Chapter XIII (2)

The direct road--which leads to Albano--reaches, about two miles from the gate, a queer building, called the Casa del Diavolo, on the outside of which some rude frescoes testify to the popular belief as to its owner. Just beyond this a field track on the left leads to the _Via Latina_, of which a certain portion, paved with huge polygonal blocks of lava, is now laid bare. Here are some exceedingly interesting and well-preserved tombs, richly ornamented with painting and stucco. The view, looking back upon Rome, or forward to the long line of broken arches of the Claudian aqueduct, seen between these ruined sepulchres, is most striking and beautiful.

Close by have been discovered remains of a villa of the Servilii, which afterwards belonged to the Asinarii. Here also, in 1858 (on the left of the Via Latina), Signor Fortunati discovered the long buried and forgotten _Basilica of S. Stefano_. It is recorded by Anastasius that this basilica was founded in the time of Leo I. (440--461) by Demetria, a lady who escaped from the siege by the Goths, with her mother, to Carthage, where she became a nun. It was restored by Leo III. at the end of the eighth century. The remains are interesting, though they do little more than show perfectly the substruction and plan of the ancient building. An inscription relating to the foundation of the church by Demetria has been found among the ruins.

Not far from this is the _Catacomb of the Santi-Quattro_.

Three and a half miles from Rome is the Osteria of _Tavolato_, near which is one of the most striking and picturesque portions of the Claudian Aqueduct. It is on the rising ground between this aqueduct and the road, that the _Temple of Fortuna Muliebris_ is believed to have stood. This was the temple which Valeria, the sister of Publicola, and Volumnia, the mother of Coriolanus, claimed to erect at their own expense, when the senate asked them to choose their recompense for having preserved Rome by their entreaties.

"As Valeria, sister of Publicola, was sitting in the temple, as a
suppliant before the image of Jupiter, Jupiter himself seemed to
inspire her with a sudden thought, and she immediately rose, and
called upon all the other noble ladies who were with her, to arise
also, and she led them to the house of Volumnia, the mother of
Caius (Coriolanus). There she found Virgilia, the wife of Caius,
with his mother, and also his little children. Valeria then
addressed Volumnia and Virgilia, and said, 'Our coming here to you
is our own doing; neither the senate nor any mortal man have sent
us; but the god in whose temple we were sitting as suppliants put
it into our hearts, that we should come and ask you to join with
us, women with women, without any aid of men, to win for our
country a great deliverance, and for ourselves a name, glorious
above all women, even above those Sabine wives in the old time, who
stopped the battle between their husbands and their fathers. Come,
then, with us to the camp of Caius, and let us pray to him to show
us mercy.' Volumnia said, 'We will go with you:' and Virgilia took
her young children with her, and they all went to the camp of the
enemy.

"It was a sad and solemn sight to see this train of noble ladies,
and the very Volscian soldiers stood in silence as they passed by,
and pitied them and honoured them. They found Caius sitting on the
general's seat, in the midst of the camp, and the Volscian chiefs
were standing round him. When he first saw them he wondered what it
could be; but presently he knew his mother, who was walking at the
head of the train, and then he could not contain himself, but leapt
down from his seat, and ran to meet her, and was going to kiss her.
But she stopped him, and said, 'Ere thou kiss me, let me know
whether I am speaking to an enemy or to my son; whether I stand in
thy camp as thy prisoner or thy mother?' Caius could not answer
her; and then she went on and said, 'Must it be, then, that had I
never borne a son, Rome never would have seen the camp of an enemy;
that had I remained childless, I should have died a free woman in a
free city? But I am too old to bear much longer either thy shame or
my misery. Rather look to thy wife and children, whom, if thou
persistest, thou art dooming to an untimely death, or a long life
of bondage.' Then Virgilia and his children came up to him and
kissed him, and all the noble ladies wept, and bemoaned their own
fate and the fate of their country. At last Caius cried out, 'O
mother, what hast thou done to me?' and he wrung her hand
vehemently, and said, 'Mother, thine is the victory; a happy
victory for thee and for Rome, but shame and ruin to thy son.' Then
he fell on her neck and embraced her, and he embraced his wife and
his children, and sent them back to Rome; and led away the army of
the Volscians, and never afterwards attacked Rome any more. The
Romans, as was right, honoured Volumnia and Valeria for their deed,
and a temple was built and dedicated to 'Woman's Fortune' just on
the spot where Caius had yielded to his mother's words; and the
first priestess of the temple was Valeria, into whose heart Jupiter
had first put the thought to go to Volumnia, and to call upon her
to go out to the enemy's camp and entreat her son."--_Arnold's
Hist. of Rome_, vol. i.

"Il y a peu de scènes dans l'histoire plus émouvantes que celle-là,
et elle ne perd rien à la décoration du théâtre; en se plaçant sur
un tertre à quatre milles de Rome, près de la voie Latine, dans un
lieu où il n'y a aujourd'hui que des tombeaux et des ruines, on
peut se figurer le camp des Volsques, dont les armes et les tentes
étincellent au soleil. Les montagnes s'élèvent à l'horizon. A
travers la plaine ardente et poudreuse défile une foule voilée dont
les gémissements retentissent dans le silence de la campagne
romaine. Bientôt Coriolan est entouré de cette multitude suppliante
dont les plaintes, les cris, devaient avoir la vivacité des
démonstrations passionées des Romaines de nos jours. Coriolan eût
ré sisté à tout ce bruit, il eût peut-être résisté aux larmes de
sa femme et aux caresses de ses enfants; il ne résista pas à la
sévérité de sa mère.

