DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0170
68 FIDENjE. [chap. hi.
span, and about thirty above the stream; the side ones
stilted, and not more than twelve feet in span. The
structure is faced with travertine ; but this indicates the
repairs made by Narses in the sixth century after Christ;
the original masonry, which is uncovered in parts, is of
tufo, in the Etruscan style, and. may possibly be of
Etruscan construction ; as it may be presumed were most
of the public edifices in Rome and her territory for the first
few centuries of her existence. Its masonry is rusticated,
and in the arrangement and dimensions of the blocks pre-
cisely similar to that of the ancient walls at Sutri, Nepi,
Civita Castellana, Bieda, and other Etruscan sites in the
southern district of the land. It is at least of the time of
the Republic.
Just beyond the bridge is an osteria, in what was once a
Roman sepulchre, where he who foots it to Fidense may
refresh himself with tolerable wine. The road runs through
the meadows for a couple of miles to Castel Giubileo. In
the low hills to the right, are caves, which have been
tombs. Just before Pidense, at a bend in the road, stands
the Villa Spada, the height above which is supposed by
Gell to be the site of the Villa of Phaon, the scene of Nero's
suicide.8
The first indications of the ancient city are in the
cliffs on the right of the road, in which are remains
of tombs with niches, and a sewer,9 all excavated
in the rock beneath the city-walls—walls, I say, but
none exist, and the outline of the city is to be traced
only by the character of the ground and the extent of the
fragments of pottery. The height above the tombs bears
these unequivocal traces of bygone habitation; and at
certain parts on the edge of the cliffs are remains of opus
8 Gell. I., p. 439.
9 An upright channel cut in the rock, about six feet high, and two wide.
span, and about thirty above the stream; the side ones
stilted, and not more than twelve feet in span. The
structure is faced with travertine ; but this indicates the
repairs made by Narses in the sixth century after Christ;
the original masonry, which is uncovered in parts, is of
tufo, in the Etruscan style, and. may possibly be of
Etruscan construction ; as it may be presumed were most
of the public edifices in Rome and her territory for the first
few centuries of her existence. Its masonry is rusticated,
and in the arrangement and dimensions of the blocks pre-
cisely similar to that of the ancient walls at Sutri, Nepi,
Civita Castellana, Bieda, and other Etruscan sites in the
southern district of the land. It is at least of the time of
the Republic.
Just beyond the bridge is an osteria, in what was once a
Roman sepulchre, where he who foots it to Fidense may
refresh himself with tolerable wine. The road runs through
the meadows for a couple of miles to Castel Giubileo. In
the low hills to the right, are caves, which have been
tombs. Just before Pidense, at a bend in the road, stands
the Villa Spada, the height above which is supposed by
Gell to be the site of the Villa of Phaon, the scene of Nero's
suicide.8
The first indications of the ancient city are in the
cliffs on the right of the road, in which are remains
of tombs with niches, and a sewer,9 all excavated
in the rock beneath the city-walls—walls, I say, but
none exist, and the outline of the city is to be traced
only by the character of the ground and the extent of the
fragments of pottery. The height above the tombs bears
these unequivocal traces of bygone habitation; and at
certain parts on the edge of the cliffs are remains of opus
8 Gell. I., p. 439.
9 An upright channel cut in the rock, about six feet high, and two wide.