Original: In the period before the Roman supremacy in southern Italy, Nuceria Alfaterna  appears to have been the chief town in the valley of the Sarnus, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and Surrentum all being dependent upon it.
Simplified: Nuceria Alfaterna  appears to have been the chief town in the valley of the Sarnus, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and Surrentum all being dependent upon it.