THE ISLE OF CAPRI 



227 



with such a greedy Moloch swallowing 

 untold cords of firewood every night. 

 However, wood was a cheap commodity 

 in the Empire. There were trackless 

 forests all over it. 



In England, and in fact everywhere 

 on lighthouses, the exposed beacons of 

 the ancients were used until recent times. 

 The exposed "chauffer" type of beacon 

 light burned, say, 400 tons of coal a year, 

 in addition to vast quantities of wood. 

 Coal fires were in use until 1816. 



The mirror system would cost no 

 money to operate, would be easy to use, 

 and by it long signals could be sent. In 

 times of stress, the primitive beacon 

 would have to be employed when there 

 was no sun. Under the practical rule 

 of the Romans, beacon signaling was 

 doubtless somewhat advanced and by it 

 long signals could be sent, perhaps by 

 making the beacon flare up by adding 

 periodically small quantities of oil. 



THE ROMANS EXCELLED in ENGINEERING 



This is a mere surmise, without basis 

 other than the general advanced charac- 

 ter of Roman civilization, which lacked 

 little we have today. The Romans were 

 not artistic, but they were wonderful 

 mechanics, hydraulic engineers, sani- 

 tary engineers, and great builders of all 

 kinds of structures and highways. They 

 had water pumps. They had perfected 

 shorthand writing. The old writers do 

 not tell us very much of Roman culture. 

 None of them mentions a certain famous 

 surgical instrument found at Pompeii, 

 but it is there just the same. 



The distance in an air line between 

 Rome and Capri is 130 miles — too long 

 for direct signaling; but if we look along 

 the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea we find 

 numerous mountains affording points 

 where the signals could be relayed. The 

 frequency of the relaying would depend 

 on the conditions. The highest point on 

 Capri is Monte Solaro, 1,980 feet. Sig- 

 nals were probably not sent from here, 

 but from the eastern headland. The 

 Pharos was about 1,000 feet above sea- 

 level. A line drawn from the Pharos to 

 Monte Circeo, on the Campanian coast, 

 just grazes the Island of Ischia ; but the 



line of sight would be well above the isl- 

 and, as the summit of Circeo is 1,775 

 feet. 



RELAY STATIONS FOR MIRROR SIGNALING 



On a clear day it is possible to stand 

 on this storied summit and, facing north, 

 see the dome of St. Peter's in Rome, and. 

 turning to the south, see Ischia and 

 Capri. "From the mountain promontory 

 of Circe, now called Circeo or Cir- 

 cello, from almost any point on the 

 Bay of Naples sufficiently elevated to 

 get the sea horizon toward the west- 

 northwest, we can see the high mass 

 connected with the mainland by the 

 Pontine marshes, whose low shores are 

 invisible at this distance." There is a 

 semaforo at Monte Circeo in actual oper- 

 ation today, just as there is also a sema- 

 foro on the "telegrafo" hill at Capri. 



From Capri to Monte Circeo in an air 

 line is JJ miles- — a long shot for mirror 

 signaling when we consider that the 

 record for heliographing with the un- 

 assisted eye in America in modern times 

 is 160 miles. Still it was not impossible 

 with a large mirror in the clear air of 

 ancient Italy. Probably also the vision 

 of the ancients was exceedingly keen, 

 and doubtless signaling was in the 

 hands of those gifted with extraordinary 

 powers of vision. 



Nothing could have been easier than 

 to increase the number of relay stations, 

 although we may be sure the efficient 

 Romans would signal over as long dis- 

 tances as possible. 



TACITUS REFERS TO EOXG-DISTANCE 

 SIGNALING 



A suggested line of stations with no 

 range more than 44 miles long is sub- 

 mitted to those of a speculative turn of 

 mind. Rome to Monte Cavo, in the 

 Alban Mountains, 18 miles; thence to 

 Monte Circeo, 39 miles ; thence to Monte 

 Massico. 44 miles; thence to Capri, 44 

 miles. A Pompeian fresco of quite recent 

 discovery shows Monte Cavo as being 

 very conspicuous when viewed from the 

 Palatine Hill. The clear summit is 

 boldly visible. Perhaps the Palatine Hill 

 was the "sending"" station in Rome. 



