Phybical Structure of the Site of Rome. 21 



dens with the tibiae and thigh-bones of elephants dug from the 

 adjoining sand-pits. (lahnorjoe io h^ 



Such, then, is the remarkable structiire of the ground upon 

 which Rome was built, presenting phenomena of no ordinary 

 interest, and which afford a field of speculation far wider than 

 the limits to which this paper must be confined. But some of 

 those general views which the phenomena described suggest, as 

 to the successive changes which this region has undergone, and 

 the probable causes of those changes, may be hinted at. Before 

 entering upon these, it will be necessary to give a general idea 

 of the physical structure of the adjoining country. 



The Apennine mountains come close to the left bank of the 

 Tiber, until that river takes a sudden turn to the south-west, 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of Soracte. From that bend 

 of the river, a line drawn through Cures, Cameria, along the 

 base of Mons Lucretilis, Tibur, Praeneste, Anagnia, Ferenti- 

 num, Frusino, to Fregellae on the Liris, will bound the Apennine 

 range properly so called ; and these mountains, with some slight 

 exceptions, which will be presently mentioned, are wholly com- 

 posed of secondary limestone. 



A fertile vale, which is distinguished by the name of the Cam- 

 pagna, in the bottom of which runs the Trerus, now the Tolero, 

 separates the mountainous district that was inhabited by the 

 M(\v\\ and Hernici * from the detached range of mountains oc- 

 cupied by the Volsci. This latter tract of high country runs 

 nearly north and south, from Artena, now Monte Fortino, to 

 the sea at Anxur. Its northern part was called the Montes 

 Lepini -f*. Here the rivers take their rise, the waters of which 



• Cramer sajs, " it was maintained by some, that the Hernici derived their 

 name from the rocky nature of their country ; Hema, in the Sabine dialect, 

 signifying a rock." — ^Vol. i. 78. 



•*• This mountainous range rises to a very great elevation : the greatest 

 height, now called Monte Schiera d'Asino, is stated by Prony to be 4878 

 English feet above the sea. Another point, Monte Capreo, is 4816 feet. 

 The former of these heights is 500 feet greater than that of Ben Nevis, in 

 Scotland, and nearly 1000 feet higher than Vesuvius. Comparing the heights 

 with English mountains, for the sake of those who have not seen Ben Nevis, 

 Monte Schiera d'Asino is 1310 feet higher than Snowdon, 1650 higher than 

 Helvellyn, and three times and a half as high as Penmaeu-Mawr. Strange 

 to say, there are very few maps of Italy in which these mountains are laid 

 down. 



