and Martial—
Here till the time of Dionysius was preserved the pillar of brass on which was engraved the law of Icilius.
Near this were the groves of Simila, the retreat of the infamous association discovered and terribly punished at the time of the Greek wars; and—in the time of the empire—the gardens of Servilia, where she received the devotion of Julius Cæsar, and in which her son Brutus is said to have conspired his murder, and to have been interrogated by his wife Portia as to the mystery, which he refused to reveal to her, fearing her weakness under torture, until, by the concealment of a terrible wound which she had given to herself, she had proved to him that the daughter of Cato could suffer and be silent.
The Aventine continued to be inhabited, and even populous, until the sixth century, from which period its prosperity began to decline. In the eleventh century it was occupied by the camp of Henry IV. of Germany, when he came in war against Gregory VII. In the thirteenth century Honorius III. made a final effort to re-establish its popularity; but with each succeeding generation it has become—partly owing to the ravages of malaria—more and more deserted, till now its sole inhabitants are monks, and the few ague-stricken contadini who look after the monastic vineyards. In wandering along its desolate lanes, hemmed in by hedges of elder, or by walls covered with parasitical plants, it is difficult to realize the time when it was so thickly populated; and except in the quantities of coloured marbles with which its fields and vineyards are strewn, there is nothing to remind one of the 16 ædiculæ, 64 baths, 25 granaries, 88 fountains, 130 of the larger houses called domus, and 2487 of the poorer houses called insulæ, which occupied this site.
The present interest of the hill is almost wholly ecclesiastical, and centres around the story of St. Dominic, and the legends of the saints and martyrs connected with its different churches.
The best approach to the Aventine is behind the Church of Sta. Maria in Cosmedin, where the Via Sta. Sabina, once the Clivus Publicius (available for carriages), turns up the hill.
A lane on the left leads to the Jewish burial-ground, used as a place of sepulture for the Ghetto for many centuries. A curious instance of the cupidity attributed to the Jewish race may be seen in the fact, that they have, for a remuneration of four baiocchi, habitually given leave to their neighbours to discharge the contents of a rubbish cart into their cemetery, a permission of which the Romans have so abundantly availed themselves, that the level of the soil has been raised by many yards, and whole sets of older monuments have been completely swallowed up, and new ones erected over their heads.
After we turn the corner at the hill top, with its fine view over the Palatine, and cross the trench of fortification formed during the fear of a Garibaldian invasion in 1867, we skirt what appears to be part of a city wall. This is in fact the wall of the Honorian city, built by Pope Honorius III., of the great family of Savelli, whose idea was to render the Aventine once more the populous and favourite portion of the city, and who began great works for this purpose. Before his arrangements were completed St. Dominic arrived in Rome, and was appointed master of the papal household, and abbot of the convent of Sta. Sabina, where his ministrations and popularity soon formed such an attraction, that the pope wisely abandoned his design of founding a new city which should commemorate himself, and left the field to St. Dominic,—to whom he made over the land on this side of the hill. Henceforward the convent of Sta. Sabina and its surroundings have become, more than any other spot, connected with the history of the Dominican Order,—there, all the great saints of the Order have received their first inspiration,—have resided,—or are buried; there St. Dominic himself received in a beatific vision the institution of the rosary; there he was ordered to plant the famous orange-tree, which, being then unknown in Rome, he brought from his native Spain as the only present which it was suitable for the gratitude of a poor monk to offer to his patron Honorius, who was himself one of the great botanists of his time,—an orange-tree which still lives, and which is firmly believed by the monks to flourish or fail with the fortunes of the Order, so that it has lately been greatly the worse for the suppression of the convents in Northern Italy, though the residence of Père Lacordaire within the convent proved exceedingly beneficial to it, and his visit even caused a new sucker to sprout.
The Church of Sta. Sabina was built on the site of the house of the saint—in which she suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Hadrian,[187] in A.D. 423—by Peter, a priest of Illyria, "rich for the poor, and poor for himself" (pauperibus locuples, sibi pauper), as we read by the mosaic inscription inside the principal entrance. St. Gregory the Great read two of his homilies here. The church was rebuilt in 824, and restored and reconsecrated by Gregory IX. in 1238. Much of its interest,—ancient pavements, mosaics, &c.,—was destroyed in 1587 by Sixtus V., who took the credit of discovering the relics of the martyrs who are buried beneath the altar.
