Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2)
Chapter iv.
The next day Oswald and Corinne set out with more confidence andserenity. They were friends travelling together;--they began to say_we_. Ah! how touching is that _we_ when pronounced by love! Howtimidly, yet how vividly expressed, is the declaration which itcontains! "We will go to the Capitol then," said Corinne. "Yes, we willgo there," replied Oswald. Simplicity was in his words--softness andtenderness in his accent. "From the height of the Capitol, such as it isnow," said Corinne, "we can easily perceive the seven hills; we willsurvey them all, one after another; there is not one of them which doesnot preserve in it some traces of history."
Corinne and Lord Nelville took what was formerly called the _Via Sacra_or Triumphal Way. "'Tis this way that your car passed," said Oswald toCorinne. "Yes," answered she; "this ancient dust might be astonished atbearing such a car; but since the Roman republic, so many criminaltraces have been imprinted on it that the sentiment of respect which itinspires is much weakened." They then arrived at the foot of the stepsof the present Capitol. The entrance to the ancient Capitol was throughthe Forum. "I could wish," said Corinne, "that these steps were the samethat Scipio mounted, when, repelling calumny by glory, he entered thetemple to return thanks to the gods for the victories which he hadgained. But these new steps, this new Capitol, has been built upon theruins of the old, in order to receive the peaceable magistrate who bearsin himself alone the immense title of Roman Senator, formerly an objectof respect to the whole universe. Here we have no longer any thing butnames; yet their harmony, their ancient dignity, inspire us with apleasing sensation, mingled with regret. I asked a poor woman, whom Imet the other day, where she lived? '_At the Tarpeian Rock_,' answeredshe. This word, however stripped of the ideas which formerly attached toit, still vibrates upon the imagination."
Oswald and Corinne stopped to contemplate the two lions of basalt at thefoot of the steps[11]. They came from Egypt. The Egyptian sculptors weremore happy in seizing the figure of animals than that of man. Theselions of the Capitol are nobly peaceful, and their physiognomy is thetrue image of tranquillity in strength.
"A guisa di leon, quando si posa." DANTE.
"_In the manner of the lion, when he reposes._"
Not far from these lions is a statue of Rome, mutilated, which themodern Romans have placed there, without thinking that they were thusgiving the most perfect emblem of their city as it now is. This statuehas neither head nor feet, but the body and the drapery which stillremain have something of their ancient beauty. At the top of the stepsare two colossal figures which represent as it is believed Castor andPollux; then the trophies of Marius; then two milliary columns whichserved for the admeasurement of the Roman universe; and the equestrianstatue of Marcus Aurelius, noble and calm in the midst of these severalrecollections. Thus, the whole Roman history is here emblematicallyrepresented: The heroic age by the Dioscuri; the republic by the lions;the civil wars by Marius; and the golden age of the emperors by MarcusAurelius.
Advancing towards the modern Capitol, we see to the right and to theleft two churches, built on the ruins of the temples of the Feretrianand Capitoline Jupiter. Before the vestibule is a fountain, over whichpreside two rivers, the Nile and the Tiber, with the she-wolf ofRomulus. The name of the Tiber is not pronounced like that of ingloriousrivers; it is one of the pleasures of the Romans, to say, "_Conduct meto the borders of the Tiber; let us cross the Tiber._" In pronouncingthese words they seem to invoke history and to re-animate the dead. Ingoing to the Capitol, by way of the Forum, we find, to the right, theMamertine prisons.--These prisons were at first constructed by AncusMartius, and were then employed for ordinary criminals. But ServiusTullius caused more horrid ones to be dug under ground for statecriminals, as if such prisoners were not those who deserve mostconsideration, since their errors might be united with sincerity.Jugurtha and the accomplices of Cataline perished in these prisons. Itis also said that St Peter and St Paul have been incarcerated in them.On the other side of the Capitol is the Tarpeian Rock, and at the footof this rock we find at the present time a hospital, called The Hospitalof Consolation. It seems that thus in Rome the severe spirit ofantiquity and the mildness of Christianity meet each other throughoutthe ages, and present themselves to our sight as well as to ourreflection.
When Oswald and Corinne had reached the top of the tower of the Capitol,she showed him the Seven Hills; the city of Rome bounded at first byMount Palatine, then by the walls of Servius Tullius, which enclose theSeven Hills; lastly by the walls of Aurelian, which still serve as anenclosure to the greatest part of Rome. Corinne recalled to mind theverses of Tibullus and Propertius[12], who are proud of the weakbeginnings whence has sprung the mistress of the world. Mount Palatinewas in itself the whole of Rome for some time, but afterwards the palaceof the Emperors filled the space which had before sufficed for a nation.A poet, in the time of Nero, made the following epigram upon thisoccasion.[13] _Rome will soon be only a palace. Go to Veii Romans, ifthis palace does not now occupy Veii itself._
The Seven Hills are infinitely less elevated than formerly when theydeserved the name of the Steep Mountains. Modern Rome is raised fortyfeet above the ancient city. The valleys which separated the hills arealmost filled up by time with the ruins of edifices; but what is moresingular yet, a heap of broken vases has raised two new hills;[14] andwe almost discover an image of modern times, in this progress, or ratherthis wreck of civilisation, levelling mountains with valleys, effacingin the moral as well as the physical world all those beautifulinequalities produced by nature.