"Le soir, par un glorieux coucher du soleil de Rome qui éclaire
leur joie, la procession triomphante s'éloigne en adressant un
chant de reconnaissance aux dieux, et lui se retire dans sa tente,
étonné d'avoir pu céder."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ ii. 402.

The return drive to Rome may be varied by turning to the right about a mile beyond this, into a lane which leads past the so-called temple of Bacchus to the Via Appia Vecchia.

* * * * *

We may now follow the lines of white mulberry-trees across the open space in front of St. John Lateran, which is a continuation of the ancient papal promenade of "the Mirror," to Sta. Croce. The sister basilicas look at each other, and at Sta. Maria Maggiore, down avenues of trees. On the left are the walls of Rome, upon which run the arches of the Aqua Marcia.

"Few Roman churches are set within so impressive a picture as Santa
Croce, approached on every side through these solitudes of
vineyards and gardens, quiet roads, and long avenues of trees, that
occupy such immense extent within the walls of Rome. The scene from
the Lateran, looking towards this basilica across the level common,
between lines of trees, with the distance of Campagna and
mountains, the castellated walls, the arcades of the Claudian
aqueduct, amid gardens and groves, is more than beautiful, full of
memory and association. The other approach, by the unfrequented Via
di Sta. Croce, presents the finest distances, seen through a
foliage beyond the dusky towers of the Honorian walls, and a wide
extent of slopes covered with vineyards, amid which stand at
intervals some of those forlorn cottage farms, grey and
dilapidated, that form characteristic features in Roman scenery.
The majestic ruins of Minerva-Medica, the so-called temple of Venus
and Cupid, the fragments of the Baths of St. Helena, the Castrense
Amphitheatre, the arches of the aqueduct, half concealed in cypress
and ivy, are objects which must increase the attractions of a walk
to this sanctuary of the cross. But the exterior of the church is
disappointing and inappropriate, retaining nothing antique except
the square Lombardic tower of the twelfth century, in storeys of
narrow-arched windows, its brickwork ornamented with disks of
coloured marble, and a canopy, with columns, near the summit, for a
statue no longer in its place."--_Hemans' Catholic Italy_, vol. i.

The site of the _Basilica of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme_ was once occupied by the garden of Heliogabalus, and afterwards by the palace of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, whose residence here was known as the Palatium Sessorianum, whence the name of Sessorian, sometimes given to the basilica.

The church was probably once a hall in the palace of Helena, to which an apse was added by Constantine, in whose reign it was consecrated by Pope Sylvester. It was repaired by Gregory II. early in the eighth century; the monastery was added by Benedict VII. about 975, and the whole was rebuilt by Lucius II. in 1144. The church was completely modernized by Benedict XIV. in the last century, and scarcely anything, except the tower, now remains externally, which is even as old as the twelfth century. The fine columns of granite and bigio-lumachellato, which now adorn the façade, were plundered from the neighbouring temple in 1744.

The interior of the church is devoid of beauty, owing to modernizations. Four out of twelve fine granite columns, which divided its nave and aisles, are boxed up in senseless plaster piers. The high altar is adorned with an urn of green basalt, sculptured with lions' heads, which contains the bodies of SS. Anastasius and Cæsarius. Two of the pillars of the baldacchino are of breccia-corallina. The fine frescoes of the tribune by _Pinturicchio_ have been much retouched. They were executed under Alexander VI., on a commission from Cardinal Carvajal, who is himself represented as kneeling before the cross, which is held by the Empress Helena.

"The very important frescoes of the choir apsis of Sta. Croce (now
much over-painted) are of Pinturicchio's better time. They
represent the finding of the Cross, with a colossal Christ in a
nimbus among angels above,--a figure full of wild
grandeur."--_Kugler._

"Near the entrance of the church is a valuable monument of the
papal history of the tenth century, in a metrical epitaph to
Benedict VII., recording his foundation of the adjoining monastery
for monks, who were to sing day and night the praises of the Deity;
his charities to the poor; and the deeds of the anti-pope Franco,
called by Baronius (with play upon his assumed name Boniface)
Malefacius, who usurped the Holy See, imprisoned and strangled the
lawful pope, Benedict VI., and pillaged the treasury of St.
Peter's, but in one month was turned out and excommunicated, when
he fled to Constantinople. The chronology of this epitaph is by the
ancient system of Indictions, the death of the pope dated XII.
Indiction, corresponding to the year 984: and the Latin style of
the tenth century is curiously exemplified in lines relating to the
anti-pope:

'Hic primus repulit Franconis spurca superbi
Culmina qui invasit sedis apostolicæ
Qui dominumque suum captum in castro habebat
Carceris interea auctis constrictus in uno
Strangulatus ubi exuerat hominem.'"

_Hemans' Catholic Italy._

The consecration of the Golden Rose, formerly sent to foreign princes, used to take place in this church. The principal observances here now are connected with the exhibition of the relics, of which the principal is the Title of the True Cross.

