which is about one mile in length from the Piazza del Popolo, or great northern entrance of Rome, a handsome open place with an obelisk in the middle, to the palace of Venice, near the foot of the Capitol. Two other streets branch out from the Piazza del Popolo, on the right and left of the Corso, and at an acute angle with it. One leads south-east to the fine open place called Piazza di Spagna, the great resort of foreigners, at the foot of the Pincian Mount, after crossing which, it continues in the same direction to the College of Propaganda at the foot of the Quirinal. The other street, called Ripetta, runs in a south direction, parallel to the bank of the Tiber, and then, following the bend of the river, leads, under a different name, to the bridge of Sant' Angelo. About the middle of the Corso is a square, called Piazza Colonna, from the antient pillar which stands in the middle of it. [ÁNTONINE COLUMN.] Immediately to the west of the Piazza Colonna is an irregular square, which crowns a slight eminence called Monte Citorio, or Citatorio, a small hill which rises in the middle of the Campus Martius. It contains a fine building, called Curia Innocenziana, in which the courts of justice sit: a handsome obelisk stands in front of it. Returning to the Corso, and following it southwards, we meet with a street on the left, which leads to the Fontana di Trevi, the handsomest fountain in Rome, and then we come to another street, leading to the ascent of the Quirinal, or Monte Cavallo. Farther up the Corso, on the right, is a wide street, called Strada del Gesù, which leads to the splendid church and convent of that name, the head-quarters of the Order of the Jesuits, from whence, turning to the left, is a street that leads to the foot of the Capitol. The whole of this part of the city, in the neighbourhood of the Corso, consists chiefly of regular and substantial buildings. The most remarkable are: 1. the Palazzo Borghese, near Ripetta, one of the largest and finest in Rome; it contains a choice collection of paintings, by Titian, Domenichino, Albano, Annibale Caracci, Caravaggio, Parmigiano, and other great masters. 2. Further north the old mausoleum of Augustus has been transformed into an amphitheatre, called Correa, for bull-fights, fireworks, and other popular diversions. 3. Palazzo Ruspoli, on the Corso, in a good style of architecture, by Ammanato, has a much-admired staircase, constructed by Martino Longhi, consisting of 115 steps, each of a single block of white marble. The extensive ground-floor of the palace has been converted into a coffeehouse, which is the largest in Rome, and consists of various rooms, where several 'crocchi,' or clubs of lawyers, merchants, and other persons assemble, that of the contributors to the 'Giornale Arcadico,' the literary review of Rome, among the rest. The club of the artists is held at the Caffé del Greco, in the Piazza di Spagna; that of the antiquarians at the caffé of Fontana di Trevi; the club of professors and other men of letters meets at the Caffé di Monte Citorio. 4. Palazzo Ghigi, which forms the north side of the Piazza Colonna, contains some choice paintings, and a fine library rich in curious MSS., among others an inedited chronicle of the monastery of Mount Soracte; a copy of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, written in the eleventh century; several letters of Melancthon; one of Henry VIII. of England, concerning Luther; about twenty volumes of original documents relative to the treaty of Westphalia; a handsome parchment volume, in folio, containing French and Flemish music of the fifteenth century, &c. 5. Palazzo Piombino, on the opposite or south side of the square. 6. Palazzo Sciarra Colonna, on the Corso, has a rich collection of paintings and a handsome Doric marble gate. 7. Palazzo Doria, a vast building, designed by Borromino, also contains a gallery of choice paintings. 8. The Palazzo Torlonia, formerly Odescalchi, or Bracciano, on the Piazza S. Apostoli, has a splendid marble gallery fitted up in the modern taste, and some good modern paintings. 9. On the opposite side, next to the church of S. Apostoli, is the Palazzo Colonna, with a handsome court and gardens behind, which extend up the slope of the Quirinal, and a gallery of paintings with some splendid portraits by Titian, Veronese, and Giorgione. 10. The huge Palazzo di Venezia, so called because it once belonged to that proud republic, is now occupied by the Austrian ambassador; it looks like an old castle, with its massive walls and battlements. 11. Opposite the church of the Gesù is the Palazzo Altieri. All these palaces are in the immediate neighbourhood of the Corso. The principal churches in the same district are: 1. Santa Maria del Popolo, which, like most churcnes at Rome, contains some good paintings,

