The Odyssey: The Geography Of Campania

Strabo discusses the geography of Campania
Next after Neapolis comes the Heraclean Fortress, with a promontory which runs out into the sea and so admirably catches the breezes of the southwest wind that it makes the settlement a healthful place to live in. Both this settlement and the one next after it, Pompaia (past which flows the River Sarnus), were once held by the Osci; then, by the Tyrrheni and the Pelasgi; and after that, by the Samnitae; but they, too, were ejected from the places. Pompaia, on the River Sarnus-a river which both takes the cargoes inland and sends them out to sea is the port-town of Nola, Nuceria, and Acherrae (a place with name like that of the settlement near Cremona). Above these places lies Mt. Vesuvius, which,…show more content…
This coast, starting a hundred and forty-five kilometres south-east of Rome and extending downwards beyond the Bay of Naples, gave Ancient Rome its first good sea-front, its first window upon the Mediterranean, its first idea of becoming a world state. And behind the coast, stretching back to the Apennine range, is a plain which is incredibly favoured by nature. Traversed by two fairly important rivers and fanned by moist south-westerly winds, this territory of spongy volcanic earth, rich in phosphorus and potash, enjoys relatively mild and short winters, and the soil retains enough of the abundant seasonal rainfall to escape ill-effects from three months of summer drought. Campania is alien to the desiccated Italian south—and alien to the modest conceptions of visitors from northern lands. In ancient times, when this was the chief granary of the peninsula, some districts already produced as many as three grain crops every year, in addition, often enough, to a catch-crop of vegetables as well. There were none of the oranges and lemons that can be seen now, but olives and vines grew plentifully, and indeed many of Italy’s principal olive groves were in Campania. Walking out of Pompeii today one can see fields bearing vines, fruit trees and beans at one and the same time. And so it was in antiquity. An extraordinary variety of crops gave constant cover to the fields throughout the year, and…show more content…
To the south, beyond where the Greeks built their temple, the flow had stopped abruptly, providing a fortifiable boundary which gave protection against surprise attacks. This cliff-like termination overlooked the river Sarnus (Sarno), is quite insignificant today but which in ancient times was navigable by ships of respectable tonnage. The Sarnus, which watered the whole fertile plain south-east of Vesuvius, had already before 700 BC prompted the creation of agricultural villages in the upper reaches of its valley, and not far from the river mouth as well. Then, when Pompeii had been founded, the river meant that the place did not have to depend too much or for too long on the larger harbour towns, Cumae and Neapolis, that lay to the north. For the Sarnus gave Pompeii the role of sea-port for the adjacent hinterland. And, in particular, it became the port of a native town that lay to the east, eleven kilometres inland, Nuceria Alfaterna (Nocera), an important road centre which drew its wealth from the river plain and dominated the southern regions of