Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller (original) (raw)
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National Archaeological Museum of Naples: IInd century AD relief from Gaeta depicting the landing of Aeneas with ailing Caieta, his nurse
Aeneas makes his way to the ships and rejoins his friends:
then coasts straight to Caieta's harbour along the shore.
The anchors are thrown from the prows: on the shore the sterns rest.
Caieta, Aeneas's nurse, you too have granted
eternal fame to our shores in dying:
tributes still protect your grave, and your name
marks your bones in great Hesperia, if that is glory.
Virgil - The Aeneid - Book VI-VII. Translation by A. S. Kline
An excursion should be made from Formia to Gaeta. The scenery is radiantly beautiful. Gaeta is said to have derived its name from being the burial-place of the nurse of Aeneas.
Augustus J. C. Hare - Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily - 1891
Mausoleo Atratino; the image used as background for this page shows an inscription with the words L. Atratin which was walled in the bell tower of the Cathedral
From the borgo preceding the city of Gaeta I ascended a hill on the right to view a large antique structure vulgarly called the windmill. (It has been attributed) as well as the adjoining ruins to Lucius Atratinus and with some ground of plausibility as a stone inscribed L ATRATIN was amongst those taken away from thence to the cathedral dedicated to S. Erasmo. Its form is circular both on the outside and in the interior between the inner and outward circle there is a passage. The interior is divided into three apartments besides which there is a reservoir for water of an oval form.
Sir Richard Colt Hoare - A Classical Tour through Italy and Sicily - Journey from Rome to Beneventum on the Appian Way in 1789 - 1819
L. Sempronius Atratinus was commander of Antony's fleet in 38-34 BC, but he eventually changed side and supported Octavian. In 21 BC he was appointed proconsul of Africa. The mausoleum was used as a quarry for centuries and eventually as a stable. It is located on high ground outside the walls of Gaeta.
En route to Monte Orlando (548 ft)
From the piazza a path leads to the summit of the promontory, which is occupied by the monument called Torre d'Orlando, being the huge circular tomb of L. Munatius Plancus. The view is magnificent. Hare
The association with Roland, Charlemagne's paladin, is first documented in a chronicle of the XVth century, but it might have originated from tour roulante (rolling tower) the way the Angevin (French) rulers of Gaeta called the mausoleum, because of its circular shape.
Views from Monte Orlando: (above) northwards: Spiaggia di Serapo and behind it Mount Circeo (left) and Monte S. Angelo at Terracina (right); (below) westwards: (left to right) S. Stefano, Ventotene, Ponza and Palmarola, four islets which belonged to the Kingdom of Naples
The picturesque Circeo headland, once an island, rises out of the sea in rocky cliffs (1,404 ft); the Spiaggia di Serapo, a beach about three-quarters of a mile long, bounds the southern side of the narrow neck of land joining Monte Orlando promontory to the mainland.
The Isole Pontine lie in the Tyrrhenian Sea southward of Cape Circeo. The archipelago is composed of islands and numerous rocks which fall naturally into a north-western group, consisting mainly of Ponza and Palmarola and a south-eastern group formed of Ventotene and S. Stefano. The two groups are separated by a channel 24 miles wide. They are the exposed fragments of vast submerged volcanic cones and craters.
Views: (above) southwards: Ischia (left) and Capri (right); (below-left) southwards: Mount Vesuvius; (below-right) eastwards: the Matese Mountains (ca 2,000 m/ 6,700 ft) behind Benevento
Monte Orlando enjoys commanding views on the islands at the entrance to the Gulf of Naples. From its top the defenders of Gaeta could early detect ships coming from all directions and in particular from the south. By firing their cannon they could alert the inhabitants of a long stretch of coast about an incoming attack.
Mausoleum of L. Munatius Plancus
Magnificent relics of antiquity claim our further attention on a hill that overlooks the town of Gaeta whose summit is crowned by the stately mausoleum of Munatius Plancus bearing the modern appellation of Torre d'Orlando. It resembles in its architecture and rivals in grandeur the mausoleum mentioned in a former part of my travels of [Cecilia Metella at Capo di Bove near Rome](Vasi59a.htm#Cecilia Metella). Each is circular in its form and each most fortunately preserves its original sepulchral inscription. Colt Hoare
Mausoleum of L. Munatius Plancus: (left) copy of a statue found near Tivoli and assumed to portray Plancus; (right-above) inscription; (right-below) details of the frieze
Its frieze is decorated with bas reliefs representing warlike trophies and its construction with large blocks of marble is admirable. The inscription records the memory and warlike actions of the illustrious personage to whose honour it was erected. Colt Hoare
Lucius Munatius Plancus lived during a turbulent period of Roman history and he had to make some difficult choices. He accompanied Julius Caesar in the successful conquest of Gallia. He then helped Antony against the killers of Caesar and he eventually supported Octavian against Antony.
Small Roman Theatre at Lyon
Among the many achievements listed in the inscription, the most important one is no doubt the foundation of Lugdunum (today's Lyon) at the confluence of the Rh�ne and Sa�ne rivers on a key location which controlled the route between the Mediterranean coast and the River Rhine valley. Similar to Caius Cestius, Plancus was an epulonum, a member of one of the most important religious colleges of Rome. The construction of [Tempio di Saturno in Rome](Vasi31.htm#Templi di Saturno e di Vespasiano) which housed the treasury of the Republic is another of his achievements.
