The title of this book may seem fanciful. It may even be regarded asmisleading, creating the idea that it is a treatise like that of Mr.Digby Wyatt on those peculiar works of art which decorate the oldpalaces and churches of Rome. But notwithstanding these objections, notitle can more adequately describe the nature of the book. It isapplicable on account of the miscellaneous character of the chapters,which have already appeared in some of our leading magazines andreviews, and are now, with considerable changes and additions,gathered together into a volume. There is a further suitableness inthe title, owing to the fact that most of the contents have no claimto originality. As a Roman Mosaic is made up of small coloured cubesjoined together in such a manner as to form a picture, so my book maybe said to be made up of old facts gathered from many sources andharmonised into a significant unity. So many thousands of volumeshave been written about Rome that it is impossible to say anything newregarding it. Every feature of its topography and every incident ofits history have been described. Every sentiment appropriate to thesubject has been expressed. But Rome can be regarded from countlesspoints of view, and studied for endless objects. Each visitor's mindis a different prism with angles of thought that break up the subjectinto its own colours. And as is the case in a mosaic, old materialscan be brought into new combinations, and a new picture constructedout of them. It is on this ground that I venture to add another bookto the bewildering pile of literature on Rome.
But I have another reason to offer. While the great mass of thematerials of the book is old and familiar, not a few things areintroduced that are comparatively novel. The late Dean Alford made theremark how difficult it is to obtain in Rome those details of interestwhich can be so easily got in other cities. Guide-books contain a vastamount of information, but there are many points interesting to theantiquarian and the historian which they overlook altogether. There isno English book, for instance, like Ruffini's DizionarioEtimologico-Storico delle Strade, Piazze, Borghi e Vicoli della Cittàdi Roma, to tell one of the origin of the strange and bizarre namesof the streets of Rome, many of which involve most interestinghistorical facts and most romantic associations of the past. There isno English book on the ancient marbles of Rome like Corsi's PietreAntiche, which describes the mineralogy and source of the buildingmaterials of the imperial city, and traces their history from the lawcourts and temples of which they first formed part to the churches andpalaces in which they may now be seen. Every nook in London, with itsmemories and points of interest, has been chronicled in a form that isaccessible to every one. But there is an immense amount of mostinteresting antiquarian lore regarding out-of-the-way things in Romewhich is buried in the transactions of learned societies or in specialItalian monographs, and is therefore altogether beyond the reach ofthe ordinary visitor. Science has lately shed its vivid light upon thephysical history of the Roman plain; and the researches of thearchæologist have brought into the daylight of modern knowledge, andby a wider comparison and induction have invested with a newsignificance, the prehistoric objects, customs, and traditions whichmake primeval Rome and the sur