The Naples RivieraVaughan, Herbert M. (Herbert Millingchamp)
Philosophy
The Naples Riviera
Vaughan, Herbert M. (Herbert Millingchamp)
Italy -- Description and travel; Naples, Bay of (Italy)
and that he passed along it to the shore; it is not much, perhaps, but
that little is very precious.
What a contrast do these two incidents connected with the Mole of Puteoli
afford! The Roman Emperor, glittering like the morning star in purple
mantle and jewelled cuirass, riding on his charger across the solid road
that to humour his own caprice had been flung across the buoyant waters,
accompanied by soldiery, by music, and by bands of wealthy sycophants; and
the Apostle, poor, in bonds, a despised prisoner in an alien land, meekly
threading his way through the crowds towards his mean lodging. Where is
the proud Temple of Augustus that beheld these two strange scenes, that
occurred with no great interval of time apart? Where are the villas and
quays that lined the Bay of Baiae? The very ruins of the palaces and
warehouses are swept away; the gorgeous temple is a Christian Cathedral
dedicated to a follower of the despised Jewish captive; the name of
Caligula lives but in human execration, whilst that of the Apostle is
enshrined in the hearts of the whole Christian world.
* * * * * *
It is but a three-mile walk along the beach from Pozzuoli to Baiae,
passing beside the Lucrine Lake and the southern slope of the Monte Nuovo,
which always seems to us a far more wonderful freak of Nature than the
Solfatara. Here we have a miniature mountain, a mile and a half round its
base and nearly five hundred feet high, that was made in the course of a
single night, and is to-day less than four hundred years old! The presence
of this brand-new intruder on the shore of the Baiaean Gulf must ever
remain a wholesome warning to all dwellers on these coasts, that their
tenure of King Pluto’s dominions is very insecure. One morning towards the
close of September 1538, after some days of earthquake shocks, “Pozzuoli
awoke,” says the flippant Alexandre Dumas, “and on looking about did not
recognise herself! She had left a lake the evening before, and lo! she
found a mountain; where she had owned a forest, she found ashes; and last
of all, where she had left a village, she perceived no trace!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account