"Oswald went next to the monastery of S. Buenaventura, built on the ruins of Nero's palace. There, where so many crimes had reigned remorselessly, poor friars, tormented by conscientious scruples, doom themselves to fasts and stripes for the least omission of duty. 'Our only hope,' said one, 'is that when we die, our faults will not have exceeded our penances.' Nevill, as he entered, stumbled over a trap, and asked its purpose. 'It is through that we are interred,' answered one of the youngest, already a prey to the bad air. The natives of the south fear death so much that it is wondrous to find there these perpetual mementoes; yet nature is often fascinated by what she dreads, and such an intoxication fills the soul exclusively. The antique sarcophagus of a child serves as the fountain of this institution. The boasted palm of Rome is the only tree of its garden."--_Madame de Stael, Corinne._

The arch of Titus is spoken of as being "in summa _Via Sacra_," as the street was called which led from the southern gate of Rome to the Capitol, and by which the victorious generals passed in their triumphant processions to the temple of Jupiter. Between the arch of Titus and the Coliseum, the ancient pavement of this famous road, composed of huge polygonal blocks of lava, has been allowed to remain. Here we may imagine Horace taking his favourite walk.

"Ibam forte Via Sacra, sicut meus est mos, Nescio quid meditans nugarum, et totus in illis."

_Sat._ i. 9.

It appears to have been the favourite resort of the _flaneurs_ of the day:

"Videsne, Sacram metiente te viam Cum bis ter ulnarum toga, Ut ora vertat huc et huc euntium Liberrima indignatio?"

_Horace, Epod._ 4.

The Via Sacra was originally bordered with shops, some of which, together with some baths, have been unearthed on the right of the road.

Ovid alludes frequently to the purchases which might be made there in his time. In this especial part of the Via was the market for fruit and honey.[68]

"Dum bene dives ager, dum rami pondere nutant; Adferat in calatho rustica dona puer.

Rure suburbano poteris tibi dicere missa; Illa vel in Sacra sint licet empta Via."

_Ovid, Art. Aman._ ii. 263.

At the foot of the hill are the remains of the bason and the brick cone of a fountain called _Meta Sudans_, where the gladiators used to wash.

Seneca, who lived in this neighbourhood, complains (Epist. lvi.) of the noise which was made by a showman who blew his trumpet close to this fountain.

On the right the Via Triumphalis leads to the Via Appia, passing under the _Arch of Constantine_. The lower bas-reliefs upon this arch, which are crude and ill-designed, refer to the deeds of Constantine; but the upper, of fine workmanship, illustrate the life of Trajan, which has led some to imagine that the arch was originally erected in honour of Trajan, and afterwards appropriated by Constantine. They were, however, removed from an arch of Trajan (whose ruins existed in 1430[69]), and were appropriated by Constantine for his own arch.

"Constantin a enleve a un arc de triomphe de Trajan les statues de prisonniers daces que l'on voit au sommet du sien. Ce vol a ete puni au seizieme siecle, car, dans ce qui semble un acces de folie, Lorenzino, le bizarre assassin d'Alexandre de Medicis a decapite toutes les statues qui surmontaient l'arche Constantin, moins une, la seule dont la tete soit antique. Heureusement on a dans les musees, a Rome et ailleurs, bon nombre de ces statues de captifs barbares avec le meme costume, c'est-a-dire le pantalon et le bonnet, souvent les mains liees, dans une attitude de soumission morne, quelque fois avec une expression de sombre fierte, car l'art romain avait la noblesse de ne pas humilier les vaincus; il ne les representait point a genoux, foules aux pieds par leurs vainqueurs; on ne donnait pas a leurs traits etranges un aspect qu'on eut pu rendre hideux; on les placait sur le sommet des arcs de triomphe, debout, la tete baissee, l'air triste."

"'Summus tristis captivus in arcu.'"

_Ampere, Emp._ ii. 169.

The arch was further plundered by Clement VIII., who carried off one of its eight Corinthian columns to finish a chapel at the Lateran. They were formerly _all_ of giallo-antico. But it is still the most striking and beautiful of the Roman arches.

