Published in 1849, this text records the journey of Argentine intellectual and politician, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, as he traveled through Rome on a multicountry survey sponsored by the Chilean government. While this entry is dedicated to the Italian capital, it is one of many chapters that comprised Sarmiento’s larger travelogue, Viajes por Europa, Africa y América, 1845–1847. Sarmiento’s essay on Rome is written in epistolary form to the Bishop of Cuyo, a region in western Argentina. Throughout the text, the author emphasizes the striking contrasts between a Christian culture built upon pagan “ruins,” and the carnival traditions in Italy. Nineteenth-century Romantic discourse on the “ruin,” and the Sublime, figure prominently in the author’s description of the city, as Sarmiento vigorously described fragments of ancient statues and architecture throughout. The author lauds Roman civilization for its tradition of artistic patronage, and critiques the Americas for seeing the arts as superfluous. Sarmiento’s travelogue on Rome is also punctuated with contemplation on the role of religion and the papacy in shaping the city, and romantic descriptions of the Italian landscape, as in his discussion of the eruption of Vesuvius.

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811­–1888) was an Argentine statesman, author, activist, and the seventh president. He became a key figure in the group of intellectuals known as the Generacion de 1837 [Generation of 1837], which played a leading role in the nineteenth century politics of the Southern Cone—particularly with respect to immigration and educational policy. Born into a poor family, Sarmiento quickly rose in the public sphere due to his intense political activity. This fervor was also the cause of Sarmiento’s frequent exile. His most famous text, Facundo, severely critiqued the brutal dictatorship of Juan Manuel de Rosas, and was written during his exile in Chile. In this work, he strongly condemned what he called the “barbarism” of the gauchos and caudillo system, and depicted Argentina in striking contrast to “enlightened” Europe. Facundo paved the way for his later work, Viajes por Europa, Africa y América, 1845–1847—a portion of which is conveyed in this document.This travelogue was the result of a research project sponsored by Chilean statesman and future president, Manuel Montt. Montt hired Sarmiento to conduct a survey of the educational and communication systems of Europe, Algeria, and North America in the mid-nineteenth century, to “analyze the institutions that delay or advance their progress.” Throughout his travelogue, Sarmiento carefully recorded his impressions of slavery, religion, and political and social difference in the Southern Cone. His work ultimately championed the education and communication methods that were implemented in the United States, and facilitated the mirroring of North American models in Argentine policy.