to Naples.
SESSA.
2. Route. 23
under Corrado Doria, June 14th, 1300, and in modern times captured by
Sir Charles Napier; then Palmarola (ancient Palmaria), and Zannone or
Sinonia, both of volcanic origin. Farther S. are seen the islands of Vento-
tene and Santo Stefano. The latter serves as a state-prison, and Ventotene
is the often mentioned Pandateria, whither Augustus banished his abandoned
daughter Julia, Tiberius her innocent daughter Agrippina, wife of Germa-
nicus, and Nero his divorced wife Octavia, at the instigation of Poppsea —
a spot replete with melancholy reminiscences of the Julian dynasty.J
The road to Naples turns from Mola di Gaeta into the plain
of the Garigliano, the Liris of the ancients (comp. p. 13), a river
85 M. in length, which falls into the Bay of Gaeta. To the 1.
before the bridge is reached, is seen a long series of arches of
the ancient aqueduct; then nearer the road , by the pest-house,
remnants of the theatre and amphitheatre of the venerable city
of Minturnae , on the ruins of which the small town of Traetto,
to the 1. on the height, has sprung up. In the plain towards the
Liris are situated the marshes where Marius once sought to elude
the pursuit of the hirelings of Sulla. On the r. bank of the
Garigliano, Dec. 27th, 1503, Don Gonsalvo da Cordova fought the
decisive battle with the French which placed Naples in his power.
Pietro de' Medici, who, banished from Florence, had gone over to
the French, endeavoured to escape to Gaeta in a boat with four
field-pieces. The boat however sank and all its crew were drowned.
Pietro was buried at Monte Casino (p. 6).
The suspension-bridge over the Garigliano (9'/-2 M. from Mola
<li Gaeta), constructed in 1832, is the oldest in Italy. Before it
is reached, the present road quits the Via Appia, which is
distinctly traceable on the r. bank as far as Mondragone, near
the Sinuessa of Horace (destroyed by the Saracens in the 10th
cent.), where on his journey (Sat. I. 5, 39) to his great joy he
was met by his friends Plotius, Varius and Virgil. Horace then
crossed the Savo (Savone) by the Pons Campanus and proceeded
to Capua. The present road, however, turns to the 1. towards the
heights of Sant' Agata (La Posta, Casa nuova), where the vet¬
turini often spend the night. Here the volcanic peaks of the
Campagna Felice first become visible, among which the lofty Rocca
Monfina is only 6 M. distant and may be easily visited from this
point. On the way thither, l/o M. from Sant' Agata, on a volcanic
eminence, lies Sessa, the ancient Suessa Aurunca, with interesting
Tuins of a bridge, amphitheatre etc. Other relics are preserved
in the cathedral and the churches of S. Benedetto and S. Giovanni.
In the principal street are memorial stones with inscriptions in
honour of Charles V., above which an old crucifix with mosaic
cross. From the hills of Sessa, S. towards Mondragone, extends
Monte Massico, whose wines Horace and Virgil have immortalized.
In the vicinity, towards the Volturnus, was the Ager Falernus,
where an excellent wine is still produced.
Permalink: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/j5tbr
