Chapter V: The Velabrum and the Ghetto (2)

The name "Ghetto" is derived from the Hebrew word _chat_, broken, destroyed, shaven, cut down, cast off, abandoned (see the Hebrew in Isaiah xiv. 12; xv. 2; Jer. xlviii. 25, 27; Zech. xi. 10--14; &c.). The first Jewish slaves were brought to Rome by Pompey the Great, after he had taken Jerusalem, and forcibly entered the Holy of Holies. But for centuries after this they lived in Rome in wealth and honour, their princes Herod and Agrippa being received with royal distinction, and finding a home in the Palace of the Cæsars,--in which Berenice (or Veronica), the daughter of Agrippa, presided as the acknowledged mistress of Titus, who would willingly have made her empress of Rome. The chief Jewish settlement in imperial times was nearly on the site of their present abode, but they were not compelled to live here, and also had a large colony in the Trastevere; and when St. Peter was at Rome (if the Church tradition be true), he dwelt, with Aquila and Priscilla, on the slopes of the Aventine. Julius, Augustus, and Tiberius Cæsar treated the Jews with kindness, but under Caligula they already met with ill-treatment and contempt,--that emperor being especially irritated against them as the only nation which refused to yield him divine honours, and because they had successfully resisted the placing of his statue in the Holy of Holies at Jerusalem. On the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, thousands of Jewish slaves were brought to Rome, and were employed on the building of the Coliseum. At the same time Vespasian, while allowing the Hebrews in Rome the free exercise of their religion, obliged them to pay the tax of half a skekel, formerly paid into the Temple treasury, to Jupiter Capitolinus,--and this custom is still kept up in the annual tribute paid by the Jews in the Camera Capitolina.

Under Domitian the Jews were banished from the city to the valley of Egeria, where they lived in a state of poverty and outlawry, which is described by Juvenal,[94] and occupied themselves with soothsaying, love-charms, magic-potions, and mysterious cures.[95]

During the reigns of the earlier popes, the Jews at Rome enjoyed a great amount of liberty, and the anti-pope Anacletus II. (ob. 1138) was even the grandson of a baptized Jew, whose family bore a leading part in Rome, as one of the great patrician houses. The clemency with which the Jews were regarded was, however, partly due to their skill as physicians,--and long after their persecutions had begun (as late as Martin V., 1417--31), the physician of the Vatican was a Jew. The first really bitter enemy of the Jews was Eugenius IV. (Gabriele Condolmiere, 1431--39), who forbade Christians to trade, to eat, or to dwell with them, and prohibited them from walking in the streets, from building new synagogues, or from occupying any public post. Paul II. (1468) increased their humiliation by compelling them to run races during the Carnival, as the horses run now, amidst the hoots of the populace. This custom continued for two hundred years. Sprenger's "Roma Nuova" of 1667, mentions that "the asses ran first, then the Jews--naked, with only a band round their loins--then the buffaloes, then the Barbary horses." It was Clement IX. (Rospigliosi), in 1668, who first permitted the Jews to pay a sum equivalent to 1500 francs annually instead of racing.

"On the first Saturday in Carnival, it was the custom for the heads
of the Jews in Rome to appear as a deputation before the
Conservators in the Capitol. Throwing themselves upon their knees,
they offered a nosegay and twenty scudi with the request that this
might be employed to ornament the balcony in which the Roman Senate
sate in the Piazza del Popolo. In like manner they went to the
senator, and, after the ancient custom, implored permission to
remain in Rome. The senator placed his foot on their foreheads,
ordered them to stand up, and replied in the accustomed formula,
that Jews were not adopted in Rome, but allowed from compassion to
remain there. This humiliation has now disappeared, but the Jews
still go to the Capitol, on the first Saturday of Carnival, to
offer their homage and tribute for the pallii of the horses, which
they have to provide, in memory that now the horses amuse the
people in their stead."--_Gregorovius, Wanderjahre._

The Jews were first shut up within the walls of the Ghetto by the fanatical Dominican pope, Paul IV. (Gio. Pietro Caraffa, 1555--59), and commanded never to appear outside it, unless the men were in yellow hats, or the women in yellow veils. "For," says the Bull Cum Nimis,

"It is most absurd and unsuitable that the Jews, whose own crime
has plunged them into everlasting slavery, under the plea that
Christian magnanimity allows them, should presume to dwell and mix
with Christians, not bearing any mark of distinction, and should
have Christian servants, yea, even buy houses."

The Ghetto, or Vicus Judæorum, as it was at first called, was shut in by walls which reached from the Ponte Quattro Capi to the Piazza del Pianto, or "Place of Weeping," whose name bears witness to the grief of the people on the 26th July, 1556, when they were first forced into their prison-house.

