[Footnote 33: In the time of Augustus, and in the middle
ages, the whole waste from Aquileia to Ravenna was covered
with woods, lakes, and morasses. Man has subdued nature, and
the land has been cultivated since the waters are confined
and embanked. See the learned researches of Muratori,
(Antiquitat. Italiae Medii Aevi. tom. i. dissert xxi. p.
253, 254,) from Vitruvius, Strabo, Herodian, old charters,
and local knowledge.]