Fucinum adgressus est, non minus compendii spe quam gloriae, cum quidam privato sumptu emissuros se repromitterent, si sibi siccati agri concederentur. Per tria autem passuum milia partim ecfosso monte partim exciso, canalem absolvit aegre et post undecim annos, quamvis continuis xxx hominum milibus sine intermissione operantibus.

Suet. Claud. 21.

FUNDI (FONDI)

A town on the Appian Way (Strab. v. 3, 6.) between Tarracina and Formiae, associated with the latter during the Punic War in its friendliness for Rome. Under the Empire it became a prosperous municipality. The family of Livia, wife of Augustus, came originally from Fundi and some writers say that Tiberius 'was born here (Suet. Tib. 5). Its wine was excellent although inferior to the Caecuban made in this region (Mart. xiii. 113 and the topic Caecubus Ager in the Appendix). But it is Horace's stop here that lends the place its chief interest.

Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore libenter linquimus, insani ridentes praemia scribae, praetextam et latum clavum prunaeque batillum.

Horace Enjoys a Joke

We turn our back with much delight

On Fundi, and its praetor, light

Aufidius Luscus; many a joke

And jest upon that crack-brained scribe
We broke and his pretentious ways,
His grand praetexta, all ablaze

With a broad purple band, flung o'er him,
And pans of charcoal borne before him.

SIR THEODORE MARTIN

An Engineering Feat

He2 made the attempt on the Fucine Lake as much in the hope of gain as of glory, inasmuch as there were some who agreed to drain it at their own cost, provided that the land that was uncovered be given to them. He finished the outlet, which was three miles in length, partly by levelling and partly by tunnelling a mountain, a work of great difficulty and requiring eleven years, although he had 30,000 men at work all the time without interruption. J. C. ROLFE

According to Virgil (Aen. vi. 773), the place was founded by Alba. However this may be, it attained great importance in the very early days of Rome to which, as Dionysius says (iv. 53), the ruins of its buildings and the circuit of its walls attest. During the Republic and the early Empire the place is known only as an insignificant village. The passages quoted below are characteristic of the writers of these times. The town seems to have survived into the later Empire, however, and even to have increased somewhat in prosperity.

Tunc omne Latinum

fabula nomen erit; Gabios Veiosque Coramque pulvere vix tectae poterunt monstrare ruinae Albanosque lares Laurentinosque penates

rus vacuum.

Luc. vii. 391-395.

Prop. iv. 1, 34.

Et qui nunc nulli, maxima turba Gabi.

Γάβιοι μὲν ἐν τῇ Πραινεστίνῃ ὁδῷ κειμένη, λατόμιον ἔχουσα ὑπουργὸν τῇ 'Ρώμῃ μάλιστα τῶν ἄλλων.

Courtesy of Art and Archaeology

Strab. v. 3, 10.

Then shall all the Latin name be a fable; the ruins concealed in dust shall hardly be able to point out Gabii, Veii, and Cora, and the deserted fields shall hardly show the homes of Alba and the household gods of Laurentum. H. T. RILEY

And Gabii, that now is naught, was then a crowded H. E. BUTLER

town.

Gabii, standing in the Via Praenestina, possesses a stone-quarry, in greater demand at Rome than any other. H. C. HAMILTON

LARIUS LACUS (LAGO DI COMO)

The town of Comum was situated upon the banks of the lake and according to Justin was founded by the Gauls. Both Greek and Roman colonies were established there, and under Augustus it held municipal rank. Pliny speaks of its iron foundries as being well-known (N. H. xxxiv. 144), and there is no doubt that by reason of the efforts of the Pliny family to enrich the town through the establishment of schools and libraries (to which frequent reference is made in the writings of the younger Pliny) the place became well known among the towns of this district. However, its fame was largely due to the beauty of the lake which made it a favorite resort for northern Italy. Mediolanum, especially, used the place for this purpose. The emperors were fond of it and we read that Constantine went there "procudendi ingenii causa" (Ammian. Marcell. xv. 2,8). Another reason for its popularity in later times lay in the fact that many travelers bound for the North were accustomed to embark here in order to avoid the trip by land which the rugged nature of the country rendered difficult. A writer of the fifth century A. D., Claudian, has described this voyage (Bell. Get. 319-321).

Quid agit Comum, tuae meaeque deliciae? quid suburbanum amoenissimum? quid illa porticus verna semper? quid platanon opacissimus? quid euripus viridis et gemmeus? quid subiectus et serviens lacus? quid illa mollis et tamen solida gestatio? quid balineum illud, quod plurimus sol implet et circumit? quid triclinia illa. popularia, illa paucorum? quid cubicula diurna, nocturna? Possident te et per vices partiuntur? an, ut solebas, intentione rei familiaris obeundae crebris excursionibus avocaris? Si te possident, felix beatusque es, si minus, unus ex multis.

Plin. Ep. i. 3, 1-3.

Studes an piscaris an venaris an simul omnia? Possunt enim omnia simul fieri ad Larium nostrum. Nam lacus piscem, feras silvae quibus lacus cingitur, studia altissimus iste secessus adfatim suggerunt. Sed, sive omnia simul sive aliquid facis, non possum dicere "invideo"; angor tamen non et mihi licere, quae sic concupisco ut aegri vinum, balinea, fontes. Numquamne hos artissimos laqueos, si solvere negatur, abrumpam? Numquam, puto. Nam veteribus negotiis nova adcrescunt, nec tamen priora peraguntur; tot nexibus, tot quasi catenis maius in dies occupationum agmen extenditur. Vale. Plin. Ep. ii. 8, 1-3.

1 Letters written by the younger Pliny to his friend Caninius Rufus.