Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953)

The Path to Rome is an autobiographical account of Hilaire Belloc's pilgrimage on foot beginning in the town of Toul in northeastern France. His route required traversing the Moselle Valley, crossing the Jura mountains into Switzerland, crossing the Alps into Italy, then crossing the Apennines into Lombardy, then Tuscany and south to Rome. When he arrives at his destination after covering by his estimation between 700 and 800 miles, almost exclusively on foot he brings the story to an abrupt conclusion. He has nothing at all to say about his experiences in Rome beyond the fact of his completed his goal.

With the exception of a couple of train rides covering the last few miles of his entry into Milan and Siena due to his having nearly exhausted his funds and catching a lift on a peasant's cart for a few miles, Belloc covered the distance on foot. While he doesn't dwell on the mundane, I found it astonishing that he could make the attempt including a crossing of an Alpine pass in what he called cotton clothing. At one point the soles of his boots have detached themselves from the uppers and he eventually spends some his coin on a repair by a cobbler. It would appear that he lacked changes of clothing as well as boots. Although he managed for the most part to find local inns or farms where he could obtain a meal and a bed for the night, there is no mention (apart from fording a river) of his ever bathing. I do not suggest that the absence of evidence is evidence of absence, but that he recounts his meals and sleeping arrangements, such as they were, yet invites the reader to draw the inference that he had nothing more than what we might call a "sponge bath" for his occasional ablutions.

All of that said, the story of the pilgrimage is truly remarkable and a tribute to Belloc's physical and spiritual stamina. The text is enhanced with the reproduction of many sketches that he drew along the way of the mountainous obstacles he had to surmount, maps of various sections of the journey depicting his route and the available alternatives, and some of the local buildings, mainly churches he encountered along the way.

His account contains many reflections on the Europe of his lifetime and its history going back to the early Middle Ages. Without venturing to lecture on matters theological or referencing any teachings of discussions with the clergy, he is clearly an energetic devotee of the Catholic faith and a member in good standing of the Church triumphant. He includes a number of tales to entertain the reader among which I cite "The Story of the Devil and the Learned Man" in which a Faustian style bargain made with "The Adversary" has an entertaining outcome.

Belloc's prose style is unique and conveys both a facility for entertaining as well as enlightening the reader. The Path to Rome is at the least a "minor classic". I would include it among the "Great Books."… (more)