mathematicians and
soothsayers. Twelve buildings--palaces, villas, pavilions, call them what
you will--were now constructed for the special examination of the planets,
and in consequence the whole of the island, whose limited area after all
is exceeded by many an English park, was practically turned into one vast
maritime residence, for all the Imperial pleasure-houses seem to have been
connected with each other by means of viaducts or secret stair-ways. Yet
whilst immersed in astronomy and occultism, the aged Emperor contrived to
find time for the routine of public business, and, like Augustus, he was
still able to direct from his rocky retreat the policy of the Empire. The
reports of governors of provinces, for example, were received, read, and
commented upon by Tiberius in his Capriote home, and amongst these there
must have been included a certain official document from one Pontius
Pilatus, Procurator of Judaea, relating how a Jewish prophet from Nazareth
had been condemned, scourged and crucified by his orders at the special
request of the Jews themselves. How eloquent is this bald statement of a
simple fact, that here in this tiny barren islet was brought the casual
news of the death of Jesus Christ to the then ruler of the Roman world!
Surely an historical incident such as this is of more value than all the
hazy legends or pointless miracles of St Januarius or of San Costanzo,
upon which the imagination of the islanders has been fed for generations.

[Illustration: CAPRI FROM THE VILLA JOVIS]

Remnants of Tiberius' palaces, all of which are said to have been razed to
the ground by order of the Roman Senate at his death, are scattered thick
as fallen leaves in Vallombrosa over the whole surface of the island, and
it is to the ruins of the Villa Jovis at its eastern crest that the
visitor will in all probability first direct his steps. The way thither
from the little city of Capri leads through narrow lanes along a stony but
populous hill-side, to which the flat-roofed dazzling white houses with
their small iron-barred windows lend an oriental aspect; an illusion that
is aided by the appearance of an occasional date-palm over-topping some
low wall, and by clumps or hedges of the prickly pear. This latter plant,
of Indian extraction as its name of _Ficus Indica_ betrays, grows in
profusion over the sun-baked rocky slopes of southern Italy, especially in
the neighbourhood of the sea. The peasants find it most useful