Roman remains: (above-left) villa by the sea; (above-right) relief portraying a sacrifice on the walls of Castello Aragonese; (below) relief depicting sea monsters attacking ships near the palace of the Dukes of Gaeta
In Roman time Caieta was a suburb of Formiae, rather than a town of its own. In addition to the mausoleums on commanding positions there were a number of villas by the sea, both on the side of the bay and on Spiaggia di Serapo. Emperor Tiberius had a large villa few miles north of Gaeta.
Santuario della Trinit� alla Montagna Spaccata: (left) Station of the Cross making reference to the fissure in the mountain; (right) "Hand of the Turk" with Latin inscription saying "A stubborn mind denied the truth handed down by tradition as these fingers in the softened rock demonstrate"; (inset) inscription "From here you go to the mountain which split up at the death of Jesus Christ"
The villa of the afore commemorated M. Plancus is supposed to have been situated near the church of La Trinita. Near this church a singular antiquity of nature is visible in a rock of an immense height which by some great convulsion has been split asunder from top to bottom. A chapel has been built between the fissures in descending to which two objects attract the curiosity of the stranger: a cannon ball fired from a Turkish vessel and still adhering to the spot where it first lodged and the apparent impression of a human hand in the rock said to be that of a Turk who disbelieved the fissure of the rock being effected at the Passion of Christ. Colt Hoare
Montagna Spaccata: the split in the rock
At the extremity of the line of works, which extend a considerable way out of the gates, is the church of La Trinita built above the Montagna Spaccata. This is a crack in the rocky cliff, made, as the Gaetans believe, by an earthquake at the time of our Saviour's death. A chapel is cradled in the chasm, under which the sea beats into a huge cavern.
Henry Swinburne - Travels in the Two Sicilies. 1777-1780
You may wish to see Al-Fajj at Maaloula in Syria, another miraculous crack in the rock.
Palazzo di Docibile I, which was built with some ancient columns
Gaeta has always been, considered as a strong place; it enjoyed independence for a long series of years, under the protection either of the Greek emperor or the pope, being governed by dukes nearly in the same manner as Naples and Amalfi were. The forces of this little republic were very serviceable to pope Leo the Fourth in his wars with the Saracens. Swinburne
In 568 the Longobards invaded Italy. In the southern part of the country they established a strong Duchy at Benevento, but many coastal territories continued to be controlled by the Byzantines who had a large fleet. In the following centuries the Byzantine power waned because of the Saracens, but the rulers of Gaeta called themselves Hypatoi, the Greek equivalent of Latin Consul and recognized the formal sovereignty of the Byzantine Emperors. The Docibile family ruled over Gaeta between 866 and 1032; they eventually abandoned the title of Hypatoi to assume that of Duke. In 915 they enlarged their territories to include those of the Saracen settlements on the northern bank of the River Garigliano.
(left) Tower of the Palace of John I, son of Docibile I; (centre/right) modern fountain with a medieval lion
It often changed masters in the subsequent ages, and several times was exposed to the horrors of war. Swinburne
In 1064-1140 the dukes of Gaeta were vassals of the Princes of Capua and afterwards the town became a direct possession of the Norman Kings of Sicily (and of most of southern Italy).
(left) Tower of Castello Angioino; (right) the cliff upon which it stands
I crossed the bay in an hour and, upon landing at Gaeta, was conducted to the king's lieutenant, who gave me leave to walk about the fortifications. Having procured a guide, I surveyed the whole promontory, notwithstanding a scorching sun, and an oppressive scirocco that began to blow soon after I set out. The batteries are numerous, all directed towards the continent, for the rocks are so lofty and perpendicular towards the sea, that no danger is apprehended on that side. Swinburne
Fortresses: Castello Angioino (it housed a military prison until 1989) in the foreground and Castello Aragonese behind it
The Angevin house of Durazzo took refuge in Gaeta, and made it the head quarters of their party, during the turbulent minority of Ladislaus, and here that fortunate prince was crowned, and from hence he sallied forth to attack and drive his adversaries out of the kingdom. Swinburne
In 1231 a major earthquake struck Gaeta and many of its fortifications collapsed. Emperor Frederick II promoted the construction of a new castle, but this was completed by the new Angevin rulers of southern Italy. The castle was complemented by a second one which is known as Aragonese with reference to the Kings of Aragon who conquered Naples in 1442, although its current state is the result of initiatives taken by Emperor Charles V after he visited Gaeta in March 1536, during the triumphal journey to Rome he made to celebrate the conquest of Tunis. You may wish to see similar fortifications at Milazzo, a promontory on Sicily, at Capua and at Orbetello in Tuscany.
(left) Gate of Charles V; (right) walls on the land access to the town; (inset) coat of arms of the Emperor
The city of Gaeta is in general well built, though upon uneven ground, the fortifications are extensive, and complicated, but whether they render it a place of great strength in the present improved state of military architecture or not, is a point I must leave to professors in the science to decide. As the enemy has usually penetrated into the kingdom, without passing near Gaeta, its importance as a barrier town is greatly diminished, though it would be dangerous for an army, in case of a repulse, to find such a fortress in the way of its retreat, especially as the passes of Mola are narrow. Swinburne
Charles V realized that the land access to Monte Orlando was not protected by fortifications and he redesigned the walls of Gaeta in order to include it.
Abandoned fortifications of Monte Orlando
The strongest fortress of the kingdom of Naples, Gaeta has undergone more sieges than any other. It was the last refuge of the last King of Naples, Francis II, and was heroically defended for four months by his lion-hearted queen, Mary of Bavaria, but was forced to capitulate to the Sardinian fleet, February 23, 1861. Hare
