot.  The  amount  of  expenditure  re- 
quired for  such  speculations  obliged  the  equestrian  order, 
the  capitalists  of  the  republic,  to  form  copartneries  for 
taking  the  leases ;  and  the  united  wealth  of  these  monied 
houses  accelerated  the  growth  of  an  undue  influence, 
which  its  holders  abused  grossly,  both  in  their  political 
intrigues  and  in  their  oppression  of  the  provincials. 


94 


THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Political  History  of  Italy  under  the  Roman  Empire, 

A.  u.  722— A.  u.  1229;  or  b.  c.  32— a.  d.  476. 

Fourth  Age  :  The  Heathen  Empire  (b.  c.  32 — a.  d.  306)— List 
of  Emperors — Their  personal  Characters— Tenure  of  the  Empire 
—The  Political  Franchise  lost— The  Military  Force— The  Fi- 
nancial System— The  Two  Exchequers— The  Revenue — New 
Taxes  and  Burdens— Mode  of  Collection — The  Municipalities — 
Their  Prosperity — The  general  Decay— The  Last  Age  of  Hea- 
thenism— Fifth  Age  :  The  Christian  Empire  (a.  d.  306 — 
A.  D.  476) — List  of  Emperors— Disastrous  External  History — 
The  Fall  of  the  Empire  in  Italy— State  of  Public  Feeling— Con- 
stantine's  Administrative  System — The  Land  and  Poll  Taxes — 
Ruin  of  the  Municipalities — Their  Constitutions — Singular  Posi- 
tion of  their  Councillors. 

FOURTH  AGE. 

THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  IN  HEATHENISM. 

A.  u.  722—1059  :  or  b.  c.  32— a.  d.  306. 


32.  Octav'ius  Csesar,  called,  from 
B.  c.  27,  Augustus 

BIRTH  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR. 
A.  D. 

14.  Tiberius  Caesar 

37.  Caius  Caesar,  called  Caligula 

41 .  Claudius  Caesar 

64.  Nero  Caesar 

68-69.  Galba,  Otho,  Vitellius 

69.  Flavius  Vespasianus 

79.  Titus 

81.  Domitianus 


A.  D. 

96.  Nerva 

98.  Trajanus 
117.  Hadrianus 
138.  Antoninus  Pius 
161.  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus 
180.  Commodus 

193.  Pertinax,    Didius  Julianus 
193.  Septimius  Severus 
211.  Bassianus,  called  Caracalla 

217.  Macrinus 

218.  Bassianus,    called  HeHoga- 

balus 
222.  Alexander  Severus 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


95 


A.D. 

235-237.  Maximinus,  Gordianus 
I.,  Gordianus  II.,  Pupie- 
nus  Maximus,  Balbinus 

237.  Gordianus  III. 

244.  Philippus  the  Arab 

249.  Decius 

251-263.  Gallus,  Hostilianus, 
Volusianus 

253.  iEmilianus 

253.  Valerianus 

260-268.  Gallienus,  and  the  Re- 
bels called  the  Thirty  Ty- 
rants 


A.  D. 

268.  ClaudiuSjSurnamedGothicus 
270.  Aurelianus 

275.  Tacitus 

276.  Probus 

282-284.  Carus,  with  Carinus  and 
Numerianus 

284.Diocletianus ;  assuming(286) 
Maximianus  as  co-em- 
peror, and  (292)  Galerius 
and  Constantius  Chlorus 
as  Caesars 

305.  Galerius  and  Constantius 
Chlorus 


The  three  centuries  and  a  half  during  which  classical 
paganism  was  the  recognised  religion  of  the  empire, 
embrace  deeply  interesting  events  in  the  personal  history 
of  the  emperors  and  other  celebrated  men.  They  display 
extremes  of  vice  and  virtue  as  widely  distant  as  those 
wliich  marked  the  republican  times ;  although  the  sphere 
in  which  good  men  as  well  as  bad  now  acted,  was  very 
different  from  that  wliich  had  been  open  to  their  free 
ancestors.  Augustus,  whose  real  character  was  seen  in 
the  cold-blooded  atrocities  of  his  youth,  assumed  a  seem- 
ing meekness  along  with  the  kingly  power.  The  four 
Csesars  who  succeeded  him  were,  each  in  his  own  way, 
cruel  and  worthless  despots.  Vespasian  was  a  wise  man  ; 
his  eldest  son,  Titus,  was  a  good  one  ;  the  third  emperor 
of  the  same  family  was  one  of  the  worst  of  the  Roman 
tyrants.  For  more  than  eighty  years  after  Domitian's 
murder,  the  throne  was  filled  by  a  series  of  monarchs  as 
prudent  and  just  as  the  world  has  ever  possessed  :  Trajan, 
the  second  in  the  list,  was  a  model  for  sovereigns  ;  his 
successor  was  better  as  a  prince  than  as  a  man  ;  and  the 
two  Antonines  were  better  men  than  princes.  But  the 
century  and  a  quarter  which  elapsed  between  the  acces- 
sion of  Commodus  and  the  end  of  the  heathen  period, 
formed  a  gloomy  age,  of  whose  public  wretchedness  the 
shortness  of  the  imperial  reigns  is  one  pregnant  proof. 
Some  of  the  autocrats  were  oppressors  ;  several,  like 
Alexander  Severus,  Pertinax,  and  Tacitus,  were  vu-tuous 
and  excellent  persons;    Septhnius  Severus,  Aurelian, 


96  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

Probus,  and  others,  were  brave  and  successful  soldiers ; 
and  Diocletian,  with  whom  the  period  almost  closes,  was 
a  stem  but  most  able  ruler.  The  personal  history  of  the 
emperors  has  been  told  so  often  and  so  well,  that  there  is 
the  less  reason  for  regretting  the  narrow  limits  which 
here  forbid  more  minute  details. 

The  pagan  period  commences  by  exhibiting  the  em- 
pire in  its  highest  glory  and  prosperity  ;  it  embraces  two 
centuries  during  which  the  universal  dominion  of  Rome 
seemed  to  stand  firm  ;  and  then,  by  a  swift  descent,  the 
book  of  its  annals  leads  us  to  a  point  at  wliich  the 
colossal  fabric  totters  and  is  ready  to  fall.  A  volume 
would  be  required  for  delineating  even  in  the  barest 
outline  the  facts  of  those  active  ages,  and  the  prin- 
ciples by  which  the  events  were  ruled.'^^  The  purpose 
which  this  chapter  is  designed  to  serve  will  be  in  some 
degree  answered,  if  we  survey  in  rapid  succession  a  very 
few  pouits,  relating  to  the  Tenure  of  the  Imperial 
Tlirone,  the  Financial  System  of  the  empu-e,  and  its 
rules  of  Provincial  and  Municipal  Government. 

The  title  by  which  Augustus  pretended  to  the  sove- 
reignty, was  that  of  a  free  election  by  the  people,  re- 
newed from  time  to  time.  All  names,  forms,  and  cere- 
monies, which  the  free  constitution  held  illegal,  were 
carefully  shunned  ;  and  all  that  the  spirit  of  liberty  had 
honoured,  were  protected  and  brought  paradingly  for- 
ward. But  the  republicanism  was  a  wretched  mask 
through  which  every  man  of  iaformation  saw  distinctly, 
though  none  was  strong  enough  to  tear  off  the  disguise. 
From  the  very  commencement  of  the  first  reign  all  the 
powers,  both  of  the  senate,  the  popular  conventions,  and 
the  magistracies,  were  virtually  and  effectually  secured  to 
the  emperor.  The  new  prince  united  by  degrees  in  his  own 


*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  with  all  its  faults,  remains,  and 
probably  will  always  remain,  the  highest  authority  on  all  the  great 
questions  of  the  Imperial  History,  except  indeed  one,  the  very 
greatest,  namely,  the  rise  and  progress  of  Christianity.  The  an- 
notations annexed  by  Mr  Milman  to  a  late  edition  of  the  work,  are 
well  calculated  to  neutralize  its  most  dangerous  errors. 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  97 

person  all  the  ancient  offices  of  state  ;  or,  at  least,  though 
he  allowed  tlie  appointment  of  colleagTies,  he  intrusted  to 
them  no  shai-e  of  the  real  administration.  He  founded,  on 
his  a^umption  of  the  tribunesliip,  a  claim  of  personal  in- 
violability, and  on  his  title  of  Imperator,  wliich  we  trans- 
late Emperor,  a  prerogative  of  absolute  military  com- 
mand, not  only  beyond  the  city,  which  was  the  repub- 
lican rule,  but  also  witliin  it ;  an  extension  of  powers 
which  directly  contradicted  the  old  constitution.  His 
generalship  of  the  armies,  indeed,  aided  by  the  official 
weakness  and  personal  subserviency  of  the  senate,  con- 
stituted the  true  ground  on  which  liis  monarchy  rested. 
But  in  appearance  he  was  only  the  first  of  the  senators ; 
the  august  forms  of  the  assembly  were  treated  with 
profound  respect ;  and  the  sovereign  sheltered  his  ordi- 
nances under  its  name. 

The  National  Conventions  were  used  with  equal  con- 
sideration. Their  legislative  functions,  it  is  true,  were 
immediately  allowed  to  drop,  and  the  people  never 
had  spirit  enough  to  insist  on  claiming  them  :  but  for  a 
good  many  years  the  citizens  were  regularly  summoned 
to  elect  the  magistrates  of  the  state ;  and,  with  a  flat- 
tering deference  to  the  distant  Italian  towns,  Augustus 
framed  regulations  by  which  the  votes  of  their  muni- 
cipal councils  were  taken,  and  transmitted  to  Rome  in 
a  sealed  record,  to  be  counted  along  with  those  wliich 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city  gave  personally  in  the 
Campus  Martins.  But  when,  in  the  later  years  of 
his  reign,  the  crafty  emperor  felt  his  OAvn  strength,  he 
restricted  the  elective  franchise  to  a  conge  d'elire.  His 
successor,  Tiberius,  taking  from  the  people  even  this 
shadow  of  privilege,  formally  presented  to  them  the 
officer  whom  he  had  himself  selected,  without  so  much 
as  pretending  that  his  nomination  required  to  be  confirm- 
ed by  the  meeting.  Caligula  restored  the  right  of  elec- 
tion, but  almost  immediately  took  it  away  again ;  and 
in  his  time  we  may  consider  the  last  mai'k  of  free 
citizenship  to  have  been  blotted  out. 

The  power  of  Augustus  in  the  capital  was  protected  by 
liis  body-guards,  the  famous  Praetorian  Cohorts.     This 

VOL.  I.  .F 


98  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

dangerous  band,  receiving  double  pay  and  honorary  dis- 
tinctions, originally  consisted  of  10,000  men,  afterwards 
of  15,000  or  more,  all  of  whom  were  Italians.    Scptimius 
Severus  remodelled  them,  increasing  their  number  to 
60,000,  and  filling  up  their  ranks  almost  entirely  from 
the  barbarians  of  the  transalpine  provinces.     Foreigners 
had  been  already  admitted  by  Commodus  into  the  legion- 
ary army  ;  and  the  step  taken  by  Severus  completed  the 
ruin  of  military  spirit  in  Italy.     The  soldiery  had  long 
before  that  time  become  the  electors  of  the  emperors. 
The  family  of  the  Caesars,  whose  jfiive  successive  reigns 
had  given  to  the  state  the  aspect  of  an  hereditary  mon- 
archy, was  extinct  with  Nero  ;  but  even  he  and  his  pre- 
decessor had  been  placed  on  the  throne  by  the  praetorian 
guards,  on  the  promise  of  a  large  donative,  w^hich  became 
indispensable  on  the  accession  of  every  new  prmce.    Ves- 
pasian was  raised  to  the  sovereignty  by  the  troops  whom 
he  had  commanded  ;  Nerva  was  elevated  in  the  same 
manner ;  and  no  ruler  made  any  attempt  to  curb  the  power 
either  of  the  legionary  soldiers  or  of  the  guards.   But  the 
influence  of  the  army  was  sometimes  eluded  through  the 
expedient  introduced  by  Octavius,  who  nominated  his 
successor  during  his  own  life  ;  and  from  the  time  of 
Hadrian,  the  person  thus  appointed  received  the  honorary 
title  of  Caesar,  that  of  Augustus  remaining  with  the  em- 
peror.    The  weakness  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  in  giving  the 
throne  to  his  profligate  son  Commodus,  produced  a  con- 
test among  the  soldiery,  in  the  course  of  which  the 
guards  openly  exposed  the  imperial  honours  to  sale,  and 
disposed  of  them  to  the  highest  bidder,  Julianus,  a  rich 
old   lawyer.      The  legionaries,  liowever,   immediately 
bestowed  the  empire  on  their  commander,  Septimius. 
Till  the  murder  of  the  amiable  Alexander  Sevems,  in- 
trigues in  the  palace  alternated  with  mutinies  in  the 
camp  in  fixing  the  succession  ;  but  for  half  a  century 
after  that  event,  every  emperor,  except  Tacitus  alone, 
was  merely  the  general  of  one  or  another  of  the  imperial 
armies,  and  was  carried  to  the  throne  from  his  tent, 
usually  passing  over  the  dead  body  of  his  predecessor. 
Several  of  the  princes  thus  selected  were  men  of  the 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  99 

lowest  origin  and  grossest  ignorance  ;  some  were  foreign- 
ers ;  and  the  list  embraces  Pannonians,  Goths,  and  an 
energetic  but  prudent  Arab  robber.  The  fii-mness  of  the 
warlike  Diocletian,  who  was  the  son  of  a  Dalmatian 
slave,  ensured  the  sovereignty  in  a  regular  succession  to 
himself  and  Maximian,  and  to  their  natural  or  adopted 
heirs,  till  the  death  of  Julian. 

Tlie  Financial  System  of  the  republic  was  entirely 
abandoned  by  Augustus,  and  a  series  of  important  changes 
at  the  same  time  facilitated  the  growth  of  the  imperial 
prerogative,  and  augmented  the  misery  and  weakness  of 
the  empire.*  He  readily  acknowledged  the  right  of 
the  senate  to  administer  the  state-treasury  (the  ^rarium), 
and  to  impose  and  assess  the  taxes  which  were  to  fill  its 
chests.  But,  reserving  to  hunself  the  military  command, 
he  established  a  second  treasury  (the  Fiscus),  which, 
though  supplied  from  sources  pointed  out  by  the  senate, 
was  to  be  administered  for  the  support  of  the  army  by 
the  emperor,  without  control  or  interference.  The  fiscus, 
like  the  serarium,  was  theoretically  admitted  to  be  the 
property  of  the  state  ;  but  from  the  form  of  its  superin- 
tendence, and  the  accessions  it  received,  it  was,  as  early 
as  the  time  of  Trajan,  regarded  as  really  the  property 
of  the  sovereigns,  its  administrators.  The  provinces 
were  divided  into  Senatorial,  managed  by  the  senate,  and 
Imperial,  managed  by  the  emperors.  The  latter,  which 
were  the  more  productive,  delivered  their  taxes  and  im- 
positions wholly  into  the  fiscus  ;  and  even  in  the  other 
class  of  provinces,  from  an  early  period  of  the  empire, 
the  same  exchequer  received  also  all  those  state-revenues, 
which,  by  the  practice  of  the  republic,  had  been  usually 
appropriated  to  the  army.  These  included  the  income 
derived  from  the  public  woods  and  pasturages  ;  which 
came  in  this  way  to  be  considered  as  the  Imperial  Domain. 
In  foct,the  86 rarium  received  even  from  the  senatorial  pro- 
vinces nothing  except  the  customs.  Farther,  every  new 
tax,  with  no  important  exception,  was  made  payable  into 

*  On  the  imperial  finances,  consult  (besides  the  authorities  cited 
In  the  prccedincr  chapter)  Gibbon,  chap.  vi.  But  one  indispensable 
source  of  information  is  Savigny's  paper  formerly  referred  to. 


100  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

the  fiscus.  From  the  beginning,  the  two  treasuries  were 
practically  under  the  control  of  the  emperors ;  and  at 
last  the  aerarium  completely  disappeared,  and  the  whole 
revenue  of  the  state  was  delivered  into  the  imperial  ex- 
chequer. The  date  of  this  final  step  is  uncertain  ;  but 
it  was  later  than  the  reign  of  Commodus.  The  senate 
continued,  till  about  the  time  of  Diocletian,  to  possess 
the  right  of  imposing  taxes. 

The  System  of  Taxation  may  be  best  considered  in  two 
separate  periods,  the  earlier  of  which  terminates  about 
the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius.  During  this  age  the  chief 
sources  of  the  state-revenue  were  the  following,  some  of 
which  were  ancient.  The  public  lands  yielded  the  same 
kinds  of  returns  which  have  been  already  described  ; 
the  tax  on  manumissions  was  still  exacted  ;  but  the  com- 
mon opinion,  that  the  property-tax  continued  to  be  levied 
under  the  empire,  may  be  unhesitatingly  pronounced  a 
mistake,  arising  from  a  misapprehension  as  to  the  land 
and  poll  taxes.  Any  property-taxes  then  really  raised 
were  merely  occasional,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  the  plan  was 
soon  altogether  abandoned.  The  provinces  continued  to 
pay  land-taxes  or  proportions  of  fruits  ;  but  from  the  very 
earliest  of  the  imperial  reigns,  there  are  traces  of  attempts 
to  abolish  the  proportional  impositions,  and  establish  one 
uniform  system  of  fixed  land-taxes  in  money.  The 
principal  new  burdens  were  these.  1.  The  customs, 
while  they  increased  prodigiously  in  the  foreign  ports, 
were  by  Augustus  re-established  in  those  of  Italy. 
2.  He  also  introduced  a  tax  on  inheritances  and  legacies, 
amounting  to  five  per  cent,  on  the  capital,  and  payable 
in  every  case,  unless  the  sum  was  trifling,  or  unless  the 
successor  or  legatee  was  the  nearest  heir  of  the  deceased. 
The  wealth,  the  general  celibacy,  and  the  profligacy  of 
the  Roman  nobles,  combined  to  make  this  impost  a  most 
productive  one.  3.  The  same  emperor  established  a  ge- 
neral excise  of  one  per  cent,  exigible  on  all  articles  of  con- 
sumption. 4.  He  imposed  on  bachelors  heavy  taxes,  and 
disqualifications  of  inheritance,  which  continued  in  force 
till  abolished  by  Constantine.  5.  Several  minor  burdens, 
such  as  poll-taxes  on  provincials  and  others,  and  partial 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  101 

assessments  on  the  industry  of  traders  and  artificers,  were 
added  by  different  sovereigns. 

In  the  second  period,  extending  from  the  Antonines  to 
Constantine,  there  were  introduced  various  changes,  of 
which  there  were  two  that  deserve  notice.  In  the  first 
place,  Caracalla  conferred  the  nominal  franchise  of  Rome 
on  all  the  provincials,  in  order  to  make  them  liable  to 
the  inheritance-tax,  and  other  burdens  leviable  only  on 
citizens.  Secondly,  a  more  important  revolution,  which 
is  of  obscure  origin,  but  had  commenced  before  the  An- 
tonines, was,  every  where  except  within  the  Alps,  fully 
accomplished  about  their  times,  and  altered  the  entire 
system  of  public  burdens.  The  old  property-tax,  as- 
sessed on  a  man's  whole  means  of  every  sort,  was  quite 
abolished  ;  and  there  were  substituted  for  it  two  sepa- 
rate imposts,  a  Land-tax,  and  a  Capitation  or  Poll- 
tax.  All  the  variable  exactions  levied  on  the  provinces 
were  gradually  commuted  for  these  two  fixed  ones ; 
but  Italy  was  long  allowed  to  remain  on  a  different  foot- 
ing, which  may  perhaps  be  traced  to  an  early  date  in 
the  empire.  The  district  which  was  under  the  prefect  of 
Rome,  called  Italia  Urbicaria,  was  entirely  free  both  from 
land-tax  and  poll-tax.  The  rest  of  the  peninsula,  styled 
Italia  Annonaria,  had  to  furnish  the  capital  with  quantities 
of  corn,  certainly  not  large,  and  exigible  in  kind.  When 
Diocletian  divided  the  empire  with  his  colleagues,  and 
Maximian  received  Italy  and  Africa  as  his  share,  the 
former  country  was  subjected  to  the  same  land  and  poll 
taxes  as  the  provinces.  But  the  system  will  be  most 
conveniently  explained  when  we  have  reached  the  next 
period. 

In  the  Local  Collection  of  the  Revenue,  the  imperial 
rule  introduced  one  great  improvement.  The  system 
of  leasing  out  the  returns  was  at  once  given  up,  except 
in  the  customs  and  excise,  which  were  allowed  to  remain 
as  before.  But  any  amelioration  which  this  partial 
change  might  have  produced  in  the  condition  of  the 
Roman  subjects,  was  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the 
new  plan  of  provincial  superuatendence,  which  was  fram- 
ed with  an  express  view  to  the  collection  of  the  revenue. 


102  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OP  ITALY 

Although  it  allowed  good  administration,  if  the  supreme 
government  was  well  conducted,  it  left  the  people  de- 
prived of  all  peremptory  check  over  their  local  rulers. 
Under  the  best  monarchs,  the  provinces  were  much 
more  equitably  and  kindly  governed  than  in  the  last 
days  of  the  republic  ;  l}ut  under  the  tyrannical  ones, 
their  state  was  worse  than  it  had  ever  been  ;  and  the  good 
princes  had  seldom  time  to  repair  the  mischief  done  by 
their  predecessors.  One  proof  of  general  poverty  is  this  ; 
that  the  emperors  were  very  frequently  obliged  to  remit 
long  arrears  of  taxes  due  by  whole  countries  ;  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  such  remissions  were  found  necessary  at 
the  termination  of  some  of  the  best  reigns.  Trajan's  is  an 
example  ;  for  Hadrian,  on  his  accession,  had  to  forgive 
very  heavy  public  debts.* 

Into  those  provinces  which  were  senatorial,  the  senate 
continued  to  send  proconsuls  or  praetors  as  Governors :  into 
all  of  them,  however,  senatorial  as  well  as  imperial,  the 
emperors  sent  Procurators  to  administer  those  finances 
which  fell  to  the  fiscus,  naming  these  officers  without 
consulting  the  senate.  In  the  smaller  provinces,  for  the 
sake  of  economy,  the  procurator  of  the  fiscus  was  also 
appointed  governor,  with  full  judicial  powers  and  mili- 
tary command.  Freedmen,  that  is,  emancipated  slaves, 
were  frequently,  even  by  Augustus,  named  to  that 
charge  ;  and  Claudius  introduced  a  yet  more  ruinous 
system,  granting  to  all  such  persons,  whether  they  were 
governors  or  not,  jurisdiction  without  appeal  in  every 
matter  regarding  the  imperial  treasury.  The  better 
emperors  in  the  second  century  of  our  era  limited  this 
authority  ;  but  it  was  never  wholly  abolished.  Judea  was 
one  of  those  small  provinces  in  which  the  procurator  was 
also  governor  ;  Antonius  Felix,  its  unprincipled  adminis- 
trator, was  the  brother  of  Pallas,  the  favourite  of  Claudius, 
and  both  of  them  were  freedmen.  The  historian  tells  us 
that  Felix  ruled  with  the  power  of  a  king  and  the  soul 
of  a  slave  ;  and  he  was  only  one  of  a  numerous  class.t 

*  iElius  Spartianus  in  Hadriano,  cap.  7. 

-|-  Acts,  chapter  xxiv.  Taciti  Annalium,  lib.  xiL  cap.  54:  His- 
toriar.  lib.  v.  cap.  9. 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.        103 

During  the  imperial  times,  the  Municipalities  of  Italy 
suffered  changes  yet  greater  than  those  which  took  place 
in  other  branches  of  polity.  Rome  was  the  first  town 
to  receive  a  new  plan  of  local  administration.  Under  the 
republic,  the  internal  administration  of  the  capital  had 
belonged  to  the  principal  officers  of  the  general  govern- 
ment ;  but  Augustus  erected  it  and  the  district  extend- 
ing to  the  hundredth  milestone  on  each  side,  into  a  sort 
of  province  by  itself,  which  was  placed  under  an  officer 
appointed  by  the  emperor,  and  named,  in  imitation  of  an 
old  title,  the  Prefect  of  the  City.  This  functionary- 
was  the  imperial  governor  of  the  district,  the  head  of  its 
police,  and  its  supreme  criminal  judge,  to  whose  juris- 
diction all,  with  very  few  exceptions,  were  directly  sub- 
ject.* Surrounded  by  his  six  lictors,  he  exercised,  with 
no  responsibility  save  to  his  master,  the  united  powers 
of  all  the  republican  magistrates.  The  city  was  at  the 
same  time  divided  into  fourteen  regions,  each  of  which 
had  two  police  superintendents,  called  Curators,  and  as 
many  paid  informers  or  Denunciators.  Vespasian  again 
subdivided  it  into  vici  or  wards,  of  which  ever}'  region 
contained  seventy-nine  or  more  ;  and  each  ward  received 
four  resident  inspectors,  called  Vicomagistri.  A  formid- 
able military  police  (the  Vigiles),  composed  of  4900 
trained  slaves,  was  organized  by  Augustus,  placed  under 
a  prefect,  and  divided  into  seven  cohorts,  each  of  which 
acted  in  two  regions  of  the  city. 

The  other  towns  of  Italy,  as  well  as  of  the  whole  empire, 
gradually  lost  their  distinctions  of  rank  and  title  ;  and 
after  the  abolition  of  the  elective  franchise,  the  name  of 
Municipiumwas  indiff"erently  applied  to  all.  The  term, in- 
deed, was  strictly  and  generally  applicable  ;  for  the  muni- 
cipalities actually  rose  on  the  ruins  of  the  commonwealth ; 
and  a  new  system  for  their  administration,  begun  by 
Trajan,  and  carried  on  by  Hadrian,  was  completed  by  the 
Antonines.  The  funds  of  those  burgal  communities  were 
preserved  to  them,  and  augmented  by  laws  which  facili- 

*  Drakenborch  de  Prasfectis  Urbi,  cap.  v'l.  :  De  Jurisdictione. 


104  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

tated  their  acquisition  of  property,  botli  real  and  personal ; 
their  wealth  enabled  them  in  every  instance  to  execute 
important  public  works,  without  imposing  any  local 
taxes ;  the  members  of  their  Curiae  or  Town-councils, 
who  were  the  administrators  of  the  corporations,  received 
honorary  distinctions  ;  and  almost  the  only  unfavour- 
able symptom  which  showed  itself,  was  the  commence- 
ment of  those  strict  obligations  to  serve  the  civic  offices, 
which  we  shall  immediately  find  to  have  afterwards 
become  severe  and  ruinous.  The  flourishing  state  of  the 
municipalities  has,  with  much  reason,  been  considered 
as  one  of  the  most  influential  causes  of  that  strength 
which  the  empire  so  long  possessed,  notwithstanding 
.  the  abuses  which  were  so  common  in  every  other  de- 
partment.* 

But  the  state  carried  rottenness  in  its  core.  Political 
virtue,  as  a  general  quality  of  the  Italians  or  of  their 
fellow-subjects,  was  long  ago  extinct ;  religion  was  dor- 
mant, and  the  sceptical  philosophy  of  the  educated  classes 
was  as  immoral  as  the  uninformed  superstition  of  the 
millions  ;  the  wealth  of  the  empire  was  in  every  suc- 
ceeding century  more  and  more  concentrated  in  the  hands 
of  a  few,  and  the  mass  of  the  people  became  constantly 
poorer  and  more  abject.  In  the  city  of  Rome,  Augustus  fed 
800,000  paupers ;  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  the  Antonines, 
gradually  increased  the  number  ;  and  their  successors 
had  a  yet  harder  task  to  perform  in  supporting  the  mul- 
titudes who  had  neither  possessions  nor  employment. 

In  Diocletian's  time,  the  emperors  had  assumed  regal 
and  oriental  pomp.  The  public  revenues,  and  the  em- 
pire itself,  were  held  to  be  their  property,  and  their  ex- 
penditure of  the  funds  of  the  state  for  national  ends  was 
styled  and  considered  a  gift,  not  the  performance  of  a 
duty.  The  nominal  limits  of  the  Roman  dominion  were 
nearly  the  same  as  in  the  peaceful  reign  of  Augustus, 
embracing  the  richest  and  most  cultivated  portions  of 
the  earth,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Mediterranean. 

*  Consult,  on  the  municipalities  under  the  empire,  Roth  De  Re 
Municipal!  Romanorum  :    Stuttgard,  1801. 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 


105 


The  boundaries,  which  were  never  permanently  passed, 
were  these  :  the  Rhine  and  Danube,  and  the  mountains 
of  Scotland,  in  Europe  ;  the  Euphrates  and  the  Syrian 
deserts,  in  Asia  ;  and  the  sandy  Sahara  in  Africa.  But 
tliese  frontiers  were  now  suiTounded  by  active  and  war- 
like barbarians  ;  the  great  migration  of  the  northern 
tribes  had  unequivocally  commenced  ;  and  the  displaced 
nations,  together  with  some  of  their  invaders,  pressed  for- 
ward into  the  Roman  provinces,  and  even  into  Italy  itself. 
Under  Aurelian,  it  was  thought  necessary,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  days  of  Servius  Tullius,  to  fortify  the  im- 
perial city  ;  and  Diocletian,  dividing  the  administration 
of  the  empire,  ceased  to  consider  Rome  as  its  capital. 

FIFTH  AGE. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  EMPIRE  TILL  ITS  FALL  IN  ITALV. 

A.  V.  1059—1229;  or  a.d.  306—476. 


A.D. 

306.  Constantinus  the  Great,  pro- 
claimed at  York  25th  July 
306 ;  sole  emperor  from 
323  ;  transfers  the  seat  of 
government  to  Constanti- 
nople 330 

337.  Constantinus  II.,  Constan- 
tius,     Constans,     co-em- 


340. 


perors 
Constantius, 


Constans,  co- 


emperors 
350.  Constantius 
361.  Juhanus  the  Apostate 

363.  Jovianus 

364.  Valentinianus    I.,    Valens, 

CO- emperors.  Formal  di- 
vision of  the  empire  into 
Eastern  and  Western 

367.  (Eastern)  Valens  ;  (Wes- 
tern) Valentinianus  I.  and 
Gratianus 

375.  (E.)  Valeng;  (W.)  Grati- 
anus and  Valentinianus  II. 

379.(E.)Theodosius  I.  the  Great; 
(W.)  Gratianus  and  Va- 
lentinianus II. 

383.  (E.)  Theodosius  I.,  Arca- 


A.  D. 

I  dius,  co-emperors;  (W.) 

j  Valentinianus  II. 

392.  (Whole  empire)  Theodosius 

I  I.  and  Arcadius 

395.  (E.)  Arcadius;  (W.)  Ho- 
norius 

408.  (E.)  Theodosius  II. ;  (W.) 
Honorius 

423.  (E.)  Theodosius  II.;  (W.) 
Johannes 

425.  (E.)  Theodosius  II.;  (W.) 
Valentinianus  III. 

450.  (E.)  Marcianus;  (W.)  Va- 
lentinianus III. 

455.  (E.)  Marcianus;  (W.) 
Maximus,  Avitus 

457-474.  (E.)  Flavius  Leo; 
(W.)  Majorianus,  Seve- 
rus,  Anthemius,  Olybrius, 
Glycerins 

474.  (E.)  Flavius  Leo  IL  ;  (W.) 

Julius  Nepos 
-174-475.  (E.)  Zeno;  (W.)  Ju- 
lius Nepos 

475.  (E.)  Zeno;  (W.)  Romulus 
Augustulus 

476.  Italy  seized  by  Odoacer 


106  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

The  accession  of  Constantine  the  Great  was  a  mighty 
epoch  both  for  Italy  and  for  the  world.  He  removed 
the  seat  of  the  government  to  Byzantium,  or  New 
Rome,  afterwards  called  Constantinople,  being  influenced 
by  the  double  reason,  that  the  residence  of  the  empe- 
rors was  required  nearer  the  disturbed  frontiers,  and 
that  the  Italian  peninsula,  still  substantially  a  heathen 
country,  was  ill  fitted  to  be  the  centre  of  a  Christian 
kingdom.  He  established  the  gospel  as  the  religion  of 
the  state,  and  paganism  never  again  reared  its  head, 
except  in  the  short  reign  of  his  able  nephew  Julian  the 
Apostate.  Constantine's  own  character, it  is  admitted,  was 
an  ambiguous  one,  and  those  of  his  successors  offer  few 
points  of  interest,  if  we  except  that  of  the  strong-minded 
and  enlightened  Theodosius  the  Great.  The  faith  of 
Christ,  when  it  became  the  creed  of  the  empire,  had 
already  received  many  of  those  debasing  elements  which 
in  succeeding  times  continued  to  mingle  more  and  more 
deeply  with  its  essence  ;  and  the  imperfect  morality  of 
the  times  in  private  life  was  accompanied  with  but 
few  instances  of  political  wisdom  or  honesty,  either  in 
the  rulers  or  in  those  whom  they  governed. 

The  external  history  from  Constantine  to  Augustulus, 
is  composed  of  intrigues,  seditions,  and  struggles,  every 
year  more  unsuccessful,  against  the  attacks  of  the  north- 
em  nations.  The  division  of  the  empire  into  two,  the 
Eastern  and  Western,  first  introduced  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  864,  and  permanent  from  895,  restored  to  Italy  the 
advantage  of  being  one  of  the  seats  of  government ;  but 
the  separation  produced  no  material  increase  of  strength. 
One  invasion  followed  another  in  a  rapid  succession,  of 
which  it  is  useless  to  enumerate  all  the  steps.  The  West 
Goths  (Visigoths)  under  Alaric  in  400,  were  followed 
across  the  Alps  in  405  by  a  new  army  of  the  same  nation 
under  Radagai,  and  these  again  were  succeeded  in  408  by 
the  reappearance  of  Alaric's  host,  which,  about  410,  took 
and  pillaged  the  capital.  Attila  the  Hun,  named  the 
Scourge  of  God,  invaded  Italy  in  452 ;  and  in  455,  the  Van- 
dals under  Genseric  plundered  the  imperial  city  during 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.  107 

forty  days,  carrying  off  the  noblest  of  the  citizens  into 
Barbary  as  slaves.  In  472  Rome  suffered  another  sack  from 
Ricimer  the  patrician,  a  claimant  of  the  throne  for  his 
father-in-law  Anthemius.  More  than  one  emperor  had 
facilitated  the  progress  of  the  barbarians  by  giving  them 
lands  within  the  frontiers ;  everyone  of  them  recruited  his 
legions  from  among  these  fierce  tribes  ;  and  Constantine, 
imitated  by  his  successors,  acted  still  more  unwisely,  for  he 
formed  them  into  separate  battalions,  retaining  their  na- 
tional arms  and  customs,  and  commanded  by  their  own 
chiefs.  After  this  step,  which  enabled  the  Germanic 
soldiers  to  compare  themselves  with  the  effeminate  troops 
of  the  south,  it  is  surprising  they  did  not  sooner  use  the 
strength  of  which  they  wa-e  conscious.  But  most  of  the 
northern  leaders  who  invaded  Italy  in  the  fifth  century 
had  in  fact  obtained  their  military  education  in  the  im- 
perial camps  ;  and  at  last  Odoacer,  a  prince  of  the  Heruli, 
a  nation  which  had  advanced  southward  from  the  Pome- 
ranian shore  of  the  Baltic,  seized  the  country  at  the  head 
of  an  army  levied  for  the  service  of  the  emperor  and  re- 
ceiving his  pay. 

It  is  impossible  to  read  the  epistles  and  contemporary 
histories  of  those  times  without  being  struck  by  one  re- 
markable fact.  The  Italians  and  other  Roman  subjects 
might,  it  is  true,  be  terrified  by  the  approach  of  savage 
robbers  like  the  African  Vandals,  but  towards  the  north- 
ern invaders  in  general  they  entertained  neither  fear 
nor  hatred.  They  knew,  for  they  learned  after  one  or 
two  trials,  Avhat  they  had  to  suffer  from  the  so-called 
barbarians  :  they  knew  also  what  they  had  to  endure 
under  the  imperial  government ;  and  they  were  per- 
fectly careless  which  of  the  two  classes  of  evils  might 
fall  to  their  lot.  The  paid  armies  of  the  emperors,  and 
the  tribes  of  the  Teutonic  chiefs,  were  allowed  to  fight 
for  the  possession  of  Italy,  while  the  children  of  the 
soil  looked  on.  This  is  a  fact  which  by  itself  condemns 
the  times  of  the  lower  empire  as  ages  of  misgovem- 
ment  and  misery,  and  such  they  truly  were.  All  the 
particulars  of  their  misrule  and  wretchedness,  if  united 


108  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

in  one  catalogue,  would  make  the  heart  turn  sick.  At 
present  we  must  content  ourselves  with  indicating  a 
few  sources  of  discontent,  in  the  General  and  Local 
Administrations,  whose  progress  during  the  heathen 
period  has  heen  already  related. 

Constantine  divided  the  empire,  after  the  example  of 
Diocletian,  into  four  great  Prefectures.  The  Prefecture  of 
Italy  extended  over  the  Mediterranean  islands,  and  em- 
braced the  countries  to  the  north  of  the  Alps  as  far  as  the 
Danuhe,  with  lUvricum  and  the  African  coast.  He  far- 
ther completed  Diocletian's  plan  for  separating  the  civU 
from  the  military  government.  Every  prefecture  was 
put  under  the  civil  superintendence  of  a  Prefect,  who 
succeeded  to  the  title,  as  well  as  to  part  of  the  functions, 
which  had  recently  belonged  to  the  prefect  of  the  Prae- 
torian Guard  ;  this  office  having  from  Severus  till  Dio- 
cletian been  the  first  administrative  and  judicial  as  well 
as  military  post  in  the  empire.  The  provinces,  of  which 
the  four  prefectures  together  contained  116,  were  under 
civil  Governors,  who  held  different  ranks  and  titles.  All 
of  them  without  exception  were  lawyers.  The  army  was 
placed  under  eight  Generals,  each  having  an  extensive 
territory  of  his  own ;  and  under  these  were  numerous 
provincial  commanders  bearing  the  titles  of  Comites  and 
Duces  (counts  and  dukes),  the  former  being  the  name  of 
higher  rank.  The  separation  of  the  civil  power  from  the 
military  helped  to  secure  the  throne  of  the  emperois,  but 
it  weakened  the  defence  of  the  state  against  its  foreign 
enemies,  and  no  change  which  took  place  tended  in  the 
slightest  degree  to  alleviate  the  burdens  of  the  people. 
Oppression  and  deliberate  cruelty  had  ceased  to  be  the 
favourite  crimes  of  the  rulers  ;  but  extortion  and  finan- 
cial injustice,  long  prevalent  and  ill  checked  in  the  pro- 
vinces, were  now  aided  in  their  ruinous  effects  by  new 
and  most  severe  additions  to  the  public  taxes. 

Increased  taxation  was  rendered  necessary  by  the 
increased  expenditure  ;  an  1  this  was  occasioned  by  the 
wars,  the  pay  of  the  barbarians  and  other  troops,  the 
shameful  extravagance  of  the  luxurious  court,  the  pro- 


UNDER  THE  KOMAN  EMPIRE.        109 

vision  of  corn  and  similar  necessaries  for  the  poor  who 
flocked  to  the  two  capitals,  and  the  continued  mainte- 
nance of  baths,  public  spectacles,  and  other  establish- 
ments for  the  diversion  of  the  people.  The  two  principal 
additions  were  the  following : — 1.  The  Aurum  Coro- 
narium,  or  Crown-money,  was,  like  our  English  bene- 
volences, termed  a  free  gift,  but,  like  them,  was  truly 
an  enforced  tax.  It  was  demanded  from  the  cities 
and  provinces  whenever  the  emperor,  finding  his  ex- 
chequer empty,  chose  to  intimate  some  happy  event  in 
his  person  or  family,  on  which  it  was  reasonable  that  his 
subjects  should  offer  their  congratulations.  2.  The Lustral 
Contribution,  the  worst  imposition  of  all,  Avas  a  general 
tax  on  trade  and  productive  industry,  to  which  even  the 
poorest  day-labourer  in  the  land  was  ruthlessly  subjected. 
One  leading  regulation  regarding  this  most  impolitic 
exaction,  though  it  bore  the  appearance  of  a  merciful 
indulgence,  proved  the  source  of  incalculable  misery.  Its 
collection  was  not  enforced  annually,  but  in  the  begin- 
ning of  every  fifth  year  the  payments  for  the  four  years 
preceding  were  pressed  with  extreme  rigour.  The  poorer 
classes,  tempted  by  the  seeming  boon  of  delay,  and  finding 
it  hard  enough  to  gather  the  requu-ed  sum  for  each  season, 
allowed  the  arrears  to  accumulate,  and  then  were  utterly 
unable  to  satisfy  the  claim.  Their  goods  were  seized,  and 
they  were  themselves  imprisoned,  chained,  and  scourged. 
A  law  of  Constantino  ascribes  these  severities  to  the 
officers  of  the  exchequer,  and  forbids  the  heavier  punish- 
ments, restricting  the  penalty  to  confinement  under  cer- 
tain regulations.  But  the  practice  continued,  in  spite 
of  his  law  and  those  of  his  sons  to  the  same  effect.  All 
the  old  burdens  still  remained,  except  those  which 
had  merged  in  the  lustral  tax,  and  in  those  next  to  be 
described. 

About  the  reign  of  Constantine  the  machinery  of  the 
Land-tax  and  Poll-tax,  which,  after  this  period,  are  com- 
monly spoken  of  together  under  the  name  of  the  Indic- 
tion,  was  brought  into  full  operation  in  Italy  as  well  as  in 
the  provinces,  into  which  latter  we  remarked  its  Intro- 


110  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

duction  during  the  preceding  age.  The  general  prin- 
ciple was  this  ;  that  the  Land-tax  should  be  levied  on  all 
estates,  whoever  might  be  their  possessors,  and  that  the 
Poll-tax  should  be  exacted  from  every  person  who  had 
no  territorial  property,  and  at  the  same  time  no  rank  or 
honorary  privileges  confen-ing  exemption.  Such  exemp- 
tion belonged  to  all  the  different  degrees  of  nobility  in- 
stituted by  the  later  emperors,  the  lowest  rank  which 
bestowed  it  being  that  of  the  decurions  of  the  muni- 
cipalities. All  who  were  liable  to  the  poll-tax  were 
designated  Plebeians,  and  were  composed  of  three 
classes : — in  the  towns,  those  free  citizens  who  had 
neither  lands  nor  privileges,  and  who  chiefly  consisted 
of  the  artisans  and  labourers  ;  in  the  country,  the  coloni, 
or  peasants  attached  to  the  soil,  whose  position  will  be 
explained  in  another  place  ;  and  the  slaves  both  in  town 
and  country.  The  two  latter  classes  were  exceedingly 
numerous  in  comparison  with  the  free  urban  inhabi- 
tants. Some  who  properly  ranked  in  this  new  order  of 
Commonalty  enjoyed  immunity  on  various  accounts, 
as  being  the  holders  of  certain  public  offices,  or  as 
soldiers,  widows,  and  nuns ;  but  it  was  expressly  en- 
acted that  holy  orders  should  be  no  ground  of  exemp- 
tion. For  the  purposes  of  the  land-tax  there  was  a 
general  register  of  the  lands  in  the  empire,  which  con- 
tained returns  made  by  every  landholder,  under  severe 
penalties,  of  all  particulars  necessary  for  the  valuation 
of  his  estates,  and  which  specified  the  sum  assessed  on 
them  proportionally  to  their  value,  the  assessment  being 
corrected  periodically.  But  the  land-roll  contained  also 
returns  for  the  poll-tax ;  for  the  proprietor  was  com- 
pelled to  give  up  the  names  and  number  of  his  slaves,  and 
also  of  his  coloni  and  peasants  of  all  classes.  He  paid 
the  capitation- tax  for  every  slave,  and  he  also  paid  it  for 
every  colonus,  being,  however,  entitled  to  recover  the 
amount  from  the  latter,  if  he  could.  This  union  of  the 
two  taxes,  and  the  form  of  the  land- valuation,  wliich, 
dividing  the  ground  into  spaces  called  capita,  gave  the 
land-tax  sometimes  the  name  of  Capitation,  have  been 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.        1 1 1 

the  chief  causes  of  the  difficulties  in  understanding  the 
subject.  The  apparatus  used  for  the  indiction  was  an- 
noying and  arbitrary,  the  amount  of  the  land-tax  was 
usually  excessive,  and  its  exaction  was  cruelly  rigorous. 

The  Municipalities  fared  yet  worse  than  the  provinces. 
As  Rome  had  no  civic  funds  to  tempt  the  government, 
and  as  its  statues  and  buildings  were  the  objects  of  an 
ignorant  pride  and  admiration,  it  was  for  a  time  pro- 
tected by  a  continuance  of  its  old  supplies  for  the  poor, 
and  was  then  gradually  abandoned  to  its  o^vn  destiny. 
Its  internal  administration  remained  substantially  un- 
changed, and  its  Prefect,  and  the  prefect  of  Constanti- 
nople, were  made  equal  in  rank  to  the  four  praetorian 
prefects ;  in  other  words,  these  six  officers  held  the  second 
place  in  the  empire. 

The  other  municipal  communities  were  rich  ;  and 
though  the  extent  to  which  Constantine  carried  his  spo- 
liation of  them  is  doubtful,  it  has  been  asserted,  with 
some  show  of  probability,  that  he  seized  a  part  at  least  of 
the  property  of  every  corporate  town  in  the  empire,  be- 
stowing the  plunder  partly  or  wholly  on  the  church. 
At  ail  events,  it  is  certain  that  within  a  few  reigns 
after  his,  the  municipalities  of  Italy  were  almost  all 
utterly  beggared  ;  and  their  depression  involved  farther 
consequences.  In  the  first  place,  their  Councils  were 
now  authorized  to  tax  the  inhabitants  for  local  pur- 
poses ;  a  measure  which  appears  for  the  first  time  in 
the  Eastern  Empire  under  Arcadius.  The  system  as 
to  the  holding  of  office,  which  had  been  growing  for 
centuries,  was  rapidly  brought  to  maturity ;  and,  as  it 
presents  several  very  singular  features,  a  sketch  of  its 
chief  peculiarities  in  the  Western  Empire  just  before  its 
fall  wil]  be  instructive  in  more  respects  than  one,  though 
the  details  are  involved  in  some  obscurity. 

The  Magistracies  and  Councils  still  existed ;  and  till 
after  Constantine  the  former  may  be  described  as  having 
consisted  of  three  classes  at  most,  the  Duumvirs,  the 
-(Ediles,  and  the  Curators.  The  first  of  these,  who  in 
some  towns  were  the  only  magbtrates,  were  every  where 


112  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  ITALY 

those  in  whom  was  vested  the  jurisdiction  belonging  to 
the  corporation  as  such.  In  civO.  questions  tliis  juris- 
diction was  confined  to  sums  below  a  fixed  amount ;  and 
in  criminal  matters,  except  over  slaves,  it  did  not  exceed 
the  bounds  which  were  necessary  for  maintaining  the 
public  police.*  All  judicial  acts  of  the  municipal 
judges  were  subject  to  revision  by  the  governor  of  the 
province.  The  -^diles,  where  they  were  found  as  dif- 
ferent officers  from  the  duumvirs,  were  nearly  the  same 
class  of  functionaries  as  those  who  bore  the  same  name 
in  the  republic,  or  as  the  deans  of  guild  in  Scottish 
boroughs,  though  without  jurisdiction.  The  Curatores 
Reipublicse  corresponded  to  the  quaestors  of  older  times, 
being  the  treasurers  of  the  corporation. 

But  between  the  reign  of  Diocletian  and  that  of  Valen- 
tinian  I.,  the  emperors  transferred  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
duumvirs,  with  considerable  additions,  to  a  new  class  of 
magistrates,  whom  they  called  Defensors.  These  novel 
authorities,  and  their  mode  of  appointment,  deserve  espe- 
cial notice  ;  because,  as  we  shall  hereafter  discover,  their 
office  formed  in  the  dark  ages  the  basis  of  the  municipal 
government  of  Italy,  and  out  of  it  rose  the  free  states 
which  covered  the  peninsula  for  some  centuries  after 
that  period.  By  the  rule  which  had  prevailed  in  the 
Roman  municipalities,  from  the  earliest  times  till  the 
institution  of  these  officers,  all  the  magistrates  were 
elected  by  the  curiae,  and  none  but  members  of  the  curiae 
were  admissible  to  the  magistracy.     The  defensors  dif- 

*  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  exact  amount  of  the 
criminal  jurisdiction  possessed  by  the  duumvirs  ;  and  the  scourging 
of  Paul  and  Silas  by  the  magistrates  of  the  colony  Philippi  (Acts 
xvi,  22)  has  been  cited  as  a  proof  that  such  oflBcers  possessed  the 
unlimited  right  of  inflicting  corporal  punishment  on  free  men.  But 
the  just  inference  from  this  passage,  with  the  Latin  writers  and  the 
books  of  the  civil  law,  is  plainly  this  :  The  magistrates  were 
entitled  to  punish  corporally  all  offenders,  whether  free  men  or 
slaves,  who  were  not  Roman  citizens.  In  the  apostolic  times  this 
rule  brought  far  the  greater  number  of  the  free  provincials  under  the 
full  criminal  authority  of  the  municipalities.  But,  after  Caracalla 
had  made  the  franchise  universal,  the  very  same  state  of  the  law, 
continuing  unchanged,  left  the  magistracies  no  such  extent  of  juris- 
diction except  over  the  slaves. 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.         113 

fered  in  both  respects.  Any  inhabitant  of  the  place  was 
eligible  to  the  office,  excepting  indeed  the  members  of 
the  curiae,  who  at  first  were  held  expressly  disqualified  ; 
and  the  election  was  made  by  the  whole  laic  commu- 
nity, to  whom  Honorius  added,  as  electors,  the  decu- 
rions,  and  the  bishops  with  their  clergy.  The  term  of 
office  in  the  Western  Empire,  till  the  time  of  its  fall,  was 
five  years.  The  appointment  of  the  defensors  required 
the  confirmation  of  the  prefect ;  and  that  officer,  not  the 
governor  of  the  province,  was  entitled  to  remove  them  for 
misconduct.  Indeed,  by  the  definition  which  is  given 
of  their  functions,  they  are  declared  to  have  been  in- 
tended as  the  protectors  of  the  municipalities  against  all 
parties,  and  in  particular  against  the  proconsuls  and 
other  provmcial  functionaries,  on  whose  conduct  they 
were  empowered  to  report  to  the  prefect. 

The  Curiae  survived  the  rise  of  the  defensors,  but 
their  members,  the  Decurions,  occupied  a  position  which 
is  quite  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  municipal  insti- 
tutions. They  received  their  office  either  by  birth  or  by 
election.  The  former  class  were  those  whose  fathers  or 
grandfathers  had  been  in  place,  and  who  were  on  this 
account  alone  compelled  to  serve.  If  the  number  of  this 
class  was  not  sufficient,  according  to  the  particular  con- 
stitution of  the  city,  they  filled  up  their  board  by  elect- 
ing persons  from  the  community,  being  however  directed 
to  choose  men  of  rank  and  wealth,  when  such  could  be 
found.  Besides  administering  the  public  funds  and,  till 
the  establishment  of  the  defensors,  electing  the  magis- 
trates (whose  appointment  required  no  approval  by  the 
governor),  the  decurions  also  nominated  to  all  the  sub- 
ordinate places  held  under  the  corporation.  Among 
these,  it  is  enough  to  specify  that  of  the  Irenarcha,  an 
officer  whose  duties  of  arresting  and  interrogatmg  crimi- 
nals and  transmitting  them,  with  protocols,  to  the  pro- 
consuls for  trial,  assimilate  the  office  to  that  of  the 
procurator-fiscal  in  Scotland. 

The  Decurions  enjoyed  honorary  titles,  and  ranked  as 
the  nobility  of  their  towns  ;  they  were  exempted  from 

VOL.  r.  G 


1 14         thp:  political  history  of  italy 

the  torture,  from  disgraceful  punishments,  and  from  the 
crimmal  jurisdiction  of  the  governor  of  the  province, 
who  was  bound,  when  they  were  charged  with  oflFences, 
to  transmit  them  to  the  emperor  for  his  judgment. 
They  also  possessed  immunity  from  most  public  services  ; 
and,  if  they  became  poor,  they  received  allowances  from 
the  corporation.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  as  soon  as 
the  property  of  the  municipalities  was  confiscated,  they 
l;ecame  the  subjects  of  a  long  series  of  enactments,  surely 
the  most  foolishly  tyrannical  that  legislation  has  ever 
produced.  The  whole  system,  of  which  law  after  law 
developed  the  links,  was  intended  for  the  strange  pur- 
pose of  making  the  decurions  personally  liable  for  all 
shortcomings  in  the  municipal  funds,  which  had  been 
seized  by  the  very  rulers  who  made  these  laws.  The 
older  regulations,  which  had  imposed  on  these  func- 
tionaries severe  restrictions  in  the  disposal  of  their  pro- 
pert}-,  and  in  their  transactions  with  individuals  as 
weU  as  ^vith  the  public,  were  as  nothing  when  compared 
with  the  multiplicity  of  new  rules,  of  which  one  or  two 
must  here  suffice  as  specimens.  The  decurions  w^ere, 
and  indeed  had  always  been,  accountable  for  the  very 
slightest  neglect  or  omission  in  the  discharge  of  their 
duties  ;  but  they  were  now,  besides  being  compelled  to 
take  office,  bound  to  find  sureties  for  its  due  perform- 
ance ;  a  father  was  liable  for  the  acts  of  his  son,  unless 
the  latter  had  been  emancipated,  or  the  parent  had  pro- 
tested against  his  election.  All  the  members  of  the 
board  were  responsible  for  each  other's  proceedings ; 
and,  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  period,  the  decurions,  who 
had  nominated  a  magistrate,  were  jointly  and  sever- 
ally held  bound  as  sureties  for  him.  When  we  re- 
collect that  the  only  fands  of  the  corporations  now 
consisted  in  local  taxes,  to  be  wrung  from  an  un- 
willing and  impoverished  population,  and  that  the  im- 
perial government  was  accustomed  to  order  the  exe- 
cution of  extensive  public  works,  leaving  the  decurions 
to  find  the  money  as  they  might,  we  shall  not  be  sur- 
prised that  the  appointment  to  office  was  considered 


UNDER  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE.         J  15 

nearly  equivalent  to  a  sentence  of  confiscation,  and  that 
the  unlucky  nominees  sought  to  escape  by  every  sort  of 
pretence,  and  even  by  voluntary  exile.  All  such  eva- 
sions were  rigorously  punished  ;  and  when  every  method 
had  failed  in  procuring  members  for  the  councils,  the 
emperors  took  the  last  steps  in  their  course  of  legislative 
folly.  By  some  laws  they  made  the  holding  of  office 
a  title  to  relief  from  civil  disabilities,  as  in  the  case  of 
bastards,  who  were  thereby  legitimized  :  by  others  they 
made  it  a  punishment,  impressing  into  the  councils, 
like  Valentinian  I.,  the  sons  of  veterans  who  refused 
service,  or,  like  Honorius,  clergjTnen  whom  the  bishop 
had  suspended. 

In  the  whole  list  of  emperors  from  Constantine  to 
Augustulus,  none  can  be  named  as  having  legislated  for 
the  municipalities  with  any  degree  of  fairness,  except 
Julian  and  the  two  who  bore  the  name  of  Theodosius. 
The  only  redeeming  point  in  the  condition  of  the  curiae 
was,  that  their  evils  pressed  on  a  class  of  persons  nume- 
rically small ;  for  the  richer  citizens  alone  w^ere  fixed  on, 
and  even  of  these  many  were  able  by  money  or  favour 
to  procure  exemptions.  The  great  mass  of  the  people 
scarcely  felt  the  evils  of  the  municipal  laws,  and  the  sys- 
tem, if  viewed  simply  in  relation  to  its  immediate  effects 
on  the  state  of  society  in  general,  would  not  have 
deserved  that  minute  notice  which  has  been  here  given 
to  it.  But  it  well  merits  the  closest  study,  not  less 
on  account  of  its  influence  on  succeeding  times,  than 
for  its  importance  as  an  illustration  of  that  universal 
misgovemment  which  harassed  the  Lower  Empire  and 
accelerated  its  ruin. 


116         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Literature  of  Heathen  Italy. 

PERIOD  ENDING  A.  U.   1059,   OR  A.  D.  306. 

Grecian  Literature  in  Magna  Grsecia  and  Sicily— Its  Four 
Centuries — The  chief  Writers — Its  decay  after  the  Roman  Con- 
quest. Roman  Literature  :  First  Age  (to  a.  u,  550,  or 
B.  c.  204)  :  The  Infancy  of  Literature — Its  Progress  after  a.  u. 
500.  Second  Age  (a.  u.  550—722,  or  b.  c.  204— b.  c.  32)  : 
The  Formed  Literature  of  the  Republic  :  The  Sixth  Century 
of  the  City— Plautus,  Terence,  and  Cato — The  Seventh  Century 
— Lucretius — Catullus— Sallust — Caesar — Cicero's  Works  and 
Influence.  Third  Age  (a.  u.  722 — a.  u.  767,  or  b.  c.  32— a.  d. 
1 4) :  Literature  at  the  Court  of  Augustus :  Poetry — Patronage — 
Foreign  Taste — Toleration— Livy — Propertius  and  TibuUus — 
Ovid — Horace's  Works — The  Character  of  Virgil's  Genius — His 
National  Poems — The  Georgics — The  Politics  of  the  iEneid — 
Its  Antiquarianism,  Topography,  and  Poetry.  Fourth  Age 
A.  u.  767 — 933,  or  a.  d.  14 — 180)  :  Literaturefrom  Augustus  to 
the  Times  of  the  Antonines :  The  Character  assumed  by  Litera- 
ture— The  principal  Authors — The  Elder  Pliny — Seneca — Lu- 
can's  Life  and  Poem — The  Works  of  Statins — Persius,  Juvenal, 
and  Tacitus.  Fifth  Age  (a.  u.  933—1059,  or  a.  d.  180—306)  : 
Literature  from  Commodus  till  the  Accession  of  Constantine  : 
In  Italy  no  genuine  Native  Literature — The  Greeks. 

FIRST  AGE. 

TILL  THE  thorough   FORMATION  OF  THE  ROMAN   LITERATURE  : 
ABOUT  A.  U.  550,  OR  B.  C.  204. 

A  COMPLETE  history  of  ancient  literature  in  Italy  and 
Sicily  would  embrace  the  mental  cultivation  of  the 
Greeks  as  well  as  that  of  the  Romans.  For  the  Helle- 
nic colonies  of  the  west  were  not  less  active  in  the  pur- 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  117 

suits  of  learning  than  the  mother-country ;  several  illus- 
trious names  in  Grecian  poetry  and  science  belong  by 
birth  to  the  Italiot  settlements ;  and  other  Greeks,  though 
natives  of  the  old  country,  dwelt  in  Sicily  or  the  adja- 
cent mainland,  chiefly  after  the  Sicilian  princes  had  be- 
gun to  patronise  art  and  letters.  The  Roman  literature, 
however,  must  be  regarded  as  the  main  object  in  this 
sketch :  and  it  will  be  enough  if  we  glance  rapidly  at  a 
few  of  the  principal  literary  events  which  took  place  in 
the  Greek  colonies  before  their  subjugation. 

Ch'eek  Literature  in  Sicily  and  Magna  Grcecia  befm-e 
the  Roman  Conquest. — If  we  pass  over  the  early  Italiot 
legislators,  whose  age  is  uncertain,  we  shall  find  the 
oldest  Greco- Italian  names  of  celebrity  in  the  middle  of 
the  second  century  of  Rome  ;  and  hence  the  duration  of 
Grecian  literature  and  philosophy  in  those  countries 
extends  to  about  four  hundred  years.  The  most  ancient 
of  their  poets  yield  in  importance  to  their  philosophers ; 
the  list  of  whom  opens  with  Pythagoras,  whose  visit  to 
Italy  is  understood  to  have  occurred  about  the  reign  of 
Tarquinius  Superbus,  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  cen- 
tury of  Rome.  Among  his  most  distinguished  followers 
were  Empedocles  of  Agrigentum,  and  Timaeus  of  Locri ; 
but  before  these  philosophers,  and  little  later  than  the 
great  teacher  liimself,  the  Ionian  Xenophanes  had  found- 
ed, at  Elea,  his  celebrated  school.  Epicharmus,  a  Coan, 
who  spent  his  life  in  Sicily,  and  is  said  to  have  been  an 
immediate  disciple  of  Pythagoras,  is  also  renowned  as  a 
poet ;  and  in  his  name  the  Sicilians  claimed  the  honour 
of  having  invented  comedy  nearly  a  hundred  years 
before  it  flourished  at  Athens.  Among  the  Greek  comic 
poets,  from  Aristophanes  down  to  Menander,  several  of 
the  most  famous  were  Italiots,  of  whose  works  we  have 
only  fragments,  such  as  Alexis  of  Thurii,  who  was  the 
grandfather  of  Menander  ;  Sophron,  w^ho  in  the  time  of 
the  Middle  Attic  comedy  invented  the  Mimes ;  Carcinus, 
a  Sicilian,  and  the  two  Philemons  of  Syracuse. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  century  of  Rome,  when  its 
inhabitants  had  hardly  escaped  from  the  hands  of  Per- 


118         THE  LITERATURE  OP  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

sena^  Syracuse  contained  more  men  of  high  genius  than 
any  other  city  in  the  world.  These  were  collected  at 
the  court  of  the  first  Hiero,  during  his  short  reign  of  ten 
years,  and  among  them  were  the  greatest  poets  of  the 
age  :  Pindar,  whose  odes  have  immortalized  liis  Sicilian 
patrons ;  the  pathetic  Simonides,  who  was  buried  in  the 
city  by  Hiero  ;  and  the  sublime  ^schylus,  who  died  in 
the  island  at  an  advanced  age,  and  is  said  to  repose  near 
the  ruins  of  Gela. 

Early  in  the  fourth  century  of  Rome,  Herodotus  the 
historian,  and  Lysias  the  orator,  a  native  of  Syracuse, 
were  among  the  colonists  who  founded  the  city  of  Thurii ; 
and  about  the  same  time  Leontium  possessed,  in  its  citizen 
Gorgias,  a  rhetorician  whose  fame  rivalled  that  of  Lysias. 

The  next  illustrious  names  meet  us  in  the  last  half  of 
.the  same  century,  at  the  court  of  the  elder  Dionysius, 
prince  of  Syracuse.  Under  him  and  his  son,  Sicily  was 
honoured  by  the  residence  of  Plato,  though  the  nation 
derives  no  credit  from  the  ingratitude  with  which  its 
sovereigns  treated  the  great  philosopher  and  his  distin- 
guished friend  Dion.  The  life  of  Plato  was  preserved 
from  the  cruelty  of  the  tyrant  by  the  renowned  mathe- 
matician Archytas  of  Tarentum. 

A  mathematician  of  yet  greater  celebrity,  Archimedes 
the  Syracusan,  devoted  the  best  efforts  of  his  skill  in 
mechanics  to  the  defence  of  his  native  town  against  the 
Romans,  and  was  at  length  killed  in  the  storming  of  it. 
Nearly  contemporary  with  him,  but  chiefly  resident  at 
the  capital  of  the  Ptolemies,  was  his  fellow-citizen 
Theocritus,  the  best  known  of  all  the  Sicilian  poets ; 
whose  imitators,  Moschus,  also  of  the  same  city,  and 
Bion,  who  at  least  lived  in  the  island,  if  he  was  not  born 
there,  probably  belong  to  a  time  little  later  than  his. 

Immediately  on  the  conquest  of  Lower  Italy  by  the 
Romans,  Greek  began  to  fall  into  disuse.  In  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  more  than  one  author  of  Grecian  origin 
contributed  to  the  infant  literature  of  the  Latins ;  and, 
in  the  first  years  of  Tiberius,  Strabo  complained  that 
Magna  Grsecia  had  ceased  to  be  Greece,  except  in  Taren- 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  119 

turn,  Rliegium,  and  Naples.  In  these  cities,  indeed,  the 
language  maintained  a  partial  hold  during  the  best  times 
of  the  empire.  In  Sicily  it  kept  its  place  still  longer, 
as  the  dialect  of  common  life  ;  and  the  modern  tongue 
exhibits  marked  traces  of  it,  mingled  with  Saracenic 
words,  which  at  length  aided  the  Latin  in  driving  it 
out.  Literature,  however,  became  Latin  at  once,  both 
on  the  mainland  and  in  the  island  ;  and  after  the  sub- 
jugation of  the  latter,  Greek  was  not  used  in  the  works 
of  any  eminent  man  belonging  to  those  provinces,  with 
the  single  exception  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  who  lived  in 
the  times  of  Julius  Csesar  and  Augustus,  and  composed 
a  history  of  the  world  in  forty  books,  of  which  there 
remain  fifteen  and  some  fragments. 

Roman  Literature  in  its  Infancy. — The  literature  of 
the  Etruscans,  if  they  ever  had  any  writings  worthy  of 
the  name,  is  quite  lost  to  us,  along  with  the  language  in 
which  it  was  embodied.  The  Romans  borrowed  their 
theatrical  representations  from  Etruria,  introducing  them 
for  the  first  time,  as  it  should  seem,  about  the  year  of  the 
city  889  :  but  the  rude  compositions  of  those  ages  have 
wholly  perished.  TUl  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury of  Rome,  her  literature  was  a  blank  ;  unless  we  con- 
fer the  name  on  such  rude  hymns  as  those  of  the  Arval 
Brothers,  or  on  the  simple  enactments  of  the  Twelve 
Tables,  or  on  those  picturesque  traditions  which,  speedily 
lost  in  their  original  shape  even  to  the  people  them- 
selves, are  known  to  us  only  by  their  substance,  partially 
preserved  in  the  later  histories. 

Before  that  time,  however,  the  language  was  de- 
veloped to  an  extent  which  has  not  been  equalled  by 
any  other  people  possessing  no  native  literature  ;  and  in 
the  works  of  their  sixth  centur}'',  the  Latin  tongue 
appears  in  a  purity  and  nervous  simplicity,  which  the 
polish  of  the  two  succeeding  ages  injured  rather  than 
improved.  In  every  thing,  however,  which  regards  both 
the  spirit  and  the  form,  the  art  of  composition  must 
be  considered  as  having  been  in  its  infancy  at  Rome 
during  the  first  half  of  that  century ;  and  the  produc- 


J  20         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

tions  of  the  time  may  most  fairly  be  classed  separately 
from  those  which  succeed  them. 

The  first  literature  of  the  Romans,  like  that  of  every 
other  nation,  was  poetical,  or  rather  metrical ;  and  it 
assumed  three  forms,  those  of  the  drama,  versified  an- 
nals, and  satires.  The  dramatic  poems  of  their  sixth 
century  w^ere  by  far  the  most  numerous.  Their  chief 
writers  were  natives  of  the  conquered  provinces  in  the 
south  ;  the  subjects  and  the  form  of  the  vrorks,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  were  close  copies  fi'om  the  Greek  ; 
and  most  of  the  dramas  appear  to  have  been  mere  transla- 
tions. Prose  writing  began  nearl}?^  at  the  end  of  this  period, 
and  was  soon  applied  to  history  and  practical  science. 

The  earliest  author  of  the  time  was  Livius  Androni- 
cus,  an  Italian  Greek,  whose  works  were  chiefly  tra- 
gedies, though  he  also  translated  the  Odyssey  into  Latin 
iambics.  His  first  play  was  acted  in  the  year  of  the 
city  513,  and  he  was  alive  as  late  as  546.  Cneius  Nee- 
vius,  who  followed  him,  was  his  countryman,  being  a 
Campanian,  and,  besides  tragedies  and  comedies,  composed 
a  metrical  history  of  the  First  Punic  War.  In  his 
comedies  he  imitated  the  personal  attacks  of  the  old 
Attic  stage,  and,  after  having  been  repeatedly  punished 
for  his  libels  by  the  exasperated  Roman  nobles,  he  died 
in  549.  To  these  names  must  be  added  those  of  Caecilius 
Statins,  a  comic  poet,  a  native  of  Insubrian  Gaul ;  Mar- 
cus Pacuvius,  a  nephew  of  Ennius,  bom  at  Brundu- 
sium,  and  a  writer  of  tragedies  ;  Lucius  Accius  or  Attius, 
also  a  dramatist,  about  half  a  century  younger  than  Pa- 
cuvius ;  and,  lastly,  the  most  famous  author  of  the  age, 
Quintus  Ennius,  a  Calabrian  {horn  a.  u.  514 — died  584). 
He  was  the  dear  friend  of  the  Scipios  and  Lselius  ;  his 
genius  was  all  but  deified  by  the  Romans  till  the  Augus- 
tan age  ;  and  the  best  poet  of  that  era  did  not  disdain  to 
copy  from  him.  His  chief  works  were  many  tragedies 
and  comedies,  some  epigrams  and  satires,  and  eighteen 
books  of  metrical  annals. 

The  successive  heads  of  the  Cornelian  family  were 
the  kindest  patrons  of  literature  in  those  times.    The 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  121 

elder  Scipio  Africanus  was  one  of  the  first  Romans 
who  set  a  just  value  on  intellectual  cultivation  ;  and  the 
younger  Africanus  was  distinguished  for  his  successful 
prosecution  of  Greek  literature,  in  an  age  in  which  that 
study  began  to  be  followed  with  universal  zeal.  On  the 
defeat  of  Perseus,  in  the  year  586  of  the  Roman  era,  the 
Macedonian  hostages,  among  whom  was  Polybius,  the 
historian,  became  his  cherished  friends.  The  banishment 
of  the  foreign  teachers,  effected  soon  afterwards  by  the 
gloomy  Cato,  did  not  damp  the  ardour  either  of  Scipio  or 
others  ;  the  three  great  sects  of  the  Hellenic  philosophy 
were  represented  at  Rome,  about  the  end  of  the  century, 
by  the  three  ambassadors  of  the  Grecian  states  ;  and  the 
enthusiasm  for  the  newly  imported  literature  was  in- 
creased tenfold  by  the  conquest  of  Greece  itself. 

SECOND  AGE. 

FROM    THE    FORMATION   OF   THE    ROMAN    LITERATURE    TO   THE 
OVERTHROW  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  t 

A.  u.  550—722,  OR  B.  c.  204—32. 

Of  the  productions  of  Ennius,  as  well  as  of  the  lesser 
poets,  who  were  named  along  with  him,  we  possess  only 
fragments  ;  and  our  collection  of  complete  Roman  pieces 
commences  with  those  of  three  writers,  all  of  whom  be- 
longed to  the  latter  half  of  their  sixth  century.  These 
works  possess  merit  and  fame  enough  to  entitle  them 
to  be  ranked  as  classical ;  and,  accordingly,  in  the  analy- 
tical table  which  was  given  in  the  introductory  chapter 
of  this  volume,  the  period  of  Roman  greatness  in  litera- 
ture was,  in  order  to  include  their  age,  reckoned  as 
commencing  about  the  year  of  the  city  550,  or  204 
years  before  the  Christian  epoch. 

About  the  middle  of  the  century  we  have  the  come- 
dies of  the  Umbrian,  Marcus  Accius  Plautus  (died  a.  u. 
569)  ;  at  a  time  rather  later,  those  of  Publius  Terentius, 
a  Carthaginian  {born  about  560 — died  594)  ;  and  during 
the  same  age  the  works  of  Marcus  Porcius  Cato  the 
Censor  (519 — 607).  Of  the  comedies  of  Plautus,  which, 
about  the  time  of  the  Antonines,  existed  to  the  number 


122         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

of  130,  we  possess  only  twenty ;  but  the  six  plays  of 
Terence  still  extant  are  perhaps  all  that  he  wrote.  The 
antiquities  of  Rome  have  sustained  a  very  grievous  in- 
jury by  the  loss  of  Cato's  seven  books  of  "  Origines," 
the  earliest  prose  history  of  the  city  ;  a  work  in  whicli 
liis  antiquarian  learning  had  full  scope,  and  which  would 
have  been  useful  even  on  account  of  his  violent  preju- 
dices. His  remaining  treatise  on  Rural  Economy,  hav- 
ing had  its  diction  modernized  by  later  critics,  affords 
us  little  insight  into  the  state  of  the  language,  though 
it  is  a  very  valuable  reuord  on  the  subject  to  which 
it  relates.  Plautus  and  Terence  have  reached  us  nearly 
genuine,  and  their  works  convert  into  certainty  that  sus- 
picion of  weakness  and  a  defective  originality  in  the  new 
Latin  literature,  which  is  suggested  to  us  by  the  frag- 
ments of  the  lost  dramatists.*  All  the  scenes  of  both 
authors  are  laid  in  Greece  or  its  colonies  ;  their  plots, 
without  exception,  are  borrowed  in  like  manner ;  and 
as  to  their  dialogue,  that  of  Plautus  is  manifestly  an 
imitation,  while  Terence's  seems  even  to  be,  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  closely  translated.  Authors  who  wrote 
on  this  system,  and  patrons  who  applauded  them  for 
doing  so,  occupied  a  rank  equally  low  ;  but,  besides  the 
idiomatic  vigour  of  style  which  distinguishes  the  one 
writer,  and  the  unaffected  purity  of  the  other,  both  have 
merits  of  their  o^\ti.  Terence's  delicacy  of  feeling,  and 
his  fine  sense  of  propriety  and  symmetry,  are  evident  in 
all  liis  adaptations  of  foreign  stories  and  sentiments  ;  and 
Plautus,  rude  and  boisterous  in  manner,  has  a  vein  of 
wild  humour  to  which  he  sometimes  gives  full  vent,  by 
ingrafting  on  his  Greek  fables  groups  from  Roman  life,  in 
a  style  of  broad  satire  approaching  to  the  freedoms  of  the 
old  Attic  comedy.  The  indecency  of  the  stories,  and  the 
cool  immorality  of  the  characters^  are  common  to  both 
poets  ;  but  the  vices  they  depicted  were  those  of  Athens, 

*  The  catalogue  of  lost  tragedies,  from  which  fragments  have  been 
recovered,  extends,  as  given  by  Fabricius  (Bibliotheca  Latina), 
to  about  125,  besides  other  plays,  whose  titles  are  not  known.  Of 
the  preserved  titles,  there  is  not  one  which  does  not  prove  the 
subject  to  have  been  taken  from  the  Greek  history  or  legends. 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  123 

a  luxurious  and  decaying  community,  not  those  of  the 
sterner  youth  of  Rome. 

After  the  taking  of  Carthage  the  diffusion  of  literature 
was  rapid  ;  and  on  the  reduction  of  Sicily,  Roman 
refinement  quickly  reached  its  utmost  height.  In  the 
interval  between  those  two  events,  we  meet  with  only  one 
famous  name,  that  of  the  satirist  Caius  Lucilius,  whose 
works  have  perished  ;  but  every  department  of  intel- 
lectual exertion  became  more  and  more  crowded  with 
labourers.  The  cultivation  of  popular  eloquence  was 
general ;  the  Gracchi,  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventh 
century,  were  followed  by  the  orator  Crassus,  who  was 
consul  in  658,  and  by  Marcus  Antonius,  who  was  mur- 
dered in  the  Marian  proscription  of  667,  along  with  Mu- 
cins Scsevola,  the  famous  jurisconsult ;  and  in  the  end 
of  the  century  flourished,  besides  men  of  smaller  note, 
Cicero's  formidable  rival  Quintus  Hortensius.  Histo- 
ries, now  lost,  were  composed  by  this  author,  by  the 
accomplished  time-server  Atticus,  by  Lucceius,  and  by 
Cicero  himself,  who  also,  with  a  few  others,  studied  pro- 
foundly the  philosophy  of  Greece. 

But  the  half  century  which  elapsed  between  Sylla's 
dictatorship  and  the  fall  of  the  republic  has  left  us 
more  than  names.  From  this  period  we  possess  works  of 
the  following  writers  :  in  poetry,  Titus  Lucretius  Cams 
(668—702),  and  Caius  Valerius  Catullus  (born  667— 
died  after  706)  ;  in  philosophy,  oratory,  and  general 
literature,  Marcus  TuUius  Cicero  (647 — 710)  ;  in  plii- 
lology  and  practical  science,  Marcus  Terentius  Varro 
(638—727)  ;  and  in  history,  Caius  Julius  Caesar  (664 — 
709),  Caius  Sallustius  Crispus  (668—719),  and  Corne- 
lius Nepos. 

Even  the  first  age  of  the  empire,  the  most  polished 
era  of  Roman  poetry,  possessed  no  genius  superior  to 
Lucretius  and  Catullus  ;  and  though  the  former,  if  con- 
sidered as  an  artist,  must  rank  below  the  writers  of  the 
Augustan  age,  the  latter  is  quite  their  equal,  being  not 
less  admirable  in  the  mechanism  of  his  poetry  than  in 
its  conception. 


124         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

The  only  work  of  Lucretius  is  his  didactic  poem  "  On 
the  Nature  of  the  Universe,"  in  which  he  expounds  the 
tenets  of  the  Epicurean  philosophy.  His  leading  topics 
are  ari'anged  nearly  in  the  following  order.  Commencing 
\vith  the  views  of  elemental  nature  held  by  his  school, 
he  next  describes  the  properties  of  matter,  and  then 
proceeds  to  explain  the  essence  of  spirit.  The  theory  of 
sensation  follows,  and  is  succeeded  by  the  physical  his- 
tory of  the  earth,  and  an  account  of  the  rise  of  society 
and  development  of  religion  ;  after  which  the  poem  de- 
scribes and  attempts  to  explain  many  of  the  ordinary 
phenomena  of  the  material  world,  with  some  of  its  tem- 
porary derangements.  These  themes,  though  affording 
abundant  sources  of  illustration  in  poetry,  are  evidently 
too  abstract  to  form  the  main  subject  of  any  poem,  even 
didactic  ;  and  the  work  becomes  yet  more  repulsive 
on  account  of  the  sceptical  dogmas  on  which  the  reason- 
ing is  founded,  and  the  little  art  which  is  expended  on 
the  plan.  Materialism,  and  the  denial  of  divine  exist' 
ence,  lie  at  the  root  of  the  philosophy  recommended  by 
Lucretius.  His  attack  on  the  false  theology  and  super- 
stitious observances  of  the  Greeks  has,  in  many  cases, 
an  overpowering  force ;  but  the  temper  of  liis  system 
infuses  a  cold  spirit  into  the  work,  and  gives  it,  at  the 
same  time,  a  character  nearly  unexampled  in  classical 
poetry,  by  stripping  it  almost  entirely  of  those  decora- 
tive accompaniments  which  the  ancient  mythology  so 
lavishly  supplied.  The  imperfect  form  of  the  poem,  in 
which  the  principles  of  the  sect  are  dogmatically  set 
forth  by  the  writer  in  his  own  person,  and  relieved  only 
by  rare  imaginative  digressions,  is  common  to  it  with  all 
didactic  poems,  except  some  of  our  o^vn  times,  in  which 
the  essential  imperfection  of  that  anomalous  class  of 
compositions  has  been  in  part  remedied  by  throwing  the 
work  into  a  narrative  shape.  Lucretius,  however,  who 
had  only  the  gnomologic  verses  of  the  Greeks  as  liis  mo- 
dels, is  more  constantly  argumentative  than  any  philoso- 
phical poet  who  has  succeeded  him,  and  few  tasks  can  be 
more  tedious  than  the  perusal  of  his  poem  from  beginning 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.         125 

to  end.  This  labour,  indeed,  is  least  irksome  to  the  pro- 
fessed philologist,  who,  in  the  purity  of  the  style  and  the 
bold  structure  of  the  versification,  can  forget  the  weary 
barrenness  of  the  matter  ;  but  even  the  student  of  poetry 
must  frequently  bow  with  delight  to  the  enthusiastic 
imagination  which  inspires  Lucretius,  when  he  forgets 
that  he  is  a  teacher  of  philosophy,  and  is  for  a  time  wholly 
the  poet.  There  occur  every  where  short  snatches  of  ima- 
gery, warmly  and  clearly  conceived,  and  expressed  with 
remarkable  felicity ;  and  few  things  are  finer  than  some 
passages  of  greater  length,  such  as  the  opening  address  to 
the  Divinity  of  Beauty,  and  the  description  of  the  rise  of 
primeval  religions, — a  strain  which  has  been  equalled  in 
its  kind  by  no  man,  and  approached  by  scarcely  any.* 

We  know  little  of  this  author's  private  life  except 
that  he  put  an  end  to  his  existence  in  utter  weariness  and 
despondency.  The  memoirs  of  Catullus,  an  opulent 
Veronese  of  the  equestrian  order,  are  scarcely  less  scanty, 
and  he  derives  little  honour  from  the  best  accredited 
incident  of  his  life,  his  amour  with  the  profligate  sister 
of  the  unprincipled  Clodius.  The  works  of  this  writer 
are  short  poems,  chiefly  lyrical,  in  which  he  for  the  first 
time  adapted  the  Greek  measures  to  the  Latin  tongue. 
His  alleged  imitation  of  the  Grecian  poets  must  have  some 
foundation  in  truth  ;  but  it  is  scarcely  so  easy  to  believe 
that  the  chief  objects  of  his  study  were  Callimachus,  and 
the  other  members  of  the  artificial  school  of  Alexandria. 
The  love -poems,  which  are  not  the  best,  and  the  epi- 
grams, chiefly  launched  at  Julius  Caesar's  minion 
Mamurra,  are  chargeable  with  voluptuousness  and 
coarseness,  though  scarcely  with  more  of  either  than 
belonged  to  most  poets  both  of  this  age  and  the  next. 
His  rich  imagination,  his  warm  feeling,  and  his  unsur- 
passed felicity  of  expression,  qualities  which  form  a 
character  of  pure  ideality  quite  peculiar  to  him,  are 
best  exhibited  in  his  verses  addressed  to  friends,  or  com- 

*  Lucret.  De  Rerum  Natura,  lib.  v.,  sub  finem.  Compare 
Wordsworth's  exquisite  delineation  of  the  same  pictures  in  the 
Fourth  Book  of  the  Excursion. 


126         THE  LITERATURE  OP  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

memorating  favourite  scenes,  and  in  his  few  longer  poems 
on  imaginative  subjects.  Of  the  more  tender  class, 
we  have  delightful  examples  in  the  lines  celebrating 
the  Peninsula  of  Sirmio  on  the  Lake  Benacus,  whose 
olive-groves  now  shade  the  ruins  of  the  poet's  villa  ;  in 
the  plaintive  Invocation  written  at  his  brother's  tomb  ; 
in  the  Epithalamium  of  Manlius  and  Julia,  so  full  both 
of  passion  and  fancy  ;  and  in  the  Acme  and  Septimius, 
a  short  poem  whose  tone  of  romantic  fondness,  and  de- 
licate sweetness  of  language,  are  most  nearly  approach- 
ed by  Coleridge's  "  Love."  Catullus  had  freer  scope  for 
his  clear  poetic  vision  in  the  two  mythological  subjects, 
the  Atys,  and  the  Marriage  of  Peleus  and  Thetis,  which 
form  liis  longest  works.  The  latter  of  these  is  full  of  fine 
thoughts  and  bright  lyrical  pictures, — a  fragment,  in- 
deed, but  the  fragment  of  a  gem.  The  Atys  is  one  of  the 
most  singular  of  poems,  in  the  subject,  the  versifica- 
tion, and  the  tone  of  thought  and  imagery  :  all  is  wild 
and  luxuriant,  and  its  mysterious  maenad  inspiration  is 
the  more  deeply  felt  the  more  it  is  studied. 

If  the  poets  of  the  expiring  republic  are  worthy  to 
be  set  up  against  their  successors  in  the  first  imperial 
court,  the  last  republican  period  stands,  in  prose,  infi- 
nitely higher  than  the  Augustan,  which  has  little  that 
can  be  compared  to  the  mass  and  variety  of  the  older 
works  of  that  class,  and  no  great  name  but  Livy's  to 
rival  those  of  Cicero,  Caesar,  Sallust,  Nepos,  and  Varro. 
Varro,  the  most  learned  of  the  Romans,  has  left  us 
a  treatise  on  the  Roman  Tongue,  and  another  on  Rural 
Afiairs,  both  of  which,  highly  useful  m  their  kind,  may 
be  passed  over  with  Nepos'  work  on  Celebrated  Cap- 
tains, whose  chief  merit  is  in  the  style.  The  greatest 
work  of  Sallust,  which  related  the  history  of  Rome 
from  Sylla  to  Catiline,  is  lost ;  and  we  possess  only  his 
short  histories  of  the  Jugurthan  war,  and  of  the  Catili- 
narian  conspiracy.  These  tracts  are  written  with  an 
antique  purity  of  style,  a  nervous  conciseness  and  full- 
ness of  sentence,  happily  borrowed  from  Thucydides,  and 
a  high  tone  of  moral  feeling,  which  contrasted  but  too 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  127 

strongly  with  the  life  of  the  author,  a  favourite  of 
Julius  CjEsar,  and  enabled  by  his  patronage  to  accumu- 
late in  the  provinces  wealth  which  he  spent  in  luxurious 
debauchery  at  Rome.  The  historical  works  of  Caesar, 
consisting  of  memoirs  or  commentaries  on  the  Gallic  and 
on  a  part  of  the  Civil  War,  are  too  well  known  to  require 
remark  ;  and  theh-  perspicuous  simplicity,  their  grasp 
of  thought  and  quickness  of  observation,  with  the  purity 
of  their  phraseology,  at  once  familiar  and  elegant,  vouch 
for  the  truth  of  the  praises  confeiTed  on  him  by  his 
contemporaries  as  being  even  greater  in  the  closet  than 
in  the  senate-house  or  the  field. 

Cicero's  is  by  far  the  first  literary  name,  not  only  of  his 
own  age,  but  of  the  ancient  Roman  world.  In  its  rare 
union  of  warmth,  practical  sense,  and  astonishing  versa- 
tility, his  genius  has  scarcely  any  parallel ;  and  his  in- 
fluence on  the  philosophical  knowledge  and  opinions  of 
modern  Europe  has  been  incalculable.  The  voluminous 
works  of  this  great  man,  composed  during  the  leisure 
hours  of  a  life  involved  in  the  vortex  of  political  conten- 
tion, embrace  a  wonderful  variety  of  subjects.  His  his- 
tories in  Greek  prose  and  Latin  rhyme  are  lost ;  and  the 
small  specimens  of  his  verses  that  survive  leave  no  room 
for  regret  that  we  do  not  possess  more.  His  important 
works  are  his  Correspondence,  his  Orations,  his  Treatises 
on  Rhetoric,  and  his  Philosopliical  Dissertations. 

The  Correspondence  includes  letters  from  his  family, 
and  from  Brutus,  Cassius,  Atticus,  and  other  public 
men.  Besides  the  high  literary  qualities  and  personal  in- 
terest of  these  memorials,  the  collection  is  an  invaluable 
fund  of  information  on  the  history  of  the  time,  and  the 
state  of  society  and  manners.  Of  his  Orations  we 
possess,  in  the  common  editions,  fifty-six,  of  which  two 
or  three  are  incomplete,  and  one  or  two  spurious.  The 
merit  of  these  compositions  is  unequal,  and  those  on 
which  the  orator's  fame  must  always  rest  are,  besides 
the  defence  of  Milo,  the  three  sets  of  discourses  directed 
against  Verres,  Catiline,  and  Mark  Antony.  The  seven 
speeches  which  contain  the  accusation  against  Verres, 


128         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

the  rapacious  and  tyrannical  governor  of  Sicily,  are  im- 
portant not  only  for  their  indignant  eloquence  and  their 
sound  political  philosophy,  hut  for  the  light  they  inci- 
dentally throw  on  ancient  art  and  luxury,  and  on  the 
corrupt  morals  as  well  as  the  venal  government  of  Rome. 
The  four  orations  against  Catiline  soar  higher  in  their 
vehemence  and  fiery  force ;  and  the  perfection  of  his 
eloquence  was  reached  in  some  parts  of  the  fourteen 
harangues  against  Antony,  which  their  author  called 
Philippics,  in  imitation  of  the  invectives  pronounced  hy 
Demosthenes  on  the  conduct  of  Philip.  The  second 
of  these,  the  masterpiece  of  the  series,  is  a  tremendous 
attack  on  the  clever  but  vicious  Antony,  who  revenged 
by  Cicero's  murder  the  temporary  unpopularity  and 
eternal  infamy  to  which  that  exposure  of  his  vices 
consigned  him.  These  three  collections  of  orations,  and 
a  few  of  the  others,  such  as  the  speech  for  MLlo,  and 
the  partly  thankful,  partly  admonitory  address  to  Julius 
Csesar  on  the  pardon  of  Marcellus,  are  those  in  which 
we  find  most  of  that  full  vein  of  eloquence  so  admir- 
able in  the  author's  own  hands,  and  so  easily  degenerat- 
ing into  tumid  verbosit}^  when  taken  up  by  his  imitators. 
The  Rhetorical  works  are  of  great  value,  exhibitiag  the 
art  as  it  existed  in  a  time  and  country  which  made 
oratory  the  universal  study  and  indispensable  qualifica- 
tion of  its  statesmen.  The  best  of  these  treatises,  the 
systematic  essay  "  De  Oratore,"  the  historical  work 
entitled  "  Brutus,"  and  the  illustrative  sketch  called 
"  Orator,"  were  the  fruit  of  his  most  vigorous  years. 

His  Philosophical  worlds,  however,  are  those  by  which 
he  has  most  benefited  his  own  and  subsequent  ages. 
They  nearly  equal  in  bulk  the  collection  of  his  speeches, 
and  traverse  a  wide  field  of  speculation.  In  no  depart- 
ment of  research  was  Cicero,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
terra,  a  discoverer,  although  his  writings  contain  many 
observations  of  a  highly  original  cast.  His  chief  merit 
therefore  consists  in  his  having  made  himself  extensively 
master  of  the  Greek  philosophy,  and  embodied  its  most 
practical  branches  in  a  form  attractively  eloquent,  equally 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  129 

divested  of  metaphysical  abstruseness,  and  of  rhetorical 
exaggeration.  His  writings,  indeed,  form  only  the  por- 
tico to  the  temple  of  wisdom  ;  but  the  singular  beauty  of 
the  approach  invites  the  student,  and  its  ease  of  access 
secures  his  progress  to  the  sanctuary  beyond.  He  was 
the  first  Roman,  perhaps  the  only  man  of  his  time,  who 
studied  Aristotle's  works,  of  which  the  manuscript  lay 
neglected  in  Sylla's  library ;  but  the  sects  whose  prin- 
ciples he  most  fully  elucidated  were  the  Academics 
and  the  Stoics  ;  and,  throwing  most  of  his  dissertations 
into  the  form  of  dialogues,  he  expounds  the  tenets,  now 
of  the  one  sect,  now  of  the  other.  Some  of  his  philoso- 
phical works  have  perished.  Petrarch,  who  possessed  the 
only  known  manuscript  of  the  treatise  "  On  Glory,"  lent 
it  to  a  friend,  by  whom  it  was  either  sold  or  lost ;  and 
the  recently  discovered  essay  "  De  Republica"  has  dis- 
appointed the  hopes  of  scholars.  His  other  tract  on 
political  philosophy,  entitled  "  De  Legibus,"  is  inferior  in 
interest  to  his  ethical  discussions,  which,  with  the  theo- 
logical works,  were  written  after  the  overthrow  of  the 
republic  by  Caesar  had  for  a  time  removed  the  author  from 
active  life.  The  books  "  De  Finibus"  expound  the  ethical 
doctrines  of  the  three  sects  of  Epicureans,  Stoics,  and 
Academics.  The  essay  "  De  Officiis,"  one  of  his  latest 
philosophical  dissertations,  inculcates  the  Stoical  prin- 
ciples of  moral  duty,  illustrating  them  with  the  finest  skill 
and  liveliness  ;  and  the  "  Tusculan  Questions,"  the  most 
delightful  of  all  his  speculative  writings,  discuss,  in  the 
form  of  dialogues,  held  at  his  villa  near  Tusculum,  some 
of  the  most  important  topics,  religious  and  moral, — the 
duty  of  subduing  the  fear  of  death,  of  enduring  pain  and 
sorrow  with  courage,  of  overcoming  passion,and  of  belie  v- 

:       ing  in  the  all-sufficiency  of  virtue  to  secure  genuine 

I       happiness. 

I  THIRD  AGE. 

THE  COURT  OF  AUGUSTUS. 

A.  u.  722—767  ;  or  b.  c.  32— a.  d.  14. 
The  first  imperial  reign,  which  is  proverbial  as  the 
n       Golden  Age  of  ancient  letters,  has  bequeathed  to  us  a 

I  VOL,  I.  H 


130        THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

few  names  and  works  fully  justifying  the  praises  which 
the  era  receives.  Many  of  the  forms  which  literature 
had  assumed  in  the  republican  times,  including  all  those 
which  connected  it  with  political  life,  decayed  in- 
stantly, and  of  course.  Oratory  took  refuge  in  the 
schools  of  the  Greek  rhetoricians,  who  could  teach  the 
manner  of  speech,  but  could  neither  breathe  soul  into 
the  speaker  nor  furnish  opportunity  for  exertion.  For 
orators,  therefore,  we  are  no  longer  to  look.  Even 
philosophical  and  scientific  studies,  forced  into  the 
background,  have  left  us  no  monuments  belonging  to 
the  age  now  mentioned.  History  has  given  us  only  one 
name,  though  that  one  is  Livy*s  ;  and,  with  this  excep- 
tion, the  greatness  of  the  Augustan  literature  is  confined 
to  its  poetical  compositions.  There  is  much  poetry 
that  has  a  warmer  flow  than  we  discover  in  these, — 
there  is  much  poetry  that  possesses  an  infinitely  higher 
moral  worth,  from  its  closer  alliance  with  life  and  its 
closer  sympathy  with  the  great  interests  of  mankind, — 
but  there  is  scarcely  any  single  work,  and  certainly  no 
body  of  writings,  equalling  the  perfection  of  the  Augus- 
tan poems  as  works  of  art,  none  which  unite  so  many  of 
the  qualities  of  poetry  even  in  its  essence,  and  none  so 
faultless  in  the  mechanism  and  outward  form. 

The  example  of  Augustus  was  followed  by  his  cour- 
tiers, especially  Maecenas  and  Pollio.  The  native  Italians 
who  prosecuted  literature  with  success  were  liberally 
patronised,  provided  always  that  their  knowledge 
enabled  them  to  gratify  the  taste  for  Grecian  learning, 
which  was  universal  among  the  refined  aristocracy. 
Indeed  the  nobles  made  no  secret  of  their  contempt  for 
the  Latin  tongue, — while  scraps  of  Greek  occupied  the 
same  place  in  their  familiar  conversation  which  French 
once  held  in  some  circles  of  our  own  country.  Litera- 
ture was  allowed  greater  license  in  its  politics  than  in 
its  grammar.  This  reign,  in  fact,  formed  one  long 
comedy,  the  scene  of  which  was  a  supposed  republic, 
the  emperor  being  its  first  citizen,  and  the  ministers  of 
his  mUd  despotism  playing  the  parts  of  republicans  with 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  131 

as  much  gravity  as  he  did.  Respect  to  the  common- 
wealth, and  praise  of  its  institutions,  were  things  of 
course,  to  be  found  in  books  as  well  as  in  ordinary  life. 
It  was  only  necessary  for  the  author,  as  for  the  private 
citizen,  to  recollect  that  the  free  state  had  now  for  the 
first  time  reached  perfection,  and  that,  so  far  as  it  had  pre- 
viously differed  from  its  new  condition,  its  burghers 
might  be  heroes,  but  its  constitution  was  defective.  Even 
if  the  understood  limits  of  Augustan  repubhcanism  were 
sometimes  transgressed  by  a  warm-tempered  poet,  the 
crafty  rulers  let  the  offence  pass,  and  were  right  in  doing 
so.  The  literature  of  the  day  never  reached  the  lower 
orders,  scarcely  indeed  any  order  except  the  highest ; 
and  those  who  did  read  and  were  able  to  understand, 
were  quite  incapable,  both  morall}''  and  from  circum- 
stances, of  moving  one  step  against  the  new  political 
system. 

We  have  lost  scarcely  any  author  of  this  age,  except 
some  of  those  persons  of  rank,  who,  like  Pollio,  wrote 
with  ease.  In  prose  we  possess  Titus  Livius,  a  native  of 
Patavium  or  its  neighbouring  village  of  Abanum  (a.  u. 
695 — 770).  In  poetry  we  have  Publius  Virgilius  Maro, 
born  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mantua,  and  resident  for 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  Rome  (683 — 734)  ;  Quintus 
Horatius  Flaccus,  a  native  of  Venusia  in  Apulia  (688 — 
745)  ;  Publius  Ovidius  Naso,  from  Sulmo  in  the  Pelignian 
district  (710 — 770)  ;  Sextus  Aurelius  Propertius,  an 
Umbrian,  and  Aulus  Albius  Tibullus,  a  Roman,  both  of 
noble  birth.*  The  Greek  %vriters  of  the  day  are  beyond 
our  limits.  Diodorus,  indeed,  as  a  Sicilian,  might  seem 
to  fall  within  them  ;  and  Dionj^sius  of  Halicamassus 
must  be  named  for  his  Roman  History,  and  his  residence 
of  twenty-two  years  in  the  capital,  spent  in  collecting 
materials  for  his  works,  and  teacliing  oratory  to  the 
young  nobles. 

•  The  neglected  poem  of  Gratius  Faliscus  on  Hunting  probably 
belongs  to  this  age,  and  deserves  to  be  mentioned  as  proving  how 
feeble  and  mean  it  was  possible  to  render  the  Latin  of  Cicero  and 
VirgiU 


132  THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

Livy's  Roman  History  consisted  of  about  140  books, 
and  extended  from  the  foundation  of  the  city  to  the 
middle  of  Augustus's  reign.  Besides  a  few  fragments 
and  a  complete  epitome  of  the  work,  we  possess  only 
thirty-five  of  those  books  ;  namely,  the  first  ten,  which 
bring  the  nan-ative  down  to  the  year  of  Rome  460, 
and  the  twenty-five  which  immediately  follow  the  twen- 
tieth. These  embrace  half  a  century,  ending  with  the 
year  587,  the  earliest  event  mentioned  in  them  being 
Hannibal's  siege  of  Sag-untum,  and  the  latest  the  con- 
quest of  Macedon.  The  historical  value  of  Livy's 
work  sufifers  considerable  diminution  from  the  Grecian 
taste  that  prevailed  in  his  day,  from  his  neglect  of 
constitutional  questions,  and  fi-om  his  open  partisanship 
of  the  aristocracy.  But  its  literary  excellence  can 
scarcely  be  too  highly  estimated.  In  the  animation  and 
picturesqueness  of  the  naiTative,  in  the  heartiness  of 
its  patriotic  feeling,  and  in  its  lively  portraiture  of  the 
Roman  character,  it  possesses  qualities  which  make  it 
the  most  fascinatmg  of  stories  even  to  modern  readers, 
and  must  have  rendered  it  in  the  author's  own  age  one 
of  the  most  pleasmg  sacrifices  ever  laid  on  the  altar  of 
national  vanity.  Of  the  language  either  of  Livy  or  of 
the  poets  in  his  time  it  is  needless  to  speak  :  their  dic- 
tion is  recognised  as  the  standard  of  the  Latin  tongue. 

