DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0175
chap, hi.] A PANORAMA. 73
Though there are so few local antiquities—little more
than associations of the olden time—remaining at Fidense,
the scenery should alone be sufficient to attract the visitor
to the spot. From these heights you look down on " the
yellow Tiber" winding through the green valley—rafts
floating down its stream, and buffaloes on its sandy banks,
slaking their thirst, or revelling in its waters. That
opening in the cliffs on its opposite bank is the glen of
the Cr^mera, whose waters, oft dyeing the Tiber with
crimson, told the Fidenates of the struggles between
their kinsmen of Veii and the common foe. Those ruins
on the cliff above the glen are supposed to mark the
site of the Camp of the Fabii, that band of heroes, who,
like Leonidas and his Spartans, devoted themselves to
their country, and fell in her cause. Further, in the
same direction, yon distant tree-capt mound points out
the site of Veii; it is the tumulus of Vaccareccia. On
the high ground to the left may be recognised the
palace at Isola Farnese, and the inn of La Storta ; and
the solitary towers at intervals between this and Rome,
mark the line of the Via Cassia. There you see the
undulating heights around the lake of Bracciano; and the
grey head of the Ciminian beyond; the tufted cone of
Monte Musino; and that pyramid of Nature's raising,
Soracte, rarely now snow-capt as in days of yore,l but
towering in dark and lonely grandeur from the plain.
Do you seek for snow 1—turn to the range of Apennines,
whose frozen masses are glittering like ice-bergs in the
sun, piled above nearer and darker heights, among which
Monte Gennaro, the "Lucretilis amcenus" of Horace,2 stands
prominent; and at its feet Tivoli, ever dear to the poet,3
1 Vides ut alta stet nive candidum 3 Tibur, Argeo positum colono,
Soracte, &c.—Hob. Od. I. 9, 1. Sit mese sedes utinam seneeto !
E Hor. Od. I. 17, 1. Hon. Od. II. 6, S.
Though there are so few local antiquities—little more
than associations of the olden time—remaining at Fidense,
the scenery should alone be sufficient to attract the visitor
to the spot. From these heights you look down on " the
yellow Tiber" winding through the green valley—rafts
floating down its stream, and buffaloes on its sandy banks,
slaking their thirst, or revelling in its waters. That
opening in the cliffs on its opposite bank is the glen of
the Cr^mera, whose waters, oft dyeing the Tiber with
crimson, told the Fidenates of the struggles between
their kinsmen of Veii and the common foe. Those ruins
on the cliff above the glen are supposed to mark the
site of the Camp of the Fabii, that band of heroes, who,
like Leonidas and his Spartans, devoted themselves to
their country, and fell in her cause. Further, in the
same direction, yon distant tree-capt mound points out
the site of Veii; it is the tumulus of Vaccareccia. On
the high ground to the left may be recognised the
palace at Isola Farnese, and the inn of La Storta ; and
the solitary towers at intervals between this and Rome,
mark the line of the Via Cassia. There you see the
undulating heights around the lake of Bracciano; and the
grey head of the Ciminian beyond; the tufted cone of
Monte Musino; and that pyramid of Nature's raising,
Soracte, rarely now snow-capt as in days of yore,l but
towering in dark and lonely grandeur from the plain.
Do you seek for snow 1—turn to the range of Apennines,
whose frozen masses are glittering like ice-bergs in the
sun, piled above nearer and darker heights, among which
Monte Gennaro, the "Lucretilis amcenus" of Horace,2 stands
prominent; and at its feet Tivoli, ever dear to the poet,3
1 Vides ut alta stet nive candidum 3 Tibur, Argeo positum colono,
Soracte, &c.—Hob. Od. I. 9, 1. Sit mese sedes utinam seneeto !
E Hor. Od. I. 17, 1. Hon. Od. II. 6, S.