The Innocents Abroad · Chapter
XXVI explained
The narrator reflects on the nature of discovery and the diminished thrill of travel in Rome, where everything has been seen before.
What happens
The narrator reflects on the nature of discovery and the diminished thrill of travel in Rome, where everything has been seen before. He imagines himself as a modern Roman discovering America, satirizing European ignorance and American progress. The chapter includes a detailed description of St. Peter's, its grandeur and scale, and a lengthy, humorous ancient Roman newspaper review of a gladiatorial performance, critiquing the spectacle and the audience's behavior.
Themes in this chapter
Travel as Education
The narrator laments that Rome offers no new discoveries, contrasting with the imagined wonder of a Roman visiting America.
Satire of Tourism
The narrator's disappointment in St. Peter's and his humorous critique of Roman ignorance satirize the tourist experience.
American vs. European Culture
The narrator contrasts American progress (fire engines, literacy, plows) with European backwardness and superstition.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Reflects on the loss of discovery in travel and imagines a Roman's perspective on America.
- Marcus Marcellus Valerian
A gladiator (stage name) praised and critiqued in the ancient Roman newspaper review.
Key passages
“What is it that confers the noblest delight? What is that which swells a man's breast with pride above that which any other experience can bring to him? Discovery!”
The greatest joy comes from being the first to discover something new.
Opening reflection on the thrill of discovery.
“But if I were only a Roman!—If, added to my own I could be gifted with modern Roman sloth, modern Roman superstition, and modern Roman boundlessness of ignorance, what bewildering worlds of unsuspected wonders I would discover!”
If I were a superstitious and ignorant Roman, I would find America full of amazing novelties.
Satirical wish to experience travel from a Roman's naive perspective.
“St. Peter's did not look nearly so large as the capitol, and certainly not a twentieth part as beautiful, from the outside.”
Despite its known dimensions, St. Peter's appeared smaller and less attractive than the U.S. Capitol.
The narrator's initial disappointment with St. Peter's scale.