DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0307
Ch. VIII.
THROUGH ITALY.
277
derably diminished by the apprehension of rob-
bers ; an apprehension not altogether ill-ground-
ed, as all the criminals who escape from Rome
and its neighborhood betake themselves to this
forest, and lurk for years in its recesses. Its ex-
tent is great, as with little interruption it runs
along the coast sometimes five, sometimes ten
miles in breadth, from the mouth of the Tiber to
Circe’s promontory. The ground it covers is
low and occasionally swampy.
Antium was once a considerable port, improv-
ed, augmented, and embellished by Nero, and
much resorted to by the higher classes of the Ro-
mans who adorned it with many magnificent vil-
las ; it was however more remarkable for the
Temple of Fortune alluded to by Horace, and
for a long time in high celebrity*. Of this tem-
ple, and of the structures raised by Nero, nothing
now remains but subterraneous arches and vast
foundations. The port has been repaired and
fortified by some of the late pontiffs, but though
capable of admitting large vessels it is totally un-
frequentedf. A few straggling houses alone re-
* O Diva gratum quae regis Antium. Lib. i. Od.
t The town of Nettuno, near Antium, seems to be the re-
mains of its ancient port
THROUGH ITALY.
277
derably diminished by the apprehension of rob-
bers ; an apprehension not altogether ill-ground-
ed, as all the criminals who escape from Rome
and its neighborhood betake themselves to this
forest, and lurk for years in its recesses. Its ex-
tent is great, as with little interruption it runs
along the coast sometimes five, sometimes ten
miles in breadth, from the mouth of the Tiber to
Circe’s promontory. The ground it covers is
low and occasionally swampy.
Antium was once a considerable port, improv-
ed, augmented, and embellished by Nero, and
much resorted to by the higher classes of the Ro-
mans who adorned it with many magnificent vil-
las ; it was however more remarkable for the
Temple of Fortune alluded to by Horace, and
for a long time in high celebrity*. Of this tem-
ple, and of the structures raised by Nero, nothing
now remains but subterraneous arches and vast
foundations. The port has been repaired and
fortified by some of the late pontiffs, but though
capable of admitting large vessels it is totally un-
frequentedf. A few straggling houses alone re-
* O Diva gratum quae regis Antium. Lib. i. Od.
t The town of Nettuno, near Antium, seems to be the re-
mains of its ancient port