The town only acquired municipal rights after the Social War and was unimportant except as a seaside resort. Cicero compares its villas with those at Antium, and probably both Tiberius and Domitian resided there. Presumably, Domitian's villa contained important artistic works, such as the Apollo and the Faun With the Transverse Flute, and a spa. The view from the highest summit of the promontory (which is occupied by ruins of a platform attributed to a temple of Venus or Circe) is remarkably beautiful; the whole mountain is covered with fragrant shrubs. From any point in the Pontine Marshes or on the coast-line of Latium, the Circeian promontory dominates the landscape in the most remarkable way.