Regaining the main road, at a little distance we pass under an arch of the aqueduct which supplied the Emporium with water. It is called the Arco di S. Lazaro. We next turn off to the right, and ascend
MONS TESTACCIO,
formed of fragments of earthenware, chiefly of amphoræ. We know from those remaining at Pompeii that the amphoræ which formed that branch of commerce were often six feet high. Great numbers of these got broken in landing, and all were thrown on this heap, as they were not allowed to be thrown into the Tiber. There is also said to have been a manufactory of amphoræ and other earthenware at this spot, many of the fragments found here being the refuse of a great manufactory. This is supposed to have been the great manufactory of earthenware for the city of Rome for several centuries; and this supposition may account for the enormous quantity of such refuse that has accumulated on the spot, so as to form a hill. Tombs proving its comparatively recent origin were discovered beneath it in the year 1696. It is 110 feet high, and surmounted by a cross. The view from the top is very fine. Close by is the
PROTESTANT CEMETERY.
"The spirit of the spot shall lead
Thy footsteps to a slope of green access."
The cemetery is an open space among the ruins, covered in winter with violets and daisies. "It might make one in love with death, to think that one should be buried in so sweet a place." So wrote Shelley, whose heart is contained in a tomb at the top left-hand corner of the new ground, his body having been burned upon the shore at Lerici, where it was thrown up by the sea. Passing into the old ground, "in the romantic and lovely cemetery under the pyramid which is the tomb of Cestius, and the mossy walls and towers, now mouldering and desolate, which formed the circuit of ancient Rome" (Shelley), here, on the right of the entrance, "lies one whose name was writ in water," Keats desiring this to be engraved upon his tomb. A fellow-poet says, "You feel an interest here, a sympathy you were not prepared for; you are yourself in a foreign land, and they are for the most part your countrymen, Englishmen."
In returning from the Cemetery, nearly opposite the exit, a lane, Via S. Maria, leads up to the Aventine Hill. The square at the top is decorated with military trophies of the Knights of Malta. A door on the left leads to their Priory; it contains a key-hole;—look through it, 'tis worth your while.
IL PRIORATO.
(Open Wednesday and Saturday.)