Cliap. 9.] ACCOrNT OP COUKTEIES, ETC. 
197 
arcHa, then the Phlegr^ean^ Plains, and the Marsh of 
Acherusia^ in the vicinity of Cumse. 
Again, on the coast we have Neapolis^ also a colony of 
the Chalcidians, and called Parthenope from the tomb there 
of one of the Sirens, Herculaneum^ Pompeii^ from> which 
Moimt Vesuvins may be seen at no great distance, and 
which is watered by the river Sarnns%* the territory of 
Nuceria, and, at the distance of nine miles from the sea, the 
town of that name^, and then Surrentnm^, with the Promon- 
tory of Minerva^, formerly the abode of the Sirens. The 
distance thence by sea to Circeii is seventy-eight miles. This 
town, which was destroyed by Alaric, Grenseric, and Totila, and as many 
times rebuilt. 
1 Now called Salpatara. This was the name given to the volcanic 
plain extending from Cumse to Capua, and supposed to have been once 
covered with fire ; whence the name, from tpXeyio, " to burn." 
2 Now the Lago di Fusaro. It seems to have had its name from its 
vicinity to Avernus, the supposed entrance to the infernal regions. Its 
banks were, in the later times of the Eoman repubhc, adorned with the 
villas of the wealthy. 
3 Neapohs, or the " New City," was founded by the Chalcidians of 
CumsD on the site of Parthenope, the supposed burial-place of the Siren 
of that name. It was so called as being only a 'new quarter' of the 
neighbouring city of Cumse. The modern city of Naples stands nearly 
on its site. 
^ Said to have been founded by Hercules. It was on the occasion of 
its destruction by an eruption of Vesuvius, a.d. 79, that our author un- 
fortunately met his death, a martyr to his thirst for knowledge. Its 
closer proximity to Yesuvius caused it to be buried under a more sohd 
body of materials ejected from the mountain than was the case with 
Pompeii ; which seems to have been sufibcated with ashes, while Hercu- 
laneum was covered with volcanic tufa most probably hardened by the 
agency of water. A few scattered inhabitants are supposed to have after- 
wards settled upon the site where it was buried, which for many centu- 
ries was utterly forgotten, till brought to Hght in 1738. Part of the site 
over the buried town is occupied by the villages of Resina and Portici. 
The works of art found here far exceed in value and interest those dis- 
covered at Pompeii. 
^ This seems to have been a town of Oscan origin. The first traces of 
it were found in 1689, but excavations were not commenced till 1721. 
It perished ia the same eruption of Yesuvius as Herculaneum. 
^ Now the Sarno. Its course was changed by the great eruption of 
Yesuvius previously mentioned. 
7 The modem Nocera stands on its site. Pompeii was used as its 
harbour. 
^ Now Sorrento. ^ Now also called Capo delLa Minerva. 
