The kinds of cheese that are most esteemed at Rome, where the various good things of all nations are to be judged of by comparison, are those which come from the provinces of Ne- mausus,[1] and more especially the villages there of Lesura and Gabalis;[2] but its excellence is only very short-lived, and it must be eaten while it is fresh. The pastures of the Alps recommend themselves by two sorts of cheese; the Dalmatic Alps send us the Docleatian[3] cheese, and the Centronian[4] Alps the Vatusican. The kinds produced in the Apennines are more numerous; from Liguria we have the cheese of Ceba,[5] which is mostly made from the milk of sheep; from Umbria we have that of Æsina, and from the frontiers of Etruria and Liguria those of Luna, remarkable for their vast size, a single cheese weighing as much as a thousand pounds. Nearer the City, again, we have the cheese of Vestinum, the best of this kind being that which comes from the territory of Ceditium.[6] Goats also produce a cheese which has been of late held in the highest esteem, its flavour being heightened by smoking it. The cheese of this kind which is made at Rome is considered preferable to any other; for that which is made in Gaul has a strong taste, like that of medicine. Of the cheeses that are made beyond sea, that of Bithynia[7] is usually considered the first in quality. That salt exists in pasture- lands is pretty evident, from the fact that all cheese as it grows old contracts a saltish flavour, even where it does not appear to any great extent;[8] while at the same time it is equally well known that cheese soaked in a mixture of thyme and vinegar will regain its original fresh flavour. It is said that Zoroaster lived thirty years in the wilderness upon cheese, prepared in such a peculiar manner, that he was insensible to the advances of old age.