186 plint's natural histoet. [Book III. Extending behind all the before-mentioned places are the Apennines, the most considerable of all the mountains of Italy, the chain of which extends unbroken from the Alps^ to the Sicilian sea. On the other side of the Apen- nines, towards the Padus^, the richest river of Italy, the whole country is adorned with noble towns ; Libarna^, the colony of Dertona"*, Iria^ Barderate^, Industria, PoUentia^, Carrea surnamed Potential, Foro Pulvi or Yalentinum^", Augusta" of the A^agienni, Alba Pompeia^^, Asta^^, and Aquae Statiellorum^"*. This is the ninth region, according to the arrangement of Augustus. The coast of Liguria extends 211 miles ^^, between the rivers Varus and Macra. CHAP. 8. THE SEVENTH EEGION OF ITALY. !N^ext to this comes the seventh region, in which is Etruria,
- Of which they were considered as a chain, and called the Apennine
Alps. ^ Now the Po. 3 According to D'AnviUe, now Castel Arqua.
- Now Tortona. It was a city of importance, and there are con-
siderable ruins still in existence. 5 The modern Voghera, upon the river Staffora. 6 Probably the present Yerrua. 7 Called by the Ligiirians Bodincomagus, by the Romans Industria. Its remains are to be found at Monteu di Po, a few miles below Cherasso, on the right bank of the river. ^ The modern PoUenza, a small town on the river Tenaro near Alba. 9 Its site has been placed at Chieri near Turin, and at Carru on the Tanaro, a few miles south of Bene, which is perhaps the most probable. ^0 The modern Valenza. ^1 Placed by D'AnviUe at Yico near Mondovi, and by other writers at Carmagnole and Saluzzo : but Durandi has shown that the ruins still to be seen near Bene in Piedmont are those of Augusta Vagiennorum. Bene is supposed to be a corruption of Bagienna, the name of the town ia the middle ages. The name of the Vagienni also probably sm*vives in that of Viozenna, an obscure place in that vicinity. ^2 Still called Alba ; a town near the northern foot of the Apennines. It probably had its appellation from Cn. Pompeius Strabo, the father of Pompey the Great, who conferred many privileges on the Cisalpine Gauls. It was the birth-place of the Emperor Helvius Pertinax. ^3 The modem Aste.
- The modem Acqui, so called from its mineral springs. It is again
mentioned by Phny in B. XXXI. Numerous remains of the ancient town have been discovered.
- 5 Ansart observes that this measurement is nearly correct.
