A short walk today because of lodging challenges. It looks like we’re going to have to use AirBnB lodgings a lot. No hostels down here, no convents offering lodging, and hardly any hotels.
Our path took us through the countryside high above the plains leading to the Tyrrhenian Sea. As the weather cleared, we could see it glittering in the distance on our right. On the left the Apennine mountains rose increasingly higher. Our path was usually right on the edge of the very steep and sudden rise of land from the coastal plains.
Norma has been built right next to the ancient city of Norba. We visited the ruins of Norba, particularly impressed by the massive remains of “cyclopean” walls. This technique of building, using large blocks fitted together like jigsaw pieces, without mortar, was used fairly widely in this region in pre-Roman times. It got its name because the Greeks thought only the giant one-eyed cyclopes could have been strong enough to move such massive stones. The Norba walls are dated between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC.
Norba must have been a very pleasant town in Roman days, nestled under mountains and overlooking the broad plains to the sea. In 82 BC Sulla was intent on defeating his arch enemy Marius to become sole ruler of Rome. Norba was one of the last cities to fall to Sulla’s troops. A contemporary historian recorded that many citizens of Norba committed suicide, but those that hid in their houses were burnt alive and the city then was completely destroyed. Sulla went on to rule Rome as a very violent dictator.
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