Like most
moderns you have entirely missed the point. We all know that there was
a Roman town at Lucca, because it was called Luca, and if there had
been no Roman town the modern town would not be spelt with two _c's._
All Roman towns had milestones beyond them. But why did _this_ tenth
milestone from _this_ Roman town keep its name?
LECTOR. I am indifferent.
AUCTOR. I will tell you. Up in the tangle of the Carrara mountains,
overhanging the Garfagnana, was a wild tribe, whose name I forget
(unless it were the Bruttii), but which troubled the Romans not a
little, defeating them horribly, and keeping the legionaries in some
anxiety for years. So when the soldiers marched out north from Luca
about six miles, they could halt and smile at each other, and say 'At
_Sextant..._ that's all right. All safe so far!' and therefore only a
little village grew up at this little rest and emotion. But as they
got nearer the gates of the hills they began to be visibly perturbed,
and they would say: 'The eighth mile! cheer up!' Then 'The ninth mile!
Sanctissima Madonna! Have you seen anything moving on the heights?'
But when they got to the _tenth_ milestone, which stands before the
very jaws of the defile, then indeed they said with terrible emphasis,
_'Ad Decimam!'_ And there was no restraining them: they would camp and
entrench, or die in the venture:
