8
Rome's Ghetto Much the Same Today as Twenty-Two Centuries Ago
TITE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: NOVEMBER 10, . 1007.
J
i
R
1
OME, Oct. 29 Of the colonic of
foreign residents for which
Ron.e In ancient times vu cel
ebrated, all have been altered
and modernized, with one single
oxer pt Ion the Jewish colony.
which has practically remainnil uncharged
since tho year 10) B. C. And yet the Jewi
of Rome have been persecuted through the
centuries, they have been trampled under
Toot and made to pay heavy taxes, thev
liave been forbidden to has Intercourse
with Christians, prohibited from walking
tho streets and subjected to every possible
linmlllalion.
The center of the JewHh settlement In .
Homo was the Portlcus of Octavla, where
Vespasian and TUus celebrated their tri
umph afler the fall of Jerusalem.' Amofcg
tho spectators of this celebration stood
the historian, Flavlus Josephus, "fhe base
Jewish courtier," to whom we owe a de
scription of tho triumph.
In the early days of the city tho region
between tho river and the Janiculum wan
marshy and so unhealthful that It was
chosen by tho senate as a place of residence '
fijr prisoners of war whom they wished to'
destroy. Here the Jews were established.
The first Jewish slaves are said to have:
been brought to Ronio by Pompey the
Great after he had entered Jerusalem and
taken the Holy of Holies, but the Jewish
colony on the banks of the Tiber was nl-'
ready flourishing before the time of Pom -iey,
othor Jews having previously been,
driven from their native land by poverty,
besides the many brought as slaves behind
tho chariots of their Roman conquerors.
Here they all took refuge. Many of them
perished, but many lived to form In course
of time a poor and unhealthful but popu
lous quarter.
. Somo of them becunie wealthy, and leav
ing the homo of their coreligionists settled
in fashTonablo quarters In tho city. St.
Peter is said to have been the guest of
Aqulla and Prlsclllu, who lived on the
slopes of tho Aventlne. The Jewish princes
Herod and Agripp lived in Rome In
wealth and honor and found a home in the
palace of the early Caesar. Rernlce. tho
daughter of Agrlppa, was on the point of
Worrying Titus and Iwccmikig empress .f
Rome.
Julius Caesar was tho first and one of
t'.m few of tho Roman benefactors of the
Jews. He loosed their bonds of sluvery
and allowed them to form a separnto caste,
that of the Llbertlnl, 1 tla murder was
therefore mourned by them as a national
calamity.
;Augustus, the founder of the empire, wa
merciful to tho Jews, but Tiberius and Cal
igula llltrentod tho colony and determined
exterminate it, Titus employed thou
sands of Jews in building tho Coliseum, anil
Vrgpuslan obliged them to pay a tax of
two drachmae, formerly paid to tho temple
treasury, to Jupiter Capltollnus, a custom
which survived until the seventeenth cen
tury, when the Jews of Rome were mado
to pay tribute of 1,1X0 gold florins to the
Camera Capltolina, to which were added
tBlrty denarl In memory of tho betrayal
of Judas.
Under Domltliin tho Jews were banished
from tho city to the valley of Egerla, where
they llved'in a Ft a to of outlawry, occupying
themselves with soothsaying, love charms
and ' mysterious cures, their furniture
being; restricted, to a basket suspended
from a treo and a bundle of straw. Juvenal
ays that every treo of the sacred grove
rendered a tax to the Roman people.
'During tho reigns of the early popes
tho Jews enjoyed considerable liberty.
The .Transit Ibcrtno quarter still continued
to be Inhabited by tho Jews, but after
the pillage of Rome by Robert Oulscard In
l'OM tbey migrated to the opposite bank
wt- ! .v:;'--;"
At I'sitrHA 'i ' 'ivw-" - w i "jy
v"'. -. ' ' ' " ' ' - ' ' y
VrV" v j.'i. jf M'Jrl H tail ?L C,rfi?l;--'., 3
Wfl ' Jwia mm ''vm
of the Tiber and settled among the re
mains of the Portlcus of Octavla close by
tho Fabian bridge, which then acquired tho
name of Pons Judeorum.
A reason for tho peueeful life and- the
liberty they enjoyed Ib found in the fact
that they were then tho 'bankers of the
holy see. They often lent money to the
popes at a tilRh rate of Interest, sometimes
as much as 20 per cent, and generally they
borrowed tho money from the Christiun
bankers at u very low rato of Interest.
