Chap. lii. 
(jfreMeji Pari of 1 1 A L 
of the Hebrew Child, iintb which he gave the Name of 
the Ara primogeniti Dei, iPhe Altar of the Firfl-born of 
God. The before-mentioned Church being built in the 
fame Place where Augujius^s Altar ftill remains near 
the Quire, had thence the Name of Ara CM. 
Near unto this Place is a Chapel called St. 
JPietro in Carcere, built in the fame Place where St. P<?- 
ter and St. Paul were kept in Prifon, after their Con- 
demnation, and, according to the Opinion of the beft An- 
tiquaries, is the Tullianum finifli’d by Servius Pullius or Tul- 
lius Hofii\ius,2Xi^ ufed as a Prifon for condemned Malefac- 
tors only. Here they Ihew you a Spring (they tell you that 
the Water has a milky Tafte) which, they fay, gufhed 
out of the Rock at the Prayer of St. Peter, in order to 
baptize certain Profelytes ; as alfo an Impreflion in the 
Wall, made (as they fay) by that Apoftle’s Face, the 
Stone yielding as he was thruft with his Head againft 
it by a Soldier. 
Among the Multitude of ancient Ruins behind the 
Capitol, is the famous Tarpeia, (fo called from one 
Tarpeia a Roman Lady) that once fo dreadful Precipice, 
which is now not above twenty Foot high. The Trium- 
phal Arch eredfed to Titus after his Conqueft of Jeru- 
falem, the Bajfo relievo reprefentiug the Candleftick, 
Table, Trumpets of the Jubilee, and fome Vcffels 
taken out of the Temple, is highly worth a Traveller’s 
Obfervation. The Arch of Confiantine is very near en- 
tire, except that you fee fome Statues thereon without 
Heads, fuppofed to be carried privately by Lawrence 
de Medicis to Florence', and as the niceft Judges have 
oblerved a confiderable Difference in the Beauty of the 
Bap relievo, it is fufpedled that fome of the beft Pieces 
were taken off when it was erected. The Lake of 
Curtius was in the Middle of the Forum Romanum, but 
was already loft in Ovid*i Time : 
Curtius ilk Lacus, ficcas qui fujiinet aras 
Nunc falida eji tellus : fed fuit ante Lacus. 
The vaft Amphitheatre call’d Collifeum, from a Colof- 
fus that was near it, is of a circular Figure on the out- 
fide, though the Arena is oval ; it was capable of con- 
taining eighty five thoufand Spedtators, not including 
the twenty thoufand Excuneati who flood in the Paffages, 
and confequently four Times as many as the Amphi- 
theatre of Verona. The Pillars of the third Order, and 
the Pilafters of the fourth, had Corinthian Chapiters. 
Though I cannot engage to anfwer your Queftions con- 
cerning the Senate of Women inftituted by Heliogaha- 
lus, yet I can thus far fatisfy your Curiofitity, that the 
little Edifice at Monte Cavallo, by fome fuppofed to have 
been the Temple of the Sun, by others the Temple of 
Health, is fufpedled to have been the Meeting-place 
of that fage Affembly. 
The Columns of Trajan and Antoninus are truly mag- 
nificent Monuments of Antiquity, adorn’d with moft 
excellent Bap relievo, afcending in a fpiral Line from the 
Bafe to the Chapiter, and reprefenting the great Adlions 
of thofe great Princes. The firft is compofed of twenty 
four Stones, each containing eight Steps, eredled by the 
Senate to the Honour of Trajan, and ferved afterwards 
for his MaufoUum, his Afhes being placed in an Urn 
of Gold, on the very Top of it j in lieu of this Urn 
was afterwards placed the Statue of St. Peter, of Brafs 
gilt, by Sixtus V. The whole Height of the Body of 
this Column is 128 Roman, or 124 EnglijhFz^t', and 
you afcend to the Top by 123 Steps. The fecond, 
compofed of twenty eight Stones, was likewife built by 
the Senate, to the Honour of Antoninus Pius, with the 
Statue of that Emperor on the Top of it^ but has fince 
been forced to make Way for St. Paul, whofe Statue of 
Brafs is now placed there, and gilt like that of St. Pe- 
ter on Trajan'& Pillar. The Body of this Column is 
160 Roman, or 155 Englifh Feet high ; and the Stairs 
leading to the Top confift of 206 Steps. 
