What Joseph Addison Saw in Rome in 1701-1703

Interior of S. Pietro

St Peter's seldom answers expectation at first entering it, but enlarges itself on all sides insensibly, and mends upon the eye every moment. The proportions are so very well observed, that nothing appears to an advantage, or distinguishes itself above the rest. It seems neither extremely high, nor long, nor broad, because it is all of them in a just equality.

Dome of S. Pietro

Though every thing in this church is admirable, the most astonishing part of it is the cupola. Upon my going to the top of it, I was surprised to find that the dome, which we see in the church, is not the same that one looks upon without doors, the last of them being a kind of case to the other, and the stairs lying betwixt them both, by which one ascends into the ball. Had there been only the outward dome, it would not have shown itself to an advantage to those that are in the church; or had there only been the inward one, it would scarce have been seen by those that are without; had they both been one solid dome of so great a thickness, the pillars would have been too weak to have supported it.

Tombs of Via Appia

Our Christian epitaphs that are to be seen only in churches, or churchyards, begin often with a Siste Viator probably in imitation of the old Roman inscriptions, that generally addressed themselves to the travellers; as it was impossible for them to enter the city, or to go out of it, without passing through one of these melancholy roads, which, for a great length, was nothing else but a street of funeral monuments.

Statue of Meleager

One of the finest ancient statues in Rome is a Meleager with a spear in his land, and the head of a wild boar on one side if him. It is of Parian marble, and as yellow as ivory. One meets with many other figures of Meleager in the ancient basso relievos and on the sides of the sarcophagi, or funeral monuments. Perhaps it was the arms or device of the old Roman hunters; which conjecture I have found confirmed in a passage of Manilius, that lets us know the Pagan hunters had Meleager for their patron, as the Christians have their St. Hubert.

Excavations at Orti Farnesiani and Domus Aurea

Though the statues that have been found among the ruins of old Rome are already very numerous, there is no question but posterity will have the pleasure of seeing many noble pieces of sculpture which are still undiscovered, for, doubtless, there are greater treasures of this nature under ground than what are yet brought to light. They have often dug into lands that are described in old authors, as the places where such particular statues and obelisks stood, and have seldom failed of success in their pursuits. There are still many such promising spots of ground that have never been searched into. A great part of the Palatine mountain, for example, lies untouched, which was formerly the seat of the imperial palace, and may be presumed to abound with more treasures of this nature than any other part of Rome. (..) But whether it be that the richest of these discoveries fall into the pope's hands, or for some other reason, it is said that the Prince Farnese, who is the present owner of this seat, will keep it from being turned up till he sees one of his own family in the chair. There are undertakers in Rome who often purchase the digging of fields, gardens, or vineyards, where they find any likelihood of succeeding, and some have been known to arrive at great estates by it. They pay according to the dimensions of the surface they are to break up, and after having made essays into it, as they do for coal in England they rake into the most promising parts of it, though they often find, to their disappointment, that others have been before hand with them. However, they generally gain enough by the rubbish and bricks, which the present architects value much beyond those of a modern make, to defray the charge of their search. I was shown two spaces of ground, where part of Nero's Golden House stood, for which the owner has been offered an extraordinary sum of money. What encouraged the undertakers, are several very ancient trees which grow upon the spot, from whence they conclude that these particular tracts of ground must have lain untouched for some ages. It is a pity there is not something like a public register, to preserve the memory of such statues as have been found from time to time, and to mark the particular places where they have been taken up, which would not only prevent many fruitless searches for the future, but might often give a considerable light into the quality of the place, or the design of the statue.

River banks and floodings

At Rome they have so general an opinion of the (ancient) riches of this river, that the Jews have formerly proferred the pope to cleanse it so they might have for their pains, what they found in the bosom of it. I have seen the valley near Ponte Molle, which they proposed to fashion into a new channel for it till they had cleared the old for its reception. The pope, however, would not comply with the proposal. (..) The city of Rome would receive a great advantage from the undertaking, as it would raise the banks and deepen the bed of the Tiber, and by consequence free them from those frequent inundations to which they are so subject at present; for the channel of the river is observed to be narrower within the walls, than, either below or above them.

Colonna Antonina

The most remarkable piece in Antonine's pillar is the figure of Jupiter Pluvius sending down rain on the fainting army of Marcus Aurelius, and thunderbolts on his enemies, which is the greatest confirmation possible of the story of the Christian legion, and will be a standing evidence for it when any passage in an old author may be supposed to be forged.

Arco di Costantino

Among the triumphal arches, that of Constantine is not only the noblest of any in Rome, but in the world. I searched narrowly into it, especially among those additions of sculpture made in the emperor's own age, to see if I could find any marks of the apparition, that is said to have preceded the very victory which gave occasion to the triumphal arch. But there are not the least traces of it to be met with, which is not very strange, if we consider that the greatest part of the ornaments were taken from Trajan's arch, and set up to the new conqueror in no small haste, by the senate and people of Rome, who were then most of them Heathens. There is however something in the inscription, which is as old as the arch itself, which seems to hint at the emperor's Vision.

Marbles of Rome

It is almost impossible for a man to form, in his imagination, such beautiful and glorious scenes as are to be met with in several of the Roman churches and chapels; for, having such a prodigious stock of ancient marble within the very city, and, at the same time, so many different quarries in the bowels of their country, most of their chapels are laid over with such a rich variety of incrustations, as cannot possibly be found in any other part of the world. And notwithstanding the incredible sums of money which have been already laid out this way, there is still the same work going forward in other parts of Rome, the last still endeavouring to outshine those that went before them.

Palaces of Rome

The Palaces are built rather for the spectator than for the tenant. (..) The gateway, with the balcony and its superstructure, generally forms an architectural picture at discord with the style of the palace, and breaks its front into unconnected parts. This is conspicuous at Monte Cavallo. (..) Sometimes the armorial bearings break even into the capitals of columns.