Tivoli, with its once-famous waterfalls, is located in Latium in central Italy on the Aniene River just east of Rome. It is situated on a terrace looking over Rome and the Campagna to the sea. Tivoli was once a rival of Rome, but passed into Roman hands in the fourth century BC. During the period of the late Republic and early empire the location became a popular and prosperous summer resort. Beginning in the sixteenth century, the excavation of sites which date from antiquity has played a major role in the classicization of taste. These include Hadrian's Villa, adqueducts and farms, and several temples including the great temple of Hercules Victor and the small circular Temple of Vesta (see the Temple at Tivoli). Other notable landmarks date from the middle ages and the Renaissance. The waterfalls of Tivoli occur as the Aniene River falls from its mountain source to the plain. Once very popular with tourists and painters alike and depicted by Piranesi, these 'cascades' are now diminished to a trickle, due to the extensive use of hydroelectric plants in the area. Ruskin visited Tivoli on some of his visits to Rome. The reference is to a drawing of Turner 's.