On the west is a covered corridor containing several ancient inscriptions. It is supported on one side by ancient spiral columns of pavonazzetto, on the other these have been plundered and replaced by granite. Hence, through a window, ladies are allowed to gaze upon the celebrated orange-tree, 665 years old, which they cannot approach; a rude figure of St. Dominic is sculptured upon the low wall which surrounds it. The west door, of the twelfth century, in a richly sculptured frame, is cited by Kugler as an instance of the extinction of the Byzantine influence upon art. Its panels are covered with carvings from the Old and New Testament, referred by Mamachi to the seventh, by Agincourt to the thirteenth century. Some of the subjects have been destroyed; among those which remain are the Annunciation, the Angels appearing to the Shepherds, the Angel and Zachariah in the Temple, the Magi, Moses turning the rods into serpents, the ascent of Elijah, Christ before Pilate, the denial of Peter, and the Ascension. Within the entrance are the only remains of the magnificent mosaic, erected in 431, under Celestine I., which entirely covered the west wall till the time of Sixtus V., consisting of an inscription in large letters, with a female figure on either side, that on the left bearing the name "Ecclesia cum circumcisione," that on the right, "Ecclesia ex gentibus." Among the parts destroyed were the four beasts typical of the Evangelists, and St. Peter and St. Paul. The church was thus gorgeously decorated, because in the time of the Savelli popes, it was what the Sistine is now, the Chiesa Apostolica.
The nave is lined by twenty-four Corinthian columns of white marble, relics of the temple of Juno Regina, which once stood here. Above, is an inlaid frieze of pietradura, of A.D. 431, which once extended up to the windows, but was destroyed by Sixtus V., who at the same time built up the windows which till then existed over each pier. In the middle of the pavement near the altar, is a very curious mosaic figure over the grave of Munoz de Zamora, a General of the Dominican Order, who died in 1300. Nearer the west door are interesting incised slabs representing a German bishop and a lady, benefactors of this church, and (on the left) a slab with arms in mosaic, to a lady of the Savelli family. In the left aisle is another monument of 1312, commemorating a warrior of the imperial house of Germany. The high altar covers the remains of Sabina and Seraphia, Alexander the Pope, Eventius and Theodulus, all martyrs. In the chapel beneath St. Dominic is said to have flagellated himself three times nightly, "perché uno colpo solo non abbastava per mortificare la carne."
At the end of the right aisle is the Chapel of the Rosary, where a beautiful picture of Sassoferrato, called "La Madonna del Rosario," commemorates the vision of St. Dominic on that spot, in which he received the rosary from the hands of the Virgin.
"St. Catherine of Siena kneels with St. Dominic before the throne of the Madonna; the lily at her feet. The Infant Saviour is turned towards her, and with one hand he crowns her with thorns, with the other he presents the rosary. This is the master-piece of the painter, with all his usual elegance, without his usual insipidity."—Jameson's Monastic Orders.
Few Roman Catholic practices have excited more animadversion than the "vain repetition" of the worship of the Rosary. The Père Lacordaire (a Dominican) defended it, saying—
"Le rationaliste sourit en voyant passer de longues files de gens qui redisent une même parole. Celui qui est éclairé d'une meilleure lumière comprend que l'amour n'a qu'un mot, et qu'en le disant toujours, il ne le répète jamais."
Grouped around this chapel are three beautiful tombs,—a cardinal, a bishop, and a priest of the end of the fifteenth century. That of the cardinal (which is of the well-known Roman type of the time), is inscribed "Ut moriens viveret, vixit est moriturus;" the others are incised slabs. At the other end of this aisle is a marble slab, on which St. Dominic is said to have been wont to lie prostrate in prayer. One day while he was lying thus, the Devil in his rage is said to have hurled a huge stone (a round black marble, pietra di paragone,) at him, which missed the saint, who left the attack entirely unnoticed. The devil was frantic with disappointment, and the stone, remaining as a relic, is preserved on a low pillar in the nave. A small gothic ciborium, richly inlaid with mosaic, remains on the left of the tribune.
Opening from the left aisle is a chapel built by Elic of Tuscany—very rich in precious marbles. The frame of the panel on the left is said to be unique.
