[32] The extent, however, is variously computed. One writer, generally very exact, says: ‘According to Romani and Nibby’s plan of Rome,’ Caracalla’s baths ‘covered an area of 370 yards square, or 28 English acres.’ ‘Eustace makes the extent twice as great.’ Gibbon states that they were a mile in circumference, which would be 193,600 square yards, or 40 acres. Hare says they covered a space of 2,625,000 square yards, which is equal to 542 acres. It is not improbable that some measurements may refer merely to the ground covered by buildings, and that others comprehend ground not so covered. But even this explanation will not account for such extraordinary discrepancies.
[33] Bædeker says: ‘At the back of the Pantheon are situated the ruins of the Thermæ of Agrippa, the proximity of which to the Pantheon once gave rise to the absurd conjecture that the temple originally belonged to the baths, and was afterwards converted into a temple.’ In a matter of this kind, however, the authority of such a man as Mr. Thomson is much to be preferred to that of any writer in a guide-book.
[34] It seems that at Tre Fontane, above a mile westward, which we did not visit, the Eucalyptus tree has now been largely planted; and if it will grow, it is expected to render the locality healthy.
[35] Miss Kate Thompson’s Handbook to the Public Picture Galleries of Europe, Macmillan, 1877, is a useful little volume in its way, but its illustration would occupy volumes.
[36] After being in several shops, we concluded that C. Roccheggiani, Via Condotti, had the largest and most varied stock.
[37] This number is stated upon an authority which differs in the further figures here given, some of which seem almost incredibly large. How the 9025 baths can be reconciled with the statement (p. 299) of sixteen bathing establishments, I do not pretend to say.
[38] I see it stated that in 1851 the number of Romish priests in Great Britain was 958; of Romish chapels, 683; of monasteries, 17; of religious houses for women, 53. In 1879 these numbers were increased to 1238, 1386, 118, and 272 respectively. The number of the laity doubtless has increased, though possibly, and as it is to be hoped, not correspondingly.
[39] So named after the present proprietrix, Mme. Barbensi. It seems quite a foreign or at least an Italian practice to call houses after the name of the proprietor. Molini was either her maiden name or the name of the previous proprietor.
[40] ‘Were I now to begin the world again, I would tread in the steps of that great master; to kiss the hem of his garment, to catch the slightest of his perfections, would be glory and distinction enough for an ambitious man.’—15th Discourse.
[41] A large valuable work in small folio, copiously illustrated—veritable volumes de luxe—has recently been published: ‘Venise: Histoire, Art, Industrie, la Ville, la Vie. Par Charles Yriarte.’