Historic and Monumental Rome. A handbook, etc

Front matter

Recently published by the same Author. A HISTORY OF MEDIÆVAL CHRISTIANITY AND SACRED AET IN ITALY, A.D. 900-1400 IN ITALY, 900-1500 IN ROME. (Vol. I. 7* Gd— Vol. II. 10* (id) Two vols. crown 8vo. 1S«. A HISTORY OF ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY AND SACRED ART IN ITALY. Crqwar^»vCloth, 7s Qd. WILLIAMS AND London and Edinblkgii. A HANDBOOK FOR THE STUDENTS OF CLASSICAL AND CHRISTIAN ANTIQUITY IN THE ITALIAN CAPITAL. in CHARLES ISIDORE HEMANS. WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON; and 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. How profitless.*? the relics that we cull. Troubling the last holds of ambitious Rome, Unless they chasten fancies, that presume Too high, or idle aspirations lull ! Heaven out of view, our wishes what are they Our fond regrets, insatiate in their grasp, The Sage's theory, the Poet's lay ? Mere fibulae without a robe to clasp ; Obsolete lamps whose light no time recalls ; Urus without ashes, tearless lachrymals ! Wordsworth.

Preface

. Having been urged by friends and acquaintances to prepare a second edition of a work in two small volumes : The Story of Monuments in Eome and its Environs (Florence, 1865), I have, seeing how much the aspects of the subject have changed and its field become enlarged within late years, not only amplified but entirely re-written my former work — and have incorporated in these pages, with more or less alteration, several papers read before the British and Ameri can Archæological Society in Rome. The ground of Christian antiquities in and near that city is one I have gone over, with fuller treatment than is here attempted, in another volume : " Ancient Christianity and Sacred Art in Italy.*" Having quitted Rome in the Summer of 1873, and not returned thither since, I refer in these pages to the state of things there existent up to that time, alluding to Monasteries and Convents, where I have occasion to mention ruins on their pre mises, as though the cloisters were still inhabited by their former inmates.

The law for suppressing such institutions had been enacted by the Italian Parlia ment, but not carried out, before the end of the month (June, 1873) in which I last saw the "Eternal City" after residing there for many years. C. I. H. i*i*.i; 1 ?0 84 131 1G0 207 251 2S5 318 CONTENTS.

Walks among Ruins ; Recent Discoveries ; The Walls of Rome ; Conclusion Appendix

Chapter I

LlTEEATITRE ILLUSTRATIVE OF ROME. If proof were desired of the enduring interest that attracts to this centre — Rome, as the goal of so many pilgrimages, as subject for thought, study, investigation to so many minds — we need but glance at the literary pro duce of all civilized countries, and the prominence therein assigned to the results of such studies, to the embodiment of memories referring to this scene of fascinations. That local illustration for which a new term — Astyography — (or the Description of the City par excellence) — has been introduced into scientific nomenclature — has received contributions from intellects of almost every calibre, and borne fruit remarkable not less for intrinsic value than for infinite variety. "Who (we may ask) among the intellectually great and gifted has failed, mentally or bodily, to make the pilgrimage to Rome ? — to offer, whether from distant shores or from the classic ground actually visited, the tributes of Genius or Learning to this shrine ? — thereby throwing some new light or adding some new charm to the memories and monuments which here surround us.

The spell would not assuredly have proved equally potent had the magni nominis umbra been associated only with the remembrances of the B greatest among ancient empires ; a more sublime distinction has been won from the unparalleled lustre of successive supremacies in the highest degree contrasted, yet alike wonderful in their manifestations — as the victorious Eagle yielded place to the adored Cross at this imperial City. The glories of the Capitol are linked, in historic record, with those of the Vatican. Unless the metropolis of the ancient Empire had become in due time that of spiritual sway, her part in world-history would have been as much less important as, undoubtedly, her attractions to the imaginative and studious would have been less potent than they actually are. In the vast body of literature illustrative of this theme some species of classification may be useful to the student ; and all tastes may find what will satisfy in such an ample range.

