, and on the right by a similar wall, adorned with marble
trophies and two columns rough with the projecting prows of ships
taken from the ancient temple of Venice and Rome, and rising in a
series of terraced walks to the upper platform of the Pincio. At the
foot of this _Collis Hortulorum_, "Hill of Gardens," which was a
favourite resort of the ancient Romans, Nero was buried; and in
earlier republican times it was the site of the famous Villa of
Lucullus, who had accumulated an enormous fortune when general of the
Roman army in Asia, and spent it on his retirement from active life in
the most sumptuous entertainments and the most prodigal luxuries. Here
he gave his celebrated feast to Cicero and Pompey. From Lucullus, the
magnificent grounds passed into the possession of Valerius Asiaticus;
and while his property they became the scene of a tragedy which
reminds one of the story of Ahab and Jezebel and the vineyard of
Naboth. The infamous Messalina, the wife of the Emperor Claudius,
coveted the grounds of Asiaticus. With the unscrupulous spirit of
Jezebel, she procured the condemnation to death of the owner for
crimes that he had never committed; a fate which he avoided by
committing suicide. As soon as this obstacle was removed out of her
way, she appropriated the villa; and in the beautiful grounds
abandoned herself to the most shameless orgies in the absence of her
husband at Ostia. But her pleasure and triumph were short-lived. The
emperor was informed of her enormities, and hastened home to take
vengeance. Having vainly tried all means of conciliation, and
attempted without effect to kill herself, she was slain in a paroxysm
of terror and anguish, by a blow of the executioner's falchion; and
the death of Asiaticus was avenged on the very spot where it
happened.

The gardens of the Pincio are small, but a fairer spot it would be
hard to find anywhere. The grounds are most beautifully laid out, and
so skilfully arranged that they seem of far larger extent than they
really are. Splendid palm-trees, aloes, and cactuses give a tropical
charm to the walks; rare exotics and bloom-laden trees of genial
climes, flashing fountains, and all manner of cultivated beauty,
enliven the scene; while the air blows fresh and invigorating from the
distant hills. From the lofty parapet of the city-wall which bounds it
on one side, you gaze into the green meadows and rich wooded solitudes
of the Borghese grounds, that look like some r