Note 329 — Chapter IX · RAGUSA AND EPIDAURUS.

Alas! that I should have to record that the statue dates at least eight centuries later than Orlando’s time. This statue, which originally stood before the Church of S. Biagio, was thrown down in 1825 by a hurricane, when the following inscription was found on a brass plate beneath its pedestal: MCCCC.... III. DI MAGGIO ‖ FATTO NEL TEMPO DI PAPA MARTINO QUINTO ‖ E NEL TEMPO DEL SIGNOR NOSTRO ‖ SIGISMONDO IMPERATOR ROMANORUM ‖ ET SEMPER AUGUSTUS ET RE D’ONGARIA ‖ E DALMATIA ET CROATIA ETC. FÒ MESSA ‖ QUESTA PIETRA ET STENDARDO QUI ‖ IN HONOR DI DIO E DI SANTO BLASIO ‖ NOSTRO GONFALON. LI OFFICIALI.... It is interesting to notice that the Ragusan account of Orlando as ‘Governor of Bretagne’ agrees with the contemporary Einhard’s account of the historical Roland. The historian of Charles the Great calls him ‘Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis præfectus.’ Orlando’s exploits are associated with other towns of the eastern coast of the Adriatic. Sir Gardner Wilkinson mentions that the magnificent harbour of Pola is called ‘Orlando’s house.’ The probable design of the statue of Roland at Ragusa was, as in the free German cities, to signify her independence of external authority.