If we begin with the historic class, we perceive that nothing could be more contrasted than the tendencies and aims of writers who have dwelt on different aspects of the same great argument. Baronius, Mabillon, and the me diæval writers edited by Muratori introduce us to a Rome in which we can scarcely recognise the City of the Republic or the Cæsars. The same profound moral opposition appears (while truth is presented on both sides) in what may be called the pictorial and romantic presentment of the subject in the German antiquarian novel of " Gallus, or Roman Scenes of the time of Augustus ;" — on the other hand, in Lord Lytton's "Rienzi," and in Cardinal Wiseman's "Fabiola." The Imperial City has been so ably illustrated by living writers that I may in this reference depart from my plan of noticing only what belongs to the past, and commend the high merits of such works as the " Histoire Romaine a Rome " by Ampere, " Les Cæsars," and " Les Antonins," by De Cham- ILLUSTRATIVE LITERATURE. pagny, before mentioning with deserved praise such his tories of this city in the middle ages as have been produced by the Germans— Papencordt, Von Reumont, and, above all, Grogorovius ; — also, in the French language, the " Rome Chretienne" of Gournerie, and another work of almost the same title by Gerbet ; in English those more recent works by Dyer and A. J. Hare.

Ancient Latin literature is beyond my limits. I need ODly observe that true archæological science, as conceived and developed by the moderns, is not found in classic antiquity, though Pausanias, Pliny, Frontinus, Aulus Gellius, are indeed available authorities for the purposes of the archæologist. That science, in its higher aspects at least, is founded on a deeply felt reverential interest in Humanity which was generally unknown to the mind of ancient Greece and Rome, and is an offspring of mental tendencies cultivated and ma tured under Christianity. I may notice, however, one eminent poet — the last of the Latin and Pagan cycle — Claudian, who flourished in the later years of the IV. and earlier of the V. century, and who, in his most highly finished poems on the Gothic wars and the consulates of Honorius, dwells not only on political events, but also on local and social aspects in the time of that Emperor, and of Theodosius, his more renowned father.

In these two poems we see how the illusory splendour that gilded decay could still impose on a susceptible mind, how the spirit of a courtier could recon cile mythologic belief with the homage to princes proud of proclaiming their Catholic orthodoxy. Whilst intending to sing hymns of triumph, Claudian was pronouncing a funeral oration over the Empire now on the verge of ruin. Another poet of the V. century, who adheres to Pagan ism — Rutilius Numantianus, a Gaul, prefect of Rome, b ■A HISTORIC AND MONUMENTAL ROME. a.d. 425— expresses, when obliged to quit the charmed scene and return to the cold North, the sorrow of an exile blent with an enthusiasm of admiration for the imperial City, her temples, theatres, aqueducts, and all the sunlit splendours of her seven hills, which he was leaving for ever.

Embarking on the Tiber in the evening, he rejoices that adverse winds delay his voyage ; and a cherished melan choly of sentiment, more familiar in modern than ancient poetry, gives a colouring that one is somewhat surprised to find in these records of the visit of a foreigner to the capital already shorn of her olden glories by Gothic in vasion. Among Christian contemporaries of the above named writers was the more popular and richly productive poet, Aurelius Prudentius, whose hymns are still sung at Catholic worship. He, too, supplies occasional glimpses of classic sites, with many details of Pagan usages ; but the chief interest of his devotional and narrative poems con sists in their testimony to the singular social conditions of the Empire whilst two Religions were struggling for mastery — the old still restlessly alive, the new advancing rapidly in power and pomp, though yet far from being universally dominant.

Later in the IV. century were compiled the Notiliæ Urbis, topographic notices of the buildings and public establishments of this City by Sextus Rufus and Publius Victor, called the Regionaries, on account of the civic division according to which their reports are drawn up, as maintained to the present day, into fourteen regions, or wards. With these mere catalogues may be classed the ampler Notitiæ of the Western Empire, compiled under Theodosius H. a.d. 450. On the night of the 24th August, a.d. 410, the Imperial Metropolis was captured by barbarians, tho spell of her ILLUSTRATIVE LITEHATURE. 5 invincibility was broken, her inviolable crown lost, when Alaric led his Gothic host through the Salarian gate, whose shattered arches still bear traces of the shock then sus tained.* The first memorable book produced after that catastrophe was the Civitus Dei (" City of God") — a work indeed forming an epoch, for its author may be said to have founded therein a Philosophy of History from the Christian point of view.