Three other hills,[15] not comprised in the seven famous ones, givesomething picturesque to the city of Rome, which perhaps is the onlycity that of itself, and in its own boundaries, offers the mostmagnificent points of observation. It presents such a remarkable mixtureof ruins, edifices, fields and deserts, that we may contemplate Rome onall sides, and always find a striking picture in the oppositeperspective.
Oswald could never feel tired of viewing the traces of ancient Rome fromthe elevated point of the Capitol to which Corinne had conducted him.The reading of history, and the reflections which it excites, produce aless powerful effect upon the soul than those heaps of stones, thoseruins mingled with new habitations. So strongly do our eyes carryconviction to the mind, that after having beheld these ruins of Rome webelieve the history of the ancient Romans as if we had been cotemporarywith them. The recollections of the mind are acquired by study; therecollections of the imagination are born of a more immediate andintimate impression, which gives body to thought, and renders us, if Imay so express it, witnesses of what we have learnt. Undoubtedly one isvexed sometimes at those modern buildings which intrude themselves amongthe venerable spoils of antiquity. But a portico by the side of a humblecottage, pillars, between which appear the little windows of a church, atomb affording an asylum to a whole rustic family, produce anindescribable mixture of great and simple ideas, a newly-discoveredpleasure which inspires a continual interest. The greater part of ourEuropean cities have externally a common and prosaic appearance; andRome, oftener than any other, presents the melancholy aspect of miseryand degradation; but all of a sudden a broken column, a bas-reliefhalf-destroyed, stones knit together in the indestructible manner of theancient architects, remind us that there is in man an eternal power, adivine spark, which he must never cease to excite in himself and revivein others.
This Forum, whose enclosure is so narrow in compass, and which haswitnessed so many astonishing things, is a striking proof of the moralgreatness of man. When the universe, in the latter times of Rome, wassubjected to inglorious masters, we find whole centuries, of whichhistory has scarcely preserved any events; and this Forum, this littlespace in the centre of a city, at that time very circumscribed, whoseinhabitants were fighting all around them for their territory, has itnot occupied by the memories which it recalls, the most sublime geniusesof every age! Honour then, eternal honour, to nations, courageous andfree, since they thus captivate th
e admiration of posterity!
Corinne observed to Lord Nelville that there were very few remains ofthe Republican age to be found at Rome. The aqueducts, the canals formedunder ground, for the distribution of water, were the only luxury of theRepublic and the kings who preceded it. They have only left us usefuledifices: tombs raised to the memory of their great men, and sometemples of brick, which still subsist. It was not until after theconquest of Sicily that the Romans for the first time made use of marblefor their monuments; but it is sufficient to behold places where greatactions have occurred, to experience an indefinable emotion. It is tothis disposition of the soul that we must attribute the religious powerof pilgrimages. Celebrated countries of every kind, even when strippedof their great men and of their monuments, preserve their effect uponthe imagination. What struck our sight no longer exists, but the charmof recollection remains.
This Forum no longer presents us with any trace of that famous Tribune,from which the Roman people were governed by eloquence. Three pillarsremain of a temple, raised by Augustus in honour of Jupiter Tonans, whenthe thunderbolt fell at his feet without striking him, and an archwhich the senate raised to Septimus Severus in reward of his exploits.The names of his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, were inscribed on thefronton of the arch; but when Caracalla had assassinated Geta he causedhis name to be erased, and some traces of the cancelled letters arestill to be seen. At some distance is a temple to Faustina, a monumentof the blind weakness of Marcus Aurelius; a temple to Venus which, inthe time of the republic, was consecrated to Pallas--and farther on, theruins of a temple dedicated to the Sun and Moon, built by the EmperorAdrian, who was jealous of Apollodorus, the famous Grecian architect,and put him to death for having found fault with the proportions of hisedifice.
On the other side of the square we behold the ruins of some monumentsconsecrated to nobler and purer aims. The pillars of a temple which isbelieved to have been that of Jupiter Stator, who prevented the Romansfrom ever flying before their enemies. A pillar remaining of the Templeof Jupiter Guardian, placed, we are told, not far from the abyss intowhich Curtius precipitated himself. Pillars also of a temple, raised,some say, to Concord, others to Victory. Perhaps these two ideas areconfounded by conquering nations, who probably think no real peace canexist till they have subdued the universe! At the extremity of MountPalatine is a beautiful triumphal arch, dedicated to Titus, for theconquest of Jerusalem. We are informed that the Jews who are at Romenever pass under this arch, and a little path is shewn which they taketo avoid it. It is to be wished, for the honour of the Jews, that thisanecdote may be true; long recollections suit long misfortunes.
