DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0345
€h. IX.
THROUGH ITALY.
315
duced to a heap of rubbish, with delight. I can-
not turn from this subject without observing, that
many authors have related, but that Plutarch
alone has painted, the last tragical scene of Ci-
cero’s life.
About twelve o’clock, too late indeed for the
distance we had to go, we set out from Mola.
The road runs over a fine plain, bordered on the
left by distant mountains, and on the right by the
sea. About three miles from the Liris (Gari-
gliano) an aqueduct, erected to convey water to
Minturna, passes the road; it is now in ruins,
but the remaining- arches, at least a hundred,
lofty and solid, give a melancholy magnificence
t© the plain which they seem to bestride.
On +he banks of the Liris and to the right of
the road extend the ruins of Minturnte, spread
over a considerable space of ground, exhibiting
substructions, arches, gateways, and shattered
walls, now utterly forsaken by human inhabitants,
and abandoned to owls, foxes, and serpents.
Many beautiful shafts, bases and capitals of mar-
ble have been found here and on the banks of the
river, and more might possibly be discovered if
the ruins were removed. The delay occasioned
by the ferry affords the traveller time enough to
range over the site and the remains of Minturna*
1
THROUGH ITALY.
315
duced to a heap of rubbish, with delight. I can-
not turn from this subject without observing, that
many authors have related, but that Plutarch
alone has painted, the last tragical scene of Ci-
cero’s life.
About twelve o’clock, too late indeed for the
distance we had to go, we set out from Mola.
The road runs over a fine plain, bordered on the
left by distant mountains, and on the right by the
sea. About three miles from the Liris (Gari-
gliano) an aqueduct, erected to convey water to
Minturna, passes the road; it is now in ruins,
but the remaining- arches, at least a hundred,
lofty and solid, give a melancholy magnificence
t© the plain which they seem to bestride.
On +he banks of the Liris and to the right of
the road extend the ruins of Minturnte, spread
over a considerable space of ground, exhibiting
substructions, arches, gateways, and shattered
walls, now utterly forsaken by human inhabitants,
and abandoned to owls, foxes, and serpents.
Many beautiful shafts, bases and capitals of mar-
ble have been found here and on the banks of the
river, and more might possibly be discovered if
the ruins were removed. The delay occasioned
by the ferry affords the traveller time enough to
range over the site and the remains of Minturna*
1