The great antiquity of the Pæstan temples is determined by the style of their architecture, which is characterized by severe simplicity. The Romans seem never to have adopted the genuine Doric style, and since the Sybarites are said to have occupied the neighbouring plain at some distance from the temples, the inference is that these structures were the work of the primitive inhabitants. The temples are three in number. The one nearest to the foreground (referring to our view) is thought by some to have been a curia, or a basilica, and by others a market or exchange, since no vestiges of an altar have been discovered in it. The second building is named the temple of Neptune, and is the most majestic structure of the three. The distant ruin, designated the temple of Ceres, is much smaller than the other two. We shall not occupy space with an extended description of these buildings, since the engraving places them before the reader in a manner so satisfactory as to render textual comment unnecessary. After their subjugation by the Romans, the Pæstans still retained a fond attachment to the institutions of Greece. Though forced to adopt a foreign dialect, and accommodate themselves to the manners of their conquerors, they were accustomed to assemble annually on one of the great festivals of Greece, to keep alive the memory of their origin, and to vent their lamentations in the ancient tongue of their country.

"Parents and children mourn'd, and every year,

('Twas on the day of some old festival,)

Met to give way to tears, and once again
Talk in the ancient tongue of things gone by.'

REGGIO.

ICILY is supposed at one time to have joined the Italian peninsula, from which it was afterwards rent by an earthquake; and in reference to this opinion the etymology of Reggio has been deduced from the Greek payvu, to break. Strabo, however, is of opinion that the ancient name, Rhegium or Regium, refers to the dignity and importance of the city at the time the appellation was given.

Reggio, the chief city of Calabria Ulterior, is situated on the Straits of Messina, opposite the Sicilian coast. The history of this place commences with certainty about seven hundred years before the Christian era, at which period it was founded by a party of Zancleans from Sicily, together with some Chalcidians of Euboea, and Messenians from Peloponnesus. The government of Rhegium was oligarchical for two hundred years, or until A.C. 496, when Anaxilaus II. usurped the sole authority. Under this prince the prosperity of the Rhegians reached its highest extent; but the latter succeeded in freeing themselves from the control of the sons of Anaxilaus, and ultimately secured a moderate and stable form of government. By preserving a strict neutrality in the hostilities between the Sicilians and their opponents, the Rhegians long maintained their independence; but they at length fell into the power of Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse. During the war with Pyrrhus, this

city, at that time garrisoned by the Romans, was seized by a body of Campanians stationed there for its defence, and was exposed to all the licentiousness and rapacity of those mercenary troops. After they had held it for ten years, the place was besieged and taken by the Romans, who sent three hundred of its persecutors to Rome, where they were scourged and beheaded. On the fall of the empire, this city shared the common fate of the coast towns of Italy. It suffered severely from the Saracens; and in 1544 it was reduced to ashes by Barbarossa.

Reggio has often experienced fatal calamities from earthquakes. The walls of the city, rebuilt after their destruction by Dionysius, were totally overthrown during the great earthquake that preceded the Social war. In the last century it frequently suffered severely; and in February 1783, the same convulsions of the earth which were so fatal to Messina and a great part of Calabria, entirely destroyed Reggio. It was long before it arose again from its ruins; but its importance as the capital of the southern division of Calabria led the Neapolitan government to effect its restoration. The recent formation of a road from Naples to this extremity of the kingdom, must have a favourable influence over the prosperity of Reggio, whose neighbourhood is alike remarkable for its picturesque beauty and the fertility of its soil. The city is built on a gentle declivity. On the sea-side lies the marina, or esplanade, running parallel with the chief street; and the width of this avenue, and that of the transverse streets, renders Reggio one of the finest cities of the kingdom of Naples. The Straits of Messina, like a vast river, separate it from the shores of Sicily, where the snow-capped and towering Etna rises in all its majesty over the range of lower mountains.*

Julia, the daughter of Augustus, scandalized Rhegium by her presence, and here terminated her infamous life in exile. Names of worthier note, however, are associated with the ancient city,-those of Cicero, Titus, and St. Paul, the latter of whom records (Acts xxviii. 12, 13)—– "And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days; and from thence we fetched a compass and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli."