several remarkable sepulchral monuments, and a handsome chapel belonging to the Ghigi family. 2. San Carlo al Corso. 3. S. Lorenzo in Lucina, raised on the ruins of an antient temple. 4. S. Ignazio, which is rich in ornaments, adjoins the Gregorian or Roman College. 5. The handsome church del Gesù contains some good and some indifferent paintings, the splendid chapel of S. Ignatius, enriched with lapis lazuli, silver, and gold, and the mausoleum of Bellarmino, by Bernini. 6. Santi Apostoli, with the fine mauso leum of Pope Ganganelli, the work of Canova when only twenty-five years old (which has been so graphically described by Milizia in his letters), and a cenotaph, by the same illustrious artist, to the memory of his friend the engraver Volpato. In the adjoining cloisters is the tomb of Cardinal Bessarion. 7. S Marcello contains the sepulchral monument of Cardinal Consalvi. 8. Santa Maria in Vialata, &c.

West of the Corso, and between it and the Tiber, is a dense mass of irregular streets, a busy part of the town, containing market-places, shops, and inferior dwellings, with here and there a fine building. Towards the centre of this district is the fine oval place called Piazza Navona (the antient Circus Agonalis), one of the largest in Rome, with its fountains, by Bernini, its three churches, and the modern palace Braschi at one extremity of it. The university called La Sapienza is in the neighbourhood. Between it and the Corso is the Rotunda [PANTHEON], next to which is the Palazzo Giustiniani, and on the other side of it is the large church and Dominican convent of La Minerva. Nearer to the river are: 1. the Palazzo della Cancelleria, by Bramante. 2. The Palazzo Farnese, the best-built in Rome, with a square before it, ornamented by two handsome fountains; some of the apartments are painted by Caracci, Zuccari, Vasari, and others. Next to the Piazza Farnese is another square, called Campo di Fiore. 3. The Palazzo Spada, with a collection of antient sculptures, among others the supposed statue of Pompey, and some very fine basso-relievos, found at Santa Agnese without the walls. 4. The handsome church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, belonging to the brothers of S. Filippo Neri, or Congregation of the Oratoire [NERI, FILIPPO; ORATORIO], a most gentlemanly, unassuming, and useful body of clergymen. The library contains many valuable MSS., historical and ecclesiastical. 5. The church Santa Maria dell'Anima has some good paintings, and the monuments of Pope Adrian VI. and of Lucas Holstenius, a Protestant converted to Catholicism, who died librarian of the Vatican. Holstenius was succeeded in his office by Allatius, a native of Chios, and Allatius was succeeded by J. Simonius Assemani, a Maronite. This heterogeneous succession of librarians gave occasion to the following distich, in the caustic humour of modern Rome — 'Præfuit hæreticus; post hunc schismaticus; at nunc Turca præest: Petri bibliotheca, vale.'

Near the left bank of the Tiber, and parallel to it, runs a handsome regular street, called Strada Giulia, about threequarters of a mile long, from Ponte Sisto to Ponte S. Angelo. This district, though well built, is dull, when compared with the Corso and the adjoining streets.

South of Ponte Sisto, along the left bank of the Tiber, and extending round the western base of the Capitol to the foot of the Palatine, is the lowest, meanest, and dirtiest part of modern Rome. It is partly occupied by the Jews. who are cooped up to the number of 4000, in several narrow filthy alleys, in rows of tall old houses, near the river side, between Ponte Sisto and Ponte S. Bartolomeo. They are not allowed to live outside of their district, called Ghetto, which is separated by a wall from the rest of the town. They are not otherwise molested. They have their Rabbis and a synagogue, a sort of municipal council, their schools, support their own poor, and follow their customary occupa tion of buying and selling. The lower sort are seen about the streets of Rome, with their dingy bags, crying robi vecchi,' old clothes. Some of the higher class carry on trade with foreign countries, and are regular merchants It has been observed that this district, low and dirty as it is, is remarkably healthy. Facing the Ghetto is the island of San Bartolomeo, with the church of that name, and an hospital, kept by the philanthropic congregation commonly called the Ben Fratelli, from their motto, Fate bene, Fratelli' (brethren, do good' to your fellow-men), which was founded in Spain, about 1538, by S. Juan de Dios: the brethren devote themselves to attend on and nurse gratuitously the sick

