NESIS
NESIS (
Nisida), a small island on the coast of Campania, between Puteoli and Neapolis, and directly opposite to the extremity of the ridge called Mons Pausilypus (Seneca,
Ep. 53).
It may be considered as forming the eastern headland of the bay of Baiae or Puteoli, of which Cape Misenum is the western limit.
The island is of small extent, but considerable elevation, and undoubtedly constituted at a remote period one side of the crater of a volcano, This must, however, have been extinct before the period of historical memory; but it appears that even in the days of Statius and Lucan it emitted sulphureous and noxious vapours, which has long ceased to be the case (
Stat. Silv. 2.2. 78;
Lucan 6.90).
It was nevertheless, like the adjoining hill of Pausilypus, a pleasant place of residence. Brutus had a villa there, where he was visited by Cicero shortly after the death of Caesar, and where they conferred, together with Cassius and Libo, upon their future plans (
Cic. Att. 16.1-
4). Pliny tells us that it was famous for its asparagus, a celebrity which it still retains (
Plin. Nat. 19.8. s. 42); but the wood which crowned it in the days of Statius (
Stat. Silv. 3.1. 148), has long since disappeared.
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