They wcro skilled in medicine, so much
bo that the pope's physician or pontificul
urchlater was for a considerable time a
Jew. Martin V, Kugeno IV, Innocent
VII and Pius II wcro all attended by
Hebrew doctors, and It Is said that Inno
cent VIII, at tho point of death, was ad
vised by a Jewish physician to havo his
blood rejuvenated with tho blood of thret.
boys. Tho operation proved far from suc
cessful, as tho popo'as well as the three
boys died, but the doctor saved his lifo
by night.
Somo Jews held Important offices in the
papal court. One, u certain 13. Abraham,
was lntendent of the household of Alex
ander III. Several wealthy Jewish fam!
lies abjured the faith c( their fathers and
acquired considerable jower and Influence
under tho papal government, such, for In
stance, as the Urancas and tho Pierleonls
whoso descendant was the outi-Pope
Anucletua II.
Thcro Is a tradition that two members
of the Plerleonl family, which wis con
sidered one of the patrician hous?a of Rome,
migrated to (in-many hi 1450 and became
tho heads of the Hapsburg family, Lu.
j2AFtaz.G iSi.iBJ u&bd jar ruif mSEWJM. &ci.LEniS or fish:
crezia, the last representative of the fam
ily, who died in tho year l."s; and is buried
In the church of tiunta Maria della Con
zolaiiime at Rome, is proclaimed In an in
scrlptlon on her tomb to be "the only sur
viving daughter of tho most noblo Roniun
and Austrian race."
l'aul IV. (lD&j-ft) was the first real enemy
of the Jews. He ordered that they should
live apart from the Christians in a quarter
of their own, surrounded by a wall with
but one entrance and one exit, and on
July 13, lnoS, the Jews were Bhut up in tho
pluce which has Klnce been called Ghetto,
un ubbrevlutlon of Borghetto (littlu town)
In contradistinction to Dorgo (town), and
which al tho time was known as Vlcus
Judueorum.
Four Christian churches which were
within the enclosure were pulled down,
while tho piazza closo by the prison of the
Jews was called Piazza del Pltinto, or Plnco
of Weeping, to testify to the grief of tho
people. It Is said, however, and perhups
with greater probability of truth, that tho
place was so called after tho close lr'
church of Santa Maria del Ptonto. where art
linage of the Virgin ahed tears on behold
ing a murder committed at Its feot.
The humiliations and vexations suffered
by the Roman Jews havo in many cases
been exaggerated. Martin V. (1417-31
caused the Jews to wear a sign by which
(hey could be- distinguished from the
christians. This sign varied. Originally
It consisted of red overcoats for men ani
women alike. Later tho letter O In yellow
was worn sewed on tho breast. Undef
l'aul IV. the men wore yellow conical capt
and the women veils of tho same hue.
Tho difference In the color or cut of tin
clothes worn by vurlous classes of peopl
was a matter of custom In the Middle Aget
and certainly It did not originate nor was
It Intended as a special humiliation for
the Jews.
Tho races which the Jews were com
pelled to run during tho carnival have been
uualillod as a cuel custom and an Increase
of the muny humiliations to which they
were subjected, and yet, together with tho
Jews, Christian old men and boys used to
run as well, and when Popo Clement IX.
abolished the races for the Jews the custom
.f having Christian boys run races with
itsses still continued.
It must bo admitted, however, that as a
rule common law penalties wore applied
with more severity in tho case of Jews than
of Christians, especially in crimes against
morality, for which Christians were pun
Islied with fustiguUon whllo Jews weii
burned at tho stake.
Slxtus V treated tho Jew s bettor than hll
predecessors owing to the fact that thej
belonged to "tho family from whom Chrlsl
came," ard ho granted them the privllcgt
to practice, several kinds of trades. Ch
rnent VIII und Innocent XIII restricted
their liberty to only two trades. vi.: thos
in old clothes and rairs and Iroiu "straccl
ferrueel," which they still ply to tho pres
ent day.
Gregory XIII forced the Jews to hear i
sermon onco a week In tho Church of Balm
Angclu In Pescherlu, und this custom wa
renewed in 1SS2 by Leo XII and only abol
ished In 1M8 by Plus IX. who1 opened the
gates of tho Ghetto and revoked all tht
oppressive laws against the Jew.
Near the Ghetto, in memory of this cus
tom, stands to this day a church called
the Iiivine Pity, erected by a converted
Jew. which bears on tho outsldo a picture
of tho Crucifixion with tho following in
scription In Latin und Hebrew: "All day
long havo I stretched my hands to a diso
bedient und gulnsaying people."