"In 1492, when some repairs were ordered by Cardinal Mendoza, a
niche was discovered near the summit of the apse, enclosed by a
brick front, inscribed 'Titulus Crucis.' In it was a leaden coffer,
containing an imperfect plank of wood, 2 inches thick, 1½ palm
long, 1 palm broad. On this, in letters more or less perfect, was
the inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, _Jesus Nazarene King_.
It was venerated by Innocent VIII., with the college of cardinals,
and enclosed by Mendoza in the silver shrine, where it is exposed
three times a year from the balcony. The relics are exposed on the
4th Sunday in Lent. On Good Friday the rites are more impressive
here than in any other church, the procession of white-robed monks,
and the deep toll of the bell announcing the display of the relics
by the mitred abbot, are very solemn, and it is surprising, that
while crowds of strangers submit to be crushed in the Sistine,
scarcely one visits this ancient basilica on that day."--_Hemans'
Catholic Italy._

"The list of relics on the right of the apsis of Sta. Croce
includes, the finger of St. Thomas Apostle, with which he touched
the most holy side of our Lord Jesus Christ; one of the pieces of
money with which the Jews paid the treachery of Judas; great part
of the veil and of the hair of the most blessed Virgin; a mass of
cinders and charcoal, united in the form of a loaf, with the fat of
St. Lawrence, martyr; one bottle of the most precious blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ; another of the milk of the most blessed Virgin;
a little piece of the stone where Christ was born; a little piece
of the stone where our Lord sate when he pardoned Mary Magdalen; of
the stone where our Lord wrote the law, given to Moses on Mount
Sinai; of the stone where reposed SS. Peter and Paul; of the cotton
which collected the blood of Christ; of the manna which fed the
Israelites; of the rod of Aaron, which flourished in the desert; of
the relics of the eleven prophets!"--_Percy's Romanism._

Two staircases near the tribune lead to the subterranean church, which has an altar with a pietà, and statues of SS. Peter and Paul of the twelfth century. Hence opens the chapel of Sta. Helena,[285] which women (by a perversion especially strange in this case) are never allowed to enter except on the festival of the saint, August 18. It is built upon a soil composed of earth brought by the empress from Palestine. Her statue is over the altar. The vault has mosaics (originally erected under Valentinian III., but restored by _Zucchi_ in 1593) representing, in ovals, a half-length figure of the Saviour; the Evangelists and their symbols; the Finding of the True Cross; SS. Peter and Paul; St. Sylvester, the conservator of the church; and Sta. Helena, with Cardinal Carvajal kneeling before her.

Here the feast of the "Invention of the True Cross" (May 3) is celebrated with great solemnity, when the hymns "Pange Lingua" and "Vexilla Regis" are sung, and the antiphon:--

"O Cross, more glorious than the stars, world famous, beauteous of
aspect, holiest of things, which alone wast worthy to sustain the
weight of the world: dear wood, dear nails, dear burden, bearing;
save those present assembled in thy praise to-day. Alleluia."

And the collect:--

"O God, who by the glorious uplifting of the salvation-bearing
cross, hast displayed the miracles of thy passion, grant that by
the merit of that life-giving wood, we may attain the suffrages of
eternal life, &c."

The adjoining _Monastery_ belongs to the Cistercians. Only part of one wing is ancient. The library formerly contained many curious MSS., but most of these were lost to the basilica, when the collection was removed to the Vatican during the French occupation and the exile of Pius VII.

The garden of the monastery contains the ruin generally known as the _Temple of Venus and Cupid_, but considered by Dr. Braun to be the Sessorian Basilica or law-court, where the causes of slaves (who were allowed to appeal to no other court) were wont to be heard. Behind the monastery is the _Amphitheatrum Castrense_, attributed to the time of Nero, when it is supposed to have been erected for the games of two cohorts of soldiers, quartered near here. It is ingrafted into the line of the Honorian walls, and is best seen from the outside of the city. Its arches and pillars, with Corinthian capitals, are all of brick.

(On the left of the Via Sta. Croce, which leads hence to Sta. Maria Maggiore, is the gate of the _Villa Altieri_, chiefly remarkable for its grand umbrella pine, the finest in the city. Further, on the right, is a tomb of unknown origin, now used as a farm-house and a wine-shop.)

Turning to the right from the basilica, we follow a lane which leads beneath some fine brick arches of an aqueduct of the time of Nero, cited by Ampère,[286] as exemplifying the perfection to which architecture attained in the reign of this emperor, "by the quality of the bricks, and the excellence and small quantity of the cement." These ruins are popularly called the Baths of Sta. Helena.

Passing these arches we find ourselves facing the _Porta Maggiore_, formed by two arches of the Claudian Aqueduct, formerly known as the Porta Labicana, and Porta Prenestina, of which the former was closed in the time of Honorius, and has never been re-opened. Three inscriptions remain, the first relating to the building of the aqueduct by the Emperor Tiberius Claudius;--the second and third to its restoration by Vespasian and Titus. Above the Aqua Claudia flowed a second stream, the Anio Novus.

Outside the gate, only lately disclosed, upon the removal of constructions of the time of Honorius (the fragments of those worth preserving are placed on the opposite wall), is the _Tomb of the Baker Eurysaces_, who was also one of the inspectors of aqueducts. The tomb is attributed to the early years of the Empire. Its first storey is surmounted by the inscription: "EST HOC MONUMENTUM MARCEI VERGILEI EVRYSACES PISTORIS REDEMPTORIS APPARET." Its second storey is composed of rows of the mortars used in baking, placed sideways, and supporting a frieze with bas-reliefs telling the story of a baker's work, from the bringing of the corn into the mill to its distribution as bread. In the front of the tomb was formerly a relief of the baker and his wife, with a sarcophagus, and the inscription: "FUIT ATISTIA UXOR MIHEI--FEMINA OPTVMA VEIXSIT--QUOIVS CORPORIS RELIQUIÆ--QUOD SUPERANT SUNT IN--HOC PANARIO." This has been foolishly removed, and is now to be seen upon the opposite wall.

