Jamque adeo scopulos Sirenum advecta subibat, Lib. v. It seems singular that Virgil, while he alludes to Homer's account of these islands, instead of adopting, and as usual improving the instructive fiction of the Greek poet, should upon this occasion in particular have abandoned him, and in order to avoid the appearance of imitation, fallen into a poetical anachronism. Such at least a direct contradiction to Homer, the great oracle of mythological chronology, must be deemed. In fact, while he admits the fable itself, he represents these islands as deserted at the very time, or rather before the time, when according to Homer, they were the residence of the Syrens. Æneas passed them before Ulysses, and if the Syrens had forsaken them at that period, we see no reason why they should return to them at a later. The truth seems to be, that Virgil inadvertently describes them as a geographer; Homer paints them as a poet-but why should the former in this single instance descend from the regions of poetry, and by an incongruous mixture of reality, banish one of the most moral and amusing illusions of fable? A temple of the Syrens is supposed to have stood upon the opposite shore; the precise spot has hitherto been unexplored. Farther on, and on the most advanced point of the Surrentine promontory rose the temple of Minerva, supposed to be founded by Ulysses, an object so conspicuous as to have given its name to the promontory itself in antient times. The road beyond Salerno intersects a rich plain, bordered on the right by the sea, on the left by fine hills, which as they wind along present on their sides and amid their breaks, a perpetual succession of varying landscapes. About six miles from Salerno we went through the little town of Vicenza, supposed to be the antient Picentia. About six miles further, during which we had Mount Alburnus rising full before us, we came to Evoli (Eburi), then turning to the right we entered a vast plain wild and uncultivated, but neither naked nor barren. Large herds of buffaloes, that fed on the heath and wandered through the thickets seemed to be its only inhabitants. The royal chace, called Di Persano, covers a considerable part of this solitude, and gives employment to two hundred gamekeepers, who not only guard the game but serve to escort travellers over these wastes, almost as much infested by banditti at present as was the Gallinaria Pinus in antient times. We had now reached the Silaris (Silaro and Sele,) whose banks are bordered by fertile fields, and shaded by groves and thickets. This river forms the boundary of Picenum and Lucania; it receives the Carole in the forest of Persano, and higher up the Tanagro, which, with the addition of other lesser streams, make it a considerable river. Mount Alburnus inseparably united with the Silaris, in Virgil's beautiful lines, and consequently in the mind of every classical traveller, rises in distant perspective, and adds to the fame and consequence of the stream by the magnitude of his form and the ruggedness of his towering brow. Ilex forests wave on the sides of the mountain, and fringe the margin of the river, while herds innu merable wander through their recesses, and enliven the silence of the scene by perpetual lowings*. As the country still continues flat and covered with thickets, the traveller scarce discovers Pæstum till he enters its walls. We drove to the bishop's palace, not through crowded streets and pompous squares, but over a smooth turf, in the midst of bushes and brambles, with a solitary tree waving here and there over the waste. The unusual forms of three temples rising insulated and unfrequented, in the middle of such a wilderness, immediately engrossed our attention. We alighted, and hastened to the majestic piles; then wandered about them till the fall of night obliged us to repair to our mansion. The good bishop had been so obliging as to send one of his chaplains to meet us, and provide every thing requisite for our comfortable accom * The resemblance may be carried still farther, as the same insect, if we may credit the observation of a most accurate and indefatigable traveller, Cluverius, confirmed by the authority of some Italian authors, still continues to infest the same forest, and to terrify and disperse the cattle over the whole mountain and bordering plains. I cannot vouch for the fact upon my own observation or inquiries. The circumstance is trivial in itself, but it is classical because connected with the scenery of the following beautiful lines, that is, the scenery which now surrounds us. VOL. II. Est lucos Silari circa ilicibusque virentem D Georg. III. modation, a commission which that gentleman performed with great punctuality and politeness. Obscurity hangs over, not the origin only but the general history of this city, though it has left such magnificent monuments of its existence. The mere outlines have been sketched out perhaps with accuracy; the details are probably obliterated for ever. According to the learned Mazzochi, Pæstum was founded by a colony of Dorenses or Dorians, from Dora, a city of Phenicia, the parent of that race and name whether established in Greece or in Italy. It was first called Posetan or Postan, which in Phenician signifies Neptune, to whom it was dedicated. It was afterwards invaded and its primitive inhabitants expelled by the Sybarites. This event is supposed to have taken place about five hundred years before the Christian era. Under its new masters Pæstum assumed the Greek appellation Posidonia, of the same import as its Phenician name, became a place of great opulence and magnitude, and is supposed to have extended from the present ruins southward to the hill, on which stands the little town still called from its ancient destination Acropoli. The Lucanians afterwards expelled the Sybarites, and checked the prosperity of Posidonia, which was in its turn deserted, and left to moulder away imperceptibly. Vestiges of it are still visible all over the plain of Spinazzo or Saracino; the original city then recovered its first name, and not long after was taken, and at length colonized by the Romans *. * U. C. 480. From this period Pastum is mentioned almost solely by the poets, who, from Virgil to Claudian, seem all to expatiate with delight amid its gardens, and grace their composition with the bloom, the sweetness, and the fertility of its roses. But unfortunately the flowery retreats, Victura rosaria Pæsti, seem to have had few charms in the eyes of the Saracens, and if possible, still fewer in those of the Normans, who, each in their turn, plundered Pastum, and at length compelled its few remaining inhabitants to abandon their ancient seat, and take shelter in the mountains. To them Capaccio Vecchio, and Novo are supposed to owe their origin; both these towns are situate on the hills: the latter is the residence of the bishop and chapter of Pastum It will naturally be asked to which of the nations that were successively in possession of Pastum, the edifices which still subsist are to be ascribed: not to the Romans, who never seem to have adopted the genuine Doric style; the Sybarites are said to have occupied the neighboring plain; the Dorians therefore appear to have the fairest claim to these majestic and everlasting monuments. But at what period were they erected? to judge from their form we must conclude that they are the oldest specimens of Grecian architecture now in existence. In beholding them and contemplating their solidity bordering upon heaviness, we are tempted to consider them as an intermediate link between the Egyptian and Grecian manner, and the first attempt to pass from the immense masses of the former to the graceful proportions of the latter. In fact, the temples of Pastum, Agrigentum, and Athens, seem instances of the com |