visit it? and though by
God's blessing we trust that the Province [of Raetia] is in our times
secure, yet it is the part of prudence to guard against evils, though
we may think they will not arise.'

[Footnote 306: 'Agger sine pugna.']

[Footnote 307: 'Obsessio secura.']

[Footnote 308: 'Tenens claustra provinciae.']

Examples of gulls, who fly inland when they foresee a storm; of
dolphins, which seek the shallower waters; of the edible sea-urchin,
'that honey of flesh, that dainty of the deep,' who anchors himself to
a little pebble to prevent being dashed about by the waves; of birds,
who change their dwellings when winter draws nigh; of beasts, who
adapt their lair to the time of year. And shall man alone be
improvident? Shall he not imitate that higher Providence by which the
world is governed?

[The fortress of Verruca does not seem to be mentioned in the
'Notitia,' in the Antonine 'Itinerary,' or by the geographer of
Ravenna.

Maffei ('Verona Illustrata,' Book ix. Vol. 2, pp. 391-2 in ed. 1825)
comments on this passage, and argues that _Verruca = Dos Trento_, a
cliff about a mile from Trient, and this identification seems to have
been accepted, for Ball ('Alpine Guide, Eastern Alps,' p. 404) says:
'In the centre of the valley, close to the city, rises a remarkable
rock known as _Dos Trento, and also called La Verruca_, formerly
frequented for the sake of the beautiful view which it commands. Since
1857 it has been strongly fortified, and permission to ascend to the
summit is not easily obtained.'

Maffei says that the French bombarded Trient from this rock in 1703.
He speaks of another 'Verruca, or Rocca,' on the other side of
Aquileia, and thinks that the modern word 'rocca' (rock) may perhaps
have been derived herefrom (?).

It is remarkable that there is a place called _Verrua_ near the Po in
Piedmont (about 20 miles east of Turin). 'Situated upon an abrupt and
insulated hill, in a most defensible position, it opposed an obstinate
resistance to the Emperor Frederick II. In more recent times (1704),
the Duc de Vendome attacked it without success' (Murray's 'Guide to
Northern Italy,' p. 51). No doubt this was also originally called
_Verruca_.]

49. KING THEODORIC TO THE HONOURED POSSESSORES, DEFENSORES, AND
CURIALES OF THE CITY OF CATANA.

[Sidenote: Repair of amphitheatre of Catana.]

'It is a great delight to the Ruler when his subjects of their own
accord suggest that which is for the good of