Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: Tobias Smollett
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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 241Parati 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 242Choose 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 243Different 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
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