The Portland daily press., 1895-09-30

dug up, for the excavations here have
never been altogether finished, although
1t was many years ago that the n arnese
Bull' and other statues now IN naples
| and many fine mosaics found IN The
| Vatican were discovered here, 1ndlcaGlng
| that it was formerly almost like choice
museum in it's wealth Of works OF art.
THE APPIAN WAY.
| After leaving the Baths of Caracalla,
one passes the tomb of the Sciplos ano
the Columbaria, the doors of which are
set in the solid wall. They are preserved
as examples Of ancient tombs, showing
inches for the urns SO much useo 10
olden times. Immediately after this one
passes the Sebastian Gate over whlch 1he
Arch of Drusus towers, and tnen one
whole Roman Campagna lies outs! retch
| ing before you, intersected By the App.an
Way, the walls each side of when very
much ohstruct the view.
Years of study would not exhaust the
objects of vast interest in this greau pan q,
which was formerly denscly popuIaIet,
country with prosperous cities scat1ereu
everywhere and in its, earlier formation
was once covered by the sea, its present
construction being the result OF Voicahlc
action, ancient craters still eXlstlhg,
some OF which are now lakes.
| When one visits this arid plain IN sum ). rs
mer it is hard to realize the apex Oh us
former greatness, the pristine cuaS Ssneie W
which it attained, the historical assocla,
tions connected with it, ana us Hnal
supremacy and decline. Today 1t Is
dreary waste with only small Rortlon
under cultivation, and one WALKS tof
miles and miles without seeing an lnol-
vidual or human habitat1on; Tor ~ SUM- !,
mer the few IN iserable herdsmen nave al
retired to the mountains or IN tneir lit.le
| huts are burning up with the feVer OF Ine
land. The causes Of this change are the
causes which led to the downfall OF this
mighty nation, the investiture OF great
ness into the hands OF few, to the
neglect of the many.
DOMINI QUO vADIS.
A. short distance beyond the Sebastian
Gate there is little church by the
above name.
Footprints are shown here in solid mar
BILE said to be those of Christ. for this
purports to be the spot where Christ after
death met Peter, fleeing from martyr
death. 1t refers to that memorable night
when Peter had promised such fidelity
and the fickleness of his character had
been verified by the growing OF the COCK.
The legend runs thus. Peter on here
meeting his Lord said, "Domini Quo
Vadis'F (Whither, Lord, do you go) to
which Christ replied "Ven1o lterum
orucifigi'' q come again to be crnol1ed
referring no doubt to the wound already
received at Peters hands
Notwithstanding this legend and that
about the print of his head on the wall IN
the Mamertine Prison near the Capitol In
Rome on good authority it is stated that
Peter never visited Rome at all.
THE CATACOMBS AND TOMBS.
In the mausoleums of today we have
a revival of the old Roman tombs scat
tered along the Appian Way and lining
the sides of the Catacombs.
In the time of early Christian perse-
cution, it was necessary for each man to
build his family tomb under his own
ate burying grounds, Joining each other
as they did, hiding places, and also
secret rendezvous for worship. By the
feeble light of tapers and under the guild
anoe of youthful priests, one descends TO
these underground tombs and chapels and
sees on thoir musty walls all sorts OF curl
GUS allegorical paintings and Inscriptions,
as we'll as plenty of the bones of martyred
Christians.
The st. Callistus Is the most accessible,
being only mile outside the gates. 1t
occupies many miles of space, which 1t is
almost as weird to traverse as 1T is to sail
through the sewers in underground Paris.
THE CIRCUS OF MAXENTIUS AND
THE TOMB OF CECILIA MAR
TELLA.
After leaving these catacombs one is not
satisfied but wishes too see more of this
strange region. There are still other cata-
combs which we leave behind, and fol-
lowing along the same road, a large round
field is seen. 1t is the old Circus OF
Maxentius. This is SO we'll preserved
that you almost think you can see the
feet horses fastened to the ancient
chariots flying like the wind, not trotting
but coming in on the home stretch at a
dead rum For this is today the fashion
in the race-courses of Europe, the horses
never trot but run.
At this point there is a fine view of the
old Roman aqueducts, there are also
mixed up with these some of the new
aoueducts, partially formed from the old,
which bring the water from the Sabine
mountains (where the old Romans got
their wines) to supply the numerous and
artistic fountains for which Rome Is SO
celebrated.
Just above the race course is the beau
tiful and ornate tomb of Cecilia Martella
1t is built high and round with cornice
engraved with garlands Topped with
oxen s heads But the remains Of the fair
daughter Of Mettelus Crassus no longer
rests here, this being, like ell the old
Roman tonlbs hollow shell. What is left
of the distinguished dead, which they
were built to contain, has long since
been placed in some crypt of the hundreds
OF churches for which Rome is SO re-
nowned.
From the elevated ground on which
this superb structure rises one can look
across the fields to another old tomb Of
the time of the Antonines, now the church
of San UrbinO
On the way from this to the temple of
Deus Rediculus, is the old meeting place
of Numa and the nymph Egeria. It was
in this grotto of Egeria that Numa
gained the inspirations which rendered
him the greatest benefactor to the Roman
people; but the grotto and the grove are
now deserted and given up to some mutt
lated statues of River Gods, the inches
which formerly contained other beautiful
statues being little more than followed
piles Of rocks.
THE EXCAVATIONS.
At this point the most interesting part