"Those Jews who were shut up in the Ghetto were placed in
possession of the dwellings of others. The houses in that quarter
were the property of Romans, and some of them were inhabited by
families of consideration, such as the Boccapaduli. When these
removed they remained the proprietors and the Jews only tenants.
But as they were to live for ever in these streets, it was
necessary that the Jews should have a perpetual lease to defend
them against a twofold danger,--negligence on the part of the owner
to announce to his Jewish tenant when his possession expired, or
bankruptcy if the owner raised his rent. Thus originated a law
which established that the Romans should remain in possession of
the dwellings let to the Jews, but that the latter should hold the
houses in fee farm; that is, the expiration of the contract cannot
be announced to a Jewish tenant, and so long as he pays the lawful
rent, the rent can never be raised; the Jew at the same time may
alter or enlarge his house as he chooses. This still existing
privilege is called the Jus Gazzaga. By virtue of it a Jew is in
hereditary possession of the lease, and can sell it to his
relations or others, and to the present day it is a costly fortune
to be in possession of a Jus Gazzaga, or a hereditary lease. Highly
extolled is the Jewish maiden who brings her bridegroom such a
dowry. Through this salutary law the Jew became possessed of a
home, which to some extent he may call his own."--_Gregorovius._

The Jews were kindly treated by Sixtus V. on the plea that they were "the family from whom Christ came," and he allowed them to practise many kinds of trades, and to have intercourse with Christians, and to build houses, libraries, and synagogues, but his mild laws were all repealed by Clement VIII. (Aldobrandini, 1592--1605), and under Clement XI. and Innocent XIII. all trade was forbidden them, except that in old-clothes, rags, and iron, "stracci feracci." To these Benedict XIV. (Lambertini) added trade in drapery, with which they are still largely occupied. Under Gregory XIII. (Buoncompagni, 1572--85) the Jews were forced to hear a sermon every week in the church, first of S. Benedetto alla Regola, then in S. Angelo in Peschiera, and every Sabbath police-agents were sent into the Ghetto to drive men, women, and children into the church with scourges, and to lash them while there if they appeared to be inattentive.

"Now was come about Holy Cross Day, and now must my lord preach his
first sermon to the Jews: as it was of old cared for in the
merciful bowels of the Church, that, so to speak, a crumb at least
from her conspicuous table here in Rome, should be, though but once
yearly, cast to the famishing dogs, undertrampled and bespitten
upon beneath the feet of the guests; and a moving sight in truth
this, of so many of the besotted, blind, restive, and
ready-to-perish Hebrews! now maternally brought--nay (for He saith,
'Compel them to come in'), haled, as it were, by the head and hair,
and against their obstinate hearts, to partake of the heavenly
grace...."--_Diary by the Bishop's Secretary,_ 1600.

Though what the Jews really said, on thus being driven to church, was rather to this effect:--

IX.

"Groan all together now, whee-hee-hee!
It's a-work, it's a-work, ah, woe is me!
It began, when a herd of us, picked and placed,
Were spurred through the Corso, stripped to the waist;
Jew-brutes, with sweat and blood well spent
To usher in worthily Christian Lent.

X.

'It grew, when the hangman entered our bounds,
Yelled, pricked us out to his church like hounds.
It got to a pitch, when the hand indeed
Which gutted my purse, would throttle my creed.
And it overflows, when, to even the odd,
Men I helped to their sins, help me to their God."

_R. B. Browning, Holy Cross Day._

This custom of compelling Jews to listen to Christian sermons was renewed by Leo XII., and was only abolished in the early years of Pius IX. The walls of the Ghetto also remained, and its gates were closed at night until the reign of the present pope, who removed the limits of the Ghetto, and revoked all the oppressive laws against the Jews. The humane feeling with which he regarded this hitherto oppressed race is said to have been first evinced,--when, on the occasion of his placing a liberal alms in the hand of a beggar, one of his attendants interposed, saying, "It is a Jew!" and the pope replied, "What does that matter, it is a man?"

"The present population of the Ghetto is estimated at 3800, a
number out of all proportion, considering the small size of the
Ghetto, which covers less space than the fifth part of any small
town of 3000 inhabitants. The Jews are under the chief congregation
of the Inquisition, and their especial magistrate for all civil and
criminal processes is the Cardinal Vicar. The tribunal which
governs them consists of the Cardinal Vicar, the Prelato
Vicegerente, the Prelato Luogo-tenente Civile, and the Criminal
Lieutenant. In police matters, the President of the Region of S.
Angelo and Campitelli exercises the local police magistracy. The
Jewish community has itself the right of regulating its internal
order by the so-called Fattori del Ghetto, chosen every half-year.
The common tribute of the Ghetto to the state, and to various
religious bodies, amounts to about 13,000 francs."

Opposite the gate of the Ghetto near the Ponte Quattro Capi a converted Jew erected a church, which is still to be seen, with a painting of the Crucifixion on its outside wall (upon which every Jew must look as he comes out of the Ghetto), and underneath an inscription in large letters of Hebrew and Latin from Isaiah, lxv. 2:--"All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people." The lower streets of the Ghetto, especially the Fiumara, which is nearest to the banks of the Tiber, are annually overflowed during the spring rains and melting of the mountain snows, which is productive of great misery and distress. Yet in spite of this, and of the teeming population crowded into its narrow alleys, the mortality was less here during the cholera than in any other part of Rome, and malaria is unknown here, a freedom from disease which may perhaps be attributed to the Jewish custom of whitewashing their dwellings at every festival. There is no Jewish hospital, and if the Jews go to an ordinary hospital, they must submit to a crucifix being hung over their beds. It is remarkable that the very centre of the Jewish settlement should be the Portico of Octavia, in which Vespasian and Titus celebrated their triumph after the fall of Jerusalem. Here and there in the narrow alleys the seven-branched candlestick may be seen carved on the house walls, a "yet living symbol of the Jewish religion."

