as an eternal barrier between the riven
headlands of continent and new-formed island. The charm of this rocky
fragment, thus placed in mid ocean by volcanic action, was first
discovered by the great Emperor Augustus, who chancing to visit the island
for some obscure reason was greatly affected by the spectacle of a
withered ilex tree, that revived and burst into foliage at the auspicious
moment of his setting foot at the Marina. Flattered at the compliment paid
by Nature's self to his august presence and drawing a happy omen from the
incident, the Emperor at once proposed to the people of Neapolis, who then
owned the island, that they should exchange barren Capreae for the larger
and more fertile imperial appanage of Aenaria (Ischia)--a bargain to which
the shrewd Neapolitans readily agreed. Here then in a spot at once so
salubrious and so convenient for the management of affairs of state, the
Emperor sought rest and relaxation at such times as he could escape the
cares of government. At his bidding villas and pleasaunces were
constructed; roads were carried by means of viaducts across the airy
plateau lying between the Salto and the Solaro; and the able bodied
inhabitants of the island were enrolled as a sort of honorary bodyguard
for the person of Augustus during his occasional visits. In this secluded,
yet accessible retreat, the ruler of the Roman world could easily lay his
finger, as it were, upon the beating pulse of his mighty empire, for
Capreae was at no great distance from Rome itself, and from the heights of
the island note could be made of the movements of the Imperial fleet lying
at Baiae or of the arrival of the corn ships from Egypt and Asia Minor.
But the name of the good Augustus is scarcely remembered in connection
with Capreae, which alone recalls its association with Tiberius the
Tyrant, who spent the last nine years of his reign upon the rocky islet
that was so beloved of his predecessor. To this spot "Timberio" (as the
natives invariably misname the Emperor) feeling the rapid approach of
senile decay, weary of the thankless task of ruling an ungrateful people,
sick of family dissensions and of court intrigue, at last came in the
cherished hope of spending the few remaining years of his life in cultured
leisure and in comparative solitude. An enthusiastic student of astronomy
and of its sister science, or rather pseudo-science, astrology, Tiberius
proposed to study the heavens in the company of chosen