Tho Jews had their synagogues and
schools near tho Ghetto. Originally theso
temples stood on tho banks of tho river.
Later temples rose In various parts of tho
city, but tliu new synagogue bus been
built, following tho ancient custom again,
near the river and not far from tho Ghetto,
whero tho majority of modern Jews still
reside.
Thus tho Jewish colony, or at least tho
greater part of it, has kept tho habits of
2,axi years ago and retained to d great
extent Its old Identity nnd characteristics.
Tho poor classes still cling to their re
ligion and habits, keep tho Sabbath, when
either they do not light any iiro or have
It kindled by a Christian servant, refrain
from passing under tho urch of Titus,
erected In tho year SI A. D., to commem
orato the fall of Jerusalem, und regularly
walk out of tho Porta rortcso, by which
tho expected Messiah Is supposed to enter
Rome. The well-to-do Jews are less care
ful to observo old customs and It has been
remarked they eeem to havo given up th
profitablo trudo of lending money at usury
probably on account of the successful
competition of their Christian rivals.
. .
How the Great Steam Route Across Africa is Being Constructed
(Copyright, 1907, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
ALFA Y A. (Special. ' Correspond-
Hl rneo to Tho Bee.) I am in the
I Soudan, at the end of the north
ern section or. me ape 10 airo
railroad. This part o ftho route
is now completed from the
Mediterranean sea to where tho Blue
and White Nile Join to form the
mighty stream which lias built up
the , land of Egypt. I have gone on
the railroad through the rich regions of the
lower Nile valley, und am now in the
upper end of Nubia at tho railroad station
of Halfaya, which lies Just opposite Khar
tum. My dlstanco from the Mediterranean
is equal to a straight line from the Atlantlo
ocean to the borders of Colorado, and I
am just about as far south of Alexandria
as New Orleans is south of the booming
city of Winnipeg. From here I can get
steamers which will take me up the White
Nile for mora than 1.000 miles, and there
are something like &00 miles of available
waterways between that point and the
other end of the road which has been con
structed from Cape Town northward to
far beyond the Zambesi river.
Steam from Cairo to Capo.
In thinking of the Cane to Cairo route
niost people consider It as a continuous
railway system or of one iron track run
rng nortii and south through Africa from
one end to the other. This It will never bo.
We shall go by eteam from Cairo to tho
Cape; but almost one-third of the way will
bo over navigable rivers and lakes. This
was tho Idea of Cecil Rhodes, and It Is tho
Idea of every practical engineer who has
esamtned tho country and Its traffic possi
bilities. Tho re will bo ono railroad line
running from Capo Town as far north as
Lake Tnknylka, and another practically
continuous rail system from here to Alex
andria. The rest of tho route will be made
up of rail, and water. The White Nile above
Khartum may be paralleled here and there
by iron tracks, but for a generation or so,
at least, the traffic will bo by steamers
as far as the Belgian Congo, at Oondo
koro, a distance of over 1.100 miles. At
that point there will be a railroad strip of
( 1 ; mIImi np ha 1 T i 1 1 M 1 . .. .. I U . . XTil.
will again be used and steamers will go u
r t't ! to Lake Albert and across that take
io: Its southern shores. Between I-ikes Al
bert and Tanganyika will bo a little more
thsn SM miles of railroad, with a alxty.
mile ferryagn across Iake Klvu, which Ilea
b. 4 ween. Then will iorne the long stretch
of; Luko Tanganyika, consisting of a deep
waterway 400 miles long, and then tho
iiutbern section of the road, going almost
straight south to Cape Town.
Ho far more than 3.000 miles of ire a
track have been laid on the northern and
southern ends of the system. The aoetU-
m section is now about :,000 miles lonj.
It bas been extended from Capo Tow a
northward a dlstanco of almost 4J miles
above tho Zambesi river, and there re mat a
only 460 miles to construct before tho
trains can connect with die little sleamuia
now on Lake Tanganyika. This section
will probably be completed In the near fu
ture, as tho lata Mr. Belt, one of Cecil
Rhodes' partners, set aside in his will u4
least 14.000,00) for that purpose. I have
befora mo a diagram recently issued bf
the African World, whlth shows the line
of the route, and the extent of water and
tali it will contain when completed. Ac
cording to this the total distance will bo
about '5,900 mlles.i of which about 4,000
miles will be railway and the balanco
taken up by the rivers and lakes to which
I havo referred.
