240 
PLIlSrY's NATTJEAL HISTOET. * [Book XI Y. 
generous of all the wines ; it was grown in some marshy 
swamps, planted with poplars, in the vicinity^^ of the Gulf of 
Amyclae. 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 N'ero 
commenced, in order to provide a navigation from Lake Aver- 
nus to Ostia. 
The second rank belonged to the wine of the Palernian 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^^ 
than quality. The Ealernian^^ 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 Cgediciae,^^ 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 flame. 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 Falernum 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 rank belonged the various wines of Alba, in the 
vicinity of the City, remarkable for their sweetness, and some- 
^1 See B. in. 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. 
^2 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. 
6* 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. 
^ It appears to have been exceedingly rich in alcohol. 
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. 
