DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0288
chap.xlvh.] WALLS OF POLYGONAL MASONRY. 271
Cosa. You may trace the ancient road all the way to the
gate, running in a straight line up the rocky slope ; it
is but a skeleton, marked by the kerb-stones, for the inner
blocks are in few places remaining. On the way it passes
some Roman ruins of brick, among them a columbarium.
He who has not seen the so-called Cyclopean cities of
Latium and Sabina, of Greece and of Asia Minor, those
marvels of early art, which overpower the mind with their
grandeur, bewilder it with amazement, or excite it to
active speculations as to their antiquity, the race which
erected them, and the state of society which demanded
fortifications so stupendous on sites so inaccessible as
they in general occupy;—he who has not beheld those
sublime trophies of early Italian civilization—the bastion
and round tower of Norba—the gates of Segni and
Arpino—the citadel of Alatri—the many terraces of
Cora—the covered way of Prceneste, and the colossal
works of the same masonry in the mountains of Latium,
Sabina, and Samnium, will be astonished at the first view
of the walls of Cosa. Nay, he who is no stranger to this
style of masonry, will be surprised to see it on this spot,
so remote from the district which seems its peculiar
locality. He will behold in these walls immense blocks
of stone, irregular polygons in form, not bound together
with cement, yet fitted with so admirable nicety, that
the joints are mere lines, into which he might often in
vain attempt to insert a penknife : the surface smooth as
a billiard-table; and the whole resembling, at a little
distance, a freshly plastered wall, scratched over with
strange diagrams.
The form of the ancient city is a rude quadrangle,
scarcely a mile in circuit.2 The walls vary from twelve
- Micali's Plan of the city, from it about 2,640 braccia, or 5,060 feet
which that annexed is adapted, makes English, in circumference.
Cosa. You may trace the ancient road all the way to the
gate, running in a straight line up the rocky slope ; it
is but a skeleton, marked by the kerb-stones, for the inner
blocks are in few places remaining. On the way it passes
some Roman ruins of brick, among them a columbarium.
He who has not seen the so-called Cyclopean cities of
Latium and Sabina, of Greece and of Asia Minor, those
marvels of early art, which overpower the mind with their
grandeur, bewilder it with amazement, or excite it to
active speculations as to their antiquity, the race which
erected them, and the state of society which demanded
fortifications so stupendous on sites so inaccessible as
they in general occupy;—he who has not beheld those
sublime trophies of early Italian civilization—the bastion
and round tower of Norba—the gates of Segni and
Arpino—the citadel of Alatri—the many terraces of
Cora—the covered way of Prceneste, and the colossal
works of the same masonry in the mountains of Latium,
Sabina, and Samnium, will be astonished at the first view
of the walls of Cosa. Nay, he who is no stranger to this
style of masonry, will be surprised to see it on this spot,
so remote from the district which seems its peculiar
locality. He will behold in these walls immense blocks
of stone, irregular polygons in form, not bound together
with cement, yet fitted with so admirable nicety, that
the joints are mere lines, into which he might often in
vain attempt to insert a penknife : the surface smooth as
a billiard-table; and the whole resembling, at a little
distance, a freshly plastered wall, scratched over with
strange diagrams.
The form of the ancient city is a rude quadrangle,
scarcely a mile in circuit.2 The walls vary from twelve
- Micali's Plan of the city, from it about 2,640 braccia, or 5,060 feet
which that annexed is adapted, makes English, in circumference.