Everything may be obtained in the Ghetto: precious stones, lace, furniture of all kinds, rich embroidery from Algiers and Constantinople, striped stuffs from Spain,--but all is concealed and under cover. "Cosa cercate," the Jew shopkeepers hiss at you as you thread their narrow alleys, and try to entice you into a bargain with them. The same article is often passed on by a mutual arrangement from shop to shop, and meets you wherever you go. On Friday evening all shops are shut, and bread is baked for the Sabbath, all merchandise is removed, and the men go to the synagogue, and wish each other "a good Sabbath," on their return.[96]

In the Piazza della Scuola are five schools under one roof--the Scuola del Tempio, Catilana, Castigliana, Siciliana, and the Scuola Nuova, "which show that the Roman Ghetto is divided into five districts or parishes, each of which represents a particular race, according to the prevailing nationality of the Jews, whose fathers have been either Roman-Jewish from ancient times, or have been brought hither from Spain and Sicily; the Temple-district is said above all others to assert its descent from the Jews of Titus." In the same piazza, is the chief synagogue, richly adorned with sculpture and gilding. On the external frieze are represented in stucco the seven-branched candlestick, David's harp, and Miriam's timbrel. The interior is highly picturesque and quaint, and is hung with curious tapestries on festas. The frieze which surrounds it represents the temple of Solomon with all its sacred vessels. A round window in the north wall, divided into twelve panes of coloured glass, is symbolical of the twelve tribes of Israel, and a type of the Urim and Thummim. "To the west is the round choir, a wooden desk for singers and precentors. Opposite, in the eastern wall, is the Holy of Holies, with projecting staves (as if for the carrying of the ark) resting on Corinthian columns. It is covered by a curtain, on which texts and various devices of roses and tasteful arabesques in the style of Solomon's temple are embroidered in gold. The seven-branched candlestick crowns the whole. In this Holy of Holies lies the sealed Pentateuch, a large parchment roll. This is borne in procession through the hall and exhibited from the desk towards all the points of the compass, whereat the Jews raise their arms and utter a cry."

"On entering the Ghetto, we see Israel before its tents, in full
restless labour and activity. The people sit in their doorways, or
outside in the streets, which receive hardly more light than the
damp and gloomy chambers, and grub amid their old trumpery, or
patch and sew diligently. It is inexpressible what a chaos of
shreds and patches (called _Cenci_ in Italian) is here accumulated.
The whole world seems to be lying about in countless rags and
scraps, as Jewish plunder. The fragments lie in heaps before the
doors, they are of every kind and colour,--gold fringes, scraps of
silk brocade, bits of velvet, red patches, blue patches, orange,
yellow, black and white, torn, old, slashed and tattered pieces,
large and small. I never saw such varied rubbish. The Jews might
mend up all creation with it, and patch the whole world as gaily as
harlequin's coat. There they sit and grub in their sea of rags, as
though seeking for treasures, at least for a lost gold brocade. For
they are as good antiquarians as any of those in Rome, who grovel
amongst the ruins to bring to light the stump of a column, a
fragment of a relief, an ancient inscription, a coin, or such
matters. Each Hebrew Winckelmann in the Ghetto lays out his rags
for sale with a certain pride, as does the dealer in marble
fragments. The latter boasts a piece of giallo-antico, the Jew can
match it with an excellent fragment of yellow silk; porphyry here
is represented by a piece of dark red damask, verde-antico by a
handsome patch of ancient green velvet. And there is neither jasper
nor alabaster, black marble, or white, or parti-coloured, which the
Ghetto antiquarian is not able to match. The history of every
fashion from Herod the Great to the invention of paletôts, and of
every mode of the highest as well as of the lower classes may be
collected from these fragments, some of which are really
historical, and may once have adorned the persons of Romulus,
Scipio Africanus, Hannibal, Cornelia, Augustus, Charlemagne,
Pericles, Cleopatra, Barbarossa, Gregory VII., Columbus, and so
forth.

"Here sit the daughters of Zion on these heaps and sew all that is
capable of being sewn. Great is their boasted skill in all work of
mending, darning, and fine-drawing, and it is said that even the
most formidable rent in any old drapery or garment whatsoever,
becomes invisible under the hands of these Arachnes. It is chiefly
in the Fiumara, the street lying lowest and nearest to the river,
and in the street corners (one of which is called Argumille, _i.e._
of unleavened bread), that this business is carried on. I have
often seen with a feeling of pain the pale, stooping, starving
figures, laboriously plying the needle,--men as well as women,
girls, and children. Misery stares forth from the tangled hair, and
complains silently in the yellow-brown faces, and no beauty of
feature recalls the countenance of Rachel, Leah, or Miriam,--only
sometimes a glance from a deep-sunk, piercing black eye, that looks
up from its needle and rags, and seems to say--'From the daughter
of Zion, all her beauty is departed--she that was great among the
nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become
tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her
cheeks; among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her
friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her
enemies. Judah is gone into captivity, because of affliction, and
because of great servitude; she dwelleth among the heathen, she
findeth no rest; all her persecutors overtook her between the
straits. How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a
cloud in his anger!"--_Gregorovius, Wanderjahre._

The narrow street which is a continuation of the Pescheria, emerges upon the small square called _Piazza della Giudecca_. In the houses on the left may be seen some columns and part of an architrave, being the only visible remains of the _Theatre of Balbus_, erected by C. Cornelius Balbus, a general who triumphed in the time of Augustus, with the spoils taken from the Garamantes, a people of Africa. It was opened in the same year as the Theatre of Marcellus, and though very much smaller, was capable of containing as many as 11,600 spectators.

To the right, still partly on the site of the ancient theatre, and extending along one side of the Piazza delle Scuole, is the vast _Palazzo Cenci_, the ancient residence of the famous Cenci family (now represented by Count Cenci-Bolognetti), and the scene of many of the terrible crimes and tragedies which stain its annals.