It was in this church, in 1218, that St. Hyacinth, struck by the preaching of St. Dominic, and by the recollection of the barbarism, heathenism, and ignorance which prevailed in many parts of his native land of Silesia, offered himself as its missionary, and took the vows of the Dominican Order, together with his cousin St. Ceslas. Hither fled to the monastic life St. Thomas Aquinas, pursued to the very door of the convent by the tears and outcries of his mother, who vainly implored him to return to her. One evening, a pilgrim, worn out with travel and fatigue, arrived at the door of this convent mounted upon a wretched mule, and implored admittance. The prior in mockery asked, "What are you come for, my father? are you come to see if the college of cardinals is disposed to elect you as pope?" "I come to Rome," replied the pilgrim Michele Ghislieri, "because the interests of the Church require it, and I shall leave as soon as my task is accomplished; meanwhile I implore you to give me a brief hospitality and a little hay for my mule." Sixteen years afterwards Ghislieri mounted the papal throne as Pius V., and proved, during a troubled reign, the most rigid follower and eager defender of the institutions of St. Dominic. One day as Ghislieri was about to kiss his crucifix in the eagerness of prayer, "the image of Christ," says the legend, retired of its own accord from his touch, for it had been poisoned by an enemy, and a kiss would have been death. This crucifix is now preserved as a precious relic in the convent, where the cells both of St. Dominic and of St. Pius V. are preserved, though, like most historical chambers of Roman saints, their interest is lessened by their having been beautified and changed into chapels. In the cell of St. Dominic is a portrait by Bazzani, founded on the records of his personal appearance; the lily lies by his side,—the glory hovers over his head,—he is, as the chronicler describes him, "of amazing beauty." In this cell he is said frequently to have passed the night in prayer with his rival St. Francis of Assisi. The refectory is connected with another story of St. Dominic:—
"It happened that when he was residing with forty of his friars in the convent of Sta. Sabina at Rome, the brothers who had been sent to beg for provisions had returned with a very small quantity of bread, and they knew not what they should do, for night was at hand, and they had not eaten all day. Then St. Dominic ordered that they should seat themselves in the refectory, and, taking his place at the head of the table, he pronounced the usual blessing: and behold! two beautiful youths clad in white and shining garments appeared amongst them; one carried a basket of bread, and the other a pitcher of wine, which they distributed to the brethren: then they disappeared, and no one knew how they had come in, nor how they had gone out. And the brethren sat in amazement; but St. Dominic stretched forth his hand, and said calmly, 'My children, eat what God hath sent you:' and it was truly celestial food, such as they had never tasted before nor since."—Jameson's Monastic Orders, p. 369.
Other saints who sojourned for a time in this convent were St. Norbert, founder of the Premonstratensians (ob. 1134), and St. Raymond de Penaforte (ob. 1275), who left his labours in Barcelona for a time in 1230 to act as chaplain to Gregory IX.
In 1287 a conclave was held at Sta. Sabina for the election of a successor to Pope Martin IV., but was broken up by the malaria, six cardinals dying at once within the convent, and all the rest taking flight except Cardinal Savelli, who would not desert his paternal home, and survived by keeping large fires constantly burning in his chamber. Ten months afterwards his perseverance was rewarded by his own election to the throne as Honorius IV.
In the garden of the convent are some small remains of the palace of the Savelli pope, Honorius III. Here, on the declivity of the Aventine, many important excavations were made in 1856—57, by the French Prior Besson, a person of great intelligence, and he was rewarded by the discovery of an ancient Roman house—its chambers paved with black and white mosaic, and some fine fragments of the wall of Servius Tullius, formed of gigantic blocks of peperino. In the chambers which were found decorated in stucco with remnants of painting in figures and arabesque ornaments, "one little group represented a sacrifice before the statue of a god, in an ædicula. Some rudely scratched Latin lines on this surface led to the inference that this chamber, after becoming subterranean and otherwise uninhabitable, had served for a prison; one unfortunate inmate having inscribed curses against those who caused his loss of liberty; and another, more devout, left record of his vows to sacrifice to Bacchus in case of recovering that blessing."[188]
Since the death of Prior Besson[189] the works have been abandoned, and the remains already discovered have been for the most part earthed up again. A nympheum, a well, and several subterranean passages, are still visible on the hillside.
Just beyond Sta. Sabina is the Hieronymite Church and Convent of S. Alessio, the only monastery of Hieronymites in Italy where meat was allowed to be eaten,—in consideration of the malaria. The first church erected here was built in A.D. 305 in honour of St. Boniface, martyr, by Aglae, a noble Roman lady, whose servant (and lover) he had been. It was reconsecrated in A.D. 401 by Innocent I., in honour of St. Alexis, whose paternal mansion was on this site. This saint, young and beautiful, took a vow of virginity, and being forced by his parents into marriage, fled on the same evening from his home, and was given up as lost. Worn out and utterly changed he returned many years afterwards to be near those who were dear to him, and remained, unrecognised, as a poor beggar, under the stairs which led to his father's house. Seventeen years passed away, when a mysterious voice suddenly echoed through the Roman churches, crying, "Seek ye out the man of God, that he may pray for Rome." The crowd was stricken with amazement,—when the same voice continued, "Seek in the house of Euphemian." Then, pope, emperor, and senators rushed together to the Aventine, where they found the despised beggar dying beneath the doorstep, with his countenance beaming with celestial light, a crucifix in one hand, and a sealed paper in the other. Vainly the people strove to draw the paper from the fingers which were closing in the gripe of death, but when Innocent I. bade the dying man in God's name to give it up, they opened, and the pope read aloud to the astonished multitude the secret of Alexis; and his father Euphemian and his widowed bride, regained in death the son and the husband they had lost.
