CHAPTER XII.

Journey to Rome-The Pontine Marshes-Causes which led to the insalubrity of this district-Some account of its ancient inhabitants, the Volsci-Defeat of the Neapolitan army at Velletri by the Roman insurgents Sketches of the country between Velletri and Albano-Ascent of Monte Cavo-Rocca di Papa

Doubtful character of the inhabitants-Visit to Frascati and Palestrina-Desolate character of the country-Monasteries and nunneries-Their influence in destroying the industry and morality of the people -Observations on Papal misgovernment.

ON entering the vast domain termed the Pontine Marshes, the first object that interests the traveller is the fountain of the nymph Feronia, where Horace tells us he laved his face and hands, and which still preserves its

freshness and purity in defiance of time and the contagious influence of the putrid marsh into which it empties itself. Here we stopped our carriage, and ascending the summit of a rock, obtained an extensive view of the vast district beneath, more resembling a prairie, green and luxuriant as any in England, than a fetid marsh. The dreary landscape was somewhat improved by seeing here and there a group of half-wild buffaloes, oxen, and horses, with the little straw huts of their shepherds; for winter having now commenced, mild as it is in this southern clime, man could brave with comparative impunity the exhalations from the marshes. We could also distinctly trace the various half-finished canals, begun by the emperors and pontiffs of Pagan and Christian Rome, which they hoped would again render these fertile fields salubrious.

This vast district once formed the home of the intrepid Volsci, powerful tribes that long and for a time successfully battled against the might of warlike Rome, for their country, their

freedom, and their independence. The ancient Greeks, who traded with this people before and after the foundation of Rome, have left us records of their commercial, industrious, and civilized character. Pliny tells us that the name of these marshes, Pomptino, is derived from Suessa-Pometia, the metropolis of the Volsci, which was built here, together with from twenty to thirty towns and cities, independently of those on the surrounding hills, and although in the present day their site is occupied by villages and hamlets, they still bear their ancient Volsci names.

What a sad reverse of fortune awaited these miserable tribes, and what a melancholy picture of the devouring ambition of the chiefs of ancient Rome, who, after driving them from their fertile plains and destroying their rich cities and towns, pursued them to their mountains, where they were entirely subdued and dispersed by Coriolanus.

The Romans could not have found their new territory a valuable acquisition, the majority of

the population being engaged in war; and the small band left to retain possession of the new conquest, no doubt constantly harassed by the remnant of the Volscians who had taken refuge n the fastnesses of the neighbouring mountains, were unable to devote much of their time to agricultural pursuits; hence the streams which flowed from the hills over the plain, so valuable to an industrious population when applied to the purposes of irrigation, becoming neglected, and no longer finding an outlet to their natural reservoir, the sea, overflowed their banks, and in process of time converted the entire district into a fetid marsh, producing those exhalations which were considered during the time of Pliny as the cause of the bad air from which Rome even then suffered.

"Oh, putridas exhalationes harum paludum ventum syrophoenicum Romae summopere noxium volunt nonnulli."

Thus the Volscians were amply revenged for the destruction of their commonwealth; calamity was entailing upon their conquerors

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to the latest generation, a malaria that spares neither rich nor poor, and for which no human ingenuity down to the present day has been able to provide a remedy.

We learn from history that the ancient Romans were unremitting in their endeavours to make channels for these waters so as to prevent their overflow. Appius Claudius carried his road through this district from Rome to Brundusium, made canals and bridges, the remains of which still exist. Julius Cæsar conceived the most gigantic projects for the improvement of these lands. His intention was to turn the mouth of the Tiber in the direction of Terracina, and by a constant current of water running through the centre, effectually drain the country. The execution of this plan was prevented by his death. His successor, Augustus, pursued the old system of digging canals in different directions, which Trajan and other Roman emperors continued down to Theodore King of Italy, and from an inscription to be seen at Mesa, near the cathedral

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