A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

Central and Southern Italy 329
They enjoy a very rich country, well tilled and im- Their luxproved;
and so reap abundance of all sorts of fruits, not
only for necessary food but for pleasure and delight.
They have their tables spread twice a day, furnished
with every variety of food, even to luxury and excess.
Their carpets are interwoven with flower designs,
and
they use a great many silver cups of many forms. Of
household servants they have a large number, some very
beautiful, others rich in apparel, above the condition of
servants.
Slaves and freedmen alike have several apartments
allowed them, completely furnished and adorned.
Finally the Etruscans threw off their primitive sobriety,
and now live an idle, profligate life in riot and drunkenness.
There is no wonder then that they have lost the
honor and reputation their fathers gained through warlike
achievemen.
III.
Latium and Campania
The whole of Latium is fertile, and abounds in every Latium.
product; we should except a few districts along the coast,
which are marshy and unhealthful. . . . Some parts
also may be too mountainous; yet even these regions are
not absolutely idle and useless, for they furnish abundant
pasturage, wood, and the peculiar products of marsh and
rock. For instance, C^cubum, wholly a marsh, nourishes
strabov.3.s
a vine, which produces excellent wine.
One of tlie maritime cities of Latium is Ostia. It has Ostia.
no port because of the accumulation of silt brought down
by the Tiber, which is swelled by many rivers. Vessels
therefore come to anchor further out, and yet with some
danger.
Gain, however, overcomes ever^'thing; for there
are many lighters in readiness to freight and unfreight the
larger ships before they approach the mouth of the river,