The old man was sitting there, in front of his little house, in a narrow alley in Baschi, and he couldn’t stop talking. I just didn’t have the strength to answer him, after those ups and downs in the historic centre made up of narrow streets, alleys and houses, the so-called “holes” … with doors and windows carved from grey stone. I was my fault: I was early, and I stopped at the bar at the entrance to the town, right where the SS 205 turns to go towards Amelia. I had immediately aroused everyone’s interest: “Tourist?” the cashier asked me; “No, archaeologist” I replied. It is always impressive to call you like this… and they usually listen to you more: “I have an appointment at the Museum, but I’m early”.
“Well, then have a chat with the Nebbia, he knows a lot!” three guys tell me, neglecting the game of cards for a moment and nudging each other. So here is my presumption repaid and the reason for the nickname of the old man who has been talking to me continuously for at least 10 minutes: Nebbia (Fog), precisely, because with the fatigue of the ups and downs and the bombardment of his words your brain becomes clouded…
They had given me some general indications such as, you know, “go around here, go up there … you recognize him so much, he is always sitting in front of the house looking at infinity”. I had noticed the complicit winking between them, but I did have time to waste and then, he was really there, sitting in front of a green door.
But, wait, he seems to have noticed my half confusional state, because he suddenly stops and says: “Come with me!”. I return to myself and follow him: in spite of his age he turns the corner, passes an alley, takes another and then, suddenly, he stops on a terrace in front of a wonderful view of the Tiber Valley which, right in Baschi, opens up in an alluvial plain after passing the strait in front of the town.
“Do you see the river?” “The Gauls came from Rome following the same road done by tracks today. A shapeless horde of rough barbarians with chariots carrying the treasure stolen from Rome, and then the famous ransom “.” Yes, I know the battle of Veascium “I do… and he, as if I didn’t exist, points to the places with his bony arm and his stripped hand: “We were thirsty for revenge, just as the Gauls were for the scorching heat of that July 16, 389…” … Now that I think about it, his hand had rings never seen before… indeed, I had seen them, but in a museum! And what are such rings doing in the hands of an old man?
He continues: “We had crossed the Tiber, right in front of the city, and we were hiding there, where now, you see – and he points it out to me – there is that old half-destroyed tower”. Yes, I see it. “The Gauls had thin lines to pass between the river and the hill, first the warriors came and then the women and then the chariots and among these, we were sure, the loot stolen in the “Eternal Rome”. But why does he say “us”? The thing begins to worry me, I met a crazy old man … I have to go to the Museum, and I have to find an excuse to leave him. But he continues: “I give the signal and we throw ourselves headlong against them, avenging the Allia. The Tiber turned red that day and Mars had his supply of sacrifices”. He gets hot and I fear for his health, after all it is July even today and it is hot, and we are on a terrace, in the sun, and no longer among the cool alleys of Baschi.
And he still asks me: “And why do you think that the highway, all straight like the Roman roads, makes an S here before starting to run for Orvieto again? To respect the site of the battle, not the tracks … ”
“But no” I say, and look down, towards the Autostrada del Sole, which actually makes a double S under the town to go from one bank of the river to the other. “History must be written from the materials that we archaeologists find and then I do not think I have read all these details that he tells me …”. I go to turn around, making myself big with my knowledge and trying to grab his attention: then I turn around, confident in myself and… the Nebbia is no longer there… vanished.
Baschi was the ancient city of Veascium where, according to an ancient source, the Gauls, headed by Brenno, were beaten by Furio Camillo seven months after the battle of the Allia river, on July 16, 364 ab urbe condita, corresponding to 389 BC.
The reconstruction is fictional, inspired by a character from a 70’s drama (I let you guess who), and by the words of Diodorus Siculus (14, 117, 5), but it is not certain that things did not actually go this way. In the meantime, it is certainly worth visiting Baschi and perhaps taking a trip to the Antiquarium, in the Town Hall Palace.
Info and reservations:
Associazione ACQUA
Guide Turistiche e Guide Ambientali Escursionistiche
Tel. +39 335 7267594
antiquariumbaschi@gmail.com