"L'inscription gravee sur l'arc de Constantin est curieuse par le vague de l'expression en ce qui touche aux idees religieuses, par l'indecision calculee des termes dont se servait un senat qui voulait eviter de se compromettre dans un sens comme dans l'autre.

L'inscription porte que cet arc a ete dedie a l'empereur parcequ'il a delivre la republique d'un tyran (on dit encore la republique!) par la grandeur de son ame et une inspiration de la Divinite, _instinctu Divinitatis_. Il parait meme que ces mots ont ete ajoutes apres coup pour remplacer une formule peut-etre plus explicitement paenne. Ce monument, qui celebre le triomphe de Constantin, ne proclame donc pas encore nettement le triomphe du Christianisme. Comment s'en etonner, quand sur les monnaies de cet empereur on voit d'un cote le monogramme du Christ et l'autre l'effigie de Rome, qui etait une divinite pour les paens?"--_Ampere, Emp._ ii. 355.

We now turn to the _Coliseum_, originally called The Flavian Amphitheatre. This vast building was begun in A.D. 72, upon the site of the reservoir of Nero, by the Emperor Vespasian, who built as far as the third row of arches, the last two rows being finished by Titus after his return from the conquest of Jerusalem. It is said that 12,000 captive Jews were employed in this work, as the Hebrews in building the Pyramids of Egypt, and that the external walls alone cost a sum equal to 17,000,000 francs. It consists of four stories, the first Doric, the second Ionic, the third and fourth Corinthian. Its circumference is 1641 feet, its length is 287, its width 182, its height 157. The entrance for the emperor was between two arches facing the Esquiline, where there is no cornice. Here there are remains of stucco decoration. On the opposite side was a similar entrance from the Palatine. Towards S. Gregorio has been discovered the subterranean passage in which the Emperor Commodus was near being assassinated. The numerous holes visible all over the exterior of the building were made in the middle ages, to extract the iron cramps, at that time of great value. The arena was surrounded by a wall sufficiently high to protect the spectators from the wild beasts, who were introduced by subterranean passages closed by huge gates, from the side towards the Clian. The _podium_ contained the places of honour reserved for the Emperor and his family, the Senate, and the Vestal virgins. The places for the other spectators who entered by openings called _vomitoria_, were arranged in three stages (_caveae_), separated by a gallery (_praecinctio_). The first stage for knights and tribunes, had 24 steps, the second (for the common people) 16, the third (for the soldiery) 10. The women, by order of the emperor, sate apart from the men, and married and unmarried men were also divided. The whole building was probably capable of containing 100,000 persons. At the top, on the exterior, may be seen the remains of the consoles which sustained the _velarium_ which was drawn over the arena to shelter the spectators from the sun or rain. The arena could on occasions be filled with water for the sake of naval combats.

Nothing is known with certainty as to the architect of the Coliseum, though a tradition of the Church (founded on an inscription in the crypt of S. Martino al Monte), ascribes it to Gaudentius, a Christian martyr, who afterwards suffered on the spot.[70]

"The name of the architect to whom the great work of the Coliseum was entrusted has not come down to us. The ancients seem themselves to have regarded this name as a matter of little interest; nor, in fact, do they generally care to specify the authorship of their most illustrious buildings. The reason is obvious. The forms of ancient art in this department were almost wholly conventional, and the limits of design within which they were executed gave little room for the display of original taste and special character.... It is only in periods of eclecticism and renaissance, when the taste of the architect has wider scope, and may lead the eye instead of following it, that interest attaches to his personal merit. Thus it is that the Coliseum, the most conspicuous type of Roman civilisation, the monument which divides the admiration of strangers in modern Rome with St. Peter's itself, is nameless and parentless, while every stage in the construction of the great Christian temple, the creation of a modern revival, is appropriated with jealous care to its special claimants.

"The dedication of the Coliseum afforded to Titus an opportunity for a display of magnificence hitherto unrivalled, A battle of cranes with dwarfs representing the pigmies was a fanciful novelty, and might afford diversion for a moment; there were combats of gladiators, among whom women were included, though no noble matron was allowed to mingle in the fray; and the capacity of the vast edifice was tested by the slaughter of five thousand animals in its circuit. The show was crowned with the immission of water into the arena, and with a sea-fight representing the contests of the Corinthians and Corcyreans, related by Thucydides.... When all was over, Titus himself was seen to weep, perhaps from fatigue, possibly from vexation and disgust; but his tears were interpreted as a presentiment of his death, which was now impending, and it is probable that he was already suffering from a decline of bodily strength.... He lamented effeminately the premature decease he too surely anticipated, and, looking wistfully at the heavens, exclaimed that he did not deserve to die. He expired on the 13th September, 81, not having quite completed his fortieth year."--_Merivale_, ch. Ix.

