Cyclopian Remains Near Rome.

CYCLOPIAN REMAINS NEAR ROME .

LONDON , SATURDAY , NOVEMBER U , 1863 .

( From the Builder . ) Among Italian ruins that most strikingly evince how advanced was the civilisation crushed and ultimately forgotten under the all-absorbing ascendancy of Rome , the civic- fortifications called " Oyclopian " exist in numerous and interesting examples ; ancl

railway-travel has now brought within easy reach of the tourist , from that city , several of the finest specimens amongtbose relics of vanished nationalities . Throughout Italy are found at least 300 of such constructions , for the greater part within the Papal , or what ( till recent changes ) was comprised in the Papal States ,

namely , in the Sabine , Volscian , Hernician , ancl Marsian regions ; some in the Samnium ( now Neapolitan territory ) , others iu Umbria , ancl some in Sicily , where those of Cefalu are- most noted among such remains ; but neither in northern Italy nor beyond the Apennines are found any properly belonging to this class ;

for the massive walls of Cortona and Volterra have a different character , and the construction proper to the Etruscan must be distinguished from that understood in tbe now generally admitted appellation of Oyclopian . This gigantic style of Masonry seems to have become domesticated , in ante-historic periodsover a region

, comprising the mountains of the Sabines , the , whole Tiburtine district , and extending north-eastward from Rieti over Umbria ; in which last province , however , such walls as are seen at Perugia and Assisi , like those of Piesole and Cortona , have the character marking the transition period , when the Masonry in polygonal

blocks gave place to that m regularl y hewn and squared stones . In the neighbourhood of Rome the striking examples of the earlier style are at Alatri , Cora , Segni , Norba , Civitella , Eerentino , Yicovaro , and Palestrina . Those ou the mountain-promontory of Circeo ( or San Eelice ) , near Terracina , were the firstamong such Italian ruinsthat received the name

, , " Oyclopian , " from their resemblance to the walls of Mycene and Tiryathus in Argolis ; aud were accidentally discovered , in 1792 , by a party engaged in searching for plants to supply the Botanic Gardens at Home ; in consequence of which event , important to arclueologic interests , tlte study and research directed

to this range of antiquities received a new impulse in Italy ; aud in the years ensuing much was accomplished to bring additional li ght to the subject , by the Archtelogic Institute at Rome , by the labours of Dodwell and Gell . The dispute arose whether all these fortifications belonged to the class of

monuments referrible to Italy ' s aborigines , or to those of Rome in her kingly or republican periods ; Gerhard and Canina , maintaining the latter theory , were opposed by Raoul Rochette and others . ( See the report of this controversy by Cesare Cauter , Storia Vniversalesv . 1 cloeumenti . ) In GelFs " Topographof

, , y Rome , " and Christian Midler ' s " Roma Campagna , " are described the most curious—in the former work especially , tlie features of all such remains within the region contemplated , including those most remote and of difficult access .

A beautifully-varied succession of scenes , the wild and the soft , the mournfully grand and the luxuriantly lovely , the majesty of ruin and richest fertility

of nature , are presented to view on the joume } ' between Rome and Eerentiuo . That city , originally a seat of the Yolscians , was given by Roman masters to tlie Hernicions , and sustained a siege , A . TJ . O . 457 , memorable for the gallant repulse of those ultimately victorious , here as everywhere , 3000 Roman .

assailants being left dead under tbe walls , near a gate still bearing its title , from that day's slaughter , of Forta Sanguinaria . Subsequently becoming a raunicipium and Roman colony , Eerentinum followed the destinies of the conquering metropolis , alike in Republican and Imperial periodsancl

succumb-, ing to successive irruptions of Goths ancl Longobards , after the fall of the Empire ; finally , in the eighth century , together with other cities of the Roman duchy , submitting by voluntary act to the temporal dominion of the Popes . As usual with the provincial towns of these parts " distance

lends enchantment to the view , " and the place that looks imposing on its mountain ridge above the cultured valley , the "Latium Novum" of antiquity , when seen from below , proves but a gloomy and wild-looking little town as we thread the ways of its steep narrow streets . Its episcopal palace stands

on foundations referred by conjecture to the ancient praotorium , or residence of the prefect governing for Rome ; and other ruins have been vaguely assumed to be a temple of Mercury , and the Thermto of Plavia . Domitilla . But far more interestino- are the

extensive fortifications surrounding the greater part of the civic circuit , of considerable height in some p laces , particularly along the eastern side , but everywhere surmounted by the grey walls of modern houses , that rise at the same perpendicular above . This antique cincture is mostl y in regular quadrate blocks , of

calcareous stone , fitted together with the utmost exactness , the courses correspondent , though varying in thickness ; in some parts the largest stones polygonal , though more frequently squared and disposed with regularity in the successive courses , entirely without cement , as is the case in all such earliest

constructions of the Roman neighbourhoods . The bestpreserved portions resemble in style those walls of republican origin at the tabularium on the Capitol ; and we were reminded , by this analogy , of the argument sustained by Mommsen to establish that the greater number of the mural structures styled

Oyclopian , in Latium , Sabina , and Etruria , are not really older than the seventh century of Rome , and to be regarded as restorations effected under her rule . At a short distance from the eastern walls of this town , the road passes an extent of similar building quite isolatedin perfectlregular coursesnow rising to a

, y , height obviously less than was originally presented , for the whole upper part is ruinous ; and we might here conjecture the existence of Castra , or some fortified outworks .

TVe accomplished the journey from Ferentino to Alatri in a fatiguing walk of about three hours , for tlie znost part over rugged mountain paths , but amidst scenery so nobly picturesque that weariness could easily be forgotten ; whilst the grand forms of the Volscian and Hernician heihts were

continuallung y folding to view . Amidst this landscape one striking and long-descried object is the conical and sterile mount , rising isolated from the Latian vale , at whose summit is a wild little town with a-grove of cypresses ,