Weichardt, Carl; Brett, Harry [Übers.]: Tiberius's villa and other roman buildings on the isle of Capri (Leipzig: K. F. Koehler, 1900)

sees a sea-washed horizontal line with a few small
caverns, while 6 metres below these one can still
detect the half-effaced traces of the buildings in which
the sandalled feet of the Romans wandered.
After having thus circumnavigated the island,
taken cognisance of its external form and recognised
the interesting effects produced by the varying sea-
levels, we land on the northern side of the island,
at the spot where, to-day as in the days of old, a
moderate-sized harbor still exists, namely at the Grande
marina (Fig. io).
It is certain that in the days of antiquity fisher-
men’s cottages and buildings in connexion with the
business of the harbor existed here, but the actual
City of Capreae was spread out over the middle of
the fruitful, moderately steep, but wide valley which
connects the two rocky halves of the island.
The ground on which the ancient city stood is
now called “Contrada Torre” (anglice: Dry District —
see Fig. io, C to T), but its boundaries cannot be de-
fined, as no trace of city-walls can be found.
Capreae (KanQeat, or KanQtai), was, according to
tradition, founded by Greek colonists who, impelled
by an Odysseyic love of adventure, came to Campania
and settled on the island; while it is alleged that the
foundation of the city was due to Teleboer of Arcania.
One thing is certain, and that is, that in the time of
the Emperor Augustus the island was still entirely
Greek.
At the same time both Naples and Pompeii were
colonised by Greeks, for the Siren-Cult introduced
from Greece, and which flourished especially in Capreae,
was found also in Naples, which was at that time
known as “Parthenope” -—- after the like-named siren.
This period, which is hidden behind the veil of
fable, is touched upon by Virgil, who says in his
/Fnci'd:

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