| Show FH ROMANS BUILT WELL dw alc lea eold alpin e city pro v e s this k M I 1 A L C C ft R mea an fn lj the great roman republic found the alps a serious obstacle to its north ward expansion nature and the na tives alike fought against them and the struggle for the mastery ot of the fertile valley at the toot foot of the two passes now called the great and lit tie tle st bernard was as troublesome as an afghan war both had great strat egic importance the one being the only direct route into the valley of the rhone the other giving easy access to that of the asere the lower part of the valley Is for a time a deep gorge down which rushes the torrent of the dora baldea and the deep slopes above it must have been troublesome to the roman romah road maker the natives the salassi were among the most pugna clous of the alpine tribes and so far from submitting like those at the foot of the mount cenis they lost no chance of making themselves not less unpleasant to their lowland neighbors than Is the general wont of highland ers erg when at last a roman army had stamped out the nuisance good care was taken that it should not occur A fortified town was built in an open part of the valley where the roads join from the two passes which still may claim to be the best preserved ex e ample in europe of a roman frontier towi tow i in sit satiation bation also aosta aasta Is with out a rival I 1 ike chur and it is a city of the mountains but with yet more impressive surroundings the fertile valley of the dora baldea with its maize fields and vineyards stretches away westward up to the massive a snow clad wall cap ped by a line of peaks like ruined battlements to the north the valley of the great st bernard leads up to the snowy cap of the velan and the icy ley summit of the still loftier bombin while to the south the huge rocky pyra mid of the becca beeca di nona rises full 8 feet above the streets backed by the still loftier mont emilius not till about twenty nine years before the christian era did the romans become masters of the valley and then only after a desperate struggle A strong army led by Teren tius varro varre stormed the chief town of the which occupied the site of the present city and as thoro agh was the maxim of the roman policy varro made sure that there should be no need of doing the work over again those who escaped the swords of his soldiers were taken down to Ep Epo oredia redla nw ivrea avrea already built to guard the entrance of the valley and were sold strategic point aosta aasta was admirable and augustus was not slow to send 3 soldiers to secure and fortify the new settlement to them or their slaves we owe the strong walls which still remain they bridged a river erected a triumphal arch an ampel theatre and other buildings and more than once in other parts of the district we are confronted with the work ot of the romin architect with most ot of these time and man have dealt fully so that nowhere in the alps and not in many other places Is the out line of a roman fortified town bet ter preserved the dimensions dimen lons ions of this city agre ap e 6 f V tv new bridge geneva very nearly with those usual in a cam intended to hold three legions tor for it 11 measures roughly 2 feet by 1600 1 the walls still remain practically un broken they were built of small boulders and pebbles from the river cemented by such mortar as roman masons whose inspectors were antol arant of jerry building knew how to make and they were faced with well hewn blocks of limestone or pud ding stone now the construction of railway which has placed it within easy reach of turin instead of being separated by a long journey over dusty roads has awakened aosta aasta and begun to its bAli buildings dIngs the most imposing relics of its roman masters are on the eastern side of the city there a strong arch spanned the tor for rent from the valpelline Val pelline and this still remains partly burled buried in gravel for the main stream has changed its course in front of it stands in solitary state the fine triumphal arch erected by varro to commemorate his conquest of the valley except that the attic has disappeared it still remains fair ly perfect a single arch with tour four columns on each face aosta aasta has been from the fifth cen con tury the seat of a bishop and pos besses a cathedral which with the ex caption of a crypt and tower has been rebuilt and almost deprived of interest st ursus outside the eastern wall has fared rather better for it has re bained a fine romanesque steeple and a cloister of unusual interest one of tiie tae pillars still bearing the date of its erection 1133 the town itself has more than one link with ecclesiastical history tor for its archdeacon was st bernard the apostle of the alps who has left his name to the two passes which unite here and about a quarter of a century after his death anseln was born in aosta aasta to be transformed 1 A aw f at air OR t 3 V 4 i n 4 41 0 lausanne cathedral i as slaves thus 36 it Is said were r deported and peace was obtained by making a solitude then a strongly fortified town was as built and called augusta praetorian Pra etoria it held the keys of all the upper valleys draining into the dora balea 1 and not only ren dered united action impossible among any tribes which might still linger in their fastnesses bit b it also effectually blocked any attempt to penetrate by this route into piedmont for the re daining toa ining passes over the lead across snow and glaciers thus as a from a dissipated youth into the learned abbot of bee and to die arch bishop of canterbury after some sharp contests with william rufus and his successor but there are other relics of the past for as we wander about the narrow streets and lanes we chance here and there upon quaint remnants of olden time and the run lets of glacier water that sweep along channels in the cobble stones never the smoothest of pavements give a scene of coolness an italian sum mer s day |
