DOI chapter:
Chap. V: Magnificence of Ancient Rome - its Cloacæ - Aqueducts - Viæ - Forums - Temples - Thermæ - Theatres - Instances of private Magnificence - Greatness, the Characteristic of Roman Taste at all times
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62268#0185
Ch. V.
THROUGH ITALY.
175
idle bulk of the pyramids, and even to the grace-
ful but less useful edifices of Greece *.
I have already hinted at the ornaments that
graced the lakes and fountains, such as pillars,
temples and statues. The latter generally re-
presented river gods, and among them were the
Nile, the Tiber, the Ardus, the Achelous, the
Tigris, the Euphrates, the Rhine, the Danube,
and many others discovered at different periods
amidst the ruins ; some of which still remain, and
others have been transported to Naples, to Flo-
rence, and recently to Paris.
Many inscriptions have also been found be-
longing anciently to these fountains. That which
Pope translated for his grotto, seems to have
been of the number. It is now in the grotto of
Egeria. Another is well known, comprising the
same sense in three words,
NYMPHAE LOCI
BIBE LAVA TACE.
* Tot aquarum tarn multis necessariis molibus, pyramidas
videlicet otiosas comparem, aut caetera inertia, sed famh.
celebrata Graecorum opera?—Front. De Aqued. Roma,
lib. i.
THROUGH ITALY.
175
idle bulk of the pyramids, and even to the grace-
ful but less useful edifices of Greece *.
I have already hinted at the ornaments that
graced the lakes and fountains, such as pillars,
temples and statues. The latter generally re-
presented river gods, and among them were the
Nile, the Tiber, the Ardus, the Achelous, the
Tigris, the Euphrates, the Rhine, the Danube,
and many others discovered at different periods
amidst the ruins ; some of which still remain, and
others have been transported to Naples, to Flo-
rence, and recently to Paris.
Many inscriptions have also been found be-
longing anciently to these fountains. That which
Pope translated for his grotto, seems to have
been of the number. It is now in the grotto of
Egeria. Another is well known, comprising the
same sense in three words,
NYMPHAE LOCI
BIBE LAVA TACE.
* Tot aquarum tarn multis necessariis molibus, pyramidas
videlicet otiosas comparem, aut caetera inertia, sed famh.
celebrata Graecorum opera?—Front. De Aqued. Roma,
lib. i.