[91] Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, XI, 67, 6.

[92] That colossal marble statue was given to the Duke of Wellington by
    Louis XVIII, and is still to be seen in London, at Apsley House.—­ED.

CHAPTER XI

From Rome to Naples—­Albano—­Velletri—­The Marshes—­Terracina—­Mola di Gaeta—­Capua—­The streets of Naples—­Monuments and Museums—­Visit to Pompeii and ascent to Vesuvius—­Dangerous ventures—­Puzzuoli and Baiae—­Theatres at Naples—­Pulcinello—­Return to Rome—­Tivoli.

I started from Rome on the 26th September; in the same vettura I found an intelligent young Frenchman of the name of R——­ D——­, a magistrate in Corsica, who was travelling in Italy for his amusement.  There were besides a Roman lawyer and not a very bright one by the bye; and a fat woman who was going to Naples to visit her lover, a Captain in the Austrian service, a large body of Austrian troops being still at Naples.  We issued from Rome by the Porta Latina and reached Albano (the ancient Alba) sixteen miles distant at twelve o’clock.  We reposed there two hours which gave me an opportunity of visiting the Villa Doria where there are magnificent gardens.  These gardens form the promenade of the families who come to Albano to pass the heat of the summer and to avoid the effect of the exhalations of the marshy country about Rome.

As Albano is situated on an eminence, you have a fine view of the whole plain of Latium and Rome in perspective.  The country of Latium however is flat, dreary and monotonous; it affords pasture to an immense quantity of black cattle, such as buffaloes, etc.

Just outside of Albano, on the route to Naples, is a curious ancient monument called Il sepolcro degli Orazj e Curiazj. It is built of brick, is extremely solid, of singular appearance, from its being a square monument, flanked at each angle by a tower in the shape of a cone.  It is of an uncouth rustic appearance and must certainly have been built before

Grecia capia ferum victorem cepit et artes
Intulit agresti Latio.....[93]

and I see no reason against its being the sepulchre of the Horatii and Curiatii, particularly as it stands so near Alba where the battle was fought; but be this as it may there is nothing like faith in matters of antiquity; the sceptic can have little pleasure.

The country on leaving Albano becomes diversified, woody and picturesque.  Near Gensano is the beautiful lake of Nemi, and it is the spot feigned by the poets as the scene of the amours of Mars and Rhea Silvia.  Near Gensano also is the country residence of the Sovereign Pontiffs called Castel Gandolfo.  La Riccia, the next place we passed thro’, is the ancient Aricia, mentioned in Horace’s journey to Brundusium.  We arrived in the evening at Velletri.