Note 2312 — Chapter XII · EXPORTS OF THE ISLANDS, ITALY, GAUL, AND SPAIN.

Αἱ ὕλαι τοσαύτην ἔχουσι βάλανον, ὥστ᾽ ἐκ τῶν ἐντεῦθεν ὑοφορβίων ἡ Ῥώμη τρέφεται τὸ πλέον. Strab. v. 1. t. i. p. 352. From other parts of Italy a similar supply was obtained. “The forest of Lucania, whose acorns fattened large droves of wild hogs, afforded, as a species of tribute, a plentiful supply of cheap and wholesome meat. During five months of the year a regular allowance of bacon was distributed to the poorer citizens; and the annual consumption of the capital, at a time when it had much declined from its former lustre, was ascertained, by an edict of Valentinian the Third, at three millions six hundred and twenty-eight thousand pounds.” Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, v. 281.