* * * * *

From this gate many pleasant excursions may be taken. The direct road leads to Palestrina by Zagarolo, and at 1½ mile from the gate passes, on the left, _Torre Pignatarra_, the tomb of Sta. Helena, whence the magnificent porphyry sarcophagus, now in the Vatican, was removed. The name is derived from the _pignatte_, or earthen pots, used in the building. Beneath it is a catacomb, now closed. The adjoining _Catacomb of SS. Pietro e Marcellino_ contains some well preserved paintings; the most interesting is that of the Divine Lamb on a mound (from which four rivers flow as in the mosaics of the ancient basilicas), with figures of Petrus, Gorgonius, Marcellinus, and Tiburtius. At three miles from the gate the road reaches _Centocellæ_, whence, near the desolate tower called _Torre Pernice_, there is a most picturesque view of the aqueduct _Aqua Alexandrina_, built by Alexander Severus, with a double line of arches crossing the hollow. At five miles, on the right, is the Borghese farm of Torre Nuova, with a fine group of old stone pines.

The road which turns left from the gate leads by the _Aqua Bollicante_, where the Arvales sang their hymn, to the picturesque ruins of the _Torre dei Schiavi_, the palace of the Emperors Gordian (A.D. 238), adjoining which are the remains of a round temple of Apollo. This is, perhaps, one of the most striking scenes in the Campagna and--backed by the violet mountains above Tivoli--is a favourite subject with artists.

"Les Gordiens, très-grands personnages, furent de très-petits
empereurs. Ils montrent ce qu'était devenu l'aristocratie romaine
dégénérée. Le premier, honnête et pusillanime, comme le prouvent
son élection et sa mort, était un peu replet et avait dans l'air du
visage quelque chose de solennel et de théâtral (_pompali vultu_).
Il aimait et cultivait les lettres. Son fils également se fit
quelque réputation en ce genre, grâce surtout à sa bibliothèque de
soixante mille volumes; mais il avait d'autres goûts encore que
celui des livres: on lui donne jusqu'à vingt-deux concubines en
titre, et de chacune d'elles, il eut trois ou quatre enfants. Il
menait une vie épicurienne dans ses jardins et sous des ombrages
délicieux: c'étaient les jardins et les ombrages d'une villa
magnifique que les Gordiens avaient sur la voie Prénestine, et dont
Capitolin, au temps duquel elle existait encore, nous a laissé une
description détaillée. Le péristyle était formé de deux cents
colonnes des marbres les plus précieux, le cipollin, le
pavonazetto, le jaune et le rouge antiques. La villa renfermait
trois basiliques et les thermes que ceux de Rome surpassaient à
peine. Telle était l'opulence d'une habitation privée vers le
milieu du troisième siècle de l'empire."--_Ampère, Emp._ ii. 328.

The road which continues in a straight line from hence passes, on the left, the Torre Tre Teste. The eighth mile-stone is of historic interest, being described by Livy (v. 49) as the spot where the dictator Camillus overtook and exterminated the army of Gauls who were retreating from Rome with the spoils of the Capitol.

At the ninth mile is the _Ponte di Nono_, a magnificent old bridge with seven lofty arches of lapis-gabinus. This leads (twelve miles from Rome) to the dried-up lake and the ruins of Gabii (Castiglione), including that of the temple of Juno Gabina.

"Quique arva Gabinæ
Junonis, gelidumque Anienem, et roscida rivis
Hernica saxa colunt."

_Virgil, Æn._ vii. 682.

The road which branches off on the left leads (twelve miles from Rome) to _Lunghezza_, the fine old castle of the Strozzi family, situated on the little river Osa. Hence a beautiful walk through a wood leads to Castello del Osa, the ruins of the ancient _Collatia_, so celebrated from the tragedy of Lucretia. Two miles beyond the Torre dei Schiavi, on the left, is the fine castellated farm of _Cervaletto_, a property of the Borghese. A field road of a mile and half, passing in front of this (practicable for carriages), leads to another fine old castellated farm (five miles from Rome), close to which are the extraordinary _Grottoes of Cerbara_,--a succession of romantic caves of great size, in the tufa rocks, from which the material of the Coliseum was excavated. Here the "Festa degli Artisti" is held in May, which is well worth seeing,--the artists in costume riding in procession, and holding games, amid these miniature Petra-like ravines. Beyond Cerbara are remains of a villa of Lucius Verus, and, on the bank of the Anio, the romantically-situated castle of _Rustica_.

From the Porta Maggiore we may follow a lane along the inside of the wall, crossing the railway--whence there is a picturesque view of the temple of Minerva Medica--to _The Porta S. Lorenzo_, anciently called the Porta Tiburtina (the road to Tivoli passes through it), built in 402, by the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, on the advice of Stilicho, as we learn from an inscription over the archway of the Marcian, Tepulan, and Julian Aqueducts, now half buried within the later brick gateway.

The road just beyond the gate is connected with the story of the favourite saint of the Roman people.

