The legend about this villa connects it with the death of Nero, relating that the laurel bushes and the white fowls, for which the villa had been celebrated since the days of Livia, withered and died out during Nero’s last days.
Veii.
Beyond Prima Porta, to the west, is the site of Veii. This is about twelve miles from Rome, and now bears the name of Isola Farnese. But little remains of the ancient city have been found, but no doubt is now felt by antiquaries that the city occupied the rocky ground between the Cremera and the Fosso de’ due Fossi.
Inscriptions bearing the names of some Etruscan families, especially the Tarquitii, have been found here, and the remains of the ancient citadel, on the spot now called the Piazza d’Armi, are mentioned in some old ecclesiastical documents.
![[Larger Image]](#7752049813946101808_img47.jpg.id-4232664222699382448.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
One of the gates must have been at the spot now called the Porta de’ Sette Pagi as the road from Veii to Sutri probably passed out here, and another gate was opposite Isola called the Porta dell’ Arco. A third may have stood towards Fidenæ, where the ancient postern and flight of steps is now to be seen, called La Scaletta. Other remains are to be seen near the site of a gate called by Canina La Spezieria. The Ponte Sodo and the tombs near it are worth attention, as is also the ancient Etruscan tomb called the Grotta Campana, in which a most interesting set of sepulchral ornamentations and cinerary urns has been preserved. The chief monuments of Veii, which have been taken to Rome, are the Ionic columns in front of the Post Office in the Piazza Colonna, the Statue of Tiberius, and the colossal heads of Tiberius and Augustus, now in the Vatican Museum.[162]