poor. Proceeding farther south, along the left bank of the river, is a succession of narrow streets, extending to the foot of the Palatine, with some of the most antient churches in Rome, especially Santa Maria in Cosmedin, built in the third century of our æra, it is said, on the ruins of a temple, or rather sacellum, dedicated to Pudicitia Plebeia by Virginia, daughter of the patrician Aulus, who, having married the plebeian consul Volumnius, was excluded from the sacellum of Pudicitia Patricia. The conduct of Virginia on this occasion, as represented by Livy (x. 23), is full of interest. The church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is adorned with two rows of fine antient columns. It is also called Bocca della Verità, from a large stone mask with a large mouth which is seen in the portico of the church, and the use of which is unknown. In the same neighbourhood are the churches of S. Giorgio in Velabro, Santa Anastasia, Santa Maria Egiziaca, and of S. Teodoro, said to be on the site of the temple of Romulus, on the Palatine, at the southern extremity of the inhabited part of modern Rome, on the left bank of the Tiber. Beyond it, the Aventine, Pala- | tine, and Cælian hills stretch to the south and south-east. They are occupied with fields and gardens, and contain several churches, convents, and scattered ruins.. The most remarkable churches are: Santa Sabina and S. Alessio, on the Aventine, and S. Bonaventura and its adjoining solitary convent and garden, on the Palatine. The Cælian, an extensive hill, has some interesting churches: 1. S. Gregorio, a fine building on the west slope of the hill, has splendid frescoes by Domenichino and Guido, representing the martyrdom of St. Andrew; a painting of Pope St. Gregory by Annibale Caracci; and a statue of the same pope. Imperia, a kind of modern Aspasia, rich, accomplished, and well informed, who lived in the age of Leo X., and was the friend of Beroaldo, Sadoleto, Campani, and other learned men of that period, was buried in this church, where her epitaph was still seen in the last century, but has been since removed, in consequence of repairs. 2. S. Stefano Rotondo is an antient circular building, transformed into a church in the fifth century, and is remarkable as exhibiting the various changes in the history of the arts through the dark ages. 3. S. Giovanni e Paolo, belonging to the Order of Barnabites, in a fine situation, commanding a view of the Palatine and Aventine, is much resorted to by persons religiously inclined, who retire thither for a time, and board in the convent, where they employ themselves in pious exercises, and in quiet meditation, which the solitude of the spot and the view of the majestic ruins before them are well calculated to assist. A solitary palm-tree rises in the garden of the convent; there is another in the garden of S. Bonaventura, on the Palatine. No one has better described the scenery of this part of Rome and the impression which it produces, than Madame de Staël, in her Corinne.' The Villa Mattei occupies a considerable space on the Cælian hill. The group of buildings connected with the Basilica of S. Giovanni, at the eastern end of the Cælian, is described under LATERAN. The Colosseum, triumphal arches, and other antient remains are noticed hereafter. Between the Lateran and the Colosseum is the remarkable antient church of S. Clemente.

South of the Aventine, and between it, the Tiber, and the walls, is a large space of low ground laid out in fields, part of which are common, and go by the name of Prati del Popolo Romano.' An artificial hill, called Mount Testaccio, rises on one side of them: it is formed of a quantity of broken earthenware (testæ) and other rubbish which has been thrown and has accumulated here from antient times, and over which a green turf has formed. The modern Romans have excavated cellars in the side of the hill, where they keep their wine cool, and the place is resorted to on holidays by the people of Rome, especially the lower orders, something like the tea-gardens outside of London. On the other side, by the gate of S. Paolo, is the Protestant burying-ground, and near it is the pyramid of Caius Cestius.

