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 VI. 
 
CLASSICAL EXCURSION 
 FROM ROME 
 
 TO 
 
 ARPINO. 
 
 BY CHARLES K.ELSALL. 
 
 T^enio Arpinas non Ciceroni studet, nemo Soranus, nemo 
 Carinas i nemo Aquinas : tolas ille tractits celeberriinus , 
 Venafranus , Alllfanus : tola denique sua ilia aspei'a , et 
 montuosa, et fidelis ^ et simplex , etfaatrix suorum regio , 
 se huj'iis honore ornari, se augeri dignitate arbitratur, 
 
 CiC. PRO Plawcio. c. 9. 
 
 GENEVA , 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY iAL\NGET AND CHERBULIEZ. 
 MDCCCXX. 
 
DE LIMPRBIERIE DE LUG SESTlfi; 
 
TO THE 
 
 LOVERS OF THE MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 
 MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO^ 
 t 
 
 THIS 
 
 CLASSICAL EXCURSION 
 
 FROM ROME 
 
 TO 
 
 ARPINO 
 
 IS 
 
 INSCRIBED. 
 
CLASSICAL EXCURSION 
 FROM ROME 
 
 TO 
 
 ARPINO. 
 
 I ARRIVED at Rome, after having visited Vol- 
 terra and Siena. The first , one of the twelve 
 Etrurian cities , owes chiefly its celebrity to 
 Persius^ the second claims a coeval antiquity 
 with Rome. The view from the heights of Ra- 
 dicofani , and the lake ot Bolsena , surrounded 
 by the once sacred and oracular groves of Gi- 
 minus , are the only striking objects on this 
 approach to the ancient metropolis of the 
 world J neither will this sheet of water, shaded 
 by the noblest oak forests , appear insipid to 
 those , who have feasted their eyes with the 
 superior scenery of the lakes in the Milanese. 
 On arriving at the Ponte IVIoUe , by the P^ia. 
 Cassia^ the carcase of a pauper, who had just 
 died of hunger , and who clenched the railway 
 with a convulsive grasp , inspired ideas not very 
 favourable to the efficacy of hierarchical go- 
 vernments. Of all the European capitals, 
 
 I 
 
Rome , during the autumnal Keats , is cer- 
 tainly the mofet desolate and forlorn. A reli- 
 gious, a funeral procession, mendicants livid 
 from the effects of the malaria , eating away 
 with an additional kiss the toes of the pilot of 
 the Galilean lake^ are the objects which prin- 
 cipally fix the attention of the stranger j who 
 at that season, can only hope to derive amuse- 
 ment from sources , which the living world 
 is unable to afford. 
 
 But Piome 5 from its historical recollections 
 alone, presents the richest compensation for 
 the absence of that activity seen in other capi- 
 tals. Athens , Venice , Genoa , furnish , it is 
 true , the memory with a series of highly inte- 
 resting events j but they can only be contem- 
 plated in reference to one system of civil po- 
 lity j or if there be more , the differential 
 shades are unimportant, and feebly marked. Not 
 so the ancient mistress of the world 5 which 
 from the grandeur and variety of her revolu- 
 tions , has a stronger hold upon the memory. 
 Dupatyj in a work too enthusiastic , but not 
 destitute of merit, arranges its history in 
 three epochs. I apprehend thaitfae will convey 
 a clearer idea j and that the storing of these 
 
' ( 3 ) 
 
 divisions in the mind will be of use to those , 
 who may wish to prosecute researches in either 
 of the epochs. 
 
 I. Regal. From the foundation of the city, 
 to the expulsion of Tarquin. 
 
 II. Republican. From the establishment of the 
 commonwealth, to the death of Csesar. 
 
 III. Imperial. From the adoption of the 
 empire by Augustus , to the death of Cons- 
 tantine. 
 
 IV. Gothic, or Middle-age. Comprehending 
 the longest period, from the incursion of 
 Alaric , to the end of the pontificate of Julius 
 the second; before which period, the papal 
 power , however great in the exterior, can hard- 
 ly be said to have been firmly established at 
 home. 
 
 V. Papal. From the accession of Leo the 
 tenth , to the present day. 
 
 Nothing can be more gratifying than to sur- 
 vey from the steps of the Campidoglio, the 
 imposing ruins of the Forum , and to dwell at 
 the same time on the extraordinary energies of 
 that people, who after having subjugated the 
 material world, succeeded no less ra.iracu- 
 lously in controuling the spiritual I — On the 
 
(4) 
 
 effects of wliich , different opinions will always 
 be formed ; but , I suspect , if duly weighed, 
 the result will, upon the whole, be found far 
 more productive of ill than good. 
 
 The five Romes, surveyed from this emi- 
 nence , almost bewilder the mental faculties j 
 and the statue of the Dea Roma under the upper 
 flight of steps , appears to mutter in the sur- 
 rounding desolation , the verses erroneously at- 
 tributed to Erinna : 
 
 MOI MONA nPESBTTA AEAOIKE MOIPA 
 KYA02 APPHKTIi BA2IAEI0N APXA2 
 Oa)PA KOIPANEION EX0I2A KAPT02 
 
 AIEMONEYri. 
 
 The excavations going on in the Forum, the 
 proposal of a subscription for dragging the 
 Tiber, together with a Spanish friar about to 
 be laid on the anvil of the great Saint-manufac- 
 tory in the Vatican , contributed however to 
 banish the melancholy inspired by the malaria , 
 which in the language of the Venusian, 
 Designatorem decora t lictoribus atris(i)» 
 
 (i) An altar had been just discovered with the inscription : 
 AnnSIKAKOIS 0EOI2 
 
 Ex Oraciilo. 
 Together witli vast fragments of columns , chieflj^ of Syenite j 
 probably the wrecks of an earlier Forum. 
 
(5) 
 
 The lofty ilices and pines in the Villas Pam- 
 fili and Borghese , and the spacious galleries 
 afforded too a cool refuge from the meridian 
 heatj and none are more deserving of atten- 
 tion than the Albani and Giustiniani collec- 
 tions ; the first rich with the spoils of a4idrian's 
 Tiburtine villa ; the second , of Nero's baths. 
 In the last, a bust of Scipio Africanus, another 
 of Alexander , both in nero antico , and the 
 best reputed likeness of Mcecenas , are of 
 sufficient importance to give a name to the 
 collection. 
 
 Neither did the Vatican and Campidoglio 
 unfold their stores in vain j but the latter 
 will have greater attractions for those , who are 
 more struck with the portraits of illustrious cha- 
 racters , than with the ideal in sculpture. Here 
 still is seen the frank and magnanimous as- 
 pect of Julius , as if in the act of saying : Amilce 
 mecB Julice maternum genus a regibus ortum , 
 paternum cum Diis immortalibus conjunctum 
 est. Nam ah Anco JMartio sunt Marcii reges, 
 quo nomine fait mater ; h Venere , Juiii , cujus 
 gentis familia est nostra (i). Here too in one 
 
 (i) Oral. Julian, ap. Sueton, 
 
C6) 
 
 of the finest busts transmitted from antiquity ; 
 is the acerrima mens ^ and sedate majesty of 
 Augustus 5 beside him is a IVlarcellus , 
 
 Cut frons Iceta parwn , et demisso lumina vultu. 
 
 Contiguous stands a Tiberius, insitd Claudioz 
 familice superbid ; eyes staring , sleepless , ears 
 as if pricked by motus aliqui in oriente ; or by 
 the question of Asinius Gallus : interrogo te 
 Ccesar, quam reipublicoepartemmandari tibi i^elisf 
 Perculsus reticuit. Beyond is the republican 
 simplicity of his brother Drusus ; the beauty 
 and virtue of his wife Antonia ; the unassu- 
 ming merit of Germanicus; and the pudl- 
 citia impenetrabilis of his Agrippina. By way 
 of contrast , is a Valeria IVlessalina i elegant , 
 beautiful , but of brazen and disgustful impu- 
 dence ; while a Julia , daughter of Titus , is 
 only remarkable for its vague and singular ex- 
 pression. Both seem tacitly reproached by a 
 neighbouring Piotina and ]\Iarcianaj while the 
 agreeable and open countenance of Trajan is 
 transmitted in the noblest bust of giallo an- 
 iico extant. Opposite stands the emperor Ju- 
 lian , a man of such rare endowments , as to 
 neutralize , even the criticism of bigots ; and 
 
(7) 
 
 "who, had he lived another ten years, might 
 have] left effects on the religious and political 
 systems of Europe , felt peradventure at this 
 very hour. Adjoining is a portrait of Marcus 
 Aurelius, taken in his early years , and which 
 bespeaks the candour and simplicity of his soul'. 
 The likenesses to which we can attach the 
 greatest credit , appear to be those of Adrian, 
 Nerva, Trajan, Lucius Verus, Caracalla, Sep- 
 timius Severus , and Marcus Aurelius. It 
 struck me, when in the Campidoglio, that the 
 government would do well to devote the apart- 
 ments in that building , to the portraits of the 
 great personages of antiquity, reserving the Va- 
 tican for the Deities , the ideal sculpture , and 
 the Incogniti. 
 
 The architecture of the modern city is so 
 effectually eclipsed by the Pantheon , that while 
 that edifice stands , even St. Peter's must sufr 
 fer from the comparison. It is easy to find on 
 which side the greater merit lies. The Paur 
 theon was built by Agrippa , and finished by 
 that illustrious minister , in the reign of Au- 
 gustus; we may conclude that it was surrounded 
 by a portico ; for Horace alludes to the porticus 
 Agrippce' It sprung , no doubt , from the mind 
 
(8) 
 
 of one architect ; neither can we discover 
 that it was copied from any pre-existing work. 
 Enter this venerable pile , which has been 
 trodden by the great men of the Augustan age ; 
 remove , or add any architectural member , 
 and you will ruin its symmetry. The priests, 
 it is true , by converting it into a church , and 
 by the addition of insignificant altars, have done 
 much towards destroying the bold simplicity 
 of the fabric. Ni >w St. Peter's , though con- 
 fessedly the first modern pile in the world ; 
 and though a great genius presided at its erec- 
 tion J occupied the reigns of eighteen pontiffs. 
 Its most striking feature , though considerably 
 altered for the worse , is stolen from the Pan- 
 theon. The general drift of the original design 
 chalked out by Michael Angelo , has indeed 
 been followed, deteriorated however by the 
 patch-work of succeeding artists. The arcades 
 are too colossal; the inlaid marbles in small 
 pieces do not correspond an ith the grandeur of 
 the fabric ; the walled part of Bernini's peri- 
 style is superfluous; the grand front is posi- 
 tively bad. A consideration of the defects of 
 this colossal pile gave rise to the following archi- 
 tectural lucubration , in a walk one evening , 
 under the colonnade of Bernini. 
 
(9) 
 
 Strike a circle ; let the circumference biseci 
 twenty columns, with the equidistance of the 
 diastyle intercolumniation. Take any interco- 
 lumniation; call it the eastern. From the centre 
 of the rotunda , extend the radius beyond the 
 circumference one intercolumniation , and des- 
 cribe the portion of an arc of a concentric cir- 
 cle , radii drawn to the extremities of which, 
 would bisect the third and fourth columns, 
 counting from the eastern intercolumniation. 
 Continue five rows of columns eastward, 
 parallel to each two , on the right and left of the 
 eastern intercolumniation, preserving the dia* 
 style division. Raise nine rows of columns 
 ■westward , parallel to each two on the right 
 and left of the eastern intercolumniation. Raise 
 also live rows of columns , parallel to each one 
 on the right and left of the northern and sou- 
 thern intercohimniations. With the diastyle 
 separation, describe the walls of the church 
 round the columns already raised. Bisect the 
 north-eastern wall; and from the point of bisec- 
 tion , with a radius from the centre of the ro- 
 tunda , describe the concentric portion of an 
 arc, which will of course bisect the eastern 
 wall of the northern side of the church. Des- 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 tribe as before , the two concentric arcs op- 
 posite the seventh, tliirteenth, and seventeenth 
 intercolumniations , counting always from the 
 eastern. We shall have then four segments 
 of circles, which will be as many lateral 
 chapels. The grand front , which will be Doric 
 from the middle Pcestan temple , wdll pre- 
 sent to the west, ahexastyle portico five ranges 
 of columns deep. Bernini's colonnade, omitting 
 the walled arcade , will diverge to the right 
 and left of the four inmost ranges of columns. 
 The grand front then will project one range 
 of columns; and this would mark it suffi- 
 ciently. The eastern front might present a 
 hexastyle Pjsstan Doric portico of half columns 
 only, for windows here would be necessary. 
 The northern and southern fronts might ter- 
 minate with plain Antee. Ant^ might also 
 break the lateral walls both within and without 
 The exterior columns and wails to be of Tra- 
 vertine ; the interior columns and walls , of 
 white Carrara marble. The order , Segestan 
 Doric. Continue above the cornice of the ro- 
 tunda , a plain circular member, twenty feet 
 in height; cut it with twelve equidistant niches 
 of double squares , and place in ihem colossal 
 
( II ) 
 
 statues of the twelve apostles ; surmount it with 
 a cornice , and crown it with the elliptic ro- 
 tunda of the Pantheon ; not impannelled as in 
 the original, but painted in fresco by good 
 masters. Preserve the oeiUde-boeiif, covered 
 •with plate-glass in copper frames. And here is 
 a new Basilica T^aticana. Taking then the dia- 
 meter of the base of the Doric columns at 
 twelve feet , each being six diameters in height, 
 we shall have : 
 
 Length from East to West, feet. 
 
 including the rotunda, . • . 1088. 
 
 Length fi'om North to South, . . 896. 
 
 Diameter of the rotunda , . . . 5 20. 
 
 Breadth of the eastern and 
 
 western nave and aisles , . • 228. 
 
 Breadth of the northern and 
 
 southern nave and aisles, . . i32. 
 
 The Rotunda then v/ould be nearly half 
 as large again as the Pantheon. A question 
 may arise, whether or no the diastyle inter- 
 columniation could succeed, and give sufficient 
 strength to the rotunda. Those who know 
 any thing of mechanical forces must be aware , 
 that if each architrave were composed of two 
 pieces , and a central key-stoiie in the form 
 
( 'O 
 
 of a wedge, the architraves, thus compactly 
 wedged all round , would be stronger than if 
 of one piece, and easily admissible with three 
 diameters. The eustyle division would be too 
 narrow for columns of such magnitude. To 
 prevent heaviness, I have applied to the Segestan 
 Doric the six diameters of the age of Peri- 
 cles. I could have wished to give greater 
 character to the nave by adopting the arccostyle 
 intercolumniation ; but reflexion suggested that 
 this would weaken the edifice; and perhaps with 
 columns of such vast proportions , it could 
 not be adopted without an arched roof; a feature 
 not purely Greek. Now I maintain , that had 
 a similar plan to this been put in execution, 
 not only would the architecture have been chas- 
 ter , but the building , vast as it is , would have 
 cost a million sterling less than the present 
 pile ; for though whole quarries of Carrara 
 marble would have been requisite, yet that 
 port being near the sea , the blocks might have 
 been easily shipped , and unladen within a mile 
 of the building. What more majestic than a 
 forest of Segestan columns of white Carrara 
 marble ! In lieu of Fontana's obelisk , a cam- 
 panile should have stood, circular in form^ 
 
( i3 ) 
 
 9urrounded by half Doric columns , of the 
 same style as those of the Colisseum ; thes6 
 surmounted by as many Ionic , and these by 
 as many Corinthian. And this would com- 
 bine beauty and utility. Instead of the in- 
 scription to the honour of the house of Bor- 
 ghese , there should be inscribed : 
 
 DEO • OPTIMO • MAXIMO • 
 SENATUS • POPULUSQUE • ROMANUS* 
 
 Voltaire was the first individual in modern 
 Europe, who had the magnanimity to erect a 
 temple to the Deity. The spirit of the catholic 
 doctrine is too contracted to allow paying due 
 respect to the First Cause. It must be bestowed 
 rather on Saint Bruno , Saint Leo , Saint Pras- 
 sedif Saint Ignatius, in preference. The re- 
 ligion of ancient Greece and Rome was far 
 superior in this respect to the Catholic ; for the 
 ancients , by deifying the attributes of the Deity, 
 and the different modifications of his power 
 displayed here on earth, referred in fact all 
 adoration to him. But whatever may be the 
 sentiments of the upper ranks of the Catholics , 
 the middling and lower classes, when they 
 prostrate themselves before the shrines of Sani\ 
 
( 14) 
 
 Antonio of Padua, or Santa Rosa di T^iterho^ 
 think more of those individuals who have sprung 
 from the Camera del Papagallo , than of the 
 fountain of power , goodness , and truth. Go to 
 Constantinople. — You will see there, it is true, 
 a people inattentive to good government , and 
 to the development and melioration of mind ; 
 butyou will not see the Mufti waving his wand, 
 and absolving people from their sins , like the 
 priests in St. Peter's. The principal Mufti ca- 
 nonizes no Saint, and orders no bones or toes 
 to be kissed. Mahomet, however defective may 
 be his doctrines in other respects, sends his 
 followers to the temple of the Deity, and bids 
 them prostrate themselves there , without asser- 
 ting that he is any more than a prophet, or in- 
 terpreter of God's word, a title which he can 
 hardly be refused , if we consider the extraor- 
 dinary effect which his K-oran has occasioned. 
 We can only estimate religions from the more 
 or less good of which they are productive to 
 man , contemplated in his individual and social 
 relations. Friendship of a devoted kind is not 
 uncommon in Turkey ; in Rome it is certainly 
 rare. The testimonies of numerous travellers 
 concur in stating that a low shop-keeper in 
 
(i5) 
 
 Turkey scorns to ask even of a Christian » a 
 greater sum than he would of a Turk. Most of 
 the Roman shop-keepers turn foreigners to the 
 best account they can. The Turk will sometimes 
 rob by open force; but he scorns pilfering, as 
 common at Rome as in London and Paris , and 
 easily expiated by a kiss of the brazen feet of 
 St. Peter , a wave of the magic wand from the 
 confessional boxes , or a bow to the waxen 
 virgins , surrounded by their flower-pots. The 
 Turk having performed his ablutions, kneels 
 to the Most High , and only suffers himself to 
 be acquitted by the testimony of his own con- 
 science. The Turk never turns his temples 
 into charnel-houses , like the Roman. Whether 
 noble or mechanic , he enters his mosque with 
 sentiments of devotion and awe. The Roman 
 on the contrary, often laughs at several of those 
 ceremonies , which his conscience will upbraid 
 him for neglecting. The Romans are still a 
 finely- disposed people; and I have often had 
 occasion to admire the estimable quahties of 
 some individuals. To what then are the above 
 ills to be attributed, and which press more 
 especially on the lower classes ? To the system 
 so long adopted by Rome, of intertwisting re- 
 
( '6) 
 
 Irgion with politics ; and chiefly to this. But no 
 further digressions on this delicate subject, in 
 which it is so difficult to steer the middle 
 course , and to which I have been insensibly 
 led by a dislike for the superstitions which 
 degrade and obscure doctrines, the essentials 
 of which are necessary to the welfare of indivi- 
 duals and nations. 
 
 Of the Roman churches , San Paolo fuori 
 le mura certainly presents the noblest interior. 
 Those who can feel true architecture will pre- 
 fer it even to St. Peter's. It is however in a 
 dilapidated state. As soon as the stranger has 
 seen Santa Maria Maggiore , San Pietro in 
 Vincoli ^ San Stefano Ptotondoy San Giovanni 
 LateJ'ano , and Santa Maria de Angeli , he 
 may spare himself further trouble about the 
 Roman churches , their architecture , not what 
 they contain, considered. About three miles 
 from the gate of San Giovanni Laterano , there 
 exists in a meadow to the left , a brick building , 
 which Sickler in his Topography of Latium , 
 takes to have been the temple of Fortuna mu- 
 liehris , erected by the senate on the spot , 
 where Coriolanus met his mother and family , 
 headed by the Roman matrons. It is ornamented 
 
 at 
 
( 17) 
 
 at the angles with Corinthian pilasters ; and 
 since the via Latina, which led towards the 
 Volscian territory, lay in that direction; since 
 it certainly has more the appearance of a tem- 
 ple than tomb ; since the simplicity of the ma- 
 terials corresponds better with the early than 
 later periods of Rome , it is one of those topo- 
 graphical probabilities, which, on surveying 
 the spot , embodied as the soul of the transac- 
 tion is by the genius of Shakspeare , I loved 
 implicitly to believe. Corioli stood on an emi- 
 nence now called il monte Glove , about a mile 
 from the Alban hills, towards the sea. We 
 saw it from the woods that fringe \\iq mirror of 
 Diana , now il Lago di Nemi. 
 
 About the same distance from the Porta del 
 Popolo, after passing the Pcnte Mo Lie , there 
 stands a tower of the middle ages , where Cin- 
 cinnatus, as tradition gives out, was found at 
 his plough. The ruin has always been called 
 la torre di Qulnto ; and it commands the saxa 
 rubra , mentioned by Martial , in the description 
 of the villa ot his relation Jalms; now occupied 
 by the villa ]\Ieliini , embosomed in cypresses 
 above : 
 
 2. 
 
( i8) 
 
 Quo seplem dominos vklere monies I 
 Et lotani Licet cestiniare Romam I 
 
 But there are few spots tliat remind us more 
 agreeably of the city of the soul , than the Mons 
 sacer , distant from the Porta Pia about two 
 miles j and a gun-shot from the bridge , thrown 
 over the Anio by Narses. It was from this tu- 
 mulus , now covered with verdant turf, that 
 IVIenenius Agrippa harangued his fellow-citi- 
 zens , clothing his speech with that fine allegory 
 of the belly and the members, the offspring of 
 sheer genius, but the merit of which, lisping 
 it as we do in our early years, we are apt to 
 overlook. 
 
 In a walk to the Insula Tiberina , where 
 Lepidus was quartered, during the assassination 
 of Ccesar , I remarked vestiges of the marble 
 coating, which surrounded the isle in the form 
 of a ship. Below are the majestic remains of the 
 Pons Senatorius , still covered with its ancient 
 pavement, and probably trodden by the great 
 men of the latter period of the republic. The 
 Ccesaris horti must have been somewhere near 
 here in Traslevere, where Cicero had an in- 
 terview with Cleopatra (i). Beyond is shewn 
 
 (i) Speaking of her in one of his letters, he sa^s ; /ie- 
 ^iiiavi odi. 
 
( 19) 
 
 the spot memorable from the passage of Clella , 
 more immortalized perhaps for that spontaneous 
 effusion of the heart, than the most indefati- 
 gable blue-stocking by her literary toil , from 
 the age of Atossa to the present hour. It is from 
 the Pons Sena tortus that you command one of 
 the most interesting^ reaches of the Tiber, whose 
 rapid and yellow vortices appear still to menace 
 the small monopteral pile , called of fiesta. It 
 is not easy to speculate on the probable result 
 of the drag£;ing of this celebrated stream, about 
 to be undertaken. Those however who expect 
 to find choice marble statues, will most likely 
 be disappointed. For we can hardly imagine 
 that the soldiers of Alaric, Riciraer, Vitiges, 
 Totila, and the Lombards, when they expended 
 their fury on the works of art, took care to 
 lower them gently with pullies into the bed of 
 the river. IVloreover the corrosive particles 
 carried down by the stream, must have des- 
 troyed the finer work of the productions of 
 the chisel. The Goths knew too well the value 
 of bronze , not to turn it to better account than 
 choking the river with masterpieces in that 
 metal. On the other hand , tne undertakers of 
 the enterprize must be deemed unfortunate, 
 
(20) 
 
 if they do not find great quantities of curious 
 armour , from the helmets of the kings , down 
 to the arquebuses of Charles V. and the con- 
 stable Bourbon. Coins too , and perhaps muti- 
 lated inscriptions, illustrative of individuals, 
 or important historical particulars , may remu- 
 nerate them. A few months will prove the re- 
 sult of this interesting experiment. It was re- 
 served for Dionysius Periegetes to give us the 
 best description of this most celebrated of all 
 celebrated streams , and worthy to be echoed 
 from its concave shores. 
 
 eYMBPIS EAI220MtN02 KA0APON POON EI2 A A A B AA AEI 
 eTMBPlS ETPPE1TH2 nOTAMON BASIAETTATOS AAAHN 
 ©TMBPI2 02 IMEPTHN AnOTEMNETAI ANAIXA Pf2MHN 
 PnMHN TIMHE22AN EMHN MEIAN OIKON ANAKTiiN 
 MHTEPA nASAIilN nOAEHN A(1>NEI0N EAE0AON. 
 
 These and similar recollections were occa- 
 sionally broken by an attention to the progi'ess 
 of modern art, which upon the whole, sur- 
 passed my expectations. Great efforts are made 
 by the actual painters of Rome , to submit 
 what genius they may possess to classical rules ; 
 in which they succeed better than any of the 
 artists that have appeared since the time of 
 Raphael. Among the most distinguished, is one 
 
(21 ) 
 
 Camuccini ; whose pictures of the death of 
 C^sar , and Corneha producing the Gracchi , 
 are in a chaste classical style, and in other 
 respects, much above mediocrity. 
 
 The German school now established at 
 Rome , imitate the Perugmo style of painting , 
 and very successfully ; they even use leaf gold , 
 to set off earrings , and minor ornaments. They 
 are seen in the streets habited a la Raphael; 
 but they find it easier to adopt the long hair, 
 and close tunic of that first of artists , than the 
 fine mind that pervades his transcendant pro- 
 ductions. 
 
 There exists no intaglio- sculptor at Rome 
 that can be put in competition with Pickler; 
 but cameos are elegantly cut , especially by 
 Cirometti. 
 
 The few specimens of architecture, or rather 
 of repair, which have been raised in the actual 
 pontificate , are very indifferent. 
 
 With regard to sculpture , it is not easy to 
 speak in too high terms , not only of its im- 
 provement , but of the rapid strides which it 
 makes to absolute perfection. The modern 
 Alcamenes has however found a puissant rival 
 in the Dane Thoryaldsen , who in reliefs , is 
 
(22) 
 
 confessedly the first artist living : witness his 
 Giorno, Nolle, and Iriumphs of Alexander, 
 Neither Avould it be easy to find among Ca- 
 nova's productions , statues superior to his 
 Dancing Girl, his Mercury j and Adonis. But 
 f^enus receiving the apple, and Cupid contem- 
 plating his dart, both from the chisel of this 
 distinguished Dane, are opera omnibus for tasse 
 hodiernce artis anleponenda. He will, I suspect, 
 be found to possess more nerve and invention 
 than Canova , and to be but li^tle his inferior 
 in grace. It must however be understood , that 
 though the Grecian spirit has been happily 
 caught by these great artists, we cannot yet 
 discover in their works that high creative ideal, 
 which we recognize in the Apollo, the Mele- 
 ager, and the Laocoon. 
 
 Though the works of the ancients in sculp- 
 ture and architecture irresistibly call forth our 
 admiration , and are deservedly held as models 
 for imitation , perhaps we attach a too great 
 importance to their productions in painting. 
 \v e know not indeed to what degree of excel- 
 lence the masterpieces recorded by Plinius, 
 and the epigrammatists, may have been car- 
 ried 5 but with regard to their frescos , it will 
 
( 23) 
 
 not be hazardous to assert , that any two years' 
 noviciate in the schools of Raphael and Guido, 
 might be found to surpass them. The frescos 
 discovered in the baths of Titus , are a pretty 
 good proof of this. It is vain to urge that 
 they may have been the productions of very 
 inferior artists. The baths were an imperial 
 work j and they were certainly decorated with 
 the masterpieces in sculpture ; why then should 
 they have been the receptacles of the refuse of 
 the painters' easels? Now the highest claim of 
 merit that these productions can aspire to , 
 (not excepting the best, which are the Aldo- 
 brandini marriage , and two or three of the 
 Herculanean frescos ,) will be found to consist 
 in the representation of a certain dead elegance; 
 and we may fairly presume that in point of ex- 
 pression , spirit , and correctness of outline , 
 many of the fresco-designs in the modern inns 
 of Italy 5 will be found to sui-pass them. 
 
 Nothing is so striking to the Tramontane 
 stranger at least, on surveying the Roman gal- 
 leries , as the good preservation, of the frescos 
 by the great modern artists. The Guercino and 
 Guido Auroras are eminently fresh j so is the 
 Farnesine by Raphael; and the Farnese by 
 
(24) 
 
 Annibal Caracci; the labours of Raphael in 
 the Vatican have suffered the most injury from 
 time. 
 
 In a cursory survey of the Palazzo Doria, 
 abounding with noble fjictures , 1 noticed a 
 portrait expressive of great acuteness of intel- 
 lect, which proved to be one of JXiccolb ]\Ia- 
 chiavelli j a genius of so high an order, that it 
 has been unable till lately, to pierce those 
 clouds of ignorance and prejudice, which pjre- 
 vented it from being duly appreciated. It is not 
 more than forty years, that his merit began 
 to be acknowledged at Florence; and Europe 
 at length finds out , that he who filled nineteen 
 embassies, who established a school of poli- 
 tical philosophy in the Italian seat of the Muses, 
 who applied a fine analysis to the Roman his- 
 tory , and a subtler than Aristotle , to the theory 
 of government, who withal died poor and ne- 
 glected, was an honour to our species. A con- 
 sideration of the calumnies which have beset 
 his name , occasioned the following stanzas ; 
 though I know not if the Sapphic metre can be 
 adopted with effect, in the harmonious dialect 
 of Italy. 
 
(25) 
 
 O M A G G I O 
 
 FATTO AL RITRATTO DI NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, 
 
 Dipinto da Andrea del Sarto. 
 
 di govern' egregio maestro ! 
 Da chi li stati fiorire sanno, 
 A cui i regi sono sottoposti , 
 
 Pur' i tiranni. 
 
 1 baroni, la strepitosa plebe, 
 Sentono per te loro stazioni , 
 Nel tuo stile, piu grandiosa 
 
 Roma risplende. 
 
 I ministri scelgono da tuoi 
 Scritti ricercati, precetti sani 
 Per saper stender dominazione. — 
 
 L'ambasciadore 
 
 Corre fra sospetti paesi , dunque 
 Al suo va, I'ansieta nel petto, 
 Plausi rubando debiti all' acuto 
 INIachiavelli. 
 
 II Secondato piglla sovente 
 Dal tuo cervello cos' ait' assai ; 
 Traono da te i capitani certe 
 
 Regole d'arte. 
 
(26) 
 
 L'ira rugge iie la profonda volta , 
 E '1 caor cessa lacerare , dal gran 
 Niccolb sbandita fremente tralle 
 Sedi dolenti. 
 
 Con piacer la Storia alta, pura, 
 Del Fiorentin I'onorando fronte 
 Cinge con allori virenti sempre, 
 Cinge Talia. 
 
 Mostra con orgoglio dove giaccion 
 L'ossa del grand' istruitor di stati , 
 Mostra, — ne d'altrui piusi vanta 
 Alma Firenze. 
 
 L'ammirator del repubblicani 
 Stati, di scaitriti tiranni stessi, 
 Sempre dira con venerazione , 
 
 « Psiccolb Grande. » 
 
 But the heat began to be almost intolerable 
 at Rome j neither was it mitigated by one of 
 the loudest thunder storms I ever remember to 
 have witnessed. The fresher air of the snow- 
 clad Apennines, and a wish to visit the birth- 
 place of Cicero, invited me not reluctantly 
 
 from the capital. 
 
 . , . MiJii jam /ion regia Roma , 
 Sed vacuum TiOur placet. 
 
( ^7) 
 
 We were accompanied by a venerable Por- 
 tuguese Jesuit, about to join his fraternity in 
 Tivoli j comes Heliodorus , come ingenium; — 
 who had been in England as far back as the 
 year 1769; and whose knowledge of the 
 finer passages in IVlilton prov^ed that he had not 
 been there in vain. The sun was shooting a 
 rich crimson tint on the ruins of Dioclesian s 
 baths; a rotunda attached to which, IVlichael 
 Angelo turned into a church , but the magnifi- 
 cent granite shafts, ill imitated by modern in 
 brick and plaister, vindicate the glory of the 
 first architect. About a mile from the gate of 
 San Lorenzo , we reached a church dedicated 
 to the same saint. It is only remarkable as 
 having been lately proved by a distinguished 
 antiquary resident at Rome , to have been built 
 with the ruins of the portico of Octavia ; which 
 enclosed temples to Jupiter and Juno. Piinius 
 tells us that Batrachus and Sauriis, two Spartan 
 architects, were employed by Augustus in the 
 erection of these temples ; and that in tlie vo- 
 lutes of the columns , they caused to be engra- 
 ved a frog and lizard. Now in the eighth 
 column that supports the roof of San Lorenzo , 
 ^Jrog and lizard, illustrative of the names of 
 
(28) 
 
 the architects, appear. It is thus that the modern 
 Romans have a perpetual whet-stone applied 
 to their wits , by the gigantic labours of their 
 ancestors in art. We rolled slowly along the 
 old i'ia Tiburtina , supposed to have been first 
 paved in the consulship of IVI, Valerius IVlaxi- 
 mus, in the year of the city ccccxlvii- Exca- 
 vations that were made in the pontificate of 
 Alexander VIL prove that it was thrice raised; 
 three pavements in irregular polygonal masses 
 havinpj been then discovered, one above the 
 other. Vestiges of the old trottoirs are occa- 
 sionally visible. About two miles from the church 
 of San Lorenzo , just before reaching the Anio j 
 we traversed the spot where Hannibal pitched 
 his camp , after his battle with the proconsul 
 Fulvius Flaccus. We may collect from history, 
 that ihe Carthaginian general just saw Rome, 
 and no more j as if his destinies permitted no- 
 thing further. Soon after crossing the bridge 
 thrown over the Anio, and built by IVlammea, 
 the mother of Alexander Severus, we noticed 
 remains of very ancient quarries on the oppo- 
 site side of the stream, i'o our left was the spot , 
 where the consul Servilius defeated the Sa- 
 bines, and five miles further, is the scene of 
 
(29 ) 
 
 another memorable victory gained by Ancus 
 Martius over the early inhabitants of Latium. 
 Every rood of the Campagna has been fought 
 and refought over. We presently saw to the 
 left the Lago de Tartari , in colour like a bowl 
 of cream , and of a sulphureous , nitrous , and 
 petrifying quality. It is perhaps one of the most 
 active petrifying waters known j for it gradually 
 transforms into stone the plants and reeds that 
 grow for some paces round. A constant fermen- 
 tation penetrates the pores of the weeds with 
 stony particles; the lake is shallow, and its 
 basin is a light and porous tuf A few paces 
 beyond, we crossed the hoary Albula, which 
 flows into the Anio by a channel cut by one of 
 the princes of the house of Esle. It rises from 
 the Lago Sulfureo , celebrated for the oracular 
 groves of Faunus , mentioned in the well-known 
 lines of Virgil. When Kircher saw this lake, 
 he found it about a mile in circuit; but it is 
 now much reduced in size. It undergoes a per- 
 petual diminution , from the unctuous and bi- 
 tuminous matter, which floats on its surface. 
 Dust and seeds transported by the wind adhere 
 to it , and in process of time little islands are 
 formed, which blown to the shores, of course 
 
( So ) 
 
 become more compact. None of these bitumi- 
 nous islets exceed ten feet in length. A century 
 or two may possibly thus annihilate the lake , 
 or reduce it to a bituminous marsh. Kircher 
 affirms that it is imperscrutabilis profundltatis ; 
 the depth however has been ascertained to be 
 from sixty to one hundred and seventy feet. 
 The force of Virgil's line scevum exhalat opaca 
 mephitlm ^ is here sensibly felt by every travel- 
 ler; for the atmosphere for more than a mile 
 round , is impregnated with a fetid sulphu- 
 reous effluvia. We almost immediately reached 
 the Ponte Liicano, either so called from the 
 Lucus Tiburti, or from Marcus Plan tins Luca- 
 nus, one of the Plautian family, whose sepul- 
 chre , half covered with ivy , proclaims the 
 grandiosita of the Romans in their monumental 
 buildings. It is built of Tiburtine stone , and of 
 the same form as that of Cecilia Metella, but 
 very inferior in elegance of design. The illus- 
 trious family of the l^lautii gave eighteen con- 
 suls to Rome. Aulusl^lautius was the conqueror 
 of Caractacus ; and Claudius having decreed 
 him an ovation, went out to meet him on his 
 return from Britain. Another of this family 
 having been named by the senate to take com- 
 
(3i ) 
 
 mand of a naval force destined for Asia , lost 
 his wife at Tarentum. As lie ascended the 
 funeral pile to take a last farewell , he was so 
 affected , that he killed himself. They were 
 both buried in a common tomb, called by the 
 Tarentines, Sepulchrum Amantium (i). 
 
 The freshness of the Tiburtine groves , the 
 
 murmur of the cascatelle , the moon shining in 
 
 her fullest splendour , formed a most gratetul 
 
 contrast to the suffocating heat of the Cam- 
 
 pagna , that pesiilens et aridum solum , as it is 
 
 called by Titus Livius^ and we just recognized 
 
 by the silver light , the immense ruins of the 
 
 V^illa Adriana , surrounded by its pine and 
 
 cypress groves, and various as the character 
 
 of its founder : idem severus , Icetus , comis , 
 
 gravis , lascivus , cunctator , tenax , liberalis , 
 
 simulator , soevus^ clemens , et semper in omnibus 
 
 varius (2). 
 
 We drove to the Regina , an inn which I 
 have little doubt provided us with better fare, 
 than Horace enjoyed with his Glycera , Pro- 
 pertius with his Cynthia ^ or Catullus Avith his 
 
 (i) De Sanct. famil. Plautia. 
 
 (2) Ml. Sparlian. in V'it. Adrian. 
 
(32) 
 
 Lesbia , w hen they sojourned at Tibur. Nothing 
 is wanting to make the environs of this Roman 
 Richmond of perfect beauty, but a greater va- 
 riety of trees to break the grey monotony of the 
 oHve. 
 
 Tibur , according to the most numerous au- 
 thorities, was built before Rome, by a troop 
 of Greeks from the Peloponnesus, under the 
 conduct of Tiburtus, Catilus , and Coras , three 
 Argive brothers. It long subsisted an indepen- 
 dent republic , and did not submit to the ca- 
 pital, before A. u. c. ccccxv. It appears that 
 the Tiburtine commonwealth had a high idea 
 of its importance ; for on soliciting assistance 
 from Rome , against an invasion threatened by 
 the neighbouring tribes, the ambassadors dwel- 
 ling at large on the favours that the Romans 
 owed on a similar occasion to Tibur , the only 
 reply that they obtained from the senate w^as : 
 Superbi estis ! (i) We find nothing interesting 
 respecting its fate after its annexation to the 
 capital. In the lower ages , the inhabitants were 
 put to the sword by tlie soldiers of Totila (2) ; 
 
 (1) Servius ad ]E.\\. YII. 
 
 (2) Pi ocopius. 
 
 subsequently 
 
(S3) 
 
 subsequently an irruption of the Germans desola- 
 ted the town. Frederic Barbarossa rebuilt the 
 walls, and Pius II. strengthened them with a 
 fortress , which he built with the ruins of an 
 amphitheatre. It was always a favourite retreat 
 of the opulent Romans , both in ancient and 
 modern times. 
 
