"L'effet du courant rapide du fleuve est plutot de detruire les iles que d'en former. C'est ainsi qu'une petite ile a ete entrainee par la violence des eaux en 1718."--_Histoire Romaine a Rome._

On this island, anciently known as the _Isola Tiberina_, were three temples,--those, namely, of aesculapius:

"Unde Coroniden circumflua Tibridis alveo Insula Romuleae sacris adsciverit urbis."

_Ovid, Metam._ xv. 624.

"Accepit Phbo Nymphaque Coronide natum Insula, dividua quam premit amnis aqua."

_Ovid, Fast._ i. 291.

of Jupiter:

"Jupiter in parte est, cepit locus unus utrumque: Junctaque sunt magno templa nepotis avo."

_Ovid, Fast._ i. 293.

and of Faunus:

"Idibus agrestis fumant altaria Fauni, Hic ubi discretas insula rumpit aquas."

_Ovid, Fast._ ii. 193.

Here also was an altar to the Sabine god Semo-Sancus, whose inscription, legible in the early centuries of Christianity, led various ecclesiastical authors into the error that the words "Semoni Sanco"

referred to Simon Magus.[357]

In imperial times the island was used as a prison: among remarkable prisoners immured here was Arvandus, Prefect of Gaul, A.D. 468. In the reign of Claudius sick slaves were exposed and left to die here,--that emperor--by a strange contradiction in one who caused fallen gladiators to be butchered "for the pleasure of seeing them die"--making a law that any slave so exposed should receive his liberty if he recovered. In the middle ages the island was under the jurisdiction of the Cardinal Bishop of Porto, who lived in the Franciscan convent. Under Leo X. a fete was held here in which Camillo Querno, the papal poet, was crowned with ivy, laurel, and cabbage (!). In 1656 the whole island was appropriated as a hospital for those stricken with the plague,--a singular coincidence for the site of the temple of aesculapius.

The first building on the left, after passing the bridge, is a fine brick tower, of great historic interest, as the only relic of a castle, built by the family of the Anicii, of which St. Gregory the Great was a member, and two of whom were consuls together under Honorius:

"Est in Romuleo procumbens insula Tibri, Qua medius geminas interfluit alveus urbes, Discretas subeunte freto, pariterque minantes Ardua turrigerae surgunt in culmina ripae.

Hic stetit et subitum prospexit ab aggere votum.

Unanimes fratres junctos stipante senatu Ire forum, strictasque procul radiare secures, Atque uno bijuges tolli de limine fasces."

_Claudius, Paneg. in Prob. et Olyb. Cons._ 226.

From the Anicii the castle passed to the Gaetani. It was occupied as a fortress by the Countess Matilda, after she had driven the faction of the anti-pope Guibert out of the island, and was the refuge where two successive popes, Victor III. and Urban II., lived under her protection.[358]

The centre of the island is now occupied by the _Church and Convent of S. Bartolomeo_, which gives it its present name.

The piazza in front of the church is occupied by a pillar, erected at the private expense of Pius IX., to commemorate the opening of the Vatican Council of 1869--70,--adorned with statues of St. Bartholomew, St. Paulinus of Nola, St. Francis, and S. Giovanni di Dio. Here formerly stood an ancient obelisk (the only one of unknown origin). A fragment of it was long preserved at the Villa Albani, whence it is said to have been removed to Urbino. The church, a basilica, was founded by Otho III.

_c._ 1000; its campanile dates from 1118. The nave and aisles are divided by red granite columns, said to be relics of the ancient temple,--as is a marble well-head under the stairs leading to the tribune. This was restored in 1798, and dedicated to St. Adalbert of Gnesen, who bestowed upon the church its great relic, the body of St.

Bartholomew, which he asserted to have brought from Beneventum, though the inhabitants of that town profess that they still possess the _real_ body of the apostle, and sent that of St. Paulinus of Nola to Rome instead. The dispute about the possession of this relic ran so high as to lead to a siege of Beneventum in the middle ages. The convent belongs to the Franciscans (Frati-Minori), who will admit male visitors into their pretty little garden at the end of the island, to see the remains of

The Temple of aesculapius, built after the great plague in Rome, in B.C.

