240 PLINY S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XIY. 



generous of all the wines; it was grown in some marshy 

 swamps, planted with poplars, in the vicinity 61 of the Gulf of 

 Amyclse. This vineyard has, however, now disappeared, the 

 result of the carelessness of the cultivator, combined with its 

 own limited extent, and the works on the canal which Nero 

 commenced, in order to provide a navigation from Lake Aver- 

 nus to Ostia. 



The second rank belonged to the wine of the Falernian ter- 

 ritory, of which the Faustianum was the most choice variety ; 

 the result of the care and skill employed upon its cultivation. 

 This, however, has also degenerated very considerably, in con- 

 sequence of the growers being more solicitous about quantity 63 

 than quality. The Falernian 63 vineyards begin at the bridge of 

 Campania, on the left-hand as you journey towards the Urbana 

 Colonia of Sylla, which was lately a township of the city of 

 Capua. As to the Faustian vineyards, they extend about four 

 miles from a village near CaBdiciae, 64 the same village being six 

 miles from Sinuessa. There is now no wine known that ranks 

 higher than the Falernian ; it is the only one, too, among all 

 the wines that takes fire on the application of llame. 65 There 

 are three varieties of it — the rough, the sweet, and the thin. 

 Some persons make the following distinctions : the Caucinum, 

 they say, grows on the summit of this range of hills, the Faus- 

 tianum on the middle slopes, and the Falemum at the foot : 

 the fact, too, should not be omitted, that none of the grapes 

 that produce these more famous wines have by any means an 

 agreeable flavour. 



To the third 66 rank belonged the various wines of Alba, in the 

 vicinity of the City, remarkable for their sweetness, and some- 



6-1 See B. iii. c. 9. Between Fundi and Setia; a locality now of no 

 repute for its wines. In B. xxiii. c. 19, Pliny says, that the Csecuban vine 

 was extinct : but in B. xvii. c. 3, he says that in the Pomptine Marshes it 

 was to be found. 



62 This was the case, it has been remarked, with Madeira some years ago. 



63 This is the most celebrated of all the ancient wines, as being more 

 especially the theme of the poets. 



64 See B. xi. c. 97. The wines of the Falernian district are no longer 

 held in any esteem ; indeed, all the Campanian wines are sour, and of a 

 disagreeable flavour. 



65 It appears to have been exceedingly rich in alcohol. 



66 But in B. xxiii. c. 20, he assigns the first rank to the Albanum ; pos- 

 sibly, however, as a medicinal wine. The wines of Latium are no longer 

 held in esteem. 



