_Mr. Forbes's steam-tramway excursion-lecture to Tivoli and Hadrian's
Villa, every Thursday._
This road is the worst kept, the least interesting, and the most
frequented out of Rome. The new tramway is now open, so it is more
come-at-able than hitherto. Leaving the cemetery, we soon pass the
Florence railway; then a bridge over the Ulmanus stream. The farm on
the right, inside the gateway, is upon the site of the Villa of
Regulus (Martial, i. 13). At the first mile was the monument of Pallas
(Pliny younger, vii. 29; viii. 6). We soon cross the Anio by the
modern bridge: the old one, Ponte Mammolo, can be seen to the right;
it took its name from Mammæa, the mother of Alexander Severus, who
repaired it. In these meadows Hannibal had his first camp (see page
288). Beyond, we pass along the modern causeway over the meadows where
his second camp was, by the Tutia, which stream we cross. We now pass
some of the old pavement, and upon the left CASTEL ARCIONE, a medieval
castle belonging to a family of that name; destroyed by the S. P. Q.
T., it having become a stronghold for brigands.
The calciferous lake of Tartarus formerly existed, just beyond, but
is now dried up. Near by a sulphurous odour indicates the proximity of
the AQUÆ ALBULÆ, baths often frequented in ancient times. A channel,
constructed by Cardinal Este, draws off the water from these
sulphurous lakes to the Tiber. The bath-house was erected in 1880, and
the water is beneficial for skin diseases.
[Illustration: PLAN OF TIVOLI.
1 _Via della Sibilla_
2 _Ponte Gregoriano_
3 _Porta St. Angelo_
4 _Grand Falls_
5 _Glen & Falls_
6 _Temples of Vesta & Sibyl_
7 _Temple of Hercules_
8 _Cascade_
9 _Cascades_
10 _Villa S. Antonio_]
In the vicinity are the quarries of travertine--so called from the
stone taking the ancient name _Tiburtians_--which have yielded the
materials for building both ancient and modern Rome, the Colosseum,
and S. Peter's.
_Three miles from Tivoli we cross the picturesque_