Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/330

 316 STRABO. CASAUB. 212. 4. This is a superb plain variegated with fruitful hills. The Po divides it almost through its midst, one side being denominated Cispadana, and the other Transpadana. Cispa- dana comprehends that part next the Apennines and Liguria, jand Transpadana the reTnamcTer^ The" former [division] is inhabited by Ligurian and Keltic nations, the former inhabit- ing the mountains and thelatter the plains ; and the latter [division] by Kelts and Heneti. These Kelts are of the .ce as the Transalpjne^elts. Concerning the Heneti ere are two'traditions, some saying that they are a 'colony of those Kelts of the same name who dwell by the ocean. 1 Others *ay that they are descended from the Veneti of Paph- lagonia, who took refuge here with Antenor after the Trojan war"; and they give as a proof of this the attention these peo- ple* bestow on rearing horses ; which, though now entirely abandoned, was formerly in great esteem among them, result- ing from the ancient rage for breeding mules, which Homer thus mentions : " From the Eneti for forest mules renowned." 2 It was here that Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, kept his stud of race-horses. And, in consequence, the Henetian horses were much esteemed in Greece, and their breed in great repute for a long period. 5. The whole of this country 3 is full of rivers and marshes, especially the district of the Heneti, which likewise experi- ences the tides of the_ sea. This is almost the only part of our sea 4 which is influenced in the samejnanner as the ocean, and, like it, has ebb and flood tides. In consequence most of the plain is covered with lagoons. 5 The inhabitants have dug canals and dikes, after the manner of Lower Egypt, so that part of the country is drained and cultivated, and the rest is navigable. Some of their cities stand in the midst of water like islands, others are only partially surrounded. Such as lie above the marshes in the interior are situated on rivers navigable for a surprising distance, the Po in particular, 1 OfVannes. 2 From the Heneti, whence is the race of wild mules. Iliad ii. 857. 3 Transpadana. 4 The Mediterranean. 5 The whole of the coast from Ravenna to Aquileia at the bottom of the Gulf of Venice is still covered with marshes and lagoons, as it was in the time of Strabo. The largest of these lagoons are at the mouths of the Po, the others at the mouths of the torrents which descend from the Alps