DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0033
THE SITUATION OF POMPEII
3
east, are five copious springs that soon unite to form a stream.
Since 1843 the river has been drawn off for purposes of irri-
gation into three channels, which are graded at different levels;
the distribution of water thus assured makes this part of Cam-
pania one of the most fertile districts in Italy. In antiquity the
Sarno must have been confined to a single channel; according
to Strabo it was navigable for ships.
In Roman times three cities shared in the possession of the
Sarno plain Furthest inland, facing the pass in the mountains
that opens toward the Gulf of Salerno, lay Nuceria, now Nocera.
On the seashore, where the coast road to Sorrento branches off
Fig. 2. — Vesuvius as seen from Naples.
toward the southwest, was Stabiae, now Castellammare. North
of Stabiae, at the foot of Vesuvius, Pompeii stood, on an eleva-
tion overlooking the Sarno, formed by the end of a stream of
lava that in some past age had flowed from Vesuvius down
toward the sea. Pompeii thus united the advantages of an
easily fortified hill town with those of a maritime city. “It
lies,” says Strabo, “ on the Sarnus, which accommodates a
traffic in both imports and exports; it is the seaport of Nola,
Nuceria, and Acerrae.”
A glance at the map will show how conveniently situated
Pompeii was to serve as a seaport for Nola and Nuceria;
but it seems hardly credible that the inhabitants of Acerrae,
which lay much nearer Naples, should have preferred for their
3
east, are five copious springs that soon unite to form a stream.
Since 1843 the river has been drawn off for purposes of irri-
gation into three channels, which are graded at different levels;
the distribution of water thus assured makes this part of Cam-
pania one of the most fertile districts in Italy. In antiquity the
Sarno must have been confined to a single channel; according
to Strabo it was navigable for ships.
In Roman times three cities shared in the possession of the
Sarno plain Furthest inland, facing the pass in the mountains
that opens toward the Gulf of Salerno, lay Nuceria, now Nocera.
On the seashore, where the coast road to Sorrento branches off
Fig. 2. — Vesuvius as seen from Naples.
toward the southwest, was Stabiae, now Castellammare. North
of Stabiae, at the foot of Vesuvius, Pompeii stood, on an eleva-
tion overlooking the Sarno, formed by the end of a stream of
lava that in some past age had flowed from Vesuvius down
toward the sea. Pompeii thus united the advantages of an
easily fortified hill town with those of a maritime city. “It
lies,” says Strabo, “ on the Sarnus, which accommodates a
traffic in both imports and exports; it is the seaport of Nola,
Nuceria, and Acerrae.”
A glance at the map will show how conveniently situated
Pompeii was to serve as a seaport for Nola and Nuceria;
but it seems hardly credible that the inhabitants of Acerrae,
which lay much nearer Naples, should have preferred for their