Page:The Natural History of Pliny.djvu/275

Chap. 20.] Cato writes that Ameria above-mentioned was founded 964 years before the war with Perseus.

CHAP. 20. (15.) — THE EIGHTH REGION OF ITALY; THE PADUS.

The eighth region is bounded by Ariminum, the Padus, and the Apennines. Upon the coast we have the river Crustumium, and the colony of Ariminum , with the rivers Ariminus and Aprusa. Next comes the river Rubico, once the boundary of Italy, and after it the Sapis , the Vitis, and the Anemo, and then, Ravenna, a town of the Sabines , with the river Bedesis, 105 miles from Ancona; and, not far from the sea, Butrium , a town of the Umbri. In the interior there are the colonies of Bononia, formerly called Felsina, when

3 A papal decree, issued in 1756, declared the river Lusa to have been the ancient Rubicon, but the more general opinion is that the Pisatello, a little to the north of it, has better claims to that honour. On the north bank of the Rubicon a pillar was placed by a decree of the Senate, with an inscription giving notice that whoever should pass in arms into the Roman territory would be deemed an enemy to the state. It is espe- cially celebrated in history by Cæsar's passage across it at the head of his army, by which act he declared war against the republic. See Lucan, B. i. l. 200-230.

5 Strabo and Zosimus however state that it was first founded by the Thessalians. Ravenna first came into notice on being made one of the two chief stations of the Roman fleet. The harbour which was made for it was called "Classes," and between it and Ravenna sprang up the town of Cæsarea. Though not deemed unhealthy, it lay in a swampy district. Theodoric made it the capital of the kingdom of the Goths. The modern city stands on the site of the ancient town. The river Bedesis is now called the Montone.