Feronia
An old Italian goddess of fertility and wild places, whose sacred spring was near Anxur.
A bad night at the inn on the road to Brundisium
Horace, Satires, book 1, satire 5 (the journey to Brundisium, probably 37 BCE), in the school edition of Arthur Palmer (Macmillan, 1905 printing) · journey probably in the spring of 37 BCE; written soon after
jamque dies aderat, nil cum procedere lintrem sentimus; donec cerebrosus prosilit unus ac mulae nautaeque caput lumbosque saligno fuste dolat: quarta vix demum exponimur hora. ora manusque tua lavimus, Feronia, lympha. milia tum pransi tria repimus atque subimus inpositum saxis late candentibus Anxur.
Day was already breaking when we noticed that the boat was not moving at all. Then one hothead jumped out and beat the mule and the boatman about the head and back with a willow club. It was the fourth hour before we finally got ashore. We washed our faces and hands in your spring, Feronia. Then we ate lunch, crawled three miles, and climbed up to Anxur, perched on its rocks that shine white for miles around.