(away from the path already traversed), the tombs are on the further side of the first collateral valley on the right. It was a triumphant moment, when, wearied, wet, footsore, torn with brambles, and covered with mud, we first came in sight of the famous sepulchres. A featureless glen, smaller than the others, had opened from one of the main valleys; banks covered alternately with fragments of rock, and shrubs of wild pear and cistus, sloped up on either side to the low ranges of tufa rock which separated it from the flat plain around, and here, on turning a corner, we saw two sculptured Doric sepulchres, which recalled the monuments of Petra in extreme miniature. It is, as it were, a double tomb, with two massive projecting entablatures, but one encroaches on the other which is cut away to receive it, so that they are evidently not of the same date. Both are much alike, and have been covered with sculptures in the boldest relief. Half of one of the pediments has fallen down, but on the tomb and a half which remain, though much worn by time, the forms of warriors are distinctly visible. One figure seems to have fallen and others are fighting over him; a winged genius is also discernible; and there are remnants of colour over the whole, the groundwork apparently red. The pediments end on either side in a volute, within which is a gorgon's head. There are traces of pillars having once supported the heavy entablatures. On the mass of tufa below the pediments are traces of more figures, probably once painted, with the armour in low relief. All archeologists are agreed that both architecture and sculpture are imitations of the Greek. Orioli attributes the monuments to the fourth or fifth century of Rome. The interiors of the tombs are quite devoid of ornament, mere chambers hewn in the tufa. Mutilated and ruined as they are, the massive sculptures of the temple-tombs will ever make them one of the most interesting of Etruscan remains, and in connection with their lost history, and their lost language, it is impossible to look upon them without the deepest interest. We, however, were unable to linger long on the rugged slopes before their portals;-night was fast closing in, and it was so late before we reached Viterbo, that we met people coming out with lights to look for us, when we were two miles from the town. Eight miles from Vetralla on the Via Cassia in the direction of Sutri is Capranica, an Etruscan site, but of little interest. CHAPTER XXV, MONTEFIASCONE, BOLSENA, AND ORVIETO. (Orvieto is now most easily reached from Rome by railway (in 3 hours) as it has a station-at the foot of the hill on which the town is situated on the line from Orte to Siena. But those who have time will not regret the longer excursion by Viterbo and Bolsena. There is a diligence to Viterbo from Orte, and thence carriages may be taken for the rest of the excursion.) Iio a Viteto to Monte accons the great Eros the plain, T is an interesting drive across the great Etruscan plain five miles from Viterbo, are the ruins called Le Casacce del Bacucco, consisting of baths and other buildings of imperial date. The largest ruin is now popularly called La Lettighetta, or the warming-pan. Considerably to the east of this, stranded in the wide plain, are the ruins, still called Ferento, of the Etruscan city Ferentinum, which Horace alludes to, when he says:— "Si te grata quies et primam somnus in horam 1 Epist. 17. From this it appears to have been a quiet country town, but Suetonius speaks of it as the birth-place of the Emperor Otho, and Tacitus as the site of a temple of Fortune. It continued to exist in medieval times, and was the site of an episcopal see, but was utterly destroyed in the eleventh century by the people of Viterbo, because its citizens had committed the heresy of representing the figure of Christ upon the cross with the eyes open instead of shut! In the area of the town, mediæval remains are mingled with early Roman foundations and polygonal blocks of basaltic pavement. The principal ruin is the Theatre, which is finely placed on the edge of a ravine. It has seven gates, and the stage-front is a hundred and thirty-six feet in length, built of large rectangular volcanic blocks without cement. "Ferentum, though small, and probably at no time of political importance, was celebrated for the beauty of its public monuments. Vitruvius cites them as exhibiting 'the infinite virtues' of a stone hewn from certain quarries, called 'Anitianæ,' in the territory of Tarquinii, and especially in the neighbourhood of the Volsinian Lake. This stone, he says, was similar to that of the Alban Mount in colour, i.e., it was grey like peperino; it was proof alike against the severity of frost and the action of fire, and of extreme hardness and durability, as might be seen from the monuments of Ferentum, which were made of it. 'For there are noble statues of wonderful workmanship, and likewise figures of smaller size, together with foliage and acanthi, delicately carved, which albeit they be ancient, appear as fresh as if they were but just now finished.' The brass-founders, he adds, find this stone most useful for moulds. 'Were these quarries near the city, it would be well to construct everything of this stone.' Pliny speaks of this stone in the same laudatory terms, but calls it a white silex."-Dennis' Cities of Etruria. About four miles east of Ferento, by a path very difficult to find, is Vitorchiano, a village on an Etruscan site, which still possesses the curious privilege of having the monopoly of supplying the servants of the Roman senators. It is said that this was granted when a native of the place successfully extracted a thorn from the foot of one of the emperors. Every forty years the principal families draw lots for their order of service, each sending one of its members, or selling the privilege at a price which is fixed by custom. Still further east, 12 miles from Viterbo, by the direct road, is Bomarzo. Two miles from the modern village, which has an old castle of the Borghese, is the site of an Etruscan town, supposed to be Moonia. There are few remains above-ground, but several interesting tombs. One, with a single pillar in its centre, is known as the Grotta della Colonna. Near it is the Grotta Dipinta, decorated with very curious frescoes of Dolphins and other monsters, some of them with semi-human faces. The temple-shaped sarcophagus, adorned with snakes, now in the British Museum, was found in this tomb. As we continue the road to Montefiascone, the town is exceedingly effective from a distance, cresting a hill, and crowned by the handsome dome of a cathedral, designed by San Michele and dedicated to S. Margaret. The hill, always celebrated for its wine, probably derives thence its name, fiascone signifying a large flask. Dennis considers that it occupies either the site of the Etruscan city Enarea, or that of the Fanum Voltumnæ, the shrine where the princes of Etruria met in council on the affairs of the confederation. No Etruscan remains however exist except a few caverned tombs, now turned into the hovels of the miserable living inhabitants. "Well may this height have been chosen as the site of the national temple! It commands a magnificent and truly Etruscan panorama. The lake (of Bolsena) shines beneath in all its breadth and beauty-truly meriting the title of 'the great lake of Italy ;' and though the towers and palaces of Volsinii have long ceased to sparkle on its bosom, it still mirrors the white cliffs of its twin islets, and the distant snow-peaks of Amiata and Cetona. In every other direction is one 'intermingled |