Especially devoted to the study of history, archaeology, and numismatics, he left among his major works the *Días geniales y lúdricos*, a valuable source for the study of Spanish folklore, the *Varones insignes en letras... de Sevilla*, the *Antigüedades de Sevilla... y chorographia de su convento jurídico*, various works on Utrera (*El santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Consolación*, etc.), all of which combine erudition with moving evocations of the past. As a poet, he is remembered not only for his sonnets but also for the well-known *Canción a las ruinas de Itálica*, long attributed to the Seville poet Francisco de Roja, a theme already treated but renewed by Caro in elegant and limpid form, resonant rhetoric, and dignified tone.
Bibl.: Texts: *Le Obras en prosa*, published in the *Memorial histórico español*, I (1821), pp. 349-476; these were reprinted together with his poetic works by the Sociedad de bibliófilos andaluces, XIV-XV, Seville 1883-84; the *Varones* and *Epistolario*, with a biographical-critical study, were published by S. Montoto (ibid. 1914); an edition of the *Canción a las ruinas de Itálica*, accompanied by an introduction, Latin version, and notes, was published by M. A. Caro (Publicaciones del Instit. Caro y Cuervo, II, Bogotá 1947). Literature: A. Fernández Guerra, *La canción "A las ruinas de Itálica" ya original ya refundida, no es de Fr. de Roja*, in *Memorias de la Academia Española*, (Madrid 1870), pp. 174-217; A. Sánchez y Castañer, *R. C.*, estudio biográfico y crítico, Madrid 1914; A. Baig Baños, *R. C. autor de la Epístola moral a Fabio*, ibid. 1932; Isle Ruggieri Scudieri