Travels Through France And Italy by Tobias Smollett (fastest ebook reader .txt) 📕

Time Was From Noon Till The Evening, When The Romans Ate Their

Principal Meal. Notice Was Given By A Bell, Or Some Such

Instrument, When The Baths Were Opened, As We Learn From Juvenal,

Redde Pilam, Sonat Aes Thermarum, Ludere Pergis?

Virgine Vis Sola Lotus Abdire Domum.

Leave Off; The Bath Bell Rings--What, Still Play On?

Perhaps The Maid In Private Rubs You Down.

There Were Separate Places For The Two Sexes; And Indeed There

Were Baths Opened For The Use Of Women Only, At The Expence Of

Agrippina, The Mother Of Nero, And Some Other Matrons Of The

First Quality. The Use Of Bathing Was Become So Habitual To The

Constitutions Of The Romans, That Galen, In His Book De Sanitate

Tuenda, Mentions A Certain Philosopher, Who, If He Intermitted

But One Day In His Bathing, Was Certainly Attacked With A Fever.

In Order To Preserve Decorum In The Baths, A Set Of Laws And

Regulations Were Published, And The Thermae Were Put Under The

Inspection Of A Censor, Who Was Generally One Of The First

Senators In Rome. Agrippa Left His Gardens And Baths, Which Stood

Near The Pantheon, To The Roman People: Among The Statues That

Adorned Them Was That Of A Youth Naked, As Going Into The Bath,

So Elegantly Formed By The Hand Of Lysippus, That Tiberius, Being

Struck With The Beauty Of It, Ordered It To Be Transferred Into

His Own Palace: But The Populace Raised Such A Clamour Against

Him, That He Was Fain To Have It Reconveyed To Its Former Place.

These Noble Baths Were Restored By Adrian, As We Read In

Spartian; But At Present No Part Of Them Remains.

With Respect To The Present State Of The Old Aqueducts, I Can

Give You Very Little Satisfaction. I Only Saw The Ruins Of That

Which Conveyed The Aqua Claudia, Near The Porta Maggiore, And The

Piazza Of The Lateran. You Know There Were Fourteen Of Those

Antient Aqueducts, Some Of Which Brought Water To Rome From The

Distance Of Forty Miles. The Channels Of Them Were Large Enough

To Admit A Man Armed On Horseback; And Therefore When Rome Was 

To Admit A Man Armed On Horseback; And Therefore When Rome Was

Besieged By The Goths, Who Had Cut Off The Water, Belisarius

Fortified Them With Works To Prevent The Enemy From Entering The

City By Those Conveyances. After That Period, I Suppose The

Antient Aqueducts Continued Dry, And Were Suffered To Run To

Ruins. Without All Doubt, The Romans Were Greatly Obliged To

Those Benefactors, Who Raised Such Stupendous Works For The

Benefit, As Well As The Embellishment Of Their City: But It Might

Have Been Supplied With The Same Water Through Pipes At One

Hundredth Part Of The Expence; And In That Case The Enemy Would

Not Have Found It Such An Easy Matter To Cut It Off. Those Popes

Who Have Provided The Modern City So Plentifully With Excellent

Water, Are Much To Be Commended For The Care And Expence, They

Have Bestowed In Restoring The Streams Called Acqua Virgine,

Acqua Felice, And Acqua Paolina, Which Afford Such Abundance Of

Water As Would Plentifully Supply A Much Larger City Than Modern

Rome.

It Is No Wonder That M. Agrippa, The Son-In-Law, Friend, And

Favourite Of Augustus, Should At The Same Time Have Been The Idol

Of The People, Considering How Surprisingly He Exerted Himself

For The Emolument, Convenience, And Pleasure Of His Fellow-Citizens.

It Was He Who First Conducted This Acqua Virgine To

Rome: He Formed Seven Hundred Reservoirs In The City; Erected One

Hundred And Five Fountains; One Hundred And Thirty Castella, Or

Conduits, Which Works He

Adorned With Three Hundred Statues, And Four Hundred Pillars Of

Marble, In The Space Of One Year. He Also Brought Into Rome, The

Aqua Julia, And Restored The Aqueduct Of The Aqua Marzia, Which

Had Fallen To Decay. I Have Already Observed The Great Number Of

Baths Which He Opened For The People, And The Magnificent

Thermae, With Spacious Gardens, Which He Bequeathed To Them As A

Legacy. But These Benefactions, Great And Munificent As They Seem

To Be, Were Not The Most Important Services He Performed For The

City Of Rome. The Common-Sewers Were First Made By Order Of

Tarquinius Priscus, Not So Much With A View To Cleanliness, As By

Way Of Subterranean Drains To The Velabrum, And In Order To Carry

Off The Stagnant Water, Which Remained In The Lower Parts, After

Heavy Rains. The Different Branches Of These Channels United At

The Forum, From Whence By The Cloaca Maxima, Their Contents Were

Conveyed Into The Tyber. This Great Cloaca Was The Work Of

Tarquinius Superbus. Other Sewers Were Added By Marcus Cato, And

Valerius Flaccus, The Censors. All These Drains Having Been

Choaked Up And Ruinous, Were Cleared And Restored By Marcus

Agrippa, Who Likewise Undermined The Whole City With Canals Of

The Same Kind, For Carrying Of The Filth; He Strengthened And

Enlarged The Cloaca Maxima, So As To Make It Capable Of Receiving

A Large Cart Loaded With Hay; And Directed Seven Streams Of Water

Into These Subterranean Passages, In Order To Keep Them Always

Clean And Open. If, Notwithstanding All These Conveniences,

Vespasian Was Put To Great Expence In Removing The Ordure From

The Public Streets, We Have Certainly A Right To Conclude That

The Antient Romans Were Not More Cleanly Than The Modern 

Italians.

