Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/434

 414 ROME the days of the Caesars. The modern city is chiefly on the low land, the hills being mostly covered with vineyards, cornfields, and villas. The closely built part is about 2 m. in length, Piazza del Popolo. with a breadth of from 1 to 1 m. Many of the streets are long, but they are mostly nar- row and crooked. They have seldom any foot pavement, and are often filthy, and present in their architecture a mixture of magnificence and meanness, stately palaces and churches alternating with mis- erable huts. The three finest streets diverge from a square called the piazza del Popolo near the N. gate. These are : 1, the Corso, which ex- tends to the foot of the capitol and is a mile long, perfectly straight, 60 ft. wide, with foot pavements on each side ; it is the great public walk of the city ; 2, the strada del Babbuino, which runs to the piaz- za di Spagna; 3, the strada di Ripetta, which leads to the Tiber. The houses of Rome are generally lofty, and are mostly built of brick and tufa, marble being less commonly used than in the cities of northern Italy. The city is divided into 14 rioni or quarters, correspond- ing to the 14 regions of Augustus, but not resembling them in size or situation ; 12 of these divisions are on the left bank and 2 on the right bank of the river. 1. The rione de' Monti is the largest quarter, containing, among other public buildings and monuments, the column of Trajan ; the church of St. John Lat- eran, the chief church of the city in point of antiquity and eccle- siastical dignity (see LATEBAN); the church of Sta. Bibiana, which covers the relics of 5,260 martyrs ; the splendid church of Sta. Maria Maggiore, with the Sistine and Bor- ghese chapels ; the vil- las Albani and Bpr- ghese, and the ruins of the baths of Titus and Diocletian. 2. The rione di Trevi contains the Oorso ; the piazza di Monte Cavallo, in which stand two colos- sal antique statues of horses; the Quirinal, formerly the pope's or- dinary residence, now the royal palace; the palazzo della Consul- ta ; and the magnificent Barberini palace, rich in treasures of art and literature. 3. In the rione di Colonna stand the column of Anto- ninus, the Pantheon, the palace of the propa- ganda, and the piazza di Spagna, one of the finest squares of the city. 4. The rione di Ripetta Farnese Palace. Carnpo Marzo comprises most of the area of the ancient Campus Martius, the porta del Po- polo (the chief entrance to the city on the N. side), the mausoleum of Augustus, the Pinciau