Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1330

 1306 VIA VALERIA. pavement, or by sepulchres and fragments of an- cient buildings, so that no doubt can exist as to its precise course. It quitted the original city by the Porta Esquilina, passed through the Porta Tiburtina (now Porta S. Lorenzo) in the walls of Aurelian, and then proceeded nearly in a straight line to the Anio, which it crossed by a bridge about 4 miles from Eome. This bridge, now called the Ponte Mcmimolo, is in its present state the work of Narses, having been restored at the same time as those on the Via Salaria and Nomentana, after their destruction by Totila, a. d. 549. From this bridge the ancient road followed very nearly the same line as the modern one as far as the Lago di Tartaro, a small lake or pool of sulphureous waters, similar in charac- ter to the more considerable pool called the Solfatara or Aquae Albulae, about 2 miles farther on, and a mile to the left of the highroad. Leaving this on the left, the Via Tiburtina proceeded almost perfectly straight to the Ponte Lucano, at the foot of the hill of Tivoli, where it recrossed the Anio. There can be no doubt that this bridge retains its ancient name of Pons Lucanus, though this is not mentioned by any ancient author ; but the origin of the name is evident from the massive sepulchre of the Plautian family (a structure not unlike the celebrated tomb of Caecilia Metella on the Appian Way), which stands close to the bridge, and which was constructed by M. Plautius Lucanus, who was censor together with Tibe- rius in the reign of Augustus. From the inscription on an ancient milestone it appears that this part of the road was constructed by him at the same time; audit is probable that the original Via Tiburtina was car- ried from the Logo di Tartaro in a different direc- tion, bearing away more to the left, so as to leave the Aquae Albulae on the right ; while the road constructed by Plautius, like the modern highroad, passed between that lake and Tibur. The 14th milestone was found near the spot where the road crosses the artificial channel that carries off the waters of the lake. From the Ponte Lucano the ancient road ascended the hill of Tibur by a very steep and straight ascent, passing through or under a portion of the vaulted substructions of the so-called villa of Maecenas. [Tibur.] The Itineraries all agree in stating the distance of Tibur from Rome at 20 miles ; but it in reality little exceeds 18 by the direct road, which crossed the Ponte Lucano, as above described. The Tabula gives the Aquae Albulae as an intermediate station, but places it 16 M. P. from Eome, though the true distance is only 14. From Tibur the Via Valeria ascended the valley of the Anio, passing by the town of Varia ( Vicovaro), 8 miles from Tibur, to a point marked by an inn, now called Osteria Ferrata, 5 miles beyond Vico- varo and 13 from Tivoli. This point, where the Anio makes a sudden bend, is evidently the site of the station Ad Lamnas of the Tabula, whence a side road struck off to the right, ascending the upper valley of the Anio to Sublaqueum {SuMaco'), whence the road derived the name of Via Subi.a- CENsis, by which it is mentioned by Froiitinus {de Aquaedtict. 15). The road is given in the Tabula, but in so confused a manner that it is impossible to make it out. Sublaqueum was in reality 48 miles from Eome by this route, or 28 from Tibur. The Via Valeria, on the other hand, turned to the left at the Osteria Ferrata, and crossed the hills to Carseoli, the ruins of which are still visible at .some distance nearer Rome than the modern village of VIA VALERIA. Carsoli. Thence it ascended a steep mountain- pass, where portions of the ancient road, with its pavement and substructions, are still visible, and de- scended again into the basin of the Lake Fucinus. After passing by, rather than through. Alba Fucensis, it was carried along the N. shore of the lake to Cer- fennia, the site of which is clearly identified at a spot just below the village of Coll' Ai'meno. [Cer- FENNIA.] Here, as already mentioned, the original Via Valeria terminated ; but the continuation of it, as constructed by Claudius, and given in the Itine- raries, ascended the steep mountain-pass of the Mons Imeus, and thence descended into the valley of the Aternus, on the banks of which, near its con- fluence with the Gizio, stood the city of Corfinium. Three miles from that city was a bridge over the Aternus (near the site of the present town of Popoli), which constituted an important military position. [Aternus.] Below this point the river flows through a narrow pass or defile, through which the Via Va- leria also was carried. The station Interpromium, marked in the Itineraries as 12 miles from Corfinium, must be placed at the Osteria di S. Valentino, below the village of the same name. Thence the road descended the valley of the Aternus to its mouth, which is correctly placed by the Itineraries 21 miles from Interpromium, and 9 beyond Teate (^Chieti). The distances given in the Antonine Itinerary from Rome to this point are as follow : — Eome to Tibur {Tivoli) - - xx. m.p. Carseoli (Eu. near Carsoli) xxii. Alba Fucentia {Alba) - xxv. (xxii.) Cerfennia {Sta Felicita) xxiii. (xiii.) Corfinium (5. Pelino) - svi. (xvii.) Interpromium {Ost. di S. Valentino) - - xi. (xii.) Teate {Chieti) - - xvii. (xii.) The distances stated in p.arentheses are the correc- tions suggested by D'Anville, who examined the whole of this line of route with much care, and are confirmed by the discovery of ancient milestones, which leave no doubt as to the actual distances. The general correctness (if the result thus obtained is con- firmed by a statement of Pliny (iii. 5. s. 6), in which he estimates the breadth of Italy in its central part, as measured from the mouths of the Tiber to that of the Aternus at 136 miles. Here the mention of the Aternus leaves little doubt that the measurement was taken along the Via Valeria. Now the corrected distances above given amount to 118 miles from Eome to Teate, or 125 miles to the mouth of the Aternus; and if to tliis be added 16 miles from Eome to Ostia, the result is 141 miles, agreeing, within 5 miles, with the statement of Pliny. (For a full examination of this whole line of route, see D'Anville, Analyse Geogr. de l' Italic, pp. 170 — 182, and Kramer, Der Fuciner See, pp. 59 — 62. The Via Tiburtina and the first part of the Valeria are also described and examined by Westphal, Pd7n. Kamp. pp. 108 — 121, and Nibby, Vie degli Antichi, pp. 96—104 ) The proper termination of the Via Valeria, as con- tinued by Claudius, was undoubtedly at the mouth of the Aternus. But the Antonine Itinerary con- tinues it on to Hadria, which it places at 14 M.P. from Teate ; but this distance is much below the truth : we should perhaps read 24 M.P. The pro- bability is, that at the mouth of the Aternus it fell into the line of road previously existing along the coast of the Adriatic, and which, without belonging properly to any of the three highways that proceeded