Subject
In the passage quoted below, taken from Rome (1896), Zola (1840-1902) offers an evocative description of the Via Appia, referred to as the Reine des routes (“Queen of roads”, an expression echoing Statius’ description of the regina viarum). “Before the reader’s eyes parade the tombs and inscriptions placed along the sides of the Roman road, still alive and speaking, then the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, which appears in all its solidity [here Zola recalls the medieval transformations of the tomb as a fortress], and beyond the Roman countryside and Claudian Aqueduct. As Pierre [the name of one of the characters] strolls ‘dans l’infini de la Campagne’, the dead are awakened and the Via itself seems suddenly come alive.”
Placement
Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library, Antwerpen
Credits
Google Books, Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library, Antwerpen
References
Rome par Emile Zola, Paris 1896, pp. 189-194.
