also an altar to Mamurius, an ancient Sabine divinity, probably identical with Mars, and a temple of Salus, or Health, which gave a name to the Porta Salutaria, which must have stood nearly on the site of the present Quattro Fontane, and near which, not inappropriately, was a temple of Fever, in the Via S. Vitale, where fever is still prevalent.
The site of the temple of Quirinus is ascertained to have been nearly that now occupied by S. Andrea a Monte Cavallo. On the opposite side of the street, where part of the papal palace now stands, was the temple of Semo-Sanctus, the reputed father of Sabinus. Between these two temples was the House of Pomponius Atticus (the friend and correspondent of Cicero), a situation which gave an opportunity for the witticism of Cicero when he said that Caesar would rather dwell with Quirinus than with Salus, meaning that he would rather be at war than be in good health.[231]
In the same neighbourhood lived Martial the epigrammatist, "on the third floor, in a narrow street," whence he had a view as far as the portico of Agrippa, near the Flaminian Way. Below, probably on the site now occupied by the Piazza Barberini, was a Circus of Flora.
"Mater, ades, florum, ludis celebranda jocosis:
Distuleram partes mense priore tuas.
Incipis Aprili: transis in tempora Maii.
Alter te, fugiens; cum venit, alter habet.
Quum tua sint cedantque tibi confinia mensum,
Convenit in laudes ille vel ille tuas.
Circus in hunc exit, clamataque palma theatris:
Hoc quoque cum Circi munere carmen eat."
Ovid, Fast. v. 183.
Among the great families who lived on the Quirinal were the Cornelii, who had a street of their own, Vicus Corneliorum, probably on the slopes behind the present Colonna Palace; and the Flavii, who were of Sabine origin.[232] Domitian was born here in the house of the Flavii, afterwards consecrated by him as a temple, in which Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian himself were buried, and Julia the ugly daughter of Titus—well known from her statues in the Vatican.
As some fragments remain of the two buildings erected on the Quirinal during the later empire, Aurelian's Temple of the Sun, and the Baths of Constantine, they will be noticed in the regular course.
On the ascent of the hill, just above the Piazza del Tritone, is the noble Barberini Palace, built by Urban VIII. from designs of Carlo Maderno, continued by Borromini, and finished by Bernini, in 1640. It is screened from the street by a magnificent railing between columns, erected 1865—67, and if this railing could be continued, and the block of houses towards the piazza removed, it would be far the most splendid private palace in Rome.
This immense building is a memorial of the magnificence and ambition of Urban VIII. Its size is enormous, the smallest apartment in the palace containing forty rooms. The Prince at present inhabits the right wing; with him lives his elder brother the Duke, who abdicated the family honours in his favour. In the left wing—occupied in the beginning of this century by the ex-king (Charles VII.) and queen of Spain, and the "Prince of Peace"—is the huge apartment of the late Cardinal Barberini, now uninhabited. On this side is the grand staircase, upon which is placed a lion in high relief, found on the family property at Palestrina. It is before this lion that Canova is said to have lain for hours upon the pavement, studying for his tomb of Clement XIII. in St. Peter's. The guarda-roba, badly kept, contains many curious relics of family grandeur; amongst them is a sedan-chair, painted by Titian.
The Library (open on Thursdays from nine to two) contains a most valuable collection of MSS., about 7000 in number, brought together by Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Urban VIII. They include collections of letters of Galileo, Bembo, and Bellarmine; the official reports to Urban VIII., relating to the state of Catholicism in England in the time of Charles I.; a copy of the Bible in the Samaritan character; a Bible of the fourth century; several MSS. copies of Dante; a missal illuminated by Ghirlandajo; and a book of sketches of ancient Roman edifices, of 1465, by Giuliano de Sangallo,—most interesting to the antiquarian and architect, as preserving the forms of many public buildings which have disappeared since that date. Among the 50,000 printed books is a Hebrew Bible of 1788, one of the twelve known copies of the complete edition of Soncino; a Latin Plato, by Ficino, with marginal notes by Tasso and his father Bernardo; a Dante of 1477, with notes by Bembo, &c.