"When Sta. Francesca Romana had no resource but to beg for the sick
under her care, she went to the basilica of _S. Lorenzo fuori_
Mura, where was the station of the day, and seated herself amongst
the crowd of beggars, who, according to custom, were there
assembled. From the rising of the sun to the ringing of the
vesper-bell, she sate there, side by side with the lame, the
deformed, and the blind. She held out her hand as they did, gladly
enduring, not the semblance, but the reality, of that deep
humiliation. When she had received enough wherewith to feed the
poor at home, she rose, and entering the old basilica, adored the
Blessed Sacrament, and then walked back the long and weary way,
blessing God all the while."--_Lady G. Fullerton._

A quarter of a mile beyond the gate we come in sight of the church and monastery, but the effect is much spoilt by the hideous modern cemetery, formed since the following description was written:--

"S. Lorenzo is as perfect a picture of a basilica externally, as S.
Clemente is internally. Viewing it from a little distance, the
whole pile--in its grey reverend dignity--the row of stones
indicating the atrium, with an ancient cross in the centre--the
portico overshadowing faded frescoes--the shelving roof, the
body-wall bulging out and lapping over, like an Egyptian
temple--the detached Lombard steeple--with the magic of sun and
shadow, and the background of the Campagna, bounded by the blue
mountains of Tivoli--together with the stillness, the repose,
interrupted only by the chirp of the grasshopper, and the distant
intermitted song of the Contadino--it forms altogether such a scene
as painters love to sketch, and poets to re-people with the shadows
of past ages; and I open a wider heaven for either fraternity to
fly their fancies in, when I add that it was there the ill-fated
Peter de Courtenay was crowned Emperor of the East."--_Lord
Lindsay, Christian Art._

"To St. Laurence was given a crown of glory in heaven, and upon
earth eternal and universal praise and fame; for there is scarcely
a city or town in all Christendom which does not contain a church
or altar dedicated to his honour. The first of these was built by
Constantine outside the gates of Rome, on the spot where he was
buried; and another was built on the summit of the hill, where he
was martyred; besides these, there are at Rome four others; and in
Spain the Escurial, and at Genoa the Cathedral."--_Mrs. Jameson._

We have already followed St. Laurence to the various spots in Rome connected with his story,--to the green space at the Navicella, where he distributed his alms before the house of St. Cyriaca (in whose catacomb he was first buried); to the basilica in the Palace of the Cæsars, where he was tried and condemned; to S. Lorenzo in Fonte, where he was imprisoned; to S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, where he died; to S. Lorenzo in Lucina, where his supposed gridiron is preserved; and now we come to his grave, where a grand basilica has arisen around the little oratory, erected by Constantine, which marked his first burial-place in the Catacombs.

The first basilica erected here was built in the end of the sixth century, by Pope Pelagius II., but this was repeatedly enlarged and beautified by succeeding popes, and at length was so much altered in 1216, by Honorius III., that the old basilica became merely the choir or tribune of a larger and more important church. So many other changes have since taken place, that Bunsen remarks upon S. Lorenzo as more difficult of explanation than any other of the Roman churches.

In front of the basilica stands a bronze statue of St. Laurence, upon a tall granite pillar.

The portico is supported by six Ionic columns, four of them spiral. Above these is a mosaic frieze of the thirteenth century. In the centre is the Spotless Lamb, having, on the right, St. Laurence, Honorius III., and another figure; and on the left three heads, two of whom are supposed to be the virgin martyr Sta. Cyriaca, and her mother Tryphœna, buried in the adjoining cemetery. Above this is a very richly decorated marble frieze, boldly relieved with lions' heads. The gable of the church is faced with modern mosaics of saints. Within the portico are four splendid sarcophagi; that on the left of the entrance is adorned with reliefs representing a vintage, with cupids as the vine-gatherers, and contains the remains of Pope Damasus II., who died in 1049, after a reign of only twenty-three days. At the sides of the door are two marble lions. The walls of the portico are covered with a very curious series of frescoes, lately repainted. They represent four consecutive stories.

On the right:--

A holy hermit, living a life of solitude and prayer, heard a
rushing noise, and, looking out of his window, saw a troop of
demons, who told him that the Emperor Henry II. had just expired,
and that they were hurrying to lay claim to his soul. The hermit
trembled, and besought them to let him know as they returned how
they had succeeded. Some days after, they came back and narrated
that when the Archangel was weighing the good and evil deeds of the
emperor in his balance, the weight was falling in their
favour--when suddenly the roasted St. Laurence appeared, bearing a
golden chalice, which the emperor, shortly before his death, had
bestowed upon the Church, and cast it into the scale of good deeds,
and so turned the balance the other way, but that in revenge they
had broken off one of the golden handles of the chalice. And when
the hermit heard these things he rejoiced greatly; and the soul of
the emperor was saved and he became a canonized saint,--and the
devils departed blaspheming.

The order of the frescoes representing this legend is:--

1, 2. Scenes in the life of Henry II.
3. The Emperor offers the golden chalice.
4. A banquet scene.
5. The hermit discourses with the devils.
6. The death of Henry II.--1024.
7. The dispute for the soul of the Emperor.
8. It is saved by St. Laurence.

The second series represents the whole story of the acts, trial, martyrdom, and burial of St. Laurence; one or two frescoes in this were entirely effaced, and have been added by the restorer. Of the old series were:--

1. The investiture of St. Laurence as deacon.
2. St. Laurence washes the feet of poor Christians.
3. He heals Sta. Cyriaca.
4. He distributes alms on the Cœlian.
5. He meets St. Sixtus led to death, and receives his blessing.
6. He is led before the prefect.
7. He restores sight to Lucillus.
8. He is scourged.
9. He baptizes St. Hippolytus.
11. He refuses to give up the treasures of the Church.
13, 14, 15. His burial by St. Hippolytus.

