Note 051
The description of Amalphi, by William the
Apulian, (l. iii. p. 267,) contains much truth and some
poetry, and the third line may be applied to the sailor's
compass: -
Nulla magis locuples argento, vestibus, auro
Partibus
innumeris: hâc plurimus urbe moratur
Nauta maris caelique vias aperire peritus.
Huc et Alexandri diversa feruntur ab urbe
Regis, et Antiochi. Gens haec freta plurima transit.
His Arabes, Indi, Siculi nascuntur et Afri.
Haec gens est totum proore nobilitata per orbem,
Et mercando forens, et amans mercata referre.
The History Of The Decline And
Fall Of The Roman Empire
—Fall In The East
—Chapter 56