If on reaching the Guglia, or sign-post, beyond Monterosi, instead of taking the road to Ronciglione and “Firenze,” the traveller follow the more holy track of “Loreto,” three short miles will carry him to Nepi. Let him remark the scenery on the road. He has left the open wastes of the Campagna and entered a wooded district. It is one of the few portions of central Italy that will remind him, if an Englishman, of home. Those sweeps of bright green sward—those stately wide-armed oaks scattered over it, singly, or in clumps—those cattle feeding in the shade—those neat hedge-rows, made up of maples, hawthorns, and brambles, with fern below, and clematis, dog-roses, and honeysuckles above; they are the very brothers of those in Merry England. The whole forms a lively imitation of—what is most rare on the Continent—English park-scenery; and it requires no stretch of fancy to conceive himself journeying through Surrey or Devonshire.

The first view of Nepi dispels the illusion. It is a quaint-looking town. A line of crumbling wall, laden with machicolated battlements, and a massive castle within rising high above it, would give it the appearance of a fortress, were it not for the square red tower of the cathedral with its white pyramid of a spire, shooting high and bright into the deep blue sky. Behind it soars Soracte, its serrated mass blued by distance; and far away in the horizon is the range of snow-capt Apennines.

Another Etruscan city which played a prominent part in the early history of Rome, was Capena. It is first mentioned by Livy in his account of the last Veientine war, when it united with Falerii in endeavouring to assist Veii, then beleagured by the Romans. The latter city, from her power and proximity to Rome, was the bulwark of Etruria; and it was foreseen by the neighbouring people, that should she fall, the whole land would be open to invasion. Falerii and Capena, fearing they should be next attacked, made strenuous attempts to raise the siege, but finding their efforts vain, they besought the aid of the great Confederation of Etruria. Now, it had so happened that the Veientes had greatly offended the Confederation, first, by acting contrary to the established custom of the land, in taking to themselves a king; and in the next place, their king had made himself personally obnoxious by interrupting the solemn games—an act amounting to sacrilege. So the Confederation had decreed that no succour should be afforded to Veii as long as she retained her king. To the representations of the Falisci and Capenates, the magnates of Etruria in conclave assembled, replied, that hitherto they had refused Veii assistance on the ground that as she had not sought counsel of them, neither must she seek succour, and that they must still withhold it, being themselves in peril from the sudden invasion of the Gauls.

Whoever has approached the Eternal City from the sea must admit the fidelity of the above picture. As Civita Vecchia was 1400 years since, so is it now. The artificial island, with its twin-towers at the mouth of the port; the long moles stretching out to meet it; the double passage, narrowed almost to a closing of the jaws; the amphitheatre of water within, overhung by the houses of the town, and sheltered from every wind—will be at once recognised. It would seem to have remained in statu quo ever since it was built by Trajan. Yet the original town was almost utterly destroyed by the Saracens in the ninth century ; but when rebuilt, the disposition of the port was preserved, by raising the moles, quay, and fortress on the ancient foundations, which are still visible beneath them.

It is possible, in ancient times, when the ruler of the world made it his chosen retreat, and adorned it with his own virtues and the simple graces of his court, that Centum Cellæ may have been, as Pliny found it, “a right pleasant place” —locus perjucundus.

Six miles beyond Santa Marinella is the fortress of Santa Severa, standing on the shore, about a furlong from the high-road. It is a square castle, with a keep at one angle, and a lofty round tower, with machicolated battlements, rising in the centre. To the casual observer, it has nothing to distinguish it from other mediaeval forts; but if examined closely, it will be seen that its walls on the side of Civita Vecchia are based on foundations of far earlier date, formed of massive, irregular, polygonal blocks, neatly fitted together without cement,—precisely similar to the walls of Cora, Segni, Palestrina, Alatri, and other ancient towns in the Latin and Sabine Mountains—in short, a genuine specimen of what is called Pelasgic masonry. This wall may be traced by its foundations, often almost level with the soil, for a considerable distance from the sea, till it turns at right angles, running parallel with the shore, and, after a while, again turns towards the sea—enclosing a quadrangular space several times larger than the present fort, and sufficiently extensive for a small town. This is the site of “the ancient Pyrgi.”

These, and the slight remains on the Puntone del Castrato, are the only specimens of polygonal masonry in this part of Etruria, though such is found on three other sites further north. The strict similarity to the walling of cities south and east of the Tiber, seems to imply a common origin, and an origin not Etruscan.

