70 SPRINGS, RIVERS, CANALS, LAKES, 



Tt is a small round temple, of which the inner part is inclosed by 

 a high wall, that (in conjunction with the external colonade) sup- 

 ports the roof of the temple. The columns are of an order re- 

 sembling the Corinthian, and of exquisite beauty aud workmanship: 

 and the whole is so happily proportioned, as to give it an air of 

 grandeur, which certainly does not result from its size. It is seated 

 on the edge of a steep rock, full in the spray of the * headlong 

 Anio.' This is the grand cascade, at the foot of which, the water, 

 in a succession of ages, has hollowed grottoes of various shapes and 

 sizes, that baffle every description but that of the pencil, to which 

 they are most happily adapted, 



The grotto of Neptune is the most celebrated ; and is indeed 

 uncommonly picturesque. Upon, or rather in the rock which fronts 

 the opening of this grotto, are some remains, imagined by many peo. 

 pie to be those of the house of Manlius Vopiscus, which Statius has 

 described in a poem of more than a hundred lines. I have little 

 doubt however that they are mistaken, from the description itself, 

 which speaks of more buildings than it would have been possible to 

 place in a mere chasm, or (to use a word common in the north of 

 England) gill, between lofty and perpendicular rocks. Be- 

 sides, if here, it would have been full in the noise and even spray 

 of the grand cascade; which Statins speaks of it as a place ' where 

 Anio, though rocky both above and below it, lays aside his swell- 

 ing rage and foaming murmurs, from a fear of disturbing the in- 

 spired s!ujubers of Vopiscus, who was himself a poet.* 



But whether situated here, or as I fully, believe, where the ruins 

 called Ponte Lupo are still visible, it must have been altogether an 

 unique, being built in two parts or pavilions, having each a centre 

 and wings, on the opposite sides of the river : these were most 

 probably connected with each other by the very bridge I have men- 

 tioned, while a tree growing in the middle was preserved with so 

 much care, that its branches were allowed to spread through the 

 columns and even the roofs of the building. 



The air of Tivoli appears to have been very friendly to poetry ; 

 as many of the poets are known to have had country houses here. 

 That of Catullus in particular is pointed out. But it is not impro- 

 bable, that the circumstance of Maecenas having a country house 

 here, might have a greater share in this inspiration than all the na. 

 tural beauties of the place. 



