The two Sphynxes of basalte, at the bottom of the ascent14, though excellent specimens15 of Egyptian sculpture, engage little of your attention. Warm with the glory of Rome, you cannot bestow16 a thought on the hieroglyphics17 of Egypt. At sight of the trophies18 erected19 in honour of C. Marius, all those bloody20 scenes acted by the fury of party and demon21 of revenge, during the most calamitous22 period of the republic, rush upon the memory; and you regret that Time, who has spared the monuments of this fierce soldier, has destroyed the numerous trophies raised to the Fabii, the Scipio’s, and other heroes, distinguished23 for the virtues24 of humanity, as well as the talents of Generals. You are struck with the colossal25 statues of Castor and Pollux, and, in the heat of enthusiasm, confounding the fictions of poetry with historical truth, your heart applauds their fraternal affection, and thanks them for the timely assistance they afforded the Romans in a battle with the Volsci. You rejoice at their good fortune, which, on earth, has procured26 them a place in the Capitol, and, in heaven, a seat by Hercules. Horace informs us, that Augustus drinks his[435] nectar, reclined between them and that demigod—
Purpureo bibit ore nectar.
From them you move forward, and your admiration27 is fixed28 by the animated29 equestrian30 statue of Marcus Aurelius, which naturally brings to your memory that happy period, when the Roman empire was governed by a Prince who, during a long reign31, made the good of his subjects the chief object of his government. You proceed to the upper end of the area; your eye is caught by a majestic32 female figure, in a sitting attitude; you are told it is a Roma Triumphans; you view her with all the warmth of fond enthusiasm, but you recollect33 that she is no longer Triumphans; you cast an indignant eye on St. Peter’s church, to which she also seems to look with indignation. Is there such another instance of the vicissitude34 of human things; the proud Mistress of the World under the[436] dominion35 of a priest? Horace was probably accused of vanity when he wrote these lines:
Crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium
Scandet cum tacita virgine Pontifex.
Yet the poet’s works have already outlived this period fourteen hundred years; and Virgil has transmitted the memory of the friendship and fame of Nisus and Euryalus, the same space of time beyond the period which he himself, in the ardour of poetic38 hope, had fixed for its limits.
Fortunati ambo si quid mea carmina possunt,
Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet ?vo:
Dum domus ?ne? Capitoli immobile saxum
Accolet, imperiumque Pater Romanus habebit.
In the two wings of the modern palace, called the Campidoglio, the Conservators of the city have apartments; their office is analogous39 to that of the ancient ?diles. In the main body an Italian nobleman, appointed by the Pope, has his residence,[437] with the title of Senator of Rome; the miserable40 representation of that Senate which gave laws to the world. The most defaced ruin, the most shapeless heap of antique rubbish in all Rome, cannot convey a feebler image of the building to which they belonged, than this deputy of the Pope does of that august assembly. The beautiful approach to this palace, and all the ornaments42 which decorate the area before it, cannot detain you long from the back view to which the ancient Capitol fronted. Here you behold43 the Forum Romanum, now exhibiting a melancholy44 but interesting view of the devastation45 wrought46 by the united force of time, avarice47, and bigotry48. The first objects which meet your eye, on looking from this side of the hill, are three fine pillars, two-thirds of them buried in the ruins of the old Capitol. They are said to be the remains49 of the temple of Jupiter Tonans, built by Augustus, in gratitude50 for having narrowly escaped death from a stroke of lightning. Near these are the remains[438] of Jupiter Stator, consisting of three very elegant small Corinthian pillars, with their entablature; the Temple of Concord51, where Cicero assembled the Senate, on the discovery of Catiline’s conspiracy52; the Temple of Romulus and Remus, and that of Antoninus and Faustina, just by it, both converted into modern churches; the ruins of the magnificent Temple of Peace, built immediately after the taking of Jerusalem, the Roman empire being then in profound peace. This is said to have been the finest temple in old Rome; part of the materials of Nero’s Golden House, which Vespasian pulled down, were used in erecting53 this grand edifice54. The only entire pillar remaining of this temple, was placed by Paul V. before the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It is a most beautiful fluted55 Corinthian column, and gives a very high idea of the temple to which it originally belonged. His Holiness has crowned it with an image of the Virgin37 Mary; and, in the inscription56 on the pedestal, he gives his reason for choosing a column belonging to the Temple of Peace, as an ornament41 to a church dedicated57 to the Virgin.
Ex cujus visceribus Princeps ver? Pacis genitus est.
Of many triumphal arches which stood formerly58 in Rome, there are only three now remaining, all of them near the Capitol, and forming entries to the Forum; those of Titus, Septimius Severus, and Constantine. The last is by much the finest of the three; but its chief beauties are not genuine, nor, properly speaking, its own; they consist of some admirable basso relievos, stolen from the Forum of Trajan, and representing that Emperor’s victories over the Dacians. This theft might, perhaps, not have been so notorious to posterity59, if the artists of Constantine’s time had not added some figures, which make the fraud apparent, and, by their great inferiority, evince the degeneracy of the arts in the interval60 between the reigns61 of these two Emperors.