 The monopteral temple of Vesta was our 
 first object; of which the late Lord Bristol was 
 so enamoured , that he offered a considerable 
 sum to transport it to his park in England; but 
 the government wisely interposed, and prohi- 
 bited it* removal. The lover of art betrays 
 nothing but absurdity, in wishing to remove 
 whole buildings from their accustomed site. 
 What but a ridiculous ostentation could suggest 
 the removal , for instance , of either of the 
 P^estan temples , which might be imitated at 
 less cost at home , and at the same time call 
 forth the talents of native workmen ? We even 
 prefer to see the temple of Erechtheus , sur- 
 rounded as it is by monuments of Turkish 
 barbarism , than placed in the sprucest lawn , 
 laid out by the Reptons and the Browns. The 
 capitals of the temple of Vesta , like every 
 composite specimen , are of an indifferent style; 
 
 3 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 and the building is , I suspect , of a later date 
 than the Augustan age. Contiguous is the Ionic 
 temple of the Sybil, as it is called. An in- 
 scription found in it , rather tends to prove 
 that it was dedicated to Drusilla , the sister of 
 
 Caligula. 
 
 DIV^ • DRUSILLiE . 
 SACRUM • 
 C . RUBELLIUS • C • F • BLAKDUS • 
 LEG . DIVI • AUG • TR • PL • PR • CCS . 
 PROCOS . PONTIF • 
 
 The building presents a rare specimen of the 
 prostyle, tetrastyle, and pseudoperipteral dis- 
 positions. But the noblest monument of Tibur 
 was the temple of Hercules, situated on a com- 
 manding height, and now occupied by the ca- 
 thedral. Remains of the cella are still visible , 
 and it was about eighty- four palmi in length. 
 Hercules was the tutelar deity of the Tibur- 
 tines j and is frequently mentioned by the clas- 
 sic authors : by Propertius : 
 
 Curiae te in Herculeum deportant esseda Tihur t 
 by Silius Italicus : 
 
 Quosque sub Herculeis taciturno fiuniine muris^ 
 Pomifera arva creant , Aruenicolceque CatilU, 
 
 and by IVIartial : 
 
(35) 
 
 • Itiir ad Ilerculei gelidas qua Tihuris arces , 
 Canaque sulphureis Albula fumat aquis. 
 
 After surveying the upper falls of the Anio, 
 we descended to the Grotta di Nettuno , to 
 facilitate the approach to which , the French 
 General Miollis , with a commendable public 
 spirit 5 has lately raised a convenient flight of 
 steps. All unprejudiced travellers must indeed 
 be sensible of the advantages which Italy has 
 derived from the impulse given by the French 
 invasion. Indeed it may be safely averred that 
 no nation ever reaped so great a compensation 
 for the incursion of foreign troops. What shall 
 I say of the Mont Cents ^ and of its noble road, 
 carried over steeps usually hidden in the clouds ? 
 What of the more stupendous work at the 
 Simplon, where the traveller and merchant, 
 after ascending twenty- five miles from Domo 
 d'Ossola, and traversing four galleries cut 
 through the solid rock , finds an excellent inn , 
 five thousand feet above the sea ? What of 
 the T^alais , where before there were only seen 
 a few solitary mules , monumental crucifixes , 
 and gaping Cretins ^ now animated by rich and 
 frequented inns, necessarily occupying a nu- 
 merous peasantry ? What of the bridges thrown 
 
(S6) 
 
 across noisy Rhodanus , pontem indignaius y 
 Lefore he hides himself in ill-humour? Thrice 
 have 1 traversed these Aljdne passes , aud 
 thrice was I amazed. The pen of the historian 
 will not fail to do justice to these stupendous 
 works , not less useful than magnificent. Care 
 also will be taken not to forget the barrow- 
 wheelers^ the rock-blasters, the superintending di- 
 rectors , who were actually upon the spot ; and 
 with whom the principal merit lies. But to 
 return to the cascades of the Anio. The pris- 
 matic colours by a complicated process of 
 rellection and refraction , described a nearly 
 horizontal circle, which reflected again under 
 the white foam, presented a spectacle as novel, 
 as it was beautiful. But it is from the Grotta 
 delta Sirena , that the Anio appears in all its 
 magnificence. Here you command the three 
 upper cascades , while the river at your feet 
 is precipitated with a thundering noise, whicli 
 seems to shake the dark vault that receives it. 
 Luxuriant vines were bending around with the 
 pizzoutello grape , of a curved and very oblong 
 shape, but insipid flavour. Crossing the Anio,, 
 we continued our walk circa mite solum Tiburis, 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 et mcenia Catili ; and having made the circuit 
 of the chasm formed by the river, soon reached 
 the deserted convent of SanC Antonio , built on 
 the foundations of Horace's Tiburtine villa. 
 There is no reason for attacking long-established 
 tradition , when it does not revolt probability. 
 Suetonius , in his sketch of the life of Horace , 
 (and it can be called nothing more,) tells us : 
 domus ejus ostenditur circa Tiburtinum LucuLum, 
 Here yfe found an apartment inlaid with tesse- 
 lated pavement , and two arched chambers , one 
 of which probably contained a bath; for it ter- 
 minates in a semicircular recess at the end. The 
 walls were covered with a nitrous efflorescence. 
 It is probable that the simplicity of the poet's 
 retreat formed a striking contrast to the splen- 
 dour of the palace of his friend Quintilius 
 Varus hard by , and to that of his patron ]\Ice- 
 cenas opposite, the immense substructions of 
 which prove that that dexterous minister loved 
 even in the country, molem propinquam nubibus 
 arduis. 
 
 Crossing the lower Anio, by the old Roman 
 bridge, we reached the picturesque remains 
 of the villa of this celebrated minister , now 
 
CSS) 
 
 turned into an iron manufactory. It consisted 
 of a vast range of porticos surrounding a theatre 
 and two courts , supported by Roman Doric 
 pillars below, aud Ionic above. Several of the 
 Doric half columns towards one of the principal 
 courts, still remain. Streams cut from the Anio , 
 flow through the ruins in all directions , and 
 are tumbled into the valley through the broken 
 and moss-grown arches. 
 
 We wandered with considerable pleasure 
 over the terraces still covered with the intonaco 
 trodden by the great men of the Augustan age ; 
 who no doubt were magnificently entertained 
 with intellectual and sensual pleasures , by the 
 mel gentium y the ehur ex Etrurid , the Cilniorum 
 smaragdus , as Augustus called his favourite 
 minister , satirically alluding to his loose and 
 bombastic idiom. Maecenas wdll always rank 
 high among that supple class of ministers, who 
 love to arrange things snugly and comfortably 
 for themselves , and their master. He had none 
 of the grandeur of Agrippa. But his noble pa- 
 tronage of art and talent , and the speech which 
 lie delivered in favour of the establishment of 
 the empire, in opposition to the sentiments of 
 Agrippa for the restoration of the republic , and 
 
(39) 
 
 which is transmitted to us by Dio Casslus, 
 prove him a man of no ordinary stamp. 
 
 Of the more than thirty Tiburtine villas ^ 
 which Sickler in his topography of Latium 
 enumerates , one of the most interesting in 
 point of recollections , is that which belonged 
 to Caius Cassius. The fundus Cassianus is 
 mentioned in an ancient chronicle of Tivoli , 
 dated as far back as A. D. 946 ; and consi- 
 derable foundations of it are still seen on the 
 ¥ia dl Carciano (^quasi Cassiano^ , to the south 
 of the modern town. The ruins consist of 
 eighteen spacious chambers , decorated on the 
 outside with. Doric columns. But nothing shews 
 the former magnificence of this villa more than 
 the discovery among its ruins , of the eight 
 Muses, and Apollo Cithar^edus of the Vatican, 
 besides a Faun , a Pallas , and three Hermes of 
 the sages of Greece , together with several 
 granite shafts , and mosaics. It is more than 
 probable that these , or the major part , were 
 the property of Gains Gassius , for the Romans 
 under the empire , attached a sort of veneration 
 to what belonged to the illustrious men of the 
 republic ; the purchasers of their property often 
 leaving it untouched j and this we may collect 
 
(40) 
 
 from Plinius , and the anecdotal authors. It' 
 would appear then that Cassius , though a 
 staunch republican , was not insensible to the 
 delights of a magnificent country retreat. Here- 
 it is supposed , the conspiracy against Caesar 
 was projected and arranged. Near the villa of 
 Caius Cassius , they pretend to shew that which 
 belonged to Marcus Brutus. It is not however 
 so well authenticated as the first. We may* 
 nevertheless conclude that he had a villa at 
 Tibur ; for Cicero in his pro Cluentio , mentions 
 the Tiburtine villa of M. Brutus , who was a 
 distinguished jurisconsult, and by whom it was 
 probably bequeathed to his relation , the friend, 
 and exterminator of Cccsar. Many interesting 
 discoveries have been made among the ruins, 
 which prove that it was magnificently adorned. 
 We should not however attempt by a too 
 close investigation, to destroy the illusion (if 
 illusion it be) of treading the spot where Brutus 
 entertained his friends : 
 
 Whose life was gentle , and the elements 
 
 So rnix'd in him , that Nature might stand up , 
 
 j4nd say to all the world : This was a man. 
 
 W^e loitered with pleasure among the trees 
 and fountains of the villa d'Este , above. Michael 
 
( 41 )^ 
 
 Angelo designed one, and called it the Queen 
 of the Fountains ; it is at any event superior* 
 to the rest , which consist of Utile farthing 
 Cupids , squirting water in rows. 
 
 O altas pinus , admirandasque cupressus 
 Estensis villce , late quce prospicit agros 
 Incultos JLatii , prostrataque mcenia Romce ! 
 
 The cypresses deserve indeed a better tribute. 
 They are worthy of the lyre of Gray, or any other 
 poet , qui fortasse cupressum scit simulare. 
 
 No spot in the environs of the capital , not 
 even the heights of Frascati , overlook a more 
 extensive range cf the Campagna , than the 
 garden of the villa d'Este. To the right below, 
 near the sulphureous sources of the Albula , the 
 deposit of which forms the Tiburtine stone , 
 we gazed with pleasure on a verdant hillock, 
 where formerly stood the retreat of Zenobia , 
 the accomplished and interesting queen of 
 Palmyra. She has been thus described by 
 PoUio , a cotemporary writer : forma corporis 
 egregia , oculis supra modum vigentihus , et 
 jiigris ; tanto candore in dentibus, ut margaritas 
 eamplerique habere putarent; voxproBterea clara, 
 et virilis. She appears to have been one of those 
 rare creatures occasionally lent us to admire , 
 
(40 
 
 while the pleasure which we feel in the con- 
 templation of their excellencies , is dashed by 
 the despair of being able to imitate them. 
 
 Augustus , we find from Suetonius, was partial 
 to l^ibur, where he tempered pleasure with the 
 duties of the chief magistracy: proscipue fre^ 
 quentavit proxima urbi oppida , Lanuuium , Pros- 
 neste , Tibur , ubi etiam in porticibus HercuLis 
 jus persoepe dixit. Augustus, though not exempt 
 from petty vanities , and some acts of cruelty , 
 during the ferment of the civil wars ; though 
 we cannot contemplate him with that satisfaction 
 which we should , had he filled his office on 
 pure elective principles , will always pass a rare 
 example among sovereigns , of a trying and 
 unparalleled course of prosperity gradually me- 
 liorating the complexion of the heart. 
 
 Leaving the domus Albuneoe resonant is ^ and 
 its numerous recollections , we followed the 
 via Valeria to Vico-varo, distant from Tivoli 
 nine miles. The road was so called from Mar- 
 cus Valerius Maximus , who , we learn from 
 Livius , paved it in the year of the city 
 ccccxLvii. Its former magnificence is confirmed 
 by the substructions which supported it near 
 the Anio, and fragments of bridges still visible, 
 
(43) 
 
 wbicli traversed streamlets , and small ravines. 
 It was only fifteen feet in width , and like the 
 via Tiburtina , paved with polygonal flags. We 
 had Mount CatUlus to our left, now surmounted 
 with a crucifix. We passed to our right , ther 
 ruins of the pretended villa of Syphax, king of 
 Numidiai but the inscription found, as is said, 
 on its site , with his name inscribed, in the 
 fifteenth century , is of apocryphal authority* 
 We may however infer from Livius , that that 
 African sovereign, after having been confined a 
 prisoner at Alba , on the Fucine lake , was re- 
 moved to Tiburi where death rescued him 
 from the ignominy of adorning the triumph of 
 Scipio. 
 
 After passing vestiges of ancient sepulchres , 
 and the remains of a villa incognita , we reached 
 Vico-varo , which would have escaped the no- 
 tice of posterity , had it not been mentioned 
 by Horace > as the seat of a rustic Sabine senate. 
 We remarked a stratum of lava to the left , the 
 origin of which perplexes mineralogists ^ for no 
 indications of a crater are visible in the envi- 
 rons ; and the volcanic current lies, as if dropped 
 from the clouds. To account for this , some 
 have imagined that the Solfatara below Tivoli; 
 
( A^ ) 
 
 is a depressed volcano j which certain appea- 
 rances near the cascatelle , and a steep called 
 it monte spaccato , or the split mountain , tend 
 to confirm. 
 
 The picturesque ruins of an aqueduct which 
 crossed the Anio , and conveyed the Aqua 
 Claudia to Rome , were the only objects which 
 compensated for the filth and barbarism of Vico- 
 varo. The peasants , who are ill clad , speak a 
 very uncouth dialect j thus for T^ico-varo , they 
 say wico-war. They fasten wooden soles to 
 their feet, tied with packthread, like the straps 
 of the old Roman sandal. The next morning 
 early, we reached the confluence of the Licen- 
 za (^Digentia^ with the Teverone , (^Anio) , and 
 after following the right bank of the former 
 stream for about three miles , we arrived at 
 Rocca Giovane , built on a steep surrounded by 
 olives and chesnuts , and close to the site of the 
 Fanum f^acunoe , mentioned by Horace, f^a- 
 cuna has been thought , by some of his com- 
 mentators , the goddess of leisure ; Lilius Gi- 
 raldus says it is synonimous with Minerva ; 
 Varro , with T^ictoria. The opinion of the last 
 seems confirmed by the following inscriptioB 
 found near the temple. 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 IMP . G\ESAR . VESPASIANUS • 
 
 FOIXT . MAX . TRIE • POT • 
 
 CENSOR . AEDEM • VICTORIAE . 
 
 VETUSTATE • DILAPSAM • 
 
 SUA . IMPENSA . 
 
 RESTITUIT . 
 
 A prostrate brick wall covered with cement, 
 and the portion of a small conduit which sup- 
 plied the temple with water, were all that we 
 could find o( ihe fanum putre P^acunod, 
 
 Descending by a very rough path into the 
 vale below , we reached a group of Spanish 
 chesnuts , healthy and vigorous , like the genius 
 of the amiable poet, on the site of whose Sabine 
 farm they grow. Covered with brambles, there 
 are a few layers of brick-work well preserved ; 
 there are also two frusta of columns with 
 plinths , hewn out of one stone ; and these are 
 the reputed remains of the Horatian villa. 
 There appears however to be some doubt as 
 to the actual site. Padre Piazzi places it in a 
 neighbouring valley; Cluverius thinks that it 
 was nearer Umbria; but it is, I apprehend > 
 more than probable that it stood in this valley 
 of the Licenza , in which we easily recognize 
 Digentia; in the village of Barf/e/a, Mandela y 
 
(46) 
 
 built on an exposed point , rvgosus frigore 
 pagus ; add too the neighbourhood o^ [)[iQ fanum 
 V^acunoe , and of Varia ; while the dry and 
 stony bed of the Digentia shews that it is liable 
 to sudden swells alluded to by the poet : 
 
 Malta mole docendus aprico parcere prato, 
 
 The Jons Bandusice has been lately shewn 
 by Mr. Hobhouse , to be in the neighbourhood 
 of Venosa , the birth-place of the bard ; but 
 the sources of the Digentia are cold and pure 
 enough to correspond with the descriptive lines: 
 
 Fons etiam rivo dare nomen idoneus , ut nee 
 Frigidior Thraciam , nee purior ambiat Hebrus. 
 
 The lofty and snow^-capt Monte Gennaro , 
 which makes such a figure in the landscape 
 seen from Rome , surrounds the site of the 
 villa to the west and south, and is most likely 
 the Lucretilis of the poet. It protected his flocks 
 then equally from the summer heats , pluviisque 
 ventis accompanying the scirocco. 
 
 Be it as it may , the scanty fragments which 
 we found, amply compensated a sultry ride up 
 an arid Sabine valley ; for of all the Latin 
 poets , Horace is certainly the most original ; 
 and the best proof of this is the impossibility 
 
(47) 
 ot imitating him with success. The harmonious 
 majesty of Virgil, the sonorous pomp of Lucan^ 
 the philosophical dignity of Lucretius , the 
 spleen and energy of Juvenal , the elegiac ten- 
 derness of Tibullus and Propertius , and the 
 amorous fire of Ovid , have been sometimes 
 caught by good scholars. But the style of the 
 argute Venusian , especially in his satires and 
 epistles , like the grata protervitas of his Gly- 
 cera , has hitherto bid defiance to 'he most 
 refined student. His curiosa jelicitas escapes 
 both Pope and Boileau \ though it niust be 
 confessed that we are indebted to the last for a 
 more perfect Art of Poetry. 
 
 Quitting the Horatian villa , we regained the 
 via Valeria^ and following the course of the 
 Anio to our right , proceeded by the via Sub^ 
 lacensis to Subiaco, a place known in ancient 
 geography, under the title of the Simbrinne 
 ponds; and distant from Vico-varo about twenty 
 miles. We presently crossed the Rio freddo , 
 which was transported to Rome on a course 
 of arches sixty-one miles in length, under the 
 title of Aqua Marcia, It corresponds with the 
 description of it given by FronMnus ipenh sta^ 
 tim stagnino colore prceviridi^ ^©ia^ of an erne- 
 
(48 ) 
 
 vald green ; and water , when very pure , seems 
 of that colour. It is thus that the Spaniards 
 have their Rio verde in a celebrated romance. 
 About a mile further to the left , are also the 
 sources of the Aqua Claudia , which according 
 to Plinius , travelled to the capital on a range 
 of arches not less than forty-six miles in length. 
 We left Aosta to our right, the ancient Au- 
 gusta , built on a precipitous and insulated 
 rock , in the midst of the valley. Five miles 
 beyond is Subiaco , which Nero made conspi- 
 cuous with his villa. Suhlaqueum , under the 
 lakes ^ or as we might translate it, under the 
 halter, seems an appropriate residence for such 
 a tyrant. Tacitus tells us that at a banquet given 
 here by that abortion , the tables were struck 
 and upset by a thunder-bolt ; we should however 
 remember that the Pioman historians , and es- 
 pecially Tacitus , are fond of giving effect to 
 great occurrences by the intervention of the 
 thunder of Jove : Discumhentis Neronis apud 
 Simbriuiiia stagna^ cui Suhlaqueum nomen est, 
 ictce dapes mensaque disjecta erat (l) A monk 
 of the Altieri family has htely unearthed se- 
 
 (i) Annal. xiv. c. 22. 
 
 veral 
 
(49) 
 
 yeral apartments of the Neronian villa. The 
 modern town is better built than Tivoli , and a 
 lofty and spacious feudal castle commands it of 
 the lower ages. Hither St. Benedict retired , 
 the founder of one of the most hospitable and 
 sensible of the monastic orders j and a cave is 
 shewn near the town , where the saint offered 
 up his orisons. Subiaco is interesting as having 
 been the first place in Italy, where printing- 
 presses were established ; and according to 
 Tiraboschi, the works of Lactantius, and the 
 De Oratore of Cicero , were the first produc- 
 tions of the first Italian press , established in a 
 monastery at Subiaco. Rock crystal is found in 
 the neighbouring cliffs. 
 
 We had now entered the narrow defiles of 
 the Apennines, and the nidus of the Italian 
 Aborigines , who like the autochthones of 
 Greece , despised the neighbouring tribes , who 
 owed their origin to colonies. Whence they 
 came is matter of dispute. Cato tells us in a 
 fragmeut , primo Italiam tenuisse quosdam qui 
 Aborigines appellabantur; and Justm says that 
 they were the first cultivators of Italy. They 
 were believed by some to have come from 
 Achaia. Festus s^jeaking of them says : fait 
 
 4 
 
( 5o ) 
 
 gens antiquisslma Italice. Their savage habits 
 and life are alluded to by Virgil in the foUowiDg 
 line : 
 
 Gensque virum truncis et duro robore nata ; 
 
 and by Sallust : genus hominum agreste , sine 
 legibus , sine iwperio , liberum atque solutum» 
 Janus and Saturnus were two of their chiefs , 
 who imparted to them the rudiments of civi- 
 lization j and like the heroes of Greece , were 
 subsequently deified : 
 
 — genus indocile ac dispersum montibus altis 
 Composuit J legesque dedit , 
 
 says Virgil speaking of Saturnus. Dionysius of 
 Halicarnassus is so confused in his account of 
 these Aborigines , or as some have called them 
 Aberrigines , that he leaves us as much in the 
 dark as before. The two insurmountable diffi- 
 culties among the Italian antiquaries, are the 
 origin of this race , and that of the Tuscans. 
 It is amusing to trace the contradictory state- 
 ments of the learned respecting the last. Their 
 descent perplexed the ancients, as well as mo- 
 derns. Hercdotus tells us that they came from 
 Lydia; Varro, and Aristides quoted by Strabo, 
 will have it that they were Felasgians j Bochart, 
 
(5i ) 
 
 that they came from Canaan , or Phoenicia j 
 Buonaroti , from tigypt ; while Peiioatier, 
 Freret, and others maintain that they were of 
 Cehic origin. It is probable that the Abori-^ines 
 and the Tuscans were indigenous in the strict 
 sense of the word j placed in Italy by the im- 
 mediate act of the Deity, like Adam in iVIe- 
 sopotamia. 
 
 But circumstances had occurred , which 
 threw a chill over the enjoyment , which we 
 should have otherwise feit, in witnessing the 
 actual condition of this uncouth tribe. There 
 was one Ui esaris , an aboriginal compound of 
 bigotry, acdvity, and cruelty ; the Csesar Borgia 
 of the Apennines. At the head of a troop of 
 banditti as tearless as himself, he had spread 
 terror to tlie gates of Rome, and had insulted, 
 perhaps intimidated the authorities, by deman- 
 ding a considerable ransom for an individual 
 of note, whose person he had secured. The 
 papal troops had been despatched in quest of i 
 him, and a few days before we left Rome, 
 they had found his wife and family at the vil- 
 lage of Saint Prassedij whom by a summary 
 leg,al process, they had murdered in coid blood. 
 Dicesaris in consequence, was wandering in 
 
( 52) 
 
 the heart of the Apennines, rabid as a wounded 
 lion , and breathing slaughter and revenge. In- 
 formed however at SuLiaco, by the magistrate, 
 and papal miUtary officer, that he had not 
 been heard of, or seen in that vicinity, we 
 crossed the Anio, now reduced to a streamlet , 
 and we saw the mountain beyond , unde Aiiiena 
 fLuenta. Ascending for more than a league, we 
 reached an extensive plain , covered with fine 
 turf, bounded by a noble amphitheatre of 
 Apennines , and fringed with woods to their 
 very base- At the eastern extremity, rose the 
 Monte Porcaro, the ancient Muns Prceclarus, 
 prcEclard magnitudine ! iSuuierous herds were 
 grazing ; and here we noticed a species of thistle 
 wilh stalks and leaves of a pale blue colour. 
 We entered by a meridian sun , this silent 
 forest of oak and beech , the leaves of which 
 as they rustled , seemed to whisper Dicesaris, 
 On apjtroaching the village of Anticoli, which 
 I do not find occupying the site of any ancient 
 town, we saw a multitude of peabants and 
 herdsmen assembled on a sort of rude terrace, 
 to witness a horse-race. Their appearance was 
 uncouth and picturesque in the extreme. They 
 were clad chielly in sheep-skins , and wore red 
 
(5M 
 
 caps. The better class were armed They re- 
 minded me of the INogai Tartars in the .-^oulh 
 of Russia. 1 hese modern Aborigines , Wiih 
 black dishevelled hair, and olive complexions, 
 who rent the air with barbarous yells as we 
 passed, corresponded with the description of 
 their ancestors, transmitted to us by Virgil : 
 
 Horrida prcezipue cui g^ns, assuetaque niulto 
 T^enatu nemorwn duris ^quicola glebis ; 
 Armati ttrram exercent , seinperque recentes 
 Convectare jmrnt prcedas , et s^ivere rapto. 
 
 Not desirous of entering our paifries at the 
 Anticoli races, we journeyed to Alatri,(^/fl- 
 triuni), a town that figures in the comedy of 
 the Captives of Plautus. We arrived there at 
 dusk, after having passed through a country 
 wooded by nature , like the noblest parks of 
 England. Alatri is one of the five Saturnian 
 cities ; there are four others which claim their 
 origin from that unknown hero styled Saturnus. 
 They all begin with the first letter of the al- 
 phabet, and are as follows : Alatri, Anagni, 
 Alina , Arce , and Arpiiio, I'here is something 
 inexpressibly striking to the mind, on entering 
 a city like Alatri, the origin uf which is lost 
 in tlie impenetrable mist of ages. 1 here are no 
 
(54) 
 
 cities in England , of which we have any au- 
 thentic records, earlier than Julius Cse^ar; 
 there are not many in France; we can trace 
 the origin of them all, at least as soon as they 
 began to assume any commercial importance. 
 1 he same will apply to the Spanish cities , 
 with the exception perhaps of Tartessus, the 
 origin of which is involved in obscurity. There 
 is no city in Sicily, of which we have not au- 
 thentic data ; tradition respecting the Greek 
 colonies is also pretty satisfactory; but enter 
 any one of the five Saturnian , or the twelve 
 Etrurian cities ; ask about what period were 
 laid the colossal substructions , remains of 
 which are in all more or less visible. The per- 
 son whom you interrogate , be he a Cluverius, 
 is mute. You might as well hope to obtain satis- 
 factory information respecting the oldest ruins 
 in India, Persia, or Egypt; which have always 
 perplexed , and will perplex antiquaries. All 
 that we can conclude is, that Alatri is a city of 
 the Italian Aborigines, founded at some remote 
 and unknown period , probably by Saturnus , 
 who after imparting some few ideas of civili- 
 zation among his followers, was venerated by 
 them, and subse^ueiitiy , with Janus, (^whose 
 
(55) 
 
 temples were common in the Apennines ,) crept 
 into Rome as the tutelar deities of the repub- 
 lic- It would be well if a new Janus or Saturnus 
 could reappear in the Apennines , to propagate 
 fresh ideas of social order ^ for here are an 
 unreasonable number of the priesthood, and 
 the same exitiabilis superstltio as in the capital. 
 If any one were to ask whether I found any 
 signs of order, civilization, or a cheerful and 
 active peasantry , (and no country offers more 
 resources for the formation of the latter ,) I could 
 not reply better than in the words of the co- 
 median in the Captives of Plautus : ou tan 
 Soran^ ou tan Segnian, ou ton Frousinona, ou 
 to Alatrion , per barbaricas urbes jurans. The 
 lands in this part of the Apennines, are very 
 unequally divided among great and small pro- 
 prietors. The church dignitaries, and monastic 
 establishments hold at least two-thirds of them 
 in mort-main.The next considerable proprietors 
 are the Roman nobles; and the next, the pro- 
 vincial landholders ; the aiiricuitural classes 
 possess little or nothing. A saddle-horse costs 
 from thirty to forty scudl ; a sheep , two ; a 
 ploughing-ox , thirty; a draught-ox, forty-Hve 
 to fifty scudi ; a dozen of eggs, ten balocchiy 
 
(56) 
 
 mutton and beef per pound, five; bread per 
 pound , two and a half; a flask of "wine , five ; 
 and one day's work in a vineyard, twenty bai- 
 occJii. Women are employed in the fields, as 
 Weil as boys; but they only receive one half 
 of the men*s wages. If their hirers allow them 
 food, one half of the salary is deducted (i). 
 
 On leaving Alatri, by an ancient gateway, 
 we noticed considerable remains of wails , 
 called Cyclopian. One of the masses presents 
 an uncouth figure in relief, probably of Satur- 
 nus. The style of the walls resembling those 
 of Tyrinthus and Mycenie, seen by IVlr. Dod- 
 well and Sir William Cell, proclaims an almost 
 antediluvian antiquity. 
 
 We reached Veroli the next morning , dis- 
 tant from Alatri seven miles. It is better built 
 than any place that we had seen since leaving 
 Subiaco; and the churches are handsome and 
 substantial. It gave however more the idea of a 
 people preparing against invasion, than engaged 
 in usual peaceable pursuits. IMany of the inha- 
 bitants were assembled in the market-place , 
 
 (i) Communicated to the author hy a trust-worthy iudi- 
 viduui of Roine. 
 
( 57) 
 
 armed with fusils swung across their shoulders. 
 Qwi siemo harbari observed a priest, as we 
 were endeavouring to procure some distant re- 
 semblance to a breakfast, at a coffee-house in 
 the Piazza. The appearance of his countrymen 
 confirmed the truth of his observation. Veroli is 
 built on the ruins of the ancient Sendee , only- 
 mentioned, I believe, by Florus. The view 
 that it commands of the Apennines to the east, 
 and of Frusinone in the circumjacent plain, 
 equals in grandeur any of the finest scenery 
 that Italy can boast. 
 
 We had not left Veroli five minutes > before 
 the Saturnian Arpino appeared on an eminence 
 to the east, though full twenty miles distant, 
 and exactly as TuUius describes it in one of his 
 letters to Acticus, wherein quoting Homer, 
 he says : 
 
 TPHXEI' AAA' APAOH KOYPOTPO^OX , 
 
 I added with all my heart , 
 
 OYTi Er£2rE 
 
 H2 lAIHS AYNAMAI FAYKtPnTEPON AAAO IAE20AI. 
 
 It must be observed , that the cities in the 
 Apennines, like most of those that derive their 
 origin from the infancy of societies , are built 
 on bold eminences. We descended for more 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 than two leagues, and reached the vast monas- 
 tery of San Giovanni , one of the wealthiest in 
 the pontifical states , and situated as all similar 
 establishments should be , in complete retire- 
 ment. A tew of these institutions might be 
 adopted with advantage , in every civilized 
 state , provided their revenues be very mo- 
 derate. When the British Henry Vlll. destroyed 
 them all at one fell swoop , he did not appa- 
 rently take into account that some of his spe- 
 cies are destined by nature for a life of medi- 
 tation and retreat from the ferment of the world ; 
 which can no where be so effectually obtained 
 as in a well-regulated monastery. On the other 
 hand, these states that adopt them would do 
 well to avoid imitating several of the Italian, 
 and trebly catholic Spain , which pamper the 
 occupants of religious houses with preposterous 
 revenues , drained from the panting lungs and 
 swollen muscles of whole districts. 
 
 The country here began to assume a more 
 cultivated and less pastoral appearance ; and 
 after traversing a tract diversified with vines , 
 poplars, and maize, we arrived at a while 
 cottage , surrounded with noble cypresses , 
 which proved to be the ISeapoiitan custom- 
 
(59) 
 
 house, and the boundary of the two states. We 
 were not long detained ^ for the great bugbear 
 Dicesaris naturally made us compress our port- 
 manteaus into as small and invisible a size as 
 possible. The road was enlivened by a party 
 of Arpino ladies, escorted by their cavaiierL I 
 know not whether Tullia in her airings with 
 her father and mother, rode like them astride. 
 The custom, which ought to be honoured rather 
 in the breach , than the observance , is not un- 
 common with the better classes of the Roman 
 ladies ; several of whom I have often met about 
 Frascati , and the Tusculan groves , equipped 
 in this manner. We might naturally conclude 
 from this, that the Italian ladies are uncouth 
 and masculine in their habits. Few countries 
 however can boast a fair sex more happily 
 disposed, than Italy. Their regular attendance 
 at church, and general cultivation of music, 
 preserve a serenity of temper, and suavity of 
 manner, which harmonize admirably with the 
 female character. They may be described as 
 moderattly accomplished , neither do they 
 bristle with mathematics, metaphysics, or dis- 
 cussions on evanescent strata , or oxymuriatic 
 acids. The charge of infidelity in marriage, too 
 
(6o) 
 
 often substantiated, is more to be attributed 
 to the profligate liabits of their partners, than 
 to their own inclinations. 
 ! We had now got complete footing in that 
 part of Italy, known throughout the country 
 by the name of // Regno. What a multitude 
 of reflections rush into the mind of the tra- 
 veller, as he enters this interesting tract! Go 
 to Amiterno, you will trace there a Sallust, 
 unrivalled for the clearness and brevity of his 
 historical narration ; at Sulmona , the poet, 
 who knew how to embellish subjects, which in 
 the hands of an inferior genius, would only 
 excite sentiments of disgust; at Venosa , we 
 find the inimitable Horace, whose villas we 
 have lately described ; at liuvo, an Ennius, 
 enough of whose fragments remain , to make 
 us regret the loss of his entire works. At Ta- 
 ranto, we shall find an Archytas instituting a 
 school of philosophy, which in pliysical science, 
 eclipsed any of the Athenian. Traverse in mind 
 the territory between Taranto and Reggio, you 
 will find it formerly inliabited by a people , not 
 less remarkable for their knowledge of the fine 
 arts and elegancies of life , llian for their insti- 
 tutions in philosophy and legislation. Ascend 
 
(6i ) 
 
 northward by the classic grove of Agathocles , 
 and you will reach Eiea , another celebrated 
 seat of the Italo-Grecian school of philosophy ; 
 while at Piestum, we shall find still existing, 
 monuments of a people, which after a lapse of 
 three thousand years, proclaim their skill in 
 architecture. 
 
 Ev^en in the middle ages, this country was 
 distinguished ; at a period too when darkness 
 brooded over the rest of Europe. At Salerno, 
 we discover a school , which sent forth the first 
 medical professors in Europe, before the sun 
 of science had lighted up Padua; at Amalfi, 
 a people , who had intelligence enough to ap- 
 preciate the Pandects of Justinian. The com- 
 mercial world too will not forget that it was 
 to a citizen of Amaiti , that navigation is in- 
 debted for the mariner's compass. At Sessa, we 
 discover a Nifo, whose works , though now con- 
 signed to dusty shelves , proclaim him one of the 
 most diligent commentators of the philosophy 
 of Aristotle. At Sorrento , we find the cradle 
 of the immortal poet of the Jerusalem Deli- 
 vered, which holds probably the third rank 
 among the great epic productions of the world. 
 Go to the Queen of the Sirens , who , though 
 
(62) 
 
 the panther (i) prowls in her streets, has al- 
 ways maintained a respectable rank in literature, 
 and more especially in the fine arts. \ es — 
 pierce this interesting region wheresoever you 
 choose 5 you will find it always volcanic with 
 the finest genius i from the days when Pytha- 
 goras propagated his doctrines in the south , 
 down to those of a Cimarosa , in whom the 
 powers of harmony were centred ! 
 
 The encreasing roar of the falls of the Ga- 
 rigliano , interrupted the above reflections ; 
 and after passing through the village of Isola , 
 situated as its name implies , and so surrounded 
 by failing waters, that the inhabitants are con- 
 demned to a perpetual stunning, we began to 
 ascend the bold ridge on which Arpino stands. 
 To our right, embosomed in a wood of oaks, 
 was the villa of a INeapolitan nobleman. The 
 scenery commanded by this ridge, which im- 
 proved every step we took for a w hole league , 
 batfles all description. To our left w^as the vale 
 of Sora , fertilized by the Liris and Fibrenus ; 
 while to the right , appeared valley beyond 
 valley, Apennine beyond Apennine, spreading 
 
 (r) La Lonza di Dante. 
 
(63) 
 
 their shagsy and purple summits even to the 
 confines of Daunia. We entered the southern 
 gate of Arpino, just as the sunk sun was crim- 
 soning the west with flakes of fire. 
 
 The information that we derive from the 
 ancient historians respecting Arpinum , is very 
 scanty. Its antiquity however is bo remote, 
 that Saturnus , as I have before remarked , is 
 its reputed founder. Those however who affirm 
 that it was built by that God, or hero, may 
 as well say , that they know nothing about its 
 origin. GlavelU, an historiographer of Arpino, 
 boldly asserts that it is upwards of a thousand 
 years older than Rome ^ but the vanity of the 
 Italians is no where more remarkable than in 
 treating of the origin of their cities (i( IVlid- 
 dleton errs in stating that it was a city of the 
 Samnitesj we find from Livius, that though 
 occupied by that warlike people, it was inclu- 
 ded in the territory of the Volsci. In remune- 
 ration of the spirit which the inhabitants dis- 
 played in repelling the martial Samnites , it 
 obtained the privileges of a municipium ^ without 
 suffrage i and subsequently annexed to the Tri^ 
 
 (i) Glav. Storia d' Arpino, p. 7, Napoli , i6i8. 
 
(64) 
 
 bus Cornelia , obtaioed from the senate , the 
 riglit of suffrage in the nomination of its ma- 
 gistrates? and the full prerogatives of a municl^ 
 pium (i). Clavelli relates, that by the Porta 
 deir Arco, a gateway of the old city, the mo- 
 nument of Saturnus existed in his time, con- 
 sisting of a pyramid of Cyclopian stones, with 
 a falx in relief, and the following verses in- 
 scribed : 
 
 CONDITUR • HIG • PRIMUS • 
 
 SATURNUS • MORTE • DEORUM • 
 
 ILLIUS • IMPERIO • 
 
 ARPINUM • FUNDAMINA • SUMPSIT • 
 
 I saw indeed , near this gateway , some vast 
 Cyclopian stones , which still go by the name 
 of il Moniimenlo , laid on each otlier like the 
 opus incerlum of Vitruvius , but nothing resem- 
 bling a pyramidal monument , or inscription. 
 According to the same author , the church of 
 
 (i) A. U. C. ccccxLViif. Eodem anno Sora , Arpinunty 
 
 Consentia rapta a Samnitibus biennio post Arpina- 
 
 tibus civitas data De Formianis , Fuiidanis(jue 
 
 municipibus , et Arpinotibiis , C. T'^al. Tnppo ^ tribunus ple- 
 bis , proniul^aint , ut ii's sujjra^ii lalio , {iiain ante sine 
 suffragio habuerant cii'itatenij) esset, — Liv. IX. c. 5a, 
 X. c. I. XXXyill. c. 56. 
 
 Santa 
 
(65) 
 
 Santa "Maria was a temple of Mercurius La^ 
 narius ^ or Mercury propitious to the clothiers ; 
 and that of San Michele, in which nine niches 
 are still discernible , a temple of the IVluses. 
 