Among  the  poets  who  have  just  been  named,  Proper- 
tius  and  Tibullus,  whose  works  consist  of  reflective 
and  sentimental  verses  in  the  soft  monotonous  elegiac 
measure,  are  not  characteristic  enough  to  deserve  much 
notice.  Both  are  palpable  imitators  of  the  Greeks, 
and  our  preference  may  be  left  doubtful  between  the 
obtrusively  learned  imagery  and  vigour  of  thought 
which  distinguish  Propertius,  and  the  plaintiveness 
which  pervades  the  love-poems  of  Tibullus, 

Ovid  stands  infinitely  higher.  The  careless  elegance  of 
his  conversational  style  (the  perfection  of  familiar  Latin 
in  its  best  days),  and  his  sweetly  flowing  versification, 
qualified  him  well  to  be  the  poet  of  a  refined  society  ;  and 
his  subjects  were  not  less  happy  than  was  his  capacity 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  133 

for  treating  them.  The  loose  sentiment,  moreover,  which 
degrades  his  amatory  poems,  was  but  too  well  suited  to 
the  profligacy  of  his  age.  The  Metamorphoses,  an  in- 
terminable series  of  narratives  drawn  from  the  classical 
mythology,  was,  with  the  Art  and  Remedy  of  Love,  one 
of  the  favourite  books  in  the  middle  ages,  and  gave  to  the 
modems  their  first  knowledge  of  the  Greek  fables.  In 
many  parts  its  richness  of  fancy,  and  in  a  few  places  its 
tenderness  of  feeling,  are  extremely  delightful.  The 
"  Heroides,"  or  letters  of  the  heroic  times,  are  artificial 
in  their  whole  conception,  with  frequent  touches  of  fine 
emotion  and  imagery  ;  the  "  Fasti,"  which  detail  the 
Roman  legends  in  their  relation  to  the  calendar,  are  of 
the  greatest  use  as  an  antiquarian  storehouse  ;  and  the 
desponding  poems  written  from  the  poet's  place  of  exile 
in  Pontus,  owed  the  interest  which  beyond  any  other  of 
his  works  they  excited  in  Rome,  to  his  own  history  and 
situation  rather  than  to  their  poetical  merits. 

Horace  and  Virgil,  like  the  rest,  derived  from  Greece 
the  forms  of  their  poetry,  much  of  its  materials,  and 
much  of  its  inspiration;  but  one  cannot  help  per- 
ceiving that  the  studies  of  both  were  different  from 
those  of  most  men  of  their  time.  The  later  poets  of 
the  artificial  school  of  Alexandria  had  been  the  models 
of  Propertius  and  Tibullus,  and  even  of  Ovid,  while  the 
same  patterns  had  materially  injured  the  far  nobler 
poetry  of  Lucretius.  Nor  was  this  evil  eff'ect  altogether 
avoided  by  the  two  Augustan  laureates  ;  but  their  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  was,  that  they  went  back  to  the 
old  fountains  of  the  Grecian  poetical  paradise,  and  from 
these  drew  their  essential  conceptions  of  the  art.  Apol- 
lonius  Rhodius  might  give  aids  to  Virgil,  but  Homer  was 
his  master ;  Horace  might  abandon  imitation  of  Pindar  as 
equally  unsuited  to  the  bent  of  his  own  intellect  and  the 
temper  of  the  age,  but  that  great  genius  was  still  the 
prototype  to  which  he  looked  back  with  admiring  regret. 
If  Ovid  was  qualified  to  please  a  luxurious  generation  by 
holding  up  to  it  its  own  image,  Horace  and  Virgil  were 
able  to  lead  their  contemporaries  whil  j  they  seemed  only 


134         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

to  follow ;  and  on  modem  literature  these  two  have 
exerted  a  greater  influence  than  any  other  ancient  poets. 

In  spirit,  though  not  in  form,  Horace's  odes  are  as 
original  as  his  satires.  With  the  light  playfulness  of 
the  court-poet  they  unite  much  of  the  practical  energy 
which  belongs  to  the  man  of  action ;  they  frequently 
rise  high  in  the  visionary  region  of  lyrical  imagery  and 
feeling  ;  and  they  sometimes,  though  rarely,  flame  out 
with  a  stern  moral  sublimity.  This  last  and  loftiest 
flight  is  prompted  only  by  one  source  of  inspiration, — 
the  recollection  of  Roman  greatness.  From  the  imperial 
terraces  of  the  Palatine  Mount  the  lyrist  casts  his  eye 
on  the  Capitol  and  Forum  ;  the  bitter  feeling  of  the 
moment  is  relieved  by  a  burst  of  indignant  scorn,  or  by  a 
rapid  sketch  of  republican  grandeur  ;  and  he  then  turns 
away,  in  homage  to  the  powers  he  served,  to  weave  again 
his  links  of  mythologic  fancy,  or  to  inculcate  with  a 
poet's  art  his  lessons  of  worldly  wisdom.  This  character 
of  acute  observation,  which  he  uses  for  the  purpose  of 
insinuating  rather  than  teaching  easy  maxims  of  duty, 
constitutes  the  spirit  of  Horace's  Satires.  The  form  of 
these  poems  was  of  his  own  invention,  for  neither  his 
own  countrymen  nor  the  Greeks  possessed  writings 
of  the  same  kind  till  his  time,  though  both  had  com- 
positions which  received  the  same  name.  These  Horatian 
satires  and  epistles,  travelling  a  middle  road  between 
prose  and  poetry,  are  equally  admirable  in  their  mecha- 
nism and  in  their  matter.  As  portraits  of  Roman  man- 
ners in  the  age  they  describe,  they  are  not  more  lively 
than  instructive  ;  as  works  addressed  to  the  nation  whose 
weaknesses  they  paint,  their  skill  of  execution  is  un- 
rivalled. 

Virgil  possessed  neither  Horace's  sagacity  of  observa- 
tion nor  his  lively  interest  in  contemporary  life  and  po- 
litical relations.  He  was  wholly  the  poet  and  the  artist, 
endowed  with  all  the  qualifications  of  the  latter  character, 
and  with  many  of  the  most  exquisite  gifts  of  the  former. 
As  a  poet,  every  feature  of  his  genius  is  subservient 
to  one  leading  faculty,  his  unequalled  sense  of  beauty, 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.         135 

clear,  delicate,  and  ideal,  which  attuned  the  flow  of  his 
verse,  ministered  to  his  felicity  of  language,  and  dictated 
the  themes  on  which  his  delighted  fancy  retired  to 
repose  itself.  Primeval  simplicity  and  grandeur,  pas- 
toral life  amidst  the  luxuriance  of  rural  nature,  heroic 
adventure  seen  through  the  mist  of  time,  and  antique 
worth  exalted  into  calm  greatness  by  imagination,  were 
the  elements  of  the  world  in  which  his  thoughts  dwelt ; 
and  the  purposes  to  which  he  turned  these  favourite 
visions,  were  equally  well  chosen  for  creating  his  fame 
among  his  contemporaries,  and  for  preserving  it  with 
posterity. 

His  Idylls,  examples  of  an  ill-invented  species  of 
poetry,  an  illegitimate  drama  to  which  no  degree  of  skill 
can  give  much  interest,  were  early  attempts  ;  and,  though 
works  of  high  promise,  they  have  much  of  the  false 
Alexandrian  taste,  and  develop  but  imperfectly  Virgil's 
highest  qualities.  Some  of  them,  however,  were  the 
means  of  introducing  him  to  the  patronage  of  Augustus 
and  PoUio,  before  he  had  reached  his  thirtieth  year ; 
and  after  writing  a  few  more,  he  retired  to  the  beautiful 
neighbourhood  of  Naples,  where,  in  the  course  of  seven 
years,  he  completed  his  Georgics,  undertaken,  it  is 
said,  at  the  suggestion  of  Augustus  and  Maecenas,  who, 
alarmed  by  the  general  neglect  of  agriculture,  wished  to 
make  the  art  fashionable.  The  choice  of  the  subject, 
and  the  purely  didactic  portions  of  the  poem,  call  for 
no  remark.  As  a  work  of  art  it  is  superior  to  any 
composition  of  the  author,  perhaps  to  all  the  didactic 
poems  ever  written.  Every  thing  is  done  to  idealize 
the  theme  ;  there  is  thrown  about  it  a  gorgeous  veil  of 
mythological  and  historical  imagery ;  and  the  scene  is 
shifted  from  spot  to  spot  of  the  most  lovely  landscape. 
The  Georgics  were  completed  about  the  time  of  Antony's 
final  ruin  and  the  elevation  of  Octavius  to  the  uncon- 
trolled sovereignty. 

Virgil's  last  and  greatest  work,  which  was  com- 
menced soon  after,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age,  had 
not  received  his  last  corrections  when  he  died  at  Brun- 


136         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

dusium,  in  his  fifty-second.    Politically  considered,  the 
legendary  story  which  the  uiEneid  tells,  was  in  itself 
perfectly  harmless  to  the  new  dynasty ;  and  it  may  per- 
haps have  been  thought  that  it  would  even  be  useful  in  the 
foreign  provinces,  by  magnifying  the  original  greatness 
of  Italy  and  Rome.     In  the  way  in  which  it  was  treated 
it  directly  served  Augustus  ;   for,  by  recognising  his 
claim  of  descent  from  the  fabulous  founder  of  the  Greco- 
Latin  race,  it  reared  up  in  his  favour  a  kind  of  divine 
right  to  the  first  magistracy  of  the  republic.      These 
pretensions  of  the  Julian  family,  and  the  general  study 
of  Greek  antiquities  to  the  utter  neglect  of  those  indige- 
nous to  the  peninsula,  were  sufficient  reasons  why  Virgil 
should  adopt,  as  even  Livy  the  historian  did,  the  fable 
of  the  Trojan  descent  of  Rome,  instead  of  searching 
among  the  national  legends  for  another  hero  and  another 
tale.  The  true  materials  of  Italian  history,  however,  were 
clearly  known  to  him  ;  and  he  has  made  most  skilful  use 
of  his  antiquarian  knowledge,  in  the  account  he  gives  of 
the  adventures  of  ^neas,  and  of  the  state  of  Italy  in 
his  times.     A  considerable  portion  of  his  historical  de- 
tails, and  a  little  of  his  supernatural  machinery,  are 
native  to  the  soil,  though  these  features  are  kept  in 
studied    subordination    to    the    foreign    outline.      For 
some  of  the  most  lovely  scenes  of  his  beautiful  coun- 
try, Virgil,  in  this  poem,  did  the  same  service  which 
Scott  has  performed  for  so  many  places  in  Scotland.    In 
the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,  along  the  Tiber,  and  on  the 
coast  stretching  soiithward  from  its  mouth,  which  though 
now  a  woody  marsh,  was  then  covered  by  a  chain  of 
villas,  lay  numerous  spots  which  thenceforward  were 
irrevocably  associated  Avith  the  finest  poetry  and  the  most 
ancient  legends  of  the  country.   In  the  vicinity  of  Naples, 
likewise,  the  favourite  resorts  of  the  luxurious  aristo- 
cracy were  elevated  into  the  rank  of  mythological  scenes ; 
their  sulphureous  fountains  exhaled  the  breath  of  the 
buried  giants  ;  the  oyster-preserves  became  the  lakes  and 
rivers  of  Hades ;  and  the  fashionable  cemetery  of  the 
Augustan  age,  among  delightful  woods  and  vineyards, 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  137 

and  below  the  huge  rock  of  Misenum,  was,  by  the  per- 
fection of  flattery,  pointed  out  as  the  Elysian  plains,  the 
habitation  of  the  blessed.  It  would  be  an  intrusion  to 
enter  into  minute  criticism  on  the  merit  of  the  work,  in 
respect  either  to  its  plan  or  to  its  most  prominent  details. 
With  no  variety  and  little  force  of  character ;  with  a 
hero  about  whose  fate  we  remain  perfectly  indifferent, 
if  indeed  we  do  not  rather  wish  success  to  his  enemies  ; 
with  a  tone  of  moral  feeling  which  scarcely  ever  rises 
above  decent  worldliness,  and  sometimes  sinks  below  it ; 
with  a  story  whose  baldness  is  only  relieved  by  a  few 
episodical  tales,  which,  though  exquisitely  pathetic,  are 
really  excrescences  on  its  design ;  with  all  these  de- 
fects and  many  more,  the  ^Eneid  has  always  charmed, 
and  will  always  continue  to  charm,  every  one  who  has 
a  heart  and  fancy  for  the  feeling  and  imagery  of  poetry, 
an  ear  for  its  most  delightful  melody,  or  an  intellect  quali- 
fied to  appreciate  the  symmetry  and  perfection  of  its  art. 

FOURTH  AGE. 

FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  AUGUSTUS  TO  THAT  OF  MARCUS  AURELIUS  : 

A.  u.  767—933 ;  or  a.  i>.  14—180. 

This  period  is  commonly  styled  the  Silver  Age  of  Ro- 
man Literature.  Reckoned  to  the  death  of  Marcus 
Aurelius  it  endured  more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  and 
comprises  fifteen  reigns.  The  vicissitudes  of  learning 
were  even  more  frequent  than  the  changes  of  sovereignty, 
since  several  emperors  patronised  letters  at  one  time, 
and  persecuted  them  at  another  ;  but  the  era  in  its  lead- 
ing features  was  inferior  both  to  the  Augustan  and  the 
last  republican  age.  Its  inferiority  in  style  was  not  its 
only  defect,  for  taste  in  poetry  and  rhetoric  was  to  a 
considerable  degree  corrupted  nearly  at  the  beginning 
of  it ;  and  there  usually  existed  a  check  on  philoso- 
phical and  political  speculation,  which  fettered  prose 
writing  of  every  kind. 

In  poetry  this  period  gives  us  Marcus  Annaeus  Luca- 
nus,  a  Spaniard  (a.  d.  88 — 65)  ;  Valerius  Flaccus,  who 


138         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

died  young,  in  the  reign  of  Domitian  ;  Publius  Papinius 
Statins,  a  Neapolitan  (61 — 96)  ;  Caius  Silius  Italicus 
(24—99)  ;  AulusPersius  Flaccus  of  Volterra  (34—62)  ; 
Decimus  Junius  Juvenalis,  a  native  of  Aquinum  {ah. 
40 — ah.  120)  ;  the  Spaniard  Marcus  Valerius  Martialis 
{ah.  63 — ah.  103)  :  and  the  author  or  authors  of  the 
tragedies  which  go  under  the  name  of  Seneca.  The 
historians  of  the  time  were  Caius  Velleius  Paterculus 
of  Naples  {ah.  b.  c.  18 — a.  d.  31)  ;  Valerius  Maximus, 
who  was  somewhat  younger  ;  Caius  Cornelius  Tacitus, 
born  at  Interamna  in  Umbria  {h.  ah.  67 — d.  in  Trajan's 
reign)  ;  Caius  Suetonius  Tranquillus,  a  contemporary 
of  Tacitus  ;  Lucius  Annseus  Florus,  who  wrote  under 
Trajan ;  and  probably  Quintus  Curtius,  or  the  author, 
whoever  he  was,  of  the  Life  of  Alexander  the  Great. 
The  highest  philosophical  and  scientific  names  of  the 
age  are  Greek.  These  commence  with  Strabo  the  geo- 
grapher, who  was  at  Rome  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius ; 
they  include  Epictetus,  who  was  ^e  son  of  a  freedman 
of  Nero,  and  was  alive  in  the  time  of  Hadrian ;  and 
Plutarch,  who  visited  Italy  towards  the  end  of  Vespa- 
sian's government,  and  was  not  there  later  than  the 
death  of  Domitian.  At  the  end  of  the  list  of  writers  who 
cultivated  the  Grecian  philosophy  must  also  come  the 
name  of  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius,  who,  educated 
by  the  celebrated  Herodes  Atticus,  warmly  promoted 
that  revival  of  Greek  learning  which  came  to  its  height 
soon  after  his  time.  The  mental  science  of  the  Latins 
13  represented  by  Lucius  Annseus  Seneca,  who  was  bom 
at  Cordova  {ah.  b.  c.  1 — a.  d.  65)  :  and  their  physics  by 
Caius  Plinius  Secundus,  called  the  elder  Pliny,  a  native 
of  Verona  or  Comum  (28 — 79).  To  these  names  may  be 
added  those  of  the  Spaniard  Lucius  Junius  Columella,  a 
writer  on  agriculture,  and  a  contemporary  of  Seneca ; 
Sextus  Juhus  Frontinus,  the  author  of  a  work  on  the 
aqueducts,  who  flourished  in  the  end  of  the  first  and  be- 
ginning of  the  second  century  of  our  era  ;  and  Aulus  Cor- 
nelius Celsus,  whose  treatise  on  medicine  is  still  extant. 
The  jurisprudence  of  the  time  was  more  remarkable  for 
its  squabbles  than  its  excellence.    In  rhetoric,  Marcus 


THE  LITERATURE  OP  HEATHEN  ITALY.  139 

Annaeus  Seneca,  the  philosopher's  father,  scarcely  de- 
serves mention  ;  but  the  theory  of  the  art  was  expounded 
by  Marcus  Fabius  Quinctilianus,  supposed  to  have  been 
a  native  of  Spain  (b.  42 — alive  in  117)  ;  and  its  practice 
was  successfully  followed  by  the  younger  Pliny,  Caius 
Plinius  Caecilius  Secundus  (b.  62 — d.  probably  114). 

Several  of  these  writers,  being  of  little  importance  for 
the  purpose  now  in  view,  may  be  dismissed  very  briefly. 
In  poetry,  Virgil  was  the  great  model,  and  his  pictur- 
esque groups  and  flowing  versification  were  imitated 
by  many  men  of  letters  in  the  imperial  court.  At  the 
head  of  these  imitations  stands  an  epic  on  the  Second 
Punic  War,  composed  by  Silius,  a  noble  Roman,  of  ac- 
curate taste  and  amiable  character,  who,  devoting  to 
literature  the  evening  of  a  busy  life,  was  praised  by 
Martial  and  the  other  hungry  poets  whom  he  fed.  The 
poem  of  Valerius  Flaccus  on  the  Argonautic  Expedition, 
is  written  in  the  same  taste,  though  far  richer  in  fancy  ; 
but  its  merit  rests  less  with  the  author  than  with 
ApoUonius  Rhodius,  whose  plan  and  much  of  his  mate- 
rials he  borrows.  Martial's  Fourteen  Books  of  Epigrams, 
in  which  he  was  the  first  to  give  to  this  species  of  com- 
position that  sharpness  of  turn  which  characterizes  it 
in  modern  times,  are  full  of  wit,  invective,  and  ob- 
scenity ;  and  while  they  are  clearly  the  productions  of 
one  who  could  have  done  far  better,  their  chief  value 
is  as  illustrations  (to  be  used  with  due  allowance)  of  the 
manners  and  the  deplorable  licentiousness  of  Rome  in 
the  reign  of  Domitian.  The  ten  tragedies  of  the  pseudo- 
Seneca  would  requhe  and  reward  minute  attention  in 
a  detailed  history  of  Italian  literature  ;  but  as  they  are 
mere  imitations  of  the  Greek,  with  occasional  infusions 
of  the  strong  Roman  spirit,  and  much  of  the  lazy  de- 
clamation of  the  times,  it  is  enough  to  indicate  them 
as  the  only  existing  remains  of  the  nation  in  a  branch 
of  literature  in  which  they  never  attained  to  excellence. 
Among  the  historians  who  have  been  enumerated,  the 
servile  Paterculus,  the  gossiping  Valerius,  and  the 
epitomist  Florus,  may  be  dismissed  in  the  same  breath 
with  the  credulous  and  pleasingly  rhetorical  biographer  of 


140         THE  LITERATURE  OP  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

Alexander.  The  Lives  of  the  Caesars,  by  Suetonius, 
have  little  literary  merit,  though  great  historical  value, 
and  are  here  chiefly  to  be  noticed  as  the  first  instance 
of  that  rage  for  personal  memoirs,  which  produced 
afterwards  so  many  collections  of  scandalous  anecdotes. 
Quinctilian's  Institutions,  equally  admirable  for  the 
soundness  of  their  precepts  and  criticisms,  and  for  their 
own  high  literary  excellence,  may  be  allowed  to  pass 
with  the  same  hearty  praise  which  is  due  to  the  younger 
Pliny's  Panegyric  on  Trajan,  and  his  interesting,  lively, 
and  elegant  collection  of  Letters. 

There  still  remain  the  most  important  literary  names 
of  the  time,  Seneca  the  philosopher  and  the  elder  Pliny, 
the  poets  Lucan  and  Statins,  Juvenal  and  Persius,  with 
Tacitus  the  historian. 

Pliny's  thirst  for  knowledge,  which  expatiated  over 
every  department  of  human  inquiry,  maintained  his  mind 
in  ceaseless  activity,  and  finally  cost  him  his  life  in  the 
great  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  was  a  remarkable  phenome- 
non ;  but,  unaccompanied  as  it  was  with  creative  genius 
or  extensive  powers  of  reasoning,  it  would  not  detain 
us,  were  it  not  that  his  only  remaining  work  seems  cal- 
culated to  illustrate  forcibly  the  general  narrowness  of 
intellect  brought  on  by  the  state  of  the  times.  The 
thirty-seven  books  of  his  "  Historia  Naturalis,"  an  en- 
cyclopaedia of  ancient  knowledge  in  natural  history, 
geography,  and  art,  are  the  only  considerable  treatise  of 
the  kind  which  the  Latin  empire  has  bequeathed  to  us. 
The  notices  contained  in  it  possess  importance  from 
their  number  and  variety,  as  well  as  from  the  fact  that 
very  many  sources  whence  the  writer  drew  his  informa- 
tion are  no  longer  known  ;  but  the  whole  is  heaped 
together  without  order  or  inference,  and  the  most 
valuable  facts,  and  the  shrewdest  observations,  stand 
side  by  side  with  extravagant  caricatures  and  foolish 
drivelling. 

Seneca,  whose  tutorship  of  Nero,  and  his  murder  by 
that  wicked  prince,  are  familiar  to  every  one,  and  whose 
moral  character  remains  soiled  after  every  attempt  to 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHlia^  ITALY.         141 

cleanse  it,  exercised  on  his  age  an  influence  scarcely  less 
than  that  which  Cicero  had  on  the  age  preceding.  His 
mode  of  writing  was  vicious,  rhetorical,  antithetical, 
and  forced,  but  its  strong  colouring  was  the  very  thing 
which  gave  it  an  eff'ect  in  the  eyes  of  an  over-refined 
and  declining  generation.  His  overstrained  stoical  tenets 
were  as  well  calculated  for  his  age  as  for  his  style. 
His  example,  it  is  likely,  precipitated  the  fall  of  Roman 
letters ;  but  in  his  OAvn  days  and  for  some  time  after- 
wards, it  probably  did  good  rather  than  harm. 

"We  next  approach  one  of  the  most  interesting  pheno- 
mena of  Latin  literature.  The  tutor  of  Nero's  childhood 
introduced  to  the  prince's  acquaintance  his  own  nephew 
Lucan,  a  boy  of  noble  Roman  parentage,  bom  in  Spain, 
but  educated  in  the  capital  from  his  infancy.  When 
the  emperor  began  to  rule,  his  early  companion  be- 
came one  of  his  cherished  friends.  The  youth  was  en- 
thusiastically devoted  to  letters,  a  firm  believer  in  the 
haughty  doctrines  of  stoicism,  and  full  of  those  recollec- 
tions of  perished  freedom  and  greatness,  which  the  deceit- 
ful promise  of  the  new  reign  tempted  him,  as  well  as 
many  others,  to  express.  Besides  composmg  some  poems 
which  are  lost,  he  gave  vent  to  his  melancholy  aspira- 
tions in  his  celebrated  epic  the  "  Pharsalia."  He  there 
depicted  the  death-struggle  of  the  Roman  republic,  and 
avowed  that  his  only  consolation  for  the  wretchedness 
of  that  fatal  period,  was  the  reflection  that  the  fates  had 
appointed  it  as  the  necessary  prelude  to  the  happiness  of 
the  state  under  the  good  Nero.  The  dream  of  the  em- 
peror's youthful  virtue  speedily  vanished ;  and  in  the 
conspiracy  of  Piso  against  him,  the  disappointed  poet  of 
liberty  took  a  share.  He  was  put  to  the  torture,  sen- 
tenced to  die,  and,  his  vems  being  opened,  bled  to  death, 
repeating,  as  he  expired,  verses  from  his  own  great  work. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  when  his  strong  but 
over-fervid  intellect  had  not  reached  its  maturity. 

No  literary  work  has  been  more  severely  criticised 
than  the  Pharsalia,  and  certain  of  the  charges  against 
it  must  be  at  once  admitted.     Its  plan  is  inartificial  and 


1 42         THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

wanting  in  invention,  and  it  is  meagre  in  poetical  orna- 
ment of  every  kind  ;  it  has  much  of  Seneca's  exaggera- 
tion, a  little  of  his  false  antithesis,  and  very  much  of  his 
declamatory  tediousness  ;  it  is  indistinct  in  its  grouping 
and  incidents,  which  are  seen  as  through  a  mist ;  it 
wants  variety  of  passion,  and  is  sadly  defective  in  the 
delineation  of  character,  its  personages,  except  the  three 
leading  ones,  being  mere  shadows,  of  which  each  is  like 
the  other.  In  despite  of  all  these  heavy  faults  the  poem 
is  one  of  the  grandest  in  any  language  ;  and  in  some 
points  of  view  no  ancient  Latin  poem  possesses  half  its 
interest  and  importance. 

The  key-note  of  this  Roman  song  is  the  sentiment  of 
moral  strength,  of  which  Cato  of  Utica  is  the  represen- 
tative. He,  and  not  Cffisar  or  Pompey,  is  the  hero, 
although  he  is  not  brought  sufficiently  into  the  fore- 
ground ;  and  the  work,  which  is  confessedly  incom- 
plete, would  conclude  with  his  self-murder  instead 
of  reaching  to  Caesar's  assassination,  to  which  it  is  carried 
in  the  continuation  by  our  republican  countryman, 
Thomas  May.  Cato  stands  alone  amidst  ruins,  without 
hope,  but  immovably  firm  :  he  knows  that  liberty  is 
lost  to  Rome,  and  that  her  citizens  have  ceased  to  love 
it ;  he  enters  into  the  contest  with  the  feeling  of  a  father 
at  the  funeral  of  his  children  ;*  as  his  task  of  life  draws 
nearer  to  its  close,  his  greatness  of  soul  rises  into  pious 
serenity  ;  the  voice  of  the  godhead,  which  has  always 
spoken  in  his  heart,  calls  him  forward  ;t  and  he  hastens 
to  obey  and  offer  the  final  sacrifice  to  freedom.  But  this 
is  not  the  prevailing  religious  temper  of  the  poem.  The 
sentiment  which  emerges  when  the  poet  himself  speaks 
of  heaven  is  terrible.  He  feels  as  if  the  gods  had  aban- 
doned the  earth,  or  grown  too  weak  to  govern  it ;  and  it 
is  this  emotion  of  despair  that  gives  birth  to  some  of  those 
wild  exclamations  wliich,  taken  by  themselves,  sound  so 


*  Pharsalia,  lib.  ii.  v.  297—303. 
t  Ibid.  lib.  ix.  v.  563—584. 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.         143 

extravagant.*  There  is  no  sorrow  in  the  tone  of  thought. 
Where  grief  is  meant  to  be  expressed  the  attempt  fails  ; 
and  the  poet's  state  of  mind,  in  lookmg  to  his  ideal  of 
moral  greatness  in  Cato,  and  his  ideal  of  freedom  in  the 
fallen  commonwealth,  is  that  which  he  has  himself  so 
powerfully  described  as  reigning  in  a  household  in  which 
lies  a  fresh  corpse, — a  chilly  feeling  in  wliich  for  a  time 
grief  is  kept  aloof  by  fear.t 

These  are  the  outlines  which  determine  the  character 
of  the  poem  ;  but  among  the  shades  of  the  poetical 
colouring,  none  tends  to  give  the  Pharsalia  so  peculiar 
an  air  as  the  originality  of  its  supernatural  machin- 
ery'. The  beautifully  cold  mythology  of  Greece  has 
here  no  place  ;  the  supreme  powers  which  hover  above 
the  field  of  civil  slaughter  are  the  native  divinities 
and  native  dead  of  Rome  and  Latium.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  contest  terrible  portents  in  heaven  and  in 
earth  affright  the  people  ;  the  Etruscan  rites  elicit  no 
prophetic  answer ;  a  raving  woman  rushes  through 
the  streets  of  the  city  prophesA'-ing  uncertain  horrors ; 
the  ghost  of  Sylla  rises  in  the  field  of  Mars ;  and  the 
dead  Marius  is  seen  to  break  open  his  sepulchre  on 
the  banks  of  the  Anio.  The  atrocities  of  the  Marian 
civil  wars  are  brought  forward  in  narrative ;  the  oracle 
of  Delphi  is  consulted  and  remains  dumb  ;  and  the  last 
supernatural  terrors  which  close  around  Pompey  are 
summoned  by  the  spells  of  a  Thessalian  witch,  whose 
incantation  forms  one  of  the  most  strongly  painted 
scenes  in  the  circle  of  poetry.  A  corpse  is  taken  from  the 
field  of  battle,  and  the  spirit  is  forced  to  re-enter  it,  and 
tell  what  it  has  seen  in  the  world  of  death.  The  tor- 
tured ghost  has  beheld  the  Decii  and  the  Curii,  the 
patriots  of  Rome,  weeping  and  wailing,  and  Marius, 


Quis  justius  induit  arma. 


Scire  nefas  :  magno  se  judice  quisque  tuetur 
Victrix  causa  diis  placuit,  sed  victa  Catoni. 

Lib.  i.  V.  126—128. 

t  Pharsalia,  lib.  ii.  v.  21—28. 


144         THE  LITERATURE  OP  HEATHEN  ITALY. 

Cethegus,  and  Catiline,  bursting  their  chaios  and  shout- 
ing applauses.* 

The  republican  Lucan  is  succeeded  by  Statius,  the 
court  poet  and  kneeling  flatterer  of  Domitian.  Statius 
seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  amiable  dispositions  and 
domestic  habits ;  and  we  are  tempted  to  excuse  that 
want  of  public  virtue  which  was  common  to  him  with 
nearly  the  whole  world,  and  for  which  the  liveliness  of 
his  poetical  genius  makes  some  atonement.  He  wrote 
completely  in  the  taste  of  liis  times,  with  all  their  rhe- 
torical superabundance  and  tediousness,  and  all  their 
display  of  Greek  erudition ;  and  he  wrote  also  with  a 
cautious  avoidance  of  every  dangerous  topic.  His  chief 
work,  the  "  Thebais,"  an  epic  poem,  in  ten  books,  on 
the  shocking  story  of  the  two  sons  of  CEdipus,  is  by  no 
means  his  best  production,  though  far  the  most  laboured. 
It  has  a  want  of  symmetry  and  coherence,  which, 
with  its  long-drawn  diffuseness,  and  its  exaggerated 
monotony  of  horror  and  cruelty,  makes  it  more  weari- 
some to  read  than  will  be  agreeable  to  any  who  may 
wish  to  criticise  it ;  and  altogether  it  impresses  the  mind 
as  the  work  of  a  man  who  has  thrown  away  on  it  much 
strong  feeling,  much  fine  poetical  imagery,  and  a  good  deal 
of  very  picturesque  description.  The  "  Sylvse,"  five 
books  of  miscellaneous  poems,  chiefly  in  hexameters,  are 
much  superior  to  the  epic  ;  being  less  tedious,  less  arti- 
ficial, and  admitting  better  the  kind  of  ornament  which 
Statius  likes  to  give.  His  fertile  fancy,  and  his  acute  eye 
for  the  picturesque,  find  full  play  in  several  very  pleas- 
ing poems  of  the  collection,  such  as  the  Epithalamium  of 
Stella,  the  Sorrentine  Villa  of  Pollius  Felix,  and  the 
prettily  sylvan  though  somewhat  aff^ected  verses  on  the 
Fountain  and  Overhanging  Tree  in  the  Gardens  of 
Atedius  Melior,  on  the  Caelian  Mount.  The  few  domestic 
poems  evince  extreme  goodness  of  heart,  and  one  of 


*  **  Lucan's  only  Muses,"  says  the  cynical  author  of  the  Pur- 
suits of  Literature,  "were  Caesar,  and  Brutus,  and  Cato,  and  the 
genius  of  expiring  Rome." 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  ]  45 

them,  the  Poet's  Invitation  to  Claudia,  his  wife,  is  in 
some  passages  afFectingly  tender. 

The  picture  of  the  age  closes  with  the  satirists  Persius 
and  Juvenal,  and  the  historian  Tacitus,  all  of  whom 
we  regard  here  chiefly  as  painters  of  life,  in  which 
view  they  require  little  illustration.  The  six  satires  of 
Persius,  scarcely  rising  above  the  level  of  prose,  and 
disfigured  by  an  annoying  obscurity,  breathe  a  tone  of 
upright  feeling,  which,  beheld  in  the  age  of  Nero,  is 
like  a  sheltered  island  in  a  stormy  sea  ;  and  the  moral 
advice  of  the  writer  is  conveyed  in  a  quiet  and  gentle 
tone,  which  contrasts  strongly  with  the  thundered 
menaces  of  Juvenal.  The  latter,  an  orator  and  man  of 
business,  who  began  to  write  verse  in  his  fortieth  year, 
has  given  us  sixteen  satires,  forming  an  image  of  gene- 
ral depravity  on  which  it  is  appalling  to  look,  even 
after  all  the  allowance  we  can  make  for  overcharged 
declamation.  The  tone  is  invariably  unpleasant,  alter- 
nating from  bitter  sarcasm  to  indignant  invective  ;  and 
the  poet,  with  all  his  force  and  vehemence,  is  more 
strong  in  exaggerating  than  successful  in  painting  to 
the  life  either  action  or  character.  His  satires  are  in- 
structive and  most  valuable  monuments  ;  but  they  are 
far  from  deserving  the  first  rank  in  the  class  of  writings 
to  which  they  belong.  The  dark  view  of  society  which 
is  taken  by  him  is  fully  shared  by  Tacitus,  whose  histo- 
rical merits  this  is  not  the  place  to  extol,  and  whose 
literary  excellence  as  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  all 
moral  teachers,  and  of  all  painters  of  character,  is  uni- 
versally acknowledged,  and  calls  for  no  proof.  He  wrote 
in  a  fortunate  time,  for  scarcely  any  emperor  but  Trajan 
could  have  permitted  the  publication  of  such  facts  and 
observations  as  are  contained  both  in  his  History  and 
in  his  Annals ;  and  it  required  some  courage  even  in 
Trajan  to  allow  such  sketches  of  the  abuse  of  power  to 
be  circulated  in  liis  dominions.  Altogether,  the  relation 
in  which  Tacitus,  and  one  or  two  similar  writers,  stood 
towards  the  reigning  powers,  is  one  of  those  anomalies 
which  meet  us  so  frequently  in  the  imperial  histor}\ 


146  THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY. 


FIFTH  AGE. 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  COMMODUS  TO  THAT  OF  CONSTANTINE  : 

A.  u.  933—1059,  OR  A.  D.  180—306. 

This  period,  little  shorter  than  the  last,  was  nearly  a 
blank  m  the  native  literature  and  philosophy  of  It^y. 
The  only  great  event  in  the  mental  cultivation  of  the 
age  was  the  rise  of  a  new  philosophical  school,  that  of 
the  Latter  Platonists,  whose  seat  was  Alexandria.  The 
tenets  of  this  mystical  sect  acquired  their  chief  import- 
ance after  tlie  recognition  of  Christianity  as  the  religion 
of  the  state  ;  and  the  influence  which  the  writings  of  the 
Platonists  had  on  the  later  fathers  of  the  Church,  makes 
it  necessary  here  to  name,  among  the  Greeks,  Ammonius 
Saccas,  Plotinus,  his  pupil,  who  was  the  chief  originator 
of  the  new  opinions,  and  Porphyrius,  whose  writings  are 
the  text-book  of  the  new  Platonic  theories.  The  re- 
awakening of  philosophy  among  the  Greeks  did  not 
come  alone.  Among  authors  who  wrote  in  their  lan- 
guage about  this  time,  and  who  were  more  or -less  inti- 
mately connected  with  Italy  or  its  literature,  we  find 
Longinus,  Arrian  the  annalist  and  philosopher,  Diogenes 
Laertius,  Herodian,  whose  history  descends  to  the  reign 
of  the  Gordians,  and  Dio  Cassius,  a  Bithynian,  who  carried 
his  Roman  history,  a  useful  though  not  impartial  work, 
down  to  the  year  229.  Among  the  same  writers,  too, 
must  be  reckoned  the  physician  Galen,  a  native  of  Per- 
gamus,  who  lived  long  in  Rome. 

If  none  of  these  Greek  names  belongs  to  the  first  rank, 
they  are  yet  such  as  the  Latin  literature  had  nothing 
to  match.  Among  the  Roman  historians  there  were 
Justin,  whose  epitome  is  still  extant ;  the  antiquary  Cen- 
sorinus,  who  wrote  in  the  reign  of  Gordian  III. ;  and 
those  collectors  of  scandal,  the  authors  of  the  Augustan 
History,  a  series  of  Imperial  Memou's,  from  Hadrian  to 
Carinus  and  Numerianus,  wliich  were  written  by  differ- 
ent authors,  and,  though  most  curious  as  striking  illus- 
trations of  the  times,  are  quite  worthless  when  viewed  as 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  HEATHEN  ITALY.  ]  47 

literary  compositions.  Among  philosophers  the  Italians 
had  Solinus,  if  that  writer  deserves  the  name  ;  in  poetry 
they  had  the  didactic  verses  of  Medicine,  written  by 
Samonicus,  who  was  honoured  by  Caracalla  ;  and  they 
had  the  poem  of  Nemesianus,  a  Carthaginian,  on  Hunt- 
ing, composed  in  the  time  of  Cams,  or  of  his  sons,  as 
were  the  eclogues  of  the  Sicilian  Calphumius.  Those 
who  doubt  the  wretched  state  of  Italian  literature  in  the 
third  century  of  our  era,  will  be  convinced  by  opening 
the  volumes  of  any  of  the  writers  named  in  the  last  sen- 
tence. The  philologist  Aulus  Gellius,  whose  amusing 
"  Noctes  Atticse"  still  remain,  is  of  more  value  ;  but  he 
was  not  an  Italian,  nor  educated  m  Italy.  The  African 
schools,  with  those  of  Gaul,  were  now  the  most  flourish- 
ing in  the  Western  Empire.  In  the  peninsula  itself  no 
branch  of  philosophy  or  literature  prospered,  except 
jurisprudence,  to  which  in  this  period  belong  the  famous 
names  of  Papinian  and  Ulpian. 


1 48        ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Ai't  in  Italy  and  Sicily  before  the  Conquest  of  Greece  by 
the  Romans. 

PERIOD  ENDING  A.  U.  608  ;    OR  B.  C.   146. 

The  Connexion  of  Italian  with  Grecian  Art — Art  in  the  Greco- 
ItaUan  Colonies.  The  Infancy  of  Art  in  Greece  and  the 
Colonies  (ending  about  a.  u.  294)  : — The  Temples — Existing 
Monuments  of  Architecture  and  Sculpture  in  Magna  Graecia 
and  Sicily — The  Selinuntine  Marbles.  Grecian  Art  after 
ITS  Complete  Development  (a.  u.  294—608,  or  b.c.  460 — 
146)  : — Painting  and  Architecture — Extant  Decorative  Paint- 
ings and  Mosaics — The  Greek  Architectural  Orders — Ruins  in 
Magna  Graecia  and  Sicily — Sculpture  in  Two  Eras  : — I.  The 
Era  of  Great  Names  (a.  u.  294—454)  :— Its  Two  Ages— (1). 
The  Age  of  Phidias,  Polycletus,  and  Myron — Existing  Copies 
or  Imitations  of  their  Works — The  Amazons— The  Jupiter- 
busts — The  Pallas-statues — The  Colossi  of  the  Quirinal  Mount 
— (2).  The  Age  of  Scopas,  Praxiteles,  and  Lysippus — The 
Niobe  and  her  Children — The  Fauns — The  Cupids — The  Venus- 
statues — The  Figures  of  Hercules — II.  The  Era  of  Great  Works 
(  a.  u.  454—608) :— Existing  Sculptures  of  this  Time— The  Venus 
and  Apollo  de'  Medici — The  Borghese  Gladiator— The  Farnese 
Hercules — The  Germanicus  and  Cincinnatus.  Art  in  Etruria 
AND  Rome  (till  a.  u.  608,  or  b.c.  146)  : — Recent  Elucidations 
of  Etruscan  Art — Its  Character  Grecian — Etruscan  Fortresses 
— Temples — Tombs — Painted  Vases — Sculpture  and  Castings 
— The  She-wolf— The  Decline  and  Revival  of  Art  in  Rome. 

In  more  than  one  metropolis  northward  of  the  Alps  we 
may  examine  some  isolated  sections  of  classical  art,  but 
the  southern  country  which  those  barriers  enclose  is 
still  the  only  one  in  which  we  can  study  the  whole 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.    149 

magnificent  volume.  The  Roman  and  Grecian  archi- 
tectural ruins  still  rise  amidst  the  vineyards  of  Italian 
valleys,  or  on  the  silent  expanse  of  Italian  plains.  The 
galleries  of  Italian  palaces  are  still  thronged  with  statues, 
as  were  the  temples  on  whose  fragments  they  are  built  ; 
while  ancient  painting  itself,  all  but  lost  for  ages,  has 
again  come  to  light,  and  adorns  a  modern  Italian  city. 
To  these  treasures  we  must  add  the  numberless  reliques 
which  fill  the  antiquarian  cabinets ;  and  we  must  also 
recollect,  that  of  the  masterpieces  which  enrich  the 
museums  in  England,  Germany,  and  France,  a  very 
large  proportion  have  been  discovered  on  the  soil  of 
Rome,  or  of  her  Cisalpine  territories. 

In  ancient  Italy  ait  was  always  an  exotic, — a  fact 
which,  in  reference  to  the  purpose  now  in  view,  will 
demand  from  us  some  knowledge  of  the  history  and 
character  of  Grecian  art,  as  preparatory  to  our  study  of 
its  remains  in  the  former  country  ;  for  unquestionably 
very  many  of  these  were  executed  in  Greece,  while 
a  large  proportion  of  the  rest  are  the  works  of  artists 
thence  derived,  and  almost  all  of  them  bear  a  clear  im- 
press of  the  foreign  character.  The  Greeks,  in  this  de- 
partment not  less  gloriously  than  in  others,  were  the 
makers  of  their  own  fortune  ;  and  they  shared  the  pos- 
session with  their  colonies  from  the  shores  of  Asia  to  those 
of  Sicily  and  Magna  Graecia.  The  cultivated  domain 
of  literature,  philosophy,  and  art,  which  their  genius  thus 
had  won,  devolved  on  Rome  like  an  inheritance,  which 
she,  a  spendthrift  heir,  enjoyed  but  did  not  augment. 

But  these  were  neither  the  oldest  nor  the  most  direct 
obligations  which  Italy  owed  to  the  Hellenic  race  ;  for, 
long  before  that  people  became  the  subjects  of  Rome, 
all  the  arts  of  design  were  naturalized  among  their 
colonists  in  the  south  of  the  peninsula  and  in  Sicily. 
The  coins  of  the  Greek  cities  in  these  districts  show 
art,  in  its  earlier  stages,  to  have  advanced  more  rapidly 
there  than  even  in  the  mother-country.  To  these  older 
pieces,  belonging  to  Sybaris,  Tarentum,  Caudonia,  and 
Posidonia,  succeed  those  of  Syracuse,  Leontium,  and 


150         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

Selinus,  and,  still  later,  those  of  the  same  cities  and  of 
Neapolis,  Rhegium,  and  other  towns  ;  all  indicating  that 
art  in  these  settlements  still  kept  pace  with,  if  it  did 
not  outstrip,  the  progress  of  the  nation  from  which  its 
lessons  were  learned.*  In  the  higher  departments,  the 
free  municipalities  of  Lower  Italy,  and  the  princes  of 
Sicily,  vied  with  each  other  in  cultivating  native  genius, 
and  encouraging  artists  from  JEgina  and  other  schools 
of  Greece.  Of  the  pieces  of  statuary  now  remaining, 
which  were  confessedly  the  offspring  of  Grecian  art  be- 
fore the  Roman  conquest,  we  can  in  few  instances  trace 
the  progress  to  the  capital ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
very  many  splendid  works  were  found  by  the  conquerors 
in  Sicily  and  Magna  Graecia.  In  architecture,  numerous 
monuments  still  bear  witness  to  the  skill  of  the  Italiot 
Greeks. 

THE  INFANCY  OF  ART  IK  GREECE  AND  THE  GRECIAN    COLONIES  : 
ENDING  ABOUT  A.  0.  294  ;     OB  B.  C.  460. 

The  earliest  progress  of  Grecian  art,  and  the  much 
contested  questions  as  to  the  aid  which  it  received  from 
the  oriental  nations,  must  here  be  left  untouched.  It  is 
enough  to  say  that,  down  to  the  50th  Olympiad,  or  about 
the  year  of  Rome  174,  it  was  marked  by  a  rude  and 
formal  simplicity.  In  architecture,  the  colossal  masonry 
of  the  Pelasgians  gave  way  to  the  most  ancient  and  mas- 
sive fonn  of  the  Doric  order,  or  to  the  Ionic,  which 
presented  lighter  proportions  even  in  its  oldest  shape. 
Sculpture  was  little  employed,  except  in  the  temple- 
statues  of  the  divinities,  in  which  the  deficiency  of 
skill  co-operated  with  an  almost  Egyptian  reverence 
for  precedents  ;  and  the  idols  of  wood  and  stone  were 
as  unadorned  and  rude  as  the  hoary  shrines  in  whose 
niches  they  were  placed.  The  few  antique  vases,  which 
alone  can  with  any  confidence  be  referred  to  this  early 
period,  exhibit  painting  in  its  very  infancy. 

*  Specimens  of  Ancient  Sculpture,  by  the  Society  of  Dilet- 
tanti, vol.  i.  1809  :    Preliminary  Dissertation,  pp.  24,  36,  37- 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         151 

With  the  50th  Olympiad  there  begins,  hotli  in  Greece 
and  her  colonies,  a  period  of  rapid  advancement,  which 
in  little  more  than  a  century  placed  statuary,  painting, 
and  architecture,  at  the  very  threshold  of  perfection.  Of 
this  interesting  era  we  possess  several  splendid  monu- 
ments, both  in  architecture  and  sculpture,  which  chiefly 
belong  to  Sicily  and  Magna  Graecia. 

The  primitive  idea  of  the  Grecian  Temple  was  that 
of  a  small  chapel  (the  Cell  a)  with  its  sacred  image  ; 
and  as  its  size  increased,  it  did  not  lose  the  essential 
character  of  the   closed  mysterious  sanctuary.      The 
structure,  roofed  over,  had  no  windows,  and  received 
no  light  but  from  the  single  door  at   its  front,  while 
the  portico  at  this  extremity,  which  originally  may 
have  formed  the  only  ornament,  not  only  was,  in  some 
instances,  repeated  at  the  oi3posite  end,  but  enlarged 
itself  into  an  external  colonnade  to  receive  the  wor- 
shippers, and  extended  to  the  sides  or  the  whole  circuit 
of  the  edifice,  in  a  single  or  double  row  of  columns, 
forming  a  covered  walk  outside  the  walls.     A  second 
colonnade  shut  in  the  wide  space  of  consecrated  ground 
around  the  temple,  which  stood  in   the  midst,   gene- 
rally elevated  on  a  majestic  flight  of  steps.     The  cell 
or  body  of  the  fane  continued  to  be  a  comparatively 
small  building.      It  was  the  receptacle  of  the  statue 
and  altar  of  the  divinity,  and  was  accessible  to  none 
but  the  priests  ;  while  the  worshippers  tlironged  around 
in  the  sacred  precincts,  and  beneath  the  porticos.     The 
cell  was  sometimes  circular,  but  most  frequently  an 
oblong  rectangle.      Its  interior  gradually  underwent 
alterations,  of  which  the  most  marked  was  the  intro- 
duction  of  columns  in  this   part   for  the  purpose  of 
strengthening  the  roof,  and  thus  permitting  a  conveni- 
ent enlargement ;  and  these  internal  colonnades  were 
frequently  united  with  a  plan  by  which  the  roof  ran 
only  round  the  building,  covering  the  space  between 
the  walls  and  the  internal  columns,  while  an  area  in 
the  centre  was  left  open  to  the  sky.     There  was  thus 
fonned  the  species  of  temple  called  hypsethral,  not  unlike 


152         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

the  arrangement  of  the  courts  which  composed  the 
principal  part  of  a  Greek  dwelling-house.* 

Of  the  hypaethral  cell,  with  its  internal  colonnades,  we 
have  a  fine  instance  in  the  majestic  temple  of  Neptune 
at  Psestum,  which  also  exhibits,  in  its  short  crowded 
columns  and  gigantic  entablature,  the  most  characteristic 
specimen  of  that  massy  form  of  the  older  Doric,  which 
was  the  ftivourite  style  among  the  Sicilian  and  Italian 
Greeks.t  The  desolation  of  these  classical  ruins  now 
makes  a  picture  very  unlike  that  which  the  edifices  them- 
selves must  have  presented  to  the  ancient  world,  when 
the  statue  and  the  altar,  illuminated  by  gorgeous  lamps, 
decked  the  cell,  when  marbles,  gilding,  and  paintings 
shone  on  the  walls  and  fretted  ceilings,  and  votive  tablets 
hung  thickly  in  the  porticos  without. 

To  this  period  belong  the  three  Sicilian  temples  in 
the  citadel  of  Selinus,  which  are  most  worthy  of  notice 
for  the  sculptures  on  the  metopes  of  their  frieze,  dis- 
covered among  the  ruins  in  1823.:{:  Three  of  the  slabs, 
it  is  clear,  are  far  more  ancient  than  the  rest,  and  are 
the  only  ones  belonging  to  the  age  now  under  review. 
The  first  represents  a  naked  Hercules  carrying  off,  in 
a  serio-comic  posture,  the  conquered  Cercopes.  Th" 
subject  of  the  second  is  Perseus  killing  Medusa,  while 

*  Quatremere  de  Quinc)',  however,  has  propounded  a  theory 
which,  if  admitted,  overthrows  all  our  established  notions  as  to 
the  form  of  the  ancient  temples.  He  maintains  that  none  of 
them,  not  even  the  largest,  were  in  any  part  open  to  the  sky ; 
that  Vitruvius,  in  describing  hypaethral  temples,  speaks  of  a  plan 
which  had  never  been  executed;  that  the  temple  of  Paestum  was 
roofed  entirely  over  with  bronze,  and  others  with  flags  of  stone  or 
wooden  beams.  He  maintains  also  .that  the  cells  were  fully  lighted 
by  windows  in  the  roof.  Memoires  de  I'lnstitut  Royal  de  France ; 
Classp  d'Histoire,  tom.  iii.  1818. 

•f  For  PfEstum  and  the  Sicilian  Tem.ples,  except  the  recently 
investigated  ruins  in  the  citadel  of  Selinus,  consult  Wilkins'  An- 
tiquities of  Magna  Graecia,  1807. 

^  By  jMr  Harris  and  Mr  Angell.  The  marbles  were  seized  by 
the  Neapolitan  government,  and  are  now  in  the  museum  at  Pa- 
lermo. Casts  are  in  the  British  Museum  ;  and  a  description  was 
published  in  1826,  by  Mr  Angell  and  Mr  Evans.  See  also  the 
Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  vol.  ii.  p.  144. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         153 

Minerva  stands  by.  The  third,  which  is  much  broken, 
has  a  female  standing  and  a  male  kneeling.  The 
reliefs  on  these  tablets,  and  the  figures  which,  com- 
pletely detached  from  the  wall,  filled  the  pediments  of 
the  temple  of  Minerva  at  ^gina,  and  were  discovered  in 
1811,  rank  among  the  most  curious  of  all  contributions 
to  the  antiquities  of  art.*  If  we  were  not  entitled  to 
presume  that  the  Attic  ^gina  may  have  been  in  advance 
of  the  obscure  Sicilian  colony,  both  in  the  theory  and 
the  mechanism  of  art,  the  difference  which  exists  be- 
tween the  Selinuntine  marbles  and  the  -^ginetic,  both 
in  style  and  execution,  might  induce  us  to  suspect  that 
the  former  were  considerably  earlier  works  than  the 
latter.  Taken  together,  the  two  sets  of  fragments  ex- 
hibit sculpture  to  us  as  Phidias  found  it.  In  the  me- 
topes of  Selinus,  while  the  lines  are  firm,  and  the  general 
contour  of  the  human  figure  is  traced  with  a  tolerable 
approach  to  truth,  the  proportions  are  ludicrously 
clumsy,  the  attitudes  are  stiff  and  unvaried,  and  the 
expression  of  all  the  countenances  is  a  slight  and  almost 
silly  simper.  In  the  iEgina  marbles  the  expression  of 
all  the  heads  is  uniform,  but  it  is  that  of  profound  repose ; 
the  outlines  of  the  figures  are  hard,  their  proportions 
meagre,  and  the  bones  and  muscles  harshly  marked  ; 
but  the  truth  of  the  details  astonishes  artists,  and  there 
breathe  through  the  whole  a  strength  and  simplicity 
which  not  unworthily  announce  the  approacliing  ex- 
cellence of  the  Parthenon. 

ART  IN  GREECE    AND    THE    GRECIAN   COLONIES,    FROM    ITS    COM- 
PLETE DEVELOPMENT  TILL  THE  ROMAN   CONQUEST  : 

A.  u.  294—608 ;  or  b.  c.  460—146. 

About  the  80th  Olympiad  (b.  c.  460),  architecture 
and  sculpture  reached  their  highest  excellence  among 

*  The  ^gina  Marbles,  having  been  restored  by  Thorwaldsen, 
are  now  in  the  Glyptothek  of  Munich.  Their  exact  age  cannot  be 
easily  fixed,  but  they  certainly  fall  between  the  55th  and  77th 
Olympiads. 


154         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

the  Greeks,  and  the  perfection  of  their  painting  belongs 
to  the  same  epoch,  or  one  very  little  later.  From  that 
time  till  the  taking  of  Corinth  by  the  Romans,  in  the 
third  3'ear  of  the  158th  Olympiad,  Greece  encountered 
many  political  vicissitudes  ;  but  there  is  little  reason 
to  suspect  that  the  disturbances  of  the  country  affected 
the  arts  to  any  greater  extent  than  depressing  them  at 
one  place  to  raise  them  at  another.  None  of  them,  it  is 
true,  preserved  the  transcendent  character  of  the  earlier 
age  ;  and  the  artists  of  the  Achaean  league  were  distin- 
guished by  different  qualities  from  those  of  the  great 
Macedonian  dynasty,  as  the  genius  of  these  again  had 
differed  from  that  which  illuminated  the  times  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war,  and  the  golden  reign  of  Pericles. 
But  though  there  was  change,  there  was  no  degradation  ; 
or,  if  there  was,  it  appeared  in  architecture  only,  and 
even  there  the  deviation  from  purity  of  taste  was  as  yet 
but  slight. 

Painting  and  Architecture. 
Even  after  the  discoveries  of  the  last  century  in 
Campania,  it  is  difficult  to  seize  fully  the  tme  character 
of  Grecian  painting,  as  exliibited  by  its  first  masters ; 
and  it  goes  for  little  to  be  told  of  the  accurate  and 
noble  drawing  of  Polygnotus,  of  the  softer  and  more 
imaginative  beauty  which  followed  it  in  the  works  of  the 
Italian  Zeuxis,  and  his  rival  Parrhasius  of  Ephesus, 
or  of  the  union  of  high  theory  with  mechanical  per- 
fection, which  is  attributed  to  the  Ionian  Apelles  and 
Protogenes  of  Rhodes,  the  great  painters  of  the  Mace- 
donian times.  In  the  latter  ages  of  the  period,  after 
the  foundation  of  Alexander's  empire,  this  art  was 
extensively  applied  to  the  internal  decoration  of  build- 
ings, when  still-life  and  architectural  drawings  became 
common.  The  practice  of  painting  on  terra-cotta  vases, 
formerly  so  popular,  fell  into  disuse,  or  was  cornipted  ; 
and  most  of  the  Apulian  specimens,  from  Canusium, 
Barium,  and  other  cities,  exemplify  the  artificial  man- 
nerism which  then  prevailed.      On  the   other   hand. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         155 

Mosaics  appeared  for  the  first  time  at  Pergamus ;  and 
the  celebrated  Drinking  Doves,  which  were  the  subject 
of  an  early  composition,  have  been  supposed  to  be  pre- 
served in  an  imitation  discovered  in  the  Villa  of  Ha- 
drian.* A  Mosaic  lately  found,  representing  one  of 
Alexander's  battles,  is  an  example  of  an  animated  style, 
not  exactly  accordant  with  Grecian  principles ;  but  it 
is  executed  with  skill,  and  is  very  instructive.t 

In  architecture,  between  the  time  of  Phidias  and  the 
siege  of  Corinth,  much  was  done  of  which  we  possess 
magnificent  remains,  and  very  much  that  has  perished 
without  leaving  a  shadow.  The  Doric  order,  in  the 
hands  of  the  Attic  artists,  attained  a  simple  majesty  of 
grace  perfectly  true  to  its  original  character.  The 
Ionic,  invented  by  the  Asiatic  Greeks,  and  developed 
by  them  in  the  form  which  has  been  recognised  as  the 
rule  of  the  order,  was  used  by  the  Athenians  as  a  fit 
subject  on  which  to  exercise  their  fancy  and  love  of 
ornate  beauty ;  and  about  the  85th  Olympiad  appears 
the  graceful  Corinthian  column,  whose  proportions 
gradually  arranged  themselves  in  a  light  and  slender 
symmetry  harmonizing  with  its  style  of  ornament, 
in  which  the  Ionic  volute  became  subordinate  to 
rich  groups  of  natural  foliage.  It  is  worth  while  to 
notice,  that  in  the  time  of  Pericles,  the  earliest  portion 
of  the  period  now  before  us,  we  discover  in  at  least  one 
of  the  great  temples  of  Greece  the  keyed  arch;:|:  an 
invention  which  it  v/as  difficult  to  unite  harmoni- 
ously with  the  prevailing  horizontal  lines  of  the  orders, 

•  Capitoline  Museum ;   Stanza  del  Vaso,  No.  101. 

•f  In  the  museum  of  Naples  :  discovered  at  Pompeii,  in  the 
House  of  the  Faun,  10th  October  1831. 

X  See  (at  sections  107  and  109)  the  excellent  *'  Handbuch  der 
Archiiologie  derKunst"  (2d  edition,  Breslau,  1835)  :  by  Miiller, 
tho  celebrated  author  of  "  The  Dorians,"  The  authorities  are, 
Plutarch,  in  Pericle,  cap.  13,  compared  with  Julius  Pollux,  ii. 
54,  and  Senec.  Epist.  90,  assigning  to  Democritus  (who  died 
about  the  1st  year  of  the  94th  Olympiad)  what  he  calls  the  inven- 
tion of  the  arch  and  key-stone  ;  though,  as  the  keyed  arch  unques. 
tionably  existed  long  before  in  Rome  and  elsewhere  in  Italy,  De- 
mocritus in  all  likelihood  only  borrowed  it. 


156         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

and  which,  borrowed  probably  from  Italy,  the  Ro- 
mans soon  received  back.  The  architecture  of  Greece, 
when  thus  perfected,  was  applied  in  every  conceivable 
shape.  In  the  free  days  of  the  nation,  she  and  her 
colonies  erected  fortifications,  theatres,  odea,  stadia,  and 
temples  ;  and  her  Macedonian  conquerors  employed 
her  artists  in  constructing  princely  palaces,  tombs,  and 
even  cities,  like  those  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch.  Of 
edifices  not  within  our  proper  limits,  it  will  be  enough, 
from  the  first  and  purest  stage  of  this  period,  to  call  to 
mind  the  magnificent  group  of  temples  at  Athens. 

In  Sicily  the  example  was  eagerly  followed.  The  great 
temple  at  Agrigentum  belongs  to  this  period  ;  some  of 
those  at  Selinus  do  so  likewise,  as  well  as  that  of  iEgeste. 
In  Magna  Graecia  all  the  ruins  of  Paestum,  excepting  the 
temple  of  Neptune,  may  be  traced  to  the  same  age, 
though  several  of  them  scarcely  do  justice  to  its  spirit ; 
and  to  it  also  may  be  referred  a  few  less  important  re- 
mains in  the  same  region.  Both  there  and  in  Sicily  the 
Doric  order  was  mvariably  used,  and  the  two  others  are 
nowhere  to  be  seen,  except  on  coins  belonging  to  those 
colonies.  Domestic  architecture  attained  elegance  in 
Sicily  much  earlier  than  in  the  mother- country.* 

Sculpture, 
Grecian  sculpture,  as  it  appeared  from  the  time  of 
Phidias  till  the  Roman  conquest,  requires  more  minute 
illustration  ;  and  it  may  be  convenient  to  divide  the 
period  into  two  eras.  The  first  of  these  reaches  from 
the  80th  to  the  120th  Olympiad  ;  and,  in  a  duration  of 
about  a  century  and  a  half,  includes  two  successive  ages 
of  art,  both  adorned  by  very  celebrated  names.  The 
second  era,  of  about  the  same  length,  from  the  120th 
Olympiad  to  the  158th,  though  it  furnishes  fewer  great 
masters  than  the  former,  has  bequeathed  to  us  works 
of  the  highest  excellence. 


*     Stieglitz,    Archaolonjie    der   Baukunst    der    Griechen    und 
Rbmer,  vol.  i. :  Historical  Introduction. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.        157 

I.  lu  the  first  section  of  the  earlier  period  five  artists 
must  be  named, — Phidias,  Polycletus,  IMyron,  Pytha- 
goras, and  Calaniis.  All  of  these  had  some  points  in 
common,  and  in  particular  the  freedom  with  which  they 
treated  their  subjects  as  compared  even  with  their  im- 
mediate predecessors.  That  strange  union  of  accurate 
drawing  w^ith  stiffness  of  attitude  and  design,  and  other 
similar  contradictions,  which  are  to  be  observed  in  so 
many  statues  of  the  age  preceding  Phidias,  have  been 
explained  by  the  best  critics,  as  arising  from  a  designed 
adherence  to  older  models,  the  sacred  and  patriarchal 
idols  of  the  shrines  for  which  these  more  modern  works 
were  destined.  In  the  Phidian  age  itself  this  hieratic 
style  was  discarded,  even  in  the  simple  figures  ;  and 
freedom  of  manner  was  furthered  and  perfected  by  the 
increased  demand  which  that  age  made  for  statues  and 
reliefs,  as  ornaments  for  unconsecrated  buildings.  In 
the  time  of  Pericles,  or  very  soon  after  it,  art  was  com- 
pletely secularized  ;  for,  without  being  banished  from 
the  temples,  it  was  introduced  into  every  public  place, 
and  into  many  private  dwellings.  For  the  sacred  edifices 
the  artists  had  to  frame  images  of  the  gods,  and  reliefs  of 
mythic  legends ;  for  the  agorce,  theatres,  and  porticos, 
there  were  similar  reliefs  or  statues,  and  other  statues 
representing  statesmen  or  athletae  ;  and  for  the  gratifi- 
cation of  individual  taste  or  vanity,  there  were  ideal  or 
portrait  statues,  with  reliefs  and  groups  from  mytholo- 
gical stories  ;  while  the  introduction  of  sculpture  into 
private  mansions  became,  in  the  following  age,  yet  more 
common,  and  added  to  its  former  subjects  copies  of  the 
celebrated  works  produced  in  the  era  immediately  under 
our  notice.  While  the  artists  of  the  generation  of  Peri- 
cles were  guided  by  a  minute  study  of  the  human  frame, 
for  which  the  national  costume,  modes  of  life,  and  public 
spectacles,  afforded  them  remarkable  opportunities,  the 
highest  among  them  differed  not  less  in  their  favourite 
subjects,  than  in  their  mode  of  treating  them  ;  and  their 
characteristics  exercised  a  strong  influence  on  art  in  all 
succeedins:  times. 


158        ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

Confessedly  at  the  head  of  sculpture  in  his  age  stood 
the  Athenian  Phidias,  and  the  Attic  school  over  which 
he  presided.  We  can  scarcely  presume  that  he  had 
quitted  the  studio  of  his  master  Ageladas  before  the 
commencement  of  the  80th  Olympiad.  Besides  giving 
attention  to  painting  and  architecture,  he  embraced 
statuary  in  all  its  branches,  mcluding  even  the  antique 
but  already  neglected  art  of  carving  on  wood.  His  more 
usual  employments,  however,  were,  sculpture  in  marble, 
which  had  not  yet  become  the  favourite  material  for 
statues, — the  working  in  metal,  both  by  casting  and  chas- 
ing (the  latter  being  in  fact  the  celebrated  Toreutic  art 
of  the  ancients), — and  the  union  of  all  those  modes  of 
procedure  in  the  construction  of  the  Chryselephantine 
statues,  which  were  compositions  of  gold  and  ivory,  with 
other  substances,  usually  gigantic  in  size  and  gorgeously 
decorated.*  The  number  of  works  attributed  to  this 
great  sculptor,  several  of  which  were  colossal,  is  as  in- 
credible as  the  number  ascribed  to  Raffaelle  ;  unless, 
indeed,  we  suppose  the  ancient  artist,  as  well  as  the 
modern,  to  have  given  his  name  to  productions  which 
he  only  designed,  and  allowed  his  scholars  to  execute. 
In  all  his  works  which  were  considered  successful, 
the  subjects  are  such  as  call  for  majesty  of  conception 
rather  than  beauty.  His  Olympic  Jupiter,  and  his 
Minerva  Parthenos  for  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  both 
colossal  statues,  were  the  embodied  images  of  that 
mythic  grandeur  which  reigned  in  the  Homeric  hea- 
ven. Polycletus,  an  artist  of  Sicyon,  and  a  fellow-pupil 
of  Phidias,  led  the  way  in  an  opposite  path  of  art, 
and  found,  many  more  imitators.  He  did  not  reach  the 
sublimity  of  his  rival  in  the  representation  of  divi- 
nity ;  but  his  works  displayed  a  completeness  of  finish, 
an  exactness  of  proportions,  and  an  ideal  beauty,  which 
he  delighted  in  applying  to  the  execution  of  human,  and 

*  The  explanation  of  the  Chryselephantine  works  is  the  im- 
mediate purpose,  though  far  from  occupying  the  whole  discussion,  of 
Quatreraere  de  Quincy's  splendid  work,  Le  Jupiter  Olympien  ; 
Paris,  1815,  folio. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         159 

especially  of  youtliful  figures.  Myron  of  Eleutherae, 
who  also  studied  under  Ageladas,  resembled  Polycletus 
in  his  choice  of  subjects,  and  was  celebrated  for  his  truth 
to  nature,  and  a  perfect  imitation  of  life,  without  high 
feelmg  or  individuality  of  character.  Both  Polycletus 
and  Myron  executed  several  celebrated  statues  of  Ath- 
letfie,  as  did  Pythagoras  of  Rhegium,  who  deserves  notice 
here  as  the  greatest  sculptor  of  Magna  Graecia.  Calamis, 
the  last  named  of  the  five  great  artists  of  the  time,  who  was 
perhaps  an  Athenian,  appears  to  have  been  rather  older 
than  the  others,  and  is  charged  with  betraying  more  of 
the  antique  stifihess  than  they.  To  him  are  ascribed  a 
list  of  perished  works  which  indicate  a  love  for  the  devo- 
tional and  elevated,  and  amongst  others  an  Apollo  Pro- 
tector, erected  in  the  agora  of  Athens,  and  supposed  by 
some,  with  little  reason,  to  have  been  the  prototype,  or 
even  the  original,  of  the  Apollo  Belvedere.* 

With  the  exception  of  architectural  sculptures,  no 
original  works  of  those  great  masters  are  known  to 
exist.  But  several  antique  statues  are  recognised  as 
being  copies,  or,  which  is  more  likely,  free  imitations, 
either  of  their  mventions,  or  of  those  executed  by 
other  less  famous  statuaries  belonging  to  the  same 
age.  The  Amazon  of  Polycletus  was  publicly  adjudged 
superior  to  those  of  Phidias,  Ctesilaus,  and  several  in- 
ferior sculptors.  The  beautiful  Amazon  of  the  Vatican,  a 
figure  in  the  act  of  springing  forward,t  with  its  repeti- 


*  Giambattista  Visconti  :  II  Museo  Pio-Clementino,  torn.  i.  p. 
27;  tav.  14,  15;  1782:  but  compare  his  son's  remarks  in  the 
Musee  Francais,  Article  "  L'ApoUon  du  Belvedere." 

+  ISliiller's  explanation  (Handbuch,  §417-2).  The  statue  is  in 
the  Museo  Pio-Clementiuo,  Galleria  delle  Statue,  No.  18  :  en- 
graved in  the  Musee  Fran9ai5.     There  is  a  copy  in  the  Capitol, 

and  several  elsewhere In  this  and  other  references  to  the  museums 

of  the  Vatican  and  Capitol,  the  present  places  of  the  several  an- 
tiques, and  the  numbers  afiBxed  to  them,  have  been  verified  by  a 
consultation  of  the  only  full  catalogues  of  those  galleries  which 
have  yet  been  published.  These  are  contained  in  the  2d  and  3d 
volumes  of  the  German  Guide-book  to  the  City  of  Rome  (Beschrei- 
bung  der  Stadt  Rom),  commenced  in  1830  under  the  editor- 
ship of  M.  Bunsen,  and  written  by  that  distinguished  scholar,  by 
Gerhard,  Platner,  Rostell,  and  other  German  antiquaries.     The 


160        ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

tions,  are  also  regarded  as  copies  or  imitations  either  of 
the  statue  of  Phidias,  or  of  that  of  Polycletus;*  and 
the  wounded  Amazon  of  the  Capitol,t  preserves  the 
idea  of  the  work  of  Ctesilaus.  INIyron's  Hercules,  and 
his  equally  celebrated  Cow,  have  perished  ;  but  seve- 
ral excellent  imitations  have  given  us  his  Discobolus, 
a  bent  figure  of  great  truth  and  merit. |  The  concep- 
tion of  the  Jupiter-head  invented  by  Phidias  may 
undoubtedly  be  traced  in  those  noble  busts,  of  which 
several  are  extant,  with  the  clear  powerful  forehead,  on 
each  side  of  which  the  hair  falls  backwards  like  a  lion's 
mane  ;  the  deep,  large,  majestic  eyes  ;  the  placid,  finely 
formed  lips,  and  the  full  beard  descending  on  the  mus- 
cular breast.  §  The  Pliidian  Minerva  has  scarcely  be- 
queathed us  any  thing  so  good ;  but  there  are  several 
statues  which  retain  the  leading  idea,  with  many  acces- 
sories of  the  figure,  and  three  at  least  may  be  said  to  be- 
long to  the  age  of  the  sculptor  himself,  and  to  preserve  " 
verymuchjindeedjof  the  graveand  dignified  beauty  which 
was  his  characteristic.  1 1     On  the  brow  of  the  Quirinal 

formidable  bulk  of  this  learned  work  disqualifies  it  for  serving 
as  a  popular  manual  ;  but  it  is  almost  faultless  as  a  text-book  for 
the  systematic  student  of  classical  antiquities, 

*  Of  Phidias  :  Miiller,  ut  supra  ;  Thiersch,  in  his  Epochen 
der  bildenden  Kunst  unter  den  Griechen  ;  2d  edition,  Munich, 
1829. — Of  Polycletus  :  Gerhard,  in  the  Beschreibung,  vol.  ii. 
part  2,  p.  168. 

t  Capitoline  IMuseum,  ^reat  hall,  No.  9.  A  copy,  ill-restored, 
in  the  Louvre,  No.  281  (Clarac's  Catalogue,  1830). 

+  Among  other  copies  that  of  the  Vatican  ;  Museo  Pio-Clemen- 
tino,  Sala  della  Biga,  No.  10 ;  and  another,  perhaps  the  best 
extant,  in  the  British  Museum;  Room  x.  No.  41  ;  (Catalogue  of 
1832) ;  engraved  in  the  Dilettanti  Specimens  of  Ancient  Sculp- 
ture, vol.  i.  plate  29. 

§  In  the  \'atican,  the  grand  colossal  bust  from  Otricoli,  Mus. 
Pio-Clem.  Sala  Rotonda,  No.  3,  engraved  in  the  Musee  Fran- 
cais,  and  in  the  Museo  Pio-Clementino,  torn.  vi.  tav.  i.  (1792). 
Another  in  the  Florentine  Gallery. 

II  The  colossal  Pallas  of  Velletri,  now  in  the  Louvre,  No  310; 
engraved  in  the  Musee  Francais.  The  Giustiniani  ^Minerva  of  the 
Vatican,  Mus.  Belvedere,  Braccio  Nuovo,  No.  23.  The  colossal 
Minerva  of  IMr  Hope's  Collection,  engraved  in  the  Specimens, 
vol.  ii.  No.  9.  A  duplicate  of  Mr  Hope's  statue  is  in  the  Museo 
Borbonico  of  Naples  :  JNIarble  statues,  No.  125 ;  (Catalogue  of 
1831.) 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         161 

in  Rome  still  stand  two  colossal  and  singularly  striking 
figures  in  marble,  eacli  reining  in  a  horse.  They  give  to 
the  hill  its  modern  name  of  Monte  Cavallo,  and  bear 
respectively  on  their  pedestals,  in  Latin  characters,  the 
names  of  Phidias  and  Praxiteles.  Antiquaries  entertain 
very  discordant  opinions  regarding  them  ;  but  artists  are 
almost  unanimous  in  declaring  them  to  be  copies  (one  of 
them  excellent)  of  Greek  works  in  the  style  of  the  times 
to  which  those  mighty  masters  belong. 

Till  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  the  students 
of  ancient  art  were  compelled  to  glean  their  knowledge 
of  the  Phidianage  from  these  and  a  few  other  antiques, 
none  of  them  rising  above  the  rank  of  copies  or  imitations. 
But  with  the  removal  of  the  Elgin  Marbles  to  England, 
and  their  public  exhibition  in  the  British  Museum, 
there  opens  a  new  era  for  our  acquaintance  with  ancient 
statuary.  The  most  important  of  these  monuments  are 
the  admirable  sculptures  of  the  Parthenon,  consisting 
of  (1.)  the  reliefs  of  the  metopes,  or  slabs  which, 
separated  by  triglyphs,  ran  along  the  frieze  of  the 
peristyle,  or  external  colonnade  ;  (2.)  the  uninter- 
rupted series  of  reliefs  which  adorned  the  frieze  of  the 
cella ;  and  (3.)  the  statues  of  heroic  size,  completely 
disengaged  from  the  walls,  which  filled  the  tympana, 
or  triangular  spaces  of  the  pediments  at  both  ends  of  the 
temple.  The  two  sets  of  reliefs  are  unequal ;  but  their 
design,  as  well  as  the  superintendence  of  their  execution, 
undoubtedly  belong  to  Phidias ;  and  the  lofty  beauty 
of  the  statues  of  the  pediments,  authorizes  us  to  assign 
to  him  a  more  immediate  share  in  their  production. 
The  study  of  these  wonderful  reliques  is  essential,  as  a 
preparative,  to  the  due  appreciation  of  those  later  pieces 
of  sculpture,  which,  till  the  exhibition  of  the  Elgin 
^larbles,  formed  the  highest  specimens  of  ancient  art. 
The  Phigaleian  Marbles,  discovered  in  1812,  and  also 
transferred  to  the  British  Museum,  are  palpably  modelled 
after  the  metopes  of  the  Parthenon  ;  but  though  in- 
ferior, both  in  conception  and  execution,  they  are  works 
of  high  excellence,  and  prove  the  immediate  influence 

VOL.  1.  K 


J  62         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

which  the  school  of  Phidias  exercised  on  the  rest  of 
Greece,  as  some  of  the  recently  found  metopes  of 
Selinus  exhibit  its  influence  on  the  Sicilian  colonies. 

As  to  the  mechanical  department,  statuary  may  be 
considered  as  having  then  reached  its  height ;  and  while 
bronze,  and  the  various  complex  compositions  of  which 
that  or  similar  materials  formed  a  part,  continued  to 
be  the  favourites,  marble  became  gradually  more  com- 
mon, though  for  a  long  time  it  was  not  frequent  enough 
to  allow  us  to  look  for  many  existing  specimens  except 
in  architectural  ornaments.  The  application  of  sculp- 
ture, however,  became  every  day  more  extended  ;  and 
with  the  swift  rise  of  the  Macedonian  monarchy  there 
began  a  system  of  patronage,  perhaps  exceeding  in  its 
amount  that  which  had  been  enjoyed  in  the  days  of  Peri- 
cles. The  munificence  of  Philip  and  Alexander  gave 
birth  to  that  school  of  art  which  was  marked  for  us  as 
occupying  the  second  age  in  the  period  ending  -svith  the 
120th  Olympiad.  The  great  names  of  the  time  are 
Scopas,  Praxiteles,  and  Lysippus,  of  whose  works  we 
have  some  traces,  with  Leochares  and  Euphranor,  whose 
character  we  must  take  on  trust.  Scopas  and  Praxiteles, 
with  Leochares,  may  be  considered  as  the  successors,  in 
spirit  as  well  as  in  locality,  of  their  countryman  Phidias  ; 
while  Lysippus  and  Euphranor  in  like  manner  followed 
the  path  opened  by  Polycletus,  whose  birthplace  Sicyon 
was  also  that  of  Lysippus. 

"With  decisive  differences  of  character,  Scopas,  Praxite- 
les, and  Lysippus,  had  common  tendencies.  In  the  style 
and  execution  of  their  works  it  would  be  unreasonable 
to  expect  the  continuance  of  that  broad,  massive,  severe 
classicism  which  marked  the  newly  emancipated  age  of 
Phidias ;  and  it  would  be  hopeless  to  look  for  a  preservation 
of  the  grand  and  simple  spirit  of  invention  and  arrange- 
ment, which  had  distinguished  that  master  individually 
from  other  sculptors  of  his  time.  The  members  of  the 
new  Sicyonic,  as  well  as  those  of  the  new  Attic  school,  in- 
spired art  ynth  a  greater  softness  of  design  as  well  as  of 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         163 

execution,  and,  departing  from  the  negative  indication  of 
general  forms,  they  for  the  first  time  introduced  indivi- 
dual character.  But  the  great  feature  of  their  vrorks 
may  he  said  to  have  been  beauty, — a  beauty  which,  bor- 
rowing its  outward  form  from  the  most  careful  study  of 
nature,  was  yet  the  representative  of  internal  loveliness 
and  repose  of  soul, — a  beauty  which,  while  it  wanted  the 
sublimity  of  the  oldest  races  of  the  gods,  still  breathed  the 
air  of  Olympus, — a  beauty  which  had  in  it  more  of  the 
expression  of  human  feeling  than  elder  art  had  allowed, 
but  was  too  loftily  ideal  to  exhibit  the  energy  of  passion. 

Scopas  may  without  hesitation  be  described  as  ap- 
proaching nearest  to  the  spirit  of  Phidias.  We  read  of  his 
works  as  embracing  subjects  from  the  legends  of  Venus 
and  Eros,  from  those  of  Bacchus  and  the  Maenads,  and  a 
magnificent  group  of  Neptune  with  other  sea-divinities 
and  Achilles,  which  afterwards  stood  in  the  Circus  Flami- 
nius  at  Rome.  We  do  not  possess  any  trace  of  these 
masterpieces,  unless  we  conclude  that,  as  is  more  than 
probable,  the  character  exhibited  by  some  of  the  later  re- 
presentations of  Bacchus  and  his  Maenad-nymphs  is 
founded  in  that  of  his  figures.  His  Apollo,  however,  in  the 
character  of  the  Lyre-player,  which  Augustus  set  up  in 
his  temple  of  Apollo  Actiacus  on  the  Palatine,  is  in  all 
likelihood  substantially  preserved  in  the  fine  statue  of  the 
Vatican,  in  a  long  flowing  dress,  almost  feminine.* 

The  temple  of  Apollo  Sosianus  in  Rome  possessed  a 
group  of  Niobe  and  her  Children,  which  the  ancients  pas- 
sionately admired,  doubting,  however,  whether  it  were 
the  work  of  Scopas  or  of  Praxiteles.t  On  the  assump- 
tion that  the  leading  figures  of  the  celebrated  family  of 

*  :\Jus.  Pio-Clem.  Sala  delle  Muse,  No.  17.  Found  with  the 
statues  of  the  Muses  (now  in  the  same  hall)  in  the  villa  of  Cassius 
at  Tivoli.  But  both  Ennio  Quirino  Visconti  and  his  father  suppose 
the  statue  a  copy  of  the  Apollo  which  was  erected  with  the  Muses 
of  Philiscus  in  the  Portico  of  Octavia,  and  was  the  production  of 
Timarchides,  an  artist  who  seems  to  have  flourished  a  short  time 
before  the  Roman  conquest.  II  Museo  Pio-Clementino,  torn.  i. 
p.  30,  tav.  16,  and  IMusee  Francais. 

t  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxvi.'cap.  4- 


1  64         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

Niobe,  which  was,  in  1588,  found  at  Rome  near  the  gate 
San  Giovanni,  and  is  now  in  the  Florentine  gallery, 
convey  to  us  the  character  of  the  classical  group  com- 
memorated by  Pliny,  modern  critics  are  inclined  to  at- 
tribute the  original  to  Scopas.  Of  these  sixteen  statues, 
six  at  least,  it  is  quite  manifest,  do  not  in  any  way 
belong  to  the  story ;  and  the  opinion  is  all  but  universal, 
that  even  those  which  are  really  parts  of  the  series  are 
only  copies  or  imitations  of  the  work  so  celebrated  in 
antiquity.  Among  the  figures  which  may  certainly  be  re- 
garded as  connected  with  it,  we  have  the  mother  clasping 
the  youngest  daughter  to  her  breast,  and  looking  up  to 
heaven  ;  a  dead  son  lying  on  the  ground  ;  a  son  who  has 
fallen  on  his  right  knee ;  an  older  son  in  flight  with  his 
mantle  wrapt  round  the  left  arm ;  a  wounded  daughter  ; 
a  young  boy  in  flight ;  another  older  son  in  the  attitude 
of  the  fleeing  youth  first  mentioned  ;  a  daughter  in 
flight ;  and  finally,  the  Paedagogus.  To  these,  on  the 
strength  of  Thorwaldsen's  opinion,  we  may  add  a  statue 
of  the  Florentine  gallery  usually  called  a  Narcissus,  a 
kneelmg  youth,  whose  left  hand  presses  a  wound  on  his 
back.*  The  figures  now  enumerated  are  of  very  unequal 
execution.  The  daughter  on  the  mother's  left,  and  the 
dead  son,  are  admirable,  being  indeed  only  second  to  the 
group  of  the  mother  and  the  youngest  daughter.  In 
this  sublime  composition,  the  heroic  grandeur  and  ener- 
getic life  of  the  elder  figure,  and  the  fixed  air  of  agony 
which  animates  the  beauty  of  its  countenance,  are  per- 
haps the  most  exquisite  things  which  Grecian  art  has 

*  See  Miiller,  Handbuch,  §  126  :  Thiersch,  Epochen,  p.  3b8, 
&c.  Of  several  figures  there  are  good  repetitions.  The  dead 
son  is  both  at  Dresden  and  Munich.  There  are  several  antique 
busts  of  the  mother,  one  of  which,  wonderfully  grand,  is  in  Lord 
Yarborough's  Collection  :  (Engraved  in  the  Dilettanti  Specimens, 
vol.  i.  plates  35,  36,  37).  The  fleeing  daughter  is  repeated  in  the 
Vatican  (IMuseo  Chiaramonti,  No.  174)  ;  and  the  son  fallen  on  his 
1-nee  is  in  the  Capitoline  IVIuseum  (Galleria,  No.  40).  A  fragment 
of  a  group  in  the  Vatican  (Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Galleria  delle  Statue, 
No.  40),  representing  a  female  figure  sunk  down  and  supported  by 
a  male,  has  also  been  supposed  a  Niobide  group.  The  Niobide 
statues  are  illustrated  by  the  well-designed  reliefs  of  a  sarcophagus 
in  the  Vatican  (Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Galleria  de'  Candelabri,  No.  36). 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         165 

bequeathed  us,  and  the  most  characteristic  production  of 
that  highest  age,  which  united  in  perfection  life  with 
repose,  the  intensity  of  feeling  with  the  purest  sense  of 
the  beautiful. 

Ancient  writers  mention  numerous  works  of  Praxite- 
les, chiefly,  like  those  of  Scopas,  in  marble  ;  and  they 
describe  several  of  them  with  a  minuteness  which  en- 
ables us  to  point  out  some  existing  antiques  as  being  at 
any  rate  coincident  with  his  inventions  in  subject.  A 
few  of  these  statues  are  at  once  so  beautiful  and  so  cha- 
racteristic, that  it  is  not  rash  to  go  a  step  farther,  and  pro- 
nounce them  to  belong  to  the  many  productions  which, 
in  some  cases  close  copies  and  in  others  imitations  of  the 
elder  masters,  were  brought  forward  to  gratify  the  luxury 
and  taste  of  the  later  Greek  period  or  the  earlier  times 
of  Imperial  Rome. 

The  most  celebrated  works  of  Praxiteles  belonged 
to  the  Dionysiac  mythology,  to  the  legends  of  Venus, 
or  to  those  of  Apollo.  In  all  of  them  he  delighted  to 
represent  a  tender  and  expressive  loveliness,  wliich  in 
the  Bacchic  scenes  partook  of  the  wild  enthusiasm  of 
the  mysteries,  while  his  Venus  and  his  Amor  finely 
united  with  their  human  beauty  the  dignity  of  godhead ; 
and  his  Apollo,  youthful  or  even  boyish,  was  still  the 
divinity  of  the  temple.  Of  all  these  classes  of  works, 
we  possess  in  the  galleries  of  Italy  at  least  hints  and 
recollections.  In  the  Dionysiac  figures,  besides  forming 
that  youthful  conception  of  the  character  of  Bacchus 
which  appears  in  all  subsequent  statues,  Praxiteles  is 
also  believed  to  have  invented  the  poetical  figure  of  the 
Satyr  or  Faun,  discarding  the  older  monstrous  shapes, 
and  retaining  little  of  the  animal  lineaments  except  the 
pleasingly  characteristic  features  and  the  air  of  wild 
playfulness.  His  Athenian  Satyr,  it  is  generally  ad- 
mitted, has  been  imitated  in  the  figure  of  the  boyish 
Satyr  with  the  Flute,  leaning  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree, 
which  occurs  in  several  repetitions  of  excellent  design.* 

*  In  the  Vatican,  Braccio  Nuovo,  No.  93 ;  found  at  Circeii. 
In  the  Capitoline  Museum,  Galleria,  No,  12, 


166         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

Of  the  Apollo  Slaying  the  Lizard  there  are  also  several 
imitations  possessing  much  natural  grace.*  In  the  Vati- 
can is  a  youthful  Cupid,  one  of  the  best  works  of  anti- 
quity, in  imperfect  preservation,  but  equally  admirable 
for  its  skill  of  execution  and  for  the  force  and  originality 
of  its  expression,  w^hich  is  that  of  a  tender,  pinmg,  al- 
most sorrowful,  beauty.  There  are  strong  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  this  fine  torso  is  an  imitation  of  a  Praxitelcan 
statue,  either  his  Eros  of  Parion  or  that  of  Thespioe.t 

But  by  far  the  most  famous  productions  of  this  master 
were  his  statues  of  Venus,  especially  the  undraped  one 
of  Cnidos.  This  celebrated  figure  is  minutely  described 
by  Lucian,  and  is  represented  on  the  coins  of  the  island ; 
and  it  is,  in  the  first  place,  quite  clear,  that  the  Venus 
de'  Medici  is  neither  this  work  nor  any  copy  of  it.  The 
coins  and  the  description  farther  allow  us  with  much 
probability  to  fix  on  two  existing  specimens  as  copies  or 
close  imitations  of  the  Cnidian  Venus ;  and  these  display 
such  unlikeness  of  character  to  the  Medicean,  as  to  aid 
the  certainty  of  the  conclusion  which  refers  to  a  later 
age  than  that  of  Praxiteles,  the  statue  in  which  "  the 
goddess  loves  in  stone."  Of  these  two  copies  one,  not 
of  first-rate  merit,  is  in  the  Vatican,  the  other  has  pass- 
ed from  the  Braschi  palace  in  Rome  to  the  Royal  Gallery 
of  Munich. ;|:  We  cannot,  however,  fairly  appreciate  the 
changes  of  character  which  the  Venus  underwent  in  the 
liands  of  the  statuaries,  unless  we  begin  with  the  speci- 
men lately  discovered  at  Melos.§  This  admirable  work 
is  conceived  and  executed  in  the  boldest  and  purest  style  of 
ancient  art ;  and  both  the  broadness  of  the  manner,  the 

*  In  the  Villa  Borghese  of  Rome  ;  a  bronze  in  the  Roman  Villa 
Albani :  in  the  Vatican  :  in  the  gallery  of  Florence;  and  elsewhere. 

t  Mus.  Pio-Clera.  Galleria  delle  Statue,  No.  2.  The  museum 
of  Naples  possesses  a  much  more  entire  duplicate  :  Statues,  No. 
312. 

J  Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Galleria  delle  Statue,  No.  38.  Glyptothek 
of  Munich,  No.  135  (Schorn's  Catalogue  of  1833).  The  Munich 
statue  is  slightly  given  in  the  twenty-second  plate  to  Flaxman's 
Lectures  on  Sculpture. 

§  Louvre,  No.  232  :  discovered  in  1820,  in  the  amphitheatre  of 
the  Greek  island  of  INIilo  (Melos)  :  heroic  size. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.    167 

fidelity  to  nature,  and  tlie  blended  loveliness  and  majesty 
of  the  figure,  make  it  far  the  nearest  in  character  to  the 
Phidian  age  of  all  the  Venus-statues  which  remain.  If 
we  pass  from  the  partially  draped  Venus  Victrix  of  Melos 
to  the  Cnidian  Venus  of  Munich,  we  shall  remark,  in  the 
complete  unclothing  of  the  figure  practised  here  by 
Praxiteles,  as  by  Scopas  on  another  occasion,  the  first 
steps  in  that  secularization  of  art  which  at  length  made 
it  the  handmaid  of  luxury  or  sensuality;  but  the  nudity 
in  this  case  is  excused  by  the  accessories,  and  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Cnidian  statue  is  even  liigher  and  purer  than 
that  of  the  Venus  de'  Medici.  Its  face  and  figure  are 
scarcely  less  beautiful  than  those  of  the  Florentine  statue, 
but  both  are  nobler,  and  the  head  more  ideal,  while  the 
attitude  has  more  of  female  dignity  and  less  of  female 
softness.  The  execution  is  exquisite  ;  and,  if  we  must 
hold  the  statue  of  the  Vatican  to  be  a  copy  at  second- 
hand, we  are  under  no  necessity  of  having  recourse  to 
this  supposition  in  regard  to  the  other. 

Lysippus,  who  had  the  sole  privilege  of  representing 
Alexander  the  Great  in  statuary,  as  Apelles  had  in 
painting,  andPyrgoteles  in  seal-engraving,  was  celebrated 
for  improvements  in  some  details  of  art,  for  his  careful 
study  of  nature,  and  for  his  introduction  of  a  light- 
ness and  slendemess  of  proportion,  which  gave  to  his 
figures  an  imposing  appearance  of  height.  His  works 
were  greatly  admired  at  Rome,  and  are  the  subjects  of 
several  anecdotes.  His  athlete-statue,  called  the  Apoxyo- 
menoSy  was  placed  by  Agrippa  at  the  gate  of  his  baths ; 
but  Tiberius  carried  it  ofi^"  to  the  palace,  on  which  the 
people  at  the  theatre  with  one  voice  called  for  its  restitu- 
tion, and  it  was  restored.  His  Alexander  as  a  child  was 
gilded  by  Nero,  and  destroyed  in  the  attempt  to  remove 
the  coating  of  metal.'"^  His  numerous  works,  the  sub- 
jects of  which  had  much  of  an  heroic  character,  were  cast 
in  bronze,  and  we  neither  possess  any  original  statue 
of  his,  nor  probably  the  immediate  imitation  of  any. 

•  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxiv.  cap.  19. 


168         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

His  portraits  of  Alexander,  however,  are  the  originals 
of  those  heads,  some  of  them  fine  ones,  which  preserve 
the  features  of  the  Macedonian  exalted  into  ideality  by 
an  admixture  of  the  Jove-like  hair  and  form.*  The 
statues  of  Hercules  by  Lysippus  enjoyed  great  celebrity ; 
and  one  of  them,  the  Colossus  of  Tarentum,  was  removed 
by  Fabius  Maximus  to  the  Capitol  of  Rome,  whence  it 
passed  to  Constantinople.  Earlier  artists,  some  of  whose 
works  remain,  had  partially  fixed  the  leading  character- 
istics of  the  Hercules  figure, — the  strong  proportions  of 
the  limbs,  and  the  lion- like  shape  of  the  head,  borrowed 
from  the  Jupiter.  But  under  Lysippus  the  forms 
assumed  both  a  Titanic  massiveness  of  parts  and  a  vigorous 
majesty  of  expression  unknown  before.  The  Farnese 
Hercules  of  the  Neapolitan  museum  cannot  be  consider- 
ed as  a  close  copy  from  him,  and  must  belong  to  a 
time  considerably  later  ;  but  the  character  of  the  hero, 
as  he  represented  it,  may  be  assumed  as  generally  imi- 
tated in  the  Farnese  statue,  and  the  expressive  grandeur 
of  the  head  is  given  with  yet  bolder  proportions,  in  a  colos- 
sal marble  bust  found  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Vesuvius.t 

II.  In  a  few  years  after  the  death  of  Alexander  we  lose 
all  traces  of  the  great  names  that  embellished  his  reign, 
and  enter  on  the  long  period  which  extends  from  about 
the  120th  Olympiad  to  the  taking  of  Corinth.  During 
the  greater  part  of  this  time  art  was  lavishly  patronised 
by  the  princes  among  whom  the  Macedonian  empire 
was  partitioned  ;  and  when  some  of  these  d^Tiasties  had 
decayed,  the  loss  was  far  more  than  compensated  by 
the  temporary  revival  of  freedom  under  the  Achaean 
League,  the  last  effort  of  Greek  independence. 

*  A  fine  colossal  bust  in  the  Capitol  (Room  of  the  Gladiator, 
No.  13),  engraved  by  Winckelmann  in  the  INIonumenti  Inediti, 
No.  175  :  a  statue  of  the  king  arming  himself,  formerly  in  the 
Rondanini  palace  in  Rome,  now  at  Munich  (Glyptothek,  No.  152)  : 
a  small  equestrian  statue  found  at  Pompeii,  m  the  museum  at 
Naples  (Gallery  of  Bronzes,  No.  83).  The  head  of  the  dying 
Alexander  in  the  Ducal  Gallery  at  Florence.  (  ?) 

t  British  Museum,  Room  ii.  No.  ID :  engraved  in  Combe's 
Marbles  of  the  British  Museum,  Part  i.  No.  11. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.    1 69 

In  sculpture  those  times  were  astonishingly  fruitful 
and  most  singularly  successful.  Without  anticipating 
the  dissent  which  will  hereafter  he  entered  to  a  theory 
representing  this  age  as  the  last  period  of  high  art,  a  few 
facts  regarding  it  are,  on  any  assumption,  quite  certain. 
There  is  sufficient  evidence  of  very  remarkable  varieties  in 
the  spirit  of  statuary  after  Alexander ;  but,  on  the  whole, 
it  was  characterized  in  its  best  works  by  a  tone  of  greater 
softness  and  refinement,  by  a  more  careful  study  of 
anatomy,  and  by  a  greater  energy  of  expression,  than 
the  schools  which  had  preceded  it.  The  subjects  were  in 
many  cases  original  inventions  ;  in  others  the  artist  was 
a  mere  copyist  of  statues,  groups,  or  reliefs,  already  cele- 
brated ;  and  in  many  other  instances  he  studied  some 
earlier  figure  of  excellence,  made  himself  master  of  its 
leading  character,  and  exercised  his  own  genius  in  exe- 
cuting a  work  on  the  same  su])ject,  which  should  retain 
something  of  the  older  model,  united  with  original  fea- 
tures, proportions,  or  expression. 

The  Venus  de'  Medici,  which  now  adorns  the  Floren- 
tine gallery,  and  once  graced  the  imperial  villa  of 
Hadrian  at  Tivoli,  is  an  example  of  this  last  kind.  Its 
author,  Cleomenes  of  Athens,  has  engraved  his  name  on 
the  pedestal,  and  it  may  be  inferred  that  his  age  fell 
within  a  century  and  a  half  of  the  time  of  Praxiteles, 
and  certainly  not  later  than  the  145th  Olympiad.'^ 
Between  the  reign  of  Alexander  and  the  entire  fall  of 
Greece  innumerable  figures  of  the  goddess  were  executed, 
for  temples,  for  other  public  places,  or  for  private  dwel- 
lings, and  forming  either  single  statues,  or  groups  with 
Eros,  Mars,  and  other  divinities.  An  immense  number  of 
such  works  have  been  found  both  in  Greece  and  Italy, 
very  many  of  them  below  criticism,  many  more  of  con- 
siderable merit,  and  a  few  of  very  high  excellence  indeed, 


*  Thiersch,  Epochen,  p.  288,  &c.  Miiller,  however  (Handbuch, 
§  160),  adopting  with  some  strictness  Pliny's  notion  of  a  decay  of 
art  about  01.  120,  followed  by  a  revival  just  before  the  Roman 
conquest,  places  the  Venus  a  little  later,  but  still  before  the  taking 
of  Corinth. 


170        ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

among  which,  by  universal  consent,  the  Medicean  Venus 
occupies  the  first  rank.  This  exquisite  statue  is  known 
to  every  one.  It  is  not  a  repetition  of  the  figure  which 
has  been  already  mentioned  as  identified  with  the  Cnidian 
masterpiece  of  Praxiteles.  Its  attitude  is  considerably 
different,  and  its  air  has  more  of  a  shrinking  timid  grace, 
which  corresponds  well  with  the  delicate  proportions 
of  the  figure.  The  lovely  countenance  has  smaller  and 
more  finely  cut  but  less  ideal  features,  and  the  style  and 
execution  display  a  high  finish  as  well  as  a  minute  obser- 
vation of  anatomical  particulars,  which  contrast  especially 
with  the  broader  manner  of  the  noble  statue  of  Milo. 
Of  the  numerous  antiques  which,  like  the  Venus  de'  Me- 
dici, represent  the  goddess  leaving  the  bath,  and  which 
partake  of  the  same  expression,  the  best  is  that  of  the 
Capitol,* — a  figure  less  ideal  and  less  delicately  youth- 
ful than  the  Florentine  one,  but  remarkable  for  its  close 
adherence  to  nature  in  form,  and  for  its  masterly  exe- 
cution, especially  in  the  imitation  of  the  flesh. 

In  the  Tribune  of  the  Florentine  gallery,  which  con- 
tains the  Venus,  is  a  beautiful  figure  of  a  boyish  Apollo, 
called  the  Apollino,  leaning  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree, 
and  crossing  his  right  arm  above  his  head.  This  statue, 
equally  admirable  for  its  beauty  of  form  and  for  its 
graceful  air  of  repose,  has  much  of  the  character  of  the 
Venus,  and  may  be  properly  compared  with  it  in  a 
review  of  the  age  to  which  that  work  is  referred. 

Other  qualities  of  art  at  this  time  are  illustrated  by 
the  statue,  commonly  though  wrongly,  called  the  Fight- 
ing Gladiator,  which,  like  the  other  chief  ornaments  of 
the  Borghese  gallery,  is  now  in  Paris.t  This  celebrated 
statue,  whose  artist,  Agasias  of  Ephesus,  has  inscribed  his 
name  on  the  trunk  which  supports  the  figure,  repre- 
sents a  soldier  on  foot,  who  defends  himself  against  an 


*  Capitoline  Museum,  Stanza  del  Gladiatore  Moribondo,  No.  9. 
Found  in  Rome,  in  a  house  beside  the  Suburra,  where  it  had  pro- 
bably been  placed  in  one  of  the  baths. 

