New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-13
ROME.
II ViUid Reorganization of the
Citys Story.


most wonderful city the world has known. have
an almost crushing task Acknowledging all its
difficulty Miss Duff Gordon in her brief preface.
expresses the hope that the pilgrim may find IN
these pages some help in the bewildering effort
TO recover from amid the encumbrances of the
modern city some coherent image or series OF
images Of old Rome in the successive stages OF
its development" In this sentence she has ex-
ectly defined what she and her co-laborer have
accomplished Their book is not q consecutive
history: II is collection of vivid often dramatic,
sketches thrown rapidly against background
Of archaeology and art Mr.. Baddeley contrib
rtes less than half the volume in seven chap
tiers devoted to classical Rome-chapters made
uIuninative not only by profound knowledge
of his subject but also by a valuable sense OF
the picturesque. Miss Duf-Gordon's thirteen
chapters continue the story from the entrance
Of St Paul into pagan Rome to the terrible
sack Of the city by the motley troops under the
Constable de Bourbon.
Over and over was the Eternal City gashed
and wrecked by invading swords but II Is d
question whether her Renaissance rulers were
not almost as merciIess as the barbarian IN the
destruction Of the ancient monuments MI
Baddeley reminds US that the pontiffs who USED
the great pagan temples as convenient quarrles
for the material Of church and palace some
times made more havoc in five years than had
Heretofore been done during ten centuries lie
adds a fifteenth century record when ma! wen
make the archaologist wince-that OF Pogglo
Bracciolini who toward the middle OF that cen
fury, saw standing almost perfect the great
portico Of the Temple Of Concord wherein
Sejanus had been condemned to death NlIhlA
his own time the whole of this was demolished
and the platform left bare we now see IL
The strange punishment that in some instances
has followed the destruction Of magnificent mon
1lrnerts Of the ancient city is illustrated IN the
revelations Of the recent excavations on the site
Of the Curia. In the seventh century the build
ing was dedicated as a church to , Adrlaho'
and, the marble panelling and stucco bedding
beng stripped away. the thick walls were PIT
ted" with oblong burial holes wherein the
partshioners Of this church who were able to
pay were left 10 decay:
When the ground was first opened and earth was
use 800 net baj1r found shut in with
large tiles OF terra Gotta Remains OF poorer lG.N
law scattered al over the august Conn tuII--slA-
s 5t t 2f t Of this Gf4f ceery rose
Up. and with this rising IIesh EoL ltoi-S olfaS
were sold in patches to new patrons VINO lke@iSs
became Inferred IN them Meinul l m, ~ 49, a.
becoming encountered; and from time to tune q,
Go6-s have been for like reason forcihly lifted up
&C m ,raveiirg as the step and the jambs
streets around and to that Of the tramway which,
until 1893 passed in front Of the church from Inc
great Via CavOur -, .,+-
discovered 10 other facts. From time 10 tlIle
during those holy but dark periods the authorities
Of this church had caused or allowed 10 De suiA
wells for drinking water. down even through Inns
ro--ible necrOuolis TO the levels OF the ntIghDof-
fna Cloaca formerly called Maxima), with Wts4t
sanitary results and rapid heighteLlnS OF Lie
grave ground may be dinlly imagined
This bit Of narrative is grewsome enough put
not more so than many others that darken
these pages Rone's tragedies, miseries. cruel
ties outweigh her splendors. great as they were
The streets that day were streWn with
flowers for some magnificent pageant were Grim
son on the next with the blood Of fighting fac
tons There was little patriotism in these con-
tertions-they were mostly the outcome Of IN
adulterated egotisn. Miss Duff-Gordon offers US
some interesting passages on Cola di Rienzo
whose enterprise as a Roman patriot was
wrecked on the rock of his own vanity-the
quality which more than any other makes for
instability. His Is exciting story. and the
English woman tells Il uncommonly Well She
has, IL fact, a keen apprehension Of character
and personality, Of the significant incident and
the thrilling anecdote and she as well as MI
Baddeley may be congratulated on producing
work which 10 its last line maintains a per
sistent hold upon the reader.
This book belongs to the excellent series IN
which Mr Okey's volumes on Venice and Paris
how