The relievos of the arch of Titus represent the table of shew-bread, the trumpets62, the golden candlesticks with seven branches, and other utensils63, brought from the Temple of Jerusalem. The quarter which is allotted64 for the Jews is not at a great distance from this arch. There are about nine thousand of that unfortunate nation at present in Rome; the lineal descendants of those brought captive, by Titus, from Jerusalem. I have been assured that they always cautiously avoid passing through this arch, though it lies directly in their way to the Campo Vaccino, choosing rather to make a circuit, and enter the Forum at another place. I was affected65 at hearing this instance of sensibility in a people who, whatever other faults they may have, are certainly not deficient66 in patriotism67, and attachment68 to the religion and customs of their forefathers69. The same delicacy70 of sentiment is displayed by a poet of their own country, in the 137th psalm71, as it is finely translated by Buchanan:
Dum procul a Patria m?sti Babylonis in oris,
Illa animum subiit species miseranda Sionis,
Et numquam Patrii tecta videnda soli.
...
O Solym?, O adyta, et sacri penetralia templi
Ullane vos animo deleat hora meo? &c.
You may read the whole; you will perhaps find some poetical73 beauties which escaped your observation when you heard it sung in churches; but the poet’s ardour seems to glow too violently towards the end of the psalm.
点击收听单词发音
1 forum | |
n.论坛,讨论会 | |
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2 inter | |
v.埋葬 | |
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3 antiquities | |
n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 );古迹;古人们;古代的风俗习惯 | |
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4 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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5 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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6 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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7 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
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8 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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9 effaced | |
v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 );抹去;超越;使黯然失色 | |
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10 overthrown | |
adj. 打翻的,推倒的,倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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11 disdain | |
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
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12 displeased | |
a.不快的 | |
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13 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
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14 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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15 specimens | |
n.样品( specimen的名词复数 );范例;(化验的)抽样;某种类型的人 | |
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16 bestow | |
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费 | |
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17 hieroglyphics | |
n.pl.象形文字 | |
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18 trophies | |
n.(为竞赛获胜者颁发的)奖品( trophy的名词复数 );奖杯;(尤指狩猎或战争中获得的)纪念品;(用于比赛或赛跑名称)奖 | |
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19 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
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20 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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21 demon | |
n.魔鬼,恶魔 | |
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22 calamitous | |
adj.灾难的,悲惨的;多灾多难;惨重 | |
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23 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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24 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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25 colossal | |
adj.异常的,庞大的 | |
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26 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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27 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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28 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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29 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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30 equestrian | |
adj.骑马的;n.马术 | |
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31 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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32 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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33 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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34 vicissitude | |
n.变化,变迁,荣枯,盛衰 | |
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35 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
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36 ego | |
n.自我,自己,自尊 | |
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37 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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38 poetic | |
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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39 analogous | |
adj.相似的;类似的 | |
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40 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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41 ornament | |
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物 | |
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42 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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43 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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44 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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45 devastation | |
n.毁坏;荒废;极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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46 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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47 avarice | |
n.贪婪;贪心 | |
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48 bigotry | |
n.偏见,偏执,持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
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49 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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50 gratitude | |
adj.感激,感谢 | |
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51 concord | |
n.和谐;协调 | |
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52 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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53 erecting | |
v.使直立,竖起( erect的现在分词 );建立 | |
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54 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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55 fluted | |
a.有凹槽的 | |
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56 inscription | |
n.(尤指石块上的)刻印文字,铭文,碑文 | |
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57 dedicated | |
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的 | |
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58 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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59 posterity | |
n.后裔,子孙,后代 | |
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60 interval | |
n.间隔,间距;幕间休息,中场休息 | |
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61 reigns | |
n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 );君主统治时期;任期;当政期 | |
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62 trumpets | |
喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 ); 小号; 喇叭形物; (尤指)绽开的水仙花 | |
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63 utensils | |
器具,用具,器皿( utensil的名词复数 ); 器物 | |
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64 allotted | |
分配,拨给,摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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66 deficient | |
adj.不足的,不充份的,有缺陷的 | |
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67 patriotism | |
n.爱国精神,爱国心,爱国主义 | |
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68 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
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69 forefathers | |
n.祖先,先人;祖先,祖宗( forefather的名词复数 );列祖列宗;前人 | |
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70 delicacy | |
n.精致,细微,微妙,精良;美味,佳肴 | |
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71 psalm | |
n.赞美诗,圣诗 | |
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72 forte | |
n.长处,擅长;adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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73 poetical | |
adj.似诗人的;诗一般的;韵文的;富有诗意的 | |
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