"Hadrian gave a series of entertainments in honour of his birth-day, with the slaughter of a thousand beasts, including a hundred lions and as many lionesses. One magical scene was the representation of forests, when the whole arena became planted with living trees, shrubs, and flowers; to complete which illusion the ground was made to open, and send forth wild animals from yawning clefts, instantly re-covered with bushes.

"One may imagine the frantic excess to which the taste for gladiatorial combats was carried in Rome, from the preventive law of Augustus that gladiators should no more combat without permission of the senate; that praetors should not give these spectacles more than twice a year; that more than sixty couples should not engage at the same time; and that neither knights nor senators should ever contend in the arena. The gladiators were classified according to the national manner of fighting which they imitated. Thus were distinguished the Gothic, Dacian, Thracian, and Samnite combatants; the _Retiarii_, who entangled their opponents in nets thrown with the left hand, defending themselves with tridents in the right; the _Secutores_, whose special skill was in pursuit; the _Laqueatores_, who threw slings against their adversaries; the _Dimachae_, armed with a short sword in each hand; the _Hoplomachi_, armed at all points; the _Myrmillones_, so called from the figure of a fish at the crest of the Gallic helmet they wore; the _Bustuarii_, who fought at funeral games; the _Bestiarii_, who only assailed animals; other classes who fought on horseback, called _Andabates_; and those combating in chariots drawn by two horses, _Essedarii_. Gladiators were originally slaves, or prisoners of war; but the armies who contended on the Roman arena in later epochs, were divided into compulsory and voluntary combatants, the former alone composed of slaves, or condemned criminals. The latter went through a laborious education in their art, supported at the public cost, and instructed by masters called _Lanistae_, resident in colleges, called _Ludi_. To the eternal disgrace of the morals of Imperial Rome, it is recorded that women sometimes fought in the arena, without more modesty than hired gladiators. The exhibition of himself in this character by Commodus, was a degradation of the imperial dignity, perhaps more infamous, according to ancient Roman notions, than the theatrical performances of Nero."--_Hemans' Story of Monuments in Rome._

The Emperor Commodus (A.D. 180-182), frequently fought in the Coliseum himself, and killed both gladiators and wild beasts, calling himself Hercules, dressed in a lion's-skin, with his hair sprinkled with gold-dust.

The gladiatorial combats came to an end, when, in A.D. 403, an oriental monk named Telemachus, was so horrified at them, that he rushed into the midst of the arena and besought the spectators to renounce them: instead of listening to him, they stoned him to death. The first martyrdom here was that of St Ignatius, said to have been the child especially blessed by our Saviour--the disciple of John--and the companion of Polycarp--who was sent here from Antioch, where he was bishop. When brought into the arena, he knelt down, and exclaimed, "Romans who are present, know that I have not been brought into this place for any crime, but in order that by this means I may merit the fruition of the glory of God, for love of whom I have been made prisoner. I am as the grain of the field, and must be ground by the teeth of the lions, that I may become bread fit for His table." The lions were then let loose, and devoured him, except the larger bones, which the Christians collected during the night.

"It is related of Ignatius that he grew up in such innocence of heart and purity of life, that to him it was granted to hear the angels sing; hence, when he became bishop of Antioch, he introduced into the service of his church the practice of singing the praises of God in responses, as he had heard the choirs of angels answering each other.... His story and fate are so well attested, and so sublimely affecting, that it has always been to me a cause of surprise as well as regret to find so few representations of him."--_Jameson's Sacred Art_, 693.