It is in the Straits of Messina, and from Reggio, that the celebrated optical illusion named the Fata Morgana, is sometimes witnessed. "This singular exhibition has been frequently seen in the Straits of Messina, between Sicily and the coast of Italy, and whenever it takes place, the people, in a state of exultation, as if it were not only a pleasing but a lucky phenomenon, hurry down to the sea, exclaiming, Morgana! Morgana!' When the rays of the rising sun form an angle of 45° on the sea of Reggio, and when the surface of the water is perfectly unruffled either by the wind or the current, a spectator placed upon an eminence in the city, and having his back to the sun and his face to the sea, observes upon the surface of the water superb palaces, with their balconies and windows, lofty towers, herds and flocks grazing in wooded valleys and fertile plains, armies of men on horseback and on foot, with multiplied fragments of buildings, such as columns, pilasters, and arches. These objects pass rapidly in succession along the surface of the sea during the brief period of their appearance. The various objects thus enumerated are pictures of palaces and buildings actually existing on shore, and the living objects are of course only seen when they happen to form a part of the general landscape. If at the time that these phenomena are visible the atmosphere is charged with vapour or dense exhalations, the same objects which are depicted upon the sea will be seen also in the air, occupying a space which extends from the surface to the height of twenty-five feet. If the air is in a state to deposit dew, and is capable of forming the rainbow, the objects will be seen only on the surface of the sea, and will appear fringed with colours, as if seen through a prism."

BENEVENTO.

ENEVENTO, anciently Beneventum in the country of the Samnites, is a place of some interest to the classical historian. In this neighbourhood stood the town of Caudium, near which, in a place called Caudina Furculæ, a Roman army, under S. Veturius Calvinus and Spurius Posthumius, was compelled to surrender to the Samnites, and to pass beneath the yoke with every mark of degradation. Beneventum was a city of high antiquity, and claimed Diomedes for its founder. It long bore the inauspicious name of Maleventum, which was changed when it became a Roman colony into one of better omen. Its adherence to Rome during the second Punic War, obtained for it the thanks of the senate. After the fall of the empire, this city was possessed in succession by the Goths, the Greeks, and the Lombards. Under the latter people it became an independent principality, and ultimately rose to be a dukedom; and after having been governed by various princes, Lombard, Greek, and Norman, it at length fell under the domination of the Roman pontiff. On the French invasion of Italy, and after the conquest of Naples, Bonaparte gave this city to Talleyrand; together with the title of Prince of Benevento; but on the termination of the Napoleon drama it was restored to the papal authority.

Benevento stands on a gentle elevation, at the foot of a bold ridge of hills. Its northern walls are bathed by the Calore, a river still enjoying its ancient name. A lofty bridge crosses the stream; and near this structure two heaps of stones are pointed out as the memorial of the burial place of Count Manfred of Suabia. This nobleman long maintained a struggle against Charles of Anjou and the pope; but at length, in January 1266, he suffered a signal defeat near Benevento, and rushing into the midst of his enemies, fell amongst a heap of slain. Charles, in a letter to the Roman pontiff, represented that the body of Manfred had received honourable sepulture; but this honourable interment consisted merely in throwing the corpse into a ditch, and permitting every soldier in the army to cast a stone upon it.

The citadel of Benevento, a structure of moderate but picturesque proportions, erected in 1323, is situated outside the city gates. The cathedral is a large fabric in the Saracenic style, but composed of ancient materials, the remains of imperial times. It is supported within by fifty columns of white marble, forming on each side a double aisle. Relics of Roman greatness may be traced at Benevento, in the remains of an amphitheatre and the ancient walls of the city, and in minor details of architectural decoration. The chief antiquity, however, is the triumphal arch of Trajan, forming one of the gates of the city. It consists of a single arch, and is of Parian marble, and entire, with the exception of a part of the cornice. Both sides are adorned with four Corinthian pillars raised on high pedestals. The frieze, panels, and indeed every part within and without the arch, are covered with rich sculptures, allusive to the achievements of the emperor. This triumphal arch is considered the most perfect thing of the kind existing; it appears, however, to be wanting in simplicity, the decorations being so crowded as to leave no repose for the eye, and no plane surface to give relief to the sculptures.