 The inhabitants testify in various ways , ve- 
 neration for their illustrious townsman; in doing 
 which , they only pay a debt of gratitude ; for 
 the orator in one of his letters says , Non du- 
 bito quin scias quam diligenter soleam munici-' 
 pes meos Arpinates tueri (i). There is also a 
 letter to Brutus , in which he recommends the 
 delegates of Arpinum , and especially one 
 Quintus Fufidius , to his protection, 
 
 M. T. Cicero to his Brutus. 
 
 In a former letter) I recommended to your 
 notice the delegates of Arpinum collectively ^ 
 and with great earnestness. In this, I more 
 particularly request your good offices in favour 
 of Quintus Fufidius , with whom I live in terms 
 of strict friendship. I beg you to consider this 
 as adding weight to, not as detracting from ^ 
 my former recommendatory letter. He is the 
 son-in-law of Marcus Ccesius , one of my best 
 
 (i) Ep. Famil. XIII. ep. 2. 
 
(66) 
 
 friends; and he served under me in Cilicia , as 
 militarj tribune ; in vAiich office he so conducted 
 himself f that I may rather be said to owe him 
 obligations ^ than hej me. He is moreo^'cr ^ not 
 unacquainted xvith the literary pursuits ^ common 
 to us both; and this^ I am persuaded , will en- 
 sure him an additional claim to your esteem, 
 Receii'C him then^ I beseech ycu, with all pos- 
 sible kindness : and use what influence yov tray 
 have in calling forth his exertions as favourably 
 as possible , in that mission , which he has un- 
 dertaken contrary to his own inclinations , and 
 solely in compliance with my wishes. For he is 
 ambitious y as all good citizens naturally are , to 
 obtain the good opinion of our municipalitv ; 
 neither is he indifferent to mine ; especial ly as 
 I persuaded, him to accept the charge , which he 
 has taken in hand. He cannot fail cf success ^ 
 if this letter shall procure your good services 
 in his behalf. — Fare thee well (l ). 
 
 I was not then surprised at finding in Arpino 
 a Teatro and Collegio TuLliano. Several of tlie 
 modern inhabitants have borne the proenomina 
 
 (i) Ep. Faniil. XIII. ep. 12. 
 
( 67) 
 
 oi Marco Tullio; how far they may have suited, 
 we will not inquire too scrupulously. We 
 read too of one Marco Tullio Cicerone^ a dis- 
 tinguished officer of Arpino, who with the 
 words cedat toga armis on his lips , cut off 
 the hand of the governor of the castle of St. 
 Angelo , at the sacking of Rome by Charles V. 
 with one stroke of his sabre (i). The insignia 
 of the city consist only of the imposing initials 
 M. T. G. the inhabitants wisely preferring 
 letters to arms. 
 
 In the same manner that the memory of 
 Pindar saved Thebes , and the name of Aris- 
 totle, Stagira; so did the citizens of Arpino 
 escape the ravages of war from the celebrity 
 of their town. For in the wars between Fer- 
 dinand of Arragon, and the I louse of Anjou, 
 for the Neapolitan throne, Pius the second, 
 the ally of the first , gave orders to his general , 
 Napoleone Orsini, who had been successful in 
 his cause, to spare the Arpinates, who had 
 sided with the French : Parce Arpinatibus ^ 
 cried the generous pontiff , 06 Cad Mdrii, et 
 Marcii Tullii memoriam (2). 
 
 (f) Clav. Storla d'Arpino, p. 255. 
 (2) Caiiipana Vit. Pii II. 
 
(68) 
 
 The people of Arpino are in better condition 
 than their neighbours in the pontifical state. 
 The reasons are simple : one is , that the exe- 
 cutive power is not vested in the hands of the 
 priesthood in the kingdom of Naples ; the 
 other, that there exists an active manufactory 
 of cloths ; which , though inferior to the 
 English , are reckoned equal to the best else- 
 where manufactured in the Neapolitan terri- 
 tories. 
 
 The art of dyeing flourished anciently in 
 Arpino 5 as is proved by the following inscrip- 
 tions, found near ruins called U iorri jul- 
 
 loniche, 
 
 I. 
 
 P. GAVIUS. C. F. . . , ; 
 
 CN. LONGIDIUS 
 
 CN. TULLIUS 
 
 M. COSSINIUS. 
 
 TURRIM MAJ 
 
 ET INFERIOR 
 
 H. 
 
 : ACERRO ; 
 
 ITERUM EXTRUXIT. 
 ET TURREIS.... 
 
 Lb. 
 
(69) 
 
 III. 
 TINGERE LICEAT . 
 
 MATREDIUS . 
 
 ATREDIUS . 
 
 The first is interesting , for we discover the 
 name of a Tuliius , one of the partners probably 
 in the manufactory. It tends to confirm the 
 statement of Dio Cassius, who tells us that 
 Cicero's father was a fiiUer. The third shews 
 that the Roman municipal manufacturers took 
 out licenses , like the English ale-house keepers. 
 It will be remembered that our Blackstone was 
 son of a dier. It would appear that the diers are 
 destined to furnish the great expounders of 
 law, and consequently to be Jea/^/e^^. Remains 
 of the ancient Cloaca are still seen near the 
 Porta delV Arco ; and it is of stupendous ma- 
 sonry. An inscription recording it , is preserved 
 in the house of Signor Vito. 
 
 T 
 
 A •...••Vj.... 
 
 CLUACAS FACIUND ... 
 
 COER EIDEMQUE 
 
 PROBARUNT. 
 
 Observe the Volscian Coerarunt for Curarunt^, 
 
(70) 
 
 Tlie following inscription found under the 
 church of iS". Maria di CiviLa , leads us to con- 
 clude that it occajjies the site oi the temple of 
 JVlercurius Lanarms ^ or Mercury of the Clo- 
 thiers. 
 
 .... PLUIM SACRUM. 
 
 TBI MERGUKKJ. LAN. 
 
 CILIX. TULLI. L. S. 
 
 Here the name of a Cilician freedman of 
 one of the lulLii occurs. 
 
 Immured in the walls of the church of Sant^ 
 Antonio is a bas-relief representing three fe- 
 males of the Fufidian family , with the following 
 inscriptions : 
 
 P. FUFIDIUS. NOTUS. FECIT. V. 
 
 FUFIDIAE. P. F. FLFIDIAE. P. F. FUIIDIAE. P. F. 
 KOTAE. SORORI. AUGE. MATRI. SATURNINAE. 
 
 Fufidius was an illustrious lawyer of Arpi- 
 num ; and he is recommended by the orator , 
 as we find in the above quoted letter, to Bru- 
 tus. The jundiis Fiifidianus , which w^as in the 
 environs of Arpino, occurs in the correspon- 
 dence with Atticus. 
 
 The last is in the house of Signor Vito, and 
 records another temple at Arpinum. 
 
C 71 ; 
 
 A. EIGIUS. G. F. . . . . 
 T. AGUSIUS. T. F. SIFILUS. 
 M. FUFIDIUS. M. F. 
 AEDEM. DE. S. P. 
 
 Here too we find the name of Fufldlu^ JBut 
 tliis monument is interesting , for it mentions 
 an Agusius , the individual perhaps who ac- 
 companied the orator in exiie. He is noticed 
 by him in the following epistle to Pubxius Ser- 
 vilius. 
 
 M. T. Cicero to Publius Servilius, 
 HIS Colleague. 
 
 Since our friendship is so manifest , / am 
 under the obligation of recommending to your 
 good offices many individuals ; not that I expect 
 that yoiL should shew the same attention to alt, 
 Titus Agusius , who never abandoned me ia 
 the darkest hour of adversity, who was my 
 constant companion in dangers andjournies both 
 by land and sea, is the bearer of this. His af- 
 fection for me is so great, that he would not 
 even now quit me, without my permission. 1 
 entreat you then to look upon him as one of my 
 most {valuable friends, Yuu cannot corfer a 
 clearer testimony of your good will , than by 
 
(72) 
 
 proving that this letter will be of infinite use 
 to him (i). 
 
 On referriDg to the correspondence with 
 Servius, I find also one Cossinius bearing a 
 letter of recommendation. M.. Cossinius appears 
 in the first of the above inscriptions. In a letter 
 to Atticus , the orator speaking of his death , 
 says : De Cossinio doleo ; dilexi hominem. There 
 is another inscription on the pedestal of a sta- 
 tue in the house of Signor Cardelli , and sup- 
 posed to relate to Marius. 
 
 C. M 
 
 COS. VII. PR. TRIB. PL 
 
 Q. AUG. TR. MILITUM. 
 
 And so much for the inscriptions preserved 
 at Arpino. 
 
 I remarked , I thought , a promptitude of in- 
 tellect, and fluency of discourse in the inhabi- 
 tants , which are not observable in those of the 
 environs of Rome ; attributable perhaps to the 
 fine elasticity of the air , and confirming what 
 Cicero remarks somewhere in the De Naturd 
 Deorum , that mountaineers are of finer organs, 
 
 (0 Ep. Famil. XIII. ep. 71. 
 
(73) 
 
 and quicker susceptibility, than the natives of 
 plains and vallies. The pure air of Arpino is 
 also favourable to female beauty : and when 
 seen in perfection in Italy, where is it more 
 fascinating ? 
 
 The main street, which is very narrow, 
 leads to a Piazza , where workmen were ac- 
 tively employed in building a new town-hall , 
 with niches destined to receive statues of IMa- 
 rius and Cicero. Here there is a fountain, 
 flanked by two towers? with an eagle springing 
 from the centre. The towers are symbols of 
 Marius and Cicero ; and the eagle is emble- 
 matic of the power of Rome. 
 
 The wretchedness of the inn (if inn it could 
 be called,) was in some measure compensated 
 by the ludicrous appearance of some strolling 
 players , who were preparing to give their ex- 
 hibition in the Teatro Tulliano. The apart- 
 ment was the counterpart of Hogarth's well- 
 known print. The host, who appeared fit to be 
 niajor-domo to Dicesarls , strangling a half- 
 starved fowl in the door -way; — his sister, a 
 TuUia in her features, a Maritornes in her 
 mind , stirring with her black and greasy hands 
 an immense sallad 3 who though barbarous , ap- 
 
( 74) 
 
 peared good , and except when engaged with 
 the kitchen utensils , Tanaquii herself could 
 not have been busier with the dislatf ; a quack- 
 doctor, a meagre and grotesque figure rehearsing 
 his part; a hero, and a pretty girl who was 
 to be rescued by his prowess, at least fur- 
 nished us with a subject for merriment, which 
 we had no right to expect in so remote a town 
 in the Apennines. We followed this Thespian 
 band to the theatre, where they sustained their 
 parts with spirit, and their action and rehearsal 
 was not spoiled by those artificial gestures and 
 screams usually seen and heard in the greater 
 theatres of Italy. The orchestra, composed only 
 of five violins, serenaded the spectators, when 
 the drop-scene was letdown, which displayed 
 ill-painted busts of Marius and Cicero. \ he 
 applause was loud and frequent ^ the audience 
 apparently determining to abide by their ancient 
 character of belonging to \hejidelis, et simplex ^ 
 et fautrix suorum regio (i). It is not in the 
 greater theatres of Italy, that the stranger can 
 hope to form a good idea of Italian acting. I 
 was more pleased with the pure, unsophisti- 
 
 (i) Pro Plancio, loc. citat. 
 
(75) 
 
 cated style of representation exhibited by tbis 
 company at Arpino, than at the greater theatres 
 of IViilan, Turin, Florence, and PSaples. A 
 comedy of Goldoni seen in the afternoon in 
 the venerable amphitheatre at Verona, will 
 afford a higher satisfaction than representations 
 at Venice , or the greater capitals. This must 
 be attributed to the too great prevalence of 
 music in Italy, which infects actors of respec- 
 table, but not of high powers, with singsongs 
 and operatic gesticulation. 
 
 On returning to the inn, we found to our 
 dismay, that the only single apartment in the 
 house was reserved for the Thespian band. 
 We required the major-domo to take a rule 
 to shew cause why fatigued strangers , who had 
 come from Rome to Arpino, should not be 
 accommodated as well as a company of strolling 
 players. This was followed by a vehement 
 Philippic on the part of our host, delivered in 
 the uncouth Neapolitan dialect, pro Rosciis 
 comoedis ; by which we soon discovered that 
 we were non- suited. We even put up with a 
 truss of hay in a contiguous out -house, sepa- 
 rated only from the sneezing cattle, by a thin 
 partition. 
 
(76) 
 
 The actual population of Arpino is between 
 ten and eleven thousand souls. It gave birth to 
 Giuseppe di Cesar e , better known by the title 
 of il cavalier d' Arpino; whose frescos at Rome 
 and Naples , betraying a genius rather florid 
 than powerful , rank him perhaps among artists 
 of the second class in Italy. He has been com- 
 memorated in the following madrigal by IVIa- 
 rini, esteemed one of the best m the Italian 
 language : 
 
 Nasce in Arpin Giuseppe^ ed in Arpino 
 Nacque il piii chiaro dicitor Latino. 
 Pari in ambi e lo stile , e sono uguali 
 
 Gli artifizj , e i colori , 
 
 £ le glorie , e gli onori ; 
 \ Quel parlando perb difender seppe 
 
 La vita de mortali; 
 
 l\da tu tacendo sai 
 Donar la vita a chi nan visse mai. 
 
 There has existed for many years , a phil- 
 harmonic society at Arpino , which has sent 
 to various parts of Europe several distinguished 
 performers , both vocal and instrumental j among 
 them , one Signora Sperduti , prima cantatrice 
 
( 77) 
 
 assoluta at the opera in London , and who died 
 there about the middle of the last century. 
 
 Before dawn , swarming with fleas , we quit- 
 ted with no small satisfaction our pestiferous 
 inn ; and ascending almost immediately a very 
 steep rock, reached in about half an hour, Ar- 
 pino uecchio, which occupies the site of the 
 ancient town. On entering the gateway, we 
 were greeted with the following inscription , of 
 no remote date : 
 
 ARPINUM . A . SATURNO . CONDITUM . 
 
 VOLSCORUM . CIVITATEM . 
 
 ROMANORUM . MUNICIPIUM . 
 
 MARCI . TULLII . CICERONIS . 
 
 ELOQUENTIAE . PRINCIPIS . 
 
 ET. CAII . MARII . SEPTIES. CONSULIS . P ATRIAM . 
 
 INGREDERE . VIATOR . 
 
 fflNC . AD . IMPERIUM . TRIUMPHALIS . 
 
 AQUILA . EGRESSA . 
 
 URBI . TOTUM , ORBEM . SUBEGIT . 
 
 EJUS . DIGNITATEiM . AGNOSCAS . 
 
 ET . SOSPES . ESTO . 
 
 Ejus dignitatem agnouimus ; and the Cice- 
 rone , a title which has singular force here , 
 shewed us hard by, an ancient cistern, foun- 
 
(78) 
 
 dations of old walls, and three subterraneous 
 arches , called by the inhabitants , i muri di 
 Cecc, (quasi muri Ciceronis,) thought by Cla- 
 velli , to be the ruins of the paternal mansion 
 of the Giceros ; which Quintus , brother of the 
 orator , inherited ; while the villa below , near 
 the confluence of the Fibrenus and Liris , de- 
 volved on IVIarcus , after the death of their 
 father (i). 
 
 Contiguous is a Cyclopian arch , older , I 
 have little doubt , than the oldest stones of La- 
 tium anliquissimum. This arch is interesting, 
 as presenting a perfect point, and proving that 
 that characteristic of what is called the Gothic 
 style , is even antecedent to the Roman , or 
 circular arch. It consists only of eleven colossal 
 stones laid on each other without cement. The 
 accomplished Signora Dionigi in her Viaggi 
 net Lazio , has given an elegant engraving of 
 this arch, which she calls la porta acuminata 
 d'ArpL/iu, as well as of llie Cyclopian ruins 
 still seen in Alatri , Atina, and the other iSa- 
 turnian cities. Several towers of the ancient 
 
 (i) Cic. Ep, ad Alt. XIII. ep. 4G. Pluturch. in Ciceron. 
 and Clav. Stui ia d'Ai pino , p. 1 7. 
 
( 79 ) 
 walls are still standing , originally of Roman 
 work, but probably added to in the middle 
 ages. They are evidently of a much later date 
 than the above - mentioned arch. We were 
 shewn here too the vestiges of a street , perhaps 
 the via Grceca , noticed by the orator in one 
 of his letters to Quintus : ibam forth vid Groecd^ 
 cum luce literce rnihi reSdUcE sunt. 1 his street, 
 which is covered with irregular flags, like the 
 via Appia , is now called la via Cicero. Tracks 
 of the old wheels are here visible , as at Pompeii, 
 There exists near Arpino, a monastery in- 
 habited by monks of the order ot La Trai)pe , 
 which goes by the name of Casawari , {quasi 
 domus Marii^ perhaps occupying the site of his 
 villa called Cirrhcentou^ whither ho retired after 
 his long militarv services (i). On the other 
 hand, it is to be observe- i that there is a village 
 near the Liris, called Cevernate^ a corruption 
 probably of Cirrhceaton^ the name of the iVia- 
 rian villa. We hooed in vain for some 
 
 Plutarch, ia Mai lo. 
 
 Clavelli absurdlj pretends that the Marian oak existed iu 
 hi> time, (A. D. i6>)»,) detenniued to muke it canescere 
 sttcUs itiiiuinerabilibus» 
 
(8o) 
 
 Nuntia fulva Jovis , mirandd visajigurdy 
 
 steering her mazy flight from the Apennines, 
 to declare by her perching , the actual site. 
 
 But the memory of this military man of Ar- 
 pinum, in spite of his imposing attitudes in the 
 IVlinturnensian marshes , and under the walls of 
 Carthage, was quickly banished by the magic 
 spell of 
 
 Cedant amia togce , concedat laurea linguce , 
 
 and having gratified our curiosity wiih the ve- 
 nerable ruins o£ Arpino uecchio, we seated our- 
 selves by the porta acuminata , and enjoyed the 
 view of the rising sun gradually throwing his 
 crimson tints over the majestic Apennines; — 
 type, I thought, of the widely extended in- 
 fluence of the mind of the Man of Arpinum. 
 For where is the school which does not echo 
 with his sentences ? Where the statesman , 
 whose speech does not acquire dignity by their 
 adoption? Where the advocate, whose argu- 
 ments are not strengthened by an occasional 
 resort to his terse and sonorous periods? W here 
 the philosoj'hical or moral essay, which does 
 not acquire force by his illustrations ? W here 
 
 in 
 
(81 ) 
 
 in fine, the typographer, who does not boast 
 of publishing a correct and splendid edition of 
 his immortal works? The very stones prating 
 of his whereabouts i almost seemed to utter to 
 our ears the lines of Siims Italicus : 
 
 TiilUus ceratas raptahat in agmifia turmas y 
 He gia progenies ^ et Tullo sanguis ah alto. 
 Indoie proh! quanta juvenis^ quantumque daturas 
 uiusonice populis ventura in scccula civem. 
 Ille super Gangem , super exauditus et Indos , 
 Jmplebit terras voce , et furialia bella 
 Fulmine compescet linguce , nee cuique relinquet 
 Par decus eloquii cuiquam sperare nepotuni. 
 
 If we wanted testimonies respecting the birth- 
 place of the consummate orator, his own words 
 would clear all doubt. Ho^c est mea , et hujus 
 fratris mei germana patria ; hinc enim orti stirps 
 antiquissimd sumus : hie sacra , hie genus , hie 
 
 majorum multa vestigia hoc ipso in loco 
 
 me scito esse natum .... itaque hanc esse meam 
 patriam prorsus nunquam negabo (l). 
 
 Pompeius said that Rome was bound by 
 eternal gratitude to the municipality of Arpi- 
 num^ for having furnished her with two savi- 
 
 (i) De Legg. II. sub iiiit. 
 
( 82) 
 
 ours. Hortensius too, in an emphatical sentence, 
 thus addressed liis friend and rival in lull se- 
 nate : Fateor te esse ex eo municipio , et addo 
 ctiam ex eo municipio , wide salus liuic urbi et 
 imperio iterinn exorla est (l). 
 
 We followed the rough and rapid descent 
 to the Fibrenus, and presently entered a wood 
 of very fine oaks, which, as the soil is a stiff 
 loam, flourish luxuriantly about Arpino. J hese 
 no doubt are the descendants in a right line of 
 the Arpinatium qiiercus mentioned by the orator 
 in the De Legibus. Ego locum cestate umbro- 
 siorem uidi nunquam, permultis locis aquam pro- 
 fluentem , et earn, uberem. Such are the words 
 of Cicero in a letter to Quintus, descriptive of 
 the villa of his brother at Arce, in the neigh- 
 bouring country; such too is the picture of this 
 wood, which the heat of the sun made every 
 moment, more grateful. 1 he encreasing warmth 
 invited several vipers from their holes ; and the 
 common lizards, larger than in the Campagna 
 di Roma , were very numerous. Our guide in- 
 formed us that a species is occasionally seen in 
 the environs of Arpino, two feet in length, and 
 
 (i) Appian. Bel. Civ. 
 
(•83) 
 called il Rarcolo , of a bright yellow colour ; 
 the bite of which is dangerous. iNo part of Italy- 
 north of the Caiabrias, is so much infested with 
 the reptile and insect tribe as the Abruzzos. 
 Scorpions and tarantulas are found ; and fleas 
 are so numerous and voracious, that we noticed 
 the brawny chests of the peasantry scratched 
 raw from their attacks. It may then be imagined 
 how strangers suffer , who import fresh blood 
 distilled from the wholesome beef and generous 
 port-wine of England. The Abate Pacichelli , 
 in his Regno di Napoli in Prospettiva , states 
 that a town near the Fucine lake, was so in- 
 fested witli venomous reptiles and insects , as to 
 cause the inhabitants to abandon it to ruin (i). 
 Virgil seems to allude to the frequency of poi- 
 
 (i) Penna postain ruina, deshabitata , gid per la molti^ 
 tudine degli animali velenosL — The inhabitants of Penna 
 were not so fortunate as their anrestois j who if we may be- 
 lieve SoHnus, and Servlus ,had the powerful lii-ing antiseptics 
 of Circe and Medea , to deliver them from these pests : Gen- 
 tem Marsorum serpentibus illoisatn esse ; Circen , Aagitiam, 
 vicinani Fitcino occiipdsse feruiit ; ibi(^ue salubri scientiii 
 deam haberi. Solin, VIII. 
 
 Medea dicitur ad Italiam pervenisse , et circa Fucininn 
 lacum habitantes docuit remedia contra serpentes, Servius 
 ad jEneid. VII. 
 
(84) 
 
 sonous animals in tLe neighbourhood , when 
 he introduces one of his heroes from the banks 
 of the Fucine lake, and whom he describes 
 as celebrated for his skill in curing the bites of 
 the IVlarsic serpents. 
 
 Quin et Marrubid veiiit de gente sacerdos , 
 Fronde super galeani^ et felici comptus olivd ^ 
 yirchippi regis missu , forlissimus Uinbro. 
 Vipereo gejieri , et grai'iter spirantibiis hydris^ 
 Spargere qui somjios, caiituque manuque solebat^ 
 Mulcebatque iras^ et morsus arte lei%ibat. 
 Sed non Dardanice niedicari cuspidis ictum 
 Ei'aluit ; neque eum juvere in i^ulnera cantus 
 So?nniferiy et Marsis qucesitce in montibus herbce. 
 Te neinus Angitics , vitred te Fucinus undd, 
 Te liquidijlevere lacus I 
 
 Umbro the priest , tlie proud Marrutians led 
 By liing Archippus sent to Turnus'aid, 
 And peaceful olives crowned his hoary head. 
 His >^ and and holy >a ords the serpent's rage. 
 And venom'd "\a ounds of vipers could assuage. 
 He >\'hen he pleas'd "with poAV^rful juice to steep 
 Their temples, shut their eyes in pleasing sleep. 
 But vain Avere Marsian herbs , and magic art. 
 To cure the Avound given by Dardan dart. 
 Yet his untimely fate th' Augitian VAoods 
 
 lu sighs remurraur'd to the Fucine floods. 
 
 DaYDEN. 
 
(85) 
 
 Mineral waters are common , especially near 
 tlie Liris; but they Lave not been analysedi 
 and there is a mountain between Arpino and 
 Atina abounding with iron , but no shafts have 
 been sunk. The neighbouring Apennines are 
 rich in marbles, which are breccia^ fior di 
 persico, white , and schiziato rosso, 
 
 A grand and irregular chain of mountains 
 skreenedfrom our view the Fucine lake> a sheet 
 of water forty -seven miles in circumference, 
 and the largest of the Italian lakes south of the 
 IVlilanese. It no where exceeds twenty fathoms 
 in depth. Strabo however compares it to an 
 inland sea, lashing the shores with its waves. 
 It is also noticed by Lycophron j and by Vir- 
 gil , in the passage above quoted. The Fucine 
 lake is memorable from the stupendous emis- 
 sary undertaken by the emperor Claudius; the 
 object of which was to discharge the waters 
 into the Liris, only three miles from the lake, 
 and to bring the bed into cultivation. Such 
 difficulties however did the intervening moun- 
 tains present, that the cutting of the subterra- 
 neous canal, occupied incebsantly for eleven 
 years, thirty thousand men. It appears from 
 Suetoniuci, that Ju.ius meditated this underla- 
 
(86 ) 
 
 kins. Ausustus, of not such brilliant talents, 
 but of sounder sense , would have nothing to 
 say to the IVlarsi , who repeatedly solicited of 
 him permission to drain the lake. At last it was 
 undertaken by Claudius, non minus compendii 
 spe quhm g lor ice , says Suetonius. Plinius gives 
 us a striking picture of the difficulty of the en- 
 terprize : Ejiisdem Ciaudii inter maxime memo- 
 randa duxerim, quamvis destitutum successoris 
 odio , montem per/ossum ad lacum Bucinum 
 emitt^ndum ^ inenarrabiLi proftctu impendioy et 
 operarum multiludine per tot annas y ciim aut 
 corriuatio aquaritm qua terrenus mons erat , ege- 
 reretur in vertice machinis , aut silex ccederetur^ 
 cmniaque intus in tenebris fierent, quce neque 
 concipi animo , nisi ab iis qui vidire , neque hu- 
 mano sermone euarrari possunt ! To communi- 
 cate light and air to the Avorkmen , shafts were 
 sunk with incredible labour; some perpendi- 
 cular, others horizontally inclining. Of these 
 twenty-two have been discovered; and one, 
 which was not long since cleared of rubbish , is 
 five hundred p^iZmi deep , and twenty in width. 
 One of the inclined cuniculi nearest the lake , 
 is about one hundred palmi in depth , and thirty 
 in width; another perpendicular, and conti- 
 
C 87) 
 
 guous, is three hundred deep, and fifteen in 
 width ; and a fourth , near the exit of the emis- 
 sary towards the Liris , is four hundred palmi 
 in depth, and fifteen in width. The preparations 
 completed, Claudius determined to outdo Au- 
 gustus in the splendour of the spectacle. In a 
 Naumachia given by the latter, eighteen thou- 
 sand combatants were embarked in small barks. 
 Claudius employed nineteen thousand combat- 
 ants, who manned large gallies. The emperor 
 was seen to stagger round the lake , urging them 
 to hght , partly by entreaties , partly by threats : 
 lacus non sinefoedd vacillatione discurrens y par^ 
 tim minando , partim adhortando , ad pugnam 
 compulit' A splendid banquet was prepared for 
 the emperor and his suite , close to the emissary; 
 but it appears that the imperial guests fled pre- 
 cipitately , as soon as the sluices were opened , 
 panic-struck by the rombo dell ' aria , and con- 
 vulsion of the earth , occasioned by the sudden 
 intromission of such a weight of water into so 
 confined a space : i^is aquarum prorumpens, 
 proxima trahebat, conuulsis idterioribus, et sonitu 
 exterritis. The operations were imperfectly 
 conducted by a clumsy engineer to a clumsy 
 emperor ; non sails depressum opus ad lacus ima 
 
(88 ) 
 
 vel media. The circumjacent shores must have 
 presented an extraordinary appearance. The 
 ridiculous and untoward gestures of the empe- 
 ror (ij, the intrigues of tbe empress to ruio 
 INarcissuSj the anxiety of the engineer destined 
 probably to explore his own emissary in case of 
 failure j the silver Triton rising from the water, 
 and blowing the signal for the combat, the 
 Apennines lined with myriads of spectators , 
 the shouts of the praetorian guards , the groans 
 of the criminals destroyed by the catapultoz and 
 balistcBy must have presented an union of the 
 bizarre and sublime, never probably before, and 
 certainly never since realized. 
 
 The banditti in the fastnesses above Sora, 
 deterred us from visiting this interesting sheet 
 of water , now called il lago di Celano. We 
 felt no small regret at this disappointment , for 
 Alba, which retains its ancient name, and 
 where Domitian instituted literary combats , 
 presents considerable remains of its polygonal 
 Cyclopian walls ; besides ruins of a theatre , 
 
 (i) Claudius however was only heavy- as an eniperor.— 
 He had a cultivated mind, and was fond of literature. Sue- 
 tonius tells us that he wrote a defence of Cicero against the 
 aspersions of Asinius Gallus. 
 
S ora 
 
 , Camp oil 
 
 Ki^'i 
 
 ^T^o^ 
 
 ^»*^ 
 
 ^»o 
 
 M 
 
 ^^^'° 
 
 '6^ 
 
 <^ 
 
 2 I Ciceroxiis ^^o^e 
 
 'u \ \\S,Domenico ^^ 
 
 !'♦ Paper manufactory 
 
 litre o^^' 
 
 Brocco* 
 
 n^<4,^ 
 
 of tte 
 
 ♦la.Postx 
 
 ^o Home 1^" 
 
 4 
 
(89) 
 
 ampKltlieatre , and temple , now converted into 
 a charch. Alba too is of note, as having been 
 the fortress, where the Roman senate confined 
 their illustrious prisoners ; among others , Sy- 
 phax , Perseus king of IVlacedon, and his son, 
 Alexander. A ruined Doric temple is also seen 
 on the site of Angitia (i). 
 
 But the Fibrenus rolling its crystal flood in 
 the vale below, presently banished all thoughts 
 on the Fucine lake , and the extravagant projects 
 of Claudius. Many streams celebrated in story 
 and song disappoint the traveller : 
 
 Dumb are their fountains, and their channels dry : 
 
 but in the course of long travels , I never met 
 with so abundant and lucid a current as the Fi- 
 brenus; the length of the stream considered, 
 which does not exceed four miles and a half. 
 It flows with great rapidity; and about thirty, 
 or thirty-five feet in width near the Ciceronian 
 isles, is generally fifteen, and even twenty in 
 depth. Largus et exundans, like the genius of 
 of him, Vvho had so often trodden its banks. 
 
 (:) Tdcit. Ann. XII. Supton. in Claud, Sanseverino Not. 
 ad Tucit. aud Liv. XXX, 12. XLV. 5t>. 
 
(90) 
 
 Equldem qui nunc primum hue venerim^ satiarl 
 non queo; magnifica 9que villas^ et pavimenta mar^ 
 morea , et laqueata tecta contemno. Ductus verd 
 aquarum quos isti Nilos et Euripos vocant , quis 
 non, cum hoec videat^ irriserit ^ (i) The water 
 even in tlie intensest heats , retains an icy cold- 
 ness, which it communicates to the Garigliano; 
 a property noticed by Quintus, in the dialogue 
 De Le gibus. Lirim muLto geliJiorem facit ; nee 
 enim ullum hoc frigidius flumen attigi, ciim ad. 
 multa accesserim ^ ut vix pede tentare id possim, 
 1 hough the thermometer was above 80°. in 
 the shade, the hand plunged for more than a 
 few seconds into the Fibrenus, caused a com- 
 plete numbness ; and the breeze w afted by its 
 rapid current, inhaled with force, occasioned 
 that sensation which we call in England , setting 
 the teeth on edge. This classic stream , the noise 
 of whose waters is heard in the senates and 
 tribunals of the civilized world , now goes by 
 the name of it fiume delta Posta. It forms two 
 islands, which will presently be noticed more 
 circumstantially. On the Isola di Carnella, or 
 upper islet, there is a picturesque overshot 
 
 (i) De Legg, II. sub init. 
 
(91 ) 
 
 jnill belonging to the king j and close by , is a 
 very ancient tower , nearly overgrown with 
 ivy , and known in the country by the name 
 of La torre di Cicerone- It stands insulated , nei- 
 ther could 1 discover traces of any contiguous 
 building. {See Frontispiece , Fig. I .) Conti- 
 Duing our walk by the margin of the Fibrenus, 
 among vines and pollard poplars , for about 
 another mile , we arrived at the abandoned 
 convent of San Domenico , built on the site , 
 and with the fragments of the Arpine villa of 
 Cicero. It occupies three sides of a square , one 
 of which is the church, which has also a large 
 subterraneous chapel , supported by shafts of 
 one stone. Indicia of the corrupt Roman style 
 called in England , Saxon , are observable 
 throughout the buiidin" : which was erected 
 A. D. I o5o. Fragments of marble pavements , 
 and opus reticulatum , columns, bases , capitals, 
 frises, detruncated consular statues, and busts, 
 lie scattered in the court-yard , or are immured 
 in the walls of the monastery. The most in- 
 teresting I found in the wall of the chapel facing 
 the court , and they shew that the Doric order 
 chiefly prevailed in the Arpine villa. (See 
 Frontispiece i Figs. 2, 5, 4> ^j ^"^ 6.) Two 
 
(90 
 
 of ihe fragments are probpbly of a composite 
 frise ; and one seems to picture the IVlarian 
 eagle. Nothing but the memory of Tuliius could 
 have made me stand more than an hour to sketch 
 these fragments in a scorching sun reverberated 
 frpm the gleaming walls; and I hailed the mo- 
 ment of entering the Amalthea, and exclaiming 
 w ith the brother ot the orator , sed in insulam 
 i'cntum est ; I can truly add hdc vera nihil amce" 
 nius ! And here we felt the force of what Tul- 
 iius says, speaking of the relief afforded by the 
 recollection of past pleasures to actual pain : 
 lit si quis cesiuans^ ciim vim caloris non facilh 
 patiatur , recordari velit, se aliquando in Arpi- 
 jiati nostra , gelidis Jiuminibus circumfusum fu~ 
 isse (i). With us it was the reverse, the pre- 
 sent pleasure banishing the past and })ainfui 
 effects of the solar heat. 
 
 'I here appears however to be some doubt 
 which of the two islands formed by the Fibre- 
 nus, is the real Amalthea; for it is certain that 
 there is an ambiguity in the words of Quintus 
 Cicero, in the above-mentioned dialogue, who 
 says: XJtenim hoc quasi rostrojinditur Fibrenus ^ 
 
 (i) Tusc. Quocst. V. 26. 
 
( P3 ) 
 
 €t divisus ocqiialiter in duas partes lat.era hcsc 
 alluit^ rapid eque dilapsus, citu in unum confluity 
 ct tantum complectitur quod satis sit modicce pa- 
 Icestrce , loci ; quo effecto , tanquain id habuerit 
 operis, ac muneris, ut hanc nobis efficeret sedeni 
 ad disputandum ^ stalim prcecipitat in Lirim^ et 
 quasi in familiam patriciani venerit , amillit nO' 
 men obscurius. The words cilo in unum conflnit 
 certainly appear at first sight, more applicable 
 to the Isola di Carnella , or upper isle. (See the 
 topographical sketch.^ Oa the other hand, sta- 
 tim proecipitat in Lirim is better understood in 
 reference to the lower island, describing ex- 
 actly the two beautiful cataracts discharged by 
 either branch of the Fibrenus at their junction 
 with the Liris (i)- It appears to me that Cicero 
 would not have used the w ord statim , had he 
 alluded to the Isola di Carnella. We surely 
 can refer the words in unum conjiuit to the Li- 
 ris, without offering a violent strain to the 
 sense. The lower isle will then be rather the 
 Amalthea of Cicero ; which is not above lifty 
 
 fi) Wilson, in his classical lan'lsrape of Cicero at his^ 
 villa , has not ill represented one of the cataracts of the Fi- 
 brenus. Whether he was ever at Arpino, I know not. 
 
(94) 
 
 yards from the Dominican convent. It was so 
 called from a villa which Atticus possessed in 
 Epirus : f^elim ad me scribas , says the orator 
 to his invaluable friend , cujiismodi sit Af^ctAS-uov 
 luum^ quo ornalu , qud rcTroka-ici ^ et quce poema- 
 ta , quasqiie historias de Ay^uAB-uoC' habes , ad me 
 
 inittas. Liibet milii facere in Arpinati 
 
 Amalthea men te expectat , el indiget tui .... 
 De Amalthed , quod admones , faciam (0. 7 he 
 Arpine villa was repaired and embellished by 
 the orator's father, as we are informed in the 
 De Legibus ,* subsequently it fell into the hands 
 of Silius Italicus , as we may collect from an 
 epigram of IVIartial : 
 
 Silius hcec magni ceUhrat monumenta Maronis , 
 
 Jugera Jacundi qui Ciceronis Jiabet. 
 Hceredeni , doniinumque sui tumulique , larisquCy 
 
 Non a Hum mallet nee Maro nee Cicero. 
 Jam pr ope desert os cineres ^ et sancta D'Jaronis 
 
 Nomina qui coleret , pauper et unus erat. 
 Silius Arpino tandem succurrit agello; 
 
 Silius et f-'atem ^ non minor ipse ^ colit. 
 
 (i) Ad Atf. I. pp. 6. II. epp. 1.7. There would not have 
 been room fur the impi'ovemcnts here alluded to , in the upper 
 isle. 
 
(95) 
 
 We can trace nothing furtlier respecting it, 
 till the tenth century , when it became the pro- 
 perty of the Counts of Sora j one of whom ani- 
 mated with a religious zeal , made it over to 
 Saint Dominic; who with his followers there 
 paved an easier high road to virtue than its 
 former occupant 5 and w ho 
 
 to be sure of Paradise ^ 
 Dying put on the weeds of Dominic , 
 Or in Franciscan thought to pass disguised. 
 
 Not but that many of them were far nearer the 
 goal than that multitude of mean spirits , who 
 too often infest the European courts ; and who 
 without any merit of tlieir own, prohibit all 
 access to the temple , except to such as may 
 obtain their special license to enter. 
 
 The Arpine retreat is frequently mentioned 
 in the great orator's correspondence , with At- 
 ticus especially. He styles it his inheritance, 
 and the abode of his ancestors ; meus paternus^ 
 avitusque fundus Arpinas. Here he retired during 
 the summer heats, to enjoy the cool air wafted 
 by the Fibrenus : Ego ex calnribus, {non enim 
 meminimus majores,) in Arpinate , summd cum 
 
(96) 
 
 amcenitate fluminis me refeci (i). Here too he 
 betook himself, to avoid the intrusion of irk- 
 some and petulant visitors, or as we should 
 say in homely dialect, bores and dandies : Quo 
 me vertam / statim mehercule Arpinum irem .... 
 Quos e;j;o homines effugi, cum in hos incidi ! 
 Ego verb 
 
 Jn monies patrios , et in incunabula nostra 
 Per gam 
 
 Denique si solus , non potuero cum rusticis po- 
 tiiis , quhm cum his perurhanis / About to join 
 Pompeius in Greece , it was to Arpinum, that 
 he advised his wife Terentia to retire , if she 
 should find living too expensive at Rome : 
 f undo Ar pi nati bene poteris uli^ si annona carior 
 fuerit (2). Here he found a secure retreat, when 
 it would have been fatal to him perhaps to have 
 remained in the capital : Romamne venio ^ an 
 hie maneo , an Arpinum , ct/r(petMictv habet hie 
 locus, fugio! Here too, during a continuance 
 of violent rains , frequent in the Apennines, he 
 composed his philosophical treatise , dedicated 
 to Varro : nos cum Jlumina , et solitudines se- 
 
 (1) Oiat. A^M-ar. II. 7. Ad Quint. Fral. III. ep. i. 
 
