He Therefore Concluded That Modern Rome Is Near Forty Feet
Higher In This Place, Than The Site Of The Antient City, And That
The Bed Of The River Is Raised In Proportion; But This Is
Altogether Incredible.
Had the bed of the Tyber been antiently
forty feet lower at Rome, than it is at present, there
Must have
been a fall or cataract in it immediately above this tract, as it
is not pretended that the bed of it is raised in any part above
the city; otherwise such an elevation would have obstructed its
course, and then it would have overflowed the whole Campania.
There is nothing extraordinary in its present overflowings: they
frequently happened of old, and did great mischief to the antient
city. Appian, Dio, and other historians, describe an inundation
of the Tiber immediately after the death of Julius Caesar, which
inundation was occasioned by the sudden melting of a great
quantity of snow upon the Apennines. This calamity is recorded by
Horace in his ode to Augustus.
Vidimus flavum Tiberim retortis
Littore Etrusco violenter undis,
Ire dejectum monumenta regis,
Templaque Vestae:
Iliae dum se nimium querenti,
Jactat ultorem; vagus et sinistra
Labitur ripa, Jove non probante
Uxorius Amnis.
Livy expressly says, "Ita abundavit Tiberis, ut Ludi Apollinares,
circo inundato, extra portam Collinam ad aedem Erycinae Veneris
parati sint," "There was such an inundation of the Tiber that,
the Circus being overflowed, the Ludi Appollinares were exhibited
without the gate Collina, hard by the temple of Venus Erycina."
To this custom of transferring the Ludi Appollinares to another
place where the Tyber had overflowed the Circus Maximus, Ovid
alludes in his Fasti.
Altera gramineo spectabis equiriacampo
Quem Tiberis curvis in latus urget aquis,
Qui tamen ejecta si forte tenebitur unda,
Coelius accipiet pulverulentus equos.
Another race thy view shall entertain
Where bending Tiber skirts the grassy plain;
Or should his vagrant stream that plain o'erflow,
The Caelian hill the dusty course will show.
The Porta del Popolo (formerly, Flaminia,) by which we entered
Rome, is an elegant piece of architecture, adorned with marble
columns and statues, executed after the design of Buonaroti.
Within-side you find yourself in a noble piazza, from whence
three of the principal streets of Rome are detached. It is
adorned with the famous Aegyptian obelisk, brought hither from
the Circus Maximus, and set up by the architect Dominico Fontana
in the pontificate of Sixtus V. Here is likewise a beautiful
fountain designed by the same artist; and at the beginning of the
two principal streets, are two very elegant churches fronting
each other. Such an august entrance cannot fail to impress a
stranger with a sublime idea of this venerable city.
Having given our names at the gate, we repaired to the dogana, or
custom-house, where our trunks and carriage were searched; and
here we were surrounded by a number of servitori de piazza,
offering their services with the most disagreeable importunity.
Though I told them several times I had no occasion for any, three
of them took possession of the coach, one mounting before and two
of them behind; and thus we proceeded to the Piazza d'Espagna,
where the person lived to whose house I was directed. Strangers
that come to Rome seldom put up at public inns, but go directly
to lodging houses, of which there is great plenty in this
quarter. The Piazza d'Espagna is open, airy, and pleasantly
situated in a high part of the city immediately under the Colla
Pinciana, and adorned with two fine fountains. Here most of the
English reside: the apartments are generally commodious and well
furnished; and the lodgers are well supplied with provisions and
all necessaries of life. But, if I studied oeconomy, I would
choose another part of the town than the Piazza d'Espagna, which
is, besides, at a great distance from the antiquities. For a
decent first floor and two bed-chambers on the second, I payed no
more than a scudo (five shillings) per day. Our table was
plentifully furnished by the landlord for two and thirty pauls,
being equal to sixteen shillings. I hired a town-coach at the
rate of fourteen pauls, or seven shillings a day; and a servitore
di piazza for three pauls, or eighteen-pence. The coachman has
also an allowance of two pauls a day. The provisions at Rome are
reasonable and good, the vitella mongana, however, which is the
most delicate veal I ever tasted, is very dear, being sold for
two pauls, or a shilling, the pound. Here are the rich wines of
Montepulciano, Montefiascone, and Monte di Dragone; but what we
commonly drink at meals is that of Orvieto, a small white wine,
of an agreeable flavour. Strangers are generally advised to
employ an antiquarian to instruct them in all the curiosities of
Rome; and this is a necessary expence, when a person wants to
become a connoisseur in painting, statuary, and architecture. For
my own part I had no such ambition. I longed to view the remains
of antiquity by which this metropolis is distinguished; and to
contemplate the originals of many pictures and statues, which I
had admired in prints and descriptions. I therefore chose a
servant, who was recommended to me as a sober, intelligent
fellow, acquainted with these matters: at the same time I
furnished myself with maps and plans of antient and modern Rome,
together with the little manual, called, Itinerario istruttivo
per ritrovare con facilita tutte le magnificenze di Roma e di
alcune citta', e castelli suburbani. But I found still more
satisfaction in perusing the book in three volumes, intitled,
Roma antica, e moderna, which contains a description of
everything remarkable in and about the city, illustrated with a
great number of copper-plates, and many curious historical
annotations. This directory cost me a zequine; but a hundred
zequines will not purchase all the books and prints which have
been published at Rome on these subjects. Of these the most
celebrated are the plates of Piranesi, who is not only an
ingenious architect and engraver, but also a learned antiquarian;
though he is apt to run riot in his conjectures; and with regard
to the arts of antient Rome, has broached some doctrines, which
he will find it very difficult to maintain.
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