"The Cenci Palace is of great extent: and, though in part
modernized, there yet remains a vast and gloomy pile of feudal
architecture in the same state as during the dreadful scenes which
it once witnessed. The palace is situated in an obscure corner of
Rome, near the quarter of the Jews, and from the upper windows you
see the immense ruins of Mount Palatine, half hidden under the
profuse undergrowth of trees. There is a court in one part of the
palace supported by columns, and adorned with antique friezes of
fine workmanship, and built up, after the Italian fashion, with
balcony over balcony of open work. One of the gates of the palace,
formed of immense stones, and leading through a passage dark and
lofty, and opening into gloomy subterranean chambers, struck me
particularly."--_Shelley's Preface to "The Cenci."_

Opposite the further entrance of the Palace, is the tiny Church of _S. Tommaso del Cenci_, founded 1113 by Cencio, bishop of Sabina; granted by Julius II. to Rocco Cenci;--and rebuilt in 1575 by the wicked Count Cenci.

"In 1585, Francesco Cenci was the head of the family, a man of
passions so ungovernable and heart so depraved, that he hesitated
at no species of crime. His first wife was a Princess Santa Croce,
whom he is believed to have poisoned in order to marry the
beautiful Lucrezia Petroni. His domestic cruelties to his children,
especially to his three elder sons, Giacomo, Christoforo, and
Rocco, were so terrible, that they petitioned the reigning Pope
Clement VIII. to interfere in their behalf, but he abruptly
dismissed them as rebels against the paternal authority; one
daughter, Marguerita, alone escaped from her miserable home, being
given in marriage by the pope to a Signor Gabrielli.

"The escape of this daughter made Francesco the more embittered
against the remainder of his family. His youngest child, Beatrice,
he immured in a solitary chamber, to which no one but himself was
admitted, and where he constantly starved and beat her severely.
When he received the news that his sons Christoforo and Rocco were
assassinated in the neighbourhood of Rome by an unknown hand, he
expressed the utmost joy, declaring that no money of his should
purchase masses for the repose of their souls, and that he could
have no peace until his wife and every child he had were in their
graves.

"Lucrezia, believing that the monster whom she had espoused was
possessed, in spite of his cruelty, by a criminal passion for his
own daughter, attempted secretly to save her, by presenting a
memorial to the pope imploring him to give her in marriage to a
Signor Guerra, who had long been attached to her. But this petition
was intercepted by Francesco, who then carried off Lucrezia and his
two youngest children, Beatrice and Bernardo, to Petrella, a vast
and desolate castle in the Apennines. Guerra, and Giacomo the
eldest remaining brother of Beatrice, hired a band of banditti in
the Sabine hills who were to attack the party on the way, and to
carry off Francesco for a ransom, liberating the women;--but the
rescue arrived too late.

"When they reached Petrella, Beatrice was incarcerated in a
subterranean dungeon, where she was persuaded that her lover Guerra
had been murdered, and was treated with such awful cruelty by her
father, that, for a time, she was deprived of her reason. One day a
servant, Marzio, whose betrothed had previously been seduced and
murdered by Francesco, roused by the shrieks of Beatrice, burst
into the room, and rushing upon his master dealt a terrible thrust
with a dagger on his neck, exclaiming, 'I murder thee, assassin of
thy own blood.' But Cenci arose uninjured, to the horror of Marzio,
who imagined that only a demon could avert such a blow, and who was
ignorant that he wore under his vestments, even in bed, a coat of
mail which covered his entire body.

"At length Beatrice contrived to communicate with her brother
Giacomo, who united with Guerra in hiring the services of Marzio
and of Olympio, another servant, who was inspired with an equal
thirst for vengeance upon Count Cenci. All felt that the death of
Francesco was the only hope for his unhappy family. The assassins
communicated with Lucrezia, who administered an opiate to her
husband, and then stole from him some keys which enabled her after
midnight to liberate Bernardo and Beatrice. The latter she found in
a state of stupefaction, and vainly endeavoured to rouse her,
signifying that the moment of escape had arrived. Beatrice showed
no symptom of surprise at the announcement, or at the visit of her
stepmother at that strange hour; she asked not how they had opened
her door, or how her liberty had been acquired. When they were all
assembled in the hall, Lucrezia told them the project, and asked
their aid. Bernardo at first hesitated, but Lucrezia roused him by
every argument she could urge and obtained his consent. Beatrice
made no reply.

" ... Francesco Cenci was murdered in his sleep. Marzio placed a
large nail or iron bolt on his right eye, which Olympio, with one
blow of a hammer, drove straight into the brain. The deed thus
accomplished, Marzio and Olympio wrapped the dead body in a sheet,
and carried it to a small pavilion built at the end of a
terrace-walk, overlooking an orchard. From this height they cast it
down on an old gnarled elder-tree, in order that when the body
should be found the next morning, it might appear that whilst
walking on the terrace, the foot of the count had slipped, and that
he had fallen head-foremost on one of the stunted branches of the
tree, which, piercing through his eye to the brain, had caused his
death. Returning to the hall, they received from Lucrezia a purse
of gold; Marzio, carrying with him a valuable cloak trimmed with
gold lace, turned towards Beatrice (who still stood leaning against
the table), and saying, 'I shall keep this as a memorial of you,'
departed with Olympio. The report of Francesco's death was not
spread through the castle until the next morning. Lucrezia then
rushed through the house uttering cries. In a day or two the
funeral took place, and immediately after the family returned to
Rome. Giacomo took possession of the Cenci palace, and Beatrice
daily improved in health of body and mind.

