DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62267#0048
38
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. IL
Comum is like most of the towns between the
Alps and Apennines of great antiquity, and like
them also it owes its origin to a Gallic tribe, and
its importance to Roman colonization. For the
latter benefit it was indebted partly to the father
of Pompey, and partly to Julius Caesar. It never
fell to its lot to make a figure in the world, nor
indeed to attract the attention of the historian,
either bv its ""lories or by its reverses : and it
seems to have derived from its humble mediocrity
a greater degree of security and quiet in the
numberless disasters of Italy than any of the more
powerful and more illustrious cities can boast of.
Its principal advantage is its situation, and its
greatest glory is the reputation of one of its an-
cient denizens, Pliny the Younger. Its situation
is beautiful. On the southern extremity of the
Larian lake it commands a fine prospect of that
noble expanse of water, with its bold and varied
borders. It is covered behind, and on each side,
with fertile hills. It is an episcopal town of some
extent, and of a pleasing appearance. The
cathedral is of white marble, and mixed archi-
tecture : the front is of light and not inelegant
Gothic ; the nave is supported by Gothic arches;
the choir and transepts are adorned with com-
posite pillars ; a dome rises over the centre. The
effect of the whole, though the mixture is in-
correct, is not unpleasant. In the front of the
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. IL
Comum is like most of the towns between the
Alps and Apennines of great antiquity, and like
them also it owes its origin to a Gallic tribe, and
its importance to Roman colonization. For the
latter benefit it was indebted partly to the father
of Pompey, and partly to Julius Caesar. It never
fell to its lot to make a figure in the world, nor
indeed to attract the attention of the historian,
either bv its ""lories or by its reverses : and it
seems to have derived from its humble mediocrity
a greater degree of security and quiet in the
numberless disasters of Italy than any of the more
powerful and more illustrious cities can boast of.
Its principal advantage is its situation, and its
greatest glory is the reputation of one of its an-
cient denizens, Pliny the Younger. Its situation
is beautiful. On the southern extremity of the
Larian lake it commands a fine prospect of that
noble expanse of water, with its bold and varied
borders. It is covered behind, and on each side,
with fertile hills. It is an episcopal town of some
extent, and of a pleasing appearance. The
cathedral is of white marble, and mixed archi-
tecture : the front is of light and not inelegant
Gothic ; the nave is supported by Gothic arches;
the choir and transepts are adorned with com-
posite pillars ; a dome rises over the centre. The
effect of the whole, though the mixture is in-
correct, is not unpleasant. In the front of the