149
east it has the sea, and one who sails straight to it from
the region of Corcyra and those parts of Hellas sweeps
with his oars along the right hand coast, first touching
Epirus, then Dalmatia, Liburnia and Histria and at last
the Venetian Isles. But on the west it has swamps
through which a sort of door has been left by a very
narrow entrance. To the north is an arm of the Po,
called the Fossa Asconis. On the south likewise is the 150
Po itself, which they call the King of the rivers of Italy;
and it has also the name Eridanus. This river was turned
aside by the Emperor Augustus into a very broad canal
which flows through the midst of the city with a seventh
part of its stream, affording a pleasant harbor at its
mouth. Men believed in ancient times, as Dio relates,
that it would hold a fleet of two hundred and fifty vessels
in its safe anchorage. Fabius says that this, which was 151
once a harbor, now displays itself like a spacious garden
full of trees; but from them hang not sails but apples.
The city itself boasts of three names and is happily placed
in its threefold location. I mean to say the first is called
Ravenna and the most distant part Classis; while midway
between the city and the sea is Caesarea, full of luxury.
The sand of the beach is fine and suited for riding.

[Sidenote: Honorius 393-423]

[Sidenote: HONORIUS GRANTS THE GOTHS LANDS IN GAUL AND SPAIN]

XXX But as I was saying, when the army of the 152
Visigoths had come into the neighborhood of this city,
they sent an embassy to the Emperor Honorius, who
dwelt within. They said that if he would permit the
Goths to settle peaceably in Italy, they would so live with
the Roman people that men might believe them both to
be of one race; but if not, whoever prevailed in war
should drive out the other, and the victor should henceforth
rule unmolested. But the Emperor Honorius feared
to make either promise. So he took counsel with his
Senate and considered how he might drive them from the
Italian borders. He finally decided that Alaric and his 153
race, if they were able to do so, should be allowed to
seize for their own home the provinces farthest away,
namely, Gaul and Spain. For at this time he had almost
lost them, and moreover they had been devastated by the
invasion of Gaiseric, king of the Vandals. The grant
was confirmed by an imperial rescript, and the Goths,
consenting to the arrangement, set out for the country
given t