"Soon, however, the suspicious circumstances of Count Cenci's
death excited attention; the body was exhumed and examined, and
the inhabitants of Petrella placed under arrest, when a washerwoman
deposed to having received bloody sheets from one of the
inhabitants of the castle--she thought from Beatrice--the day after
the murder. On hearing this, the fear that he would turn against
them, induced Signor Guerra to hire assassins to pursue Olympio,
whom they despatched at Terni; but Marzio was arrested, and
confessed the circumstances of the murder, though when confronted
with Beatrice, he proclaimed her innocence of it, and declared her
incapable of crime.

"Guerra made good his escape, but the whole Cenci family were
thrown into prison and put to the torture. Giacomo, Bernardo, and
Lucrezia, unable to endure the sufferings of the rack, confessed at
once.

"Such, however, was not the case with the young and beautiful
Beatrice. Full of spirit and courage, neither the persuasions nor
threats of Moscati the judge could extort from her the smallest
confession. She endured the torture of the cord with all the
firmness which the purity of her heart inspired. The judge failed
to extort from her lips a single word which could throw a shade
over her innocence, and at length, believing it useless to pursue
the torture further, he suspended the proceedings, and reported
them to the pope. But Clement VIII, suspecting that the
unwillingness of Moscati to believe Beatrice guilty was induced by
her extreme beauty, only replied by consigning the prosecution to
another judge, and Beatrice was left in the hands of Luciani, 'a
man whose heart was a stranger to every feeling of humanity.' Upon
her renewed protestations of innocence, he ordered the torture of
the Vigilia.

"The torture of the Vigilia was as follows:--Upon a high
joint-stool, the seat about a span large, and instead of being
flat, cut in the form of pointed diamonds, the victim was seated:
the legs were fastened together and without support; the hands
bound behind the back, and with a running knot attached to a cord
descending from the ceiling: the body was loosely attached to the
back of the chair, cut also into angular points. A wretch stood
near, pushing the victim from side to side, and now and then, by
pulling the rope from the ceiling, gave the arms most painful
jerks. In this horrible position the sufferer _remained forty
hours_, the assistants being changed every fifth hour. At the
expiration of this time, Beatrice was carried into the prison more
dead than alive. The judge was annoyed at the account he received
of the fortitude of Beatrice, and, in a rage, he exclaimed, 'Never
shall it be said that a weak girl can escape from my hands, while
not one of those condemned have been able to resist my power!'

"On the third day the examination was renewed, and Beatrice was
condemned to the _tortura capillorum_. 'At a given signal, the
satellites of the tribunal carried Beatrice under a rope suspended
from the ceiling, and twisting into a cord her long and beautiful
hair, they attached it, with diabolical art, to the rope, so that
the whole body could by this means be raised from the ground. The
frightful preparations over, and her protestations of innocence
again disregarded, she was elevated from the ground by the hair of
her head; at the same time was added another torture, consisting of
a mesh of small cords twined about the fingers, twisting them
nearly out of joint and dragging the hand almost from the bone of
the arm. The wretched girl screamed with agony, while the judge
stood by, commanding the suspended rope to be tightened, and
raising the body by the hair from the ground gave it a sudden jerk,
exhorting her to confess. She cried out in a convulsion for water,
rolling her eyes in agony, and exclaiming, 'I am innocent.' The
torture being repeated with still greater cruelty, and the
fortitude of the young girl remaining unshaken, the judge,
believing it impossible that a young female could resist such
torments, concluded, with the superstition of the times, that she
carried about with her some witchcraft; he ordered her to be
examined, and finding no cause of suspicion, was about to have her
hair cut off, when it was suggested the torment of the _tortura
capillorum_ could not then be renewed; her hair was again fastened
to the rope, and for a whole hour she was subjected to such a
succession of cruelties as the heart shrinks from narrating: but
not a word escaped from her lips, that could compromise her
innocence.

"In the mean time Lucrezia, Giacomo, and Bernardo were taken into
the hall Erculeo, and in their presence a repetition of the torture
was ordered, to so awful an extent, that she fainted and lay
senseless. A new cruelty was devised--the _taxilla_,--her feet were
bared, and to the soles was applied a block of heated wood,
prepared in such a way as to retain the scorching heat; then did
the unhappy girl utter piercing shrieks, and remained some minutes
apparently dead. These accumulated tortures were repeated, until
her relations, who were handcuffed lest they should render her any
assistance, began to implore her with heart-rending tears and
entreaties to yield. To this the judge mingled threats and the
application of further torments, and enforced them with such
rigour, that the victim shrieked in agony, and exclaimed, 'Oh!
cease this martyrdom, and I will confess anything.'

"The tortures were at once suspended and restoratives applied,
while her family on their knees implored Beatrice to adhere to her
promise, urging that the unnatural cruelties of her father would be
a just defence for the crime imputed to her, and that by agreeing
to their deposition, she might give them a hope of common
liberation. The unhappy girl replied, 'Be it as you wish. I am
content to die if I can preserve you'--and to each interrogatory of
the judge she replied, '_E vero_,' until asked whether she did not
urge the assassins to kill her father, and, on their refusal,
propose to commit the crime herself, when she involuntarily
exclaimed, 'Impossible, impossible! a tiger could not do it; how
much less a daughter!' Threatened anew with the torture, she
answered not, but, raising her eyes to Heaven, and moving her lips
in prayer, she said, 'Oh my God, Thou knowest if this be true!'
Thus did the judge force from Beatrice an assent to a deed at which
her very nature revolted.

