Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1289

 VEIL we have no notices of Veil except in the Tab. Peu- tingeriana and the Geographer of Eavenna. It Was probably destroyed by the Lombards. At the beginning of the 11th century a castle was erected on the precipitous and isolated hill on the S. side of Veil, which was called la Isola, and is now known by the name of the Isola Famese. Sir William Gell was the first who gave an exact plan of Veil in the Memorie deWIstituto (Fasc. i.), and afterwards in his TopograpJit/ of Rome and its Vicinity. He traced the vestiges of the ancient walls, which were composed of irregular quadrilateral masses of the local tufa, some of which were from 9 to 1 1 feet in length. Mr. Dennis, however, failed to discover any traces of them (^Etrtiria,o. i. p. 1 5), and describes the stone used in the fortifications of Veil, as being cut into smaller pieces than usual in other Etruscan cities. These remains, which are princi- pally to be traced in the N. and E., as well as the streams and the outline of the cliffs, determine the extent of the city in a manner that cannot be mis- taken. They give a circumference of about 7 miles, which agrees with the account of Dionysius, before referred to, when he compares the size of Veil with that of Athens. It has been debated whether the isolated rock, called the Isola Faitiese, formed part of the city. Nibby (^Dintorni, vol. iii. p. 424) and others are of opinion that it was the arx or citadel. On the other hand Sir William Gell and Mi-. Dennis hold that this could not have been the case ; and it must be confessed that the reasons advanced by the latter (vol. i. p. 42, note 5) appear decisive ; namely, 1, the Isola is separated from the city by a deep glen, so that, had it been the citadel, Camillus by its capture would not have obtained immediate pos- session of the town, as we learn from Livy's narrative, before referred to, that he did : 2, the remains of Etruscan tombs on the Isula show that it must have been a cemetery, and consequently without the walls. The two authorities last cited identify the citadel with the hill now called the Piazza d' Jrmi at the SE. extremity of the town, in the angle formed by the junction of the stream called Fossa de' due Fossi with that called Fosso di Fonntllo. These two streams traverse the southern and eastern boun- daries of ancient Veil. The latter of these streams, or Fosso di Formello, is thought to be the ancient Cremera. The other rivulet rises at La Toii'etta, about 12 miles from Rome. Near Veil it forms a tine cataract, precipitating itself over a rock about 80 feet high. From this spot it runs in a deep channel among precipices, and separates the Isola from the rest of Veil. It then receives the Rivo del Pino or della Storta, whence its name of Fosso fie' due Fossi. After joinmg the Fosso di Formello, or Cremera, the united stream is now called La Valca, and falls into 'the Tiber about 6 miles from Rome, near the Via Flaminia. Topographers have discovered 9 gates, to which they have assigned imaginary names from local cir- cumstances. It would be impossible to explain the exact sites of these gates without the assistance of a plan, and we shall therefore content ourselves with enumerating them in the order in which they occur, premising only that all writers do not call them alike. The westernmost gate, called the Porto de' Sette Pagi, from its being supposed to have led to tlie district called the Septem Pagi, is situated near the Ponte dell' Isola. Tlien proceeding round the S. side of the city, the next gate occurs near the Fosso dcU' Isola; and, from its leading to the rock of Isola, which, VOL. II. VEIL 1265 as we have seen, was thought by some topographers to be the ancient citadel, has been called the Porta deir Arce. The next gate on the E. is the Poi-ta Campana ; and after that, by the Piazza d' Armi, is the Porta Fidenate. Near this spot was discovered, in 1840, the curious staircase called La Scaktta. Only eight steps of uncemented masonry, seated high in the cliff, remain, the lower part having fallen with the cliff. After passing the Piazza dj A rmi, in traversing the northern side of the city by the valley of the Cremera, the gates occur in the following order : the Porta di Pietra Pertusa ; the Porta delle Are Muzie ; the. Porta Capenate; the Poi'ta del Colom- bario, so named from the columbarium near it ; and lastly the Porta Sutrina, not far from the Ponte di Formello. The Municipium Veiens, which succeeded the ancient town, was undoubtedly smaller ; for Roman sepulchres and columbaria, which must have been outside the Municipium, have been discovered within the walls of Etruscan Veil. It was perhaps not more than 2 miles ih circumference. On the spot probably occupied by tiie Forum, were discovered the colossal heads of Augustus and Tiberius, and the colossal statue of the latter, crowned with oak and in a sitting posture, which are now in the Vati- can, in the corridor of the Museo Cldaramonte. Several other fragments of statues have been found, as well as 24 marble columns, 12 of which now adorn the Piazza Colonna at Rome, and the rest are employed in the Chapel of the Sacrament in the new Basilica of St. Paul. The remains of Etruscan Veil are portions of the walls, the bridge near the Porta di Pietra Pertusa, the bridge, or tunnel, called Ponte Sodo, and the tombs and sepulchral grottoes. Of the walls we have already spoken. The remains of the bridge consist of a piece of wall about 20 feet wide on the bank of the stream, which seems to have formed the pier from which the arch sprung, and some large blocks of hewn tufo which lie in the water. The piers of the bridge called Ponte Formello are also possibly Etruscan, but the arch is of Roman brickworlv. The Ponte Sodo is a tunnel in the rock through which the stream flows. Nibby (^l>intm-ni, vol. iii. p. 433), describes it as 70 feet long, 20 wide, and 15 high : but Mr. Dennis, who waded through it, says that it is 240 feet long, 12 to 15 wide and nearly 20 high {Eti-uria, vol. i. p. 14). It is in all probability an Etruscan excavation, or has at all events been enlarged by art. An ancient road ran over it ; and from above it is scarcely visible. No trace remains of the cuni- culus of Camillus. The vicinity of Veil abounds with tombs excavated in the rock, and sepulchral tumuli, some of which are Roman. Among the tombs is a very remarkable one, discovered in the winter of 1842, and still open to inspection. It consists of a long passage in the tuinnhis, or ninniul, called Poggio AFicliele, leading to a door in the mid- dle of the mound, and guarded at each end by sculp- tured lions. Tins is the entrance to a low dark chamber, hewn oat of the rock, the walls of which are covered with paintings of the most grotesque character, consisting of burses, men, s]ihinxes, dogs, leopards, &c. On either side a bench of rock, about 2^ feet high, projects from the wall, on each of which, when the tomb was first opened, a skeleton reposed ; but these soon crumbled into dust. One of them, from the arms lying near, was the remains of a warrior ;tlie other skeleton was probably that of his wife. On the floor were large jars containing 4 M