Pontine Marshes, end. In these marshes Marius* hid himself, and was dragged out from them with a rope round his neck, to the neighbouring prison of Minturnæ. About twelve miles South East of Rome we have Tusculum, where was Cicero's celebrated villa, the scene of his Tusculan Disputations; it is now called Frascati. Præneste †, the retreat of Horace, is to the East of this now called Palestrina. South East Præneste is Anagnia, the capital of the ancient Hernici, and still South East is Arpinum, or Arpino, the birth-place of Marius and Cicero. The principal Rivers of Latium were the Anio, or Teverone, which, passing by the delightful town of Tibur‡, antiently bounded it on the North East; and the Liris, which rose near the Lake Fucinus §, not very * Hence Juvenal, speaking of Marius: Exilium et carcer, Minturnarumque paludes Et mendicatus victa Carthagine panis. + Trojani belli scriptorem, maxime Lolli, Dum tu declamas Romæ Præneste relegi. Tibur Argao positum colono far Sat. X. 276. Hor. Epist. II. 6. Sit meæ sedes utinam senectæ. Hor. Od. II. 6. Domus Albuneæ resonantis, Et præceps Anio, et Tiburni lucus, et uda Te nemus Angitiæ, vitrea te Fucinus unda, Hor. Od. I. 7. from the Anio, and, flowing in an opposite direction, falls into the sea near Minturnæ. The Liris is now called the Garigliano. The small river Fibrenus, which ran by Cicero's paternal villa, falls into it not far from Arpinum. The city of Rome itself was built on seven hills * Mons Palatinus, in the center, then Capitolinus, Quirinalis, Viminalis, Esquilinus, Coelius, Aventinus; the most extreme +, North and South, were Quirinalis and Aventinus. On the Esquiliæ ‡ was the splendid palace and gardens of Mæcenas. On the Palatine Hill was the celebrated Palatine library § of Augustus. This was the first inhabited part of Rome, and is sometimes put by way of eminence for the whole. || Indeed, here was the + Hence Horace : Cubat hic in colle Quirini, Carm. Sec. 7. Hic extremo in Aventino: visendus uterque : Nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus, atque § Scripta Palatinus quæcunque recepit Apollo. || Hence Hor. Si Palatinas videt æquus arces Epist. II. 2. Hor. Sat. I. 8. Hor. Epist. I. 3. Carm. Sec. 65. residence of Romulus and the Roman Kings, of Augustus and the Roman Emperors.; whence Palatium has ever since been applied to the residence of a monarch. On Mons Capitolinus was the Capitol, and Tarpeian Rock. Mons Aventinus was the burying-place of Remus; hence it was looked upon as a place of ill omen. * Between the Collis Capitolinus, Quirinalis, and the Tiber, was the Campus Martius, the principal situation of modern Rome; and opposite Mons Palatinus, across the Tiber, on the Tuscan side, was the Janiculum. At the foot of the Capitol was the Forum Romamum, and on one side of it the famous Milliarium, or Golden Milestone, from which all the Roman roads were measured. The nations in the immediate vicinity of Rome, during the earlier periods of the Roman history, were the Latini below Rome; the Æqui East, and Hernici South East of Rome; the Volsci South Westwards, and Aurunci below them, on the coast of Latium, towards Campania; the Marsi East of the Æqui; the Sabini North East of Rome; and to the North West of it, the Veientes. Below Latium, and separated from it by the Liris, was Campania, now Campagna, and part of the Kingdom of Naples. The chief city of Campania was Capua, celebrated for the luxury of its inhabitants; and below it, on the coast, is the no less celebrated city of Neapolis, a Greek colony, which is now Naples. Neapolis was antiently called Parthenope, from the name of one of the Sirens, said to have lived there; and was the favourite re * Ut immerentis fluxit in terram Remi sidence of Virgil *, who is said to be buried near the promontory of Misenum. Baie and Puteoli were on the opposite sides of a bay near Naples, and celebrated for the residence of the Roman nobility +, who built here magnificent palaces. The former of these is now called Baya, the latter Pozzuolo. Misenum, which received its name from the trumpeter of Æneas, whose death is recorded by Virgil, was the station of the Roman fleet in the Lower sea; and above it was Cuma §, the residence of the Cumæan Sybil, the conductress of Æneas to the shades below. Opposite the promontory of Misenum is the island of Pithecusa, or Ænaria, now Ischia, and below it, on the South side of the bay called Crater, is the island of Capreæ, or Capri, infamous for the cruelties and debaucheries of Tiberius. | East of Naples is Nola, where bells are said to have been first invented, thence called Nolæ, or Campanæ, and at the Northern point * Illo Virgilium me tempore dulcis alebat + Marisque Baiis obstrepentis urges Virg. Georg. IV. 565. Illi Misenum in littore sicco, Ut venere, vident indigna morte peremptum ; Hor. Od. II. 18. Virg. Æn. VI. 162. Laudo tamen vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis f || Principis angusta Caprearum in rupe sedentis. Juv. Sat. III. 2. Juv. Sat. X. 85. of the Sinus Postanus is Salernum, now Salerno. North West of Capua are Suessa Auruncorum and Teanum, now Sezza and Tiano*, the latter of these places was a favourite residence of the Roman nobility. Above them, on the confines of Latium was Venafrum, or Venafro, celebrated for its olives † and oil. The celebrated vineyards ‡ of Falernum were about Cales near Teanum; the Cæcubus Ager near Formiæ and Caieta; and the Mons Massicus near Sinuessa. The principal Rivers of Campania are the Liris, already described, and Vulturnus, or Volturno, which rises in the Apennines, in Samnium, and falls into the sea a little above Liternum, the burial-place of Scipio Africanus, East of which is Atella, where the Latin farces called Ludi Atellani originated. The celebrated Lucrine § Lake was opposite to Puteoli, near to Lake Avernus. It is now only a muddy An memorem portus, Lucrinoque addita claustra, |
