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Misled by a remote, but no real connexion of names, some have sought for the monument left by the Greeks at a place called Tekkiyeh, "the monastery," others have sought for it at Kárá Kapán, where there is a positive pile of stones, but Colonel Chesney assures me of his being acquainted with the position of the actual monument, under circumstances the geographical relation of which are, I believe, similar to what are contained in this memoir.

On the ensuing day's march the Greeks came to a river which divided the territory of the Ekvwvoi from that of the Máxpwves. They had on their right an eminence of very difficult access, and on their left another river, into which the river that served as a boundary between the two nations, and which the Greeks were to pass, emptied itself. The Macrones conducted the Greeks through their country three days, till they brought them to the mountains of the Koλyou, corresponding to the maritime range called the Kóhát Tágh, and still designated as the Colchian range by geographers. Here it was that the Greeks partook of the intoxicating honey, whose properties were given to it probably by the bees feeding not only on the produce of the Azalea Pontica, but also of the Rhododendron Ponticum and Nerium oleander; the natural family Apocyna possessing even more marked narcotic properties than the Rhodoraceæ.

From the villages of the Colchians, the Greeks made in two days' march 21 miles (geographic always understood), and arrived at Trebizond; beyond which important station the movements of the Greeks are sufficiently known, not to require so much detail. The chief novelty which recent research has effected in this, the latter part of the journey, is the discovery of the Kerasún Deréhsú by Mr. W. J. Hamilton, a valley more likely, by its distance from Trebizond, to have been the site of the ancient Kerasunt, than the modern town of that name, which appears to have been the ancient Pharnacia, and whence apparently Arrian's mistake, that Kerasunt and Pharnacia were the same places. It is to be remarked in favour of this correction also, that the author of the anonymous Periplus places Kerasunt at a distance of 90 stadia from Hieron Oros, and the vale of Kerasun is nine miles from Cape Yoros; and the same authority places it 60 stadia from Coralla, and the Kerasun Deréh-sú is about six miles from Cape Kerelli, generally identified with the ancient Coralla.

W. FRANCIS AINSWORTH.

XXVI.

EXCURSIONS FROM ROME IN JUNE 1843.

I.

LEAVING Rome by the Porta San Paolo, we passed the churches of "the Three Fountains," and continued on the line of the old Via Ardeatina until we reached Solfatara, which is thought by some to be the site of the oracle of Faunus, consulted by Latinus. There is a deep basin, doubtless the crater of an extinct volcano, from which sulphureous matter bubbles up in one part, but the rest is overgrown with coarse grass and underwood; on one side of this basin a hill rises abruptly, presenting a rocky cliff partly covered with brushwood; but this hill, as well as the surrounding country, is now entirely devoid of trees, and ill accords with Virgil's expression, when king Latinus

"oracula Fauni

Fatidici genitoris adit, lucosque sub altâ

Consulit Albuneâ : nemorum quæ maxima sacro
Fonte sonat, sævamque exhalat opaca mephitim."

Eneid vII. 81.

The groves have entirely disappeared, but the fountain still exhales a strong sulphureous odour, and the place, when encompassed by a forest, may have been well adapted for inspiring religious awe. The hill above the fountain is surmounted with a farm-house and its appurtenances.

From Solfatara, we rode in a westerly direction towards Pratica, which is completely shut in by woods, which we entered about three miles before we reached the town. The ancient Lavinium was defended on two sides by a deep valley, and was accessible only by a narrow neck of land, which we crossed on approaching the handsome modern gateway leading to a small square, which is flanked on one side by the Palazzo Baronale, built by the Colonna family about three centuries ago. This palace contains a very high tower commanding a magnificent view of the neighbouring country, and of the sea, which is not above four miles distant. A very small part of the space probably occupied by Lavinium is now covered by the village of Pratica, but we could find no traces of walls belonging to the ancient city; in fact, the only ancient remains to be found at Pratica consist of

four or five marble fragments with inscriptions upon them. These inscriptions, which have been published by Nibby, are evidently of an excellent period of art, for the letters are plain and deeply engraved; they establish the fact that the inhabitants of Laurentum were incorporated with those of Lavinium, (Laurentum being probably situated at Torre Paterno, an unhealthy spot near the sea, five miles from Lavinium); for what else can be the meaning of the phrase, Senatus populusque, Laur. Lav., which occurs upon the pedestal of a statue erected in honour of the emperor Maximianus? And this is not the only instance in which the expression is found in these inscriptions. It is greatly to be regretted that these marbles are not carried to Rome, or removed to a place where they would no longer be exposed to injury; two of them were lying neglected close to the door of a stable, the inscriptions reversed, and in a sad state of degradation; but it is satisfactory to know that the inscriptions have been published. Lavinium is an instance of what is so common in the sites of the early Italian towns; a tongue of land separating two valleys was selected, thereby only one side was liable to attack, and, in the case before us, the town was united to the surrounding country by an extremely narrow isthmus. As far as we could guess, the space occupied by the town did not exceed five or six acres. If Æneas made it the capital of his new kingdom, it did not long enjoy that honour, for his son Ascanius transferred the seat of government to Alba a few years after:

"At puer Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen Iulo,
Triginta magnos volvendis mensibus orbes
Imperio explebit, regnumque ab sede Lavinî
Transferet, et longam multâ vi muniet Albam."

