There are magnificent heaps of the remains of antiquity on the seven hills of ancient Rome, at Paestum, Beneven tum, Agrigentum and Selinus ; hut these objects are not frequent ; and, excepting the temple of Tivoli, the amphi theatre and gates of Verona, and two or three triumphal arches, little more appears but vast masses of brick. Until the fifteenth century, the ruins throughout Italy were em ployed as quarries for modern buildings, particularly for fortifications, without the slightest reverence or reflection; but, in later times, the inhabitants, on the contrary, fre quently contribute large sums to preserve and repair the monuments of antiquity in their neighbourhood. The Most remarkable of these remains, still visible in Rome, are, the the Coliseum, the Cloaca Maxima, a work of Taiquinius Priscus, the circus of Caracalla, the Agger Tarquinii in the garden of Villa Negroid, the pa lace of Maecenas, the arch of Constantine on the Palatine, the mausoleum of Cecilia Metclla, the church of St. Ag nes, erected by Constantine ; the obelisks (especially at the entrance of the Curia Innocenziana, in the Piazzo del Popoli, in the centre of the Colonnado of St. Peter, and near St. John Lateran) ; the aqueducts on the Viminal, (now fontana felice,) on the brow of the Janiculum (aqua Paola), and the fontana de Trevi, the most magnificent in the world; the temples of Minerva Medica, of Vesta, Faunus, Fortuna Virilis, and the Pantheon ; the baths of Diociesian, Titus, and Caracalla ; the tombs of Cestius, Curvis Bibulus, and those of Augustus and Adrian in the Campus Nlartius. In the environs of Naples are, the am phitheatre and other remains near Puzzuolo, particularly 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 subterraneous vallies on the opposite side, called Grotto della Sibella ; various ruins round the bay of Baix ; a subterranean edifice, called Piscina Mirabile, under the promontory of Baulis; the caverns of the promontory of Micenus ; above all, Hercu. laneum and Pompeii, especially a small villa near the site of the last mentioned town. Of those which attract the notice of the classical traveller in various parts of the coun try, may be particularly specified, the remains of the Via Appia, across the Pontine marshes; of the Via Emilia, between Placentia and Parma ; of the Via Flaminia near Pesaro ; the amphitheatre of Verona, capable of contain ing 20,000 spectators ; the amphitheatres on the bank of the Potenza, beyond Sarnbuchetto, at Aquinum and Casi num ; at Capua, gates of Verona, which are built of mar ble of Spoleto; at Fano, a triumphal arch of Augustus; one of the gates of Bsmeventum ; a triumphal arch) of Tra Jan, and one of the most magnificent remains of Roman grandeur to be found out of the city of Rome; a triumphal arch on the mole of Ancona; and the portico of Santa Maria de Minerva at Asisium ; bridges, of Rimini, of Augustus over the Nar near Narni, of Torre tre ponte, and three between Benevento and Monte Sarchio, built of immense blocks of stone, the remains of the Appian Way; temples, of Jupiter Clitumnus at La Vene, and one to the north of Paestum, of the kind called pseudo dipteros, the finest of ancient architecture ; aqueducts, near the Garigliano at Mola, and behind the castle of Spoleto ; villas, of Adrian near Tivoli, and of Pollius at Capo di Puolo ; baths, near the church of S. Lorenzo in Milan; specimens of the most ancient Tuscan walls at Fondi, at Cartona, and at Cori near Velletri ; antique granite co lumns in the cathedral of Barletta ; various ruins on the site of the ancient cities of Capua, Canna', Canosa, Min turnm, Metapontum, at the mouth of the Basiento, Terra cina, the ancient Formix near Castellone, Mola, Volterra, Fiorentino, Aquinum.
and Sciences.
The origin of the Italian language has long been a sub ject of much curious research among the learned. Three hypotheses have been formed for the solution of the pro blem. The first, supported by Leonard Aretin, and after wards by Bembo, supposes the Italian to be coeval with the Latin itself, and to have been, at all times, the dialect of the common classes, while the other was the chosen vehi cle of learning, and of public documents. The second, suggested by the Marquis Maffei, supposes the Latin, without the aid of any external cause, to have gradually corrupted itself, by receiving from time to time into the re gular forms of composition, all the idioms of the illiterate vulgar. The third, maintained by Muratori, considers the
Latin language to have been successively adopted by the barbarous conquerors of Italy, but to have received from each a portion of their own inflexions, phrases, and pronun ciation. The two former, as more flattering to national feelings, are chiefly supported by native authors; but most other critics adopt the last mentioned. Nevertheless, the whole of the three causes enumerated may have contribut ed 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 in scriptions, of a date long prior to the perfection of the Latin language, bear a striking resemblance in certain points to the modern dialect. It is highly probable, that even from the time of Julius Caesar, the Latin, as spoken by the people at large, was gradually deteriorated long before the subjugation of Italy to the barbarians ; that the number of provincials, whom he brought to Rome in support of his cause, and the acting of plays in various lan guages on their account, greatly contributed to the corrup tion 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 effeminacy of the Romans themselves may have extended its influence even to their language, multi plying its smoother sounds, and retrenching its tougher combinations. Finally, the change of meaning, and the in troduction 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 tile fall of the western power, and where it is still spoken in some vil lages in greater purity than by the inhabitants of the Mo res; to the introduction of the S lavonian dialect by a co lony of Bulgarians established in the southern provinces by the Greek emperors, about the middle of the seventh cen tury ; 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 Latin language, however, though with little ele gance, y et still genuin in respect of ;ts grammar. conti nued to be spoke n in Rome about the beginning of the se venth century, as appears from the letters of that period preserved by Cassionoi os, and from the sermons of Gre gory the Great, addressed to his ordinary 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 rorrupted. But, from the seventh century, the alteration of the language proceeded with great rapidity ; and, in the ninth century, the clergy were required to pi each Rustica Romana Lingua." The first regular inscription of the modern language is found on the front of the cathedral of Ferrara, of date I 135; 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 circumstance in the history of the Italian language is the rapidity 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 existence, 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 Petrarch and Boccace ; and, what is scarcely less remarkable, it has continued in the same state, almost wholly unvaried, from the age of these distinguished wri ters to the present day. For the space of five centuries, the Italian authors (and they have been sufficiently nume rous) have continued to write in one uniform dialect. Sweetness is the characteristic feature of the language ; and it appears as if purposely formed for the service of musical genius ; but it is only the Roman pronunciation that displays all the graces of which it is susceptible.