Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-02-01
RUINS RICH IN LORE.
italica Home Of Three Roman Emper-
ors Offers Antiquarian Field.
BY William E. Curtis.


this morning over dreadful pave
ment. laid several hundred years ago
and by appearances never repaired
TO the old Rcman city. italica. whose
mute but majestic ruins have witnes-
sed succession OF exciting events
since it was founded by Scipio Afri-
canus, nearly GOO years before Christ.
We passed through the gypsy quarter
called Triana, where Murillo is said
to have spent much time sketching
peasant girls for his pictures, and
stopped tor a moment at the spot
where tradition says that Saint Ru-
cooking pots when they were stoned
to death for refusing to kneel to a
statue OF Venus. Near by Is a church
with the curious name of Santa o."
for which was not able to get an eN-
PLANTATION.
The road is rough. but the journey
| Is interesting. for you have chance
to see the peasants coming into town,
to watch the groups around the way
| side inns, and the children swarming
| in the cutters over their simple
sports. Children are alike the world
over, and you find them in the south
of Spain playing the same games in
the same way as those OF Northern
| Iowa.
| The Andalusian mule cart Is a for
midable institution with tive wheels.
eight and ten feet in diameter. and
a long body, without sides. upon
which the load Is fastened with ropes.
Two, three and sometimes four big
mules are hitched tandem. and Can
dalusia Is famous for its mules) with
a miminuatiye donkey leader that is
called the papa" OF the team. That's
| another custom ! could not find an
explanation for. The biggest animal
| is put between the shafts, and gets
| all the licks and abuse, but Its tate is
| paradise compared with the wheel
ers in our mule teams. Spaniards are
| supposed TO- ba very cruel people,
but they are Invariably kind 20 am
mails. and you seldom see a horse or
a mule beaten. The drivers have
| whips that make a report like re-
volver when they crack them. and
If you are not looking you may mis-
take it for blow. but the lash sell
| dom touches the hide OF the horse.
In several respects ltalica was the
| most magnificent of the Roman cities
| in Spain. with villas, palaces, baths,
aqueducls, temples and ampitheaters,
| and Scipio built great hospital there
for the wounded and sick soldiers
brought home from his campaign
against the Carthaginians. The ruins
extend over large area, the most
conspicuous pile being an ampihthealer
| built on the same plan as the Coli
scum al Rome, for the same purpose,
and almost as large. The arena.
where many gladiator and Christian
martyr faced wild beasts, is oval in
shape, 29l by 2Di feet, so you can
imagine how large the structure must
have been. Below 1t are underground
passages similar to those of the Coll.
scum. leading TO dungeons for pris-
oners, and dens for animals. and
there were arrangements for flooding
it when nautical play was to be Civ
en-. This splendid ruin was almost
perfectly preserved until 1922, when
an idiot of n governor of Seville had
| most of the walls pulled down to get
material for building purposes, which
he might have found equally as well
and plentitully IN a quarry near by.
Grass and wild flowers grow luKur-
iously. covering the dead city with
brilliant shroud, and this morning a
herd OF sheep was grazing upon the
former site OF palaces in which one
of the greatest and noDlest of the
Roman emperors-the good Trajan-
was born. Hadrian and Tbeodosius,
his SUCCESSORS, were born here also,
and contributed much 10 the ~Inagni-
fcence and prosperity Of their native
city. The palace of Trajan, a small
but beautiful example of Grecian ar
chitecture. was preserved In excellent
condition until the earthquake of 1855
threw down its walls, and the marble
was soon carted away.
Very little has been done In the way
of excavation, although 1t ought to be
prolific field for the archaeologist
and antiquarian. Occasionally plow
turns up handful Of coins, which
excites the avarice OF the entire nei-
ghborhood, The people then aband-
on their regular occupations and stir
things around In a lively manner for
awhile. Five years ago man found
a copper box filed with money Of the
| coinage of the Caesars. Several
pieces are in tho museum. And last
spring a burial vault was struck,
| which contained a dozen or more lead
collins, which can now be seen In the
museum. with the bones and articles
of adornment they contained. 1t is
estimated that they were buried in
the second or third century. These
| accidental discoveries indicate what
might be expected from systematic
and scientific excavation. but the
Seyillsnos are more given to pleasure
than to archaeology, and. as the di-
rector of the museum said, postpone
the work until they have more time
and money.
| But they have plenty OF time to
make bogus antiquities, and the sec
ond.hand shops are full of clever imi-
tations OF silver. furniture. bronzes
and bric-a-brac of the fourteenth and
| fifteenth centuries There is no law