 (2) Ad Ail. II. epp. 14, i5. Faiuil. XIV. ep. 7. 
 
 queremur 
 
(97) 
 
 qu^remur^ quh facilihs sustentare nos possemus ^ 
 pedem k vULd adhuc egressi non sumus; ila mag" 
 nos et assvduos imbres habebamus. lilam Aca- 
 demicam, avvrct^iv iotam f^arroiii traduximus (i). 
 His activity at the bar and in the senal-e , did 
 not hinder him from supei'intendin^ his farms, 
 and settling his renfs at Arpinum : mihi ArpU 
 num eundum est ; nam opus est constUui a nobis 
 ilia prcediolaj et constituere merceduias prcedio- 
 rum. Here too he loved to regale Atticus with 
 plain coiinti'y fare : te in Arpinati i^idebimus , 
 et hospUio agresti accipiemus. In the heat of the 
 contest between Caesar and Pompeius, whta 
 property , and even existence were at stake , 
 the favourite Arpine retreat was often upper- 
 most in his thoughts : ego Arpini esse volo pri- 
 die Kal. deinde circum vilLulas nostras err are , 
 quas visurum me postea desperavi , , . , si Ccesar 
 
 Appid ueniret , ego Arpinum cogitabam 
 
 nos autem in Formiano morabamur , qud citius 
 
 audiremus ; deinde Arpinum volehamus 
 
 Arpinumne mihi eundum sit, an quo alio^ (2) 
 
 (i) Ad Att. XVI. ep. 8. Ibid. XIII. epp. 16 , 20. 
 (2) Ad Att. Xm. ep. ^ II. ep. iG. "VIII. epp. 9, i6. 
 IX. ep. I, 17, 
 
(98) 
 Notwithstanding his aitachment to the beauty 
 and retirement of the spot, he was not sorry 
 occasionally to exchange it for Tusculanum : 
 narro tibi hcec loca venusta sunt^ abdita certe , 
 et si quid scribere i'clis, ab arbiLris libera. Sed 
 nescio quomodo oikos <^iXog. Itaque me rrferunt 
 pedes in Tusculanum. Et tamen hcec poo7roy^ct(pM 
 ripulce videturhabitura ceLercin satietatem. Equi- 
 dem eiiam pluvicc metuo. Ranee enim '^viroqi^. 
 cv(Tiy (i). When Antonius was spreading terror 
 and desolation throughout the republic, his friend 
 Atticus thought that he could be no where 
 safer than at Arpinum ; couching his advice to 
 retire thither, in enigmatical language, bor- 
 rowed from Homer : Ciim uenissem diluculd 
 ad pontem Tirenum , qui est Minturnis , in quo 
 Jlexus est ad iter Arpinas , obviam mihi fu tabel- 
 larius ^ qui me offendit ^o^txov ttAoov o^fjiuivona, , 
 Ego inquam^ cedo^ si quid ad Altico . . . . ecce 
 tlbi altera^ qud hortaris ttolo yivifjLoivTcc Mif^uvrec^ 
 
 vritrov iTTi "iv^itig , Appiam i7r ctfiiqi^ vxj^nct, (o) 
 
 It was in the Amalthea , that he intended to 
 erect a temple to his beloved Tuilia j but 
 
 (i)Ad Att. XV. ep. i6. 
 (2) Ad AluXyi. ep. 1 3. 
 
( 99 ) 
 
 clianHing repeatedly his intention, some have 
 tliodght that he built it <m the i^ia Appia , near 
 the Aiban hills ; while Bayle and Middieton 
 seem to think that he abandoned the project 
 altoo^ether '. Ego quantum his temporibus tarn 
 eruditis fieri poterit , prcesertim ilium coiuecrabo 
 omni genere monumentorum , ab omnium inge- 
 nils scriptorum , et Grcecorum et Latinorum .... 
 Fanum fieri volo , nee hoc mihi suadela erueve 
 
 potest Sepulchri similitudinem effugcve , 
 
 non tam propter poenam legis studeo , quam ut 
 
 maximh assequar dTroS-iaxriv Insula Arpinas 
 
 habere potest germanam UTroS-iuinv ; sed vereor 
 ne minorem Tif^nv habere i^ideatur. E}cro7rifA,os 
 est (i). In fine, he was so attached to the 
 Arpine villa , that he styled the Amalthea , and 
 the upper island , the blessed isles : Ne vivam , 
 mi Attice y si mihi non modo Tuscalanum, ubi 
 ceteroqui sum libenter^ sed MAKAPIINHSOI tanti 
 sunt , ut sine te sim totos dies ! (2) 
 
 And no wonder; for nothing can be imagined 
 finer than the surrounding landscape. The deep 
 azure cf the sky unvaried by a single cloud; 
 
 (i) Ad Att. XII. epp. 12, i8, 36. 
 (2) Ad Att. XII. ep. 5. 
 
( 100 ) 
 
 Sora on a rock, at the foot of th^ precipitoua 
 Apennines j both banks of the GarigUano co- 
 vered with vineyards ; the fragor aquarum al- 
 luded to by Atticus in the De Legibus; the 
 coolness , rapidity, and ultramarine hue of the 
 Fibrenus ; the noise of its two cataracts ; the 
 rich turquoise colour of the Liris j the minor 
 Apennines round Arpino, crowned with um- 
 brageous oaks to their very summits, presented 
 acenery hardly elsewhere to be equalled , cer- 
 tainly not to be surpassed even in Italy. 
 
 I was engaged with the De Legibus ; (quid 
 enim egi potius , aut in quo melihs hunc cori" 
 sumpsi diem / ) The scene of it , as every clas- 
 sical Tiro knows, is laid in the Amaithea. It 
 is a dialogue, which can only be considered a 
 magnificent sketch. Often was it abandoned 
 for the consideration of the many interesting 
 occurrences of which the Amahhea must hav^e 
 been the scene. Sometimes I pictured the great 
 orator at the head of the island , writing to his 
 brother in Britain : O jucundas wihi tuas de 
 Britannid literas I Te verb vTrokciv scribendi egre* 
 giam habere video, Quos tu situs, cjuas naturas 
 rerurn. et locorum , quos mores ^ quas gentes^ 
 quas pugnas y quern verb ipsum imperatorem ha^ 
 
( loi ) 
 
 hes (i) / Now sketching the outlines of the Pro 
 Scauro, and Pro Plaiicio (2); and now turning 
 to Brutus with that majesty of expression, 
 which sat so naturally on himself, but which 
 would be ridiculous in others : Mi Brute , quid 
 ocellos Italice villulas meas dixerim / one while 
 returning from Rome, accompanied perhaps 
 by Hortensius , whom a few hours before , he 
 had struck dumb with his Actio prima in Ver- 
 rerti / Terentia , the amiable Tullia , with little 
 Pilia and Attica , hastening from the Amaithea 
 to greet his arrival ; and now soothing the anxi- 
 eties of his Atticus with 
 
 O Tite, si quid ego adjUro, curamve leudsso, 
 Quce nunc te coquit^ et versatsub pectorejixa^ 
 Ecquid erit pretii / 
 
 Tiro , or Laurea Tullius introducing tahellarii 
 from the tribunals , among them one from Ca- 
 tullus, presenting : 
 
 Disertissime RomuU nepotum^ 
 
 Quot sunt , quotque fuere , Marce Tulliy 
 
 (i) Ad Quint. Frat. II. ep. i5. 
 
 (2) These orations were composed at Arpinum ; as ■vre find 
 from a letter ad Quint. Frat. III. ep. i. Fragments of the Pro 
 Scauro have been lately discovered by A. Maio at Milan. 
 
( I02 ) 
 
 Et quot post aliis triint in annis / 
 Gratias libi maxinias Catullus 
 ^git ^ pessimus omnium poeta^ 
 lanto pessimus omnium poet a , 
 Quantb tu optimus omnium patronus. 
 
 And here as I sat me under the poplars 
 which shade the Fibrenus, on the very spot 
 ■uhere Tulliushad often meditated his sublimest 
 harangues (i), I could not help drawing con- 
 clusions in favour of exalted eloquence above 
 every other effort of the human mind. The 
 philosopher indeed may attain immortaUty by 
 rummating in his closet ; the poet, by consulting 
 at leisure his force, and by taking advantage of 
 happy moments , may surprise us by extraordi- 
 nary flights of imagination , and his insight into 
 the human heart j so in an inferior degree , may 
 the painter and sculptor, with the additional 
 mierit of mechanical dexterity. But the great 
 orator, like ruUius, must not only be endued 
 with a deep knowledge of human nature, and 
 the secret springs of the heart, but unite all 
 
 ( I ) /« insula, quce in Fibreno sermoni demus operant se- 
 denies ; nam eo toco libentissinre soleo uti , sivs (jiiicl mecum 
 ipse Qogiio J give aut scribo , out lego.'— -De Lcgg. II. 2^ 
 
C io3) 
 tliose fine and strong feelings on whicli the af^ 
 flatus poeticus depends , to the valour of the 
 warrior. And we need only refer to the annals 
 of nations , to see how very few have been able 
 to combine these qualifications. It is incontes- 
 table that many individuals in modern times, 
 have taken incredible pains with their minds; 
 but we search in vain , in the productions of 
 those reputed the most successful , the suppor- 
 ted argumentative powers of Demosthenes, or 
 the grandeur, variety, and rotundity of the 
 Ciceronian periods. To what are we to attri- 
 bute the failure? To our love of daintier food, 
 and more luxurious habits, than the great men 
 of antiquity ? To our physical and mental infe- 
 riority? Or to the crippling that the mind suf- 
 fers , from its more multiplied ramifications ? 
 It is not easy to determine. I ended the above 
 reflections with the conviction, that a great and 
 honest lawyer is of inestimable value , and 
 forms the brightest ornament of every civilized 
 state. 
 
 The works of this extraordinary man may be 
 classed as follows : 
 
 1. Metaphysical. 4- Forensic and SenatoriaL 
 
 2. Ethical. 5. Epistolary. 
 
 3. Didactic. 6. Poetic. 
 
( 104 ) 
 
 propose to state briefly a few ideas respec- 
 tmg some of them , which occurred chiefly in 
 the Amaithea. 
 
 The grandeur of Cicero will be immediately 
 apparent , by casting our eyes over this simple 
 arrangement of his productions j and it will be 
 found that in either of the above departments 
 of literature, (if we except the last,) he has 
 left works that bear the stamp of undisputed 
 excellence. 
 
 With regard to his metaphysical, Joseph 
 Scaliger is too precipitate in underrating them ; 
 for though the merit of originality rests with 
 the Greek schools , we have no works trans- 
 mitted from antiquity, that present at once so 
 concise and comprehensive a view of the opi- 
 nions of the different Grecian philosophers; for 
 Cicero records the sentiments of several, not 
 noticed by Diogenes Laertius; or if noticed, 
 only mentioned by name. This applies especially 
 to the Academical Questions , to the treatises 
 De Fato , De XJniverso , De FinibusiBonorum 
 et^ Malorum^ and De Naturd Deorum. 
 
 The last will be always one of \he fair havens 
 resorted to by those , whose minds are bufieted 
 
( io5 ) 
 
 by the contemplation of the obscurity, that 
 broods on our condition here below^ 
 
 The De Divinatione y though a composition 
 teeming with noble thoughts , and splendid sen- 
 tences, must be considered valuable to the mo- 
 derns , more as presenting curious details respec^. 
 ting the opinions , and religious system of his 
 age , than as a treatise , whereby we can reap 
 signal profit from the perusal. 
 
 He no where unites more happily a brilliant 
 imagination to a high reach of thought, than in 
 the fragment of the Somnium Scipionis, 
 
 It is difficult to discover why his six theses 
 intitled Paradoxa, were so called. The third 
 alone seems to savour of paradox. 
 
 The analysis applied to the investigation of 
 the summum bonum in the De Finibus, is wor- 
 thy of the happiest efforts of the school of Ari- 
 stotle. 
 
 His ethical works will hold , I think , a higher 
 rank than his metaphysical, with the learned. 
 In the handling of them , it is easy to perceive 
 that he feels himself more at home. 
 
 The De Officils may be read with more 
 profit by the young student, than the Ethics of 
 Aristotle j for it is written with more heart than 
 
( io6 ) 
 the production of the Stagirite. In Cicero's 
 treatise, we recognize the philosophical, acute, 
 and benevolent parent; in Aristotle's, sini|)ly 
 the imposing dictates of the President of the 
 Jjyceum. The merit of originality however rests 
 chiefly with the latter. The De Officiis is the 
 noblest present ever made by a parent to a son. 
 
 In the Tusculan Questions f all his reasonings 
 are brought to bear on the thesis discussed. 
 They are never too finely spun, and frittered 
 away. 
 
 The De Oratore may be styled one of the 
 most perfect didactic compositions in any lan- 
 guage. It remains , to use Middleton's words , 
 a standing proof of Cicero's abilities. 
 
 The Orator^ Topica, De Claris OratoribuSy 
 De Parlitione Oratorid, De Inventione ^ and 
 De Optimo Genere Oratorum, may be consi- 
 dered as the satellites revolving round this 
 splendid performance. 
 
 Ol his Forensic and Senatorial labours , the 
 Pro Quinto Ligario stands deservedly in the 
 foremost rank. It is unrivalled not only for the 
 fine vein of irony that pervades it , but for the 
 finish of the sentences. It is a reduclio ad aby 
 surdum throughout 3 and may at the same time 
 
( 107 ) 
 
 be considered as one of the most gentlemanly 
 orations ever delivered. It differs in style from 
 the generality, being not so diltuse. 
 
 For compressed, cutting, interrogatory in- 
 vective , where is he so great as in the second 
 Philippic ? 
 
 The celebrity of this oration is apt to make 
 us overlook the merit of the ninth ; which con- 
 tains a beautiful panegyric on Servius Sulpicius , 
 who died on his embassy to Modena ; and 
 proves that the orator, on the verge of his 
 grand climacteric, and in the fever of his in- 
 vectives against Antonius , could find time to 
 make an honourable and eloquent mention of 
 his departed friend. 
 
 For force of mvective , whereby be literally 
 tears to pieces his antagonist, he is no where 
 more striking than in the hi Pisonem. IVIany 
 sentences in this harangue border, it must be 
 confessed , on a coarse vulgarity. 
 
 In the Pro Ccelio, he appears to blend more 
 sophistry with his arguments than in any other 
 oration. 
 
 1 he Post redilum ad Quirites places his 
 sense of gratitude to his country in a conspi- 
 cuous point of view; and is perhaps the most 
 
( '08 ) 
 
 interesting of the harangues delivered on his 
 return from exile. 
 
 The Pro Lege Manilid is a model of eulo- 
 gizing eloquence i the Pro Marcello, on the 
 authenticity of -which some doubts have been 
 started in Germany, is of secondary merit. 
 
 It is easy to perceive that in the delivery of 
 the Pro Quintio , his powers were but imper- 
 fectly developed. 
 
 The Pro Rege Deiotaro is also of inferior 
 oi der. It will how ever always possess great at- 
 traction ; for it was improvisatrised in the pre- 
 sence of Csesar. 
 
 His persuasive powers are seldom developed 
 with more pathos and effect, than at the close 
 of the Pro Fonteio, 
 
 The Pro Archid is indisputably the most 
 pleasing of his harangues. The fine sentences 
 with which it abounds, have been so often 
 quoted , that they have a sort of oracular effect 
 on our understandings. 
 
 If the Pro Archid from its agreeable and har- 
 monious colouring , resembles a picture by 
 Guido J or Albano ; 1 would compare the Pro 
 Cluentio to a Caravaggio , or Spagnoletto. The 
 Pro Milone may probably be styled the moat 
 
( 109 ) 
 brilliant, the Pro Cluentio, the subhmest of his 
 defences. 
 
 Genus causes says Asconius , in omnibus T^er- 
 rinarum libris admirabile ; and with reason ; for 
 it is certain that the Verrine invectives alone 
 would have immortalized Cicero. He no where 
 harrows up the soul with such a display of his 
 powers, as in the De Suppliciis. Of these ex- 
 traordinary efforts , I place in the second rank 
 of excellence , the De re frumentarid. It is 
 invaluable for the light that it throv/s on the 
 ancient agricultural system of Sicily, for the 
 profusion of metaphor and lively sallies; for 
 the interest of the financial statements, and for 
 the mode that he adopts of condemning the 
 criminal by his own concessions. The De Sig- 
 nis may be safely defined the most elegant ora- 
 tion ever destined for a court of law; and it 
 will not be hazardous to assert that it is the 
 most entertaining of his harangues. 
 
 Some critics, more eminent for their patrio- 
 tism, than equanimitv, have ventured to exalt 
 the impeachment of Hastmgs by Burke , above 
 that of Verres by Cicero Candour, I thmk, 
 compels us to confess , that though attended 
 by vastly more trouble , it was inferior to the 
 
(Ito) 
 
 latter, in the oLject, in the originality, and in 
 the personal risk incurred by the prosecutor. 
 It makes however the nearest approach in im- 
 portance J and grandeur , to the ^ errine accu- 
 sation , of any cause in modern times. It may 
 be affirmed , without risk, that no legal case, 
 of which we have notice , ever opened or closed 
 wilh such magnificence, as the Verrine ora- 
 tions. Ye jurisconsults, 
 
 Nocturnd versate manu , versate dmrnd ! 
 
 The Pro Sexto Roscio Amerino is of a higher 
 order than the Pro Roscio Comcedo. Tliere is 
 nothing finer in the first, than his excursion on 
 the sanctity of friendship j and the evil conse- 
 quences resulting from its violation , both to 
 society and individuals. The last however will 
 always be the most read, notwithstanding the 
 dryness of the money-statements; for exclusive 
 of the celebrity of the client, we dwell with 
 pleasure on the interest which Tullius took in 
 the protection of talent , in whatever station of 
 life it might be found. 
 
 Of the consular harangues, I always prefer- 
 red the first of the CaiiUnarians to either of the 
 other three. 
 
( in ) 
 
 Of his epistolary works , the noblest letter 
 of the kind probably ever penned , is that 
 which he wrote to his brother, on his being 
 appointed a proconsul in Asia. That also be- 
 ginning Mifrater^mifrater^ mi f rater, written 
 in a sad state of depression , is a fine specimen 
 of pathetic expostulation. In his correspondence, 
 he only , I think , completely unbosoms himself 
 to his wife, brother. Tiro, and especially At- 
 ticus. The confidence with which he always 
 addresses the last, is perhaps the reason why 
 the De Senectute, and DeAmicitid, have such 
 powerful attractions; the sentiments always ap- 
 pearing to sprmg from the inmost receoses of 
 the heart. 
 
 His poetical works , fragments of which are 
 only transmitted to us , are of no further im- 
 port , than as tending to shew , that had he con- 
 centrated the powers of his mind in poetical 
 compositions, (which it is lucky for the v.orld, 
 he did not,) he would have shone a poet of 
 no ordinary cast. 
 
 The panegyrics of Velleius Paterculus , Pli- 
 nius , and Juvenal , naturally oi;truded them- 
 selves on the memory, as 1 rambled through 
 the Amalthea , but it was a sheer pleasure to 
 
( >>o 
 
 gaze on tlie transparent and rapid volume of the 
 Fibrenusj like the Ciceronian periods , 
 
 Strong without rage , without overflowing full ^ 
 
 and at the same time to dwell on the celebrated 
 passage of Quintiiian : Nam mlhi videtur Mar^ 
 cus Tullius cum se totum ad imitationem GrcE^ 
 corum cantuUsset , effinxisse vim Demosthenis , 
 eopiam Platonis, jucunditatem Isocratis. Nee 
 verb quod in quoque optimum fuit studio conse- 
 cuius est tantiim , sed plurimas , vel potius omnes 
 ex seipso virtutes extulit immor talis in genii he a' 
 tissimd uhertate- Non enim pluvias {jit ait Pin- 
 darus^ aquas colligity sed vivo gurgite exundat, 
 dono quodam providentice genitus , in quo tolas 
 vires suas eloquentia experiretur. Num quis do- 
 cere diligentius , movere vehementius potest i Cui 
 tanta unquam jucunditas affluit / XJt ipsa ilia 
 quce extorquet , impetrare eum credas , et cum 
 transversum vi sud judicemferat , tamen ille non 
 rapi videatur, sed sequi. Jam in omnibus, quce 
 dicit , tanta auctoritas inest , ut dissentire pudeat, 
 nee advocati studium ^ sed testis autjudicis af fe- 
 ral fidem. Cum interim hcec omnia , quoz vix 
 singula quisquam intentissimd curd consequi 
 potest , fluunt iUaborata , et ilia , qud nihil pul- 
 
 chrius 
 
(u3) 
 
 chrius audita est , oratio prce se fert tamen fe- 
 licissimam facilitatem. Quare non immerito ab 
 hominibus cetatis suce regnare in judiciis dictus 
 est : apud posteros verb id consecutus , ut Ci- 
 cero Jam non hominis , sed eloquenticc nomen 
 habeatur. Hunc igitur spe"temus : hoc proposi- 
 tum sit nobis exemplum ; ille se profecisse sciat 
 cui Cicero valde placebit ( i ). 
 
 (i) Marcus Tullius , hy taking the Grecian orators as his 
 models, appears to me to have attained the vehemence of De- 
 mosthenes J the richness of Plato , and tlie suavity of Isocrates. 
 He seems to have expressed by his industry , not only the 
 characteristic excellence of each, but a style distinctively his 
 own, through the force and exuberance of his immortal ge- 
 nius. He does not collect water drop by drop , to use an ex- 
 pression of Pindar, but rolls along a rapid torrent; born as it 
 were , by a special grace of heaven , in whom eloquence was 
 destined to concentrate all her powers. What orator ever in- 
 structed with more effect, or was so great a master of the 
 passions ? Who ever equalled him in harmonious fluency of 
 language? You may imagine him already obtaining, what he 
 endeavours to procure by dint of persuasion ; and the auditor, 
 however inclined to differ from him , seems not to be hurried 
 along by the power of his arguments , but rather to follow in 
 quiet acquiescence. Such weight is there in all that he says, 
 that we feel ashamed to withhold our assent ; and his asser- 
 tions savour rather of the authority of the eye-witness , or 
 judge, than of the zeal of the advocate. These . o ubiued ex- 
 cellencies , which separately taken , scarcely any on ■ else 
 can attain with the most diligent application , How fortii vfitii- 
 
 8 
 
( i>4 ) 
 
 Leaving the Amallhea , so pregnant with in- 
 teresting recollections , we crossed the ferry of 
 the Garigliano , opposite the Dominican con- 
 vent, and after passing through vines ripening 
 fast, and bending with purple clusters, pjre- 
 sently reached the ruins of a bridge , called in 
 the country, time immemorial , it ponte di Ci- 
 cerone. (^See the topographical sketches.^ The 
 people believe that it was built by the orator ; 
 I suspect rather by his father ; for we read in 
 the second book De Legibus : vldes villam la- 
 tilts, cedificatam. patris uostri studio , qui cum esset 
 infirmd ualetudine ^ hie ferh cetatem egit in lit- 
 teris ; sed hoc ipso in loco cum auus viveret , et 
 antiquo more parva esset villa , ut ilia Curiana 
 in Sabinis, me scito esse nalum. The bridge is 
 evidently a Roman work, almost concealed by 
 
 out labour J and that o-atory , than ■which not?iing can be 
 heard more beautiful, carries along with it the happiest faci- 
 lity. He was not then stjied without reason , hy his colempo- 
 raries , the sovereign of the tribunals; and with posterity, he 
 has obtained such celebrity, that in pronouncing the word 
 Cicero, we think of eloquence itself, jather than of the in- 
 dividual. Him then let us look up to; let him be proposed as 
 our best model ; and let that student be assured that his toils 
 have not been fruitless, whom Cicero shall inspire with a high 
 delight. 
 
( ii5) 
 
 brambles and aquatic herbs , and of remote an- 
 tiquity ; it is peculiar in being thrown obliquely 
 over the river, forming on either bank a very 
 acute and obtuse angle. It consisted of three 
 arches , one of which alone remains. (See Fron^ 
 tispiece , Fig. lo.) 
 
 The fourth , fifth , and sixth books De Le- 
 gibus are wanting; butlVlacrobius has preserved 
 a fragment of the fifth , which introduces Atti- 
 cus thus speaking : Puisne, quoniam sol paulluni 
 a meridie jam deflexus videtur^ neque nondum 
 satis ab his arboribus opacatur , descendamus ad 
 JLirim , eaque quce restant , in illis alnorum um- 
 braculis prosequamur .^ (l ) 
 
 The Liris , shaded still by poplars , and wide 
 spreading oaks, is now called il Garigiiano ; it 
 rises near the Fucine lake , from a mountain 
 called the Rock of Cappadocia. Passing by Sora, 
 it receives the Fibrenus; lower down, the Ta- 
 leno ; and near the ancient Fregellce , the Mel- 
 phes. Pursuing its course through a well culti- 
 vated country, it waters the teir tory of Sessa, 
 (Setia renowned for its grape,) washes the 
 ruins of Minturnce, celebrated for the catastro- 
 
 (i) Macrob. Saturaal. VI. 
 
( ii6) 
 
 pile of Marl us, and of which a considerable 
 aqueduct still crosses the road, that leads from 
 Gaeta to Capua. After desolating the neigh- 
 bouring country with marsh miasrna during the 
 autumnal heats , it disembogues in silence into 
 the Tyrrhene sea. According to Strabo, it was 
 more anciently called CLanius. The water is of 
 a bright turquoise colour, owing to its sulphu- 
 reous quality, alluded to byPlinius, and Silius 
 Italicus. The epithet tacitunuis appUed to this 
 stream by Horace (i) , can only be understood 
 of the latter part of its course. No rivers in 
 Ii:aly are so noisy as the Liris about Arpino. 
 For the space of a mile and a half, after recei- 
 ving the Fibrenus , it forms no less than six 
 pleasing falls, which vary in lieight from about 
 three , to twenty feet. Close to the village of ■ 
 Isola, the stream divides; to the left, it forms 
 a perpendicular fall of eighty feet ; while to the 
 right, the main body of the river is precipitated 
 
 (i) " rura cjuce Liris qidetd 
 
 Mordet aqua taciturnus amnis. 
 
 In describing the country about Cicero's villa , we should read : 
 
 — — rura nuce Liris soriord 
 
 Mordet aqua violeiUus amnis ^ 
 
(Ii7) 
 
 down a very broken inclined plane , of no less 
 than live hundred feet; presenting a magnificent 
 union of cataract and cascade, in my opinion 
 more striking than the Fiheinfall at Schaflhau- 
 sen. The fall of the Velino at Terni, can alone 
 be compared with it; and no doubt it would be 
 as often visited, were it not in the heart of 
 the Apennines. 
 
 Following the course of Atticus by the pop- 
 lars which shade the Garigliano , we took the 
 lesser falls in succession > one of which glides 
 without foam, in the manner that Ruysdael 
 paints his cascades ; a second forms a complete 
 horse-shoe fall ; and another shoots in a very 
 oblique direction across the river. We reached 
 the verge of the great cataract; ces eaiix qui 
 tombent, se relh'ent , jailUssent , se detournent ^ 
 s'amoncelent, s'^chappent^ se precipitent, s'a- 
 bjment, as some French traveller happily pour- 
 trays a cataract. No fall in Swisserland or Italy 
 is so easily approachable as this ; and nothing 
 hinders you from commanding it in its whole 
 extent. We saw it by the full blaze of the mid- 
 day sun; and the splendour of the foam affected 
 our eyes with sensible pain. The depth of the 
 Liris above the falls , varies from about twenty 
 
(1.8) 
 
 to twenty-five feet. 1 he sky had been hitherto 
 serene , and the sun very powerful j but some 
 light clouds hovering above Sora , discharged 
 about noon , a few heat - drops , while thunder 
 muttered from the Apennines : 
 
 Partibus intonuit coeli pater ipse sinistris , 
 Ccesaris et clarwn firmavit Jupiter omen (i) ; 
 
 or to speak in plain prose, the thunder rather 
 reminded us of Dicesaris and his banditti , than 
 the evils of wet clothes; and after visiting a 
 second time , the great falls of the Liris , we 
 bade a final farewell to the Amalthea , and con- 
 spicuce felicitatis Arpinum; not without being 
 convinced that very few things in Italy can im- 
 press the traveller with such pleasing recollec- 
 tions, as the remembrance of TuUius at the 
 place of his birth. 
 
 About a mile from the Arpine villa, there 
 is a paper-manufactory , where we found to our 
 surprise , a native of Berkshire , who acted as 
 the superintendant. He presented us with a roll 
 of his Arpiiice chartce , not inscribed indeed with 
 the Pro Archid, or the Pro Regibus Alexan- 
 fiino, et Deiotaro, but blank as Arpino itself 
 
 (i) Cicero. Fragment. Marii. 
 
(i>9) 
 
 would prove , without the remembrance of its 
 genius. The picture that he gave of the state 
 of the country was deplorable j for scarcely a 
 day had elapsed the preceding year, without a 
 robbery , which was generally accompanied by 
 assassination. The attacks were most frequent 
 between Isola and Sora. This is explained by 
 considering the situation of Arpino and its en- 
 virons^ which being on the confines of the two 
 states, makes its neighbourhood a convenient 
 asylum for ruffians, who as they may be pur- 
 sued in one or other territory, abscond in the 
 skirts of either. 
 
 These circumstances suggested a Dwinatlo 
 on the most adviseable way of returning to 
 Rome, and escaping the /wi-foof that werres of 
 the Apennines, Dicesaris. Sometimes we thought 
 of passing by the Realine Tempe ( i ) . Further 
 delay was dangerous j and it was high time to 
 withdraw De Finibus Arpinatium; the Jopica 
 of which were so doubtful and uncleared ^ for 
 since Dicesaris, like his great prototype, sat the 
 
 (i) Reatini me ad sua Tempe invitarunt, sajs the orator, 
 invited b^ the inhabitants to plead their cause against the 
 later amnates. 
 
( T20 ) 
 
 De Legibus at defiance , and consequently tlie 
 De Officiis, an attack in the woods was by no 
 means a Paradoxon. The fatigue and heat too 
 made it necessary to take measures De cegri- 
 tud'uie ieniendd; which if postponed might have 
 terminated in the De morte contemnendd, 
 
 1 he sum total of these considerations ac- 
 celerated our departure ^ and w^e resolved on 
 striking across the country by a bye - road 
 through the woods to Frusinone, a town distant 
 from Arpino about twenty miles. 
 
 This also is a most ancient city of the P^olsci, 
 ferocior ad rebellandum quam ad hellandum 
 gens ^ as they are described by Livius, The 
 obstinacy with which they resisted Rome , and 
 their activity in fomenting the revolt of the 
 Hernici , cost them dear , as we learn from the 
 same author : Frusinates tertid parte agri dam- 
 nati, quod Hernicos ah Us soUcitatos compertum; 
 capitaque conjurationis uirgis ccesij securi per^' 
 cussi. It was long before they obtained the good 
 will of the capital, for they first submitted to a 
 praefecture , while the more favoured cities en- 
 joyed the privileges of a municipium. We pas- 
 sed two or three monumental crosses, where 
 travellers had forfeited their lives to banditti j 
 
( la' ) 
 
 and we saw to the left, on a lofty steep, B^uco, 
 supposed to be on the site of the Bovillan or 
 JLaterian villa of Quintus Cicero (i). Saranno 
 ammazzati were the words with which some 
 passengers greeted us , as we mounted the hill 
 on which Frusinone stands : 
 
 duris qua rupibus hceret 
 
 Bellator Frusino. Sil. Ital. 
 
 The town commands an extensive plain, sur- 
 rounded on all sides by bold promontories of 
 Apennines. 
 
 The same listlessness , the same filth , the 
 same indifference in realizing the few joys ihat 
 life affords , is as conspicuous at Frusinone , as 
 at Veroli, and Alatri. South of the town , there 
 is a terrace laid out in walks , and adorned with 
 a few ancient statues of indifferent workman- 
 ship. There are also inscriptions, commemo- 
 rating the votive offerings of some legionary of- 
 ficers. JNone are worth recording. But in a 
 private house the following , containing poetry 
 not destitute of pathos, may deserve attention : 
 
 (i) His brother tells us that some of his improvements in 
 the Laterian villa , ofi'eniied tlie Arpinutes : Arpiuadum in" 
 ^redibilis estjicmitus de Laterio, Ad Att. IV. ep. 7. 
 
( 122 ) 
 
 D. M. S. 
 
 N. CLODIO. N. F. Al^. SABINIANO. 
 
 FILIO. PIISSIMO. N. CLODIUS. SABINUS. 
 
 ET. FLA VIA. HESPERIS. PARENTES. 
 
 Omine susceptus primo , votisque parentum , 
 Cum jam bis senos expltssetJLoridus annos , 
 QLiiuque etiam menses^ numtro superante dierum, 
 P^iveret iimocuiis , blandd pietata colandus , 
 Occidit — heu nimium celeres in funtre Parcos 
 Pltali trepidos iiato privare pareiites 
 jiudetis , mcestosque gravi circwndare luctu ! 
 
 The landscape which this terrace commands, 
 is equal perhaps to that in the environs of Ar- 
 pino. No wonder that the great satirist , when 
 lie exhorts his countrymen to quit the stench 
 and corruption of the Suburra, exclaims : 
 
 Si potes ai^elli Circensibus , optima Sorce , 
 Aut Fabraterice domus , aut Prusinone paratur^ 
 Quant i nunc tenebras unum conducis in annum. 
 
 Cicero had a farm in the environs, as we 
 discover from two passages in the Letters to 
 Atticus : Accept ah Isidoro literas^ et posteh 
 datas binas ; ex proximis cognovi prcedia nori 
 yenisse ; vidchis igitur ut sustentetur partim de 
 Frusinati . . . . , Defundo Frusinaii redimendo 
 
( 125) 
 
 jampridem intellexisti i^oluntatem meam (i). We 
 may conclude that the ancient city was popu- 
 lous; for an old chronicle which records the 
 donation of lands to the monastery of Casamari^ 
 describes them as being penes amphitheatrum 
 Frusinonis Qz). Frusinone has given two pon- 
 tiffs to the chair of St. Peter; it is also the 
 birth-place of my friend Ludovico Angeloni ; 
 whose Life of Guido d'Arezzo , the inventor 
 of musical notes , declares him an accomplished 
 scholar; his Ragionamenti d^ Italia , a patriot 
 luminous, and firm. 
 
 The dark scowls of several individuals wrap- 
 ped in their brown capotes, who had the ap- 
 pearance of being scouts in the service of J)/-. 
 cesarisy made us prefer the pestilential Circus 
 and Suburra, even the Cloaca maxima itself, 
 to the purer air of Frusinone , in spite of Juve- 
 nal; and taking advantage of a fine moonlight, 
 we followed the course of Hannibal in a coach 
 and four to the capital , distant fifty-six miles. 
 Titus Livius tells us that the Carthaginian ge- 
 neral treated this tract of country with seve- 
 
 (i) Ad Alt. XI. epp. 4. i5. 
 
 (2) De Mutteis Sloria di Frusinone. 
 
( 124 ) 
 
 rity, because the inhabitants had cutaway the 
 bridges : Hannibal infestius perpopulato agro 
 FregeLlano , propter incisos pontes , per Frusi- 
 nalem ^ h erentinatem ^ et Anagninum agrum, in 
 Labicanum venit{^\^. At break of day, we were 
 under Anagni , the ancient Auagnia , built on 
 an eminence- Here there are some remains of 
 a theatre. The inhabitants of this town came 
 down from their steeps to salute IVlarcus Anto- 
 nius , as we learn from the second Philippic , 
 and were severely handled in consequence by 
 the orator : Stulte Aquinates : sed tarn en in vid 
 habitabant. Quid Anagnini! qui ciim essentdevii^ 
 descenderant , ut istum , tanquam si esset consul y 
 salutarent. Incredibile dictu ; tamen inter omnes 
 constabat neminem esse resalutatum; prcesertim 
 cum duos Anagninos haberet secum, Dlustelam 
 et Laconem , quorum alter gladiorum est prin- 
 ceps J alter poculorum. Anagni was also the 
 scene of a singular occurrence in the middle 
 ages. A. D- 1297. Boniface Vlll. being at war 
 with the Colonnas, excommunicated that fa- 
 mily together with Philip-le-bel , their ally, who 
 convoked a council atl^aris, at which one No- 
 
 (0 Liv. XX Yl. c. 6. 
 
( '25 ) 
 
 guaret proposed to seize the person of tlie pon- 
 tiff. He was charged with the execution of the 
 project, and soon appeared under the walls of 
 Ana^ni , with an armed force. Noguaret, aided 
 by the Colonnas , surprised the town j and Sciara 
 Colonna, having taken the pope prisoner, gave 
 him a slap on the face, Avhich so affected the 
 pontiff, that he died a prey to irritation and 
 vexation. 
 
 We had also Segni , the ancient Segnia , on 
 on an eminence to the left. It is mentioned in 
 the Captives of Plautus. Here Tarquinius Su- 
 perbus erected a fortress to keep the Volscians 
 in check; here too according to Sickler, are the 
 remains of an ancient temple dedicated to Ju- 
 piter Astuiius^ and some of those gigantic wails, 
 called by some Pelasgic , by others , Cyclopian j 
 but probably raised by the Italian Aborioenes. 
 
 The cold of the autumnal nights in the de- 
 files of the Apennines, contrasted with the heat 
 of the day , is versy trying to travellers j but 
 scarcely had the sun risen an hour, than we 
 regretted the past freshness of the night; and 
 on reaching Valmontone to breakfast, the air 
 was filled with a stirring buzz of the insect 
 tribe , put in motion by the encreasing heat , 
 
( 126 ) 
 
 the varieties were numerous, and brilliant. The 
 coffee-house in the Piazza, filthier than many 
 outhouses in England, for lumber or poultry, 
 furnished us with a beverage like the scourin^js 
 of the coffee-pot in France, which was tem- 
 pered only by rancid goat's milk ; the people 
 being so stupid and idle , as not to take advan- 
 tage of their cows feeding on as fragrant pasture 
 as any in the world , among the vallies of the 
 Apennines. 
 
 Three miles fiirther we reached Lugnano , 
 the ancient Longianum^ and the scene of a san- 
 guinary battle won by the consul Lucretius over 
 the united forces of the JEqui , and T^olsci , in 
 which, according to Livius, upwards of thir- 
 teen thousand of the lalter were cut to pieces. 
 