Ip the NUeby Railway.
1 1 should like to take you with ma over
this first great section of the Cape to
Cairo railway. We shall need four daya
to go f i om the Mediterranean to the junc
tion of the White and Blue KUcs, where
I now am, but tho trip will be comfortable
and there are great sights all the way.
Wo start at Alexandria, the chief seaport
of the Nile valley, and, in three hours, our
express train carrlus us across through
the delta to Cairo. Both Alexandria and
Cairo have good railroad depots. The flrfct
rlty contains more than 400,000 people, aad,
the second more than 1,000,000, co that
thero is a rapid and frequent train ser
vice between them.
We take the express, and as we go first
class we must pay 3 cents a mile. Tho
second-class fare is only half as much as
tho first, and the third Is still cheaper.
Every train has first, second and third
class cars. Those of the flrst are divided
up intff compartments and are patronized
by tourists and officials. The second clas
cars are much like those of our American
trains, having an alle through the centei ;
they are used by merchants, commercial
travelers and well-to-do natives. The
third class cars are cheaply gotten up and
their seats are wood benches; they are
always filled with the common Egyptians,
and foreigners seldom travel in them.
Our tickets are little blue cards with the
price printed upon them in English and
Arabic We have to show tbera to tuo
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guard as we enter the train, and they 'are
not examined again until they are taken
Up at tho gates at the depot as we go out.
Wo havo somo troublo with our baggage,
for, like tho ordinary American, wo ure
loaded with trunks. Only fifty-five pounds
can bo checked witliout extra charge, and
my trunks often cost me more than my
fure. Wo nollco that tho English and
Egyptian passengers put the most of their
belongings Into bundles and bags, which
they are allowed to" bring into the cars
with them. Many a single passenger is
carrying fouo or five valises, each holding
aa much as a small steamer trunk, and
the compartments are half filled with such
luggage. Every first-class car has a guard
or porter who helps us off and on, and
there aro always fellahs at the depot
ready to carry our stuff for 6 cents per
piece.
How tna Bin lis1' A re Guarded.
Most of tho Egyptian trains have a mail
car next to tho engine, an express car
back of that and also cars for animals.
Our train carries one. In which aro two
blanketed horses, with Syrian grooms to
take care of them. They probably belong
to some rich nabob of Cairo, and aro going
south by express.
The postal curs are carefully watched.
The bags of mail are carried to them on
red trucks made fur the purpose. The
trucks are pushed by the Arabs und mall
4a handled ly th.-i:i; -but a dark-faced sol
dier, with V.I'.e and sword, marches along
with tho mail ami watches the bags taken
In and out. When a truck Is loaded the
soldier goes with It to tha postofllce
wagons. There Is ajways a guard on such
Nile steamers as carry mail, and tha let
ters are never left wlthouut some armed
ofllclul to watch over them.
Government Railroads Pay.
Before we go one with our ti ip, let mo tell
you how the railroads are managed. Both
those of Eyypt and tho Soudan aro under
the government, and both systems pay.
Thosa of Egypt, according to Lord Cro
mer's lust report, are now earning about 6
per cent on their capital stock, and their
working expenses are only about CO per
cent of the gross receipts. The business Is
rapidly increasing. They will carry 2.500.000
moro passengers this year than last, and
more than 1,000,000 tons more freight.
Egypt now has something like 1,500 miles
of railroads which belong to the govern
ment, and In addition 600 or 700 miles of
agricultural roads managed by private
parties. The earnings of the latter ore In
creasing, and they carry more freight and
passengers from year to year.
The main lines are managed by Egyptian
and European officials. The superintend
ents of departments, who recelvo $3,000 and
upward a year each, are mainly Europeans,
und the Inspectors and sub-Inspectors, who
get from tsO to 240 a month, are in tlio
main foreigners. Cnder these men aro the
native guards, track workers and mechan
ics of various kinds, who receive less
wages. They are almost all Egyptians,
thero belng something like 2,400 of them
to about 150 Europeans.
As to the Soudan roads, they go through
a thinly popule.ted country, but the receipts
are considerably more than their working
expenses and they are rapidly increasing.
In 19f6 they were double what they were In
1903, the chief Increase being from fourth
class passengers, who are natives. -
This division of the Cape to Cairo road
milks one of tho richest countries on earth.
