olitary rambler is unconsciously reminded of Horace's stanza
(Epod. II.):--

"Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis,
Ut prisca gens mortalium,
Paterna rura bobus exercet suis,
Solutus omni foenore,

* * * * *

Forumque vitat, et superba civium
Potentiorum limina."

In no other capital of the present day can the sentiment expressed by
Horace be felt and enjoyed more than in Rome, where it is so easy to
forget the worries and frivolities of city life by walking a few steps
outside the gates. The Val d'Inferno and the Via del Casaletto,
outside the Porta Angelica, the Vigne Nuove outside the Porta Pia, and
the Valle della Caffarella, to which I am now leading my readers, all
are dreamy wildernesses, made purposely to give to our thoughts
fresher and healthier inspirations. Sometimes indistinct sounds from
the city yonder are borne to our ears by the wind, to increase, by
contrast, the happiness of the moment. And it is not only the natural
beauty of these secluded spots that fascinates the stranger: there are
associations special to each which increase its interest tenfold. At
the Vigne Nuove one can locate within a hundred feet the spot in which
Nero's suicide took place. The Val d'Inferno brings back to our memory
the two Domitiae Lucillae, their clay-quarries and brick-kilns, of which
the products were shipped even to Africa; the Valle della Caffarella
is full of souvenirs of Herodes Atticus and Annia Regilla, who are
brought to mind by their tombs, by the sacred grove, by the so-called
Grotto of Egeria, and by the remains of their beautiful villa.

Herodes Atticus, born at Marathon A. D. 104, of noble Athenian
parents, became one of the most distinguished men of his time.
Philostratos, the biographer of the Sophists, gives a detailed account
of his life and fortunes at the beginning of Book II. Inscriptions
relating to his career have been found in Rome, on the borders of the
Appian Way, the best-known being the _Iscrizioni greche triopee ora
Borghesiane_, edited by Ennio Quirino Visconti in 1794.[136] His
father, Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, lost his fortune by
confiscation for reasons of state, and was therefore obliged, at the
beginning of his career, to depend upon the fortune of his wife,
Vibullia Alcia, for his support. Suddenly he became the richest man in
Greece, and probably in the world. Many writers have given accounts of
his extraordinary dis