St. Augustine does not dwell on the monuments or arts of the vanquished city for their own sake, but for the moral and religious realities of which those external things are the expression or product. Taking a high standpoint, and rising above olden prejudice, he dispels the illusion, long prevalent alike among Heathens and Christians, that the Empire of Rome was an actually Divine Institution, destined to endure for ever, because necessary to the well-being and organization of the civilized world. In the VI. century, we find the subject in question treated from a different point of view in the somewhat inflated, but valuable, Epistles of Cassiodorus, secretary to the Gothic kings at Ravenna, and who ended his life as a monk. This writer supplies many particulars respecting the public works, the political circumstances and administration of Rome at that period ; and his pages are a source of much useful matter for the historian.

We have to traverse ages of darkness, but faintly dispelled by a few ecclesiastical writers, in the centuries next ensuing. The letters and sermons of St. Gregory the Great afford glimpses, mournful indeed, of the conditions of the depressed city, now perpetually exposed to Longobardic invasion, im poverished, left without aid from the feeble despots of Con- * Written before the much to be regretted demolition of that ancient gateway under the new Government. stantinople, who still affected to rule over the Seven Hills ; but Rome was preserved from ruin by the beneficent action of the Church. Anastasius, in his " Lives of the Popes," carried down to a.d. 867, is our best authority for this period ; and it is probable that several of the biographies included in the series under his name are by writers con temporary with the respective Pontiffs.

A less qualified, though noticeable, guide through the gloom of the earlier mediæval periods is the German Pil grim, who visited Rome in the IX. century, perhaps before tho close of Charlemagne's reign, and who is known as the Anonymous of Einsiedlin, from the fact that his MS. — a brief topographic notice of edifices, with the transcript of epigraphs from their fronts — had been found in the library of that Swiss Monastery shortly before it was first edited by Mabillon. Arrived at the X. century, we find ourselves in darkness that may be felt, the portentous result of moral disorders, general ignorance, and anarchy. Liutprand, Bishop of Cremona, in his Chronicles of his own time, may be quoted as authority, though open to the charge of exaggeration and scandal-seeking, particularly with regard to high placed personages at Rome.

But the distinguished Bene dictine above-named, Mabillon, lights up the gloom, even in this "double night of ages," by the luminous intellect and comprehensive learning whose vast results are gathered up in his colossal " Annals of the Benedictine Order." For the XI. and XII. centuries, we are supplied with information as to the eventful history of the Roman Pon tificate by several contemporary writers, edited in the great series under Muratori's name : " Rerum Italicarum Scrip tores." In the Xn. century, we meet with the first of that long drawn array of monographs (illustrative of particular churches, especially the great basilicas), namely, "a De scription of the Vatican Basilica," by Mallius, Canon of that Papal Cathedral ; also a similar work on the Lateran Basilica, by John the Deacon, both dedicated to the reigning Pope, Alexander III.

Twenty -three years after the devastating conflagration caused by the Norman troops of Robert Guiscard, a.d. 1084, Rome was visited (in 1107) by Hildebert, Bishop of Tours, who records his impressions in elegiac verse, and not only dwells on the dismal realities before him in the yet unrepaired consequences of the scathing fires, but also on the art-treasures which impressed him most (few indeed can we suppose to have been at that time visible) — observing, with enthusiasm somewhat singu lar in one of his sacred office — that the gods seem here to breathe in their beautiful images, and that one honours them rather for the sake of the artists than for their own divinity. A most curious document, perhaps in its nucleus at least as old as the XL, but probably developed into its actual form in the XTI. century, is the Mirabilia Urbis Romæ, a tissue of Romance, embodying popular legends and vision ary notions as to this City's antiquities and monuments, without any knowledge of her History or ancient Litera ture — a curiosity in its way ; scarce an ancient edifice that is not assigned to some fantastic or impossible origin in these dreamy pages.

The writer's conjectures as to the few classical sculptures he refers to, are most amusing ; his notions of the Pagan Priesthood are derived from Mediæval Catholicism ; and the whole work may, in fact, be consi dered as a childlike expression of wonder at the grandeur of Ruins here beheld, but utterly without comprehension. Not the least singular circumstance as to this book is its publication in Rome by authority, as a recommendable guide for Pilgrims, a.d. 1470 ! To the same class of writings coloured by phantasy, with out aDy basement of knowledge, pertain the Travels of Benjamin Tudela, a Rabbi, arriving here about a.d. 1173,. and who (an Israelite in heart and soul) sees Jerusalem, her destinies, her memories, reflected in the whole world. He entertains us with an account of 80 palaces built by as many emperors at this wonderful city !

