years under the Gothic sceptre, it was restored to the empire by Belisarius, and at the fall of the Exarchate was annexed once more to the Roman territory in the eighth century. Since that period, though occasionally distracted by factions, and sometimes enslaved by its own citizens, it has never entirely dissolved the tie that binds it to the parent city, nor refused to pay legal submission to its pontiffs. But the most remarkable event in the records of Rimini is, without doubt, that which first registered its name in the page of history, and still gives it a claim upon the attention of the traveller. Rimini was the first town that beheld Cæsar in arms against his country. After having harangued his troops on the banks of the Rubicon, and made the last appeal from the laws to the sword, he rushed forward with his usual rapidity, and at day-break appeared, surrounded with his cohorts, in the forum at Rimini. The untimely sound of the trumpet, the alarm and confusion of the inhabitants, the threatening aspect of Cæsar, are circumstances which the historian discreetly leaves to the imagination of his readers; while the poet finds in them the materials of sublime description:

Constitit ut capto jussus deponere miles

Signa foro, stridor lituûm, clangorque tubarum
Non pia concinuit cum rauco classica cornu.
Rupta quies populis, stratisque excita juventus

Diripiunt sacris affixa penatibus arma

Ut notæ fulsere aquila, Romanaque signa,
Et celsus medio conspectus in agmine Cæsar,
Diriguère metu, gelidos pavor occupat artus*.

Luc. i.-236, &c.

*To the mid forum on the soldier pass'd,
There halted, and his victor ensigns plac'd;
With dire alarms from band to band around,
The fife, hoarse horn, and rattling trumpets sound.
The starting citizens uprear their heads,
The lustier youth at once forsake their beds;
Hasty they snatch their weapons, which among
Their household gods in peace had rested long; ..

Soon as their crests the Roman eagles rear'd,
And Cæsar high above the rest appear'd,
Each trembling heart with secret horror shook.

CHAP. VIII.

Cattolica-Pesaro-Fano-The Metaurus and Monte Asdrubale-Senegaglia-Ancona, its Harbor and Triumphal Arch-Loretto, and the Santa Casa-Tollentino-Ponte Della Trave.

CLOSE to Rimini we passed the river Ansa or Aprusa. Thence to Ancona, the scenery continues the same; the Adriatic on the left; on the right, fine fertile bills covered with buildings, and rising gradually in height, till they swell into the ridge of the Apennines about fifteen miles southwest. Among the hills, S. Marino presents to the eye a perpendicular precipice of tremendous height, and of craggy aspect, and long continues to form a most majestic and conspicuous feature of the landscape. The first stage is Cattolica, a title given to this place, because it became the asylum of the orthodox prelates, who receded from the council held at Rimini, when they found that the Arian faction seemed likely to prevail.

Such at least is the import of an inscription in the principal church, a neat edifice, with a high Gothic tower opposite. The river Concha, which flows a few miles from Cattolica, on the road to Rimini, is supposed, by Cluverius, to be the "Crustumium rapax*" of Lucan.

About ten miles from Cattolica, is Pesaro (Pesaurus), a large, clean, airy town, with a handsome square ornamented by a noble fountain, and formerly by a marble statue of Urban VIII. lately destroyed by the French. by the French. Most of the churches are remarkable for their paintings, and some for their architecture. Among the latter are S. Giovanni, La Misericordia, and S. Carolo. Several palaces have the same claim to attention. On the whole, few towns have a handsomer or more prepossessing appearance than Pesaro. The bridge over the Foglia, anciently the Pesaurus, is a very noble edifice, and though not ancient, worthy of being so.

About seven miles further is Fano (Fanum Fortunæ), a well-built and very handsome town. One of the gates of Fano is a triumphal arch of Augustus; a gallery or portico of five arcades was built over it, at a later period, that is, under Constantine; the whole is, or was, Corinthian.

* The violent Crustumium.

It was considerably defaced, and the upper story destroyed, by the artillery, in a contest between this town and Julius II. Several pillars still lie, as they seem to have fallen, on the platform above the arch. On the three different cornices, there are three inscriptions. The churches at Fano are not inferior to those at Pesaro. The theatre was a noble and commodious edifice, but has been so long neglected, that it has at present much the appearance of a ruin *.

The Via Flaminia here turns from the sea towards the Apennines, and runs along the banks of the Metaurus, now called the Metaro, or shorter, the Metro. This river, a streamlet in dry weather, must, if we may judge by its wide-extended bed, and by the long bridge thrown over it, form in rainy seasons a vast sheet of water. Its western banks are covered with wood, and increase in height and declivity as they retire from the sea. To the east, opens a plain, bounded by gentle eminences, and contracting in breadth as it runs southward, where the hills line the banks of the

* The Basilica annexed to the forum of Fanum was planned and built by Vitruvius. Would it be impossible to discover some traces of an edifice, which, from the account which he gives of its form and proportions, seems to have been of considerable magnitude and beauty? None are now observable. Vit. L. v. C. 1.