"Luciani hastened to the pope with the news that Beatrice had
confessed. Clement VIII. was seized with one of those fits of anger
to which he was subject, and exclaimed--'Let them all be
immediately bound to the tails of wild horses, and dragged through
the streets until life is extinct.' The horror evinced by all
classes at this sentence induced him to grant a respite of
twenty-five days, at the end of which a trial took place, and the
advocate Farinacci boldly pleaded the defence of the prisoners. But
while their fate was hanging in the balance, the Marchesa
Santa-Croce was murdered by her own son, which caused Clement to
order the immediate execution of the whole Cenci family, and the
entreaties of their friends only induced him to spare the life of
Bernardo, with the horrible proviso that he was to remain upon the
scaffold and witness the execution of his relations.

" ... During the fearful and protracted transit to the scaffold, it
was the custom of the satellites of the inquisition, at regular
intervals, to tear from the body pieces of flesh with heated
pincers, but in this instance the pope dispensed with this torture,
but ordered that Giacomo should be beaten to death and then
quartered. As the procession passed the piazza of the Palazzo
Cenci, Giacomo, who had appeared resigned, became dreadfully
agitated, and uttered heart-rending cries of, 'My children! my
children!' The people shouted, 'Dogs, give him his children!' The
procession was proceeding, when the multitude assumed such a
threatening aspect, that two of the Compagnia dei Confortati
thought themselves authorised to pause, the unhappy man imploring
them in accents of despair, to suffer him once more to behold his
children. The crowd became pacified on seeing Giacomo descend from
the cart and conducted to the vestibule of his palace, where they
brought to him his children and his wife. The latter fainted on the
last step.

"The scene that followed was the most affecting and painful that
the imagination can picture. His three children clung around his
legs, uttering cries that rent the hearts of all present The
unhappy man embraced them, telling them that in Bernardo they would
find a father; then, fixing his eyes on his unconscious wife, he
said, 'Let us go!' Reascending the cart, the procession stopped
before the prison of the Corte Savella.

"Here Beatrice and Lucrezia appeared before the gates, conducted by
the Confortati. They knelt down and prayed for some time before the
crucifix, and then walked on foot behind the carriage. Lucrezia
wore a robe of black, and a long black veil covered her head and
shoulders; Beatrice in a dark robe and veil, a handkerchief of
cloth of silver on her head, and slippers of white velvet,
ornamented with crimson sandals and rosettes, followed.... Twice
during the passage, an attempt was made to rescue Beatrice, but
each failed, and she reached the chapel, where all the condemned
were to receive the blessing of the Sacrament before execution.

"The first brought out to ascend the scaffold was Bernardo, who,
according to the conditions of his reprieve, was to witness the
death of his relatives. The poor boy, before he had reached the
summit, fell down in a swoon, and was obliged to be supported to
his seat of torture. Preceded by the standard and the brethren of
the Misericordia, the executioner next entered the chapel to convey
Lucrezia. Binding her hands behind her back, and removing the veil
that covered her head and shoulders, he led her to the foot of the
scaffold. Here she stopped, prayed devoutly, kissed the crucifix,
and taking off her shoes, mounted the ladder barefoot. From
confusion and terror, she with difficulty ascended, crying out,
'Oh, my God! oh, holy brethren, pray for my soul, oh, God, pardon
me!' The principal executioner beckoned to her to place herself on
the block; the unhappy woman, from her unwieldy figure, being
unable to do so, some violence was used, the executioner raised his
axe, and with one stroke severed the head from the body! Catching
it by the hair, he exposed it, still quivering, to the gaze of the
populace; then wrapping it in the veil, he laid it on a bier in the
corner of the scaffold, the body falling into a coffin placed
underneath. The violence used towards the sufferer had so excited
the multitude, that a universal uproar commenced. Forty young men
rushed forward to the chapel to rescue Beatrice, but were again
defeated, after a short struggle....

"Meanwhile Beatrice, kneeling in the chapel absorbed in prayer,
heeded not the uproar that surrounded her. She rose, as the
standard appeared to precede her to the block, and with eagerness
demanded, 'Is my mother then really dead?'--Answered in the
affirmative, she prayed with fervour; then raising her voice, she
said, 'Lord, thou hast called me, and I obey the summons
willingly, as I hope for mercy!' Approaching her brother, she bade
him farewell, and with a smile of love, said, 'Grieve not for me.
We shall be happy in heaven, I have forgiven thee.' Giacomo
fainted; his sister, turning round, said, 'Let us proceed!' The
executioner appeared with a cord, but seemed afraid to fasten it
round her body. She saw this, and with a sad smile said, 'Bind this
body; but hasten to release the soul, which pants for immortality!'

"Scarcely had the victim arrived at the foot of the scaffold, when
the square, filled with that vast multitude before so uproarious,
suddenly assumed the silence of a desert. Each one bent forward to
hear her speak; with every eye riveted on her, and lips apart, it
seemed as if their very existence depended on any words she might
utter. Beatrice ascended the stairs with a slow but firm step. In a
moment she placed herself on the block, which had caused so much
fear to Lucrezia. She did not allow the executioner to remove the
veil, but laid it herself upon the table. In this dreadful
situation she remained a few minutes, a universal cry of horror
staying the arm of the executioner. But soon the head of his victim
was held up separated from the trunk, which was violently agitated
for a few seconds. The miserable Bernardo Cenci, forced to witness
the fate of his sister, again swooned away; nor could he be
restored to his senses for more than half an hour.

