The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-01

of death, where we're thrown the bodies
of dead animals and the corpses Of Save;
| and people of low degree there to de-
| cay and form a horrible mass of refuse. a
| population which could tolerate such a hot
| bed of infection at its doors was probably
not overcareful in other matters, and the
only possible way of cleaning certlin dis
| tricts must have been by the more or less
| frequent fires, which removed all garba e
by the simple process of cremation
1t is scarcely conceivable that the price
less statues of early Roman civilization
were broken up by stonecutters and ma
sons and used as building material. but
Prof. Lanciani assures us that they were.
| This outvandals the Nandals. for when
they looted the city they at any rate did
not destroy objects of value, but carried
them away as spoils of war. But here
We have the statement that no less than
1874 most precious images of Greek work
manship belonging TO the compital
shrines at the crossing of main thorough
fares were actually broken TO pieces and
put into the lime kilns or built into the
walls of new buildings. A part of this
ruthless destruction was due to Chris
tianity. the builders of the new era having
no respect for pagan gods. The author
says that foundation walls built up in
part of statues and busts have been found
by the score 4 replica of the LAGOON is
known TO be buried in the substructures
of the Church of St. Pudentiana. A story
is here told of a colony of Greek sculp-
tors who came to Rome from Aphrodisias
and set up a studio on the Esquiline Hill.
Their studio and exhibition rooms finally
came TO grief, either by fire or mob vio-
lence. In the spring of 1856. when the
Via Buonaroti was cut through near the
Baths of Titus a wall was discovered en-
tirely built with the contents of the stu
do. There were statues of seven of the
gods. as well as bias reliefs and other
carvings; and no essential portion OF any
work was missing. which shows that they
were brought entire to the scene of de-
struction and there broken up and thrown
into foundation wall The author says
that where statues are found in the ruins
Of edifices TO which they belonged the head
and arms are usually missing; but where
they have been built into walls the whole
can generally be recovered. He also says
that some of the loose heads are rounded
and smooth, as if the street loafers had
used them for bowling purposes. After
all this Information on Roman disregard
for beauty. one can hardly accuse Ameri-
cans of having a monopoly of that sort of
thing.
The history of Rome during the barbaT-
then taken up, and the effect of each in
cursion upon the art and architecture of
the city is discussed.
Some fortunate accidents are mingled
with the more or less deliberate destruc-
tion of works of art recorded here. In
1853, in an excavation. a pile of marble
was found, made up of eight statues of the
Nestales maXimae. some whole others in
fragments. For some Unsuitable reason
some unknown diggers OF marbles in fill-
ing up hole. had laid the statues in
regular Oblong. like a cord of wood. and
filled in the spaces between.
The sack OF Rome in 1927 is wildly de-
scribed and we are told that a familiar
lullaby sung over the cradles of Italian
children today is "Fatti la NINA, pass3
via Rarbone,' tGo TO sleep, Baritone is
gomez Baritone the man with the long
beard representing Charles of Bourbon
and his mercendrieS-twenty thousand
Germans. fourteen thousand Italians. and
six thousand Spaniarcs. The things they
did in the half-runed but sill magnificent
city will hardly bear repetition. Their in
vasion was worse than that Of the Goths at
an earlier date. Aside from the horrible
cruelties practised on priests and citizens,
they committed all sorts Of Expectations In
the churches aud palaces. The Spaniards
stabbed their horses in the aisles Of st.
Peters preparing their filters with price
less manuscripts. They broke stained
glass windows into bits. and stole Flemish
tapestries designed by Raphael flor the
sake Of the gold thread only. Bonfres
were lighted in the Vatican. it is said,
though this Is not certain.
Altogether. it is net wonderful that
Rome is a mass of ruins, between the
depredations OF outsiders and the indif-
ference and calousness OF her own citi-
zens The record is not exactly pleasant.
but it is Interesting and valuable. and
marveIously well written. (New York:
The Macmillan Company 5000.