The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-03-17

lit cAISll1S lower portion OIL the
Capri structure Is a mass Of burned
Roman brick, 40 feet square and 90
feet high, sufficiently conspicuous to
show in photographs taken from
Monte Solare, at the other end of the
island, two miles away. It's original
appearance is entirely pr0blematical.
1t may have had two or three stories,
The tower at BOulOgne had several
stories and was 200 feet high. The
Capri tower was not any higher than
this, and In all probability not so high
as the elevation of the headland Is
about 1000 feet above the sea. 1t
is one Of the most valuable and in
teresting ruins 81 the entire island.
May Have Had Wireless System.
1t takes no great stretch Of the
imagination to believe that Capri vas
n signal station-an imperial wireless
station Of ancient Rome. We know
that the ancients slgnaled in various
ways and over long distances. They
signaled by beacon fires, by beacon
smoke, by pigeons, by flags, and by
SIlOutlilE HUH Jill DtllNlilOi w =
Possibly the PubliCa acta (Senate
Journal) and the Diurna acta (author-
lied news) were sent to Capri by signal
instead of by messenger. We can con
ceive that such n system, organized
most likely under Augustus, must have
operated very smoothly after some
years Of experience and practice.
The mirror system would cost no
money to operate, would be easy to
use, and by it long signals could be
sent. Under the practical rule Of the
Romans, beacon signaling was doubt
less somewhat advanced and by it
long signals could be sent, perhaps by
making the beacon flare up by adding
periodically small quantities Of oil.
This Is q mere surmise, without
basis other than the general advanced
character of Roman civilization, which
lacked little we have today. The
Romans were not artistic, but they
were wonderful mechanics, hydraulic
engineers, sanitary engineers and great
builders of all kinds Of structures and
highways. They had water pumps.
They had perfected shorthand writ
ing. The old writer's do not tell us
very much of Roman culture. None OF
them mentions a certain famous surg.
ical instrument found at Pompeii, but
it is there just the same.
The distance in an air line between
Rome and Capri is $50 miles-too long
for direct signaling; but if we look
along the coast of the Tyrrhenian sea
we find numerous mountains affCrding
points where the signals could be re-
layed. The frequency Of the relaying
would depend on the conditions. The
highest point on Capri is Monte So
laro 1850 feet. Signals were prob.
ably not sent from here. but from
the eastern headland. The Pharos
was about 1000 feet above sea level.
A line drawn from the Pharos TO
Monte Greco, on the Campanian coast,
just grazes the Island of Ischia: but
the line of sight would be we'll above
the island, as the summit Of Greco
is Its feet.
Favorite Home of Emperors.
The fact that Augustus and Tiberius
made Capri their special retreat gives
it Il deep and lasting significance. The
island was the favorite home of them
and their families for nearly seventy
years. They are the two greatest
executives In history ruling consecu-
| ~tively-both ~clear-headed, hard-work-
ing administrators, whose labors es-
| tablished the supremacy Of the Roman
empire and brought about n wonderful
period of peace unequaled i'm history,
before or since. They both lived long,
full lives and died natural deaths In
an age when murder or enforced sui
| eide or violent death Of some sort was
| the almost ipvariable end of greatness.
After these towering personalities,
Capri drops out of history and for
some reason does not seem to have
been patronized further by the i'm
perial family.
But though CAPRI was never revisited
by the emperors, the Pharos still
guided the precious grain fleets
through the channel between the iSlant
: and the maitland for many centuries