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pulcrum littus," or

"beautiful shore"

UPON the " of the Tiber, as this portion of the city was formerly termed, stand the remains of a temple which for centuries has passed under the name of the Temple of Vesta. It is chiefly upon poetical authority that the building has received this appellation. We learn from Ovid that Numa dedicated a temple to this goddess, and that the edifice was circular in shape; while from Horace we know that it was injured in the overflow of the Tiber.

Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis
Littore Etrusco violenter undis,
Ire dejectum monumenta regis
Templaque Vestæ.

From this passage it has been conjectured, and certainly with much plausibility, that the temple of which the poet speaks is no other than that represented in the

plate; which is situated between the Arch of Janus and the river, and therefore exposed to the swellings of the tide. On the other hand, we are told that it appears, from numerous and unquestionable authorities, that the Temple of Vesta stood in the Forum; and, moreover, that there was not more than one temple dedicated to that goddess in the city. It is said, also, that the passage of Horace is perfectly reconcileable with this hypothesis, since it is known that the floods from the Tiber have occasionally reached the Forum. The opponents of Vesta have bestowed the temple upon Hercules. But amidst the variety of conflicting arguments and proofs, tradition is, perhaps, the safest guide; and the goddess may fairly be left in possession of the fane over which she has presided for so many centuries.

Whatever disputes may exist with regard to the name of the edifice, one opinion only prevails on the subject of its elegance and beauty. It is a circular building, composed entirely of Parian marble, with a colonnade, consisting formerly of twenty fluted Corinthian columns, one of which is now wanting. The entablature and the ancient roofs have long since disappeared; and instead of the latter, a covering of coarse tiles rests upon and defaces the beautiful pillars of the building. The columns are thirty-five feet high, and the whole circumference of the building is one hundred and seventy feet. Until lately the intercolumniation was filled by a brick wall; but this odious deformity was removed by the French. Within the colonnade is a circular cella of white marble, the stones of which are so skilfully joined as to give to the whole the appearance of one mass. It was con

secrated, as a christian church, to St. Stephen, and afterwards to the Madonna, under the title of "La Madonna del Sole."

Of the age to which this building is to be referred, it is difficult to form a judgment. If those antiquarians are right, who have bestowed upon it the name of the Temple of Vesta, we learn from Tacitus that it was burned in the fire of Nero. It suffered again from a conflagration in 191, under Commodus, and was restored by Julia Pia, the wife of Septimus Severus. This it is supposed is the structure, the remains of which we now see.

In the immediate neighbourhood of the Temple of Vesta is that of Fortuna Virilis, now the church of Santa Maria Egeziaca. The scepticism of the antiquaries has extended to this as to most of the other remains of ancient Rome, and the name of the presiding deity has been frequently changed. A temple was certainly dedicated to Fortuna Virilis by Servius Tullius, but that building was destroyed by fire. Whether the present structure was erected on the site of the ancient temple is very uncertain. It is said, indeed, that the Temple of Fortuna Virilis was situated in the Foro Boario, while these ruins appear to be without the limits of that forum. The remains of the temple consist of seven fluted Ionic columns, forming the side of the building; and of the four columns of the portico, now partly concealed by the wall of the church. The fact that this temple is constructed of stone, while the remains of all the other temples are marble, has, together with the plainness and solidity of the structure, induced a belief that it was a work of the republic. Winkelman has passed a severe

censure upon the architecture of this building, terming it "il piu peggio di tutti."

In the immediate neighbourhood of the Temple of Vesta, and opposite to the Ponte Rotto, stands a house built of brick, and fantastically ornamented with fragments of ancient architecture. This building, from what cause it is extremely difficult to say, has long been known by the name of "the House of Pilate." From an inscription still remaining upon the walls, it appears that it was formerly the habitation of the celebrated Nicola or Cola di Rienzi, the Tribune of Rome, whose singular and romantic history forms one of the most interesting episodes in the annals of modern times. We find him a patriot, inflamed with the love of freedom, inspired by the ancient history of his country, haranguing his fellowcitizens, and preparing them for the mighty change which he afterwards accomplished.—We find him the successful leader of a popular insurrection, the founder and head of a system which was to restore to Rome her ancient liberty and greatness-we see him, in his character of tribune, repressing the violence of the nobles, restoring order in every department, and wielding the energies of the state with dignity and with wisdom. Such was Rienzi before the possession of power intoxicated his brain; but the adulation of his adherents, and the folly and supineness of the people, seem totally to have changed his character.

In the next stage of his career we find him arrogating to himself an imperial pomp, surrounding himself with the guards and the ensigns of royalty, and summoning to the fantastic ceremony of his knighthood all the splen

dour and nobility of Rome.-We see him, at the extremity of his despotic vanity, citing to his presence emperors and kings, and indulging in the wild imagination of an universal empire. But a more extravagant ceremony still remained to be performed. Rienzi, who to the fervour of the patriot added the enthusiasm of the fanatic, pretended to a communion with the Holy Ghost, a gift typified in the ceremony of his coronation, when, to denote the seven gifts of the spirit, he was crowned successively with seven crowns of various leaves or metals.

In the disgrace and deposition of Rienzi, after a reign of seven months, there was little to regret; for from the dream of liberty, in which, at the commencement of his career, good men had indulged, they had long awakened. The subsequent history of the tribune has cast upon his memory a well-grounded suspicion of his sincerity, even when his professions in favour of freedom were at the highest. After an imprisonment of some months, he condescended to accept from the hands of the pontiff the name and the office of senator, and to become a part of that government which he had so successfully laboured to overturn. But they whom he had so grossly misled could not forgive the apostate. The Roman nobles fomented against him the natural feeling of popular indignation, and Rienzi fell on the very spot which had been the scene of his vain and wicked pretensions to despotic authority. The picture of the tribune's death has been painted by the hand of Gibbon. "In the death as in the life of Rienzi, the hero and the coward were strangely

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