in _Childe Harold_. Nothing can be finer than the appearance of this
circular tower in the afternoon, when the red level light of sunset,
striking full upon it, brings out the rich warm glow of its yellow
travertine stones in striking relief against the monotonous green of
the Campagna. It is built on a portion of rising ground caused by a
current of lava which descended from the Alban volcano during some
prehistoric eruption, and stopped short here, forming the quarries on
the left side of the road which supply most of the paving-stone of
modern Rome. The Appian Way was here lowered several feet below the
original level, in order to diminish the acclivity; and the mausoleum
was consequently raised upon a substructure of unequal height
corresponding with the inclination of the plane of ascent. It was
originally cased with marble slabs, but these were stripped off during
the middle ages for making lime; and Pope Clement XII. completed the
devastation by removing large blocks which formed the basement, in
order to construct the picturesque fountain of Trevi. A large portion
of the Doric marble frieze, however, still remains, on which are
sculptured bas-reliefs of rams' heads, festooned with garlands of
flowers. Usually the bas-reliefs are supposed to represent bulls'
heads; and the name of Capo de Bove (the "head of the ox"), by which
the monument has long been known to the common people, is said to be
derived from these ornaments. But a careful examination will convince
any one that they are in reality rams' heads; and the vulgar name of
the tomb was obviously borrowed from the armorial bearings of the
Gaetani family, consisting of an ox's head, affixed prominently upon
it when it served them as a fortress in the thirteenth century. Pope
Boniface VIII., a member of this family, added the curious battlements
at the top, which seem so slight and airy in comparison with the
severe solidity of the rest of the structure, and are but a poor
substitute for the massive conical roof which originally covered the