nforms us) the grandiose name of Quintus Flavius Mavortius
Lollianus, whose marble trunk was one of the earliest archaeological
"finds" made in the excavations at Pozzuoli some two hundred years ago.
Since the statue lacked a head and was otherwise of no especial value as a
work of art, the Viceroy of Naples very generously presented this object
to the place of its discovery, whose citizens, doubtless thinking the
appearance of the headless statue uncanny, popped a stray antique occiput
(of which a goodly number, more or less mutilated, are constantly brought
to light by the peasants) upon Lollianus' vacant shoulders. Anything more
comical and at the same time more repellent than this hybrid statue it
would be impossible to imagine, yet Lollianus of the unknown head remains
a favourite with the people of Pozzuoli. Leaving the Largo del Municipio,
with its weird senator and its dusty palms, we ascend by a zigzag lane
between tall featureless houses to the Cathedral of San Proculo, which
occupies the site of a temple of Augustus, that once dominated the ancient
city and harbour below. Within, the cathedral of Proculus, who was a
companion of St Januarius and a fellow-martyr, is gaudy and painted, one
of those dismally gorgeous ecclesiastical interiors that are such a
disappointment to the antiquarian in Southern Italy. In opposition to the
memorial of Spanish conquest in the square below, we find here an
elaborate monument to a French viceroy, the Duke of Montpensier, who
served for some time as Governor of Naples after Charles VIII.'s capture
of the city. Except the tomb of the young musician Pergolese, who composed
the original _Stabat Mater_ there is little else to see, and we gladly
ascend the tower in order to gain a bird's eye view of the town from a
point of vantage whither noisy coachmen, troublesome beggars and impudent
ragamuffins cannot pursue. Captured by the Greek colonists of Cumae, who
gave the city the name of Dicoearchia instead of its ancient one of
Puteoli,--a corruption, perhaps, of the Syriac word _petuli_
(contention)--this old Hellenic settlement was rechristened Puteoli by the
conquering Romans, under whose beneficent rule the place rapidly aspired
to wealth and prosperity. With the rise however of Naples, the fame of
Puteoli began to grow dim, and its importance to decline, although
throughout Imperial times it ranked after Ostia as the chief victualling
port of Rome. And of the two celebrated cities