After The Mausolea Of Augustus, And Adrian, Which I Have Already

Mentioned, The Most Remarkable Antient Sepulchres At Rome, Are

Those Of Caius Cestius, And Cecilia Metella. The First, Which

Stands By The Porta Di S. Paolo, Is A Beautiful Pyramid, One

Hundred And Twenty Feet High, Still Preserved Intire, Having A

Vaulted Chamber Within-Side, Adorned With Some Ancient Painting,

Which Is Now Almost Effaced. The Building Is Of Brick, But Eased

With Marble. This Caius Cestius Had Been Consul, Was Very Rich,

And Acted As One Of The Seven Epulones, Who Superintended The

Feasts Of The Gods, Called Lectisternia, And Pervigilia. He

Bequeathed His Whole Fortune To His Friend M. Agrippa, Who Was So

Generous As To Give It Up To The Relations Of The Testator. The

Monument Of Cecilia Metella, Commonly Called Capo Di Bove, Is

Without The Walls On The Via Appia. This Lady Was Daughter Of

Metellus Creticus, And Wife To Crassus, Who Erected This Noble

Monument To Her Memory. It Consisted Of Two Orders, Or Stories,

The First Of Which Was A Square Of Hewn Stone: The Second Was A

Circular Tower, Having A Cornice, Adorned With Ox Heads In Basso

Relievo, A Circumstance From Which It Takes The Name Of Capo Di

Bove. The Ox Was Supposed To Be A Most Grateful Sacrifice To The

Gods. Pliny, Speaking Of Bulls And Oxen, Says,

Hinc Victimae Optimae Et Laudatissima Deorum Placatio.

They Were Accounted The Best Victims And Most Agreeable To

Appease The Anger Of The Gods.

This Tower Was Surmounted By A Noble Cupola Or Dome, Enriched

With All The Ornaments Of Architecture. The Door Of The Building

Was Of Brass; And Within-Side The Ashes Of Cecilia Were Deposited

In A Fluted Marble Urn, Of Curious Workmanship, Which Is Still

Kept In The Palazzo Farnese. At Present The Surface Of The Ground

Is Raised So Much As To Cover The First Order Of The Edifice:

What We See Is No More Than The Round Tower, Without The Dome And

Its Ornaments; And The Following Inscription Still Remains Near

The Top, Facing The Via Appia.

Caecillae

Q. Cretici F.

Metellae

Crassi.

To Caecilia Metella, Daughter Of Q. Criticus: Wife Of Crassus.

Now We Are Talking Of Sepulchral Inscriptions, I Shall Conclude

This Letter With The Copy Of A Very Singular Will, Made By

Favonius Jocundus, Who Died In Portugal, By Which Will The

Precise Situation Of The Famous Temple Of Sylvanus Is

Ascertained.

"Jocundi.

Ego Gallus Favonius Jocundus P. Favoni F. Qui Bello Contra

Viriatum Succubui, Jocundum Et Prudentem Filios, E Me Et Quintia

Fabia Conjuge Mea Ortos, Et Bonorum Jocundi Patris Mei, Et Eorum,

Quae Mihi Ipsi Acquisivi Haeredes Relinquo; Hac Tamen Conditione,

Ut Ab Urbe Romana Huc Veniant, Et Ossa Hic Mea, Intra

Quinquennium Exportent, Et Via Latina Condant In Sepulchro, Jussu

Meo Condito, Et Mea Voluntate; In Quo Velim Neminem Mecum, Neque

Servum, Neque Libertum Inseri; Et Velim Ossa Quorumcunque

Sepulchro Statim Meo Eruantur, Et Jura Romanorum Serventur, In

Sepulchris Ritu Majorum Retinendis, Juxta Volantatem Testatoris;

Et Si Secus Fecerint, Nisi Legittimae Oriantur Causae, Velim Ea

Omnia, Quae Filijs Meis Relinquo, Pro Reparando Templo Dei

Sylvani, Quod Sub Viminali Monte Est, Attribui; Manesque Mei A

Pont. Max; A Flaminibus Dialibus, Qui In Capitolio Sunt, Opem

Implorent, Ad Liberorum Meorum Impietatem Ulciscendam;

Teneanturque Sacerdotes Dei Silvani, Me In Urbem Referre, Et

Sepulchro Me Meo Condere. Volo Quoque Vernas Qui Domi Meae Sunt,

Omnes A Praetore Urbano Liberos, Cum Matribus Dimitti,

Singulisque Libram Argenti Puri, Et Vestem Unam Dori. In

Lusitania. In Agro Viii. Cal Quintilis, Bello Viriatino."

I, Gallus Favonius Jocundus, Son Of P. Favonius, Dying In The War

Against Viriatus, Declare My Sons Jocundus And Prudens, By My

Wife Quintia Fabia, Joint Heirs Of My Estate, Real And Personal;

On Condition, However, That They Come Hither Within A Time Of

Five Years From This My Last Will, And Transport My Remains To

Rome To Be Deposited In My Sepulchre Built In The Via Latina By

My Own Order And Direction: And It Is My Will That Neither Slave

Nor Freedman Shall Be Interred With Me In The Said Tomb; That If

Any Such There Be, They Shall Be Removed, And The Roman Law

Obeyed, In Preserving In The Antient Form The Sepulchre According

To The Will Of The Testator. If They Act Otherwise Without Just

Cause, It Is My Will That The Whole Estate, Which I Now Bequeathe

To My Children, Shall Be Applied To The Reparation Of The Temple

Of The God Sylvanus, At The Foot Of Mount Viminalis; And That My

Manes [The Manes Were An Order Of Gods Supposed To Take

Cognisance Of Such Injuries.] I Shall Implore The Assistance Of