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"babbling waters," and feasted his eye on the rich union of wood and rock around it.

"Me dicente cavis impositam ilicem

Saxis, unde loquaces

Lymphae desiliunt tuae."

'Just as it was then, so is it now-even to the very ilices overhanging the hollow rocks whence it springs. And so exactly, in every particular, does this fountain answer to the celebrated Fons, that my faith in its identity is firm and steadfast.'-G. Dennis.

The ascent of Monte Gennaro may be made from Licenza, but it is better to make it from Tivoli itself, whence a carriage may be taken to Polo, and horses ordered there. Hence it is a constant ascent over ridges of hill till we reach the long upland valley called Val de Paradiso, which is exceedingly beautiful, covered in spring with primroses, crocuses, heart'sease, and many of the mountain flowers of Switzerland. Here herds of cattle feed under the shade of the ilexes. The last part of the ascent is very steep and entirely over rock. The view from the top, 3,965 feet above the sea, is magnificent, though many will doubt whether it is sufficiently finer than that from Monte Cavo to repay the fatigue of an excursion which is certainly very long and tiring, though it is exaggerated by the hotel-keepers at Tivoli, and though the start at 3 A.M., which is urged by them, is altogether unnecessary: 6 or 7 A.M. being quite early enough.

It is best to descend by the almost perpendicular staircase called La Scarpellata, but the steps are very rugged and of course can only be traversed on foot. There is a pleasant ride through meadows from S. Francesco, ascending afterwards by the olive-woods, and coming up to Tivoli by the Madonna del Quintiliolo. The low isolated hills called Montes Corniculani (which may be made the object of a separate excursion from Tivoli) are left a little to the right. Their southern height is occupied by the village of Monticelli, the next by Colle Cesi, the northern by S. Angelo in Capoccio. All the villages are ruinous, but contain many picturesque bits. S. Angelo is supposed to occupy the site

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of Corniculum, which was burnt by Tarquin. The widow of its slain chieftain, Ocrisia, was taken, after the siege, to Rome, where she was delivered of a boy, who was educated in the house of Tarquin, and became King Servius Tullius. Some ancient walls of Cyclopean masonry remain : the interstices between the large stones are filled in with smaller

ones.

441

CHAPTER XXXIII.

LUNGHEZZA AND GABII.

(Gabii, 11 miles from Rome, is a pleasant short day's excursion from Rome in a carriage (which, with two horses, ought not to cost more than 15 francs). On horseback Gabii, Collatia, and Lunghezza may be visited in the same day.)

ΤΗ

HE road which leads to Gabii is the Via Praenestina, sometimes called Via Gabina, which emerges from the Porta Maggiore, and turns to the left (the central road of three). On the left, about half a mile from the walls, we pass a tomb said to be that of T. Quintus Atta, A.U.C. 678. Then crossing a small streamlet in a hollow, believed to be the Aqua Bollicante, which marked the limits of ancient Rome, where the Arvales sang their hymn, we reach the ruins of the Torre degli Schiavi, the villa and temple of the Gordian Emperors (see 'Walks in Rome,' ii.), which in their richness of colour, backed by the lovely mountains of the Sabina, present one of the most beautiful scenes in the whole Campagna.

[At the foot of the little hill on which the Torre degli Schiavi stands, the road to Lunghezza turns off to the left. On the left is now seen the castellated farm of the Borghese called Cervaretto, rising above the low marshy ground. The field-road which passes in front of the further side of this castle leads on a mile further to another Campagna castle, Cervara, a most picturesque red-brick tower with some farm buildings attached to it.

Close to this, are the famous Caves of Cervara, which are said to have been formed when excavating the materials for the Coliseum. It is a strange place. You are quite unconscious of any break in the wide grassy Campagna, till

you suddenly find yourself on the edge of a precipice, with deep, narrow, miniature ravines yawning beneath you and winding in all directions till they emerge on a meadow near the Anio. And when you descend into these, openings in the rocks beneath lead into vast chambers opening one upon another, their roof supported by huge pillars of natural rock, while the floor is deep in sand, and long tresses of ivy, and branches of flowering laurestinus, wave in upon. the gloom, whenever the light streams in through a rift overhead. One point is especially charming, where the Anio and the hills beyond it are seen through a great arch of natural rock.

In May these solitudes are enlivened by the revels of the Festa degli Artisti, which is well worth seeing. Some

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historical scene, such as the triumph of Vitellius (as in 1870), is taken as the groundwork of a costumed processiontournaments are held in the meadow near the Anio, wonderful cavalcades of Arabs in rich dresses ride waving their long spears through the Petra-like ravines, and a bellowing Dragon vomiting forth fire and smoke emerges from the caves, and is slain by an imaginary S. George in the rock-girt hollow.

About two miles beyond Cervara, the tall tower of Rustica rises above the swellings of the Campagna. It stands on the very edge of the Anio in a beautiful situation, and is well worth visiting. It was once the property of Aelius, father of the Emperor Lucius Verus, who was adopted by

LUNGHEZZA, CASTELLO DELL' OSA. 443

Hadrian as his successor.

Rustica is most easily seen from the opposite side of the river, reached by the road to Tivoli, turning off to the right beyond Ponte Mammolo. Returning to the Via Collatina, a tolerable road leads us over an uninhabited part of the Campagna for about five miles further. Then it descends into the valley of the Anio, which is here bordered with willows. The great castle or rather fortified farm of Lunghezza is seen on the opposite slope, backed by the purple peaks of the Sabina. This was an ancient possession of the Strozzi family, but has lately been sold to the Duke of Grazioli, one of the richest of the modern Roman nobles.

'C'est le bon plaisir des souverains pontifes qui a fait entrer quelques riches parvenus dans l'aristocratie romaine.

'Un boulanger du nom de Grazioli fait une grande fortune, et le pape ordonne qu'il soit inscrit sur la liste du patriciat romain. Il achète une baronnie et le pape le fait baron. Il achète un duché et le voilà duc Grazioli. Son fils épouse une Lante de la Rovere.'—About.

There is little remarkable about Lunghezza, except its situation, but some hours may be pleasantly spent in sketching on the river-bank lower down the valley.

A pleasant walk of about two miles up the stream of the Osa (turning to the left in descending from the Castle) leads along fields and through a wood, filled in spring with the snowdrops which are sold in Rome in such abundance, to the ruined castle called Castellaccio or Castello dell' Osa, which occupies a declivity of lava on the left of the

stream.

It is disputed whether Castel dell' Osa or Lunghezza is the site of the famous Collatia. Beneath the ruined castle near the Osa some fragments of ancient wall, in regular blocks, may be observed, but this is the only fact in favour of its being the site of the home of Lucretia; while Sir W. Gell, in favour of Lunghezza, draws attention to the existence of the Via Collatina (apparently leading direct to Lunghezza), which would have been unnecessary had Collatia occupied a site such as Castel dell' Osa, which is

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