•f*  Louvre,  JNo.  2(32  :  found  early  in  the  17th  century,  among  the 
ruins  of  the  imperial  palar.e  at  Anti^im. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         171 

assailant  placed  higher  than  he,  probably  a  horseman.  In 
point  of  expression,  it  forms  a  marked  contrast  to  the 
Discobolus  of  Myron,  already  cited ;  and  in  execution 
it  exhibits  an  equally  remarkable  departure  from  the 
broad  massive  manner  displayed  in  another  Discobolus. 
This  other  ••■  is  a  figure  in  repose,  upright,  and  holding  the 
discus  in  his  hand  ;  and,  clearly  belonging  to  an  early  but 
high  stage  of  art,  it  has  been  presumed  an  imitation  of 
a  celebrated  bronze  by  Naucydes  of  Argos,  who  was  a 
little  younger  than  Polycletus,  and  perhaps  his  scholar. 
This  Discobolus  of  Naucydes  is  excellent  for  its  propor- 
tions and  its  breadth  of  style. 

The  Borghese  Gladiator  is  most  minute  in  its  develop- 
ment of  muscles  and  other  details,  and  this  minuteness, 
admirably  true,  is  united  with  great  force  of  general  effect ; 
but  when  we  look  to  its  expression,  the  statue  of  Myron, 
which  was  peculiarly  admired  for  its  character  of  life, 
seems  coldness  itself  beside  the  newer  work.  The  mo- 
ment selected  is  the  very  crisis  of  the  fight ;  the  figure 
of  the  warrior  is  thrown  violently  forward,  and  turns  to 
the  left,  while  his  face  looks  upward  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion ;  the  shield  is  held  up,  and  the  right  arm  drawn 
back  for  a  thrust.  Every  thing  denotes  a  strained  and 
desperate  exertion  ;  the  veins  are  swollen,  the  muscles  in 
severe  tension,  and  remarkably  developed  ;  and  the  coun- 
tenance, in  its  fixed  eyes  and  parted  lips,  is  full  of  eager 
and  breathless  watchfulness. 

In  leaving  this  age  of  Grecian  sculpture,  it  is  sufficient, 
besides  referring  to  the  Farnese  Hercules,  which  pro- 
bably belongs  to  it,  to  mention  two  other  specimens. 
The  portrait-statue  which  has  been  improperly  named 
Grermanicus,  the  production  of  a  Cleomenes,  the  son  of 
another  Cleomenes  (perhaps  the  artist  of  the  Venus), 
is  a  work  of  excellent  proportions  and  execution,  but 
little  ideality  and  less  expression  ;  and  the  so-called  Cin- 
cinnatus  or  Jason,  a  bending  figure  of  a  man  tying  his 


•In  the  Vatican,   Mus.  Pio-Clem.   Sala  della  Biga,   No.  8: 
found  by  Gavin  Hamilton  on  the  Appian  Way. 


172         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

sandal,  has  proportions  which  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
statue  is  a  portrait,  while  the  air  and  attitude  have 
induced  antiquaries  rather  to  refer  it  to  some  ancient 
heroic  fable.* 

We  have  now  traced  the  fine  arts  of  Greece  down  to 
the  point  at  which  they  merge  in  those  of  Rome,  and 
before  proceeding  farther,  we  must  look  back  on  their 
progress  in  the  Latin  city  and  her  nearest  Italian  pro- 
vinces, down  to  the  same  epoch ;  remarking,  meanwhile, 
that  the  Greek  colonies  both  in  Sicily  and  in  Magna 
Grsecia,  which  the  Romans  subdued  before  they  carried 
their  arms  beyond  the  Adriatic,  had  recently  begun  to 
sink  in  art  as  well  as  in  commerce  and  political  strength. 

ART  IN  ETRURIA  AND  ROME  BEFORE  THE  ROMAN  CONQUEST  OF 

GREECE. 

PERIOD  ENDING   B.  C.   146  ;  —  OR  A.  U.  608. 

Till  the  Romans  came  into  immediate  contact  with  the 
Greeks,  first  in  Lower  Italy,  and  then  in  the  mother- 
country,  they  derived  their  art,  in  all  its  branches,  al- 
most entirely  from  the  Etruscans.  The  history  of  archi- 
tecture, painting,  and  sculpture,  among  this  people,  which 
was  long  a  riddle  unsolved  in  all  its  parts,  has  lately  been 
studied  in  a  more  intelligent  spirit,  and  with  the  aid  of 
more  insti-uctive  monuments.  The  conclusions  which 
have  been  reached  by  the  antiquaries  of  the  present  age, 
are  on  many  points  yet  involved  in  the  old  doubts  and 
contradictions  ;  while  several  of  the  most  important  sub- 
jects of  inquiry  are  not  only  deficient  in  general  interest, 
but  would  demand  a  very  minute  investigation,  if  they 

*  The  Germanicus(  Louvre,  No.  712),  is  supposed  by  Clarae  to  re- 
present Marias  Gratidianus  (Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxiii.  cap.  9;  lib. 
xxxiv.  cap.  6)  ;  and  by  Thiersch  to  represent  Flamininus,  the  con- 
queror of  Greece.  In  either  view,  the  statue  forms,  so  to  speak, 
the  link  between  the  Greek  ;md  the  Greco-Roman  sculpture. — The 
Jason  is  in  the  Louvre,  No.  710.  It  derives  this  name  from  Winckel- 
mann  (lib.  vi.  cap.  6),  and  has  smgularly  heavy  limbs,  with  a  small 
head  (perhaps  not  the  original),  and  an  energetic  but  undefined 
expression.  Both  statues  came  from  the  Villa  Montalto  or  Negroni 
in  Rome,  where  they  stood  in  the  gardens  of  Sextus  the  Fifth. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         J  73 

were  to  be  discussed  at  all.  A  few  facts,  however,  denied, 
unknown,  or  very  imperfectly  apprehended,  even  by  such 
writers  as  Winckelniann  and  Lanzi,  may  noAv  be  con- 
sidered as  quite  ascertained.  In  particular,  the  theory 
which  claimed  high  originality  for  the  Etruscans,  deny- 
ing or  extenuating  their  obligations  to  the  Greeks,  is 
completely  overthrown ;  and  in  painting  and  statuary  the 
defeat  is  signal.  There  are,  indeed,  many  traces  and  some 
undoubted  monuments  of  an  early  species  of  art  peculiar 
to  their  province  ;  but  this  indigenous  style  disappears 
before  it  has  emerged  from  rudeness ;  and  in  every  stage, 
which  claims  any  regard  on  its  own  merits,  art  in 
Etruria  is  to  be  held  strictly  as  a  branch  of  Grecian  art, 
and  was  perhaps  exclusively  practised  by  artists  of  that 
country.  It  was  in  this  Greco -Etrurian  school  that  the 
Romans  learned  the  few  lessons  which  they  condescended 
to  receive  ;  but,  after  the  conquest,  art  was  for  a  time 
stationary,  and  then  retrograde,  except  perhaps  in  archi- 
tecture ;  and  even  this  pursuit  made  few  advances  till  the 
conquerors  revived  it  in  a  new  form,  along  with  sculp- 
ture and  painting. 

The  most  ancient  and  remarkable  of  the  architectural 
works  of  the  Etruscans,  the  fortifications  of  their  towns 
and  citadels,  will  invite  our  notice  again  amidst  some  of 
their  magnificent  ruins,  where  they  exhibit  a  character 
which  it  is  generally  very  difficult  to  discriminate  from 
that  of  the  Pelasgic  walls.  But,  passing  from  this  obscure 
question,  our  attention  is  next  drawn,  though  only  in 
ancient  description,  and  without  existing  monuments,  to 
a  style  of  sacred  architecture  which  the  people  of  Etniria 
taught  to  the  Romans,  and  which  they  themselves  had 
undeniably  learned  from  Greece.  The  Tuscan  or  Etrus- 
can order  is  in  principle  identical  with  the  Doric  ;  and, 
indeed,  according  to  the  most  probable  theory  of  its 
origm,  it  is  nothing  else  than  the  oldest  form  of  the 
latter,  received  by  the  Italian  tribe  from  its  inventors 
before  its  rules  were  fuUy  developed.*     The  Etruscans 


•  Stieglitz,  part  i.  section  4.  vol.  i.  pp.  140,  150. 


174         ART  IX  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

gave  lighter  proportions  to  the  columns,  placed  them  on 
bases,  made  them  support  a  less  heavy  entablature,  dis- 
posed them  at  wider  intervals,  and  altered  the  forms  of 
some  of  the  component  parts  both  of  these  members  and 
of  those  which  they  sustained ;  and  the  temples,  to  which 
the  colonnades  thus  composed  communicated  their  cha- 
racter, received  also  modifications  in  the  ground-plan  as 
well  as  in  the  internal  aiTangements,  to  suit  the  purposes 
of  the  national  ritual.  This  style  was  the  earliest  in  the 
Roman  places  of  worship  ;  the  CapitoUne  temple  of  the 
Tarquins  was  a  specimen  of  it ;  and  that  of  Ceres,  near  the 
Circus  Maximus,  dedicated  in  the  year  of  the  city  261, 
was  taken  by  Vitruvius  as  the  model  of  the  order. 

The  sepulchral  architecture  of  the  Etniscans  pre- 
served, even  after  they  had  ceased  to  exist  as  a  nation, 
much  more  of  original  character.  The  most  remarkable 
of  its  remains,  wliich  are  chiefly  subterranean,  may  be 
easily  reduced  to  a  few  classes.  Most  of  those,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  Necropolis  of  Vulci,  on  Lucien  Bonaparte's 
estate  called  Canino,  are  chambers  or  suites  of  chambers, 
excavated  in  the  soft  rock,  entered  by  descending  gal- 
leries or  staircases,  and  without  any  erection  rising  above 
the  ground.  Others,  like  those  of  Tarquinii,  near  Cor- 
neto,  are  in  the  interior  similar  to  the  tombs  of  Vulci,  but 
are  covered  by  larger  or  smaller  mounds  of  earth.  We 
have  an  example  of  a  third  class  in  that  huge  sepulchre 
or  collection  of  sepulchres  at  Vulci,  which  the  peasants 
call  the  Cocumella  ;  being  a  cluster  of  excavated  cham- 
bei*s,  over  which  is  piled  one  immense  tumulus,  more  than 
200  feet  in  diameter,  and  composed  externally  of  heaped 
soil,  but  having  internally  considerable  masses  of  stone- 
work. A  fourth  kind  are  hevm  in  the  perpendicu- 
lar sides  of  cliffs,  like  those  in  the  forest  of  Bomarzo,  and 
have  either  plain  entrances  or  ornamental  facades,  some 
of  which  form  complete  Doric  fronts,  with  volutes  and 
other  decorations  foreign  to  the  order.*     In  the  few 

•  See  Miiller,  Handbuch,  sect.  170;  and  consult  Micali's  work 
and  its  plates. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         175 

which  were  raised  above  ground,  and  composed  entirely 
of  masonry,  the  favourite  form  seems  to  have  been  that 
of  a  conical  tower,  which  in  some  cases  contained  the 
sepulchral  chambers ;  while  in  others,  as  in  the  struc- 
ture called  the  Tomb  of  the  Horatii  at  Albano,  it  was  only 
an  embellishment,  and  rose  from  a  quadrilateral  build- 
ing, in  which  the  body  was  laid. 

From  those  ancient  burial- cities  we  derive  most  of 
the  knowledge  we  possess  as  to  the  other  arts  of  Etruria. 
A  few  painted  walls  had  been  early  discovered  and  de- 
scribed, and  sepulchral  urns,  with  some  other  kinds  of 
monuments,  have  long  been  accessible  in  different  mu- 
seums ;  but  the  discoveries  of  the  last  few  years  have 
been  beyond  all  comparison  rich,  and  on  one  estate  (that  of 
Canino),  as  many  vases  have  been  dug  up  in  one  year 
as  had  been  placed  in  all  the  cabinets  of  Italy  during  the 
preceding  century.*  The  Necropolis  of  Vulci  has  as  yet 
been  by  far  the  most  fertile  in  antiques,  some  of  which 
have  been  carried  to  Berlm,  while  several  thousand  vases, 
besides  similar  monuments,  are  still  possessed  by  the 
owner  of  the  lands,  and  a  few  have  been  found  by  other 
proprietors.  Tarquinii  has  furnished  comparatively  a 
small  proportion,  its  sepulchres  having  been  apparently 
ransacked.  Agylla  or  Caere,  now  the  picturesque  and 
dirty  little  town  of  Cervetri,  has  not  been  examined  with 
so  much  attention  as  its  ancient  fame  deserves ;  but  a  good 
many  painted  vases,  and  other  utensils  of  terra-cotta,with 
some  very  richly  ornamented  tombs,  have  been  discover- 
ed in  its  Necropolis.     At  Chiusi,  the  ancient  Clusium, 

*  The  discoveries  in  Etruria  are  most  fully  detailed  in  the  Annali 
and  Bullettino  of  the  Instituto  di  Corrispondenza  Archeologica, 
a  society  established  at  Rome  in  1829,  under  the  direction  of  Ger- 
mans. The  most  minute  and  valuable  account  which  has  yet  ap- 
peared in  English,  is  contained  in  a  paper  by  Mr  Millingen,  already 
cited,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  vol, 
ii.;  1834,  Mr  Millingen's  interesting  communication  brings  its 
narrative  no  farther  down  than  1829;  and  for  more  recent  dis- 
coveries, none  of  which,  however,  possess  the  importance  of  the 
early  ones,  reference  must  be  had  to  the  transactions  first  above 
named.  Consult  also  Sir  William  G ell's  Topography  of  Rome  and 
its  Vicinity,  vol.  i,  article  "  Etruria-" 


J  76         ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY  BEFORE  THE 

Porsena's  city,  many  similar  remains  of  early  art  have 
been  excavated. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Clusian  vases,  almost  every 
painting  which  has  been  lately  discovered,  whether  on 
such  vessels  or  on  the  walls  of  tombs,  is  decidedly  Grecian. 
The  subjects,  embracing  mythology,  religion,  and  funeral- 
ceremonies,  symbolical  groups,  and  scenes  from  ordinary 
life,  have  evidently  the  same  origin  ;  the  vases  resemble, 
in  every  essential  particular,  those  of  Sicily  and  Magna 
Graecia,  to  the  best  of  which  many  of  them  are  quite 
equal  both  in  design  and  in  execution  ;  and  the  names  of 
potters  and  painters,  which,  by  a  peculiarity  not  previ- 
ously detected,  are  inscribed  on  most  of  the  Vulcian  vases, 
are  without  exception  Greek,  many  of  them  Attic,  and 
all  written  in  Greek  characters.  If  there  could  be  a  doubt 
as  to  the  origin  of  the  Etruscan  vases,  it  would  be  re- 
moved by  a  comparison  with  those  of  Chiusi,  most  of 
which,  both  designed  and  executed  in  an  inferior  style, 
are  quite  different  from  the  Vulcian,  and  even  the  clay 
of  which  they  are  formed  is  coarser ;  while  besides 
this,  some  specimens  found  in  Vulci  and  elsewhere,  and 
exactly  resembling  the  Clusian  ones,  have  Etruscan 
inscriptions,  though  the  Clusian  have  none.*  The  vases, 
which  we  thus  recognise  as  Grecian,  exhibit  specimens 
of  art  in  all  its  stages,  from  the  rudest  of  the  archaic  or 
hieratic  paintings  to  the  finest  design  and  finish  of  the 
Macedonian  times,  or,  at  latest,  to  the  age  immediately 
preceding  the  Roman  conquest.  The  only  material 
question  regarding  these  monuments  which  can  be  con- 
sidered as  still  unsettled  is,  whether  they  were  moulded 
and  painted  in  Etruria,  or  merely  imported  from  abroad 
as  articles  of  commerce. 

The  light  which  these  interesting  discoveries  throw  on 
the  painting  of  the  Etruscans,  is  reflected  on  their  sculp- 
ture and  its  kindred  processes  ;  and  hence  the  similarity 
to  the  Greek  style,  both  in  their  bronzes  and  their  terra- 


•  The  Clusian  vases  are  chiefly  in  the  Grand  Duke's  gallery  at 
Florence. 


CONQUEST  OF  GREECE  BY  THE  ROMANS.         J77 

cottas,  is  at  once  explained.  But  here,  as  in  architecture, 
the  immediate  application  of  art  to  religious  uses  pre- 
serves a  greater  independence  both  in  the  subjects  and 
in  their  treatment ;  and  the  energy  and  harsh  pro- 
portions, sometimes  reacliing  the  height  of  caricature, 
which  are  not  infrequent  in  the  sepulchral  paintings, 
are  much  oftener  to  be  traced  in  the  bronze  and  terra- 
cotta figures.  As  examples,  it  may  be  enough  to  cite 
the  Chimaera  of  Arezzo  and  the  Aruspex  or  Orator, 
both  bronzes,*  and  the  renowned  She- wolf  suckling  Ro- 
mulus and  Remus,  a  bronze  of  the  Capitol,  a  work  whose 
stiff  accuracy  and  strong  expression  make  it  an  excellent 
specimen  of  the  time  when  the  Etruscans  were  most 
successful  in  art ;  because,  if  it  is  not  the  group  which 
was  struck  by  lightning  at  Caesar's  death,  it  is  probably 
that  which  was  dedicated  in  the  year  of  the  city  458, 
and  stood  beside  the  Ruminal  fig-tree.t  Of  the  Etrus- 
can skill  in  chasing,  we  have  farther  examples  in  num8< 
rous  candelabra,  paterae  (mystic  mirrors?),  and  other 
utensils  of  the  temples  and  sepulchres.  Terra-cotta  was 
the  favourite  material,  for  in  the  best  da^^s  of  the  nation 
sculpture  in  stone  was  little  practised,  and  the  few 
specimens  of  it  which  exist  belong  almost  without  ex- 
ception to  the  period  when  art  began  to  decline  among 
them. 

This  decline  soon  followed  the  conquest  of  the  pro- 
vince by  the  Romans,  and  there  is  sufficient  evidence  to 
show  that  it  was  attended  by  a  corresponding  depression 
among  the  conquerors.  It  has  been  always  known, 
that,  down  to  their  connexion  with  Greece,  the  works  of 
art  in  all  its  branches  which  existed  in  Rome  proceed- 
ed from  the  hands  of  Etruscans.  But  we  may  now 
think  more  highly  than  we  could  have  done  before  the 
recent  discoveries,  of  the  buildings  and  statues  which 
were  so  executed  from  the  reign  of  Tarquin  to  the  final 
conquest  of  Etruria  ;  whilst  we  must  also  believe,  that 

•  In  the  Gabinetto  dei  Bronzi  Antichi  of  the  Ducal  Gallery  of 
Florence, 
-f-  Dionys,  Halic.  lib.  i.  cap.  79.— Liv.  lib.  x.  cap.  "^S. 
VOL.  I.  L 


]  78  ART  IN  ITALY  AND  SICILY,  &c. 

after  the  latter  event,  the  Romans,  like  their  new  sub- 
jects, relapsed  into  a  comparative  rudeness,  which,  for 
centuries,  was  interrupted  by  no  improvement  that 
deserves  notice.  The  victorious  people  condescended  to 
borrow  from  the  conquered  their  sacred  architecture, 
their  roads  and  bridges ;  but  in  all  beyond  this  they 
refused  instruction.  In  the  court  of  the  early  Roman's 
house,  his  ancestors  were  represented  by  rude  waxen 
images,  and  the  gods  in  the  temples  had  figures  of 
terra-cotta.  The  waxen  portraits  were  in  time  trans- 
ferred to  sliields,  and  at  last  a  few  bronze  statues  of 
popular  statesmen  appeared  in  the  forum.*  When,  after 
the  Samnite  wars,  Rome  extended  her  conquests  into 
Magna  Grsecia,  the  stem  spirit  of  the  nation  was  softened 
by  degrees;  and  the  spoils  of  the  enemy,  always  in  part 
devoted  to  the  temples,  were  applied  to  the  erection  of 
sacred  statues,  which  none  but  the  artists  from  the  sub- 
dued towns  were  found  capable  of  executing  worthily. 
So  early  as  the  year  459  of  their  era,  a  colossal  statue  of 
Jupiter  stood  on  the  Capitol ;  and  the  taste  for  art  spread 
with  rapidity,  till  it  was  permanently  rooted  by  the  con- 
quest of  Sicily,  and  raised  to  a  passion  by  the  wars  in 
Greece  and  Asia. 


*  The  earliest,  the  statue  of  Hermodorus,  about  a.u.  304.  The 
other  instances,  down  to  a.  u.  448,  are  collected  by  Hirt,  Geschichte 
der  bildenden  Kiinste  bei  den  Alien;  Berhn,  1833,  pp.  271,  272. 


ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE,  Ac.  179 


CHAPTER  V. 

Ai't  in  Italy  from  the  Conquest  of  Greece  till  the 
Accession  of  Constantine. 

A.  D.  608—1059  :  or  b.  c.  146— a.  d.  306. 

The  Fate  of  Grecian  Art  under  the  Romans.  Roman  Akchi- 
TECXURE — Gradual  Innovations  on  the  Greek  Style — Eminent 
Architects — Illustrations  from  Existing  Ruins  in  Rome — Tombs 
— Domestic  Architecture — Its  Rules  Illustrated — A  Heathen 
Dwelling-house  and  Christian  Monastery.  Roman  Paint- 
IKG — Vases  and  Wall-paintings — Herculaneum  and  Pompeii — 
Frescoes— Mosaics.  Roman  Sculpture — lis  History  till  the 
Times  of  the  Antonines  :  (a.  u.  608—933,  or  b,  c.  146 — a.u. 
ISO): — The  Stages  of  its  Progress— Illustrative  Specimens — The 
Apollo  Belvedere — The  Laocoon — The  Antinous-statues — The 
Torso  Belvedere— The  Pallas-statues— The  Diana— T/^e  Sxib- 
jects  of  Sculpture  during  the  same  Period — Selection  of  Ciassified 
Specimens — Roman  and  Greek  Portraits — INIythological  Subjects 
— The  Twelve  Gods — Venus-statues — Apollo-groups — The  Bac- 
chic Legends — TheAriadne — The  Dancing  Faun — The  Barberini 
Faun— The  Fable  of  Eros — The  Borghese  Centaur — The  Heroic 
Legends — The  Meleager — The  Farnese  Bull — The  Portland 
and  Medicean  Vases— The  Iliac  Table — Menelaus  as  Pasquin — 
Doubtful  Subjects — The  Psetus  and  Arria — The  Papirius — The 
Dying  Gladiator — The  Imitative  Styles — The  Archaic — The 
Egyptian — Sculpture  after  the  Antonines  :  (a.  u.  933 — 1059,  or 
a.  D.  180 — 306): — Its  Monuments — Chiefly  Reliefs  on  Sarcophagi 
— Symbols — Love  and  Psyche  —  Ariadne  —  Endymion  —  The 
Genius  of  Mortality  —  Orientalism.  The  Topography  of 
Ancient  Art  in  Italy  and  Sicily — Architecture — Painting 
and  Sculpture. 

The  capture  of  Corinth  presents  tlie  first  remarkable 
instance  of  the  Roman  system  of  universal  plunder. 


180   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

Statues  and  pictures  were  removed  from  Greece  in  thou- 
sands ;  and  when  the  subjugation  of  that  country  and 
its  colonies  was  confirmed,  the  artists  were  employed  to 
work  for  their  new  masters,  while  the  treasures  of  art 
already  accumulated  seem  to  have  been  still  unexhausted 
by  all  the  robberies  of  consuls  and  emperors.  Archi- 
tecture was  prosecuted  with  equal  zeal,  but  not  quite  so 
exclusively  by  Greeks. 

In  the  best  times  of  the  empire  Italy,  but  more  par- 
ticularly Rome  and  some  favourite  spots  in  its  neigh- 
bourhood, presented  a  scene  of  such  magnificence  as  no 
other  age  or  region  has  ever  paralleled.  Within  and 
around  piles  of  building,  whose  massive  grandeur  seemed 
the  product  of  more  than  human  skill,  there  were  throng- 
ed, besides  many  inferior  ornaments,  statues  and  paint- 
ings which  peopled  the  imperial  city  with  the  legends  of 
those  antique  times,  whose  poetry  was  religion.  Of  this 
unequalled  pomp  the  whole  peninsula  even  at  this  day 
abounds  with  fragments. 

But  it  is  not  easy  to  trace,  step  by  step,  the  history  of 
Roman  art  after  the  lessons  received  from  the  Greeks. 
One  or  two  important  facts,  however,  are  quite  fixed ; 
and,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  certain  that  it  can,  in  none  of 
its  branches,  be  traced  in  any  degree  of  excellence  farther 
down  than  the  time  of  the  Antonines.  If  we  assume 
the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius  as  the  last  age  in  which  it 
emulated  in  any  degree  its  ancient  glory,  the  duration  of 
high  art  among  the  Romans,  commencing  with  the  siege 
of  Corinth,  will  extend  to  three  centuries  and  a  quarter. 
During  the  whole  of  this  period,  we  may  consider  their 
architecture,  though  subjected  to  many  changes  of  taste, 
as  quite  worthy  of  a  great  nation.  Painting  we  must 
admit  to  have  decayed,  almost  from  the  commencement 
of  the  period,  and  never  to  have  regained  eminence.  The 
history  of  sculpture  is  not  so  well  ascertained.  It  has 
been  asserted  b}^  some,  that  its  fate  was  exactly  similar 
to  that  of  painting  ;  an  opinion  originating  with  Winckel- 
mann,  who  has  the  distinguished  merit  of  having  first 
systematized  the  antiquities  of  classical  art.    But  a  philo- 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTIXE.  181 

sopliical  discoverer  is  often  like  one  who  carries  the  lamp 
in  exploring  a  mine,  and  who,  from  his  position,  is  unable 
to  see  objects  which  the  light  he  holds  up  makes  plain  to 
others.  Perhaps  no  antiquary  of  the  present  day  asserts, 
to  its  full  extent,  the  doctrine  of  the  great  archaeologist ; 
and  m  our  own  country,  the  weight  of  authority  de- 
cidedly inclines  to  that  opinion  which  ascribes  to  the 
Roman  age  of  sculpture  a  farther  development  of  the  art, 
and  considers  many  masterpieces  as  works  of  that  time.* 


*  Winekelmann,  in  his  great  work,  the  Storia  delle  Arti  del 
Disegno  presso  gli  Antichi,  refers  (besides  antiques  whose  dates  are 
admitted)  the  so-called  Dying  Gladiator  to  the  interval  between 
Phidias  and  Alexander  the  Great,  and  the  Laocoon  to  the  age  of 
Alexander.  To  the  period  between  that  king's  reign  and  the  taking 
of  Corinth,  he  gives  the  Farnese  Bull,  the  Torso  of  the  Belvedere, 
and,  with  a  little  hesitation,  the  Belvedere  Apollo.  But  his  hypo- 
thesis goes  farther  in  its  consequences  ;  for,  founding  chiefly  on  the 
Grecian  subjects  and  style,  which  he  was  the  first  to  recognise  in 
the  ancient  sculptures  of  Italy,  he  virtually  refuses  to  assign  to  the 
Roman  times  any  work  belonging  to  a  high  class  of  art  In  Ger- 
many, his  system  is  still  substantially  held  by  Meyer,  Hirt,  and 
Miiller.  The  opposite  theory,  which  was  first  propounded  in  that 
country  by  Thiersch,  has  been,  with  some  modifications,  adopted  and 
illustrated  by  Gerhard,  and  is  vehemently  combated.  But  Thiersch's 
theory,  however  excellently  stated,  is  less  original  than  it  appears  ; 
and  to  students  of  art  among  ourselves  it  probably  will  not  seem  at 
all  startling.  It  is  true  that  no  English  writer  has  both  stated  the 
elements  of  such  a  doctrine,  and  applied  them  to  a  classification  of 
ancient  monuments  ;  but  in  criticisms  on  particular  works  of  art, 
almost  all  our  good  connoisseurs  have  been  inclined  to  bring  the 
dates  very  far  down  indeed;  and  the  aesthetical  principles  w^hich  have 
been  lately  inculcated  in  England,  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  having 
anticipated,  or  perhaps  suggested,  Thiersch's  view.  If  we  adopt 
from  Fuseli  (Tenth  Lecture  on  Painting,  Works  by  Knowles, 
vol.  ii.  p.  381-386),  the  chronological  classification  of  works" of 
art  into  three  styles,  the  Essential,  the  Characteristic,  the  Ideal, 
we  shall  find  it  impossible  to  believe  that  the  last  step  was  reached 
till  Ibngafter  the  conquest  of  Greece ;  and  indeed,  from  the  examples 
which  that  author  gives,  he  seems  himself  to  have  fully  admitted 
this  consequence.  Flaxman,  again,  without  laying  down  any  broad 
principle,  is  quite  unequivocal  in  his  critical  opinion  and  his  in- 
stances. "  After  this  time,  however,"  the  close  of  Pliny's  list  of 
artists,  "the  Laocoon,  and  some  of  the  finest  groups  and  statues, 
seem  to  have  been  executed.  Nor  can  we  believe,  from  the  ad- 
mirable busts  and  statues  of  the  imperial  famihes,  that  sculpture 
began  to  lose  its  graces  till  the  reign  of  the  Antoniuei." — (Flax- 
raan's  Lectures   on  Sculpture,   18.29,   Lecture  III.)     "  Grecian 


182   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

ROMAN  ARCHITECTURE. 

The  Romans  had  already  adopted  the  general  forms  of 
the  Greek  architecture  ;  and  it  is  tolerably  clear  that 
they  exerted  little  originality  of  invention  till  the  times 
of  the  Caesars.  But  Augustus  had  scarcely  ascended  the 
throne,  Avhen  the  first  steps  were  taken  in  the  formation 
of  that  mixed  style  wliich  characterized  the  most  remark- 
able fabrics  in  Rome.  The  rules  of  the  Grecian  archi- 
tects were  still  recognised  as  the  canon  of  taste  ;  and  in 
sacred  buildings  they  were  not  for  some  time  violated 
unless  in  particulars  of  internal  aiTangement,  which 
appear  to  have  depended  on  the  ritual  of  the  temple- 
services,  and  to  have  become  fixed  before  the  imported 
system  was  fully  understood.  These  changes  chiefly 
affected  structures  of  the  Tuscan  order  ;  but  in  no  long 
time,  the  three  foreign  orders,  the  Doric,  Ionic,  and 
Corinthian,  all  but  superseded  the  other  style,  and  were 
used  from  or  before  the  time  of  Augustus,  according 
to  precepts  drawn  from  the  edifices  and  writings  of  the 
Greeks.  The  Roman  or  Composite,  which  appears 
for  the  first  time  in  the  Arch  of  Titus,  is  a  mixture,  in 
the  capital  and  some  other  members,  of  the  Ionic  with 
the  Corinthian,  united  with  even  lighter  proportions 
than  those  of  the  latter.  It  does  not  seem,  and  certainly 
does  not  deserve,  to  have  been  ever  cultivated  so  far  as  to 
form  the  groundwork  of  a  new  architectural  school. 

The  characteristic  style  of  the  Romans  was  fashioned 
on  different  principles.  It  was  used  in  those  unconse- 
crated  buildings  in  which  religious  precedents  had  no 
force,  and  vastness  of  dimensions  was  the  primary  re- 
quisite. For  the  people,  whom  the  emperors  feared 
and  wished  to  please,  and  in  a  less  degree  for  the  adorn- 


genius  continued  its  admirable  productions  under  the  Roman  em- 
perors. The  fine  groups  of  INIenelaus  and  Patroclus,  Haemon  and 
Antigone,  Paetus  and  Arria,  Orestes  and  Electra,  the  Toro  Far- 
nese,  and  the  Laocoon,  were  executed  between  the  latest  years 
of  the  Roman  republic  and  the  times  of  the  last  Caesars."— (Flax - 
man,  Lecture  VII,  j 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  183 

ment  of  the  city,  were  designed  the  batlis,  theatres, 
amphitheatres,  circuses,  and  some  other  fabrics  more 
practically  useful.  The  amphitheatres,  and  similar 
edifices,  demanded  an  extent  both  of  ground-plan  and 
elevation,  which  the  structures  of  the  Greeks  had  never 
reached,  and  their  architecture  was  ill  calculated  to 
admit.  The  kej'^cd  arch  was  introduced  for  strength  ; 
and  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Roman  style 
was  the  union  of  the  arch  with  the  Grecian  orders. 
This  combination  has  been  censured  as  a  deviation  from 
purity  of  taste  ;  but  it  seems  to  have  ti-uly  originated  in 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  demands  made  on  the  art ; 
and  for  a  time  the  arch  was  not  allowed  to  become  a 
prominent  part  of  the  edifice,  being  used  only  in  the 
internal  construction,  while  in  the  external  fronts  ap- 
peared the  Grecian  columns  and  entablature. 

Of  the  architects  who  effected  these  changes,  we  know 
next  to  nothing.  Some  of  them  appear  to  have  been 
Italians  of  the  native  races  ;  such  as  the  celebrated  Vi- 
truvius,  born  at  Formise  ;  Cocceius  Auctus,  who  by  the 
command  of  Agrippa  excavated  the  hill  of  Pausilypus, 
near  Naples ;  Celer  and  Severus,  the  architects  of 
Nero's  Golden  House  ;  and  Rabirius,  who  built  Domi- 
tian's  Palatine  Palace.  Apollodorus,  who  erected  the 
grand  Forum  of  Trajan,  and  was  executed  by  Hadrian 
for  criticising  the  temple  of  Venus  and  Rome,  was  a 
Syrian,  born  at  Damascus.  To  Detrianus  are  attributed 
Hadrian's  Tomb  and  the  Bridge  in  front  of  it. 

In  Rome  itself  we  may  trace  most  of  the  changes  in 
the  national  style.  We  see  the  pure  Greek,  probably 
belonging  to  the  last  days  of  the  republic,  in  the  church 
of  Santa  Maria  Egiziaca  ;  and  in  the  Pantheon  we  have  a 
splendid  example  of  the  richest  form  of  that  school,  or 
rather  of  a  form  in  which  the  multiplicity  and  variety 
of  parts  overstep  the  limits  of  Grecian  art,  but  where 
the  principle  of  the  orders  is  not  infringed  except  in 
the  arches  of  the  internal  recesses.  In  the  Theatres  and 
Amphitheatres  the  elements  of  the  new  architecture 
are  fully  developed.      Sometimes  choosing  plains  for 


184  ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

the  sites,  in  opposition  to  the  rule  followed  by  their 
teachers,  the  Romans  had  to  rear  stupendous  masses  of 
masonry  in  order  to  gain  the  huge  dimensions  required. 
Here  the  arch  was  in  its  proper  place,  and  vaults  rose 
above  vaults  in  magnificent  galleries,  forming  the  body 
of  the  fabric,  wliich  was  masked  outside  by  Grecian 
colonnades.  The  Circus,  an  extensive  enclosed  space, 
borrowed  from  the  Stadium  and  used  by  the  Italians 
from  the  earliest  times  for  races  and  other  games,  fur- 
nished, though  in  a  less  degree,  opportunity  for  the  same 
kind  of  building  as  the  amphitheatre.  In  the  Triumphal 
Arch,  the  same  principles  exhibit  themselves  in  another 
shape.  The  arch  becomes  not  only  the  essence  of  the 
building  but  its  most  prominent  feature.  Square  pil- 
lars support  it,  and  it  again  sustains  the  entablature  ; 
but  the  Greek  columns  are  not  wanting.  They  stand 
out  before  the  pillars  as  excrescences,  which  bear  no 
part  of  the  erection  ;  and  their  uselessness  is  exposed 
rather  than  concealed  by  the  statues  which  are  placed 
on  them.  In  the  earliest  triumphal  arch,  that  of  Titus, 
the  character  just  described  is  not  quite  reached  ;  but 
in  that  of  Septiraius  Severus  it  is,  and  the  example  is 
faithfully  followed  in  the  construction  of  the  Arch  of 
Constantine.  The  art,  if  it  was  to  retain  any  prmciple 
of  the  Grecian,  had  only  one  step  more  to  take,  that 
of  bringing  the  column  into  immediate  contact  with 
the  arch,  and  resting  the  latter  directly  on  the  former, 
— a  style  Avhich  became  common  after  the  reign  of 
Titus.  The  Triumphal  Column  was  a  far  nobler  idea 
than  the  arch,  and  in  that  of  Trajan  the  architecture 
leaves  little  room  to  wish  for  improvement,  either  in 
design  or  in  execution,  although,  if  such  structures  are 
critically  analyzed,  they  must  always  suggest  the  notion 
of  something  incomplete  or  fragmentary.  In  the  three 
huge  vaults  of  the  BasUica  of  Constantine,  or  Temple 
of  Peace,  we  see  the  remains  of  a  buUding  on  whose 
character  it  is  not  easy  to  pronounce,  but  in  which,  at 
whatever  time  it  may  have  been  erected,  the  essence  of 
the  Greek  style  appears  to  be  entirely  lost. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  IMh 

The  Romans,  who  had  perhaps  horrowed  tlie  idea  of 
their  gigantic  triumphal  columns  from  the  diminutive 
l)illars  of  the  Grecian  graves,  preferred  in  their  own 
sepulchral  architecture  the  massive  Etruscan  piles,  to 
which,  however,  they  generally  adapted  the  parts  and 
ornaments  of  the  several  orders.  The  plain  surrounding 
Lvome  is  covered  with  the  mins  of  huge  towers  erected  as 
jilaces  of  burial ;  and  the  internal  arrangements  of  the 
.ave-chambers,  with  their  small  niches  for  urns,  or 
LJieir  long  recesses  for  sarcophagi,  are  illustrated  by  some 
of  these,  and  by  the  Street  of  the  Tombs  at  Pompeii. 

To  this  little  town  of  Campania,  likewise,  we  owe  all 
our  knowledge  as  to  the  domestic  architecture  of  ancient 
Italy.  Some  of  the  more  perfect  remains  enable  us  to 
identify  the  most  important  parts  of  a  Roman  dwelling 
of  the  middle  class.  The  exact  construction  of  a  huge 
house  in  the  capital,  of  the  kind  which  was  called  an 
insula,  partitioned  out  among  numerous  poor  families, 
and  rising  to  the  utmost  height  allowed,  we  possess  no 
means  of  determining  ;  and  we  have  scarcely  better 
materials  for  describing  an  imperial  palace  or  villa. 

The  Roman  houses  resembled  the  Grecian  in  the 
smallness  and  inconvenience  of  the  private  chambers  as 
compared  with  the  public  apartments,  to  which  the 
habits  of  both  nations  gave  so  much  importance.  They 
agreed  also  in  the  want  of  external  ornament,  which  in 
the  capital  was,  for  a  time  at  least,  enforced  by  law ;  the 
richness  of  decoration  being  reserved  for  the  interior. 
The  plan  also  of  these  habitations  resembled  the  Gre- 
cian in  those  inner  courts,  partly  open  to  the  sky,  which 
foiTQed  the  central  portions,  and  from  which  the  smaller 
rooms  branched  out.  But  the  semi-feudalism  of  the 
Italian  customs  introduced  a  material  alteration  in  the 
interior  of  their  dwellings.  In  a  Greek  house,  one 
had  only  to  cross  a  short  vestibule  in  order  to  reach 
the  peristyle  or  colonnaded  court,  which  was  the  central 
point  of  the  habitation  ;  and  although  the  women's 
apartments  were  shut  off  from  the  rest,  this  was  the 
only  division  in  the  mansion,   and  the  whole  seemed 


186   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

intended  for  the  reception  of  none  but  friends  and  equals. 
The  Romans,  on  the  other  hand,  whose  women  were  not 
confined,  did  not  assign  to  them  exclusively  one  portion 
of  their  houses  ;  but  they  divided  their  dwelKngs  strictly 
into  a  public  and  a  private  part,  in  the  former  of  which 
the  owner  received  his  clients  and  other  dependents, 
who  had  no  right  to  penetrate  into  his  domestic  re- 
tu-ement.  The  public  quarter  was  reached  immedi- 
ately on  passing  the  vestibule  ;  and  it  consisted  (with 
occasionally  some  smaller  apartments  contiguous)  of  an 
Atrium  or  Cavaedium.  This  was  a  court,  roofed  over, 
except  a  space  in  the  midst,  which  contained  a  reser- 
vou-  (impluvium)  for  the  rain  from  the  eaves,  or  the 
water  of  a  fountain.  The  atrium  in  its  simplest  shape, 
called  the  Tuscan,  had  no  columns,  and  its  roof  was 
merel}''  composed  of  four  beams  crossing  each  other,  the 
quadrilateral  space  betvreen  their  intersections  being 
left  open  to  the  sky  ;  but  in  other  cases  pillars  were 
added,  forming,  if  they  were  more  than  four,  the  Corin- 
thian atrium,  which  differed  little  from  the  peristyle. 
In  this  court  the  powerful  Roman  transacted  busmess  ; 
and  a  closed  door  or  curtain,  sometimes  with  the  inter- 
vention of  a  Tablinum  or  charter-room,  separated  it 
from  the  private  part  of  the  dwelling.  In  this  latter 
portion  there  was  usually  one  Perist^^le  as  in  the  Greek 
houses,  but  sometimes  more  ;  and  in  the  best  mansions 
a  portico,  at  the  retired  side  of  the  building,  skirted 
a  garden,  which,  though  always  diminutive,  seems  to 
have  admitted  of  being  made  very  beautiful,  with  its 
narrow  walks,  its  vases  of  flowers,  its  trellised  plants 
supported  on  stone  pillars  as  at  Naples  in  the  present 
day,  and  its  seats  of  masonry  placed  beside  fountains, 
and  beneath  an  ai-bour  or  awning. 

The  piling  of  one  story  above  another  may  be  con- 
sidered as  ha\ing  been  almost  wholly  confined  to  houses 
of  the  lower  class.  Ai-istocratic  residences  covered  large 
spaces  of  ground,  and  seldom  rose  higher  than  one  floor. 
The  Ccenacula,  or  upper  chambers,  used  as  eating  rooms, 
in  which  the  Christians  so  frequently  met,  in  the  apos- 


.VN CI E ^^ T  DAVE L LI^ G  HOU SE  X-  ^ylODER^   COyXTl^ T . 


j  ii,,.  I.  (TRorvB  FLAX  of- the  ffoi'M-:  ,<,  r.  i.vx  1 .  ,n  /'i):\rPEJi. 


PtTBlISHED  BY   OLTVEB  i- BOYD,  EDINBURGH. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTIXE.  187 

tolic  age,  as  well  as  afterwards,*  were  a  late  inven- 
tion, and  do  not  appear  to  have  been  ever  built  in  man- 
sions above  the  middle  rank.  When  they  were  added 
in  dwellings  on  the  common  plan,  they  were  usually 
placed  in  the  front  portion  of  the  building,  above  the 
atrium,  wliich  in  that  case  was  completely  covered 
over.  But  in  no  houses,  and  least  of  all  in  those 
belonging  to  the  first  class  of  society,  were  the  different 
portions  uniform  in  height,  or  covered  by  one  roof.  A 
mansion  of  considerable  size,  indeed,  presented  from 
without,  or  in  a  bird's  eye  view,  a  very  curious  scene. 
The  external  fronts  to  the  streets  were  dead  walls, 
pierced,  if  at  all,  by  only  a  very  few  windows  or  loop- 
holes, situated  far  up,  and  admitting  light  without  pre- 
senting any  prospect.  The  atrium,  and  the  chambers 
surrounding  it,  might  be  nearly  of  the  same  elevation  ; 
but  in  all  other  quarters  of  the  edifice,  the  height  of  eacli 
apartment  was  separately  determined  by  rules  drawn 
from  its  other  dimensions.t  The  dwelling,  therefore,  as 
seen  from  any  higher  ground,  exhibited  a  straggling 
and  irregular  mass  of  buildings,  with  flattish  roofs  ; 
and  the  mean  habitations  which,  let  to  persons  of  the 
lower  ranks,  composed  part  of  the  cluster,  towered  above 
all  the  rest.  The  atrium,  peristyle,  and  garden,  formed, 
in  different  quarters,  openings  which  could  be  overlooked 
from  the  flat  roofs  ::|:  while  these  were  in  many  places 
disposed  in  terraces  like  those  modem  ones  still  so  com- 
mon in  the  neighbourhood  of  Naples,  and  were  like 
them  converted  by  vines  and  other  creeping  plants 
into  covered  walks  and  bowers. 

The  annexed  plate  will  illustrate  not  only  the  lead- 
ing arrangements  of  an  ancient  dwelling-house,  but  the 
first  and  principal  stages  of  the  influence  which  these 
have  exercised  on  the  architecture  of  modem  Italy. 
Figure  I.  is  a  ground-plan  of  the  House  wrongly  called 

•  Mark,  xiv.  15.  Acts,  xx.  8.  Fleury,  ISIceurs  des  Chretiens, 
*:r.  xiii. 

t  Stie2;litz,  Archaologie  der  Baukunst,  part  ii.  sect.  13. 
I  Plauti  Miles  Gloriosus,  act  ii. 


188   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

that  of  Pansa,  which  is  the  most  regular  of  the  private 
residences  disinterred  at  Pompeii,  although  several 
others  have  a  greater  variety  of  parts.  Figure  II.  is  a 
similar  plan  of  the  admired  Church  and  Augustin  Mo- 
nastery of  Santo  Spirito  in  Florence,  which,  designed  hy 
the  celebrated  arcliitect,  Brunelleschi,  about  the  middle 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  was  completed  before  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth.  From  the  monastery  to  the  modern 
palazzo  is  a  step  much  shorter  than  from  the  ancient 
Roman  dwelling  to  the  monastery  of  the  middle  ages.* 

The  House  of  Pansa  covers  an  area  of  about  800  feet 
by  100,  surrounded  by  streets  on  all  its  sides.  The 
chief  entrance  is  by  the  door  A,  Hanked  with  pilasters, 
and  introducing  us  by  a  short  vestibule  into  the  Atrium, 
which  is  Tuscan,  paved  with  marble,  and  has  in  its  centre 
the  usual  basin,  beyond  which,  at  B,  is  a  pedestal  for  the 
altar  of  the  household  gods.  The  small  apartments  C,  C,  C, 
on  each  side  of  the  court,  miay  have  been  guest-cham- 
bers, store-closets,  or  work-rooms  for  the  female  slaves; 
and  D,  D,  are  recesses  with  stone  seats.  We  shall  form  a 
very  gorgeous  scene  if  we  figure  this  hall  and  its  chambers 
in  their  original  condition,  with  landscapes  and  historical 
pieces  painted  on  their  walls  ;  while  mosaics,  gilding,  and 
marbles  decorated  the  floors,  walls,  and  roofs  ;  and  statues, 
flower- vases,  fountains,  and  classical  furniture,  alternated 
to  complete  the  picture.t 

We  now  quit  the  public  quarter  of  the  dwelling.  Leav- 
ing on  our  left  the  room  E,  and  on  our  right  the  dimi- 
nutive closet  F,  in  which  there  is  still  a  bedstead,  we 
proceed  either  through  the  tablinum  G  or  the  narrow 
passage  H,  into  the  large  and  handsome  Peristyle,  which 

*  The  house  of  Pansa  is  figured  and  described  in  the  work  of 
Mazois,  and  in  all  the  recent  Enghsh  publications  on  Pompeii. 
The  outline  of  the  other  figure  is  taken  from  plate  75  of  the  Ar- 
chitecture Toscane  (par  Grandjean  de  Montigny  et  Famin,  Paris, 
1815). — In  both  of  our  figures  the  spaces  open  to  the  sky  are  left 
white.  The  plan  of  the  church  will  aid  us  a  little  when  we  come 
to  the  basihcan  architecture. 

t  See  the  splendid  restoration,  in  plate  36  of  Sir  William  Gell's 
Pompeiana,  First  Series,  1819. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  189 

is  adorned  ])y  a  colonnade,  and  a  basin  in  the  central 
space.  The  two  recesses  I,  I,  beside  one  of  which  is  a 
private  door  to  the  street,  are  similar  to  those  at  D,  and 
were  exedrse,  the  usual  scenes  of  the  afternoon  slumber. 
The  sleeping- rooms  of  the  family  were  J,  J;  K  was  the 
kitchen,  which  still  possesses  its  stoves,  while  its  scullery 
L  has  dwarf  walls  as  stands  for  the  oil  jars  and  cooking 
utensils  :  and  beyond  these  is  a  small  court  M  commu- 
nicating by  a  door  with  the  side  street.  The  room  N  is 
genei-ally  supposed  to  have  been  a  lararium,  or  chapel 
for  the  images  of  the  household  divinities  ;  0  is  believed 
to  be  an  eating-room  (triclinium)  or  saloon  (cecus)  ; 
and  P,  a  spacious  apartment  raised  two  steps  above  the 
floor  of  the  peristyle,  and  opening  into  the  portico  by  a 
large  window  at  its  farther  end,  is  undoubtedly  another 
banqueting-hall.  Either  through  P,  or  by  the  passage 
Q,,  we  reach  a  covered  portico  of  two  stories,  about 
which  parasitical  plants  have  once  been  trained.  It 
communicates  with  the  small  bedchamber  or  cabinet  P- ; 
and  through  its  pillars  the  Roman  looked  out  on  his 
garden,  a  rectangular  area  of  about  1 00  feet  by  85,  at 
present  a  total  wreck,  but  still  showing  a  ruined  reser- 
voir in  one  corner.  We  have  now  surveyed  those  several 
Compartments  of  the  building  which  composed  the  resi- 
dence of  the  proprietor,  excepting  the  upper  rooms, 
which  are  all  destroyed,  but  which  certainly  covered 
some  at  least  of  the  apartments  on  the  ground  floor. 

The  remainder  of  the  edifice,  represented  in  those 
parts  of  the  figure  w^hich  are  distinguished  by  the  darker 
of  the  two  shades,  and  are  marked  with  numerals  in- 
stead of  letters,  was  disconnected,  partially  or  entirely, 
from  the  owner's  mansion.  A  small  separate  dwelling- 
house  1,  in  which  four  female  skeletons  were  found, 
communicates  with  the  apartment  0,  and  may  have  been 
either  leased  out,  or  used  as  a  hospitium  or  lodging  for 
visiters  :  the  shops  2  and  8,  opening  into  the  adjoining 
rooms  of  the  interior,  admitted  of  being  occupied  by  the 
master  of  the  house,  probably,  according  to  the  modern 
Italian  fiishion,  for  selling  the  wine  and  oil  produced 


190    ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

on  his  lands.  All  the  other  external  compartments  ap- 
pear to  have  been  quite  separated  from  the  principal 
habitation.  The  suites  of  chambers  4, 4,  were  distinct 
dwelling-houses,  probably  possessed  by  tenants  ;  5,  6,  7, 
and  8,  embrace  together  complete  accommodation  for  a 
baker's  trade,  including  in  their  order  a  wood-cellar,  a 
bakehouse  (with  its  oven,  furnaces,  tables,  troughs,  and 
three  handmills),  a  store-closet,  and  a  shop  open  to  that 
street  in  which  is  the  principal  front  of  the  mansion ; 
and  9, 10,  compose  a  smaller  baking  establishment.  The 
apartments  11  and  12  are  shops,  in  which,  as  also  in  3, 
are  staircases,  formerly  leading  to  upper  rooms,  probably 
the  dwellings  of  the  tradesmen  ;  and  13, 14,  and  16,  are 
small  shops  of  one  story,  which,  like  almost  all  those 
in  Pompeii,  have  only  three  side-walls,  the  front  being 
quite  open  as  in  the  modern  Italian  shops,  which  are 
closed  at  night  by  wide  folding-doors,  like  those  of  an 
English  coach-house. 

The  Coenobite  Monasteries,  like  that  in  Figiu-e  II., 
bear  in  some  particulars  less  resemblance  to  the  ancient 
houses,  than  is  exliibited  by  those  belonging  to  the  Car- 
thusian and  other  Eremite  fraternities,  But  the  building 
here  represented  is  at  once  a  celebrated  specimen  of  archi- 
tecture, and  a  good  illustration  of  the  point  which  it  is 
intended  to  explain. 

From  a  side-chapel  of  the  splendid  church,  a  very 
fine  vestibule  A,  lined  with  columns,  and  erected  by 
Andrea  Sansovino,  introduces  us  into  the  octagonal 
sacristy  B,  built,  as  well  as  its  inner  room  b,  by  that 
architect's  master,  Cronaca.  The  same  passage  opens 
at  one  end  into  a  small  uncovered  court  C,  and  at 
the  other  into  the  monastery,  wliich  has  two  principal 
cloisters.  The  First  Cloister  D,  D,  planned  by  Parigi,  is  a 
covered  arcade,  enclosing  alarge  paved  court  E,  open  to  the 
sky,  and  having  a  fountain  in  the  midst.  The  poi*tico 
communicates,  at  the  side  nearest  the  sacristy,  with  an 
oratory  F,  and  at  the  other  with  the  wing  G,  G,  which 
contains  the  apartments  assigned  to  the  menials  of  the 
establishment,  for  their  lodging  and  the  performance  of 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  191 

their  duties.  This  quarter  may  he  entered  from  the 
square  in  front  of  the  church  by  a  private  door  leading 
into  the  vestibule  H  ;  beyond  which,  and  by  the  un- 
covered court  K,  the  wing-  is  divided  into  two  ranges, 
till  it  reaches  its  terminating  pomt  in  L,  the  refectory 
of  the  lay  brothers.  The  first  cloister,  touching  the 
church  on  its  third  side,  is  shut  in  on  the  fourth  by  an 
oblong  building  of  two  stories,  of  which  the  ground 
floor  M  is  the  refectory  of  the  monks.  The  covered 
passages  mm  at  the  ends  of  this  edifice  conduct  us  into 
the  Second  Cloister  N,  N,  which  was  commenced  in  1564 
by  the  famous  Ammanati.  The  portico  of  this  hand- 
some court  is  formed  by  a  Doric  colonnade,  whose  en- 
tablature is  broken  by  three  arches  on  each  of  its  four 
sides ;  and  P,  the  area  in  the  midst,  is  laid  out  in  grass- 
plots,  surrounding  a  fountain  and  pond.  At  one  side  of 
this  cloister  is  Q,,  the  refectory  of  the  novices,  opening 
into  R,  a  small  uncovered  court  enclosed  by  a  roofed 
portico  with  columns.  At  the  opposite  side  is  the  long 
private  corridor  S,  S,  leading  to  the  open  court  T  and  the 
great  staircase  U,  by  which  we  ascend  to  the  upper  floor 
of  the  buildmg  M.  This  floor,  not  unlike  in  situation  to 
the  ancient  coenacula,  contains  a  gallery,  along  which 
are  disposed  the  cells  of  the  monks. 

ROMAN  PAINTING. 

In  Greece  the  masterpieces  of  the  great  artists  in  this 
department  were  easel  pictures  ;  and  both  vase-painting 
and  painting  on  walls,  were  regarded  as  subordinate 
branches  of  the  art,  or  mechanical  applications  of  it. 
In  Rome,  the  latter  alone,  in  which  two  natives,  Fabius 
Pictor  and  Pacuvius,  had  excelled,  was  ever  in  favour. 
From  the  time  of  Augustus  downwards,  the  art  indeed 
was  chiefly  valued  in  a  form  wliicli  was  just  that  of  mo- 
dern house-painting ;  but  to  which,  thus  occupying  the 
highest  place  in  the  scale,  a  dexterity  was  applied  that 
has  left  admirable  specimens. 

On  many  vases  of  Greece  and  Italy,  on  the  walls  of 
Herculaneum,  Pompeii,  and  of  some  ruins  on  the  Pala- 


192    ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

tine  and  Esquiline  Mounts,  and  also  in  a  few  tombs  in 
Rome,  Etruria,  and  elsewhere,  have  been  preserved  such 
examples  as  leave  us  indeed  doubtful  in  regard  to  the 
precise  height  of  excellence  which  called  forth  the  admi- 
ration of  antiquity,  but  yet  enable  us  to  pronounce  with 
some  confidence  on  the  leading  characteristics  of  this 
path  of  ancient  ai-t.  It  had  much  of  the  character  of 
sculpture.  In  those  historical  pieces  which  were  its 
highest  efforts,  the  groups  were  simple,  all  placed  in  the 
foreground,  and  might  hare  formed  the  subject  of  a 
bas-relief.  When  backgrounds  were  introduced,  they 
were  ill-executed,  the  linear  perspective  being  nowhere 
accurately  observed,  and  the  aerial  perspective  almost 
entirely  neglected.  The  objects  are  exhibited  in  a  clear 
broad  light,  with  no  attempt  at  those  opposed  masses  of 
brightness  and  shadow  to  which  some  modern  schools  owe 
so  much.  The  relief  of  single  figures,  however,  is  often 
wonderful,  especially  when  they  are  painted  on  dark 
grounds,  like  the  celebrated  Female  Dancers  ;  the  draw- 
ing is  often  very  fine,  and,  where  defective,  is  skilfully 
disguised  by  shaded  outlines  ;  and  for  grace  and  expres- 
sion, many  of  the  paintings  from  Pompeii  and  Hercu- 
laneum,  which  were  no  more  than  furniture  pictures  of 
two  small  country  towns,  are  quite  surprising,  even 
after  we  have  allowed  for  the  delicate  taste  of  the  nation 
and  the  popularity  of  this  particular  branch  of  art. 

It  would  be  useless  to  enumerate  even  the  best  of  those 
historical,  mythological,  or  poetical  compositions,  which 
contribute  to  mal^e  up  the  list  of  about  1600  ancient  pic- 
tures, now  in  the  Royal  Museum  at  Naples.  The  subjects 
are,  almost  without  exception,  from  the  Greek  mytho- 
logy and  traditions.  The  Sacrifice  of  Iphigenia,  and  the 
Parting  of  Achilles  and  Briseis,  are  perhaps  the  most 
admirable  of  the  series ;  while  some  Bacchic  subjects, 
especially  the  Female  Dancers,  and  the  Fauns  balancing 
on  ropes,  are  almost  equally  excellent  in  design ;  and 
the  adventures  of  Hercules,  Ariadne,  and  Endymion, 
with  other  mytliic  legends,  furnish  many  very  beautiful 
groups.     Landscapes  are  rather  numerous,  but  not  very 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  193 

successful,  as  might  have  been  inferred  from  the  character 
of  the  art.  They  generally  include  buildings,  and  thus 
approach  to  the  style  called  Scenographia,  which  con- 
sisted of  architectural  designs  or  perspective  views,  some- 
what after  the  fashion  of  the  ornaments  which  we  see 
on  the  outside  of  the  modern  Genoese  palaces.  In  the 
Augustan  age,  this  artificial  style  became  quite  fanci- 
ful, and  formed  itself  into  the  Arabesque  or  Grotesque 
manner,  which  Vitruvius  so  bitterly  condemns,  and  the 
moderns  so  warmly  admire.  Of  this  latter,  introduced  in 
Rome  by  the  painter  Ludius,  of  whose  architectural  land- 
scapes Pliny  gives  a  lively  description,  we  have  many 
fine  specimens  in  the  Neapolitan  collection,  taken  both 
from  the  interior  of  houses  and  from  the  garden- walls. 

Without  dwelling  on  the  processes  of  the  ancient  art, 
now  lost,  on  which,  particularly  the  Encaustic  method,  so 
much  has  been  said,  it  may  be  enough  to  mention,  that 
in  no  case  do  either  the  Greeks  or  Romans  appear  to  have 
painted  in  oils,  even  in  their  pictures  on  wood  or  canvass  ; 
and  that  in  painting  on  the  plaster  of  the  walls,  they 
certainly  used  not  only  w^ater-colour,  or  distemper,  in 
the  ordinary  way,  but  also  the  fresco  process,  of  which 
some  Pompeian  pieces  exhibit  visible  traces.  Mosaics  are 
likewise  not  imcommon  ;  and  although  the  greater  pro- 
portion of  those  found  in  Campania  are  coarse,  and  only 
well-adapted  for  their  purpose,  as  floors  to  entrance- 
halls  and  the  like,  yet  some  are  singularly  good. 

In  leaving  the  history  of  the  pictorial  art,it  maybe  well 
to  mention  the  last  great  masterwhose  name  has  been  pre- 
served. This  was  Action,  who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Ha- 
drian, and  whose  picture  of  the  wedding  of  Alexander 
with  Roxana,  so  lavishly  commended  by  Lucian,  is  re- 
called by  the  subject,  though  certainly  neither  copied 
nor  even  imitated  in  the  design,  of  the  curious  ancient 
painting  called  the  Aldobrandine  Marriage.* 

*  In  the  Vatican ;  lately  in  the  Appartamento  Borgia,  third 
room :  but  understood  to  have  been  removed  in  the  summer  of  1838. 
Discovered  about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  on  the  wail 
of  an  ancient  chamber  near  the  arch  of  Gallienus. 

VOL.  I.  iM 


194   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 
ROMAN  SCULPTURE. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  SCULPTURE  TO  THE  TIMES  OF  THE    ANTONINES  : 

A.u.  608—933,  OR  B.C.  146— a. d.  180. 

We  have  not  many  names  of  artists  belonging  to  this 
period,  and  cannot,  in  any  instance  but  one,  peremptorily 
assign  existing  works  to  persons  mentioned  as  famous  in 
their  own  times.  Most  of  those  whose  names  have  been 
preserved  came  from  Attica.  The  earliest  of  them,  how- 
ever, Pasiteles,  who  flourished  in  the  last  century  of  the 
republic,  was  a  native  of  Magna  Grascia,  and  worked  both 
in  the  toreutic  art  and  in  bronze  castings,  attaining  a 
distinguished  reputation  as  a  skilful  modeller.  This  merit 
belonged  in  even  a  higher  degree  to  Arcesilaus,  who 
was  likewise  a  worker  in  bronze,  and  constructed  in 
that  material  the  statue  of  Venus  Genitrix,  in  Julius 
Caesar's  Forum.  We  know  little  as  to  the  sculptors 
of  the  Augustan  age  ;  but  in  Nero's  reign  we  find  the 
name  of  Xenodorus,  whose  colossal  figure  of  that  emperor 
evinced  a  decay  in  the  mechanical  art  of  casting  in 
metal,  which  was  either  the  cause,  or  more  probably 
the  effect,  of  the  preference  the  Romans  gave  to  marble. 
To  the  time  of  Titus  we  may  safely  refer  the  three  Rho- 
dians,  Agesander,Polydorus,  and  Athenodorus,  the  artists 
of  the  Laocoon ;  and  it  is  proper  to  close  the  list  with  these 
names,  since  of  the  statuaries  who  executed  Hadrian's 
splendid  designs  we  know  almost  nothing. 

It  is  enough  simply  to  allude  to  the  practice  of  sculpture 
in  gems,  and  to  the  manufacture  of  medals  and  coins, 
both  of  which  departments  attained,  under  the  emperors, 
a  very  high  degree  of  excellence.  If  the  best  of  their 
medals,  and  the  few  exquisite  cameos,  are  excelled  by 
any  Grecian  works,  it  is  only  by  a  very  few  belonging  to 
the  Macedonian  times. 

The  opposing  theories  as  to  the  merits  of  statuary  in 
the  Roman  age  having  been  already  stated,  we  may 
venture  to  assume,  as  substantially  correct,  the  opinion 
which  assigns  to  that  period  a  farther  develojjment  of 
Grecian  art. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  195 

The  progressive  changes  of  sculpture  exliibited  them- 
selves in  the  Subject,  the  Expression,  and  those  pervading 
characteristics  which  are  embraced  under  the  somewhat 
vague  term  "  Style."  Its  revolutions  in  all  these  par- 
ticulars in  the  Roman  period,  and  its  dissimilarity  to  the 
earlier  art  of  Greece,  may  be  illustrated  by  a  very  few 
works  of  the  first  class,  which  can  with  confidence 
be  set  down  as  executed  in  the  imperial  times. 

To  the  age  of  Nero  belongs  the  Apollo  Belvedere, 
whose  Roman  origin  has  long  been  generally  admitted.* 
The  reign  of  Titus  gives  us  the  Laocoon,  whose  date 
is  fixed  by  a  passage  in  Pliny,  too  long  overlooked, + 
From  the  time  of  Hadrian,  we  have  the  portraits  of  the 
unfortunate  Antinous,  in  all  their  numerous  repetitions 
and  variations.;!: 

The  Apollo,  a  statue  of  the  heroic  size,  represents  the 
god  m  the  moment  when  he  has  shot  the  arrow  to 
destroy  the  monster  Python,  or  the  giant  Tityus  ;  or  ac- 
cording to  another  opinion,  highly  poetical  and  attractive, 
it  exhibits  him  in  that  scene  of  ^schylus,  in  which  he 
rescues  Orestes  and  expels  the  Furies  from  the  sanctu- 
ary of  Delphi.  The  victorious  divinity  is  in  the  act  of 
stepping  forward.  The  left  arm,  which  seems  to  have 
held  the  bow,  is  outstretched,  and  the  head  is  turned  in 


"  In  the  Vatican  ;  Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Cortile  di  Belvedere,  No.  96. 
Discovered,  about  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  among  the  ruins 
of  Nero's  favourite  villa  at  Antiura. 

t  In  the  Vatican  ;  Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Cortile  di  Belvedere,  No.  78. 
Discovered  in  1506  on  the  Esquiline,  beside  the  ruins  called  the 
Sette  Sale.  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxvi.  cap.  5.  The  passage, 
like  too  many  others  in  Phny,  is  not  absolutely  unequivocal ;  but 
violence  must  be  done  to  the  test,  before  it  can  be  understood  as 
any  thing  else  than  a  direct  assertion,  that  the  three  Rhodian  artists 
executed  the  group  expressly  for  the  palace  of  Titus,  and  con- 
sequently during  his  reign.  See  Gerhard  and  Thiersch.  "  The 
style  of  this  work,  as  well  as  the  manner  in  which  Pliny  introduces 
it  in  his  history,  gives  us  reason  to  believe  it  was  not  ancient  in  his 
time." — Flaxman,  Lecture  III. 

J  A  celebrated  portrait-statue  in  the  Capitol,  Stanza  del  Gla- 
diatore,  No.  6;  another  in  the  Museum  at  Naples,  Statues,  No. 
392  ;  a  very  fine  Bacchus-bust  in  the  same  collection,  Bronzes,  No. 
46 ;   and  others  innumerable. 


196  ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

the  same  direction ;  but  the  poise  of  tho  body  is  rather 
the  opposite  way.  The  whole  is  full  of  life  and  anima- 
tion, and  both  in  attitude  and  proportion  the  graceful 
majesty  of  the  statue  is  unsurpassed.  The  effect  is  com- 
pleted by  the  countenance,  where,  on  the  perfection  of 
youthful  godlike  beauty,  there  dwells  the  consciousness 
of  triumphant  power.  The  excitement  of  anger  has  just 
passed  from  the  eyes,  but  has  left  the  trace  of  scorn  curl- 
ing the  lips,  gently  inflating  the  nostrils,  and  elevating 
the  head  and  bust,  and  the  whole  glorious  figure. 

The  Laocoon  presents  to  us  the  famous  scene  from  the 
Trojan  war,  described  by  Virgil ;  although,  as  one  of  the 
most  acute  of  modern  critics  has  convincingly  shov\Ti, 
the  sculptor,  directed  by  the  principles  and  limits  of  his 
art,  has  departed  widely  from  that  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject which  might  have  been  suggested  by  the  verses  of 
the  poet.  The  priest,  seated  on  a  slab  or  altar,  and 
his  two  young  sons,  are  struggling  in  the  folds  of  the 
huge  serpents,  The  youths,  though  good  in  concep- 
tion, are  indifferently  executed  ;  and  it  is  in  the  prin- 
cipal figure  that  we  perceive  those  qualities  which  make 
the  group  the  most  intensely  expressive  of  all  classical 
works.  Indeed,  both  in  the  subject  and  in  its  treat- 
ment, no  piece  of  antique  sculpture  in  any  degree 
approaches  its  dramatic  and  tragic  force.  It  displays, 
with  extraordinary  skill,  the  desperate  struggle  of  mind 
against  suffering  :  the  agony  is  complicated  and  un- 
utterable, the  endurance  is  sublime.  The  serpents  are 
writhed  about  the  body  of  their  victim,  and  one  of 
them  bites  fiercely  into  his  left  side,  which  quivers 
and  starts  with  the  pain.  Throughout  the  whole  frame 
the  muscles  are  swollen,  the  nerves  are  convulsed,  the 
breath  is  suffocated  in  the  breast,  and  the  limbs  rise 
in  their  vain  effort  to  shake  off  the  force  that  chains 
them.  The  face  is  raised  to  heaven,  and  over  the  lower 
part  of  it  protracted  suffering  has  spread  an  appalling 
exhaustion  ;  the  mouth  is  sunk,  and  the  nostrils  in- 
flated ;  the  eyes  and  eye-brows  exhibit  the  fiercest  pang 
of  the  struggle  between  the  firmness  of  the  will  and 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  197 

agony  both  of  body  and  of  mind  ;  and  on  the  forehead, 
and  over  the  whole  aspect  of  the  head,  rests  that  inexpli- 
cable expression  of  strength  Avhich  is  the  keynote  of  the 
composition. 

Antinoiis  died  mysteriously,  probably  the  victim  of 
that  gloomy  superstition  which  strangely  accompanied 
general  scepticism.  The  affection  of  Hadrian  deified 
the  unfortunate  and  beautiful  youth  who  had  perhaps 
died  to  save  him  ;  and  the  artists  filled  the  Roman 
empire  with  images  of  the  lamented  favourite.  He  was 
represented  as  a  divinity,-  in  the  Greek  style  as  Bacchus, 
Apollo,  or  Mercury,  or  in  the  fashionable  Egyptian 
taste,  as  Osu'is  ;  and  numerous  statues  are  either  indivi- 
dual portraits,  or  heroic  and  ideal  embellishments  of  his 
head  and  figure.  Many  of  them  possess  the  highest 
merit,  in  a  style  of  extreme  and  anxious  finish.  In 
very  many  the  likeness  is  striking,  and  the  character  ex- 
ceedingly remarkable.  The  breast  is  broad  and  promi- 
nent ;  the  face  is  a  fine,  but  wide  and  somewhat  heavy 
oval ;  the  eyebrows  are  massy ;  and  the  full  lips  and 
the  whole  attitude  of  the  figure  are  inspired  by  a  deeply 
elegiac  air  of  sadness. 

As  to  the  progress  of  style  indicated  by  these  noble 
antiques,  even  the  uninitiated  can  distinguish  between 
the  extremes  of  the  series,  between  the  elaborate  mi- 
nuteness and  polish  of  the  Antinous,  and  the  compara- 
tive ease  and  breadth  of  manner  in  the  Apollo  ;  and 
still  more  readily  can  they  trace  the  change  from  the 
severity  of  the  Niobe  to  the  style  of  the  Apollo  or  the 
Laocoon.  Nicer  points  of  difference  are  for  the  eye  and 
taste  of  the  artist,  or  the  well  informed  antiquary  ;  and 
there  are  suffrages  enough  of  both  kinds  to  justify  the 
assertion  of  a  progress,  in  the  order  in  which  the  works 
have  now  been  described. 

The  distinction  of  style  admits  of  yet  another  illus- 
tration ;  for  the  first  sculptor  of  the  age  in  which  we 
Live,  unhesitatingly  pronounces  the  famous  Torso  of 
the  Belvedere  Hercules  to  belong  to  the  imperial  times, 
and  io  resemble  in  style  such  works  as  the  Laocoon. 


198   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

This  incomparable  statue  is  a  mere  fragment,  and  much 
less  fitted  for  the  uninstructed  lover  of  the  beautiful, 
than  for  the  accomplished  connoisseur.  From  Michel 
Angelo  to  Thorwaldsen,  the  first  artists  have  regarded 
the  Torso  with  an  admiration,  rendered  only  the  more 
reverential  by  its  state  of  ruin.  The  head  and  arms 
are  wanting,  and  the  legs  as  far  up  as  the  thighs ;  while 
the  breast  and  part  of  the  back  are  much  broken.  In 
the  remains  of  the  trunk  the  character  has  been  uni- 
versally admitted,  since  Winckelmann  analysed  it,  to 
be  that  of  ideal  divinity, — the  hero  after  his  deification. 
The  accidental  parts  of  the  human  figure,  such  as  the 
vems,  are  invisible,  and  only  the  essential  characteristics 
of  the  frame  are  indicated.  The  contours  are  those 
of  gigantic,  overwhelming  strength  ;  the  muscles  are 
powerful  to  a  degree  surpassing  reality,  yet  flowing  and 
quite  free  from  harshness  ;  and  the  proportions  are 
broad  and  massive  in  the  extreme.* 

The  differences  in  subject  and  expression  are  more 
easily  appreciated,  and  there  are  ample  materials  for  com- 
parison. One  short  series  of  examples  may  here  suffice. 
Early  sculpture,  setting  out  from  the  sacred  style  of  the 
temple-idols,  represented  its  figures  in  profound  repose, 
as  in  the  Pallas  of  the  Villa  Albani :  but  in  the  colossal 
Pallas  of  Velletri,  already  described,  the  stiffness  is 
broken  up,  the  head  is  gently  bent,  and  the  right  arm 
raised  ;  and  in  later  statues  of  the  same  goddess,  she  is 
often  represented  in  motion,  and  sometimes  in  quick 
and  vigorous  action,  as  in  that  of  speaking  (the  Pallas 
Agoraia),  or  of  preparing  for  combat  (Promachos).     We 


*  Vatican,  iMus,  Pio.-Clem.  Vestibule,  No.  1.  "  Thorwaldsen, 
although  the  fact  does  not  weaken  his  admiration  of  this  master- 
piece of  antiquity,  characterizes  the  style  as  one  which,  in  respect 
of  the  whole  system  of  the  muscles,  and  the  mode  of  treating 
them,  and  in  respect  of  a  sort  of  refinement  on  the  most  refined, 
evidently  belongs  to  the  later  ages  of  the  plastic  art.  He  has  not 
intimated  this  opinion  publicly,  i.  e.  in  print ;  but  1  have  heard  him 
repeatedly  express  it  in  conversation,  with  that  clearness  and  cer- 
tainty which  befits  a  mind  like  his,  imbued  with  all  the  greatness 
of  the  antique." — Thiersch,  Epochen,  p.  332. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  199 

have  no  representations  of  Minerva  which  go  much  be- 
yond this ;  but  in  one  work  of  the  highest  order,  the  Diana 
of  Versailles,*  Avhich  may  be  very  fitly  contrasted  with 
the  Pallas-figures,  the  attitude  is  that  of  humed  and 
eager  motion,  a  liveliness  of  action  not  approached  by 
an}''  specimen  which  can  be  confidently  referred  to  the 
ante-Roman  times.  Now  the  attitude  of  this  statue 
much  resembles  that  of  the  Apollo  Belvedere  ;  the  sizes 
correspond  as  well  as  the  style  of  the  execution,  and  there 
is  also  a  striking  general  likeness  of  air  and  expression. 
Certain  it  is  that  neither  of  them  was  designed  for  a 
temple  ;  and  it  is  a  pleasing  and  plausible  supposition, 
though  not  capable  of  proof,  that  the  two  were  fonned  as 
counterparts,  and  together  adorned  some  magnificent 
hall  of  Nero's  Antian  villa.  The  animation  of  expres- 
sion in  the  face  of  the  Apollo  is  not  paralleled  by  any 
representation  of  the  god,  except  some  busts  which  are 
clearly  copied  from  it ;  the  hasty  quickness  of  the  atti- 
tude is  equally  in  advance  of  all  the  other  figures ;  and 
the  character  of  the  head  appears  to  borrow  details  from 
several  other  antiques,  and  (excepting  busts)  to  be  copied 
by  none.  It  would  be  equally  impossible  to  produce 
any  good  work  of  ancient  times  which  treats  a  subject  so 
actively  tragic  as  the  Laocoon.  If  the  Apollo  is  beyond 
the  calmness  of  Greek  subjects,  the  Laocoon  is  as  far 
beyond  the  Apollo.  It  hovers  on  the  very  verge  of 
that  extremity  of  action,  which  even  modem  sculpture 
would  shrink  from  treating.  On  the  power  of  expression 
which  it  possesses  it  is  needless  to  say  a  word.  The  Niobe 
is  nearest  to  it  in  subject :  let  the  two  be  compared. 
Both  are  strong  :  but  the  strength  of  the  one  is  sup- 
pressed, absorbed,  motionless  ;  that  of  the  other  is  active, 
fiery,  uncontrolled  by  any  thing  except  that  fine  sense 
of  art  which  Grecian  minds  never  lost,  and  which  even 
in  this  later  stage  preserved  an  equipoise,  contrasting 
beautifully  with  the  exaggerations  of  modem  statuary. 


*  La  Diane  a  la  Biche,  Louvre,  No.  178.    The  place  where  this 
statue  was  found  is  not  known. 


200    ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 


THE  SUBJECTS  OF  ROMAN  SCULPTITRE  DURING  THE  SAME  PERIOD. 

In  the  preceding  sketch  of  the  revohitions  of  ancient 
sculpture  from  the  age  before  Phidias  to  that  of  Ha- 
drian, some  masterpieces  which  still  exist  in  Italy,  and 
a  few  which  once  adorned  her  palaces  or  temples,  have 
been  incidentally  named  as  explanatory  instances.  But 
the  Italian  galleries  possess  many  more  antiques  of  sin- 
gular excellence,  and  some  which  scarcely  yield  to  the 
best  of  those  already  specified.  Certain  of  these  cannot 
be  passed  over,  among  which,  although  some  undoubted- 
ly belong  to  the  older  Grecian  period,  a  much  larger  num- 
ber must  be  assigned  to  the  ages  now  under  oui*  notice  ; 
and  it  is  conceived  that  by  aiTanging  such  specimens 
according  to  their  subjects,  they  will  be  best  apprehend- 
ed as  exponents  of  thought  and  illustrations  of  history 
and  national  character. 

Two  things  must  be  premised.  In  the  first  place,  we 
are  not  to  believe  that  many  of  the  existing  sculptures 
were  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  worship.  The  notion 
flatters  the  imagination,  but  is  unfounded.  The  crowds 
of  reliques  which,  after  lying  for  centuries  beneath  tlie 
ruins  of  ancient  palaces,  villas,  tlieatres,  orbasilicoe,  have 
reappeared  to  adorn  the  modern  galleries,  were  in  almost 
every  instance  the  ornaments  of  those  secular  buildings, 
and  not  of  temples.  The  list  of  sacred  images,  too,  does 
not  perhaps  include  any  one  of  the  highest  rank.  But, 
in  the  next  place,  we  do  severe  injustice  to  classical  art 
if  we  adhere  to  the  opinion,  that  the  very  best  works  we 
possess  are  nothing  more  than  copies  from  older  and  better 
efforts  of  genius.  Many  admirable  antiques,  executed 
with  much  skill  and  feeling,  are  doubtless  copies  ;  but 
many  others  certainly  are  not.  The  Niobe  may  be  a 
copy  :  the  Venus  is  not  one,  nor  is  the  Apollo,  nor  the 
Laocoon.  The  true  state  of  the  case  has  been  already 
suggested.  In  the  golden  age  of  art  there  were  conceived 
ideal  forms  of  some  of  the  favourite  objects  of  represen- 
tation ;  and  the  conceptions  so  framed,  obtaining  a  sanc- 
tion  almost   religious,  affected  all   subsequent   works, 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTIKE.         201 

which  treated  either  the  same  suhjccts,  or  others  cog- 
nate to  them.  For  the  highest  artists  of  every  age 
after  Phidias,  this  was  all :  a  fence  was  drawn  around 
certain  subjects,  but  within  the  line  there  was  ample 
room  for  original  invention.  The  Venus  de'  Medici  is 
a  work  whose  inspiration  was  drawn  from  the  elder  statues 
of  Praxiteles  and  of  Phidias,  but  it  is  one  whose  grace 
and  beautA^  are  its  own  ;  it  was  stolen  as  genius  steals 
from  genius,  it  was  stolen  as  Phidias  stole  from  Homer. 

It  is  surprising  how  little  nationality  Roman  art 
displays,  and  it  is  humiliating  to  discover  how  little 
invention  there  is  even  in  that  small  section  of  it  which  is 
in  any  sense  native.  For  the  early  legends  and  the  later 
histories  of  their  race  the  people  found  poets  and  annal- 
ists ;  but  their  sternness  of  character,  aided  perhaps  by 
political  causes,  barred  them  from  finding  a  sculptor  or 
painter  even  for  the  noblest  scenes  of  their  annals  or 
then-  poetical  traditions.  The  imperial  achievements 
adorned  triumphal  arches  and  columns  with  reliefs,  in  a 
style  which,  notwithstanding  much  skill  of  execution 
and  even  of  design  in  its  earlier  efforts,  has  scarcely  been 
too  harshly  treated  by  being  compared,  in  respect  of  its 
tameness  and  dryness  of  conception,  to  the  paragraphs  of 
a  military  gazette. 

The  statues  of  the  emperors,  however,  of  which  the 
series  is  tolerably  complete,  give  an  extremely  favourable 
view  of  the  progress  of  sculpture,  and  strongly  confirm 
the  notion  of  its  continued  excellence.  The  Greeks  who 
formed  such  works,  wanted  only  the  inspiration  of  their 
own  beautiful  mythology,  and  the  melancholy  remem- 
brance of  their  fallen  land,  to  evolve  such  conceptions 
as  the  most  exquisite  of  the  imaginative  compositions. 
The  imperial  statues  were  sometimes  simple  portraits, 
like  that  of  Augustus  in  his  pontifical  robes,*  and  many 
in  the  military  dress.  Of  the  equestrian  portraits  the 
most  celebrated  is  the  bronze  statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius  ;  a 
work  remarkable  for  the  dignity  of  the  emperor's  figure, 

*  In  the  Vatican,  Mus.  Pio-Clement.  Sala  Rotonda,  No.  14 


202   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

and  the  uncommon  expression  of  life  in  the  somewhat 
clumsy  horse.  This  is  one  of  the  very  few  antiques 
which  have  never  been  under  ground.  We  find  it 
mentioned  in  the  Notitia,  a  work  written  in  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century  of  our  era,  at  which  time  it  stood 
in  the  Forum  near  the  arch  of  Septimius  Severus,  and 
was  called  the  Horse  of  Constantine.  In  966,  Pope 
John  XIII.  hanged  on  it  the  rebellious  prefect  Petrus  ; 
and  in  974  the  corpse  of  the  Antipope  Boniface  was 
thrown  down  beneath  it.  In  1187  it  was  transferred  to 
the  front  of  the  Lateran,  where  it  stood  when  Rienzi,  on 
his  great  festival,  made  the  nostrils  of  the  horse  discharge 
wine  for  the  people.  In  1538  Paul  III.  removed  it, 
under  the  direction  of  Michel  Angelo,  to  its  present 
place  in  the  square  of  the  Capitol.*  Other  imperial 
statues  were  ideal  and  heroic,  and  generally  naked,  a 
class  which  is  best  represented  by  the  Antinous ;  and 
some  of  these  works  were  colossal.  There  are  many 
admired  female  busts  and  statues  belonging  to  the  im- 
perial families,  the  most  interesting  of  which  are  certainly 
those  of  the  elder  Agrippina,  the  unfortunate  wife  of 
Germanicus.t 

Portrait  sculptures  of  the  republican  times  scarcely 
occur.  There  is,  however,  amongst  other  instances,  a  very 
remarkable  bust  full  of  character,  which  is  recognised  as 
representing  Scipio  Africanus.:|;  The  celebrated  heroic 
statue  of  the  Palazzo  Spada  in  Rome,  is  probably  (though 
the  point  is  disputed)  a  likeness  of  Pompey,  and  perhaps 
is  the  figure  at  the  foot  of  which  Julius  Caesar  fell. 
The  best,  and,  it  may  be,  the  only  genuine  bust  of  Caesar 
himself,  is  in  the  collection  at  Naples.§  As  to  Roman 
literary  men,  we  have  genuine  but  not  exact  busts  of 

*  Fea,  Dissertazione  sulle  Rovine  di  Roma,  appended  to  his 
Translation  of  Winckelmann  (1783-4),  vol.  iii.  p.  410. 

t  Extant,  if  the  subject  is  not  misconceived,  in  several  repeti- 
tions;  especially  in  Naples,  Statues,  No  131 ;  and  in  the  Capitol, 
Stanza  degl'  Imperatori. 

X  Capitoline  Museum ;   Galleria,  No.  50. 

§  Museo  Borbonico,  No.  175 ;  but  see  the  Museo  Pio-Clemen- 
tino,  torn.  vi.  tav.  38. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  203 

Terence,  Sallust,  Horace,  Seneca,  and  some  others  ;  many 
pretended  heads  of  Cicero,  and  some  true  ones.* 

There  are  a  few  excellent  portraits  of  private  or  un- 
known persons,  of  which  the  Germanicus  already  men- 
tioned is  perhaps  the  best  as  well  as  the  oldest  specimen. 
Herculaneum  has  furnished  some  admirable  examples 
of  this  class.  Three  are  in  Dresden ;  and  the  family 
of  the  Herculanean  Nonius  Balbus  are  at  Naples,  and 
consist  of  two  small  equestrian  statues  and  seven  figures 
on  foot,  of  which  five  are  female.t 

Portraits  of  eminent  Greeks  of  elder  times  were  either 
copied  after  likenesses  taken  from  the  original,  or  formed 
by  invention,  in  a  style  which  was  sometimes  extremely 
felicitous.  Instances  of  the  former  class  are  very  nu- 
merous. Among  the  best  are  some  busts,  and  one  or 
more  statues,  of  Demosthenes;  other  full  lengths  of  Athe- 
nian orators ;  a  very  admirable  statue  which,  on  most 
insufficient  grounds,  has  been  named  Aristides  ;X  two  fine 
sitting  figures  in  the  Vatican,  of  which  one  is  inscribed 
as  a  portrait  of  the  poet  Posidippus,  and  the  other,  from 
its  likeness  to  known  busts,  is  believed  to  represent 
the  more  celebrated  Menander.§  Of  the  ideal  class  the 
grandest  example  is  the  majestic  head  of  Homer,  extant 
in  several  repetitions  ;||  and  a  highly  characteristic  crea- 
tion is  the  Silenus-like  head  of  Socrates,  imagined  by 
Lysippus,  and  preserved  in  a  good  many  busts.*!! 

But  in  the  art,  as  in  the  literature  of  Rome,  subjects 


•  Cicero,  in  the  Glypothek  of  Munich,  No.  224;  bust  from  the 
Mattel  palace  in  Rome,  now  belontring  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 

f  Museo  Borbonico,  Nos.  65,66  ;  "and  Nos.  45,  47,  50,  62,  55, 
57,  60. 

X  At  Naples ;  Museo  Borbonico,  No.  38S. 

§  INIus.  Pio-Clem.  Galleria  delle  Statue,  Nos.  24  and  25. 

il  At  Naples,  Mus.  Borb.,  No.  348;  and  British  Museum,  Room 
HI.,  No.  25.  Inferior  examples  ;  Capitoline  Museum,  Stanza  de' 
Filosofi,  Nos.  44,  45,  46. 

IT  Capitoline  Museum,  Stanza  de'  Filosofi,  Nos.  4,  5,  6 ;  and  else- 
where. The  room  containing  these  busts  furnishes  many  examples 
of  Greek  portraits  belonging  to  both  the  classes  mentioned  in  the 
text.  See  Visconti,  Iconographie  Grecque,  1811;  tome  i.  pp. 
49-59, 163-169. 


204   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

from  the  authentic  annals,  either  of  their  own  nation 
or  of  their  Hellenic  neighbours,  bore  a  very  small  pro- 
portion to  those  derived  from  the  Grecian  mythology 
and  legendary  history. 

Of  the  works  taken  from  the  circle  of  the  Twelve 
Olympic  Divmities,  the  most  remarkable  have  been 
already  described.  The  best  are  unquestionably  the 
Jupiter,  Apollo,  Venus,  I\Iinerv^a,  and  Diana  ;  and  the 
origin  of  some  of  these  classical  conceptions  has  been 
traced  to  the  Phidian  age  or  near  it.  It  remains  to 
direct  attention,  in  the  first  place,  to  a  few  others  of 
the  best  Venus-statues  in  the  Italian  galleries.  In  the 
Vatican,  it  is  enough  to  notice  the  fine  Venus  Anadyo- 
mene,  and  the  beautiful  though  injured  Crouching 
Venus,  which  bears  the  name  of  its  artist  Bupalus.'* 
The  Neapolitan  Museum  possesses,  in  the  Venus  Victrix 
of  Capua,  a  statue  of  the  highest  ideal  beauty  ;t  and  a 
collection  of  figures  in  another  room  of  the  same  gallery, 
is  useful  as  exhibiting  copies,  for  the  most  part  indifi^er- 
ently  executed,  of  almost  every  kno^^^l  character  of  the 
goddess.  In  the  Florentme  gallery,  the  fame  of  the  Venus 
de'  Medici  has  eclipsed  at  least  one  very  lovely  figure, 
— the  half-draped  Venus  with  the  Diadem.:|:  An  equal 
decline  in  art  and  in  female  modesty  is  displayed  by 
some  existing  antiques,  which  represent  Roman  ladies, 
of  imperial  or  princely  rank,  and  of  ordinary  face  and 
form,  invested  with  the  attributes  of  the  Venus,  and  not 
shrinking  from  her  exposure  of  the  person.  §  Before  the 
idea  of  the  Apollo  reached  the  point  developed  in  the 
masterpiece  of  the  Belvedere,  his  statues  had  undergone 
a  series  of  changes,  which  set  out  from  a  muscular  and 

*  Braccio  Nuovo,  No.  42  ;  and  ]\Ius.  Pio-Clem.  Gabinetto  delle 
Maschere,  No.  5. 

f  Mus.  Borb.  Statues,  No.  104. 

i  In  the  small  (second)  corridor  of  the  great  gallery. 

§  The  Venus  and  Cupid  of  the  Vatican  ;  ]\Ius.  Pio-Clem.  Cortile 
di  Belvedere,  No.  46 ;  found  among  the  ruins  of  the  so-called  Temple 
of  Venus  and  Cupid  in  the  vineyard  of  the  monastery  Santa  Croce 
in  Gierusalemme,  and  believed  to  represent  the  wife  of  Alexander 
Severus. 


^ 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTIXE.         205 

manly  character,  illustrated  hy  more  than  one  example,* 
and  passed  after  the  i\Iacedonian  ages  into  the  more  usual 
representation  of  a  youth  who  has  not  yet  reached  matu- 
rity. Of  the  boyish  forms  of  those  later  times,  there  are 
several  extremely  beautiful  specimens  ;  the  best  of  which 
are  perhaps  the  Lycian  Apollo  of  the  Florentine  gallery, 
a  figure  of  exceeding  loveliness  and  repose  ;t  and  the 
Apollo  with  the  Lyre  and  Swan  at  Naples,  probably 
in  its  outlines  the  most  perfect  of  all  the  statues  of  this 
divinity. :|:  Of  the  sculptures  representing  the  god  in 
scenes  of  his  legend,  the  Apollo  Belvedere  is  far  the 
most  successful ;  but  there  appear  to  have  been  many 
groups  of  this  class,  none  of  which  remain  entii'e.  To 
such  we  must  refer  the  numerous  representations  of 
Marsyas,  suspended  to  the  pine-tree  ;§  and  to  the  same 
story  the  most  probable  opinion  assigns  the  expressive 
statue  of  the  Whetter  at  Florence,  ||  an  old  man  with 
mean  features  and  a  Tartar  skull,  who  crouches  down 
whetting  a  knife,  but  looking  up  with  an  air  of  fixed 
curiosity.  Of  the  Mercury  statues,  it  is  enough  to  cite 
the  celebrated  one  of  the  Vatican,  long  mistaken  for  an 
Antinous,  and  equally  admirable  for  the  excellent  pro- 
portions of  the  ti-unk,  and  the  beauty  and  godlike  repose 
of  the  head.^ 

Of  the  inferior  divinities,  the  classes  to  which  we  owe 
the  most  interesting  antiques  are  two.  The  first  embraces 
the  Bacchic  legends;  the  second  those  of  Cupid,  the  Greek 
Eros.  Of  all  the  symbolical  fables  of  ancient  times,  these 
two  cycles  were  at  once  the  most  profoundly  significant. 


*  Mus.  Capitol.  Salonc,  No,  7  (in  the  ancient  style) ;  anoliier  of 
similar  character,  but  of  a  later  period,  in  the  same  museum, 
Stanza  del  Gladiatore,  No.  17  ;  found  at  the  Solfatara  near  Tivoli. 

t  The  Apollino  of  the  Tribune. 

J  Mus.  Borbon.  :   Statues,  No.  72. 

§  Two  examples  in  the  great  gallery  of  Florence  ;  western  cor- 
ridor. 

II  The  Arrotino  of  the  Tribune,  called  by  some  the  Slave  Vindex. 
The  idea  in  the  text  belongs  to  the  Abate  Fea.  See  note  to  his 
translation  of  Winckelmann,  vol.  ii.  p.  314. 

'J  Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Cortil?  di  Belvedere,  No,  56. 


206   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

and  the  most  poetical.  The  mysteries,  which  in  their 
successive  stages  possessed  so  much  of  piety,  of  imagina- 
tion, and  of  vice,  were  founded  on  the  Bacchic  traditions, 
which  abounded  in  picturesque  representations  of  the 
physical  qualities  of  the  material  world.  The  fable  of 
Eros  had,  in  its  most  complete  form,  a  more  elevated  and 
spiritual  design. 

And  first,  of  the  Dionysiac  or  Bacchic  legends.  The 
character  of  the  leading  divinity  himself,  was  that  of 
youthful,  voluptuous,  almost  feminine  beauty ;  but  of 
the  few  good  statues  in  which  he  appears  unaccom- 
panied, Italy  perhaps  possesses  only  one,  besides  frag- 
ments.* Several  antiques  represent  him  attended  by 
youthful  Satyrs,  by  Eros,  Ampelos,  or  other  mythological 
personages  ;  and  his  meeting  with  Ariadne  on  the  isle  of 
Naxos  has  furnished,  besides  pictures  and  reliefs,  one  of 
the  finest  pieces  of  sculpture  in  Italy,  the  recumbent 
colossal  Ariadne  of  the  Vatican,  a  statue  equally  noble 
in  design  and  execution,  and  belonging  either  to  the 
independent  age  of  Greece  or  to  the  very  earliest  period 
of  the  Roman  sovereignty. t  The  other  actors  in  the 
mystic  revel  are  more  frequent  than  Bacchus  himself. 
We  have  already  traced  the  formation  of  the  figure  of 
the  Sat3'rs,  wliom  the  Italians  called  Fauns  ;  and  to  the 
examples  then  named  we  must  add  two  bronzes  of  the 
Neapolitan  collection,  a  Drunlcen  Faun,  and  another 
croNvned  with  an  oaken  garland,:|:  together  with  two 
statues  of  the  Florentine  galler}^,  namely,  a  superb 
Torso,  and  the  celebrated  Dancing  Faun,  so  inimi- 
table for  life  and  grace,  and  so  worthily  restored  from 
its  ruins. §     But  Italy  has  now  lost  the  grandest  of  all 

*  The  Bacchus  of  the  Villa  Ludovisi  in  Rome  (generally  inac- 
cessible). The  fine  colossal  Torso  of  the  Farnese  collection,  now 
at  Naples  ;  M us  Borb.  Statues,  No.  19").  Probably  the  best  per- 
fect statue  is  that  of  the  Louvre,  No.  154. 

t  Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Galleria  delle  Statue,  No.  51 ;  sometimes, 
though  wrongly,  called  a  Cleopatra. 

*  Mus.  Borb.  Bronzi,  No.  6  and  No.  60. 

§  The  Torso  in  the  Little  Corridor  ;  the  Dancing  Faun  of  the 
Tribune,  restored  by  Michel  Angclo. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.         207 

the  satyr  statues,  the  colossal  Sleeping  Faun  of  the 
Barberini  gallery,  a  work  in  the  very  best  style  of  art, 
and  perhaps  belonging  to  the  time,  if  not  to  the  hand, 
of  Scopas  or  Praxiteles."^  The  Silenus  is  not  rare  ;  and 
there  are  at  least  three  masterly  groups  of  this  person- 
age, carrying  in  his  arms  the  infant  Bacchus,  all  appar- 
ently copies  of  some  renowned  original.t  Pan  belongs 
to  the  Bacchic  scenes,  and  is  represented  in  some  excel- 
lent statues  ;;j;  but  both  he  and  the  female  votaries,  as 
well  as  the  Satyrs,  and  the  wildest  and  most  picturesque 
scenes  of  the  Dionysiac  rites,  are  chiefly  to  be  sought  in 
reliefs.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  figures  of  Centaurs, 
which  in  one  view  might  be  ranked  in  the  Bacchic  cycle, 
while,  m  another,  they  as  properly  come  into  the  class  of 
the  legends  of  Eros,  who,  in  several  groups,  is  represented, 
by  a  significantly  poetical  fiction,  as  taming  those  fierce 
and  anomalous  beings.§ 

The  most  meritorious  of  the  single  statues  of  Cupid 
have  been  abeady  alluded  to  ;  and  it  must  be  noticed, 
that  in  many  bas-reliefs,  especially  of  the  later  ages, 
Cupids  appear  in  a  kind  of  obscure  allegory  as  genii, 
represented  often  with  extreme  grace,  not  only  in 
cliildish  sport,  but  in  the  games  of  the  circus,  and  in  a 
playful  imitation  of  all  the  employments  of  human 
life.     Several  sleeping  figures  may  be   added   to   the 

*  In  IMunich,  Glypothek,  No.  96.  Found  at  Rome,  in  the  moat 
of  the  Castle  St  Angelo,  into  which  it  had  probably  fallen  with  the 
other  statues,  which,  in  637,  the  Greek  soldiers  of  Belisarius  hurled 
down  on  the  heads  of  the  besieging  Goths. 

t  The  best  (from  the  Borghese  gallery),  in  the  Louvre,  No.  709 ; 
Vatican,  Braccio  Nuovo,  No.  126;  Munich,  No.  115,  acquired, 
like  the  Vatican  statue,  from  the  RuspoH  palace  in  Rome. 

J  Pan  and  Olympus,  in  the  Florentine  Gallery,  eastern  corridor  ; 
the  magnificent  statue  of  the  Holkham  Gallery  (from  Italy);  Speci- 
mens of  Ancient  Sculpture,  vol  ii.  plate  27. 

§  Vatican,  Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Sala  degli  Animali,  No,  82;  Capitol, 
Salone,  No.  2  and  No,  4.  The  last  enumerated  is  an  inferior  re- 
petition of  the  famous  Borghese  Centaur,  Louvre,  No,  134.  The 
Capitcline  and  Borghese  Centaurs  were  found  in  Hadrian's  Villa, 
and  belong  to  his  times  ;  and  the  Borghese  and  second  Capitohne 
groups  are  curious  on  account  of  the  head,  which  is  a  close  imita- 
tion of  that  of  the  Laocoon,  both  in  features  and  expression. 


208   ART  IxN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

list  ;*  and  the  only  other  specimens  deserving  attention, 
are  those  taken  from  the  fable  of  Eros  and  Psyche,  the 
legend  which  shadows  forth  the  soul  as  a  lovely  female 
child,  wandering  through  the  eartli  to  seek  that  heavenly 
love  from  which  sin  has  parted  her.  This  is  an  Italian 
conception,  though  built  on  a  Greek  foundation  ;  the 
representations  of  various  points  of  the  story,  which  are 
so  common  on  reliefs  and  gems,  all  belong  to  the  Roman 
times  ;  and  some  of  the  most  poetical  are  of  too  late  a 
period  to  deserve  notice  as  achievements  of  art.  In  many 
of  them,  Eros  is  represented  as  tormenting  the  butterfly, 
the  emblem  of  Psyche,  whose  figures  always  have  the 
wings  of  that  msect ;  and  in  one  gem  he  is  portrayed  as 
hunting  it,  a  subject  which  is  also  found  in  one  of  the 
Florentine  statues.  In  another  group.  Psyche  kneels 
to  Eros,  and  is  forgiven.i  But  the  works  which  are  at 
once  the  most  pleasing  in  composition,  and  the  most 
successful  in  execution,  are  the  numerous  copies  of  the 
graceful  embrace  of  Eros  and  Psyche, — a  scene  which 
became  a  favourite  before  sculpture  had  altogether  sunk, 
and  was  so  often  repeated,  that  almost  every  great  gallery 
in  Europe  possesses  an  antique  copy  of  it.  :|: 

Of  the  legends  drawn  from  the  heroic  ages,  none  has 
furnished  so  many  works  of  a  high  order  as  that  of  Her- 
cules. In  statuary  the  most  celebrated  representations 
are  the  Farnese  and  Belvedere  figures  already  described. 
Several  groups  exhibit  the  infant  hero  strangling  the 
serpents  ;§  others  show  him  in  manhood,  M'ith  Telephus, 
Omphale,  or  others.  Numerous  reliefs  as  well  as  paint- 
ings, but  scarcely  any  good  statues,  are  founded  on  the 
fables  of  Theseus,  of  the  Labdacidae,  of  the  Argonautic 
adventure,  and  of  Jason  and  Medea.  Among  statues  relat- 

*  Two  in  Florence,  and  one  in  the  Royal  Gallery  at  Turin. 

