PLINY THE YOUNGER. 



I^AUREN^INA. 



YOU are surprised that I am so fond of my 

 Laurentine, or (if you prefer the name) my 

 L,aurens ; but you will cease to wonder when I 

 acquaint you with the beauty of the villa, the 

 advantages of its situation, and the extensive 

 view of the sea-coast. It is only seventeen 

 miles from Rome ; so that when I have finished 

 my business in town, I can pass my evenings 

 here after a good satisfactory day's work. 

 There are two different roads to it ; if you go by 

 that of Laurentum, you must turn off at the 

 fourteenth mile-stone ; if by Ostia, at the 

 eleventh. Both of them are sandy in places, 

 which makes it a little heavier and longer by 

 carriage, but short and easy on horseback. The 

 landscape affords plenty of variety, the view in 

 some places being closed in by woods, in others 



