PORTA SALARA.
The present gate was built in 1873; outside are some slight remains of the old one. A short distance down the Via Salara, on the left, Cavalier Bertoni has discovered the tomb of Lucilius and his sister Polla, with their portraits. It is a grand circular tomb, 117 feet in diameter. Paterculus (ii. 9) speaks of "Lucilius, who in the Numantine War served in the cavalry under Publius Africanus," B.C. 103. Opposite is the
VILLA ALBANI.
Open on Tuesdays from 12 till 4. Permission to be obtained of the bankers Messrs. Spada and Co., 11 Via Condotti. The museum contains a fine collection of statues, busts, sarcophagi, &c. The grounds are splendid, and numerous antique statues are dispersed through them. Catalogues can be obtained of the custodian.
Grand Portico.—51. Augustus; 79. Agrippina; 61. Faustina (?); 72. Marcus Aurelius; 82. Hadrian.
Vestibule.—19. Caryatid, by Criton and Nicholaus of Athens.
Left Gallery.—48. Alexander; 45. Scipio; 40. Hannibal; 46. Brutus (?); 110. Faun.
Right Gallery.—93. Juno; 106. Faun and Bacchus; 120. Son of Augustus; 118. Seneca; 112. Numa; 143. Livia sacrificing. Vase, with the labours of Hercules, found at his temple on the Via Appia. 222. Relief—the Nile.
Staircase from Vestibule.—891. Rome Triumphant; 885. Relief—the Death of the Children of Niobe; 893. Antoninus Pius Distributing Corn (?); 894. Orphan Children of Faustina (?). (See [page 44].)
Upper Floor, First Room.—905. Apollo; 906. An Athlete; 915. Cupid.
Noble Gallery.—Reliefs; 1008. Hercules and the Hesperides; 1009. Dædalus and Icarus; 1010. A Sacrifice; 1013. Antonius holding a Horse; 1018. Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus, Faustina, and Rome; 1014. Venus, Diana, Apollo, and Victory sacrificing.
Left Room.—1013. Relief—Antinoüs Crowned with the Lotus Flower, very beautiful.
Second Room.—952. Apollo Sauroctonos, by Praxiteles.
Beyond the villa is the
CATACOMB OF S. PRISCILLA.
Priscilla is said to be the Christian name of the mother of Pudens. Anastasius (xxxi. 31) says this cemetery was made by Bishop Marcellus, A.D. 307. There is a burial vault here said to be the tomb of the family of Pudens; it has some rude frescoes—a woman coming out of a house; an orante in act of prayer, called a Madonna; a woman between two men, twice over. Other frescoes, in different chambers, are the Three Jews in the Fiery Furnace; Good Shepherd; four orantes and doves; seven men carrying a barrel, whilst two others lie on the ground. Scratched on the wall is Oratius D. Nobilibus Antonius Bosius; and underneath was a marble slab—Bonaviæ Conjugi Sanctissimae; a Good Shepherd; a female figure seated, with a child in her lap, looking towards a male figure with hands extended, called the Virgin and Isaiah (query, Joseph)—between them is a star. This is the earliest painting of the Virgin known.
Leaving the catacomb, the hill on the left, beyond, was the site of
ANTEMNÆ,
one of the most ancient cities of the Latin land. It was captured by the Romans under Romulus, and destroyed by Alaric A.D. 409, who encamped here when attacking Rome. Near by, the Anio flows into the Tiber,—"with whirlpools dimpled, and with downward force." A beautiful prospect of the surrounding country may be enjoyed. The Tiber rolling his yellow billows to the sea, serpent like, through green meadows; the blue Apennines, with snow-covered summits, looking patronizingly down upon the village-crowned hills at their base; the slopes of Monte Mario, dark with cork-wood foliage, on our left. Sir W. Gell says that the high point nearest the road was the citadel, below which is a cave that was once a sepulchre. One gate looked towards Fidenæ, up the Tiber; another towards Rome; perhaps also one toward Acqua Acetosa; and another in the direction of the meeting waters.
Beyond, the road crosses the Anio by
THE PONTE SALARA,
rebuilt in 1878. Upon the old bridge Titus Manlius, in A.U.C. 395, killed the Gaulish giant, and on account of putting the giant's chain on his own neck took the title of Torquatus (Livy, vii. 10).
Beyond the bridge is an unknown tomb. Five miles from Rome is Castel Giubeleo, the site of
FIDENÆ,
"a large and populous city, forty stadia from Rome" (Dionysius, ii. 53; xiii. 28); founded by the Albans, and made a Roman colony by Romulus, but soon revolted. It was whilst Servius Tullius was fighting the citizens that he sent and destroyed Alba Longa (Livy). The place was ultimately taken by Lartius Flavus, the consul, by means of a mine (Dionysius, v. 70).
There are no remains of the city, but the site is undoubted. The arx was to the right of the road on the high hill before arriving at Castel Giubeleo. It is not known when this city was destroyed, but in A.D. 27, in the time of Tiberius, the temporary amphitheatre fell and killed a large number of people. (See Suetonius, "Tiberius," xl.; "Caligula," xxxi.; Tacitus, "Annals," iv. 62.)