Rambles in Rome: An Archæological and Historical Guide to the Museums, Galleries, Villas, Churches, and Antiquities of Rome and the CampagnaForbes, S. Russell
History
Rambles in Rome: An Archæological and Historical Guide to the Museums, Galleries, Villas, Churches, and Antiquities of Rome and the Campagna
Forbes, S. Russell
Art -- Rome; Rome (Italy) -- Guidebooks; Rome -- Antiquities
_To the right from the gardens, the_ VIA QUIRINALE brings us to the
new Via Nazionale. Where this winds round is a piece of a wall of the
kings. Plutarch ("Numa," xiv.) and Solinus (i. 21) tell us that Numa
lived upon the Quirinal, where he built an arx (Hieron. i. 298),
called, after the Capitoline Hill was so named, CAPITOLIUM VETUS. In
it was a temple to Jupiter (Varro, "L. L." v.; Martial, v. 22). In
those days a tongue jutted out here towards the Capitoline Hill, and
this piece of wall bars the way to it, so it is probably a piece of
the arx that defended the tongue.
The lofty brick tower is
THE TORRE DELLE MILIZIE,
within the precincts of the Convent of S. Catherina di Sienna,
supposed to have been built upon a cella formerly occupied by Trajan's
soldiers. This tower is called by the Roman _valets de place_ "Nero's
Tower," from his having sat there and fiddled whilst Rome was burning.
Now, as this tower was built in 1210 by Pandolfo della Suburra, the
senator, it could not have been the tower Nero fiddled on. Besides,
Suetonius says, "This fire he [Nero] beheld from a tower in the house
of Mæcenas," which was on the Esquiline, where remains have been
recently found.
The VIA PANISPERNA, to the left, descends into the valley between the
Quirinal and Viminal hills. In the valley _to the left_ of the street
is
THE CHURCH OF S. AGATA IN SUBURRA,
where the heart of O'Connell is deposited. _Keeping straight on, up
the slope of the Viminal_, VIA PANISPERNA, at the top of the hill is
THE CHURCH OF S. LORENZO,
who is said to have been martyred under Claudius II., A.D. 269, having
been cooked to death on a gridiron. Here are also the relics of S.
Crispin and S. Crispinian. The church is on the site of the baths of
the daughter-in-law of Constantine, Olympia. The two seated statues,
Menander and Posidippus, in the Vatican, were found here, and were for
a long time worshipped as saints.
_Close by is the Church of_ S. LORENZO IN FONTE, said to be over the
site of the prison of S. Lawrence, and a fountain is shown where he
baptized his converts.
_Descending_ the slope of the Viminal, we strike the VIA URBANA, on
the line of the ancient VICUS PATRICIUS.
_Proceeding up the Via Urbana, on the left is the_
HOUSE OF PUDENS.
(_S. Pudenziana._)
The church stands back from the street, with a handsome new front,
restored by Cardinal Buonaparte. Cardinal Wiseman was titular cardinal
of this church. _It is only open at a very early hour--on May 19th all
day, and on the third Tuesday in Lent. The custodian is to be found at
161, next door to the church._ A flight of steps leads down to the
church. The door is formed with ancient spiral columns, and eighth
century Christian reliefs; above are some modern frescoes of Peter,
Pudens, Pudentiana, and Praxedes. There is a picturesque campanile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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