•f  Louvre,  No.  496  ;  Borghese  Collection. 

Ij:  Museo  Capitolino;  Stanza  del  Gladiatore,  No.  3 One  in  the 

Florentine  Gallery. 

§  A  very  fine  colossal  marble  in  the  Gallery  of  Turin  :  a  repeti- 
tion of  it  at  Florence  :  a  bronze  (No.  69)  in  the  Museum  of  Naples, 
which,  however,  is  said  to  be  only  a  copy  made  about  the  sixteenth 
enturv. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.         209 

ing  to  others  of  the  heroic  legends,  the  best  is  the  Meleager 
of  the  Vatican  ;*  and  to  the  story  of  the  Dioscuri  belong 
the  Florentine  and  other  figures  of  Leda.  From  the 
Theban  traditions  we  have  many  reliefs,  and  some  statues 
and  groups,  the  most  famous  of  which  is  the  imposing  but 
desperately  mutilated  group  of  the  Farnese  Bull,  repre- 
senting the  tragical  fate  of  Direct  The  Thessalian  tra- 
ditions give  the  Marriage  of  Peleus  and  Thetis  as  the 
theme  of  the  reliefs  on  the  celebrated  Barberini  or  Port- 
land vase,  a  work  of  the  time  of  Alexander  Severus,  but 
distmguished  by  the  beauty  of  the  material,  which  is  a 
vitreous  composition  imitating  sardonyx.:}]  The  same 
legends  introduce  to  us  the  incidents  of  the  Trojan  war, 
which  are  common  on  reliefs  ;  and  there  is  one  supposed 
statue  of  Achilles,  with  several  busts. §  The  Sacrifice  of 
Iphigenia  is  figured  on  the  elegant  Medicean  vase  of  the 
Florentine  gallery ;  and  the  famous  Iliac  Table  of  the 
Capitol  represents  in  a  series  of  reliefs  the  chief  events 
of  the  same  war  in  their  relation  to  the  traditional  origin 
of  Rome.  11  A  group  of  Menelaus  bearing  the  corpse  of 
Patroclus  is  extant  in  several  mutilated  copies,  of  which 
the  two  least  injured  are  in  Florence  ;^  there  is  another 
Iragment  of  great  merit  in  the  Vatican  ;**  and  a  fourth 
lias  undergone  a  very  singular  fate,  being  the  battered 
figure  which  stands  at  the  corner  of  the  Braschi  Palace 
in  Rome,  and,  under  the  name  of  Pasquin,  fathers  the 
local  witticisms  of  the  modern  Romans.tt 


*  Belvedere,  Mus.  Pio-Clem.:  Vestibule,  third  division,  No.  1. 
Found  in  a  vineyaa-d  on  the  Janiciilan  Mount, 

■f"  At  Kaples.  Lately  removed  from  the  garden  of  the  Villa 
Reale  to  the  Court  of  Inscriptions  in  the  Royal  Museum. 

X  British  IMuseum,  Room  xi.  Found  about  1591,  vrithin  s 
sarcophagus  in  a  tomb  near  Rome  on  the  Frascati  road.  The 
sarcophagus  is  in  the  Capitol  (Stanza  deli'  Urna),  and  is  covered 
with  reliefs  representing  the  adventures  of  Achilles. 

§  The  Borghese  Achilles  in  the  Louvre,  No.  144 ;  a  copy  of 
■»ery  unequal  execution. 

II    Mus.  Capitol.  Stanza  del  Vaso,  No.  37. 

H  In  the  Pitti  palace  and  on  the  Ponte  Vecchio. 

**  Belved.  Mus.  Pio-Clem.  Stanza  de'  Bnsti,  No.  26. 

ff  See  the  Museo  Pio-Clementiuo,  tom.  vi,  tav.  19,  andtherela- 

VOL.  I.  Ji 


210   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OP  GREECE 

The  subjects  of  the  works  which  have  been  now  point- 
ed out  are  in  most  cases  certain.  There  are,  however,  a 
great  many  statues,  as  well  as  reliefs,  o:  which  the  sub- 
jects are  extremely  doubtful.  In  some  of  these  (and 
perhaps  in  more  than  the  antiquaries  are  willing  to 
admit)  the  artists  seem  really  to  have  had  nothing  far- 
ther in  view  than  the  representation  of  a  fine  model  in  a 
spirited  and  expressive  attitude,  generally  taken  from 
some  act  of  familiar  life.  As  instances  we  may  take 
two  delightful  figures  of  Children,  one  of  whom  lauglis 
from  beneath  a  Silenus  mask,  and  the  other  exerts  his 
pigmy  strength  in  attempting  to  strangle  a  goose.* 

In  other  works,  however,  the  attitudes  and  grouping 
are  too  significant  not  to  have  been  intended  as  a  picture 
of  some  particular  event.  Of  monuments  belonging  to 
this  class  three  may  be  na,nied,  all  possessing  very 
lofty  qualities, — the  Paetus  and  Arria,  the  Papirius  with 
his  Mother,t  and  the  Dying  Gladiator.;};  In  the  first  of 
these  groups  a  beautiful  woman,  wounded  and  fainting, 
is  supported  by  a  male  figure,  of  a  character  neither  ideal 
nor  Grecian,  who  is  in  the  act  of  plunging  a  short  sword 
into  his  own  neck.  In  the  second,  a  majestic  female 
grasps  and  seems  to  address  a  youth,  who  looks  up  to 
her  with  respect  and  attention.  The  third  is  famUiar  to 
every  one,  and  is  incomparable  for  the  pathetic  force  with 
which  it  expresses  the  pain  and  lassitude  of  approacliing 
death,  in  the  air  of  the  wounded  man,  fallen  to  the  ground, 
and  feebly  propping  himself  on  one  arm. 

The  names  just  assigned  to  these  three  works  are  those 
by  which  they  are  best  known ;  but,  since  Winckelmann 
wrote,  it  is  generally  admitted  that  they  are  wrong,  though 
all  the  three  belong  to  the  period  now  before  us.  The  first 
has  been  named  Canace  with  the  Slave  ;  it  has  ^vith  less 


tive  text.  Many  of  these  pasquinades  are  in  the  form  of  short 
dialogues  between  Pasquino  (the  IMenelaus),  and  jMarforio,  a 
colossal  river- god,  No.  1,  in  the  court  of  the  Gapitoline  Museum. 

•  Mus.  Capitol.  Stanza  del  Fauno,  No.  15  and  No.  21. 

■f  Both  in  the  Roman  Villa  Ludovisi. 

:|:  Mus.  Capitol.  Stanza  del  Gladiatore  Moribondo,  No.  1. 


I 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.  211 

probability  been  called  Haemon  and  Antigone  ;  and  it 
has  also  been  supposed  to  represent  a  scene  from  some 
of  the  Roman  battles,  a  barbarian  killing  his  wife  and 
himself  to  escape  slavery.  Of  the  theories  regarding  the 
second,  the  most  plausible  is  that  which  recognises  in  it 
Electra  tutoring  tiie  young  Orestes  for  his  task  of  ven- 
geance. The  Dying  Gladiator  has  stronger  claims  to  his 
old  name  than  either  of  the  others ;  and  besides  the 
dramatic  pathos  which  belongs  to  the  subject  in  this  view, 
it  would  be  deeply  interesting  to  conceive  a  Grecian 
artist  filled  with  melancholy  inspiration  by  the  departed 
glory  of  his  race,  and  representing,  in  this  sad  composi- 
tion, one  of  the  most  pitiable  victims  of  his  stem  masters. 
There  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this  hypothesis,  but 
the  figure  is  imquestionably  neither  that  of  a  Greek  nor 
of  a  Roman,  and  the  newest  opinion  describes  it  as  that 
of  a  barbarian  wounded  in  one  of  the  imperial  wars,  and 
forming  part  of  a  group  on  some  lost  monument.* 

THE  IMITATIVE  STVLES  OF  SCULPTURE. 

The  art  has  hitheiio  exhibited  a  gradual  and  natural 
development ;  but  a  few  works  of  the  Roman  times  dis- 
play an  artificial  and  forced  taste  which  it  is  worth 
while  to  notice.  The  reliques  of  this  class  are  of  two 
descriptions. 

The  first  consists  of  pieces  which  copy  the  ancient 
stiflPness  and  harshness  of  the  Greek  archaic  or  hieratic 
style.  In  Greece,  even  in  the  best  ages  of  art,  this  de- 
signed imitation  of  antiquity  had  place  to  a  certain  extent 
in  many  of  the  temple-statues.  Some  Roman  efforts  of 
the  kind  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  same  principle  ; 
but  in  many  instances  the  copying  of  the  ancient  man- 
ner was  solely  an  affair  of  caprice  or  fashion,  and  such 
specimens,  though  important  to  the  antiquary  in  the  way 
of  illustration,  are  apt  to  create  mistakes  in  the  chrono- 
logy of  art.  In  many  cases,  however,  the  imitation  is 
incomplete,  and  is  thus  detected.     Two  instances  may 

*  See  the  Beschreibung,  vol.  iii,  part  1.  p.  248. 


212   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

be  sufficient.  One  is  a  highly-finislied  relief  of  three 
female  figures  in  the  Vatican  :  *  the  other  is  a  remarkable 
though  mutilated  quadrilateral  altar  in  the  Capitol, 
beautifully  sculptured  with  reliefs,  which  represent  the 
labours  of  Hercules,  but  which,  though  strictly  antique 
in  some  particulars,  in  others  display  characteristics 
that  seem  to  indicate  the  age  of  Hadrian.t 

To  that  time  belongs  the  second  class  of  imitations. 
These  are  the  reproductions  of  Egyptian  sculpture  which 
were  introduced  by  the  emperor's  peculiar  taste,  and  of 
which  his  villa  at  Tivoli  and  some  other  ruins  have 
furnished  great  numbers.  Such  copies  are  easily  distin- 
guishable from  the  genuine  works  of  the  East.  They 
have  no  hieroglyphs, — they  are  highly  and  minutely 
finished, — the  forms,  the  anatomy,  and  the  expression, 
are  Greek  or  Roman, — and,  in  short,  they  have  little 
which  entitles  them  to  the  foreign  name,  except  the  sub- 
jects (chiefly  Egyptian  divinities)  together  with  the  dress 
and  attributes. 

SCULPTURE  AFTER  THE  TIMES  OF  THE  ANTONINES  : 

A.  u.  933—1059  :  or  a.  d.  180-306. 
Thus  far  those  works  and  ages  have  been  reviewed  in 
which  sculpture  claims  study  by  its  own  merits.  The 
museums  of  Italy,  however,  and  particularly  those  of 
Rome,  are  thronged  with  monuments  which,  belonging 
either  to  the  very  end  of  the  classical  period,  or  to  the 
centuries  which  intervened  till  the  fall  of  the  empire,  are 
as  productions  of  art  almost  universally  worthless,  but 
possess  great  interest  as  illustrating  the  prevailing  modes 
of  thought  and  of  religious  feeling.  They  are  chiefly 
sarcophagi,  the  practice  of  burying  the  dead  having  by 
the  time  of  the  Antonines  nearly  superseded  that  of 
burning ;  and  these  stone-coffins  are  covered  with  sculp- 
tures in  relief,  embracing  a  great  variety  of  subjects. 
Some  are  discovered  crowned  with  portrait-busts ;  others 

*  Museo  Chiaramonti,  No.  358. 

■f  Mus.  Capitol.  Stanza  Lapidaria,  No.  13  :  from  Albano.     See 
the  Beschreibung,  vol.  iii.  part  1.  p.  149. 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.         213 

have  reliefs  exhibiting  family  groups,  or  scenes  which 
seem  to  be  taken  from  real  life ;  and  many  represent 
mythological  subjects,  in  which  it  is  difficult  to  trace 
any  peculiar  adaptation  to  their  purpose.  But  in  very 
many  cases  the  scenes  of  the  sepulchral  reliefs  have  a 
symbolical  meaning  easily  discernible ;  and  these  give  us 
a  most  interesting  glimpse  of  the  theological  notions 
current  in  the  pagan  world  during  the  early  ages  of 
Christianity. 

In  some  the  symbolical  allusion  is  direct  and  simple  ; 
such,  for  instance,  as  figure  combats  of  the  heroic  times  on 
the  sepulchre  of  a  soldier,  or  adorn  the  grave  of  a  dead 
youth  with  the  story  of  the  slain  Adonis,  or  of  Ganymede 
carried  off  by  the  eagle.  In  many  others  the  symbol  is 
more  abstruse  ;  as,  for  example,  in  those  incidents  from 
the  fable  of  Love  and  Psyche,  often  so  beautifully  and 
tenderly  conceived,  and  yet  executed  in  a  style  of  the  ut- 
most coarseness,  which  marks  the  tomb  as  being  literally 
the  worst  manufacture  of  a  bad  manufactory.  Bacchic 
scenes  are  also  very  frequent,  in  many  of  which  the  ini- 
tiation is  assumed  as  the  type  of  death,  and  the  god  as 
the  divinity  of  the  realm  of  shadows.  In  some  of  these 
the  sensual  characteristics  of  the  rites  are  disgustingly 
prominent ;  in  others  there  is  a  pure  poetical  pathos. 
The  same  idea  seems  to  be  the  prevailing  one  in  two 
very  favourite  subjects  ;  the  Repose  of  Ariadne  and 
that  of  Endymion.  The  sleep  is  that  of  death : 
Dionysos  and  Luna,  the  divinities  of  the  dead,  approach 
the  sleepers  with  love  and  pity;  but  the  slumber  of 
the  grave  continues  unbroken.  The  idea  is  also  indi- 
cated by  the  Cupid-like  youth,  the  Genius  of  Mortal 
Life,  sleeping,  or  with  his  hands  crossed  above  his  head, 
leaning  on  the  cypress-tree ;  while  in  other  reliefs  he 
bends  over  the  inverted  torch,  or  holds  the  butterfly,  the 
emblem  of  the  soul,  or  the  bird,  the  symbol  of  the  manes. 
Some  sarcophagi  have  the  voyage  of  the  departed  spirit 
to  the  island  of  Kronos,  and  numerous  other  devices 
bearing  reference  to  the  metaph3^sical  notions  taught  in 
the  later  schools  of  Grecian  philosophy. 


214   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

In  many  reliefs  we  can  perceive  the  solemnity  of 
tliis  symbolic  and  religious  meaning  gradually  losing  it- 
self; and  we  discover  the  utter  abuse  and  misappre- 
hension of  it,  in  such  works  as  those  which  show  us 
Endymion  visited  by  a  female  figure  whose  face  is 
clearly  a  portrait,  or  which  crown  other  goddesses  with 
fashionable  Roman  head-dresses.  The  complete  de- 
parture from  the  classical  mythology,  which  had  been 
evinced  at  an  earlier  period  by  the  Egyptian  copies,  now 
displayed  itself  in  the  numerous  amulets  on  gems  and 
rings,  and  in  such  reliefs  as  those  representing  the  Syrian 
worship  of  Mithras  by  the  slaying  of  the  bull.  These  and 
other  scenes  were  frequent  on  Italian  marbles,  about  the 
time  when  Alexandria  is  known  to  have  abounded  in 
the  cabalistic  Abraxas  gems. 

TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ANCIENT  ART  IN  ITALY. 

Ancient  Italy,  as  we  have  seen,  besides  importing 
many  works  executed  in  foreign  countries,  was  itself 
the  seat  of  three  distinct  developments  of  the  fine 
arts.  There  was,  first,  in  Lower  Italy  and  Sicily,  a  large 
district  where  they  were  practised  with  high  success  by 
Grecian  colonists.  Secondly,  there  was  another,  chiefly 
comprised  in  Etruria,  in  which  the  indigenous  Italian 
population  cultivated  them  with  more  or  less  dependence 
on  Greece.  And  thirdly,  after  the  fall  of  that  nation,  the 
whole  peninsula,  but  especially  the  metropolis,  became 
the  residence  of  foreign  artists,  and  the  receptacle  of  the 
works  which  they  executed  for  their  Roman  masters. 

The  existing  monuments  of  ancient  Architecture  are 
scattered  over  the  whole  country.  The  topographical 
chapters  of  this  volume  will  point  out  the  principal  re- 
mains, and  make  it  now  almost  unnecessary  to  say,  that 
by  far  the  richest  field  of  this  class  of  antiquities  is  in 
Rome  and  Latium,  which  contain  an  extent  of  classical 
ruins  nowhere  equalled  within  the  same  space. 

Of  antique  Painting  and  Sculpture  in  all  their  modi- 
fications, almost  every  monument  which  Italy  now 
possesses  has  been  found  on  her  own  soil,  having  been 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.         215 

either  executed  there,  or  imported  before  the  fall  of  the 
emph-e.  But  the  country,  especially  within  the  last  hun- 
dred years,  has  lost  an  immense  number  of  sculptures, 
which,  though  some  of  them  may  be  found  in  every 
kingdom  of  Europe,  are  far  most  abundant  in  the  Louvre. 
The  history  of  the  museums  of  Italy  would  form  an 
interesting  chapter  of  illustrations  for  her  political  and 
moral  history.  Thousands  of  antiques  lay  buried  for 
centuries  beneath  the  mins  of  the  buildings  which 
they  had  adorned,  and  the  few  statues  and  other  monu- 
ments which  stood  in  different  parts  of  Rome  in  the 
middle  ages,  were  either  neglected  or  misinterpreted. 
Even  in  the  bright  though  short  interval  of  enlighten- 
ment which  shone  on  the  fourteenth  century,  there  still 
prevailed  an  ignorance  as  to  archaeology,  of  which  we  may 
take  as  a  specimen  the  fact,  that  Petrarch  gravely  calls 
the  pyramid  of  Cestius  the  tomb  of  Remus.  Attention 
to  art  revived  with  the  final  revival  of  letters  ;  and 
after  the  excavations  commenced  by  Pope  Paul  III.  in 
the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  discovered 
the  Farnese  Torso,  Hercules,  Flora,  and  Venus  Calli- 
pygos,  the  search  for  classical  reliqucs  was  unintermit- 
ted,  and  many  galleries  were  formed.  The  private  col- 
lections have  now,  with  very  few  exceptions,  merged  in 
the  public  museums,  at  the  head  of  which  stand  those 
of  Rome,  Florence,  and  Naples. 

The  City  of  the  Popes  contains  two  public  Museums 
of  Antiques,  those  of  the  Vatican  and  the  Capitol.  The 
former,  which  has  no  equal  in  the  world,  presents  many 
works  of  the  highest  order,  and  its  almost  innumerable 
specimens  of  a  lower  class  constitute  of  themselves  a 
most  instructive  school  for  the  study  of  heathen  mytho- 
logy and  customs.  Its  chief  treasures  are  contained  in 
the  department  named  the  Museo  Pio-Clementino,  which 
was  opened  by  Clement  XIV.,  and  enlarged  by  Pius  VI., 
embracing  both  the  monuments  previously  procured, 
and  very  many  new  acquisitions.  A  second  depart- 
ment, far  less  valuable  as  well  as  less  extensive,  derives 
its  name  of  the  Museo  Chiaramonti  from  its  founder 


216   ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE 

Pius  VII.  A  third,  and  yet  smaller  one,  the  Braccio 
Nuovo,  was  added  in  1821.  The  finest  works  of  the 
Vatican  are  its  marble  sculptures  and  its  bronzes ;  but 
it  contains  also  some  excellent  mosaics,  a  very  few 
ancient  paintings,  a  good  many  terra-cottas,  and  an  ex- 
tremely curious  gallery  of  inscriptions,  partly  heathen, 
partly  belonging  to  the  early  Christians.  There  is  a 
small  collection  of  Egyptian  monuments,  begun  by 
Pius  VII.  in  1819 ;  and  an  Etruscan  museum  has  been 
opened  by  Gregory  XVI.  The  whole  number  of  antiques 
in  the  Vatican  falls  little  short  of  4000,  without  reckon- 
ing the  inscriptions,  which  amount  to  upwards  of  3000. 
The  Museum  of  the  Capitol,  founded  by  Clement  XII., 
with  which  may  be  classed  the  collection  in  the  Palazzo 
de'  Conservatori  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  square,  is 
immeasurably  inferior  both  in  extent  and  value.  It, 
however,  contains  several  masterpieces,  and  its  chief  im- 
portance in  other  respects  consists  in  its  collection  of 
portrait-busts  and  statues. 

The  Private  Galleries  in  Rome  are  now  lamentably 
fallen.  The  collection  of  the  Villa  Albani  still  contains 
many  interesting  monuments,  but  most  of  its  treasures 
are  to  be  sought  at  Munich  and  in  the  Lou\Te.  In  the 
latter  museum  also  is  the  first  and  most  famous  collec- 
tion of  the  Villa  Borghese ;  and  that  which  has  been  since 
formed  is  of  far  inferior  worth.  The  Famese  gallery 
has  been  transferred  to  Naples,  and  that  of  the  Villa  de' 
Medici  to  Florence.  The  antiques  of  the  Barberini 
Palace  are  chiefly  in  England  and  at  Munich ;  those  of 
the  INIattei  Palace  and  Villa,  and  the  Villa  Negroni,  are 
principally  in  the  Vatican  ;  and  those  of  the  celebrated 
Giustiniani  Palace  are  scattered  over  all  Europe.  The 
Villa  Ludovisi  possesses  a  few  sculptures  universally 
acknowledged  as  masterpieces. 

The  Ducal  Gallery  of  Florence,  contained  in  the  build- 
ing Degli  Ufizj,  is  scarcely  less  rich  in  classical  sculp- 
ture than  in  modem  painting.  Its  best  antiques  are  the 
statues  of  the  Roman  Villa  Medici,  which  include  several 
works  of  the  very  highest  excellence.     Its  bronzes  and 


TILL  THE  ACCESSION  OF  CONSTANTINE.         217 

vases  are  also  valuable,  its  sarcophagi  and  busts,  though 
less  so,  are  nevertheless  interesting,  and  its  collection  of 
Etruscan  monuments  is  large  and  increasing. 

The  Royal  Gallery  of  Naples,  called  the  Museo  Bor- 
bonico,  embraces  several  extremely  precious  depart- 
ments. Its  splendid  collection  of  marbles  amounts  to 
more  than  500  pieces.  Its  bronzes  and  bas-reliefs 
are  also  very  important,  and  it  possesses  a  small  Egyp- 
tian museum.  The  Borgia,  Albani,  and  other  galleries, 
have  contributed,  -with  the  Farnese,  to  enrich  it ;  and 
it  has  received  immense  accessions  from  excavations 
both  in  Magna  Grsecia  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
city,  of  which  the  most  celebrated  and  productive 
are  those  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  To  these 
two  towns  it  owes  its  unequalled  collection  of  about 
1600  antique  paintings,  which,  having  been  skilfully  de- 
tached from  the  walls  of  the  disinterred  buildings,  are 
preserved  under  cover  in  the  halls  of  the  museum. 

In  Sicily,  Palermo  and  Catania  contain  some  private 
collections  of  antiques,  and  several  towns  in  Italy  pos- 
sess public  galleries  of  moderate  extent  and  worth.  The 
Royal  Museum  of  Turin,  established  under  the  direction 
of  Maffei,  contains  a  few  good  Grecian  and  Roman 
marbles,  a  considerable  number  of  inscriptions,  and  an 
excellent  Egyptian  department,  in  which  has  been  in- 
corporated the  first  of  Drovetti's  well  known  collections. 
At  Brescia  the  recent  discovery  of  an  ancient  temple  has 
given  interest  to  the  formation  of  a  museum  ;  and  that  of 
Verona,  although  containing  little  except  inscriptions, 
derives  fame  from  Maffei  its  founder  and  historian.  The 
collections  of  Venice,  consisting  partly  of  antiques  found 
in  her  provinces,  partly  of  works  from  Greece,  are  com- 
paratively insignificant ;  and,  besides  the  Public  Gallery 
in  the  library  of  St  ]\Iark,  the  most  remarkable  pieces 
are  the  four  Bronze  Horses,  which,  however,  are  more 
noted  for  their  adventures  and  undoubted  antiquity 
than  for  their  plastic  merit.  Brought  by  the  Roman 
general  Mummius  from  Corinth  on  its  capture,  they  were 
removed  by  Constantine  from  Rome  to  his  Hippodrome 


218  ART  IN  ITALY  FROM  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GREECE.  <fec 

at  Byzantmm.  In  1204,  when  the  soldiers  of  the 
fourth  Crusade  turned  against  their  Christian  allies  in 
the  east  those  arms  which  had  been  consecrated  to  win 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  from  the  infidels,  these  renowned 
figures  were,  in  the  sack  of  Constantinople,  appropriated 
by  the  Venetians,  and  sent  to  decorate  the  metropolitan 
church  of  their  island-city.  They  were  next  seized, 
like  so  many  other  works  of  art  in  Italy,  by  the  French 
invaders  of  1797,  and  were  exposed  for  several  years  on 
a  triumphal  arch  of  Napoleon  in  Paris.  They  were 
restored,  however,  in  1815,  and  now  again  crown  the 
great  gate  of  the  Venetian  cathedral. 


THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ROME,  &c       219 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Ancient  Topography  of  Borne  and  Latium. 

I.  Ancient  Rome  :  Position  and  Aspect — General  View  of 
the  City — Monuments  of  the  Kings  —  The  Rampart  — 
The  Tunnel— The  Dungeon— Monuments  of  the  Republic 
—Tombs— The  Circus— The  Capitoline  Rock— T/ie  Roman 
Forum  and  Sacred  Way — Ruins  covering  the  Republican  Forum 
— Its  probable  Position — The  Palatine  Mount— The  Sacred 
Way — Monuments  of  the  Empire — The  Augustan  Period 
— Ruins  on  the  Palatine — On  the  Campus  Martius — Tombs — 
The  Pantheon — The  Hill  of  Gardens — iVero— His  Conflagra- 
tion and  New  City — Ijater  Emperors — The  Baths  of  Titus — 
The  Colosseum — Trajan's  Forum — Hadrian's  Bridge  and  Tomb 
— Monuments  of  the  Dechne — Population  of  Rome. — II.  An- 
cient Latium  :  Aspect — Monuments  near  Rome — Aqueducts 
— Highways — Monuments  of  the  Kings — Latian  Scenes  of  the 
jEneid—i:he  Tiber  Banks— Ostia— The  Island— The  Port- 
Ruins  in  the  Forest — Laurentura — Lavinium — The  Stream 
Numicus — Ardea — The  Folscian  Coast — Antium— Astura — 
The  Isle  of  Circe— Anxur— The  Pontine  Marshes— The  Hills 
— The  Ausonian  District — The  Csecuban  Hills— Towns — The 
Volscian  Froyitier — Arpinum —  The  Hernician  District — Cyclo- 
pean Ruing — The  Alhan  Mountains — Tusculum — The  Mounts 
— The  Lakes — T7ie  Prcenestine  Mountains — Praeneste — Tibur. 

ANCIENT  ROME. 
The  district  in  which  Rome  lies,  partly  included  within 
the  ancient  Latium  and  partly  in  Etruria,  is  now  called 
by  foreigners  the  Campagna,  and  by  the  natives  the 
Agro  Romano.  It  is  an  undulating  plain,  which, 
reckoned  from  Civita  Vecchia  to  Terracina,  is  about  a 
hundred  miles  long  ;  while  its  breadth  nowhere  exceeds 
forty  mUes,  and  is  m  most  places  considerably  less.   The 


220  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

sea  is  its  boundary  on  the  south-west.  On  the  north  it  is 
partly  enclosed  by  the  low  hills  of  La  Tolfa  behind  Civita 
Vecchia ;  and  farther  eastward,  in  the  same  quarter, 
the  isolated  Mount  San  Oreste,  which  is  the  ancient 
Soracte,  rises  near  the  valley  of  the  Tiber.  Beyond  that 
river  the  north-eastern  side  of  the  plain  is  bounded  by  the 
lofty  range  of  the  Sabine  mountains,  which  approach 
nearest  to  the  city  at  Tibur  and  Praeneste,  and  are  an  off- 
set of  the  great  Apennine  chain.  Southward  from  Prse- 
neste  the  high-lying  valley  of  the  Hernici,  continuing 
the  boundary,  separates  the  Sabine  heights  from  the 
group  of  mountains  anciently  inhabited  by  the  Volscians. 
These  lie  nearly  north  and  south,  and,  dipping  into  the 
MediteiTanean  at  Terracina,  hem  in  between  them  and 
the  sea  the  narrow  Pontine  Marshes,  which  compose  the 
most  southerly  division  of  the  Campagna. 

From  the  modem  Tower  of  the  Capitol  we  com- 
mand a  prospect  uniting,  in  an  unexampled  degree, 
the  charm  of  a  magnificent  landscape  with  that  which 
springs  from  historical  associations.  Through  the  cloud- 
less and  transparent  atmosphere  a  large  part  of  the 
Latian  plain  is  visible,  though  some  of  its  nearest  fea- 
tures have  a  prominence  wliich  hides  the  more  distant. 
Its  luxuriant  pasturages  and  its  thickets  of  brushwood 
fade  away,  on  one  side,  into  the  faint  line  of  the  distant 
sea,  and  rise  on  the  other  into  the  stately  amphitheatre  of 
the  mountains,  steep  and  lofty,  yet  green  to  their  toj)s, 
studded  on  their  sides  with  towns  and  villages,  and 
towards  their  southern  extremity  clothed  with  beautiful 
woods.  The  Tiber,  stained  to  a  deep  yellow  by  the 
fertilizing  soil  which  it  has  washed  away  from  its  banks 
after  entering  the  Umbrian  and  Etruscan  vales,  glitters 
like  a  belt  of  gold  along  the  plain,  in  the  sunshine  that 
irradiates  with  Italian  clearness  the  sward,  the  scattered 
trees,  and  the  shadowy  hills. 

But  we  are  attracted  yet  more  forcibly  towards  the 
objects  which  present  themselves  in  our  close  neigh- 
bourhood,— the  fallen  ruins  of  the  city  of  the  Con- 
;  uls  and  Caesars,  the  domes,  palaces,  and  streets,  of  the 


ivMCIEMT  WMM: 


5  -  i  i  ^1 1  "^  I  s  rl  1 1 1! 


FTTBI.lSaED    B?"  OLIVER  Jc  BlTYTl.  EDINBURGH: 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  221 

city  of  the  Popes.  On  the  north  and  west,  immediately 
beyond  the  Tiber,  the  horizon  is  bounded  by  the  Jani- 
culan  Mount  and  Monte  Mario,  crested  with  villas  em- 
bosomed among  pines  and  other  evergreens.  The  former 
of  these  heights  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and 
the  Pincian  Mount  on  the  nearer  bank,  form  a  semi- 
circle', of  which  our  position  is  the  centre  ;  and  this 
area  includes  almost  the  whole  of  the  modern  town,  the 
greater  part  of  which,  indeed,  lies  between  us  and  the 
water's  edge,  covering  the  flat  surface  of  the  Campus 
Martius.  The  ancient  city  of  the  Seven  Hills,  begin- 
ning with  the  Capitoline  Mount,  amidst  whose  modern 
buildings  we  stand,  is  nearly  all  contained  in  the  re- 
maining semicircle,  enclosed  by  the  city  walls.  Almost 
every  spot  of  it  is  desert :  piles  of  shattered  architecture 
rise  amidst  vineyards  and  rural  lanes,  exhibiting  no 
token  of  habitation  except  some  mouldering  convents, 
villas,  and  cottages.  But  even  the  reign  of  destruction 
and  decay  has  not  quite  obliterated  the  traces  of  Roman 
greatness. 

At  our  feet,  and  directly  in  front  of  us,  extend,  amidst 
green  turf  sprinkled  with  trees,  the  Forum  and  the  Sacred 
Way,  on  which  we  may  fix  our  eye  as  a  guiding  line. 
Their  triumphal  arches  and  some  splendid  columns  of 
their  imperial  temples  are  still  erect,  while,  beyond  the 
imposing  vaults  of  Constantine's  Basilica,  the  perspective 
of  ruins  is  closed  by  the  kingly  mass  of  the  Colosseum. 
On  the  right,  this  scene  of  perished  grandeur  is  hedged 
by  the  Palatine  IMount,  the  seat  of  the  earliest  settlement 
that  bore  the  name  of  Rome,  and  now  encumbered  by 
the  mighty  terraces  and  prostrate  fragments  of  the  Palace 
of  the  Caesars,  and  by  the  cypresses,  the  flowers,  and  the 
weeds  of  neglected  gardens.  Still  farther  to  the  right 
the  rocky  Aventine  Hill  rises  from  the  river,  steep,  bare, 
and  solitary,  and  surmounted  by  its  secluded  convent. 
Continuing  the  line  of  the  Sacred  Way  and  Colosseum  till 
the  eye  reaches  the  city- wall,  we  see  the  church  of  St 
John  Lateran  closing  the  vista.  The  statued  front  of  this 
edifice  marks  the  extremity  of  the  desolate  Cselian  Mount, 


222  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

which,  thence  proceeding  towards  our  station,  commu- 
nicates with  the  Palatine  and  Aventine.  On  the  left  of 
the  Sacred  Way  and  Colosseum  lie  the  Esquiline,  Vimi- 
nal,  and  Quirinal  Hills.  The  first  of  these,  which  is 
the  most  distant,  is  a  gentle  eminence,  almost  unin- 
hahited,  on  which  we  may  distiaguish  the  vaults  of  the 
palace  of  Titus.  The  flattish  surface  of  the  Viminai, 
which  comes  next,  may  be  traced  among  the  extreme 
buildings  of  the  modern  city ;  and  still  nearer  us  the 
palace  and  gardens  of  the  Pope  crown  the  heights  of 
the  thickly-peopled  Quirinal. 

Accumulated  soil  and  rubbish  have  choked  up  the 
Forum  to  a  depth  of  many  feet,  which  may  be  estimated 
by  a  glance  at  the  few  monuments  excavated  to  their 
bases ;  and  similar  vicissitudes  have  softened  the  aspect  of 
those  nigged  mounts,  amidst  whose  thickets  of  osiers 
and  forests  of  oak  and  beech  the  dwellings  of  infant 
Rome  were  raised.  To  recall  the  primeval  aspect  of  the 
spot,  we  must  also  figui-e  a  little  lake  in  the  deep  valley 
between  the  Capitoline  and  Palatine  Hills,  and  another 
between  the  latter  and  the  Aventine.  In  time  these 
tarns  were  converted  into  marshes,  and  the  most  ancient 
ruin  which  remains  to  us  was  designed  for  carrying  off 
their  waters.  The  two  valleys  were  drained, — the  woods 
that  overhung  them  disappeared,  unless  where  sacred 
groves  remained  encii'cling  the  shrines  of  divinities, — the 
clusters  of  buildings  grew  larger  and  more  numerous,  and 
the  steep  acclivities,  fortified  in  several  places  by  earthen 
mounds  or  walls  of  stone,  became  the  ramparts  of  the 
fastness. 

The  Latin  settlement  on  the  Palatine,  whose  founda- 
tion is  ascribed  to  Romulus,  speedily  united  with  the 
Sabine  colony  of  Tatius,  covering  the  Capitoline  and  the 
Quirinal  ;*  and  after  this  event  the  joint  town  spread 
over  the  neighbouring  eminences  by  a  progress  which  we 

*  See  vol.  i.  book  ii.  of  the  Beschreibung  der  Stadt  Rom,— a 
work  already  described,  which,  good  in  every  section,  is  in  its 
ancient  topography  of  the  city  altogether  unrivalled. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  223 

need  not  specifically  trace,  till  we  find  all  tlie  Seven 
Hills  embraced  within  a  fortification  which  the  legendary 
history  ascribes  to  Servius  TuUius.  In  the  strongest 
quarters  a  simple  wall  seems  to  have  been  erected, 
which  naturally  disappeared  without  leaving  any  visible 
remains  ;  but  along  the  noiih- eastern  side  of  the  Quirinal, 
where  the  hill  rose  from  the  plain  with  a  very  gradual 
slope,  the  defence  was  formed  for  nearly  a  mile  by  the 
celebrated  mound  called  the  Agger  of  Servius,  which 
is  described  as  ha\'ing  been  fifty  feet  iu  breadth,  and 
fenced  by  a  ditch  at  least  an  hundred  feet  wide  by 
thirty  in  depth.  Of  tliis  remarkable  work  some  striking 
vestiges  may  still  be  seen  in  the  grounds  of  the  Villa 
Negroni,  and  in  those  of  the  Villa  Barberini,  in  which 
latter,  also,  is  the  site  of  the  Campus  Sceleratus,  where 
the  unchaste  Vestal  Virgms,  like  Christian  nuns  in  the 
middle  ages,  were  buried  alive.  The  ch'cumference  of 
the  Servian  town  was  about  six  miles. 

With  the  increasing  power  of  the  republic  the  limits 
of  Rome  kept  pace.  The  suburb  of  the  Campus  Mar- 
tius,  in  particular,  was  gradually  covered  with  public 
buUdings,  and  became  in  the  tune  of  Augustus  the  most 
magnificent  quarter  of  the  most  splendid  city  on  earth. 
In  the  reigns  of  succeeding  emperors,  if  the  population 
did  not  increase,  the  edifices  at  least  stretched  out  in 
more  than  one  direction  many  furlongs  into  the  plain. 
The  ancient  walls  were  lost  among  the  new  streets,  but 
no  repair  or  extension  of  them  was  ever  contemplated. 
Rome  had  no  enemy  to  dread,  for  all  the  nations  of  the 
world  were  her  slaves.  At  length,  nearly  a  thousand  3-ears 
after  the  supposed  date  of  the  first  fortifications,  the 
Emperor  Aurelian  (a.  d.  271)  commenced  the  erection 
of  a  new  city-wall,  which  was  completed  by  Probus  five 
years  afterwards.  Repeated  restorations  have  taken 
place  from  the  days  of  Honorius  and  Belisarius  down 
to  those  of  Leo  XII.,  and  few  portions  of  the  lofty 
rampart  which,  twelve  English  miles  in  compass,*  now 

*  Hobhouse's  Illustrations  of  Childe  Harold,  p.  182. 


224  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

encircles  Rome,  can  be  presumed  to  belong  to  the  time  of 
its  original  founders  ;  though  the  circuit  which  the  walls 
at  present  surround  is  substantially  the  same  they  en- 
closed under  Aurelian,  no  material  alteration  having 
been  made  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber. ^  On  the 
other  bank,  these  walls  defended,  like  a  little  separate 
town,  a  part  of  the  Janiculan  Mount,  comprehended 
within  the  modem  quarter  called  the  Trastevere  ;  but 
the  Vatican  Hill  with  its  plain  continued  to  be  excluded. 
Servius  Tullius  is  said  to  have  divided  his  town  into 
four  regions,  and  no  new  division  has  been  traced  till  the 
time  of  Augustus.  This  prince,  as  we  have  seen  in 
another  place,  established  a  system  of  police,  according 
to  w^hich  the  city  contained  fourteen  Regions,  embracing 
the  whole  extent  then  built  upon,  both  w^ithout  and 
within  the  Servian  wall.  It  is  impossible  to  determine 
exactly  the  boundaries  of  the  district  thus  partitioned  ; 
but  the  measurement  under  Vespasian,  as  reported  by 
Pliny,  gives  a  circuit  of  thirteen  Roman  miles,  which 
differs  little  from  the  modern  lines  Avithin  the  ramparts. 
On  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber,  the  Campus  Martins  and 
Pincian  Mount  were  within  the  boimdaries  ;  and  on  the 


*  The  dream  of  Vopiscus,  adopted  in  the  present  day  by  the 
Italian  Professor  Nibby,  that  Aurelian's  wall  embraced  a  circum- 
ference of  fifty  miles,   is  fellow  to  the  vision  of  Justus  Lipsius, 

who  pave  the  Augustan  city  a  populanon  of  eight  millions Rome 

has  now  sixteen  gates,  of  which  four  are  shut  up  :  the  existing 
walls  are  crested  by  numerous  towers,  and  their  height  outside  is 
about  fifty  feet,  but  inside  little  more  than  half.  They  are 
strengthened  internally  almost  throughout  by  buttresses,  support- 
ing a  continuous  arcade.  For  details  as  to  the  walls,  gates,  and 
ancient  divisions,  consult  the  Beschreibung,  vol.  i.  book  ii.  (with 
its  comparative  table),  and  book  iv. ;  Nibby's  Treatise  on  the 
"Walls,  or  his  edition  of  Nardini ;  Burton's  Description  of  the 
Antiquities  of  Rome,  2  vols,  182S ;  or  IJurgess'  Topography  and 
Antiquities  of  Rome,  2  vols,  1831. — The  annexed  ]Map,  besides 
indicating  the  principal  ancient  monuments,  gives  Aurelian's  Walls 
with  their  Gates,  and,  within  these,  marks  the  circuit  of  the  Ram- 
part of  Servius.  In  regard  to  this  oldest  fortification,  however, 
the  line  at  many  places  is  very  doubtful ;  and  our  IMap,  chiefly 
foUowmg  Bunsen,  will  therefore  be  found  to  differ  in  several  points 
from  the  opinions  prevalent  among  the  English  topographers. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  225 

other  bank  were  included  not  only  the  -walled  Janiciilan 
quarter,  but  that  of  the  Vatican  Mount  and  its  plain. 

In  tracing-  the  vestiges  of  Roman  magnificence,  we 
must  here  be  content  to  abandon  all  attempts  at  any 
thing  like  a  complete  enumeration  of  monuments.  Our 
purpose  will  be  served  by  a  selection  of  tliose  which  best 
illustrate  the  history  of  the  people ;  and  in  describing 
these  we  shall  gain  several  advantages  by  following, 
with  few  exceptions,  a  chronological  order. 

The  western  and  northern  declivities  of  the  Palatine 
present  the  chief  scene  of  those  poetical  legends  which 
glorify  the  birth  of  the  city  ;  but  the  grove  and  foun- 
tain of  the  Lupercal,  the  Ruminal  fig-tree,  the  altar  of 
Hercules,  and  the  lakes  of  Curtius  and  Juturna,  had 
vanished  even  before  the  times  of  the  empire ;  and  we 
smile  without  displeasure  at  the  tradition  still  current,* 
which  calls  a  hollow  in  the  Aveutuie  cliffs  the  cave  of 
the  robber  Cacus. 

In  the  period  of  the  Roman  kings  were  executed 
several  stupendous  undertakings,  of  which  only  two 
now  offer  remains  indubitably  genuine.  T]ie  vestiges 
of  one  of  these,  the  Servian  rampart,  have  been  already 
noticed  :  the  ruins  of  the  other, — the  Cloaca  iMaxi- 
ma,  or  subterranean  tunnel  designed  for  draining  the 
valleys  at  the  foot  of  the  Palatine, — rank  among  the 
most  remarkable  monuments  of  antiquity,  from  their 
impressive  massiveness  of  construction,  and  their  singu- 
larly perfect  preservation  after  the  lapse  of  twenty-four 
centuries.  The  part  which  can  yet  be  traced  runs  from 
the  old  Velabrum  to  the  river's  bank,  and  presents  a 
vault  fourteen  feet  in  width  and  as  many  in  height, 
formed  by  a  triple  course  of  arches,  composed  of  massy 
blocks  chiefly  of  peperine,  strengthened  with  masses  of 
travertine,  and  exliibiting  in  some  places  substructions 
of  tufo.  A  stream  still  flows  through  it,  whose  waters 
probably  issue  from  the  ancient  fountain  of  Juturna. 
As  the  republican  and  imperial  city  increased,  the  sub- 

VOL.  I.  o 


226  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

ordinate  sewers  from  several  quarters  of  it  were  made 
to  discharge  themselves  into  this  passage,  which  in  its 
original  state,  commencing  near  the  Forum,  appears  to 
have  extended  not  less  than  a  thousand  feet.  The  Mamer- 
tine  Prison  of  the  first  kings,  to  which  a  lower  dungeon 
was  added  hy  Servius  Tullius,  may  still  he  visited 
heneath  the  floor  of  the  little  church  of  San  Giuseppe, 
on  the  declivity  of  the  Capitoline  Hill,  hehind  the  arch  of 
Severus.  From  the  upper  chamber,  hewn  out  of  the 
tufo  rock,  and  faced  with  uncemented  blocks  of  peperine, 
a  circular  aperture  communicates  with  the  lower  cell, 
and  was  the  avenue  by  which  persons  condemned  to 
death  were  thrust  into  this  dreariest  place  of  punish- 
ment. It  is  not  quite  certain,  however,  that  the  existing 
remains  even  of  the  under  vault  belong  to  the  earliest 
period  of  these  prisons  ;*  and  the  portion  now  accessible 
can  have  constituted  only  a  small  part  of  those  state- 
dungeons  which  witnessed  the  execution  of  Jugurtha, 
of  Catiline's  accomplices,  and  of  Sejanus,  and  where,  if 
we  could  allow  om-selves  to  believe  the  doubtful  tradi- 
tion still  commemorated  on  the  spot,  St  Peter  and  St 
Paul  were  also  imprisoned. 

In  the  sack  of  the  city  by  the  Gauls  the  edifices  of  its 
earlier  republican  era  perished,  and  Rome  had  to  be 
built  anew. 

The  national  works  of  the  commonwealth  after  this 
epoch  were  numerous  and  extensive.  Several  aqueducts 
introduced  streams  of  water  for  general  use ;  the  pon- 
derous Appian  Way  served  as  a  model  for  the  cause- 
wayed Roman  roads  ;  and  streets  of  tombs  on  this  and 
other  highways  in  the  neighbourhood  received  genera- 
tion after  generation  of  the  citizens.  Before  the  sup- 
pression of  the  republic  we  can  enumerate  with  certainty 
upwards  of  fifty  tem.ples.  Many  honorary  monuments 
arose ;  numerous  porticos  in  diff'erent  places  served  either 
for  business  or  recreation  ;  several  public  markets  had 

*  Bcschreibung  der  Stadt  Rom,  vol.  i.  p.  151. 


ROiME  AiND  LATIUM.  227 

been  formed ;  seven  of  the  buildings  called  Basilica  had 
been  constructed,  each  of  which  was  used  at  once  as  a 
court  of  justice  and  a  mercantile  exchange  ;  three  Curiaf? 
had  been  built  for  the  meetings  of  public  bodies ;  and 
for  the  general  amusement  there  were  four  permanent 
theatres,  besides  the  temporary  theatres  and  amphi- 
theatre of  Curio  and  Julius  Caesar ;  while  the  ancient 
Circus  Maximus  had  been  renovated,  and  three  other 
structures  of  the  same  kind  erected. 

It  is  melancholy  to  see  how  insignificant  a  portion  of 
these  works  has  survived  the  alterations  executed  by  the 
emperors  and  the  popes,  and  the  devastations  caused 
by  wars  and  the  lapse  of  ages. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Capitoline  Hill,  among  modern  houses 
of  tlie  lowest  order,  the  Tomb  of  Bibulus,  placed  within 
the  city  in  violation  of  the  common  rule,  can  be  identi- 
fied as  a  republican  ruin  ;  but  the  chief  remains  of  this 
sort  lie  in  the  quarter  where,  from  the  modern  gate  of  St 
Sebastian,  the  Appian  Way  passes  out  into  the  solitary 
plain.  For  a  distance  of  about  five  miles  the  road  is 
edged  on  both  sides  by  ancient  tombs.  The  entrance  to 
the  Servian  town,  however,  lay  considerably  within  the 
modem  walls ;  and  before  we  reach  the  Porta  San  Se- 
bastiano,  in  our  progress  outwards,  we  find  this  street  of 
graves  to  begin  vrith  the  venerable  Sepulchre  of  the  Sci- 
pios.  In  one  of  the  most  sequestered  spots  we  enter  a 
vineyard,  where,  on  the  summit  of  a  mound  overgrown 
with  shrubs  and  weeds,  stands  a  mean  dwelling-house  ; 
and  at  the  foot  of  the  eminence,  a  recent  opening  admits 
us  to  a  subterranean  vault  of  peperine,  which,  from  in- 
scriptions found  within  it  in  1G16  and  1780,  is  identified 
beyond  a  doubt  as  the  burying-place  of  the  heroic  Corne- 
lian family.  Six  sarcophagi  were  discovered  in  the 
chambers,  with  indications  of  a  second  story  above  that 
which  has  been  opened,  and  remains  also  of  a  brick 
building  of  several  apartments,  which  appears  to  have 
been  constructed  as  an  additional  cemetery  in  the  times  of 
the  emperors.  Copies  of  the  epitaphs  have  been  placed  on 
the  walls  ;  and  in  the  IVIuseum  of  the  Vatican  are  seen  the 


228  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

original  sarcophagi  and  inscriptions,  commemorating  two 
Scipios  from  the  fifth  century  of  the  city,*  one  from  the 
sixth,  and  four  from  the  seventh.  But  the  greatest  of 
the  race,  Scipio  Africanus  the  elder,  did  not  lay  his  bones 
beside  those  of  his  fathers ;  nor  is  there  any  sufficient 
ground  for  the  opinion  which  considers  a  small  laurelled 
bust  discovered  in  the  tomb,  as  representing  the  poet 
Ennius,  the  friend  of  the  younger  Afi'icanus. 

Without  the  gate  several  tombs  belong  to  the  republi* 
can  period,  the  most  remarkable  being  the  celebrated 
edifice  which  was  the  grave  of  Cecilia  Metella,  the  wife 
of  Crassus.  This  relic  of  the  last  days  of  the  common- 
wealth contrasts  strikingly  with  the  unobtrusive  simpli- 
city of  the  older  sepulchre  of  the  Scipios.  It  consists  of 
a  round  tower,  about  sixty-four  feet  in  diameter,  re- 
gularly constructed,  and  faced  with  the  yellow  traver- 
tine stone.  It  is  oniamented  with  a  festooned  frieze  and 
cornice,  and  rests  on  a  ponderous  square  basement.  Its 
strong  position  on  an  eminence  recommended  it  in  the 
middle  ages  to  the  honour  of  serving,  like  so  many  others 
of  the  ancient  monuments,  as  a  fortress  of  the  Roman 
barons  ;  and  the  walls  of  tlie  Gaetani  still  join  the  clas- 
sical parts  of  the  structure.  Another  tomb  in  the  last 
stage  of  ruin,  two  miles  beyond  the  tower  of  Metella, 
has  been  ascertained  by  an  inscription  which  Canova 
discovered  in  1808,  to  be  the  sepulchre  of  the  Servilian 
family,  one  of  those  austere  republican  buildmgs  to 
which,  with  the  tomb  of  the  Scipios,  Cicero  proudly 
points,  as  a  theme  of  reflection  fitted  to  protect  the  livmg 
from  their  natural  fear  of  annihilation  by  death.f 

Of  the  republican  Temples  the  antiquaries  can  point 
out  only  the  following,  and  that  with  a  hesitation  which 
is  but  too  justifiable  : — thesmall  temple  of  FortunaVirilis, 

*  Lucius  Scipio  Barbatus  (Consul  a.  u.  456),  '*  A  brave  man 
and  wise,"  and  his  son  Lucius  (Consul  494),  whose  epitaph  pro- 
claims him  "  The  best  of  Rome's  most  worthy  citizens."  none. 

OINO.    PLOIKVME.    CONSENTIONT.     R.   BUONORO.    OPTVMO.    FVISE. 

viRO.:  that  is,  in  the  later  Roman  spelling,  "  Hunc  unum  plu- 
rimi  consentiunt  Romani  bonorum  optimum  fuisse  virum." 
+  Cic.  Quaestion,  Tusculan.  lib.  i.  cap,  7. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  229 

now  transformed  into  the  church  of  Santa  I\Iaria  Egizi- 
aca, — the  temples  of  Juno  ]\Iatuta,  Hope,  and  Piety, 
hidden  in  the  walls  of  San  Nicola  in  Carcere,^' — and, 
perhaps,  in  the  cloisters  of  the  Somaschi,  four  broken 
pillars  of  the  temple  of  Hercules  Gustos,  the  guardian  of 
the  Circus  Flaminius.t 

Of  the  Circus  IMaxunus  we  can  still  trace  the  shape, 
in  the  hollow  between  the  Palatine  and  Aventine,  but 
the  structure  has  entirely  disappeared  ;  and  the  Flaminian 
Circus  is  now  completely  covered  by  the  buildings  of  the 
modern  city,  around  the  church  of  Santa  Caterina  de' 
Funari,  while  the  Piazza  Barberini  is  supposed  to  oc- 
cupy the  site  of  the  Circus  of  Flora.  Of  the  Theatre  of 
Pompey,  the  foundation  arches  may  be  seen  in  the  cellars 
and  stables  of  the  Palazzo  Pio  ;  and  it  is  only  necessary 
to  name  some  remnants  of  the  breastwork  of  the  ancient 
Quay,  and  of  similar  erections  on  the  Island  in  the  river. 

The  substructions  on  the  Capitolinc  Mount  are  almost 
the  only  other  architectural  vestiges  of  the  republic. 
These  ruins  consist,  first,  of  about  eighty  feet  of  peperine 
wall,  under  the  Palazzo  Caffarelli,  on  the  southern  sum- 
mit of  the  hill,  Avhere  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus 
is  generally  believed  to  have  stood  ;  and,  secondly,  of 
the  vaults  under  the  Senator's  Palace  on  the  Inter- 
montium,  or  flat  between  the  Uxo  summits,  the  exter- 
nal wall  of  these  vaults  being  visible  from  the  Forum, 
and  being  ascertained  by  an  inscription  to  have  belonged 
to  the  Tabularium  or  Record-office.  On  the  northern 
summit  stands  the  Franciscan  Church  of  Ara  Cell, 
where  once  stood  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Feretrius  ;  but, 
unless  some  ancient  columns  in  the  nave  were  really 
found  on  the  spot,  there  exist  no  remains  of  the  original 
shrine.     While  these  fracrments  recall  to  us  the  citadel 


*  For  the  Temple  of  Piety, — which,  if  identified,  ascertains  the 
site  of  the  Decemviral  Prisons, — we  owe  gratitude  to  antiquarian 
zeal,  which  here  as  elsewhere  has  Hghted  the  flame  on  the  altar  of 
poetry  : — 

•  •  There  is  a  dungeon  in  whose  dim  drear  light 
What  do  I  gaze  on  ?   Nothing ' — Look  a^raia  I" 

•j-  Burgess'  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  116. 


230  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

of  Rome  and  of  the  world,  we  have  all  but  lost  the 
fatal  Tarpeian  Rock,  amidst  the  accumulated  rubbish 
which  has  gathered  about  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  the 
clusters  of  old  and  wretched  hovels  wliich  encumber  its 
southern  top.  However,  on  the  side  nearest  to  the  mo- 
dern city,  one  portion  of  the  rock  is  visible  ;  and  on 
the  opposite  side,  descending  through  the  houses  of  the 
Monte  Caprino,  we  can  overlook,  from  among  the  roses 
of  a  little  garden,  a  cliff  overhanghig  the  Forum,  full 
seventy  feet  in  height,  which  may  fairly  represent  the 
"  traitor's  leap."  One  is  glad  to  escape  from  the  peril- 
ous task  of  determining  to  which  of  the  two  summits 
belonged  one  or  both  of  the  titles  of  Citadel  and  Capitol, — 
Arx  et  Capitolium.  But  the  Asylum  of  Romulus  un- 
questionably occupied  the  intermediate  hollow,  now 
covered  by  Michel  Angelo's  splendid  square  of  palaces, 
the  approaches  to  which  have,  on  the  side  of  the  Campus 
Martins,  destroyed  the  original  steepness  of  the  ascent. 

But  must  we  abandon  the  topography  of  the  Republic 
without  having  discovered  any  vestige  of  the  Roman 
Forum  1  Our  real  knowledge  of  this  celebrated  spot 
may  be  nearly  summed  up  in  a  single  sentence.  Of 
its  republican  buildings  there  probably  is  not  one  stone 
standing  upon  another  ;  and  even  of  its  site  we  know 
only  this  :  that  a  space  may  be  pointed  out,  beneath  the 
Capitoline  and  Palatine  Mounts,  withm  which  it  un- 
deniably lay ;  but  we  can  neither  tell  with  precision 
what  portion  of  the  ground  it  occupied,  nor  can  we 
fix  with  certainty  more  than  one  or  two  of  its  bound- 
aries. The  spot  is  now  called  the  Campo  Vaccino  or  Cattle 
Field.  It  is  a  small  irreg-ular  plain,  raised  by  accumula- 
tions of  rubbish  above  the  ancient  pavement,  to  a  height 
which  is  nowhere  less  than  fifteen  feet,  and  in  some  places 
approaches  thirty.  An  avenue  of  trees  runs  obliquely 
along  the  area,  a  large  part  of  which  is  unenclosed 
ground,  clothed  with  green  sward,  from  which  a  few 
columns  and  other  imperial  ruins  rise  here  and  there  ; 
around  some  of  these  are  excavations,  still  in  progress. 


THE    ROMAN  FORUM  anil  its  VICINITY. 


,.. peace, 


^O/^X^^. 


PTJBT.TSKED    BY    OT.TVF.R   ft  -BOYD.  EDrNBTJRsiS. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  231 

forming  deep  unsightly  pits,  but  laying  bare  large  por- 
tions of  the  old  foundations ;  and  the  rest  of  the  space 
is  covered  by  other  relics  of  the  empire,  interspersed 
among  modern  churches  and  one  or  two  paltry  streets. 

In  passing,  however,  to  the  topography  of  Imperial 
Rome,  this  classical  hollow  may  properly  invite  a  de- 
viation from  strict  chronological  order.* 

Upon  that  declivity  of  the  Capitoline  Rock  which 
faces  the  Forum  are  several  interesting  monuments. 
The  Clivus  Asyli,  one  of  the  two  paths  which  led  up 
from  the  plain,  passed  the  Mamertine  Prison  at  1  on 
the  accompanying  map.  The  other  path,  the  Clivus 
Capitolinus,  which  was  a  part  of  the  Sacred  Way, 
passed  through  the  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus  at  2,  and 
may  be  conceived  as  slanting  up  the  hill  in  the  direction 
3,  3.  Of  the  three  celebrated  ruins  on  the  slope,  one 
only,  standing  at  4,  can  be  identified  with  certainty.  It 
presents  but  a  basement,  partly  covered  by  the  modern 
ascent,  and  belongs  to  an  imperial  Temple  of  Concord, 
which  rose  in  the  place  of  the  republican  shrine  so  cele- 
brated under  the  same  name.  The  three  fine  Corinthian 
columns  at  .5,  supporting  a  rich  entablature,  are  usually 
assigned  to  a  Temple  of  Jupiter  Tonans  ;  though  there 
are  better  grounds  for  Niebuhr's  opinion,  which  declares 
them  to  be  parts  of  the  Temple  of  Saturn.  There  is  more 
reason  for  doubt  as  to  the  tasteless  portico,  farther  down 
the  hill,  at  6,  which  has  been  oftenest  called  a  Temple 
of  Fortune,  but  more  recently  a  Temple  of  Vespasian. 

We  now  descend  into  the  plain,  the  tourney-place  of 
the  opposing  antiquaries,  in  whose  books  the  Roman 
Forum  has  several  times  shifted  its  situation.  The  earliest 

•  The  current  opinions  of  those  antiquaries  who  have  not  en- 
joyed the  benefit  of  the  recent  discoveries  are  best  represented  in 
Nibby's  Foro  Romano,  and  in  the  Seventh  Dissertation  of  Burgess' 
Rome.  The  results  of  the  partial  excavations  which,  within  the 
last  few  years,  have  been  so  wonderfully  successful,  are  stated 
minutely  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Beschreibung,  especially  in  its 
second  part,  published  in  1838.  The  accompanying  plan  of  this 
quarter  of  Rome,  in  its  modern  state,  will,  it  is  hoped,  make  the 
description  in  the  text  more  easily  intelligible. 


232  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

topographers,  after  the  revival  of  the  science,  consi- 
dered its  length  to  extend  from  the  Arch  of  Septimius 
Severus  to  the  Arch  of  Fabius,  now  destroyed,  which 
stood  in  front  of  the  space  afterwards  occupied  by  the 
Temple  of  Antoninus,  at  7.  But  in  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century  there  was  propounded  an  opinion, 
the  popular  one  at  the  present  day,  which  takes  that 
line  for  the  breadth  of  the  forum,  and  finds  its  other 
angles  at  the  church  of  San  Teodoro  (covering  the  site  of 
the  Temple  of  Romulus),  and  near  the  church  of  the 
Madonna  della  Consolazione.  The  space  enclosed  by  the 
lines  thus  terminated  is  a  rectangle  about  700  feet  by 
nearly  600.  Niebuhr,  however,  peremptorily  returned 
to  the  older  hypothesis  ;  and  Bunsen  has  most  skilfully 
turned  recent  discoveries  to  account,  in  developing  a 
theory  founded  on  this  suggestion  of  his  master. 

The  leading  peculiarity  of  Niebuhr's  view  is  this  ; — 
that  he  insists  on  our  considering  the  Comitium  of  the 
Republic  to  have  been,  not  a  building,  as  is  usually 
supposed,  but  merely  an  uncovered  space,  forming  a 
part  of  the  Forum,  but  separated  from  the  remainder 
by  dwarf-walls  or  other  barricades.  In  applying  this 
theory  to  the  ground,  Bunsen  founds  mainly  on  the 
assumption, — which  is  fully  warranted  by  the  proof, — 
that  a  flight  of  steps,  excavated  in  the  end  of  1834  in  the 
open  space  of  the  plain,  at  8  on  the  map,  belonged  to 
the  Basilica  Julia,  so  named  from  its  founder  the  Dictator. 
That  discovery,  indeed,  and  the  previous  uncovering  of 
the  Milliarium  Aureum  or  Golden  Milestone  of  Augustus, 
at  9,  are  invaluable  facts  for  those  who  study  the  anti- 
quities of  the  spot. 

We  must,  then,  according  to  our  guide,  consider  the 
Roman  Forum  as  an  oblong  area,  considerably  wider  at 
the  end  nearest  the  Capitol  than  at  the  other,  narrowing 
indeed  from  180  feet  to  about  110,  while  its  length  is 
about  600.  The  boundaries  are  laid  off  with  dotted  lines 
upon  the  plan.  Nearly  a  third  of  the  narrowest  part, 
farthest  from  the  rock,  was,  as  we  are  told,  the  Comi- 
tium ;  the  remainder,  separated  from  it  by  an  offshoot 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  233 

of  the  Sacred  Way,  was  the  Forum  in  its  most  confined 
sense,  the  ordinary  jjlace  of  meeting  for  the  plebeians. 

In  its  earliest  history,  under  the  kings,  this  classical 
spot  presented  an  open  space,  interrupted  by  nothing 
except  the  Ruminal  Fig-tree  and  those  other  monu- 
ments which  stood  in  the  Comitium  ;  and  round  it 
-were  the  porticoes  and  shops,  which  Livy  describes  the 
elder  Tarquinius  as  allowing  to  be  there  erected.  Those 
on  the  southern  side,  on  the  line  marked  10,  10,  were, 
according  to  Bunsen,  the  old  shops  (veteres  tabernae), 
among  which  we  must  seek  the  scene  of  Virginia's 
murder  ;  the  "nova?  tabernae"  extended  along  the  north 
side,  on  the  line  11,  12.  These  buildings  were  in  time 
renewed  and  ornamented,  and  at  length  made  room  for 
the  Basilicie,  the  first  of  which,  the  Basilica  Porcia,  was 
founded  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  of  the  city. 
The  Fulvia  came  next ;  the^milia  followed  ;  and  these 
two,  having  been  subjected  to  extensive  alterations,  came 
to  bear  jointly  the  name  of  the  latter.  The  ^Emilia  and 
Porcia  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  Forum  :  on  the 
south  side,  at  8,  rose  another  building  of  the  same  sort, 
the  Basilica  Sempronia.  But  between  the  Porcia  and 
the  Comitium,  nearly  at  the  spot  marked  12,  Bunsen 
supposes  the  Curia  Hostilia  to  have  been ;  while  he 
places  the  Temple  of  Vesta  on  the  opposite  side,  at  13, 
in  front  of  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  Liberatrice.  In 
the  period  now  spoken  of,  the  Rostra  stood,  according 
to  him,  at  one  end  of  the  Comitium,  about  the  point  14. 

In  the  year  698  the  Curia  Hostilia  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  and  Julius  Caesar  profited  by  the  accident  for 
transforming  the  place  into  a  new  and  more  splendid 
shape.  He  enabled  Paulus  -^railius  to  complete  the 
Basilica  which  bore  the  name  of  his  family  ;  and  he 
himself  founded  his  Basilica  Julia  on  the  site  of  the 
Sempronia,  transferring  the  Rostra  likewise  to  a  position 
in  front  of  his  new  building.  His  successor  executed 
another  of  his  plans,  the  erection  of  a  noble  hall  for  the 
senate  instead  of  that  which  had  perished  in  the  confla- 
gration ;  and  Bunsen  maintains  that  we  see  the  remains 
of  the  edifice  which  Augustus  so  constructed,  in  that 


234  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

massive  pile  of  brick  (15)  beliind  tlie  church  of  Santa 
Maria  Liberatrice,  which  the  antiquaries  more  com- 
monly refer  to  the  older  Curia.  In  connexion  with  this 
edifice,  also,  he  ingeniously  places  the  celebrated  Three 
Columns  of  marble,  which  occupy  (at  16  on  the  plan) 
the  most  conspicuous  position  in  the  open  space.  They 
are  singularly  fine  specimens  of  the  Corinthian  order, 
supporting  an  ornate  yet  well-proportioned  entablature  ; 
and  late  examinations  have  exliibited  them  as  belonging 
to  an  extensive  and  admirably-planned  building,  whose 
name,  date,  and  purpose  have  hardly  been  stated  alike 
by  any  two  antiquaries.*  Our  author  assigns  them  to  an 
edifice  built  by  Augustus,  which  was  styfed  sometimes 
the  Chalcidicum,  and  sometimes  a  Temple  of  Minerva, 
but  which,  at  all  events,  communicated  with  the  Curia 
of  Julius.  The  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  is  sup- 
posed by  Bunsen  to  have  stood  between  the  Three 
Columns  and  the  Basilica  Julia. 

The  Forum,  thus  for  the  second  time  built  by  Julius 
and  Augustus,  suffered  severely  in  Nero's  conflagration. 
Domitian  and  others  erected  new  edifices,  of  which  the 
Temple  of  Vespasian  and  that  of  Antoninus  are  the 
only  ones  that  have  left  remarkable  ruins  ;  and  we 
next  reach  a  period  in  which  the  corner  nearest  to  the 
Capitol  became  the  site  of  a  multitude  of  monuments. 
The  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus  is  the  most  conspicuous 
among  these  effbrts  of  decaying  art ;  another  (at  17  on 
the  plan)  is  the  "  nameless  column  with  a  buried  base," 
which,  no  longer  either  nameless  or  buried,  has  been 
proved,  by  the  inscription  on  its  pedestal,  to  have  been 
erected  in  the  year  of  grace  608,  in  honour  of  the  eastern 
usurper  Phocas,  having  been  stolen  for  that  purpose 
from  some  edifice  of  a  better  time.  Tliree  shapeless 
bases,  near  this  pillar,  belong  to  the  same  era ;  as  does 
also,  in  all  probability,  a  structure  somewhat  resembling 
the  Rostra,  which  may  be  observed  between  the  Arch  of 
Severus  and  the  Temple  of  Vespasian. 


•  See  Burgess'  Rome,  vol.  i.  note,  p.  356 ;  and  Dublin  Review, 
No.  IX. 


ROME  Ai\D  LATIDM.  235 

Here,  in  the  earliest  stage  of  the  dark  ages,  we  leave 
the  Roman  Forum  for  a  while,  to  observe  the  adjoining 
monuments  of  the  classical  times. 

No  light  is  throAvn  on  the  topography  or  arrange- 
ments of  the  Forum  Romanum  by  the  other  great 
Fora  which  lay  on  the  north  and  east  in  its  immediate 
neighbourhood.  The  Forum  of  Julius  Caesar  is  built 
over,  and  its  exact  site  not  well  ascertained ;  those  of 
Augustus  and  Nerva  have  left  some  noble  ruins,  but  their 
place,  choked  up  by  streets,  is  with  difficulty  distin- 
guishable ;  and  that  of  Trajan,  the  finest  of  all,  was 
intended  for  purposes  quite  different  from  those  that 
were  served  by  the  republican  prototype.  We  may, 
therefore,  without  in  the  mean  time  turning  aside  to 
these,  finish  our  survey  of  the  Campo  Vaccine. 

Proceeduig  from  the  site  of  the  Arch  of  Fabius  towards 
the  Colosseum,  we  leave  the  Forum,  and  find  ourselves 
on  the  Sacred  Way.  On  our  right  rises  the  Palatine 
Hill :  on  our  left  lie  several  ruins  of  much  magnifi- 
cence. We  first  encounter  the  circular  Temple  of  Re- 
mus, an  miperial  work,  which  is  now  formed  into  the 
vestibule  of  a  church,  dedicated  to  the  Saints  Cosmas 
and  Damian.  This  building  is  followed  by  one  of  the 
most  imposing  remnants  of  ancient  grandeur,  which  is 
usually  called  the  Temple  of  Peace  ;  but  is  really,  as 
has  been  clearly  established,  a  Basilica,  erected,  or  rather 
completed,  by  Constantine.  Three  huge  vaulted  roofs, 
fretted  with  coffers,  standing  side  by  side,  face  the  road ; 
and  recent  levellings,  laying  open  the  ground-plan  of  the 
edifice,  show  that  these  composed  one  side  of  a  rect- 
angular building  divided  into  three  aisles,  and  enclosing 
a  space  of  300  feet  by  230.  The  ascending  road  next 
leads  us  to  the  Arch  of  Titus,  the  oldest  and  most 
elegant  of  those  triumphal  edifices  now  remaining.  It 
possesses  an  especial  interest  as  having  been  erected  in 
commemoration  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  the  sacred  things 
of  whose  temple  are  still  seen  figured  on  its  frieze. 

Immediately  beyond  this  melancholy  monument  are 
the  i-uins  of  the  double  Temple  of  Venus  and  Rome, 


236       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

built,  and  even  planned,  by  Hadrian,  and  still  exhibit- 
ing, notwithstanding  the  criticism  for  which  the  im- 
perial artist  punished  the  architect  ApoUodorus  with 
death,  the  vestiges  of  an  excellent  plan,  and  of  great 
richness  of  execution.  On  a  rectangular  basement 
elevated  twenty-six  feet  above  the  surrounding  level, 
and  approached  by  broad  stau'cases  at  each  end,  was 
placed  an  inner  platform  raised  on  seven  marble  steps, 
and  supporting  the  temple,  round  which  ran  a  colon- 
nade 860  feet  in  length  by  175  in  width.  Within 
this  peristyle  rose  the  walls  of  the  cella,  whicli  was 
entered  at  each  end,  by  a  portico  of  marble  columns 
leading  into  a  vestibule.  The  building  was  divided  in 
the  midst  by  a  cross  wall,  and  facing  each  of  the  porti- 
cos was  a  vaulted  and  fretted  niche,  in  which  sat  re- 
spectively the  statues  of  the  two  divinities  to  whom  the 
fane  was  dedicated.  Excavations  have  discovered  very 
splendid  fragments,  and  allowed  the  plan  to  be  distinctly 
traced  ;  but  no  part  of  the  temple  remains  erect  except 
the  two  niches  and  portions  of  the  two  cellae.'" 

The  Sacred  Way  is  believed,  after  quitting  the  Forum 
at  the  Arch  of  Fabius,  to  have  passed  through  that 
of  Titus,  and  thence  to  the  fountain  called  the  Meta 
Sudans,  which  stands  in  front  of  the  Colosseum.  In  its 
course  from  this  last  point,  round  the  Palatine  and 
through  the  Circus  iMaximus,  it  assumed  the  title  of 
the  Via  Triumphalis,  from  the  processions  to  which  it 
was  dedicated. 

We  may  now  resume  our  historical  sketch  of  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  city. 

The  magnificence  of  Imperial  Rome  expanded  at  once 
under  its  first  emperor,  who,  with  equal  liberality, 
dedicated  the  public  wealth  and  his  own  private  fortune 
to  the  embellishment  of  his  metropolis,  while  his  example 
stimulated  several  of  the  leading  men  in  the  state,  parti- 

*  For  an  ingenious  and  instructive  restoration  of  this  temple  by 
Pardini,  an  Italian  architect,  see  Burgess'  Rome,  vol.  i.,  or  the 
Beschreibung,  vol.  iii.  part  1.,  and  its  plates. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  237 

cularly  Maecenas  and  the  enterprising  Agrippa.  Of  the 
edifices  of  the  Augustan  period,  we  still  see  very  remark- 
able remains,  including  some  of  the  finest  monuments  of 
the  city,  and  one  temple  the  most  admired  of  all. 

On  the  Palatine  Hill  Augustus  erected  the  earliest 
Palace  of  the  Caesars.  The  dwellings  of  Hortensius  the 
orator,  and  the  demagogue  Clodius,  together  with  Cicero's 
house  overlooking  the  Forum,  made  way  for  this  mag- 
nificent mansion,  with  its  temples,  porticos,  and  libraries. 
Of  a  Forum  designed  by  the  same  emperor,  between 
the  Roman  Forum  and  the  foot  of  the  Quirinal  Hill,, 
there  remain,  at  the  Arco  de'  Pantani,  600  or  600  feet 
of  a  lofty,  strong,  and  nicely  finished  wall,  with  columuKS 
supposed  to  have  belonged  to  a  temple  of  Mars  the 
Avenger,  constructed  within  the  area.  No  fewer  than 
eighty-five  republican  temples  were  rebuilt  during  the 
same  prince's  reign.  But  his  exertions  were  chiefly 
directed  to  the  embellishment  of  the  Campus  Martins  ; 
and  accordingly,  it  is  amidst  the  streets  of  the  Papal  city 
that  we  have  to  search  for  the  relics  of  his  time.  The 
fallen  ruins  which  filled  up  the  mterior  of  the  Theatre 
of  jMarcellus,  have  raised  huge  mounds  on  which  is  built 
the  Orsini  Palace  ;  and  of  the  external  walls,  converted 
into  a  fortress  in  the  twelfth  century,  there  still  stands  a 
portion  transformed  into  dirty  shops,  and  presenting,  to 
the  extent  of  eleven  arches,  both  stories  of  the  ancient 
elevation.  These  remains  have  excited  the  admiration 
of  architects :  the  Ionic  of  the  upper  story  is  positively 
good,  and  the  Doric  of  the  under  one  is  recognised  as  the 
best  specimen  of  the  indifferent  form  given  by  the  Ro- 
mans to  that  severe  order.*  The  Portico  of  Octavia  was 
one  of  the  most  splendid  of  the  Augustan  structures,  and 
became  a  treasure-house  of  ancient  art,  containing  many 
of  the  most  exquisite  paintings  and  statues  of  the  Greek 
artists.t  It  was  a  rectangular  peristyle,  entered  by  a 
magnificent  vestibule,  and  containing  two  fine  temples, 

*  Woods,  Letters  of  an  Architect,  vol.  i.  p.  351. 
t  Plinii  Historia  Naturalis,  Jib.  xxxiv.  cap.  6.     Lib,  xxxv.  cap. 
10.     Lib.  xxxvi.  cap,  5. 


238  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

besides  other  buildings.  Its  remains  stand  near  to  the 
theatre  of  Marcellus,  in  and  beside  the  modern  fish- 
market.  They  consist  chiefly  of  three  columns  of  the 
temple  of  Juno,  and  of  a  portion  of  the  vestibule,  which 
was  originally  formed  by  two  Corinthian  colonnades  of 
marble,  having  four  columns  and  two  pilasters  in  each, 
and  supporting  an  entablature  and  pediment.  Four  of 
the  columns  and  all  the  pilasters  are  still  erect,  with  a 
part  of  the  supported  members. 

The  vastness  which,  even  in  the  last  age  of  the  repub- 
lic, had  begun  to  distmguish  the  sepulchral  architecture 
of  Rome,  is  proved  to  have  subsisted  in  the  Augustan 
period  by  several  of  the  tombs  on  the  Appian  Way,  the 
most  remarkable  of  which,  the  Columbarium,  or  com- 
mon sepulchre  of  the  household  of  Livia,  has  been 
wantonly  destroyed  since  the  middle  of  last  century  ;* 
and  the  same  fact  is  attested  l:>y  that  huge  and  gloomy 
Pyramid  Avhich  is  built  up  in  the  city  wall,  near  the 
gate  of  St  Paul,  transmitting  to  us  the  name  of  the 
obscure  Roman  Caius  Cestius,  and  casting  its  shadow 
over  the  solitary  and  beautiful  burying-ground  of  the 
Protestants.  But  in  a  mean  quarter  of  the  modern  city 
we  find  the  Mausoleum  of  Augustus  himself,  now  a 
shapeless  heap  of  ruins,  the  interior  of  which  has  been 
converted  into  an  amphitheatre,  where  are  exhibited 
bull-fights,  fireworks,  horsemanship  and  rope-dancing. 
Strabo  describes  this  building  as  the  most  remarkable 
object  in  the  Campus  Martins,  as  surrounded  by  a  wood 
with  shady  walks,  raised  on  a  lofty  substruction  of  white 
stone,  planted  to  its  summit  with  evergreens,  crowned 
by  a  bronze  statue  of  the  emperor,  and  containing  re- 
ceptacles for  his  ashes,  with  those  of  his  kindred  and 
household. 

Agrippa's  works  vied  both  in  splendour  and  utility 
with  those  of  his  master.  He  decorated  the  city  with 
700  wells,  and  105  foun tarns  ;  he  constructed  a  series  of 
sewers  in  the  Campus  Martins  ;  and  he  erected  a  hall 


•  Yenuti,  Roma  Antica,  torn.  ii.  p.  9.    Ed.  1763. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  239 

for  the  mock  assemblies  of  the  people.  But  his  other 
undertakings  are  eclipsed  by  his  Thermse  or  Baths,  and 
his  celebrated  Temple,  usually  called  the  Pantheon, 
which  was  connected  with  the  foiTner  buildings,  or  com- 
posed a  part  of  them.  The  Thenuse  of  this  age  gave 
the  hint  for  those  vast  edifices  which  the  emperors  after- 
wards constructed  for  the  use  of  the  people  under  the 
same  name,  but  with  a  far  wider  extension  of  purpose. 
Little  is  known  as  to  Agrippa's  baths,  except  their 
position  among  the  streets  now  covering  the  Campus 
Martins ;  and  the  insignificant  remains  which  exist 
throw  no  light  on  their  plan. 

The  Pantheon,  according  to  the  inscription  on  its 
frieze,  was  dedicated  in  the  year  of  the  city  727,  and  was 
afterwards  restored  by  Hadrian  and  Septimius  Sevenis. 
Its  consecration  (a.  d.  608)  as  a  Christian  church,  under 
the  title  of  Santa  Maria  Rotonda,  has  preserved,  for  the 
admiration  of  the  modern  world,  this  most  beautiful  of 
heathen  fanes.  It  is  situated  m  the  filthy  herb-market ; 
the  flight  of  steps  which  led  up  to  its  portico  is  nearly 
buried  in  rubbish  ;  two  hideous  modern  belfries  deform 
its  summit ;  emperors,  Saracens,  and  popes,  have  succes- 
sively plundered  it  of  its  bronzes  and  marbles  ;  and  the 
floods  of  the  Tiller  periodically  inundate  its  floor.  But 
through  degradation,  nakedness,  and  disfigurement,  its 
serene  beauty  shines  out  undimmed  ;  and  its  name  is 
still  the  synonjane  of  architectural  perfection.  The 
faultless  proportions  and  striking  effect  of  the  portico 
which  fronts  the  temple,  while  they  cannot  be  unfelt 
even  by  the  unprofessional  visitant,  are  most  duly  valued 
by  the  architect  ;  but,  in  the  interior,  every  mind 
which  possesses  the  faculties  that  appreciate  art,  must  at 
the  same  time  be  entranced  and  awed. 

The  portico  is  formed  b}^  sixteen  Corinthian  columns 
of  granite,  with  bases  and  capitals  of  Grecian  marble. 
Eight  of  these  stand  in  front,  supporting  an  entablature, 
above  which  rises  a  pediment,  once  adorned  with  bas- 
reliefs.  Through  a  short  vestibule,  supported  by  fluted 
marble  antse  and  pilasters,  we  enter  the  Cell,  which  con- 


240  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

sists  of  a  circular  drum  sustaining  a  dome.  On  the 
marble  door-way  hang  magnificent  gates  of  bronze, 
which  are  probably  those  of  an  ancient  temple.  The 
pavement  of  the  interior  is  composed  of  porphyry  and 
marble,  disposed  in  large  alternate  slabs.  The  drum  or 
upright  wall,  contains  seven  large  niches ;  while  small 
ones  occur  in  the  intermediate  spaces,  as  well  as  in  the 
larger  recesses.  Columns  of  pavonazzetto  and  giallo 
antico  flank  the  main  niches ;  and  above  these  a  beautiful 
and  perfectly  preserved  cornice  runs  round  the  whole 
building.  Over  a  second  story  in  the  drum,  formed 
by  an  attic  sustaining  an  upper  cornice,  rises  the  beau- 
tiful dome,  which  is  divided  internally  into  square  pan- 
nels,  now  plastered  with  stucco,  but  supposed  to  have 
been  originally  inlaid  with  bronze  ;  and  in  the  centre  of 
it  a  circular  aperture  admits  the  only  light  which  the 
place  receives.  Christian  altars  now  fill  the  recesses  of 
the  temple  of  Jupiter  the  Avenger  ;  and  beneath  one  of 
these  shrines  reposes  the  dust  of  Raffaelle  d'Urbino.* 

Either  to  the  Augustan  age  or  to  the  last  days  of  the 
republic  seem  to  belong  the  remains  of  a  temple  and 
circus,  which  stood  in  the  beautiful  grounds  of  the  liis- 
torian  Sallust,  on  the  Pincian  Hill,  named  from  them 
the  Mount  of  Gardens.  To  the  former  age,  too,  we  may 
perhaps  refer  the  romantic  grotto,  which,  beyond  the 
walls  in  the  green  and  wooded  valley  of  the  Almo,  re- 
calls the  poetical  legend  of  Numa's  intercourse  with  the 
nymph  Egeria. 

The  reign  of  Tiberius  is  chiefly  distinguished  in  the 
topography  of  Rome  by  the  erection  of  a  camp  by 
Sejanus  for  the  Praetorian  guards.  This  huge  barrack 
became  truly  the  citadel  of  Rome ;  three  of  its  sides 
were  taken  into  the  rampart  of  Aurelian,  and  the  camp 
was  dismantled  and  its  fourth  wall  thrown  down  by 

*  Dimensions : — Height  of  columns  in  portico,  46.^  English  feet; 
diameter  of  shafts,  3;  height  of  door-way,  39;  width,  19  : — Inter- 
nal diameter  of  dome,  143 ;  internal  height  from  the  ground  the 
same,  of  which  height  the  dome  occupies  one-half. — Taylor  and 
Cressy's  Rome,  1821. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  241 

Constantine.  In  the  Villa  Macao,  a  vineyard  of  the 
Jesuits,  we  still  see  remarkable  specimens  of  the  arches 
of  Tiberius,  interspersed  with  the  hasty  work  of  Beli- 
sarius'  fortification,  and  with  modern  additions.* 

Caligula  extended  the  buildings  of  the  Imperial  Pa- 
lace on  the  Palatine,  joining  that  hill  to  the  Capitol  by 
a  bridge ;  and  the  unfortunate  Claudius  erected  aque- 
ducts, of  which  there  are  noble  remains  at  the  Porta 
Maggiore,  where  operations  in  1838  uncovered  a  curious 
tomb  built  up  in  the  imperial  brickwork. 

From  Augustus  to  Nero,  the  eastern  quarter  of  the 
city  was  the  favourite  residence  of  the  nobles,  whose 
mansions,  placed  beyond  the  old  walls,  stood  in  gardens 
between  the  great  roads.  In  this  district  was  the  palace 
of  Maecenas,  and  that  of  the  Laterani,  destined  to  be  so 
celebrated  in  Christian  Rome.  An  inferior  class  now 
occupied  the  three  streets,  which  alone,  till  the  end  of  this 
period,  deserved  the  name.  These  were  the  Via  Sacra, 
the  Carinse,  and  the  Suburra,  the  two  latter  of  which 
had  been  in  the  republican  times  the  aristocratic  quarter. 

But  every  thing  that  had  been  done  for  the  em- 
bellishment of  the  city  was  surpassed  by  the  extrava- 
gantly magnificent  undertakings  of  Nero.  The  circus 
in  the  region  of  the  Vatican,  founded  by  Caligula,  and 
completed  by  him,  is  covered  by  the  sacristy  and  part 
of  the  church  of  St  Peter,  and  was,  beyond  a  doubt,  the 
scene  of  the  earliest  Christian  martyrdoms  in  Rome.t 
His  public  market  has  disappeared,  and  his  splendid 
baths  lie  buried  beneath  modem  palaces  near  the  Col- 
lege of  the  Sapienza.  The  Domus  Transitoria,  which 
formed  his  first  addition  to  the  palace  of  the  Caesars, 
was  destroyed  by  the  frightful  conflagration  which  he 
is  charged  with  having  wilfully  kindled,  and  which, 
burning  to  the  ground  three  of  the  fourteen  regions  of 

*  The  circuit  of  its  three  remaining  sides  measures  in  all  5400 
feet. — Burgess,  vol.  ii.  p.  306. 

+  Suetonius  in  Nerone,  cap.  22.  Taciti  Annalium,  lib.  xiv. 
cap.  14;  lib.  xv.  cap.  44.  Compare  the  Beschreibung,  vol.  ii. 
part  1.  pp.  13,  &c. 

VOL.  I.  P 


242  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

the  city,  and  almost  entirely  ruining  seven  more,*  pro- 
duced a  reconsti-uction  of  Rome  under  the  emperor's 
plans  and  superintendence.  The  streets  were  made  for 
the  first  time  wide  and  straight,  and  were  lined  with 
colonnades  ;  and  the  height  of  dwelling-houses,  then  re- 
stricted to  seventy  feet,  was  afterwards  limited  to  sixty. 

But  the  elegance  of  all  the  new  fabrics  was  eclipsed 
by  the  pomp  of  Nero's  huge  palace,  called  the  Golden 
House.  On  the  southern  shoulder  of  the  Palatine,  where 
it  approaches  the  Esquiline,  stood  the  main  buildings  of 
that  mansion,  fronted  by  a  vestibule  admitting  the  em- 
peror's colossal  statue,  which  was  probably  placed  some- 
where on  the  site  now  occupied  by  Hadrian's  Temple  of 
Venus  and  Rome.  The  picturesquely  wooded  grounds 
extended  over  a  large  portion  of  the  Caelian  Mount, 
where,  marked  by  the  cypress  thicket  and  the  solitary 
palm-tree  of  the  Passionist  convent,  massy  remains  are 
supposed  to  belong  to  the  celebrated  reservoir  ;  the  arti- 
ficial lakes  of  the  park  filled  the  valley  of  the  Colosseum ; 
and  its  lodges  and  walks  rose  on  the  Esquiline  Hill,  dis- 
placing the  house,  tomb,  and  gardens  of  Maecenas,  of 
which,  as  well  as  of  Nero's  erections,  the  ruins  probably 
exist  amidst  the  later  buildings  of  the  Baths  of  Titus.t 

Vespasian  and  his  vutuous  successor  haye  bequeathed 
to  us  these  latter  monuments,  together  with  the  Colos- 
seum or  Flavian  Amphitheatre. 

Titus  demolished  a  great  part  of  the  stupendous  piles 
of  Nero,  and  availed  himself  of  their  substructions  on 
the  Esquiline,  for  the  erection  of  those  buildings  which 
still  stretch  out  their  intricate  corridors  on  the  heights 
overlooking  the  Colosseum.  From  the  form  of  these 
remains,  and  from  that  of  the  separate  reservoir  called 
the  Sette  Salle,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  baths  consti- 
tuted, at  all  events,  a  part  of  their  plan  ;  but  the  design 
of  the  edifice,  founded  on  older  works,  and  altered  and 

*  Taciti  Annal.  lib.  xv.  cap.  40.  Beschreibung,  vol.  i.  part  1. 
p.  185-191. 

■f  Beneath  these  latter  ruins,  too,  lies  the  grave  of  Horace. — 
Sueton.  in  Vita  Horatii. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  243 

extended  by  the  later  emperors,  especially  Trajan,  is  not 
easily  comprehended,  and  is  even  supposed  to  have  been 
an  imperial  residence.  Its  remains,  though  very  strik- 
ing, have  owed  their  chief  interest  to  the  beautiful  paint- 
ings they  yet  contain. 

The  Flavian  Amphitheatre,  the  boast  of  Rome  and  of 
the  world,  founded  by  Vespasian,  was  completed  and 
dedicated  by  Titus  in  the  eightieth  year  of  our  era,  ten 
years  after  the  taking  of  Jerusalem.  It  received  suc- 
cessive additions,  alterations,  and  repairs,  till  the  time 
of  Theodoric  the  Goth,  who  fitted  it  up  for  its  former 
uses  in  the  year  519 ;  during  the  middle  ages,  it  was 
occupied  as  a  fortress  by  Roman  nobles ;  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  its  materials  began  to  be  used  for  the  buUdings 
of  Papal  Rome,  a  spoliation  which  continued  two  hun- 
dred years  ;*  and  after  a  long  period  of  neglect  and 
decay,  it  was  consecrated,  in  1750,  to  the  memory  of 
those  Christian  martyrs  who  had  perished  in  its  arena. 
Since  that  time  it  has  been  protected  from  pillage  by  the 
reverence  due  to  the  crucifix  which  occupies  its  centre, 
to  the  fourteen  stations  of  prayer  which  are  disposed 
round  its  arena,  and  to  the  soldiers  who  sentinel  its 
gates ;  and  during  the  present  ceq^tury,  noble  walls  have 
been  built  by  the  Popes  to  prop  up  the  tottering  portions 
of  the  fabric. 

The  gigantic  edifice  is  in  form  an  ellipse ;  and  its  ex- 
ternal elevation  consisted  of  four  stories,  presenting  240 
arches  in  all.  These  were  disposed  in  the  three  lower 
stories,  each  of  which  had  eighty  arches,  supported  by 
half-columns,  Doric  m  the  first  range,  Ionic  in  the  second, 
and  Corinthian  in  the  third  ;  while  the  fourth  story  had 
externally  a  solid  wall,  faced  with  Corinthian  pilasters, 
and  lighted  by  forty  rectangular  windows.      Of  this 

•  The  materials  of  the  amphitheatre  were  used  in  at  least  the  fol- 
lowing buildings  :— the  Palace  of  St  Mark  (a.  d.  1470)  ;  the  Palace 
of  the  Chancery  (1494)  ;  some  buildingg  in  the  Capitol  and  else- 
where (1531— l(j04. — Hobhouse,  p.  275);  the  immense  Farnese 
Palace  (1535);  and  the  Barberini  Palace  (1623),  commemorated 
in  the  Roman  saving,  "What  the  Barbarians  did  not,  the  Barberini 
did."— See  Gibbon,  chap.  71. 


244       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

majestic  circuit,  scarcely  a  half  now  presents  its  original 
height ;  and  throughout  a  great  part  of  it  the  travertine 
arcades  are  demolished,  and  the  rough  wall  inside,  par- 
tially erect,  and  tangled  with  grass  and  shrubs,  is  covered 
by  the  modem  support.  In  the  interior,  the  centre  is 
occupied  by  the  oval  Arena,  under  which  subterraneous 
constructions  have  been  lately  discovered,  apparently  de- 
signed for  the  gladiators,  wild  beasts,  and  other  apparatus 
of  the  spectacles.  Round  the  arena,  and  resting  on  a  huge 
mass  of  arches  rising  upon  arches,  the  sloping  seats  for  the 
spectators,  forming  the  division  called  the  Cavea,  ascend 
towards  the  summit  of  the  external  wall.  The  Podium, 
or  covered  gallery  for  the  emperor  and  persons  of  the 
first  rank,  formed  the  lowest  partition  of  the  cavea  ; 
behind  which  rise  three  successive  orders  of  seats,  sepa- 
rated by  perpendicular  walls  (the  prsecinctiones  or  bal- 
thei)  ;  and,  above  all,  an  upper  gallery  reached  to  the 
vela,  or  moveable  awning  which  covered  in  the  whole. 
This  attic,  and  the  uppermost  row  of  seats,  have  disap- 
peared ;  the  second  range  has  been  partially  preserved  ; 
the  lowest  is  nearly  perfect ;  but  the  podium  is  in  a 
ruinous  state,  and  appears  to  be  an  addition  made  by  some 
one  of  the  many  restorers.  The  Regionaries  say  that  the 
Amphitheatre  contained  places  for  87,000  spectators.* 
Architects  have  professed  to  discover  in  the  Colosseum 
little  that  is  worthy  of  admiration,  except  the  vastness 
of  its  dimensions  ;  but  on  those  who  do  not  pause  to 
ca,lculate  by  rules  of  art  the  impression  produced  by  the 
mighty  ruin  is  altogether  overpowering. 

Passing  over  Domitian's  additions  to  the  Palatine  Pa- 
lace, and  just  noticing  the  Forum  erected  by  Nerva,  close 
to  that  of  Augustus,  of  which  some  striking  remains  are 
yet  visible,  we  reach  the  glorious  reign  of  Trajan.  The 
Funeral  Pillar  of  this  wise  sovereign,  and  the  fragments 

*  A.mphitheatrum  quod  capitloca  Ixxxvii  millia.  Publius  Victor 
in  Regiou.  Urbis  ;  in  Graevii  Thesauro,  torn.  iii. — Dimensions  :— . 
Superficial  area,  nearly  six  acres ;  major  axis,  620  English  feet  j 
minor  axis,  613  (counted  to  outside)  ;  height  of  outer  wall,  157  ; 
arena,  length,  287,  width,  180. — Taylor  and  Cressy. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  245 

of  his  Basilica,  still  bear  witness  to  the  splendour  of  his 
Ulpian  Forum,  of  which  they  are  the  relics.  The  site 
of  the  forum  is  chiefly  covered  by  modern  houses  and 
streets  ;  but  a  space  around  the  column  was  excavated 
by  the  French  to  the  depth  of  the  ancient  pavement, 
and  allows  us  to  trace  the  plan  of  the  Basilica  Ulpia. 
The  column  stood  in  the  midst  of  an  oblong  court,  two 
sides  of  which  were  enclosed  by  a  double  colonnade, 
while  one  of  its  extremities  was  formed  by  a  lateral  wall 
of  the  Basilica.  Besides  a  portico  in  the  middle  of  the 
side  opposite  the  column,  the  Basilica,  like  the  adjacent 
square,  had  a  double  colonnade  dividing  its  interior ; 
and  the  fragments  of  the  fine  shafts  of  Egyptian  granite, 
wliich  at  present  stand  nearly  in  their  original  places, 
show  the  height  of  each  to  have  been  about  fifty- 
five  feet.  The  admiration  excited  in  the  ancient  world 
by  this  magnificent  establishment,  with  its  basilica,  its 
libraries,  its  temples,  and  its  triumphal  arch  (plundered 
or  destroyed  by  Constantine),  is  justified  by  the  existing 
niins,  and  by  the  perfection  of  the  Funeral  Pillar,  the 
most  beautiful  mausoleum  which  greatness  ever  received. 
The  proportions  of  this  gigantic  column  are  excellent ; 
and  its  series  of  bas-reliefs  contains  2500  human  figures, 
which  run  in  a  spiral  course  up  the  shaft,  and  represent 
the  emperor's  victories.  A  bronze  colossal  statue  of 
Trajan,  who  has  now  given  way  to  St  Peter,  surmounted 
the  capital,  and  the  ashes  of  this  good  prince  reposed 
in  an  urn  of  gold,  supposed  to  have  been  placed  in  the 
hand  of  the  figure.* 

The  taste  of  Hadrian  inclined  him  to  the  foreign  and 
the  immense.  His  Temple  of  Venus  and  Rome,  already 
described,  appears  to  have  been  the  purest  of  his  edifices  : 
the  city  of  palaces  and  temples,  of  which  the  ruins  yet 
remain  in  his  Villa  at  Tivoli,  was  an  exaggeration  of  the 
solidity  and  dimensions  of  the  Egyptian  architecture  ; 
and  his  celebrated  Mausoleum,  which  is  at  this  day  the 
citadel  and  state  prison  of  the  Popes,  testifies  at  once  the 

*  Height  of  the  column  126  feet,  besides  the  statue. 


246  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

perfect  manual  skill  possessed  by  the  architects  of  his 
time,  and  their  accomplished  master's  acquaintance  with 
the  pyramids  of  Memphis.  The  fine  bridge,  the  Pons 
^lius,  now  the  Ponte  St  Angelo,  which  he  built  across 
the  Tiber  as  the  avenue  to  his  sepulchre,  still  remains 
nearly  in  its  original  form,  and  is  the  only  one  of  the 
eight  ancient  bridges  of  Rome  which  has  left  any  vestige 
worth  tracing.*  The  strong  situation  of  the  mausoleum 
on  the  bank  of  the  river  made  it,  from  the  latter  days  of 
the  empire,  one  of  the  most  important  military  positions 
about  the  city ;  and  in  the  prodigious  round  tower  which 
now  rises  on  our  view,  encompassed  by  modern  outworks, 
and  crested  by  battlements  and  the  armed  statue  of  the 
Archangel  Michael,  we  can  trace  little  of  the  Moles  Had- 
riani,  which  received  the  ashes  of  so  many  Roman  em- 
perors. Operations,  however,  executed  since  1825,  have 
brought  to  b'ght  extremely  interesting  particulars  re- 
garding its  construction.  The  building  was  circular,  like 
the  modem  tower,  and  rested  on  a  square  basement.  Its 
solid  mass  contained  at  most  two  small  sepulchral  cham- 
bers in  the  centre,  which  were  reached  by  spiral  passages ; 
the  under  one,  which  is  still  accessible,  was  lighted  by 
two  windows  perforated  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall, 
while  the  galleries  received  light  through  deep  perpen- 
dicular pyramidal  openings  ;  the  internal  workmanship 
is  of  the  very  best  kind,  and  traces  remain  of  a  remark- 
able richness  of  ornament.t 

The  Antonines  have  left  us  the  structures  already 
noticed  in  the  Forum, — the  colonnade  of  the  Temple  of 
Antoninus  Pius,  now  walled  up  in  the  papal  Custom- 

*  Some  of  our  English  antiquaries  represent  the  bridge  as  re- 
built by  Nicholas  V.,  having,  it  is  said,  been  destroyed  in  the  jubi- 
lee of  1430.  Bunsen's  assertion,  that  the  accident  of  that  year,  in 
which  were  lost  200  lives,  produced  no  effect  on  the  bridge,  except 
inducing  the  Pope  to  take  down  the  booths  which  covered  it  like 
the  shops  on  Old  London  Bridge,  is  quite  borne  out  by  his  autho- 
rities : — Stephani  Infessurae,  Senatus  Populique  Romani  Scribee, 
Diarium  Urbis  Romae ;  apud  Eccardum,  Corpus  Historicmn 
MediiiEvi,LipsiaB,  1723;  torn.  ii.  pp.1885,  1886;— Platina  de  Vitis 
Pontificum,  in  Nicolao  V. 

