A city of great antiquity, now in ruins, founded by the son of
Ulysses. The remains of the forum, reservoir, and walls can still be
traced. The ancient citadel stood on the artificial rock, which is now
surmounted by a cross, 212 feet above the city. The view is
magnificent. The height is 2400 feet above the sea. Tusculum was
destroyed in 1191, after repeated attacks by the Romans, who razed it
to the ground. It was the birthplace of Cato. Ascending by the old
road, still paved with the blocks of lava stone, passing by an old
tomb, we arrive at the amphitheatre of reticulated work, 225 feet by
167 feet broad. The construction shows it to be of the time of
Hadrian. Above, some massive remains of the same construction have
been dignified by some as the site of Cicero's Villa. We have
thoroughly explored these remains, and proved them to form a large
reservoir for water, of the time of Hadrian. Beyond was the Forum, the
Diurnal Theatre, the Reservoir, and the Citadel. To the left, before
entering the theatre, a short distance down the old road, is a
fountain erected by the ædiles Q. C. Latinus and Marcus Decimus, by
order of the senate. Near it is a reservoir with a roof like a Gothic
arch, formed in the primitive style of one stone resting against
another. From here a specus runs back into the hill to the spring.
Here also can be examined the walls of the city, formed of square
blocks of sperone, evidently rebuilt at a later date, as the walls to
the left in the ditch are polygonal, agreeing with the date of the
city. The hill of Tusculum is formed of volcanic matter, which has in
some parts been so hardened as to form a stone, _sperone lapis
Tusculanus_, and which, from the condition of the ruins, must have
been largely used in the buildings of the city.
The visitor who has come up from Frascati, and wishes to return there,
had better do so by another path through the woods, by the Camaldoli
Monastery, to the Villa Mondragone, then by the Villa Borghese to
Frascati, a pleasant route. From Tusculum, a charming path through the
chestnut groves leads up to Monte Cavo, avoiding Rocca di Papa, the
ancient Fabia, which can be seen on the return.