"Meanwhile the scaffold was made ready for the dreadful punishment
destined for Giacomo. Having performed some religious ceremonies,
he appeared dressed in a cloak and cap. Turning towards the people,
he said in a clear voice, 'Although in the agonies of torture I
accused my sister and brother of sharing in the crime for which I
suffer, I accused them falsely. Now that I am about to render an
account of my actions to God, I solemnly assert their entire
innocence. Farewell, my friends. Oh, pray to God for me.'

"Saying these words, he knelt down; the executioner bound his legs
to the block and bandaged his eyes. To particularise the details of
this execution would be too dreadful; suffice it to say, he was
beaten, beheaded, and quartered in the sight of that vast
multitude, and by the side of a brother, who was sprinkled with his
blood. All was now over.

"..... Near the statue of St. Paul, according to custom, were
placed three biers, each with four lighted torches. In these were
laid the bodies of the victims. A crown of flowers had been placed
around the head of Beatrice, who seemed as though in sleep, so
calm, so peaceful was that placid face, while a smile such as she
wore in life still hovered on her lips. Many a tear was shed over
that bier, many a flower was scattered around her, whose fate all
mourned--whose innocence none questioned.

"On that night the bodies were interred. The corpse of Beatrice,
clad in the dress she wore on the scaffold, was borne, covered with
garlands of flowers, to the church of San Pietro in Montorio; and
buried at the foot of the high altar, before Raffaelle's celebrated
picture of the Transfiguration."[97]

Retracing our steps to the Piazza della Giudecca and turning left down a narrow alley, which is always busy with Jewish traffic, we reach the _Piazza delle Tartarughe_, so called from the tortoises which form part of the adornments of its lovely little fountain,--designed by Giacomo della Porta, the four figures of boys being by Taddeo Landini.

At this point we leave the Ghetto.

* * * * *

Forming one side of the Piazza delle Tartarughe is the _Palazzo Costaguti_, celebrated for its six splendid ceilings by great artists, viz.:--

1. _Albani_: Hercules wounding the Centaur Nessus.
2. _Domenichino_: Apollo in his car, Time discovering truth,
&c., much injured.
3. _Guercino_: _Rinaldo_ and _Armida_ in a chariot drawn by dragons.
4. _Cav. d'Arpino_: Juno nursing Hercules, Venus and Cupids.
5. _Lanfranco_: Justice and Peace.
6. _Romanelli_: Arion saved by the dolphin.

In a corner of the piazza, is a well-known _Lace-Shop_, much frequented by English ladies, but great powers of bargaining are called for. Almost immediately behind this is one of the most picturesque mediæval courtyards in the city.

On the same line, at the end of the street, is the _Palazzo Mattei_, built by Carlo Maderno (1615) for Duke Asdrubal Mattei, on the site of the Circus of Flaminius. The small courtyard of this palace is well worth examining, and is one of the handsomest in Rome, being quite encrusted, as well as the staircase, with ancient bas-reliefs, busts, and other sculptures. It contained a gallery of pictures, the greater part of which have been dispersed. The rooms have frescoes by _Pomerancio_, _Lanfranco_, _Pietro da Cortona_, _Domenichino_, and _Albani_.

Behind this, facing the Via delle Botteghe Oscure, is the vast _Palazzo Caëtani_, now inhabited by the learned Don Michael-Angelo Caëtani (Duke of Sermoneta and Prince of Teano), whose family is one of the most distinguished in the mediæval history of Rome, and which gave Boniface VIII. to the church:

"Lo principe de' nuovi farisei."

_Dante, Inferno,_ xxvii.

It claims descent from Anatolius, created Count of Gaieta by Pope Gregory II. in 730.

Close to the Palazzo Mattei is the _Church of Sta. Caterina de' Funari_, built by Giacomo della Porta, in 1563, adjoining a convent of Augustinian nuns. The streets in this quarter are interesting as bearing witness in their names to the existence of the Circus Flaminius, the especial circus of the plebs, which once occupied all the ground near this. The _Via delle Botteghe Oscure_, commemorates the dark shops which in mediæval times occupied the lower part of the circus, as they do now that of the Theatre of Marcellus. The Via dei Funari, the ropemakers who took advantage for their work of the light and open space which the interior of the deserted circus afforded. The remains of the circus existed to the sixteenth century.

Near this, turning right, is the _Piazza di Campitelli_, which contains the _Church of S. Maria in Campitelli_, built by Rinaldi for Alexander VII. in 1659, upon the site of an oratory erected by Sta. Galla in the time of John I. (523-6), in honour of an image of the Virgin, which one day miraculously appeared imploring her charity, in company with the twelve poor women to whom she was daily in the habit of giving alms. The oratory of Sta. Galla was called Sta. Maria in Portico, from the neighbouring portico of Octavia, a name which is sometimes applied to the present church. The miraculous mendicant image is now enshrined in gold and lapis-lazuli over the high altar. Other relics supposed to be preserved here are the bodies of Sta. Cyrica, Sta. Victoria, and Sta. Vincenza, and half that of Sta. Barbara! The second chapel on the right has a picture of the Descent of the Holy Ghost by _Luca Giordano_; in the first chapel on the left is the tomb of Prince Altieri, inscribed "Umbra," and that of his wife, Donna Laura di Carpegna, inscribed "Nihil;" they rest on lions of rosso-antico. In the right transept is the tomb, by _Pettrich_, of Cardinal Pacca, who lived in the Palazzo Pacca, on the opposite side of the square, and was the faithful friend of Pius VII. in his exile. The bas-relief on the tomb, of St. Peter delivered by the angel, is in allusion to the deliverance from the French captivity.

