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CHAPTER XXXI.

MONTE CASSINO.

HE great monastery of Monte Cassino is now brought

THE

within a few hours of Rome by the station of S. Germano on the Naples railway. Though it is bereaved of its former splendours, strangers are still hospitably received within its walls. All travellers should visit it, for those who are careless of its sacred memories and historical associations, will find sufficient to delight them in its architectural features, and in its position, which is one of the finest in Europe.

The railway to S. Germano has been already described in preceding chapters as far as Frosinone. The next station, Ceccano, is at the foot of a town which is, externally, perhaps the most picturesque on the whole line. On the left bank of the river was the site of Fabrateria Vetus.

Ceprano (distant 2 miles from the station) has an old castle which was the scene of several events in Papal history. Paschal II. lived here while he was quarrelling with Henry IV. here Lucius II. had his interview with Roger of Sicily; and hither the cardinals came to welcome Gregory X. as Pope. Here, in 1266, the Count of Caserta, left by Manfred

to defend the passage of the Garigliano, fled at the approach

of Charles of Anjou.

"E l'altra, il cui ossame si accoglie

A Ceperan, là, dove fu bugiardo
Ciascun Pugliese.

Dante, Inf. xxviii. 15.

Crossing the Liris, we pass near the site of the Volscian Fregella, which was colonized by Rome B. C. 328. It was destroyed in consequence of a rebellion in B. C. 125, and Fabrateria Nova founded in its stead.

We now pass Rocca-Secca (described Ch. XVII.), and leave, to the right, the ruins of Aquino (see Ch. XXIX.).

From a great distance, the convent of Monte Cassino is visible, rising on the hill-top above the plain of the Garigliano. As we come nearer, we see the splendid old castle of Rocca Janula, half-way up the ascent, surrounded with towers, embattled and crenellated, and connected by a long line of turretted wall with the town of San Germano at its feet.

San Germano is wonderfully picturesque. It occupies the site of the Roman Casinum, which Strabo describes as the last town of Latium on the Latin way. Livy (XXII.) tells how Hannibal intended occupying it to prevent the consul Fabius from advancing on Campania; but was led by a mistake of his guide to Casilinum. Silius Italicus speaks of its springs:

"Nymphisque habitata Casinis

Rura evastantur."

xii. 527.

and of its foggy climate:

The inn is the Albergo Pompei, a very clean, comfortable, pretty little hotel in a garden, indeed one of the best country inns in Italy. Double-bedded rooms 3 francs, single rooms 2 francs, dinner 3 francs. These prices should be maintained.

AMPHITHEATRE OF S. GERMANO.

"et nebulosi rura Casini."

iv. 227.

207

Casinum continued to flourish under the empire, but was destroyed by the Lombards in the 6th century. Its modern name of S. Germano is derived from a holy bishop of Capua, a contemporary and friend of S. Benedict.

About half a mile from the town, just above the high road from S. Germano to Rome, is the principal relic of Casinum, an Amphitheatre, small, but very perfect externally, built, as an inscription* narrates, at the private expense of Numidia Quadratilla, whose life and death are celebrated by. Pliny the younger. The interior is an utter ruin.

Above the Amphitheatre is the little Church of the Crocifisso, occupying an ancient tomb which is shown as that of Numidia Quadratilla. It is cruciform with a dome in the centre, and much resembles the tomb of Galla Placidia at Ravenna. The blocks of stone in the entrance-walls are colossal. At the head of the steps in front of the church is a sacrificial altar. The hermit who takes care of the tomb has a school above it. Immediately beneath are the vast remains of the Seminary of Monte Cassino, occupying the site of the historical convent Plumbariola. They enclose a courtyard, with a well and an old fig-tree. The surrounding corridors remind one, on a small scale, of the Coliseum before the spoliations of Rosa. A little beyond, on the side of the mountain, is a garden of Indian figs, with quite a settlement of small houses amongst the great cactus plants. The view in returning to S. Germano is most beautiful.

Near the town, on the banks of the river Fiume Rapido,

* Now at Monte Cassino, let into the wall of a gallery.

† Ep. vii. 24.

are some ruins of a Roman villa, supposed to be that of Varro (called by Cicero "a most conscientious and upright man"), of which he has left us a detailed description in his Res Rust. III. 5. It was here that Marc Antony indulged in the orgies, against which Cicero poured forth his eloquence.

"How many days did he spend in that villa in the most scandalous revels. From morning onwards it was one scene of drinking, gambling, and vomiting. Unhappy house! unhappy indeed in its change of masters. For Marcus Varro it was a place of studious seclusion, not a theatre for his lusts. What noble discussions, what high thoughts, what works originated there! The laws of the Roman people, our ancestral traditions, every kind of scientific and learned theory! but with you as its denizen (no master you) the place resounded with drunken voices ; the floors were flooded, and the walls dripped with wine. . ."

Cic. Phil. ii. 41.

The churches of San Germano, though modernized, are full of interest. The Collegiata was built by the Abbot Gisulf in the 9th century, and, though greatly altered in the 17th century, retains its twelve ancient marble columns.

Donkeys may be obtained, if desired, for the ascent to the Monastery, price 2 francs each. The steep and stony path winds above the roofs of the houses, leaving to the right the ruins of the castle of Rocca Fanula, which was twice besieged and taken by Frederick II. At each turn of the path the view is fresh; at each it is more beautiful. We look down upon the purple valley through which winds the silver thread of the Garigliano, and in which Aquino, Pontecorvo, and many other towns are lying. Beyond, girdling in the plain on every side, are chains of mountains, broken into every conceivable form, every hue of colour melting into the faintest blue, tossing far away in billow upon billow of rocky surge,

ASCENT TO MONTE CASSINO.

209

crested or coated with snow. Sometimes, as you turn a corner, a promontory of rock juts out like a vast buttress, covered with wood; sometimes, the path itself is lost in the deep thickets where only the blue sky can be seen through the twisted boughs of the dark ilexes, which open again to admit a new snow-peak, or a fresh vista of purple mountains. Small oratories by the wayside offer shelter from

[graphic][merged small]

the wind and sun, and commemorate the Benedictine story. First we have that of S. Placidus, the favourite disciple of the patriarch; then that of S. Scholastica, the beloved sister; then a triple-chapel where one of the Benedictine miracles occurred. Beyond these, a cross upon a platform marks the final meeting-place of Benedict and SchoJastica. It is not known that the beloved twin-sister of S. Benedict ever took any vows, though she privately dedi

VOL. II.

14

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