S. Alessio is entered through a courtyard.
"The courtyards in front of S. Alessio, Sta. Cecilia, S. Gregorio, and other churches, are like the vestibula of the ancient Roman houses, on the site of which they were probably built. This style of building, says Tacitus, was generally introduced by Nero. Beyond opened the prothyra, or inner entrance, with the cellæ for the porter and dog, both chained, on either side."
In the portico of the church is a statue of Benedict XIII. (Pietro Orsini, 1724). The west door has a rich border of mosaic. The church has been so much modernised as to retain no appearance of antiquity. The fine Opus-Alexandrinum pavement is preserved. In the floor is the incised gothic monument of Lupi di Olmeto, General of the Hieronymites (ob. 1433). Left of the entrance is a shrine of S. Alessio, with his figure sleeping under the staircase—part of the actual wooden stairs being enclosed in a glass case over his head. Not far from this is the ancient well of his father's house. In a chapel which opens out of a passage leading to the sacristy is the fine tomb of Cardinal Guido di Balneo, of the time of Leo X. He is represented sitting, with one hand resting on the ground—the delicate execution of his lace in marble is much admired. The mosaic roof of this chapel was burst open by a cannon-ball during the French bombardment of 1849, but the figure was uninjured. The baldacchino (well known from Macpherson's photographs) is remarkable for its perfect proportions. Behind, in the tribune, are the inlaid mosaic pillars of a gothic tabernacle. No one should omit to descend into the Crypt of S. Alessio, which is an early church, supported on stunted pillars, and containing a marble episcopal chair, green with age. Here the pope used to meet the early conclaves of the Church in times of persecution. The pillar under the altar is shown as that to which St. Sebastian was bound when he was shot with the arrows.
The cloister of the convent, from which ladies are excluded, blooms with orange and lemon trees. There are only six Hieronymite brethren here now. The convent was at one time purchased by the ex-king Ferdinand of Spain, who intended turning it into a villa for himself.
A short distance beyond S. Alessio is a sort of little square, adorned with trophied memorials of the knights of Malta, and occupying the site of the laurel grove (Armilustrum) which contained the tomb of Tatius. Here is the entrance of the Priorato garden, where is the famous View of St. Peter's through the Keyhole, admired by crowds of people on Ash-Wednesday, when the "stazione" is held at the neighbouring churches. Entering the garden (which can always be visited) we find ourselves in a beautiful avenue of old bay-trees framing the distant St. Peter's. A terrace overhanging the Tiber has an enchanting view over the river and town. In the garden is an old pepper-tree, and in a little court a picturesque palm-tree and well. From hence we can enter the church, sometimes called S. Basilio, sometimes Sta. Maria Aventina, an ancient building modernized by Cardinal Rezzonico in 1765, from the very indifferent designs of Piranesi. It contains an interesting collection of tombs, most of them belonging to the Knights of Malta; that of Bishop Spinelli is an ancient marble sarcophagus, with a relief of Minerva and the Muses. A richly sculptured ancient altar contains relics of saints found beneath the pavement of the church.
The Priorato garden, so beautiful and attractive in itself, has an additional interest as that in which the famous Hildebrand (Gregory VII., 1073—80) was brought up as a boy, under the care of his uncle, who was abbot of the adjoining monastery. A massive cornice in these grounds is one of the few architectural fragments of ancient Rome existing on the Aventine. It may perhaps have belonged to the smaller temple of Diana in which Caius Gracchus took refuge, and in escaping from which, down the steep hillside, he sprained his ankle, and so was taken by his pursuers. Some buried houses were discovered and some precious vases brought to light, when Urban VIII. built the stately buttress walls which now support the hillside beyond the Priorato.
The cliff below these convents is the supposed site of the cave of the giant Cacus, described by Virgil.
Hercules brought the oxen of Geryon to pasture in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine. Cacus issuing from his cave while their owner was asleep, carried off four of the bulls, dragging them up the steep side of the hill by their tails, that Hercules might be deceived by their foot-prints being reversed. Then he concealed them in his cavern, and barred the entrance with a rock. Hercules sought the stolen oxen everywhere, and when he could not find them, he was going away with the remainder. But as he drove them along the valley near the Tiber one of his oxen lowed, and when the stolen oxen in the cave heard that, they answered; and Hercules, after rushing three times round the Aventine boiling with fury, shattered the stone which guarded the entrance of the cave with a mass of rock, and, though the giant vomited forth smoke and flames against him, he strangled him in his arms. Thus runs the legend, which is explained by Ampère.