■f  Beschreibung,  vol.  ii.  part  1.  p.  404-422,  with  plans. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  247 

house, — and  the  Column  of  Marcus  Aurelius  in  the 
Piazza  Citoria,  an  inferior  copy  from  that  of  Trajan. 
We  might  perhaps  refer  to  the  same  period  the  beautiful 
circle  of  columns  round  the  little  church  of  Santa  Maria 
del  Sole  on  the  Tiber  bank,  usually  styled  the  Temple 
of  Vesta  ;  and  the  picturesque  and  sequestered  decagonal 
ruin  on  the  Esquiline,  which  is  known  as  the  Temple  of 
Minerva  Medica. 

From  this  period  to  the  reign  of  Constanttne,  the  most 
remarkable  buildings  of  which  we  possess  remains  are, 
besides  several  honorary  arches,  the  Baths  of  Caracallaand 
those  of  Diocletian.  Both  edifices,  tliough  in  utter  de- 
cay, are  amongst  the  most  immense  and  striking  archi- 
tectural monuments  in  Rome.  In  general  arrangement 
they  nearly  resemble  each  other ;  and  in  them  we  behold 
fully  developed  the  luxury  of  those  establishments,  the 
peace-offerings  of  despots  to  a  degraded  people.  The 
Baths  of  Diocletian  possess  a  religious  interest,  from  the 
tradition  of  their  having  been  mainly  built  by  Christian 
slaves  during  the  celebrated  persecution  ;  and  this  cir- 
cumstance, leading  to  the  consecration  of  parts  of  them, 
has  preserved  several  of  their  buildmgs,  particularly  the 
spacious  halls  converted  into  the  rich  church  of  the 
Angioli.  The  low  state  of  art,  however,  at  that  time, 
renders  it  useless  to  look  for  any  great  architectural 
merit  in  those  ruins ;  and  the  Baths  of  Caracalla  at  once 
lead  us  back  to  a  higher  stage  of  art,  and,  in  the  midst 
of  their  nakedness,  aflPord  a  more  distinct  notion  of  their 
plan  and  execution.  This  immense  fabric  lay  on  the 
south-eastern  slope  of  the  Aventine,  and  was  about  a  mile 
in  circumference.  It  was  not  completed  till  the  time  of 
Alexander  Severus  ;  and  the  writers  of  the  period  de- 
scribe in  rapturous  terms  the  splendour  of  its  construc- 
tion and  decorations.  The  Baths  consisted,  first,  of  an 
extensive  quadrilateral  edifice,  chiefly  devoted  to  the 
purpose  which  gives  name  to  the  establishment ;  tliis 
edifice  had  around  it  an  open  space,  of  which  a  part  was 
appropriated  as  an  arena  for  races  and  similar  recrea- 
tions ;  the  whole  was  surrounded  by  a  quadrilateral  range 


248  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

of  buildings  of  various  construction,  some  being  evi- 
dently reservoirs  for  the  baths,  and  others  being  meant 
as  seats  for  spectators  ;  several  halls  and  porticos  appear 
to  have  served  as  academies,  lecture-rooms,  or  places  for 
gymnastic  exercises ;  and  the  use  of  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  small  apartments  in  the  external  quarters  can 
only  be  conjectured.  The  walls  of  the  fine  hall,  once 
vaulted,  which  forms  the  centre  of  the  internal  building, 
still  remain ;  we  may  wander  through  a  labyrinth  of 
other  chambers,  and  ascend  by  a  broken  staircase  to  the 
summit ;  and  every  where  the  statues,  urns,  mosaics, 
and  other  decorations,  which  have  been  excavated  for 
centuries,  attest  the  magnificence  of  the  imperial  mur- 
derer and  his  successors.* 

From  the  age  of  Constantine  we  have  the  Circus  on  the 
Via  Appia,  noticeable  as  the  only  specimen  of  that  kind 
of  structure  which  has  left  any  considerable  remains. 
In  the  beautiful  gardens  of  the  Colonna  Palace  on  the 
steep  ascent  of  the  Quirinal,  are  extensive  ruins,  con- 
sisting of  walls,  vaults,  and  porticos,  belonging  to  the 
same  emperor's  Baths.  Among  them  lie  several  frag- 
ments, two  of  which,  being  portions  of  a  cornice  and 
pediment,  are  inexplicable  from  their  vastness  of  size. 
Constantine's  Basilica  has  been  already  noticed ;  and  his 
Triumphal  Arch,  beside  the  Colosseum,  is  chiefly  remark- 
able for  having  been  constructed  from  the  plundered 
materials  of  the  Arch  of  Trajan,  the  bas-reliefs  of  which 
adorn  it  at  this  day.  Constantine's  mother,  the  English- 
woman Helena,  erected  Baths,  of  which  insignificant 
remains  may  be  seen  near  the  church  of  Santa  Croce. 

Between  the  foundation  of  Constantinople  and  the  fall 
of  the  Western  Empire,  the  deserted  metropolis  of  Italy 
suffered  a  gradual  and  uninterrupted  decline.  We  read 
of  scarcely  any  new  structures  except  Christian  churches, 
some  of  which  were  formed  by  altering  imperial  basilicae, 

•  It.  is  enough  to  name  the  Torso  of  the  Belvedere,  the  trunk  of 
the  Farnese  Hercules,  the  Bull  of  the  Museum  at  Naples,  and  the 
Venus  Ka^.kiTvyo;. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  249 

while  others  were  erected  from  the  materials  of  heathen 
temples.  The  natural  decay  of  the  ancient  buildings 
was  accelerated  by  utter  neglect,  by  inundations  of  the 
river,  by  accidental  fires,  and  more  than  once  by  the 
violence  of  armed  enemies.*  Three  centuries  after  the 
victory  of  Odoacer,  Rome  had  sunk  to  a  miserable  town 
of  a  few  thousand  souls ;  but  there  is  reason  to  think 
that,  down  to  about  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century 
of  our  era,  artificial  aid  had  preserved  to  it  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  inhabitants  whom  it  had  contained  in  its 
most  glorious  days.  Its  population  under  Augustus  can- 
not be  estimated  at  less  than  a  million  and  a  half,  and 
perhaps  exceeded  that  number.  About  the  year  of  grace 
400  it  has  been  calculated  at  upwards  of  a  million.  The 
giantess  had  grown  old  and  weak  ;  but  the  life-blood  still 
circled  through  herveins,ina  full  though  taintedstream.t 

ANCIENT  LATIUM. 

This  name,  comprehending,  in  its  oldest  sense,  that 
part  only  of  the  Roman  plain  which  constituted  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Latins  and  Rutulians,  received  a  gradual  ex- 
tension of  meaning  with  the  waxing  conquests  of  the  re- 
public, and  was  yet  again  enlarged  by  the  usage  of  speecli 


*  See  Hobhouse,  Illustrations  of  Childe  Harold ;  and  Beschrei- 
bun^  der  Stadt  Rom,  vol.  i.  book  ii. 

t  The  first  of  these  estimates  is  less  than  that  of  M.  Bunsen,  in 
the  Beschreibung,  vol.  i.  book  ii.  His  calculation  is  founded  on 
the  Monumentum  Ancyranum,  the  genuineness  of  which  is  undis- 
puted, and  in  which  Augustus  relates,  among  the  acts  of  his  reign, 
a  donation  to  the  populace  of  the  city  (plebs  urbana),  in  number 
320,000.  Females  did  not  share  in  such  donations;  but,  under 
Augustus  (Dio  Cassius,  lib.  i.  cap.  21  ;  and  Sueton.  Aug.  cap.  41), 
the  males  of  all  ages  did  so.  Hence,  taking  the  plehs  of  both  sexes 
at  (320,000  4-  320,000)  640,000,  and  adding  10,000  for  senators 
and  knights  with  their  families,  and  others  not  receiving  charity, 
we  should  have  650,000  as  the  number  of  free  citizens.  It  is  far 
too  low  a  calculation  which  allows  only  one  slave  to  every  freeman 
of  the  imperial  times  ;  so  that  we  thus  have  1,300,000  as  the  least 
supposable  number;  and  Bunsen  thinks  two  millions  may  be  nearer 
the  truth — The  second  calculation  is  that  of  Gibbon;  who,  from 
the  number  of  dwellings  given  in  the  "  Notitia,"  mfers  the  popu- 
lation in  the  Theodojian  age  to  have  been  about  1,200,000. 


250  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHr  OF 

under  the  early  emperors.  The  province  will  here  bo 
described  according  to  its  widest  limits,  which  enclose 
three  regions  exceedingly  dissimilar.  The  first  comprises 
the  broad  plain  from  the  Tiber  to  Antium,  with  the  nar- 
rower one  of  the  Pontine  Marshes.  This  district,  which 
lay  beneath  our  view  when  we  stood  on  the  Tower  of  the 
Capitol,  is  not  less  remarkable  for  its  natural  fertility 
and  loveliness,  than  for  its  present  state  of  positive  deso- 
lation. The  second  region  is  a  hilly  tract,  embracing 
the  country  of  the  Hemicians,  with  the  inland  part  of 
that  which  once  belonged  to  the  Volscians.  It  is  not  very 
productive,  but  presents  much  fine  mountainous  scenery, 
with  a  few  well- wooded  vales  and  declivities.  The  third 
and  most  southerly  region,  is  that  of  the  early  people 
called  the  Ausonians,  bordering  on  the  sea.  In  ancient 
times,  it  contained  among  its  dales  some  of  the  best  vine- 
yards in  Italy  :  and  it  still  preserves  no  small  share  of 
its  former  fruitfulness  and  beauty. 

In  sketching  the  topography  of  Latium,  however,  it 
will  be  inadvisable  to  follow  strictly  these  divisions. 
After  inspecting  some  of  the  most  interesting  monuments 
and  spots  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,  we  may  visit 
the  scenes  of  the  ^neid  about  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber, 
and  thus  be  led  southward  along  the  coast,  till,  inter- 
rupting our  progress  only  by  a  hasty  glance  at  the  nearest 
hills  in  one  quarter,  we  have  passed  through  the  whole  of 
the  delightful  Ausonian  district.  "We  shall  thence  re- 
turn northward  through  the  inland  passes  of  the  Volscians 
and  Hemicians,  and  close  our  survey  among  the  moun- 
tains which  approach  most  closely  to  the  Imperial  City. 

Even  in  the  times  of  the  empire,  the  Roman  who 
studied  the  history  of  his  country  might  search  in  vain 
for  the  localities  and  the  ruins  belonging  to  most  of  those 
states  with  which  her  infant  power  contended.  The 
account  we  have  of  the  environs  of  the  city  reminds  us 
of  the  mighty  arms  which  our  British  capital  throws 
out  to  the  land  and  to  the  sea.  We  read  of  lines  of  villaa 
stretching  from  Ocriculum  to  Rome,  and  edging  the 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  251 

banks  of  the  Tiber  to  its  very  mouth.  When  the  sites  of 
ancient  towns  possessed  no  local  advantages,  they  sank 
into  the  earth,  leaving  scarcely  a  vestige,  like  Collatia 
or  Labicum  ;  and  it  was  only  when  their  position  was 
useful  or  picturesque,  that  they  were  covered  by  imperial 
edifices,  like  the  Ostia  of  Ancus  Martins  or  the  Pelasgic 
Tibur.  These  more  ornate  fabrics  in  their  turn  de- 
cayed ;  and  it  is  beneath  the  ruins  of  the  empire,  or  of 
the  middle  ages,  that  we  have  now  to  search  for  those  of 
the  republic  and  of  the  days  which  preceded  it.* 

In  the  plain,  few  modem  dwellings  interrupt  our  in- 
vestigations. The  pest,  which  always  clung  to  this 
remarkable  district,  and  which  only  a  close  population 
and  an  active  agriculture  had  power  to  check,  having 
resumed  its  reign  since  the  decline  of  the  country,  has 
driven  the  natives  to  the  slopes  of  the  mountains.  A 
few  ruinous  villages  still  keep  their  hold  of  the  ground ; 
sev^eral  of  them  are  habitable  for  the  whole  year  without 
much  danger  to  health ;  others  must  be  abandoned  on  the 
approach  of  summer.  The  Campagna  is  chiefly  covered 
with  natural  pasturages,  interrupted  by  woods  and  by 
patches  of  tilled  land,  with  some  marshes. 

On  issuing  from  any  of  the  eastern  gates  of  Romcj  the 
stranger's  eye  is  first  caught  by  the  prodigious  arches 
which  rise  in  lines  along  the  plain  ;  the  remnants  of 
those  ancient  aqueducts  which  were  perhaps  the  most 
extraordinary  works  of  an  extraordinary  people.  These 
structures  conveyed  a  body  of  water  for  which  pipes,  an 
invention  well  known  to  the  Romans,  would  have  been 
utterly  insufficient,  and  therefore  they  were  formed  of 
strong  masonry  :  they  distributed  water  to  the  suburban 
hamlets  and  villas,  and  therefore  they  ran  in   winding 

•  The  best  works  on  the  topography  of  Latium  are  West- 
phal's  Romische  Kampagne,  Berlin,  1829  ;  and  Sir  ^yilliam  Gell's 
Topography  of  Rome  and  its  Vicinity,  2  vols.  London,  1834. 
Each  of  the  two  treatises  has  an  excellent  map.  Consult  also 
Nibby's  Viaggio  Antiquario  ne'  Contorni  di  Roma,  2  tom.  Roma, 
1819. — A  map  is  inserted  in  the  present  volume. 


252        THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

lines,  instead  of  passing  straight  from  their  mountain 
springs  to  the  city.  Within  the  walls  they  supplied 
the  household  wants  of  the  inhabitants,  the  luxury  of 
the  immense  baths,  and  occasionally  the  entei-taiuments 
of  the  naumachiae  or  marine  theatres. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  aqueducts  enumerated  by 
Frontinus  as  existing  in  the  reign  of  Nerva  or  Trajan, 
to  which  four  or  five  others  had  been  added  before 
the  invasion  of  the  Goths.  The  first  five  are  republican, 
the  last  four  imperial. 

1.  A.  u.  442.  Aqua  Appia,  from  a  spring  near  the  side 
of  the  road  to  Praeneste, — length  more  than  eleven  miles : 
no  remains. 

2.  A.u.  481.  Anio  Vetus,  from  the  Anio, — length 
forty-three  miles  :  remains  above  Tivoli. 

3.  A.u.  608.  Aqua  Marcia,  from  two  springs  in  the 
valley  of  the  Anio, — length  nearly  sixty-one  miles ;  more 
than  six  miles,  near  Rome,  carried  on  arches.  In  a.  u. 
747  the  Aqua  Augusta  united  with  it :  remains  near 
Tivoli,  and  a  stupendous  line  of  arches  for  about  two 
miles  on  the  left  of  the  road  to  Albano. 

4.  A.  u.  627.  Aqua  Tepula,  from  springs  below  Tus- 
culum  :  remains  near  the  city- walls. 

5.  A.  u.  719.  Aqua  Julia,  from  a  spring  above  the 
source  of  the  Tepula  :  remains  within  the  walls,  called 
the  Trophies  of  Marius. 

6.  A.  u.  733.  Aqua  Virgo,  from  springs  eight  miles 
from  Rome  on  the  road  to  Collatia  :  repaired  and  used 
for  supplying  the  fountain  of  Trevi  in  the  city. 

7.  A.  u.  803.  Aqua  Claudia,  from  two  springs  in  the 
valley  of  the  Anio, — length  forty-six  miles  ;  seven  miles 
on  arches  nearest  the  city  :  remains  between  Tivoli  and 
Subiaco,  and  fine  arches  near  and  in  Rome  ;  the  arches 
partly  used  for  the  Aqueduct  of  Sextus  V.,  called  the 
Acqua  Felice. 

8.  A.  u.  803.  Anio  Novus, — ^length  nearly  fifty-nine 
miles  :  remains  in  the  valley  of  the  Anio. 

9.  A.  u.  862.  Aqua  Trajana,  Alsietina,  or  Sabatina, 
from  the  lakes  of  Martignano  and  Bracciano, — length 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  253 

twenty-two  miles :  the  branch  from  Bracciano  (the 
Lacus  Sabatiniis),  renewed,  and  called  the  Acqua  Paola, 
supplies  the  district  beyond  the  Tiber,  the  Vatican  Palace, 
and  St  Peters. 

Remains  of  the  old  Roman  roads  are  visible  all  round 
the  walls,  and  for  miles  over  the  plain.  Several  of  them 
are  still  in  some  places  passable  for  foot  travellers  ; 
and  one  or  two  form  at  intervals  parts  of  the  modem 
carriage  ways.  But  we  have  to  seek  most  of  them  in 
abandoned  tracks,  where  they  appear  as  broken  heaps 
of  masonry,  partly  overgrown  with  weeds  and  rubbish, 
and  partly  sunk  into  morasses.  All  the  ancient  high- 
ways of  Latium,  however,  are  still  discoverable,  though 
not  without  many  antiquarian  disputes  as  to  their 
identity.  For  some  miles  from  Rome  the  most  entire 
of  them  is  that  which  is  also  the  oldest ;  namely,  the 
Via  Appia,  laid  dowm  in  a.  u.  442  by  the  censor  Appius 
Claudius  Caecus,  who  carried  it  to  Capua,  whence,  pro- 
bably by  Julius  Csesar,  it  was  prolonged  to  Brundusium. 
At  a  depth  of  several  feet,  we  find,  in  the  Appian  Way,  a 
pavement  of  hard  whitish  stone,  wliich  appears  to  have 
been  the  original  work  of  the  censor.  Above  this  layer 
is  a  bed  of  pebbles  and  coarse  gravel,  on  which  rests  the 
surface  pavement,  composed  of  polygonal  stones  with 
hewn  edges,  from  one  to  two  feet  long,  and  fitted  to  each 
other  with  the  utmost  exactness.  This  upper  stratum 
belongs  chiefly  to  the  times  of  Nerva  and  Trajan  ;  and 
is  a  favourable  specimen  of  the  most  massive  and  elabo- 
rate sort  of  Roman  highways.  The  strata  on  which  it 
is  elevated  illustrate  also  the  mode  in  which  these  are 
Ibund  to  have  been  foraied  elsewhere.  The  next  oldest 
of  the  great  roads  was  the  Via  Aurelia,  laid  down  in  a.u. 
512,  which  led  to  Centumcellse,  and  was  thence  continued 
along  the  Mediterranean,  under  the  name  of  the  Via 
Emilia  Scauri.  It  is  still  traceable,  as  is  likewise  the 
more  frequented  Flaminian  Way,  which,  opened  in  a.u. 
533,  led  through  Etruria  and  Umbria,  over  the  Apen- 
nines to  Ariminum.  It  was  thence,  under  the  name  of 
the  Via  iEmilia  Lepidi,  continued  to  Placentia  and  Mi- 


254  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

Ian  on  one  side,  and  to  Aquileia  on  the  other.  Its  mam 
branch  was  the  Cassian  Way,  which  diverged  from  it  at 
the  Milvian  Bridge  of  the  Tiber  (now  the  Ponte  MoUe), 
and  ended  at  Sutrium.  Of  the  other  great  roads  leading 
from  Rome,  the  most  famous  was  the  Via  Latina,  w^hich, 
passing  between  Prseneste  and  the  Alban  range,  was  car- 
ried through  the  country  of  the  Hernici,  and  joined  the 
highway  of  Appius  at  Casinum. 

Following  the  sepulchral  Appian  Way  outwards  from 
the  gate  of  St  Sebastian,  we  see  the  tombs  crowding 
more  thickly  as  we  advance  :  and  about  five  miles 
from  the  city,  on  a  height,  where  they  are  most  nume- 
rous, we  are  on  or  near  the  Fossa  Cluilia,  the  camp  of  the 
King  of  Alba,  and  the  Sacred  Field  of  the  Horatii.  Ex- 
tensive ruins  called  Roma  Vecchia,  which  lie  not  far 
from  us,  are  the  remains  of  a  splendid  imperial  villa : 
but  a  wall  in  the  neighbourhood,  240  feet  in  length, 
constructed  of  huge  uncemented  quadrilateral  blocks  of 
tufo,  clearly  belongs  to  the  remotest  ages  of  the  coun- 
try, and  has  been  believed  to  indicate  the  site  of  the 
Roman  or  Alban  camp,  and  the  consecrated  spot  where 
the  Curiatii  and  their  antagonists  were  buried.* 

We  have  to  search  for  memorials  of  the  Tarquins  by 
following  the  broken  road  towards  Prseneste  to  the  dis- 
tance of  eleven  miles  from  the  modem  gate.  Passing  the 
fragments  of  a  villa  of  the  Gordians,  and  a  picturesque 
ancient  bridge  of  seven  arches,  we  reach  the  naked  banks 
of  the  volcanic  lake  of  Gabii,  where  the  site  of  this  Alban 
town,  proverbial  for  desolation  as  early  as  the  Augustan 
age,t  presents  the  simple,  austere  ruin  of  the  Temple  of 
Juno,  the  semicircle  of  its  theatre,  and  the  under  portion 
of  its  uncemented  walls,  while  a  tower  of  the  middle  ages 
occupies  the  place  of  its  citadel.  In  this  district,  too,  we 
should  look  for  Collatia,  the  dwelling  of  Lucretia  ;  but 
its  site  eludes  our  search,  unless  we  are  content,  after 
wandering  through  the  delightfully  wooded  dell  watered 
by  the  Osa,  to  sit  down  at  Lunghezza  on  the  summit  of 

•   Sir  William  Cell's  Topography,  vol,  i.  p.  142. 

t   Horat.  Epistol.  lib.  i.  12,  v.  7 Juvenalis  Satir.  vj.  v,  66. 


HOME  AND  LATIUM.  255 

a  rock  which  overhangs  the  stream,  and  imagine  that 
the  marble  fragments  which  lie  scattered  beneath  the 
ruined  tower  belong  to  the  town  of  CoUatiniis. 

There  are,  however,  some  districts  of  Latium  which 
merit  a  more  minute  survey,  and  assuredly  none  is 
more  interesting  than  the  region  about  the  mouth  of 
the  Tiber,  the  scene  of  the  last  half  of  the  -^neid.  In 
the  magic  mirror  of  poetry,  we  have  beheld  the  glades 
of  the  Laurentinc  forest ;  and  we  shall  tread  with  solemn 
pleasure  those  solitary  woods  and  meadows  which  the 
power  of  genius  has  peopled  with  heroic  beauty.  In  the 
flourishing  times  of  the  empire  the  whole  coast,  from  the 
margin  of  the  river  to  Antium  and  beyond  it,  was  a 
continuation  of  that  series  of  patrician  dwellings  and 
gardens  which  adorned  the  valley  of  the  Tiber.  Even 
under  the  republic,  the  beggars,  we  are  told,  were  wont 
to  throng  about  the  gate  which  led  to  this  road,  as  being, 
from  its  multitude  of  passengers,  particularly  favourable 
to  their  trade.*  The  ancient  towns  on  the  coast,  how- 
ever, had  declined,  almost  without  exception,  at  an  early 
period  of  the  empire  ;  and  with  the  decay  of  Rome  the 
villas  of  her  nobles  likewise  lost  their  splendour.  The 
pestilential  influence  of  the  climate  once  more  revived  ; 
invasions  of  the  Saracens  in  the  middle  ages  aided  the 
progress  of  destruction  ;  and  we  have  now  to  seek,  amidst 
unpeopled  woods,  noxious  swamps,  and  pastures  on  which 
graze  buffaloes,  for  the  cities  of  Latinus,  Turnus,  and 
^neas. 

The  banks  of  the  Tiber  below  Rome  gradually  sink 
as  they  approach  the  flat  coast.  Accompanying  the 
river  in  its  course,  we  soon  enter  a  region  of  unmitigated 
desolation,  where  we  are  reminded  of  life  by  nothing  save 
one  or  two  wattled  huts  standing  on  the  edge  of  thickets, 
or  the  walls  of  some  ancient  mansion  or  tomb.  At  last, 
on  reaching  the  brow  of  an  eminence,  we  perceive  a  salt 
marsh  appearing  through  copse- wood  ;  we  descend  and 

*  Plauti  Capteivorum,  act.  i.  sc.  i.  v.  22. 


256  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

cross  a  corner  of  it,  and  immediately,  at  the  distance  of 
thirteen  miles  from  Rome,  reach  a  gloomy  fortress, 
surrounded  by  a  few  wretched  old  hovels,  which  com- 
pose the  papal  to\%Ti  of  Ostia.  The  sea  at  its  nearest  point 
is  now  three  miles  distant  from  the  modern  houses ; 
but  the  land  has  encroached  on  the  waters,  and  at  the 
castle  we  are  little  more  than  half-a-mile  from  the  spot 
where  was  the  ancient  mouth  of  the  Tiber.  A  little 
beyond  the  town,  the  site  of  the  classical  Ostia,  a  city  of 
80,000  inhabitants,  is  marked  by  a  tract  of  grassy  knolls, 
and  by  a  few  unimportant  ruins.  At  the  farthest  extre- 
mity of  these  we  may  overlook,  from  a  tower  of  the 
middle  ages,  the  left  branch  of  the  two  into  which  the 
river  is  here  divided,  being  tliat  by  which  ^neas  is  re- 
presented to  have  approached.  The  Sacred  Island,  a  flat 
sandy  meadow  ten  or  twelve  miles  in  circuit,  divides 
this  arm  from  that  on  the  right,  called  Fiumicino,  by 
which  barks  now  enter  the  Tiber ;  and  beyond  the  isle  are 
visible  the  basin  and  other  remains  of  Portus  Trajanus, 
the  harbour  constructed  by  Claudius  and  improved  by 
Trajan,  which  superseded  that  of  Ostia. 

Proceeding  southward,  we  cross  a  reedy  canal  which 
communicates  between  the  marsh  and  the  sea  ;  and  we 
then  enter  a  wood  which,  broken  up  by  glades  and  mea- 
dows, is  here  separated  from  the  Mediterranean  by  sandy 
hillocks,  and  extends  backwards  on  the  plain  two  or 
three  miles  from  the  beach.  In  several  places,  how- 
ever, it  spreads  up  nearly  to  the  roots  of  the  Volscian 
mountains  ;  and  southward  it  stretches  with  little  inter- 
ruption as  far  as  Terracina,  a  distance  of  at  least  fifty 
miles.  In  the  region  which  is  nearest  to  us,  the  majesty 
of  the  Laurentine  Forest  is  still  represented  by  noble 
groves  of  the  pine  and  dark -leaved  ilex,  the  former, 
about  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  skirting  the  sea  like  a  line 
of  gigantic  columns  ;  while  the  laurel,  the  myrtle,  the 
arbutus,  and  wild  olive,  form  in  many  spots  impervious 
thickets  with  the  ivy  and  heaths.^    We  may  chance  to 

«   VirjT.  2Eu.  lib.  ix.  v.  381-383. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  257 

traverse  these  Italian  prairies  for  days  w-itliout  seeing  a 
human  face.  Our  path,  at  most,  will  be  crossed  by  a 
stray  villager  on  his  road  to  Rome,  a  few  charcoal- 
burners  among  the  brakes,  or  an  armed  hunter  in  the 
marshy  depths,  periling  health  and  life  for  a  wretched 
and  precarious  pittance. 

In  various  places  on  this  solitary  shore  ancient  ruins 
are  seen,  but  none  of  them  have  been  satisfactorily  iden- 
tified with  either  of  the  two  objects  which  possess  most 
interest  in  the  history  of  the  district, — Laurentum  the 
city  of  Father  Latinus,  or  the  Laurentine  villa  of  the 
Younger  Pliny,  described  by  him  with  so  eloquent  a 
delight.  Castel  Fusano,  an  old  turreted  mansion,  situ- 
ated in  a  clump  of  tall  pines  a  little  to  the  south  of 
the  swamp,  has  been  fixed  on  by  most  antiquaries  as 
Pliny's  abode  ;  while  some  would  rather  place  the  re- 
treat of  this  friend  of  Trajan  at  Tor  Paterno,  about  eight 
miles  southward  on  the  coast ;  and  others  wish  to  find 
the  spot  at  some  intermediate  point,  among  the  unex- 
plored recesses  of  the  woodland.  The  common  opinion 
identifies  the  site  of  Laurentum  with  Tor  Paterno,  which 
is  a  tower  situated  in  an  opening  among  the  trees,  on  a 
meadow  slightly  raised  above  morasses,  which  nearly 
surround  it,  and  less  than  a  mile  distant  from  the  sandy 
beach.  The  tower  itself  is  partly  antique,  and  remains 
of  a  reservoir  and  other  Roman  works  are  observable 
beside  it ;  while  an  aqueduct  and  fragments  of  a  paved 
road  are  seen  in  glimpses  through  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful vistas  of  the  forest." 

Leaving  the  Laurentine  shore  to  its  frogs, t  we  pursue 
the  windings  of  the  wood  yet  farther  southw^ard,  among 
the  tracks  of  the  charcoal  carts  ;  and  about  five  miles 
from  Tor  Paterno,  we  reach  the  village  of  Prattica. 
Inscriptions  discovered  on  the  spot  have  identified  this 

*  Sir  William  Gell  demurs  to  this  opinion,  chiefly  on  account  of 
the  flatness  of  the  ground,  which  he  conceives  to  be  contradictory 
of  Virgil's  description  of  the  "  lofty  walls"  (Mn.  lib.  xii.  v.  745), 
and  of  the  royal  mansion  "  in  the  uppermost  part  of  the  city  " 
{Mn.  lib.  vii.  v.  171).     Topography  of  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  59. 

t  Martialis  Epigr.  x.  37. 

VOL.  I.  Q 


258  THE  ANCIEiVT  TOPOGRAPnv  OP 

hamlet  beyond  a  doubt  with  the  town  of  Lavinium, 
which  the  legend  describes  to  have  been  founded  by 
^neas,  and  to  which,  in  the  time  of  the  Caesars,  was 
transferred  the  remaining  population  of  the  decayed 
Laurentum.*  The  position  and  vicinity  of  Prattica  are 
romantic.  It  occupies  a  flattish  tongue  of  land,  five  or 
six  hundred  yards  in  length,  little  if  at  all  elevated  above 
the  surrounding  woody  ground,  but  entirely  separated 
from  it  by  deep  and  precipitous  glens,  except  at  one 
end,  where  a  solid  bridge  of  rock  joins  it  to  the  plain. 
It  lately  contained  about  fifty  sickly  inhabitants ;  and 
a  large  baronial  mansion  in  it  has  a  lofty  tower,  which 
commands  a  magnificent  view,  embracing  nearly  the 
whole  Campagna.  The  existing  ruins  of  classical  build- 
ings are  extremely  insignificant.t 

A  walk  of  six  miles  farther  in  the  same  direction  we 
have  been  already  pursuing,  brings  us  to  the  capital  of 
the  Rutuli.  The  country  is  rather  more  hilly,  the 
larger  trees  less  frequent,  and  the  forest  more  open  ;  and 
we  remark  some  cultivation,  with  one  large  farm-house. 
About  half  way  on,  an  easy  leap  carries  us  across  the 
Rio  Torto,  a  marshy  little  stream,  supposed  to  be  the 
Numicus,  in  which  ^neas  is  said  to  have  been  drowned.:}: 

*  Nibby,  \'^iaggio  Antiquario,  torn.  ii.  p.  262. 

t  Sir  William  Gell  says  the  villagers  of  Prattica  complained  to 
him  strongly  of  the  climate  of  the  spot.  The  same  desponding 
spirit  was  manifested,  in  a  different  form,  during  a  visit  which  the 
present  writer  paid  to  the  hamlet  in  1834,  in  the  course  of  a  jour- 
ney through  the  forest.  While  a  knot  of  the  people  were  gathered 
in  the  kitchen  of  the  wretched  tavern,  a  man  arriving  from  Albano 
told  them  that  an  inhabitant  of  the  village,  who  had  retired  to  the 
mountains  for  change  of  air,  had  just  died  there  of  fever.  The 
hearers  absolutely  seemed  to  feel  a  kind  of  gloomy  satisfaction  in 
being  allowed  to  believe  that  their  own  epidemic  distempers  were 
not  unknown  in  other  places ;  and  the  innkeeper's  wife,  a  miser- 
able victim  of  malaria,  appeared  even  willing  to  infer  from  the  fact 
the  falsity  of  the  charges  against  the  chmate,  whose  insalubrity 
was  weighing  herself  down  to  the  grave  ;  for  she  exclaimed  hastily, 
with  an  air  of  triumph  which  was  really  revolting  ;  "  E  poi  si  dice 
che  in  Prattica  si  muore  !"  (And  yet  they  will  have  it  that  people 
always  die  at  Prattica  !) — What  is  likely  to  have  been  the  state  of 
the  climate  when  .^Lneas  first  settled  on  the  rock  with  his  colonists  ' 

J  Hajc  fontis  stagna  Numici.     iEnnid.  lib.  vii.  v.  150. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  259 

In  tlie  district  we  are  now  exploring,  rather  perhaps 
than  at  Tivoli,  we  ought  to  search  for  the  Oraclo  of 
Faunus,  the  sacred  fountain  of  the  nymph  Albunea,  and 
her  mephitic  grove,  "  greatest  of  woods."*  One  ima- 
ginative traveller  believes  that  he  has  found  the  oracular 
spring,  at  the  Solfatara  on  the  road  between  Ardea  and 
Rome.t  Ardea,  though  as  unhealthy  now  as  it  was  in 
the  days  of  Strabo,  still  retains  its  "  mighty  name,"  and 
about  threescore  inhabitants.  The  village  is  nearly  four 
miles  from  the  sea,  and  is  situated  on  a  commanding 
rock,  naturally  insulated  except  on  one  point,  at  which 
three  deep  ditches  axe  cut  in  the  tufo.  Its  strength  was 
increased  by  very  ancient  walls,  the  remains  of  which, 
composed  of  quadrilateral  uncemented  blocks,  may  be 
traced  on  the  edge  of  the  cliffs  ;  but  recent  examina- 
tions have  shown  that  this  eminence  was  only  the  citadel, 
and  that  the  town  extended  widely  on  the  flat  beneath, 
being  defended  partly  by  natural  ravines,  and  partly  by 
mounds  similar  to  the  Agger  of  Servius  at  Rome.:}: 

Continuing  still  our  journey  in  a  line  with  the  coast, 
we  now  enter  the  ancient  territory  of  the  Volscians. 

The  woods  of  oak,  ilex,  cork,  and  myrtle,  become 
thicker  and  more  picturesque,  and  stretch  farther  up 
into  the  bare  downs  which  lie  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains :  we  follow  sandy  tracks  crossing  each  other  with 
bewildering  frequency  ;  and,  about  sixteen  miles  from 
Ardea,  we  reach  Nettuno,  the  only  modem  place  on  the 

* sub  nocte  silenti 


Pellibus  incubuit  stratis,  somnosque  petivit. 

yEneid.  lib.  vii.  v.  87. 
The  bull  was  slain  :  his  reeking  hide 
They  stretched  the  cataract  beside  : 

»  s  • 

Couched  on  a  shelve  beneath  its  brink. 
Close  where  the  thundering  torrents  sink, 
'Midst  groan  of  rock  and  roar  of  stream, 
The  wizard  waits  prophetic  dream. 

Lad)'  of  the  Lake,  canto  iv. 
t  Bonstetten,  Voyage  sur  la  Scene  des  six  derniers  Livres  de 
I'^neide:  Geneve,  An  13  (1805). 

T  Cell's  Topography  of  Rome,  vol.  i.  p.  172. 


260  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

Latian  coast  deserving  the  name  of  a  town,  but  now 
containing  scarcely  more  than  1000  inhabitants.  Just 
before  reaching  it,  however,  we  see  on  the  right  a  for- 
tress, occupied  as  a  prison  for  the  galley  slaves,  and 
standing  on  the  rocky  promontory  called  Capo  d'  Anzo ; 
fragments  of  masonry  project  from  knolls  formed  by 
fallen  buildings ;  and  the  remnants  of  two  immense 
arched  moles,  the  one  about  2700  feet  in  length,  the 
other  1600,  run  out  into  the  sea,  while  a  small  modern 
harbour,  attached  to  a  little  decayed  town,  named  Porto 
d'Anzo,  is  constructed  with  the  aid  of  one  of  them.  We 
are  among  the  ruins  of  "  the  pleasant  Antium,"  the  Vol- 
scian  capital,  the  spot  where  Coriolanus,  "  too  proud  to 
be  so  valiant,"  stood  upon  his  enemy's  hearth,  and  swore 
revenge  against  Rome.  Under  the  emperors  the  Vol- 
scian  town  became  a  splendid  city ;  and  Nero,  in 
particular,  being  attached  to  it  as  his  birthplace,  adorn- 
ed it  with  magnificent  fabrics,  beneath  whose  over- 
thrown walls  have  been  found  some  of  the  noblest  works 
of  ancient  art.  Cicero,  too,  had  a  villa  here,  and  another 
which  he  describes  as  delightfully  situated  almost  in  the 
water,  at  Astura,  within  sight  both  of  Antium  and  Cir- 
ceii.*  At  the  present  day,  we  see  from  the  Port  of 
Anzo,  at  a  distance  of  about  seven  miles,  a  solitary 
tower  of  the  middle  ages,  in  that  dice-box  shape  which 
is  so  frequent.  The  edifice  is  placed  on  the  extremity 
of  a  lofty  promontory,  and  retains,  as  well  as  the  river 
which  flows  past  it,  its  ancient  name  of  Astura.  In  the 
thirteenth  century,  one  of  the  Roman  Frangipani,  then 
the  owner  of  the  tower,  made  its  vaults  the  scene  of  an 
act  tragically  disgraceful,— -the  betrayal  of  the  princely 
boy  Conradin  into  the  hands  of  his  murderer,  Charles  of 
Anjou. 

For  about  twenty-two  miles  beyond  Astura,  lines  of 
sandy  hillocks,  with  several  long  but  narrow  and  swampy 
lakes,  compose  a  bulwark  between  the  sea  and  the  wide 
forest,  which  hides  from  us  the  Pontine  Marshes.    At  the 

*  Cic,  Epistolar.  ad  Atticum,  lib.  xii.  Epist.  19. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  261 

end  of  this  tract,  on  an  angle  of  the  coast,  a  picturesque 
mountain  rises  almost  perpendicularly  from  the  water's 
edge.  It  stands  like  an  island  between  the  sea  and  the 
Pontine  Flats.  Its  length  is  not  less  than  three  miles, 
its  breadth  one,  and  its  summit,  which  is  a  long  narrow 
ridge,  commands  a  magnificent  prospect,  reaching  from 
Rome  to  Vesuvius. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  little  town  of  San  Felice, 
which  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  ascent  on  its  south  side,  will 
tell  us,  if  questioned,  that  the  mount  is  haunted.  In 
ancient  times,  say  they,  a  sorceress  inhabited  a  castle 
on  its  highest  peak,  and,  sitting  on  the  cliff,  drew  mari- 
ners towards  the  coast  by  the  fascination  of  her  eye. 
She  gave  them  a  magic  draught,  which  robbed  them  of 
their  senses  ;  but  she  possessed  another  charmed  potion 
capable  of  acting  as  an  antidote  to  the  first.  Two 
brothers  sailing  along  the  shore  were  attracted  by  her 
spell :  the  younger  swallowed  the  deleterious  draught 
and  became  a  drivelling  idiot ;  the  elder  feigned  himself 
asleep,  seized  the  enchantress  as  she  approached  him, 
and  broke  the  enchanted  cup.  He  compelled  her  to  dis- 
close the  secret  of  the  counter-charm,  and  to  give  up  to 
him  the  second  potion,  from  which  he  forced  his  brother 
to  drink  and  then  slew  the  witch.  The  name  of  the  en- 
chantress is  Circe,  and  the  tradition  is  older  than  Homer. 
The  promontory  still  bears  the  name  of  Circello,  and  its 
identification  with  the  spot  which  the  Romans  believed 
to  be  Homer's  Island  of  Circe  is  undoubted,  while  it 
seems  highly  probable  that  it  was  also  the  spot  which 
the  Grecian  poet  meant  to  describe. 

The  topography  of  the  Monte  San  Felice  cannot  in- 
deed be  exactly  adjusted  to  the  description  of  the  "  ^aean 
Isle,"  in  the  Tenth  Book  of  the  Odyssey ;  and  though 
the  mountain  certainly  was  once  insular,  it  seems  clear 
that,  long  before  Homer's  age,  it  must  have  ceased  to  be 
so.  Its  appearance,  however,  from  the  sea  is  said  to  be 
quite  that  of  an  island  ;  and  the  poet's  loose  topography 
in  all  his  Italian  scenery,  bears  the  strongest  marks  of 
having  been  borrowed  from  the  inexact  stories  of  Grecian 


262  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

mariners,  who  described  it  to  him  in  the  aspect  which 
it  had  presented  to  themselves.* 

Remains  of  the  rude  uncemented  walls  of  a  citadel  are 
to  he  seen  on  the  height,  and  ruins  of  Roman  villas  at 
its  base  ;  but  no  traces  have  been  discovered  which  pre- 
cisely ascertain  the  site  of  the  Volscian  town  of  Circeii, 
besieged  by  Tarquinius,  by  Coriolanus,  and  by  Sylla. 

Turning  eastward  along  the  coast  fi-om  Circello,  we 
cross  the  mouth  of  a  canal  which  discharges  into  the  sea 
the  united  waters  of  Virgil's  rivers  Ufens  and  Amasenus, 
and  immediately  reach  Terracina,  the  ancient  Anxur  or 
Tarracina,  placed  a  little  beyond  the  extremity  of  the  Pon- 
tine Marshes.  Remains  of  its  harbour  may  be  traced,  and 
considerable  ruins,  partly  Pelasgic,  pai-tly  Roman,  and 
some  belonging  to  the  dark  ages,  surmount  the  noble  rock 
which  rises  from  the  palm-trees  of  its  hanging  gardens. 

The  broad  swamp  which  extends  between  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Terracina  and  the  station  of  Cistema  on  the 
road  to  Rome,  a  length  of  full  thirty  miles,  once  con- 
tained, it  is  said,  twenty-three  Volscian  cities.  The 
waters  rose  even  during  the  republic,  and  attempts  were 
made  to  drain  the  marshes  :  Augustus,  notwithstanding 
Horace's  obsequious  commendations,  appears  to  have 
been  but  partially  successful :  further  works  were  exe- 
cuted till  the  time  of  Theodoric  :  and  several  popes  have 
undertaken  the  Herculean  task.  The  ambitious  pontiff 
Pius  VI.  found  leisure  before  the  first  French  Revolu- 
tion to  execute  his  singular  road  through  the  flats,  as 
also  the  canal  which  inins  by  its  side  for  twenty  miles  in 
a  line  as  straight  as  an  arrow.  A  large  tract  was  rendered 
capable  of  cultivation  ;  but,  the  waters  having  again 
gradually  overflowed,  the  plain  is  again  pestilential.t 

*  ^'Eneid.  lib.  vii.  v.  9.  See  Westphal,  pp.  59,  60  ;  and  the  in- 
teresting excursion  of  Brocchi  the  mineralogist,  described  by  him 
in  the  Biblioteea  Italiana  of  Milan,  vol.  vii.  ;  1617. 

t  See  Forsyth's  Remarks  on  Italy  :  "  Journey  to  Naples." 
The  expense  of  the  late  papal  works  is  stated  at  1,622,000  Roman 
crowns  (£337,900),  and  the  sum  annually  required  for  the  insuf- 
ficient keeping  up  which  the  works  receive,  at  4000  crowns  (£830). 
See  Westphal,  p.  47. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  263 

Among  the  Volscian  mountains  skirting  the  marshes 
several  towns  present  ruins,  particularly  Cori,  the 
ancient  Cora,  and  the  village  of  Norma,  once  Norba, 
near  both  of  which  are  very  grand  remains  of  prmieval 
fortifications,  besides  two  temples  at  the  former  place. 
Setia  also  exhibits  very  fine  walls  at  the  town  of  Sezze  ; 
and  Piperno  has  preserved  the  name,  but  not  the  exact 
site  nor  any  considerable  vestiges,  of  the  patriotic  Pri- 
vernum.  We  have  entirely  lost  Corioli,  where  Caius 
Marcius  earned  his  glorious  surname  ;  although  its  site 
must  lie  near  Lanuvium,  the  birthplace  of  MUo  and  of 
the  actor  Roscius,  which  is  identified  with  Civita  La 
Vigna  ;  as  Velitrae,  the  native  town  of  Augustus,  is  with 
the  modem  Velletri. 

Returning  southward  from  those  hills  to  Terracina, 
without  pausing  to  search  in  its  neighbourhood  for  the 
temple  of  Feronia  and  its  fountain,  in  which  Horace 
performed  his  ablutions  on  finishing  his  voyage  across 
the  marshes,  we  leave  the  territory  of  the  Volscians,  and 
enter  the  modern  kingdom  of  Naples,  by  a  strong  pass 
which  leads  into  the  ancient  Ausonian  district,  com- 
mencing with  the  lake  and  town  of  Amycl^,  afterwards 
named  Fundi,  and  now  represented  by  the  filthy  place 
called  Fondi.  Beyond  the  plain  we  cross  the  line  of 
hills  anciently  known  as  the  Caecubus  Ager,  and  descend 
into  the  lovely  ba}''  of  Gaeta,  where  we  again  encounter 
^neas,  and  perhaps  also  Ulysses. 

The  fortified  town  of  Gaeta,  seated  on  the  abrupt  rocky 
promontory  which  shuts  in  the  bay,  and  crowned  by  a 
circular  Roman  tomb,  now  entitled  the  Tower  of  Or- 
lando, was  the  ancient  Caj eta,  which  received  the  marble 
um  of  ^neas's  foster-mother.  The  fine  bluffs  head- 
land stands  on  our  right ;  before  us  extends  the  sea,  in 
whose  darkly  blue  waters  we  already  see  imaged  the 
skies  of  Pai-thenope  ;  and  around  us,  rich  orange  groves, 
Csecuban  vineyards,  embowered  gardens,  and  rural  lanes, 
slope  downwards  in  beautiful  luxuriance  to  the  rocky 
shore  and  the  little  town  of  Mola  di  Gaeta.     We  per- 


264  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP 

haps  stand  near  the  spot  where  Ulysses,  landing  in  the 
country  of  the  Lestrygonian  giants,  climhed  the  lofty 
rock  ;  or  on  the  path  by  which  the  daughter  of  the  pas- 
toral prince  Antiphates  descended,  bearing  her  pitcher 
on  her  head  like  the  modern  Italian  maidens,  to  the 
"  fair-flowing  fountain"  of  the  nymph  Artacia.  An 
inscription  over  a  well  in  a  pleasant  garden  by  the 
shore  still  reminds  us  of  the  poetical  legend  ;  but  if  we 
fail  in  identifying  the  Homeric  scenery,  we  are  at  least 
certain  that  we  are  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  town  of 
Formiae,  where  lay  one  of  the  most  delightful  and  be- 
loved of  Cicero's  country  villas.  Near  this  place,  also, 
lie  was  murdered.  A  picturesque  sepulchre,  consisting 
of  a  circular  tower  placed  in  a  vineyard  on  the  side  of  the 
road  overlooking  the  coast,  and  overhung  by  a  carob-tree, 
is  pointed  out  without  any  good  ground  as  the  orator's 
tomb  ;  and  one  of  those  undefined  piles  of  Roman  reti- 
culated work,  which  fill  the  gardens  along  the  shore, 
is  declared  upon  as  slight  reasons  to  be  his  vaunted  For- 
mian  villa. 

Southward  along  the  Gulf  of  Gaeta  stretches  a  culti- 
vated plain,  on  which,  nine  miles  from  Mola,  we  see  a  line 
of  arches  of  an  aqueduct,  with  the  fragments  of  a  theatre 
and  amphitheatre.  These  indicate  the  town  of  Min- 
turnse,  celebrated  for  the  adventures  of  Marius.  Here 
also  stood  the  sacred  wood  and  temple  of  the  nymph 
Marica,  the  mother  of  Latinus  ;  and  the  slow  river 
Liris  or  Garigliano,  whose  waters  "  laved  the  oaken 
groves  of  the  fair-haired  nymph,"  is  crossed  by  an  iron 
bridge  erected  in  1882.* 

Near  the  southern  frontier  of  Latium,  Aquinum, 
Juvenal's  birthplace,  is  the  modern  Aquino  ;  and 
beneath  a  magnificent  isolated  hill,  surmounted  by  the 
celebrated  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino,  the  little  town 
of  San  Gemiano  exhibits  the  site,  and  some  vestiges  of 


*  ^neid.  lib.  vii.  v.  47.       Claudiani  Panegyric.  De  Probo  et 
Olybrio  Consulibus. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  265 

Casinum.  These  were  Volscian  fastnesses,  as  was  Arpi- 
num,  an  inconsiderable  municipality,  two  of  whose  citi- 
zens, both  meanly  born,  and  one  of  them  a  peasant,  ruled 
in  their  turn  the  destinies  of  Rome.  Caius  Marius  was 
one  of  the  two  "  ignoble  Arpinates,"  and  Marcus  Tullius 
Cicero  was  the  other.'"  The  country  is  woody  and 
mountainous,  and  through  fine  valleys  we  ascend  to  the 
hill  on  which  stands  the  modern  town  of  Arpino,  co^'-er- 
ing  a  portion  of  the  ancient  one,  and  still  containing  frag- 
ments of  its  more  solid  constructions,  while  the  height 
which  overlooks  the  houses  presents  some  ponderous 
ruins  of  its  primitive  citadel.  An  antique  tomb  placed 
outside  the  walls  receives  from  the  inhabitants,  by  one  of 
those  whimsically  distorted  classical  recollections  which 
so  often  amuse  us  in  the  mouths  of  the  Italian  pea- 
santry, the  ambitious  title  of  the  Sepulchre  of  Saturn. 
Cicero  was  not  bom  in  Arpinum,  but  on  a  spot  which 
we  reach  by  crossing  into  the  valley  of  the  Liris,  being 
a  small  flat  islet  formed  by  the  stream  Fibrenus,  a  little 
before  its  junction  with  the  larger  river.  The  philosopher 
has  described  his  birthplace  with  a  proud  anticipation  of 
its  renown,  in  a  dialogue  of  which  the  scene  is  laid  here. 
The  bank  is  still  green,  though  less  shady  than  when  his 
pleasure  grounds  covered  it :  the  seats  on  which  he  sat 
with  his  brother  and  Atticus  have  crumbled  away  ;  but 
the  "  lofty  poplars"  may  yet  be  found,  and  "  while  Latin 
literature  shall  continue  to  address  us,  the  place  will  not 
want  a  tree  which  may  be  named  the  Oak  of  Marius."t 
The  columns  and  fragments  of  Cicero's  paternal  man- 
sion lie  scattered  in  the  cloisters  and  kitchen-garden  of 
the  little  church  and  monastery  of  San  Domenico  Abate. 

From  the  neighbourhood  of  Arpinum  the  road  north- 
ward to  Rome,  in  the  line  of  the  Via  Latina,  enters 
the  territory  of  the  Hernici,  a  flat  alluvial  valley  sur- 
rounded by  rocky  and  wooded  mountains,  from  wliicb 


•  Juvenalis  Sat.  viii.  v.  237-250. 

t  Cicero,  De  Legibus,  lib.  i.  cap.  1,  4. 


263       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

streams  descend  into  the  river  Trerus  or  Sacco,  while 
several  abrupt  hills  shooting  down  from  the  main  ridges 
were  the  sites  of  ancient  towns.  Frosinone  the  ancient 
Frusino,  Verulae  now  Veroli,  Alatrium  now  Alatri,  Fe- 
rentiniim  represented  by  Ferentino,  and  Anagnia  by 
Anagni,  are  built  in  these  strong  and  picturesque  posi- 
tions ;  and  while  all  of  them  present  ruins,  tliose  of  Alatri 
and  Ferentino  are  especially  interesting.  These  remains 
are  portions  of  the  walls  of  the  old  towns  or  their 
citadels, — specimens  of  that  rude  and  massive  style 
which  leads  us  back  to  the  primeval  ages,  when  Rome, 
if  it  existed  at  all,  was  still  the  village  of  Satumia. 
The  remarkable  monuments  of  this  class,  which  present 
themselves  on  heights  throughout  the  whole  of  Central 
Italy,  have  been  the  subject  of  lively  discussion  among 
antiquaries,  and  have  contributed  to  furnish  materials 
for  speculation  as  to  the  origin  of  the  early  Italian 
nations.  The  cu'cumstances  common  to  all  these  antique 
fortifications  are  the  great  size  of  the  blocks  of  which 
they  are  formed,  and  the  want  of  cement  to  unite  them. 
In  some  instances  they  are  formed  of  polygonal  pieces, 
not  adjusted  to  each  other,  the  interstices  between  them 
being  filled  up  with  smaller  stones  :  in  other  specimens, 
also  polygonal,  the  huge  masses  are  carefully  cut,  and 
fitted  together  with  surprising  exactness  :  and  in  some 
mins  we  remark  that  the  polygonal  blocks  are  arranged 
with  something  like  an  approach  to  regular  courses. 
Other  walls  are  composed  of  rectangular  stones,  placed 
horizontally,  but  irregularly ;  while,  in  others,  blocks 
of  this  form  are  accurately  disposed  in  horizontal  layers, 
one  resting  above  another.  These  different  arrangements 
appear  to  indicate  a  progress  in  skill  of  execution.  Re- 
mains at  Arpino  and  Ferentino  are  remarkable  examples 
both  of  the  fitted  polygonal  and  of  the  rectangular  walls 
and  gates.  At  Alatri  the  majestic  rock  of  the  ancient 
citadel  is  defended  at  one  angle  by  a  vast  rampart,  about 
sixty  feet  in  height,  and  yet  composed  of  not  more  than 
fifteen  courses  of  immense  blocks  ;  while  several  gates, 
one  particularly  huge,  and  many  portions  of  the  walls, 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  267 

both  of  the  citadel  and  of  the  town,  pierced  with  sub- 
terranean passages,  afford  one  of  the  most  instructive 
and  picturesque  specimens  of  those  aboriginal  for- 
tresses. 

At  the  head  of  the  valley  of  the  Sacco,  we  emerge 
among  the  mountains  which  surround  the  Roman  plain ; 
and  the  beautiful  Alban  range  first  presents  itself,  rising 
to  the  west  of  the  Hernician  frontier.  The  white  houses 
and  embowered  villas  of  Frascati  cover  a  slope  of  the 
heights  facing  Rome  ;  and  behind  them  a  steep  ascent 
leads  us  to  the  prostrate  ruins  of  the  town  and  citadel  of 
Tusculum.  This  ancient  city,  one  of  the  favourite  re- 
treats of  the  Romans  during  their  ages  of  refinement, 
existed  till  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  when  it  was 
destroyed  in  a  feud  with  its  Papal  neighbour.  The  visible 
remains  are  those  of  its  earlier  times, — paved  streets, 
reservoirs,  theatres,  and  fortifications,  with  the  galleries 
and  terraces  of  superb  dwellings.  Cicero's  residence, 
the  scene  of  the  Tusculan  Dialogues,  has  been  by  some 
antiquaries  placed  among  the  plane-trees  which  surround 
the  fortified  monastery  of  Grotta  Ferrata,  in  the  valley 
which  separates  the  hill  of  Tusculum  fi-om  the  higher 
Alban  range  ;  but  the  prevalent  opinion  places  this  clas- 
sical mansion  and  its  grounds  on  the  Tusculan  height. 
Beyond  the  valley  (the  ancient  Vallis  Albana)  stands  a 
mountain  group,  of  which  the  eastern  portion  bore  the 
name  of  Mount  Algidus,  while  the  western  and  higher 
elevation,  rising  into  the  conical  Monte  Cavo,  was  the 
renowned  Alban  Mount,  the  seat  of  the  great  national 
worship  of  the  Latin  confederacy.  The  sides  of  this 
noble  mountain  are  covered  with  fine  woods,  principally 
chestnuts ;  a  modern  village,  named  Rocca  di  Papa, 
stands  picturesquely  on  a  projecting  spur  not  far  below 
its  summit ;  and  on  the  platform  in  which  it  terminates, 
the  fragments  of  the  temple  sacred  to  the  Latian  Jupiter 
are  visible  beside  the  walls  of  a  Christian  convent.  The 
view  from  the  peak  is  infinitely  grand  ;  and  the  two  vol- 
canic lakes  of  Albano  and  Nemi,  the  old  Lacus  Albanus 


268  THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF 

and  Speculum  Dianae,  which  lie  among  woods  at  the 
foot  of  the  Monte  Cavo,  may  yet  be  reached  by  a  descent 
on  the  remains  of  the  ancient  Triumphal  Road. 

Few  spots  are  more  beautiful  than  the  Alban  Lake  and 
its  vicinity.  Its  circular  basin  lies  buried  among  steep 
crags  mantled  with,  coppice  :  the  houses  and  gardens  of 
Castel  Gandolfo  overlook  it  from  the  high  bank  opposite 
to  the  mountain ;  and  from  this  quarter  towards  the  north 
we  may  descend  into  the  wooded  dell  of  Marino,  to  find 
the  fountain  of  the  Aqua  Ferentiiia,  the  muster- place  of 
the  Latin  tribes,  in  whose  waters  the  brave  Herdonius 
was  drowned  ;'^  or,  turning  to  the  south,  we  may  proceed 
beneath  the  dknopy  of  an  avenue  of  the  finest  old  oak  and 
ilex,  to  the  modern  town  of  Albano,  the  site  of  Pompey's 
Alban  villa,  beyond  which  lay  the  lovely  Aricia,  now 
called  La  Riccia.  The  celebrated  tunnel  (Emissario)  of 
the  Alban  Lake  still  discharges  its  waters  into  the  plain 
in  a  stream  about  two  feet  deep.  It  is  cut  in  the 
volcanic  tufo  which  composes  the  rock  of  Castel  Gan- 
dolfo, at  a  depth  of  about  480  feet  beneath  the  summit 
of  the  cliff.  Its  length  is  fully  a  mile  and  a  half,  its 
width  every  where  at  least  four  feet,  and  its  height  from 
seven  and  a  half  feet  to  ten.  Livy's  well-known  tale 
of  the  oracular  command  to  form  this  outlet  is  an  inven- 
tion, or,  if  it  be  historically  true,  was  a  fraud  of  the  laic 
priesthood ;  but,  from  authorities  and  an  examination 
of  the  spot,  sufficient  proof  has  been  collected  that  the 
waters  of  the  lake  did  really  at  one  time  stand  about  200 
feet  higher  than  their  present  level,  and  discharged 
themselves  by  a  gully,  artificially  widened  into  a  broad 
canal.  The  site  of  Alba  Longa,  so  renowned  in  the 
legendary  history  of  Rome,  is  still  disputed.  The  com- 
mon opinion  places  it  at  the  papal  villa  of  Palazzuolo, 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  lake,  where  is  a  remarkable 
excavated  tomb  ;  while  the  antiquary  cited  below  con- 
fidently assigns  to  this  poetic  city  some  ponderous  ruins 
among  bushy  knolls  on  the  northern  bank,  at  the  point 

*  Livii  Histor.  lib.  i.  cap,  50,  51,  52. 


ROME  AND  LATIUM.  269 

nearest  to  Marino,  and  not  far  from  the  outlet  above 
alluded  to.* 

The  Montes  Praenestini,  bemg  the  Ime  of  steep  moun- 
tains that  skirt  the  Campagna  of  Rome  from  Palestrina 
to  Tivoli,  are  extremely  majestic.  A  platform  among 
their  highest  ridges  is  covered  by  Guadagnolo,  a  con- 
siderable village  ;  while  other  hamlets  are  scattered  on 
heights  among  the  lower  ravines,  often  in  extremely 
wild  situations  ;  and  villages  or  trifling  ruins  among 
the  grassy  glens  about  the  roots  of  the  mountains  may 
be  plausibly  identified  with  some  of  Liv3^'s  Latin  fast- 
nesses. The  modern  Palestrina,  an  ill-built  town  of 
about  3500  souls,  occupies  the  lofty  site  once  held  by 
the  city  of  Prseneste,  or  by  its  celebrated  Temple  of 
Fortune,  built  by  Sylla,  of  which  several  arched  gal- 
leries may  still  be  seen.  From  the  town  a  very  steep 
ascent  of  about  800  feet  lands  us  on  a  peak  covered  by 
the  fragments  of  the  ancient  Praenestine  citadel,  remark- 
able for  its  siege  by  Sylla,  and  commanding  a  glorious 
prospect  over  the  Roman  plain,  of  which  both  Hannibal 
and  Pyrrhus  are  said  to  have  availed  themselves.  Near 
Tivoli  we  pass,  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  that  wide  wilder- 
ness of  confused  matted  ruins  which  once  composed  the 
celebrated  villa  of  Hadrian.  The  spot  is  very  pleasing, 
though  its  architectural  monuments  are  unintelligible 
to  all  but  the  professed  antiquary,  who  disdains  to  be 
thrown  out  by  any  obstacle.  +  Tivoli,  the  ancient  "  Tibur 
supinum,"  lies  on  the  extremity  of  the  mountainous 
ridge,  and  reaches'  to  the  very  edge  of  those  precipices 
at  which  the  river  Anio,  called  by  the  modern  Italians 
the  Teverone,  forms  its  celebrated  waterfalls.  Repeated 
inundations  have  changed  again  and  again  the  face  of 
this  richly  beautiful  scene  ;  a  severe  flood  in  1826  in- 
jured the  rocks,  and  destroyed  part  of  the  town  ;  and 
two  tunnels,  since  excavated  in  the  Mount  Catillus  to 
carry  off"  the  surplus  waters,  have  not  sufficed  to  protect 

"  Cell's  Topography  of  Rome,  vol.  i.;  articles  "  Albano  (Lake)," 
and  "  Alba  Longa." 

t  Nibby,  Viaggio  Antiquano,  rora.  i.  pp.  120,  &c. 


270   THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP  ROME,  &c. 

the  spot  from  recent  devastations.  But  the  rocks  are 
still  wild  and  bold,  the  grottos,  "  the  echoing  habitation 
of  the  Naiad,"  are  still  dark  and  tangled,  and  the  orchards 
green  and  irrigated  ;  the  headlong  river  still  pours  from 
its  cliffs ;  and  round,  above,  and  beneath,  the  sacred  woods 
of  Tiburnus  wave  "  their  thick  tresses."  *  The  position 
of  the  circular  ruin,  commonly  called  the  Temple  of  the 
Sibyl,  on  the  height  facing  the  principal  cataract,  is 
indescribably  grand ;  one  of  the  lesser  falls  discharges 
itself  through  the  extensive  corridors  of  an  ancient 
villa,  usually  styled  that  of  Maecenas  ;  and  several  other 
imperial  monuments  are  scattered  near  the  town. 


*  Horatii  Carm.  lib.  i.  od.  7  :  lib.  iv.  od.  2. 


THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA,  8cc.  271 


CHAPTER  VII. 

I       Tlie  Ancient  Topography  ofEtruria,  the  Central  Apennines, 
and  Upper  Italy, 

Etrcxria:  The  Plain— Its  ruined  Cities  and  Tombs— Recent 
Excavations — The  inland  Region — Veii — Soracte — The  Thrasi- 
mene  Lake — Cortona — The  River-springs — Faesulse — The  Val 
d'  Amo — The  Sabellian  Apennines  :  Sahines — Reate — 
Primeval  Ruins— Scenes  near  Rome — The  Valley  of  the  Anio 
— Marsians — The  Lake  Fucinus— Its  Scenery  and  Tunnel^ — 
Pelignians — Sulmo — Vestinians — The  Vale  of  the  Aternus — 
Samnites — TheCaudine  Defile — Beneventum — Lake  Amsanctus 
— Umbria  and  Picenum:  Umbria — The  Adriatic  Coast — 
The  IVIountains— The  Valley  of  the  Clitumnus— Spoletium— 
Interanina  and  the  Cataract — Ocriculum — Picenum — Ancona 
— Asculum— Passes  and  Summits  of  the  Great  Rock  of  Italy 
— Upper  Italy — Liguria  —  Genua — Mount  Vesulus  —  Segu- 
sium — Cisalpine  Gaul — The  River  Po — The  Alpine  Lakes- 
Mantua — Verona — Battlefields — Insubrian  Towns — Towns  on 
the  ^milian  Highway — The  Disinterment  of  Velleia— Towns 
on  the  Eastern  Coast — The  Rubicon — Venetia — Patavium— 
The  Baths — Istria — Aquileia — Pola. 

Many  of  those  natural  features  wliicli  characterise  the 
extensive  and  diversified  territory  set  down  for  exami- 
nation in  this  chapter,  will  offer  themselves  more  pro- 
minently to  our  view  hereafter.  But  the  leading 
peculiarities  of  the  several  districts  ought  to  be  well  un- 
derstood, even  for  the  study  of  our  present  subject. 

Upper  Italy,  as  we  learned  at  the  commencement  of 
tliLs  volume,  assuming  its  northern  boundary  among  the 
Alps,  embraces  that  rich  alluvial  valley  which  forms 
the  basin  of  the  Po,  with  the  mountains  which  on  each 


272       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA, 

side  collect  the  waters  that  irrigate  it ;  end  to  this  wide 
scene  of  fertility  it  adds  the  narrow  shores  of  Liguria, 
rocky  and  romantic  in  aspect,  but  yielding  few  natural 
productions  of  any  importance.  This  division  of  the 
peninsula  holds,  in  ancient  history,  a  position  very  un- 
like the  commanding  one  which  we  shall  find  it  bearing 
in  times  nearer  to  our  own. 

The  remainder  of  the  country  here  to  be  surveyed, 
comprehends  the  whole  of  Middle  Italy  except  Latium  ; 
but  a  small  portion  of  Lower  Italy  likewise  is  in- 
cluded in  it,  for  the  sake  of  convenience  and  historical 
connexion.  In  the  centre  of  our  region  stand  the  wildest 
and  highest  of  the  Apennines,  encu'cled  on  aU  hands  by 
huge  niountain  ranges,  among  whose  inequalities  we 
discover  every  variety  of  landscape,  from  the  barren 
sublimity  of  the  rocky  desert  to  the  cheerfulness  of  the 
village  with  its  cabins  and  its  gardens.  Amidst  the 
forests  and  passes  of  these  glens,  the  warlike  tribes 
that  almost  destroyed  Rome  have  given  place  to  the 
peasantry,  and  sometimes  to  the  robber-hordes,  of  the 
Papal  Sabina  and  the  Neapolitan  Abruzzi.  Descend- 
ing yet  lower,  on  the  south,  we  find  ourselves  among 
the  woods  and  defiles  of  Samnium  ;  or,  turning  to  the 
east,  we  see  the  heights  sinking  abruptly  down  into 
the  Adriatic,  but  still  sheltering  among  their  roots  the 
rushing  streams,  the  waving  corn-fields,  and  the  olive- 
groves,  which  attest  the  fertility  of  the  old  Picenum. 
On  the  same  side  of  the  Apennine  we  enter  a  less  valuable 
district,  composing  a  part  of  Umbria  ;  while  a  moun- 
tainous and  very  picturesque  quarter  of  that  province  in- 
troduces us,  on  the  western  declivity  of  the  hills,  to  those 
richly  beautiful  Umbrian  valleys  which  are  watered 
by  little  rivers  flowing  into  the  Tiber.  Etruria,  which 
thence  extends  towards  the  norfh  and  west,  has  four- 
fifths  of  its  surface  covered  by  mountains,  bare  and 
d.esolate  in  some  places,  thickly  wooded  in  others,  and 
subsiding  into  chains  of  hills,  on  which  wide  olive- 
grounds  are  interspersed  with  vineyards.  The  low 
country,   composing  the  remainder  of  this  province, 


THE  CENTRAL  APExXNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALY.   273 

subdivides  itself  into  two  regions  ;  the  valleys  vi^atered 
Ijy  the  Tuscan  rivers,  and  the  plain  which  borders  the 
Mediterranean.  Several  of  the  vales,  and  in  particular 
that  of  the  Arao,  the  largest  of  all,  rank  at  once  among 
the  loveliest  and  most  productive  districts  in  Italy.  The 
Etrurian  plain  closely  resembles  that  of  Latium  ;  but, 
although  almost  equally  unhealthy  and  much  less  fer- 
tile, it  is  far  from  being  so  completely  deserted,  and 
even  contains  some  considerable  towns. 

ETRURIA. 

In  reviewing  the  classical  topography  of  this  import- 
ant province,  a  few  of  the  ruined  cities  of  the  plain  will 
first  engage  our  attention  ;  after  which  we  may  proceed 
northward  from  Rome  to  the  upper  valley  of  the  Arno, 
and  thence  downwards  along  the  course  of  that  river. 

The  Etruscan  Maremma,  or  plain  on  the  sea-coast, 
extends,  with  very  few  lofty  elevations,  from  the  Tiber 
to  Pisa.  The  recent  investigations  by  antiquaries  in  this 
quarter  have  produced  abundant  discoveries,  of  which 
some  account  has  been  given  in  the  first  chapter  on  art ; 
and  to  it,  with  the  authorities  there  cited,  together  with 
Passeri,  and  other  older  sources,  recourse  may  be  had  for 
details  regarding  the  monuments.  A  few  topographical 
features  of  the  district  may  however  be  here  added. 

Proceeding  from  Rome,  on  the  road  to  the  port  of 
Civita  Vecchia,  which  was  the  ancient  Centumcellffi, 
we  reach,  by  a  journey  of  about  thirty  miles,  a  ruinous 
village  called  Cerveteri,  where  may  be  seen  some  re- 
mains of  the  city  of  Agylla  or  Csere,  which,  "  s.  ated  on 
its  ancient  rock,"  taught  the  Romans  the  religion  of 
Etruria.  But  the  most  remarkable  of  the  Etruscan 
ruins  exist  near  Corneto,  eleven  miles  northward  from 
Civita  Vecchia,  at  a  spot  called  Turchina,  which  was 
the  site  of  the  old  Tarquinii.  Besides  portions  of  the 
rectangular  blocks  of  limestone  that  composed  its  walls, 
and  still  line  some  places  of  its  steep  bank,  a  hill  on 
the  opposite  side  of  a  valley  is  covered  with  tombs,  of 
which  more  than  300  may  be  counted.     Excavations  are 

VOL.  I.  R 


274       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA, 

still  prosecuted  there,  and  also  proceed,  though  less 
systematically,  at  various  other  places  in  the  papal  ter- 
ritory, especially  at  the  Ponte  dell'  Abbadia,  a  few  miles 
north  of  Coraeto,  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Volci  or 
Volcium.  At  Chiusi,  which  was  Clusium,  Porsena's 
capital,  investigations  are  also  carried  on.  The  ruined 
walls  of  some  obscure  cities  in  this  district  are  exceed- 
ingly curious  specimens  of  the  primitive  architecture. 
Such  are  Volsinii,  now  Bolsena,  on  the  beautiful  lake 
of  the  same  name, — Rusellae,  now  Rosselle, — and  Cossa, 
on  a  deserted  hill  not  far  from  Orbitello.  In  several 
places,  likewise,  have  been  found  considerable  remains 
of  fortresses  whose  ancient  names  are  uncertain.  An 
especial  interest  attaches  to  the  ruins  of  two  other 
cities, — Populonium,  the  only  seaport  of  ancient  Etruria, 
which  lay  to  the  north  of  Piombino, — and  Volaterrse, 
whose  walls,  sepulchres,  and  other  works  of  art,  con- 
tained in  Volterra,  a  modern  town  of  some  note,  ex- 
ceeded any  tlmig  that  had  been  discovered  in  the  pro- 
vince till  the  excavations  of  Corneto. 

In  the  inland  region  of  Etruria,  the  first  spot  for  which 
we  must  look  after  lea\ing  Rome  is  the  site  of  Veil. 
So  early  as  the  reign  of  Augustus  the  shepherd  blew 
his  horn  among  the  ruins  of  this  renowned  city  ;*  and, 
although  an  imperial  town  afterwards  covered  part  of 
the  ground,  its  real  situation  has  been  the  subject  of  in- 
finite dispute.  Since  1810,  however,  inscriptions  have 
fixed  it  at  the  ruined  and  unhealthy  hamlet  of  Isola 
Farnese,  about  twelve  miles  from  Rome,  between  the 
Cassian  and  Flaminian  Highways.  If  we  approach  the 
place  from  the  Tiber,  we  turn  off,  near  the  sixth  mile 
stone,  into  the  glen  of  the  Valca,  which  is  the  renowned 
stream  Cremera.  Green  hills,  with  clumps  of  copse- 
wood,  enclose  the  valley,  and  beautiful  holms  of  pas- 
ture-land, with  scattered  trees,  fill  the  hollow  below.  At 
a  point  where  two  rivulets  unite  to  compose  the  Valca, 

•  Propertii  lib.  iv.  Eleg.  10,  v.  29 


THE  CENTRAL  APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALY.   275 

the  hi]Is  give  place  to  steep  precipices ;  and  the  table- 
land, four  miles  in  circuit,  wliich  stands  between  their 
two  ravines,  was  the  site  not  only  of  the  Etruscan  Veii, 
but  of  the  Roman  colony  and  municipium,  which  suc- 
cessively occupied  part  of  the  ground  it  had  covered. 
Remarkable  fragments  of  squared  stones  may  be  dis- 
covered among  the  bushes,  with  which  the  crags  are 
matted  ;  sepulchral  tumuli  appear  on  the  ridges  around, 
and  hewn  tombs  with  niches  are  visible  among  the  cliffs. 
At  the  farthest  extremity  of  the  walls,  one  of  the  rivu- 
lets forms  at  a  mill  a  very  beautiful  cascade  of  fifty  feet ; 
and  near  this  nook  rises  an  isolated  height,  from  which 
the  deserted  manor-house  of  Isola  looks  down  ou  a  little 
city  of  excavated  sepulchral  caves  and  niches.  This 
was  probably  the  Necropolis,  or  public  burying-ground, 
and  the  celebrated  citadel  was  on  a  rock  near  the  junc- 
tion of  the  two  brooks.* 

Thirty-five  miles  from  Rome  we  arrive  at  Civita  Cas- 
tellana,  situated  most  picturesquely  above  a  precipitous 
dell,  and  occupying  the  site  either  of  Falerii,  or  of  Fes- 
cennium.t  Interesting  remains  of  a  town  surrounding  a 
deserted  church,  called  Santa  Maria  de'  Faleri,  near  Ci- 
vita Castellana,  certainly  belonged  either  to  the  Etruscan 
Falerii,  or  to  the  Roman  colony  which  took  its  name. 
A  few  miles  to  the  south-east  of  these  ruins  a  long  but 
steep  mountain,  peaked  at  its  summit,  rises  isolated  from 
the  plain.  San  Oreste,  a  little  town  of  1000  inhabitants, 
occupies  a  platform  more  than  half  way  up,  giving  its 
name  to  the  mount ;  and  a  wood  with  an  abnipt  rocky 
path  leads  to  a  cluster  of  churches  which  stand  on  its 
summits,  the  highest  of  these  being  covered  by  the  con- 
vent of  S.  Silvester.  This  mountain  is  the  ancient 
Soracte  ;  the  wood,  once  consecrated  to  Apollo,  became 
the  refuge  of  Silvester,  a  persecuted  Christian  bishop, 

"  Nibby,  Viaggio  Antiquario,  vol,  i.  p.  54.  Cell's  Topography 
of  Rome,  vol.  ii.  art.  "  Veii ;"  a  highly  interesting  analysis  of  this 
classical  spot,  accompanied  with  a  plan. 

-'r  Cramer's  Ancient  Italy,  vol.  i.  p.  226  ;  and  Gell's  Topo- 
graphy, vol.  i.  articles  "  Civita  Castellana"  and  "  Falerii." 


276       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA, 

and  the  hermitage  of  Carloman,  the  devout  son  of  a 
Christian  king.  On  the  east  of  Civita  Castellana, 
among  the  hills  near  Ronciglione,  we  find  the  Ciminian 
Lake,  but  there  are  few  traces  of  the  Ciminian  forest, 
whose  impassable  defiles  so  long  checked  the  Roman 
conquests.  After  a  further  journey  inland  we  again 
meet  the  Tiber,  now  a  clear  and  pebbly  highland  stream, 
beside  which,  on  a  magnificent  wooded  mountain,  in 
one  of  the  noblest  positions  of  any  town  in  Europe, 
stands  Perugia,  more  celebrated  for  its  appearance  in 
the  annals  of  modern  art  than  its  Etruscan  predecessor 
Pei-usia  for  its  spirited  resistance  to  the  Romans  and  the 
Goths. 

Proceeding  northward  from  this  interesting  city,  we 
soon  begin  to  ascend  among  woods  and  defiles,  and,  reach- 
ing the  brow  of  a  lofty  hill,  look  down  through  the 
trees  on  the  celebrated  and  beautiful  Lake  Thrasimenus. 
On  the  west  of  it,  the  eminences  are  inconsiderable  and 
gentle  ;  on  the  east,  two  abrupt  heights,  one  at  each 
extremity  of  the  basin,  shut  in,  between  them  and  the 
water,  the  plain  in  which  the  Roman  army,  like  a 
herd  of  wild  beasts,  was  baited  by  Hannibal.  Vineyards 
cover  the  flat ;  the  village  of  Passignano  is  presumed  to 
indicate  the  hottest  scene  of  the  battle  ;  and  the  streamlet 
Sanguinetto  reminds  us  of  the  carnage.  Beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  lake,  Cortona,  seated  on  a  lofty  and 
very  steep  hill,  retains  some  singularly  splendid  remains 
of  the  fortifications  which  encompassed  the  ancient  city 
of  the  same  name,  whose  origin  is  lost  among  the  mists 
of  fable.  The  Clusine  Marshes,  now  converted  into  the 
richly  cultivated  Val  di  Chiana,  lead  to  Arezzo,  the  old 
Arretium,  near  which  we  enter  the  upper  valley  of  the 
Arnus  or  Arno.  Winding  between  rising  banks,  which 
are  covered  with  vineyards  and  olive  groves,  and  are 
crowned  on  the  right  by  the  grand  mountain  of  the 
poetic  Vallombrosa,  the  waters  of  the  Tuscan  river  flow 
to  wash  the  walls  of  Florence. 

This  beautiful  city  boasts,  under  its  Roman  name 
Florentia,  of  having   been   founded   either   by  Julius 


I 


THE  CENTRAL  APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALY.   277 

Caesar  or  Sylla ;  but  its  antiquity  is  eclipsed  by  the 
huge  Etruscan  ramparts  of  the  neighbouring  Faesulge. 
The  steepest,  but  most  lovely  of  pleasure-paths,  conducts 
through  viny  woods  and  white  villas  to  the  elevated 
spot  which  these  ruins  occupy,  on  the  delightful  "  top 
of  Fiesole."  The  square  of  the  little  village  is  known 
to  cover  an  ancient  forum  ;  and,  from  the  corridors 
of  a  convent,  once  the  citadel,  the  eye  wanders  over 
one  of  the  most  enchanting  landscapes  that  ever  minis- 
tered to  the  heart  and  imagination  of  a  poet.  In  the 
lower  Val  d'  Amo,  the  richest  scenes  of  Tuscan  cultiva- 
tion, interspersed  with  hamlets  and  little  towns  perched 
on  eminences,  accompany  us  to  the  plain  where  Pisae, 
for  which  Virgil  claims  a  Grecian  origin,  has  made 
room  for  the  silent  streets  and  ecclesiastical  ruins  of  the 
modem  Pisa.  Luca,  the  scene  of  a  conference  between 
the  members  of  the  first  triumvirate,  retains  its  name 
nearly  unchanged  in  the  modern  Lucca.  The  bus}"  port, 
whose  Italian  title  of  Livoi-no  the  English  have  cor- 
rupted into  the  barbarous  Leghorn,  seems  to  be  indebted 
to  a  mistake  for  the  claims  to  classical  antiquity  that 
have  been  advanced  in  its  favour. 

THE  DISTRICTS  OF  THE  SABINES,  MARSIANS,  PE- 
LIGNIANS,  VESTINIANS,  AND  SAMNITE.-. 

The  territory  of  those  Sabellian  tribes,  which  are 
here  classed  together,  includes  the  central  heights  and 
valleys  of  the  Apennines,  with  a  portion  of  the  plains 
that  lie  along  their  southern  roots.  The  greater  part  of 
the  robber-country  of  the  Abruzzi  is  contained  in  its 
northern  quarter.  Its  mountain-scenery  is  at  once  rich 
and  wild  beyond  all  other  regions  in  Italy,  and  its  anti- 
quities illustrate  well  the  primitive  history  of  the  Italian 
nations. 

The  Sabines. 

At  the  northern  extremity  of  Sabina  is  found,  far  up 
among  the  recesses  of  the  hills,  the  town  of  Norcia,  in 
ancient  times  called  Nursia,  and  noted  as  the  seat  of 


278       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURTA, 

the  imperial  Flavian  family.  On  the  river  Velinus,  in 
the  beautiful  plain  of  Rieti,  are  recognised  those  "  rosy 
fields"  of  Reate,  on  which  the  Latin  poets  bestowed 
the  Grecian  name  of  Tempe.  Their  neighbourhood 
abounds,  beyond  almost  any  other  district,  in  ruins  of 
fastnesses  belonging  to  the  earliest  ages  of  the  country. 
In  the  valley  of  one  little  river  alone  (the  Salto),  ex- 
tending from  this  quarter  towards  Alba  Fucentia,  there 
have  been  found  polygonal  walls  in  at  least  twelve 
different  spots.*  Lista  was  the  chief  place  of  the  Abori- 
gines, and  Palatium  is  said  to  have  given  its  name  to  the 
Palatine  Hill  of  Rome.  The  Pelasgic  ramparts  of  both 
are  visible  in  the  same  neighbourhood.  The  deep  lake 
of  Cutiliae,  anciently  termed  the  central  point  of  Italy, 
and  now  called  Pozzo  Ratignano,  still  spreads  out  its 
blue,  cold,  acidulated  waters,  in  a  green  plain  beneath  a 
village,  nine  miles  eastward  from  Rieti ;  loose  masses  of 
reeds  represent  its  celebrated  floating  islands  ;  and  a 
Roman  terrace,  and  vestiges  of  baths,  remind  us  of  the 
sick  emperor  Vespasian,  who  retired  thither  to  die.i 
Probably  the  pasturages  of  Varro's  Gurgures  Montes 
may  be  found  somewhere  among  the  heights  surround- 
ing the  grand  peak  of  the  Leonessa,  wliich  is  a  promi- 
nent object  even  when  viewed  from  Rome. 

Proceeding  southwards,  and  approaching  the  Tiber, 
we  find,  at  a  hamlet  called  Correse,  the  Sabine  Cures, 
which  gave  birth  to  Numa  Pompilius.  Eleven  miles 
from  the  capital,  on  the  Via  Salaria,  near  the  left  bank  of 
the  Tiber,  we  have  to  seek  the  fatal  rivulet  Allia  ;  but 
it  is  still  doubtful  which  of  the  insignificant  streamlets 
or  ditches  that  cross  the  highway  in  this  quarter  has 
the  just  right  to  the  "  ill-omened  name."  Nomentum, 
now  the  village  of  La  Mentana,  pleasingly  secluded 
among  woodlands,  and  adorned  by  a  romantic  baronial 

"  For  details  of  the  investigations  lately  carried  on  among  those 
hills,  chiefly  by  Mr  Dodwell  and  Sir  William  Gell,  consult  Gell's 
Topography  of  Rome. 

-f  Senec.  Natur.  Quaest.  lib.  iii.  cap.  23  ;  Plinii  Hist.  Natur. 
lib.  ii.  cap.  95,  and  lib.  iii.  cap.  12;  Suetonius  in  Vespasiano, 
cap.  24. 


THE  CENTRAL  APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALY.  279 

castle,  retains  considerable  sepulchral  and  other  ruins  ; 
as  does  Fidenae,  at  the  mount  of  Castel  Giubileo,  on  the 
main  road,  nearer  the  city.  The  site  of  Crustumerium  is 
doubtful. 

At  the  conflux  of  the  Anio  with  the  Tiber,  we  reach 
the  extreme  point  of  the  Sabine  territory,  and,  skirting 
the  sandy  hillocks  of  the  famous  Mons  Sacer,  turn  east- 
ward towards  the  mountains.  Not  far  from  the  edge  of 
the  plain,  and  near  the  ancient  quarries,  we  enter  a  de- 
solate shrubby  flat  containing  three  little  sulphureous 
lakes  (the  Acque  Albule),  which,  with  their  tiny  float- 
ing islets,  and  their  strong  mephitic  odour,  have  long 
laid  claim,  perhaps  erroneously,  to  the  honour  of  re- 
presenting Virgil's  Albunea  and  oracle  of  Faunus.  The 
Sabine  comer  of  the  Roman  plain  is  here  bounded  by- 
three  pretty  hills,  which,  in  ancient  times,  were  the 
Montes  Comiculani ;  and  the  S.  Angelo,  the  most  north- 
erly of  the  three,  is  the  probable  site  of  Comiculum,  the 
birthplace  of  Scrvius  Tullius.  Behind  these  eminences 
stands  the  Monte  Gennaro.  Its  steep  ravines  are  finely 
diversified  with  woods  and  pastures  ;  and  Horace's 
Lucretilis  is  either  this  mountain  itself,  or  the  range  of 
which  it  is  a  part. 

The  obscure  Sabine  fortresses,  which  have  left  so 
many  fragments  among  the  glens  about  Tivoli,  must  be 
abandoned  to  the  antiquaries  ;  *  and  we  thence  pro- 
ceed up  the  deep  and  picturesque  valley  of  the  Anio  till, 
passing  Vicovaro,  the  ancient  Varise,  we  reach  a  point 
where  the  river  receives  the  stream  Licenza.  This  rivulet 
is  Horace's  chilly  brook  Digentia ;  the  short  vale  which 
it  waters  presents  some  of  the  loveliest  scenery  about 
Rome  ;  the  precipitous  height  of  Rocca  Giovine  may  be 
declared  the  site  of  the  mouldering  temple  of  Vacuna  ; 
Bardella  is  perhaps  Mandela  ;  and  in  a  pleasant  woodland 
spot,  beneath  the  hill  and  hamlet  of  Licenza,  the  slight 
remains  of  a  Roman  villa  are  pointed  out  as  belonging 
to  Horace's  Sabine  dwelling.     Two  beautifully  situated 

•  Consult  Nibby's  Viaggio  Antiquario,  vol.  i. 


280       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA, 

springs,  one  of  them  a  considerable  way  up  a  mountain- 
dell,  discharge  their  waters  into  the  Licenza  near  the 
village  ;  but  it  is  an  undetermined  point  whether  either 
is  the  poet's  glassy  fountain  of  Bandusia. 

A  short  way  above  the  influx  of  the  Licenza  into  the 
Anio,  we  are  diverted  from  our  classical  researches  by 
reaching  the  Benedictine  monastery  of  San  Cosimato, 
boldly  seated  among  cypresses  *n  the  edge  of  a  magnifi- 
cent cliff,  which  overlooks  a  dark  and  fearful  gorge  of 
the  river,  crossed  by  a  Roman  bridge.  Near  the  source 
of  the  stream,  Subiaco,  the  ancient  Sublaqueum,  exhibits 
equally  attractive  scenery  and  equally  sacred  monastic 
retreats. 

The  Marsians,  Pelignians,  and  Vestinians. 

From  the  fountains  of  the  Anio,  at  Treba,  the  hills 
may  bo  crossed  to  the  sources  of  the  river  Garigliano, 
or  Lu'is,  where  we  find  ourselves  again  on  poetic  ground 
in  the  region  of  the  Marsians,  Virgil's  enchanters  and 
serpent-charmers. 

A  little  to  the  south-east  of  these  springs  lies  the 
mountain-lake  Fucinus,  which  derives  its  modern  name 
from  Celano,  a  considerable  town  on  its  banks.  This 
fine  and  extensive  sheet  of  water  is  in  shape  elliptical ; 
a  narrow  plain  wearing  the  aspect  of  one  continued 
orchard  interspersed  with  villages,  skirts  most  quarters 
of  it ;  and  behind  these  soar  on  two  of  its  sides  some  of 
the  loftiest  of  the  Apennines,  including  the  conical 
Mount  Velino,  and  the  round  Majella,  crowned  with 
huge  shapeless  rocks.  The  scene  is  in  an  unusual  degree 
both  pleasing  and  picturesque  ;  and  numerous  spots  of 
antiquarian  interest  surround  the  lake.  One  of  these,  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  Velino,  is  Alba  Fucentia,  the  St  He- 
lena of  ancient  Rome,  to  whose  prisons  dethroned  kings 
were  sent  to  die.  A  little  hamlet  covers  a  portion  of  its 
rocky  hills,  and  among  these  are  still  to  be  seen  consid- 
erable remains  of  its  very  massive  polygonal  walls,  with 
many  brick  fragments  of  its  Roman  buildings,  a  few 
ruined  tombs,  and  in  the  church  some  good  columns  of  a 


TUE  CENTRAL  APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALY.  281 

temple.  Virgil's  grove  of  Angitia  seems  to  have  given 
name  to  Luco,  not  far  from  Alba.  But  the  most  singular 
monument  of  the  region, — indeed,  one  of  the  most  curious 
in  Italy, — is  the  great  subterranean  Canal  of  Claudius, 
which  extends  from  the  bank  of  the  lake  to  the  valley  of 
the  Liris.  It  has  recently  been  cleared  out  and  repaired 
by  the  Neapolitan  government,  to  fit  it  for  its  original 
purpose  of  protecting  the  borders  of  the  lake  from  those 
sudden  inundations,  to  which  the  want  of  any  visible 
outlet  for  the  waters  has  always  exposed  them.*  The 
length  of  this  tunnel  is  6917  English  yards,  or  nearly  4 
miles  ;  its  breadth  in  most  places  is  7  feet  4  inches  ;  its 
height  almost  throughout  is  13  feet  10  inches  ;  and  the 
longest  of  the  shafts  sunk  perpendicularly  to  the  tunnel 
from  the  surface  of  the  earth  has  a  depth  of  432  feet.t 

The  pastoral  and  beautifully  undulating  valley  of  the 
Liris,  in  which  stand  several  obscure  ruins,  belongs  to 
the  Marsian  district  as  far  down  as  Sora.  Eastward 
from  the  lake  were  the  lands  of  the  Peligni,  in  which, 
beyond  the  Majella,  the  Neapolitan  town  of  Sulmone, 
lying  among  the  roots  of  the  mountain,  represents  Sul- 
mo,  the  birthplace  of  Ovid.  Corfinium  is  to  be  found  near 
Popoli,  on  the  river  Pescara,  the  Roman  Aternus.  The 
valley  of  this  river,  which  constituted  the  territory  of 
the  Vestini,  has  its  left  bank  formed  by  the  heights  of 
the  Monte  Corno  or  Gran  Sasso,  near  the  foot  of  which 
on  the  west,  not  far  from  the  interesting  modern  town 
of  Aquila,  a  rurally  situated  village,  called  San  Vittorino, 
contains  a  theatre  and  other  ruins  belonging  to  Amiter- 
num,  one  of  the  most  ancient  Sabine  towns.     Between 

•  The  ancients  believed  that  this  lake  supplied  by  a  subterra- 
neous passage  the  springs  of  the  Anio,  or  at  least  those  of  the  Aqua 
Marcia,  There  are  two  places  near  the  border  of  the  lake  at  which 
a  part  of  its  waters  does  seem  to  disappear.  A  tradition  mentioned 
by  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.  lib.  iii.  cap.  12.),  of  a  town  named  Archippe, 
swallowed  up  by  the  lake,  was  repeated  to  the  writer  by  some  in- 
habitants of  Avezzano,  who  call  the  town  Marsiglia,  and  assert 
that  its  buildings  may  still  be  seen  under  water.  They  attribute 
its  disappearance  to  magic. 

■f  Official  Report  in  the  Biblioteca  Italiana  of  Milan,  voL  xlvii. 
1827,  p.  391. 


282       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA, 

the  fruitful  valley  of  the  Aternus  and  the  Lake  of  Celano 
extends  one  of  the  bleakest  tracts  of  the  Apennines,  a 
bare  moorland  region,  broken  up  at  several  points  by 
savagely  wild  passes. 

The  Samnites. 

Samnium  is  chiefly  mountainous,  and  partially  woody. 
The  situation  of  the  Caudine  Defile,  where  the  brave 
Samnites  inflicted  so  disgraceful  a  defeat  on  the  Romans, 
is  strongly  controverted.  The  opinion  now  prevalent, 
fixes  this  historical  event  in  the  valley  of  Arpaia,  be- 
tween Arienzo  and  Benevento  ;  though  other  antiquaries 
follow  the  older  decision,  which  places  it  farther  west, 
in  a  ravine  near  Sant'  Agata  de'  Goti.*  At  Benevento, 
which,  under  its  name  of  Beneventum,  attained  in  the 
dark  ages  to  the  rank  of  a  royal  residence,  are  seen  a  fine 
honorary  arch  of  Trajan,  a  ruined  theatre,  an  obelisk, 
and  fragments  of  a  bridge. 

To  the  east  of  that  city,  about  three  miles  from  the 
village  of  Frigento,  in  a  bare  volcanic  country,  are  Vir- 
gil's tremendous  Valley  and  Lake  of  Amsanctus,  of 
whose  poetical  horrors  there  still  remain  its  sulphureous 
odour  and  the  jets  of  its  waters. t 

UMBRIA  AND  PICENUM. 

Umhria, 

The  quarter  of  this  province  wliich  lies  eastward  of 
the  Apennine,  has  little  that  ought  to  detain  us.  At 
Rimini,  the  Roman  Ariminum,  are  an  imperial  bridge, 
a  triumphal  arch,  and  portions  of  an  ampliitheatre.  To 
the  south  of  Pesaro,  occupying  the  place  of  the  ancient 
Pisaurum,  the  Metauro  falls  into  the  sea ;  and  the 
battle-field,  on  which  the  Romans  defeated  Asdrubal, 
may  be  sought  near  Urbino,  known  of  old  as  Urbinum 

•  Cramer's  Ancient  Italy,  vol.  ii.  p.  238.  Cluverii  Italia  An- 
tiqua,  p.  1196.     Craven's  Tour,  Appendix. 

■\  Daubeny  on  Volcanoes.  Swinburne's  Travels  in  the  Two 
Sicilies,  sect.  15. 


THE  CENTRAL  APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALY.   283 

Hortense.  The  pass  of  Furlo,  formed  with  great  labour 
by  the  Romans,  who  called  it  Petra  Pertusa,  leads 
through  a  striking  defile  of  the  Apennine  ;  and  Gubbio, 
representing  the  obscure  town  of  Iguvium,  is  cele- 
brated for  possessing  the  inscribed  Eugubian  tablets  of 
bronze. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  mountains,  the  beauty  of 
the  scenery  compensates  for  the  want  of  remarkable  his- 
torical monuments,  Civita  di  Castello,  not  far  from  the 
source  of  the  Tiber,  is  Pliny's  Tifemum  Tiberinum  ; 
and  near  it  must  be  the  site  of  his  secluded  Tuscian  villa, 
which  he  has  so  delightfully  described."-  Farther  down 
the  river,  on  an  abrupt  hill,  the  singularly  interesting 
monastic  town  of  Assisi,  named  in  the  imperial  times 
Assisium,  contains  a  Roman  temple-portico ;  and  be- 
neath the  neighbouring  Spello  lies,  near  the  site  of  the 
old  Hispellum,  an  amphitheatre  close  to  the  highway. 
Foligno,  the  ancient  Fulginia,  still  occupies  its  position 
on  a  beautiful  level,  and  is  recovering  from  the  effects 
of  a  severe  earthquake  which,  on  the  13th  of  January 
1832,  shook  the  whole  of  this  district. 

Southward  from  Foligno,  Virgil's  river  Clitumnus 
bursts  from  its  springs  at  the  foot  of  a  rocky  hill,  whose 
cypresses,  commemorated  by  Pliny,  have  given  place  to 
ragged  coppice.  The  chill  waters  still  form  a  full  and 
wide  stream  the  moment  they  issue  from  the  clifF ;  and 
the  cream-coloured  cattle  browse  on  the  rich  meadows 
that  form  the  banks  immediately  beyond ;  but  the 
decorated  temple,  which,  from  a  beautiful  rock,  now 
overlooks  the  little  valley,  cannot  be  that  primeval 
shrine  whose  religious  simplicity  Pliny  describes.t  Be- 
vagna  is  Mevania,  the  birthplace  of  Propertius ;  and 
Spoleto,  celebrated,  under  its  name  of  Spoletium,  for 
its  repulse  of  Hannibal,  stands  on  a  picturesque  hill, 
separated  by  a  dell  from  the  higher  Apennines,  and 

*  Plinii  Epistolarum,  lib.  v.  ep.  6. 

-f-  Plinii,  lib.  viii.  epist.  8.  Of  doubters,  see  Forsyth,  "  Jour- 
ney to  Ancona;"  of  believers,  Hobhouse's  "  Illustrations  of  Chikle 
Harold,"  p.  35. 


284       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA, 

exhibits  an  honorary  arch  of  Drusus,  the  portico  of  a 
temple,  and  a  Roman  gate. 

A  beautifully  wooded  ascent  of  the  Apennines  carries  us 
across  into  the  valley  of  the  Nar  or  Nera,  on  which,  be- 
low the  conflux  of  that  river  with  the  classical  Veli- 
nus,  stands  Terni,  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Interamna, 
the  birthplace  of  Tacitus  the  historian.  A  romantic 
walk  of  four  miles  from  the  town  up  the  valley  of  the 
Nera,  among  the  evergreen  ilexes  of  the  open  field  or 
the  orange-groves  of  a  modern  villa,  leads  to  the  tre- 
mendous Fall  of  the  Velino,  the  finest  cataract  in  Europe, 
whose  "  hell  of  waters,"  and  the  colossal  grandeur  of  its 
tangled  cliffs,  Childe  Harold  has  deprived  all  succeeding 
travellers  of  the  right  of  describing. 

In  Tuder,  now  Todi,  are  remains  of  walls  and  of  a 
fine  Doric  temple.  The  primitive  ramparts  of  Amelia 
(Ameria),  farther  down  the  Tiber,  are  excellent  speci- 
mens of  the  fitted  polygonal  construction.  On  a  steep 
rock  overhanging  the  Nera  stands  Narni,  the  ancient 
Narnia  ;  and  at  the  entrance  of  the  romantic  ravine  be- 
neath, between  whose  wooded  rocks  the  river  winds 
slowly  along,*  are  seen  the  marble  niins,  still  very 
striking,  of  a  bridge  built  by  Augustus.  Numerous  but 
shapeless  fragments,  on  a  plain  close  to  the  Tiber,  be- 
neath the  modern  Otricoli,  indicate  the  site  of  Ocriculum, 
and  have  furnished,  especially  during  the  pontificate  of 
Pius  VI.,  many  inscriptions  and  admirable  monuments 
of  sculpture. t 

Picenum, 

Ancona  retains  its  Grecian  name,  and  its  strong  posi- 
tion on  a  bluflF  headland,  up  whose  side  the  city  rises  to 
the  platform  occupied  by  its  singular  cathedral.  Its 
Roman  Mole,  built  by  Trajan,  forms  a  part  of  the  modem 
harbour,  and  is  suiTQounted  by  a  slender  and  elegant 

*  Claudianus,  De  Sexto  Consulatu  Honorii,  v.  615-519. 

•\-  For  some  interesting  details  on  the  topographical  antiquities  of 
Umbria,  stated  to  have  been  derived  from  inspection  of  the  ground, 
see  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Education,  No.  XIV.  April  1834. 


THE  CENTRAL  APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALY.  285 

honorary  Arch.  Among  the  numerous  towns  which 
skirt  the  shore  of  the  March  of  Ancona,  it  is  sufficient 
to  notice  Fermo,  the  old  Firmum  Picenum.  The  river 
Tronto  is  the  ancient  Truentus  ;  and  on  a  wide  rocky 
platform,  inclosed  between  it  and  the  Castiglione  at  their 
conflux,  stands  the  dismal  and  decaying  town  of  As- 
coli,  representing  Asculum  Picenum.  The  situation  is 
infinitely  beautiful,  among  rocks,  and  woods,  and  wa- 
ters ;  and  along  the  upper  valley  of  the  Tronto,  the 
horizon  is  confined  by  lofty  serrated  peaks  of  the  Apen- 
nines, running  backwards  towards  the  Mountain  of  the 
Sibyl,  which  perliaps  combines  the  Mounts  Severus  and 
Tetricus  of  Virgil.  Shapeless  brick  walls  and  broken 
arches,  on  an  eminence  within  the  city,  seem  to  belong 
to  the  Roman  times.  On  the  southern  bank  of  the 
Tronto  commences  the  luxuriant  little  plain  in  which, 
on  the  river  Tordino,  stands  Teramo  of  the  Abruzzo,  the 
ancient  Interamna  Praetutiana. 

