2 Account of the 



apt to associate Evander and Turnus and Romulus with ideas 

 of the first state of things in Italy, to reveal to them the import- 

 ant truth, that, although the events of those days are of remote 

 antiquity in the history of wan, they are but the occurrences of 

 yesterday, as compared with the age of the country in which 

 they happened. That, although the Seven Hills were elevated 

 at a period when the latest changes which the earth has under- 

 gone took place, they had probably existed for countless ages 

 before they became the habitation of man, and had afforded 

 shelter to races of animals which became extinct before man 

 was created. 



The writings of Brocchi, Von Buch, and Breislak, have sup- 

 plied the chief facts contained in the following memoir, which, 

 it is hoped, will not be uninteresting to those who have not 

 made geology a particular object of attention, and who, in stu- 

 dying the history of Rome, have occupied themselves only with 

 the productions of human genius, with the monuments which 

 stand on the surface of the land, and have not suspected that 

 the soil itself, on which these were built, contains faithful records 

 of the highest interest, written in characters so intelligible that 

 no doubt can exist as to the authenticity of the historical facts 

 which they reveal. 



To render a description of the form and structure of the spot 

 upon which Rome was built, and of the country which lies con- 

 tiguous to it, more intelligible, it is necessary to begin with a 

 brief outline of the physical geography of Italy. 



The Apennines are an uninterrupted range of mountains, 

 which, branching off from the Maritime Alps, extends through 

 the whole peninsula to the farthest extremity of Calabria. They 

 do not present the sharp broken outlines, the pinnacles and needles, 

 of the Alps; their summits have, in general, a rounded form, a 

 more regular and uniform contour, and their sides a more gentle 

 slope ; and although there are many deep gullies in their flanks, 

 there is no great valley which divides the chain completely 

 across. 



The most elevated part of the Apennines is in the territory 

 of the Sabines. There are two points of great elevation ; the 

 one, called by the modern name of Monte Corno, and the loftiest 

 part of it // Gran Sasso, is situated about sixty-five miles north- 



