overgrown with masses of ivy, wall-flower, and hawthorn just coming
into blossom. Below the road, on the right, is a kind of piazza,
shaded by a grove of funereal cypresses; and here is the church of St.
Sebastian, one of the seven great basilicas which pilgrims visited to
obtain the remission of their sins. It was founded by Constantine, on
the site of the house and garden of the pious widow Lucina, who buried
there the body of St. Sebastian after his martyrdom. This saint was a
Gaulish soldier in the Roman army, who, professing Christianity, was
put to death by order of Diocletian. The body of the saint is said to
repose under one of the altars, marked by a marble statue of him lying
dead, pierced with silver arrows, designed by Bernini. The present
edifice was entirely rebuilt by Cardinal Scipio Borghese; and nothing
remains of the ancient basilica save the six granite columns of the
portico, which were in all likelihood taken from some old pagan
temple. It was from the nave of this church that the only Catacomb
which used to be visited by pilgrims was entered; all the other
Catacombs which have since been opened being at that time blocked up
and unknown. Indeed it was to the subterranean galleries under this
church that the name of Catacomb was originally applied.

In the valley beneath St. Sebastian, on the left, is a large
enclosure, covered with the greenest turf, and reminding one more, by
its softness and compactness, of an English park than anything I had
seen about Rome. Here are the magnificent ruins of what was long known
as the Circus of Caracalla; but later investigations have proved that
the circus was erected in honour of Romulus, the son of the Emperor
Maxentius, in the year 311. It is the best preserved of all the
ancient Roman circuses, and affords an excellent clue to the
arrangements of such places for chariot races and the accommodation of
the spectators. The external walls run on unbroken for about a