I mean tho delta of Egypt, which Is more
thickly populated than any other part of
tho globe. Tho land la as black us your
hut, und It ruiees two or threo crops a
year. It is worth from J500 to W.oOO an
acre, and furnishes a heavy traffic of cotton
and grain. The dlstanco from Alexandria
to Cairo Is 133 miles, and all tho way Is
through luxuriant furms. There is no
desert in sight until you reach Cairo.
Cotton Is piled up at every depot, there
are boatloads of It on the canals which tho
track crosses, and at tho stations cars of
cotton bales fill tho side tracks. The
freight of this region alone would probably
pay the expenses of tho road, and In addi
tion there Is tho big passenger travel from
Cairo to Alexandria and from all parts of
tho delta.
Scenes on the Capo to Cairo Road.
The next division above Cairo goes to
Asslout, which Is 200 or 300 miles further
north. Then comes the road from Asslout
to Luxor, ending up with the narrow
gauge lino from Luxor to Assouan. All of
these divisions are through the narrow
valley of the Nile, with tho desert In sight
all the way. For almost 1,000 miles abovo
Cairo tho celebrated Nllo strip varies in
width from nothing to about nine miles.
In many places It Is less than three miles
wide. The river winds this way and that,
but the railroad Is comparatively straight,
and it Is often far off from the river
amid the sand and rocks. Such parts of
the strip are uncomfortable. At times the
sands are blinding, the dust fills the cars,
and our eyes smart. These discomforts
are somewhat obviated In the first-class
cars, All of th4n have shutters and
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ru. j- - if"xj i
ARMED POI.DIERS Cl'AHD THE MAIL
BAGGAGE IN EGYPT MUCH THE SAME AS IX AMERICA.
double windows to keep the dust out, and
the inner window panes are of smoked
glass, to lessen the glare. With the shut
ters up it Is almost dark in tho cars, and
when down botli windows give tho appear
ande of twilight. When tho white glass
alone Is used the rays aro blinding, and
the sun comes through with such strength
that It Is not safe to havo It strike tho
back of one's neck as he sits in the
train.
Through Nubia by Rati.
I found tho conditions even worse In
tho Nubian desert, which I crossed on the
railroad from Wady Haifa to Berber.
Thut region is about tho bleakest and
dreariest on earth. It is all sand and
rocks, with hero and there a low thirsty
mountain. The Nubians themselves call
it "tho stone belly," and the nam is
well chosen. The cars must be kept closed
to keep yout tho dust. They have doubla
windows 'and shutters, and In addition,
wooden hoods over tho windows. In order
that tho direct rays of the sun may not
shine In. The cars have double roofs, and
tho doors havo windows of smoked glass.
Thero is so much dust thut it comes in
when everything is shut, und tho porter
brushes out the cars every hour.
The scenery Is dreary. Tha only wator
is that pumped from artesian wells, and
the stone stations have no green what
ever about them. The stations have not
even a name. They are known by num
bers; and their only Inhabitants are tha
railroad employes. This is tho condition
all the way from Wady Haifa to Abu
Harold, which is a port on the Nllo some
dlstanco abovo the fourth cataract,
Boodaa Military Hallway.
This road Is a part of the Soudan mili
tary railway, which extends from Wady
Haifa to Halfaya. The Una all told lj 676
miles long, and it has a gauge of only
forty-two Inches. It is tho road w'.ileh
was built by Kitchener during the war
with the Mahdl. It was constructed in
less than eighteen months by the English
engineers and the soldiers, and is one of
the most remarkable examples of railroad
building on record. A largo part of it
was laid at the rate of one and one-fourth
miles per day, and at ono time more than
three miles were laid In one day. The
track was constructed during the hottest
time of tho year, and tha work was so
well done that trains carrying 2o0 tons
and drawn by engines weighing, witliout
their tender, fifty tons, could travel safuly
over It at the rateof twenty-live miles pur
hour. It was built through a waterless
desert, which had never been mapped un
til the surveyors went over it, and the
uurvey camp was kept about six miles la
advance of the rail head during its con
struction. Thero was always danger of
attuck by the dervishes and the road was
built through a hostile country.
Toduy the cars move as smoothly over
Kltchener'a trai ku as they do over those of
Egypt, und they give that country regu
lar connection with the Koudan. Thero is
now a train do luxo connecting Khartou.u
with Wauy Haifa, and this Las both
sleeping and dining cars.
soodaa ler"7riTd Dlsseri, '
The sleepers are divided up Into com
paitments about seven feet square with
two b.rtha to each compartment. TUert
(Continued on Psgo Five. J