Walks in RomeHare, Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert)
History
Walks in Rome
Hare, Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert)
Rome (Italy) -- Description and travel
"Nerva est le premier des bons, et Trajan le premier des grands
empereurs romains; après lui il y en eut deux autres, les deux
Antonins. Trois sur soixante-dix, tel est à Rome le bilan des
gloires morales de l'empire."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ liii.
Among the reliefs round the upper walls of this room are two,--of
Endymion sleeping, and of Perseus delivering Andromeda, which belong to
the set in the Palazzo Spada, and are exceedingly beautiful.
* * * * *
_The Hall of Illustrious Men_ contains a seated statue of M. Claudius
Marcellus (?), the conqueror of Syracuse, B.C. 212. Round the room are
ranged 93 busts of ancient philosophers, statesmen, and warriors. Among
the more important are:--
4, 5, 6. Socrates.
9. Aristides, the orator.
10. Seneca (?).
16. Marcus Agrippa.
19. Theophrastus.
23. Thales.
25. Theon.
27. Pythagoras.
28. Alexander the Great(?).
30. Aristophanes.
31. Demosthenes.
38. Aratus.
39, 40. Democritus of Aldera.
42, 43. Euripides.
44, 45, 46. Homer.
47. Eumenides.
48. Cneius Domitius Corbulo, general under Claudius and Nero.
49. Scipio Africanus.
52. Cato Minor.
54. Aspasia(?).
55. Cleopatra (?).
60. Thucydides (?).
61. Æschines.
62, 64. Epicurus.
63. Epicurus and Metrodorus.
68, 69. Masinissa.
71. Antisthenes.
72, 73. Julian the Apostate.
75. Cicero.
76. Terence.
82. Æschylus (?).
Among the interesting bas-reliefs in this room is one of a Roman
interior with a lady trying to persuade her cat to dance to a lyre--the
cat, meanwhile, snapping, on its hind legs, at two ducks; the detail of
the room is given--even to the slippers under the bed.
_The Saloon_ contains, down the centre,
1. Jupiter (in nero-antico), from Porto d'Anzio, on an altar with
figures of Mercury, Apollo, and Diana.
2, 4. Centaurs (in bigio-morato), by _Aristeas_ and _Papias_ (their
names are on the bases), from Hadrian's villa.
3. The young Hercules, found on the Aventine. It stands on an altar
of Jupiter.
"On voit au Capitole une statue d'Hercule très-jeune, en basalte,
qui frappe assez désagréablement, d'abord, par le contraste,
habilement exprimé toutefois, des formes molles de l'enfance et de
la vigueur caractéristique du héros. L'imitation de la Grèce se
montre même dans la matière que l'artiste a choisie; c'est un
basalt verdâtre, de couleur sombre. Tisagoras et Alcon avaient fait
un Hercule en fer, pour exprimer la force, et, comme dit Pline,
pour signifier l'énergie persévérante de dieu."--_Ampère, Hist.
Rom._ iii. 406.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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