jan 1, 43 - Pomponious Mela "De situ orbis"

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§ 2.59 Various [Italian] peoples cultivate [Italy's] interior. The Carni and Veneti cultivate the left part up to Gallia Togata; then come Italic peoples — Picentines, Frentani, Dauni, Apulians, Calabri, and Sallentines. To the right, at the foot of the Alps, are the Ligurians; at the foot of the Apennines, Etruria; after that, Latium, the Volsci, Campania, and, below Lucania, the Bruttii.

§ 2.61 On the shores, by contrast, Concordia is next after Tergeste. Between them flows the Timavus, which rises from nine heads but debouches through a single mouth. Then, not far from the sea, the Natiso River runs beside rich Aquileia. Farther on is Altinum.

§ 2.62 The Padus occupies the upper coast over a considerable expanse. In fact, where it rises from the very roots of Mt. Vesulus, it first gathers itself from small springs and is somewhat scant and meager. Then the river increases and is fed by other rivers so much that at the end it lets into the sea through seven mouths. One of these mouths they call the Great Padus.

§ 2.63 Once it begins, the river rushes forward with such speed that for a long time it drives, with waves breaking, the same waters it began with and preserves its own bed even in the sea until the Ister River, flowing in with the same force from the opposite shore of Istria, meets it. Because of this phenomenon, for those sailing through that vicinity, where the rivers meet from both sides, a drink of fresh water is possible in the midst of salty sea.

(Pomponius Mela, Chorographia, 2.59 - 2.63)

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