a of Vedius, and of the celebrated fish-ponds where he fed his
_murenae_ with the flesh of his disobedient slaves. On the shore of
Puteoli the apostle might have seen the remains of one of the maddest
freaks of imperial folly--the floating-bridge of Caligula, stretching
across the bay for nearly three miles, and decorated with the finest
mosaic pavements and sculpture. Over this useless bridge the insane
emperor drove in the chariot and armour of Alexander the Great, to
celebrate his triumph over the Parthians; and from it, on his return,
he ordered the crowd of inoffensive spectators to be hurled into the
sea. By withdrawing for the construction of this bridge the ships
employed in the harbour, the importation of corn was put a stop to,
and a grievous famine, felt even in Rome, was the result. And near at
hand was Bauli, where Nero--the very Caesar to whom it is startling to
remember that St. Paul appealed, and before whom he was going to be
judged,--only two years before attempted the murder of his own mother,
Agrippina, which failed because of her discovery of the plot, but
which was most ruthlessly accomplished very soon afterwards. Here too
Marcellus was poisoned by Livia, that Tiberius might ascend the throne
of Augustus; and Domitian by Nero, that he might enjoy the wealth of
his aunt. Here Hadrian, a few days before his own miserable end,
compelled his beautiful and accomplished wife, Sabina, to put herself
to death, that she might not survive him in such a wretched world. And
in the cities at the foot of Vesuvius have been revealed to us, after
nature had kindly hidden them for eighteen centuries, tokens of a
depravity so utter, that we cannot help looking upon the fiery deluge
from the mountain, that soon after St. Paul's visit swept them out of
existence, as a Divine judgment like that of Sodom and Gomorrha. And
darker even than these monstrosities of wickedness was the divine
worship paid on these shores to the Roman emperors. It was a pitiable
spectacle when the sailors of an Alexandrian ship, coming into the
harbour of Puteoli, gave thanks for their prosperous voyage to the
dying Augustus, whom they met cruising on the waters vainly in search
of health, and offered him divine honours, which the gratified emperor
accepted, and rewarded with gifts. But what shall we think of the
worship of the god Caligula and the god Nero? Surely a people who
could raise altars and offer sacrifices to such unmitigated monster