The name Campitelli is probably derived from Campusteli, because in this neighbourhood (see Ch. XIV.) was the Columna Bellica, from which when war was declared a dart was thrown into a plot of ground, representing the hostile territory,--perhaps the very site of this church.

In the street behind this, leading into the Via di Ara Cœli, are the remains of the ancient _Palazzo Margana_, with a very richly-sculptured gateway of _c._ 1350.

Opening from hence upon the left is the _Via Tor de' Specchi_, whose name commemorates the legend of Virgil as a necromancer, and of his magic tower lined with mirrors, in which all the secrets of the city were reflected and brought to light.

Here is the famous _Convent of the Tor de' Specchi_, founded by Sta. Francesca Romana, and open to the public during the octave of the anniversary of her death (following the 9th of March). At this time the pavements are strewn with box, the halls and galleries are bright with fresh flowers, and Swiss guards are posted at the different turnings, to facilitate the circulation of visitors. It is a beautiful specimen of a Roman convent. The first hall is painted with ancient frescoes, representing scenes in the life of the saint. Here, on a table, is the large bowl in which Sta. Francesca prepared ointment for the poor. Other relics are her veil, shoes, &c. Passing a number of open cloisters, cheerful with flowers and orange-trees, we reach the chapel, where sermons or rather lectures are delivered at the anniversary upon the story of Sta. Francesca's life, and where her embalmed body may be seen beneath the altar. A staircase seldom seen, but especially used by Francesca, is only ascended by the nuns upon their knees. It leads to her cell and a small chapel, black with age, and preserved as when she used them. The picturesque dress of the Oblate sisters who are everywhere visible, adds to the interest of the scene.

"It is no gloomy abode, the Convent of the Tor di Specchi, even in
the eyes of those who cannot understand the happiness of a nun. It
is such a place as one loves to see children in; where religion is
combined with everything that pleases the eye and recreates the
mind. The beautiful chapel; the garden with its magnificent
orange-trees; the open galleries, with their fanciful decorations
and scenic recesses, where a holy picture or figure takes you by
surprise, and meets you at every turn; the light airy rooms, where
religious prints and ornaments, with flowers, birds, and ingenious
toys, testify that innocent enjoyments are encouraged and smiled
upon; while from every window may be caught a glimpse of the
Eternal City, a spire, a ruined wall,--something that speaks of
Rome and its thousand charms.

"It was on the 21st of March, the festival of St. Benedict, that
Francesca herself entered the convent, not as the foundress, but as
a humble suppliant for admission. At the foot of the stairs, having
taken off her customary black gown, her veil, and her shoes, and
placed a cord around her neck, she knelt down, kissed the ground,
and, shedding an abundance of tears, made her general confession
aloud in the presence of all the Oblates; she described herself as
a miserable sinner, a grievous offender against God, and asked
permission to dwell amongst them as the meanest of their servants;
and to learn from them to amend her life, and enter upon a holier
course. The spiritual daughters of Francesca hastened to raise and
embrace her; and clothing her with their habit, they led the way to
the chapel, where they all returned thanks to God. While she
remained there in prayer, Agnese de Lellis, the superioress,
assembled the sisters in the chapter-room, and declared to them,
that now their true mother and foundress had come amongst them, it
would be absurd for her to remain in her present office; that
Francesca was their guide, their head, and that into her hands she
should instantly resign her authority. They all applauded her
decision, and gathering around the Saint, announced to her their
wishes. As was to be expected, Francesca strenuously refused to
accede to this proposal, and pleaded her inability for the duties
of a superioress. The Oblates had recourse to Don Giovanni, the
confessor of Francesca, who began by entreating, and finally
commanded her acceptance of the charge. His order she never
resisted; and accordingly, on the 25th of March, she was duly
elected to that office."--_Lady Georgina Fullerton's Life of Sta.
Francesca Romana._

"Sta. Francesca Romana is represented in the dress of a Benedictine
nun, a black robe and a white hood or veil; and her proper
attribute is an angel, who holds in his hand the book of the Office
of the Virgin, open at the words, '_Tenuisti manum dexteram meam,
et in voluntate tua deduxisti me, et cum gloria suscepisti me_'
(Ps. lxxiii. 23, 24); which attribute is derived from an incident
thus narrated in the acts of her canonisation. Though unwearied in
her devotions, yet if, during her prayers, she was called away by
her husband on any domestic duty, she would close her book, saying
that 'a wife and a mother, when called upon, must quit her God at
the altar, and find him in her household affairs.' Now it happened
once, that, in reciting the Office of Our Lady, she was called away
four times just as she was beginning the same verse, and, returning
the fifth time, she found that verse written upon the page in
letters of golden light by the hand of her guardian
angel."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, p. 151.

Almost opposite the convent is the Via del Monte Tarpeio, a narrow alley, leading up to the foot of the Tarpeian rock, beneath the Palazzo Caffarelli, and one of the points at which the rock is best seen. This spot is believed to have been the site of the house of Spurius Mælius, who tried to ingratiate himself with the people, by buying up corn and distributing it in a year of scarcity (B.C. 440), but who was in consequence put to death by the patricians. His house was razed to the ground, and its site, being always kept vacant, went by the name of Æquimælium.[98]