The Vatican Library Biblioteca Apos tuba Vatican-- possesses more than 250,000 volumes -and' 34,000 manuscripts. Its priceless treasure is the Codex Vattvanu.s, containrng all of the Bible as far as Hebrew's ix, 14; Scholars regard it as probably the oldest,vellutn manu script in existence, The Codex was entered is the • first 'catalogue of the library, dated 1475. The'most recent significant acquisition was the Biblioteca •Barberiniana, at a cost of $100,000. This library is nominally in the charge of a cardinal, but the actual administration is by an under librarian and a prefect. The largest collection —more than 350,000 books and 6,200 manuscripts— is the Biblioteca Vittorio Eman uele, in the Collercio Romano. It was formed in 1871 of the libraries of the Jesuits and sup pressed convents, to which large additions are made annually. The Biblioteca Alessandrina, in the Universiti della Sapienza, possesses 160,000 volumes, the Biblioteca Casanatense, in the monastery adjoining S. Maria sopra Minerva, 112,000, and the Biblioteca Angelica, in Sant Agostina, 80,000. A half dozen private libraries are open to the public.
It is probably true, as claimed, that Roman palaces are unequaled elsewhere in the world for spaciousness and splendor. Their lofty portals, broad marble stairways, and great halls arc matters of wonder. The descrip tion by Gibbon applies to-day: "The most costly monuments of elegance and servitude, the per fect arts of architecture, painting and sculpture have been prostituted in their services, and their galleries and gardens decorated with the most precious works of antiquity which taste and vanity have prompted them to collect' The Palazzo Barberini, on the Quirinal, was built by Urban VIII, almost wholly from materials taken from ancient buildings. In its small but excellent collection is the Beatrice Cenci' by Guido Reni — also valuable manuscript and some literary curiosities ; the Palazzo Colonna near the centre of the city; the Palazzo Corsini in the Trastevere, once the residence of Queen Chris tina of Sweden, and containing precious manu scripts; the Palazzo Farnese, near the Tiber, was inherited by the kings of Naples, but now belongs to the French government, and is occu pied by the ambassador. The Spada Palace is one of the finest examples of the late Renais sance; the Palace Rospigliosi, near the Palace of the Quirinal, contains valuable art treasures. Qn the ceiling of a casino in its gardens is the beautiful fresco of the 'Aurora) of Guido — this is now the residence of the French Am to the Pope; the Palazzo Venezia jacent to the principal Jesuit church,. II Gesit In the Corso Vittorio Emanuele is the splendid Palazzo della Cancelleria, •the. single
palace in the city which the Pope is permitted to own. On a part of the site of the theatre of Pompey is the Palazzo Piot and southwest of it the fine 16th ,century Palazzo Farnese: .Ancient Romat.— Counseled by the gods. the Greeks conquered Troy. .E.neas, carrying his father on hits shoulders and leading his son Ascanius, fled, and, guided by his mother Venus, reached. Latium. In time Ascanium built a city on a hill, which he called Alba Longa, and his. descendants reigned there as kings for. 300 years, with all the Latin towns as .vassals. But one of his descendants — ma, king of Alba dying, left two sons who quarreled over the throne. Amulius, the , seized the power, and made his brother daughter, Rhea Silvia, a Vestal to avoid the birth of a claimant to the throne. The gods decreed otherwise. She was loved of Mars and• bore twins, which Amulius the king ordered to 'be thrown into the Tiber. They were• saved, and suckled by a wolf until they crime under the care of Acca Laurentia, wife of the shepherd Faustulus, who reared them. In. time they slew the usurping king, placed their grandfather Numitor on the throne, and went away frotn Alba to build a new city on one of the seven hills by the Tiber. Being twins, neither had the right of primogeniture, and a quarrel ensued over the naming and the govern ing of the city to be. They left the decision to the sacred birds, •and awaited a sign, Romulus (cwt.) on the Palatine Hill and Remus on the Aventine. Remus saw the vultures first — six but Romulus saw 12. Accordingly omulus built the city, named it Rome for himself, drew a furrow around it with the sacred plow, And beside the furrow built a wall and dug a trench. Remus ridiculed his defenses, and leaped over the wall and the trench to show that the town might easily be taken. Romulus slew him, saying: aSo be it with anyone who dares to cross these walls.lo And so Rome was Iolunded 753 years before the birth of Christ These stories of the founding of the City, once given a certain value as history, Niebuhr, .Mommsen and their successors have dismissed to the limbo of myths that have no claim on the creduli of seekers after truth. Even Dionysius (i, 29I reported the skepticism of authorities before is day who claimed that there existed on the Palatine Hill, previous to the time of Romulus, •a Siculian, Pelasgian or 'Tyrrhenian town• whose name was probably Roma. And Microbius (Saturn iii. 9) avers that it was the belief of the Romans themselves that Rome, the city's name, was not Latin and that Its Latin name was kept a sacred secret.