"Cacus habite une caverne de l'Aventin, montagne en tout temps mal famée, montagne anciennement hérissée de rochers et couverte de forêts, dont la forêt Nœvia, longtemps elle-même un repaire de bandits, était une dépendance et fut un reste qui subsista dans les temps historiques. Ce Cacus était sans doute un brigand célèbre, dangereux pour les pâtres du voisinage dont il volait les troupeaux quand ils allaient paître dans les prés situés au bord du Tibre et boire l'eau du fleuve. Les hauts faits de Cacus lui avaient donné cette célébrité qui, parmi les paysans romains, s'attache encore à ses pareils, et surtout le stratagème employé par lui probablement plus d'une fois pour dérouter les bouviers des environs, en emmenant les animaux qu'il dérobait, à manière de cacher la direction de leurs pas. La caverne du bandit avait été découverte et forcée par quelque pâtre courageux, qui y avait pénétré vaillamment, malgré la terreur que ce lieu souterrain et formidable inspirait, y avait surpris le voleur et l'avait étranglé.
"Tel était, je crois, le récit primitif où il n'était pas plus question d'Hercule que de Vulcain, et dans lequel Cacus n'était pas mis à mort par un demi-dieu, mais par un certain Recaranus, pâtre vigoureux et de grande taille. A ces récits de bergers, qui allaient toujours exagérant les horreurs de l'antre de Cacus et la résistance désespérée de celui-ci, vinrent se mêler peu à peu des circonstances merveilleuses."—Hist. Rom. i. 170.
We must retrace our steps, as far as the summit of the hill towards the Palatine, and then turn to the right in order to reach the ugly obscure-looking Church of Sta. Prisca, founded by Pope Eutychianus in A.D. 280, but entirely modernised by Cardinal Giustiniani from designs of Carlo Lombardi, who encased its fine granite columns in miserable stucco pilasters. Over the high altar is a picture by Passignano of the baptism of the saint, which is said to have taken place in the ancient crypt beneath the church, where an inverted Corinthian capital,—a relic of the temple of Diana which once occupied this site,—is shown as the font in which Sta. Prisca was baptized by St. Peter.
Opening from the right aisle is a kind of terraced loggia with a peculiar and beautiful view. In the adjoining vineyard are three arches of an aqueduct.
"According to the old tradition, this church stands on the site of the house of Aquila and Priscilla, where St. Peter lodged when at Rome, and who are the same mentioned by St. Paul as tent-makers; and here is shown the font, from which, according to the same tradition, St. Peter baptized the first Roman converts to Christianity. The altar-piece represents the baptism of Sta. Prisca, whose remains being afterwards placed in the church, it has since borne her name. According to the legend, she was a Roman virgin of illustrious birth, who, at the age of thirteen, was exposed in the amphitheatre. A fierce lion was let loose upon her, but her youth and innocence disarmed the fury of the savage beast, which, instead of tearing her to pieces, humbly licked her feet;—to the great consolation of Christians, and the confusion of idolaters. Being led back to prison, she was there beheaded. Sometimes she is represented with a lion, sometimes with an eagle, because it is related that an eagle watched by her body till it was laid in the grave; for thus, says the story, was virgin innocence honoured by kingly bird as well as by kingly beast."—Mrs. Jameson.
Opposite the door of this church is the entrance of the Vigna dei Gesuiti, a wild and beautiful vineyard occupying the greater part of this deserted hill, and extending as far as the Porta S. Paolo and the pyramid of Caius Cestius. Several farm-houses are scattered amongst the vines and fruit trees. There are beautiful views towards the Alban mountains, and to the Pseudo-Aventine with its fortress-like convents. The ground is littered with fragments of marbles and alabaster, which lie unheeded among the vegetables, relics of unknown edifices which once existed here. Just where the path in the vineyard descends a slight declivity towards S. Paolo, are the finest existing remains of the Walls of Servius Tullius,[190] formed of large quadrilateral blocks of tufa, laid alternately long and cross-ways, as in the Etruscan buildings. The spot is beautiful, and overgrown by a luxuriance of wild mignonette and other flowers in the late spring.
Descending to the valley beneath Sta. Prisca, and crossing the lane which leads from the Via Appia to the Porta S. Paolo, we reach, on the side of the Pseudo-Aventine, the Church of S. Sabba, which is supposed to mark the site of the Porta Randusculana of the walls of Servius Tullius. Its position is very striking, and its portico, built in A.D. 1200, is picturesque and curious.
This church is of unknown origin, but is known to have existed in the time of St. Gregory the Great, and to have been one of the fourteen privileged abbacies of Rome. Its patron saint was St. Sabbas, an abbot of Cappadocia, who died at Jerusalem in A.D. 532.
"The record of the artist Jacobus dei Cosmati, dated the third year of Innocent III. (1205), on the lintel of the mosaic-inlaid doorway, justifies us in classing this church among monuments of the thirteenth century. From its origin a Greek monastery, it was assigned by Lucius II., in 1141, to the Benedictines of the Cluny rule. An epigraph near the sacristy mentions a rebuilding either of the cloisters or church, in 1325, by an abbot Joannes; and in 1465 the roof was renewed in woodwork by a cardinal, the nephew of Pius II.
