254 STRABO. [CHAP.
Alps, which formed the northern boundary of this area, for he
describes them as starting from the same neighbourhood as the
Apennines, at Vada Sabatia (Vado) to the westward of Genoa,
and extending thence to the head of the Adriatic in a great
curve, the concave side of which is turned towards Italy1. He
traces the lines of the chief Roman roads, with the cities that lay
in their neighbourhood; and in consequence this portion of his
work is somewhat overcrowded with names—an unavoidable re-
sult, since their importance forbade their omission. Owing to the
prevalence of volcanic action in this part of Europe, numerous
references are here introduced to this class of phenomenon.
The islands in the Bay of Naples, and Vesuvius, which, though
quiescent at that time, gave evidence in its appearance of its
former activity; the Aeolian (Lipari) islands and Etna; and other
features, such as the jets of volcanic gas in the lake of the Palici
in the interior of Sicily, are described2; and many interesting
details are communicated, especially about Etna, the formation of
the lava beds of which, and the changes in the form of its crater,
are noticed3. As might be expected from Strabo's lengthened
residence in Rome, full details are furnished about Latium and
Campania; and his graphic descriptions of Tibur, Praeneste, and
the Alban Hills, of the Pomptine marshes, of the Lake Avernus
and the Lucrine Lake, and of the artificial harbours of Puteoli,
which was at that time the most important city of Italy after Rome,
give clear evidence of personal observation. Not less valuable is
the account of Naples as a place of literary leisure, and of the
traditional Hellenic culture which survived there; elsewhere also
he tells us that that city was the only place in South Italy besides
Tarentum and Rhegium where Greek was spoken in his age4.
It was no part of his plan to enter into elaborate details about
the famous edifices of Rome, and the only building there which
is delineated with any minuteness is the Mausoleum of Augustus,
which would seem to have been the sight of the day. But his
general remarks on the public works in the capital—the roads,
aqueducts and sewers—are excellent; and the same thing may
be said of his sketch of the Campus Martius, with the bright
1 4. 6. i; 5.1.3.- * 6. 2.9.
* 6. a. 3, 8. < 6. i. «*