Roman Mosaics

Roman Mosaics

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Mosaics, by Hugh Macmillan
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Title: Roman Mosaics Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood
Author: Hugh Macmillan
Release Date: July 2, 2005 [EBook #16180]
Language: English
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ROMAN MOSAICS
OR
STUDIES IN ROME AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD
BY
HUGH MACMILLAN
D.D., LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.S.A. Scot.
AUTHOR OF
'BIBLE TEACHINGS IN NATURE,' 'FIRST FORMS OF
VEGETATION,' 'HOLIDAYS IN HIGH LANDS,' 'THE RIVIERA,'
ETC.

London
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND NEW YORK
1888

PREFACE
The title of this book may seem fanciful. It may even be regarded as
misleading, creating the idea that it is a treatise like that of Mr. Digby
Wyatt on those peculiar works of art which decorate the old palaces
and churches of Rome. But notwithstanding these objections, no title
can more adequately describe the nature of the book. It is applicable on
account of the miscellaneous character of the chapters, which have
already appeared in some of our leading magazines and reviews, and
are now, with considerable changes and additions, gathered together
into a volume. There is a further suitableness in the title, owing to the
fact that most of the contents have no claim to originality. As a Roman
Mosaic is made up of small coloured cubes joined together in such a
manner as to form a picture, so my book may be said to be made up of
old facts gathered from many sources and harmonised into a significant
unity. So many thousands of volumes have been written about Rome
that it is impossible to say anything new regarding it. Every feature of
its topography and every incident of its history have been described.
Every sentiment appropriate to the subject has been expressed. But
Rome can be regarded from countless points of view, and studied for
endless objects. Each visitor's mind is a different prism with angles of
thought that break up the subject into its own colours. And as is the
case in a mosaic, old materials can be brought into new combinations,
and a new picture constructed out of them. It is on this ground that I
venture to add another book to the bewildering pile of literature on
Rome.
But I have another reason to offer. While the great mass of the
materials of the book is old and familiar, not a few things are
introduced that are comparatively novel. The late Dean Alford made
the remark how difficult it is to obtain in Rome those details of interest
which can be so easily got in other cities. Guide-books contain a vast
amount of information, but there are many points interesting to the
antiquarian and the historian which they overlook altogether. There is

no English book, for instance, like Ruffini's _Dizionario
Etimologico-Storico delle Strade, Piazze, Borghi e Vicoli della Città di
Roma_, to tell one of the origin of the strange and bizarre names of the
streets of Rome, many of which involve most interesting historical
facts and most romantic associations of the past. There is no English
book on the ancient marbles of Rome like Corsi's Pietre Antiche, which
describes the mineralogy and source of the building materials of the
imperial city, and traces their history from the law courts and temples
of which they first formed part to the churches and palaces in which
they may now be seen. Every nook in London, with its memories and
points of interest, has been chronicled in a form that is accessible to
every one. But there is an immense amount of most interesting
antiquarian lore regarding out-of-the-way things in Rome which is
buried in the transactions of learned societies or in special Italian
monographs, and is therefore altogether beyond the reach of the
ordinary visitor. Science has lately shed its vivid light upon the
physical history of the Roman plain; and the researches of the
archæologist have brought into the daylight of modern knowledge, and
by a wider comparison and induction have invested with a new
significance, the prehistoric objects, customs, and traditions which
make primeval Rome and the surrounding sites so fascinating to the
imagination. But these results are not to be found in the books which
the English visitor usually consults. In the following chapters I have
endeavoured to supply some of that curious knowledge; and it is to be
hoped that what is given--for it is no more than a