The third series represents the story of St. Stephen, followed by that of the translation of his relics to this basilica.

The relics of St. Stephen were preserved at Constantinople, whither
they had been transported from Jerusalem by the Empress Eudoxia,
wife of Theodosius II. Hearing that her daughter Eudoxia, wife of
Valentinian II., Emperor of the West, was afflicted with a devil,
she begged her to come to Constantinople that her demon might be
driven out by the touch of the relics. The younger Eudoxia wished
to comply,--but the devil refused to leave her, unless St. Stephen
was brought to Rome. An agreement was therefore made that the
relics of St. Stephen should be exchanged for those of St.
Laurence. St. Stephen arrived, and the empress was immediately
relieved of her devil, but when the persons who had brought the
relics of St. Stephen from Constantinople were about to take those
of St. Laurence back with them, they all fell down dead! Pope
Pelagius prayed for their restoration to life, which was granted
for a short time, to prove the efficacy of prayer, but they all
died again ten days after! Thus the Romans knew that it would be
criminal to fulfil their promise, and part with the relics of St.
Laurence, and the bodies of the two martyrs were laid in the same
sarcophagus.

The frescoes in the left wall represent a separate story:--

A holy sacristan arose before the dawn to enjoy solitary prayers
before the altars of this church. Once when he was thus employed,
he found that he was not alone, and beheld three persons, a priest,
a deacon, and sub-deacon, officiating at the altar, and the church
around him filled with worshippers, whose faces bore no mortal
impress. Tremblingly he drew near to him whom he dreaded the least,
and inquired of the deacon, who this company might be. 'The priest
whom thou seest is the blessed apostle Peter,' answered the spirit,
'and I am Laurence who suffered cruel torments for the love of my
master Christ, upon a Wednesday, which was the day of his betrayal;
and in remembrance of my martyrdom we are come to-day to celebrate
here the mysteries of the Church; and the sub-deacon who is with us
is the first martyr, St. Stephen,--and the worshippers are the
apostles, the martyrs, and virgins who have passed with me into
Paradise, and have come back hither to do me honour; and of this
solemn service thou art chosen as the witness. When it is day,
therefore, go to the pope and tell what thou hast seen, and bid
him, in my name, to come hither and to celebrate a solemn mass with
all his clergy, and to grant indulgences to the faithful.' But the
sacristan trembled and said, 'If I go to the pope he will not
believe me: give me some visible sign, then, which will show what I
have seen.' And St. Laurence ungirt his robe, and giving his girdle
to the sacristan, bade him show it in proof of what he told. In the
morning the old man related what he had seen to the abbot of the
monastery, who bore the girdle to the then pope, Alexander II. The
pope accompanied him back to the basilica,--and on their way they
were met by a funeral procession, when, to test the powers of the
girdle, the pope laid it on the bier, and at once the dead arose
and walked. Then all men knew that the sacristan had told what was
true, and the pope celebrated mass as he had been bidden, and
promised an indulgence of forty years to all who should visit on a
Wednesday any church dedicated to St. Laurence.

This story is told in eight pictures:--

1. The sacristan sees the holy ones.

2. The Phantom Mass.

3. The sacristan tells the abbot.

4. The abbot tells the pope.

5. The pope consults his cardinals.

6. The dead is raised by the girdle.

7. Mass is celebrated at St. Lorenzo, and souls are freed from
purgatory by the intercession of the saint.

8. Prayer is made at the shrine of St. Laurence.

The nave--which is the basilica of Honorius III.--is divided from its side aisles by twenty-two Ionic columns of granite and cipollino. The sixth column on the right has a lizard and a frog amongst the decorations of its capital, which led Winckelmann to the supposition that these columns were brought hither from the Portico of Octavia, because Pliny describes that the architects of the Portico of Metellus, which formerly occupied that site, were two Spartans, named Sauros and Batrachus, who implored permission to carve their names upon their work; and that when leave was refused, they introduced them under this form,--Batrachus signifying a frog, and Sauros a lizard.

Above the architrave are frescoes by _Fracassini_, of the lives and martyrdoms of SS. Stephen and Laurence. Higher up are saints connected with the history of the basilica. The roof is painted in patterns. The splendid opus-alexandrinum pavement is of the tenth century. On the left of the entrance is a baptismal font, above which are more frescoes relating to the story of St. Laurence. On the right, beneath a mediæval canopy, is a very fine sarcophagus, sculptured with a wedding scene,--adapted as the tomb of Cardinal Fieschi, nephew of Innocent IV., who died in 1256. Inside the canopy, is a fresco of Christ throned, to whom St. Laurence presents the cardinal, and St. Stephen Innocent IV. Behind stand St. Eustace and St. Hippolytus. The west end of the church is closed by the inscription, "Hi sunt qui venerunt de tribulatione magna, et laverunt stolas suas in sanguine agni."

The splendid ambones in the nave, inlaid with serpentine and porphyry, are of the twelfth century. That on the right, with a candelabrum for the Easter candle, was for the gospel; that on the left for the epistle.