291, when, in accordance with the advice of the Sibylline books, ambassadors were sent to Epidaurus to bring aesculapius to Rome;--they returned with a statue of the god, but as their vessel sailed up the Tiber, a serpent, which had lain concealed during the voyage, glided from it, and landed on this spot, hailed by the people under the belief that aesculapius himself had thus come to them. In consequence of this story the form of a ship was given to this end of the island, and its bow may still be seen at the end of the convent garden, with the famous serpent of aesculapius sculptured upon it in high relief.[359] The curious remains still existing are not of sufficient size to bear out the assertion often made that the whole island was enclosed in the travertine form of a ship, of which the temple of Jupiter at the other end afterwards formed the prow, and the obelisk the mast.

"Pendant les guerres Samnites, Rome fut de nouveau frappee par une de ces maladies auxquelles elle etait souvent en proie; celle-ci dura trois annees. On eut recours aux livres Sibyllins. En cas pareil ils avaient prescrit de consacrer un temple a Apollon; cette fois ils prescrivirent d'aller a Epidaure chercher le fils d'Apollon, Esculape, et de l'amener a Rome. Esculape, sous la forme d'un serpent, fut transporte d'Epidaure dans l'ile Tiberine, ou on lui eleva un temple, et ou ont ete trouves des _ex-voto_, representant des bras, des jambes, diverses autres parties du corps humain, _ex-votos_ qu'on eut pu croire provenir d'une eglise de Rome, car le catholicisme romain a adopte cet usage paen sans y rien changer.

"Pourquoi place-t-on le temple d'Esculape en cet endroit? On a vu que l'ile Tiberine avait ete tres-anciennement consacree au culte d'un dieu des Latins primitifs, Faunus; or ce dieu rendait ses oracles pres des sources thermales; its devaient avoir souvent pour l'objet la guerison des malades qui venaient demander la sante a ces sources. De plus, les malades consultaient Esculape dans les songes par incubation, comme dans l'Ovide, Numa va consulter Faunus sur l'Aventin. Il n'est donc pas surprenant qu'on ait institue le culte du dieu grec de la sante, la ou le dieu latin Faunus rendait ses oracles dans des songes, et ou etaient probablement des sources d'eau chaude qui ont disparu comme les _lautulae_ pres du Forum romain.

"On donna a l'ile la forme d'un vaisseau, plus tard un obelisque figura le mat; en la regardant du Ponte Rotto, on reconnait encore tres bien cette forme, de ce cote, on voit sculpte sur le mur qui figure le vaisseau d'Esculape une image du dieu avec un serpent entortille autour de son sceptre. La belle statue d'Esculape, venue des jardins Farnese, passe pour avoir ete celle de l'ile Tiberine.

Un temple de Jupiter touchait a ce temple d'Esculape.

"Un jour que je visitais ce lieu, le sacristain de l'eglise de St.

Barthelemy me dit, '_Al tempo d'Esculapio quando Giove regnava._'

Phrase singuliere, et qui montre encore vivante une sorte de foi au paganisme chez les Romains."--_Ampere_, iii. 42.

Opposite S. Bartolomeo, on the site of the temple of Faunus, is the _Hospital of S. Giovanni Calabita_, also called _Benfratelli_, entirely under the care of the brethren of S. Giovanni di Dio, who cook, nurse, wash, and otherwise do all the work of those who pass under their care, often to the number of 1200 in the course of the year, though the hospital is very small.

"C'est a Pie V. que les freres de l'ordre de la _Charite_, institue par saint Jean de Dieu, durent leur premier etablissement a Rome.