"In 1512 the Cistercians of Clairvaux were located here by Julius II.; and some years later these buildings were given to the Germanic-Hungarian College. Amidst gardens and vineyards, approached by a solitary lane between hedgerows, this now deserted sanctuary has a certain affecting character in its forlornness. Save on Thursdays, when the German students are brought hither by their Jesuit professors to enliven the solitude by their sports and converse, we might never succeed in finding entrance to this quiet retreat of the monks of old.
"Within the arched porch, through which we pass into an outer court, we read an inscription telling that here stood the house and oratory (called cella nova) of Sta. Sylvia, mother of St. Gregory the Great, whence the pious matron used daily to send a porridge of legumes to her son, while he inhabited his monastery on the Clivus Scauri, or northern ascent of the Cœlian. Within that court formerly stood the cloistral buildings, of which little now remains. The façade is remarkable for its atrium in two stories: the upper with a pillared arcade, probably of the fifteenth century; the lower formerly supported by six porphyry columns, removed by Pius VI. to adorn the Vatican library, where they still stand. The porphyry statuettes of two emperors embracing, supposed either an emblem of the concord between the East and West, or the intended portraits of the co-reigning Constantine II. and Constans—a curious example of sculpture in its deep decline, and probably imported by Greek monks from Constantinople—project from two of those ancient columns."—Hemans' Mediæval Art.
The interior of St. Sabba is in the basilica form. It retains some fragments of inlaid pavements, some handsome inlaid marble panels on either side of the high altar, and an ancient sarcophagus. The tribune has rude paintings of the fourteenth century—the Saviour between St. Andrew and St. Sabbas the Abbot; and below the Crucifixion, the Madonna and the twelve Apostles. Beneath the tribune is a crypt,—and over its altar a beautifully ornamented disk with a Greek cross in the centre.
Behind St. Sabbas is another delightful vineyard, but it is difficult to gain admittance. Here Flaminius Vacca describes the discovery of a mysterious chamber without door or window, whose pavement was of agate and cornelian, and whose walls were plated with gilt copper; but of this nothing remains.[191]
To reach the remaining church of the Aventine, we have to turn to the Via Appia, and then follow the lane which leads up the hillside from the Baths of Caracalla to the Church of Sta. Balbina, whose picturesque red brick tower forms so conspicuous a feature, as seen against the long soft lines of the flat Campagna, in so many Roman views. It was erected in memory of Sta. Balbina, a virgin martyr (buried in Sta. Maria in Domenica), who suffered under Hadrian, A.D. 132. It contains the remains of an altar erected by Cardinal Barbo, in the old basilica of St. Peter's, a splendid ancient throne of marble inlaid with mosaics, and a fine tomb of Stefano Sordi, supporting a recumbent figure, and adorned with mosaics by one of the Cosmati.
Adjoining this church Monsignor de Mérode established a house of correction for youthful offenders, to avert the moral result of exposing them to communication with other prisoners.
The Porta Capena—Baths of Caracalla—Vigna Guidi—SS. Nereo ed Achilleo—SS. Sisto e Domenico—S. Cesareo (S. Giovanni in Oleo—S. Giovanni in Porta Latina)—Columbarium of the Freedmen of Octavia—Tomb of the Scipios—Columbarium of the Vigna Codini—Arch of Drusus—Porta S. Sebastiano—Tombs of Geta and Priscilla—Church of Domine Quo Vadis (Vigna Marancia)—Catacombs of S. Calixtus, of S. Pretextatus, of the Jews, and SS. Nereo ed Achilleo—(Temple of Bacchus, i.e. S. Urbano—Grotto of Egeria—Temple of Divus Rediculus)—Basilica and Catacombs of S. Sebastiano—Circus of Maxentius—Temple of Romulus, son of Maxentius—Tomb of Cecilia Metella—Castle of the Caetani—Tombs of the Via Appia—Sta. Maria Nuova—Roma Vecchia—Casale Rotondo—Tor di Selce, &c.
THE Via Appia, called Regina Viarum by Statius, was begun B.C. 312, by the Censor Appius Claudius the Blind, "the most illustrious of the great Sabine and Patrician race, of whom he was the most remarkable representative." It was paved throughout, and during the first part of its course served as a kind of patrician cemetery, being bordered by a magnificent avenue of family tombs. It began at the Porta Capena, itself crossed by the Claudian aqueduct, which was due to the same great benefactor,—
"Substitit ad veteres arcus madidamque Capenam,"
and was carried by Claudius across the Pontine Marshes as far as Capua, but afterwards extended to Brundusium.