In his eyes the Maxentian Circus is the Palace of Titus, which that Em peror was obliged to build at such extramural distance, on account of the disgrace incurred by him for not having taken Jerusalem in two years, but (contrary to senatorial orders) spent three years on the enterprise of that siege. Martinus Polonus (a Polish Bishop of Cosenza), in a chronicle written about a.d. 1320, retails many legends from the Mirabilia, and (a strange mistake in the pages of one who could report from ocular inspection) hazards the statement that the circuit of Rome's walls measured 42 miles ! On occasion of the first Jubilee, appointed by Boniface VIH. 1300, Dante arrived here as envoy of the Florentine Republic ; but the sojourn left few traces on his immortal page, — if in his mind — other than a bitter hostility against that Pontiff, whom, however, he is generous enough reverentially to pity for the cruel wrongs suffered by him at the hands of the myrmidons hired by Philip le Bel.

Reminiscences of spectacular occasions — the splendours of the Lateran — the thronging of Pilgrims on the S. An gelo bridge, and the exposition of the Volto Santo at S. Peter's, are all that relates to Rome in other passages of the "Divina Commedia," where Boniface, or some other reprobated Pope, is not in question. Dante remembers Rome as the metropolis of the Church and the seat of the spiritual power whose corruptions he denounces. The more genial and impressionable Petrarch, whose visit to Rome for his coronation on the Capitol, a.d. 1341, was the second occasion on which he saw this city, gives most interesting records of his thoughts and feelings, whilst here, in his Latin Letters. There, in many delightful pages, we have the pleasure at last of contemplating the reflex (so to say) of monumental Rome in a richly gifted intellect— one of those " with mind that sheds a light on all it sees" — who lost nothing of the Present and appre ciated all in the Past.

This eminently representative man of his time accepted every thing in the range of mediæval belief, whilst far above the level of contemporary intelligence. His enthusiasm alike warms among the ruins of the Forum and on the site where, as he repeats the legend of the Ara Cœli church, Augustus beheld the vision of the Virgin Mother and Divine Child, interpreted by the oracular Sibyl ! Nor does he doubt the tradition that the Temple of Peace (meaning the Basilica of Constantine) was preternaturally overthrown — one part at least sinking into sudden decay, of which neither time nor earthquake was the cause — at the advent of the true Prince of Peace ! It is pleasant to accompany Petrarch on his long walks through this then depopulated city, as in the evening hours, when he used to ascend the vaulted roofs of the Diocletian Thermæ, thence to contemplate the wide prospect of neglected antiquities, or while away the time in talk with a congenial companion on ancient and modern History, or on Philosophy and Religion.

But even this Child of Genius, disposed as he is to see the brighter side of the picture, does not shut his eyes to lamentable realities — the ignorance and social degradation here too evident during the sojourn of the Papal Court at Avignon. " Who (he asks) are at this day more ignorant of Rome than the Romans '** Unwillingly do I say it — nowhere is Rome loss known of than at Rome." See also his eloquent appeal, addressed, a.d. 1362, to Urban V., urging him to restore the Holy See to its ancient metropolis. A mournful pic ture of the desolation and anarchy here prevailing at that period is found in the contemporary life of Cola di Rienzo, edited by Muratori, and later (with valuable annotations) by Zefferino Re. Interesting and graphic report of what took place in Rome during the Jubilee year, 1350, is given as well by that anonymous writer as by the younger Vil lani ; and for further particulars of the deplorable social state in the XIV. century, we may consult, in Muratori, the chronicler Monaldeschi, who describes what he had seen within Rome's walls.

On the 17th January, 1377, Pope Gregory XI. made his solemn entry into Rome, restoring the Papal residence to the Capital abandoned by its sovereign Priests during 72 years. Nothing could have surpassed the pomps or enthusiasm of his reception ; for, amid whatever depression and gloom, the Church could always command the homage of magnificence. As to this festive occasion we have a very curious report, " Itinerarium Gregorii XI," in somewhat ponderous Latin verse by an eye-witness, Amelius Alectensis, a prelate who rode in the Papal procession which entered by the Ostian gate early on the morning of that day. The long cavalcade could not reach the silent halls of the Vatican (henceforth the residence preferred to the ruinous Lateran Palace) till the hour of Complines, that is, after Vespers.

