Travels Through France And Italy by Tobias Smollett (beautiful books to read .txt) 📖

Of An Antient Street,

At The Depth Of Thirty-Nine Feet From The Present Surface Of The

Earth. He Therefore Concluded That Modern Rome Is Near Forty Feet

Higher In This Place, Than The Site Of The Antient City, And That

The Bed Of The River Is Raised In Proportion; But This Is

Altogether Incredible. Had The Bed Of The Tyber Been Antiently

Forty Feet Lower At Rome, Than It Is At Present, There Must Have

Been A Fall Or Cataract In It Immediately Above This Tract, As It

Is Not Pretended That The Bed Of It Is Raised In Any Part Above

The City; Otherwise Such An Elevation Would Have Obstructed Its

Course, And Then It Would Have Overflowed The Whole Campania.

There Is Nothing Extraordinary In Its Present Overflowings: They

Frequently Happened Of Old, And Did Great Mischief To The Antient

City. Appian, Dio, And Other Historians, Describe An Inundation

Of The Tiber Immediately After The Death Of Julius Caesar, Which

Inundation Was Occasioned By The Sudden Melting Of A Great

Quantity Of Snow Upon The Apennines. This Calamity Is Recorded By

Horace In His Ode To Augustus.

 

 

 

Vidimus Flavum Tiberim Retortis

Littore Etrusco Violenter Undis,

Ire Dejectum Monumenta Regis,

Templaque Vestae:

Iliae Dum Se Nimium Querenti,

Jactat Ultorem; Vagus Et Sinistra

Labitur Ripa, Jove Non Probante

Uxorius Amnis.

 

 

 

Livy Expressly Says, "Ita Abundavit Tiberis, Ut Ludi Apollinares,

Circo Inundato, Extra Portam Collinam Ad Aedem Erycinae Veneris 

Part 7 Letter 29 ( Nice, February 20, 1765..) Pg 241

Parati Sint," "There Was Such An Inundation Of The Tiber That,

The Circus Being Overflowed, The Ludi Appollinares Were Exhibited

Without The Gate Collina, Hard By The Temple Of Venus Erycina."

To This Custom Of Transferring The Ludi Appollinares To Another

Place Where The Tyber Had Overflowed The Circus Maximus, Ovid

Alludes In His Fasti.

 

 

 

Altera Gramineo Spectabis Equiriacampo

Quem Tiberis Curvis In Latus Urget Aquis,

Qui Tamen Ejecta Si Forte Tenebitur Unda,

Coelius Accipiet Pulverulentus Equos.

 

 

 

Another Race Thy View Shall Entertain

Where Bending Tiber Skirts The Grassy Plain;

Or Should His Vagrant Stream That Plain O'erflow,

The Caelian Hill The Dusty Course Will Show.

 

 

 

The Porta Del Popolo (Formerly, Flaminia,) By Which We Entered

Rome, Is An Elegant Piece Of Architecture, Adorned With Marble

Columns And Statues, Executed After The Design Of Buonaroti.

Within-Side You Find Yourself In A Noble Piazza, From Whence

Three Of The Principal Streets Of Rome Are Detached. It Is

Adorned With The Famous Aegyptian Obelisk, Brought Hither From

The Circus Maximus, And Set Up By The Architect Dominico Fontana

In The Pontificate Of Sixtus V. Here Is Likewise A Beautiful

Fountain Designed By The Same Artist; And At The Beginning Of The

Two Principal Streets, Are Two Very Elegant Churches Fronting

Each Other. Such An August Entrance Cannot Fail To Impress A

Stranger With A Sublime Idea Of This Venerable City.

 

 

 

Having Given Our Names At The Gate, We Repaired To The Dogana, Or

Custom-House, Where Our Trunks And Carriage Were Searched; And

Here We Were Surrounded By A Number Of Servitori De Piazza,

Offering Their Services With The Most Disagreeable Importunity.

