and other cities of Latium, and so aroused the hostility of the King. "Ultima Tarquinius Romanæ gentis habebat Et Gabios turpi fecerat arte suos. Ovid. Fast. ii. 687. "The primeval greatness of Gabii is still apparent in the walls of the cell of the temple of Juno. Dionysius saw it yet more conspicuous in the ruins of the extensive walls, by which the city, standing in the plain, had been surrounded, and which had been demolished by a destroying conqueror, as well as in those of several buildings. It was one of the thirty Latin cities: but it scorned the determination of the confederacy—in which cities far from equal in power were equal in votes-to degrade themselves. Hence it began an obstinate war with Rome. The contending cities were only twelve miles apart; and the country betwixt them endured all the evils of military ravages for years, no end of which was to be foreseen: for within their walls they were invincible. "But Sextus, the son of Tarquinius Superbus, pretended to rebel. The king, whose anger appeared to have been provoked by his wanton insolence, condemned him to a disgraceful punishment, as if he had been the meanest of his subjects. He came to the Gabines under the mask of a fugitive. The bloody marks of his stripes, and still more the infatuation which comes over men doomed to perish, gained him belief and goodwill. At first he led a body of volunteers: then troops were trusted to his charge. Every enterprise succeeded; for booty and soldiers were thrown in his way at certain appointed places; and the deluded citizens raised the man, under whose command they promised themselves the pleasures of a successful war, to the dictatorship. The last step of his treachery was yet to come. None of the troops being hirelings, it was a hazardous venture to open a gate. Sextus sent to ask his father in what way he should deliver Gabii into his hands. Tarquinius was in his garden when he received the messenger: he walked along in silence, striking off the heads of the tallest poppies with his stick, and dismissed the man without an answer. On this hint, Sextus put to death, or by means of false charges banished, such of the Gabines as were able to oppose him. By distributing their fortunes he purchased partisans among the lowest class; and, acquiring the uncontested rule, brought the city to submit to his father."-Niebuhr's Hist. of Rome, i. 491. The treaty concluded at this time between Rome and Gabii was preserved on a wooden shield in the temple of Jupiter Fidius at Rome. It is evidently one of those alluded to by Horace as the : "foedera regum Cum Gabiis aut cum rigidis æquata Sabinis."* After the expulsion of the kings, Sextus Tarquinius took refuge at Gabii, where, according to Livy, he was murdered. But Gabii was one of the cities which combined in behalf of the Tarquins at the Lake Regillus. After that battle it became subject to Rome, and almost disappears from history for several centuries, and was so reduced that : ... Gabios, Veiosque, Coramque Pulvere vix tectæ poterunt monstrare ruinæ.” Lucan. vii. 392. "Scis Lebedus quam sit Gabiis desertior atque Hor. i. Ep. II. Quippe suburbanæ parva minus urbe Bovillæ ; Propert. iv. El. 1. Hujus qui trahitur prætextam sumere mavis; Juvenal. Sat. x. 100. "Quis timet, aut timuit gelida Præneste ruinam ; The Gabini had a peculiar mode of girding the toga, * See Smith's Dict. of Greek and Roman Geography. which gave more freedom to the limbs, and which was found useful when hurrying to battle from a sacrifice. alludes to it :— "Ipse, Quirinali trabea cinctuque Gabino Virgil En. vii. 612. Under Tiberius the town had a slight revival, which was increased under Hadrian, who adorned it with handsome public buildings, colleges, and an aqueduct. In the first ages of Christianity it became the seat of a bishopric (a list of its bishops from A.D. 465 to 879 is given in Ughelli's It alia Scra), but it was finally ruined when Astolphus ravaged the Campagna, at the head of 6000 Lombards. is only a mile's walk or ride from the Osteria del Osa (turning left) to the Castello del Osa or Collatia, for which see chapter ix. It Continuing along the Via Prænestina, much of the old pavement is visible. This is most perfect at Cavamonte (seven miles beyond Gabii), where the road passes through a deep cutting in the rocks which guard the valley of Gallicano. The cliffs on either side of the road reach a height of 70 feet, and are most picturesquely overhung with shrubs and ivy. The road, which is generally only 14 feet wide, here has a width of 27 feet. After passing through Cavamonte, the Via Prænestina ascends towards Præneste by the Convent of the Buon Pastore. On the left of the road (19 miles from Rome) is the village of Gallicano, supposed to occupy the site of the ancient Pedum, whose name is familiar to readers of Horace, from the epistle to Albius Tibullus. Albi, nostrorum sermonum candide judex, Quid nunc te dicam facere in regione Pedana ?" i. Ep. iv. The present name is derived from Ovinius Gallicanus, Prefect of Rome in the time of Constantine, who was afterwards canonized for his charities, and in whose honour the Hospital in the Trastevere was dedicated. The place was formerly a fief of the Colonnas, and now gives a title to the Rospigliosi. "The towns of Scaptia, Ortona, and Querquetula lay somewhere in this neighbourhood. Scaptia was one of the cities which conspired to restore the Tarquins to the Roman throne. It gave a name to one of the tribes at Rome, but in Pliny's time had fallen entirely into ruins. The site of Passerano has been fixed upon as the representative of Scaptia by most modern topographers. But this opinion rests upon a false reading in Festus, and must be rejected. Ortona lay on the frontier, between the Latins and Æquians, but belonged to the Latins. It seems to have been near Corbio, and on the further side of Mount Algidus. The site of Querquetula is entirely unknown. Gell and Nibby place it at Corcolo, arguing from the similarity of the name. Corcolo is four miles from Gallicano, and six from Zagarolo, at a point where there is an artificial dyke separating a small hill from the neighbouring plateau. There are traces of ancient roads converging to this spot from Præneste, Castellaccio, and Gallicano.”—Burn, The Roman Campagna. Zagarola, 21 miles from Rome, will scarcely be made the object of an especial excursion, but may be visited by those who drive to Palestrina. It is a curious old medieval town chiefly built by the Colonnas, in whose wars it was twice sacked, first by Boniface VIII., and afterwards by Cardinal Vitelleschi in the reign of Eugenius IV. It now gives a ducal title to the Rospigliosi. Many Roman antiquities found in the neighbourhood are built up into the walls and houses, and over the Roman gate is a seated statue of JupiThe commission for the revision of the Vulgate under Gregory XIV. met in the palace of Zagarolo. ter. VOL. I. II CHAPTER IX. CERVARA, LUNGHEZZA, AND COLLATIA. (It is a short and pleasant afternoon's drive to Cervara, but a day must be given to Lunghezza and Collatia, though, if visited on horseback, they may be combined with the ruins of Gabii.) A Schiavi, the road to Lun On the right is the Tor FTER passing the Torre degli ghezza turns off to the left. Tre Teste, on the left we pass close to a fountain of the Acqua Vergine. On the left is now seen the great castellated farm of the Borgheses 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 |