Just outside of Albano, on the route to Naples, is a curious ancient monument called _Il sepolcro degli Orazj e Curiazj._ It is built of brick, is extremely solid, of singular appearance, from its being a square monument, flanked at each angle by a tower in the shape of a cone. It is of an uncouth rustic appearance and must certainly have been built before _Grecia capia ferum victorem cepit et artes Intulit agresti Latio....._[93] and I see no reason against its being the sepulchre of the Horatii and Curiatii, particularly as it stands so near Alba where the battle was fought; but be this as it may there is nothing like faith in matters of antiquity; the sceptic can have little pleasure. The country on leaving Albano becomes diversified, woody and picturesque. Near Gensano is the beautiful lake of Nemi, and it is the spot feigned by the poets as the scene of the amours of Mars and Rhea Silvia. Near Gensano also is the country residence of the Sovereign Pontiffs called Castel Gandolfo. La Riccia, the next place we passed thro', is the ancient Aricia, mentioned in Horace's journey to Brundusium. We arrived in the evening at Velletri. Velletri is a large town or rather city situated on a mountain, to which you ascend by a winding road skirting a beautiful forest. From the terrace of one of the _Palazzi_ here, you have a superb view of all the plain below as far as the rock of Circe, comprehending the Pontine marshes. There are several very fine buildings at Velletri, and it is remarkable as being the birthplace of Augustus Caesar. There is a spacious _Piazza_ too on which stands a bronze statue of Pope Urban VIII. Velletri is twenty-eight miles from Rome.