Westward  and  southward  from  Teramo,  the  Apen- 
nines swell  ujjwards  in  huge  masses,  encircling  the  feet 
of  their  monarch,  the  Gran  Sasso  d'  Italia.  Nearly  the 
whole  of  this  magnificent  mountain  is  included  within 
the  Picentine  frontier.  Its  southern  side  ascends  in  tre- 
mendous precipices  from  the  green  valley  of  the  Atemus ; 
while  on  the  west  and  north  its  snowy  top  sinks  more 
gradually  down  upon  the  wilderness  of  woody  heights, 
deep  rocky  dells,  and  dashing  torrents,  Avhich  skirts  the 
plain  of  Teramo.  This  solitary  and  almost  inaccessible 
tract,  here  richly  grand,  and  there  savagely  desolate, 
is  the  very  wildest  and  most  picturesque  district  of  the 
Neapolitan  Abruzzi,  and  has  more  of  the  Alpine  char- 
acter than  any  other  of  the  Apennine  landscapes.* 

•  The  wild  passes  which  lead  over  the  shoulder  of  the  Gran 
Sasso,  from  Aquila  to  Teramo,  were  crossed  by  the  writer  in 
1834  ;  and  a  short  account  of  the  excursion  was  published  in  Black- 
wood's Magazine  for  November  1835. 


286       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA, 

UPPER  ITALY  ;    COMPREHENDING  LIGURIA,  CIS- 
ALPINE GAUL,  VENETIA,  AND  ISTRIA. 

Liguria. 

Interesting  as  this  province  is,  for  its  majestic  land- 
scapes and  its  vicissitudes  in  the  middle  ages,  no  portion 
of  it  is  remarkable  in  the  ancient  history  of  Italy. 

Genoa  has  nearly  retained  its  Roman  name  of  Genua, 
and  borrowed  from  the  town  which  bore  that  title  its 
active  commercial  industry.  NorthAvard  from  the  coast, 
the  chain  of  the  maritime  Alps  leads  us  up  towards  the 
Monte  Viso  (Mons  Vesulus),  among  whose  piny  glades 
is  the  source  of  the  classic  Padus  or  Eridanus,  equally 
celebrated  by  its  modern  name,  the  Po.  This  moun- 
tain, however,  belongs  to  the  next  range  of  the  Alpf, 
whose  southern  valleys,  following  some  of  the  classical 
geographers,  we  may  consider  as  included  in  Liguria. 
This  group  derived  its  title  of  Cottian  from  a  chief 
of  the  country,  whose  town  of  Segusium,  now  Susa, 
in  the  beautiful  pass  leading  down  from  the  Mont 
Cenis  into  Piedmont,  is  stUl  ornamented  by  a  triumphal 
arch,  erected  by  him  m  token  of  his  submission  to  Au- 
gustus. Turin  has  taken  its  modern  name  from  its  old 
but  obscure  title  of  Augusta  Taurinorum ;  and  a  few 
leagues  north-east  from  it,  near  Ven-ua,  were  disco- 
vered, in  1745,  ruins  and  many  antiques,  belonging  to 
the  equally  obscure  town  of  Industria. 

Cisalpine  Gaul. 

The  delightful  valleys  which  descend  from  the  Alps 
in  the  whole  length  of  their  Italian  chain,  present  few 
spots  of  historical  importance  ;  but  the  fertile  plain, 
formed  by  the  Po  and  its  tributaries,  was  the  scene  of 
many  remarkable  events. 

On  the  southern  side  of  the  Alpine  crescent,  the  hol- 
lows are  watered  by  fine  rivers  forming  numerous  lakes, 
which  are  better  known  to  modern  travellers  than  they 
were  to  the  soldiers  and  politicians  of  heathen  Rome. 


THE  CENTRAL  APENNINES  AND  UPPER  ITALY.   287 

The  Lacus  Verbanus  is  merely  mentioned  by  one  or 
two  ancient  geographers.  Under  its  modern  name  of  tlie 
Lago  Maggiore,  it  is  world-renowned  for  the  beauty 
of  its  shores,  varying  from  the  softest  loveliness  of  rural 
landscape  to  the  stupendous  precipices  of  the  Alps  ;  and 
the  islands  which  gem  its  breast  have  become  the  seat 
of  Italian  villas.  That  on  the  Isola  Bella,  with  its  ter- 
raced pyramid  of  gardens  adorned  with  statues,  offends, 
indeed,  the  taste  of  the  fastidious  connoisseur,  but  de- 
lights the  fancy  of  those  who  are  willing  to  give  play 
to  poetical  and  romantic  associations.  The  Lake  of 
Lugano,  which  the  topographers  call  the  Lacus  Ceresius, 
was  never  named  till  the  middle  ages.  The  magnificent 
Lake  of  Como,  however,  known  to  the  Romans  as  the 
Lacus  Larius,  allures  both  by  the  ornate  grandeur  of 
its  mountain  shores,  and  by  its  classic  recollections  of 
Virgil  and  the  younger  Pliny.  Modern  country-houses, 
convents,  and  hamlets,  scattered  among  its  precipitous 
woods,  have  covered  the  sites  of  Pliny's  villas  ;  and  even 
his  two  favourite  seats,  his  "Comcedia"  and  "  Tragcedia," 
have  entirely  disappeared.  At  the  pomt  of  Torno, 
however,  is  an  intermitting  fountain,  which  answers 
fairly  to  the  description  of  such  a  phenomenon  given 
in  one  of  his  letters  ;  but  Pliny's  spring  may  or  may  not 
have  belonged  to  his  own  villas,  and  therefore  it  cannot 
fix  the  situation  of  either.*  Comum,  his  native  town, 
is  the  modern  Como,  situated  on  the  western  branch 
of  the  lake,  at  its  southern  extremity. 

Continuing  to  skirt  the  lower  valleys  of  the  Alps  we 
reach  Bergamo  (Bergamum),  whose  citadel,  placed  on 
one  of  the  extreme  eminences  of  the  mountains,  over- 
looks the  beautiful  plain  of  Lombardy  ;  and  a  farther 
journey  through  a  closely  cultivated  district  leads  to 
Brescia,  formerly  Brixia.  Antiquities  have  been  found  in 
both  towns  ;  but  the  discoveries  made  at  the  latter  since 
1820  have  been  the  most  remarkable,  embracing,  besides 
numerous  statues  and  inscriptions,  a  marble  temple  of 

•  Plinii,  lib.  ix.  ep.  7 ;  lib.  iv.  ep.  30. 


288       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA, 

excellent  construction.  Eastward  from  Brescia  appears 
the  noble  Lake  of  Garda,  the  Benacus  of  the  Georgics, 
enclosed  by  steep  mountains,  except  at  its  southern  end. 
The  scenery  on  the  lower  part  of  this  inland  sea  pre- 
sents much  of  that  fine  union  of  horizontal  lines  with 
sloping  elevations,  which  distinguishes  Italian  land- 
scape ;  and  the  olive  plantations  and  orange  gardens  of 
the  Bay  of  Salo  are  singularly  beautiful.  From  its 
southern  shore,  Catullus'  beloved  promontory  of  Sir- 
mio*  shoots  out  a  low  and  reedy  slip  of  land,  ending  in 
a  steep  rock,  which  is  covered  by  groves  of  olives  and 
wild  shrubs  twining  among  the  broken  arches  of  a 
Roman  villa.  The  Benacus  discharges  itself  into  the 
slow  Mincio,  the  Mincius  of  Virgil,  whose  waters,  after 
flowing  far  between  cultivated  hills  gradually  sinking, 
spread  into  the  marshy  lake  on  which  stands  the  classi- 
cal Mantua.  Emerging  from  the  gloomy  streets  of  this 
decaying  to%vn,  we  may  wander  among  the  ditches  and 
round  the  outworks  of  its  impregnable  fortifications,  till, 
among  the  pollarded  trees  of  the  swampy  plains,  about 
three  miles  from  the  walls,  we  reach  the  little  hamlet 
of  Pietola,  slightly  raised  above  the  morass.  This  place 
offers  nothing  remarkable  in  its  aspect,  but  every  thing 
in  its  recollections  ;  since  a  tradition,  which,  if  not  ab- 
solutely certain,  is  at  least  older  than  Dante,  identifies 
it  with  the  Roman  village  of  Andes,  the  birthplace  of 
the  poet  of  the  ^Eneid. 

The  celebrated  city  of  Verona  is  very  beautifully  and 
strongly  situated  on  the  lower  ridges  of  those  hills  which 
form  the  bank  of  the  Adige,  the  ancient  Athesis.  Be- 
sides the  modern  interest  which  attaches  to  it,  its  clas- 
sical antiquities  are  numerous.  It  contains  a  portion 
of  a  Roman  bridge,  a  well-built  gateway  in  one  of  its 
streets  near  the  citadel,  and  remains  of  other  arched 
gates.  Its  most  remarkable  ruin,  however,  is  the  famous 
Amphitheatre  ;  an  edifice  which  is  supposed  to  have  been 
erected  at  least  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Trajan.     In  the 

*  Catull.  Carmen  xsxi. 


THE  CENTRAL  APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALV.  289 

middle  ages,  its  gladiatorial  shows  had  given  place 
to  judicial  duels ;  and  in  place  of  these,  the  imperial 
walls  now  echo  the  declamation  of  strolling  players, 
who  pace  a  wooden  stage  occupying  a  portion  of  the 
arena.  TJie  seventy-four  arches  of  its  external  wall  have, 
with  the  exception  of  four,  entu-ely  disappeared  :  mean 
shops  have  been  constructed  in  some  parts  of  its  circuit, 
hut  modem  stone-seats  enable  the  interior  to  present  in 
some  degree  its  ancient  aspect.  The  position  of  the  edi- 
fice, in  a  large  open  square,  is  commanding,  and  its  mass 
is  exceedingly  imposing.* 

Returning  to  the  great  plain  of  the  Po,  we  may  search 
for  three  celebrated  battle-fields.  The  spot  where 
Marius  defeated  the  Cimbri  has  not  been  identified. t 
There  is  more  certainty  as  to  the  sites  of  Hannibal's 
two  victories, — the  one  on  the  Ticinus,  and  the  other 
on  the  Trebia.  The  former  took  place  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  first  river,  to  the  south  of  Novara,  and  the 
latter  on  the  left  bank  of  the  other,  a  few  miles  above 
Piacenza.;]: 

Milan  stands  on  the  site  of  Mediolanum,  which  was 
first  the  cliief  seat  of  the  Insubrian  tribe  of  the  Gauls, 
then  a  flourishing  municipal  town  of  the  Romans,  and 
afterwards,  in  the  reign  of  Diocletian  and  Maximian,  the 
metropolis  of  the  Western  Empire.  It  has  been  destroyed 
twice  at  least,  since  the  commencement  of  the  dark  ages, 
and  preserves  few  vestiges  of  its  ancient  grandeur.  The 
very  existence  of  Trajan's  palace  in  the  city  is  apocry- 
phal ;  §  and  though  sixteen  Corinthian  columns,  at  the 
church  of  San  Lorenzo,  are  elegant,  the  edifice  to  which 

'  Dimensions  in  English  feet :— Longitudinal  axis,  512;  con- 
jugate axis,  410;  circumference,  1469;  height  remaining,  100; 
longitudinal  axis  of  arena,  249;  conjugate  axis,  147.  Woods, 
Letters  of  an  Architect,  vol.  i.  p.  226  ;  Maffei  Degli  Anfiteatri, 
in  Poleni  Thesauro  Antiquitat.  Roman,  tom.  v. 

•f-  Cluverius  (Italia  Antiqua,  lib,  i.)  hesitatingly  places  it  be- 
tween Novara  and  Vercelli :  D'Anville,  with  equal  doubt,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Ticino,  ten  miles  north-west  of  Milan. 

J  Cramer's  Description  of  Ancient  Italy,  vol.  i.  pp.  54,  80. 

§  Alciati  Historia  Mediolanensis,  lib.  ii.   ap.    Graeviuaj,   The- 
saur.  Antiquit.  Ital.  tom.  ii.  part.  1.  p.  43. 
VOL.  I. 


290       THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURTA, 

they  belonged  is  unkno^vn.  The  Roman  mmucipium 
of  Tieinnm  is  represented  by  Pavia.  Cremona  retains 
its  old  poetical  name,  and  that  of  Placentia  is  slightly 
changed  in  the  Italian  Piacenza. 

The  ^milian  Way,  on  which  Piacenza  stands,  passed 
through  several  other  ancient  cities,  whose  modern  re- 
nown has  eclipsed  that  of  their  earlier  days  : — Parma. 
Reggio  (Regium  Lepidi),  Modena  (Mutina),  and  Bo- 
logna, first  known  under  its  Etruscan  title  of  Felsina, 
and  next  by  the  Romans  called  Bononia. 

In  1760,  an  exceedingly  curious  discovery  was  made, 
close  to  the  base  of  the  Apennines,  betvreen  Parma  and 
Piacenza.  At  a  village  called  Macinesso,  overshadowed 
by  steep  hills,  the  finding  of  a  few  antiques  tempted  the 
Duke  of  Pamia  to  excavate  ;  and  at  a  depth  of  many 
feet,  covered  by  successive  layers  of  soil  and  rocks,  were 
disinterred  the  remains  of  an  extensive  town,  to  which  its 
inscriptions  gave  the  name  of  Velleia.  It  had  perished 
by  a  landslip,  supposed  to  have  occurred  in  the  fourth 
century  ;  and  the  number  of  skeletons  that  lay  among 
the  ruins,  showed  that  the  catastrophe,  which  piled  the 
first  strata  above  the  unhappy  town,  had  been  sudden 
and  fatal.  But  the  ancient  writers  are  alike  silent  on 
the  history  of  Velleia,  and  on  its  fate  ;  its  antiquities, 
also,  are  mere  fragments ;  and  these  causes,  joined  to 
the  remoteness  of  the  place  from  the  great  roads,  have 
been  the  excuse  of  travellers  for  generally  neglecting  it. 

On  the  coast  of  the  Adriatic,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Po,  stood  Adria,  which  gave  its  name  to  the  gulf,  but 
sunk  into  decay  on  the  conquest  of  the  province  by 
the  Romans.  Spina,  situated  at  the  most  southerly 
mouth  of  the  great  river,  encountered  a  similar  fate.  In 
the  imperial  times,  the  only  flourishing  seaport  of  Gaul 
within  the  Po  (Cispadana),  was  Ravenna,  built  on  piles 
amidst  morasses.  The  interest,  however,  which  attaches 
to  this  renowned  city,  does  not  arise  till  after  the  classi- 
cal period.  Proceeding  southward  from  it,  we  reach  the 
frontier  between  Gallia  Cisalpina  and  Umbria,  which 
in  the  republican  era,  though  not  exactly  in  the  later 


TUE  CENTRAL  APENNINES,  AND  UPPER  ITALY.    291 

ages  of  the  empire,  was  formed  by  the  celebrated  river 
Rubicon.  For  a  mile  from  the  sea,  a  little  stream  called 
Fiumicino  is  certainly  the  Rubicon  ;  and  of  the  several 
brooks  which  unite  higher  up  to  form  this  rivulet,  the 
prevalent  opinion  designates  the  Urgone  (otherwise  Ri- 
gone)  as  the  leading  one. 

Venetia. 

Vicenza,  under  its  Roman  name  of  Vicentia,  Avas  an 
unimportant  municipality  ;  but  the  ancient  Patavium, 
now  Padua,  renowned  as  the  first  town  of  the  district,  is 
still  more  so  for  having  given  birth  to  Livy,  and  to  the 
family  of  the  Pajti, — Csecinna  Paetus,  whose  wife  Arria 
has  immortalized  his  fate  by  her  heroic  affection  ;  and 
Thrasea  Petus,  the  victim  of  Nero,  whose  name  was 
another  word  for  virtue,  while  his  spouse,  the  younger 
Arria,  was  worthy  of  her  noble  mother.  " 

Patavium,  which,  in  the  earliest  imperial  ages,  was 
the  greatest  and  most  prosperous  city  of  Upper  Italy, 
noted  for  its  commerce  and  woollen  manufacture,  and 
numbering,  besides  500  Roman  knights,  20,000  other 
fighting  men,  was  three  times  destroyed  before  and  dur- 
ing the  dark  ages, — by  Attila,  Totila,  and  Agilulf  the 
Lombard. t  Its  situation  between  two  small  rivers,  the 
Brenta  or  Meduacus  Major,  and  Bacchiglione  or  Me- 
duacus  Minor,  is  no  way  striking,  and  its  academical 
arcades  and  mosque-like  churches  present  no  traces  of  the 
classical  times.  Inscriptions  however  have  been  found 
without  number,  several  of  which  relate  to  the  family  of 
the  Livii ;  and  one  sarcophagus  of  that  house,  found  in 
1413,  was  boldly  proclaimed  to  be  the  tomb  of  the  his- 
torian, and  transferred  in  procession  to  the  town-hall, 
where  it  yet  stands.  Another  sarcophagus,  raised  on 
four  columns  before  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo,  is  an 
imposing  object  ;  though  it  will  scarcely  receive  credit 
for  being  what  its  inscription  (set  up  in  1298)  declares 

*  Plinii,  lib.  iii.  epist.  16.     Taciti  Annal.  lib.  xvi.  cap.  21,34. 
-f-  Scardeonius    de    Antiquitate   Urbis    Patavii ;    ap.  Graevium, 
Antiq.  Ital.  torn.  vi.  part.  3,  p.  27. 


292      THE  ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  ETRURIA,  &c. 

it  to  be, — the  grave  of  the  Trojan  Antenor,  fabled  to 
have  been  the  founder  of  the  city. 

Six  miles  from  Padua  are  the  celebrated  oracular  and 
medicinal  springs,  which  the-  Romans  called  the  Aquae 
Patavinse.  The  largest  of  these,  the  Pons  Aponus,  has 
given  to  the  spot  its  modem  name  of  Abano  ;  and  near  it 
are  remains  of  the  ancient  Baths,  whose  repairs  can  be 
traced  as  low  as  the  time  of  Theodoric.  The  hot  foun- 
tains are  still  used  for  their  former  purpose,  the  bath 
being  generally  taken  in  the  form  of  mud  ;  and  another 
spring,  dedicated  to  Saint  Helen,  beautifully  situated  at 
the  neighbouring  village  of  Battaglia,  at  the  foot  of  a 
lovely  hill  adorned  by  a  romantic  villa,  is  a  still  more 
fashionable  resort.  Este,  in  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood, gives  its  title  to  a  princely  house,  celebrated  in 
history  from  the  middle  ages  till  our  own  days,  and 
occupies  the  site  of  the  Roman  Ateste. 

Istria. 

On  the  Istrian  side  of  the  gulf  few  places  require 
notice.  Aquileia,  which  possessed  an  extensive  carrying 
trade  till  the  fall  of  the  empire,  and  was  levelled  with 
the  ground  by  Attila  in  the  year  452,  preserves  only  its 
name_,  with  a  few  sepulchral  cippi  and  inscriptions.  The 
inland  town  of  Civita  di  Friuli  is  the  ancient  Forum 
Julii,  where  remains  of  considerable  consequence  have 
been  discovered  since  1817.  Trieste  is  the  Roman  Ter- 
geste,  and  Capo  d'  Istria  is  -^Egida.  Pola,  on  the  promon- 
tory of  the  same  name,  possesses  splendid  monuments 
of  antiquity  ;  among  which  are  a  richly  decorated  gate, 
two  temples,  and  a  large  and  tolerably  preserved  am- 
phitheatre. 


ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPnY  OF  LOWER  ITALY,  &c.      293 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

The  Ancient  Topography  of  Lower  Italy  and  the  Italian 
Islands. 

Campania— Capua— The  City  and  Bay  of  Naples— The  Phle- 
pfTsean  Fields  —  Virgil's  Tomb — Scenery  of  his  Hades — The 
Phlegraean  Isles — The  disinterred  Cities  —  Herculaneum — 
The  excavated  Parts  of  Pompeii — Tombs — The  Forum — Temples 
— Theatres  and  Amphitheatre — Apulia,  Lucania,  and  Brut- 
TiDM  :  Description — Apulia — Cannae — Mount  Vultur — Brun- 
dusium — Ruins  in  Magna  Grcecia  Proper — The  Gulf  of  Taren- 
lum — The  Scylletic  Gulf — Ruins  on  the  Western  Coast— Th.e 
Rock  of  Scylla — Charybdis — Elea — The  Temples  at  Paestum — 
The  Inland  Region — Consentia — The  Forest  of  Sila — Sicily 
— Aspect — Mountains — Interior — The  Hill-fort  of  Enna — East- 
ernCoast — Messana — Taorminium — Catana — Syracuse — South- 
ern Coast — Troglodyte  Town — Ruins  of  Agri^ntum — Selinus 
—  Western  Coast — Mount  Eryx — Northern  Coast — -dilgeste — 
Panormus — Corsica  and  Sardinia — Roman  Colonies — Sar- 
dinian Round  Towers— The  Isle  of  Ilva — The  Imperial  Pro- 
vinces or  Italy — Augustus — Constantine — The  connexion 
between  the  Ancient  Provinces  and  the  Modern. 

CAMPANIA. 
Campania  extended  eastward  from  the  sea  to  Mount 
Tifata,  which  separated  it  from  Samnium,  and  south- 
ward from  the  Massic  Hills,  the  final  boundary  of  La- 
tium,  to  the  river  Silarus,  the  modem  Sele,  which  form- 
ed the  frontier  of  Lucania.  Its  most  famous  vineyards 
were  on  the  Massic  heights,  and  in  the  Falernian  terri- 
tory, stretching  from  them  to  the  river  Vulturnus,  now 
Volturno  ;  but  its  delightful  climate  and  its  luxuriant 
cultivation  embraced  the  whole  plain  of  the  modem 
Terra  di  Lavoro.    In  the  interior  there  can  still  be  traced 


294        ANCIEXT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

a  good  many  cities  known  in  the  heathen  times.  Capua 
has  given  its  classical  name  to  the  Neapolitan  Capoa ; 
but  the  latter  is  built  on  the  site  of  Casilinum,  and  the 
ruins  of  the  ancient  Capua  are  found  among  the  fields 
at  some  distance,  comprehending  one  of  the  largest  and 
best  preserved  of  the  Roman  amphitheatres.* 

The  Bay  of  Naples,  of  which  the  Italians  say,  that  it 
is  a  piece  of  heaven  fallen  down  upon  earth,  is  certainly, 
with  its  mountains,  its  gardens,  its  sea-clifFs,  and  its 
countless  dwellings,  one  of  the  most  enchanting  spots  in 
the  world.  It  is  beautiful  in  the  broad  sunshine,  when 
the  purity  of  the  atmosphere  is  reflected  on  its  darkly 
blue  waters ;  beautiful  when  the  verdure  is  tinged  by 
the  golden  lights  of  evening  and  the  ocean  kindles  into 
twilight  purple  ;  and  not  less  beautiful  when  its  con- 
tours are  half  veiled  in  moonlight,  when  red  torrents 
of  fire  gleam  on  the  side  of  Vesuvius,  and  when  the 
waves  catch  phosphoric  flashes  from  the  boatman's  lifted 
oar. 

Within  the  circuit  now  filled  by  the  immense  metro- 
polis lay  the  sites  of  two  Grecian  towns,  the  first  of 
which,  Palaepolis,  sunk  into  decay  on  the  conquest  of 
Campania  by^the  Romans,  while  Neapolis,  the  other, 
long  contmued  remarkable  for  its  foreign  manners,  its 
luxury,  and  literature.  So  early  as  the  time  of  Strabo 
the  shores  of  the  bay  off'ered,  as  they  do  at  present,  the 
aspect  of  one  continuous  city.  The  magnificent  line  of 
mountains,  which  forms  its  southern  bank,  was  not 
neglected  ;  the  lovely  and  salubrious  little  plain  of  Sur- 
rentum  or  Sorrento,  the  birthplace  of  Tasso,  and  now  the 
retreat  of  English  invalids,  was  celebrated  by  Statins  ; 
and  the  majestic  island  of  Capreae,  the  modem  Capri, 
whose  yellow  rocks  rear  their  towering  masses  from  the 
sea  beyond  the  Surrentine  promontory,  still  contains 
the  ruins  of  those  villas  that  witnessed  the  crimes  of 
Tiberius. 


*  Dimensions  in  English  feet:  major  axis,  478;  minor  axis, 
390;  major  axis  of  arena,  218;  minor  axis,  130. — Mazocchius  de 
Amphitheatru  Campano ;  ap.  Polenum,  tom.  v,  pp.  637,  638. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  295 

The  favourite  resort,  however,  was  that  portion  of  the 
gnlf  which  lies  to  the  west  of  the  city,  where  the  volcanic 
fires,  scarcely  extinct  in  the  times  of  the  Roman  republic, 
have  since  repeatedly  broken  out,  and  even  smoulder 
sullenly  at  the  present  day.  This  district  was  called  the 
Phlegraean  Fields,  and  was  pointed  out  as  the  scene  of 
some  of  the  oldest  Grecian  fables  ;  while  one  of  its  lakes, 
the  Avernus,  either  in  consequence  of  its  name,  or  receiv- 
ing the  name  for  the  occasion,  was  declared  to  be  the 
theatre  of  the  Homeric  Nekuia,  that  awful  vision  of  the 
dead  which  passed  before  Ulysses  at  the  barriers  of  the 
earth.  Not  content  with  peremptorily  identifying  the 
spot,  which  the  poet  carefully  left  undefined,  the  Roman 
men  of  letters  proceeded  to  trace  m  its  neighbourhood 
all  the  features  of  the  realm  of  shadows, — features  which 
Homer  does  not  describe,  since  he  represents  the  wan- 
derer, not  as  perambulating  Hades,  but  as  cowering 
in  the  midst  of  his  magic  circle,  round  which  the  ghosts 
arise  and  hover.  Virgil,  in  his  great  poem,  readily  adopt- 
ing the  notion  which  held  out  the  Neapolitan  Lake  as 
the  entrance  to  the  world  of  spirits,  skilfully  blended 
wuth  it  the  local  tradition  of  the  Sibyl  of  Cumse.  His 
hero  performs  an  actual  journey  through  Hades  (a  con- 
ception every  way  inferior  to  Homer's  shadowy  proces- 
sion of  spectres)  ; — but  that  he  intended  any  description 
of  the  actual  features  of  the  district  is  a  supposition 
which,  in  itself  unlikely,  does,  to  those  vrho  have  both 
read  his  work  and  examined  the  ground,  seem  altogether 
incredible.  We  may,  however,  be  content  to  take  hi3 
verses  as  our  guide  in  strolling  through  the  vineyards, 
and  skirting  the  lakes,  of  this  beautiful  scene. 

Our  road  from  Naples  leads  us  beneath  the  Tomb,  said 
to  be  that  of  Virgil,  picturesquely  placed  on  the  brow 
of  the  precipice  of  Posilypo,  and  close  above  the 
entrance  of  its  singular  Roman  tunnel,  which  pierces 
for  half-a-mile  through  the  heart  of  the  tufo  rock. 
On  the  Bay  of  Baise,  now  Baia,  we  first  encounter,  at 
Pozzuoli,  the  ancient  town  and  harbour  of  Puteoli ; 
with  its  mole,  temple  of  Serapis,  amphitheatre,  and  villa 


29G        ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

of  Cicero.  Other  temples,  mansions,  and  baths,  are  scat- 
tered round  the  shore,  and  on  the  opposite  heights  stands 
the  finely  placed  Castle  of  Baia.  Beyond  Pozzuoli,  a 
causeway  divides  from  the  sea  a  shallow  pool,  which 
is  all  that  is  left  of  the  Lucrine  Lake,  identified  in  the 
belief  of  the  Romans  with  one  or  another  of  the  lakes 
or  rivers  of  Hades.  Close  behind  it  lies  the  Avernus, 
now  a  circular  shee't  of  water,  surrounded  by  high  banks, 
covered  with  thickets  and  smiling  vineyards.  Its  my- 
thologic  gloom  may  have  partially  disappeared  even  at 
the  formation  of  Agrippa's  Julian  Harbour ;  but  the 
features  of  the  spot  have  been  completely  changed  by 
the  celebrated  eruption  of  1588,  which  threw  up  the 
iiill  called  the  Monte  Nuovo,  and  nearly  filled  the  basin 
of  the  Lucrinus.  In  the  steep  bank  of  the  Avernus,  there 
still  exists  a  long  excavated  passage,  which  the  people 
call  the  Sibyl's  Grotto. 

We  shall  find  the  real  grotto,however,  by  taking  a  short 
vv'alk  Avestward,  which,  after  passing  on  the  plain  consid- 
erable remains  of  the  remarkable  city  of  Cumse,  will  lead 
to  a  tall  rock  standing  detached  near  the  sea,  on  which 
were  placed  the  Citadel  of  that  toA\Ti  and  its  Temple  of 
Apollo.  The  subterranean  galleries  used,  in  the  oracular 
responses,  still  perforate  its  western  side.  To  the  north 
of  the  Rock  of  Cumse  stretches  a  flat  and  sandy  tract, 
spotted  with  lakes  or  marshes,  beside  one  of  which  (that 
of  Patria)  a  tower  on  the  beach  marks  the  supposed 
tomb  of  Scipio  Africanus.  To  the  south  lies  a  royal 
chase  skirting  the  shore,  and  separating  the  Mediterra- 
nean from  the  Lake  of  Fusaro,  which,  celebrated  in 
these  days  for  its  oyster-fishery,  was  equally  so  in  the 
time  of  Strabo,  for  representing  the  Acherusian  Marsh 
of  the  Grecian  legends.  Its  "  silent  groves "  are  now 
vineyards ;  and  a  smaller  lake,  called  the  Acqua  Morta, 
communicating  with  the  Fusaro  and  the  sea  by  sluiced 
canals,  and  backed  by  a  range  of  rocks  and  a  rude  dice- 
box  tower,  must  be  the  Cocytus.  From  this  point  the 
journey  of  ^neas  carries  him  to  the  Elysian  Fields, 
passing  w^hat  may  be  termed  the  heathen  purgatory  and 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  297 

place  of  punishment.  The  ground  at  present  exhibits  a 
monotonous  scene  of  vineyards  :  the  plain  in  which  the 
two  lakes  lie,  continues  for  a  sliort  distance  ;  it  then 
contracts  into  a  valley  between  sloping  hills,  in  whose 
narrowest  gorge  is  a  straggling  hamlet,  with  a  double 
row  of  Roman  tombs  ;  and  it  finally  opens  out  again  into 
a  wide  plain,  which,  on  our  system  of  identification, 
must  be  that  of  Lethe.  This  is  the  most  beautiful  spot 
of  the  district.  The  bottom  of  the  hollow  is  quite  flat ; 
and  an  extensive  shallow  lake,  the  Mare  Morto  or  Lethe, 
filling  a  large  part  of  it,  communicates  with  the  sea  to 
the  south.  On  the  west  a  smooth  beach  succeeds  to  the 
steep  hill  round  whose  shoulder  the  road  has  led  us ; 
and  this  strand,  or  some  place  in  the  neighbourhood, 
must  have  been,  in  Virgil's  view,  the  anchorage  of  the 
Trojan  fleet.  At  the  southern  extremity  of  the  beach 
rises  an  "  aerial  mountain,"  which  still  nearly  retains 
its  ancient  name  of  Misenus,  together  with  the  ruins  of 
the  town  of  the  same  name  (Misenum)  at  its  foot,  and  its 
rugged  shape,  di2zy  paths,  and  perforated  gallery  now 
called  the  Dragonara.  On  the  east  of  the  Mare  Morto,  a 
lower  hill  rises  from  the  water's  edge  ;  houses,  thickets, 
a  church,  and  vineyards,  are  clustered  on  its  side  ;  and 
along  its  western  base  runs  a  line  of  antique  tombs, 
pointing  it  out  as  a  Roman  burying-gTound,  the  Pere-la- 
Chaise  of  the  Augustan  age.  This  sepulchral  spot  pre- 
serves the  name  of  the  Elysian  Fields ;  and  if  Virgil 
must  be  supposed  to  have  borrowed  from  the  reality  any 
traits  of  his  poetical  landscape,  the  retired  wood  and 
winding  valley  of  Lethe  may  have  been  figured  by  the 
hollow  now  covered  with  vineyards  ;  while  space  for 
the  athletic  games,  for  the  crowds  which  listened  to  the 
primeval  bards,  and  for  the  laurel  thickets  which  har- 
boured the  pious  and  the  patriotic,  would  be  found  on  the 
lone  summit  of  the  rising  ground  of  Bauli,  now  Bacoli, 
stretching  towards  the  frowming  rocks  that  dip  into  the 
Bay  of  Baia.  This  high  ground  contains  several  ruins  of 
ancient  villas, particularly  two  remarkable  subterraneous 
buildings,  probably  reservoirs  ;  the  Cento  Camerelle,  a 


298       ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

triple  course  of  vaults,  and  the  Piscina  Mirabile,  a  vast 
hall,  supported  by  no  fewer  than  forty-eight  arches.* 

The  Romans  extended  their  Homeric  topography 
to  the  islands  about  Naples.  Three  rocky  islets,  now 
called  I  Galli,  which  may  be  seen  on  climbing  from  the 
orange-groves  of  Sorrento  to  the  heights  on  the  south, 
were  identified  as  the  haunt  of  the  Sirens,  and  are  so 
styled  by  Virgil.  Prochyta,  now  Procida,  and  the 
larger  island  of  Ischia,  formerly  ^Enaria  or  Pithecusa, 
and  poetically  Inarime,  were  fixed  on  as  the  prison  of 
the  giant  Typhaeus,  and  are  recognised  as  such  by  all  the 
Latin  poets.  These  tales  owed  their  origin  to  the 
Ischian  volcano  Epopeus,  the  modern  Monte  San  Nicola. 

Vesuvius  and  the  eminences  which  are  grouped  around 
it,  nearly  fill  up  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Naples  ; 
but  there  will  be  a  fitter  opportunity  for  describing  them, 
when  we  come  to  the  natural  history  of  the  district. 

The  disinterred  cities  at  the  foot  of  Vesuvius  have 
excited  the  liveliest  curiosity,  less  from  their  own  im- 
portance, than  from  their  presenting  on  their  discovery 
the  spectacle  of  ancient  habitations  and  theu'  contents, 
as  little  disturbed  as  if  we  were  transported  back  to  the 
first  century  of  the  Christian  era.  Tradition  ascribed 
to  the  Greeks  the  foundation  of  Herculaneum  as  well 
as  Pompeii :  the  Etruscans  and  Samnites  by  turns  pos- 
sessed both  ;  both  were  subdued  by  Sylla  in  the  Social 
War ;  and  both,  but  particularly  the  latter,  appear 
to  have  prospered  under  the  Roman  dominion.  Both 
towns  are  stated  to  have  been  injured  by  earthquakes 
previously  to  the  great  eruption ;  and  traces  of  the  de- 
vastations, which  Pompeii  suffered  by  the  convulsion  in 
A.D.  63,  are  still  visible  in  its  existing  remains.  The  ter- 
rible catastrophe  of  the  year  79,  in  which  Pliny  the  natu- 
ralist perished  at  Stabiae,  near  the  modem  Castellamare, 
is  described  by  his  nephew,  in  two  letters  with  which 


*  See  the  Canon  Andrea  de  Jorio's  Viaggio  di  Enea  all'  Inferno 
ed  agli  Elisii,  secondo  Virgilio ;  Napoli,  1831,  3d  edition. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  299 

every  scholar  is  familiar.*  The  unfortunate  towns  were 
destroyed  in  that  eruption,  not  by  streams  of  lava,  but  by 
showersof  stones  and  ashes  discharged  from  the  mountain. 
Herculaneum,  however,  has  since  become  imbedded 
to  the  depth  of  eighty  or  a  hundred  feet  in  solid  volcanic 
masses,  and  its  total  disinterment  is  consequently  hope- 
less. Galleries  have  been  cut  to  fomi  approaches  to  some 
portions  of  it,  and  the  spaces  which  were  laid  open 
have  been  generally  filled  up  again  after  the  moveables 
were  carried  off.  Its  celebrated  paintings  and  manu- 
scripts, its  statues,  mosaics,  household  utensils,  and  other 
antique  treasures,  must  now  be  sought  in  the  Royal 
Museum  at  Naples ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  some 
partial  excavations  which  were  lately  in  progress,  the 
only  accessible  part  is  the  Theatre,  of  which  the  stage 
and  the  adjoining  compartments  may  be  imperfectly 
viewed  by  torchlight.  Over  Pompeii,  on  the  other  hand, 
lay  nothing  but  the  loose  bed,  in  few  places  so  deep  as 
twenty  feet,  formed  by  the  showers  which  originally 
destroyed  it ;  its  excavation  was  comparatively  easy,  and 
the  portions  uncovered  have  been  left  open  to  view. 

In  1711,  a  peasant  in  sinking  a  well  at  Portici  disco- 
vered the  earliest  traces  of  Herculaneum ;  and  the  govern- 
ment unrolled  the  first  of  the  mutilated  manuscripts  in 
1752.  In  1592,  a  water-course,  cut  across  the  site  of 
Pompeii,  came  on  several  basements,  but  without  attract- 
ing attention ;  towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  other  monuments  were  discovered  ;  about  1748, 
the  position  of  the  city  was  identified,  and  a  few  years 
later  the  systematic  excavations  commenced.  The 
French,  after  the  conquest  by  Napoleon,  disinterred  the 
largest  part  of  those  buildings  which  we  now  see, 
and  ascertained  the  circuit  of  the  walls,  a  sweep  of 
about  two  mUes.  Not  one-third  of  the  town  is  yet  laid 
bare,  and  the  operations  which  now  go  on  are  a  mere 
mockery.  Outside  the  ramparts  one  suburban  street  has 
been  uncovered.  The  streets  and  areas  excavated  within 

♦  Plinii  Epistol.  lib.  vi.     Epp.  16,  20. 


300       ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

the  walls  comprehend,  besides  minor  public  edifices,  an 
amphitheatre,  two  theatres,  eight  temples,  two  basilicae, 
and  baths,  besides  numerous  fountains  in  the  streets  and 
houses.  Upwards  of  eighty  private  mansions  have  been 
discovered,  a  great  number  of  shops,  and  in  the  outskirts 
many  tombs. 

From  the  side  nearest  to  Herculaneum,  Pompeii  is  ap- 
proached by  a  disinterred  suburb  which  has  been  named 
the  Street  of  the  Tombs.  In  this  interesting  spot,  the 
first  remarkable  object  is  the  Suburban  Villa,  which  has 
been  called  that  of  Arrius  Diomedes,  in  one  of  whose 
vaults  seventeen  skeletons  lay  huddled  together  ;  while 
two  others,  one  bearing  a  key,  and  supposed  to  have  been 
the  master  of  the  house,  were  found  stretched  in  the 
garden.*  Two  of  those  in  the  vault  were  the  skele- 
tons of  children,  whose  fair  hair  was  still  preserved ; 
most  of  them  were  those  of  females  ;  and  the  impression 
of  one  shape  on  the  volcanic  sand  indicated  youth  and 
singular  beauty.  The  plan  of  this  villa,  with  its  courts, 
chambers,  baths,  staircases,  galleries,  and  gardens,  can 
be  easily  traced.  In  the  window  of  one  apartment  in  it 
four  panes  of  glass  were  found,  and  proved  for  the  first 
time  that  the  Romans  had  applied  glass  to  that  use.  The 
Tombs  which,  as  we  walk  on,  succeed  the  villa,  are 
structures  of  various  forms,  and  more  or  less  orna- 
mented ;  some  of  them,  being  solid  (a  few  of  these  mere 
cippi  or  monumental  pillars),  cannot  have  contained 
ashes  or  bodies ;  others  are  calculated  for  one  person, 
and  a  third  class  are  pierced  with  niches  for  the  urns  of 
the  family  and  dependents,  the  appearance  of  which, 
resembling  that  of  pigeon-houses,  gave  such  buildings  the 
name  of  Columbaria.  The  tombs  are  generally  placed  in 
a  vacant  space  enclosed  by  walls,  and  the  picture  which 
their  mutilated  range  produces  is  unusually  attractive. 
One  painted  chamber,  open  at  the  top,  and  containing  a 

*  The  whole  number  of  skeletons  yet  discovered  in  Pompeii  does 
not,  it  is  believed,  amount  to  300 ;  and  the  disappearance  of  valu- 
ables from  some  quarters  indicates  that  the  inhabitants  had  attempt- 
ed, after  the  catastrophe,  to  recover  part  of  their  possessions. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  301 

triclinium  or  triple  seat,  a  monumental  column,  and  a 
pedestal  for  a  table,  was  designed  for  the  funeral  feasts. 
Near  another  semicircular  bench  were  found  the  skeletons 
of  two  children  embracing,  and  of  a  female  holding  an 
infant  in  her  arms ;  and  in  a  niche  close  by  the  gate 
was  the  skeleton  of  a  soldier  with  his  weapons. 

The  streets  of  the  town  are  narrow,  the  very  widest 
scarcely  exceeding  thirty  feet,  and  are  paved  with  irre- 
gular blocks  of  lava,  in  which  the  ruts  of  carriage 
wheels  are  visible.  The  Forum,  however,  had  originally 
a  pavement  of  marble.  The  houses  are  built  of  lava, 
plastered  over,  and  frequently  pauited,  while  inscrip- 
tions indicate  the  names  of  the  owners,  and  together  with 
emblematic  signs  intimate  the  kind  of  merchandise  sold 
within,  or  convey  salutations  to  expected  visiters.  The 
dwellings  externally  were  little  ornamented,  not  one  of 
them  possessing  a  portico ;  and  the  large  mansions  of 
the  wealthier  inhabitants  were  chiefly  suiTOunded  by 
shops.  The  aspect  of  the  streets  is  gloomy,  the  houses 
are  low,  and  their  fronts  usually  consist  of  an  under 
portion  of  dead  wall,  above  which  are  small  windows 
serving  a  part  of  the  first  floor,  the  principal  lights, 
however,  being  admitted  from  the  inner  courts.  The 
roofs  have  of  course  disappeared,  no  upper  floor  is  in 
existence,  and  few  of  the  buildings  appear  to  have  had 
any.  The  interior  of  the  better  residences  was  beauti- 
fully decorated  with  columns,  mosaics  on  the  floors,  and 
paintings  of  landscape,  figures,  and  arabesques,  on  the 
plaster  of  the  walls.  Most  of  these  ornaments,  including 
the  paintings  and  mosaics,  are  now  in  the  Museum. 

From  the  Herculaneum  gate  a  winding  street  runs 
towards  the  Forum,  and  on  this  line  are  several  of  the 
largest  and  most  remarkable  of  the  private  mansions,  espe- 
cially those  called  the  houses  of  Sallust,  Pansa,  and  the 
Tragic  Poet.  Immediately  before  we  reach  the  Forum 
we  find  the  Public  Baths,  disinterred  in  1824.  In  this 
establishment,  which  occupies  a  space  of  about  100  square 
feet,  the  walls,  many  of  the  vaulted  roofs,  the  paintings 
and  the  mosaics,  are  in  tolerable  preservation. 


302        ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

The  Forum  is  an  oblong  area  of  nearly  500  feet  by 
120,  surrounded  by  a  Doric  colonnade.  At  one  end  of 
it,  a  Corinthian  temple,  which  has  been  called  that  of 
Jupiter,  projects  into  the  open  space,  and  is  elevated  on 
a  very  lofty  basement, — a  peculiarity  distinguishing  all 
the  temples  of  Pompeii,  and  producing,  with  the  long 
flight  of  steps  by  which  the  portico  is  faced,  a  very  im- 
posing effect.  Round  the  colonnade  stand  the  remains 
of  other  sacred  buildings,  and  of  some  whose  purposes 
are  uncertain  ;  but  they  apparently  include  a  senate- 
house,  a  prison,  in  which  were  found  two  skeletons  of 
men  in  fetters,  a  basilica,  and  another  structure  of  a 
similar  kind,  which,  according  to  its  inscription,  was 
erected  by  a  female  named  Eumachia.  An  edifice  near 
one  side  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  adorned  with  singu- 
larly well  preserved  paintings,  and  containing  numerous 
cells  or  chambers,  with  a  central  space  in  which  stand 
twelve  pedestals  in  a  circle  round  an  altar,  has  been 
called  the  Pantheon.  Shops  encompass  it,  and  one  range 
of  these  faces  the  Fomm  ;  in  which,  on  the  side  opposite 
to  them,  is  a  large  temple,  supposed  to  be  that  of  Venus. 

Beyond  the  Forum  is  the  quarter  of  the  Theatres, 
which  embraces  shady  porticos,  and  spacious  areas  for 
gardens.  A  large  triangular  space,  approached  by  an 
Ionic  vestibule,  and  enclosed  by  a  Doric  colonnade, 
contains  a  remarkable  temple,  called  that  of  Hercules, 
and  pronounced  the  most  ancient  building  in  Pompeii. 
This  portico  opens  to  the  greater  Theatre,  beyond  which 
is  the  smaller  one.  The  larger  of  the  two,  which  may 
have  contained  5000  spectators,  is  semicircular  like  the 
other  Roman  theatres,  and  is  built  on  the  slope  of  the 
hill.  It  seems  to  have  been  faced  with  rich  marble,  of 
which  some  slabs  still  remain ;  and  its  plan,  excepting 
that  of  the  stage,  can  be  distinctly  traced.  The  small 
Theatre  has  its  semicircle  truncated  by  walls  running  at 
right  angles  to  the  stage,  and,  on  the  authority  of  an  in- 
scription, is  said  to  have  been  roofed.  Beside  it  is  a  large 
rectangular  area,  surrounded  by  a  Doric  colonnade,  and 
containing  a  number  of  small  apartments  resembling 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  303 

shops.  It  has  been  called  the  Provision-market  (Fo- 
rum Nundinarium),  or  Soldiers'  Quarters,  and  may  have 
served  both  purposes,  besides  others  connected  with  the 
places  of  amusement.  A  court  behind  the  great  theatre, 
enclosed  by  a  portico,  contains  a  small  Corinthian  Tem- 
ple of  Isis,  well  preserved  and  curiously  ornamented. 

The  Amphitheatre  stands  at  the  south-eastern  corner 
of  the  town,  just  within  the  walls.  It  is  as  usual  ellip- 
tical ;  its  dimensions  externally  are  480  feet  by  335,  and 
it  could  admit  perhaps  10,000  spectators.  It  was  chiefly 
constructed  internally  of  rubble  work, — the  opus  incer- 
turn  of  the  ancient  writers, — the  facing  of  which  with  stone 
has  chiefly  disappeared,  but  the  outline  is  quite  entire. 

APULIA,  LUCANIA,  AND  BRUTTIUM. 
This  extensive  and  highly  interesting  country  varies 
exceedingly  in  its  natural  features.  Apulia  chiefly  con- 
sists of  a  wide  and  long  level,  passing  at  its  southern 
extremity  into  a  branch  of  the  Apennine.  Its  plains 
have  lost  much  of  their  Roman  cultivation,  and  most 
of  the  forests  in  which  the  Italian  princes  of  the  middle 
ages  hunted  have  disappeared  ;  a  great  part  of  them  be- 
mg  now  reduced  to  pasturage,  whose  general  barrenness  is 
relieved  only  by  luxuriant  brushwood,  with  a  few  strag- 
gling clumps  of  forest  ground.  That  large  district  of 
Lucania  which  is  embraced  in  the  Basilicata  is  more 
hilly,  but  is  far  from  being  either  fertile  in  soil  or  beau- 
tiful in  scenery.  On  the  western  side  of  the  Gulf  of 
Tarentum,  however,  the  Apennines  rise  higher,  and  fill 
nearly  the  whole  remainder  of  the  peninsula  to  its 
southern  headlands.  This  region  of  Italy  is  Avild 
and  romantic  in  the  extreme.  The  forms  of  the  moun- 
tains are  more  abrupt  and  varied  than  in  the  northern 
districts  of  the  great  chain,  and  their  summits  are  in 
several  quarters  covered  with  never-melting  snows ; 
magnificent  forests  clothe  the  ravines  on  their  sides, 
their  rivers  are  ton-ents  leaving  dry  channels  in  sum- 
mer, and  the  glens  which  cluster  among  their  roots 
display  a  contini^ally  recurring  alternation  of  desolate 


304        ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

wastes  with  the  richest  vegetation.  The  picturesque- 
ness  of  the  landscape  is  aided  by  the  position  of  the 
towns  and  villages,  which,  placed  almost  universally  on 
detached  hills,  differ  from  the  similarly  situated  towns 
in  the  north  in  this  respect ;  that,  instead  of  covering 
the  top  of  the  eminence,  they  usually  rise  as  it  were  in 
eteps  from  its  base,  converting  it  into  a  pyramid  or  cone 
of  buildings. 

The  ancient  history  of  southern  Italy  derives  its 
chief  interest  from  the  Grecian  settlements,  of  which 
Apulia  possessed  but  few.  The  group  of  Mount  Garganus 
at  its  northern  extremity,  takes  its  modem  name  of 
Sant'  Angelo  from  a  miraculous  grotto  haunted  by  the 
archangel  Michael.  In  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century  the  population  of  Sipontum,  at  the  foot  of  this 
mountain,  was  transferred  to  the  new  town  of  Man- 
fredonia.  Southward  from  this  place  the  river  Ofanto 
is  the  Aufidus,  on  whose  banks  was  fought  the  battle 
of  Cannae.  The  precise  scene  of  this  murderous  conflict 
cannot  be  fixed  without  some  hesitation ;  but  ruined 
tombs  and  other  edifices  not  far  from  the  right  bank  of 
the  river,  about  eight  miles  from  Barletta,  are  supposed 
to  belong  to  the  village  of  Cannas,  and  thus  to  indicate 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  battle  ;  and  Canosa,  twelve 
miles  from  the  river-mouth,  is  Canusium,  which  appears 
in  the  same  page  of  the  Roman  history.  Between  Ve- 
nosa  (Venusia)  and  the  river,  the  town  of  Melfi  occupies 
the  summit  of  a  fine,  conical,  isolated  mountain,  which, 
with  the  woody  ravines  formed  by  it,  is  poetical  ground, 
being  the  Mons  Vultur,  which  sheltered  Horace's  in- 
fant slumbers.  Southward  from  Barletta  stands  Bari, 
the  ancient  Barium  ;  and  Brindisi  is  Brundusium,  the 
most  celebrated  port  of  ancient  Italy,  and  the  scene  of 
Virgil's  death.  Its  situation  is  marshy,  its  excellent 
harbour  is  nearly  choked  up  with  sand,  and  its  strong 
castle  is  a  prison  for  convicts.  Otranto  partially  pre- 
serves the  name  of  Hydrus  or  Hydruntum ;  and  Gallipoli, 
a  stirrmg  port,  that  of  Callipolis,  on  the  Gulf  of  Taren- 
tum. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  305 

The  eastern  side  of  this  grand  basin  is  terminated  by 
the  lapygian  or  Sallentine  promontory,  called  by  the 
Italians  the  Capo  di  Leuca  ;  and  at  this  point  commences 
that  line  of  coast  to  which  most  of  the  ancient  geo- 
graphers restrict,  somewhat  capriciously,  the  name  of 
Magna  Grscia.  In  its  strict  application,  the  term  com- 
prehends only  that  part  of  the  eastern  shore  which  ex- 
tends southward  from  the  lapygian  promontory  to  the 
Zephyrian  (the  Capo  di  Bruzzano),  or,  at  farthest,  to 
the  promontory  of  Hercules  (Capo  Spartivento),  or  to 
Leucopetra  (the  Capo  dell'  Armi),  the  two  southern 
extremities  of  the  peninsula.*  It  would  be  more  con- 
venient to  use  the  name  as  a  collective  one,  embracing 
all  the  Greek  settlements  in  Italy. 

But  within  the  limits  thus  laid  down  were  certainly 
founded  the  most  powerful  of  the  Italo-Grecian  states. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  notice  particularly  Taras  or 
Tarentum,  Metapontum,  Heraclea,  Sybaris,  Thurii, 
Croton,  and  Locri  Epizephyrii.  The  first  six  of  these 
splendid  cities  stood  on  the  Gulf  of  Tarentum,  bounded 
between  the  Lacinian  and  lapygian  promontories,  on 
the  rocks  of  the  former  of  which  still  stands  the  last 
column  of  the  temple  of  the  Lacinian  Juno,  giving  to 
the  headland  its  modern  name  of  Capo  delle  Colonne. 
The  town  of  Taranto,  occupying  the  site  of  Tarentum, 
but  possessing  few  of  its  remains,  is  situated  very  de- 
lightfully, on  a  neck  of  land  which  nearly  divides  the 
main  gulf  from  a  small  inner  bay  that  forms  its 
head.  Around  a  solitary  house,  called  Torre  di  Mare, 
near  the  right  bank  of  the  Bradano,  the  old  Bradanus, 
an  uncultivated  plain,  covered  with  tamarisks  and  other 
coppice-wood,  extends  to  the  sea  ;  and  on  an  eminence  in 
this  flat  are  the  sole  vestiges  of  Metapontum,  being  the 
ruins  of  a  Doric  temple,  of  which  fifteen  columns  with 
their  architrave  are  still  erect.  Heraclea  lay  to  the  south 
of  Metapontum,  but  not  a  fragment  of  it  remains ;  though 
inscriptions,  medals,  and  the  celebrated  Heraclean  tablets 

•  Cluverii  Italia  Antiqua,  p.  1321. 
VOL.  I.  T 


306       ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

of  bronze,  dug  up  in  1753,  have  fixed  its  site  at  Policoro, 
a  mansion  near  the  shore,  in  the  plain  of  the  river  Sinno, 
which  is  the  ancient  Siris.  At  the  south-western  angle 
of  the  Gulf  of  Tarentum,  commencing  at  the  sea  on  the 
frontier  between  Lucania  and  Bruttium,  and  extending 
southwards  into  the  latter  province  upwards  of  fifty 
miles,  is  a  valley  watered  by  several  streams,  and  in  many 
spots  singularly  fertile  and  beautiful.  In  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  coast  rich  corn-fields  and  fine  pastures 
are  scattered  among  woody  hills,  while  jagged  moun^ 
tains,  closing  the  distance,  descend  at  several  points  in 
steep  precipices  to  the  water's  edge.  Two  of  the  rivers 
of  this  vale  are  classical.  The  Crati,  its  main  stream,  is 
the  Crathis,  whose  waters  were  fabled  to  turn  the  hair 
to  the  colour  of  gold  ;  and  the  Coscile  is  the  Sybaris. 
These  two  rivers,  whose  beds  appear  to  have  undergone 
violent  changes,  now  unite  about  six  miles  from  their 
mouth  ;  and  in  the  district  which  they  embellish  stood 
the  two  cities  of  Sybaris  and  Thurii,  the  former  famous 
for  its  luxurious  prosperity,  the  latter  both  for  its  public 
annals,  and  for  the  share  which  the  historian  Herodotus 
is  said  to  have  taken  in  its  foundation.  Of  the  first,  no 
remains  need  be  sought ;  for  its  destruction  was  as  re- 
markable as  its  existence.  The  people  of  Croton  anni- 
hilated it  by  turning  the  waters  of  the  Crathis  into  a  new 
channel,  from  which  they  flowed  over  and  covered  it. 
Even  of  Thurii,  which  was  founded  in  its  stead,  no  certain 
trace  lias  been  discovered.  The  magnificent  Croton,  the 
residence  of  Pythagoras,  stood  either  on  the  exact  site  of 
the  present  Cotrone,  or  between  it  and  the  extremity  of 
the  Lacinian  promontory,  where  there  lately  were  con- 
siderable ruins."  The  classical  banks  of  the  Neacthus, 
now  called  Neto,  have  lost  the  verdant  beauty  which  dis- 
tinguished them  in  the  days  of  Theocritus. 

The  inlet  which  opened  between  the  Lacinian  pro- 
montory and  that  of  Cocynthum  (Capo  di  Stilo),  was 
termed  the  Scylletic  Gulf  from  the  colony  of  Scylle- 

•  Riedesel's  Travels,  Forster's  Translation,  1773,  p.  163. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  307 

tium,  on  whose  site  stands  Squillace,  a  decayed  town, 
which  however  furnishes  the  modern  name  of  the  bay. 
On  the  remaining  part  of  the  coast  of  Magna  Graecia  was 
the  famous  city  of  Locri,  whose  lawgiver  was  Zaleucus, 
and  its  poet  Pindar.  Its  Grecian  ruins  have  entirely 
disappeared.  Roman  remains,  however,  are  visible  on 
a  plain  of  five  miles,  which  intervenes  between  the  sea 
and  the  commanding  height  (an  offshoot  from  a  mag- 
nificent labyrinth  of  precipices  and  forests),  on  which 
stands  the  Saracenic  town  of  Gerace. 

On  the  western  coast  only  four  Grecian  settlements 
demand  especial  notice.  The  town  of  Reggio,  prettily 
situated  on  the  Strait  of  Messina,  amidst  orange  groves  or 
vineyards,  and  embosomed  among  winding  hills, occupies 
the  site  of  Rhegium,  creditably  distinguished  in  the  his- 
tory of  Magna  Graecia  for  its  institutions  and  the  spirit  of 
its  public  policy.  At  the  northern  end  of  the  strait,  the 
well-built  town  of  Scylla  covers  picturesquely  a  little 
headland,  terminating  in  a  cliff  which  dips  sheer  into 
the  water,  and  is  crowned  by  a  considerable  fort.  Be- 
yond the  point,  at  the  foot  of  the  perpendicular  precipice, 
a  fantastically  shaped  crag  of  no  great  elevation  faces 
the  sea,  and  is  the  classical  Scylla.  Charybdis  is  an 
eddy  called  the  Galofaro,  on  the  opposite  Sicilian  coast, 
near  the  citadel  of  Messina,  at  the  distance  of  three  miles 
and  three  and  a  half  furlongs.*  A  town  called  Scyllaeum 
stood  on  the  isthmus.  Proceeding  along  the  coast  into 
Lucania,  and  passing  the  promontory  of  Palinurus,  we 
find  near  the  shore  the  ruins  of  Elea  or  Velia,  a  city 
which  has  many  claims  to  remembrance  ;  more  especi- 
ally for  having  had  its  early  history  told  by  Herodotus  ; 
for  having  founded,  in  the  persons  of  Zeno  andParmenides, 
the  Eleatic  school  of  philosophy ;  and  for  having  been  the 
resort  of  Cicero  and  of  Horace. 

Inland  from  Elea  rises  the  lofty  range  of  Mount  Al- 
burnus,  between  which  and  the  sea,  a  few  miles  farther 

*  From  Scylla  Rock  to  the  Lighthouse  Tower  of  Messina,  6047 
English  yards. — Smyth's  Sicily,  p.  107. 


308        ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

north,  extends  the  low,  marshy,  pestilential  level,  on 
whose  deserted  surface  rise  the  magnificent  remains  of 
the  Greek  town  of  Posidonia,  now  best  known  by  its 
Roman  name  of  Paestum.  The  impressive  majesty  of 
these  noble  ruins  is  unequalled  in  Italy,  perhaps  un- 
surpassed in  Europe.  Every  thing  combines  to  increase 
their  solemnity  and  grandeur  :  their  position  on  the  un- 
inhabited plain,  "  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea  ;" 
their  dimensions,  much  greater  than  those  of  any  other 
standing  ruin  in  the  peninsula ;  the  patriarchal  simplicity 
of  their  architecture  ;  and  even  the  warm  hues  of  the 
yellow  calcareous  stone  of  which  they  are  built,  harmo- 
nizing with  the  brightness  of  the  Italian  sky.  Portions 
of  the  walls  and  gates,  of  an  amphitheatre  and  tombs,  are 
still  visible  ;  the  circuit  of  the  city  can  be  traced,  but 
its  mass  of  buildings  has  crumbled  into  furzy  hillocks  ; 
and  three  temples  alone  stand  erect.  That  which  is  be- 
tween the  two  others,  and  which  has  been  by  conjecture 
designated  the  Temple  of  Neptune,  the  tutelary  divinity 
of  the  place,  is  by  far  the  finest  of  the  three,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  characteristic  of  Grecian  ruins.  It  consists 
of  an  external  colonnade,  supporting  a  massive  entab- 
lature, within  which  was  a  wall  enclosing  the  cell ; 
while  in  the  inside  of  the  cell  is  a  second  colonnade, 
formed  by  two  stories  of  smaller  columns,  divided  by  an 
architrave.  The  building  is  almost  entire,  excepting  the 
walls  of  the  cell,  of  which  little  remains ;  and  the  co- 
lumns are  unusually  short  for  their  thickness,  and 
crowded  very  closely  together.  The  edifice  which,  by  a 
manifest  error,  has  been  called  a  Basilica,  is  nearly  in 
as  good  preservation,  but  presents  a  style  of  architecture 
much  inferior,  and  probably  later ;  and  its  plan  is  re- 
markable for  having  a  row  of  columns  running  longi- 
tu  dinally  through  the  middle  of  the  interior.  The  colon- 
nade of  the  smallest  ruin,  called  the  Temple  of  Ceres, 
is  not  dissimilar  to  that  of  the  great  temple,  either  in 
proportions,  or  in  general  effect.* 

•  Dimensions  in  English  feet  :— I.  The  Temple  of  Neptune  : 
length  of  platform,   195-4;  breadth  of  platform,  78  10 ;  diameter 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  309 

No  Roman  structures  rose  to  contrast  with  the  severe 
simplicity  of  the  Dorian  shrines ;  for,  on  the  colonization 
of  Posidonia  by  the  Romans  (b.  c.  272),  it  sunk  at  once 
into  decay  :  the  inhabitants,  lingering  awhile  among 
its  dwellings,  held  an  annual  day  of  lamentation  for 
their  lost  freedom  ;  and  tlie  conquerors  soon  knew  the 
name  of  the  city  only  as  belonging  to  the  spot,  where 
grew  the  roses  which  flowered  twice  a-year.  It  was, 
however,  an  inhabited  town  in  the  ninth  century,  when 
the  Saracens  plundered  it ;  Robert  Guiscard  the  Norman 
repeated  the  spoliation  in  1080 ;  and  Paestum  has  ever 
smce  been  a  heap  of  ruins. 

The  interior  of  the  district,  of  which  the  circuit  has 
just  been  made,  presents  even  fewer  points  of  interest 
in  ancient  than  in  modem  history.  Consentia,  the 
capital  of  the  Bruttii,  is  now  Cosenza  ;  and  to  the  south- 
ward of  this  town  the  mountainous  centre  of  the  penin- 
sula is  occupied  by  a  wild  and  thick  wood,  which, 
extending  continuously  in  the  old  times  southward  to 
Rhegium,  received  the  name  of  the  Brettian  Forest  or 
Forest  of  Sila. 

SICILY. 

This  extensive  island,  equally  remarkable  for  beauty 
of  landscape  and  for  the  value  of  its  natural  productions, 
is  likewise  unusually  interesting  from  its  classical  recol- 
lections and  its  magnihcent  remains  of  antiquity. 

Its  ancient  history  resembles  that  of  Lucania  and 
Bruttium,  in  presenting  to  our  notice  a  chain  of  foreign 
colonies  which  occupied  its  shores,  and  maintained  pos- 
session alternately  against  new  mvaders  from  without, 
and  against  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  mountainous 

of  columns,  6-10  ;  height  of  columns  (with  capitals),  28- 1 1 ;  height 
of  entablature,  12-2  ;  diameter  of  internal  columns,  4-8  ;  height  of 
internal  columns,  19  9.  — II.  The  Pseudodipteral  Temple  or  Basi- 
lica: length,  lt)7-9;  breadth,  80;  diameter  of  columns,  4-9; 
height  of  columns,  2 1 . — III.  The  Temple  of  Ceres  :  length,  107-9 ; 
breadth,  47-7  ;  diameter  of  columns,  4-2  ;  height  of  columns,  20-4. 
— Wilkins'  Antiquities  of  Magna  Graecia, — A  fourth  temple,  which 
has  been  called  that  of  Juno,  was  discovered  in  1830,  but  is  an 
utter  wreck. 


310       ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

districts  in  the  interior.  Here,  therefore,  as  in  the 
south  of  the  peninsula,  it  is  on  the  coasts  (and  chiefly 
on  the  east  and  south)  that  we  have  to  look  for  classi- 
cal ruins. 

The  shores  of  the  island  are  rugged,  and  in  most 
places  highly  picturesque,  owing  as  well  to  their  fine 
outlines  as  to  the  richness  and  oriental  aspect  of  the 
vegetation.  The  central  regions  are  chiefly  mountainous, 
but  open  oiit  into  numerous  beautiful  valleys,  and  into 
some  extensive  plains  ;  forests,  though  less  widely  than 
of  old,  spread  themselves  over  the  hills ;  and  the  hol- 
lows present  a  delightful  variety  of  meadow  and  arable 
land,  of  which  the  greater  part  is  cultivated,  however 
imperfectly.  Etna  is  the  loftiest  mountain  in  Sicily  ; 
and  the  others  form  two  great  ranges.  The  Madonia 
chain,  the  ancient  Montes  Nebrodes,  faces  the  northern 
coast,  and  retires  thence  into  the  middle  of  the  country ; 
and  the  range  anciently  called  Pelorus,  or  Mons  Nep- 
tunius,  forms  the  north-eastern  shore  from  Messina  in  a 
southerly  direction.  Towards  the  south-western  side  the 
i; eights  gradually  shelve  downwards. 

In  the  interior  one  spot  only  requires  to  be  traced, — 
a  spot  whose  fabled  beauty  has  suggested  to  Milton  an 
emblem  of  the  garden  of  Paradise.*  Enna  appears  in 
history  as  an  impregnable  fastness,  and  as  the  seat  of 
a  magnificent  temple  of  Ceres,  plundered  by  the  infa- 
mous Verres  ;  and  its  site  is  satisfactorily  identified  with 
that  of  Castro  Giovanni,  a  hill-town  of  11,000  inhabi- 
tants, in  the  very  heart  of  the  island.  The  ancient 
historians  and  geographers  vie  with  the  poets  in  their 
enthusiastic  descriptions  of  this  enchanted  region,  whose 
natural  outlines  were  even  more  beautiful  than  the 
luxuriant  woods  and  flowery  turf  which  clothed  it. 

*  That  fair  field 

Of  Enna,  where  Proserpine  gathering  flowers, 
Herself  a  fairer  flower,  by  gloomy  Dis 
Was  gathered,  which  cost  Ceres  all  that  pain 
To  seek  her  through  the  world. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  311 

The  sacred  meadow  occupied  a  ridge,  round  which 
sank  deep  precipices,  and  the  odour  of  its  flowers, 
especially  its  violets,  was  believed  to  throw  dogs  off  the 
scent ;  groves,  pasturages,  and  parks,  encompassed  the 
rock  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  these  was  the  Lake  Pergusa, 
with  a  cave  through  which  Pluto  was  fabled  to  have  va- 
nished with  his  prey.  The  description  which  travellers 
give  of  the  modern  aspect  of  the  spot  is  humiliating  :  the 
mountains,  though  still  grand,  possess  neither  trees  nor 
verdure  ;  and  the  lake  is  a  marsh  four  miles  in  circuit, 
filled  with  reeds,  sku-ted  by  naked  banks,  and  rendered 
pestilential  by  the  flax  which  is  steeped  m  it.  The  tem- 
ple has  disappeared ;  and  a  Saracenic  castle  in  ruins  covers 
one  of  the  two  heights,  and  a  broken  cross  the  other.''' 

On  the  eastern  coast  the  first  ancient  town  is  Mcs- 
sana  or  Zancle,  which  gave  occasion  to  the  second  Punic 
war.  Messina,  situated  on  the  beautiful  strait  to  which 
it  gives  its  name,  and  backed  by  magnificent  mountains, 
covers  the  site  o£ Zancle,  and  conceals  its  few  remains. 
Taurominium,  to  the  south,  is  less  celebrated  for  its  clas- 
sical history  than  for  the  splendid  ruins  which  it  has  left 
at  Taormina,  in  one  of  the  most  romantic  landscapes 
conceivable.  Its  principal  relic  is  its  theatre,  placed  on 
a  rocky  hiH,  whence  from  amidst  broken  arches  and  tall 
palms  we  look  out  on  one  of  the  finest  views  of  Etna. 
Under  the  foundations  of  Catania,  near  the  foot  of  the 
great  volcano,  lie  the  buried  wrecks  of  Catana,  whose 
little  stream  the  Amenas,  and  its  name  of  Etna,  tempo- 
rarily conferred  on  it  by  Hiero,  have  been  immortalized 
in  the  odes  of  Pindar.  Still  farther  to  the  south,  Len- 
tini  represents  Leontium. 

In  a  noble  bay,  forming  its  harbour,  stands  the  forti- 
fied town  of  Syracuse,  less  interesting  from  its  modern 
history  or  state,  than  from  the  classic  recollections  its 

*  Livii,  lib.  xxiv.  cap.  37-39.  Cicer.  Orat.  iv.  in  Verrem. 
Claudianus,  De  Raptu  Proserpina?,  lib.  ii.  Diodor.  Sicul.,  lib.  v. 
sub  init.  Cluverii  Sicilia  Antiqua,  lib.  ii.  cap,  7.  Saint  Non, 
Voyage  Pittoresque,  1781,  torn.  iv.  p.  120-125. 


312       ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

name  awakens,  of  science  and  poetry,  of  heroism  and 
oppression,  of  Plato,  Hiero,  Pindar,  Theocritus,  and 
Archimedes,  of  Dionysius,  Dion,  and  Timoleon.  Mar- 
cellus,  on  his  conquest  of  it,  though  he  wept  over  its 
fall,  removed  to  Rome  its  treasures  of  art ;  and  its  an- 
cient greatness  ends  with  that  event,  unless  the  robberies 
of  Verres  be  worthy  of  a  place  in  its  story.  The  five 
regions  of  this  most  splendid  and  famous  of  Sicilian 
cities  were  comprehended  in  a  triangle  more  than  twelve 
miles  in  compass  ;  and  their  sites,  with  vestiges  of  their 
buildings,  can  still  be  traced.  The  modern  town,  occu- 
pying the  peninsula  of  the  quarter  called  Ortygia,  be- 
tween the  smaller  and  greater  harbours,  contains  the 
poetic  fountain  of  Arethusa.  Acradina,  the  largest  and 
most  populous  quarter,  lay  on  the  shore,  and  retains 
only  fragments  of  rubbish  ;  while  Tyche,  situated  behind 
it,  Las  left  still  less.  An  avenue  of  tombs  cut  in  the  preci- 
pice leads  to  the  elevated  site  of  Neapolis,  where  remain 
an  amphitheatre,  and  a  well  constructed  theatre,  through 
which  passes  the  stream  of  an  ancient  aqueduct,  turning 
a  mill-wheel,  amidst  shrubs  and  trees.  The  fifth  quarter, 
called  Epipolae,  was  formed  by  the  commanding  heights 
behind  Tyche  and  Neapolis,  now  covered  by  a  village 
named  Belvedere.  This  position  was  fortified  by  Nicias, 
in  his  unsuccessful  siege  of  the  city  ;  and  some  huge 
fragments  of  uncemented  blocks  are  supposed  to  be- 
long to  a  wall  erected  by  Dionysius.  Either  in  this 
quarter,  or  in  the  portion  of  Neapolis  nearest  to  it,  were 
the  celebrated  Latomiae,  stupendous  excavations  origin- 
ally made  as  quarries,  and  afterwards,  from  at  least  as 
early  a  date  as  the  defeat  of  the  Athenians,  used  as 
prisons.  The  ground  is  now  covered  with  vineyards  and 
olive-groves  ;  the  picturesque  garden  of  a  Capuchin  con- 
vent occupies  the  largest  of  the  hollows  ;  and  another, 
called  the  Paradiso,  contains  the  singular  excavated 
passage,  in  the  form  of  a  Roman  S,  which  has  been 
called  the  Ear  of  Dionysius,  and  supposed,  without  much 
reason,  to  have  been  constructed  as  a  listening  place. 
The  temple  of  Minerva  has  become  the  cathedral,  and 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  3J3 

that  of  the  Olympian  Jupiter  has  left  some  fallen  co- 
lumns ;  but  we  have  lost  once  more  the  tomb  of  Archi- 
medes, which  Cicero  was  so  proud  of  finding. 

The  southern  coast  commences  with  Cape  Passaro, 
the  ancient  Promontorium  Pachynum,  to  the  west  of 
which,  near  Modica,  in  the  deep  rocky  valley  of  Ispica, 
are  cliffs  cut  out  into  numerous  habitations,  consist- 
ing, in  several  instances,  of  two  or  three  stories,  with 
doors  and  windows.*  This  curious  Troglodytic  city, 
still  occupied  by  a  few  peasants,  must  have  been  form- 
ed by  the  earliest  inliabitants  of  the  island.  It  has 
no  historical  name,  and  was  probably  abandoned  when 
the  foreign  colonists  first  gained  possession  of  the  coast. 
In  the  neighbourhood,  excavations  on  a  rocky  hill,  sur- 
mounted by  a  Moorish  tower,  have  disclosed  antiquities 
supposed  to  belong  to  the  Greek  town  of  Camarina  ; 
and  similar  buried  remains,  near  Terra  Nuova,  are  the 
sole  vestiges  of  Gela,  whose  immense  piles  Virgil 
represents  as  having  been  seen  by  -lEueas  in  his  voyage 
towards  Carthage,  and  in  whose  plains,  the  Geloi  Campi, 
the  poet  ^schylus  died. 

Acragas,  a  colony  of  Gela,  called  by  the  Romans  Agri- 
gentum,  has  been  more  fortunate  ;  for  its  ruins,  beside  the 
modern  Girgenti,  are  among  the  most  splendid  and  in- 
teresting of  all  classical  monuments.  The  river  Gir- 
genti, the  Greek  Acragas,  bathes  the  foot  of  a  beautiful 
slope,  now  clothed  with  gardens  and  orchards,  and  marked 
by  the  temples  and  tombs  of  the  ancient  city.  The 
summit  of  the  mountain,  once  covered  by  the  citadel, 
now  by  the  modern  town,  and  approached  by  a  hoUow 
way,  is  1240  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the 
picturesque  richness  of  the  scene  is  described  as  superb. 
The  two  elevated  ledges,  on  which  stood  Agrigentum,  are 
surrounded  by  abrupt  precipices  ;  the  river  divides  itself 
into  two  branches,  forming  wooded  ravines ;  and  the  vine- 


*  Travels  of  Kephalides,  vol.  i.  letter  57 ;  Houel,  Voyage  Pit- 
toresque,  tomes  3,  4. 


3 14        ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

yards,  and  groves  of  olive  and  almond  trees,  separate:! 
by  hedges  of  the  aloe  and  Indian  fig,  stretch  to  the  sea, 
mantling  a  beautiful  declivity  of  more  than  four  miles 
square.  The  principal  ruins  stand  on  the  ridge  of  one  of  the 
precipitous  heights,  perhaps  the  Athenian  Rock  (Rupes 
Athenaea)  of  Acragas.  On  this  platform  are  remnants  of  a 
theatre, — of  a  little  temple,  now  a  convent-church, — 
columns  of  a  beautifully  proportioned  Temple,  called  that 
of  Juno,  built  of  the  common  brown  stone,  and  placed 
among  carob  and  olive  trees  near  the  edge  of  the  cliff, — 
and  two  other  less  distinct  fragments  of  temples.  The 
same  rock  presents  another  temple,  named  that  of  Concord, 
the  best  preserved  monument  in  Sicily,  whose  columns 
(tliirteen  in  depth,  and  six  in  width)  are  entire,  while  the 
walls  of  the  cella,  and  the  entablature  and  pediments  of 
both  fronts,  are  nearly  so.  The  building  is  exceedingly 
beautiful,  though  connoisseurs  pronounce  its  architecture 
inferior  to  that  of  the  temple  of  Juno.*  Farther  down  the 
slope  lie  the  huge  piles  of  ruins  called  the  Temple  of  the 
Giants  (Tempio  de'  Gigauti),  vouching  for  the  correctness 
of  the  description  which  Diodorus  gives  of  the  shrine  of 
Jupiter  Olympius,  but  which  was  totally  disbelieved  till 
these  remains  were  discovered.  This  structure  is  now  one 
vast  mass  of  fallen  fragments,  composed  of  the  coarse- 
grained brown  stone  which  is  found  in  all  the  Sicilian 
edifices.  Its  half-columns  have  been  built  up  in  regular 
courses  of  masonry,  eight  blocks  in  each  course.  The 
foundations  of  two  immense  piers  remain,  dividing  the 
interior  into  three  naves  ;  pieces  of  shafts,  capitals,  and 
entablatures,  are  scattered  about,  with  some  of  the  sculp- 
tures which  the  historian  commends  so  highly  ;  and  the 
enormous  substructions,  of  which  he  also  speaks,  have 
been  partially  exposed  by  excavations.  This  colossal 
Doric  temple  was  the  largest  which  the  Greeks  erected  ; 
and  its  remaining  wrecks,  applied  to  the  known  rules  of 
their  arcliitecture,  have  enabled  an  eminent  antiquary  to 

*  Dimensions  ;  entire  length,  128i  English  feet ;  breadth,  64^; 
length  of  cell,  48^  ;  breadth  of  cell,  24.^ ;  height  of  columns,  22  ; 
their  base-diameter,  4  feet  7  inches. — Smyth's  Sicily,  p.  210. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  315 

offer  a  restoration,  from  which  we  learn  its  dimensions 
with  an  exactness  almost  complete.  Of  all  the  Grecian 
buildings,  the  nearest  to  it  in  size  was  the  great  Sicilian 
temple  of  Selinus,  which  was  only  ten  feet  shorter  ; 
the  Parthenon  had  exactly  two-thirds  of  its  extent ; 
the  temple  of  Neptune  at  Psestum  was  little  more  than 
half  as  large.  Dionysius  says,  that  a  man  could  hide 
himself  in  one  of  the  flutings  of  its  columns ;  and  the 
modem  measurements  prove  this  assertion  to  be  strictly 
true.*  On  a  separate  rock,  apparently  the  ancient  Ne- 
cropolis, are  innumerable  tombs  ;  and  the  spring  of 
naphtha,  mentioned  by  Pliny,  still  flows.  As  to  the 
aqueducts  and  reservoir,  with  the  remains  of  the  forum, 
circus,  and  camps,  a  simple  allusion  is  enough. 

The  only  other  to^\^l  requiring  notice  on  this  shore  is 
Selinus, — Virgil's  "  city  of  the  palms."  Its  palm-trees 
have  died  out,  and  its  site,  on  a  lonely  plain  mantled  with 
brushwood,  between  the  rivers  Belici  and  Madiuni,  the 
Grecian  Hypsa  and  Selinus,  is  covered  by  a  wilderness 
of  immense  prostrate  walls,  columns,  and  entablatures. 
This  place  and  Segestc,  which  have  left  some  of  the 
most  striking  ruins  that  exist  in  the  island,  are  chiefly 
remarkable  in  ancient  history  for  their  desperate  ani- 
mosity to  each  other.  Selinus  was  taken  and  rased 
by  the  Carthaginians  ;  but  the  singularly  regular  posi- 
tion in  which  most  of  its  fallen  ruins  lie,  appears  to 
indicate  that  earthquakes  have  aided  in  its  destruction. 
The  remains  occupy  two  parallel  ridges,  separated  by 
a  sandy  valley;  and  the  most  important  of  them  are 
fragments  of  six  temples,  three  on  each  ridge,  of  which 
one  is,  as  has  been  just  stated,  the  largest  of  all  the 


*  Quatremere  de  Quincy,  in  the  M  moires  de  I'lnstitut  Royal 
de  France  ;  classe  d'  Histoireetde  Litterature  Ancienne,  torn.  ii. 
1815.  The  dimensions  calculated  in  the  restoration  proposed  in 
the  Memoir  are  the  following,  in  English  feet  and  withovit  frac- 
tions :  length  of  the  temple  externally,  351  ;  breadth  externally, 
191  ;  height  of  the  columns,  62;  height  of  the  entablature  and 
pediment,  52  ;  total  height,  121  ;  circumference  of  the  columns 
at  the  base,  39  ;  diameter  of  each  fluting  at  the  base,  2  feet. 


316        ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

Grecian  buildings,  except  the  temple  of  Agrigentum, 
the  ruins  of  which  indeed  are  far  less  imposing.* 

On  the  western  end  of  the  island  few  points  possess 
much  antiquarian  importance.  Marsala,  on  the  site  of 
Lilyhaeum,  the  great  fastness  of  the  Carthaginians,  retains 
some  antiquities.  Trapani  covers  the  ancient  Drepanum, 
where  Virgil  places  the  tomb  of  Anchises  ;  and  the  abrupt 
Mount  San  Giuliano,  a  little  to  the  eastward,  is  the 
classical  Eryx.  On  its  summit  stood  the  celebrated 
temple  of  Venus  Erycina,  surrounded  by  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  citadel  belonging  to  the  to^vn,  which  lay  on 
the  steep  ascent.  Among  the  ruins  of  a  Moorish  fort, 
polygonal  walls  and  a  few  granite  pillars  belong  to  the 
primitive,  Grecian,  and  Roman  periods. 

The  coast  about  Mount  Eryx  is  poetic  ground,  as 
being  the  scene  of  the  fifth  book  of  the  ^neid  ;  in 
which  the  poet  attributes  to  the  Trojans  the  foundation 
both  of  the  magnificent  temple  on  the  height,  and  of  the 
town  of  -(Egeste,  called  by  the  Romans  Segesta,  which 
is  the  first  remarkable  spot  on  the  northern  shore  of  the 
island. 

-^geste  is  best  known  for  the  invitation  it  gave  Athens 
to  interpose  in  the  dissensions  of  Sicily,  and  for  the 
mean  artifice  by  which  its  rulers  imposed  upon  the  Athe- 
nian envoys  an  exaggerated  idea  of  its  wealth.  Its  sins 
were  punished  by  Agathocles  of  Syracuse  ;  and  only 
one  fine  temple-  and  the  traces  of  a  theatre  remain  to 
attest  either  its  Grecian  splendour,  or  its  short-lived  pro- 
sperity as  a  Roman  colony.  The  ruins  stand  near  the 
gulf  of  Castellamare,  about  eight  miles  from  Alcamu, 
in  a  lonely  and  sterile  plain,  v/hose  only  shade  is  a  soli- 
tary fig-tree  overhanging  a  well,  while  noble  mountains 
rise  behind.     The  temple  is  placed  on  a  craggy  hill, 

*  Dimensions  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  at  Selinus  :  length,  331 
English  feet ;  breadth,  161 ;  diameter  cf  columns  at  the  base,  lOi 
feet ;  height  of  columns,  with  the  capitals,  48^  feet. — Wilkins 
Magna  Graecia,  pp.  46,  47. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  317 

and  its  peristyle  is  almost  entire,  though  the  walls  of 
the  cell  are  wanting.  The  columns  are  not  fluted,  the 
structure  has  evidently  heen  left  uncompleted,  and  its 
architectural  merit  is  not  of  a  high  order.*  The  beau- 
tiful city  of  Palermo,  the  modein  capital  of  the  island, 
stands  on  the  site  of  Panormus,  which,  though  a  naval 
station  of  the  Carthaginians,  acted  no  leading  part  in 
the  ancient  history  of  Sicily,  and  has  left  no  remarkable 
relics.  Termini,  Avhich  enjoys  a  romantic  situation  on 
the  rocky  coast,  eastward  from  the  metropolis,  occupies 
nearly  the  place  of  Himera,  a  Greek  city  of  note,  but 
early  destroyed.  Its  Thermas  have  left  some  vestiges  ; 
and  it  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  these  buildings 
gave  name  successively  to  a  new  Grecian  settlement,  to 
a  Roman  colony,  and  to  the  modern  town.  In  the 
beautiful  gulf  of  Patti,  at  the  summit  of  a  striking  moun- 
tain-pass, are  the  ruins  of  T^Tidaris,  often  mentioned 
in  Cicero's  attacks  on  Verres. 

CORSICA  AND  SARDINIA. 

The  antiquities  of  these  islands  have  been  quite  over- 
looked by  most  students  of  Italian  topography  ;  but 
neither  is  believed  to  contain  any  remarkable  monu- 
ments of  the  classical  architecture,  and  their  history 
makes  few  spots  interesting  for  their  own  sake.  Both 
are  mountainous,  Corsica  wholly  so,  except  a  district 
running  along  its  eastern  coast. 

In  Corsica,  called  by  the  Greeks  Cyrnos,  the  modern 
capital  of  Ajaccio  is  on  the  site  of  the  old  Uranium; 
and  at  Bastia,  the  other  chief  town  of  the  island,  was 
the  ancient  Mantinorum  Oppidum.  The  two  principal 
Roman  colonies  were  that  of  Marius,  called  Mariana, 
an  inland  settlement  north-west  from  Bastia,  and  that 
of  Sylla,  called  Aleria  or  Alalia,  a  seaport  on  the  eastern 
coast,  whose  ruins  now,  by  encroachments  of  the  land, 
are  half  a  lea^rue  from  the  water. 


*  Dimensions  of  the  temple  of  JE^esfe  :  length,   English  feet 
lyO:  breadth,  feet  7ti-8. — Wilkins'  Magna  Graecia. 


318       ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

In  Sardinia,  which  the  Greeks  called  Sardo,  Sanda- 
liotis,  or  Ichnusa,  the  modem  capital  Cagliari  occupies 
the  site  of  the  ancient  Caralis ;  and  the  ruins  of  the  port 
Olbia  exist  near  Terranuova.  Around  Porto  Torres, 
which  was  the  Roman  Turris,  are  more  numerous  ves- 
tiges of  antiquity  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  country. 
But  this  island  has  a  class  of  monuments  of  its  own, 
probably  belonging  to  its  earliest  mhabited  periods,  in 
the  Round  Towers,  called  Nuraggi,  which  rise,  to  the 
number  of  several  hundreds,  on  hills  all  over  its  surface. 
They  are  conical  buildings,  vaulted  like  the  Grecian 
treasure-houses,  and  composed  of  uncemented  blocks  of 
stone,  generally  disposed  in  horizontal  layers.  A  wind- 
ing staircase,  carried  up  in  the  inside  of  the  structure,  be- 
tween two  concentric  walls,  usually  conducts  from  an 
arched  chamber  below  to  an  upper  one  precisely  similar. 
The  largest  of  these  towers,  which  stands  in  the  district 
of  Busachi,  eastward  from  Oristano,  is  called  "  Lu 
Nuraggi  lungu,"  and  is  nearly  sixty  feet  in  height.* 

The  rocky  but  valuable  isle  of  Elba,  which  belongs 
to  the  group  of  Corsica  and  Sardinia,  was  known  to  the 
Carthaginians  and  Romans  by  the  name  of  Ilva  or 
^thalia. 

THE  IMPERIAL  PROVINCES  OF  ITALY. 
The  preceding  classification  of  the  Italian  territories, 
in  which  the  occupation  of  districts  by  the  ancient  tribes 
is  taken  as  the  basis,  has  been  generally  adopted  by 
modern  Avriters,  and  connects  itself  far  better  than  any 
other  with  the  facts  of  the  Roman  histor3^  But  the 
student,  especially  if  his  attention  is  likely  to  be  direct- 
ed either  to  the  writings  of  the  Lower  Empire,  or  to 
the  vicissitudes  of  Italy  itself  after  the  irruption  of  the 
barbarians,  should  be  acquainted  with  certain  other 
arrangements  introduced  by  successive  emperors  for  the 
purposes  of  administration. 

We  have  seen,  that  at  the  fall  of  the  republic  the  penin- 

*  Cluverii  Sardinia  et  Corsica  Antiquae ;  in  Grfflvii  Thesaur. 
Siciliae,  torn.  xv. — Smvth's  Sardinia. 


AND  THE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS. 


319 


sula  was  governed  as  one  undivided  province,  while  Sicily 
composed  a  second,  and  Sardinia  with  Corsica  a  third. 
This  simple  plan  was  abandoned  by  Augustus,  who  divided 
the  whole  of  Italy,  from  the  Var  to  the  Arsia,  and  from 
the  heights  of  the  Alps  to  the  southern  seas,  into  Eleven 
provinces.  No  new  nomenclature  seems  to  have  been 
introduced,  each  province  being  merely  called  a  Region, 
and  distinguished  by  its  number,  from  the  first  to  the 
eleventh.  Each  was  placed  under  a  governor  of  con- 
sular dignity,  and  therefore  all  of  them  ranked  as  Roman 
provinces  of  the  highest  class.  The  following  were  the 
Augustan  Regions,  in  the  order  in  which  they  were 
named,  as  they  are  described  by  Pliny. 

1.  Campania,  to  which,  as  we  are  told,  Latium  was 
added.  We  must  recollect,  however,  that  the  authority 
of  the  prefect  of  Rome  extended  not  only  over  the  whole 
of  Latium,  but  northward  into  Etruria,  and  southward 
a  short  way  across  the  older  Campanian  border  ;  so  that, 
even  under  the  early  imperial  system,  this  extensive 
district  was,  in  regard  to  jurisdiction  and  civil  govern- 
ment, cut  off  from  the  provmces  on  both  sides  of  it. 
2.  Apulia,  with  the  Hirpinian  district  taken  from  Sam- 
nium.  8.  Lucania  and  Bruttium.  4.  The  remainder 
of  Samnium,  and  the  region  of  the  Central  Apennines. 
5.  Picenum.  6.  Umbria.  7.  Etruria.  8.  The  Cis- 
padane  part  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  separated  from  Umbria 
by  the  river  Rubicon,  and  bounded  on  its  other  sides  by 
the  Apennine,  the  Po,  and  the  Adriatic.  The  name  of 
Flaminia,  which  some  modern  geographers  give  to  this 
province,  seems  to  rest  on  no  early  authority,  and  is 
objectionable,  if  invented,  from  its  tendency  to  create 
mistakes  between  this  region  and  one  which  really  bore 
the  same  name  afterwards.  9.  Liguria.  10.  The  region 
which  Cellarius  aptly  calls  the  Transpadana  Maritima. 
It  was  chiefly  composed  of  Venetia  and  Istria ;  but  to 
these  was  added  that  district  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  which 
had  been  occupied  b^'-  the  Cenomanni,  so  that  it  included 
Brixia,  Cremona,  and  Mantua.  11.  The  Transpadana 
Subalpina  of  Cellarius,  which,  with  the  exception  just 


320       ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPnY  OF  LOWER  ITALY 

specified,  embraced  the  whole  portion  of  Cisalpine  Gaul 
that  lay  between  the  Po  and  the  Alps. 

The  administrative  an-angement  which  next  followed, 
possesses  much  interest  as  to  the  subsequent  history  of 
Italy ;  since  it  was,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  groundwork 
of  all  the  most  important  political  divisions  established 
in  the  middle  ages,  and  of  some  that  have  survived  till 
the  present  day.  Several  of  its  details,  however,  are 
but  imperfectly  known,  and,  as  some  authorities  refer 
it  to  Hadrian,  even  its  origin  is  disputed.  We  may  here 
be  contented  with  learning,  that  the  plan  was  completely 
developed  by  Constantino,  that  it  formed  a  part  of  that 
great  system  of  his  which  has  been  explained  in  another 
place,*  and  that  it  remained  unchanged  at  the  fall  of 
the  Western  Empire. 

Constantine,  adding  to  the  former  Italian  territories 
some  regions  beyond  the  old  Alpine  frontier,  divided 
Italy  and  its  islands  into  seventeen  provinces.  The  new 
districts  were  three  : — 1.  The  Alpes  Cottiae,  or  region  of 
Mount  Cenis,  having  for  its  chief  town  Segusio  or  Susa ; 
2.  and  8.  Rhetia,  chiefly  contained  in  the  Grisons  and 
Tyrol,  and  divided  into  two  provinces. 

The  provinces  embraced  in  Italy  itself  were  Eleven, 
to  which  the  Notitia  Utriusque  Imperii,  a  treatise  be- 
longing to  the  Theodosian  age,  gives  the  following  names. 
— 1.  "  Venetia  and  Istria."  This  province  seems  to  have 
substantially  coincided  with  the  tenth  region  of  Augus- 
tus ;  and  part  of  it  continued  united  in  the  dark  ages, 
forming  the  duchy  or  march  of  Friuli.  2.  "  Liguria." 
Under  this  name  was  included  not  only  Liguria  Proper, 
but  the  whole,  or  nearly  the  whole,  of  Transpadane  Gaul. 
The  seat  of  the  local  government  was  at  Milan  ;  and 
in  the  sixth  century  of  our  era  the  province  became  the 
kernel  of  the  Lombardic  kingdom  in  Italy.  3.  "  jEmilia." 
This  province,  which  retained  its  new  title  for  several 
centuries,  contained  the  modern  duchies  of  Parma  and 
Modena,  with  the  extensive  territory  that  once  belonged 

*  See  Chapter  II.  of  this  part,  p.  108  of  the  vohime. 


AND  TUE  ITALIAN  ISLANDS.  321 

to  the  city  of  Bolog-ra.  4.  "  Flaminia  and  Picenum 
Annonarium."  The  former  of  these  two  regions,  and 
that  which  precedes  it  in  the  list,  derived  their  names 
from  the  great  Roman  highways  which  traversed  them 
respectively.  Flaminia  became,  as  one  portion  of  the 
Exarchate  of  Ravenna,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Grecian 
emperors  in  the  West ;  and  afterwards,  passing  to  the 
Popedom,  it  was  called  Romagna  from  its  previous  occu- 
pants.'^ The  second  region  of  the  same  province  cannot 
be  identified  with  perfect  certainty,  but  there  is  not 
much  reason  to  doubt  that,  without  including  any  part 
of  the  Picenum  of  classical  times,  it  consisted  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  ancient  Umbria  which  lay  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Apennine,  and  is  chiefly  covered  by  the  duchy  of 
Urbino.  5.  "  Picenum  Suburbicarium."  In  tills  pro- 
vince was  included  a  part,  oi  more  probably  the  whole, 
of  the  Roman  Picenum,  which  in  the  dark  ages  was 
called  the  Pentapolis,  and  afterwards  the  march  or  mar- 
quisate  of  Ancona.  The  difficulties  which  occur  in  fix- 
ing the  boundaries  of  this  and  the  preceding  province 
arise  chiefly  from  the  fact  that,  after  the  fall  of  the 
empire,  the  whole  tract  which  is  composed  of  them  was 
never  for  any  considerable  period  placed  under  separate 
masters.  6.  "  Tuscia  and  Umbria."  Both  of  the  two 
beautiful  districts  here  classed  together  have  always  con- 
tinued to  feel  the  effects  of  their  new^  arrangement.  The 
latter  comprehended  not  by  any  means  the  whole  of  the 
ancient  Umbria,  but  merely  that  portion  of  it  which  Lay 
on  the  western  side  of  the  Apennine.  The  duchy  of 
Spoleto,  formed  in  the  dark  ages,  corresponded  almost 
exactly  to  the  boundaries  thus  indicated.  Tuscia  was 
the  name  for  Etruria ;  but  this  old  province  was  dismem- 
bered like  the  other,  for  the  new  one  included  only  that 


•  Some  writers  state  Romagna  to  be  identical  with  Emilia, 
which  is  manifestly  wrong ;  although  the  territory  of  the  Exarchate 
did,  at  more  than  one  point  of  time,  extend  into  iEmilia ;  and 
although,  likewise,  the  popes  asserted  that  Bologna  and  other 
parts  of  Emilia  were  included  in  the  deed  by  which  Pepin  granted 
to  them  the  Exarchate. 

VOL.  1.  U 


322    ANCIENT  TOPOGRAPHY  OP  LOWER  ITALY,  &c. 

northern  part  of  it  Avhich  makes  up  the  modern  Tuscany. 
The  reason  for  the  separation  is  easily  found ;  for  the  dis- 
trict of  the  City-prefect  embraced  the  southern  parts  of 
Etruria,  and  this  imperial  office  accordingly  forms  one 
step  in  the  progress  of  events  which  gave  half  of  that  pro- 
vince to  the  Papal  See.  7.  "  Valeria."  An  obscure  town, 
now  altogether  lost,  gave  rise  to  this  appellation,  which 
comprised  all  those  districts  so  often  mentioned  already 
as  embracing  the  Central  Apennine.  8.  "  Samnium." 
This  region,  contained  substantially  within  its  ancient 
limits,  became  in  later  times  the  duchy  of  Beneventum, 
which,  however,  speedily  extended  itself  on  all  sides 
far  beyond  the  Samnite  borders.  9.  "  Campania ;" 
10.  "Apulia;"  31.  "  Lucania  and  Bruttium."  These 
three  provinces  retained  their  ancient  limits  as  well  as 
names ;  and  the  second  of  them,  receiving  the  title  of 
Puglia,  formed  in  the  dark  ages  the  earliest  seat  of  the 
kingdom  of  Naples. 

The  three  islands  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Corsica, 
making  one  province  each,  complete  the  number  stated 
at  the  commencement. 

These  provinces  were  of  different  classes,  according  to 
their  relative  size  and  consequence.  Those  which  are 
numbered  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,  and  9,  together  with  Sicily,  stood 
in  the  first  rank,  having  Consular  governors ;  the  pro- 
vinces 10  and  11  were  in  the  second  order,  and  governed 
by  Correctors ;  and  7  and  8,  with  the  three  Alpine  dis- 
tricts, as  well  as  Corsica  and  Sardinia,  were  administered 
by  Praesides,  and  belonged  to  the  lowest  class. 


CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY,  &c        323 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Illustrations  of  the  Character,  Habits,  Commerce,  and 
Productive  Industry  of  the  Ancient  Italians. 

FIRST  PERIOD:  Latino-Etkuscan  :  Religion— Education- 
Agriculture — Mechanical  Arts — Trade — Magna  Graecia  and  the 
Islands  — Illustrative  Examples  —  Money-making  —  Morality — 
MisceUaneous  Habits.  SECOND  PERIOD:  Italo-Gre- 
ciAN  :  Religion — State  of  Belief — Superstitions — Ghosts — 
Witches — Morality — Mixed  Character  of  the  Republican  States- 
men—Crimes of  the  Imperial  Court — Meanness  of  the  Imperial 
Senators — Morality  of  the  People — Ancient  Brigands — Illustra- 
tions of  Imperial  Epicureanism  and  Reverses — Intellectual  Cul- 
tivation— Course  of  Education — Endowed  Schools — Libraries — 
Booksellers  —  Newspapers  and  their  Contents  —  Classes  of 
Society — ^Haughtinessof  the  Nobles — No  Middle  Class — Markets 
for  Slaves — Their  Occupations  and  Treatment — Their  Rebelhons 
— Freedmen — Amusements — TheTheatre  and  Improvised  Drama 
— The  Circus — Gladiators — "Wild  Beasts — Marine  Theatres — 
Fondness  for  Spectacles — Aristocratic  Amusements — Readings 
— Improvvisatori — Court  Pageants — Industry  and  Commerce — 
Rural  Economy — The  Roman  Corn-laws — Vicissitudes  of  Agri- 
culture— Grazing — Tillage  —  Labourers  and  Leases — Crops — 
Gardens— Orchards — Mechanical  Arts  and  Trade — Stages  of 
Luxury — Native  Manufactures — Obstacles  to  Commerce — Italian 
Exports  —  Imports  from  Europe  —  From  Asia — From  Africa. 
THIRD  PERIOD:  Greco-Oriental:  Pagan  Religion- 
Education — The  College  of  Rome  and  its  Statutes — Spectacles 
— Illustrations  of  Character — Foreign  Trade — Guilds  and  Manu- 
factures— Agricultural  Serfs — Misery  and  Depopulation  of  Italy 
— Universal  Hopelessness. 