 We had now cleared the defiles of the Apen- 
 nines, and as we flattered ourselves, the clutches 
 of Dicesaris ; and consequently enjoyed with 
 fuller hearts , the breezes which fanned Pros~ 
 neste on our right , 
 
 Quodcunqiie et gelido prominet u4lgldo , 
 
 on our left. The woods which surround the 
 
 temple of the Algidensian Diana, the substruc- 
 
 , tions of which are still visible , are much in- 
 
( 127 ) 
 
 fested with banditti. The lines of Statins then 
 are not inappUcable to these marauders : 
 
 Has Prceneste sacrum , nemus hos glaciale Dianas , 
 Algulus aut horrens , aut Tuscula protegit umbra. 
 
 As we stopped to bait the horses under Al^i^ 
 dum , I could not help contrasting the actual 
 appearance of the village, with what it must 
 have exhibited formerly. The priestesses and 
 virgins moving in procession to venerate that 
 modification of power developed by the Deity 
 in the woods and mountains, to which were 
 added the beautiful attributes of chastity, and 
 all the parapliernalia of the chase , one of the 
 healthiest and most pleasing recreations of man 
 — the gates of the temple of the Algidensian 
 goddess flung open, and displaying a Grecian 
 statue, not to be adored itself, as some canting 
 and self-interested hypocrites tvould induce us 
 to believe , but merely exposed as a visible 
 type of the above attributes ; which by a greater 
 extiinsion, were afterwards identified with the 
 silver orb of niuht, not to be contemplated 
 without inspiring ideas of puritv; and rhus 
 gradually lost in the unknown First Cause. The 
 
( 128 ) 
 
 chorusses of healthy and white -clad virgins 
 making the woods resound with the hymn: 
 
 Dianam tenerce dicite virgines , 
 
 or 
 
 Montium custos , nemorwnque virgo , 
 Quce laborantes utero puellas 
 , Ter yocata audis , adunisque leto ^ 
 
 Diva triformis ! 
 
 The actual appearance of the village consis- 
 ted in three or four priests yelling , rather than 
 chanting service before a Madonna crowned 
 with a bit of tin , and attired as if by the vul- 
 garest lavandaja of Trastevere; some ten or 
 dozen paupers lousing themselves on the steps 
 of a plaistered church , a happy production of 
 one of the Borrominis of the country, and ex- 
 haling an odour compounded of putrefaction of 
 carcases , and adulterated frankincense j the 
 building itself dedicated to some Vaticani mon- 
 tis imago , or to speak synonimously , some 
 saint , whose hooded efhgy , or os sacrum it was 
 meritorious to kiss. I considered, and compared. 
 
 Nothing was wanting to complete the pic- 
 ture, but a calvinistic missionary, or sourpres- 
 byterian , to menace the whole village with 
 
 eternal tortures. 
 
 Ahl 
 
( 129 ) 
 
 Aid serva Italia , di dolore ostello I 
 
 Nai'e senza nocchiero in tempesta^ 
 
 Noil donna di provincie ^ ma bordello ! (i) 
 
 Palestrina, situated like Tivoli, on a decli- 
 vity , occupies the site of the ancient temple of 
 Fortune at Prceneste. It was more magnificent 
 than all the other fanes dedicated to that god- 
 dess , not excepting the celebrated one at An- 
 tium. Prusias, kingof Bithynia, came there to 
 sacrifice in person j and the philosopher Car- 
 neades, on his return from Rome to Greece, 
 observed that he never witnessed a Fortune 
 more fortunate than the Praenestine. Numerous 
 authors speak of the sortes Pr^cenestince^ as much 
 consulted by the Lesbice and Lydice of Rome, 
 as the Gretna -green blacksmith by those of 
 England. Pyrrhus pitched his camp under the 
 walls , and Hannibal reconnoitred Rome from 
 the heights. Like Tibur, it was much frequen- 
 ted by the opulent Romans during the summer 
 heats ; and we did not forget that Horace read 
 over his Homer at Prceneste (2). Antium , 
 
 (1) Dante. 
 
 (2) Trojani belli scrtptorem^ viaxime Lolli, 
 Dum tu declamas Rorme , Pr^neste relegi. 
 
 Ep. ad Lollium. 
 
 9 
 
C 'So) 
 Ostla, and Pioenesle ofier the richest mines of 
 sculpture to antiquaries out of the capital. 
 
 But the environs of l^alestrina are memo- 
 rable, as having been the scene of that desperate 
 battle betvveen Sylla and the yoanger ]\iarius , 
 consul) of which so interesting an account has 
 been transmitted to us by Appian. Political dis- 
 turbances in modern times , however dreadful , 
 cannot be put in competition with the horrors 
 oi Sjllana ilia tempora , as Cicero emphatically 
 styles them. One of the most striUng incidents 
 in the history of the latter period of the repub- 
 lic , is the message which Sylla sent to th§ 
 senate, complaining of the ill treatment which 
 he had experienced from the government, when 
 all Ronie turned pale at the perusal 1 hey re- 
 collected that it was written by the man, who 
 lined the road from Terracina to Capua with 
 gibbets. We cannot contemplate Syila w Jth the 
 least satisfaction ; for he was unrelenting at a 
 period, when he might ha\e pardoned his ene- 
 mies without much personal hazard. He had 
 none of the civil grandeur of Julius and Au- 
 gustus, to compensate for his military ferocity. 
 If, alter having laid the corrupt republic at his 
 feet, he had shewn clemency, corrected ex- 
 
( i3i ) 
 
 isting abuses , diminished the military power , 
 then retired, as he did, to private life, he 
 would have left one of the most brilliant and 
 singular names recorded in all history. 
 
 After all, we are apt to admire these same 
 Romans too much. Their influence on the des- 
 tinies of nations, and on. their literature, is, 
 and always will be very considerable ; but in 
 our estimation of several of their conspicuous 
 characters , we do not lake sufficient care to 
 discriminate , and sift their principle of action ; 
 which will generally be found to be flagrantly 
 unjust. Any fifty years of the Venetian history 
 are worth all the Roman annals in interest ; for 
 the mind soon becomes surfeited with the acts 
 of a nation that adopted nothing but military 
 aggression for its principle of action. It may be 
 questioned whether Rome produced such in- 
 teresting heroes as the Venetian admiral Carlo 
 Zeno ; Francesco Sforza , duke of Alilan ; Louis 
 IX. and Henry IV. of France j Alfonso the 
 Great , and Gonsalvo of Spain ; or the Black 
 Prince of England. 
 
 We presently had the village of Colonna on 
 an eminence to our left, the ancient Labicum, 
 It was famous for its grapes , which Capitoiinus 
 
( 132 ) 
 
 tells us Caracalla turned to good account : cen^ 
 twiL Versica campana^ et melones OsLienses 
 decern, et uvam Labicanam pondo viginli^ did 
 the self-denying emperor devour at one break- 
 fast. Here Julius Ca?sar liad a villa , where 
 about half a year before his death, he made 
 his will , as we learrn from Suetonius : postu- 
 lante ergo L. Pisone , testamenlum ejus aperitur^ 
 Tecitaturque in Antonii domo , quod Id. S(ptem^ 
 hnbusproximis, in Labicano suo fecerat. Two 
 miles or a little more beyond, we passed the 
 site of the villa of IVI. Porcius Cato ^ and the 
 superincumbent hill retains the name of Monte 
 Vorzio. There are also the Prati Porzii. '\ he 
 fine lines of Lucan , in which he is described 
 as letting his hair grow at the breaking out of 
 the civil war, shot across my mind : 
 
 Jilt nee horrificam sancto dimo^'il ab ore 
 Ccesari&in , duroque adni/sit gaud/a i'ullu , 
 Vt j)ritiiiirn tolli feralia viderat anna , 
 Jitlo/isos rigidam in froiitnn descendtre canos 
 Fassus erat, nicestanique genis incrcsctrc bur bum. 
 
 To our ri^ht was the extinct volcano, now 
 a lake three miles in circuit, near which stood 
 the ancient Gabii ^ the dl!^co^ery of which is 
 due to Gavin Hamilton j and the remains of a 
 
( i33) 
 temnle of Juno, a theatre, and forum, together 
 with numerous fragments which enrich the 
 Bor^hese cabinet, have been the fruit of his 
 researches. 
 
 The Campagna was now fully developed to 
 our view ; and three successive ranges of aque- 
 ducts which transported the Felice^ Alexandriney 
 and V^irginal waters to the capital , stretched 
 their dark arcades in broken lines alon^ the 
 landscape , which harmonized with the fallen 
 grandeur of the Niobe of nations. The walls of 
 the city , in which it is easy to observe at least 
 three distinct dates , presented soon their vene- 
 rable curtains j and after passing the church , 
 wherein the ashes of Helena, the mother of 
 Constantine repose , we reached the capital by 
 the i^ia Labicana, after an interesting, but pe- 
 rilous circuit of one hundred and eighty miles. 
 
- //v//'^ a/ f/r r//^(t'/ur (/t:^c^/jr '~^Uf/^^/r//o 
 
( '35) 
 
 ON THE DIFFERENT OPINIONS 
 WHICPI HAVE BEEN FORMED OF CICERO. 
 
 X HAT Cicero was great in tlie genuine accep- 
 tation of the word, none, I believe, save Dio 
 Cassius, have ventured to question. 
 
 Considerable diversity of opinion has never- 
 theless always subsisted as to the degree of 
 applause which is his due. 
 
 JVIost critics join in condemning his political 
 conduct i at least that j ait of it which he ob^ 
 served with respect to the parties of Ccesar and 
 Pompeius j some even have ventured to censure 
 his eloquence j but those who have presumed 
 to question his oratorical powers, are very few 
 when compared with the arraigners of his po* 
 litical career. 
 
 Of his detractors , Dio Cassius stands in the 
 first rank; but the spleen with which he attacks 
 the character of the orator , will fail to have 
 weight with those who reflect that Dio flou- 
 rished under Alexander Severus , an emperor 
 who has been cited by Machiaveili as the most 
 
( 136 ) 
 
 adroit in establishing his power by what the 
 
 French call Les menees sourdes. The degree of 
 
 credit therefore which we can attach to Die, 
 
 when he handles the character of any great as- 
 
 sertor of liberty , may be tantamount to what we 
 
 should bestow on any of the hirelings of 
 
 France , who wrote what they call history , 
 
 during the usurpation of Napoleon. Ob metum 
 
 falsi. The vulgarity of his mind is conspicuous 
 
 in the sentence quoted by IVliddleton : « Cicero s 
 
 father was a fuller, who earned his subsistence 
 
 by pruning other people" s vines and olives; he 
 
 %uas horn and bred among the scourings of old 
 
 clothes , and the filth of dunghills ; he was 
 
 master of no one 'liberal science; neither did he 
 
 ever do any thing worthy a great man, or an 
 
 orator ; he prostituted his wife , trained up his 
 
 son in drunkenness , committed incest with his 
 
 own daughter , and adultery with Cerellia , 
 
 iphom , as Middleton remarks, he acknowledges 
 
 at the same time to have been seventy years 
 
 old. ^> A testimony like the above can surely 
 
 have no v/eight (i). 
 
 (i) Dione incib che appariiene alia fede.lt a , violti in lid 
 la vorrehbon maggiore ; ed olire i prodigj clC egli cieca~ 
 
( >37) 
 
 Plutarch ,' wliose known partiality to the 
 Greeks, renders what he says in favour of the 
 Romans more valuable, must nevertheless be 
 read, with caution. He appears to hurry over 
 the leading features of Cicero's career, and 
 dwells at large on repartees , or anecdotes of 
 secondary import , wdth the fear, we should 
 almost surmise, of the Roman proving superior 
 to his Athenian rival. It is pretty obvious that 
 the biographer of Chceronea was not partial to 
 Cicero (i). 
 
 Of his coteraporaries, who generally enter- 
 tained a high opinion of him, Lentulus in one 
 of his despatches from Asia says : dhina tua 
 mens. 
 
 Brutus and Calvus thought his eloquence too 
 redundant and Asiatic. But the first thought 
 
 mente aclotta , le accuse con ciii egli ha cercato di oscurar 
 la fatna di Cicerone, di Cassia^ e di altri aviiti fra' Ro- 
 mani in grandissinia stima, pare che eel dimostrino o bu- 
 giardo calunniatore , o scrittore non bene informato , ob- 
 serves the learned Tiraboschi. 
 
 (i) On pent reprocher a Plutarque de tie s'etrepas assez 
 etendu sur le temps le plus briUant de la vie de Ciceron^ 
 tjui joua pendant Kjuelqi'.e temps le premier role , et qui etait 
 la seule ressource de la Riipublique. Mem. de I'Acad. des 
 lus. Tom. VII. 
 
( i38 ) 
 
 hlglily of him in other respects, and for a 
 stoic , confers a high elogium in one of his 
 letters to Alticus : omnia jecisse Ciceronem Op- 
 timo animo scio; and in another to the orator, 
 speaking of the Philippics : nescio animi an 
 ingenii tui laus major in his libeliis conti/iea-' 
 tur (i). 
 
 Cassius, whose testimony is of high value, 
 confers in seven vi^ords, a high panegyric : est 
 autem tua toga omnium armis felicior (2). 
 
 Curio, who figures in his correspondence, 
 called his consulate an Apotheosis. Julius Cie- 
 sar said that Cicero effected more by his elo- 
 quence than all the other Romans by force of 
 arms; Hortensius, that his sovereign talent lay 
 in touching the heart ; Aufidius Bassus , that 
 his eloquence was so rare that he seemed ex- 
 pressly born to be the saviour of his country : 
 vir natus ad reipublicce salutem , quce diu defensa 
 et administrata , in senectute demiim e manibus 
 ejus elabitur (3). 
 
 (r) Famil. XIV. ep. 2. Brut, ad Att. ep. 17. and Brut, ad 
 Cic. ep. 5. 
 
 (2) Famil. XII. ep. i3. 
 
 (5) Auf. Bas. ap. Senec. Suas. Vl. 
 
( 139 ) 
 
 Cremutlus Cordas an historian of Rome, 
 quoted by Seneca , said speaking of Cicero : 
 vides credendam ejus non solum ma gnitudinem 
 virtulum , sed etiam multitudinem conspiciendam, 
 
 Asinius Pollio, the same, 1 believe, who 
 figures in one of Virgil's eclogues , has left a 
 testimony respecting Cicero , which has been 
 highly praised by Seneca : Hiijiis ergo viii tot 
 laiitisque operibus mansuris inomne cevumyprcB- 
 dicare de iiigenio atque industrid supervacuum est. 
 El quidem fades decora ad senectutem ^prosper a- 
 quepermansit valetudo; tum pax diutina ^ cujiis 
 instructus erat artihus , contigil. Namque ci 
 prised severitate Judicis exacti maximorum nox- 
 iorum multitu do prove nit ^ quos obstrictos patro- 
 cinio incolumes pier os que habebat. Jam feLicis- 
 sima consulatus ei sors petendi , et gerendi 
 magna munera , deiim consilio , industridque ; 
 utinam moderatius secundas res ^ et fortius ad- 
 versas ferre poluissct ! Namque utrceque ciim 
 venerant ei, mulari eas non posse rebatur. Inde 
 sunt invidioe^ tewpeslates coortce graves in eum^ 
 certiorque inimicis aggrediendi fiducia ; majore 
 enim simultates appelebat animo , quam gerebat, 
 Sed quando morlalinm nulla I'irtus perfecta con- 
 tigit , qud major pars vitcc atque ingenii sletit , 
 
(Mo) 
 
 ed judlcandum de homnie est. Atqiie ego ne 
 miserandi quidem exitus eiim fuisse judicuitm ^ 
 nisi ipse tarn mi>eram mortem pu Las set. 
 
 Cornelius INepos styled him vir prudenticB 
 divijios. Sallust, from his well-known Laired 
 of the orator, seems to speak as little as pos- 
 sible of him in the Be Hum Catilinorium. 
 
 Titus Livius expresses himself respecting 
 Cicero with his usual dignity , though he does 
 not confer much of a panegyric : vixit tres et sex- 
 aginta annos , ut si vis afuisset , ne immatura 
 quidem mors videri possit ; ingenium et cperibus 
 et prcemiis operum jelix : ipse fortuuce dih 
 prospercB, et in longo tenore felicitatis, magnis 
 interim ictus vulneribus , ruind partium pro qui- 
 bus steterat^ filice morte , exitu tarn tristi atque 
 acerbo^ omnium adversorum ^ nihil ut viro dignum 
 erat tulit , prceter mortem , quos vere cestimanti 
 minus indigna videri potuit, quod a idctore ini- 
 mico nil crudelius passurus erat, quod ejusdem 
 fortunes compos ipse fecisset. Si quis tamen vir- 
 tutibus vilia pensdrit , vir magnus , acer^ memo- 
 rabilis juit , et in cujus laudes sequendas Cice-' 
 rone laudatore opus fuerit (l). 
 
 (i) liiv. ap. Senec. Suas. 
 
C >4' ) 
 
 The lii^K opinion which Augustus enter- 
 tained , burst forth in spile of himself, \\hen 
 he saw the works of the orator in the hands of 
 his grandson. 
 
 The testimonies of Plinius, Valerius I\Iax-» 
 imus, Veileius l^aterculus, Catullus, Lucan , 
 Silius Italicus , Juvenal , Cornelius Severus , 
 St. Jerom, Aurelius Victor, and Cassiodorus, 
 convey tributes of unmixed applause to Cicero. 
 
 Quintilian calls him coelestis vir. 
 
 The celebrated simile of Lon^inus illustrative 
 of the different character of the eloquence of 
 Cicero and Demosthenes, makes us regret that 
 he did not pursue the parallel further. 
 
 Auius Geiiius, after makmcj remarks on the 
 rhetorical powers of the principal Ronian ora- 
 tors, shews that perfection in the art was re- 
 served for Cicero (i). 
 
 Lactantius, the Christian Cicero as he is 
 called, had evidently a hiiih idea of his Pagan 
 prototype : iwn ta/itum perfectus orator , sed 
 phiLosophus fuit (2). 
 
 Ainobius proves his sentiments in his reply 
 to those who proposed burning the works ot the 
 
 (1) \(Kt. Alt. X. c. 5. 
 <2) De fuis. KeJig. 
 
( 142 ) 
 
 orator, because they thought them obstacles to 
 the progress of philosophy : intercipere scripta 
 et publicatam velle submergere lectionem, non 
 est deos defender e ^ sed veritatis testimonium 
 timere. 
 
 Saint Augustine appears to have admired his 
 eloquence, but not the complexion of his mind : 
 ejus linguam fere omnes mirantur , pectus non 
 ita (i). 
 
 Petrarch was not less struck with the cast of 
 his mind, than with the grandeur of his elo- 
 quence : interdum non Paganum philosophum , 
 sed apostolum loqui putes, he says in one of his 
 letters ; and in his Triumph of F'ame : 
 
 Ed imo ol cui passar Verba fioriva , 
 Questo e quel Marco Tullio in cui si mostra 
 Cliiaro quanta eloquenza^ efrutti^ e fiori ^ 
 Qucsti son gli occhi delta lingua nostra. 
 
 Sebasiiano Corrado, an Italian critic, in his 
 dialogue intitled QucesLura, which is an inquiry 
 into the life and character of Cicero, vindicates 
 him with warmth from the aspersions cast upon 
 him by Plutarch, and Dio. He concludes his 
 remarks with these words : non omnibus egOy 
 
 (i) Aug. Confes. III. 
 
( 143 ) 
 
 sed singulis ita prcefcro, ut audeam penh dicers 
 h condlto orbe neminem fuisse , quern prorsus 
 cum Cicerone conferre possumus. 
 
 In the IVlagliabecchi library at Florence, I 
 fell in with a small publication, printed at 
 Venice in the sixteenth century, intitled Cicero 
 religatus et Cicero revocatus. It consists of a 
 dialogue held by three Venetian gentlemen at 
 Belinzona , on the demerits and merits of the 
 orator. The first part , after collecting all the 
 abuse that can be mustered against him, closes 
 with a decree to banish him, and fine those who 
 shall study his works ; the second collects pane- 
 gyrics from all quarters, and the dialogue closes 
 with rescinding the decree of his banishment, 
 and bearing his statue in triumjih. 
 
 The opinion of Erasmus is singular. In the 
 early part of his life he inveighed against Cicero; 
 but in maturer age, he changed his sentiments, 
 and entertained an opinion ot him bordering on 
 idolatry : me legentem sic afficere soiet M. TuU 
 lius , p'-cesertim ubi de bene vivendo disserit^ ut 
 duhitare nan possum , quin illud pectus unde 
 ista prudierint^y aliqua diviaitas occupdrit (l )• 
 
 (i) Ep. ad UlatU 
 
( M4 ) 
 It appears that in the sixteenth century, a 
 certain rage of admiration for Cicero seized 
 many of the distinguished men of the court of 
 Leo X. at the head of whom were Buonamico 
 and Bembo. Erasmus undertook to write down 
 this enthusiasm , which it must he acknowledged 
 was carried to excess. He engaged Budxus in 
 the controversy. Erasmus was analhematized 
 by the Ciceronians, for having affirmed at tlie 
 age of twenty, that a perusal of Cicero's works 
 annoyed him, and that St. Jerom wrote better 
 Latin. Julius Cissar Scaliger disgraced himself 
 in the conteat , by heaping upon Erasmus the 
 most opprobrious epithets^ which were repeated 
 by one Dolet, a Frenchman, who was burnt 
 alive at Paris, convicted of irreligion , A. D. 
 1646. The dispute made so much noise in the 
 literary world, that a history of the cwU war 
 between the party of Erasmus and the Cice- 
 ronians w'as written by a learned man of the 
 day , but never published. This literary affray 
 terminated as it ought, by confuiing the public 
 admiration for the orator wilhin reasonable 
 bourds. Julius Cs^sar Scaliger conveys a warm 
 panegyric in his Philippic against Erasmus : rjus 
 Si^npta sunt ejusmodi , ut in ipsis ilUus etiamnum 
 
( 145) 
 
 ^ens spiret , atque is genius , qui arcanam quan^ 
 dam efferat entrgiam. 
 
 Joseph Scaliger had a high opinion of his 
 eloquence, but a poor one of his philosophical 
 works : libros omnes philosophicos Ciceronis 
 nihil facio; nihil enim in iis est^ quod doceatj 
 demonstret , et cogat^ nihil Aristotelicum. 
 
 Cardinal Du Perron said : ily a plus en deux 
 pages de Cicdron , quen dix de Seaeque ; il y 
 a plus en une epitre de Ciceron , quen dix de 
 Pline. La republique de Rome na rien d'egal 
 h elle^ que lUloquence de Ciceron (i). 
 
 But of all the moderns , Conyers IVIiddleton 
 has done Cicero the fullest justice. Thou-^h 
 perhaps he may sometimes be taxed with being 
 too enthusiastic in his favour. He usually en- 
 deavours to exalt the orator at the expense of 
 Brutus, Cassius, and others, in matters too of 
 inferior importance , and in cases wherein from 
 the sudden and rapid phases which political 
 affairs then assumed, we may presume that 
 Cicero was as often in the wrong as the others. 
 The sincere and philosophical Atticus is not 
 spared ; he is in general too cold in his friend- 
 
 ■ ■ ' '■ ■ '■™* — ■ ■■■■■■ .^ii ■■..-■- I ■ M ■■ I f ■■■ ^ . .,11 ■! I ^ 
 
 (i) Scaligerana et Perroniana. 
 
 lO 
 
( M6 > 
 
 fillip for Middietoni who would liave liim speed 
 post-haste from Attica to Arpiiium, on the re- 
 ception of any querulous letter. lu spite of these 
 few blemishes, his work remains a standard 
 specimen of biography , and perhaps the most 
 perfect, that the English language can shew. 
 
 It may be wished that he had devoted another 
 section to an analysis of the orator's works. 
 We can only conclude that of such volume 
 was the heart, of such force and exuberance 
 was the genius of Gicero, that IMiddleton, 
 though a very superior man , had neither energy 
 nor time sufficient for the undertaking. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the philosophical 
 Bayle did not handle the life of Tullius. In one 
 of his notes to the article Tullia, he seems to 
 think that the world has been deprived of the 
 finest of the orator's works. The high opinion 
 which that eminent critic entertains of Cicero, 
 is one of the very few points in w hich he is not 
 sceptical. 
 
 F^n^lon , in his Dialogue on Eloquence, 
 prefers with judgment the later to the earlier 
 orations ; and though he bestows the palm of 
 superiority on Demosthenes , he withholds not 
 a warm encomium from his rival; in which 
 
( 147) 
 
 opinion D' Auger, the French translator of 
 Deuioathenes , seems to coincide. 
 
 Rapin , in the best parallel that has been 
 written between the Athenian and Roman ora- 
 tors, is of opinion that the eloquence of Cicero 
 is better adapted to make an impression on the 
 minds of the populace, than that of Demos- 
 thenes. 
 
 The AbL^ D'Olivet was so enthusiastic in 
 his admiration of Cicero, that he not only de- 
 voted the greater part of his life to commenting 
 his works , but felt irritated if any body urged 
 any thing against his favourite author. 
 
 Quite the reverse JMontesquicu i who in his 
 parallel between Cato and Cicero, says that 
 virtue in the latter , was merely an accessary ; 
 that with a dazzling genius , he possessed a 
 common mind ; that he was incapable of filling 
 the first station in the republic , during the 
 rage of a civil war; that he only wished its 
 salvation, to procure applause for hmiself; 
 seeing things always a travers de cent petites 
 passions (l).> 
 
 (i) Grandeur et Decad. des Romalns. lie found it easy to 
 write this in his snug retreat at bordeaux. What sort of pas- 
 
( 148) 
 
 Blair in his valuable Lectures , analyses his 
 oratory with a judicious and temperate admi- 
 ration j but agrees with Fenelon in preferring 
 Demosthenes even as a popular orator. 
 
 We may infer , 1 think , from the works of 
 Laharpe, certainly one of the first critics of the 
 last century, that he preferred Cicero upon the 
 whole to Demosthenes as an orator. 
 
 D'Azara,late Spanish ambassador at Paris, 
 not only translated IVliddleton into his own 
 masculine dialect, but embellished his pro- 
 duction with engravings from valuable busts 
 and medals j he added moreover interesting an- 
 notations, which declare a mind almost im- 
 mersed in the contemplation of the various ex- 
 cellencies of Cicero. 
 
 Voltaire was lavish of his admiration ; and 
 entertained even a high opinion of his poetical 
 talents : Y a-t-il Hen de plus beau que les vers , 
 qui nous sont resies de son pceme sur Marius / 
 
 sions AVould he have mustered before ihe \eires, the Pisos, 
 the Catilines , the Antonii ? — Grand President^ tu aurais et€ 
 dcrase. — He seems however to make a sort of aivende hono- 
 rable for the above asseilioa in his Pensces Diverses ; in 
 which he says : Ciceron selon moi , est un des plus grands 
 esprits qui aient jamais eta; I'ame toujour s belle ^ lorstju'elle 
 jji'ctait pas faible. 
 
( 149 ) 
 
 Rousseau thought him nothing but a de- 
 clainier. His opinion however , one way or the 
 other, is not of much import; for though a man 
 of ardent imagination, and fine wit, it may be 
 questioned whether he knew how to appreciate 
 duly that steadiness of principle , necessary for 
 the formation of a great statesman and lawyer. 
 
 Burke, in more than one of his orations, 
 bursts forth with encomiums strongly pro- 
 nounced. 
 
 Not so Fox; whose opinion as to his cha- 
 racter, though not as to his eloquence, conveys 
 but a cautious and cold approbation; whether 
 from thinking that he already enjoyed his full 
 share of celebrity ; whether from disgust at 
 certain passages in his works, betraying self- 
 conceit ; whether from an habitual scepticism 
 on historical topics in general, uncertain (i). 
 
 (i) The political career of Fox corresponded in the essen- 
 tials with the Roman orator's. Great'y however as England 
 is indebted to his noble exertions, il is incontestable that he 
 was neither so great an orator , neither did he move in so 
 arduous a sphere, neither had he the legal attainments, or 
 so much philosophical grandeur as Cicero ; neither did he 
 purchase his fame with so much suffering or personal hazard, 
 la one point , and in one alone , he was superior to Cicero ; 
 and that was in ravtly alluding to himself, and when he did , 
 in^doing it with modesty. 
 
( i5o ) 
 
 Of all those , who have discussed the poli- 
 tical atiaiib of Rome, Hook, in his History, 
 has done more to detract from Cicero's merit 
 than any other. Had he not l;'een a learned 
 man , his remarks would be consii^ned to obli- 
 vioii. ln<_enious as many of his notes are, a 
 lixed determination to lower Tuilius in the 
 public estimation is but too apparent, it is amu- 
 sing to ti ace llie pains which he takes to harpoon 
 hini with his spleen , and cut him up y)iece-meal 
 for the market. The fish however that he en- 
 counters is too great j the hook has little , or no 
 hold. 
 
 '1 he orator also appears to be no great fa- 
 vourite with Melmoth ; to whom we are m- 
 debted for an elegant version of the Epistolce 
 Familiares. He dwells with apparent satisfaction 
 on contradictory passages; and draws therefrom 
 posii^iv^e conclusions prejudicial to the orator, 
 without making due allowances for the possi- 
 bility of the loss of any intermediate letters; 
 for the rapid alterations to which public alfairs 
 were subjec ^cl , from the extraordinary charac- 
 ters of Csesar and I'ompeius; which probably 
 made Cicero appear one day hasty or weak., 
 while ihc- liCxt mi^ht prove him to have been 
 ip fhe same case, temperate and judicious. 
 
( i5r ) 
 
 Lord Bolingbroke, in his treatise on Exile, 
 seems to look down upon the IVIan of Arpinum 
 ■with a mixed sentiment of pity and contempt. 
 It is true that he seizes him in the most vulne- 
 rable part , which is his conduct during banish- 
 ment. That it had nothing of the firmness of 
 the Stoa, the well-known letters to Terentia 
 abundantly prove. But was Lord Bolingbroke 
 an adequate judge of Tullius in this case? Did 
 he ever come in contact with such a powerful 
 desperado as Clodius? Could his retreat in 
 Orleans be put in competition with the exile 
 of Cicero at Thessalonica ? Did he, after having 
 rescued his country from a formidable conspi- 
 racy, reap as areivard, the sale of his estates, 
 the burning of his palace , the separation of his 
 wife and children, himself houseless, defence- 
 less, and driven from place to place like the 
 meanest outcast? If he did, and shewed that 
 firmness in his reverses , which he lauds at the 
 expense of Cicero , his criticism would not fail 
 to have due weight. Henry St. John! — Though 
 your periods may be more Ciceronian than 
 those of other English writers , posterity will 
 compel you to stand on even ground, before 
 you can presume to turn up your nose at TuUins 
 in exile. 
 
Cl52) 
 
 , Of all the cKarges which have been urged 
 against Cicero , one too which has obtained no 
 trifling credit, that of cowardice appears to 
 stand on the slenderest foundation. Let us 
 briefly recapitulate the leading actions of his 
 life , not with the hope of being able to place 
 them in a new point of view but that those 
 who persist in thinking him a poltroon , may 
 strive to reconcile as they can , those acts , at 
 one glance, with their opinion. 
 
 Not then to insist on the extraordinary in- 
 dustry of his juvenile years, which enabled 
 fj him at the age of sixteen , to discuss in the 
 presence of the first lawyers of Home , the ne- 
 cessary qualifications of an orator, and which 
 if not actual courage, must have depended on 
 a quality of mind very nearly allied to it , we 
 find him shortly after the commencement of his 
 legal career , traversing all Sicily on foot , bra- 
 ving at every step the agents and assassins of 
 Yerres ; and not only at the imminent peril of 
 his life , procuring materials for the most splen- 
 did specimens of forensic eloquence extant, but 
 thereby entailing on his own head , the hatred 
 and maledictions of more than half ot the Ro-. 
 man aristocracy. — First proof of his cowardice. 
 
( i5? ) 
 
 After the promulgation of Otho's law, which 
 assigned separate seats in the theatre to the 
 equestrian order, Cicero, as soon as informed 
 of the disturbance which consequently ensued, 
 and of the blows given and received by the par- 
 tisans and opposers of the law, entered the 
 theatre in his toga consularis , ordered the spec- 
 tators to follow him forthwith to the temple of 
 Bellona, chastised them there with the valour 
 of his tongue , and so wrought upon them with 
 his eloquence , that they not only returned in 
 order to the theatre , but vied with the knights 
 themselves in conferring applause on that Otho, 
 whom just before they had overwhelmed with 
 hisses. — Second proof of his cowardice. 
 
 We almost feel a repugnance in adverting to 
 the well-known particulars of the Catilinarian 
 conspiracy , sounding as they do in the ears of 
 every school-boy ; to his unwearied exertions 
 in detecting and punishing the most nefarious 
 project ever conceived to undermine the settled 
 order of a state. Neither the number, nor fe- 
 rocity of the conspirators, many of whom were 
 of the first families , nor the suspicion of Csesar 
 himself being privy to the plot, nor the con- 
 sciousness of his own head being destined for 
 
( i54 ) 
 
 ampntaHon , could deter him from laying open 
 the whole conspiracy in five splendid orations, 
 and thereby proving himself not merely the 
 most energetic civil chiet magistrate that ever 
 acted on a similar emergency, but as the repulse 
 of Cati'ine from Prseneste shewed, an active 
 and intelligent military officer : 
 
 galfatum ponit ubique 
 
 Prcesidium altonitis , tt in omni gente lahorat. 
 
 This then must pass for the third proof of 
 his cowardice j which shall be further corrobo- 
 rated by the prompt measures which he took 
 to punish Lentulus and Celhegus under his own 
 eyes; a during expedient, and only justifiable 
 from the imminent dangers which beset the j| 
 republic (i). I 
 
 The fourth shall be the incontestable evidence 
 that we possess of his having directed the artii-» 
 lery of his eloquence against the most opulent, 
 iniquitous, and powerful individuals. 7 he V er- 
 
 (i) AccoidiDglo Appian, Cicero at the head of some troops , 
 secured their persons, and then returned to the senate, to de- 
 cide respecting them j if so, he was in peif'tt order : hut 
 supposing he was not, was he not chief magistrate in a crisis 
 of unexampled diffituit^' ?— Appian. II. c. i. 
 
( '55) 
 
 res , the Pisos , the Clodii , the Gabinii , the 
 
 Antonii , 
 
 ' referent es navihiis all is 
 
 Occulta spoiia , et plures de pace triumphos^ 
 
 were pinioned down hand and foot, by the in- 
 vectives of this notable poltroon. JNot to dwell 
 on the vigour of heart and intellect , on which 
 the delivery of his extemporaneous debating 
 speeches must have depended , nor on the bold- 
 ness with which he faced the people, to dissuade 
 them from accepting the law proposed by RuUus, 
 a law best calculated of all others, to foment 
 their feverous passions j nor on the spirit which 
 he shewed at the siege of Pindenessus , where 
 there appears at least to have been some smart 
 skirmishing, let us hasten to the consideration 
 of the circumstances of his death , which in the 
 opinion of his detractors , afford abundant 
 proofs of his pusillanimity. 
 
 We find from Plutarch , that he was at Tus- 
 culanum, when the news of his being included 
 in the proscription of the triumvirate, reached 
 him. He and his brother Quintus immediately 
 betook themselves to the Asturan villa; but not 
 having made their final arrangements, on the 
 road they agreed to separate , after many demon- 
 
( 156 ) 
 
 strations of reciprocal affection; Quintus, to 
 return to Tusculanum, to procure necessaries 
 for the voyage ; Marcus , to provide by the sea- 
 shore, a vessel for their escape. In the interval, 
 Quintus appears to have been killed. Marcus , 
 having found a boat at Astura, embarked with 
 the view of dropping down to his Formiaa 
 villa; but his stomach being discomposed by 
 the motion of the vessel, he was put on shore 
 near the Circeian promontory , (Punta di Ter- 
 racina.') Here it is true, he passed a night in 
 cruel agitation ; and the next morning he walked 
 about twelve miles on the via Appia towards 
 Rome , with the view of falling by his own 
 hand in the palace of Octavius. Here again he 
 appears to have been perplexed by doubt ; for 
 the thought which came across his mind of the 
 probability of meeting on the road , the emissa- 
 ries of the Triumvirs , tvho most likely would 
 have put him to a cruel death, induced him 
 to turn back , and regain his Formian villa ; 
 where it appears that he determined to await 
 his destiny. But his attendants, more anxious 
 for the preservation of his life than himself, 
 had prepared a litter to convey 1 im to the 
 beach, which they with difficulty persuaded 
 
( 157) 
 him to enter. The assassins sliortly after came 
 up Avith him; when eyeing them stedfastiy j he 
 profraded his venerable head , so covered with 
 clotted liithand dust, so disligured by anxieties, 
 as to be scarcely recognized by his attendants; 
 who it appears, were willing to fight for him, 
 but pursuant to the commands of their master, 
 left the executioners to do their business (i). 
 
 Plutarch , when he says that we cannot 
 contemplate his exit without pity, evidently 
 
 (i) Satis constat sen,<os paratos fuisse ad dimicandum ; 
 ipsuin depone lecticam , et quietos pati , quod sors iniqua 
 cogeret^ jussisse. Liv. ap. Senec. 
 
 A fragment of Aufidius Bassus , a Pioman liisforian, tells us 
 that he even anticipated the assassins : Aufidius Bassus , et 
 ipse , nihil dubitaint de animo Ciceronis ^ quin fortiter se 
 morti tion prcebuerit tantiim , sed ohtulerit ; et reinoto velo , 
 postquam annatos vidit : ego verb consisto , ait^ accede 
 veterane f et si hoc saltern recte potes facere , inaide cer^ 
 vicem. The veteran hesitating , he appears to have encou- 
 raged him with a sort of joking detiance : trementi deinde 
 dubitantique , quid ad nie , inquit , si primum 7wnissetis / 
 J suppose jou If 'ould faint aivaj, if I ir ere the first , irhoin 
 j'ou had to execute. 
 
 We see from the prece':ling sentence, that Livius, not very 
 warm in his admiration of Cicer'> , bears full testiinonj^ to the 
 courage which he displaced in his last moments j he adds : 
 prominenti ex lecticd, pra^bentique iinmotam cerviceniy 
 caput proiciium est, Liv. ap. Senec. Suas. Vl. 
 
( 158 ) 
 
 mistakes the doubt with which the orator was 
 beset ior fear ; for as soon as he had determined 
 to die, few men could meet their end with more 
 firmness. 
 
 But, cry his detractors , did he not turn pale, 
 and betray proofs of fearful agitation in the 
 delivery of the Pro Milone / What ! would 
 they have had him present a buxom rubicund 
 phisiognomy, with the weight of one of the 
 most difficult and brilliant defences ever uttered 
 pressing on his nerves , at a moment when the 
 Glodian faction was by no means extinct, when 
 there was more than an even chance that he 
 would again witness those disturbances, which 
 before compelled him to seek refuge atThessa- 
 lonica? So rational, so conscientious are these 
 dealers in hypercriticism , that they would have 
 had TuUius possess all that fine and strong feel- 
 ing on which pure eloquence depends , and not 
 have had him possess it. His anxiety , his agi- 
 tation, call it if you will fear, did not prevent 
 him from facing his adversaries , and delivering 
 the oration in person (i). 
 