Eneid 1. 267.

On leaving Pratica, we proceeded through the wood formerly called Lucus Jovis Indigetis, and crossed the Numicius, a narrow stream now called Rio Torto, in which Æneas is supposed to have been drowned, being sunk by the weight of his armour, and being no more seen, he was thought to have been conveyed to heaven, and accordingly worshipped under the title of Jupiter Indiges :

66

Indigetem Æneam scis ipsa, et scire fateris
Deberi cœlo, fatisque ad sidera tolli."

Eneid XII. 794.

At length we reached Ardea, which is between five and six miles from Pratica, like which, it is situated immediately above the con

fluence of two streams, and its strongest artificial defence is on the N.E., where it is cut off by a deep ditch and high stone wall from the narrow strip of land which divides two valleys; on the sides towards the valleys the precipitous rock renders walls unnecessary, but at the S.W. extremity there must have been ancient walls, which have given place to modern battlements and a modern gateway. On entering, we found the modern Ardea nothing more than a scanty village; adjoining the gate is a large deserted house belonging to the Cesarini, who are the feudal lords of the place. In the town, the rock has been cut so as to imitate external walls, of such thickness that three persons might easily walk abreast, and in these we observed some of the egg-shaped cavities which are also visible in the neighbourbood of Veii: they are cut in the solid rock. The circular aperture at the top is about two feet in diameter, the entire depth ten or twelve feet, and the diameter at the widest part about five feet. They are supposed to have been used as granaries. We saw no marbles at Ardea, except an altar, which was beautifully wrought. There was a building which appeared to have been the cella of a temple, and which had been subsequently used as a dwelling: it was devoid of ornament, but the interior contained niches for statues. There is but one gate to the town, which is inaccessible on three sides; so that the traveller arriving from Albano, which is to the N.E., is first made aware of his approach to a city by a huge rampart and ditch, extending straight across from one valley to the other: where the mound has been cut to allow the road to pass, some traces of masonry which formed a gateway are visible. After proceeding about a quarter of a mile he meets with a similar agger, also reaching from one valley to the other; another quarter of a mile brings him to the wall of the town, which is sixty feet high, supporting the bank inside, and defended by a pentagonal tower: he must then pass outside, along the whole length of the town, before he reaches the gateway. In the vicinity of Ardea the rock in many places is perforated to form caves, which were probably tombs. Outside, we observed substructions of reticulated work, belonging of course to the Roman period. Virgil, probably for the purpose of magnifying the capital of Turnus, the rival of his hero, intimates that Ardea had in his day greatly declined from its pristine greatness

Dictus avis: et nunc
Sed fortuna fuit."

"Locus Ardea quondam

magnum manet Ardea nomen;
Eneid vII. 411.

After quitting Ardea we descended almost to the mouth of the Rio Felice, which flows on the north side of the town, and then turning along the sea-coast we passed the site of Castrum Inui, which is in the number of the towns enumerated by Anchises to his son as about to be one day constructed by his descendants. We proceeded close to the sea through a forest until we reached Porto d' Anzo, which affords a fine view of the bay extending to Astura, where Cicero had a villa. The ancient Antium, being the birth-place of Nero, and one of his favourite residences, was adorned by him with a port and many magnificent buildings. Among these, the port claims particular attention. The deep basin, composed of a semicircular bay, and a mole, of which fragments still rise above the surface of the water, is half choked by a high bank of sand, and is not now used as a shelter for ships; there being a modern mole on the south side of the harbour, which answers that purpose. The north side of the basin was lined with store-houses, which consist of brick arches towards the sea, and lead to caverns excavated to a great depth in the rock the brickwork is of the best period, and remarkably well preserved. From the northern horn of the port the sea-coast is covered with ruins for the space of half a mile; and the same taste was evidently indulged here as at Baiæ, viz. that of erecting buildings actually hanging over the sea, the substructions of which are now washed by the waves. The greatest variety is displayed in the different structures, of which the remains are scattered from the ancient port of Nero to a small promontory formed of tufo, which is perforated with long tunnels in order to serve as approaches to buildings beyond it; these however have perished in consequence of the inroads of the sea, which washed down the rock itself and all that stood upon it. These vaulted passages may have served as luxurious retreats wherein to escape from the great heat in summer; and as one would have been a sufficent communication through the palace, the others which terminate towards the sea would be admirably adapted for the enjoyment of the breeze and of the view. The series of ruins along the coast is composed entirely of brick, apparently of the same date with the magazines at the harbour; it contains no edifice which can be considered a temple, but, on the contrary, we were led to conclude that the whole was for domestic purposes, and was in fact the palace of Nero'. We remarked a bay-window towards the sea, and in a

1 The famous Apollo Belvedere was found here. See Visconti, Musée Pie-Clémentin, Tom. 1. p. 136.

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