The XV. century was one of progress, promoted by new and potent influences in almost every walk. Vet at the beginning of this epoch one chronicler describes this City as so desolate that she resembled rather a village of cowherds than a civilized metropolis ! This was during the long schism of the Antipopes, eventually put down by the memorable Council of Constance, a.d. 1414. The fall of the Byzantine Empire drove away many exiled Greeks, and among them many savans, to seek refuge in the West, thus contributing to revive the studies of classical literature and appreciation for the intellect of antiquity. Such Popes as Martin V., Nicholas V., and Pius II. , must be remembered among benefactors of their age and metropolis. In 1467 was issued the first printed book from a Roman press, namely, the " Familiar Epistles " of Cicero ; but the German typographers, who opened that establish ment here, had already brought out an edition of Lactantius at Subiaco.

The writer first claiming notice in the walk I am now considering, at this period, is Flavio Biondo, engaged between 1431 and 1447 in investigating and describing Roman and Italian antiquities, the fruit of which labours is contained in his " Roma Restaurata" and " Italia Hlustrata." In the first of those volumes we become acquainted with the then condition of monuments, many of which have since vanished, or been so maltreated that, as they now rise before us, they are but the shadows of a shade compared with the picture presented to us in Biondo's pages. Ciriaco of Ancona, who came to this city first in 1424, afterwards (in the suite of the Emperor Sigismund) in 1433, was almost the first Italian traveller who made the search for, and collecting of, antiques a primary object. He has left in a Latin Itinerary some gleanings obtained (not indeed very copious) by those labours on his diligent journeys.

Another learned traveller, Ambrogio Traversari, the beatified Father- General of the Camaldulese Order, wrote a most curious work under the pedantic title of " Hodeporicop," describing his official visits to monasteries, and the state in which he found them, both in the Roman and Tuscan provinces, a.d. 1432. Next in order of date appears a distinguished savant, Poggio Bracciolini, the Florentine secretary to Nicholas V., and author (besides many other works) of the " De Varietate Fortunæ " (about a.d. 1447), which commences impressively with meditations on the fate of Empires, suggested by the scene before him as he sat thoughtful on the Capitoline Hill, where the Tabularium, still so conspicuous and majestic in ruin, was then utilized as a salt magazine. His testimony is valuable, for his brief allusions inform us with regard to the actual state of decay and the deliberate injuries inflicted on the monumental wealth of this city.

Pomponio Leto, another protege1 of Nicholas V., succeeded in reviving theatrical performances here, on a stage with classical sock and buskin, where were produced comedies of Terence and Plautus, in prelatic palaces. The same writer contributed a Latin treatise (but meagre indeed) on the local antiquities. The learned Platina, librarian of the Vatican under Sixtus IV., produced the first comparatively modern biographic work on the Popes, carried down to his own time, a.d. 1471 ; and though far from a discriminating — sometimes indeed an amusingly credulous historian — his account of ecclesiastical buildings and restorations adds to the interest of his still celebrated work. The social conditions of Rome towards the end of this century are displayed in occasional glimpses through the tissue of court details and scandals, compiled by two chamberlains of the Vatican, Infessura and Burckhart, — both apparently accurate in their elaborately minute diaries; but it is suspected that the one by Burckhart, chamberlain to Alexander VI., has been interpolated so as to make the picture (if possible) darker than the original.

Relevant to this social picture is one fact here stated, that between the last illness of Innocent VIII. and the election of his successor, Alexander VI. an interval of seventeen days (July to August 1492), were perpetrated in this holy city 220 assassinations ! Before turning from the XV. century, I may recommend an admirable illustration of monumental Rome at this period, due not to the pen but to the pencil, by Giuliano Giamberti (better known as Sangallo), a series of drawings, ably executed, a.d. 1465, and now to be seen in the Barberini Library. In the XVI. century we may hail with pleasure the new developments of archæology as an organised science, resting on (or at least beginning to find) a firm basis of evidences aud learning, but still far from the accuracy since attained. Nowhere more than at this centre was encouraged the spirit of that renaissanee which led to results beyond all that could have been anticipated by the Popes.

Among writings of the class I have to notice, now appear the several descriptions of the City and her Mirabilia by Raffaele Maffei (1506), by Andrea Fulvio (1527) etc., the " Discourses " on Antiquity by Scamozzi ; also, more im portant, the " Topography of Rome" (Latin) by Marliani — • the first to cast aside untenable tradition and pedantry, the first to illustrate his text by engravings. Another such work, Antichitd di Roma, by Lucio Mauro, is furnished with an Appendix by Aldroandi on the statues then extant here — the earliest notice of such art relics, scattered over public and private buildings at this period. Two architects who describe Roman antiquities at about the same time, are Bernardo Gamucci (1552) and Pirro Ligorio, the latter being one of those professionally engaged at St. Peter's. Designs, which are more to be relied upon than his text, illustrate the volume by Ligorio, many of whose theories might raise a smile ; yet amid much wild guess-work, he sometimes lights upon a truth confirmed by later authorities.

