ITALY. 



375 



. pies of Minerva Medica, of Vesta, Faunus, Fortuna 

 ^ . . , and the Pantheon; the baths of Dioclesian, 

 Titus, ar li; the tombs of Cestius, Corvis 



Bibulus, anil those of Augu>tus and Adrian in the 

 Campus Martiu*. In the environs of Naples, are, the 

 amphitheatre and other remains near Puzzuolo, parti- 

 cularly the basso relievos in the square of the temple 

 of Jupiter Serapis in the suburbs, and the old mole ; 

 a temple and various villas on lake Averno ; the sub- 

 :i-ou* vallies on the opposite side, called Grotto 

 della Sibella ; various ruins round the bay of Baiee ; a 

 subterranean edifice, called Piscina Mirabile, under the 

 promonU>ry of Baulis ; the caverns of the promontory 

 of Micenus; above all, Herculaneum and Pompeii, 

 especially a small villa near the site of the last men- 

 tioned town. Of those which attract the notice of the 

 classical traveller in various parts of the country, may 

 be particularly specified, the remains of the Via Ap- 

 pia, across the Pontine marshes; of the Via Emilia, be- 

 tween Placentia and Parma ; of the Via Flaminia near 

 Pesaro; the amphitheatre of Verona, capable of con- 

 taining 20,000 spectators ; the amphitheatres on the 

 bank of t /a, beyond Sarubuchetto, at Aqui- 



num and Casinum ; at Capua, gates of Verona, which 

 are built of marble of Spoleto ; at Fano, a triumphal 

 arch of Augustus ; one of the gates of Beneventum ; a 

 triumphal arch of Trajan, and one of the most magni 



remain* of Roman grandeur to be found out of 

 the city of Rome, a triumphal arch on the mole of 

 na; and the portico of Santa Maria de Minerva 

 at \-i-uirn; bridges, of Rimini, of Augustus over 

 the Nar near Narni, of Torre tre ponte, and three be- 

 tween Benevento and Monte Sarchio, built of immense 

 block* of 'tone, the remains of the Appian Way ; tem- 

 ples, r Clitumnus at La Vene, and one to the 

 north of Pa-slum, of the kind called pteudn diplrrot, 

 the finest monument of ancient architecture ; aque 

 ir the Garigliano at Mola, and behind the 

 ca-tlc of Spoil of Adrian near Tivoli, and of 

 i at Capo di Puolo; bath*, near the church of 

 ,-enxo in Milan ; specimens of the most ancient 

 in walls at Fondi, at Cartona, and at Cori near 

 V'elletri ; antique granite columns in the cathedral of 

 Barletta ; various ruins on the lite of the ancient cities 

 of Capua, Canner, Canoaa, Minturmc, Metapontum, 

 at the mouth of the Ba*iento, Terracina, the ancient 

 Fonnur near Castellone, Mola, Volterra, Fiorentino, 

 Aouintun* 



Language Literature ami Sciencei. 



The origin of the Italian language ha* long been a 

 Mibject of much curious research among the learned. 

 Three hypotheses have been formed for the solution of 

 the problem. The first, supported by Leonard Aretin, 

 and afterwards by Bembo, suppose* the Italian to be 

 coeval with the Latin itself, and to have been, at all 

 time*, the dialect of the common classes, while the 

 other was the chosen vehicle of learning, and of public 

 documents. The second, suggested by the Marquis 

 Maflei, supposes the Latin, w ithout the aid of any ex. 

 temal cause, to have gradually corrupted itself, by 

 receiving from time to time into the regular forms of 

 composition, all the idiomt of the illiterate vulgar. 

 The third, maintained by Muratori, considers the Latin 

 language to have been successively adopted by the 

 bobarou* conquerors of Italy, but to have received 

 from each. a portion of their own inflexions, phrases, 

 and pronunciation. The two former, as more flatter- 



I 



ing to national feelings, are chiefly supported by na- Statistics, 

 live authors; but most other critics adopt the last v * V~^ 

 mentioned. Nevertheless, the whole of the three causes 

 enumerated may have contributed to produce the final 

 result; and it may not be easy to decide which of 

 them all has exercised the most extensive influence. 

 It is unquestionable, that some of the oldest inscrip- 

 tions, of a date long prior to the perfection of the Latin 

 language, bear a striking resemblance in certain points 

 to the modem dialect. It is highly probable, that 

 even from the time of Julius Ca?sar, the Latin, as spo- 

 ken by the people at large, was gradually deteriorated 

 long before the subjugation of Italy to the barbarians ; 

 that the number of provincial*, whom he brought to 

 Rome in support of his cause, and the acting of plays 

 in various languages on their account, greatly contri. 

 buted to the corruption of the Roman tongue; that the 

 suspension of literary pursuits, and the destruction of 

 public seminaries, during the disastrous times of the 

 empire, left the orthography and the pronunciation to 

 be chit fly regulated by the ear; and that the effemi. 

 nacy. of the Romans themselves may have extended its 

 influence even to their language, multiplying its 

 smoother scumfe, and retrenching its rougher combina- 

 tions. Finally, the change of meaning, and the intro- 

 duction of new. terms, may be ascribed to the influence 

 of the several invading hosts ; to the prevalence of the 

 Greek language in the south of Italy, which continued 

 to be united to the Greek empire long after the full of 

 the western power, and where it is still spoken in some 

 villages in greater purity than by the inhabitants of 

 the Morea; to the introduction of the Sclavonian dia. 

 lect by a colony of Bulgarians established in the south- 

 ern provinces by the Greek emperors, about the mid- 

 dle of the seventh century ; and to the vicinity of the 

 Arabic, when the Saracens had possession of Sicily and 

 several sea-ports of Calabria, during the ninth and 

 tenth centuries. 



The I-*tin language, however, though with little 

 elegance, yet still genuine in respect of its grammar, 

 continued to be spoken in Rome about the beginning 

 of the seventh century, as appears from the letters of 

 that period preserved by Cassiodorus, and from the 

 sermons of Gregory the Great, addressed to his ordi- 

 nary congregation in that city. Even during the four 

 following centuries, all the public records, and all the 

 writings of the learned now extant, were written in 

 Latin, more or less corrupted. But, from the seventh 

 century, the alteration of the language proceeded with 

 great rapidity ; and, in the ninth century, the clergy 

 were required to preach " in Rustic* Romana Lingua." 

 The first regular inscription of the modern language is 

 found on the front of the cathedral of Ferrara, of date 

 1135; and the first written specimens are the verses 

 of a few obscure Sicilian poets, about the beginning of 

 the thirteenth century. But the most singular circum- 

 stance in the history of the Italian language, is the ra- 

 pidity of its improvement. Though the last of all the 

 modern dialects in order of birth, it was the first which 

 served as a vehicle to productions of human genius; 

 and while the world was scarcely conscious of its ex- 

 istence, it burst upon them at once in all the splendour 

 of maturity. It was brought nearly to its present 

 standard by Dante, or at least by his successors Pe- 

 trarch and Boccace ; and, what is scarcely less re- 

 markable, it has continued in the same state, almost 

 wholly unvaried, from the age of these distinguished 

 writers to the present day. For the space of five cen- 

 turies, the Italian authors (and they nave been suffU 