"Au milieu du cortege triomphal qui accompagnait don Juan d'Autriche (1571), lors de son retour de Lepante, on remarquait un pauvre homme miserablement vetu et a l'attitude modeste. Il se nommait Sebastien Arias _des freres de Jean de Dieu_. Jean de Dieu etait mort sans laisser d'autre regle a ses disciples que ces touchantes paroles qu'il repetait sans cesse, _faites le bien, mes freres_; et Sebastien d'Arias venait a Rome pour demander au pape l'autorisation de former des couvents et d'avoir des hospices ou ils pussent suivre les exemples de devouement que leur avait laisses Jean de Dieu. Or, Sebastien rencontra don Juan a Naples, et le vainqueur de Lepante le prit avec lui. Il se chargea meme d'appuyer sa requete, et Pie V. s'empressa d'accorder aux freres non-seulement la bulle qu'ils desiraient, mais encore un monastere dans l'ile du Tibre."--_Gournerie_, _Rome Chretienne_, ii. 206.

A narrow lane near this leads to the other end of the island, where the temple of Jupiter stood. It is worth while to go thither for the sake of the view of the river and its bridges, which is to be obtained from a little quay leading to one of the numerous water-mills which exist near this. These floating _Mills_ (which bear sacred monograms upon their gables) are interesting as having been invented by Belisarius in order to supply the people and garrison with bread, during the siege of Rome by Vitiges, when the Goths had cut the aqueducts, and thus rendered the mills on the Janiculan useless.

The bridge, of one large and two smaller arches, which connects the island with the Trastevere, is now called the _Ponte S. Bartolomeo_, but was anciently the Pons Cestius, or Gratianus, built A.U.C. 708, by the Praetor Lucius Cestius, who was probably father to the Caius Cestius buried near the Porta S. Paolo. It was restored A.D. 370 by the emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, as is seen from the fragments of a red letter inscription on the inside of the parapet, in which the title "Pontifex Maximus" is ascribed to each--"a tide accepted without hesitation," says Gibbon, "by seven Christian emperors, who were invested with more absolute authority over the religion they had deserted, than over that which they professed."

We now enter _the Trastevere_, the city "across the Tiber,"--the portion of Rome which is most unaltered from mediaeval times, and whose narrow streets are still overlooked by many ancient towers, gothic windows, and curious fragments of sculpture. The inhabitants on this side differ in many respects from those on the other side of the Tiber. They pride themselves upon being born "Trasteverini," profess to be the direct descendants of the ancient Romans, seldom intermarry with their neighbours, and speak a dialect peculiarly their own. It is said that in their dispositions also they differ from the other Romans, that they are a far more hasty, passionate, and revengeful, as they are a stronger and more vigorous race. The proportion of murders (a crime far less common in Rome than in England) is larger in this than in any other part of the city. This, it is believed, is partly due to the extreme excitement which the Trasteverini display in the pursuit of their national games, especially that of Morra:--

"Morra is played by the men, and merely consists in holding up, in rapid succession, any number of fingers they please, calling out at the same time the number their antagonist shows. Nothing, seemingly, can be more simple or less interesting. Yet, to see them play, so violent are their gestures, that you would imagine them possessed by some diabolical passion. The eagerness and rapidity with which they carry it on render it very liable to mistake and altercation; then frenzy fires them, and too often furious disputes arise at this trivial play that end in murder. Morra seems to differ in no respect from the _Micare Digitis_ of the ancient Romans."--_Eaton's Rome._

A house with gothic windows on the right, soon after passing the bridge, is pointed out as that once inhabited by the _Fornarina_, beloved of Raphael, and so well known to us from his portrait of her in the Tribune at Florence.

Crossing the Via Longarina, we find ourselves in the little piazza of _S. Benedetto a Piscinuola_, where there is a tiny church, with a good brick campanile intersected by terra-cotta mouldings, which occupies the site of the house inhabited by St. Benedict before his retreat to Subiaco. The exterior is uninviting, but the interior very curious; an atrium with antique columns opens to a vaulted chapel (of the same design as the Orto del Paradiso at Sta. Prassede), in which is a picture of the Virgin and Child, revered as that before which St. Benedict was wont to pray. Hence is entered the cell of the saint, of rough-hewn stones. His stone pillow is shown.

The church has ancient pillars, and a rich opus-alexandrinum pavement.