 (?) The speech indeed is believed to have been retouched ; 
 but I see no reason for doubting that it was delivered nearly 
 to a similar tenour. 
 
( 159 ) 
 
 It is not so easy to emancipate Lini from the 
 imputation of vanity. Candour indeed compels 
 us to confess tliat there are certain passages in 
 his orations , more especially in those which, 
 were delivered on his return from exile , in 
 which he is almost fulsome, and the unfortunate 
 letter to Lucceius remains a standing proof of 
 those accesses of weakness to winch the greatest 
 of our species are occasionally liable (i). Yet 
 something [perhaps should be allowed for the 
 genms of the times ; something; for the un[;a- 
 ralleled diflicnlties with which he had to con- 
 tend ; something for the necessity under which 
 he laboured of confirming by his own example, 
 the w avering opinions of several of those , on 
 whose integrity the salvation of the republic 
 depended 5 something for that transcendancy of 
 mind, which authorised in him certain devia- 
 tions from common rules, which would be in^ 
 
 (i) Ep. Famil. V. ep. 12, 
 
 His own words will be often found however to vindicate 
 Cicero of vain-glory j though certainly not aWays : Et quO" 
 niam hoc reprehendis , quod sole re me dicas de me ipso glo- 
 riosiiis prcedicare; qitis unquam oudhnt cum ego de me , nisi 
 coactus, ac necessario dicerem. / Non tarn sum existiman- 
 dus de gestis rebus gloriari, quam de objectis non confiteri* 
 Pro dome su4 ad Pontifices. 55. 
 
( 160 ) 
 
 excusable in minds of an ordinary stamp ; 
 something too for those impulses of exultation, 
 which, though better becoming a politician than 
 a philosopher , it was natural for him to give 
 way to, after having triumphed over the iniquity 
 of the Clodian faction. IVluch as he had of self 
 on his tongue , no man had less of it in his 
 heart (i). 
 
 (t) The same charge of vanity if persisted in hy hjpercri- 
 tics, ought also to implicate Demosthenes. I know no pas- 
 sages in Cicero, in which self-complacency is more conspi- 
 cuous than the following : 
 
 . . . . 9rwf 011%' u.TtKvrm tvto^orxTct l/mug eBovXive-xaSs Zfxoi 'thit- 
 
 S-£VT£f; 
 
 rt? ti Tvi -arcXJi Xsywv, xa; yf«^&jy, xsc< Tr^xTTuVf 
 
 XXl XTThCiii iXVTOV £if T« TT^Xyf/.XTX a$£<d(UJ dOV; 'j iyOi 
 
 ^<' OVTIVX §£ XKKOV » TTOXti; iTTi^XVUiTXl , ( a^V/JL/SovTiOV 
 
 hsyu xxt puToix , ") 7rXy;v ^«' if^z , ov^' av ag uttuv £%o< 
 
 yWSVOJ TWV X£yCVrWV, XX/ -TtlTroXiTiVOfXtVCiiV , lyu T))V T>15 
 
 tVVWaj TX^lV iV T0<? d£<VO<J CVX iXlTTOV 
 
 o^toj? §' £'T£'^£<T/w>jv , /UJir£ y^xi^ovT XV ifj-ov y^xilxi .CfXrjov 
 
 ff-Ti^lVX, fXr^Ti TTjXTTOVTX Tl TT^x'^Xt , fJiyiTt ■^^i^BiVOVTX 7riS<r/3iV7Xl ^fO- 
 B-VfA-OTi^OV , fJLYITi OiX3t<0T£j)0V 
 
 V.Xt TXVTX fJI.Cii -TIXVTX TTlTrOirTXi , XXI Ovhtg fiyiTTOTZ «v- 
 
 B-fUTTUV eV^Ol TO XXT £fXS OVOiV £X>,£<$5£V 
 
 XXt f/LiyilTTUlV ^£ ■TT^xyfJI.XTaiV TCtlV XXT IflXWCV xvSiuiTTuv 
 
 wpsoraj, TTxvTX txvtx vytuig xxi dtKutug ^£^oX<r£V/ua; , ^ix tuvt 
 
 a^tui Tifj.x7lxi HEPI 2TE*AN0r. passim. 
 
 The truth is that Demosthenes is not so much studied. 
 
 His 
 
( i6i ) 
 
 His unequalled career at the bar, and the 
 splendour of his consulate , induce most people 
 to expect little less than miracles from Cicero; 
 and the position in which he is most exposed 
 to attack, is the conduct which he observed 
 with respect to the Csesarean and Pompeian 
 factions. The word faction will, I think, go a 
 great way towards vindicating the steps which 
 he pursued; which to the adulators of hereditary- 
 chief magistracies established by force of arms , 
 appear unsatisfactory, and oscillating. 
 
 It should be remembered that the party of 
 Cxsar was evidently a faction purely military, 
 diverging from the cii^il institutions of the re- 
 pubhc. That of Pompeius too , though far more 
 plausible than his antagonist's , skreened as it 
 was by the ostensible motive of protecting the 
 existing civil institutions , ought , I apprehend , 
 rather to be considered as the rival military 
 faction of Csesar, if contemplated in its true 
 light (r). The defeat at Pharsalia certainly pre- 
 serves the honour of Pompeius unimpeachable , 
 since we can conclude nothing positive with res- 
 
 (i) This will be confirmed in a subsequent note , as far at 
 least as concurrent testimony vvill admit. 
 
 II 
 
( I62) 
 
 pect to Ills ulterior projects. But how would 
 lie have acted had he there been the conqueror? 
 W as he not a military man in the most ex- 
 tended sense of the word? Did not Cicero, in- 
 timate as his knowledge was of human nature , 
 draw the more than probable inference, that 
 the final result to the republic would have been 
 pretty similar , whether Csesar or Pompeius 
 conquered at Pharsalia ? How then did he act 
 in that conjuncture ? As well apparently as a 
 civil individual could , who had the best interests 
 of the republic at heart i and who was bent on 
 supporting the good cause , without entirely 
 compromising himself with Pompeius, and his 
 cohorts J for though he was not in the field , we 
 find him active at Dyrrachium , in doing all 
 that a ciidl individual could , to prop the reeling 
 fortunes of the republic. 
 
 His cavilling detractors can only approve hi« 
 conduct with the provisos of his having served 
 under Pompeius in the actions near Dyrra- 
 chium, and at Pharsalia ; of his classing himself 
 at a venture , among that general's centurions, 
 and of seeing him driven from rank to rank 
 by blustering military chiefs. This forsooth , 
 would have been a proper sphere for him , who 
 
( 163 ) 
 
 alone by his cml exertions , had rescued the 
 state from an atrocious conspiracy; for him, 
 who was of consular dignity, and who had 
 thrown such lustre round the chief magistracy 
 and the tribunals ! 
 
 Neither would they be satisfied with this. 
 They require him after the battle of Pharsalia, 
 to have followed the discomfited fortune of 
 Pompeius, and have died with him on the 
 Egyptian strand; though it is obvious that few 
 or no hopes for the republic would have re- 
 mained had he done so; and though it is incon- 
 testable that by resuming his station in Italy , he 
 at once consulted his own dignity, proved his 
 courage , and formed a necessary rallying-point 
 for the separated partisans of Pompeius; pre- 
 ferring to be crushed by the tottering fabric of 
 the citadel, rather than to falling , if not ignobly, 
 at least unprofitably in the outworks. Petty jea- 
 lousies, in affairs of such moment, ought cer- 
 tainly not to be taken into account by those who 
 attempt to draw conclusions in his favour; but 
 we cannot discover any reason why he should 
 have felt strong yearnings of personal affection 
 for Pompeius , who repulsed him with con- 
 tumely, when he implored his assistance against 
 
( i64 ) 
 
 Clodius; \vli6 on his return from the Mithri- 
 datic war, testified towards Cicero nothing but 
 a polite coldness, fruit probably of the jealousy 
 which he entertained of the glory accruing to 
 the orator , from the annihilation of the Catili- 
 narian conspiracy (i). 
 
 To come then closely to the point, how 
 would his enemies have had him act ? Would 
 they have had him cast himself at a venture , 
 and without any reserve, among the centurions 
 
 (i) /« Pompeio nihil come ^ nihil simplex ^ nihil liber um , 
 nihil zv rag TroXiTMoig honestitm, in one ot the letters to Atti- 
 cus J and in another, is qui nos sibi quondam ad pedes slratos 
 ne sublevahat quidem. Traces of secret pantangs for ille- 
 gitimate power may be discovered from the conduct of Pom- 
 peius. What did Cassius think of him in a letter to Cicero , 
 WTitten when Cresar was in Spain, w^ith the hope that the 
 latter would conquer, Caesar not having yet fully developed 
 his ambitious views? Peream nisi sollicitus sum; ac malo 
 veterem ac clementem dominum habere , quam crudelem et 
 noDum experirit Scis Cneius quam sit fatuus : scis quotyiodo 
 crudelitatem virtutem putet. Cass. Ciceron. Famil, XV. 19, 
 Paterculus too confirms his secret aim at exorbitant power : 
 neque Pompeius ut primitm ad rempublicam est adgressus , 
 quenquam animo parem tulit. II. c. 53. Appian also states 
 that Pompeius , when ordered by the consuls to head the 
 armies of the republic against Ccesar, replied, that he was 
 ready to obey them in all things , unless circumstances sug- 
 gested something more adviseahle* Appian remaiks that this 
 
( i65 ) 
 
 of Pompeius? This would have been as rational 
 as the architect removing the main buttress ne- 
 cessary for the support of the centre of an old 
 building , to one of the wings. Would they have 
 had him espouse at once Csesar's interests ? 
 This would have been a dereUction of the cause 
 of liberty, of the republic, of those principles 
 which he had uniformly supported , and tanta- 
 mount to treason. Would they have had him , 
 sword in hand, head a third party of his own? 
 This step would have convulsed the sink ing and 
 shattered republic with a third military faction. 
 If the line of conduct which he observed , ap- 
 pears at all unsatisfactory, it must be attributed 
 to the difficulties occasioned by the extraordi- 
 nary qualities of the contending rivals, rather 
 than to any timorousness , or tergiversation 
 springing from himself. 
 
 was a cunning and evasive answer. What were the secret 
 suggestions of his heart, when on the morning of the battle of 
 Pharsalia , turning to his friends he remarked : that on what- 
 ever side the victory might prove , it was sure to be pregnant 
 with interminable calamities to the Roman people ?App. II. c. 4. 
 All this tends to shew that Cicero's caution with respect to 
 Pompeius, was the result of his discriminating and sound 
 judgment. 
 
( i66) 
 
 «But, » continue his detractors, « it is im- 
 possible to surmount his having flattered Cae- 
 sar. » Do those , who condemn him point blank 
 for this , weigh attentively the superior qualities 
 with which Julius was gifted ? the paramount 
 ascendancy which he had acquired, not only 
 with the army and people, but wath at least one 
 half of the senate ? Great as Tullius w as , it 
 would not do for him to kick at random against 
 the pricks of the man , whose talents w ere so 
 varied and extraordinary , and whose parallel in 
 energies and resources never existed either be- 
 fore , or since his period. Cicero knew him 
 welli he was aware that though hurried head- 
 long by ambition, he had a heart susceptible 
 of generous impressions, neither was he a man 
 to be controuled by taunts and reproaches. By 
 usmg then conciliatory means , he hoped , if not 
 to extinguish the jealousies that subsisted be- 
 tween the two rivals , at least to prevent the 
 clouds that were blackening on opposite sides 
 of the political horizon , from coming in violent 
 contact, and pouring their angry flames on the 
 vessel of the state (i). As soon as Caesar gave 
 
 (i) Ycllcius Patcrculus observes that Cicero was the only 
 
( i67 ) 
 
 proofs of his dishonest intentions , Tulllus ap- 
 pears to have been not less decided than [jratus, 
 Cassius, or any other of the conspirators (i). 
 «> Then why did he not use the dagger in 
 the Curia Pompeiana / » Here he seems to have 
 
 senator, who proposed terms of reconciliation : wiice ca'> 
 vente Cicerone concoT dice public ce; confirmed also by Appian, 
 Lib. II. c. 4. 
 
 (i) Philipp. II. passim. Perhaps the first open proof of 
 Caesar's views exploded during that splendid procession in his 
 honour in front of the temple of Venus Genitrix j whereat the 
 tribune Pontius Aquila alone kept his seat. At which Julius, 
 starting from the curule chair, and on the brink of epilepsj : 
 Repete ergo nun>^ d me rempublicam, Ponti Aquila ! On 
 granting anjr favour to his partisans for some days afterwards, 
 he added : si tamen per Pontium. Aquilam licuerit. The life 
 of this extraordinary man has never yet been properly han- 
 dled; it requires something higher than the respectable qua- 
 lities of Plutarch. When we consider the incredible celerity 
 of his movements , the magnanimity which he displayed in 
 pardoning his enemies, the tears which he shed on the death 
 of his rival , can we resist from dwelling with complacency 
 on the lines of Virgil I 
 
 Candidus insuetum miratur limen Olympi , 
 Sub pedibusque videt nubes et sidera Daphnis ; 
 Ergo alacris sylvas , et ccetera rura voluptas^ 
 Panaque pastoresque tenet , Dryadasque puellas. 
 
 Dark spots indeed we find in his character j but they are 
 such as we behold in the sun , which the circumambient fir© 
 conceals from all but microscopic eyes. 
 
( i68) 
 
 acted with as much judgment as the unprece- 
 dented difficulties of the case would allow. He 
 whose career was so eminently legal, who had 
 grown hoary in the civil service of the state, 
 would have offered violence to his principles, 
 to the majesty of those laws of which he was 
 the main bulwark, had he vibrated the poignard 
 with Brutus, Cassius, and several of the others, 
 who were professed military men , or who had 
 filled , comparatively with his own, subordinate 
 stations in the republic. We may conclude too 
 that he must have felt an invincible repug- 
 nance in sheathing a weapon in the breast of 
 that CaL:sar, whose qualities of soul were so 
 transcendant , and who had proved himself so 
 eminent in the favourite pursuits of Cicero. 
 
 Standing then as he did daggerless in, or near 
 the Curia Pompeiana, fixing merely his ferret 
 and fierj eyes on the gorgeous victim appareled 
 for the sacrifice (i) , he not only acted the most 
 
 (i) Oculis cepi. Ad Alt. XIV. ep. 14. We may infer from 
 which that he was present , or about the scene of action. 
 Cut there is a passage in a letter to Trebonius, difficult to 
 reconcile with this : Qua}?i vellem ad illas pulcherrinias 
 epulas Id. Mart, rue invitdsses! Perhaps this apparent con- 
 tiaiiictiou is explained bj taking epidai literully , a supper 
 
( '69 ) 
 
 judicious part in a crisis of such delicacy and 
 difficulty, but equalled at least the rest of the 
 conspirators in courage , for if any thing had 
 happened adverse to them, Tullius, whose po- 
 litical sentiments were well known, would have 
 sold his life at a cheaper rate than the others 
 who were armed. 
 
 The conduct which Cicero observed subse- 
 quent to the death of Cccsar, seems not less 
 satisfactory and judicious; for if the senate, as 
 he advised , and not the conspirators only, had 
 assembled in the capitol, the republic perhaps 
 might have been saved , or at least spared those 
 sanguinary scenes , which took place during the 
 second triumvirate (i). Those who persist in 
 taxing Cicero with cowardice, must first tear 
 to pieces Brutus and Cassius , who after the 
 assassination of Csesar , retired to Antium , from 
 fear of the populace , though they filled the 
 office of prsetor ; but Cicero at that period , 
 filled none but his usual senatorial station ; had 
 
 perhaps given bj one of tJie conspirators, whereat they ar- 
 ranged subsequent measures. — If he was not in the Curia 
 Pompeiana, it is more than probable that he was close at hand. 
 
 (i) See Ad Att. XIV. ep. lo. 
 
( y/o ) 
 he at that crisis , held as ostensihle a one as 
 prcetor , he most probably would not have re- 
 tired at such a moment, from the scene of 
 action. No doubt he would have displayed the 
 same firmness as in the affair of Catiline (i). 
 
 This also is worthy of remark, that had 
 Brutus and Cassius shewn as much judgment 
 as Cicero , by remaining in Italy , instead of 
 absenting themselves in remote provinces (2), 
 they would have been able to take advantage of 
 the dissenlions that occurred between Octavius 
 and Antonius; they might then have easily sided 
 with the former to crush the latter; while the 
 Z)ay Octavius might in all probabiUty have been 
 easily controuled in any further schemes which 
 he might have nourished hostile to the govern- 
 ment. But no more on the political conduct ob- 
 served by Cicero. 
 
 Tullius as an orator, in the opinion of the 
 most distinguished critics, Quintiiian I beheve 
 
 (i) Tbe retreat of Brutus and Cassius to Anlium is confirmed 
 hy Plutarcli , and by Cicero. Ad Att. XV. epp. 1 1, 12. 
 
 (2) The orator regrets their absence in a letter to Atticus* 
 O Brute J ubi es , quantam iwxi^txv oTnittis !^X.yi. ep. 8, 
 
( '71 ) 
 
 alone excepted ( i) , yields the palm to his Athe- 
 nian rival J that is to say, in the wielding of close 
 argument, supported by resistless force of en- 
 thymem , which is unquestionably the most va- 
 luable prerogative of the orator. We have ne- 
 vertheless one oration by Cicero of a higher 
 order even than the nEPi 2te<I'Anot : for the de- 
 fence of Ligarius involves throughout the controul 
 of the most difficult figure in rhetoric; and in the 
 management of irony , which steers clear of 
 vulgarity on the one hand , and of insipidity , 
 or doubtful sense on the other , Cicero not only 
 outshines Demosthenes , but every other orator 
 of whose works we have any notice. 
 
 In force of invective too , and panegyric , and 
 more especially in volume of peroration , his 
 eloquence is singularly triumphant. Had he left 
 us nothing but the conclusions of the Verrines , 
 the Pro Milone , and Pro Fonteio , he would 
 have established a sufficient right to the title of 
 a great orator. His most partial admirers are 
 
 (i) Oratores verb vel prcecipue Latinam eloejueutiam pa- 
 rent facer e Grcecce possunt ; nam Ciceronem cuicumque 
 eorum fortiter opposuerim. Quint. X. c. i. 
 
( 1/2 ) 
 
 nevertheless obliged to confess , that he is not 
 a little indebted to the illustrious Athenian (i). 
 
 It is however only as an orator , that Demos- 
 thenes can be said to surpass Cicero. We can- 
 not trace the Grecian discussing philosophical 
 topics with his friends, Hke the lioman, in dig- 
 nified retirement ; or engaged through life in 
 active correspondence with the leading men of 
 his age ; we cannot discover him attentive in 
 moulding the mind of a son ; or filling a colonial 
 government with dignity, like Cicero; or ex- 
 tinguishing such dangerous intestine firebrands 
 as Catiline, Cethegus , Clodius , and their coun- 
 terparts. 
 
 He shines preeminent in his correspondence. 
 We have no letters of ancient or modern times, 
 in which we recognize so completely at once 
 the man of business, the sincere friend, the 
 zealous patron, and the sage. No one ever ex- 
 isted more ambitious of true glory ; and no one 
 braved with more cheerfulness , those toils and 
 
 (i) Justus Lipslus has collated some passages of Cicero and 
 Demosllienes, which prove that the former not unfrequently 
 borrowed from the Athenian. Perhaps the principal defect of 
 the Ciceronian periods is a redundant use of superlatives. 
 Most of his orations teem with issimi and errimi» 
 
C 173 ) 
 
 anxieties, without whicli a substantial fame is 
 wholly unattainable. He did not want to scale 
 the temple by an easy and commodious flight 
 of steps 5 but was content to work his way up 
 over briars , slippery marl , and rough pointed 
 stones. 
 
 One of the most striking features of his cha- 
 racter was that buoyant cheerfulness , which 
 enabled him not only to grace his speeches with 
 lively sallies , but to be the soul of every society 
 which he frequented. And perhaps this was no 
 small proof of his greatness. He differed in 
 which respect from Demosthenes, who was 
 silent and severe. We know that Tiro regis- 
 tered his witticisms, which he collected in three 
 volumes , and published after his death , and 
 that Ccesar enjoined those of his friends, who 
 frequented Cicero , to note down carefully the 
 aphorisms and repartees that fell from his fer- 
 tile mind. Of those preserved to us by Plutarch 
 and Macrobius, we may say in the words of 
 Martial : 
 
 Sunt bona , sunt qucedam mediocria^ sunt mala 
 qucedam (i). 
 
 (i) Justus Lipsius sa^s : infacetiis et jocis Cicero semper 
 deus est. 
 
( 174 ) 
 
 1 defy any body to trace in Cicero a wisir 
 to detract from the merit of his distinauished 
 cotemporaries. The Hortensii, the Cornificii, 
 the Attici, the Varros, the Figuli, the Len- 
 tuli, the Bruti, the Cassii, the Catuli , and 
 several others , found in him a sincere friend ; 
 and were no doubt as much indebted, amonor 
 the men of their age, for the applause conferred 
 on them by Cicero , as they are among posterity, 
 for the celebrity which they obtain, from being 
 noticed in his works. 
 
 There was one trait in his character for 
 which he has been unfairly censured ; I allude 
 to that humble complaisance to which he had 
 recourse , in endeavouring to persuade his fel- 
 low-citizens from siding with the Clodian fac- 
 tion. This conduct, for which we are told by 
 Appian, he entailed on himself the most galling 
 ridicule , places him in an advantageous point 
 of view as a real republican , and sincere patriot. 
 He did not keep sullenly aloof from his coun- 
 trymen, as Coriolanus would have done in any 
 similar conjuncture; neither did he feign indif- 
 ference for their favourable opinions, like a 
 mere compound of blood , pride , and ferocity. 
 
( 175 ) 
 
 No inJivldual immersed in such Li^li and 
 various pursuits , ever made the head and heart 
 step out so well together. The same man who 
 fulminated with his oratory the highest and 
 most restive spirits of Rome, could be sprightly 
 and hearty with his friends one hour, and the 
 next , absorbed in the investigation of philoso- 
 phical truths. He was splendid, hospitable, and 
 the man of business, at Rome; dignified, and 
 philosophical at Tusculanum; blending occa- 
 sionally deep research with the gaieties of the 
 world , at his Fortnian , Cuman , and Puteolan 
 villas; and as we should say in England, a 
 plain country gentleman at Arpinum. 
 
 He appears to have been one of the few 
 Romans who knew how to appreciate the sen- 
 timent of compassion. 
 
 He seems to have looked upon those nations 
 that were incapable of maintaining the elective 
 civil chief magistracy in an inferior point of 
 view. 
 
 The uniformity of his political sentiments is 
 confirmed by the manner of his death ; which 
 can only be contemplated as a martyrdom in 
 the cause of the elective civil chief magistracy, 
 and of liberty. 
 
 m 
 
( «76 ) 
 
 That catastrophe ought indeed to be consi- 
 dered as one of the most tragical occurrences in 
 all history 9 for with his constitution , it must 
 have been more difficult to arm himself with 
 the requisite firmness , than with such as Bru- 
 tus, Cassius, CiEsar, and others possessed, who 
 Avere engaged for the greater part of their lives 
 in steeling their hearts with military service, 
 and consequently bereaving death of half its 
 terrors. Qwi talem Ciceronis casum satis digne 
 deplorare possit, alius Cicero non exlat (i). 
 
 To those whose spirits may be dashed by 
 honest but fruitless attempts to realize glory in 
 the arduous careers of politics or law, he shines 
 like a beacon seen on a dark night, from the 
 midst of a tempestuous sea , by the distressed 
 mariner j and in this point of view , he must 
 always prove superior to the philosophical po- 
 litician , or pure moralist in their closets ; whose 
 speculations and exhortations, however useful 
 to others, and honourable to themselves, cannot 
 have the same weight as those promulgated by 
 one , who was more engaged in combating 
 political abuses through life , than any other 
 
 (0 Yal. Max. V.C.5. 
 
 ^ individual 
 
( ^77 ) 
 
 individual either before or since his period ; 
 and whose career, in spite of its difficulties, 
 seems to have been a perpetual commentary on 
 his thoughts and assertions. We search in vain 
 for his parallel in modern times; most likely 
 too in ancient. For the great men who have 
 figured on the theatre of politics in our age, 
 have found a firmer ^oint d*appui than Cicero ; 
 education being much more widely extended , and 
 consequently the weapons of ferocity much more 
 blunted. He may be said to resemble , in the 
 attitude which he presented to the fierce spirits 
 of the latter period of the Roman republic , the 
 seraph Abdiel making his way with firmness 
 along the lines of Milton's legionary dsemons. 
 -His philosophy w^as drawn from the subli- 
 mest sources; and he appears to have formed 
 an eclectic system of his own. The treatises 
 De Gloridy De Republicd, and the Exhortation 
 to philosophy intitled Hortensius y are great 
 losses to the literary world. It is certain that 
 Petrarch had the first in his possession , and St. 
 Augustine , the last (i). The De Republicd was 
 
 (t) Pet. Ep. Senjl. It appears that Petrarch lent the M.S. 
 to his tutor, who pawned it when in distressed circumstances. 
 
( i/S ) 
 
 also entire in France about the tenth cen- 
 tury (i). We may infer their value from the 
 aurece sententios^ which have been preserved 
 by Lactantius and Augustine. The last records 
 a sentence , in w hich l^uUius seems to agree 
 with some philosophers, that man was created 
 to expiate crimes committed in a previous state 
 of existence^ a dogma, which it might be rash 
 implicitly to adopt ^ but which from most ap- 
 pearances in the physical and moral worlds, it 
 would be difticult to refute. At any event it 
 sounds more plausible than \heliteral acceptation 
 of the IMosaic apple (2). 
 
 It is worthy of remark that Cicero , in those 
 of his philosophical works , w herein he gives 
 the reins to his imagination , (as in the Somnium 
 
 Petrarch oflered a large sum for its recover^' ; but the tutor 
 ashamed of the transaction , refused to mentiou the person 
 to whom he had consigued it. — Tiraboschi. 
 
 (i) Petit Radel Des Blbliolheques. 
 
 (2^ Voltaire , in a sentence replete with truth and enei^y 
 savs : La nature sanglanle est assise entre la naissance et 
 la wort! This may serve as a commentary on the above 
 speculation of Cicero. It would be easy to subjoin a long note. 
 There are five good dis. trt itions on the Ciceronian philosophy 
 in the Mem. de I'Acad. dcs Inscriptions, by M. Gautier de 
 Sibert. 
 
( 179 ) 
 
 Scipionis ,) seems to embrace the belief of tbe 
 immortality of the soul j while in those , to 
 which he applies argument , he sometimes ap- 
 pears inclined to reject it. It is certain that he 
 has thrown a veil of scepticism over his highest 
 speculations j but whether conclusive or not, 
 a mind hke Cicero s, could never have been 
 diverted from the pursuit of the kaaon, the 
 AfAeoN , and the nPEnoN. 
 
 But I am gliding insensibly into the last 
 section of Middleton. Sufficient has been stated 
 to clear TuUius of imputations of pusillanimity, 
 which have been hastily urged by those, who 
 are secretly jealous of his well-earned fame, 
 though he has long rotted in the sepulchre ; or 
 by those , who from an inclination to military 
 ascendancy in states , refuse to associate his con- 
 duct in important points , with their approba- 
 tion. 
 
 ^^rtl^^i^H*^rtlV^'^I^^^V%^*^'^%^^ 
 
( i8o) 
 
 %i»/\iMt:/\/vik'V\\nA»/^iii<\*)%/sWkitft^ 
 
 ON QUINTUS FRATER, MARCUS FIUUS, 
 TERENTIA, AND TULLIA. 
 
 ( /uiNTus Cicero would shine in the Roman 
 annals, did he not stand too near his brother. 
 He filled successively the offices of edile , 
 quaestor, and propraetor in Asiaj he was also 
 despatched by Pompeius to purchase grain in 
 Sardinia , when Rome suffered from scarcity. 
 He subsequently served under Julius Caesar, in 
 Gaul and Britain ; and afterwards was attached 
 to his brother in the proconsulate of Cilicia (i). 
 
 The orator had evidently a hi^h opinion of 
 his talents , and he has introduced him as an 
 interlocutor in the De Legibus and De DivU 
 natione. 
 
 The circumstances of his death are very 
 tragical. In the proscription of the triumvirate 9 
 his son Quintus concealed him from the assas- 
 sins, and used every effort to save him; which 
 he did so effectually , as to make their search 
 and inquiries fruitless. Irritated at not finding 
 
 (0 Ad Att. I. ep. 12. II. ep. 5. Ad Quint. Frat. 11. ep. i4' 
 Cees. Com. lib. Y, aadFamil. XV. ep. 4» 
 
( «8. ) 
 
 Quintus, they applied the torture to his son;, 
 the father unable to suppress the agony which 
 he felt, on hearing the groans of his son , with- 
 drew from his retreat, and surrendered himself 
 to the assassins , with the hope of rescuing the 
 younger Quintus. The father then supplicated 
 the murderers that they should make away with 
 him first, protesting his inability to witness the 
 execution of his offspring. The son besought 
 the same for himself. The inhuman emissaries 
 replied that they would speedily settle all dif- 
 ficulties y and shutting the father in one room, 
 and the younger Quintus in the other, despatchec^ 
 them both at the same moment (i). A memo- 
 rable instance of the blessings accrueing to so- 
 ciety from the predominance of military in- 
 fiuence. 
 
 Marcus, son of the orator, served in the 
 battle of Philippi 9 and afterwards joined Sextus 
 Pompeius , who received him with every de- 
 monstration of respect. In the truce, which 
 Sextus subsequently signed with the triumvirs 
 at JVIisenum, it was stipulated that the pro^ 
 scribed should obtain pardon, and the resti-. 
 
 (i) Dio Cassius, lib. XLYIX. and Appian. Bdl. CiyiU 
 
( i82 ) 
 
 tutlon of their goods and estates. Marcus pro-' 
 flting of this , lived for some time in retirement , 
 and remote from pubhc concerns. Augustus 
 afterwards created him high-priest and augur ; 
 he subsequently named him one of the super- 
 intendants of the mint ; and after the battle of 
 Actium, associated him in the consulate. Li- 
 terce laureatce were addressed by Augustus to 
 Marcus, announcing his victory at Actium , and 
 the conquest of Egypt. Marcus read them to 
 the senate and people. He then ordered the 
 demolition of all the statues and monuments of 
 Antonius. <^ Providence , » remarks Plutarch , 
 « by a striking revolution of events , permitting 
 that the son of the illustrious orator should 
 triumph over the name and fortunes of Anto- 
 nius. i> 
 
 Dio Cassius makes a similar remark. Marcus 
 Cicero would make a good figure in history , 
 had he not accepted office from the man , who 
 acquiesced to the proscription of his father. — 
 Seneca tells us that he scourged publickly an 
 individual , for calumniating the reputation of 
 the orator. 
 
 The documents transmitted to us respecting 
 Terentia, are very fews we therefore can arrive 
 
( i83 ) 
 
 at no satisfactory conclusions with regard to Tier 
 repudiation. IVliddieton , eager even in trivial 
 points, to vindicate Cicero, ascribes it to her 
 high and interfering spirit, which ultimately 
 subdued the patience of the orator. St. Jerom 
 tells' us that she afterwards married Sallust the 
 historian, and sworn enemy of Cicero; she 
 found a third husband in Messala ; and Dio 
 Cassius gives her a fourth, one Vibius Rufus; 
 who boasted in the reign of Tiberius, that he 
 was the possessor of two things , each the pro- 
 perty of two great men; one, the wife of Ci- 
 cero; the other, the chair in which Csesar was 
 assassinated. According to Valerius Maximus, 
 Terentia attained the advanced age of one hun- 
 dred and three years; according to Piinius, 
 one hundred and seventeen. 
 
 TuUia , the only daughter of Cicero , had , 
 as is well known , three husbands. T he first of 
 whom was Caius Piso ; the second , Furius 
 Crassipes ; and the third , Cornelius Dolabella. 
 We cannot discover the year of her birth ; but 
 Casaubon suspects that she could not have been 
 more than twelve years of age , when she mar- 
 ried Piso ; who we find from several passages 
 
( i84 ) 
 
 quote J by Bayle , was a man of good character, 
 and took a deep interest in all that concerned 
 his father-in-law. Piso is supposed to have died 
 during Cicero's exile. We know nothing of her 
 second husband Grassipes ; and it is uncertain 
 whether he repudiated her , or made way by 
 death , for Cornelius Doiabella ; who began ill , 
 promised subsequently better , and ended as he 
 began. His agreeable manners so cajoled Te- 
 rentia and her daughter, that they thought him 
 an excellent match. Doiabella occasioned great 
 uneasiness to Cicero , by the sedition which he 
 excited, when tribune of the people i and by the 
 proposal of the maddest of all possible laws res^ 
 pecting debtors. TuUia soon had reason to re- 
 gret the match which she had made ; and her 
 journey to Brundusium was probably undertaken 
 to consult with her father on the divorce, which 
 she subsequently effected. Cicero, notwith^ 
 standing the separation , mSnageait him as long 
 as he could, and corresponded with him tiU 
 after the death of Caesar 5 but in consequence 
 of his infamous conduct in Asia , and the cru- 
 elties which he exercised on Trebonius , the 
 orator broke all ties with him , and made him 
 
( 185 ) 
 
 feel the lash of his eloquence in the second 
 Philippic ( I ). 
 
 TuUia died A. u. c. 708, when Caesar was 
 in Spain , who wrote a consolatory letter to 
 Cicero on the occasion, dated from Hispalis. 
 
 The affection that Cicero felt for Tullia has 
 almost passed into a proverb. In his correspon- 
 dence , he styles her delicice , deliciolce , mea 
 anima , lux^ desiderium, Lactantius speaks highly 
 of her personal qualities, lly a beaucoup d*ap- 
 parence que Tullie dtait douSe de mille bonnes 
 quaUtds^ etVune desplus aimables personnes de 
 son temps J puisquelle avoit acquis a un tel pointy 
 la tendresse d*un tel phre, says Bayle. Plutarch 
 assigns as the reason of Cicero's divorce from 
 
 (i) Cceteris tpiidem vitce parttbus ^ quis est qui possit, 
 sine Trebonii maximd contumelid , conferre vitam Tre- 
 honii cum Dolabellce ! Alterius consilium, ingenium, hu- 
 manitatem , innocentiam. , magnitudinem. animi in patrid 
 liberandd , quis ignorat / Alteri , a puero pro deliciis cru~ 
 delitas fuiti deinde ea libidinum turpitudo, ut in hoc sit 
 sem.per Icetatus quod ea fecerat , quce sibi objici ne ab ini- 
 mico quidem possent verecundo; et hie, dii immortales , 
 aliquando fuit m.eus ; occulta enim erant vitia non inqui' 
 tenti ; neque nunc fortasse alienus db eo essem , nisi ille 
 vobiSy nisi mcenibus patrice, nisi huic urbi, nisi diis pena- 
 tibuSj nisi oris et focis omnium nostrum , nisi dent que na- 
 tures et humanitatif inventus esset inimicus, Phil. II. 
 
( i86 ) 
 
 Terentia , her sending Tullia to Brundusium 
 in a mean equipage. Be it as it may, the grief 
 tliat he felt for her loss , seems almost to have 
 upset his mind. 
 
 A few words on the calumny which would 
 induce us to believe Cicero worse than the 
 Cinyras of Ovid, and Tullia but little better 
 than his IMyrrha. Les caresses que la proximitS 
 du sang autorise entre les personnes de different 
 sexe , sont expost^es a de mam^aises interprita~ 
 tions 5 des quelies passent au dela de V ordinaire, 
 Qi^'y ci-t-il que la mddisance nempoisonne / ob- 
 serves the judicious Bayle. The defamation 
 appears to have originated in the declamatioa 
 of the sophist, who cloaks himself with the 
 name of Sallust. Donatus is the only old com- 
 mentator of Virgil who suspects that the line 
 
 Hie thalamos natce invasit^ vetitosqiie hjmenceos 
 
 alludes to Cicero. Servius, a far more diligent 
 annotator, absolutely rejects it(i)i so evidently 
 does Bayle , so does IVliddleton , so in fine do 
 ail those who have made the human heart their 
 
 (i) IS ejus est credL dictum esse de Tullio , quod con- 
 vicium d Sallust io Ciceronis inimico natum est. Serv* ad 
 iEn. VI. 
 
( 187) 
 
 study; for had Cicero been guilty of a crime, 
 which even the pagans held in detestation , he 
 would have skulked from the notice of his 
 fi'iends, after the decease of his daughter. Now 
 there is no subject on which he unbosomed 
 himself so completely to his friends , as on that 
 occasion ; who returned for the affliction which 
 he expressed , suitable consolatory letters. His 
 mind , naturally susceptible of the noblest sen- 
 timents , would have become obscured ; neither 
 is it reasonable to suppose that he could have 
 reappeared at the bar , or in the senate, at least 
 with any effect. But several of the most trying 
 events of his life occurred , several of his most 
 powerful harangues were delivered, subsequent 
 to the death of TuUia. But let us suppose that 
 the line of Virgil does glance obliquely at Ci- 
 cero. Much scandal , we may presume , flitted 
 about the court of Augustus j whose flatterers 
 were no doubt eager to propagate any calumny 
 against Cicero , whereby they might hope to 
 extenuate the deep damnation of his taking off^ 
 and make it sit lighter on the heart of the em- 
 peror. The declamation above alluded to, is 
 held in merited contempt by Ernestus ; and it is 
 so poor a composition , that the future compilers 
 
( iS8 y 
 
 of editions of Cicero , would perhaps do weE 
 to expunge it altogether. 
 
 A fev/ words also on the calumny of Dio 
 Cassius respecting Cerellia. The Abbe Mon- 
 gault in one of his notes to his translation of 
 the Letters to Atticus , roundly says of this 
 woman : la bonne amie de Ciceron (^i^. Let us 
 hear what he says in another note , and which 
 is something more to the purpose ^ though to he 
 sure , it is somewhat curious to quote an author 
 m opposition to himself : Oest cetle femme , 
 dont on prdtend que Ciceron devint amoureux ^ 
 sur ses vleux jours ^ quoiquelle Jut encore plus 
 vieille que lui. Il est vrai que cest Dion , qui Ic 
 fait dire a Calenus, dans son invective en rdponsc 
 h la secondikme Philippique ; et cet historien est 
 si outre dans tout ce quil dit contre Cicdron ^ 
 quit ne mSrite aucune croyance, Corradus cite 
 Quintilien et Ausone , dont il appuye le tS" 
 moignage de Dion ; mais il les cite sans fondc" 
 ment. Quintilien rapporte seulement un passage 
 d*une lettre de Cerellia , qui na aucun rapport 
 a la galanterie ; et les lettres de galanterie h 
 Cerellia^ qu Ausone cite> ne sont point de Ci* 
 
 (i) Note a la ig.* lettre du livre XIV. 
 
