DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57734#0014
somewhat more than a glance into the history of the
island in the days of old? Moreover, it is impossible
to attempt to represent the island as it may have
appeared in the days of the ancients without at the
same time, by way of comparison, showing it in its
present condition.
The author of the present work spent two winters
in involuntary, but pleasurable leisure on this enchanting-
island, which Nature has so lavishly endowed with
beauty of all kinds, so that it figures as the culmination
of the wonders of the Gulf of Naples and daily attracts
him who has an understanding for the same with ever-
increasing force.
In the autumn, while the leaves still hang upon the
vines, encircling the fruitful areas lying between the
steep rocks with a golden net, at a time when the
rush of globe-trotters is still far distant, it affords one
peculiar pleasure to saunter through the island and, with
only “Gregorovius” in his pocket, to take one’s ease
between the sun-kissed broom-bushes.
At such times the days of Augustus Csesar and
of Tiberius rise before the mind’s eye as day-dreams
in the glistening midday-sun; the shapeless heaps of
stone, overgrown with grass, take upon themselves form
and color, sumptuous palaces rise once more upon the
heights and on flights of steps, in the hollows of the
fruitful valleys, over fallen masonry, and open painted
halls, memorial columns and statuary once more stand
out prominently in the imperial gardens.
All is, however, compressed into a small space,
for it is hardly developed before the steep rocks
falling precipitously down to the sea check any further
expansion.
More particularly as regards the Villa Jovis, there
could be no question of lateral extension. Far from it:
the buildings had to be erected in sundry storeys one
above the other, standing out steeply over the precipi-
tous cliffs as a harmonious whole and as the continuation
4
island in the days of old? Moreover, it is impossible
to attempt to represent the island as it may have
appeared in the days of the ancients without at the
same time, by way of comparison, showing it in its
present condition.
The author of the present work spent two winters
in involuntary, but pleasurable leisure on this enchanting-
island, which Nature has so lavishly endowed with
beauty of all kinds, so that it figures as the culmination
of the wonders of the Gulf of Naples and daily attracts
him who has an understanding for the same with ever-
increasing force.
In the autumn, while the leaves still hang upon the
vines, encircling the fruitful areas lying between the
steep rocks with a golden net, at a time when the
rush of globe-trotters is still far distant, it affords one
peculiar pleasure to saunter through the island and, with
only “Gregorovius” in his pocket, to take one’s ease
between the sun-kissed broom-bushes.
At such times the days of Augustus Csesar and
of Tiberius rise before the mind’s eye as day-dreams
in the glistening midday-sun; the shapeless heaps of
stone, overgrown with grass, take upon themselves form
and color, sumptuous palaces rise once more upon the
heights and on flights of steps, in the hollows of the
fruitful valleys, over fallen masonry, and open painted
halls, memorial columns and statuary once more stand
out prominently in the imperial gardens.
All is, however, compressed into a small space,
for it is hardly developed before the steep rocks
falling precipitously down to the sea check any further
expansion.
More particularly as regards the Villa Jovis, there
could be no question of lateral extension. Far from it:
the buildings had to be erected in sundry storeys one
above the other, standing out steeply over the precipi-
tous cliffs as a harmonious whole and as the continuation
4