Ulubrae

Ulubrae was an ancient village about 50 kilometers (30 mi) from Rome, past the Three Taverns on the Appian Way, and at the start of the Pontine Marshes. It is known primarily for its use as a byword for a remote and empty location by Latin authors such as Cicero, Juvenal, and Horace.[1][2]

Its use in this proverbial fashion is also associated with the 18th-century Scottish Boswell family's country seat at Auchinleck. Alexander Boswell inscribed a line from Horace on Auchinleck House—"what thou seekest is here, it is in Ulubrae, unless equanimity is lacking"—and his son James Boswell referred to himself as the "Master of Ulubrae".[2]

References

  1. ^ Andrew Dalby (2000). Empire of Pleasures: Luxury and Indulgence in the Roman World. Routledge. p. 44. ISBN 0415186242. 
  2. ^ a b John Strawhorn (1995). "Master of Ulubrae: Boswell as Enlightened Laird". In Irma S. Lustig. Boswell: Citizen of the World, Man of Letters. University Press of Kentucky. p. 117. ISBN 0813119103.