DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61277#0030
10 NEAPOLITAN SCENERY.
ther on, the villas of Pliny, Pompey, Sylla, Cae-
sar, Tiberius, Lucullus, and Marius ; and farther
still, the palace belonging to Pisa, which Nero
afterwards occupied; and also the castle of Baiae,
a fortress on the brow of that rocky precipice,
where the execrable Anicetus, in obedience to
the commands of a tyrant, endeavoured to drown
the unfortunate Agrippina, whose modest tomb
still exists, at the foot of the hill.”
“ What mingled emotions are awakened,” said
I, “ by the contemplation of this interesting scene !
—a scene adorned by nature, ennobled by genius’
and celebrated in history, as the chosen resort of
those illustrious characters, whose names are too
deeply engraven upon her page ever to be oblite-
rated. Yet what are their splendid villas now ?
Alas! nothing but masses of tufa* thickened by
the eruptions of revolving centuries ! The por-
ticoes are fallen ; the fountains are dried up ; the
groves are withered; the sculptured friezes, the
airy colonnades, and the marble pedestals, are en-
* Tufa is a volcanic production, and consists of ashes and lava
concreted together. It is of various colours, blackish grey, blueish
grey, and yellow, every colour having a different mixture and
solidity. It has been frequently used as a material for building,
both by the ancients and moderns; although it possesses the in-
convenient quality of mouldering away on long exposure to the
weather.
ther on, the villas of Pliny, Pompey, Sylla, Cae-
sar, Tiberius, Lucullus, and Marius ; and farther
still, the palace belonging to Pisa, which Nero
afterwards occupied; and also the castle of Baiae,
a fortress on the brow of that rocky precipice,
where the execrable Anicetus, in obedience to
the commands of a tyrant, endeavoured to drown
the unfortunate Agrippina, whose modest tomb
still exists, at the foot of the hill.”
“ What mingled emotions are awakened,” said
I, “ by the contemplation of this interesting scene !
—a scene adorned by nature, ennobled by genius’
and celebrated in history, as the chosen resort of
those illustrious characters, whose names are too
deeply engraven upon her page ever to be oblite-
rated. Yet what are their splendid villas now ?
Alas! nothing but masses of tufa* thickened by
the eruptions of revolving centuries ! The por-
ticoes are fallen ; the fountains are dried up ; the
groves are withered; the sculptured friezes, the
airy colonnades, and the marble pedestals, are en-
* Tufa is a volcanic production, and consists of ashes and lava
concreted together. It is of various colours, blackish grey, blueish
grey, and yellow, every colour having a different mixture and
solidity. It has been frequently used as a material for building,
both by the ancients and moderns; although it possesses the in-
convenient quality of mouldering away on long exposure to the
weather.