The Via Aurelia next passes the site of Panapione. We next reach the station of S. Marinella, with another mediaeval castle overhanging the sea, and a palm-tree in its garden. It marks the site of the Roman station of A.D. Punicum. An ancient bridge survives, by which the Via Aurelia crossed the Castrica. A mile from hence in the direction of Civita Vecchia is the Puntone del Castrato, where some Etruscan tombs, lined and roofed by large slabs of stone, were opened by a Duchess of Sermoneta in 1840. The tower called Chiaruccia (Cape Linaro) now marks the site of Castrum Novum, another station on the Via Aurelia, and soon after this Civita Vecchia comes in sight. This, the ancient Centumcellae, is a place utterly devoid of interest, and in the eyes of those who arrive at Rome by sea, used only to be associated with much discomfort and an ardent desire to get away. The origin of the place was due to the construction of its port by Trajan, of which Pliny has left an account.1 (Alberghi Orlandi, Termale, Europa.) The town was strong enough in A.D. 528 to successfully resist Totila; but in 820 the Saracens destroyed it utterly. The walls are the work of the short-lived Urban VII. (1596.) The Duomo (S. Firmina) is not interesting; but the Fortress, SW. of the town, was designed by Michelangelo, and actually built by San Gallo. Ad Centumcellas forti defleximus Austro; Molibus aequoreum concluditur amphitheatrum, Ne vaga vel tutas ventilet aura rates. -Rutilius, i. 237. Apollodorus was the architect, who also built Trajan's Forum. The opening is defended by three forts, and the area within covers 132,000 square yards. The Arsenal was designed by Bramante. The Aqueduct of Trajan was restored by Innocent XII. "Whoever has approached the Eternal City from the sea must admit the fidelity of the above picture. As Civita Vecchia was 1400 years since, so it is now. The artificial island, with its twin-towers at the mouth of the port; the long moles stretching out to meet it; the double passage, narrowed almost to a closing of the jaws; the amphitheatre of water within, overhung by the houses of the town, and sheltered from every wind-will be at once recognised. It would seem to have remained in statu quo ever since it was built by Trajan. Yet the original town was almost utterly destroyed by the Saracens in the ninth century; but when rebuilt, the disposition of the port was preserved, by raising the moles, quay, and fortress on the ancient foundations, which are still visible beneath them.'-Dennis, Cities of Etruria,' ii. 1. Monotonous plains, covered with lentisk, cork, and myrtle, separate Civita Vecchia from Corneto. Half-way between the two 1 Ep. vi. 31. the railway crosses the little river Mignone, anciently the Minio, mentioned by Virgil. 'Qui sunt Minionis in arvis.' -Aen. x. 183. At its mouth stands the solitary tower of Bertaldo, marking the site of the Roman station Rapinium. It is popularly called S. Agostino from the charming story of the Bishop of Hippo which is associated with the spot. 'While busied in writing his Discourse on the Trinity, S. Augustine wandered along the sea-shore lost in meditation. Suddenly he beheld a child, who, having dug a hole in the sand, appeared to be bringing water from the sea to fill it. Augustine inquired what was the object of his task? He replied, that he intended to empty into this cavity all the waters of the great deep. "Impossible!" exclaimed Augustine. "Not more impossible," replied the child," than for thee, O Augustine! to explain the mystery on which thou art now meditating." -Jameson, Sacred Art.' After passing Porto Clementino on the left, Corneto the Queen of the Maremma '-crowns a long inland ridge of hills with its twenty-five towers, and, beyond it, rises a barren crest, which is the site of ancient Tarquinii. A winding road ascends from the station, crossing the Aurelia to Corneto, about 1 mile distant. As we near the town its battlemented walls are very picturesque. Close to the gate in Piazza Cavour is the magnificent old Gothic palace of Cardinal Vitelleschi, whose splendid flamboyant windows are so little appreciated by the inhabitants of Corneto, that it has obtained the name of П Palazzaccio-the great ugly palace. The court-yard has a beautiful cloister, with open galleries above, is now turned into a noble museum. Cardinal Vitelleschi, who built this palace, is mentioned by a contemporary chronicler as 'the most valorous captain of his time,' and, for his services as General of the Papal armies, was strangely rewarded with a Cardinal's hat by Eugenius IV. (1431-47). In his honour, also, an equestrian statue was erected in the Capitol by the Roman Senate, with the title of Pater Patriae, which had been bestowed upon Augustus; and, at the same time, because they were his fellow-townsmen, Roman citizenship was conferred upon all the inhabitants of Corneto. After rising to the highest point of prosperity, Cardinal Vitelleschi was suspected of treason by Pope Eugenius, and he was arrested as he was passing the castle of S. Angelo, but received so many wounds in attempting to defend himself and escape, that he died in the fortress, after only four days of imprisonment, in 1440. His shield of arms, with two heifers in allusion to his name, still hangs over his palace gate, and Corneto still possesses the bells of Palestrina, which he carried off, when, by order of that Pontiff, he took and totally destroyed that fortress of the Colonnesi, as it were, in imitation of Boniface VIII., six generations previously. 1 Probably from Cornus arbor, the cornel, which also gave its name to the Cornelian Gens. But this is not certain. |