The site of the Porta Capena, so important as marking the commencement of the Appian Way, was long a disputed subject. The Roman antiquaries maintained that it was outside the present Walls, basing their opinion on the statement of St. Gregory, that the river Almo was in that Regio, and considering the Almo identical with a small stream which is crossed in the hollow about half a mile beyond the Porta S. Sebastiano, and which passes through the Valle Caffarelle, and falls into the Tiber near S. Paolo. This stream, however, which rises at the foot of the Alban Hills below the lake, divides into two parts about six miles from Rome, and its smaller division, after flowing close to the Porta San Giovanni, recedes again into the country, enters Rome near the Porta Metronia, a little behind the Church of S. Sisto, and passing through the Circus Maximus, falls into the Tiber at the Pulchrum Littus, below the temple of Vesta. Close to the point where this, the smaller branch of the Almo, crosses the Via San Sebastiano, Mr. J. H. Parker, in 1868—69, discovered some remains, on the original line of walls, which he has identified, beyond doubt, as those of the Porta Capena, whose position had been already proved by Ampère and other authorities.
Close to the Porta Capena stood a large group of historical buildings, of which no trace remains. On the right of the gate was the temple of Mars:
It is probably in allusion to this temple that Propertius says:
Martial alludes to a little temple of Hercules near this:
Near the gate also stood the tomb of the murdered sister of the Horatii,[192] with the temples of Honour and Virtue, vowed by Marcellus and dedicated by his son,[193] and a fountain, dedicated to Mercury:
It was at the Porta Capena that the survivor of the Horatii met his sister.
"Horatius went home at the head of the army, bearing his triple spoils. But as they were drawing near to the Capenian gate, his sister came out to meet him. Now she had been betrothed in marriage to one of the Curiatii, and his cloak, which she had wrought with her own hands, was borne on the shoulders of her brother; and she knew it, and cried aloud, and wept for him she had loved. At the sight of her tears Horatius was so wrath that he drew his sword, and stabbed his sister to the heart; and he said, 'So perish the Roman maiden who shall weep for her country's enemy!'"—Arnold's Hist. of Rome, i. 16.
Among the many other historical scenes with which the Porta Capena is connected, we may remember that it was here that Cicero was received in triumph by the senate and people of Rome, upon his return from banishment B.C. 57.
Two roads lead to the Via S. Sebastiano, one the Via S. Gregorio, which comes from the Coliseum beneath the arch of Constantine; the other, the street which comes from the Ghetto, through the Circus Maximus, between the Palatine and Aventine.
The first gate on the left, after the junction of these roads, is that of the vineyard of the monks of S. Gregorio, in which the site of the Porta Capena was found. The remains discovered have been reburied, owing to the indifference or jealousy of the government; but the vineyard is worth entering on account of the picturesque view it possesses of the Palace of the Cæsars.
On the right, a lane leads up the Pseudo-Aventine to the Church of Sta. Balbina, described Chap. VIII.
On the left, where the Via Appia crosses the brook of the Almo, now called Maranna, the Via di San Sisto Vecchio leads to the back of the Cœlian behind S. Stefano Rotondo. Here, in the hollow, in the grounds of the Villa Mattei, under some picturesque farm-buildings, is a spring which modern archæology has determined to be the true Fountain of Egeria, where Numa Pompilius is described as having his mysterious meetings with the nymph Egeria. The locality of this fountain was verified when that of the Porta Capena was ascertained, as it was certain that it was in the immediate neighbourhood of that gate, from a passage in the 3d Satire of Juvenal, which describes, that when he was waiting at the Porta Capena with Umbritius while the waggon was loading for his departure to Cumæ, they rambled into the valley of Egeria, and Umbritius said, after speaking of his motives for leaving Rome, "I could add other reasons to these, but my beasts summon me to move on, and the sun is setting. I must be going, for the muleteer has long been summoning me by the cracking of his whip."
To this valley the oppressed race of the Jews was confined by Domitian, their furniture consisting of a basket and a wisp of hay:
On the right, are the Baths of Caracalla, the largest mass of ruins in Rome, except the Coliseum; consisting for the most part of huge shapeless walls of red and orange-coloured brickwork, framing vast strips of blue sky, and tufted with shrubs and flowers. These baths, which could accommodate 1600 bathers at once, were begun in A.D. 212, by Caracalla, continued by Heliogabalus, and finished under Alexander Severus. They covered a space of 2,625,000 square yards—a size which made Ammianus Marcellinus say that the Roman baths were like provinces—and they were supplied with water by the Antonine Aqueduct, which was brought hither for that especial purpose from the Claudian, over the Arch of Drusus.
Antiquaries have amused themselves by identifying different chambers, to which, with considerable uncertainty, the names of Calidarium, Laconicum, Tepidarium, Frigidarium, &c., have been affixed.
The habits of luxury and inertion which were introduced with the magnificent baths of the emperors were among the principal causes of the decline and fall of Rome. Thousands of the Roman youth frittered away their hours in these magnificent halls, which were provided with everything which could gratify the senses. Poets were wont to recite their verses to those who were reclining in the baths.