At the end of the left aisle, a passage leads down to a subterranean chapel, used for prayer for the souls in purgatory. Here is the entrance to the _Catacombs of Sta. Ciriaca_, which are said to extend as far as Sant' Agnese, but which have been much and wantonly injured in the works for the new cemetery. Here the body of St. Laurence is related to have been found. Over the entrance is inscribed:--

"Hæc est tumba illa toto orbe terrarum celeberrima ex cimeterio S.
Cyriacæ Matronæ ubi sacrum si quis fecerit pro defunctis eorum
animas e purgatorii pœnis divi Laurentii meritis evocabit."[287]

Passing the triumphal arch, we enter the early basilica of Pope Pelagius II. (572--590), which is on a lower level than that of the nave. Here are twelve splendid columns of pavonazzetto, of which the two first bear trophies carved above the acanthus leaves of their capitals. These support an entablature formed from various antique fragments, put together without uniformity,--and a triforium, divided by twelve small columns.

On the inside, which was formerly the outside, of the triumphal arch, is a restored mosaic of the time of Pelagius, representing the Saviour seated upon the world, having on the right St. Peter, St. Laurence, and St. Pelagius, and on the left St. Paul and St. Stephen, and with them, in a warrior's dress, St. Hippolytus, the soldier who was appointed to guard St. Laurence in prison, and who, being converted by him, was dragged to death by wild horses, after seeing nineteen of his family suffer before his eyes. He is the patron saint of horses. Here also are the mystic cities, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

A long poetical inscription is known to have once existed here; only two lines remain round the arch:--

"Martyrium flaminis olim Levita subisti
Jure tuis templis lux veneranda redit."

The high altar, with a baldacchino, supported by four porphyry columns, covers the remains of SS. Laurence and Stephen, enclosed in a silver shrine by Pelagius II., a pope so munificent that he had given up his own house as a hospital for aged poor. St. Justin is also buried here.

"No one knew what had become of the body of St. Stephen for 400
years, when Lucian, a priest of Carsamagala, in Palestine, was
visited in a dream by Gamaliel, the doctor of the law at whose feet
Paul was brought up in all the learning of the Jews; and Gamaliel
revealed to him that after the death of Stephen he had carried away
the body of the saint, and had buried it in his own sepulchre, and
had also deposited near it the body of Nicodemus and other saints;
and this dream having been repeated three times, Lucian went with
others deputed by the bishop, and dug with mattocks and spades in
the spot which had been indicated,--a sepulchre in a garden,--and
found what they supposed to be the remains of St. Stephen, their
peculiar sanctity being proved by many miracles. These relics were
first deposited in Jerusalem, in the church of Sion, and afterwards
by the younger Theodosius carried to Constantinople, whence they
were taken to Rome, and placed by Pope Pelagius in the same tomb
with St. Laurence. It is related that when they opened the
sarcophagus, and lowered into it the body of St. Stephen, St.
Laurence moved on one side, giving the place of honour on the right
hand to St. Stephen: hence the common people of Rome have conferred
on St. Laurence the title of 'Il cortese Spagnuolo'--the courteous
Spaniard."--_Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art._

Behind the altar is a mosaic screen, with panels of porphyry and serpentine, and an ancient episcopal throne.

The lower church was filled up with soil till 1864, when restorations were ordered here. These were entrusted to Count Vespignani, and have been better carried out than most church alterations in Rome; but an interesting portico, with mosaics by one of the famous Cosmati family, has been destroyed to make room for some miserable arrangements connected with the modern cemetery.

It was in this basilica that Peter Courtenay, Count of Auxerre, with Yolande his wife, received the imperial crown of Constantinople from Honorius III. in 1217.

Adjoining the church is the very picturesque _Cloister of the Monastery_, built in 1190, for Cistercian monks, but assigned as a residence for any Patriarchs of Jerusalem who might visit Rome. Here are preserved many ancient inscriptions, and other fragments from the neighbouring catacombs.

The basilica is now almost engulfed in the Cemetery of S. Lorenzo, the great modern burial-ground of Rome. It was opened in 1837, but has been much enlarged in the last ten years. Hither wend the numerous funerals which are seen passing through the streets after Ave-Maria, with a procession of monks bearing candles. A frightful gate, with a laudatory inscription to Pius IX., and a hideous modern chapel, have been erected. There are very few fine monuments. The best are those in imitation of the cinque-cento tombs of which there are so many in the Roman churches. That by Podesti, the painter, to his wife, in the right corridor of the cloister, is touching. The higher ground to the left, behind the church, is occupied by the tombs of the rich. Those of the poor are indiscriminately scattered over a wide plain. A range of cliffs on the left were perforated by the catacombs of Sta. Cyriaca, which, with the bad taste so constantly displayed in Rome, have been wantonly and shamefully broken up. Those who do not wish to descend into a catacomb, may here see (from without) all their arrangements--in the passages lined with sepulchres, and even some small chapels, lined with rude frescoes, laid open to the air, where the cliff has been cut away.

A Roman funeral is a most sad sight, and strikes one with an unutterable sense of desolation.

