Gell, William; Gandy, John P. : Pompeiana: the topography, edifices and ornaments of Pompeii (Band 1) (London, 1824)

xxm

time maintained his head quarters; but
its luxuries proved fatal to the discipline
of his armies. As the early existence of
Rome was fought for on these plains, five
centuries and a half-before the Christian
asra, so at an equal period after that
epoch were they the theatre of a contest
for its possession, after Eome had ceased to
struggle. During two months, the Draco
or Sarnus divided the contending armies,
until Teias, the Gothic king, retired to
Mount Lactarius, where he was defeated
and slain by the eunuch Narses. With
that war ended the existence of the last
assembly pretending to the name of a
Roman senate.

This delightful region, the ' pompa
maggior della natura,' says Micali, was
ever considered, for its soft climate and
fertile soil, the compendium of all the
prerogatives of Italy. Its wines, its roses,
its vases, were equally celebrated ; though