The upper town, or eastern part of modern Rome, stretches up the slope of the Pincian and Quirinal hills, and occupies also part of the plateau which unites all the eastern hills of Rome. This part is not so densely built as the lower town: it consists in great measure of palaces and villas, of churches, convents, and other large buildings, with spacious courts and gardens, and is intersected by two fine long streets, which cross each other at right angles on the summit of the Quirinal, forming P. C. No. 1242.

there a small circus, win a fountain at each bifurcation, from which the place has received the name of 'Le Quattro Fontane.' We shall briefly describe this part of the town, beginning from the north.

On the terrace or plateau of the Pincian Mount there is the fine new promenade or public walk, laid out during the French occupation. Next to it is the villa Medici, now the Academy of French pensionary artists; and the church of La Trinità de' Monti, and the esplanade with the obelisk in front of it, from which there is a splendid view of modern Rome. From this esplanade a good street, called Via Sistina, leads in a south-east direction to the Piazza Barberini, which lies in the depression between the Pincian and the Quirinal. The Palazzo Barberini, one of the largest in Rome, is at the east end of the Piazza. It contains a good collection of paintings, among others, the celebrated portrait of La Cenci painted by Guido, who had seen her on the scaffold at her execution. The library of the Barberini palace has about 50,000 printed volumes, and many valuable MSS., autograph letters, and other documents. [BARBERINI.] At the north end of the Piazza Barberini is the church and convent of the Capuchins, with its garden, which is kept in excellent condition, like all the gardens of the convents of that order; and adjoining them is the vast and splendid patrician villa Piombino, called also Ludovisi, from Cardinal Luigi Ludovisi, nephew of Gre gory XIV. It has beautiful walks, and in the apartments of the principal casino is a valuable collection of antient sculptures, and also the fresco of Aurora by Guercino.

South of the Piazza Barberini rises the Quirinal Mount, which bears on its summit the extensive pontifical palace and gardens. At Rome it is commonly called Monte Cavallo, from the two colossal statues of Castor and Pollux, with their horses, which stand in the square before the palace. On the east side of the square is the Palazzo della Consulta, and next to it the Palazzo Rospigliosi, which occupies an extensive area. In a detached gallery or summer-house of the latter is the celebrated Aurora of Guido, which is considered the masterpiece of that great painter. A fine street, about a mile in length, leads from the square of the pontifical palace along the plateau of the Quirinal to Porta Pia, passing near the Thermæ of Diocletian. It is crossed at the Quattro Fontane by another street, leading from the Piazza Barberini to Santa Maria Maggiore, from whence several streets lead to Porta Maggiore, Porta S. Lorenzo, and Porta S. Giovanni. The magnificent church of Santa Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline hill, which here joins the Quirinal, is the eastern extremity of modern Rome. Beyond it, north, east, and south, the whole expanse of the Esquiline is occupied by gardens, villas, and fields, with some solitary churches. The more interesting of these churches are: 1, S. Pietro in Vincoli, built first by Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian III., and rebuilt by Pope Adrian I.: it contains the mausoleum of Julius II., with the statue of Moses by Michel Angelo. 2nd, The handsome church of S. Martino ai Monti, with its antient oratory and vaults, its modern embellishments, and the frescoes by Poussin, is worthy of notice.

Between the west slope of the Esquiline and the south slope of the Quirinal are several streets inhabited chiefly by the lower orders, which extend to the Campo Vaccino. Farther north, at the foot of the Quirinal, and in the gap between it and the Capitoline Mount, is the piazza which contains Trajan's column.

The Capitoline Mount and its buildings are described under CAPITOL.

The third great division of modern Rome, which lies on the right bank of the Tiber, consists of two distinct parts: Il Borgo, or Vatican, and Transtevere, properly so called, which are divided from one another by an inner wall. The Borgo, or Città Leonina, extends from the bridge of St. Angelo to the Place of St. Peter's. The group of buildings constituting St. Peter's and the Vatican palace are described under VATICAN. The other remarkable building in the Borgo is the great charitable establishment of Santo Spirito, the largest in Rome, situated close to the right bank of the Tiber. It comprises an hospital for the sick, which in the summer months contains from 1000 to 1200 patients at a time, a foundling hospital, and a lunatic asylum.

