leaving spoletto, we passed over the highest of the apennines, and then descended through a forest of olive trees, to the fruitful valley in which terni is situated, on the river nera. it was formerly called interamna, on account of its standing between two branches of that river. the valley which stretches from this town to terni, is exuberantly fertile, being finely exposed to the south sun, and watered by the nera, which, by its beauteous windings, divides the plain into peninsulas of various shapes. the emperor tacitus, and his brother florianus, were natives of terni; but the greatest pride of that city is, its having given birth to tacitus the historian.
i am almost ashamed to tell you, that we did not go to see the famous cataract, near[372] this town, which is usually visited by travellers, and which, by all accounts, is so worthy of their curiosity. innumerable streams from the highest apennines, meeting in one channel, form the river velino, which flows placidly, for some time, through a plain almost horizontal, and afterwards, when the river becomes more rapid by the contracting and sloping of the channel, the plain terminates of a sudden in a precipice three hundred feet high, over which, the river rushing, dashes with such violence against the rocky bottom, that a vast cloud of watery smoke is raised all around. the river velino does not long survive the fall, but broken, groaning, and foaming, soon finishes his course in the nera. mr. addison is of opinion, that virgil had this gulph in his eye when he described the place in the middle of italy, through which the fury alecto descended into tartarus.
a very heavy rain which fell while we were at terni, the fatigue and difficulty of[373] climbing up the monte di marmore, from whence this fall appears to the greatest advantage, and our impatience to be at rome, prevented us from seeing that celebrated cataract, which we regretted the less, as we had frequently seen one of the same kind in scotland, about twelve miles above hamilton, at a place called corace, where the river clyde, falling perpendicular from a vast height, produces the same effects, in every respect, unless, that he outlives the accident, and continues his course for near fifty miles before he joins the atlantic ocean.
the distance from terni to narni is about seven miles; the road is uncommonly good, and the country on each side delightful. when we came near narni, while the chaises proceeded to the town, i walked to take a view of the bridge of augustus. this stately fabric is wholly of marble, and without cement, as many other antique buildings are. only one of the[374] arches remains intire, which is the first on the side of the river where i was; under it there was no water; it is one hundred and fifty feet wide. the next arch, below which the river flows, is twenty feet wider, and has a considerable slope, being higher on the side next the first arch, than on that next the third. the remaining two arches are, in every respect, smaller than the two first. what could be the reason of such ungraceful irregularity in a work, in other respects so magnificent, and upon which so much labour and expence must have been bestowed, i cannot imagine. it is doubtful, whether there were originally four arches, or only three; for that which is supposed by some to be the basis from which the two lesser arches sprung; is thought by others, to be the remains of a square pillar, raised some time after the bridge was built, to support the middle of the third arch; which, on the supposition that there were but three, must have been of a very extraordinary width.
[375]
this fabric is usually called augustus’s bridge, and mr. addison thinks that without doubt martial alludes to it, in the ninety-second epigram of the seventh book; but some other very judicious travellers imagine, it is the remains of an aqueduct, because those arches joined two mountains, and are infinitely higher than was necessary for a bridge over the little river which flows under them. it has also been supposed, not without great appearance of probability, that this fabric was originally intended to serve the purposes of both.
as the rain still continued, my curiosity to see this fine ruin procured me a severe drenching: this i received with due resignation, as a punishment for having been intimidated by rain, from visiting the fine cascade at terni. it was with great difficulty i got up the hill, by a path which i thought was shorter and easier than the high road; this unfortunately led to no[376] gate. at last, however, i observed a broken part of the wall, over which i immediately clambered into the town. martial takes notice of the difficulty of access to this town.
narnia, sulphureo quam gurgite candidus amnis
circuit, ancipiti vix adeunda jugo.
the town itself is very poor, and thinly inhabited. it boasts, however, of being the native city of the emperor nerva, and some other celebrated men.
the road from narni to the post-house at otricoli, is exceeding rough and mountainous. this is a very poor village, but advantageously situated on a rising ground. between this and the tiber, at some little distance from the road, there is a considerable tract of ground, covered with many loose antique fragments and vaults: these are generally considered as the ruins of the ancient ocriculum. we passed along this road early in the morning, and were entertained, great part of the way, with vocal[377] music from the pilgrims, several hordes of whom we met near this place, on their return from rome, where they had been on account of the jubilee.
the only place of note between otricoli and rome, is civita castellana. terni is the last town of the province of umbria, and castellana the first of ancient latium, coming to rome by the flaminian way. castellana is considered, by many antiquarians, as the fescennium of the ancients; a schoolmaster of which, as we are informed by livy, by an unexampled instance of wickedness, betrayed a number of the sons of the principal citizens into the power of the dictator camillus, at that time besieging the place. the generous roman, equally abhorring the treachery and the traitor, ordered this base man to be stripped, to have his hands tied behind, and to be delivered over to the boys, who, armed with rods, beat him back to fescennium, and delivered him up to their parents, to be used as they should think he deserved.
[378]
civita castellana stands upon a high rock, and must formerly have been a place of great strength, but is now in no very flourishing condition. many of the towns i have mentioned, lying on the road to rome, by the flaminian way, have suffered, at different periods, more than those of any other part of italy; by the inroads of visigoths and huns, as well as by some incursions of a later date.
this, i am convinced, is the only country in the world, where the fields become more desolate as you approach the capital. after having traversed the cultivated and fertile vallies of umbria, one is affected with double emotion at beholding the deplorable state of poor neglected latium. for several posts before you arrive at rome, few villages, little cultivation, and scarcely any inhabitants, are to be seen. in the campania of rome, formerly the best cultivated and best peopled spot in the world, no houses, no trees, no inclosures;[379] nothing but the scattered ruins of temples and tombs, presenting the idea of a country depopulated by a pestilence. all is motionless, silent, and forlorn.
in the midst of these deserted fields the ancient mistress of the world rears her head, in melancholy majesty.