Soon after the death of Ignatius, 115 Christians were shot down here with arrows. Under Hadrian, A.D. 218, a patrician named Placidus, his wife Theophista, and his two sons, were first exposed here to the wild beasts, but when these refused to touch them were shut up in a brazen bull, and roasted by a fire lighted beneath. In 253, Abdon and Sennen, two rich citizens of Babylon, were exposed here to two lions and four bears, but on their refusing to attack them, were killed by the swords of the gladiators. In A.D. 259, Sempronius, Olympius, Theodulus, and Exuperia, were burnt at the entrance of the Coliseum, before the statue of the Sun. In A.D. 272, Sta. Prisca was vainly exposed here to a lion, then starved for three days, then stretched on a rack to have her flesh torn by iron hooks, then put into a furnace, and--having survived all these torments--was finally beheaded. In A.D. 277, Sta. Martina, another noble Roman lady, was exposed in vain to the beasts and afterwards beheaded in the Coliseum. St. Alexander under Antoninus; St. Potitus, 168; St. Eleutherius, bishop of Illyria, under Hadrian; St Maximus, son of a senator, 284; and Vitus, Crescentia, and Modesta, under Domitian, were also martyred here.[71]

"It is no fiction, but plain, sober, honest truth, to say: so suggestive and distinct is it at this hour: that, for a moment--actually in passing in--they who will, may have the whole great pile before them, as it used to be, with thousands of eager faces staring down into the arena, and such a whirl of strife, and blood, and dust going on there, as no language can describe. Its solitude, its awful beauty, and its utter desolation, strike upon the stranger, the next moment, like a softened sorrow; and never in his life, perhaps, will he be so moved and overcome by any sight, not immediately connected with his own affections and afflictions.

"To see it crumbling there, an inch a year; its walls and arches overgrown with green, its corridors open to the day; the long grass growing in its porches; young trees of yesterday springing up on its ragged parapets, and bearing fruit--chance produce of the seeds dropped there by the birds who build their nests within its chinks and crannies; to see its pit of fight filled up with earth, and the peaceful cross planted in the centre; to climb into its upper halls, and look down on ruin, ruin, ruin, all about it; the triumphal arches of Constantine, Septimius Severus, and Titus, the Roman Forum, the Palace of the Caesars, the temples of the old religion, fallen down and gone; is to see the ghost of old Rome, wicked, wonderful old city, haunting the very ground on which its people trod. It is the most impressive, the most stately, the most solemn, grand, majestic, mournful sight conceivable. Never, in its bloodiest prime, can the sight of the gigantic Coliseum, full and running over with the lustiest life, have moved one heart, as it must move all who look upon it now, a ruin. God be thanked: a ruin!

"As it tops all other ruins: standing there, a mountain among graves: so do its ancient influences outlive all other remnants of the old mythology and old butchery of Rome, in the nature of the fierce and cruel Roman people. The Italian face changes as the visitor approaches the city; its beauty becomes devilish; and there is scarcely one countenance in a hundred, among the common people in the streets, that would not be at home and happy in a renovated Coliseum to-morrow."--_Dickens._

The spot where the Christian martyrs suffered is now marked by a tall cross, devoutly kissed by the faithful,--and all round the arena of the Coliseum, are the small chapels or "stations," used in the Via Crucis, which is observed here at 4 P.M. every Friday, when a confraternity clothed in grey, with only the eyes visible, is followed by a crowd of worshippers who chaunt and pray at each station in turn,--after which a Capuchin monk preaches from a pulpit on the left of the arena. These sermons are often very striking, being delivered in a familiar style, and upon popular subjects of the day, but they also often border on the burlesque.

"Oswald voulut aller au Colisee pour entendre le Capucin qui devait y precher en plein air au pied de l'un des autels qui designent, dans l'interieur de l'enceinte, ce qu'on appelle _la route de la Croix_. Quel plus beau sujet pour l'eloquence que l'aspect de ce monument, que cette arene ou les martyrs ont succede aux gladiateurs! Mais il ne faut rien esperer a cet egard du pauvre Capucin, qui ne connait de l'histoire des hommes que sa propre vie.