"These Thermæ of Caracalla, which were one mile in circumference, and open at stated hours for the indiscriminate service of the senators and the people, contained above sixteen hundred seats of marble. The walls of the lofty apartments were covered with curious mosaics that imitated the art of the pencil in elegance of design and in the variety of their colours. The Egyptian granite was beautifully encrusted with the precious green marble of Numidia. The perpetual stream of hot water was poured into the capacious basons through so many wide mouths of bright and massy silver; and the meanest Roman could purchase, with a small copper coin, the daily enjoyment of a scene of pomp and luxury which might excite the envy of the kings of Asia. From these stately palaces issued forth a swarm of dirty and ragged plebeians, without shoes and without mantle; who loitered away whole days in the street or Forum, to hear news and to hold disputes; who dissipated, in extravagant gaming, the miserable pittance of their wives and children; and spent the hours of the night in the indulgence of gross and vulgar sensuality."—Gibbon.
In the first great hall was found, in 1824, the immense mosaic pavement of the pugilists, now in the Lateran museum. Endless works of art have been discovered here from time to time, among them the best of the Farnese collection of statues,—the Bull, the Hercules, and the Flora,—which were dug up in 1534, when Paul III. carried off all the still remaining marble decorations of the baths to use for the Farnese Palace. The last of the pillars to be removed from hence is that which supports the statue of Justice in the Piazza Sta. Trinità at Florence.
A winding stair leads to the top of the walls, which are worth ascending, as well for the idea which you there receive of the vast size of the ruins, as for the lovely views of the Campagna, which are obtained between the bushes of lentiscus and phillyrea with which they are fringed. It was seated on these walls that Shelley wrote his "Prometheus Unbound."
"This poem was chiefly written upon the mountainous ruins of the baths of Caracalla, among the flowery glades and thickets of odoriferous blossoming trees which are extended in ever-winding labyrinths upon its immense platforms and dizzy arches suspended in the air. The bright blue sky of Rome, and the effect of the vigorous awakening spring in that divinest climate, and the new life with which it drenches the spirits even to intoxication, were the inspiration of the drama."—Preface to the Prometheus.
"Maintenant les murailles sont nues, sauf quelques fragments de chapiteaux oubliés par la destruction; mais elles conservent ce que seules des mains de géant pourraient leur ôter, leur masse écrasante, la grandeur de leurs aspects, la sublimité de leurs ruines. On ne regrette rien quand on contemple ces énormes et pittoresque débris, baignés à midi par une ardente lumière ou se remplissant d'ombres à la tombée de la nuit, s'élançant, à une immense hauteur vers un ciel éblouissant, ou se dressant, mornes et mélancoliques, sous un ciel grisâtre,—ou bien, lorsque, montant sur la plate-forme inégale, crevassée, couverte d'arbustes et tapissée de gazon, on voit, comme du haut d'une colline, d'un côté se dérouler la campagne romaine et le merveilleux horizon de montagnes qui la termine, de l'autre apparaître, ainsi qu'une montagne de plus, le dôme de Saint-Pierre, la seule des œuvres d'homme qui ait quelque chose de la grandeur des œuvres de Dieu."—Ampère, Emp. ii. 286.
The name of the lane which leads to the baths (Via all' Antoniana) recalls the fact that, "with a vanity which seems like mockery, Caracalla dared to bear the name of Antoninus," which was always dear to the Roman people.
Passing under the wall of the government-garden for raising shrubs for the public walks, a door on the left of the Via Appia, with a sculptured marble frieze above it, is that of Guidi, the antiquity vendor, who has a small museum here of splendid fragments of marble and alabaster for sale. Opposite is the Vigna of Signor Guidi, who has unearthed a splendid mosaic pavement of Tritons riding on dolphins, and who has here also a collection of antique fragments to be disposed of.
On the right, is SS. Nereo ed Achilleo, a most interesting little church. The tradition runs that St. Peter, going to execution, let drop here one of the bandages of his wounds, and that the spot was marked by the early Christians with an oratory, which bore the name of Fasciola. Nereus and Achilles, eunuchs in the service of Clemens Flavius and Flavia Domitilla (members of the imperial family exiled to Pontia under Diocletian), having suffered martyrdom at Terracina, their bodies were transported here in 524 by John I., when the oratory was enlarged into a church, which was restored under Leo III., in 795. The church was rebuilt in the sixteenth century, by Cardinal Baronius, who took his title from hence. In his work he desired that the ancient basilica character should be carefully carried out, and all the ancient ornaments of the church were preserved and re-erected. His anxiety that his successors should not meddle with or injure these objects of antiquity is shown by, the inscription on a marble slab in the tribune: