Robert Conway and Thomas Ashby

“ The road system of Campania was extremely well developed and touched all the important towns. The main lines are followed (though less completely) by the modern railways. The most important road centre of Campania was Capua, at the east edge of the plain. ”

“ It extends as far east as Salerno, where the coast plain of the Sele begins. As in the low marshy ground at the mouths of the Liri and Volturno, malaria is very prevalent. The south-east extremity of the Gulf of Salerno is formed by another mountain group, culminating in the Monte Cervati (6229 ft.) ; and on the east side of this is the Gulf of Policastro, where the province of Salerno, and with it Campania, borders, on the province of Potenza. ”

“ Beyond Naples a road led along the coast through Herculaneum to Pompeii, where there was a branch for Stabiae and Surrentum, and thence to Nuceria, where it joined the Via Popillia. From Nuceria, which was an important road centre, a direct road ran to Stabiae, while from Salernum, 11 m. farther south-east but outside the limits of Campania proper, a road ran due north to Abellinum and thence to Aeclanum or Beneventum. ”

“ The loose black volcanic earth (terra pulla) was easier to work than the stiffer Roman soil, and gave three or four crops a year. The spelt, wheat and millet are especially mentioned, as also fruit and vegetables; and the roses supplied the perfume factories of Capua. The wines of the Mons Massicus and of the Ager Falernus (the flat ground to the east and south-east of it) were the most sought after, though other districts also produced good wine; but the olive was better suited to the slopes than to the plain, though that of Venafrum was good. ”

“ The native peasant industries are (besides agriculture, for which see Italy) the manufacture of pottery and weaving with small hand-looms, both of which are being swept away by the introduction of machinery; but a government school of textiles has been established at Naples for the encouragement of the trade. ”

“ Liris) , which rises in the Abruzzi (105 m. in length) ; the Volturno (94 m. in length) , with its tributary the Calore; the Sarno, which rises near Sarno and waters the fertile plain south-east of Vesuvius; and the Sele, whose main tributary is the Tanagro, which is in turn largely fed by another Calore. The headwaters of the Sele have been tapped for the great aqueduct for the Apulian provinces.
The coast-line begins a little east of Terracina at the lake of Fondi with a low-lying, marshy district (the ancient Ager Caecubus) , renowned for its wine (see Fondi) . ”

“ Neapolis could also be reached by a branch from the Via Popillia at Suessula, which passed through Acerrae. From Suessula, too, there was a short cut to the Via Appia before it actually entered the mountains. ”