The  preceding  chapters  exhibit  an  outline,  which  we 
must  fill  up  for  ourselves  by  the  study  of  ancient  writ- 
ings and  monuments.     Such  research  will  at  every  step 


324  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

unfold  truths  with  which  it  is  essential  to  store  the 
mind,  if  we  would  rightly  apprehend  the  position  of  the 
Romans  as  political  legislators  and  votaries  of  literature 
and  science,  or  if  we  would  appreciate  those  works  of 
art  which  in  the  classical  ages  received  birth  or  shelter 
in  Italy.  Of  those  numberless  illustrations,  some  have 
been  indicated  incidentally  as  we  proceeded  ;  but,  before 
we  quit  the  heathen  times,  we  must  combine  these  with 
additional  elucidations  in  one  view,  and  suggest  a  few 
facts  which  throw  light  on  secondary  though  important 
sections  of  the  Roman  annals.* 

Proceeding  to  traverse  this  ground,  we  may  regard  the 
character,  manners,  and  industry  of  the  nation,  as  having 
passed  through  three  successive  stages. 

The  earliest,  which  may  be  carried  down  through  the 
first  five  centuries  of  the  city,  will  be  found  to  end  soon 
after  the  triumph  of  the  democracy  ;  and  its  aspect  will 
be  substantially  described  if  we  style  it  the  Latino- 
Etruscan  period.  It  developed  much  of  the  evil  that  was 
in  the  national  character  ;  but  it  also  created  and  put  in 
action  all  the  elements  of  its  primitive  gi-andeur.  By 
the  native  influences  of  this  age,  and  probably  in  that 
part  of  it  when  the  Latins  and  Sabines  alone  constituted 
the  state,  was  formed  the  husbandman-soldier  of  Rome, 
with  his  rude  and  stem  patriotism,  his  inaptitude  for 
receiving  new  impressions,  his  love  of  agriculture  and  of 
war,  his  thirst  for  freedom,  and  his  pride.  The  charac- 
teristics afterwards  derived  from  the  Etruscans  were  at 
first  ingrafted  on  the  ruling  class  only ;  but  both  the 


•  The  references  made  in  this  chapter,  whether  to  classical  or 
secondary  authorities,  are  mainly  intended  for  leading  the  student 
to  a  few  of  the  most  useful  sources  of  information.  An  acknow- 
ledgment of  all  the  obligations  which  the  present  sketch  owes,  both 
to  general  treatises  on  Roman  Antiquities  and  to  such  as  illustrate 
special  sections,  would  be  equally  cumbrous  and  unnecessary.  But 
a  recent  work  of  high  continental  celebrity,  Schlosser's  Geschichte 
der  alten  Welt  und  ihrer  Cultur  (9  vols.  1826-1834),  must  be 
named  as  having,  both  here  and  elsewhere,  suggested  many  views 
and  indicated  many  materials. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  325 

guperstition  of  Etruria  and  its  useful  arts  spread  in  time 
through  the  whole  nation  ;  and  when  its  character  had 
received  these  new  features,  it  was  ready  to  fulfil  its 
destiny  of  conquering  the  world. 

The  second  period,  which  may  be  called  the  Italo- 
Grecian,  continued  till  about  the  extinction  of  the  An- 
tonines.  Although,  throughout  the  whole  duration  of 
ancient  history,  the  political  relations  and  institutions  of 
Rome  preserved  an  aspect  strictly  Italian  and  independ- 
ent, yet  this  was  far  from  being  true  as  to  the  structure  of 
private  life  and  manners,  which,  from  the  commence- 
ment of  this  second  era  down  to  the  fall  of  the  empire, 
underwent  a  strong,  constant,  and  increasing  amalgama- 
tion with  foreign  elements.  In  the  age  now  spoken  of, 
the  Greek  admixture  was  evidently  the  most  powerful. 
Most  things,  also,  that  were  changed  in  the  national 
character  between  the  time  of  Cato  and  that  of  Marcus 
Aurclius,  were  altered  for  the  worse  :  the  nation  became 
not  only  weaker  but  more  immoral ;  the  age  was  one  of 
wealth  and  voluptuousness.  The  wealth  was  ill  divided  ; 
but  yet  it  flowed  far  around,  oftenest  as  the  price  of  sin, 
paid  for  by  the  rich  and  committed  by  the  poor  :  the 
voluptuousness  diffused  itself  still  more  widely,  and,  in 
an  incalculable  degree,  more  ruinously  ;  for  the  state 
suffered  infinitely  less  from  the  expensive  luxury  of  the 
great,  than  from  that  appetite  for  debasing  amusements 
and  that  unprincipled  idleness,  which  infected  the  whole 
mass  of  the  beggared  populace.  But  even  in  this  age 
the  ancient  martial  spirit  still  survived ;  and  no  other 
nation  has  ever  continued  to  be  vigorous  so  long  after 
having  become  sensual  and  utterly  corrupted. 

The  third  period,  extending  between  the  Antonines 
and  Odoacer,  saw  the  last  spark  of  Roman  greatness 
quenched  in  darkness.  The  evident  tendency  of  this 
age  entitles  us  to  describe  it  as  the  Greco- Oriental ;  for 
there  was  much  less  of  Italian  in  it  than  of  Greek,  and 
less  of  Greek  than  of  the  effeminacy,  the  cowardice,  and 
the  superstitions  of  the  Asiatics.  A  debasing  weakness 
had  long  been  flowing  in  as  an  under-current ;   but 


326  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

about  the  time  of  Septimius  Severus  it  floated  up,  and 
thenceforth  constituted  the  body  of  the  stream.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  Roman  annals  composes  as  melancholy 
a  page  as  any  in  the  book  of  human  history.  Virtue, 
learning,  and  freedom  had  perished  together ;  and  the 
feeblest  nation  of  the  east  never  crouched  lower  beneath 
the  scourge  of  despotism,  than  did  those  who  trod  daily 
on  the  graves  of  Manlius  and  the  Gracchi. 

THE  FIRST  PERIOD: 

ENDING  A.u.  500,  or  B.C.  254. 

The  Latin  and  Sabine  legends,  and  the  ritual  of  the 
Etruscans,  united  in  forming  the  primitive  religion  of 
Rome.  These  three  tribes  took  as  much  from  the 
Grecian  religion  as  might  satisfy  us,  though  there  were 
no  other  proof,  that,  in  one  sense  or  another,  they  and 
the  Greeks  had  a  comm^on  origin.  But  the  Italian 
mythology  possessed  a  peculiar  nomenclature,  as  well  as 
many  other  distinctive  features. 

The  Sabines  and  Latins  worshipped  the  powers  of 
external  nature  in  a  less  disguised  form  than  the  Hel- 
lenic race,  and  with  much  of  a  very  beautiful  symbolic 
ceremonial.  For  many  centuries  the  Roman,  who  by 
night  crossed  the  Forum,  was  reminded  of  the  elemental 
worship  of  his  ancestors  by  the  gleam  of  the  many 
lamps  which  illuminated  the  open  temple  of  the  Moon 
on  the  Palatine  Hill. "'  The  Sun,  too,  and  the  Earth  by 
the  name  of  Ops,  had  each  a  shrine  ;  and  to  the  same 
system  belonged  the  adoration  of  Vesta,  with  that  of 
Volcanus  the  god  of  the  central  fires.  The  divinities 
of  the  fields,  the  woods,  the  springs,  and  the  mountains, 
had  their  worship  made  at  once  local  and  useful  by 
ceremonies  which  identified  themselves  with  the  history 
of  the  people.  Such  were,  for  the  gods  of  the  forest- 
pasttires,  the   sacrifices  of  the  Lupercal  priests ;   and 


•  Varro  De  Lingua  Latina,  lib.  iv. ;  edit.  Bipont.  1788,  p.  20. 
Taciti  Annal.  lib.  xv.  cap.  41. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  327 

for  the  deities  of  agriculture,  the  hymns  of  the  Arval 
Brethren.  The  evil  spirits  were  likewise  propitiated. 
Among  these  may  be  instanced  Robigus,  the  god  of 
mildew  ;  and  the  gods  of  the  dead,  who,  under  the  name 
of  Lares,  were  made  the  guardians  of  life  and  of  the 
'household-hearth.  The  elemental  faith  and  the  hero- 
worship  were  mixed  up  yet  more  intimately  in  such 
legends  as  those  of  the  prophetic  Latian  king  Picus,  of 
king  Faunus  and  the  nymph  Marica,  of  Juturna,  Fero- 
nia,  with  other  Latian  and  Sabine  goddesses,  and  of  the 
wise  and  fair  Egeria,  who  rose  nightly  from  her  fountain 
to  speak  with  Numa.  The  Sabine  religion  had  likewise 
a  strong  allegorical  turn,  which  was  instanced  in  the 
worship  of  Salus,  of  Fortis  Fortuna,  and  of  the  three 
gods  of  good  faith,  Semo,  Fidius,  and  Sancus,  who  had 
a  joint  temple  on  the  Quirinal. 

From  the  Etruscans  came  the  few  mystical  cere- 
monies of  the  Roman  religion,  all  its  gloomiest  supersti- 
tions, and  the  whole  of  that  most  important  section  of  it 
which  sought  to  predict  future  events  in  the  moral  world 
by  the  observation  of  their  types  in  physical  nature. 
Tills  last  branch  fonned  the  system  of  the  Auspices  and 
Auguries.  Rome,  too,  like  the  Etnirian  tov/ns,  had  a 
mysterious  name,  Avhich  could  not  be  pronounced  with- 
out sacrilege  ;  and  it  w-as  also  under  the  especial  protec- 
tion of  one  guardian  spirit ;  but  his  name  likewise  was 
concealed,  from  a  fear,  as  it  was  alleged,  lest  the  enemies 
of  the  state  should  practise  against  it  a  ceremony  used  by 
the  early  Romans  themselves,  of  evoking  the  gods  of  a 
besieged  town  and  inviting  them  to  migrate  to  the  home 
of  the  invaders.""'"  The  Etruscans  also  taught  their  neigh- 
bours to  appease  the  angry  divinities  by  human  sacrifices. 
Prisoners  of  war  were,  during  the  first  six  centuries  of 
the  city,  repeatedly  buried  alive  in  compliance  with  this 
cruel  superstition  ;  and  for  ages  afterwards  the  primi- 
tive rite  of  casting  living  victims  into  the  Tiber  was 
commemorated  annually  in  May  by  the  Vestal  Virgins, 

•  Plinii  Histor.  Natur.  lib.  iii.  cap.  5;  lib.  xxviii.  cap.  2. 


328  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

who  threw  wicker  figures  into  the  water  from  the  Sub- 
lician  Bridge.'"  A  kindred  belief  founded  that  terrible 
self-sacrifice  which  was  executed  by  the  two  Decii. 
The  victim,  in  a  set  form  of  prayer,  called  down  on  liim- 
self  the  anger  of  the  gods  ;  after  which  he  plunged 
among  the  enemy,  and  the  curse  which  had  descended- 
on  his  head  passed  to  those  who  slew  him.t 

Till  the  end  of  the  fifth  century  of  Rome,  the  religion 
of  the  nation  may  be  viewed  as  having  commanded 
general  respect  and  belief.  The  faith  in  omens  spread, 
tUl  every  accident  of  life  had  its  predictive  meaning ; 
and  to  the  auguries  of  the  Etruscans  was  added  judicial 
astrology,  for  Chaldean  soothsayers  are  mentioned  in 
the  sixth  century  as  already  common.;}:  Magical  rites 
also  were  practised  from  a  very  early  age.  The  people 
believed  that  sorcerers  could  raise  spirits  ;  and  a  demon 
much  dreaded,  but  much  courted  for  his  prophetic  com- 
munications, was  Jupiter  Elicius,  who  appeared  in  tem- 
pest and  lightnings,  and  slew  TuUus  Hostilius.  The 
framers  of  the  Twelve  Tables  provided  for  the  punish- 
ment of  malicious  wizards,  especially  those  who  wrought 
spells  to  injure  the  harvest,  or  to  transport  a  standing 
crop  from  one  field  to  another. §  But  charms  and 
amulets  were  lawful  for  averting  magic,  and  for  all 
purposes  not  injurious  to  others.  Cato  gravely  recom- 
mends, that  for  the  cure  of  dislocated  limbs  certain  cere- 
monies should  be  used,  and  certain  magical  gibberish 
muttered,  according  to  forms  of  which  he  gives  us  three 
separate  sets :  though  he  also  prudently  advises  that  the 
spell  be  helped  by  the  application  of  splints  to  the  injured 
member.  1 1     Talismans,  to  protect  the  wearer  from  the 


•  Ovidii  Faster,  lib.  v.,  v.  621  ;  Varro,  lib.  vi.  ad  vocem 
"  Argpi." 

■f   Livii  Histor.  lib.  viii.  cap.  9;  lib.  x.  cap.  28. 

Z  Cato  De  Re  Rustica,  cap.  v. :    "  Villici  Officia." 

§  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxiii.  c.  2.  Servius  in  Virgilii  Eclo- 
gam  viii.,  v.  99. 

y  Cato  De  Re  Rustica,  cap.  16'0.  The  following  is  one  of  thn- 
forms  :   "  Huat  haut  haut  ista  sis  tar  sis  ardaiinabon  dunnaustra." 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  329 

evil  eye  and  other  perils,  were  in  general  use  throughout 
the  whole  ancient  period  of  Italian  history. 

During  this  age  the  state  did  nothing  for  public  in- 
struction, except  sending  a  few  patrician  boys  annually 
into  Etruria  to  learn  the  rites  of  divination.  This  prac- 
tice naturally  made  the  language  of  that  district  an  aristo- 
cratic accomplishment ;  and  it  was  so  considered  till  the 
Greek  superseded  it.*  Attendance  in  the  forum  and  the 
senate,  -with  the  instructions  of  parents  at  home,  com- 
pleted the  education  of  the  young  nobles  for  political 
life  ;  and  athletic  exercises,  followed  by  an  early  enrol- 
ment in  the  army,  prepared  them  to  act  as  soldiers  and 
commanders.  The  little  learning  which  fell  to  the  lot 
of  the  people  at  large  was  communicated  in  public 
schools,  frequented  by  the  boys  and  girls  of  all  ranks, 
and  situated,  in  early  times,  as  we  see  from  the  story  of 
Virginia,  in  the  quarter  of  the  forum  where  stood  the 
tradesmen's  shops. 

Agriculture  was  the  business  of  the  whole  nation, 
from  which  their  incessant  wars  furnished  to  them  such 
a  relaxation  as  the  chase  did  to  the  barons  and  vassals 
of  the  middle  ages.  Indeed,  in  the  earliest  centuries  of 
Rome,  the  town  could  scarcely  be  considered  as  the  proper 
residence  of  its  citizens.  Its  constant  population  included 
few  besides  the  magistrates  and  other  functionaries, 
the  artisans,  who  were  far  from  being  numerous,  and 
some  of  the  public  and  private  slaves  :  the  rest  of  the 
people  had  their  dwelling-houses  on  the  farms  around 
the  walls,  and  entered  the  city  only  for  the  markets  or 
to  attend  meetings.  But  agriculture  itself  was  long  very 
imperfect  in  the  adjoining  region.  In  the  oldest  repub- 
lican times,  the  poorer  citizens  cultivated  their  narrow 
allotments  of  land  chiefly  as  kitchen-gardens ;  and  though 
the  small  space  unoccupied  by  esculent  herbs  enabled 
the  husbandman  to  raise  a  little  grain,  yet  the  quantity 


*  Cicero  De  Divinatione,  lib.  i.  cap.  41.     Valerius  Maximus, 
lib.  i.  cap.  1.      Livii  Histor.  lib.  ix.  cap.  36. 


330  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

produced  in  the  whole  district  scarcely  ever  sufficed  to 
support  its  inhabitants.  In  the  first  century  of  the 
commonwealth,  eight  years  of  dearth  and  six  pestilences 
taught  the  Romans  how  precarious  was  their  position:* 
indeed  they  could  not  have  lived  but  for  the  pillage  of 
their  wars,  and  the  contributions  exacted  from  conquered 
tribes.  The  richer  citizens,  however,  soon  joined  the 
rearing  of  a  few  cattle  to  the  husbandry  of  grain  and 
herbs ;  and  in  the  fourth  century,  when  the  territory  of 
Rome  had  beg-un  pennanently  to  extend  itself,  agricul- 
ture rapidly  improved.  To  its  former  objects  it  added 
the  general  cultivation  of  the  vine,  the  olive,  a  few 
fruit-trees,  and  some  new  sorts  of  corn ;  the  flocks  and 
herds  were  also  large  and  lucrative ;  but  the  more 
valuable  plants  of  Italy  were  still  subordinate  to  the 
kitchen-garden,  the  sheep-pasture,  and  the  corn-field  ; 
and  even  these,  the  favourite  branches  of  rural  economy, 
continued  to  be  managed  very  unskilfully. 

On  the  early  state  of  the  mechanical  arts  in  Middle 
Italy,  our  information  must  be  gleaned  from  the  few 
monuments  still  remaining  of  architecture  and  the  other 
liberal  pursuits.  We  learn  something,  but  not  much, 
from  the  history  of  the  guilds  of  tradesmen  in  Rome, 
nine  of  which  were  traditionally  ancient.  Eight  of  these 
comprehended  the  goldsmiths,  the  bronzesmiths,  the  car- 
penters, the  potters,  the  dyers,  the  shoemakers,  the  skin- 
ners, and  the  musicians  ;  and  all  the  remaining  classes  of 
artisans  were  united  in  a  ninth.  The  guilds,  after  suf- 
fering several  checks,  were  formally  recognised  in  the 
laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables;  and  thenceforth  they 
flourished  and  increased.  In  the  years  of  the  city  259 
and  816  were  formed  two  merchant-companies,  or  rather 
societies  of  petty  shopkeepers,  the  guild  of  Mercury  and 
the  Capitolme. 

The  commercial  dealings  of  the  native  Italians  w^ith 
foreign  countries  were  still  very  limited.  The  fleets  of 
the  Carthaginians  swept  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  at  the 

*  Dearths,  a.u.  246,  261,  263,  313,  315,  321,  322,  344  :  Pes- 
tilences,  a.  u.  291,  301.  320-  321,  323,  328. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  331 

beginning  of  the  first  Punic  War,  one  of  tlieii*  leaders 
declared  that  lie  would  not  let  the  Romans  so  much  as 
wash  their  hands  in  the  seas  of  Sicily.  Several  treaties, 
however,  had  already  settled  terms  on  which  the  latter 
were  allowed  to  trade,  both  with  Carthage  itself  and  with 
its  settlements  in  Barbary  and  the  Italian  Islands.  The 
severity  of  the  conditions  evinces  the  weakness  of  the 
new  Latin  state  ;  and  the  irregular  laws  of  ancient  com- 
mercial navigation  are  illustrated  by  the  uniform  tenor 
of  those  compacts ;  for  though  they  are  all  aimed  against 
piracy,  yet  none  goes  farther  than  to  stipulate  that 
neither  party  shall  plunder  on  the  coasts  belonging  to 
the  other  or  its  allies. 

But  in  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures,  we 
must  recollect  that  Southern  Italy  and  Sicil}^  then  flou- 
rished even  more  than  Greece.  Carthage,  inhabited  by 
wealthy  merchants,  was  the  best  market  for  the  Greek 
cities,  particularly  for  the  wine  and  oil  which  were  grown 
in  their  neighbourhood,  and  for  the  corn  of  Sicily  and 
Sardinia.  The  latter  island  also,  it  is  not  improbable, 
furnished  from  its  mines  materials  to  the  ingenious  metal- 
workers of  Barbary ;  the  Lipari  isles  sent  their  resin ; 
Corsica  exported  its  wax,  its  honey,  and  its  hardy  moun- 
taineers as  slaves ;  and  Elba  not  only  worked  its  cele- 
brated iron  mines,  but  smelted  the  ore  before  it  was 
exported.  The  Carthaginian  merchants,  usually  sailing 
in  their  own  vessels,  frequented  in  crowds  Syi'acuse  and 
the  other  Grecian  harbours  ;  and  before  the  end  of  the 
fifth  century  of  Rome,  their  wares  had  entered  the 
city.  Captive  negroes  from  the  interior  of  Africa  were 
a  principal  branch  of  their  exports  to  the  Italian  coasts  ; 
%vhich  also  received  their  gold,  precious  stones,  and 
manufactures  ;*  and  the  Romans  seem  moreover  to 
have  purchased  from  them  agricultural  tools,  with 
other  articles  of  smith  work.t 

*  Heeren,  Historical  Researches :  The  African  Nations  (Enghsh 
translation),  vol.  i. ;  Carthage,  chapters  ii.  and  v.  and  Appendix. 

+  Plautus  in  PcBnulo,  act.  v,  so.  2 ;  in  Aulularia,  act.  iii.  so.  6, 
V.  30. 


332  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

In  the  third  century  of  the  city,  the  warlike  husband- 
man of  Rome  had  his  representative  in  the  proud  patri- 
cian Cincinnatus.  Two  hundred  years  later,  the  same 
qualities  were  united  with  more  honesty  in  the  persons 
of  Fabricius  and  Curius  Dentatus,  the  adversaries  of 
Pyrrhus  and  the  Samnites  ;  and  the  national  character 
then  began  to  undergo  a  change,  which,  before  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century,  had  ended  in  a  complete 
disappearance  of  the  early  rudeness.  But  even  in  that 
altered  age,  the  primitive  temper  existed  in  all  its 
original  strength,  with  a  little  of  its  good  and  very  much 
of  its  evil,  in  the  person  of  Cato  the  Censor,  the  last  of 
the  ancient  Romans.  This  celebrated  man's  supersti- 
tion has  been  already  noticed  ;  but,  like  every  other 
feeling  in  his  mind,  it  was  modified  by  his  practical, 
shrewd,  calculating  temper.  In  his  agricultural  treatise 
he  gives  minute  directions  for  offerings  to  Silvanus  to 
secure  the  health  of  the  cattle,  and  for  propitiating  the 
woodland  divinities  before  pruning  or  cutting  down 
timber-trees.  But  he  peremptorily  forbids  the  overseer 
to  be  religious  on  his  o^vn  account ;  he  is  to  consult  no 
diviners  or  magicians,  and  to  offer  no  sacrifices  for  him- 
self except  the  Compitalia  to  the  household  gods,  which 
were  a  prerogative  of  the  slaves.*  We  are  initiated  at 
once  into  the  groundwork  of  the  old  Roman  character, 
and  into  the  details  of  an  ancient  household,  when  we 
read  the  Censor's  directions  for  building  his  country- 
mansion,  with  its  offices  and  fences,  his  extracts  from 
the  family  receipt-book,  his  advice  to  the  master  of  the 
establishment,  his  summary  of  the  duties  of  a  bailiff,  his 
list  of  places  where  agricultural  purchases  may  be  best 
made,  and  his  frequent  rules  of  homely  and  even  nig- 
gardly thrift.t 

If  we  investigate  the  morality  of  those  early  ages, 
we  shall  discover  far  more  to  blame  than  to  admire.    Still 

•  Cato  De  Re  Rustica,  cap.  5,  84,  135,  140,  142;  also  Colu- 
mella  De  Re  Rustica,  lib.  i.  cap.  8. 
t  Cato  De  Re  Rustica,  cap.  1,  2,  4,  6,  14,  15,  136,  142,  143. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  3li3 

the  old  Roman  was  commonly  pure  in  the  bosom  of  his 
family  ;  and  the  domestic  virtues  offer  us  some  beauti- 
ful pictures  from  the  first  republican  times.  Severe 
laws  limited  the  freedom  of  the  female  sex,  and  con- 
stituted the  head  of  a  family  the  judge  and  king  of  his 
own  house,  with  the  power  of  life  and  death  over  his  off- 
spring and  even  his  wife.  But  the  feelings  and  habits 
of  the  nation  disarmed  those  legislative  enactments  :  the 
Roman  father  was  his  children's  patron  and  friend  ; 
the  Roman  matron,  living  openly  in  the  midst  of  her 
family,  and  mixing  freely  with  their  associates,  was 
the  companion  and  adviser  of  her  husband  and  her  chil- 
dren. The  laws  made  divorce  easy;  and  yet  there  was 
no  recorded  case  of  their  application  till  the  year  of  the 
city  520.*  But  even  of  the  vices  of  later  times  we  see, 
towards  the  end  of  this  period,  some  alarming  indica- 
tions, accompanied  by  circumstances  characteristic  of  the 
proud  and  fierce  temper  of  the  republican  state.  Poison- 
ing appeared  for  the  first  time  in  422,  while  the  self- 
devoting  patriotism  of  the  Samnite  war  was  at  its  height. 
One  hundred  and  seventy  women  of  rank  in  the  city 
were  apprehended  on  a  charge  of  having  conspired  to 
destroy  the  males  of  their  families,  several  of  whom  had 
died  suddenly.  Twenty  of  the  females,  accused  as  the 
prompters  of  the  crime,  consulted  together,  and  ofi^ered 
to  prove  their  innocence,  by  drinking  the  medicaments 
said  to  be  poisoned  :  they  swallowed  the  draught,  and 
expired  in  convulsions ;  the  rest,  being  condemned,  were 
executed  within  the  walls  of  the  prison. t 

The  public  virtue  of  the  Romans,  vaunted  by  their 
own  historians  and  applauded  by  modern  writers,  was  too 
often  nothing  better  than  the  spirit  of  pride,  faction, 
and  ambition.  The  conduct  of  Cincinnatus  and  that  of 
Camillus  are  two  pregnant  examples  ;  and  deeds  of  pa- 
triotism, pure  from  this  taint,  are  very  rare  in  the  early 
history  of  the  commonwealth.    It  is  still  more  difficult  to 

*  Auli  Gellii  Noct.  Attic,  lib.  iv.  cap.  3. 
■f  Livii  Histor.  lib.  via.  cap.  18. 


334  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

discover  an  act  or  a  character  which  exhibits  generosity, 
or  even  common  equity,  in  the  connexion  of  the  Ro- 
mans with  the  neighbouring  Italian  tribes.  The  policy 
of  the  state,  unsparingly  put  in  force  by  its  soldiers, 
did  indeed  derive  some  excuse  from  the  savage  rules 
common  in  all  ancient  wars  ;  but  it  was  still  sufPxiently 
shocking,  and  often  dishonest,  even  in  comparison  with 
the  conduct  of  contemporary  nations.  Their  cruelty 
was  glaringly  exhibited  in  the  celebrated  processions  of 
triumph.  Besides  the  plunder  of  the  conquered  enemy, 
there  were  exhibited  the  prisoners  of  vrar,  men,  women, 
and  children,  led  through  the  streets  in  chains,  insulted 
and  misused.  When  the  train  reached  the  forum,  it 
stood  still ;  on  which  the  victorious  general  from  his 
chariot  ordered  the  chief  captives  to  be  led  into  the 
adjoining  Mamertine  prison  and  despatched :  and  the  pro- 
cession then  climbed  the  Capitoline  Hill,  but  paused 
again  on  its  brow  till  the  executioners  reported  that 
their  victims  were  dead.*  Pontius,  the  brave  and 
generous  captain  of  the  Samnites,  died  thus  by  the 
headsman's  axe  in  the  year  462,  after  having  feasted 
the  eyes  of  the  savage  multitude.  This  horrible  bar- 
barity seems  to  have  arisen  out  of  the  unjust  and  inso- 
lent maxim  of  the  Romans,  that  all  their  Italian  adver- 
saries were  to  be  considered  as  subjects  in  rebellion. 
The  rule,  however,  of  executing  at  least  the  com- 
mander of  the  enemy,  subsisted  long  after  the  wars  of 
the  nation  were  carried  on  in  foreign  countries  ;  and, 
till  the  time  of  Pompey,  the  populace  marvelled,  if 
they  did  not  murmur,  at  the  forbearance  of  a  general 
who  spared  all  his  prisoners.  Those  who  were  not 
executed  became  slaves,  they  and  their  children,  to  the 
last  generation.  In  the  earlier  centuries,  indeed,  the 
enslaved  captives  were  treated  more  kindly  than  in  later 
times  ;  for  the  Roman  citizens  were  then  less  haughtily 
reserved,  and  less  pampered  by  luxuries  ;  the  prisoners 

•  Onuphrius  Panvinius  De  Triumpho,  cap.  1  :  ap.  Graevium, 
Thes.  Antiq.  Rom.  torn.  ix. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  335 

were  Italians  like  themselves,  and  were  not  yet  so  nu- 
merous as  to  he  feared.  But  the  precarious  situation 
of  the  slaves  is  proved  hy  a  single  sentence  in  Cato's 
treatise.  Sell,  says  the  hard-hearted  Censor,  sell  for 
what  they  will  hring,  old  oxen,  diseased  sheep,  worn- 
out  ploughs  and  iron  tools,  aged  or  sickly  slaves,  and  all 
such  useless  lumher.* 

Nothing  can  aid  us  hetter  in  forming  an  image  of 
early  Roman  manners,  than  those  miscellaneous  pictures 
which  are  presented  in  some  scenes  of  Plautus,  and  which, 
though  they  were  painted  from  life  in  the  sixth  century 
of  the  city,  are  more  nearl}^  akin  to  the  age  preceding 
their  own  date  than  to  that  which  followed  it.  The  old 
dramatist  gives  us  satirical  descriptions  of  the  haunts 
frequented  in  Rome  by  the  usurers,  the  victuallers, 
the  diviners,  and  the  other  ministers  of  growing  luxury ; 
he  jests  dryly  on  the  combinations  of  the  provision- 
traders,  and  the  roguery  of  the  bankers ;  he  describes 
the  fishmongers  carrying  about  stale  fish  on  lame 
asses,  butchers  as  selling  ewes'  flesh  for  lambs',  and 
bakers  as  creating  a  nuisance  by  the  herds  of  swine  in 
their  back-courts  ;  he  presents  to  us  the  hired  slave- 
cooks  and  music-girls,  with  the  v/hole  other  apparatus 
which  an  entertainment  called  into  action  ;  he  gives  a 
comically-caricatured  list  of  the  artists  who  even  in  his 
time  were  laid  under  contribution  to  set  forth  a  Roman 
lady's  wardrobe  ;  he  relates  the  police  regulations  of 
the  streets  and  of  the  theatres  ;  and  he  delineates  a  most 
lively  picture  of  the  merry  side  of  life  in  slavery,  with 
some  touches  of  its  sadder  colours,  and  continual  exem- 
plifications of  its  demoralizing  consequences.t 


*  Cato  De  Re  Rustica,  cap.  2. 

•}•  Plautus  in  Curculione,  act.  iii.  so.  1,  act.  iv.  sc.  1  ;  inTrucu- 
lento,  act.  i.  sc.  1  ;  in  Capteivis,  act.  iii,  sc.  1,  act.  iv.  sc.  1  ;  in 
Aulularia,  act.  ii.  sc.  4-9,  act.  iii.  sc.  1,  5 ;  in  Amphitryone, 
Prologo,  act.  i.  sc.  1 ;  in  Poenulo,  Prologo  ;  in  Persa,  passim  ;  in 
Trinummo,  act.  iv.  sc.  3  ;  in  Bacchidibus,  passim. 


336  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

THE  SECOND  PERIOD: 

A.u.  500—933,  OR  B.C.  254_A.D.  180. 

As  this  second  period  of  Roman  character  and  society 
embraces  the  leading  events  recorded  in  the  political 
annals,  it  will  furnish  a  convenient  opportunity  for 
describing  in  detail  the  most  remarkable  of  the  national 
habits  and  customs. 

Religion. 

The  religion  of  Rome,  which  resembled  all  other 
pagan  creeds  in  relying  on  a  series  of  gross  frauds, 
went  farther  than  any  of  them  in  the  boldness  of  its 
interference  with  active  life.  Tliis  policy  for  a  time 
strengthened  the  system  by  nourishing  general  super- 
stition ;  but,  as  speculation  gi-adually  went  abroad,  the 
very  same  cause  began  to  produce  the  opposite  effect. 
The  people  became  indifferent,  not  only  through  fami- 
liarity, but  through  suspicion  of  deceit  and  imposture  ; 
the  educated  men  treated  with  contempt,  or  with  posi- 
tive hostility,  a  mummery  which,  as  statesmen,  they 
liad  taken  a  share  in  inventing  ;  and  long  before  the  fall 
of  the  republic,  faith  in  the  national  creed  w^as  extinct 
among  the  higher  ranks.  We  cannot  more  fairly  esti- 
mate the  tone  of  religious  feeling  in  the  last  age  of  the 
commonwealth  than  from  the  wavering  and  temporiz- 
ing mind  of  Cicero  ;  and  no  better  example  can  be 
selected  from  his  works  than  the  contradiction  between 
that  opinion  as  to  the  auspices  and  auguries  Avhich, 
talking  as  a  politician,  he  gTavely  expresses  in  his  trea- 
tise on  Laws,  and  that  which,  throwing  aside  views  of 
expediency,  he  ventures  to  propound  in  his  philosophical 
work  on  Divination. 

The  temples  still  abounded  in  miracles,  which  the 
men  of  letters  regarded  with  as  little  respect  as  the 
rites  of  the  diviners.  A  Falerian  family,  called  the 
Hirpi,  walked  barefoot  over  burning  coals  at  the  an- 
nual sacrifice  on  Mount  Soracte  :  Varro  flatly  asserted 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  337 

that  they  previously  anointed  their  feet.*  At  Egnatia, 
in  Apulia,  the  fire  on  an  altar  lighted  itself ;  and  on 
that  of  the  Lacinian  Juno,  standing  in  the  open  air,  the 
ashes  lay  unmoved  by  the  highest  winds.  Horace  is 
outrageous  in  his  mirth  at  the  expense  of  the  self- 
igniting  flame  ;  and  both  of  it  and  the  Lacinian  miracle 
Pliny  quietly  says,  that  the  phenomena  seem  to  be  facts, 
but  are  to  be  accounted  for  by  causes  purely  natural.t 
Even  in  the  republic,  and  still  more  decidedly  under 
the  empire,  the  old  traditions  and  their  rites  fell  into 
utter  neglect,  unless  they  happened  to  be  susceptible  of 
practical  and  political  application.  An  interesting  in- 
stance is  furnished  by  Juvenal's  lamentation  over  the 
desecrated  Fount  of  Egeria.:};  Chapels  and  artificial 
grottos  had  been  built  in  the  wood  and  the  sacred 
valley  ;  but  the  altars  were  deserted  and  broken,  and 
the  unfurnished  buildings  were  inhabited  by  a  few 
starving  Jews,  the  gipsies  of  imperial  Rome,  who  slept 
upon  hay- trusses  spread  on  the  ground. 

But  neither  instructed  men  nor  the  multitude  could 
bear  to  want  religion.  The  former  took  refuge  in  the 
metaphysical  theologies  of  the  Greek  philosophers  ;  the 
latter  indemnified  themselves  for  the  absence  of  a  com- 
mon and  stable  faith  by  a  thousand  superstitions  of 
their  own,  in  many  of  which  the  better-informed  class 
did  not  disdain  to  join  them.  The  omens  multiplied 
incredibly ;  and  no  historian,  either  of  the  republic  of  of 
the  empire,  neglects  to  devote  entire  chapters  to  them  ; 
for  while  Livy's  credulity  is  notorious,  Tacitus  is  as 
minute  in  his  details  of  marvels  as  Suetonius  or  the 
compilers  of  the  Augustan  History.  Foreign  rites,  like- 
wise, akin  to  those  of  the  national  religion,  repeatedly  in- 
truded. The  earliest  remarkable  instance,  in  the  year  of 
the  city  567,  was  the  horrible  story  of  the  Bacchanalian 
Mysteries,  whose  infamous  debaucheries  were  promptly 

'  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  vii.  cap.  2.     Servius  in  Virgilii  -^neid. 
ib.  xi.  V.  785. 
t  Horat.  lib.  i.  sat.  v.  v.  97  :  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  ii.  cap.  107. 
:J:  Juvenalis  Satir.  iii.  v.  11-20. 
VOL.  I.  X 


338  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

expelled  ;  but  in  the  imperial  times  the  Egyptian  Isis 
had  her  permanent  temples  beside  those  of  Bellona  and 
Cybcle  ;  and  these  three  sets  of  fanes,  frequented  by 
females  of  rank,  were  the  scenes  of  gross  depravity.* 
Oriental  astrologers  and  interpreters  of  dreams  were  to 
be  found  every  where  ;  and  under  the  emperors  the 
latter  trade  was  chiefly  exercised  in  the  apartments  of 
the  Roman  ladies  by  poor  Jewish  women.t  When  a 
star  shot  from  the  sky,  the  populace  believed  that  at 
that  moment  the  person  expired,  on  whose  birth  the 
bright  orb  had  taken  its  place  in  the  heavens.;};  The 
emperor  Tiberius,  who  was  skilled  in  astrology,  watched 
the  stars  from  the  cliffs  of  his  island  of  Capreae  ;  and 
Nero  was  a  yet  more  ardent  student  of  supernatural 
secrets.  An  eastern  wizard  initiated  him  in  the  banquets 
of  the  Magi ;  and,  when  an  evil  conscience  had  raised 
the  ghost  of  his  murdered  mother,  his  sorcerers  strove 
in  vain,  by  mysterious  rites,  to  banish  the  angry  shade.§ 
The  power  of  magicians  to  raise  the  dead  was  long 
doubted  or  denied  by  the  learned  ;  and  the  elder  Pliny 
mentions  with  merriment  that  he  had  seen  the  Greek 
Apion.  This  man  had  discovered  the  marvellous  root 
osy  rites  (perhaps  the  mandrake  of  the  middle  ages),  which 
was  a  preservative  against  poisons,  but  cost  life  to  him 
who  pulled  it ;  and  he  had  evoked  the  shade  of  Homer, 
to  question  him  as  to  the  place  of  his  birth,  but  professed 
that  he  durst  not  repeat  the  answer  which  the  spirit 
had  given.  1 1  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  never  doubted 
that  ghosts  vv^ere  wont  to  rise  of  their  own  accord. 
The  same  writer  avows  his  belief  of  such  occur- 
rences, after  relating  gravely,  as  an  incident  really  super- 
natural, a  palpable  trick  played  by  Sextus  Pompeius 
in   his  campaign  against  Julius  Caesar ;   and   Pliny's 


•  Livii  Hist.  lib.  xxxix.  cap.  8,  &c.    Juvenalis  Sat.  vi.  v.  510,  &c. 
-j-  Juvenalis  Satir.  vi.  v.  545. 
X  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  ii.  cap.  8. 

§  Taciti  Annal.  lib.  vi,  cap.  21.   Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxx.  cap.2. 
Suetonius  in  Nerone,  cap.  34. 

11  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxx.  cap.  2. 


or  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  339 

nephew  is  still  more  unequivocal  In  the  confession  of 
faith  -wliich  he  makes  in  telling  several  stories  of 
apparitions,  one  of  which  happened  to  a  freedman  of  his 
own,  and  is  the  most  foolish  of  the  series.*  One  of  his 
legends,  the  well-told  adventure  of  Athenodorus  at 
Athens,  with  its  haunted  house  advertised,  its  mur- 
dered man  buried  in  the  court,  and  its  chains  clanking 
at  midnight,  is  in  every  particular  a  ghost-story  suited 
to  modern  times  ;  and,  indeed,  it  is  little  more  than  an 
amplification  of  the  lying  tale  invented  by  the  roguish 
slave  Tranio  in  Plautus,  in  which  we  detect  the  original 
of  Ben  Jonson's  Alchemist.t 

Even  before  Augustus,  witchcraft  in  Rome  had  be- 
come, in  some  of  its  most  gloomy  features,  very  like  what 
it  was  in  the  middle  ages.  Love-charms  and  philtres 
were  dangerously  common  ;  and  a  draught  of  this  kind 
is  said  to  have  driven  Caligula  mad.;}:  For  destroy- 
ing an  enemy,  a  waxen  figure  was  exposed  to  a  slow 
fire,  with  ceremonies  closely  resemblmg  those  which 
were  practised  for  the  same  end  a  thousand  years  later. 
Vu'gil's  description  of  the  love-spells,  mdeed,  is  too 
poetical,  and  too  Grecian ;  but  Horace  has  some  pic- 
tures which,  though  highly  coloured,  are  evidently 
sketched  from  the  life.§  His  witches  are  described  as 
burying  an  unhappy  boy  to  the  neck  in  the  court-yard 
of  their  house,  that  he  might  die  of  hunger,  and  his 
heart  be  infused  in  a  love-potion  ;  and  in  another  scene 
we  behold  them  practising  the  charm  for  killing  an 
enemy.  An  extensive  area  on  the  outer  declivity  of  the 
Esquiline  Mount,  not  far  from  the  place  now  covered 
by  the  ruins  of  the  Baths  of  Titus,  was,  in  the  republi- 
can times,  a  burying-ground  for  slaves  and  executed 
criminals  ;  and  some  tombs  of  a  higher  class  lay  also  in 
the  same  quarter  of  the  hUL     Maecenas,  it  is  true,  had 

•  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  vii.  cap.  52.     Plinii,  lib.  vii.  ep.  27. 
-f-  Plauti  Wostellariae,  actus  ii.  scena  2. 
J  Suetonius  in  Caligula,  cap.  60. 

§  Virgilii  Eclog.  viii.  sub  finem.  Horatii  Epodon  od.  5,  17, 
18 ;  lib.  i.  satir.  viii. 


340  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

enclosed  the  whole  within  his  splendid  gardens ;  but  the 
hags,  accustomed  to  collect  there  the  hones  of  the  dead 
and  the  magic  herbs,  are  represented  as  still  resorting 
to  the  spot.  The  moon  goes  down  behind  the  sepulchres 
while  they  dig  a  ditch,  kill  a  black  lamb  in  it,  chant 
shrill  and  melancholy  spells  to  raise  the  ghosts,  and 
light  a  fire  before  which  the  waxen  image  of  their 
victim  melts  away. 

Morality. 

A  correct  estimate  of  the  state  of  morality  in  this 
long  period  could  not  be  made,  without  a  detail  of 
particulars  far  too  numerous  for  these  pages.  A  very 
few  facts  must  suffice  to  preface  those  incidental  illus- 
trations, which  will  present  themselves  as  we  rapidly 
review  the  state  of  public  instruction  and  general  read- 
ing, the  divisions  of  society,  the  nature  of  the  public 
spectacles,  and  the  system  of  rural  economy,  manufac- 
tures, and  foreign  trade. 

The  two  centuries  of  the  republic  which  still  remain 
to  be  considered,  display  a  quick  progress  towards  the 
immorality  of  the  empire  ;  and  indeed,  though  vice 
was  never  in  the  free  state  so  monstrously  triumphant 
as  under  the  bad  emperors,  yet  before  the  accession  of 
Augustus  scenes  of  equal  guilt  were  acted  on  a  smaller 
stage.  The  purity  of  private  life  was  all  but  extinct  in 
the  last  days  of  the  commonwealth  ;  and  the  few  re- 
corded instances  of  domestic  virtue  soon  became  excep- 
tions amidst  a  prevailing  dissoluteness,  to  which  the  most 
depraved  society  in  Christian  times  has  been  immeasur- 
ably superior.  But  while  licentiousness  thus  increased, 
cruelty  waxed  strong  likewise.  The  depravation  of 
Roman  morals  has  been  said  to  have  been  caused,  or 
at  least  most  fatally  accelerated,  by  two  powerful 
agents.  One  was  the  profligate  example  of  the  court  in 
most  ages  of  the  empire,  which  diffused  through  the 
whole  body  of  the  state  those  vices  that  previously  had 
been  chiefly  confined  to  the  wealthier  classes  :  the 
second  was  the  barbarous  nature  of  the  favourite  spec- 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  341 

tacles,  which  familiarized  the  people  to  blood  long  be- 
fore the  fall  of  the  republic.  But  it  must  be  emphati- 
cally added,  that  domestic  slavery  had  a  stronger  demo- 
ralizing tendency  than  either,  and  united  the  bad  effects 
of  both. 

If  we  examine  the  character  of  the  great  statesmen 
of  the  republic  in  their  relation  to  the  commonwealth, 
we  shall  discover,  in  undecayed  strength,  the  old  spirit 
of  proud  factiousness.  It  was  this  very  temper  that 
trained  a  mind  like  that  of  Julius  Csesar,  in  so  many 
points  noble  and  generous,  to  enslave  his  country 
without  remorse  or  hesitation  ;  because  he  had  learned 
to  consider  the  state,  and  saw  every  other  leader  ready 
to  consider  it,  as  justly  the  property  of  any  man  or  any 
faction  possessing  power  and  courage  enough  to  seize 
it.  It  was  the  same  temper  that  baffled  the  plans  of 
Augustus  for  founding  an  hereditary  empire,  and  made 
Rome  under  his  successors  an  elective  despotism  in  the 
hands  of  the  soldiery.  This  cast  of  mind  had  in  it  a 
kind  of  irregular  grandeur,  which  is  apt  to  dazzle  the 
imagination, — an  appearance  that  deceives  many  of  us 
in  those  last  acts  of  the  great  Scipio  Africanus,  which 
truly  sprang  from  the  evil  principle  in  its  most  active 
operation.  When  Scipio  was  charged  (no  doubt 
falsely)  with  having  embezzled  the  public  money  in  the 
war  with  Antiochus,  the  tribunes  asked  him  in  the 
senate  whether  he  possessed  accounts  to  vouch  his 
transactions.  He  replied  that  he  did,  held  up  a  scroll 
which,  he  said,  contained  the  information  they  wanted, 
and  tore  it  to  pieces  before  their  eyes.  Afterwards,  on 
his  impeachment,  when  he  rose  to  answer  his  accusers, 
he  reminded  the  people  that  the  day  was  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  battle  of  Zama  ;  and,  without  adding  a 
word  as  to  the  charge  against  him,  summoned  them  to 
accompany  him,  and  thank  the  gods  in  the  Capitol. 

The  bad  spirit  which  dictated  this  scornful  resistance 
to  the  laws,  and  which,  in  the  end,  ruined  the  com- 
monwealth, was  in  Scipio  palliated  by  many  admirable 


342  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

qualities,  and  by  more  and  loftier  talents  and  virtues  in 
some  other  men  who  did  honour  to  the  period  of  the 
civil  wars.  That  age  cannot  be  too  minutely  studied  ; 
and  the  spectacle  which  it  offers  of  high  intellect  and 
cultivation,  united  with  ability  in  action  and  courage 
in  the  midst  of  danger,  is  one  to  which  no  other  era  in 
the  history  of  the  world  has  presented  a  parallel. 

In  passing  to  the  character  of  the  imperial  times,  we 
must  unfortunately  dismiss  in  haste,  as  rare  exceptions, 
such  men  as  Thrasea  Psetus  and  Agricola  ;  with  such 
females  as  the  elder  Agrippina  and  Arria  the  elder  and 
younger.  For  the  aspect  of  the  times  in  general,  it 
may  be  enough  to  take  one  isolated  feature  fi'om  each 
of  the  three  great  sections  of  national  life, — the  court, 
the  senate-house,  and  the  haunts  of  the  people. 

The  reign  of  crime  in  the  imperial  palaces  during  the 
worst  times,  was  a  fearfully  exaggerated  prototype  of 
those  horrors  which  stained  the  petty  courts  of  Italy  in 
the  later  of  the  middle  ages.  The  Roman  series  of  execu- 
tions and  confiscations,  indeed,  prompted  solely  by  sus- 
picion or  avarice,  has  had  no  equal  since  its  own  days  ; 
but  there  have  been  repeated  likenesses  of  the  imperial 
mixture  of  lewdness,  cruelty,  unbridled  passions,  and 
extravagance  of  refinement.  There  was  much  of  a  mo- 
dern taste  in  Nero's  favourite  amusement  of  scouring 
the  streets  by  night,  insulting  every  one  he  met,  and 
sometimes  returning  to  his  palace  soundly  beaten ;  a 
recreation  emulated  successively  by  the  emperors  Otho, 
Commodus,  and  Heliogabalus.  But  we  can  conceive 
ourselves  studying  the  history  of  the  Sforza  or  the 
ducal  Medici,  when  we  turn  to  the  darker  pages  of 
Nero's  annals  ; — when  we  see  him  in  his  closet  with 
the  hag  Locusta,  trying  experiments  upon  poisons ; 
when  he  enters  the  banqueting-hall,  and  in  the  midst 
of  his  court  sees  his  victim  Britannicus  drink  the  po- 
tion, and  fall  on  the  floor  in  convulsions ;  when  we 
watch  the  speechless  horror  of  the  spectators,  and  be- 
hold among  them  the  unfortunate  Octavia,  the  sister  of 
the  murdered  man  and  the  wife  of  the  murderer ;  and 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  343 

when,  in  the  same  night,  amidst  darkness,  rain,  and 
tempest,  we  follow  the  corpse  to  the  Campus  Martins, 
and  see  it  thrust  into  its  nameless  grave.'^ 

The  general  reputation  of  the  imperial  senate  may  be 
gathered  from  two  sources  ;  from  the  younger  Pliny's 
contemptuous  description  of  their  monument  on  the 
Tiburtine  road  in  honour  of  Pallas,  the  freedman  of 
Claudius,  with  their  act  in  honour  of  the  same  worth- 
less favourite  ;  and  from  the  bitter  but  well-merited 
satire  of  Juvenal,  in  which  he  represents  the  Fathers  of 
Rome  as  called  together  by  Domitian  to  deliberate  on 
the  best  way  of  dressing  a  turbot.t  One  other  example, 
a  simply  told  fact,  will  teach  us  how  far  official  subser- 
viency could  carry  the  degradation  of  personal  character. 
While  Tiberius  was  on  the  throne,  Titius  Sabinus,  an 
associate  of  the  murdered  Germanicus,  was  enticed  by 
one  of  his  own  friends  to  enter  his  house,  and  there 
express  his  indignation  against  the  tyrant.  Three  sena- 
tors, hidden  between  the  ceiling  of  the  chamber  and  the 
roof  of  the  mansion,  were  allowed  to  overhear  the  con- 
versation ;  and,  as  soon  as  Titius  had  quitted  the  place, 
the  four  traitors  concocted  a  memorial  to  the  emperor, 
in  which  they  set  forth  the  seditious  words  they  had 
heard  spoken,  and  boastingly  related  the  infamous  mean- 
ness by  which  they  had  purchased  their  knowledge.;]: 

The  populace  we  shall  better  understand  when  we 
come  to  examine  the  public  amusements,  for  these  wera 
their  sole  occupation.  If  they  received  their  allow- 
ance of  food  and  had  the  circus  and  amphitheatres 
opened  to  them,  they  were  contented  and  most  loyal  sub- 
jects :  for  these  reasons  they  did  not  hate  the  bad  empe- 
rors ;  on  the  contrary,  they  usually  liked  them  better 
than  the  good  ones.  Most  of  those  extravagant  and  pro- 
fligate despots  scattered  their  treasures  freely  among 
the  mob,  while  their  cruelty  exliausted  itself  on  the  rich 

'   Taciti  Annal.  lib.  xiii.  cap.  15,  16,  17. 
•j-  Plinii  lib.  vii.  epist.  29 ;  lib.  viii.   epist.  4.      Jiivenalis  Sa- 
tira  iv. 

X  Taciti  Annal.  lib.  iv.  cap.  69. 


344  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

and  noble.  These  the  emperors  might  always  destroy 
with  impunity  ;  but  it  was  not  so  safe  to  attempt  exe- 
cuting any  member  of  their  own  household  ;  it  was  still 
less  safe  to  provoke  the  imperial  guard  ;  and,  pampered 
and  wretched  as  the  Roman  populace  were,  an  attack 
on  them  would  have  been  the  most  hazardous  adventure 
of  any.  Nero,  with  his  mad  jollity,  his  shameless  ex- 
hibitions of  himself,  and  the  unequalled  splendour  of 
his  spectacles,  was  the  idol  of  the  rabble,  who  long 
hung  garlands  on  his  tomb  upon  the  Pincian  Mount ; 
believing  for  many  years  that  he  was  still  alive,  and 
would  return  to  punish  his  enemies  and  restore  the 
regretted  days  of  license.''^ 

In  the  year  of  grace  69,  the  troops  of  Vespasian 
storijied  Rome,  which  was  held  by  Vitellius.  The  two 
parties  fought  in  three  divisions  ;  in  the  Gardens  of 
Sallust,  among  the  streets  of  the  Campus  Martins,  and 
at  the  rampart  of  the  Praetorian  Barrack.  At  all  these 
points  the  populace  of  the  city  swarmed  out  and  looked 
on,  cheering  the  combatants  as  they  would  have  done 
in  the  amphitheatre  ;  the  wine-shops  and  other  scenes 
of  guilt  stood  open  in  the  middle  of  the  fight ;  the 
people  resorted  to  them  to  spend  the  money  which 
they  plundered  from  the  dying  and  the  dead  ;  and, 
when  the  battle  was  over,  they  hurried  to  the  Aven- 
tinc  to  see  the  capture  of  Vitellius,  their  late  favourite, 
followed  him  w^hile  he  was  dragged,  with  his  hands 
bound,  across  the  Forum  to  the  Gemonian  Stairs,  and 
shouted  as  they  beheld  the  soldiers  kill  him.t 

These  were  scenes  too  common  to  be  punished  as 
offences ;  but  in  Rome,  and  throughout  Italy,  there 
were  outrages  in  abundance  which  the  imperial  police 
durst  not  overlook.  As  examples,  we  may  select 
crimes  which  seem  to  have  together  formed  a  profession 
practised  by  numerous  bands  of  miscreants  ;  kidnap- 
ping, highway-robbery,  and  housebreaking.     The  first 


•    Suetonius  in  Nerone,  cap.  67.      Taciti  Histor.  lib.  ii.  cap.  8. 
f  Taciti  Historiar.  lib.  iii.  cap.  72,  73,  74,  75. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  345 

of  these  offences  is  mentioned  in  the  last  ages  of  tlie 
republic  as  committed  on  travellers ;  it  again  occui-s 
repeatedly  under  the  emperors ;  Hadrian  attempted  to 
stop  it  by  an  ordinance  for  shutting  up  the  private  slave- 
prisons,  in  some  of  which  the  robbers  contrived  to  conceal 
their  captives  ;  but  the  private  dungeons  and  the  crime 
lasted  as  long  as  the  empire.*  The  vict^s  appear  to  have 
been  sometimes  detained  for  years  at  hard  laljour ;  but  the 
frequency  of  the  outrage  can  scarcely  be  accounted  for, 
unless  we  believe  that  the  banditti  held  their  prisoners 
to  ransom,  like  the  modern  Italian  robbers.  One  of  the 
most  noted  haunts  of  the  ancient  highwaymen  was  the 
Pontine  Marshes,  which  lay  conveniently  near  the  high- 
road from  Naples  to  Rome  ;  and  another,  not  less  in- 
fested, was  the  Gallinarian  Wood,  which  stretched  north- 
ward from  Cumts,  and,  by  its  situation,  enabled  the 
bandits  to  sally  out  on  those  persons  of  rank  who  spent 
the  summer  months  on  the  coast  of  Campania.  When 
the  military  police  scoured  those  forests,  and  guarded 
their  outlets,  they  produced  by  their  vigilance  another 
and  worse  evil ;  for  the  villains  then  fled  to  Rome,  hid 
themselves  amidst  the  labyrinth  of  the  overgrown  city 
(as  modern  thieves  find  themselves  safest  in  Paris  or 
London),  and  committed  daring  robberies  by  night  on 
the  persons  and  dwelling-houses  of  the  citizens.t 

We  may  drop,  in  the  mean  time,  our  inquiry  into 
the  morality  and  happiness  of  imperial  Rome,  after  we 
have  peiTised  two  sepulchral  inscriptions,  both  of  which 
are  still  preserved  in  the  city. 

The  first  was  found  in  1797,  on  the  hills  of  Decima, 
north-east  from  Ostia.;};  It  tells  its  own  tale  of  heartless, 
thoughtless,  and  un])lushing  selfishness.  "  I  who  speak 
from  this  marble  tomb  was  born  at  Tralles,  in  Asia.  Often 
did  I  repair  to  Baiae,  to  enjoy  its  tepid  baths  and  wander 

•  Suetonius  in  Augusto,  cap.  32,  with  the  notes  of  Casaubon 
and  Gruter.  Suetonius  in  Tiberio,  cap.  8.  iElius  Spartianus  in 
Hudriano,  cap,  18,  with  the  notes  of  Salmasius. 

t  Juvenalis  Satir.  iii.  v.  302-314. 

J  Westpbal's  Romische  Kampagne,  p.  6. 


346  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

in  its  delightful  neighbourhood  by  the  sea.  My  heir, 
ihindful  of  this  my  honourable  life,  and  of  my  last  re- 
quest, employed  a  part  of  my  Avealth  in  erecting  this 
receptacle  for  the  bones  of  me  and  my  descendants, 
this  temple  sacred  to  our  shades.  But  thou  who  readest 
these  lines,  of  thee  I  request  only  that  thou  wouldst 
breathe  this  prayer  for  me  :  *  May  the  earth  lie  lightly 
on  thee,  Socrates,  son  of  Astomachus.'  " 

The  second  inscription  is  taken  from  a  square  marble 
cippus,  which  stands  in  the  court  of  the  Palace  of  the 
Conservators,  in  the  Roman  Capitol.*  "  The  bones  of 
Agrippina,  daughter  of  Marcus  Agrippa,  granddaughter 
of  the  divine  Augustus,  wife  of  Gemianicus  Caesar, 
mother  of  the  august  prince  Caius  Caesar  Germanicus." 
The  high-spirited  and  virtuous  woman  whose  name  this 
epitaph  records,  was  a  strange  instance  of  the  caprice 
of  destin3^  Her  grandfather  w^as  the  first  emperor  ; 
her  father  was  one  of  the  most  honest  and  enterprising 
public  men  of  his  time  ;  her  husband,  a  brave  and 
generous  soldier,  was  poisoned  by  his  jealous  uncle 
Tiberius ;  the  same  tjTant  murdered  her  children,  all 
except  two,  and  banished  herself  to  the  Isle  Panda- 
taria,  now  Pantellaria,  where,  broken-hearted  and  soli- 
tary, she  starved  herself  to  death.  Her  two  surviving 
children  achieved  an  immortality  of  disgrace.  The 
daughter  bore  her  name,  and  became  the  licentious 
and  wretched  mother  of  Nero.  The  son,  ascending  the 
throne,  erected  this  stone  and  other  memorials  to  his 
mother's  memory ;  but,  under  his  nickname  of  Caligula, 
he  is  perhaps  the  most  infamous  of  all  the  Roman 
princes. 

Intellectual  Cultivation. 

The  public  schools,  which  have  been  already  described 
as  of  very  ancient  date  in  Rome,  continued  to  exist 
throughout  the  period  of  the  empire.    There  were  taught 


*  The  original  Latin  is  in  Gruter's  Corpus  Inscriptionum,  torn.  i. 
p.  237.  No.  4. 


OP  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  347 

in  them,  however,  only  reading  and  writing,  with  a  little 
arithmetic.  They  were  frequented  by  all  the  children 
of  the  higher  ranks,  except  those  of  the  few  families  that 
preferred  an  education  strictly  private,  and  it  is  likely 
that  they  were  also  attended  by  a  few  children  from  the 
lower  orders.  Of  the  actual  amount  of  the  information 
convej^ed  in  them,  or  possessed  by  the  people  at  large,  it 
is  impossible  positively  to  judge  ;  but  it  appears  to  be  a 
fair  inference  from  many  scattered  hints  and  facts,  that 
reading  at  least  was,  in  the  later  days  of  the  republic  and 
the  earlier  ages  of  the  empire,  no  rare  accomplishment. 
Many  of  the  slaves,  mdeed,  educated  at  home  for  the 
service  of  their  owners,  possessed  much  more  than  this. 
Columella,  in  enumerating  the  qualifications  of  a  slavc- 
bailifF  on  a  country  estate,  is  disposed  to  prefer  an  illi- 
terate one,  as  being  least  able  to  cheat  his  master  ;  but 
Varro  insists  on  his  bailiff  being  able  to  read,  write, 
and  keep  the  accounts  of  the  establishment.*  With 
these  branches  of  knowledge,  then,  at  the  utmost,  the 
instruction  of  the  common  peoj^le  assuredly  stopped,  and 
for  them  literary  study  in  any  shape  was  altogether 
impracticable. 

The  children  of  the  higher  classes  passed  through 
several  subsequent  courses  of  learning,  all  of  which,  how- 
ever, were  not  matured  till  the  imperial  times.  First 
came  a  series  of  reading  with  a  Grammarian,  or  one  who 
gave  lessons  in  the  elements  of  literature.  These  men 
originally  occupied  themselves  chiefly  in  teaching  Greek, 
but  afterwards  that  language  and  its  writmgs  were  in- 
trusted to  one  tutor,  and  the  Latin  tongue  was  given  to 
another.  Some  rich  individuals  bought  learned  slaves,  or 
hired  free  teachers,  exclusively  for  their  own  families  ; 
and  it  was  thus  that  Augustus  engaged  Verrius  Flaccus 
to  live  in  his  house  on  the  Palatine,  devoting  his  whole 
time  to  Caius  and  Lucius,  the  emperor's  nephews  ;  but 
Orbilius,  Horace's  severe  schoolmaster,  was  less  fortu- 


•  Columella  De  Re  Rustica,  lib.  i.  cap.  8.      Vorro  De  Re  Rus- 
tioa,  lib.  ii.  cap.  10. 


348  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

nate,  and  in  one  of  his  writings  jested  on  his  residence 
in  a  garret.*  These  teachers  of  grammar  and  literature 
were  generally  at  first  native  Greeks,  though  sometimes 
Italiots  or  Sicilians.  The  Rhetoricians,  or  professors  of 
oratory,  who  appeared  an  age  later  than  the  grammarians, 
and  were  at  first  treated  with  alternate  suspicion  and  ridi- 
cule, were  also  foreigners,  and  continued  longer  than  the 
others  to  be  selected  from  that  class.  Those  Greeks  who 
attempted  to  introduce  then-  philosophy  at  Rome,  met 
with  yet  stronger  opposition,  not  being  able  to  establish 
themselves  permanently  till  towards  the  last  age  of  the 
republic.t  Nevertheless,  from  the  time  of  Augustus 
rhetoric  and  philosophy  were  among  the  most  promis- 
ing paths  to  honour  and  wealth ;  and  amidst  many  pre- 
tenders to  illumination  and  much  false  science,  there 
was  knowledge  sufficient  to  make  the  class  highly  re- 
spectable. Among  the  teachers  of  rhetoric  it  may  be 
enough  to  mention  Quinctilian  ;  although,  if  we  are  to 
include  Greeks  who  taught  in  the  metropolis,  we  shall 
be  entitled  to  add  Hermogenes  in  Hadrian's  reign,  with 
many  others  of  less  note  afterwards. 

No  instructor  of  any  kind  received  public  endowment 
till  the  time  of  Vespasian.  That  emperor  conferred  sala- 
ries on  a  few  Greeks  and  Italians,  who  gave  instructions 
in  literature  and  eloquence.  Soon  after  his  reign  it  be- 
came not  uncommon  for  municipal  corporations  to  settle 
allowances  on  public  tutors ;  and  the  younger  Pliny, 
■vNTiting  to  Tacitus,  describes  a  school  he  had  been  able 
to  establish  in  his  native  town  of  Como,  by  promising  for 
its  support  one-third  in  addition  to  whatever  sum  the  in- 
habitants should  raise  among  themselves.  Hadrian  and 
other  emperors  extended  the  scheme  of  endowment ;  and 
Antoninus  Pius  introduced  every  where  into  the  prin- 
cipal towns,  both  in  Italy  and  the  provinces,  seminaries 
where  all  the  higher  branches  of  education  were  taught 


*  Suetonius  De  lUustribus  Grammaticis,  cap,  9,  17.     Horatii 
lib,  ii.  epist.  i.  v.  70, 

■f  Plauti  Curcul,  act,  ii,  sc.  2.     Capteiv.  act.  ii.  so,  2. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  349 

by  salaried  professors.*  His  successor  founded  a  splendid 
philosophical  academy  at  Athens  ;  and  that  establish- 
ment, the  medical  school  of  Alexandria,  and  the  literary 
academies  at  Autun  and  other  places  in  Gaul,  were  the 
most  celebrated  of  the  time.  Rome  continued  to  maintain 
its  place  as  the  great  school  of  law  ;  but  its  teachers  were 
still  the  practising  jurisconsults,  who,  holding  no  open 
prelections,  merely  admitted  pupils  to  their  consultations 
and  studies  at  home.  Attendance  on  these  lawyers  and 
in  the  courts,  with  travels  in  Greece,  were  considered, 
from  the  time  of  Augustus  to  that  of  Marcus  Aurelius, 
as  completing  the  education  of  a  young  man  of  senato- 
rial birth.  Mathematics  and  natural  science  were  almost 
universally  neglected,  and  no  teacher  of  these  branches 
ever  received  a  public  salary. 

While  the  rich  accumulated  considerable  libraries,  of 
which  Cicero's  is  one  of  the  earliest  examples,  the  poorer 
men  of  letters  had  access  to  public  collections  in  Rome, 
said  to  have  at  length  amounted  to  twenty-nine.t  The 
oldest  of  the  latter  class  was  the  celebrated  one  which 
belonged  to  Aristion,  the  prince  of  Athens,  captured  by 
Sylla,  and  placed  by  him  in  the  Capitol ;  the  next  was 
that  of  Lucullus,  in  his  beautiful  gardens  on  the  Pincian 
Mount,  overlooking  the  Campus  Martins,  where  its  hall 
became  the  favourite  resort  of  the  Greek  scholars  ;  and 
in  the  Augustan  age  was  founded  the  library  of  Asinius 
Pollio,  which  he  formally  presented  to  the  Roman  people. 
But  these,  as  well  as  the  later  establishment  which 
Vespasian  attached  to  his  Temple  of  Peace,  and  those 
less  choice  collections  which  were  usually  placed  in  the 
public  Thermae,  were  eclipsed  by  the  two  magnificent 
foundations  of  Augustus  and  Trajan.  The  former  con- 
sisted of  two  departments, — a  Greek  and  a  Latin, — and 
was  arranged  in  halls  annexed  to  the  Temple  of  Apollo, 

•  Suetonius  in  Vespasiano,  cap.  18.  Plinii  lib,  iv.  ep.  13. 
Capitolinus  in  Antonino,  cap.  1 1 . 

■f  Publius  Victor,  De  Regionibus  Urbis  :  ap.  Graevium,  torn,  iii, 
p.  49. 


350  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

which  again  was  connected  with  the  emperor's  mansion 
on  the  Palatine.  The  second,  the  Ulpian  Library,  was 
deposited  in  the  Temple  of  Trajan  in  his  forum,  from 
which,  however,  Diocletian  removed  it  to  adorn  his 
baths.  Its  halls  became,  after  the  Tabularium,  the  chief 
receptacle  of  the  national  records  and  archives. 

Under  the  republic,  books  could  be  procured  only  by 
purchase  from  abroad  or  by  employing  private  copyists ; 
but  bookshops,  appearing  for  the  first  time  in  the  reign 
of  Augustus,  soon  became  common  in  the  city,  and  in  a 
century  and  a  half  were  to  be  found,  though  certainly  not 
numerous,  in  several  provincial  towns.*  The  younger 
Pliny  mentions  the  public  sale  of  his  works  at  Lyons, 
and  Gellius  relates,  with  all  the  delight  of  a  modem  bib- 
lio-maniac,  his  discovery  of  some  rare  Greek  manuscripts 
on  a  stall  at  Brundusium.t  We  read  of  a  book-shop 
at  Rome,  in  the  Argiletum,  near  the  Juhan  forum  ;  of 
one  beside  the  Temple  of  Peace ;  of  several  in  the  Sigil- 
laria  ;  and  of  another  unknown  street,  the  Vicus  Sanda- 
liarius,  which  was  full  of  them.  Some  of  the  metropolitan 
booksellers,  like  Quinctilian's  publisher  Tryplion,  kept 
copyists  and  illuminators  in  constant  employment ;  and 
they  covered  the  columns  or  posts  of  their  doors  with 
the  titles  of  the  volumes  they  had  for  sale.;}:  In  the 
Augustan  age,  and  much  later,  authors  did  not  usually 
derive  any  direct  profit  from  their  works;  and  poor  poets, 
a  class  in  which  the  epigrammatist  Martial  is  a  curious 
example,  made  dedications  and  flattery  a  regular  and 
degrading  trade.  The  earliest  notice  of  literary  property 
which  we  discover  in  Italy  is  contained  in  a  comedy  of 
Plautus,  one  of  whose  buffoons  proposes  to  bequeath  his 
jest-book  as  a  portion  to  his  daughter.  But  in  the  last 
age  of  the  republic  the  grammarian  Pompilius  Androni- 

*  See  Schuftgen  De  Librariis  et  Bibliopolis :  in  Thesauro 
Poleni,  torn.  iii. 

-|-  Plinii  lib.  ix.  epist.  11.     Gellii  Noct.  Attic,  lib.  ix.  cap.  4. 

X  Martialis  lib.  i.  epig.  2,  4,  118.  Gellii  Noct.  Attic,  lib.' v. 
cap.  4.  Galenus  De  Libris  Propriis,  in  Prooem.  Horatius  De 
Arte  Poetica,  v.  372;  lib.  i.  satir.  iv.  v.  72.  Quinctiliani  Institut. 
Orator.,  Praefat.  ad  Tryphonem. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  351 

cus  contrived  to  save  himself  from  starving  by  disposin  ; 
of  a  manuscript ;  and  such  sales  became  more  common 
after  the  time  of  the  elder  Pliny,  wlio  was  offered  in 
Spain  a  large  sum  for  his  encyclopaedia.* 

The  Romans,  though  we  are  apt  to  overlook  the  fact, 
had  registers  of  politics  and  intelligence,  vs^hich  were 
really  not  unlike  our  own  newspapers  in  their  contents, 
but  immeasurably  inferior  in  the  mode  of  circulation.+ 

The  journals  of  the  Senate  and  National  Conventions 
long  contained  little  more  than  entries  resembling  those 
in  our  collected  acts  of  parliament.  These  furnished 
most  of  the  materials  from  which,  till  625,  the  pontiffs 
compiled  their  annals ;  and  there  is  also  proof  that,  after 
the  republic  had  extended  its  dominions,  those  official 
journals  were  regularly  copied  and  transmitted  to  public 
men  living  at  a  distance,;}:  But  these  sources  were  not 
enough.  Every  man  abroad  had  his  correspondents  in 
Rome ;  and  when  the  task  of  collecting  news  became  more 
difficult,  several  persons  assumed  newsmonging  as  a  trade, 
taking  in  shorthand  notes  of  the  proceedings  at  public 
meetings,  and  selling  copies  of  them,  as  well  as  of  the 
common  gossip  of  the  day,  and  the  official  journals. 
Julius  Caesar,  in  694,  established  a  regular  system  for 
recordmg  the  deliberations,  both  of  the  senate  and  the 
conventions,  in  a  form  much  like  our  reports  of  parlia- 
mentary debates ;  and  he  allowed  these  accounts  to  be 
copied  and  freely  circulated.  Although  Augustus  stop- 
ped the  publication  of  the  reports,§  the  restraint  was 
soon  afterwards  withdrawn  ;  and  ever  after  their  intro- 
duction by  Julius,  these  and  all  other  archives  of  the 

*  Plautus  in  Persa,  act.  iii,  scon.  2.  v.  60-68.  Suetonius  De 
Ulustribus  Graminaticis,  cap.  8-     Plinii  lib.  iii.  epist.  5. 

■Y  Consult  Dothvell,  Praelcctiones  Camdenianae  (Oxon.  1692)  : 
Praelect.  xi.  et  Appendicis  Prsefat. — Eschenbach  De  Scribis  Ve- 
terum,  ap.  Polenum,  torn.  iii. — Ersch  und  Gruber,  Encyclopadie, 
ad  vocem   "  Acta."— Ze!l  in  tbe  IMorgenblatt,  June  1835. 

4:  Cicero  De  Oratore,  lib.  ii.  cap.  2;  Ad  Familiare?,  lib.  i. 
epist.  2.  (a.  v.  697).     See  al-o  Cicero's  Letters  cited  afterwards. 

§  Suetonius  in  Julio,  cap.  20 ;  in  Augusto,  cap.  36. 


352  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

state  were  so  unreservedly  open  to  the  public,  and  their 
contents  were  diffused  in  so  many  shapes,  that  we  are 
often  uncertain  whether  the  sources  to  which  the  Roman 
authors  refer  are  these  official  reports,  or  the  notes  of 
professional  shorthand  writers,  or,  finally,  those  collec- 
tions of  common  news  that  were  handed  about  with  the 
other  pieces  of  information. 

But  we  are  less  curious  to  disentangle  this  confusion, 
than  to  learn  some  of  the  subjects  which  were  discussed 
in  the  news-journals.  The  accounts  of  the  political  de- 
bates embraced  the  acts  and  resolutions,  the  rescripts  of 
the  emperors,  the  reports  of  magistrates  or  committees, 
the  names  of  the  voters  (like  that  of  Thrasea  Psetus, 
whose  silent  dissent  was  watched  with  such  eagerness  by 
the  provincials),  the  speeches,  their  reception,  and  the 
squabbles  of  the  debaters."'  Stray  articles  of  law-intel- 
ligence seem  to  have  found  their  way  into  these  collec- 
tions.t  There  were  likewise  occasional  notices  extracted 
from  the  local  registers  of  births,  and  announcements 
of  marriages,  divorces,  deaths,  and  funerals,^  as  also 
descriptions  of  new  public  buildings,  shows  of  gladiators, 
and  such  ordinary  themes.§  Julius  Caesar,  who  read 
the  news-sheets  every  morning,  gave  strict  orders  that 
Cicero's  witty  sayings  should  be  regularly  added  to  the 
other  current  matter.  ||  The  joumals,  too,  like  our 
own,  were  the  receptacles  for  all  tragical  and  marvellous 
occurrences,  and  Pliny  derived  from  them  many  of  the 
odd  stories  inserted  in  his  encyclopaedia,  among  which 
the  following  may  be  cited.     The  gazettes  related  that 

*  Cicero  Ad  Atticum,  lib.  vi.  epist.  2;  Ad  Fatniliares,  lib.  n. 
ep.  15,  lib.  xii.  ep.  23;  Philippica  Prima,  cap.  3.  Taciti  An- 
nal.  lib.  xv.  cap.  74 ;  lib.  xvi.  cap.  22.  De  Claris  Oratoribus, 
cap.  37.     Plinii  lib.  v.  epist.  14 ;  lib.  vii.  ep.  33  ;  lib.  viii.  ep.  6. 

-|-  Cicero  Ad  Familiares,  lib.  ii.  ep.  8  (a.  o.  702).  Taciti  Annal. 
lib.  vi.  cap.  47. 

+  Suetonius  in  Tiberio,  cap,  5  ;  in  Caligula,  cap.  8.  Juvenalis 
Satir.  i.  v.  136.  Seneca  De  Beneficiis,  lib.  vii.  cap.  16.  Taciti 
Annal.  lib.  iii.  cap.  3. 

§  Cicero  Ad  Familiares,  lib.  ii.  ep.  8;  lib.  viii.  ep.  1,  2. 
Taciti  Annal.  lib.  xiii.  cap.  31. 

II  Cicero  Ad  Familiares,  lib.  ix.  ep.  16. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  353 

on  the  day  when  Cicero  defended  Milo  there  fell  a 
shower  of  hricks ;  that  under  Augustus  a  burgher  of 
Fcesulae  walked  to  the  Capitol  in  a  procession  formed  by 
his  own  sixty- three  descendants  ;  that  when  a  slave  of 
the  unfortunate  Titius  Sabinus  had  been  executed  by 
Tiberius,  his  dog  watched  the  corpse,  carried  food  to  its 
mouth,  and,  on  its  being  thrown  into  the  Tiber,  swam 
after  it,  and  strove  to  bring  it  to  land  ;  and  that  in  the 
reign  of  Claudius  a  phoenix  from  Egypt  was  publicly 
exliibitcd  in  Rome  ;  which  last  story,  however,  Pliny 
truly  pronounces  to  be  a  manifest  invention.* 

As  the  contents  of  the  gazettes  became  more  objection- 
able, their  popularity  increased  in  due  proportion,  and 
was  especially  high  among  the  females  of  rank,  many  of 
■whom  acquired  a  taste  for  this  sort  of  amusement, 
while  some  even  maintained  readers  or  secretaries,  of  the 
other  sex  as  well  as  their  own.t  It  was  the  fashion  of 
the  emperors  publicly  to  keep  diaries  of  their  personal 
history ;  and  Augustus,  the  earliest  of  the  imperial 
autobiographers,  went  so  far  as  to  attempt  imposing 
some  laws  of  decency  on  the  women  of  his  house- 
hold, by  ordering  an  officer  of  the  palace  to  write  a  regu- 
lar journal  of  their  transactions.  The  noble  Romans 
imitated  the  example  of  their  masters,  and  the  pomp- 
ous folly  which  distinguished  many  of  those  patrician 
memoirs  is  wittily  exposed  by  a  debauched  but  most 
observant  contemporary  of  Nero.;]:  The  monarch's  cha- 
racter and  that  of  his  satellites  being  matters  of  para- 
mount importance,  the  professed  news-writers  greedily 
gleaned  on  this  head  all  they  could,  as  well  from  the 
journals  as  from  the  communications  of  the  slaves  in 

*  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  ii.  cap.  56;  lib.  vii.  cap.  13;  lib.  viii. 
cap.  40;  lib.  x.  cap.  2. 

-f-  Juvenalis  Satir.  vii.  v.  104  ;  Satir.  vi.  v.  480.  Pignorius 
De  Servis,  ap.  Polenum,  torn.  iii.  p.  1203.  Gorius  De  Libertorura 
Liviae  Columbario,  Inscript.  Ko.  100. 

X  Suetonius  in  Augusto,  cap.  64,  85 ;  in  Tiberio,  cap.  61 ;  in 
Claudio,  cap.  41.  Historiae  Augustae  Scriptores  :  in  Hadriano,  cap. 
16;  in  Commodo,  cap.  15;  in  Septimio  Severe,  cap.  3.  Petronius 
Arbiter  in  Satyrico. 

VOL.  I.  Y 


354  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

the  imperial  and  noble  families.  The  newspapers,  the 
pasquinades  which  we  see  to  have  been  common  from 
Julius  downwards,  and  the  graver  annals,  became  more 
and  more  like  each  other,  till  all  were  completely  amal- 
gamated in  the  scandalous  collection  entitled  the  Augus- 
tan Histories. 

Classes  of  Society. 

It  has  been  already  necessary  to  mention,  as  a  fact  in 
the  political  history  of  the  empire,  the  early  disappear- 
ance of  a  middle  class  in  society.  The  relations  of  the 
lowest  order  to  the  highest  are  best  explained  by  exa- 
mining the  position  of  the  slaves  and  freedmen,  with  the 
nature  of  the  public  spectacles  ;  and  to  the  facts  which 
will  thus  gradually  evolve  themselves,  it  needs  only  to  be 
added,  that  haughtiness  and  distance  towards  dependents 
speedily  rose  to  a  height  at  once  foolish  and  most  deeply 
perilous.  We  conceive  Msecenas  himself  to  have  been 
a  very  aristocratic  personage  from  the  tardy  condescen- 
sion with  which  he  requited  Horace's  humble  devoirs ; 
and,  if  there  is  a  little  spleen  in  Juvenal's  description 
of  the  treatment  which  the  rich  gave  to  their  poorer 
associates,  that  other  picture  is  unexaggerated  and  good- 
humoured  which  Pliny  draws  of  the  table  of  a  rich 
acquaintance,  where  we  behold  a  ceremonial  correspond- 
ing to  that  old  one  of  the  seat  below  the  salt  in  our  own 
country."^  But  if  the  indigent  citizens  in  the  imperial 
times  were  numerous  and  the  rich  few,  the  slaves  com- 
posed a  multitude  amidst  which  the  whole  free  popula- 
tion was  a  mere  handful. 

From  the  seventh  century  of  the  city  the  market- 
places in  Rome  were,  on  the  days  of  sale,  not  at  all 
unlike  what  an  eastern  slave-bazaar  is  at  present.  The 
slave-merchants,  a  class  notorious  for  dishonesty,  and 
strictly  watched  by  the  police,  kept  their  victims  in  large 

•  Horatii  lib.  i.  Satir.  vi.  v,  52-65.  Juvenalis  Satir.  v.  Plinii 
lib.  ii.  epist.  6. 


OF  THE  AN<:;iENT  ITALIANS.  355 

•warehouses,  whence  they  were  brought  out  in  crowds, 
and  exhibited  in  barred  cages,  with  descriptive  labels 
hung  round  their  necks.  If  a  slave  had  been  recently 
made  captive,  a  circumstance  which  greatly  increased  his 
price,  he  had  his  feet  chalked  ;  if  he  was  not  warranted 
sound,  a  cap  was  put  upon  his  head  ;  and,  if  a  customer 
desired  it,  he  was  made  to  come  out  of  his  den  and  show 
his  paces  on  the  pavement  of  the  porticos.*  There  were 
three  regular  sources  from  which  Italy  was  supplied 
with  these  unfortunate  beings.  The  first  was  opened  by 
the  frequent  M^ars  of  the  republic  and  empire,  from  all  of 
which  were  derived  large  numbers  of  prisoners.  There 
was,  secondly,  an  established  slave-trade,  which  had  its 
principal  marts  in  the  islands  of  Greece,  on  the  coast  of 
Syria,  and  in  Egypt,  receiving  its  supplies  partly  from 
the  incessant  wars  of  the  Asiatics,  and  partly  from  kid- 
napping and  piracy.  There  were,  thirdly,  the  slaves 
already  imported,  whose  descendants  were  retained  in 
the  families  of  their  proprietors. 

If  the  bondmen  were  brought  from  a  distance,  their 
birthplace  had  great  influence  in  fixing  their  reputation, 
their  price,  and  the  nature  of  their  work.t  The  natives 
of  Asia  Minor  were  the  usual  attendants  on  feasts  and 
the  wretched  ministers  of  their  masters'  debauchery  ; 
the  Alexandrian  Greeks  were  thought  to  make  the  best 
buffoons ;  the  Greeks  of  the  continent  were  most  fre- 
quently employed  as  teachers,  artists,  or  artisans ;  the 
errand-porters,  litter-carriers,  and  other  labourers,  were 
selected  from  all  nations,  but  oftenest  from  the  northern 
regions  both  of  Asia  and  Europe  ;  the  Dacians,  Getae,  and 
other  Germanic  tribes,  were  the  favourite  gladiators ;  and 
the  barbarians  of  Britain,  whom  the  Italians  were  pleased 
to  think  a  tall  and  handsome  race,  commonly  figured  as 
assistants  and  supernumeraries  in  the  theatres.;}:     The 

*  Propertii  lib.  iv.  eleg.  5.  v.  51.  Juvenalis  Satir.  i.  v.  111. 
Persii  Satir.  vi.  v.  77.  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxv.  cap.  17,  18. 
Gellii  Noct.  Attic,  lib.  vii.  cap.  4. 

■f  Pignorius  De  Servis,  ap.  Polcnum,  torn.  iii.  p.  1138-1308. 

X  Virgilii  Georgic.  lib.  iii.  v.  25,  with  the  note  of  Servius. 


356  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  A>'D  INDUSTRY 

mountaineers  from  the  half-conquered  islands  of  Corsica 
and  Sardinia  were  considered  the  fiercest  and  most  useless 
of  all  menials  :  indeed  they  very  frequently  destroyed 
themselves ;  and  the  natives  of  the  latter  were  con- 
temptuously characterized  in  a  current  proverb.* 

The  Romans  left  to  slaves,  or  at  least  to  those  who 
had  once  been  such,  several  of  the  employments  which 
modern  nations  regard  as  liberal  and  honourable.  The 
medical  profession,  in  all  its  branches,  was  almost  exclu- 
sively in  the  hands  of  these  persons,  even  as  late  as  the 
Christian  ages  of  the  empire  ;t  and  they  were  also  the 
common  secretaries,  librarians,  shorthand  writers,  and 
copyists  of  manuscripts.  Grecian  captives,  and  after- 
wards slaves  bom  in  the  house  and  educated  for  the  pur- 
pose, tended  the  Roman  children,  and  were  their  earliest 
teachers  ;  and  it  was  no  rare  thing  to  find  among  those 
"  Pffidagogi"  men  of  learning  and  talent,  who  in  time 
opened  public  schools  of  literature  or  oratory.  Slaves 
also  discharged  the  office  of  Nomenclators,  waiting  on 
their  master  in  public  places,  or  when  he  gave  audiences 
at  home,  and  whispering  in  his  ear  the  names  of  those 
who  approached  him.  Under  the  republic,  when  every 
man  aimed  at  being  popular,  and  none  could  possibly 
recollect  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  overgroAvn  city,  such 
officers  were  not  merely  important  but  quite  indispen- 
sable ;  and  though  the  use  of  them  afterwards  declined, 
they  are  mentioned  by  both  the  Plinys  as  being  still 
kept  by  private  persons  of  rank,  and  the  emperors  and 
public  functionaries  retained  them  much  later.  But 
they  at  last  acted  as  seneschals  or  masters  of  the  cere- 
monies.:}: The  superintendent  of  the  household  slaves 
was  styled  the  Atriensis  or  hallkeeper  ;  and  the  duties 
and  swaggering  airs  of  such  a  servile  dignitary  are 
whimsically  caricatured  in  one  of  the  old  comedies.§ 

*  "  Sards  to  sell,  each  one  worse  than  his  neighbour." — Cicero 
Ad  Familiares,  Ub.  vii.  ep.  24. 

•f-  Cod.  Just.  lib.  vii.  tit.  7,  leg.  1. 

•*:  Senecae  Epist.  xxix.   Ammiani  Marcellini  Hist.  lib.  xiv.  cap.  G. 

I  Plauti  Asinarise  act.  ii.  seen.  2,  seen.  4. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  357 

The  Ostiarius  or  doorkeeper  had  his  station  in  the  vesti- 
bule beside  the  watchdog  ;  and  the  man,  like  the  beast, 
was  usually  chained  to  his  niche  in  the  wall.  Such  a 
post  is  said  to  have  been  once  filled  by  Pilitus,  who 
afterwards  taught  oratory  to  Pompey  the  Great.*  The 
slaves  who  attended  the  grandees  in  their  public  appear- 
ances made  up  a  legion  of  charioteers,  muleteers,  litter- 
bearers,  carriers  of  fans  and  umbrellas,  mounted  couriers 
and  running  footmen,  among  whom  were  many  negroes. 
In  the  palaces,  besides  the  numerous  divisions  which, 
classed  like  the  cohorts  of  the  army,  laboured  or  loitered 
in  the  kitchens,  the  halls,  the  eatmg-rooms,  the  baths, 
the  picture-galleries,  and  the  gardens, — there  were,  even 
under  the  republic,  dwarfs  and  domestic  jesters.  Julia, 
the  granddaughter  of  Augustus,  had  two  favourite 
dwarfs,  one  of  each  sex  ;  Seneca  describes  his  wife's 
female  fool ;  and  most  Roman  writers  mention  male 
buffoons,  among  whom  Saraientus,  the  pet  of  Julius 
and  Augustus,  was  the  most  famous.t  Unfortunately 
eunuchs  were  equally  common  from  the  times  of  Ju- 
venal till  those  of  Constantino ;  and  the  trade  in  those 
unhappy  beings,  after  it  had  died  away  in  the  western 
half  of  the  empire,  was  allowed  under  limitations  by  the 
laws  of  the  east. 

But  besides  those  slaves  who,  in  these  various  ways 
and  in  many  others,  acted  mainly  as  ministers  of  luxury 
and  pomp,  a  numerous  class  of  them  were  so  educated  as 
to  yield  a  direct  profit  to  their  masters.  Most  land- 
holders opened  shops  in  their  palaces,  or  in  other  places 
of  the  city,  where  a  slave  sold  the  produce  of  theu-  estates, 
just  as  the  Tuscan  gentleman  of  the  present  day  disposes 
of  his  wine  and  oil  at  a  wicket  in  the  wall  of  his  house 
in  Florence.    Many  others  caused  their  slaves,  both  male 


•  Ovidii  Amorum  lib.  i.  eleg.  6.  Columella  De  Re  Rustica, 
lib.  i.  cap.  2.     Suetonius  De  Claris  Rhetoribus,  cap.  3. 

■f  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  vii.  cap.  16.  Suetonius  in  Tiberio, 
cap.  61.  Lampridius  In  Alexandre  Severo,  cap.  61.  Senecae 
Philosophi  Epist.  50.  Herat,  lib.  i.  Satir.  v.  v.  51,  et  seq. 
Juvenalis  Satir.  v.  v.  4. 


358  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

and  female,  to  be  trained  as  artisans  or  manufacturers, 

and  sold  the  fruit  of  their  labours  in  public  warehouses. 
Indeed,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  period,  there  was 
probably  very  little  manufacture  in  Italy  save  what  was 
conducted  in  this  manner.  Yet  another  branch  of  the 
trade,  and  one  which  many  proud  nobles  were  not  too 
proud  to  practise,  was  the  training  and  hiring  out  of  bands 
of  those  performers  whom  we  are  immediately  to  see 
employed  in  the  public  spectacles. 

If  we  ask  what  was  the  treatment  of  the  Roman  bond- 
men, we  shall  be  best  informed  by  a  visit  to  an  ancient 
villa.  It  always  contained  as  one  of  its  most  necessary 
buildings  an  Ergastulum,  which  was  a  workhouse  or 
prison  for  the  "  Vincti "  or  slaves  under  punishment. 
This  dungeon,  partly  excavated  under  ground,  was  light- 
ed by  narrow  loopholes  placed  high  in  the  wall ;  but 
the  builder  was  directed  to  make  it  as  healthy  as  might 
be.  It  was  the  nightly  retreat  of  refractory  wretches,  who 
during  the  day  were  condemned  to  the  severest  labour, 
such  as  digging  in  sand-pits  or  cutting  in  mines  and 
quarries,  where  their  work  was  quickened  by  the  lash.* 
They  were  clothed  in  a  peculiar  dress,  their  legs  were 
put  in  heavy  fetters,  their  heads  were  half-shaved,  and, 
when  their  offence  was  heinous,  they  were  often  branded 
on  the  forehead  with  a  redhot  iron.t  The  capital  punish- 
ment which  the  magistrates  usually  inflicted  on  crimi- 
nals of  this  class  was  ci-ucifixion  ;  and  another,  which 
arose  during  the  last  two  centuries  of  the  republic,  was 
the  compelling  of  the  convict  to  fight  in  the  amphitheatre 
with  beasts  or  with  other  men.  Runaways  were  very 
usually  condemned  to  the  arena  ;  but  Constantine,  pro- 
fessing to  mitigate  the  law,  enacted  that  the  fugitive 
should  only  be  sent  to  the  mines  or  have  his  foot  cut  off. 
For  centuries,  however,  the  master  had  the  uncontrolled 
power  of  life  and  death  over  his  slaves,  whom  Hadrian 

*  Columella  De  Re  Rustica,  lib.  i,  cap.  G.  Plauti  Capteivorura 
act.  iii.  so.  5 ;  act.  v.  sc.  4. 

■j-  De  Burigny,  sur  les  Esclaves  Remains,  Memoires  de  I'Aca- 
demie  d'Inscriptions  et  Belles  Lettres,  torn,  xxxv.,  1770. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  359 

first  subjected  in  capital  cases  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
imperial  judges  alone,  though  subsequent  laws  reserved 
to  the  proprietor  full  right  to  punish  by  the  scourge  and 
imprisonment.  Antoninus  imposed  on  every  owner  who 
killed  his  slave  a  civil  fine,  as  if  the  mui'dered  man 
had  belonged  to  another  person  ;  and  Constantine  made 
it  homicide  to  put  any  one  of  this  class  to  death  whilst 
inflicting  corporal  chastisement  on  him."^ 

When  the  slaves  were  abused  beyond  -endurance, 
they  had  only  one  refuge,  the  altars  of  the  heathen 
temples,  to  which  in  later  times  succeeded  those  of  the 
Chi-istian  churches.  The  former  kind  of  sanctuaries 
was  often  violated,  the  latter  much  more  seldom.  It 
may  be  granted  that  the  conduct  of  those  bondmen 
frequently  made  extreme  severities  necessary,  for  their 
degraded  state  ruined  their  moral  character ;  and,  by  a 
judicial  retribution  wliich  has  followed  slavery  wherever 
it  has  been  permitted,  their  vices  infected  every  depart- 
ment of  society.  It  is  indeed  cheering  to  remark  cases, 
in  which  mild  treatment  by  the  ov/ner  was  recompensed 
by  heroic  devotion  in  the  object  of  his  kindness :  the 
proscriptions  of  Marius  and  Sylla,  and  that  of  the  se- 
cond triumvirate,  furnish  noble  instances  of  such  con- 
duct ;  the  same  spiiit  was  often  displayed  in  the  mas- 
sacres of  the  Caesars ;  and  the  benevolence  of  a  good 
master  in  more  peaceful  times  is  pleasingly  exemplified 
by  the  behaviour  of  the  younger  Pliny,  t  But  the  general 
rule  was  based  on  harshness  and  even  cnielty  ;  and  one 
other  illustration  will  complete  the  description.  A  law 
of  very  ancient  date  enacted  that,  if  a  citizen  were  mur- 
dered in  his  house,  all  the  slaves  who  were  under  the 
roof  at  the  time  should  be  executed  without  exception. 
The  statute  was  horribly  enforced  in  the  story  now  to 
be  related  ;  and  the  comments  on  it  which  abound  in  the 


*  Spartianus  in  Hadriano,  cap.  18.  Dig.  lib.  i.  tit.  6.,  De  his 
qui  sui.     Cod.  lib,  ix.  tit.  14. 

■f  Valerii  Maximi  lib.  vi.  cap.  8.  Appianus  de  Bello  Civili, 
lib.  iv.  Macrobii  Saturnalium  lib.  i.  cap.  11.  Plinii  lib.  iii. 
epist.  19;  lib.  viii.  epist.  16. 


360  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

Roman  law-books  had  no  other  tendency,  than  that  of 
makmg  its  provisions  more  refinedly  savage.*  About 
the  middle  of  Nero's  reign,  Pedanius  Secundus,  the  pre- 
fect of  the  city,  was  assassinated  by  one  of  his  household, 
an  accomplice  in  his  profligacy.  The  rest  of  his  slaves, 
four  hundred  in  number,  men,  w^omen,  and  children, 
were  instantly  hurried  to  prison  ;  the  mob,  seized  with 
an  unusual  compassion,  tried  to  rescue  them ;  the  senate 
met  to  suppress  the  sedition  ;  and  the  speech  by  which 
the  senator  Cassius  urged  the  enforcement  of  the  law  is 
at  once  frightful  and  instructive.  His  argument  is  this : 
that  the  slaves  constituted  in  the  heart  of  Italy  a  foreign 
and  hostile  population,  overwhelming  in  numbers  if 
compared  with  their  masters ;  that  this  domestic  enemy 
could  be  kept  down  by  no  means  but  mortal  terror ; 
and  that  it  was  right  a  few  should  die  for  the  whole 
people.  A  majority  voted  for  acting  on  the  law  ;  the 
populace  threw  stones  at  the  senate-house,  and  threaten- 
ed to  bum  it ;  the  soldiers  were  ordered  out,  drove  back 
the  crowd,  and  lined  the  street ;  and  between  their  ranks 
the  four  hundred  innocent  victims  were  dragged  to  exe- 
cution. 

The  feeling  of  the  slaves  themselves  is  indicated  by 
their  frequent  insurrections,  which  also  show  their  over- 
powering multitude.  In  the  seventh  century  of  Rome 
there  were  three  of  these  revolts,  none  of  wliich  was 
suppressed  till  the  insurgents  had  repeatedly  routed  the 
armies  of  the  commonwealth.  The  first  of  these  Servile 
Wars,  which  broke  out  in  Sicily  in  615,  was  not  put  down 
for  six  years  :  Eunus,  the  Syrian  bondman  who  headed 
it,  was  said  at  one  time  to  command  nearly  two  hundred 
thousand  men,  and  possessed  half  of  the  Sicilian  towns, 
together  with  the  most  fertile  districts  of  the  island.  The 
second  war  of  this  sort,  raised  in  the  same  country,  lasted 
from  649  till  652,  and  the  revolters,  led  by  a  Cilician 
household -slave  and  a  Greek  diviner,  numbered  in  one 


•  Taciti  Annal.  lib.  xiv.  cap.  42-45.     Dig.  lib.  xxix.  tit.  5,  De 
Seaatusconsulto  Silaniano. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  361 

campaign  forty  thousand  men.  But  the  most  dangerous 
of  all  the  insurrections  was  the  tliird,  which  was  kept 
alive  in  Italy  during  the  years  680  and  681  by  the  brave 
Thracian  Spartacus,  a  fugitive  gladiator  from  the  school 
of  Capua.  This  captain,  collecting  at  least  a  hundred 
thousand  men,  ravaged  the  peninsula  from  Rhegium  to 
the  Po,  and  defeated  several  consular  armies. 

Even  in  those  ages  some  private  persons  possessed 
extraordinary  numbers  of  dependents  belonging  to  this 
class,  and  such  wealth  became  yet  more  common  under 
the  emperors.  Augustus,  in  a  dearth,  gave  freedom  to 
twenty  thousand  slaves  of  his  own,  and  manned  the 
corn-ships  wdth  them  ;  and  an  obscure  person  who  died 
in  his  reign  lamented  in  his  testament  the  disturbances 
of  the  civil  wars,  which  had  reduced  the  number  of  his 
slaves  to  four  thousand.* 

Notwithstanding  all  their  miseries  this  most  unjustly 
treated  portion  of  the  Italian  people  possessed  one  power- 
ful consolation, — the  prospect  of  becoming  Roman  citi- 
zens by  manumission,  which  was  either  granted  for 
favour  or  bought  by  the  slave  from  his  savings.  When 
the  master  was  a  man  of  character  and  generosity,  this 
hope  could  be  made  a  strong  incentive  to  good  conduct, 
and  there  are  instances  of  freedom  worthily  bestowed 
and  gratefully  requited.  But  it  often  happened  that 
emancipation,  if  it  was  not  the  wages  of  vice,  gave  at  least 
occasion  to  rapacity  and  insolence.  The  list  of  affluent 
and  haughty  frcedmen,  beginning  with  Pompey's  slave 
Demetrius,  includes  a  host  of  other  unprincipled  persons, 
who,  themselves  debased  by  servitude,  revenged  their 
own  wrongs  on  their  new  dependents.  When  the  Empe- 
ror Claudius  once  complained  that  his  exchequer  was 
empty,  he  was  sarcastically  told  that  he  might  retrieve 
his  fortune  if  his  two  freed  slaves.  Narcissus  the  secretary, 
and  Pallas  the  treasurer,  would  receive  him  into  partner- 
ship.    The  latter  of  these  worthies,  after  his  patron's 


•  Seneca    De    Tranquillitate    Animi,    cap.    8.      Suetonius    in 
Augusto,  cap.  16.     Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxiiii.  cap.  10. 


362  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

death,  was  accused  of  having  communicated  to  some  of 
his  domestics  a  plot  against  Nero.  The  upstart  answered 
with  scorn  that  the  fact  was  impossible, — that  he  never 
condescended  to  speak  to  any  one  in  his  service,  but  gave 
his  ordinary  commands  by  signs,  and  wrote  down  those 
directions  which  required  explanation.*  Narcissus  we 
shall  soon  encounter  again. 

Amusements. 

From  whatever  point  of  view  we  regard  the  amuse- 
ments of  ancient  Rome,  one  fact  is  both  the  most  strik- 
ing and  the  most  important.  Intellectual  recreation, 
after  repeated  attempts  to  find  a  place,  was  overpowered 
by  gaudy  spectacles,  nourishing  the  fiercest  and  foulest 
passions.  The  diversions  of  the  imperial  times  may  be 
divided  into  two  classes.  There  were,  first,  those  which 
were  common  to  all  ranks  of  the  people,  and  injurious 
to  the  morality  of  all,  but  most  active  in  their  operation 
on  the  populace.  They  consisted  of  the  recreations  fur- 
nished in  the  therms,  and  the  scenic  exhibitions  given 
in  the  theatre,  the  amphitheatre,  and  the  circus.  There 
were,  secondly,  those  divertisements  that  were  confined 
to  the  imperial  court,  or  at  farthest  did  not  extend 
beyond  the  palaces  of  the  nobles.  These  were  infinitely 
varied ;  but  their  character  may  be  understood  by  a 
glance  at  those  forms  of  them  which  were  most  nearly 
literary  or  theatrical.  The  amusements  common  to  the 
whole  population  must  be  first  noticed. 