"After a death the body is entirely abandoned to the priests, who
take possession of it, watch over it, and prepare it for burial;
while the family, if they can find refuge anywhere else, abandon
the house and remain away a week.... The body is not ordinarily
allowed to remain in the house more than twelve hours, except on
condition that it is sealed up in lead or zinc. At nightfall a sad
procession of _becchini_ and _frati_ may be seen coming down the
street, and stopping before the house of the dead. The _becchini_
are taken from the lowest classes of the people, and hired to carry
the corpse on the bier and to accompany it to the church and
cemetery. They are dressed in shabby black _cappe_, covering their
head and face as well as their body, and having two large holes cut
in front of the eyes to enable them to see. These _cappe_ are
girdled round the waist, and the dirty trousers and worn-out shoes
are miserably manifest under the skirts of their dress--showing
plainly that their duty is occasional. All the _frati_ and
_becchini_, except the four who carry the bier, are furnished with
wax candles, for no one is buried in Rome without a candle. You may
know the rank of the person to be buried by the lateness of the
hour and the number of the _frati_. If it be the funeral of a
person of wealth or a noble, it takes place at a late hour, the
procession of _frati_ is long, and the bier elegant. If it be a
state-funeral, as of a prince, carriages accompany it in mourning,
the coachman and lackeys are bedizened in their richest liveries,
and the state hammer-cloths are spread on the boxes, with the
family arms embossed on them in gold. But if it be a pauper's
funeral, there are only _becchini_ enough to carry the bier to the
grave, and two _frati_, each with a little candle; and the sunshine
is yet on the streets when they come to take away the corpse.

"You will see this procession stop before the house where the
corpse is lying. Some of the _becchini_ go up-stairs, and some keep
guard below. Scores of shabby men and boys are gathered round the
_frati_; some attracted simply by curiosity, and some for the
purpose of catching the wax, which gutters down from the candles as
they are blown by the wind. The latter may be known by the great
horns of paper which they carry in their hands. While this crowd
waits for the corpse, the _frati_ light their candles, and talk,
laugh, and take snuff together. Finally comes the body, borne down
by four of the _becchini_. It is in a common rough deal coffin,
more like an ill-made packing-case than anything else. No care or
expense has been laid out upon it to make it elegant, for it is
only to be seen for a moment. Then it is slid upon the bier, and
over it is drawn the black velvet pall with golden trimmings, on
which a cross, death's head, and bones are embroidered. Four of the
_becchini_ hoist it on their shoulders, the _frati_ break forth
into their hoarse chaunt, and the procession sets out for the
church. Little and big boys and shabby men follow along, holding up
their paper horns against the sloping candles to catch the dripping
wax. Every one takes off his hat, or makes the sign of the cross,
or mutters a prayer, as the body passes; and with a dull, sad,
monotonous chaunt, the candles gleaming and flaring, and casting
around them a yellow flickering glow, the funeral winds along
through the narrow streets, and under the sombre palaces and
buildings, where the shadows of night are deepening every moment.
The spectacle seen from a distance, and especially when looked down
upon from a window, is very effective; but it loses much of its
solemnity as you approach it; for the _frati_ are so vulgar, dirty,
and stupid, and seem so utterly indifferent and heartless, as they
mechanically croak out their psalms, that all other emotions yield
to a feeling of disgust."--_Story's Roba di Roma._

"Ces rapprochements soudains de l'antiquité et des temps modernes,
provoqués par la vue d'un monument dont la destinée se lie à l'une
et aux autres, sont très-fréquents à Rome. L'histoire poétique
d'Énée aurait pu m'en fournir plusieurs. Ainsi dans l'Énéide, aux
funérailles de Pallas, une longue procession s'avance, portant des
flambeaux funèbres, suivant l'usage antique, dit Virgile. En effet,
on se souvient que l'usage des cierges remontait à l'abolition des
sacrifices humains, accompli dans les temps héroïques par le dieu
pélasgique Hercule. La description que fait Virgile des funérailles
de Pallas pourrait convenir à un de ces enterrements romains où
l'on voit de longues files de capucins marchant processionnellement
en portant des cierges.

... 'Lucet via longo
Ordine flammarum.'"

_Æn._ xi. 143.

--_Ampère_, i. 217.

On the other side of the road from S. Lorenzo is the _Catacomb of St. Hippolytus_, interesting as described by the Christian poet Prudentius, who wrote at the end of the fourth century.

"Not far from the city walls, among the well-trimmed orchards,
there lies a crypt buried in darksome pits. Into its secret
recesses a steep path in the winding stairs directs one, even
though the turnings shut out the light. The light of day, indeed,
comes in through the doorway, as far as the surface of the opening,
and illuminates the threshold of the portico; and when, as you
advance further, the darkness as of night seems to get more and
more obscure throughout the mazes of the cavern, there occur at
intervals apertures cut in the roof which convey the bright rays of
the sun upon the cave. Although the recesses, twisting at random
this way and that, form narrow chambers with darksome galleries,
yet a considerable quantity of light finds its way through the
pierced vaulting down into the hollow bowels of the mountain. And
thus throughout the subterranean crypt it is possible to perceive
the brightness and enjoy the light of the absent sun. To such
secret places is the body of Hippolytus conveyed, near to the spot
where now stands the altar dedicated to God. That same altar-slab
(mensa) gives the sacrament, and is the faithful guardian of its
martyrs' bones, which it keeps laid up there in expectation of the
Eternal Judge, while it feeds the dwellers by the Tiber with holy
food. Wondrous is the sanctity of the place! The altar is at hand
for those who pray, and it assists the hopes of men by mercifully
granting what they need. Here have I, when sick with ills both of
soul and body, oftentimes prostrated myself in prayer and found
relief.... Early in the morning men come to salute (Hippolytus):
all the youth of the place worship here: they come and go until the
setting of the sun. Love of religion collects together into one
dense crowd both Latins and foreigners; they imprint their kisses
on the shining silver; they pour out their sweet balsams; they
bedew their faces with tears."--See _Roma Sotterranea_, p. 98.