One of his strangest fantasies is that which absolutely translocates the Roman Forum, and places the Mamertine Prisons among the ruins of the three temples over which stands the Church of S. Niccolo in Carcere ! and this after promising, in a chapter well en titled " Paradoxes," to rescue the whole world from tho darkness of antiquarian error ! Raphael's memoir, addressed to Leo X., on the means of preserving or restoring classic monuments, is a precious, though brief, document ; and the Libro dell' Architettura by Labaco, director of antiquarian researches under that pontificate, is also valuable. A learned Dominican, Leandro Alberti, compiled with much diligence an antiquarian and historical description of all Italy — its cities, monuments, " mountains, lakes, rivers, fountains, baths, mines, and all the marvellous works of Nature here displayed" — as his quaint preface sets forth.

This work seems to me the best of its description hitherto produced ; and it is remarkable that, ages before Niebuhr, this erudite monk disputes the claim of Romulus to be con sidered the Founder of Rome, assuming far higher anti quity for the Roma quadrata on the Palatine, which he thinks must have given its name to, and not received it from, that hero, whose very existence has since been doubted ! Onofrio Panvinio, a very learned Augustinian, commenced (about 1550) a colossal work on Rome's Ancient History— " Antiquæ Urbis Imago," which he did not live to finish, but which must be prized even in its fragmentary state ; and in another work, a Latin description of the Seven Roman Basilicas, we may appreciate his learning in sacred archæology. In 1588 appeared the Stazioni di Roma by Ugonio ; and in 1600 the most complete account of the Christian as distinct from the Pagan metropolis — I mean the Tesori Nascosti ("Hidden Treasures of the August City ") by Ottavio Pancirolli.

More important was the publication, in 1586, of the first volume of the great work finished in 1605, by Cardinal Cesare Baronio, which won for him the designation : " Father of Ecclesiastical History." Its incorrectnesses have been pointed out, its merits fully recognised. The striking presentment of facts, the vast accumulation of antiquarian evidences in this work entitle it to its high place ; and he who desires mentally to behold and estimate the most eventful eras of mediæval Rome, as laid before us in this H istory of the Church up to the year 1198, should not fail to study Baronius. The last antiquarian work I have to notice within the XVI. century, is that by the sculptor Flaminio Vacca (1594), whose off-hand notes, mostly jotted down from personal observation, were not intended for publicity, and are therefore the more welcome, being spontaneous, simple, and free from all attempts at rhetoric.

In those pages we learn the extent to which Roman antiquities had been de spoiled and classic statuary dispersed through ignorance, or avarice, before the years in which Flaminio Vacca wrote. Arrived at the epoch of great religious struggles, we find this illustrative literature still keeping the even tenor of its way, undisturbed by polemic tempests. Every imaginable battery of attack was directed against the " Niobe of Na tions," yet none of her foes could affect to despise her, — that being impossible. Even among all the tragic shocks suffered by her in the stormy past, nothing can be paralleled to the hideous Saturnalia of atrocity and license in the siege, sack, and massacre by the mercenary troops of Bourbon, who fought under the banner of the Catholic Emperor Charles V., and here achieved their diabolical victory on the 6th May, 1527.

The terrific sequel to their ingress on that day is described by two eye-witnesses, by Benvenuto Cellini in his characteristic and amusingly vain autobiography, and by a writer known under the name of Jacopo Buonaparte, but supposed to be no other than the historian Guicciardini, who was here at the time. In 1510 arrived in Rome a German Augustinian Friar, who laterwards became celebrated as Dr. Martin Luther. Even ho saw something to praise in this City — especially the severities of the police, who used strongly to patrol at night, and summarily hang, or drown in the Tiber, suspicious persons found with arms in their hands about the streets. Classical ruins spoke not to the mind of that Saxon Re former, who has only to say (mark the elegance of the simile !) that he saw such things piled up as high as three spears of a German Lanzlcnecht — see Storia Documentata di Carlo V., by De Leva, for particulars of this biographical episode.