e. Massimi was an old man and a widower, whose first wife, Gerolema
Savelli, had given him six sons, notable for their herculean strength
and arrogance and their father's remarriage to such a woman was an
insult to their mother's memory which they could not condone.

They entered Massimi's apartment upon his wedding night and shot his
bride to death in his arms. The old man cursed his sons excepting only
the youngest, Pompeo, who had taken no part in the assassination, and
shortly afterward died broken-hearted, foretelling that Pompeo alone
would continue the line as all of his brothers would die violent
deaths.[9]

The record of the hearts of flame which have burned themselves out in
the old nest of the phoenix might be indefinitely prolonged, for
though battered by many sieges Palliano was never totally destroyed, and
formed the background of many a sinister drama. Marie Mancini Colonna,
Principessa di Palliano, writes that fear of imprisonment in the dungeon
of her titular castle was the principal motive of her flight from her
husband in 1672. She had been threatened with such a fate and the threat
was not without precedent.

As a prison the Castle of Palliano exists at the present day. Has its
symbol of the phoenix attained a new meaning, and is it possible that
erring souls issue from its gates, their stains burned clean by
purgatorial flame?

[Illustration: Marie Mancini Colonna, Principessa di Palliano, by
Mignard

Photographische Gesellschaft, Berlin]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER IX

THE LURE OF OLD ROME

ANTINOUS

Brother, 't is vain to hide
That thou dost know of things mysterious,
Immortal, starry; such alone could thus
Weigh down thy nature. Hast thou sinned in aught
Offensive to the heavenly powers? Caught
A Paphian dove upon a message sent?
Thy doubtful bow against some deer herd bent
Sacred to Dian? Haply thou hast seen
Her naked limbs among the alders green
And that, alas is death.

KEATS.

It is impossible to saunter even so aimlessly as we have done through
the villas of the cardinals of the Renaissance and not feel the potency
of the charm by which their builders were enthralled, "the glamour of
the world antique."

We may struggle against the spell, telling ourselves that the scope and
limits of the present volume will not permit of a glance at the villas
of ancient Rome, but they insidiously steal upon us through those of the