The  early  state  of  the  Boman  Theatre  is  matter  of 
curious  research,  both  from  its  own  peculiarities,  and 
because  we  can  plausibly  trace  in  it  the  original  of  the 
improvised  comedy  in  modern  Italy.  We  know,  it  is 
true,  disappointingly  little  as  to  the  extemporary  Satur- 
nian  verses,  the  indigenous  Latin  Satires,  the  Atellan 
Fables,  the  Fescennine  Songs,  or  those  Mimes  which 

•  Suetonius  in  Claudio,  cap.  28.     Taciti  Annal.  lib.  xiii.  cap.  23. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  363 

supplanted  all  the  older  scenic  pieces,  and,  as  we  are  told, 
united  the  best  qualities  of  each.  But  all  these,  we  may 
safely  assert,  were  chiefly  nothing  more  than  extempo- 
raneous exhibitions  of  the  old  Italian  fluency  and  hu- 
mour. All  of  them  disappeared  very  early  from  the  stage 
of  Rome  ;  an  attempt  was  made  to  supply  their  place  by 
the  Greek  tragedies  and  comedies,  translated  and  altered ; 
and  in  the  Augustan  age  botli  the  native  and  the  foreign 
dramas  gave  way  to  the  Pantomime,  which  was  a  ballet 
of  action,  voluptuous  and  vicious,  but,  from  all  that  can 
be  learned  of  it,  performed  with  uncommon  skill  and 
significance.  It  may  be  believed,  however,  on  strong 
grounds  of  likelihood,  that  throughout  the  whole  period 
of  the  empire,  the  mimes  or  Atellan  farces,  with  their 
masked  and  unchangeable  characters,  their  old  costumes, 
and  their  unpremeditated  ribaldry,  lingered  in  their 
native  Campania  and  among  the  villages  of  other  rural 
districts  ;  and  that,  as  the  modern  Italian  Zanni  receives 
his  name  from  the  ancient  Sannio,  so  the  Neapolitan 
Pulcinella  is,  in  a  direct  and  uninterrupted  line,  the 
descendant  and  representative  of  the  Oscan  Maccus, 
whose  costume  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  paiirtings  of 
Pompeii.*  But  in  Rome,  as  early  as  the  Mithridatic 
triumph  of  Pompey,  we  see  that  to  the  other  degrada- 
tions of  the  theatre  had  been  added,  in  theu-  coarsest 
and  most  sensual  form,  the  glare  of  decoration  and 
variety  of  spectacle  which  belonged  to  the  circus  and 
the  amphitheatre ;+  and  if  Cicero  was  disgusted  then. 


*  There's  many  a  part  of  Italy,  'tis  said, 

Where  none  assume  the  toga,  but  the  dead. 

There,  when  the  toil  foregone  and  annual  play 

Mark  from  the  rest  some  high  and  festal  day. 

To  theatres  of  turf  the  rustics  throng, 

Charm'd  with  the  farce  which  charm 'd  their  sires  so  long ; 

While  the  pale  infant,  of  the  mask  in  dread, 

Hides  in  his  mother's  breast  his  little  head. 
Gifford's   Juvenal,    Sat.  iii.    v.    251-258  (original,   v.    171-176) 
Bullenger  De  Theatre,  cap.  44,  ap,  Graevium,  torn.  ix.     Quadrio 
Storia  d'ogni  Poesia,  torn.  v.  p.  212-220. 
■f  Cicero  Ad  Familiares,  lib.  vii.  epist.  1  (a.u.  269). 


364  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

other  men  of  refinement  must  much  more  readily  have 
been  so  afterwards.  Indeed  all  the  men  of  genius 
despairingly  left  the  drama  to  its  fate ;  and  poets  or 
patrons  like  Nero  were  unlikely  to  reform  it  either  in 
taste  or  morality.  The  actors,  although  infamous  by 
law,  amassed  fortunes  and  were  loaded  with  imperial 
favour  and  popular  applause  ;  for  the  inscription  quoted 
below  is  only  one  of  many  cases  in  which  public  honours 
were  prostituted  to  vicious  slaves.*  But  the  tragic 
gesture  of  Bathyllus  or  Paris,  and  the  lascivious  dances 
of  Greek  youths  and  Spanish  girls,  became  at  length 
wearisome  to  the  pampered  Romans  ;  and  before  the 
empire  had  endured  three  centuries,  the  populace  de- 
serted the  theatres  for  the  booths  of  the  forum,  and  even 
brought  on  the  stage  troops  of  fire-workers  and  mounte- 
banks. Before  the  days  of  Constantine,  elephants,  we 
are  assured,  walked  on  the  tight-rope ;  learned  dogs 
told  fortunes  ;  vaulters  exhibited  feats  of  strength,  and 
thi*ew  innumerable  somersets  ;  satyrs  danced  on  stilts  ; 
and  conjurers  swallowed  swords,  tossed  and  caught 
daggers,  and  played  at  thimble  and  ball. 

The  Usual  spectacles  of  the  circus  and  amphitheatre 
were  of  four  kinds  : — Chariot-races  ;  Combats  of  Gladia- 
tors ;  Venationes,  wherein  wild  beasts  fought  with 
men  or  with  each  other ;  and  Naumachise,  in  which, 
on  the  arena  of  the  circus  or  amphitheatre  temporarily 
flooded,  or  in  a  permanent  lake  dug  and  fenced  for  the 
purpose,  small  galleys  engaged  in  races  or  imitations  of 
sea-fights. 

The  chariot-races  were  the  oldest  of  the  games ;  and 
the  circuses,  originally  constructed  for  them,  seldom 
witnessed  any  of  the  other  sports  after  permanent  amphi- 


•  "  The  Municipal  Senate  and  Burgesses  of  Lanuvium  attest, 
that,  by  an  act  of  the  corporation,  the  freedom  of  their  city  has 
been  conferred  on  Acilius  Septemtrio,  Freedman  of  Marcus  Aure- 
lius  Augustus,  the  First  Pantomimist  of  his  Age,  Priest  of  the 
Synod  of  Apollo,  Imperial  Client  of  Faustina,  Introduced  to  the 
Stage  by  the  Fortunate  and  August  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius 
Commodus  Antoninus  Pius."— BuUenger  De  Theatre,  p.  94S. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  365 

theatres  had  been  built.  The  emperors  allowed  these 
exhibitions  to  act  as  a  safety-valve  for  the  fiery  pas- 
sions of  the  multitude.  The  pharioteers  were  divided 
into  four  Companies  or  Factions, — the  Green,  Blue,  Red, 
and  White.  Their  stables,  near  the  Flaminian  Circus 
in  the  Campus  Martins,  were  a  fivourite  haunt  of  the 
people  and  of  many  nobles,  as  well  as  of  some  emperors ; 
and  the  mob,  splitting  into  parties  which  favoured  each  a 
particular  colour  (the  green  and  blue  being  the  favour- 
ites), fought  out  their  quarrel  even  to  bloodshed.  The 
charioteers  were  slaves,  or  at  best  freedmen ;  but  as 
early  as  the  reign  of  Alexander  Severus,  it  was  found 
prudent  to  explain  authoritatively,  as  not  extending  to 
them,  the  law  which  made  actors  and  other  ministers  of 
the  public  pleasures  infamous.* 

The  gladiators  were  kept  in  large  buildings,  usually 
called  Ludior  schools.  The  ^milian  School  was  very 
near  the  Forum  ;  the  Mamertine  was  beside  the  old 
prison ;  the  Great  School  and  the  Dacian  (named  from  the 
people  which  furnished  its  usual  inmates)  were  in  the 
quarter  of  the  Baths  of  Titus ;  and  the  Gallic  and  Matu- 
tinal were  on  the  Caelian  Mount.t  Each  gladiator  was 
lodged  in  a  separate  cell  like  the  ordinary  slaves,  and 
every  school  had  its  arena  and  apparatus  for  exercise, 
its  surgeon,  and  numerous  attendants.  Its  Lanista 
or  superintendent,  usually  a  veteran  gladiator  himself, 
was  in  some  cases  the  servant  of  the  emperor  or  of  a 
rich  noble,  but  was  more  frequently  the  proprietor  of 
the  establishment,  making  his  profits  by  letting  out  his 
men  for  the  public  games  or  for  the  entertainment  of 
private  parties.  He  recruited  his  band  in  various  ways. 
He  either  purchased  young  slaves  (usually  refractory 
ones),  prisoners  of  war  recently  taken,  and  exposed  chil- 
dren, or  he  received  from  the  magistrates  condemned 


*  Dig.  lib.  iii.  tit.  2. ,  De  his  qui  infamia  notantur. 

+  Lipsii  Saturnalium  Sermonum  lib.  i.  cap.  14;  ap.  Graevium, 
torn.  ix.  Panvinius  et  Pancirollus  De  Urbe  Roma;  ap.  Graevium. 
torn.  iii.  pp.  285,  298,  333. 


366  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

criminals ;  but  lq  the  worst  times  of  the  empire  many 
profligate  persons  voluntarily  sold  themselves  to  those 
dealers  in  blood.  The  unhappy  captives  looked  on  the 
arena  with  the  utmost  horror,  and,  careless  as  the  Romans 
were  about  their  fate,  writers  have  preserved  some  pain- 
ful stories  which  prove  the  vehemence  of  their  despair.* 

The  gladiatorial  combats  were  for  some  time  con- 
fined to  funerals,  and  were  first  introduced  into  Rome 
from  Etruria  in  490,  when  Marcus  and  Decius  Brutus 
made  three  pairs  of  swordsmen  fight,  at  their  father's 
interment,  in  the  Forum  Boarium.  In  Cicero's  time 
Milo  and  Clodius  each  kept  his  troop ;  and  the  two  bands, 
defying  the  power  of  the  magistrates,  fought  daily  in  the 
streets  of  Rome.  Julius  Ca?sar  in  his  sedileship  is  said 
to  have  produced  640  combatants ;  and  several  of  the 
emperors  exhibited  them  in  thousands.  Wild  beasts 
were  first  brought  into  the  Roman  circus  in  502,  the 
elephants  taken  from  the  Carthaginians  being  the  animals 
then  introduced.  Lions  and  panthers  soon  succeeded  ; 
bears  were  also  produced  in  the  republican  era,  and  tigers 
for  the  first  time  in  the  reign  of  Augustus.t  The  human 
victim,  usually  allowed  weapons  to  sell  his  life  dear,  vras 
sometimes  thrust  amongst  the  famished  beasts  unarmed, 
or  even  tied  to  a  stake. 

All  those  huge  tanks  which  the  emperors  excavated 
for  naumachiae  in  and  near  Rome  have  disappeared  ;  but, 
in  pomp  as  well  as  in  atrocity,  every  spectacle  of  this  sort 
was  eclipsed  by  one  which  Claudius  exhibited  in  the  52d 
year  of  the  Christian  era,  on  a  natural  stage,  the  pictur- 
esque Fucine  Lake,  surrounded  by  the  snowy  peaks  of 
the  Abruzzo.  On  the  mountain-sides,  as  on  the  steps  of 
a  colossal  theatre,  were  thronged  multitudes  of  country- 
people,  burghers  from  the  neighbouring  to^^^ls,  visiters 
from  Rome  (includhig  the  elder  Pliny),  and  the  swarm 
of  satellites  which  composed  the  imperial  court.  Nineteen 


*  Seneca,  epist.  70.     Taciti  Annal.  lib.  xv.  cap.  46.     Zosi 
Historiarum  lib.  i.  cap.  71.     Symmachi  lib.  ii.  epist.  46. 
-f-  BuUenger  De  Venatione  Circi;  ap.  Grsevium,  torn.  ix. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  367 

thousand  slaves  and  criminals  manned  two  fleets  of 
galleys  of  fifty  sail  each  ;  the  nondescript  emperor,  half 
a  learned  man  and  half  an  idiot,  sat  with  his  infamous 
wife  Agrippina,  his  stepson  Nero,  and  his  minion  Nar- 
cissus, near  the  bank  of  the  lake,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
vast  tunnel  already  described,  which  was  that  day  to  be 
opened.  The  combatants  were  marched  along  the  shore 
by  their  guards  the  Praetorian  cohorts ;  and,  as  they 
passed  the  imperial  gallery,  the  whole  army  of  wretches 
caught  up  and  repeated  the  shout  of  some  one  amongst 
them,  "  Hail,  emperor !  dying  men  salute  thee  !"  The 
blundering  dotard  answered  the  greeting  ambiguously  ; 
the  unhappy  convicts,  imagining  that  he  had  pronounced 
their  pardon,  broke  out  into  tumult  and  exultation  ; 
and  the  provoked  Claudius  himself,  gouig  down  to  the 
water's  edge,  had  to  assure  the  victims  that  they  had 
mistaken  his  meaning,  and  to  make  his  troops  goad 
them  on  board.  The  guards,  posted  thickly  on  scaffold- 
ings round  the  place  of  battle,  prevented  escape  ;  the 
disappointed  prisoners  slaughtered  each  other  valiantly ; 
and  when  the  royal  party  was  sick  of  blood  the  fight  was 
stopped.  But  after  the  canal  was  opened,  the  levels 
were  found  to  be  wrong,  and  the  water,  undermining  the 
bank  on  which  the  court  sat,  drove  them  away  in  conster- 
nation. Agrippina  reproached  Narcissus  with  greed  and 
incapacity ;  the  spoilt  slave  retorted  by  charging  her 
with  presumptuous  meddling,  and  with  plotting  to 
make  her  son  emperor ;  the  weak  Claudius  in  vain  strove 
to  reconcile  his  two  domestic  rulers ;  and  the  first  act  of 
the  empress,  when  Nero  ascended  the  throne,  was  to 
revenge  herself  for  the  affront  of  that  morning  by 
starving  the  favourite  to  death  in  prison.* 

These  various  spectacles,  each  in  its  own  way  demora- 
lizing, were  a  passion  with  the  Romans,  which  theu*  rulers, 
afraid  lest  their  minds  should  turn  to  more  dangerous 
thoughts,  anxiously  encouraged.    We  can  scarcely  trace 

•  Taciti  Annal,  lib.  xii.  cap,  56,  57  ;  lib.  xiii.  cap.  1.  Suetonius 
in  Claudio,  cap.  21.  Dionis  Cassii  Historiarum  lib.  Ix.  cap.  33. 
Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xsxiii.  cap.  3. 


368  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

any  attempt  by  anemperor  to  check  this  popular  fondness. 
When  Marcus  Aurelius  once  ventured  to  enrol  a  large 
number  of  gladiators  in  the  army,  the  measure  had 
almost  excited  an  insurrection ;  and  we  see  the  prince 
immediately  obliged  to  atone  for  his  imprudence  by 
renewed  liberality  to  the  public  shows.*  In  Rome  the 
games  were  exhibited  on  innumerable  pretexts,  of  reli- 
gious festivals,  imperial  births,  marriages,  triumphs,  and 
funerals,  or  (with  permission)  remarkable  occurrences 
in  the  person  or  family  of  wealthy  nobles.  But  scarcely 
any  considerable  town  in  Italy  wanted  its  theatre  or 
amphitheatre,  and  many  possessed  both,  in  which  the 
rich  burghers  treated  the  populace  with  shows  of 
gladiators,  athletes,  or  wild  beasts.  When  the  place  had 
no  theatre  a  temporary  scaffold  served  the  pui-pose. 
The  persons  wlio  gave  the  entertainments  advertised 
them  beforehand,  by  distributing  written  bills,  and 
chalkmg  up  inscriptions  in  the  streets,  which  intimated 
the  day  of  the  proposed  exliibition,  its  nature  and  dura- 
tion, and  the  conveniences  which  would  be  furnished, 
such  as  awnings  and  perfumes  ;  and  similar  bills,  naming 
the  gladiators  and  other  pcrfonners,  were  circulated 
among  the  spectators  while  the  sports  were  proceed- 
ing. The  Court  of  the  Baths  at  Pompeii  stUl  contains 
one  of  the  public  announcements.  The  attention  of  the 
public  was  yet  more  anxiously  courted,  by  pamtings  on 
canvass  stretched  out  on  frames  like  those  of  our  booths 
at  fairs,  and  set  up  in  porticos  or  at  the  comers  of  streets  ; 
and  for  these  there  were  occasionally  substituted  rude 
drawings  in  chalk  or  coal,  representing  the  same  subjects, 
fights  of  swordsmen,  or  the  like.+  The  spectators  were 
admitted  on  presentmg  tablets  of  bone  or  other  mate- 
rials previously  distributed  among  them,  on  which  was 
engraved  a  notice  of  the  nature  of  the  exhibition,  and  of 


*  Capitolinus  in  Marco  Antonino  Philosopho,  cap.  21,  23. 

-f-  Lipsii  Saturnalium  lib.  ii.  cap.  18.  Ciceronis  Philippica  Se- 
cunda,  cap.  38.  Ovidius  De  Arte  Amandi,  lib.  i.  v.  23.  Plinii 
Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxxv.  cap.  7.  Horatii  lib.  ii.  Satir.  vii.  v.  96. 
Library  of  Entertaining  Knowledge,  Pompeii,  vol.  i.  p.  148. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  369 

the  day  on  which  it  was  to  take  place.  The  inscription 
wliich  is  copied  below  is  taken  from  a  small  bone  ticket 
of  this  sort,  and  announces  for  the  4th  of  March  in  the 
year  of  the  city  673,  the  appearance  of  a  favourite 
Etruscan  gladiator.*  Pompeii,  in  its  own  ruins,  and  in 
the  pages  of  Tacitus,  curiously  illustrates  the  import- 
ance which  the  people  attached  to  their  spectacles.  A 
coarse  schoolboy  group  of  figures,  scratched  on  a  wall  in 
the  street  of  the  Mercuries,  is  explained  by  an  inscrip- 
tion in  an  almost  illegible  hand  and  in  bad  Latin,  as  re- 
ferring to  a  story  told  by  the  historian.t  About  three 
years  before  the  first  earthquake  which  shook  Pompeii, 
a  quarrel  took  place,  at  an  exliibition  of  gladiators  there, 
between  the  townsmen  and  some  visiters  from  the 
neighbouring  Nuceria.  Several  of  the  strangers  were 
killed,  and  their  municipality  complained  to  Nero  and 
his  senate,  who  found  the  Pompeians  in  the  wrong,  and 
gravely  punished  them  by  depriving  their  city  of  all 
public  spectacles  for  ten  years.  These  bloody  dissen- 
sions of  the  circus  had  likewise  their  comic  side.  The 
newspapers  related  that,  at  the  funeral  of  a  favourite 
charioteer  of  the  Red  Faction,  one  of  his  partisans,  in 
despair,  threw  himself  into  the  pile,  and  was  consumed ; 
but  the  other  factions,  jealous  of  so  triumphant  a  testi- 
mony to  the  merit  of  the  deceased,  spread  a  malicious 
report  that  the  man,  having  been  made  giddy  by  the 
perfumes,  had  fallen  into  the  flames  by  accident.;}: 

When  we  turn  to  those  recreations  that  consumed  the 
time  of  the  rich  and  noble  in  the  empire,  we  find  the 
common  spectacles  of  the  theatres  and  circus  as  eagerly 
attended  by  them  as  by  the  poor.  But  there  still 
remained  a  taste  for  literature,  which,  never  extinct, 

*  BATO-ATTALENI.  SVectatus  Ante  Bie^n  IV  ^onas 
MAR^m.v  Lucio  SVL/a  Quinto  METello  ConsuHhus.  Catalogue 
du  Musee  Dodwell,  Rome,  1837.  The  Roman  capitals  alone  are 
on  the  tablet :  the  Italic  letters  are  those  which  we  have  to  supply 
in  order  to  complete  the  sense. 

■f  Taciti  Annal.  hb.  xiv.  cap.  17. 

X  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  vii,  cap.  53. 

VOL.  I.  Z 


370  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

acquired  great  power  during  some  reigns,  and  these 
not  always  the  best.  The  gazettes  already  described, 
the  constant  pasquinades,  and  the  scandalous  memoirs 
which  speedily  arose,  ministered  a  debasing  aliment  to 
the  taste  for  reading ;  though  the  libraries  were  gradually 
less  frequented  by  the  nobility  in  general,  and  fewer 
auditors  were  attracted  by  those  recitations  of  poetry, 
which  Horace  describes  with  such  affected  hoiTor, 
Juvenal  with  such  morosely-sincere  contempt,  and  Pliny 
with  so  much  quiet  pleasantry.* 

But  the  recitations  subsisted  longer  in  a  peculiar  form, 
which  is  too  curious  to  be  left  unnoticed.  There  w^ere 
many  Improvvisatori  among  the  ancient  Italians  as  well 
as  among  the  modern  :  and  the  drama  was  not  the  only 
species  of  extemporaneous  poetry,  nor  the  low  actors  the 
only  fluent  declaimers.  "We  can  trace  the  improvised 
versification  at  court  and  in  the  palaces  of  the  great 
through  the  whole  duration  of  the  empire,  and  the  list  of 
its  votaries  includes  several  illustrious  names.t  We  find 
among  them  the  old  satirist  Lucilius,  the  emperors 
Augustus  and  Titus,  the  poet  Lucan,  and,  as  the  most 
famous  and  most  ready  of  all,  the  poet  Statins.  Tlie 
Eumolpus  of  Petronius,  by  his  impassioned  recitations  in 
the  picture-gallery  and  at  the  banquet,  fills  up  the  only 
link  required  to  complete  the  analogy  between  the  classi- 
cal and  the  modern  improvvisatori,  by  showing  that  the 
ancient  extemporized  verses  were  occasionally  declaimed 
on  the  spot  without  being  written  down.  When  they 
were  committed  to  -writing,  they  formed  such  collections 
as  the  Sylvae  of  Statius,  which  are  genuine  specimens  of 
this  class. 

It  is  interesting  to  remark  one  other  feature  in  the 
favourite  amusements  of  the  palace  and  the  nobles, 
namely,  their  theatrical  turn  and  aspect,  which  are  well 
illustrated  by  the  court-pageants  in  the  reign  of  Nero. 

*  Horatii  lib.  i.  Satir.  iii.  v.  85-89.  Javenalis  Satir.  i.  ad  init. 
Plinii  lib.  i.  epist.  13. 

■\-  Raoul-Rochette,  L'Iraprovisation  Poetique  chez  les  Romahis 
Memoires  de  Flnstitut  Royal :  Classe  d'Histoire,  torae  v.,  1821. 


OP  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  3/1 

"We  may  take,  as  the  first  instance,  a  sort  of  masque 
which  that  ingenious  debauchee  exhibited  shoi-tly  before 
he  set  fire  to  the  city ;  and  though  the  licentiousness  of  the 
scene  must  be  passed  over  without  description,  its  pic- 
turcsqueness  was  very  striking.  In  the  Gardens  of 
Agrippa,  covering  tlie  ground  behind  the  Pantheon,  lay 
a  large  excavated  lake,  skirted  by  groves  and  pleasure- 
houses.  Nero  launched  on  the  water  an  artificial  float- 
ing island,  representing  a  foreign  landscape,  through 
which  he  and  his  courtiers  wandered  amidst  groups  of 
exotic  birds  and  rare  quadrupeds.  Galleys  adorned  with 
gold  and  ivory,  and  rowed  by  beautiful  youths,  towed 
the  raft  round  the  lake,  on  whose  margin,  as  evening 
fell,  innumerable  lamps  were  suddenly  lighted  up,  and 
illuminated  the  green  alleys,  where  nymphs  appeared 
singing  and  sporting  beneath  the  shade.*  The  rage 
ibr  masking  which  then  prevailed  is  caricatured  with 
great  force  in  Trimalchio's  feast  in  Petronius;  and 
one  other  example  will  set  it  in  a  difi^erent  light.  A 
good  many  women  of  rank,  weary  of  restraint,  and  not 
indisposed  for  the  wildest  license,  caused  booths  to  be 
erected  in  the  avenues  of  trees  which  lined  the  wharf  of 
Augustus,  between  the  Aventine  and  the  city- wall ;  and 
they  then  opened  these  booths  as  public  taverns,  in 
which  they  themselves  attended,  disguised  as  waiting- 
girls.  Nero,  delighted  with  the  whim,  not  only  carried 
his  whole  court  to  patronize  the  new  pleasure-gardens, 
but  distributed  money  with  injimctions  that  it  should 
be  spent  there.  The  disgraceful  incidents  which  accom- 
panied this  wicked  jest,  were  beheved  by  contemporaries 
to  have  done  more  than  any  other  folly  of  that  reign  to 
deteriorate  the  morality  of  Rome.t 

Industry  and  Commerce. 
We  may  now  glance  at  the  industry  of  the  ancient 


•  Taciti  Anna),  lib.  xv.  cap.  37. 
•f  Ibid.  lib.  xiv.  cap.  15. 


372  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

Romans,  and,  in  the  first   place,   at  their  rural  eco- 
nomy."'" 

The  state  of  the  laws  in  relation  to  agriculture  must 
be  understood  before  we  inquire  as  to  the  practice  of 
the  art.  In  every  respect  but  one  the  Roman  legislators 
left  husbandry  unfettered ;  and  this  partial  freedom 
enabled  every  branch  of  rural  industry,  except  that  on 
which  the  burden  directly  pressed,  to  bear  up  for 
centuries  against  many  disadvantages.  All  over  Italy 
the  chase  was  free;  there  were  frequent  markets  in 
every  considerable  village,  but  no  one  was  obliged  to  sell 
his  crops  there  ;  the  transport  of  produce  from  one  part 
of  the  country  to  another  was  subject  to  no  taxes,  tolls, 
or  prohibitions  ;  the  roads  were  numerous  and  excellent ; 
and  the  system  of  posts  established  under  the  empire, 
though  it  did  not  directly  help  any  one  besides  the  rulers, 
was  beneficial  indirectly  by  enforcing  the  preservation  of 
the  highways.  But  unfortunately  those  ancient  lawgivers, 
like  many  modern  ones,  had  no  conception  of  the  inde- 
pendent energy  possessed  by  commerce  and  agriculture, 
when  both  are  exempted  from  the  interference  of  govern- 
ments. Alarmed  by  the  early  experience  of  the  republic, 
without  being  able  to  discern  where  the  root  of  the  evil 
IdLj,  they  lived  in  constant  terror  of  famine ;  and,  to  avert 
this  scourge,  they  adopted  in  legislation  a  principle  as 
unlike  as  possible  to  what  might  have  been  expected 
from  a  senate  of  landholders,  but  yet  as  injudicious  as 
any  body  of  men  could  have  possibly  invented.  They 
were  much  given  indeed,  at  all  periods,  to  fixing  maxi- 
mum prices  on  provisions  of  every  sort,  but  in  respect  to 
com  they  did  what  was  even  worse.  Turning  their  atten- 
tion exclusively  to  the  means  of  procuring  the  imme- 
diate supply,  and  being  most  easily  able  to  effect  this 
end  by  importations  from  their  own  dependencies  abroad, 
they  not  only  unhesitatiogly  adopted  this  method,  in 

*  Consult  the  Scriptores  Rei  Rusticcp  (Cato,  Varro,  Columella, 
and  Palladius),  and  Plinii  Historia  Naturalis.  Dumont,  Re- 
fherches  sur  TAdininistration  des  Terras  chez  les  Remains,  1779. 
Dickson's  Husbandry  of  the  Ancients,  1788. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  373 

itself  unobjectionable,  but  blindly  sacrificed,  in  order  to 
maintain  their  system,  all  tlie  interests  of  the  cultivators 
and  owners  of  land  in  Italy.  As  early  as  the  third  cen- 
tury of  Rome  the  senate  began  to  import  large  quanti- 
ties of  foreign  grain,  which  they  either  distributed  gra- 
tuitously among  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  or  sold  at 
a  heavy  loss,  sustained  by  the  exchequer.  This  measure 
was  practised  with  extreme  frequency,  and  with  an 
undiscriminating  liberality  that  prevents  us  from  regard- 
ing it  in  the  light  of  an  ordinary  poor-law ;  the  Gracchi 
attempted  to  make  the  gratuitous  supply  permanent  by 
law ;  and  Cicero's  enemy  Clodius  effected  the  purpose 
by  two  acts  which,  passed  in  the  year  of  the  city  695, 
were  kept  in  force  by  the  emperors,  and  probably  ex- 
tended to  several  towns  besides  the  metropolis.  The 
direct  loss  to  the  treasury  was  the  least  evil.  The 
price  of  Italian  corn  was  never  allowed  to  rise  so  high 
as  to  yield  a  fair  profit ;  its  cultivation  was  always 
more  and  more  neglected  ;  and,  in  the  first  age  of  the 
empire,  Italy  was  already  dependent  on  foreign  countries 
for  her  very  subsistence.  The  latest  attempt  that  need 
be  noticed,  for  reviving  the  culture  of  grain  by  statute, 
was  of  a  piece  with  all  which  had  gone  before  it.  It 
was  an  edict  of  Domitian  (which  of  course  remained 
inoperative),  that  in  the  peninsula  no  new  vines  should 
be  planted,  and  in  the  provinces  half  of  those  already 
growing  should  be  cut  down.* 

Those  who  would  trace  Roman  agriculture  through 
all  its  stages  from  the  point  at  which  it  was  first  syste- 
matically developed,  may  do  so  in  the  works  of  contem- 
j)orary  writers.  Cato  the  Censor  describes  the  art  in 
the  sixth  century  of  the  republic,  when  the  imperfection 
in  rural  economy  was  more  than  compensated  by  the 
smallness  of  the  estates, — the  usual  residence  of  the  pro- 
prietors,— and  the  existence  of  a  free  peasantry.  Varro 
treats  of  the  seventh  century,  when  the  production  of 


•  Contarenus  De  Frumeotaria  Romanorum  Largitione,  cap.  2,  3" 
ap.  Graevium,  torn.  viii. 


3/4  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

wine  and  oil  was  at  its  height,  the  rearing  of  fruit-trees 
in  rapid  advance,  and  Italy,  planted  from  sea  to  sea  and 
from  Calabria  to  the  Alps,  looked  like  one  beautiful 
orchard  ;"^  but  when,  also,  the  growing  of  corn  was 
rapidly  sinking,  the  landholders  were  crowding  to  the 
towns,  and  the  rural  districts  were  covered  by  an  increas- 
ing population  of  slaves.  Columella  wrote  his  treatise 
in  the  first  century  of  the  empire ;  and  to  his  description 
Pliny  has  added  from  the  succeeding  age  much  curious 
information,  and  Palladius  a  few  details. 

The  great  evil  of  the  imperial  times  was  considered 
by  the  most  intelligent  Romans  themselves  to  be  the 
overgrown  size  of  estates,  which  certainly  had  reached 
an  extravagant  pitch,  when,  as  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  half 
of  the  coast  of  Barbary  belonged  to  six  men.  But  Pliny 
and  others  af»suredly  overrated  the  had.  effects  of  this 
circumstance,  which,  by  itself,  may  be  quite  consistent 
with  high  agricultural  prosperity.  The  relation,  how- 
ever, which  this  fact  bore  to  others  in  the  state  of  society, 
did  in  truth  render  it  most  powerful  in  effecting  the 
ruin  of  the  country,  for  it  was  one  compartment  of  a 
structure  rotten  from  the  foundation.  The  class  of 
petty  landholders  whom  the  princely  aristocracy  of  the 
empire  had  annihilated,  might,  with  great  benefit  to  the 
state,  have  either  sunk  into  the  position  of  agricultural 
tenants,  or  migrated  into  the  towns,  there  to  become 
artisans,  manufacturers,  or  traders.  But  no  such  outlet 
was  open  for  them.  Most  of  them  settled  as  paupers  in 
Rome  and  the  other  great  cities,  while  the  lands  which 
they  had  been  compelled  to  abandon  were  tilled  by  thou- 
sands of  slaves.  All  the  parts  of  this  system,  it  is  true, 
hung  together  as  necessary  concomitants,  but  the  evils 
which  their  union  wrought  were  lamentable  and  uni- 
versal. The  production  of  grain  in  Italy  at  length 
scarcely  repaid  the  cost,  and  it  was  seldom  grown  at  all 
except  to  be  cut  green  as  fodder  for  the  cattle  :  the  im- 
portation of  foreign  com  was  incessant,  and  Rome  was 

•  Varro  De  Re  Rustica,  lib.  i.  cap.  2. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  375 

again  and  again  on  the  brink  of  annihilation  by  famine.* 
The  slave-labourers,  likewise,  wanted  both  skill  q,nd 
zeal,  and  every  department  of  husbandry  decayed  rapidly 
in  their  hands. 

The  agricultural  writers  of  Rome  divided  their  sub- 
ject into  three  branches.  The  first  and  most  profitable 
was  the  grazing  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats  ;  the  next, 
which  was  peculiar  to  those  times,  consisted  in  the 
feeding  of  certain  small  animals  for  the  shambles  ;  and 
the  third  and  least  lucrative  was  the  tillage  of  the 
ground,  including  both  field-husbandry  and  the  culti- 
vation of  gardens  and  orchards.t 

Tlie  ancient  grazing,  when  pursued  on  a  large  scale, 
was  exceedingly  like  that  of  modern  Italy.  Most  of 
the  animals  were  pastured  during  the  w^inter  on  the 
sheltered  grounds  of  the  plains,  and  shifted  for  the 
summer  to  the  woody  sides  of  the  Apennines.  Sheep 
and  goats  were  by  far  the  most  common,  and  were  kept 
for  the  sake  of  their  wool  and  hair  ;  for  linen,  long 
unknown  in  the  country,  was  little  used  for  clothing 
till  late  in  the  empire,  and  goat-hair  and  wool  were  uni- 
versally worked  into  sailcloths,  ropes,  and  such  other 
ai-ticles  as  are  now  made  of  flax  or  hemp.  The  native 
breed  of  sheep  composed  the  migrating  flocks,  Avhich 
were  far  the  most  numerous.  Another  variety  yield- 
ing finer  wool,  originally  derived  from  Magna  Graecia, 
and  afterwards  recruited  from  France,  were  considered 
more  delicate  :  they  were  fed  in  the  stall,  covered  with 
housings,  not  allowed  to  travel,  and  otherwise  treated  in 
a  manner  differing  widely  from  modern  practice.:};  The 
pasturages  were,  in  some  cases,  private  ground,  belong- 
ing to  the  o^^^lers  of  the  sheep,  or  hired  by  them  ;  but 
more  frequently  they  consisted  of  the  extensive  public 


*  Columella,  lib.  i.  Prooem.  Taciti  Annal.  lib.  iii.  cap.  63,  54; 
lib.  xii.  cap.  43.     Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xviii.  cap.  6, 

j-  Varro  De  Re  Rustica,  lib.  iii.  cap.  1.  Columella  De  Re  Rus- 
tica,  lib.  vi.  Prooem.     Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xviii.  cap.  5. 

X  Varro  De  Re  Rustica,  lib.  ii.  cap.  2.  Columella  De  Re 
Rustica,  lib,  vii.  cap.  2. 


376  CHARACTEK,  HABITS,  AN1>  INDUSTRY 

lands,  found  in  every  province,  and  usually  rented 
from  the  municipalities.  The  shepherds,  like  their 
modem  representatives  in  the  same  regions,  were  all 
mounted  on  horseback ;  and  when,  after  the  battle  of 
Cannae,  the  Romans  bought  slaves  and  made  soldiers 
of  them,  the  troops  thus  raised  included  270  Apulian 
herdsmen,  who  were  drafted  into  the  cavalry,  and  did 
gallant  service.*  The  horned  cattle  were  not  nume- 
rous, being  only  reared  for  the  plough,  and  as  victims 
for  sacrifice.  Horses  were  scarcely  considered  necessary, 
except  for  the  chariot-races  and  for  mounting  soldiers  ; 
mules  were  used  for  the  draught  in  every  way,  and  for 
the  pack-saddle  ;  but  asses  were  seldom  bred,  except  by 
the  traders,  who  had  troops  of  them  for  carrying  agri- 
cultural produce  to  the  neighbouring  towns.  All  these 
animals  were  migratory  like  the  native  sheep.  Swine 
were  kept  on  the  farms  and  in  the  woods  ;  their  flesh 
was  more  generally  consumed  for  food  than  any  other  ; 
and  it,  with  that  of  a  few  calves,  lambs,  and  kids,  fur- 
nished, during  several  centuries,  the  only  articles  of 
animal  sustenance  which  the  Romans  allowed  to  intrude 
on  their  vegetable  diet.  The  ancient  Italians,  like  the 
modern  ones,  fed  their  cattle  as  much  as  possible  on 
the  leaves  of  trees ;  and  the  elm  was  every  where  planted 
as  a  fence,  because  its  leaves  were  best  relished. 

The  rearing  of  small  animals  for  the  shambles  was  not 
systematized  till  the  imperial  times  ;  the  farm-yards 
and  their  towers  at  first  containing  only  our  common 
barn-door  fowls  and  pigeons.  There  next  appeared 
geese,  ducks,  teal,  peacocks,  and  swans  ;  and  dormice, 
hedgehogs,  and  snails,  were  also  fattened  as  delicacies. 
Aviaries  were  built,  the  birds,  among  which  thrushes 
were  the  favourites,  being  intended  for  the  table ;  and 
besides  these  were  reared  quails,  turtle-doves,  blackbirds, 
partridges,  beccaficos,  cranes,  and  pheasants.  Parks,  far 
smaller  than  ours,  enclosed  various  sorts  of  wild  animals, 


•   Le  Beau  Sur  la  Legion  Roraaine,  Memoire  xi :    Memoires 
de  I'Acaderaie  d'Inscriptions,  tome  xxxv.  p.  203. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  377 

also  for  the  kitchen ;  the  most  ordinary  species  being 
roe- deer,  wild-boars,  rabbits,  and  hares.  Ponds  of  vast 
size  were  filled  with  fishes,  both  freshwater  and  marine. 

The  tillage  of  the  ground,  to  which  we  next  come, 
was  injured  by  several  misapprehensions,  the  conse- 
quences of  which  the  husbandmen  often  exerted  much 
industry  in  remedying.  The  great  fault  was  a  prejudice, 
expressed  very  strongly  by  the  Latin  writers,  that  agri- 
culture ought  to  be  kept  quite  distinct  from  the  rear- 
ing of  cattle.*  The  great  extent  of  the  public  domain 
was  another  check.  The  plough  was  bad,  and,  till  the 
best  days  of  the  empire  were  over,  the  whole  process 
was  performed  by  means  of  oxen.  The  secret  of  pre- 
venting deterioration  by  changing  the  seed-corn  was  still 
undiscovered.  The  reaping  was  executed  awkwardly 
by  two  separate  operations  ;  and  the  grain,  instead  of 
being  threshed,  was  either  passed  under  heavy  rollers, 
or  trodden  out  by  cattle  on  such  open  floors  as  are  still 
to  be  seen  in  Italy.  Water-mills,  though  sometimes 
used,  were  not  common,  while  those  moved  by  wind  were 
quite  unknown ;  and  the  corn  was  ground  in  small  mills, 
turned  by  a  slave  or  an  ass,  and  usually  attached  to  the 
bakers'  shops.  Manures,  both  animal  and  vegetable, 
were  industriously  collected.  Of  mineral  ones  the 
Romans  made  little  use,  though  they  knew  that  marl 
was  applied  in  Gaul  and  Britain,  and  some  of  their 
agriculturists  at  length  introduced  lime. 

Most  of  the  large  estates  were  cultivated  by  the  pro- 
prietor on  his  own  account.  On  extensive  farms,  the 
common  practice  was,  that  the  ordinary  labour  should 
be  executed  by  slaves  kept  on  the  ground  ;  but  that,  for 
the  occasional  work,  including  in  particular  hay-making, 
vintage,  and  corn-harvest,  the  owner  hired  free  labourers, 
who  chiefly  came  down  from  the  Apennines,  as  the 
mountaineers  do  at  the  present  day  in  Italy,  as  well  as 
in  our  owd.  island.     It  was  one  of  the  taunts  flung  on 


*    Varro  De  Re  Rustica,  lib.  ii.  ProcEm.     Columella  De  Re 
Rustica,  lib.  vi.  Prooem. 


37B  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

Vespasian,  that  his  earliest  ancestor  known  at  Rome 
was  a  Gaul  from  beyond  the  Po,  who  had  become 
wealthy  by  furnishing  on  contract  bands  of  those  poor 
highlanders  to  the  landowners  of  Latium.*  The  slaves 
on  a  large  manor  were  accurately  classed  and  trained  in 
different  departments  ;  the  males  being  usually  employ- 
ed in  the  field-labour,  while  the  females,  confined  within 
doors,  manufactured  clothing  and  other  articles  for  the 
establishment  or  for  sale. 

Leases  became  more  common  under  the  emperors, 
and  were  of  two  kinds.  There  was,  first,  the  tenant  who 
paid  a  fixed  rent  in  money  or  produce  ;  but  from  this 
class  of  occupiers  it  is  very  clear  that  besides  such  pay- 
ment personal  services  were  commonly  exacted :  and, 
in  the  later  times  of  the  empire,  the  leaseholder  usually 
received  the  apparatus  of  the  vintage  and  oil  manufac- 
ture as  what  we  call  in  Scotland  steelbow.f  The  other 
kind  of  tenant  was  the  Colonus  partiarius,  the  metayer 
of  France,  who  can  be  traced  in  Italy  from  the  time  of 
Cato  down  to  the  present  day.  This  class  paid  as  rent 
a  part  of  each  crop,  the  proportions  being  different  for 
corn,  wine,  and  oil,  and  varying  infinitely  in  different 
quarters  ;  but  it  may  be  confidently  inferred,  from  the 
large  share  usually  exacted,  that  the  landlord  must  gene- 
rally, as  among  the  modern  Italians,  have  supplied  the 
live  stock  for  tilling  the  land. 

In  the  early  times  of  the  republic  the  Romans  had  no 
other  grain  besides  barley,  which,  after  the  introduction 
of  various  sorts  of  wheat,  they  no  longer  cultivated,  ex- 
cept for  the  cattle.  Oats,  unknown  till  the  period  of  the 
empire,  were  used  only  as  fodder.  Draining  and  irriga- 
tion were  extensively  practised,  both  for  the  arable  land 
and  the  pastures.  The  grass  meadows  were  usually 
sown  with  clover,  to  which  vetches  were  added  in  re- 
newing old  pasture-lands  ;  and,  for  the  same  uses,  there 

*  Suetonius  in  Vespasiano,  cap.  ii. 

i*  Schneider's  Rei  Rusticae  Scriptores  (Lips.  1794) ;  Com- 
mentar.  in  Catonis  cap.  136-137.  Columella,  lib.  i.  cap.  7.  Dig. 
lib.  xix.  tit.  2   leg.  19,  Locati,  conducti. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  379 

•were  also  sown  lucerne,  fenugreek,  and  other  plants, 
among  which  was  the  cytisus,  a  shrub  not  yet  identi- 
fied. But  these  artificial  kinds  of  fodder  seldom,  and 
the  grass-lands  never,  were  included  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  cropping  on  the  farm.  The  occupier,  raising 
no  more  food  for  cattle  than  his  own  working  animals 
required,  let  out  his  meadows  to  graziers,  who  culti- 
vated them  for  themselves.  In  a  system  like  this,  the 
rotations  on  the  arable  land  Avere  of  necessity  exceedingly 
imperfect ;  and  indeed  the  common  course,  and  the 
only  one  which  the  greater  part  of  the  land  was  con- 
sidered capable  of  bearing,  consisted  of  a  year's  cropping 
and  a  year's  bare  fallow  alternately.  In  some  districts 
the  fallow  was  introduced  every  third  year  only  ;  and  on 
the  very  finest  soils,  which  were  hardly  to  be  discovered 
except  in  the  volcanic  region  of  Campania,  it  was  found 
possible  to  dispense  with  it  altogether,  by  substituting 
the  use  of  fertilizing  agents,  and  following  a  carefiil 
rotation  of  three  or  four  3^ears.* 

The  leguminous  plants,  which  were  usually  intro- 
duced in  these  modes  of  tillage,  were  the  lupin,  the 
common  bean  (which  the  poor  mixed  in  flour  with  their 
wheaten  bread),  the  vetch,  the  kidney-bean,  and  the 
pea.  The  Romans  also  cultivated  in  large  fields,  and 
ranked  as  articles  of  farm  produce,  roses  and  violets  ; 
both  being  used  for  perfumes,  for  giving  their  flavour 
to  wine  and  oil,  and  the  former  not  only  for  chaplets 
but  for  seasoning  food.  The  most  famous  rose-gardens 
were  those  of  Campania  and  the  neighbourhood  of 
Prseneste.  The  simple  arrangements  of  the  kitchen- 
garden,  described  by  Cato,  speedily  disappeared ;  a 
sort  of  green-houses  and  forcing-frames  became  ex- 
tremely common  ;  and  Pliny  mentions  hotbeds  for 
cucumbers,  which,  moving  on  wheels,  could  always  be 
turned  to  face  the  sun.t  From  the  date  of  the  earliest 
foreign  conquests  there  was  a  continual  introduction  of 
new  exotics  of  this  kind,  chiefly  Asiatic,  one  of  these 

*  VaiTO,  lib.  i.   cap.  44.     Columella,  lib.  ii.  cap.  9.     Virgilii 
Georpic.  lib.  i.  v.  71.     Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xviii.  cap.  21,  23. 
f   Plinii  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xix.  cap.  5. 


380  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

being  tlie  melon.  The  plants  used  in  modem  manu- 
factures were  little  cultivated  ;  but  the  best  flax  was 
grown  in  Lombardy  and  the  Bolognese,  the  best  hemp 
among  the  Sabine  mountains  ;  and  the  poor  people  near 
the  towTis,  particularly  about  Rome,  gained  something 
by  raising  madder  and  teazle. 

The  importation  of  fruit-trees  was  still  more  exten- 
sive than  that  of  herbs.  In  Julius  Caesar's  days,  the 
Romans  had  none  but  standard-trees  in  their  orchards  ; 
and  the  following  list  comprehends  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
common  sorts  of  fruit :  figs  (much  used  as  a  cheap 
food),  walnuts,  apples  and  pears,  filberts,  quinces, 
myrtle-berries,  service-berries,  and  chestnuts.  The 
common  plum,  the  damson,  and  other  wild  plants 
native  to  the  soil,  but  long  neglected,  were  after- 
wards carefully  improved,  and  all  orchards  began  to 
abound  in  those  foreign  trees  which  were  first  im- 
ported towards  the  end  of  the  republic.  Among  these 
were  the  lemon  and  other  species  of  the  genus  citrus ; 
the  cherry  was  brought  from  Pontus  by  Lucullus 
in  the  year  of  the  city  680,  and  found  its  way  to  Britain 
about  a  centur}''  afterwards ;  the  almond  was  another 
such  exotic  ;  and  the  Latin  names  confessed  the  foreign 
origin  of  the  pomegranate  (Malum  Punicum),  and  the 
peach  (M.  Persicum). 

But  the  vine  and  the  olive  continued  to  be  the  only 
fruit-trees  extensively  reared.  Pliny  reckoned  a  hun- 
dred and  ninety-five  principal  sorts  of  wine,  eighty  of 
which  were  good,  and  four-fifths  of  the  eighty  were  of 
Italian  growth.  By  far  the  most  common  method  of 
cultivating  the  grape  was  the  primitive  one  (which  still 
keeps  its  hold  in  the  country),  of  training  the  plants  to 
trees,  the  ends  of  the  vine-branch  being  thence  carried 
down  towards  the  ground,  and  fixed  to  long  props,  or 
else  led  along  from  one  trunk  to  another  by  horizontal 
poles.  The  ground  between  the  trees  which  supported 
the  vines  was  sown  with  grain  or  vegetables.  Some 
vines  however  were  kept  low,  and  propped  like  the 
modern  French  ones  ;  others  were  carried  round  a  ring 
of  poles;  and  the  poorest  peasants  allowed  theirs  to 


I 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS. 


381 


trail  on  the  ground.  There  were  many  modes  of  ai-ti- 
ficially  preparing  the  wines,  and  giving  them  foreign 
flavours  :  the  passum  was  made  from  raisins  ;  the  sapa 
and  defrutum  were  made  (like  the  modern  Italian  vino 
cotto,  and  the  Frencli  vin  cuit)  from  grape-juice  boiled 
before  it  was  allowed  to  ferment.  The  ancients  were 
quite  unacquainted  with  the  process  of  distillation.  After 
the  year  of  the  city  500,  the  olive  oil  of  Italy  was  cheap 
and  abundant ;  and,  till  the  second  or  third  century  of 
the  empire,  it  was  considered  the  best  in  Europe,  and 
was  exported  largely. 

Forest-trees  were  little  attended  to  ;  but  there  were 
many  natural  forests,  chiefly  of  oak,  elm,  beech,  larch, 
and  pine,  which  were  preserved  for  their  timber. 
Copse- wood  was  also  grown  for  fuel ;  and  osiers  were 
planted  in  millions,  being  used  for  binding  the  vines, 
and  for  making  baskets,  as  well  as  many  other  domestic 
utensils. 

From  the  rural  economy  of  the  Romans  we  turn  to 
consider  their  progress  in  the  mechanical  arts,  and  the 
state  of  their  foreign  trade.* 

But,  as  an  introduction  to  this  inquiry,  we  ought, 
perhaps,  to  require  a  minute  answer  to  the  question 
which  occurs,  as  to  the  habits  of  expense  common  in 
the  nation,  and  the  direction  which  those  habits  in 
different  periods  assumed.  After  the  earliest  con- 
quests abroad,  this  feature  of  the  national  character 
underwent  several  marked  changes.  The  first  stage  was 
that  in  which  the  plunder  of  the  wars  was  faithfully 


*  Meursius  De  Luxu  Romanorum,  and  Kobierzyckius  De  Luxu 
Romanorum  ;  ap.  Grjevium,  torn,  viii.  De  Pastoret  Sur  le  Com- 
merce et  le  Luxe  des  Romains,  et  sur  leurs  Lois  Coniinerciales  et 
Somptuaires  ;  Memoires  de  I'lnstitut  Royal,  Classe  d'Histoire, 
tomes  iii.  v.  vii.  Heeren,  Historical  Researches  into  the  Politics, 
Intercourse,  and  Trade  of  the  Principal  Nations  of  Antiquity  (trans- 
lations) :  The  African  Nations,  2  vols.  1832  ;  The  Asiatic  Nations, 
3  vols.  1833.  Mengotti  Del  Commercio  de'  Romani  dalla  Prima 
Guerra  Punica  a  Costantino;  in  vol.  xliii.  of  the  Collection  of 
the  Italian  Writers  on  Political  Economy  48  volumes.  Milan, 
1803-5. 


382  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

preserved  for  the  state  ;  and  the  statues,  jewels,  precious 
metals,  and  marbles  of  Sicily,  Greece,  and  Macedon, 
adorned  the  public  edifices  of  the  city.  The  Scipios, 
Marcellus,  ]\Iummius,  Paulus  -iEmilius,  and  Flamininus, 
were  all  remorseless  spoilers,  but  none  of  them  pillaged 
on  his  own  account :  on  the  contrary,  they  all  lived 
frugally  and  died  poor.  In  the  next  era,  the  generals 
and  provincial  governors  plundered  for  themselves,  as 
Avell  as  for  the  public  ;  the  love  of  splendid  buildings, 
furniture,  and  works  of  art,  now  developed  itself  fully  ; 
and  there  appeared  magnificent  private  houses  and 
delightful  gardens.  Marius  and  Sylla  were  robbers,  the 
latter,  indeed,  one  of  the  worst  the  republic  ever  saw  ; 
and  the  evil  was  at  its  height  in  those  wai's  that  pre- 
ceded the  contest  between  Caesar  and  Pompey.  Pecu- 
lation and  wealth  had  then  three  noted  representatives ; 
the  infamous  Verres  in  Sicily  ;  Lucullus,  the  conqueror 
of  Mithridates,  whose  Roman  and  Neapolitan  palaces 
were  the  most  gorgeous  works  of  the  commonwealth  ; 
and  the  unfortunate  triumvir  Crassus,  who  was  wont  to 
say  that  no  man  should  be  called  rich  if  he  could  not 
maintain  an  aimy  from  his  ordinary  income.  There 
still,  however,  reigned  great  personal  plainness,  which 
even  in  the  succeeding  age  was  exemplified  in  Augustus 
and  his  son-in-law  Agrippa.  But  the  Romans  were 
now  rapidly  approaching  the  habits  which  they  reached 
under  Tiberius,  when  those  who  gave  the  law  in  extra- 
vagance lavished  their  v>^ealth  most  willingly  on  clothing 
and  food.  Apicius  the  epicure  belonged  to  this  age, 
v/hen  the  male  sex  were  seen,  likewise,  to  adopt  the 
materials  of  the  female  dress ;  for  Tiberius  had  to  pro- 
hibit the  wearing  of  silks  by  men,  which,  joined  with 
other  most  effeminate  fashions,  speedily  became  universal. 
In  the  last  age  of  the  period  now  under  review,  the  per- 
sonal example  of  the  emperors  checked  these  forms  of 
luxury,  though  they  were  never  quite  suppressed,  being 
already  ingrafted  on  the  character  of  the  people.  The 
pomp  of  architecture  and  art,  as  we  have  already  dis- 
covered, flourished  through  all  changes  ;  and  the  ideas 
of  imperial  projectors  became  more  and  more  gigantic. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  383 

Caligula  was  unable  to  execute  his  plan  of  building  a 
city  on  the  summit  of  the  Alps  ;  *  but  his  palace  on  tlie 
Palatine  and  his  enormous  bridge,  in  themselves  not 
unfit  preparatives  for  such  extravagant  undertakings, 
were  worthily  emulated  by  Nero's  Golden  House  and 
the  Tiburtine  Villa  of  Hadrian. 

Such  habits  could  not  be  satisfied  by  the  natural 
resources  of  Italy,  nor  by  the  skill  of  its  inhabitants. 
The  soil,  indeed,  besides  those  articles  of  agricultural 
produce  which  have  been  above  described,  supplied  some 
of  the  less  mipoi-tant  materials  which  are  still  derived 
from  it ;  such  as  sulphur,  saffron,  and  the  iron  of  the 
mines  in  Lombardy.  For  using  the  native  wool,  as  well 
as  the  finer  varieties  from  foreign  lands,  large  manu- 
factories were  established  in  all  parts  of  the  country ; 
there  were  also  considerable  iron- works,  chiefly  in  the 
north ;  and  the  branches  of  skilled  industry  required 
for  the  common  uses  of  life,  maintained  themselves  at 
the  height  they  had  already  reached  in  other  nations, 
but  did  not  gain  a  single  step.  The  results  of  the  useful 
arts,  in  a  few  of  the  most  durable  materials,  are  exem- 
plified in  many  extant  specimens  of  ancient  furniture 
and  utensils  ;  and  the  most  instructive  fact  derived  from 
inspecting  such  relics  is,  the  great  difference  between  the 
ornamental  articles  and  those  which  are  merely  useful. 
In  the  foi-mer,  designed  for  the  rich,  the  utmost  me- 
chanical dexterity  is  displayed ;  in  the  latter,  which  were 
to  be  sold  to  the  poor,  or,  at  all  events,  to  be  kept  out 
of  sight,  every  thing  is  coarse,  clumsy,  and  ill  finished. 
Beautiful  lamps,  braziers,  and  vases,  are  to  be  found 
without  number ;  but  a  well-made  hinge,  a  neat  lock 
and  key,  or  an  accurately  fitted  hand-mill,  are  things 
quite  unknown.  Those  manufactures  flourished  most 
which  were  connected  with  the  fine  arts  ;  and  these, 
chiefly  in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  as  directors  if  not  as 
workmen,  spread  out  in  an  infinite  variety  of  depart- 
ments.    But,  with  ail  these  aids,  many  articles  of  every- 


•  Suetonius  in  Caligula,  nap.  21.  52. 


384  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRr 

day  use  were  still  drawn  from  distant  shores  ;  and  com- 
merce necessarily  extended  itself. 

It  is  curious  to  trace  the  revolutions  of  Roman 
opinion  regarding  trade.  Their  laws  always  discouraged 
it  as  an  occupation  for  the  higher  classes,  and  the  ages 
we  are  now  considering  show  as  little  knowledge  of  its 
public  advantages  as  those  which  had  preceded.  At 
the  end  of  the  second  Punic  war,  when  the  Carthagi- 
nians delivered  up  a  large  ileet  of  merchant  harks,  the 
conquerors,  instead  of  founding  commercial  greatness 
on  this  valuable  acquisition,  burned  every  one  of  the 
vessels,  and  employed  none  of  the  mariners.  They 
destroyed  the  captured  ships  of  Antiochus  eleven  years 
afterwards,  and  in  585  gave  away  to  their  industrious 
allies  in  Greece  and  its  islands  the  mercantile  navy  of 
the  Illyrians.*  A  century  later  they  undertook,  for  the 
first  time,  a  war  which  had  the  extension  of  commerce 
for  its  purpose  :  this  was  Julius  Caesar's  invasion  of 
Britain,  where  for  some  time  they  seemed  to  expect 
a  second  Spain  or  Sicily.  In  the  reign  of  Augustus 
trade  and  manufactures  had  nearly  reached  their  utmost 
limit.  But  the  philosoj)hers  would  not  be  converted  ; 
and  Cicero,  wishing  to  speak  well  of  commerce^  could 
devise  nothing  more  commendatory  to  say  of  it  than 
that  it  was  one  way,  and  not  the  most  reputable,  whereby 
a  person  might  acquire  the  position  which  the  great 
man  himself  was  so  vain  of  being  supposed  to  occupy, 
that  of  a  wealthy  country  gentleman. t 

The  progress  of  commerce  was  impeded  by  mechanical 
obstacles  as  weighty  as  the  moral  ones.:|:  There  was  no 
established  or  convenient  trade  in  money.  The  naviga- 
tion of  the  ancients  was,  in  all  its  arrangements,  nothing 
better  than  a  tedious  creeping  along  the  coasts.  The 
carriage  of  goods  overland  was  entirely  performed,  so 
far  as  regarded  the  rich  Asiatic  countries,  by  caravans 


*  Livii  Histor.  lib.  xxx.  cap.  43;  lib.  xxxviii.  cap.  38,  39; 
lib.  xlv.  cap.  43. 

-f-  Cicero  De  OfBciis,  lib.  i.  cap.  41. 

:J:  Heeren,  African  Nations  :  Introduction,  On  Ancient  Com- 
merce. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  385 

like  those  of  the  middle  ages ; — a  mode  of  intercourse 
evidently  destitute  of  all  the  means  that  are  indispen- 
sable for  the  conveyance  of  bulky  articles ;  such,  for 
instance,  as  the  rice,  sugar,  and  saltpetre,  which  India 
could  have  furnished  to  the  Romans.  Ancient  commerce 
may  be  described  as  having  been  confined  chiefly  to  the 
following  commodities :  corn,  for  the  transportation  of 
which  the  facilities  were  imperfect ;  wine,  which  was 
exported  to  a  limited  extent ;  oil,  which  travelled  more 
readily ;  stuffs  for  clothing,  chiefly  the  fine  oriental 
fabrics,  but  very  little  of  the  raw  material ;  and  the 
precious  productions  furnished  by  the  East,  as  well  as 
by  the  mines  of  the  Avhole  known  Avorld. 

The  exports  of  ancient  Italy  were  always  extremely 
inconsiderable.  So  long  as  its  manufactures  maintained 
some  degree  of  prosperity,  the  country  itself  was  its  only 
available  market ;  and  of  its  natural  productions,  it 
possessed  none  in  an  excess  capable  of  forming  the 
basis  of  an  extensive  trade,  except  its  wine,  which  was 
sent  abroad  for  a  century  or  two,  and  its  oil,  which  was 
an  article  of  foreign  commerce  during  a  period  con- 
siderably longer.  When,  therefore,  we  speak  of  the 
commerce  of  ancient  Italy,  we  mean  its  imports.  The 
most  valuable  of  these  was  the  foreign  corn  ;  for  which 
the  chief  granaries,  under  the  emperors,  were  Sicily, 
Barbary,  and  Egypt.  The  first  of  these  countries,  be- 
sides supporting  long  a  considerable  share  of  Grecian 
skill  in  the  arts,  maintained  its  agriculture  throughout 
several  centuries  of  the  empire,  and  exported  largely  both 
its  wine  and  its  oil.  Smaller  supplies  of  corn  came  from 
Sardinia,  Spain,  ]\Iacedon,  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  the 
coasts  of  the  Black  Sea.  The  other  objects  of  Roman 
commerce,  and  the  mercantile  relations  between  Italy 
and  the  various  nations  subject  to  its  government  or  influ- 
ence, will  be  best  understood  if  we  cursorily  glance  at 
each  of  the  principal  states  in  succession. 

The  greatest  part  of  Europe  was  open  to  Rome  before 
the  fall  of  the  republic.  Greece  and  the  surrounding 
countries  maintained  with  Italy  a  more  extensive  com- 
merce than  any  other  region  of  the  west,  furnishing 

VOL.  I.  2  A 


386  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

metals  wrought  and  unwrought,  marbles,  honey,  wine, 
wax,  some  minerals  and  spices,  a  little  fine  wool,  and 
the  purple  cloths  of  Laconia.  Gaul  yielded  metals, 
horses,  fine  wool  from  the  territory  of  Narhonne,  woollen 
cloths,  and  salted  provisions.  Spain  exported  large  quan- 
tities of  metals,  and  other  minerals,  with  some  wines. 
Germany,  and  the  remaining  countries  of  continental 
Europe,  were  in  those  ages  unfit  to  supply  almost  any 
exchangeable  commodity.  Britain,  neglected  by  Au- 
gustus, and  reconquered  by  Claudius,  still  disappointed 
its  invaders  ;  but  it  yielded  (besides  some  corn)  timber, 
cattle,  furs,  coarse  pearls,  and  the  valuable  iron,  tin,  and 
black  lead  of  its  mines.  Ireland  was  long  overlooked, 
and  Diodorus  calls  its  inhabitants  cannibals  ;  though  the 
Romans  had  acquired  rather  a  more  accurate  knowledge 
of  it  before  the  days  of  Tacitus. 

But,  during  the  luxurious  times  of  tlie  imperial 
government,  far  the  most  important  commerce  enjoyed 
by  Italy  was  that  with  the  Asiatic  nations.  From  the 
countries  of  Asia  Minor  were  received  several  valuable 
articles  both  for  use  and  ornament,  including  the  marbles 
of  Phrygia,  the  iron  of  Pontus,  and  the  fine  wools  of 
Ionia.  From  the  coasts  of  Syria,  as  the  mart  or  the  place 
of  production,  came  very  large  quantities  of  those  spices 
and  aromatic  preparations  which  the  ancient  habits  of 
the  people  rendered  indispensable,  v/ith  the  purple  cloth 
of  Tyre,  wines,  precious  stones,  and  the  bitumen  of 
Palestine.  The  myrrh,  the  amomum,  and  the  nard, 
were  brought  from  the  odoriferous  forests  of  Arabia, 
which  also  produced  precious  stones,  pearls,  marble,  gold, 
and  wine  from  its  marvellous  city  Petra.  India  sup- 
plied pepper,  ginger,  cinnamon,  and  other  spices,  to- 
gether with  those  delicate  cotton  fabrics,  for  which  that 
country  was  then  quite  as  famous  as  now,  and  which 
included  muslins,  calicoes,  shawls,  and  all  the  varieties 
of  goods  which  are  at  present  sent  to  Britain.  Through 
Hindostan,  too,  the  Romans  received  the  spun  silk  and 
silk  stufis  of  the  country  called  Serica,  that  is,  the  modem 
Chma,  with  the  regions  on  its  western  border  ;  and 
thence  also  they  had  the  malabathrum,  wliich  has  been 


OP  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  387 

suspected,  though  probably  without  sufficient  reason,  to 
have  been  the  leaves  of  the  tea-plant.'"' 

Africa  was  of  course  no  farther  accessible  than  along 
its  coasts.  Alexandria,  however,  the  port  of  Egypt,  was 
the  main  depot  for  all  Asiatic  merchandise  ;  and  the 
land  of  the  Pharaohs  itself  yielded  cotton,  flax,  glass, 
marbles,  precious  stones,  wines,  perfumes,  papyrus,  some 
medicinal  herbs,  and  a  few  minerals.  From  the  ports 
on  the  northern  shores  of  Africa  came  the  productions 
of  Barbary,  together  with  those  articles  of  commerce 
which  were  procured  from  the  interior  by  barter  with 
the  negro  tribes,  or  by  the  robbery  of  their  villages. 
The  list  included  gold  and  gold-dust,  ivory,  cotton,  pre- 
cious stones,  marble,  several  sorts  of  ornamental  wood 
for  furniture,  and  large  droves  of  black  slaves. 


THE   THIRD  PERIOD: 

A.  u.  933—1229,  OR  a.  n.  ISO— 47G. 

During  the  three  centuries  that  preceded  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  western  empire,  the  political  world  was  a 
scene  where  gradual  decay  was  interrupted  only  by  de- 
structive convulsions.  The  morality  of  the  people  was 
as  bad  as  their  general  weakness  of  character  permitted 
it  to  be  ;  and  their  old  religion,  which  waned  and 
sank  during  those  ages,  was  succeeded  by  a  form  of 
Christianity  already  too  corrupted  to  struggle  success- 
fully against  the  growmg  vice  and  misery.  The  pagan 
features  of  the  times  are  those  which  it  is  here  intended 
to  illustrate ;  but,  in  speaking  of  Italy,  we  may  safely 
borrow  much,  for  this  purpose,  from  its  history  after  the 
reign  of  Constantine,  because  in  that  country  the  ancient 
character  and  the  ancient  faith  possessed  a  stronghold 
which  was  the  last  the}'  evacuated. 

If  we  wish  to  study  the  religion  of  the  learned  pagans 
in  the  Lower  Empire,  we  should  principally  use  as  our 

*  De  Pastoret,  Memoire  iii.  Heeren,  Asiatic  INations,  vol. 
iii.  chap.  2.  Historical  and  Descriptive  Account  of  China  (Edin- 
buij>ii  Cabinet  Library),  vol.  i   chap.  4. 


388  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

text-books  the  writings  of  the  Latter  Platonists  of  Alex- 
andria, which  lie  beyond  the  scope  of  these  pages.  But 
we  may  glean  something  as  to  the  philosophical  theo- 
logy, and  much  as  to  the  belief  of  the  people,  from 
other  sources  less  scholastic  ;  and  four  popular  treatises, 
all  belongmg  either  to  the  earliest  age  of  this  period, 
or  to  the  last  of  that  preceding,  throw  a  strong  light  on 
the  new  shape  which  had  been  assumed  by  the  hea- 
then superstitions.*  We  trace  little  or  nothing  of  the 
native  mythology  of  Italy  ;  but  the  Greeks  diffused 
throughout  that  country  new  and  often  scandalous  ver- 
sions of  their  o-svn  legends.  As  instances,  may  be  quoted 
the  Aedon  of  Antoninus,  which  is  an  exaggeration  of  the 
horrors  of  Progne's  tragedy  ;  and  his  Cephalus  and  Pro- 
cris,  in  which  that  touching  story  is  disgustingly  debased. 
Original  fictions  also  were  invented  with  new  names ; 
and  there  appeared  a  class  of  ghost-stories  altogether 
unexampled.  Their  costume  is  decidedly  oriental,  their 
tone  of  feeling  is  gloomy  and  overwrought,  and  their 
apparitions  have  an  unclassical  materialism  which  is 
sometimes  absolutely  harrowing.  Such  is  Phlegon's 
tale  of  the  cannibal-ghost  of  Polycritus  the  -^tolarch, 
which  is  a  demon  standing,  as  it  were,  half-way  between 
the  Arabian  goule  and  the  Levantine  vampire.  An  ex- 
ample still  more  characteristic  is  a  fragment  of  the  same 
writer,  which  relates  the  fatal  adventure  of  the  youth 
Machates  with  the  dead  gh-l  Philinnion  ;  a  romance  of 
the  Avildest  outline,  whose  spectral  voluptuousness  Goethe 
has  closely  imitated  in  his  ballad  of  the  Bride  of  Co- 
rinth. Apollonius  gives  us  oriental  fables  ;  like  that  of 
Hermotimus,  whose  soul  wandered  through  space,  leav- 
ing its  body  senseless  on  the  ground  ;  of  Aristeas,  whose 
ghost  traversed  Sicily  after  his  death  at  Proconnesus  ; 
and  of  Epimenides  of  Crete,  who  slept  fifty-seven 
years.  While  the  science  of  reading  dreams  made  every 
thought  of  the  mind  symbolical,  the  actual  phenomena 


*  The  Book  of  Marvels,  by  Hadrian's  favourite,  Phlegon  of 
Tralles  ;  the  Metamorphoses  of  Antoninus  Liberalis  ;  the  Invented 
Histories  of  Apollonius  Dyscolus,  a  fellow-student  of  Marcus  Au- 
relius  ;  and  the  Dream-Book  of  Arteraidorus. 


OF  THE  ANCIEiNT  ITALIANS.  389 

of  the  material  world  were  looked  on  as  equally  signi- 
ficant, and  those  most  eagerly  reported  were  the  alarm- 
ing and  the  unnatural.  Monstrous  births  were  described 
and  exaggerated  ;  and  there  were  nimours  of  earth- 
quakes which  laid  bare  the  skeletons  of  buried  Titans. 
In  those  last  ages  of  paganism,  magic  became  more  com- 
mon than  ever,  and  its  rites  were  never  more  shocking. 
The  Syrian  emperor  Heliogabalus,  who  in  his  youth 
was  the  priest  of  Gabal,  or  the  sun,  at  Emesa,  tore  the 
noblest  Italian  boys  from  their  parents,  slew  them  with 
his  own  hand  on  the  altar  of  his  god,  and  attempted 
with  the  aid  of  oriental  diviners  to  read  the  will  of 
heaven  by  those  hon-ible  sacrifices.*  Astrology  con- 
tinued to  flourish,  and  alchemy,  its  new  ally,  was  in 
vain  attacked  by  edicts  of  Diocletian. 

Education  became  for  a  time,  in  form  at  least,  more 
complete  for  the  few,  but  it  died  away  almost  entirely 
for  the  many.  The  schools  in  the  small  towns  decayed 
or  were  shut  up  altogether  ;  and,  about  the  reign  of 
Theodosius,  we  see  the  emperors  even  distrusting  the 
public  seminaries,  and  withdrawing  the  liberty  which 
every  man  till  then  enjoyed  of  opening  a  place  of  in- 
struction wherever  he  chose.  But  repeated  laws,  from 
Hadrian  downwards,  directed  the  decurions  of  the  towns 
to  examine  and  license  a  fixed  number  of  teachers  in  law 
and  literature,  promising  to  these  professors  exemptions 
and  salaries.  The  most  famous  academies  of  the  West- 
em  Empire  were  those  of  Africa  and  Gaul ;  and  that  of 
Milan  was  esteemed  the  second  in  Italy.  In  the  East, 
Alexandria  maintained  its  reputation ;  and  the  law- 
schools  of  Berytus  and  Constantmople  rivalled,  from  the 
fourth  century,  the  fame  of  the  Roman  jurisconsults. 
In  Rome,  however,  in  the  year  425,  Theodosius  II.  and 
Valentinian  founded  a  regular  college,  assigning  to  it 
halls  in  the  Capitol,  and  fixing  its  number  of  professors 
as  follows  :  ten  teachers  of  the  Latin  grammar  and  lite- 
rature, with  three  for  Latin  eloquence  ;  ten  teachers  of 
the  Greek  grammar  and  literature,  and  five  of  Greek 

•  .Elius  Lampridius  in  Heliogabalo,  cap.  8. 


390  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

eloquence  ;  two  teachers  of  law,  and  one  of  philosophy. 
This  new  establishment,  and  all  others,  were  subject  to 
strict  regulations,  which  had  been  fixed  in  the  year  370 
for  the  academies  then  existing,  and  continued  long 
with  little  or  no  alteration.  As  the  edict  which  con- 
tained these  is  our  oldest  attempt  at  framing  university- 
statutes,  a  few  of  the  rules  may  be  described.  No  student 
was  to  be  admitted  to  the  schools  either  of  Rome  or 
Constantinople,  unless  he  exhibited  certificates  from  the 
government  of  his  province,  attesting  his  birth,  domicile, 
and  character,  and  unless  he  also  declared  what  studies 
he  meant  to  pursue.  The  city-magistrates  were  charged 
to  keep  strict  watch  over  the  young  men,  their  lodgings, 
their  industry,  their  associates,  and  their  behaviour  in 
all  companies  ;  and  if  any  one  conducted  himself  impro- 
perly, they  were  entitled  to  whip  him  publicly,  and 
send  him  home.  All  students  were  to  be  forced  to 
leave  the  city  on  the  completion  of  then-  twentieth  year. 
The  public  teachers  enjoyed  extensive  exemptions  from 
personal  serv^ices  and  burdens ;  similar  privileges  were 
extended  to  the  ph^'sicians ;  and  in  every  town  a  certain 
number  of  these  received  a  public  allowance  of  provisions, 
or  equivalents  for  them,  in  consideration  of  their  attend- 
ance on  the  poor.  In  Rome  there  were  two  classes  of 
privileged  medical  men ;  the  physicians  of  the  imperial 
household,  and  the  fourteen  appointed  to  practise  in  the 
fourteen  regions  of  the  city.* 

Of  the  pubhc  spectacles  in  ancient  Rome,  it  only  re- 
mains to  notice  the  ultimate  fate.  The  Christian  eccle- 
siastics protested  vehemently  against  all  of  them ;  but  the 
abuse  long  resisted  both  the  church  and  the  emperors. 
Constantine  abolished  the  religious  processions  which 
used  to  commence  the  games ;  and  after  his  accession 
we  hear  of  no  more  real  fights  in  the  naumachise  ;  but 
he  was  unable  to  effect  any  thing  more.  His  law  pro- 
hibiting: the  combats  of  dadiators  remained  a  dead  letter 


*  Heiueccii  Antiquit.  Roman,  ad  Institut.  Prooem.  ;  ad  Instit. 
lib.  i.  tit.  25.  Conringius  De  Studiis  Liberalibus  Urbis  Romae 
et  Constantinopoleo?  Gothofredus  ad  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xiii. 
tit.  3.     Cod.  Justin,  lib.  x.  tit.  62  ;  lib.  \i.  tit.  J8. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  391 

till  the  year  404,  when,  amidst  the  triumph  of  Honoriua 
on  the  retreat  of  Alaric,  Telemachus,  an  eastern  monk, 
rushing  into  the  arena  of  the  Colosseum,  strove  to  part 
the  swordsmen.  The  populace,  in  fury,  tore  up  the  stone 
seats  and  murdered  the  holy  man  ;  but  they  speedily 
grew  ashamed  of  their  cowardly  deed,  and  submitted 
quietly  to  a  prohibition  of  the  combats,  which  the  em- 
peror seized  the  opportunity  of  issuing.  The  races,  the 
mock  sea-fights,  and  the  theatrical  exhibitions,  survived 
the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire. 

The  character  of  the  Italians  in  those  gloomy  times, 
offers  little  over  which  there  is  any  temptation  to  linger. 
The  foolish  parade  and  sinful  extravagance  of  the  court, 
or  the  pride  and  indolence  of  the  nobles,  are  not  more 
disheartening  than  the  moral  and  intellectual  darkness 
of  the  people  at  large.  Society  in  Rome  during  the 
fourth  century  of  our  era,  when  its  population  was  still 
substantially  pagan,  has  been  described  by  a  contempo- 
rary, cynically  rude,  but  observant  and  strictly  honest, 
from  whose  sketches  one  or  two  groups  may  be  copied . 

The  first  scene  which  attracts  our  notice  might  have 
been  painted  from  life  in  the  streets  of  the  papal  city  in 
the  middle  ages.  In  the  year  855,  Leontius,  the  prefect, 
raised  a  sedition  by  imprisoning  one  of  the  favourite 
charioteers  for  a  misdemeanour ;  and  warm  weather, 
aided  b}'  the  dearness  and  scarcity  of  wine,  co-operated 
with  the  original  offence  to  rouse  the  populace  again. 
They  assembled  tumultuously  in  the  hollow  between 
the  Cselian  and  Palatine  Mounts,  where  their  position  was 
covered  by  the  Nymphseum  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  the 
Septizonium  or  sepulchre  of  Septimius  Severus.  The 
magistrate  drove  into  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  sitting  in 
his  chariot,  and  surrounded  by  his  guards :  he  addressed 
them,  and  was  interrupted  by  shouts  of  defiance.  He 
fixed  his  eye  on  a  tall  man  who  was  particularly  active, 
and  whom  he  recognised  as  being  one  who  had  been  de- 
nounced as  dangerous.  The  fellow,  being  asked  his  name, 
avowed  it  with  insolent  triumph ;  on  which  Leontius 
instantly  ordered  him  to  be  seized,  stripped,  tied  to 


392  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

a  pillar,  and  scourged  in  the  midst  of  liis  followers.  The 
mob,  terrified  by  their  governor's  resolution,  looked  on 
a  while  in  silence,  and  then  slowly  dispersed.* 

The  same  historian  has  painted  roughly,  and  with 
exaggeration  and  disfavour,  a  portrait  of  the  populace  of 
Rome  in  his  own  times,  and  another  of  the  nobility.t 
Many  features  of  his  description  are  the  common  char- 
acteristics of  a  state  of  society  in  which  the  people  are 
poor,  numerous,  indolent,  and  vicious,  and  the  few  nobles 
rich,  sensual,  and  haughty.  But  some  particulars 
have  more  individuality.  The  multitude  were  still  pau- 
pers, and  from  the  time  of  Aurelian  then-  laziness  was 
more  favoured  than  ever  ;  for  thenceforth,  instead  of 
monthly  allowances  of  corn,  they  received  every  day 
loaves  of  a  specified  weight,  on  presenting  the  govern- 
ment tickets  at  the  bakers'  shops.  Their  time  and 
their  pittance  of  money  were  divided  between  the  wine- 
shops, the  dice-table,  the  bagnio,  and  the  places  where 
the  public  shows  were  exhibited.  In  the  theatres,  when 
they  were  tired  of  hissing  the  actors,  they  cursed  tlie 
foreigners  whom  they  saw  around  them,  and  clamoured 
for  their  expulsion ;  although,  as  their  historian  sarcasti- 
cally observes,  they  and  their  city  could  not,  but  for  these 
very  foreigners,  have  continued  to  exist.  Those  degene- 
rate Romans  had  personal  pride,  too,  as  well  as  national : 
walking  barefoot,  and  in  rags,  they  aped  their  superiors 
in  assuming  sonorous  appellations,  which  their  ignorance 
conceived  to  be  classical ;  and  the  Cimessores,  Statarii, 
SemicupsB,  Pordaci,  and  TruUae,  held  their  heads  higher 
for  reflecting  that  they  represented  the  ancient  plebeians. 
The  nobles  set  them  the  fashion  of  effeminacy,  licen- 
tiousness, gaming,  and  pride  of  idle  words.  They  had 
their  gradations  of  honorary  titles  bestowed  by  the 
court ;  they  had  family  names  heaped  one  upon  another, 
and  formed  with  a  barbarism  which  the  historian's 
fictitious  examples  do  but  slightly  caricature.  J     Their 

*  Ammiani  Marcellini  Historiarum  lib.  xv.  cap.  7. 
■f-  Ibid.  lib.  xxviii.  cap.  4.     Gibbon,  chapter  xxxi. 
J  See  the  Indices  to  Gruter's  Inscriptions.   There  are  few  pages 
that  will  not  furnish  instances. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  393 

conduct  towards  the  commonalty  was  worthy  of  a  race 
who,  while  they  boasted  that  they  were  tlie  only  pri- 
vileged class  in  the  state,  were  not  ashamed  to  be 
slaves  in  their  relation  to  the  sovereign.  When  we  read 
of  the  wanton  outrages  which  they  perpetrated  with 
impunity  on  the  burghers,  and  of  that  haughty  con- 
tempt which  they  would  have  had  their  inferiors  to  ac- 
knowledge as  condescending  indulgence,  we  wonder  that 
human  patience  was  not  worn  out,  and  that  universal 
revolution  did  not  avenge  insults  which  the  law  was 
powerless  to  punish.  But  when  we  recollect  how  de- 
graded were  the  oppressed  class  themselves,  we  feel  that 
the  regeneration  of  society,  if  it  was  to  take  place,  must 
come  to  such  a  people  from  other  hands  than  their  own. 
And  the  bloody  consummation  drew  rapidly  near. 
Amidst  those  fallen  patricians,  and  that  insolent  yet 
spiritless  populace,  there  were  mixing,  more  and  more 
thickly,  in  every  corner  of  the  land,  groups  of  the  bar- 
barian mercenaries  who  composed  the  armies  of  the  state : 
and  scenes  were  not  unfrequent,  which,  like  menacing 
visions,  presignified  to  the  Romans  the  approaching  ruin 
of  their  name.  The  great  Theodosius  himself  had  to 
court  the  Gothic  captains,  whose  tribes  followed  him  ; 
and  those  rude  borderers  from  the  Danube  feasted  daily 
in  the  imperial  halls  among  the  refined  Italian  and  Greek 
nobility.  Two  of  the  chiefs,  Fraust  and  Priulf,  quarrelled 
at  the  emperor's  table,  and  in  his  presence  ;  and  he  was 
compelled  to  break  up  the  banquet.  The  Goths  left  the 
palace  in  hot  dispute,  and  Fraust,  suddenly  drawing  his 
sword  at  the  gate,  cleft  his  enemy's  skull.  The  dead 
man's  retainers  attacked  the  assassin,  who  was  rescued, 
after  a  bloody  fight,  by  the  palace-guards.  Theodosius, 
the  very  best  and  bravest  of  the  later  Roman  princes, 
dared  not  either  to  prevent  this  act  of  bloodshed,  or  to 
avenge  it.* 

"We  have  still  to  glance  at  the  statistics  of  Italy  m  tne 
Lower  Empire.     The  inquiry  has  been  partially  unti- 

•  Zosimi  Historiarum  lib.  iv.  cap.  56. 


394  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

cipated  in  the  sketch  already  given  of  the  municipal 
system  in  those  times  ;  and  our  view  of  the  position  held 
by  the  burghers  of  the  Italian  towns  will  be  as  exten- 
sive as  it  is  here  possible  to  make  it,  if  we  learn  a  few 
particulars  regarding  the  condition  of  the  artificers  and 
traders,  and  the  decline  both  of  manufactures  and 
foreign  commerce.  The  disheartening  picture  will  be 
completed  by  a  slight  outline  of  the  state  of  agriculture 
and  of  the  rural  population. 

The  account  already  given  of  the  foreign  trade  of 
Italy,  may  be  strictly  applied  to  a  considerable  part  of 
the  period  now  under  review.  But  among  the  changes 
which  took  place,  the  old  Roman  dislike  to  commerce 
at  this  time  both  revived,  and  grew  stronger  in  a  new- 
shape.  It  now  assumed  the  form  of  that  prejudice 
which,  in  most  modern  nations,  considers  trade  degrad- 
ing to  tlie  aristocracy ;  the  legislature  at  last  adopted  the 
ruinous  oj^inion  ;  and  an  edict  of  Honorius  prohibited 
the  nobles  from  engaging  in  commerce,  alleging,  how- 
ever, for  the  reason,  a  wish  to  preserve  it  as  a  monopoly 
to  the  plebeians.""  Still  the  habits  of  the  Italians  con- 
tinued, for  a  time,  to  create  a  demand  for  foreign  luxu- 
ries, which,  notwithstanding  much  impoverishment  and 
the  constant  downfal  of  ancient  families,  cannot  be  said 
to  have  diminished  till  the  fifth  century.  The  ports  of 
the  Eastern  Empire  derived  much  of  their  prosperit}^ 
from  their  trade  in  precious  commodities,  with  which 
they  supplied  the  provinces  of  the  West ;  and,  till  the 
reign  of  Augustulus,  the  nobles  wore  dresses  made  of 
Asiatic  silks,  and  of  cloths  embroidered  with  silver  and 
gold. 

The  manufactures  which  ministered  to  these  and 
other  requirements  of  luxury,  gave  employment  to  con- 
siderable bodies  of  artisans  in  the  larger  towns ;  and  the 
guilds,  long  regarded  as  dangerous  by  the  emperors,  some- 
times suppressed  and  always  discountenanced,  at  last  ac- 
quired a  general  recognition,  which  may  be  fixed  as  early 
at  least  as  the  reign  of  Alexander  Severus.     Thenceforth 

*  Cod.  Justin,  lib.  iv.  tit.  63.  leg.  3. 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  395 

there  were  numerous  authorized  societies  of  this  kind, 
each  of  which  had  its  office-bearers,  its  chapel  or  religious 
ceremonies,  its  common  fund,  its  by-laws,  its  processions, 
and  its  standards. 

The  curious  details  of  the  laws  describing  the  cor- 
porations would  not  to  any  extent  aid  us  in  determining 
the  comparative  prosperity  of  the  several  branches  of 
industry.  Indeed,  any  conclusion  to  which  they  would 
carry  us  is  unfavourable  to  the  state  of  the  crafts  enu- 
merated :  for  with  regard  to  the  architects  and  other 
persons  practising  the  liberal  arts,  the  decay  of  skill  and 
scarcity  of  students  are  expressly  set  forth  as  the  causes 
which  make  it  necessary  to  confer  privileges,  in  the  hope 
of  producing  a  revival.  Several  of  the  finest  branches 
of  manufacture  were  carried  on  in  imperial  establish- 
ments, which  enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  supplying  the 
army  and  all  public  servants.  As  to  most  of  the  other 
practical  pursuits,  especially  those  which  related  to  the 
necessaries  of  life,  the  facts  are  yet  more  discouraging  ; 
for  the  laws  in  regard  to  them  established  some  of  the 
very  worst  principles  wliich  we  have  seen  adopted  in 
reference  to  the  town-councils.  The  mariners,  bakers, 
and  some  others,  were  not  only  bound  in  their  own  per- 
sons to  follow^  their  trade  for  life,  within  their  own  town 
or  its  district,  without  being  freed  from  this  slavery  by 
any  possible  means  ;  but  the  obligation  was  transferred 
and  made  binding  on  every  one  connected  with  them,  no 
matter  how  remotely.  The  son  and  grandson  entered 
by  compulsion  their  father's  craft ;  marriage  with  the 
daughter  of  an  artisan  bound  the  son-in-law  to  the  same 
calling  ;  the  inheritance  of  private  property  had  a  similar 
eflFect ;  and  even  a  purchase  of  lands  for  an  adequate 
price  exposed  the  buyer  to  find  himself  forced  into  the 
trade  of  the  baker,  shipowner,  or  cattle-dealer,  who  had 
been  the  seller.  It  may  interest  us  to  learn,  that  there 
are  strong  reasons  for  believing  this  wretched  constitu- 
tion of  the  guilds  to  have  been  introduced  by  the  Romans 
into  our  own  country."' 

•  Gothofredus  ad  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.xiii.  tit.  4,  5,  6;  lib.  xiv. 
tit.  2,  3,  4,  6,  7,  8.     PanciroUus  De  Corporibus  Artificum,  ap 


396  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

When  we  survey  the  agricultural  population  of  Italy 
under  the  Christian  empire,  we  see  the  number  of 
slaves  rapidly  diminishing.  They  make  room  for  a  new 
class,  standing  midway  between  freedom  and  slaverj^  and 
known  by  various  descriptive  names  : — Coloni,  Origi- 
narii,  Adscriptitii,  Inquilini,  Tributarii,  Censiti.  Their 
status  was  the  origin  of  the  Italian  serfs  or  villeins  of 
the  dark  and  middle  ages.*  The  prominent  features  of 
their  position  were  the  following.  They  were  nominally 
freemen,  and  most  of  them  Roman  citizens ;  but  they 
were  subject  to  the  same  corporal  punishments  as  slaves, 
and, — which  was  the  pivot  upon  which  their  lot  turned, 
— they  were  ii-removably  attached  to  the  soil  of  the  estate 
where  they  were  born,  and  bound  for  life  to  cultivate  a 
prescribed  portion  of  it,  the  fruits  of  which  they  them- 
selves enjoyed,  paying  the  proprietor  a  fixed  rent  in 
money  or  kind,  though  yielding  no  personal  services.  As 
they  durst  not  leave  the  lands,  so  the  proprietor  could 
not  remove  them  ;  but  if  he  sold  the  ground,  the  coloni 
were  necessarily  transferred  to  the  purchaser  along  with 
it.  They  could  possess  property  of  their  ovm,  which  the 
owner  of  the  estate  (their  patronus)  was  not  entitled  to 
touch  ;  but  he  was  usually  empowered  to  prevent  their 
alienating  it,  that  his  lands  might  have  the  advantage  of 
it  as  agricultural  capital ;  though  some  classes  of  coloni 
could  dispose  of  their  goods  at  pleasure.  They  were,  as 
we  have  seen,  subject  to  the  poll-tax ;  but  the  patron 
was  responsible  for  it  to  the  treasury,  and  paid  it  in  the 
first  instance.  There  is  no  trace  of  any  process  of  manu- 
mission for  them,  nor  of  any  possible  mode  of  dissolv- 
ing the  bonds  by  which  they  were  rivetted  to  the  soO, 
except  a  prescriptive  absence,  of  thirty  years  for  men, 
and  twenty  for  women  ;  which  absence,  if  spent  in 
freedom,  made  the  parties  free,  and,  if  spent  in  service 

GrfEvium,  torn.  iii.  Heineccii  Opusculorum  Sylloge  i.  Exercitatio  9. 
Palgrave's  English  Commonwealth,  part  i .  chapter  x. 

*  See,  on  this  interesting  but  neglected  subject,  a  most  satisfac- 
tory and  minute  dissertation  by  Savigny  (Ueber  den  Rbmischen 
Coionat),  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Ber- 
lin for  1822-3;  and,  also  in  that  volume,  the  same  writer's  paper 
on  the  Imperial  Taxation. 


OF  TIIE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  397 

on  other  lands,  transferred  them  to  the  new  manor.  If  a 
colonus  became  a  priest  (for  they  were  held  capable  of 
receiving  ordination),  the  patron  was  still  entitled  to 
retain  him  on  the  estate,  and  exact  the  accustomed 
rent  and  labour  from  him.  These  peasants,  so  strangely 
situated,  were  protected  by  their  annexation  to  the  soil, 
and  by  a  rule  which  prohibited  the  imposition  of  new 
burdens,  or  a  rise  of  rents ;  and  it  was  also  law,  that  if 
a  domain  were  divided  among  joint  proprietors,  there 
should  be  no  separation  of  married  people,  parents  and 
children,  or  even  near  kinsfolk. 

Instances  of  a  class  thus  constituted  were  to  be  found 
in  Italy  as  early  at  least  as  the  time  of  Constantino  ;*  and 
this  date,  with  other  facts,  makes  it  impossible  to  account 
for  their  rise  in  that  country  on  the  theory  which  has 
been  proposed  as  to  the  villeins  of  our  own  islands, — 
that  they  were  a  native  population  enslaved  by  invaders. 
The  Italian  coloni  bore  some  likeness  to  the  old  Roman 
clients,  and  a  stronger  one  to  the  serfs  of  the  ancient 
Germans,  as  they  are  described  by  Tacitus  ;  but  neither 
can  they  be  traced  to  either  of  these  sources.  There 
is  equal  difficulty  in  supposing  them  to  have  originally 
been,  as  one  hypothesis  bears,  slaves  emancipated  under 
conditions  of  villeinage.  Another  theory,  the  most 
plausible  of  all, — though  it  likewise  is  subject  to  ob- 
jections as  a  general  rule, — is  suggested  by  facts  which 
are  described  by  a  priest  of  Marseilles  in  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century,  as  actually  taking  place  in  Gaul  be- 
fore his  own  eyes.t  Salvianus  says  that  the  free  husband- 
men who  cultivated  small  farms  belonging  to  themselves, 
were  crushed  to  the  dust  by  taxes,  at  once  oppressive 
and  dishonestly  levied ;  that  numbers  of  them  abandoned 


*  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xiii.  tit.  10,  De  Censu.  Cod.  Justinian,  lib. 
xi.  tit.  47,  1.  2  (an  edict  addressed  to  the  governor  of  ^Emilia). 

't*  Salvianus  De  Gubernatione  Dei,  lib.  v,  Bibliotheca  Patrum, 
Lugd.  torn.  viii.  particularly  p.  359-361.  The  whole  book  is  full 
of  curious  statistical  notices.  The  leading  passage  is  quoted  in  Du- 
cange's  Glossary  (ad  vocera  "  Colonus")  ;  and  the  facts  are  stated 
and  animadverted  on  by  Savigny,  who,  however,  does  not  consider 
the  theory  as  of  general  application. 


398  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY 

their  possessions,  and  took  from  the  rich  landholders 
either  these  or  other  lands,  to  be  cultivated  by  them  as 
coloni,on  conditions  \vhich  saved  them  from  the  severities 
of  the  tax-gatherer,  but  left  them  scarcely  a  vestige  of 
either  property  or  personal  freedom. 

In  the  hands  of  this  class,  agriculture  fell  yet  lower 
than  it  had  sunk  even  with  the  slaves.  The  wines  of 
Italy  were  already  worthless  ;  the  olives  now  decayed 
likewise ;  and  the  whole  peninsula  yielded  little  beyond 
a  few  cattle,  some  mineral  produce,  and  the  last  timber  of 
its  magnificent  old  forests.  It  was  a  starving  country : 
the  people  thronged  into  the  large  towns,  especially 
Rome,  to  cry  for  bread ;  and  the  emperors,  who  seldom 
resided  in  that  city,  or  even  within  the  Alps,  had  to  ship 
corn  oftener  than  ever,  as  the  only  means  of  saving  the 
ancient  metropolis  from  becoming  equally  desolate  with 
the  waste  which  already  stretched  for  miles  around  its 
walls.  We  possess  the  correspondence  of  Symmachus, 
who  was  prefect  of  the  city  under  the  first  two  Valenti- 
nians,  Theodosius,  and  Honorius.  Writing  to  his  friends, 
he  describes  his  Italian  estates  as  going  to  utter  wreck, 
the  government  as  neglecting  all  measures  of  prudence 
and  justice,  the  populace  as  hungry  and  clamorous,  the 
crops  as  failing  all  over  the  peninsula,  and  the  munici- 
palities as  in  vain  imploring  aid  from  the  court.  To  the 
emperors  he  addresses  officially,  year  after  year,  and 
strengthens  by  deputations,  the  most  vehement  entreaties 
for  speedy  help.  In  one  letter  he  represents  the  whole 
population  of  Rome  as  fed  by  the  charity  of  a  few  rich 
men,  who,  however,  had  nothmg  to  give  except  spoilt 
corn,  which  was  every  where  generating  disease  ;  the 
provinces,  he  says,  fail  in  delivering  the  rations  assigned 
to  the  city  from  the  government  taxes ;  the  emperors 
promise  while  the  people  are  famishing  ;  and  the  position 
of  Italy  is  described  as  one  in  which  good  fortune  alone 
can  bring  relief,  and  where  human  wisdom  is  powerless. 
But  in  the  midst  of  this  universal  misery,  and  v/hile  the 
prefect  reproaches  his  friends  with  hunting  and  spendmg 
their  days  in  mirth,  he  himself  writes  eagerly  for  wild 
beasts  to  appear  at  his  games ;  and,  in  the  same  breath  in 


OF  THE  ANCIENT  ITALIANS.  399 

which  he  prays  Thcodosius  not  to  forget  to  save  the  Ro- 
mans from  starving,  he  conjures  him  not  to  insist  on 
shutting  up  the  Cii'cus  and  the  Theatre.*  In  Campania 
itself,  the  orchard  of  the  south,  Honorius  was  compelled 
in  the  year  395  to  expunge  from  the  tax-roll,  as  become 
utterl}'-  waste,  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  land.  Rutilius,  writing  a  quarter  of  a  century  later, 
describes  Tuscany  as  degenerating  into  a  wide  forest 
without  dwellings,  its  fields  as  uncultivated,  its  Aure- 
lian  highway  as  flooded  and  impassable,  and  the  bridges 
as  every  where  broken  down  and  left  unrepaired. 

The  last  age  of  the  empii-e  in  Italy  presented,  in  all 
its  relations,  a  scene  that  tempted  men  to  despair  ;  and 
from  every  record  w^hicli  it  has  left,  from  the  works  of 
historians,  lawgivers,  statesmen,  philosophers,  and  divines, 
might  be  collected  a  volume  of  gloomy  forebodings. 
Two  men  of  eloquence  and  learning,  who  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  fourth  century  stood  opposed  to  each  other 
in  the  face  of  Europe,  the  champion  of  the  old  faith  and 
the  priest  of  the  new,  concurred  in  the  despondency  with 
wliich  they  contemplated  the  aspect  of  the  \vorld.t 
The  one  was  Symmachus,  the  heathen  senator  and  pre- 
fect of  Rome.  Over  the  reflections  that  saddened 
him,  he  throws  his  favourite  veil  of  classical  allusion. 
'''  You  complain,"  says  he,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "  that 
I  send  you  no  narrative  of  public  events.  What  if 
I  answer,  that  it  is  better  to  let  them  pass  unnoticed  1 
The  ancient  oracles  have  grown  dumb ;  in  the  grotto 
of  Cumae  are  read  no  mystic  characters;  no  voice 
issues  from  the  tree  of  Dodona  ;  no  chanted  verse 
is  heard  amidst  the  vapours  of  the  Delphic  cell.  And 
we,  mortal  and  impotent,  who  owe  our  very  existence 
to  tlie  act  of  a  rebellious  demigod,  may  most  wisely 
leam  from  the  silence  of  heaven,  and  ponder  in  quiet 


*  Symmachi  Epistolarum  ad  Diversos,  lib.  ii.  ep.  7,  52  ;  lib.  iv. 
ep.  18,  68;  lib.  vi.  ep.  14  ;  lib.  x.  ep.  21,  26,  34,  38,  43,  55,  57. 

t  Symmachi  lib.  iv,  epist.  33.  Sancti  Ambrosii  Epistolarum 
classis  i.  ep.  39.     (Edit.  Parisiis,  1690.) 


400       CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  INDUSTRY,  &c, 

over  that  sad  history  of  our  race,  for  which  the  book 
of  prophecy  has  no  longer  a  leaf!"  The  Christian 
bishop,  Saint  Ambrose  of  Milan,  expresses  the  same 
feelings  in  a  different  tone.  He  describes  a  journey  in 
which  are  passed  successively  Bologna,  Modena,  Reggio, 
and  Piacenza.  Those  ancient  cities  lie  half-ruined  and 
half-unpeopled  ;  among  the  valleys  of  the  Apennines 
stretch  wide  uncultivated  wastes,  where  of  old  the  land 
bloomed  like  a  garden  ;  and  on  the  surrounding  heights 
the  site  of  once  flourishing  villages  is  marked  by  moul- 
dering and  roofless  walls.  The  pious  churchman  speaks 
of  the  grief  which  we  feel  for  departed  friends,  as  soften- 
ed by  our  trust  that  they  have  passed  to  a  purer  life  ; 
but  for  his  country  he  has  jio  such  hope  of  renewed 
existence  :  her  prosperity  is  sunk  for  ever. 

Both  the  Pagan  and  the  Christian  misinterpreted  the 
sig-ns  of  the  times.  Italy  was  doomed  to  endure  a  penance 
of  centuries  ;  but  her  destiny  among  the  nations  was  not 
to  be  fulfilled,  till  she  should  again  have  guided  Europe 
to  political  wisdom  and  intellectual  activity. 


END  OF  VOLUME  FIRST. 


Printed  by  Oliver  &  Boyd, 
Tweeddale  Court,  High  Street,  Edinburgh. 


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