Not far from thence is the arch of Constantine, embellished with somebas-reliefs taken away from the forum of Trajan, by the Christians, whowished to adorn the monument consecrated to the _founder of repose_; sothey called Constantine. The arts at this epoch were already on thedecline, and they stripped the past to honour new exploits. Thesetriumphal gates, which are seen at Rome, give perpetuity as much as mancan give it, to the honours paid to glory. There was a place upon theirsummits destined for flute and trumpet players, in order that the victorwhen passing might be intoxicated at the same time by music and praise,and taste at the same moment all the most exalted emotions.
Facing these triumphal arches are the ruins of the temple of Peace builtby Vespasian; it was so decorated with brass and with gold, internally,that when consumed by fire, the streams of burning metal that flowedfrom it extended even to the Forum. Lastly, the Coliseum, the mostbeautiful ruin of Rome, terminates this noble enclosure, which embracesall history in its compass. This superb edifice, of which only thestones remain, stript of the gold and the marble, served as anamphitheatre for the combats of the gladiators, with wild beasts. It wasthus that the Roman people were amused and deceived by strong emotions,when natural sentiments could no longer soar. The entrance to theColiseum is by two doors, one consecrated to the victors, and by theother were carried out the dead: strange contempt for the human race,which made the life or death of man dependent upon the pastime of apublic spectacle! Titus, the best of emperors, dedicated the Coliseum tothe Roman people,--and these admirable ruins bear such fine traits ofmagnificence and genius, that we are led into an illusion on the subjectof true greatness, and tempted to grant that admiration to themasterpieces of art, which is only the due of monuments consecrated togenerous institutions.
Oswald did not indulge in that admiration which Corinne felt incontemplating these four galleries; these four edifices, rising oneupon another; this medley of pomp and barbarism, which at once inspiresrespect and compassion. He beheld in these scenes nothing but the luxuryof the master, and the blood of the slaves, and felt indignant at thearts which, regardless of their aim, lavish their gifts upon whateverobject they may be destined for. Corinne endeavoured to combat thisdisposition:--"Do not," said she, to Lord Nelville, "carry the rigour ofyour principles of morality and justice into the contemplation of theItalian monuments; they, for the most part, recall, as I have told you,rather the splendour, the elegance of taste of ancient forms, than theglorious epoch of Roman virtue. But do you not find some traces of themoral greatness possessed by the first ages, in the gigantic luxury ofthe monuments which have succeeded them? Even the degradation of theRoman people still commands respect: the mourning of her liberty coversthe world with wonders, and the genius of ideal beauty seeks to consoleman for the true and real dignity which he has lost. Behold thoseimmense baths, open to all those who were willing to taste orientalvoluptuousness--those circuses destined for the elephants which werebrought there to combat with tigers, and those aqueducts which in amoment converted the amphitheatre into a lake, where galleys too foughtin their turn, and crocodiles appeared where lions were seenbefore:--such was the luxury of the Romans when luxury was their pride!Those obelisks which were brought from Egypt, stolen from Africanshades, in order to adorn the Roman sepulchres; that population ofstatues which formerly existed in Rome cannot be looked upon in the samelight as the useless pageantry of the Asiatic despots: it is the Romangenius which conquered the world, and to which the arts have given anexternal form. There is something supernatural in this magnificence,and its poetical splendour makes us forget its origin and its aim."
The eloquence of Corinne excited the admiration of Oswald withoutconvincing him; he sought for some moral sentiment in all this, withoutwhich all the magic of the arts could not satisfy him. Corinne thenrecollected that in this very amphitheatre the persecuted Christiansdied victims of their perseverance, and showing Lord Nelville the altarswhich are raised in honour of their ashes, as well as the path of thecross, which is trodden by penitents, at the foot of the mostmagnificent wrecks of worldly grandeur, asked him if the ashes ofmartyrs conveyed no language to his heart? "Yes," cried he, "I deeplyadmire the triumph of the soul and of the will over the pains of death.A sacrifice, whatever it may be, is nobler and more difficult than allthe flights of the soul and of thought.--An exalted imagination mayproduce miracles of genius, but it is only in devoting ourselves to ouropinion or to our sentiments that we are truly virtuous;--it is thenalone that a celestial power subdues the mortal man in us."
This language, so noble and so pure, yet gave uneasiness to Corinne. Shelooked at Nelville--then cast down her eyes--and though, at that moment,he took her hand and pressed it against his heart, she shuddered at theidea that such a man could sacrifice others or himself to the worship ofopinions, of principles, or of duties, which he might have chosen.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] Mineralogists affirm that these lions are not of basalt, becausethe volcanic stone to-day known under that name could not have existedin Egypt; but as Pliny calls the Egyptian stone out of which these lionshave been carved, basalt, and as Winckelmann, the historian of the arts,also retains this appellation, I have deemed myself justified in usingit in its primitive acceptation.
[12] "Carpite nunc, tauri, de septem collibus herbas, Dum licet. Hic magnae jam locus urbis erit."
TIBULLUS.
"Hoc quodcunque vides hospes quam maxima Roma est, Ante Phrygem Enean collis et herba fuit." PROPERTIUS, Book IV. el. 1.
[13] Roma domus fiet: Veios migrate, Quirites; Si non et Veios occupat ista domus.
[14] Mounts Citorio and Testacio.
[15] The Janicula, Mount Vaticano and Mount Mario.