and Colle Collafri beyond it, along which for four miles runs the Via
Praenestina, undoubtedly belonged to the domain of Praeneste.[13] But it
was not so important a piece of property as the ridges on either side,
for it is much narrower, and it had no town at its end. There was
probably always a road out this ridge, as is shown by the presence of
the later Via Praenestina, but that there was no town at the end of the
ridge is well proved by the fact that Ashby finds no remains there which
give evidence of one. Then, too, we have plain enough proof of general
unfitness for a town. In the first place the ridge runs oil into the
junction of two roadless valleys, there is not much fertile land back of
where the town site would have been, but above all, however, it is
certain that the Via Praenestina was an officially made Roman road, and
did not occupy anything more than a previous track of little
consequence. This is shown by the absence of tombs of the early
necropolis style along this road.

The next ridge must always have been one of the most important, for from
above Cavamonte as far as Passerano, at the bottom of the ridge on the
side toward Rome, connecting with the highway which was the later Via
Latina, ran the main road through Zagarolo, Passerano, Corcolle, on to
Tibur and the north.[14] As this was the other of the two great roads
which ran to the north without getting out on the Roman Campagna, it is
certain that Praeneste considered it in her territory, and probably kept
the travel well in hand. With dependent towns at Zagarolo and Passerano,
which are several miles distant from each other, there must have been at
least one more town between them, to guard the road against attack from
Tusculum or Gabii. The fact that the Via Praenestina later cut the Colle
del Pero-Colle Seloa just below a point where an ancient road ascends
the ridge to a place well adapted for a town, and where there are some
remains,[15] seems to prove the supposition, and to locate another of