BOOK XVIII. XXVIII. 108-XXIX. III 



made sieves and meal-sifters of flax, and Egvpt of 

 papyriis and rush. 



XXIX. But among the first things let us give a Campanian 

 recipe for alica," a very exccllent and hcalthy food, by "'*"■ 

 means of which Italy has undoubtedly won the palm 

 for cereals. It is no doubt also made in Egypt, but of a 

 rather contemptible quaUty, whereas in Italy it occurs 

 in a number of places, for instance in the districts of 

 \'erona and Pisa, but the most highly recommended 

 variety in Campania. There beneath cloud-capped 

 moimtains lies a plain extending in all for about 40 

 miles on the level. The ground of this plain, to begin 

 by stating the nature of the soil, being dusty on the 

 surface but spongy imderneath and also porous Hke 

 pumice, what is a fault in mountain country turns 

 into an advantage, as the earth allows the frequent 

 rainfall to percolate and passes it through, and so as 

 to facilitate cultivation has refused to become soaked 

 or swampy, while at the same time it does not give 

 back the moisture it receives by any springs, but 

 warms it up inside itself to a moderate temperature 

 and retains it as a kind of juice. The land is in crop 

 all the year round, being sown once with Italian millet 

 and twice with emmer wheat ; and yet in spring 

 the fields having had an interval of rest produce a rose 

 with a sweeter scent than the garden rose, so far is 

 the earth never tired of giving birth ; hence there 

 is a common saying that the Campanians produce 

 more scent than other people do oil. But as the Cam- 

 panian plain surpasses all the lands of the world, so 

 in the same degree is Campania itself surpassed by 

 the part of it called Leboriae, and by the Greeks the 

 Phlegraean Plain. This district is bounded on either 

 side by consular roads that run from PozzuoU and 



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