This is not the Temple of Vesta (which was situated near the Church of Sta. Maria Liberatrice in the Forum) of which Horace wrote:—
"Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis
Littore Etrusco violenter undis,
Ire dejectum monumenta regum
Templaque Vestæ."
Carm. i. 2.
The modern overhanging roof of the temple has been much objected to, as it replaces an entablature like that on the temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli; but artists admire the exquisite play of light and shade caused by its rugged tiles, and, finding it a perfect "subject," wish for no change.
"C'est auprès de la Bouche-de-Vérité, devant le petit temple de Vesta, que la justice romaine exécute un meurtrier sur cent. Quand j'arrivai sur la place, on n'y guillotinait personne; mais six cuisinières, dont une aussi belle que Junon, dansaient la tarantelle au son d'un tambour de basque. Malheureusement elles divinèrent ma qualité d'étranger, et elles se mirent à polker contre la mesure."—About.
Close to this—overhanging a little hollow way—is the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, built originally by Servius Tullius, but rebuilt during the republic, and, if the existing building is really republican, the most ancient temple remaining in Rome. It is surrounded by Ionic columns (one side being enclosed in other buildings), 28 feet high, clothed with hard stucco, and supporting an entablature adorned with figures of children, oxen, candelabra, &c. The Roman matrons had a great regard for this goddess, who was supposed to have the power of concealing their personal imperfections from the eyes of men. At the close of the tenth century this temple was consecrated to the Virgin, but has since been bestowed upon St. Mary of Egypt.
Hard by, is a picturesque end of building, laden with rich but incongruous sculpture, at one time called "The House of Pilate," but now known as the House of Rienzi. It derives its present name from a long inscription over a doorway, which tallies with the bombastic epithets assumed by "The Last of the Tribunes" in his pompous letter of Aug. 1, 1347, when, in his semi-madness, he summoned kings and emperors to appear before his judgment-seat. The inscription closes:—
"Primus de primis magnus Nicolaus ab imis,
Erexit patrum decus ob renovare suorum.
Stat patris Crescens matrisque Theodora nomen.
Hoc culmen clarum caro de pignore gessit,
Davidi tribuit qui pater exhibuit."
It is believed, from the inscription, that the house was fortified by Nicholas, son of Crescentius and Theodora, who gave it to David, his son; that the Crescentius alluded to was son of the famous patrician who headed the populace against Otho III.; and that, three centuries later, the house may have belonged to Cola di Rienzi, a name which is, in fact, only popular language for Niccola Crescenzo. It is, however, known that Rienzi was not born in this house, but in a narrow street behind S. Tommaso, in the Rione alla Regola, where his father Lorenzo kept an inn, and his mother, Maddalena, gained her daily bread as a washerwoman and water-carrier—so were the Crescenzi fallen!
Here is the entrance to a suspension-bridge, which joins the remaining arches of the Ponte Rotto, and leads to the Trastevere. On this site was the Pons Æmilius, begun, B.C. 180, by M. Æmilius Lepidus and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, and finished by P. Scipio Africanus and L. Mummius, the censors, in B.C. 142. Hence the body of the Emperor Heliogabalus was thrown into the Tiber. The bridge has been three times rebuilt by different popes, but two of its arches were finally carried away in an inundation of 1598, and have never since been replaced. The existing remains, which only date from the time of Julius III., are highly picturesque.