BY THE TIBER.
THE VIA RIPETTA.
From the Piazza del Popolo the line of the Ripetta runs between the Corso and the Tiber. In the house at the corner lived Ciceruacchio. A short way down is the Quay of the Ripetta, built in 1707 by Clement XI., and partly destroyed by the modern iron bridge, over which is a direct walk to S. Peter's, the site of the fields which formerly belonged to Cincinnatus (Livy, iii. 26).
THE MAUSOLEUM OF AUGUSTUS.
Turning out of the Ripetta on the left into the Via de' Pontefici, through a gateway on the right, are the remains of this once handsome tomb; only the double reticulated wall, on which the tumulus with its trees formerly stood, remains. This ruin has been converted into a modern theatre, and thus the original finely-proportioned arrangements can no longer be traced. A part of the enclosure wall may be best seen from the court of the Palazzo Valdambrini, 102 Via Ripetta. The mausoleum was built by Augustus, B.C. 27. Marcellus, Agrippa, Drusus, and Germanicus were buried there. Strabo describes it as standing upon a lofty substruction of white stone, and shaded up to the top with trees. The summit was crowned with the statue of Augustus in bronze, and there were two Egyptian obelisks at the entrance, brought over by Claudius. They are mentioned likewise by Marcellinus.
It stood in
THE CAMPUS MARTIUS,
which Strabo thus describes: "The plain, adorned by nature and art, is of wonderful extent, and affords an ample and a clear space for the running of chariots, and other equestrian and gymnastic exercises. It is in verdant bloom throughout the year, and is crowned by hills which rise above the Tiber and slope down to its very banks. The whole affords a picturesque and beautiful landscape, which you would linger to behold. Near to this plain is another of less magnitude; and all around it are innumerable porticoes and shady groves, besides three theatres, an amphitheatre, and various temples contiguous to each other, so that the rest of the city appears only an appendage to it." This lesser plain occupied the space between the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Theatre of Marcellus—the plain from the tomb to the modern Ponte Molle. "Sylla's monument stood in the Campus Martius" (Plutarch).
Just past the bridge, a street on the left, by the side of the Borghese Palace, leads to the entrance of