One Day as we were vifiting the Caves, known ge- 
nerally by the Name of Catacombs, we entered into the 
MaufoUum of Cecilia, the Daughter of Metellus, fir- 
named Creticus, where, at the very Entrance of it, we 
were fliewn a Hole, into which, but a few Weeks 
V o L. II. Numb, 108. 
beforcj a certain Qentleman (D. Mdlatefia 
Cefena) happened to tumble deep under Ground, un.^ 
perceived by his Company j his Friends being amazed and 
not knowing what was become of him, after they mifs^d 
him, went in Search of him 5 but Whether it wds the 
Dephth of the Pit, or that he was ftunn’d by the Falh 
he was not able to cry, or at leaft not loud enough to be 
heard by them, fo that they were forc’d to return with- 
out him : The poor Gentleman having continued in 
this deplorable Condition for fixty Hours, at laft found 
Means to open a Paflage, and fo clambering Out of the 
Pit with a great deal of Difficulty, got to an adjacent 
Houfe, where being comforted with fome good Broths^ 
he foon after recover’d his Strength. I am apt to be- 
lieve there is no Place in the World that can compare 
with Rome for fubterraneous Paffages ; and though the 
Earth has ftopt up the Entrances of fomcj yet there 
are ftill left a prodigious Number of Cavesj generally 
known by the Name of Catacombs among the modern 
Authors, though they cannot well fupport the Etymo- 
logies they produce. 
Thefe Catacombs are not fingle Vaults, but tathef 
whole fubterraneous Cities, with Turnings and Wind- 
ings like Streets ; as for Inftance, thofe of St. AgneSj, 
St. Sebajiian, &c. There are fome Caverns 5 as, thofe of 
the Gate Pinciana, and thofe near St. John and St. Paul^ 
which feem never to have been made Ufe of as Burial- 
places, and are known by the Name of Grottoes. 
The Catacombs of Rome extend under all its Suburbs, 
but thofe of Naples only under one Part of that City 5 
thefe are dug out from among the Rocks, each Paffage 
being commonly betwixt fifteen and eighteen Foot 
wide, and twelve or fifteen Foot high i The hollow- 
Niches in both Sides of the Walls are fliaped like Chefts, 
of divers Sizes, placed in Rows above one another with- 
out the leaft Order, in which were laid the Bodies with- 
out any Coffins, cover’d only with flat Stones like 
Tiles, cemented with a Kind of Mortar or Mixture of 
Chalk and Sand. Befides thefe, the Catacombs of Na- 
ples have divers Tombs of an indifferent Bignefs, with 
feveral Figures of Heads, Half Lengths, tAc. with the 
Names of the Perfons entombed, as Paulus, Nicolaus^ 
Proculus, and fometimes hie jacet, or quiefeit under- 
neath it. 
On one of thefe Tombs I faw a blue and yellov^ 
Crofs with the following Charaflers. 
XC 
NI 
1) 
KA 
I>jo-a5 Xg^cTTSs rijca* 
Jefus Chriftus vincit 
yefus Chriji overcame 
Where it is to be obferved, that the Greeks wrote theif 
s almqft like our Latin C, during the three firft Ages. 
Among all the Catacombs of Rome, thofe of St. Sebaf- 
tian are the greateft ; their Height is the fame as thofe 
of Naples, but the Paffages are not above two Foot and 
a half broad, by reafon the fandy Ground could not 
be eafily nnderprop’d, of which thofe at Naples, hewn 
out of the Rock, do not ftand in Need. We faw one 
of thefe Niches opened, where we found a Skeleton 
moulder’d away into whitilh Affies, yet we could per- 
ceive that the Corps had been laid on its Back. 
The Roman Catholicks have taken a great deal of 
Pains to perfuade the World, that thefe fubterraneous 
Vaults were dug ^ the Chrifiians in primitive Times, to 
bury their Dead in, with the Exclufion of all Pagans ; that 
they ufed to perform their Religious Worfhip in them du- 
ring the Times of Perfecution ; and that confequently they 
contain an inexhauilible Store of Relicks of Saints and 
Martyrs interred in them. 
Though the Proof of this Affertion lies at the Door of 
the Romanifis, and hitherto they have fcarce attempted 
any Thing on that Head, yet will I fubjoin fome few 
7 G Obfemtions^ 