The castle Sant' Angelo (of which the massive circular tower was built by Hadrian for his mausoleum, and the fortifications around it, consisting of ramparts, ditches, and bastions mounted with cannon, were begun by Pope Bom VOL. XX.-N

in the English style, its laurel and myrtle groves, its fine sheet of water, its temple, and hippodrome. The fine museum of antient sculptures was sold or given up for a consideration by the late prince to Napoleon, his brother-in-law; but it has been partly replaced by new acquisitions. Of all the enormous quantity of works of art carried away by the French from Rome, only a small part has been restored; much was purloined by private individuals and sold, much was irreparably damaged in the removal. The Borghese collection has remained in the Louvre, being a purchase; and a splendid collection of coins and gems, taken from Rome, was entirely exempted from the claim of restitution by the treaty of Paris.

The numerous handsome fountains form another peculiar ornament of modern Rome as works of art, independent of their utility. Rome is better supplied with good water than most continental towns, and was much more abundantly supplied in antient times. Of the antient aqueducts, three still continue to carry water into the town, having been repaired by the popes. The first is that of the Acqua Vergine, the best in quality, which comes from near the antient Collatia, fourteen miles north of Rome: it supplies a great part of the lower town, and feeds thirteen public fountains, of which those of Trevi, of La Barcaccia in Piazza di Spagna, of Piazza Navona, and Farnese, are the principal. The second is the Acqua Felice, the antient Aqua Marcia and Claudia, restored by Pope Sixtus V. (Felice da Montalto): it comes from the east, and supplies the upper or eastern part of the town, and feeds twenty-seven public fountains, of which that of Moses, near Porta Pia, that of Triton in the Piazza Barberini, and that of Monte Cavallo, are the principal. The third aqueduct, called Acqua Paola, the antient Alsietina, enters Rome by Mount Janiculus, and supplies both Transtevere and the Vatican, feeding the Fontana Paolina, and the splendid fountains before St. Peter's: passing the Ponte Sisto by conduits, it supplies the adjoining fountain and the neighbouring district of Strada Giulia. Tournon observes that the supply of water thus carried into Rome is much greater than that carried by the Canal de l'Ourcq into Paris for the supply of a population six times as large as that of Rome.

The obelisks which adorn most of the squares of Rome are another peculiar feature of this city. An account of them is given under OBELISK.

The streets of Rome are generally narrow, like those of most old cities, but many of them are straight and regular, and the great number of open spaces, such as squares, places, gardens, large courts, &c., render the town generally airy. The pavement of the streets is made of selci, or small cubes of basaltic stone, not very agreeable to pedestrians, especially as there are no footpaths except along the Corso. The streets are lighted at night with oil lamps. Rome possesses a great advantage over many continental towns, in being provided with a regular system of sewers, partly antient and partly modern. [CLOACE.]

The lower town is subject to occasional inundations from the Tiber, which sometimes rises, in seasons of extraordinary rains, from 25 to 30 feet above its ordinary level, whilst a considerable part of the town is hardly 20 feet above the level. In 1530 the river rose above 40 feet, and the destruction which it caused is described by Baldi, in his poem 'La Nautica.'

The climate of the city of Rome has been of late years the subject of much discussion. In the time of the republic Rome was considered healthy when compared with the surrounding country. Parts of Latium were unhealthy in Cicero's time, and probably long before him; and the unhealthiness was greatly increased by the depopulation of the country, the consequence first of the wars between Rome and its immediate neighbours, and afterwards of the civil wars in the last century of the republic. Tillage cultivation was abandoned, and the country became divided among a few large proprietors, who turned fields into pasture-grounds. Propter avaritiam ex segetibus fecit prata,' says Varro, speaking of one of these proprietors; and Pliny observes that Latifundia perdidere Italiam.' Now it is proved that tillage cultivation and a dense population check the increase and spread of the malaria. The dense population of antient Rome and the elevated position of the old city, with the plentiful supply of wholesome water, the convenience of sewers, and other circumstances contributed to maintain a tolerable state of salubrity within the walls.

