The excavations are an
object of great interest both to the Romans and to strangers, and there
were many carriages and a great many visitors viewing the progress of the
works, which are carried forward with greater energy than anything else I
have seen attempted at Rome. A short time ago the ground in the vicinity
was a green surface, level, except here and there a little hillock, or
scarcely perceptible swell; the tomb of Cecilia Metella showing itself a
mile or two distant, and other rugged ruins of great tombs rising on the
plain. Now the whole site of the basilica is uncovered, and they have
dug into the depths of several tombs, bringing to light precious marbles,
pillars, a statue, and elaborately wrought sarcophagi; and if they were
to dig into almost every other inequality that frets the surface of the
campagna, I suppose the result might be the same. You cannot dig six
feet downward anywhere into the soil, deep enough to hollow out a grave,
without finding some precious relic of the past; only they lose somewhat
of their value when you think that you can almost spurn them out of the
ground with your foot.
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