"Over the high altar is a picture--full-length--of St. Benedict, which Mabillon ('Iter Italicum') considers a genuine contemporary portrait--though Nibby and other critics suppose it less ancient.

The figure on gold background is seated in a chair with gothic carvings, such as were in mediaeval use; the black cowl is drawn over the head, the hair and beard are white; the aspect is serious and thoughtful, in one hand a crozier, in the other the book of rules drawn up by the Saint, displaying the words with which they begin: 'Ausculta fili precepta magistri."--_Hemans' Ancient Sacred Art._

Turning down the Via Longarina towards the river, we pass, on the left, considerable remains of the old mediaeval _Castle of the Alberteschi Family_, consisting of a block of palatial buildings of handsome masonry, with numerous antique fragments built into them, and a very rich porch sculptured with egg and billet mouldings of _c._ A.D. 1150, and beyond these, separated from them by a modern street, a high brick tower of _c._ A.D. 1100. Above one of the windows of this tower, a head of Jupiter is engrafted in the wall.

We now reach the entrance of the Ponte Rotto (described Chap. V.). Close to this bridge is the Church of _S. Crispino al Ponte_ (the saint is buried at S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna). The front is modernized, but the east end displays rich terra-cotta cornices, and is very picturesque. On the river bank below this are the colossal lions' heads mentioned in Chap. V.

Turning up the Via dei Vascellari, we pass on the right, the ancient _Palace of the Ponziani Family_, once magnificent, but now of humble and rude exterior, and scarcely to be distinguished, except in March, during the festa of Sta. Francesca Romana, when old tapestries are hung out upon its white-washed walls, and the street in front is thickly strewn with box-leaves.

"The modern building that has been raised on the foundation of the old palace is the Casa dei Esercizii Pii, for the young men of the city. There the repentant sinner who longs to break the chain of sin, the youth beset by some strong temptation, one who has heard the inward voice summoning him to higher paths of virtue, another who is in doubt as to the particular line of life to which he is called, may come, and leave behind him for three, or five, or ten days, as it may be, the busy world, with all its distractions and its agitations, and, free for the time being from temporal cares, the wants of the body being provided for, and the mind at rest, may commune with God and their own souls.

"Over the Casa dei Esercizii Pii the sweet spirit of Francesca seems still to preside. On the day of her festival its rooms are thrown open, every memorial of the gentle saint is exhibited, lights burn on numerous altars, flowers deck the passages, leaves are strewn in the chapel, on the stairs, in the entrance-court; gay carpets, figured tapestry, and crimson silks hang over the door, and crowds of people go in and out, and kneel before the relics or the pictures of the dear saint of Rome. It is a touching festival, which carries back the mind to the day when the young bride of Lorenzo Ponziano entered these walls for the first time, in all the sacred beauty of holiness and youth."--_Lady G. Fullerton._

In this house, also, Sta. Francesca Romana died, having come hither from her convent to nurse her son who was ill, and having been then seized with mortal illness herself.

"Touching were the last words of the dying mother to her spiritual children: 'Love, love,' was the burden of her teaching, as it had been that of the beloved disciple. 'Love one another,' she said, 'and be faithful unto death. Satan will assault you, as he has assaulted me, but be not afraid. You will overcome him through patience and obedience; and no trial will be too grievous, if you are united to Jesus; if you walk in His ways, He will be with you.'

On the seventh day of her illness, as she had herself announced, her life came to a close. A sublime expression animated her face, a more ethereal beauty clothed her earthly form. Her confessor for the last time inquired what it was her enraptured eyes beheld, and she answered, 'The heavens open! the angels descend! the angel has finished his task. He stands before me. He beckons me to follow him.' These were the last words Francesca uttered."--_Lady G.

Fullerton's Life of Sta. F. Romana._

Almost opposite the Ponziani Palace, an alley leads to the small chapel of _Sta. Maria in Cappella_, which has a good brick campanile, dating from 1090. This building is attached to a hospital for poor women ill of incurable diseases, attended by sisters of charity, and entirely under the patronage of the Doria family.