48. KING THEODORIC TO ALL GOTHS AND ROMANS LIVING NEAR THE FORT OF VERRUCA[304]. [Footnote 304: The double 'r' seems to be the correct spelling, though the MSS. of the Variarum apparently have the single 'r.'] [Sidenote: Fortification of Verruca in the Tyrol.] 'It is the duty and the glory of a ruler to provide with wise forethought for the safety of his subjects. We have therefore ordered the Sajo Leodifrid that under his superintendence you should build yourselves houses in the fort Verruca, which from its position receives its most suitable name[305]. [Footnote 305: 'Milites ad Verrucam illum--_sic enim M. Cato locum editum asperumque appellat_--ire jubeas' (Gell. 3. 7. 6). Verruca therefore means primarily a steep cliff, and only secondarily a wart. See White and Biddell, s.v.] 'For it is in the midst of the plains a hill of stone roundly arising, which with its tall sides, being bare of woods, is all one great mountain fortress. Its lower parts are slenderer (graciliora) than its summit, and like some softest fungus the top broadens out, while it is thin at bottom. It is a mound not made by soldiers[306], a stronghold made safe by Nature[307], where the besieged can try no _coup-de-main_ and the besieged need feel no panic. Past this fort swirls the Adige, that prince of rivers, with the pleasant gurgle of his clear waters, affording a defence and an adornment in one. It is a fort almost unequalled in the whole world, "a key that unlocks a kingdom[308];" and all the more important because it bars the invasion of wild and savage nations. This admirable defence what inhabitant would not wish to share, since even foreigners delight to visit it? and though by God's blessing we trust that the Province [of Raetia] is in our times secure, yet it is the part of prudence to guard against evils, though we may think they will not arise.' [Footnote 306: 'Agger sine pugna.'] [Footnote 307: 'Obsessio secura.'] [Footnote 308: 'Tenens claustra provinciae.'] Examples of gulls, who fly inland when they foresee a storm; of dolphins, which seek the shallower waters; of the edible sea-urchin, 'that honey of flesh, that dainty of the deep,' who anchors himself to a little pebble to prevent being dashed about by the waves; of birds, who change their dwellings when winter draws nigh; of beasts, who adapt their lair to the time of year. And shall man alone be improvident? Shall he not imitate that higher Providence by which the world is governed? [The fortress of Verruca does not seem to be mentioned in the 'Notitia,' in the Antonine 'Itinerary,' or by the geographer of Ravenna.