DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0429
Ch. XII.
THROUGH ITALY.
399
the stagnant gulph of Avernus. This enterprize
however was contemplated with some awe and
apprehension : and the agitation of the waters,
occasioned probably by the descent of those of
the former lake into the lower basin of the latter,
was magnified into a tempest, and ascribed to the
anger of the infernal divinities. The statue of
one shewed by a profuse sweat either its fear or
its indignation; that of another leaped, it was
said, from its pedestal; and recourse was had as
usual to sacrifices, in order to appease the irritated
Manes. In the mean time, the port was finish-
ed ; the Avernus was stripped of its infernal hor-
rors, and ever after ranked among ordinary
lakes.
Stagna inter celebreni nunc mitia. Sil. Ital.
On the southern bank stands a large and lofty
octagonal edifice, with niches in the walls, and
with halls adjoining. It is vaulted, and of brick,
and is supposed by some to be the temple of Pro-
serpine, by others, that of Avernus itself, whose
statue, as appears from the circumstance mention-
ed above, stood in the immediate vicinity of the
lake. This building was probably incrusted with
iparble, and decorated with pillars; it is now
surrounded by a vineyard, and pleases the eye by
its magnitude, site, and proportions. It would
THROUGH ITALY.
399
the stagnant gulph of Avernus. This enterprize
however was contemplated with some awe and
apprehension : and the agitation of the waters,
occasioned probably by the descent of those of
the former lake into the lower basin of the latter,
was magnified into a tempest, and ascribed to the
anger of the infernal divinities. The statue of
one shewed by a profuse sweat either its fear or
its indignation; that of another leaped, it was
said, from its pedestal; and recourse was had as
usual to sacrifices, in order to appease the irritated
Manes. In the mean time, the port was finish-
ed ; the Avernus was stripped of its infernal hor-
rors, and ever after ranked among ordinary
lakes.
Stagna inter celebreni nunc mitia. Sil. Ital.
On the southern bank stands a large and lofty
octagonal edifice, with niches in the walls, and
with halls adjoining. It is vaulted, and of brick,
and is supposed by some to be the temple of Pro-
serpine, by others, that of Avernus itself, whose
statue, as appears from the circumstance mention-
ed above, stood in the immediate vicinity of the
lake. This building was probably incrusted with
iparble, and decorated with pillars; it is now
surrounded by a vineyard, and pleases the eye by
its magnitude, site, and proportions. It would