Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-04-18
NAPLES.
The Route From Rome Thither.

AeOA
Correspondence of the Chicago Tribune
NAPLES. March 7th, IA.
Disagreeable weather in Rome in
duced me to seek for better further
south. Sol bought tickets for Ma
poll (NaPles), $50 miles southeast
of Rome. For the first 20 miles the
railway track runs parallel with
THE APPIAN Way
the great military road of the Ro-
mans, constructed 312 years before
the Christian era, and extending first
to Naples, and then across the penin-
sula to Brundusium, on the Adriatic
Sea, 12O miles-making the whole
length of this granite-paved road
800 miles. Brundusium-the mod
ern Brindisi-was the great naval
station of the Roman Empire. 1t
was the port of embarkation of the
Roman armies for Greece and Asia,
and is celebrated in history for the
siege sustained in it, by Pompey,
who had taken refuge in its citadel,
with the Consuls and Senators of
Rome, against the victorious army
of Julius Caesar.
After passing the second station
in Rome, the railroad turns eastward
passing through the middle of the
great plain which extends from
Rome to Naples, bounded on the
left, as you go southeast, by the Ap-
penine range of snow-capped noun
tains, and on the right by the Medit-
teranean Sea. The average width of
this ''campagna" between the noun
tain range and sea is 40 20 so miles.
But it is not all level land. Much
of it may be described as trolling
prairie" j." and part of it is broken in
to high ridges and low spurs of
mountains. The Appian Way kept
within sight of the sea, touching at
the ports of Terracina and Gaeta,-
both important Roman naval sta
tions. At the latter city, the Pope
took refuge after his flight from
Rome in 1850, and remained there
until the French army reimposed him
on the Romans.
THE FAMOUS PONTINE MARSHES
commence at the distance of As miles
sou h of Rome, and extend 36 miles
further south. They are 6 to II
miles broad. The Appian Way ran
straight through them. They are
tenanted now by herds of wild cat
tie, wild boarS, stags, wild fowls
and frogs; and where they are trav-
ersed by the highroad, the occupants
of the few solitary post-houses .ex-
hibit in the dark and livid cOunte-
nanceS, the evidence of the deadly
malaria which is exhaled therefrom.
In Pliny's time they were drained,
cultivated, and highly productive
The recent efforts at drainage have
partially reclaimed about $4,000
acres; and the Government engin-
GERS are studying the best methods
for finishing the work. Much of
the unhealthyness of Rome, and the
campagna around it, in summer, is
aScribed to the malaria from the
Pontine Marshes, waited over the
city and surrounding country by
the southeastern f'sirocco" winds.
The great difficulty in draining them
is caused by the want of fall into
the sea, as they are almost on level
with it, and, in the rainy season, are
overfowed by the rush of water from
the mountains. The Roman Con
NulS made many efforts to drain
these marshes, but it was not fully
accomplished till the time of Julius
Caesar, who constructed a great Ca
nal, with many lateral branches,
through them. The hollow way of
the old canal can still be traced.
About two or three miles from the
northern end of the marches is a
spot called
FoRo APPIO,
which has an interest for the Chris
tian traveller, as the spot where st.
Paul first met his brethren from
Rome, as he journeyed from Naples
to the 'Eternal City" to stand his
trial on accusation of the Jews, as a
pestilent, radical agitator who had
been stirringup mischief among the
,rfbndOv aonSarvafivac W. ,,,.,l
N Acts: "And so we went forward
toward Rome. And from thence.
when the brethren heard of us, they
came to meet us rs far as the Appll
Forum aud the Three Taverns; whom
when Paul saw, be thanked God