"Est in Romuleo procumbens insula Tibri,
Qua medius geminas interfluit alveus urbes,
Discretas subeunte freto, pariterque minantes
Ardua turrigeræ surgunt in culmina ripæ.
Hic stetit et subitum prospexit ab aggere votum.
Unanimes fratres junctos stipante senatu
Ire forum, strictasque procul radiare secures,
Atque uno bijuges tolli de limine fasces."
Claudius, Paneg. in Prob. et Olyb. Cons. 226.
From the Anicii the castle passed to the Gaetani. It was occupied as a fortress by the Countess Matilda, after she had driven the faction of the anti-pope Guibert out of the island, and was the refuge where two successive popes, Victor III. and Urban II., lived under her protection.[358]
The centre of the island is now occupied by the Church and Convent of S. Bartolomeo, which gives it its present name.
The piazza in front of the church is occupied by a pillar, erected at the private expense of Pius IX., to commemorate the opening of the Vatican Council of 1869—70,—adorned with statues of St. Bartholomew, St. Paulinus of Nola, St. Francis, and S. Giovanni di Dio. Here formerly stood an ancient obelisk (the only one of unknown origin). A fragment of it was long preserved at the Villa Albani, whence it is said to have been removed to Urbino. The church, a basilica, was founded by Otho III. c. 1000; its campanile dates from 1118. The nave and aisles are divided by red granite columns, said to be relics of the ancient temple,—as is a marble well-head under the stairs leading to the tribune. This was restored in 1798, and dedicated to St. Adalbert of Gnesen, who bestowed upon the church its great relic, the body of St. Bartholomew, which he asserted to have brought from Beneventum, though the inhabitants of that town profess that they still possess the real body of the apostle, and sent that of St. Paulinus of Nola to Rome instead. The dispute about the possession of this relic ran so high as to lead to a siege of Beneventum in the middle ages. The convent belongs to the Franciscans (Frati-Minori), who will admit male visitors into their pretty little garden at the end of the island, to see the remains of
The Temple of Æsculapius, built after the great plague in Rome, in B.C. 291, when, in accordance with the advice of the Sibylline books, ambassadors were sent to Epidaurus to bring Æsculapius to Rome;—they returned with a statue of the god, but as their vessel sailed up the Tiber, a serpent, which had lain concealed during the voyage, glided from it, and landed on this spot, hailed by the people under the belief that Æsculapius himself had thus come to them. In consequence of this story the form of a ship was given to this end of the island, and its bow may still be seen at the end of the convent garden, with the famous serpent of Æsculapius sculptured upon it in high relief.[359] The curious remains still existing are not of sufficient size to bear out the assertion often made that the whole island was enclosed in the travertine form of a ship, of which the temple of Jupiter at the other end afterwards formed the prow, and the obelisk the mast.
"Pendant les guerres Samnites, Rome fut de nouveau frappée par une de ces maladies auxquelles elle était souvent en proie; celle-ci dura trois années. On eut recours aux livres Sibyllins. En cas pareil ils avaient prescrit de consacrer un temple à Apollon; cette fois ils prescrivirent d'aller à Epidaure chercher le fils d'Apollon, Esculape, et de l'amener à Rome. Esculape, sous la forme d'un serpent, fut transporté d'Epidaure dans l'île Tibérine, où on lui éleva un temple, et où ont été trouvés des ex-voto, représentant des bras, des jambes, diverses autres parties du corps humain, ex-votos qu'on eût pu croire provenir d'une église de Rome, car le catholicisme romain a adopté cet usage païen sans y rien changer.
"Pourquoi place-t-on le temple d'Esculape en cet endroit? On a vu que l'île Tibérine avait été très-anciennement consacrée au culte d'un dieu des Latins primitifs, Faunus; or ce dieu rendait ses oracles près des sources thermales; its devaient avoir souvent pour l'objet la guérison des malades qui venaient demander la santé à ces sources. De plus, les malades consultaient Esculape dans les songes par incubation, comme dans l'Ovide, Numa va consulter Faunus sur l'Aventin. Il n'est donc pas surprenant qu'on ait institué le culte du dieu grec de la santé, là où le dieu latin Faunus rendait ses oracles dans des songes, et où étaient probablement des sources d'eau chaude qui ont disparu comme les lautulæ près du Forum romain.
"On donna à l'île la forme d'un vaisseau, plus tard un obélisque figura le mât; en la regardant du Ponte Rotto, on reconnaît encore très bien cette forme, de ce côté, on voit sculpté sur le mur qui figure le vaisseau d'Esculape une image du dieu avec un serpent entortillé autour de son sceptre. La belle statue d'Esculape, venue des jardins Farnèse, passe pour avoir été celle de l'île Tibérine. Un temple de Jupiter touchait à ce temple d'Esculape.
"Un jour que je visitais ce lieu, le sacristain de l'église de St. Barthélemy me dit, 'Al tempo d'Esculapio quando Giove regnava.' Phrase singulière, et qui montre encore vivante une sorte de foi au paganisme chez les Romains."—Ampère, iii. 42.
Opposite S. Bartolomeo, on the site of the temple of Faunus, is the Hospital of S. Giovanni Calabita, also called Benfratelli, entirely under the care of the brethren of S. Giovanni di Dio, who cook, nurse, wash, and otherwise do all the work of those who pass under their care, often to the number of 1200 in the course of the year, though the hospital is very small.