Neanmoins, si l'on parvient a ne pas ecouter son mauvais sermon, on se sent emu par les divers objets dont il est entoure. La plupart de ses auditeurs sont de la confrerie des Camaldules; ils se revetent, pendant les exercises religieux, d'une espece de robe grise qui couvre entierement la tete et le corps, et ne laisse que deux petites ouvertures pour les yeux; c'est ainsi que les ombres pourraient etre representees. Ces hommes, ainsi caches sous leurs vetements, se prosternent la face contre terre, et se frappent la poitrine. Quand le predicateur se jette a genoux en criant _misericorde de pitie!_ le peuple qui l'environne se jette aussi a genoux, et repete ce meme cri, qui va se perdre sous les vieux portiques du Colisee. Il est impossible de ne pas eprouver alors une emotion profondement religieuse; cet appel de la douleur a la bonte, de la terre au ciel, remue l'ame jusque dans son sanctuaire le plus intime."--_Madame de Stael._

"'C'est aujourd'hui Vendredi,' dit Guy, 'il y aura foule au Colisee, il vaudrait mieux, je crois, y aller un autre jour.'

"'Non, non,' dit Eveline, 'c'est precisement pour cela que je veux y aller. On m'a dit qu'il fallait le voir ainsi rempli de monde, et que d'ailleurs cette fete etait curieuse.'

"'Ce n'est pas une fete,' dit Guy gravement, 'c'est un simple acte de devotion qui se repete tous les Vendredis.'

"'En verite,' dit Eveline, 'et pourquoi le Vendredi?'

"'Parceque c'est le jour ou Christ est mort pour nous; par cette raison, vous ne l'ignorez pas, ce jour est demeure consacre dans le monde chretien ... dans le monde catholique du moins,' repondit Guy.

"'Mais a quel propos choisit-on le Colisee pour s'y reunir ce jour la?'

"'Parceque le Colisee a ete baigne du sang des martyrs et que leur souvenir se mele la plus qu'ailleurs a celui de la croix pour laquelle ils l'ont verse.'"--_Mrs. Augustus Craven in Anne Severin._

The pulpit of the Coliseum was used for the stormy sermons of Gavazzi, who called the people to arms from thence in the revolution of March, 1848.

It is well worth while to ascend to the upper galleries (a man who lives near the entrance from the Forum will open a locked door for the purpose), as then only is it possible to realize the vast size and grandeur of the building.

"_May, 1827._--Lastly, we ascended to the top of the Coliseum, Bunsen leaving us at the door, to go home; and I seated myself just above the main entrance, towards the Forum, and there took my farewell look over Rome. It was a delicious evening, and everything was looking to advantage:--the huge Coliseum just under me, the tufts of ilex and aliternus and other shrubs that fringe the walls everywhere in the lower part, while the outside wall, with its top of gigantic stones, lifts itself high above, and seems like a mountain barrier of bare rock, enclosing a green and varied valley.

I sat and gazed upon the scene with an intense and mingled feeling.

The world could show nothing grander; it was one which for years I had longed to see, and I was now looking at it for the last time.

When I last see the dome of St. Peter's I shall seem to be parting from more than a mere town full of curiosities, where the eye has been amused, and the intellect gratified. I never thought to have felt thus tenderly towards Rome; but the inexplicable solemnity and beauty of her ruined condition has quite bewitched me, and to the latest hour of my life I shall remember the Forum, the surrounding hills, and the magnificent Coliseum."--_Arnold's Letters._

The upper arches frame a series of views of the Aventine, the Capitoline, the Clian, and the Campagna, like a succession of beautiful pictures.

Those who visit the Coliseum by moonlight will realize the truthfulness of the following descriptions:--

"I do remember me, that in my youth, When I was wandering,--upon such a night, I stood within the Coliseum's wall, Midst the chief relics of almighty Rome; The trees which grew along the broken arches Waved dark in the blue midnight, and the stars Shone through the rents of ruin; from afar The watch-dog bayed beyond the Tiber; and More near from out the Caesar's palace came The owl's long cry, and, interruptedly, Of distant sentinels the fitful song Began and died upon the gentle wind:-- Some cypresses beyond the time-worn breach Appeared to skirt the horizon, yet they stood Within a bowshot where the Caesars dwelt, And dwell the tuneless birds of night, amidst A grove which springs through levell'd battlements, And twines its roots with the imperial hearths; Ivy usurps the laurel's place of growth;-- But the gladiator's bloody circus stands, A noble wreck in ruinous perfection!