C 189 ) 
 
 Xiiron , mats cCApulde , et cest une Cerellia , qui 
 na rieii de commun auec celle-ci (i). It must be 
 remembered that Cerellia does not figure in 
 Cicero's correspondence with Atticus, till to- 
 wards the close of his life, and that Dio himself 
 confesses that she was older than the orator; 
 who describes her in one of his letters , 
 mirifice studio philosophice fla grans (2). He 
 therefore who would make him an homme de 
 galanterie at the close of his life with Cerellia , 
 need not stick at turning; our Johnson into a 
 Paris y and Airs, Thrale into his (Enone; be- 
 cause forsooth letters passed between them. 
 The other aspersions ot* Dio Casslus are be- 
 neath the notice of a professed Ciceromastix. 
 
 (i) Note a la i5 '' letlre du livre XII. 
 
 (2) Ad Alt. XIII. ep. 2r. — Tiraboschi remarks, VelVami^ 
 cizia che Cicerone mostrb per Cerellia , si valse Dione a 
 calunniarlo. Ma ognun sa qualfede si debha in tale argo- 
 jnento a uno storico , il quale pare che si prendesse di mira 
 loscurare quanta gU era possibile^ lafama di si grand" uomo. 
 
( 19> ) 
 
 ON THE VILLAS OF CICERO. 
 
 i\ UMEROus were the villas which TuUius pos- 
 sessed in various parfs of Italy. Middleton states 
 that according to some , he was owner of no 
 fewer than eighteen ; but he is silent as to his 
 authority. Exclusive of his house on the Pala- 
 tine , I have never been able to make out more 
 than ten : a number sufficiently considerable, 
 and which it may be questioned whether the 
 Roman emperors exceeded , or even equalled. 
 On this account some have thrown out sus- 
 picions injurious to his reputation 5 but dexterous 
 forsooth must he have been, if with his mul- 
 tiplicity of vocations , he could have found time 
 to turn fortune-hunter, and cajole people out 
 of their estates. Some of his country-houses he 
 no doubt built; and it is probable that single 
 men of respectability, aware of his high merit, 
 and having no descendants of their own , made 
 him their heir (i). 
 
 Middleton seems to contradict himself, when 
 having stated on the authority of Seneca , that 
 
 (i) Confirmed, I see , by his own words, Phil. II. c, iQ, j 
 
( '92 ) 
 
 the Romans usually built their villas on hills, 
 he proceeds to look upon Grotta-Ferrata as oc- 
 cupying the site of the Tusculan villa, situated 
 under the hills between Frascati and Alba- 
 no (i). But the monastery of La Ruffinella , 
 lately occupied by Jesuits, but now by Lucian 
 Buonaparte, more likely stands on the Tusculan 
 retreat of Cicero. Nothing can be conceived 
 finer than the landscape commanded by this 
 enviable spot. The corridor is filled with mu- 
 tilated inscriptions and busts found in the ruins 
 of the city above. One of them is inscribed 
 
 PIPHILOS 
 POETES 
 
 probably the tragic poet mentioned by Cicero, 
 as having lampooned Pompeius at the Apolli- 
 narian ^ames (2). 
 
 Ascending the hill by a fine shrubbery, the 
 chief ornament of which is a very perfect sitting 
 statue , most likely of the orator , and recently 
 
 (1) Near Grotta-Ferrata, I remarked several magnificent 
 planes , the descendants perhaps of those under -which Cotta, 
 Crassus , and Scaevola dbcussed the qualifications of an ora- 
 tor. De Orat. I. 8. 
 
 (2) Ludis Apollinaribus Viphihis Pacta in nostrum Pom" 
 peiiim petulant^r inyectus est. Ad Alt. II. ep. 19. 
 
 found 
 
( 19^ ) 
 
 found in the ruins of Tusculam by tlie pra- 
 prietor, we reached the site of the ancient city. 
 Considerable remains of the theatre and public 
 aqueduct have been unearthed, and the guide 
 told me that some leaden pipes and tiles have 
 been found with the orator's name inscribed (^i). 
 Close to where they were excavated, and a 
 few paces from the amphitheatre , there are 
 magnificent ruins , which bear the character of 
 the buildings of the latter period of the republic. 
 They consist of a long crypto-portlcus , which 
 communicated with several chambers; traces 
 of which are still visible. It is pretty obvious 
 that there was another story. They have been 
 called time immemorial La Scuola di Cicerone; 
 and with every probability on their side , may 
 be contemplated as the remains of the Academia 
 Tusculana^ which we need no longer look for 
 at Grotta Ferrata, as Middieton imagined, or 
 even at La Ruffinella; but rather on the decli- 
 vity of the hill facing the Alban mount — that 
 mount so majestically apostrophized in the Pro 
 Milone I 
 
 (i) Perhaps they convened the Aqua Crabra, for which he 
 paid an annual rent to the TuscuUnis : ego Tusculaiiis pro 
 «qud Crabrd vectigal pendam. In Ruil, 5. 
 
 i3 
 
( 194 ) 
 
 T^os enimjam Albani tumuU, alque luci^ vos^ 
 inquam y imploro et ohLestor^ vosque Albanorum 
 chrutcB aro3 , sacrorum popuU Romani socice et 
 eequales , quas ille prceceps amenlid , ccesis , 
 proslratisque sanctissimls lucis , snhstruciionum 
 insanls moUbus oppresserat ; vesLrce turn arce , 
 vesiroe religiones viguerunt ^ vestra vis valuit ^ 
 quam ille omni scelere polluerat : tuque ex iuo 
 edilo inonte Latiaris sancte Jupiter, cujus ille 
 lacus ^ nemora jfinesque scepe omni nefario stupro 
 et scelere maculdrat , aliquando ad eum puni- 
 endum oculos aperuistis : vobis illce , vobis , ves- 
 tro in conspectu serce , sed justce tamen et dcbitce 
 pcence solutce sunt. 
 
 As vve descended from the Telegoni juga 
 parricidce , a loud clap of tlmnder burst "with 
 fracas from the steeps where the temple of Ju- 
 piter Latiaris formerly stood ; the welkin behind 
 Tusculum was shrouded in black, while a strong 
 ^leam of light was poured full on the ruins of 
 the Academia, The striking accidents of the 
 landscape corresponded with the recollections 
 of him whose favourite retreat Avas the object " 
 of our visit; immortalized as it is by those phi- 
 lovsophical disputations , which the common 
 consent of the learned world classes among the 
 
( 195 ) 
 
 most valuable monuments of Roman literature. 
 Tullius indeed is no where greater than at Tus- 
 culanum. Common statesmen and lawyers on 
 retirino into the country, are obliged to reno- 
 vate their hearts with light reading, or family 
 chit-chat. His unbendings were with Socrates, 
 Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno. 
 
 In a second visit to La Rufflnella, when the 
 Tusculan groves appeared in the gay livery of 
 spring, I caused a faithful copy of the profile 
 of the above - mentioned statue to be taken , 
 subjoined in a preceding page. The more I 
 consider it, the more 1 am inclined to think it 
 a Cicero. 
 
 The classical retreat of La Rufflnella has been 
 celebrated in some racy stanzas of the sixteenth 
 century, with which we will take a farewell of 
 Tusculanum , and its present proprietor ; for 
 the Venusian whispers : 
 
 Ne semper udwn Tihur , et yEsidce 
 Declive coiitempkris an^um^ et 
 Telegoni juga parricidce, 
 
 I. 
 
 Su le porte del vecclilo Tusculano,' 
 NelP alto monte sta la Rufdaella ; 
 
( 196 ) 
 
 L'emplto de li venti soffia in vaiio ^ 
 Quivi si gode ogti' allra cosa bella; 
 Monti, campagne, e il Lazio Romano 
 Domina , come Sole ogn^ allra slella. 
 La vista, I'aria , I'acque, i frutli , e I'ombre, 
 Fanno ch' Ogni travaglio qui si sgombre. 
 
 II. 
 
 Sopra im amend pogglo anliche mura 
 Con mirabil disegno, e arte rara, 
 Sostentanredlficio, cbc non cura 
 Caldo , ne gelo , e con la \ista cara , 
 Rimira i colli intorno, e la pianura^ 
 11 mar Tirreno , e la citta preclara 
 Di Roma, il gran Soratte, e le colline 
 Fertilissime e grate Tiburtine, 
 
 III. 
 
 Sptra quivi dal lucido oriente 
 Aura soave, e porta al ciel splendore; 
 La tramontana se ne vien sovenle 
 Purgando intorno ogni dannoso bumore; 
 Ma dal notturno e tacit' occidente 
 Soave spira il vento, e tempra I'hore. 
 II mezzo giorno con allegra faccia. 
 Con I'uno e I'altro vento ivi s'abbraccia. 
 
 IV. 
 
 O desiato a\'venturato colle, 
 Cbe di bello habitar sti si dotato ! 
 La fama Tusculaua ogn' uno estollcj 
 11 Tusculano cielo a tutti e grato. 
 
( 197 ) 
 
 A ville antiche la lor gloria telle ; 
 L'aria e la terra Than tanlo esaltato ! 
 Li convicini , e anco i Tramonlani 
 Vengono a ristoi-arsi e farsi sani (i). 
 
 With regard to the Asturan villa, VVolfias, 
 in his Latium foetus, gives a view of some 
 ruins, quas, to use his words, reliquias villce 
 Ciceronis recte dixeris. They stand on a small 
 island at the mouth of the rivulet which flows 
 by Astura , a town of Phoenician origin , as its 
 name implies. Cicero in one of his letters says : 
 est his locus amosnusy qui et Circeiis et Antio 
 aspici potest. The bad character of the people 
 deters strangers from visiting Astura , as it did 
 myself, not without regret ; for this retreat was 
 the scene of the orator's affliction on the death 
 of his daughter. Wandering among the thickets 
 from morn to even , philosophy seems to have 
 afforded him but slight consolation : in hdc sO' 
 litudine careo omnium colloquio^ cumque mane 
 in syham, me abstrusi densam et asperam , non 
 exeo inde ante vesperam. Secundum te , nihil 
 amicius solitudine; in ed mihi omnis sermo est 
 cum Uteris ; eum tamen interpellat fletus , cut 
 
 (i) Fabrizio Le Dclizie Tusculane. Jloma. i5g6. 
 
( 193 ) 
 
 repiigno quoad possum, sed adliuc pares non 
 sumus ( I ). 
 
 The site of what is called the Ciceronian 
 villa at Antium , which contained his best li- 
 brary, is laid down by Sickler in his topography 
 of Latiiim. 
 
 As for the Formian villas , (.superior et in- 
 ferior,') the site of the first is not pretended to 
 be known ; but the keeper of the inn at Mola 
 di Gaeta, called la villa dl Cicerone ^ where we 
 breakfasted , will not fail to carry you throuijh 
 his orange and lemon orchard, to an ancient 
 bath supported by columns of a good style, and 
 one of the most perfect of the Roman ruins; 
 which at his suggestion , I suppose , we must 
 dignify with the title of T^ilice Formiajice infe- 
 rioris rudera. The substructions of the town of 
 Formise are hard by seen every where under 
 the wav e?. 
 
 As I embarked at Bai^e, near the tomb of 
 Agrippina, to cross over to Puz/uoli, on a fine 
 star-iight evening, which brought to recollection 
 one of the finest passages of Tacitus (2) , the 
 
 (0 Ad Att. XII. ep. 1 5. 
 
 (i») Descriptive of the murder of Agrippina by Nero : noc- 
 
( 199 ) 
 
 guide pointed to a hill above tlie Lucrine lake, 
 now reduced to the size of a pond , and which 
 he called the site of the Cuman villa; if so, it 
 was not more than a mile from the Puteolan , of 
 which tAvelve or thirteen arches are slill seen 
 on the side next the vineyard , and intermixed 
 as they are with trees , are very picturesque 
 seen from the sea. These ruins are about one 
 mile from Puzzuoii , and have always been 
 styled U Academia di Cicerone, Plinius is very 
 circumstantial in the description of the site : ab 
 Ai^erno LacuPuteolos tendentibus imposita littori. 
 The classical traveller will not forget that the 
 Puteolan villa is the scene of some of the orator's 
 philosophical works. I searched in vain for the 
 mineral spring commemorated by Laurea Tul- 
 lius , in the well-known complimentary verses 
 preserved by Plinius; for it was effaced by the 
 
 tern sideribus illustrem , et placido niari quietani^ quasi 
 coiwincendum ad scelus Di prcebuere. The reflection of the 
 stars too in the rippling waves reminded me of something 
 more pleasing : 
 
 Ante bonam Venerem gelidce per littora Baice , 
 
 Ilia natare lacus cum lampade jussit Amorem. 
 
 Vum natat^ algentes cecidit scintilla per undas ; 
 
 Hiiic vapor ussit acjuas : quicunque natavit , aniavit. 
 
 Frag. Inc. Auct» 
 
( 200 ) 
 
 convulsions which the whole of this tract ex- 
 perienced in the sixteenth century, so poetically 
 described in Gray's hexameters (i). 
 
 li: would appear from several passages in his 
 letters , that Cicero was very partial to these 
 enchanting shores j but he complains to Atticus 
 of the frequent intrusion of idle visitors : O loca 
 cceteroquivalde expetenda , interpelLanUum autem 
 multitudlne pene fugienda ! (2 ) 
 
 Among numerous excursions made in the 
 environs of Naples, I crossed to the little island 
 of Nesis, now called INesita , rarely visited , and 
 resembling in shape a Greek theatre; tempted 
 to go thither by the recollection that in the 
 most critical period of the republic, the orator 
 had a rendez-vous there with Brutus : Nonis 
 Quint, veni in Puteolanum ; postridie iens ad 
 JBrutum , in Nesidem hcec scripsi. Bruto tuce literce 
 gratce erant; fui enim apud ilium multas horas 
 in Neside{o). The whole of this island belonged 
 to Lucullus. It is worthwhile to visit the castle, 
 which commands one of the best views of the 
 
 (r) Nee prociil tnfelix se tollit in cethera Gaurus , etc, 
 (2) Ad Att. XVI. ep. 1 6. 
 O) Ad Alt. XYI. ep. I. 
 
( 201 ) 
 
 Piiteolan bay. Here your eye may range over 
 the promontory of Misenum ; more interesting 
 as having been the retreat of Corneha, mother 
 of the Gracchi , than the occasional residence 
 of Lucallus and Tiberius. Beyond are the fertile 
 and populous isles of Ischia and Procida ; the 
 first, the temporary abode of Vittoria Colonna, 
 the accomplished and excellent marchioness of 
 Pescarai a little above the now desolate Baice^ 
 stands Bauli , where the orator and liortensius 
 went through their philosophical exercises to- 
 gether (l)j while nearly m the midst of the 
 bay , the sea still foams round a black slone , 
 part of the foundations of the pharoa to the 
 Partus Julius. A century or less will probably 
 efface the scanty remains of one of the noblest 
 works of the Augustan age; but it will exist 
 for ever in the sonorous lines of iVIaro : 
 
 An partus memorem, Lucrinoque addita claustra^ 
 Atque indignatum magnis stridoribus cequor ; 
 Julia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuso , 
 T/rrhenusque fretis immittitur cestus Avernis / 
 
 (i) Quibus de rebus et alias scepe nobis multa qucesita , 
 et disputata sunt , et (jiiondam in Hortensii villd , (jutje est 
 ad Baulos. Acad. Quaest. II. Hortensius was a frequent visitor 
 at the Cuman villa i which was often crowded with company : 
 habemus in Cwnana quasi pusillam Fiomam, Ad Alt.y. ep. 2. 
 
( 202 ) 
 With regard to the Pompeian villa of Ci- 
 cero, the learned Abate liomanelli in his jour- 
 ney from Naples to l^ompeii, thinks that the 
 house near the street of the Tombs , above 
 that of IMarcus Arrius Dioniedes, is the villa 
 in question ((). He founds his opinion on a 
 passage of the Academical Question entitled 
 Lucullusj in which the orator discussing the 
 sentiments of Epicurus respecting the senses, 
 ■Nvith Lucullus in his villa at Bauli, thus speaks : 
 ego CatulL Cumanum ex hoc loco i^ideo. Pom- 
 peianum non cerno ; neque quidquam interj actum 
 est quod obstet , sed intendi longius acies non 
 potest. O prceclarum prospectum ! Puteolos vi- 
 demus ^ at familiarem nostrum, Ananum, in por- 
 iicu Neptuni amhulantem non i^'idemus. He could 
 then , observ^es Piomanelli , see from Bauli , a 
 village near the promontory of IVIisenum, the 
 Cuman villa of Catulus to his left, and the 
 town of Puteoli on the opposite side of the 
 bay ; but he could not descry his Pompeian 
 villa ; not that any thing intervened , sed quia 
 intendi longius acies non potest. Now of all the 
 houses in Pompeii , this is the only one yet 
 
 (i) Viaggloda Napoli a Pompeii, Nap. 1817. 
 
( 205 ) 
 
 discovered that commands a view of the site of 
 Bauli in the distant haze. Here then , continues 
 the Abate, we must place his villa. Ingenious 
 as this conjecture is, it must Le remembered 
 that only one fifteenth of Pompeii has been yet 
 unearthed ^ and perhaps if the excavations are 
 continued nearer the sea, the discovery of his 
 villa may yet be ascertained by existing monu- 
 ments. 1 certified that Romaiielli is right with 
 regard to the view both at Bauli and Pompeii. 
 Be it as it may , the house contains a spacious 
 cellar well-stored with flagons, standing as they 
 were left , but filled with ashes from Vesuvius , 
 which are still reddish from the crimson juice. 
 A flight of stairs (a great rarity in the houses 
 of Pompeii ) leads to a gallery inlaid with IVIo- 
 saic. Fragments of white marble lie scattered 
 about. 
 
 The classical traveller as he surveys from llus 
 terrace the azure expanse of the Neapolitan 
 gulph , bounded by Castellamare , where the 
 elder Plinius dropped down suffocated , by 
 Capri , and cape Misenum , will hardly refrain 
 from exclaiming with the orator : O prceclarum 
 prospectum ! 
 
( 205 ) 
 
 ON THE MONUMENTS OF CICERO. 
 
 J. HE Abate Lignaminio, an antiquary of Padua, 
 relates that on the first of December , 1 544 » ^^ 
 some workmen were digging the foundations of 
 a church in the island of Zante , they discovered 
 the sepulchre of the orator ; and within it one 
 cinerary, and two lacrymatory vases. He as 
 well as Clavelli , are of opinion that the do- 
 mestics who were present at the assassination , 
 after his head and hands were cut off by Po- 
 pilius L^nas, burnt his body, and sailed with 
 the ashes to Zacynthus , where they honoured, 
 them with a funeral. But have any travellers 
 seen this monument at Zante? I can only say 
 that Clavelli in his Storia d'Arpino, gives a view 
 of it, which I copied at Naples. 
 
 Fig. 7. (See Frontispiece ,) exhibits one end 
 of the sepulchre , with the inscription. 
 
 Fig. 8. is the cinerary urn , which possibly 
 contained the ashes of the orator. 
 
 Fig. 9. is the bottom of the cinerary urn. 
 Who the Tertia Antonia of the inscription may 
 have been is unknown. 
 
( 206 ) 
 
 Here perhaps it may not be inapposite to 
 introduce an epitaph lately published for the 
 first time at Rome, and taken from a I\l. S. 
 of the fourteenth century, in the possession 
 of Signer IMariottini ; whether it may have been 
 inscribed on an ancient sarcophagus, or whe- 
 ther it be the invention of some monk,cotem- 
 porary of Petrarch , I leave to skilful Latinists 
 to decide : 
 
 XJnicus orator^ lumenque , decusque senatus , 
 
 Seri'ator patriae, conditor eloqiiil ; 
 Cujus ah iiigenio tandem illustrata perenni 
 
 Lumine prceclaro lingua Latina viget ; 
 Decidit indigne manibus laccratus iniquis 
 
 Tullius, hoc tumulo conditus exiguo. 
 Quicumque in libris nomen Ciceronis adoras , 
 
 Adspice quo jaceat conditus ille loco. 
 Hie vel orator^ vel cis^is niaxinius idem , 
 
 Clarus erat famd , clarior eloquio. 
 Quisquis in hoc saxo Tulli legis advena nomen y 
 
 Ne dedigneris dicere , Jllarce vale / (i) 
 
 The only ancient bust w ith the orator's name 
 inscribed, was in the IVIattei collection at Rome; 
 but it has lately passed into the hands of an il- 
 
 (i) Lettera di Caucellieri. Roma, 1812. 
 
( 20/ ) 
 
 lustrious EngUsli Dake ; who, after a series of 
 brilliant achievements in the field, proves that 
 he reverences the toga Ciceroniana as it de- 
 serves. 
 
 The IVIagnesian medal preserved , I believe , 
 in a monastery at Ravenna , exhibits his profile 
 and name in Greek. 
 
 The busts shewn in the Campidoglio, and 
 in the Medicean gallery at Florence , are so far 
 valuable, that they exactly resemble each other. 
 But I suspect that they are not portraits of the 
 orator ; who speaks somewhere of his procerum 
 et tenue collum. Now these busts are fleshy, 
 and short about the neck. But in the Medicean 
 collection , there is another portrait , which 
 usually goes by the name of the Florentine 
 busti copies of which are spread so generally 
 throughout Europe. It is certainly expressive of 
 acuteness of intellect, and passes for the best 
 reputed likeness of the orator. The inhabitants 
 of Arpino preserved a very ancient bust of their 
 townsman , in front of their town-hall j but it 
 was destroyed during the commotions which 
 took place in their city , in consequence ot the 
 French invasion. 
 
( 208 ) 
 
 VV hether Or no the statue lately found among 
 tlie ruins of 1 uscuium, the proliie of which is 
 inserted in this work, represent the orator, 
 Meant Visconiii. 
 
 Of the inscriptions commemorating the fa- 
 mily of the Ciceros , IVlauri in his Antichith 
 Momane , notices the following on the pedestal 
 of a statue erected by the Arpinates, in the 
 Tusculan villa : 
 
 M. TULLIO. CICERONI. M. F. 
 
 ROMANAE. FACUNDIAE. PRINCIPI. 
 
 QUAEST. AED. COS, PRO. COS. 
 
 IMPERATORI. 
 
 P. P. ARPINATES. 
 
 Arce is an ancient city of the Volsci ; built 
 on a precipitous rock , washed by the Liris , 
 and about eight miles from Arpino. It retains 
 its ancient name; and is noted as having been 
 the residence of Quintus Cicero. Like Arpino, 
 it is one of the five Saturnian cities ; and it is 
 ijrequently alluded to in the correspondence with 
 A*icus and Quintus. To the east of the city , 
 some remains of opus reticulatum , and fornices 
 are visible, which have been always called Caja 
 di Cicerone^ or \hQbarn of Cicero, In the year 
 
 1807, 
 
( 209 ) 
 
 I So/, there were also found vestiges of an 
 aqueduct, probably the same constructed by 
 the architects Messidius and Philoxenus , who 
 were employed by Quintus Cicero in hydraulic 
 works. Near the ruins the following inscriptions 
 have been discovered. 
 
 I. 
 Q. ET. M. TULUS.- Q. ET. M. F.F. 
 
 CICERONIBUS. 
 
 m. VIREIS. AED. POT. MUNICIP. 
 
 ARPINATIUM. 
 
 n. 
 
 M. TULLIO. M. F. M. N. M. PN. 
 
 CICERONI. COS. 
 
 PROCOS. PRO V. ASIAE. LEG. EVIP. 
 
 CAES. AUG. IN. SIRIA. 
 
 PATRONO. 
 
 III. 
 
 M. TULLIO. M. F. IVt. N. M. PN. COR; 
 
 CICERONL 
 
 COS. PROCOS. PATRONO» 
 
 IV. 
 
 C. AVIANUS. PHILOXENUS. 
 
 ARCHITECTUS. 
 
 REDEMPTOR. OPERIS. 
 
 14 
 
( '^lo ) 
 
 The first appears to have supported a statue 
 erected to Quintus and IVlarcus , the nephew 
 and son of the orator , who we find were 
 triumvirs and ccdiies at Arpinum. 
 
 "^rhe second and third are both relating to 
 Marcus the son. 
 
 The fourth apparently records the architect 
 employed by Quintus Cicero , in the embellish- 
 ments of his villa at Arce. 
 
 I cannot resist adding to these inscriptions , 
 one recorded by Clavelli in his Storia d'Arpino^ 
 said to have been written on the walls of Cice- 
 ro's house on the Palatine hill, the dav after 
 his expulsion by Clodius; though of doubtful 
 authority 5 it is of remote antiquity , having been 
 interpreted by Venerable Bede ^ and consisting 
 only of twelve initials, has an air of mysterious 
 interest. 
 
 P. P. P. Pater Patrice Proficiscitur, 
 
 S. S. S. Sapientia Secum Suhlata est^ 
 
 R. R. R. Respublica Eomana Ruit, 
 
 F. F. F. Ferro Flamrnd Fame, 
 
 Most travellers as they journey from Itri to 
 Mola di Gaeta, are unwilling to contemplate 
 the ruined tower on the right of the road^ 
 
( 211 ) 
 
 nearly overgrown with weeds, and supported 
 in the interior by a central column , in any other 
 light than as a monument destined to comme- 
 morate the assassination. We know from Livius , 
 that his death took place near the Formian villa, 
 qucB pauld plus mllle passibus abest a mart; 
 about the actual distance of the tower in ques- 
 tion from the beach j not that we can come to 
 any thing certain , for the encroachments of the 
 sea are every where obvious about IVlola. Some 
 have taken this ruin to have been a watch-tower, 
 built as it is like those seen by Swinburne on 
 the coasts of the Adriatic. But the neighbouring 
 point of Gaeta would have been a far more ad- 
 vantageous site for a look-out tower. Whatever 
 was its destination , as we wandered on this de- 
 licious shore on a fine December evening , the 
 impressive lines of Cornelius Severus appeared 
 wafted to our ears by the ripple of the Tyrrhene 
 waves. 
 
 Oraque niagnanimum spirantia pene pirorum 
 In rostrisjacuere suis : sed enim abstulit omnes , 
 Tanquam sola foret , rapti Ciceronis imago. 
 Tunc redeunt animis ingentia Consults acta , 
 Juratceque manus , depressaque foedera noxce^ 
 t^atriciumque nefas : est tunc et poena Cethegi^ 
 
( 2«2 ) 
 
 Vejectusque redit votis Catilina nefandisi 
 Quid favor ^ aiit ccetus , plenls quid hoiiori bus anni 
 Frofutritit / sacrts txacta quid aflibus celas / 
 Abstulit una dies cevi decus ; ictaque luctu 
 Conticuit Latice tristisfacundia linguce. 
 Egregium semper pa trice caput : ille senatiis 
 P index y ille fori , legum, rilusque , togceque , 
 Publica vox scevis externum obmutuit arniis. 
 Jfiformes vultus , sparsamque cruore nejando 
 Canitiem , sacfasque manus , operumque iidnistras 
 l^antorum , pedibus civis project a superbis 
 Proculcavit ovans ; nee lubricafata, Deosque ^ 
 Hespexit — nullo luet hoc Antonius cevo(^\). 
 
 It struck me , when at Arpino , that no mo- 
 nument exists in honour of Cicero , which may 
 
 (i) De Exil. ot Mort. M. T. Cic. 
 
 Wheii at Bologna, I made an excursion to the spot , which 
 tradition says is immortalized by the rendezvous of the tri- 
 umvirs, in a small isle formed by the Rhenus. About five 
 wiles on one of the roads leading to Modena , the Bolognese 
 senate erected a brick monument with four pediments , on the 
 spot where Oclaviiis, Antonius, and Lepidus acquiesced to 
 the proscrlpiion of Cicero. The course of the Rhonus is so 
 altered by canals cut in modern times , that the spot is far 
 from satisfactory to the classical traveller. There is however 
 something irresistible in long tradition ,* and in the monument 
 having been four limes destroyed , as one of the inscriptions 
 informs us. The side faciiig the road presents the following 
 memorial : 
 
C 2'3 ) 
 
 duly serve to remind us of his high desert; and 
 prove that his immortal mind still makes an 
 impression on those , who are capable of esti- 
 mating it. His memory was as much veneraled 
 in the dark ages as now; for according to the 
 learned author of the Illustrations of Childe 
 Harold, there existed at Rome in the twelfth 
 century, a building called the Temple of Ci- 
 cero. It sickens every traveller of common sense 
 in Italy, to behold sumptuous monuments with 
 long and fulsome inscriptions , raised to indi- 
 viduals , whose merits were very doubtful, or 
 at best of a negative and insipid cast. The 
 Corsini chapel attached to the church of San 
 Giovanni Laterano , did not cost less , if we may 
 believe report , than ^^ooo^ooo scudi ; though 
 it may be questioned whether the Corsini ever 
 did any thing for Europe , or their own country 
 
 C, Julio, Cwsare. Interfecto. 
 
 C. Vansa, et. A. Hirtio. Coss, Ccesis. 
 
 M. Antonius. M. Lepidus. et. Ccesar. Octavius. 
 
 Triumviratu. Quinquennali, R. P. C. Assuinpto, 
 
 Rom. hnperio. Inter. Se. Dividendo. 
 
 TabuUsque, Proscriptionum. Signandis. 
 
 Heic. Ad. Fluenta. Laviiu. 
 
 Triduo. Constiterunt. 
 
 A. U. C. DGG.XI. Ante, Christum. XLUJ, 
 
( 214 ) 
 
 letter than thrusting into heaven some saint of*^ 
 their own creation , Deo Opt. Max. nolente 
 i'olente. The IVledici, the pride and shame of 
 Florence , are enshrined in a mausoleum , 
 which though unfinished , has not cost less than 
 10,000,000 scudi; some will tell you at Flo- 
 rence, 15,000,000. The cold assertion that the 
 works of Cicero are his noblest monument, 
 if more extended in its application , would go 
 a great way towards neutralizing the labours of 
 the architect, painter, and sculptor. But how 
 can their talents be better employed than in 
 transmitting to posterity proofs of our respect 
 for those , who have devoted themselves to their 
 country, by stemming torrents of corruption ; 
 and who have added dignity to our species by 
 perfecting the rare and divine gift of eloquence? 
 jNow it is unknown what our schools, what 
 our tribunals , what the lovers of Latinity , 
 ethics, and philosophy, owe to Cicero; and in 
 proposing that a monument be raised, in the 
 Amailhea at Arpinum , which may serve to 
 bring liis merits agreeably to our recollection, 
 by placing them, as it were, before our eyes, 
 I shall not , I trust , be taxed with the indulgence 
 of a wild and spurious enthusiasm. 
 
Segniiis irritant anirnos demissa per aures , 
 Quam quce sunt ocidis subjecta fidtlibus — 
 
 But it is not so much for the sake of paying 
 a late posthumous tribute of applause to the 
 Genius of Arpinum , that I propose the erection 
 of this monument, as with the view of deve- 
 loping art in an interesting and satisfactory 
 manner. 
 
 Without further extending these remarks 
 then , it is proposed ; 
 
 1. That subscription -books be opened in the 
 houses of the principal bankers in Europe. 
 
 2. That the sum subscribed shall not exceed 
 3o,oool. 
 
 3. That the house of Torlonia at Rome , be 
 the central communicating, and finally re- 
 ceiving bank. 
 
 4. That a committee of three of the first anti- 
 quaries, or connoisseurs in Rome, be ap- 
 pointed to name the artists , who shall send 
 in designs for the frescos about to be des- 
 cribed. 
 
 This in progress, and the ground purchased, 
 the first step will be to clear away the ' iiie*> and 
 pollard poplars in the AmalLheaj the next, to 
 
( ii6 ) 
 
 turn the road which leads from the village of 
 Isola to Sora, by the Isola Carnella, or upper 
 island. (^Compare the two topographical sketches.^ 
 Jt remains then for me to proceed to the deve- 
 lopment of the proposed embellishments for the 
 i^mallhea. Lubet mihi facer e in Arpinatu 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF CONYERS MIDDLETON, 
 ERNESTUS, AND ALL THE BIOGRAPHERS 
 AND COMMENTATORS OF CICERO, THIS 
 NEW BUILDING, AND OTHER EMBELLISH- 
 MENTS FOR THE AMALTHEA AT ARPINUM 
 ARE INSCRIBED. 
 
 Fig. 12. (See Frontispiece ^ is the elevation. 
 The Ionic is from the Temple of Bacchus at 
 Teos. 
 
 Fig. 1 3= is the ichnography of the building. 
 
 The dome of the rotunda is of the same el- 
 lipsis as that of the Pantheon. The inside will 
 be impannelled like that edifice. The floors to 
 be inlaid with two different coloured marbles 
 of a bold and simple design. In the centre of 
 the rotunda , under the oeiLde-boeuf, will stand 
 on a plain circular pedestal, a statue of the 
 prator in his toga consularis, holding in his 
 fight hand a scroll inscribed : 
 
 DE LEGIBUS. 
 
( 217 ) 
 
 No inscription j not even his name. Each wing 
 will be lighted with large sky-lights. The mar- 
 ble wainscoating , or fregio basso intorno la 
 stanza , will be decorated in the frise , or central 
 member, with Roman civic crowns cut in the 
 solid marble,with an equidistance of eightp^/mi. 
 The frescos about to be described , will each be 
 separated by a continuity of Pioman fasces , 
 painted to imitate bronze , forming frames to 
 each of the frescos, and continued under the 
 cornice of the ceiling , and above the cornice of 
 the wainscoating. Twelve Doric Antse will de- 
 corate the inside of the rotunda. The sky-lights 
 will be of strong plate-glass in copper frames. 
 
 Inscription for the frise of the rotunda^ 
 EUROPA. MARCO. TULLIO. CICERONI. 
 
 THE FRESCOS (l). 
 I. 
 
 AEtat. 6. Cicero with the bulla ^ at play with 
 his brother Quintus , by the great cataract 
 of the Lirisj his mother Helvia eyeing 
 them with complacency. 
 
 (i) See the corresponding numbers in the ichnography. 
 
( 2i8 ) 
 
 II. 
 
 AEldit. 1 6. Prcetexlatiis , he disputes on tlie ne- 
 cessary qualifications of an orator with 
 Julius Ccesar, then also a boy, in the 
 presence, of JVluhus Scsevola, and other 
 eminent lawyers , in a villa of Tusculum. 
 
 III. 
 AEtat. 28. His attendance to the philosophical 
 discourses of Antiochus, in the grove of 
 the acadeniy at Athens. 
 
 IV. 
 
 AEtat. 29. He declaims in Greek, in the pre- 
 sence of Apollonius Molo at Rhodes. 
 IVlolo mute with astonishment and regret, 
 on finding that through Cicero, the Ro- 
 mans were destined to eclipse the Greeks 
 in eloquence. 
 
 V. 
 
 AEtat. 32. Qusestor in Sicily, he revives the 
 notice of the tomb of Archimedes. 
 
 VJ. 
 
 AEtat. 37. He arrives at Agrigentum, covered 
 with dust and sweat. 1 he Agrigentines 
 crowd round him with testimonials res- 
 pecting the iniquity of Verres. The tem- 
 
( 219 ) 
 
 pie of AEsrulapius , mentioned in one of 
 tlie orations, the ruins of which still exist, 
 to be restored ; and the surrounding land- 
 scape to be preserved. 
 
 vn. 
 
 ^tat. 44. The delivery of the first Catilinarian 
 in the temple of Jupiter Stator. The like- 
 nesses of the best reputed busts to be pre- 
 served. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 AEtat. 49* Pullatus , he harangues the Clodian 
 faction ; pelted with mud and stones by 
 the populace, he is compelled to retire. 
 His house on the Palatine fired in the 
 distance. 
 
 IX. 
 
 AEtat. 5o. His entrance into Rome, on his 
 return from exile , amid the acclamations 
 of his country. Humeris Italice a Brun- 
 dusio Romam usque reportatus, 
 
 X, 
 
 AEtat. 58. Habited as Jmpera/or, on horseback, 
 he orders the fortress of Pindenessus to 
 be stormed, after a siege of forty- seven 
 days. 
 
( 220 y 
 
 XL 
 
 -AEtat. 6 1. His delivery of the Pro Quinto 
 Ligario in the presence of^C3esar. Gxsar 
 letting fall unconsciously some papers, 
 riveted by the power of the eloquence. 
 
 XII. 
 iffitat. 6Z. The delivery of the conspicuce di- 
 vina Philippica Jamce. The portrait of An- 
 tonius is known from medals. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 AEtat. 64' The assassination near Cajeta. Ci- 
 cero in the act of extending his head, and 
 exclaiming : M-oriar in patrid scepe ser-^ 
 vaLd. The landscape to be preserved. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 His mangled head and amputated hands naikd 
 to the Roman rostra; the spectators ex- 
 pressing their sorrow and indignation at 
 the spectacle. 
 
 Ita relalum caput ad AnloniuTn ; jussuque 
 ejus inter diias manus in rostris posiium , ubi ille 
 Consul, ubi ssepe consularis , ubi eo ipso anno 
 adi'ersLLs Antonium , quanta nulla unquam hu~ 
 mana vox cum admiralione eloquentice , audiius 
 
( 221 ) 
 
 faerat. T^ix attollentes lacrymis oculos homines 
 
 intueri trucidata membra ejus poterant. Tit. Liv% 
 
 Cii'itas lacrfmas tenere non poluit , ciim re- 
 
 cisum Ciceronis caput , in ilLis suis rostris vide-' 
 
 retur. Florus. 
 
 Prcecipue tamen solvit pectora omnium in la- 
 crjmas ^ gemitusque , i^isa ad caput ejus dvligata 
 manus dextraj diuincc sapieutice ministra; caste- 
 rorumque ccedes privatos luctus excitauerunt ; ilia 
 una, communem. Crem. Cordus. 
 
 Nos. XV. XVI. XVII. and XVIII. will ex- 
 hibit Personifications of Poetry , Eloquence , 
 Law, and Philosophy, painted to imitate sta- 
 tues in recesses. 
 
 No. I. at the head of the island, uhi quasi 
 rostro finditur Fibrenus, shall exhibit an ideal 
 sitting statue of Helvia, mother of the orator. 
 (See the second topographical sketch.^ 
 
 Inscription for the pedestal. 
 IIELVIA. MATER. M. T. CICERONIS. 
 
 Group of oaks, acacias, cedars, poplars, and 
 Italian pines. 
 
 No. 2. will be a plain Greek cippus of white 
 marble , with the following inscription : 
 
( 222 ) 
 
 TERENTIA. 
 
 AVE. 
 
 ET. TU. TULLIA. M. T. CIG. 
 
 FILIA. DILECTA. 
 
 AVE. 
 
 Group of planes , oaks , weeping willows , and 
 cypresses. ^ 
 
 No. 3' will be an ideal statue of Marcus 
 Filius in prcetextd , holding a scroll inscribed : 
 
 DE OFFICIIS. 
 Group of ilex , oaks , chesnuts , and willows. 
 