Though I Told Them Several Times I Had No Occasion For Any, Three

Of Them Took Possession Of The Coach, One Mounting Before And Two

Of Them Behind; And Thus We Proceeded To The Piazza D'espagna,

Where The Person Lived To Whose House I Was Directed. Strangers

That Come To Rome Seldom Put Up At Public Inns, But Go Directly

To Lodging Houses, Of Which There Is Great Plenty In This

Quarter. The Piazza D'espagna Is Open, Airy, And Pleasantly

Situated In A High Part Of The City Immediately Under The Colla

Pinciana, And Adorned With Two Fine Fountains. Here Most Of The

English Reside: The Apartments Are Generally Commodious And Well

Furnished; And The Lodgers Are Well Supplied With Provisions And

All Necessaries Of Life. But, If I Studied Oeconomy, I Would 

Part 7 Letter 29 ( Nice, February 20, 1765..) Pg 242

Choose Another Part Of The Town Than The Piazza D'espagna, Which

Is, Besides, At A Great Distance From The Antiquities. For A

Decent First Floor And Two Bed-Chambers On The Second, I Payed No

More Than A Scudo (Five Shillings) Per Day. Our Table Was

Plentifully Furnished By The Landlord For Two And Thirty Pauls,

Being Equal To Sixteen Shillings. I Hired A Town-Coach At The

Rate Of Fourteen Pauls, Or Seven Shillings A Day; And A Servitore

Di Piazza For Three Pauls, Or Eighteen-Pence. The Coachman Has

Also An Allowance Of Two Pauls A Day. The Provisions At Rome Are

Reasonable And Good, The Vitella Mongana, However, Which Is The

Most Delicate Veal I Ever Tasted, Is Very Dear, Being Sold For

Two Pauls, Or A Shilling, The Pound. Here Are The Rich Wines Of

Montepulciano,  Montefiascone, And Monte Di Dragone; But What We

Commonly Drink At Meals Is That Of Orvieto, A Small White Wine,

Of An Agreeable Flavour. Strangers Are Generally Advised To

Employ An Antiquarian To Instruct Them In All The Curiosities Of

Rome; And This Is A Necessary Expence, When A Person Wants To

Become A Connoisseur In Painting, Statuary, And Architecture. For

My Own Part I Had No Such Ambition. I Longed To View The Remains

Of Antiquity By Which This Metropolis Is Distinguished; And To

Contemplate The Originals Of Many Pictures And Statues, Which I

Had Admired In Prints And Descriptions. I Therefore Chose A

Servant, Who Was Recommended To Me As A Sober, Intelligent

Fellow, Acquainted With These Matters: At The Same Time I

Furnished Myself With Maps And Plans Of Antient And Modern Rome,

Together With The Little Manual, Called, Itinerario Istruttivo

Per Ritrovare Con Facilita Tutte Le Magnificenze Di Roma E Di

Alcune Citta', E Castelli Suburbani. But I Found Still More

Satisfaction In Perusing The Book In Three Volumes, Intitled,

Roma Antica, E Moderna, Which Contains A Description Of

Everything Remarkable In And About The City, Illustrated With A

Great Number Of Copper-Plates, And Many Curious Historical

Annotations. This Directory Cost Me A Zequine; But A Hundred

Zequines Will Not Purchase All The Books And Prints Which Have

Been Published At Rome On These Subjects. Of These The Most

Celebrated Are The Plates Of Piranesi, Who Is Not Only An

Ingenious Architect And Engraver, But Also A Learned Antiquarian;

Though He Is Apt To Run Riot In His Conjectures; And With Regard

To The Arts Of Antient Rome, Has Broached Some Doctrines, Which

He Will Find It Very Difficult To Maintain. Our Young Gentlemen

Who Go To Rome Will Do Well To Be Upon Their Guard Against A Set

Of Sharpers, (Some Of Them Of Our Own Country,) Who Deal In

Pictures And Antiques, And Very Often Impose Upon The Uninformed

Stranger, By Selling Him Trash, As The Productions Of The Most

Celebrated Artists. The English Are More Than Any Other

Foreigners Exposed To This Imposition. They Are Supposed To Have

More Money To Throw Away; And Therefore A Greater Number Of

Snares Are Laid For Them. This Opinion Of Their Superior Wealth

They Take A Pride In Confirming, By Launching Out Into All Manner

Of Unnecessary Expence: But, What Is Still More Dangerous, The

Moment They Set Foot In Italy, They Are Seized With The Ambition

Of Becoming Connoisseurs In Painting, Musick, Statuary, And

Architecture; And The Adventurers Of This Country Do Not Fail To

Flatter This Weakness For Their Own Advantage. I Have Seen In 

Part 7 Letter 29 ( Nice, February 20, 1765..) Pg 243

Different Parts Of Italy, A Number Of Raw Boys, Whom Britain

Seemed To Have Poured Forth On Purpose To Bring Her National

Character Into Contempt, Ignorant, Petulant, Rash, And

Profligate, Without Any Knowledge Or Experience Of Their Own,

Without Any Director To Improve Their Understanding, Or

Superintend Their Conduct. One Engages In Play With An Infamous

Gamester, And Is Stripped Perhaps In The Very First Partie:

Another Is Pillaged By An Antiquated Cantatrice; A Third Is

Bubbled By A Knavish Antiquarian; And A Fourth Is Laid Under

Contribution By A Dealer In Pictures. Some Turn Fiddlers, And

Pretend To Compose: But All Of Them Talk Familiarly Of The Arts,

And Return Finished Connoisseurs And Coxcombs, To Their Own

Country. The Most Remarkable Phaenomenon Of This Kind, Which I

Have Seen, Is A Boy Of Seventy-Two, Now Actually Travelling

Through Italy, For Improvement, Under The Auspices Of Another Boy

Of Twenty-Two. When You Arrive At Rome, You Receive Cards From

All Your Country-Folks In That City: They Expect To Have The

Visit Returned Next Day, When They Give Orders Not To Be At Home;

And You Never Speak To One Another In The Sequel. This Is A

Refinement In Hospitality And Politeness, Which The English Have

Invented By The Strength Of Their Own Genius, Without Any

Assistance Either From France, Italy, Or Lapland. No Englishman

Above The Degree Of A Painter Or Cicerone Frequents Any Coffee-House

At Rome; And As There Are No Public Diversions, Except In

Carnival-Time, The Only Chance You Have Of Seeing Your

Compatriots Is Either In Visiting The Curiosities, Or At A

Conversazione. The Italians Are Very Scrupulous In Admitting

Foreigners, Except Those Who Are Introduced As People Of Quality:

But If There Happens To Be Any English Lady Of Fashion At Rome,

She Generally Keeps An Assembly, To Which The British Subjects

Resort. In My Next, I Shall Communicate, Without Ceremony Or

Affectation, What Further Remarks I Have Made At Rome, Without

Any Pretence, However, To The Character Of A Connoisseur, Which,

Without All Doubt, Would Fit Very Aukwardly Upon,--Dear Sir, Your

Friend And Servant.

 

Part 7 Letter 30 ( Nice, February 28, 1765.) Pg 244

 

 

Dear Sir,--Nothing Can Be More Agreeable To The Eyes Of A

Stranger, Especially In The Heats Of Summer, Than The Great

Number Of Public Fountains That Appear In Every Part Of Rome,

Embellished With All The Ornaments Of Sculpture, And Pouring

Forth Prodigious Quantities Of Cool, Delicious Water, Brought In

Aqueducts From Different