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. Teanum was another important centre: it lay
at the point where the Via Latina was crossed at right angles by a road
leaving the Via Appia at Minturnae, and passing through Suessa Aurunca,
while east of Teanum it ran on to Allifae, and there fell into the road
from Venafrum to Telesia. Five miles north of Teanum a road branched off
to Venafrum from the straight course of the Via Latina, and rejoined it
near Ad Flexum (San Pietro in Fine). It is, indeed, probable that the
original road made the detour by Venafrum, in order to give a direct
communication between Rome and the interior of Samnium (inasmuch as
roads ran from Venafrum to Aesernia and to Telesia by way of Allifae),
and Th. Mommsen (_Corp. Inscrip. Lat._ x., Berlin, 1883, p. 699) denies
the antiquity of the short cut through Rufrae (San Felice a Ruvo),
though it is shown in Kiepert's map at the end of the volume, with a
milestone numbered 93 upon it. This is no doubt an error bofh in placing
and in numbering, and refers to one numbered 96 found on the road to
Venafrum; but it is still difficult to believe that the short cut was
not used in ancient times. The 4th and 3rd century coins of Telesia,
Allifae and Aesernia are all of the Campanian type.

Of the harbours of Campania, Puteoli was by far the most important from
the commercial point of view. Its period of greatest comparative
importance was the 2nd-1st century B.C. The harbours constructed by
Augustus by connecting the Lacus Avernus and Lacus Lucrinus with the
sea, and that at Misenum (the latter the station of one of the chief
divisions of the Roman navy, the other fleet being stationed at
Ravenna), were mainly naval. Naples also had a considerable trade, but
was less important than Puteoli.

The fertility of the Campanian plain was famous in ancient as in modern
times;[1] the best portion was the Campi Laborini or Leborini (called
Phlegraei by the Greeks and Terra di Lavoro in modern times, though the
name has now extended to the whole province of Caserta) between the
roads from Capua to Puteoli and Cumae (Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ xviii. III).
The loose black volcanic earth (_terra pulla_) was easier to work than
the stiffer Roman soil, and gave three or four crops a year. Th