 No. 4- shall be an ideal sitting statue of Titus 
 Pomponius Atticus, holding three Scrolls in- 
 scribed : 
 
 EPISTOLAE AD ATTICUM. 
 
 DE AMICITIA. 
 DE SENECTUTE. 
 
 Group of poplars intwined with vines , limes , 
 oaks , and planes. 
 
 No. 5. will be a statue of Quintus Hortensius 
 with two scrolls inscribed : 
 
 HORTENSIUS. 
 DE CLARIS ORATORIBUS. 
 Trees as before. 
 
( 223 ) 
 
 No, 6. will be a copy of the statue of Cneiiis 
 Pompeius IVlagnus , preserved in the Spada 
 palace, supposed to be the same at the foot of 
 which Ccesar fell, grasping a scroll inscribed : 
 
 PRO LEGE MANILIA. 
 Group of oaks, poplars, cedars, planes, and 
 Italian pines. 
 
 No. 7. will be a sitting statue of Marcus 
 Brutus , holding four scrolls inscribed : 
 ORATOR. 
 DE FINIBUS BONORUM ET MALORUM, 
 DE NATURA DEORUM. 
 TUSGULANAE QUAESTIONES. 
 Trees as before. 
 
 Nos. 8. will be two marble seats by the falls 
 of the Fibrenus, 
 
 No. 9. shall be the Mariana quercus redwiva, 
 with the following^ inscription placed horizon- 
 tally under the tree : 
 
 DUM. LATINAE. 
 
 LOQUUNTUR. LITER.1E. 
 
 NON. DEERIT. HUIG. LOGO. 
 
 MARL^NA. QUERGUS. 
 
 No. I o. will be an avenue of oaks leading to 
 
 the Amalthea. 
 
f 224 ) 
 
 Fig. 1 1. (^See Frontispiece) -will be an ellip^ 
 tical foot-bridge for the FibreDus. On each side 
 of the river the earth will be piled as high as 
 the abaci of the two Doric frusta , supported 
 by plain slanting masonry. The entablature then 
 will form the rail-way to the bridge- The trees 
 in the Amalthea, though chiefly connected, 
 will each have room to display an individual 
 beauty. 
 
 The bridge will be closed with strong iron 
 gates , and the key will be kept at the Demi* 
 nican convent. 
 
 The Liris , and both branches of the Fibrenus 
 being deep and rapid , no other fence will be 
 necessary, 
 
 I have thus endeavoured to project a building 
 which may serve to recal agreeably at his birth- 
 place , the merit of one of the brightest orna- 
 ments of our species, and at the same time to 
 develop art in an interesting and classical man- 
 ner. If the plan be approved , future travellers 
 will find that there is something beyond modern 
 Rome worth visiting ; something full as satis- 
 factory as cross-keys and tiaras , in the Amal- 
 thea at Arpinum. 
 
 Quia 
 
( 225 ) 
 
 (^liin ipse , verb dicam , sum illi idllas amicior 
 modo f actus ; valete lector es , etistum, ubi TuU 
 lius est natus , plus amate posthac locum ( i ), 
 
 (i} Dc Legg. II. sub init. 
 
 / 
 
 VV>IV«%V\/«W«VV\VV«'kV«V»« 
 
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 k^ f^ ?i^ ?5 ,"? 1 
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EXCURSION 
 
 FROM NAPLES TO THE 
 
 ISLE OF CAPRI : 
 
 la a Letter to a Friend in England. 
 
 antiqui saxosa Telonis 
 
 Insula. — SiL. Ital. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND , 
 
 J. SENT, pursuant to your request, a sliort 
 account of my excursion to Arpinoj accept now 
 a description of the tour, which 1 made last 
 autumn , in the island of Capri. You know that 
 no painting can exist without corresponding 
 light and shade. Arpino then shall be the bright 
 side of my picture ; Capri , the dark. 
 
 The isle of Capri , situated under the same 
 meridian as Naples, is distant from that capital 
 about seventeen miles ; three , from the Punta 
 di Campanella , anciently called the Athencean 
 promontory j and about thirteen , from cape 
 IVliseno. It is composed of two lofty mountains 5 
 the highest of which to the west , is called Ana- 
 
( 228 ) 
 
 capri , {quasi AvuKTrut^ai. ) -which rises to the 
 elevation of eighteen hundred feet above the 
 level of the sea. The island does not exceed nine 
 miles in circumference , including the sinuosi- 
 ties of the shores ; and its whole surface is pic- 
 turesque and savage in the extreme. Anciently 
 it contained two small towns j but Strabo tells 
 us that under Augustus, there was only one. 
 The population now amounts to three thousand 
 five hundred souls. His present Sicihan Majesty 
 has lately established two seminaries for boys 
 and girls, and a nautical school. The island 
 produces good w'ine of a dry flavour, and abun- 
 dance of fruit; but little or no corn. It is much 
 frequented by quails; upwards of sixty thou* 
 sand of which are exported annually for tlie 
 supply of the Neapolitan markets. Capri , in re- 
 mote antiquity, was colonized by the Tfleboiy 
 a people who inhabited the islands of the Echi^ 
 jiades , and that part of Greece near the Ache- 
 lous. The Teleboi, whose leader was one Telon , 
 are alluded to in the following lines of the se- 
 venth AEneid : 
 
 .... fjuem generdsse Telon Sehethide nrmpJid 
 Fertur, Ttleboum Capreas ciim regna teneret. 
 
( 229 ) 
 
 Statins also mentions ihem as inhabitants of 
 CaprecE /•but when they came , and how long 
 they dwelt there, is unknown. 
 
 But this wild and precipitous rock is more 
 memorable from having been the retreat of a 
 man, who systematized tyranny more com- 
 pletely than any despot either before, or since 
 his period. A rocky island has in our times be- 
 come the involuntary abode of another despol:, 
 inferior perhaps in genius to Tiberius; who vo^ 
 lunlariLy made Capri his retreat , and the nest 
 of his impurities. 
 
 Takincj advantage of a fine October morning , 
 we embarked near the light-house of Naples , 
 which stands at the end of a mole , projected 
 with such boldness , that ships of the line can 
 ride within the pier. After a sail of four hours , 
 we landed at the sbarco di Capri , the only ac- 
 cessible point in the island. Immediately on 
 landing, we scaled what may be rather called 
 a rude flight of steps than a road , and found 
 a small but tolerable inn in the metropolis of 
 Capri, surrounded by groves of fruit-trees, 
 and commanding noble sea-views on either side. 
 Having made engagements with a muleteer, v^q 
 bent our course to the eastex^n side of the island , 
 
( 23o ) 
 
 preceded by a liardy Capri peasant. Observe , 
 my dear friend, that Tiberius erected his villas 
 on the easrern side of this insular rock j none 
 of them were more than three miles apart; some 
 were within a stone's throw of each olher. These 
 palaces were twelve in number, and dedicated 
 to the twelve major deities. 
 
 The retreat of the tyrant to Capri is recorded 
 
 by Tacitus, with his usual majesty of expression : 
 
 C^ipreas se in insuUtm abdidit^ trium miiliiim 
 
 Jreto ab extremis Surrentini promontorii disjunc- 
 
 tam : Soliiudinem ejus placuisse maxime credi- 
 
 derim^ quoniam importuosum circa mare, et vix 
 
 modicis uavigiis , pauca subsidia, neqiie adpii- 
 
 lerit quisqiiom nisi gnaro custode. Cceli iempe- 
 
 Ties hieme milis , objectu montisy quo scEva ven^ 
 
 torum arcentur. j^stas in Fai^onium obversiis , et 
 
 aperto circum pelago , peramcena , antequam f^e^ 
 
 suvius , mons ardescens , facieni loci verteret. 
 
 Grcecos ea tenuisse, Capreasque leiebois habi- 
 
 tatas fama tradit. And in another passage : sed 
 
 turn Tiberius duodecim villarum nominibns , et 
 
 molibus insederat. You remember also , no 
 
 doubt, Suetonius : Capreas se cunLulit , proeci- 
 
 puk dtlectatus insula , quad uno , parvoque littore 
 
 adiretury septa undique prceruptis immensa: alti % 
 
( 23i ) 
 
 tudiiiLS rupibus-f et prof undo maris. Ascending 
 continually eastward , presented every few yards 
 witli fresh views of the most novel , striking , 
 and romantic description, we reached a spot 
 called Moneta by the inhabitants. As Juno was 
 worshipped under that title at Rome, and as 
 some vestiges of reservoirs and an aqueduct 
 are still visible , it is conjectured that this was 
 the Juno of Tiberius. A reference to the little 
 chart annexed , will enable you to form a pretty 
 correct idea of the sites of the Tiberian villas. 
 About two hundred yards further , we reached 
 a precipitous point, covered with the ruins of 
 the Roman Pharos , which, if we may credit 
 Suetonius , fell down a few days before the 
 death of the tyrant : et ante paucos quam ohiret 
 dies, turris Vhari terrcemotu Capreis concidiL 
 Here a bas-relief was found , representing Lu- 
 cilla and Crispina , the sister and wife of Com- 
 m.odus, who we know fromDio Cassius, were 
 banished to Capri. The fine light cast by this 
 Pharos, is alluded to by Statius in the following 
 poetic lines : 
 
 Telehoumque domos., trepidis uhi dulcia nhutis 
 Lwnina noctivagce tollic Pharos ccnuda Lunce. 
 
( 232 ) 
 
 It was not without shuddering , my dear 
 friend, that we approached the fatal precipice 
 overhanging the sea, which still retains the 
 name of U SaLto, This is the celebrated Saltiis 
 Caprearum, the bare mention of which formerly 
 turned so many Roman fathers, mothers, bro- 
 thers, and sisters pale. I cannot better describe 
 it than in the words of Count Rezzonico : scende, 
 tagliato quasi a piombo ^ da spaventevole altezza 
 nel mare ^ e dalle acute sue profuberanze , do- 
 i>evan essere lacere le vitlime immolate dalC em^ 
 •pio tiranno alia sua vendetta. This also is the 
 spot alluded to in the terrific words of Sue- 
 tonius : Carnificince ejus ostenduntur , locus Ca- 
 preis, unde damnatos, post longa et exquisita 
 tormenta , prcecipitari coram se in mare jubebat , 
 excipiente classiariorum manu, et contis atque 
 remis elidente cadauera , ne cui residui spirilus 
 quidquam inesset. 
 
 The Salto rises full seven hundred feet from J 
 
 the sea. 
 
 1 remarked that the rocks about the precipice 
 are very rugged, making the approach to the 
 edge difficult of access j but it is evident that 
 the tyrant , for the space of about five yards , 
 had ordered them to be levelled , that the con- 
 
(233) 
 
 demned might be made to take clean and flying 
 leaps m his presence. I tried to banish the re- 
 membrance of these cruelties , by the cheertbl 
 view of the Athenian promontory, gilded wilh 
 the declining sun^ which though three miles off, 
 appeared within a gun-shot; of the classical isles 
 called i Galli^ sounding with the screams of 
 gulls and sea-mews , the 
 
 Sirenwn scopulos , multorumqiie ossibus albos , 
 
 of Virgil; I may add also of Tiberius, in refe- 
 rence to the last hemistich. On the opposite 
 side of the bay of Salerno, the Doric grandeur 
 of the Posidonian temples, though full thirty 
 miles off, was just discernible. Leaving the 
 Salto , we presently reached the remains of the 
 f^illa Jovis. Here there are several subterra- 
 neous arched chambers, which communicated 
 with each other, and which from their con- 
 struction , 1 have little doubt were the torturing 
 dungeons annexed to the Jupiter of Tiberius. 
 We noticed slight remains of fresco on the up- 
 permost apartments. A fine mosaic pavement 
 was found here in the last century ; together 
 with columns of giallo anlio, cameos, inta- 
 glios , and a. statue of a nymph of Greek vv ork- 
 manship. 
 
( 254 ) 
 
 Suetonius tells ns that the tyrant shut lilmself | 
 
 up in this villa , after he had crushed the con- 
 spiracy of Sejanus : oppressd conjuratlone Se~ 
 jani, per novem proxlmos menses, non egressus 
 est e villa , quae vacatur Jovis. 
 
 We found here a bearded hermit, who of- 
 fers up his daily orisons in a chapel dedicated 
 to S, Maria del Soccorso , where Tiberius 
 sealed the misery and degradation of Rome. It 
 was probably among these rocks , that the poor 
 Capri fisherman climbed , to present to Tiberius 
 a large mullet, for which he hoped a propor- 
 tionate recompense. Suetonius, as I dare say 
 you remember , tells us that he found the tyrant 
 secrethm agentem ; who startled at the unexpec- 
 ted intrusion , ordered the fisherman to be 
 smitten on the face with the mullet. Congratu- 
 lating himself while under punishment, that he 
 had not presented at the same time a lobster, % 
 
 which he had in his basket , Tiberius took the 
 Lint, and ordered his face to be scoured with 
 the prickly shell of that amphibious fish ; cru- 
 deliter os lacerari imperavit. Such anecdotes 
 present a deplorable picture of those times, and 
 often make me think that the world is better 
 now than it ever was. Had it been a proconsul 
 
( 235 ) 
 
 gorged witli the pillage of a province , we should 
 enjoy the anecdote with zest. 
 
 Quitting the V^ilLa Jovis ^ we descended yer 
 asperrimas immensceque altiLucUnis rapes , to a 
 vast natural grotto , called La Matromania , 
 (jquasi magnum JMithrce antrum,^ supposed to 
 have been consecrated to IVlithras; for a bas- 
 relief was there found representing that Deity 
 striding the ox, puUin^g up his nostrils, and 
 plunging a dagger in his throat; the dogs licking 
 the blood, and the scorpion at the genitals; 
 exactly as pictured by Dupuis , Lenoir, and 
 others. You know that IVlithras was always 
 worshipped in caverns, or artificial excavations. 
 Lebruyn pictures a temple to him of this sort, 
 which he saw in Persia ; and the Borghese 
 Mithras was found in a cave under the Campi- 
 doglio; as was another at Puzzuoli. 
 
 In the year 1760, a Greek epitaph was also 
 unearthed at Matromania y which , as it contains 
 some pathetic lines , I will transcribe for your 
 amusement , with the Italian translation of Count 
 Rezzonico : 
 
 ol ZTiiyicvg ;^(W05i;f vTrovaizn, Actifxovig ia-dXoiy 
 
( iZ6 ) 
 
 JiOTi uov IV TT^oKOTrrjg recall Trctoct ^icTTTOTiovTi , 
 AoTi Si iccti yovioov iXttiS' if^yjv t^i^icrcig. 
 
 OV SlKCC TTiVT ITIOOV 1 OvS" UKCCTl Tg^^C iViCCVTUV 
 
 EiCTiAi(rag, yoi^cg cvk ic-oom to C^aog. 
 Tqvvoixoc fxoi 'jTTccTog' A<To//.6ti S' in tov avvoy^cci^QV p 
 TovcrSi yovug kAcihiv fx,riKiu Tcvg taXou/ccs^ 
 
 DemoniiiwitU abi/alor ill Slige, 
 JlJe pur iV ogni altropiu tapiti vi piaccia 
 JVel pallid ' Oreo rlcettar. Non io 
 Son dalle Parcke^ma da forza tratto 
 />' ingius/a niorle ed iwproi^isa ; assai 
 J[J' avei'a de' doni suoi Cesare oriiato ; 
 Or de uiitl padri la speraiiza , e mia 
 Tro.'ua rimati. Non quindici anni ai>ea 
 Is^on venti , ahi lasso ! e piu non i'eggo il 
 
 giorno I 
 
 Jpato t il Jiome. I genitor ne priego , 
 £ // inisero fratel cessin dal pianto» 
 
 As some marble fragments have been found 
 in the neighbourhood of this cavern, and as 
 Apollo is synonimous with Mithras, I think we 
 may place here the Apollo of 7'iberius. Here 
 there is a noble view of the two pinnacled pro- 
 montories, called il Tuoro grande e piccolo ^ 
 probably the Taurubulce of Statius, alluded to 
 in the following lines : 
 
(237) 
 
 » ', . dites Caprece , viridesqup resultant 
 Tauruhulce , et terris ingens redit ceqiiorls Eclio, 
 
 Observe what sublimity environs this little 
 rock^ every thing here is alia Dantesca. 
 
 The sun was tinging the Tuurubulce with its 
 last rays, when we returned to our little inn; 
 Avhere a gjood dish of quails , and dry Capri 
 wune banished our fati£;ues, and all recollections 
 of 1 iberius for the day , 
 
 .... angustd Coprearum in riipe sedenLis 
 Cum grege Chaldceo. 
 
 The next morning early, we bent our steps 
 to the southern side of the island; and about 
 a quarter of a mile from the tow^n of Capri, 
 reached a row of twenty-one arched chambers 
 in ruins, called by the inhabitants, Le camerelle. 
 These are supposed to have been the notorious 
 Spintrice et iSe/Z^m, which make such a noise in 
 the Annals; for the arrani^ement corresponds 
 with the description of them given by Suetonius; 
 cvbicula pLurifariam disposita. Medals of a vile 
 description , are frequently du" out of these 
 chambers; and they are known in Italy by the 
 title of the Spintrian medals. One of the names 
 ot the hopeful supervisors of the Tiberian sys- 
 
(s33) 
 
 tern of education established in Capri, appears 
 in the following inscription on one of them : 
 
 C. MITUEIVS. MAG. IVVENT. 
 
 You remember perhaps, the fine passage in 
 the Annals : saxa rursum et solitudinem maris 
 repetiit^ puJore scelerum et llLldinum, quibus 
 adeo indomitis exarserat^ ut more regio pubem 
 ingenuam sluprispollueret, necformam tantum et 
 decora corpora , sed in his^ m.odestam pudicitiam , 
 inaliis, imagines majorum, incitamentum cupi- 
 dinis haberet- Tuncque primum ignota ante voca- 
 hula reperta sunt Sellariorum ^ et Spintriarum , 
 ex fceditate loci^ac multiplici patientid. 
 
 His infamy also is strongly expressed in Sue- 
 tonius : secessu vera Capreensi , eliam selLariam 
 excogitavit sedem arcanarum libidinum , in quam 
 undique conquisiti puellarum et exoletorum gre- 
 ges , monstrosique concubilus repertores , quos 
 Spintrias appellabat , triplici serie connexi , in- 
 vicem incestarent se coram ipso, ut deficientes 
 libidines excitarent. Cubicula plurifariam dispo- 
 sita, tahellis ac sigillis lascivissimarum pictu- 
 rarum. et figurarum adornavit , librisque Ele- 
 phantidis instruxit , ue cui in opera edendd 
 exemplar imperalce schemce deesset. In sjlvis 
 
(2S9 ) 
 
 quoque ac nemoribus ^ passim V^enereos locos 
 commeiitus est; prostantesque per antra, et ca- 
 vas rupesy ex utriusque sexits puhe Paniscorum 
 et Nympharum habiiu, palamque jam et vulgato 
 nomine insulce abutentes ^Caprineum dictitabant, 
 jyiajore adhiic et tnrpiore infamid Jlagravit — 
 vix ut referri, audirive, nedum credifas sit I 
 
 But let us turn from these topics which place 
 human nature in so odious a point of view. 
 Below these camerelle , stands the Carthusian 
 monastery in a delicious situation; and the only 
 one in the island; it is supposed to have been 
 built on the foundations of another of the villas. 
 Here there is an echo which returns three 
 distinct responses. About half a mile to the left, 
 is the Punta di Tragara, forming a small port, 
 where it is supposed that the emperor kept a 
 squadron to reconnoitre the roads. Some re- 
 mains of hydraulic works , which have braved 
 hitherto the fury of the sea , and slight vestiges 
 of parterres , lead us to conjecture that this is 
 the site of one of the fructuarian villas laid out 
 by the imperial recluse. 
 
 We afterwards ascended to Castiglione, now 
 occupied by a small fort, certainly another of 
 the villas j and from the discovery of several 
 
( MO ) 
 
 bas-reliefs representing fi&hes , sirens , and ma- 
 rine monsters, supposed to have been dedi- 
 cated to the xquorean INeptune. It was raised 
 on arches , the construction of which inclines 
 me to think that this villa was of a polygonal 
 form. Here was found a valuable mosaic covered 
 with astrological signs ; (you know Tiberius was 
 much addicted to that science , ) together with 
 a bas-relief representing him with a patera in 
 his hand , and in the act of sacrificing. Here 
 too, there are some vestiges of reservoirs. 
 
 One of the most delightful of his retreats was 
 at San Michele, an eminence between the town 
 of Capri , and the f^illa Jovis. Here there are 
 substructions of a terrace which projected over 
 the cliffs ; and several fragments of cipoUino and 
 giallo antico have been found. Traces of aque- 
 ducts conducted with care round the hills , shew 
 probably that this was another of the fructuarian 
 villas, embellished with the most luxurious 
 gardens. Here peradventure the tyrant, *as he 
 paced the terraces with his astrologer Thra- 
 syllus , 
 
 reasoned high 
 Of fate ^ free-will , foreknowledge absolute ,' 
 u4?id found no eiul in wand' ring mazes lost. 
 
 Here 
 
( 241 ) 
 
 Here perhaps, lie penned that extraordinary 
 let^er to the senate, the beginning of which 
 has been transmitted to us by Tacitus : Quid 
 scribam uobis , aut quomodb , aiit quid omnino 
 non scribam / Di me Deceque pejus perdaut , 
 qucim me perire quotidie sentio , si scio. 
 
 Here too as he gazed on Vesuvius) his im- 
 placable spirit would burst forth wi'h that ter- 
 rible line of Euripides s often on his lips : 
 E/AOf B'Avovrog yaict [jLi^SyiTco Tru^t. 
 
 In vain did he endeavour to soothe his ti'ou- 
 bled heart with the view of the azure mirror 
 of the Neapolitan gulph , of desidiosa et ridens 
 Parthenope , expanding her luxuriant shores 
 from the Surrentine promontory to the liltus 
 heatce Veneris aureum. All was black within. 
 
 You remember , no doubt , the probation of 
 fidelity, which he made Thrasyllus go through 
 at Rhodes. Having conducted him over fright- 
 ful precipices , accompanied by a stout and 
 trusty slave , he asked him suspensis et obscur 9 
 verbis: My dear Thrasyllus , hast thou considered 
 attentively thine own horoscope / The astrologer 
 having taken his sideral observations , paused 
 for a few moments , then trembling said : that 
 
 he was aware that some uncertain but dismal 
 
 j6 
 
( 2^2 ) 
 
 destiny was at liand. Upon tlils Tiberius em- 
 braced him , bade him be o£ good cheer, and 
 from that hour 1 hrasyllus never departed from 
 him. 
 
 Suetonius tells us that Tiberius was circa 
 Deos ac religiones negligentior , persuasione 
 plejius cuncta fato ogu Revolving, as I often 
 have , these things within my mind , it may be 
 questioned whether or no, after all, there be 
 not some truth in the sideral influences. We 
 know that the most transcendant spirits of an- 
 tiquity often disregarded the mere priest sacri- 
 ficing at the altar j while the skilful astrologer 
 always made them pause, often tremble. It is 
 perhaps one of the knottiest speculations that 
 can occupy the human mind; which the fee- 
 bleness of our reason prevents us from impli- 
 citly believing 5 the mysterious links of the 
 system to which we belong, from rejecting. 
 
 Our next object was the palace on the beach 
 facing Naples , and under the precipitous rocks 
 of Anacapri. Its ruins are now beat by the 
 waves It certainly did not yield in magnificence 
 to the Villa Jovis. Among the treasures in art 
 here discovered, are numerous columns of «*- 
 poLlino and giallo antico^ Corinthian capitals. 
 
( 243 ) 
 a ruined stair-case of w hite marble , and mosaic 
 pavements. The fragments of statues and mar- 
 ble ornaments dug from the ruins, amount to 
 the enormous quantity of sixteen hundred tons! 
 An altar decorated with the emblems of the 
 Berecynthian Avorship, has led to the conjecture 
 that this was the Cybele of Tiher'ms. Contiguous 
 is the Campo di Pisco , where there is a small 
 level plain , a great rarity in Capri. I will not 
 trouble you further with an account of the pro- 
 fusion of rosso , giallo , and verde anlico , ser- 
 pentino , affricano , cipollino , and lapis-lazuli 
 here discovered ; but let me state once for all , 
 that the mosaics , and Corinthian capitals of the 
 Tiberian villas , are models of their kind j that 
 there is even a marble unknown elsewhere, 
 called il marmo Tiberiano, A bust of Vesta 
 having been here discovered. Count Rezzonico 
 presumes that this was the fiesta of Tiberius. 
 The eleventh of the tyrant's villas was at a spot 
 called Ajano. Of the columns here found , four 
 of giallo antico all of one piece , now adorn the 
 chapel at Caserta \ and eight others , the prin- 
 cipal church in Capri. 
 
 The twelfth and last is in a vineyard called 
 Le Grotte; and certainly the most interesting 
 
( ^44 ) 
 of tlie ruins in the island. Here there are four 
 subterraneous arched chambers, 228 feet in 
 length, 58 in breadth, and 55 in height. But. 
 ■what is most curious is , that one of them is 
 nearly filled with a great quantity of pulverized 
 chalk of an exquisite fineness, -which the tyrant 
 probably had introduced for the manufacture 
 of his porcelain vases ; perhaps those i'asa Mjr- 
 rhina mentioned by Flinius , and which some 
 of the F'rench antiquaries suppose were some- 
 what similar to the Sevres manufactory. Two 
 of them are nearly filled with the purest water. 
 The chalk is mixed with some metallic sub- 
 stance , which deserves the attention of the ex- 
 perienced chemist. 
 
 We found here an honest Capri vintner, 
 who on seeing us approach , exclaimed : Signori^ 
 roha di Tiberio Cesare I We expected at least • 
 a splendid mosaic , or statue ; but he introduced 
 us into his wine-vault ^ where he had arranged 
 a good dozen of casks filled with the produce 
 of his vineyard. He tapped one , then a second, 
 then a third, exclaiming as he presented each 
 foaming goblet. Signer y iin allro ! with a red 
 cap on his head, and a nose like Bardolph's. 
 The good humour of this Capri wag., who ap- 
 
( 245 ) 
 
 peared determined to make us something more 
 than men of taste ^ presented an agreeable con- 
 trast to the sombre character of the tyrant , 
 whose villa he now occupies. It was probably 
 some such drole as this , that furnished Homer 
 with his ludicrous description of Vulcan , in the 
 first Iliad : 
 
 We next ascended the precipice of Anacapri 
 by a zig-zag flight of 5S8 steps, resembUng in 
 miniature , the celebrated passage of the Gemmi 
 in Swisserlandi and reached after an hour's ride, 
 the little town of Anacapri , built on a small 
 level, and inhabited by a frugal and laborious 
 peasantry. From the neighbouring precipice, 
 where stands a ruined castle of the middle ages, 
 we rolled as large stones as we could move into 
 the vale below , the noise of them rebounding 
 from rock to rock , a full thousand feet and 
 more , cannot be better described than in the 
 lines of Statius : 
 
 .... dites Caprece , viridesque resultant 
 
 Taurubulce , rediitque ingens a rupihus Echo, 
 
 Picture to your imagination , my dear friend , 
 the columnar and torreggiante appearance of 
 
( 246 ) 
 Capri, >vhen occupied by Tiberius; who seems 
 to have taken pleasure in building arches, where 
 no one else would have dreamed of turning 
 them ; in erecting columns , where no one else 
 "would have thought it practicable to haul them 
 up , much less to rear them — picture the gallies 
 arriving from Baice and Puleoli , not loaded 
 with poor felons guilty of stealing a few ses- 
 terces; but with proconsuls, senators, knights, 
 prstors , and military commanders, who had 
 pillaged whole provinces; for such was the 
 ^ame of Tiberius — picture them on landing, 
 dragged by centurions up the crypto-porticus to 
 the yUla Jovis ; there to undergo the torture, 
 and thence to be hurried to the Salto; the 
 tyrant thundering in their ears : Nondum vobis 
 in gratiam redii (i) ; picture the galleons ap- 
 proaching the isle from Alexandria, Sybaris, 
 the /7zo//e Tarentum , ^ndAntiochia ad Daphnen^ 
 fraught with marbles, luxuries, courtezans, and 
 artists of all kinds ; the rocks of Anacapri co- 
 vered with theatrical Pans , Satyrs j and Nymphs, 
 not creeping out by dusk , but reeldug with 
 
 (i) These ^yeve the words he used, as we learn from 
 Siiclonius. 
 
( 247 ) 
 un2;uents and vermilion in tlie broad blaze of 
 a Neapolitan sun! 
 
 Before leaving Anacapri , I took out my fa- 
 vourite Cornelius , and dwelt with interest on 
 the following passages, every word of Vvhich 
 bears the impress of genius : Jacuit immensa 
 strages — omnis sexus , omnis cetas , illiistres , 
 ignobiles f dispersi y aut aggerati; neque propin^ 
 quisy aut amicis adsistere ^ illacrjmare ^ ne visere 
 quidem diutius dabatur. Sed circumjecti custodes^ 
 et in moerorem cujusque intenti ; corpora putre- 
 facta adsectahantur y dumin Tiberim traherentur : 
 ubi Jluitantia , aut ripis adpulsa , non cremare 
 quisquam , non contingere ; interciderat sortis 
 humance commercium vl metus ; quantumque soc- 
 vitia glisceret, miseratio arcebatur 
 
 Jam Tiberium corpus , jam vires , non- 
 
 dum dissimulatio deserebat : idem animi rigor ; 
 sermone ac vultu intentus , qucesitd inierdum 
 comitate^ quamvis manifestam defectionem te- 
 gehat 
 
 Of the moral of Tiberius, my dear friend, 
 there never was, and never can be formed but 
 one opinion. The line of policy which he ob- 
 served, has not however in general, been 
 rightly understood. Indiscriminaling people are 
 
( 248 ) 
 
 apt to class him "wilK the Caligulas, the Neros, 
 th« Domitians. it appears to me that he became 
 exasperated at the commencement of his poli- 
 tical career, from the iniquity of his country-, 
 men j which soured a disposition, and corrupted 
 a heart naturally not ill inclined ^ for it is certain 
 that he began well (i ). When he left the senate 
 with those impressive words : o homines ad ser- 
 vitutem paratos ! he shewed , 1 think , sentiments 
 of regret and disgust at the vileness of his coun- 
 trymen , and a determination to let them know 
 what he thought of them. No good man , it is 
 true 5 could adopt such a principle of action. 
 His superiority however to IVapoleon in the 
 direction of his energies j is manifest ; for that 
 emperor almost uniformly let fail his despotism 
 where it should not. His severe conscriptions 
 harassed the cheerful French peasant, who was 
 the principal sufferer by his system, which 
 
 (i) Egregius famd vitdque fitit , quoad privatus , vel in 
 imperiis sub An gusto fidt. Aiinal. VI. 
 
 Suetonius tells us that when joung , he pleaded several 
 causes vvilh success ; that he composed some Ijrical compo- 
 sitions in Greek , which language he spoke with fluency ; 
 and that he followed liis biolher's funeral on foot , through 
 Cermunjr to Rome. 
 
( H9 ) 
 
 nourlslied bloodshed , pride , and ferocity. 
 Not so Tiberius. He attacked alone the citadel 
 of corruption itself. Odious as was his principle, 
 there was something magnanimous in this. It 
 was a point which Napoleon had not force of 
 genius to reach ; though it must be confessed 
 that Tiberius was his inferior in the encou- 
 ragement of science and art; perhaps too in 
 some other respects. It is certain that the co- 
 lonies were never so well administered as in his 
 reign; and it is probable that .the terror which 
 his name inspired, had a good effect in making 
 the proconsuls, and their subordinate officers, 
 less rapacious in their extortions , and more at- 
 tentive to the performance of their duties. We 
 cannot discover from Tacitus , that he was se- 
 vere in the colonies, or even generally in 
 Italy ; on the contrary , he states that Tiberius 
 treated the provinces not only with lenity , but 
 great consideration (i). Rome , Rome , the sink 
 of corruption , felt the lash of his tyrrany;and 
 
 (i) Ne provincicG novis oneribus turbarentur^ atque vetera 
 sine avaritid , cut crudelitate niagistratuuni tolerarent , 
 corporuni verbera , ademptiones bonorutn abessent , provi- 
 debat. Rari per Italiam Cxsaris agri. Annal. II. 
 
( 25o ) 
 
 1 tLink it may be said of him that no man ever 
 directed a thoroughly bad principle so well as 
 Tiberius Csesar. 
 
 His powers of foresight seem to have been 
 extraordinary. You remember, no doubt, the 
 anecdote of his placing his hand on Galba's 
 head , and saying : Thou too , Galba , shall have 
 a smack of the empire ! 
 
 He appears to have delighted in solving alone 
 in his aerial mansions , the most difficult poli- 
 tical problems^ and we must do him this justice, 
 that he was anxious to preserve the empire in 
 peace ; though it is pretty certain that war would 
 have tended to consoHdate his power (i). 
 
 The blow which he levelled at the interest 
 and fortunes of Germanicus, was perhaps the 
 most daring stroke of policy recorded in his- 
 tory j and though we of course side with the 
 latter, we cannot resist from being struck with 
 the talents which Tiberius displayed on the 
 occasion. For Germanicus, by his birth, ser- 
 
 The reign of Tiberius appears indeed to have been nothing 
 more or less than a reaction of iJi IVom the colonies to the 
 ciipital. 
 
 (i) LaHiore Tiberio , quia pacem sapieittid finnaverat , 
 fjuam si helium per acies confccisset. Annul. II. 
 
( i5i ) 
 vices, good conduct, and esteem wiih the army, 
 had completely secured the tide of popular ia- 
 vourj while the emperor, by a dismal fatality, 
 to use IVlilton's words, applied to him, was 
 always hated of all and hating. 
 
 It is pretty evident to those who read the 
 Annals with attention , that as Gennanicus stood 
 so high, a crisis one way or the other, was 
 scarcely avoidable ; especially as the empire , 
 notwithstanding the dexterous policy of Au- 
 gustus , stood but on precarious foundations ; 
 and seems rather to have depended on the 
 reigning favourite with the army , than on the 
 newly -established hereditary pretensions , and 
 right. 
 
 There is one point in which it is difficult 
 not to side with him. I allude to that political 
 capo d' opera the crushing of Sejanus ; who 
 owed his rise and fortune solely to Tiberius; 
 and who repaid him with contriving his ruin. 
 But the invisible hand of the recluse of Capri 
 sawed away the timbers which supported the 
 superstructure of the presumptuous minister's 
 ambition , and which he had raised with such 
 fond expectations — down it fell with a crash 
 that resounded from Caledonia to the Gara- 
 
( 252 ) 
 mantes — down with it AEiius Sejanus — a grin 
 was heard from the J^lUa Jouis — the wretch 
 had just sufficient time to stare at his own ruin. 
 
 Of the monuments of this singular man, the 
 most esteemed is the Tiberius uelatus of the 
 Vatican; where there is also a sitting statue of 
 him lately found at Privernum, a small town 
 in the Apennines , there is a good bust in the 
 Campidoglio; and a colossal one in the Studii 
 at Naples. Bnt the most expressive is, I think, 
 a bronze of Herculaneum. I have seen him re- 
 presented in England like a gross butcher ; but 
 his features in this bust are by no means coarse. 
 INose pointed J mouth fmely formed; eyes in- 
 stantaneous, prominent, and as if they would 
 penetrate the inmost recesses of your soul; ears 
 erect, as if pricked by the slightest noise. Over 
 the whole cast of countenance, there is a ^i^vov 
 Ti Kcti cthuTTYiKciikg. Such was Tiberius Claudius 
 Drusus Nero. To describe his features may be 
 no difficult task; but to paint the inner rnan , 
 the powers of a Tacitus seem scarcely com- 
 petent. 
 
 Augustus, a far more interesting personage 
 than his successor, visited Capri at the close of 
 his life, as we learn from Suetonius. Before 
 
(253 ) 
 
 taking leave of tlie island, let us follow this 
 illustrious man at the termination of his event- 
 ful career. Finding his constitution shattered , 
 he returned some legal cases ■which had been 
 submitted for his inspection, to the law-ofHcers, 
 observing se nunquam posthac Rumce fiiturum. 
 Accompanied by some chosen friends, he went 
 to Astura , where he was somewhat recruited 
 by change of air. Coasting the shores of Cam- 
 pania, he arrived at Bai^, where he took ship- 
 ping for Capri. As he crossed the Puteolan bay, 
 he was met by the crew of an Alexandrian 
 vessel, who dressed in white, and crowned 
 with chaplets, burnt frankincense before himj 
 se per ilium vwere , se per ilium navlgare ju- 
 rantes ; a. ceremony , which appears to have 
 exhilarated the dying emperor, who distributed 
 a sum of money among his followers , enjoining 
 them to spend it in the purchase of the Alex- 
 andrian merchandize. At Capri , we find him 
 attending the gymnastic exercises of the island; 
 remisissimo ad otlum , et omnem comitatem 
 animo. 
 
 Being at supper with Tiberius, he saw some 
 of his attendants celebrating by torch-light the 
 funeral of IVIasgabas , one of his courtiers , in 
 
( 254 ) 
 
 a neigiibouring island ^ apiid i'tcinam Capreis 
 insul.am; which the emperor joking called Aprw 
 gopolis^ or the cily of the idlers. It ivS not easy 
 to discover the island here alluded to j tor Ischia, 
 Procida, or Nesita, seem, either ot them, too 
 remote to correspond with the words ot Sue^ 
 tonius. We are left to conjecture or that the 
 biographer expressed himself ill, or that the 
 convulsions to which the neigbourhood of Na- 
 ples is so liable , must have occasioned the 
 disappearance of the isle, and its imperial ca- 
 pital , the city of the idlers. 
 
 W^e had been forty hours among the rocks 
 of Capri i and having gratified our curiosity 
 with the ruins of the Tiberian villas, embarked 
 on a delicious evening for — Neapolis ; 1 had 
 almost written Apragopolis. Vesuvius was in 
 activity , and discharged frequent and loud ex- 
 plosions. But it is time to bring this letter to 
 a close 5 for I see you exclaiming w ith Juvenal : 
 Ohe 5 jam satis ! verhosa et grandis epistola 
 veiiit a Capreis, 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 On recurring to the architectural lucubration 
 of the first pages of this work, it may be ques- 
 tioned whelher or no I have gained sufficient 
 height for my building. If not , the remedy is 
 simple : for /iV<? rows of columns eastward, read 
 Jour; for nine rox^s of columns westward j read 
 eight ; and for Jive rows of columns northward 
 and southward , read four. Which alteration 
 will reduce the length in either direction nearly 
 one hundred feet. Further consideration indeed 
 suggests that these proportions would be pre- 
 ferable. In page 9, line 1 6 for eastern, read 
 western; in page 80 , line 9 for iriihj read irith ; 
 in page 198, line 8, for phisiognomy , read 
 physiognomy. 
 
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