Cicero remarks the good choice of those who built Rome in the most favourable spot in the midst of a generally unhealthy region. (De Republ., ii. 6.) Horace however (Epist. i. 7) complains of the fevers which prevailed in the month of August. The improvements made by Augustus, and the reconstruction of the town after the great fire in Nero's time, seem to have had a good effect on the salubriousness of the city, and Frontinus (i. 18) observes that the increased supply of water by means of additional aqueducts had contributed to render the atmosphere purer than it was in the old times. After the fall of the Empire, ar the ravages committed by the barbarians, we read of the complete desolation of the Campagna during the dark ages, and of the abandonment of Porto, Ostia, Ardea, and other neighbouring towns in consequence of the malaria. At tho same time a gradual removal was taking place within the walls; the population, which was much diminished, was leaving the southern part of the city for the northern, the hills for the plain of the Campus Martius.

As the southern hills, the Cælian, Aventine, Palatine, and Esquiline, became abandoned, they became also unhealthy, for populousness and salubrity go together in the whole Maremma region. In the eleventh century Petrus Damianus (Epist., xix., Ad Nicolaum II., Pontificem'), draws a fearful picture of the epidemic fevers to which Rome was subject. But still the unhealthiness of the old city was, and is, much less in degree than that of the country without the walls, and especially of the lowlands towards the sea-coast. There are families and whole religious communities that live all the year round on the desolate hills of old Rome without any remarkable inconvenience, though no one would venture to spend the summer months, at least from choice, outside of the walls between Rome and the sea. The miasmata which produce the malaria, emanate from the volcanic soil of the Campagna acted upon by the rays of a burning sun; they seem to be of a dense heavy nature, seldom rising very high above the ground, unless wafted by the winds. Walls appear to stop their advance, fire dispels them, house foundations and pavements prevent their emanation. For an investigation of this curious subject see Brocchi, Stato fisico del Suolo di Roma;' Tournon, Etudes Statistiques sur Rome,' and an article on Tournon's book, in the Foreign Quarterly Review,' xxi., January, 1833, and the article CAMPAGNA DI ROMA in this work.

It seems now proved that whenever the population has decreased within Rome, from political and other causes, the air has become less wholesome, and that the thinly inhabited districts are, independently of their situation, unwholesome in summer, when compared with the more populous parts of the town. Thus the neighbourhood of the Corso and the lower town in general, and even the low filthy quarter of the Jews, are salubrious, whilst the eastern part of the fine street of Porta Pia, the neighbourhood of Santa Maria Maggiore, and that of the Lateran are considered unhealthy in summer, although they are on comparatively high ground. The parts of the Quirinal and the Pincian which are built upon are the most desirable situations in modern Rome for fresh air and health. On the other side of the river, the thinly-built district of La Lungara and the Vatican are considered unhealthy in summer, whilst the densely peopled part of Transtevere is less complained of.

It has been stated by some writers, but not upon sufficient grounds, that the malaria is encroaching upon the nhabited part of Rome, so as to threaten in course of time the depopulation of the whole city. Châteauvieux, who, we believe, was the first to start this theory, mistook the effect for the cause. He visited Rome at two different periods; first in 1791, when the city contained 166,000 inhabitants, the streets were thronged with sumptuous equipages and liveries, and the splendid palaces were open to the gaze of strangers-everything in short had an appearance of opulence and splendour.' But a few years afterwards came the French invasion of 1798, with its wholesale spoilations, forced contributions, and oppression of every sort, which no one has more honestly condemned and deplored than Count Tournon, after which the Papal State was reduced to one half, and the poorer half, of its territory. After a few years more of a precarious existence, the Papal Government was again upset by Napoleon in 1809, and the cardinal prelates, the foreign ministers, and a number of noblemen and other persons were driven away from Rome; numerous families were deprived of their accustomed means of support,