Consents to death, but conquers agony, And his drooped head sinks gradually low— The arena swims around him-he is gone," Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won. CXLI. He heard it, but he heeded not-his eyes Were with his heart-and that was far away; i. From the red gash fall bigly -. -[MS. M.] -.—[MS. M.] iii. The earth swims round him —.—[MS. M. erased.] was of bronze. The Gladiator was once in the Villa Ludovisi, and was bought by Clement XII. The right arm is an entire restoration of Michael Angelo. [There is no doubt that the statue of the " Dying Gladiator " represents a dying Gaul. It is to be compared with the once-named "Arria and Pætus" of the Villa Ludovisi, and with other sculptures in the museums of Venice, Naples, and Rome, representing "Gauls and Amazons lying fatally wounded, or still in the attitude of defending life to the last," which belong to the Pergamene school of the second century B.C. M. Collignon hazards a suggestion that the "Dying Gaul" is the trumpet-sounder of Epigonos, in which, says Pliny (Hist. Nat., xxxiv. 88), the sculptor surpassed all his previous works (" omnia fere prædicta imitatus præcessit in tubicine"); while Dr. H. S. Urlichs (see The Elder Pliny's Chapters on the History of Art, translated by K. Jex-Blake, with Commentary and Historical Illustrations, by E. Sellers, 1896, p. 74, note) falls back on Winckelmann's theory that the "statue. may have been simply the votiveportrait of the winner in the contest of heralds, such as that of Archias of Hybla in Delphoi." (See, too, Helbig's Guide to the Collection of Public Antiquities in Rome, Engl. transl., 1895, i. 399; History of Greek Sculpture, by A. S. Murray, LL.D., F.S.A., 1890, ii. 381-383.)] He recked not of the life he lost nor prize, But where his rude hut by the Danube layThere were his young barbarians all at play, There was their Dacian mother-he, their sire, Butchered to make a Roman holiday— i. 29. H. All this rushed with his blood-Shall he expire And unavenged?-Arise! ye Goths, and glut your ire! CXLII. But here, where Murder breathed her bloody steam ;— And here, where buzzing nations choked the ways, And roared or murmured like a mountain stream Dashing or winding as its torrent strays; iil. Here, where the Roman million's blame or praise Was Death or Life-the playthings of a crowd-30. H. My voice sounds much-and fall the stars' faint rays On the arena void-seats crushed-walls bowedAnd galleries, where my steps seem echoes strangely loud. CXLIII. A Ruin-yet what Ruin! from its mass Walls-palaces-half-cities, have been reared; Yet oft the enormous skeleton ye pass,' iv. And marvel where the spoil could have appeared. i. Slaughtered to make a Roman holiday.—[MS. M. erased.] ii. Was death and life iii. My voice is much .-[MS. M.] iv. Yet the colossal skeleton ye pass.—[MS. M. erased.] VOL. II. 2 F Hath it indeed been plundered, or but cleared? Alas! developed, opens the decay, When the colossal fabric's form is neared: It will not bear the brightness of the day, Which streams too much on all-years-man-have reft away. CXLIV. But when the rising moon begins to climb Its topmost arch, and gently pauses there When the stars twinkle through the loops of Time, Heroes have trod this spot-'tis on their dust ye tread.". CXLV. "While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand: "When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; 2 i. The ivy-forest, which its walls doth wear.—[MS. M. erased.] ii. The Hero race who trod-the imperial dust ye tread. [MS. M. erased.] 1. Suetonius [Lib. i. cap. xlv.] informs us that Julius Cæsar was particularly gratified by that decree of the senate which enabled him to wear a wreath of laurel on all occasions. He was anxious not to show that he was the conqueror of the world, but to hide that he was bald. A stranger at Rome would hardly have guessed at the motive, nor should we without the help of the historian. 2. This is quoted in the Decline and Fall of the Roman |