New-York tribune., 1841-11-05
From the KR.cserLocker FOR November
felters from ROM.
Letter First.
~ GEORGE wAsHrScroS GREENE.


The civ and the maintains, aad may distinguish
,ipo, the verge of the horizon the blue waters OF
,l.. Mediterranean. From the JanicuIum you look
upon il a. upon Il map at your feet, and may count
it, streets and ediicc- one Ly But in both of
1hesc .ews the ancient clty aud the modern, the
past and the present, ere too closely blended and
wlni- you are seeking for some record OF some
distant ages. your attention Is distracted by the
:.,ric. OF yesterday. But upon the tower Of the
Capitol you siund midway between ancient and
modern Rome; the republic and the empire; a
waste Of ruins before, and behind you the gorge
ou- residence of the pentiiis. The tide OF poPu-
arion has swept around the base of the Capitoline
hill lrnying it u land mark in this wilderness OF
thought FROM whichyou may almost count the foot
steps of Time, and gather up one by one those
scattered links which bind us TO the great and the
good of every age
The first glance that YOU cast around You en-
braces nearly the whole extent of primitive La
,ium. A plain 10 whose unbroken surface you
can scarcely distinguish unduaton, fills the
landscape on your right; and upon It's extreme
verge the horizon rcpOscs with so soft and pure an
outline that sou almost fancy it the blending OF
sea and skv Following this line toward the east,
you meet at distance which varies from nine 10
fourteen miles, the Alban mount. 1t rises from
the mds, OF the plain with gradual elevation,
broken here and there by gentle eminenccs, that
you hardly know how to dcsignuc. until, with IA
sudden change in the character ot itS outline, it
swells up into the wooded cone ui Monte CavO,
three thousand feet above the level Ot tho sea.
This elevation continues with but tritiing va,ia-
tiens along the west oi the meunt to the sginmts
of Pila and Algidium, which although bearing diff
f,rent names, parts OF the sarae group. From
thence il slopes downward te the ain. with n de-
scent somewhat more rapid than that of the south
western declivity, but with the sam peculinriti"s
and an equal softncss of outline. An opening j.
here left in the landscape OF about five miles IN
breadth which serves to give striking relief to
the peculiarly insulotc. aud complete contour Of
the Alban
Beyond this aud directly opposite 10 the Alban,
The Sabine mOuais themselves abr,nchof ofihe Apeu-
nines, commence their rugged nnd unduIains chain.
They form The northeast the natural boundary
of the Campaguu with every variety and grada-
ZION of hisht. from elevations, thai seem made iOr
castle q villa, to peaks thit rei4in ,hcii man
tie of snow under lhe of midsnnmrr. For
more than ia rly miles thu plain follows the course
oi' his continuous CHAIN III an unduaing line,
a lake the winding, OF It's shores. licc and there
The chain bends inward with slight OF broader
curve. and II few gentle cminrnccs ih,i clu,i-r
around H., base SERGE Ia soften ihe asprrjty ot s
rough and precpleuS SIDES. 1t Is cn onc oi these
that stands ivnli, aud tie iadivng Avis still bor
rows part of il rapliy from the descent.
broader valley is formed where the mountains ar-
rroach the Fiber aud one of their cress i, crowned
with tic ruin, OF Cures, the birthplace OF Tatius
aud oi Numa
In turning to trace the nol,hern boundary of the
plain. vou are struck by tho change in its surface
Instead o, the nu, uubrokcn level which 1t has
hitherto presented. II rises on every side into n-
locks and ridges. which, although tkey never attain
10 the high, of even the lowest III the adjacent
mouuiains, give il the aspect of a troubled sea.
Sornctc, like the Alban mount. stands alone:
- long swept wave from ont the surge,
That the curl hangs passing
Like waves TOO, the mountains OF Etruria rise one
above the other. with successive flow, and shut
in the landscape ON the North. it is only to-
ward the west and there but in part, that the view
is limited The boundary here Is the Janiculum,
whose vcrdaut summit, dcckcd with villas and vine
yards, oyerhsngs Rome herself. and like the ivy
that once cncirclcd the arches ot the Coliseum,
forsls screen and garland for the dcseatiou thai,
lies below.
|, is only upon the map that you trace the
course of the Avis and the liber, much less dis
tingui,h the smaller which flow from every
direction into these principal currents of the
Campagna The sea is not visible on either side :;
est to the city being cut ei by the intervening
nights OF the Janicuum.
Ifnow YOU coninc Your observation more directly
to the precincts of the ancient city your attention
will first be arrested by the lr1csuarv OF its sur
face and the intcrmingng of hill. and valleys
One of these and evidently of the largest lies di
rectlv ut the foot OF the tower on which we are
standing. The ;rumphal arches, the fragments OF
p.r,icoes ard temples and massive walls tell YOU
al once that il is the Roman Forum The hill be-
yond still preserves the peculiarly Of conformation
which obtained for the primitive city ct Eomalus
the epithet of The Square. You can almost
trace It's boundaries with the naked eye, and toll
low in imagination the course of the shepherdking,
rs h.. traced ou, with his slosgh-share the original
limits of the future sovereign OF the universe You
may INK, ns startng-poip, the arch OF Janus, not
far from the river. and follow the line the valley
IN the three. columns which so long supposed
70 have belonged to the Temple OF Jupiter Siaior,
,pon that side of the Forum which fronts the Capi-
,o 4 line drawn at right angles with this VIII
mass under the Arch of Titus, and between Inc
foundations of the temple of Venus and home OF
the ono hand and the imperial structures OF Inc
Palanne on the other. The opposite line runs
along the valley that separates the falaune from
The Aventne. and mny be distinguished py TO"
Of trees of fresh green, which grow IN what once
was the ancien, MaxinHs. The remainns oo'!t
dary is Invisible to the naked eye, but ma be easily
,rsced in line which begins amid the gigantic re-
muins of the palace of Nero, and skriins the base
of the Co.iar. leads YOU beneath the Arch OF Com
s,,r,;pe 10 The Colossal Amph,heatrc OF the Ia
yians
That norton of the Ayentine which overhang'
,b, left bank Of the Tiber is the only one oil The