Dennis, George: The cities and cemeteries of Etruria: in two volumes (Band 2) (London, 1848)

386

CHIUSI.—Poggio Gajella.

[chap. lii.

hundred feet. And above these, from one floor, five more
pyramids, the height whereof Varro was ashamed to men-
tion. The Etruscan fables record that it was equal to that
of the rest of the structure."

This description is so extravagant, that it raised doubts
even in the mind of the all-credulous Pliny, who would not
commit himself by recording it, save in the very words of
Varro.1 Can we wonder that the moderns should be
inclined to reject it in totof Niebuhr regarded it as a
mere dream,—" a building totally inconceivable, except as
the work of magic,"—no more substantial than the palace
of Aladdin.2

But at the same time that we allow such an edifice as

1 Plin. N. H. XXXVI. 19, 4.—Nam-
que et Italicum (labyrinthum) dici con-
venit, quem fecit sibi Porsenna rex
Etruriae sepulcri causa, simul ut exter-
norum regum valutas quoque ab Italis
superetur. Sed cum excedat omnia fabu-
lositas, utemur ipsius M. Varronis in
expositione ejus verbis :—Sepultus est,
inquit, sub urbe Clusio ; in quo loco
monumentum reliquit lapide quadrato :
singula latera pedum lata tricenum, alta
quinquagenum; inque basi quadrata
intus labyrinthum inextricabilem : quo
si quis improperet sine glomere lini,
exitum invenire nequeat. Supra id
quadratum pyramides stant quinque,
quatuor in angulis, in medio una: in
imo latae pedum quinum septuagenum,
altse centum quinquagenum : ita fasti-
gaUe, ut in summo orbis seneus et peta-
sus unus omnibus sit impositus, ex quo
pendeant exapta catenis tintinnabula,
quae vento agitata, longe sonitus refer-
ant, ut Dodome olim factum. Supra
quem orbem quatuor pyramides insu-
per, singulse exstant altee pedum cen-
tenum. Supra quas uno solo quinque
pyramides ; quarum altitudinem Varro-

nem puduit adjicere. Fabulse Etruscse
tradunt eandem fuisse, quam totius
operis : adeo vesana dementia queesisse
gloriam impendio nulli profuturo. Prae-
terea fatigasse regni vires, ut tamen laus
major artifieis esset.

2 Niebuhr, I. pp. 130,551. Engl, trans.
Letronne (Ann. Instit. 1829. pp. 386—
395) thinks it nothing more than the
fragment of an Etruscan epic, preserved
in the religious and poetical traditions
of the country. So also Orioli, who
puts on it a mystic interpretation.
Ann. Inst. 1833, p. 43. Hirt (Geschichte
der Baukunst I., p. 249) according to
Miiller, maintains on this subject a pru-
dent reserve. The Due de Luynes,
however, and Quatremere de Quincy
believed the whole tale literally, and
have attempted to restore the monument
from the description. Ann. Inst. 1829,
p. 304—9. Mon. Ined. Inst. I., tav.
XIII. Canina has also made a restora-
tion of this monument. Archit. Ant.
Seg. Sec. tav. CLIX. The worthy father
Angelo Cortenovis wrote a treatise to
prove it was nothing else than a huge
electrifying machine.