The hills to the west of Chiusi are rich in Etruscan remains. The several towns of Cetona, Sarteano, Chian-ciano and Montepulciano are supposed, from the positions they occupy, and the mines of ancient wealth around them, not from any extant remains of fortifications, to indicate the sites of so many Etruscan cities. It is certain at least that in their environs are ancient cemeteries yielding the most archaic relics of Etruscan times. He who visits Chiusi should not omit to extend his tour to these towns, for they are all within a trifling distance of that city, and of each other; and should he feel little interest in their antiquities, he cannot fail to be delighted with the glorious scenery around them. He may make the tour of the whole in a day, for the roads are very respectable.

Cetona is only five OF six miles from Chiusi—a clean little town, and a picturesque, on an olive-clad height, with a ruined castle of feudal times towering above it. Moreover, it has a decent locanda, kept by Alessandro Davide, where bright eyes will look brighter when the traveller comes.

The Etruscan antiquities now visible at Cetona are all contained in one house, that of the Cavaliere Terrosi, who has drawn most of these treasures from a spot called Le Cardetelle, in the valley of the Astrone, half way between Chiusi and Cetona.

Concerning the ancient Treasury near Vafió here mentioned, Mr. Mure states as follows: “The name Baphió was marked on my map, so that I had no great difficulty in finding the site of the ‘Treasury’ about a mile to the south of the tower. It is, like that of Mycenæ, a tumulus, with an interior vault entered by a door on one side, the access to which was pierced horizontally through the slope of the hill. Its situation on the summit of a knoll, itself of rather conical form, while it increases the apparent size of the tumulus, adds much to its general loftiness and grandeur of effect. The roof of the vault, with the greater part of its material, is now gone, its shape being represented by a round cavity or crater on the summit of the tumulus: Count Capo d'Istria enjoys the credit of its destruction. The doorway is still entire: it is six feet wide at its upper and narrower part. The stone lintel is 15 feet in length. The vault itself was probably between 30 and 40 feet in diameter.”

It is surprising that the French Surveyors have given no description or drawing of this singular monument. M. Boblaye says no more than, “On indique dans la plaine des mines aux villages de Vaphió et de Marmália; nous avons vu des tumulus très-remarquables bordant la rive droite de l'Eurotas au sud de ces deux villages, ils renferment, dit-on, des tombeaux tels que ceux de Mycènes.”

Bishop Thirlwall, in his History of Greece, disapproves of the assertion here made, that the site for the new city of Megalopolis was chosen by Epaminondas. Undoubtedly it rests upon the authority of Pausanias alone, who, in stating that Epaminondas was the οἰκιστὴς or founder both of Messene and Megalopolis, and that he selected the site for Messene, leads naturally to the inference that the site of Megalopolis was also chosen by him. There would at least be some difficulty in conceiving that it could have been determined without his approbation, which, under the circumstances, was nearly the same thing as selecting the situation. As the greatest master of the art of war then living, he was the first to be consulted on such a question. The Arcadian confederacy, with its accompaniment, the formation of a new city, if not a measure originating with him, was supported by his authority, which, at that moment, was supreme: the opposition of some of the Arcadians made only his immediate interference the more necessary; and he was so zealous in the prosecution of these designs, that he supplied 1000 Thebans to protect the Arcadians, while employed in building the walls, from interruption by the Lacedæmonians.

The following pages contain a series of questions of ancient history and geography, supplemental to “Travels in the Moréa,” which have arisen since the publication of that work, chiefly in consequence of the increased facilities given to the examination of the Peloponnesus by its liberation from the Turkish yoke.

The opportunity afforded by that event was eagerly embraced by the French Government,—under all its forms a liberal promoter of the advancement of science. In the year 1829, a numerous and select Commission of Geography, Natural History, and Archæology, was sent to the Peloponnesus, and there employed during two years, under the dangers and difficulties of an ungenial climate, and a country desolated by the effects of one of the most cruel wars recorded in history. The most important result of these labours has been a map, on a scale of the two hundred thousandth part of a degree of latitude, or twenty-one English inches and three-fifths. That which accompanies the present volume has been reduced from the French map on a scale of something more than a third, but not without some variations, a few of which will find their justification in the occasional strictures on the French map made by M. Bory de St. Vincent, Colonel d'Etat Major, and Head of the Commission of Physical Science.