DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61893#0319
Ch. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 2Θ1
be derived from its reclining· posture, and no
small share of its ancient prosperity, as, Venice
excepted, it is still the most populous and the
most trading· city on the shores of the Adriatic^
Most of the towns we have hitherto mentioned
were founded by various Gallic tribes. Ancona
boasts a nobler origin. It was built by a band
of Syracusan patriots who, to avoid the inso-
lence and lawless sway of Dionysius the tyrant,
abandoned their country, and settled on this
coast, about four hundred years before Christ.
It was anciently remarkable for a celebrated
temple of Venus, and, like Paphos and Cythera,
was supposed to be one of the favorite resorts of
the Goddess of Love and Beauty.* In reality,
it would be difficult to find a situation more con-
formable to the temper of the li Queen of smiles
and sports,” or better adapted to health and en-
joyment than Ancona. Seated on the side of a
hill forming a semicircular bay, sheltered by its
summit from the exhalations of the south, co-
vered by a bold promontory from the blasts of
the north, open only to the breezes of the west,
that wanton on the bosom of the waters which
bathe its feet, and surrounded by fields of inex-
haustible fertility, Ancona seems formed for the
* Ante domum Veneris quam Dorica sustinet Ancon.—
Juv. iv. 39.
U 2
be derived from its reclining· posture, and no
small share of its ancient prosperity, as, Venice
excepted, it is still the most populous and the
most trading· city on the shores of the Adriatic^
Most of the towns we have hitherto mentioned
were founded by various Gallic tribes. Ancona
boasts a nobler origin. It was built by a band
of Syracusan patriots who, to avoid the inso-
lence and lawless sway of Dionysius the tyrant,
abandoned their country, and settled on this
coast, about four hundred years before Christ.
It was anciently remarkable for a celebrated
temple of Venus, and, like Paphos and Cythera,
was supposed to be one of the favorite resorts of
the Goddess of Love and Beauty.* In reality,
it would be difficult to find a situation more con-
formable to the temper of the li Queen of smiles
and sports,” or better adapted to health and en-
joyment than Ancona. Seated on the side of a
hill forming a semicircular bay, sheltered by its
summit from the exhalations of the south, co-
vered by a bold promontory from the blasts of
the north, open only to the breezes of the west,
that wanton on the bosom of the waters which
bathe its feet, and surrounded by fields of inex-
haustible fertility, Ancona seems formed for the
* Ante domum Veneris quam Dorica sustinet Ancon.—
Juv. iv. 39.
U 2