The Pontine Marshes which form the southern part of the Campagna di Roma were first drained in 358 b.c. The improvements fell into disrepair and the process was repeated by the Consul Cethegus, Emperors Augustus, Nerva, Trajan and Theodoric, and many Popes.
     The stamp design is based on a map by Serapino Salviate entitled Carta esprimente lo Stato dell' Agro Pontino. The map was engraved by Giovanni Bata Dasori, and printed as a plate in a history of the various attempts to drain the marshes, entitled De' Bonificamenti delle Terre Pontine Libri IV. Opera storica, critica, legale, economica, idrostatica: compilata...e corredata di ogni genere di documenti, piante topografiche, profile, &c., Roma, MDCCC.
     In 1962 the Malaria Eradication issue included this map which was drawn during the pontificate of Pius VI (1775-1796).